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PUTNAM'S

HOME CYCLOPEDIA,

IN SIX VOLUMES.

EACH COMPLETE IN ITSELF

I. HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGY. The World's Progress. 12mo. With Chart

II. GENERAL LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. By GEORGE EIPLEY and BAYARD TAY-
LOR.- 12mo.

III. TUB USEFUL ARTS. By DR. ANTISELL. 12mo.

IV. UNIVERSAL BIOGRAPHY. By PARKE GODWIN.

V. UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHY a Comprehensive Gazetteer of the World.

VI. SCIENCE including Natural History, Botany, Geology, Mineralogy, &c. By Prof. SAMUEL
ST. JOHN, of Western Reserve College.

*, These six volumes are intended to comprise a comprehensive view of the whole circle of human knowledge in
other words, to form a General Cyclopedia in a portable shape, for popular reference, for Family Libraries, for Teachers
and School Libraries, and for the g neral reader.

NEW-YORK :

GEORGE P. PUTNAM.
1852.

PUTNAM'S HOME CYCLOPEDIA.

HAND-BOOK

LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS;

COMPRISING

COMPLETK AND ACCURATE DEFINITIONS OF ALL TERMS EMPLOYED IN
BELLES-LETTRES, PHILOSOPHY, THEOLOGY, LAW, MYTHOLOGY,
PAINTING, MUSIC, SCULPTURE, ARCHITECTURE,
AND ALL KINDRED ARTS.

COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY

GEORGE RTPLEY AND BAYARD TAYLOR.

NEW-YORK :
GEORGE P. PUTNAM.

1852.

ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, >>y

GEOEGE P. PUTNAM,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New-Fork.

PREFACE.

THE character of this work is fully set forth in the title-page, yet a few
words of introduction still seem necessary, further to elucidate its general
scope and aim. The design of the compilers has been to furnish the
reading community, and more especially the large class of students in
our colleges and seminaries of learning, with a comprehensive handbook
or lexicon of all branches of Literature and Art. A work of this kind
has long been needed. The great aim of all modern systems of instruc-
tion is to present knowledge in as concise and accessible a form as pos-
sible, and bring the results of many different theories and systems into
forms of practical convenience. In this respect the present work will be
found adapted to the purposes of the author, the artist, the student of any
learned profession, and the reader. No technical term of general use in
any of the departments it includes will be found wanting, while many
words, which in a strict sense belong neither to literature nor art, have
been added on account of some peculiar association or application.

In Literature, the work embraces all terms of logic and rhetoric,
criticism, style, and language ; sketches of works which stand as types
of their age or tongue ; reviews of all systems of philosophy and theology,
both of ancient and modern times ; and a complete series of the history
of literature among all nations, made up wholly from original sources.
All the most important terms of common and international law, all tech-
nical words and phrases employed in theology and philosophy, and a
number of scientific and historical phrases, which have become familiarized
in literature, have been included. The explanations are not confined to
mere definitions ; whereever it has been found necessary, illustrative wood-
cuts have been introduced, which will greatly assist the reader in his
knowledge of architectural terms.

VI PREFACE.

In Art, the department of painting, sculpture, and architecture, have
been treated as fully and carefully as the nature and limits of the work
would permit While a mere technical array of terms has been avoided,
care has been taken to explain all the words ; and phrases of art-criticism
have been defined at some length, as of interest and value to the general
reader, especially since criticism has been recognized as a distinct depart-
ment of literature. All words relating to the art and practice of music
have been likewise retained.

In compiling the work, liberal use has been made of Maunders Lite-
rary and Scientific Treasury, and Brandos Dictionary of Science and
Art. The Imperial Dictionary, the Leipzig Conversations-Lexicon, the
Art-Journal Dictionary, and a number of other works have been consulted ;
while the article entitled "Literature," comprising sketches of the rise and
progress of literature among ancient and modern nations, has been prepared
expressly for the present work. The definitions copied from the above-
named authorities have been adapted to the usages of the United States,
and much that was irrelevant, on account of its application to the local
laws or customs of foreign nations, has been purposely omitted. The
work, therefore, as it now stands, is intended to furnish a thorough voca-
bulary of Art and Literature, specially designed for the use of schools,
colleges, and the great reading community of the United States.

NEW-YOBK, Sept 1851

of jCitEraturt ratfo ttie pint Srk

A is the first letter, and the first vowel,
of the alphabet in every known language,
except the EthioiMc; and is used either
as a word, an abbreviation, or a sign.
If pronounced open, as in FATHER, it is
the simplest and easiest of all sounds ;
the first, in fact, uttered by human
beings in their most infantile state, serv-
ing to express many and oven opposite
emotions, according to the mode in which
it is uttered. A has therefore, perhaps,
had the first place in the alphabet as-
signed to it. In the English language
it has four different sounds : the broad
sound, as in FALL ; the open, as in
FATHER ; the slender, or close, as in
FACE ; and the short sound, as in FAT.
Most of the other modern languages, as
French, Italian, German, &c., have only
the open, or Italian a, pronounced short or
long. Among the Greeks and Romans,
A was used as an arithmetical sign : by
the former for 1 ; by the latter for 500 ;
or with a stroke over it for 5,000. The
Romans also very extensively used it as
an abbreviation ; which practice we still
retain, as A.M., artium magister ; A.D.,
anno domini, <j*c. A, a, or aa, in medi-
cal prescriptions, denotes ana, or equal
parts of each. A, in music, is the nomi-
nal of the sixth note in the diatonic
scale ; in algebra, it denotes a known
quantity ; in logic, an universal affirma-
tive proposition ; in heraldry, the dexter
chief, or chief point in an escutcheon ;
and it is the first of the dominical letters
in the calendar.

AAN'CHE, is a term applied to wind
instruments with reeds or tongues, as the
clarionet, hautboy, <fcc.

AA'NES, the tones and modes of the
modern Greek music.

AB, is the llth month of the civil
year, and the 5th of the ecclesiastical in

the Hebrew calendar. In the Syriac cal-
endar, it is the last of the summer
months. The eastern Christians called
the first day of this month Suum Miriam,
the fast of Mary, and the 15th, on
which day the fast ended, Fathr- Miriam.

ABACIS'CUS, in ancient architecture,
the square compartments of Mosaic pave-
ments.

AB'ACUS, in architecture, is the su-
perior member of the capital of a column,
to which it serves as a kind of crown. In
its origin, it was intended to represent a
square tile laid over a basket ; it still re-
tains this form in the Tuscan, Doric, and
Ionic orders ; but in the Corinthian and
Composite, its four sides are arched in-
wards, having some ornament in the
middle. ABACUS, among ancient mathe-
maticians, was a table strewed over with
dust, or sand, on which they drew their
figures. ABACUS, in arithmetic, an an-
cient instrument for reckoning with coun-
ters. It is used in various forms ; but
the most common arrangement is made
by drawing parallel lines distant from
each other at least twice the diameter of
a counter ; which placed on the lowest
line, signifies 1 ; on the second 10 ; on
the third, 100 ; on the fourth, 1000 ; and
so on. In the intermediate spaces, the same
counters are estimated at one half of the
value of the line immediately superior.

AB'BE, a French word, literally mean-
ing an abbot ; but the character denoted
by it, has long ceased to be of any
official nature. Before the Revolution,
the term designated a body of persons,
who had little connection with the church,
but who followed a course of theological
study, in hopes that the king would con-
fer on them a real abbey, thjit is, a part
of the revenues of a monastery. They
were employed in various literary pur-
suits, and exerted an important influence
on the character of the country. Either

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ABN

in the capacity of a friend or spiritual
counsellor, an abbe was found in almost
every distinguished family in France.

AB'BESS, the superior of a nunnery,
or other religious community of women.
She has the same authority as an abbot,
but cannot exercise any of the spiritual
functions.

AB'BEY, a religious house governed
by a superior, under the title of an
abbot or abbess. The abbeys of England,
at their dissolution under Henry VIII.,
became lay-sees ; when no less than 190
were dissolved, the yearly revenue of
which has been estimated at 2,853,00(M.
At present, an abbey is, in general, the
cathedral or episcopal church of the see
or diocese in which it stands.

AB'BOT, was originally the name of
every aged monk ; but, since the 8th
century, it denotes the head of a monas-
tery. In most countries, they held a
rank next to that of bishop, and had
votes in the ecclesiastical councils. At
present they are chiefly distinguished
into regular and commendatory ; the
former being real monks or religious,
and the latter only seculars.

ABBREVIATION, a contracted man-
ner of writing words so as to retain only
the initial letters. Such abbreviations
were in common use with the Romans, as
they are with us, to save time and space.
ABBREVIATION, in music, one dash,
through the stem of a minim or crotchet,
or under a semibreve, converts it into as
many quavers as it is equal to in time :
two dashes into semiquavers ; three into
demisemiquavers ; and so on. When
minims are connected together like qua-
vers, semiquavers, Ac., they are to be
repeated as many times as if they were
really such notes. An oblique dash
through the 2d, 3d, and 4th lines after
an arpeggio, signifies that it is to be
repeated ; for quavers, a single dash
being used ; for semiquavers, a double
one ; and so on.

ABBRE'VIATORS, officers who assist
the vice-chancellor in drawing up the
Pope's briefs, and reducing petitions into
proper form, to be converted into bulls.

ABDICA'TION, properly speaking, is
a voluntary resignation of a dignity,
particularly a regal one ; and if he in
whoso favor the abdication was made,
dies, or declines the offered dignity, the
right of the abdicated prince is reverted.
Involuntary resignations are, however,
also termed abdications, as in the case
of 'yn's abdication at Fontaine-

fa 1

ABDITA'RIUM, or ABDITO'RUM,
in archaeology, a secret place for hiding
or preserving valuables.

ABDUC'TION, the crime of unlawfully
taking away, either by force, or fraud
and persuasion, the person of another,
whether of child, wife, ward, heiress, or
woman generally.

ABE'LI ANS, or A'BELITES, a Chris-
tian sect which sprung from the Gnos-
tics. They abstained from matrimony,
but adopted the children of others, and
brought them up in their own principles.

ABEY'ANCE, in law, the expectancy
of an estate, or possession : thus, if lands
be leased from one person for life, with
reversion to another for years, the latter
estate is in abeyance till the death of
the lessee. It is a fixed principle of law,
that the fee-simple of all lands is in
somebody, or else in^>eyance.

A'BIB, the first nmith of the Hebrew
year, more generally known by the Chal-
dean name of Nisan. It is first men-
tioned in the 4th verse of the 13th chap-
ter of 'Exodus.

ABJURA'TION, a forswearing, or re-
nouncing by oath : in the old law it sig-
nified a sworn banishment, or an oath
taken to forsake the realm forever. In
its modern, and now more usual signifi-
cation, it extends to persons, and doc-
trines, as well as places.

AB'LATIVE case, the sixth case of
the Latin nouns implied in English by
the prepositions/Tom..

ABLEC'TI, in ancient Rome, a chosen
band of foreign troops, selected from the
extraordinarii sociorum.

ABLEG'MIXA, in Roman antiquity,
choice parts of the entrails of victims, call-
ed also prqficiee, porricice, prosecta, and
prosegmina. The ablegmina were sprin-
kled with flour, and burnt on the altar ;
the priests pouring some wine on them.

ABLU'TIOX, a religious ceremony of
washing the body, still used by the Turks
and Mohammedans. It originated in
the obvious necessity of practising clean-
liness, for the prevention of diseases in
hot countries ; for which purpose it was
made a religous rite ; and by an easy
transition of idea, the purity of the body
was made to typify the purity of the
soul : an idea the more rational, as it is
perhaps physically certain that outward
wretchedness debases the inward mind.

ABXOR'MAL, contrary to the natural
condition. In Art, the term abnormal is
applied to everything that deviates from
the rules of good taste, and is analogous
to tasteless, and ovtrcJiarged.

ABSJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

ABOIVLA, a kind of military garment
worn by the Greek and lloman soldiers.

ABORI'GINES, a name given to the
original or first inhabitants of any coun-
try ; but more particularly used for the
ancient inhabitants of Latium. when
JEneas with his Trojans came into Italy.

ABOR'TION, in & figurative sense, any
production that does not come to maturity,
or any design or project which fails before
it is properly matured.

AB'RACADAB'RA, a term of incanta-
tion, formerly used as a spell or charm,
and worn about the neck as an amulet
against several diseases. In order to
give it the more virtue, it was to be
written as many times as the word con-
tains letters, omitting always the last
letter of the former, and so forming a
triangle. But charms and incantations
have had their day ; and abracadabra, if
used at all, now serves as a word of jest,
like hocus pocus, and other unmeaning
gibberish.

ABRAX' AS, or ABRAS AX', in church-
history, a mystical term expressing the
supreme God, under whom the Basilidians
supposed 365 dependent deities. It was
the principle of the Gnostic hierarchy.
ABRAXAS, or ABRASAX STONES, are very
numerous, and represent the human body,
with the head of a cock, and the feet of a
reptile. The name of Abrasax stone is,
in modern times, applied to a variety of
gems that exhibit enigmatical composi-
tions, but have not the true characteristics
of the Basilidians.

ABRIDGEMENT, the bringing the con-
tents of a book within a short compass.
The perfection of an abridgment consists
in taking only what is material and sub-
stantial, and rejecting all superfluities,
whether of sentiment 01 style : in which
light, abridgments must be allowed to be
eminently serviceable to all whose occu-
pations prevent them from devoting much
time to literary pursuits.

ABSCIS'SION, in rhetoric, a figure of
speech, whereby the speaker stops short
in the middle of his discourse, and leaves
his hearers to draw their own inferences
from the facts he has stated.

ABSENTEE', a word of modern times,
applied to land-owners and capitalists,
who expend their incomes in another
country.

AB'SOLUTE, whatever is in all re-
spects unlimited and uncontrolled in its
own nature : it is opposed to the relative,
and to whatever exists only conditionally.
Thus the absolute is the principle of
entire completion, the universal idea and

fundamental principle of all things. The
question of absolute beauty, i. e. the
prototype of the beautiful, is the most
important within the reach of Art, in-
volving the foundation of ^Esthetics, and
of the philosophy of the beautiful.

ABSOLU'TION, a ceremony practised
in various Christian churches. In the
Roman Catholic, the priest not only
declares absolution to the repentant sin-
ner, but is believed to have the power of
actually releasing him from his sins :
and this authority is declared by the
council of Trent to belong to him in its
full extent. The Church of England, in
the Order for the Visitation of the Sick,
has retained nearly the same words ; but
her authorities seem not to be exactly
agreed as to the force and effect of the
absolution so conferred. In the daily
service, the words of the absolution are
merely declaratory.

ABSORB'ED, in Italian, Prosciuga-
to ; in French, Embu. When the oil
with which a picture is painted has sunk
into the ground or canvas, leaving the
color flat or dead, and the touches indis-
tinct, it is said to be absorbed.

ABSORBENT-GROUNDS are picture-
grounds prepared in distemper upon
either panel or canvas ; they have the
property of imbibing the redundant oil
with which the pigments are mixed, of
impasting, and are used principally for
the sake of expedition.

AB'SIS, or AP'SIS, in architecture, a
word used by ecclesiastical authors to
signify that part of the church wherein
the clergy were seated, or the altar was
placed. The apsis was either circular
or polygonal on the plan, and domed
over at top as a covering. It consisted
of two parts, the altar and the presby-
tery, or sanctuary : at the middle of
the semicircle was the throne of the
bishop ; and at the centre of the diame-
ter was placed the altar, towards the
nave, from which it was separated by an
open balustrade, or railing. On the altar
was placed the cibarium and cup.

AB'STINENCE, the abstaining or re-
fraining from what is either useful,
agreeable, or pernicious ; but more espe-
cially, from eating and drinking. In
the Romish church there are "days of
abstinence," as well as " fast days ;" the
former importing a partial, and the
latter, almost a total abstinence from
food.

AB'STINENTS, a sect of Christians
who appeared in France about the end
of the third century, professing celibacy,

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ACC

and abstinence from particular kinds of
food, &c.

AB'STRACT, a concise but general
view of some large work ; in which sense
it differs from an abridgment only as
being shorter, and its entering less mi-
nutely into particulars ; and from an ex-
tract, as this last is only a particular
view of some part or passage of it.

ABSTRACTION, in logic, that opera-
tion of the mind whereby it forms ab-
stract ideas. The faculty of abstraction
stands directly opposite to that of com-
pounding. By composition we consider
those things together, which, in reality,
are not joined together in any one exist-
ence. And by abstraction, we consider
those things separately and apart, which
in reality do not exist apart. In its pas-
sive sense it implies occupation with one's
self to the exclusion of other objects.

ACADEM'ICS, certain philosophers
who followed the doctrine of Socrates
and Plato, as to the uncertainty of knowl-
edge and the incomprehensibility of
truth. Academic, in this sense, amounts
to much the same with Platonist ; the
difference between them being only in
point of time. They who embraced the
system of Plato, among the ancients,
were called Academic! ; whereas those
who did the same since the restoration of
learning, have assumed the denomina-
tion of Platonists.

ACAD'EMY, in Grecian antiquity, a
large villa in one of the suburbs of
Athens, where the sect of philosophers
called Academics held their assemblies.
It took its name from Academus, a cele-
brated Athenian, who resided there, and
became celebrated from its being the
place in which Plato taught philosophy.
ACADEMY, in the modern acceptation,
is a society of persons united for the
pursuit of some objects of study and ap-
plication, as the Royal Academy of Arts
of London, and the Royal Academy of
Sciences of Berlin. The first academy
of science, in modern times, was estab-
lished at Naples, by Baptista Porta, in
1560.

ACAD'EMY FIGURE, in painting,
a drawing usually made with black and
white chalk, on tinted paper, after the
living model. Sometimes Academy-fig-
ure is understood to be one in which the
action is constrained, and the parts with-
out mutual connection with each other,
as frequently happens to those who model
from a study which was only intended to
exhibit the development of certain mus-
cles or members of the body.

ACAN'TnUS, the bear's claw, a plant
used in Greece and Italy on account of
its beautiful
indented
leaves and
graceful
growth for
garden plots
and also in
works of Art
for the bor-
durs of em-
broidered
"~~^~-_^-~ ga rinents,
the edges of
vases, for wreaths round drinking cups ;
and in architecture, for ornamenting the
capitals of columns, particularly those
of the Corinthian order, and the Roman,
or Composite, which sprang from it. The
type of the Corinthian capital may be
found on numerous Egyptian capitals.

ACAT'ALEPSY, (acatalepsia,) among
ancient philosophers, the impossibility
of comprehending something ; uncertainty
in science.

ACC A'LI A, in Roman antiquity, solemn
festivals held in honor of Acca Laurentia,
the nurse of Romulus : they were also
called Laurentalia.

ACCENDEN'TES, or ACCENSO'-
RES, in the church of Rome, an inferior
rank of ministers, whose business it is to
light, snuff, and trim the candles and
tapers.

ACCEN'DONES, in Roman antiquity,
officers in the gladiatorial schools, who
i excited and animated the combatants dur-
! ing the engagement.

ACCEN'SI, in Roman antiquity, certain
| supernumerary soldiers, designed to sup-
ply the place of those who should be
killed, or anywise disabled. ACCENSI
also denoted a kind of inferior officers,
appointed to attend the Roman magis-
trates.

AC'CENT, a modification of the voice
! in pronouncing certain words or sylla-
bles : also, the marks on the words or
syllables; as, the acute accent, marked
thus ('), the grave accent thus ('), the
circumflex thus ("). This is called gram-
matical accent, but there is also a rhe-
torical accent or emphasis, which is de-
signed to give to a sentence distinctness
and clearness. In a sentence, therefore,
the stress is laid on the most important
word, and in a word on the most impor-
tant syllable. When the accent falls on
a vowel, that vowel has its long sound,
as in po'rous; but when it falls on a
consonant, the preceding vowel is short,

AGO]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

as in pot'ter. Accents also not only give
a pleasing variety and beauty ~to the
modulation of the voice, but often serve
to ascertain the true meaning of the
word. In music, accent denotes a certain
modulation or warbling of the sounds, to
express passions, either naturally by the
voice, or artificially by instruments.
Every bar or measure is divided into the
accented and unaccented parts ; the for-
mer being the principal, on which the
spirit of the music depends.

ACCEPT'ANCE, in commerce, is when
a man subscribes, signs, and makes him-
self a debtor for the sum contained in a
bill of exchange, or other obligation,
drawn upon, or addressed to him ; which
is done by his writing the word " Ac-
cepted" on it, and signing his name.

ACCEPT'OR, the person who accepts
a bill of exchange by signing it, and
thereby becoming bound to pay its con-
tents.

AC'CESSARY, in law, a person who
aids in the commission of some felonious
action. There are two kinds of acces-
saries, viz. before the fact, and after it.
The first is he who commands and pro-
cures another to commit an offence ; who,
though he be absent when it is com-
mitted, is now regarded as much a prin-
cipal as the actual offender. The ac-
cessary after the fact is one who receives,
comforts, or assists the offender, knowing
him to be such. In the highest crimes,
as high treason, &c., and the lowest, as
riots, forcible entries, &c., there are no ac-
cessaries, but all concerned are principals.

AC'CESSORIES, objects and materi-
als independent of the figure in a picture,
and which, without being essential to
the composition, are nevertheless useful,
whether under the picturesque relation,
to fill up those parts that without them
would appear naked, to establish a bal-
ance between the masses, to form the
contrast, to contribute to the harmony
of colors, and so add to the splendor and
richness of a picture ; or, under the re-
lation of poetic composition, to facilitate
the understanding of the subject, recall-
ing some one of the circumstances which
have preceded, or which will follow the
action ; to make known the condition
and habits of the figures ; to characterize
their general manners, and through them
the age and country in which the action
takes place, <fcc. ; such are draperies va-
riously adjusted, trophies affixed to the
walls, devices, sculptured divinities, fur-
niture, carpets, lamps, groups of vases, ;
arms, utensils, <tc.

ACCIACATU'RA, in music, a sweep-
ing of the chords of the pianoforte, and
dropping sprinkled notes usual in accom-
paniments.

AC'CIDENCE, a display of the varia-
tions of words according to their govern-
ment or sense.

AC'CIDENS, or PER ACCIDENS, a
term applied to the operations of natural
bodies, in distinction from per se ; thus
fire is said to burn per se, but a heated
iron per accidens.

AC'CIDENT, that which belongs ac-
cidentally, not essentially, to a thing, as
sweetness, softness, &c.

ACCIDENTAL, in philosophy, a term
applied to effects which result from
causes occurring by accident.

ACCIDENTAL COLORS, colors de-
pending on some affection of the eye,
and not belonging to light itself, or any
quality of the luminous object. If we
look for a short time steadily with one
eye upon any bright-colored spot, as a
wafer on a sheet of paper, and immedi-
ately after turn the same eye to another
part of the paper, a similar spot will be
seen, but of a different color. If the
wafer be red, the imaginary spot will be
green ; if black, it will be changed into
white ; the color thus appearing being
always what is termed the complemen-
tary color of that on which the eye was
fixed.

ACCIDENTAL LIGHT, secondary
lights, which are not accounted for by
the prevalent effect.

ACCIDENTAL POINT, in perspec-
tive, the point in which a straight line
drawn from the eye, parallel to another
straight line, cuts the perspective plane.

ACCIDENTALS, in painting, are
those fortuitous or chance effects, occur-
ring from luminous rays falling on cer-
tain objects, by which they are brought
into stronger light than they otherwise
would be, and their shadows are conse-
quently of greater intensity. This sort
of effect is to be seen in almost every
picture by Rembrandt, who used them to
a very great extent. There are some
fine instances of accidentals in Raphael's
Transfiguration, and particularly in the
celebrated picture, the Notte of Coreg-
gio, in which the light emanates from the
infant Christ. ACCIDENTALS, in music,
are those flats and sharps which are pre-
fixed to the notes in a movement, and
which would not be considered so by the
flats and sharps in the signature.

ACCLAMATION, in Roman antiqui-
ty, a shout raised by the people, to tes-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ACC

tify their applause, or approbation of
their princes, generals, Ac. In ages
when people were more accustomed to
give full utterance to their feelings, ac-
clamations were very common, whenever
a mass of people was influenced by one
common feeling. We find, therefore, ac-
clamations in theatres, senates, ecclesias-
tical meetings, elections, at nuptials, tri-
umphs, &c. In the early times of Chris-
tianity, the bishops were elected by ac-
clamation. The first German emperors
were elected in the same way ; and at
the present day, wherever the forms of
civilized life are least regarded, approba-
tion or disapprobation of proposed public
measures is shown by acclamations of
the assembled multitude.

AC'COLA, among the Romans, signi-
fied a person who lived near some place ;
in which sense it differed from incola, the
inhabitant of such a place.

ACCOLADE', the ancient ceremony of
conferring knighthood, by the king's lay-
ing his arms about the young knight's
neck, and embracing him. This familiar !
expression of regard appears to have
been exchanged for the more stately act
of touching, or gently striking, with the
royal sword, the neck of the kneeling
knight. The present ceremony of con-
ferring the honor of knighthood is evi-
dently derived from it.

ACCOM'PANIMEXT, an instrumen-
tal part added to a musical composition
by way of embellishment, and in order
to support the principal melody. When
the piece may be performed with or
without the accompaniment at pleasure,
it is called accompaniment ad libitum;
but when it is indispensable, accompani-
ment obligato.

ACCOM'PLICE, in law, a person who
is privy to, or aiding in, the perpetration
of some crime.

ACCOM'PLISHMENT, in a general,
sense, denotes the perfecting, or entirely
finishing and completing any matter or
thing ; but it more expressly describes
the acquirement of some branch of
learning, useful art, or elegant amuse-
ment. ACCOMPLISHMENT is also partic-
ularly use 1 for the fulfilment of a proph-
ecy ; in which sense, we read of a literal
accomplishment, a mystical accomplish-
ment, <fcc.

ACCORD ATU'RA, an Italian word, to
express the tuning of an instrument.

ACCOR'DION, a new musical -instru-
ment, of German invention, but now also
made in this country, consisting -of a
double serias of vibrating tongues, acted

on by a current of air from a sort of bel-
lows, and producing tones very similar to
those of the organ.

ACCOUNT'ANT, or ACCOMPT'ANT,
in a general sense, denotes one whose
business it is to compute, adjust, and
range in due order accounts in commerce.
In a more restricted sense, the term is
applicable to a person appointed to keep
the accounts of a public company or
office : thus, we say the accountant of the
India Company, the Custom-house, the
Excise, &c.

ACCOUTREMENTS, the necessaries
of a soldier, as belts, pouches, cartridge-
boxes, &c.

ACCRE'TION, the increase or growth
of a body by an external addition of new
parts ; thus shells, stones, and various
other substances are formed.

ACCUBA'TION, the posture used
among the Greeks and Romans at their
meals, which was with the body extended
on a couch, and the head resting on a
pillow, or on the elbow, supported by a
pillow. This practice was not permitted
among soldiers children, and servants ;
nor was it known until luxury had cor-
rupted manners. Their couches were
called ACCUBITA.

ACEPH'ALI. a sect of Christians, so
called because they admitted no head, or
superior, either lay or ecclesiastic.

ACER'RA, in Roman antiquity, was a
small altar erected near the bed on which
a dead person was laid out. Incense and
perfumes were burnt upon it, till the time
of the funeral The real intention, prob-
ably, was to prevent or overcome any of-
fensive smells that might arise about the
corpse.

A'CHEROX, the river of sorrow which
flowed round the infernal realms of
Hades, according to the mythology of
the ancients. There was a river of
Thesprotia, in Epirus, of the same name,
and also one in Italy, near which Alex-
ander, king of the Molossi, was slain;
both of which from the unwholesome and
foul nature of their waters, were sup-
posed to communicate with the infernal
stream.

AC'ME, in rhetoric, the extreme
height, or farthest point of pathos, or
sentiment, to which the mind is judi-
ciously conducted by a series of impres-
sions gradually rising in intensity.

ACOLY'TIII, in ecclesiastical history,
denotes candidates for the ministry, so
called from their continually attending
the bishop. It is also an appellation
given to the Stoics, on account of their

ACT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

steady adherence to what they had once
resolved.

ACOUSMAT'ICI, in Grecian antiquity,
such disciples of Pythagoras, as had not
finished their five years' probation. The
acousmatici were instructed by bare posi-
tive precepts and rules, without reasons
or demonstrations, and these precepts
they called acousmaia.

ACROAT'IC, in the Aristotelian
schools, a denomination given to such
lectures as were calculated only for the
intimate friends and disciples of that
philosopher ; being chiefly employed in
demonstrating some speculative or ab-
struse part of philosophy. The acroatic
lectures stood contradistinguished from
the exoteric ones, which were adapted to
a common auditory.

ACRO'LITHOS, in sculpture, a statue
whose extremities are of stone, the body
being made of wood. According to Vi-
truvius, there was a temple at Halicar-
nassus dedicated to Mars, and built by
Mausolus, king of Caria, wherein was an
acrolithan statue of the god. And from
Trebellius Pollio we learn that Calpurnia
set up an acrolithan statue of Venus,
which was gilt.

ACROMONOGRAMMAT'ICUM, apo-
etical composition, wherein each subse-
quent verse commences with that which
the verse preceding terminates.

ACROP'OLIS, the citadel of Athens.
It was formerly the whole city, and at
first called Acropia, from Acrops the
founder ; but, after the inhabitants were
greatly increased in number, the whole
plain around it was filled with buildings,
and the original city became the centre,
under the denomination of Acropolis, or
the upper city.

ACROS'TIC, a poem, the lines of which
are so contrived, that the first letters of
each, taken together, will make a proper
name or other word.

ACROSTO'LIUM, in the naval archi-
tecture of the ancients, the extreme part
of the ornament used on the prows of
their ships. It was usual to tear the
acrostolia from the prows of vanquished
ships, as a token of victory.

ACROTE'RIA, in architecture, small
pedestals, upon which globes, vases, or
statues stand at the ends or middle of
pediments. It also denotes the figures
themselves placed in such situations. (

ACT, in a general sense, denotes the
exertion, or effectual application, of some
power or faculty. Act is distinguished
from power, as the effect from the cause,
or as a thing produced, from that which

produces it. ACT, among logicians, more
particularly denotes an operation of the
human mind ; in which sense, compre-
hending, judging, willing, &c. are called
acts. ACT, in law, is used for an instru-
ment or deed in writing, serving to prove
the truth of some bargain or transaction.
Thus, records, certificates, &c. are called
acts. ACT is also used for the final reso-
lution, or decree of an assembly, senate,
council, &c. ACTS of parliament are
called statutes ; acts of the royal society,
transactions ; those of the French academy
of sciences, memoirs; those of the academy
of sciences at Petersburg, commentaries ;
those of Leipsic, acta eruditorum ; the
decrees%f the lords of session, at Edin-
burgh, acta sederunt, &c. ACT, in the
universities, is the delivery of orations,
or other exercises, in proof of the pro-
ficiency of a student who is to take a.
degree. At Oxford, the time when mas-
ters or doctors complete their degrees, is
called the act. At Cambridge, the same
period is called the commencement.
ACT, in a dramatic sense, is the name
given to certain portions of a play, in-
tended to give respite both to the specta-
tors and the actors. In the ancient
drama, five acts were required both in
tragedy and comedy ; and in what is
termed the regular drama that rule is
still observed, the acts being divided into
smaller portions, called scenes.

AC'TA CONSISTO'RII, the edicts or
declarations of the council of state of the
emperors.

AC'TA DIUR'NA, was a sort of Roman
gazette, containing an authorized narra-
tive of the transactions worthy of notice,
which happened at Rome.

AC'TA PUB'LICA, in Roman history,
the jouAal of the senate. It seems to
have resembled the votes of the English
House of Commons, wherein a short ac-
count was given to the public of what
passed in the senate-house.

AC'TIAN GAMES, or LUDI ACTIACA,
were instituted in commemoration of the
victory obtained by Augustus over An-
tony at Actium. They returned every
fifth year, according to the general
opinion, and were sacred to Apollo, who
was then called Actius Apollo. Actian
years became an era, commencing from
the battle of Actium. called also the era
of Augustus. The Actian games con-
sisted of shows of gladiators, wrestlers,
and other exercises, and were kept gene-
rally at Nicopolis, a city built by Augus-
tus, near Actium, for that purpose, with a
view to perpetuate the fame of his victory.

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ADJ

AC'TION, in ethics, something done by !
a free or .moral agent, capable of dis-
tinguishing good from evil. The essence
of a moral action consists in its being
done knowingly and voluntarily : that is,
the agent must not only be able to dis-
tinguish whether it be good or bad in
itself; but he must likewise be entirely
free from compulsion of any kind, and at
full liberty to follow the dictates of his
own understanding. ACTION, in rhet-
oric, may be defined, the accommoda-
tion of the voice, but more especially the
gesture of an orator, to the subject he is
upon. ACTION, in a theatrical sense, is
nearly the same with action among
orators ; only the actor adapts hit action
to an assumed character, whereas the
orator is supposed to be in reality what
his action expresses. ACTION, in paint-
ing and sculpture, denotes the posture of
a statue or picture, serving to express
some passion, &c. ACTION, in the mili-
tary art, is an engagement between two
armies, or between different bodies of
troops belonging thereto.

AC'TIVE, in a general sense, denotes
something that communicates motion or
action to another, in which sense it stands
opposed to passive. ACTIVE, among
grammarians, an appellation given to
words expressing some action, as I write,
I read, &c. ACTIVE POWER, in meta-
physics, the power of executing any
work or labor ; in contradistinction to
speculative powers, as those of seeing,
hearing, reasoning, <fcc.

AC'TOR, in a dramatic sense, is a man
who enacts some part or character in a
play. It is remaikable with what differ-
ence actors were treated among the an-
cients. At Athens they were held in
such esteem, as to be sometimes 1 sent on
embassies to foreign powers ; whereas, at
Rome, if a citizen became an actor, he
thereby forfeited his freedom. Actors in
the present day have little to complain
of, in regard to the treatment they re-
ceive : according as they contribute to
the gratification of the public so are they
rewarded ; and if their moral conduct be
irreproachable, no persons are more es-
teemed or lauded.

AC'TRESS, a female dramatic per-
former. They were tfhknown to the an-
cients, among whom men always took the
parts of women. Xor were they intro-
duced on the English stage till the days
of the Stuarts.

ACTUA'RIUS, or ACTA'RIUS, in
Roman antiquity, an officer, or rather
notary, appointed to write down the pro-

ceedings of a court. ACTUABII were also
officers who kept the military accounts,
and distributed the corn to the soldiers.

AC'TUARY, the chief clerk, or person,
who compiles minutes of the proceedings
of a company in business.

ACU'MEN, mental sharpness, or quick
discernment ; great intellectual capacity.
In ancient music, acumen denotes a sound
produced by raising the voice to a high
pitch.

ACUTE', an appellation given to such
things as terminate in a sharp point, or
edge : thus, we say, an acute angle, acute-
angled triangle, <fcc. ACUTE, in music,
an epithet given to sharp or shrill sounds,
in opposition to those called grave.

ACYROLO'GIA, in grammar, denotes
an improper word, phrase, or expression :
it differs a little from the catachresis.

AD, a Latin preposition, expressing the
relation of one thing to another. It is
frequently prefixed to other words : thus,
AD HOMINEM, among logicians, an argu-
ment drawn from the professed belief or
principles of those with whom we argue.
AD LUDOS, in Roman antiquity, a kind
of punishment, whereby the criminals
entertained the people, either by fighting
with wild beasts, or with each other. AD
VALOREM, in commerce, according to the
value. AD INFINITUM, indefinitely, or to
infinity.

ADA'GIO, a degree quicker than
grave time, in music, but with graceful
and elegant execution.

A'DEPT, a distinctive term applied to
those alchemists who were supposed to
have attained the great object of their re-
searches, or to have discovered the phi-
losopher's stone.

ADHE'RENCE, the effect of those
parts of a picture which, wanting relief,
are not detached, and hence appear ad-
hering to the canvas or surface.

AD'JECTIVE, in grammar, that part
of speech which is annexed to substan-
tives, to define more accurately the con-
ceptions intended to be denoted by them.

ADJOURN'MENT, the putting off a
court or other meeting till another day.
In parliament, adjournment differs from
prorogation, the former being not only
for the shorter time, but also done by the
house itself, whereas the latter is an act
of royal authority.

AD'TUNCT, some quality belonging
either to body or mind, either natural or
acquired. Thus, thinking is an adjunct
of the mind, and growth of the body. It
also denotes something added to another,
without being any necessary part of it

ADUJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

Thus water absorbed by a sponge is an
adjunct, but no necessary part of that
substance.

ADJUST'MENT, in a picture, is the
manner in which draperies are chosen,
arranged, and disposed.

AD'JUTANT, a military officer, whose
duty it is to carry orders from the major
to the colonel and Serjeants. When de-
tachments are to be made, he gives the
number to be furnished by each company
or troop, and assigns the hour and place
of rendezvous. He also places the guards,
receives and distributes the ammunition
to the companies, &c.

AD'JtJTANT-GEN'ERAL, an officer
of distinction, who assists the general, by
forming the several details of duty of the
army with the brigade majors.

ADLOCU'TION, or ADLOCU'TIO, in
Roman antiquity, the address made by
generals to their armies, in order to rouse
their courage before a battle.

AD'MIRAL, the commander of a fleet
of ships of war ; having two subordinate
commanders, as vice-admiral and rear-
admiral ; and distinguished into three
classes, by the color of their flags, as
white, blue, and red. The admiral car-
ries his flag at the main-top-mast head ;
the vice-admiral, at the fore-top-mast
head ; and the rear-admiral, at the mizeii-
top-mast head.

AD'MIRALTY, the Board of Com-
missioners for executing the office of Lord
High Admiral, and having authority
over naval affairs generally. ADMIRAL-
TY, COURT OF, in law, i>' a court of rec-
ord, of which the proceedings are carried
on, at least to a certain extent, according
to the course of the civil law ; although,
as the judge may have in some cases the
assistance of a jury, it has also a resem-
blance to the courts of common law. It
has jurisdiction principally for the deter-
mination of private injuries to private
rights arising at sea, o- intimately con-
nected with maritime subjects ; and in
most cases, to which its authority extends,
it has concurrent jurisdiction, either with
the common law courts, or those of equity.

ADONA'I, one of the names of God
used in the Scriptures, and properly sig-
nifying my lords, in the plural, as ADONI
does my lord, in the singular number.

ADO'NTA, solemn feasts in honor of
Venus, instituted in memory of her be-
loved Adonis, and observed with great
solemnity by the Greeks, Phoenicians,
Lycians, Syrians, Egyptians, <fcc. They
lasted two days, during the first of which
the women carried about images of

Venus and Adonis, weeping, tearing their
hair, beating their breasts, and using ev-
ery token of grief. On the second, they
sung his praises, and made rejoicings, as
if Adonis had been raised to life again.

ADO'NIC, a species of verse consisting
of a dactyle and a spondee. It was in-
vented by Sappho, and derived its name
from being principally sung at the festi-
vals in memory of Adonis.

ADO'NIS, in mythology, a beautiful
youth, son of Cinyras, king of Cyprus,
beloved by Venus, and killed by a wild
boar, to the great regret of the goddess.
It is, also, the name of a river of Phoenicia,
on the banks of which Adonis, or Tharn-
muz, as he is called in the East, was
supposed to have been killed. At certain
seasons of the year this river acquires a
high red color, by the rains washing up
particles of red earth. The ancient poets
ascribed this to a sympathy in the river
for the death of Adonis. This season
was observed as a festival in the adjacent
country.

ADORA'TION, a mode of reverence
or worship anciently shown to the gods,
by raising the right hand to the mouth,
and gently applying it to the lips ; also,
in general, any outward sign of worship,
by kissing the hand or feet, walking
barefoot, or the like. Among the Jews,
adoration consisted in kissing the hands,
bowing, kneeling, and even prostration.
But the posture of adoration most com-
mon in all ages and countries, is kneel-
ing.

ADO'REA, in Roman antiquity, grain,
or a kind of cakes made of fine flour, and
offered in sacrifice ; a dole or distribution
of corn, as a reward for some service ;
whence, by metonymy, it is put for praise
or rewards in general.

A'DRI AN, ST., in Christian art is repre-
sented armed, with an anvil at his feet
or in his arms, and occasionally with a
sword or an axe lying beside it. The
anvil is the appropriate attribute of St.
Adrian, who suffered martyrdom, having
his limbs cut off on a smith's anvil, and
being afterwards beheaded. St. Adrian
was the chief military saint of northern
Europe for many ages, second only to St
George. He was regarded as the patron
of soldiers, and the protector against the
i plague. He has not been a popular sub-
| ject with artists. St. Adrian is the
patron saint of the Flemish brewers.

ADULTERA'TION, in a general sense,

denotes the act of debasing, by :i.n im-

I proper mixture, something that was pure

I and genuine. Thus, adulteration of coin,

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[AEO

is the casting or making it of a metal
inferior in goodness to the standard, by
using too great a portion of alloy.

ADUL'TERY, a violation of the nup-
tial bed ; a crime which has been re-
garded by all civilized nations with
abhorrence, and in ancient times was
punished as a capital offence. By the
Jewish law, the penalty was death.

AD'VEXT, the coming of our Saviour ;
also the festival commemorative of the
Advent, which falls about a month before
Christmas.

AD'VERB, a word so called from its
signification and connection with verbs ;
though they are also frequently joined
with adjectives and other parts of speech
to modify their meaning.

ADVERSA'RIA, a memorandum-book,
journal, or common-place book.

ADVERTISEMENT, any printed pub-
lication of circumstances, either of public
or private interest, particularly that in-
serted in the newspapers.

AD'VOCATE, the original pleaders
of causes at Rome were the Patricians,
who defended gratuitously their clients ;
but even before the downfall of the re-
public, the class had degenerated into a
profession, its members receiving rewards
for their services, although still among
the most honorable of employments. In
the later ages of the empire, the advocati
appear to have formed a distinct class
from the jurisconsult!, or chamber-coun-
sel, and to have munh declined in repu-
tation. In France, the avocats, or
counsel, form a separate order, of which
each member is attached to a particular
local court. The lord advocate, in Scot-
land, is a public officer, who prosecutes
crimes before the court of justiciary.

ADVOWSON, properly, the relation
in which a patron stands towards the
living to which he presents, i. e. the pat-
ronage of a church. The earliest pro-
vision for divine worship, in England and
in other countries, was derived from the
offerings of the laity, which were dis-
tributed by the bishop of each diocese
among his clergy, whom he sent from
place to place to preach and administer
the sacraments. By degrees he was en-
abled, by the bequests of the faithful,
and the customary offering of tithes, to
subdivide his diocese, or parochia, as it
was originally called, into various dis-
tricts, and to build churches and establish
permanent ministers in each. At the
same time it became a common p -actice
among the nobles to build and endow
churches for the benefit of themselves

and their own dependents ; in which case
they were allowed to present to the
benefice, subject to the licensing power
of the bishop and the canons of the
church.

AD'YTUM, the most retired and secret
place of the heathen temples, into which
none but the priests were allowed to enter.
The adytum of the Greeks and Roman*
answered to the sanctum sanctorum if
the Jews, and was the place from whence
oracles were delivered. The term is
purely Greek, signifying inaccessible.

.iEACE'A, in Grecian antiquity, solemn
festivals and games in honor of vEacus,
who, on account of his justice upon earth,
was thought to have been one of the
judges in hell. At the end of the so-
lemnity, the victors in the games used to
present a garland of flowers.

yE'DES, in Roman antiquity, besides
its more ordinary signification of a house,
or the internal part of a house, where
the family used to eat, likewise signified
an inferior kind of temple, consecrated
indeed to some deity, but not by the
augurs.

J5DIC'ULA, a small aedes or temple,
which was erected in every village or
parish.

JSDI'LES, a Roman magistrate, whose
chief business was to superintend build-
ings of all kinds, but more especially pub-
lic ones, as temples, aqueducts, bridges,
<fec. ; and to take care of the highways,
weights, and measures, &c.

jE'GIS, a shield, particularly the shield
of Jupiter.

^ENE'ID, the title of Virgil's epic
poem, in which he celebrates the adven-
tures of ^Eneas, one of the bravest among
the Trojan heroes. The author intro-
duces him as sailing from Troy, after its
destruction, in search of the shores of
Italy, on which it had been promised by
the gods that he should found an empire
destined to be immortal ; and the poem
ends with the complete success of JBBWU
over Turnus, king of the Rutuli, whose
dominions he had invaded, and who falls
by his hand. The unrivalled force, ele-
gance, and beauty of Virgil's style have
been the theme of admiration in every
succeeding age, and given him an indis-
putable right to a niche in the temple of
Apollo, second only to that of Homer.

..EO'LIAN HARP, an arrangement of
strings placed in a window and played
upon by the wind. It produces the effect
of a distant, choir of music in the air,
sweetly mingling all the harmonic notes,
and swelling or diminishing its sounds

A.G.V]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

according to the strength or weakness of
the blast.

JEi'RA, or E'RA, a fixed historical
period whence years are reckoned : as
the building of Rome, or the birth of
Christ. Era and* Epoch are not exactly
synonymous. An era is a point fixed by
a particular people or nation ; an epoch,
one determined by chronologists and his-
torians. The idea of an era, also, com-
prehends a certain succession of years,
proceeding from a fixed event ; and an
epoch is that event itself.

AE'RIAL, in painting, a term applied
to the diminishing intensity of color on
objects receding from the eye. Aerial
perspective is the relative apparent re-
cession of objects from the foreground,
owing to the quantity of air interposed
between them and the spectator, and
must accompany the recession of the
perspective lines.

AER'OMANCY, a kind of divination
amongst the Greeks, and from them adopt-
ed by the Romans, whereby they pre-
tended to foretell future events from cer-
tain spectral phenomena or noises in the
air. By aeromancy, in the present day,
is meant the art of foretelling the changes
and variations of the air and weather, by
means of meteorological observations.

A'ERONAUT, one who sails in the air
in a balloon.

AERONAU'TICS, or AEROSTA'-
TION, the art of navigating the air, by
employing air-balloons, or silken globes,
filled with gas lighter than atmospheric
air.

^USTIIET'ICS, a term derived from
the Greek, denoting feeling, sentiment,
imagination, originally adopted by the
Germans, and now incorporated into the
vocabulary of Art. By it is generally
understood " the science of the beautiful"
and its various modes of representation ;
its purpose is to lead the criticism of the
beautiful back to the principle of reason.
In beauty lies the soul of Art. Schelling
declares that the province of ^Esthetics
is to develop systematically the mani-
fold beautiful in every Art, as the one
idea of the beautiful.

^ES'TIVA, summer encampments for
the Roman soldiers, in distinction from
the hibernia, or winter quarters.

jES'TIV AL, in a general sense, denotes
something connected with, or belonging
to summer. Hence we say aestival point,
festival sign, sestival solstice, <fec.

AFFECTA'TION, in the Fine Arts,
an artificial show arising from the want
of simplicity either in coloring, drawing,

i or action. Also, the overcharging any
! part of a composition with an artificial or
deceitful appearance.

AFFETUO'SO, afetto, Ital., in a tender
and affecting style ; a term employed in
music-books, at the beginning of a move-
ment.

AFFI'ANCE, in law, denotes the mu-
tual plighting of truth, between a man
and a woman ; to bind one's self to the
performance of a marriage contract.

AFFIDA'VIT, an oath in writing,
taken before some person who is legally
authorized to administer the same.

AFFINITY, in civil law, the rela-
tionship in which each of the parties
married stands to the kindred of the
other.

AFFIR'MATIVE, an epithet used by
logicians for a species of proposition
wherein any predicate is affirmed of its
subject ; as, " a dog is a quadruped ;"
here "quadruped" is affirmed of a dog.

AF'FIX, in grammar, a particle added
at the close of a word, either to diversify
its form, or alter its signification.

AFFLA'TUS, in a general sense, a
divine influence communicating to the
receiver supernatural powers, particularly
the gift of prophecy. Among heathen v
mythologists and poets, it denotes the
actual inspiration of some divinity.
Tully, however, extends the meaning of
the word farther, by attributing all great
actions to a divine afflatus.

A FORTIO'RI, a term implying that
what follows is a .more powerful argu-
ment than what has been before adduced.

AFTER, modelled or drawn after the
antique, after Raphael, or some other
great master. It is to copy an antique
statue, or some work of the great masters.

AG'AP^E, love-feasts kept by the an-
cient Christians, as a token of brotherly
charity and mutual benevolence. In
course of time abuses crept in, and ren-
dered the abolition of them necessary.

AGAPE'T^E, a society of unmarried
women among the primitive Christians,
who attended on and served the clergy.
At first there was nothing improper in
these societies, though they were after-
wards charged with gross immoralities,
and were wholly abolished by the council
of Lateran, in 1139.

AG'ATHA, ST., when represented as a
martyr, is depicted crowned, with a long
veil, and bearing the instruments of her
cruel martyrdom, a pair of shears, with
which her breasts were cut off. As
patron saint, she bears in one hand a
palm branch, and holding with the other

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[AL

a plate or salver, upon which is a female
breast. The subject of her martyrdom
has been treated by Sebastian del Piom-
bo. Van Dyck, Parmigiano, and others.

AGE, a certain period or limit of time,
marked for the convenience of chronology
and history by some remarkable events.
Chronologers usually reckon seven such
ages, namely, 1. From the creation to
the deluge. 2. From the deluge to the
birth of Abraham. 3. From the birth of
Abraham to the departure of the Israelites
out of Egypt. 4. From the departure of
the Israelites to the building of the tem-
ple by Solomon. 5. From the laying the
foundation of the temple to the reign of
Cyrus in Babylon. 6. From the reign
of Cyrus to the coming of Christ. 7. Since
the birth of our Saviour. Among an-
cient historians, the duration of the world
was also subdivided into three periods,
or ages : the first, reaching from the
creation to the deluge which happened in
Greece during the reign of Ogyges, is
called the obscure or uncertain age ; the
second, called the fabulous or heroic,
terminates at the first olympiad ; where
the third, or historical age, commences.
The poets also distinguished the period
of the world into four ages : the golden
age, or the age of simplicity and happi-
ness ; the silver age, which was less pure
than the golden age, and in which men
began to till the ground for their sus-
tenance ; the brazen age, when strife and
contentions began ; and the iron age,
when justice and honor had left the earth.

AGEN'DA, small books are now pub-
lished under this title, in which individuals
may set down, under their proper heads,
the things to be daily attended to.

A'GENT, in a general sense, denotes
anything which acts, or produces an ef-
fect. Agents are either natural or moral.
Natural agents are all such inanimate
bodies as have a power to act upon other
bodies, in a certain and determinate
manner : such is fire, which has the in-
variable property or power to warm or
heat. Moral agents, on the contrary,
are rational creatures, capable of regu-
lating their actions by a certain rule.

A'GIO, in commerce, a term chiefly
used in Holland and at Venice, to signify
the difference between the value of bank-
stock and the current coin.

AG'NES, ST., this saint is represented
as a martyr, holding the palm-branch in
her hand, with a lamb at her feet or in
her arms, sometimes crowned with olives,
and holding an olive-branch as well as
the palm-branch.

AGNO'MEN, in Roman antiquity, was
the fourth or honorary name bestowed on
account of some extraordinary action, vir-
tue, or accomplishment. Thus the agno-
men Africanus was given to Publius Cor-
nelius Scipio, on account of his exploits
in Africa.

AG'NUS DEI, (LAMB or GOD,) the
oval medallions, which are made either
from the wax of the consecrated Easter
candles or of the wafer dough. They
are also sometimes made of silver, and
have on one side the Lamb, with the ban-
ner of Victory, or St. John, and on the
other the picture of some saint. They
were first made about the fourteenth
century.

A'GOX, in the public games of the an-
cients, a term used indifferently for any
contest or dispute, whether respecting
bodily exercises, or accomplishments of
the mind. Thus poets, musicians, &c.,
had their agones, as well as the athletic.
AGON was also used for one of the
ministers employed in the heathen sacri-
fices, whose business it was to strike the
victim.

AGONA'LIA, festivals in Rome, cele-
brated in honor of Janus, or Agonius,
three times a year.

AGONOTHE'T-S;, officers appointed at
the Grecian games to take care that all
things were performed according to cus-
tom, to decide controversies amongst the
antagonists, and adjudge the prizes.

AGRA'RIAN LAWS, statutes, which
forbid the possession of more than a cer-
tain extent of land by any single indi-
vidual. That law of the Romans, called,
by way of eminence, the agrarian law,
was published by Spurius Cassius, about
the year of Rome, 268, enjoining a di-
vision of the conquered lands, in equal
parts, among the citizens, and limiting
the number of acres that each might enjoy.

AIR, in music, signifies the melody,
or treble part of a musical composition.
The word is also used for a tune, or song
itself, that is, for a series of sounds
whose movement is regular and graceful.
AIR, in painting, the medium in na-
ture through which every object is viewed,
and hence to be transferred to the imita-
tion on canvas. The effects which it
produces are an indispensable part of the
knowledge of every artist. It affects the
sizes and color of objects according to
their distance.

AL, an Arabian particle, answering to
the English the, and employed in the
same manner to mark anything indefi-
nitely.

ALE]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

AL'AB ASTER, a well-known sulphate
of lime, forming a soft, granular, imper-
fectly transparent marble ; used for or-
naments in houses, and by statuaries.
It is found in Germany, France, and
Italy.

A LA GRECQUE, (Fr.) an architec-
tural orna-
ment resem-
bling a vari-
ously twisted
ribbon, when
it is merely a
narrow continuous stripe, forming right
angles, either raised or cut in, and some-
times only painted. This ornament, called
also a labyrinth, may be used for recti-
lineal mouldings. If it be only one stripe,
it is called the simple labyrinth ; but if
two stripes be twisted into one another it
is called the double labyrinth.

ALB, or ALBE, (alba,) in the Romish
church, a vestment of white linen, hang-
ing down to the feet, and answering to
the surplice of the Episcopal clergy. In
the ancient church, it was usual with
those newly baptized, to wear an alb, or
white vestment ; and hence the Sunday
after Easter was called dominica in albis,
on account of the albs worn by those bap-
tized on Easter-day.

AL'BAN, ST., in Christian art, is rep-
resented (as also is St. Denis), carrying
his head between his hands. His attri-
butes are a sword and a crown.

AL'BATROSS, or Man-of-War Bird,
the Diomedes of Linnaeus, a large and
voracious bird, which inhabits many
countries between the tropics.

ALBIGEN'SES, a name common to
several sects, particularly the athari
and Waldenses, who agreed in opposing
the dominion of the Romish hierarchy, |
and endeavoring to restore the simplicity
of primitive Christianity. They endured
the severest persecutions, and after the
middle of the 13th century, the name of
Albigenses altogether disappeared; but
fugitives of their party formed, in the
mountains of Piedmont and in Lombardy,
what is called the French Church, which
was continued through the Waldenses, to
the era of the Reformation.

ALBI'NOS, or LEUC^'THIOPS, a vari-
ety of the human species, that frequently i
occurs in Africa. The Portuguese first j
gave the name of Albino to the white !
negro, and they formerly described them
as a distinct race ; but modern natural-
ists have discovered them in various
countries of Europe, viz., in Switzerland, ;
among the Savoyards in the valley of \

Chamouni ; in France, in the tract of
the Rhine ; in Tyrol, &c.

AL'BUM, a white table or register,
whereon the Roman prajtors had their
decrees written. There were many of
them in use, and they received their ap-
pellations from the various magistrates
whose names were thereon entered; as
the album judicum, the album decurio-
num, &c. The fashionable ALBUMS of
the present day are derived from the
practice adopted in many foreign coun-
tries of having a white paper book, in
which strangers of distinction or literary
eminence were invited to insert their
names, or any observation in prose or
verse, as a memorial of their visit.

ALCA'ICS, a term given to several
kinds of verse, from their inventor, the
poet Alcaeus.

AL'CAIDE, or AL'CALDE, a Spanish
or Portuguese magistrate, or officer of
justice, answering nearly to the French
prevost, and the British justice of peace.
Both the name and office are of Moorish
origin.

AL'CORAN, or the KORAN, the name
of the volume containing the revelations,
doctrines, and precepts of Mahomet, in
which his followers place implicit confi-
dence. The general aim of the Alcoran
was to unite the professors of the three
different religions then followed in Ara-
bia, Idolaters, Jews, and Christians, in
the knowledge and worship of one God,
under the sanction of certain laws, and
the outward signs of ceremonies, partly
of ancient, and partly of novel institu-
tion, enforced by the consideration of re-
wards and punishments, both temporal
and eternal, and to bring all to the obe-
dience of Mahomet, as the prophet and
ambassador of God, who was to establish
the true religion on earth.

AL'DINE EDITIONS, those editions
of the Greek and Roman classics which
were printed by the family of Aldus
Manutius, first established at Venice
about 1490.

ALEXAN'DRIAN, or ALEXAN'-
DRINE, in poetry, a kind of verse, con-
sisting of twelve, or of twelve and thirteen
syllables alternately, the pause being al-
ways on the sixth syllable. It is so called
from a poem on the life of Alexander,
written in this way, by some French poet.

ALEXAN'DRIAN LIBRARY, this
celebrated library was founded by Ptole-
my Soter, for the use of an academy
that he instituted in Alexandria; and,
by continual additions by his successors,
became at last the finest library in the

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ALL

world, containing no fewer than 700.000
volumes. The method followed in col-
lecting books for this library, was, to
seize all those which were brought into
Egypt by Greeks or other foreigners.
The books were transcribed in the mu-
seum by persons appointed for that pur-
pose, the copies were then delivered to
the proprietors, and the originals laid up
in the library. It was eventually burnt
by order of the caliph Omar, A.D. 624.

ALEXANDRIAN MANUSCRIPT, or
CODEX ALEXANDRINUS, a famous copy
of the Scriptures, consisting of four vol-
umes, in a large quarto size ; which con-
tains the whole Bible, in Greek, including
the Old and New Testaments, with the
Apocrypha, and some smaller pieces, but
not quite complete. This manuscript is
now preserved in the British Museum.
It was sent as a present to king Charles
I., from Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of
Constantinople, by Sir Thomas Rowe,
ambassador from England to the grand
seignior, about the year 1628.

ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL, an acad-
emy for literature and learning of all
kinds, instituted at Alexandria by Ptole-
my, son of Lagus, and supported by his
successors. The grammarians and math-
ematicians of this school were particularly
celebrated. In the former class occur the
noted names of Aristarchus, Harpocra-
tion, and Aristophanes ; and among the
latter were numbered the astronomer
Ptolemy, and geometer Euclid. The
grammarians of Alexandria exercised a
universal literary jurisdiction, publishing
canons of those who were to be considered
standard authors, and revised editions of
ancient writers.

ALEX'IS, ST., the patron saint of beg-
gars and pilgrims. In Christian art, he
is usually represented in a pilgrim's
habit and staff; sometimes as extended
on a mat, with a letter in his hand, dying.
St. Roch is also represented as a pilgrim,
but he is distinguished from St. Alexis
by the plague spot on his body, and in
being accompanied by a dog.

AL'GUAZIL, the title of one of the
lower orders of Spanish officers of justice,
whose business is to execute the orders i
of the magistrate.

A'LIAS, in law, a Latin word signify-
ing otherwise ; often used in describing ;
the accused, who has assumed other
names beside his real one.

AL'IBI, in law, a Latin word signify-
ing, literally, elsewhere. It is used by
the accused, when he wishes to prove his
innocence, by showing that he was in

another place when the act was com-
mitted.

AL'IMONY, in law, the maintenance
sued for by a wife, in case of a legal
separation from her husband, wherein
she is neither chargeable with elopement
nor adultery.

AL'LAH, the Arabian name of God.

ALLA-PRIMA, (Ital.) Av PREMIER
COUP, (P*r.) a method of painting in
which the pigments are applied all at
once to the canvas, without impasting or
retouching. Some of the best pictures
of the great masters are painted in at
once by this method, but it requires too
much knowledge, skill, and decision to
be generally practised.

ALLEGOR'ICAL PICTURES are of
two kinds : the one comprehends those in
which the artist unites allegorical with
real persons, and this is the lower rank
of allegorical painting. Such are those
of Rubens, in the Gallery of the Luxem-
bourg, representing the stormy life of
Mary de Medicis. The other, those in
which the artist represents allegorical
persons only ; and by the position of
single figures, the grouping of many and
the composition of the whole, conveys to
the mind of the spectator one thought
or many thoughts, which he cannot con-
vey by the common language of his art :
this is allegorical painting in the true
sense of the term.

AL'LEGORY, a series or chain of
metaphors continued through a whole
discourse. The great source of allegory,
or allegorical interpretations, is some
difficulty, or absurdity, in the literal and
obvious sense.

AHJE'GRO, an Italian word used in
music, to denote that the part is to be
played in a brisk and sprightly manner.
The usual distinctions succeed each other
in the following order : grave, adagio,
largo, vivace, allegro, presto. Allegro
time may be heightened, as allegro assai
and allegrissimo, very lively ; or lessened,
as allegretto orpoco allegro, a little lively.
Piu allegro is a direction to play or sing
a little quicker.

ALLEMAN'NIC, in a general sense,
denotes anything belonging to the an-
cient Germans. Thus we meet with Alle-
mannic history, Allemannic language,
Allemannic law, Ac.

ALL-HAL'LOWS, or ALL-SAINTS,
a festival observed by many denomina-
tions of Christians, in commemoration of
the saints in general. It is kept on the
first of November, Gregory IV. having in
835 appointed that day for its celebration

ALT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

ALLITERA'TION, a figure or embel-
lishment of speech, which consists in the
repetition of the same consonants, or of
syllables of the same sound, in one sen-
tence. The Greek and Roman literature
afford many instances of this ; and in
English poetry there are also many beau-
tiful specimens of alliterations ; though
it must be confessed that it is too often
used without the requisite skill, and
carried too far. In burlesque poetry it
is frequently used with excellent effect ;
though even there the sense should never
be sacrificed to the sound. Tastefully
used, it is a most enchanting ornament,
and will equally contribute to softness, to
energy, and to solemnity.

ALLU'SION, in rhetoric, strictly, a
covert indication, as by means of a meta-
phor, a play of words, <fcc., of something
not openly mentioned and extrinsic to the
principal meaning of the sentence.

AI/M AGEST, the name of a celebrated
book, composed by Ptolemy ; being a
collection of many of the observations
and problems of the ancients, relating
both to geometry and astronomy.

AL'MA MA'TER, a title given to the
universities of Oxford and Cambridge by
their several members who have passed
their degrees in either of these universi-
ties.

AL'MANAC, a calendar or table, con-
taining a list of the months, weeks, and
days of the year, with an account of the
rising and setting of the sun and moon,
the most remarkable phenomena of the
heavenly bodies, the several festivals,
and fasts, and other incidental matters.
The NAUTICAL ALMANAC, a most valua-
ble work for mariners, is published in
England two or three years in advance.
It was commenced in 1767, by Dr. Mas-
kelyne, the astronomer royal, and has
been regularly continued ever since.

AL'PHABET, the natural or cus-
tomary series of the several letters of a
language. The word is formed from j
alpha and beta, the first and second letters |
of the Greek alphabet. It is undoubtedly
the most important of all inventions, for
by means of it sounds are represented,
and language made visible to the eye by
a few simple characters. The five books
of Moses are universally acknowledged
to be the most ancient compositions, as
well as the most early specimens of
alphabetical writing extant; and it ap-
pears that all the languages in use
amongst men which have been conveyed
in alphabetical characters, have been
the languages of people connected, ulti- j

mately or immediately, with the Hebrews.
Hence a most energetic controversy has
existed amongst learned men, whether the
method of expressing our ideas by visible
symbols, called letters, be really a human
invention ; or whether we ought to attrib-
ute an art so exceedingly useful, to an
immediate intimation of the Deity.

ALPHON'SINE TABLES, astronom-
ical tables made in the reign of Alphon-
sus X., king of Arragon, who was a great
lover of science, and a prince of rare
attainments ; but though these tables
bear his name, they were chiefly drawn
up by Isaac Hazan, a learned Jewish
rabbi.

ALSEG'NO, in music, a notice to the
performer that he must recommence from
that part of the movement to which 'CiJ
the sign or mark is prefixed.

ALT, in music, that part of the great
scale lying between F above the treble
cliff note, and G in altissimo.

AL'TAR, a place upon which sacrifices
were anciently offered to the Almighty,
or some heathen deity. Before temples
were in use, altars were erected some-
times in groves, sometimes in the high-
ways, and sometimes on the tops of
mountains ; and it was a custom to en-
grave upon them the name, proper
ensign, or character of the deity to whom
they were consecrated. Thus St. Paul
observed an altar at Athens, with an
inscription, To the unknown God. In
the great temples of ancient Rome, thero
were ordinarily three altars : the first
was placed in the sanctuary, at the foot
of the statue of the divinity, upon which
incense was burnt, and libations offered ;
the second was before the gate of the
temple, and upon it they sacrificed the
victims ; and the third was a portable
altar, upon which were placed the offer-
ings and the sacred vessels. The princi-
pal altars of the Jews were those of in-
cense, of burnt-offerings, and the altar
or table, for the show-bread. ALTAH is
also used among Christians, for the com-
munion-table.

ALTIS'SIMO, in music, an Italian epi-
thet for notes above F in alt.

ALTIS'TA, in music, an Italian name
for the vocal performer who takes the
alto primo part.

AL'TO, or AL'TO TENO'RE, in music,
is the term applied to that part of the
great vocal scale which lies between the
mezzo soprano and the tenor, and which
is assigned to the highest natural adult
male voice. In scores, it always signi-
fies the counter-tenor part.

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[AMP

AL'TO RELIE'VO, in sculpture, a
representation of figures and other ob-
jects against a flat surface; differing
from basso relievo only in the work being
much more brought forward.

AMATEUR', a person having a taste
for a particular art, yet not professing,
nor being dependent on it.

AM'BER, a hard, brittle, tasteless sub-
stance, mostly semi-transparent, or opa-
que, and of a glossy surface. This curious
production of nature is inflammable, and,
when heated, yields a strong and bitumi-
nous odor. Its most extraordinary prop-
erties are those of attracting after it
has been exposed to a slight friction,
straws, and other surrounding objects ;
and of producing sparks of fire, visible
in the dark. Many thousand years before
the science of electricity had entered the
mind of man, these surprising qualities
were known to exist in amber, and hence
the Greeks called it electrum.

AM'BIDEXTER, a person who can use
both hands with equal facility, and for
the same purposes that the generality of
people do their right hands. In law, a
juror who takes money for giving his
verdict.

AM'BITUS, in music, signifies the
particular extent of each tone, or modi-
fication of grave and sharp.

AM'BO. in architecture, the elevated
place, or pulpit, in the early Christian
churches, from whence it was usual to
address the congregation, and on which
certain parts of the service were chanted.

AM'BROSE, ST., the patron saint of
Milan : but few works of art exist, in
which he is so represented. The finest is
the painting that adorns his chapel in
the Frari at Venice, painted by Viva-
rini, towards the end of the fifteenth cen-
tury, a work of the highest excellence.
St. Ambrose is usually represented in the
costume of a bishop.

AMBRO'SIA, in heathen antiquity,
denotes the food of the gods. Hence,
whatever is very gratifying to the taste
or smell has been termed ambrosial.

AMBRO'SIAN CHANT, in music,
so called from St. Ambrose, archbishop
of Milan, who composed it for the church
there in the fourth century : it is distin-
guished from the Gregorian chant by a
great monotony and want of beauty in its
melody.

AMEN', in Scripture language, a sol-
emn formula, or conclusion to all prayer,
signifying verily, or so be it.

AMENDE HONORABLE, (French,)
an infamous kind of punishment formerly

inflicted in France on traitors, parricides,
or sacrilegious persons, who wore to go
naked to the shirt, with a torch in their
hand, and a rope about their neck, into a
church or a court, to beg pardon of (I ml,
the court, and the injured party. The
modern acceptation of the term indicates
that an open apology is made for an of-
fence or injury.

AMER'iCANISM, any word or phrase
in general use among the inhabitants of
the United States, which deviates from
the English standard. Of these, a great
proportion are mere vulgarisms and
technical words of local character, origi-
naliy taken from different counties in
England, by the first emigrants ; others
are words formerly used by the English
writers, but which have become obsolete ;
while many are of modern coinage, and
owe their origin to the caprice of inventors.
Every living language is subject to con-
tinual changes ; and it is not to be expected
that a large community, in a state of
social and political activity, who are daily
developing new and characteristic fea-
tures, will fail to exercise their share of
influence upon that which they naturally
consider as a part of their inheritance.

AM'ETHYST, a rock crystal of a pur-
ple color. Many ancient vases and cups
are composed of this mineral, and the
finer varieties are still much in request
for cutting into seals and brooches.

AM'MON, the title under which Jupi-
ter was worshipped in Libya, where a
temple was erected to him, from which
oracles were delivered for many ages.

AMMUNITION, all warlike stores,
and especially powder, ball, bombs, guns,
and other weapons necessary for an army.

AM'NESTY, an act by which two par-
ties at variance promise to pardon and
bury in oblivion all that is past. It is
more especially used for a pardon granted
by a prince to his rebellious subjects.

AMPHIBO'LIA, or AMPHIBOL'OGY,
in rhetoric, ambiguity of expression,
when a sentence conveys a double mean-
ing. It is distinguished from an equivoca-
tion, which lies in a single word.

AMPHIC'TYONS, in Grecian anti-
quity, an assembly composed of deputies
from the different states of Greece. The
amphictyons at first met regularly at
Delphi, twice a year, viz. in spring and
autumn ; but in latter times they assem-
bled at the village of Anthela, near
Thermopylae ; and decided all differences
between any of the Grecian states, their
determinations being held sacred and
inviolable.

AND THE FINE ARTS.

AMPHITIIE'ATRE, in antiquity, a
spacious edifice, built either round or
oval, with a number of rising seats, upon
which the people used to sit and behold
the combats of gladiators, of wild beasts,
and other sports. Some of them, as the
Coliseum at Rome, were capable of con-
taining from 50,000 to 80,000 spectators.
The principal parts of the amphitheatre
were the arena, or place where the
gladiators fought ; cavea, or hollow place
where the beasts were kept ; podium, or
projection at the top of the wall which
surrounded the arena, and was assigned
to the senators ; gradus, or benches, ris-
ing all round above the podium ; aditus,
or entrances ; and vomitories, or gates
which terminated the aditus.

AM'PHORA, in antiquity, a liquid
measure in use among the Greeks and
Romans. The Roman amphora contained
forty-eight sextaries, and was equal to
about seven gallons one pint, English
wine-measure ; and the Grecian, or Attic
amphora, contained one third more. Am-
phora was also a dry measure in use
among the Romans, and contained three
bushels.

AMPHORI'TES, in antiquity, a sort
of literary contest in the island of JEgina,
where the poet who made the best dithy-
rambic verses in honor of Bacchus was
rewarded with an ox.

AMPLIFICATION, in rhetoric, part
of a discourse or speech, wherein a crime
is aggravated, a praise or commendation
heightened, or a narration enlarged, by
an enumeration of circumstances, so as
to excite the proper emotions in the
minds of the auditors.

AMPUL/LA, an ancient drinking ves-
sel ; and among ecclesiastical writers
it denotes one of the sacred vessels used
at the altar. The ampulla is still a dis-
tinguished vessel in the coronation of the
kings of England and France. The vessel
now in use in England is of the purest
chased gold, and represents an eagle
with expanding wings standing on a pe-
destal, near seven inches in height, and
weighing about ten ounces. It was de-
posited in the Tower by the gallant Ed-
ward, surnamed the Black Prince.

AM'ULET, a superstitious charm or
preservative against mischief, witchcraft,
or diseases. They were made of stone,
metal, animals, and, in fact, of every-
thing which fancy or caprice suggested.
Sometimes they consisted of words, charac-
ters, and sentences, ranged in a particular
order, and engraved upon wood, <fcc., and
worn about the neck, or some other part
2

of the body. At other times they wera
neither written nor engraved ; but pre-
pared with many superstitious cere-
monies, great regard being usually paid
to the influence of the stars.

A'NA, a name given to amusing mis-
cellanies, consisting of anecdotes, traits
of character, and incidents relating to
any person or subject.

ANAB'ASIS, the title of Xenophon's
description of the younger Cyrus's expedi-
tion against his brother, in which the
writer bore a principal part.

ANA'CHRONISM, in literature, an
error with respect to chronology, whereby
an event is placed earlier than it really
happened ; in which sense it stands oppo-
site to parachronism.

ANACOLU'THON, in grammar or
rhetoric, a want of coherency, generally
arising from inattention on the part of
the writer or orator.

ANACREON'TIC VERSE, in ancient
poetry, a kind of verse, so called from its
being much used by the poet Anacreon.
It consisted of three feet, generally spon-
dees and iambics, sometimes anapaests,
and was peculiarly distinguished for soft-
ness and tenderness.

ANADIPLO'SIS, a figure in rhetoric
and poetry, in which the last word or
words of a sentence are repeated at the
beginning of the next.

ANAGLY'PHIC. in antique sculpture,
chased or embossed work on metal, or
anything worked in relief. When raised
on stone, the production is a cameo.
When sunk or indented, it is a dia-
glyphic or an intaglio.

AN'AGRAM, the change of one word
or phrase into another, by the transposi-
tion of its letters. They were very
common among the ancients, and occa-
sionally contained some happy allusion ;
but, perhaps, none were more appropriate
than the anagram made by Dr. Burney
on the name of the hero of the Nile, just
after that important victory took place :
HORATIO NELSON, " Honor est a Nilo."
They are frequently employed satirically,
or jestingly, with little aim beyond that
of exercising the ingenuity of their au-
thors.

ANALEC'TA, a collection of extracts
from different works.

ANAL'OGY, a certain relation and
agreement between two or more things,
which in other respects are entirely
different. Or it may be defined an im-
portant process of reasoning, by which
we infer similar effects and phenomena
from similar causes and events. A great

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

AND

part of our philosophy has no other foun-
dation than antilogy.

AXAL'YSIS, among grammarians, is
the explaining the etymology, construc-
tion, and other properties of words.
ANALYSIS is also used for a brief, but me-
thodical illustration of the principles of a
science ; in which sense it is nearly synon-
ymous with what is termed a synopsis.

ANAMNE'SIS, in rhetoric, an enume-
ration of the things treated of before ;
which is a sort of recapitulation.

ANAMORPHO'SIS, in perspective and
painting, the representation of some
image, either on a plane or curved sur-
face, deformed, or distorted ; which in a
certain point of view appears regular and
in just proportion.

AN'AP^EST, a foot in Greek and Latin
metre, consisting of two short syllables
followed by a long, being the name of the
dactyle.

ANAPH'ORA, a rhetorical figure,
.which consists in the repetition of the
same word or phrase at the beginning of
several successive sentences.

AN'ARCHY, a society without a gov-
ernment, or where there is no supreme
governor.

ANASTA'SIA, ST., is represented with
the attributes, a stake and fagots ; and
with the palm as a symbol of her martyr-
dom.

ANASTATIC, a word derived from the
Greek signifying " reviving." A recently
invented process, by which any number
of copies of a printed page of any size, a
wood-cut, or a line-engraving, can be ob-
tained. The process is based upon the
law of " the repulsion of dissimilar, and
the mutual attraction of similar parti-
cles," and is exhibited by oil, water, and
gum arabic. The printed matter to be
copied is first submitted to the action of
diluted nitric acid, and, while retaining a
portion of the moisture, is pressed upon a
sheet of polished zinc, which is imme-
diately attacked by the acid in every
part except that covered by the printing-
ink, a thin film of which is left on the
zinc ; it is then washed with a weak solu-
tion of gum arabic ; an inked-roller being
now passed over the zinc-plate, the ink
adheres only to that portion which was
inked in the original ; the impressions are
then taken from the zinc-plate, in the
same manner as in lithographic printing.
ANAS'TROPHE, in rhetoric, the in-
version of words in a sentence, or the
placing them out of their natural order.
AXATH'EMA, among ecclesiastical
writers, imports whatever is set apart,

separated, or divided ; but the word is most
usually intended to express the cutting
off a person from the privileges of socie-
ty, and from communion with the faithful.
AN'CHOR, in Christian art, is the
symbol of hope, firmness, tranquillity,
patience and faith. Among those saints,
of whom the anchor is an attribute, are
Clement of Rome and Nicolas of Bari.

AN'CHORITE, more properly, ana-
choret. a hermit, or person who has re-
tired from the world with the purpose of
devoting himself entirely to meditation
and prayer. Such was the case with
many of the early Christians, beginning
perhaps with such as fled from the per-
secutions of Decius and Diocletian, and
retired into forests and deserts, at first
with a view to security merely, and
afterwards continued, from religious mo-
tives, the mode of life they had there
adopted.

AN'CIENTS, in the more general
sense of the term, means those who
lived long ago, or before the Moderns.
But the term is now usually employed to
designate the Greeks and Romans ; and
if any other people be meant, it is cus-
tomary to specify them, as the ancient
Germans, the ancient Jews, &c.

ANCY'LE, or ANCI'LE, in antiquity,
a small brazen shield which fell, as was
pretended, from heaven in the reign of
Numa Pompilius, when a voice was
heard, declaring that Rome should be
mistress of the world as long as she
should preserve this holy buckler.

ANDAN'TE, in music, the Italian
term for exact and just time in playing,
so as to keep the notes distinct from each
other. ANDANTE LAHGO, signifies that
the music must be slow, the time exactly
observed, and each note distinct.

ANDANTI'NO, in music, an Italian
word for gentle, tender ; somewhat slower
than andante.

ANDREW, ST., the patron saint of
Scotland ; also of the renowned order
of the Golden Fleece of Burgundy, and of
the order of the Cross of St. Andrew of
Russia. The principal events in the life
of this apostle chosen for representation
by the Christian artists are, his Flagella-
tion, the Adoration of the Cross, and his
Martyrdom. He is usually depicted as
an old man, with long white hair and
beard, holding the Gospel in his right
hand, and leaning upon a transverse cross,
formed sometimes of planks ; at others,
of the rough branches of trees. This
form of cross is peculiar to this saint, and
hence it is termed St. Andrew's Cross.

ANT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

AN'GEL, the name given to those
spiritual, intelligent beings, who are sup-
posed to execute the will of God, in the
government of the world. It is some-
times used in a figurative, and at others
in a literal sense. ANGEL, the name of
an ancient gold coin in England, so called
from the figure of an angel upon it. It
weighed four pennyweights.

AN'GLICISM, an idiom of speech, or
manner peculiar to the English.

ANGLO-SAX'ON, the name of the
people called Angles, who with the Sax-
ons and some other German tribes, flour-
ished in England after it was abandoned
by the Romans, about the year 400 ; and
who introduced their language, govern-
ment, and customs. ANGLO-SAXON LAN-
GUAGE. After the conquest of England
by the Angles and Saxons, the Saxon be-
came the prevalent tongue of that coun-
try ; and after the Norman conquest, the
English language exhibits the peculiar
case, where languages of two different
stocks are blended into one idiom, which,
by the cultivation of a free and active na-
tion and highly-gifted minds, has grown
to a powerful, organized whole.

AN'IMA, among divines and natural-
ists, denotes the soul, or principle of life
in animals. ANIMA MUNDI, a phrase
formerly used to denote a certain pure
ethereal substance or spirit which is dif-
fused through the mass of the world, or-
ganizing and actuating the whole and the
different parts.

AN'IMAL, a living body endued with
sensation and spontaneous motion. In
its limited sense, any irrational creature,
as distinguished from man.

AN'IMUS, in metaphysics, the mind or
reasoning faculty, in distinction from
anima, the being or faculty in which the
faculty exists.

AN'NALS, a species of history, in
which events are related in the exact
order of chronology. They differ from
perfect history in this, that annals are a
bare relation of what passes every year,
as a journal is of what passes every day;
whereas history relates not only the
transactions themselves, but also the
causes, motives, and springs of actions.

AN'NO DOM'INI, abbreviated A.D.,
the year of our Lord ; the computation
of time from our Saviour's incarnation.
It is used as the date for all public deeds
and writings in England and this coun-
try, on which account it is called the
" Vulgar Era."

ANXOTA'TION, a brief commentary,
or remark upon a book or writing, in

order to clear up some passage or draw
some conclusion from it.

AN'NUAL, an epithet for Whatever
happens every year, or lasts a year :
thus we say, the annual motion of the earth,
annual plants, annual publications, &c.

ANNU'ITY, the periodical payment of
money, either yearly, half-yearly, or
quarterly ; for a determinate period, as
ten, fifty, or a hundred years ; or for an
indeterminate period, dependent on a
certain contingency, as the death of a
person ; or for an indefinite term, in
which latter case they are called perpet-
ual annuities. As the probability of the
duration of life at every age is known,
so annuities may be purchased for fixed
sums during the life of the party. An
annuity is said to be in arrear when it
continues unpaid after it is due, and in
reversion, when it is to fall to -the ex-
pectant at some future time.

AN'NULET, in architecture, a small
square member in the Doric capital, un-
der the quarter-round. Also a narrow
flat moulding, encompassing other parts
of the column, as in the base, capital,
&c., which is variously termed fillet,

ANNUNCIA'TION, the delivery of ,.,
message, particularly the angel's mes-
sage to the Virgin Mary, concerning the
birth of our Saviour. The festival in
commemoration of that event is called
Lady-day, and falls on the 25th of March.

ANOM'ALOUS, in a general sense, is
applied to whatever is irregular, or de-
viates from the rule observed by other
things of the like nature. ANOMALOUS
VERBS, in grammar, such as are irregu-
larly formed, of which the Greek lan-
guage furnishes numerous examples.

ANON'YMOUS, in literature, works
published without the name of the author.
Those published under a false name are
termed Pseudonymous. The best cata-
logue of anonymous works is that of
Barbier (Dictionnaire des (Euvrages
Anonymes et Pseudonym.es, 3 vols. Paris,
1822-1824.) There is also the great
work of Placcius, Tkeatrum Anonymo-
rum et Pseudonymorum, t. fol. Ham-
burg, 1708.

AN'TA, M. plur., in architecture, a
pilaster or square projection attached to
a wall. When they are detached from
the wall, Vitruvius calls them parastatao.
They are not usually diminished, even
when accompanying columns from whose
capitals, in all Greek works, they vary.

ANTANACLA'SIS, in rhetoric, a fig-
ure which repeats the same word, but in

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ANT

a different sense ; as, " dum vivimus, vi-
vamus."

ANTECE'DENT, in grammar, the
word to which a relative refers : thus,
" God whom we adore," the word God is
the antecedent to the relative whom.
ANTECEDENT, in logic, is the first of the
two propositions in an enthymeme.

ANTECLE'MA, in oratory, is where
the whole defence of the person accused,
turns on criminating the accuser.

ANTEDILU'VIAN, whatever existed
before the deluge ; thus, the inhabitants
of the earth from Adam to Noah, are
called the antediluvians.

ANTEPENUL'TIMA, ANTEPEN-
UL'TIMATE, or ANTEPENULT', in
grammar, the third syllable of a word
from the end, or the last syllable but two.

ANTEPOSI'TION, a grammatical fig-
ure, whereby a word, which by the ordi-
nary rules of syntax ought to follow an-
other, comes before it.

AN'THEM, a piece of music performed
in cathedral service by choristers who sing
alternately. This manner of singing is
very ancient in the church ; some suppose
it to have descended from the practice of
the earliest Christians, who, according to
Pliny, were accustomed to sing their
Hymn to Christ in parts or by turns.

ANTHOL'OGY, a collection of choice
poems, particularly a collection of Greek
epigrams so called. The word in its
original sense simply means a collection
of flowers.

ANTHONY, ST., the events in the life
of this saint form a very important class
of subjects in Christian Art. Among the
most frequent are his Temptation, and
his Meeting with Saint Paul. St. An-
thony has several distinctive attributes
by which he is easily recognized : as the
founder of monachism he is depicted in a
monk's habit and cowl, bearing a crutch
in the shape of a T, called a tace, as a
token of his age and feebleness, with a
bell suspended to it, or in his hand, to
scare away the evil spirits by which he
was persecuted ; a firebrand in his hand,
with flames at his feet, a black hog,
representing the demons Gluttony and
Sensuality, under his feet ; sometimes a
devil is substituted for the hog.

ANTHROPOL'OGY, the science which
treats of human nature, either in a
physical or an intellectual point of view.

ANTHROPOMOR'PHITE, one who as-
cribes a human figure and a bodily form
to God.

ANTHROPOPH'AGI, or cannibals
persons who eat the flesh of men as weTT

as animals. Abhorrent and unnatural
as the practice is, there is no doubt that
whole nations have been addicted to this
practice, and that it still prevails in the
South Seas.

AN'TI, a Greek particle, which enters
into the composition of several words,
both Latin, French, and English, and
signifies opposite or contrary to, as in
antiscorbutics.

ANTI-CLI'MAX, in literary composi-
tion and oratory, when a writer or speaker
suddenly descends from the great to the
little.

AN'TIDOTE, a counter-poison, or any
medicine generally that counteracts the
effects of what has been swallowed.

ANTIL'OGY, an inconsistency between
two or more passages of the same book.

ANTIMETAB'OLE, in rhetoric, a set-
ting of two things in opposition to each
other.

ANTIMETATH'ESIS, in rhetoric, an
inversion of the parts or members of an
antithesis.

ANTIPHO'NA, or ANTIPH'ONY, in
music, the answer made by one choir to
another, when the psalm or anthem is
sung verse for verse alternately.

ANTIPH'RASIS, in rhetoric, a figure
of speech, or kind of irony, whereby we
say a thing by denying what we ought
rather to affirm it to be ; as when we say,
"he is no fool," we mean "he is a man
of sense."

AN'TIQUARY, a person who studies
and searches after monuments and re-
mains of antiquity. There were for-
merly in the chief cities of Greece and
Italy, persons of high distinction called
antiquaries, who made it their business
to explain the ancient inscriptions, and
give every other assistance in their
power to strangers who were lovers of
that kind of learning. The monks who
were employed in making new copies of
old books were formerly called antiqua-
rii.

ANTI'QUE, in a restricted sense,
pieces of ancient art, and by artists usu-
ally confined to such as were made by the
Greeks and Romans of the classical age.

ANTIQ'UITIES, all such documents
of ancient history as industrious and
learned men have collected ; genealogies,
inscriptions, monuments, coins, names,
etymologies, archives, mechanical instru-
ments, fragments of history, &c. An-
tiquities form a very extensive science,
including an historical knowledge of the
ancient edifices, magistrates, habiliments,
manners, customs, ceremonies, religious

APO]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

worship, and other objects worthy of cu-
riositj r , of all the principal nations of the
earth. In England, there are British,
Roman, Saxon, and Norman antiquities,
many of which are highly interesting,
and serve to throw a light on the man-
ners and customs of the people.

ANTIS'TROPHE, the alternate verse
in ancient poetry, which was divided into
the strophe and antistrophe. In reciting
their odes the chorus turned from the left
to the right at the antistrophe, and vice
versa.

ANTITH'ESIS, in rhetoric, a figure
of speech, by which two things are at-
tempted to be made more striking, by
being set in opposition to each other.
" Antitheses, well managed," says Bo-
hours, " give infinite pleasure in the pe-
rusal of works of genius ; they have
nearly the same effect in language as
lights and shadows in painting, which a
good artist distributes with propriety : or
the flats and sharps in music, which are
mingled by a skilful master." The
beautiful antithesis of Cicero, in his
second "atilinarian, may serve as an ex-
ample : " On the one side stands mod-
esty, on the other impudence ; on the
one fidelity, on the other deceit ; here
piety, there sacrilege ; here continency,
there lust," &c.

AN'TIT YPE, among ecclesiastical wri-
ters, denotes a type corresponding to
some other type or figure. In the Greek
church it is also an appellation given to
the symbols of bread and wine in the
sacrament.

ANTONOMA'SIA, a mode of speaking
in which a person is addressed or de-
scribed by some appropriate or official
designation, but not by his surname ; as,
in the House of Lords, " the noble lord,"
in the House of Commons, "the honora-
ble gentleman."

ANU'BIS, in mythology, an Egyptian
deity. The seventh, according to the
astronomical Theology, of their eight
gods of the first class. The Greeks iden-
tified him with Mercury. In Egyptian
painting and sculpture he is represented
as a man with the head of a dog.

A'ORIST, that inflection of the verb
which leaves the time of the action denoted
uncertain.

AP'ANAGE, an allowance to younger
branches of a sovereign house out of the
revenues of the country ; generally to-
gether with a grant of public domains.
A district with the right of ruling it,
when thus conferred, is termed paragium.
An apanage, in ordinary cases, descends

: to the children of the prince who on-
i joys it.

AP'ATHY, a term expressive of an
utter privation of passion, and an insen-
sibility of pain. Thus, the Stoics affected
an entire apathy, so as not to be ruffled,
or sensible of pleasure or pain.

APHuERE'SIS, in grammar, the tak-
ing away a letter or syllable from a
word.

APH'ORISM, a maxim or principle of
a science ; or a sentence which compre-
hends a great deal in a few words. The
aphoristic method has great advantages,
as containing much matter in a small
compass ; sentiments are here almost as
numerous as expressions ; and doctrines
may be counted by phrases.

APLUS'THE, or APLUS'TRIA, in the
naval architecture of the ancients, an
ornament resembling a shield fixed in
the poop of a ship, in which case it dif-
fered from the acrostoliuin.

APOC'ALYPSE, the Greek name of
the last book of the New Testament, so
called from its containing revelations
concerning several important doctrines
of Christianity.

APOC'OPE, in grammar, a figure by
which the last letter or syllable of a word
is cut off.

APOC'RYPHA, in theology, certain
books of doubtful authority which are not
received into the canons of holy writ.

APODIC'TICA, in rhetoric, an epithet
for arguments which are fitted for prov-
ing the truth of any point.

APODIOX'IS, in rhetoric, a figure
whereby we either pass over a thing
slightly, or reject it as unworthy of
notice.

APODIX'IS, in rhetoric, an evident
demonstration.

APOD'OSIS, in rhetoric, the latter
part of a complete exordium, or applica-
tion of a simile.

AP'OGRAPH, a copy or transcript of
some book or writing. It is opposed to
autograph.

APOLLINA'RES LU'DI, or APOL-
LINA'RIAN GAMES, in Roman an-
tiquity,-were instituted u. c. 542. They
were celebrated in honor of Apollo, by a
decree of the senate, in consequence of a
prediction of the prophet Marcius rela-
tive to the battle of Cannae.

APOL'LO, or PH(KBUS, a heathen
divinity, son of Jupiter and Latona, in
Homeric times the god of archery, pro-
phecy, music, and medicine. Later poets
represent him also as the god of day and
the sun. The statues of Apollo represent

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[APP

a young man in the perfection of manly
strength and beauty, with unshorn curling
locks, and a bow or lyre in his hund.

APOL'LO BEL'VIDERE, an ancient
marble statue of Apollo most exquisitely
finished. It was found in the ruins of
Antiuin, in the 15th century, and placed
in the Belvidere gallery of the Vatican
palace at Rome.

APOLLO'NIA, in antiquity, an an-
nual festival celebrated by the JEgialians
in honor of Apollo.

APOLLONIA, ST., or ALEXANDRIA,
the events in the life of this saint form
the subjects of some fine pictures, of
which one of the best, painted by Domen-
ichino, is in the Uallery of the Library
at Mayence. She is usually represented
as holding the martyr's palm in one
hand, and a pair of pincers, with a tooth,
in the other, illustrating her martyrdom,
during which all her teeth were pulled out.

AP'OLOGUE, a poetical fiction, the
purpose of which is the improvement of
morals. Some writers are of opinion,
that this term ought to be confined to
that species of fable in which brute or
inanimate things, as beasts or flowers,
are made to speak ; but this distinction,
so far from being followed, is generally
reversed. It is, in reality, more usual
to give the name of apologue where
human actors only are introduced.

APOL'OGY, in literature, a defence,
or answer to an accusation. The two
pieces of Xenophon and Plato, each com-
monly termed Apologia Socratis, differ
in character : the first being a defence
suppose'.! to be pronounced by the phi-
losopher himself; the last, a narration of
his last hours and discourses. Treatises
in defence of the Christian religion, in
its early period, were denominated Apolo-
gies by their writers ; as those of Justin
Martyr, Tertullian, and others, both pre-
served and lost. The title has been re-
tained by some writers in modern times :
as by Robert Barclay, in his Apology of
Quakerism, and by Bishop Watson, in
his Apologies for the Bible and for Chris-
tianity.

APOPH'ASIS, a figure of speech in
which the orator briefly alludes to, or
seems to decline stating, that which he
wishes to insinuate.

AP'OPHTHEGM, or AP'OTHEGM, a
short, sententious, and instructive remark,
especially if pronounced by a person of
distinguished character.

APOPH YGE, in architecture, the part
of a column where it springs out of its
base.

A POSTERIO'RI, in logic, a mode of
reasoning from the effect to the cause.

APOS'TLE, a person sent forth upon
any business : hence applied, by way of
eminence, to the twelve elect disciples of
Christ, who were sent forth by him to
convert and baptize all nations. In the
first century, the apostles assumed the
highest office in the church; and the
term apostle during that period was
equivalent to bishop in after-times.

APOS'TLES' CREED, a confession
of faith, supposed anciently to have been
drawn up by the apostles themselves,
and deriving the title "Creed" from the
word with which it begins in Latin
(credo, / believe). With respect to its
antiquity, it may be affirmed, that the
greater part of its clauses is quoted by
the apostolic father Ignatius ; and that
the whole, as it now stands in the liturgy,
is to be found in the works of St. Am-
brose, in the fourth century.

APOSTOLIC FATHERS, the wri-
ters of the Christian Church, who lived
in the apostolic age, or were during any
partt>f their lives contemporary with the
apostles. They are five : Clement of
Rome, Barnabas, Hennas, Ignatius, and
Polycarp ; of whom the last suffered mar-
tyrdom, A. D. 147.

APOS'TROPHE, in rhetoric, a figure
of speech by which the orator or writer
suddenly breaks off from the previous
method of his discourse, and addresses
himself in the second person to some
person, or thing, absent or present.

APOTHE'OSIS, deification, or the
ceremony of placing among the gods,
which was frequent among the ancients.
It was one of the doctrines of Pythagoras,
which he had borrowed from the Chal-
dees, that virtuous persons, after their
death, were raised into the order of the
gods. And hence the ancients deified all
the inventors of things useful to mankind,
and who had done any important service
to the commonwealth. This honor was
also conferred on several of the Roman
emperors at their decease.

APOT'OME, in music, the difference
between the greater and the less semi-
tone, being expressed by the ratio of 128
to 125.

APPEL'L ATIVE, in grammar, a noun
or name applicable to a whole species or
kind, as, a man, a horse.

APPEN'DIX, in literature, a treatise
or supplement added at the end of u
work, to render it more complete.

APPOGIATU'RA, in music, a small
note inserted by the practical musician.

AKC]

AND THE FINE AKTS.

between two others, at some distance ;
or a note inserted by way of embellish-
ment.

APPOSI'TION, in grammar, the pla-
cing two or more substantives together,
without any copulative between them, as
Wellington, the conqueror.

APPREHEN'SION, in logic, the first
or most simple act of the mind, whereby
it perceives, or is conscious of some idea :
it is more usually called perception.

A'PRIL, the fourth month of the
year. The name is probably derived
from Lat. aperire, to open, either from
the opening of the buds, or of the bosom
of the earth in producing vegetation.

A PRIO'RI, a mode of reasoning from
the cause to the effect.

AQLTATIN'TA, a style of engraving,
or rather etching, by which an etfect is
produced similar to that of a drawing in
Indian ink.

AQ'UEDUCT, a conduit of water, is a
construction of stone or timber, built on
uneven ground, to preserve the level of
water, and convey it, by a canal, from
one place to another. There are aque-
ducts under ground, and others raised
above it supported by arches. The Ro-
mans were very magnificent in their
aqueducts. In the time of the Emperor
Nerva there were nine, which emptied
themselves through 13,594 pipes of an
inch diameter. That constructed by
Louis XIV. for carrying the Bucq to
Versailles, is 7000 fathoms long. The
Croton aqueduct, 40 miles long, supply-
ing the city of New York with water, is
probably the greatest work of the kind
111 ancient or modern times.

AR'ABESQUE, or MORESQUE, a
style of ornament in painting and sculp-
ture, so called from the Arabians and
Moors, who rejected the representation
of animals.

AR'ABIC FIGURES, the numeral
characters now used in our arithmetic,
which were borrowed from the Arabians,
and introduced into England about the
eleventh century.

ARABO-TEDES'CO, a style of archi-
tecture, in which the Moorish and Gothic
are combined.

A'RyEOSTYLE, in architecture, a sort
of intercolnmniation, in which the columns
are at a distance from each other.

AR'BOR SCIEN'TI^E, a general dis-
tribution or scheme of science, or knowl-
edge.

ARCADE', in architecture, a series of
arches crowned with a roof or ceiling,
with a walk or passage thereunder. The

! piers of arcades may be decorated with
columns, pilasters, niches, and apertures
of different forms. The arches them-
selves are turned sometimes with rock-
worked and sometimes with plain rustic
arch stones or voussoirs, or with a moul-
ded archivolt, springing from an impost
or platband, and sometimes, though that
is not to be recommended, from columns.
The key-stones are generally carved in
the form of a console, or sculptured with
some device.

ARCA'NUM, among physicians, any
remedy, the preparation of which is in-
dustriously concealed, in order to enhance
its value.

ARCH, a concave building with a
mould bent in form of a curve, erected to
support some structure. Arches are either
circular, elliptical or straight, as .they
are improperly called by workmen. El-
liptical arches consist of a semi-ellipsis,
and have commonly a key-stone and
imposts ; they are usually described by
workmen on three centres. Straight
arches are those used over doors and
windows, and having plain straight edges,
both upper and under, which are parallel,
but both the ends and joints point towards
a centre. The term arch is peculiarly
used for the space between the two piers
of a bridge, for the passages, of water,
vessels, &c. TBIUMPHAL ARCH, a stately
gate of a semicircular form, adorned with
sculpture, inscriptions, <fec. erected in
honor of those who had deserved a tri-
umph. ARCH, as a syllable prefixed to
another word, denotes the highest degree
of its kind, whether good or bad ; as
archangel, archduke, archbishop, arch-
fiend, &c. Many of the highest offices in
different empires have this syllable pre-
fixed to them.

ARCH.EOL'OGY, in general, means
the knowledge of antiquity, but in a
narrower sense, the science which inquires
into and discovers the mental life of an-
cient nations from their monuments,
whether literary, artist ical, or mechani-
cal. Artistic Archaeology treats of re-
mains as works of the Fine Arts, in those
two nations which were models in Art, the
Greeks and Romans ; besides these the ar-
tistic productions of the Indians, Egyp-
tians, Babylonians, and Persians, take
an honorable place in the Archaeology of
Art.

AR'CHAISM, any antiquated word or
phrase. The use of archaisms, though
generally objectionable, occasionally add
to the beauty and force of a sentence.

ARCHBISH'OP, a metropolitan pre-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ARC

laic, having several suffragan bishops
under him. In England there are two
archbishops the archbishop of Canter-
bury, who is primate of all England ; and
tin- archbishop of York, who is only
styled primate of England. The first
establishment of archbishops in Kng-
land, according to Bede, was in the time
of Lucius, said to be the first Christina
king in Britain ; but the first archbishop
of Canterbury was Austin, appointed
A.D. 598, by Ethelbert, when he was con-
verted. An archbishop consecrates the
inferior diocesans, as those ordain priests
and deacons, and when invested with his
dignity, he is said to be enthroned ;
term which probably originated with
that period of English history, in which
the archbishop of Canterbury had some
of the privileges of absolute royalty.

ARCHDEA'CON, an ecclesiastical of-
ficer, next in rank below a bishop. Ev-
ery diocese has one, and the generality
more. They are usually appointed by
.their diocesans ; but their authority is
independent. They visit the clergy, and j
have courts for the punishment of offen-
ders by spiritual censures, and for hearing
all other causes that fall within ecclesias-
tical cognizance.

ARQH'ERY, the art of shooting with
the bow and arrow. Since the introduc- ;
tion of gunpowder, the arrow has ceased j
to be employed as an offensive weapon :
but in former times it was reckoned of
the utmost importance to the military
strength of England. The practice of
archery was followed both as a recre-
ation and a service, and Edward III.
prohibited all useless games that inter-
fered with the practice of it on holidays
and other intervals of leisure. By an
act of Edward IV. every man was to have
a bow of his own height, to be made of
yew, hazel, or ash, &c. ; and mounds of
earth were to be made in every township
for the use of the inhabitants. Indeed,
it appears from the use made of the bow
by the English at the battles of Cressy,-
Agincourt, and Poictiers, that their claim
to be considered the best of modern
archers can scarcely be disputed.

AR'CHETYPE, the first model of a
work, which is copied after to make
another like it. Among minters it is
used for the standard weight by which
the otheVs are adjusted. The archetopal
icorld, among Platonists, means the
world as it existed in the idea of God,
before the visible creation.

AR'CHITECT, one who is skilled in
architecture. The architect forms plans

and designs for edifices, conducts the work,
and directs the artificers employed in it.
ARCHITECTURE, the art of invent-
ing and drawing designs for buildings, or
the s.-iewe which teaches the mctho.l of
constructing any edifice for use or orna-
ment. It is divided into <-!ril, milltun/.
and naval; according as the erection-
arc for civil, military, or naval pur-
poses; and for the sake of convenience,
other divisions arc sometimes introduce. I.
Architecture appears to have
been among the earliest in-
ventions, and its works have
been commonly regulated by
some principle of hereditary
imitation. Whatever rude
structure the climate and
materials of any country
have obliged its early in-
habitants to adopt for their
temporary shelter, the same
structure, with all its promi-
nent features, has been after-
wards in some measure kept
up by their refined and opu-
lent posterity. To Greece we are indebted
for the three principal orders of architec-
ture, the Doric, (Fig. 1.) the Ionic, (Fig.
2.) and the Corinthian, (Fig. 3) ; \\n\\v.-
added two others, both formed out of the
former, the Tuscan, (Fig. 4 ) and the
Composite, (Fig. 5.) Each of -pj,,.
these has a particular expres-
sion ; so that a building, or
different parts of a building,
may be rude, solid, neat, deli-
cate, or gay, accordingly as
the Tuscan, the Doric, the
Ionic, the Corinthian, or the
Composite are employed. The
columns of these several orders
are easily distinguishable to
common observers, by reason
of the ornaments that are pe-
culiar to their capitals ; but
the scientific difference con-
sists in their proportions.
The Tuscan order is charac-
terized by its simplicity and
strength. It is devoid of all
ornament. The Doric (Fig. 1.)
is enlivened with ornaments
in the frize and capital.
The Ionic is ornamented with
the volute scroll, or spinal
horn : its ornaments are in a
style of composition between
the plainness of the Doric,
and the richness of the Corin-
thian. The Corinthian order
i is known by its capital being

Fig. 3.

ARCHITECTURE,
(Interior of Grace Church, N.Y.

Aiio]

AND TUB FINE ARTS.

Fig. 4.

adorned with two sorts of
loaves ; between these rise
little stalks, of which the
volutes that support the
highest part of the capital,
are formed. The Composite
is nearly the same as the
Corinthian, with an addition
of the Ionic volute. In their
private buildings the Ro-
man architects followed the
Greeks ; but in their public
edifices they far surpassed
them in grandeur. During
the dark ages which followed
the destruction of the Roman
empire, the classic architec-
ture of Greece and Rome
was lost sight of, but was
again revived by the Ital-
ians at the time of the res-
toration of letters. The
Got/lie style was so called
because it was first used by
the Visigoths ; but at first
it was vastly inferior to that
which we now call Gothic,
and which exhibits grandeur
and splendor, with the most
accurate execution. The
Saxon and Norman styles were so called
because they were respectively used by
the Saxons before the Conquest, and by
the Normans after, in the building of
churches. The Saxon style was dis-
tinguished by the semicircular arch, which
they seem to have taken partly from the
Romans, and partly from their ancestors
on the continent. The Norman was dis-
tinguished by the following particulars :
the walls were very thick, generally with-
out buttresses ; the arches, both within
and without, semicircular, and supported
by very plain and solid columns. These
two styles continued to be the prevailing
modes of building in England until the
reign of Henry II., when a new mode
was introduced, which was called modern
Gothic. Whether this was purely a de-
viation from the other two modes, or
whether it was derived from any foreign
source, is not known. It is, however,
supposed to be of Saracenic extraction,
and to have been introduced by the
crusaders. The style is distinguished by
its numerous buttresses, lofty spires and
pinnacles, large and ramified windows,
with a profusion of ornaments throughout.
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
the taste for Greek and Roman architec-
ture revived, and brought the five orders
again into use, although for sacred edi-

fices the Saxon and Gothic styles still
maintain the pre-eminence.

AR'CHITRAVE, in architecture, that
part of a column, or order of columns,
which lies immediately upon the capital ;
being the lowest member of the entabla-
ture. Over a chimney, this member is
called the mantle-piece ; and over doors
or windows, the hyperthyron.

AR'CHIVAULT, in architecture, the
inner contour of an arch, or a frame set
off with mouldings, running over the faces
of the arch stones, and bearing upon the
imposts.

AR'CHIVES, ancient records, or char-
ters which contain titles, pretensions,
privileges, and prerogatives of a com-
munity, family, city, or kingdom.

AR'CHON, the chief magistrates of the
city and commonwealth of Athens.

ARE'NA, in Roman antiquity, that
part of the amphitheatre where the
gladiators fought ; so called from its
being always strewed with sand, to con-
ceal from the view of the people, the
blood spilt in the combat.

AKEOP'AGUS, a sovereign tribunal
at Athens, famous for the justice and
impartiality of its decrees. It was in the
town, on a rock or hill opposite to the
citadel. There are some remains of the
areopagus still existing in the middle of
the temple of Theseus, which was hereto-
fore in the middle of the city, but is now
without the walls.

AR'GONAUTS, in Grecian antiquity,
a company of illustrious Greeks, who
embarked along with Jason in the ship
Argo, on an expedition to Colchis with a
design to obtain the golden fleece. Some
writers imagine, and foremost among
them is Sir Isaac Newton, that this ex-
pedition was really an embassy sent by
the Greeks, during the intestine divisions
of Egypt, in the reign of Amenophis, to
persuade the nations upon the coasts of
the Euxine and Mediterranean seas to
lake that opportunity of shaking off the
yoke of Egypt, which Sesostris had laid
upon them : and that fetching the golden
fleece was only a pretence to cover their
true design.

AR'GUMENT, in rhetoric and logic,
an inference drawn from premises, the
truth of which is indisputable, or at lc:ist
highly probable. In reasoning, Mr.
Locke observes that men ordinarily use
four sorts of arguments. The first is to
allege the opinions of men, whoso parts
and learning, etninency, power, or some
other cause, have gained a name, and
settled their reputation in the common

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ARR

esteem, with some kind of authority ;
this may be called argumentum ad
verecHiidlam. Secondly, another way is
to require tin- adversaries to admit what
they .illego as a proof, or to assign a
bettor; this he calls argumentum ad
i'junrantiam. A third way is, to press
a man with consequences, drawn from
his own principles or concessions; this is
known by the name of argumentum ad
hnnilnem. Fourthly, the using proofs
drawn from any of the foundations of
knowledge or probability ; this he calls
argumentum ad judicium; and observes,
th:it it is the only one of all the four,
that brings true instruction with it, and
:i<lv:inces us in our way to knowledge.
ARGUMENT, in literature, denotes also
the abridgment, or heads of a book, his-
tory, chapter, Ac.

ARIO'SO, in musical composition, the
Italian word for the time of a common air.

ARISTOTE'LIAN, something relating
to Aristotle : thus we read of the Aris-
totelian philosophy, school, &c. The
Aristotelians were also designated Peri-
patetics, and their philosophy long pre-
vailed in the schools, till it gave place to
the Newtonian.

AR'MOR, a name for all such habili-
ments as serve to defend the body from
wounds, especially of darts, a sword, a
lance, &c. A complete suit of armor an-
ciently consisted of a casque or helm, a
gorget, cuirass, gauntlets, tasses, brassets,
cmshes, and covers for the legs, to which
the spurs were fastened. This they called
armor cap-a-pie ; and was worn by cava-
liers and men-at-arms. The infantry
had only part of it, viz., a pot or head-
piece, a cuirass and tasses ; but all of
them made light. Lastly, the horses
themselves had their armor, wherewith
to cover the head and neck. Of all this
furniture of war, scarcely anything is
now retained except the cuirass.

ARMOR-BEARER, the person who
was formerly employed to carry the ar-
mor of another.

ARMS, in military phraseology, all
kinds of weapons, whether used for of-
fence or defence. ARMS, in a legal sense,
extend to anything that a person wears
for his own defence, or takes into his
hnnd, nnd uses, in anger, to strike or
throw at another. ARMS denote also the
natural weapons of beasts, as claws,
teeth, beak, <fec.

^ ARMS, COATS OF, family insignia or
distinctions, which had their rise from
the painting of the shields used in war
before the invention of gunpowder.

AR'MY, in a general sense, is taken
for the whole armed force raised for the
defence of the country by land. In a
limited sense, it denotes a large body of
soldiers, consisting of horse and foot,
completely armed, and provided with ar-
tillery, ammunition, provisions, <tc., un-
der a commander-in-chief, having lieu-
tenant-generals, major-generals, briga-
diers, and other officers under him. An
army is generally divided into a certain
number of corps, each consisting of brig-
ades, regiments, battalions, and squad-
rons ; when in the field, it is formed into
lines ; the first line is called the van-
guard, the second the main body, the
third the rearguard, or body of reserve.
The middle of each line is occupied by
the foot ; the cavalry forms the right and
left wing of each line, and sometimes
squadrons of horse are placed in the in-
tervals between the battalions. The ma-
teriel of an army, as the French term it,
consists of the horses, stores, provisions,
and everything necessary for service.
Armies are moreover distinguished ac-
cording to their service, into blockading
army, army of observation, army of re-
serve, df"C.

ARPEG'GIO, in music, is a term im-
plying that the tones should be sounded
distinctly, as they are heard on the harp.
ARPEGGIO ACCOMPANIMENT consists
chiefly of the notes of the several chords
taken in returning successions.

ARRANGE'MENT. in the plastic Arts,
and in painting, Invention and Arrange-
ment are the groundwork of every com-
position. ARRANGEMENT is the placing
together of parts in a manner conforma-
ble to the character and aim of the work ;
it relates entirely to the form, in which
the subject must be worked out so as to
produce an intuitive perception of its
individuality. Artistic arrangement be-
longs not only to the object as a whole,
but to each part specially, to groups as
well as to single figures, and to the posi-
tion and contrast of their limbs. In
painting, it refers to the distribution of
colors, and the disposition of light and
shade, all of which require a peculiar
artistic arrangement ; li^ht. sli.'ulo, and
coloring, being the soul of all painting.

AR'RIS, in architecture, the intersec-
tion or line formed by the meeting of the
exterior surfaces of two bodies, answer-
ing to what is called the edge. ARRIS
FILLET, a small piece of timber, of a
triangular section, used in raising the
slates against a wall that cuts obliquely
across the roof.

AS]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

AR'SIS and THESIS, in music, terms
used in composition, as when a point is
inverted or turned, it is said to move
per arsin et ttiesin, that is, when it rises
in one point and falls in another ; properly
speaking, it is the rise and fall of the
hand in beating time.

ART, a system of rules, serving to
facilitate the performance of certain ac-
tions ; in which sense it stands opposed
to science, or a system of merely specula-
tive principles. Terms of Art, are such
words as are used in regard to any par-
ticular art, profession, or science.

AR'TICLE, in grammar, a particle in
most languages, that serves to express
the several cases and genders of nouns,
when the languages have not different
terminations to denote the different states
and circumstances of nouns.

ARTICULA'TION, in painting and
sculpture, the movable connection of the
bones, in the representation of which by
the artist the greatest skill and knowl-
edge of anatomy is required.

ARTIL'LERY, a collective name de-
noting engines of war, but particularly
cannon, mortars, and other large pieces,
for the discharge of shot and shells. It
is also employed to denote the science
which teaches all things relating to the
artillery, as the construction of all en-
gines of war, the arrangement, move-
ment, and management of cannon and
all sorts of ordnance, used either in the
field, or the camp, or at sieges, <fcc. The
same name is also given to the troops by
whom these arms are served, the men
being, in fact, subsidiary to the instru-
ments. Park of artillery, a place set
apart in a camp for the artillery, and
large fire-arms. Train of artillery, a
set or number of pieces of ordnance
mounted on carriages. Flying artillery,
a sort of artillery, so called from the ce-
lerity with which it can be moved. Seats
are contrived for the men who work it,
and a sufficient force of horses is applied
to enable them to proceed at a gallop ;
each horse being rode by a separate driver.

AR'TIST, a proficient in the liberal
arts, in distinction from ARTISAN, or one
who follows one of the mechanic arts.

ARTS, in the most general sense of the
word, means any acquired skill. They
are usually divided inlofine and useful ;
comprising under the former, all those,
the direct object of which is not absolute
utility, as painting, sculpture, music,
poetry, &c., in distinction from the arts
called useful, or such as are essential to
trade and commerce.

ART-UNIONS arc societies formed for
the encouragement of the Fine Arts by
the purchase of paintings, sculptures, <fcc.
out of a common fund raised in email
shares or subscriptions ; such works of
art, or the right of selecting them, being
distributed by lot among the subscribers
or members. They appear to owe their
origin to M. Hennin, a distinguished
amateur of Paris, who about forty years
ago organized a little society for the pur-
pose of bringing together the unsold
works of artists, exhibiting them, and
with the exhibition money, and other
subscriptions, purchasing a selection from
among them, which was afterwards dis-
tributed by lot to the subscribers. In
1816 this company merged into the
" Societe des Amis des Arts." Art-Unions
have been extensively organized in most
of the German states. The Art-Union
of Berlin was established in 1825. The
first Art-Union formed in Great Britain
was .in Scotland, in the year 1834. The
Art-Union of London was established in
1837, and since that period similar socie-
ties have been established in Ireland, and
in many of the principal towns in England.
The American Art-Union of New York
has exhibited the most remarkable in-
stance of rapid growth and prosperity of
any similar societies. It was founded in
1839, and at the close of 1850 the num-
ber of members was 16,310, to whom were
distributed as prizes, 433 paintings select-
ed by a committee, 27 statuettes, 30
sets of prints, from Col. Trumbull's cele-
brated pictures of the Battle of Bunker
Hill, and Death, of Montgomery, measur-
ing 30 inches by 20 inches, 50 sets of
Outlines and Sketches by Washington
Allston, 250 " Trumbull" medals, and 250
"Stuart" medals.

ARUNDE'LIAN MARBLES, called
also the Parian Chronicle, are ancient
stones, on which is inscribed a chronicle
of the city of Athens, supposed to have
been engraven in capital letters in the
island of Paros, 264 years before Christ
They take their name from the earl of
Arundel, who procured them from the
East, or from his grandson, who presented
them to the University of Oxford.

ARUS'PICES, or HARUS'PICES, an
order of priesthood among the Romans,
who pretended to foretell future events by
inspecting the entrails of victims killed
in sacrifice. They were introduced by
Romulus, and abolished by Constantino,
A.D. 337.

AS, a weight used by the ancients, con-
sisting of 1 2 ounces : it was also used as a

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ASS

coin, and as an integer divided into 12
parts.

A'SAPHEIS, defective utterance.

ASARO'TA, in antiquity, a pavement
or floor laid in dining-rooms, and com-
posed of very small tiles inlaid in differ-
ent colors.

ASBES'TOS, or ASBES'TUS, an in-
flammable mineral substance, of which
amianthus is one of its principal species.
This consists of elastic fibres, somewhat
unctuous to the touch, and slightly trans-
lucent. The ancients manufactured cloth
from the fibres of the asbestos for the pur-
pose, as is said, of wrapping up the bodies
of the dead when exposed on the funeral
pile ; it being incombustible in its nature.

ASCEND'ANT, in architecture, an or-
nament in masonry or joiner's work, which
borders the three sides of doors, windows,
and chimneys.

ASCET'ICS, in ecclesiastical history,
such Christians in the primitive church
as inured themselves to great degrees of
abstinence and fasting, in order to subdue
their passions. In short, every kind of
uncommon piety laid claim to the name
ascetic.

ASCLE'PIA, a Grecian festival, held
in honor of jEsculapius. It was also
called the sacred contest, because poets
and musicians contended for victory
there.

ASCLEPIAD^E'AN VERSE, a kind
of poetic measure so called from JEsclepias,
the inventor of it.

ASCO'LIA, in Grecian antiquity, a
festival celebrated by the Athenian hus-
bandmen, in honor of Bacchus, to whom
they sacrificed a he-goat, because that
animal destroys the vines.

ASCRIPTI'TII, in ancient history,
supernumerary soldiers, who served to
supply the losses in the legions. Also,
in later times, foreigners or aliens newly
admitted to the freedom of a city.

ASH'LAR, in architecture, common
freestones, as they are brought rough
and chipped or detached from the
quarry, of different lengths and thick-
nesses. Their usual thickness is nine
inches.

ASH'LERING, in architecture, the
upright timber or quarters towards the
rooms or inwards in garrets by which
the slope of the roof is concealed some-
times it is only two or three feet high,
and sometimes the whole height of the
room.

ASH-WEDNES'DAY, the first day in
Lent, so called from the ancient custom
of fasting in sackcloth and ashes.

A'SIARCH, in Grecian antiquity, a
governor of the provinces, who used to
preside over the public games.

ASIDE', a term in plays for what is to
be said on the stage without being heard
by the other performers.

ASINA'RIA, a festival anciently held
in Sicily, in commemoration of the vic-
tory obtained over the Athenians, when
Demosthenes and Nicias were taken
prisoners ; and was so called from the
river Asinarius, near which it was
fought.

AS'PECT, in architecture, the direc-
tion towards the point of the compass in
which a building is placed. The aspectus
is also used by Vitruvius to denote the
external distribution of a temple. Thus
he describes seven sorts of aspects of
temples.

ASPHAL'TUM, a bituminous or in-
flammable substance, found in abundance
in different countries, especially near the
Dead Sea, and in Albania ; but nowhere
in such quantities as in the island of
Trinidad, where there is a large plain of
it, called the Tar Lake, which is three
miles in circumference and of an un-
known depth. It is also found in France,
Switzerland, and some other parts of
Europe.

AS'PIRATE, in grammar, a character
in the Greek (marked thus, ') to denote
that the vowel must be sounded with a
breathing. In English, 'the letter h is
called aspirate, when it is sounded, in dis-
tinction to h mute.

AS'SAI, a musical term, which indi-
cates that the time must be accelerated
or retarded ; as allegro, quick ; allegro
assai, still quicker ; adagio assai, still
slower.

ASSAS'SIN, one who kills another,
not in open combat, but privately, or
suddenly. The name is generally re-
strained to murderers of princes or other
political characters ; or, to speak perhaps
more explicitly, to where the murder is
committed from some sentiment of ha-
tred, but in a private and dastardly man-
ner.

ASSIGNAT', the name of the national
paper currency in France during the
Revolution. Four hundred millions of
this paper money were first struck off by
the constituent assembly, with the ap-
probation of the king, April 19, 1790, to
be redeemed with the proceeds of the
sale of the confiscated goods of the church.
They at length increased, by degrees, to
j forty thousand millions, and after awhile
! they became of no value whatever.

ATH]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

ASSIGNEE', in law, a person ap-
pointed by another to do an act, transact
some business, or enjoy a particular
privilege. The person to whom is com-
mitted the management of a bankrupt's
estate.

ASSIGN'MENT, in law, the act of as-
signing or transferring the interest or
property a man has in a thing; or of
appointing and setting over a right to
another.

ASSI'ZES, a meeting of the English
royal judges, the sheriff, and juries, for
the purpose of making jail-deliveries,
and trying causes between individuals ;
generally held twice in the year. The
assizes are general when the justices go
their circuits, with commission to take all
assizes, that is, to hear all causes ; and
they are special when special commis-
sions are granted to hear particular
causes.

ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS, by this
phrase is understood the connection be-
tween certain ideas which causes them to
succeed each other involuntarily in the
mind. To the wrong association of ideas
made in our minds by custom, Mr.
Locke attributes most of the sympathies
and antipathies observable in men, which
work as strongly, and produce as regular
effects, as if they were natural, though
they at first had no other origin than the
accidental connection of two ideas, which
either by the strength of the first im-
pression, or future indulgence, are so
united, that they ever after keep com-
pany together in that man's mind as if
they were but one idea.

AS'SONANCE, in rhetoric or poetry,
is where the words of a phrase or verse
have nearly the same sound, or termina-
tion, but make no proper rhyme.

ASSUMP'SIT, in law, a voluntary
promise by which a man binds himself to
pay anything to another, or to do any work.

ASSUMPTION, a festival in the
Romish church, in honor of the miracu-
lous ascent of the Virgin Mary into
heaven. ASSUMPTION, in logic, is the
minor or second proposition in a categor-
ical syllogism. It is also used for a con-
sequence drawn from the propositions
whereof an argument is composed.

AS'TERISK, in diplomatics, a sign
in the figure of a star, frequently met
with in ancient Latin manuscripts, and
seeming to serve various purposes ; some-
times to denote an omission, sometimes an
addition, sometimes a passage which ap-
peared remarkable on any account to
the copyist.

AS'TRAGAL, in architecture, a little
round moulding, in form of a ring, serv-
ing as an ornament at the tops and bot-
toms of columns.

ASY'LUM, in antiquity, a place of
refuge for offenders, where they were
screened from the hands of justice. The
asyla of ajtars and temples were very
ancient. The Jews had their asyla ; the
most remarkable of which were, the tem-
ple, the altar of burnt-offerings, and the
six cities of refuge. A similar custom
prevailed both among the Greeks and
Romans, where temples, altars, and
statues, were places of refuge for crim-
inals of every description. They had an
idea, that a criminal who fled to the tem-
ple or altar, submitted his crime to the
punishment of the gods, and that it would
be impiety in man to take vengeance out
of their hands. In former times the like
immunities were granted by the pope to
churches, convents, <fcc.

ASYN'DETON, in rhetoric or compo-
sition, the omission of conjunctions, or
other connecting particles of speech, in
order to render the sentence more lively
and impressive.

AT'AB AL, a kind of tabor used among
the Moors.

ATARAX'IA, or AT'ARAXY, a term
used to denote that calmness of mind
which secures us from all emotions aris-
ing from vanity or self-conceit. In this
consisted the summum bonum, or sover-
eign good of the Stoics.

AT'AXY, in a general sense, the want
of order : with physicians it signifies the
irregularity of crises and paroxysms of
fevers.

ATE'LIER, a term derived from the
French, and applied specially to the work-
room of sculptors and painters, which are
also called STUDIOS. The Dutch and
Flemish painters have delighted to por-
tray their Ateliers.

A-TEM'PO, in music, Italian for 'in
time,' employed when the regular meas-
ure has been interrupted.

ATHEN^E'UM, in antiquity, a public
school wherein the professors of the liberal
arts held their assemblies, the rhetori-
cians declaimed, and the poets rehearsed
their performances. These places, of
which there were a great number at
Athens, were built in the manner of
amphitheatres, encompassed with seats
called cunei. The three most celebrated
Athensea were those at Athens, at Rome,
and at Lyons, the second of which was
built by the emperor Adrian.

ATHLE'TjE, in antiquity, men of re-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ATT

markable strength and agility, disciplined
to perform the public games. This was
a general term, under which were compre-
hended wrestlers, boxers, runners, leap-
ers, throwers of the disk, and those who
practised in other exercises exhibited in
the Olympic, Pythian, and other solemn
sports, wherein there were prizes allotted
for the conquerors.

ATLAN'TES, TELAMONES, PEHCES,
GIGANTES, are the athletic male statues
which we find as supports of parts of an-
cient buildings ; female figures for the
same purpose were called CARYATIDES ;
they are not exact imitations of nature,
but their use is sufficiently justified by
the antique. They were only employed
when pillars were too insignificant for
the erections ; they are suitable to a rich
style, to small screens, fountains, for
supporting a gallery, and for the upper
rows of pillars : these should not appear
so heavy as to excite compassion, but the
expression should be one of graceful
freedom.

ATLAN'TIS, an island meptioned in
Plato's Dialogue entitled Limseus, as hav-
ing once existed in the Atlantic Ocean
opposite to the Pillars of Hercules. It
was said to have exceeded Europe and
Africa jointly in magnitude ; and after
existing for 9000 years, during which
period its inhabitants extended their con-
quests throughout the known quarters
of the globe, to have been uprooted by
prodigious earthquakes and inundations,
and submerged in the ocean. The ques-
tion of the reality and site of this island
has been frequently discussed by modern
geographers.

AT'LAS, in geography, a collection of
maps ; more properly, a book containing
maps of the whole world ; so called from
Atlas, who was fabled to have borne the
world on his shoulders. It is also the
name of a chain of high mountains in
Africa, extending from the coast of the
Atlantic to the border of Egypt.

AT'OM, in philosophy, a particle of
matter, so minute as to admit of no di-
vision. Atoms are the minima naturae,
and are conceived as the first principle or
component parts of all physical magni-
tude. From the earliest times of an-
tiquity, down to the present day, two
opinions directly opposed to each other,
have divided the world on this subject ;
the one, that matter is composed of an
assemblage of minute particles, or atoms,
incapable of farther division ; the other
that there is no limit to its divisibility,
the smallest conceivable portion still con-

sisting of an infinity of parts. The first
of these theories, which is commonly dis-
tinguished by the name of the ATOMIC
PHILOSOPHY, was originated in Greece
by Leucippus ; it was supported by Dem-
ocritus, and subsequently improved by
Epicurus and his disciples. The Epicu-
reans professed to account for the origin
and formation of all things by supposing
that these atoms were endued with grav-
ity and motion, and thus come together
into the different organized bodies we
now see.

ATTACH'MENT, in law, the taking
or apprehending a person, by virtue of a
writ or precept. It differs from an ar-
rest, inasmuch as it lays hold of the
goods, as well as the person ; and also
from a distress, which seizes on lands,
tenements, and goods ; but an attach-
ment on the goods and body.

ATTAIN'DER, the name of a law by
which the estate and life of a traitor are
forfeited. A Bill of Attainder is a bill
for attainting persons convicted of high
treason. A person attainted of high
treason forfeits all his lands, tenements,
and hereditaments ; his blood is cor-
rupted, and he and his posterity rendered
base ; and this corruption of blood can-
not be taken off but by act of parliament.

ATTAINT', in law, a writ that lies
after judgment against a jury of twelve
men that are charged with having given
a false verdict.

AT'TIC, in architecture, a sort of
building, in which there is no roof or
covering to be seen, as was usual in the
houses of the Athenians. The ATTIC, or
ATTIC STORY, is the upper story of a
house. The ATTIC BASE is a peculiar
kind of column, or support, employed
both in the Doric and Ionic orders.

AT'TICISM, an elegant or con-
cise form of expression. Milton, in his
Apology for Smectymnuus, thus uses
it : " They made sport, and I laughed :
they mispronounced, and I misliked ;
and, to make up the atticism, they were
out, and I hissed." The term Sal Atti-
cum was employed by the Romans at
once to characterize the poignancy of wit
and brilliancy of style peculiar to the
Athenian writers, and to designate the
liveliness, spirituality, and refined taste
of the inhabitants of that city, which
formed the focus and central point of all
the eloquence and refinement of the
Greeks.

AT'TITUDE, in painting and sculp-
ture, the position and gesture of a figure
or statue j ? such a disposition of their

AUG]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

parts, as shall best display some grace or
beauty, or serve to express the action
and sentiments of the person repre-
sented.

ATTOR'NEY, one who is appointed by
another to do a thing in his absence. A
public attorney is one who acts in the
courts of law, and is a lawyer by profes-
sion.

AT'TRIBUTES, in theology, the sev-
eral qualities or perfections of the divine
nature, or such as we conceive to consti-
tute the proper essence of God ; as his
wisdom, power, justice, goodness, &e.
ATTRIBUTES, in logic, are the predicates
of any subject, or what may be affirmed
or denied of anything. ATTRIBUTES, in
painting and sculpture, are symbols added
to a figure or group, which are character-
istic of the principal subject. Thus the
eagle is an attribute of Jupiter ; a pea-
cock, of Juno ; a caduceus, of Mercury j
a club, of Hercules, &c.

AU'DIENCE, the persons assembled
at a theatre, or other public place to see
and hear the performances. AUDIENCE,
a ceremony used in courts at the admis-
sion of ambassadors or other public
ministers to a hearing. In England,
audience is given to ambassadors in the
presence chamber ; and to envoys and
residents in a gallery, closet, or any
place where the king happens to be.
AUDIENCE is also the name of an eccle-
siastical court, held by the archbishop of
Canterbury, wherein differences upon
elections, consecrations, institutions, mar-
riages, &c., are heard.

AU'DIT, a regular examination of ac-
counts by officers appointed for that pur-
pose.

AU'DITOR. an officer of any corporate
body, appointed annually to examine ac-
counts.

AU'GUR, an officer among the Romans,
appointed to foretell future events, by the
chattering and feeding of birds. The
augurs bore an augural staff or wand, as
the ensign of their authority, and their
dignity was so much respected, that they
were never deposed, nor any substituted
in their place, though convicted of the
most enormous crimes.

AU'GURY, a species of divination, or
the art of foretelling future events, prac-
tised by the ancients. It was distin-
guished into five sorts, viz., augury from
appearances in the heavens ; from birds ;
from chickens ; from quadrupeds ; and
from portentous events. This, like other
human errors, appears to have arisen
from ideas tolerably rational at first.

The regular appearance and disappear-
ance of the birds, and the precision that
is observable in almost their whole pro-
ceedings, might naturally impress an
ignorant race of men with a belief that
they either inherently possessed, or from
time to time received, supernatural in-
formation. Accustomed to regulate by
these monitors their rural occupations,
the shepherd and the husbandman wero
led, by the mpst excusable association of
ideas, to consult the same advisers in the
few other concerns of life that fell to their
lot : and on the foundation laid by super-
stition, imposture subsequently raised a
fantastic structure.

AUGUS'TAN HISTORY, a series of
history of the Roman empire from the
year 157 A.D. to 285 A.D., written by the
following six authors : JE1. Spartianus,
J. Capitolinus, Ml. Lampridius, Vulca-
tius Gallianus, Trebellius Pollio, and
Flavius Vopiscus.

AUGUS'TINE AGE, a term used to
designate the reign of Augustus, the
most brilliant period in the literary his-
tory of Rome. The civil wars that had
long distracted the Roman empire had
stifled the cultivation of literature and
the arts ; and when the battle of Actium
had terminated internal commotion, noth-
ing, it was supposed, could so effectually
celebrate and adorn the restoration of
peace and the happy reign of Augustus,
as the appearance of great national
poets, who might supply the chief defect
in the literature of their country, and
create a body of classical works, in which
the ancient Roman traditions might be
transmitted to posterity. To accomplish
this object, men of genius were flattered,
courted, and enriched, in an unexampled
manner, by the liberality of Augustus ;
and after a brief interval, the verses of
Virgil, Horace, Propertius, Ovid, and
Tibullus resounded throughout the em-
pire in their respective epic, lyric, and
elegiac strains. The science of jurispru-
dence then received its full development :
and the boundaries of strict law on the
one hand, and equity on the other, were
respectively ascertained. In this age,
too, Rome became the seat of universal
government and wealth ; and so numer-
ous and splendid were the architectural
decorations with which it was embellished,
as to justify the saying of Augustus
that he found Rome of brick, and left it
of marble.

AUGUS'TINES, a religious order, so
called from St. Augustine, their founder,
and vulgarly called Austin friars, or

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ACT

Christian hermits. Before the Reforma-
tion they had 32 houses in England.
Among other things, this rule enjoins to
have all things in common, to receive
nothing without the leave of the superior ;
and several other precepts relating to
charity, modesty, and chastity. There
are likewise nuns of this order. The
Augustines are clothed in black, and at
Paris are known under the name of the
religious of St. Genevieve, that abbey
being the chief of the order.

AUGUSTIN'IANS, a religious sect of
the 16th century, who maintained that
the gates of heaven would not be opened
till the general resurrection.

AU'LIC, an epithet given to certain
officers in the ci-devant German empire,
who composed a court which decided,
without appeal, in all judicial processes
entered in it. This court, which was
proverbial for the slow administration
of justice, had not only concurrent juris-
diction with the court of the imperial
chamber, but, in many cases, exclusive
jurisdiction. The right of appeal, pos-
sessed by the estates, existed also in regard
to the judicial decisions of the aulic court.

AURE'OLA, in its original significa-
tion, denotes a jewel, which is proposed
as a reward of victory in some public
dispute. Hence, the Roman schoolmen
applied it to the reward bestowed on
martyrs, virgins, &c., on account of their
works of supererogation; and painters
use it to signify the crown of glory with
which they adorn the heads of saints,
confessors, &c.

AU'RUM MOSA'ICUM, a combination
of tin and sulphur, used by statuaries
and painters, for giving a gold color to
their figures.

AUS'PICES, a kind of soothsaying
among the Romans, by the flight or sing-
ing of birds.

AUTHENTIC MEL'ODIES, in music,
such as have their principal notes con-
tained between the key-note and its oc-
tave. This term is applied by the Ital-
ians to four of the church modes or tones
in music which rise a fourth above their
dominants, which are always fifths above
their final?, that is, rise to complete their
octaves, thus distinguished from plagal
melodies, which fall a fourth below their
finals.

AUTOBIOG'RAPHY, this word is of
Greek origin, and signifies literally the
life of a person written by himself.
These memoirs may be divided into two
classes : those in which the chief object
of the writer is to illustrate the history

of his own mind and heart, and the man-
ner in which these were swayed by the
destinies of his life ; and those in which
his purpose is merely to give a, sketch
of the scenes and events which have oc-
curred within his own experience, and of
characters with which he has been brought
in contact. Of the first class of writings,
from the Confession of Saint Augustine
down to the Confessions of Rousseau, and
the many works which have since been
produced in imitation of the latter, it
may be said that the general defect is a
morbid spirit of exaggeration. Of the
more narrative class of memoirs, it i
sufficient to say, that where the writer
was himself a prominent actor in passing
events, they are usually little better than
apologies or self-justifications, such as
the famous Memoirs of the Cardinal de
Retz, and, in our own times, the various
fragments of autobiography which have
been published from the hand of Na-
poleon.

AUTOCHTHONS, the Greek term for
the aboriginal inhabitants of a country,
implying that they were sprung from the
soil. The Athenians, whose territory
had been held by the same race from
time immemorial, chiefly on account of
its sterility, which offered no incitement
to foreign aggression, particularly laid
claim to this title, in memorial of which
they wore the emblematic grasshopper
as part of their head-dress.

AUTO-DA-FE, properly AUTO-DE-
FE, a public solemnity held by the Court
of the Inquisition in Spain and Portu-
gal. It was a jail delivery, at which
extracts from the trials of offenders, and
the sentences pronounced by the judges>
were read ; after which absolution waa
conferred on those who were penitent,
and discharged : after which, those con-
demned to death (relaja dos) were trans-
ferred to the secular authority : and
here the auto, properly so called, ended ;
the execution of the victims taking place
immediately afterwards, under the au-
thority of the civil judge, a secretary to
the inquisition attending.

AU'TOGRAPH, an epithet, applied to
whatever is written in a person's own
hand-writing, as an autograph letter, a
letter of one's own writing.

AU'TUMN, the third season in the
year, which begins in the northern hem-
isphere, on the day when the sun enters
Libra, that is, on the 22d of September.
It terminates about the same day in De-
cember, when the winter e* mmences.
Autumn is represented, in painting, by a

BAC]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

man of mature age, clothed and girt with
a starry girdle ; holding in one hand a
pair of scales equally poised, with a
globe in each ; and in the other a bunch
of grapes and other fruit. His age de-
notes the perfection of this season ; and
the balance, that sign of the zodiac
which the sun enters when our autumn
begins.

AUXILIARY VERBS, in grammar,
are such verbs as help to form or conju-
gate others ; as, in English, the verbs
"to have," and "to be."

AVA'TAR, a term used by the Hin-
doos to express an incarnation or descent
of Vishnu, their deity : nine of which
are believed to be passed, and the tenth
yet to come.

A'VE MARI'A, the name given to the
angel Gabriel's salutation to the Virgin
Mary. Also, the chaplets and rosaries
of the Romish church, which are divided
into ave-marias and pater-nosters.

AVER'NUS, a lake of Italy 10 miles
west of Naples, celebrated in antiquity
as the entrance to the infernal regions.
This place continued to be the favorite
haunt of superstition till the time of
Augustus, who violated its sanctity, and
dispelled the impenetrable darkness in
which it had hitherto been enshrouded,
by cutting down the surrounding wood,
and connecting it with the Lucrine lake,
then an arm of the sea. This lake still
exists under the name Lago d' Aver-
no ; it is about a mile and a half in cir-
cumference, and in many places 190 feet
deep.

AWARD', in law, the judgment of an
arbitrator, or of one who is not appointed
by the law a judge, but chosen by the
parties themselves for terminating their
differences.

AX'IOM, in philosophy, is such a plain,
self-evident proposition, that it cannot be
made more plain and evident by demon-
stration ; because it is itself better known
than anything that can be brought to
prove it. By axioms, called also max-
ims, are understood all common notions
of the mind, whose evidence is so clear
and forcible, that a man cannot deny
them without renouncing common sense
and natural reason.

AZ'URE, the blue color of the sky.
Among painters, this word originally
signified lapis-lazuli, and the blue color
prepared from it. At present it is called
ultra-marine; and the blue glass made
from the earth of cobalt and other vitri-
fiable matters, which, when in masses, is
called smalt, is, in the state of fine pow-
3

der, known by the name of azure. Azure
being employed to color starch, is also
called starch-blue.

AZ'YMITES, in church history, Chris-
tians who administer the eucharist with
unleavened bread. This appellation was
given to the Latin by the Greek church,
and also to the Armenians and Ma-
ronites.

B, the second letter, and first conso-
nant, in the alphabet, is formed in the
voice by a strong and quick expression
of the breath, and a sudden opening of
the lips ; it is therefore called a labial,
and its pronunciation differs but slightly
from p and v. It is often used as an ab-
breviation for Bachelor, as B.A. Bache-
lor of Arts, B.D. Bachelor of Divinity,
&c., and for before, as B.C., Before Christ.
B, as a numeral among the Romans,
stood for 300, and with a dash over it for
3000. B, in chronology, stands for one
of the dominical letters, and in music for
the seventh note in the gamut.

BA'AL, an idol among the ancient
Chaldeans and Syrians ; supposed to
represent the sun, and to be the same as
the Bel or Belus of the Greeks. The
word signifies also lord or commander;
and tie character of the idol was varied
by different nations, at different times.

BABYLON'ICA, in antiquity, a spe-
cies of rich weaving so called from the
city of Babylon, where the art of weav-
ing hangings with a variety of colors was
first invented.

BABYLON'ICS, in literary history, a
fragment of the ancient history of the
world, ending at 267 years before Christ ;
and composed by Berosus, a priest of
Babylon, about the time of Alexander.

BAC'CH^B, the priestesses of Bacchus,
who, crowned with vine and ivy leaves,
and clad in the skins of wild beasts, cele-
brated the orgies of their god with frantic
cries and gestures. They were also called
Mcenades, Bassarides, and Thyades.

BACCH AN A'LI A, feasts celebrated in
honor of Bacchus by the ancient Greeks
and Romans. Their times of celebration
were spring and autumn : the former in
the city, and the latter in the fields. The
company personified Silenus, Pan, Fauns,
Satyrs, &c. ; and in this manner ap-
peared in public, night and day, counter-
feiting drunkenness, daneing obscenely,
committing all kinds' of licentiousness
and debauchery ; and running over the

CYCLOPEDIA OK LITERATURE

[BAN

mountains and forests, with horrible
.shrieks and bowlings, crying out Etoe
Bacche, or lo Bacehe. Livy informs us,
that during the Bacchanalian feasts at
Rome, such shocking disorders were
practised under the cover of the night,
and those who were initiated were bound
to conceal them by an oath attended with
horrid imprecations, that the senate sup-
pressed them first in Rome, and after-
wards throughout all Italy.

BACH'ELOR, in its primitive sense,
means a man who has not been married :
and in all its various senses it seems to
include the idea of youth or immaturity.
BACHELOR, in universities, is one who
has attained the first degree in the lib-
eral arts and sciences, or the first degree
in the particular study to which he de-
votes himself. This degree of honor is
called the baccalaureate. At Oxford and
at Cambridge, to attain the degree of
bachelor of arts, a person must have
studied there four years : after three
more, he may become master of arts ;
and at the end of another series of seven,
bachelor of divinity.

BACK'GROUND, in painting, is the
space behind a portrait or group of fig-
ures. The distance in a picture is usu-
ally divided into the foreground, middle-
distance, and background. In portrait-
painting, the nature and treatment of
backgrounds have varied in the hafcds of
almost every master, yet there are cer-
tain recognized methods which are more
worthy of imitation and study than
others. In most of the portraits of
Titian, Vandyke, and Rembrandt, the
backgrounds represent only space, indi-
cated by a warm brown gray tone, and
this treatment is the most effective.

BACK-PAINTING, the method of
painting mezzotinto prints pasted on glass
with oil colors.

BADGE, an exterior ornament of a
coat of arms, originally worn by the re-
tainers or attendants oif the nobility. It
fell into disuse in the reign of queen
Elizabeth. In naval architecture, an
ornament placed on the outside of ships
near the stern, containing either a win-
dow, or the representation of one.

BAD'GER, a quadruped of the genus
ursus.

B AG'PIPE, a musical wind instrument
used chiefly in Scotland and Ireland. It
is of high antiquity, and consists of two
parts : namely, a leathern bag, and pipes
for admitting and ejecting the air. One
of the pipes called the drone, with which
the bass part is played, never varies its

tone. The third pipe is played on by
compressing the bag under the arm.

BAIL, in law, sureties given for the
appearance, when required, of a person
in custody. Common Bail is in common
cases, where any sureties may be taken ;
but Special Bail is necessary in matters
of greater importance, where special
surety of two or more persons must be
taken according to the value of the
cause. To admit to bail, is to release
upon security given by bondsmen. To
justify bail, is to prove by the oath of
the person that he is worth the sum for
which he is surety beyond his debts.

BAILEE', in law, the person to whom
the goods of the one that is bailed are
delivered. The party who delivers the
goods is termed the BAILOR.

BAL'CONY, in architecture, a projec-
tion from the front of a house, surrounded
by a balustrade or open gallery. In
large buildings they are susceptible of
considerable elegance of decoration, and
may be made highly ornamental to the
edifices to which they are attached.

B ALD'ACHIN, in architecture, a kind
of canopy erected over an altar.

BAL'LAD, a short lyric composition,
or tale in verse, of a simple and popular
character; set to music, and generally
in njost esteem by the lower classes. It
originally meant a solemn song of praise.

BAL'LET, a theatrical representa-
tion of actions, characters, sentiments,
and passions, by means of mimic move-
ments and dances, accompanied by mu-
sic. The ballet is divided into three
kinds historical, mythological, and alle-
gorical ; and consist of three parts the
entry, the figure, and the retreat.

BAL'USTER, (often improperly writ-
ten bannister,) in architecture, a small
turned column usually introduced be-
tween piers, on the upper parts of large
buildings under windows, and on balco-
nies, <fcc.

BALUSTRADE', a series or row of
balusters, joined by a rail : serving as
well for rest, to the elbows, as for a fence
or inclosure to balconies, altars, stair-
cases, <fec.

BAN, (bannum,) in the feudal law, a
solemn proclamation or publication of
anything. Hence the custom of asking,
or publishing the bans, before marriage.
BAN, in military affairs, a proclamation
made in the army, by beat of drum,
sound of trumpet, Ac., requiring the
strict observance of discipline, either for
the declaring a new officer, or punishing
an offender. The word BAN also means

BAN]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

an edict of interdiction or proscription.
Thus, to put a prince under the ban of
the empire, is to divest him of his digni-
ties, and to interdict all intercourse and
all offices of humanity with the offender.

BAND, in architecture, a term used
to denote what is generally called a face
or fascia. To speak correctly, it signifies
a flat, low, square, profiled member
without respect to its place. That mem-
ber in a cornice on which modillions or
dentils are cut is called the modillion
band in the former, and the dentil band
in the latter case.

BANDOLEER', a large leathern belt,
thrown over the right shoulder, and
hanging under the left arm, worn by an-
cient musketeers, for sustaining their
fire-arms and musket-charges.

BANDIT'TI, a term peculiarly denot-
ing companies of armed robbers, formerly
common in Italy and France ; but some-
times also used, in a more general sense,
for robbers, pirates, outlaws, or others,
united for nefarious purposes.

BANGUE, the name of an opiate used
in the East, made from the leaf of wild
hemp. It is used by the Mahometans
for the same purpose as wine and spirits
are by the Christians.

BAN'IAN-DAYS, a proverbial ex-
pression, imported from the Asiatic colo-
nies, used for a short or indifferent din-
ner, or days on which no animal food is
eaten : in allusion to the Banians de-
scribed below.

BAN'IANS, a caste of the Hindoos,
whose profession is trade and merchan-
dise ; and, in India and Asia, they are
the great factors and bankers, as the
Jews are in the West. They believe in
the transmigration of souls, and not only
abstain from eating the flesh of animals,
but endeavor to release even the most
noxious from the cruelty of others. They
are mild in temper, and honest in their
dealings ; and are so cautious of having
communication with any but their own
caste, that if any of another nation or
tribe has drunk out of or touched their
cup, they break it.

BAN'IAN-TREE, one of the greatest
wonders of the vegetable kingdom. It
never dies, and continually extends it-
self; for every branch shoots downward,
and, striking into the ground, becomes
itself a parent tree, whose branches, in
like manner, spread. One of them, the
Cubbeer Burr, has 350 stems, equal to
large oakg, and more than 3000 smaller
ones, covering space sufficient to shelter
7000 persons. Its branches are crowded

with families of monkeys, and with birds
of every description, and also with enor-
mous bats, all of which find luxurious
subsistence upon the rich scarlet figs that
grow upon it.

BANK, in commerce, an establishment
for the receiving of moneys and letting
them out on interest. It may likewise
be defined, a place used as a common re-
pository of the money of individuals or
companies. Also, a company of persons
concerned in a private bank ; or the di-
rectors of an incorporated one. The
basis of all banking is the profitable use
to which the banker or company can ap-
ply the capital which is deposited. The
first bank was established at Venice
about 1157, and the name of Banco was
given to it in Italian, from the bench
which the money-changers or bankers
used to sit upon in their burses or ex-
changes.

BANK'ER, a person who traffics in
money, by receivihg the current cash of
individuals free of interest, and negotiat-
ing with it, either in the discount of bills,
or the advance of money on sufficient
securities. The moneyed goldsmiths in
the reign of king Charles II. first acquired
this name. The Romans had two sorts
of bankers, whose office was much more
extensive than that of the bankers among
us ; theirs being that of public affairs, in
whom' were united the functions of a
broker, agent, banker, and notary, manag-
ing the exchange, taking in money, assist-
ing in buying and selling, and drawing
the writings necessary on all these occa-
sions.

BANK-NOTE, or BANK-BILL, a
promissory note, issued by a banking
company, properly signed and counter-
signed, payable to the bearer in the cur-
rent coin of the realm, on demand.

BAN'NER, a square flag, or the prin-
cipal standard belonging to a prince or
state.

BAN'NERET, an ancient order of
knights or feudal lords, who, possessing
several large fees, led their own flag or
banner. As the spirit of the feudal sys-
tem declined, persons came to be created
bannerets, and hence the institution
must have become merely titular. The
last knight of this description was Sir
John Smith, on whom the honor was be-
stowed after Edgehill fight, for rescuing
the standard of Charles I. On the day
of battle, the candidate presented his
flag to the king or general, who cutting
off the train or skirt, and making it a
square, returned it again. Hence, ban-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[BAR

nerets are sometimes called knights of
the square fl:ig.

BAP'TISM, a rite of the Christian re-
ligion, by which the members of its
church are received into the communion.
Almost all sects of Christians style bap-
tism a sacrament, and consider its use as
important ; but the manner in which it
ought to be performed, and the effects to
be derived from it, have been subjects of
much controversy.

BAP'TISTERY, in ecclesiastical wri-
ters, a place in which the ceremony of
baptism is performed. In the ancient
church, it was one of the exedrce or
buildings distinct from the church itself,
and consisted of a porch or ante-room,
where the persons to be baptized made
their confession of faith, and an inner
room where the ceremony of baptism
was performed. Thus it continued till
the sixth century, when the baptisteries
began to be taken into the church-porch ;
and afterwards into the church it-self.

BAP'TISTS (a contraction of ANA-
BAPTISTS), a Christian sect who practise
the baptism of adults instead of that of
children.

BAR, the partition which separates
the members of a court of justice from
those who have to report or hear. It is
also applied to the benches, where the
lawyers are seated, because anciently
there was a bar to separate the pleaders
from the attorneys and others. Hence
those who are called to the bar, or li-
censed to plead, are termed barristers,
an appellation equivalent to licentiate in
other countries. BAB, in music, a stroke
drawn perpendicularly across the lines of
a piece of music, including between each
two a certain quantity or measure of time.

BARALYP'TON, in logic, an indirect
mode of syllogism, consisting of two uni-
versals and one particular affirmative
proposition : as, " Every animal is en-
dued with sense ; every man is an ani-
mal ; therefore something endued with
sense is man."

BARA'THRUM, in antiquity, a deep
pit, with sharp spikes at the top and bot-
tom, into which condemned persons were
cast headlong, at Athens.

BAR'BARA, in logic, an arbitrary
term for the first mode of the first figure
of syllogisms, consisting of three univer-
sal propositions : as, " All animals are
endued with sense : all men are animals ;
therefore, all men are endued with sense."
BAR'BARA, ST., the patron saint of
those who might otherwise die impeni-
tent. Her attributes are, 1. The cup,

given her as a sign that those who hon-
ored her could not die without the sacra-
ment. 2. A tower, her father having
shut her up in one when a child. 3. The
sword by which she was beheaded. 4. A
crown which she wears ae a symbol of
victory and reward. St. Barbara, who
was the patron saint of Mantua, was a
favorite subject with the artists of the
middle ages.

BARBA'RIAN, a name given by the
ancient Greeks and Romans to all who
were not of their own country, or were
not instituted in their language, man-
ners, and customs. In this sense the
word signified with them no more than
foreigner, not signifying, as with us, a
wild, rude, or uncivilized person.

BAR'BARISM, in a general sense, a
rudeness of language or behavior. la
grammar, an offence against the purity
of style or language ; or a mode of
speaking or writing contrary to the true
idiom of any particular language.

BAR'BITON, the name given to the
lyre of Apollo.

BARD, the name given to those indi-
viduals of semi-barbarous tribes, whose
genius or imagination enabled them to
describe events in elevated or measured
language. Homer was one of these
bards among the early Greeks ; Ossian
another among the ancient Irish ; and
their rhapsodies were the foundations of
the art of poetry, which has been culti-
vated with success by all civilized na-
tions. In the first stages of society, in
all countries, bards have made a con-
spicuous figure ; and the " light of the
song" has been the morning-beam that
first broke upon the darkness of igno-
rance : but nowhere does it appear, did
ever verse and its professors receive so
much public regard as under the druidi-
cal establishment ; a regard with which
they continued to be honored long after
that system had perished. In battle the
bards of the Celtic tribes raised the war-
cry, and in peace they sung the exploits
of their heroes, celebrated the attributes
of their gods, and chronicled the history
of their nation. Originally spread over
the greater part of western Europe, they
seem to have been the heralds, the
priests, and the lawgivers of the free
barbarians who first occupied its ancient
forests, until, by the gradual progress of
southern civilization and despotism, they
were driven back into the fastnesses of
Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, where the
last echoes of their harps have long since
died away.

HAS]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

BARGE, in naval affairs, a boat of
state and pleasure, adorned with various
ornaments, having bales and tilts, and
seats covered with cushions, and carpets,
and benches for many oars ; as a com-
pany's barge, an admiral's barge, Ac.
It is also the name of a flat-bottomed
vessel employed for carrying goods on a
navigable river, as those upon the river
Thames, called west country barges.

BAR'NABAS, ST., representations of
this saint are seldom to be met with, ex-
cept in the works of the Venetian artists.
He is usually depicted as a venerable
man, of majestic mien, holding the Gos-
pel of St. Matthew in his hand. The
subjects are chiefly taken from the Acts
of the Apostles, and from the life of St.
Paul.

B AR'ON, a degree of nobility next be-
low a viscount, and above a baronet.
Originally, the barons being the feudato-
ries of princes, were the proprietors of
land held by honorable service : hence,
in ancient records, the word barons com-
prehends all the nobility. BAHONS OF
THE EXCHEQUER, the four judges to whom
the administration of justice is committed,
in causes between the king and his sub-
jects, relating to matters concerning the
revenue. They were formerly barons of
the realm, but of late are generally per-
sons learned in the laws.

BARON AND FEMME, a term in law
for husband and wife, who are deemed
but one person ; so that a wife cannot be
witness for or against her husband ; nor
he for or against his wife, except in eases
of high treason.

BAR'ONET, the lowest.degree of honor
that is hereditary, being next below a
baron, and above a knight. The order
was founded by king James I. at the
suggestion of Sir Robert Cotton, when
200 baronets were created at once : to
which number it was intended that they
should be always restrained : but it is
now enlarged at the royal pleasure, with-
out limitation.

BAR'RACKS, large buildings erected
for the security and accommodation of
soldiers, whether infantry or cavalry.

B AR'RATOR, in law, a common mover,
or maintainer of suits and quarrels, either
in courts or elsewhere ; an encourager of
litigation.

BARRICADE', or BARRICA'DO, a
fortification made in haste, of trees, earth,
palisades, wagons, or anything that will
obstruct the progress of an enemy, or
serve for defence or security against his
attack.

BAR'RISTER, a counsellor learned in
the law, admitted to plead at the bar,
and there to take upon him the protec-
tion and defence of clients.

BARTHOLOMEW, ST., the Apostle,
generally depicted with a knife, and hia
skin in his hand. The horrible scene of
his being flayed alive, by order of the
chief magistrate of Albanopolis, who con-
demned him also to be crucified, has been
painted by some artists.

BAR'YTONE, in music, a male voice
the compass of which partakes of the
common bass and the tenor, being lower
than the one and higher than the other.

BASAL'TES, or BASALT', a stone
supposed to be of volcanic origin, black
or green in color, and found in pillars in
the prismatic form. Columns of basalt
form the Giant's Causeway, the Isje of
Staffa, and Fingal's Cave, and are always
found near great volcanoes, as Hecla, <fce.
It is remarkably hard and heavy, will
not strike fire with steel, and is a fine
touch-stone.

BASE, in architecture, is used for any
body which bears another, but par-
ticularly for the lower part of a column
and pedestal. The base of columns is
differently formed in different orders :
thus, the Tuscan base consists only of a
single torus, besides the plinth ; the
Doric has an astragal more than the
Tuscan ; the Ionic has a large torus over
two slender scotias, separated by two
astragals ; the Corinthian has two toruses,
two scotias, and two astragals : the Com-
posite has an astragal less than the
Corinthian ; the Attic base has two toruses
and a scotia, and is proper for either the
Ionic or Composite columns.

BASHAW, PASHA', or PACHA', a dig-
nity under the Turkish government.
Bashaw, used absolutely, denotes the
prime vizier ; other bashaws, which are
generally governors of provinces or cities,
being distinguished by the name of the
place under their command. The appel-
lation is given by way of courtesy to
almost every person of any figure at the
Grand Signior's court. Their degrees of
dignity were marked by their bearing
one, two, or three horses' tails.

BASIL, ST., representations of this
saint, who was Bishop of Cesarea, are
very rare. He is represented in Greek
pontificals bareheaded, with an emaciated
appearance.

BASIL'IC^E, anciently, public halls or
courts of judicature, where princes and
magistrates sat to administer justice.
They were at first the palaces of princes,

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[BAT

but were finally converted into churches.
Hence basilic now means a church, chapel,
cathedral, or royal palace.

BASS, (sometimes written base, which
is the correct English word for basso,
low :) the lowest or fundamental part in
mesic, and important as the foundation
of harmony. Thorough bass is that
which includes the fundamental rules of
composition. Ground bass is that which
commences with some subject of its own
that is continually repeated throughout
the movement, whilst the upper parts
pursue a separate air. Counter bass is
a second or double bass, where there are
several in the same concert.

BAS'SO, in music, the Italian for ficrss.
Thus, Basso concertante, is the bass of
the little chorus; basso repieno, the
bass af the grand chorus ; and basso con-
tiniio, that part of a composition which
is set for the organ, Ac.

BASSOON' ; a musical wind instrument,
consisting of a very long tube, with a reed
for the mouthpiece.

BAS'SO RELIE'VO, or BASS RE-
LIEF, sculpture in which the figures are
represented as projecting not far above
the plane on which they are formed.
Figures cut are said to be done in relief,
and when the work is low or flat it is
called bass relief, or basso relievo, in
distinction from alto relievo and mezzo
relieto.

BASS VIOL, a stringed musical in-
strument of the same shape as a violin,
but much larger.

BASTILE', a noted fortress in Paris,
which was used as a state prison, and in
which many persons who had incurred
the resentment of the French monarchs,
or their ministers, had been immured for
life. It was built at the latter part of
the 14th century ; and was demolished
by the enraged populace at the com-
mencement of the revolution in 1789.

BASTINA'DO, a mode of punishment
used among the Turks, of beating the
offender on the soles of the feet.

BATH, (KNIGHTS OF THE) a mili-
tary order of knighthood in England,
supposed to have been instituted by
Richard II., who limited the number of
knights to four ; but his successor, Henry
IV., on the day of his coronation increas-
ed them to forty-six. This order received
its denomination from a custom of bath-
ing before the knights received the gol-
den spur. The badge or symbol of the
order is a sceptre, rose, thistle, and three
imperial crowns conjoined within a circle,
upon which is the motto, " Tria juncta in

uno," alluding to the three cardinal vir-
tues faith, hope, and charity. The or-
der of the bath, after 'remaining many
years extinct, was revived under George
I., by a solemn creation of a great number
of knights.

BA'TON', in music, a term denoting a
rest of four semibreves.

BATOON', in architecture, a moulding
in the base of a column.

B AT'TEL, an ancient mode of trial by
single combat, which was introduced into
England by William the Conqueror.
The contest was had before the judges, on
a piece of ground enclosed, and the com-
batants were bound to fight until the
stars appeared, unless the death of one
party or victory sooner decided the con-
test. It is but of late years that this
barbarous law has been abolished.

BAT'TERING-RAM, a military ma-
chine, with which the ancients made
breaches in fortifications. These engines
were variously constructed, and of differ-
ent sizes ; but in general the battering-
ram consisted of a vast beam suspended
to a frame, and armed at one end with a
head of iron, resembling that of a ram ;
from the butting of which animal the
idea was doubtless derived. This being
equally balanced, and furnished with a
number of ropes, at the extremity oppo-
site to the ram's head, a great number
of men threw it forward with violence,
and thus, by a repetition of the strokes,
demolished the wall against which it was
directed.

BAT'TERT, in the military art, a
parapet thrown up to cover the gunners
and men employed about the guns from
the enemy's shot. This parapet is cut
into embrasures for the cannon to fire
through. A battery of mortars is sunk
in the ground, and has no embrasures.
BATTERY, in law, the striking, beating,
or offering any violence to another per-
son, for which damages may be recovered.
It is distinguished from an assault, inas-
much as the latter does not necessarily
imply a hitting or blow. There may be
an assault without battery, but battery
always implies an assault.

BAT'TLE-AXE, a kind of halberd,
first introduced into England by the
Danes, and much used in the early part
of the middle ages.

BAT'TLEMENTS, in architecture, are
indentures or notches in the top of a
wall, or other building, in the form of
embrasures.

BATTOL'OGY, in grammar, a super-
fluous repetition of some words or things.

BEL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

BAY, or BAY TREE, the female laurel
tree, an evergreen which grows wild in
Italy and France. BAYS, in the plural,
an honorary garland or crown, bestowed
as a prize for victory or excellence,
anciently made of laurel branches.

BAY'ONET, a short pointed instru-
ment or triangular dagger, make to fix
on the muzzle of a firelock or musket.

BAZAR', or BAZAAR', a kind of ex-
change or market-place among the Turks
and Persians. Some of these buildings
are remarkable, not only for their ex-
tent, -but for their magnificence. This
name has of late years been in use to de-
note certain large buildings containing a
collection of shops or stalls, let to differ-
ent persons, and in which a great variety
of " fancy goods" are exposed for sale.

BDEL'LIUM, a gummy resinous juice,
produced by a tree in the East Indies, of
which we have no satisfactory account.
It is brought into Europe from the East
Indies, and from Arabia.

BEA'CON, a signal erected on a long
pole, upon an eminence, consisting of a
pitch-barrel or other combustible matter,
to be fired at night, to notify the ap-
proach of an enemy. Also, any object
serving as an occasional signal, or as a
constant seamark, by means of which
ships may be warned of danger, or as-
sured of their port.

BEAD, in architecture, a round mould-
ing, commonly made upon the edge of a
piece of stuff, in the Corinthian and Ro-
man orders, cut or carved in short em-
bossments, like beads in necklaces.

BEATIFICA'TION, an act of the
Pope, by which he declares a person be-
atified or blessed after death, and is the
first step towards canonization, or the
raising of one to the dignity of a saint ;
but no person can be beatified till fifty
years after his death.

BEAT'INGS, in music, the regular
pausative swellings of sound, produced in
an organ by pipes of the same key, when
not in unison, and their vibrations not
simultaneous or coincident.

BEAT'ING TIME, in music, that
motion of the hand or foot by which some
person marks and regulates the move-
ments of the performers.

BEAU IDE'AL, in painting, that
beauty which is freed from the defor-
mity and peculiarity found in nature
in all individuals of a species. All the
objects which nature exhibits to us have
their blemishes and defects, though every
eye is not capable of perceiving them ;
and it is only by long habit of observing

what any objects of the same kind have
in common that it acquires the faculty
of discerning what each wants in par-
ticular. By such means the artist gains
an idea of perfect nature, or what is
called the Beau Ideal.

BEAU'TY, a general term for whatever
excites in us pleasing sensations or
causes our admiration. Or it may be
defined to be an assemblage of graces or
properties which please the eye and in-
terest the mind. The proportion and
symmetry of parts, the regularity and
symmetry of features, the expression of
the eye, and the complexion, are among
the principal properties which constitute
personal beauty. This kind is said to be
intrinsic, and immediately perceptible ;
but when reflection is requisite to com-
prehend the utility of an object, it is said
to be relative : for instance, the beauty
of a machine is not perceived till we
understand its uses and adaptation to its
purpose. Thus, an object may please the
understanding without interesting the
sense ; and on the other hand, we per-
ceive agreeable sensations, excited by
some objects, whose ideas are not related
to anything that is praiseworthy.
BEAUTY, in architecture, painting, and
other arts, is the harmony and justness
of the whole composition taken together.

BEL-ESPRIT', a term formerly natu-
ralized in England, applied to those in-
dividuals whose conversation or writings
display an agreeable sprightliness or
vivacity.

BELLES-LET'TRES, or POLITE LIT-
ERATURE, in its most obvious sense, is
that description of literature which has a
peculiar reference to matters of taste :
but according to many writers, the term
has a much more extensive signification,
and is made to comprehend not merely
every elegant acquirement, but nearly
every branch of knowledge.

BEL'LEVUE, a name given in France
to small country-seats, or to arched
bowers at the end of a garden or park,
intended for the enjoyment of fresh air in
the shade.

BELLONA'RII, in Roman antiquity,
the priests of Bellona, who, in honor of
that goddess, used to make incisions in
their bodies ; and after having gathered
the blood in the palm of their hand, give
it to those who were partakers of their
mysteries.

BEL-META'LO DI VOCE, in music,
an Italian expression for a clear and
brilliant-toned soprano voice.

BEL'VEDERE, a name given in Italy

CVCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[BIO

to the cupolas on palaces or large houses,
which are ascended for the enjoyment
of a fine prospect and the advantage of
a pure air. This is the name also of
a part of the Vatican, where the famous
statue of Apollo is placed, and which, on
this account, is called the Apollo belve-
dere.

BENCH, in law, a seat of justice, as
the Queen's Bench at Westminster. Also,
the persons sitting on a bench, as a bench
of magistrates.

BENCH'ER, a lawyer of the oldest
standing in the inns of court.

BENEDIC'TINES, a celebrated order
of monks, who profess to follow the rules
of St. Benedict. They wear a loose black
gown with large white sleeves, and a cowl
on the head, ending in a point. They
are the same that are c&UedBlack-friars.

BENEFIT OF CLERGY, a privilege,
originating in a superstitious regard for
the church, whereby the clergy were
either partially or wholly exempted from
the jurisdiction of the lay tribunals. It
extended in England only to the case of
felony ; and though it was intended to
apply only to clerical felons or clerks,
yet as every one who could read wa? by
the laws of England, considered to be a
clerk, when the rudiments of learning
came to be diffused almost every person
became entitled to this privilege.

BE'NE PLA'CITO, in music, an Italian
term, denoting that the performer is to
exercise his own taste.

BENZOIN', a solid balsam, yielded
from incisions made in a tree which
grows in Sumatra, called the Styrax Ben-
zoin. It is hard, friable, with an agree-
able fragrant odor, soluble in alcohol,
ether, and oil of turpentine. It has been
employed as an ingredient in spirit var-
nishes by the Italians and Spaniards, but
does not appear to have been an ingre-
dient in oil varnishes.

BER'NARDINES, an order of monks,
founded by Robert, abbot of Moleme, and
reformed by St. Bernard. They wear a
white robe with a black scapulary, and
when they officiate they are clad in a
large white gown, with great sleeves, and
a hood of the same color.

BE'TA, the second Jetter in the Greek
alphabet.

BEY, among the Turks, signifies a gov-
ernor of a country or town. The Turks
write it begh, or beg, but pronounce it
bey. The word is particularly applied to
a lord of a banner, whom they call san-
giac-beg or bey. Every province in Tur-
key is divided into seven sangiacs, or

banners, each of which qualifies a bey,
and these are all commanded by the gov-
ernor of the province, whom they also
call begler-beg, that is, lord of all the
beys of the province.

BI'BLE, (THE BOOK,) a name given by
way of eminence to the Sacred Writings.
The Old Testament consists of the five
books called the Pentateuch ; the His-
torical, Poetical, and Prophetic books :
the New Testament, of the four Gospels,
the Acts, and the Epistles. The earliest
version of the Bible is a Greek transla-
tion called the Septuagint, and from this
other translations have been made. It
was first printed in English in 1535. The
present authorized version of the Holy
Scriptures was completed in the reign of
James the First, about the year 1603.

BIBLIOG'RAPHY, the knowledge of
books as to their several editions, time
of being printed, and other information
tending to illustrate the history of litera-
ture.

,BIBLIOM'ANCY, a kind of divination,
performed by means of the Bible, by
selecting passages of Scripture at hazard,
and drawing from them indications con-
cerning future events.

BIBLIOTHE'CA, in its original and
proper sense, denotes a library, or place
for depositing books. In matters of
literature, it means a treatise giving an
account of all the writers on a certain
subject ; thus, we have bibliothecas of
theology, law, philosophy, Ac. There
are likewise universal bibliothecas, which
treat indifferently of books" of all kinds.

BIG'AMY, double marriage, or the
marrying of two wives or two husbands
while the first is living.

BIGA'RIUS, in antiquity, the char-
ioteer of a biga, or two-wheeled chariot.
j Money or medals stamped with this ein-
i blem were called biga'ti.

BIG'OT, a person who is obstinately

and unreasonably wedded to a particular

religious creed, practice, or opinion ; or

j one who is illiberally attached to any

' opinion or system of belief.

BI'NARY MEASURE, in music, that
in which the raising the hand or foot is
equal to that of falling, usually called
common time. The Italians are accus-
tomed after a recitative to use the phrase
a tempo giusto, to indicate that the meas-
ure is to be beat true and correct, which
is otherwise conducted in the recitative
in order to express passion, Ac.

BIOG'RAPHY,the life of one or more
individuals whose actions are deemed
worthy of record. No species of history

BLU]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

can be more entertaining or instructive
than the lives of eminent men, who by
their private virtues or public deeds, by
the efforts of genius or the impulses
of philanthropy, excite our admiration,
and afford examples for posterity to
emulate.

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW, in the Fine
Arts, a term used to denote a view
arranged according to the laws of per-
spective, in which the point of sight or
situation of the eye is placed at a very
considerable height above the objects
viewed and delineated. In architectural
representations, it is used chiefly for the
purpose of exhibiting the disposition of
the different courts or quadrangles and
roofs of a building. It is a useful method
of representing battles, as also of giving
a general notion of a small district of a
country.

BIS, in music, a word placed over pas-
sages which have dots postfixed to one
bar, and prefixed to a subsequent bar,
signifying that the passage between the
dots is to be twice played.

BIS'CUIT, a kind of white, unglazed,
baked porcelain-clay, much employed in
the manufacture of statuettes, &c., but
for this purpose, a much finer and more
suitable material is the so-called PARIAN.
Biscuit is the term generally applied to
articles of clay, which have gone through
only one "baking" or "firing" in the
oven, and which have not received the
glaze. In this state it is porous, and is
used for wine-coolers, and for other pur-
poses.

BISH'OP, a prelate, or person conse-
crated for the spiritual government of a
diocese. In Great Britain, bishops are
nominated by the sovereign, who, upon
request of the dean and chapter for leave
to elect a bishop, sends a conge d'elire, or
license to elect, with a letter missive,
nominating the person whom he would
have chosen.

BISSEX'TILE, or LEAP-YEAR, a
year consisting of 366 days, and happen-
ing every fourth year, by the addition of
a day in the month of February, which
that year consists of 29 days. And this
is done to recover the six hours which
the sun takes up nearly in his course,
more than the 365 days commonly allowed
for it in other years.

BIS'TRE, or BIS'TER, the burnt oil
extracted from the soot of beech-wood,
which is used as a brown pigment by
painters.

BLACK, a well-known color, supposed
to be owing to the absence of light, most

of the rays falling upon black substances
being not reflected but absorbed. There
are several species of blacks used in
painting; as Frankfort black, of which
there are two sorts, one a natural earth
inclining to blue ; and the other made
from the lees of wine burnt, washed, and
ground with ivory, bones, &c. ; lamp
black, the smoke of resin, prepared by
melting it in iron vessels ; ivury black,
made of burnt ivory, and used in minia-
tures ; Spanish black, made of burnt
cork, and first used by the Spaniards.

BLACK LETTER, is the name now
applied to the old English or modern
Gothic letter, which was introduced into
England about the middle of the four-
teenth century, and became the character
generally used in MS. works before the
art of printing was publicly practised in
Europe. On the application of that art
to the multiplying of books, about the
middle of the fifteenth century, the block
books, and subsequently those written
with movable types, were in this charac-
ter, to imitate writing, and were disposed
of as manuscripts ; and so perfect was the
imitation, that it required great dis-
crimination to distinguish the printed
from the written. The first printed
Bible, known as " the Mentz Bible with-
out date," was an instance of this.

BLACK'-MAIL, a certain rate of mo-
ney, corn, or cattle, anciently paid, in the
north of England, to certain persons con-
nected with the moss-troopers, or robbers,
to be by them protected from pillage.

BLANK, a void space in any writing
or printing. This word is applied to va-
rious objects, usually in the sense of des-
titution, or emptiness.

BLANK- VERSE, in poetry, that which
is composed of a certain number of syl-
lables, without the assistance of rhyme.

BLOCKADE', in military affairs, the
blocking up a place, by posting troops at
all the avenues leading to it, to keep sup-
plies of men and provisions from getting
into it ; and by these means proposing to
starve it out, without making any regu-
lar attacks. To raise a blockade, is to
force the troops that blockade to retire.

BLUE, one of the seven primitive col-
ors into which they are divided when re-
fracted through a glass prism. Blue, as
a color in painting, is distinguished into
ultra-marine, from the azure stone, called
lapis lazuli; Prussian blue, a color next
to ultra-marine for beauty ; blue ashes,
used in limning, fresco, and miniature ;
blue verditer, a blue somewhat inclining
to a green ; and bice, which is the palest

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

ROR

of all the bright blues. In dyeing, the
principal ingredients for giving a blue
color are indigo and wood.

BODY, in matters of literature, de-
notes much the same with system, being
a collection of everything belonging to a
particular science or art, disposed in
proper order : thus we say, a body of di-
vinity, law, physic, &c.

BOLD'NESS, that quality which dis-
tinguishes the artist, who, educated in
the soundest principles of art, designs
and executes with fearlessness and de-
cision. When under proper control, it
imparts to all his - productions a vigor
that is sure to charm. It is exhibited in
the highest degree in the works of
Rubens.

BOLOGNESE' SCHOOL, in painting,
sometimes called the Lombard school of
painting. It was founded by the Caracci,
and its object was to unite the excellen-
cies of the preceding schools ; hence it is
occasionally called the Eclectic school.
Among the principal painters which it
numbered were Domenichino, Lanfranco,
Corregio, Guido, Scbidone, Caravagio,
Zampieri, Primaticcio, &c.

BOMB, a large shell or ball of east
iron, round and hollow, with a vent to
receive a fusee, which is made of wood,
and filled with combustible materials of
all kinds. This being done, and the fusee
driven into the vent, the fusee is set on
fire, and the bomb is thrown from the
mortar, in such a direction as to fall into
a fort, city, or enemy's camp, when it
bursts with great violence, and often with
terrible effect, blowing into pieces what-
ever may be in its way.

BOM'BAST, in literary composition,
an inflated style, by which, in attempting
to raise a low or familiar subject beyond
its rank, the writer seldom fails to be
ridiculous.

BONA DEA, in Roman mythology, a
goddess concerning whom a great diver-
sity of opinion prevails, even among the
writers of antiquity. She is represented
by Maerobius, who treats at length upon
her nature and worship, as synonymous
with the Grecian Rhea or Cybele. The
Bona Dea had two temples at Rome ; but
her rites were generally solemnized in
the house of the consul or praetor. In
the celebration of these rites only women
participated, thereby indicating the pecu-
liar chastity of the goddess. But a perusal
of the ancient writers will convince the
most skeptical that the exclusion of men
from the solemnities of the Bona Dea
was purely nominal, and that in the

course of time the grossest licentiousness
was practised during their celebration.

BOND, in architecture, the connection
of one stone or brick with another by
lapping them over each other in carrying
up work, so that an inseparable mass of
building may be formed, which could not
be the case if every vertical joint was
over that below it. BOND, in law, a
deed whereby the obligator, or party
binding himself, obliges himself, his
heirs, executors, and administrators, to
pay a certain sum of money, called the
penalty, to another (the obligee) at a
day appointed. BOND, ENGLISH, in ar-
chitecture, that disposition of bricks in a
wall wherein the courses are alternately
composed of headers, or bricks laid with
their heads or ends towards the faces of
the wall, and in the superior and inferior
courses of stretchers or bricks, with their
lengths parallel to the faces of the walls,
as in the margin, in which the upper is
called the heading, and the lower the
stretching course. BOND, FLEMISH, in
architecture, that disposition of bricks in
a wall wherein each course has headers
and stretchers alternately, as in the
margin. BOND OH LAP OF A SLATE, in
architecture, the distance between the
nail of the under slate and the lower
edge of the upper slate.

BOND STONE, in architecture, a stone
running through the whole thickness of
a wall at right angles to its face, for the
purpose of binding the wall together in
the direction of its thickness.

BOND TIM'BER, in architecture, tim-
ber worked in with a wall as it is carried
up, for the purpose of tying it together
in a longitudinal direction while the
work is setting.

BONZE, an Indian priest, who wears
a chaplet of beads about his neck, and
carries a staff, having a wooden bird at
one end. The bonzes of China are the
priests of the Fohists, or sects of Fohi ;
and it is one of their established tenets,
that there are rewards allotted for the
righteous, and punishments for the wick-
ed, in the other world; and that there
are various mansions, in which the souls
of men will reside, according to their
different degrees of merit. The number
of bonzes in China is estimated at fifty
thousand, and they are represented as
idle, dissolute men.

BOOK, a literary composition, designed
to communicate something which the au-
thor has invented, experienced, or col-
lected, to the public, and thence to pos-
terity ; being printed, bound in a volume.

BOR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

and published for that purpose. The five
books of Moses are doubtless the oldest
books now extant ; and there are none in
profane history extant anterior to Ho-
mer's poems. A great variety of mate-
rials were formerly used in making
books : plates of lead and copper, the
bark of trees, bricks, stone, and wood,
were among the first materials employed
to engrave such things upon, as men were
desirous to transmit to posterity. Jo-
sephus speaks of two columns, the one of
stone, the other of brick, on which the
children of Seth wrote their inventions
and astronomical discoveries : Porphyry
makes mention of some pillars, preserved
in Crete, on which the ceremonies prac-
tised by the Corybantes in their sacrifices,
were recorded : Hesiod's works were ori-
ginally written upon tables of lead, and
deposited in the temple of the Muses, in
Bceotia : the ten commandments, deliv-
ered to Moses, were written upon stone ;
and Solon's laws upon wooden planks.
Tables of wood, box, and ivory, were com-
mon among the ancients : when of wood
they were frequently covered with wax,
that people might write on them with
more ease, or blot out what they had
written. The leaves of the palm-tree
were afterwards used instead of wooden
planks, and the finest and thinnest part of
the bark of such trees, as the lime, the
ash, the maple and the elm ; from hence
comes the word liber, which signifies the
inner bark of the trees : and as these
barks were rolled up, in order to be re-
moved with greater ease, these rolls were
called volumen, a volume ; a name after-
wards given to the like rolls of paper or
parchment. With regard to the use of
books, it is indisputable that they make
one of the chief instruments of acquiring
knowledge ; they are the repositories of
the law, and vehicles of learning of every
kind; our religion itself is founded on
books, and "without them, (says Bartho-
lin) God is silent, justice dormant, physic
at a stand, philosophy lame, letters dumb,
and all things involved in Cimmerian
darkness." Yet, with all the well-merited
eulogies that have been bestowed on
them, we cannot overlook the fact that
many are frivolous, and some pernicious.
It will therefore be well to bear in mind
the opinion of the learned Selden, who
says that the characteristics of a good
book are solidity, perspicuity, and brev-
ity.

BOR'DER, that which limits or orna-
ments the extremities of a thing. FRAMES
in a picture, is a border of carved wood,

sometimes painted or gilt, and of copper-
gilt, on which the picture is placed. The
frame is not only a luxurious ornament,
but it is necessary to circumscribe the
composition, and to figure the opening
through which the spectator perceives the
painted objects, which an illusion of per-
spective leads him to think are beyond
the wall on which the picture is placed.'
TAPESTRIES, in imitation of paintings,
have also BORDERS, worked in the tapes-
try : as these must be proportionate to
the size of the picture, which in tapestry
are usually very large, they may be or-
namented with Arabesques, Masks, Ca-
meos, &c. The greatest painters have
not disdained this style of composition ;
the borders of many of the tapestries in
the Vatican were executed after designs
by RafFaelle.

BO'REAS, in Grecian mythology, the
son of Astrseus and Aurora, and usually
worshipped as the god of the north wind.
There are few of the minor Grecian
divinities of whom so strange and multi-
farious exploits are recorded as of Bo-
reas ; and it is interesting to trace to its
source the allegory of all his adventures
and achievements, and thence to eluci-
date the causes of his deification. The
assiduity, for instance, with which the
worship of Boreas was cultivated at
Athens proceeded from gratitude, the
north wind having on one occasion de-
stroyed the fleet of the Persians when
meditating the invasion of Athens. A
similar cause induced the inhabitants of
Megalopolis to consider Boreas as their
guardian divinity, in whose honor they
instituted an annual festival. With his
usual partiality for mythological allu-
sion, Milton has given Boreas a place in
his Paradise Lost:

Now from the north
Of Norumbega, and the Samoed shove,
Bursting their bra/en dungeon, armed with ice,
And snow and hail, and stormy trust and flaw,
Boreas and Caecias and Art-estes loud.
And Thrascias rend the woods and seas upturn.

Boreas was usually represented with the
feet of a serpent, his wings dripping with
golden dew-drops, and the train of his
garment sweeping along the ground.

BOR/OUGH, this word originally de-
noted a fortified city or town ; but at
present it is given to such town or vil-
lage as sends burgesses or representa-
tives to parliament. Boroughs are equally
such whether they be incorporate or not;
there being several boroughs that are not
incorporated, and, on the contrary, sev-
eral corporations that are not boroughs.

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[BOU

BOR'RELISTS, in church history, a
sect of Christians in Holland, (so called
from Borrel, their founder,) who reject
the use of the sacraments, public prayer,
and all external worship ; yet they lead
a very austere life.

BORS'HOLDER, among the Anglo-
Saxons, one of the lowest magistrates,
whose authority extended only over one
tithing, consisting of ten families. Each
tithing formed a little state of itself, and
chose one of its most respectable mem-
bers for its- head, who was called a bors-
holder, a term derived from two words
signifying a "surety" and a "head."

BOSS', this term describes sculptured
objects in their full forms in contradis-
tinction to those which are in RELIEF,
or attached more or less to a plane or
ground.

BOS'SAGE, in architecture, a term
used for any stone that has a projecture,
and is laid rough in a building, to be af-
terwards carved into mouldings, capitals,
coats of arms, &c. Bossage is also the
name for what is otherwise' called rustic
work, consisting of stones that seem to
project beyond the level of the building,
by reason of indentures or channels left
in the joinings. These are chiefly in the
corners of edifices, And are there called
rustic quoins.

BOSS'ES, are projecting ornaments
used in architecture in various situations,
such as ceilings, to cover the points of in-
tersection of the ribs, &c. They consist
variously of foliage, heads, armorial
shields, &c., and embrace a great variety
of fanciful shapes.

BOTAN'IC GARDEN, a garden devo-
ted to the culture of a collection of plants,
with reference to the science of botany.
The legitimate object of gardens of this
description appears to be to collect and
cultivate, at the public expense, all the
species and varieties of plants that can
be cultivated in the given climate, with
or without the aid of glass ; and then to
distribute these to private* individuals
throughout the district by which the
botanic garden is supported. The most
complete system of this kind ever es-
tablished appears to have been that of
France soon after the revolution. All
the botanical articles that could be pro-
cured from other countries were sent to
the botanic garden at Paris ; and after
they had borne seeds or been propagated
there, the progeny was distributed among
the provincial botanic gardens, of which
there is one or more in every department.
After being propagated in the provincial

botanic gardens, the seeds or progeny
were given out, free of expense, to who-
ever in the district to which the garden
belonged thought fit to apply for them.
As the useful species and varieties were
as much attended to in these gardens as
.those which were cultivated only in a
scientific point of view, the greatest facili-
ties were thus given to the spread of
every useful grain, pulse, culinary ve-
getable, and fruit, over the whole of
France.

BOTANOMAN'CY, an ancient species
of divination by means of plants, espe-
cially sage and fig leaves. Questions
were written on leaves, which were then
exposed to the wind, and as many of the
letters as remained in their places were
taken up, and, being joined together,
contained an answer to the question.

BOT'TOM RAIL, in architecture, a
term used for denoting the lowest horizon-
tal rail of a framed door.

BOT'TOMRY, in commercial law, is in
effect a mortgage of a ship, being an
agreement entered into by an owner or
his agent, whereby, in consideration of a
sum of money advanced for the use of the
ship, the borrower undertakes to repay
the same, with interest, if the ship ter-
minate her voyage successfully ; and
binds or hypothecates the ship for the
performance of the contract.

BOU'DOIR, in architecture, a small
room or cabinet, usually near the bed-
chamber and dressing-room, for the pri-
vate retirement of the master or mistress
of the house.

BOUL'TIN, in architecture, a name
given to a moulding whose section is
nearly a quadrant of a circle, whose
diameter being horizontal, the contour is
convex in respect of a vertical to such
diameter. It is more usually called the
egg or quarter round, placed next below
the plinth in the Tuscan and Doric cap-
ital.

BOTJN'TY, in commerce and the arts,
a premium paid by government to the
producers, exporters, or importers of
certain articles, or to those who employ
ships in certain trades, when the profits
resulting from these respective branches
of industry are alleged to be insufficient.

BOUSTROPHE'DON, a word descrip-
tive of a mode of writing common among
the early Greeks until nearly the middle
of the fifth century before Christ; viz. in
alternate lines from right to left and
from left to right, as fields are ploughed
in furrows having an alternate direction,
from whence the derivation.

BRE]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

BOUTS-RIMES, a term for certain
rhymes disposed in order, and given to a
poet, together with a subject, to be filled
up with verses ending in the same word
and same order.

BOWL'DER, or BOWLDER-STONE,
a roundish stone found on the sea-shore,
or in the channels of rivers, Ac., worn
smooth by the action of water.

BOWL'DER WALL, a wall, generally
on the sea-coast, constructed of large
pebbles or bowlders of flint, which have
been rounded by the action of water.

BOWLS, a game played upon a fine
smooth grassy surface, used solely for the
purpose, and denominated a bowling-
green.

BOX'ERS, a kind of athlete, who
combat or contend for victory with their
fists. Among the Romans they were
called pugiles ; hence the appellation
of pugilists to the boxers of the present
day.

BRACE, in architecture, a piece of
timber framed in with bevel joints, to
keep the building from swerving either
way. When the brace is framed into the
principal rafters, it is sometimes called
a strut.

BRACE'LETS, were with the Ancients,
and are still with the Moderns, the sym-
bol of marriage. They were generally in
the form of a serpent, and some were
round bands fastened by two serpent's
heads like the girdle of warriors. The
number of golden and bronze bracelets
found at Herculaneum and Pompeii,
show that these ornaments, particularly
those in the form of serpents, were arti-
cles of luxury among the females of an-
cient times. Antique bracelets are of
two kinds, armlets and true bracelets, the
one worn on the upper arm and the other
on the wrist or lower arm. Smaller
bracelets, generally of gold, beautifully
worked, and sometimes set with jewels,
were worn on the wrist. Bracelets have
also been found like twisted bands. The
Bacchantes wore real serpents instead of
serpent-like bracelets. These ornaments
were not worn exclusively by women, for
wo find that the Roman Consuls wore
bracelets in triumphal processions ; they
were presented by the emperors to sol-
diers who distinguished themselves (An-
MILLJE.) The ankles had similar orna-
ments, thence called ANKLETS. '

BRACHYG'RAPHY, stenography, or
the art of writing in short hand.

BRACHYL'OGY, in rhetoric, the meth-
od of expressing anything in the most
concise manner.

BRACK'ET, a support suspended
from or attached to a wall for the purpose
of supporting statuettes, vases, lamps,
clocks, &c. The skill of the artist has
been frequently employed upon this or-
nament, which is susceptible of great ele-
gance of form and embellishment.

BRAH'MINS, or BR AM'INS, the caste
or hereditary division of Hindoos pecu-
liarly devoted to religion and religious
science, in the same manner as. among
the Jews, the priesthood was ordained to
continue in the tribe of Levi. The fami-
lies of this caste claim peculiar venera-
tion from the rest, and seem, in their
name of bramins, to claim the merit of
being the more immediate followers of
Brahma, their incarnate deity. Some of
them, however, are described as very
corrupt in their morals ; while others live
sequestered from the world, devoted to
superstition and indolence. To the brain-
ins we are indebted for whatever we
know of the Sanscrit, or ancient language
of the country, in which their sacred
books are written.

BRAVU'RA, in music, an air so com-
posed as to enable the performer to show
his skill in the execution of difficult pas-
sages. It is also sometimes used for the
style of execution.

BREADTH, this term is employed in
the language of Art to express that kind
of grandeur which results from the ar-
rangement of objects and of the mode of
proceeding in delineating them. In
painting it is applied both to Design and
to Coloring : it conveys the idea of sim-
ple arrangement, free from too great a
multiplicity of details, following which
the lights and shades spread themselves
over the prominent parts, without daz-
zling or interfering with each other, so
that the attention of the spectator is ar-
rested and kept fixed, and there is breadth
of effect, the result of judicious coloring
and chiaro-oscuro. When a work offers
these results, we say it has breadth ; and
'broad touch," and " broad pencil," are
terms applicable to this manner of work-
ing, when the touches and strokes of the
pencil produce breadth of effect. In a
similar sense, in engraving, we say " a
broad burin." But although a work of
sculpture is susceptible of breadth, we do
not say " a broad chisel."

BREC'CIA, an Italian name for those
stones which consist of hard angular or
rounded fragments of different mineral
bodies, united by a kind of cement, of
which the so-called pudding-stone is an
example, which consists of flint detritus,

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[BRO

cemented by quartz. Tho ancients used
breccia both in architecture and the
Plastic Arts. Porphyry breccia, or
Egyptian breccia, is one of the most
beautiful varieties of this material, of
which a fine pillar is contained in the
Museo Pio Clementine.

BREED'ING, in a moral sense, denotes
a person's deportment or behavior in the
external offices and decorums of social
life. In this sense, we say, well-bred, ill-
bred, a man of breeding, Ac. Lord
Shaftesbury compares the well-bred man
with the real philosopher ; the conduct
and manners of the one are formed accord-
ing to the most perfect ease and good en-
tertainment of company ; of the other,
according to the strictest interest of man-
kind ; the one according to his rank and
quality in his private station ; the other,
according to his rank and dignity in na-
ture. In short, good-breeding is polite-
ness, or the union of those qualifications
which constitute genteel deportment.

BREVE, in music, a note of the third
degree of length. It is equal to two
semibreves, or when dotted, to three : the
former is called an imperfect, the latter,
a perfect breve.

BREVET', a military term, expressive
of nominal promotion without additional
pay : thus, a brevet major serves a cap-
tain, and draws pay as such. The word
is borrowed from the French, signifying
a royal act granting some favor or privi-
lege ; as brevet d'invention.

BRE'VIARY, the book containing the
daily service of the church of Rome.

BRIEF, in law, an abridgment of the
client's case, made out for the instruction
of counsel on a trial at law ; wherein the
case of the plaintiff, Ac., is to be briefly,
but completely, stated. Brief, in music,
a measure of quantity, which contains
two strokes down in beating time, and
two up. Brief apostolical, letters or
written messages of the pope, addressed
to princes or magistrates, respecting
matters of public concern.

BRIGADE', a party or division of sol-
diers, either horse or foot. An army is
divided into brigades of horse and brigades
of foot : a brigade of horse is a body of
eight or ten squadrons ; a brigade of foot
consists of four, five, or six battalions.

BRIG'ANDINE, a kind of ancient de-
fensive armor, consisting of thin jointed
scales of plate, so arranged as to be pliant
and easy to the body.

BRIGHT, in painting, shining with
light ; a term applied to a picture in which
the lights preponderate over the shadows.

BRILLAN'TE, in music, prefixed to a
movement, denotes that it is to be played
in a gay and lively manner.

BRITAN'NIA, the name given by the
Romans to the island of Britain, which is
represented on their medals under the
figure of a female resting her left arm on
a shield.

BRITIN'IANS, a body of Augustine
monks who received their name from
Britini, in Ancona. They were distin-
guished by their austerities in living.

BROCADE', a stuff of gold, silver, or,
silk, raised and enriched with flowers,
foliages, and other ornaments, according
to the fancy of the merchants or manu-
facturers.

BROGUE, a defective pronunciation of
a language, particularly applied to the
Irish manner of speaking English.

BRO'KER, a name applied to persons
of several and very different professions,
the chief of which are exchange-brokers,
stock-brokers, pawn-brokers, and brokers
who sell household furniture.

BRON'TIUM, in Grecian antiquity, a
place underneath the floor of the thea-
tres, in which were kept brazen vessels
full of stones and other materials, with
which they imitated the noise of thunder.

BRONZE, a mixed metal, composed
principally of copper, with a small por-
tion of tin and other metals. The an-
cients used bronze for a great variety of
purposes ; hence, arms and other instru-
ments, medals and statues of this metal,
are to be found in all cabinets of antiqui-
ties. The moderns have also made much
use of bronze, particularly for statues
exposed to accidents, or the influence of
the atmosphere, and for casts of cele-
brated antiques. Bronze of a good qual-
ity acquires, by oxydation, a fine green
tint, called patina antiqua or cerugo;
which appearance is imitated by an ar-
tificial process, called bronzing.

BROWN, or tan-color, was used both
in ancient and mediaeval times as a sign
of mourning; regarded as a compound
of red and black, BISTRE, it is the sym-
bol of infernal love and of treason. By
the Egyptians Typhon was represented
of a red color, or rather of red mixed
with black ; everything in nature of a
brown color was consecrated to Typhon.
In the ancient pictures representing the
Passion of Jesus Christ, the personages
are frequently depicted brown. Several
religious orders adopt this color in their
costume, as the symbol of renunciation.
With the Moors it was emblematic of
every evil. Tradition assigns red hair

BUD]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

to Judas. Christian symbolism appro-
priates the color of the dead leaf for the
type of spiritual death ; the blue, the
celestial color, which gives them life,
is evaporated they become of a dark-
yellow, hence the term " dead leaf."

BRU'MAL, the winter quarter of the
year, beginning at the shortest day.

BRUMA'LIA. in antiquity, a festival
celebrated by the Romans in honor of
Bacchus twice a-year ; viz., on the twelfth
of the calends of March, and the eighth
of the calends of December.

BRUTE, an animal without the use of
reason, or that acts by mere instinct, in
which sense it denotes much the same
with beast, and comprehends all animals
excepting mankind. Philosophers, how-
ever, are far from being agreed on this
subject ; some making brutes mere ma-
chines, whilst others allow them not only
reason, but immortality. Others take a
middle course, and allow brutes to have
imagination, memory, and passion ; but
deny that they have understanding or
reason, at least, in any degree compara-
ble to that of mankind. The sagacity of
many brutes is indeed admirable ; yet
what a prodigious difference is there
between that sagacity and the reason of
mankind !

BUCANIER', or BUCCANEER', a
name given to those piratical adven-
turers, chiefly English and French, who,
in the seventeenth century, committed
the most excessive depredations on the
Spaniards in America. The name had
been given to the first French settlers on
the island of St. Domingo, whose sole em-
ployment consisted in hunting bulls or
wild boars, in order to sell their hides
and flesh ; and as they smoked and dried
the flesh of the animals according to the
manner of the Indians, which was called
buccaneering, they thus obtained the
name of buccaneers.

BUCCELLA'RII, an order of soldiery
under the Greek emperors, appointed to
guard and distribute the rations of bread.

BUCCI'NA, an ancient musical and
military instrument, somewhat similar to
the modern trumpet. Hence BUCCINA-
TOR, or trumpeter.

BUCEN'TAUR, the name of the large
vessel which the Venetians formerly used
in the ceremony of espousing the sea.

BUCK'LER, a piece of defensive ar-
mor used by the ancients, commonly
composed of hides, fortified with plates of
metal. Bucklers, votive, were those con-
secrated to the gods, and hung up in
their temples, in commemoration of some

hero, or as a thanksgiving for a victory
obtained over an enemy, whose bucklers,
taken in war, were offered as a trophy.

BUCK'RAM, a sort of coarse cloth
made of hemp, gummed, calendered, and
dyed of several colors. It is used in
drapery, garments, &c., required to be
kept stiff to their form.

BUCOL'ICS, the Greek term for pas-
toral poems, meaning literally the songs
of herdsmen. We have considerable re-
mains of this species of poetry in the
poems of Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus,
and the Eclogues of Virgil. The metre
universally employed is the hexameter
or heroic; but in pastoral poetry an
easier flow of the lines was studied than
in epics, and this was generally accom-
plished by introducing a larger propor-
tion of the metrical feet called dactyls in
the former than in the latter ; but no
rules were laid down on this point. This
species of poetry has been cultivated also
by most modern nations, and in England,
France', and especially in Germany, with
great success. Indeed, the last-mentioned
country can boast among others of a
Gessner, whose Idyls have been pro-
nounced by some modern critics to be
models of pastoral poetry, combining the
most finished harmony of numbers with a
simplicity and tenderness of sentiment
and expression worthy of Theocritus him-
self.

BUDD'HISTS, the followers or wor-
shippers of Buddha, the founder of a very
ancient religion in India, which after-
wards spread to Japan, Thibet, and Chi-
na, where it exists at the present day.
Buddha, whose historical name was Tsha-
kia-umni, was born under the reign of
Tshao-wang, of the dynasty of Tsheu,
1029 B.C., and died under the reign of
Mouwang, 950 B.C. His disciple Maha-
kaya succeeded him, and is the first saint
or patriarch of Buddhism ; but a regular
dynasty of successors filled this important
station till A.D. 713. Their history is
mixed with the grossest fables ; but it is
clear that they devoted themselves to re-
ligious exercises and constant contempla-
tion, and condemned themselves to the
severest abstinence. Besides many other
monuments of the ancient worship of
Buddha, there are two particularly re-
markable the ruins of the gigantic tem-
ple Bpro-Budor, in Java, and the five
large subterranean halls, called Pantsh-
Pandu, on the way from Guzerat to Mal-
wa. Tradition ascribes these astonishing
works of ancient Indian architecture and
sculpture, which far surpass the skill of

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[BUR

the modern. Hindoos, to the Pandus, the
heroes of Indian mythology.

BUD'GET, in a general sense, means
a condensed statement of the income and
expenditure of a nation, or of any particu-
lar public department. In England,
however, the term is usually employed
to designate the speech made by the
chancellor of the exchequer when he
gives a general view of the public reve-
nue and expenditure, and intimates
whether government intend to propose
the imposition or repeal of any taxes, Ac.

BUF'FO, the Italian for a singer, or
actor, when he takes the humorous part
in comic operas, &c.

BUHL, this word is a corruption of
Boule, the name of an Italian artisan
who first introduced this kind of ornament
into cabinet-work. It is used to desig-
nate that sort of work in which any two
materials of different colors are inlaid
into each other, as brass, tortoise-shell,
pearl, Ac. ; it is applied to chairs, tables,
desks, work-boxes, Ac.

BUL, in the ancient Hebrew chronolo-
gy, the eighth month of the ecclesiastical,
and the second of the civil year ; it has
since been called Marshevan, and answers
to our October.

BULL, PAPAL, an instrument, ordi-
nance, or decree of the Pope, equivalent
to the proclamations, edicts, letters pat-
ent, or ukases of secular princes. Bulls
are written on parchment, to which a
leaden seal is affixed, and are granted
for the consecration of bishops, the pro-
motion to benefices, and the celebration
of jubilees, <fcc. The publication of papal
bulls is termed fulmination ; and it is
done by one of three commissioners, to
whom they are usually addressed.

BUL'LA, in antiquity, a small round
ornament of gold or silver, worn about
the neck or breast of the children of the
nobility till the age of fourteen.

BUL'LETIN, an official account of
public transactions or matters of general
interest.

BULL'-FIGHT, an entertainment for-
merly frequent in Spain and Portugal,
at which wild bulls are encountered by
men on horseback, armed with lances.

BULL'ION, uncoined gold or silver in
the mass. Those metals are called so,
either when smelted from the native ore,
and not perfectly refined ; or when they
are perfectly refined, but melted down in
bars or ingots, or in any unwrought body,
of any degree of fineness.

BUR'DEN, in music, the drone or bass
in some musical instruments, and the

pipe or string that plays it. The bass
pipe in the bagpipe is so called. Hence,
that part of a song that is repeated at
the end of every stanza is called the bur-
den of it.

BUREAU', in its primary sense, is a
cloth covering a table ; next a writing-
table ; and afterwards used to signify the
chamber of an officer of government, and
the body of subordinate officers who labor
under the direction of a chief.

BUREAU'CRATIE, or BUREAU-
CRACY, is the system by which the
business of administration is carried on
in departments, each under the control
of a chief, in contra-distinction to those
systems in which the officers of govern-
ment have a co-ordinate authority.

BUR'GESS, an inhabitant of a borough,
or one who possesses a tenement therein.
In other countries, burgess and citizen
are used synonymously ; but in England
they are distinguished, burgess being
ordinarily used for the representative of
a borough-town in parliament.

BURG'LARY, in law, the breaking
and entering the dwelling of another in
the night, with the intent to commit
some felony, whether the felonious intent
be put in execution or not. The like
offence committed by day, is called house-
breaking.

BUR'GOMASTER, the chief magistrate
of the great towns in Flanders, Holland,
and Germany. The authority of a burgo-
master resembles that of the Lord Mayor
in London.

BU'RIN, an instrument used for en-
graving on copper or steel plates.

BURLES'QUE, the Italian poesia bur-
lesca, signifies merely comic or sportive
poetry ; but the term, in French and
English, is more commonly restricted to
compositions of which the humor consists
in a ludicrous mixture of things high
and low : as high thoughts clothed in
low expressions; or, vice versa, ordinary
or base topics invested in the artificial
dignity of poetic diction. The humor of
parody or travestie arises from the bur-
lesque. Burletta, a slight comic musical
drama, is derived from the same origin.

BURLET'TA, a light, comic species of
musical drama, which derives its name
from the Italian burlare, to jest.

BUR'SARS, originally clerks or treas-
urers in convents : in more modern times,
persons enabled to prosecute their studies
at a university by means of funds derived
from endowments. It is a singular cir-
cumstance that the latter acceptation of
this term originated among the Poles,

AND THE FINE ARTS.

who, even in the 14th century, were ac-
customed to supply young men of talent
with the means of travelling to Germany,
and there studying philosophy under the
guidance of the monks. This practice
was soon adopted by other nations ; and
there is now, perhaps, no civilized coun-
try in which it does not exist, under the
name of bursaries, felrowships, exhibi-
tions, scholarships, <fcc. These endow-
ments are of two kinds : either furnishing
the student with the means of prosecuting
his studies during the academical curri-
culum ; or enabling him to devote him-
self, without distraction, to literary pur-
suits even after the expiration of this
period.

BUR'SCHE, a youth, especially a stu-
dent at a university.

BUR'SCHEN COMMENT, the code of
laws adopted by the students for the
regulation of their demeanor amongst
themselves, <fcc.

BUR'SCHENSCHAFT, a league or
secret association of students, formed in
1815, for the purpose, as was asserted, of
the political regeneration of Germany,
and suppressed, at least in name, by the
exertions of the governments.

BURSE, BUR 7 SA, or BASIL'ICA, an
exchange, or place of meeting for mer-
chants to consult on matters of trade, and
to negotiate bills of exchange.

BUSI'RIS, in Egyptian mythology, a
fabulous personage, of whose origin, ex-
ploits, and character, Apollodorus, Herod-
otus, Diodorus Siculus, and other ancient
writers, have given a most discrepant
account. His history is blended with
that of Osiris.

BTJS'KIN, a kind of boot, or covering
for the leg, of great antiquity. It was
part of the costume of actors in tragedy ;
it is worn by Diana in representations of
that goddess, as part of the costume of
hunters. In antique marbles it is repre-
sented tastefully ornamented. Being
laced in front it fitted tightly to the leg.
Buskin is used in contradistinction to
the sock, (soccus) the flat-soled shoe,
worn by comedians, <fcc., and both terms
are used to express the tragic and comic
drama.

BUST, or BUS'TO, in sculpture, de-
note.s the figure or portrait of a person
in relievo, showing only the head, shoul-
ders, and stomach, the arms being lopped
off. The stomach and shoulders are,
strictly speaking, the bust. The term is
also used by the Italians, for the torso or
trunk of the body, from the neck to the
hips.

BUS'TUM, in antiquity, a funeral pile
on which the dead bodies of the Romans
used to be burnt. Hence, BUSTUA'RU
were gladiators who fought about the
bustum of any person in the celebration
of his obsequies.

BY'-LAWS, or BYE'-LAWS, private
and peculiar laws for the good govern-
ment of a city, court, or other community,
made by the general consent of the mem-
bers. All by-laws are to be reasonable,
and for the common benefit, not private
advantage of any particular persons, and
must be agreeable to the public laws in
being.

BYZAN'TINE, a gold coin of the value
of 151,, so called from being coined at
Byzantium. Also an epithet for any-
thing pertaining to Byzantium, an an-
cient city of Thrace, situated on the Bos-
phorus.

BYZAN'TINE HISTORIANS, a se-
ries of Greek historians and authors, who
lived under the Eastern Empire between
the 6th and the 15th centuries. They
may be divided into three classes: 1.
Historians whose works form a continu-
ous history of the Byzantine Empire
from the fourth century of the Christian
era down to the Turkish conquest of Con-
stantinople. They are nearly thirty in
number, with various shades of literary
merit ; but their works constitute the al-
most only authentic source of the history
of that eventful period. 2. General chron-
iclers or historians, whose works, embra-
cing a wider range than those of the for-
mer, treat chiefly of the chronography of
the world from the oldest times. 3. Au-
thors who confined their attention to the
politics, statistics, antiquities, manners,
&c., of the Romans. These two classes
combined amount also to about thirty,
and their writings give an excellent illus-
tration of the times of which they treat,
whether as historians, chroniclers, anti-
quaries, or politicians.

C, the third letter and second consonant
of the alphabet, is pronounced like k be-
fore the vowels a, o, and u, and like s be-
fore e, i, and y. Before h it has a pecu-
liar sound, as in chance, chalk ; in chord
and some other words, it is hard like k ;
but in many French words it is soft be-
fore h, like s, as in chaise, chagrin, &o.
As a numeral C stands for 100, and C C
for 200, &c. ; as an abbreviation it stands
f.qr Christ, as A.-C. Anno Christi, or Ante

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CAD

Christum ; also for Companion, as C.B.
Companion of the Bath. And in music,
C after the cliff, is the mark of common
time.

CAA'BA, or CAA'BAH, properly sig-
nifies a square building ; but is particu-
larly applied by the Mahometans to the
temple of Mecca, built, as they pretend,
by Abraham, and Ishmae'l his son. It is
towards this temple they always turn
their faces when they pray, in whatever
part of the' world they happen to be.
This temple enjoys the privilege of an
asylum for all sorts of criminals ; but it
is most remarkable for the pilgrimages
made to it by the devout Mussulmans,
who pay so great a veneration to it, that
they believe a single sight of its sacred
walls, without any particular act of de-
rotion, is as meritorious in the sight of
God, as the most careful discharge of
one's duty, for the space of a whole year,
in any other temple.

CABAL', denotes a number of persons
united in some close design, and is some-
times used synonymously with faction.
This term was applied to the ministry of
Charles II., from the initial letters of
their respective names, viz., Clifford,
Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington, and
Lauderdale.

CAB' ALA, a mysterious kind of science
pretended to have been delivered by rev-
elation to the ancient Jews, and trans-
mitted by oral tradition to those of our
times ; serving for the interpretation of
the books both of nature and scripture.

CABINET, a select apartment set
apart for writing, studying, or preserv-
ing anything that is precious. Hence
we say, a cabinet of paintings, curiosi-
ties, &c. Also, the closet or private
room in the royal palace, where councils
are held ; likewise the ministers of state
who are summoned to attend such coun-
cils.

CABI'm, certain deities greatly ven-
erated by the ancient Pagans in Greece
and Phoenicia, who were supposed to have
a particular influence over maritime af-
fairs. Various opinions have been enter-
tained concerning the nature and origin
of the Cabiri ; but from the multiplicity of
names applied to them, together with the
profound secrecy observed in the celebra-
tion of their rites, an almost impenetrable
veil of mystery has been thrown around
their history. They seem to have been
men who, having communicated the art
of melting metals, 4c., were deified by a
grateful posterity. Their worship was
chiefly cultivated in the island of Samq T

thracia, whence it was afterwards trans-
ferred to Lemnos, Imbros, and certain
towns of Troas. They were styled the off-
spring of Vulcan, though their name was
derived from their mother Cabera, daugh-
ter of Proteus. Their number is variously
given. Those who were initiated in their
rites were held If be secured against all
danger by sea and land. Their distin-
guishing badge was a purple girdle.

CACOE'THES, an ill habit or propen-
sity ; as the cacoethes scribendi, an itch
for authorship.

CAC'OPHONG, in rhetoric, an un-
couth, bad tone of the voice, proceeding
from the ill disposition of the organs.

CACOPH'ONY, in rhetoric, a defect
of style, consisting in a harsh or disagree-
able sound produced by the meeting of
two or more letters or syllables, or by
the too frequent repetition of the same
letters or syllables : e.g.

And oft the ear the open vowels tire. Pope.

CACOSYN'THETON, in grammar, an
improper selection and arrangement of
words in a sentence.

CA'CUS, in fabulous history, the son
of Vulcan, a robber of Italy, whose dwell-
ing was in the Aventine wood. His ex-
ploits form the subject of a fine episode
in the 8th book of the ^Eneid. He was
represented as a frightful monster of en-
ormous strength, who, after a long life
of crime, was at length slain by Her-
cules, from whom he had stolen some
oxen. To express his gratitude for his
victory, Hercules erected the Ara Max-
ima ; and Evander, with his infant colony
of Arcadians, performed divine honors to
Hercules as their benefactor.

CA'DENCE, in grammar, the fall of
the voice ; also the flow of verses or
periods ; in music, the conclusion of a
song, or of some parts thereof, in certain
places of the piece, dividing it as it were
into so many numbers or periods. The
cadence takes place when the parts fall
or terminate on a note or chord naturally
expected by the ear, just as a period
closes the sense in the paragraph of a
discourse. A cadence is either perfect or
imperfect. The former when it consists
of two notes sung after each other, or by
degrees conjointed in each of the two
parts, the harmony of the fifth preceding
that of the key-note ; and it is called
perfect, because it satisfies the ear more
than the latter. The latter imperfect ;
that is, when the key-note with its har-
mony precedes that of the fifth without
its added seventh. A cadence is said to

AND THE FINE ARTS.

be broken or interrupted when the bass
rises a major or minor second, instead of
falling a fifth.

CADET', one who is trained up for the
army by a course of military discipline ;
such as the cadets at the military col-
leges of Woolwich, Addiscombe, &c. In
England there are three grand institu-
tions for the education of cadets : Sand-
hurst for the British line ; Woolwich for
the artillery and engineers ; and Addis-
combe for the Indian army, both line
and artillery. The academy at Sand-
hurst was instituted by George III., for
the purpose of affording general and pro-
fessional instruction to the sons of pri-
vate or military gentlemen, with the
view of their obtaining commissions in
the British army without purchase. Be-
fore the commission is conferred, the
cadet must undergo an examination be-
fore a competent board in the classics,
mathematics, military drawing, Ac.

The academy at Woolwich was estab-
lished with the view of qualifying cadets
for the artillery or engineers ; and to
this institution the master-general of the
ordnance has the sole right of granting
admission. The attention of the cadets
is specially directed to geography ; gen-
eral history, ancient and modern ; modern
languages ; military drawing and sur-
veying ; mathematics ; engineering and
fortification. After the lapse of four
years, generally, the cadets undergo an
examination in the above mentioned
branches of science ; when the most dis-
tinguished are selected for the engineers,
the others for the artillery.

The college of Addiscombe is estab-
lished for the education of officers of the
line, artillery, and engineers for the In-
dian army. The plan of instruction
pursued there combines the two sys-
tems adopted at Sandhurst and at Wool-
wich. In order to become a cadet in this
institution, it is necessary to have the
promise of a commission from a director
of the East India Company ; and after a
prescribed examination, an appointment
is obtained in one of the branches of the
Indian army, according to the merit or
pleasure of the cadet.

In France the academies for cadets
which existed previously to the French
Revolution have been merged in the
Polytechnic schools.

The Dutch possess two institutions of
this nature ; one at Breda, the other at
Delft.

In Germany every small state has a
military school ; while those at Berlin,

Vienna, and Munich are on so extensive
a scale as to challenge a comparison with
any similar institutions in Europe. In
Germany, too, the word cadet has a wider
signification than in England, being ap-
plied to those persons who, without hav-
ing frequented a military school, join the
army in the expectation of obtaining a
commission when they have gained a
competent knowledge of the service.

In Russia there is a famous academy
for cadets, which was instituted by Ann
at St. Petersburg in 1732; and since its
foundation has afforded instruction in
military science to upwards of 9000
pupils, many of wnofn have acquired
celebrity in the annals of Russian litera-
ture.

In the United States there is one at
West Point, on nearly the same princi-
ple as that at Addiscombe.

CADET'SHIP, the commission given
to a cadet to enter the East India Com-
pany's service.

CA'DI, a civil judge or magistrate in
the Turkish empire.

CADU'CEUS, the staff of Mercury or
Hermes, which gave the god power to fly.
It was given to him by Apollo, as a re-
ward for having assisted him to invent
the Lyre. It was then a winged staff;
but, in Arcadia, Hermes cast it among
serpents, who immediately twined them-
selves around it, and became quiet. After
this event, it was used as a herald of
peace. It possessed the power of bestow-
ing happiness and riches, of healing the
sick, raising the dead, and conjuring spir-
its from the lower world. On the silver
coins of the Roman emperors, the Cadu-
ceus was given to Mars, who holds it in
the left hand, and the spear in the right,
to show how peace succeeds war.

C-SILATU'RA, from the Latin cesium,
the tool used : the art, called also by the
Romans, sculptura, or chasing, if we
mean " raised-work " Caglatura corres-
ponds to the Grecian term toreutice, de-
rived from toros, which in its true sense
means only raised-work. Quintilian ex-
pressly limits this term to metal, while
he mentions wood, ivory, marble, glass,
and precious stones as materials for en-
graving. Silver was the artist's favorite
metal, but gold, bronze, and even iron,
were embossed. Closely connected with
this art was that of stamping with the
punch, called by the Romans excudere.
Embossings were probably finished by
toreutice, of which Phidias is called the
inventor. The colossal statues of gold
and ivory made by him and by Polycletua

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CAI

belong partly to sculpture by the ivory-
work, and partly to toreutic art from the
gold-work, the embossing of which was
essential to their character, as also to
castings : the statue of Minerva was rich-
ly embossed. Besides Phidias and Poly-
cletus, Myron, Mys and Mentor are men-
tioned as great toreutic artists. Arms,
armor, Ac., were adorned in this manner;
other articles, such as goblets and other
drinking cups, were also embossed, partly
with figures in alto-relievo, or with
figures standing quite clear : also dishes,
the ornaments of which were set in em-
blemae, or fastened slightly on as crustce.
Carriages were oAamented not only with
bronze, but even with silver and gold
embossings. Other articles of furniture,
tripods, disks of candelabra, were thus
ornamented. With this toreutice or em-
bossing, must not be confounded the art
of inlaying, empaistike, much practised
in antiquity.

CJERI'TES TAB'UL^E, in antiquity,
tables or registers in which the censors
entered the names of those citizens, who
for any misdemeanor were deprived of
their right of voting at an election.

CjE'SAR, in Roman antiquity, the
family name of the first five Roman em-
perors, and afterwards adopted as a title
by their successors. It was also used, by
way of distinction, for the intended or
presumptive heir of the empire.

CJiSA'RIANS, in Roman antiquity,
officers or ministers of the Roman empe-
rors, who kept an account of their reve-
nues, and took possession in their name
of such things as devolved or were confis-
cated to them.

C-iESU'RA, a figure in prosody, by
which a division or separation takes place
in a foot that is composed of syllables
belonging to different words.

C^ET'ERIS PAR'IBUS, a term often
used by mathematical and physical wri-
ters ; the words literally signifying the
rest, or other things, being alike or equal.
Thus of a bullet, it may be said cteteris
paribus, the heavier it is the greater the
range, supposing the length and diame-
ter of the piece and the quantity and
strength of the powder to be the same.

CAI'NITES, a sect of heretics, who
appeared about 159 A.D. They probably
originated in some of the various schools
of Manicheism ; and, if their doctrines
are truly reported to us, they are said to
have asserted that the power which cre-
ated heaven and earth was the evil prin-
ciple ; that Cain, Esau, Korah, the people
of Sodom, and others whom the Old Tes-

tament represents as victims of peculiar
divine judgments, were in fact children
of the good principle, and enemies of the
evil. Some of them are said to have
published a gospel of Judas on the same
principle. The Quintilianists, so called
from a lady named Quintilia, of whom
Tertullian speaks, were an offset of this
sect.

CA IRA, CA IRA, (literally, it (the
Revolution) shall go on,) the burden of a
famous revolutionary song, which was
composed in the year 1790 in denuncia-
tion of the French aristocracy. The tune
and sentiments of this song were much
inferior to those of the Marseillaise
Hymn (" Allons enfans de la patrie,")
the object of which was to rouse the
French to defend their country against
foreign aggression.

CAIRN, a word of Celtic origin, used
to denote the piles of stones of a conical
form so frequently found on the tops of
hills, Ac. in various districts ; erected
probably, for the purpose of memorials,
although some have assigned to them a
peculiar character, as receptacles for the
bodies of criminals burnt in the wicker
images of the Druids, Ac. According to
some antiquaries, cairn is distinct from
carnedd, the Welsh name for heaps of
stones on the tops of high mountains,
(Carnedd David, Carnedd Llewellyn, Ac.,)
which are said to have been sacrificial.
Some cairns are undoubtedly sepul-
chral.

CA'ISSON, in architecture, a sunken
panel in a flat or vaulted ceiling, or in
the soffit of a cornice. In ceilings they
are of various geometrical forms, and
often enriched with rosettes or other
ornaments.

CAL'AMUS, a rush or reed used an-
ciently as a pen to write on parchments
or papyrus.

CALAN'TICA, CALVATICA, a kind of
head-dress worn by women in ancient
times, and known very early in Greece ;
there were two kinds, nets and cap-like
bags. Many varieties of these caps are
to be seen upon ancient vases ; sometimes
they are of a plain material, sometimes
having a pattern, and sometimes striped
or checked ; they are either open behind,
so that part of the h:iir hangs out, or it
covers only the two sides of the head.

CAL'ATHUS, the ancient term for
the basket in which the spinners kept
their wool and their work ; it was also
called TALARUS, and was made of wicker-
work, with a wide opening at top and
pointed at bottom. The calathus was a

CAL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

symbol of maidenhood,
and in this sense was em-
ployed by artists, as is
seen in the reliefs repre-
senting Achilles among
the daughters of Lycom-
edes. Other antiques show
us that these baskets were
used for many purposes at
the toilet, for flowers, &c. The calathus
also appears in the basket-like form of
the capitals of Corinthian pillars.

CALA'TOR, in antiquity, was a public
servant, and a freeman, such as a bailiff
or crier, to summon courts, synods, and
other public assemblies. He also attend-
ed on the priests in the sacrifices.

CAL'CEUS, a shoe or short boot used
by the Greeks and Romans as a covering
to protect the feet while walking; the
term being used in contradistinction to
sandals or slippers, and corresponding to
the modern shoes. There were two sorts,
the calcei lunati, which were worn by the
patricians, so called from an ivory cres-
cent with which they were ornamented,
and the calcei mulli, or red shoes. They
came up to the middle of the leg, but
only covered the sole of the foot.

CALCOG'RAPHY, an engraving after
the manner of a drawing in chalk.

CALCULATION, the act of comput-
ing several sums by means of addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division, <fec.,
or an estimate formed in the mind by
comparing the various circumstances
which influence its determination.

C ALCDL ATO'RES, accountants among
the Romans, who used to reckon by means
of little stones or pebbles.

CAL'ENDAR, a distribution or divis-
ion of time into periods adapted to the
purposes of civil life ; also a table or re-
gister of such divisions, exhibiting the
order in which the seasons, months, festi-
vals, and holidays succeed each other du-
ring the year. The word is derived from
the ancient Latin verb calare, to call. In
the early ages of Rome, it was the custom
for the pontiffs to call the people together
on the first day of each month, to apprise
them of the days that were to be kept
sacred in the course of it. Hence dies
calendcB, the calends or first days of the
different months. The calendars in use
throughout Europe are borrowed from
that of the Romans. Romulus is sup-
posed to have first undertaken to divide
the year in such a manner that certain
epochs should return periodically after a
revolution of the sun ; but the knowledge
of astronomy was not then sufficiently

advanced to allow this to be done with
much precision. The Roman calendar
continued in a state of uncertainty and
confusion till the time of Julius Caesar,
when the civil equinox differed from the
astronomical by three months. Under
the advice of the astronomer Sosigenes,
Caesar abolished the lunar year, and reg-
ulated the civil year entirely by the sun.
The Julian year consisted of 365i days,
and consequently differed in excess by 11
minutes 10-35 sec. from the true solar
year, which consists of 365 d. 5 h. 48 m.
49-62 sec. In consequence of this differ-
ence the astronomical equinox, in the
course of a few centuries, sensibly fell
back towards the beginning of the year.
In the time of Julius Caesar it corre-
sponded to the 25th of March ; in the
sixteenth century it had retrograded to
the llth. The correction of this error
was one of the purposes sought to be ob-
tained by the reformation of the calendar
effected by Pope Gregory XIII. in 1582.
By suppressing 10 days in the calendar,
Gregory restored the equinox to the 21st
of March, the day on which it fell at the
time of the Council of Nice in 325 ; the
place of Easter and the other movable
church feasts in the ecclesiastical calen-
dar having been prescribed at that coun-
cil. And in order that the same incon-
venience might be prevented in future,
he ordered the intercalation which took
place every fourth year to be omitted* in
years ending centuries. The Gregorian
calendar was received immediately or
shortly after its promulgation by all the
Roman Catholic countries of Europe. The
Protestant states of Germany, and the
kingdom of Denmark, adhered to the
Julian calendar till 1700; and in Eng-
land the alteration was successfully op-
posed by popular prejudices till 1752. In
that year the Julian calendar, or old
style, as it was called, was formally abol-
ished by the act of parliament, and the
date used in all public transactions render-
ed coincident with that followed in other
European countries, by enacting that the
day following the 2d of September of the
year 1752 should be called the 14th of
that month.

A new reform of the calendar was at-
tempted to be introduced in France du-
ring the period of the Revolution. The
commencement of the year was fixed at
the autumnal equinox, which nearly co-
incided with the epoch of the foundation
of the republic. The names of the an-
cient months were abolished, and others
substituted having reference to agricul-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CAL

tural labors, or the state of nature in the
different seasons of the year. But the
alteration was found to be inconvenient
and impracticable, and after a few years
was formally abandoned.

CA'LENDS, in the ancient Roman
calendar, were the first days of each
month. The Roman month was divided
into three periods by the Calends, the
Nones, and the Ides. The Calends were
invariably placed at the beginning of the
month ; the Ides at the middle of the
month, on the 13th or 15th ; and the
Nones (novem, nine) were the ninth day
before the Ides, counting inclusively.
From these three terms the days were
counted backwards, in the following man-
ner : Those days comprised between the
calends and the nones, were denominated
days before the nones; those between
the nones and the ides, days before the
ides; and those from the ides to the end
of the month, days before the calends.

CAL'ICO, cloth made of cotton. It is
called calico, because originally brought
from Calicut, a kingdom of India on this
side of the Ganges, on the coast of Mala-
bar. These cloths, whether plain, printed,
dyed, stained, or painted, chintz, or mus-
lin, are all included under one general
denomination.

CAL'IDUCT, in antiquity, a pipe or
canal disposed along the walls of a house
for conveying heat from a furnace to the
various apartments.

CAL'IGA, in antiquity, a sort of san-
dal worn by the Roman soldiers, whence
Caligula derived his name. These calicos
were sometimes adorned with gold and
silver nails.

CALIG'RAPHY, the art of beautiful
writing. The scribes who made a pro-
fession of copying manuscripts, before
the invention of printing, have been
termed Caligraphers. Their art con-
sisted not merely in writing, but also in
embellishing their work with ornamen-
tal devices, although illumination was
also practised as a distinct employment.
Among the MSS. of the early part of the
middle ages which we possess, there are
some sumptuous specimens of the art,
written in letters of gold, vermilion, &c.,
and on leaves of different colors, but that
fashion went early out of use ; and in
general it may be said, that the current
writing of caligraphers diminished in
beauty and laborious minuteness, espe-
cially in Italy, during the centuries im-
mediately preceding the invention of
printing.

CA'LIPH, the chief sacerdotal dignity

among the Saracens or Mahometans,
vested with absolute authority in all
matters relating both to religion and
policy. It is at this day one of the
Grand Signior's titles, as successor of the
Prophet ; and of the Sophi of Persia, as
successor of AH. The government of the
original Caliphs continued from the
death of Mahomet till the 655th year of
the hegira.

CALK'ING, or CAULK'ING, in paint-
ing, the covering of the back side of a
design with red chalk, and tracing lines
through on a waxed plate or wall, so as
to leave an impression of the color there.

CALLI'OPE, in mythology, one of the
Muses usually associated with Homer in
the statues of antiquity, and thence con-
sidered as the patroness of heroic poe-
try.

CALL OF THE HOUSE, a parlia-
mentary term, implying an imperative
call or summons, sent to every member
on some particular occasion.

CALOR'IC, the principle or cause of
heat, as distinguished from the sensa-
tion.

CALOTE', a sort of skull cap worn by
the French cavalry under their caps, as a
guard against the blows of the sabre.

CAL'UMET, a symbolical instrument
of great importance among the Indians
of America. It is a smoking-pipe, the
bowl of which is generally made of a soft
red marble, and the tube of a very long
reed, ornamented with feathers. This in-
strument, the use of which bears a great
resemblance to the caduceus of the
Greeks, is a pledge of peace and good
faith. The calumet of war, differently
made, is used to proclaim war.

CAL'VINISM, the theological tenets
of John Calvin, who, in the 16th century,
flourished at Geneva, where his doctrines
still subsist. The doctrinal parts of this
system differ from that of other reformers
of Calvin's period, chiefly in what regards
the absolute decrees of God, by which,
according to this teacher, the future and
eternal condition of the human race was
predetermined.

CALYP'SO, in fabulous history, a
daughter of Atlas, according to Homer,
but of Oceanus and Thetys, according to
Hesiod, was the queen of the island
Ogygia. On this island Ulysses suffered
shipwreck ; and Calypso, by the united
influence of her love and spells, prevailed
on him to remain and share her sceptre.
After the lapse of seven years, however,
his desire to revisit his native country
became irrepressible, and he resolved to

CAM]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

forego his honors in Ogygia. Calypso
tried every expedient, offering him even
the bribe of immortality, to induce him
to remain ; but all her efforts proved
unavailing, and on his departure she
died of grief. The island of Ogygia,
placed by Pliny off the Lacinian prom-
ontory, between the Tarentine and Sycil-
lian bays, has long since been engulfed in
the ocean, along with the famous islands
of the Sirens.

CAMAYEU, CAMAIEU, MONO-
CHROME. By this term we understand
painting with a single color, varied only
by the effect of chiaro-oscuro ; we apply
this term to painting in gray, which, as
well as red, was used by the ancients.
Pictures in two or three tints, where the
natural hues of the objects are not
copied, may also be called en camayeu;
we speak of brown, red, yellow, green,
and blue camayeu, according to their
principal colors. The pictures of Poli-
dori Caravaggio, for example, by their
heavy brown tint, give the impression of
monochrome painting, and, with all their
perfection, they are but pictures en
camayeu. Drawings in red or black
chalk, lead and other pencils, Indian ink,
sepia and bistre, as well as engraving,
may be called Camayeux.

CAM'BRIC, a species of fine white lin-
en, made of flax, said to be named from
Cambray, in Flanders, where it was first
manufactured.

CAM'BER-BEAM, in architecture, a
beam cut hollow or archwise in the mid-
dle, commonly used in platforms.

CAM'EO, CAMEI, gems cut in relief,
the most expensive class of cut stones.
The custom of ornamenting goblets, cra-
tera, candelabra, and other articles with
gems, originated in the East ; and was
followed at the court of the Seleucidae, the
greatest extravagance being practised
with regard to such ornaments. When
the image on the stone was not to be used
as a seal it was cut in relief, and the va-
riegated onyx was generally selected.
Great attention was paid to the different
colors of the strata of the stone, so that
the objects stood out light from a dark
ground. Some of the cameos preserved
to us are wonders of beauty and technical
perfection, showing the high degree of
Art to which the Grecian lapidaries had
attained under the luxurious successors
of Alexander the Great. The finest spe-
cimen now existing is the Gonzaga ca-
meo, formerly at Malmaison, now in the
imperial collection of gems at St. Peters-
burg. Among the remains of the an-

cient art of stone-cutting, the gems cut in
relief, called on account of the different
layers of stone camel, are rarer and more
valuable than those cut in intaglio. Ca-
meos are not mentioned in the history of
mediaeval art; they were brought for-
ward again in Italy in recent times. The
production of cameos has become an art-
manufacture of considerable importance.

CAMERALIS'TICS, the science of
finance or public revenue, comprehending
the means of raising and disposing of it.

CAM'ERA LU'CIDA, an optical in-
strument, for the purpose of making the
linage of any object appear on the wall in
a light room, either by day or night.
Also, an instrument for drawing objects
in true perspective.

CAM'ERA-OBSCU'RA, or dark cham-
ber, an optical machine or apparatus, in
which the light being collected, and
thrown through a single aperture, ex-
ternal objects are exhibited distinctly,
and in their native colors, on any white
surface placed within the machine.

CAMISADE', a French term for at-
tacking or surprising an enemy by night.
It obtained the name from the soldiers
wearing their shirts over their other
clothes, that they might be known to each
other.

CAM'LET, a sort of stuff originally
made of camel's hair and silk mixed, but
now of wool and silk.

CAMP, the residence of an army rest-
ing in tents ; or, the place and order of
tents for soldiers in the field. On the
continent of Europe tents are abolished,
and the armies bivouac in the open air,
or, if the time will allow it, lodge in huts
built of branches, &c. In short, in the
progress of the military art, camps have
become more slight and simple, even with
those who still continue to make use of
them.

CAMPAIGN', the space of time during
which an army is kept in the field. A
campaign is usually from spring to au-
tumn ; but sometimes armies make a
winter campaign.

CAMPANILE', in architecture, prop-
erly a tower for containing a bell or
bells. Though the word has been adopt-
ed in the English language, and applied
to the bell towers of churches, it more
properly belongs to those towers near
churches, but detached from them, to be
seen in many of the cities of Italy. Tho
principal of these are the Campanile of
Cremona, which is of the extraordinary
height of 396 feet ; that of Florence, 268
feet high, built from the design of Giotto ;

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CAN

the Garisendi tower at Bologna, built in
1110, which is 147 feet high, and is 8 feet
8 inches out of an upright ; and very near
to it in the same city another tower, bear-
ing the name of Asinelli, 327 feet in
height, and leaning from the perpendicu-
lar 3 feet 8 inches, but which, seen, as it
always is, in company with the first,
seems to lean but little. The last we
shall name is that which is commonly
called the leaning tower of Pisa, and per-
haps the most remarkable of all. It is
151 feet high, and overhangs 12 feet 9
inches. Its general form possesses ele-
gance, and is that of a cylinder encircled
by 8 tiers of columns over each other,
and each with an entablature. The col-
umns are all of marble, and the upper
tier is recessed back.

CAMPES'TRE, a short garment fas-
tened about the loins, and extending from
thence down the legs, nearly to the knees,
after the manner of the kilt. It was worn
by the Roman youths when they exer-
cised in public places, also by soldiers and
gladiators for the sake of decency when
exercising.

CAM'PUS MAII, an anniversary as-
sembly of our ancestors, held on May-
day, when they confederated together for
defence of the kingdom against all its ene-
mies.

CAM'PUS M AR'TIUS, among the Ro-
mans, a field, by the side of the Tiber,
where the youth exercised themselves in
warlike exercises. It was so called, on
account of a temple that stood on it, con-
secrated to the god Mars. The consuls,
Brutus and Collatinus, made it the place
for holding the comitia or assemblies of
people, and, in after times, it was adorned
with a great quantity of fine statues.

CANA'BUS, CANE'VAS, CANNE'-
VAS, the term by which the ancients
designated the wooden skeleton covered
with clay, or some other soft substance,
for modelling larger figures; hence the
French word canevas. Similar skeletons
were used as anatomical studies, by pain-
ters and plastic artists.

CANA^RIUM AUGU'RIUM, in an-
tiquity, a sacrifice among the Romans, of
a red dog, for the purpose of appeasing
the fury of the dog-star on the approach
of harvest.

CANCELLA'RIA CU'RIA, in archae-
ology, the court of Chancery.

CANCEL'LI. in architecture, trellis,
or lattice-work, made of cross bars of
wood or iron. Also, the balusters or rails
encompassing the bar of a court of jus-
tice.

CANDELA'BRA, were objects of great
importance in ancient Art ; they were
originally used as candlesticks, but after
oil was introduced, they were used to
hold lamps, and stood on the ground, be-
ing very tall, from four to seven or ten
feet in height. The simplest candelabra
were of wood, others were very splendid
both in material and in their ornaments.
The largest candelabra, placed in tem-
ples and palaces, were of marble with or-
naments in relief and fastened to the
ground ; there are several specimens in
the Museum Clementinum at Rome.
These large candelabra were also altars-
of incense, the carving showing to what
god they were dedicated : they were also
given as offerings, and were then made
of finer metals, and even of precious
stones. Candelabra were also made of
baked earth, but they were mostly of ele-
gantly wrought bronze. They consisted
of three parts : 1. the feet ; 2. the shaft ;
3. the plinth with the tray,- upon which
the lamp was placed. The base generally
consisted of three animals' feet, orna-
mented with leaves. The shaft was flut-
ed ; and on the plinth often stands a fig-
ure holding the top, generally in the
shape of a vase, on which rests the tray.
The branching candelabra are valuable
as works of Art, and also those where the
shaft is formed by a statue, bearing a
torch-like lamp, and each arm holding a
plate for a lamp. Another kind of can-
delabrum was call-
ed Lampadarii :
these were in the
form of pillars,
with arms or
branches from
which the lamps
hung by chains. In
the Museo Etrus-
co Gregoriano at
Rome, are forty-
three candelabra
of various forms,
which were exca-
vated at Cervetri.
Some have smooth,
and some have flut-
ed, shafts, on which
is represented a
climbing animal,
a serpent, lizard,
weasel, or a cat
following a cock.
Sometimes these
shafts bear a cup,
or branch into
many arms, be-

CAN]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

tween which stand beautiful little fig-
ures, or they have plates rising perpen-
dicularly above one another. They gen-
erally rest on feet of lions, men, or stags,
or they are supported by figures of sa-
tyrs, &c. Some candelabra are in the
form of a human figure, bearing the
plate in the outstretched hand, and some-
times the pillar is supported by carya-
tides. The most curious specimens of
candelabra, as respects form, use, and
workmanship, are those excavated at
Herculaneum and Pompeii. These are
all of bronze ; and that they were em-
ployed for domestic purposes is proved
from the representation, on an Etrus-
can vase, of one which serves to give
light to the guests assembled round a
banquet table. They are slender in their
proportions, and perfectly portable, rare-
ly exceeding five feet in height. It is to
be observed, that none of the candelabra
hitherto found exhibit any appearance of
a socket or of a spike at top, from which
an inference of the use of candles could
be drawn.

CAN'DIDATE, a person who seeks or
aspires to some public office. In the Ro-
man commonwealth, the CANDIDATE were
obliged to wear a white robe, during the
two years of their soliciting for a place.
This garment, according to Plutarch, they
wore without any other clothes, that the
people might not suspect they concealed
money for purchasing votes ; and also,
that they might the more easily show to
the people, the scars of those wounds they
had received in fighting for the defence
of the commonwealth.

CANDID A'TI MIL'ITES, an order of
soldiers, among the Romans, who served
as the emperor's body-guards, to defend
him in battle. They were the tallest and
strongest of the whole troops ; and were
called candidati, in consequence of being
clothed in white.

CAN'DLEMAS DAY, the festival ob-
served on the second day of February, in
commemoration of the purification of the
Virgin Mary. It is borrowed from the
practice of the ancient Christians, who on
that day used an abundance of lights both
in their churches and processions, in mem-
ory, as is supposed, of our Saviour's be-
ing on that day declared by Simeon " to
be a light to lighten the Gentiles." In
imitation of this custom, the Roman Cath-
olics on this day consecrate all the tapers
and candles which they use in their
churches during the whole year.

CAN'DYS, a kind of gown, of woollen
cloth with wide sleeves, worn by the

Candys.

Canephoros.

Medes and Persians as an outside gar-
ment ; it was usually of purple or similar
brilliant color.

CANEPHO'ROS, the bearer of the
round basket containing the implements
of sacrifice, in the processions of the Dio-
nysia, Panathenea, and other public fes-
tivals. The attitude in which they ap-
pear in works of Art, is a favorite one
with the ancient artists ; the figure ele-
vates one arm to support the basket car-
ried on the head, and with the other
slightly raises her tunic.

CANIC'ULAR DAYS, or DOG DAYS,
the name given to certain days of the
year, during which the heat is usually
the greatest. They are reckoned about
forty, and are set down in the almanacs
as beginning on the 3d day of July, and
ending on the llth of August. In the
time of the ancient astronomers, the re-
markable star Sirius, called also Canic-
ula, or the Dog Star, rose heliacally,
that is, just before the sun, about the be-
ginning of July ; and the sultry heat
which usually prevails at that season,
with all its disagreeable effects, among
which the tendency of dogs to become
mad is not one of the least disagreeable,
were ascribed to the malignant rage of
the star. Owing to the precession of the
equinoxes, the heliacal rising of Sirius
now takes place later in the year, and in
a cooler season ; so that the dog days
have not now that relation to the partic-
ular position of the Dog Star from which
they obtained their name.

CANIC'ULAR YEAR, the ancient so-
lar year of the Egyptians ; so called be-
cause its commencement was determined
by the heliacal rising of the Dog Star. The

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CAH

Egyptians chose this star for their obser-
vations, either on account of its superior
brightness, or because its heliacal rising
corresponded with the annual overflow of
the Nile. At a very early period of his-
tory the Egyptians had perceived that
the solar year contains 365i days ; for
their common years consisted of 365 days,
and every fourth year of 366, as in the
Julian Calendar.

CAN'NON, a piece of ordnance, or a
heavy metallic gun for a battery, mount-
ed on a carriage. Guns of this kind are
made of iron or brass, and of different
sizes, carrying balls from three or four
to forty-eight pounds' weight. The ex-
plosion being directed by the tube, balls
and missiles are carried to great distances
with destructive force. In a field of bat-
tle they are often drawn by horses on light
.carriages, and are called field-pieces, or
flying artillery.

CANOE', a small boat, made of the
trunk of a tree, hollowed out by cutting
or burning ; and sometimes also of pieces
of bark joined together. It is impelled
by a paddle instead of an oar ; and is
used by the uncivilized nations in both
hemispheres.

CAN'ON, a word of various significa-
tions, of which we can only enumerate
the principal.

1. In cathedral and collegiate churches
there are canons who perform some of the
services, and are possessed of certain rev-
enues connected with them. These are,
strictly speaking, residentiary canons:
foreign canons are those to whom col-
legiate revenues are assigned without the
exaction of any duty.

2. The laws and ordinances of ecclesi-
astical councils are called canons.

3. The canon of Scripture signifies the
authorized and received catalogue of the
sacred books. The canon of the Old
Testament, as received by the Catholics,
differs from that of the Protestant church-
es in regarding as inspired those books
which they reject under the term Apoc-
rypha. The catalogue received by the
Jews themselves, which we adopt, was
first enlarged by the Council of Carthage
to the extent in which it is held by our
opponents, and that decision was formally
confirmed by the Council of Trent. In
the canon of the New Testament, how-
ever, the agreement of Christian churches
may be considered unanimous. There
exist a series of enumerations of sacred
books of the latter covenant in the writ-
ings of the first four centuries, the gene-
ral agreement of which, and the satisfac-

tory reasons which can be assigned in
most cases of omission there are no
additions distinctly mark the universal-
ity of the judgment of the early churches
in this matter. In music, a perpetual
fugue. This original method of writing
this was on one line, with marks thereon,
to show where the parts that imitate were
to begin and end. This, however, was
what the Italians more particularly call
canone chiuso, (shut) or canone in corpo.

CAN'ONESS, a description of religious
women in France and Germany. Their
convents were termed colleges. They
did not live in seclusion. The college of
Eemiremont was the oldest establishment
of this order in France. Similar noble
monasteries still exist in Germany, and
the revenues and dignities of some belong
to Protestants.

CANONICAL HOURS, stated times
of the day set apart, more especially by
the Romish church, for devotional pur-
poses. In England the canonical hours
are from 8 to 12 in the forenoon, before
or after which the ceremony of marriage
cannot be legally performed in any parish
church.

CANONIZA'TION, a ceremony in the
Romish church, by which holy men de-
ceased are enrolled in the catalogue of
saints. The privilege of canonizing was
originally common to all bishops, and
was first confined to the Pope by Alexan-
der III. in 1170. When it is proposed
to canonize any person, a formal process
is instituted, by which his merits or de-
merits are investigated. Hereupon the
beatification of the person in question is
pronounced by the Pope, and his canon-
ization follows upon the production of
testimony to miracles performed at his
tomb or by his remains. The day of his
death is generally selected to be kept in
his honor, and is inserted as such in the
calendar.

CAN'OPY, a covering of velvet, silk, or
cloth of gold, extended on a frame, and
richly embroidered with suitable devices,
supported and carried by four or more
staves of wood or silver, borne in proces-
sion over the heads of distinguished per-
sonages, or over the hearse at the fu-
nerals of noble persons. In the religions
processions of the Catholic church it is
borne over the Host and sacred reliques.
According to Roman use they are white,
but in the French and Flemish churches
they are generally red. In England, the
two colors seem to have been used indis-
criminately.

CANT, quaint or vulgar language, af-

CAP]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

feeted by particular persons or profes-
sions, and not authorized by established
usage. In architecture, a term express-
ing the position of any piece of timber
not standing square. Cant moulding, a
moulding with a bevelled surface applied
to the capitals of columns.

CANTAB'ILE, in music, a term ap-
plied to movements intended to be in a
graceful and melodious style.

CANTAN'TE, in music, a term to de-
note the vocal part of the composition.

CANTA'TA, a song, or composition,
intermixed with recitatives, airs, and
different movements, chiefly intended for
a single voice, with a thorough bass,
though sometimes with other instru-
ments.

CAN'THARUS, a kind of drinking-
cup with handles, sacred to Bacchus, who

is frequently depicted on antique vases,
<fcc., holding it in his hand.

CAN'TICJE, ancient dramatic solilo-
quies, supposed to have been introduced
as interludes.

CAN'TICLES, the Song of Songs, in
the Bible, supposed to be a marriage
song written by Solomon ; to be explained
by compositions of a similar nature in
Eastern countries. By other writers it
is supposed to be a series of sacred idols,
each distinct and independent of the
other.

CANTILE'ENA, in music, the treble
melody, or upper part of any composi-
tion.

CANTILE'VER, in architecture, a
piece of wood framed into the front or
side of a house, and projecting from it,
to sustain the eaves and mouldings over
them.

CAN'TO, a part or division of a poem,
answering to what in prose is called a
book. In Italian, canto is a song ; and it
signifies also the first treble, or highest
vocal part.

CAN'TO-FER'MO, in music, the sub-
ject song. Every part that is the sub-
ject of counterpoint, whether plain or
figured, is called by the Italians canto
fcrmo.

CAN'TONED, in architecture, is when
the corner of a building is adorned with
a pilaster, an angular column, rustic
quoins, Or anything that projects beyond
the level of a wall.

CAN'VAS, a coarse sort of cloth, of
which there are several kinds. Among
others, are, 1. That worked regularly in
little squares as a basis for tapestry : 2.
That which is called buckram : 3. The
cloth used for pictures : And, 4. That
employed for sails of ships, tents, &e.
Two kinds are prepared for artists' use ;
the best is called ticking. It is primed
with a ground of a neutral gray color, or
with other colors, according to the fancy
of the painter. Certain sizes being in
greater request than others, they are
kept stretched on frames ready for use ;
for portraits, these are known by the
names of Kit-cat, which measures 28 or
29*inches by 36 inches ; Three-quarters,
measures 25 by 30 ; Half-length, 40 by
50 ; Bishops' half-length, 44 or 45 by
56 ; Bishops' whole length, 58 by 94.

CAN'ZONE, or CANZO'NA, in music,
a song or air in two or three parts, with
passages of fugue and imitation ; but it is
sometimes used for a kind of lyric poem,
in Italian, to which music may be com-
posed in the style of a cantata.

CANZONET', in music, a short song,
in one or two parts.

CAP, a part of dress made to cover the
head. The use of caps and hats is re-
ferred to the year 1449, the first seen in
Europe, being at the entry of Charles VII.
into Rouen : from that time they began
to take place of hoods or chaperons.
CAP, in architecture, the uppermost part
of any assemblage of principal or subor-
dinate parts. Cap of maintenance, one
of the ornaments of state, carried before
the kings of England at the coronation.
It is of crimson velvet, faced with ermine.
It is also frequently met with above the
helmet, instead of wreaths, under gentle-
men's crests. Cap-a-pie, (French) from
head to foot.

CA'PET, the name of the French race
of kings, which has given 118 sovereigns
to Europe, viz., 36 kings of France, 22
kings of Portugal, 5 of Spain, 1 1 of Na-
ples and Sicily, 3 of Hungary, 3 emperors
of Constantinople, 3 kings of Navarre, 17
dukes of Burgundy, 12 dukes of Brittany,
2 dukes of Lorraine, and 4 dukes of
Parma.

CA'PIAS, in law, a writ of two sorts ;
one before judgment, to take the de-
fendant ; the other after, which is called
the writ of execution.

[CAP

CAP'ITAL, in commerce, the fund or
stock, in money and goods, of a merchant,
manufacturer, Ac., or of a trading com-
pany. A ^floating capital is that which
remains after payment is made for all
the apparatus and implements of the
business. fictitious capital generally
means nothing more or less than exces-
sive credits, which throw the manage-
ment and disposition of a great deal of
property into the hands of persons who
are not able to answer for the risks of
loss from its bad management, or other
causes. CAPITAL, in architecture, the
uppermost part of a column or pilaster,
serving as the head or crowning, and
placed immediately over the shaft, and
under the entablature.

CAPITA'TION, a tax or imposition
raised on each person in consideration of
his labor, industry, office, rank, &c. It
is a very ancient kind of tribute, and an-
swers to what the Latins called tributum,
by which taxes on persons are distin-
guished from taxes on merchandise, called
vectigalia.

CAP'ITOL, a castle, in ancient Rome,
on the Mons Capitolinus, where there was
a temple dedicated to Jupiter, in which
the senate assembled ; and on the same
spot is still the city-hall or town-house,
where the conservators of the Roman
people hold their meetings. The foun-
dations of the capitol were laid by Tar-
quin the elder, in the year of Rome 139 :
his successor Servius raised the walls,
and Tarquin the Proud finished it in 221 ;
but it was not consecrated till the third
year after the expulsion of the kings, and
establishment of the consulate. The cap-
itol consisted of three parts, a nave, sa-
cred to Jupiter ; and two wings, the one
consecrated to Juno, and the other to
Minerva : it was ascended by stairs ; the
frontispiece and sides were surrounded
with galleries, in which those who were
honored with triumphs entertained the
senate at a magnificent banquet, after
the sacrifices had been offered to the
gods. Both the inside and outside were
enriched with numerous ornaments, the
most distinguished of which was the
statue of Jupiter, with his golden thun-
der-bolt, sceptre, and crown. In the
capitol also were a temple to Jupiter the
guardian, and another to Juno ; with the
mint ; and on the descent of the hill was
the temple of Concord. This beautiful
edifice contained the most sacred deposits
of religion, such as the ancylia, the books
of the sybils, &c.

CAP^TOLINE GAMES, these were

annual games instituted by Camillus, in
honor of Jupiter Capitolinus, and in com-
memoration of the preservation of the
capitol from the Gauls. There was also
another kind of Capitoline games, insti-
tuted by Domitian, and celebrated every
five years, at which rewards and crowns
were bestowed on the poets, champions,
orators, historians, Ac.

CAPIT'ULA RURA'LIA, assemblies
or chapters held by rural deans and pa-
rochial clergy within the precinct of
every distinct deanery.

CAPIT'ULARY, the body of laws or
statutes of a chapter, or of an ecclesias-
tical council.

CAPITULA'TION, in military affairs,
a treaty made between the garrison of a
place besieged and the besiegers, for sur-
rendering on certain conditions. The
term is also applicable to troops in any
situation in which they are compelled to
submit to a victorious enemy.

CAPIT'ULUM, in antiquity, a trans-
verse beam in the military engines of the
ancients, wherein were holes for the
strings with which they were set in mo-
tion.

CAPOTE', a large great coat, with a
hood or cowl, which is sometimes worn by
sentinels in bad weather.

CAPRIC'CIO, in music, the term for
that irregular kind of composition in
which the composer, without any re-
straint, follows the bent of his humor.
CAPRICCIO'SO denotes that the movement
before which it is written, is to be played
in a free and fantastic style.

CAP'TAIN, in the army, the com-
mander of a company of foot or a troop
of horse ; and in the naval or merchant
service, the commander of a vessel. A
Captain-lieutenant is an officer, who,
with the rank of captain and pay of lieu-
tenant, commands a company or troop.
A Post-captain in the British navy, is
an officer commanding any man-of-war,
from a ship of the line down to a. ship-
rigged sloop. A man eminently skilled
in war or military affairs is styled n
"great-captain" as the Duke of Wel-
lington.

CAP'TION, in law, the act of taking
any person by any judicial process.

CAPTIVITY, in sacred history, a pun-
ishment which God inflicted upon the
Jews for their vices and infidelity. The
first captivity was that of Egypt, from
which the Israelites were delivered by
Moses ; then followed six captivities dur-
ing the government of the judges ; but
the greatest and most remarkable were

CAR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

those of Judah and Israel, which hap-
pened under the kings of those different
kingdoms.

CAPUCHINS', an order of Franciscan
friars in the Romish church, so called
from their capuche or hood sewed to their
habits, and hanging down their backs.

C AP'UL A, in antiquity, a wooden uten-
sil with two handles for taking oil out of
one vessel into another. The person who
did this office was called the capulator.

CAR'ABINE, or CAR'BINE, a short
gun used by the cavalry.

CAR'ACOLE, the half wheel which a
horseman makes, either to the right or
left. The cavalry make a caracole after
each discharge, in order to pass to the
rear of the squadron.

CA'RAITES, a sect among the Jews
who adhere closely to the text and letter
of the scriptures, rejecting the rabbinical
interpretations and the cabbala.

CAR'AVAN, a company of merchants,
travellers, or pilgrims, who associate to-
gether in many parts of Asia and Africa,
that they may travel with greater secu-
rity through deserts and other places in-
fested with robbers or exposed to other
dangers. The commercial intercourse of
Eastern and African nations has from the
remotest ages been chiefly carried on by
means of caravans, as the governments
that have sprung up in those continents
have seldom been able, even if they had
had the will, to render travelling safe or
practicable for individuals. Since the
establishment of the Mohammedan faith,
religious motives, conspiring with those
of a less exalted character, have tended
to augment the intercourse between dif-
ferent parts of the Eastern world, and to
increase the number and magnitude of
the caravans. Mohammed, as is well
known, enjoined all his followers to visit
Mecca once in their lifetime ; and in obe-
dience to a command so solemnly enjoin-
ed and sedulously inculcated, large cara-
vans assemble for this purpose in every
country where the Mohammedan faith is
established. There are four regular car-
avans which proceed annually to Mecca ;
the first from Damascus, composed of
pilgrims, travellers, and merchants, from
Europe and Asia; the second from Cairo,
for the Mohammedans of Barbary ; the
third from Zibith, near the mouth of the
Red Sea, where those of Arabia and In-
dia meet; the fourth from Babylon,
where the Persians assemble. Every
caravan is under the command of a chief
or aga, who tas frequently under him
such a number of troops or forces as is

deemed sufficient for its defence. When
it is practicable they encamp near wells
or rivulets, and observe a regular disci-
pline. Camels are almost uniformly used
as a means of conveyance, in preference
to the horse or any other animal, on ac-
count of their wonderful patience of fa-
tigue, and their peculiarity of structure,
which so admirably fits them for travel-
ling through desert wastes.

CARAVAN'SERA, a Urge public
building, or inn, appropriated for the re-
ception and lodgment of caravans in the
desert. Though serving in lieu of inns
there is this essential difference between
them, that the traveller finds nothing in
the caravansera for the use either of him-
self or his cattle, but must carry all his
provisions and necessaries with him. Car-
avanseras are also numerous in cities,
where they serve not only as inns, but as
shops, warehouses, and even exchanges.

CAR'CANET, in archaeology, a chain
for the neck.

CARCE/RES, in the ancient Circensian
games, were inclosures in the circus,
wherein the horses were restrained till
the signal was given for starting, when,
by an ingenious contrivance they all at
once flew open.

CARCHE'SIUM, CARCHE'SION, the
name of an antique drinking vessel, and
also of the goblet peculiar to Bacchus,
found on numerous antiques, sometimes
in his own hand, as in the ancient repre-
sentations in which the god is clothed and
bearded, and sometimes at the Bacchic
feasts. The carchesium has a shallow
foot ; it is generally wider than it is deep,
smaller towards the centre, and with han-
dles rising high over the edge, and reach-
ing to the foot. Its use in religious cere-
monies proves it to have been one of the
oldest forms of goblets.

CAR'DINAL, which in a general sense
signifies principal or pre-eminent, is
formed of the Latin word cardo, a hinge,
agreeably with the common expression,
in which it is said of an important matter
that everything turns upon it : thus Jus-
tice, Prudence, Temperance, and For-
titude are called the four cardinal vir-
tues. The cardinal signs, in astrono-
my, are Aries, Libra, Cancer, and Capri-
corn. The cardinal points of the com-
pass, north, south, east, and west.
Cardinal numbers, in grammar, are the
numbers, one, two, three. &c., which are
indeclinable, in opposition to the ordinal
numbers, first, second, third, &c.

CAR'DINAL, in the Roman hierarchy,
an ecclesiastical prince and subordinate

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CAR

magistrate, who has a voice in the con-
clave cat the election of a pope, and who
may be advanced to that dignity himself.
The dress of a cardinal is a red soutanne,
a rochet, a short purple mantle, and a red
hat ; and his title of address, " His emi-
nence."

CA'RET, in grammar, a character in
this form A, denoting that something has
been omitted, and is interlined.

CAK'ICATURE', in painting, an ex-
aggerated representation of any object,
ia 'which any natural defects are over-
charged, so as to make it appear ridicu-
lous.

CAR'ILLONS, a species of chimes fre-
quent in the Low Countries, particularly
at Ghent and Antwerp, and played on a
number of bells in a belfry, forming a
complete series or scale of tones or semi-
tones, like those of the harpsichord and
organ.

CAR'MELITES, an order of mendi-
cant friars, very numerous in Italy and
Spain. They wear a scapulary, or small
woollen habit of a brown color, thrown
over the shoulders.

CAR'MEN, a Latin term, used, in a
general sense, to signify a verse ; but in
a more peculiar sense, to signify a spell,
charm, form of expiation, execration, &c.,
couched in few words, placed in a mystic
order, on which its efficacy was supposed
to depend.

CAR'MINE, a pigment or powder of a
deep red or crimson color, procured from
cochineal, and used for painting in minia-
ture.

CARNA'TIONS, in painting, the parts
of a picture which represent the naked
limbs, &c.

CARNE'IA, a festival observed in
most of the cities of Greece, and especially
at Sparta, in honor of Apollo, surnamed
Carneius. The festival lasted nine days,
and was conducted in imitation of the
method of living in camps ; for nine tents
were erected, in each of .which nine men
of three different tribes lived nine days.

C ARNE'LI AN, a precious stone, either
red, flesh-color, or white. The finest car-
nelians are those of the East Indies:
there are some beautiful ones in the riv-
ers of Silesia and Bohemia; and some of
a quality not to be despised in Britain.
The use to which they are most generally
applied is that of seals.

C AR'NIVAL, the feast or season of re-
joicing previous to Lent, celebrated with
great spirit throughout Italy, when feasts,
balls, operas, concerts, masquerades, &c., '
abound. The churches are filled with ;

choristers, and the streets with masks.
This festival flourishes more particularly
at Venice, where it begins on the second
holiday in Christmas, and where it boasts
to have had at one time seven sovereign
princes, and thirty thousand foreigners
among its votaries.

CARNIVOROUS, an epithet applied
to animals that feed on flesh.

CAROLOT'IC COLUMNS, in architec-
ture, columns with foliated shafts, deco-
rated with leaves and branches winding
spirally around them, or forming crowns
and festoons.

CARO'LUS, a gold coin struck in the
reign of Charles I., at that time valued at
twenty shillings, but afterwards current
at twenty-three.

CAR'PENTRY, in building and archi-
tecture, an assemblage of pieces of tim-
ber connected by framing or letting them
into each other, as are the pieces of a
roof, floor, centre, &c. It is distinguish-
ed from joinery by being put together
without the use of other edge tools than
the axe, adze, saw, and chisel ; whereas
joinery requires the use of the plane.

C AR'PET, a sort of stuff wrought either
with the needle or the loom, and used as
a covering for the floor. Persian and
Turkish carpets are the most costly ; but
a variety of other kinds are used, many
of which are both elegant and durable.

CAR'RACK, a large armed vessel em-
ployed by the Portuguese in the East
India and Brazilian trade.

CARRA'GO, in the military art of the
ancients, a barricade made by carts and
wagons, which the Gauls and other bar-
barous nations put in the way to impede
the progress of an enemy.

CARRA'RA, a hard white kind of mar-
ble, somewhat resembling the Parian ; so
called from the town of Carrara, where
it was found.

CARRONADE', a short piece of ord-
nance, having a large calibre, and a
chamber for the powder, like a mortar.

CARRU'CA, in antiquity, a splendid
kind of chariot or car on four wheels,
which were made of brass, ivory, silver,
and sometimes of gold.

CARTE-BLANCHE, a blank paper,
signed at the bottom with a person's
name, and given to another person with
permission to fill it up as he pleases ; ap-
plied generally in the sense of unlimited
terms being granted.

CARTEL, an agreement between two
states for the exchange of their prisoners
of war. A cartel-ship, a.ship commis-
sioned in time of war to exchange the

CAS]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

prisoners of any two hostile powers ; also
to carry any particular request from one
power to another. The officer who com-
mands her is ordered to carry no cargo,
ammunition, or implements of war, except
a gun for the purpose of firing signals.

CARTE'SIAN PHILOSOPHY, the
philosophical system of Rene des Cartes,
(born 1596,) a native of France, perhaps
the most original thinker that country
has produced. Des Cartes was the con-
temporary of Bacon, and exercised an
equally powerful influence, though in a
manner widely different, on the progress
of philosophy in Europe. What Bacon
strove to accomplish by calling men's at-
tention to experiment and observation of
nature, Des Cartes proposed to attain by
the search for a first and self-evident
ground of all knowledge. This he finds
in the act of consciousness, involving ne-
cessarily the idea of self or mind. Con-
sciousness is the act of thought, consti-
tutes the essence of the soul, and is that
which distinguishes it from matter. The
ideas or objects of consciousness are of
three kinds, acquired, compounded, and
innate. All physical phenomena Des
Cartes endeavored to account for by his
celebrated vortices motions excited by
God, the source of all motion.

CARTHAGIN'IAN, a native of an-
cient Carthage, or something pertaining
to that celebrated city, which was situated
on the northern coast of Africa, about
twelve miles from the modern Tunis. It
was founded by the Phoenicians, and de-
stroyed by the Romans.

CARTHU'SIANS, a religious order,
founded in the year 1080, by St. Bruno.
They received their name from Char-
treuse, the place of their institution.
They are so remarkable for their austeri-
ty, that they never leave their cells ex-
cept to go to church, nor speak to any
person without leave.

CARTOON', a design drawn upon large
sheets of paper for the purpose of being
traced upon any other substance, where
the subject is to be finished. The most
celebrated cartoons in existence are those
of Raphael, seven of which are at HampT
ton Court, and were originally designed
for tapestry.

CARTOUCH', a case of wood holding
about four hundred musket balls, besides
iron balls, from six to ten, to be fired out
of a howitzer. Also, a portable box for
charges. In architecture, cartouches are
blocks or modillions used in the cor-
nices of wainscoted apartments : also or-
naments representing a scroll of paper.

CAR'TRIDGE, a case of paper or
parchment filled with gunpowder, and
used in the charging of guns. The car-
tridges for small arms, prepared for bat-
tle, contain the powder and ball : those
for cannon and mortars are made of
pasteboard or tin. Cartridges without
balls are called blank-cartridges. The
cartridge-box is a case of wood covered
with leather, with cells for cartridges, and
worn upon a belt thrown over the left
shoulder.

CAR'TULARY, or CHAR TULARY, a
register-book, or record, as of a monas-
tery.

CARVING, a branch of sculpture usu-
ally limited to works in wood and ivory,
sculpture, properly so called, being gen-
erally applied to carving in stone or mar-
ble. Various kinds of wood were used by
the ancients, chiefly for images of the
gods, to each of which a different or par-
ticular kind of wood was appropriated ;
as, for instance, the images of Dionysia,
the God of Figs, were made of the wood
of the fig-tree. Ivory was also used to
great extent by the ancients in their
works of Art ; and the Chryselephantine
sculpture, or the union of gold with ivory,
was adopted by the greatest artists. For
a long period prior to the Reformation,
there was an immense demand for fine
wood-carvings, as the remains in cathe-
drals, churches, colleges, of screens, cano-
pies, desks, chair-seats ; and in baronial
halls, of door frames, staircases, chimney-
pieces, cabinets, picture-frames, suffi-
ciently show.

CARYATI'DES, in architecture, col-
umns, or pillars shaped like the bodies
of women, and in the dress of the Caryan
people. They were erected as trophies,
and intended to represent the Caryan wo-
men who were taken captives by the
Athenians. Other female figures were
afterwards used in the same manner, but
they were called by the same name.

CASCADE', a small waterfall, either
natural or artificial. The word is ap-
plied to such as are less than a cataract.

CASE, the particular state, condition,
or circumstances that befall a person, or
in which he is placed. Also, any outside
covering which serves to enclose a thing
entirely, as packing-cases, or knife-cases.
Case, in grammar, implies the different
inflections or terminations of nouns, serv-
ing to express the different relations they
bear to each other and the things they
represent. Action on the case, in law,
is an action in which the whole cause of
complaint is set out in the writ.

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CAS

CASE'MENT, a window that opens on
hinges. Also, a hollow moulding.

CASE-SHOT, musket balls, stones, old
iron, <fcc., put into cases and discharged
from cannon.

CASH, money in hand, or ready mo-
ney, distinguished from bills.

CASHIER', a person who is entrusted
with the cash of some public company.
In a banking establishment the cashier
superintends the books, payments, and
receipts of the bank : he also signs or
countersigns the notes, and superintends
all the transactions, under the order of
the directors.

CASK'ET, the diminutive of cask, a
small chest or box, for jewels, <fec.

CASQUE, a piece of defensive armor,
to cover and protect the head and neck
in battle.

CASQUETEL', a small steel cap or
open helmet, without beaver or visor,
but having a projecting umbril and flex-
ible plates to cover the neck behind.

CASSA'TION, COURT OF, one of the
most important institutions of modern
France, which gives to the whole juris-
diction of that country coherency and
uniformity, without endangering the ne-
cessary independence of the courts. It
was established by the first national as-
sembly, and has been preserved, in every
essential respect, under all the changes
of the revolution and restoration. It
properly signifies the annulling of any
act or decision, if the forms prescribed by
law have been neglected or justice has
been perverted.

C AS'SOCK, the vestment worn by cler-
gymen under their gowns.

CAST, among artists, any statue or
part of a statue, of bronze, or of plaster-
of-Paris. A cast is that which owes its
figure to the mould into which the mat-
ter of it has been poured or cast while in
a fluid state ; and thus differs from a
model, which is made by repeated efforts
with a ductile substance, as any adhesive
earth ; and from a piece of sculpture,
which is the work of the chisel.

CASTANETS', instruments formed of
small concave shells of ivory or hard
wood, fastened to the thumb and beat
with the middle finger. The Spaniards
and Moors use them as an accompani-
ment to their saraband dances and gui-
tars.

CASTE, the general name for the
tribes of various employment, into which
the Hindoos are divided in successive
generations, and generations of families.
The first caste is religious ; the second

warlike ; the third commercial ; and the
fourth laborers. Persons of the religious
caste are universally denominated bram-
ins; the soldiers or princes are styled
cutlery or rajalis ; the traders, choutres
or shuddery ; the lowest order, parias.

CAS'TELLAIN, in feudal times, the
owner, lord, or governor of a castle or
fortified place.

CAS'TELLANY, the lordship belong-
ing to a castle ; or the extent of its land
and jurisdiction.

CAST'ING-, with founders, the running
of metal into a mould : among sculptors,
it is the taking casts or impressions of
figures, &c. Plaster-of-Paris is the most
usual material employed for this pur-
pose. In architecture, a term used to
denote the bending of the surfaces of a
piece of wood from their original state,
caused either by the gravity of the mate-
rial, or by its being subject to unequal
temperature, moisture, or the uniform
texture of the material. Called also
Warping.

CASTING OF DRAPERIES, in paint-
ing or sculpture, consists in the proper
distribution of the folds of the garments,
so that they appear the result of accident
rather than of study or labor. The ar-
rangement of draperies sometimes gives
the artist much trouble, but this is fre-
quently caused by the material employed
in the model being of a different sub-
stance to that depicted in the picture.

CAS'TLE, a fortress or place rendered
defensible, either by nature or art.
English castles, walled with stone, and
designed for residence as well as defence,
are for the most part of no higher date
than the Conquest. Those previously
erected had been suffered to fall into
ruin ; and many writers have assigned
this circumstance as a reason for the fa-
cility with which William the Norman
made himself master of the country. It
was the policy of this able general to
build a considerable number : and in pro-
cess of time the martial tenants of the
crown erected them for themselves; so
that towards the end of Stephen's reign,
we are told that there existed upwards
of eleven hundred. At this period castles
were an evil of the greatest magnitude
to both the sovereign and the subject ;
considerable struggles appear to have
taken place with regard to their continu-
ance ; several were demolished ; and their
general decline commenced. A complete
castle consisted of a ditch or moat, an
outwork, called a barbican, which guard-
ed the gate and drawbridge ; an artificial

CAT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

mount ; an outer and inner ballium or
inclosure ; and the keep, or lofty tower,
in which the owner or governor resided,
and under which were the dungeons.
Castle-guard, a feudal tenure, or knight
service, which obliged the tenant to per-
form service within the realm, without
limitation of time. Castle-ward, an im-
position laid' upon subjects dwelling with-
in a certain distance of a castle, for the
purpose of maintaining watch and ward
in the castle.

CAS'TOR AND POL'LUX, the name
given to a meteor which sometimes ap-
pears at sea, attached to the extremities
of the masts of ships under the form of
balls of fire. When one ball only is
seen, it is called Helena. The meteor is
generally supposed to indicate the cessa-
tion of a storm, or a future calm ; but
Helena, or one ball only, to portend bad
weather.

CAS'UISTRY, the science of resolving
cases of doubtful propriety, or of deter-
mining the lawfulness or unlawfulness of
any act, by rules and principles drawn
from the Scriptures, from the laws of so-
ciety, or from reason.

CA'SUS FGED'ERIS, the case stipu-
lated by treaty, or which comes within
the terms of compact.

CA'SUS OMIS'SUS, in law, where any
particular thing is omitted, and not pro-
vided for by the statute.

CATACHRE'SIS, in rhetoric, a trope
which borrows the name of one thing to
express another. Thus Milton, in de-
scribing Raphael's descent from the em-
pyreal heaven, says,

''Down thither prone in flight
He speeds, and thro' the vast ethereal sky
Sails between worlds and worlds."

So in Scripture we read of the " blood
of the grape." A catachresis, in fact, is
the abuse of a trope, or when a word is
too far wrested from its original signifi-
cation.

CAT'ACOMB, a grotto or subterrane-
ous place for the burial of the dead. It
is generally applied to a vast number of
subterraneous sepulchres, in the Appian
AVay, near Rome ; supposed to be the
cells in which were deposited the bodies
of the primitive Christian martyrs. But
there are now many other catacombs, as
at Paris, &c.

CATADRO'MUS, in antiquity, the
stadium, or place where raes were run.

CATAFAL'CO, in architecture, a tem-
porary structure of carpentry, decorated
with painting and sculpture, representing

a tomb or cenotaph, and used in funeral
ceremonies. That used at the final in-
terment of Michael Angelo at Florence
was of the most magnificent description,
and perhaps unequalled as to the art
employed on it by any used before or
since.

CATALEC'TIC, in Greek and Latin
poetry; a verse wanting one syllable of
its proper length : acatalectic, a verse
complete in length ; hypercatalectic, hav-
ing one syllable too many ; bracliycatalec-
tic, wanting two syllables.

CAT'ALEPSY, a disease in which the
functions of the organs of sense and mo-
tion are suspended, whilst the heart con-
tinues to pulsate. The patients are said
to be in a trance ; and in this state they
remain for some hours, or even days.
Ammoniacal and ethereal stimulants are
the most effectual restoratives.

CAT'ALOGUE RAISONNE', in bib-
liography, a catalogue of books, classed
under the heads of their several subjects,
and with a general abstract of the contents
of works where the title does not sufficient-
ly indicate it ; thus serving as a manual,
to direct the reader to the sources of in-
formation on any particular topic. The
want of alphabetical arrangement is sup-
plied by an index at the end. The cata-
logue of the French Bibtiotlieque Royale
(10 vols. fol. 1739-53) is said to be the
best work of this description.

CATAPUL'TA, or CAT'APULT, in
antiquity, a military engine used for
throwing arrows, darts, and stones upon
the enemy. Some of these engines
would throw stones of a hundred weight.
Josephus takes notice of the surprising
effects of these engines, and says, that
the stones thrown out of them beat down
the battlements, knocked off the angles
of the towers, and would level a whole file
of men, from one end to the other.

CAT'ARACT, a great fall of water over
a precipice in the channel of a river,
caused by rocks or other obstacles stop-
ping the course of the stream ; as that
of Niagara, the Nile, the Danube, and
the Rhine.

CATAS'TASIS, in poetry, the third
part of the ancient drama, being that
wherein the intrigue, or action, is sup-
ported and carried on, and heightened,
till it be ripe for unravelling in the catas-
trophe.

CATAS'TROPHE, in dramatic poetry,
the fourth and last part in the ancient
drama, or that immediately succeeding
the catastasis ; and which consists in the
unfolding and winding up of the plot,

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CAT

clearing up difficulties, and closing the
play.

CATCH, in music, is defined to be "a
piece for three or four voices, one of
which leads, and the others follow in the
same notes." But perhaps it may bo
more correctly described as a fugue in
the unison, wherein to humor some con-
ceit in the words, or to give them a dif-
ferent meaning, the melody is broken,
and the sense is interrupted in one part,
and caught and supported by another.

CAT'ECHISM, a form of instruction
in religion, conveyed in questions and
answers. The catechism of the Church
of England originally consisted of no
more than a repetition of the baptismal
vow, the creed, and the Lord's Prayer ;
but King James I. ordered the bishops to
add to it a short and plain explication of
the sacraments.

CAT'ECHIST, an officer in the primi-
tive Christian church, whose business it
was to instruct the catechumens in the
first principles of religion, and thereby
prepare them for the reception of bap-
tism.

CATECHU'MENS, a name formerly
given in the Christian church to such as
were prepared to receive the ordinance of
baptism. . These were anciently the chil-
dren of believing parents, or pagans not
fully initiated in the principles of the
Christian religion ; and were admitted to
this state by the imposition of hands and
the sign of the cross.

CAT'EGOREMAT'IC, in logic, when
a word is capable of being employed by
itself as a term, or predicate of a propo-
sition.

CATEGORY, in logic and metaphys-
ics, a Greek word, signifying originally
that which may be said or predicated of
a thing ; a general term in reference to
a less general one which is included un-
der it. By Aristotle, from whom the
word, and its corresponding Latin term
predicate, was borrowed by the school-
men, it was applied to denote the -most
general of the attributes that may be as-
signed to a subject. Of these he attempt-
ed an enumeration, under the name of
substance, quantity, quality, relation,
place, time, condition, state or habitude,
action, and passion. The word has been
revived in modern time by Kant, to ex-
press the most general of the modes in
which a thing can be raised from an ob-
ject of sense to an object of intellect ; or,
in other words, the forms or conditions
which must pre-exist in the understand-
ing, in order that an act of intelligence

may take place. The difference between
the categories of Kant and those of Aris-
totle is this, that the latter are mere gen-
eralizations from experience, which may
consequently be multiplied indefinitely ;
whereas the former result from a profes-
sedly exhaustive analysis of the human
understanding as it is in itself, or formal-
ly, that is, apart from all consideration
of its object-matter

CATENA'RIAN ARCH, in architect-
ure, an arch whose form is that of a chord
or chain suspended from two fixed points
at its extremities.

CAT'GUT, the name for the strings
made of the intestines of sheep or lambs,
used in musical instruments, &c. Great
quantities are imported from Lyons and
Italy.

CATHE'DRA, in archaeology, a term
used to denote the pulpit, or the profes-
sor's chair. It originally signified any
chair. Among ecclesiastical writers it de-
notes a bishop's see, or throne. Hence,
ex cathedra is a phrase which is much
used among the clergy of the Romish
church, in relation to the solemn decrees
of the pope.

CATHE'DRAL, the principal church
of a diocese, in which is the throne of the
bishop. The term cathedra was original-
ly applied to the seats in which the bish-
op and presbyters sate in their assem-
blies, which were held in the rooms in
which the worship of the first Christians
was also performed before they had liber-
ty to erect temples for that purpose. In
after-times the choir of the cathedral
church was made to terminate in a semi-
circular or polygonal apsis ; and in the
recess thus formed were placed the throne
of the bishop in the centre, and seats of
an inferior class for presbyters.

CATHERINE, ST., OF ALEXANDRIA,
the patron saint of Philosophy and the
Schools. The pictures of her are almost
innumerable ; as patron saint or martyr,
her attributes are a broken wheel set
round with knives, and a sword, the in-
struments of her martyrdom.

CATH'OLIC, an epithet properly sig-
nifying universal. Originally this appel-
lation was given to the Christian church
in general, but now the Romish church
assumes it exclusively to itself ; whence
the name of Roman Catholics has been
applied, since the Reformation, to the
followers of the Romish doctrine and dis-
cipline. Catholic Majesty, the title giv-
en to the king or queen of Spain. Cath-
olic Priest, a clergy man or priest ordained
to say mass and administer the sacra-

CEC]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

merits, &c., according to the rites of the
Romish church.

CATOP'TROM AXCY, a species of div-
ination among the ancients, which was
performed for the sick, by letting down a
mirror, fastened by a thread, into a foun-
tain before the temple of Ceres, to look at
his face in it. If it appeared distorted
and ghastly, it was a sign of death; if
fresh and healthy, it denoted a speedy
recovery.

CAUSALITY, or CAUSA'TION, a-
inong metaphysicians, the action or pow-
er of a cause in producing its effect.

CAUSE, that from whence anything
proceeds, or by virtue of which anything
is done :' it stands opposed to effect. We
get the ideas of cause and effect from our
observation of the vicissitude of things,
while we perceive some qualities or sub-
stances begin to exist, and that they re-
ceive their existence from the due appli-
cation and operation of other beings.
That which produces is the cause; that
which is produced, the effect. Causes are
distinguished, by the schools, into effi-
cient, material, final, and formal. Effi-
cient Causes are the agents employed in
the production of anything. Material
Causes, the subjects whereon the agents
work ; or the materials whereof the thing
is produced. Final Causes are the mo-
tives inducing an agent to act : or the
design and purpose for which the thing
was done. Causes are again distinguished
into physical and moral ; universal, or
particular ; principal, or instrumental :
total, or partial ; univocal, equivocal,
&c. Cause, among civilians, is the same
with action ; denoting any legal process
which a party institutes to obtain his de-
mand, or by which he seeks his supposed
right.

CAUTIO'NE ADMITTEN'DA,inlaw,
a writ which lies against a bishop that
holds an excommunicated person in prison
for contempt, after he has offered suffi-
cient caution or security to obey the or-
ders of the church. On receipt of this
writ, the sheriff warns the bishop to take
caution.

CAVALCADE' a pompous procession
of horsemen, equipages, <fcc., by way of
parade to grace a triumph, public entry,
or the like.

CAVALIER', a gallant armed horse-
man. It was also an appellation given
to the party of Charles I. to distinguish
them from the parliamentarians, who
were called Roundheads. In fortifica-
tion, a work raised within the body of a
place, above the other works.

CAVALRY, a body of soldiers on
horseback ; a general term for light-horse,
dragoons, lancers, and all other troops
who are armed and mounted. Their
chief use is to make frequent excursions
to the disturbance of the enemy, and in-
tercept his convoys ; in battle, to support
and cover the infantry, and to break
through and disorder the enemy. The
use of cavalry is probably nearly as an-
cient as war itself. At the present day
the cavalry is divided into light and heavy
horse, which are employed for different
purposes. The heavy cavalry, with de-
fensive armor (cuirassiers,) is generally
employed where force is requisite ; the
lighter troops are used in small detach-
ments, where swiftness and continued ef-
fort are required.

CA'VEAT, an entry in the spiritual
courts, by which the probate of a will,
letters of administration, license of mar-
riage, &c., may be prevented from being
issued without the knowledge, and, if the
reason be just, the consent of the party
entering the caveat.

CAVERN, a natural cavity, or deep
hollow place in the earth, arising either
from arches accidentally made, or from
streams of water flowing under ground.
One of the grandest natural caverns
known is Fingal's cave, in Staffa, one of
the western islands of Scotland. The
grotto of Antiparos, in the Archipelago,
is celebrated for its magnificence. In
some parts, immense columns descend to
the floor ; others present the appearance
of trees and brooks turned to marble.
The Peak Cavern, in Derbyshire, is also
a celebrated curiosity of this kind. It is
nearly half a mile in length, and, at its
lowest part, 600 feet below the surface.
Many caves are formed by the lava of
volcanoes. In the Cevennes mountains,
in France, are caverns and grottoes of
great extent, and which abound in objects
of curiosity. But the largest we read of
is the cavern of Guacharo, in South
America, which is said to extend for

CAVET'TO, in architecture, a hollow
member, or round concave moulding,
containing the quadrant of a circle ; and
used as an ornament in cornices.

CECIL'IA, ST., the patroness of music,
and supposed inventress of the organ ;
she suffered martyrdom by being plunged
into a vessel of boiling oil. She is some-
times depicted with a gash in her neck,
and standing in a cauldron, but more
frequently holding the model of an or-
gan, and turning her head towards hea-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CEN

yen, as if listening to the music of the
spheres.

CEIL'ING, in architecture, the upper
part or roof of a room, being a lay or
covering of plaster over laths, nailed on
the bottom of the joists which bear the
floor of the upper room, or on joists put
up for that purpose where there is no up-
per room, hence called ceiling joists.

CEL'ARENT, in logic, a mode of syllo-
gism, wherein the major and conclusion
are universal negative propositions, and
the minor an universal affirmative ; as
" No man that is a hypocrite can be
saved : Every man who with his lips only
cries Lord, Lord, is a hypocrite : There-
fore, no man, who with his lips only cries
Lord, Lord, can be saved."

CEL'EBE, a vase, found chiefly in
Etruria, distinguished by its peculiarly
shaped handles, which are pillared.

CEL'ERES, in Roman antiquity, a
regiment of body-guards belonging to the
Roman kings, established by Romulus,
and composed of 300 young men chosen
out of the most illustrious Roman fami-
lies, and approved by the suffrages of the
curiae of the people, each of which fur-
nished ten.

CELES'TIAL, in its first and obvious
sense, denotes something pertaining to,
or dwelling in heaven. In mythology,
the term is applied to the residence of
the gods, supposed to be in the clouds or
stars ; and hence the space in which the
stars are situated are commonly called
the celestial spaces.

CEL'ESTINS, a religious order of
Christians, reformed from the Bernardins
by Pope*Celestin V. The Celestins rise
two hours after midnight to say matins;
they eat no flesh at any time, except
when sick, and fast often. Their habit
is a white gown, a capuche, and a black
scapulary.

CELEUS'MA, in antiquity, a naval
shout serving as a signal for the mari-
ners to ply their oars, or to cease from
rowing. It was also made use of to sig-
nify the joyful acclamation of vintagers,
and the shouts of the conquerors over the
vanquished.

CELIB'ACY, an unmarried or single
state of life, to which, according to the
doctrine and the discipline of the church
of Rome, the clergy are obliged to con-
form.

CEL'TIC, pertaining to the Celts, or
primitive inhabitants of Britain, Gaul,
Spain. Thus we say Celtic customs,
Celtic origin, Celtic remains, <fcc.

CE M'ETER Y, a repository for the dead.

Among modern improvements, perhaps
few are more deserving of commendation
than the custom, recently introduced, of
appropriating an eligible spot of ground,
at a convenient distance from populous
towns, for the purpose of human inter-
ment.

CEN'OTAPH, a monument erected to
a deceased person, but not containing the
remains. Originally cenotaphs were
raised for those only whose bones could
not be found, who had perished at sea,
&c., or to one who died far away from
his native town. The tomb built by a
man during his life-time for himself and
family was called a cenotaph.

CEN'SER, in the religious rites of the
ancients, was a vase, containing incense
to be used in sacrificing to the gods. Cen-
sers were likewise in use among the Jews,
as we find in the 1 Kings vii. 50. "Solo-
mon, when he prepared furniture for the
temple of the Lord, among other things
made censers of pure gold."

CEN'SOR, an officer in ancient Rome,
whose business it was to reform the man-
ners and to value the estates of the peo-
ple. At first they were chosen out of the
senate, but after the plebeians had got the
consulate open to them, they soon arrived
at the censorship. Cicero reduces their
functions to the numbering of the people,
the correction and reformation of man-
ners, the estimating the effects of each
citizen, the proportioning of taxes, the
superintendence of tribute, the exclusion
from the temples, and the care of the
public places. The office was so consider-
able, that none aspired to it till they had
passed all the rest.

CEN'SURE, a judgment which con-
demns some book, person, or action, or
more particularly a reprimand from a
superior. Ecclesiastical censures are
penalties by which, for some striking
malconduct, a member of a church is de-
prived of the communion of the church,
or prohibited from executing the sacer-
dotal office.

CEN'SUS, in Roman antiquity, an
authentic declaration made before the
censors, by the several subjects of the
empire, of their respective names and
places of abode. This declaration was
registered by the censors, and contained
an enumeration of all their estates, lands,
and inheritances, their quantity and qual-
ity, with the wives, children, domestics,
tenants, and slaves of each citizen. The
census was instituted by Servius Tullius,
and was held every five years. The
word census is still used to signify an

CER]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

enumeration of the inhabitants of any
kingdom or state, taken by order of its
legislature.

CENT, from centum, " a hundred," is
used in commercial concerns to signify
a hundred pounds. A profit of 10 per
cent, is the gain of IQl. by the use of
lOQt

CEN'TAUR, in classic antiquity, a
monster, half man and half horse. It is
intimated by Virgil, and generally be-
lieved, that the Centaurs were a tribe of
Lapithae, who inhabited the city of Pele-
thronium, adjoining to Mount Pelion,
and who first broke and rode upon
horses. Nations to whom the sight of
a man on horseback was new, believed,
as did the Americans of the Spaniards,
the horse and his rider made but one
animal.

CEN'TENARY, the number of a hun-
dred, or pertaining thereto. Hence the
epithet centennial for what regularly oc-
curs once in a century.

CENTESIMA'TION, a military pun-
ishment, in cases of desertion, mutiny,
<fec., when every hundredth man is selected
for execution.

CEN'TO, in poetry, a work wholly com-
posed of verses or passages, promiscuously
taken from other authors, and disposed in
a new order.

CENTRAL FIRE, a supposed perpet-
ual fire, which, according to the theory
of some philosophers, exists in the centre
of the earth, and to which, in ancient
times, volcanoes and other similar phe-
nomena were attributed.

CENTUM'VIRI, in Roman antiquity,
judges appointed to decide common
causes among the people. Three were
chosen out of each tribe ; and though
there were five more than a hundred,
they were nevertheless called centumviri,
from the round number centum.

CENTU'RION, among the Romans, an
officer in the infantry, who commanded a
century, or a hundred men. The Roman
legions were, in fact, divided into cen-
turies.

CEN'TURY, in a general sense, denotes
a hundred ; or anything divided into, or
consisting of, a hundred parts The Ro-
man people, when they were assembled
for the electing of magistrates, enacting
of laws, or deliberating upon any public
affair, were always divided into centuries,
and voted by centuries, in order that their
suffrages might be the more easily col-
lected ; whence these assemblies were
called comitia centuriata. This mode of
dividing the Roman people was intro-

duced by Servius Tullins ; the first class
contained eighty, to which were added
the eighteen centuries of the knights ; the
three following classes had each twenty
centuries, the fifth thirty, and the sixth
only one century. In chronology, it
means the space of one hundred years ;
and this is the most common signification
of the word. As we begin our common
computation of time from the incarnation
of Christ, the word is generally applied
to some term of a hundred years subse-
quent to it.

CEREA'LIA, in antiquity, feasts of
Ceres, instituted by Triptolemus of Eleu-
sis, in Attica. These feasts were cele-
brated with religious purity ; but the
votaries of the goddess ran about with
lighted torches, in commemoration of her
search after her daughter Proserpine.
The word also was used to denote all
sorts of corn of which bread is made.

CER'EMONY, an assemblage of seve-
ral actions, forms, and circumstances,
serving to render a thing more magnifi-
cent and solemn ; particularly used to
denote the external rites of religious wor-
ship, the formality of introducing ambas-
sadors to audiences, &c. Master of the
Ceremonies, an officer instituted by
James I. for the more honorable reception
of ambassadors and strangers of quality,
and for the regulation of all matters of
etiquette in the assemblies over which
they preside. Ceremonial of European
Powers, comprises 1. The particular
titles due to sovereigns in different states ;
the imperial title being considered as ex-
pressing some sort of superiority over the
royal, and having been in consequence
assumed by various kings in their public
acts (as the king of England since the
union of the crowns.) 2. The acknowledg-
ment of sovereign titles, the right to con-
fer which was formerly claimed by the
popes as their own prerogative, but they
are now assumed by princes, and confirmed
by the acknowledgment of other sove-
reigns. 3. The respective prerogatives
of different sovereigns ; which speolcs of
precedence is that which has occasioned
the greatest amount of discussion and dis-
pute when sovereigns, or their represen-
tatives, have been brought together. In
1504, Pope Julius II. arranged the rank
of European powers in the following or-
der : 1. The Roman emperor; 2. The
king of Rome ; 3. France ; 4. Castile ;
5. Aragon; 6. Portugal; 7. England)
8. Sicily; 9. Scotland; 10. Hungary;
11. Navarre; 12. Cyprus; 13. Bohemia;
14. Poland ; 15. Denmark ; 16. Repub-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CHA

lie of Venice; 17. Duke of Britanny;
18. Burgundy; 19. Elector of Bavaria;
20. Saxony; 21. Brandenburg; 22. Arch-
duke of Austria; 23. Duke of Savoy;
24. Grand Duke of Florence ; 25. Duke
of Milan ; 26. Bavaria. 27. Lorraine.
This arrangement, however, gave birth
to repeated contests. At present, where
precedence is not considered as established
between rulers of equal dignity, each con-
cedes to the other precedence at home ;
and when they meet on the territory of
a third party, they take precedence al-
ternately until some arrangement is
effected.

CERIN'THIANS, the followers of Ce-
rinthus, one of the first heresiarchs in the
church. They denied the divinity of
Christ, but they held that a celestial vir-
tue descended on him at his baptism in
the form of a dove, by which he was con-
secrated and made Christ.

CERO'MA, an ointment made of oil
and wax, with which the ancient wrestlers
rubbed themselves to render their limbs
more pliant.

CER'OMANCY, an ancient mode of
divination, by means of dropping melted
wax in water, and observing the shapes,
Ac., it assumed.

CEROPLAS'TIC, the art of modelling
in wax, one of very high antiquity. Ly-
sistratus, the brother of Lysippus, was
the first that used wax for modelling the
human figure. He lived in the time of
Alexander the Great, and was a native
of Sicyon.

CERTIFICATE, in a general sense,
a testimony given in writing to declare or
certify the truth of anything. Of these
there are many which are requisite in
almost every profession, but more par-
ticularly in the law and in the army.

CERTIORA'RI, a writ issuing out of
some superior court, to call up the re-
cords of an inferior court, or remove a
cause there depending, that it may be
tried in a superior court.

CESSA'TION OF ARMS, an armistice
or occasional truce, agreed to by the com-
manders of arms, to give time for a cap-
itulation, or for other purposes.

CESSA'VIT, in law, a writ to recover
lands, when the tenant or occupier has
ceased for two years to perform the ser-
vice which constitutes the condition of his
tenure, and has not sufficient goods or
chattels to be distrained.

CES'SION, in a general sense a sur-
render ; but particularly a surrender of
conquered territory to its former propri-
etor or sovereign by treaty. CESSION,

in the civil law, is a voluntary surrender
of a pcrson*s effects to his creditors, to
avoid imprisonment.

CES'TUS, CAESTUS, thongs of leather
round the hands and arms, worn by box-
ers for offence and defence, to render
their blows more power-
ful. The cestus was in-
troduced when athletics
were generally practised,
and the name is Roman.
It was a stronger defence
than the Himantes of the
ancient Greeks ; the sim-
ple thongs of leather were
still used occasionally in
boxing, and in the exer-
cises of the Agonistae, and
were called Mellchai, be-
cause the blows they gave
were less formidable than those of the
cestus. There are many kinds of cestus,
in some the thongs of leather are studded
with nails. AVorks of ancient Art abound
in which the cestus is represented.
Cestus, a girdle said to be worn by Ve-
nus, to which Homer ascribes the power of
exciting love towards the wearer. It was
also a marriage girdle, richly studded,
with which the husband girded his wife
at the wedding, and loosed again at night.

CHACONE', or CIACONE, in music,
a kind of dance resembling a saraband,
of Moorish origin. The bass of it consists
of four notes, which proceed in conjoint
degrees, whereon the harmonies are made
with the same burden. Some have de-
rived this dance from cieco, a blind man,
its supposed inventor.

CHAIR, (cathedra), was anciently the
suggestum, or pulpit, whence the priest
or public orator spoke to the people. It
is still applied to the place whence pro-
fessors in universities deliver their lec-
tures ; thus we say, the professor's chair.
It is commonly used for a speaker or
president of a public council or assembly,
as the speaker's chair; and by a meto-
nymy, the speaker himself; as, to ad-
dress the chair. Chair, among the Ro-
man Catholics, certain feasts held ancient-
ly in commemoration of the translation
of the see or seat of the vicarage of Christ
by St. Peter. Curule chair, in Roman
antiquity, an ivory seat placed on a
car, wherein were seated the chief ma-
gistrates of Rome, and those to whom the
honor of a triumph was granted.

CHALCED'ONY, a kind of quartz,
semi-transparent, of a bluish' white, but
frequently striped and clouded with other
colors. AGATE is a mixture of chalced-

CHA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

ony and varieties of quartz, often beau-
tifully tinted. Chalcedony and agate
were used for seals and other works of
art.

CHALCID ICUM, in ancient architec-
ture, a magnificent hall belonging to a
tribunal or court of justice.

CHALCOG'HAPHY, a modern term
for engraving on copper.

CHALDEE', or CHALDA'IC, the lan-
guage spoken by the Chaldeans, or peo-
ple of Chaldea : it is a dialect of the He-
brew.

CHAL'ICE, the communion cup, or
vessel used to administer the wine in the
sacrament of the eucharist. The form
has undergone many variations in differ-
ent ages, always preserving, however, its
cup-like shape. Chalices are made of
gold, but more commonly of silver, either

whole, or parcel gilt and jewelled. They
have sometimes been made of crystal,
glass, and agate, but these materials are
now prohibited on account of their brittle
nature.

CHALI'ZA, in Hebrew antiquity, the
ceremony whereby a woman, left a wid-
ow, pulled off her brt>thor-in-law's shoes,
who should have espoused her; after
which she was at liberty to marry whom
she pleased.

CHAL'LENGrE, in a general sense, a
summons to fight, whether in a duel or
in a pugilistic contest. In law, an excep-
tion to jurors, made by the party put on
his trial : or the claim of a party that
certain jurors shall not sit in trial upon
him or his cause. The right of challenge
is given both in civil and criminal trials,
and extends either to the whole panel, or
only to particular jurors. In criminal
cases, a prisoner may challenge twenty
jurors, without assigning a cause ; which
is called a peremptory challenge.

CHALYB'EATE, an epithet for wa-
ters in which iron forms the principal in-

gredient, as the waters of Tunbridge
Wells. Chalybeates act chiefly as absorb-
ents and deobstruents. The action of the
particles of a chalybeate, by their elasti-
city, together with the momentum they
give the blood by their ponderosity,
makes it not only preferable to most
other deobstruents, out also proper in
other cases ; especially where there is a
viscidity of the juices, the blood impover-
ished, or the circulation languid.

CHAM, or KHAM, the title of the
sovereign prince of Tartary. It is like-
wise applied to the principal noblemen
of Persia.

CHAMADE', in war, a signal made by
beat of drum or sound of trumpet, for a
conference with the enemy, either to in-
vite to a truce, or to propose a capitula-
tion.

CHAM'BER, in building, any room
situated between the lowermost and up-
permost rooms. Chamber, in polity, the
place where certain assemblies are held ;
also the assemblies themselves. Of these
some are established. for the administra-
tion of justice, others for commercial
affairs. In many languages, chamber is
used to designate a branch of government
whose members assemble in a common
apartment. Privy-chamber. Gentle-
men of the privy-chamber are servants
of the king, who are to wait and attend
on him and the queen at court.

CHAM'BERLAIN, a high officer in
all European courts. Originally the
chamberlain was the keeper of the treas-
ure-chamber ; and this meaning of the
word is still preserved, in the usages of
the corporations of London and other
places, where the chamberlain is the
officer who keeps the money belonging to
the municipal body. But in modern
times, the court officer styled chamber-
lain has the charge of the private apart-
ments of the sovereign or noble to
whom he is attached. In England, the
lord great chamberlain, or king's cham-
berlain, is one of the three great officers
of the king's household. He has the con-
trol of all the officers above stairs, except
the precinct of the bedchamber, which is
under the government of the groom of
the stole. Under him are the vice-cham-
berlain, lord of the bedchamber, <fcc. ; the
chaplains, officers of the wardrobe, phy-
sicians, tradesmen, artisans, and others
retained in his majesty's service are in
his department, and sworn into office by
him. He is commonly one of the highest
nobility of the country ; in virtue of his
situation he precedes dukes. The em-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CHA

blera of office appropriated to the cham- ]
berlain in European courts is a gold key,
generally suspended from two gold but-
tons. The LORD GREAT CHAMBERLAIN
OF ENGLAND (not of the household) is the
sixth great officer of state. This office
belonged for many centuries to the noble
family of De Vere, Earls of Oxford ; af-
terward to that of Bertie, Lords Wil-
loughby de Eresby and Dukes of Ancas-
ter. In that line it became vested in
coheiresses, by whom the present deputy
chamberlain (Lord Gwydir) is appointed.

CHAM'BRE ARDENTE, in French
history, a name given to the tribunal
which was instituted by Francis I. for the
purpose of trying and burning heretics ;
and also the extraordinary commissions
established under Louis XIV. for the ex-
amination of prisoners, and under the
regent Duke of Orleans against public
officers charged with certain offences
against the revenues, and those guilty of
fraud in the matter of Law's bank.

CHAM'BRE DBS COMPTES, (Cham-
ber of Accounts,) in French history, a
great court established for various pur-
poses ; as for the registration of edicts,
ordinances, letters patent, treaties of
peace, <fcc. The sovereign chambre des
comptes was at Paris : there were also
inferior courts in ten provincial cities.

CHAM'FER, in architecture, the edge
of anything originally right-angled cut
aslope or bevel, so that the plane it then
forms is inclined less than a right angle
to the other planes with which it inter-
sects.

CHAMP DE MARS, in French his-
tory, the public assemblies of the Franks,
which were held in the open air.

CHAM'PERTY, in law, a bargain
made with wither plaintiff or defendant
in any suit, for giving part of the land,
debt, Ac., sued for, to the party who un-
dertakes the process at his own expense.

CHAM'PION, a person who under-
takes a combat in the place of another :
sometimes the word is used for him who
fights in his own cause. In ancient times,
when two champions were chosen to
maintain a cause, it was always required
that there should be a decree of the
judge to authorize the combat : when the
judge had pronounced sentence, the ac-
cused threw a gage or pledge, originally
a glove or gantlet, which being taken up
by the accuser, they were both taken into
saie custody, till the day of battle ap-
pointed by the judge. Before the cham-
pions took the field, their heads were
shaved to a kind of crown or round,

which was left at the top : they then
made oath that they believed the person
who retained them to be in right, Ac.
They always engaged on foot, and with
no other weapon than a club and a shield,
and they always made an offering to the
church, that God might assist them in the
battle. Champion of the King (or
Queen,) an officer who rides armed into
Westminster Hall on the coronation,
while the sovereign is at dinner, and by
herald makes proclamation, "That if any
man shall deny the king's (or queen's)
title to the crown, he is there ready to
defend it in a single combat:" which
being done, the sovereign drinks to him,
and then presents him with a cup for his
fee.

CHANCE, a term applied to events
that are supposed to happen without any
known or necessary cause ; or, rather, of
which the cause is such that they may
happen in one way as well as another.
Thus, when a piece of money is tossed up
in the air, as no reason can be given why
it should fall on one side rather than on
the other, it is said to be an even chance
which of the sides shall turn up.

CHAN'CEL, that part of the choir of
a church between the altar and the balus-
trade that incloses it, where the minister
is placed at the celebration of the com-
munion. The chancel is also the rector's
freehold and part of his glebe, and there-
fore he is obliged to repair it ; but where
the rectory is impropriate, the impro-
priator must do it

CHAN'CELLOR Under the Roman
emperors, a chancellor signified a chief
notary or scribe ; but in England it
means an officer invested with high ju-
dicial powers. The Lord High Chan-
cellor of Great Britain is one of the prin-
cipal officers of tte civil government,
created without writ or patent, by the
mere delivery of the king's great seal
into his custody. He is a privy counsel-
lor by his office, and prolocutor of the
House of Lords by prescription. He also
appoints all the justices of the peace
throughout the kingdom. Persons exer-
cising this office in former times having
been ecclesiastics, and superintendents of
the royal chapel, the Lord Chancellor is
still styled keeper of the king's conscience,
and for the same reason he is visitor, in
right of the king, of all hospitals and
colleges of the king's foundation ; and
patron of all the king's livings under the
value of 201. per annum in the king's
books. He is the general guardian of
all infants, idiots, and lunatics ; has a

CIIAJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

control over all public charities ; and a
jurisdiction of vast .extent, as the head
of the law in his Court of Chancery ;
where ho decides without the. assistance
of a jury, but from which there is an ap-
peal to the House of Lords. Chancellor
of a Diocese, a lay officer under a bishop,
versed in the canon and civil law, who is
judge of his court. Chancellor of a, Ca-
thedral, an officer who hears lessons in
the church, inspects schools, hears causes,
writes letters, and applies the seal of the
chapter, keeps the books, <fec. Chancellor
of a University, an officer who seals the
diplomas, or letters of degree, <fcc. The
chancellors of Oxford and Cambridge are
selected from among the prime nobility :
the former holds his office for life ; the
latter is elected every three years.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, an officer
who presides in that court, and takes care
of the interests of the crown. He has
power with the lord treasurer to lease the
crown lands, and with others to compound
for forfeiture of lands, on penal statutes :
he has also great authority in managing
the royal revenues, and in all matters
relating to the finances of the state.

CHAxVCE-MEDLEY, in law, the acci-
dental killing of a person, not altogether
without the killer's fault, though without
any evil intention.

CHAN'CERY, the grand court of
equity and conscience, instituted to mod-
erate the rigor of the other courts that
are bound to the strict letter of the law.

CHAN'CES, a branch of mathematics,
which estimates ratios of probability.

CHANT, in music, an ecclesiastical
song usually adapted to the psalms and
litanies. There have been several sorts,
of which the first was the Ambrosian, in-
vented by St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan.
The Gregorian chant, which was intro-
duced by Pope Gregory, is still in use in
the Roman church, and is the foundation
of all that is grand and elevated in
music.

CHAN'TRY, a little chapel or altar,
commonly in some church endowed (be-
fore the Reformation) with revenues for
the maintenance of a priest to perform
prayers for the soul of the founder and
others.

CHA'OSj that confusion in which mat-
ter is supposed to have existed before
the world was produced by the creative
power of Omnipotence ; or, in other words,
the unformed primeval matter of which
everything was made. The ancient poets,
and Ovid in particular, represent cliaos
thus : that there was neither sun to make

the day, nor moon to enlighten the night ;
that the earth was not yet hung in the
circumambient air, nor the sea bounded
by any shore ; but that earth, air, and
water, were one undigested mass.

CHAP'EL, a place of divine worship,
served by an incumbent under the denom-
ination of a chaplain. There are vari-
ous kinds of chapels ; as parochial chapels,
distinct from the mother church ; chapels
of ease, built in large parishes for the
accommodation of the inhabitants ; free
chapels, which were founded by different
kings ; chapels belonging to particular
colleges ; domestic chapels, built by no-
blemen or gentlemen for the use of their
families.

CHAP'ELRY, the precinct belonging
to a chapel, in distinction from a parish,
or that belonging to a church.

CHAP'LAIN, an ecclesiastic who per-
forms divine service in a chapel ; but it
more commonly means one who attends
upon a king, prince, or other person of
quality, for the performance of his cleri-
cal duties in the private chapel.

CHAP'LET, in a general sense, a gar-
land or wreath to be worn on the head.
In architecture, a little moulding, carved
into round beads, pearls, Ac. Chaplet, a
string of beads used by the Roman Catho-
lics, by which they count the number of
their prayers, and are called paternos-
ters. This practice is believed to have
been introduced by Peter the Hermit
into the church on his return from the
Holy Land, the Orientals using a kind
of chaplet called a chain, and rehearsing
one of the perfections of God on each link
or bead.

CHAP'TER, in ecclesiastical polity, is
an assembly for the transaction of such
business as comes under its cognizance.
Every cathedral is under the superinten-
dence of the dean and chapter of its
canons. A meeting of the members of
an order of knighthood is also called a
chapter.

CHAP'TER-HOUSE, in architecture,
the apartment (usually attached) of a
cathedral or collegiate church, in which
the heads of the church or the chapter
meet to transact business.

CHAR'ACTER, that which distin-
guishes each species of being in each
genus, and each individual of each spe-
cies. In man, character consists of the
form of the body, stature, and gait,
which distinguish him from other ani-
mals. In mankind, the natural or acci-
dental peculiarities resulting from sex,
temperament, age, climate, the exercise

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CHA

of the passions, the position of the indi- '
viiliiiil in the social scale, and his mode !
of living. These peculiarities and differ- [
ences are, after the study of the human
figure in general, the most important
subjects of the study of the painter and
sculptor, since upon these peculiarities
and differences depend all the signifi-
cance of their compositions. Each genus,
each family of animals, has also its gen-
eral and particular character. So also
iu the inanimate productions of nature,
trees, rocks, fields, and meadows, which
vary in reality as well as in appearance,
according to the climate, season, time of
day, accidental condition of the sky, and
also according to the modifications they
receive at the hands of man, the effect of
time, or by the effect of natural acci-
dents. If all these things, observed with
sagacity and selected with taste, are
faithfully represented in a picture, wo
say that the animals, the trees, the rocks
of the picture have good character.

CHARACTERIS'TIC, in a general
sense, a peculiar mark or character,
whereby a person or thing is distinguish-
ed from all others.

CHARADE', a syllabic enigma, so
named from its inventor, made upon a
word the two syllables of which, when
separately taken, are themselves words.
It consists of three parts ; the two first
describing the syllables separately ; the
second alluding to the entire word. A
charade can only be called complete if
the different enigmas which it contains
are brought into a proper relation to each
other, and as a whole unite in an epi-
grammatic point. The following charade,
which we borrow from the Dictionnaire
de V Academic Franfaise, may be regard-
ed as a good specimen of this species of
riddle : " My first makes use of my
second to eat my whole ;" the solution
being chien-dent, (dog-tooth,) or dog's
grass. The word charade has been ap-
plied to this sort of amusement, from the
name of its inventor.

CHARGE, in a general sense, is that
which is enjoyed, committed, intrusted, or
delivered to another, implying care, cus-
tody, oversight, or duty to be performed
by the party intrusted. Charge, in civil
law, the instructions given by the judge
to the grand jury. In ecclesiastical law,
the instructions given by a bishop to the
clergy of his diocese.

CHAR'IOT, in antiquity, a ear or ve-
hicle used formerly in war, and called by
the several names of biga, triga, qiia-
driga, &c., according to the number of

horses which drew them. When the war-
riors came to encounter in close fight,
they alighted and fought on foot; but
when they. were weary they retired into
their chariot, and thence annoyed their
enemies with darts and missive weapons
Besides this sort, we find frequent men-
tion of the currus falcati, or chariots
armed with hooks or scythes, with which
whole ranks of soldiers were cut off to-
gether : these were not only used by the
Persians, Syrians, Egyptians, &c., but
we find them among our British ances-
tors. The Roman triumphal chariot was
generally made of ivory, round like a
tower, or rather of a cylindrical figure ;
sometimes gilt at the top and ornamented
with crowns ; and, to represent a victory
more naturally, they used to stain it with
blood. It was usually drawn by four
white horses, but oftentimes by lions, ele-
phants, tigers, bears, leopards, <tc.

CHARIS'IA, a Roman nocturnal festi-
val and dance kept in honor of the Graces,
when sweetmeats, called charisia, were
distributed among the guests.

CHARIS'TIA, a solemn festival among
the Romans kept in the month of Febru-
ary. It was well worthy the imitation
of Christians ; for at this time the rela-
tions of each family compromised any
differences that had arisen between them,
and renewed their former friendships
upon the principles of pure benevolence
and good-will.

CHAR'ITY, in a general sense, that
disposition of heart which inclines men to
think favorably of their fellow-men, and
to do them good ; or liberality and be-
nevolence, either in alms-giving or in
contributing towards public charitable in-
stitutions. In a theological sense, su-
preme love to God, and universal good-
will to men.

CHAR'LATAN, one who makes un-
warrantable pretensions to skill, and
prates much in his own favor. The ori-
ginal import of the word was an empiric,
or quack, who retailed his medicines on
a public stage, and drew the people about
him by his buffooneries.

CHARM, some magical words, char-
acters, verses, &c., imagined to possess
some occult and unintelligible power : by
which, with the supposed assistance of
the devil, witches and sorcerers have pre-
tended to do wonderful things. The word,
in its more modern acceptation, js used
to describe that which delights and at-
tracts the heart.

CHA'RON, in mythology, the ferry-
man of hell, who conducted the souls of

CHE]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

the departed in a boat across the Stygian
lake to receive judgment from CEacus,
Rhadaraanthus, and Minos, the judges of
the infernal regions. He received an
obolus from every passenger, for which
reason the ancients used to put that piece
of money in the mouths of the dead. He
was said to be the son of Erebus and
Night.

CHAR'TA, MAG'NA, in English his-
tory. The " Great Charter of the Realm"
was signed by King John in 1215, and
confirmed by his successor Henry III. It
is reported to have been chiefly drawn up
by the Earl of Pembroke and Stephen
Langton. Archbishop of Canterbury. Its
most important articles are those which
proyide that no freeman shall be taken
or imprisoned or proceeded against. " ex-
cept by the lawful judgment of his peers
or by the law of the land," and that no
scutage or aid should be imposed in the
kingdom (except certain feudal dues from
tenants of the crown) unless by the com-
mon council of the kingdom. The re-
maining and greater part of it is directed
against abuses of the king's power as
feudal superior.

CHARTE, in French history, origi-
nally used to indicate the rights and
privileges granted by the French kings
to various towns and communities ; but
recently to the fundamental law of the
French monarchy, as established on the
restoration of Louis XVIII. in 1814. The
C/iarte consisted of 69 articles, and was
founded on principles analogous to those
of the British constitution, as embodied
originally in the Magna Charta, and sub-
sequently extended in the Bill of Rights.

CHAR'TER, in law, a written instru-
ment, executed with usual forms, where-
by the king grants privileges to towns,
corporations, &c. ; whence the name of
Magna Charta, or the Great Charter of
Liberties granted to the people of the
whole realm.

CIIA'RTER-PARTY, in mercantile
law, is defined to be a contract, by which
the owner or master of a ship hires or
lets the whole or a principal part of it to
a freighter for the conveyance of goods,
under certain specified conditions, on a
determined voyage to one or more places.
A charter-party is generally under seal;
but a printed or written instrument sign-
ed by the parties, called a memorandum
of a charter-party, is binding if no char-
ter-party be executed. A voyage may
be performed in part under a charter-
party, and in part under a parol agree-
ment ; but the terms of a charter-party

cannot be altered by parol evidence, al-
though they may be explained by mer-
cantile usage. The instrument expresses
the freight to be paid, and generally, but
not necessarily, the burden of the ship ;
together with some usual covenants, and
others at the discretion of the parties.

CHAR'TULARY, in diplomatics, a col-
lection of the charters belonging to a
church or religious house.

CHARYB'DIS, a much-dreaded vortex
at the entrance of the Sicilian straits,
celebrated for its engulfing perils, by the
ancient writers. It is, however, no long-
er dreadful to navigators, who, in a quiet
sea, and particularly with a south wind,
cross it without danger.

CHASE, in law, a part of a forest for
game, which may be possessed by a sub-
ject : though a forest cannot. The word
chase has also several meanings in mar-
itime language ; as, chase-guns, that lie
at the head, to fire on a vessel that is
pursued, in distinction to stern-chasers,
which fire on the pursuer. With hunts-
men, the chase is a figurative expression
for their sport in general.

CHA'SING, in sculpture, the art of
embossing on metals, or representing fig-
ures thereon by a kind of basso-relievo,
punched out from behind, and carved on
the front with small gravers. The metals
usually chased are gold, silver, and
bronze, and among the ancients, iron
also. The remains of ancient art show
to what a degree of perfection it was car-
ried; and in our own times, some very
nne works have been executed.

CHASSEURS', a French term for a se-
lect body of light infantry, formed on the
left of a battalion, and who are required
to be particularly light, active, and cour-
ageous. Chasseurs a clieval, a kind of
light horse in the French service.

CHA'SUBLE, CHESABLE, CHESIBLE,
called also a vestment, the upper or
last vestment put on by the priest before
celebrating the mass. In form it is near-
ly circular, being slightly pointed before
and behind, having an aperture in the
middle for the head to pass through, and
its ample folds resting on either side
upon the arms. It is richly decorated
with embroidery and even with jewels.

CHA'TEAU, a French word, formerly
used for a castle, or baronial seat in
France ; but now simply for a country
seat.

CHEF-D'<EU'VRE, a work of the
highest excellence in itself, or relatively
to the other works of the same artist.
Thus the Apollo Belvedere, or the Tra,7is-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[cm

figuration of Raffaelle, are chef-d'oeuvres
of sculpture and painting.

CHENIS'CUS,
in works of ancient
art, ships are seen
with ornamental
prows, shaped to
represent the
head and neck of
a goose, or other 1
aquatic bird ; this
part was called
cheniscus, ' and
was constructed
of bronze and oth-
er materials.
Sometimes, but
rarely, the chenis-
cus is affixed to
the stern of a ship.
CHER'UBIM,
in Christian Art, a
higher class of angels, the nearest to the
throne of God, of which they are the sup-
porters. Their forms are known by the
poetical writings of the Old Testament.
They appear first as guardians of Para-
dise, whence our first parents were ex-
pelled by a cherub with a flaming sword.
Jehovah rested between the wings of the
cherubim on the cover of the ark ; and in
the history of Ezekiel they are repre-
sented with four wings, two of which cov-
ered the body and drew the chariot of the
Lord through the air. In the heavenly
hierarchy the cherubim form one of the
three high angel choirs seraphim, cher-
ubim, and angels, which constitute the
first and upper order of angels ; they
rank next to the seraphim.

CHER'SONESE, a tract of land, of any
indefinite extent, which is nearly sur-
rounded by water, but united to a larger
tract by a neck of land or isthmus.

CHEVAL-DE-FRISE, (generally used
in the plural, CHEVAUX-DE-FRISE, Fr.
pron. shero de freez,) spikes of wood,
pointed with iron, five or six feet long,
fixed in a strong beam of wood, and used
as a fence against cavalry, or to stop a
breach, <fee.

CHI ARO OSCU'RO, (an Italian phrase,
meaning clear-obscure,') is the art of dis-
tributing lights and shadows in painting.
The aim of paintings is to form a picture
by means of light and shade, and by col-
ors and their gradations ; the more truly
painting accomplishes this end, the more
artistic it will be. Correggio and Rem-
brandt are famous for thelrchiaro-oscuro.
According to the common acceptation of j
the term in the language of art, chiaro '

oscuro means not only the mutable ef-
fects produced by light and shade, but
also the permanent differences in bright-
ness and darkness.

CHICA'NERY, mean or unfair arti-
fices to perplex a cause or to obscure the
truth ; applied either in a legal sense,
by which justice is somehow intended to
be perverted ; or to disputatious sophis-
try.

CHIEF, a term signifying the head,
or principal part of a thing or person.
Thus we say, the chief of a party, the
chief of a family, <tc.

CHIEF'TAIN, a captain or comman-
der of any class, family, or body of men :
thus, the Highland chieftains, or chiefs,
were the principal noblemen or gentlemen
of their respective clans.

CHIL'IAD, the sum or number of one
thousand. Hence chiliarcli denotes the
military commander or chief of a thou-
sand men : chiliarchy, a body consisting
of 1000 men : chiliatiedron, a figure of
1000 equal sides : and chiliagon, a figure
of 1000 angles and sides.

CHILL'ED. When a cloudiness or
dimness appears on the surface of a pic-
ture that has been varnished, it is called
blooming, and we say the varnish has
chilled. This defect arises from the
presence of moisture, either on the sur-
face of the picture, or in the brush, or in
the varnish itself, and can easily be
avoided by making the former thorough-
ly dry, and the latter hot before it is ap-
plied.

CHIM^E'RA, a misshapen monster in
Grecian mythology, described by Homer
as having a lion's head, a goat's body,
and 'the tail of a dragon. The chimaera
appears in Art as a lion, except that out
of the back grow the head and neck of a
goat, and gigantic carvings of it are
found on rocks in Asia Minor, according
to Homer the native country of the mon-
ster. There are innumerable small an-
tique statues of chiraaera, and Bellero-
phon, by whom the chimajra was killed,
of which one of the most remarkable is
in the Uffigi palace at Florence. In
Christian Art, the chimaera is a symbol
of cunning. It is frequently seen on the
modillions and capitals of architectural
works executed in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries, and again in the fif-
teenth and sixteenth centuries.

CHIMES, the musical sounds of bells
struck with hammers, arranged and set
in motion by clock-work. In a clock,
a kind of periodical music, produced at
certain hours by a particular apparatus.

cm]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

CIIIM'NEY, in architecture, a body
of brick or stone erected in a building,
containing a funnel to convey smoke and
other volatile matter through the roof
from the grate or hearth. How far the
Greek and Roman architects were ac-
quainted with the construction of chim-
neys is a matter of dispute. No traces
of them have been discovered in the
ruins of Pompeii, and Vitruvius gives no
rules for erecting them. The first certain
notice of chimneys, as we now build them,
is believed to be that contained in an in
scription of Venice, over the gate of an
edifice, which states that in 1347 a great
man3' chimneys were thrown down by an
earthquake.

CHl'NA-WARE, the most beautiful
of all kinds of earthenware, takes its
name from China, whence the Dutch and
English merchants first brought it into
Europe. It is also called porcelain, from
the Portuguese porcellana, a cup or ves-
sel. The Japan china is considered supe-
rior to all other of oriental manufacture,
in its close and compact granular tex-
ture, its sonorosity when struck, its ex-
treme hardness, its smooth and shining
appearance, and its capability of being
used to boil liquids in. With the Chinese
potters, the preparation of the clay is
constantly in operation ; and usually re-
mains in the pits from ten to twenty
years prior to being used ; for, the lon-
ger it remains there, the greater is its
value. The Dresden china has some
qualities which render it decidedly supe-
rior to the oriental. Its texture exhibits
a compact, shining, uniform mass, re-
sembling white enamel, while it pos-
sesses firmness, solidity, and infusibility
by heat.

CHI'NESE AVHITE, an empirical
name given to the white oxide of zinc, a
valuable pigment recently introduced
into the Arts as a substitute for the prep-
arations of white lead. It is little liable
to change, either by atmospheric action
or by mixture with other pigments. Its
only defect appears to be a want of body,
as compared with white lead.

CHI'ROGRAPH, among the Anglo-
Saxons, signified any public instrument
of gift or conveyance, attested by the
subscription and crosses of witnesses.
Any deed requiring a counterpart was
engrossed twice on the same piece of
parchment, with a space between, on
which was written chirograph, through
which the parchment was cut, and one
part given to each party. It was also
anciently used for a fine : the manner of

engrossing the fines, and cutting the
parchment in two pieces, is still retained
in the chirographer's office, in the Court
of Common Pleas.

CHIROL'OGY, the art or practice of
communicating thoughts by signs made
by the hands and fingers ; as a substitute
for language.

CHIiVO MANGY, a species of divina-
tion, drawn from the different lines and
lineaments of a person's hand ; by which
means, it is pretended the inclinations
may be discovered. The modern word is
palmistry.

CHIRON'OMY, in antiquity, the art
of representing any past transaction by
the gestures of the body, more especially
by the motions of the hands : this made
a part of liberal education : it had the
approbation of Socrates, and was ranked
by Plato among the political virtues.

CHIS'LEU, the ninth month of the
Jewish year, answering to the latter
part of November and the beginning of
December.

CHI'TON, the under-garment of the
Greeks, corresponding to the tunic of the
Romans, mentioned as early as Homer ;
it was made of woollen cloth. After the
Greek migration it was called chitoniscos,
while the light loose garment or hima-
tion was also called cklania, or chlanis.
The Doric chiton, worn by men, was
short and of wool ; that of the Athenians
and lonians, of linen, in earler times
worn long, but with the former people,
after the time of Pericles, it was shorter.

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[cnr

The chiton, worn by freemen, had two
sleeves, that of workmen and slaves only
one. A girdle (called, when worn by
men, zoma) was required when the gar-
ment was long, but that of the priests
was not girded. The Doric chiton for
women was made of two pieces of stuff
sewn together, and fastened on the shoul-
ders by clasps. In Sparfa it was not
sewn up the sides, but only fastened, and
had no sleeves. The chiton appears to
have been generally gray or brown.
Women fond of dress had saffron-colored
clothing ; and the material (cotton or
fine linen) was striped, figured, or em-
broidered with stars, flowers, &c. With
regard to statues, we need only remark
that Artemis, as a huntress, wears a gir-
dle over the chiton, which is fastened on
the shoulders and folds over the bosom.
Pallas Athene often wears a double
chiton, reaching to the feet, and leaving
the arms free. On the statues of aina-
zons the chiton is sleeveless, clasped up
in two places, leaving the breast uncover-
ed, and drawn up sufficiently to show even
above the knee.

CHIVALRY, the name anciently giv-
en to knighthood, a military dignity ;
also the martial exploits and qualifica-
tions of a knight. Chivalry, as a military
dignity, is supposed by some to have
taken its rise soon after the death of
Charlemagne, and by others as arising
out of the crusades, because in these ex-
peditions many chivalrous exploits were
performed, and a proud feeling of hero-
ism was engendered. The general sys-
tem of manners and tone of sentiments
which the institution of knighthood,
strictly pursued, was calculated to pro-
duce, and did in part produce, during the
middle ages in Europe, is comprehended
in ordinary language under the term of
chivalry. This imaginary institution of
chivalry, such as it is represented in the
old romances, had assuredly no full ex-
istence at any period in the usages of
actual life. It was the ideal perfection
of a code of morals and pursuits which
was in truth only partially adopted; and
bore the same relation to the real life of
the middle age?, which the philosophical
excellence aimed at by the various sects
of antiquity bore to the real conduct of
their professors. But, in both instances,
a system of abstract perfection was pro-
pounded in theory, which, although the
defect of human nature prevented it from
being reduced into practice, yet exercised
a very important influence in modelling
the minds, and even controlling the ac-

tions, of those who adopted it. The vivi-
fying principle of ancient philosophy was
ideal virtue ; that of chivalry, the ideal
point of honor. The origin of chivalry has
often been traced to the German tribes ; nor
has its spirit ever penetrated very deeply
into the usages of any country in which
these tribes have not either produced the
ancestors of the great body of the nation,
or at least the conquering and governing
class, which transfused its habits and
sentiments into that body. Thus Ger-
many and France, and England, whose
gentry derive their origin from both,
have been the countries most distinguish-
ed for the prevalence of this institution.
The martial spirit of the Spaniards was,
indeed, partly animated by it; but in
their country it always bore something
of the character of a foreign importation,
modified by the circumstances of their
juxtaposition with the Arab race. In
Italy, it existed only among those classes
which imitated the manners of France
and Germany, and never entered into
the general character of the natives, not-
withstanding the popularity of the ro-
mances of chivalry. Among the Slavonic
nations it has never prevailed extensive-
ly ; although the feudal constitution of
Polish society derived a certain tincture
from it, it never penetrated into Russia.
It has often been remarked, that it is
only within the last two or three genera-
tions that the nobility of that country, by
their intercourse with the nations of
Western Europe, have derived something
of the spirit of the chivalrous code, so far
as it still subsists among ourselves : the
point of honor, and its peculiar concomi-
tant the usage of the duel, were scarcely
known in Russia before the present cen-
tury. It is to the 14th century, and
especially to that part of its chronicles
preserved by the true annalist of chival-
ry, Froissart, that we must look for the
period when the line between real soci-
ety and that represented in romances wag
most nearly broken down. When the
usages of chivalry were most flourishing,
all men of noble birth, (except the high-
est) were supposed to pass through three
orders or gradations. They first lived as
pages in the train of nobles and chiefs of
high rank ; next, as esquires, they at-
tached themselves to the person of some
individual knight, to whom they were
bound by a strict law of obedience, and
for whom they were bound to incur every
danger, and, if necessary, sacrifice their
lives ; and, thirdly, they were promoted
to the rank of knighthood. However

AND THE FINE ARTS.

great the distinction might be between
knights in point of rank and wealth, cus-
tom established a species of equality
among all of the same order, which may
be said to subsist among gentlemen of the
present day. They formed, all over Eu-
rope, a common corporation, as it were,
possessing certain rights, and owing each
other certain mutual duties and forbear-
ances. They were united, not by the ties
of country, but by those of feudal obe-
dience, which attached every knight to
the banner of his liege lord, from whom
he held his fee ; but little or rather no
dishonor attached to knights who were
under no such feudal tie, if they chose
their own chieftain wherever they thought
fit : they were free adventurers, whose
order was a passport in every service ; and
in the actual conflict, the hostility of
knights was moderated by usage. Thus,
it was dishonorable in any knight to take
a knight's life if disarmed, and not set
him free when a prisoner on receiving a
fitting ransom. With regard to the point
of honor, which forms the most important
feature in the usages of chivalry, the
principal objects were religious belief;
fealty to the feudal superior ; devotion
to some one selected lady ; and, finally,
the general character for honor and cour-
tesy which it was incumbent on a knight
to maintain ; for although his imaginary
duties, as a knight errant, to avenge
wrong and succor the oppressed on every
occasion, were not of course very strictly
put in practice, yet his vow to perform
those duties attached to his character a
certain degree of sacredness which it was
necessary to maintain. Chivalrous honor
was chiefly supported in two ways : first,
by the single combat or duel, whether on
account of serious provocation or by way
of trial of strength ; secondly, by the
performance of vows, often of the most
frivolous and extravagant nature. These
latter were generally undertaken for the
honor of the ladies. The commencement
of extravagances, however, was rather a
sign of the decline of the true spirit of
chivalry. It decayed with the progress
of mercenary armies and the decline of
feudal institutions through the 15th cent-
ury; in the 16th, it was little more than
a lively recollection of past ages, which
knights such as Bayard, and sovereigns
such as Francis I. and Henry VIII.
strove to revive ; and finally, it became
extinguished amid religious discords,
leaving as its only relic the code of hon-
or, which is still considered as governing
the conduct of the gentleman.

CHLA'MYS, in antiquity, a military
habit worn over the tunica. It belonged
to the patricians, and was the same in
the time of war, that the toga was in the
time of peace. It was a light cloak, or
rather scarf, the ends of which were fas-
tened on the shoulder by a clasp or buckle.
It hung with two long points as far as
the thigh, and was richly ornamented
with purple and gold. When the fibula
was unclasped the chlamys bung on the

left arm, as with Hermes, or served as a
kind of shield, as Poseidon, on the old
coins, protects his arm with the chlamys.
It is fastened on the right shoulder, in
the statues of Theseus and the heroic
Ephebes, in a wrestling attitude, covering
the breast and enveloping the left arm,
which is somewhat raised. The figures
of Heracles and Hermes, are quite cov-
ered by the chlamys, even below the
body, whence the Hermes pillar tapers ;
the right hand lies on the breast under
the chlamys, and the left arm, covered
to the wrist, hangs by the side ; in the
centre of the breast depends a lion's claw
at the opening of the scarf. In the
Hermes' statues, the chlamys, when fas-
tened on the right shoulder, forms a tri-
angle from the neck.

CHOIR, in architecture, the part of a
church in which the choristers sing divine
service. In former times it was raised
separate from the altar, with a pulpit on
each side, in which the epistles and gos-
pels were sung, as is still the case in
several churches on the continent. It

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CHR

was separated from the nave in the time
of Constantino. In nunneries, the choir
is a large apartment, separated by a
grate from the body of the church, where
the nuns chant the service. This term is
used also in music to signify a band of
singers in different parts.

CHORA'GIC MONUMENTS, the
small monuments to which we apply this
term originated in the time of Pericles,
who built an Odeon at Athens for musical
contests, not of single persons, but of
choruses. The richest and most respecta-
ble man was chosen
from the ten Athe-
nian tribes, as cho-
ragus, to make the
necessary arrange-
ments, in return
for which distinc-
tion he had to de-
fray the expenses.
If his chorus were
victorious, he had
also the right of
placing upon a
monument erected
at his own cost, the
tripod, which was
given as the prize. The rich citizens
whose chorus conquered in these contests
displayed great splendor in their monu-
ments, which were so numerous that at
Athens there was a street formed entirely
of them called the " Street of the Tri-
pods."

CHORD, in music, the union of two or
more sounds uttered at the same time,
forming an entire harmony ; as a third,
fifth, and eighth.

CHOREG'RAPHY, the art of repre-
senting dancing by signs, as singing is by
notes.

CHORE'US, in ancient poetry, a foot
of two syllables ; the first long, and the
second short ; the trochee.

CHORIAM'BUS, in ancient poetry, a
foot compounded of a trochee and an iam-
bus.

CHOROG'RAPHY, the art of delineat-
ing or describing some particular country
or province : it differs from geography
as a description of a particular country
differs from that of the whole earth ; and
from topography as the description of a
country from that of a town or district.

CHO'RUS, in ancient dramatic poetry,
one or more persons present on the stage
during the representation, uttering an
occasional commentary on the piece, pre-
paring the audience for events that are
to follow, or explaining circumstances

' that cannot be distinctly represented.
Several examples may be referred to by
the English reader, in the plays of Shaks-
peare. In tragedy, the chorus was at
first the sole performer ; at present it is
wholly discontinued on the stage. CHO-
HUS, in music, is when, at -certain periods
of song, the whole company are to join
the singer in repeating certain couplets
or verses.

CHREMATIS'TICS, the science of
wealth ; a name given by Continental
writers to the science of political econo-
my, or rather to what in their view con-
stitutes a portion of the science. They
consider political economy as a term more
properly applicable to the whole range
of subjects which comprise the material
welfare of states and citizens, and chre-
matistics as merely a branch of it.

CHRESTOM'ATIIY, according to the
etymology, that which it is useful to
learn. The Greeks frequently formed
commonplace books by collecting the va-
rious passages to which, in the course
of reading, they had affixed the mark
X (xpivros, useful.) Hence books of ex-
tracts chosen with a view to utility have
received this nanm

CHRISM, or CHRIS'OM, in the Ro-
mish and Greek churches, an unction or
anointing of children, which was for-
merly practised as soon as they were
born.

CHRISTENDOM, a word sometimes
employed in such a sense as to compre-
hend all nations in which Christianity
prevails : more commonly, all realms
governed under Christian sovereigns and
institutions. Thus European Turkey,
although three fourths of its inhabitants
are Christians, is not in ordinary lan-
guage included within the term Christen-
dom.

CHRISTENING, a terra particularly
applied to infant baptism, denoting the
ceremony of admitting a person into the
communion of the Christian church by
means of baptism, or sprinking with wa-
ter.

CHRISTIANITY, the religion of Je-
sus Christ. From the period when the
disciples " were called Christians first in
Antioch" down to the" present day, the
main doctrines of the gospel, and the
great moral principles whi^h it reveals
and confirms, have been preserved with-
out interruption in the church. But not-
withstanding this substantial unity, it
cannot be denied that the character of
the religion has been very materially
colored throughout all its history by the

CHR]

AND THE FINE ARTS,

circumstances and genius of different na-
tions and ages. The foundation of a
Christian's faith and practice, his ultimate,
and, in truth, only appeal, must be to the
facts, the doctrines, and the precepts of
the Scriptures, especially to those of the
New Testament.

CHRIST'MAS, the festival observed
in the Christian church on the 25th of
December, in commemoration of our Sa-
viour's nativity ; and celebrated in the
church of England by a particular ser-
vice set apart for that holy day.

CHRISTOPHER, ST. We frequently
meet with this saint in old woodcuts ; he
is represented as a giant, his staff being
the stem of a large tree, and he is carry-
ing the infant Jesus on his shoulders
across a river. This was a favorite sub-
ject with the artists of the middle ages,
and the saint is placed in the side en-
trances of German churches as the sym-
bol of the transition from heathenism to
Christianity. The incidents in the life
of this saint chosen for illustration by
painters, consist of the passage of. the
river, the conversion of the heathen at
Samos, and his martyrdom.

CHROMATIC, in music, an epithet
descriptive of that which proceeds by sev-
eral consecutive semitones.

CHROjME GREEN, a beautiful dark-
green pigment, prepared from the oxide
of chromium,. Different shades of this
pigment are used in porcelain and in oil-
painting. Mixed with Prussian blue and
chrome yellow it is called green cin-
nabar.

CHROME RED, the pigment known
at present by this name is not prepared
from chrome, but is a beautiful prepa-
ration of red lead. The name chrome
red was given to it by speculators, in
order to secure a good sale and a high
price. Red lead is an oxide of lead,
while chrome red is a chromate of
lead, which is a durable pigment, and
admissible in oil-painting.

CHROME YELLOW, the most poison-
ous of the chrome pigments, and to be
entirely rejected in oil-painting : it is
not durable. When mixed with white
lead it turns to a dirty gray. By itself,
and as a water-color pigment, it is less
objectionable.

CHRON'IC, an epithet for inveterate
diseases, or those of long duration.

CHRON'ICLE, in literature, an his-
torical register of events in the order of
time. Most of the historians of the mid-
dle ages were chroniclers who set down
the events which happened within the
6

range of their information, according to
the succession of years.

CHRONICLES, the name of two
books in the canon scripture. They con-
sist of an abridgment of sacred history
from its commencement down to the re-
turn of the Jews from the Babylonish
captivity, and are called by the Beptua-
gint irapa\sutoiiiia, (lit. things omitted,)
because they contain many supplemental
relations omitted in the other historical
books. It has been generally supposed
that the Chronicles were compiled by
Ezra, though circumstances are not want-
ing to diminish the probability of this
conjecture. Eichhorn gives as his rea-
sons for attributing them to Ezra their
similarity in point of style, idiom, and
orthography to the books of Kings and
Ezra ; while the opponents of this view
base their opinion on the discrepancies
that occur throughout Chronicles and
Kings, in regard to facts, dates, numbers,
names, and genealogies.

CHRON'OGRAM, an inscription in
which a certain date or epoch is expressed
by numeral letters.

CHRONOL'OGY, the science which
determines the dates of events, and the
civil distinctions of time. The divisions
of time are either natural or artificial ;
the natural divisions of time are the year,
month, week, day, and hour, deduced
from the motions of the heavenly bodies,
and suited to the purposes of civil life :
the artificial divisions of time are the
cycle or period, the epoch, and the aera
or epoch, which have been framed for the
purposes of history. In order to ascer-
tain and register the intervals of time
between different events, two things must
necessarily be assumed : 1st, an epoch
or fixed point in time to which all events,
whether preceding or succeeding may bo
referred; and 2d, a measure or definite
portion of time, by which the intervals
between the fixed epoch and other events
may be estimated. Of these the first is
entirely arbitrary, and the second arbi-
trary to a certain extent ; for though
certain periods are marked out by the
recurrence of natural phenomena, yet a
choice of these phenomena must be made.
It is on account of the arbitrary nature
of these two elements, on which all chron-
ological reckoning depends, that so much
confusion and uncertainty exist respect-
ing the dates of historical events. The
diversity of epochs which have been as-
sumed as the origin of chronological
reckoning, is a natural consequence of
the manner in which science and civili-

CYCLOl'KDIA. OF LITERATURE

[cuts

zation have spread over the world. In
the early ages the different communities
or tribes into which mankind were divided
began to date their years each from ."01110
event remarkable only in reference to
its own individual history, but of which
other tribes were either ignorant, or re-
garded with indifference. Hence not
only different nations, but almost every
individual historian or compiler of an-
nals, adopted an epoch of his own. Events
of local or temporary interest were also
constantly occurring in every commu-
nity which would appear of greater im-
portance than fhose which were long
past, and constantly be adopted as new
historical dates. The foundation of a
monarchy or a city, or the accession of a
king, were events of this class ; and ac-
cordingly are epochs of frequent occur-
rence in the ancient annals. Religion
also came in to increase the confusion
caused by political changes. Soon after
the introduction of Christianity, the
various sects began to establish eras,
commencing with events connected with
the appearance of Christ ; but no regard
was given to uniformity. In like man-
ner, the Mohammedans employ dates
having reference to the origin of their
faith. All these circumstances have con-
spired to render it a task of extreme dif-
ficulty for modern historians to ascertain
the order of the political occurrences of
ancient times. But it is not merely the
number of chronological epochs and the
various origins of eras that have caused
the perplexity ; the measure by which
long intervals were compared varied in
different countries, and in different ages,
:ui;l hence arises another source of confu-
sion in arranging the order of time. In
the scripture history, the lapse of time
is frequently estimated by generations
or reigns of kings. Some of the histori-
ans of early Greece reckoned by the suc-
('s<ion of the priestesses of Juno; others
by that of the ephori of Sparta ; and
others again by the archons of Athens.
Even when the length of the solar year
began to be used as the measure of time,
uniformity was not obtained. The length
of the solar year is a fixed element in
nature, and liable to no variation. But
neither the commencement or termina-
tion of the year is marked by any con-
spicuous sign. Its precise length can
only be ascertained by a long-continued |
series of astronomical observations. Rude i
nations were therefore unacquainted with
it ; and even when it had become known >
with considerable accuracy, it was still |

necessary to form a civil year, and ad:ij>t
it to the seasons, the solar year not being
composed of an exact number of days.
.Mo-t nations had recourse to intercala-
tions for this purpose. For these rea-
sons, and numerous others that might
easily be adduced, it is very seldom that
the precise interval between the events
mentioned in ancient history and modern
dates can be determined with any degree
of certainty, and great discrepancies exist
among the computations of different chro-
nologers.

CHRYSELEPHANTINE, religious
images of gold and ivory. These, the
earliest images of the gods in Greece,
were of wood, gilt, or inlaid with ivory,
whence were derived aerolites, the heads,
arms, and feet of which were of marble,
the body still of wood, inlaid with ivory,
or quite covered with gold. From this
arose the chryselephantine statues, of
which the foundation was of wood, cov-
ered with ivory or gold, with drapery
and hair of thin plates of gold, chased ;
and the rest of the exterior was of ivory,
worked in a pattern by the scraper and
file, with the help of isinglass. The ivory
portion of these works belongs to sculp-
ture, and the gold part to toreutic art;
they were long in favor as temple statues,
as marble and brass were used for com-
mon purposes.

CHRYS'OCOLLA, (Gr. gold green.;
The Greek term for a green pigment
prepared from copper, (green verditer)
and one of the most beautiful ancient
greens, Armenian green ; it was obtained
by grinding varieties of malachite and
green carbonate of copper, also by decom-
posing the blue vitriol of Cyprus, (sul-
phate of copper) as a secondary form
of dissolved copper ore. This pigment
is identical in color with our different
shales of mountain green; the best was
brought from Armenia ; a si-'.-ond kind
was found near copper mines in Mm- -
donia ; the third, and most valuable, was
brought from Spain. Chrysoc-olla, called
by ancient painters pra Teen,

was valued in proportion as iN color ap-
proached to the color of a seed beginning
to sprout.

CHURCH, in religious affairs, is , a
word which is used in several senses:
1. The collective body of persons pro-
fessing one and the same religion ; or
that religion itself: thus, we say, the
Church of Christ. 2. Any particular
congregation of Christians associating to-
gether, as the Church of Antioch. 3. A
particular sect of Christians, as the Greek

CHURCH ARCHITECTURE.
(Shottesbrook Church. England.) p. 88.

CIL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

Church or the Church of England. 4. The
body of ecclesiastics, in contradistinction
to the laity. 5. The building in which a
congregation of Christians assemble.
Church, in architecture, a building ded-
icated to the performance of Christian
worship. Among the first of the churches
was that of St. Peter's at Rome, about
the year 326, nearly on the site of the
present church ; and it is supposed that
the first church of St. Sophia at Constan-
tinople was built somewhat on its model.
That which was afterwards erected by
Justinian seems in its turn to have af-
forded the model of St. Mark's at Venice,
which was the first in Italy constructed
with pendentives and a dome, the former
affording the means of covering a square
plan with an hemispherical vault. The
four most celebrated churches in Europe
erected since the revival of the arts are,
St. Peter's at Rome, which stands on an
area of 227,069 feet superficial ; Sta. Ma-
ria del Fiore at Florence, standing on
84,802 feet; St. Paul's, London, which
stands on 84,025 feet ; and St. Genevieve,
at Paris, 60,287 feet.

CIBA'RIJE LE'GES, in Roman histo-
ry, were sumptuary laws, the intention
of which was to limit the expense of
feasts, and introduce frugality amongst
the people, whose extravagance at table
was notorious and almost incredible.

CIBO'RIUM, in architecture, an in-
gulated erection open on each side, with
arches, and having a dome of ogee form
carried or supported by four columns. It
is also used to denote the coffer or case
which contains the Host. The ciborium
is often merely an addition to the high
altar, and is then a synedoche. In the
early Christian times, the ciborium was
merely a protection to the altar table,
first a tabernacle, then a baldachin over
the altar, of which, the canopy used at
solemn processions and under which the
priest wears the casula, still reminds us.
The ciborium was generally supported by
four pillars, and is above the altar; be-
tween the pillars were curtains, which
were opened only while believers made
their offerings, but closed in the pres-
ence of catechumens or infidels. Cibo-
rium also signifies a vessel in which the
blessed Eucharist is reserved. In form
it nearly resembles a chalice with an
arched cover, from which it derives its
name. The most splendid ciboria are
those belonging to ancient German art ;
the finest of these, which was in the ca-
thedral of Cologne in the preceding cen-
tury, exists no longer. The most remark-

able ciboria in Italy are the tabernacle
over the high altar of St. Paul's at Rome,
that in the cathedral at Milan, and that
in the church of the Lateran.

CICERO'NE, a name originally given
by the Italians to those persons who
pointed out to travellers the interesting
objects with which Italy abounds ; but
applied universally at present to any in-
dividual who acts as a guide. This ap-
plication of the term cicerone has proba-
bly its origin in the ironical exclamation,
" E un Cicerone," (he is a Cicero,) being
elicited from the traveller by the well-
known garrulity of the Italian guides. A
good Cicerone must possess accurate and
extensive knowledge, and many distin-
guished archaeologists have undertaken
this office, which, while serving others,
affords them also an opportunity of mak-
ing repeated examinations of the works
of art, and enabling them to increase
their familiarity with them.

CICERO'NIANS, epithets given by
Muretus, Erasmus, &c., to those moderns
who were so ridiculously fond of Cicero,
as to reject every Latin word, as obsolete
or impure, that could not be found in
some one or other of his works. The
word Ciceronian is also used as an epithet
for a diffuse and flowing style and a ve-
hement manner.

CICISBE'O, a word synonymous with
cavalier servente, and applied to a class
of persons in Italy who attend on mar-
ried ladies with all the respect and devo-
tion of lovers. Formerly the establish-
ment of a fashionable lady was not con-
sidered complete without a cicisbeo, whose
duty it was to accompany her to private
parties and public amusements, to escort
her in her walks, and in short to be al-
ways at her side ready for her commands.
This practice is now, however, on the de-
cline.

CID, the name given to an epic poem
of the Spaniards which celebrates the ex-
ploits of their national hero, Roderigo
Diaz, Count of Bivar. It is supposed to
have been written in the 13th century,
about 150 years after the hero's death ;
but unfortunately the author's name has
not been transmitted to posterity.

CID'ARIS, in antiquity, the mitre used
by the Jewish high-priests.

CILI'CIUM, in Hebrew antiquity, a
sort of habit made of coarse stuff, former-
ly in use among the Jews in times of
mourning and distress. It is the same
with what the Septuagint and Hebrew
i versions call sackcloth.

CIM'BRIC, pertaining to the Cimbri,

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

|CIR

the inhabitants of the Cimbric Chersonese,
now Jutland.

CIMME'RIAN, pertaining to Cim-
merium, a town at the mouth of the Pa-
lus Maeotis, which the ancients pretended
was involved in darkness ; whence the
phrase "Cimmerian darkness" to denote
a deep or continual obscurity. The coun-
try is now called the Crimea.

CINCTO'RIUM, a leathern belt worn
round the waist, to which the swords
worn by the officers of the Roman army
were suspended. The common men wore
their swords suspended from a balteus,
which is worn over the right shoulder.

CINC'TURE, in architecture, a ring,
list, or orlo, at the top and bottom of a
column, separating the shaft at one end
from the base, and at the other from the
capital.

CIN'NABAR, one of the red pigments
known to the ancients, called also by
Pliny and Vitruvius minium ; supposed
to be identical with the modern vermil-
ion, (the bisulphuret of mercury,) and
the most frequently found in antique
paintings. The Roman cinnabar appears
to have been dragon's blood, a resin
obtained from various species of the cal-
amus palm, found in the Canary Isles.
It is beyond a doubt that the Greeks ap-
plied the term cinnabari, generally
meaning cinnabar, to this resin. Cinna-
bar, as well as dragon's blood, was used
in monochrome painting ; afterwards
ruddle, especially that of Sinopia, was
preferred, because its color was less daz-
zling. The ancients attached the ideas
of the majestic and holy to cinnabar,
therefore they painted with it the statues
of Pan, as well as those of Jupiter Cap-
itolinus and Jupiter Triumphans. It
was used upon gold, marble, and even
tombs, and also for uncial letters in writ-
ing, down to recent times. The Byzan-
tine emperors preferred signing with it.
Its general use was for walls, on which
much money was spent : in places which
were damp and exposed to the weather
it became black, unless protected by en-
caustic wax.

CINQUE CENTO, this generic term,
which is a mere abbreviation forjire hun-
dred, is used to designate the style of Art
which arose in Italy shortly after the
year 1500, and therefore strictly the Art
of the sixteenth century. The charac-
teristics of this style are, a sensuous de-
velopment of Art as the highest aim of
the artist, and an illustration of subjects
drawn from classical mythology and his-
tory.

CINQUE-FOIL, a figure of five equal
segments derived from the leaf of a plant
eo called, particularly adapted for the

representation of the mysteries of the
Rosary. It is frequently seen in irregu-
lar windows, one of which is engraved as
a specimen.

CINQUE-PORTS, the five ancient ports
on the east coast of England, opposite to
France, namely, Dover, Hastings, Hythe,
Romney, and Sandwich, to which were
afterwards added, as appendages, AVin-
chelsea and Rye. As places where
strength and vigilance were necessary,
and where ships might put to sea in cases
of sudden emergency, they formerly re-
ceived considerable attention from gov-
ernment. They have several privileges,
and are within the jurisdiction of the
Constable of Dover Castle, who, by his
office, is called Warden of the Cinque-
Ports.

CITHER, or CY'PHER, one of the
Arabic characters, or figures, used in com-
putation, formed thus 0. A cipher stand-
ing by itself signifies nothing ; but when
placed at the right hand of a figure, it
increases its value tenfold. By cipher
is also denoted a secret or disguised man-
ner of writing ; in which certain charac-
ters arbitrarily invented and agreed on
by two or more persons, are made to
stand for letters or words.

CIP'OLIN, a green marble from Rome,
containing white zones.

CIP'PUS, in antiquity, a low column,
with an inscription erected on the high-
roads, or other places, to show the way
to travellers, to serve as a boundary, to
mark the grave of a deceased person,
<tc.

CIRCE'AN, pertaining to Circe, the
fabled daughter of Sol and Perseus, who
was supposed to possess great knowledge
of magic and venomous herbs, by which
she was able to charm and fascinate.

CIRCEN'SIAN GAMES, (Circenscs
Ludi,) a general term, under which was
comprehended all combats exhibited in

cm]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

the Roman circus, in imitation of .the
Olympic games in Greece. Most of the
feasts of the Romans were accompanied
with Circensian games ; and the magis-
trates, and other officers of the republic,
frequently presented the people with
them, in order to gain their favor ; but
the grand games were held for five days,
commencing on the 15th of September.

CIR'CLE, the circle has always been
considered as the emblem of Heaven and
Eternity, hence many figures in Chris-
tian design are constructed on its prin-
ciple, such as the Rotation of the Seasons,
which are constantly returning ; or the
Adoration of the Lamb, and other sub-
jects which are found in the great wheel-
windows of painted churches.

CIRCULATING ME'DIUM, a term
in commerce, signifying the medium of
exchanges, or purchases and sales, wheth-
er this medium be gold or silver coin,
paper, or any other article ; and it is
therefore of a more comprehensive na-
ture than the term money. All people
have a circulating medium of some de-
scription, and, accordingly, we find all the
tribes of savages hitherto discovered re-
ferring to some article in estimating the
value of the various commodities which
compose their capital. But from the ear-
liest times, the precious metals, where
they could be had, have been preferred
for this purpose, because they comprised
a sufficient value in a small compass and
weight to be a convenient medium.

CIRCUMAM'BIENT, an epithet given
to anything that surrounds or encom-
passes another on all sides ; chiefly used
iu speaking of the air.

CIRCUMCI'SION, the initiatory rite
of the Jewish covenant ; which, as is re-
corded, was first enjoined to Abraham by
God, and after his posterity had neglected
it during their wanderings through the
desert, was solemnly renewed upon the
passage of the Jordan. This custom has
been long prevalent among Eastern na-
tions. Herodotus refers to it as the prac-
tice of the Egyptians and Ethiopians, and
as borrowed from them by the Phoeni-
cians and Syrians. It does not appear,
however, to have been considered by these
nations in the light of a religious cere-
mony. It is enforced by the Koran upon
all the disciples of Mahomet, whether
from an idea of salubrity vulgarly at-
tributed to it in the East, or merely as a
distinguishing rite.

CIR'CUMFLEX, in grammar, an ac-
cent serving to note or distinguish a syl-
lable of an intermediate sound between

acute and grave : generally somewhat
long.

CIRCUMFORA'NEOUS, an epithet
for wandering' about. Circumforaneous
musicians, male and female, are daily
seen at the doora of hotels in France ; and
sometimes they enter the room, expecting
a few sous for their reward. Nor are
characters of a similar description by any
means rare in London or New York.

CIRCUMLOCU'TION, a paraphrasti-
cal method of expressing one's thoughts,
or saying in many words that which
might have been said in few.

CIRCUMPOTA'TION, in antiquity, a
funeral entertainment which was given
in honor of the deceased to the friends
that attended. It was afterwards abol-
ished by law.

CIRC UM ROT A'TION, the act of roll-
ing or revolving round, as a wheel.

CIRCUMSTAN'TIAL EVIDENCE,
in law, is that kind of evidence obtained
fr(fm circumstances which necessarily or
usually attend facts of a particular na-
ture. It is used to corroborate personal
evidence.

CIRCUMVALLA'TION, or line of
circumvallation, in the art of war, ia a
trench bordered with a parapet, thrown
up round the besieger's camp, by way of
security against any army that may at-
tempt to relieve the place besieged, or to
prevent desertion.

CIR'CUS, a straight, long, narrow
building, whose length to its breadth was
generally as five to one. It was divided
down the centre by an ornamented bar-
rier called the spina, and was used by the
Romans for the exhibition of public spec-
tacles and chariot races. There were
several of these at Rome, of which the
most celebrated was the Circus Maximus.
Julius Caesar improved and altered the
Circus Maximus ; and that it might serve
for the purpose of a naumachia, supplied
it with water. Augustus added to it the
celebrated obelisk now standing in the
Piazza del Popolo. No vestiges of this
circus remain. Besides these were at
Rome the circi of Flaminius, near the
Pantheon ; Agonalis, occupying the site
of what is now the Piazza Navona ; of
Nero, on a portion whereof St. Peter's
stands ; Floras. Antoninus, and Aurelian,
no longer even in ruins ; and 1 hat of Ca-
raealla, which was 738 feet in length, and
is sufficiently perfect in the present day
to exhibit its plan and distribution in the
most satisfactory manner. The specta-
cles exhibited in the circus were called
the Circensian games, and consisted chief-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[civ

ly of chariot and horse races. The Ro-
mans were passionately fond of them, and
more particularly of the chariot races,
which excited so great an interest in the
times of the emperors as to divide the
whole population of the city into factions,
known by the names of the colors worn
by the different charioteers. The disputes
of these factions sometimes led to serious
disturbances, and even bloodshed. In
modern times, the word is applied to de-
signate a circular enclosure for the ex-
hibition of feats of horsemanship.

CIST, in architecture and sculpture, a
chest or basket. It is a term usually ap-
plied to the mystic baskets employed in
processions connected with the Eleusinian
mysteries. They were originally of wick-
er-work, and when afterwards made of
metal the form and texture were preserv-
ed in imitation of the original material.
When sculptured on antique monuments
it indicates some connection with the mys-
teries of Ceres and Bacchus. The cista
found at Preneste, and now in the Col-
legia Romano, is of surpassing beauty ;
on it is represented the expedition of the
Argonauts in a style not unworthy of
Grecian art, but by the inscription ap-
parently of Italian workmanship.

CISTER'CIANS, in church history, a
religious order founded in the llth cen-
tury by St. Robert, a Benedictine.

CITA'TIQX, in ecclesiastical courts, is
the same with summons in civil courts.
A citation is also a quotation of some
law, authority, or passage from a book.

CITH'ARA, in antiquity, a musical in-
strument, the precise structure of which
is not known.

CITHARIS'TIC, an epithet for any-
thing pertaining to or adapted for the
harp.

CITH'ERN, an ancient stringed instru-
ment, supposed to bear a resemblance to
the guitar.

CITY, a large town, incorporated and
governed by particular officers. In
Great Britain, it means a town having a
bishop's see, and a cathedral ; but this
distinction is not always observed in com-
mon discourse. War having rendered it
requisite that cities should be defensible
posts, the smallness of the space they oc-
cupied became a consideration of impor-
tance. Their inhabitants were taught to
crowd themselves together as much as
possible ; and among the expedients re-
sorted to was that of building apartments
over one another, thereby multiplying
the number of dwellings without in-
creasing the superficial magnitude of the

place. Trade, too, by requiring a mul-
titude of persons upon one spot, has
always been the foundation of what we
now call cities. Cities usually possess,
by charter, a variety of peculiar privi-
leges ; and these charters, though they
now sometimes appear to be the support-
ers of a narrow policy, were, in their in-
stitution, grants of freedom at that time
nowhere else possessed ; and by these the
spell that maintained the feudal tyranny
was broken. City, (civitas,) among the
ancients, was used in synonymous sense
with what we now call an imperial city ;
or, rather, answered to those of the Swiss
cantons, the republics of Venice, Genoa,
&c., as being an independent state, with
territories belonging to it.

CIVIC CROWN, (corona civica,) in
antiquity, a crown, or garland composed
of oak-leaves, givA by the Romans to
any soldier who had saved the life of a
citizen. Various marks of honor were
connected with it : the person who re-
ceived the crown wore it at the theatre ;
and when he entered, the audience rose
up as a mark of respect.

CIVIL, an epithet applicable to what-
ever relates to the community as a body,
or to the policy and the government of
the citizens and subjects of a state. It is
opposed to criminal: as a civil suit, a
suit between citizens alone, and not be-
tween the state and a citizen. It is also
distinguished from ecclesiastical, which
respects the church ; and from military,
which includes only matters relating to
the army and navy. The popular and
colloquial use of the word civil, means
complaisant, polite. Civil Law, is prop-
erly the peculiar law of each state,
country, or city ; but as a general and
appropriate term, it means a body of
laws composed out of the best Roman and
Grecian laws, comprised in the Institutes,
Code and Digest of Justinian, <fcc., and,
for the most part, received and observed
throughout all the Roman dominions for
above 1200 years. This law is used un-
der certain restrictions in the English
ecclesiastical courts, as also in the uni-
versity courts and the court of admiralty.
Civil List, the revenue appropriated
to support the civil government ; also the
officers of civil government who are paid
from the public treasury. Civil Death,
in law, that which cuts off a man from
ciriZ society, or its rights and benefits, as
banishment, outlawry, Ac. ; as distin-
guished from natural death. Ciril War,
a war between people of the same state,
; or the citizens of the same city. Ciril

CLA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

Year, the legal year, or that form of the
year which each nation has adopted for
computing their time by. The civil year
in England and other countries of Europe
consists of 365 days for the common year,
and 366 days for leap year. Civil Ar-
c/iitecture, the architecture which is ap-
plied to buildings constructed for the
purposes of civil life, in distinction from
military and naval architecture.

CIVIL'IAN, a doctor or professor of
the civil law ; or in a more extended
sense, one who is versed in law and gov-
ernment.

CLAN, a family or tribe, living under
one chief. This appears to have been the
original condition of the savages of north-
ern Europe ; and from this we ought to
trace the germ of the feudal system. All
the members of a clan held their lands
of the chief, followed him to war, and
were expected to obey him in peace.
The clans of the Scottish Highlands are
tribes consisting of many families all
bearing the same surname, which accord-
ing to tradition descend from a common
ancestor. But it is more probable that
most clans were formed of an aggregate
of different families, the inferior standing
to thesuperior in the same sort of rela-
tion as the Roman clients to their patrons,
and by degrees assuming the same name.
Some clans, however, are divided into
branches, each possessing a distinct sur-
name. The chieftainship of every clan
descends regularly through heirs male ;
but in the earliest times of their history
the rights of primogeniture were not
very distinctly denned. The word clan
is also sometimes used in contempt, for a
sect or society of persons united by some
common interest or pursuit.

CLANG, a sharp, shrill sound, imply-
ing a degree of harshness in the sound ;
as, the dang of arms. The words clank
and dink denote a more acute and less
harsh sound than clans;.

CLARE-OBSCURE, CLAHO-OBSCURO,
Latin ; CHIARO-OSCURO, Italian ; and
CLAIH - OBSCUR, French ; a phrase in
painting, signifying light and shade. In
pictural criticism, it means the relief that
is produced by light and shade, independ-
ently of color. In the art itself, it de-
notes that species of painting or design,
in which no attempt is made to give
colors to the objects represented, and
where, consequently, light and shade are
everything.

CLAR'ICHORD, or CLAVICHORD, a
musical instrument sometimes called a
manichord. It has fifty stops, or keys,

and seventy strings ; and is in the form
of a spinnet. The tone is soft and sweet.
Hence it is a favorite instrument with
nuns.

CLAR'ION, a kind of trumpet, whose
tube is narrower, and its tone more acute
and shrill, than that of the common trum-
pet.

CL AR'IONET, a wooden musical wind
instrument, whose mouth partakes of the
trumpet form, and is played by holes and
keys : said to have been invented about
the year 1600 by John Christopher Den-
ner of Leipsic. Like the oboe it is played
with a reed mouth-piece though it is of
somewhat different form.

CLASS, a term applied to the scientific
division or arrangement of any subject ;
as in the Linnasan -system, where ani-
mals, plants, and minerals, are divided
into classes, each of which is to be subdi-
vided by a regular downward progres-
sion, into orders, genera, and species,
with occasional intermediate subdi-
visions, all subordinate to the division
which stands immediately above them.
Classes are natural or artificial, accord-
ing as they are founded on natural re-
lations or resemblances, or when formed
arbitrarily. Class also denotes a num-
ber of students in a college or school, of
the same standing, or pursuing the same
studies.

CLASSI'CAL, in the Fine Arts, a term,
denoting such an arrangement of a sub-
ject that all the accessories or parts are
suitable to the general design, and such
that nothing be introduced which does
not strictly belong to the particular class
under which it is placed. In antiquity,
the Roman people were divided into
classes, and the highest order were, by
pre-eminence, termed classical. Hence
the name came to signify the highest and
purest class of writers in any language ;
although, down to a comparatively recent
period, the term was used merely to de-
note the most esteemed Greek and Latin
authors. Nothing marks more strongly
the increased attention to modern liter-
ature, than the now universal applica-
tion of the term to modern languages
also, and the establishment, in this man-
ner, of a line between those authors whom
we regard as models and authorities in
point of style, and those who are not so
highly esteemed. An author is said to
be classical if public opinion has placed
him in the former order ; language, or an
expression, to be classical, if it be such as
has been used in a similar sense and un-
der sinylar rules of construction by those

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CLl

authors. The epithet classical, as ap-
plied to ancient authors, is determined
less by the purity of their style than by
the period at which they wrote. Thus
we speak of the classical age of Greek or
Latin writing. With respect to the for-
mer, the classical age begins with Homer,
the earliest Greek writer with whom we
are acquainted. The purest age of Greek
classical literature may be said to end
about the time of the Macedonian con-
quest, or about 300 B.C. ; but, in a wider
sense, it extends to the time of the An-
tonines, and embraces a much larger
catalogue of authors ; while the centuries
subsequent to that time produced a few,
who, by the purity of their style, deserve
to be ranked with earlier classics. The
Latin classical period is shorter; its
earliest writer is Plautus, and the lan-
guage may be said to have lost its classi-
cal character about the same time with
the Greek, i. e. the reigns of the Anto-
nines ; although this limit is arbitrary,
and some later writers, even down to
Claudian, are generally included among
classics. Within the Latin classical era
there is a more restricted period of the
purest Latinity, comprising the age of
Cicero and that of Augustus.

CL ASS'IFIC A'TION, in the Fine Arts,
an arrangement by which objects of the
fine arts are distributed in classes; as,
for instance, in galleries of paintings,
the works should be arranged in schools,
each school being subject to a chrono-
logical order of the masters. In numis-
matology, the coins should be arranged
by countries, and these again in chrono-
logical order of the monarchs ; and the
like of other branches of the Arts.

CLAUSE, in law, an article in a con-
tract or other writing ; a distinct part
of a contract, will, agreement, charter,
&e. In language, a subdivision of a sen-
tence, in which the words are insepara-
bly connected with each other in sense,
and cannot, with propriety, be separated
by a point.

CLAUS'TRAL, relating to a cloister
or religious house ; as, a claustral prior.
CLEF, or CLIFF, a character in music,
placed in the beginning of a stave to de-
termine the degree of elevation occupied
by that stave, in the general claviary or
system, and to point out the names of the
notes which it contains in the line of that
clef.

CLEPSAM'MIA, an ancient instru-
ment for measuring time by sand, like an
hour-glass.

CLEP'SYDRA, a Roman and Grecian

timepiece, or water clock ; an instrument
to measure time by the fall of a certain
quantity of water.

CLER'GY, a general name given to
the body of ecclesiastics of the Christian
church, in distinction from the laity.
The revenues of the clergy were ancient-
ly more considerable than at present.
Ethelwulf, in 855, gave them a tithe of
all goods, and a tenth of all the lands in
England, free from all secular services,
taxes, <fec. The charter whereby this was
granted them, was confirmed by several
of his successors ; and William the Con-
queror, finding the bishoprics so rich,
created them into baronies, each barony
containing at least thirteen knights'
fees.

CLERK, a word originally used to
denote a learned man, or man of letters ;
whence the term is appropriated to
churchmen, who were called clerks or
clergymen ; the nobility and gentry
being bred to the exercise of arms, and
none left to cultivate the sciences but
ecclesiastics. In modern usage, the
word clerk means a writer; one who is
employed in the use of the pen, in an
office, public or private, either for keep-
ing accounts, or entering minutes. In
some cases clerk is synonymous with sec-
retary, but not always. A clerk is al-
ways an officer subordinate to a higher
officer, board, corporation, or private
individual ; whereas, a secretary may
either be a subordinate officer, or the
head of an office or department.

CLICHE', the impression of a die in a
mass of melted tin or fusible metal. Med-
allists or die-sinkers employ it to make
proofs of their work, to judge the effect,
and stage of progress of their work be-
fore the die is hardened. The term
cliche is also applied to the French ster-
eotype casts from woodcuts.

CLI'ENT, a person who seeks advice
of a lawyer, or commits his cauge to the
management of one, either in prosecut-
ing a claim, or defending a suit in a
court of jusdce. Among the Romans, a
client meant a citizen who put himself
under the protection of a man of distinc-
tion and influence, who was accordingly
called his patron. This relation was in
many respects similar to that of a serf
to his feudal lord, but bore a much milder
form. It was the duty of the patron to
watch over the interests of his clients and
protect them from aggression, and ap-
pear for them in lawsuits. He also fre-
quently made them grants of land on
lease. In return the client was bound to

OLo]

AND THE FINE AUTS.

defend his patron, and contribute towards
any extraordinary expenses he might be
subject to ; as the portioning his daugh-
ters, the payment of a fine imposed by
the state, &c. He might not appear as
accuser or witness against him in judicial
proceedings, a prohibition which was re-
ciprocal. If he committed any offence
against his patron, he was obliged to sub-
mit to him as his judge ; and in ancient
times it appears that the power of life
and death was held by the latter! On
the other hand his security against op-
pression at the hands of his patron lay
in the injunctions and authority of reli-
gion, which rendered the bond of union
inviolably sa.cred, as that between father
and son. The origin of this relation can-
not now be traced ; but it seems to
have existed, with various modifications,
throughout Italy and Greece. In Rome
it appears at the foundation of the city
by Romulus, when every family not in-
cluded among the patricians was obliged
to find itself a patron from their number.
The body of clients was afterwards in-
creased by the institution by which foreign-
ers, who, as allies of Rome, had a share
in its franchise, might choose themselves
patrons on their coming to settle in the
city. The obligations of clients were he-
reditary, and could not be shaken off un-
less through the decay of the family of
the patron. This body alone in earlier
times furnished artisans and shopkeepers ;
they had votes in the Comitia Centuriata ;
and though generally confounded with
the plebeians, were undoubtedly perfect-
ly distinct from them, as we continually
meet in history with instances of their
joining the patricians in opposition to
the former ; and when some of the ple-
beian houses became powerful, they them-
selves attached bodies of clients.

CLIMACTER'ICAL YEAR, certain
years in the life of man have been from
great antiquity supposed to have a pecu-
liar importance, and to be liable to sin-
gular vicissitudes in his health and for-
tunes. This superstitious belief is sup-
posed to have originated in the doctrines
of Pythagoras. The well-known notice
of the climactcrical year, sixty-three,
supposed to be particularly dangerous to
old men, in a letter of Augustus Caesar
preserved by Aulus Gellius, evinces its
prevalence among the Romans. This
year has been called by some astrological
writers " heroicus," as having been pe-
culiarly fatal to great men. The virtue
of this year seems to consist in its being
a multiple of the two mystical numbers,

seven and nine. It is certainly singular
that usage should have attached in all
countries peculiar distinction to those
years which are denoted by compounds
of the number seven. Thus fourteen has
been fixed for various purposes as the
epoch of puberty, twenty-one of full age ;
thirty-five has been selected by Aristotle
as the period when the body is in its
highest physical vigor. The same au-
thor supposes the vigor of the mind to be
perfected at forty-nine : sixty-three is
the grand climacterical year ; seventy
the limit of the ordinary age of man.
Bodinus says that seven is the climacter-
ical number in men and six in women.
The term climacteric disease has more
lately been applied to that declension of
bodily and vital powers which is fre-
quently observed to come on in the latter
period of life, and from which many per-
sons again rally so as to attain extreme
old age.

CLI'MAX, a figure in rhetoric, con-
sisting of an assemblage of particulars,
rising, as it were, step by step, and form-
ing a whole in such a manner that the
last idea in the former member becomes
the first in the latter, till the climax, or
gradation, is completed. Its strength
and beauty consist in the logical connec-
tion of the ideas, and the pleasure the
mind receives from perfect conviction ; as
may be perceived in the following exam-
ple : " There is no enjoyment of property
without government ; no government
without a magistrate ; no magistrate
without obedience; and no obedience
where every one acts as he pleases."

CLIN'ICAL, in its literal sense, means
anything pertaining to a bed. Thus, a
clinical lecture is a discourse from notes
taken at the bedside by a physician,
with a view to practical instruction in
the healing art. Clinical medicine is
the practice of medicine on patients in
hospitals, or in bed. And the term clinic
was also applied by the ancient church
historians, to one who received baptism
on his death-bed.

CLI'O, in mythology, the muse who
was usually supposed to preside over his-
tory, though she sometimes invaded the
province, of her sister Calliope, the god-
dess of epic poetry. In his magnificent
ode addressed to Augustus, Horace in-
vokes Clio as the patroness of the flute
or the lyre, or in other words of lyric
poetry.

CLOA'CA, an ancient common sewer.

CLOCK, a machine for measuring time,
called, when first invented, a nocturnal

CYCLOPKDIA OF LITERATURE

[cor

dial, to distinguish it from the sun-dial.
This machine consists of wheels moved by
weights, so constructed that by a uniform
vibration of a pendulum, the hours, min-
utes, and seconds are measured with
great exactness ; and it indicates the
hour by the (stroke of a small hammer
on a bell. The invention of clocks has
been ascribed to Boethius, about the year
510; but clocks, like those now used,
were either first invented, or revived,
between two and three centuries ago. The
clock measures even 24 hours, but the
solar day is unequal, according to the
situation of the earth in its orbit, and the
declination of the sun. Hence the clock
is sometimes a few minutes faster or
slower than the sun.

CLOIS'TER, the principal part of a
regular monastery, consisting of a square,
erected between the church, the chapter-
house, and the refectory, and over which
is the dormitory. In a general sense,
cloisters mean covered passages, such as
were formerly attached to religious
houses.

CLYPE'US, part of the armor worn by
the heavy infantry of the Greeks, and a
portion of the Roman soldiery, consisting
of a largo shield or buckler, circular and
concave on the inside, sufficiently large
to cover the body from the neck to the
middle of the leg. It was formed of ox-
hide stretched upon a frame of wicker-
work, and strengthened with plates of
metal ; sometimes it was formed entirely
of bronze.

COACH, a vehicle of pleasure, distin-
guished from others chiefly from being a
covered box hung on leathers. The old-
est carriages used by the ladies in Eng-
land were called whirlicotes ; and we find
that the mother of Richard II., who, in
1360, accompanied him in his flight, rode
in a carriage of this sort. But coaches,
properly so called, were introduced into
England from Germany, or France, in
1580, in the reign of Elizabeth. In 1601,
the year before the queen's death, an act
was passed to prevent men from riding
in coaches, as being effeminate ; but in
twenty-five years afterwards hackney-
coaches were introduced.

COADJU'TOR, in ecclesiastical mat-
ters, the assistant of a bishop or other
prelate, (in some instances even of a canon
or prebendary, but the latter usage was
irregular.) These assistants, in France
and other countries, were instituted by
the pope. A coadjutor was equal in rank
to the dignitary whose functions he might
on occasion supply ; hence the coadjutor

of a bishop was himself consecrated a
bishop in partibus inftdelium. The cele-
brated Cardinal do Ketz was known by
the title of the Coadjutor of Paris during
the most active period of his career, hav-
ing the administration of the temporali-
ties of that see, which belonged to his
uncle the Archbishop de Retz. Coadju-
tors usually succeeded their principals in
their dignities ; and hence arose an abuse
which tended towards making ecclesias-
tical "dignities hereditary, nephews and
other relatives of bishops being named
their coadjutors. The institution of co-
adjutors to bishoprics is preserved by the
French concordat of 1801.

COAD'UNATE, two or more parts
joined together.

COAT, a garment worn commonly up-
permost. Also, a thin covering laid or
done over anyth ng, as a coat of paint,
&c. Coat of arms, in the modern ac-
ceptation, is a device, or assemblage of
devices, supposed to be painted on a
shield ; which shield, in the language of
heraldry, is called the field. Coat of
mail, a piece of armor made in the form
of a shirt, and wrought over with a kind
of net-work of iron rings.

CO A VES'TIS, THE COAN ROBE, a gar-
ment worn chiefly by dancing girls, cour-
tesans, and other women addicted to
pleasure, of texture so fine as to be near-
ly transparent, and through which the
forms of the wearers were easily seen.

CO'BALT BLUE, a beautiful pig-
ment compounded of alumina and phos-
phate of cobalt. It was discovered in
1302 by the French chemist Thenard.
There is no reason to doubt its durability,
although, when imperfectly prepared, it
is subject to change. Cobalt is the color-
ing matter of smalts.

CO'BALT GREEN, a preparation of
cobalt, the green color of which is due to
the presence of iron : it works well both
in oil and water.

COCH'INEAL, a dried insect in the
form of a small, round grain, flat on one
side, either red, brown, powdered with
white, or blackish brown. This val-
uable insect was first introduced into
Europe about the year 1523. It is im-
ported from Mexico and New Spain. It
feeds on several species of cactus. It is
small, rugose, and of a deep mulberry col-
or. They are scraped from the plants
into bags, killed by boiling water, and
dried in the sun. Those are preferred
which are plump, of a peculiar silvery
appearance, and which yield a brilliant
crimson when rubbed to powder. This

AND THE FIItE ARTS.

splendid coloring material is soluble in
water, and is used for making the red
lake pigments known by the names car-
mine, Florentine, and other lakes. Coch-
ineal is sometimes adulterated by the
admixture of a manufactured article com-
posed of colored dough. This is detected
by the action of boiling water, which dis-
solves and disintegrates the imitation,
but has little effect upon the real insect.
The principal component of cochineal is
a peculiar coloring matter, which has
received the names of carminium and
cochin elia.

COCK, this bird is regarded as the em-
blem of watchfulness and vigilance ; and
from a very early period its image was
placed on the summit of church crosses.
A cock, in the act of crowing, is intro-
duced among the emblems of our Lord's
passion, m allusion to the sin ofSt. Peter.

COCKADE', (from Cocarde,) a plume
of cock's leathers, with which the Croats
adorned, their caps. A bow of colored
ribbons was adopted for the cockade in
France. During 1 the French revolution,
the tri-colored cockade became the na-
tional distinction.

COCK'NEY, a contemptuous appella-
tion of a citizen of London. Various deri-
vations have been assigned to this word,
all of which are more distinguished for
ingenuity than probability. But what-
ever may be the origin of the term, its
antiquity cannot be disputed, as it is
mentioned in some verses generally at-
tributed to Hugh Bagot, Earl of Norfolk,
in the reign of Henry II. :

Were I in my castle at Bungey,
Upon the river of Waverney,
I would not care for the king of Cockency
(i.e. of London,)

COCK'PIT, the after part of the orlop
deck, or deck below the lower deck, and
altogether below the water. Here, in
line-of-battle ships, are the cabins of sev-
eral of the officers. The cock-pit is ap-
propriated to the use of the wounded in
time of action. There is also a fore cock-
pit in the fore part of the ship, and some-
times an after cock-pit. Cock-pit is the
name given to the place where game-
cocks fight their battles. The room in
Westminster in which her Majesty's privy
council hold their sittings is called the
cock-pit, from its having been the site of
what was formerly the cock-pit belonging
to the palace at Whitehall.

COCY'TUS. in mythology, the river of
Lamentations, which was. one of the
streams that washed the shores of the
mythological hell, and prevented the im-

prisoned souls from returning to the
earth. Milton alludes to it thus :

Cocytus named of lamentations loud
Heard on the rueful stream.

CO'DA, in music, the passage at the
end of a movement which follows a length-
ened perfect cadence. In some cases it
consists of merely one phrase, in others
it is carried to a great extent. At the
conclusion of a canon or fugue, it often
serves to end the piece which might oth-
erwise be carried on to infinity.

CODE, (from codex, a roll, or volume,)
a collection or system of laws. The col-
lection of laws or constitutions made by
order of the emperor Justinian is distin-
guished "by the appellation of code by
way of eminence. The Code Napoleon,
or civil code of France, proceeding from
the French Revolution, and the adminis-
tration of Napoleon, while consul, effected
great changes in the laws of France. It
was a work of great magnitude, and will
remain a perpetual monument of the
state of things as they then existed in
that country.

COD'ICIL, a supplement to a will, con-
taining anything which the testator wishes
to add ; or any explanation, alteration, or
revocation, of what his will contains.

CODET'TA, in music, a short passage
which connects one section with another,
and not composing part of a regular sec-
tion.

CO'DEX, a manuscript ; in its original
sense (Latin) the inner bark of a tree,
which was used for the purposes of writ-
ing. The word was thence transferred
by the Romans to signify a piece of
writing on whatever material ; e. g. with
the stylus on tablets lined with wax, or
on a roll of parchment or paper. In
modern Latin a manuscript volume.
Codex rescriptus, or palimpsestus, is a
manuscript consisting of leaves, from
which some earlier writing has been
erased in order to afford room for the
insertion of more recent. Many such
codices exist ; and from the imperfect
nature of the erasing process, the earlier
writing has, in some instances, been re-
stored. Considerable fragments of clas-
sical works, previously considered as
lost, have been thus recovered by the
Abate Mai from among the contents of
the Ambrosian Library at Milan.

CCE'NA, the principal meal among the
Greeks and Romans. The time of the
ccena, or supper, was the ninth honr, an-
swering to three o'clock in the afternoon
with us, and it consisted of throe courses

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[COL

They made a libation both before and
after supper, and concluded the evening
with much festivity.

C<ENAC'ULUM, in ancient architect-
ure, the eating or supper room of the
Romans. In the early periods of the
Roman history, the upper story of their
houses, which rarely consisted of more
than two, seems to have been called by
this name.

C(ENA'TIO, in ancient architecture,
an apartment for taking refreshment in
the lower part of the Roman houses.

CGEN'OBITE, one who lives under a
rule in a religious community, as distin-
guished from an anchoret or hermit,
who lives in solitude.

COETA'NEOUS, an epithet denoting
of the same age, or beginning with an-
other. The word coeval is synonymous
with it; contemporary implies, existing
at the same time.

COF'FER, in architecture, a sunk
panel in vaults and domes, and also in
the soffit or under side of the Corinthian
cornice, usually decorated in the centre
with a flower.

COG'NIZANCE, in law, an acknowl-
edgment of a fine, of taking a distress,
<fcc. It also signifies the power which
a court has to hear and determine a par-
ticular species of suit.

COGNO'MEN, in antiquities, the last
of the three names by which all Romans,
at least those of good family, were desig-
nated. It served to mark the house to
which they belonged, as the other two
names, viz., the prcenomen and nomen,
served respectively to denote the indi-
vidual and the class to which his family
belonged.

COHORT', a military body among the
Romans, consisting of the tenth of a
legion, or from five to six hundred men.

COIN, a piece of metal stamped with
certain marks, and made current at a
certain value. Strictly speaking, coin
differs from money as the species differs
from the genus. Money is any matter,
whether metal, or paper, or beads, or
shells, &c., which have currency as a
medium in commerce. Coin is a particu-
lar species always made of metal, and
struck according to a certain process
called coining. The British coinage is
wholly performed at the Tower of Lon-
don, where there is a corporation for the
purpose, under the title of the Mint.
Current coin, is coin legally stamped
and circulating in trade. Counterfeit
coin, that which is forged or stampod
without authority.

COLIPH'IUM, in antiquity, a sort of
coarse bread which wrestlers used to eat
in order to make them strong and mus-
cular.

COLISE'UM, an elliptical amphithea-
tre, at Rome, built by Vespasian, in
which were statues representing all the
provinces of the empire, and in the mid-
dle stood that of Rome, holding a golden
apple in her hand. This immense struc-
ture was 1612 feet in circumference, con-
tained eighty arcades, and would hold
100,000 spectators. Down to the 13th
century, this unrivalled monument of
ancient grandeur remained almost unin-
jured; afterwards Pope Paul II. took
all the stones from it which were used
for the construction of the palace of St.
Mark, and in later times some other
palaces were erected from its fragments.
At present, care is taken not to touch
the ruins of the Coliseum, but it is
gradually crumbling away of itself, and
in a few centuries, perhaps, nothing
more may be seen of its upper part ;
the lower part, however, may safely bid
defiance to the ravages of time. Bene-
dict XVI. caused a cross to be erected in
the centre of the arena, where, every
Sunday afternoon, Catholic worship is
performed. The great object of this
magnificent building was to exhibit the
brutal spectacles of the gladiators con-
tending with wild beasts. We accord-
ingly read, that on the triumph of Tra-
jan over the Dacians, 11,000 animals
were killed in the amphitheatres at
Rome ; and 1000 gladiators fought during
123 days. The gladiators at first were
malefactors, who fought for victory and
life ; or captives and slaves, who were
made to fight for their freedom ; but
after a time many lived by it as a pro-
fession ; and these exhibitions continued,
with modifications, for above 500 years.
A very large and most ingeniously con-
structed building, erected in the Regent's
Park, London, is called the Coliseum, or
Colosseum.

COLLAPSE', to close by falling to-
gether ; as, the fine canals or vessels of
the body collapse in old age ; or, as a bal-
loon collapses when the gas escapes from
! it.

COL'LAR, in Roman antiquity, a chain
! put round the neck of slaves that had run
away, after they were taken. In a mod-
j ern sense, it denotes an ornament consist-
ing of a chain of gold, enamelled, &c.,
; frequently set with ciphers or other de-
vices, with the badge of the order hang-
ing at the bottom, and worn by the

COL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

knights of several military orders over
their shoulders.

COLLAT'ERAL, in genealogy, signi-
fies descending from the same stock or
ancestor, but not in a direct line ; and is
therefore distinguished from lineal. Col-
lateral security, in law, is security for the
performance of covenants on the pay-
ment of money, besides the principal se-
curity.

COLLA'TION, in the canon law, the
presentation to a benefice, by a bishop,
who has it in his own gift or patronage.
When the patron of a church is not a
bishop, ho presents his clerk for admis-
sion, and the bishop institutes him ; but
collation includes both presentation and
institution. Collation, in law, the com-
parison of a copy with its original, to as-
certain its conformity ; or the report of
the officer who made the comparison.
Hence, a collator means one who com-
pares copies or manuscripts. And from
the same is derived the term Collating
among printers, by which is meant the
examining the whole number of sheets
belonging to a book, in order to see if
they are all gathered properly.

COL'LECT, a short and comprehensive
prayer, particularly such prayers as are
appointed with the epistles and gospels
in the public service of the Church of
England.

COLLECT A'NE A, in literature, notes,
observations, or any matter collected from
a variety of works.

COLLEC'TIVE, in grammar, an epi-
thet for any noun which comprehends
many persons or things ; as a multitude,
a company, a congregation, an army, &c.

COL'LEGE, in its usual, though some-
what limited sense, is a public place en-
dowed with certain revenues, where the
several parts of learning are taught, and
where the students reside, under a regu-
lar discipline. An assemblage of several
of these colleges is called a university.
The establishment of colleges or univer-
sities forms a remarkable period in lite-
rary history ; for the schools in cathedrals
and monasteries were confined chiefly to
the teaching of grammar ; and there were
only one or two masters employed in that
charge ; but in colleges, professors are
appointed to teach all the branches of
science. There are colleges of physicians
and surgeons, a college of philosophy, a
college of heralds, a college- of civilians,
<fec.

COLLE'GIATE CHURCHES, are
those that, without a bishop's see, have
the ancient retinue of a bishop ; such as

the church of St Peter's, Westminster.
This was anciently a cathedral ; but the
revenues of the monastery being vested
in the dean and chapter by act of parlia-
ment, it became a collegiate church.

COLLOCA'TIO, in antiquity, a cere-
mony at the funerals of the Greeks and
Romans, which consisted of placing the
corpse, laid on a bier, near the threshold
of the house, that all might see whether
he had met his death by violence or not.

COLLU'SION, in law, a deceitful agree-
ment or compact between two persons to
bring an action one against the other for
some fraudulent or unlawful purpose.

COLO'GNE-EARTH, a substance used
in painting, much approaching to umber
in its structure, and of a deep brown. It
is supposed to be the remains of wood
long buried in the earth.

CO'LON, in grammar, a point marked
thus (:) to divide a sentence.

COLO'NEL, the chief commander of a
regiment, whether infantry or calvary.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL, the second officer
in a regiment, who commands in the ab-
sence of the colonel.

COLONNADE', a range of pillars run-
ning quite round a building.

COL'ONY, a company or body of peo-
ple removed from their mother country
to a remote province or country, where
they form a settlement under the sanc-
tion of the government. Also, the place
whore such a settlement is formed, as the
colonies belonging t'o Great Britain in
the East and West Indies, North Ameri-
ca, &c.

COL'OPIION, in bibliography, the
postscript contained in the last sheet of an
early printed work (before the introduc-
tion of title-pages,) containing the prin-
ter's name, date, &c., is so termed, from
a fanciful allusion to a Greek satirical
proverb, in which the people of Colophon,
in Asia Minor, are reproached with be-
ing always the hindmost.

COL'OR, the type of color is found in
the prismatic spectrum or the rainbotc.
In which we discover that a ray of white
light in capable of being decomposed into
three primitive colors red, blue, and
yellow; these, by their mixture, produce
three other colors, which are termed sec-
ondary ; thus, the union of red with blue
yields, when in varied proportions, the
different hues of purple and violet ; red.
mixed with yellow, yields orange : yel-
low, with blue, produces green. Every
hue in nature is a compound of two or
more of the primitive colors in various
proportions. Grays and browns are com-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[COL

pounds of all three of the primary colors
in unequal proportions. Black results
from a mixture of blue, red, and yellow
of equal intensity and in equal propor-
tions. Of material colors (pigments) there
is but one (ultramarine) that approaches
the purity of the type in the spectrum
all the others are more or less impure ;
thus we cannot obtain a pure red pig-
ment, since all are more or less alloyed
with blue or yellow. If we could obtain
a red and a yellow of the same purity
and transparency as ultramarine, we
should need no other pigments for our
palette, since, by judicious mixture, they
would yield every tint in nature. Local
colors are those peculiar to each individ-
ual object, and serve to distinguish them
from each other. Complementary colors
are composed of the opposites of any given
color. If this color is a primitive, such
as blue, the complementary color is com-
posed of the other two primitive colors,
viz., red and yellow, or orange ; the com-
plementary color to any secondary is the
other primitive color ; thus the comple-
mentary to green (composed of blue and
yellow,) is red, and so on, for the remain-
der. Harmony of colors results from an
equal distribution of the three primary
colors, either pure, or compounded with
each other, as grays and browns. Con-
trast of color is either simple or com-
pound. Each of the primitive colors
forms a contrast to the other two ; thus
blue is contrasted by yellow and by red
either of these forms a simple contrast to
blue ; but by mixing yellow and red to-
gether, we produce orange, which is a
compound contrast, consequently orange,
the complementary color, is the most
powerful contrast that can be made to
blue. Colors are regarded as warm or
cold, positive or negative ; thus blue is a
cold, and orange a warm, color. Red,
neither warm nor cold. All warm colors
are contrasts to cold colors. Symbolic
colors. Colors had the same signification
amongst all nations of remotest antiquity.
Color was evidently the first mode of
transmitting thought and preserving
memory ; to each color appertained a re-
ligious or political idea. The history of
symbolic colors testifies to a triple origin
marked by the three epochs in the history
of religion the divine, the consecrated,
and the profane. The first regulated the
costume of Aaron and the Levites, the
rites of worship, &c. Religion gave birth
to the Arts. It was to ornament temples
that sculpture and painting were first in-
troduced, whence arose the consecrated

language. The profane language of cot
ors was a degradation from the divine
and consecrated languages.

COL'ORATURE, in music, all kinds of
variations, trills, &c. intended to make a
song agreeable.

COLO'RES FLO'RIDI, the name given
by the ancients to the expensive and
brilliant pigments, as distinguished from
the four hard rough principal pigments
of earlier times. The colores floridi were
supplied by the employer, and often pur-
loined by the artist : they were chryso-
colla; indicum (indigo introduced into
Rome in the time of the emperors;)
caeruleum (a blue smalt made at Alex-
andria, from sand, saltpetre, and copper ;)
and cinnibaris, which was partly natural
and- partly artificial vermilion ; but also
an Indian pigment, procured from the
sap of the pterocarpus draco, and called
also dragon's blood. Other pigments were
called colores austeri.

COL'ORIST, a painter whose works are
remarkable for beauty of color. Titian,
Correggio, Paul Veronese, Rubens, Van-
dyke, are in the first rank of colorists.
The Venetian and the Flemish schools
have supplied the greatest number of
colorists, as well as the best ; always ex-
cepting Correggio, the founder of the
Lombard school, who is by many re-
garded equal to Titian. Color being, as
well as design, an essential part of a pic-
ture, every colorist is, at the same time,
more or less a draughtsman. But expe-
rience shows, and theory furnishes good
reasons for believing, that these two
qualities, which many artists possess to-
gether in a moderate degree, are rarely
found in an eminent degree, united in the
same individual, and still less in the
same picture.

COLOS'SAL, in the Fine Arts, a term
applied to any work of art remarkable
for its extraordinary dimensions. It is,
however, more applied to works in sculp-
ture than in the other arts. It seems
probable that colossal statues had their
origin from the attempt to astonish by
size at a period when the science of pro-
portion and that of imitation were in
their infancy. Colossal statues of the di-
vinities were common both in Asia and
Egypt. By the description of the palace
or temple attributed to Semiramis it
abounded with colossal statues, among
which was one of Jupiter forty feet in
height. In Babylon we learn from Dan-
iel that the pakices were filled with
statues of an enormous size, and in the
present day the ruins of India present us

COM]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

with statues of extraordinary dimensions.
The Egyptians surpassed the Asiatics in
these gigantic monuments, considering ,
tliu beautiful finish they gave to such a j
hard material as granite. Sesostris, ac- j
cording to history, appears to have been i
the first who raised these colossal masses,
the statues of himself and his wife, which
he placed before the temple of Vulcan,
having been thirty cubits in height. This
example was imitated by his successors,
as the ruins of Thebes sufficiently testify.
The taste for colossal statues prevailed
also among the Greeks. The great Phi-
dias contributed several works of this
order. The statue of Apollo at Rhodes,
was executed by Cnares, a disciple of Ly-
sippus, who devoted himself to this object
during twelve years. It was placed at
the entrance of the harbor, with the right
foot standing on one side the land and
the left on the other. It was of brass,
and is said to have existed nearly four-
teen centuries, before the period in which
it fell by the shock of an earthquake.
When the Saracens became possessed of
Rhodes, they found the statue in a pros-
trate state, and sold it to a Jew, by
whom 900 camels were laden with the
materials. The colossus at Tarentum by
Lysippe was no less than forty cubits
in height ; and the difficulty of removing
it, rather than the moderation of the
conqueror, prevented Fabius carrying it
off with the Hercules from the same city.
But the proposition made to Alexander
of cutting Mount Athos into a statue, in
one of whose hands a city was to be
placed capable of holding ten thousand
inhabitants, whilst in the other he was to
hold a vessel pouring out the torrents
from the mountain, exceeds all others in
history. Before the time of the Romans
colossal statues were frequently executed
in Italy. The first monument of this
nature set up in Rome was one placed in
the capitol by Sp. Carvillius after his
victory over the Samnites. This was suc-
ceeded in after-times by many others, of
which those now on Monte Cavallo, said
to be of Castor and Pollux, are well
known to most persons. In modern times
the largest that has been erected is that
of S. Carlo Boromeo at Arona near Milan.
This gigantic statue is upwards of sixty
feet in height.

COLUMBA, ST., this saint is repre-
sented with a crown upon her head, and
standing on a pile of burning wood, an
angel by her side ; sometimes she holds
a sword. According to the legend, the
angel is said to have extinguished the

flames with his wings., whereupon she was
beheaded by order of the Emperor Au-
relian, at Cordova, A.D. 273. The idea
that she was of royal blood appears) to
have arisen from the crown, which, on
the contrary, refers to her being a mar-
tyr.

COLUMBA'RIUM, in architecture, a
pigeon-house or dovecote. From the
similarity the arched and square-headed
recesses in the walls of cemeteries, which
were made to receive the cinerary urns,
were also called columbaria.

COLUM'BIAN, an epithet for any-
thing pertaining to America, from its
having been discovered by Columbus.

COL'UMN, in architecture, a cylin-
drical pillar, or long round body of wood,
stone, or iron, which serves either for the
support or ornament of a building. It
consists of a capital, which is the top or
head ; the shaft, which is the cylindrical
part ; and the base, or that on which it
rests. Columns are distinguished as to
their form into the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic,
Corinthian, and Composite. The Tuscan
is characterized by being rude, simple
and massy ; the Doric is next in strength
and massiveness to the Tuscan ; the Ionic
is more slender than the Tuscan and
Doric ; the Corinthian is more delicate
in its form and proportions, and enriched
with ornaments ; and the Composite is a
species of the Corinthian. In strictness,
the shaft of a column consists of one en-
tire piece ; but it is often composed of
different pieces, so united as to have the
appearance of one entire piece. The
word column has also many other mean-
ings ; as, a division of a page, which may
contain two or more columns. A large
body of troops drawn up in order ; as, a
solid column. Any body pressing on its
base, and of the same diameter as its
base ; as, a column of water, air, or mer-
cury.

COM'EDY. (From the Greek words
(coifii), village, and coJ/;, a song; because
the original rude dialogues, intermixed
with singing and dancing, out of which
the early Greek comedy arose, were sung
by rustic actors at village festivals.) A
species of drama, of which the character-
istics in modern usage are, that its inci-
dents and language approach nearly to
those of ordinary life ; that the termina-
tion of its intrigue is happy ; and that it
is distinguished by greater length and
greater complexity of plot from tho light-
er theatrical piece entitled a farce. The
original Attic comedy was a burlesque
tragedy in form, in substance a satire on

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[COM

individuals, and founded on political or
other matters of public interest. The
modern comedy is derived from the new
comedy of the Greeks, of which Menander
and Philemon were the principal authors,
and which has been preserved to us
through the Latin imitations of Plautus
and Terence. According to Bossu, com-
edy differs from tragedy in this, that
comic writers invent both the names of
the persons and the actions which they
represent ; whereas the tragic writers in-
vent only the latter, taking the former
from history. Among us, comedy is dis-
tinguished from farce, as the former rep-
resents nature as she is, the other dis-
torts and overcharges her; but whether
it be to recommend virtue or to render
folly ridiculous, the real intention and
effect are amusement.

COMI'TIA, in Roman antiquity, an
assembly of the people, either in the
Comitium or Campus Martins, for the
election of magistrates, or consulting on
the important affairs of the republic. The
people originally gave their votes vivd
voce, but in process of time this was su-
perseded by the use of tablets. The
comitia were of three kinds, distin-
guished by the epithets, Curiata, Cen-
turiata, and Tributa. 1. The comitia
curiata were the assemblies of the pa-
trician houses or populus ; and in these,
before the plebeians attained political
importance, was vested the supreme pow-
er of the state. The name curiata was
given because the people voted in curias,
each curia giving a single vote represent-
ing the sentiments of the majority of the
members composing it; which was the
manner in which the tribes and centuries
also gave their suffrages in their respec-
tive comitia. After the institution of the
comitia centuriata, the functions of the
curiata were nearly confined to the elec-
tion of certain priests, and passing a law
to confirm the dignities imposed by the
people. 2. The comitia centuriata were
the assemblies of the whole Roman peo-
ple, including patricians, clients, and
plebeians, in which they voted by cen-
turies. By the constitution of the cen-
turies, these comitia were chiefly in the
hands of the plebeians, and so served ori-
ginally as a counterpoise to the powers
of the comitia curiata, for which pur-
pose they were first instituted by the law-
giver king Servius Tullius. These comi-
tia quickly obtained the chief importance,
and public matters of the greatest mo-
ment were transacted in them ; as the
elections of consuls, praetors, and censors,

and the passing laws and trials for high
treason. 3. The comitia tributa were the
assemblies of the plebeian tribes. They
were first instituted after the expulsion
of the kings ; and in them were trans-
acted matters pertaining to the plebeians
alone, as the election of their tribunes
and sediles.

COM'MA, in grammar, a point or char-
acter marked thus ( , ) denoting the short-
est pause in reading, and separating a
sentence into divisions or members. In
theoretic music, it is a term to show the
exact proportions between concords.

COMMANDANT', the commanding
officer of a place or of a body of forces.

COMMAND'ER, the chief officer of an
army, or one who has the command of
a body of men. The commander-in-
chief in the British army is he who has
the supreme command over all the land
forces in Great Britain. In the naval
service the chief admiral in any port or
station is so called. The commander of
a ship, otherwise called the master, is an
officer next in rank to a post captain,
who has the command of a ship of war
under 18 guns, a sloop, &c.

COMMENCEMENT, an annual pub-
lic assembly of a university, or the day
on which degrees are publicly conferred
on students who have finished a collegiate
education.

COMMEND'AM, in ecclesiastical law,
the trust or administration of the reve-
nues of a benefice given to a layman to
hold as a deposit for six months, in or-
der to repairs, &c., or to an ecclesiastic to
perform the pastoral duties till the bene-
fice is provided with a regular incumbent.
In England, the right of granting bene-
fices in commendam is vested in the
crown by a statue of Henry VIII. One
who holds a living in commendam is call-
ed a commendatory. Commendatory
letters, are letters sent from one bishop
to another in behalf of any of the cler-
gy, &c-

COMMENTAC'ULUM, in antiquity, a
wand wh4ch those who were going to sac-
! rifice held in their hand, to make people
stand out of the way.

COM'MENTARY, an explanation of
the obscure passages in an author ; or an
historical narrative, as, the Commentaries
of Caesar.

COM'MERCE, in a general sense, is
the intercourse of nation* in each other's
produce or manufactures, in which the
superfluities of one are given for those
of another, and then re-exchanged with
other nations for mutual wants. Com-

COM]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

merce is lv>th ^b~*;'p r n and in?ar;4. For-
eign commerce is the trade which one
nation carries on with another ; inland
commerce, or inland trade, is the trade
in the exchange of commodities between
citizens of the same nation. The benefits
of commercial intercourse have been felt
and admitted from the earliest times ;
but they have never been so highly ap-
preciated, or carried to such an extent as
at present. It gives a stimulus to in-
dustry ; supplies mankind with enjoy-
ments to which they would otherwise be
strangers, tends greatly to obliterate un-
founded prejudices between nations; ex-
cites a spirit of laudable competition
aiuonjr all classes ; enables one country
to profit by the inventions of another ;
diffuses the blessings of civilization to
the most remote corners of the earth ;
enlarges the powers and faculties of the
mind ; and advances human knowledge
by the improvements which it carries into
every art and science. On the other
hand, it cannot be denied that it has con-
tributed to unjust aggressions, and that
the peace and welfare of man have often
been made subservient to commercial
avarice. Yet much as the evils attribut-
ed to commerce have been deplored by
some moral writers, we cannot but adopt
the sentiments of one who says, " To com-
merce, with all its mischiefs, with all its
crimes, committed upon every shore, its
depopulation of fields, and corruption of
cities, to commerce we must attribute
that growing intimacy between the mem-
bers of the human race from which great
benefits have redounded, and greater still
may spring."

COMMISSA'KIATE, the whole body
of officers in the commissary's depart-
ment.

COM'MISSARY, in a general sense,
one who is sent or delegated to execute
some office or duty, as the representative
of his superior. In military affairs, an
officer, who has the charge of furnishing
provisions, clothing, &c. for an army.
There are various separate duties de-
volving on commissaries, and they have
names accordingly : as the commissary-
general, who is at the head of the de-
partment; deputy-commissaries, &c. In
ecclesiastical law, an officer of the bishop
who exercises spiritual jurisdiction in
distant parts of the diocese.

COMMISSION, in law, the warrant,
or letters patent by which one is author-
ized to exercise jurisdiction. In mili-
tary affairs, the warrant or authority by
which one holds* any post in the army :

in distinction to the inferior or non-com-
missioned officers. In commerce, the
order by which any one traffics or nego-
tiates for another ; also the per centage
given to factors and agents for transact-
ing the business of others.

COMMISSIONER, a person author-
ized by commission, letters-patent, or
other lawful warrant, to examine any
matters, or execute any public office, &c.

COMMITMENT, is the sending a
person to prison by warrant or order,
either for a crime or contumacy.

COMMITTEE, certain persons elected
or appointed, to whom any matter or
business is referred, either by a legisla-
tive body, or by any corporation or soci-
ety. A Committee of the Legislature,
signifies a certain number of members
appointed by the house to proceed on
some specific business. The whole house
frequently resolves itself into a com-
mittee, in which case, each member has
a right to speak as often as he pleases.
When the house is not in committee,
each gives his opinion regularly, and is
only allowed to speak once, unless to ex-
plain himself. Standing committees are
such as continue during the existence of
the legislature. Special committees are
appointed to consider and report on par-
ticular subjects.

COMMOD'ITY, in commerce, any mer-
chandise which a person deals in. Staple
commodities, such wares and merchan-
dises as are the proper produce or manu-
facture of the country.

COM'MODORE, an officer in the navy,
invested with the command of a detach-
ment of ships of war destined for a par-
ticular purpose. The Commodore of a
convoy is the leading ship in a fleet of
merchantmen, and carries a light in her
top to conduct the other ships.

COM'MON, a tract of ground, or open
space, the use of which is not appropri-
ated to an individual, but belongs to the
public, or to a number. The right which
a person has to pasture his cattle on land
of another, or to dig turf, or catch fish,
or cut wood, or the like, is called common
of pasture, or turbary, of piscary, and of
estovers.

COMMON COUN'CIL, the council of
a city or corporate town, empowered to
make by-laws for the government of the
citizens. It is generally used in speak-
ing of a court in the city of London, com-
posed of the lord mayor, aldermen, and
a certain number of citizens called com-
mon-councilmen. The city of London is
divided into 24 wards ; the chief magis-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[COM

trate of each ward has the title of alder-
oian ; the 24 aldermen, with the lord
mayor, form the court of aldermen ; and
certain inhabitants chosen out of each
ward, for the purpose of assisting the al-
dermen with their advice in public af-
fairs, form the court of common, council.

COMMON LAW, the law that receives
its binding force from immemorial usage
and universal reception, in distinction
from the written or statute law ; and
which chiefly originated in judicial deci-
sions founded on natural justice and
equity, or on local customs.

COMMONPLACE-BOOK, a register
of such thoughts and observations as
occur to a person of reading or reflection.

COMMON PLEAS, a superior court
where pleas or causes are heard between
subject and subject.

COMMON PRAYER BOOK, the name
given to the collection of all the offices
of regular and occasional worship accord-
ing to the forms of the church of England.
The basis of this book is to be found in
the King's Primer, set forth in 1546 by
Henry VIII., which was intended to con-
vey instruction to the people in the most
important parts of the church service ;
but contained little more than the Creed,
Lord's Prayer, Commandments, and Lit-
any. This Primer underwent two revi-
sions and republications under Edward
VI., whose second Liturgy approaches
very near in its contents to that which
exists at present. It was at that review
that the Sentences, Exhortation, Confes-
sion, and Absolution were prefixed to the
Daily Service ; the Decalogue was intro-
duced into the Communion Service ; and
certain remnants of the Romish customs
were finally abolished, as the sign of the
cross in confirmation and matrimony, the
anointing of the sick, and the prayers for
the dead. On the accession of Elizabeth,
another review of the Liturgy was insti-
tuted ; but the alterations effected were
little more than in the selection of the
lessons. At the review in the reign of
James I., after the conference with the
Presbyterians at Hampton Court, no
change of importance was introduced,
except the addition of the explanation of
the Sacraments in the Catechism. Again,
when on the restoration of Charles II. a
conference had been held with the dis-
senters at the Savoy, the subject of the
common prayer book was reconsidered in
convocation. The services for the 30th
of January and 29th of May were then
added, as also the form to be used at Sea.
A few trifling alterations were made also

in the other services ; but these were the
last that have been effected. On the
accession of William III. another revis-
ion took place, and a considerable num
ber of alterations were proposed and sup-
ported by many of the bishops and
clergy ; but they were rejected by con- v
vocation, and have never since been re-
vived by authority.

COM'MONS, the lower house of Par-
liament, consisting of the representatives
of cities, boroughs, and counties, chosen
by men possessed of the property or
qualifications required by law. This
body is called the House of Commons ;
and may be regarded as the basis of the
British constitution. The origin of this
assembly ought, perhaps, to be attributed
to the necessity under which the first
Edward perceived himself of counteract-
ing a powerful aristocracy. The feudal
system had erected a band of petty mon-
archs from whom the crown was in per-
petual danger. It is to the struggles of
these men with regal authority, in the
course of which, in order to strengthen
their opposition, they were obliged to
make common cause with the people,
that the existence of English liberty may
be attributed. In a word, the House of
Commons arose on the ruins of the feu-
dal fabric, gained ground as that decayed,
pressed on its weaker parts, and, finally,
levelled it with the dust. Though each
member is elected by a distinct body of
people, he is, from the moment of his
election, the representative, not of those
particular persons only, but of the king-
dom at large ; and is to consider himself
not merely as the organ through which
his constituents may speak, but as one
who, having been intrusted with a gene-
ral charge, is to perform it to the best of
his judgment. In performance of this
great function, his liberty of speech is
bounded only by those rules of decency
of which the house itself is the judge ;
and while, on the one hand, he is free to
propose what laws he pleases, on the
other, he is exposed, as a private man,
to the operation of the laws he makes.
This assembly is composed of six hun-
dred and fifty-eight members ; and
though many small boroughs were dis-
franchised by the Reform Bill, the elect-
ive franchise was given to several places
of rising importance, and a variety of
alterations took place by adding to the
number of representatives of counties,
Ac., so that the total number of mem-
bers remains the same.

COMMONWEALTH', in a general

COM]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

sense, applies to the social state of a
country, without regarding its form of
government. In the usual, though more
restricted sense, a republic, or that form
of government in which the administra-
tion of public affairs is open to all with
few, if any, exceptions.

COMMU'NION, the act of communi-
cating in the sacrament of the eucharist,
or the Lord's Supper. Communion Ser-
vice, the office for the administration of
the holy sacrament. Communion Table,
the table erected at the east end of a
church, round which the communicants
kneel to partake of the Lord's Supper.

COMMU'NITY, a society of people
living in the same place, under the same
laws and regulations, and who have com-
mon rights and privileges. History shows
that the establishment of communities
has been one of the greatest advances in
human improvement : and they have
proved, in different ages, the cradle and
the support of freedom.

COMMUTATION, in law. the change
of a penalty or punishment from a greater
to a less ; as when death is commuted for
transportation or imprisonment.

COM'PACT, a word denoting an agree-
ment or contract, but generally applied
in a political sense ; as, a compact or
agreement entered into between nations
and states for any particular object.

COM'PANY, in a commercial sense, a
society of merchants, mechanics, or other
traders, joined together in a common in-
terest. The term is also applied to large
associations set on foot for the purpose
of commerce ; as, the East India Com-
pany ; a banking or insurance company,
&c. When companies do not trade upon
a joint stock, but are obliged to admit
any person properly qualified, upon pay-
ing a certain fine, and agreeing to sub-
mit to the regulations of the company,
each member trading upon his own stock,
and at his own risk, they are called regu-
lated companies ; when they trade upon
a joint stock each member sharing in
the common profit or loss, in proportion
to his share in the stock, they are called
joint stock companies. In military af-
fairs, a small body of foot, consisting
usually of a number from 60 to 100 men,
commanded by a captain, who has under
him a lieutenant and ensign. Also, the
whole crew of a ship, including the offi-
cers.

COMPAR'ISON, in a general sense,
the consideration of the relation between
two persons or things, when opposed and
set against each other, by which we

judge of their agreement or difference.
Comparison of ideas, among logicians,
that operation of the mind whereby it
compares its ideas one with another, in
regard of extent, degree, time, place, or
any other circumstance, and is the ground
of relations. Comparison, in rhetoric,
a figure by which two things are con-
sidered with regard to a third, which is
common to them both ; as, a hero is like
a lion in courage. Here courage is com-
mon to hero and lion, and constitutes the
point of resemblance.

COMPARTMENT, in architecture, a
proportionable division in a building, or
some device marked in an ornamental
part of the building.

COMPENSATION, in civil law, a sort
of right, whereby a person, who has been
sued for a debt, demands that the debt
may be compensated with what is owing
him by the creditor, which, in that case,
is equivalent to payment.

COMPERTO'RIUM, a judicial inquest
in the civil law, made by delegates or
commissioners, to find out and relate the
truth of a cause.

COMPITA'LIA, a Roman feast cele-
brated in honor of the Lares and Penates.
Under Tarquinius Superbus, it is said
that human victims were sacrificed at this
solemnity. The gods invoked at it were
termed Compitales, as presiding over the
streets.

COMPLEX'ION, among physicians,
the temperament, habitude, and natural
disposition of the body ; but, in general
use, the word means the color of the skin.

COM'PLEX TERMS, and COM'PLEX
IDE'AS, in logic, are such as are com-
pounded of several simple ones.

COMPLU'VIUM, in ancient architec-
ture, an area in the centre of the Roman
houses, so constructed that it might re-
ceive the waters from the roofs. It is
also the gutter or eave of a roof.

COMPO'SINGr, that branch of the art
of printing which consists in taking the
types or letters from the cases, and ar-
ranging them in such an order as to fit
them for the press. The instrument in
which they are adjusted to the length of
the lines is called a composing-stick.

COM'POSITE OR'DER, in architec-
ture, one of the five orders of architecture,
and, as its name imports, composed of
two others, the Corinthian and the Ionic.
Its capital is a vase with two tiers of
acanthus leaves, like the Corinthian ; but
instead of stalks, the shoots appear small
and adhere to the vase, bending round to-
wards the middle of the face of the capi-

100

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[COM

tal; the vase is terminated by a fillet
over which is an astragal crowned by an
ovolo. The volutes roll themselves over
the ovolo to meet the tops of the upper
row of leaves, whereon they seem to rest.
The corners of the abacus are supported
by an acanthus leaf bent upwards. The
abacus resembles that of -the Corinthian
capital. In detail the Composite is
richer than the Corinthian, but less light
and delicate. Its architrave has usually
only two fasciae, and the cornice varies
from the Corinthian in having double
modillions. The column is ten diame-
ters high. The principal examples of this
order are the Temple of Bacchus at Rome,
the arch of Septimius Severus, those of
the Goldsmiths and of Titus, and that in
the baths of Diocletian.

COMPOSI'TION, in a general sense,
the putting together, and uniting of sev-
eral things, so as to form of the whole one
mass or compound Composition of ideas,
an act of the mind, whereby it unites sev-
eral ideas into one conception, or complex
idea. In literature, the act of inventing
or combining ideas, furnishing them with
words, arranging them in order, and com-
mitting them to writing. In logic, a
method of reasoning, whereby we proceed
from some general self-evident truth, to
other particular and singular ones. This
method of reasoning is opposed to analy-
sis, which begins with first principles,
and, by a train of reasoning from them,
deduces the propositions or truths sought ;
but composition or synthesis collects the
scattered parts of knowledge, and com-
bines them into a system, so that the un-
derstanding is enabled distinctly to follow
truth through its different stages of gra-
dations. In music, the art or act of form-
ing tunes, either to be performed vocally
or instrumentally. In commerce, an
agreement entered into between an in-
solvent debtor and his creditor, by which
the latter accepts a part of the debt in
compensation for the whole. In paint-
ing, this word expresses the idea of a
whole created out of single parts, and to
this idea the whole ought to conform. In
the whole there ought never to be too
much or too little ; all parts must be ne-
cessary, and must refer to one another,
being understood only under such rela-
tionship. This does not imply that every
part must be co-ordinate, some parts
must be of more importance than others,
and all must be subordinate to a centre-
point, which raises them, while it is raised
by them. This quality, which is seen in
natural landscape, we call organism ; we

desire to produce it in art, and require
pictures to be organic. This is valid as
well in simple composition as in com-
pound, which as a composition of compo-
sitions, represents many wholes All
this, though not attained, is at least at-
tempted by those who call themselves ar-
tists. The following is less acknowledged
but not less important, viz., every com-
position consists of three elements, whose
one-sided predominance in painters and
connoisseurs produces three schools of
error; while the fervent working together
of these elements alone makes the work
a living whole, and gives it that which is
expressed by the Latin word compositio
a quieting satisfying effect. The artist's
subject furnishes the first element. Eve-
ry subject has its own law of representa-
tion, which the artist must clearly under-
stand if he would depict it truly upon the
canvas. This comprehension is to be ac-
quired only by his forgetting himself in
the contemplation of his subject. It is
the power of doing this which we prize so
highly in poetry under the term objec-
tivity. By thus treating the subject the
artist becomes a splendid organ, through
which nature speaks like a history to
sentient man : thus followed out, the ma-
jesty of Rome in Rubens, and the cheer-
fulness of nature in Claude, are conveyed
to posterity. The second element of
composition is fixed by the given space
which is to be filled by color, form and
light, harmonized according to the laws
of art ; then a history adorning a space
becomes the property of art. The third
element lies in the mind of the artist ; as
" woman's judgment is tinged by her af-
fections," so the artist who cannot imbue
his subject with his own feelings will fail
to animate his canvas. For though every
legitimate subject dictates the laws of its
representation, yet every cultivated man
sees objects in his own light, and no one
may say that he alone sees rightly. He
who knows not how to give that to his
pictures, by which they become, not from
manner but from subject, his pictures, is
no artist, but a mere copyist, even could
he imitate Phidias or Scopas perfectly.
Excess of individualism leads the artist
to depict himself instead of the subject, to
sacrifice this is a favorite caprice, and in
allegorizing his own dreams to confuse
the action as well as the spectator; but
if he represent it truthfully, working it
with pictorial effect and stamping it with
I his genius, he has composed, and his work
is completed, satisfying all requisitions.
COMPO'SITOR. in printing, the work-

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101

man who arranges the types in lines and
pages, and prepares them for being
printed off.

COMPURGA'TION, an ancient mode
of trial both in civil and criminal cases.
In the latter, by the law of the Saxons
(which William the Conqueror confirmed
in this respect, at least as to its main
features,) the accused party was allowed
to clear himself by the oath of as many
of his neighbors to his innocence as
amounted in collective worth, according
to the legal arithmetic of the Anglo-
Saxons, to one pound if he could in the
first instance (being a villein) obtain the
testimony of his lord that he had not
been previously convicted. If other-
wise, he is bound to undergo ordeal, or
wage his law with a greater number of
compurgators. Compurgation in crimi-
nal eases was abolished in general by
Henry II. 's assizes, the ordeal being en-
forced in lieu of it.

CON, in language, a Latin inseparable
preposition or prefix to other words.
Ainsworth remarks that con and cum
have the same signification, but that cum
is used separately, and con in composi-
tion. In the phrase pro and con,, for and
against, con denotes the negative side of
a question.

CONCATENATION, a term chiefly
used in speaking of the mutual depen-
dence of second causes upon each other.

CONCEPTION, in mental philosophy,
that faculty or act of the mind by which
we combine a number of individuals to-
gether by means of some mark or char-
acter common to them all. We may ob-
serve, for instance, that equilateral, isos-
celes and scalene triangles all agree in
one respect, that of having three sides ;
and from this perceived similitude we
form the conception triangle.

CONCERTAN'TE, in music, a term
expressive of those parts of a musical
composition that sing or play throughout
the piece, as distinguished from those
that play only occasionally in particular
places.

CONCER'TO, in music, a piece com-
posed for a particular instrument, which
bears the greatest part in it, or in which
the performance is partly alone and
partly accompanied by other parts.

CONCES'SIO-N, in rhetoric or debate,
the yielding, granting, or allowing to the
opposite party some point or fact that may
bear dispute, in order to show that even
admitting the point conceded, the cause
can be maintained on other grounds.

CONCET'TI. (Rendered by English

writers on rhetoric, conceits.) Ingenious
thoughts or turns of expression, points,
jeux d'esprit, &c., in serious composition.
In the 16th century, the taste for this
species of brilliancy, often false and al-
ways dangerous, spread rapidly in the
poetical composition of European nations,
especially in Spain and Italy ; where the
name of concetti was applied rather in a
good than in a bad sense, the critical
taste being much perverted. Tasso is
not free from concetti. After his time
they became offensively prominent in
Italian poetry for a century afterwards :
Marino and Filicaia offer strong exam-
ples. In France, the mode of concetti
was equally prevalent in the 17th cen-
tury, and was peculiarly in vogue with
the fair critics of the Hotel Rambouillet,
so well known by Moliere's " Preeieuses
Ridicules." In England, Donne and Cow-
ley are instances of a style full of concetti.

CONCIN'NOUS, in music, an epithet
for a performance in concerts, which is
executed with delicacy, grace, and spirit.

CONCIONATO'RES, in law, the com-
mon councilmen of the city of London.

CONCLAMA'TIO, in antiquity, the
funeral cry over the body of a deceased
person previous to its being burnt ; by
which it was expected to recall, as it
were, the soul of the deceased from ever-
lasting sleep.

CON'CLAVE the place in which the
cardinals of the Romish church meet for
the election of a pope. It consists of a
range of small cells or apartments stand-
ing in a line along the halls or galleries
of the Vatican. Conclave is also used
for the assembly or meeting of the car-
dinals when shut up for the election of a
pope. This begins the day following the
funeral of the deceased pontiff. The car-
dinals are locked up in separate apart-
ments and meet once a day in the chapel
of the Vatican, (or other pontifical pal-
ace,) where their votes, given on a slip
of paper, are examined. This continues
until two thirds of the votes are found to
be in favor of a particular candidate.
The ambassadors of France, Austria, and
Spain have each the right to put in a veto
against the election of one cardinal, who
may be unacceptable to their respective
courts.

CONCLUSION, in logic, that proposi-
tion which is inferred from certain former
propositions, termed the premises of the
argument.

CON'CORD, in music, the union of two
or more sounds in such a manner as to
render them agreeable to the ear. Con-

102

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[con

cord and harmony are, in fact, the same
thing, though custom has applied them
differently ; for as concord expresses the
agreeable effects of two sounds in con-
sonance, so harmony expresses the agree-
ment of a greater number of sounds in
consonance. In grammar, that part of
syntax which treats of the agreement of
words in a sentence. In law, an agree-
ment between the parties in a fine, made
by leave of the court.

CONCORDANCE, a dictionary of the
Bible, in which every word is given with
references to the book, chapter, and verse,
in which it occurs, for the purpose of en-
abling the student to collate with facility
one passage with another in the view of
determining its meaning. The importance
of this class of works was early appre-
ciated, and a vast deal of labor has been
expended in compiling them. Concord-
ances have been made of the Greek
Septuagint, the Greek Testament, the
Latin Vulgate, and the English Old and
New Testaments. The first concordance
was compiled by Cardinal Hugues de St.
Cher, who died in 1262. The best Eng-
lish concordance is that of Cruden, which
appeared in 1737, and still maintains its
ground as an authority.

CONCOR'DAT, an agreement or con-
vention upon ecclesiastical matters made
between the Pope and some temporal
sovereign, as that between Pius VII.
and Bonaparte in 1802, by which the Ro-
man Catholic religion was re-established
in France ; on which occasion the Pope
recognized the new division of France
into 60 sees, instead of the much greater
number which had existed before tho
revolution, the payment of the clergy
from the national revenues, and the ap-
pointment of the bishops by the civil au-
thority. Originally the term was applied
to agreements regulating mutual rights
between bishops, abbots, priors. &c.

CON'CRETE. in architecture and en-
gineering, a mass composed of stone
clippings or ballast cemented together
through the medium of lime and sand,
usually employed in making foundations
where the soil is of itself too light or
boggy, or otherwise insufficient for the
reception of the walls.

CON'CRETE TERM, in logic, is so
called when the notion derived from the
view taken of any object is expressed with
a reference to, or in conjunction with, the
object that furnished the notion ; as
" foolish," or " fool." When the notion
is expressed without any such reference,
it is called an abstract term ; as, "folly."

CONDITION, in law, a clause in a
bond or other contract containing terms
or a stipulation that it is to be performed,
and in case of failure, the penalty of the
bond is to be incurred. We speak of a
good condition in reference to wealth
and poverty, or to health and sickness,
&c. Or, we say, a nation with an ex-
hausted treasury is not in a condition to
make war ; religion affords consolation
to man in every condition of life. Con-
ditional propositions, in logic, such as
consist of two parts connected together
by a conditional particle. Conditional
syllogism, a syllogism where the major
is a conditional proposition.

CONDOTTIE'RI. in Italian history,
a class of mercenary adventurers in the
14th and 15th centuries, who commanded
military bands, amounting to armies, on
their own account, and sold their services
for temporary engagements to sovereign
princes and states. One of the earliest
and most famous among those leaders
was the Englishman Sir John Hawkwood,
who commanded in various Italian wars
about the time of Edward III. The
bands under command of the condottieri
were well armed and equipped. Their
leaders had, in many instances, consider-
able military skill ; but as they took no
interest in national contests, except to
receive pecuniary advantages, the wars
between them became a sort of bloodless
contest, in which the only object of each
party was to take as many prisoners as
possible for the sake of the ransom. This
singular system of warfare was only put
an end to by the more serious military
operations of the French, who invaded
Italy under Charles VIII.

CON'DUIT, a subterraneous or con-
cealed aqueduct. The ancient Romans
excelled in them, and formed the lower
parts, wheron the water ran, of cement
of such an excellent quality, that it has
become as hard as the stone itself which
it was employed to join. Conduits, in
modern times, are generally pipes of
wood, iron, or pottery, for conveying the
water from the main spring, or reser-
voirs, to the different places where it is re-
quired.

CONFARREA'TION, in antiquity, a
ceremony observed by the Romans in
their nuptial solemnities. It consisted
of the offering of some pure wheaten
bread, and rehearsing, at the same time,
a certain formula in presence of the
high-priest and at least ten witnesses.

CONFEC'TION, a sweetmeat, or any-
thing prepared with sugar; it also sig-

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

103

nifies a liquid or soft electuary, of which
there are various sorts.

CONFECTOR, an officer in the Ro-
man games, whose business was to kill
any beast that was dangerous.

CONFEDERACY, in law, a combina-
tion of two or more persons to do some
damage or injury to another, or to com-
mit some unlawful act.

CONFEDERATION, a league, or
compact, for mutual support, particu-
larly of princes, nations, or states.

CONFES'SION, in a legal sense, the
acknowledgment of something prejudicial
to the person making the declaration.
A conlession, according to law, must never
be divided, but always taken entire ; nor
must a criminal be condemned upon his
own confession, without other concurring
proofs. In theology, a public declara-
tion of one's faith, or the faith of a pub-
lic body. Also a part of the Liturgy, in
which an acknowledgment of guilt is
made by the whole congregation. Au-
ricular confession, a private confession
or acknowledgment of one's s+ns made
by each individual in the Romish church
to the priest or father confessor. It is so
called because it is made by whispering
in his ear. Among the Jews, it was a
custom, on the annual feast of expiation,
for the high-priest to make confession of
sins to God in the name of the whole
people.

CONFES'SOR, a Roman Catholic
priest, who hears confessions, and is
empowered to grant absolution to those
who confess. -The seat, or cell, wherein
the priest or confessor sits to hear con-
fessions, is called the confessional.

CONFIRMATION, the act or cere-
mony in the Christian church of laying
on of hands, by which baptized persons
are confirmed in their baptismal vows.
This ceremony is performed by the
bishop ; and the antiquity of it is, by
all ancient writers, carried as high as the
apostles, upon whose example and prac-
tice it is founded. Confirmation, in law,
an assurance of title, by the conveyance
of an estate or right in esse, from one
person to another, by which a possession
is made perfect, &c. Confirmation, in
rhetoric, the third part of an oration,
wherein the orator undertakes to prove
the truth of the proposition advanced in
his narration.

CONFISCATION, in law. the condem-
nation and adjudication of goods or effects
to the public treasury, as the bodies and
effects of criminals, traitors, &c.

CON'FLICT OF LAWS, the opposition

between the municipal laws of different
countries, in the case of an individual
who may have acquired rights or become
subject to duties within the limit of more
than one state.

CONFORM'IST, in ecclesiastical con-
cerns, one that conforms to the establish-
ed church ; the seceders or dissenters from
which are called Non-conformists.

CON'GE, in architecture, a mould in
form of a quarter round, or a cavetto,
which serves to separate two members
from one another; such as that which
joins the shaft of the column to the cinc-
ture ; called also apophyge.

CONGlS D'ELIKE, (French,) in eccle-
siastical affairs, the king's permission to
a dean and chapter in the time of a va-
cancy, to choose a bishop.

CONGE'RIES, a collection of several
particles or bodies united into one mass
or aggregate.

CON'GIARY, in Roman antiquity, a
present of wine or oil, given to the people
by their emperors, and so called from the
congius, wherewith it was measured out
to them. Sometimes, however, the con-
giary was made in money or corn.

CON'GIUS, a liquid measure of the
ancient Romans, containing the eighth
part of the amphora, or rather more than
a gallon.

CONGREGATIONALISTS, in church
history, a sect of Protestants who reject
all church government, except that of a
single congregation, which, they main-
tain, has the right to choose its own pastor
and govern itself.

CON'GRESS, an assembly of envoys,
commissioners, deputies, &c. from differ-
ent courts, who meet to concert measures
for their common good, or to adjust their
mutual concerns. Having exchanged
their credentials, the envoys of the differ-
ent powers carry on their negotiations
directly with each other, or by the inter-
vention of a mediator, either in a com-
mon hall, or in their own residences by
turns, or, if there is a mediator, in his
residence. These negotiations are con-
tinued either by writing or by verbal
communio.ation, until the commissioners
can agree upon a treaty, or until one of
the powers dissolves the congress by re-
calling its minister. Congress of the
United States of America. The assem-
bly of senators and representatives of the
several states of North America, forming
the legislature of the United States, is
designated, in the constitution of the
general governmemt, by this title. It
consists of a senate and a house of repre-

104

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CON

Bentatives, each constituting a distinct
and independent branch. The house of
representatives is chosen every second
year, by the people of the several states;
and the voters and electors are required
to have the same qualifications as are
requisite for choosing the members of
the most numerous branch of the state
legislature of the state in which they
vote. The number of representatives is
appointed according to the population of
each state, and is altered every ten years,
when the census is taken by authority.
The manner of apportioning the congres-
sional representation was fixed by an act
passed May 23, 1850. After March 3,
1853, the House of Representatives, un-
less otherwise ordained by congress, is to
consist of 233 members. The apportion-
ment is made by adding to the number
of free persons three fifths of the number
of slaves : the representative population,
thus found, divided by 233, gives the ratio
of apportionment ; the representative
population of each state, divided by this
ratio, shows the number of representa-
tives to which the state is entitled. To
the aggregate thus obtained is added a
number sufficient to make up the whole
number of 233 members ; this additional
number is apportioned among the states
having the largest fractions. It is, how-
ever, provided by the constitution that
each state shall be entitled to at least one
representative. The senate is composed of
two members from each state : the sena-
tors are chosen for six years by the legis-
lature of the state. The house of repre-
sentatives chooses its own speaker : the
vice-president of the United States is.
ex-offieio, president of the senate. Bills
for revenue purposes must originate in
the house of representatives ; but are
liable to the proposal of amendments by
the senate. The senate has the sole pow-
er of trying impeachments ; but can only
convict by a majority of two thirds of the
members present, and its sentence ex-
tends only to removal from office and in-
capacitation for holding it. The regular
meeting of congress is on the first Mon-
day in December annually. Every bill
which passes the two houses is sent to the
president for approval or disapproval ; in
the latter case, he returns it, with his
reasons, to the house in which it origin-
ated : if, on reconsideration, it is passed
again by a majority of two-thirds in each
house, it becomes law. The powers of
congress are strictly limited, and sepa-
rated from those of the various state
legislatures, by the constitution.

CONISTE'RIUM, in ancient archi-
tecture, a room in the gymnasium ano
palajstra, wherein the wrestlers, having
been anointed with oil, were sprinkled
over with dust, that they might lay firm-
er hold of their antagonists.

CON'JOINT DEGREES, in music, a
term used of two or more notes which
immediately follow each other in the
order of the scale.

CON'JOINT TETRACHORDS,
in music, two tetrachords or fourths, in
which the same note is the highest of one
and the lowest of the other.

CONJUGATION, in grammar, is to
verbs what declension is to substantives
the sum total of the inflexions which
they admit, corresponding to the various
circumstances of time or mood under
which an action is conceived to take
place.

CONJUNCTION, in grammar, that
part of speech which expresses the rela-
tion of propositions or judgments to each
other.

CONJUNCTIVE MOOD, that modi-
fication of the verb which expresses the
dependence of the event intended on cer-
tain conditions.

CONNOISSEUR', a critical judge or
master of any art, particularly of paint-
ing, sculpture, and the belles lettres.
The connoisseur is the true friend of Art ;
he judges of works from their intrinsic
excellence, regardless of the influence or
bias of popular names upon the indis-
criminating crowd. He is prompt to re-
cognize, seek out, and foster genius in its
early struggles and obscurity, and help
to occupy that position too frequently
usurped by the pretender. The qualities
necessary to constitute a connoisseur are
a natural feeling for art, a keen per-
ception, and a sound judgment ; by study
and observation he has become familiar
with the technics of art, the manner and
method of various schools and masters.
He has no prejudices or predilections ;
hence he is impartial. He can appreci-
ate defects as well as merits, and distin-
guish an original from a copy.

CON'QUEST, the right over property
or territory acquired in war. It presup-
poses a just war, and is generally admit-
ted as a part of the law of nations. Con-
quest may respect either persons or
things : it may apply to a whole nation,
or to a single town or province : and it
may be temporary or permanent. Where
persons are not found in arms, but are
included as inhabitants of a town or prov
ince which has surrendered, they are

CON]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

105

treated generally as subjects. The origi-
nal allegiance to their own government is
suspended, and they come under the im-
plied obligation to the conqueror, to sub-
mit to his orders, and to demean them-
selves, for the time, as faithful subjects.
Under such circumstances, the conqueror
generally leaves them in possession of
their property, and punishes them only
for rebellious or traitorous conduct. It
is not usual, in modern times, to change
the fundamental laws of a conquered
country ; but the sovereign power of the
conqueror so to do is conceded by the law
of nations.

CONSANGUINITY, the relation
which subsists between persons who are
sprung from the same stock or common
ancestor, in distinction from affinity or
relation by marriage. It terminates in
the sixth or seventh degree, except in the
succession to the crown, in which case it
is continued to infinity. Marriage is pro-
hibited by the church to the fourth de-
gree of consanguinity inclusive.

CON'SCIENCE, in ethics, a secret tes-
timony of the soul, whereby it gives its
approbation to things that are naturally
good, and condemns those that are evil.
Some writers term conscience the " moral
sense," and consider it as an original fac-
ulty of our nature ; others allege that our
notions of right and wrong are not to be
deduced from a single principle or facul-
ty, but from various powers of the under-
standing and will.

CONSCIOUSNESS, the knowledge of
sensations and mental operations, or of
what passes in one's own mind.

CON'SCRIPT, in Roman antiquity, an
appellation given to the senators of Rome,
who were called conscript-fathers, on ac-
count of their names being entered in the
register of the senate. In the French
armies, an enrolled soldier, or recruit.

CONSCRIP'TION, the enlisting the
inhabitants of a country capable of bear-
ing arms, by a compulsory levy, at the
pleasure of the government. The name
is derived from the military constitution
of ancient Rome. Under the consulship,
all persons capable of bearing arms were
obliged, under penalty of losing their for-
tune and liberty, to assemble in the Cam-
pus Martius, or near the capitol, where
the consuls, seated in their curule chairs,
made the levy by the assistance of the
legionary tribunes. The consuls ordered
such as they pleased to be cited out of
each tribe, and every one was obliged to
answer to his name, after which as many
were chosen as were wanted. France, in

the beginning of the revolution, declared
it the duty and honor of every citizen to
serve in the army of his country. Every
French citizen was born a soldier, and
obliged to serve in the army from sixteen
to forty years of age : from forty to sixty
he belonged to the national guard. Eve-
ry year the young men of the military
age were assembled, and distributed in
the different military divisions ; and it
was decided by lot who, among the able-
bodied men of suita.ble age, should take
arms. Thus it was that those prodigious
masses were so quickly raised, and sent
to the field of slaughter.

CONSECRA'TION, the act of devoting
and dedicating anything to the service
and worship of God. Among the ancient
Christians, the consecration of churches
was performed with a great deal of pious
solemnity. In England, churches have
been always consecrated with particular
ceremonies, the form of which was left to
the discretion of the bishop. Consecra-
tion was also a religious rite among the
Romans, by which they set any person or
thing apart for sacred purposes, as their
high-priests ; or made it sacred, or a fit
object of divine worship ; as the emperors,
their wives, or children, who were in this
manner enrolled among the number of
their gods. This was sometimes called
apotheosis, but on medals it is distin-
guished by the word consecratio, with an
altar or some other sacred symbol.

CONSEN'TIAN GODS, a term by
which the Latins distinguished their
twelve chief deities Juno, Vesta, Miner-
va, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, Mercury,
Jupiter, Neptune, Vulcan, and Apollo.
The origin of these deities was Italian, and
distinct from those of the Greeks ; but as
the literature of Rome took its tone and
color from Greece, so its mythology was
mixed up with that of the latter country,
those deities whose functions most re-
sembled each other being confounded, till
the above names became regarded as
nothing more than the Latin appellations
of the Greek divinities.

CON'SEQUENCE, that which follows
as an inference of truth and reason, from
admitted premises or arguments. Thus,
" every rational being is accountable to
his Maker ;" man is a rational being ;
the consequence then must be, that man
is accountable to his Maker.

CONSERVA'TOR, an officer appointed
for the security and preservation of the
privileges of some cities, corporations,
and communities. The ancient otlice of
conservator of the peace is now performed

106

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CON

by all judges and magistrates, but par-
ticularly by what we now term justices
of the peace.

CONSERVATORY, a term sometimes
used for a green-house. It is, properly,
a large green-house for exotics, in which
the plants are planted in beds and bor-
ders, and not in tubs or pots, as in the
common green-house. In various parts
of Italy and France there are musical
schools, called conservatories, which are
expressly intended for the scientific culti-
vation of musical talents, and from which
many first-rate composers, as well as vo-
calists, have attained their proficiency.

CONSIDERATION, in law, the mate-
rial cause or ground of a contract, with-
out which the party contracting would
not be bound. A consideration is either
express or implied; express, when the
thing to be given or done is specified;
implied, when no specific consideration is
agreed upon, but justice requires it, and
the law implies it : as when a man labors
for another, without stipulating for wages,
the law infers that he shall receive a rea-
sonable consideration.

CONSIGNMENT of goods, in com-
merce, is the delivering or making them
over to another : thus, goods are said to
be consigned to a factor, when they are
sent to him for sale, <fcc. He who con-
signs the goods is called the consignor:
and the person to whom they are sent is
the consignee.

CONSIST'ENCE, or CONSISTENCY,
that state of a body in which its compo-
nent parts remain fixed. Also, congruity
and uniformity in opinions and actions.

CONSISTO'RIUM, in antiquity, a
council-house or place of audience.

CONSIS'TORY, an assembly of eccle-
siastical persons; also certain spiritual
courts are so called which are holden by
the bishops in each diocese. At Rome
the consistory denotes the judicial court
constituted by the college of cardinals.
The representative body of the reformed
church in France is styled Consistory ; a
title and assembly originated by Calvin.

CONSIS'TORY COURT, the place or
court in which the session or assembly of
ecclesiastical persons is held by the bishop
or his chancellor.

CONSOLIDATION, in the civil law,
signifies the uniting the possession or
profit of land with the property, and
vice versa. In the ecclesiastical law, it
is the uniting two benefices into one by
assent of the ordinary, patron, and in-
cumbent.

CON'SOLE, in architecture, a bracket

or shoulder-piece : or an ornament cut
upon the key of an arch, which has a
projecture, and on occasion serves to sup-
port little cornices, figures, busts, and
vases.

CON'SOLS, in commerce, funds forme 1
by the consolidation (of which word it is
an abbreviation) of different annuities,
which had been severally formed into a
capital.

CON'SONANCE, in music, the agree-
ment of two sounds simultaneously pro-
duced, the one grave and the other acute

CON'SONANT, a letter so named be
eause it is considered as being sounded
only in connection with a vowel. But
some consonants have no sound, even
when united with a vowel, and others
have a very imperfect sound ; hence
some are called mutes, and others semi-
vowels.

CONSONANTE, in music, an Italian
epithet for all agreeable intervals.

CONSPIR'ACY, a combination of men
for an evil purpose ; or an agreement be-
tween them to commit some crime in con-
cert ; as, a conspiracy against the govern-
ment. In law, it signifies an agreement
between two or more, falsely to indict, or
procure to be indicted, an innocent per-
son of felony.

CON SPIR'ITO, in music, an Italian
phrase, denoting that the part is to be
played with spirit.

CON'ST ABLE, a civil officer, anciently
of great dignity, as the Lord High Con-
stable of England, and also the constables
or keepers of castles, Ac. It is now the
title of an officer under the magistrates
for the preservation of the peace, whose
duty principally consists in seizing and
securing persons guilty of tumultuary of-
fences. In the United States, constables
are town or city officers of the peace, with
powers similar to those possessed by the
constables in Great Britain. They are
invested also with powers to execute civil
as well as criminal process, and to levy
executions. In New England, they are
elected by the inhabitants of towns in le-
gal meeting.

CONSTANT WHITE, PERMANENT
WHITE, a pigment prepared from the
sulphate of barytes, useful in water-
color painting, possessing great body. It
is very poisonous.

CON'STAT, a certificate given out of
the exchequer to a person who intends to
plead or move for a discharge of any-
thing in that court. The effect of it is to
show what appears upon the record, re-
specting the matter in question.

AND THE FINE ARTS.

107

CONSTELLATION, an assemblage or
system of several stars, expressed or rep-
resented under the name and figure of
some animal or other object, as a bear, a
ship, and the like ; whence they have de-
rived those appellations which are conve-
nient in describing the stars. The divi-
sion of the heavens into constellations is
very ancient, probably coeval with astron-
omy itself.

CONSTITUENT, in politics, one who
by his vote constitutes or elects a member
of parliament. Constituents, in physics,
the elementary or essential parts of any
substance.

CONSTITUTION, in politics, any
form or principle of government, regu-
larly constituted. Constitutions are either
democratic, aristocratic, or of a mixed
character. They are, 1. Democratic,
when the fundamental law guarantees to
every citizen equal rights, protection, and
participation, direct or indirect, in the
government, such as the constitutions of
the United States of America, and of
some cantons of Switzerland. 2. Aristo~
cratic, when the constitution establishes
privileged classes, as the nobility and
clergy, and entrusts the government en-
tirely to them, or allows them a very
disproportionate share of it : such a con-
stitution was that of Venice. 3. Of a
mixed character ; to which latter division
belong some monarchical constitutions,
-which recognize the existence of a sove-
reign whose power is modified by other
branches of government, of a more or
less populous cast. In the United States,
the constitution is paramount to the
statutes or laws enacted by the legisla-
ture, limiting and controlling its power ;
and even the legislature itself is created,
and its powers designated, by the consti-
tution. Apostolic constitutions, an an-
cient code of regulations, respecting the
doctrine and discipline of the church, pre-
tended by some to have been promul-
gated by the apostles, and collected by
Clemens Romanus. They appear to have
been at one time admitted into the canon
of scripture. Their authenticity has been
a subject of much dispute. They have
been printed together with the so-called
canons of the apostles.

CONSTRUCTION, in a general sense,
the manner of putting together the parts
of a building, or of a machine, &c. In
grammar, syntax, or the proper arrange-
ment of words in a sentence. Also, the
manner of understanding the arrange-
ment of words, or of understanding facts :
thus we say, "let us give the author's

words in a rational and consistent con-
struction."

CONSUA'LIA, in Roman antiquity, a
festival instituted by Romulus, and dedi-
cated by him to Neptune, whom he termed
Consus, or the god of counsel, in conse-
quence of his successful scheme on the
Sabine virgins.

CONSUBSTANTIAL, in theology, an
epithet signifying of the same substance :
thus, in the articles of the Church of
England, Christ is declared consubstan-
tial, or of one substance with the Father.

CONSUBSTANTIATION, a tenet of
the Lutheran church, the members of
which maintain that after consecration of
the sacramental elements, the body and
blood of our Saviour are substantially
present, together with the substance of
the bread and wine, which is called con-
substantiation, or impanation.

CON'SUL, in the Roman common-
wealth, the title of the two chief magis-
trates, whose power was, in a certain de-
gree, absolute, but who were chosen only
for one year. The authority of the two
consuls was equal ; yet the Valerian law
gave the right of priority to the elder,
and the Julian law to him who had the
greater number of children ; and this was
generally called consul major or prior.
In the first ages of Rome they were elect-
ed from patrician families ; but in the
year of Rome 388, the people obtained
the privilege of electing one of the con-
suls froia their own body, and sometimes
both were plebeians. In modern usage,
the name consul is given to an officer ap-
pointed to reside in a foreign country, to
protect the interests of trade, and to aid
his government in any commercial trans-
actions with such country. Such officers
appear to have been first employed by
the Italian republics, to protect their
merchants engaged in trade in the cities
of the Levant. The consuls of European
states in that region, and in Africa, are
at the present time officers of more im-
portance than those established in the
cities of Christendom : as they exercise,
according to treaties, civil jurisdiction
over the citizens of their respective states.
In general, the consul is not regarded as
a minister or diplomatic functionary, and
is subject to the civil authorities of the
place where he resides. Consuls, in
French history, were the persons (Bona-
parte, Sieyes, and Ducos) to whom, after
the dissolution of the Directory in No-
vember 1799, was entrusted the provi-
sional government of the country, and at
whose suggestion it was agreed that

108

CYCLOPKDIA OF LITERATURE

[CON

France should be permanently subjected
to consular authority.

CON'S ULARS, the title given to Ro-
man citizens who had been dignified with
the office of consul, and consequently
were honored with a certain precedence
in the senate.

CONSULTATION, a council for de-
liberation ; as, a consultation of physi-
cians was called.

CONTA'GION, the propagation of spe-
cific diseases from person to person. Con-
tagious poisons communicate the prop-
erty of producing similar poisons : the
small-pox is a characteristically conta-
gious disease. By some writers the term
has been limited to diseases requiring
actual contact for their communication ;
but contagious matter appears often
transmissible by the air, hence the terms
immediate and mediate contagion. Where
diseases are propagated through the me-
dium of the air, they are generally called
infectious.

CONTEMPT', in law, disobedience to
the rules, orders, or process of a court
of competent authority. Contempt in
court is punishable by fine and imprison-
ment : for contempt out of court attach-
ment may be granted.

CONTENTS', anything or things held,
included, or comprehended within a limit
or line; as, the contents of a cask or
bale, the contents of a book, &c.

CON'TEXT, the parts of a discourse
which precede or follow the sentence
quoted ; for instance, the sense of a pas-
sage of Scripture is often illustrated by
the context.

CON'TINENT, in geography, a great
extent of land, not disjoined or interrupt-
ed by a sea ; or a connected tract of land
of great extent, as the Eastern or West-
ern continent. The continental powers,
those whose territories are situated on
the continent of Europe.

CONTINENTAL SYSTEM, a term
given to a plan devised by Napoleon to
exclude England from all intercourse
with the continent of Europe ; thereby
to prevent the importation of British
manufactures and commerce, and thus to
compel the English government to make
peace upon the terms prescribed by the
French ruler. The history of Napoleon's
continental system begins with the decree
of Berlin of Nov. 21, 1806, by which the
British islands were declared to be in a
state of blockade ; all commerce, inter-
course, and correspondence were prohib-
ited ; every Englishman found in France,
or in any country occupied by French

troops, was declared a prisoner of war;
all property belonging to Englishmen
fair prize, and all trade in English goods
entirely prohibited. Great Britain im-
mediately directed reprisals against the
Berlin decree ; prohibiting all neutral
vessels from sailing from one port to an-
other belonging to France, or one of her
allies, &c. This was met by counter-re-
prisals ; and for a long time a fierce and
most annoying system was carried on for
the annihilation of British commerce ;
the effects of which are still felt, from
the rival products and manufactures on
the continent to which the system gave
rise.

CONTINGENT, in politics, the pro-
portion (generally of troops) furnished by
one of several contracting powers in pur-
suance of an agreement.

CONTIN'UED BASS, in music, the
same as thorough bass. It receives the
name from its continuation through the
whole of a composition.

CONTORNIA'TI, in numismatics,
medals supposed to have been struck
about the period of Constantino the Great
and his immediate successors : they are
of bronze, with a flat impression, and
marked with peculiar furrows. (It. con-
torni, whence their name.) They bear
the figures of famous emperors or cele-
brated men. Their object is uncertain ;
but they have been supposed to be tickets
of admission to the public games of the
circus in Rome and Constantinople.

CON'TOUR, in the Fine Arts, the ex-
ternal lines which bound and terminate a
figure. The beauty of contour consists in
those lines being flowing, lightly drawn,
and sinuous. They must be carefully
and scientifically drawn, which cannot be
effected without a thorough knowledge
of anatomy.

CON'TRABAND, in commercial lan-
guage, goods exported from or imported
into a country against its laws. Contra-
band of war, such articles as a belliger-
ent has, by the law of nations, the right
of preventing a neutral from furnishing
to his enemy. Articles contraband of
war are, in general, arms and munitions
of war, and those out of which munitions
of war are made ; all these are liable to
be seized : but very arbitrary interpre-
tations have been affixed to the term by
powerful states, when able to enforce
them by arms. Thus, provisions are held
contraband of war when it is the object
to reduce the enemy to famine. But
with respect to these and other articles
not in their nature contraband, it seems

CON]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

109

to be the practice that the belligerent
should purchase them from the neutral
for a reasonable equivalent, instead of
confiscating.

CONTRABAS'SO, the largest of the
violin species of string and bowed instru-
ments, whereof it forms the lowest bass,
usually called the double bass.

CON'TR ACT, in civil law, the term usu-
ally applied to such agreements, whether
express or implied, as create, or are intend-
ed to create, a legal right, and correspond-
ing liability ; such right not attaching to
the possession of the subject matter of
the contract, except in equity, and that
indirectly, but subsisting both in equity
and law against the contracting party.

CONTRADICTORY PROPO-
SITION, in logic, are those which having
the same terms differ in quantity and in
quality. Contrary propositions are two
universals with the same terms, the one
negative and the other affirmative.

CONTRALT'O, in music, the part im-
mediately below the treble ; called also
the counter tenor.

CON'TRAST, in the fine arts, an op-
position of lines or colors to each other,
so contrived that the one gives greater
effect to the other. By means of contrast
energy and expression are given to a
subject, even when employed on inani-
mate forms. All art is indeed a system of
contrast : lights should contrast with
shadows, figures with figures, members
with members, and groups with groups.
It is this which gives life, soul, and mo-
tion to a composition.

CON'TRATENO'RE, in music, the
same as contralto.

CONTRIBUTION, in a general sense,
the act of giving to a common stock. In
a military sense, impositions upon a
country in the power of an enemy, which
are levied under various pretences, and
for various purposes, usually for the sup-
port of the army.

CONTROL'LER, in law, an overseer
or officer appointed to control or verify
the accounts of other officers.

CON'TUMACY, in law, a refusal to
appear in court when legally summoned,
or disobedience to its rules and orders.

CONVALES'CENCE, the insensible
recovery of health and strength after dis-
ease.

CON'VENT, a religious house, inhab-
ited by a society of monks or nuns.

CONVEN'TICLE, a private assembly
or meeting, for the exercise of religion ;
the word was at first an appellation of
reproach to the religious assemblies of

Wickliffe, in the reigns of Edward III.
and Richard II., and is now usually ap-
plied to a meeting of dissenters from the
established church. As the word conven-
ticle, in strict propriety, denotes an un-
lawful assembly, it cannot be justly ap-
plied to the assembling of persons in
places of worship, which are licensed ac-
cording to the requisitions of law.

CONVEN'TION, in law, an extraor-
dinary assembly of the estates of the
realm. In military affairs, an agree-
ment entered into between two bodies of
troops opposed to each other ; or an
agreement previous to a definitive treaty.
National convention, the name of the
assembly by which the government of
France was conducted during a period of
the revolution.

CONVERSION, in a theological sense,
that change in man by which the enmity
of the heart to the laws of CJod, and the
obstinacy of the will are subdued, and
are succeeded by supreme love to God
and his moral government ; and a ref-
ormation of life. Conversion of a prop-
osition, in logic, is a changing of the
subject into the place of the predicate,
and still retaining the quality of the prop-
osition.

CON'VERT, a person who changes his
religion. Individuals, of what faith so-
ever, who abandon their own creed and
embrace Christianity are called converts,
in contradistinction to apostates, applied
generally to Christians who adopt an-
other religion.

CONVEYANCE, in law, a deed or
instrument by which lands, &c., are con-
veyed or made over to another.

CONVEY'ANCER, one who professes
to draw deeds, mortgages, and convey-
ances of estates. This profession requires
great knowledge of the law, and a solid
and clear understanding ; for on convey-
ancing the security of property greatly
depends.

CON'VICT, in law, a person found
guilty of a crime alleged against him,
either by the verdict of a jury, or other
legal decision.

CONVIC'TION, the act of proving
guilty of an offence charged against a
person by a legal tribunal. Also, the
state of being sensible of guilt ; as, by con-
9iction a sinner is brought to repentance.

CONVIV'IUM, in antiquity, a banquet
or entertainment given to a friendly
party.

CONVOCA'TION, an assembly of the
clergy of England, which at present is
merely nominal. Its province is stated

110

CVCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[coi*

to be the enactment of canon-law, subject
to the license of the king ; and the ex-
amination and censuring of all heretical
and schism atical books and persons; but
from its judicial proceedings lies an ap-
peal to the king in chancery, or his dele-
gates. It is held during the session of
parliament, and consists of an upper and
a lower house : in the upper sit the bish-
ops, and in the lower the inferior clergy,
who are represented by their proctors,
and all the deans and archdeacons ; in
all, 143 divines.

CON'VOY, ships of war which accom-
pany merchantmen in time of war, to
protect them from the attacks of the
enemy. By land, any body of troops
which accompany provision, ammunition,
or other property for protection.

COPE, an ecclesiastical vestment, like
a cloak (which it originally was, and used
to protect the wearer from the inclemency
of the weather,) worn in processions, at
vespers, during the celebration of mass,
by some of the assistant clergy, at bene-
diction, consecration, and other ecclesias-
tical functions. Its form is an exact semi-
circle, without sleeves, but furnished with
a hood, and is fastened across the breast
with a morse or clasp. Copes were orna-
mented with embroidery and jewels, (ap-
parells,) wrought with elaborate splendor,
at a very early period. In the thirteenth
century they became the most costly and
magnificent of all the ecclesiastical vest-
ments.

CO'PECK, a small Russian coin, equal
to about one farthing English.

COPER'NICAN SYSTEM, that sys-
tem of the universe which was anciently
taught by Pythagoras, and afterwards
revived by Copernicus, a Polish astron-
omer. According to this system, the sun
is supposed to be placed in the centre,
and all the other bodies to revolve round
it in a particular order ; which theory is
now universally adopted, under the name
of the Solar System.

CO'PING, in architecture, the upper
covering or top course of a wall, usually
of stone, and wider than the wall itself,
in order to let the rain water fall clear
from the wall.

COPTER-PLATE, a plate of copper
on which figures are engraven ; also the
impression taken from that plate. Cop*
per-plate printing, is performed by means
of what is called a rolling-press. The en-
graved plate is covered with ink, made of
oil and Frankfort black, then cleanly
wiped on the smooth parts, and laid on
wet soft paper ; and on being passed be-

tween two cylinders with great force, the
impression of the engraved part is per
fectly transferred to the paper.

COP'PICE, or COPSE, a wood of small
growth, cut at certain times, and used
principally for fuel.

COPTIC, the language of the Copts,
or anything pertaining to those people,
who are the descendants of the ancient
Egyptians, and called Coptki or Copts,
as distinct from the Arabians and other
inhabitants of modern Egypt.

COP'ULA, the word that connects any
two terms in an affirmative or negative
proposition ; as " God made man ;" " Re-
ligion is indispensable to happiness."

COP'ULATIVE PROPOSITIONS, in
logic, those where the subject and predi-
cate are so linked together, by copulative
conjunctions, that they may be all sever-
ally affirmed or denied one of another.
"Science and literature enlighten the
mind, and greatly increase our intellec-
tual enjoyments."

COP'Y, in law, signifies the transcript
of any original writing, as the copy of a
patent, charter, deed, &c. A common
deed cannot be proved by a copy or coun-
terpart, where the original may be pro-
cured. But if the deed be enrolled, cer-
tifying an attested copy is proof of the
enrolment, such copy may be given in
evidence. Copy, among printers, denotes
the manuscript or original of a book, giv-
en to be printed. Also, when we speak
of a book, or a set of books, we say a
copy ; as, a copy of the Scriptures, a copy
of Sir Walter Scott's works, &c. Copy,
in the fine arts, is a multiplication or re-
production of a work, whether painting,
statue, or engraving, by another hand
than the original. If a master copies his
own picture, we call it merely a repeti-
tion, which the French designate by the
term doublette. Copies are of three kinds ;
the most general are those in which the
copyist imitates the original with anxious
exactitude ; in this case the difficulty of
copying is but slight. The second kind is
where the copyist avoids exact imitation,
but renders the original freely in its prin-
cipal traits. These copies, exact imita-
tions in style and coloring, are soon 'seen
to be apocryphal pictures. The third
and most important kind of copy is, that
in which the picture is imitated with the
freedom of a skilful hand, but at the same
time with a truthful feeling of the origi-
nal, and with the inspiration of geniu?,
finding satisfaction not in copying, but in
an imitation little short of creation.
COP'YHOLD, a tenure of landed prop-

COR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

Ill

erty, by which the tenant holds his land
by copy of court roll of the manor at the
will of the lord, or rather, according to
the custom of tho manor by which such
estate is discernible.

COP'YRIGHT, the exclusive right of
printing and publishing copies of any lit-
erary performance, either by an author
in his own right, or vested in the hands
of those to whom he may have assigned
that right.

COQUETTE, a light, trifling girl, who
endeavors to attract admiration by mak-
ing a display of her amatory arts, from a
desire to gratify vanity, rather than to
secure a lover.

CO'RAL, a marine zoophyte, which,
when removed from the water, becomes
as hard as a stone. It is of a fine red
color, and will take a fine polish. It is
much used for small ornaments, but is
not so susceptible of a high rank in gem-
sculpture, as many precious stones. The
islands in the south seas are principally
coral rocks covered with earth, which
have been formed by them from the bot-
tom of the ocean. The coral fishery is
particularly followed in the Mediter-
ranean, on the coast of Prance. The
coral is attached to the sub-marine rocks,
as a tree is by its roots, but the branches,
instead of growing upwards, shoot down-
wards towards the bottom of the sea ; a
conformation favorable to breaking them
off, and bringing them up. For this kind
of fishing, eight men, who are excellent
divers, equip a felucca or small boat,
called commonly a coralline ; carrying
with them a large wooden cross, with
strong, equal, and long arms, each bear-
ing a stout bag-net. They attach a strong
rope to the middle of the cross, and let it
down horizontally into the sea, having
loaded its centre with a weight sufficient
to sink it. The diver follows the cross,
pushes one arm of it after another into
the hollows of the rocks, so as to entangle
the coral in the nets ; when his comrades
in the boats pull up the cross and its* ac-
companiments.

COR'BEIL, in fortification, a little
basket, to be filled with earth, and set
upon a parapet, to shelter men from the
fire of besiegers.

COR'BEL, in building, a short piece of
timber in a wall, jutting six or eight [
inches, in the manner of a shoulder '
piece ; sometimes placed for strength
under the semi-girder of a platform.

CORDELIER', in church history, a

fray friar or monk of the order of St.
rancis. The cordeliers wear a white

girdle or rope, tied with three knots, and
called the cord of St. Francis ; but the
design of it, they say, is to commemorate
the bands wherewith Christ was bound.

CORDELIERS'. This word, as we have
seen above, originally signified an order
of Franciscan monks ; but it was after-
wards given to a society of Jacobins in
France from 1792 to 1794, who were so
called from their place of meeting. They
were distinguished by the violence of
their speeches and conduct, and contribu-
ted not a little to the execrable crimes
which disgraced the French name and
nation during the early periods of revo-
lutionary anarchy.

COR'DON, in "fortification, a row of
stones jutting before the rampart, and
the basis of the parapet. The word cor-
don is still more used to denote a line or
series of military posts ; as. a cordon of
troops. Cordon also signifies a ribbon, as
the cordon bleu, the badge of the order
of the Holy Ghost.

COR'DOVAN, leather made of goat
skin, and named from Cordova in Spain.

CORE'IA, in antiquity, a festival in
honor of Proserpine.

CORIN'TIIIAN ORDER, in architect-
ure, one of the five orders of architecture.
Tho capital is a vase elegantly covered
with an abacus, and surrounded by two
tiers of leaves, one above the other;
from among which stalks spring out,
terminating at their summits in small
volutes at the external angles and cen-
tres of the abacus. The capitals of the
Tuscan, Doric, and Ionic orders appear
added to the tops of the shafts ; but the
Corinthian capital seems to grow out of
the column, varying in height from a
diameter and one sixth of the lower part
of the shaft to one diameter only ; such
last being the height of the capitals of
the temple at Tivoli. The entablature
of this order is variously decorated. The
architrave is usually profiled, with three
fascias of unequal height, though in
some specimens there are only two.
The frieze is often sculptured with
foliage, and the cornice decorated both
with modillions and dentils ; the former
having a sort of baluster front, with a
leaf under them ; and the latter, which
are cut into the body of the band, being
occasionally omitted, as are sometimes
even the modillions. The principal re-
maining ancient examples of the order at
Rome are in the Temple of Mars Ultor,
Portico of Seve*rus, the Forum of Nerva,
Temple of Vesta, Basilica of Antoninus,
the Pantheon. <fcc. <fcc.

112

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[COR

CORI'UM, a leath-
ern body armor, cut
into scale form, occa-
sionally worn by the
Roman soldiers. A
specimen is here giv-
en from Traj-
an's column.

CORN. Ears
of corn are the
attribute of
Ceres, and also
of Dike (god-
dess of justice)
and Juno Mar-
tialis, who is represented on a coin of Tri-
bonianus Gallus with some ears of corn
in the right hand. They were also the
symbol of the year. The harvest month,
September, was represented by a maiden
holding ears of corn, and Ceres wore a
wreath of them, or carried them in her
hand, as did also the Roman divinity
Bonus Eventus. The ears of corn were
also used as a symbol of tillage, fruitful-
ness, culture and prosperity, and we find
on the reverse of a silver coin of Meta-
pontis, an ear of barley, with a field-
mouse beside it ; the barley alludes to
the sacrifice of golden ears at Delphi, and
the mouse to Apollo Sminthios.

COR'NET, a commissioned officer in a
troop of horse, corresponding in rank
with the ensign of a battalion of infantry.
His duty is to carry the standard, near
the centre of the front rank of the squad-
ron. Cornet, in music, a shrill wind in-
strument formed of wood, which appears
to have been in use in the earliest times,
and remained so till about the commence-
ment of the 18th century, when it was
displaced by the oboe.

COR'NET- A PISTONS, a brass wind
musical instrument, of the French horn
species, but capable of much greater in-
flection from the valves and stoppers
(pistons) with which it is furnished, and
whence it derives its name.

COR'NICE, in architecture, the upper
great division of an entablature, consist-
ing of several members. The cornice
used on a pedestal is called the cap of
the pedestal.

CORNUCO'PIA, or the HORN OF
PLENTY, a source whence, according to
the ancient poets, every production of
the earth was lavished : a gift from
Jupiter to his nurse, the goat Amalthea.
In elucidation of this fable, it has been
said that in Libya, the ancient name of
a part of Africa, there was a little terri-
tory, in shape not ill resembling a bul-

lock's horn, which Amnon, the king, gave
to his daughter Amalthea, the nurse of
Jupiter. Upon medals, the cornucopia
is given to all deities, genii, and heroes,
to mark the felicity and abundance of
all the wealth procured by the goodness
of the former, or the care and valor of
the latter.

COR'OLLARY, a conclusion or conse-
quences drawn from premises, or from
what is advanced or demonstrated.

CORO'NA, in architecture, a large flat
member of a cornice, crowning tho entab-
lature and the whole order. A crown or
circlet suspended from the roof or vault-
ing of churches, to hold tapers, lighted on
solemn occasions, the number of which is
regulated according to the solemnity of
the festival. Sometimes they are formed
of triple circles, arranged pyramidically.

CORONA'TION, the public and solemn
ceremony of crowning, or investing a
prince with the insignia of royalty, in
acknowledgment of his right to govern
the kingdom ; at which time the prince
swears reciprocally to the people, to ob-
serve the laws, customs and privileges of
the kingdom, and to act and do all things
conformable thereto. The form of the
coronation oath of a British monarch is as
follows : " I solemnly promise and swear
to govern the people of this United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, and
the dominions thereto belonging, accord-
ing to the statues in parliament agreed
on, and the laws and customs of the
same ; to the utmost of my power to
maintain the laws of God, the true pro-
fession of the gospel, and the Protestant
reformed religion established by the law ;
to preserve unto the bishops and the
clergy of this realm, and the churches
committed to their charge, all such
rights and privileges as by law do or
shall appertain unto them or any of
them." After this, the king or queen,
laying his or her hand upon the holy
Gospels, shall say, " The things which I
hav before promised, I will perform and
keep ; so help me God."

COR'ONER, the presiding officer in a
jury convened to inquire into the cause
of sudden deaths.

COR'PORAL, the lowest military offi-
cer in a company of foot, who has charge
over one of the divisions, places and re-
places sentinels, <fec. Corporal, in law,
an epithet for anything that belongs to
the body, as corporal punishment. Also,
corporal oath, so called because the party
taking it is obliged to lay his hand on the
Bible.

COR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

113

CORPORATION, a body politic or
corporate, so called because the persons
or members are joined into one body, and
authorized by law to transact business as
an individual. Corporations are either
spiritual or temporal : spiritual, as bish-
ops, deans, archdeacons, &e., temporal,
as the mayor, and aldermen of cities.
And some are of a mixed nature, being
composed of spiritual and temporal per-
sons ; such as heads of colleges and hos-
pitals, <fcc. It has been truly said, thai
the whole political system is made up of
a concatenation of various corporations,
political, civil, religious, social, and eco-
nomical. A nation itself is the great cor-
poration, comprehending all the others,
the powers of which are exerted in legis-
lative, executive, and judicial acts.

CORPS, (French, pron. Awe) a body of
troops ; any division of an army ; as, a
corps de resert>4fche troops in reserve ;
corps de bataille, the whole line of bat-
tle, &c.

CORPUS CHRISTI DAY, a festival
appointed by the church of Rome in
honor of the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper.

CORPUSCULAR PHILOS'OPHY, a
system of physics, in which all the phe-
nomena of the material world are ex-
plained by the arrangement and physical
properties of the corpuseules or minute
atoms of matter. A doctrine of this sort
was anciently taught in Greece by Leu-
cippus and Democritus, and is described
in the beautiful poem of Lucretius.

COR'PUSCULE, a minute particle or
physical atom. Corpuseules are not the
elementary principles of matter, but such
small particles, simple or compound, as
arc not dissolved or dissipated by ordinary
heat.

COR'PUS JURIS, the collection of the
authentic works containing the Roman
law as compiled under Justinian. The
Corpus Juris comprehends the Pandects,
the Institutes, the Code, and the Novels
or Authentics, i. e. the latter constitutions
of Justinian ; to which, in some editions,
are added a few issued by his successors.

CORRECTION, in the fine arts.
With the Italians the word, correzione, is
used to denote an exact acquaintance
with the different proportions of the parts
of a body or design generally : but with
us the term is applied to those emenda-
tions of inaccuracies or alterations of first
thoughts, which they call pentimenti, to
be seen under the surface of the finished
picture, and which are accounted indica-
tions of its originality.

CORRELATIVE, an epithet denoting
the having a reciprocal relation, so that
the existence of one in, a certain state de-
pends on the existence of another ; as,
father and son ; light and darkness ; mo-
tion and rest ; all of which are correlative
terms.

CORRESPONDENCE, in the fine
arts, the fitting or proportioning the
parts of a design to each other, so that
they may be correlative, and that the
same feeling may pervade the whole
composition.

COR'RIDOR, in architecture, a gallery
or long aisle round a building, leading to
several chambers at a distance from each
other. In fortification, the covered way
lying round the whole compass of the for-
tifications of a place.

COR'SAIR, a pirate or cruiser ; a
name commonly given to the piratical
cruising-vessels of Barbary, which, from
the beginning of the sixteenth century to
a recent period, infested the Mediter-
ranean.

CORTE'GE, a French word, signifying
the train or retinue that accompanies a
person of distinction.

CORT'ES, the assembly of the estates
of Spain and Portugal ; answering, in
some measure, to the parliament of Great
Britain. These estates were framed, as
elsewhere, of nobility, dignified clergy,
and representatives of the towns. In Ar-
ragon, they were presided over by a high
officer, termed Justiza, with powers in
some respects sufficient to control the
monarch. The origin of popular repre-
sentation in the cortes of the several king-
doms out of which that of Spain was final-
ly formed, is assigned to a date as early
as the 12th century; but the deputies
sent by the towns were irregularly sum-
moned, frequently did not attend, and the
numbers which appeared for each town-
frequently bore no proportion to the rel-
ative size of the different places. In the
14th century the power of the cortes
seems to have been at its height, after
which it gradually decayed, and under
the government of Ferdinand and Isabella
was reduced almost to a nullity.

COR'TILE, in architecture, an open
quadrangular of curved area in a dwel-
ling-house, surrounded by the buildings
of the house itself.

CORVE'E, in feudal law, the obliga-
tion of the inhabitants of a district to do
certain services, as the repair of roads,
<fcc., for the sovereign or the feudal lord.
Some species of corvee were performed
gratis : others for a fixed pay, but gener-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[COT

ally below the value of the labor per-
formed.

CORVET'TE, a French word for any
vessel of war carrying less than twenty
guns.

CORYBAN'TES, in Grecian mytholo-
gy, were the priests of Cybele ; so called
either from Corybas, the son of that god-
dess, or from the frantic gestures with
which their devotions were accompanied ;
the term corybantes signifying literally
"shaking the head violently." They
used to beat brazen cymbals in their sa-
cred rites : and their whole religious pro-
ceedings were characterized by such ex-
travagant fanaticism as to have enriched
the Greek language with several terms
expressive of madness or frenzy.

CORYCE'UM. in ancient architecture,
an apartment in a gymnasium whose ex-
act destination is not known.

CORYM'BUS, -in ancient sculpture, the
cluster of ivy leaves, berries, garlands,
Ac., with which vases were encircled.

CO'RYPHCE'US, the leader of the cho-
rus in ancient dramas ; by whom the dia-
logue between the chorus and the other
actors of the drama was carried on, and
who led in the choric song.

COSMQG'ONY, the science which treats
of the origin of the universe. If we ex-
cept the cosmogony of the Indians, the
earliest extant is that of Hesiod, which is
delivered in hexameter verse. .The first
prose cosmogonies were those of the early
Ionic philosophers, of whom Thales,
Anaximenes, Anaximander, and Anaxa-
goras are the most celebrated. In mod-
ern times, a theory of the world has been
produced by Burnet. We do not include
in this list of cosmogonies the researches
of modern geologists, or the systems to
which they have led. They may be said
to hold the same place in relation to the
old cosmogoners, which the astronomer
or the chemist occupies in reference to
the astrologers and alchemists of ancient
times.

COSMOL'OGY, a treatise relating to
the structure and parts of creation, the
elements of bodies, the laws of motion,
and the order and course of nature.

COSMOP'OLITE, a citizen of the
world ; one who makes himself at home
everywhere.

COSMORA'MA, a view or series of
views of the world ; a comprehensive
painting. Properly, a name given to a
species of picturesque exhibitions. It
consists of eight or ten colored drawings,
laid horizontally round a semicircular
table, and reflected by mirrors placed

diagonally opposite to them. The spec-
tator views them through convex leiiM's.
placed immediately in front of each mir-
ror.

COS'SACKS, the tribes who inhabit the
southern and eastern parts of Russia. I'o-
land, the Ukraine, &c., paying no taxes,
but performing, instead, the duly of sol-
diers. They form a kind of military de-
mocracy ; and have proved highly serv-
.iceable, as irregular cavalry, in the Rus-
sian Campaigns. Their principal weapon
is a lance from ten to twelve feet in length :
they have also a sabre, a gun, and a pair
of pistols, as well as a bow and arrows.
The lances, in riding, are carried upright
by means of a strap fastened to the foot,
the arm, or pommel of the saddle. Those
who use bows carry a quiver over the
shoulder. Though little adapted for reg-
ular movements, they^re very servicea-
ble in attacking baggflj|e, magazines, and
in the pursuit of troops scattered in flight.
They fight principally in small bodies,
with which they attack the enemy on all
sides, but mostly on the flanks and in the
rear, rushing upon them at full speed,
with a dreadful hurrah, and with levelled
lances.

COS'TUME, in painting and the fine
arts generally, the observance of that
rule or precept by which an artist is en-
joined to make any person or thing sus-
tain its proper character ; the scene,
dress, arms, manners, Ac., all correspond-
ing. The study of costume requires, on
the part of the artist, the observance of
propriety in regard to the person or ob-
ject represented ; an intimate knowledge
of the countries, their history, manners
and customs, arts, and natural produc-
tions ; the vestments peculiar to each
class ; their physiognomy, complexion,
their ornaments, arms, furniture, &c.
All should be conformable to the scene
of action and historical period. Many of
the old masters, and not a few of the
modern, have committed some very glar-
ing improprieties in their costume ; we
may instance Paul Veronese, while, on
the contrary, Nicolas Poussin is remavk-
able for his accuracy in this respect. The
observance of correct costume is a great
merit in an artist, at the same time, it
must be subservient to pictorial effect.

COTERIE', an old French word, sup-
posed to be derived from the Latin quot,
how many, signifying literally a society
or company. In the 13th or 14th cen-
tury, when merchants were about to em-
bark in any commercial enterprise, they
formed a coterie or company, each con-

cou]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

115

trrbuting his quota of goods or money,
and deriving his quota of profit. But
the term soon acquired a more extended
signification, in which, however, the ori-
ginal meaning is still perceptible, it be-
ing applied to any exclusive society in
which interesting subjects (chiefly liter-
ary and political) are discussed, each
member being supposed to contribute his
quota or share for the general edification
or amusement.

COTHUR'NUS, in antiquity, a kind
of high shoes, laced high, such as Diana
and her nymphs are represented as wear-
ing. The tragic actors also wore them,
in order to give additional height to
those who personated heroes ; the cothur-
nus used for this purpose differing from
the one used in hunting by its having a
sole of cork at least four fingers thick.

COUCH, in painting, a term used for
each lay or impression of color, either in
oil or water, covering the canvas, wall,
or other matter to be painted. Gilders
use the term couch, for gold or silver lace
laid on metals in gilding or silvering.

COUN'CIL, in national affairs, an as-
sembly of persons for the purpose of con-
certing measures of state. In England,
that is called the Privy Council, where-
in the sovereign and privy councillors
meet in the palace to deliberate on affairs
of state. When the council is composed
only of cabinet ministers, it is called a
Cabinet Council. Council of war, an
assembly of the principal officers of a
fleet or army, called by the admiral or
general to concert measures for requisite
operations.

COUN'SEL, in law, any counsellor or
advocate, or any number of counsellors
or barristers ; as, the plaintiff's or defend-
ant's counsel.

COUNT, a title of nobility, equivalent
to an English earl. In law, a particular
charge in an indictment, or narration in
pleading, getting forth the cause of com-
plaint. There may be different counts
in the same declaration.

COUN'TENANCE, the whole form of
the face, or system of features. This
word has many figurative applications :
thus, by the light of God's countenance,
we mean grace and favor : so the rebuke
of his countenance indicates his anger.
To keep tlte countenance is to preserve a
calm, natural, and composed look. To
keep in countenance, to give assurance to
one, or protect him from shame. To put
out of countenance, to intimidate and dis-
concert.

COUN'TER, a term which enters into

the composition of many words of our lan-
guage, and generally implies opposition.

COUNTER-APPROACH'ES, in forti-
fication, lines and trenches made by the
besieged, in order to attack the works of
the besiegers, or to hinder their ap-
proaches.

COUN'TER-DEED, a secret writing
either before a notary or under a private
seal, which destroys, invalidates, or alters
a public one.

COUN'TERDRAWING, in painting,
copying a design, or painting by means
of lines drawn on oiled paper, or other
transparent substance.

COUNTERFEIT, that which is made
in imitation of something, but without
lawful authority, and with a view to de-
fraud by passing the false for the true.
Thus we say, counterfeit coin, a counter-
feit bond, deed, &c.

COUN'TERGUARD, in fortification, a
small rampart or work raised before the
point of a bastion, consisting of two long
faces parallel to the faces of the bastion,
making a salient angle to preserve the
bastion.

COUN'TERMARK, a mark put upon
goods that have been marked before. It
is also used for the several marks put
upon goods belonging to several persons,
to show that they must not be opened
but in the presence of all the owners or
their agents. The mark of the gold-
smith's company, to show the metal to
be standard, added to that of the artificer.

COUN'TERMINE, in military affairs,
a well and gallery sunk in the earth and
running underground, to meet and defeat
the effect of the enemy's mine ; or, in
other words, a mine made by the besieg-
ed, in order to blow up the mine of the

COUNTERPART, the correspondent
part or duplicate. Also, the part which
fits another, as the key of a cipher. In
music, the part to be applied to another ;
as, the bass is the counterpart to the treble .

COUN'TERPOINT, in music, the art
of combining and modulating consonant
sounds ; or of disposing several parts in
such a manner as to make an agreeable
whole of a concert.

COUN'TERPROOF, is an engraving
taken off from another fresh printed,
which, by being passed through the roll-
ing press, gives an inverted figure of the
former.

COUNTER-RE VOLU'TION, a revolu-
tion opposed to a former one, and restor-
ing a former state of things.

COUN'TERSCARP, in fortification,

116

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

that side of the ditch which is next the
camp, arid faces the body of the place ;
but it often signifies the whole covered
way, with its parapet and glacis.

COUNTER-SECURITY, security giv-
en to one who has entered into a bond, or
become surety for another.

COUNTERSIGN, a military watch-
word ; or a private signal given to sol-
diers on guard, with orders to let no man
pass unless he first names that sign.
Also, to sign, as secretary or other sub-
ordinate officer, any writing signed by a
principal or superior, to attest the au-
thenticity of his signature.

COUNTER-TEN'OR, in music, one of
the middle parts between the treble and
the tenor.

COUNT'ING-HOUSE, the house or
room appropriated by merchants, traders,
and manufacturers, for the business of
keeping their books, &c.

COUN'TRY, any tract of inhabited
land, or any region as distinguished from
other regions ; any state or territory ;
and also any district in the vicinity of a
city or town. Thus we say, This gentle-
man has a seat in the country ; America
is my native country ; the countries of
Europe, Asia, &c.

COUN'TY, originally, the district or
territory of a count or earl : one of the
ancient divisions of England, which by
the Saxons were called shires. England is
divided into forty counties or shires, Wales
into twelve, Scotland into thirty-three.
Each county has its sheriff and its court,
with other officers employed in the ad-
ministration of justice and the execu-
tion of the laws; and each lord-lieuten-
ant of a county has the command of its
militia. The several states of America
are divided by law into counties, in each
of which is a county court of inferior
jurisdiction ; and in each the supreme
court of the state holds stated sessions.
County-corporate, a title given to sev-
eral cities or ancient boroughs (as South-
ampton and Bristol,) on which certain
kings of England have thought proper to
bestow peculiar privileges ; annexing ter-
ritory, land, or jurisdiction, and making
them counties within themselves, with
their own sheriffs and other officers.
County palatine, a county distinguished
by particular privileges, and named from
palatio, the palace, because the owner
had originally royal powers in the ad-
ministration of justice ; these are now,
however, greatly abridged. The counties
palatine in England are Lancaster, Ches-
ter and Durham.

[COD

COUP, a French term for a stroke or
sudden blow. Coup de grace, the finish-
ing blow. Coup de main, a sudden un-
premeditated attack. Coup d'aeil, the
first glance of the eye, with which it sur-
veys any object at large. Coup de
soleil, any disorder suddenly produced
by the violent scorching of the sun.

COUPEE', a motion in dancing, when
one leg is a little bent and suspended
from the ground, and with the other a
motion is made forward.

COUP'LE, two of the same species or
kind ; as a couple of men, a couple of ap-
ples, &c. A pair is a couple, and a brace
is a couple ; but a couple may or may not
be a pair or a brace.

COUP'LET, the division of a hymn,
ode, or song, wherein an equal number
or an equal measure of verses is found in
each part, called a strophe.

COUR'AGE, firmness of mind, inspired
by a sense of what is just and honorable ;
that which, amidst all the dangers and
trials to which human life is incident,
enables a man steadily to pursue the dic-
tates of conscience and prudence. It in-
cludes valor, boldness, and resolution ;
and is a constituent part of fortitude.

COURAN'TO, a piece of music in
triple time ; also, a kind of dance.

COU'RIERS, a name given in ordinary
language to the bearer? of public de-
spatches or private intelligence by ex-
press. The institution of persons to con-
vey intelligence with celerity and regu-
larity is coeval witn the earliest history
of civilized nations. By the Persians
they were styled ayyapoi, by the Greeks
fi/jtcpuSpofjiot, and by the Romans cursores ;
and the duties of the ancient couriers
seem to have been wholly analogous to
those of the moderns, and were performed
chiefly on horseback, though the original
derivation of the name would lead to an
opposite supposition. In the middle ages
couriers were known by the appellation
trottarii, or trotters ; and hence perhaps
originated the English term running
footmen, of whom history makes mention
in the 17th and 18th centuries.

COURSE, in its general sense, a mo-
tion forward, either in a direct or curv-
ing line ; and may be applied to animals,
and to solid or fluid bodies. Applied to
the arts and sciences, course denotes a
methodical series ; as, the author has
completed his course of lectures ; or the
medical student has completed his course
in anatomy. Of course, in natural and
regular order ; as this effect will follow
of course. The course of exchange, in

cov

AND THE FINE ARTS.

117

commerce, the current price or rate at
which the coin of one country is exchang-
ed for that of another ; which, as it de-
pends upon the balance of trade and the
political relations which subsist between
tho two 'countries, is always fluctuating.

COURS'INO, the act or sport of pur-
suing any beast of chase, as the hare, &c.
with greyhounds.

COURT, a palace ; a place where jus-
tice is administered ; also the persons or
judges assembled for hearing and decid-
ing causes, civil, criminal, &c. Thus we
have a court of law ; a court of equity ; a
court martial ; an ecclesiastical court, &c.

COURT-BAR'ON, a court incident to
manorial rights.

COUR'TESY, it was at the courts of
princes and great feudatories that the
minstrels and troubadours of the middle
ages especially delighted to exercise
their art ; and it was there, also, that the
peculiarities of chivalrous life and man-
ners were chiefly exhibited. Hence court-
esy was a general term, expressive of all
the elegance and refinement which the
society of those times had attained ; in
fact, it was synonymous with all the
gentler parts of chivalry itself: and it is
in this sense that it is used both by the
early trouveres and romancers, and also
by poets of a later age, when affecting
the use of chivalrous language. The
transition from this wider meaning to
that in which it is now employed is ob-
vious enough. Tenure by courtesy, in
law, is where a man marries a woman
seized of an estate of inheritance, and
has by her issue born alive, which was
capable of inheriting her estate : in this
case, on the death of his wife, he holds
the lands for his life, as tenant by courtesy.

COURT-LEET', a court of record held
once a year, in a particular hundred,
lordship, or manor, before the steward of
the leet.

COURT-MAR'TIAL. a court consist-
ing of military or naval officers, for the
trial of offences within its jurisdiction.

COURT'-ROLL, a roll containing an
account of the number, &c. of lands
which depend on the jurisdiction of the
manor, <fcc.

COUS'IN, the son or daughter of an
uncle or aunt; the children of brothers
and sisters being usually denominated
cousins or cousin- %er mans. In the sec-
ond generation they are called second
cousins.

COUS'SINET, in architecture, the
crowning stone of a pier, or that which
lies on the capital of the impost and un-

der the sweep. Its bed is level below
and inclined above, receiving the first
rise or spring of the arch or vault. This
word is also used for the ornament in the
Ionic capital, between the abacus and
echinus or quarter round, which serves
to form the volute, and is thus called
because its appearance is that of a
cushion or pillow seemingly collapsed by
the weight over it, and bound with a
strap or girdle called the baltheus.

COVE, an inlet on a rocky coast. It
is a term nearly synonymous with har-
bor; the word cove being generally,
though not always, used when the inden-
tation on the coast .is too shallow or nar-
row to admit first class vessels.

COVENANT, in history, the famous
bond of association adopted by the Scot-
tish Presbyterians in 1638. It was framed
on tho model of a similar declaration,
which had been twice solemnly subscribed
in the early period of the Reformation ;
but in more violent language, and with
more specific obligation to support the
kirk, together with a prohibition and
abjuration of the Anglican liturgy and
articles. The founders of the Solemn
League and Covenant were Alexander
Henderson, leader of the clergy, and
Archibald Johnston, of Wariston. an ad-
vocate. A new religious covenant be-
tween the two kingdoms was framed in
1643, and taken by the English House
of Commons and assembly of divines at
Westminster. Charles II. subscribed tho
Scottish covenant on his coronation in
1651 ; but on his restoration it was de-
clared null by act of parliament, and
burned by the common hangman. It
formed, however, the watchword and
bond of union of the discontented party,
or Covenanters, as they were called, in
the rebellions of his reign. Covenant,
in a theological sense, a promise made
by God to man upon certain conditions ;
the two grand distinctions of which are
emphatically designated the Old and
New Covenant, or Testament ; in each
of which certain temporal or spiritual
benefits are promised to man upon the
performance of duties therein pointed
out. Covenant, in law, is an engage-
ment under seal to do or to omit a direct
act. Covenants are of many different
species, as in fact and in law, implied
and express. &c. ; and according to their
subject matter, or express stipulation,
they are binding respectively on the
heirs, executors, and assigns, or execu-
tors and assigns only, of the covenantor.
Covenant is also a form of action, which

118

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

ORE

lies where a party claims damages for
breach of a covenant or contract under
seal.

COWL, the hoods which protect both
head and neck from the cold. St. Basil
and St. Anthony commanded their monks
to wear them, and latterly they have
come into use by travellers, sailors, and
huntsmen.

COWRIES, small shells brought from
the Maldives, which pass current as coin
in smaller payments in Hindostan, and
throughout extensive districts in Africa.

CRANIOL'OGY, the science which in-
vestigates the structure and uses of the
skulls in various animals, particularly
in relation to their specific character and
intellectual powers. One who is versed
in this science is termed a craniologist.

CRANIOM'ETER, an instrument for
measuring the skulls of animals. The
art of measuring them for the purpose of
discovering their specific differences, is
called craniometry.

CRANIOS'COPY, the science of dis-
covering, by the eminences produced by
the brain on the cranium, the particular
parts in which reside the organs that
influence certain passions or faculties.

CRA'NIUM, the skull ; the assemblage
of bones which enclose the brain.

CRA'TER, the aperture or mouth of a
volcano, from which the fire issues. In
antiquity, a very large wine cup, or gob-
let, out of which the ancients poured their
libations at feasts.

CRAY'ON, a general name for all
colored mineral substances, used in de-
signing or painting in pastil ; whether
they have, been beaten and reduced to a
paste, or are used in their primitive con-
sistence, after sawing and cutting them
into long narrow slips.

CREA'TIOX, the act of causing to
exist, or of shaping and organizing mat-
ter so as to form new beings ; as the
creation of man and other animals, of
plants, minerals, <fcc. Also, the act of
investing with a new character ; as, the
creation of peers by the sovereign.

CREDEX'DA, in theology, things to
be believed ; articles of faith ; distin-
guished from agenda, or practical duties.

CREDENTIALS, that which gives a
title or claim to confidence ; as the let-
ters of commendation and power given
to an ambassador, or public minister, by
the prince that sends him to a foreign
court.

CRED'IT, in political economy, is a
term used to express the lending of
wealth, or of the means of acquiring

wealth, by one individual or set of indi-
viduals to another. The party who lends
is said to give credit, and the party who
borrows to obtain credit. Hence credit
may bo defined to be the acquisition by
one party of the wealth of another in
loan, according to conditions voluntarily
agreed on between them. Very exagge-
rated notions are commonly entertained
of the influences of credit : but, in fact, all
operations in which credit is given or ac-
quired resolve themselves into a new dis-
tribution of wealth already in existence.
The " magical" effect that is every now
and then ascribed to credit is imaginary.
A party who purchases goods payable at
some future date obviously acquires the
command of so much of the capital of the
seller of the goods as their value amounts
to, in the same way that a party who
discounts a bill acquires the command of
a corresponding portion of the capital of
the discounter. Wealth is not created by
the issue of bills ; and all that their nego-
tiation does is to transfer already exist-
ing property from one individual or party
to another. In the great majority of
cases loans are made by individuals who
wish to retire from business, or who have
more capital than they can advantage-
ously employ, to individuals entering into
business, or who wish to extend their con-
cerns and to acquire a greater command
of capital. The probability is, that capi-
tal will be more likely to be efficiently
employed by the latter than by the former
class of persons ; and the advantage of
credit, in a national point of view, con-
sists in that circumstance. Loans made
to prodigals or spendthrifts, or to indi-
viduals who expend them on unprofitable
undertakings, are, in so far, publicly in-
jurious ; but, speaking generally, these
bear but a very small proportion to the
other class of loans, or those made to in-
dividuals by whom they are advantage-
ously expended. Public credit is the
phrase used to express the trust or confi-
dence placed in the state by those who
lend money to government. The interest
or premium paid by the borrowers to the
lenders depends on a great variety of
circumstances. partly on the rate of
profit that may be made by the employ-
ment of capital at the time, partly on the
duration of the loan and the security for
its repayment, and partly on the facili-
ties given by the law for enforcing pay-
ment. The only way, indeed, in which a
government can advantageously interfere
to encourage credit is by simplifying the
administration of the law, and by giving

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

119

every facility for carrying the conditions
of contracts into effect.

CREED, any brief summary of Chris-
tian belief; but more especially either of
the three confessions commonly called the
Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian. The
term is derived from the word credo, /
believe; in like manner as paternoster,
avemaria, &e., are prayers named from
the first word of these formulas in the
Latin tongue.

CREMO'NA, a general designation of
the violins made at Cremona in Italy,
during the 17th and 18th centuries, chief-
ly by the family Amati. Cremona is also
a name erroneously given to a stop in
the organ ; being nothing more than a
corruption of krumhorn, an ancient wind
instrument, which it was originally de-
signed to imitate.

CRENOPH'YLAX, in antiquity, a ma-
gistrate at Athens, who had the inspec-
tion of fountains.

CREO'LE, a name given to the de-
scendants of whites born in Mexico, South
America, and the West Indies ; in whom
the European blood has been unmixed
with that of other races. The various
jargons spoken in the West India islands
by sla.ves, &,c. are called Creole dialects.

CREPUN'DIA, in antiquity, a term
used to express such things as were worn
as ornaments by children, as rings, jew-
els, <fec., which might serve as tokens
whereby they afterwards might be recog-
nized, or as an inducement for others to
take charge of them.

CRESCEN'DO, in music, an Italian
term for the gradual swelling of the notes
over which it is placed.

CRES'CENT, the increasing or new
moon, which, when receding from the
sun, shows a curving rim of light, termi-
nating in points or horns. The Turkish
standard, on which a crescent is depicted ;
and, figuratively, the Turkish power or
empire of the crescent.

CREST, the plume of feathers or other
material on the top of the ancient helmet.
The crest is considered a greater crite-
rion of nobility than the armor generally,
and therefore forms an important subject
in the science of heraldry.

CREUX, a French term used in sculp-
ture, where the lines and figures are cut
below the surface of the substances en-
graved, and thus stands opposed to re-
lievo, which latter term intimates the
prominence of the lines and figures which
appear above the surface.

CRIME, the transgression of a law,
either natural or divine, civil or eccle-

siastic. In the general sense of the word,
crimes are understood to be offences
against society or morals, as far as they
are amenable to the laws. To this we
may add, in order more clearly to distin-
guish between words often esteemed sy-
nonymous, that actions contrary to the
precepts of religion are called sins; ac-
tions contrary to the principles of morals
are called vices; and actions, contrary to
the laws of the state, are called crimes.

CRIM'INAL, in the sense usually ap-
plied, signifies, a person indicted or
charged with a public offence, and one
who is found guilty.

CRIM'SON. The color known by this
name is red, reduced to a deep tone by
the presence of blue.

CRI'SIS, in medicine, according to
Galen, is a sudden change, either for the
better or the worse, indicative of recove-
ry or death. In its more general sense,
it denotes that stage of a disorder from
which some judgment may be formed or'
its termination. At the approach of a
crisis, the disease appears to take a more
violent character. If the change is for
the better, the violent symptoms cease
with a copious perspiration, or some other
discharge from the system. After a salu-
tary crisis, the patient feels himself re-
lieved, and the dangerous symptoms
cease. By a crisis is also meant the
point of time when an affair is arrived
at its height, and must soon terminate or
suffer a material change.

CRITE'RION, any established rule,
principle, or fact, which may be taken as
a standard to judge by, and by which a
correct judgment may be formed.

CRITH'OMANCY, a kind of divina-
tion by means of the dough of cakes, and
the meal strewed over the victims, in an-
cient sacrifices.

CRIT'IC, a person who, according to
the established rules of his art, is capable
of judging with propriety of any literary
composition, or work of art, particularly
of such as are denominated the Fine Arts.
To which may be added, as within the
province of a critic, that he should be
able to explain what is obscure, to supply
what is defective, to amend what is erro-
neous, and to reconcile the discrepancies
he may meet with between different au-
thors who have treated on the subject
under review.

CRIT'ICISM, has been defined "the
art of judging with propriety concerning
any object, or combination of objects."
In a somewhat more limited, but still ex-
tensive meaning, its province is confined

120

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

to literature, philology, and the fine arts ;
and to subjects of antiquarian, scientific,
or historical investigation. In this sense,
every branch of literary study, as well as
each of the fine arts, has its proper criti-
cism as an appendage to it. The elements
of criticism depend on the two principles
of beauty and truth, one of which is the
final end or object of study in every one
of its pursuits : beauty, in letters and the
arts ; truth, in history and the sciences.
The office of criticism, therefore! is, first
to lay down those forms or essential
ideas which answer to our conception of
the beautiful or the true in each branch
of study ; and, next, to point out by ref-
erence to those ideas the excellences or
defects of individual works, as they ap-
proach or diverge from the requisite
standard in each particular. Thus, his-
torical criticism teaches us to distinguish
the true from the false, or the probable
from the improbable, in historical works ;
scientific criticism has the same object in
each respective line of science ; while lit-
erary criticism, in a general sense, has
for its principal employment the investi-
gation of the merits and demerits of style
or diction, according to the received stand-
ard of excellence in every language ; and,
in poetry and the arts, criticism develops
the principles of that more refined and
exquisite sense of beauty which forms the
ideal model of perfection in each. Taste
is the critical faculty ; that perception of
the beautiful in literature and the arts,
for the acquisition of which, perhaps,
some minds have superior natural powers
than others, but which can in no instance
be fully developed except by education
and habit. Among the classical ancients,
the criticism of beauty was carried to a
high degree of perfection. Less encum-
bered with a multitude of facts and things
to be known than ourselves, their minds
were more at leisure, and more sedulous-
ly exercised in reflecting on their own no-
tions and perceptions ; hence the aston-
ishing progress which they made in the
fine arts ; and hence, in literature, they
valued more the beauty of the vehicle in
which sentiments were conveyed, and the
moral or poetical beauty of those senti-
ments themselves, than the objective
branches of study which it is the princi-
pal purpose of literature, in our clays, to
convey easily and precisely to the mind.
And as the criticism which antiquity has
left us consists almost wholly of such as
relates to the literature and the arts (in
history they had, as far as we know, few
critical spirits, in the sciences almost

[CRO

none,) the name is snll confined, in its
most popular signification, to those prov-
inces of research. The criticism of truth
is of later growth ; but as it is regulated
for the most part by similar rules and
principles, and as minds which possess
the faculty of judgment in a high degree
in. the one are generally capable, if exer-
cised, of forming right apprehensions in
the other, they may be considered as
nearly allied in the more essential re-
spects. For although it is true that in
scientific investigation great knowledge
of the individual subject is required to
constitute a critic, and in the fine arts the
most gifted mind will require much edu-
cation and practice to judge of beauty;
yet it is equally true in both of these
branches of study, however widely differ-
ing from each other, that knowledge alone
(except perhaps in purely abstract sci-
ence, in respect of which the name of crit-
icism seems hardly applicable) will not
make the critic, and that the habit of dis-
criminating and judging correctly is a
distinct faculty or compound of faculties
in the mind. Criticism, in a more limited
sense, is a branch of belles lettres. Es-
says written for the purpose of commend-
ing or discommending works in literature
or the arts, and pointing out their vari-
ous merits and defects, are works in the
critical department. Thus the term " pe-
riodical criticism" is used to express the
body of writing contained in the various
works under the name of magazines, re-
views, <fec., which are periodically pub-
lished in mos s t literary countries.

CRITIQUE', a skilful examination of
the merits of a performance, with remarks
on its beauties and faults.

CROCK'ETTS, enrichments modelled
generally from
vegetable pro-
ductions, such as
vine or other
leaves, but some-
times animals
and images are
introduced, em-
ployed in gothic
architecture to
decorate the angles of various parts of
ecclesiastical edifices, such as spires, pin-
nacles, niullions of windows, &c. The
forms are infinite, almost every kind of
leaf or flower being employed for this pur-
pose, generally with some pointed refer-
ence to local circumstances ; thus, at
Westminster we find a succession of roses
and pomegranates ; at Magdalen College
Chapel, lilies. They only appear in py-

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A?JD THE FINE ARTS.

121

ramidical and curved lines, never in hori-
zontal.

CROI'SES, in English antiquity, pil-
grims bound for the Holy Land, or such
as had been there ; so called from a badge
they wore in imitation of a cross. The
knights of St. John of Jerusalem, created
for the defence and protection of pilgrims,
were particularly called croises; and so
were all those of the English nobility and
gentr}', who, in the reigns of Henry II.
Richard I. Henry III. and Edward I.
were cruce signati, that is, devoted for
the recovery of Palestine.

CROM'LECH, in British antiquity,
large, broad, flat stones raised upon other
stones set up to support them. They are
common in Anglesea, and are supposed to
bo remains of druidical altars. Cromlechs
are generally supposed by antiquaries to
have been constructed to serve as altars.
According to some, there is a difference
between the cromlechs of the Britons and
those of nations of Germanic descent ; the
former being inclined stones, perhaps for
the purpose of allowing the blood shed in
sacrifice to run off; the latter thick, round
stones, standing on small hillocks and
covering caves.

CRO'SIER, the staff of an archbishop,
surmounted by a cross, and thereby dis-
tinguished from the pastoral staff or
crook of a bishop. This staff, according
to Polydore Virgil, was given to bishops
wherewith to chastise the vices of the peo-
ple ; and was called baculus pastoralis, in
respect of their pastoral charge and su-
perintendence over their flock, as
well as from its resemblance to
the shepherd's crook. Many au-
thors contend that the crosier is
derived from the lituus or augural
staff of the Romans.

CROSS, in antiquity, an instru-
ment of ancient vengeance, con-
sisting of two pieces of timber,
crossing each other, cither in the
form of a T or an X. That on
which our Saviour suffered, is
represented on coins and other
monuments to have been of the
former kind. This punishment was
only inflicted on malefactors and
slaves, and was thence called ser-
vile supplicium. The most usual
method was to nail the criminal's
hands and feet to this gibbet, in
an erect posture ; though there
are instances of criminals so nail-
ed with their head downward.
Cross, the ensign of the Christian
religion ; and hence, figuratively,

the religion itself. Also, a monument
with a cross upon it to excite devotion,
such as were anciently set up in rnarkec
places. In theology, the doctrine of
Christ's sufferings and of the atonement.
Cross, in Christian Art, the sole and
universal symbol of our redemption, and
of the person of our Saviour ; he is sym-
bolized under this form, as he is also
under that of the Fish, the Lion, or the
Lamb. The cross is either historic or
symbolic, real or ideal ; in the one it is
a gibbet, in the other an attribute of
glory. There are four species of cross.
1. The cross without a sumiuit, in the
form of a T ; this is the Egyptian cross,
the Cross of the Old Testament. Many
ancient churches, especially the Basili-
cas of Constantine, St. Peter and St. Paul
at Rome, are, in their ground plan, near-
ly of this form. 2. The cross with sum-
mit ; it has four branches ; this is the
true cross, the cross of Jesus and of the
Evangelists. This form of cross is divided
into two principal types, which also par-
take of many varieties ; they are known
as the Greek and the Latin cross ; the
first is adopted by the Greek and Oriental
Christians, the second by the Christians
of the West. The Greek cross is com-
posed of four equal parts, the breadth
being equal to the length. In the Latin
cross, the foot is longer than the summit
or the arms. The Greek cross is an ideal
cross ; the Latin cross resembles the real
cross upon which Jesus suffered. 3. The
cross with two cross-pieces and summit.

122

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[CRO

4. The cross with summit and three cross-
pieces. When the cross retains its sim-
ple form, and is not loaded with attri-
butes or ornaments, we must distinguish
the Cross of the Passion from the Cross
of the Resurrection. The Cross of the
Passion is a real cross, the gibbet upon
which Christ suffered. This is the cross
in common use in our churches ; it is
employed by painters and sculptors ; and
which, in Catholic countries, meets us at
every turn ; by the roadside, in the
street, chapels, and cathedrals. It is also
called the Triumphal Cross. The Cross
of the Resurrection is the symbol of the
true cross ; it is that put into the hands
of Christ in representations of his resur-
rection. It is a lance, the staff of which
terminates in a cross instead of a pike ;
it carries a flag or banner, upon which is
depicted a cross, which is suspended from
the point of intersection of the arms. It
is the cross held by the Paschal Lamb ;
it is that carried at the head of religious
processions. It is not a tree, like the
Cross of the Passion, but a staff; the
first is the Cross of Suffering, the other is
the Cross of Victory ; they are of the
same general form, but the latter is
spiritualized; it is the gibbet trans-
figured.

CROSS-BOW, an ancient weapon, a
great improvement on the wooden long-
bow, and brought to Europe by the Crusa-
ders. It was made of steel, with a pe-
culiar handle, and the string was stretch-
ed by means of a small wheel called a
gaffle. The bolts or arrows were gener-
ally shod with iron, and were either
round, angular, or pointed. Burning
materials were also discharged from the
bow, in order to set fire to buildings and
machines of war. Those bows made
wholly of iron were called ballisters.
The share which Art had in the cross-
bows of the middle ages may be seen by
a glance into the armories. The most
artistic specimen is the bow which Charles
V. used for his amusement. It was in-
laid with ivory carved by Albert Durer.

CROSS-BAR-SHOT, a bullet with an
iron bar passing through it, and standing
out a few inches on each side ; used in
naval actions for cutting the enemy's
rigging.

CROSS'ES, STONE, in architectural
antiquities, are of various descriptions,
according to the occasion or purpose of
their erection. They are said to have
originated in the practice of marking the
Druid stones with a cross, at the period
of the conversion of the Celtic tribes to

Christianity. Preaching crosses are gen.
erally quadrangular or hexagonal, open
on one or both sides, and raised on steps.
They were used for the delivery of ser-
mons in the open air ; such was the
famous Paul's Cross in London. Market
crosses are well known. Weeping crosses
were so called because penances were
finished before them. Crosses of memo-
rial were raised on various occasions;
sometimes where the bier of an eminent
person stopped on its way to burial, in
attestation of some miracle performed on
the spot : such are the well-known crosses
of Queen Philippa. Crosses served also
as landmarks ; they are especially set
up for this purpose on the lands of the
Templars and Hospitallers.

CROSSET'TES, in architecture, tho
returns on the corners of door cases or
window frames ; called tt a

also ears, elbows, an- r-- "i p 7-7
cones, prothyrides. In V~\ \ / j I
architectural construe- ' ' ^~*
tion, they are the small projecting pieces
in arch stones which hang upon the adja-
cent stones a, a, a, a.

CROSS-EXAMINATION, in law, a
close and rigid examination of a witness
by the counsel of the adverse party, con-
sisting of cross questions, in order to elicit
the truth.

CROTA'LUM, an ancient kind of cas-
tanet, used by the Corybantes or priests
of Cybele. This instrument must not be
confounded with the modern crotalo, a
musical instrument used chiefly by the
Turks, and corresponding exactly with
the ancient cymbalutn.

CROTCH'ET, in music, half a minim.
In printing, this mark, [ ], to separate
what is not the necessary part of a sen-
tence.

CROWN, an ornamental badge of re-
gal power, worn on the head by sover-
eign princes. The top of the head ; also
the top of any elevated object In archi-
tecture, the uppermost member of a cor-,
nice. Among jewellers, the upper work
of the rose diamond. An English silver
coin, of the value of five shillings.
Among the various ctowns and wreaths
in use among the Greeks and Romans
were the following : Corona aurea (the
golden crown;) the reward of remarkable
bravery. Corona castrensis ; given to
him who first entered the camp of an en-
emy. Corona civica ; one of the highest
military rewards : it was given to him
who saved the life of a citizen. Corona
convivial is ; the wreath worn at feasts.
Corona jnuralis; given by the general

AND THE FINE ARTS.

CRUJ

to the soldier who first scaled the enemy's
wall. Corona navalis ; given to him
who first boarded and took an enemy's
vessel : it was next in rank to the civic
crown. Corona nuptialls ; a crown or
wreath worn by brides. Corona obsid-
ionalis; a reward given to him who de-
livered a besieged town, or a blockaded
army. It was one of the highest military
honors, and very seldom obtained. Co-
rona triumphalis; a wreath of laurel
which was given by the army to the im-
perator, who wore it on his head at the
celebration of his triumph. In Christian
Art, the crown, from the earliest times, is
either an attribute or an emblem. It has
been employed as an emblem of victory,
and hence became the especial symbol of
the glory of martyrdom. Its form varied
at different periods ; in early pictures it
is simply a wreath of palm or myrtle,

123

afterwards it became a coronet of gold
and jewels. Generally, the female mar-
tyrs only wear the symbolical crown of
glory on their heads. Martyrs of the
opposite sex bear it in their hands, or it
is carried by an angel. Sometimes, as

in St. Catherine and St. Ursula, the crown
is both the symbol of martyrdom, and
their attribute as royal princesses. The
Virgin, as ' Queen of Heaven,' wears a
crown. No. 1, in our cut, represents the
Laurel Crown of ancient Home. No. 2,
the Mural Crown worn by Cybele. No.
3, the radiated Crown of its ordinary
form. No. 4, the square Saxon Crown.
No. 5, the Crown of Edgar. No. 6, the
Crown of William the Conqueror. No.

7, the imperial Crown of Germany. No.

8, that worn by Charlemagne.
CROWN-WORK, in fortification, an

out-work running into the field, consist-
ing of two demi-bastions at the extremes,
and an entire bastion in the middle, with
curtains. It is designed to gain some
advantageous post, and cover the other
works.

CRU'CIFIX, the representation of the
Saviour on the cross, but especially that
plastic one seen on the altars of Catholic
churches, in the centre of which it stands,
overtopping the tapers, and only remov-
ed at the elevation of the Host. Its in-
tention was to lead the mind back to the
cross, which was set up on the altar, or
in some convenient spot. It was first
known in the time of Constantino, and
takes the place of the real crucifix in the
Eastern church. The latter was not com-
mon till the end of the eighth century.
The Greek church never publicly accept-
ed it, although it appears in the quarrel
about images, but used the simple cross.
It was not general in the Latin church
until the Carlovingian era. From the
disciplina arcani and the early prohibi-
tion of images by the Synod of Elvira,
(305,) an early use of the crucifix may
be supposed, as it referred immediately
to the first Christian dogma. At first the
simple cross was sufficient crux immissa
or capitata + ; crux decussata X ' and
crux commissa T the Lamb standing
under a blood-red cross. The addition
of the Saviour's bust at the head or foot
of the cross while the Lamb lay in the
centre, was the next step towards the cru-
cifix ; and afterwards Christ himself was
represented clothed, his hands raised in
prayer, but not yet nailed. At last
ho appeared fastened to the cross by
four nails, (seldom by three,) and on the
older crucifixes alive, with open eyes ;
on the later ones, (from the tenth to
the eleventh century,) sometimes dead.
Christ was often clad in a robe, having
the regal crown on his head ; more re-
cently the figure wore only a cloth round
the loins, and the crown of thorns. This

124

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[cui

representation was continued, and tho
cruuiiix reg;mlud ;is an indispensable at-
tribute of churches and altars. The num-
ber of them increased, as they were par-
ticular objects of veneration ; and large
ones of wood or stone wore placed at the
entrances of the church. The altar cru-
cifix was generally of gold or silver,
adorned with pearls or precious stones.
Later artists have enveloped the Saviour
in drapery, leaving the body in its cus-
tomary position ; they have also added the
angel by the side, by which addition
these crucifixes intended in the spirit of
Christian JEsthetics for Protestant church-
es, become more symbolic representations
of Christian ideas. The unpleasant sight
of tho nailed feet is avoided by their rest-
ing free and unbound on the globe, so
that only the arms are fastened by nails
to the cross. We are now too much ac-
customed to the naked figure to allow of
the innovation of representing Christ
after the old custom ; we ma3 T also ques-
tion whether the great simplicity of the
original crucifix had not more effect.

CRUDE, in painting, a term applied
to a picture when the colors are rudely
laid on, and do not blend or harmonize.

CRUI'SER, a small armed vessel that
sails to and fro in quest of the enemy, to
protect the commerce of its own nation,
or for plunder.

CRUPELLA'RII, in antiquity, nobil-
ity, among the Gauls, who were armed
with a complete harness of steel.

CRUSA'DES, the name by which the
wars or military expeditions were distin-
guished, that were carried on by the
Christian nations of the West, from the
end of the llth to the end of the 13th cen-
tury, for the conquest of Palestine. They
were called crusades, because all the war-
riors fought under the banner of the cross,
and wore that emblem on their clothes.
The Christians had long grieved that the
Holy Land, where Jesus had lived, taught,
and died for mankind, where pious pil-
grims resorted to pour out their sorrows
and ask for aid from above at the tomb
of their Saviour, should be in the power
of unbelievers. The dawn of civilization
and mental cultivation had just com-
menced. They were at that period in a
state to receive a strong religious excite-
ment ; the spirit of adventure burned
within them ; and their imaginations
were also easily roused by the reports of
the riches of the East. The Pope consid-
ered the invasion of Asia as the means of
promoting Christianity amongst the infi-
dels and of winning whole nations to .the

bosom of the church ; monarchs expected
victory and increase of dominion ; and
their subjects were easily persuaded to
engage in the glorious cause ! Yet army
alter army was destroyed ; and though
some brilliant victories served to exhibit
the soldiers of Christendom as heroes of a
valorous age, and the holy city of Jeru-
salem was more than once under their
dominion, the Christian empire on the
continent of Asia was eventually over-
thrown, and the dominion of the Mame-
lukes and Sultans established. But by
means of these joint enterprises, the Eu-
ropean nations became more connected
with each other; feudal tyranny was
weakened ; a commercial intercourse took
place throughout Europe, which greatly
augmented the wealth of the cities ; tho
human mind expanded ; and a number of
arts and sciences, till then unknown by
the western nations, were introduced.

CRYPT, a subterranean chapel or ora-
tory ; or a vault under a church for the
interment of bodies.

CRYPTOG'RAPHY r , the art of writing
in cipher, or secret characters.

CRYPTOL'OGY", secret or enigmatical
language.

CU'BIT, an ancient measure, equal to
the length of a man's arm, from the el-
bow to the tip of the middle finger.
Among different nations the length of the
cubit differed. The English was 18 inch-
es, the Roman rather less, and the cubit
of the Scriptures is supposed to have been
22 inches.

CUE, the last words of a speech, which
a player, who is to answer, catches and
regards as an intimation to begin. Also,
a hint given to him of what and when he
is to speak.

CUIRASS', a piece of defensive armor,
made of iron plate, well hardened, and
covering the body from the neck to the
girdle. The cuirass of plate-armor suc-
ceeded the hauberk, hacqueton, &c., of
mail, about the reign of Edward III. ; .
and from that period the surcoat, jupon,
&c., which were usually worn over the
coat of mail, began to be laid aside. From
that period the cuirass or breast-plate
continued to be worn, and was the last
piece of defensive armor laid aside in
actual warfare. There were cuirassiers
in the English civil wars, and in the
French service nearly to the end of the
17th century ; after this period, the cuirass
was generally laid aside, until it was
again employed by some of Xapoleon's
regiments, and it is now, in most services
worn by some regiments of heavy cavalry.

CUR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

125

CUIS'SES, CUIS'SOTS, CUIS'SARTS,
&c., in plate-arnior, the pieces which pro-
tected the front of the thigh.

CUL'DEES, in church history, an or-
der of priests, formerly inhabiting Scot-
land and Ireland. Being remarkable for
the religious exercises of preaching and
praying, they were called, by way of em-
inence, cultures Dei. After having exer-
cised a great influence throughout the
country, they are said to have been over-
thrown by the increase of the papal pow-
er, and the institution of monasteries,
more congenial to the views of the see of
Rome.

CUL DE LAMP, in architecture, a
term used for several decorations, in
vaults and ceilings.

CULI'NA, in antiquity, that part of
the funeral pile in which the banquet was
consumed. Culince, a burial-ground for
the poor.

CUL'LIAGE, a barbarous and immoral
practice, whereby the lords of manors an-
ciently assumed a right to the first night
of their vassals' brides.

CUL'PllIT, in law, a word applied in
court to one who is indicted for a criminal
offence.

CULTIVATION, in a general sense,
the art and practice of tilling and pre-
paring land for crops ; but it means also
the study, care, and practice necessary to
the cultivation of our talents and the im-
provement of our minds.

CUL'VERIN, a long slender piece of
ordnance, serving to carry a ball to a
great distance.

CUME'RUM, in antiquity, a large cov-
ered basket, used at weddings for carry-
ing the household stuff, &o., belonging to
the bride.

CUNEIFORM, an appellation given
to whatever resembles a wedge ; as, in
botany, a cuneiform leaf.

CUNEIFORM LETTERS, the name
given to the inscriptions found on old
Babylonian and Persian monuments,
from the characters being formed like a
wedge. This species of writing, as it is
the simplest, so it is the most ancient of
which we have any knowledge. It is
formed of two radical signs the wedge
and the angle susceptible, however, of
about thirty different combinations ; and
consists of three varieties, distinguished
from each other by a greater or less com-
plication of the characters. It is of Asi-
atic origin ; is written from right to left,
like the Sanscrit ; differs from the ancient
Egyptian hieroglyphics, inasmuch as it is
alphabetic, not ideographic ; and, finally,

with a few considerable modifications,
forms the basis of most of the Eastern
languages.

CU'PID, the Roman name of the Gre-
cian god of love Eros. There were three
divinities, or rather three forms of the
! same deity, with this appellation ; but
the one usually meant when spoken of
without any qualification was the son of
Mercury and Venus. Like the rest of
the gods Cupid assumed different shapes ;
| but ho is generally represented as a
beautiful child with wings, blind, and
carrying a bow and quiver of arrows,
with which he transpierced the hearts of
lovers, inflaming them with desire. Among
the ancients he was worshipped with the
same solemnity as his mother Venus ; his
influence pervaded all creation, animate
and inanimate ; and vows and sacrifices
were daily offered up at his shrine. Stat-
ues of Cupid formed among the ancients
great objects of vertu. Praxiteles is said
to have derived great honor from his
statues of this divinity ; and in his ora-
tions against Verres, Cicero has given
celebrity to one statue of Cupid by this
artist, which formed an object of peculiar
veneration to the Thespians.

CU'POLA, in architecture, a roof or
vault rising in a circular form, otherwise
called the tholus or dome. The ancients
constructed their cupolas of stone ; the
moderns, of timber, covered with lead or
copper. The finest cupola, ancient or
modern, is that of the Pantheon at Rome.
Among some of the handsomest modern
cupolas, is that on the Bank of England,
St. Peter's at Rome, the Hotel des Inva-
lides at Paris, and St. Paul's, London.

CU'RATE, an officiating, but unbene-
ficed clergyman, who performs the duty
of a church, and receives a salary from
the incumbent of the living.

CURA'TOR, in a general sense, signi-
fies a person who is appointed to take
care of anything. Among the ancient
Romans, there were officers in every
branch of the public service to whom this
application was given : thus we read of
Curatores frumenti, marum, operum
publicorum. Tiberis, <tc. &c., i. e. per-
sons who distributed corn, superintended
the making of roads and the public build-
ings, or were conservators of the river.
Curator, in the civil law, is the guardian
of a minor who has attained the age of
fourteen. Before that age, minors are
under a tutor. The guardianship of per-
sons under various disabilities, and of the
estate of deceased or absent persons and
insolvents is also committed to a curator.

L26

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

CUT

This title is derived from the ancient
Komans, by whom, as was remarked
above, it was given to various officers
who acted as superintendents of different
departments of the public service. In
learned institutions, the officer who has
charge of libraries, collections of natural
history, <fcc. is frequently styled curator.
CURB ROOF, in
architecture, a roof
in which the raft-
ers, instead of con-
tinuing straight
down from the ridge
to the walls, are at
a given height received on plates, which
in their turn are supported by rafters
less inclined to the horizon, whose bear-
ing is, through the medium of the wall-
plate, directly on the walls. It presents
a bent appearance, as in the diagram,
whence it derives its name.

CURTE W, a law introduced from Nor-
mandy into England by AVilliam the Con-
queror, that all people should put out
their fire and lights at the ringing of a
bell, at eight o'clock. The word is de-
rived from the French couvre-feu.

CU'RIA, in Roman antiquity, a cer-
tain division, or portion of a tribe. Rom-
ulus divided the people into thirty
curice, or wards; and there were ten in
every tribe, that each might keep the
ceremonies of their feasts and sacrifices
in the temple, or holy place, appointed
for every curia. The priest of the curia
was called curio. Curia, in law, signi-
fies generally a court, but it was taken
particularly for the assemblies of bishops,
peers, &c. of the realm, called solemnis
curia, curia publica, Ac.

CUR'RENCY, in commerce, bank-
notes or other paper-money issued by
authority, and which are continually
passing current for coin.

CUR'RENTS, in navigation, certain
settings of the stream, by which ships are
compelled to alter their course, and sub-
mit to the motion impressed upon them
by the current. The causes of currents
are very numerous. The waters may be
put in motion by an internal impulse ; by
a difference of heat and saltness ; by the
inequality 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, prove the existence of a
low current, which runs from the pole to
the equator. It proves likewise, that sa-
line substances are distributed in the

ocean, in a manner not to destroy the
effect produced by different tempera-
tures. It is well known also that there
are different currents of air.

CUR'SITOR, a clerk belonging to the
court of chancery, whose business it is to
make out original writs.

CUR'TAIN, in a general sense, a cloth
hanging round a bed, or at a window,
which may be contracted, spread, or
drawn aside at pleasure. Also, a cloth-
hanging used in theatres, to conceal the
stage from the spectators. In fortifica-
tion, the curtain is that part of the ram-
part which is between the flanks of two
bastions, bordered with a parapet, behind
which the soldiers stand to fire on the
covered way and into the moat.

CU'RULE CHAIR, in Roman antiqui-
ty, a chair, or stool, adorned with ivory,
wherein the chief magistrates of Rome
had a right to sit. The curule magis-
trates were the aediles, the prjetors, cen-
sors, and consuls. This chair was placed
in a kind of chariot, whence it had its
name.

CUSTO'DIA, the shrine or receptacle
for the host in Spanish churches. They
are frequently constructed of gold and of
silver, upon which all the riches of the
goldsmith's art were lavished.

CUS'TOM, in law, long established
practice or usage, which constitutes the
unwritten law, and long consent to which
gives it authority.

CUS'TOMS, in political economy, the
duties, toll, tribute, or tariff, payable to
the government upon merchandise ex-
ported and imported, and which form a
branch of the perpetual taxes.

CUS'TOS ROTULO'RUM, the keeper
of the rolls and records of the sessions of
the peace, and also of the commission of
the peace itself. He is usually a noble-
man, and always a justice of the peace,
of the quorum in the county where he is
appointed.

CUTA'NEOUS, an epithet for what-
ever belongs to or affects the skin ; as, a
cutaneous eruption, &c.

CUT'LERY, a term used to designate
all kinds of sharp and cutting instru-
ments made of iron or steel, as knives,
forks, scissors, razors, <fec. The principal
seat of the manufacture of British cut-
lery is Sheffield ; and the articles made
there are held in the highest estimation
in all parts of the world.

CUT'TER, a boat attached to a vessel
of war, which is rowed with six oars, and
is employed in carrying light stores, pas-
sengers, <tc. Also, a vessel with one mast

CYC]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

and a straight running bowsprit, which

may be run in upon deck.

CYAN'OGEN, carburetted azote, or

the blue compound of carbon and azotic

gas.

CYATH'IFORM, in the form of a cup

or drinking glass, a little widened at the

top.

CY'ATHUS, in Roman antiquity, a

liquid measure, containing four ligulas,

or half a pint. Also, a cup, which the
Romans used
to fill and drink
from as many
times as there
were letters in
the name of
their patron or

mistress. It
is often met
with on paint-
ed vases in
the hands of
Bacchus ; but
the vessel pe-
culiarly sacred
to that divinity is the two-handled cup,
Cantharus.

CYBE'LE, in mythology, was origin-
ally the Phrygian goddess of the earth.
When her worship was introduced among
the Greeks, they confounded her with
Rhea, as did the Latins with their Ops.
Her rites, like those of the Asiatic deities,
in general wore celebrated with great
excitement ; her priests, who were called
Galli, Corybantes, Curetes, &c., running
about with bowlings and clashing of cym-
bals.

CY'CL AS, a large robe of thin texture,
with a border embroidered with gold,
worn by the Roman women. It was
worn in the same manner as the pal-
lium.

CY'GLE, in chronology, a certain
period or series of numbers, which regu-
larly proceed from the first to the last,
and then return again to the first, and so
circulate perpetually. Cycle of the sun,
or solar cycle, a period of 28 years, in
which the Sunday or Dominical letter
recurs in the same order. Cycle of the
moon, or lunar cycle, a period of nine-
teen years, when the new and full moon
recur on the same days of the month.
Cycle of indictlon, a period of fifteen
years, in use among the Romans, com-
mencing from the third year before Christ
This cycle has no connection with the ce-
lestial motions ; but was instituted, ac-
cording to Baronius, by Constantino.
CY'CLIC CHO'RUS, the chorus which

performed the songs and dances of the
Dithyrambic odes at Athens. They de-
rived their name from the circumstance
of their dancing round the altar of Bac-
chus in a circle (wcAos) and were thus dis-
tinguished from the square (rtrpdywi/os)
choruses of tragedy.

CY'CLIC POETS. This term waa ap-
plied to a succession of Epic poets who
followed Homer, and wrote merely on the
Trojan war and the adventures of the
heroes immediately connected with it,
keeping, as it were, to one circle of sub-
jects. None of their works have come
down to us.

CYCLOPJE'DIA, a work containing
definitions or accounts of the principal
subjects in one or all departments of
learning, art, or science. Its arrange-
ment may be either according to divisions
into the various sciences, &c., or the sub-
jects may be arranged and treated in
alphabetical order. The Encyclopedic
Fran^oise, or Dictionnaire Encyclope-
dique and the Encyclopaedia Uritannica,
have been the most celebrated works of
this species ; but the earliest appears to
be the Lexicon Technicum of Harris,
published in 1706. The great French
work, the Encyclopedia Methodique, con-
sists, not of one, but of a series of ency-
clopedias or dictionaries.

CYCLO'PEAN, an epithet applied to
certain huge structures, the remains of
which are found in many parts of Greece,
Italy, and Asia Minor, the architecture
of which was totally different in style
from that which prevailed during the
historical ages. The epithet originated
in the Grecian tradition that assigned
these edifices to the gigantic strength of
the Cyclops. It is most probable that
they were really raised by the Pelasgians,
the predecessors or ancestors of the later
Greeks ; and a gradual progress may be
traced in them from the extreme of rude-
ness to a degree of symmetry that indi-
cates an approach to the elegance of
Grecian architecture.

CYCLO'PES, in mythology, a race of
gigantic beings fabled by the Greeks to
dwell in Sicily, where they assisted Vul-
can in forging the thunderbolts of Jupi-
ter. They had only one eye, round, and
situated in the centre of the forehead.
The most celebrated among them was
Polyphemus, whose exploits have formed
a prolific theme for the poets of antiqui-
ty. His attachment to the nymph Gala-
tea, is happily described in an idyl of
Theocritus ; and the ninth book of the
Odyssey contains a graphic account of his

128

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

savage propensities, and of the loss of his
eye by the stratagem of Ulysses.

CYMA'TIUM, CY'MA, or SI'MA, in
architecture, a member or moulding of
the cornice, the profile of which is waving,
that is, concave at the top and convex at
the bottom. When the concave part of
the moulding projects beyond the convex
part, the cymatium is denominated a
sima-recta ; but when the convex part
forms the greatest projection, it is a sima-
retersa.

CYM'BAL, a musical instrument used
by the ancients, hollow, and made of
brass, supposed to be somewhat like a
kettle-drum. The modern cymbals used
in military bands consist of two concave
metal plates, which are occasionally
struck together and flourished above the
head of the player.

CYN'IC, a man of a surly or snarl-
ing temper ; a misanthrope. The cynics
were a sect of ancient philosophers who
valued themselves upon their contempt
of riches and state, arts, sciences, and
amusements. This sect was founded by
Antisthenes, a disciple of Socrates, who
sought to imitate his master in careless-
ness of outward splendor and contempt of
riches ; but his indifference to these things
soon degenerated unhappily into a love
of ostentation, shown by a display of pov-
erty. Thus he and many of his followers
rejected not only the conveniences but the
common decencies of life, and lived in
rags and filthiness ; while they sneered
bitterly at the rest of the world, instead
of endeavoring to teach it to cultivate the
pure reason of which they professed them-
selves to be the only followers. Of this
sect was the famous Diogenes, whose
meeting with Alexander the Great is too
well known to require being noticed in
this place.

CYNOSAR'GES, a sort of academy in
the suburbs of Athens, situated bear the
Lyceum ; so called from the mythological
story of a white dog, which, when DiomUs
was sacrificing to Hercules, the guardian
of the place, carried off part of the vic-
tim. Besides possessing several temples
erected in honor of Hercules, Alcmene,
and other mythological personages, it
was chiefly famed for its gymnasium, in
which foreigners or citizens of .half blood
used to perform their exercises ; and as
being the place where Antisthenes insti-
tuted the sect of the Cynics, and taught
his opinions.

CYN'OSURE, literally the tail of a
dog, applied by some philosophers to the
constellation Ursa Minor, by which the

ancient Phoenicians used to be guided on
their voyages : whence it has boon bor-
rowed by the language of poetry, in which
it signifies " a point of attraction :"

'Where perhnps some beauty lies,
The cynosure of neighboring eyes.

CYN'THIUS and CYN'THIA, in my-
thology, surnames given by the ancient
poets to Apollo and Diana : from Cyn-
thus. a mountain of the island of Delos,
on which they are fabled to have been
born.

CY'PHONISM, a species of punish-
ment frequently resorted to by the an-
cients, which consisted in besmearing the
criminal with honey, and then exposing
him to insects. This punishment was car-
ried into effect in various ways, but chief-
ly by fastening the sufferer to a stake, or
extending him on the ground with his
arms pinioned.

CYRE'NIAXS, the philosophers of a
school founded at Cyrene, a Grecian col-
ony on the northern coast of Africa, by
Aristippus, a disciple of Socrates. They
held, with the Epicureans, that pleasure
was the only good and pain the only evil,
and were not at such pains as the latter
to prove that the first could only attend
on virtuous conduct ; they also differed
from them in not considering absence from
pain of itself to be a pleasure of the high-
est order. But though theso philosophers
held that pleasure should form the ulti-
mate object of pursuit, and that it was
only in subserviency to this that fame,
fr endship, and even virtue are to be de-
sired, still there were many points in their
philosophy calculated to command gen-
eral sympathy. It is impossible not to
admit that, with all the defects of the sys-
tem, its object is to render us happy in
relation to ourselves, agreeable and faith-
ful to our friends, and discreet, servicea-
ble, and well-bred in relation to those
with whom we are obliged to live and con-
verse. Perhaps the best view of the phi-
losophy of this sect is to be obtained from
the Satires and Epistles of Horace, in
which the versatility of disposition, po-
liteness of manners, and knowledge of the
world that distinguished the Cyrenians,
are set forth with great clearness, and
with all the ardor of an enthusiastic dis-
ciple.

CYTIIEILE'A, in mythology, a name
given to Venus, from the island Cythera,
where she was worshipped with peculiar
veneration.

CYZICE'NA, in antiquity, a magnifi-
cent sort of banqueting-house, among the

AND THE FINE AHTS.

129

Greeks; so called from Cyzicus, a city
famous for its sumptuous buildings.

CZAR, the title assumed by the empe-
rors of Russia. The first that bore this
title was Basil, the son of Basilides, un-
der whom the Russian power began to
appear, about 1470. The word is of old
Sclavonic origin, and is nearly equivalent
to king.

CZARI'NA, the title of the empress
of Russia.

D, the fourth letter in the alphabet, is
a dental articulation, having a kind of
middle sound between the t and t/i; its
sound being formed by a stronger im-
pulse of the tongue to the upper part of
the mouth, than is necessary in the pro-
nunciation of the t. D, as a numeral,
denotes 500; as an abbreviation it stands
for Doctor, Domini, &c. ; as M.D., Doctor
of Medicine ; D.D. Doctor of Divinity ;
A.D., Anno Domini. As a sign, it is one
of the Dominical or Sunday letters ; and
in music, it is the nominal of the sec-
ond note in the natural diatonic scale
ofC. '

DA'ALDER, a Dutch silver coin, of
the value of a guilder and a half, or about
35 cents.

DA CAPO, in music, an Italian phrase
signifying that the first part of the tune
is to be repeated from the beginning. It
is also used as a call or acclamation to
the musical performer at concerts, &c.,
to repeat the air or piece which has just
been finished.

DAC'TYL, a foot in Latin and Greek
poetry, consisting of a long syllable fol-
lowed by two short ones ; as, dominus,
carmine. When combined with the foot
called a spondee, consisting of two long
syllables, it forms a line of hexameter, or
six feet poetry, in which the dactyls and
spondees are tastefully intermingled.

DAC'TYLI, priests of Cybele in Phry-
gia; so called, according to Sophooles,
because they were five in number, thus
corresponding with the number of the
fingers, from which the name is derived.
Their functions appear to have been sim-
ilar to those of the Corybantes and Cu-
retes, other priests of the same goddess
in Phrygia and Crete.

DAC'TYLIC, an epithet for verses
which end with a dactyl instead of a
spondee.

DACTYL'IOGLYPII, in ancient gem

sculpture, the inscription of the name of
the artist on a gem.

DACTYLIOG'RAPHY, the science of
gem engraving.

DACTYLIOM'ANCY, a kind of divi-
nation among the Greeks and Romans,
which was performed by suspending a
ring by a thread over a table, the edge
of which was marked with the letters of
the alphabet. As the ring, after its vi-
bration ceased, happened to hang over
certain letters, these joined together gave
the answer.

DACTYLIOTHE'CA, a collection of
engraved gems.

DACTYLOL'OGY. or DACTYLON'-
OMY, the art of communicating ideas or
thoughts by the fingers ; or the art of
numbering on the fingers.

DAC'TYLOS, the shortest measure
among the Greeks, being the fourth part
of a palm.

DA'DO, the die or that part in the
middle of the pedestal of a column be-
tween its base and cornice. It is also
the name of the lower part of a wall.

DADU'CHI, priests of Ceres, who at
the feaets and sacrifices of that goddess,
ran about the temple with lighted torches,
delivering them from hand to hand, till
they had passed through the whole com-
pany.

DjJED'ALA, two festivals in Bosotia.
One was held by the Platceans in a large
grove, where they exposed to the air
pieces of boiled flesh ; and observing on
what trees the crows alighted, that came
to feed upon them, they cut them down
and formed them into statues called
Dcedala. The other festival, which was
much more solemn, was observed in dif-
ferent parts of Bo3otia once in sixty years,
when they carried about the statue of a
female, called Dscdala, and every city
and every man of fortune offered a bull
to Jupiter, and an ox or heifer to Juno,
the poorer people providing sheep. These,
with wine and incense, were laid upon
the altar, and, together with twelve sta-
tues which were piled thereon, were set
on fire wholly consumed.

DjED'ALUS, in fabulous history, the
great-grandson of Erechtheus king of
Athens, is celebrated as the most ancient
statuary, architect, and mechanist of
Greece To him is ascribed the inven-
tion of the saw, the axe, the plummet,
and many other tools and instruments ;
and to such a degree did he excel in
sculpture, that his statues are fabled to
have been endowed with life. .For the
alleged murder of his nephew he was

130

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DAG

obliged to quit Athens, whence he re-
paired to Crete, then under the sway of
Minos, by whom he was favorably re-
ceived. Here he constructed the famous
labyrinth, on the model of the still more
famous one of Egypt ; but having assist-
ed the wife of Minos in an intrigue with
Taurus, he was, by a strange fatality,
confined to this very labyrinth along with
his son Icarus. By means, however, of
wings, which he formed of linen or feath-
ers and wax, Daedalus and his son con-
trived to make their escape. The former
pursued his aerial journey, and arrived
safely in Sicily ; but the latter having
soared too near the sun, in consequence
of which the wax that fastened the wing
was melted, dropped into and was drown-
ed in the sea (thence called the Jcarian.)
In Sicily Dsedalus continued to prosecute
his ingenious labors, and lived long
enough to enrich that island with various
works of art. From the plastic powers
of Daedalus, the ancient poets used to re-
gard his name as synonymous with in-
genious, as in the phrase Dcedaleum
opus; and in a somewhat similar sense
Lucretius applies it to the earth, in or-
der to describe its vernal vegetation. A
few years ago the name of Dasdalus,
which had been appropriated by various
artists in the history of Grecian art, was
assumed by the constructors of some in-
genious automata, in memory of the grand
impressions which the works of Daedalus
had produced.

DAG'GER, a weapon of various sizes,

two-edged and pointed, similar in ap-
pearance to a sword, but smaller. The
cut exhibits two daggers from the armo-
ry at Goodrich Court. The first is of
the time of Edward III. ; the second,
which has the more modern improvement
of a guard for the hand, is of Italian
workmanship, of the latter end of the fif-
teenth century.

DA'GON, one of the principal divini-
tie 3 of the ancient Phoenicians and Syri-
ans, and more especially of the Philis-
tines. The origin, attributes, and even
the sex of this divinity, are all wrapt in
the most profound obscurity ; but the sa-
cred writers concur in assigning to him
such a degree of authority as must place
him on a level with the Jupiter of the
Greeks and Romans.

DAGUER'REOTYPE, the name ap-
plied to a remarkable invention of M.
Daguerre, of Paris, by which he fixes
upon a metallic plate the lights and shad-
ows of a landscape or figure, solely by the
action of the solar light. A plate of cop-
per, thinly coated with silver, is exposed
in a close box to the action of the vapor
of iodine ; and when it assumes a yellow
color, it is placed in the dark chamber of
a camera obscura, where it receives an
image of the object to be represented. It
is then withdrawn, and exposed to the
vapor of mercury to bring out the im-
pression distinctly ; after which, it is
plunged into a solution of hypo-sulphite
of soda, and lastly, washed in distilled
water. The process is then complete, and
the sketch produced is in appearance
something similar to aquatint,but greatly
superior in delicacy ; and such is the pre-
cision of the detail, that the most power-
ful microscope serves but to display the
perfection of the copy.

DA'IS, in architecture, the platform
or raised floor at the upper end of a,
dining hall, where the high table stood ;
also the seat with a canopy over it for
those who sat at the high table.

DALMAT'ICA, a long white gown
with sleeves ; worn by deacons in the
Roman Catholic church over the alb and
slole. It was imitated from a dress ori-
ginally worn in Dalmatia, and imported
into Rome by the emperor Commodus,
where the use of it gradually superseded
the old Roman fashion of keeping the
arms uncovered. A similar robe was
worn by kings hi the middle ages at cor-
onations and other solemnities.

DAM'AGE-FEAS'ANT, in law, is
when one person's beasts get into anoth-
er's ground, without license of the owner

DAN]

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131

or occupier of the ground, and do damage
by feeding, or otherwise, to the grass,
corn, wood, &c., in which case the party
injured may distrain or impound them.

DAM'AGES, in law, the estimated
equivalent for an injury sustained ; or that
which is given or adjudged by a jury to the
plaintiif in an action, to repair his loss.

DAM' ASK, a fabric of silk, linen, wool,
also partly or wholly of cotton, woven
with large patterns of trees, fruits, ani-
mals, landscapes, &c., and one of the
most costly productions of the loom. It
consists throughout of a body of five or
eight shanks, the pattern being of a dif-
ferent nature to the ground. Damask
weaving first attained perfection at Da-
mascus, whence this large-patterned fab-
ric derives its name. We find the art
flourishing in the mediaeval times of Art
at Bruges, and other places in Flanders ;
attempts were also made in Germany
and France.

DAMASKEENING, this term, de-
rived from the Syrian Damascus, so re-
nowned in Art, designates the different
kinds of steel ornamentation. The first
is the many-colored watered Damascus
blades ; the second kind consists in etch-
ing slight ornaments on polished steel-
wares ; the third is the inlaying of steel
or iron with gold and silver, as was done
with sabres, armor, pistol-locks, and gun-
barrels. The designs were deeply en-
graved, or chased in the metal, and the
lines filled with gold or silver wire, driven
in by the hammer, and fastened firmly.
This art was brought to great perfection
by the French artist Corsinet, in the
reign of Henry IV.

DAME, formerly a title of honor to a
woman. It is now seldom otherwise ap-
plied than to a mistress of a family in the
humbler walks of life.

DAM'NIFY, in law, to cause hurt or
damage to ; as, to damnify a man in his
goods or estate.

DAMP'ERS, in music, certain parts in
the internal construction of the pianoforte,
which arc covered with soft leather in or-
der to deaden the vibration, and are act-
ed on by a pedal.

DAM'SEL, (from the Fr. damoiselle,)
a name anciently given to young ladies of
noble or genteel extraction. The word is,
however, now seldom used, except jocular-
ly, or in poetry. Damoisel, or damoi-
seau, the masculine of the same word, ap-
pears to have been applied to young men
of rank ; thus we read of damsel Pepin,
damsel Louis le gros, damsel Richard,
prince of Wales. From the sons of kings

this appellation first passed to those of
great lords or barons, and afterwards to
those of gentlemen, who were not yet
knights ; but, such is the change which
language undergoes, that at the present
day it is only used (and then rarely) when
speaking of young unmarried women. It
occurs frequently in the Scriptures, and in
poetry.

DANCE OF DEATH. This edifying
subject is very frequently met with in an-
cient buildings, stained glass, and in the
decorations of manuscripts, &c. The best
known is that by Hans Holbein. It is
frequently found in the margins of early
printed books. One, from the press of
Simon Vostre, in 1502, has a most inter-
esting series, beautifully designed and
executed. The earliest representation of
this impressive subject dates from the
fourth century ; but it was rapidly mul-
tiplied, and introduced into many English
and continental churches.

DAN'CING, may be defined to be a
graceful movement of the figure, accom-
panied by gestures and attitudes indica-
tive of certain mental emotions, and by
measured steps in harmony with a piece
of music arranged for the purpose. The
great antiquity of dancing is attested by
history, both sacred and profane. It con-
sisted at first, probably, of nothing more
than gesticulation and moving in a pro-
cession ; in which sense it formed part of
the celebration of the religious rites of the
ancient Hebrews and Egyptians. But the
Greeks, who are confessedly indebted to
the Egyptians for the elements of their
religion and literature, though these were
afterwards refined by them to such a de-
gree as nearly to obliterate all traces of
their origin, soon polished and improved
these sacred rites, and introduced them
into all the festal ceremonies of whinh
their elegant mythology was composed.
In this they were, as usual, imitated by
the Romans. If wo believe Scaliger, the
early bishops of the church were styled
praesules, because (as the word literally
implies) they led off the dance at their
solemn festivals ; and this practice con-
tinued in the church till the 12th century.
Almost every country can boast of its
national dances peculiar to the inhabi-
tants ; which it is rare to see so well per-
formed when adopted by others. Of these
the best known to us are the tarantella of
the Neapolitans, the bolero and fandango
of the Spaniards, the mazourek and kra-
kowiaque of Poland, the cosaque of Rus-
sia, the reduwac of Bohemia, the quad-
i rille and cotillon of France, the waltz

CTCLOl'EDIA OF LITERATURE

[DAT

and gallopade of Germany, and the reel
of Scotland. As an exercise, or amuse-
ment, dancing is nothing more than a
methodized act instinctive in the human
frame. To teach dancing, is to teach the
activity of the body to display itself in a
m::nner regulated by the principles of
grace, or in imitation of stops and ges-
tures which others have used with appro-
bation. By its mechanical effects on the
body, it inspires the mind with cheerful-
ness ; while the music which accompanies
it has effect upon the body as well as
upon the mind.

DAN'DY, (from dandiprat, a little
urchin, or probably from the French dan-
din, a ninny ;) in modern usage, a male
of the human species, who dresses himself
like a doll, and who carries his character
on his back.

DA'NEGELT, or DA'NEGELD, in
England, an annual tax formerly laid on
the English nation, for maintaining forces
to oppose the Danes, or to furnish tribute
to procure peace. It was at first one shil-
ling, and afterwards two, for every hide of
land, except such as belonged to the church.

DANGE'RIA, in old English law, a
payment of money anciently made by the
forest tenants to their lords, that they
might have leave to plough and sow in
the time of pannage or mast-feeding.

DAPH'NE, in Grecian mythology, a
nymph of Diana, the daughter of the river
god Peneus. She was beloved by Apollo ;
but she resisted all his attempts to excite
in her a mutual attachment, and at last
betook herself to flight. On being hotly
pursued by the god, she invoked the earth
to swallow her up, when her prayer was
granted, and she was immediately chang-
ed into a laurel-tree.

DAPHNEPHO'RIA, in antiquity, a
novennial festival celebrated by the Boeo-
tians in honor of Apollo, to whom boughs
of laurel were offered.

DAP'PLED, variegated with spots of
different colors; as, a dapple-bay or dap-
ple-gray horse.

DARAP'TI, in logic, an arbitrary term
expressing the first mood of the third fig-
ure of syllogisms, where the first two prop-
ositions are universal affirmatives, and
the last a particular affirmative.

DA'RIC, in antiquity, a Persian gold
coin, said to have been struck by Darius,
and supposed to have been equal to 25s.
sterling.

DASH, in music, a small mark, thus ',
denoting that the note over which it is
placed is to be performed in a short and
distinct manner.

DA'TA, among mathematicians, a term
used for such things and quantities as
are given or known, in order to find other
things therefrom, that are unknown.
Euclid uses the word for such spaces, lines,
and angles, as are of a given magnitude,
or to which we can assign others equal.

DATE, the notation of the time and
place of the delivery or subscription of
an instrument. The word is derived from
the common formula at the foot of in-
struments, "datum," or "data," given
at such a place and time. Dates of time
are distinguished into definite and in-
definite. The former mark specially the
year, and sometimes the month, day, Ac. ;
the latter only contain a general refer-
ence to some period of time. Thus many
instruments of the earlier part of the
middle ages are dated only " Regnante
Domino nostro Jesu C/iristo :" and very
often the date contained only mention of
the reigning prince, without reference to
the years of his reign. Definite dates
are various in ancient charters and deeds.
The Christian Greeks dated generally,
down to the fall of Constantinople, by the
year of the world ; beginning their year
at the 1st of September. The date used
in the oldest Latin charters is commonly
that of the indiction, which is also fre-
quently added in the Greek. The Chris-
tian era (under the several names of year
of grace, of the incarnation, of the reign
of Christ, of the nativity, &c., <tc.,) began
to be in common usage in royal charters
in France about the reign of Hugh Capet ;
in Spain and Portugal not until the 13th
and 14th centuries. In England, the
Saxon kings frequently dated by the in-
carnation ; but deeds and charters under
the Plantagenet kings generally bear
the year of the reigning prince.

DA'TISI, in logic, an arbitrary term
for a mode of syllogisms in the third fig-
ure, wherein the major proposition is a
universal affirmative, and the minor and
conclusion are particular affirmatives.

DA'TIVE, in grammar, the third of
the Greek and Latin nouns.

DAU'PHIN, the title of the eldest son
of the king of France. It is said that, in
1349, Humbert II., the last of the princes
of Dauphiny, having no issue, gave his
dominions to the crown of France, upon
condition that the king's eldest son should
bo styled the Dauphin.

DAVID'S DAY, (St.) the l?t of March,
j kept by the Welsh, in honor of St. David,
I bishop of Miney, in Wales; who at the
i head of their forces obtained a signal
i victory over the Saxons. It is the in

DEA]

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133

variable custom of the Welsh to wear
leeks in their hats on this day.

DAWN, the commencement of the day,
when the twilight appears.

DAY, according to the most natural
and obvious sense of the word, signifies
that part of the twenty-four hours when
it is light; or the space of time between
the rising and the setting of the sun ; the
time which elapses from its setting to its
rising again being considered the night.
The word day is often taken in a larger
sense, so as to include the night also ; or
to denote the time of a whole apparent
revolution of the sun round the earth.
The day is also distinguishscl into civil
and astronomical. The civil day is a
space of twenty-four hours, reckoned
from sunset to sunset, or from sunrise to
sunrise, which is different in different
parts of the globe. The astronomical
day is the space of twenty-four hours,
reckoned from twelve o'clock at noon to
the noon of the next day. The nautical
day ends at the instant the astronomical
day begins; so that nautical time in days
of the month, is always twenty-four hours
in advance of astronomical time, and the
civil day is midway between both. The
Babylonians began the day at sun-rising ;
the Jews at sun-setting ; the Egyptians
at midnight, as do several nations in
modern times, the British, French, Span-
ish, American, &o. Days of grace, in
commerce, a customary number of days
allowed for the payment of a bill after it
becomes due. Three days of grace are
allowed in Great Britain and America.
In other countries the time allowed is
much longer, but the merchants there
very rarely avail themselves of the time.

DEA'CON, a minister of religion, hold-
ing, in Protestant churches, the lowest
degree in holy orders. The first appoint-
ment of deacons is mentioned in Acts vi.,
where the Apostles direct the congrega-
tion to look out seven men of honest
report, upon whom they may lay their
hands. Their office at this time seems to
have been chiefly the care of the poor
and the distribution of the bread and
wine in the love feasts. We learn, how-
ever, from the example of Philip, Acts
viii., that they also had authority to
preach. In the English church it is the low-
est of the three orders of clergy (deacons,
priests and bishops.) The word is some-
times used in the New Testament for any
one that ministers in the service of God ;
in which sense, bishops and presbyters
are styled deacons; but, in its restrained
sense, it is taken for the third order of

the clergy. In the church of England,
the form of ordaining a deacon declares
that it is his office to assist in the distri-
bution of the holy communion ; in which,
agreeably to the practice of the ancient
church, he is confined to the administra-
tion of the wine to the communicants.
A deacon is not capable of any ecclesias-
tical promotion ; yet he may be chaplain
to a family, curate to a beneficed clergy-
man, or lecturer to a parish church. In
the Romish church, the deacon's office is
to incense the officiating priest, to incense
the choir, to put the mitre on the bishop's
head at the pontifical mass, and to assist
at the communion. In Presbyterian and
Independent places of worship, the dea-
cons distribute the bread and wine to the
communicants. In Scotland, an overseer
of the poor, or the master of an incor-
porated company, is styled a deacon.

DEA'CONESS, a female deacon in the
primitive church. This office appears as
ancient as the apostolical age ; for St.
Paul calls Phoebe a servant of the church
of Cenchrea. One part of their office was
to assist the minister at the baptizing of
womn, to undress them for immersion,
and to dress them again, that the whole
ceremony might be performed with all
the decency becoming so sacred an ac-
tion.

DEAD LANGUAGE, a language
which is no longer spoken or in common
use by a people, and known only in writ-
ings ; as the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

DEAN, a dignitary of the church of
England, next to a bishop, and head of
the chapter, in a cathedral or council.- -
Dean and chapter, are the bishop's
council to assist him with their advice in
the aifairs of religion, and in the tempo-
ral concerns of his see.

DEATH, a total and permanent cessa-
tion of all the vital functions, when the
organs have not only ceased to act, but
have lost the susceptibility of renewed
action. " Men," says Lord Bacon, " fear
death, as children fear the dark ; and as
that natural fear in children is increased
by frightful tales, so is the other. Groans,
convulsions, weeping friends, and the like,
show death terrible ; yet there is no pns-
sion so weak but conquers the fear of it,
and therefore death is not such a terrible
enemy ; revenge triumphs over death ;
love slights it ; dread of shame prefers it ;
grief flies to it; and fear anticipates it."
The alarms most prevalent among man-
kind seem to arise from two considera-
tions, viz., the supposed corporeal suffer-
ing attending it ; and the state that is to

134

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DEC

succeed it. With respect to the supposed
corporeal suffering, it may be observed,
that death is a mere passive extinction of
the vital fire, unattended with any exer-
tion of the animal functions, and there-
fore wholly free from pain. The agonies
and sufferings incident to sickness or
wounds, are the agonies and sufferings of
life, not of death ; they are the struggles
of the body to live, not to die ; efforts of
the machine to overcome the obstacles by
which its functions are impeded. But
when the moment of dissolution arrives,
all sense of suffering is subdued by an in-
stantaneous stoppage of life, or by a lan-
guid insensible fainting. In law, there
is a natural death and a civil death ; nat-
ural, where actual death takes place ;
civil, where a person is not actually dead,
but adjudged so by law ; as by banish-
ment, abjuration of the realm, &<:.

DEATH'-WATCH, a little insect, which
inhabits old wooden furniture, and is fa-
mous for striking with its head against
paper or some other material, and there-
by making a ticking noise, like the beat
of a watch, which by ignorant and super-
stitious people is supposed to be a praeage
of death.

DEBATE', oral contention by argu-
ment and reasoning ; or a controversy be-
tween parties of different opinions, pro-
fessedly for elucidating the truth. De-
bates in congress, the published report of
arguments for and against a measure, in
either house of congress.

DEBENTURE, a term used at the cus-
tom-house for a certificate signed by an
officer of the customs, which entitles a
merchant exporting goods to the receipt
of a bounty, or a drawback of duties. It
also denotes a sort of bill drawn upon the
government.

DEB'IT, a term used in book-keeping
to express the left hand page of ledger, to
which all articles are carried that are
charged to an account.

DEBOUCH', in military language, to
issue or march out of a narrow place, or
from defiles.

DEBOU'CIIEMENT, a French term
for the marching of an army from a nar-
row place into one that is more open.

DEBT, in law, that which is due from
one person to another, whether it be mon-
ey, goods, or services. In law, used ellip-
tically for an action to recover a debt.
In scripture, sin ; that which renders lia-
ble to punishment ; as, " forgive us our
debts." \ntional debt, the engagement
entered into by a government to repay at
v future period money advanced by indi-

viduals for public service, or to pay the
lenders an equivalent annuity.

DE'BRIS, (pron. debree,) ruins or rub-
bish; applied particularly to the frag-
ments of rocks. The word debris is also
used by the French to express the remains
or wreck of an army that has been routed.

DEBUT', in its most general accepta-
tion, is applied to the commencement of
any undertaking, or to the first step made
in a public career ; but it is confined more
particularly to the language of the thea-
tre, in which it signifies the first appear-
ance of an actor, or his first appearance
on any particular stage.

DEC'ACHORD, or DECACHOR'DOtf,
a musical instrument of ten strings.

DEC'ADE, a word used by some old
writers in a general sense for the number
ten, or an enumeration by tens.

DEC'ALOGUE, the ten commandments
or precepts delivered by God to Moses, at
Mount Sinai, originally engraved on two
tables of stone. The Jews, by way of ex-
cellence, call these commandments The
Ten Words, whence they afterwards re-
ceived the name of decalogue.

DECAM'ERON, a work containing the
actions or conversations of ten days.
Decameron, the name given by Boccac-
cio to his celebrated collection of tales ;
they are supposed to be narrated in
turn, during ten days, by a party of
guests assembled at a villa in the country
to escape from the plague which raged at
Florence in 1348.

DECAPITA'TIOX, a mode of punish-
ment of great antiquity, having been
practised by the Jews, Greeks, and Ro-
mans, and some other ancient nations.
Among the continental nations of modern
times, it has long been the ordinary
punishment inflicted on all capitally con-
victed criminals. During the early pe-
riod of English history, it was the usual
mode of punishing felons ; but it after-
wards became a punishment appropria-
ted only to criminals of the highest rank,
and even to this day it is considered as
the most honorable death which a capital
offender can undergo. The last instance
of the infliction of this punishment in
England occurred in 1745, soon after the
rebellion in Scotland had been quelled.

DEC'ASTICK, a poem consisting of
ten lines.

DEC'ASTYLE, in architecture, a
building with an ordnance of ten columns
in front.

DECASYL'LABIC, having ten syl-
lables. In the German and English lan-
guages the ordinary heroic verse is dec-

AND THE FINE ARTS.

135

asyllabic ; but a short syllable is some-
times added at the end by way of a va-
riety, and this, in consequence of the
structure of those languages, takes place
more frequently in the former than the
latter. In the Italian heroic verse the
eleventh syllable is almost uniformly
added, and hence it is more properly to
be termed an hendecasyllabic. In French
versification the decasyllabic line is ap-
propriated to light compositions, espe-
cially tales.

DECEM'BER, the last month of the
modern year, consisting of thirty-one
days ; when the sun enters the tropic of
Capricorn, and makes the winter solstice.
It was so called from being the tenth
month in the Roman year, which began
with March.

DE'CEM PRI'MI, or DE'CEM
PRIN'CIPES, in Roman antiquity, the
ten chief men or senators of every city
or borough.

DECEM'VIRI, properly any body of
ten men appointed for particular pur-
poses. But that which is especially
known by this name was the commission
elected from the Roman patricians in the
302d year after the foundation of the
city, and invested with all the supreme
powers of the state, for the purpose of
drawing up a body of laws founded, ac-
cording to Roman tradition, on the most
approved institutions of Greece. They
presented to the people a number of laws
engraved on ten tables, containing a sum-
mary of the privileges to be enjoyed by
the people, and the crimes to be punished,
&c. At the same time they informed the
people that their plan was incomplete ;
and accordingly a new commission, to
which the plebeians were admitted, was
appointed for the next year, with the
same powers ; the result of which was
the addition of two . more tables to the
former ten, thus making up the famous
twelve tables, which were the foundation
of all Roman law in subsequent times.
The second decemvirate did not demean
itself with the same moderation as the
first, but sought to prolong its power, and
at the same time proceeded to some vio-
lent acts of despotism, which so exas-
perated the people as to make its dissolu-
tion necessary. Besides these extraor-
dinary commissions, there was a body of
decemviri chosen for judicial purposes, to
preside over and summon the centumviri,
and to judge certain causes by them-
selves. There were likewise decemviri
appointed from time to time to divide
lands among the military.

DECEN'NARY, in law, a tithing con-
sisting of ten freeholders and their fami-
lies. Ten of these decennaries constituted
a hundred, the origin of which is ascribed
to Alfred.

DECEPTIVE CA'DENCE, in music,
a cadence in which the final close is
avoided by varying the final chord.

DECIMA'TION, a punishment inflict-
ed by the Romans on such soldiers as quit-
ted their post, or behaved themselves ill in
the field. The names of all the guilty
were put into an urn or helmet, from
which a tenth part only were drawn,
whose lot it was to suffer death.

DECK, the planked floor of a ship
from stem to stern. Small vessels have
only one deck ; larger ships have two or
three decks. Thus, speaking of the size
of a large ship, we say, she is a two-deck-
er, or a three-decker.

DECLAMA'TION, signified, among
the ancients, the art of speaking indiffer-
ently upon both sides of a question : a
species of intelletual exercise resorted
to by the rhetoricians of Greece and
Rome, as the best means of acquiring
facility in public speaking. In modern
times the meaning of declamation is dif-
ferent in different countries. In Ger-
many, and in most parts of the Continent,
it is often used in a sense nearly synony-
mous with recitative. In France and
England, especially the latter, it is some-
times applied to any grand oratorical
display, either in the pulpit, at the bar,
in the senate, or on the stage, in which
the voice, gesticulation, and the whole
delivery of the speaker are in perfect
keeping with the subject matter of his
address. But it is employed most usually
in a disparaging sense, to indicate the
use of forced emphasis, inflated language,
and violent gestures, to withdraw the at-
tention of the auditors from the weakness
or fallacy of the reasoning.

DECLARATION, in law, that part of
the process or pleadings in which a state-
ment of the plaintiff's complaint against
the defendant is set forth. Declaration
of war, a public proclamation made by a
herald at arms to the subjects of a state,
declaring them to be at war with some
foreign power, and forbidding all and
every one to aid or assist the common
enemy at their peril.

DECLEN'SION, in grammar, the in-
flection of cases to which nouns are sub-
ject. Also, the act^of going through these
inflections.

DECLINATORY PLEA, in law, a
plea before trial or conviction, intended

136

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DEE

to show that the pnrty was not liable to
the penalty of I lie l;i w, or was specially ex-
empted from the jurisdiction of the court.

DECOLLATION, a term in frequent
use, synonymous with beheading, and
used in reference to the decapitation of
St. John the Baptist, St. Cecilia, &c.

DECOR A'TION, the ornamental parts
in an edifice, comprising the columns,
pilasters, friezes, bas-reliefs, cornices,
festoons, niches, statues, <fcc., and which
form the decorations of the fafade of a
palace or temple ; and the gilding, ara-
besques, paintings, panellings, carvings,
the draperies, &c., which compose the
decoration of an interior. The discover-
ies at Pompeii have furnished some very
beautiful interior decorations, quite clas-
sical in tiiste.

DECO'RUM, in architecture, the suit-
ableness of a building, and of its parts
and ornaments, to their respective places
and uses.

DECOY', in a general sense, any lure
that deceives and misleads. Also, a sea
term, for a stratagem employed by ships
of war, to draw any vessel of inferior
force into an incautious pursuit, until she
comes within gun-shot. Decoying is also
performed to elude the chase of a ship of
superior force in a dark night ; and this
is done by committing to the sea a light-
ed cask 6f pitch, which will burn for a
considerable time, and misguide the ene-
my. As soon as the cask is lowered, the
ship changes her course, and thus, if at
any tolerable distance from the foe, es-
capes with facility.

DECREE', the order of an authorita-
tive power. In England, the sentence
of the judges in the civil courts, and in
chancery, is called a decree. In theology,
the pre-determined purpose of God, whose
plan of operations is, like himself, un-
changeable.

DECREET, in the Scotch law, a final
decree of judgment of the lords of session,
from which an appeal only lies to parlia-
ment.

DECRESCEN'DO, in music, the term
for gradually decreasing or weakening
the sound ; as opposed to crescendo.

DECRE'TAL, a letter from the pope,
determining some point or question in
ecclesiastical polity. The decretals form
the second part of the canon law.

DECU'RIO, in Roman antiquity, a
company of ten men under one officer or
leader, who was called a decurion, their
cavalry being divided into centuries, and
the centuries subdivided into ten decurice
each.

DECURIO'NES MUNICIPA'LES, a
court of judges or counsellors represent-
ing the Roman senate in the free towns
and provinces.

DEDICATION, the act of consecrat-
ing, or solemnly devoting, any person or
thing to the service of God, and the pur-
poses of religion. Feast of dedication,
an anniversary festival among the Jews,
in memory of Judas Maccabaeus, who
repaired and dedicated anew the temple
and altar, which had been plundered and
profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes. It was
observed on the 25th of Chisleu, and con-
tinued eight days. Dedication, in litera-
ture, a complimentary address to a par-
ticular person, prefixed by an author to
his work. Dedications arose out of the
dependent situation in which authors
have too frequently been placed in refer-
ence to their powerful or wealthy patrons ;
and, at no very distant time, were often
rewarded by pecuniary presents. The
custom of dedicating works was in use at
a very early period. The brightest orna-
ments of Roman literature, Horace, Vir-
gil, Cicero, and Lucretius, were among
the number of those who practised it. At
the period of the revival of letters in
Europe, few works were published with-
out dedications ; many of which are re-
markable for their elegance and purity
of style, and from the interesting matter
which they contain are of far more value
than the treatises to which they are pre-
fixed. But the practice became gradu-
ally perverted : and many of the authors
of the succeeding generations employed
them chiefly with the view of securing the
patronage of the great. Dedications were
most abused in France under Louis XIV.,
and in England from 1670 to the acces-
sion of George III. Dryden was a great
dedicator, and Johnson wrote dedications
for money. Corneille got 1000 louis d'or
for the dedication of Cinna. Some of the
most beautiful dedications with which we
are acquainted are those prefixed to the
different volumes of the Spectator, by
Addison; and in more recent times the
poetical dedications with which each canto
of Sir Walter Scott's Marmion is pre-
faced.

DEDL'C'TOR, a client amongst the
Romans, who called upon his patron at
his lodgings in the morning, waited upon
him from thence to the forum, and at-
tended him upon all public occasions.

DEED, in law, a written contract,
sealed and delivered. It must be written
before the sealing and delivery, other-
wise it is no deed ; and after it is once

EG]

AND THE FIXE ARTS.

137

formally executed by the parties, nothing
can bo added or iuteiiined ; and, there-
fore, 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. Every deed
must bo founded upon good and sufficient
consideration ; not upon a usurious eon-
tract, nor upon fraud or collusion, either
to deceive boiia fide purchasers, or just
and lawful creditors ; any of which con-
siderations will vacate the deed. It takes
effect only from the day of delivery ; and,
therefore, if a deed have no date, or a
date impossible, the delivery will in all
cases ascertain the date of it. The deliv-
ery of a deed may be alleged at any time
after the deed; but unless it be sealed
and regularly delivered, it is no deed.
And lastly, it must be properly witnessed
or attested ; which, however, is necessary
rather for preserving the evidence, than
as intrinsically essential to the validity
of the instrument.

DE FAC'TO, in law, something actually
in fact, or existing, in contradistinction
to de jure, where a thing is only so in
justice but not in fact ; as a king de facto,
is a person that is in actual possession
of a crown, but has no legal right to the
same ; and a king de jure is the person
who has a just right to the crown, though
he is not in possession of it.

DEFAMA'TION, the malicious utter-
ing of falsehood with a view to injure
another's reputation. Defamatory words
writ-ten and published, constitute a libel.

DEFAULT', in law, a non-appearance
in court without assigning sufficient cause.
Defaulter, one who fails to account for
public money entrusted to his care.

DEFEAS'ANCE, in law, a condition
relating to a deed, which being performed,
the deed is defeated and rendered void.
A defeasance, or a bond, or a recogni-
zance, or a judgment recovered, is a con-
dition which, when performed, defeats it.

DEFEC'TIVE FIFTH, in music, an
interval containing a semitone less than
the perfect fifth. It is also called semidia-
pente, and flat, lesser, or diminished fifth.

DEFENCE', in law, the reply which
the defendant makes after the declaration
is produced. In military affairs, any
work that covers or defends the opposite
posts, as flanks, parapets, Ac.

DEFEND'ANT, in law, the party that
is summoned into court, and defends, de-
nies, or opposes the demand or charge,
and maintains his own right. It is appli-
ed whether the person defends, or admits
he claim and suffers a default.

DEFEND'ER OF THE FAITH, a title
bestowed on Henry VIII. of England by
Pope Leo X, on the occasion of that
monarch's publishing his writing against
Luther. AVhen at the Reformation Hen-
ry suppressed all the monasteries and
convents in England, the pope deprived
him of this title ; but in the thirty-fifth
year of his reign it was confirmed by par-
liament, and it has been since constantly
assumed by the sovereigns of England.

DEFILE', a narrow way, or pass,
through which a company of soldiers can
march only in fiie.

DEFINI'TION, the determining the
nature of things by words ; or a brief de-
scription of a thing by its properties. It
is generally effected by adding to a gene-
ric word the essential and peculiar quali-
ties or circumstances of the thing to be
defined ; but a strictly accurate definition
cannot always be given ; and the most
simple things are generally the least ca-
pable of definition, from the difficulty of
finding terms more simple and intelligible
than the one to be defined.

DEFINITIVE, a term applied to
whatever terminates a process, question,
&c. in opposition to provisional and inter-
locutory. In grammar, a word used to
define or limit the extent of the significa-
tion of an appellative or common noun.

DEFORCE'MENT, in law, the holding
of lands or tenements to which another
person has a right. In Scotland, it de-
notes a resisting of an officer in the exe-
cution of law.

DEGRADATION, in ecclesiastical af-
fairs, the depriving a person of his digni-
ty and degree ; as the degradation of a
clergyman by depriving him of holy or-
ders. In military affairs, the depriving*
an officer of his commission. In painting,
a lessening and obscuring of the appear-
ance of distant objects in a landscape, that
they may appear as they would do to an
eye placed at a distance.

DEGREE', in universities, a mark of
distinction conferred on the students or
members thereof as a testimony of their
proficiency in arts or sciences, and en-
titling them to certain privileges. This
is usually evinced by a diploma. The
first degree is that of Bachelor of Arts ;
the second, that of Master of Arts. Hon-
orary degrees are those of Doctor of Di-
vinity, Doctor of Laws, &c. Physicians
also receive the degree of Doctor of Med-
icine. The origin of degrees at the uni-
versities of Paris and Bologna, the two
most ancient in Europe, appears to have
been only the necessary distinction be-

138

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DEL

tween those who taught and those who
learnt. The former were styled (such
w;is at least the case at Paris) doctors or
teachers, and masters, as a token of re-
spect, indiscriminately. At what time the
distinction between these two degrees
arose we cannot ascertain ; but about the
middle of the 13th century we find, at
Paris, doctors and masters simply as grad-
uates, and not necessarily connected with
the business of teaching ; those who were
so being called regent masters, or simply
regents. The degree of Bachelor, the
lowest in the several faculties, is certain-
ly of French origin ; from whence it has
been argued that the whole system of
academical titles is so likewise. Degrees
still continue to bear the same names,
and, with some variation, the same rela-
tive academical rank, in most European
countries ; but the mode of granting them,
and their value at different universities as
tokens of proficiency, vary greatly. At
Oxford and Cambridge degrees are given
in arts, divinity, law, medicine, and mu-
sic ; but among all these the lowest de-
gree in arts, viz. that of bachelor, is the
only one conferred on a substantial exam-
ination, and the only one which is attain-
ed by proceeding through a regular aca-
demical course of study. The higher de-
grees in arts, and those in the other facul-
ties, are attained simply by residence and
the performance of a few unimportant
exercises. Honorary degrees, in the Eng-
lish universities, are generally conferred
in civil law.

DEGREES of comparison, in grammar,
the inflections of adjectives which ex-
press different degrees of the same qual-
ity ; as, good, better, best. Degrees, in
music, the small intervals of which the
concords or harmonical intervals are com-
posed.

DE'ICIDE, a term only used for the
condemnation and execution of the Sa-
viour of the world, by Pontius Pilate and
the Jews.

DEIFICA'TION, the act of deifying,
or enrolling among the heathen deities.

DEI GRA'TIA, (by ttie grace of God,)
a Latin formula, usually inserted in the
ceremonial description of the title of a
sovereign. It was used originally by the
clergy.

DEI JUDI'CIUM, the old Saxon trial
by ordeal, so called because it was sup-
posed to be an appeal to God.

DEtPNOS OPHIST, one of an ancient
sect of philosophers who were famous for
their learned conversation at meals.

DE'ISTS, in the modern sense of the

word, are those persons who acknowl-
edge the existence of one God, but dis-
believe in revealed religion. Taking
the denomination in the most exten-
sive signification, a learned theologian
has thus divided deists into four eh
1. Such as believe the existence of an
eternal, infinite, independent, intelligent
Being, and who teach that this supreme
Being made the world, though he does
not at all concern himself in the manage-
ment of it. 2. Those who believe not
only the being, but also the providence of
God with respect to the natural world, but
who not allowing any difference between
ii.oral good and evil, deny that God takes
any notice of the morally good or evil
actions of men ; these things depending,
as they imagine, on the arbitrary consti-
tutions of human laws. 3. Those who
having right apprehensions concerning
the natural attributes of God, and his all-
governing providence, and some notion of
his moral perfections also ; yet being
prejudiced against the notion of the im-
mortality of the human soul, believe that
men perish entirely at death, and that
one generation shall perpetually succeed
another, without any future restoration
or renovation of things. 4. Such as be-
lieve the existence of a Supreme Being,
together with his providence in the gov-
ernment of the world, as also the obliga-
tions of natural religion ; but so far only,
as these things are discoverable by the
light of nature alone, without believing
any divine revelation.

DE'ITY, the nature and essence of the
Supreme Being ; a term frequently used
in a synonymous sense with God. Also,
a fabulous god or goddess ; as, Jupiter,
Juno, Apollo, &c.

DEJEU'NER, a term wholly natural-
ized in almost all the languages of mod-
ern Europe, not excepting the English,
signifying the morning meal. The mate-
rials of which it is composed vary of
course with the climate and usages of dif-
ferent countries ; but it is worthy of re-
mark that in France itself this tenm is
rapidly losing, if indeed it has not already
lost, its original acceptation, being used,
particularly by the fashionable world, as
synonymous with the English luncheon.

DEL CRED'ERE. a term in commerce
expressive of a guarantee given by fac-
tors, who for an additional premium war-
rant the solvency of the parties to whom
they sell goods upon credit.

DEL'EGATE, a commissioner of ap-
peal appointed by the king to hear ap-
peal causes from the ecclesiastical court.

AND THE FINE ARTS.

139

In the United States, a person elected to
represent a territory in Congress, who
has the right of debate, but not of voting.

DELEGATION, in the civil law, the
act by which a debtor transfers to another
person the duty to pay, or a creditor
makes over to a third party- the right to
receive payment.

DELFT WARE, a coarse species of
porcelain, originally manufactured at
Delft in Holland, whence its name.

DEL'ICACY, in the fine arts, minute
accuracy as opposed to strength or force :
slonderness of proportion, great finish,
and softness are its characteristics.

DELIR/IUM, a state in which the ideas
of a person are wild and irregular, or do
not correspond with the truth, or with
external objects. Or it may be defined
symptomatic derangement, or that which
is dependent on some other disease, in
distinction from idiopathic derangement
or mania.

DELIVERY, a part of oratory, refer-
ring to the management of the voice ; as,
he has a good or graceful delivery.

DEL'PHI, OR'ACLE OP, so called
from Delphi, the capital of Phocis, the
most famous of all the oracles of antiqui-
ty, sacred to Apollo. The origin of the
oraclt) at Delphi is wrapt in obscurity.
By some authors it is ascribed to chance ;
but many incline to believe that it owed
its origin to certain exhalations, which,
issuing from a cavern on which it was
situated, threw all who approached it into
convulsions, and during their continuance
communicated the power of predicting the
future. Be this as it may, these exhala-
tions were soon invested with a sacred
character ; and as their reputation ex-
tended, the town of Delphi insensibly
arose around the cavity from which they
issued. The responses were delivered by
a priestess, called Pythia, who sat upon
a tripod placed over the mouth of the cav-
ern ; and after having inhaled the vapor,
by which she was thrown into violent con-
vulsions, gave utterance to the wished-for
predictions, either in verse or prose, which
were then interpreted by the priests. Ori-
ginally the consultation of the oracle was
a matter of great simplicity ; but in pro-
cess of time, when the accuracy of the
predictions became known, a series of
temples, each more magnificent than its
predecessor, was erected on the spot.
Immense multitudes of priests and do-
mestics were connected with the oracle ;
and to such a height of celebrity did it
attain, that it wholly eclipsed all the oth-
er oracles of Greece. The position of the

oracle was the most favorable that could
well be imagined. Delphi formed at once
the seat of the Amphictyonic council and
the centre of Greece, and, as was univer-
sally believed, of the earth. Hence, in
every case of emergency, if a new form
of government was to be instituted, war
to be proclaimed, peace concluded, or
laws enacted, it came to be consulted, not
only by the Greeks, but even by the neigh-
boring nations ; and thus the temple was
enriched by an incredible number of the
most valuable presents and the most
splendid monuments, and the town of
Delphi rose to be one of the most wealthy
and important of the cities of Greece.

DEL'PHIN, an edition of the Latin clas-
sics, prepared and commented upon by
thirty-nine of the most famous scholars of
the day, at the suggestion of Louis XIV.,
for the benefit of the young prince (in
usum Delphini) under the superintend-
ence of Montausier his governor, and his
preceptors Bossuet and Huet.

DEL'UGE, an inundation or overflow-
ing of the earth, either wholly or in part,
by water. We have several deluges re-
corded in history, as that of Ogyges,
which overflowed almost all Attica, and
that of Deucalion, which drowned all
Thessaly, in Greece ; but the most mem-
orable was that called the universal del-
uge, or Noah's flood, from which only
Noah and those with him in the ark, es-
caped. This flood makes one of the most
considerable epochas in chronology. Its
history is given by Moses in the book of
Genesis, ch. vi. and vii., and its time is fix-
ed to the year from the creation 1656.
From this flood, the state of the world is
divided into "diluvian" and " ante-dilu-
vian."

DEM'AGOGUE, any factious orator
who acquires great influence with the pop-
ulace ; whom he flatters, cajoles, or leads
into danger, as best suits his purpose.

DEMAIN', or DEME'SNE, in law, a
manor-house and the lands thereunto be-
longing, which the lord of the manor and
his ancestors have time out of mind kept
in their own occupation. It denotes also
all the parts of any manor not in the
hands of freeholders ; and is frequently
used for a distinction between those lands
that the lord has in his own hands, or in
the hands of his lessee demised at a rack-
rent : or such other land appertaining to
the manor, which belongs to free or copy-
holders.

DEMAND'ANT, in law, the pursuer
in real actions, in distinction from the
plaintiff.

140

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

DEMARC A'TION, LINE or, every line
drawn for determining a border, which
is not to be passed by foreign powers, or
by such as are at v/ar with each other.
The word was first introduced in 4493,
when Pope Alexander VI., in order to
put an end to the dispute, which prevailed
between the crowns of Spain and Portu-
gal, relative to their Indian discoveries
and conquests by virtue of his pontifical
authority drew through the ocean an
imaginary line, by which the dominions
of both parties were defined ; and thus
originated the expression line of demar-
cation. It is only in this phrase that the
word is employed to this day in all the
languages of Europe.

DEM'I, a half fellow at Magdalen
College, Oxford. Also, a term in compo-
sition, signifying half; as, demigod, a
hero who was enrolled among the gods.

DEAL'I-CADENCE, in music, an im-
perfect cadence, or one that falls on any
other than the key-note.

DEM'IDITONE', in music, a minor
third.

DEM'IGODS, a general appellation
of the inferior divinities of Greece and
Rome, more particularly of such of the
mixed offspring of divinities and mortals
as were afterwards deified. Of these the
number was almost incredible ; and though
their worship was not cultivated with so
much veneration or solemnity as that of
the superior gods, it prevailed to a greater
or less extent in every quarter of the
ancient world, and formed a large part
of the heathen mythology.

DEM'IQUAVER, in music, a note
equal in duration to half a quaver.

DEM'ITINT, in painting, a tint rep-
resenting the mean or medium between
light and shade ; by some called a half
tint.

DEMI'SE, in law, is applied to an
estate either in fee, for term of life or
years, though most usually the latter.
The death of a king, or a queen regnant,
is termed the demise of the crown, by
which is implied a transfer of the royal
authority or kingdom to a successor.
Demise and re-demise, a conveyance
where there are mutual leases made from
one to another of the same land, or some-
thing out of it.

DEMIUR'GUS, Demiurge, in the ori-
ginal sense of the word, as used by clas-
sical authors, an artificer employed in
ordinary handicraft. In the language
of Platonist writers, it denotes an exalted
and mysterious agent, by whose means
God is supposed to have created the uni-

verse. Hence the Demiurgus, or Logos,
as the same imaginary agent is termed
in the Timaeus of Plato, is identified by
the Platonizing Christians with the sec-
ond person in the Trinity.

DEMOC'RACY, a form of government,
in which the supreme power is lodged in
the hands of the people collectively, or
in which the people exercise the powers
of legislation.

DEMOGOR'GON, in mythology, a
mysterious divinity of antiquity, of whose
origin, attributes, and history no satis-
factory account can be given, in conse-
quence of the obscurity in which they
are enveloped. By some writers he is
regarded as the author of creation ; oth-
ers consider him to have Jeen a famous
magician, to whose spell all the inhab-
itants of Hades were subjected ; but all
concur in viewing him as an object rather
of terror than of worship.

DE'MON, or D^'MON, a name used
by the ancients for certain supernatural
beings, whose existence they supposed.
They were spirits or genii who appeared
to men, either to do them service or to
hurt them. The Platonists distinguish
between gods, demons, and heroes ; the
demons being those since called angels.
Socrates and Tasso spoke, in very distant
ages, of being each attended by a demon
or familiar. In Tasso, this pretension
has been referred to an hypochondriacal
state of mind ; in Socrates, the matter
has given rise to much speculation. From
the manner, however, in which the phi-
losopher is said to have described his de-
mon, there seems good reason to believe
that he spoke figuratively of his natural
conscience or intellect : " it directed him
how to act in every important occasion
of life, and restrained him from impru-
dence of conduct." The Greeks, from
whom we derive the term in Scriptural
language, applied it originally to the
deified spirits of departed heroes, whom
they supposed to have some influence in
promoting the good of mankind, and con-
sidered therefore as objects of adoration.
The manner, however, in which demons
are represented in Scripture as evil spir-
its inflicting injury on men at the sug-
gestion of the Father of Evil, is conform-
able to the oriental notion upon such
points ; except, indeed, that in the Scrip-
tures the general supremacy of God, who
suffers evil to exist, is maintained, in op-
position to the eastern dogma of the eter-
nal and equal conflict of the good and
evil principles. The early fathers in-
dulged in much speculation upon these

DEM]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

141

subjects ; but in modern times the literal
interpretation of the agency of demons
as referred to in Scripture has been fre-
quently called in question. The demons,
like the fairies and goblins of other my-
thologies, are represented with various
characters of beneficence, malice, and
vyanton mischief. They were sometimes
distinguished by the names Cacodernon
and Agathodemon, according as their in-
fluence was evil or beneficent.

DEMO'NIACS. persons possessed by
or under the influence of demons or devils,
of whom mention is made in some pas-
sages in the New Testament. Some di-
vines have supposed that such influence
was permitted to the powers of evil at
one particular time for the greater mani-
festation of our Lord's authority in re-
buking them ; but it is certain that the
idea of demoniacal possession was very
ancient among the oriental nations ; and
those to whom it seems incredible that
it should have been grounded on fact,
must be content with interpreting such
passages of Scripture as a concession to
the opinions and feelings of the Jewish
people.

DEMONOL'OGY, the belief in an in-
termediate race of beings, between deity
and humanity, has been a prevalent fea-
ture in almost every popular creed ; and
all tradition or speculation respecting it
may be said to fall under the general
term of demonology. Among the early
oriental nations, especially the Persians
and Egyptians, the science of astronomy
appears to have been essentially connect-
ed with this branch of superstition ; the
heavenly bodies were honored as daemons
or celestial intelligences This ancient
belief appears to have had much influ-
ence on the Jewish rabbinical writers ;
and out of it connected with what is re-,
vealed to us in the Old Testament of the
existence and attributes of angels, they
framed their peculiar mythology. The
Greek word iaintav l dcBinon, is said to be
derived from Jaij/iwi', knowing or intelli-
gent. In the earliest monuments of the
language, its signification is vague and
uncertain. In Homer it generally signi-
fies a deity : ia.ipovu>v is anything god-
like, wonderful, which may have been
communicated or inspired by a deity ;
but, in the Odyssey, some traces are to
be found of the meaning ' fortunate" or
"unfortunate" attached to the word. In
Hesiod, however, we have an express
mythological account of the daemons,
as spirits, in a state between mortality
and divinity, peaceful and favorable to

man : he describes them as of different
orders. The mortals who lived in the
golden age have become dsemons of the
lirst rank ; those of the silver age have
inferior honors, and are mortal, although
their life is prolonged to a length of
many hundreds of human generations.
The heroes form a still inferior class of
intermediate spirits. In popular lan-
guage, when hero-worship became widely
spread in Greece, the words hero and
daemon were used without much distinc-
tion; but the more recondite difference
appears to hav been this, the hero was
the departed worthy himself, such as he
had once lived on earth ; the daemon was
his immaterial part, converted into a sort
of abstract principle, a spiritual agent
of good or evil, favorable or unfriendly
to mankind. It is in this sense also that
the inferior deities themselves are desig-
nated as daemons. Thales is said to have
defined more accurately the difference
between gods, heroes as the souls of de-
ceased mortals, and daemons properly so
called; and in Plato's theology the dae-
mons occupy an important place as inter-
mediate spirits, closely watching over, di-
recting, and recording the actions of mor-
tals. By later writers they were divided
into many classes : some ministers of
punishment and revenge, some freeing
from evils already befallen, some ward-
ing off their approach. It was in Egypt
and Syria, under the Ptolemies and Sc-
leucidae, that the Grecian philosophy and
mythology came in contact with those of
the Rabbis ; and from that union a new
mixed system of dsemonology took its
origin. Hence, in the Greek of the Now
Testament, the word fatmovtov is taken,
without addition or qualification, as an
evil spirit, and rendered by our transla-
tors ''devil." Analogous to the daemons
of the Greeks were the genii of the Ro-
mans ; but there were other peculiar and
characteristic features about the belief in
the latter which show it to be of a differ-
ent origin, probably derived from the
Etruscans, who, as s^me antiquarians
believe, drew their mythology from the
ancient source of Samothrace. The genii
of the Romans were an innumerable IK.: -t
of spirits : every man, house, or city, had
an attendant genius. The genius of
every mortal is mortal as himself; ne-
oompanies him into life, and conducts
him in all its vicissitudes. In this sense,
the genius was a favorable companion :
to enjoy the good things of life is repre-
sented as " indulging" or gratifying the
genius ; abstaining from them, as " de-

142

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DEO

frauding him. Wine and flowers are ap-
propriate offerings to him. But he is
also the companion of the mischances as
well as the pleasures of life ; unless, as
the difficulty appears sometimes to have
been solved, the individual had his pair
of genii good and bad. And this latter
should appear to have been the popular
belief among the Etruscans, as far as we
can collect it, in a subject, where all is
vague and indistinct; and it is impossi-
ble accurately to separate the abstract
creations of philosophers and poets from
the substantive objects of general belief.
The Etruscans represented the evil geni-
us as a dark and frightful figure, attend-
ing a mortal on one side, who is protected
or followed on the other by a child or
youth the usual emblem of the good
genius. The genius is often represented
on vases and in ancient paintings as a
winged figure : and a genius holding a
torch downwards is the emblem of death.
Thedsemons of the middle ages were sim-
ply fallen angels or devils, according to
the sense of the word in the New Testa-
ment ; and hence demonology, in the
language of modern writers, generally
signifies the history of the supposed na-
ture and properties of such evil spirits,
and of the modern superstition respect-
ing compacts between them and ruan-

DEMONSTRA'TION, a proof of a
proposition founded on axioms and inter-
mediate proof; called a priori when the
effect is proved from the cause, and a pos-
teriori when the cause is proved from the
effect. It has been remarked that the
knowledge acquired by demonstration,
though certain, is not so clear and evi-
dent as intuitive knowledge. In every
step that reason makes in demonstrative
knowledge, there is an intuitive knowl-
edge of that agreement or disagreement
it seeks with the next intermediate idea,
which it uses as a proof; for if it were
not so, that yet would need a proof, since
without the perception of such agreement
or disagreement, there is no knowledge
produced.

DEMUR', in law, to stop at any point
in the pleadings, and rest or abide on
that point in law for a decision of the
cause.

DEMUR'RAGE, in commerce,, an al-
lowance made to the master of a ship by
the merchants, for staying in a port long-
er than the time first appointed.

DEMUR'RER, in law, a pause or stop
put to any action upon some point of
difficulty which must be determined by

the court before any further proceedings
can be had in the suit. A demurrer con-
fesses the fact or facts to be true, but de-
nies the sufficiency of the facts in point
of law to support the claim or defence.
Demurrers are either general, where no
particular cause is shown, or special,
where the causes of demurrer are set
forth.

DEMY', the name of paper of a par-
ticular size, of which great quantities are
used for printing books on.

DENA'RIUS, in Roman antiquity, the
chief silver coin among the Romans,
worth 8 pence. As a weight, it was the
seventh part of a Roman ounce. De-
narius Dei, God's Penny, or earnest
money given and received by the parties
to contracts. It was so called because in
ancient times it was given to the church
or to the poor.

DENDROPHO'RIA, in antiquity, the
carrying of boughs or branches of trees ;
a religious ceremony so called, because
certain priests called from thence den-
drophori, or tree-bearers, marched in
procession, carrying the branches of trees
in their hands in honor of Bacchus, Cy-
bele, Sylvanus, or any other god.

DEN'IZEN, in England, an alien who
is made a subject by royal letters patent,
holding a middle state between an alien
and a natural born subject. He may
purchase and possess lands, and enjoy
any office or dignity ; yet it is short of
naturalization ; for a stranger, when
naturalized, may inherit lands by de-
scent, which a denizen cannot do. If a
denizen purchase lands, his issue that
are born afterward may inherit them,
but those he had before shall not ; and
as a denizen may purchase, so he may
take lands by devise.

DENOUE'MENT, a French word, by
modern custom nearly anglicized, signi-
fying the development or winding up of
any event.

DEN'TIL, in architecture, an orna-
ment in cornices, bearing some resem-
blance to teeth ; used particularly in the
Corinthian and Ionic orders.

DE'ODAND, at common law. every
personal chattel which has been the im-
mediate occasion of the death of a human
being, forfeited to the king on the find-
ing of a coroner's inquest ; to be applied
as alms by his almoner.

DEONTOL'OGY, the science of duty ;
a term assigned by the followers of Jere-
my Benthain to their own doctrine of
ethics, which is founded on the tendency
of actions to promote happiness.

DES]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

143

DEPARTMENT, either a division of
territory, as the departments of France ;
or a distinct class of official duties allotted
to a particular person.

DEPLOY', the spreading of troops ; a
military term.

DEPO'NENT, in law, one who gives
written testimony, under oath, to inter-
rogatories exhibited in {he court of Chan-
cery.

DEPORTA'TION, a sort of banish-
ment among the Romans, to some island
or other place which wa allotted to a
criminal for the place of his abode, with
a prohibition not to leave it, on pain of
death.

DEPOS'IT, among civilians, something
that is committed to the custody of a per-
son, to be kept without any reward, and
to be returned again on demand.

DEPOSI'TION, in law, the testimony
given in court by a witness, upon oath.
Deposition, the settlement of substances
dissolved in fluids ; as, banks are some-
times called depositions of alluvial mat-
ter. Also, the act of dethroning a king ;
or divesting any one in authority of his
power and dignity.

DEPOT', a French word for a store or
magazine for depositing goods or mer-
chandise.

DEPRIVATION, an ecclesiastical
censure, by which a clergyman is de-
prived of his dignity.

DEPUTA'TI, in antiquity, persons
who attended the army for the purpose
of carrying away the wounded from the
field of battle and waiting on tlrem. The
armorers were also sometimes called
deputati.

DEP'UTY, in a general sense, signifies
a person appointed or elected to act for
another ; or who is sent upon some busi-
ness by a community. In law, a deputy
is one who exercises an office in another's
right ; and, properly, the misdemeanor of
such deputy shall cause the person he rep-
resents to lose his office. By a deputa-
tion is generally understood the person
or persons authorized and sent to transact
business for others, either with a special
commission and authority, or with gene-
ral powers.

DER'ELICTS, in law, such goods as
are wilfully relinquished by the owner.
It also signifies a thing forsaken, or cast
away by the sea ; thus, lands which the
sea has suddenly left are called derelict
lands; and vessels forsaken at sea are
called derelict ships.

DERIVATIVE, in grammar, any
word derived (i. e. taking its origin)

from another, called its primitive, as
manhood from 7nan, &o.

DEROGA'TION, the act of annulling,
revoking, or destroying the value and
effect of anything, or of restraining its
operation ; as, an act of parliament is
passed in derogation of the king's pre-
rogative.

DEROG'ATORY CLAUSE, in a per-
son's will, is a sentence or secret charac-
ter inserted by the testator, of which he
reserves the knowledge to himself, with
a condition that no will he may make
hereafter shall be valid unless this clause
is inserted word for word. This is done
as a precaution to guard against later
wills being extorted by violence or other-
wise improperly obtained.

DER'VISE, or DER' VIS, a name
given to various Mahometan priests or
monks. Many of the dervises travel over
the whole of the Eastern world, enter-
taining the people wherever they come
with agreeable relations of the curiosities
and wonders they have met with. There
are dervises in Egypt, who live with their
families, and exercise their trades, of
which kind are the dancing dervises at Da-
mascus. They are distinguished among
themselves by the different forms and
colors of their habits ; those of Persia
were blue ; the solitaries and wanderers
wear only rags of different colors ; others
carry on their heads a plume, made of
the feathers of a cock ; and those of Egypt
wear an octagonal badge of a greenish
white alabaster at their girdles, and a
high stiff cap without anything round it.
They generally profess extreme poverty,
and lead an ascetic life.

DES'CANT, in music, composition in
several parts. It is either plain, which
consists in the orderly placing of many
concords answering to simple counter-
point; figurate or florid, wherein dis-
cords are employed ; or double, where the
parts are so contrived that the treble or
any high part may be made the bass, and
the contrary.

DESCENT', in a general sense, is the
tendency of a body from a higher to a
lower place; thus all bodies, unless other-
wise determined by a force superior to
their gravity, descend towards the centre
of the earth. In law, it means transmis-
sion by inheritance ; which is either lin-
eal or collateral. Descent is lineal, when
it proceeds directly from the grandfather
to the father, from the father to the son,
and from the son to the grandson ; col-
lateral, when it does not proceed in a
direct line, but from a man to his brother,

144

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DES

nephew, or other collateral representa-
tive Descent, in genealogy, the order of
MII rc"inji i.i il,-ii-.-nil;tiits in a line or
family ; or thi'ir distaiu-u from a common
progenitor.

PUSCKIP'TION, in rhetoric, is used
to "It-situate such a strong and lively rep-
resentation of any object as places it
before the reader in a clear and satisfac-
tory light. The execution of this task,
as is universally admitted, is attended
with-great difficulty, and reqiiires no or-
dinary powers. Indeed, such is the im-
port mice which some critics of eminence
attach to the possession of this quality,
that they have erected it into a standard
whereby to estimate the productions of
genius in every department of literature;
and though such a test may seem some-
what arbitrary, yet when we consider the
powers indispensably requisite to form a
good description, we shall not be sur-
prised to find that amid the galaxy of
brilliant productions in other depart-
ments with which our literature is adorn-
ed, there are so few authors who have
attained eminence in this. A good de-
scription, is simple and concise ; it sets
before us such features of an object as on
the first view strike and warm the fancy ;
it gives us ideas which a statuary or a
painter could lay hold of and work after
them one of the strongest and most de-
cisive trials of the real merits of descrip-
tion. Hence among the qualities essen-
tially necessary, and without which, in-
deed, even mediocrity is unattainable in
this walk of literature, are an eye con-
versant with nature in all her aspects, a
strong imagination wherewith to catch
her grand and prominent features, and
great simplicity and clearness of style to
transmit the impression unimpaired to
the imagination of others. There is no
species of composition, prose or poetical,
into which description does not enter in
some shape ; but the term has been bor-
rowed from literature generally, and ap-
plied more particularly to those poetical
productions which are devoted exclu-
sively to the description of nature, such
as Milton's Allegro and Thomson's Sea-
sons. Hence, although Shakspeare may
with great justice be styled a descriptive
poet, from the exquisite descriptions of
nature with which his unrivalled plays
are interspersed ; yet as his chief excel-
lence lies in portraying the character
and passion? of man, he does not fall,
properly speaking, within this category.
By no writer, either of antiquity or mod-
ern times, was the faculty of description

possessed in a more eminent degree than
by Sir Walter Scott. All his delineations
of natural scenery are executed with an
unrivalled fervor of imagination: while
at the same time they are marked by
such traits of character and truth that
every object is brought distinctly before
the mind, and might without difficulty be
transferred to canvass by the artist's
pencil.

DESECRA'TION. a word denoting the
very opposite of consecration, being the
act of divesting anything of a sacred
purpose or use to which it has been de-
voted.

DES'ERT, a large uninhabited tract
of land, or extent of country, entirely
barren. In this sense, some are sandy
deserts, as those of Arabia, Libya, and
Zaara : others are stony, as the desert of
Pharan, in Arabia Petrea. " The Desert,"
absolutely so called, is that part of Ara-
bia south of the Holy Land, where the
children of Israel wandered forty years.
But the term desert fliay be, and often
is, applied to an uninhabited country,
covered with wood or overrun with vege-
tation incapable of affording sustenance
to man.

DESER'TER, an officer, soldier, or
sailor, who absents himself from his post
without permission, nnd with the inten-
tion not to return. The crime of deser-
tion has in all ages and countries been
regarded with peculiar detestation. In
Greece and Rome, the deserter, during
war, suffered death; during peace, was
deprived only of civil rights : a sound
and enlightened distinction. The mili-
tary code of Great Britain inflicts " death
or such other punishments as may bo ad-
judged by a general court-martial" ,on
deserters ; thus leaving a proper discre-
tionary power for the exercise of lenity
in cases where the motives to the crime
may bear the most favorable construction.

DESIDERA'TUM, is used to signify
something wanted to improve or perfect
any art or science, or to promote the ad-
vancement of any object or study what-
soever.- The longitude is a desideratum
in navigation. A tribunal to settle na-
tional d'sputes without war is a great
desideratum.

DESIGN', in a general sense, the plan,
order, representation, or construction of
a building, <fec., by an outline or general
view of it. The word design, in painting,
is used for the first draught of a large
work, with an intention to be executed
and finished in a more elaborate manner.
Every work of design is to be considered

DES]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

145

either in relation to the art that produced
u, to the nature of its adaptation to the
end sought, or to the nature of the end it
is destined to serve ; thus its beauty is
dependent on the wisdom or excellence
displayed in the design, on the fitness or
propriety of the adaptation, and upon the
utility of the end. The considerations of
design, fitness, and utility, have become
the three great sources of beauty of form.
This beauty frequently arises from the
combined power of these expressions.
Every work of art supposes unity of de-
sign, or some particular end proposed by
the artist in its structure or composition.
In forms considered simply as expressive
of design, the only possible sign of unity
of design is uniformity or regularity, by
which the productions of chance are dis-
tinguished from those of design ; and
without the appearance of this, variety
becomes confusion. In every beautiful
work of art, we are not satisfied with mere
design, we must have elegant design, of
which the grand feature is variety ; it is
this which in general distinguishes beau-
tiful from plain forms, and without it
uniformity is dull and insipid.

DESIGNATOR, in Roman antiqui-
ties, a species of master of the ceremo-
nies, whose duty it was to assign to each
person his proper place in the theatres
and at the other public spectacles. Offi-
cers with this appellation were employed
among the Romans on every occasion of
public display, and in all domestic solem-
nities, whether of a joyful or mournful
character. But the chief occupation of
the designator consisted in arranging and
marshalling the funerals of distinguished
persons ; and in this capacity he was at-
tended by a troop of inferior officers, all
arrayed in black, whose part it was,
among other duties, to keep off the crowd,
like the lictors of the magistrates.

DESIRE', a wish to possess some grati-
fication or source of happiness which is
supposed to be obtainable. It may be
either spiritual, intellectual, or sensual ;
but when directed merely to sensual en-
joyment, it differs little from animal ap-
petite.

DES'POTISM, a form of government
where the monarch rules by his sole and
uncontrolled authority. In popular lan-
guage, all governments are called des-
potical that are administered by one in-
dividual whose decisions are not con-
trolled by any representative assembly
or recognized subordinate authorities.
Thus, we are in the habit of saying that
the emperors of Austria and Russia and
10

the king of Prussia are despotical or ab-
solute sovereigns ; meaning by this, that
all legislative and executive measures
seem to proceed from their free will. But
the abstract idea of despotism goes farther
than this ; and means a government by a
single individual with unlimited power
over the lives and fortunes of his subjects.
The prophet Daniel, in his description of
the Babylonian monarch Nebuchadnez-
zar, has given what is perhaps the best
account of this species of government.
" All people, nations, and languages,
trembled and feared before him : whom
he would he slew, and whom he would he
kept alive : whom he would he set up,
and whom he would he put down." But
though this gives a vivid idea of what is
understood by a pure despotism, it can
be regarded only as a popular, or rather
poetical account, of a government where
the sovereign is possessed of great power.
The truth is, that a purely despotical
government never had, and never can
have, any existence in fact. How abso-
lute or despotical soever, all sovereigns
must conduct their government so as to
procure the concurrence and support of a
large, or, at all events, a powerful por-
tion of their subjects. A despot is, after
all, merely an individual, and becomes
quite powerless when those masses of in-
dividuals, in whom the ability to coerce
others really resides, disapprove of his
proceedings. The praetorian bands in an-
tiquity, the janissaries of Constantinople,
and the grenadiers of Petersburg, must,
at least, be led by opinion. But though
the sanction of the instruments employed
in his government be indispensable to the
existence of a despot, it is but seldom that
he dares trust to it only. The most ab-
solute and tyrannical of the Roman em-
perors, when they wished to get rid of
any obnoxious individual, dared not to
order him to be executed, but were obliged
to suborn false evidence, and to proceed
against him according to legal forms:
and so it is in all countries. Were the
most absolute sovereign of whom we have
any certain accounts openly to seize on
the property of any individual in his do-
minions, or to put him to death, without
being able to assign some apparently sat-
isfactory grounds for doing so, the founda-
tions of his power would be shaken to the
very centre ; and the repetition of such
conduct would most likely occasion his
deposition. The strength of absolute gov-
ernments, when they embark in oppres-
sive courses, depends on their being able
to conceal or pervert the real facts of the

146

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

case, so that the victims of their tyranny
may be made to appear to be the victims
of their justice. We may b^assured that
no ruler of any country emerged from the
merest barbarism ever could, for any con-
siderable period, openly commit on his
own responsibility any gross injustice to-
wards any considerable portion of his
subjects. Those who have done so have
rarely, if ever, failed to expiate their fol-
ly and tyranny by some signal punish-
ment. Neither the government of Prus-
sia nor Austria, nor even that of Russia,
can be justly called despotical. Their
rulers are controlled to a very great ex-
tent by the force of public opinion ; and
are influenced by a much more lively
feeling of responsibility than the sover-
eigns of limited monarchies, or of coun-
tries in which the legislative functions are
divided. It is this fear of their subjects
that makes them so anxious, by laying
restrictions on the freedom of the press,
to conceal their conduct, or to obtain a
favorable judgment upon it. There can
be no despotism, nor any considerable ap-
proach towards despotical government,
where the press is free and the people in-
structed ; and it is to their influence in
securing the freedom of the press, and
consequently in enlightening public opin-
ion, and making the bulk of the people
acquainted with their real interests, that
the advantage of representative assem-
blies and of a popular form of govern-
ment is mainly to be found.

DESSERT', a word, of doubtful ety-
mology, signifying the last service at din-
ner, consisting of fruits and confections,
&o. The modern dessert is probably equiv-
alent to the mensoR secundce of the Ro-
mans. If we believe Congreve, the term
came into use among the French about
the commencement of the 17th century,
and was soon adopted into and natural-
ized in most of the European languages.
In all the countries of Europe the splen-
dor of the dessert has ever since the pe-
riod of its introduction kept pace with the
progress of refinement and civilization,
and by many gastronomes the qualities
and arrangement of a dessert are looked
upon as the most valid test of all that is
Attic in taste and refined in elegance.

DES'TINY, an inevitable necessity de-
pending upon a superior cause. This doc-
trine has, under a variety of names, been
embodied in almost all the religious sys-
tems of antiquity ; and even in modern
times, with a few modifications, it has
been largely adopted by many sects of
the Christian church. Destiny was called

by the Romans Fatum, and by the Greeks
Avayvt), Necessity, or Moipa, a Part, as if
it were a chain or necessary series of
things indissolubly linked together. Ac-
cording to many of the heathen philoso-
phers, destiny was a secret and invisible
power or virtue, which with incomprehen-
sible wisdom regulated all the occur-
rences of this world which to human eyes
appear irregular and fortuitous. The
Stoics, on the other hand, understood by
destiny a certain concatenation of things,
which from all eternity follow each other
of absolute necessity, there being no pow-
er able to interrupt their connection. To
this invisible power even the gods were
compelled to succumb. Jupiter and Ve-
nus are represented by the poets as vain-
ly attempting to withdraw Caesar from
his impending fate ; but, as Seneca ob-
serves, it is thus that the Ruler of all
things, in writing the book of destiny, has
prescribed the limitation of his own power.

DETACH'ED. when figures stand out
from the background and from each other
in a natural manner, so as to show that
there is space and atmosphere between,
we say they appear detached.

DETACH'MENT, a body of troops se-
lected or drawn out from several regi-
ments or companies, on some special ser-
vice or expedition. Also, a number of
ships, taken from a fleet and sent on a
separate service.

DET'INUE, in law, a writ or action
that lies against a person who has goods
or other things delivered to him to keep,
and who afterwards detains or refuses to
deliver them up.

DEUCE, DUSE, or DEUSE, a demon.
A deviling, or little devil. The ancient
Germans gave the name of dusii to cer-
tain demons, and it is supposed that the
singular dusius is a corruption of Drusus,
the son of Tiberius.

DEUTERON'OMY, one of the sacred
books of the Old Testament, or the fifth
book of the Penateuch. It is so called,
because this last part of the work of
Moses comprehends a recapitulation of
the law he had before delivered to the
Israelites himself.

DEVICE', in painting, an emblem
or representation of anything, with a
motto subjoined or otherwise introduced.
Badges, impresses, and devices, were
greatly in vogue in England, from the
reign of Edward I. to that of Elizabeth,
when they began to be disused.

DEVIL, the chief of the apostate an-
gels ; Satan, the tempter of the human

DIA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

147

DEVISE', in law, is the disposition of
real estate by will ; being distinguished
from a bequest of personal estate, that
being termed a legacy. The person to
whom a devise is made is called a de-
visee.

DEY, a Turkish title of dignity, given
to the governors of Algiers (before the
French conquest,) Tunis and Tripoli.
The dey is chosen for life from among
the chief authorities of the place, with
the approbation of the Turkish soldiery.
At Tunis the equivalent title of bey is
more usually substituted for dey. This
term is admitted by all philologists to be
of very great antiquity ; though it is im-
possible to assign any precise date to its
introduction.

DIACRIT'IC MARKS, marks used to
distinguish letters between the forms of
which much similarity exists. Thus n
and u are distinguished in German run-
ning hand by the mark ^ over the latter
letter.

DI'ADEM, the frontlet worn by the
kings and princes of antiquity, and also
by their wives. It was made of silk,
wool, or yarn, narrow, but wider in the
centre of the forehead, and generally
white. Those of the Egyptian gods and
kings are adorned with the emblem of
the sacred serpent. The Bacchic diadem,

or credemnon, which the Indian Bacchus
wore, consisted of a folded band encircling
the forehead and temples, and fastened
behind with hanging ends. With the
Parsees (Persians) the diadem was wound
round the tiara, and was bluish white.
The Greeks presented a diadem to every
victor in the public games ; and it was
also an attribute of priests and priestesses.
The real diadem, like the sceptre, is a
symbol of power, especially in the repre-
sentation of Juno, who is thereby desig-
nated as the consort of the sovereign of
the gods and men, and partaking of his
power.

DI.53B/ESIS, in grammar, the esolu-

tion of a diphthong, or a contracted sylla-
ble into two syllables ; as, in Latin, aurai
for auras, &e. ; and, in English, the reso-
lution of the last syllable of participles by
a sound of the final e ; beloved, cursed, &c.

DIAGNO'SIS, the art of distinguishing
one disease from another. The charac-
teristic symptoms of diseases by which
they are recognized, are termed their
diagnostic symptoms.

DI'AGRAM, the figure or scheme
drawn for the illustration of a mathe-
matical proposition, or the demonstration
of any of its properties. It is also used
in other branches of science, and in the
fine arts, for the general purposes of il-
lustration.

DI'AGRAPH, a name given by the
French artists to a recently-invented in-
strument used in perspective.

DI'ALECT, in the philosophical sense
of the word, any variety of a common
language. Hence, German, English,
Swedish, &c., are all strictly said to be
dialects, as coming all of them from the
same original stock. Commonly, how-
ever, we limit the application of the
term dialect to the varieties of a nation-
al language ; and speak of the dialects
of English, French, &c. In Greek, the
four dialects, Doric, Ionic, JEolic, Attic,
were the four written varieties of the
language, each possessing a literature of
its own. In this respect no modern tongue
presents a parallel to the Greek ; inas-
much as, in all, one dialect has been ar-
bitrarily adopted as the standard of polite
writing and conversation ; and the writ-
ten works which are extant in the other
dialects are regarded merely as excep-
tions to the general rule.

DIALEC'TICS, a name which was ori-
ginally used by Plato as synonymous
with metaphysics, or the highest philoso-
phy. Strictly speaking, it can only be
regarded as a preparatory discipline for
such investigations, or at most as a scien-
tific method of prosecuting them. The
most splendid examples of dialectical
subtlety that exist are to be found in the
Dialogues of Plato, especially in those
entitled Parmenides, the Statesman and
Sophist. Aristotle expresses himself with
some contempt of dialectics. It is certain,
howerer, that its own logic owes its exist-
ence to the dialectical exercises of the
Platonic schools ; and that it may, in one
point of view, be regarded as a body of
canons and directions for their legitimate
use. In modern times various systems
of dialectics have been propounded in dif-
ferent countries ; but by no philosophers,

148

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DIA

either ancient or modern, has this science
been more successfully cultivated than
by the Germans, who, among a hast of
other names more or less distinguished,
c;ui boast of a Fichte, Kant, Leibnitz,
Hegel, Schelling, and Schlegel, as the
propounders each of a peculiar dialecti-
cal system.

DI'ALOQUE, in literature, a compo-
sition or part of a composition in the
form of a conversation between two or
more persons. The dialogue was the
form most generally adopted by the an-
cients for the conveyance of instruction,
and was considered equally applicable to
the most grave and philosophical, and to
the most ludicrous and comical subjects.
Thus it was adopted by Plato. Cicero, and
Lucian, with equal success. Plato chose
this form for the conveyance of his phi-
losophical sentiments ; because real con-
versation had been the mode by which
his master, Socrates, (who left no writ-
ing,) gave instruction to the Athenians.
In the Dialogues of Plato, Socrates is
himself introduced as the chief interlocu-
tor. Among modern writers the philo-
sophical dialogue has been frequently
employed for the same purpose, more es-
pecially by the French, to whose language
and mode of thought it should seem to be
peculiarly suited. Among other eminent
persons of that country who have enriched
its literature with this species of compo-
sition are, Fenelon ; Paschal, in his Pro-
vincial Letters ; Bouhours, in his Entre-
tiens d'Ariste et d' Eugene; Fontenclle,
in his Dialogues of the Dead, and Plu-
rality of Worlds ; Galiani, Sur le Com-
merce des Grains, Ac. In England, this
method of composition has been less fre-
quently practised ; and, perhaps, with
the exception of Berkeley and Kurd, has
rarely succeeded in the hands of those
who attempted it. Both the Germans
and Italians have attempted to impart a
knowledge of their different philosophical
systems in this manner. Among the
latter may be mentioned Machiarelli
and Algarotti ; and among the former,
Lessing, Mendelssohn, Schelling, and
Herder ; though the labors of none of
these distinguished persons in this de-
partment of literature are so important
as to require any particular notice in
this place. The dramatic dialogue differs
from the philosophical, inasmuch as its
subject is one of' action. The whole of
modern dramas is dialogue, with the
exception of occasional monologue or
soliloquy.

DIAL'YSIS, a mark or character, con-

sisting of two points placed over one of
two vowels, as mosaic, to separate the
diphthong, and show that they must be
sounded distinctly. In rhetoric, dialysis
is a figure of speech in which several
words are placed together, without the
aid of a conjunction, as veni, vidi, rid.

DI'AMOND, the most valuable and
the hardest of gems. When pure, it is
perfectly clear and pellucid, and is emi-
nently distinguished from all other sub-
; stances, by its vivid splendor, and the
I brightness of its Reflections. Though
i found of different shapes, and sometimes
i accidentally tinged with several colors,
yet it ever carries the same distinguish-
ing characters. Diamonds are generally
i very small ; but a few large ones have
been found, for which incredible prices
have been given. The largest ever
known belonged to the king of Portugal ;
it weighed 1680 carats, and was valued,
although uncut, at 224,000,0002. sterling;
the one in the sceptre of the emperor of
Russia weighs 779 carats, and is valued
at upwards of 4,000.0002., but was bought
by the empress Catharine for about
135,0002. The Pitt diamond, which, at
that time was one of the largest, weighed
136 carats, and cost Louis XIV. 130,0002.
The Mogul diamond, called Koh-i-noor,
or Mountain of Light, exhibited at the
Great London Exposition of Industry in
1851, weighs nearly 280 carats, and was
estimated by Tavernier at 468,9592., or
according to the rule proposed by Jef-
fries, it would be worth 622,0002. This
diamond formed a part of the spoil taken
in the Sikh war, on the defeat of Ruu-
jeet Singh, and was presented by the
East India Company to Queen Victoria.
The places whence diamonds are brought
are the island of Borneo, and the king-
doms of Visapour, Golconda, Bengal, in
the East Indies ; and the Brazils, in the
West Indies. These gems consist of pure
carbon, with a specific gravity of 3'5 ; and
the hardest tools making no impression
on them, they are cut and ground by the
power of their own substance. In the
experiments of modern chemists, the
diamond has been reduced to ashes by
the power both of the furnace and the
burning glass. Diamonds are valuable
for many purposes. Their powder is the
best for the lapidary and gem engraver,
and more economical than any other ma-
terial for cutting, engraving, and polish-
ing hard stones. Glaziers use them for
cutting their glass; their diamond being
set in a steel socket, and attached to a
small wooden handle. It is very remark-

DIA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

149

able, that only the point of a natural
crystal can be used; cut or split dia-
monds scratch, but the glass will not
break along the scratch, as it does when
a natural crystal is used. The diamond
has also of Into years become an article
of great value to engravers, particu-
larly in the drawing or ruling of lines,
which are afterwards to be deepened by
the use of aqua fortis ; for which purpose
steel points, called etching needles, were
formerly used.

DIA'NA, in mythology, the Latin
name" of the goddess known to the Greeks
by the name of Artemis, the daughter of
Jupiter and Latona, and sister of Apol-
lo. . She was the virgin goddess of the
chase, and also presided over health.
The sudden deaths of women were at-
tributed to her -darts, .as those of men
were to the arrows of Apollo. In later
times she was confounded with various
other goddesses, as Hecate, Lucina, Pro-
serpina, and Luna. In the two last of
these characters she was said to appear
in the nether world and in heaven re-
spectively, while on earth she assumed
the character of Artemis ; whence she was
called the three-formed goddess. She
was generally represented as a healthy
active maiden in a huntress's dress, with
a handsome but ungentle expression of

countenance. The homage rendered to
Diana was so extensive that the silver-
smith who remarked that she was wor-
*hipped in all Asia and the world, can
scarcely be accused of exaggeration. A
catalogue of the various places where

temples were erected in her honor would
comprise every city of note in the ancient
world. Among others may be mentioned
Ephesus, Abydos, Heraclea, Aulis, Ere-
tria, Samos, Bubastus in Egypt, Delos
(whence she was termed Delia,) and
Mount Aventine at Rome. But of all
her temples, that at Ephesus was the
most celebrated. It was erected at the
joint expense of all the states of Asia ;
and according to the accounts of ancient
authors, it must have surpassed in splen-
dor all the structures of antiquity, and
fully deserved to be regarded as one of
the wonders of the world. A small statue
of the goddess, or, as she was termed by
her votaries, the " Great Diana of the
Ephesians," which was commonly sup-
posed. to have been sent from heaven, was
here enshrined and adorned with all that
wealth and genius could contribute. The
fate of this temple is well known. On the
day that Alexander the Great was born,
it was set on fire by Eratostratus, from a
morbid desire to transmit his name even
with infamy to posterity. This edifice
was afterwards rebuilt on a plan of simi-
lar magnificence ; and it remained in full
possession of its wealth and reputation till
the year 260, A.D., wfcen it was complete-
ly destroyed during an invasion of the
Goths.

DIANCE'A, in rhetoric, a figure of
speech by which a correct interpretation
is given to a subject suitable to the occa-
sion.

DIAPA'SON, in music, a musical in-
terval, by which most authors, who have
written upon the theory of music, use to
express the octave of the Greeks. The
diapason is the first and most perfect of
the concords ; if considered simply, it is
but one harmonical interval ; though, if
considered diatonically, by tones and
semitones, it contains seven degrees, viz.,
the three greater tones, two lesser tones,
and two greater semi-tones. Diapason,
the fundamental or standard scale by
which musical instruments are made.

DIAPEN'TE, in music, a fifth ; an in-
terval making the second of the concords,
and with the diatessaron, an octave.

DI'APER, DIAPER WORK, a kind of
ornamental decoration applied to plain
surfaces, in which the pattern of flowers
or arabesques are either carved or paint-
ed. When they are carved, the pattern
is sunk entirely below the general sur-
face ; when painted they are generally
of a darker shade of the same color as the
plain surface. The patterns are usually
square, and placed close together, but

150

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DIC

AjXJIWJIX^

w5?Sm/r*w

other floriated forms are sometimes met
with.

DIAPH'ANOUS, an appellation given
to all transparent bodies, or such as trans-
mit the rays of light.

DIAPHO'RA, in rhetoric, a figure of
speech, in which a word, when repeated,
is taken in a different sense from what it
was at first understood.

DIAPORE'SIS, in rhetoric, a figure of
oratory, expressive of the speaker's doubt
or hesitation as to the manner in which
he should proceed in his discourse, the
subjects he has to treat of being all equal-
ly important.

DI' AUY, signifies properly a note-book
or register of daily occurrences, in which
the writer has a principal share, or which
have come under his own observation, or
have happened in his own time. The
term diary is equivalent to the French
journal, the Italian diario and giornale,
and the German Tagebuch,.

DI'ASCHISM, in music, the difference
between the comma and enharmonic die-
sis, commonly called the lesser comma.

DIA'SIA. in Grecian antiquity, a fes-
tival kept at Athens in honor of Jupiter
the Propitious.

DIASTAL'TIC, an epithet given by
the Greeks to certain intervals in music,
as the major third, major sixth, and ma-
jor seventh.

DIAS'TEMA, in rhetoric, a modula-
tion of the tones of the voice, by marking
with precision the intervals between its
elevation and depression. In music, a
space or interval.

DIAS'TOLE. in grammar, a figure of
prosody, by which a syllable naturally
short is made long.

DI'ASTYLE, an edifice in which three
diameters of a column are allowed for the
intercolumniations.

DIASYR'MOS, in rhetoric, a kind of
hyperbole, being an exaggeration of some-
thing low and ridiculous ; ironical praise.

DIATES'SARON, in music, a concord
or harmonic interval composed of a great-
er tone, a lesser tone, and one greater
semitone. Its proportion is as 4 to 3,
and it is called a perfect fourth. In the-
ology, the four Gospels.

DIA'TONI, in ancient architecture,
the angle stones of a wall, which were
wrought n two faces, and which, from
stretching beyond the stones above and
below them, made a good bond or tye to
the work.

DIATON'IC, an epithet given to mu-
sic, as it proceeds by tones and semi-
tones, both ascending and descending.
Thus we say, a diatonic series ; a diatonic
interval ; diatonic melody or harmony.

DI'ATRIBE, a continued disputation
or controversial discourse.

DIAZENET'IC, in the ancient Greek
music, a term applied to the tone dis-
jointing two fourths, one on each side of
it, and which joined to either made a
fifth.

DIAZO'MA, in ancient architecture,
the landings or resting places which en-
circled the amphitheatre at different
heights, like so many bands or cinctures ;
whence the name.

DI'CAST, in ancient Greece, an officer
answering nearly to our juryman.

DICASTE'RIUM, in ancient architec-
ture, the name of a tribunal or hall of
justice in Athens.

DICE, cubical pieces of bone or ivory,
dotted on their face from one to six ; and
used for gambling purposes. They are
said to be of great antiquity, and to have
been invented by Palamedes at the siege
of Troy, for the amusement of the officers
and soldiers.

DICTA'TOR, in ancient Rome, a ma-
gistrate created in times of exigence and
distress, and invested with unlimited
power. He had authority to raise or dis-
band troops, and to make war or peace,
and that without the consent either of
the senate or people. The ordinary du-
ration of his office was only for six
months, during which time all other ma-
gistracies cease, the tribuneship excepted.
Whenever he appeared in public, he was
attended by twenty-four lictors, or double
the number allowed a consul. Extensive,
however, as his power was, he was never-
theless under some restrictions : he could
not, for instance, spend the public money
arbitrarily, leave Italy, or enter the city
on horseback. The choice of dictator was
not, as in the case of other magistrates 1 ,
decided by the popular voice, but one of
the consuls appointed him by command

DIE]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

151

of the senate. A dictator was also some- |
times named for holding the comitia for j
the election of consuls, and for the cele- i
bration of public games. For the space |
of four hundred years this office was re-
garded with veneration, till Sylla and
CiKsar, by becoming perpetual dictators,
converted it into an engine of tyranny,
and rendered the very name odious.

DIC'TIONARY, in its first and most
obvious sense, signifies a vocabulary, or j
alphabetical arrangement of the words
in a language, with their definitions.
But now. that the various branches of
science have become so much extended,
the term is also applied to an alphabeti-
cal collection of the terms of any art or
science, with such explanations or re-
marks as the writer may deem necessary
for their elucidation.

DIC'TUM, a word used in common
parlance to signify the arbitrament or
award of a judge.

DICTYOTHE'TON, in ancient archi-
tecture, masonry worked in courses like
the meshes of a net. Also open lattice
work for admitting light and air.

DIDAC'TIC, in the schools, signifies
every species of writing, whether in verse
or prose, whose object is to teach or ex-
plain the rules or principles of any art or
science. Thus to this class of literature
belong the writings of Aristotle on gram-
mar, poetry, and rhetoric ; Longinus's
Treatise on the Sublime ; and the Institu-
tions of Quintilian, &c. But the term
has been borrowed from scholastic phrase-
ology, and appropriated more exclusively
to all poetical writings devoted to the
communication of instruction on a par-
ticular subject, or of a reflective or ethi-
cal character, thence called didactic po-
etry. Among the most celebrated poems
of this species may be reckoned in ancient
times that of Lucretius, De Rerum Na-
turd, in which the Epicurean system of
philosophy is explained ; Virgil's Geor-
gics, which has almost always served as
a model to the didactic poets of succeed-
ing ages; and Horace's Art of Poetry ;
and in more recent times, Pope's Essays
on Criticism and Man; Du Fresnoy's
Art of Painting ; Vida and Boileau's Art
of Poetry; Akenside's Pleasures of the
Imagination; Armstrong's Art of pre-
serving Health; Somerville's Chace ;
Dyer's Fleece ; Young's Universal Pas-
sion, &c.

DIDASCA'LIA, a term in use among
the Greek writers of antiquity, and till
within the last century among almost all
the nations of modern Europe, applied to

the representation of dramatic pieces, or
to critical notices of the stage, and of
every thing appertaining thereto.

DIDO'RON, in ancient architecture, a
brick whose length was one foot, and its
breadth one half its length.

DIE, a stamp used in coining, by which
a piece of prepared metal is impressed
with due force. Coins are generally com-
pleted by one blow of the coining-press.
The engraver selects a forged plug of the
best cast steel of proper dimensions for his
intended work, and having carefully an-
nealed it, and turned its surfaces smooth in
the lathe, proceeds to engrave upon it the
intended device for the coin. When this
is perfect the letters are put in, and the
circularity and size duly adjusted ; it is
then hardened, and is termed a matrix.
Another plug of soft steel is now selected ;
and the matrix being carefully adjusted
upon it, they are placed under a very
powerful fly-press, and two or three blows
so directed as to commence an impression
of the matrix upon the plug ; this is then
annealed, and the operation repeated till
the plug receives a perfect impression of
the work upon the matrix. This impres-
sion is of course in relief, the original
work upon the matrix being indented,
and produces what is termed the punch.
This, being duly shaped in the lathe, is
hardened, and is employed in the pro-
duction of impressions in soft steel or
dies, which, being properly turned and
hardened, are exact fac-similes of the
original matrix, and are used in the pro-
cess of coinage. When a pair of dies are
made of good steel duly hardened and
tempered, and are carefully used, they
will sometimes yield from two to three
hundred thousand impressions before they
become so far worn, or injured as to re-
quire to be removed from the coining
presses.

DI'ES, (days,) in law, are distinguished
into dies jurtdici, days on which the court
sits for the administration of justice ;
dies non juridici, days on which no
pleas are held in any court of justice ;
and dies datus, a day or time of respite,
given by the court to a defendant in tho
cause. Dies canicuJares, in astronomy,
tho dog-days. Dies critici, in medicine,
days in which some diseases are supposed
to arrive at a crisis. Among the Ro-
mans, days were distinguished in a va-
riety of ways; the most important of
which were dies nefasti or dies atri,
days devoted to religious purposes, on
which it was unlawful to do any public
business : dies fasti, similar to the dies

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DIO

juridici of modern times; and dies
feriati, like our dies non juridici, when
the courts were shut.

DIE'SIS, the markt; called also a
double-dagger, and used as a mark for
reference. Diesis, in music, the division
of a tone less than a semi-tone ; or an
interval consisting of a less or imperfect
semi-tone.

LI'ET, a name given to the principal
national assembly in many countries of
modern Europe. By the usage of the
German empire, two diets were sum-
moned every year by the emperor, be-
sides such as were convoked on extra-
ordinary occasions. There were three
chambers 1. That of the electors. 2.
That of the sovereign princes, divided
into two spiritual and four temporal
benches. The counts of the empire voted
collectively in four benches or divisions,
and not as individuals ; the prelates and
the abbots in two. 3. The chamber of
the imperial cities, divided into the Rhen-
ish and Swabian benches. The diets, to-
gether with the emperor, exercised the
prerogatives of sovereignty. A decree
of the diet was termed a recess of the
empire.

DIETET'ICS, the science or philoso-
phy of diets; or that which teaches us to
adapt particular foods to particular or-
gans of digestion, or to particular states
of the same organ, so that the greatest
possible portion of nutriment may be ex-
tracted from a given quantity of nutri-
tive matter.

DIEU ET MON DROIT, (French; sig-
nifying God and my right ;) the motto
of the royal arms of England, first as-
sumed by king Richard I., to intimate
that he did not hold his empire in vassal-
age of any mortal.. It was afterwards
taken up by Edward III., and was con-
tinued, 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 since queen Anne's
time Dieu et man droit has continued to
be the royal motto.

DIEU ET SON ACTE, a maxim in
law, that the act of God shall not be a
prejudice to any man.

DIFFARREA'TION, in Roman an-
tiquity, a ceremony whereby the divorce
of the priests was solemnized ; or the dis-
solving of marriage contracted by con-
farreation.

DIFFERENCE, in logic, an essential

attribute belonging to any species that is
not found in the genus ; being the idea
that defines the species.

DIGAM'MA, so called from its repre-
senting two gammas, one set above an-
other, thus, F. The name given to the
form of that letter in the ancient Greek
alphabet which corresponds in appear-
ance generally to the Latin F. This let-
ter appears to have occupied the sixth
place in the alphabet, and was most prev-
alent in the JEolic dialect ; though some
grammarians contend that it was com-
mon to all the dialects of Greece in their
more ancient mode of pronunciation. It
has often been expressed by B, and some-
times by r, A. 6, *, and X ; and it is now
almost universally considered to have had
the force of F, V, or the English W. As
the Latin language approximated more
nearly to the JSolic than to any of the
other Grecian dialects, the use of the
digamma is very prevalent in many
Latin words.

DI'GEST, in law literature, a collec-
tion of the decisions of the Roman law-
yers, properly digested or arranged under
distinct heads, by order of the emperor
Justinian. It is also termed the Pan-
dects, from the Greek words T<"", all, and
fcxtcQa^ to receive. The care of this great
compilation was entrusted by the emperor

| to Tribonian, with seventeen associates.
It was completed in three years, and
published A.D. 533. It contains the best
decisions and opinions of former jurists,
collected, it is said, from more than two
thousand volumes ; and follows the same
arrangement as the code of the same em-
peror, which had appeared in 529.

DIG'LYPH, in architecture, a kind of

j imperfect triglyph, console, or the like,

j with two channels or engravings, either
circular or angular.

DIG'NITARY, in the canon law, an
ecclesiastic who holds a dignity, or a ben-
efice which gives him some pre-eminence
over mere priests and canons; as a bish--
op, dean, arch-deacon, prebendary, &c.

DIG'NITY, this word, in a general
sense, signifies a nobleness or elevation
of mind ; and is opposed to meanness and
vice, the true dignity of human nature
being based on moral rectitude and relig-

I ious veneration. In a more extended

| sense, it means, elevation of deportment ;

j and also an elevated office, civil or ecele-

, siastical.

DI'GRAPH, a union of two vowels, of

I which one only is pronounced, as in bread
It is essentially different from a diph-
thong, which consists of two vowels also

DIM

AND THE FINE ARTS.

153

but produces a sound which neither of the
vowels has separately.

DIGRESSION, signifies any details
introduced into a work, which are either
altogether foreign from the immediate
subjects of which it treats, or not absolute-
ly necessary to the progress or develop-
ment of the story. It will at once be per-
ceived from this definition that, as a gen-
eral rule, digressions are to be carefully
avoided, from their tendency to withdraw
the attention of the reader from the chief
points of the story or the question under
discussion. There are, however, some
departments of literature in which the
use of digressions is not only admissible,
but even advantageous. On this subject,
however, no definite rules can be laid
down for the guidance of the author : but
there can be little doubt that if intro-
duced properly and without effort, man-
aged with good taste, and confined within
reasonable limits, digressions have the ef-
fect of relieving the mind from the fatigue
.of a too long sustained attention, and of
imparting life and interest to a subject
that may be naturally dry and uninte-
resting. The Essays of Montaigne ex-
hibit more clearly than any similar pro-
ductions with which we are acquainted,
the admirable uses to which digressions
may be turned in the hands of a master.
Many of the writings of Sterne, but more
especially his Tristram Shandy, (which
contains an eulogium upon digression,)
supply the happiest examples of their ef-
fects ; and in our times The Doctor, by
Robert Southey, owes its principal attrac-
tions to the digressions with which the
story is interlarded.

DILAPIDATION, in law, the ruin or
damage which accrues to a house in con-
sequence of neglect.

DILEM'MA, in logic, an argument
which cannot be denied in any way with-
out involving the party denying in con-
tradictions ; or a position involving double
choice, each presenting difficulties. A
dilemma is usually described, as though
it always proved the absurdity, inconve-
nience, or unreasonableness of some opin-
ion or practice, and this is the most usual
design of it. But it is plain, that it may
be used to prove the truth or advantage
of any thing proposed : as, " In heaven
we shall either have desires, or not : if
we have no desires, then we have full sat-
isfaction : if we have desires, they shall
be satisfied as fast as they arise : there-
fore, in heaven we shall be completely
satisfied." This sort of argument may
be composed of three or more members,

and may be called trilemma. It is also
called syllogismus cornutus, a horned
syllogism ; its horns being so disposed,
that if you avoid the one, you run against
the other.

DILET'TANT, a term wholly natu-
ralized in France, England, and Germa-
ny ; signifying an amateur, chiefly of
music, but also of the kindred sciences.
The dilettant is one who treats Art em-
pirically, a lover of art who is not satis-
fied with looking and enjoying, but must
needs criticize without the necessary qual-
ifications for so important a function.
The dilettant holds the same relation to
the artist, that the bungler does to the
artisan, he takes hold of art by the v.eak
end ; conscious that art is learned accord-
ing to rules, he errs in treating its laws
as mechanical when they are spiritual.
He confounds art with material ; he re-
gards neatness and finish, which are me-
chanical, as the highest excellences. In-
vention, composition, coloring, being spir-
itual. are invisible to him. Having no
confidence in the application of his rules,
he applies them empirically, and follows,
as nearly as he can, the direction of pop-
ular taste. While the aim and endeavor
of the artist is the highest in art, the di-
lettant has no aim : he sees only what is
beside him nothing beyond. Many di-
lettants are collectors ; they are fond, if
possessed of the means, of raking togeth-
er, their object being to possess, not to
choose with understanding, and be con-
tent with a few good things. The dilet-
tants do great injury to artists, by foster-
ing the mechanical, rather than the spir-
itual, in art, and by bringing them down
to their own level. Yet, on the other
hand, dilettantism has its advantages ; it
prevents an entire want of cultivation,
and as it is in some sort a necessary con-
sequence of a general extension of art, it
may even be the cause of it. Under cer-
tain circumstances it may excite and de-
velop a true artistic talent, and substitute
a certain idea of art, in place of entire
ignorance, and extend it to where the ar-
tist would not be able to reach ; though
few artists can be connoisseurs, many are
dilettants.

DIMINUTION, in architecture, a
contraction of the upper part of a col-
umn, by which its diameter is made less
than that of the lower part. It general-
ly commences from one third of the
height of the column. Diminution, in
rhetoric, the exaggerating what you
have to say by an expression that seems
to diminish it. In music, the imitation

154

CYCLOPKD1A OF LITERATURE

[DIP

of or reply to a subject in notes of half
the length or value of those of the sub-
ject itself.

DIMIN'UTIVE, in grammar, a word
or termination which lessens the mean-
ing of the original word ; as, rivulet, a
small river ; manikin, a little man.

DIM'ISSORY, dismissing to another
jurisdiction. A letter dimissory, is one
given by a bishop to a candidate for holy
orders, having a title in his diocese, di-
rected to some other bishop, and giving
leave for the bearer to be ordained by
him.

DIM'ITY, a kind of white cotton cloth)
ribbed or figured. It was originally im-
ported from India, but is now manufac-
tured in Lancashire, and various other
parts of Britain.

DIO'CESAN, a bishop who has charge
of a particular diocese.

Dl'OCESE, or DI'OCESS, the district
or circuit of a bishop's jurisdiction. The
name diocese began first to be used in the
fourth century, when the exterior polity
of the church began to be formed upon
the model of the Roman empire. Eng-
land, in regard to its ecclesiastical state,
is divided into two provinces, viz. : Can-
terbury and York, and each province
into subordinate dioceses ; the province
of Canterbury contains twenty-one dio-
ceses, and that of York three. The dio-
ceses of the Prot. Epis. Church iu the
United States are nearly equivalent to
the several states in extent.

DIONY'SIA, in ancient history, the fes-
tivals of Dionysius or Bacchus, but more
particularly those that were celebrated
in Attica, which were three in number,
distinguished by the following titles :
1. The Country Dionysia. 2. Those in
Limnae, a part of the city of Athens,
where they were held, which were also
called Lensean, or Anthesteria ; and 3.
The Great Dionysia. At all of these fes-
tivals the chief amusements consisted in
the representation of stage plays ; but
the last was most celebrated, as then ;
before the face of all Greece, the great
tragic contests were held, no expense
being spared to render the decorations
and accompaniments as splendid as art
could make them.

DIORA'MA, a mode of painting or
scenic representation, invented by two
French artists, Daguerre and Bouton,
and recently brought forward as a pub-
lic exhibition in all the principal cities
of Europe. The peculiar and very high
degree of optical illusion produced by
the diorama depends upon two princi-

ples ; the mode of exhibiting the paint-
ing, and the manner of preparing it.
With respect to the first of these, the
spectator and the picture are placed in
separate rooms, and the picture viewed
through an aperture, the sides of which
are continued towards the picture, so as
to prevent any object in the picture
room from being seen excepting the
painting itself. Into the room in which
the spectator is placed no light is admitted
excepting what comes through this aper-
ture from the picture ; he is thus placed
in comparative darkness, and also (which
contributes to the effect) at a consider-
able distance from the picture. The
picture room is illuminated from the
roof, which is glazed with ground glass ;
and the picture so placed that the light
falls on it at a proper angle to be reflect-
ed towards the aperture. The roof, which
is invisible to the spectator, is provided
with an apparatus of folds or shutters, by
which the intensity of the illumination
may be increased or diminished at pleas-
ure, and so modified as to represent,
with great effect and accuracy, the dif-
ferent accidents of light and shade, or
the changes of appearance depending
on the state of the atmosphere ; as bright
sunshine, cloudy weather, or the obscuri-
ty of twilight. The second principle con-
sists in painting certain parts of the pic-
ture in transparency, and admitting a
stream of light upon it from behind,
which, passing through the picture, pro-
duces a brilliancy far surpassing what
could be obtained by illuminating the
picture in the ordinary way, and renders
the relief of the objects represented
j much stronger and more deceptive.
I Hence, the diorama is peculiarly adapt-
I ed for representing architectural objects,
I as the interiors of cathedrals, &c. In
order to render the exhibition more at-
tractive, it is usual to present more
scenes than one. This may of course be
effected by removing one picture and
substituting another ; but with a view to
prevent the illusion from being impaired
by the accidents incidental to scene-
shifting, a different method is sometimes
resorted to.

DIPH'THONG, the union of two vow-
els pronounced in one syllable. The sound
is not simple, but so blended as to be con-
sidered as forming but one syllable, as
noise, bound, joint, Ac.

DIPLO'MA, a written document, con-
ferring some power, privilege, or honor,
viz., an instrument or license given by
colleges, societies, &c., to a clergyman to

DIP

AND THE FINE ARTS.

155

exercise the ministerial function, or to a
physician to practise the profession, &o.,
after passing examination, or admitting
him to a degree. Every sort of ancient
charter, donation, bull, &c., is compre-
hended by writers on diplomatics under
the name diploma. The term is derived
from the earliest charters of donation
with which we are acquainted, those of
the early Roman emperors having been
inscribed on two tablets of copper joined
together so as to fold in the form of a
book. Writings of earlier date than the
fifth century are generally on leaves of
the papyrus, or biblos JEgyptiaca; those
of a later period on parchment. The form
and character of the diploma granted by
the sovereigns, prelates, nobles, &c. of
modern Europe, varied from age to age ;
and the knowledge of these variations
forms an important branch of the science
of diplomatics.

DIP'LOIS, in
Grecian costume,
a kind of doubled
cloak, which, when
worn, was folded
back in the man-
ner shawls are
usually worn.

DIPLOM'ACY,
in its most re-
stricted sense, is
used to express
the art of con-
ducting negotia-
tions or arranging
treaties between
nations by means
of their foreign
ministers, or writ-
ten correspond-
ence ; but, in its
most extended sig-
nification, it em-
braces the whole
science of negotia-
tion with foreign
states as founded on public law, positive
engagements, or an enlightened view of
the interests of each. It has been truly
observed, that in times not very 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 correspond-
ent of a cabinet is compelled to inquire
into the working of the complex machin-
ery of modern society ; to observe con-
stantly the pulse of the whole body
politic; to keep in view the moral and

physical resources of nations ; to defend
the rights of his country, on the grounds
of law and reason ; to give information
to the minister, from whom he holds his
instructions, and to enable his govern-
ment to profit by the intelligence he im-
parts, not only in the management of its
foreign concerns, but likewise of its in-
ternal resources. To be a peifect di-
plomatist, in fact, in the present state of
the world, a man should be well acquaint-
ed with the municipal laws of different
countries, versed in the sciences, from
which industry and art derive their splen-
dor, 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 learning and sagacity. It was
one part of the business of the congress
assembled at Vienna, in 1814, to regulate
the degrees of rank to which the various
diplomatic agents were entitled, viz. :
1, ambassadors; 2. envoys extraordinary
and ministers plenipotentiary; 3, minis-
ters resident; 4, charges d'affaires; 5,
secretaries of legation and attaches. Min-
isters at a court are denominated a dip-
lomatic body.

DIPLOMAT'ICS, the science of deci-
phering ancient writings, assigning their
date, &c. The name is derived from di-
ploma. Writings of earlier date than the
fifth century were mostly on the leaves
of the papyrus, or biblos JEgyptiaca.
Parchment appears to have been first
generally used in that century ; and the
oldest documents bearing the character
of diplomas which we possess do not ex-
tend to a higher antiquity. Not long
after the general adoption of parchment,
a variety of substances and colors began
to be used in writing, as vermilion, pur-
ple, gold and silver ; but this sumptuous
fashion did not long remain in use. The
science of diplomatics teaches the differ-
ent styles and forms adopted in ancient
public documents ; the titles, rank, <fco.,
of public officers whose names are sub-
scribed to them ; the knowledge of the
materials used in writing in different
ages, of the different characters used in
successive periods and in various coun-
tries ; and the several kinds of diplomas
or public instruments. This science is
said to owe its origin to a Jesuit of
Antwerp, named Papelroch, who devoted
himself arduously to the research and
exposition of old diplomas about the
year 1675 ; but the honor of having re-
duced it to a science, and established it
on a sure and more satisfactory founda-
tion, is due to Mabillon, whose learned

156

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DIS

work. Dt Re Diplomatica, was given to
the world in 1681. The principles laid
down by Mabillon, however, were more
fully developed about the middle of last
century, in one of the most elaborate
works of which the literature of any na-
tion can boast, the Nouveau Traitede Di-
plomatique ; and which has left little to
be done by subsequent laborers in this
field beyond the duty of translation, com-
pilation, or abridgment. From the above
statement of the objects of this science, it
will be at once perceived that it is of im-
mense utility. It has greatly facilitated
the researches of the historian, the poli-
tician, the divine, the political economist ;
and has contributed to the elucidation of
points in the history of nations whinh
might otherwise have been forever bu-
riedin obscurity.

DIPTERAL, in architecture, a temple
which had a double range of columns on
each of its flasks.

DIPTYCHA, or DIPTYCH, in Ro-
man antiquity, a public register of the
names of the consuls and other magis-
trates. Among the early Christians, they
were tablets, on one of which were writ-
ten the names of the deceased, and on the
other those of the living patriarchs, bish-
ops, <fec. or those who had done any ser-
vice to the church. The letters were
written inside these tablets, and on the
outside were slight reliefs, making the
specimens still extant not a little in-
teresting in the history of Art. The
whole class of diptycha, together with the
triptycha and pentaptycha, belong to the
later Roman empire, and are, therefore,
curious as the last effort of Antique and
also as remnants of Early Christian Art;
they ' are distinguished as consular
those presented by the magistrates upon
receiving that office ; and ecclesiastical.
They were made of wood as well as of
ivory, and some are extant of chased sil-
ver. Diptycha consularia bore the por-
traits of the consuls, representations of
the games in the circus and scenes of
triumph. &c. The diptycha ecclesiastica
are decorated with scenes from Biblical
history. They were very common during
the middle ages, and were often most
exquisitely wrought.

DI'RjE, in the Roman divination, sig-
nifies any unusual accidents or uncom-
mon appearances, as sneezing, stumbling,
strange voices, apparitions, spilling salt
or wine upon the table or upon one's
clothes, meeting wolves, hares, foxes, Ac.

DI'RECT, in music, a character used
at the end of a staff, to direct the per-

former's notice to the succeeding note at
the beginning of the following staff.

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 sub-
ject of the tax. An indirect tax falls ulti-
mately on a different person from the one
who immediately pays it to the govern-
ment. Thus the importer of goods pays a
duty on them to the government, but reim-
burses himself by charging the amount of
this duty in the price of the goods.

DIREC'TORS, in commerce, the namo
given to the individuals composing the
board of management of a joint stock
company.

DIRECTORY, in French history, the
name given by the constitution of 1795
to the executive body of the French re-
public. It consisted of five individuals,
called directors, who were selected by the
council of elders from a list of candidates
presented by the council of five hundred.
One of these directors retired every year,
and was succeeded by another elected on
the same principle. To the directory
was entrusted the superintendence of the
home and foreign departments, the finan-
ces and the army, and the appoint-
ment of the ministers of state and other
public functionaries. Its policy was at
first moderate and conciliatory ; but after
a short interval it had recourse to meas-
ures which produced wide-spread dis-
satisfaction, and it was at length over-
thrown on the ascendency of Bonaparte
after an existence of four years. Direc-
tory, signifies also a book containing the
names of the inhabitants of a town, ar-
ranged in alphabetical order, together
with their places of abode, Ac. It is
likewise applied to a book containing di-
rections for public worship, or other re-
ligious services.

DIRGE, a song or tune intended to
express grief, sorrow, and mourning.

DIS, a prefix or inseparable proposition,
which generally has the force of a privative
nnd negative ; as, disarm, disallow, diso-
blige. In some cases, however, it denotes
separation, as in distribute, disconnect.

DISABILITY, in law, an incapacity
in a man to inherit or take a benefit
which otherwise he might have done,
which may happen by the act of any an-
cestor; by the act of the party himself;
by the act of the law ; and by the act of
God. Disability differs from inability, in
denoting deprivation of ability ; whereas
inability denotes destitution of ability,
either by deprivation or otherwise.

DISJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

157

DISAFFECTION, in a political sense,
signifies disloyalty ; not merely aliena-
tion of affection, but positive dislike and
enmity.

DISCHARGE', a word of various sig-
nifications. Applied to fire-arms, it means
an explosion ; to fluids, a flowing, issu-
ing, or throwing out, as water from a
spring or spout. It also denotes a dis-
missal from office or service ; a release
from debt, obligation, or imprisoment ;
and the performance of any office, trust,
or duty.

DISCI'PLE, one who learns anything
from another : thus, the followers of any
teacher, philosopher, &c., are called dis-
ciples. In the more common acceptation,
among Christians, the disciples denote
those who were the immediate followers
and attendants on Christ, of whom there
were seventy or seventy-two ; but the
word is also correctly applied to all Chris-
tians, as they profess to learn and re-
ceive his doctrines and precepts. The
words disciple and apostle are often syn-
onymously used in the gospel history,
but sometimes the apostles are distin-
guished from disciples as persons select-
ed out of the number of disciples, to be
the principal ministers of his religion.

DISCIPLINARIAN, one who is well
versed in military and naval tactics and
manoeuvres ; and who exacts a strict ob-
servance of them from those under his
command.

DISCIPLINE, signifies, primarily, in-
struction or government ; but it is ap-
plied figuratively to a peculiar mode of
life, in accordance with the rules of some
profession or society. It is also used to
designate the punishments employed in
convents, and those which enthusiasts
undergo or inflict upon themselves by
way of mortification.

DISCIPLINE, BOOK OF, in the church
of Scotland, is a common order, drawn
up by the General Assembly in 1650 for
the reformation and uniformity to be ob-
served in the discipline and policy of the
church. In this book episcopal govern-
ment is set aside, Kirk sessions are estab-
lished, the observance of sainte' and oth-
er holy days is condemned, and other
regulations for the internal government
of the church are prescribed. It is called
the First Book of Discipline.

DISCLAIM'ER, in law, is a plea con-
taining an express denial or renunciation
of some claim which hAs been made upon
or by the party pleading. It is more
especially taken for the denial, by an al-
leged tenant, of his tenancy.

DISCOBO'LUS, a thrower of the dis-
cus, the attitude of which is rendered

familiar to all by the celebrated statue
by the sculptor Myron

DISCONTINUANCE, in law, an in-
jury to real property, which consists in
the keeping out the rightful owner of an
estate by a tenant whose entry was at
first lawful, but who wrongfully retains
the possession afterwards.

DIS'CORD, in music, a union of sounds
which is inharmonious, grating, and disa-
greeable to the ear ; or an interval whose
extremes do not coalesce. It is opposed
to concord and harmony. The second,
fourth, and seventh, with their octaves,
and, in general, all intervals, except those
few which precisely terminate the con-
cords, are called discords. There is, not-
withstanding, what is termed the harmo-
ny of discords, wherein the discords are
made use of as the solid and substantial
part of the harmony ; for by a proper in-
terposition of a discord, the succeeding
concords receive an additional grace.

DISCOR'DIA, in mythology, a malev-
olent deity, daughter of Night, and sis-
ter of Erinnys, the Parcse, and Death.
She is represented as having been ban-
ished from heaven by Jupiter, on account
of the broils she perpetually occasioned.
This was the goddess who, from disap-
pointment at not being invited to the
marriage of Thetis and Peleus, threw into
the midst of the assembly the golden ap-
ple, with the inscription detur pulchriori,
(let it be given to the fairest ;) which, as
is well known, occasioned the famed con-
test between the goddesses Juno, Miner-
va, and Venus, and ultimately led to the
Trojan war, and the destruction of Troy.
The ancient poets represent this divinity

158

CYCLOPEDIA OK LITERATURE

DI8

with a pale and ghastly look, a dagger in
her hand, and her hair entwined with ser-
pents.

DIS'COUNT, an allowance made for
the payment of money before it is due,
and is equivalent to the interest of the
principal sum diminished by the discount
during the time that must elapse before
the money becomes payable.

DISCOURSE', in rhctoricsignifies in
its widest acceptation a series of sen-
tences and arguments arranged accord-
ing to the rules of art, with the view of
producing some impression on the mind
or feelings of those to whom it is ad-
dressed. In logic, this term is applied to
the third operation of the mind, common-
ly called reasoning.

DISCOVERY, in a general sense, that
which is discovered, found out, or reveal-
%d ; as, the discovery of America by Co-
lumbus ; or the properties of the magnet
were an important discovery. Discovery,
in law, the disclosing or revealing any-
thing by a defendant in his answer to a
bill filed against him in a court of equity.

DISCRE'TIVE, in logic, an epithet
applied to a proposition expressing some
distinction, opposition, or variety, by
means of but, though, yet, <fec. ; as, men
change their dresses, but not their incli-
nations.

DISCUM'BENCY, the act of leaning
at meals, according to the manner of the
ancients.

DIS'CUS, in antiquity, a quoit made
of stone, iron, or copper, five or six fin-
gers broad, and more than a foot long,
inclining to an oval figure, which they
hurled in the manner of a bowl, to a vast
distance, by the help of a leathern thong
tied round the person's hand who threw
it, and put through a hole in the middle.

DISEASE', any state of a living body
in which the natural functions of the or-
gans are interrupted or disturbed, either
by defective or preternatural action. A
disease may affect the whole body, or a
particular limb or part of the body ; and
such partial affection of the body is called
a local or topical disease.

DISFRANCHISE, to deprive of char-
tered rights and immunities ; or to de-
prive of some franchise, as the right of
voting in elections, Ac.

DISJUNC'TIVE, in grammar, an epi-
thet for conjunctions, which unite sen-
tences, but separate the sense, as but, nor,
<fcc. A disjunctive proposition, in logic,
is one in which the parts are opposed to
each other by means of disjunctives ; as,
" it is either day or night." A disjunc-

tive syllogism, is, when the major propo-
sition is disjunctive ; as, " the earth moves
in a circle, or an ellipsis ; but it does not
move in a circle, therefore it moves in an
ellipsis."

DISPATCH'ES, in politics, a packet
of letters sent by a public officer on some
affair of state or public business.

DISPENSATION, in ecclesiastical af-
fairs, the granting of a license, or the li-
cense itself, to do what is forbidden by
laws or canons, or to omit something
which is commanded. Also, a system of
principles and rites enjoined : as the Mo-
saic dispensation, that is. the Levitical
lajv and rites ; the Gospel dispensation,
or scheme of human redemption by Jesus
Christ.

DISPOSI'TION, a word of extensive
application, very generally signifying
method, distribution, arrangement, or in-
clination. Thus we speak of the disposi-
tion of the several parts of an edifice ; the
disposition of the infantry and cavalry in
an army; the judicious disposition of a
person's effects ; a disposition in plants
to grow upwards ; a disposition in ani-
mal bodies to putrefaction; a person's
disposition to undertake particular work,
&c.

DISPUTA'TION, in the sclrools, a con-
test, either by words or writing, on some
point of learning for a degree, prize, or
for an exercise. Also a verbal contro-
versy respecting the truth of some fat,
opinion, or argument ; as, Paul disputed
with the Jews in the synagogue.

DISQUALIFICATION, that which in-
capacitates in law ; implying a previous
qualification, which has been forfeited ;
and not merely the want of qualification.

DISQUISI'TION, formal or systematic
examination into the circumstances of
any affair, in order to discourse about it,
and so arrive at the truth.

DISSEC'TION, the dividing an animal
body into its substantial parts, for the
purpose of examining its structures and
uses. Le Gendre observes, that the dis-
section of a human body, even dead, was
held a sacrilege till the time of Francis
I. ; and that he has seen a consultation
held by the divines of Salamanca, at the
request of Charles V. to settle the ques-
tion whether or not it were lawful in
point of conscience to dissect a human
body for the purposes of anatomical sci-

DISSEIS'IN, or DISSEIZ'IN, in law,
an illegal seizure of a person's lands, ten-
ements, or other incorporeal rights. The
person dispossessing is called the dfesei-

Dis]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

sor, and the person dispossessed, the dis-
seisee.

DISSENT'ER, one who separates from
the service and worship of any established
church. In England, therefore, the word
is particularly applied to those who do
not conform to the rites and service of its
church as by law established. The prin-
ciples on which dissenters separate from
the church of England, are, the right of
private judgment, and liberty of con-
science. They maintain that Christ, and
he alone, is the head of the church, and
that they bow to no authority, in matters
of religion, but that which proceeds from
him.

DIS'SONANCE, in music, inharmoni-
ous or discordant sounds.

DISSYL'LABLE, in grammar, a word
consisting of two syllables only ; as, king-
dom, virtue.

DISSOLUTION, the separation of a
body into its elementary principles ; or a
cessation of the powers by which it was
held together. We speak of the dissolu-
tion of animal bodies, when the parts
separate by putrefaction ; and of a reduc-
tion of a substance into its smallest parts,
by a dissolvent or menstruum. We also
say, the dissolution of the world, when
we refer to its final destruction ; and the
dissolution of government, when it can
no longer hold together.

DIS'TAFF, the staff of a spinning-
wheel, to which a bunch of flax is tied,
and from which the thread is drawn.
This implement is of fre-
quent occurrence in ancient
Art. It was made out of
a cane-stick, of about three
feet in length. At the top
it was slit in* such a man-
ner that it should bend
open, and form a recepta-
cle for the flax or wool to
be spun. A ring was put
over the top as a kind of
cap to keep the ends of the
cane together. The distaff
occurs in representations
of the fates, who are engH-
ged in spinning the thread
of life. Distaffs of gold
wore given to goddesses.
It was dedicated to Pallas,
the patroness of spinning.

DISTEM'PER, DESTEMPER, DETHEM-
PE (Fr.,} TEMPERA (Ital.) A kind of
painting, in which the pigments are mix-
ed in an aqueous vehicle, such as size,
and chiefly applied to scene-painting and
interior decoration. In former times,

when this description of painting was
more extensively employed than at pres-
ent, the vehicles for the pigments were
the sap of the fig-tree, milk, and white
of egg. Many of the works of the old
masters were executed in distemper, and
afterwards oiled, by which process they
became almost identical with oil-paint-
ings, or pictures executed with an olea-
ginous vehicle. By many persons, unac-
quainted with the processes of painting,
distemper is regarded as identical with
fresco painting. The difference is this
distemper is painted on a dry surface,
fresco on wet mortar or plaster.

DIS'TICH, a couplet, or couple of
verses in poetry, making complete sense.

DISTINCTION, in a general sense
means the act of separating or distin-
guishing. It also denotes elevation of
rank or character. Thus we say, of men
who hold a high rank by birth or office,
as well as of those who are eminent for
their talents, services, or moral worth,
that they are persons of distinction.
Metaphysical distinction is the non-agree-
ment of being, whereby this entity is not
that, or one thing is not another. Dis-
tinction, or distinguo, is also used, in the
schools, as an expedient to evade an ar-
gument, or to clear up and unfold an am-
biguous proposition, which may be true
in one sense, and false in another thus
they say, "the respondent was hard
pressed, but he disengaged himself by a
distinguo."

DISTRESS', in law, the distraining
or seizing upon a person's goods for the
payment of rent or taxes, <fec.

DISTRIBUTION, the act of dividing
or separating ; as, the distribution of
property among children ; or the distri-
bution of plants into genera and species.
In logic, the distinguishing a whole
into its several constituent parts. In
medicine, the circulation of the chyle
with the blood. In architecture, the
dividing and disposing of the several
parts of a building, according to some
plan, or to the rules of the art. In print-
ing, the taking a form asunder, so as to
separate the types, and place each letter
in its proper cell or box in the cases.
Distributive justice, implies, that justice
is so administered by a judge, as to give
every man his due. Distributive, in
grammar, words which serve to distribute
things into their several orders, as each,
either, every, &o.

DIS'TRICT, a word applicable to any
portion of land or country, or to any part
of a city of town, which is defined by law

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CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DIV

or agreement. A governor, a prefect, or
a judge may have his district; or states
and provinces may be divided into dis-
tricts for public meetings, the exercise of
elective rights. &c. District, in law, that
circuit or territory within which a man
may be forced to make his appearance.

DESTRIN'GAS, in law, a writ com-
manding the sheriff, or other officer, to
distrain a person for debt, or for his ap-
pearance at a certain day.

DITHYRAM'BUS, a sort of hymn an-
ciently sung in honor of Bacchus, full of
transport and poetical rage : any poem
written with wildness. The dithyrambic
poetry was very bold and irregular, for
the poets not only took the liberty to coin
new words for the purpose, but made
double and compound words, which con-
tributed very much to the wild magnifi-
cence of this kind of composition.

DI'TONE, in music, an interval com-
prehending two tones. The proportion
of the sounds that form the ditone is 4 : 5,
and that of the serai-ditone, 5 : 6.

DIT'RIGLYPH, in architecture, an ar-
rangement ot % intercolumniations in the
Doric order, by which two triglyphs are
obtained in the frieze between the tri-
glyphs that stand over the columns.

DIT'TO, in book-keeping, more usually
contracted into do, signifies the same as
that which precedes it. It is derived from
the Italian word ditto, signifying the
said.

DIT'TY, a word of great antiquity in
the English language, signifying most
usually a simple or pastoral song. Mil-
ton, Shakspeare. Dryden, and many of
the old classic English writers, have re-
peatedly given importance to this word.

DIUR'NAL, is the name given to the
book containing those canonical hours of
the Roman Catholic breviary which are
to be said during the day. It is intend-
ed especially for the clergy of the Romish
church, and consists generally of four
volumes, one for each season of the year.

DIVAN', a council-chamber, or court
in which justice is administered, in the
eastern nations, particularly among the
Turks. There are two sorts of divans
that of the grand seignior, called the
council of state, which consists o seven
of the principal oflicers of the empire ;
and that of the grand vizir, composed of
six other vizirs or counsellors of state,
the chancellor, and secretaries of state for
the distribution of justice. The ' word
divan, in Turkey, also denotes a kind of
stage, which is found in all the halls of
the palaces, as well as in the apartments

of private persons. It is coveied with
costly tapestry, and a number of em-
broidered cushions leaning against the
wall ; and on it the master of the house
reclines when he receives visitors. From
this, a kind of sofa has obtained the name
of divan. It would seem that the earli-
est acceptation in which this word was
employed is that of a muster-roll or mil-
itary day-book ; and we find it used,
especially by the ancient Arabs, who bor-
rowed it from the Persians, to signify a
collection of poems by one and the same
author, arranged in alphabetical order;
thus we hear of the divan (i. e. the col-
lected poems) of Sadi, the divan of Ha-
fiz, &c.

DI VER'SION, in military tactics, an at-
tack on an enemy, by making a movement
towards a point that is weak and unde-
fended, in order to draw his forces off
from continuing operations in another
quarter.

DIVIDEND, the part or proportion
of profits which the members of a society,
or public company receive at stated pe-
riods, according to the share they possess
in the capital or common stock of the
concern, The term is applied also to the
annual interest paid by government on
various public debts. In this sense, the
order by which stockholders receive their
interest is called a dividend warrant,
and the portions of interest unreceived
are denominated unclaimed dividends.
It also signifies the sum a creditor re-
ceives from a bankrupt's estate.

DIVINA'TION, the pretended art of
foretelling future events, or such as can-
not be obtained by ordinary or natunil
means. The Israelites were always very
| fond of diviflation, magic, and interpre-
j tation of dreams. It was to cure them
I of this foolish propensity, that Moses
i promised them from God, that the spirit
of real prophecy should not depart from
amongst them ; forbade them to consult
diviners, astrologers, <fcc., under very se-
vere penalties ; and ordered those to be
stoned who pretended to have familiar
i Spirits, or the spirit of divination. The
[ ancient heathen philosophers divided div-
ination into two kinds, natural and ar-
tificial. Natural divination was suppos-
j ed to be effected by a kind of inspiration
i or divine afflatus ; artificial divination
i was effected by certain rites, experiments,
or observations, which we have explained
under their respective heads. All the
i ancient Asiatic tribes had modes of divi-
nation ; the Egyptians and Greeks had
, their oracles ; and, with the Romans,

DIV]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

161

divination and witchcraft were brought
into a kind of system, and constituted
part of their religion. In truth, there
has hardly been a nation discovered,
which had advanced beyond the lowest
barbarism, that did not practise souie
kinds of divination ; and even in the ages
in which reason has most prevailed over
feeling, the belief in the power of fore-
seeing future events has been entertained.
At the present day, enlightened as the
world is by science, the desire of prying
into futurity keeps alive many modes of
prognosticating future events ; nor is the
practice entirely confined to the ignorant
and superstitious.

DIVINE RIGHT, THE, OF KINGS, in
politics, means the absolute and unquali-
fied claim of sovereigns on the obedience
of the people ; insomuch that, although
they may themselves submit to restric-
tions on their authority, yet subjects en-
deavoring to enforce those restrictions by
resistance to their unlawful acts are guilty
of a sin. This doctrine, so celebrated in
English constitutional history, has been
asserted on very different grounds. Hobbes
deduced the absolute authority of kings
from the supposed social contract, where-
by men parted absolutely with their nat-
ural rights in exchange for protection.
But the fashionable political writers and
theologians of the times both of Charles
I. and II. maintained that government
had an existence before property, and
before any supposed social contract could
take place ; that it originated in the
patriarchal sway, which was succeeded
by the regal, and that no other was au-
thorized by Scripture.

DI'VING. the art of descending under
water to a considerable depth, and re-
maining there for a length of time, as
occasion may require. The practice of
diving is resorted to for the recovery of
things that are sunk, &c. The most re-
markable diver was Nicolo Pesce, who,
according to the account given by Kirch-
er, was able to spend five days together
in the waves, without any other provi-
sions than the fish which he caught and
ate raw. He would swim from Sicily to
Calabria carrying letters from the king.
At length he met his fate in exploring
the depths of Charybdis, at the instance
of the king ; who, after he had once suc-
ceeded in fetching up a golden cup that
had been thrown in, ordered him to re-
peat the experiment.

DIVINTTY, a term applied to the
Deity or Supreme Being. It also de-
notes theology ; the science which unfolds
11

the character of God, his laws and moral
government, the duties of man, and the
way of salvation.

DIVIS'lON, the act of dividing or sepa-
rating any entire bodies into parts.
Division, in music, the dividing the in-
terval of an octave into a number of less
intervals. The fourth and fifth divide
the octave perfectly, though differently :
when the fifth is below, and serves as a
bass to the fourth, the division is called
liarmonical; but when the fourth is be-
low, it is called arithmetical. Division,
among logicians, is the explication of a
complex idea, by enumerating the simple
ideas whereof it is composed. In rhet-
oric, it is the arrangement of a discourse
under several heads. A part of an army,
as a brigade, a squadron, or platoon.
A part of a fleet, or a select number of
ships under a commander, and distin-
guished by a particular flag or standard.

DIVORCE', a separation, by law, of
husband and wife ; and is either a di-
vorce 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 wedlock, or a divorce
a mensd et tlioro (from bed and board,)
whereby the parties are legally sepa-
rated, but not unmarried. The Jewish
law of divorce is founded on the directions
given in the 24th chapter of Deuteron-
omy ; but the permission therein con-
tained is subject to many obstacles and
formalities in modern practice. In
Greece, in classical times, the practice of
divorce seems to have varied in different
states ; at Sparta it appears to have been
unusual, in Athens great facilities were
afforded by the law. In republican
Rome great strictness in this branch of
morals prevailed for a long period, al-
though parties were less impeded in pur-
suing a divorce by the difficulties im-
posed by the law than by public opinion.
Bnt in the later period of the republic,
and under the emperors, divorce became
extremely common, and was obtained
with equal ease by either sex. Our Sa-
viour's declaration to the Pharisee, in
the 19th chapter of St. Matthew, became
the foundation of the law on this subject
in Christian countries, and divorces were
consequently allowed in one particular
case only ; but after the Roman church
had erected matrimony into a sacrament,
they became, as they now are in Catholic
countries, wholly impossible : the only
dissolution of marriage being in cases
where it is void ab initio. In most Prot-

162

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[uoo

cstiint countries, the facility of divorce
has been so much restored in latter
times us to approximate to the heathen
practice.

DO, is in music, a syllable used by the
Italians instead of ut, than which it is by
them considered more musical and reso-
nant.

DOCE'T^E, one of the earliest hereti-
cal sects ; so called from the reality of
our Lord's incarnation, and considering
him to have acted and suffered only in
appearance. Some divines have con-
ceived that the express declarations of
the nature of Christ in St. John's writ-
ings were specially directed against these
opinions.

DOCIM A'SIA, in Greek antiquity, a
probation of the magistrates and persons
employed in public business at Athens.
It was performed publicly in the forum,
where they were obliged to give account
of themselves and their past life before
certain judges.

DOCK'ET, a small piece of paper or
parchment, containing the heads of a
writing. Also, a subscription at the foot
of letters patent, by the clerk of the
dockets. A bill tied to goods, containing
some direction, as the name of the
owner or the place to which they are to
be sent. An alphabetical list of cases in
a court, or a catalogue of the names of
the parties who have suits depending in a
court. In the United States, this is the
principal or only use of the word.

DOC'TOR, a person who has passed all
the degrees of a faculty, and is empow-
ered to practise and teach it ; or, accord-
ing to modern usage, one who has re-
ceived the highest degree in a faculty.
The title of doctor originated at the same
time with the establishment of universi-
ties ; and is either conferred publicly,
with certain ceremonies, or by diploma.

DOCTRINAIRES', a party in the
French chamber of deputies, on the sec-
ond restoration of the Bourbons, who
would neither rank themselves among
the friends of absolute power, nor
among the defenders of the revolution.
They opposed the ultra royalists, and took
a middle course, avowing themselves the
supporters of a constitutional monarchy.

DOC'TRINE, a principle or position
in any science, that is laid down as true
by an instructor therein. Thus, the doc-
trines of the Gospel are the principles or
truths taught by Christ and his Apostles.
But any tenet or opinion is a doctrine ;
therefore doctrines may be either true or
false.

DOC'UMENT, any official or authori-
tative paper, containing written instruc-
tions, or evidence.

DODEC'ASTYLE, in architecture, n
building having twelve columns on a
front or flank.

DODO'NA, in antiquity, the seat of
the most ancient, and one of the most
celebrated oracles of Greece, sacred to
Jupiter. By some writers its origin is
attributed to Deucalion, who is said to
have built the town of Dodona where it
stood ; but according to the traditions of
the priestesses of the temple, it was
founded by a dove, which, perching on
the branch of an oak, recommended, in a
human voice, that a temple should be
erected to Jupiter in that place. The
situation of the oracle was in an exten-
sive forest, the oaks of which are said to
have been endowed with the gift of pro-
phecy ; and the oracles were most fre-
quently delivered by three priestesses,
who expounded the will of the divinity.
That the responses of this oracle were
received with singular veneration, may
be inferred from the number of votaries
by whom it was frequented, and the
costly presents which adorned the temple
and its precincts. This oracle continued
to utter responses till the time of Augus-
tus, when it ceased.

DOG, an emblem of fidelity, and gen-
erally introduced at the feet of married
women in sepulchral effigies with that
signification. It also signifies loyalty to
the sovereign.

DOG-DAYS, the period between the
24th of July and the 24th of August ; so
called because the dog star (Sirius) dur-
ing this period rises with the sun; and
the heat, which is usually most oppress-
ive at this season, was formerly ascribed
to the conjunction of this star with the
solar luminary.

DOGE, formerly the title of the chief
magistrate in the republics of Venice and
Genoa. The dignity was elective in both
places : at Venice it continued for life ;
at Genoa, only for two years. His pow-
er became, by degrees, very limited.

DOG'GEREL, an epithet given to a
kind of loose, irregular, burlesque poetry,
like that of Hudibras.

DOG'MA, a principle, maxim, tenet,
or settled opinion, particularly with re-
gard to matters of faith and philosophy ;
as, the dogmas of the church; the dog-
mas of Aristotle. In theology, dogma
has been defined to be a fundamental
article of belief derived from acknowl-
edged authority, a d is usually applied

DOM]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

163

to what are considered as the essential
doctrines of Christianity, deduced either
from the Scriptures or from the fathers of
the church. There are, however, many
other dogmas peculiar to the different
sects into which Christianity is divided.
Thus the bulls and decretals of the pope,
together with all the councils both of ear-
lier and later times, are regarded by the
Roman Catholics with as much venera-
tion as the authority of the Scriptures
and the holy fathers. The Greek church,
on the other hand, acknowledges the au-
thority only of the earlier councils, in
addition to that of the Scriptures and the
fathers ; and the Lutheran and other
Protestant churches have embodied their
dogmas in their respective confessions of
faith and other ecclesiastical standards.
Dogmatic theology, as this branch of
divinity is called, in contradistinction to
moral and scholastic theology, forms an
important object of study in many of the
continental universities. In the Protes-
tant universities of Germany there are
chairs set apart for the history of dogmas,
or, as it is termed, dogmatik; in which
the origin and nature of the dogmas of
the various Christian sects are examined,
and the merit of the arguments by which
they are supported.

DOG'MATISTS, a sect of ancient phy-
sicians, of which Hippocrates was the
first. They are also called logici, or lo-
gicians, from their using the rules of
logic on professional subjects. They laid
down definitions and divisions, reducing
diseases to certain genera, and those gen-
era to species, and furnishing remedies
for them all ; supposing principles, draw-
ing conclusions, and applying those prin-
ciples and conclusions to the particular
diseases under consideration.

DOIT, the ancient Scottish penny-piece,
twelve of which were equal to a penny-
sterling. Two of them were equal to the
bodle, six to the baubee, and eight to the
acheson.

DO'LABRA, CELT, an implement of
various forms, extensively used both in
ancient and modern times, for similar
purposes as our hatchets and chisels.
They abound in museums, and are seen
depicted on the columns of Trajan and
Antoninus at Homo. They are usually
formed of bronze and of flint or other
hard stone, and to these latter the term
celt is usually applied.

DOLCE, in music, an instruction to
the performer that the music is to be
executed softly and sweetly.

DOLE, in the ancient English customs,

signified a part or portion of a meadow,
where several persons had shares. It now
means a distribution of alms, or a liberal
gift made to the people or to some chari-
table institution.

DOL'LAR, a silver coin of Spain and
of the United States, of the value of 4s.
6d. sterling, or 100 cents. In Germany,
the name dollar is given to several coins
of different values.

DOLL'MAN, a kind of long cassock,
worn by the Turks, hanging down to the
I feet, with narrow sleeves buttoned at the
wrist.

DOL'PHIN, an emblem of love and so-
cial feeling, frequently introduced as or-
naments to coronas suspended in church-
es.

DOM, in the middle ages, was a title
originally possessed by the pope, and at
a somewhat later period by the dignita-
ries of the Roman Catholic church. In
more recent times, it formed a distin-
guishing title of certain monastic orders,
such as the Benedictines, &c. ; and it ap-
pears to have been equivalent to the don
of the Spaniards, the von of the Germans,
and the de of the French. Mabillon and
Calmet are always spoken of as Dom
Mabillon and Dom Calmet.

DOME, in architecture, the spherical
or other figured concave ceiling over a
circular or polygonal building. A sur-
based or diminished dome is one that is
segmental on its section ; a surmounted
dome is one that is higher than the ra-
dius of its base. The forms of domes are
various, both in plan and section. In
the former, they are circular and polyg-
onal ; in the latter, we find them semi-
circular, and semi-elliptical, segmental,
pointed, sometimes in curves of contrary ,
flexure, bell-shaped, &c. The oldest cu-
pola on record is that of the Pantheon at
Rome, which was erected under Augustus,
and is still perfect.

DO'MESDAY, orDOOMS'DAY-
BOOK, a book or record made by order
of William the Conqueror, which now re-
mains in the exchequer, and consists of
two volumes, a large folio and a quarto ;
the former contains a survey of all the
lands in most of the counties in England,
and the latter comprehends some coun-
ties that were not then surveyed. The
" Book of Domesday" was begun by five
justices, assigned for that purpose in
each county, in the year 1081, anflfinish-
ed in 1086. It was of such authority,
that the Conqueror himself submitted, in
some cases wherein he was concerned, to
bo determined by it. Camdeu calls it the

164

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DOM

Tax-book of king William; and it was
farther called Magna Rolla. There is
likewise a third doinesday book, made by
command of the Conqueror; and also a
fourth, being an abridgment of the other
books.

DOMICILE, in law, the place where
a person has his home. Personal prop-
erty, on the decease of the owner, is
distributable according to the law of the
country in which he was domiciled at the
time of his death ; not according to the
law of the country in which the property
is situate. Residence for forty days con-
stitutes a domicile as to jurisdiction in
Scotland.

DOMICILIARY, pertaining to an
abode or residence. Hence a domiciliary
visit signifies a visit to a private dwell-
ing, particularly for the purpose of
searching it, under authority.

DOM'INANT, in a general sense, pre-
dominant or governing; as the dominant
party or faction. In music, the domi-
nant or sensible chord is that which is
practised on the dominant of the tone,
and which introduces a perfect cadence.
Every perfect major chord becomes a
dominant chord, as soon as the seventh
minor is added to it.

DOM'INIC, ST., Dominicus de Guz-
man, the founder of the Order of Domini-
cans ; he is represented with a sparrow
by his side, and with a dog carrying a
burning torch in his mouth. The bird
refers to the devil, who appeared to the
saint in that shape ; the dog, to a dream
of his mother's, that she gave birth to a
black and white spotted dog, who lighted
the world with a burning torch. This
dog is also said to be the emblem of
watchfulness for the true faith, the Domi-
nicans being the first and most zealous
enemies of heresy ; for to them Spain
owes the tribunal of the Inquisition, es-
tablished for the purpose of kindling fu-
neral piles with the torch of the black
and white dog.

DOMIN'ICAL LETTER, for the pur-
pose of exhibiting the day of the week
corresponding to any given day of the
year, the framers of the ecclesiastical
calendar denoted the seven days of the
week by the first seven letters of the Al-
phabet, A, B, C, D, E, F, and G ; and
placed these letters in a column opposite
to the days of the year, in such a manner
that A stood opposite the 1st of January
or first day of the year, B opposite the
'2d. ami so on to G, which stood opposite
the 7th : after which A returns to the 8th,
and so on through the 365 days of the

year. Now if one of the days of the week,
Sunday, for example, falls opposite to E,
Monday will be opposite F, Tuesday G,
Wednesday A, and so on ; and every
Sunday through the year will be repre-
sented by the same letter E, every Mon-
day by F, and so on. The letter which
represents Sunday is called the Domini-
cal Letter, or Sunday Letter. As the
number of days in the week and the

: number in the year are prime to each
other, two successive years cannot begin
with the same day ; hence the Dominical

i Letter changes every year. Thi* mode

' of representing the days of the week has

i now fallen nearly into desuetude, and the
initial letter of the name of the day is
placed in our almanacs opposite the day
of the month.

DOMIN'ICANS, called also Predi-
cants, or Preaching Friars, an order of
monks, founded by St. Dominic, a native
of Spain, in 1215. The design of their
institution was, to preach the gospel,
convert heretics, defend the faith, and
propagate Christianity. They embraced
the rule of St. Augustine, to which they

r added statutes and constitutions, which
had formerly been observed either by

| the Carthusians or Praemonstratenses.
The principal articles enjoined perpetual
silence, abstinence from flesh at all times,

, wearing of woollen, rigorous poverty, and
several other austerities. In France they
were called Jacobins, because the first
convent in Paris was in the Rue St.
Jaques. The Dominican Nuns, who
were established at the same time, follow
similar rules. A third establishment of

| St. Dominic was the military order of

\ Christ, originally composed of knights
and noblemen, 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

, Dominicans. These became extremely

| influential ; and numbered among their

| fraternity some of the most distinguished
scholars, such as Albertus Magnus and
Thomas Aquinas. In course of time they

| were superseded in the schools and courts
by the Jesuits ; and the order at present
flourishes only in Spain, Portugal, Sicily,
and South America.

DOMIN'IONS, in Christian Art, an

i order of celestial spirits disposing of the
office of angels ; their ensign is a scep-

. tre.

DOM'INO, a long loose cloak of black

| silk, furnished with a hood removable at
pleasure, and worn chiefly at masque-

DOR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

165

rades by persons of both sexes by way of
general disguise.

DOM'INUS, in the civil law, signifies
one who possesses anything by right of
purchase, gift, loan, legacy, inheritance,
payment, contract, or sentence. Domi-
nus, in the feudal law, one who grants a
part of his estate in fee to be enjoyed by
another.

DO'MO REPARAN'DO, a writ which
lies for a person against his neighbor,
whose house he fears will fall, to the
damage of his own.

DON, a Spanish and Portuguese title,
which the king, the princes of the blood,
and the highest class of the nobility pre-
fix to their names. The ladies of rank
have the predicate donna. The title was
originally equivalent to that of knight.

DONA'TION, in law, the act or con-
tract by which a person transfers to
another either the property or the use of
something, as a free gift. In order to
be valid, it supposes a capacity both in
the donor and donee, and requires con-
sent, acceptance, and delivery.

DO'NATISTS, a religious faction,
which arose in Africa in the beginning of
the 4th century in oposition to Cecilianus,
bishop of Carthage. The Nuinidian bish-
ops were indignant at a slight received
from him at the time of his consecration,
and declared him informally appointed,
on account of their absence from the cer-
emony. They also accused him of un-
worthy conduct during the Diocletian
persecution. There are two persons of
the name of Donatus celebrated as lead-
ers of this party.

DO'NATIVE, in the canon law, a ben-
efice given by the patron to a priest, with-
out presentation to the ordinary, and
without institution or induction. Dona-
tive, among the Romans, was properly a
gift made to the soldiers, as congiarium
was that made to the people.

DON'JON, in fortification, signifies a
strong tower, or redoubt, into which the
garrison of an ancient fortress might re-
treat, in case of necessity, and capitulate
with greater advantage.

DO'NOR, a term of the middle ages,
applied to the giver and founder of a
work of Art for religious purposes, viz.,
the giver of a church picture, statue, or
painted window, &c., the founder of a
church, or an altar. If the gift were a
picture, the portraits of the donor and j
his wife were introduced ; the former,
attended by his sons, kneels on one side
of the Madonna, who is either standing j
or enthroned, while on the other side are |

his wife and daughters, all with hands
raised, as if in prayer. Royal founders
of churches, whose portrait-statues are
place 1 in or on the buildings they have
founded, bear in their hands the titular
saint and a model of the church, which
latter is also found in the monuments of
such donors.

DOOM, the old name for the Last Judg-
ment, which impressive subject was usu-
ally painted over the chancel arch in pa-
rochial churches. In the reign of Edward
VI. these edifying representations were
effaced, or washed over, as superstitious.

DOR'IC, an epithet for anything be-
longing to the Dorians, an ancient people
of Greece. The Doric dialect was broad
and rough, yet there was something ven-
erable and dignified in its antique style ;
for which reason it was often made use of
in solemn odes, &c. The Doric order of
architecture is the second of the five or-
ders, being that between the Tuscan and
Ionic. It is distinguished for simplicity
and strength : and is used in the gates of
cities and citadels, on the outside of
churches, and other situations where em-
bellishment is unnecessary or inappro-
priate. The Doric mode, in music, was
the first of the authentic modes of the an-
cients ; and grave rather than gay.

DOR'MANT, an epithet expressive of
a state of inaction or sleep. Hence we
speak of dormant animals, or such as re-
main several months in the year appa-
rently lifeless, or, at least, in utter inac-
tivity. The period of long sleep gener-
ally begins when the food of the animal
grows 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 envel-
ops himself in leaves, and generally con-
ceals himself in fern brakes ; and the
marmot buries himself in the ground. In
this period we observe in the animals,
first a decrease of animal heat ; and sec-
ondly, that they breathe much slower and
more uninterruptedly than at other times.
The digestion is also much diminished ;
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 pe-
culiar construction of the organs ; but the
immediate cause producing this torpidity,
is mostly, if not entirely, the cold Frogs,
serpents, and lizards, kept in artificial

166

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

cold, may remain for years in this state ; |
hence they have been sometimes found
enclosed in stones, in which they have
been perhaps fr 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 boar, the badger, and
the racoon. The bear begins to be drowsy
in November, when he is particularly fat,
and retires into his den, which he has :
lined with moss, and where he but rarely
awakes in winter.

DOR'MER, or DOR'MENT, in archi-
tecture, a window made in the roof of a
building.

DOR'NOCK, a kind of figured linen, of
stout fabric, manufactured for coarse table
cloths. It derives its name from a town
in Scotland, where it was first made.

DOR'OTHEA, ST., this saint is repre-
sented with a rose-branch in her hand, a
wreath of red roses on her head, the same
flowers and some fruit by her side, or with
an angel carrying a basket, in which are
three apples and three roses. This angel
is a youth barefooted, and clad in a pur-
ple garment. St. Dorothea suffered mar-
tyrdom in the Diocletian Persecution,
A.D. 303, by being beheaded.

DORYPH'ORI, in antiquity, an appel-
lation given to the life-guard men of the
Roman emperors.

DO'TAGE, the childishness and imbe-
cility of old age.

DOU'BLE ENTENTE, a term applied
to a word of two different meanings.
Double-entendre, any phrase which has a
covert as well as an obvious meaning.

DOUB'LET, among lapidaries, a coun-
terfeit stone composed of two pieces of
crystal, with a color between them, so
that they have the same appearance as
if the whole substance were colored.

DOUB'LING 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.

DOUBLOON', a Spanish coin of the
value of two pistoles, or 3/. 6s. sterling.

DOUBT, uncertainty of mind ; or the
act of withholding our assent from any
proposition, on suspicion that we are not
thoroughly apprised of the merits or from
not being able peremptorily to decide be-
tween the reasons for and against it.

DOUCEUR', a present or bribe for the
acquirement of any desired object.

DOUC1NE , in architecture, a mould-
ing concave above and convex below, serv-
ing as a cymatium to a delicate cornice.

DOVE, the dove, in Christian Art, is
the symbol of the Holy Ghost ; as such,
it is represented in its natural form, the
body of a snowy 1 whiteness, the beak and
claws red, which is the color natural to
those parts in white doves. The nimbus,
which always surrounds its head, should
be of a gold color, and divided by a cross,
which is either red or black. A radiance
of light invests and proceeds from the
person of the dove, and is emblematical
of the divinity. It is also sometimes rep
resented, in stained glass, with seven
rays, terminating in stars, significant of
the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. The
dove has been constantly adopted in
Christian iconography as the symbol of
the Holy Ghost from the sixth century
until the present day. In the tenth and
eleventh centuries the human form was
also adopted for the same object. In the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries we meet
with both together, as the personification
of the Holy Ghost in the human form, ,
with the dove as his symbol. The dove
is an emblem of love, simplicity, inno-
cence, purity, mildness, compunction 3
holding an olive-branch, it is an emblem
of peace. Doves were used in churches
to serve three purposes : 1. Suspended
over altars to serve as a pyx. 2. As a
type or figure of the Holy Spirit over al-
tars, baptisteries, and fonts. 3. As symbol-
ical ornaments. The dove is also an em-
blem of the human soul, and as such is
seen issuing from the lips of dying mar-
tyrs and devout persons. A dove with
six wings has been employed as a type of
the church of Christ : it has certain pe-
culiarities. The front of the body is of
silver, the back of gold. Two of the wings
are attached to the head, two to the
shoulders, and two to the feet.

DOWAGER, in law, properly a widow
who enjoys a dower ; particularly ap-
plied as a title to the widows of princes
and nobility. The widow of a king is a
queen-dowager.

DOWER, in law, the portion which a
widow has of her husband's lands, to en-
joy during her life.

DOWN, the softest and most delicate
feathers of birds, particularly of geese,
ducks, and swans, growing on the neck
and part of the breast. The eider duck
yields the best kind. Also the fine feath-
ery substance by which seeds are convey-
ed to a distance by the wind ; as in tho
dandelion and thistle.

DOWNS, banks or elevations of sand,
which the sea gathers and forms along its
shore, and which serve it as a barrier.

DRA]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

167

The term is also applied to tracts of na-
ked land on which sheep usually graze.
The Downs is a famous roadstead on the
coast of Kent, between the 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 af-
fords excellent anchorage, and is defended
by thetastles of Deal, Dover, and Sand-
wich, as well as by the Goodwin Sands.

DOWRY, the money or fortune which
the wife brings her husband in marriage :
it is otherwise called maritagium, mar-
riage-goods, and differs from dower.
Dowry is also used, in a monastic sense,
for a sum of money given with a female
upon entering her in some religious or-
der.

DOXOL'OGY, in Christian worship, a
hymn in praise of the Almighty. There
is the greater and lesser doxology ; the
angelic hymn, " Glory be to God on high,"
&c., is the greater doxology ; the lesser,
~" Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,"
&e.

DRAFT, in commerce, a bill drawn by
one person upon another for a sum of
money. In military affairs, the select-
ing or detaching of soldiers from an army,
or from a military post. Also, the act
of drawing men to serve in the militia.

DRAG'OMANS, the interpreters at-
tached to European embassies or consu-
lates in the Levant. The dragoman of
the Sublime Porte is an important Turk-
ish officer, who forms the medium of com-
munication between his own government
and the embassies of foreign countries.

DRAG'ON, in fabulous history, one
of the most famous mythological crea-
tions of antiquity and the middle ages.
The position which this being occupies in
fabulous history presents one of the
most singular phenomena of the human
mind, as its existence was firmly accred-
ited among the ancients of almost every
nation, both in the eastern and western
regions of ther earth. It occurs in the
sacred allegories of the Jews, and in the
legends of the Chinese and Japanese ;
and the pages of the classic poets of
Greece and Rome teem with representa-
tions of the dragon. Thus the dark re-
treats of their gods and their sacred
groves were defended by dragons ; the
chariot of Ceres was drawn by them ; and
a dragon kept the garden of the Hesper-
ides. In Scandinavian mysteries, the
dragon was the minister of vengeance
under their vindictive gods ; and the an-
cient Britons, enslaved in the trammels

of Druidic superstition, entertained a
similar notion of its nature. The alle-
gory of the Dragon has even found a
place among many nations who have em-
braced Christianity. The dragon plays
as important a part in Art as he does in
Fiction. We' find it upon the shield of
the most famous -of the early Grecian
heroes, as well as on the helmets of kings
and generals. It does not appear among
the Romans until after their struggle
with the Dacians, by which people it was
regarded as the sign of warfare ; and it
remained with the former people a subor-
dinate symbol, as the glorious eagle
was not to be displaced from helmets
and standards. The dragon was of
more importance in German antiquity ;
as with the early Greeks, it was the sym-
bol of the hero. In the Nibelungen
Lied, Siegfried killed a dragon at
Worms. It is found on English shields
after the time of William the Conqueror.
In modern heraldry it appears on the
shield and helmet ; and as a supporter it
is called a lindworm when it has no
wings, and serpent when it has no feet ;
when it hangs by the head and wings it
means a conquered dragon. Dragon, in
Christian Art, is the emblem of sin. The
dragons which appear in early paintings
and sculptures are invariably represen-
tations of a winged crocodile. It is the
form under which Satan, the personifica-
tion of sin, is usually depicted, and is
met with in pictures of St. Michael and
St. Margaret, when it typifies the con-
quest over sin ; it also appears under the
feet of the Saviour, and under those of
the Virgin, as conveying the same idea.
Sin is represented in the form of a ser-
pent, sometimes with an apple in its
mouth. The dragon also typifies idolatry.
In pictures of St. George and St. Sylves-
ter, it serves to exhibit the triumph over
paganism. In pictures of St. Martha, it
figures the inundation of the Rhone,
spreading pestilence and death. St. John
the Evangelist is sometimes represented
holding a chalice from which issues a
winged dragon. As a symbol of Satan,
we find the dragon nearly always in the
form of the fossil Icthyosaurus.

DRAG'ON BEAM, in architecture, an
horizontal piece of timber on which the
hip or angle rafters of a roof pitch. It
is framed into a short diagonal piece,
which ties the plates at the internal an-
gles of a roof.

DRAGONNADES', the name given to
the persecutions instituted by Louis XIV.
and his successors against the French

168

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

Protestants, from the coercive measures
which were put in force to effect their con-

voi'sion.

DRAG'ON'S BLOOD, a resin which
exudes from a tree growing in India, the
fterocarpus draco. It is of a dark
blood-red color, formerly used in minia-
ture paintings, but its color is not dura-
ble. It is now used principally for col-
oring varnishes.

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. 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 cuiras-
siers.

DRA'MA, (from the Greek word Ipa^a,
an action or thing done ; derived from
the verb 6p*<<>, I act or do,) has been de-
fined a species of poem in which the action
or narrative is not related but represent-
ed. The invention of the drama is one
of those which should seem to proceed
most naturally from the ordinary cus-
toms and feelings of men. There is a
species of dramatic action which seems
almost instinctive ; we naturally imitate
the tone and gestures of others in reciting
their sayings or adventures, or even in
adopting their sentiments. Yet some na-
tions appear never to have taken the far-
ther step of doing, methodically and with
design, what all do involuntarily. In the
accounts which we possess of the ancient
Egyptians, for example, we have no trace
of their having possessed dramatic repre-
sentation. But among a great number of
tribes, wholly independent of each other,
we find something approaching to the
dramatic art intermingled with their
common or solemn customs, and generally
connected with religious observance. This
was especially the case in Greece, whence
the name and substance of the drama have
been chiefly derived by the modern Eu-
ropean nations. The history of the 3evel-
opment of the dramatic art in Greece is
well known ; its elements were found in
the religions festivals celebrated from the
earliest ages in that country. The feasts
of Bacchus in particular had sacred
choruses or odes ; these were afterwards
intermixed with episodic narrations of
events in mythological story, recited by
an actor in the festival with gesticula-
tion ; thence again, the next step was to
introduce two actors with alternate reci-

tation ; and thus were produced tragedy
(rpti) uitd, tke song of the goat, from the
animal which was led about in those fes-
tive processions;) and comedy, (xupuita,
the village song,) which differed from
the former in that the dialogue of the in-
terlocutors was satirical, and not mytho-
logical. The early Greek tragedy was a
dramatic representation of some scenes
or events recorded in the national tra-
ditions, the actors personating those who
played a part in these events, together
with a chorus or band of singers, repre-
senting such persons as might naturally
be supposed to have been bystanders at
the occurrence (captive women, old men,
or counsellors, Ac.,) who sang at inter-
vals, during the representations, hymns
to the gods, or songs appropriate to the
scenes passing in representation ; while
the Attic comedy, in its first invention,
must be regarded as a parody on tragedy,
i in which the personages were either real
characters introduced for the purpose of
satire, or ludicrous personifications. .*Es-
chylus, the oldest tragic writer, with the
exception of Phrynichus, his contempo-
rary, carried the Greek drama at once to
nearly its highest state of perfection.
Sophocles and Euripides introduced ad-
ditional actors into the dialogue, which,
at first, admitted only two at the same
time, and turned the naked recitals of
events which form the substance of the
plays of JEschylus into something more
nearly resembling the modern idea of a
plot, with contrasted character and inci-
dents leading to the accomplishment of a
main action. Many tragic writers, the
whole of whose works have been lost,
flourished after Euripides in Athens and
Alexandria; but they do not seem to
have altered the character of the art
which they received from their predeces-
sors. The fate of comedy was different ;
the old Attic comedy was a political or
philosophical satire in action, which in
form was a burlesque on the tragedy.
Afterwards, passing through the inter-
vening stage of the middle comedy, of
which we know little, the art acquired in
the new comedy of Menander and Phile-
mon, a character somewhat approaching
to that in which it is at present culti-
vated ; a narrative in representation of
scenes and incidents in ordinary life of a
light or ludicrous character. The dra-
matic art among the Greeks aimed at
producing an impression upon the spec-
tators by three different means ; which,
according to modern phraseology, we
may denominate poetical effect, dramati-

DRA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

169

sal effect, and theatrical effect. The
poetry of the Greek drama was of the
highest order; but it forms a topic to be
considered apart. Dramatical effect is
the proper subject of the dramatic art;
and, in judging of the efforts of the Greek
mind in this direction, we are assisted not
only by the study of the dramatic poems
which we possess, but by the rules of
criticism delivered to us by Greek au-
thors, and especially by Aristotle. From
these it appears that the parts or charac-
teristics of a tragedy, essentially divi-
ded, were held to be the fable or story,
the manners, the style, the sentiment,
the music, and the diction ; that the
fable should consist of an entire action,
namely one principal event and the
auxiliary events; and that the proper
emotions to be excited by the action are
terror and pity ; that its parts of quan-
tity, according to the division of form,
were the prologue, being that part of the
tragedy which precedes the parode or first
entry of the chorus ; the episode, being
all those several parts which are included
between the several choral odes ; the
exode, the part which fellows the last
choral ode ; and the chorus itself, or the
intervening odes, which also admit of
various subdivisions. Formally consid-
ered, the arrangement of the old comedy
nearly resembled that of tragedy ; in the
new. the chorus was altogether omitted.
The unity of action was a remarkable
characteristic of the Greek drama, al-
though widely different from that pecu-
liar quality, which modern critics have
characterized by the name ; it should
rather be termed unity of subject, inas-
much as in many of our remaining trage-
dies, and especially those of .ZEschylus,
there is little or no trace of what we term
a plot, i. e. a main incident, at which
we arrive through subordinate incidents
tending to its accomplishment. The
unity of time, viz. that the imaginary
duration of the action should not exceed
twenty-four hours ; and that of place,
namely, that the scene in which the
events occur should be the same through-
out, are inventions of French critics, not
warranted by the remains of Greek art,
in which both are not unfrequently vio-
lated ; but, although not rules of Grecian
discovery, they are easily rendered ap-
plicable to the simple and severe form
of the Greek tragedy. In considering the
theatrical effect of the Greek drama, we
must remember that the tragedies were
originally religious solemnities ; the
theatre, a vast building open at the top,

calculated for the accommodation of
several thousand spectators ; the scene,
&c. proportionably large. Dramatic rep-
resentations were, at Athens, the offer-
ing of wealthy men to the people ; he
who contributed the expenses of the en-
tertainment was said itaayeiv, to bring in
the play; the poet who produced it,
6i6a.aKf.iv, to teach it, i. e. teach the actors
to perform it. A complete representa-
tion consisted of four pieces by the same
author ; a triology, or three tragedies,
narrating successive events in the same
series of mythological tradition ; and a
fourth piece, termed a satyric drama, of
which the chorus consisted of satyrs, and
the mythological subject was treated in
a manner approaching to burlesque.

Chinese Drama. Before proceeding
to the dramatic art of modern Europe, de-
rived as it is from that of Greece, two
oriental nations may be noticed which
possess a national drama of their own.
In China, theatrical entertaiments form
one of_ the most popular amusements,
and theatrical writing has been cultivated
from a very early period. The Chinese
drama comprises pieces which we should
term both tragical and historical plays,
tragi-comedies, and comedies both of in-
trigue and of manners ; together with
abundance of low, pantomimic, and farci-
cal representations. In their regular
drama, however, there appears to be less
of what we should term connected than
of successive action : many of them are,
as it were, dramatized memoirs or biog-
raphies of individuals, real or fictitious ;
the representation of some is said to re-
quire ten days. It is remarkable that,
of all national dramas,the Chinese ap-
pears to be the only one in which we
can trace no original connection with re-
ligious observance.

Hindoo Drama. The Hindoo plays
which now exist are written for the most
part in Sanscrit, although not a living
language at the period when they were
composed ; mixed, however, with other
dialects, which, according to Hindoo crit-
ics, are respectively appropriate to dif-
ferent parts of a play. They seem to
have been appropriate to the entertain-
ment of learned persons, and acted only
on solemn occasions. They are few in
number ; about sixty only are known ;
some containing long mythological nar-
ratives, others much complicated incident
of a domestic character, in a strain of
tragedy, alternating with comedy, like
the romantic drama of modern Europe.
The dramatic art appears to have flour-

170

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DRA

ished in India during a period of several
ages, ending about the Hth or 15th cen-
turies of'our era. Dramatic criticism
was also much cultivated ; and the most
minute and artificial rules are laid down
by Hindoo commentators as to the con-
duct of a piece, the requisite ethics, the
formal arrangement, and the character
which must be introduced. The Hindoo
drama is so widely different from the
Greek or Chinese, tnat it must be re-
garded, like them, as a spontaneous off-
spring of national genius.

Modern European Drama. For
many centuries after the downfall of the
Roman empire, the dramatic art appears
to have been entirely lost. Its first re-
vival in the middle ages was owing to the
solemnities of the church, into which dra-
matic interludes were introduced in vari-
ous countries of western Europe, repre-
senting at first events in biblical history
or the lives of the saints, and afterwards
intermingled with allegorical fantasies.
The framers of these early pieces were
monks, and the monks were the only pre-
servers of classical learning ; but whe-
ther we can infer from these facts that
the idea of these rude representations
was suggested, or their devils improved
by classical associations, it is not easy to
pronounce. At the period of the revival
of literature, however, the dramatic art
was called nearly at once into life in the
four principal countries of western Eu-
rope ; Italy. France, Spain, and Eng-
land. In the two first of these countries
it arose simply classical, and unmixed
with any original conceptions, or with
the sentiments and fashions of the mid-
dle ages ; in the^wo last it partook large-
ly of both, and was also immediately de-
rived from the mysteries and moralities
above mentioned : hence, in a historical
view, arose the distinction, so elaborately
explained by modern critics, between the
classical and romantic drama.

Italian Drama. Originated in close
imitation of classical models. The So-
fonisba of Trissino (1515) is not abso-
lutely the oldest Italian play, but the
first which served as a model for subse-
quent composers. Rucellai and many
others followed in the same track ; Bib-
biena, Michiavel, Ariosto, as closely imi-
tated the model of the Terentian comedy.
The pastoral drama of the 16th century,
of which Tas?o and Guarini were the
most celebrated writers, furnished the
first novelty in this branch of literature ;
but these are rather poetical than dra-
matical compositions. The true national

theatre of Italy arose in the 17th century,
in the musical drama (opera), to which Me-
tastasio, early in the 18th, communicated
all the charms of poetry ; but since the
period of that writer, the operatic part
of the dramatic art has again been whol-
ly disconnected from the literary, and
the words only serve as vehicles for the
music. While the higher classes were
devoted to the opera, the lower found
their national amusement in the com-
medie dell' arte ; comedies performed by
masqued characters, which gradually be-
came fixed in the well-known persons of
Harlequin, Pantaloon, Brighella, Ac.,
who improvised their parts : Goldoni, in
the middle of the 18th century, succeeded
in establishing a regular comic drama in
possession of the stage ; while his rival,
Gasparo Gozzi, took up the cominedie
dell' arte as models, and founded upon
them a series of amusing extravagances.
But since the period of these two spirited
writers comedy has fallen almost com-
pletely into disrepute. At the end of the
18th century Alfieri, a bold and severe
genius, produced tragedies in which the
ancient classical form (with the exception
of the chorus) was again reverted to, in-
stead of the French imitations of it which
had long been current in Italy as well as
the rest of Europe ; and several dramatic
poets have since appeared, who adopted
the same model.

French Drama. The early French
tragic writers, from the beginning of the
16th century down to Corneille in the
middle of the 17th, produced nothing but
unsuccessful and somewhat barbarous
imitations of the Greek tragedy. The
first pieces of this kind represented on
the French stage had prologues and cho-
ruses. Corneille had studied and loved
the Spanish drama ; and without intro-
ducing much of its varied form and inci-
dent, he transfused a portion of its bold-
ness and romantic sentiment into the
French theatre, together with a power
of energetic declamation peculiarly his
own. Racine, on the other hand, was a
pure admirer of antiquity ; but with a
taste and delicacy of feeling which until
his time had been very rarely found to
accompany classical knowledge. The
French tragedy grew up with these two
great writers as models, and Boileau as
its legislator. A peculiar and rigorous
system of criticism was introduced, affect-
ing both the form and the substance of
dramatic writing; and this system be-
came established in the minds of the
French public, as the natural and not the

DRA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

171

conventional rule of beauty. It would
be impossible to enter into an examina-
tion of the rules of the French drama ;
suffice it to say, that they banished from
the tragic stage all except heroic charac-
ters and passion ; required perfect sim-
plicity of plot, uniformity of language,
and, in addition, the observance of the
before-mentioned technical unities of
place and time. These rules have ever
since been scrupulously followed, without
deviation, on the regular French stage,
and many of the greatest names in dra-
matic literature have voluntarily subject-
ed themselves to their restraints. The
French comedy, however, is infinitely
more national and characteristic than the
French tragedy ; it originated in that of
Spain, and was carried at once to a high
degree of perfection by Moliere, reject-
ing the extravagance of the Spanish
drama, confining itself within certain de-
finite limits governed by analogy to those
established for tragedy, and retaining
satire instead of adventure as its leading
principle. Since that period the French
comic stage his been, beyond all contra-
diction, not 01 ly the best, but the model
from which tha.t of all other nations has
been wholly derived. Of the present
state of the French drama it is difficult
to speak with precision ; but the national
or regular stage seems to be every day
losing in popularity, while the attempts
to establish a new one on what is termed
in France the romantic model have hith-
erto met with very partial success.

Spanish Drama. Spain commenced
her literary career more independent of
foreign aid than any other country. Her
dramatic art appears to have originated
as early as the 14th century ; which pro-
duced satirical pieces in dialogue, and
one complete dramatic romance by an
unknown author (La Celestina,) in addi-
tion to the mysteries and miracle plays,
which were exhibited in Spain even more
plentifully than elsewhere. The early
Spanish comedies of the 16th century
were conversations, like eclogues, be-
tween shepherds and shepherdesses ; with
occasional interludes of negroes, clowns,
and Biscayans, the favorite subjects of
popular jest. But the Spanish drama owed
to one great author, Lope de Vega, what
the English drama owed to his contem-
porary, Shakspearc, a rise at a single
bound from insignificance to great richness
and variety ; he created, moreover, nearly
all its numerous divisions, and has left
examples of each. The name comedy, in
the early Spanish stage, implied no lu-

dicrous or satirical representation, but
simply a play of adventure. Comedias
divinas, or spiritual comedies, were sub-
divided into lives of saints, and pieces of
the holy sacrament : the comedies of hu-
man life into heroic, answering to the
tragedy of our early English dramatists,
although even less regular in form ; and
comedies of domestic adventure. Besides
these, the interludes which were played
between the prologue and the piece pos-
sess a distinct character as literary com-
positions. Almost all pieces have one
favorite invariable character, the gra-
cioso or buffoon. Calderon, a greater
poet than Lope, and his equal in dra-
matic power, is the only other great
name in the Spanish drama. Subsequent
writers may all be classed as imitators
either of their own older poets, or of the
favorite dramatists of the French school.
English Drama. The semi-religious
representations out of which the English
drama arose, were called Mystery and
Morality. One of the latter, The New
Custom, was printed as late as 1573; by
which time several regular tragedies and
comedies, tolerably approaching to the
classical model, had appeared. But a
third species of exhibition soon took pos-
session of the stage, the historical drama,
in which the successive events of a partic-
ular reign or portion of history were rep-
resented on the stage ; and, together with
it, arose the English tragedy and comedy.
The first dramatic poets of England (those
before Shakspeare) were scholars ; hence
they preferred the form of the ancient
drama, the division into acts, &c. But
they were also writers, who strove for
popularity with the general class of their
countrymen ; hence, instead of imitating
classical simplicity, and confining them-
selves to a peculiar cast of diction and
sentiment removed from the ordinary
course of life, they invented a species of
composition which intermingled poetical
with ordinary life and language. Com-
edy, again, became in their hands a rep-
resentation of adventures, differing from
those of tragedy only by ending gener-
ally in a happy instead of an unhappy
exit, and not materially either in the
characters or language. Thus the dis-
tinctions which* they established between
tragedy, comedy, and tragi-cotnedy, are
little more than adventitious ; and the
Shaksperian drama, properly consider-
ed, must be looked on as a miscellane-
ous compound, in which actors, language,
and sentiments, of a character far re-
moved from those of ordinary life, alter-

172

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DRA

nate with those of a low and even a
burlesque character. There is no trag-
edy in Shakspeare in which comic scenes
and characters are not introduced : there
is only one comedy (The Merry Wives
of Windsor) without some intermixture
of sentiment approaching to tragic. It
continued to be the chief national litera-
ture, as well as the favorite national
amusement, down to the period of the
civil wars, when the opinions and legis-
lation of the prevailing party put a stop
to dramatic representations altogether.
During the interval thus created the old
English art was unlearned altogether,
and the new drama, on the model of the
French, introduced almost at once on the
return of Charles II. and his courtiers
from the Continent. The distinction be-
tween tragedy and comedy was then first
substantially recognized ; the former
confined to heroic events and language,
the latter to those of ordinary life. But
tragedy, subjected to foreign rules,
ceased entirely to flourish : and Otway,
the last writer of the old English drama,
who wrote partly on the ancient model,
although after the Restoration, is also
the last tragic poet of England who still
occupies the stage ; with the exception
of Rowe, and of a few authors of that pe-
culiar species of composition, the domes-
tic tragedy, in which the distresses and
melancholy events of common life are
substituted for those of an heroic charac-
ter. Comedy, on the other hand, ob-
tained possession of the national taste
and stage ; and although the charm of
poetry and romantic adventure, which
had belonged to the old drama under
either name, was denied to the modern
comedy, it soon attained a high degree
of excellence as well- as popularity.
The last comedies in verse were written
shortly after the Restoration ; since
which time, with the exception of a few
insulated attempts to revive the older
form, it has been entirely framed on the
French model. The main element of a
modern comedy is satire ; but it admits
of a subdivision into comedy of intrigue
and comedy of manners, the former be-
ing chiefly directed to the development
of a plot, the latter to the delineation of
manners; although these qualities ought,
properly speaking, to be united to consti-
tute a good play. The most distinguished
English dramatic writers in the former
line are, amongst many, Congreve, Van-
brugh, Farquhar, Colman, Sheridan : in
the latter, the writings of Shadwell and
Foote, perhaps, afford the most remarka-

ble instances of that less popular form of
comedy which almost neglects the interest
of plot, and confines itself to a satirical
representation of prevailing vices and
follies.

German Drama. The modern Ger-
man drama is founded on the old English
model ; and, although the last in order
of time, has risen to a high degree of ex-
cellence, the stage in Germany being in-
comparably more national and popular
at the present time than in other Euro-
pean countries. While France, England,
and Spain have to look back two hundred
years for those names which form the
glory of their dramatic literature, Les-
sing, Schiller, and Goethe are writers
only of the past generation.

DRAMATIS PERSO'N^l, the charac-
ters represented in a drama.

DRAMATUR'GY, the science or art
of dramatic poetry and representation ;
a word used by German writers.

DRA'PERY, in sculpture and paint-
ing, the representation of the clothing of
human figures ; also hangings, tapestry,
curtains, and most other things that are
not flesh or landscape. Although it is
the natural body, and not some append-
age added by human customs and reg-
ulations, that sensibly and visibly rep-
resents mind and life to our eyes, and
has become the chief object of the plastic
arts, yet the requirements of social life
demand that the body be clothed; the
artist fulfils this obligation in such man-
ner as shall prove least detrimental to
his aim. Drapery has, of itself, no de-
terminate form, yet all its relations are
susceptible of beauty, as it is subordinate
to the form it covers. This beauty, which
results from the motion and disposition of
the folds, is susceptible of numerous com-
binations very difficult to imitate ; in-
deed, casting of draperies, as it is term-
ed, is one of the most important of an
artist's studies. The object is to make
the drapery appear naturally disposed,
the result of accident or chance. In an-
cient Art, the feeling and enthusiasm for
corporeal beauty was universal, yet the
opportunities for representing it were
comparatively rare. Only in gymnastic
and athletic figures did nakedness pre-
sent itself as natural, and become the
privileged form of representation to the
sculptor ; it was soon, however, extended
to statues of male deities and heroes.
Garments that concealed the form were
universally discarded ; it was sufficient
to retain only the outer-garment, and
even this was entirely laid aside when

DRE]

AND THE FINE AKTS.

173

the figure was represented in action. In
sedent statues, on the contrary, the up-
per garment is seldom laid aside ; it is
then usually drawn around the loins ; it
denotes, therefore, rest and absence of
exertion. In this way the drapery, even
in ideal figures, is significant, and be-
comes an expressive attribute. Ancient
Art, at the same time, loved a compendi-
ous and illusive treatment ; the helmet
denotes the whole armor ; a piece of the
chlamys the entire dress of the Ephebos.
It was customary at all times to repre-
sent children naked ; on the other hand,
the unrobing of the developed female
body was long unheard of in Art, and
when this practice was introduced, it re-
quired at first a connection with life ;
here the idea of the bath constantly pre-
served itself until the eyes became ac-
customed to adopt the representation with-
out this justification. The portrait sta-
tue retained the costume of life, if it also
was not raised above the common neces-
sity by the form being rendered heroic
or divine. The draperies of the Greeks,
which, from their simple, and, as it were,
still undecided forms, for the most part
only received a determinate character
from the mode of wearing, and, at the
same time, furnished a great alternation
of smooth and folded parts, were espe-
cially calculated from the outset for such
purposes ; but it also became early an
artistic principle to render the forms of
the body everywhere as prominent as
possible, by drawing the garments close,
and loading the skirts with small weights.
The striving after clearness of represen-
tation dictated to the artists of the best
period a disposition into large masses,
and a subordination of the details to
the leading forms, precisely as is observ-
ed in the muscular development of the
body.

DRAW, a word used in a variety of
situations, and in some of very opposite
meanings, but in most of its uses it re-
tains some shade of its original sense to
pull, to move forward by the application
of force, or to extend in length. It ex-
presses an action gradual or continuous,
and leisurely, yet not requiring the toil
and difficulty which its kindred word drag
implies.

DRAWBACK, in commerce, a term
used to signify the remitting or paying
back of the duties previously paid on a
commodity, on its being exported; so
that it may be sold in a foreign market
on the same terms as if it had not been
taxed at all. By this device, therefore,

merchants are enabled to export com-
modities loaded at home with heavy du-
ties, and to sell them abroad on the same
terms as those fetched from countries
where they are not taxed. In a popular
sense, drawback signifies any loss of ad-
vantage, or deduction from profit.

DRAWER, and DRAWEE, in com-
merce, the drawer is he who draws a bill
of exchange or an order for the payment
of money ; and the drawee, the person on
whom it is drawn.

DRAWING, the art of representing
the appearances of objects upon a flat
surface, by means of an outline which
describes their form and shadow, situa-
tion, distance, &c.

DRAWING-ROOM, a room appropri-
ated for the reception of company at
court ; or to which, in . common cases,
parties withdraw after dinner. Also, the
company assembled at court to pay their
respects to the sovereign.

DREAMS, may be defined to be those
trains of ideas which occupy the mind,
or those imaginary transactions in which
it is engaged, during sleep. Dreams
constitute some of the most curious phe-
nomena of the human mind, and have in
all ages presented to philosophers a sub-
ject of most interesting investigation.
The theory of dreams embraces two dis-
tinct classes of phenomena, physical and
psychological: the former relate to the
question as to how the body is affected in
a state of sleep, how the body in that state
affects the mind, and how this aifection
operates to the production of the phe-
nomena of dreams ; the latter compre-
hend an inquiry into the laws which reg-
ulate the train of ideas that occur during
sleep, and the mode in which these laws
operate, together with an examination
of certain psychological appearances pe-
culiar to that state. To both these classes
of phenomena the attention of some of
the most distinguished philosophers, both
of antiquity and of modern times, has
been directed ; and much labor and in-
genuity have been expended in endeavor-
ing to ascertain the origin and nature of
dreams, and to account for the various
phenomena by which they are accom-
panied. Among a multitude of other
efficient causes, dreams have been ascrib-
ed to direct impressions on the organs of
sense during sleep, to the absence of
real impressions on the senses, to a dis-
ordered state of the digestive organs,
to a less restrained action of the mental
faculties, to the suspension of volition
while the powers of sensation continue,

174

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DRU

and to the succession and unequal relax-
ation and cessation of the different senses
at the commencement and during the
time of sleep. From the remotest period
of antiquity, dreams have also been as-
cribed to supernatural agency. The rec-
ords of history, both sacred and profane,
abound in instances of dreams which it
has been thought impossible to account
for on any other hypothesis than that of
a supernatural interposition; and. as
has been well observed, though there
can be no doubt that many dreams which
have been considered supernatural, as
revealing facts and scientific truths, may
now be explained by means within our
own knowledge, it can just as little be
doubted that many well-authenticated
dreams are utterly inexplicable by ordi-
nary means. This belief in the supernat-
ural character of dreams is common to
every nation in a greater or less degree ;
but it prevails more especially in the
countries of the East, where, from time
immemorial, there has existed a class of
persons whose peculiar occupation con-
sists in the interpretation and explana-
tion of dreams. Those who wish for com-
prehensive details on this subject may
consult the writings of Aristotle, Lucre-
tius, Democritus, &e. ; and among modern
writers, of Locke, Newton, Hartley, Bax-
ter, Beattie, anu Stewart ; and still more
recently, those of Abercrombie and Mac-
nish, which are extremely valuable for
the numerous instances of extraordinary
dreams with which their theories are il-
lustrated.

DRESS, clothes worn as the covering
or ornament of the body ; and generally,
though not always, applied to elegant at-
tire. To dress, is a military term for
arranging the men in line.

DRESS'INGS, in architecture, mould-
ings round doors, windows, and the like.

DRIFTING EAVES, in architecture,
the lower edges of a roof wherefrom the
rain drips or drops to the ground.

DRIVING NOTES, in music, such
notes as connect the last note of one bar
with the first of*the following one, so as
to make only one note of both. They are
also used in the middle of a measure, and
when a note of one part terminates in the
middle of the note of another, in which
case it is called binding or legature.
Driving notes are also called syncopation,
when some shorter note at the beginning
of a measure or half-measure is followed
by two, three, or more longer notes, be-
fore any other occurs equal to that which
occasioned the driving note to make the

number even ; for instance, when an odd
crotchet succeeds two or three minims, or
an odd quaver two or more crotchets.

DROPS, in architecture, the frusta of
cones in the Doric order, used under the
triglyphs in the architrave below the
tcenia. They are also used in the under
part of the mutuli or modillions of the
order. In the Greek examples they are
sometimes curved a little inwards on the
profile.

DRUG'GET, a coarse woollen fabric,
used for covering carpets, and sometimes
as an article of clothing by females of the
poorer classes.

DRU'IDS, the priests or ministers of
the ancient Britons and Gauls, resem-
bling, in many respects, the bramins of
India. The Druids were chosen out of
the best families ; and were held, both by
the honors of their birth and their office,
in the greatest veneration. They are
said to have understood astrology, geome-
try, natural history, politics, and geogra-
phy ; they had the administration of all
sacred things ; were the interpreters of
religion, and the judges of all affairs ;
and, according to Caesar, they believed in
the immortality of the soul, and its trans-
migration through different bodies.

DRUM, a military musical instrument
in form of a cylinder, hollow within, and
covered at the ends with vellum, which is
stretched or slackened at pleasure by the
means of small cords and sliding knots.
It is beat upon with sticks. Some drums
are made of brass, but they are common-
ly of wood. There are several beats of
the drum, as the chamade, reveille, re-
treat, Ac. The drum is supposed to be
an eastern invention, and to have been
brought into Europe by the Arabians, or
perhaps the Moors. The kettle drum,
the bass drum, and tambourine, are com-
mon in the East. In architecture, the up-
right part of a cupola either above or be-
low a dome. The same term is used to
express the solid part or vase of the Co-
rinthian and Composite capitals.

DRUNK'ENNESS, intoxication. Phy-
sically considered, it consists of a preter-
natural compression of the brain, and a
discomposure of its fibres, occasioned by
the fumes or spirituous parts of liquors ;
so that the drunkard's reason is disorder-
ed, and he reels or staggers in walking.
Drunkenness appears in different shapes,
in different constitutions ; some it makes
gay, some sullen, and some furiouj.
Hobbes makes voluntary drunkenness a
breach of the law of nature, which directs
us to preserve the use of our reason.

DUE]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

175

Paley calls it " a social festive vice ;" and
says, '' The drinker collects his circle ; the
circle naturally spreads ; of those who are
drawn within it, many become the cor-
rupters and centres of sets and circles of
their own ; every one countenancing, and
perhaps emulating the rest, till a whole
neighborhood be infected from the con-
tagion of a single example." Drunken-
ness is punishable by fine and imprison-
ment, and in law is no excuse for any
crime committed during the paroxysm.

DRY'ADS, in the heathen theology, a
sort of deities or nymphs, which the an-
cients thought inhabited groves and
woods. They differed from the Hama-
dryads, these latter being attached to
some particular tree with which they were
born, and with which they died ; whereas
the Dryads were goddesses of trees and
woods in general.

DRY'ERS, substances, chiefly metallic
oxides, added to certain fixed oils, to im-
part to them the property of drying
quickly when used in painting. That
most commonly employed for this pur-
pose is the oxide of lead ; but w/iite cop-
peras or white vitriol, (sulphate of zinc,)
oxide of manganese, ground, glass, oxide
of zinc, calcined bones, chloride of lime,
and verdigris, (di-acetate of copper,) have
also been used at various periods in the
history of Art as dryers.

DRY'ING OIL, BOILED OIL, when lin-
seed oil is boiled with litharge, (oxide of
lead.) it acquires the property of drying
quickly when exposed in a thin stratum
to the air. Its uses as a vehicle and
varnish are well known.

DRY'NESS, this term is applied to a
style of painting, in which the outline is
harsh and formal, and the color deficient
in mellowness and harmony. It is not
incompatible with good composition and
other high qualities, as may be seen in
some f the works of Holbein, and the
earlier productions of Raphael.

DU'ALISM, a name given to those
systems of philosophy which refer all
existence to two ultimate principles.
Dualism is a main feature in all the early
Greek cosmogonies, and is that which
distinguishes them from the eastern spec-
ulations on similar subjects, which mostly
regard all things as emanating from a
single principle. The dualistic hypothe-
sis was, doubtless, originally suggested
by the analogy of male and female in
animal existence. The earliest forms
under which the theory appeared are, as
might be expected, rude in the extreme.
The Orphic poets made the ultimate prin-

ciples of all things to be Water and
Night; by others ./Ether and Erebus,
Time and Necessity, are severally deem-
ed worthy of this distinction. The an-
cient Greek and Roman mythology was
evidently constructed on this principle.
In its more philosophic form, the dual-
istic theory was maintained among the
ancients byPythagoras and many of the
Ionian school ; among the moderns,
chiefly by Descartes. It may be ex-
pressed generally as the assumption of
the coeternity and simultaneous develop-
ment of the formative with the formed,
of the natura naturans with the natura
naturata. So the system of philosophy
which regards matter and spirit as dis-
tinct principles is a species of dualism,
as opposed to materialism. In theology,
the doctrine of the two sovereign princi-
ples of good and evil is also dualistic ;
and the high Calvinistic theory may be
said to be a species of dualism, viz. that
all mankind are divided, in the eternal
foreknowledge of God, and by his sove-
reign decree, into two classes, the elect
and reprobate.

DU'AL NUMBER, in grammar, is the
name given to that form of the verb and
substantive by which, in the ancient
Greek, Sanscrit, and Gothic, and the
modern Lithuanian languages, two per-
sons or things are denoted, in contradis-
tinction to plural, which expresses an
indefinite number of persons or things.

DUC'AT, a foreign coin of different
values, and which are either of silver or
gold. The silver ducat is generally of
4s. 6d. sterling, and the gold ducat of
twice that value.

DUCATOON', a silver coin, struck
chiefly in Italy, value about 4s. 8d. ster-
ling ; but the gold ducatoon of Holland
is worth twenty florins.

DU'CES TE'CUM, (bring with thee,)
in law, a writ commanding a person to
appear on a certain day in the court of
Chancery, and to bring with him some
writings, evidences, or other things,
which the court would view.

DUE, that which one contracts to pay
or perform to another ; that which law
or justice requires to be paid or done.
Also, that which office, rank, station, or
established rules of right or decorum,
require to be given or performed.

DU'EL, signified originally a trial by
battle resorted to by two persons as a
means of determining the guilt or inno-
cence of a person charged with a crime,
or of adjudicating a disputed right ; but
in more modern times it is used to signify

176

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[DUM

a hostile meeting between two persons,
arising from an affront given by one to
the other, and for the purpose (as is said)
of affording satisfaction to the person af-
fronted. The practice of the duel, as a
private mode, recognized only by custom,
of deciding private differences, seems to
be of comparatively recent date, and de-
scends by no very direct transmission
from the ancient appeal to the judicial
combat as a final judgment in legal dis-
putes. That it originated with the feu-
dal system is abundantly clear, if it were
only from the fact that in Bussia, where
that system was never known, the cus-
tom of the duel was unheard of, until
introduced by foreign officers, even within
the tngmory of the present generation.
But it is certain that many- antiquarian
writers have confused together two very
different institutions ; the appeal to arms,
as an alternative for the trial by ordeal
or by compurgators, appointed by tra-
ditionary usage from the earliest periods
of Germanic history ; and the voluntary
challenge or defiance, resorted to for the
purpose of clearing disputes involving the
honor of gentlemen. . This last custom
was first elevated to the dignity of an es-
tablished institution by Philip le Bel of
France, whose edict regulating the public
combat between nobles bears the date of
1308 : the best comment on which may
be found in the spirited and accurate rep-
resentation, by Shakspeare, of the quar-
rel between Mowbray and Bolingbroke.

DUEN'NA, the chief lady in waiting
on the queen of Spain. In a more gen-
eral sense, it is applied to a person
holding a middle station between a gov-
erness and companion, and appointed to
take charge of the junior female mem-
bers of Spanish and Portuguese families.

DUET', a piece of music composed for
two performers, either vocal or instru-
mental.

DUKE, a sovereign prince in Germany,
and the highest title of honor in England
next to the Prince of Wales. His consort
is called a duchess. In England, among
the Saxons, the commanders of armies,
&c. were called dukes, duces, without any
addition, till Edward III. made his son,
the Black Prince, duke of Cornwall ;
after whom there were more made in the
same manner, the title descending to their
posterity. Duke, at present, is a mere
title of dignity, without giving any do-
main, territory, or jurisdiction over the
place from whence the title is taken. The
title of duke is said to have originated in
the usages of the Lower Empire, where it

was given to the military governors of
provinces. From thence it was borrowed
by the Franks, who adopted, in many
respects, the titles and distinctions of the
empire. Charlemagne is said to have
suffered it to become obsolete, but the
emperor Louis created a duke of Thurin-
gia in 847. In course of time, according
to the usual progress of feudal dignities,
the title became hereditary. In Germany
the dukes became the chief princes of the
empire ; this title being proper to all the
secular electors, and to most of the
greater feudatories. In other countries
their dignity became merely titular. In
Italy and France dukes form the second
rank in the nobility, being inferior to
princes : in England they form the first.
The title was not known. in the latter
country until the reign of Edward III. ;
and the word dux is used by writers be-
fore that period as synonymous with
count or earl.

DUL'CIMER, a musical instrument
played by striking brass wires with little
sticks.

DUMB, the most general, if not the
sole cause of dumbness, is the want of
the sense of hearing; and nothing is
more fallacious than the idea, that the
want of speech is owing to the want of
mental capacity. The necessity of com-
munication, and the want of words, oblige
him who is dumb to observe and imitate
the actions and expressions which accom-
pany various states of mind and of feel-
ing, to indicate objects by their appear-
ance and use, and to describe the actions
of persons by direct imitation, or panto-
mimic expression. Hence what has been
called the natural sign language has
been adopted by instructors of the deaf
and dumb, in order to express all the
ideas we convey by articulate sounds.
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. The more lively
nations of Europe, belonging to the Celtic
race, the French, Italians, &c., make
great use of it, in connection with words,
and sometimes even without them. The
more phlegmatic people of the Teutonic
race, in England and Germany, are so
little disposed to it, that they regard it as
a species of affectation or buffoonery in
their southern neighbors. The method
of instructing the deaf and dumb, which
has been most successfully employed,
consists in teaching the pupil the rela-
tion between the names of objects and

DUU]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

177

the objects themselves, the analysis of
words into letters of the alphabet, and
the particular gesture which he is to at-
tach to each word as its distinctive sign
showing to him also the meaning of col-
lective words, as distinguished from those
denoting individual objects, or parts of
objects.

DUN, of a color partaking of a dull
brown and black. To dun, to press for
the payment of money by repeatedly
calling for it. Hence an importunate
creditor is called a dun.

DUN'KERS, a Christian sect, which
formed itself into a society under peculiar
rules in Pennsylvania in the year 1724.
The origin of their name is unknown.
They practise abstinence and mortifica-
tion, under the idea that such austerities
are meritorious in the sight, of God, and
effective, first in procuring their own
salvation, and further in contributing to
that of others. They form a society
strictly connected within itself, and hold
love feasts, in which all assemble to-
gether ; but their devotions and ordinary
business are carried on in private, nor do
they recognize a community of goods.
They also deny the eternity of future
punishments ; conceiving that there are
periods of purgation, determined by the
sabbath, sabbatical year, and year of
jubilee, which are typical of them.

DUN'NAGE, in commercial naviga-
tion, loose wood laid in the bottom and
against the sides of the ship's hold, in
order to prevent the cargo from being
injured in the event of her becoming
leaky.

DUODE'CIMO, having or consisting
of twelve leaves to a sheet ; or a book in
which a sheet is folded into twelve leaves.

DUPLI'CITY, the act of dissembling
one's real opinions for the purpose of
concealing them and misleading persons
in the conversation and intercourse of
life.

DURAN'TE, in law, During; as du-
rante bene placito, during pleasure ; du-
rante minors eetate, during minority ;
durante vitd, during life.

DU'RESS, in law, is restraint or com-
pulsion ; as, where a person is wrong-
fully imprisoned, or restrained of his
liberty, contrary to law ; or is threatened
to be killed, wounded, or beaten, till he
executes a bond, or other writing. Any
bond, deed, or other obligation, obtained
by duress, will be void in law ; and in an
action brought on the execution of any
such deed, the party may plead that it
was brought by duress.
12

DUSK, a middle degree between light
and darkness ; as twilight, or the dusk
of the evening. Hence the words dusky,
duskiness, &c.

DUTCH GOLD, copper, brass, and
bronze leaf is known under this name in
commerce ; it is largely used in Holland
for ornamenting toys and paper.

DUTCH SCHOOL, in painting, this
school, generally speaking, is founded on
a faithful representation of nature, with-
out attention Lo selection or refinement.
The ideas are usually low, and the figures
local and vulgar. Its merit lies in color-
ing <iiid drawing with extreme fidelity
what was before the eye of the artist.
The pothouse, the workshop, or the
drunken revels of unintellectual boors,
seem to have furnished its principal sub-
jects. The great appearance of reality
infused into its productions induced Hage-
dora to call it the School of Truth. Not-
withstanding its deficiency in all that
tends to raise the mind, it has gained an
unspeakable lustre from its great head,
Rembrandt van Rhyn, to whose name
may be added those of De Leide, Heems-
kirk, Polemburg, Wouvermans, (an ex-
ception to our general observations,) Ge-
rard Dow, Mieris, and Vandevelde, &c.

DUTY, in commerce, any tax or ex-
cise ; a sum of money required by gov-
ernment to be paid on the importation,
exportation, or consumption of goods.
In a military sense, the business of a
soldier or marine on guard. In its uni-
versal application, duty includes any nat-
ural, moral, or legal obligation ; as, it is
the duty of every citizen of a state to pay
obedience to its laws ; obedience, respect,
and kindness are the duties which chil-
dren owe their parents.

DUUM'VIRI, in Roman antiquity, a
general appellation given to magistrates,
commissioners, and officers, where two
were joined together in the same func-
tion. The office, dignity, or government
of two men thus associated, was called a
duumvirate. Duumviri capitales, were
the judges in criminal causes : from their
sentence it was lawful to appeal to the
people, who only had the power of con-
demning a citizen to death Duumviri
municipales, were two magistrates in
some cities of the empire, answering to
what the consuls were at Rome ; they
were chosen out of the body of the decu-
riones ; their office usually lasted five
years, upon which account they were
frequently termed quinquinales magis-
trates. Duumviri navales, were the
commissaries of the fleet. The duty of

178

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

their office consisted in giving orders for
the fitting of ships, and giving their com-
missions to tho uiarine officers, Ac.
Duumviri sacrorttm, were magistrates
created by Tarquinius Superbus, for the
performance of the sacrifice, and keeping
of the Sibyl's books. They were chosen
from among the patricians, and held
their office for life : they were exempted
from serving in the wars, and from the
offices implied on the other citizens, and
without them the oracles of the Sibyls
could not bo consulted.

DY'NASTY, a race or series of princes
who have reigned successively in any
kingdom ; as the dynasties of Egypt or
Persia.

DYSPEP'SIA, or DYSPEP'SY, in
medicine, difficulty of digestion. Hence
those who are afflicted with indigestion
are germed dyspeptic persons. The dis-
order of the digestive function is the most
frequent and prevailing of the ailments
that afflict man in the civili/.ed state ; all
classes and all ages suffer from its attacks.
But in the higher ranks of society, and
amongst the luxurious and opulent, it is
a common consequence of over eating, or
of indulgence in difficultly digestible or
over-stimulating food, or of want of due
exercise and general bodily and mental
exertion. In others it results from men-
tal anxiety and labor associated with a
sedentary life ; from the fatigues of busi-
ness or the influence of debilitating pas-
sions. In the lower orders it is the con-
stant result of indulgence in spirituous
liquors, combined in many instances with
want of proper food, the means which
ought to be applied to procuring it being
disposed of in the dram shop. The symp-
toms of dyspepsia vary, therefore, in the
different grades of life. The epicure loses
his relish for the most refined dishes, be-
comes bloated, plethoric, heavy, and per-
haps apoplectic ; the lady of fashion suf-
fers from headaches, flatulence, occasional
giddiness, and dimness of sight : she be-
comes indolent, capricious, and full of fan-
cies, or, as the old physicians used to say,
she has the vapors; the studious man
feels the intensity of his mind blunted,
loses his appetite, or at least all enjoy-
ment of meals, sleeps ill, and dreams
much, gets whimsical and discontented
with himself and his friends, and becomes
a hypochondriac ; the lower classes at
first take their glass of gin or of ruin be-
cause they find it a cheap stimulant, little
thinking of the misery they are laying up
for future years ; this stimulant soon be-
comes habitual, and they not only feel

miserable and heartbroken without it, but
the single glass soon loses its efficacy,
and tho dose must be gradually increased
till they degenerate into regular tipplers,
tho aspect and characters of whom it were
needless to describe. Complicated as are
the symptoms of dyspepsia, and numerous
as are the remedies and modes of treat-
ment proposed for its relief or cure, they
really resolve themselves into a few sim-
ple rules. In the majority of cases, ab-
stinence is the first and most essential
step; the epicure must abstain from the
luxuries of the table, eat and drink with
moderation, rise betimes, and use due ex-
ercise ; the woman of fashion must revert
to regular hours, that is, the night and
the day must be employed as intended by
nature, and not in inverted order ; the
philosopher and the scholar must occa-
sionally, and often frequently and assidu-
ously, divest themselves of their mental
labors, and resort to amusements and oc-
cupations of a more trivial character.
Those among the lower orders who have
once acquired the habit of dram drinking
are incurable ; for snch is the depression
of mind and body, and such the gnawing
restlessness that want of the accustomed
stimulus occasions, that without it they
become miserable and inconsolable, and
usually fall a sacrifice to mental or bodily
disease, or to both combined ; here, there-
fore, prevention is the only cure.

E, the fifth letter in the alphabet, and
the second vowel, has different pronuncia-
tions in most languages. The French
have their e open, e masculine, and e
feminine or mute. In English, there are
three kinds of e : open, as in year, bear ;
long, as in here, mere, me; and short, as
in iret, kept, Ac. As a final letter it is
generally quiescent ; but it serves to
lengthen the sound of the preceding vow-
el, as in mane, cane, thine, which, without
the final e, would be pronounced man,
can, thin. In many other words the final
e is silent, as in examine, definite, &e.
As a numeral E stands for 250. In sea-
charts, E stands for East : E by N. and
E by S., East by North, and East by
South. In music, the third note or de-
gree of the diatonic scale, corresponding
to the mi of the French and Italians. In
the bass clef it is that on the third space
of the staff, in the tenor on the first space,
in the counter tenor on the fourth line,

EAR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

and in the treble clef that on the first
line.

EA'GLE, in history, the symbol of
royalty ; as being, according to Philos-
tratus, the king of birds. Hence, in the
Scriptures, a Ckaldaoan and Egyptian
king are styled eagles. The eagle was
borne as a standard by many nations of
antiquity. The first who assumed it, ac-
cording to Xenophon, were the Persians,
from whom (in all probability through
the medium of the Greeks) it was bor-
rowed by the Romans at an early period
of their history, but first adopted as their
sole ensign in the consulate of C. Marius.
Previously to that period they had used
as standards wolves, leopards, eagles, and
other animals, indifferently, according to
the humor of their generals. The Ro-
man eagles were gold or silver figures in
relievo, about tho size of a pigeon ; and
were borne on the tops of spears, with
their wings displayed, and frequently
with a thunderbolt in their talons. When
the army inarched the ea^le was always
visible to the legions ; and when it en-
camped, the eagle was always placed be-
fore their prastorium or tent of the gen-
eral. The eagle on the summit of an
ivory staff was also the symbol of the con-
sular dignity. In modern times an eagle
standing with outspread wings, is the
military emblem of the United States.
During the sway of Napoleon, he caused
the tricolor flag, which at the outbreak
of the first French Revolution had become
the standard of France, to be surmounted
with an eagle ; and thus constituted it the
standard of the consular and imperial
armies. From this circumstance, and
from the almost unprecedented career of
victory so long pursued by the French
under this standard, the expression eagles
of Napoleon is often used metaphorically
to designate the armies under his com-
mand. After the battle of Waterloo the
eagle was superseded in France by the
flour de lys, the ancient emblem of the
Bourbon race. Eagles are frequently
found on ancient coins and medals ; where,
according to Spanheim, they are emble-
matic of divinity and providence, but ac-
cording to all other antiquaries, of empire.
They are most usually found on the med-
als of the Ptolemies of Egypt and the
Seleucidae of Syria. An eagle, with the
word consecratio, indicates the apotheosis
of an emperor. The eagle is also the
badge of several orders, as the black ea-
gle and the red eagle of Prussia, the white
eagle of Poland, &c. In Christian Art,
an eagle is the attribute of St. John the

Evangelist ; the symbol of authority, of
power, and of generosity ; it was regard-
ed by St Gregory as the emblem of con-
templative life. It is represented drink-
ing from a chalice, as an emblem of the
strength the Christian derives from the
Holy Eucharist. The conflict between
the " state of nature" and the " state of
grace" is represented by an eagle fight-
ing with a serpent, and by an eagle, the
body of which, terminating in the tail of
a serpent, is turned against the head. A
common form for the lectern, constructed
of wood or brass, used to support the sa-
cred volume in the choir of churches, is
that of an eagle. Elisha, the prophet, is
represented with a two-headed eagle over
his head or upon his shoulder, referring
to his petition to Elijah for a double por-
tion of his spirit.

EARL, a title of British nobility, be-
tween a marquis and a viscount ;%iow
the third degree of rank. William the
Conqueror first made this title hereditary,
giving it in fee to his nobles, and allot-
ting them for the support of their state
the third penny out of the sheriff's court,
issuing out of all pleas of the shire whence
they had their title. At present the title
is accompanied by no territory, private
or judicial rights, but confers nobility,
and an hereditary seat in the House of
Lords. In official instruments, they are
called by the king, " trusty and well-be-
loved cousins," an appellation as ancient
as the reign of Henry IV. For some
time after the Norman conquest they
were called counts, and their wives to the
present day are styled countesses. The
Earl's coronet has no flowers raised
above the circle, like that of a duke and
a marquis, but only points rising, and a
pearl on each of them.

EARL MARSHAL OF ENGLAND, a
great officer who had anciently several
courts under his jurisdiction, as the
court of chivalry, and the court of honor.
Under him is also the herald's office, or col-
lege of arms. He has some pre-eminence
in the Marshalsea court, where he may
sit in judgment against those who offend
within the verge of the king's court.
This office is of great antiquity in Eng-
land, and has been for several ages he-
reditary in the family of the Howards.

EARN'EST, in commercial law, money
advanced by the buyer of goods, to bind
the seller to the performance of a verbal
bargain.

EAR'RING, an ornament worn at the
ear, by means of a ring passing through
the lobe, with a pendant of diamonds or

160

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[EAR

Fig. 1. Fig. 2. pearls, Ac., at-

tached. This or-
nament has been
worn by both
sexes, from the
earliest times, in
oriental coun-
tries, but among
the Greeks and Romans, its use was
confined to females. It was usually con-
structed of gold, of various forms, very
finely wrought, and set with pearls and
precious stones. The ears in the statue
of the Medicean Venus and other statues
are pierced, and probably were at one
time ornamented with ear-rings. The
cut gives examples of two antique ear-
rings. Fig. 1 is an Egyptian one of gold,
half an inch in diameter, published by
Wilkinson. Fig. 2 is from one of the
Syracusan medallions.

E^RTH'QUAKE, a concussion or vi-
bration of the ground,- usually preceded
by a rattling sound in the air, or by a
subterraneous rumbling noise ; and some-
times accompanied by rents, and by shak-
ing of the surface, so as to swallow up
towns and tracts of country. At one time
it is hardly perceptible ; at another, it is
so violent, that it not only demolishes
the works of art, but changes the appear-
ance of the ground itself. Sometimes 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 ejection of
water, mud, and stones, as in volcanic
eruptions. Volcanoes are, indeed, only
so many spiracles serving for the dis-
charge of this subterranean fire, when it
is thus assembled ; and where there hap-
pens to be such a structure and conform-
ation of the interior parts of the earth,
that the fire may pass freely and without
impediment from the caverns therein, it
gathers into these spiracles, and then
readily and easily gets out from time to
time without shaking or disturbing the
earth : but where a communication is
wanting, or the passages; are not suffi-
ciently large and open, so that it cannot
come at these spiracles, without first forc-
ing and removing all obstacles, it heaves
up and shakes the earth, till it makes its
way to the mouth of the volcano ; where
it rushes forth, sometimes in flames of
vast volume and velocity. Earthquakes
are sometimes confined to a narrow space,
which is properly the effect of the re-
action of the fire ; and they shake the
earth just as the explosion of a powder-

magazine causes a sensible concussion at
the distance of several leagues. These
observations furnish grounds for the con-
clusion, that earthquakes cannot proceed
from external causes, but arise from cer-
tain powers operating within the circum-
ference or crust of the earth. The sub-
terranean, thunder-like noises; the slink-
ing, raising, and bursting asunder of the
earth ; the emission of fire and flames,
and the ejection of mineral substances;
all occur, occasionally, in earthquakes as
well as in volcanic eruptions, even when
at a distance from active volcanoes. All
the observations, in fact, that have been
made, tend to prove, that earthquakes
and volcanic eruptions are effects of the
same chemical process, (so to speak.)
which must have its seat at a great
depth beneath the earth's surface.
There is no portion of the earth's sur-
face, whether it be land or water, that is
not more or less subject to earthquakes ;
and records of their destructive effects
have been transmitted to us through
every age. The first earthquake partic-
ularly worthy of notice was that which
in A.D. 63, destroyed Herculaneum and
Pompeii. In the fourth and fifth centu-
ries, some of the most civilized parts of
the world were almost desolated by these
awful visitations. Thrace, 'Syria, and
Asia Minor, according to contemporary
historians, suffered most severely On
the 26th of January, A.D. 447, subter-
ranean thunders were heard from the
Black to the Red Sea, and the earth was
convulsed without intermission, for the
space of six months; and in Phrygia,
many cities and large tracts of ground
were swallowed up. On the 30th of May,
A.D. 205, the city of Antioch was over-
whelmed by a dreadful earthquake, and
250,000 of its inhabitants are said to
have been crushed in its ruins. In the
year 1346, Asia Minor and Egypt were
violently shaken ; and in the following
year severe earthquakes were experi-
enced in Cyprus, Greece, and Italy.
In 1692, the island of Jamaica was vis-
ited by a terrible earthquake, in which
enormous masses of earth were detached
from the Blue Mountains ; and vast
quantities of timber, hurled from their
flanks, covered the adjacent sea like float-
ing islands. It was during this earth-
quake that the city of Port Royal, with
a large tract of adjacent land, sunk in-
stantaneously into the sea. In the fol-
lowing year great earthquakes occurred
in Sicily, which destroyed Catania and
140 other towns and villages, with 100,000

EAR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

181

of their inhabitants. Since the records
of history, there have been no earth-
quakes equal in intensity to those which
ravaged different parts of the world in
the eighteenth century. Passing over
the convulsion which in 1746 nearly laid
waste Lower Peru, and those by which
in 1750 the ancient town of Concepcion,
in Chili, was totally destroyed, we come to
1755, when the city of Lisbon was almost
wholly destroyed by one of the most de-
structive earthquakes which ever occur-
red in Europe. It continued only six
minutes ; but such was the violence of
the convulsion, that in that short space
upwards of 60,000 persons are said to
have perished. The phenomena that ac-
companied it were no less striking. The
sea first retired and laid the bar dry ; it
then rolled in, rising fifty feet or more
above its ordinary level. The largest
mountains in Portugal were impetuously
shaken from their very foundations : and
some of them opened at their summits,
which were split and rent in a wonderful
manner, huge masses of them being
thrown down into the subjacent valleys.
But the most remarkable circumstance
which occurred in Lisbon during this ca-
tastrophe was the entire subsidence of
the new quay, called Cays de Prada, to
which an immense concourse of people
had fled for safety from the falling ruins.
From this hideous abyss, into which the
quay sunk, not one of the dead bodies
ever floated to the surface ; and on the
spot there is now water to the depth of
100 fathoms. This earthquake excited
great attention from the incredibly great
extent at which contemporary shocks
were experienced. The violence of the
shocks, which were accompanied by a
terrific subterranean noise, like the loud-
est thunder, was chiefly felt in Portugal,
Spain, and northern Africa ; but the ef-
fects of the earthquake were perceived
in almost all the countries of continental
Europe, and were even experienced in
the West Indies, and on the Lake On-
tario in North America. Ships at sea
were affected by the shocks as if they had
struck on rocks : and even on some of
the Scottish lakes, Loch Lomond in par-
ticular, the water, without the least ap-
parent cause, rose to the perpendicular
height of two feet four inches against its
bank, and the* subsided below its usual
level. During the next twenty years,
various earthquakes occurred in different
parts of the world, attended with more
or less destructive consequences. In
175^, Syria was agitated by violent earth-

quakes, the shocks of which were pro-
tracted for three months, throughout a
space of 10,000 square leagues, and lev-
elled to the ground Accon, Saphat, Bal-
beck, Damascus, Sidon, Tripoli, and many
other places. In each of these places
many thousands of the inhabitants per-
ished ; and in the valley of Balbeck alone,
20,000 men are said to have been victims
to the convulsion. In 1766, the island
of Trinidad and great part of Columbia,
were violently agitated by earthquakes
In 1772, the lofty volcano of Papanday
ang, the highest mountain in Java, die
appeared, and a circumjacent area, fifteen
miles by six, was swallowed up. In 1783,
the north-eastern part of Sicily and the
southern portion of Calabria were con-
vulsed by violent and oft-repeated shocks,
which overthrew the town of Messina,
and killed many thousands of its inhab-
itants, as well as many persons in Qela-
bria. In the same year, the islands of
Japan, Java in 1786, Sicily and the Ca-
raccas in 1790, Quebec in 1791, and the
Antilles and Peru in 1797, were violently
agitated by convulsions of this kind.
Since the commencement of the present
century, various earthquakes have oc-
curred both in the Old and New World.
In 1811, violent earthquakes shook the
valley of the Mississippi, by which lakes
of considerable extent disappeared, and
new ones were formed. In 1812, Carac-
cas was destroyed, and upwards of 12,000
of its inhabitants buried in the ruins.
In 1815, the town of Tombora, in the
island of Sumbawa, was completely de-
stroyed by an earthquake, which extend-
ed throughout an area 100 miles in dia-
meter, and destroyed 12,000 persons. In
1819, a violent earthquake occurred at
Cutch, in the Delta of the Indus, by which,
among other disastrous consequences, the
principal town, Bhoog, was converted
into a heap of ruins. In 1822, Aleppo
was destroyed by an earthquake. In the
same year Chili was visited by a most
destructive earthquake, from which the
coast for 100 miles is stated to have sus-
tained an elevation of from two to four
feet, while about a mile inward from Val-
paraiso, it was raised from six to seven
feet. In 1827, Popayan and Bogota suf-
fered severely from earthquakes, during
which vast fissures opened- in the elevat-
ed plains around the latter city. In 1835,
the town of Concepcion, in Chili, was en-
tirely demolished by an earthquake. In
1837, the countries along the eastern ex-
tremity of the Mediterranean, especially
Syria, were violently agitated by an earth-

182

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[EAS

quake, which caused great damage to the
towns of Damascus, Acre, Tyre, and Si-
don, and entirely destroyed Tiberias and
Safet. Such are some of the most vio-
lent earthquakes that have occurred with-
in the period of authentic history.

EASEL, an apparatus constructed of
wood, upon which the panel or canvas is
placed while a picture is being painted.
EASEL-PICTURE is a term employed to
designate a picture of small dimensions,

such as render it portable. In Christian
Art, St. Luke is often represented sitting
before an easel, upon which is a portrait
of the Virgin. Our cut of an artist of the
fifteenth century at work at his easel, is
from a beautiful Illumination in the fa-
mous MS. Romance of the Rose.

EASE'MENT, in law. a privilege or
convenience which one man has of anoth-
er, whether by charter or prescription,
without profit; such as a way through
his lands, &c.

EAST, one of the four cardinal points
of the world ; being that point of the ho-
rizon where the sun is seen to rise when
in the equator. The word east is indefi-
nitely used when we speak of countries
which lie eastward of us, as Persia, India,
China, <4c. In Christian churches, which
are generally built east and west, the
chancel stands at the east end, with an
emblematic reference to Christ, who is
called the Sun of righteousness and the
Day-spring.

EAS'TER, a solemn festival observed
among Christians, in commemoration of
Christ's resurrection. The Greeks and

Latins call it pascka ; a Hebrew word,
applied to the Jewish feast of the pass-
over, to which the Christian festival of
Easter corresponds. Thus, St. Paul says 1
" For even Christ our passover is sacri-
ficed for us." This feast was fixed by the
council of Nice, in the year 3'25, to be
held on the Sunday which falls upon or
immediately after the full moon which
happens next after the twenty-first of
March ; and as such it stands in the ru-
bric of the church of England. The En-
glish name Easter, and the German Os-
tern, are supposed to be derived from the
name of the feast of the Teutonic goddess
Ostera, celebrated by the ancient Saxons
early in the spring, and for which, as in
many other instances, the first mission-
aries wisely substituted the Christian fes-
tival.

E AST'ERLING, a coin struck by Rich-
ard II., which is supposed to have given
rise to the name of sterling, as applied
to English money.

EAST'ER-OFTERINGS, or EASTER-
DUES, small sums of money paid to the
parochial clergyman by the parishioners.

EAST-INDIA COMPANY, "the Gov-
ernor and company of Merchants of Lon-
don trading to the East Indies," the most
celebrated commercial association either
of ancient or modern times, which has
extended its sway over the whole of the
Mogul empire, was incorporated about
the 42d of queen Elizabeth, A.D. 1600,
and empowered to trade to countries to
the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope,
exclusive of all others. A variety of
causes had been long operating in favor
of such an incorporation. Several very
valuable East India ships had been taken
from the Portuguese and Spaniards by
the English fleets, and awakened the cu-
pidity of merchants to the obtaining a
share in a traific which promised such
great advantages. At length, in 1593,
an armament fitted out for the East In-
dies by Sir Walter Raleigh, and com-
manded by Sir John Borroughs, fell in
with, near the Azores, the largest of all
the Portuguese carracks. a ship of 1600
tons burden carrying 700 men and 36
brass cannon ; and, after an obstinate
conflict, carried her into Dartmouth.
She was the largest vessel that had been
seen in England ; and her cargo, consist-
ing of gold, spices, calicoes, silks, pearls,
drugs, porcelain, ivory, Ac., excited the
ardor of the English to engage in so opu-
lent a commerce. About the year 1698,
application being made to parliament by
private merchants, for laying this trade

ECC]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

183

open, an act passed empowering every
subject of England, upon raising a sum
of money, for the supply of the govern-
ment, to trade to those parts. A great
subscription was accordingly raised, and
the subscribers were styled the New East-
India Company ; but the old establish-
ment being in possession of all the forts
on the coast of India, the new one found
it its interest to unite ; and both, trading
with one joint stock, have ever since been
known under one name, viz. The United
East-India Company. Many and se-
vere have been the contests between the
advocates of a free trade to India, and
the friends of the " incorporated com-
pany;" but at length the long-supported
monopoly of that powerful body yielded
to an act of Parliament passed in 1833,
for continuing the charter till 1854,
which, in fact, has put a limit to the Com-
pany's commercial character, by enact-
ing that its trade to China was to cease
on the 22d of April, 1834, and that the
Company was, as soon as possible after
that date, to dispose of their stocks on
hand, and close their commercial busi-
ness. The functions of the East-India
Company are now, therefore, wholly po-
litical. She is to continue to govern In-
dia, with the concurrence and under the
supervision of the Board of Control, till
the 30th of April, 1854.

EAVES, in architecture, the lowest
edges of the inclined sides of a roof
which project beyond the face of the wall
so as to throw the water off therefrom,
that being their office.

EAVES'-DROPPER, one who skulks
under the eaves of houses, for the pur-
pose of listening to what passes within.

E'BIONITES, an ancient sect who
believed in Christ as an inspired messen-
ger of God, but considered him to be at
the same time a mere man, born of Jo-
seph and Mary. They maintained also
the universal obligation of the Mosaic
law, and rejected the authority of St.
Paul. The origin of their name is un-
certain, some deriving it from that of their
supposed founder ; others deduce it from
a Hebrew word signifying poor, and sup-
pose the title to be given to them in ref-
erence either to the poverty of the class
to which they mostly belonged, or to the
meanness of their doctrine.

EB'ONY, a hard, heavy, durable,
black wood, which admits of a fine polish.
It is the wood of the eben tree, which
grows in India, Madagascar, Ceylon, and
the Mauritius. It is wrought into toys,
and used for mosaic and inlaid work.

EBOU'LEMENT, in fortification, the
crumbling or falling away of a wall or
rampart.

EBULLFTION, either the operation
of boiling, or the effervescence which
arises from the mixture of an acid and au
alkaline liquor.

EC'BASIS, in rhetoric, those parts of
the proemium, in which the orator treats
of things according to their events or
consequences.

EC BOLE, in rhetoric, a digression
whereby the speaker introduces some
other person speaking in his own words.

EC'CE HO'MO, (Latin ;) i; Behold the
man !" a painting which represents our
Saviour, with a crown of thorns on his
head, given up to the people by Pilate.
The title of it is taken from Pilate's ex-
clamation, John xix. 5.

ECCLE'SIA, in ancient history, the
great assembly of the Athenian people,
at which every free citizen might attend
and vote. This assembly, though nomi-
nally possessed of the supreme authority
of the state from the earliest times, yet
having no fixed times of meeting, was
but seldom convened at all ; so that the
archons, who were elected from the body
of nobles or eupatridae, had virtually the
whole management of the state. But the
regulations of Solon, which appointed it
to meet regularly four times in every
period of thirty-five days, besides extraor-
dinary occasions on which it might be
convened, called it into active energy.
Solon, however, restricted the subjects
discussed in the Ecclesia to such as had
before passed through the senate of five
hundred ; but when the democratic spirit
of after- times prevailed, this rule was not
at all strictly observed. The magistrates
who had the management of these as-
semblies were the Prytanes, the 'Prohe-
dri. and Epistates. The first of these
sometimes convened the people, and hung
up in a conspicuous place a programme
giving an account of the matters to be
discussed. The Prohedri proposed to
the people the subjects on which they
were to decide, and counted the votes.
The Epistate, who presided over the
whole, gave the liberty of voting, which
might not be done before his signal was
given. The forms of their proceedings
were as follow : First, an expiatory
victim was sacrificed, and his blood car-
ried and sprinkled round the bounds of
the assembly. Then the public crier de-
manded silence, and invited all persons
above fifty years of age to speak ; after
that, any one who pleased. After the

184

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[KCH

subject was discussed, they proceeded to
vote on the crier's demanding of them,
" whether they would consent to the de-
cree proposed to them ?" The votes were
commonly given by show of hands, but
on some occasions by ballot. When the
suffrages had been examined and their
numbers declared, the Prytanes dissolved
the assembly. In order to incite the
people to attend the Ecclesia, a small
pay of one or three oboli was given for
early appearance ; and a rope, rubbed
with vermilion, was carried through the
agora, to mark such as lagged behind,
who were accordingly fined.

ECCLESIAS'TES. one of the canon-
ical books of the Old Testament, so called
from the Greek word signifying a preach-
er. Solomon is generally supposed to be
the author of this book, though various
opinions hav< been entertained on the
subject ; and indeed the whole question
of its author, date, and design is involved
in such difficulty, that the labors of
critics and commentators serve rather to
perplex than to assist the inquirer.

ECCLESIAS'TIC, something per-
taining to or set apart for the church : in
contradistinction to civil or secular, which
regards the world. Ecclesiastics are per-
sons whose functions consist in perform-
ing the service or in maintaining the dis-
cipline of the church.

ECCLESIAS'TICUS. an apocryphal
book of Scripture ; so called from its
being read in the church, (ecdesia,) as
a book of piety and instruction, but not
of infallible authority. The author of
this book was a Jew, called Jesus the son
of Sirach. The Greeks call it the wisdom
of the son of Sirach. It was originally
written in Syro Chaldaic, and consists
chiefly of meditations relating to religion
and the general conduct of human life.
It displays but little regard for method-
ical arrangement ; but the style is so
highly poetical, and the sentiments so
profound, that Addison has pronounced
it one of the most brilliant moral trea-
tises on record.

E'CHEA, in ancient architecture, so-
norous vases of metal or earth in the
form of a bell, used in the construction of
theatres for the purpose of reverberating
the sound of the performer's voice. They
were distributed between the seats ; and
are described in the fifth book of Vitru-
vius, who states that Mummius intro-
duced them in Rome, after the taking of
Corinth, where he found this expedient
used in the theatre.

ECHELON', a term in military tactics

borrowed from the French, signifying the
position of an army with one division
more advanced than another, somewhat
like the steps of a ladder. A battalion,
regiment Ac., marches en echelon, if the
divisions of which it is composed do not
march in one line, but on parallel lines.
The divisions are not exactly behind each
other, but each is to the right or left of
the one preceding, so as to give the whole
the appearance of a stairway. This or-
der is used if the commander wishes to
bring one part of a mass into action, and
to reserve the other. The word literally
me?ns a ladder or stairway.

ECHID'NA, in Grecian mythology, the
daughter of Geryon and the sea-nymph
Callirhoe, or of Tartarus and Gaia; a
monster that devoured travellers : parents,
according to Hesiod, of thob-v- well-known
terrors of ancient Greece, Cerberus, the
Hydra, the Sphinx, and the Nemcan lion.
Hence some suppose the name to repre-
sent a sort of general type of monsters
and terrific phenomena.

ECHI'NUS. the "egg and tongue" or
" egg and anchor" ornament, frequently
met with in classical architecture, carved

on the ovolo. The type of this ornament
I is considered to be derived from the chest-
nut and shell.

ECH'O, a sound reflected or reverber-
ated from some hard surface, and thence
returned or repeated to the ear. As the
undulatory motion of the air, which con-
stitutes sound, is propagated in all direc-
tions from the sounding body, it will fre-
quently happen that the air, in perform-
ing its vibrations, will impinge against
various objects, which will reflect it back,
and so cause new vibrations the contrary
way ; now if the objects are so situated as
to reflect a sufficient number of vibra-
tions back, viz., such as proceed different
ways, to the same place, the second will
be there repeated, and is culled an echo ;
and the greater the distance of the object
is, the longer will be the time before the
repetition is heard : and when the sound,
in its progress, meets with objects at dif-
ferent distances, sufficient to produce an
echo, the same sound will be repeated
several times successively, according to
the different distances of these objects
from the sounding body, which makes

ECL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

185

what is called a repeated echo. Echoes
are not, however, caused by a mere re-
pulsion of the sonorous particles of air,
for then every hard substances would pro-
duce an echo ; but it is supposed to re-
quire a certain degree of concavity in the
repelling body, which collects several di-
verging lines of sound, and concentrates
them in the place where the echo is audi-
ble, or, at least, reflects them in parallel
lines, without weakening the sound, as a
concave mirror collects in a focus the di-
verging rays of light, or sometimes sends
them back parallel. The celebrated echo
at Woodstock, in Oxfordshire, repeats the
same sound fifty times. But the most
singular echo is that near Kosneath, a
few miles from Glasgow. If a person
placed at a proper distance from this echo
plays eight or ten notes of a tune with a
trumpet, they are correctly repeated by
the echo, but a third lower ; after a short
pause, another repetition is heard, in a
lower tone ; and then, after another in-
terval, a third repetition follows in a still
lower tone. Echo, in architecture, any
vault or arch constructed so as to produce
an artificial echo. These are generally
of a parabolic or elliptic form ; of this
kind is the whispering-gallery in St.
Paul's cathedral. Echo, in poetry, a sort
of verse which returns the sound of the
last syllable, the elegance of which con-
sists in giving a new sense to the last
words.

ECHOM'ETER, among musicians, a
kind of scale or rule, serving to measure
the duration and length of sounds, and to
find their intervals and ratios.

ECLAIR'CISSEMENT, the clearing
up of anything not before understood.

ECLAT', (French,) a burst of applause ;
renown or approbation following some ac-
tion or event.

ECLEC TICS, those philosophers who,
without attaching themselves to any par-
ticular sect, select whatever appears to
them the best and most rational from
each. The Eclectics were a sect of Greek
philosophers who endeavored to mould
the doctrines of Pythagoras and Plato,
and blend them with the theology of the
Egyptians, and the tenets of Zoroaster.
They borrowed many of the principal
truths of Christianity from the catechetic
school of Alexandria, and blending these
with the mysticism of Pythagoras, the er-
rors of Plato, and the superstition of
Egypt, they hoped to reconcile the Chris-
tians and Pagans to the same opinions.
An eclectic spirit, it is evident, can only
arise at a period of some maturity in phil-

osophical speculation. Whether or not
it is to be regarded as an evidence of the
decay of original power in the age in
which it appears, must depend on the less
or greater coherence in the system when
completed. In one sense of the word,
Plato and Aristotle may be regarded as
eclectics. They both availed themselves
largely of the labors of their predecessors.
Plato, in particular, comprehended in his
scheme of philosophy the whole of more
than one foregoing system ; as the doc-
trine of Heraclitus of the perpetual flux
of sensible objects, and the consequent
uncertainty of sensible impressions. But
in the hands of these great thinkers the
discerpta membra are reunited, and en-
dued with a principle of vitality as con-
stituent parts of a harmonious whole.
The same cannot be said of others who
have adopted a similar method ; especial-
ly of most of those to whom the term
eclectic has been more particularly ap-
plied. A far more favorable specimen of
the eclectic spirit has been afl'orded us in
modern times in the person of M. Victor
Cousin, without doubt the most able and
ingenious thinker of modern France. See
his Lectures on the History of Philoso-
phy, in which eclecticism is presented un-
der its fairest guise, and vindicated with
the utmost vigor of style and acuteness of
thought.

EC'LOGUE, in the original meaning
of the word, the select or choice pieces of
an author ; or extracts collected out of
former works, such as were termed in
Latin excerpta. It is not known how
this title was originally given to the pas-
toral poems of Virgil ; but from the cir-
cumstance of their being so named, the
word eclogue in modern usage is applied
to that species of poetry. The persons
who are introduced conversing in ec-
logues, or whose adventures are recounted
in them, are shepherds ; that is, for the
most part, imaginary personages, whose
sentiments, and tfie external circum-
stances among which they live, belong
rather to an ideal age of gold than to the
realities of modern life ; and their loves',
constitute the main and proper subjects
of the eclogue. Nevertheless various
writers have endeavored, but with little*
success, to give an air of greater reality
to pastoral poetry, and give their rustics
more of the costume and diction of actual
clowns ; but the result has been a species
of burlesque, not at all answering to our
conceptions of pastoral poetry ; nor can
we easily imagine that the personages of
Theocritus, although the earliest and

186

CYCLOl'KDIA OF LITERATURE

therefore the simplest of pastoral poets,
are correct resemblances of the Sicilian
rustics nmong whom the writer lived.
The eclogues of Virgil are of various de-
scriptions : some of them only have the
true character of pastorals; others con-
tain occasional poems on public and pri-
vate events of that day, very slightly
enveloped in the pastoral costume. The
characteristics of this species of poetry,
as assumed by the moderns, are, first, the
representation of nature in soft and quiet
scenes of cultivation ; secondly, a slightly
dramatic turn either of action or narra-
tion ; thirdly, characters whose senti-
ments and language are confined within
certain peculiar limits ; thus, any strong
emotion, virtue, or vice, would be an
unfit topic for a pastoral poet to dwell
upon. In English literature, Spenser,
Philips, and a few others, may be named
as pastoral poets in the strict sense of
the word ; others, as. Milton in his L>yci-
das, have assumed the pastoral costume
in order to convey a very different class
of ideas. It is worthy of remark, that
this species of composition is among
those which have wholly disappeared in
the present day : the English have had
no pastoral poet since Gay and Collins ;
and Gesner, in Germany, is the latest
author who has acquired any degree of
celebrity in this line.

ECON'OMY, the frugal expenditure
of money, with the prudent management
of all the means by which property is
saved or accumulated. It also means, a
judicious application of time and labor.
In a more extended sense, it denotes the
regulation and disposition of the affairs
of a state or nation, which is called polit-
ical economy. And it is likewise applied
to the regular operations of nature in
the generation, nutrition, and preserva-
tion of animals or plants; as, animal
economy, vegetable economy.

ECOR'CIIEE, (ANATOMICAL FIG-
URE.) this convenient word, for which
we have no equivalent in our language,
signifies the subject, man or animal,
flayed, deprived of its skin, so that the
muscular system is exposed for the pur-
poses of study. The word skeleton is
%limited in its application to the bony
structure. The study of the muscular
system is one of the greatest importance
to the artist. The difficulties in the way
of studying the dead subject are so great,
that it has been found necessary to con-
struct models in papier-mache or plaster,
in which the prominent muscles are ex-
hibited and colored after nature, which

are used in academies and schools by
students.

ECPIIONE'SIS, in rhetoric, a figure
of speech used by an orator to give utter-
ance to the warmth of his feelings

ECS'TASY, that state of the mind in
which the functions of the senses fe
either suspended or transported with r;ij,
tures, by the contemplation of some, ex-
traordinary object. In medicine, a spe
cies of catalepsy, when the person re-
members, after the paroxysm is over, the
ideas he had during the fit.

ECSTAT'ICI, a sort of diviners
amongst the Greeks, who for a considera-
ble time lay in trances, deprived of all
sense and motion, but when they return-
ed to their former state, gave strange
accounts of what they had seen 7?<i
heard during their absence from the body.

EC'TYPE, a word sometimes used by
antiquarians, signifying an impression of
a medal, seal, or ring, or a figured copy
of an inscription or other ancient monu-
ment.

ED'DA, the ancient collection of Scan-
dinavian poetry in which the national
mythology is contained. There are two
Eddas : the older is believed to have been
reduced to writing, from oral tradition,
in Iceland, between A.D. 1050 and 1133.
It was recovered and published in Den-
mark in 1643. The new Edda, supposed
to have been composed 200 years after
the former, is an abridgment of it, with
a new arrangement of its parts. It was
translated by Kesenius in 1640, and is
thence called the Resenian Edda. The
authenticity of these monuments of an
early age has been doubted in recent
times, but the latest researches of critics
(the brothers Grimm and others) seem to
go far towards establishing it.

E'DICT, an order issued by a prince to
his subjects, as a rule or law requiring
obedience. In Roman history we fre-
quently meet with the edicts of the em-
perors and the edicts of the praetors, con-
taining notices to the people in what
manner they intended to execute the
laws. Edictum perpetuum was a col-
lection of all the laws which had been
yearly published by the praetors in their
edicts. It was so called because it was
intended to continue in force forever, and
serve as a guide and rule in the adminis-
tration of justice throughout the empire.
The Edict of Milan was a proclama-
tion issued by Constantino after the con-
quest of Italy, A.D. 313, to secure to
the Christians the restitution of their
civil and religious rites, of which they

EDU]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

187

had long been deprived, and to establish
throughout his extended dominions the
principles of a wise and enlightened tol-
eration. The most famous edict of mod-
ern history is the Edict of Nantes, issued
by Henry IV. in 1598, to secure to the
Protestants the free exercise of their re-
ligion. This act, after continuing in
force nearly a century, was repealed by
Louis XIV. ; and, as is well known, its
revocation led to a renewal of the perse-
cutions and bloody scenes which previ-
ously to the issuing of this edict had
been enacted against the Protestants.
The depopulation caused by the sword
was also increased by emigration. Above
half a million of her most useful and in-
dustrious subjects deserted France, and
exported, together with immense sums
of money, those arts and manufactures
which had chiefly tended to enrich the
kingdom. About 50,000 refugees passed
over into England ; and there can be
little doubt that their representations of
the cruelties perpetrated by the King of
France tended to excite the suspicions of
the English against their own Roman
Catholic sovereign, and in some degree
accelerated the advent of the Revolution
of 1688. In the French law, the term
edict has a wide signification, being ap-
plied equally to the most momentous and
the most trifling proclamations of the
government.

EDITION, means simply the (indefi-
nite) number of copies of a work printed
at one time, before the types are distrib-
uted by the compositor. Any one who
prepares for publication the writings of
another is said to edit them, and is called
the editor. In literary language, since
the invention of printing, the editor of a
work revises, adds notes, prepares for
the press, &c., &c. : the publisher is the
bookseller who negotiates the sale of the
impression. Sometimes (but especially
in classical works) the edition goes gen-
erally by the name of the printer or pub-
lisher, sometimes by that of the editor.
Thus, we have the Aldine and Elzevir
Classics, &c., the houses of Aldus and El-
zevir having been concerned both in
printing and publishing ; while Bentley's
Horace, Heyne's Homer, <fcc., are so de-
nominated from the name of the editor.
In bibliographical works, editio princeps
signifies the earliest printed edition of an
author ; editio optima, that which is
generally regarded as the best, <fec.

EDITORS, are of different species :
1. Those who merelv republish a text, or
content themselves^with adding notes

and commentaries to it. 2. Those who
superintend the publication of a work, re-
ceiving the manuscripts from one or
more contributors ; seeing that the ob-
ject of the work is attained, that the
language is correct, the illustrations ap-
propriate, and the facts accurately
stated, and that all the parts of the
work are properly adjusted and made
subordinate to each other. 3. Those who
furnish the most important matter, and
superintend the literary arrangements of
a newspaper or other periodical publica-
tion.

EDUCA'TION. in its most extended
signification, may be defined, in reference
to man, to be t^e art of developing and
cultivating the various physical, intel-
lectual, and moral faculties ; and may
thence be divided into three branches
physical, intellectual, and moral educa-
tion. This definition is by no means com-
plete ; but it is used merely as indica-
tive of the manner in which this subject
has generally been discussed. Under
physical education is included all that
relates to the organs of sensation, and
the muscular and nervous system. Intel-
lectual education comprehends the means
by which the powers of the understanding
are to be developed and improved, and a
view of the various branches of knowledge
which folrn the objects of instruction of
the three departments into which wo
have divided education. Moral educa-
tion embraces the various methods of
cultivating and regulating the affections
of the heart. The influence which edu-
cation has exercised in humanizing the
world is universally acknowledged. Its
importance has been recognized by phi-
losophers and legislators in every age ;
and by all the nations, both of antiquity
and modern times, which have become
distinguished in history, it has been re-
garded as the chief element in the at-
tainment and promotion of civilization.
The reader will find, in the writings of
Plato, Plutarch, and Quintilian, among
the ancients, and in modern times of
Locke, Rousseau, Basedow, Niemeyer,
Rehberg, Cousin, &c., a view of the chief
systems that have been proposed or
adopted in reference to this subject.
Education in Greece and Rome. The
education of youth was strictly attended
to both amongst the Greeks and Romans.
Their minds and bodies were improved
at the same time ; their minds by every
necessary branch of knowledge and
learning, and their bodies by the manly
exercises of the Campus Martius, or pri-

188

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[EIS

vate contests and trials of skill, agility,
and .strength. It was the chief aim of
the Romans, as well as Grecians, to
make them shine in the senate and in
ihu field, at the forum and the public
games. Oratory was an object which
they kept constantly in view ; and what-
ever was their destination, they endeav-
oured to acquire the arts of elocution and
a habit of fluent reasoning. Lacedaemon
trained her hardy sons to despise danger,
endure fatigue, and seem insensible of
pain to maintain their honor unstained,
to love their country, and hold in con-
tempt riches, and all that train of ener-
vating pleasures which are the com-
panions of affluence. So far all this was
meritorious in a high degree ; but how
circumscribed must the space have been
which was then allowed for intellectual
exertion, when the whole world of science
was a terra incognita.

EDMUND ST. an Anglo-Saxon king,
who in 870 fell a victim to the Danes, by
whom England was invaded. He was ta-
ken prisoner, scourged, bound to a tree,
then killed by arrows ; wherefore he, like
St. Sebastian, is represented as tied to a
tree, with an arrow in his breast, but
bearing a crown. The sword, which is
also one of his attributes, refers to th$
legend, that he was afterwards beheaded.
As St. Edmund does not always^vcar the
insignia of royalty, his picture is often
mistaken for that of St. Sebastian; but
the beard on the upper lip, denoting
military rank, is the attribute solely of
the latter.

EDWARD, THE CONFESSOR, an Eng-
lish king, who died A.D. 1066, is repre-
sented in royal garments, and with the
symbols of Justice, a Mace, and also his
Book of Laws. He sometimes bears a
sick person, whom he is said to have
healed by carrying him into a church.

EDWARD, THE MARTYR, a king of
England. He was stabbed at the insti-
gation of his stepmother, while in the act
of drinking, A.D. 978. His attributes are,
a goblet, a dagger, and the insignia of
royalty.

EFFECT', the consequence of a cause,
sometimes simple and visible, sometimes
complicated and invisible, but always
simultaneous with the cause. Effect,
the impression produced upon the mind
at the sight of a picture, or other work
of Art, at the first glance, Before the de-
tails are examined. Thus, some bold
outlines indicating the principal forms,
with the masses of light and shade prop-
erly thrown in and the local colors put

on, are sufficient to produce a picture
which at the first view may appear
strikingly brilliant and true, although
many of the details proper to the subject
are omitted, or the drawing not strictly
correct, or the coloring deficient in har-
mony. Such is the state in which most
good sketches or designs are made, by
which the ultimate effect of the work
when most carefully executed is judged.
Effect is also the result of all the pecu-
liar excellencies of the true master ; the
ensemble, which is brilliant and striking,
as in the works of Rubens. The word
effects signify personal or movable goods.

EFFEC'TIVE, in military language,
an epithet for a body of men that are fit
for service ; as 20,000 effective men.

EFFEMINACY, that softness, deli-
cacy, and weakness, which are character-
istic of the female sex, but which in men
are considered a reproach.

EFFEN'DI, a Turkish word signifying
lord or superior ; applied to legal, eccle-
siastical, or other civil functionaries, in
contradistinction to aga, the name by
which high military personages are desig-
nated.

EFFI'CIENT, producing the effect in-
tended. The efficient cause is that which
produces ; the final cause is that for
which it is produced.

EFFIGY, the literal representation or
image of a person. Although the word
is sometimes applied to a portrait, it is
not synonymous with it, but conveys an
idea of a more exact imitation, a more
striking and authentic resemblance, as
we meet with in -wax-figures. The ordi-
nary application of the word is to the
sculptured figures on sepulchral monu-
ments, and to the heads of monarchs, &c.,
on coins and medals.

EFFLTJ VIA, the small particles per-
petually flowing out of mixed bodies in
the form of vapors, which are sometimes
visible, as in the case of smoke or steam ;
and sometimes not perceptible, as the
noxious exhalations from putrefying an-
imal or vegetable substances. Malig-
nant effluvia are assigned, by physicians,
as the cause of the plague and other con-
tagious diseases.

EGYPTIAN-BLUE, a brilliant pig-
ment, which upon analysis is found to
consist of the hydrated protoxide of cop-
per, mixed with a minute quantity of
iron. It was long supposed that this fine
blue was an ore of cobalt.

EISTEDD'FOD, the assemblies or ses-
sions of the Welsh jrird? were so termed.
They were held alTOifferent places for

AND THE FINE ARTS.

189

the minstrels of their respective neigh-
borhoods ; at Caerwys, at Aberfraw in
Anglesea, and Mathravel in Powys. The
judges were appointed by commissions
from the Welsh princes, and after the
Conquest from the English kings. The
last was issued in 1568. But the Gwyn-
nedigion and Cambrian Societies have
lately revived the old custom ; and annu-
al meetings for the recitation of prize
poems, and for performances on the harp,
are now held under the name of Eistedd-
fod.

EJECT'MENT, in law, a writ or ac-
tion which lies for the recovery of pos-
session of land from which the owner
has been ejected, and for trial of title.
Ejectment may be brought by the lessor
against the lessee for rent in arrear, or
for holding over his term ; also by the
lessee for years, who has been ejected be-
fore the expiration of his term.

ELAB'ORATE, an epithet expressive
of great care, diligence, &c., used in the
execution of any performance.

EL'DER, a person advanced in life,
and who, on account of his age and ex-
perience, is selected to fill some impor-
tant office. In Jewish history, the elders
were persons the most considerable for
age, experience, and wisdom. Of this
sort were the seventy men whom Moses
associated to himself in the government
of his people ; such also were those who
afterwards held the first rank in the syn-
agogue, as presidents. In the first Chris-
tian churches, elders were persons who
enjoyed offices or ecclesiastical functions,
and the word includes apostles, pastors,
presbyters, bishops, or overseers ; hence
the first councils of the Christians were
called presbyteria, or councils of elders. In
the modern presbyterian churches, elders
are officers, who, with the ministers and
deacons, compose the sessions of the kirk,
and have authority to inspect and regu-
late matters of religion and discipline.

EL DORA'DO, the name given by the
Spaniards to an imaginary country, sup-
posed in the 16th century to be situated
in the interior of South America, between
the rivers Oronooo and Amazon, and, as
the name implied, abounding in gold and
all manner of precious stones. After the
Spanish conquest of Mexico and Peru,
the most exaggerated accounts of the
wealth and riches of the newly acquired
territory were circulated and believed.
A new region was fabled to exist far
surpassing the wealth and splendor of
Peru ; expeditions were fitted out for the
purpose of discovering it ; and though

all such attempts proved abortive, the
rumors of its existence continued to be
believed down to the beginning of last
century. The term then passed into the
language of poetry, in which it was used
to express a land of boundless wealth and
felicity, like the ancient Elysium or the
Mohammedan Paradise ; until the recent
discoveries in California gave that coun-
try a fresh claim to the appellation.

ELEAT'IC PHILOS'OPHY, a system
owing its origin to Xenophanes, a native
of Elea (in Latin Velia,) who lived about
the year B.C. 530. The most celebrated
of his followers were Parmenides and
Zeno, also natives of Elea. The dialectical
character of the principal systems of an-
tiquity may be said to owe its existence
to the Eleatics. The tendency of their
speculations was the direct contrary of
that which distinguishes the Ionic school.
While the latter fixed their attention on
outward nature, and strove to discover
the laws which regulate its progress,
Xenophanes and his disciples confined
their thoughts to what they conceived to
be the only objects of real knowledge
the ideas of God, or Being as it is in it-
self. The world of succession and change,
which they designated under the title of
that which becomes (TO j-ij-i/d^fi")!',) they
held to be utterly vain and illusory ; the
very conception of change itself seeming
to them to involve a contradiction. Time,
space and motion they regarded as mere
phantasms, generated by the deceiving
senses, and incapable of scientific expla-
nation. They were consequently led to
distinguish between the pure reason, the
correlative of Being, and in one sense
identical with it, and opinion or common
understanding, the faculty which judges
according to the impressions of sense.
Parmenides, in particular, was the author
of a philosophical epic, the two books of
which treated respectively of these two
modes of thinking. For a full account
of all that can be gathered from remain-
ing fragments of this rigid system of ra-
tionalism, the reader must consult the
German writers on the subject : in par-
ticular Brandis and Ritter, in their his-
tories of philosophy. Frequent allusion
is made both by Plato and Aristotle to
the Eleatic doctrines, the authors of which
are mentioned by both those philosophers
in termsof evident respect and veneration.
Plato has ma4e their system the subject
of a whole dialogue, entitled the Par-
menides ; perhaps the most striking spe-
cimen of dialectic subtlety which Grecian
philosophy affords.

190

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ELE

ELECT', in theology, among Calvin-
ists, a term for those whom they believe
God has chosen, or predestinated to be
saved. Elect, in matters of polity, sig-
nifies chosen, but not inaugurated. Thus
the President of the United States, before
his predecessor's term of office has ex-
pired, is called the President elect.

ELECTION, the act of choosing a per-
son to fill an office or employment, by
any manifestation of preference ; and is
applicable to the choice of members of
the legislature, which takes place within
every seven years ; to the choice of
parish officers, annually ; and to the ad-
mission of members into societies. Some-
times it is practised by show of hands ;
sometimes by ballot, and at others, by
every elector giving his vote separately,
with an oath in regard to his right and
integrity. Election is also the state of
a person who is left to his own free will,
to take or do one thing or another, which
he pleases. Election, in theology, divine
choice, by which persons, according to
the Calvinistic - creed, are distinguished
as objects for salvation by the special
grace of God, without reference to their
good or bad deeds.

ELEC'TIVE GOVERNMENTS are
those in which all functionaries, from the
highest to the lowest, are chosen by the
suffrages of a greater or less number of
citizens. Of these the government of
Athens in antiquity, and in modern times
that of the United States, will serve as
examples. When the functionaries of an
elective government are chosen by a very
great number, it is identical with a de-
mocracy ; and when by a comparatively
small number, either with an aristocracy
or an oligarchy.

ELEC'TOR, in law, any one who has
the right of giving his vote at an election,
particularly at an election of a member
of parliament. Elector, in political his-
tory, the title of such German princes as
formerly had a voice in the election of
the emperor of Germany.

ELEC'TORATE, the dignity or ter-
ritory of an elector in the German em-
pire.

ELEC'TROTYPE, the process by which
works in relief are produced by the agen-
cy of electricity through which certain
metals, such as gold, silver, and copper,
are precipitated from their solutions upon
moulds in so fine a state o^ division as to
form a coherent mass of pure metal, equal
in toughness and flexibility to the ham-
mered metals. The applications of this
beautiful Art appear almost unlimited,

and as a means of reproducing fac-similes
of art it is most invaluable.

ELEC'TRUM, the term is applied in
ancient art to amber, and to a compound
of gold and silver, which resembled am-
ber in color, and was employed for simi-
lar purposes to those metals.

ELEEMOS'YNARY, an epithet for
whatever pertains to the use and manage-
ment of charitable donations, whether in-
tended for the relief of the poor or sick,
or appropriated to education. A hospital
founded by charity is an eleemosynary
institution for the sick ; a college founded
by donation is also eleemosynary ; and so
is the corporation which is entrusted with
the care of such institutions.

EL'EGANCE, in a general sense, is
that which pleases by its symmetry, pu-
rity', or beauty ; and is select, as distin-
guished from what is common. In litera-
ture, elegance of composition consists in
well-chosen words and phrases, arranged
in an appropriate and happy manner. It
implies neatness, purity, and perspicuous
arrangement ; a style calculated to please
a delicate taste, rather than to excite ad-
miration or strong feeling. In speaking,
it includes propriety of diction and rich
expressions with gracefulness of action.
In painting, it implies a certain manner
which embellishes and heightens objects ;
as in Corregio, where, notwithstanding all
the defects as to justness of design, there
is an elegance even in the manner of the
design itself, as well as in the turn of the
attitudes, &c. In architecture, elegance
consists in the due symmetry and distri-
bution of the parts of an edifice, or in reg-
ular proportions and arrangement. It is
also applied to various works of art or
nature remarkable for their beauty of
form, &c.

ELE'GIT. in law, a writ of execution,
which lies for a person who has recovered
debt or damages ; or upon a recognizance
in any court, against a defendant that is
not able in his goods to satisfy his credi-
tors.

EL'EGY, a mournful and plaintive
kind of poem. The principal writers of
elegiac verse among the Latins, were
Propertius, Ovid, and Tibullus ; the chief
writers of elegy among the Greeks, were
Callimachus, Parthenius, and Euphorion.
The form of verse in which it was composed
was the alternate hexameter and pentame-
ter. In modern times almost all the nations
of Europe have practised this species of
composition ; but if we except the elegies
of Hammond, Milton's Lycidas, and
Gray's Elegy among the English, and

ELG]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

191

Matthisson's Elegie among the Germans,
it does not appear with great success. The
noble poem of Tennyson, entitled In Me-
moriam, has, however, recently been
placed in the highest rank of this species
of compositions by the unanimous ver-
dict of the most enlightened critics.

EL'EMENT, in physiology, a term
used to denote the original component
parts of bodies, or those into which they
are ultimately resolvable. In the an-
cient and still popular sense of the word,
the elements are understood to be four in
number ; namely, fire, air, earth, and
water ; but by the researches of modern
science it is fully demonstrated that earth
is a compound of many earths ; air, a
compound of at least two gases ; water, a
compound of hydrogen and oxygen ; and
fire, only the extrication of light and heat
during combustion. Modern chemistry
has, in fact, determined that an element
is merely the last result of chemical anal-
ysis, or that which cannot be decomposed
by any means now employed. Elements,
in a figurative sense, is used for the prin-
ciple's and foundations of any art or sci-
ence, as " Euclid's Elements," <fcc. Ele-
ments, in divinity, the bread and wine
prepared for the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper.

ELEMEN'TARY, an epithet expres-
sive of that which is uncompounded, or
having only one principle or constituent
part. It also denotes rudimental, or in-
itiatory ; as, an elementary treatise.

ELEN'CHUS, in logic, a sophism, or
fallacious argument, which deceives the
hearer under the appearance of truth.

ELEPHAN'TINE, in Roman anti-
quity, an appellation given to the books
wherein were registered the transactions
of the senate and magistrates of Rome,
of the emperors or generals of armies,
and even of the provincial magistrates,
the births and classes of the people, and
other things relating to -the census. They
were so called, perhaps, as being made
of ivory.

ELEUSIN'IA, in Grecian antiquity, a
solemn and mysterious festival in honor
of Ceres, kept every fourth year by the
Celeans and Philiasians, and every fifth
year by the Athenians, Lacedemonians.
Parrhasians and Cretans, at Eleusis, a
borough of Attica. It was transferred
from thence to Rome by the emperor
Adrian. The Eleusinia was the most
celebrated and mysterious solemnity of
any in Greece, and often called by way
of eminence mysteria. The mysteries
Mrere of two kinds, the greater and the

less ; the less were preparatory to the
greater. They consisted of a solemn rep-
resentation of what was supposed to pass in
the regions of Elysium and Tartarus ;
and their chief design was, by sensible
means, to spread among the people a
conviction of the immortality of the soul,
and of a future state ofrewards and pun-
ishments. To reveal the secrets of the
Eleusinian mysteries was looked upon as
a crime that would not fail to draw down
the vengeance of heaven. The person
who presided at these rites was called
Hierophantes, or the revealer of holy
truths.

ELEUTHE'RIA, in Grecian antiquity,
a festival celebrated at Plataea, in mem-
ory of the defeat of Mardonius, the gen-
eral of Xerxes : and in honor of those
who gallantly sacrificed their lives for
tho liberty of their country. It was held
every fifth year, when prizes were con-
tended for.

ELEVA'TION, in its primary sense,
denotes exaltation ; the act of raising
from a lower place to a higher; or,
figuratively, the act of exalting in rank ;
as, the elevation of a man to a throne.
In architecture, an orthographic or up-
right draught of a building. Elevation
of the Host, in the Romish church, that
part of the ceremony of the mass which
consists in the priest's raising the host
above his head for the people to adore.

ELF'- ARROWS, a name given to flints
in the shape of arrow-heads, vulgarly
supposed to be shot by fairies. They are
frequently met with in Great Britain,
and there is reason to believe they were
weapons of offence among the ancient
Britons.

ELFS, or FAIRIES, imaginary be-
ings, honored more particularly by the
northern nations, in whose mythology
they occupy a prominent place. They
were divided into two classes the good
and the bad; and their exploits have
given rise to a multiplicity of delightful
stories.

EL'GIN MAR'BLES, a collection of
splendid basso-relievos and fragments of
statuary, which were brought from the
Parthenon from Athens to England, in
1814, by Lord Elgin, (hence the name.)
They are now in the British Museum,
having been purchased by the government
for .35,000. They are unquestionably
some of the finest remains of ancient Art,
and offer the richest field for study. They
consist chiefly of the Metopes, represent
ing for the most part the combats of the
Centaurs and Lapithae ; a portion of the

192

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[KI.O

frieze of the cella, representing the Pan-
athenaic procession ; and the statues or
fragments of them, which ornamented the
tympunu of the pediments of the Parthe-
non or temple of Minerva at Athens. The
superiority of the Elgin Marbles to all
others, consists in this, that they represent
the human fram^draped and undraped,
massive, and beyond the natural size, in
nearly every attitude, without the artist
having in a single instance degenerated
into coarseness, mannerism, or been for-
getful of absolute truth beauty ever
kept in view.

ELI'SHA, this prophet is represented
with a two-headed eagle over his head,
or upon his shoulder ; referring to his
petition to Elijah for a double portion
of his spirit. The subjects usually chosen
in works of Art in which Elisha appears,
are that of the Bears destroying the
Children ; Elisha seizing Elijah's man-
tle ; his Raising the Child ; his Interview
with the King's messenger; and his Caus-
ing the Axe to Swiin.

ELI'SION, in grammar, the cutting
off or suppressing a vowel at the end of a
word for the sake of sound or measure,
when the next word begins with a vowel ;
as, tli' ensanguined field.

ELIZABETH AN ARCHITECTURE,
a name given to the impure architect-

Elizabethan Window, Rushton Hall, cir. 1590.

ure of the times of Elizabeth and James
I., when the worst forms of Gothic and

debased Italian were jumbled together,
producing a singular and absurd hetero-
geneousness in detail with wonderful pic-
turesqueness in general efl'ect. Its chief
characteristics are deeply embayed win
dows, and galleries of great length.

ELIZ'ABETH, the position which the
mother of John, the precursor of the Sav-
iour, occupies in Christian Art, is of im-
portance only in relation to the Visita-
tion of the Virgin. She is found in many
pictures of the Holy Family, but, like
Anne, is inferior to the mother of the
Messiah. The pictures of the Visitation
are almost innumerable ; they consist of
the two women Elizabeth, who is rep-
resented as old, and Mary, as youthful,
each praising God.

ELLIP'SIS, in grammar, a figure of
syntax, by which one or more words are
omitted, which the reader may supply ;
as, the horse I rode, for the horse which
I rode. In rhetoric, a figure of speech
whereby the rator, through excessive
emotion, passes over many things, which,
had he been cool, ought to have been
mentioned.

ELOCU'TION, in rhetoric, consists of
elegance, composition, and dignity : the
first comprehends the purity and perspi-
cuity of a language, and is the founda-
tion of elocution ; the second ranges the
words in proper order ; and the last adds
the ornaments of tropes and figures, to
give strength and dignity to the whole.
To which may be added, that there
should be a certain musical cadence or
intonation, to render it pleasing to the
ear.

E'LOGE, a term applied in France to
the panegyrical orations pronounced in
honor of illustrious deceased persons, and
particularly of members of the Royal
and other academies. Formerly the
secretaries of the various French literary
institutions used to compose and pro-
nounce the eloge ; but this duty is now
performed by the new member elected in
the room of the deceased. This practice
is no doubt open to censure ; but it has
been the means of giving to the world
many interesting biographical sketches,
which would never otherwise have ap-
peared. Eloge is also applied to any
species of biographical writing in which
praise predominates over censure, and
has been much cultivated by French and
Italian authors.

ELOPE'MENT, in law, the voluntary
departure of a wife from her husband to
go and live with another man. In com-
mon acceptation, the secret departure of

ELO]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

193

any female with her lover, either to be
married or to live together illicitly.

EL'OQUENCE, the art of clothing
the thoughts in the most suitable ex-
pressions, in order to produce conviction
or persuasion. In its primary significa-
tion, eloquence had reference to public
speaking alone ; but as most of the rules
for pablio speaking are applicable equal-
ly to writing, an extension of the term
naturally took place ; and we find even
Aristotle, the earliest systematic writer
on the subject whose works have come
down to us, including in his treatise rules
for such compositions as were not intend-
ed for public recitation. A still wider
extension of the term was contended for
by the ancient rhetoricians, who included
under it all kinds of literary productions
(such as treatises on law, logic, &c.,) and
whatever might be necessary to illustrate
and explain them. The invention of elo-
quence was ascribed by the Egyptians and
the fables of the poets to the god Mercu-
ry ; but no certain account can be given
when or by whom this art first began to
be cultivated. If we may judge from the
eulogiums which Homer pronounced upon
Ulysses and Nestor for their attainments
in eloquence, it must have been very
early in high esteem among the Greeks.
But though, from time to time, there
arose in Greece many distinguished wri-
ters upon eloquence, it does not appear
that the practice of the art was combined
with the theory for public purposes till
the time of Pisistratus, who owed to his
rhetorical acquirements his elevation to
the throne. Passing from Pericles, (the
next in order to Pisistratus,) who was
distinguished at once as a general, a
statesman, and an orator, we find many
eminent names during the Peloponnesian
war immortalized for their eloquence by
the pen of Thucydides. In the succeed-
ing age arose the school of rhetoricians,
or sophists, as they are called, who en-
deavored to graft upon eloquence the
subtleties of logic ; and among the earli-
est and most eminent of this school were
Gorgias, Isocrates, and Isaeus, of whose
publicly delivered orations there are still
ten extant It was in this age that Gre-
cian eloquence attained its highest per-
fection by the genius of Demosthenes, to
whom the palm has been conceded by the
unanimous consent of ancient and modern
times. Of all human productions, the
orations of Demosthenes present to us the
models which approach the nearest to
perfection. After this period, Grecian
eloquence declined rapidly ; and though
13

in the following ages there flourished
among others Herrnagoras, Athenfeus,
Apollonius, Cascilius, and Dionysius,
their names have been almost without
exception rescued from oblivion by a
work which may be regarded as the last
expiring ray of Grecian eloquence the
incomparable treatise of Longinus on the
Sublime. In consequence of the all-ab-
sorbing spirit for military glory with
which the ancient Romans were anima-
ted, it was long before they found leisure
to appreciate the advantages of elo-
quence ; and even so late as the year of
the city 592, when, by the industry of
some Greeks, the liberal arts began to
flourish at Rome, the senate passed a de-
cree banishing all rhetoricians from the
country. But a few years afterwards,
when Carneades. Critolaus, and Diogenes
were sent as ambassadors from Athens to
Rome, the Roman youth were so charmed
with the eloquence of their harangues,
that the study of oratory formed thence-
forth a branch of a liberal education.
Men of the highest rank were now seen
teaching and learning respectively the
art of eloquence ; and such was the im-
petus given to this study, that it made
the most rapid advances, and was at last
crowned by the appearance of Cicero, to
whom critics have concurred in assigning
a rank inferior only to that of Demos-
thenes. The mighty scale on which
everything was conducted at Rome, and
the enormous interests so frequently at
stake, were never so wonderfully exhibi-
ted as in the age of Cicero ; and the un-
paralleled exigency found or created in
him a talent for profiting by its advanta-
ges or coping with its difficulties. In
the succeeding ages of the Roman em-
pire, the despotic character of the gov-
ernment checked the growth of the rhe-
torical art ; but the names of Tacitus,
Quintilian, and Pliny are an earnest of
what might have been achieved in this
arena, had circumstances permitted the
development of their talents. With re-
gard to the early history of eloquence in
England, there are found, indeed, the
names of several distinguished men who
in former times directed the resolutions
of parliament ; but no pains were taken
to preserve their speeches ; and the au-
thority which they possessed seems to
have been owing to their experience,
wisdom, or power, more than to their
talents for oratory. It was not until the
close of the last century that an era
arose in the history of British eloquence,
which the genius of Chatham, Pitt,

194

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

EMB

Burke, Fox, and Sheridan has consecra-
ted and immortalized. The little oppor-
tunity afforded for a display of forensic
or senatorial eloquence by the different
governments of Germany has almost en-
tirely checked its growth in that country ;
and the same remark is applicable to
Italy, Spain, and Portugal ; all of which,
however, have been rich in the eloquence
of the pulpit. The only two countries in
tie world whose orators can be put in
competition with those of Britain, are
France and America. To the pulpit ora-
tory of the former, the illustrious names
of Bossuet, Bourdaloue, and Massillon
have given enduring celebrity ; while
the popular character of their respective
institutions has formed a host of forensic
and senatorial speakers worthy a prom-
inent place among the orators of antiqui-
ty, and modern times.

E'LUL, the name of a Jewish month,
answering to part of August.

ELYS'IUM, or ELYS'IAN FIELDS,
in heathen mythology, the supposed resi-
dence of the blessed after death. The
poets describe this region as consisting of
beautiful meadows alternated with pleas-
ant groves ; where a serene and cloud-
less sky was spread over them, and a
soft, celestial light shed a magical bril-
liancy over every object. The heroes there
renewed their favorite sports ; danced to
the sound of the lyre from which Orpheus
drew the most enchanting tones, or wan-
dered through the most odoriferous
groves, where the warbling birds carolled
forth their harmony by the side of re-
freshing fountains. There the earth
teemed with plenteous fruits, and the
verdure of spring was perpetual ; while
all cares, pains, and infirmities, were ex-
changed for the purest bliss.

EMANCIPATION, by the ancient
Roman law, the son stood in the relation
of a slave to the father. By a fiction of
that law, the son might be freed from
this relation by being three times sold
by the father. Hence the enfranchise-
ment of the son derived from this cere-
mony the name of emancipation. In
course of time, various modes of emanci-
pation, both tacit and express, became
recognized by the Roman jurisprudence.
The word, in countries following that
law, signifies the exemption of the son
from the power of the father, either by
express act, or by implication of law. By
the present civil law of France, majority
(and with it emancipation) is attained at
21 years of age; and the marriage of a
minor emancipates him. In ordinary

language, emancipation is used in a gen-
eral sense to signify the enfranchisement
of a slave, or the admission of particular
classes to the enjoyment of civil rights.

EMBALM'ING, the opening a dead
body, taking out the intestines, and fill-
ing the place with odoriferous and desic-
cative drugs and spices, to prevent its
putrefaction. The Egyptians have al-
ways been celebrated for their adherence
to this practice, and the skill with which
they performed it. AVith some variation,
it is still one of the peculiar customs of
that nation. It appears to have been a
metaphysical notion, inculcated as of
their religion, that the soul continued
with the body. There naturally followed
an affectionate desire to do everything
that living creatures can suppose accept-
able to the dead. They were even de-
sirous of having the dead bodies of their
parents in their houses, and at their
tables, and believed, as has been suggest-
ed, that their souls were present also;
and it was essential to this gratification
that those bodies should be preserved in
the most perfect manner possible: Mod-
ern chemistry has made us acquainted with
many means of counteracting putrefac-
tion, more simple and more effectual than
the laborious processes of the ancients.

EMBAR'GO, in commerce, a prohibi-
tion of sailing, issued by authority on all
shipping, either out of port, or into port.
It is generally to restrain ships from
leaving a port.

EM'BASSY, the public function or
employment of a public minister, whether
ambassador or envoy.

EM'BER DAYS, in the Romish cal-
endar, are certain fasts appointed by
Pope Calixtus for imploring the blessing
of the Almighty on the fruits of the
eartfi, and upon the ordinations per-
formed in the church at these times.
They occur four times a year, or once in
each of the four seasons ; being the Wed-
nesday, Friday, and Saturday after the
first Sunday in Lent, after the feast of
Pentecost or Whitsunday, after the fes-
tival of Holy Cross on the 14th of Sep-
tember, and after the festival of St. Lu-
cia on the 13th of December. The weeks
in which the ember days fall are called
ember weeks. The word embers signifies
ashes, which the primitive Christiana
strewed on their heads at these solemn
fasts.

EMBEZ'ZLEMENT, the act of fraudu-
lently appropriating a thing to one's own
use, which has been intrusted to one's
care and management.

KMB]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

195

E M'BLEM, this word is used frequently
as a synonym with Attribute, Symbol,
Image, and Allegorical Figure. So in-
discriminately are these terms employed,
that it becomes a task of great difficulty
to point out their special application,
and it must be admitted that the shades
of difference are so light, that it would be
most convenient to regard them all under
the general term Symbol. Thus the
sceptre is the attribute of royalty, and
the emblem or symbol of power. The
Paschal Lamb of the Jews figures the
Lamb without stain, which has expiated
the sins of the world; but as Jesus
Christ has been depicted under this em-
blem in the New Testament, this emblem
becomes a symbol. And to remove all
uncertainty in depicting this symbol in
Christian Art, we give to the Lamb a
nimbus upon which is figured a cross ; or
the Cross of the Resurrection, or simply
place a cross above its head ; these are
the attributes which distinguish it from
other figures of a lamb, which are neither
emblems nor symbols.. An emblem is a
symbolical figure or composition which
conceals a moral or historical allegory ;
when accompanied with some sententious
phrase which determines its meaning, it
has the same relation as device.

EMBLEMA'TA, the figures with which
the ancients decorated the golden, silver,
and even copper vessels, and which could
be taken off at pleasure. These belong
to toreutic art, and were generally exe-
cuted in the precious metals, but some-
times carved in amber. The Romans
had the Greek term emblemata, but ap-
plied the word crustae to the ornaments
mentioned above. The Greek term is
handed down to us in our word emblem,
a sign or symbol.

EM'BLEMENTS, in law, a word used
for the produce of land sown or planted
by a tenant for life or years, whose estate
is determined suddenly after the land is
sown or planted, and before a harvest.

EMBONPOINT, (French,) a moder-
ate and agreeable fulness of figure.

EMBOSSING, the forming or fashion-
ing works in relievo, whether by raising,
by carving, or by depression. It is, in
short, a kind of sculpture, where the
figures project from the plane whereon it
is cut ; and according as the figures are
more or less prominent, they are said to
be in alto mezzo, or basso relievo. Em-
bossing wood, as in picture frames and
other articles . of ornamented cabinet
work, is either produced by means of
carving, or by casting the pattern in

plaster of Paris, or other composition,
and cementing it on the surface of the
wood. Embossing cloth. Cotton, woollen
cloth, silk, paper, and other fabrics, are
embossed by the powerful pressure of re-
volving cylinders on which the required
patterns are engraved.

EMBOUCHURE', signifies a mouth of
a river ; it is used also for the mouth-
piece of a musical instrument.

EMBRA'CERY, in law, the offence of
endeavoring to corrupt or influence a
jury; punishable by fine and imprison-
ment.

EMBRA'SURE, in architecture, the
enlargement made of the aperture of a
door or window, on the inside of the wall.
In fortification, a hole or aperture -in
a parapet, through which cannon are
pointed and discharged.

EMBROI'DERY, the name given to
the art of working figures on stuffs or
muslins with a needle and thread. All
embroidery may be divided into two
sorts, embroidery on stuff's and on mus-
lin : the former is used chiefly in church
vestments, housings, standards, articles
of furniture, &c., and is executed with
silk, cotton, wool, gold and silver threads,
and sometimes ornamented with span-
gles, real or mock pearls, precious or im-
itation stones, <fcc. ; the latter is employed
mostly in articles of female apj^rel, as
caps, collars, &c. ; and is performed only
with cotton. The art of embroidery was
well known to the ancients. As early as
the time of Moses we find it practised
successfully by the Hebrews ; and long
before the Trojan war the women of Si-
don had acquired celebrity for their skill
in embroidery. At a later period, this
art was introduced into Greece, probably
by the Phrygians, (by some considered as
the inventors ;) and to such a degree of
skill did the Grecian women attain in it,
that their performances were said to ri-
val the finest paintings. In our own
times the art of embroidery has been
cultivated with great success, more espe-
cially in Germany and France ; and
though for a long period it was practised
only by the ladies of these countries as
an elegant accomplishment, it is now re-
garded as a staple of traffic, and fur-
nishes employment for a large portion
of the population. In England also it
appears to have taken deep root, as it
now forms an accomplishment of which
almost every lady is in possession. A
great impetus has been given to the cul-
tivation of this art, both on the Conti-
nent and in England, by the invention of

196

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[KMP

a machine which enables a female to ex-
ecute the most complex patterns with
130 needles, all in motion at once, as ac-
curately as she could formerly do with one.

EMENDATION, an alteration made
in the text of any book by verbal criti-
cism. In law, the correction of abuses.

EM'ERALD, a well-known gem of a
beautiful green color, somewhat harder
than quartz, which occurs in prisms with
a regular hexagonal base, and ranks next
in value to the oriental ruby and sap-
phire. It becomes electric by friction, is
often transparent, sometimes only trans-
lucent, and before the blow-pipe is fusi-
ble into a whitish enamel, or glass. The
most intensely colored and valuable em-
eralds are brought from Peru.

EME'RITI, the name given to the sol-
diers and other public functionaries of
ancient Rome, who had retired from their
country's service. On these occasions the
parties were entitled to some renumera-
tion, resembling half-pay in the English
service ; but whether it was a grant of
land or of money has not been accurately
ascertained.

EMIGRA'TION, migration is the
movement of an individual or a number
of people from one place of i - esidenee to
another ; emigration, their abandonment
of their former home ; immigration, (a
word o^ modern coinage,) their settle-
ment in their new one. Emigration is,
in modern times, chiefly regarded in the
light of a mode of relieving a country or
district laboring under excess of popula-
tion. Emigration from Europe has for
two centuries been chiefly directed to the
United States. Of late years, the Cape
of Good Hope and Australia have begun
to absorb a small portion of the surplus
population of Great Britain.

EM'INENCE, an honorary title given
to cardinals. They were called Ulustris-
simi and r ever end issimi, until the pon-
tificate of Urban VIII.

E'MIR, a title of dignity among the
Saracens and Turks. It was at first giv-
en to the caliphs, but when they assumed
the title of Sultan, that of Emir remain-
ed to their children.

EM'ISSARY, a secret agent sent to as-
certain the sentiments and designs of an-
other, and to propagate opinions favora-
ble to his employer.

EMO'TION, in a philosophical sense,
an internal motion or agitation of the
mind which passes away without desire.
When desire follows, the motion or agita-
tion becomes a passion.

EMPAIS'TIC. inlaid work, resembling

the modern Buhl, Marquetry; next to
Toreutic art, (with which it must not be
confounded,) that branch most practised
by the ancients. It consisted in laying
threads, or knocking pieces of different
metals into another metal.

EM'PEROR, was originally merely the
title of a Roman general ; but, on the fall
of the republic it was particularly ap-
plied to the head of the state. The au-
thority of the Roman emperors was form-
ed principally by the combination of the
chief offices of the old republic in a single
person ; besides which, some extraordi-
nary powers were conferred. Thus, Oc-
tavius held the titles of emperor, procon-
sul, and tribune, pontifex maxim us or high
priest ; and was invested with perpetual
consular authority, and also that of the
censorship. Besides this, he was termed
prince of the senate, and Augustus, which
designation descended to his successors ;
but he was much more moderate in his
use of titular dignities than his successors,
contenting himself with substantial pow-
er. The provinces of the empire were
divided between the senate and emperor,
who appointed their governors, distin-
guished by the respective titles of procon-
sul and proprajtor ; but this division
threw all the armies into the hands of the
latter, as he took for his share the fron-
tier provinces. The emperors appointed
their own successors, who were dignified
with the title of Caesar, and in later times
enjoyed a share in the government. Dio-
clesian first divided the care of the em-
pire with a second Augustus in the per-
son of Maxitnian, and each of these col-
leagues associated with himself a Caesar.
After the court was removed to Constan-
tinople, the old titles and forms of the re-
public vanished by degrees, and the em-
perors assumed the style of oriental
princes. Charlemagne assumed the title
of emperor after his coronation at Rome ;
and from his time this title (in German
kaiser) was claimed exclusively, in west-
ern Europe, by the rulers of Germany.
On the dissolution of the German empire
in 1805, the title passed to the emperor
of Austria, and, in the same year, Napo-
leon assumed it in France ; the czars of
Russia claimed it in the reign of Alex-
ander.

EM'PHASIS, in rhetoric, a particular
stress of utterance, or force of the voice
and action, given to such parts or words
of an oration, as the speaker intends to-
impress specially upon his audience.

E.M'PIRE, originally the territory or
extent of land under the command and

ENA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

197

jurisdiction of an emperor. The domin-
ions under the sway of ancient Rome were
the first to which the term empire was
applied : they consisted of two grand di-
visions, the Empire of the East, or, as
it was afterwards called, the Lower Em-
pire ; and the Empire of the West. The
former admitted of various subdivisions
in reference to the different dynasties to
which it was subject ; and the latter be-
came, about the end of the 9th century,
the German or Holy Roman Empire. In
all these cases the sovereign or chief per-
son in the empire was named the empe-
ror. But the term empire has in several
instances been employed to designate a
large extent of dominion, without refer-
ence to the title of the ruler or sovereign
of a country ; thus we hear of the empire
of Persia, Hindostan, &c. The dominions
of the Queen of England are invariably
designated the British Empire ; and the
epithet " imperial" is officially prefixed
to the parliament of the united kingdom.
The term empire was applied from 1804
to 1814 to the dominions of France, in-
cluding all the countries then incorpora-
ted with it by the conquests of Napo-
leon.

EMPIR'IC, one whose knowledge is
founded on experience. The empiric
school of medicine was opposed to the
dogmatic ; it appears to have originated
with Serapion of Alexandria. The em-
pirics considered the foundation of medi-
cal science to rest upon experience, de-
rived either directly from experiment or
from chance and imitation. They were,
however, a pretending, and generally ig-
norant sect ; so that the term empiric
is generally applied to quacks and pre-
tenders, without reference to its strict
etymology, which should have limited it
to the sfudy of medicine, 'in accordance
with the principles, of Lord Bacon's philos-
ophy.

EMPO'RTUM, a common resort of
merchants for trade ; particularly a city
or town of extensive commerce, or in
which the commerce of an extensive coun-
try centres, or to which sellers and buy-
ers resort from different countries.

EMPYRE'UM, or EMPYRE'AN, a
term used by dtvines for the highest hea-
ven, where the blessed enjoy the beatific
vision. Hence we have the word empy-
real, as pertaining to that region of space
which is refined beyond aerial substance,
whore only pure fire or light is supposed
to exist.

ENAM'EL, a kind of colored glass,
principally formed by the combination of

different metallic oxydes, and used in
enamelling and painting in enamel.
Enamels have for their basis a pure
crystal-glass, or frit, ground up with a
fine calx of lead and tin, prepared for the
purpose, with the addition usually of
white salt of tartar. These ingredients
baked together, are the matter of all
enamels, and the color is varied by add-
ing other substances, and melting or in-
corporating them together in a furnace.
Enamels are distinguished into trans-
parent and opaque ; in the former all
the elements have experienced an equal
degree of liquefaction, and are thus run
into crystal glass, whilst in the others,
some of their elements have resisted the
action of heat more, so that their particles
retain sufficient aggregation to prevent
the transmission of light. They are used
either in counterfeiting or imitating pre-
cious stones, in painting in enamel, or by
enamellers, jewellers, or goldsmiths, in
gold, silver, and other metals. This art
is of so great antiquity, as to render it
difficult, if not impossible, to trace to its
origin. It was evidently practised by
the Egyptians, from the remains that
have been found on the ornamented en-
velopes 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 antiquities have been
dug up in different parts of the island,
particularly in the barrows, in which
enamels have formed portions of the orna-
ments. Painting in enamel, &c. is per-
formed on plates of gold or silver, but
more commonly of copper, enamelled
with the white enamel ; the colors are
melted in the fire, where they take a
brightness and lustre like that of glass.
This painting is prized for its peculiar
brightness and vivacity, which is very
permanent : the force of its colors not
being effaced or sullied by time, as in
other painting, and continuing always as
fresh as when it came out of the work-
man's hands. The town of Limoges, in
the south of France, has acquired a great
name in the history of the art of enamel-
ling ; it was particularly distinguished in
the twelfth century, and its productions
were called Opus de Limogia and Labor
Limogiee. Many reliquaries of that
time are still extant, the sides and slop-
ing roofs of which are composed of plates
of copper, covered with etchings and
enamel paintings. The most famous
artist in enamelling was Leonard Limou-
sin of Limoges, from whom the French

198

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

ENO

works of Art of that period were called
Limousins : other masters in this art
were Pierre Rexmon, Jean Court, called
Vigier, J. Laudin, P. Nouaillier, the
master J. P., who is known to us only by
his cipher, but whose works are excel-
lent, displaying noble ideas, and the mas-
ter P. C., who is held in high estimation.
As regards the technical part of painting,
the works of these masters rank far be-
low those produced in more recent times ;
they are rather illuminated line-draw-
ings, with a glazed transparency of color,
or monochrome paintings, the naked fig-
ures being well modelled and generally
of a reddish tint ; the ornaments in gold
and the gilded lights make the paintings
appear rich and brilliant. In the course
of the seventeenth century the technical
part of the art of enamel painting im-
proved considerably, progressing from
monochrome to that in various colors.
Towards the end of the seventeenth and
the beginning of the eighteenth centuries,
the art arrived at technical perfection,
and real pictures were produced with the
softest and most delicate gradations of
color. But the works of this period were
of very small dimensions, the paintings
being sometimes on silver, but generally
upon gold, and principally portrait me-
dallions, for which the art was now em-
ployed. Much that was excellent was
produced, but in historical representation
the artists followed the degenerate style
of the compositions of those days, so that
these works, in spite of their technical
perfection, must rank below those of the
sixteenth century.

ENAMEL PAINTING ON LAVA, a
newly-invented style of painting very
serviceable for monuments. This inven-
tion of enamelling upon stone, discovered
in France, and well known in Germany,
has produced a kind o painting having
all the advantages of color and treat-
ment, and the great recommendation of
being nearly indestructible. The material
used was discovered by Count Chabrol de
Volvic; it consists of volvic stone, and
lava from the mountains of Auvergne.
The method of painting is a new kind of
enamelling, and has been used by Abel
du Pujol and others in various works of
Art ; for example, the altar of the church
of St. Elizabeth, at Paris ; it has recently
been used in architecture by Hittorf of
Cologne, for the exterior of buildings.
In Paris there are several tablets paint-
ed with figures in the Arabesque and
Pompeiian styles, which have excited
great admiration by the ease and yet

preciseness of the treatment, as well as
by the firmness of the materials, for a
sharp piece of iron might be drawn over
them without injuring the painting.

ENC-33'NIA, in antiquity, anniversary
feasts to commemorate the completing or
consecrating any new and public work,
Ac. In modern times, this term is used
for any commemorative festival.

ENCAMP'MENT, the act of pitching
tents for the accommodation of an army
in the open country.

ENCAUS'TIC PAINTING, a peculiar
mode of painting in wax, liquefied by
fire ; by which the colors acquire consid-
erable hardness, brilliance, and durabil-
ity. Ancient authors often mention this
species of painting, but we have no an-
cient pictures of this description, and,
therefore, the precise manner formerly
adopted is not completely developed,
though many moderns have closely in-
vestigated the subject and described their
processes. As the thing chiefly regarded
in encaustic painting was the securing of
permanence and durability, by the ap-
plication of fire, the word encaustic has
been applied, in a very general sense, to
other processes, in which both the mate-
rial and the mode of applying the heat,
are entirely different from what is con-
ceived to have been the ancient materials
and modes. The moderns have 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 still seen in the win-
dows of some Gothic churches. It has
also been just as erroneously applied to
works in metal ; where gold and silver
were inlaid, melted, or laid on, and of
everything which was gilt or silvered by
fire ; which was called gold or silver en-
caustic.

ENCHANT'MENT, the use of magic
arts and spells, or the invocation of de-
mons, in order to produce wonderful or
supernatural effects.

ENCHA'SING, or CHA'SING, the art
of enriching and beautifying gold, silver,
<fec., by some design represented thereon,
in low relievo. It is performed by punch-
ing, or driving out the metal, to form the
figure, from within side, so as to stand out
prominently from the plane or surface
of the metal.

ENCHYRIDTON, a manual or small
volume.

ENCLIT'IC, in grammar, a particle
so closely united with any other word as
to seem to be part of it, as que. in vi-
rumque.

AND THE FINE ARTS.

199

ENCOMBO'MA, a portion of Greek
costume consist-
ing of a kind of
apron, fastened
loosely round the
loins by being ga-
thered into a
knot. It ^as worn
chiefly by young
maidens ; its use
appears to have
been to keep the
tunic clean. The
annexed woodcut
represents ayoung
female playing on
the double pipes,
probably an at-
tendant in the
scene of some
play.

ENCORE', a
word signifying
again ; used by
the audience at
theatres, and other places, when they
call for a repetition of a particular song.
<fcc.

EXCRATI'TES, in church history, a
sect which appeared towards the end of
the second century : they were called en-
cratites, or continentes, because they ab-
stained from marriage, and the use of
wine and animal food.

ENCROACH/MENT, in law, an un-
lawful intrusion or gaining upon the
rights and possessions of another.

ENCYCLOPE'DIA, a general system
of instruction or knowledge, embracing
the principal facts in all branches of
science and the arts, properly digested,
and arranged in alphabetical order. See
CYCLOPEDIA.

ENDEM'IC, a disease peculiar to a
certain class of persons, or to a certain
district. Thus agues or intermittent
fevers are endemic in low countries, the
goitre in the Alps, the plica Polonica in
Poland.

ENDORSING, the writing one's name
on the back of a bill of exchange or
check : by which responsibility for its
amount is incurred, if duly presented and
not paid.

ENDOWMENT, in law, the act of
giving or assuring a dower to a woman.
Also, the assigning certain rents and rev-
enues for the maintenance of a vicar,
alrnshouses, &c. The word endowment
has also a more enlarged signification,
implying any quality or faculty bestowed
on man by the Creator.

ENDRO'MIS, a cloak made of warm
coarse materials like a blanket, used to
throw over those
who were heated
by the foot race-;
or, after athletic
exercises, to pro-
tect the wearer
from the effects of
exposure to cold.
In more recent
times the name
was applied to a
luxurious garment
worn by women,
especially those of
Rome. Figures
clothed in the En-
dromis are of fre-
quent occurence in
works of Art relat-
ing to the exer-
cises of the gym-
nasium. This word
also designates the
hunting boots worn
\>y Diana, as being
peculiarly suitable for the chase, the toes
being left uncovered.

E N D Y ' M 1 N, according to some, a
huntsman, according to others, a shep-
herd, and according to a third account, a
king of Elis. He is said to have asked
of Jupiter, whom many have called his
father, eternal youth and immortality.
His beauty excited passion even in the
cold Diana, and Kence he has served in
all ages as an ideal of loveliness, and
Diana's love to him as that of the ten-
derest affection. He is most generally
conceived as sleeping in the wood, where
the mild rays of the moon kiss his slum-
bering eyes.

EN'EMY, in a political sense, any one
belonging to a nation with whom our own
country is at war. In law, it denotes an
alien or foreigner, who in a public capaci-
ty, and with a hostile intention, invades
any kingdom.

ENERGY, the internal or inherent
power, virtue, or efficacy of a thing ; as,
Danger will rouse our dormant energies,
into action ; the administration of the
laws requires energy in the magistrate.
It also signifies the momentum which
any simple or compound body exhibits,
by causes obvious or concealed.

ENER'VATE, to deprive of nerve,
force, or strength ; as, idleness and luxu-
ry enervate both body and mind.

ENFEOFF'MENT, in law, the act of
giving the fee simple of an estate.

200

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[EN a

ENFILADE', in military tactics, is
used in speaking of trenches, or other
places, which may bo seen and scoured by
the enemy's shot along the whole length
of a line.

ENFRANCHISEMENT, in law, the
incorporating a person into any society or
body politic ; to admit to the privileges
of a frecuinn.

ENGA'GED COLUMNS, in architect-
ure, columns attached to walls, by which
a portion of them is concealed ; they
never stand less than one half out from
the walls.

ENGAGE'MENT, a word used in dif-
ferent senses. Any obligation by agree-
ment or contract, is an engagement to
perform, &c. ; the conflict of armies or
fleets is an engagement ; and any occu-
pation, or employment of the attention,
is likewise called an engagement.

EN'GLISH, the language spoken by
the people of England, and their de-
scendants in India, North America, and
the British colonies. The ancient lan-
guage of Britain is generally allowed to
have been the same with that of the
Gauls ; this island, in all probability,
having been first peopled from Gallia, as
both Caesar and Tacitus prove by many
strong and conclusive arguments. Julius
Ctesar, sometime before the birth of our
Saviour, made a descent upon Britain,
though he may be said rather to have
discovered than conquered it : but, about
the year 45, in the time of Claudius,
Aulus Plautius was sent over with some
Roman forces, by whom two kings of the
Britons, Codigunus and Caractacus, were
both signally defeated : whereupon a Ro-
man colony was planted at Maiden in
Essex, and the southern parts of the
island were reduced to the form of a Ro-
man province. Britain was subsequently
conquered as far north as the friths of
Dumbarton and Edinburgh, by Agricola,
in the time of Domitian ; and a great
number of the Britons, in the conquered
part of the island retired to the western
part, called Wales, where their language
continued to be spoken without any for-
eign admixture. The greatest part of
Britain being thus become a Roman
province, the Roman legions, who resided
in Britain for above two hundred years,
undoubtedly disseminated the Latin
tongue ; and the people being afterwards
governed by laws written in Latin, it
must have necessarily followed that the
language would undergo a considerable
change. In fact, the British tongue con-
tinued, for some time, mixed with the

provincial Latin ; but at length, the de-
clining state of the Roman empire ren-
dered the aid of the Roman legions ne-
cessary at home, and on their abandoning
the island, the Scots and Picts took the
opportunity to attack and harass South
Britain i upon which, Vortigern, the king,
about trie year 440, called the Saxons to
his assistance, who coming over with
several of their neighboring tribes, re-
pulsed the Scots and Picts, and were
rewarded for their services with the isle
of Thanet, and the whole county of Kent.
Growing at length too powerful, and not
being contented with their allotment,
they dispossessed the inhabitants of all
the country on the east side of the Sev-
ern ; and thus the British language was
in a great measure destroyed, and that
of the Saxons introduced in lieu of it.
AVhat the Saxon tongue was long before
the Conquest, viz. about the year 700,
may be seen in the most ancient manu-
script of that language, which is a gloss
on the Evangelists, by bishop Eadfride,
in which the three first articles of the
Lord's prayer run thus : " Uren fader
thic arth in heofnas, sic gehalgud thin
noma, so symeth thin ric. Sic thin willa
sue is heofnas, and in eortho, <fcc." In
the beginning of the ninth century, the
Danes invaded England, and getting a
footing in the northern and eastern parts
of the country, their power gradually in-
creased, and in about two hundred years
they became its sole masters. By this
means the ancient English obtained a
tincture of the Danish language : but their
government, being of no long continu-
ance, did not make so great an alteration
in the Anglo-Saxon, as the next revolu-
tion, when the whole land, A D. 1067, was
subdued by William the Conqueror, Duke
of Normandy, in France : for the Nor-
mans, as a monument of their conquest,
endeavored to make their language as
generally received as their commands :
and thereby the English language be-
came an entire medley. About the year
900, the Lord's prayer in the ancient An-
glo-Saxon, read as follows : " Thu ure
fader the eart on heofenum, si thin nama
gehalgod ; cuine thin rice si thin willa on
eorthan swa, swa on heofnum, Ac." And,
about the year 1160, pope Adrian, an
Englishman, thus rendered it in rhyme :

" Ure fader in heaven rich,
Thy nnrne be hayled ever lich,
Thou brill;? us thy michell blisse :
Ala hit in heaven y-doe,
Evar in yearth beene it also, &c."

It continued to undergo various muta-

ENaJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

201

tions, till the year 1537, when the Lord's
prayer was thus printed : " oure father
which arte in heven, halowed be thy
name : let thy kingdome come, thy will
be fulfiled as well in erth as it is in
heven ; geve us this daye in dayly bred,
&c." Here, it may be observed, the dic-
tion is brought almost to the present
standard, the chief variations being only
in the orthography. By these instances,
and many others that might be given, it
appears, that the Anglo-Saxon Language,
which the Normans in a great measure
despoiled and rendered obsolete, had its
beauties, was significant and emphatical,
and preferable to what they substituted
for it. " Great, verily," says Camden,
"was the glory of our tongue, before the
Norman Conquest, in this, that the old
English could express, most aptly, all
the conceptions of the mind in their own
tongue, without borrowing from any."
Of this he gives several examples. After
the Conquest, it was ordained that all
law proceedings should be in the Norman
language ; and hence the early records
and reports of law cases came to be
written in Norman. But neither royal
authority, nor the influence of courts,
could absolutely change the vernacular
language. After an experiment of three
hundred years, the law was repealed ;
and since that period, the English has
been, for the most part, the official as
well as the common language of the na-
tion. Since the Norman invasion, the
English has not suffered any shock from
the intermixture of conquerors with the
natives of England ; but the language
has undergone great alterations, by the
disuse of a large portion of Saxon words,
and the introduction of words from the
Latin and Greek languages, with some
French, Italian, and Spanish words.
These words have, in some instances,
been borrowed by authors directly from
the Latin and Greek ; but most of the
Latin words have been received through
the medium of the French and Italian.
For terms in the sciences, authors have
generally resorted to the Greek ; and
from this source, as discoveries in science
demnnd new terms, the vocabulary of the
English tongue is receiving continual
augmentation. It has, also, a few words
from the German and Swedish, mostly
terms in mineralogy ; and commerce has
introduced new commodities of foreign
growth or manufacture, with their for-
eign names, which now make a part of
our language. It may then bo stated,
that the English is composed of, 1st,

Saxon and Danish words of Teutonic and
Gothic origin. 2nd, British or Welsh,
which may be considered as of Celtic
origin. 3rd, Norman, a mixture of
French and Gothic. 4th, Latin. 5th,
French. 6th, Greek. 7th, A few words
directly from the Italian, Spanish, Ger-
man, and other languages of the conti-
nent. 8th, A few foreign words, intro-
duced by commerce, or by political or
literary intercourse. Of these the Saxon
words constitute our mother tongue.
The Danish and Welsh also are primi-
tive words, and may be considered as
part of our vernacular language.

ENGRA'VING.the art of producing by
incision or corrosion designs upon blocks
of wood, plates of metal, or other mate-
rials, from which impressions or prints
upon paper or other soft substances are
obtained by pressure. Engraving, as an
art, seems to have nearly the same rela-
tion to design and painting as typography
bears to written language ; and its utility
and great importance must be obvious to
every one from its capability of giving a
boundless circulation to representations"
of the most valuable examples of the arts
and of objects connected with science.
Xylography, or wood-engraving, was the
earliest method practised ; but its origin
is involved in obscurity. It is possible
that it was known in China 1120 years
before Christ ; though we think its inven-
tion is of a much later period, as the Chi-
nese were not acquainted with the art of
making paper till 95 B.C. It has been
stated that this art was introduced into
Europe from China through the inter-
course of the Venetian merchants with
its inhabitants ; for it is proved that en-
graving on wood had been practised in
that part of Italy which borders on the
Adriatic as early as the 13th century.
The first wood engravings in Europe of
which anything is known with certainty,
were executed in 1285, by a brother and
sister of a noble family of the name of
Cunio. They represent the actions of
Alexander. But for the accidental dis-
covery by a Venetian architect of the
name of Temanza of a decree of the
magistracy of Venice, in 1441, we might
have been without positive proof of the
practice of the art in Italy previous to
1467, and the Germans might still have
continued to claim the honor of its intro-
duction into Europe. This decree plainly
indicates that wood engraving was prac-
tised in Venice as early as the commence-
ment of the fifteenth century. In Ger-
many and the Low Countries, the early

202

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[EJJO

block books seom to have existed as early
as 1420, and to have given Outtenburg
the hint for using movable types. At
Rome, in 1467, a work intituled Medita-
tiones Johanni-s de Turrecremata issued
from the press of Ulric Han, embellished
with wood engravings, in which the de-
sign and execution of an Italian artist
are evident. The decorations of the
work of Valturius by Matteo Pasti, of
Verona, published five years afterwards,
exhibit considerable spirit and accuracy ;
and before the end of the fifteenth cent-
ury the art had been carried to great
perfection, as may be proved by the deli-
cacy and purity with which the designs
are engraved in the celebrated Hypnero-
tomachiaof Colonna. At this period, how-
ever, the discovery of copper-plate en-
graving had been made, and to this the
more ancient art yielded place. Maso
Finiguorra, a goldsmith and sculptor of
Florence, and pupil of Masaccio, about
the middle of the fifteenth century, seems
from the most authentic accounts to have
been the person to whom the world is in-
debted for the discovery. Finiguerra
' was followed by Baccio Baldini, a gold-
smith of Florence. His works were nu-
merous, and are of course much sought
after by collectors. Botticelli, a painter
of eminence as well as an engraver, was a
native of Florence, where he was born in
1437. He is spoken of with praise by
Vasari, and especially for his picture at
San Pietro Maggiore, of the assumption
of the Virgin: among the works he en-
graved from his own designs are subjects
illustrative of Dante, and a number of
prints of prophets and sibyls. His death
occurred in 1515. Contemporary with
him flourished Antonio del Poliajuolo,
and rather later Gherardo and Robetta,
who advanced the art ; though it was
still dry in execution, and more to be ad-
mired for correctness of drawing and de-
sign than for any attempt at relief or
effect. There can be no doubt that at
this period the art was practised at
Rome, though the Venetian state and
other parts of the north of Italy fur-
nished a more abundant supply of artists.
In Germany and the Low Countries the
art of engraving had made extraordinary
progress during the fifteenth century ;
and the name of Martin Schoen or Schon-
gauer must not be forgotten. This artist,
who was also a painter and goldsmith,
was the father of the German school of
engraving. He was a native of Culm-
bach in Franconia, and born about 1420.
He began the practice of the art when it

was in its infancy, and succeeded in car-
rying it to a great degree of perfection.
His death occurred at Colmar in 1486.
Vasari relates that Michael Angelo,
when young, was so pleased with a print
by Schongauer, representing St. Anthony
tormented by devils, that he copied it in
colors. Albert Durer, the most celebrated
of the early engravers of Germany, was
born at Nuremburg, in 1471. Skilled in
many arts, and a painter of no ordinary
powers, it is astonishing that, in a life
not exceeding fifty-eight years, he should
have succeeded so eminently in that of
engraving that he has even hardly been
surpassed. On copper as well as wood
his works exhibit specimens of executive
excellence, which the experience of
centuries has not been able to surpass.
Durer is supposed to have been the in-
ventor of the art of etching, at least no
etchings are known before those which
are extant from his hand. Of the works
he has left, which are very numerous,
his wood engravings are the most free
and masterly. Following Albert Durer
were Aldegrever his pupil, Hans Beham
and his brother Bartholomew, Altdorfer,
Binek, Goerting, Penz, and Solis. Hans
Holbein, who, according to some was a
native of Basle, and according to others
of Augsburg, besides acquiring celebrity
as a painter, is known as an engraver on
wood, executed many pieces : the best
known and most remarkable of which are
the fifty-three prints called the " Dance
of Death." first published about 1530.
Of the Dutch and Flemish schools Lucas
van Leyden must be considered the head.
Born in 1494, at the place whence he de-
rives his name, he was the contemporary
and friend of Albert Durer ; to whom,
though inferior in design, he was supe-
rior in composition. His works, which
were both on wood and copper, are few in
number. The Low Countries furnished a
host of engravers, among whom we think
it unnecessary to name more than the
Sadelers ; Bloemart, who laid the founda-
tion of the principles upon which lines be-
come capable of expressing quality, color
and chiaro oscuro, which the French en-
gravers afterwards improved; Goltzius
and his pupils ; Muller ; -and Lucas
Kiliau : the three last, though they
handled the graver with great freedom
and dexterity, fell into boundless absurd-
ity and extravagance, which, however,
were tempered and corrected by Mathieu
and Saenredam. In the beginning of the
seventeenth century the two Bolswerts
appeared, whose style was much im-

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

203

proved by the instructions of Rubens.
Vosterman, Pontius, and Peter de Jode
the younger, wore of this school, which is
distinguished for the success and correct-
ness with which it transferred the picture
to the copper. Rembrandt, notwithstand-
ing all his faults and absurdities, claims
a special notice in this place as an en-
graver. The Descent from the Cross,
and the print called " Hundred Guilder
Print," are extraordinary efforts of art.
His portraits and landscapes are full of
nature, expression, and character ; and it
is difficult to say whether he is more suc-
cessful in his sunshine effects, than in the
sober solemn twilight with which his
varied subjects are enveloped. Vandyke
has left a few specimens of etchings wor-
thy of his name. Jegher, Lutrua, and
above all the family of the Vischers, ex-
hibited great excellence in the art, which
continued to advance under the hands of
Waterloo, Jacob Ruysdael, and Paul Pot-
ter ; the last of whom, in his etchings of
animals, displayed a scientific acquaint-
ance with drawing and anatomy till his
time unpractised.

We must now return to close the brief
account of the Italian school, in which
the appearance of Marc Antonio Raimon-
di forms the most splendid era. Born at
Bologna about 1488, he became the pupil
of Raibolini, an artist of that city. His
master in the art of engraving is, how-
ever, unknown. We first hear of him at
Venice, whither Albert Durer went to
institute proceedings against him for
pirating his prints, which had been
copied by Raimondi with such wonder-
ful accuracy that they were sold for the
originals. But the proper sphere for
Marc Antonio was Rome, whither he
soon bent his steps. There his merit
soon gained him the friendship and es-
teem of llaffaelle, then in the plenitude
of his glory, by whom he was employed
to engrave from his designs. His first
plate from a design by Raffaelle was the
Lucretia, soon after which ho executed
the Judgment of Paris. His engravings
after this master are very numerous ;
and though free from the blandishments
of style, chiaroscuro, and local color which
the art has received since his time, such
was his knowledge of drawing, such the
beautiful character that pervades his
works, that he is entitled to the highest
rank in the art to which excellence has
ever attained His school attracted to
Re me artists from all parts; among
whom may be enumerated Marco de
Ravenna, Giulio Bonasoni, Agostino de

Musis, Enea Vico, and Nicolo Beatrici.
Some of the German artists whom we
have named above, viz., Behara, Penz,
and James Binck, resorted to Rome for
the benefit of his instructions. On the
death of Raffaelle, he executed engrav-
ings of some of the works of Giullio
Romano. His last print, the Battle of
the Lapithse, is dated 153i). Some of the
principal pupils of Marc Antonio have
already been named ; to them may be
added Georgio Grisi, commonly called
Mantuanus, and others of his family.
Many of the Italian painters were ex-
tremely successful in engraving, among
whom Titian etched many landscapes ;
but none cultivated the art with more
success than Agostino Caracci, who studied
under Cornelius Cort, a Dutch engraver,
born at Hoorn in 1536. His design and
execution are equally to be admired ; and
had he but concentrated his lights more,
and attended to local color, he would
have been exceeded by none. In the
seventeenth century Delia Bella, Callot,
who, though born in France, belongs to
the Italian school, Guercino, Salvator
Rosa, and Claude, continued the reputa-
tion of the art. At the latter end of
this century was born Antonio Canaletti,
originally a scene painter, like his father
Bernardo. His etchings opened an en-
tirely new field in architectural engrav-
ing, and may be considered almost, if
not quite, the first in which fine spark-
ling effects of light are introduced., and
in which the darkest shadows partake of
the transparency and clearness which
nature herself exhibits. Piranesi, who
was born in Venice, and died in 1770,
appeared about the middle of that cen-
tury ; he was one of the most surprising
architectural engravers that have ever
existed, whether wo consider the aston-
ishing power or number of his works.
His use of the etching needle surpassed
all that has been done before or since ;
and in our own time Volpato of Florence,
who, besides his other works, engraved
almost all the celebrated performances
of Canova with a delicacy, grace, and
correctness of the first order.

The French school commenced about
the middle of the sixteenth century with
Noel Gamier, who was followed by many
clever artists ; but till the time of Louis
XIV. it cannot be said to have been high-
ly distinguished. At that epoch we have
Gerard Edelinck, who, though born at
Antwerp, belongs properly to the French
school, and Gerard Audran. The former
of these, who worked entirely with the

204

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ENO

graver, carried what is called color in en-
graving to a much greater degree of per-
fection than had ever before been prac-
tised. His facility was amazing, and por-
trait and history were equally the subjects
of his burin. The name of Audran, not less
from the circumstance of the family hav-
ing produced six engravers, than for Ge-
rard Audran, who engraved the well-
known battles of Alexander after Le
Brun, is conspicuous in the history of the |
art; his name, however, will descend to
posterity with greater lustre from his
engravings after the Italian school, and
particularly those of Nicolo Poussin.
Gerard Audran was born at Lyons in
1640, and died in Paris in 1703. John
Audran, the last of the family who exer-
cised the art, and nephew of Gerard, died
in 1756. Nanteuil, the three Drevets,
of whom Peter was the most eminent,
Le Clerc, Chereau, Cochin, Beauvais,
Simonneau Dupuis, and many other mas-
ters, belong to this period ; but Balechon
and Wille, towards the middle of the cen-
tury, outstripped all that had been done
by their predecessors. Wille was a Ger-
nwn ; but his residence having been
chiefly at Paris, he is always ranked
among the French engravers. His ex-
traordinary powers in imitating the
qualities of objects, and particularly of
satin, the smoothness of effect he pro-
duced, and his extraordinary clearness
in the use of the graver, entitle him to a
place of the first rank in the French
school, which, since the age of Louis
XIV., has been more distinguished for
its great mechanical skill, than for grace,
correctness, and beauty in the higher de-
partments of the art.

Till the middle of the seventeenth cen-
tury England was indebted to foreign
artists for the embellishment bestowed
upon the typographical works she pro-
duced, as well as for such engravings,
either in history, portrait, or landscape,
as the taste of the nation required.
Among the artists who visited England
and made it their permanent or tempo-
rary residence were the Passes, Vaillant,
Hondius, Vosterman, Hollar, Blooteling,
Dorigny, and several others. Payne,
who died about 1648, and Faithorne, who
executed many historical pieces and por-
traits in a masterly manner, were the
earliest English engravers deserving men-
tion. William Faithorne, son of the last
named, was eminent as one of the earliest
mezzotinto engravers. This invention,
which is usually attributed to Prince
Rupert, is claimed by Heineken for Lieu-

tenant Colonel Siegen, who was a Hessian
officer, from whom Heineken says Prince
Rupert learned the secret, which ho
brought to England on his return with
Charles II. After the two Whites, father
and son, appeared Vcrtue, who was born
in 1684. He was the scholar of Vandar-
gucht, and from the numerous works he
brought out must have been an artist of
great industry and facility. The larger
portion of his labors was confined to por-
traits. The works of Pond and Knapton
can only be mentioned as continuing the
history, though occasionally they possess
some spirit ; but Vivares, a Frenchman
by birth, belonging, however, to the En-
glish school, and indeed the founder of
it in landscape engraving, has shown in
his engravings from the pictures of
Claude, talents, the precursors of that
pre-eminence in landscape engraving
which the English have not only improved
upon but exclusively possessed. Wool-
lett carried execution to a far greater
extent than Vivares, uniting with that
engraver's spirit all the elegance, clear-
ness, and delicacy of the French school ;
and to these Woollett superadded every
beauty that mechanical skill could effect.
John Browne was a contemporary worthy
of Woollett, whose works after Salvator,
Both, and others, are well executed. Sir
Robert Strange distinguished himself by
his great mechanical skill, whence re-
sulted beautiful execution, by the breadth
he preserved in the effects he copied, and
by the delicacy he imparted to flesh in a
manner that has never been equalled.
His principal engravings are from the
Italian painters, especially Titian, Guido,
und Corregio, and reflect great honor on
the English school, which since his time
has never been deficient in producing
artists of the first class. Strange was a
native of one of the Orkney islands,
where he was born in 1721, and died in
1792. Since his time the names of artists
of talent might be here supplied to a very
great extent : we shall merely mention
those of Basire, Bartolozzi, Rooker,
Heath, Byrne, Bromley, Lowry, Earlom,
Raphael, Smith. Ac. In the present day,
the demand of prints for the embellish-
ment of books has produced talent both
in England and in the United States
which, perhaps, might be more nobly
employed in works of a higher order.

Engraving on Wood, or Xylogra-
phy. In this branch of the 'art the ma-
terial used is a block of box or pear-tree
wood, cut at right angles to the direction
of the fibres, its thickness being regulated

ENOJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

205

by the size of the print to be executed.
The subject is drawn on the block with a
black-lead pencil, or with a pen and In-
dian ink, taking care that the whole
effect is represented in the lines so drawn.
The whole of the wood is then cut away,
except where the lines are drawn, which
are left as raised parts ; in which point
it is that this mode of engraving differs
so essentially from copper-plate engrav-
ing, wherein the lines are cut out or
sunk in the metal, instead of being raised
from it. The impressions from wood
blocks are taken in the same manner as
from printing types.

Engraving on Copper is performed by
cutting lines representing the subject On
a copper-plate by means of a steel instru-
ment ending in an unequal-sided pyram-
idal point, such instrument being called
a graver or burin. Besides the graver
there arc other instruments used in the
process : viz., a scraper, a burnisher, an
oil stone, and a cushion for supporting
the plate. In cutting the lines on the
copper the graver is pushed forward in
the direction required, being held in the
hand at a small inclination to the plane
of the copper. The use of the burnisher
is to soften down lines that are cut too
deep, and for burnishing out scratches in
the copper : it is about three inches long.
The scraper, like the last, is of steel, with
three sharp edges to it, and about six
inches long, tapering towards the end.
Its use is to scrape off the burr, raised by
the action of the graver. To show the
appearance of the work during its pro-
gress, and to polish off the burr, engrav-
ers use a roll of woollen or felt called
a rubber, which is put in action^ with a
little olive oil. The cushion, which is
a leather bag about nine inches diame-
ter filled with sand for laying the plate
on, is now rarely used except by writing
engravers.

Etching is a species of engraving on
copper cr other metals with a sharp-
pointed instrument called an etching nee-
dle. The plate is covered with a ground
or varnish capable of resisting the action
of aquafortis. The usual method is to
draw the design on paper with a black-
lead pencil ; the paper being damped and
laid upon the plate, prepared as above,
with the drawing next the etching ground,
is passed through the rolling press, and
thus the design is transferred from the
paper to the ground. The needle then
scratches out the lines of the design ; and
aquafortis being poured over the p/ate,
which is bordered round with wax, it is

allowed to remain on it long enough tc
corrode or bite in the lines which the etch-
ing needle has made. Etching with a dry
point, as it is called, is performed entirely
with the point without any ground, the
burr raised being taken off by the scra-
per. Etching with a soft ground is used
to imitate chalk or black-lead drawings.
For this purpose the ground is mixed
with a portion of tallow or lard, according
to the temperature of the air. A piece
of thin paper being attached to the plate
at the four corners by some turner's pitch
and lying over the ground, the drawing
is made on the paper and shadowed with
the black-lead pencil. The action of the
pencil thus detaches the ground which
adheres to the paper, according to the de-
gree to which the finishing is carried ; the
paper being then removed, the work is
bit in the ordinary way. Stippling is
also executed on the etching ground by
dots instead of lines made with the etch-
ing needle, which, according to the inten-
sity of the shadow to be represented, are
made thicker and closer. The work is
then bit in. Etc/iing on Steel is executed
much in the same way as in the process
on copper. The plate is bedded on com-
mon glazier's putty, and a ground of
Brunswick black is laid in the usual way,
through which the needle scratches. It
is then bit in, in the way above described.
Etching on Glass. The glass is cover-
ed w>th a thin ground of beeswax; and
the design being drawn with the etching
needle, it Is subjected to the action of sul-
phuric acid sprinkled over with pounded
flour or Derbyshire spar. After four or
five hours this is removed, and the glass
cleaned off with oil of turpentine, leaving
the parts covered with the beeswax un-
touched. This operation may be inverted
by drawing the design on the glass with a
solution of beeswax and turpentine, and
subjecting the ground to the action of the
acid.

Mezzotinto Engraving. In this spe-
cies of engraving the artist, with a knife
or instrument made for the purpose,
roughs over the whole surface of the cop-
per in every direction, so as to make it
susceptible of delivering a uniform black,
smooth, or flat tint. After this process
the outline is traced with an etching nee-
dle, and the lightest parts are scraped
out, then the middle tints so as to leave a
greater portion of the ground, and so ou
according to the depth required in the
several parts of the work.

Steel Engraving was introduced by
our celebrated countryman, Mr. Perkins.

206

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ENO

The steel plate is softened by being de-
prived of a part of its carbon ; the en-
graving is then made, and the plate hard-
ened again by the restoration of the car-
bon. The great advantage of steel plates
consists in their hardness, by which they
are made to yield an indefinite number
of impressions; wnereas 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 mul-
tiplied at pleasure.

Aquntinta Engraving, whose effect
somewhat resembles Jhat of an Indian-ink
drawing. The mode of effecting this is
(the design being already etched) to cov-
er the plate with a ground made of resin
and Burgundy pitch or mastic dissolved
in rectified spirit of wine, which is poured
over the plate lying in an inclined posi-
tion. The spirit of wine, from its rapid
evaporation, leaves the rest of the com-
position with a granulated texture over
the whole of the plate, by which means a
grain is produced by the aquafortis on
the parts left open by the evaporation of
the spirit of wine. The margin of the
plate is of course protected in the usual
way. After the aquafortis has bitten the
lighter parts they are stopt out, and the
aquafortis is again applied, and so on as
often as any parts continue to require
more depth. Formerly the grain used to
be produced by covering the copper with
a powder or some substance which took a
granulated form, instead of using the
compound above mentioned ; but this
process was found to be both uncertain
and imperfect. In the compound the
grain is rendered finer or coarser, in pro-
portion to the quantity of resin intro-
duced. This mode of engraving was in-
vented by a Frenchman of the name of
St. Non, about 1662.

Engraving on Stone, or Lithography.
A modern invention, by means whereof
impressions may be taken from drawings
made on stone. The merit of this dis-
eovery belongs to Aloys Senefelder, a
musical performer of the theatre at Mu-
nich about the year 1800. The following
are the principles on which the art of
lithography depends : First, the facility
with which calcareous stones imbibe wa-
ter; second, the great disposition they
have tv adhere to resinous and oily sub-
stances ; third, the affinity between each

other of oily and resinous substances, and
the power they possess of repelling water
or a body moistened with water. Hence,
when drawings are made on a polished
surface of calcareous stone with a resin-
ous or oily medium, they are so adhesive
that nothing short of mechanical means
can effect their separation from it, and,
whilst the other parts of the stone take
up the water poured upon them, the res-
inous or oily parts repel it. Lastly, when
over a stone prepared in this manner a
colored oily or resinous substance is pass-
ed, it will adhere to the drawings made
as above, and not to the watery parts of
the stone. The ink and chalk used in
lithography are of a saponaceous quality ;
the former is prepared in Gerjnany from
a compound of tallow soap, pure white
wax, a small quantity of tallow, and a
portion of lauip-blaok, all boiled together,
and when cool dissolved in distilled wa-
ter. The chalk for the crayons used in
drawing on the stone is a composition
consisting of the ingredients above men-
tioned, but to it is added when boiling a
small quantity of potash. After the draw-
ing on the stone has been executed and
is perfectly dry, a very weak solution of
vitriolic acid is poured upon the stone,
which not only takes up the alkali from
the chalk or ink, as the case may be,
leaving an insoluble substance behind it,
but it lowers in a very small degree that
part of the surface of the stone not drawn
upon, and prepares it for- absorbing water
with greater freedom. Weak gum water
is then applied to the stone, to close its
pores and keep it moist. The stone is
now washed with water, and the daubing
ink applied with balls as in printing ;
after w4iich it passed in the usual way
through the press, the process of water-
ing and daubing being applied for every
impression. There is a mode of trans-
ferring drawings made with the chemical
ink on paper prepared with a solution of
size or gum tragacanth, which being laid
on the stone and passed through the press
leaves the drawing on the stone, and the
process above described for preparing the
stone and taking the impressions is car-
ried into effect. In Germany many en-
gravings are made on stone with the
burin, in the same way as on copper ; but
the very great inferiority of these to cop-
per engravings makes it improbable that
this method will ever come into general
use. Perhaps one of the greatest advan-
tages of the art of lithography is the ex-
traordinary number of copies that may
be taken from a block. As many as

ENT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

70,000 copies or prints have been taken
from one block, and the last of them
nearly as good as the first. Expedition
is also gained, inasmuch as a fifth more
copies can be taken in the same time than
from a copper-plate : and as regards econ-
omy the advantage over every other spe-
cies of engraving is very great.

Zincography. This art, which is of
very recent introduction, is similar in
principle to lithography, the surface of
the plates of zinc on which it is executed
being bit away, leaving the design prom-
inent or in relief. A species of engrav-
ing on copper, called the medallic, has
been invented within the last twenty-five
years. Its object is to give accurate rep-
resentations of medals, coins, and bassi-
relievi of a small size. Some of the im-
pressions are exceedingly accurate and
beautiful, and appear so salient, that we
can hardly convince ourselves at first that
we are looking upon a flat surface.

ENGROSS'ING, the writing of a deed
over fair, and in proper legible charac-
ters. Among lawyers it more particu-
larly means the copying of any writing
upon parchment or stamped paper. In
statute law, engrossing means the buying
up of large quantities of any commodity
In order to sell it again at an unusually
high price.

ENHAIIMON'IC SCALE, in music, a
scale in which the modulation proceeds
by intervals less than semitones ; that is,
by quarter tones, having two dieses or
rigns of raising or lowering the voice.

ENIG'MA, a proposition put in ob-
jcure or ambiguous terms to puzzle or
exercise the ingenuity in discovering its
meaning. In the present day, the enig-
ma is only a jeu d'esprit, or a species of
amusement to beguile a leisure hour;
but formally it was a matter of such im-
portance that the eastern monarchs used
to send mutual embassies for the solution
of enigmas. Every one remembers the
enigma which Samson proposed to the
Philistines for solution ; and the still
more famous enigma of the Sphinx, the
<ource at once of the elevation and the
misfortunes of (Edipus. About the 17th
fentury the enigma, which had been for
jenturies neglected as a species of liter-
iry display, again came into favor ; and
n France particularly it was cultivated
tfith so much zeal, that several grand
wreatises were dedicated to its history and
characteristics. The best enigmas with
which we are acquainted were written by
Schiller, and have been incorporated in
his works. Even in the present day the

periodical literature of France and Ger-
many does not disdain this species of writ-
ing ; though, as was before observed, it
is now employed generally for amuse-
ment, and rarely to convey moral in-
struction.

. ENNUI, (French,) a word expressive
of lassitude, or weariness arising from
the want of employment.

ENS, among metaphysicians, denotea
entity, being, or existence : this the
schools call ens reale, and ens positivum,
to distinguish it from their ens rationis,
which exists only in the imagination.
Ens, among chemists, signifies the es-
sence or virtue of any substance.

ENSEM'BLE, (French,) a term used
in the fine arts to denote the general effect
of a whole work, without reference to the
parts. The ensemble of a picture, for
instance, may be satisfactory to the eye
of the spectator, though the several parts
may not bear a critical analysis ; or, in a
drama, the characters may be well drawn,
and yet it may be deficient in the ensem-
ble, that is, as a whole.

EN'SIFOKM, an epithet for that which
resembles a sword, (ensis ;) as an ensi-
Jbrm leaf.

EN'SIGN, the flag or banner under
which soldiers are ranged, according to
the different regiments to which they be-
long. Ensign is also the officer that
carries the colors, being the lowest com-
missioned officer in a company of infan-
try. Naval ensign, is a large banner
hoisted on a staff, and carried over the
poop or stern of a ship.

ENTAB'LATURE, in architecture, the
architrave, frieze, and cornice, at the top
of a column, and which is over the capi-
tal ; the horizontal continuous work
which rests upon a row of columns.

ENTAIL', in law, an estate entailed,
abridged and limited by certain condi-
tions prescribed by the first donor. Es-
tates tail are either general or special ;
and are always less estates than a fee
simple. To entail, is to settle the do-
scent of lands and tenements, by gift to
a man and certain heirs specified, t.o
that neither the donee nor any subse-
quent possessor can either alienate or be-
queath it.

ENTASIS, in architecture, a delicate
and almost imperceptible swelling of the
shaft of a column, to be found in almost
all the Grecian examples, adopted to pre-
vent the shafts being strictly frusta of
cones. This refinement, which is alluded
to in the second chapter of the third book
of Vitruvius, was first observed in exe-

208

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

cution by Mr. Alluson in 1814 in the
Athenian edifices.

ENTEL'ECIIY, a peripatetic terra, in-
vented by Aristotle in order to express
an object in its complete actualization,
as opposed to merely potential existence.

ENTBRTAIN'MBNT, the pleasure
which the mind receives from anything
interesting, and which arrests the atten-
tion. Also, the hospitable reception of,
and amusement we provide for, our
guests. In a dramatic sense, the farce
or pantomime which follows a tragedy or
comedy.

ENTHU'SIASM, in a religious sense,
implies a transport of the mind, whereby
a person vainly fancies himself inspired
with some revelation from heaven, or
that his actions are governed by a divine
impulse. Devotion, when it does not lie
under the check of reason, is apt to de-
generate into enthusiasm ; and when once
it fancies itself under the influence of a
divine impulse, it is no wonder that it
should slight human ordinances, and trust
to the conceits of an overweening imagi-
nation. But enthusiasm, in another
sense, when under the control of reason
and experience, becomes a noble passion,
that forms sublime ideas, and prompts to
the ardent pursuit of laudable objects.
Such is the enthusiasm of the poet, the
orator, the painter, and the sculptor
such is the enthusiasm of the patriot, the
hero, the philanthropist, and the truly
devout Christian.

EN'THYMEME, among logicians, de-
notes a syllogism, perfect in the mind,
but imperfect in the expression. This
is the character under which the univer-
sal form of reasoning, or syllogism, .gen-
erally presents itself in connected wri-
ting. For example, the following argu-
ment, if drawn out in the correct logical
form, would stand thus, " All tyrants
deserve death ; but Caesar is a tyrant,
therefore Caesar deserves death." But in
the rapid diction of oratory, or poetry, it
would probably be expressed either, ;l All
tyrants deserve death, therefore so does
Cassar ;" in which case the minor pre-
miss, " Caesar is a tyrant," is suppressed:
or, " Caesar is a tyrant therefore he de-
serves death," by suppressing the major
premiss. Instances may be cited in
which the enthymeine consists merely of
one of the premisses expressed, while
both the other premiss and the conclusion
are to be supplied by a rapid exercise of
thought. Thus in the well-known words,
' But Brutus says he was ambitious, and
Brutus is an honorable man," the last of

these propositions contains a complete
argument, " what honorable men say ia
to be believed : Brutus is an honorable
man, therefore what Brutus says is to be
believed."

ENTI'ERTIE, or ENTIRETY, in law,
the whole of a thing, in distinction from a
moiety : thus a bond, damages, &c., are
said to be entire, when they cannot be
apportioned.

ENTRE'METS, small plate?, or dain-
ties, set between the principal dishes at
table. In music, the inferior and lesser
movements inserted in a composition be-
tween those of more importance.

ENTREPAS', in horsemanship, is a
short broken pace, nearly resembling an
amble.

ENTREPOT', a warehouse or maga-
zine for the deposit of goods.

EN'TRY, in law, the act of taking
possession of lands. In commerce, the
act of setting down in an account-book
the particulars of trade ; as make an
entry of that sale, debt, or credit. Book-
keeping is performed either by single or
double entry. Entry, at the custom-
house, the exhibition or depositing of a
ship's papers in the hands of the proper
officers, and obtaining permission to land
the goods.

ENU'CLEATE, to open as a nucleus;
to clear from knots or lumps ; hence, to
explain, or clear from obscurity.

ENUMERATION, an account of sev-
eral things, in which mention is made of
every particular article. Enumeration,
in rhetoric, is that part of a peroration
in which the orator recapitulates the
principal points or heads of the discourse
or argument.

EN VI'RONS, the parts or places which
surround another place ; as the environs
of a city or large town.

EN'VOY, a person deputed by govern-
ment to negotiate some affair with any
foreign prince or state. There are en-
voys ordinary and extraordinary, as well
as ambassadors ; they are equally the
same under the protection of the law of
nations, and enjoy all the privileges of
ambassadors, but, being in rank below
them, they are not treated with equal
ceremony. The word envoy is also some-
times applied to resident ministers.

EN'VY, a feeling that springs from
pride or disappointed ambition, excited
by the sight of another's superiority or
success, accompanied with some degree of
malignity, and usually with a desire to
depreciate him.

E'PACTS, in chronology, the excesses

AND THE FINE AKTS.

209

of the solar month above the lunar synod-
ical month, and of the solar year above the
lunar year of twelve synodical months.
The epacts, then, are either annual or
monthly. Suppose the new moon to be on
the 1st of January : since the lunar
month is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 3
seconds, and the month of January con-
tains 31 days ; the monthly epact is 1 day,
11 hours, 15 minutes, 57 seconds. The an-
nual epnct is nearly 11 days ; the Julian
solar year being 365 days, 6 hours ; and
the Julian lunar year 354 days, 8 hours,
48 minutes, 38 seconds. In the ordinary
tables of the church calendar the epacts
are given only for a single century ; but
as the Gregorian calendar now in use de-
fines precisely the length of the year,
tables, though somewhat more compli-
cated, have been formed, which show the
epacts of every future year in all time to
come. The epacts were invented by
Luigi Lilio Ghiraldi, more frequently
styled Aloysius Lilius, a physician of Na-
ples, and author of the Gregorian Calen-
dar, for the purpose of showing the days
of the new moons, and thence the moon's
age on any day of the year, and conse-
quently of regulating the church festi-
vals. It is only in ecclesiastical compu-
tations that the epacts are ever employed ;
in civil affairs the civilized portion of
mankind have long since laid aside the
use of the lunisolar year, and regulated
time entirely by the sun. In the calen-
dar of the Church of England, Easter and
the other movable feasts are determined
in the same manner as in the old Romish
calendar, excepting that the golden num-
bers are prefixed to the days of the full
moons, instead of the days of the new
moons. The epacts are consequently not
used. It is desirable that the custom of
reckoning time by the moon, which had
its origin in ignorant ages, were aban-
doned, and the civil year adopted for
every purpose.

EP'ARCHY, the prefecture or terri-
tory under the jurisdiction of an eparck or
governor.

EPAU'LE, in fortification, the shoul-
der of the bastion, or the angle of the
face and flank ; which is often called the
angle of the epaule.

EPAU'LEMENT, in fortification, a
work raised to cover sidewise, made of
earth, gabions, &c. It also denotes a
mass of earth, called a square orillon,
raised to cover the cannon of a casement,
and faced with a wall.

EPAULETTES', distinguishing orna-
ments %orn both by military and naval

officers. In the different armies of the
German states ensigns are not allowed to
wear epaulettes ; and hence the phrase
" to obtain epaulettes," is synonymous
with " to become a lieutenant." In the
British army all officers with the rank of
captain upwards wear two epaulettes ; all
under that rank only one.

EPENET'IC, the laudatory or "en-
comiastic" species of oratory : a branch
of the Epideictie. according to the di-
vision of Aristotle's Rhetoric.

EPEN'THESIS, a figure of grammar,
by which one or more letters are in-
serted in the middle of a word ; as in the
Latin rettulit for retulit.

EPHEBEI'UM, in ancient architec-
ture, the building appropriated for the
wrestling and exercises of youth till they
had, on their arrival at manhood, the
right to enter the gymnasium.

EPHE'BI, applied particularly to the
Athenian youth between the ages of
eighteen and twenty years.

EPH'OD, in Jewish antiquity, a part
of the sacerdotal habit, being a kind of
girdle which was brought from be-
hind the neck
over the two
shoulders,
and hanging
down before,
it was extend-
ed across the
stomach, then
carried round
the waist and
used as a gir-
dle to the tu-
nic. They
were of two
sorts ; one of
plain linen,
and the other
embroidered
for the high
priest. On the part in front were two
precious stones, on which were engraven
the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Before the breast was a square piece or
breast-plate.

. EPH'ORI, in Grecian antiquity, ma-
gistrates established in ancient Sparta to
balance the regal power. The authority
of the ephorl was very great : they were
five in number, presided over shows and
festivals, had (he care of the public mo-
ney, specially superintended the educa-
tion of youth, and were the arbiters of
war and peace.

EP'IC, a poem of an elevated charac-
ter, describing generally the exploits of

210

CVCLOl'EDIA OF LITERATURE

lEPI

* heroes. This species of poetry claims a
very ancient origin, and is universally
allowed to be the most dignified and ma-
jt^tic to which the powers of the poet can
be directed. There are various theories
regarding the character of an epic poem;
and while some critics claim this title ex-
clusively for the Iliad and Odyssey of Ho-
mer, the jiSneid of Virgil, and the Para-
dise Lost of Milton, others and particu-
larly the Germans embrace in the cata-
logue of epic writers Scott, Byron, Pope,
Moore, and Campbell. Epic poetry has
often been compared to the drama ; and
the essential difference between them is,
that description is the province of the
former action of the latter. The emo-
tions which epic poetry excite are not so
frequent and violent as those produced
by dramatic composition ; but they are
more prolonged, and more developed by
actual occurrences; for an epic poem em-
braces a wider compass of time and action
than is admissible in the drama. History
has generally supplied the best epic wri-
ters with themes ; but a close attention to
historical truth in the development of the
story is by no means requisite. Fiction,
invention, imagination, may be indulged
in to an almost unlimited extent; pro-
vided always the poet be careful to pre-
serve what the critics call unity, i. e. pro-
vided his work embrace an entire action,
or have a beginning, a middle, and an
end. This is the distinguishing charac-
teristic of the great epic poems. If the
epic is the highest, it is also the most
difficult style of poetical composition, and
that in which mediocrity is least endura-
ble ; and hence few of the writers of epius
on the classical model have obtained a
high reputation as national poets in any
language. Virgil is the earliest imitator
of Homer whose epic has been preserved,
and the most successful. The other
Greek and Latin epic poets contain pas-
sages of great beauty ; but their poems,
as wholes, are of an inferior order. In
the English language there are only two
epics which can be said to form part of
the national literature, and those only in
part framed on the classical model : the
Paradise Lost and Regained of Milton.
French epics, including even the Henri-
ade of Voltaire, so famous in its time,
have no place among the chefs-d'oeuvre
of the national literature. Of the great
Italian poems, only one (the Jerusalem
Delivered of Tasso) fulfils the conditions
of an epic. The poem of Dante, however
sublime in style, has no unity of event or
action : those of Ariosto, and the other

Romanzieri. form a class distinguished
from the epic by the mixture of the seri-
ous and ludicrous. The old German and
Spanish national poems, the Romance
of Ike Cid, and the Niebelungen-Lied,
especially the latter, which is closely
confined to the conduct of one great ac-
tion, although the work of writers un-
skilled in classical literature, deserve the
title of epic as truly as those of Homer.

EP'ICENE, in grammar, an epithet
for the gender of such words as are com-
mon to both sexes.

EPICHIRE'MA, in logic, a mode of
reasoning, which comprehends the proof
of one or both the premises of a syllo-
gism, before the conclusion is drawn.

EPICHIROTO'NIA, in Grecian an-
tiquity, the annual ceremony of revising
the laws, which was instituted by Solon.
They gave their votes by holding up their
hands : hence the name.

EPICITHARIS'MA, in the ancient
drama, the last part of the interlude, or
a flourish of music after the play was
over.

EPIC REPRESENTATION, the Epos
<5r epic poem, relates a grand event on
which important consequences depend. In
plastic art, reliefs on walls, and friezes,
and encaustic, and fresco-painting which
can be executed on large surfaces as well
as oil-paintings, by which a considerable
space on canvas may be filled, are pe-
culiarly adapted for the representation
of an Epos, or of a great action. But
the artist has not, like the poet, the
power of representing in connection,
those consequences of single events,
scenes, &c., which form the whole. The
limits of connection (with the poet of-
ten only single words, clever phrases, or
striking transitions) are denied to the
artist, and he mu?t therefore limit him-
self to the means at his command, of
showing in the clearest manner possible,
the point of the event frqm which its con-
sequences are developed. The plastic
artist can and may depict the moment of
an event or a scene, including several
events which he may define or suggest.
To choose this moment rightly, to draw
strikingly, and to execute intelligibly, is
the important task, in the performance
of which the true master and epic artist
are seen. The epic picture, whether it
belong to plastic work or painting, is thus
the representation of an important action
of human life, of ancient or modern
times, of distant or neighboring nations,
of events which have happened or which
have been invented. It must i* every

EPl]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

211

case bo true or probable, i, e., belonging
to history and reality, or possible ; in
other words, the circumstances to be rep-
resented must be brought out conforma-
bly to Nature and Art, and have nothing
contradictory in themselves. The epic
work of Art, is always only a fragment
(though an important one) of a classic
or romantic, of a more or less historical,
or of a pure poetic epos, often the quin-
tessence of an epos, but never the epos
itself. The plastic descriptive work of
Art is thus limited to the poetical im-
portant event, but is in its limitation the
utmost concentration of history, while it
brings forward a principal action, with a
short but clear glance of the most im-
portant preceding and succeeding cir-
cumstances, so that all forms are arrang-
ed in action in their due relation to
each other, or to the principal point of
the picture. If this bo undertaken with
genius and happily executed by a mas-
terly hand, the whole will not only at-
tract the eye of the spectator, as a har-
monious grouping of different details,
rich in references, and finding a centre
point of union and conclusion, but will
rivet his attention.

EPICTE'TIAN', pertaining to Epicte-
tus, the Stoic philosopher; a man who
was held in such high esteem, that it is
said his study lamp was sold after his
death for three thousand drachmas.

EPICURE'ANS, a numerous sect of
philosophers in Greece and Koine : the
disciples of Epicurus, who flourished
about 300 years B.C. They maintained
that sensual pleasure was man's chief fe-
licity ; that the world was formed by a
concourse of atoms, and not governed by
Providence ; that the gods resided in the
extramundane spaces, in soft, inactive
ease, and eternal tranquillity ; that fu-
ture rewards and punishments were idle
chimeras ; and that the soul was extin-
guished with the body. They are men-
tioned in the xviith chapter of the Acts
of the Apostles. Epicurus himself main-
tained a more manly philosophy than the
generality of his followers ; he held, in-
deed, that pleasure was the chief end of
human pursuit ; and this pleasure he
placed in an exemption from pain, and a
perfect tranquillity of body and mind ;
but the means which he pointed out as
conducive to this end were prudence,
temperance, fortitude, and justice, in the
union of which perfect happiness consists.
He pursued pleasure, therefore, in its
most rational acceptation, and his life
seoms to have been stained with few vices.

The precepts and practices of the Epicu-
reans have, however, loaded his memory
with unmerited infamy ; and an Epicure-
an, according to the perverted meaning
of his doctrine, is one who is devoted to
sensual enjoyments, particularly those of
the table.

EPIDE'MIA, in Grecian antiquity,
festivals kept in honor of Apollo and Di-
ana, at the stated seasons when these dei-
ties, who could not be present every-
where, were supposed to visit different
places, in order to receive the vows of
their adorers.

EPIDEM'IC, a disease which prevails
in a place or tract of country only for a
temporary period, or that attacks many
people at the same season. There are
some epidemics which prevail every year,
and which are produced by the various
changes of the seasons. Thus, the spring
is accompanied by inflammatory diseases ;
summer by complaints in the stomach
and bowels ; autumn by catarrhs ; and
winter by intermittents. An epidemic at
its commencement is usually mild, and
becomes more dangerous as it spreads ;
but as it goes off, it again generally as-
sumes a mild form. Epidemics are not
originally contagious ; it is only under
particular circumstances, especially if the
disorder is a violent one, and many pa-
tients are crowded into a small room, so
as to form a corrupt atmosphere about
the sick, that contagion takes place. That
which is frequently ascribed to contagion,
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 de-
veloped. It is essential to the medical
notion of an epidemic that it be of a tem-
porary, in contradistinction to a perma-
nent character. It differs from endemic,
inasmuch as the latter class of diseases
are of a permanent nature, and prevail
only among certain people, and in certain
districts.

EPIG'ONI, the collective appellation
of the sons of the seven Greek princes
who conducted the first war against Thebes
without success. The war subsequently
undertaken by the Epigoni to avenge the
defeat of their forefathers is celebrated in
history. Their capture of Thebes forms
the theme of Wilkie's epic poem, the
Epigoniad, which was published about
the middle of the last century, and pro-
cured for its author great reputation.

EP'IGRAM, in poetry, a short poem
or piece in verse, which has only one sub-

212

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[EPI

ject, and finishes by a witty or ingenious |
turn of thought ; or, to use a more gen-
eral definition, an interesting thought
represented happily in a few words. The
first of these definitions, although tolera-
bly correct as to the modern epigram, dif-
fers, as it will be seen, widely from the
original sense of the word in Greek. The
Greek epigram was. in the first instance,
a short collection of lines actually in-
scribed on a monument, statue, fountain,
Ac. ; and the word was thence transferred
to such short poems as might serve for
inscriptions : of such the collection termed
the Greek epigram is almost wholly
composed. Their general characteristic
is perfect simplicity, and the seemingly
studied absence of that point which char-
acterizes the modern epigram. They are
almost wholly in one form of metre, the
elegiac. In the poetry of classical Rome,
the term epigram was still somewhat in-
discriminately used to designate short
pieces in verse ; but the works of Catul-
lus, and still more the well-known col-
lection of the Epigrams of Martial, con-
tain a great number which present the
modern epigrammatic character : and
Martial has, in fact, afforded the model
on which the modern epigram has been
framed. In this class of composition, and
especially where the turn of thought is
satirical, the French writers have been
far more successful than those of any
other nation ; and the term " piquant"
seems expressly invented to designate the
peculiar force of those epigrammatic sal-
lies of fancy of which their literature is
full.

EPIGRAPH, also termed motto. In
literature, a citation from some author,
or a sentence framed for the purpose,
placed at the commencement of a work
or of its separate divisions.

EP'ILOGUE, in the drama, a speech
addressed to the audience when the play
is ended. In the modern tragedy the
epilogue is usually smart and lively, in-
tended, probably, to compose the passions
raised in the course of the representa-
tion ; but it has been compared to a merry
jig upon the organ, after a good sermon,
to wipe away any impression that might
have been made by it, and send the congre-
gation away just as they came. In rhet-
oric, the conclusion of a speech, contain-
ing a recapitulation of the whole.

EPINI'CION, in the Greek and Latin
poetry, is a poem or composition cele-
brating a victory. Also, a festival on ac-
count of a victory.

EPIPH'ANY a Christian festival, ob-

served on the sixth of January, (the
twelfth day after Christmas,) in honor
of the appearance of our Saviour to the
magi, or wise men, who came to adore
him, and bring him presents. The Greek
fathers used the word for the appearance
of Christ in the world.

EPIPIIONE'MA, in rhetoric, a sen-
tentious exclamation or remark, not close-
ly connected with the general tenor of
the oration, and generally expressed with
vehemence.

EPIPH'ORA, in rhetoric, the emphatic
repetition of a word or series of words at
the end of several sentences or stanzas.
One of the finest instances of this figure
in modern oratory occurs in Fox's defence
of himself and his measures in the House
of Commons after the dissolution of the
Coalition ministry.

EPIPLEX'IS, a rhetorical figure,
which, by an elegant kind of upbraiding,
endeavors to convince.

EPIP'LOCE, a rhetorical figure, by
which one aggravation, or striking cir-
cumstance, is added to another ; as, " He
not only spared the rebels, but encour-
aged them ; not only encouraged them,
but rewarded them."

EPIS'COPACY, a form of church gov-
ernment by diocesan bishops.

EPISCOPALIANS, an appellation
given to those who adhere to the epis-
copal form of church government and
discipline.

EP'ISODE, in poetry, a separate inci-
dent, story, or action, which a poet in-
vents, and connects with his principal
action, that his work may abound with a
greater variety of events : though, in a
more limited sense, all the particular in-
cidents of which the action or narration
is compounded, are called episodes. 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 trans-
ferred to historical painting, in a sense
analogous to that which it bears in poe-
try.

EPIS'TATES, the title of the presi-
dents of the two great councils of the
Athenians, viz., the Ecclesia and the sen-
ate of the Five Hundred. They were
both respectively elected from the num-
ber of the prohedri of the ecclesia and
senate, and their office only lasted one
day. The latter of these two officers had
the post of the greatest trust, as in his
hands were placed the keys of the citadel
and public treasury.

EPIS'TLE, the use of this word is now

EPl]

AND THE FINE AKTS.

213

confined to the designation of those writ-
ten addresses by apostolical writers to
their. Christian brethren which are con-
tained in the canon of Scripture ; a few
others, either spurious or of high anti-
quity, although not recognized among
inspired writings, are also so denomi-
nated. The epistles of St. Paul, and oth-
ers contained in the volume of the New
Testament, are not arranged according
to their date, but, in all probability, ac-
cording to the views which those who ar-
ranged the canon entertained of the rel-
ative importance either of the writings
themselves, or of the parties to whom
they are addressed. Thus, the epistles
of St. Paul to the different churches, and
the Catholic epistles of St. John (i. e. ad-
dressed to the universal church,) are
ranked before the epistles of those saints
to individual Christians. An exception
to this rule is to be found in the epistle
to the Hebrews, which is placed last
among those of St. Paul, and seems to
have been admitted into the canon at a
comparatively recent period. The prac-
tice of reading a portion of an epistle in
the service of the church is extremely
ancient, and said to be noticed by Justin
in his First Apology.

EPISTOLOG'R APHY, the art or prac-
tice of writing letters.

EPIS'TROPHE, in rhetoric, a figure
of speech in which several successive sen-
tences end with the same word or affirm-
ation, as, " Are they Hebrews 1 so am I.
Are they Israelites 1 so am I. Are they
of the seed of Abraham 1 so am I," &c.

EP'ISTYLE, in ancient architecture,
a term used by the Greeks for what we
call the architrave, viz., a massive piece
of stone or wood laid immediately over
the capital of a column.

EP'ITAPH, literally an inscription on
a tomb. As has been well observed, in-
scriptions in honor of the dead are per-
haps as old as tombs themselves ; though
they were by no means bestowed in such
profusion in ancient as in modern times.
Among the Greeks, for instance, this
honor was paid only to the tombs of
heroes, as in the case of Leonidas and his
gallant comrades. The Romans were the
first to deviate from this course. Every
Roman family who consecrated a tomb to
their relations had the privilege of in-
scribing an epitaph thereon ; and as their
tombs were usually situated on the high-
way, the attention of passers-by was
sought to be arrested by the words " sta
viator" the formula with which all their
epitaphs were prefaced. But how much

soever the epitaphs of the ancient Greeks
and Romans differed in point of number,
there were three qualities which they
possessed in common brevity, simpli-
city, and familiarity ; qualities which a
modern critic, Boileau, has pronounced to
be indispensable in this species of writing.
At what period sepulchral inscriptions
came into use in England has not been
precisely ascertained ; though there can
be little doubt that this practice was in-
troduced by the Romans at the period of
their invasion of Britain. During the
first twelve centuries of the Christian era,
monumental inscriptions were all written
in Latin. About the 13th century, the
French language was adopted and con-
tinued to be used for this purpose till
the middle of the 14th century ; at which
time monumental inscriptions in the ver-
nacular tongue became common, though
the clergy and learned of that time, as
might have been expected, still preferred
the Latin, as their more familiar idiom.
The modern English. French, and Ger-
man epitaphs, of which several collections
have been made, are infinitely more nu-
merous than those of any time or nation,
and exhibit every variety of style and
sentiment ; from the most chaste and
majestic gravity, impressive tenderness,
and laconic terseness, to the most puerile
epigrammatic conceits, pointed satire, and
heraldic prolixity.

EPITA'SIS, in ancient poetry, the
second part or division of a dramatic
poem, in which the plot, entered upon in
the first part, or protasis, was carried on,
heightened, and worked up till it arrived
at its height, called catastasis. In rhet-
oric, that part of an oration in which the
orator addresses himself most forcibly to
the passions.

EPITHALA'MIUM, a nuptial song,
sung by a chorus of boys and girls when
the bride and bridegroom entered the
bridal chamber, and again on the first
morning after the marriage. This was
the custom in Greece, which was some-
what varied at Rome, where the chorus
consisted of girls only, who sang before
the door of the nuptial chamber till mid-
night. The most perfect examples of
this species which antiquity has left us
are by Theocritus and Catullus.

EP'ITHET, in rhetoric and compo-
sition, denotes a term employed in an
adjective sense to express an attribute or
quality of another substantive terra. The
abundance and the propriety of epithets
form peculiar characteristics of various
poetical styles. In the strict rhetorical

214

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[EQU

sense, epithets are only such adjectives
as convey a notion already implied in
the noun substantive itself, and add no-
thing to the sense. Thus, the " glorious"
sun is a mere epithet ; while the " rising"
or the " setting" sun would, as convey-
ing some additional idea into the sense
of the passage, not be considered as epi-
thets. The former sort, however, are
sometimes called in disparagement by
writers on rhetoric "otiosa," or idle epi-
thets.

EPITITH'IDES, in architecture, the
crown or upper mouldings of an entab-
lature.

EPIT'OME, in literature, an abridg-
ment ; a work in which the contents of a
former work are reduced within a smaller
space by curtailment and condensation.
In the later classical period, extending
through the declining ago of the Western
Empire, the practice of epitomizing the
writings of older writers, especially in
history, became very prevalent ; and
while some regard the works of Justin,
Eutropius, and similar writers, as having
preserved to us much historical knowl-
edge which would otherwise have been
lost, others have maintained that these
laborious compilers have done great dis-
service to literature, inasmuch as the
voluminous works which they abridged
being superseded by their more popular
and cheaper compendia, in an illiterate
age, have, from that cause, for the most
part perished.

EPIT'ROPE, or EPIT'ROPY, in rhet-
oric, a figure of speech, by which one
thing is granted, with a view to obtain
an advantage ; as, " I concede the fact,
but this very concession overthrows your
own argument."

EPIZEUX'IS, in rhetoric, a figure
which repeats the same word, without
any other intervening ; such is that of
Virgil, "nune, nunc, insurgite remis."

E'POCH, a certain fixed period, or
point of time, made famous by some re-
markable event, and serving as a stand-
ard in chronology and history. The prin-
cipal are the Creation, 4004 B.C. ; the
Flood, 2348 B.C. ; the birth of Abraham,
1996 B.C.; the conquest of Canaan, 1451
B.C.; the taking of Troy, 1184 B.C. ; the
finishing of Solomon's temple, 1104 B.C. ;
the first Olympiad, 776 B.C. : the building
of Rome, 753 B.C. ; the era of Nabonassar,
74" B.C. ; the founding of the Persian
Empire, by Cyrus, 559 B.C. ; the death j
of Alexander, 323 B.C ; the death of
Cresar, 44 B.C ; the birth of Christ, 1, or
thb commencement of the Christian era ;

the Hegira of Mahomet, 622 A.D. The
Christian era, used by almost all Chris-
tian nations, dates from January 1st, the
middle of the fourth year of the 194th
Olympiad, in the 753d of the building of
Rome, and 4714th of the Julian period.
The Christian year, in its division, fol-
lows exactly the Roman year, consisting
of 365 days for three successive years,
and of 366 in the fourth year, which is
termed leap year. The simplicity of this
form has brought it into very general
use, and it is customary for astronomers
and chronologists, in treating of ancient
time, to date back in the same order
from its commencement. See CALEN-
DAR.

EP'ODE, in lyric poetry, the third or
last part of the ode, the ancient ode being
divided into strophe, antistrophe, and
epode. The word is now used for any
little verse or verses, that follow one or
more great ones.

EPOPEE', or EPOPCE'IA. in poetry,
the fable, or subject of an epic poem.

EPOP'TjE, in antiquity, a name given
to those who were admitted to view the
secrets of the greater mysteries, or re-
ligious ceremonies of the Greeks.

EPOT'IDES, in the naval architecture
of the ancients, two thick blocks of wood,
one on each side the prow of a galley,
for warding off the blows of the rostra of
the enemy's vessels.

EPULO'NES, in Roman antiquity,
public officers who assisted at the sacri-
fices, and had the care of the epulum, or
sacred banquet, committed to them.

EQUAL'ITY, a term of relation be-
tween things the same in magnitude,
quantity, or quality. Also, the same de-
gree of dignity or claims ; as, equality
of men, in the scale of being ; an equal-
ity of rights, Ac.

EQUANIMITY, that even and calm
frame of mind and temper, under good or
bad fortune, which is not easily elated or
depressed. A truly great man bears
misfortunes with equanimity, and carries
himself in prosperity without vain exult-
ation or excessive joy.

EQ UERRY, an oflBcer of state under
the master of the horse. There are five
equerries, who ride out with her majesty ;
for which purpose they give their attend-
ance monthly, one at a time, and have a
table provided for them.

E'QUES AURA'TUS, a Roman knight,
so called because none but knights were
allowed to gild their armor.

EQUES'TRIA, a place in the Roman
theatres where the knights or equites sat.

KQU]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

215

EQUES'TRIAN GAMES, in Roman
antiquity, {ludi equestres,) horse-races,
of which there are five kinds ; the pro-
dromus or plain horse-race, the chariot
race, the decursory race about funeral
piles, the ludi sevirales, and the ludi
neptunales. Equestrian order, the sec-
ond rank in Rome, next to the senators.
Equestrian statue, the representation
of a person on horseback.

EQUIPAGE', in ordinary language,
signifies the carriage, horses, and liveries
of any gentleman when he appears
abroad. Equipage, in marine affairs,
signifies the crew of a ship, together with
all a ship's furniture, masts, sails, am-
munition, &c. In the art military, it
denotes all sorts of utensils and artillery.
<fcc., necessary for commencing and pros-
ecuting with ease or success any military
operation.

EQUIPOL'LENCE, in logic, an equiv-
alence, or agreement, either as to the
nature of the thing, or as to the gram-
matical sense of any two or more propo-
sitions ; that is, when two propositions
signify one and the same thing, though
they express it ditferently.

EQUI'RIA, in antiquity, games insti-
tuted by Romulus in honor of Mars, and
which consisted in horse-racing. They
were celebrated on the third of the cal-
ends of March.

EQ'UITES, amongst the Romans, were
persons of the second degree of nobility,
immediately succeeding the senators in
point of rank. Every eques or knight
had a horse kept at the public charge ;
he received also the stipend of a horse-
man, to serve in the wars, and wore a
ring, which was given him by the state.
The equites composed a large body of
men, and constituted the Roman caval-
ry ; for there was always a sufficient
number of them in the city, and nothing
but a review was requisite to fit them for
service.

EQ'UITY, in a moral sense, is the im-
partial distribution of justice. So, in an
enlarged view, Blackstone observes :
" Equity, in its true and general mean-
ing, is the soul and spirit of all law ;
positive law is construed, and rational
law is made by it. In this, equity is sy-
nonymous with justice." In English ju-
risprudence, a court of equity or chan-
cery, is a court which corrects the opera-
tion of the literal text of the law, and
supplied its defects, by reasonable con-
struction, and by rules of proceeding and
deciding, which are not admissible in a
court of law. ' Equity then, is the law of

reason, exercised by the chancellor or
judge, giving remedy in cases to which
the courts of law are not competent. It
will remove legal impediments to the
fair decision of a question depending at
law. It will prevent a party from im-
properly setting up, at a trial, some title
or claim which would be inequitable. It
will compel him to discover, 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 provide for the safety
of property in dispute pending litigation.
It will counteract, or control, or set aside,
fraudulent judgments. It will also exer-
cise, in many eases, exclusive jurisdic-
tion ; particularly in granting special re-
lief 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 danger of mis-
application ; it will prohibit a party from
leaving the country in order to avoid a
suit ; it will decree a specific performance
of contracts respecting real estates ; it
will, in -many cases, supply the imperfect
execution of instruments, and reform and
alter them according to the real intention
of the parties ; it will grant relief in cases
of lost deeds and securities ; and, in all
cases in which its interference is asked,
its general rule is, that he who asks
equity must do equity. In short, its ju-
risdiction is almost undefined, where the
positive law is silent, but substantial jus-
tice entitles the party to relief.

EQUITY OF REDEMP'TION, in law,
is the advantage allowed to one who
mortgages his property, to have a reason-
able time allowed him to redeem it ; for
although the estate, upon non-payment
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.

EQUIVOCAL, an epithet for whatever
is ambiguous or susceptible of different
constructions ; as, that man's character is
very equivocal.

EQUIVOCAL TERM, in lo*ic, a term
which has several significations, applying
respectively and equally to several ob-
jects. A word is generally said to be
employed equivocally where the middle
term is used in different senses in the two
premisses, or where a proposition is liable
to be understood in various senses, ac-

216

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[KRS

cording to the various meanings of one of
its terms.

EQUIVOCATION, the use of equivo-
cal terms, which may be understood by
the hearer in a different sense from that
in which they are taken by the speaker.
He who is guilty of equivocation, may be
fairly suspected of hypocrisy.

EQ'UIVOQUE, a word or phrase sus-
ceptible of different significations.

ERAS'TIANS, the followers of Eras-
tus, a German divine ; a sect which ob-
tained some notoriety in England in the
time of the civil wars. They referred the
punishment of all offences, civil or re-
ligious, to the civil magistrate ^ and as-
serted that the church had no power to
enforce any acts of discipline, nor to re-
fuse the communion of the Lord's Supper
to any one who desired it.

ERA'TO, one of the muses, whose
name signifies lov-
ing or lovely. She
has much in com-
mon with Terpsi-
chore the same at-
tributes, the same
dress, and frequent-
ly a lyre and plec-
trum. She presides
over the songs of
lovers.

ER'EBUS, accor-
ding to the classic
mythology, the son
of chaos and dark-
ness, who dwelt in
the lowest part of
hell, which is fre-
quently called by his
name.

EREMITICAL, (from eremite, a her-
mit,) living in solitude, or in seclusion
from the world.

EROT'IC POETRY, a term for ama-
tory poetry. The name of erotic writers
has been applied particularly to a class
of romance writers who belong to the
later periods of Greek literature, and
whose works abound in sophistical subtle-
ties and ornaments

EROTOM'ANY, a term employed by
some writers to denote that modification
of insanity, of which the passion of love is
the origin, and in which the love of a
particular individual constitutes the pre-
dominant idea, occupying the whole at-
tention of the patient. It sometimes
passes into perfect delirium, leads to sui-
cide, hysterics, &c. Young people are
peculiarly subject to it, who have an ex-
citable nervous system and lively imagi-

nation, who give themselves up to an ex-
cess in pleasure, or are spoiled by read-
ing romances, and rendered effeminate
by an injudicious education and indo-
lence.

ERRAT'IC, wandering, or having no
certain course ; also, not fixed or station-
ary ; hence the planets are called erratic
stars ; and fevers which observe no reg-
ular periods, are denominated erratic
fevers.

ERRA'TUM, an error of the press ; in
the plural, Errata, a list of which is
usually printed at the beginning or end
of a book.

ER'ROR, a wandering or deviation
from the truth. An error may be either
voluntary or involuntary; when com-
mitted through carelessness or haste it is
a blunder. Error, in law, is a mistake
committed in pleading, or in a process ;
whereupon a writ of error is brought to
remedy it, which carries the suit to an-
other tribunal for redress.

ERSE, the language of the descendants
of the Gaels or Celts, in the highlands of
Scotland. Erse is a corruption of Irish.
The highlanders were supposed by their
Gothic neighbors to be .an Irish colony,
and hence the name given to their lan-
guage. The highlanders themselves in-
variably call it Gaelic. It first attracted
notice after the publication in the English
language of the poems of Ossian, said to
be derived from it about the middle of
the last century. These, it was pre-
tended, were translated from manuscripts
in the translator's possession ; but such
poems in a written form, it is now suffi-
ciently known, never had any existence
either in the Irish or Gaelic language.
Although not committed to writing, or
rather not handed down in writing, these
poems, committed to memory and hand-
ed down from one bard or story-teller to
another, still exist in the Highlands of
Scotland, and in a dress not remote from
that in which they were rendered by
Macpherson into English. Their scene is
sometimes laid in Scotland, but more fre-
quently in Ireland. In short, they are
the Iliad and Odyssey of the Celtic race
of the two islands, handed down by tradi-
tion only, what the poems of Homer
were in all likelihood to the Greeks
themselves, before the art of writing was
known to them. The Erse, although a
rude and uncultivated language, is a
nervous and manly one, both as to ex-
pression and sound, and well suited to
poetry, whether sublime or tender. The
range of its sounds is very great ; for it

ESO]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

217

possesses twelve vowels, and no less than
eighteen diphthongs and triphthongs, with
forty-one consonants, including aspirates.
Many of the consonants are guttural ;
and of these, as well of the vocalic sounds,
there are several utterly unpronounce-
able by a stranger : the attempts made
to express such a variety of sounds by
the Human alphabet are, of course, both
awkward and imperfect. As to the
grammar, that of the Gaelic is of complex
structure, implying a primitive language
which has undergone little change by ad-
mixture with other tongues.

EQUES'TRIAN STAT'UE, statues of
men on horseback, usually formed of
bronze, but sometimes of lead and stone.
London enjoys the singular eminence of
possessing the worst equestrian statues to
be found in any city of Europe.

ER'MINE, the fur of the animal of
this name. It is an emblem of purity,
and of honor without stain. Robes of
royal personages are lined with it to sig-
nify the internal purity that should regu-
late their conduct.

ERUDI'TION, the attainment of pro-
found learning and extensive knowledge,
obtained by study and instruction ; par-
ticularly learning in history, antiquity,
and languages, as distinct from the use-
ful arts and sciences.

ESCALADE', in the military art, a
furious attack made upon a rampart, or
scaling the walls of a fortification, by fill-
ing up the ditches with bundles of fag-
ots, called fascines, and entering by lad-
ders ; without proceeding in form, break-
ing ground, or carrying on regular works
to secure the men a mode of attack
much adopted in the late wars, but gen-
erally accompanied with great slaughter.
ESCAL'LOP, an emblem of St. James
the Great, which is
frequently met with in
churches, dedicated to
his honor. It is one
of the attributes and
insignia of pilgrims,
adopted by them in
their voyages to the
sepulchre of this apostle, gathered by
them on the sea-shore, and fastened on
their hoods or hats as a mark of the pil-
grimage.

ESCAPE,' in law, is where a person
arrested gains his liberty before he is de-
livered by law. In civil cases, after the
prisoner has been suffered voluntarily to
escape, the sheriff can never after retake
him, and must answer 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 ex-
cused if he have him again before any ac-
tion is brought against himself 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.

ESCARP'MENT, or ESCARP', in the
military art, the exterior slope facing
fortified works ; the interior slope being
the counterscarp.

ESCHEAT', in law, lands or profits
that fall to a lord within his manor, either
by forfeiture, the death of the tenant, or
through failure of heirs.

ES'CORT, a guard or company of arm-
ed men attending an officer, or baggage,
provisions, or munitions conveyed by
land, to protect them from an enemy, &c.

ES'CUAGE, in feudal customs, a kind
of knight-service, called service of the
shield, by which the tenant was bound to
follow his lord to the wars at his own
charge.

ESCULA'PIAN, (from Msculapius
the physician,) pertaining to the healing
art.

ES'CULENT, an epithet for such
plants or roots as may bo eaten.

ESCU'RIAL, a celebrated palace and
monastery in Spain, about twenty miles
from Madrid, built by Philip II. It is in
the shape of a gridiron, and contains the
king's palace. St. Lawrence's church, the
monastery of Jerenomites, and the free
schools. It was erected in consequence
of a vow made by Philip, on the day of
the battle of St. Quentin, and dedicated
to St. Lawrence, whose festival was on
that day. Though the building is im-
mensely large and the most superb in the
kingdom, its exterior has rather the aus-
tere simplicity of a convent than the ele-
gance of a palace. It is a quadrangle,
740 feet in length by 580 in breadth ; and
is said to have cost 50 millions of dollars.

ES'DRAS, the name of two apocryphal
books, usually bound up with the Scrip-
tures. They were always excluded the
Jewish canon.

ESOTER'IC, an epithet applied to the
private instructions and doctrines of Py-
thagoras ; opposed to exoteric, or public.
Much dispute has prevailed among the
learned as to the precise import of this
distinction. By some it was thought that
the ancient philosophers had a set of mys-
terious doctrines which they communi-
cated only to the more enlightened of
their disciples, and another more popular

218

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[EST

doctrine which they promulgated to the
multitude. In the case of Aristotle, to
whose writings the distinction properly
applied, this opinion is, to a certain ex-
tent, well founded ; except so far as re-
gards the suspicion of intentional conceal-
ment implied in it. The exoteric or pub-
lished writings of that philosopher appear
to have been written in the form of dia-
logues, all of which are lost. His esoteric
works, we gather from the synonymous
term acroa.ma.tic, were not intended to su
persede the necessity of oral instruction
to render them intelligible. This agrees
well enough with the brevity, the frequent
repetitions, and the perplexed arrange-
ment of the works of Aristotle which sur-
vive.

ES'PIONAGE, a system of employing
spies, or secret emissaries, either in mili-
tary or political affairs.

ESPOUS'ALS, in law, a contract or
mutual promise of marriage between a
man and woman.

ESPLANADE', in fortification, the
glacis of the counterscarp, or sloping of
the parapet of the covered way towards
the country. The word is now also used
for a sloping walk or promenade.

ESPRIT' DE CORPS, a French phrase,
signifying that species of attachment with
which persons, more especially military
men, are animated to the corps or service
to which they belong.

ESQUIRE', anciently a shield or ar-
mor-bearer ; the person that attended a
knight in time of war, and carried his
shield. It is now a title. given to the sons
of knights, or those who serve the king in
any worshipful calling, as officers of the
king's courts, counsellors at lajv, &c. It
has, however, become a sort of vague and
undefined compliment, placed at the end
of a man's name, and may be regarded
more as an expression of respect than
anything else.

ES'SAY, in literature, an attempt; a
species of composition. In general, this
title is given to short disquisitions on
subjects of taste, philosophy, or common
life. In this sense it has been applied to
periodical papers, published at regular
intervals under a collective name, by one
or more writers, containing remarks on
topics of the day, or on more serious sub-
jects. From the appearance of the Tal-
Icr, in the beginning of the last century,
which was chiefly written by Sir Richard
Steele, this species of literature continued
to be a favorite in England for seventy
years, and many similar series of essays
were produced; the best of which are

united in one collection under the name
of The English Essayists. The most
celebrated of these works was the Spec-
tator, to which Addison was the best con-
tributor ; and next to it the Jtambler,
published and almost wholly written by
Samuel Johnson. The title of essay has
been also adopted, by way of indicating
diffidence in the completeness of their
work, by various authors of more ex-
tended performances ; as, by Locke (Es-
say on the Human Understanding.)

ES'SENCE, in philosophy, a scholastic
term, denoting what the Platonists called
the idea of a species. The school phi-
losophers give two significations of the
word essence : the first denoting the
whole essential perfection of a being, and
consequently its entity, with all its in-
trinsic and necessary attributes taken to-
gether; the second denoting the principal
or most important attributes of anything.
The essences of things were held by many ~
to be uncreated, eternal, and immutable.

ESSENES', a sect among the Jews in
the time of our Saviour, of whom an ac-
count is preserved to us by Josephus and
Philo, though they are not mentioned in
Scripture. They were few in number,
and lived chiefly in solitude, taking no
part in public affairs, but devoting their
lives to contemplation. There were in-
deed two classes of them, distinguished
as the practical and contemplative, who
differed in the degree of strictness and
austerity which they observed. They
believed in the immortality of the soul,
and held the Scripture in the highest
reverence ; interpreting it, however, after
an allegorical system of their own.

ESSENTIAL PROPERTIES, in logic,
such as necessarily depend upon, and are
connected with, the nature and essence of
a thing, in distinction from the accidental.

ESSOIN', in law, an excuse by reason
of sickness or any other just cause for one
that is summoned to appear and answer
an action, <fec. The first three days of a
term are called essoin days, as three days
are allowed for the appearance of suitors.

ESTABLISHMENT, in a military
sense, the quota of officers and men in flu
army, regiment, or company, which be-
ing much greater in war than in peace,
has given rise to the distinctive terms of
War Establishment and Peace Establish-
ment. The word is also used when speak-
ing of the ministers of a church estab-
lished by law, as belonging to the Estab-
lishment.

ESTACADE', in the military art, a
French word for a dyke, constructed with

KTY]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

219

piles in the sea, a river, or morass, to
oppose the entry of troops.

BSTAFBT'TE, a military courier, sent
from one part of an army to another ; or
a speedy messenger who travels on horse-
back.

ESTATE', in law, the title or interest
that a person has in lands, tenements, or
other effects ; comprehending the whole
in which a person has any property. Es-
tates are either real or personal; other-
wise distinguished into freeholds, which
descend to heirs ; or chattels and effects,
which go to executors or administrators.
There are also estates for life, for years,
at will, (fcc. Estates of the realm are
the distinct parts of any state or govern-
ment, as the king, lords, and commons,
in England.

ES'THER, a canonical book of the Old
Testament, containing the history of a
Jewish virgin, dwelling with her uncle
Mordecai at Shushan, in the reign of Aha-
suerus, one of the kings of Persia. Arch-
bishop Usher supposes Darius Hystaspes
to be the Ahasuerus of Scripture, and
Artystona to be Esther. Scaliger con-
siders him as Xerxes, and his queen Ha-
mestris as Esther. Josephus, on the con-
trary, asserts that Ahasuerus was Arta-
xerxes Longimanus ; and the Septuagint,
throughout the whole book of Esther,
translates Ahasuerus by Artaxerxes.

ES'TIMATE, a judgment or opinion
formed of the value, degree, extent, or
quantity of anything, without ascertain-
ing it. Also a computation of probable
value or cost, such as is generally pre-
pared by engineers, architects, and build-
ers, previous to the commencement of
any undertaking.

ESTO'VERS, in law, a reasonable al-
lowance out of lands or goods for the sub-
sistence of a man accused of felony, du-
ring his imprisonment. But it is more
generally taken for certain allowances of
wood made to tenants, and called, from
the Saxon, house-bate, hedge-bate^ plough-
bole. &o.

ESTRAY', a tame beast found without
any owner known, which, by the English
law if not reclaimed within a year and a
day, falls to the lord of the manor.

ESTREAT', in law, a true copy or
duplicate of an original writing, partic-
ularly of the penalties or fines to be !
levied by the bailiff or other officer, of
every man for his offence.

ET C^T'ERA, and the contraction
etc. or cf-c., denote the rest or others of
the kind ; and so forth.

ETCH'ING, a method of engraving on

copper or steel, in which the lines and
strokes are eaten in with aquafortis. See
ENGRAVING.

ETER'NITY, everlasting duration,
without beginning or end ; a term ex-
pressive of that perpetuity which can
only be imagined, on account of the im-
possibility of conceiving when time was
not, or will not be ; hence many have
concluded that there has been an eter-
nity of past time, and must be an eter-
nity of future time.

ETH'ICS, the doctrine of manners, or
science of moral philosophy, which teach-
es men their duty and the springs and
principles of human conduct.

ETHNOG'RAPHY, the science which
treats of the particularities of nations, de-
scribing their customs, peculiarities, <fcc.
Although a peculiar name has been
given to it, it is in general considered as
a branch of the sciences of geography and
history.

ETIOL'OGY, an account of the causes
of anything, particularly of diseases.

ET'IQUETTE, is the ceremonial code
of polite life, more voluminous and minute
in each portion of society according to its
rank. The word is derived from the cus-
tom of arranging places at processions, &c.
by tickets delivered beforehand to appli-
cants. The Byzantine court appears to
have carried the practice of ceremonial
observations to the most inconvenient
and ludicrous extent. But of modern
courtly etiquette, Philip the Good, Duke
of Burgundy, is regarded by some as the
founder. His desire to conceal his in-
feriority in rank, as a great feudatory
only, to the great sovereigns of Europe,
whom he equalled in power, induced him
to surround his presence with a multi-
tude of officers and numberless formali-
ties. At no time, probably, was the
spirit of etiquette so predominant and so
tyrannical as in the court of Louis XIV. ;
and the Memoirs of St. Simon are full
of the most extraordinary proofs of the
subjugation of the minds of men of sense,
wit, and even independent character in
other respects, to its engrossing influ-
ence, their pride in attaining any little
point of precedence, and their mortifica-
tion in failing of it. The smaller courts
of Germany caricatured the ceremonial
of that of the Great Monarch, and carried
its strictness to an absurd extent. At the
present day the ancient etiquette of courts
is continually losing something of its
strictness.

ETYMOL'OGY, a branch of philology,
which teaches the origin and derivation

220

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[EVA

of words, with a view to ascertain their
radical or primary signification. In gram-
mar, it comprehends not only the deriva-
tion of words, but their various inflections
and modifications. One who is well versed
in the deduction of words from their
originals, is called an etymologist.

EU'CHARIST, the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper ; so called because the
death of our Redeemer is thereby com-
memorated with thankful remembrance,
and bread and wine are taken as emblems
of his flesh and blood.

EUCHOL'OGY, a book of prayers;
synonymous, in the phraseology of the
Roman Catholic church, with missal or
breviary.

EU'CRASY, an agreeable, well-pro-
portioned mixture of qualities, by which
a body is said to be in good order, and
disposed for a good state of health.

EUHARMON'IC, in music, producing
harmony or concordant sounds.

EU'LOGY, in a general sense, an en-
comium pronounced on any person for
his meritorious or virtuous qualities ;
but, in a more restricted meaning, it was
used in ecclesiastical history to denote
any present bestowed on the church after
having been blessed or hallowed.

EU'NOMY, equal law, or a well-ad-
justed constitution of government.

EUPA'TRID^E. in ancient history, the
nobles of Attica, in whose hands in early
times all the power of government was
vested, in consequence of which the lower
orders sunk into a low state of degrada-
tion, being particularly oppressed by
their debts which the pressure of their
circumstances compelled them to incur,
and which, if not paid, gave the creditor
power over the bodies and liberties of the
debtor and his family. These evils were
remedied by the legislation of Solon, who
reduced the interest of debts, and deprived
the creditor of his power over the body
of the debtor, and at the same time threw
the judicial and much of the legislative
power into the hands of the people at
large. The alterations in the constitution
of Athens, subsequent to the time of
Solon, by degrees deprived the Eupa-
tridae of all their political privileges,
and finally established an unmixed de-
mocracy.

EU'PEPSY, in medicine, good con-
coction in the stomach ; perfect digestion.

EU'PHEMISM, in rhetoric, a figure
by which things in themselves disagree-
able and shocking, are expressed in terms
neither offensive to good manners nor re-
pulsive" to "ears polite"

EU'PHONY, an easy and smooth enun-
ciation of words. A grammatical license,
whereby a letter that is too harsh is con-
verted into a smoother, contrary to the
ordinary rules, for the purpose of pro-
moting smoothness and elegance in the
pronunciation.

EU'RITHMY, in architecture, paint-
ing, and sculpture, is a certain majesty,
elegance, and ease in the various parts
of a body, arising from its just propor-
tions. In medicine, euritlimy signifies a
good disposition of the pulse.

EUSTA'THI ANS, a sect of Christians,
the followers of Eustathius, an Armenian
bishop in the fourth century, who, under
pretence of great purity and severity, in-
troduced many irregularities.

EU'STYLE, in architecture, a sort of
building in which the columns are placed
at the most convenient distances from
each other, most of the intercolumnia-
tions being just two diameters and a
quarter of the column.

EUTER'PE, one
of the muses, con-
sidered as presiding
over music, because
the invention of the
flute is ascribed to
her. She is usually
represented as a
virgin crowned with
flowers, having a I
flute in her hand, or
with various instru-
ments about her. As
her name denotes,
she is the inspirer
of pleasure.

EUTY'CHIANS,
a religious sect in
the fifth century,
called after one Eu-
tychus, who maintained, among other
things, that the flesh of Christ differed in
its nature from that of mankind.

EUTHANA'SIA, or EUTHAN'ASY,
a gentle, easy, happy death

EVAN'GELIST, a general name given
to those who write or preach the go.pel
of Jesus Christ. The word is of Grook
origin, signifying one who publishes <rlad
tidings, or is the messenger of good
news. But it is applied principally
to the writers of the four Gospels, or
Evangelia, viz. Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John. The word also denotes certain
ministers in the primitive church, who
assisted the Apostles in diffusing the
knowledge of the Gospel, and travelled
about to execute such commissions as

EVIJ

AND THE FINE AttTS.

221

they were entrusted with, for the ad-
vancement of Christianity.

EVAN'GELISTS, in the Fine Arts, on
the earliest sculptures the EVANGELISTS
are symbolized by four scrolls, or, with
reference to the four streams of Paradise,
by four rivers flowing down from a hill,
on which stands a Cross and the Lamb,
the MONOGRAM of Christ. They were af-
terwards represented as the forms out of
Ezekiel, vii. 1-10, viz., a man, a lion, a
bull, and an eagle, which are mentioned
as supporting the throne of God (Rev. iv.
6-7.) After the fifth century, the By-
y.antine artists, keeping strictly to bibli-
cal terms, represented the Evangelists (at
iirst in mosaic) as miraculous animals,
half men and half beasts; they had wings
like the CHERUBIM, and were either in
the act of writing or had a scroll before
them. The human face was given only
to Matthew or Mark, to which of these
two was doubtful, even o the time of
Jerome, with whom originated the pres-
ent appropriation of the attributes ; the
other three had the heads of a lion, an
ox, and an eagle, with corresponding
feet. This representation was customary
for some time in the Greek Church. In
the latter part of the middle ages the
Western Church began to separate the
human figure from that of the animal,
and to represent the Evangelists only in
the former manner, generally as writing,
and three of them with the animals by
their sides as attributes. The four ani-
mals are often represented with scrolls,
anciently inscribed with the initial sen-
tences of each Gospel. In later exam-
ples the names of the Evangelists are in-
scribed on the scrolls. In sepulchral
brasses the Evangelistic symbols are
found variously arranged, but they are
most frequently placed so as to follow
the same order. According to St. Je-
rome's arrangement St. Matthew had a
man or angel by his side, because his
Gospel begins with a genealogy showing
the human descent of Christ. St. Mark
has a lion, the symbol of the royal dig-
nity of the Saviour, and referring to the
desert (Mark i. 13) in which he was with
wild beasts. St. Luke has the ox, the
symbol of the high priesthood, because
his Gospel begins with the history of Zach-
arias serving in the temple. St. John
has the eagle, the emblem of the divinity
of Christ, and referring to the doctrine
of the Logon, with which his Gospel com-
mences. Christ was thus symbolized by
the Evangelists, as Man, King, High
Priest, and God. The EVANGELISTIC

SYMBOLS are found variously employed
in Christian edifices and ornaments of
every period in the history of Art, and
they are introduced in Christian design
under a great variety of place and cir-
cumstance, e. g. most appropriately on
books of the Holy Gospels, enamelled in
silver and set on the angles of the covers ;
on crosses, as being the four great wit-
nesses of the doctrine of the Cross. For
the same reason, on the four gables of
Cruciform Churches; also in cross front-
als for altars ; at the four corners of
monumental stones and brasses in testi-
mony of the faith of the deceased in the
Gospel of Christ ; around images of the
Majesty, the Holy Trinity, Agnus Dei,
Crucifixion, Resurrection, whether paint-
ed on glass, or ceilings and wall, or em-
broidered on vestments or altar-cloths,
as the sacred mysteries represented are
described in the Holy Gospels.

EVA'S ION, the act of eluding or es-
caping from the pressure of an argument,
or from an accusation, charge, or inter-
rogatory.

EVA'TES, a branch of the Druids, or
ancient Celtic philosophers. Strabo di-
vides the British and Gaulic philosophers
into three sects, Bards, Evates, and Dru-
ids. He adds, that the Bards were the
poets and musicians; the Evates, the
priests and naturalists ; and the Druids
were moralists as well as naturalists.

EVE'NING, or EVE, the precise
time when evening begins is not ascer-
tained by usage. In strictness, evening
commences at the setting of the sun, and
continues during twilight, and night com-
mences with total darkness. But it
sometimes includes a portion of the after-
noon ; as in the phrase, " the morning
and evening service of the church ;" and
in customary language it. extends to bed-
time ; as "I spent the evening with a
friend." Figuratively, we use it for the
decline of life, or old age ; as " the eve-
ning of life."

EVIDENCE, in its most general
sense, means the proofs which establish,
or have a tendency to establish, any facts
or conclusions. It may be divided into
three sorts, mathematical, moral, and
legal. The first is employed in the dem-
onstrations which belong to pure math-
ematics; the second is employed in the
general affairs of life, and in those rea-
sonings which are applied to convince the
understanding in cases not admitting of
strict demonstration ; the third is that
which is employed in judicial tribunals
for the purpose of deciding upon the

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

EXC

rights and wrongs of litigants. Accord-
ing to our system of jurisprudence in
common law trials, it is the peculiar pro-
vince of a jury to decide all matters of
fact. The verdict of the jury is, however,
to be given, and the trial is to be had, in
the presence of a judge or judges, who
preside at the trial, and are bound to de-
cide all matters of law, arising in the
course of the trial. Whenever, therefore,
a question arises, whether anything of-
fered as proof at such trial is or is not
proper to go before the jury as evidence,
that question is to be decided by the
court, and, unless permitted by the court,
it can never legally come before the con-
sideration of the jury. Hence, whatever
is so permitted to be brought before the
jury, for the purpose of enabling them to
decide a'ny matter of fact in dispute be-
tween the parties, is in a legal sense, evi-
dence, and is so called in contra-distinc-
tion to mere argument and comment.
This gives rise to a very important dis-
tinction, at the common law, as to the
competency and the credibility of evi-
dence. It is competent, when by the
principles of law, it is admissible to es-
tablish any fact, or has any tendency to
prove it. It is credible, when, being in-
troduced, it affords satisfactory proof of
the fact. It follows, therefore, that evi-
dence may be competent to be produced
before a jury, when it may nevertheless
not amount to credible proof, so as to sat-
isfy the minds of the jury ; and, on the
other hand, it may be such as, if before
them, would satisfy their minds of the
truth of the fact, but yet, by the rules of
law, it is not admissible. Whether there
is any evidence of a fact, is a question for
the court ; whether it is sufficient, is a
question for the jury.

B'VIL, in philosophy, &c. is either
moral or natural. Moral evil is any de-
viation of a moral agent from the rules
of conduct prescribed to him. Some
make the essence of moral evil consist in
the disagreement of our manners to the
divine will, whether known by reason or
revelation ; others, in being contrary .to
reason and truth ; and others, in being
inconsistent with the nature, faculties,
affections, and situation of mankind.

EVOCA'TI, soldiers among the Ro-
mans, who having served their full time
in the army, went afterwards volunteers
at the request of some favorite general ;
on which account they were called by the
hono-able names of hncriti and Beneji-
ciarii.

EVOCATION, in P.oman antiquity, a

solemn invitation or prayer to the gods
of a besieged town, to forsake it and
come over to the besiegers.

EVOLUTION, in military tactics, the
complicated movement of a body of men
when they change their position by
countermarching, wheeling, <tc.

E'VOVJE, in music, the vowels used
with the ending notes of the ecclesiastical
tones: it is a word, for brevity's sake,
formed of the six vowels in the words
saeculorum amen, which are subjoined to
the notes in Antiphonaries, Ac., to indi-
cate that those are the ending notes.

EXAGGERATION, in rhetoric, a kind
of hyperbole, whereby things are aug-
mented or amplified, by saying more than
the strict truth will warrant. In paint-
ing; a method of giving a representation
of things too strong for the life.

EXALTA'DOS, in Spanish history, the
name of the party attached the liberal
system of politics, corresponding to the
''extreme gauche" of the French, or
Whig radicals, in English politics.

EXAMINATION, in its primary
sense, is a careful and accurate inspec-
tion or inquiry, in order to discover the
real state of anything. In judicial pro-
ceedings, an attempt to ascertain truth,
generally on the oath of the party ex-
amined, by interrogatories. In schools,
an inquiry into the acquisitions of the
students, by questioning them in litera-
ture and the sciences, or by hearing their
recitals.

EXAMINERS, in law, two officers in
the court of Chancery, who are appointed
on oath, to examine witnesses on either
side.

EX' ARCH, in antiquity, an officer sent
by the emperors of the East, into Italy,
as prefect or governor. Exarch also de-
notes an officer still subsisting in the
Greek church, who visits the provinces,
in order to see whether the bishops and
clergy do their duty.

EXAUCTORATION, or EXAUTHO-
RA'TION, in Roman antiquity, tempo-
rary dismission from service : thus the ex-
auctori milites were deprived of their pay
and arms, witRout being absolutely dis-
charged.

EXCALCEA'TION, among the He-
brews, was a law, whereby a widow,
whom her husband's brother refused to
marry, had a right to summon him to a
court of justice, and, upon his refusal,
might excalceate him, that is, pull off one
of his shoes, and spit in his face ; both
of which were considered actions of great
ignominy.

EXC]

AND THE FIN 7 E ARTS.

223

EX CA'THEDRA, a Latin phrase ;
originally applied to decisions rendered
by prelates, chiefly popes, from their ca-
thedra or chair : i. e. in a solemn judi-
cial manner. Hence applied to every
decision pronounced by one in the exercise
of his peculiar authority : a professor
in his lecture room, a judge from the
bench, &c.

EX'CELLENCY, a title of honor for-
merly given to kings and emperors, but
now given to governors, ambassadors, &c.
who are elevated by virtue of particular
offices. The title of excellency is in no
case hereditary, or transferable from one
member to another, but always belongs
to the office, and is only borne, on the
European continent, by ministers in ac-
tual service, by the highest court and
military dignitaries, and by ambassadors
and plenipotentiaries. Foreign minis-
ters are addressed by the title of your
excellency, by way of courtesy, even if
they have no rank which entities them to
this distinction ; but charge d'affaires
never receive the title.

EXCHANGE', in commerce, traffic by
permutation, or the act of giving one
thing or commodity for another. The
receipt or payment of money in one
country for the like sum in another, by
means of bills of exchange. Thus, A in
London, is creditor to B in New York, to
the amount of 100Z. C in London is
debtor to B in New York, in a like sum :
by the operation of the bill of exchange,
the London creditor is paid by the Lon-
don debtor, and the New York creditor is
paid by the New York debtor ; and, con-
sequently, two debts are paid, though no
specie is sent from London to New York,
or from New York to London. This is
the principle of a bill of exchange ; and
the great convenience here represented
is the foundation of exchange itself. That
variation above and below par, which is
called the course of exchange, results
from the same causes that act upon the
price of commodities of every other kind.
If bills upon New York be scarce, that
is, if New York is but little indebted
to London, the London creditor, who
wants bills on New York to remit to that
city, is obliged to purchase them dearly ;
then the course of exchange is above par :
if, on the other hand, London owes less
to New York than New York owes to
London, New York bills will be propor-
tionably plenty, and the exchange with
that city below par. Hence, it is a max-
im that, when the course of exchange
rises above par, the balance of trade runs

against the country where it rises. In
London, bills of exchange are bought and
sold by brokers, who go round to the prin-
cipal merchants, and discover whether
they are buyers or sellers of bills. A
few of the brokers of most influence, after
ascertaining the state of the relative sup-
ply of arfd demand for bills, suggest a
price at which the greater part of the
transactions of the day are settled, with
such deviations as particular bills, from
their being in very high or low credit,
may be subject to. In London and other
great commercial cities, a class of middle-
men speculate largely on the rise and fall
of the exchange, buying bills when they
expect a rise, and selling them when a
fall is anticipated. Exchange,, in arith-
metic, is the finding what quantity of the
money in one place is equal to a given
sum of another, according to a certain
course of exchange. Course, of exchange
is the current price betwixt two places,
whi"h is always fluctuating and unset-
tled. -Arbitration of exchange is a cal-
culation of the exchanges of different
places to discover which is the most prof-
itable. Exchange of prisoners, in war,
the act of giving up men on both sides,
upon certain conditions agi'eed to by the
contending parties.

EXCHANGE', (often contracted into
CHANGE,) signifies a building or other
place in considerable trading cities, where
the merchants, agents, bankers, brokers,
and other persons concerned in commerce,
meet at certain times, to confer and
treat together of matters relating to ex-
changes, remittances, payments, adven-
tures, assurances, freights, and other
mercantile negotiations both by sea and
land.

EXCHEQ'UER, in British jurispru-
dence, an ancient court of record, in which
all causes concerning the revenues and
rights of the crown are heard and deter-
mined, and where the crown-revenues
are received. It took this name from the
cloth that covered the table of the court,
which was party-colored or chequered.
This court is said to. have been erected
by William the Conqueror. The public
Exchequer is under the control of the
lords of the Treasury, and of a minister
called the chancellor of the exchequer.
To institute a process against a person
in this court, is called to exchequer him.

EXCHEQ'UER-BILLS, bills for mon-
ey, or promissory notes, issued from the
exchequer, under the authority of govern-
ment, and bearing interest.

EXCISE', an inland duty, paid in some

224

OVClioPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[EXE

instances upon the commodity consumed,
or on the retail, which is the last stage
before consumption-; but in others this
duty is paid at the manufactories. The
excise was first introduced in England by
the parliament which beheaded Charles
I. and its great founder was Mr. Pym ;
and is now one of the most considerable
branches of the national revenue. It
was formerly farmed out, but is at pres-
ent managed for the government by com-
missioners, who receive the whole pro-
duct of the excise, and pay it into the
exchequer. The officer who inspects ex-
cisable- commodities and rates the duties
on them is called an exciseman.

EXCLAMA'TION, emphatical utter-
ance ; or the sign by which emphatical
utterance is marked : thus (!). In gram-
mar, a word expressing some passion, as
wonder, fear, &c.

EXCOMMUNICATION, an ecclesias-
tical censure, whereby a person is ex-
cluded from communion with the church,
and deprived of some civil rights. In
the present state of church-government
in England, excommunication is seldom
used but as a sort of writ of outlawry on
contempt of the bishop's court, in the sev-
eral descriptions of causes that belong to
ecclesiastical jurisdiction. It is published
in the church, and if the offender does not
submit in forty days, the civil magistrate
interposes, and the excommunicated per-
son is imprisoned till he submits, and ob-
tains absolution. The Roman Catholics
use the phrase fulminating an excom-
munication, to signify the solemn pro-
nouncing of an excommunication after
several admonitions. This fulmination
principally consists of curses, execrations,
and other ceremonies ; and is called ana-
thema. Excommunication amongst the
Jews was of three kinds or degrees. The
first was called Niddui, and was a sepa-
ration for a few days. The second was
Cherem, and was a separation attended
with execration and malediction ; the
third was Shammatlia, and was the last
and greater excommunication. Excom-
munication amongst the Greeks and Ro-
mans excluded the person, on whom it was
pronounced, from the sacrifices and tem-
ples, and delivered him over to the Furies.

EXCC'BI.35, in antiquity, the watches
and guards kept in the day by the Ro-
mans, in distinction fr<Jm vigilicc, which
were kept at night.

EX'EAT, in ecclesiastical history, a
term employed in the permission which
a bishop grants to a priest to go out of
his diocese.

EXECU'TION, in law, the completing
or finishing some act, as of judgment or
deed, and it usually signifies the obtain-
ing possession of anything received by
judgment of law. Also, the carrying into
effect a sentence or judgment of court;
as the infliction of capital punishment.
Execution, in painting, is the term given
to the peculiar mode of working for ef-
fect the manipulation peculiar to each
individual artist ; where it predominates
over finish, or where execution exhibits a
studied eccentricity, it degenerates into
mannerism, which, when it merely ex-
hibits the manual dexterity of the artist,
is usually the exponent of mediocrity : at
the same time it must be admitted, that
good execution is always aimed at by the
true artist. All qualities of execution,
properly so called, are influenced by, and
in a great degree dependent on, a far
higher power than that of mere execution
knowledge of truth. For exactly in
proportion as an artist is certain of his
end, will he be swift and simple in his
means ; and as he is accurate and deep in
his knowledge, will he be refined and pre-
cise in his touch.

EXECUTIONER, the officer who in-
flicts capital punishment in pursuance of
a legal warrant ; the common hangman.

EXEC'UTIVE, in politics, that branch
of the government which executes the
functions of governing the state. The
word is used in distinction from legisla-
tive and judicial. The body that deliber-
ates and enacts laws, is legislative; the
body that judges or applies the laws to
particular cases, is judicial; and the body
that carries the laws into effect, or super-
intends the enforcement of them, is ex-
ecutive. In all monarchical states this
power rests in the prince.

EXEC'UTOR, in law, a person appoint-
ed by another's last will and testament,
to have the execution of the same after
his decease, and the disposing of the tes-
tator's goods and effects, according to the
intent of the will.

EXEC'UTOR Y, in law, signifies that
which is to take effect on a future con-
tingency ; as an executory devise or re-
mainder.

EXE'DR.53, in antiquity, a general

name for such buildingj- as were distinct

j from the main body of the churches, and

I yet within the limits of the consecrated

i ground.

EXEGE'SIS, a discourse intended to

explain or illustrate a subject. The term

is applied most usually to the exposition

; or interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.

EXl]

AND THE FINE ABTS.

225

This department of biblical learning has
been most assiduously cultivated in mod-
ern times, especially by the Germans, as
the writings of Michaelis, Schleusner,
Rosenmuller, Gesenius, Ac., amply testify.

EXEM'PLAR, a pattern or model ; the
ideal model which an artist attempts to
imitate. That which serves as a model
for imitation, or as a warning for others,
is termed exemplary ; as, exemplary jus-
tice ; exemplary punishment.

EXEQUA'TUR, an official recognition
of a person in the character of consul or
commercial agent, authorizing him to ex-
ercise his powers.

EX'ERCISE, the exertion of the body,
for health, amusement, labor, or the at-
tainment of any art. Exercise increases
the circulation of the blood, attenuates
and divides the fluids, and promotes a
regular perspiration, as well as a due se-
cretion of all the humors ; for it acceler-
ates the animal spirits, and facilitates
their distribution into all the fibres of the
body, strengthens the parts, creates an
appetite, and helps digestion. Whence
it arises, that those who accustom them-
selves to exercise are generally very ro-
bust, and seldom subject to diseases. It
should never be forgotten by those of
studious habits, that the delicate springs
of our frail machines lose their activity,
and the vessels become clogged with ob-
structions, when we totally desist from
exercise ; from which consequences arise
which necessarily affect the brain ; a mere
studious life is therefore equally prejudi-
cial to the body and the mind. We may
further observe, that an inclination to
study ought not to be carried to the ex'
tent of aversion to society and motion.
The natural lot of man is to live among
his fellows ; and whatever may be his sit-
uation in the world, there are a thousand
occasions wherein his physical energies
may be rendered serviceable to his fel-
low-creatures, as well as to himself.
Many rational causes have therefore giv-
en rise to the practice of particular exer-
cises ; and those legislators who deserve
to be called the most sagacious and be-
nevolent, have instituted opportunities
for enabling youth who devote themselves
to study, to become expert also in lauda-
ble exercises. Mental exercise is the ex-
ertion of the mind or faculties for im-
provement, as in the various branches of
literature, art, and science. Military
exercise consists in the use of arms, in
marches, evolutions, Ac. Naval exercise
consists in the management of artillery,
and in the evolutions of fleets.
15

EXER'GUE, a term used by medallists
to denote the little space around and
without the work or figures of a medal
for an inscription, &c.

EXHEREDA'TION, in the civil law,
a father's excluding a child from inher-
iting any part of his estate.

EXHIB'IT, any paper produced or pre-
sented to a court or to auditors, referees,
or arbitrators, as a voucher, &c. In
chancery, a deed or writing produced in
court and sworn to, and a certificate of
the oath endorsed on it by the examiner
or commissioner.

EXHIBITION, a public display of
whatever is interesting either as a mat-
ter of art or curiosity. Also, a benefac-
tion settled for the benefit of scholars in
the universities, that are not on the foun-
dation. The person receiving this is call-
ed an exhibitioner. Exhibition was an-
ciently an allowance for meat and drink,
such as the religious appropriators made
to the poor depending vicar.

EXHUMA'TION, the digging up of a
dead body that has been interred.

EX'IGENT, in law, a writ or part of
the process of outlaw'ry. The exigent or
exigi facias requires the defendant to be
proclaimed in five courts successively, to
render himself ; and if he does not, he is
outlawed.

EX'ILE, a state of banishment or ex-
pulsion from one's country by authority ;
or it may be an abandonment of one's
country, for a foreign land, from disgust
or any other motive, which is called vol-
untary exile.

EXIST'ENCE, the state of being, or
having an actual essence. Mr. Locke
says, that we arrive at the knowledge of
our own existence, by intuition ; of the
existence of God, by demonstration ; and
of other things, by sensation. As for our
own existence, continues he, we perceive
it so plainly, that it neither needs, nor is
capable of, any proof. I think, I reason,
I feel pleasure and pain ; can any of
these be more evident to me than my
own existence ? If I doubt of all other
things, that very doubt makes me per-
ceive my own existence, and will not suf-
fer me to doubt. If I know I doubt, I
have as certain a perception of the thing
doubting, as of that thought which I call
doubt : experience then convinces us, that
we have an intuitive knowledge of our
own existence.

EX'IT, a departure ; a terra used to
denote the action of quitting the stage by
a player after he has performed his part.
Figuratively, the act of quitting this mor-
tal existence.

226

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[EXP

EXO'DIA, amongst the Romans, were
a sort of after-pieces, performed by young
gentlemen when the play was concluded.
They bore no relation to the drama be-
fore exhibited ; but were intended to re-
vive, or rather improve the Fescennine
verses, which had fallen into disuse. Pro-
fessional actors never performed any part
in the Exodia.

EX'ODE, in the Greek drama, the con-
cluding part of a play, or that part which
comprehends all that occurs after the last
interlude.

EX'ODUS, a canonical book of the Old
Testament ; being the second of the Pen-
tateuch, or five books of Moses. It con-
tains a history of the departure of the
children of Israel from Egypt ; from
which it received its name.

EX OFFI'CIO, in law, the power a
person has, by virtue of his office, to do
certain acts without special authority.

EXO'MIS, in Grecian costume, a gar-
ment worn chiefly by the working classes,
without sleeves, or with only one sleeve
for the left arm, leaving the right and
part of the breast exposed and free. It
varied much in form, sometimes it was a
chiton, at others a pallium, serving the
purposes of each. In works of Art it is
usually applied to representations of the
Amazons, and to Charon, Vulcan, and
Daedalus. It was also the dress of old
men in the comic plays of Aristophanes
and others.

EX'ORCISM, the solemn adjuration by
which those endowed with certain powers
were believed to be able to subject evil
spirits to their obedience : more partic-
ularly to compel them to leave the bodies
of those supposed to be subject to demon-
iacal possession. The exorcists form one
of the minor orders in the church of
Rome.

EXOR'DIUM, in oratory and litera-
ture, the opening part of an oration ;
which, according to ancient critics, should
be drawn either from the subject itself or
from the situation of the speaker ; pre-
senting either brief remarks on the gen-
eral character of the topic on which he
is about to deliver himself, or insinua-
tions, (according to the advice of Cicero,)
calculated to prejudice the audience in
favor of the speaker, and against his ad-
versary.

EXOTER'IC, in rhetoric, a term ap-
plied to such of Aristotle's lectures as
were open to all persons. See ESOTERIC.

EXOT'IC, an appellation for the pro-
duce of foreign countries. Exotic plants
are such as belong to a soil and climate

entirely different from the place where
they lire raided, and therefore can be
preserved for the most part only in green-
houses.

EX-PAR'TE, in law, on one side, aa
ex-parte statement, a partial statement,
or that which is made on one side only.

EXPATRI A'TION, the forsaking one's
own country, with a renunciation of alle-
giance, and with a view of becoming a
permanent resident and citizen in anoth-
er country.

EXPECTANCY, in law, a state of
I waiting or suspension. An estate in ex-
pectancy is one which is to take effect or
| commence after the determination of an-
other estate. Estates of this kind are
remainders and reversions.

EXPECTANT, in law, an epithet for
whatever has a relation to, or dependence
upon another.

EXPECTA'TION. in the doctrine of
chances, is applied to any contingent
event, upon the happening of which some
i benefit is expected. Expectation differs
| from hope in this : hope originates in de-
sire, and may exist with little or no
ground of belief that the desired event
will arrive ; whereas expectation is found-
ed on some reasons which render the
event probable. Expectation, of life, is
a term used to express the number of
years, which, according to the experience
of bills of mortality, persons at any age
may be expected to live.

EXPE'DIENT, a temporary means of
effecting an object, without regard to ul-
terior consequences.

EXPEDITION, the march of an army,
or the voyage of a fleet, to a distant place
for hostile purposes ; as, the expedition
\ of the English to Holland ; the expedi-
tion of the French Co Egypt.

EXPE'RIENCE. the source of knowl-
edge arising from the faculty of memory,
and the power of reasoning by analogy.
Thus, we learn the instability of human
affairs bv observation or by experience.

EXPERIMENT, an act or operation
' designed to discover some unknown truth,
principle, or effect. In chemistry, a trial
of the results of certain applications and
motions of natural bodies, in order to dis-
cover something of their laws, nature,
; Ac. Experimental knowledge is the
most valuable, because it is most certain,
and most safely to be trusted.

EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY,
those branches of science, the deductions
in which are founded on experiment, as
contrasted with the moral, mathematical,
and speculative branches of knowledge

EXT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

227

The principal experimental science is
Chemistry : but there are many others,
as, Optics, Pneumatics, Hydrostatics,
Electricity, Magnetism, <fcc.

EXPERIMEN'TUM CRU'CIS, a lead-
ing or decisive experiment.

EXPIA'TION, a religious ceremony,
by which satisfaction is made for sins of
omission or commission, accidental or in-
tentional. The chief mode of expiation
among the Jews and Pagans was by sac-
rifice. Expiation, in a figurative sense,
is applied by divines to the pardon pro-
cured to men's sins, by the obedience and
deiith of Christ.

EXPORTATION, that part of foreign
commerce which consists in sending out
goods for sale, and which is therefore the
active part of trade, as importation, or
the purchasing of goods, is the passive.
We apply the word exports to goods or
produce which are sent abroad or usually
exported.

EXPOSITOR, one who explains the
writings of others ; it is applied particu-
larly to those who profess to expound the
Scriptures.

EX POST FACTO, (literally, for some-
thing done afterwards,) as an ex post
facto law, a law which operates upon a
subject not liable to it at the time the
law was made.

EXPOSTULA'TION, in rhetoric, a
warm address to a person, who has done
another some injury, representing the
wrong in the strongest terms, and de-
manding redress.

EXPRESS', a messenger or courier
sent to communicate information of an
important event, or to deliver important
dispatches.

EXPRESSION, in painting, the dis-
tinct and natural exhibition of character
or of sentiment in the characters repre-
sented. The term expression is frequent-
ly confounded with that of passion, but
they differ in this, that expression is a
general term, implying a representation
of an object agreeably to its nature and
character, and the use or office it is to
have in the work ; whereas passion, in
painting, denotes a motion of the body,
accompanied with certain indications of
strong feeling portrayed in the counte-
nance ; so that every passion is an expres-
sion, but not every expression, a passion.
Expression, in rhetoric, the elocution,
diction, or choice of words suited to the
subject and sentiment. In music, the
tone and manner which give life and re-
ality to ideas and sentiments. Theatri-
cal expression, is a distinct, sonorous, and

pleasing pronunciation, accompanied with
action suited to the sentiment.

EXPROPRIATION, the surrender of
a claim to exclusive property.

EXPUR'GATORY, serving to purify
from anything noxious or erroneous ; as
the expurgatory index of the Roman
Catholics, which directs the expunging
of passages of authors contrary to their
creed or principles.

EX'TANT, an epithet for anything
which still subsists or is in being ; as a
part only of the writings of Cicero are
extant.

EXTEM'PORE, without previous
study or meditation ; as he writes or
speaks extempore. Though an adverb, it
is often unnecessarily and improperly
used as an adjective ; as an extempore
sermon, instead of an extemporary or ex-
temporaneous sermon, &c. To extempo-
rize well, requires a ready mind well
furnished with knowledge.

EXTENT', in law, is used in a double
sense ; sometimes it signifies a writ or
command to the sheriff for the valuing
of the lands or tenements of o debtor ;
and sometimes the act of the sheriff, or
other commissioner, upon this writ ; but
most commonly it denotes an estimate or
valuation of lands Extent in aid, a
seizure made by the government, when a
public accountant becomes a defaulter,
and prays for relief against his credi-
tors.

EXTENUA'TION, the act of repre-
senting anything less faulty or criminal
than it is in fact ; it is opposed to aggra-
vation.

EXTINGUISHMENT, in law, the an-
nihilation of an estate, &c. by means of
its being merged or consolidated with an-
other.

EXTOR'TION, the unlawful act of any
person in authority, who, by color of his
office, takes money or any other thing
when none is due. Whenever property
of any kind is wrested from a person by
menace, duress, violence, authority, or by
any illegal means, it is extortion. The
word extort has a very wide signification.
Conquerors extort contributions from the
vanquished ; officers often extort illegal
fees ; confessions of guilt are extorted by
the rack ; promises which men are un-
able to perform are sometimes extorted
by duress, &c.

EX'TRA, a Latin preposition denoting
beyond or excess ; as extra-work, extra-
pay, &c. It serves as a prefix to numer-
ous English words.

EX'TRACT, in literature, some selee*

228

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

matter or sentence taken from a book. '.
In law, a draught or copy of a writing.

EXTRAJUDI'CIAL, out of the ordi- |
nary course of legal proceedings.

EXTRAMUN'DANE, beyond the limit
" of the material world.

EXTRAOllDINA'RII, in Roman an-
tiquity, a chosen body of men, consisting
of a third part of the foreign horse, and a
fifth of the foot, which was separated from
the rest of the forces borrowed from the
confederate state, with great policy and
caution ; to prevent any design that they
might possibly entertain against the nat-
ural forces.

EXTRAVAGAN'ZA, in music, the
Italian for a kind of composition remark-
able for its wildness and incoherence.
Irregular dramatic pieces, generally of
the burlesque cast, are also sometimes
called extravaganzas.

EXTREME', the utmost point, or fur-
thest degree ; as the extremes of heat
and cold ; the extremes of virtue and
vice. In logic, the extreme terms of a
syllogism are the predicate and subject.
Thus, " Man is an animal : Henry is a
man, therefore Henry is an animal ;" the
word animal is the greatest extreme,
Henry the less extreme, and man the
medium. In music, a word employed in
describing those intervals in which the
diatonic distances are increased or dimin-
ished by a chromatic semitone.

EXTREME' UNC'TIOX, one of the
seven sacraments of the Romish church,
founded upon the passage in the Epistle
of St. James in which he says, " If any
be sick among you, let him call upon the
elders of the church, and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the
name of the Lord." The performance of
this ceremony is supposed to purify the
soul of the dying person from any sins
that he may have committed, and which
have not been previously expiated by
participation in the other means of
grace.

EXTREM'ITY, in its primary sense,
signifies the utmost point or border of a
thing. It also denotes the highest or fur-
thest degree ; as the extremity of pain or
suffering; or the Greeks have endured
oppression in its utmost extremity. In
painting and sculpture, the extremities
of the body, are the head, hands, and
feet.

EYE. the eye is the most active feature
in the countenance, the first of our organs
to awake, and the last to cease motion.
It is indicative of the higher and holier
emotions, of all those feelings which dis-

tinguish man from the brute. In the
eye we look for meaning, sentiment, and
reproof; it is the chief feature of expres-
sion. A large eye is not only consistent
with beauty, but essential to it. Hoiner
describes Juno as " ox-eyed." The eye
of the gazelle illustrates the Arab's idea
of woman's beauty, when he compares
the eye of his beloved to that of this ani-
mal. The timidity, gentleness, and inno-
cent fear in the eyes of all the deer tribe,
are compared with the modesty of a
young girl. In a well-formed face the
eye ought to be sunk, relatively to the
forehead, but not in reference to the face ;
that would impart a very mean expres-
sion. It is the strong shadow produced
by the projecting eyebrow which gives
powerful effect to the eye in sculpture.
The word eye is used in a great variety
of senses, both literal and figurative.
Eye, in architecture, is used to signify
any round window, made in a pediment,
an attic, the reins of a vault, Ac. Eye
of a dome, an aperture at the top of a
dome, as that of the Pantheon at Rome,
or of St. Paul's at London ; it is usually
covered with a lantern. Eye of the vo-
lute, is the centre of the volute, or that
point in which the helix, or spiral of
which it is formed, commences.

EY'RIE, or EY'RY, the place where
birds of prey construct their nests.

EZE'KIEL, one of the four principal
prophets. Like them, he bears a book ;
but his own peculiar attribute is a closed
gate with towers, which is either placed
in his hand or standing by his side, and
which referring to his vision of the new
temple, is the type of the heavenly Jeru-
salem, mentioned by St. John in Revela-
tion. It is one of the oldest symbols of
Christianity, and also alludes to the mys-
tery of the miraculous conception ; for
we find it together with Moses and the
burning bush, Aaron's rod, Gideon's An-
gel and Fleece, on the volets of a picture
of the Virgin by Van Eyck. of which only
a copy at Bruges is in existence. The
subjects usually chosen by the painter in
which Ezekiel appears are his Vision
of the Almighty, and his Vision of the
Resurrection of the Dead, and in a group
with the three other great prophets.

F, the sixth letter of the alphabet, is a
labial articulation, formed by placing the
upper teeth on the under lip, and accom-
panied with an emission of breath. Its

FAC']

AND THE FINE ARTS.

229

kindred letter is , which is chiefly dis-
tinguished from f by being more vocal.
The Romans for some time used F in-
verted thus, j, for V consonant, as DItfl,
for DIVI. Some have supposed that this
was one of the three letters invented by
Claudius, but many inscriptions belong-
ing to periods much anterior to the
time of Claudius exhibit this singular use
of this letter. P, as a numeral, with the
Romans, signified 40, with a dash over
it, 40,000. On medals, monuments, &c.,
F stands for Fabius, Furius, Felix;
Faitstns, &c. With merchants, f signi-
fies folio (page.) F often stands in medi-
cal prescriptions and on documents for
fiat (let it be made or done.) F also
stands for fellow, as F.A.S. Fratemita-
tis Antiquariorum Socius, or Fellow of
the Antiquarian Society. Fl. is the ab-
breviation for florin, or guilder ; and fr.
for franc. In music, f over a line means
forte ; ff, molto forte ; and F is the nomi-
nal of the fourth note in the natural dia-
tonic scale of C.

FA, in music, one of the syllables in-
vented by Guido Aretine, to mark the
fourth note of the modern scale, which
rises thus, ut, re, mi, fa.

FA'BIAN, an epithet signifying that
line of military tactics which declines the
risking of a battle in the open field, but
seeks every opportunity of harassing the
enemy by countermarches, ambuscades,
&c. It is so called from Q. Fabius Maxi-
mus, the Roman general opposed to
Hannibal.

FA'BLE, a fictitious narration, or spe-
cies of didactic allegory, which may be
described as a method of inculcating
practicable rules of worldly prudence or
wisdom, by imaginary representations
drawn from the physical or external
world. It consists, properly, of two parts :'
symbolical representation, and the appli-
cation of the instruction intended to be
deduced from it, which latter is called the
moral of the tale, and must be apparent
in the fable itself, in order to render it
poetical. The satisfaction which we de-
rive from fables does not lie wholly in the
pleasure that we receive from the sym-
bolical representation, but it lies deeper,
in the feeling that the order of nature is
the same in the spiritual and material
world ; and the fabulist, whose object is
not merely to render a truth perceptible
by means of a fictitious action, chooses
his characters from the brute creation.
Some fables are founded upon irony ;
some are pathetic; and some even aspire
to the sublime ; but, generally speaking,

a fable should possess unity, that the
whole tenor of it may be easily seen ;
and dignity, since the subject has a cer-
tain degree of importance. We find that
fables have been highly valued, not only
in times of the greatest simplicity, but
among the most polite ages of the world.
Jotham's fable of the trees is the oldest
that is extant, and as beautiful as any
that have been made since. Nathan's
fable of the poor man is next in antiqui-
ty, and had so good an effect as to convey
instruction to the ear of a king. We find
^Esop in the most distant ages of Greece ;
and in the early days of the Roman com-
monwealth, we read of a mutiny appeased
by the fable of the belly and the mem-
bers. To which we may add that although
fables had their rise in the very infancy
of learning, they never flourished more
than when learning was at its greatest
height. Fable is also used for the plot
of an epic or dramatic poem, and is, ac-
cording to Aristotle, the principal part,
and, as it were, the soul of a poem. In
this sense the fable is defined to be a dis-
course invented with art, to form the
manners by instruction, disguised under
the allegory of an action.

FA'BLIAUX, in French literature, the
metrical tales of the Trouveres or early
poets of the Langue d'Oil, or dialect of
the north of France ; composed, for the
most part, in the 12th and 13th cen-
turies.

FAB'RIC, in general, denotes the
structure or construction of anything;
but particularly of buildings, as a church,
hall, house, <fcc. It is also applied to the
texture of cloths, or stuffs ; as, this is
cloth of a beautiful fabric.

FAB'ULOUS AGE, that period in the
history of every nation in which super-
natural events are represented to have
happened. The fabulous age of Greece
and Rome is called also the heroic age.

FACADE' (pron. fassade 1 ,) in archi-
tecture, the front or external aspect of
an edifice. As in most edifices only one
side is conspicuous, viz., that which faces
the street, and usually contains the prin-
cipal entrance, this has been denomina-
ted, par eminence, the facade.

FACE, in anatomy, the front part of
the head, and the seat of most of the
senses, comprising the forehead, the eyes
and eye-lids, the nose, cheeks, mouth,
and chin. The human face is called the
image of the soul, as being the place
whence the ideas, emotions, &c. of the
soul are chiefly set to view. Nor can it
be denied that the character of each in-

230

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[FAC

dividual is often strongly marked by the
conformation of the countenance ; physi-
ognomy, therefore, in a certain degree,
always has existed. Face, among paint-
ers and artists, is used to denote a cer-
tain dimension of the human body, adapt-
ed for determining the proportion which
the several parts should bear to one an-
other ; thus the different parts of the
body are said to consist, in length, of so
m&ny faces. We also use the word face
in speaking of the surface of a thing, or
the side presented to the view of a spec-
tator ; as, the ./'ace of the earth ; the face
of the sun ; the face of a stone, <fcc.

FA' GETS, the name of the little faces
or planes to be found in brilliant and rose
diamonds.

FA'CIAL LINE OR ANGLE, these
terms are used in describing the conform-
ation that exists in the bones of the face,
Ac,, and which so strikingly characterizes
the varieties of the human race. On the
relation of the jaw to the forehead is
founded the facial line, discovered by Pe-
ter Camper. Suppose a straight line
drawn at the base of the skull, from the
great occipital cavity across the external
orifice of the ear to the bottom of the
nose. If we draw another straight line
from the bottom of the nose, or from the
roots of the upper incisor teeth to the
forehead, then both lines will form an
angle which will be more acute the less
the shape of the face, in brutes, resem-
bles that of men. In apes, this angle is
only from 45 to 60 ; in the ourang-
outang. 63 ; in the skull of a negro,
about 70 ; in a European, from 75 to
85. In Grecian works of statuary, this
angle amounts to 90 : in the statues of
Jupiter, it is 100.

FA'CIES HIPPOCRAT'ICA, in medi-
cine, that death-like appearance which
consists in the nostrils being sharp, the
eyes hollow, the temples low, the tips of
the ears contracted, the forehead dry and
wrinkled, and the complexion pale and
livid. It is so called from Hippocrates,
by whom it has been so justly described
in his prognostics.

FACSIM'ILE, an imitation of an
original in all its traits and peculiarities.
The object of fac-similes is various ; but
in all cases their perfect accuracy is in-
dispensable.

FACTION, in ancient history, an ap-
pellation given to the different troops or
companies of combatants in the games of
the circus Of these factions there were
four, the green, blue , red, and white ; to
which two others were said to have been

added by the emperor Domitian. the
pruple and the yellow. In the time of
Justinian 40,000 persons were killed in a
contest between two of these factions ; so
that they were at last suppressed by uni-
versal consent. The term faction is ap-
plied, also, in a more general sense, to any
party in a state which attempts without
adequate motives to disturb the public
repose, or to assail the measures of gov-
ernment with uncompromising opposi-
tion. In the ancient Greek republics,
faction was carried to an extent unparal-
leled in modern times. The middle ages
were distinguished chiefly by two fac-
tions, the Guelfs and Guibelins. who long
kept Italy in a state of alarm. In the
present day, in England, the term faction
is bandied about between the three great
parties of the country, the Whigs, Tories,
and Radicals, being applied indiscrimi-
nately by the adherents of one party to
those of another.

FAC'TOR, in commerce, an agent or
correspondent residing in some remote
part, commissioned by merchants to buy
or sell goods on their account, to nego-
tiate bills of exchange, or to transact
other business for them. It is universal-
ly held in courts of law and equity, that
the principal is held liable for the acts of
his agent, provided that the conduct of
the latter be conformable to the common
usage and mode of dealing ; but an agent
cannot delegate his rights to another so
as to bind the principal, unless expressly
authorized to nominate a sub-agent. Es-
tablishments for trade, in foreign parts
of the world, are called factories. The
word factory is now also used for a man-
ufactory on an extensive scale.

FAC'TORAGE, the allowance or per-
centage given to factors by the mer-
$hants and manufacturers, &c. who em-
ploy them ; and which is usually fixed by
special agreement between the merchant
and factor.

FAC'ULTY, a term used to denote the
powers or capacities of the human mind,
viz. understanding, will, memory, imagi-
nation, Ac. If it be a power exerted by
the body alone, it is called a corporeal
or animal faculty ; if it belong to the
mind, it is called a rational faculty. And
it may further be distinguished into the
' natural faculty, or that by which the body
is nourished ; and the vital, or that by
which life is preserved, <fec. Faculty, a
! term applied to the different members or
departments of an university, divided ac-
cording to the arts and sciences taught
there. In most foreign universities there

FAl]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

231

are four faculties ; of arts, including hu-
manity and philosophy ; of theology ; of
physic ; and of civil law. The degrees
in the several faculties are those of bach-
elor, master, and doctor. Vacuity, in
law, a privilege granted to a person, by
favor and indulgence, or doing that which,
by the strict letter of the law, he ought
not to do. Faculty of advocates, a term
applied to the college or society of advo-
cates in Scotland, who plead in all actions
before the court of session, judiciary and
exchequer.

FAI'ENCE, or IMITATION PORCELAIN,
a kind of pottery, superior to the com-
mon sort in its glazing, beauty of form,
and richness of painting. It derived its
name from the town of Faenza, in Ro-
inagna, where it is said to have been in-
vented in 1299. It reached its highest
perfection in the 16th century ; and some
pieces were painted by the great artists
of the period, which are highly valued as
monuments of early art.

FAIR, (either from the Latin feriae or
forum,) a meeting held at stated times
of the year in particular places, for the
purposes of traffic, to which merchants
resort with their wares. Fairs, in Chris-
tian countries, were usually held on par-
ticular festivals ; and are so still in Eng-
land, unless where they have been fixed
to particular days in the month by later
grants or privileges. By the English
law, the king's authority only is supposed
to confer the privilege of holding a fair.
Fairs are considered free, unless toll is
due to the owners by special grant, or by
custom which supposes such grant. The
most important fairs now held are proba-
bly those of Germany, and particularly
the Leipsic fairs, where books form so im-
portant a branch of its commerce. But
in no country can they have the im-
portance they formerly had, because the
communication between different parts
of a country has become so easy, that
merchandise may now be readily obtain-
ed direct from the places where it is pro-
duced or manufactured.

FAI'RIES, imaginary beings, who oc-
cupied a distinguished place in the tra-
ditional superstitions of the nations of
Western Europe, and especially in these
islands. Their English name is proba-
bly derived from " fair," or has the same
etymology with that word ; and, although
some similarity has been traced between
them and the Peris of the Persians (pro-
nounced Feri by the Arabians,) it is not
probable that the resemblance of name
Is more than accidental. There is also a

distinction between the fairy of the Eng-
lish and the Fata or prophetic sibyl of
the Italians, from which last the French
Fee is derived ; although the French, in
their romantic mythology, have some-
what mingled the characteristics of the
two. The British fairies, also, although
they have something in common with the
Dwergas or Gnomes of the Scandinavian
mythology, are not identical with them ;
they are in fact peculiar to people of
Celtic race, and the notions respecting
them prevalent among the Celtic popula-
tion in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland tally
to a remarkable degree. The popular
belief, however, was nowhere invested
with so poetical a character as in the
Lowlands of Scotland, where it forms a
main ingredient in the beautiful ballad
poetry of the district. The fairies of the
Scottish and English mythology are
diminutive beings, who render themselves
occasionally visible to men, especially in
exposed places, on the sides of hills, or in
the glades of forests, which it is their
custom to frequent. They have also
dealings with men. but of an uncertain
and unreal character. Their presents
are sometimes valuable ; but generally
accompanied, in that case, with some
condition or peculiarity which renders
them mischievous : more often they are
unsubstantial, and turn into dirt or ashes
in the hands of those to whom they have
been given. Mortals have been occasion-
ally transported into Fairy-land, and
have found that all its apparent splendor
was equally delusive. One of the most
ordinary employments of fairies, in vul-
gar superstition, is that of stealing chil-
dren at nurse, and substituting their own
offspring in place of them, which after a
short time perish or are carried away.
The popular belief in fairies has been
made the subject of poetical amplifica-
tion in the hands of so many of the
greatest writers, from Shakspeare to
Scott, that it is not easy to disentangle
the embellishments with which it has
been invested from the original notions
on which they are founded. The Fata of
the Italians, who figures in their romnntic
epics, and from whom the French have
made the Fee of their fairy tales, is quite
a different personage : a female magician,
sometimes benevolent, and sometimes ma-
levolent, partaking herself of the super-
natural character, and peculiarly gifted
with the spirit of prophecy. Such is the
Fata Morgana, to whom the celebrated
optical delusion occasionally produced in
the Straits of Messina was formerly at-

232

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

tributed by popular belief. Fairy of the
mine, an imaginary being supposed to
inhabit mines, wandering about in the
drifts and chambers, always employed,
yet effecting nothing. Fairy ring or
circle, a phenomenon frequently seen in
the fields, consisting of a round bare path
with grass in the middle, formerly as-
cribed to the dances of the fairies. It has
been supposed by some, that these rings
are the effect of lightning ; but a more
rational theory ascribes them to a kind
of fungus which grows in a circle from
the centre outwards, destroying the grass
as it extends, while the interior of the
circle is enriched by the decayed roots of
the fungi.

FAITH, in divinity and philosophy,
the firm belief of certain truths upon the
testimony of the person who reveals
them. The grounds of a rational faith
are, that the things revealed be not con-
trary to, though they may be above natu-
ral reason ; that the revealer be well
acquainted with the things he reveals ;
that he be above all suspicion of deceiving
us. Where these criterions are found, no
reasonable person will deny his assent.
Whatever propositions, therefore, are be-
yond reason, but not contrary to it, are,
when revealed, the proper matter of
faith. Justifying, or saving faith, sig-
nifies .perfect confidence in the truth of
the Gospel, which influences the will, and
leads to an entire reliance on Christ for
salvation. Public faith, is represented
on medals, sometimes with a basket of
fruit in one hand, and some ears of corn
in the other : and sometimes holding a
turtle-dove. But the most usual symbol
is with her two hands joined together.
Faith, (Fides) in ancient Art, is represent-
ed as a matron wearing a wreath of olive
or laurel leaves, and carrying in her hand
ears of corn, or a basket of fruit. In
Christian Art, by a female carrying a
cup surmounted by a cross, emblematical
of the Eucharist, " the Mystery of Faith."

FA'KIR, or FA'QUIR, a devotee, or
Indian monk. The fakirs are a kind of
fanatics in the East Indies, who retire
from the world, and give themselves up
to contemplation. Their great aim is to
gain the veneration of the world by their

but make a vow of poverty, and go from
village to village, prophesying and telling
fortunes.

FAL'CON, a bird nearly allied to the
hawk, about the size of a raven, and ca-
pable of being trained for sport, in which
it was formerly much employed. It is
usually represented in coats of arms with
bells on its legs, and also decorated with
a hood, virols, rings, <fcc. Falcon, the
attribute of St. Jerome, and of the holy
hermit Otho of Ariano ; the former has a
hooded falcon on his hand, while the lat-
ter has it sitting on his head.

FAL'CONET, a small cannon, or piece
of ordnance.

FAL'CONRY, the art of training all
kinds of hawks, but more especially the
larger sort, called the gentle falcon, to
the exercise or sport of hawking. This
sport was much practised in Europe and
Asia in the chivalric ages, and continued
in favor till the 17th century; but the
invention of fire-arms gradually super-
seded it. In France, England, and Ger-
many, falconry was at one time in such
hiarh esteem, that during the reign of
Francis I. of France, his grand falconer
received an annual revenue of 4000 li-
vres ; had under him fifteen noblemen
and fifty falconers ; and enjoyed the priv-
ilege of hawking through the whole king-
dom at pleasure. The whole establish-

absurd and cruel penances, outdoing even ment, which cost annually about 40,000
the mortifications and severities of the livres, attended the king wherever he
' ancient Christian anchorets. Some of ; went, and those who were distinguished
them mangle their bodies with scourges for their skill in the sport were loaded
and knives ; others never lie down ; and j with royal favors. In England, falconry
others remain all their lives in one pos- | was also in high esteem, and there is to
ture. There is also another kind of fa- this day an hereditary grand falconer
kirs, who do not practise suoh severities, i (the duke of St. Alban's,) who, by virtue

FAN]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

233

of his office, presents the king, or queen
regnant, with a cast of falcons on the day
of the coronation. A similar service is
performed by the representative of the
Stanley family in the Isle of Man. The
origin of this celebrated sport has given
occasion to much controversy. It has
been said that it was unknown to the
Greeks ; it is, however, described by Cte-
sias and Aristotle as practised in their
time in India and Thrace. Martial and
Apuleius present us with plain indica-
tions of the knowledge of this pastime
among the Romans. In modern Europe,
it appears to have been practised earliest,
or at least with most ardor, in Germany :
the title of the emperor, Henry the Fow-
ler (A.D. 920,) is said to be derived from
an anecdote respecting his fondness for it.
In the 12th century, it was the favorite
sport of nobles and knights throughout
Europe ; and in that which followed its
rules were reduced into a system by the
Emperor Frederic II., (Barbarossa,) and
by Demetrius, physician to the Greek
Emperor Palteologus. In that court the
grand falconer was an officer of distinc-
tion ; and the title was borrowed from it
by the western sovereigns. According to
the opinion of Strutt, the sport was not
known so early in England as on the Con-
tinent ; yet there are traces of it as early
as the 8th century.

FALD STOOL, a kind of stool placed
at the south side of the altar, at which
the kings of England kneel at their coro-
nation ; also a folding stool or desk, pro-
vided with a cushion, for a person to kneel
on during the performance of certain acts
of devotion ; also a small desk, at which,
in cathedrals, churches, <fcc., the litany is
enjoined to be sung or said. It is some-
times called a litany stool.

FAL'LACY, in logic and rhetoric, has
been defined ' any argument, or apparent
argument, which professes to be decisive
of the matter at issue, while in reality it
is not." Fallacies have been divided into
those " in dictione," in the words : and
" extra dictionern," in the matter. The
latter of these it is not the province of
logic to discover and refute ; they being,
strictly, instances in which the conclusion
follows from the premisses, and which
therefore depend on the unsoundness of
these premisses themselves, which can
only be detected by a knowledge of the
subject-matter of the argument. Logical
fallacies, or fallacies in dictione, are those
in which the conclusion appears; to follow,
but in reality does not, from the prem-
isses ; and which, consequently, can be

detected by one unlearned in the subject-
matter of the argument, but acquainted
with the rules of logic.

FALSE, contrary to the truth or fact :
the word is applicable to any subject
physical or moral. False, in music, an
epithet applied by theorists to certain
chords, because they do not contain all
the intervals appertaining to those chords
in their perfect state. Those intonations
of the voice which do not truly express
the intended intervals are also called
false, as well as all ill-adjusted combina-
tions. false, an epithet used also in
law, as false imprisonment, the trespass
of imprisoning a man without lawful
cause. In mineralogy, us false diamond,
a diamond counterfeited with glass. It
is also a word much used in military af-
fair ; as, a false alarm, a false attack,
&c. False Jlower, in botany, a flower
which does not seem to produce any fruit.
False roof, in carpentry, that part of
a house which is between the roof and
the covering.

FALSET'TO, in music, an Italian
term, denoting that species of voice in a
man, the compaes of which lies above his
natural voice, and is produced by arti-
ficial constraint.

FAMILIAR SPIRITS, demons, or evil
spirits, supposed to be continually within
call and at the service of their masters,
sometimes under an assumed shape ;
sometimes compelled by magical skill,
and sometimes doing voluntary service.
In Eastern stories, nothing is more com-
mon than the mention of magic gems,
rings, &c., to which are attached genii,
sometimes good, sometimes bad ; but in
modern Christian Europe the notion of
familiars has always been restricted to
evil spirits.

FANAT'IC, one who indulges wild and
extravagant notions of religion, and some-
times exhibits strange motions and pos-
tures, and vehement vociferation in re-
ligious worship. The ancients called
those fanatici who passed their time in
temples, (fana,) and being often seized
with a kind of enthusiasm, as if inspired
by the divinity, exhibited wild and antic
gestures. Prudentius represents them as
cutting and slashing their arms with
knives : shaking the head was also com-
mon among thefanatioi; hence the word
was applied to different religious sects,
who, on their first appearance amongst
us. sought notoriety by the extravagance
of their actions, and by pretending to in-
spirations.

FANDAN'GO, an old Spanish dance,

234

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[FAS

which proceeds generally from a slow
and uniform to the most lively motion.
It is seldom danced but at the theatre,
and in the parties of the lower classes ;
nor is it even then customary to dance it
with those voluptuous looks and attitudes
which distinguish the true fandango.
There is another species of fandango,
called the bolero, the motions and steps
of which are slow and sedate, but grow
rather more lively towards the end. In
these dances the time is beat by casta-
nets.

FANFARE', (French,) a short, lively,
loud, and warlike piece of music, com-
posed for trumpets and kettle-drums.
Also, small, lively pieces performed on
hunting-horns, in the chase. From its
meaning is derived fanfaron, a boaster,
and fanfaronade, boasting.

FANTA'SIA, in music, the name gen-
erally given to a species of composition,
supposed to be struck off in the heat of
the imagination ; and in which the com-
poser is allowed to give free range to his
ideas, unconflned by the rules of the sci-
ence. Some limit the term to mere ex-
temporaneous effusions, which are trans-
itive and evanescent : differing from the
capricio in this, that though the latter is
wild, it is the result of premeditation,
and becomes permanent ; whereas the
fantasia, when finished, no longer ex-
ists.

FAXTOCCI'NI. dramatic representa-
tions in which puppets are substituted in
the scene for human performers.

FARCE, a dramatic piece or enter-
tainment of low comic character. It was
originally a droll, or petty show exhib-
ited by mountebanks and their buffoons
in the open streets, to gather the people
together. It has, however, long been re-
moved from the street to the theatre ;
and instead of being performed by merry-
andrews to amuse the rabble, is acted by
comedians, and become the entertainment
of a polite audience. As the aim of a
farce is to promote mirth, the dialogue is
not refined, nor is there any opportunity
lost to excite laughter, however wild or
extravagant the plot, or however ridicu-
lous the characters. The original term
seems to signify a miscellaneous com-
pound or mixture of different things. In
modern language it has borne various
significations. Certain songs which were
sung between the prayers on the occa-
sion of religious worship are said to have
been denominated farces in Germany,
during the middle ages ; whence the word
appears to have Senoted simply an in-

terlude of any kind. In England, the
farce appears to have risen to the dignity
of a regular theatrical entertainment
about the beginning of the last century ;
since which time it has formed one of the
most popular exhibitions, and is usually
performed, by way of contrast, after a
tragedy at the national theatres. The
farce is restricted to three acts as its lim-
it, but frequently consists only of two or
one. Of all the pieces of this class which
have successively amused English audi-
ences, none have acquired a permanent
literary reputation except those of Foote,
performances in which the license of
the theatre in satirizing living persons
was carried to the utmost height. The
FabulcB AteUanee of the Romans, which
appears to have been short dramatic en-
tertainments of a miscellaneous charac-
ter, sometimes pastoral, sometimes tragi-
comic, Ac., but not so coarse in plan or
diction as the Mimes and their Exodia,
which were satirical dialogues in verse
between some set characters or stage-
buffoons, appear to have filled in some
respects the place of the modern farce.
On the French stage the vaudeville an-
swers to the English farce.

FAS'CES, in Roman antiquity, bundles
of rods with an axe in the centre of each
bundle, carried before the consuls as a
badge of their office. The use of the fas-
ces was introduced by the elder Tarquin

as a mark of sovereign authority : in
after-times they were borne before the
consuls, but by turns only, each having
his day. These latter had twelve of
them, carried by so many lictors.

FAS'CIA, in architecture, a flat mem-
ber in an entablature or elsewhere, like

FATj

AND THE FINE ARTS.

235

a flat band or broad fillet. The archi-
trave, when subdivided for instance, has
three bands, called fasciae ; of which the
lower is called the lirst fascia, the middle
one the second, and the upper one the
third. Fascia, a bandage employed in
various ways, 1. As a diadem, worn round
the head as an emblem of royalty, the
color being white, that worn by women
was purple. 2. Fastened round the legs,
especially of women, from the ankle to
the knee, serving the purpose of leggings,
as a protection to the legs of the wearer,
a practice that was adopted in Europe
during the middle ages.

FASCINA'TION, a kind of witchcraft
or enchantment supposed to operate by
the influence of the eye. A belief in fas-
cination appears to have been very gene-
rally prevalent in most ages and coun-
tries. It has been till very recently, and
in some remote districts is even yet, prev-
alent among the Scotch Highlanders,
and the inhabitants of the Western is-
lands, where the fear of the evil eye has
led to various precautions against its in-
fluence ; and in Turkey, when a child is
born, it is immediately laid in the cradle
and loaded with amulets, while the most
absurd ceremonies are used to protect it
from the noxious fascination of some in-
visible demon.

FASH'ION, a term used to signify the
prevailing mode or taste in any country,
the only recognized quality which it pos-
sesses being mutability. It may safely
be averred that in proportion to the in-
fluence which fashion exercises in any
country may its claim to civilization be
vindicated, nothing being so character-
istic of a rude and barbarous state of
existence as a rigid adherence to the cus-
toms of antiquity. The term fashion has
generally been considered as applicable
chiefly to the adornment of the person,
in conformity with the prevailing taste
as introduced by some individual of con-
sideration in society ; but it has a much
wider signification, being applied to the
most trivial kind of conventional usages,
a disregard or ignorance of which is suf-
ficient in the eyes of the votaries of this
tyrannical goddess to banish the offender
beyond the pale of civilized society.

FAS'TI, in ancient history, the records
of the Roman state, in which all public
matters, military and civil, were regis-
tered by the high priest, according to the
days on which they took place. The
fasti of Ovid is a poem giving an ac-
count of the Rovnan year, and the cere-
monies attached to the different days,

with their historical or mythological ori-
gin. The first six books, containing the
first six months of the year, beginning
with January, have come down to us ;
the rest are lost.

FASTS, occasional abstinence from
food, on days appointed by public author-
ity to be observed in fasting and humili-
ation. Solemn fasts have been observed
in all ages and nations, especially in
times of mourning and affliction. Among
the Jews, besides their stated fast days,
they were occasionally enjoined in the time
of any public calamity. They were ob-
served upon the second and fifth days of
the week, beginning an hour before sun-
set, and continuing till midnight on the
following flay. On these occasions they
always wore sackcloth next their skins,
rent their clothes, which were of coarse
white stuff; sprinkled ashes on their
heads; went barefoot ; and neither wash-
ed their hands nor anointed their bodies
as usual. They thronged the tejnple,
made long and mournful prayers, and
had every external appearance of humil-
iation and dejection. In order to com-
plete their abstinence, at night they were
allowed to eat nothing but a little bread
dipped in water, with some salt for sea-
toning, except they chose some bitter
herbs and pulse. The practice of fasting
is recommended in the New Testament
by the example of the Apostles and early
Christians, who are frequently represent-
ed as fasting, especially on solemn occa-
sions, such as when Paul and Barnabas
are sent forth by the Apostles to preach
to the Gentiles. The observance of sta-
ted fast days prevailed very early and
universally in the church.

FA'TALISM, the belief of an un-
changeable destiny, to which everything
is subject, uninfluenced by reason, and
independent of a controlling cause ; the
doctrine, in short, which teaches that all
things take place by an inevitable ne-
cessity.

FA'TA MORGA'NA, a singular aerial
phenomenon seen in the straits of Messi-
na. When the rising sun shines from
that point whence its incident ray forms
an angle of about 45 on the sea of Heg-
gio, and the bright surface of the water
in the bay is not disturbed either by the
wind or current, when the tide is at its
height, and the waters are pressed up by
currents to a great elevation in the mid-
dle of the channel, the spectator being
placed on an eminence, with his back to
the sun and his face to the sea, the moun-
tains of Messina rising like a wall behind

236

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[FEA

it, and forming the back-ground of the
picture, on a sudden there appears in
the water, as in a catoptric theatre, vari-
ous multiplied objects numberless series
of pilasters, arches, castles, well-deline-
ated regular columns, lofty towers, su-
perb palaces, with balconies and windows,
extended alleys of trees, delightful plains,
with herds and flocks, armies of men on
foot, on horseback, and many other things,
in their natural colors and proper actions,
passing rapidly in succession along the
surface of the sea, during the whole of the
short period of time while the above-
mentioned causes remain. All these ob-
jects, which are exhibited in the Fata
Morgana, are proved by the accurate ob-
servations of the coast and town of Reg-
gio, to be derived from objects on shore.
If, in addition to the circumstances be-
fore described, the atmosphere be highly
impregnated with vapor, and dense ex-
halations, not previously dispersed by the
action of the wind and waves, or rarified
by the sun, it then happens, that in this
vapor, as in a curtain extended along the
channel to the height of above forty
palms, and nearly down to the sea, the
observer will behold the scene of the same
objects not only reflected from the surface
of the sea, but likewise in the air, though
not so distinctly or well defined as the
former objects of the sea. Lastly, if the
air be slightly hazy and opaque, and at
the same time dewy, and adapted to form
the iris, then the above-mentioned objects
will appear only at the surface of the sea,
as in the first case ; but all vividly color-
ed or fringed with red, green, blue, and
other prismatic colors.

FATE, destiny depending on a supe-
rior cause and uncontrollable. According
to the Stoics, every event is determined
by Fate ; and in the sense in which the
moderns use the word, it implies the or-
der or determination of Providence.

FATES, in mythology, the three sister
goddesses named Clotho, (spinster,) La-
chesis, (allotter,) and Atropos, (unchange-
able,) whose office it was to spin the des-
tinies of men, and break the threads when
their appointed hours of death came.
They were also called Parcse by the Lat-
ins. Their Greek name was Mofpai, f. e.,
" the dispensers."

FAUNA'LIA, three Roman festivals
annually observed in honor of the god
Faunus. The first was kept on the ides
of February, the second on the 16th of
the calends of March, and the third on
the nones of December. The sacrifices on
these occasions were lambs and kids. It

is supposed that the Roman Faunus was
the same with the Greek Pan.

FAUNS, rural deities, among the Ro-
innns, represented with horns on their
heads, sharp pointed ears, and the rest of
their bodies like goats. They were the
mythological demi-gods of woods and for-

ests, thence called sylvan deities. The
figure is taken from an antique statue in
the Florentine museum, and represents a
young faun as a flute-player.

FAUX JOUR, (French^/a/seZig-W;
term used in the Fine Arts, signifying that
a picture is placed so that the light falls
upon it from a different side from that
which the painter has represented the
light in the picture as falling upon ob-
jects, or that it is covered with a bright
glare, so that nothing can be properly
distinguished.

FAVIS'SJE, large vaults underground
in the area of the Roman capitol, where
the Romans carefully lodged and deposi-
ted with a degree of religious care the
old statues, and other sacred utensils,
when they happened to be broken ; such
a superstitious veneration did they pay
to everything belonging to the capitol.

FE'ALTY, in feudal law, an oath ta-
ken on the admittance of any tenant to
be true to the lord of whom he held his
land. Under the feudal system of ten-
ures, every vassal or tenant was bound to
be true and faithful to his lord, and to
defend him against his enemies : the
tenant is called a liege man ; the land a
lie" e fee ; and the superior, a liege lord.

FEASTS, or FESTIVALS, in a reli-
gious sense, are aniversary times of feast-
ing and thanksgiving, such as Christmas
Easter, Ac. Feasts were of divine insti-
tution ; intended by the Deity to perpet-

FEE]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

237

uate among his chosen people, the Jews,
the memory of his mercies and miracles ;
as well as to keep alive the friendship
betwixt the different tribes and families,
by bringing them together on solemn oc-
casions, and offering up their thanksgiv-
ings in the holy city. Among Chris-
tians, movable feasts are those which,
depending on astronomical calculations,
do not always return on the same days
of the year. Of these, the principal is
Easter, which fixes all the rest, as Palm-
Sunday, Good Friday, Ash- Wednesday,
Sexagesima, Ascension-day, Pentecost,
and Trinity Sunday. Immovable feasts,
those which are constantly celebrated on
the same day ; of these, the principal are
Christmas day, or the Nativity, the Cir-
cumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas or the
Purification, Lady-day or the Annuncia-
tion, All Saints, and All Souls, and the
days of the several apostles. The four
quarterly feasts, are Lady-day, or the
annunciation of the Virgin Mary, on the
*'5th of March ; the nativity of St. John
the Baptist, on the 24th of June ; the
feast of St. Michael, the archangel, on
the 29th of September ; and Christmas, or
rather of St. Thomas the apostle, on the
21st of December. The feasts of the an-
cients were conducted with great cere-
mony. The guests wore white garments,
decorated themselves with garlands, and
often anointed the head, beard, and breast
with fragrant oils. The banqueting
room was also often adorned with gar-
lands and roses, which were hung over
the table, as the emblem of silence :
hence the common phrase, to communi-
cate a thing sub rosa (under the rose.)
The luxurious Romans drank out of crys-
tal, amber, and the costly murra (a kind
of porcelain introduced by Pompey.)
as well as onyx, beryl, and elegantly
wrought gold, set with precious stones.
After the meal was ended, flute players,
female singers, dancers and buffoons of
all kinds, amused the guests, or the
guests themselves joined in various sports
and games.

FEB'RUARY in chronology, the sec-
ond month of the year, reckoning from
January, first added to the calendar of
Romulus by Numa Pompilius. Febru-
ary derived its name from Februa, a
feiist held by the Romans in this month,
in behalf of the manes of the deceased,
at which ceremony sacrifices were per-
formed, and the last offices were paid to
the shades of the defunct. February in
a common year consists only of 28 days,
but in the bissextile year it has 29, on

account of the intercalary day added that
year.

FE'CIALES, a college of priests insti-
tuted at Rome by Numa, consisting of
twenty persons, selected out of the best
families. Their business was to be ar-
bitrators of all matters relating to war
and peace, and to be the guardians of
the public faith.

FED'ERAL GOVERNMENT, such a
government as consists of several inde-
pendent provinces or states, united under
one head ; but the degree to which such
states give up their individual rights
may be very different, although as re-
lates to general politics they have one
common interest, and agree to be gov-
erned by one and the same principle.
Of such kind is the government of the
United States of America.

FEDERALIST, an appellation in the
United States, given to those politicians
who wanted to strengthen thefasdus, or
general government compact, in opposi-
tion to others who wished to enfeeble it
by extending the separate authority of
the several states. Hamilton was a
chief federalist, Jefferson a leading anti-
federalist.

FEE, a reward or recompense for pro-
fessional services ; as the fees of law-
yers, physicians, &c. Public offices have
likewise their settled./'ees, for the several
branches of business transacted in them.

FEE-ESTATE, in law, properly signi-
fies an inheritable estate in land, held of
some superior or lord ; and in this sense
it is distinguished from allodium, which
is the absolute property in land. It is
the theory of the English law that all the
lands of the kingdom, except the royal
domains, are held in fee, or by a tenure,
of some superior lord, the absolute or al-
lodial property being only in the king, so
that all the tenures arc strictly feudal.
The most ample estate a person can have
is that of fee-simple ; and such an estate
can be had only in property that is in-
heritable, and of a permanent nature.
fee-farm, a kind of tenure without hom-
age, fealty, or other service, except that
mentioned in the feoffment ; which is
usually the full rent. The nature of this
tenure is, that if the rent is in arrear or
unpaid for two years, then the feoffer and
his heirs may have an action for the re-
covery of his lands.

FEELING, one of the five external
senses, by which we obtain the ideas of
solid, hard, soft, rough, hot, cold, wet,
dry, and other tangible qualities. This
sense is the coarsest, but at the same

238

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[FEO

time it is the surest of the five ; it is be-
sides the most universal. We see and
hear with small portions of our body ;
but we feel with all. Nature has be-
stowed that general sensation wherever
there are nerves, and they are every-
where where there is life. Were it other-
wise, the parts divested of it might be
destroyed without our knowledge. All
the nervous solids, while animated by
their fluids, have this general sensation ;
but the papillae in the skin, those of the
nngers in particular, have it in a more
exquisite degree. Like every other sense,
feeling is capable of the greatest improve-
ment ; thus we see that persons, born
without arms, acquire the nicest feeling
in their toes; and, in blind people, this
sense becomes so much developed, that
individuals born blind, and acquiring the
faculty of sight in after life, for a long
time depend rather on their feeling than
on their sight, because they receive clear-
er ideas through the former sense.

FEET, in Christian Art, the feet of
our Lord, also of angels and of the apos-
tles, should always be represented naked,
without shoes or sandals.

FEINT, in military tactics, a mock at-
tack, made to conceal the true one.

FELI'CITAS, the appellation of a
Roman goddess, a Christian martyr, and
a traditional empress, mentioned in ro-
mantic poetry only. 1. Felicitas, a di-
vine being, agreeing with the Eudaemo-
nia (felicity) and the Eutychia (good for-
tune) of the Greeks, in whom was per-
sonified the idea of happiness arising
from blissful occurrences. Thus, Felici-
tas (Eutychia) means more than Fortu-
na or Tyche, by which was meant chance
or luck. The Felicitas of the Greeks,
Eutychia, is represented on many earth-
en vessels as announcing to the specta-
tor the desired result of the action in-
tended. We also meet with it as illus-
trative of success in arms, and of happi-
ness in marriage. On Roman coins she
is represented with the modius on her
head, the staff of Hermes in her hand,
and resting on a cornucopia ; but her at-
tributes differ according to circumstances.
2. St. Felicitas, a Christian lady of Rome,
who is depicted with a palm-branch and
cross ; she is the patroness of male chil-
dren. She had seven sons, who with her
suffered martyrdom at Rome, A.D. 160.
Felicitas was thrown into a cauldron of
boiling oil, while her sons' heads were
cut off and exhibited before her. 3. The
empress Felicitas, a principal character
in the romance of Count Octavian ; her

two children, who, with herself, were cast
into a forest, were nursed by a lioness.

FEL'LOW, the member of a college or
of a corporate body. This word has a
very wide and opposite meaning; for
though we say, in speaking of a skilful
artist, this man has not his fellow, we al-
so apply it in the most ignoble sense, and
say, such a one is a mean or worthless
fellow.

FE'LO DE SE, in law, a person that,
being of sound mind, and of the age of
discretion, wilfully causes his own death.

FEL'ONY, in law, generally includes
all capital crimes below treason, such as
murder, burglary, Ac. ; and is punished
with death or transportation, according
to the enormity of the offence.

FELUC'CA, a light open vessel with six
oars, much used in the Mediterranean.
It has this peculiarity, that its helm may
be used either at the head or the stern.

FEME COV'ERT, in law, a married
woman, who is under covert of her hus-
band. By the common law of England,
the legal capacity of a woman to contract,
or sue and be sued, separately, ceases on
marriage ; and her husband becomes
liable to her debts existing at that time.
Feme-sole, a single woman. Feme-sole
merchant, a woman who carries on trade
alone, or without her husband.

FEMINA'LIA, a kind of short pan-
taloons or closely- fitting breeches, reach-
ing a short distance below the knees,
worn by the Roman soldiers in their ex-
peditions to cold countries ; they are seen
depicted on the Column of Trajan, and on
the Arch of Constantine at Rome.

FEM'ININE, in grammar, denoting
the female gender.

FEN'CING, the art of using skilfully
a sword or foil either in attack or defence.
In the exercise of this art. foils or thin
swords are used, which, being blunted at
the points, and bending readily, are ren-
dered harmless.

FEN'GITE, a kind of transparent ala-
baster or marble, sometimes used for
windows as in the church of St. Miniato
at Florence.

FEO'DUM, FEOD, or FEUD, in feu-
dal law, the right which the vassal had
in land, &c., to use the same, and take
the profits thereof, rendering unto his
lord such fees, duties, and services, as
belonged to military tenure.

FEOFF'MENT, in law, is a gift or
grant of any manors, messuages, lands,
or tenements to another in fee, that is, to
him and his heirs forever, by delivery of
seisin, and possession of the estate grant-

FET]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

239

ed. The giver is called the f coffer, and
the persou who is thus invested is called
the J'eojfee.

FERA'LIA, in antiquity, a festival
observed among the llomans on the 21st
of Feruary, or, according to Ovid, on the
17th, in honor of the manes of their de-
ceased friends and relations. During the
ceremony, whi<;h consisted in making
presents at their graves, marriages were
forbidden, and the temples of the divini-
ties shut up ; because they fancied that
during this festival, departed spirits suf-
fered no pains in hell, but were permitted
to wander about their graves and feast
upon the meats prepared for them.

FERENTA'RIA, in ancient Home, a
sort of light-armed soldiers.

FER'ETORY, this term is applied to
the bier or shrine containing the reliques
of saints, borne in processions. The type
of a feretory is a coffin, but the form is
usually that of a ridgod chest, with a
roof-like top, usually ornamented by
pierced work, with the sides and top en-
graved and enamelled, and sometimes
with images in high relief. They were
made of various metals. 1. Of solid gold
and silver adorned with jewels. 2. Of
copper, gilt and enamelled. 3. Of wood
overlaid with plates of metal, or richly
painted and gilt. 4. Of ivory, or of crys-
tal, mounted in metal and gilt. 5. Of
wood, covered with precious stuffs and
embroidery.

FE'RIA, in the Romish breviary, is
applied to the several days of the week ;
thus, Monday is theferia secunda, Tues-
day thejeria tertia, and so on.

FE'RI-35, in Roman antiquity, holi-
days, or days upon which they abstained
from business. The ferlcc were of several
kinds, namely, Ferice stativae, or stated
festivals ; f trice conceptivcc, or movable
feasts ; feriae imperatival, or occasional
festivals enjoined by the consuls or other
magistrates on some public occasion ; and
feriiE denicales, for private occasions.
There were also the f trice Latinee, kept
by the fifty Latin towns on Mount Alba-
nus ; and the f trice mundince, festivals
kept for nine days on the appearance of
any prodigy. It was a pollution of the
ferice, according to Macrobius, if the rex
sacrorum or famines saw any work done
on them, and therefore they ordered pro-
clamation to be made by the herald, that
every one might abstain from work ; and
whoever transgressed the order was fined.

FE'RINE, an epithet for such beasts
as are wild and savage, as lions, tigers,
wolves, bears, Ac.

FE RIO, in logic, a mode in the first
figure of syllogisms, consisting of a uni-
versal negative, a particular affirmative,
and a particular negative. A^similar
mode in the third figure of syllogisms, is
termed ferison.

FER'ULA, in ecclesiastical history,
signifies a place separated from the church,
wherein the audientes were kept, as not
being allowed to enter the church. Un-
der the eastern empire, the ferula was
the emperor's sceptre, as is seen on a
variety of medals ; it consisted of a long
stem or shank, and a flat square head.

FES'CENNINE VERSES, so called
from Fescennia, an Etrurian town, where
they first had their origin, were rude ex-
temporaneous pieces of poetry recited by
the youth of Latiurn and Etruria at rus-
tic festivals, especially at harvest home,
with gestures adapted to the sense. They
consisted principally of raillery and play-
ful rustic abuse ; a species of humor very
much in vogue with the Grecian and
Egyptian country people also. The Fes-
cennine verses are chiefly remarkable from
having given rise to satire, the only class
of poetry of native Italian growth.

FESTI'NO, in logic, a mood of syllo-
gisms in the second figure, in which the
first proposition is a universal negative,
the second a particular affirmative, and
the third a particular negative.

FESTOON', a carved ornament in wood,
stone, &c., usually in the form of a gar-
land or wreath, composed of flowers,
fruits, leaves, <fec., bound together, and
suspended by the ends. It was employed
by the architects of the middle ages fre-
quently with much success in their friezes
of the composite order. It is usefully
and aptly employed in decoration. The

garland is of greatest size in the middle,
and diminishes gradually to the points
of suspension from which the ends gene-
rally hang down. The festoon in archi-
tecture is sometimes composed of an imi-
tation of drapery, similarly disposed, and
frequently of an assemblage of musical in-
struments, implements of war, or of the
chase and the like, according to the pur-
pose to which the building it ornaments
is appropriated.

FE'TICH, FETICHISM, the word fetich

240

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[FEU

is said to be derived from the Portuguese,
'and appears to have been brought into
usage from the writings of some travel-
lers on %bo western coast of Africa. It
is now comprehensively employed to sig-
nify any object of worship not represent-
ing a living (or rather, perhaps, a hu-
man) figure ; thus excluding idols, prop-
erly so called. This perverted form of
religion prevails very extensively among
barbarous nations, and especially those
of the Negro race. Among the latter,
tribes, families, and individuals have
their respective fetiches ; which are often
objects casually selected, or chosen under
the influence of some occasional super-
stition, as stones, weapons, vessels, plants,
<fec., Ac.

FEUD, an inveterate quarrel between
families or parties in a state. The word
is not applicable to wars between differ-
ent nations, but to intestine wars and
animosities between families, clans, or
tribes.

FEU'DAL SYSTEM, a form of gov-
ernment anciently subsisting in Europe,
and which, about twelve centuries ago,
was so universally received, that Spelman
calls it " the law of nations in our western
world." The origin of this system, is to
be found in the military policy of the
Celtic or northern nations, known by the
names of Goths, Vandals, Franks, Huns,
and Lombards, who overran Europe on
the declension of the Roman empire, and
brought it with them from the countries
out of which they emigrated. According
to the feudal scheme, a victorious leader
allotted considerable portions of land,
called feoda,Jiefs, or feuds, to his princi-
pal officers, who in their turn, divided
their possessions among their inferiors ;
and the condition upon which these re-
wards were given, was that of faithful
military service both at home and abroad.
To this they engaged themselves by an
oath of fealty ; in the event of a breach
of which, either by not performing the
service agreed upon, or by deserting their
lord in time of battle, Ac., the lands were
to return to their original possessor.
Every person, therefore, who was a feuda-
tory, i. e. who had received lands, was
bound to do everything in his power to
defend the lord of his fee ; while, on the
other hand, the latter was no less subor-
dinate to his immediate superior ; and so
on up to the prince himself. Thus the
several orders of vassals formed a system
of concentric circles, of which each was
under the influence of the next, and all
moved around a common centre, the king,

as the supreme feudal lord. As there
was a graduated scale from the lowest
vassal to the prince or lord paramount of
the territory, every man's interest was
involved in the security of the whole ;
and every man was a pledge of security
to his neighbor. In the midst of that dis-
interestedness of sentiment which belongs
to a rude state of society, the connection
of the lord and his vassal was of a salu-
tary nature ; and, as is the end of all
social combinations, each individual con-
tributed to support that strength by
which he was protected. But besides
these feudal grants, which were held only
on the terms of military service above
mentioned, there were others called allo-
dial, which were given upon more en-
larged principles. To these every free
man had a title, and could not only claim
his territory as well as the rest, but dis-
pose of it at his pleasure. A part of their
freedom consisted in liberty to go to the
wars ; for this, in the times to which we
are referring, was the only way to acquire
any degree of renown. Only the serfs or
villeins, were destined to follow the arts
of peace. The feudal vassals, properly
so called, constituted the army ; while the
national militia was composed of the
allodial proprietors. It has, however,
often been argued, that the bare theory
of feudal government, as a permanent in-
stitution, however fair-seeming, is hol-
low ; that the family connection it sup-
poses could be but a source of minute,
domestic tyranny ; and that in their best
period, the customs enumerated must
have been liable to the grossest abuse.
In process of time, the evil increased to
an enormous height ; and even the polit-
ical value of the system decayed. In its
vigor, it had at least constituted a regu-
lar, powerful, and compact system of gov-
ernment ; a unanimity had pervaded the
various departments of the state ; and
while the power was internally diffused,
it presented to foreign nations a united
and formidable front. As the ideas en-
gendered by property advanced, and the
great grew more avaricious of money than
of glory ; and when, it ought perhaps to
be added, man's notions of right and
order became more correct, nothing was
heard of but the enormities of the power-
ful, and the sufferings of the humbler
classes ; and the strength of feudal gov-
ernment declined amidst a spirit of dis-
affection too universal to be cheeked
Mr. Hallam in his work on the Middle
Ages, ably exhibits a picture of the ad-
vantages and disadvantages of the feudal

FIG]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

241

system. If, says he, we look at the feu-
dal polity as a scheme of civil freedom,
it boars a noble countenance. To the
feudal law it is owing, that the very
names of right and privilege were not
swept away, as in Asia, by the desolating
hand of power. The tyranny which, on
every favorable moment, was breaking
through all barriers, would have rioted
without control, if, when the people were
poor and disunited, the nobility had not
been brave and free. So far as the sphere
of feudality extended, it diffused the spirit
of libe rty, and the notions of private right.
The bulk of the people, it is true, were
degraded by servitude ; but this had no
connection with the feudal tenures. As a
school of moral discipline, the feudal in-
stitutions were perhaps most to be valued.
Society had sunk, for several centuries
after the dissolution of the Roman em-
pire, into a condition of open depravity ;
where, if any vices could be selected
as more eminently characteristic than
others, they were falsehood, treachery,
and ingratitude. In slowly purging off
the lees of this extreme corruption, the
feudal spirit exerted its ameliorating in-
fluence. Violation of faith stood first in
the catalogue of crimes most repugnant
to the very essence of feudal tenure, most
severely and promptly avenged, most
branded by general infamy. The feudal
law-books breathe throughout a spirit of
mutual obligation. The feudal course of
jurisdiction promoted, what trial by peers
is peculiarly calculated to promote, a
keener feeling and a readier perception
of moral as well as of legal distinctions.
And as the judgment and sympathy of
mankind are seldom mistaken in these
great points of veracity and justice, except
through the temporary success of crimes or
the wants of a definite standard of right,
they gradually recovered themselves,
when law precluded the one and supplied
the other. In the reciprocal services of
lord and vassal, there was ample scope
for every magnanimous and disinterested
energy. The heart of man when placed
in circumstances which have a tendency
to excite them, will seldom be deficient in
such sentiments. No occasions could be
more favorable, than the protection of a
faithful supporter, or the defence of a
beneficent suzerain, against such powerful
aggression, as left little prospect except of
sharing in his ruin. From these feelings,
engendered from the feudal relation, has
sprung up the peculiar sentiment of per-
sonal reverence and attachment towards
a sovereign, which we denominate loy-

alty ; alike distinguishable from the stu-
pid devotion of eastern slaves, and from
the abstract respect with which free citi-
zens regard their chief magistrate. Men
who had been used to swear fealty, to
profess subjection, to follow, at home and
in the field, a feudal superior and his
family, easily transferred the same alle-
giance to the monarch. It was a very
powerful feeling which could make the
bravest men put up with slights and ill-
treatment at the hands of their sovereign ;
or call forth all the energies of disinter-
ested exertion for one whom they never
saw, or in whose character there was
nothing to esteem. In ages when the
rights of the community were unfelt,
this sentiment was one great preservative
of society ; and though collateral or even
subservient to more enlarged principles,
it is still indispensable to the tranquillity
and permanence of every monarchy.

FEUIL'LANS, an order of bare-footed
monks, who observe the same rules with
the Benardinea.

FI'AT, in law, a short order or warrant
signed by a judge, for making out and al-
lowing certain processes. friat jnstitia
are the words written by the king on his
warrant to bring a writ of error in par-
liament, <fec.

FIB'ULA, a brooch, buckle, or clasp,
used for fastening together various parts
of male and female attire, as well as for
ornament. They were made of ivory,
gold, bronze, precious stones set in gold,
and sometimes of silver, and of every va-
riety of form, upon which the most elab-
orate ornament was frequently bestowed.
In ancient Art we see the fibula employed
to pin together the two parts of a cloak
or scarf, (chlamys, pallium, <fec.,) so as
to fasten them over the right shoulder.
Sometimes, but rarely, we see it on the
breast. In female costume it is seen
worn on both shoulders, and sometimes
on the sleeves, breast, and to fasten the
tunic when tucked up at the knee.

FICTI'LIA, TESTA, the term applied
to all ancient pottery, from domestic uten-
sils to architectural ornaments, coarse or
fine, burnt, or only hardened by exposure
to the air. The most plastic species of
clay for the finer kinds of pottery was
found in Etruria, and the earthen table
vessels of Arretiurn maintained their su-
periority even to the time of Pliny.
Among the Greeks, the pottery of Athens,
and of the island of Samos, was the most
famed, the finest, and of the most care-
fully washed earth ; it was called Samian
clay, and produced the hardest ware.

242

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[FIG

FIC'TION, in law, a supposition that
a thing is true without inquiring whether
it is or not, so that it may have the effect
of truth, as far as is consistent with equity.

FIC'TOK, a term applied to any artist
who works in wax, clay, or other plastic
material, as contradistinguished from one
who works in bronze, marble, wood, ivo-
ry, or other solid substances.

FIEF, a fee ; an estate held of a su-
perior on condition of military service.
See FEUDAL SYSTEM.

FIELD, in heraldry, the whole surface
of the shield or escutcheon. Field, in
military tactics, the ground chosen for any
battle. Field, in painting, the ground or
blank space on which anything may be
drawn.

FIELD-MAR'SHAL, the highest mili-
tary officer in England. Field-officer, a
military officer above the rank of a cap-
tain, as a major or colonel. Field-col-
ors, in war, are small flags of about a
foot and a half square, which are carried
along with the quarter-master general,
for marking out the ground for the squad-
rons and battalions. Field-pieces, small
cannons, from three to twelve pounders,
carried along with an army in the field.
Field-staff, a weapon carried by the gun-
ners, about the length of a halbert, with
a spear at the end ; having on each side
ears screwed on, like the cock of a match-
lock, where the gunners screw in lighted
matches, when they are upon command.
Field-works, in fortification, are those
thrown up by an army in besieging a for-
tress, or by the besieged to defend the
place.

FI'ERI FA'CIAS, in law, a judicial
writ commanding the sheriff to levy the
debt or damages on the goods of one
against whom judgment has been had in
an action of debt.

FIFE, a small wooden musical wind
instrument of the flute species played by
holes, exceedingly shrill in tone, and rare-
ly used except in military bands.

FIF'TEENTH. an ancient tribute or
tax laid upon cities, boroughs, &c.,
through all England, and so termed be-
cause it amounted to a fifteenth part of
what each city or town had been valued
at ; or it was a fifteenth of every man's
personal estate according to a reasonable
valuation. In doomsday-book, there are
certain rates mentioned for levying this
tribute yearly.

FIFTH, in music, one of the harmoni-
cal intervals or concords. It is the second
in order of the concords, the ratio of the
chords that afford it being as 3 : 2. It is

called the fifth, as containing five terms
or sounds between its extremes and four
degrees ; so that in the natural scale of
music it comes in the fifth place or order
from the fundamental. The ancients
called it diapente, and the Italians at
present call it quinta. The imperfect,
defective or false fifth, called by the an-
cients semi-diapente, is less than the fifth
by a lesser semitone.

FIFTH- MON'ARCHY-MEX, a fanat-
ical sect, who formed a principal support
of Cromwell during the Protectorate.
They considered his assumption of power
as an earnest of the foundations of the
fifth monarchy, which should succeed to
the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian,
and the lloman, and in which Jesus Christ
should reign with the saints on earth for
the space of a thousand years. Upon the
restoration of the royal family, and the
return of the kingdom to its former prin-
ciples in church and state, a party of
these enthusiasts, headed by a man of the
name of Venner, made a desperate insur-
rection in the streets of London, which
was put down with the slaughter of a
great number of them.

FIG'URE, in physics, denotes the sur-
face or terminating extremities of any
body ; and, considered as a property of
body affecting our senses, is defined, a
quality which may bo perceived by two
of the outward senses touch and sight.
Figure, in dancing, denotes the several
steps which the dancer makes in order
and cadence, considered as they mark cer-
tain figures on the floor. Figure, in
rhetoric, a mode of speaking or writing
in which words are deflected from their
ordinary signification, thereby expressing
a passion with more emphasis and beauty
than by the ordinary way. Rhetorical
figures are often highly serviceable as
well as ornamental, and serve to awaken
and fix attention ; but they are to be used
with prudence and caution ; for whatever
is described in a multitude of words, or is
carried on to a disproportionate length,
fails of the end proposed, and grows tire-
some rather than pleasing. The princi-
pal figures of rhetoric are the metaphor,
allegory, simile, and personification ;
which, with their further divisions into
hyperbole, climax, antithesis, <fec., will be
found under their respective heads.
Figure, in painting and designing, de-
notes the lines and colors which form the
representation of any animal, but more
particularly, of a human personage. Thus
a painting is said to be full of figures,
when there are many representations of

FIN]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

243

men ; and a landscape is said to be with-
out figures, when there is nothing but
natural scenery.

FIL'ACER, an officer of the common
pleas, so called from his filing the writs
on which he makes out processes. There
are fourteen of these officers, who are sev-
erally allotted to particular divisions and
counties, and make out all original pro-
cesses, real, personal, and mixed.

FILLAGREE WORK, or FIL'I-
GRANE, a delicate and elaborate man-
ufacture, primarily executed in threads
of gold and silver, but lately imitated
with colored and gilt paper. In Suma-
tra, manufactures of fillagree-work are
carried to very great perfection. In Chi-
na also, where the fillagree is mostly of
silver, many beautiful articles are pro-
duced.

FIL'LET, in architecture, a little
square member, ornament, or moulding,
used in various places, but generally as
a corona over a great moulding. Among
painters and gilders, a little rule or line
of leaf-gold, drawn over certain mould-
ings, or on the edges of frames, panels,
&c.

only to the knees, worn in the Highlands
of Scotland.

FIM'BRIA, FRINGE, by the Greeks
and Romans, fringes and tassels were
ornaments but little worn, except on the
garments of females, by whom they were
sometimes attached to the tunic. The
extremities of the threads of the warps

(thrums) formed the usual fringes, to
which an ornamental appearance was
given by twisting and crossing the threads,
and the production of a net-like form.
Fringes were also made of gold thread
and other materials, which were attached
to the garments, &c.

FI'NAL CAUSES, the purposes or
ultimate ends in view. The efficient cause
is that which produces the event or ef-
fect ; the final cause is that for which
anything is done.

FINA'LE, the concluding part of a
musical composition. In instrumental
pieces, it has mostly a character of viva-
city, and requires a quick movement and
lively performance.

FINE, in law, a penalty or amends
made in money for an offence ; also,
money paid for the renewal of a lease,
and a conveyance of lands or tenements,
in order to cut off all controversies.

FINE ARTS, a term somewhat in-
definite in its meaning, but generally ap-
plied to those arts which depend on the
mind and imagination : opposed to the
mechanical.

FINESSE', may be defined simply as
a peculiar aptitude of discovering, in any
business, the best means of attaining the
object in view ; or as the power of em-
bracing in one comprehensive glance the
various interests of any subject, together
with ingenuity to devise and tact to carry
out the plan best calculated to obtain
success.

FINE STUFF, in architecture, plais-
ter used in common ceilings and walls
for the reception of paper or color. It
is composed of lime, slaked and sifted
through a fine sieve, then mixed with a
due quantity of hair and fine sand. A
mixture of lime and hair, used in the
jirst coat and floating of plastering, is
called coarse stuff.

FIN'GER BOARD, in music, the black
board attached to the neck of instruments
of the viol class, on which the strings are
pressed by the fingers for the purpose
of adjusting their lengths, so as to pro-
duce the different sounds.

FIN'GERING, in music, the act of
disposing of the fingers in a convenient,
natural, and apt manner, in the perform-
ance of any instrument, but more espe-
cially the organ and piano-forte. Good
fingering is one of the first things to
which a judicious master attends ; for to
a facility in this branch of the perform-
er's art must a pupil look, as the means
of acquiring a facile and graceful exe-
cution, and the power of giving passages

244

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[FIH

with articulation, accent, and expres-
sion.

FIN'IAL, an ornament employed in
Gothic architecture, as a termination to
pinnacles, pediments, canopies ; it con-
sists of a bunch of foliage, and therein
closely resembles the crocket : and some-
times finials are composed of four or more
crockets, united together. Church spires,
when perfect, are frequently terminated
with finials.

FIN'ISH, the last touches applied to
a picture or other work of Art. It al-
ways constitutes the difference between
excellence and mediocrity. Small pic-
tures require the most careful finish, but
in larger works, too much attention to
high finish detracts from the boldness
and vigor demanded by works on a large
scale.

FINISHING COAT, in architecture,
the best coat of stucco work when three
coats are used. When in the third coat
fine stuff is used for paper, it is called
setting.

FIN'TO, in music, a feint or an at-
tempt to do something and not to do it ;
as cadenza finto i when having done every-
thing proper for a true character, instead
of falling on the right final, a higher or
a lower note is taken.

FIRE, in former times, fire obtained a
place among the elements, and was for a
long time considered to be a constituent
part in the composition of all bodies, and
to require only the concurrence of favor-
able circumstances to develop its activ-
ity. Its all-consuming energy, the sim-
ilarity of its effects to those of the sun,
its intimate connection with light, its ter-
rible and yet beneficent power, easily
explain how it happened that, in times
when cause and effect, form and essence,
were not yet distinctly separated, fire
became an object of religious veneration,
a distinguished element in mythology,
an expressive symbol in poetry, and an
important agent in the systems of cos-
mogony. When natural philosophy was
treated in the schools, theories were
adopted to which little attention is paid
in the present age, when all science is
founded on facts and observations. Ca-
loric, be it a material agent or the conse-
quence of vibratory motion, is at present
considered the cause of the phenomena
which were formerly ascribed to fire ; and
though its nature is as unknown to us as
that of fire was to the ancients, the sub-
stitution of one of these terms for the
other has introduced a greater precision
of language, and cause and effect are

no longer confounded under the same
name. Fire,Jlame, the attribute of St.
Florian, the protector against confln^ni-
tion ; of the hermit Anthony, because the
tempter appeared to him from the fire ;
of Bishop Basil, who saved a poor boy,
by burning his compact with the devils ;
of St. Bridget of Scotland, over whose
head a flame was seen from childhood ;
of St. Columba of Cordova, who saved an
angel from death by fire ; of St. Patrick,
before whom fire sprung out of the earth,
upon his drawing a cross upon it with his
staff; of the Dominican, Peter Gonzales,
called St. Elmo, who enveloped in a man-
tle, lay upon burning coals, whence the
expression St. Elmo's fire ; and of many
Christian martyrs condemned to die by
fire.

FIRE-ARMS, a general designation
for all sorts of guns, fowling-pieces, blun-
derbusses, pistols, &c., which effect their
discharge by the combustion of gunpow-
der.

FIRE, GREEK, a destructive compo-
sition, used in war from the 7th to the
13th century. When the Arabs besieged
Constantinople in 668, the Greek archi-
tect Callinicus of Heliopolis, deserted
from the caliph to the Greeks, and took
with him a composition, which, by its
wonderful effects, struck terror into the
enemy, and forced them to take to flight.
Sometimes it was wrapped in flax attach-
ed to arrows and javelins, and so thrown
into the fortifications and other buildings
of the enemy, to set them on fire. At
other times it was used in throwing stone
balls from iron or metallic tubes against
the enemy. The receipt for the compo-
sition of the Greek fire was long supposed
to be lost ; but the baron Von Aretin of
Munich has, it is said, discovered in a Lat-
in MS. of the 13th century, in the central
library in that city, a dissertation on the
Greek fire, which contains the receipt.

FIR'MAMENT, in Scripture, denotes
the great arch or expanse over our heads,
in which are placed the atmosphere and
the clouds, and in which the stars appear
to be placed, and are really seen. In the
Ptolemaic astronomy, the firmament is
the eighth heaven or sphere, with respect
to the seven spheres of the planets which
it surrounds. It is supposed to have two
motions ; a diurnal motion, given to it by
the primum mobile, from east to west
about the poles of the ecliptic ; and
another opposite motion from west to
east, which last it finishes, according to
Tycho, in 25,412 years; according to
Ptolemy, in 36.000 ; and according to Co

FLA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

245

pernicus, in 25,800 ; in which time the fixed
stars return to the same points in which
they were at the beginning. This period
is commonly called the Platonic, or great
year.

FIR'MAN, in the Persian language,
signifies a command, and is the name
given in Turkey, Persia, and India to
mandates or certificates of the sovereign,
issued for various purposes. Those best
known to Europeans are given to travel-
lers, and serve as passports. The ferman
has placed at its head in Turkey the ci-
pher of the reigning sultan, written in a
complicated manner, affixed by the chief
secretary of the sign manual.

FIRST-FRUITS, offerings made to
God by the Hebrews, or part of the fruit
of their harvest, as an acknowledgment
of his sovereign dominion. They were
called first-fruits because they were of-
fered in the temple before any part of
the crop was touched. First-fruits, in
the church of England, are the profits of
every spiritual benefice for the first year,
according to the valuation in the king's
books.

FISC, or FIS'CUS, the treasury of a
prince, or state. It differs from the eera-
rium, which was the treasury of the pub-
lic, or people : thus, when the money
arising from the sale of condemned per-
sons' goods was appropriated for the use
of the public, their goods were said to be
publicari ; but when it was destined for
the support of the prince, they were
called confiscari.

FIS'CAL, in the civil law, something
relating to the pecuniary interest of the
prince or people. The officers appointed
for the management of the fisc, were
called procuratores Jisci, and advocati
jisci.

FISH, a fish has been employed as a
symbol of our Lord from the earliest
times, (it is found depicted in the tombs
of the Roman catacombs,) by whom St.
Peter was called a "fisher of men ;" and
the faithful were sometimes represented
by fish, with reference to the waters of
baptism in which they were born, and
fish were therefore frequently carved on
the baptismal fonts. Fish are used as
emblems of Chastity ; it is an attribute
of the Apostle Simon. The VESICA PISCIS
is a symbolical figure, consisting of two in-
tersecting segments of circles, employ-
ed also as an emblem of the Saviour from
the fourth century. The seals of abbeys,
colleges, and other religious establish-
ments were all invariably made of this
form.

FITCH, among the brushes used in
painting, some are made of the hair of
the sable, a kind of weasel; others of
the badger, and of white hog's bristles;
but among the best are those of the fitch
or polecat, which are black in color, elas-
tic and firm, though soft. They are made
both flat and round, and are used also for
varnishing.

FLAG, a general name for colors,
standards, bearers, ensigns, &c. To
strike or lower thejlag, is to pull it down
upon the cap in token of respect 'or sub-
mission. To strike the flag in an en-
gagement, is the sign of surrendering.
To hang out the white Jlag, is to ask
quarter ; or in some cases, it denotes that
the vessel has no hostile intention, but
comes to trade, &c. The red flag is a
sign of defiance and battle. To hang the
Jlag half-mast high, is a token or signal
of mourning.

FLAGEL'LANTS, a sect of enthusi-
asts who first appeared in the middle of
the 13th century, and being then repress-
ed, sprang up again with renewed vio-
lence in the 14th. Beginning first at
Cremona in Italy, the contagion of the
example spread in a few years through-
out Europe ; and every city was infested
by multitudes who went naked from the
loins upward, and inflicted upon them-
selves several daily flagellations, with
the idea of obtaining thereby merit in the
eyes of God. They formed themselves
into a society, and at first were at least
innocent in their behavior ; but as their
numbers increased, they gave way to
great excesses, and were eventually sup-
pressed by a holy war proclaimed against
them by Pope Clement VI.

FLA'GEOLET, a wooden musical wind
instrument, played with a mouthpiece,
the holes and keys whereof are stopped
with the fingers, in the same way as the
flute.

FLAKE WHITE, a white pigment
extensively used in oil-painting; like
nearly all the other white pigments, it is
prepared from the carbonate of the oxide
of lead, obtained by exposing sheets of
lead to the vapor of acetic and carbonic
acids. It derives its name from the form
in which it appears in commerce that
of flakes or scales. As a pigment it pos-
sesses great body, and enters largely into
numerous compound tints.

FLAMBOYANT, FLAME-LIKE, a term
applied to those contours of which the in-
flexions have a resemblance to those of
flame ; and by antiquaries of France to
that style of architecture which was con-

246

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[FLE

temporary in that country with the per-
pendicular in England from the flame-
like wavings of its tracery. It is regard-
ed by some as a vitiated decorated rath-
er than a distinct stylo : in rich works,
the intricacy and redundancy of the or-
luniirnts are frequently truly surprising.

FLA'MEN, in Roman antiquity, the
name of an order of priests, instituted by
Romulus or Numa; authors not being
agreed on this head. Originally there
were three priests so called ; the Flamen
Dialis, consecrated to Jupiter ; flamen
Martialis, sacred to Mars; and Flamen
Quirinalis, who superintended the rites
of Quirinus or Romulus.

FLAMME'UM, the yellow veil worn
on the wedding-day by Roman brides. It
was sufficiently large to cover the wear-
er from head to foot. It was removed
by the husband upon their arrival at
their home.

FLANK, the side of an army, or a
battalion encamped on the right and
left. In fortification, that part of a bas-
tion which reaches from the curtain to
the face ; or any part of a work that de-
fends another work along the outside of
its parapet.

FLAT, in music, a character of this
form b, which depresses the note before
which it is placed a chromatic semitone.
Flats and sharps were originally contrived
to remedy the defects of musical instru-
ments whereon temperament was re-
quired, the natural si^ale of music being
limited to certain fixed sounds, and ad-
justed to an instrument in many points
defective ; for we can only proceed from
one note to another by a particular order
of degrees. Hence, from one note to
another, upwards or downwards, we can-
not find any interval at pleasure. To
supply or remedy this defect, musicians
have had recourse to a scale proceeding
by twelve degrees, making therefore thir-
teen notes to an octave, including the ex-
tremes, which, though it does not make
the instrument perfect, leaves little room
for complaint. In instruments whose
sounds are fixed, a sound or note dividing
it into two unequal parts, called semi-
tones, is placed between the extremes of
every tone of the natural scale ; so that
we have twelve semitones between thir-
teen notes in the compass of an octave.
In order, then, to keep the diatonic series
distinct, the inverted notes answer for the
name of the natural note next below, with
this character , called a sharp ; or the
name of the natural note next above it,
with this character [,, called a flat. Thus

D 5 signifies a semitone below D natu-
ral (^.) On keyed instruments the short
keys are the representatives of these flats
and sharps. The system, however, does
not strictly produce what it represents :
it is only an approximation.

FLAT FIFTH, in music, an interval
of a fifth depressed by a flat, called by
the ancients semidiapcnte.

FLEECE, ORDER OF THE GOLDEN,
one of the most distinguished among Eu-
ropean orders of knighthood. It was
founded by Philip III., duke of Burgun-
dy, in 1430 ; and as by its foundation his
successors were declared to be hereditary
grand masters, that title passed, with the
Burgundian inheritance, to the house of
Austria ; thence after the death of Charles
V., to the Spanish line of that house :
but when the monarchy of Spain passed
to the Bourbons and the Spanish Nether-
lands to Austria, the archdukes of Austria
claimed the grand mastership ; and claims
are made on it at present both by the
emperor of Austria and king of Spain ;
the order is consequently conferred both
at Vienna and Madrid, and is, in both
courts, the highest in point of rank. As
its nominal object is the protection of re-
ligion, it is rarely conferred on any Prot-
estants, with the exception, by courtesy,
of Protestant sovereigns.

FLEET, a squadron of ships of war,
belonging to any prince or state. It also
denotes any number of trading ships,
employed in a particular branch of com-
merce. Merchant-fleets generally take
their denomination from the place they
are bound to, as the Turkey-fleet, East-
India-fleet, &c. These, in times of peace,
go in fleets for their mutual aid and as-
sistance : in time of war, besides this se-
curity, they procure convoys of men of
war, either to escort them to the places
whither they are bound, or to a certain
place or latitude. It is also the name
of a prison in London, where debtors are
confined ; and to which persons are com-
mitted by the courts of chancery and
common-pleas.

FLEM'ISH SCHOOL, in painting, the
school formed in Flanders. The works
of this school are distinguished by the
most perfect knowledge of chiaro-scuro ;
high finishing without dryness ; by an
admirable union of colors well blended
and contrasted, and by a flowing, luxuri-
ous pencil. Its defects are somewhat
similar to those Tif the Dutch school. The
Flemish painters, like the Dutch, rep-
resented nature as they found her, and
not as she should be. Rubens and Van-

FLO]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

247

dyke, (the glory of .this school,) though
men of the greatest genius, were not free
from this defect, and the former espe-
cially. Teniers was another great mas-
ter of the school in question ; to it also be-
longs Snyders, Steenwick, Nefs, Schwa-
ne veldt, Van Eyck, <fcc.

FLESH, FLESH TINTS, the colors which
best represent the human body, sometimes
termed the carnations, but employed in
a more extended sense than this latter
term, which better expresses the more
delicate portions of the body, such as the
face, bosom, and hands.

FLE'TA, the title of an ancient trea-
tise on English law, attributed to the reign
of Edward I., and named (according to
tradition) from its cotnposition*by a judge
in the Fleet prison.

FLEUR DE LIS, the royal insignia
of France. Its origin is disputed; by
some it is supposed to represent a lily,
by others, the iron head of some weapon.
It is of frequent occurrence in English
armory.

FLORA'LIA, a feast kept by the Ro-
mans in honor of the goddess Flora.
This feast began April the 25th, and con-
tinued till the 1st of May, during wh^ch
time the Ludi Florales were celebrated.

FLORENTINE FRES'CO, FRESCO
SECCO, a kind of painting first practised
at Florence during the flourishing period
of Italian Art for decorating walls. Like
common fresco the lime is used wet, but
in this case it can be moistened and kept
damp and fit for painting on.

FLOR'ENTINE LAKE, a pigment
prepared from cochineal ; it is now obso-
lete ; the greater durability in oil-paint-
ing of the lakes prepared from madder
having entirely superseded those pre-
pared from cochineal.

FLOR'ENTINE MOSA'IC, the term
applied to the art of inlaying tables and
other plane surfaces with pietra dura,
carried on principally at Florence. Very
beautiful patterns are thus produced by
the combination of precious stones, form-
ing the most difficult branch of mosaic art.

FLOR ID STYLE, in literary compo-
sition, that which is too much enriched
with figures and flowers of rhetoric.
Longinus uses the terms florid and af-
fected style indifferently, and describes
them as quite contrary to the true sub-
lime. The florid style of architecture, or
florid Gothic, an elaborate kind of Gothic
architecture, filled with points, ramifica-
tions, mullions, &c. Florid, in music,
any composition or performance of a rich
and embellished kind.

FLOR'IN, a coin of different value ;
the silver florin of Holland is worth about
Is. Qd. Most of the gold florins are of a
coarse alloy, weighing variously from
about fourteen to seventeen carats.

FLO'TA, a name given by the Span-
iards to the ships that formerly sailed
together, or under convoy, from Cadiz
and the other ports of the peninsula, au-
thorized to trade directly with the trans-
atlantic possessions of Spain.

FLOTIL'LA, literally a little fleet;
in which sense, however, it is seldom
used, being applied almost invariably to
a fleet, how large soever, composed of
small vessels. Thus the term flotilla was
given to the immense naval force with
which Napoleon meditated the invasion
of Great Britain, and which consisted of
2365 yessols of every description, was
manned by about 17,000 sailors, and car-
ried 160,000 soldiers, and 10,000 horses.
In Spain, the name flotilla is given to
a number of vessels appointed to an-
nounce to the home government the de-
parture and nature of the cargo of the
flota or mercantile ships from foreign
ports on their homeward voyage.

FLOT'SAM,_in law, a term for goods
lost by shipwreck, but which are floating
on the sea. There are two other uncouth
terms made use of to describe wrecked
goods, viz., jetsam and lagan; the for-
mer, when the goods are sunk ; and the
latter, when they are sunk, but tied to a
cork or buoy to be found again.

FLOUR'ISH, in music, a prelude or
preparatory air, without any settled rule ;
also the decorative notes which a singer
or instrumental performer occasionally
introduces. In military language, it is
the sounding of trumpets on receiving an
officer or other person of distinction.

FLOWERS. Flowers are employed
in Art as attributes. 1st. Of mythologi-
cal persons Aphrodite, the Hours, and
Zephyr. 2d. Among legendary person-
ages of St. Dorothea, who is represented
with flowers and fruits by her side, or in
a basket ; also with a branch of roses in
her hand, or crowned with those flowers ;
of St. Sophronia, upon whose corpse birds
and flowers are strewed ; of St. Rosa de
Lima, who was named Rosa on account
of her beauty, and has a rose with a
broken crown of thorns ; of St. Rosa of
Viterbo, who holds roses in her hand or
in her apron ; of St. Elizabeth of Hun-
gary, who has roses in her lap or in a
basket ; of St. Casilda, who generally
wears a wreath of white roses on her
head ; of the holy pair Ascylus and Vic-

248

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[FON

toria, both crowned with roses ; of St.
Angelas, from whose mouth fall roses
and lilies; and of St. Hugo, who holds
three flowers in his hand. For the lily,
the attribute of many saints.

FLUTE, the common or English, a
musical wind instrument, consisting of a
tnbe about eighteen inches in length,
furnished with holes at the side for the
purpose of varying its sounds by stopping
and opening them with the fingers. The
German flute is formed of several joints
or pieces screwed into each other, with
holes at the side, and the addition of
several brass or silver keys, to temper
the tones to the various flats and sharps.

FLUTES, or FLU'TINGS, in archi-
tecture, perpendicular channels, or cavi-
ties, cut along the shaft of a column or
pilaster. They are chiefly effected in the
Ionic order, where they had their first
rise ; though they are also used in the
richer orders, as the Corinthian and Com-
posite, but seldom in the Doric, and
scarcely ever in the Tuscan. Each col-
umn has twenty-four flutes, and each
flute is hollowed in exactly a quadrant
of a circle. The Doric, however, has but
twenty. Between the flutes are little
spaces that separate them, called stria,
or lists; though in the Doric, the flutes
are frequently made to join to one an-
other, without any intermediate space at
all ; the list being sharpened off to a thin
edge, which forms a part of each flute.
Fluted columns are sometimes, though
improperly, termed reeded.

FLUX'IONS, a method of calculation
invented by Sir Isaac Newton. In this
branch of mathematics, magnitudes of
every kind are supposed to be generated
by motion. This science is employed in
the investigation of curves, in finding the
contents of solids, and computing their
surfaces ; in finding the centres of gravi-
ties and oscillation of different bodies ;
the attractions of bodies under different
forms ; the direction of wind, which has
the greatest effect on an engine ; and in
the solution of many other interesting
and important problems.

FLY'EllS, in architecture, stairs that
do not wind, but are made of an oblong
square figure, and go straight forward,
the second standing behind the first, and
so on.

FO, the name given by the Chinese to
Buddha, by one of those phenomena in
literature whereby appellations are in-
troduced from one language into others
with which it has little or no affinity.
Originally the name Buddha was ex-

pressed in the Chinese language with
sufficient exactness by the term Fu-thau,
pronounced Foudah ; but, as is usual in
China with proper names, the last syllable
was subsequently dropped.

FOIL, among jewellers, a thin leaf of
metal placed under precious stones, to in-
crease their lustre and improve their
color. Hence anything of a different
color or quality, which serves to adorn or
set off another thing to advantage, is
termed a foil. In fencing, an elastic
piece of steel, or sword without a point,
to fence with by way of exercise. The
foil usually has a button or piece of cork
at the end, covered with leather.

FOLD, in painting, the doubling or
lapping of one piece of drapery over
another.

FO'LIAGE, in architecture and sculp-
ture, a group of leaves of plants and
flowers, so arranged as to form archi-
tectural or sculptural ornaments ; as in
friezes, panels, and also in the capital of
the Corinthian order.

FO'LIO, in account books, denotes a
page, or rather both the right and left
hand pages, these being expressed by the
same figure. folio, a book of the largest
size, the leaves of which are formed by
once doubling a sheet of paper.

FOLK'MOTE, a word used in England
before the Norman conquest to denote an
annual assembly of the people, answering
in some measure to a modern parliament.
Some authors, however, allege that the
folkmote was an inferior court, or com-
mon council of a city or borough.

FONT, the vessel used to contain the
consecrated water in baptism, usually
constructed of stone and lined with lead ;
and in the earlier ages of the church
were always large enough to allow of the
complete immersion of infants. The forms
of fonts have generally varied in differ-
ent ages, and often exhibit exquisite
richness both of design and ornament.
Fonts were required to be covered and
locked ; originally these covers were sim-
ply flat, movable lids, but they were
subsequently very highly ornamented,
assuming the form of spires, and en-
riched with various decorations in the
form of pinnacles, buttresses, &o. font
or fount, a complete assortment of print-
ing types of one size, including a due
proportion of all the letters, points, fig-
ures, accents, Ac.

FONTINA'LIA, in Roman antiquity,
a religious feast celebrated Oct. .13, in
honor of the nymphs of wells and foun-
tains. The ceremony consisted in throw-

FOR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

249

ing nosegays into the fountains, and put-
ting crowns of flowers upon the wells.

FOOL, in ordinary language, signifies
one who is deficient in intellect, or
who pursues a course contrary to the dic-
tates of reason. In Scripture, the word
fool is often used for a wicked or de-
praved person. But in its most legiti-
mate sense, the term fool means one who
is destitute of reason ; either from hav-
ing been born an idiot ; or become idiotic
from some injury done to the brain. To
play the fool, to act the buffoon ; to occu-
py one's time in absurd trifling.

FOOLS, we frequentlj^meet in ancient
churches, especially under the seats of
choir-halls, representations of men in
grotesque costume, and in various pos-
tures, with a fool's cap and bells. The
introduction of these and other ludicrous,
or even indecent images, in the very
buildings dedicated to the solemn wor-
ship of God, has long been a subject of
inquiry among the learned, and of sur-
prise and scandal to the generality of
persons. The source of many of these
representations may be traced to the pa-
gan orgies of the Saturnalia and Luper-
calia. It is necessary to draw a great
distinction between the burlesque figures,
and symbolical representations of the
vices and virtues, which are often intro-
duced under the guise of animals whose
nature corresponds to the passion or vir-
tue represented , henoe human beings
may be depicted with heads of beasts and
birds, such as foxes, lions, or hawks, to
denote cunning, courage, or rapacity.
Again, animals are frequently introduced
with the same intention, and most ad-
mirable moral lessons are imparted under
the same types as have been selected by
j?Esop and his imitators.

FOOLS, FEAST OF, a festival an-
ciently celebrated in almost every church
and monastery of France, on New Years'
Day, in which every absurdity and even
indecency was practised. It was equiva-
lent to the Saturnalia, among the Ro-
mans, whence indeed it is said to be de-
rived. This festival received some mod-
ifications in the different districts where
it was celebrated, and acquired various
designations according to the multifarious
ceremonies of which it consisted. Several
bishops and councils attempted, though
in vain, to abolish this festival ; but at
length about the 15th century it became
less generally observed, and soon after
fell into almost total disuse, though its
characteristic absurdities are still main-
tained in the Carnival of the present times.

FOOT, in poetry, a certain number of
syllables, constituting part of averse ; as,
the iambus, the dactyl, and the spondee.

FOR'AGE, all kind of provender for
cattle, especially for horses in time of war.
A foraging party, those who are sent
out by the general in order to collect pro-
visions either for the horses or for the
troops.

FORCE, in mechanics, the energy or
impulse with which one body affects an-
other, with reference to the direction of
motion, and the centres of the masses. It
consists in the transfer of the motion of
one body to another. Physical force, is
the force of material bodies. Moral force,
is the power of acting on the reason in
judging and determining. Force, in law,
signifies any unlawful violence offered to
persons or property. A forcible entry, is
a violent and actual entry into houses, or
lands ; and a forcible detainer, is a vio-
lent withholding the possession of lands,
&c., so that the person who has a right of
entry is hindered therefrom. The word
force has numerous other meanings ; as
strength or power for war virtue effi-
cacy validity destiny necessity, &c.

FORECLOSE', in law, to exclude or
bar the equity of redemption on mort-
gages, Ac.

FORE-SHORT'ENING, the art of rep-
resenting objects on a plane surface as
they appear to the eye, depending upon
a correct knowledge of form, perspective,
and chiaroscuro. It is one of the most
difficult studies in the art of design, and
when executed with skill constitutes the
excellence of the master. Michael An-
gelo, Rubens, and Correggio, were distin-
guished among other rare qualities for
their skill in fore-shortening. They prac-
tised modelling for assistance in attaining
this art.

FORESTALLING, the act of buying
or bargaining for any provisions or mer-
chandise, before they reach the market to
which they were going, with an intent to
sell the same again at higher prices.

FORFEITURE, in law, the loss of
some right, privilege, or estate, goods,
lands, or employments, &e., for neglecting
to do one's duty, or for some crime com-
mitted.

FOR'GERY, in law, the fraudulent
making or altering any deed, or writing,
&c., to the prejudice of another man's
right, particularly the counterfeiting the
signature of another with intent to de-
fraud.

FORLORN-HOPE, in military affairs,
a detachment of men appointed to lead

250

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[FOB

in an assault, to storm a counterscarp, en-
ter a breach, or perform any other ser-
vice attended with great and imminent
peril.

FORM, the external appearance of ob-
jects ; the quality that distinguishes one
thing from another. Form, in painting,
signifies especially the human body. The
study of forms, and the changes they un-
dergo by muscular contractions, require
on the part of the artist the utmost at-
tention and assiduity. The conscientious
artist ought scrupulously to avoid any
tendency to exaggerate the superficial
forms of the body : nothing is more sim-
ple, more calm ; nothing shows a grander
breadth of design than the human body ;
the muscles assist by their reunion in
the production of general forms : the spe-
cial forms are scarcely visible. Form,
in physiology, the essential and distin-
guishing modification of the matter of
which any body is composed. Form, in
a moral sense, the manner of being or
doing a thing according to rules : thus we
say, a form of government, a form of
argument, <fcc. Form, in law, the rules
established and requisite to be observed
in legal proceedings. Form, in me-
chanics, a kind of mould in which any-
thing is wrought. Essential form 'is
that mode of existence which constitutes
a thing what it is, and without which it
could not exist. Form, in printing, pages
or columns of type, properly arranged,
and enclosed and locked in an iron frame
called a chase, for the purpose of being
put to press. There are two forms re-
quired for every sheet, one for each side ;
and each form consists of more or fewer
pages, according to the size of the books.
Tn schools, a class.

FORM'ALIST, one who observes the
outward forms and ceremonies of worship,
for appearance' sake, without possessing
the life and spirit of pure religion.

FORM'ATIVE ARTS, those arts which,
independently of external wants and aims,
yet, on the other hand, bound to the imi-
tation of nature, represent life by means
of the forms naturally connected.

FOR'MULA, in mathematics, a general
theorem or literal expression for resolv-
ing any part of a problem. -Formula, in
theology, a profession of faith.

FORT, in the military art, a small for-
tified place, surrounded with a moat,
rampart, and parapet ; or with palisades,
stockades, and other means of defence.

FORTE, in music, a direction to the
performer to execute the part loudly to
which the word is affixed. It is indicated

by the single letter F. If two F F's,
thus, are used, the part is to Mb played
or performed fortissimo, very loud.

FORTIFICA'TiON, the art or science
of fortifying a place, or of putting it in
such a posture of defence, that every one
of its parts defends, and is defended, by
some other parts, by means of ramparts,
parapets, moats, and other bulwarks ; so
that a small number of men within may
be able to defend themselves for a consid-
erable time against the assaults of a nu-
merous army without. Ancient fortifi-
cation, at first consisted of walls or de-
fences made of the trunks and large
branches of trees, mixed with earth, to
secure them against the attacks of the
enemy. This was afterwards altered -to
stone-walls, on which were raised breast-
works, behind which they made use of
their darts and arrows in security. Mod-
ern fortification, is that which is flanked
and defended by bastions and out-works,
the ramparts of which are so solid, that
they cannot be beat down but by the con-
tinual fire of several batteries of cannon.
The principal works belonging to a forti-
fication are, the ditch or trench made
round each work ; the rampart, or eleva-
tion of earth, raised along the faces of
any work, to cover the inner part ; the
parapet, or that part of a rampart which
serves to cover the troops planted there ;
the bastion, that part of the inner en-
closure of a fortification making an angle
towards the field ; the counterscarp, the
slope of the ditch facing the body of the
place ; the covert way, the space extend-
ing round the counterscarp; and the gla-
cis, the part beyond the covert way, to
which it serves as a parapet. In recent
times, however, fortification has under-
gone important changes, and engineers
have adopted different systems ; but those
which have acquired the greatest reputa-
tion in Europe, are the systems of Count
Pagan, the Baron do Coehorn, Von Schei-
ter, and Marshal Vauban.

FOR'TITUDE, the basis or source of
coolness and intrepidity in danger, of pa-
tience in suffering, of forbearance under
injuries, and of magnanimity in all con-
ditions of life. In fine, fortitude is the
virtue of a rational and considerate mind,
founded on a sense of honor and a regard
to duty. The motives to fortitude are
many powerful, and this virtue tends
much to the happiness of the individual,
by giving composure and presence of
mind, and keeping the other passions in
due subordination.

FORTU'NA, in mythology, the god-

AND THE FINE ARTS.

dess who presided over the destinies of
mankind, and, generally speaking, over all
the events of life. She was represented
as blind, with winged feet, and resting
on a wheel. The goddess was not known
in the more ancient systems of the Greek
theogony : all the guidance of human
affairs, for instance, is entrusted by Ho-
mer to destiny ; but in Italy, and chiefly
at Rome, Actium, and Prseneste, her
worship was most assiduously cultivated.

FO'RUM, in Rome, a public place
where causes were judicially tried, and
orations delivered to the people. There
were six of these forums, viz., the Ro-
manum, Julianum, Augustum, Palladi-
um, Trojanum, and Salustii forum. The
chief of these was the forum Romanum,
called, by way of eminence, the forum.
In this was an apartment called the ros-
tra, where the lawyers pleaded, and the
orators harangued the people, &c. Here
was also the comitium, or hall of justice,
with the sanctuary of Saturn, the temple
of Castor, &c., altogether forming a most
splendid place. The word forum was
also applied to a place of traffic, or mar-
ket-place : of these there were vast num-
bers, as the forum piscarium, olitorium,
&c. These were generally called fora
venalia, in distinction from the former,
which were called fora civilia. In the
law, forum signifies a court of justice,
the place where disputed rights are set-
tled ; hence forum competens, a compe-
tent jurisdiction ; forum incompetens, a
court not authorized to try the cause, &c.

FOUNDATION, in architecture, the
lower part of a wall, on which the insistent
wall is raised, and always of much greater
thickness than such insistent wall. A
practice has lately been introduced of
laying foundations (if not in water) on a
bed of what is called concrete, which is a
mixture of rough small stones or large
gravel stones with sand and stone, lime
and water, with just enough of the lime
to act as a cementitious medium, with
the best effect.

FOUNDATIONS, in political econo-
my, the generic name given to institu-
tions established and endowed by indi-
viduals, associations, or the pubh'c, for
the promotion of what is believed to be,
at the time when the foundation is made,
some useful or benevolent purpose. In
most old-settled and rich countries there
are foundations for a vast variety of ob-
jects. During the Middle Ages, it was
very common to bequeath property for
the foundation of monastic institutions
and scholastic establishments. The two

great universities of Oxford and Cam-
bridge are noble examples of the last
species of foundations ; and by far the
greater number of the grammar and free
schools in most parts of England, and in-
deed of Europe, owe theiv origin to the
same source. A great deal of property
has also been bequeathed by benevolent
individuals in this and other countries
for the erection and endowment of hos-
pitals, or foundations of various descrip-
tions, for the relief and assistance of the
poor ; and not unfrequently also prop-
erty is appropriated, or foundation insti-
tuted for the amusement and recreation
of the public.

FOURTH, in music, one of the har-
monical. intervals ; so called because it
contains four sounds or terms between
its extremes, and three intervals ; or as
being the fourth in order of the natural
or diatonic scale from the fundamental.

FRANC, a French coin, worth twenty
sols, or ten-pence sterling.

FRAN'CHISE, in a general sense, sig-
nifies some privilege or exemption from
ordinary jurisdiction. A franchise may
bo vested either in bodies politic, or cor-
porations ; in borough towns, or in indi-
viduals ; as the electoral franchise. Cor-
porate liberties being usually held by
charter, are all said to be derived from
the crown, but some lie in prescription
without the help of any charter.

FRANCIS'CANS, Friars-Minor, or
Gray-Friars, the religious order of Saint
Francis, by whom they were founded
about the year 1200.

FRANK'INCENSE, an odoriferous,
dry, resinous substance, procured from
the juniper-tree in Turkey and the East
Indies. It is of a pale yellow color, very
inflammable, and is used as a perfume.

FRANKS, an appellation given by the
Turks, and oiher nations of Asia, to all
the people of the western parts of Eu-
rope, English, French, Italians, &o.

FBATER'NITIES, in the middle ages,
consisted of pious laymen who formed
societies for the purpose of relieving the
sick and destitute, and performing other
Christian duties,

FRA'TRAGE, in law, a partition
among brothers or co-heirs coming to,the
same inheritance or succession ; also that
part of the inheritance that comes to the
youngest brothers.

FREE'BOOTERS, a name given to
some adventurers of all nations, but es-
pecially of France and England, who
have obtained a place in history by the
courage and intrepidity which they dis-

252

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[FRE

playedin executing the most difficult en-
terprises. The origin of their history is
merged in obscurity, and it is impossible
to ascertain precisely whence their name
is derived ; but the Jlibustiers of the
French naval historians are identical
with the buccaneers of our own language.
The South American islands formed the
chief theatre of their depredations ; and
such was the relentless hostility with
which they visited the Spaniards, that
during the latter half of the seventeenth
century, which embraced the most for-
midable period of the freebooter's career,
their commercial operations in the Indian
seas were nearly destroyed.. At the com-
mencement of the 18th century, the free-
booters sustained in their expedition a
series of disasters, which sensibly dimin-
ished their numbers ; and since that pe-
riod the designation has been applied in-
discriminately to any individual who re-
gards "the universe as his property,"
and appropriates to himself either fur-
tively or forcibly the possessions of an-
other.

FREEHOLD, that land or tenement
which is held in fee-simple, fee-tail, or
for term of life. It is of two kinds ; in
deed and in law. The first is the real
possession of such land or tenement ; the
last is the right a man has to such land
or tenement, before his entry or seizure.
More properly, & freehold is an estate in
lands or tenements, in fee-simple, or in
tail, for the term of the life of the holder,
or for the life of another person, in dower
or by the courtesy. Freehold is also
extended to such offices as a man holds
in fee or for life. It is also taken in op-
position to villenage. In Scotland, a
freehold is an estate held of the crown
or prince. In the United States, & free-
hold is an estate which a man holds in
his own right, subject to no superior nor
to conditions.

FREE'HOLDER, one who owna an es-
tate in fee-simple, fee-tail, or for life ;
the possessor of a freehold. In Scotland,
a freeholder is a person holding of the
crown or prince; but the title is, in modern
language, applied to such as, before the
passing of the reform act, were entitled
to elect or be elected members of parlia-
ment, and who must have held lands, ex-
tending to a forty shilling land of old
extent, or to 400 Scots of valued rent.

FREE'MAN, in ancient law. one free
from servitude, as distinguished from a
vassal or bondsman. In Great Britain,
a freeman is one who enjoys the freedom
of a city or borough.

FREEMA'SONRY, a term applied to
the organization of a society calling
themselves free and accepted mason?, and
all the mysteries therewith connected.
This society, if we can reckon as one a
number of societies, many of which are
unconnected with each other, though they
have the same origin, and a great simi-
larity in their constitution, extends over
almost all the countries of Europe, many
parts of America, and some other parts
of the globe. According to its own pecu-
liar language, it is founded on the prac-
tise of social and moral virtue. It
claims the character of charity, in the
most extended sense ; and brotherly love,
relief, and truth are inculcated in it.
The first societies of antiquity with which
free masonry appears to stand in histori-
cal connection, are the corporations of
architects, which, with the Romans, ex-
isted under the names of Collegia and
Corpora, first established in the time of
Numa. Our distinct historical informa-
tion on the subject merely amounts to
this, that the fraternity of architects or
builders in the middle ages extended over
all Catholic countries, and was especially
patronized by the see of Rome. It is to
this craft that we owe the magnificent
Gothic edifices dedicated to religion,
which contrast so strongly with the bar-
barous efforts of those ages in most other
departments of art. It is said that this
association was introduced into Scotland
in the 13th century, and about the same
time into England, it being ascertained
that the Abbey of Kilwinning in the
former country was raised by this frater-
nity ; and it is believed to have continued
to exist, although small in number, in
these two countries after it had disap-
peared from the Continent. The Kilwin-
ning and York lodges are respectively the
most ancient in either country. But the
mode and period in which the association
became changed from a mere professional
fraternity to a society of persons of all
descriptions connected by secret symbols,
is unknown. It certainly excited great
attention, and numbered individuals of
high rank as honorary members, as early
as the 15th century. The Scottish masons
appointed St. Clair of Roslin as their
hereditary grand-master in 1630; and
the office was resigned by his descendant
in 1736, -when the grand lodge of Scot-
land was instituted. In 1725, the first
French lodge was established ; in 1730,
the first American ; in 1735, the first
German. Pope Clement XTT. excommu-
nicated the freemasons in Spain and For-

FRO]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

253

tugal : until recent events, their name
was synonymous with that of deists and
revolutionists. But the most singular
chapter in the history of the society re-
lates to its fortunes in America ; where
it has given origin to two political par-
ties. The story of the abduction and
murder of William Morgan, suspected of
having revealed the secrets of the frater-
nity, made a great sensation in the Union,
and is not cleared up at this day.

FREE-TIIINK'ER, a term applied to
those who reject the ordinary modes of
thinking in matters of religion. It is
almost synonymous with deist. Free-
thinking, in England, first appeared in
the form of opposition to abuses in the
church, which were attacked in the reign
of James II. and William III.

FREIGHT, in navigation and com-
merce, the hire of a ship, or a part there-
of, for the conveyance and carriage of
goods from one place to another ; or the
sum agreed on between the owner and
the merchant, for the hire and use of a
vessel. In a more extended sense, it
means the burden of such ship.

FRENCH-HORN', a musical wind in-
strument made of copper. It possesses a
range of three octaves, and is capable of
producing tones of great sweetness.

FRES'CO PAINTING, a method of
painting by incorporating the colors with
plaster before it is dry, by which it
becomes as permanent as the wall it-
self. This method of painting is exe-
cuted with mineral and earthy pigments
upon a freshly laid stucco ground of lime
or gypsum. Vegetable pigments cannot
be used for fresco-painting even when
mixed with mineral pigments ; and of the
latter, only those are available which
resist the chemical action of the lime.
Burnt pigments are the best for this
style of painting; they are generally
ground with clean water, and rendered
so thin, that they can be worked with the
brush ; to some are added lime, milk, &c.
The pigments unite with the lime or
gypsum ground, and are therefore ex-
tremely durable ; but as this ground,
after standing a night, is unfit for paint-
ing on, there must be only a sufficient
quantity for one day prepared. Fresco-
painting is therefore difficult, as it can-
not be retouched. This art, which is em-
ployed generally for large pictures on
walls and ceilings, was understood by the
ancients, but first made of real impor-
tance by the Italians in the sixteenth
century.

FRET, in architecture, an ornament

consisting of two lists or small fillets
variously interlaced or interwoven, and
running at parallel distances equal to
their breadth. Fret-work is sometimes
used to fill up and enrich flat empty
spaces, but is mostly practised in roofs,
which are fretted over with plaster-work.
Frets, in music, certain short pieces of
wire fixed on the finger-boards of guitars,
<fec. at right angles to the strings, and
which, as the strings are brought into
contact with them by the pressure of the
fingers, serve to vary and determine the
pitch of the tones. Formerly, these frets
or stops consisted of strings tied round
the neck of the instrument.

FRIAR, (from the French frere, a
brother,) a term common to monks of all
orders ; there being a kind of fraternity,
or brotherhood, between the several re-
ligious persons of the same monastery.
Friars are generally distinguished into
four principal branches, viz., 1. Minors,
gray friars, or Franciscans ; 2. Augus-
tines; 3. Dominicans, or black friars;
4. White friars, or Carmelites.

FRI DAY, the sixth day of the week,
so called from Frea, or Friga, a goddess
worshipped by the Saxons on this day.

FRIEND'SHIP, a noble and virtuous
attachment between individuals, spring-
ing from a pure source ; this is true
friendship. False friendship may subsist
between bad men, as between thieves
a temporary attachment springing from
interest, which may change in a moment
to enmity and rancor.

FRIEZE, in architecture, the member
in the entablature of an order between
the architrave and the cornice. It is al-
ways plain in the Tuscan ; ornamented
with triglyphs and sculpture in the Doric;
in the Ionic it is occasionally, in modern
or Italian architecture, swelled ; in which
case it is called a pulvinated or cushioned
frieze ; and in the Corinthian and Com-
posite it is variously decorated, according
to the taste of the architect.

FRIG'ATE, a ship of war, light built,
and a good sailer. Frigates have two
decks, and generally mount from twenty
to forty-four guns.

FRIGATOON', a Venetian vessel built
with a square stern, without any foremast ;
it is used in the Adriatic.

FRONDE', WAR OF THE, that main-
tained by the malcontent partisans of the
parliament in France, under the regency
of Louis XIV.. against the government of
Cardinal Mazarin. The name of Fronde
(sling) was given to this war in conse-
quence of some incidents of a street quar-

254

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[FCN

rel, which have been differently repre-
sented. The party opposed to. govern-
ment was called that of the Fronde ; and
the word Frondeurs has hence acquired
in the French language the signification
of discontented politicians.

FRON'TAL, in architecture, a little
pediment or front- piece over a small door
or window. Frontal, the hangings or
ornamental panel in front of an altar,
were of three kinds : 1st, of precious
metals, adorned with enamels and jew-
els ; 2d, of wood, painted, gilt, em-
bossed, and often set with crystals ; 3d,
of cloth of gold, velvet, or silk embroider-
ed, and occasionally enriched with pearls.

FRONTIER, the border, confine or
extreme part of a kingdom or province,
bordering on another country. Frontiers
were anciently called inarches.

FRON'TISPIECE, in architecture, the
face or fore front of a house ; but more
usually applied to the decorated entrance
of a building. This term is also used for
the ornamental first page of a book, be-
ing, as the derivation imports, that part
which first meets the eye.

FRUIT-PAINTING, may be consid-
ered to have originated with Zeuxis, who
painted a bunch of grapes so naturally
that the birds came and pecked at them.
Since the introduction in modern times of
pictures of still life, fruit and flower-
painting has become a distinct branch of
art. cultivated principally in the Nether-
lands.

FRUIT-WORK, this branch of art at-
tained some excellence in antiquity, al-
though used only for architectural orna-
ments. Workers in clay and bronze also
imitated fruits, and in the time of Mar-
cus Varro, there lived at Rome a clay-
modeller who imitated apples and grapes
so exactly, that at first sight they were
not to be distinguished from nature.
Festoons of fruit were also carved in
stone for the decoration of temples. The
most celebrated specimen in bronze is a
colossal pine-apple, formerly on the tomb
of the Emperor Hadrian, but now in the
great Bramanhe niche, at the end of the
garden of the Belvedere at Rome. We
find the capitals and friezes of buildings
of the middle ages, carved with grapes,
and in the age of the Renaissance we meet
with festoons of fruits, which aft^Pvards,
in the age of Rococo, were employed too
frequently in decoration. At Florence,
beautiful imitations of richly colored
fruits, such as purple grapes, Ac., were
made in Pietra dura, or Florentine Mo-
saic.

FU'GITIVE, in literature, short and
occasional compositions either in poetry
or prose ; written in haste or at inter-
vals, and considered to be fleeting and
temporary.

FU'GLEMAN, or FLU'GELMAN, a
non-commissioned officer, appointed to
take his place in front of a regiment as
a guide to the soldiers in their move-
ments of the drill. The word is derived
from the German fliigel, awing.

FU'GUE, in music, a piece of compo-
sition in which the different parts follow
each other, each repeating in order what
the first had performed.

FUNCTION, any office, duty, or em-
ployment belonging to a particular sta-
tion or character ; as the functions of a
judge, a bishop, &c. Functions, applied
to the actions of the body, are divided
into vital, animal and natural. The vital
functions are those necessary to life, and
without which the individual cannot sub-
sist ; as the motion of the heart, lungs,
&c. The natural functions are such as
we cannot subsist any considerable time
without ; as the digestion of the aliment,
and its conversion into blood. Under
animal functions are included the senses of
touching, tasting, &c., memory, judg-
ment, and voluntary motion, without
which an animal may be said to exist,
though under great privations. In short,
all parts of the body have their own
functions, or actions, peculiar to them-
selves. Life consists in the exercise of
these functions, and health in the free
exercise of them.

FUNDS, a term adopted by those who
speak of the public revenue of nations, to
signify the several taxes that have been
laid upon commodities, either by way of
duties of custom, or excise, or in any
other manner, to supply the exigencies of
the state, and to pay interest for what
sums it may have occasion to borrow.
The capital stock of a banking institu-
tion, or the joint stock of a commercial
or manufacturing house, constitutes it*
funds: and hence the word is applied to
the money which an individual may pos-
sess, or the means he can employ for car-
rying on any enterprise or operation.
The Funding system commenced in Eng-
land shortly after the Revolution of
1688, and as the sums were at first bor-
rowed for short periods, and partially re-
paid, the first transaction which assumed
the character of a permanent loan was
when, at the establishment of the Bank
of England, in 1693, its capital, then
amounting to 1,200,OOOZ., was advanced

GAB]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

255

to the government. A sinking fund is
a sum of money appropriated to the pay-
ment of the public stock, or the payment
of the public debt.

FU'NERAL GAMES, the celebration
of these- games among the Greeks, mostly
consisted of horse-races ; the prizes were
of different sorts and value, according to
the quality and magnificence of the per-
son that celebrated them. The garlands,
given to victors on this occasion, were
usually of parsley, which was thought to
have some particular relation to the
dead. Among the Romans, the funeral
games consisted chiefly of processions ;
but sometimes also of mortal combats of
gladiators, around the funeral pile.

FU'NERAL PALLS, the palls in an-
cient use, especially at the funerals of
persons of distinction, were of the most
costly materials and beautifully orna-
mented, being constructed of velvet or
cloth of gold, embroidered with heraldic
devices and imagery. The form was
usually square, sometimes with lappets,
with a cross extending the whole length
and width, formed of a different material
from the pall itself, and generally en-
riched with ornaments or appropriate
inscriptions. The color of the palls va-
ried at different periods. In the six-
teenth century, and perhaps earlier,
black was used ; they were frequently
made of red, purple, greeji and blue vel-
vet, or cloth of gold, with reference to
the heraldic tinctures that were peculiar
to the deceased.

FU'NERAL RITES, ceremonies ac-
companying the interment or burial of
any person. These rites differed among
the ancients according to the different
genius and religion of each country.
The ancient Christians testified their ab-
horrence of the pagan custom of burning
the dead, and always deposited the
body entire in the ground ; and it was
visual to bestow the honor of embalming
upon the martyrs, at least, if not upon
thers.

FU'RIES, in mythology, called by the
Greeks Erinnyes and Eumenides, were
the avenging deities, who punished gods
and men for their transgressions against
those whom they were bound to esteem
and reverence. Their number was not
fixed, though sometimes they were con-
sidered to be three sisters. The Atheni-
ans, who, according to Plutarch, were
particularly addicted to this art of eu-
phemism., called them also the venerable
goddesses, their true names being consid-
ered ominous. By this name they were

mentioned in the oaths taken .at the Are-
opagus.

FUR'LOUGH, leave granted to a non-
commissioned officer or soldier to be ab-
sent for a given time from his regiment.

FUSILEER', a soldier belonging to
what is termed the light infantry : they
were formerly armed with a fusil; but
they are not now so distinguished, their
muskets being like the rest.

FUS'TIAN, in literature, an inflated
style of writing, in which high-sounding
aad bombastic terms are used, instead of
such as are natural, simple, and suited to
the subject.

FYL'FOT, a cross of peculiar form, fre-
quently introduced in decoration and em-
broidery during the middle ages. It oc-
curs on monumental brasses anterior to
the accession of Richard II., being found
on the girdle of a priest of the date A.D.
1011. It is considered to have been in
use at a very remote period as a mystic
symbol amongst religious devotees in In-
dia and China, whence it was introduced
into Europe about the sixth century.

G, the seventh letter in the English al-
phabet ; but in the Greek, and all the
oriental languages, it occupies the third
place. It is a mute, and cannot be sound-
ed without the assistance of a vowel. It
has a hard and a soft sound, as in game,
and gesture ; and in many words, as in
sign, reign. &c., the sound is not per-
ceived. As a numeral it formerly stood
for 400, and with a dash over it. for 400,-
000. G, in music, is the nominal of the
fifth note in the natural diatonic scale of
C, and to which Guido applied the mono-
syllable sol. It is also one of the names
of the highest cliff.

GA'BIONS, in fortification, baskets
made of osier-twigs, of a cylindrical form,
six feet high, and four wide ; which, be-
ing filled with earth, serve as a shelter
from the enemy's fire.

GA'BLE, in architecture, the vertical
triangular piece of wall at the end of the
roof, from the level of the eaves to the
summit.

GA'BRIEL, ST., one of the three arch-
angels, the "messenger;" the il angel of
the annunciation ;" in pictures represent-
ing this mystery, he is frequently repre-
sented in royal robes, bearing a sceptre,
or a lily, and kneeling. In some in-
stances, he is represented floating in the
air, with his hands crossed over his breast.

256

CYCLOPEDIA OP LITERATURE

GADS, or GADLYNOS, in armor, are
the bosses or
small spikes of
steel with which
the knuckles
were armed.
The gads of the
gauntlets o f
Edward the

Black Prince are of brass, and made in
the shape of lions or leopards.

GAE LIC, is the name of that dialect in
the ancient Celtic language, which is spok-
en in the Highlands of Scotland. It is a
generally received opinion, that the Celtic,
at the time of the Roman invasion, was
universally spoken over the west of Eu-
rope ; for, although divided into a variety
of dialects, yet they all show the clearest
proofs of a common origin. The Gaelic,
which, from a variety of causes, has re-
tained much of its original purity, is hold,
expressive, and copious. It derives no
assistance from the languages either of
Greece or Rome, from which it differs in
its structure and formation. More than
two thirds of the names of places in Great
Britain and Ireland are of Celtic origin,
which, if other proofs were wanting, would
establish the fact of its once having been
the language of the country. See ERSE.
GAIL'LIARDE, an ancient Italian
dance, of a sportive character and lively
movement. It was sometimes called Ro-
manesque, because it was said to have
come originally from Rome.

GAL'AXY, in astronomy, the Via Lac-
tea, or Milky Way ; a long, white, lu-
minous track, which seems to encompass
the heavens like a girdle ; forming near-
ly a great circle of the celestial sphere.
This, like every other phenomenon of
nature, has supplied the poet with many
a fantastic, and many a beautiful dream.
The invention of the telescope has con-
firmed the conjecture of science, that it
consists in a multitude of stars, too re-
mote to be separately distinguished by
the naked eye.

GALL, the gall of the ox is used in
water-color painting, mixed with the pig-
ments to make them flow freely upon pa-
per which has a greasiness of surface.
To fit it for this purpose, the gall is
strained and exposed to a gentle heat un-
til nearly solidified; it is then of a dark
olive-brown color, scarcely fit to mix with
the pure blue or red pigments. Colorless
ox-gall should be prepared by boiling the
crude gall with animal charcoal, and fil-
tering the liquid.
GAL'LEON, vessels of war formerly

used by the Spaniards and Portuguese.
In more recent times, those vessels were
called galleons, in which the Spaniards
transported treasures from their Ameri-
can colonies.

GAL'LERY, in architecture, "a long,
narrow room, the width of which is at
least three times less than its length ; by
which proportion it is distinguished from
a saloon. Corridors are sometimes also
called galleries. Gallery, in fortifica-
tion, a covered walk across a ditch in a
besieged town, made of strong planks and
covered with earth. It was formerly
used for carrying a mine to the foot of
the ramparts. Gallery, (of a mine,) a
narrow passage, or branch of a mine car-
ried on underground to a work designed
to be blown up. Gallery, (in a ship,) a
balcony, projecting from the stern of a
ship of war, or of a large merchantman.
Gallery, in the Fine Arts, a term applied
to a collection of works in painting or
sculpture. The earliest gallery of which
there is any record was that of Verres.
It is described by Cicero, and was rich in
pictures as well as sculpture. In Eu-
rope, at the present day. the gallery of
the Louvre, though much reduced in 1815
by the restoration of many works of art
which conquest had enabled the French
to acquire, is the finest in Europe, if
taken as a whole. That founded at
Florence by Cosmo II. long enjoyed the
first rank, but must be now considered
secondary to the French collection. The
other principal galleries of Europe are
those at Munich, Dresden, Berlin, and,
though last not least both in size and
importance, that of the Vatican at Rome ;
which, however, is more generally called
the Museum of the Vatican.

GAL'LEY, a naval vessel of large size,
long and narrow, usually propelled by
oars, with occasionally the addition of
sails. Most of the ships employed by the
ancients may be termed galleys, and ac-
cording to the number of banks of row-
ers were biremes when with two bunk*
triremes when with three, and so on,
up to as many as forty, but those with
more than four or five banks must be re-
garded as curiosities. Galleys were in
use in the Mediterranean until the close
of the eighteenth century, for coast navi-
gation, the largest of which were about
160 feet long and 30 feet wide, with 52
oars. Among the Venetians there was in
use a kind of large galley, with a very
lofty poop, called galeazza. The state
galley of the Doges was termed BUCEN-
TAUR. The punishment of the galleys,

GAL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

257

i. e. the employment of condemned crim-
inals in the toilsome employment of row-
ing them, is said to have originated under
the Greek empire ; as well as the name
TaAeopofj or galley slaves in French ga-
leriens. It was used by all the nations
bordering on the Mediterranean. In
France, under the old jurisprudence, the
punishment of the galleys was the se-
verest after that of death. About the
end of the reign of Louis XIV., when
galleys themselves began to be disused,
the galley slaves were employed in hos-
pitals, public works, <fec. : and the name
of the punishment was changed by the
constituent assembly (1798) to travaux
forces, compulsory labor, whence the
vrordforgat for a criminal so condemned.
Under the code of the empire the pun-
ishment was accompanied with forfeiture
of property, infamy, and branding. By
an alteration of the law effected in 1832,
the brand was abolished ; and the crim-
inals, who had hitherto been intermingled
in the three penal fortresses (Toulon,
Kochefort, and Brest,) were classified.
Toulon was appropriated to those con-
demned for 10 years and under ; Brest,
to those from 10 to 20 ; Rochefort, to the
condemned for life.

GAL'LI. the priests of Cybele were so
named at Rome from the country (Gala-
tia or Gallo-Graecia) in which Pessinus,
the head-quarters of her worship, was
situated : also termed Curetes, Cory-
bantes, and Idaoi Dactyli. Cybele, the
mother of the gods, was introduced to
Rome from Asia on the occasion of a pes-
tilence by the advice of the Sybillino ora-
cles, and her worship became in time one
of the most popular in the city.

GAL'LICAN, anything belonging to
France : thus the term gallican church
denotes the chur'ch of France, or the as-
sembly of the clergy of that kingdom.

GAL'LICISM, an idiom or phrase of
the French language, introduced in speak-
ing or writing another language.

GALTJOT, a small galley or
Dutch vessel, carrying a main and
mizenmast, and a large gaff-main-
sail ; built very slightly, and de-
signed only for chase. It can both
sail and row, and has sixteen or
twenty oars. All the seamen on
board are soldiers, and each has a
musket by him 3n quitting his
oar.

GALLOPADE', in the manege,
a sidelong or curveting kind of
= gallop. Also the term for a spright-
ly and active kind of dance.
GALL-STONE, a concretion found in
the gall-bladder of the ox, which is em-
ployed as a pigment in water-color paint-

ing. I^yields a fine golden-yellow color,

jirnilarYo .

manent.

Indian yellow. It is not per-

GAL'LY, in printing, a wooden or
metal frame, into which the compositor
empties the lines out of his composing-
stick, and in which he ties up the page
when it is completed.

GAL' VANISH, electrical phenomena,
in which the electricity is developed
without the aid of friction, and in which
a chemical action takes place between
certain bodies. It includes all those
electrical phenomena arising from the
chemical agency of certain metals with
different fluids. Volta discovered the
means of multiplying those effects ; henco
the science has also been called roltaism,
or voltaic electricity ; and, from its action
on the muscles of animals rfewly killed,
animal electricity. The galvanic battery
or pile, is an instrument of vast power,
and admits of extensive application in
the wide field of chemical research, and
accordingly the acquisition of it has led
to important discoveries. The electricity
produced by the galvanic battery is much
less intense than that produced by an
ordinary electrical machine, but it pos-
sesses this great advantage, that its ac-
tion may be kept up for any length of
time, in a continuous manner ; whereas,
in a highly charged electric battery, the
whole of the electric power is expended
as soon as the circuit is completed. The
effects of galvanism may be distinguished
into the three classes of physiological,
chemical, and physical. With respect to
the physiological effects, we may refer to
the marvellous cures said to have been
effected by currents of electricity to the
facts recorded of animals recently killed,
exhibiting many of the signs of life, so
long as they are placed between the poles
of the pile. Animals stupefied by breath-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[GAN

ing the fumes of charcoal, may be brought
at once to life by placing them between
the poles of the pile. Among the chemi-
cal effects produced by the galvanic pile,
the decomposition of water, of oxydes,
and the alkalies, are the most remarka-
ble. Among the physical effects we may
remark the production of heat, light and
magnetism. This last effect, and the
mutual action which the currents exert
on each other, constitutes the science of
electro-magnetism. Galvanism is heat,
light, electricity, and magnetism, united
in combination or in simultaneous ac-
tion ; sometimes one and sometimes an-
other of them predominating, and thus
producing more or less all the effects of
each usual means of excitement, con-
tact of dissimilar bodies, espe<nally of
metals and fluids.

GALVANOG'RAPHY, ELECTHOGRA-
VHY, this is one of the most beautiful
and successful inventions of modern times,
as by its means plastic objects, e. g., wood,
stone, coins, plaster casts, &c., and copper
plates for engravings, may be exactly
copied in copper, and bronzed or gilt.
The invention is especially valuable for
copper-plate engraving, as by its means
any number of duplicates of the original
plate may be obtained. Galvanography,
after many experiments, has produced
works of Art far surpassing the expecta-
tions at first entertained, and the uses to
which it may be applied are multifarious,
for since the first galvanic plate was taken,
it has been" used in all branches of en-
graving, having been found to unite all
the known methods of the graver and
etching needle, aqua tinta, scraper, and
roulette work, &c., and, moreover, is very
easy of execution.

GAMBE'SON. or WAMBEYS, in armor,
a body-covering stuffed with wool and
padded in parallel lines of needle-work.

GAM'BOGE, a gum-resin brought from
the East, which yields a fine yellow pig-
ment, very useful in water-color paint-
ing. The finest quality is the pipe-gam-
boge, brought from Siam. It dissolves
readily in water, is very transparent and
glossy when dry. It is indispensable in
water colors, forming, with the various
blues, excellent compound greens. This
pigment would be useful in oil painting,
as it resists for a long time the action of
strong light, provided the resinous part
could be separated from the other parts.

GAME, all sorts of birds and beasts
that are objects of the chase. Game
laics. In England, laws have been en-
acted to secure to certain privileged

classes the right of hunting and shooting
wild birds and animals, and preventing
their being destroyed or sold in the mar-
ket ; and it is believed that nothing h:m
been so fertile a source of crime, among
the lower orders, as these enactments.

GAMES, in antiquity, were public
diversions, or contests, exhibited on cer-
tain occasions, as spectacles for the grati-
fication of the people. Such, among the
Greeks, were the Olympic, Pythian, Isth-
mian, and Nemaean games ; and, among
the Romans, the Apollinarian, Circen-
sian, Capitoline, <fec. The Romans had
three sorts of games, viz., sacred, hone-
ary, and ludicrous. The first were insti-
tuted in honor of some deity or hero ; the
second were those exhibited by private
persons, to please the people ; as the
combats of gladiators, the scenic games,
and other amphitheatrical sports. The
ludicrous games were much of the same
nature with the games of exercise and
hazard among us ; such were the ludus
Trojanus, tessera, <fcc. By a decree of
the Roman senate, it was enacted that
the public games should be consecrated,
and united with the worship of the gods
as a part thereof: whence it appears,
that feasts, sacrifices, and games, made
up the greatest part, or rather the whole,
of the external worship offered by the
Romans to their deities.
, GAM'UT, or GAM'MA UT, in music,
a scale whereon the musical notes are dis-
posed in their several orders, and marked
by the monosyllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol,
la. Its invention is attributed to Guido
Aretino, a monk of Tuscany ; it is also
called the harmonical hand, from Guido
having made use of the figure of the
hand to demonstrate the progression of
his sounds.

GANT'LET, or GAUNT'LET, a large
kind of glove, made of iron, and the fingers
covered with small plates, formerly worn
by cavaliers, armed at all points. To
throw the gantlet, is a proverbial phrase,
signifying to challenge or defy The ex-
pression derives its origin from the days
of chivalry, when he that challenged an
opponent in the lists threw down his glove,
and he that accepted the challenge took
it up.

GANT'LOPE. or GANT'LET, in mili-
tary affairs, an old punishment in which
the criminal, running between the ranks,
received a lash from every man. A simi-
lar punishment is used on board of ships ;
but it is seldom inflicted, except for such
crimes as are calculated to excite general
antipathy among the seamen.

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

259

GAN'YMEDE, great-grandson of Dar-
danus, who founded the city of Troy, son
of Tros and of Callirrhoe, a daughter of
the Scamander. Jupiter, in the shape
of an eagle, carried him off from Mount
Ida to the scat of the gods, where he dis-
charged the office of cup-bearer to the
immortals, Hebe having rendered her-
self unworthy of this office. This fiction
has afforded, both to poets and artists, an
inexhaustible supply of subjects. Numer-
ous paintings, statues, cameos, and in-
taglios, master-works of ancient Art, have
descended to us, upon which this youth,
scarcely passed the years of boyhood, is
represented as of great beauty. The rep-
resentations of Ganymede are to be recog-
nized by the Phrygian cap, and the eagle,
which is either standing beside him, or
carrying him in its talons to Olympus.

GAOL DELIVERY, a term in law
for the clearing of a prison by a judicial
condemnation or acquittal of the prison-
ers ; also a commission from the king to
deliver or clear the gaols.

GARD DE BRAS, in armor, the plate
attached to the cuff of the gantlet or the
coudiere.

GAR'DENING, that branch of cultiva-
tion which teaches us how to dispose
fruit-trees, flowers, and herbs, to the best
advantage, whether for profit or pleas-
ure ; and directs us how to prepare the
soil for sowing the different kinds of
seeds, as well as how to treat the plants,
during their various stages of vegetation,
till they repay our care by the produce
they yield when arrived at maturity.
The art embraces the following heads :
Horticulture, which comprehends the cul-
ture of culinary vegetables and fruits ;
floriculture, which includes the culture of
ornamental and curious flowers, shrubs,
and trees ; aboriculture, which implies
the culture of trees or shrubs used
for various purposes in the arts and in
general economy ; and landscape gar-
dening, or the general disposition of the
scenery or landscape about a country
residence. Horticulture includes the
culture of the kitchen garden and or-
chard ; floriculture, the culture of flower
gardens, botanic gardens, shrubberies,
and pleasure-grounds ; aboricultnre, the
culture of nurseries for fruit and forest
trees and shrubs ; and landscape garden-
ing, the formation and management of
lawns, roads, walks, lakes, ponds, and
artificial rivers, of rock work, and of
every description of objects in artificial
scenery which come under the denomina-
tion of ornamental or picturesque.

G ARGOYLE'fthis term is derived from
the French gargouille, a dragon or mon-
ster. It is applied to the spouts in the
form of dragons that project from the
roof-gutters in ancient buildings.

GAR/LANDS, of various descriptions,
are used in the ceremonies, <fcc., of the
Catholic Church. 1. Of flowers, suspend-
ed over altars, and in churches on festival
days. 2. Of roses, and other flowers,
worn round the heads of the assistant
clergy and others in certain processions.
3. Of silver, set with jewels, or of natu-
ral flowers, and placed on images. 4.
Of artificial flowers and other ornaments
carried at the funerals of virgins.

GARNISHMENT, in law, a warning
or notice given to a party to appear in
court or give information ; a technical
term, used only in one or two instances.

GAR'RISON, a body offerees disposed
in a fortress to defend it against the ene-
my, or to keep the inhabitants of the
town where it is situated in subjection.
The term garrison is sometimes used
synonymously with winter quarters, viz.
a place where a number of troops are laid
up in the winter season without keeping
the regular guard.

GARROTE', THE, a mode of capital
punishment employed in Spain. "tho
criminal is seated on a stool with his back
to a stake. A tight collar is passed round
his throat, of which the ends nearly meet ;
the executioner standing behind him,
twists them closer by means of a screw :
the death is instantaneous.

GAR'TER, ORDER OF THE, a military
order of knighthood, said to have been
first instituted by Richard I. at the siege
of Acre, where he caused twenty-six
knights, who firmly stood by^ him, to
wear thongs of blue leather about their
legs. It is also understood to have been
perfected by Edward III., and to have
received some alterations, which were
afterwards laid aside, from Edward VI. ;
but the number of knights remained as
at first established, till the year 1786,
when it was increased to thirty-two.
This order is never conferred but upon
persons of the highest rank. The habit
and ensigns of this order are the garter,
mantle, cap and collar The badge of
the order is the image of Saint George,
called the George ; and the motto is
Honi soit qui mal y pense, or " Evil to
him that evil thinks hereof." A vulgar
story (says Hume) prevails, but it is not
supported by any ancient authority, that,
at a court ball, Edward the Third's mis-
tress, commonly supposed to be the Count-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[OEM

ess of Salisbury, dropped her garter ;
and the king, taking it up, observed
some of the courtiers to smile, as if they
thought he had not obtained this favor
by accident; upon which he called out
Honi soil qui mal y pense.
GAS'TROMANCY, a kind of divina-
tion practised among the ancients by
means of words issuing or seeming to
issue from the belly. This term is ap-
plied also to a species of divination per-
formed by means of glasses or other round
transparent vessels, in the centre of which
certain figures appear by magic art.

GASTRON'OMY, the science of eating
and drinking. The gastronomy of the
Romans was the most gross and luxu-
rious, as that of the French is the most
refined and delicate, combined with the
rules of health and social merriment.

GAUZE, a very thin, slight, trans-
parent kind of stuff, woven sometimes
of silk, and sometimes only of thread ;
and frequently with flowers of silver or
gold on a silk ground. It is said to have
been invented in Gaza, a city of Palestine.

GAV'EL-KIND, a tenure in England,
by which land descended from the father
to all his sons in equal portions, and the
la^d of a brother, dying without issue,
descended equally to his brothers. This
species of tenure prevailed in England
before the Norman conquest, in many
parts of the kingdom, perhaps in the
whole realm ; but particularly in Kent,
where it still exists.

GA'VOT, in music, an air for a dance,
which has two strains ; the first having
usually four or eight bars, and the second
eight or twelve more, each of which are
played twice over. It is of a brisk nature.

GAZETTE', a periodical paper, pub-
lished at short intervals, containing arti-
cles of general intelligence. In Europe
such sheets were generally termed Mer-
curies in the first times of their inven-
tion, and appeared only occasionally ; the
earliest were published during the gen-
eral apprehensions from the presence of
the Spanish armada, but some doubt has
been lately thrown on the authenticity
of the specimens preserved in the British
Museum. The first gazette produced in
France (under that title) was in 1631 :
the first in England in 1665, when the
court resided at Oxford on account of the
plague in London. From that period the
Gazette has regularly appeared twice a
week, containing such notifications as are
either published by the court or the gov-
ernment, or such as are authoritatively
required by law in private transactions

The name Gazette is said to be derived
from Gazetta, a small Venetian coin,
being the price that was paid for one of
the flying sheets of commercial and mili-
tary information (notizie scritte,) which
were first published by that republic in
1563.

GAZETTEER', a topographical work,
alphabetically arranged, containing a
brief description of empires, kingdoms,
cities, towns, and rivers. It may either
include the whole world, or be limited to
a particular country. The first work of
this kind, with which we are acquainted,
is that of Stephen of Byzantium, who
lived in the beginning of the sixth cen-
tury.

GAZONS', in fortification, pieces of
fresh earth, covered with grass, and cut
in form of a wedge, to line the outsides
of works made of earth, as ramparts,
parapets, &c.

GEHEN'NA, a term in Scripture,
adopted from the usage of the Jews to
signify hell or the place of eternal pun-
ishment. The word is a slight corruption
of Gehinnon, or the Valley of Hinnom in
the neighborhood of Jerusalem, wherein,
at a place named Tophet, it was recorded
that certain idolatrous Jews had sacri-
ficed to Moloch. The sewers of the city
were emptied into this hollow, and per-
petual fires were kept up to consume the
noxious matter, and prevent pestilential
effluvia. Hence, it is said, the name of
the place came to be used metaphorically
in the sense above described. From this
word seems to be derived the old French
gehenne, torture; and from thence the
common word gene, constraint.

GELOS'COPY, a kind of divination
drawn from laughter ; or a method of
knowing the qualities and character of a
person, acquired from the consideration
of his laughter.

GEMAR'A, the second part of the Tal-
mud or commentary on the Jewish laws.

GEMO'NI^l SCA'LJE, in Roman anti-
quity, a place for executing criminals,
situated on the Aventine mount, or tenth
region of the city.

GEMS, the name given to precious
stones in general, but more especially to
such as by their color, brilliancy, polish,
purity, and rarity, are sought after as ob-
jects of decoration. Gems of the most valu-
able kinds form the principal part of the
crown jewels of sovereign princes, and are
esteemed not merely for their beauty, but
as comprising the greatest value in the
smallest bulk. Gems are remarkable for
their hardness and internal lustre. Un-

GEN]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

261

der this name are comprehended the dia-
mond, ruby, sapphire, hyacinth, beryl,
garnet, emerald, topaz, chrysolite, &c.
To these have been added rock crystals,
the finer flints of pebbles, the cat's eye,
the oculus mundi, the chalcedony, the
moon-stones, the onyx, the cornelian, the
sardonyx, agate, <fce. Of most of these
species there are some of an inferior class
and beauty ; these are commonly called
by jewellers occidental stones. They are
mostly the produce of Europe, and found
in mines or stone quarries ; and are so
named in opposition to those of a higher
class, which are always accounted ori-
ental, and supposed to be only produced
in the east. Gem-engraving, or gem-
sculpture, called also litkoglyptics, is the
art of representing designs upon precious
stones, either in raised work, as cameos,
or by figures cut below the surface, as
intaglios. This art is of great antiquity,
and was probably practised by the Baby-
lonians. Some think the art originated
in India ; but wherever it originated, we
have ample evidence that among the
Greeks and Romans it was in high es-
teem. The merit of cameos and intag-
lios depends on their erudition, as it is
termed, or the goodness of the workman-
ship, and the beauty of their polish. The
antique Greek gems are the most highly
prized ; and, next to them, the Roman
ones of the times of the higher empire.
Artificial gems. In order to approxi-
mate as near as possible to -the brilliancy
and refractive power of native gems, a
basis, called a paste, is made from the
finest flint glass, composed of selected
materials, combined in different propor-
tions, according to the preference of the
manufacturer. This is mixed with me-
tallic oxydes capable of producing the
desired color. The imitation of antique
gems consists in a method of taking the
impressions and figures of antique gems,
with their engravings, in glass, of the
color of the original gems. Great care
is necessary in the operation, to take the
impression of the gem in a very fine
earth, and to press down upon this a
piece of proper glass, softened or half
melted at the fire, so that the figures of
the impression made in the earth may be
nicely and perfectly expressed upon the
glass.

GENDARMES', or GENS D' ARMES,
in the history of France, an appellation
given to a select body of troops, who
were destined to watch over the interior
public safety, and consequently much
employed by the police. They were so

called on account of their succeeding the
ancient gendarmes, who were completely
clothed in armor, and commanded by
captain-lieutenants, the king and the
princes of the blood being their captains.
At the revolution this body was broken
up, and the name was given to a corps
which was employed in the protection of
the streets. August 16th, 1830, a royal
ordinance abolished the gens d'armes.
and established a new body called the
municipal guard of Paris, to consist of
1443 men, under the direction of the
prefect of police.

GEN'UER, in grammar, a distinction
in nouns to mark the sexes ; genders are
either masculine, for the male sex; fem-
inine, for the female sex; or neuter, for
those which are of neither sex. The
English language has very few termina-
tions by which the genders are distin-
guished, such as count and countess, but
generally supplies distinct words ; as boy,
girl; whereas, in the Latin and French,
the terminations always mark the dis-
tinction, as bonus equus, a good horse ;
bona equa, a good mare ; un bon citoyen
a good citizen ; une bonne citoyenne, a
good female citizen.

GENEAL'OGY, a history of the de-
scent of a person or family from a series
of ancestors. In various chapters and
military orders, it is required that the
candidates produce their genealogy, to
show that they are noble by so many
descents. The Jews were anxious to pre-
serve their genealogies entire and unin-
terrupted ; and this care on their part
affords an argument of considerable im-
portance with respect to the accomplish-
ment of those prophecies that pertain
to the Messiah : accordingly, in their
sacred writings, we find genealogies car-
ried on for above 3500 years.

GEN'ERAL, in the army, is, next to
field marshal, the highest military title
adopted by the European states. Like
most military designations, it owes its
origin to the French, who, about the
middle of the 15th century, conferred the
title of lieutenant-general on the indi-
vidual to whom the monarch (by virtue
of his birth the commander or general of
the national forces) intrusted the super-
intendence of the army. The title of
general is conferred either on the com-
mander-in-chief of the force? of a nation,
or on the commander of an army or
grand division ; it is also given to the offi-
cers next in rank to the general, who, be-
sides performing functions peculiar to
their own offices, frequently act as the sub

262

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

GKX

etitutes of their superior, with the desig-
nation of lieutenant-general and inajor-
general. A particular beat of drum
which in the morning gives notice to the
infantry to be in readiness to march, is
also called the general.

GENERALIS'SIMO, a title conferred,
especially by the French, on the com-
mander-in-chief of an army consisting of
two or more grand divisions, each under
the superintendence of a general. Ac-
cording to Balzac, this dignity was first
assumed by Cardinal Richelieu on the
occasion of his leading the French army
into Italy ; but the term does not appear
to have found favor among the other
European states.

GENERALIZA'TION, in logic, has
been defined as the act of comprehending
under a common name several objects
agreeing in some point which we abstract
from each of them and which that com-
mon term serves to indicate. Ex. Coper-
nicus generalized the celestial motions,
by merely referring them to the moon's
motion. Newton generalized them still
more, by referring this last to the motion
of a stone through the air.

GEN'ERAL IS'SUE, in law, that plea
which denies at once the whole declara-
tion or indictment, without offering any
special matter by which to evade it.
This is the ordinary plea upon which
most causes are tried, and is now almost
invariably used in all criminal cases. It
puts everything in issue, that is denies
everything, and requires the party to
prove all that he has stated In many
cases, for the protection of justices, con-
stables, excise officers, Ac., they are al-
lowed to plead the general issue, and
give the special matter for their justifi-
cation, under the act, in evidence.

GEN'ERATOR, in music, the principal
sound or sounds by which others are pro-
duced. Thus the lowest C for the treble
of the pianoforte, besides its octave, will
strike an attentive ear with its twelfth
above, or G in alt., and with its seven-
teenth above, or E in alt. Hence C is
called their generator, the G and E its
products or harmonics.

GENER'IC, or GENER'ICAL, an ep-
ithet pertaining to a genus or kind. It is
a word used to signify all species of
natural bodies, which agree in certain
essential and peculiar characters, and
therefore all of the same family or kind; so
that the word used as the generic name,
equally expresses every one of them,
and some other words expressive of the
peculiar qualities of figures of each are

added, in order to denote them singly,
and make up what is called the specific
name. Thus the word rosa, or rose, i-
the generic name of the whole series of
flowers of that kind, which are distin-
guished by the specific names of the red
rose, the white rose, the moss rose, Ac.
Thus also we see, Canis is the generic
name of animals of the dog kind ; Felis,
of the cat kind ; Cervus, of the deer
kind, Ac.

GEN'ESIS, a canonical book of the
Old Testament, and the first of the Pen-
tateuch, or five books of Moses. The
Greeks gave it the name of Genesis,
from its beginning with the history of
the creation of the world. It includes
the history of 2369 years, and besides
the history of the creation, contains an
account of the original innocence and fall
of man ; the propagation of mankind ;
the general defection and corruption of
the world ; the deluge ; the restoration
and re -peopling of the earth; and the
history of the first patriarchs down to
the death of Joseph.

GENETH'LIAC, an ode or other short
poem composed in honor of the birth of
an individual.

GE'NII, called by the Eastern nations
Genn or Gien, are a race of beings cre-
ated from fire, occupying an intermedi-
ate place between man and angels, and
endowed with a corporeal form, which
they are capable of metamorphosing at
pleasure. They are said to have inhab-
ited this earth many ages before the cre-
ation of man, and to have been at last
driven thence for rebellious conduct
against Allah. Their present place of
abode is Ginnistan, the Persian Ely-
sium; but they are represented as still
interesting themselves deeply in the af-
fairs of this earth, over which they exer-
cise considerable influence. Every one
is aware of the important part which the
genii perform in the interesting stories of
the East ; and indeed a more correct idea
maybe formed of their origin, character-
istics, and history, from a perusal of the
Arabian Nights' Entertainments, than
can be conveyed by the most elaborate
dissertation.

GENITIVE CASE, the second case
in Latin and Greek nouns, which denote
possession : it is marked in English by s
with an apostrophe, thus ('s).

GE'NIU, an aptitude for a particular
pursuit, founded on some stimulus in
youth, by which the mind and faculties
are directed to excellence. It combines
opposite intellectual qualities ; the deep-

GEN]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

263

est penetration with the liveliest fancy ;
the greatest quickness with the most in-
defatigable diligence. To what is old it
gives a new form ; or it invents new ;
and its own productions are altogether
original. We estimate it higher than
talent, in the common acceptation of that
term, which in the capacity for originat-
ing in extent and energy is inferior to
fenitis. Where ordinary powers advance
y slow degrees, genius soars on rapid
wings. But genius does not assume its
distinctive character in every exercise of
its powers. A gifted poet, for instance,
is not necessarily an ingenious philoso-
pher, nor does the statesman's genius in-
clude that of the soldier. We distinguish
this genius, therefore, into various kinds,
as poetical, musical, mathematical, mil-
itary, <fcc. ; thus, for example, Milton
possessed a genius for poetry, Mozart for
music, Newton for mathematics, &c. Yet,
although the union of great excellence in
different walks of art and science is but
rarely found in one man, some, like
Michael Angelo, who was equally cele-
brated as a statuary, architect, and pain-
ter, are found possessing genius of a most
comprehensive character. By the an-
cients the word genius was used to ex-
press a supposed invisible spirit which
directs a course of events. According to
the belief of the Romans, every person
had his own genius, that is, a spiritual
being, which introduced him into life,
accompanied him during the course of it,
and again conducted him out of it at the
close of his career. This belief was no
doubt a consequence of their idea of a
divine spirit pervading the whole physi-
cal world ; and was probably a personi-
fication of the particular structure or bent
of mind which a man receives from na-
ture. The guardian spirit of a person (a
purely Italian idea, which in modern
language has been wrongfully transferred
to Grecian Art,) is generally represented
as a veiled figure in a toga, holding a
patera and cornucopia, or as a beautiful
youth, nude or nearly so, with the wings
of a bird on his shoulders. The guardian
spirits of the female sex, junones, are
represented as young maidens with the
wings of a butterfly or a moth, and drap-
ed. The Romans also gave a genius to
edifices, towns, armies, and kingdoms.
The Roman genius of a place was de-
picted as a serpent devouring fruits, which
lay before it ; there are, however, many
exceptions to these rules. The modern
world comprises under the term genii,
the angels or messengers of heaven, and

those emblematical figures, which, as ev-
erything was personified in ancient Art,
are regarded as the deification of ideas.
The most common idea of Christian genii
are the patron angel of childhood and
tf youth, the angel of baptism, those of
poverty and mercy, of religion and vir-
tue, and the genii of the three Christian
graces, faith, hope, and charity. In mod-
ern times we find the genii of countries
often personified : the greatest work of
this kind is the genius of Bavaria, a
bronze female statue of colossal size by
Schwanthaler, recently completed and
placed in front of the Walfialla, near
Munich. Modern representations of river
gods are only to be regarded as genii
when they are executed in the romantic
and not in the antique style.

GENS, in ancient history, a clan or
sect, forming a subdivision of the Roman
people next in order to the curia or tribe.
The members and houses composing one
of these clans were not necessarily united
by ties of blood, but were originally
brought together by a political distribu-
tion of the citizens, and bound by reli-
gious rites, and a common name, derived
probably from some ancient hero.

GEN'TILES, a name given by the
Jews to all who were not of the twelve
tribes of Israel. Among Christians, it is
the name of all heathens who did not em-
brace the Christian faith.

GEN'TLEMAN, in the modern lan-
guages of western Europe, we generally
find a word to signify a person distin-
guished by his standing from the laboring
classes, gentUuomo, gentilhomme, hidal-
go, &c. In the German language, the
term which most nearly expresses the
same idea, is gebildet, which includes not
only gentlemanly manners, but also a
cultivated mind. The English law-books
say, that, under the denomination of gen-
tlemen, are comprised all above yeomen ;
so that noblemen are truly called gentle-
men; and further, that a gentleman, in
England, is generally defined to be one,
who, without any title, bears a coat of
arms, or whose ancestors have been free-
men : the coat determines whether he is
or is not descended from others of the
same name. In the highest sense, the
term gentleman signifies a man who not
only does what is just and right, but
whose conduct is guided by a true prin-
ciple of honor, which springs from that
self-respect and intellectual refinement
which manifest themselves in easy and
free, yet delicate manners.

GENRE-PAINT'ING, pictures of life

264

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[GEN

and manners. Under this title are com-
prised the grave episodes of life, which
are to history what a single scene is to a
drama, or a lyric to an epic poem. Also
comic scenes of every kind ; a comic sub-
ject is seldom placed in the highest cate^
gory of art, because it is the nature 9
comedy to overstep the strict line of beau-
ty and to become caricature. The prin-
cipal genre pictures consist of scenes of
every-day life, and may be classified.
Those of the Netherlands are the best,
and deserve to live ; though far from the
ideal of art, they show a skilful execution
and lead to higher thoughts. Another
kind are the low attempts at coloring
called costume or portrait genre pictures,
which are merely studies. In taking for
its subject the events of daily life, genre-
painting (unless the subject is eminently
suited to the idea) avoids religious themes
as high and lasting, as well as historical
subjects, which, though transitory, ought
never to appear so. A view of an open
house, into which the sun is shining, a
peasant lighting his pipe, all the pass-
ing events of life, its characters and aims,
offer fitting subjects for genre-painting.
Pure nature, true humanity, national
character, as revealed by domestic man-
ners, &c., form the circle of true genre-
painting, the boundary being mo.re clear-
ly 'defined than is the case in historical or
religious art. The distinction between
history and genre-painting cannot be too
clearly drawn. Transitions from one to
the other are admissible, and such pic-
tures belong to the happiest productions
of art ; and there are also circumstances
under which the advantages of both styles
may be united. We meet with speci-
mens of genre-painting among the an-
cients. As the character of ancient wor-
ship changed, a freer space was offered to
Art, which, by degrees, overstepped the
ideal circle of the mythic-normal, with-
drew the mystic veil with which the Saga
covered everything, and revealing nature,
assumed an individual character from
which a genre-like style of art arose tend-
ing towards the mythic. This style was,
however, very different from what we now
call genre-painting, which may be ex-
plained by the plastic character pervad-
ing art. Still we see by the mural paint-
ings at Herculaneum and Pompeii, that
in later Roman art there were colored
pictures of the genre kind. These were
certainly imperfect attempts, but they
prove, nevertheless, that mere manual
artists turned to domestic painting. The
introduction of a new religion, in the ser-

vice of which art was enrolled, delayed
the progress of life-painting for more than
a thousand years, but when that which
was unnatural in Christian Art gave place
to a free Germanic spirit, genre-painting
arose refreshed. This spirit inclining to-
wards the poetry of real life employed
genre-painting for ecclesiastical purposes,
but so many pleasing effects were devel-
oped, that religion was soon neglected and
cast aside. The carpenter's workshop be-
came popular, although it was not that of
Joseph; the landscape was beautiful, even
without the procession of the three kings ;
and the nosegay riveted the eye, although
not placed in the oratory of the Virgin.

GENRE-SCULP'TURE, we have evi-
dences of this branch of Art having been
attempted by the ancients. After the
time of Alexander the Great, religion,
and consequently Art, underwent a great
change ; there was more room for indi-
viduality, and a style of art was devel-
oped which corresponded to the wants of
the age. and which produced many works
of a genre character. We know that
genre-painting was very popular during
the last ages of Grecian art, from the de-
scriptions extant of the kitchen scenes,
<fcc., painted by Pyreicos, who finished
these little pictures so exquisitely that
they fetched a much higher price than
large paintings by other artists. There
are several specimens of genre-sculpture
extant, the most remarkable of which is
the Venus Cattipygos, in the Museum at
Naples. We find this style very often
employed in Etruscan art, of which we
have some specimens in the collection of
bronzes in London, viz., a circular vase,
the handle of which is formed by the fig-
ures of two struggling gladiators, a han-
dle formed by two jugglers, also a rare
bronze, formed of an Etruscan slave,
kneeling, whose physiognomy betrays his
descent ; he is employed in cleaning a
shoe, and holds a sponge in one hand.
We meet with genre-sculpture among the
biblical and legendary subjects in the
middle ages ; and it was carried on in the
Germanic period, though only in small
works, and those of a secular nature, viz.,
ivory carvings, and illuminations in books.
Many critics affect to treat such works
slightingly, but whoever looks at them
with an unprejudiced eye, will be de-
lighted at the union of nature with gran-
deur of conception, and will reasonably
expect to see such subjects chosen for the
highest efforts of the artist.

GE'NUS, in natural history, a subdi-
vision of any class or order of things,

GEO]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

265

whether of the animal, vegetable, or min-
eral kingdoms. All the species of a ge-
nus agree in certain characteristics. In
music, a distribution of the tetrachord, or
the four principal sounds, according to
their quality.

GEOG'RAPHY, properly, a descrip-
tion of the earth or terrestrial globe,
particularly of the divisions of its surface,
natural and artificial, and of the position
of the several countries, kingdoms, states,
cities, <fcc. As a science, geography in-
cludes the doctrine or knowledge of the
astronomical circles or divisions of the
sphere, by which the relative position
of places on the globe may be ascertain-
ed ; and usually treatises of geography
contain some account of the inhabitants
of the earth, of their government, man-
ners, <fcc., and an account of the princi-
pal animals, plants, and minerals. Gen-
eral or universal geography, the science
which conveys a knowledge of the earth,
both as a distinct and independent body in
the universe, and as connected with a sys-
tem of heavenly bodies. Mathematical
geography, that branch of the general
science which is derived from the applica-
tion of mathematical truths to the figure
of the earth, and which teaches us to de-
termine the relative position of places,
their longitudes and latitudes, the differ-
ent lines and circles imagined to be drawn
upon the earth's surface, their measure,
distance, &c. Physical geography, that
branch which gives a description of the
principal features of the earth's surface
the various climates and temperature,
showing how these, together with other
causes, affect the condition of the human
race, and also a general account of the
animals and productions of the globe.
Political geography, that branch which
considers the earth as the abode of ra-
tional beings, according to their diffusion
over the globe, and their social relations
as they are divided into larger or smaller
societies. Sacred or biblical geography,
the geography of Palestine, and other
oriental nations mentioned in Scripture,
having for its object the illustration of
sacred history.

GEOL'OGY, the doctrine or science of
the structure of the earth or terraqueous
globe, and of the substances which com-
pose it ; or the science of the compound
minerals or aggregate substances which
compose the earth, the relations which
the several constituent masses bear to
each other, their formation, structure,
position, and direction. It also investi-
gates the successive changes that have

taken place in the organic and inorganic
kingdoms of nature ; it inquires into the
causes of these changes, and the influ-
ence which they have exerted in modify-
ing the surface and external structure
of our planet. It is a science founded on
exact observation and -careful induction,
and is intimately connected with all the
physical sciences. The geologist, in order
that he may conduct his investigations
with success, ought to be well versed in
chemistry, mineralogy, zoology, botany,
comparative anatomy ; in short, every
branch of science relating to organic and
inorganic nature Within the memory
of the present generation, the science
of geology has made immense progress.
Aided not only by the higher branches
of physics, but by recent discoveries in
mineralogy and chemistry, in botany,
zoology, and comparative anatomy, it has
extracted from the archives of the inte-
rior of the earth, records of former condi-
tions of our planet, and deciphered docu-
ments which were a sealed book to our
ancestors. It extends its researches into
regions more vast and remote than come
within the scope of any other physical
science except astronomy, of which it
has emphatically been termed the sister
science.

GE'OMANCY, a kind of divination by
means of figures or lines, formed by little
dots or points, either on the earth or on
paper, and representing the four ele-
ments, the cardinal points, the planetary
bodies, &c. This pretended science was
flourishing in the days of Chaucer, and
was deeply cultivated by Dryden at the
time of his rifaccimento of the Knight's
Tale. Cattan, who wrote a book on
geomaney in the sixteenth century, ab-
surdly enough observes, that it is " no
art of inchaunting, as some may suppose
it to be, or of divination, which is made
by diabolicke invocation ; but it is a part
of natural magicke, called of many worthy
men the daughter of astrologie, and the
abbreviation thereof."

GEOM'ETRY, originally and properly,
the art of measuring the earth, or any
distances or dimensions on it. But ge-
ometry now denotes the science of mag-
nitude in general, comprehending the
doctrines and relations of whatever is
susceptible of augmentation and diminu-
tion ; as the mensuration of lines, sur-
faces, solids, velocity, weight, Ac., with
their various relations. Geometry is the
most general and important of the mathe-
matical sciences ; it is founded upon a few
JVxiom,s or self-evident truths, and every

2G6

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[GER

proposition which it lays down, whether
it be theorem or problem, is subjected to
the most accurate and rigid demonstra-
tion. Its usefulness extends to almost
every art and science. Astronomy, navi-
gation, surveying, architecture, fortifica-
tion, engineering, perspective, drawing,
optics, mechanics, &c., all depend upon
it. Geometry has been distinguished
into theoretical or speculative and practi-
cal. The former treats of the various
properties and relations of magnitudes,
with demonstrations of theorems, &c. ;
and the latter relates to the performance
of certain geometrical operations, such as
the construction of figures, the drawing
of lines in certain positions, and the ap-
plication of geometrical principles to the
various measurements in the ordinary
concerns of life. Theoretical geometry
is again divided into elementary or com-
mon geometry, and the higher geometry ;
the former being employed in the con-
sideration of lines, superficies, angles,
planes, figures, and solids ; and the lat-
ter, in the consideration of the higher
order of curve lines and problems.

GEOPON'ICA, the name of a Greek
compilation of precepts on rural economy,
extracted from ancient writers. The name
of the compiler is unknown ; but the au-
thorities which he quotes are numerous
and deservedly celebrated.

GEOPON'ICS, the art or science of
cultivating the earth.

GE'ORAMA, an instrument or machine
which exhibits a very complete view of
the earth, invented in Paris. It is a hol-
low sphere of forty feet diamater, formed
by thirty-six bars of iron representing
the parallels and meridians, and covered
with a bluish cloth, intended to represent
seas and lakes. The land, mountains,
and rivers are painted on paper and
pasted on this cover.

GEORGE, ST., a saint, or hero whose
name is famous throughout all the East,
and by which several orders, both mili-
tary and religious, have been distin-
guished. St. George is usually repre-
sented on horseback, in full armor, with
a formidable dragon writhing at his
feet. His sanctity is established in the
Latin as well as the Greek church ; and
England and Portugal have chosen him
for their patron saint. According to an-
cient legends, this renowned saint was a
prince of Cappadocia ; whose greatest
achievement was the conquest of an enor-
mous dragon, by which he effected the
deliverance of Aja, the daughter of a
king. The legend belongs to the age of

the crusades. The ancient Christian em-
perors bore the knight upon their stand-
ards. To these sacred banners the cru-
saders attributed a miraculous power,
and were sure of conquest while they
floated above their heads. Many, how-
ever, deny his very existence ; and reduce
his effigy to a mere symbol of victory
gained by the crusaders over the Mussul-
man nation. The legend of his life is one
of the most familiar and popular of the
Christian mythology. He is usually rep-
resented as a knight clothed in armor,
mounted on horseback, and combating
with a dragon. The variations are so
slight, that the subject can be easily rec-
ognized. As patron saint, he stands in
armor, holding a lance, sometimes with a
banner with a red cross, and a palm
branch. Sometimes the lance is broken
and the dragon dead at his feet.

GEOR'GICS, a poetical composition
treating of husbandry, after the manner
of Virgil's poems on rural subjects, which
are called Georgics.

GER'M AN SCHOOL, in painting. In
this school we find an attention to indi-
vidual nature, as usually seen, without
attempt at selection, or notion of ideal
beauty. The German painters seem to
have set a particular value on high fin-
ishing, rather than on a good arrange-
ment and disposition of the subject.
Their coloring is far better than their
drawing, but their draperies are gen-
erally in bad taste. Though among the
painters of this school some are free
from the application of these observa-
tions, they are not sufficient in number to
change the general judgment that must be
passed upon it. Wohlgeinuth, Holbein,
and Albert Durer are the heads of it.
These observations do not apply to a
school which seems now rising in Ger-
many, and which, with such leaders as
Retsch and others, seems likely to put the
school of painting there on a level with
its highly splendid intellectual powers
in all other branches of the arts and
sciences.

GEROCO'MIA, that part of medicine
which prescribes a regimen for old age.

GER'RA, in antiquity, a sort of square
shield, used first by the Persians and af-
terwards by the Greeks.

GER'UND, in grammar, a verbal noun
of the neuter gender, partaking of the
nature of a participle, declinable only in
the singular number, through all the
cases except the vocative ; as, nom.
amandum, gen. amandi, dat. amando,
accus. amandum, abl. amando.

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

261

GERU'SIA, in ancient history, the
senate of Sparta. The number of this
council was thirty, including the two
kings ; and the qualifications of its mem-
bers were, pure Spartan blood, and an
age not below sixty years. The election
was performed in a primitive manner by
acclamation, the candidates being brought
forth one by one before the people. He
who was greeted with the loudest ap-
plause was held to receive the highest
honor next the throne. The functions
of the gerusia were partly deliberative,
partly judicial, and partly executive.
It prepared measures which were to be
laid before the popular assembly ; it
exercised a criminal jurisdiction, with
power of capital punishment ; and also
wielded a kind of censorial authority for
the correction of abuses.

GES'TURE, any action or posture in-
tended to express an idea or passion,
or to enforce an argument or opinion :
hence propriety of gesture is of the first
importance to an orator. The interpre-
tation of the proper significance of ges-
ture is very important for the under-
standing of works of art. Much of this
is common to humanity, and seems to us
necessary ; on the other hand there are
also qualities of a positive nature, that
is derived, from the particular views and
customs of the nation. Here there is very
much indeed to be learned and guessed at,
as well by the artist in studying life, as
by the scientific in works of art.

' GEY'SERS, the celebrated spouting
fountains of boiling water in Iceland.
The Geysers are situated about 30 miles
from the volcano Hecla, in plains full of
hot springs and steaming fissures. Their
jets are intermittent, and the height to
which they rise appears to vary much at
different times.

GHAUTS, a term applied originally
to the narrow and difficult passes in the
mountains of Central Hindostan, but
which has been gradually extended to
the mountains themselves. They consist
of two great chains extending along the
east and west coasts of the Deccan, par-
allel to each other, or rather diverging,
and leaving between them and the sea
only a plain of forty or fifty miles in
breadth.

GHOST, the soul or spirit separate
from the body. The ancients supposed
every man to be possessed of three differ-
ent ghosts, which, after the dissolution of
the human body, were differently dis-
posed of. These they distinguished by
the names of Manes, Spiritus, Umbra.

The Manes, they fancied, went down
into the infernal regions ; the Spiritus
ascended to the ski, and the Umbra
hovered about the tomb, as being unwil-
ling to quit its old connections. To give
up the ghost, a phrase frequently used in
Scripture for to yield up the breath, or
expire.

GHOST, HOLY, the third person in
the Holy Trinity ; but according to some
theologians, a biblical metaphor, to des-
ignate the divine influence. All Chris-
tians who subscribe to the doctrine of
the Athanasian creed, believe the Holy
Ghost to have proceeded from the Father
and the Son ; yet the Son and the Holy
Ghost are both eternal, since they are
co-eternal with the Father. The Greek
church maintains that the Holy Ghost
proceeds from the Father only ; and this
difference is one of the main points of
distinction between that church and the
Roman Catholic. A military order in
France under the old regime, which was
abolished by the revolution, but revived
by the Bourbons.

GI'ANTS, history, both sacred and
profane, makes mention of giants, or
people of extraordinary stature. Na-
tions, as well as individuals, in their in-
fancy, love the miraculous ; and any
event which deviates from the common
course of things, immediately becomes a
wonder on which poetry eagerly seizes ;
hence the Cyclops and Lsestrygons of the
ancients, and the ogres of romance. In-
stances, however, are by no means want-
ing of uncommonly large persons, hardly
needing the exaggeration of a lively im-
agination to make them objects of won-
der. The giants spoken of in Scripture
might bo men of extraordinary stature ;
but not so much above the ordinary meas-
ure as they have fancied, who describe
them as three or four times larger than
men are at present. And when we find
the Israelites describing themselves as
appearing like grasshoppers before the
Anakites, we must bear in mind the uni-
versal practice among the nations of the
East to express their astonishment in the
most extravagant style of hyperbole. The
giants of Greek mythology are believed
by some to represent the struggle of the
elements of nature against the gods, that
is, against the order of creation. They
were said to hurl mountains and forests
against Olympus, disdaining the light-
nings of Jupiter, <tc. Giants, indeed,
make a very considerable figure in the
fabulous history of every nation ; but, like
ghosts and fairies, they have always van-

268

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[GIF

ished at the approach of science and civili-
zation. The fossil bones which gave cur-
rency to the belief of their existence, have,
upon minute inquiry, been found gener-
ally to belong to elephants, whales, Ac.

GI'ANT'S CAUSE'WAY, a vast as-
semblage of basaltic crystallized rocks, on
the northern coast of Ireland. This mag-
nificent production of nature extends two
miles in length along the coast of Antrim,
and probably runs under the sea as far as
the coast of Scotland, since something of
the same kind is met with there, and
known by the name of Fingal's Cave.
It consists of many hundred thousands
of columns of a black kind of rock, hard
as marble, of about twenty feet in height,
and a pentagonal or five-sided figure.

GIAOUR, a word literally signifying
dog in the Turkish language ; and com-
monly applied by the Turks to designate
the adherents of all religions except the
Mohammedan, but more particularly
Christians.

GIB'ELINES, or GHIB'ELINES, a
faction in Italy, in the 13th century, who
were the opponents of another faction,
called the Guelfs [which see.]

GIL'BERTINE, one of a religious or-
der, so named from Gilbert, lord of Sem-
pringham in Lincolnshire.

GIL'DA MEKCATO'RIA, in law, mer-
cantile meetings, assemblies, or corporate
bodies.

GILD'ING, the art of covering any-
thing with gold, either in a foliated or
liquid state. The beauty of gold has in-
duced many attempts to imitate its ap-
pearance, and hence several methods of
gilding have been invented. The art of
gilding, at the present day, is performed
either upon metals or upon wood, leather,
parchment, or paper ; and there are three
distinct methods in general practice ;
namely, wash, or water gilding, in which
the gold is spread, whilst reduced to a
fluid state, by solution in mercury ; leaf
gilding, either burnished or in oil, per-
formed by cementing thin leaves of gold
upon the work, either by size or by oil ;
and japanner's gilding, in which gold
dust or powder is used instead of leaves.
Gold is also applied to glass, porcelain,
and other vitrified substances, of which
the surfaces, being very smooth, are
capable of perfect contact with the gold
leaves.

GILES, ST., THE HERMIT, Saint Gilles,
(Fr.,) Sant. Egidio, (Ital.) This saint
has obtained great popularity both in
England and Scotland, as well as in
France. He is usually represented as an

old man with a flowing white beard,
naked, or clothed in white, (the color of
the habit of the Benedictines,) and ac-
companied by a hind wounded by an ar-
row.

GIM'BAL, a brass ring by which a
sea compass is suspended in its box, by
means of which the card is kept in a hor-
izontal position, notwithstanding the roll-
ing of the ship.

GIP'SIES. or GYP'SIES, a wandering
tribe, or race of vagabonds, spread over
the greater part of Europe, and some
parts of Asia and Africa ; strolling about
and subsisting mostly by theft, low games,
and fortune-telling. The name is sup-
posed to be corrupted from Egyptian, as
they were formerly thought to have come
from Egypt ; but it is now believed they
are of Indian origin, and that they be-
longed to the race of the Sindes, an In-
dian caste, which was dispersed, in 1400,
by the expeditions of Timour. Their
language is the same throughout Europe
with but little variation, and even now
resembles the dialect of Hindostan. The
late Bishop Heber relates in his Narra-
tive of a Journey through the Upper
Provinces of India, that he met with a
camp of gypsies on the banks of the
Ganges, who spoke the Hindoo language
as their mother tongue ; and he further
observes, that he found the same people
in Persia and Russia. Gypsies are re-
markable for the yellow brown, or rather
olive color of their skin ; the jet black
of their hair and eyes ; the extreme
whiteness of their teeth ; and for the
symmetry of their limbs, which distin-
guishes even the men, whose general ap-
pearance, however, is repulsive and shy.
Though some occasionally follow a trade
or honest calling, they rarely settle per-
manently anywhere. Wherever the cli-
mate is mild enough, they are found in
forests and deserts, in companies. They
seldom have tents, but seek shelter from
the cold of winter in grottoes and caves,
or they build huts, sunk some feet in the
earth, and covered with sods laid on poles.
They are fond of instrumental music,
which they chiefly practise by the ear,
and their lively motions are remarkable
in their own peculiar dances. The youth-
ful gypsies traverse the country, the men
obtaining their living by gymnastic feats,
tricks, <fec., while the women invariably
practise fortune-telling and chiromancy.
They are not nice in their food, but eat
1 all kinds of flesh ; even that of animals
which have died a natural death. Brandy
is their favorite beverage ; tobacco theii

GLA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

269

greatest luxury ; both men and women
chew and smoke it with avidity, and are
ready to make great sacrifices for the
sake of satisfying this inclination. As
for religion they have no settled notions
or principles : amongst the Turks they
are Mohammedans ; in Christian coun-
tries, if they make any religious profes-
sion at all, they follow the forms of Chris-
tianity, without, however, caring for in-
struction, or having any interest in the
spirit of religion. They marry with none
but their own race, but their marriages
are formed in the rudest manner, and
when a gypsy becomes tired of his wife,
he will turn her off without ceremony.

GIR'DER, in architecture, a principal
beam in a floor for supporting the bind-
ing or other joists, whereby their bearing
or length is lessened. Perhaps so called,
because the ends of the joists are inclosed
by it.

GIR'DLE, a belt or band of leather or
some other substance used in girding up
the loins. The girdle was in use among
the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, for
various purposes more or less important.
By the Hebrews it was worn chiefly upon
a journey, and sometimes as a mark of
humiliation and sorrow; and by the
Greeks and Romans it was used as a mil-
itary ornament. To deprive a soldier of
his girdle was the deepest mark of igno-
miny with which he could be branded ;
and even among the civilians, who al-
ways wore a girdle over the tunic to ren-
der their motions unembarrassed, the
want of this appendage was considered
strongly presumptive of idle and dissolute
propensities, jfonam solvere virgineam
was a well-known phrase appropriated to
the marriage ceremony. To Venus was
attributed by the poets the possession of
a particular kind of girdle, called cestus,
which was said to have the power of in-
spiring love.

GIRONDE', THE, in French history,
a celebrated political party during the
revolution ; its members were termed
Girondists or Girondins. The name was
derived from that of the department La
Gironde, (in which Bordeaux is situated.)
which sent to the legislative assembly of
1791, among its representatives, three
men of eloquence and talent, (Gaudet,
Gensonne, Vergniaud,) who were among
the chief leaders of the party. Its prin-
ciples were republican. During the con-
tinuance of that assembly the Girondists
formed a powerful, but not always con-
sistent party. Out of these Louis XVI.
chose his republican ministers in the be-

ginning of 1792. But after the massacres
of September in that year the party in
general withdrew from all connection with
the Jacobins, and approximated towards
the Constitutionalists. In the Conven-
tion the Girondists at first commanded a
majority, but on the king's trial they
were much divided ; and, being pressed
by the violence of the sections of Paris,
they were at length expelled from the as-
sembly : thirty-four of them were out-
lawed, and finally twenty-two of their
leaders guillotined (7th and 31st October,
1793,) while a few escaped, and others
put an end to themselves. Perhaps the
most celebrated member of the Gironde
party was a lady, Madame Roland, the
wife of the minister of that name, who
was executed when the party fell.

GIR'OUETTE, (French, weathercock,)
a term applied to numerous public char-
acters in France, who. during the revolu-
tionary era, turned with every political
breeze. To mark these, a Dictionnaire
des Girouttes was published, containing
their names, &c., with a number of weath-
ercocks against each, corresponding to the
number of changes in the individual's po-
litical creed.

GIVEN, a term much used by mathe-
maticians, to denote something supposed
to be known. Thus, if a magnitude be
known, it is said to be a given magnitude,
if the ratio between two quantities be
known, these quantities are said to have
a given ratio, &c., &c.

GLA'CIERS, immense masses or fields
of ice which accumulate in the valleys be-
tween high mountains, from the melting
of the snow at their top, and which, ow-
ing to their elevation, generally remain
solid. The ice of the glaciers is entirely
different from that of the sea and river
water. It is not formed in layers, but
consists of little grains of congealed snow ;
and hence, though perfectly clear, and
often smooth on the surface, it is not
transparent. As glaciers, in some posi-
tions, and in hot summers, decrease, they
often also increase for a number of years
so as to render a valley uninhabitable.
Their increase is caused partly by alter-
nate thawing and freezing ; their de-
crease, by the mountain rivers, which of-
ten flow under them, and thus form an
arch of ice over the torrent. In the Ty-
rol, Switzerland, Piedmont, and Savoy,
the glaciers are so numerous that they
have been calculated to form altogether
a superficial extent of 1484 square miles.

GLA'CIS, in fortification, a mass of
earth serving as a parapet to the covered

270

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[OLE

way, having an easy slope or declivity
toward*! the champaign or field.

GLA'DIATORS, in antiquity, combat-
ants who fought at the public games in
Home, for the entertainment of the spec-
tators. They were at first prisoners,
slaves, or condemned criminals ; but af-
terwards freemen fought in the arena,
either for hire, or from choice. The
games were commenced by a prcelusio, in
which they fought with weapons of wood,
till, upon a signal, they assumed their
arms, and began in earnest to fight in
pairs. In case the vanquished was not

killed in the combat, his fate was decided
by the people. If they wished to save
the life of the vanquished gladiator, they
signified the same by clenching the fin-
gers of both hands between each other,
and holding the thumbs upright, close to-
gether; the contrary was signified by
bending back their thumbs. The first of
these signals was called pollicem premere,
the second pollicem vertere. The victors
were honored with a palm branch, a sum
of money, or other marks of the people's
favor ; anS they were not unfrequently
released from further service, and re-
ceived as a badge of freedom, the rudis,
or wooden sword. The cut represents the
celebrated statue of the Dying Gladiator.
GLASS PAINTING, in painting, the
method of staining glass in such a man-
ner as to produce the effect of represent-
ing all the subjects whereof the art is
susceptible. A French painter of Mar-
seilles is said to have been the first who
instructed the Italians in this art, during
the pontificate of Julius II. It was, how-
ever, practised to a considerable extent by
Lucas of Leyden, and Albert Durer. The
art of glass-painting is practised under
three systems, which may be distinguish-
ed as the mosaic method; the enamel
method ; and a method compounded of
these two, or the mosaic-enamel method.
There is yet another mode of ornament-
ing glass, which consists in applying pig-
ments mixed with copal varnish. But
this is of a perishable nature, and should
not be regarded as true glass-painting,

which is only perfected by the aid of fire,
and is as durable as the glass itself.
Most true glass-paintings are formed by
combining the two processes of enamel-
ling and staining, since, although it would
not be possible to execute a glass-paint-
ing by staining the glass merely, yet it
can be entirely formed of painted glass
By the mosaic method, each color of the
design must be represented by a separate
piece of glass, except yellow, brown, and
black; these colors are applied upon white
glass, and for shadows. In the enamel
method, colored glass is not used, the
picture being painted upon white-glass
with enamel fragments. The mosaic-
enamel method consists of a combination
of the two other processes; white and
colored glass, as well as every variety of
enamel color, being employed in it.

GLAU CUS, in Grecian mythology, the
name of a marine deity, the son, accord-
ing to some of the genealogists, of Nep-
tune and one of the Naiads ; according to
others, of Polybius and Alcyone. He
enjoyed the power of prophecy.

GLAZ'ING, is that part of the prac-
tice of oil-painting which consists in the
application of an extremely thin layer
of color over another, for the purpose of
modifying its tone. The pigments em-
ployed are generally transparent, al-
though, in some instances, such as in the
representation of clouds, dust, smoke, <tc ,
opaque pigments are admissible when
mixed in minute quantities with a large
proportion of oil. By glazing, the painter
can produce certain effects, such as trans-
parency and mellowness, impossible with
the aid of solid pigments alone, the in-
tention being to give a natural and
agreeable harmony and mellowness to
the execution of a picture such as would
be produced by a colored varnish. The
color employed in glazing should be of a
darker tint than the solid pigment over
which it is laid. Glazing formed a very
important part in the practice of the
Venetian school, and in those derived
from it. Those who paint alia prima
can produce the desired effect without
glazing.

GLEAN'ING. the practice of collect-
ing corn left in a harvest field after the
harvest has been carried, which appears
by the Mosaic law to have been allowed
to the poor. The right of the poor to
glean is, however, not admitted in the
English common law.

GLEBE, in law, church land; usually
taken for that which is annexed to a par-
ish church of common right.

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

271

GLEE, in music, a composition for
voices in three or more parts. The sub-
jects of the words are various, being gay,
grave, amatory, pathetic, or bacchana-
lian. It may consist of only one move-
ment, but usually has more.

GLEE-MAN, itinerant minstrels were
so called by the Saxons : their appella-
tion is translated jouulatores by the Latin
writers of the middle ages. The name
appears to have been supplanted by the
Norman minstrel, shortly after the con-
quest.

GLOBE, in practical methematics, an
artificial spherical 'body, on the convex
surface of which are represented the
countries, seas, &c. of our earth ; or the
face of the heavens, with the several cir-
cles which are conceived upon them.
That with the parts of the earth deline-
ated upon its surface, is called the terres-
trial globe ; and that with the constella-
tions. <fcc. the celestial globe. Their prin-
cipal use, besides serving as maps to
distinguish the earth's surface, and the
situation of the fixed stars, is to illustrate
and explain the phenomena arising from
the diurnal motion of the earth. They
are consequently of the highest impor-
tance in acquiring a knowledge of geogra-
phy and astronomy.

GLOB'ULAR CHART, a name given
to the representation of the surface, or
of some part of the surface of the terres-
trial globe upon a plane, wherein the
parallels of latitude are circles, nearly
concentric, the meridian curves bending
towards the poles, aud the rhumb-lines
are also curves.

GLOB'ITLE, a small particle of matter
of a spherical form ; a word particularly
applied to the red particles of blood,
which swim in a transparent serum, and
may be discovered by the microscope.

GLO'RY, in painting and sculpture, a
circle, either plain or radiated, surround-
ing the heads of saints, &c., and espe-
cially of our Saviour. The term glory is
used in the sacred writings in various
senses, all of which, however, may be
easily deduced from the original meaning
of its Hebrew equivalent, which signifies
weight. Thus the glory of God means
all those attributes aud qualities which
give him weight in our eyes, or inspire
us with reverence.

GLOSS, in the rhetoric of Aristotle,
this word is used in the sense of a foreign,
obsolete, or otherwise strange idiom ;
which, judiciously employed, he reckons
among the ornaments of style. From
the sense of " something requiring inter-

pretation" the word came to moan the
interpretation itself ; strictly, of a single
word or phrase. In the twelfth century,
the comments or annotations of learned
jurists on passages in the text of the
Roman law were denominated glosses ;
when these extended to a running com-
mentary, they were termed an appara-
tus. The glosses were collected by Ac-
cursius in the 13th century, and from
that period they formed for a long time
a body of authority reckoned equal or
even superior to the text itself.

GLOS'SARY, a dictionary of difficult
words and phrases in any language or
writer ; sometimes used for a dictionary
of words in general.

GLOVES, well-known articles of dress
used for covering the hands. The prac-
tice of covering the hands with gloves has
prevailed among almost all Mi/j nations
of the earth from time immemorial, and
is common at once to the rude Tartar,
who seeks by their means to protect
himself from cold, and to the refined
European, with whom their use is an
emblem of luxury. In the middle ages,
gloves constituted a costly article of
dress, being often highly decorated with
embroidery and richly adorned with
precious stones. In the age of chivalry
it was usual for the soldiers who had
gained the favor of a lady to wear her
glove in his helmet ; and, as is well
known, the throwing of a glove *was the
most usual mode of challenging to duel.
This latter practice prevailed so early as
the year 1245.

GLYCO'NIAN, or GLYCON'IC, a kind
of verse in Greek and Latin poetry, con-
sisting of three feet, a spondee, a chori-
amb, and a pyrrhic.

GLYPH, in sculpture and architecture,
any channel or cavity intended as an or-
nament.

GLYPTOG'RAPHY, a description of
the art of engraving on precious stones.

GLYPTOTHE'CA, a building or room
for the preservation of works of sculp-
ture ; a word adopted by the Germans, as
in the instance of the celebrated Glypto-
thek at Munich.

GNOMES, spirits with which the imagi-
nation of certain philosophers has peopled
the interior parts of the earth, and to
whose care mines, quarries, <fec. are as-
signed.

GNO'MIC POETS. Greek poets, whose
remains chiefly consist of short senten-
tious precepts and reflections, are so
termed in classical bibliography. The
principal writers of this description, of

272

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

whom a few fragments arc extant, are
Theognis and Solon, who lived in the 6th
century before the Christian era. With
them TyrUiMis and Simonides are joined
by Brunck in his edition, although these
writers have little of a gnomic character.
The metre of these poets is elegiac.

GNOSTICS, a sect of philosophers that
arose in the first ages of Christianity,
who pretended they were the only men
who had a true knowledge of the Chris-
tian religion. They formed for them-
selves a system of theology, agreeable to
the philosophy of Pythagoras and Plato,
and fancied they discovered deeper mys-
teries in the Scriptures than were per-
ceived by those whom they considered as
simple and ignorant. They held that all
natures, intelligible, intellectual, and ma-
terial, are derived by successive emana-
tions from the Deity. In process of
time, the name designated sectarians of
various descriptions, but who all agreed
in certain opinions ; and the tenet which
seems most particularly to distinguish the
Gnostic name, was the existence of two
first principles, or deities, the one the
author of good, and the other of evil.

GOBELINS, or HOTEL-ROYAL DE Go-
it ELINS, a celebrated academy for tapes-
try-drawing, and manufactory of tapes-
try, erected in the suburb of St. Marcel,
at Paris, by Louis XIV. in the year 1666.
The place was previously famous on ac-
count of the dyeing manufactory estab-
lished there by Giles and John Gobelins,
in the reign of Francis I. These eminent
dyers discovered a. method of producing
a beautiful scarlet, which has ever since
been known by their name ; and so ex-
tensive has been their fame, that not only
the color, but the house in which their
business was carried on, and the river
they made use of, are called gobelins.

GOD, the appellation which we give to
the Creator and Sovereign of the uni-
verse ; the Supreme Being. The words
god and goddess are also the appellatives
common to the heathen deities ; which
they divided into diimajorum gentium,
and dii minorum gentium ; that is, into
the superior and inferior gods. Another
division was taken from their place of
residence ; thus there were celestial, ter-
restrial, infernal, marine, and sylvan
gods. They were also divided into ani-
mal and natural gods : the animal gods
were mortals, who had been raised to di-
vinity by ignorance and superstition ; and
the natural gods, the parts of nature,
euch as the stars, the elements, mountains,
rivers, Ac. There were also deities, who

were supposed to preside over particular
persons : some had the care of women in
child-birth; others, the care of children
and young persons; and others were the
deities of marriage. Each action, virtue,
and profession had also its particular
god : the shepherds had their Pan ; the
gardeners, their Flora ; the learned, their
Mercury and Minerva ; and the poets,
their Apollo and the Muses.

GOD'FATHER, and (iOD'.MOTIIER,
the man and woman who are sponsors for
a child at baptism ; who promise to an-
swer for his future conduct, ami solemnly
promise that he shall 'follow a life of piety
and virtue, by this means laying them-
selves under an indispensable obligation
to instruct the child and watch over his
conduct. This practice is of great an-
tiquity in the Christian church, and was
probably instituted to prevent children
being brought up in idolatry, in case
their parents died before they arrived at
years of discretion.

GOLD, this metal, which in purity and
firmness surpasses all others, is employed
both in the plastic arts, and to a limited
extent in painting. The most varied and
beautiful objects extant are the vessels
used in religious services; and as it was
most properly employed in the sacred
vessels and sanctuary of the Old Temple,
so the chalices and tabernacles of the
Catholic church, and the shrines of the
saints have been moulded of this precious
metal ; and in ecclesiastical ornament of
all kinds, with its multiplied fibres, and
mingled with silk and purple, it enriches
the sacerdotal vestments and the hang-
ings of the altar. Gold signifies purity,
dignity, wisdom, and glory, and it is used
in painting for the Nimbi which surround
the heads of the saints, and it frequently
forms the ground on which sacred sub-
jects are painted, the better to express
the majesty of the mystery depicted. It
is a proper emblem of brightness and
glory.

GOLD'EN-FLEECE, in the mytho-
logical fables of the ancients, signified the
skin or fleece of the ram upon which
Phryxus and Hella are supposed to have
swum over the sea to Colchis ; which be-
ing sacrificed to Jupiter, its fleece was
hung upon a tree in the grove of Mars,
guarded by two brazen-hoofed bulls, and
a monstrous dragon that never slept ; but
was at last taken and carried off by Jason
and the Argonauts.

GOLD'EN NUM'BER, in chronology,
is that number which indicates the year
of the lunar cycle, for any given time. It

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
(Cathedral at Troyes. France! p

GOT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

273

was called the Golden Number, because
in the ancient calendar it was written in
letters of gold, on account of its great use-
fulness in ecclesiastical computations, es-
pecially in fixing the time of Easter. It
was likewise called the Prime, because it
pointed out the first day of the new moon,
primum lunce. To find the Golden Num-
ber, add 1 to the year of our Lord, divide
the sum by 19, and the remainder is the
Golden Number, the quotient at the same
time expressing the number of cycles
which have revolved from the beginning
of the year preceding the birth of Christ.
GON'DOLA, the name given to the
pleasure boats used at Venice, where the
numerous canals with which it is inter-
sected generally render it necessary to
substitute boats for carriages. The gon-
dola is from 25 to 30 feet long, and five

feet wide in the centre, in which a sort of
cabin is constructed for passengers. They
are sharp-pointed both at the prow and
stern, and are rowed by two men called
gondolieri. The cabins are always fur-
nished with black curtains, which give a
sombre appearance to the gondola at a
distance.

GOOD FRI'DAY, the name given in
England to the anniversary of our Sa-
viour's crucifixion. The French and most
other European nations substitute the
epithet holy for good. From the first
dawn of Christianity, Good Friday has
been regarded as a solemn festival by
the great body of the Christian world.

GOOD-WILL, in law, the custom of
any trade or business. A contract to
transfer it is, in general, good at law,
though not usually enforced in equity. In
wliiii cases the good-will of a partnership
can be claimed as property by the repre-
sentatives of a deceased partner appears
doubtful.

GOR'DIAN KNOT, in antiquity, a
knot made in the harness of the chariot
18

of Gordius, king of Phrygia, so very in-
tricate, that there was no finding where
it began or ended. An oracle had de-
clared that he who should untie this knot
should be master of Asia. Alexander
having undertaken it, and fearing that
his inability to untie it should prove an
ill augury, cut it asunder with his sword,
and thus either accomplished or eluded
the oracle. Hence, in modern language,
to rat the Gordian knot is to remove a
difficulty by bold or unusual means.

GORGE, in architecture, the narrowest
part of the Tuscan and Doric capitals, ly-
ing between the astragal, above the shaft
of the column and the annulets. In for-
tification, the entrance of a bastion, rav-
elin, or other outwork.

GOR'GET, in plate-armor, the piece
covering the neck at-
tached to the helmet.
The old covering for
the neck was called
camail, made of leath-
er or cloth, and at-
tached to the hood ; on this plates of steel
were riveted ; and thus the gorget wa.-s
formed, about the time of Edward II.
The name is supposed to have originated
in Lombardy.

GORGONEI'A, in architecture, carv-
ings of masks imitating the Gorgon or
Medusa's head.

GOR'GONS. in mythology, three sister
deities, fabled by the Greeks to dwell
near the Western Ocean. Their heads,
which were twined with serpents instead
of hair, had the power of turning all who
beheld them to stone ; of which property
Perseus made use after he had, by the
help of Minerva, cut off the head of
Medusa.

GOS'PEL, is used to signify the whole
system of the Christian religion, and
more particularly, as the term literally
implies the good news of the coming of
the Messiah. The word was also origi-
nally applied to the books which con-
tained an account of the life of Christ,
many of which were in circulation in
the first century of the Christian era ;
though only four, those of Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John, were considered
canonical by the fathers.

GOTH'IC, pertaining to the Goths ;
as Gothic customs ; Gothic barbarity.
In architecture, a term at first applied
opprobriously to the architecture of the
middle ages, but now in general use as
its distinctive appellation. By some the
term Gothic is considered to include the
Romanesque. Saxon, and Norman styles

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[GRA

which have circular arches, but it is only
appropriately applied to the styles which
are distinguished by the pointed arch.
Gothic architecture so restricted has
been divided into three distinct periods :
the first period is named the Early Eng-
lish, it prevailed in the thirteenth cen-
tury ; the second period or style, of the
fourteenth century, is named the decora-
ted style ; and the third period is called
the perpendicular style. The chief char-
acteristics of Gothic architecture are :
the predominance of the arch and the
subserviency and subordination of all the
other parts to this chief feature ; the
tendency of the whole composition to
vertical lines ; the absence of the column
and entablature of classic architecture,
of square edges and rectangular surfaces,
and the substitution of clustered shafts,
contrasted surfaces, and members multi-
plied in rich variety. The Gothic style
is that best adapted for ecclesiastical
* edifices.

GOVERNMENT, that form of funda-
mental rules and principles by which a
nation or state is governed. If this
power be vested in the hands of one, it is
a monarchy ; if in the hands of the nobil-
ity, an aristocracy ; and if in the hands
of the people, or those chosen by them, a
democracy. The executive government
is the power of administering public
affairs; the legislative government, that
of making the laws. Government is also
a post or office which gives a person the
power or right to govern or rule over a
place, a city, or province, either su-
premely or by deputation. Thus, the
government of Ireland is vested in the
lord-lieutenant. Government, in gram-
mar, the influence of a word in regard to
construction, as when established usage
requires that one word should cause
another to be in a particular case or
mood.

GRACE, in objects of taste, a certain
species of beauty, which appears to con-
sist in the union of elegance and dig-
nity. In theology, the free unmerited
love and favor of God; or the divine
influence in restraining from sin. Days
of grace, in commercial law, three days
allowed for the payment of a bill after it
has become due. The word grace is also
used in speaking of or to a duke or
duchess, as your Grace, his or her Grace.
7Vie Graces, among the heathen world,
were female beauties deified : they were
three in number; Aglaia, Thalia, and
Euphrosyne, the constant attendants of
Venus. In music, graces are turns,

trills, and shakes, introduced for the pur-
pose of embellishment.

GRADATION, in general, the as-
cending step by step, or proceeding in a
regular and uniform manner. It also
means a degree in any order or series.
Thus we say, there is a gradation in the
scale of being; or we observe a grada-
tion in the progress of society from a
rude state to civilized life. Gradation, in
logic, is an argumentation, consisting of
four or more propositions, so disposed, as
that the attribute of the first is the sub-
ject of the second ; and the attribute of
the second, the subject of the third; and
so on, till the last attribute come to be
predicated of the subject of the first prop-
osition.

GRAD'UATE. one who has obtained a
degree at a university, or from some
professional incorporated society, after a,
due course of study, and suitable exami-
nation.

GRAM'MAR, the art which analyzes
and classes the words in a language, which
details its peculiarities, and furnishes
rules, recognized by the best authorities,
for its construction. General grammar
teaches the principles which are common
to all languages ; and the grammar of
any particular language teaches the prin-
ciples peculiar to that language.

GRAND, in the Fine Arts, a quality
by which the highest degree of majesty
and dignity is imparted to a work of art.
Its source is in form freed from ordinary
and common bounds, and to be duly felt
requires an investigation of the different
qualities by which great and extraordi-
nary objects produce impression on the
mind.

GRANDEE', the highest title of Span-
ish nobility. The collective body of the
higher nobility in Spain is termed la
grandeza. They were originally the
same with the ricos hombres. Grandees
bear different titles duke, marquis, Ac. ;
but there is no essential difference of rank
between these titles : all are equal among
themselves. Grandeeyhips descend through
females, and thus become accumulated in
families.

GRAN'DEUR, in a general sense,
greatness ; that quality or combination
of qualities in an object, which elevates
or expands the mind, and excites pleas-
urable emotions in him who views or
contemplates it. Thus the extent and
uniformity of surface in the ocean consti-
tute grandeur ; as do the extent, the
elevation, and the concave appearance or
rault of the sky. So we speak of the

ORE]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

grandeur of a large and well-propor-
tioned edifice, of an extensive range of
lofty mountains, of a large cataract, of a
pyramid, &c.

GRAND JU'RY, a jury whose duty is
to examine into the grounds of accusa-
tion against offenders, and if they see
just cause, then to find bills of indictment
against them to be presented to the
court.

GRANT, in law, a gift in writing of
such things as cannot conveniently be
passed or verbally conveyed.

GRAPE'-SHOT, in artillery, a com-
bination of small shot put into a thick
canvass bag, and corded so as to form a
kind of cylinder.

GRA'VER, called also BURIN, the
sharp tool, whose extremity is a trian-
gular form, for cutting the lines of an en-
graving on the copper. See ENGRAV-
ING.

GRAVITA'TION, the force by which
bodies are pressed or drawn, or by which
they tend toward the centre of the earth
or other centre, or the effect of that force.
Thus the falling of a body to the earth is
ascribed to gravitation. The attraction
of gravitation exists between bodies in
the mass, and acts at sensible distances.
It is thus distinguished from chemical
and cohesive attractions which unite the
particles of bodies together, and act at
insensible distances, or distances too small
to be measured. Terrestrial gravita-
tion, that which respects the earth, or by
which bodies descend, or tend towards the
centre of the earth. All bodies, when
unsupported, fall by gravitation towards
the earth, in straight lines tending to its
centre. General or universal gravita-
tion, that by which all the planets tend
towards one another, and, indeed, by
which all the bodies and particles of mat-
ter in the universe tend towards one an-
other. The theory of universal gravita-
tion was established, by Newton. He
proved that the moon gravitates to-
wards the earth, and the earth towards
the moon, all the secondaries to their
primaries ; and these to their seconda-
ries; also the primaries to the sun, and
the sun to the primaries. It is also highly
probable, that the bodies of the solar
system, and those of other systems, grav-
itate mutually towards each other. The
terms gravitation and gravity are gene-
rally used synonymously.

GRAY, is compounded of black and
white in various proportions, or of the
three primary colors, red, blue, and yel-
low; according to the predominance of

either of these, there are produced blue
grays, purple grays, green grays ; but
when the red or yellow predominate, there
are produced the various hues of brown.

GRAZIO'SO, in music, an instruction
to the performer that the music to which
this word is affixed is to be executed ele-
gantly and gracefully.

GREAVE, a piece of armor defend-
ing the shin. TRe greave was a piece of
steel hollowed to fit the front of the leg,
and fastened with straps behind. The
greave common among the Greeks was
used in some instances by the Roman
soldiery, but only on one leg, the other
being covered with the buckler. It is
said to have been discontinued in the
armies of the Greek empire, under the
emperor Maurice, (about the end of the
6th century,) and again brought into use
in those armies of the middle ages, about
1320. They were also called jambs, bein-
bergs, &c. They were originally of
leather, quilted linen, &c. The clavons
were a species of greaves made of cloth.

GREEK CHURCH, that portion of
Christians who conform, in their creed,
usages, and church government, to the
views of Christianity introduced into the
former Greek empire, and perfected, since
the fifth century, under the patriarchs of
Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and
Jerusalem. Like the Roman Catholic,
this church recognizes two sources of doc-
trine, the bible and tradition, under which
last it comprehends not only those doc-
trines which were orally delivered by the
apostles, but also those which have been
approved of by the fathers of the Greek
church. It is the only church which
holds that the Holy Ghost proceeds from
the Father only, thus differing from the
Catholic and Protestant churches, which
agree in deriving the Holy Ghost from
the Father and the Son. Like the Cath-
olic church, it has seven sacraments bap-
tism, chrism, the eucharist preceded by
confession, penance, ordination, marriage,
and supreme unction ; but it is peculiar
in holding that full purification from
original sin in baptism requires an im-
mersion three times of the whole body in
water, whether infants or adults are to
be baptized, and in joining chrism (con-
firmation) with it as the completion of
baptism. It rejects the doctrine of pur-
gatory, has nothing to do with predesti-
nation, works of supererogation, indul-
gences, and dispensations ; and it recog-
nizes neither the pope nor any one else
as the visible vicar of Christ on earth.
In the invocation of the saints, in their

276

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[GRE

fasts, relics, &c., they are as zealous as
the Romanists ; it may be said, indeed,
that the services of the Greek church
consist almost entirely of outward forms.
This is the religion of Russia ; the eccle-
siastical establishment of which consists
in a holy synod, four metropolitans,
eleven archbishops, nineteen bishops,
12,500 parish churches, and 425 convents,
fifty-eight of which are connected with
monastic schools for the education of the
clergy. The Greek church, under the
Turkish dominion, remained, as far as
was possible under such circumstances,
faithful to the original constitution.
The patriarch of Constantinople exercises
the highest ecclesiastical jurisdiction over
the Greeks in the whole Turkish empire ;
but they labor under many disabilities,
among which is a heavy poll-tax, under
the name of " exemption from behead-
ing."

GREEK FIRE, a combustible compo-
sition invented by the Greeks in the mid-
dle ages, during their wars with the
Arabs and Turks. It consists of naphtha,
bitumen, sulphur, gum, <fcc.

GREEK LAN'GUAGE, the language
of the primitive inhabitants of Greece, the
Pelasgi, was already extinct in the time
of Herodotus, who asserts that it was dif-
ferent from the Hellenic, and adds, that
it is probable the Hellenes have retained
their original language. From the great
number of Hellenic tribes of the same
race, it was to be expected that there
would be different dialects, the knowledge
ef which is the more necessary for becom-
ing acquainted with the Greek language,
since the writers of this nation have trans-
mitted the peculiarities of- the different
dialects in the use of single letters, words,
terminations, and expressions, and that
not merely to characterize more particu-
larly an individual represented as speak-
ing but even when they speak in their
own person. It is customary to distin-
guish three leading dialects, according to
the three leading branches of the Greeks,
the j-Eolie, the Doric, and the Ionic, to
which was afterwards added the mixed
Attic dialect. At what time this language
first began to be expressed in writing, has
long been a subject of doubt. Accord-
ing to the general opinion, Cadmus, the
Phoenician, introduced the alphabet into
Greece. His alphabet consisted of but
sixteen letters ; four are said to have been
invented by Palamedes in the Trojan war,
and four more by Simonides of Ceos. As
the lonians first adopted these letters,
and the Athenians received them from

them, the alphabet with twenty-four let
ters is called the Ionic. Those who have
most carefully studied the subject, be-
lieve that the use of the alphabet became
common in Greece about 550 years before
Christ, and about as long after Homer.
In Homer's time, all knowledge, religion,
and laws were preserved by memory
alone, and for that reason were put in
verse, till prose was introduced with the
art of writing. The Greek language, as
preserved in the writings of the celebrated
authors of antiquity, as Homer, Hcsiod,
Demosthenes, Aristotle, Plato, Xenophon,
Ac., has a great variety of terms and ex-
pressions, suitable to the genius and oc-
casions of a polite and learned people,
who had a taste for arts and sciences. In
it, proper names are significative ; which
is the reason that the modern languages
borrow so many terms from it. When any
new invention, instrument, machine, or the
like, is discovered, recourse is generally
had to the Greek for a name to it ; the facil-
ity wherewith words are there compound-
ed, affording such as will be expressive of
its use ; such are barometer, hygrometer,
microscope, telescope, thermometer, <fec.
But of all sciences medicine most abounds
with such terms ; as, diaphoretic, diagno-
sis, diarrhoea, hemorrhage, hydrophobia,
phthisis, atrophy, &c. Modern Greek, or
Romaic. The Greek language seems to
have preserved its purity longer than any
other known to us ; and even long after
its purity was lost, the echo of this beau-
tiful tongue served to keep alive some-
thing of the spirit of ancient Greece. All
the supports of this majestic and refined
dialect seemed to fail, when the Greeks
were enslaved by the fall of Constantino-
ple, (A. D. 1543.) All the cultivated class-
es who still retained the pure Greek, the
language of the Byzantine princes, either
perished in the conflict, or took to flight,
or courted the favor of their rude con-
querors by adopting their dialect. In the
lower classes only did the common Greek
survive the vulgar dialect of the polished
classes. But the Greek spirit, not yet ex-
tinguished by all the adversities the na-
tion had undergone, finally revived with
increasing vigor, and even the love of
song kept alive some sparks of patriotic
sentiment. From the beginning of the
present century, external circumstances
have greatly favored the progress of edu-
cation in Greece ; schools have been es-
tablished ; and the language itself, which
in its degradation was not destitute of
melody and flexibility, gained energy and
vivacity from the efforts of several pa-

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

277

triotic individuals, who endeavored to
bring it nearer the ancient classic dialect.

GREEN, a secondary color, compound-
ed of the primaries blue and yellow : if
the blue predominates, the compound is
a blue-green ; if the yellow predomi-
nates, it is a yellow-green ; or a warm
green. Green, in blazonry, sinople, sig-
nified love, joy, and abundance. Among
the Greeks green symbolized victory, and
among the Moors it had the same signifi-
cation : it also designated hope, joy,
youth, and spring, (the youth of the
year,) which gives tha hope of harvest.

GREEN'-CLOTH, in British polity, a
board or court of justice held in the count-
ing-house or the British monarch's house-
hold, and composed of the lord-steward
and inferior officers. To this court is
committed the charge and supervision of
the ro3 r al household in matters of justice
and government, with power to correct
all offenders, and to maintain the peace
of the verge, or jurisdiction of the court-
royal, which extends every way two
hundred yards from the gate of the pal-
ace. Without a warrant first obtained
from this court, no servant of the house-
hold can be arrested for debt. It takes
its name from a green-cloth spread over
the board at which it is held.

GREEN PIG'MENTS, are derived
chiefly from the mineral world, and owe
their color to the presence of copper.
Among the most valuable to the painter
are malachite or mountain green, terra
verde, Veronese green, native carbonate
of copper, cobalt green, and chrome
green. The only vegetable green is sap
green, which is employed occasionally in
water-color painting.

GREEN-ROOM, in the theatre, the
name given to the actors' retiring room ;
so called, in all probability, from its be-
ing originally painted or otherwise orna-
mented with green.

GREGO'RI AN, the Gregorian year, in
chronology, is a correction of the Julian
year. In the latter, every secular or
hundredth year is bissextile : in the for-
mer year every one in four. This reforma-
tion, which was made by pope Gregory
XTII., A.D. 1582. is also called the New-
style.

GRENADE', a hollow shell or globe
of iron, filled with combustibles, and
thrown out of a howitzer. There is also
a smaller kind, thrown by hand, which
are called hand-grenades. These were
originally used by soldiers, who, from
long service and distinguished bravery,
were selected for the sen ice ; and hence

the name of grenadiers, who now form
the first company of a battalion.

GRIF'FIN, a fabulous animal of an-
tiquity represented with the body and
feet of a lion, the head of an eagle or vul-
ture, and as being furnished with wings
and claws. The griffin is one of those ima-
ginary creatures to which the ancients
were so confessedly partial, but it belongs
more to the romantic than the classical
mythology. It plays a prominent part
in the fairy tales and romances of the
middle ages ; and, like the dragon which
was fabled to guard the golden apples of
the llesperides, its chief duties consisted
in watching over hidden treasures, and in
guarding captive princesses, or the cas-
tles in which they were confined. The
griffin is at once the symbol of strength
and swiftness, courage, prudence, and
vigilance qualities which its form is
well calculated to represent ; and hence
it has been adopted into the language of
heraldry, where it constitutes a promi-
nent feature in the armorial bearings of
many princely and noble families.

GRIMACE', in painting and sculpture,
an unnatural distortion of the counten-
nance, from habit, affectation, or inso-
lence.

GRISA'ILLE, in gray; a style of paint-
ing employed to represent solid bodies in
relief, such as friezes, mouldings, orna-
ments of cornices, bas-reliefs, <fec., by
means of gray tints. The objects repre-
sented are supposed to be white ; the
shadows which they project, and the
lights, from those most vividly reflected,
to the least, are properly depicted by the
various gray tints produced by the mix-
ture of white with black pigments, or
sometimes by brown. Many painters
make the frotte, or first sketch of their
pictures in a brown tint, to which the term
en grisaille is sometimes misapplied.

GROAT, a silver coin, first struck in
the reign of Edward I., before whose
time the English had no silver coin lar-
ger than a penny. It has since been
used as a money of account equal to four-
pence.

GROIN'ED CEILING, or GROINED
ROOF, a ceiling formed by three or more
intersecting vaults, every two of which
form a groin at the intersection, and all
the groins meet in a common point called
the apex or summit. The curved surface
between two adjacent groins is termed the
sectroid. Groined roofs are common to
classic and medieval architecture, but it
is in the latter style that they are seen in
their greatest perfection. In this style, by

278

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[GUA

increasing the number of intersecting
vaults, varying their plans, and covering
their surface with ribs and veins, great
variety and richness were obtained, and
at length the utmost limit of complexity
was reached in the fan groin tracery
vaulting.

GROTESQUE', in the Fine Arts, a term
applied to capricious ornaments, which as
a whole have no type in nature ; consist-
ing of figures, animals, leaves, flowers,
fruits, and the like, all connected togeth-
er. Grotesque, in architecture, artificial
grotto-work decorated with rock-work,
shells, &c.

GROT'TO, the name given to subter-
raneous natural excavations formed in
the heart of mountains or other places.
Many of these cavities are famed for the
mephitic exhalations that issue from them,
and to this class belongs more especially
the Grotto del Cane, near 'Naples ; but
there are others not less celebrated for
their beauty and grandeur, of which the
grottoes of Antiparos and Fingal, are
well-known examples. In picturesque
gardening, the term is applied to an arti-
ficial or ornamental cave or low building
intended to represent a natural grotto.
The best specimen of this kind is the grot-
to attached to the Colosseum, which may
be considered a model for all similar de-
signs.

GROUND, in the Fine Arts, word of
various application. In painting, it is the
first layer of color on which the figures or
other objects are painted ; of sculpture, it
is the surface from which, in relievi, the
figures rise, and in architecture, it is used
to denote the face of the scenery or coun-
try round a building.

GROUP, in painting, an assemblage of
objects, whose lighted parts form a mass

of light, and their shaded parts a mass of
shadow : the word is also used to denote
any adjoining assemblage of figures, ani-
mals, fruits, flowers, &c In speaking
also of objects of different sorts, it is usual
to say that one object groups with an-
other. Lights in groups should, as well
as shadows, be connected together, or the

necessary repose will be wanting. In
sculpture, the word group is applied to a
design in which there are two or more
figures. In music, group signifies a num-
ber of notes linked together at the stems.

GUAR'ANTOR, one who engages to
see that the stipulations of another are
performed ; also one who engages to se-
cure another in any right or possession.

GUAR'ANTY, or GUARANTEE', an
undertaking or engagement by a third
party, that the stipulations of a treaty,
or the engagement or promise of another
shall be performed.

GUARD, the duty of guarding or de-
fending any post or person from an attack
or surprise. Also, the soldiers, who do
this duty. Guard, in fencing, a posture
or action proper to defend the body.
Van-guard, in military affairs, a body
of troops, either horse or foot, that
march before an army or division, to
prevent surprise or give notice of danger.
Rear-guard, a body of troops that
march in the rear for a like purpose.
Life-guards, a body of select troops,
whose especial duty is to defend the
person of a prince or chief officer.

GUARDIAN, in law, a person ap-
pointed by will, or otherwise, to superin-
tend the education and property of a
minor, to whom the guardian is bound to
account, after the child is of age, under
responsibility for the just performance of
the trust.

GUI]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

279

GUARDS, in a particular sense, the
troops that are designed to guard the
royal person and palace ; and which con-
sist both of horse and foot. In Britain,
the household troops or guards consist of
the life-guards, the royal regiment of
horse-guards, and three regiments of
foot-guards. Yeomen of the Guards, a
band of body-guards instituted by Henry
VIII. in the year 1545. Their dress is
similar to that of the time of their foun-
der. One hundred are by rotation on
duty, and there are seventy more, out
or whom the place of any of the hundred
who die is supplied. National Guards, a
military body which has acquired histor-
ical importance in the politics of France,
originated with the revolution, but un-
derwent many changes both during Na-
poleon's sway and under the restored
Bourbons. It was abolished in April,
1827, for having demanded the removal
of Villele's ministry ; but was revived
at Paris during the popular commotion
in July, 1830, which ended in seating
Louis Philippe on the throne. Guard-
skip, a vessel of war appointed to super-
intend the marine affairs of a harbor or
river, to see that the ships not in com-
mission have their proper watch-word
kept duly, by sending her guard-boats
round them every night; and to receive
seamen who are impressed in time of
war.

GUE'BRES, a Persian sect, who still
worship fire as an emanation or emblem
of the Deity.

GUELFS, or GUELPHS, the name of
a family, composing a faction formerly
in Italy, whose contests with a rival
faction, called the Ghibelines, was the
cavise of much misery and bloodshed.
The wars of the Guelfs and Ghibelines
became the struggle between the spiritual
and secular power. The popes, who en-
deavored to reduce the German emperors
to acknowledge their supremacy,and the
cities of Italy, struggling for independ-
ence, and deliverance from the oppressive
yoke of these same emperors, formed the
party of the Guelfs. Those who favored
the emperors were called Ghibelines. A
branch of the Guelf family was in the
llth century transplanted from Italy to
Germany, where it became the ruling
race of several countries ; and the mem-
ory of this ancient name has lately been
revived by the institution of the Hano-
verian (riielfic order.

GUERRIL'LA, the plan of harassing
the French armies by the constant at-
tacks of independent bands, acting in a

mountainous country, was adopted in
the north of Spain during the Peninsular
war. It was first reduced into a kind of
system in 1810. The bands which con-
ducted this desultory warfare were called
Partidas : the name of Guerrilla is, by a
misapplication of the term, frequently
applied to them.

GUIDE, in music, the leading part in
a canon or fugue.

GUILD, a company, fraternity, or cor-
poration, associated for some commercial
purpose ; of which every member was
to pay something toward the common
charge. The ancient guilds were li-
censed by the king, and governed by
laws and orders of their own.

GUILD'HALL, the chief hall of the
city of London, for holding courts, and
for the meeting of the lord-mayor and
commonalty, in order to make laws and
ordinances for the welfare and regulation
of the city. Guild-rents are rents paid to
the crown by any guild or fraternity : or
those that formerly belonged to religious
houses, and came to the crown at the
general dissolution of monasteries.

GUIL'LOCHE. in architecture, an or-
nament composed of curved fillets, which,
by repetition, form a continued series.

GUILLOTINE', the name given to
the instrument of capital punishment
used in France ; so called from Joseph
Ignace Guillotin, by whom it was intro-
duced into that country. This person
was born at Saintes, and, established as
a physician at Paris, obtained a certain
celebrity in the early period of the Rev-
olution by the strong part which he took
in favor of the rights of the Tiers-Etat.
He was elected in consequence a deputy
to the National Assembly. When that
body was occupied in its long discussions
relative to the reform of the penal code
(in 1790) Guillotin proposed the adoption
of decapitation up to that time used
only for nobles as the only method of
capital punishment. From sentiments
of humanity he recommended the em-
ployment of a machine which had beec
long known in Italy under the name of
" mannaja," and in other countries also ;
for something much resembling it had been
used in Scotland and in England within
the jurisdiction of the borough of Halifax.
The Assembly applauded the idea, and
the machine was adopted, to which the
Parisians have given the name of "Guil-
lotine," of which Guillotin is most erro-
neously supposed to have been the inven-
tor. It consists of two upright pieces of
wood fixed in a horizontal frame ; a

280

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[GUI

sharp blade of steel moves up and down
by means of a pulley in grooves in the two
uprights ; the edge is oblique instead of
horizontal in shape, which gives it the
mechanical power of the wedge. The
criminal is laid on his face, his neck im-
mediately under the blade, which severs
it at a blow from his body. It is equally
a vulgar error that Guillotin perished by
the instrument which bears his name. He
was imprisoned during the Reign of
Terror, but released at the revolution of
July, 1794 ; and died in 1814, after
founding the association termed the Acad-
emy of Medicine.

GUIN'EA, an English gold coin, first
coined in the reign of Charles II., and
till lately current for 21s. It was so
called because it was made from the gold
that was brought from Guinea, on the
coast of Africa.

GUITAR', a musical stringed instru-
ment, rather larger than a violin, and
played with the fingers. It is much used
in Spain and Italy, more especially in
the former country, where there are few,
even of the laboring class, who do not
solace themselves with its practice.

GUN, a fire-arm, or weapon of offence,
which forcibly discharges a ball, shot, or
other offensive matter, through a cylin-
drical barrel, by means of gunpowder.
The larger species of guns are called
cannon ; and the smaller kinds are called
muskets, carbines, fowling-pieces, &c. The
gun is supposed to have been used in
Asia at a very early date ; but it was
not invented in Europe before the 14th
century. Roger Bacon, about the year
1280, suggested the possibility of apply-
ing the preparation since called gun-
powder to the purposes of war ; but the
idea of blowing a body to a distance by
its power was produced by its accident-
ally doing so, in the laboratory of Bar-
tholomew Schwartz, a German monk.
Guns were originally made of iron bars,
soldered together, and strengthened with
iron hoops, an example of which is still
preserved in the Tower of London.

GUN'NERY, the science of using ar-
tillery against an enemy judiciously, and
to the greatest eifect. Besides an accurate
acquaintance with the inanagementof ord-
nance of all kinds, the range and force of
every kind, the charge and direction neces-
sary for different distances, their materi-
als, the fabrication and effect of gunpow-
der, &c. ; the artillerist must be able to in-
struct his men in their several exercises,
and be thoroughly acquainted with all the
tactics necessary in the art of attack and

defence ; he must be practically skilled
in throwing up batteries and other field-
works : he must understand mathematics,
(particularly the doctrine of curves, to
calculate the path of the balls ;) and have
some knowledge of mechanics.

GUN'POWDER, a composition of nitre,
sulphur, and charcoal, mixed and redu-
ced to fine powder, and usually granu-
lated. It is in the highest degree com-
bustible, and, by means of its elastic force,
explodes with great intensity. The dis-
coverer of this compound, and the person
who first thought of applying it to the
purposes of war, are unknown. It is
certain, however, that it was used in the
fourteenth century. From certain ar-
chives quoted by AViegleb, it appears
that cannons were employed in Germany
before the year 1372. No traces of it
can be found in any European author
previously to the thirteenth century ; but
it seems to have been known to the Chi-
nese long before that period. There is
reason to believe that cannons were used
in the battle of Cressy, which was fought
in 1346. They seem even to have been
used three years earlier, at the siege of
Algesiras; but before this time they must
have been known in Germany, as there
is a piece of ordnance at Amberg, on
which is inscribed the year 1303. Roger
Baoon, who died in 1292, knew the prop-
erties of gunpowder ; but it does not fol-
low that he was acquainted with its ap-
plication to fire-arms.

GUN'POWDER PLOT, in English his-
tory, the celebrated conspiracy of certain
disappointed Roman Catholics to destroy
the king, James I., and the two Houses
of Parliament, by gunpowder, which was
detected on the 4th of November, 1605.

GUS'TO, that which excites pleasant
sensations in the palate or tongue. Fig-
uratively this word is used for intellect-
ual taste.

GUT'TURALS, letters pronounced by
a peculiar effort of the throat. There
are no gutturals properly so called in the
English language, although the guttural
sound may often be heard in some pro-
vincial pronunciations of the letter r. Nor
are there in the pure French or Italian,
although they are frequent in the dia-
lects : e. g. the letter c hard (as in casa)
has in the Tuscan a strong guttural sound.
In the Spanish language alone, of those
derived from the Latin, gutturals are com-
mon. In German, the guttural ch is large-
ly used. In the Celtic language, gh and ch
are also sounded with much variety of
guttural intonation.

AND THE FINE AKTS.

281

GYMNA'SIARCH, an Athenian officer
who ha'l the charge of providing the oil
and other necessaries for the gymnasia.
This was one of the offices at Athens, the
expenses of which were defrayed from
the private pocket of the individual on
whom they devolved, and who received
no salary from the state.

GYMNA'SIUM, originally a space
measured out and covered with sand for
the exercise of athletic games. After-
w:mls, among the classical Greeks, the
gymnasia became spacious buildings or
institutions for the mental as well as cor-
poreal instruction of youth. They were
first built at Lacedaemon, whence they
spread through the rest of Greece, <fec.,
into Italy. They did not consist of sin-
gle edifices, but comprised several build-
ings and porticoes, used for study and
discourse, for baths, anointing rooms, pa-
testras in which the exercises took place,
and for other purposes. Two of the
Athenian gymnasia, viz., the Lyceum and
Academy, were rendered famous by be-
ing the scenes of the lectures of Aristotle
and Plato respectively.- The term gym-
nasium has descended to modern times.
In Germany the higher schools, intended
to give immediate preparation for the
universities, are termed gymnasia. In
Prussia the scholars undergo examina-
tion on leaving them : their compositions
at this examination are sent to the min-
ister of instruction and ecclesiastical af-
fairs ; and they receive testimonials of
fitness, No. 1, 2, or 3, according to their
degree of proficiency. Persons who have
fitted themselves for the universities with-
out passing through the gymnasia are
examined by a committee appointed by
government, which sits half-yearly for
the purpose.

GYMNAS TICS, under this name were
comprised by the ancients all those games
and exercises which were performed with
the body partly naked ; such as wrest-
ling, boxing, running, throwing the quoit,
playing at ball, <fec. They were first in-
stituted at Lacedasmon, where they were
not confined to men, but were also con-
sidered a necessary part of the education
of females. In the rest of Greece, where
they subsequently spread, they were also
held of the highest importance, and as
such were conducted under the superin-
tendence of the government,, and entered
conspicuously into the political schemes
of the philosophers. In this respect the
Greeks offered a remarkable contrast to
their Asiatic neighbors, among whom it
was considered a great disgrace even for

a man to be seen naked. At Rome gym-
nastics were principally exercised by the
mercenary athletes.

GYMNOS'OPHISTS, a sect of Indian
philosophers who lived naked in the
woods, whence they derived their name,
and submitted to other strange austeri-
ties. They believed in the immortality
of the soul and its migration into several
bodies. They enjoyed great reputation
for astronomical and physical science.
There was likewise an African sect of
philosophers bearing the same name, who
are said to have lived in ^Ethiopia, near
the sources of the Nile, whose habits dif-
fered from those of the Indian sect, in-
asmuch as they lived as anchorites, while
the latter congregated in societies.

GYMNO'TUS, the name of an eel, re-
markable for its power of affecting the
nervous system, in the manner of elec-
tricity. This animal and the torpedo, on
dissection, appear to have an arrange-
ment of muscular plates not unlike a
galvanic trough, and well adapted to pro-
duce the effect.

GYN^CE'UM, among the ancients the
apartment of the women, a separate room
in the inner part of the house, where they
employed themselves in spinning, weav-
ing and needle-work.

GYN^CON OMI, certain magistrates
amongst the Athenians, who had an eye
upon the conduct of the women, and pun-
ished such as forsook the line of propri-
ety and modesty. A list of such as had
been fined was put up by them upon a
palm-tree in the Ceramicus. The gynce-
conomi were ten in number, and differed
from the gyncecocosmi ; for the former
were inspectors of manners, the latter of

^YN'ARCHY or GYN.ECOC'RACY,
government by a woman : or a state
where women are legally capable of the
supreme command. Of this Great Brit-
ain and Spain are familiar examples.

GYR'OMANCY, a kind of divination
performed by walking round in a circle
or ring.

H, the eighth letter and sixth conso-
nant of the English alphabet. It is not
strictly a vowel, nor an articulation ; but
the mark of a stronger breathing than
that which precedes the utterance of any
other letter. It is pronounced with a
strong expiration of the breath between
the lips, closing, as it were, by a gentle

282

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[HAI

motion of the lower jaw to the upper, and
the tongue nearly approaching the palate.
II is sometimes mute, as in honor, honest ;
also when united with g, as in right, Jig/it,
brought. In which, ichat, and some other
words where it follows w> it is sounded
before it, fncich hicat, Ac. H, among the
Greeks, us a numeral, signified 8 ; in the
Latin of the middle ages, 200, and with a
dash jover it, 200,000. In music, h is the
seventh degree in the diatonic scale, and
the twelfth in the chromatic.

HA'BEAS-COR'PUS, in law, a writ
for delivering a person from false im-
prisonment, or for removing a person
from one court to another. By the ac-
tion of this writ, of which there are sev-
eral kinds, adapted to different occasions,
relief from all unjust imprisonment may
be obtained, causes removed from one
court to another for the promotion of
justice, and prosecutors compelled to
bring the prosecuted to open trial, in-
stead of prolonging his imprisonment.
Thus it not only protects the citizen from
unlawful imprisonment at the suggestion
of the civil officers of the government, but
also against groundless arrests at the suit
or instigation of individuals. The right
is, however, liable to be suspended ; it
being sometimes necessary to clothe the
executive with an extraordinary power,
as the Romans were in the habit of choos-
ing a dictator in emergencies, when the
public was in danger.

HABEN'DUM, in law, a word of form
in a deed or conveyance, which must con-
sist of two parts, viz. the premises and
habendum (to have and to hold.)

HABER'GEON, a coat of mail former-
ly worn to defend the neck and breast. It
was formed of little iron rings united,
and descended from the neck to the mid-
dle of the body.

HAB'IT, in philosophy, an aptitude or
disposition either of mind or body, ac-
quired by a frequent repetition of the
same act : thus virtue is called a habit
of the mind ; strength, a habit of the
body. All natural habits, whether of
body or mind, are no other than the body
and mind themselves considered as either
acting or suffering ; or they are modes of
the body or mind wherein either perse-
veres till effaced by some contrary mode.
Habit, in medicine, denotes the settled
constitution of the body ; or a particular
state formed by nature, or induced by
extraneous circumstances.

HA'DES, in classical mythology, the
abode of the dead. According to Hesiod
the mortals of the brazen age were the

first who descended to Hades. Hades
was also an appellation of the god Pluto ;
in which sense alone, it is said, Hesiod
uses it. The word occurs frequently in
the Septuagint, and in the Greek Now
Testament, and almost invariably signi-
fies the state of the dead in general, with-
out regard to the virtuous or vicious char-
acters of the persons, their happiness or
misery.

HADJ, the Mohammedan pilgrimage
to Mecca and Medina; whence Hadji, a
pilgrim, or one who has performed this
pilgrimage ; Hedjaz, the Holy Lond,
where these cities are situated. By far
the most authentic dese iption of it is that
of Burkhardt, who performed it in the
guise of a Mohammedan, in 1814. It is
fixed to a particular lunar month, and
consequently takes place in every season
of the year. It was a custom long ante-
rior to the establishment of Islamism,
when the famous " black stone" of the
Caaba at Mecca was an object of idola-
trous veneration. Every year a black
silk stuff is now sent by the sultan to cov-
er the Caaba. There are usually five or
six caravans ; from Syria, Egypt ( Bar-
bary. the East, and the North. In 1814,
the number of pilgrims was about 70,000,
and this was considered small. The pil-
grims go thrbugh several ceremonies at
Mecca, of which the principal are the
towqf, or procession round the Caaba, and
drinking of the well of Zemzen ; they then
proceed to the summit of Mount Ararat ;
and lastly to Medina, the place of the
prophet's burial.

HAGIOG'RAPHY, sacred writings.
The Jews divide the books of the Scrip-
tures into three parts ; the Law, which is
contained in the first five books of the
Old Testament ; the Prophets, or Nevim ;
and the Cetuvim, or writings, by way of
eminence. The latter class is called by
the Greeks Hagiographa, comprehending
the books of Psalms, Proverbs, Job. Dan-
iel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Ruth, Esther, Chron-
icles, Canticles, Lamentations, and Eccle-
siastes.

HAIL, the small masses of ice or fro-
zen vapor, falling from the clouds in show-
ers or storms. These masses consist of
little spherules united, but not all of the
same consistence ; some being as hard
and solid as perfect ice ; others soft, like
frozen snow.. Hailstones assume various
figures ; some are round, others angular,
others pyramidical, others flat, and some-
times they are stellated with six radii,
like crystals of snow. Hail occurs chief-
ly in spring and summer, and is always

HAL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

283

accompanied with electrical phenomena,
and not unfrequently with thunder. It
usually precedes storms of rain, sometimes
accompanies them ; but never, or very
rarely, follows them, especially if the rain
is of any duration. The time of its con-
tinuance is always very short, generally
only a few minutes. The usual size of
hailstones is about a quarter of an inch in
diameter, but they are frequently of
much larger dimensions, sometimes even
3 and 4 inches in diameter. Hail-storms
are very destructive to crops, particularly
in hot climates. The phenomena attend-
ing the formation and fall of hail are not
well understood ; but it is supposed that
the cold necessary for its formation is pro-
duced by the wind ; and th it when hail-
stones are formed they are also carried
along through the atmosphere by cur-
rents of wind, in a direction very oblique
to the horizon, by which' means they may
be kept suspended a sufficient length of
time to acquire the dimensions they pos-
sess, by congealing the particles of humid
vapor with which they successively come
in contact. The electricity with which
hail is always accompanied, is only the
effect of the passage of the particles of
water from the liquid to the solid state.
Hail-rods, upon the same principle as
lightning-rods, have been erected in Ger-
many and Switzerland, with the view of
subtracting the superabundant electrici-
ty from the clouds, and preventing the
formation of hail ; but they have not been
attended with the success which was ex-
pected.

HAIR, in physiology, slender, oblong,
and flexible filaments, growing out of the
pores of animals, and serving most of
them as a covering. It consists of the
bulb, situated under the skin, which is a
nervous vesicle, and a trunk which per-
forates the skin and cuticle, and is cov-
ered with a peculiar vagina or sheath.
The color of human hair depends on the
medullary juice ; but there are also
general differences of it, peculiar in some
degree to the climates. In the hottest
countries it is very black ; in the colder
it is yellowish, brown, or inclining to red ;
but in all places it grows gray or white
with age. In quadrupeds it is of the
most various conformation, from the
finest wool to the bristles of a hog. The
principal constituent parts of hair are
animal matter, oil, silex, sulphur, car-
bonate of lime, <fec. Among the ancients,
from the earliest times, the hair of the
head was an object of especial care and
attention. Among the Greeks, it at first

was worn long by adults ; boys, especially
those of Sparta, until the age of puberty,
wore their hair cropped close. At a later
period, it was customary for men to wear
their hair cut short. The Athenian cus-
tom was the opposite of the Spartan ; the
hair was worn long in childhood, and cut
upon arriving at manhood. The cutting
of the hair was an act of solemnity, and
performed with many ceremonies. The
Roman youth, before the age of puberty,
wore their hair in ringlets upon their
shoulders ; but about the time of putting
on the toga virilis, they cut it short ;
such of them, at least, as wished to dis-
tinguish- themselves from the maccaro-
nis and effeminate coxcombs. The hair
thus cut off was consecrated to Apollo,
who is always represented with flowing
hair, or to some other god, under whose
protection they supposed themselves to
be more immediately placed. In works
of Art, the Ephebi (youth who had at-
tained the age of 18,) and the Athletfr
are always represented with short hair.
Among the females, it was the custom to
confine the hair with a band, or with net-
work, sometimes richly ornamented with
gold and other metals, examples of which
are seen in the paintings found at Pom-
peii. In other representations we find
the hair inclosed in a kind of bag, made
of various textile materials. The color
which was most prized was blonde, al-
though black was the most common.
In times of mourning the hair was cut
short.

HAIR PEN'CILS, in painting, are
composed of very fine hairs, as of the
minever, the marten, the badger, the
polecat, <fcc., which are mounted in a
quill when they are small or of moderate
size, but when larger than a quill they
are mounted in white-iron tubes. The
most essential quality of a good pen-
cil is to form a fine point, so that all
the hairs may be united when they are
moistened by drawing them through the
lips.

HAIR'S BREADTH, a measure of
length, equal to the forty-eighth part of
an inch.

HAL'BERD, or HAL'BERT, an an-
cient military weapon, intended for both
cutting and thrusting, formerly carried
by sergeants of foot and artillery. It
was a kind t>f combination of a spear and
a battle-axe, with a variously formed
head, and a shaft about six feet long. It
is now rarely to be seen in use, except in
Scotland in the hands of town-officers
(counterparts of English javelin-men)

284

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[HAN

1. Hnlbert, time of Henry VIII. 2 do., with fleur
de lis, Henry VII. 3. Double-axed halbert. Charles
I. 4. Halbert, Charles II. 5 do., William III.

when attending the magistrates of a bor-
ough.

HAL'CYON DAYS, a name given by
the ancients to the seven days that pre-
cede and follow the winter solstice, from
the circumstance of the halcyon or alce-
do selecting that period for incubation.
While this process was going on, the
weather was generally remarkable for
its calmness ; and hence the expression
has passed into a proverb, signifying
days of peace and tranquillity.

HALL, in architecture, a large room
at the entrance of a house or palace. In
the houses of ministers of state, magis-
trates, <fec., it is the place where they
give audience and despatch business. In
magnificent edifices where the hall is very
large and lofty, and placed in the middle
of the edifice, it is called a saloon. An
edifice, in which courts of justice are held;
as Westminster Hall, which was origin-
ally a royal palace; the kings of England
formerly holding their parliaments and
courts of judicature in their own dwell-
ings, as is still the practice in Spain.
It is perhaps a term improperly applied,
as now, to the entrance of a dwelling-
house, though not so to a servants' hall.
At Oxford an unendowed college is styled
a hall; but at Cambridge the term is
used indiscriminately for college, whether
endowed or not.

HALLELU'IAH, a word signifying
praise the Lord, or praise ye Jehovah.
It is met with in the beginning of some
Psalms, and the end of others. It is a
word of such liquid fluency and harmo-

nious softness, that it is retained in our
hymns withont translation. In conform-
ity with the German and other continen-
tal languages in which j has the sound of
y, we often see it written Hallelujah ; but
to pronounce the word with the English
sound of j destroys its beauty, and it
ought never to be so written.

IIALLUCINA'TION, in medicine, er-
roneous imagination. Hallucinations of
the senses arise from some defect in the
organs of sense, or from some unusual
circumstances attending the object ; and
they are sometimes symptoms of general
disease, as in fevers. Maniacal halluci-
nations arise from some imaginary or
mistaken idea.

HA'LO, a circle appearing round the .,,
body of the sun, moon, or stars, but more
especially about the body of the sun and
moon, called also corona, orc*.wn. Ha-
loes are sometimes white and sometimes
colored. Sometimes one only appears,
and sometimes several concentric circles
appear at the same time. Haloes are
at times accompanied with other phenom-
ena, such as parhelia, or mock -suns ; par-
selenes, or mock-moons ; anthelia, or glo-
ries. All these appearances are occasion-
ed by the refraction, reflection, or inflec-
tion of light falling upon, or passing near
thick vapor floating in the atmosphere.
HAMADRY'ADS, certain nymphs or
inferior deities supposed by the Greek
and Roman poets to preside over woods
and forests, and, as their name implied,
to live and die with the particular trees
to which they were attached.

HAND, in anatomy, an important
member of the human body, which, from
the facilities it affords in all operations,
and accuracy in ascertaining' the magni-
tude, <fec. of extraneous objects, is justly
lonsidered as contributing very essen-
tially to all that is either ingenious or
scientific in the human character. In
Christian Art a hand is the indication of
a holy person or thing, and frequently
occurs in pictures representing martyr-
doms, as extended from a cloud over a
saint. A hand in the act of benediction
s frequently met with in early Christian
Art, and generally represents the Al-
mighty Father. Previous to the twelfth
:entury, the Supreme was always repre-
sented by a hand extended from a cloud,
sometimes open, with rays proceeding
"rom the fingers, but generally in the
act of benediction, viz., with two fingers
raised and the rest open. The hands of
ur Saviour pierced, were frequently rep-
resented in sculpture.

HAB]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

285

HAND'LING, in painting, manage-
ment of the pencil by touch. Handling
should be bold, with freedom, firmness,
and spirit.

HANSEAT'IC, pertaining to the
Hanse towns, or to their confederacy.
The Hanse towns in Germany were cer-
tain commercial cities which associated
for the protection of commerce as early
as the 12th century. To this confederacy
acceded certain commercial cities in Hol-
land, England, France, Spain, and Italy,
until they amounted to seventy-two,
which for centuries commanded the re-
spect and defied the power of kings. From
the middle of the 15th century, the power
of the confederacy, though still very for-
, midable, began to decline. This, however,
was not owing to any misconduct on the
part of its leaders, but to the progress of
that improvement it had done so much to
promote. The civilization, which had
been at first confined to the cities, gradu-
ally extended over the contiguous coun-
try ; and feudal anarchy was everywhere
superseded by a system of subordination
*nd the progress of the Arts. At present
it only consists of the cities of Ham-
burgh, Lubeck, and Bremen ; and they,
indeed, possess merely the shadow of
their former state.

HAP'PINESS, the agreeable sensa-
tions which spring from the enjoyment
of good. It consists in the possession not
only of the goods of the body, as health,
strength, &c., but also of the more refined
goods of the mind, as knowledge, memory,
taste, and especially the moral virtues,
magnanimity, fortitude, benevolence, &c.
That state is mostly to be sought after,
in which the fewest competitions and dis-
appointments can happen, which least of
all impairs any sense of pleasure, and
opens an unexpected source of the most
refined and lasting enjoyments. That
state which is attended with all those ad-
vantages, is a state or course of virtue :
therefore, a state of virtue, in which the
moral goods of the mind are attained, is
the happiest state ; and he only can be
esteemed really and permanently happy,
who enjoys peace of mind in the favor
of the Almighty.

HARANGUE', a popular oration, gen-
erally implying loudness or declamation ;
and not a deliberate and argumentative
address or discourse.

HAR'BOR, a port, haven, or inlet of
the sea, i.n which ships can moor, and be
sheltered from the fury of winds and a
heavy sea.

HARD'WARE, instruments and uten-

sils of every kind manufactured from
metals, comprising iron, brass, steel, and
copper articles of all descriptions. Bir-
mingham and Sheffield are the principal
seats of the British hardware manufac-
tures ; and from these immense quanti-
ties of knives, razors, scissors, fire-arms,
gilt and plated goods, &c. are supplied to
an extent almost incredible. The total
aggregate value of the iron and other
hardware manufactures of England and
Scotland may be estimated at not less
than 17,500,0'OOZ. a year; affording direct
employment, in the various departments
of the trade, for at least 360,000 persons.

HA'REM, the apartments in which
Mussulman princes confine their women,
who are prohibited from the society of
others. They are waited on by female
slaves, and guarded by black eunuchs:
the head of the latter is called Kizlar-
aga. There are two kizlar-agas, one of
the old, the other of the new palace, each
of which has its harem. The one is occu-
pied by the women of former sultans, and
those who have incurred the displeasure
of the reigning prince ; the other by such
as still enjoy his favor. The lady who
first presents him with a male heir, is
styled the sultana, by way of eminence.
She must then retire into the old palace ;
but if her son ascends the throne, she re-
turns to the new palace, and has the title
of sultana valide. She is the only woman
who is allowed to appear without a veil ;
none of the others, even when sick, a,re
permitted to lay aside the veil, in the
presence of any one except the sultan.
When visited by the physician, their bed
is covered with a thick counterpane, and
the pulse felt through gauze. The life
of the ladies of the imperial harem is
spent in bathing, dressing, walking in the
garden, witnessing the voluptuous dances
performed by their slaves, &c. The
women of other Turks enjoy the society
of their friends at the baths, or at each
other's houses, appear in public accom-
panied by slaves and eunuchs, and enjoy
a degree of liberty which increases as
they descend in rank. But those of the
sultan have none of these privileges. It
is, of course, only the richer Moslems
who can maintain harems : the poorer
classes have generally but one wife.

HAR'LEQUIN, the principal charac-
ter in pantomime, clad in a party-colored
dress, with a half-mask, and who is per-
petually dancing, leaping, or performing
tricks with his wonder-working wand.
This character was first introduced into
Italian comedy, where he united extrav-

280

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[HAR

ngant buffoonrey with great corporeal
agility.

HARMAT'TAN, the name given to a
prevailing wind on the coast of Africa,
which is of a peculiarly dry and parching
character.

HARMON'ICA, or ARMON'ICA, a
musical instrument, in which the sound
is produced from glasses, blown as near
as possible in the form of hemispheres,
having each an open neck or socket in
the middle. The diameter of the largest
glass is nine inches, and that of the small-
est three inches. Between these there
are twenty-three different sizes, differing
from each other a quarter of an inch in
diameter. The largest glass in the in-
strument is G, including three complete
octaves ; and they are distinguished by
painting the apparent parts of the glass-
es within side, every semitone white,
and the other notes of the octave with
the seven prismatic colors ; so that glass-
es of the same color, (the white except -
ed,) are always octaves to each other.
The method of extracting exquisite tones,
by rubbing the finger on the brim of
drinking-glasses, filled with water in dif-
ferent proportions, was an old discovery ;
but it remained for Dr. Franklin to con-
struct the harmonica. " The advantages
of this instrument," says Dr. Franklin,
' are, that its tones are incomparably
sweet beyond any other ; that they may
be swelled and softened at pleasure, by
stronger or weaker pressures of the fin-
ger, and continued to any length; and
that the instrument, once well tuned,
never again wants tuning." Its disad-
vantages are, the difficulty of adjusting
the tones by grinding ; the extreme skil-
fulness necessary in the player ; and the
impracticability of performing upon it
many of the ordinary operations of the
musical art ; for however much it excels
all others in the delicacy and duration of
its tones, yet it is confined to those of a
soft and plaintive character, and to slow
solemn movements.

HARMON'ICS, that branch of music
which considers the differences and pro-
portions of sound. This science was by
the ancients divided into seven parts ;
viz. cf ssunds, of intervals, of system, of
the genera, of the tones or modes, of mu-
tation, and of melopseia.

HARMONIC TRIAD, in music, the
chord of a note consisting of a third and
perfect fifth, or, in other words, the com-
mon chord.

HAR'MONY, in music, the agreeable
result or union of several musical sounds

heard at one and the same vime. Natu-
ral liarmony consists of the harmonic
triad or common chord. Artificial har-
mony is a mixture of concords and dis-
cords. Figured harmony is that in
which, for the purpose of melody, one or
more of the parts of a composition move,
during the continuance of a chord, through
certain notes which do not form any of
the constituent parts of that chord. Har-
mony, as applied to nature, the neces-
sary reciprocal accordance of causes and
effects, by which the existence of one
thing is dependent on that of another.
In matters of literature, we use the word
harmony for a certain agreement between
the several parts of the discourse. In
architecture, harmony denotes an agree-
able relation between the parts of a
building. In painting, it signifies" the
union or connection between the figures,
with respect to the subject of the piece ;
and also denotes the union or agreeable
mixture of different colors. Harmony
of the spheres, a favorite hypothesis of
Pythagoras and many other ancient phi-
losophers, according to which, celestial
music, imperceptible by the ears of mor-
tals, was supposed to be produced by the
sweetly tuned motions of the stars and
planets. This harmony they attributed
to the various proportionate impressions
of the heavenly globes upon one another,
acting at proper intprvals.

HAR'MONY OF THE SCRIP'TURES,
GOSPELS, Ac., the correspondence of the
several writers of different parts of the
Scriptures in their respective narratives,
or statements of doctrine. The earliest
Harmony of the Gospels was composed
by Tatian, in the second century, with
the title Diatessaron.

HAR'MONY PRE-ESTAB'LISHED,
a hypothesis invented by Leibnitz, to ex-
plain the correspondence between the
course of our sensations and the series of
changes actually going on in the universe,
of which, according to that philosopher
and many others, we have no direct
knowledge. This hypothesis is connected,
in the Leibnitzian system, with the doc-
trine of monads, certain spiritual pow-
ers or substances, one of which constitutes
the principle of vitality and conscious-
ness in every living being. Each of
these, is, in its degree, a mirror, in which
the changes going on in the universe are
reflected with greater or less fidelity.
But between simple substances, such as
spirit and matter, soul and body, no real
reciprocal action can take place. The
Author of the universe has consequently

ii AT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

387

so ordained that the series of changes
going on in any particular conscious mo-
nad, corresponds precisely to those of the
inonads in contiguity to which it is placed.
Hence arises our belief that mind is act-
ed on by matter, and vice versa ; a be-
lief which leads to no practical errors in
virtue.

HARMOS'TES, in ancient history, a
Spartan magistrate, called also sometimes
.sophronistes, who was appointed to super-
intend a conquered state. Other Greek
states which made conquests afterwards
borrowed the name.

HARP, a musical stringed instrument,
of a triangular figure. It stands erect,
and, when used, is placed at the feet of
the performer, who produces its tones by
the action of the thumb and fingers of
both hands on the strings. Its origin is
very variously ascribed ; but whatever it
may have been, its invention is mani-
festly very ancient ; for it appears to
liBve been in use (under various forms)
with the Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks,
and Romans. The Anglo-Saxons excel-
led in playing on the harp. The Irish,
Scots, and Welsh also made much use of
this instrument ; and with the Anglo-
Normans it was equally popular. By
the Welsh laws, a harp was one of the
things that were necessary to character-
ize a freeman or gentleman ; and none
could pretend to this rank, who had not
a harp, and was not able to play upon it.
By the same laws, to prevent slaves from
pretending to be gentlemen, it was ex-
pressly forbidden to teach, or to permit,
them to play upon the harp ; and none
but the king, the king's musicians, and
gentlemen, were allowed to have harps in
their possession. The modern harp forms
one of the most elegant objects to the
eye, while it produces some of the most
agreeable effects to the ear, of any in-
strument in use. There are generally
35 strings, but sometimes the number is
extended to 43 : and the compass usually
extends from double A of the bass clef,
to double G in the G clef.

HAR'PIES, in mythology, three rapa-
cious winged monsters, supposed to be
the goddesses of storms, and called Aello,
Ocypete, and Celoeno. They are so differ-
ently described by the poets, that it is
difficult to say anything definite concern-
ing them. Hesiod represents them as
young virgins, of great "beauty ; Vossius
supposes them to be three winds ; but
both poets and artists appear gener-
ally to vie with each other in depicting
them under the most hideous forms.

HARPOON', an iron instrument, form-
ed at one end like a barbed arrow, and
having a rope at the other, for the pur-
pose of spearing the whale. As soon as
the boat has been rowed within a compe-
tent distance of the whale, the harpooner
launches his instrument ; and the fish
being wounded, immediately descends un-
der the ice with amazing rapidity, carry-
ing the harpoon along with him, and a
considerable length of the line, which is
purposely let down, to give him room to
dive. Being soon exhausted with the fa-
tigue and loss of blood, he re-ascends, in
order to breathe, where he presently ex-
pires, and floats upon the surface of the
water. Harpoon gun, an instrument
for discharging harpoons at. whales in
preference to the common method of the
hand. It consists of a kind of swivel,
having a barrel of wsougbt iron, about
two feet long, and is furnished with two
locks, which act simultaneously, for the
purpose of diminishing the liability of
the gun missing fire.

HARP'SICHORD, a musical instru-
ment with strings of wire, played on by
means of keys, the striking of which
moves certain little jacks, which also
move a double row of chords or strings,
stretched over four bridges on the table
of the instrument. Since the invention
of that superior instrument, the grand
piano-forte, the use of the harpsichord is
greatly diminished.

HAR'USPICE, in Roman history, a
person who pretended to foretell future
events by inspecting the entrails of beasts
sacrificed, or watching the circumstances
attending their slaughter, or their man-
ner of burning and the ascent of the
smoke.

HAR'VEST MOON, an epithet ap-
plied to those moons which, in the au-
tumnal months, rise on successive nights,
soon after sunset, owing to the oblique
ascension of the signs of the Zodiac,
through which the moon is then passing.

HASTA'TI. among the Romans, were
soldiers armed with spears, who were al-
ways drawn up in the first line of battle.
These were picked out the next in age to
the velites. At last they laid aside the
spear, but still retained their name.

HATCH'WAY, in ships, a square or
oblong opening in the deck, affording a
passage from one deck to another, or into
the hold or lower apartments.

HAT'TI-SHERIFF, in Turkish polity,
an order which comes immediately from
the Grand Signior, who subscribes it usu-
ally with these words: "Let my order

288

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[HEB

be executed according to its form and im-
port." These words are generally edged
with gold, or otherwise ornamented ; and
an order given in this way is irrevocable.
H AU'BERK, in armor, a tunic of ring-
ed mail, with wide
sleeves reaching a
little below the el-
bow, and descending
below the knees ;
being cut up before
and behind a little
way, for convenience
in riding, it had the
appearance of ter-
minating in short
trowsers. It was
introduced in the
twelfth century, and
is supposed to have
been introduced
from Germany.
Hauberk is the name given to this vest-
ment by the Normans, signifying a pro-
tection for the throat, but the term could
only have been appropriate when the ca-
puchin or cowl formed a component part
of it.

HAUTBOY, a musical wind instru-
ment, shaped somewhat like the flute, but
spreading and widening at the bottom,
and sounded through a reed.

HAVERSACK, a kind of bag of strong
coarse linen, to carry bread and provis-
ions on a march.

HEALTH, that condition of the body,
in which all the vital, natural, and ani-
mal functions, are performed easily and
perfectly, and unattended with pain. The
most perfect state of health is generally
connected with a certain conformation and
structure of the bodily organs, and well
marked by certain external signs. To
preserve health, it is necessary to be tem-
perate in food, exercise, and sleep ; to
pay strict attention to bodily cleanliness ;
to abstain from spirituous liquors, and to
guard against excess of all kinds. The
Greeks and Romans deified health, rep-
resenting it under the figure of a woman,
whom they supposed to be the daughter
of ^Esculapius. We find the name of the
goddess Salus, or Health, on many med-
als of the Roman emperors, with differ-
ent inscriptions, as Salus publica, Salus
reipublicfe, Salus Au&usti, &c.

HEAVEN, literally the sky, or azure
vault which spreads above us like a hol-
low hemisphere, and appears to rest on
the limits of the horizon. Modern as-
tronomy has taught us, that this blue
vault is, in fact, the immeasurable space

in which our earth, the sun, and all the
planets, revolve. In metaphorical lan-
guage, this space is called the abode of
the Deity, and the seat of the souls of the
just in the life to come. In these latter
senses, it is sometimes called the empy-
rean, from the splendor by which it is
characterized. It is also sometimes called
the firmament. The word which, in the
first chapter of Genesis, is translated fir-
mament, was corrupted, it is said, by the
Septuagint translators, and should be
rendered expanse or extension. St. Paul
speaks of the third heaven ; and the ori-
entals always describe seven heavens, or
more. The foundation of the doctrine of
several heavens was this : the ancient
philosophers assumed there were as many
different heavens as they saw bodies in
motion ; they considered them solid, al-
though transparent, and supposed the
blue space extended over our heads firm
as a sapphire. They could not conceive
that otherwise they could sustain thofc
bodies ; and they deemed them spherical,
as the most proper form for motion.
Thus, there were seven heavens for the
seven planets, and an eighth for the fixed
stars. Ptolemy discountenanced this sys-
tem. He said, the deities (by which name
he calls the stars, for they were adored in
his time,) moved in an ethereal fluid. It
was, however, by very slow degrees that
men became acquainted with the true sci-
ence which instructs us in the laws of ce-
lestial motion, and the magnitudes, dis-
tances, &c., of those effulgent orbs which
deck the vast expanse. The heavens,
then, to follow the path of the Newtonian
or true system, are filled with a fluid
much finer and thinner than this air, and
extending beyond all limits of which we
have any conception. There being noth-
ing visible to us in the remote part of the
heavens, we can only consider them as
the places of the stars. We shall have a
vast idea of this space if we consider that
the largest of the fixed stars, which are
probably the nearest to us, are at a dis-
tance too great for the expression of all
that we can conceive from figures, and
for all means of admeasurement. The
sun, which in that little space of the heav-
ens that makes the system of which our
world is a part, is in reality nothing
more than a fixed star.

HEBDOM'ADARY, a member of a
chapter or convent, whose duty it is to of-
ficiate in the choir, rehearse the anthems
and prayers, and perform other services,
which, on extraordinary occasions, are
performed by the superiors.

HKL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

289

HEBDOM'ARY, a solemnity of the
ancient Greeks, in which the Athenians
sung hymns in honor of Apollo, and car-
ried in their hands branches of laurel.
It was observed on the seventh day of
every lunar month; hence the name.

HE'BE, in Grecian mythology, was
the goddess of youth, whose office it was
to hand round the nectar at the banquets
of the gods. She was the daughter of
Jupiter and Juno.

HE'BRAISM, an idiom or manner of
speaking peculiar to the Hebrew lan-
guage.

HE'BREW, the language spoken by
the Jews, and which appears to be the
most ancient of all the languages in the
world. The books of the Old Testament
are the only pieces to be found, in all an-
tiquity, written in pure Hebrew ; and the
language of many of these is extremely
sublime. But Hebrew literature, inde-
pendently of its containing the records
of a divine revelation, possesses a pecu-
liar scientific interest. It surpasses in
antiquity, general credibility, originality,
poetic strength, and religious importance,
that of any other nation before the Chris-
tian era, and contains most remarkable
memorials and trustworthy materials for
the history of the human race, and its
mental development. The Epistle to the
Hebrews, a canonical book of the New
Testament. The Hebrews, to whom this
epistle was addressed, were the believing
Jews of Palestine, and its design was to
convince them of the insufficiency and
abolishment of the ceremonial and ritual
law. In order to which the apostle un-
dertakes to show, first, the superior ex-
cellency of Christ's person above that
of Moses ; secondly, the superiority of
Christ's priesthood above the Levitical ;
and thirdly, the mere figurative nature,
and utter insufficiency, of the legal cere-
monies and sacrifices.

HEC'ATE, in mythology, a Grecian
goddess, daughter of the Titan Perses
and Asteria. She presided over popular
assemblies, war, the administration of
justice, and the rearing of children.
There is a good deal of obscurity attached
to this goddess, who is often confounded
with Artemis or Diana, and Proserpine ;
whence she is sometimes considered the
patroness of magic and the infernal re-
gions. She was called the triple goddess,
and was supposed to wander along the
earth at night. Statues were set up to
her in market-places, and especially at
cross roads.

HECATE'SIA, in Grecian antiquity,
19

a public entertainment given by the
Athenians every new moon, in honor of
Hecate.

HEC'ATOMB, amongst the Greeks,
was a sacrifice consisting of a hundred
oxen offered upon some very extraordi-
nary occasion. Hecatomb, in its most
general sense, signifies no more than a
sacrifice of a hundred animals ; but the
ox being the chief of animals used in sac-
rifice, gave derivation to the word.

HEGI'RA, the epoch of the flight of
Mahomet from Mecca, July 10, 622,
whence Eastern nations date the year of
354 days ; which is found by subtracting
622 from our year, and then multiplying
by 365.52, and dividing by 354.

HEI'GHTEN, in painting, a verb sig-
nifying to make prominent by means of
touches of light or brilliant colors, as con-
trasted with the shadows.

HEIR, in law, the person who succeeds
another by descent to lands, tenements,
and hereditaments, being an estate of in-
heritance, or an estate in fee ; because
nothing passes by right of inheritance but
in fee. We give the title to a person who
is to inherit after the death of an ances-
tor, and during his life, as well as to the
person who has actually come into pos-
session. -Heir-apparent, is a person so
called in the lifetime of his ancestor, _at
whose death he is heir at law. Heir-
presumptive, one who, if the ancestor
should die immediately, would, in the
present circumstances of things, be his
heir ; but whose right of inheritance may
be defeated by the contingency of some
nearer heir being born.

HEIR'-LOOM, any furniture or per-
sonal chattel, which by law descends to
the heir with the house or freehold.

HELIX, HELICES, in architecture,
the curling stalks or volutes under the
flowers in each face of the abacus of the
Corinthian capital.

HELLE'NIC, the name given to the
common dialect which prevailed very
generally among the Greek writers after
the time of Alexander. It was formed,
with very slight variations, from the pure
Attic of the age preceding its introduc-
tion.

HELLENIS'TIC, the name given to
that dialect of the Grecian language that
was used by the Jewish writers. Its pe-
culiarities consisted in the introduction
of foreign words very little disguised, but
more especially of oriental metaphors and
idioms ; but not at all in the inflexions
of words, which were the same as in the
Hellenic. In this dialect, it is said, the

290

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[HEM

Septuagint was written, and also the
books of the New Testament ; and that
it was thus denominated to show that it
was Greek filled with Hebraisms and
Syriacisms.

' IIHL'LENISTS, the name by which
the Jews who from their foreign birth or
travel used the Greek (Hellenic) lan-
guage, are distinguished in- the Acts of
Apostles. The word is derived, accord-
ing to a common method of formation
in the Greek language, from the verb
cXXwfi^ti', to Hellenize, or adopt the man-
ners of a Greek. There were great num-
bers of Jews scattered throughout the
Roman empire at this period, more espe-
cially in the Asiatic and East African
provinces, where the Greek was the cur-
rent language ; and as they were in the
habit of making frequent journeys to and
from Jerusalem, they heard the preach-
ing of the Apostles, and became effica-
cious instruments in conveying the knowl-
edge of the word throughout all lands.
From their long sojourn in foreign coun-
tries they were distinguished from the
Hebraists, or native Jews, by the greater
liberality of their views with respect to
the nature of the promises of the Old
Testament. It appears from Acts, vi. 1,
that these Jews retained the distinctive
name of Hellenists after their conversion
to Christianity, and that there continued
to subsist some jealousy between them
and the native Christiana.

HEL'MET, defensive armor for the
head : a word of Scandinavian derivation.
The armor of the ancients, which partic-
ularly guarded the head, was known by
the general denominations of head-piece,
casque, and helmet. Helmets were an-
ciently formed of various materials, but
chiefly of skins of beasts, brass, and iron.
An open helmet covers only the head,
ears, and neck, leaving the face unguard-
ed. Some open helmets have a bar or
bars from the forehead to the chin, to
guard against the transverse cut of a
broad-sword ; but it affords little defence
against the point of a lance or sword. A
close helmet entirely covers the head,
face, and neck ; having on the front per-
forations for the admission of air, and
slits through which the wearer may see
the objects around him ; this part, which
is style.'l the visor, (from the French word
riser, to take aim,) lifts up by means of a
pivot over each ear. Some helmets have a
bever, (from buveur, drinker, or from the
Italian bevere, to drink,) which, when
closed, covers the mouth and chin, and
either lifts up by revolving on the same

pivots as the visor, or lets down by means
of two or more pivots on each side near
the jaws. The use of the bever was to
enable the wearer to eat and drink more
commodiously than could be done in a
helmet with a visor only. The helmets
of the Greeks and Ilomans were mostly

open, not unlike skull-caps, as formerly
worn by modern dragoons. Montfaucon
says he never saw an ancient helmet with
a visor to raise or let down, although be
is of opinion that they had those contri-
vances. It seems as if the Romans, at
least those of which Pompey's army was
composed at Pharsalia, had open hel-
mets, as Caesar directed his soldiers to
strike them in the face, which order, had
their faces been covered, he would not
have given.

HE'LOTS, in ancient history, the
slaves of the Spartans, who consisted
originally of the Achaean inhabitants of
Laconia, who were subdued by force of
arms by the Dorian invaders. The name
was derived from Helos, a town of Laco-
nia, of which the inhabitants were thus
reduced to servitude ; but to this class
were afterwards added the Messenians,
who still clung to their native, soil after
its subjugation by the Spartans. They
were employed either as domestic slaves,
cultivators of the land, or in the public
works ; and though they do not appear
to have been treated ordinarily with
much severity, yet the recollection of
their former state urged them frequently
to revolt, while their numbers rendered
them so formidable to their masters as to
drive the latter to schemes of the most
abominable treachery for their repres-
sion.

HELVET'IC, an epithet designating
what pertains to the Hefaetii, the ancient
inhabitants of Switzerland, or to the
modern states and inhabitants of the Al-
pine regions ; as the Helvetic confede-
racy, <fec.

HEM'I, a Greek word used in the com-
position of several terms borrowed from
that language. It signifies half, the same
as semi, and demi: thus, hemiplegia is a
palsy of one half of the body ; hemistich,
half a verse : hemicytfe, a semi-circle.

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291

HEM'ISTICH, in poetry, denotes half
a verse, or a verse not completed. In
reading common English verse, a short
pause is required at the end of each
hemistich.

HENDECASYL'LABLES, in poetical
composition, a verse of eleven syllables.
Among the ancients it was particularly
used by Catullus, and is well adapted for
elegant trifles.

HEP'TACHORD, in ancient poetry,
verses sung or played on seven chords or
different notes ; in which sense the word
was applied to the lyre when it had but
seven strings.

HEP'TARCHY, a government exer-
cised by seven persons ; or, a nation di-
vided into seven governments. Saxon
heptarchy, the seven kingdoms existing
in England, between the fifth and ninth
centuries. These kingdoms were sever-
ally named, I.Kent ; 2. Sussex ; 3. Wes-
sex ; 4. Essex ; 5. Northumberland ; 6.
East Angleland; 7. Mercia. The hep-
tarchy was formed by degrees ; but it
may be said to have commenced in 449,
when Hengist arrived on the island. In
827 Egbert was enabled, by a combina-
tion of circumstances, to assume the title
of King of England ; but, in reality,
three of the kingdoms, Northumberland,
East Angleland, and Mercia, were still
governed by their own kings, though
those kings were his vassals and tributa-
ries. The kingdoms he actually govern-
ed were Kent, Sussex, Wessex, and Essex.

HERACLI'D^E, the return of the He-
raclidaa into Peloponnesus, in chronolo-
gy, constituted the beginning of profane
history ; all the time preceding that
period being accounted fabulous. This
return happened in the year of the world
2682, a hundred years after th%y were
expelled, and eighty after the destruction
of Troy.

HER' ALD, the title of an officer in Eng-
land whose duty it anciently was to declare
war, to challenge in battle and combat, to
proclaim peace, and to execute martial
messages; but who is, at present, to conduct
royal processions, the creations of nobility,
and the ceremonies of knighthood ; to
publish declarations of war, not to the
enemy, but at home ; to proclaim peace ;
to record and blazon armorial bearings ;
and to regulate abuses in arms, under the
authority of the earl -marshal, by whom
he is created. The heralds were formed
into a college by Richard the Third. The
three chief heralds are called kings at
arms, the principal of which is Garter;
the next is called Clarencieux, and the

third Norroy ; these two last are called
provincial heralds. Besides these there
are six other inferior heralds, viz., York,
Lancaster, Somerset, Richmond, Chester,
and Windsor ; to which, on the accession
of king George I. to the crown, a new
herald was added, styled Hanover her-
ald ; and another styled Gloucester king
at arms. Heralds, amongst the ancient
Greeks and Romans, were held in great
estimation, and looked upon as sacred.
Those of Greece carried in their hands a
rod of laurel, round which two serpents,
without crests, were twisted as emblems
of peace.

HER'ALDRY, is the art, practice, or
science of recording genealogies, and bla-
zoning arms or ensigns armorial ; or it is
the science of conventional distinctions
impressed on shields, banners, and other
military accoutrements. It also teaches
whatever relates to the marshalling of
cavalcades, processions, and other public
ceremonies. Heraldry has been divided
into personal and national. The first of
these divisions treats of bearings belong-
ing to individuals, either in their own or
in hereditary right. The second treats
of distinctive emblems adopted by civil
communities.

HERBA'RIA, collections of dried
plants, such as the old botanists called
horti sicci, or dry gardens. They are
formed by gluing to sheets of paper
branches and other parts of plants pressed
flat, and dried in the sun or otherwise.
If well prepared, they are as useful to
the botanist as plants alive ; but it is ne-
cessary to have some practical skill to be
able to employ them advantageously.
The largest public herbaria are those of
the Museum at Paris ; the Imperial col-
lection of Vienna ; the Royal of Berlin ;
and that of the British Museum, formerly
Sir Joseph Bank's. Nothing certain is
known of the extent of these collections,
but they probably contain, in some cases,
as many as 60,000 species. The herbari-
um is an unattractive part of public mu-
seums ; but a very important one for nu-
merous purposes of science, both practical
and speculative.

HERCULA'NEUM. an ancient city of
Naples, overwhelmed by an eruption of
Mount Vesuvius in the reign of Titus ; it
was discovered in the year 1689, since
which time many manuscripts, paintings,
statues, and other relics of antiquity,
have been discovered. From the excava-
tions that have been made from time to
time, the ancient streets and buildings
have been, as it were, again thrown open,

292

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

HER

nnd the domestic affairs of the ancients
revealed to the eyes of modern archaeolo-
gists. Since 1828 new excavations have
taken place, and a splendid private house
has been discovered, with a suite of cham-
bers, and a court in the centre. There is
a separate part of the mansion allotted
to females, a garden surrounded by ar-
cades and columns, and also a grand sa-
loon, which probably served for the meet-
ing of the whole family. Another house,
also discovered, was very remarkable,
from the quantity and nature of the pro-
visions in it, none of which had been dis-
turbed for eighteen centuries, for the
doors remained fastened, in the same state
as they were at the period of the catas-
trophe which buried Herculaneum. The
family which occupied this mansion was,
in all likelihood, when the disaster took
place, laying in provisions for the winter.
The provisions found in the store-rooms
consist of dates, chestnuts, large walnuts,
dried figs, almonds, prunes, corn, oil,
pease, lentils, pies, and hams. The in-
ternal arrangement of the house, the man-
ner in which it was ornamented, all, in
fact, announced that it had belonged to a
very rich family and to admirers of the
Arts ; for there were discovered many pic-
tures, representing Polyphemus and Ga-
latea; Hercules and the three Uesperides,
Cupid and a Bacchante, Mercury and
lo, Perseus killing Medusa, and others.
There were also in the same house, vases,
articles in glass, bronze and terra cotta,
as well as medallions in silver, represent-
ing in relief Apollo and Diana.

HERCU'LEAN, an epithet expressive
of the great labor necessary to execute
any task ; such as it would require the
strength or courage of Hercules to en-
counter or accomplish.

HER'CULES, in mythology, one of the
most celebrated personages of antiquity,
believed to be the son of Jupiter and
Alcmsena, the daughter of Electryon, king
of Mycenae. The history and wonderful
exploits of this hero are so well known,
that it vvould be superfluous to dwell up-
on them here. There is, perhaps, no sub-
jeft connected with antiquity to the right
comprehension of which such formidable
difficulties are presented ; and hence the
numerous attempts that have been made
to separate truth from fiction in the his-
tory of Hercules, by divesting it of the
mythological traditions with which it had
been encumbered by all the writers of
antiquity. In some shape or another, all
the profane nations of antiquity seem to
have possessed a divinity to whom they

attributed an extraordinary degree of
bodily strength, combined with indomita-
ble perseverance and moral energy in pros-
ecuting and overcoming difficult achieve-
ments. The reader will at once recog-
nize, as belonging to this class, the Baal
of the Syrians, the Melkarth of Phoenicia,
and the Kama of Hindostan; who, like
the Grecian Hercules, outstripping in
bodily and intellectual endowments the
great mass of the people of the rude era
in which they lived, achieved a multi-
plicity of deeds which were looked upon
as altogether miraculous, and which pro-
cured for their authors empire and do-
minion during their lives, and after death
a place among the gods.

HEREDIT'AMENTS, in law, lands,
tenements, and whatever immovable
things a person may have to himself and
his heirs, by way of inheritance ; and
which, if not otherwise bequeathed, de-
scend to him who is next heir, and not to
the executor, as chattels do.

HERED'ITARY, an appellation given
to whatever belongs to a family by right
of succession, from heir to heir. Some
monarchies are hereditary, and others
elective ; and some hereditary monarchies
descend only to the heirs male, as in
France ; but others, to the next of blood,
as in Spain, England, Ac. Hereditary
is also applied to offices and posts of honor
annexed to certain families ; thus in
England the office of earl-marshal is he-
reditary in the family of Howard. It is
also figuratively applied to good or ill
qualities, supposed to be transmitted from
a parent to a child ; as, hereditary bra-
very, hereditary pride.

HER'ESY. a fundamental error in re-
ligion, or an error of opinion respecting
some ftindamental doctrine of religion.
But in countries where there is an estab-
lished church, an opinion is deemed her-
esy, when it differs from that of the
church. The Scriptures being the stand-
ard of faith, any opinion that is repugnant
to its doctrines, is heresy; but as men
differ in the interpretation of Scripture,
an opinion deemed heretical by one body
of Christians, may be deemed orthodox
by another. In Scripture and primitive
usage, heresy meant merely sect, party,
or the doctrines of a sect, as we now use
denomination or persuasion, implying
no reproach.

HER'ETOCH, among the ancient Sax-
ons, signified the leader or commander
of an army, or the commander of the
militia in a country or district.

HER'IOT, in law, the fine paid to the

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293

lord of the manor, by copyholders, on the
death of the tenant.

HER'ISSON, in fortification, a beam
or bar armed with iron spikes pointing
outwards, and turning on a pivot; used
to block up a passage.

HERMENEU'TICS, the art of finding
the meaning of an author's words and
phrases, and of explaining it to others.
The word is seldom used except in refer-
ence to theological subjects.

HERMETIC ART, the imaginary art
or science of alchemy ; so termed from
Hermes Trismegistus, a personage of
questionable reality, looked up to by the
alchemists as the founder of the art.
Some spurious works bearing his name
are still extant.

HER'MITS, or ER'EMITES, persons
who, in the early ages of Christianity,
secluded themselves from the world for
devotional purposes, betaking themselves
to solitary and desert places (Ipriiiis,)
whence their name. In the first five cen-
turies of our era this class of persons was
extremely numerous ; nor have individ-
uals been wanting in latter ages who
have undergone the same privations with
the same mistaken views, and have ac-
quired great reputation for sanctity in
consequence.

HE RO, in pagan mythology, an illus-
trious mortal, but supposed by the popu-
lace to partake of immortality, and after
his death to be placed among the gods.
Hero is also used in a more extensive
sense for a great, illustrious, and extra-
ordinary personage ; particularly one
eminent for valor, courage, intrepidity,
and other military virtues. Hero, in a
poem or romance, is the principal per-
sonage, or the one who has the principal
share in the actions related ; as Achilles
in the Iliad, Ulysses in the Odyssey, &c.
Heroic verse, hexameter verse, so
called because it is used by poets in their
heroic poems. Heroic (tge, that age or
period of the world wherein the heroes,
or demigods, are supposed to have lived.
The heroic age coincides with the fabu-
lous age.

HERRN'HUT, an establishment in
Upper Lusatia, comprising, it is said, at
present 120 houses, and 1500 inhabitants,
which was founded by a few Moravians
about the year 1722, under the patronage
of Count Zinzendorf. The principles of
the society thus formed are seclusion
from the world, the enjoyment of a con-
templative life, and the possession of all
goods in common. Its members are
bound together, under the title of Mora-

vian Brethren, by strict laws and observ-
ances. Accusations have been thrown
out against them of their indulging, in
their retirement, in many licentious
practices ; but it is certain that their in-
dustry supplies many of the markets of
Germany with various useful and orna-
mental articles of handiwork ; that their
zeal has prompted them to establish affi-
liated societies in many parts of Europe
and America ; and that in religious mat-
ters they are neither extravagant them-
selves, nor intolerant of others.

HER'TII A, (sometimes written Aertha,
Aortha, and Eorthe.) In German my-
thology, the name generally assigned in
modern times to the chief divinity of the
ancient German and Scandinavian na-
tions. She was worshipped under a va-
riety of names, of which the chief were
exactly analogous to those of Terra, Rhea,
Cybele, and Ops, among the Greeks and
Romans. Long before the Christian era
the knowledge of Hertha appeared to
have been extended over a great portion
of northern Europe. Tacitus speaks of
the wonderful unanimity which tribes
that had no other feature in common dis-
played in worshipping this goddess, whom
he designates Herthus, or Mother Earth.
Her chief sanctuary was situated, accord-
ing to the same authority, in a sacred
grove in an island of the ocean, in insula
oceani, which, by some writers, has been
supposed to be Riga, and by others Zet-
land or Heligoland ; but no modern re-
searches have been able accurately to fix
its locality.

HESPER'IDES, in Greek mythology,
the daughters of Night, or the grand-
daughters of Hesperus the brother of At-
las, three or seven in number, possessors
of the fabulous garden of golden fruit
watched over by an enchanted dragon at
the western extremities of the earth.
Such at least is the most ordinary form
of the fable, but it is very variously rep-
resented.

HET'EROCLITE. in grammar, a word
which is irregular or anomalous, either
in declension or conjugation, or which
deviates from the ordinary forms of in-
flection in words of a like kind.

HEX'ACHORD, in music, a progres-
sion of six notes, to which Guido attached
the syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la. The
hexachord is also called a sixth ; and is
twofold, greater and less. The former is
composed of two greater, two less tones,
and one greater semitone, making five
intervals ; the latter of two greater tones,
one lesser and two greater semitones.

294

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[HIO

HEXAM'ETER, in ancient poetry, a
verse consisting of six feet, the first four
of which may be either dactyls or spon-
dees, the fifth must regularly be a dactyl,
and the sixth always a spondee. Hex-
ameter verse was employed on almost
every topic to which poetry can be ap-
plied. In modern times several poets of
France, England, and Germany have at-
tempted to introduce this measure into
the language of their respective coun-
tries. The few specimens wo have seen
of it in French appeared to us wholly un-
successful. The little countenance given
to the attempts made by Dr. Southey
and others to introduce it into English
literature, is conclusive, we think, against
its ever being generally adopted in that
country ; but, on the other hand, it has
been cultivated in Germany with great
success, as the Hermann and Dorothea
of Goethe, and many other examples that
might be cited, abundantly prove. One
of the most successful specimens of mod-
ern hexameter is the admirable poem of
Evangeline, by our countryman, Long-
fellow.

HEX'APLE, the combination of six
versions of the Old Testament by Origen,
is so called : viz., the Septuagint, Aquila,
Theodotian, Symmachus, one found at
Jericho, and another at Nicopolis.

HEX'ASTYLE, in architecture, that
species of temple or other building hav-
ing six columns in front.

JIIA'TUS, a word which has passed
into several modern languages. In dip-
lomatics and bibliography, it signifies a
deficiency in the text of an author, as
from a passage erased, worn out, &c. In
grammar and prosody, it properly signi-
fies the occurrence of a final vowel, fol-
lowed immediately by the initial vowel
of another word, without the suppression
of either by an apostrophe. This, in
Greek and Latin poetry, was only admis-
sible in certain excepted cases ; as whore,
in Greek, a final long vowel is succeeded
by an initial short vowel, and becomes
sometimes short by position : or in Latin,
where the ccesura gave an additional
force to the first vowel, as in the cele-
brated line,

"Ter aunt conatl Imponere Peli6 Ossam. 1 '

which affords an instance of both, the
first hiatus being occasioned by the caes-
ura; the second, an imitation of the
Greek prosody. In French the hiatus is
carefully avoided : in English less so,
although by the more accurate poets still
regarded as a blemish, except in some

instances where a long vowel is followed
by a short one. The worst species of
hiatus is where the same vowel sound
is repeated.

HIERARCHY, a term literally signi-
fying holy government, and applied some-
times to the supposed polity, or social
constitution, among angels. Also, eccle-
siastical government, or the subordina-
tion of rank among the different orders
of clergy.

HIEROGLYPHICS, in antiquity,
mystical characters or symbols used in
writings and inscriptions, particularly by
the Egyptians, as signs of sacred, divine,
or supernatural things. The hieroglyph-
ics were figures of animals, parts of the
human body, &c., containing a meaning
which was intelligible only to the priests,
and those who were initiated in their
mysteries. In a general sense, a hiero-
glyphic is any symbol or figure which
may serve to represent an object and
convey a meaning.

HIEROGRAM'MATISTS, in anti-
quity, priests amongst the Egyptians who
presided over learning and religion. Their
duty was to take care of the hieroglyph-
ics, and expound religious mysteries and
opinions. They were also skilled in div-
ination, and were honored with many
exemptions from civil duties and taxes.

HIEROM'ANCY, in Grecian antiquiiy,
a species of divination, which predicted
future events by observing the appear-
ances of the various things offered in sac-

IIIEROM'NEMON, in ancient Greece,
a magistrate who presided over the sa-
cred rites and solemnities.

HIERON'ICES, in antiquity, a con-
queror at the Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian,
and Nemean games.

HIEROPHAN'TES, in Grecian anti-
quity, the priests and priestesses who
were appointed by the state to have the
supervisal of sacred rites, and to take
care of the sacrifices.

HIEROPH'YLAX, an officer in the
Greek church, who was guardian or keeper
of the holy utensils, vestments, &c., an-
swering to our sacristan or vestry-keeper.

HIGH'NESS, a title of honor given to
princes. The kings of England before
James I. were not saluted with the title
of " majesty," but that of highness only.
At present the children of crowned heads
are generally styled royal highness.
Those of the emperors of Austria and
Russia are styled imperial highness.

HIGH-PRIEST, the head of the Jew-
, ish priesthood. Moses conferred this dig-

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

nity upon his orotner, in whose family it
descended without interruption. After
the subjugation of the Jews by the Seleu-
cidse, the Ptolemies, and the Romans, it
was often arbitrarily conferred by the
foreign masters. The importance of this
officer is indicated by the splendor and
costliness of his garment, which was
among yie most beautiful works of an-
cient art.

HIL A'RIA, in antiquity, a festival cel-
ebrated by the Romans on the 8th of the
calends of April, in honor of the god Pan.

HINDOOS', the primitive inhabitants
of the Bast Indies ; a people distinguish-
ed for their humanity, gentleness, indus-
try, and knowledge of the polite arts,
at a time when most of their Asiatic
neighbors were yet only in the first stages
of civilization, when the Greeks lay in
obscurity, and the nations of Europe
were in a state of barbarism. They have
preserved their national character from
the most distant ages, even under the do-
minion of foreigners, and have retained
to the present day their language, their
written characters, their government,
religion, manners, customs, and habits
of life. They possess great natural tal-
ents, but are at present deprived of op-
portunities for their development, though
they are still largely engaged in manu-
factures and commerce. In earlier times,
before they were oppressed by a foreign
yoke, they had reached a higher degree
of civilization, and their country has been
considered as the cradle of the arts and
sciences. They are divided into four dis-
tinct classes, or castes, which, to the great
disadvantage of cultivation, are essen-
tially and perpetually separate from each
other, so that no transition from one to
another is possible. But the most extra-
ordinary custom of the Hindoos is the
burning of widows at the funeral of their
husbands.

HIPPOCEN'TAUR, in ancient fable, a
supposed monster, half man and half horse.
The hippocentaur differed from the cen-
taur in this, that the latter rode on an
ox, and the former on a horse, as the
name imports.

HIP POCRENE, a celebrated fountain
at the foot of Mount Helicon, supposed to
have been produced by the horse Pegasus
having struck his foot against the moun-
tain. It was regarded in antiquity with
peculiar veneration, as it was believed to
be a favorite haunt of the Muses, and was
consequently looked upon as one of the
chief sources whence the poets drew their
inspiration.

HIP'PODROME, in antiquity, a course
for chariot and horse races. There are in
England some vestiges of similar courses,
the most remarkable of which is that near
Stonehenge. This hippodrome occupies a
tract of ground extending about two hun-
dred druidical cubits, or three hundred
and fifty feet, in breadth, and six thou-
sand druidical cubits, or more than a mile
and three quarters, in length. It runs
directly east and west, and is completely
inclosed with a bank of earth. The goal
and career are at the east end. The goal
is a high bank of earth, raised with a
slope inwards, on which the judges are
supposed to have sat. There is one about
half a mile to the southward of Leicester ;
another near Dorchester ; and a third on
the banks of the Lowther, near Penrith
in Cumberland. But these must have
been humble imitations indeed of the
splendid structures erected in ancient
times, as may be seen in the description
of the one at Olympias, as given by Pau-
sanias, or of that which was finished by
Constantine, and which still fills the trav-
eller who visits the Turkish capital with
astonishment. It is surrounded by two
ranges of columns, extending farther than
the eye can reach, raised one above the
other, and resting on a broad foundation,
and is adorned by an immense quantity
of statues, in marble, porphyry, and

HISTOR ICAL PAINTING, in paint-
ing, that department of the art which
comprehends all representations whereof
history furnishes the subject. But under
this head are generally included subjects
from fabulous history, and those founded
on allegory.

HISTORIOGRAPHER, a professed
historian, or writer of histories. It has
been a common, although not uniform
practice in European courts, to confer the
place of public historiographer on some
learned man as a mark of royal favor.
Voltaire had at one period the title of
Royal Historiographer of Pra.nce.

HIS'TORY, an account of facts, particu-
larly of facts respecting nations or states ;
a narration of events in the order in which
they happened, with their causes and ef-
fects. History differs from annals. An-
nals relate simply the facts and events of
each year, in strict chronological order,
without any observations of the annalist.
History regards less strictly the arrange-
ment of events under each year, and ad-
mits the observations of the writer. This
distinction, however, is not always re-
garded with strictness. History is of dif-

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

HOL

ferent kinds, or treats of different sub-
jects ; as, a history of government, or po-
litical history ; history of the Christian
church, or ecclesiastical history ; history
of the affairs of nations, empires, king-
doms, and states, their rise, progress, and
decline, or civil history ; history of relig-
ion as contained in the bible, or sacred his-
tory. Profane history is another name
for civil history, as distinguished from sa-
cred history ; history of war and con-
quests, or military history ; history of
law ; history of commerce ; history of the
crusades ; history of literature, history of
science, Ac. In these and similar exam-
ples, history is written narrative or rela-
tion. The divisions of history in relation
to periods of time have been reckoned
three. 1. Ancient history, which includes
the Jewish history, and that of the na-
tions of antiquity, and reaches down to
the destruction of the Roman empire,
A.D. 476. 2. History of the middle ages,
which begins with 476, and comes down
to the discovery of America in 1492, or
to the reformation. 3. Modern history,
from either of these e'ras to our own times.
Classical history, properly so called, i?
the history of the national affairs and
conquests of the Greeks and Romans.
The uses of history are as varied as they
are important. To become acquainted
with the characters of men, the marks,
sources, and effects of their passions and
prejudices, the power and changes of their
customs, and the like, is an essential and
necessary step to prudence ; and all this
knowledge is considerably improved by
history, which teaches us to make other
men's experience our own, to profit by it,
and to learn wisdom from their misfor-
tunes. Persons who read history merely
for amusement, or, having in view some
particular branch of learning, attend only
to certain branches of history, are not
confined to that order and connection
which is absolutely requisite for obtain-
ing a proper knowledge of history ; the
most regular, as well as successful way
of studying which, is to begin with an
epitome of universal history, and after-
wards apply to the history of particular
nations and commonwealths ; for the
study of particular histories is only ex-
tending the knowledge of particular parts
of universal history. Unless this be our
plan, we shall only fill the memory with
some events ; which may be done" with-
out applying to history, or pretending to
the knowledge of it.

HISTRION'IC ART, that of acting in
dramatic representation. Histrio, in an-

cient Rome, signified an actor or come-
dian ; but more especially a pantomimist,
whose talents were exerted in gesticula-
tions and dancing.

HOCK'DAY, or HOKE'DAY, a day
of feasting and mirth, formerly held in
England the second Tuesday after Eas-
ter, to commemorate the destruction of
the Danes in the time of Ethelred.

HO'LINESS, a title of quality given
to the pope, who is styled, "your holi-
ness," or, "holy father:" in Latin, sanc-
tissime, or beatissime pater.

HOL'OCAUST, a burnt offering or sac-
rifice, wholly consumed by fire : of this
kind was the daily sacrifice in the Jewish
church. This was done by way of ac-
knowledgment, that the person offering,
and all that belonged to him, were the
effects of the divine bounty. The pagan
nations, who also offered holocausts, prob-
ably considered them in the same light.

HOL'OGRAPH. a deed or testament
wholly written by the hand of the testa-

HO'LY ALLI'ANCE, THE, a league
formed between certain of the principal
sovereigns of Europe, after the defeat of
Napoleon at Waterloo; on the proposal,
it is said, of the Emperor Alexander.
It arose from the religious enthusiasm
which was prevalent at that period of
deliverance from French domination,
and with which the Russian emperor was
just then considerably imbued. The act
of this alliance is said to have been sent
in his handwriting to the emperor of
Austria and king of Prussia, and signed
by them. It is not .supposed that the
original terms of the league were other
than indefinite ; for the maintenance of
justice, religion, &c., in the name of the
Gospel. But it was subsequently con-
nected with the determination of those
monarchs to support, in conjunction with
England and France, existing govern-
ments throughout Europe, by the Decla-
ration of November, 1819 : afterwards
the congresses of Troppau, Laybach, and
Verona established the character of the
alliance ; to which the war of France
against Spain, in 1823, gave additional
illustration. Since the secession of Eng-
land and France, the alliance can scarcely
be said to have any active existence.

HO'LY ROOD, or HOLY CROSS, a
festival kept on the 14th of September,
to commemorate the exaltation of the
Holy Cross. It is from this circumstance
that the royal palace in Edinburgh has
derived its appellation.

HO'LY THURSDAY, or ASCENSION

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

297

DAY, in the Romish calendar, the 39th
day after Easter Sunday. A festival in
commemoration of Christ's ascension.

HO'LY-WATEK, in the Roman Cath-
olic and Greek churches, water which has
heen consecrated by prayers, exorcisms,
and other ceremonies, to sprinkle the
faithful and things used for the church.
It is contained in a particular kind of
vases, at the doors of churches, and also
within them at certain places, from which
the Catholics sprinkle themselves before
prayer. The Protestants renounce the
use of holy-wa.ter probably from a fear
that it would be considered, like amulets
or relics, as something efficacious in it-
self, without the repentance commanded
by the church.

HO'LY-WEEK, the week before Eas-
ter, in which the passion of our Saviour is
commemorated.

JttO'M^lOMERI'A, the name given to
the physical theory of Anaxagoras, a
Grecian philosopher of Clazoinenae, who
flourished in the fifth century B.C. Ac-
cording to this hypothesis, every material
substance is made up of infinitely small
parts similar to itself. Hence the growth
and nourishment of animals and vegeta-
bles was accounted for, by supposing the
alimentary substance to be analyzed into
its various component parts correspond-
ing to the parts of the substance nourish-
ed. For instance, corn was supposed to
contain particles of blood, bone, flesh,
skin, <fcc., which by the process of diges-
tion were separated from each other, and
added to the corresponding parts of the
animal body. This theory bears some
resemblance to that of the monads of
Leibnitz in modern times.

HOM'AGE, in law, the oath of submis-
sion and loyalty, which the tenant, under
the feudal system, used to take to his lord
when first admitted to his land.

HOMER'IC, pertaining to Homer, the
great poet of Greece, or to his poetry.

HOM'ICIDE, in law, the killing of one
human being by another. It is of three
kinds, justifiable, excusable, or felonious ;
justifiable, when it proceeds from una-
voidable necessity, without an intention
to kill, and without negligence ; excusa-
ble, when it happens from misadventure,
or in self-defence ; felonious, when it pro-
ceeds from malice, or is done in the pros-
ecution of some unlawful act, or in a sud-
den passion. Homicide committed with
premeditated malice, is murder. Sui-
cide also, or self-murder, is felonious
homicide. The lines of distinction be-
tween felonious and excusable or justifia-

ble homicide, and between manslaughter
and murder, are, in many cases, difficult
to define with precision. But, in general,
the accused has the advantage of any un-
certainty or obscurity that may hang over
his case, since the presumptions of law
are usually in his favor.

HOM'ILY, a sermon or discourse upon
some point of religion, delivered in a
plain manner, so as to be easily under-
stood by the common people. In the
primitive church, homily rather meant a
conference or conversation by way of ques-
tion and answer, which made part of the
office of a bishop, till the fifth century,
when the learned priests were allowed to
preach, catechize, &c., in the same man-
ner as the bishops used to do. There are
still extant several fine homilies, com-
posed by the ancient fathers. Homiletic
or pastoral theology, a branch of practical
theology, which teaches the manner in
which ministers of the gospel should adapt
their discourses to the capacities of their
hearers, and pursue the best methods of
instructing them by their doctrines and
examples.

HOMCEOP'ATHY, a mode of treating
diseases, which consists in the adminis-
tration of a medicine which is capable of
exciting in healthy persons symptoms
closely similar to those of the disease
which it is desired to cure.

HOMOGE'NEOUS, or HOMOGE'NE-
AL, an appellation given to things, the
elements of which are of similar na-
ture and properties. Homogeneous light,
that whereof the rays are all of one color
and degree of refrangibility, without any
mixture of others.

HOMO'NYMS, words which agree in
sound, but differ in signification ; as the
substantive " bear" and the verb " bear."

HOMOOU'SIANS, and HOMOIOU'-
SIANS, names by which the Orthodox
and Arian parties were distinguished in
the great controversy upon the nature of
Christ in the fourth century ; the former
word signifying that the nature of the
Father and Son is the same, the latter
that they are similar. Homoousian (Gr.
o/joouo-toj) ig derived from b/ios, the same,
and Avffia, being ; Homoiousian (bpoiovaios}
from bpntns, similar, and oviria.

HOMOPHO'NOUS, in music, of the
same pitch, or unisonal. Two or more
sounds are said to be homophonous when
they are exactly of the same pitch.

HOMOPH'ONY. homophonous words
or syllables, in language, are words or
syllables having the same sound, although
expressed in writing by various coinbina-

298

CYCLOPEDIA. OF LITERATURE

[if ON

tions of letters. Languages which abound
in horaophonies are, 1. Some Oriental
monosyllabic tongues, namely, the Chi-
nese and its kindred dialects, in which
very few sounds comprise the whole vo-
cabulary, and the same sound is expressed
by a variety of ideographic characters, (in
Chinese there are only 400 such sounds,
multiplied by the distinctions of tone and
accent to 1600 or 2000;) and, 2. Some
European tongues in which, according to
the genius of the dialect, the syllables of
the original languages from which the
words are chiefly derived have been con-
tracted in speaking, and part of their
sounds dropped, while the greater part of
the letters is retained. Thus in English,
and still more in French, which is pecu-
liarly a dialect of Latin abounding in con-
tractions, homophonies are numerous, (in
the latter tongue the number of syllables
differently spelt, all having nearly the
sound of our broad A, amounts to more
than a hundred ;) while in Italian, in
which the original proportions of the Ro-
man language are preserved, they are
scarcely to be found at all.

1IONG, the Chinese name for the for-
eign factories situated at Canton. The
hong merchants are those persons who are
alone legally permitted to trade with for-
eigners. They are ten in number, and
are always held responsible by the gov-
ernment for paying all duties, whether on
imports or exports in foreign vessels. No
foreign ship that enters the Chinese ports
can commence unloading until she has
obtained a hong merchant as security for
the duties.

HON'OR, a testimony of esteem or
submission, expressed by words, actions,
and an exterior behavior by which we
make known the veneration and respect
we entertain for any one, on account of
his dignity or merit. The word honor is
also used in general for the esteem due
to virtue, glory, and reputation. It
moreover means, that dignified respect
for character, which springs from princi-
ple or moral rectitude, and which is a
distinguishing trait in the character of
good men. It is also used for virtue and
probity themselves, and for an exactness
in performing whatever we have promis-
ed: and in this last sense we use the
term, a man of honor. But honor is more
particularly applied to two different kinds
of virtue, bravery in men, and chastity i
in women. Virtue and honor were deified
among the Greeks and Romans, and had
a joint temple consecrated to them at !
Rome ; but afterwards they had separate j

temples, which were so placed, that no
one could enter the temple of Honor,
without passing through that of Virtue ;
by which the Romans were continually
put in mind, that virtue is the only direct
path to true glory. The first temple to
honor was erected by Scipio Africanus,
and another afterwards was built by
Claudius Marcellus. AVe find a personi-
fication of this quality on several medals
of Galba and of Vitellius. She is repre-
sented half naked, holding in one hand a
spear, and in the other a cornucopia :
upon others, a long robe envelops the
figure, and the spear is exchanged for an
olive branch. Honor, in law, a superior
seignory, to which other lordships and
manors owe suit and service, and which,
itself, holds of the king only Honors of
IJE IT, honorable terms granted to a van-
quished enemy, when he is permitted to
march out of a town with all the insignia
of military honors. Laws of honor,
among persons of fashion, signify certain
rules by which their social intercourse is
regulated, and which are founded on a
regard to reputation. These laws re-
quire a punctilious attention to decorum
in external deportment, but often lead to
the most flagrant violations of moral
duty. Court of honor, an ancient court
of civil and criminal jurisdiction, having
power to redress injuries of honor, and to
hold pleas respecting matters of arms and
deeds of war. Maids of honor, ladies in
the service o^European queens, whose
business it is to attend the queen when
she appears in public. In England, they
are six in number, with a salary of .300
each.

HON'ORABLE, a title prefixed to the
Christian names of the younger sons of
earls, and to those of all the children,
both sons and daughters, of viscounts and
barons. It is also conferred on persons
filling certain offices of trust and dignity,
such as the maids of honor of the queen
and queen dowager ; and collectively on
certain public bodies or institutions, as
the House of Commons, the Congress of
the United States, the East India Com-
pany, &c., &c. The title of right honor-
able is given to all peers and peeresses
of the United Kingdom ; to the eldest
sons and all the daughters of peers above
the rank of viscount ; to all privy coun-
sellors ; and to some civic functionaries,
as the lord mayors of London and Dub-
lin, the lord provosts of Edinburgh and
Glasgow, <tc.

IIONORA'RIUM, a term used almost,
synonymously with fee, and applied at

HOR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

299

present chiefly to the fees tendered to
professors in universities, and to medical
or other professional gentlemen for their
services. It was originally applied solely
to the salaries of the great officers of state,
whose services it was considered, by a
perhaps pardonable euphemism, were re-
numerated only, as itwere, honoris causa ;
a shade of meaning which is still percep-
tible in the present use of the term.

HON'ORS. Greece, in the heroic times,
rendered to all her great generals and
captains some liberal reward as a proof
of the public approbation and respect.
This was sometimes offered in the shape
of g. ','ase of gold, or of a silver tripod, or
som<i other valuable article either of util-
ity or of mere ornament. Similar re-
wards were conceded to the victorious
Roman leader in the shape of a triumph
or ovation. Nor was it to military merit
alone that the ancients decreed honors :
the Fine Arts were made objects of national
regard and encouragement. Philosophy,
eloquence, painting, poetry, music, sculp-
ture, architecture, were each enabled to
aspire to the highest distinctions. The
Lacedaemonians, even although their edu-
cation was decidedly warlike, erected
statues to the poet Tyrtaeus. At the cel-
ebrated public games in Sparta, prizes
were distributed to the most successful
amongst the poets and musicians. Athens
erected statues to Solon, to Socrates, and
an infinity of others. To Homer temples
were raised ; and various poets and art-
ists received crowns, prerogatives, and
often the rights of citizenship. The Athe-
nians inscribed upon the front of their
temples the names of the able architects
who had designed them. The town of
Pergamus purchased with the public
funds a palace for the reception of the
works of Apelles. The Eleans, for whom
Phidias executed the statue of Jupiter
Olympus, in honor for the memory of
the artist, and in respect for the surpass-
.ing beauty of his work, erected, in favor
of his descendants, a lucrative office, of
which the only duty consisted in taking
care of, and keeping free from blemish,
that celebrated piece of art. In the times
of the republic, by the Romans, amongst
whom the use of arms constituted the
chief, nay, almost the only species of
merit, few testimonies of esteem were
awarded to the practisers of the Fine Arts.
They aflixed no honorable distinctions to
the successful architect, painter, or sculp-
tor, inasmuch as these peaceful avoca-
tions were, for the most part, cultivated
either by slaves or freeJmen. It was not

until the reign of Augustus Cnosar that
the Arts were duly honored. On the re-
vival of intellectual energy, after the
darkness of the middle ages, the Arts were
liberally encouraged. Michael Angelo
was high in favor with the fierce Julius
II. Raphael was greatly beloved by
Leo X. ; and the emperor Maximilian
became the warm patron of Albert Durer,
whom he ennobled. Leonardo da Vinci
died in the arms of Francis I. Rubens
enjoyed the highest consideration, and
was entrusted with important negotia-
tions both by Philip IV. of Spain and
Charles II. of England. Even the stern
Henry VIII. was a mild and kind master
to Holbein ; and the illustrious name of
Medici will at once recall the zeal of that
princely family for the cultivation of the
Fine Arts.

HOOD, an article of dress designed to
cover the head and shoulders, and some-
times signifying, among the ancients, a
mantle, which served likewise to envelop
the whole body. In this sense we find it
alluded to, as serving to conceal from ob-
servation the persons of the Roman youth
during their nocturnal rambles. In such a
habit is usually depicted Telesphorus, the
son of Esculapius.

HO'PLITES, the heavy-armed infan-
try of Grecian antiquity. According to
the Athenian regulations (similar, prob-
ably, to those of other states), the higher
classes of citizens only, as estimated by
the census, were liable to this expensive
form of military service ; in process of
time, however, it seems that the Thetes
or inferior classes also served as hoplites.
The hoplites were armed in early times
with the spear, heavy defensive armor,
and large shield ; the latter were ex-
changed after the time of Iphicrates for
the light cuirass and target.

HORDE, a company of wandering peo-
ple, who have no settled habitation, but
stroll about, dwelling under tents, to be
ready to shift, as soon as the provisions
of the place fail them.

HORI'ZON, is the plane of a great
circle of the sphere, dividing the visible
from the invisible hemisphere. The hori-
zon is either sensible or rational. The
sensible horizon is a plane which is a
tangent to the earth's surface at the place
of the spectator, extended on all sides till
it is bounded by the sky; the rational
horizon is a plane parallel to the former,
but passing through the centre of the
earth. Both the sensible and rational
horizon are relative terms, and change
with every change of the spectator's po-

300

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

H08

sit ion on the surface of the earth ; in all
cases they are perpendicular to the direc-
tion of gravity. Artificial or painter's
horizon. In every picture the artificial
eye, or point of sight, is supposed to be
at a certain height from the base line ;
as high as a human figure would be, rep-
resented as standing there. To this point
everything in the picture tends, as every-
thing in a real view tends to the natural
eye. The picture then, as far as this j
circumstance is concerned, is perfect, if
the artificial eye and the artificial hori-
zon go together; for these always bear
the same relation to each other, wherever
the picture may be placed.

HOR'OSCOPE, a representation of the
aspect of the heavens and positions of the
celestial bodies at a particular moment,
drawn according to the rules of the ima-
ginary science of astrology. Thus the
aspect of the heavens at the moment of the
birth of an individual is his horoscope, and
supposed to indicate his future destinies.

HORSE'-POWER. the power of a
horse, or its equivalent ; the force with
which a horse acts when drawing. It is
compounded of his weight and muscular
strength, and diminishes as his speed in-
creases. The mode of ascertaining a
horse's power is to find what weight he
can raise, and to what height in a given
time, the horse being supposed to pull
horizontally. From a variety of experi-
ments of this sort, it is found that a
horse, at an average, can raise 160 pounds
weight at the velocity of 2 1-2 miles per
hour. The power of a horse exerted in
this way, is made the standard for esti-
mating the power of a steam-engine.
Thus we speak of an engine of 60 or 80
horse-power, each horse-power being es-
timated as equivalent to 33,000 pounds,
raised one foot high per minute.

HOR'TICULTDRE, the cultivation of
a garden ; or the art of cultivating gar-
dens. It includes in its most extensive
signification the cultivation of esculent
vegetables, fruits, and ornamental plants,
and the formation and management of
rural scenery, for the purposes of utility
and embellishment, but in a more re-
stricted sense, it is employed to designate
that branch of rural economy which con-
sists in the formation and culture of gar-
dens. Its results are culinary vegeta-
bles, fruits, and flowers.

nOR'TUS SICCUS, literally, a dry
garden ; an appellation given to a collec-
tion of specimens of plants, carefully dried
and preserved. The old name of her-
barium.

HOSAN'NA, was a form of supplica-
tion amongst the Hebrews, signifying,
save, J beseech you, or help hitn God!
This acclamation was so much used at the
feast of tabernacles, that the solemnity
was called Hosanna rabba. It was used
at the inauguration of kings to express
their good wishes for the prosperity of
their princes. At the feast of tabernacles
it was continually echoed, both as express-
ive of gratitude for former deliverances,
and of their joyful expectation of a future
one by the Messiah.

HO'SEA, a canonical book of the Old
Testament, and the first of the minor pro-
phets. His prophecies are chiefly direct-
ed to the ten tribes before their captivity,
threatening them with destruction in case
of disobedience, but comforting the pious
with the promise of the Messiah, and of
the nappy state of the church in the lat-
ter days.

HOS'PITAL, a place or building prop-
erly endowed, or otherwise supported by
charitable contributions, for the reception
and support of the poor, aged, infirm, sick,
or helpless. Also, a house for the recep-
tion of disabled seamen or soldiers, found-
lings, &c., who are supported by public
or private charity, as well as for pauper
lunatics, infected persons. Ac. Hospitals
for the sick and wounded, and also those
for the poor and infirm, were wholly un-
known among the ancients. In Sparta,
where all the citizens ate together, there
was no institution for the sick. In Rome,
neither under the consuls nor emperors
did they ever think of making any pro-
vision for the infirm or the poor. The
first establishment of hospitals must be
ascribed to Christians. After the estab-
lishment of Christianity, the emperors at
Constantinople built many hospitals for
poor infants, the aged, orphans, and
strangers. Piety impelled many individ-
uals to appropriate a part of their funds
to religious and charitable purposes ; and
this good example being followed, from
patriotic and benevolent motives, hospi-
tals of various kinds were founded in most
of the civilized nations of Europe.

HOS'PITALLERS, an order of relig-
ious knights, who built a hospital at Je-
rusalem for pilgrims. They are now
known by the title of knights of Malta.

HOSPI'TIUM, a term used in old
writers either for an inn or a monastery,
built for the reception of strangers and
travellers. In the more early ages of
the world, before public inns were thought
of, persons who travelled lodged in pri-
vate houses, and were obliged, if need re-

HOUJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

301

quired, to return the favor to those that
entertained them. This was the occasion
of the most intimate friendship betwixt
the parties, insomuch that they treated
one another as relations. Hence the word
hospitium, which properly signifies lodg-
ing or entertainment at the house of an-
other, is used for friendship, founded upon
the basis of hospitality.

HOS'PODAR, a title home by the
princes of Wallachia and Moldavia, who
receive the investiture of their principal-
ities from the grand seignior. He gives
them a vest and standard : they are un-
der his protection, and obliged to serve
him, and he even sometimes deposes them ;
but in other respects they are absolute
sovereigns within their own dominions.

HOST, in church history, a contraction
of hostia, a Latin word, signifying a vic-
tim, or sacrifice offered to the Deity. In
a general sense, the term is used to Jesus
Christ, as an Iwstitia offered to the Father
for the sins of ma'nkind. In the church
of Rome, the host is the consecrated wafer
used in the sacrament of the Eucharist ;
which wafer, or bread, being transubstan-
tiated, as is taught, into the real body
and blood of Christ, is in that rite offered
up a sacrifice anew. The elevation of the
host is a ceremony prevalent in all Cath-
olic countries, in which the consecrated
elements are raised aloft and carried in
procession through a church, or even
through the streets of a city. On these
occasions the people fall on their knees
and worship the host. The origin of the
custom is diited from the 12th century,
when, it is said, it was thought necessary
to make this public and conspicuous de-
claration of the Eucharist on the occasion
of the promulgation of the opinions of
Berengarius against transubstantiation.

HOS'TAGE, a person given up to an
enemy as a security for the performance
of the articles of a treaty ; on the per-
formance of which the person is to be re-
lease 1.

HOTEL', signifies, in a general sense,
a large inn for the reception of strangers ;
but in a particular sense, especially in
France, it is applied to the residences of
the king, nobility, or other persons of
rank: or it is used synonymously with
hospitals, as the Hotel Diea, Hotel des
Invalides, &c.

HOTTE, a basket of wicker-work, much
used in Franco, for carrying burthens on
the back. It is slung over the arms by
means of straps, and great weights are
thus carried with much facility.

HOTTENTOTS, natives of the south- |

ern extremity of Africa ; a race of people
whose appearance, habits, and general
ignorance, show in the most striking man-
ner to what a degraded condition man-
kind may be reduced, when wholly desti-
tute of the blessings of civilization.

HOUR, a space of time equal to one
twenty-fourth part of a day and night,
and consisting of 60 minutes, each min-
ute being 60 seconds. The ancient He-
brews did not divide their day into hours.
Their division of the day was into four
parts, morning, high day or noon, the
first evening, and the last evening ; and
their night was^livided into three parts,
night, midnight, and the morning watch.
But afterwards they adopted the manner
of the Greeks and Romans, who divided
the day, i. e., the space of time from sun
rising till sun-set, into twelve equal parts,
which consequently differed in length, at
the different seasons of the year, though
still equal to each other.

HOU'RIS, the name given by "the Eu-
ropeans to the imaginary beings whose
company in the Mohammedan paradise is
to form the principal felicity of the be-
lievers. The name is derived from hur
al oyun, signifying black-eyed. They are
represented in the Koran as most beauti-
ful virgins, with complexions like rubies
and pearls, and possessed of every intel-
lectual and corporeal charm. They are
not created of clay, as mortal women, but
of pure musk ; and are endowed with im-
mortal youth, and immunity from the
diseases and defects of ordinary beings.

HOURS, in mythology, divinities re-
garded in two points of view as the god-
desses of the seasons, and hours of the
day ; and their number is stated in dif-
ferent ways accordingly. Their duty was
to hold the gates of heaven, which they
opened to send forth the chariot of the
sun in the morning, and receive it again
in the evening. No classical poet has
described them with greater beauty than
Shelley, in a celebrated passage of his
Prometheus Unbound. These goddesses
are often depicted as forming the train
of Venus.

HOURS, CANONICAL, the seven
hours of prayer, observed, it is said, by
the Catholic church since the 5th cen-
tury; chiefly in monasteries. The num-
ber seems before that time to have va-
ried, although some peculiar seasons of
the day and night were always set apart
for this observance. They became finally
fixed at seven by the rule of St. Bene-
dict ; a number, perhaps, recommended
by the literal acceptation of the words

302

CYCLOPEDIA OP LITERATURE

of David, (Psalm cxix.,) " Seven times a
day will I praise thee." These hours
are termed, in the language of the Latin
church, matins, pritua, tertia, nona, vesp-
ers, complcta or completorium, which last
takes place at midnight. At the time
of the Reformation the canonical hours
were reduced in the Lutheran church to
two, morning and evening ; the " re-
formed" church never observed them.

HOUSE, a human habitation, or place
of abode of a family. Among the Eastern
nations, and those to the south, houses
are flat on the top, with the ascent to
the upper story by steps on the outside.
As we proceed northward, a declivity of
the roof becomes requisite to throw off
the rain and snow, which are of greater
continuance in higher latitudes. Among
the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Jews,
the houses usually enclosed a quadran-
gular area or court, open to the sky.
This part of the house was by the Romans
called the impluvium, or cavtedium, and
was provided with channels to carry off
the waters into the sewers. The word
house is a term used in various ways ;
as, in the phrase, " a religious house,"
either the buildings of a monastery, or
the community of persons inhabiting them,
may be designated. In the Middle Ages,
when a family retired to the lodge con-
nected with the mansion, or to their
country-seat, it was called " keeping
their secret house." House, among ge-
nealogists, a noble family, or an illus-
trious race, descended from the same
stock ; as the house of Austria; the house
of Hanover When speaking of a body
of men united in their legislative capa-
city, and holding their place by right or
by election, we also use the word house ;
as the House of Lords or the House of
Commons.

HOUSE'-BREAKING, in law, the
breaking open and entering of a house
by daylight, with the intent to commit a
felony. The same crime committed at
night is denominated a burglary.

HOUSE'HOLD, the whole of a family
considered collectively, including the mis-
tress, children, and servants. But the
household of a sovereign prince includes
only the officers and domestics belonging
to his palace.

HOWAD'JI, the Arabian name for
merchant or shopkeeper, and applied by
the Orientals to all travellers.

HOWITZER, a kind of mortar, mount-
ed upon a carriage like a gun. The how-
itzer is used to throw grenades, case-shot,
and sometimes fire-balls ; their principal

use, however, is in the discharge of gre-
nades.

HUE AND CRY, in law, the common
law process of pursuing a felon. The ori-
ginal signification of the phrase evidently
was, that the offender should be pursued
with a loud outcry, in order that all
might hear and be induced to join in the
pursuit.

HU'GUENOT, a French word used af-
ter the year 1560, as an appellation for a
Protestant. Its origin, and consequently
its literal meaning, has received various
explanations. Their history forms an
important feature in the annals of per-
secution. The religious prejudices of the
people were kept alive by contending po-
litical factions, till France was nearly
desolated by what was termed " religious
wars ;" and at length a dreadful massacre
of the Huguenots took place on St. Bar-
tholomew's day, 1572. Henry IV., 1598,
protected them by the edict of Nantes ;
but Louis XIV., 1685, revoked this edict,
in consequence of which 500,000 Hugue-
nots fled to Switzerland, Germany. Hol-
land, England, and America, where their
industry and wealth found a welcome re-
ception.

HUISSIERS', civil officers in France,
whose attendance is necessary at .every
judicial tribunal, from that of a justice
of the peace to the court of cassation.
There are different degrees of them, an-
swering in some respects to the sheriffs,
clerks, and criers of our courts.

HULK, in naval architecture, the body
of a vessel, or that part which is, in truth,
the vessel itself; the masts, sails, and
cordage, composing only the apparatus for
its navigation. Hulk is also an old ship ;
so called because such ship being no lon-
ger intended for navigation, the masts
are taken away. Such old vessels are
employed in the business of raising sand
or ballast; and the criminals that are
condemned to this work in the way of
punishment, are said to be condemned to
the hulks.

HUM AN'ITIES, a term used in schools
and colleges, to signify polite literature,
or grammar, rhetoric, and poetry, in-
cluding the study of the ancient classics,
in distinction from philosophy and science.

HUR'RICANE, a most violent storm
of wind, generally accompanied by thun-
der and lightning, and rain, or hail.
Hurricanes prevail chiefly in the East
and West Indies, the Isle of France, and
in some parts of China. A hurricane is
distinguished from every other kind of
tempest by the extreme violence of the

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303

wind, and by its sudden changes ; the
wind often veering suddenly several
points, sometimes a quarter of the circle
and even more. Hurricanes appear to
have an electric origin ; the velocity of
the wind exceeds that of a cannon ball,
sometimes 300 feet in a second. Corn,
vines, sugar-canes, forests, houses, every-
thing is swept away by -it. What are
called hurricanes in more northern lati-
tudes are only whirlwinds occasioned by
the meeting of opposite currents of air.

HUS'BANDRY, the practical part of
the science of agriculture, or the business
of cultivating the earth and rearing ani-
mals. Husbandry is the proper term for
that which is commonly called farming ;
and, accordingly, in law, a man of this pro-
fession is not to be styled a farmer, but a
husbandman. It includes agriculture,
breeding, grazing, dairying, and every
other occupation by which riches may be |
drawn from the superficial products of the
earth. For a long time past it has been
progressively rising in estimation ; and
the present age beholds the descendants
of feudal chieftains seeking honorable
renown in that pursuit which was once
abandoned to the meanest of their ances-
tors' vassals. Late improvements in agri-
culture consist in the lessening the quan-
tity of labor, by means of implements,
machines, and methodical arrangements.

HUSSARS', the name by which certain
cavalry regiments are distinguished. It
is a word of Hungarian origin, and was
originally given to the cavalry of that
country, raised in 1458, when Mathias I.
ordered the prelates and nobles to assem-
ble, with their cavalry, in his camp.
Every twenty houses were obliged to
furnish a man ; and thus from the Hun-
garian words husz (twenty,) and ar (pay,)
was formed the name huszar or ussar.

HUSS'ITES, the disciples of John
Huss, a Bohemian, and curate of the
chapel of Bethlehem at Prague ; who,
about the year 1414, embraced and de-
defended the opinion of Wickliff of Eng-
land, for which he was cited before the
council of Constance, and, refusing to re-
nounce his supposed errors, he was con-
demned to be burnt alive, which sen-
tence was accordingly excuted upon him
at Constance. This gave rise to a rebel-
lion of the Hussites, who avenged his
death by one of the fiercest and most ter-
rible civil wars ever known.

IIUS'TINGS, (from the Saxon word,
hustinge, a council, or court,) a court
lieM in the guildhalls of several English
cities, as London, Westminster, Winches-

ter, and York, by the principal officers
of their respective corporations. Here,
deeds may be enrolled, outlawries sued
out, and replevins and writs of error de-
termined. Here, also, the elections of
officers and parliamentary representa-
tives take place. In a popular sense, the
word hustings is used for a place raised
for the candidates at elections of mem-
bers of parliament.

HUTCHINSO'NIANS, the name given
to those who embraced the opinions of
John Hutchinson, a well-known philoso-
pher and naturalist of the 18th century.
Though the followers of Hutchinson have
never constituted a sect, they have reck-
oned among their number several distin-
guished divines both of the established
churches of England and Scotland, and of
dissenting communities. The number
of professed Hutchinsonians is rapidly de-
creasing, though the principles and views
of their founder are still entertained by
many. The chief characteristics of
Hutchinson's philosophy consist in his
rejection of Newton's doctrine of gravita-
tion; and in his maintaining the exist-
ence of a plenum on the authority of the
Old Testament, which, according to him,
embraces a complete system of natural
philosophy as well as of religion.

HY'ACINTH, a genus of pellucid
gems, whose color is red with an admix-
ture of yellow. The hyacinth, though
less striking to the eye than any other
red gems, is not without its beauty in
the finest specimens. Its structure is
foliated ; its lustre, strong ; its fracture,
conchoidal ; and it is found of various
sizes, from that of a pin's head to the
third of an inch in diameter. Like com-
mon crystal, it is sometimes found co-
lumnar, and sometimes in a pebble form ;
and is always hardest and brightest in
the larger masses.

HYACIN'THUS, in Grecian mytholo-
gy, the son of Amyclas, king of Laconia,
and of the muse Clio, accidentally killed
by Apollo while they were playing at
quoits. The story is thus related :
Zephyr, enraged at the preference dis-
played by Hyacinthus for Apollo, caused
the wind of which he was the god to turn
from its course a quoit thrown by Apollo,
which, hitting him on the forehead in-
stantaneously caused his death. The lat-
ter immortalized his favorite by causing
the flower which still bears his name to
spring from his blood, and inscribed the
word AI (Gr. at, alas) on its leaves, to
indicate the deep grief of the god for his
loss. An annual festival, named Hya-

304

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

cinthin, was celebrated at Amyclse in
honor of Hyacinthus. It continued three
days, on the first of which all was lamen-
tation, and mourning, and woe ; but on
the second and third days they danced
iiinl sung hymns to Apollo, offered sacri-
fices, exhibited spectacles, treated their
friends, and enjoyed themselves with
much festivity.

HY'BRID, an epithet for any animal
whoso sire is of one kind, and* dam of
another kind.

HY'DRA, a celebrated monster which
infested the neighborhood of the lake
Lcrna in Peloponnesus. It was the fruit
of Echidna's union with Typhon. It had
a hundred heads, according to Diodorus :
but accounts vary much on this point,
and no wonder ; since, as soon as one of
these heads was cut off, two immediately
grew up, unless the wound was stopped
by fire. It was one of the labors of Her-
cules to destroy this monster, which he
easily effected with the assistance of
lolas, who applied burning iron to the
wounds as soon as each head was cut off.
The ancient artists differ in their repre-
sentations of the hydra. Sometimes it
is a serpent branched out into several
others ; and sometimes has a human head,
with serpents upon it instead of hair, and
descending less and less in serpentine folds.
The term hydra is sometimes used in a
metaphorical sense for any manifold evil.
HY'DROMANCY, a method of divina-
tion by water, amongst the ancients, per-
formed by holding a ring in a thread over
the water, and repeating, along with the
question to be solved, a certain form of
words. If the question was answered af-
firmatively, the ring of its own accord
struck the sides of the bowl.

HYGE'IA, the god-
dess of health, in the
Greek mythology ; the
daughter or wife of^!s-
culapius, according to
the different recitals of
genealogists. Her sta-
tues (of which the most
celebrated was at Si-
cyon) sometimes repre-
sented her attended by
a large serpent coiled
round her body, and el-
evating its head above
her arm to drink of a
cup which she held in
her band. Isis, in
Egyptian monuments,
appears sometimes in
a similar attitude.

The employment of the serpent as a
mythological symbol of life and health
has been by some derived from the his-
tory contained in the first chapter of
Genesis.

HY'GEINE, that branch of medicine
which relates to the means of preserving
public health.

HYLOZO'ISM, in philosophy, strictly
the doctrine that matter lives. Some
writers have confined this name to the
tenet of the anima mundi, or soul of the
world ; others to the theory of a peculiar
life residing in the whole of nature, ap-
proaching, therefore, in its sense to pan-
theism. This life is either merely or-
ganic or actually sentient : the latter
notion has been also called hylopathlsm.

H Y'MEN, among the ancients, the god
of Marriage. The origin of the worship
of this divinity is attributed to the fol-
lowing story : A young Athenian, nam-
ed Hymenaeus, in humble circumstanees,
having become enamored of a rich and
noble lady, from whose presence he was
debarred, attired himself in female habili-
ments, and joined a religious procession
to Eleusis, in which his mistress took
part. On their way thither the parties
who composed it were attacked by pirates,
who carried them into captivity ; but
Hymemeus seized the opportunity, when
they were asleep, of putting them to
death, and departing immediately for
Athens, engaged to restore all thejadies
to their families on condition of his ob-
taining permission to marry the object
of his affection. The Athenians consent-
ed ; the nuptials of Hymenaeus were
crowned with happiness ; and from that
period the Greeks instituted festivals in
his honor, and invoked him at the cele-
bration of their marriages. The formula
employed on these occasions was, "
Hymensee Hymen, Hymen Hymensee."
Hymeneal is used to signify a song or
ode composed in celebration of a mar-
riage.

HYMN, an ode in praise of the Deity,
or some divine personage. The earliest
Greek hymns are those attributed, prob-
ably without foundation, to Homer: imi-
tated by Calliinochus. They are in heroic
verse, except one of Callimachus in hex-
ameters and pentameters ; and their con-
tents, for the most part, are narrations
of the events in the mythological history
of the respective gods and goddesses to
whom they are dedicated, related in an
encomiastic strain. The choric strains of
some of the tragedians in honor of dei-
ties, introduced into their dramas, appear

HYP]

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305

also to have the character of hymns ; es-
pecially as dramatic performances among
the Greeks, had something of a religious
solemnity attached to them. The Theur-
gic hymns were strains of a higher charac-
ter, and intended only for those who were
initiated into certain mysteries supposed
to have for their object the diffusion of
more exalted notions of the divinity.
Those which are falsely attributed to Or-
pheus, and pass by his name, are said to
be of this class ; but. except from their
obscurity, it is difficult to say from what
reason. Philosophical hymns, intended
for the use of the followers of a still high-
er species of worship, are mentioned in
the division of ancient hymns ; but we
have no genuine examples of such com-
positions. In modern literature, hymns
are pieces of sacred poetry intended to
be sung in churches, of which the Psalms
of David, the most ancient pieces of po-
etry, properly so called, on record, (ex-
cept the book of Job,) furnish the chief
example and model. St. Hilary, bishop
of Poitiers, is said to have been the first
who composed hymns to be sung in
churches. The Latin hymns of the Ro-
man Catholic church are well known from
the exquisite music to which they have
been united.

IIYP2ETIIRAL, in architecture, a
building or temple uncovered by a roof.
The temples of this class are arranged
by Vitruvius under the seventh order,
having six columns in front and rear,
and surrounded by a dipteral or double
portico. The famous temple of Neptune
at Paestum, still remaining, is an exam-
ple of this species of building.

HYPAL'LAGE, in grammar, a figure
consisting of a mutual change of cases :
a species of hyperbaton.

HY'PER, a Greek word signifying over,
which is used in English composition to
denote excess, or something over or be-
yond what is necessary.

HYPER'BATON, in grammar, a fig-
urative construction inverting the natural
and proper order of words and sentences.
The species are the anastrophe, hypal-
lage, &o. ; but the proper hyperbaton is
a long retention of the verb which com-
pletes the sentence.

HYPER'BOLE, in rhetoric, a figure
by which expressions are used signifying
more than is intended to represent to
the hearer or reader ; as when thoughts
and sentiments are clothed in tumid lan-
guage, or ideas brought forward which in
themselves are incredible, in order to
induce a belief of something less than
20

that which is offered. Exaggeration is
hyperbole applied to narrative, when
false assertions are added to true, in or-
der to increase the impression made by
them.

HYPERBO'REANS, the name given
by the ancients to the unknown inhab-
itants of the most northern regions of
the globe, who were reported always
to enjoy a delightful climate, being,
according to their notions, situated be-
yond the domain of Boreas or the north
wind ; but, in fact, they were the Lap-
landers, the Samoiedes, and the most
northern of the Russians.

HY'PERCATALEC'TIC, in Greek and
Latin poetry, a verse exceeding its prop-
er length by one syllable.

HY'PERCRIT'ICISM, consists in view-
ing the works of an author in an ungen-
erous spirit, exaggerating minor defects,
and overlooking or undervaluing such
merits or beauties as might fairly be con-
sidered to outweigh the former.

HYPER/METER, a verse containing
a syllable more than the ordinary meas-
ure. When this is the case, the follow-
ing line begins with a vowel, and the re-
dundant syllable of the former line blends
with the first of the following.

HY'PHEN, a mark or character in
grammar, implying that two words are
to be connected ; as pre-established, five-
leaved, &o. Hyphens also serve to show
the connection of such words as are di-
vided by one or more of the syllables com-
ing at the end of a line.

HYPOB'OLE, in rhetoric, a figure in
which several things are mentioned that
seem to make against the argument or
in favor of the opposite side, and each of
them is refuted in order.

HYPOCAUS'TUM, in ancient archi-
tecture, a vaulted apartment from which
the fire's heat is distributed to the rooms
above by means of earthen tubes. This
method, first used in baths, was after-
wards adopted in private houses, and
diffused an agreeable and equable tempe-
rature throughout the different rooms.

HYPOCHONDRI'ASIS, an affection
characterized by dyspepsia ; languor and
want of energy ; sadness and fear, aris-
ing from uncertain causes ; with a melan-
cholic temperament. The principal causes
are sorrow, fear, or excess of any of the
passions ; too long-continued watching ;
and irregular diet. Hypochondriacs are
continually apprehending future evils ;
and in respect to their feelings and fears,
however groundless, there is usually the
most obstinate belief and persuasion.

306

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

ICH

HYPOS'TASIS, in theology, a term
used to denote the subsistence of the Fa-
ther, Son, Mini Holy Spirit, in the (ld-
Infill, called by the Greek Christians,
three ky/>ostases. The Latins more gen-
erally used persona, and this is the
modern practice : hence it is said the God-
head consists of three persons.

II VPOTHECA'TION, in the civil law,
an engagement by which the debtor
assigns his goods in pledge to a creditor
as a security for his debt, without parting
with the immediate possession ; differing
in this last particular, from the simple
pledge.

HYPOTH'ESIS, a principle taken for
granted, in order to draw a conclusion
therefrom for the proof of a point in ques-
tion. Also, a system or theory imagined
or assumed to account for what is not un-
derstood.

HYSTEROL'OGY, or HYSTERON
PROTERON, in rhetoric, a figure by
which the ordinary course of thought is in-
verted in expression, and the last put first :
as, where objects subsequent in order of
time are presented before their antece-
dents, cause before effect, <fec. ; as, Valet
atque vivc.*, (he is well and lives.)

I, the ninth letter in the alphabet, and
the third vowel. Its sound varies ; in
some words it is long, as kigk, mind, pine ;
in some it is short, as bid, kid; and in
others it is pronounced like y, as collier,
onion, <fcc. ; in a few words its sound ap-
proaches to the ee in beef, as in machine.
which is the sound of the long i in all
European languages except the English.
In all Latin words of Latin origin, i pre-
ceding a vowel (unless it follows another
vowel,) is a consonant, as Janus (Janus,)
coniicio (conjicio ;) but in words of
Greek origin, it is a vowel, as iambus,
iaspis. No English word ends with i, but
when the sound of the letter occurs at
the end of a word, it is expressed by y.
I, used as a numeral, signifies no more
than one, and it stands for as many units
as it is repeated times ; thus II stands
for 2, and III for 3. When put before a
higher numeral it subtracts itself, as IV,
four ; and when set after it, the effect is
addition, as XII, twelve.

lAM'BIC, or lAM'BUS, in poetry, a
foot consisting of two syllables, the first
short and the last long, as in declare,
adorn. Thus, verses composed of short

and long syllables alternately are term-
ed iambics : as,
If ty | rant fac j tion dare | assail | her

throne,

A peo | pie's love | shall make | her
cause | their own.

lAM'BICS, a species of verse consist-
ing of short and long syllables alter-
nately, used by the Greek and Latin
poets, and especially by the Greek tragic
poets. The iambics of the Greek tragic
poets were originally composed of a suc-
cession of six iambi, but at a later period
various other feet were admitted. In most
modern European languages the verse of
five iambic feet is a favorite metre. Ac-
cording to Aristotle, the iambic measure
was first employed in satirical poems,
called iamba, which appear to have bea
represented or acted.

ICE'BERG, a hill or mountain of ice,
or a vast body of ice accumulated in val-
leys in high northern latitudes, or float-
ing on the ocean. This term is applied
to such elevated masses as exist in the
valleys of the frigid zones ; to those which
are found on the surface of fixed ice ; and
to ice of great thickness and height in a
floating state. These lofty floating masses
are sometimes detached from the icebergs
on shore, and sometimes formed at a dis-
tance from any land. They are found
in both the frigid zones, and are some-
times carried toward the equator as low
as 40.

ICH DIEN, (Germ.,) literally, I serve:
the motto of the Prince of Wales, which
was originally adopted by Edward the
Black Prince in proof of his subjection
to his father Edward III., and has been
continued without interruption down to
the present time.

ICHNOG'RAPIIY, in architecture, the
transverse section of a building, which
represents the circumference of the whole
edifice ; the different apartments ; the
thickness of the walls ; the distribution
of parts ; the dimensions of doors, win-
dows, chimneys ; the projection of col-
umns and door-posts ; and, in short, all
that can come into view in such a section.

ICH'THYS, (Gr. a fish,) a word found
on many seals, rings, urns, tombstones,
&c., belonging to the early times of
Christianity, and supposed to have a
mystical meaning, from each character
forming an initial letter of the words
I(|?ou{ Xpurros, Qtov Yios, 'Zwrnp ', i- e., Jesus
Christ, the Son of God,- the Saviour. This
interpretation is not unlikely, when we
consider at once the universal reverence
with which the fish was symbolically re-

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307

garded among most ancient nations, and
the many signs and ceremonies adopted
by the Christians, with some change of
meaning, from the religious rites of the
surrounding nations.

I ' C N I S M, in rhetoric, a figure of
speech which consists in representing a
thing to the life.

ICON'OCLASTS, that party of Chris-
tians which would not tolerate images in
their churches, much less the adoration
of them. Images and paintings were
unknown in the Christian church till the
fourth century; and the opposition to
them was long continued with great vio-
lence.

ICONOG'RAPHY, the description of
images or ancient statues, busts, semi-
busts, paintings in fresco, mosaic works,
Ac.

IDE'A, in general, the image or re-
semblance of a thing, which, though not
seen, is conceived by the mind ; whatever
is held or comprehended by the under-
standing or intellectual faculties. In
logic, idea denotes the immediate object
about which the mind is employed, when
we perceive or think of anything. Locke
used the word idea, to express whatever
is meant by phantasm, notion, species,
or whatever it is which the mind can be
employed about in thinking. Darwin, in
his Zoonomia, uses idea for a notion of
external things which our organs bring
us acquainted with originally, and he de-
fines it a contraction, motion, or configu-
ration of the fibres which constitute the
immediate organ of sense ; synonymous
with which he sometimes uses sensual
motion, in contradistinction to muscular
motion. By idea Kant eminently des-
ignated every conception formed by the
reason, (as distinct from the understand-
ing,) and raised above all sensuous per-
ception. These ideas he subdivides into,
1st, empirical, which have an element
drawn from experience, for instance, or-
ganization, a state, a church ; and 2d,
pure, which are totally free from all that
is sensible or empirical, such as liberty,
immortality, holiness, felicity, Deity.
Another division of the Kantian ideas, is
into theoretical and practical, according
to a similar division of the reason itself.
Thus the idea of truth is a theoretical,
that of morality a practical idea.

IDE'AL, that which considers ideas as
images, phantasms, or forms in the mind ;
as, the ideal theory of philosophy. Beau
ideal, or ideal beauty; an expression in
the Fine Arts, used to denote a selection
for a particular object, of the finest parts j

from different subjects, united in that one
so as to form a more perfect whole than
nature usually exhibits in a single speci-
men of the species ; or, in other words,
the divesting nature of accident in the
representation of an individual.

IDE'ALISM, a term applied to sev-
eral metaphysical systems, varying in its
signification according to the mcniiing
attached in each particular scheme to the
word idea; from which it is derived. In
England the best known system of ideal-
ism is that of Berkeley. In reference to
this philosopher's doctrines, the word is
used in its empirical sense for the object
of consciousness in sensation. In its Pla-
tonic or transcendental sense, the term
idealism has been applied to the doctrines
of Kant and Schelling ; neither of whom
is an idealist in the way in which Berke-
ley may be so called. The system of
Berkeley may be thus expressed : The
qualities of supposed objects cannot be
perceived distinct from the mind that
perceived them ; and these qualities, it
will be allowed, are all that we can know
of such objects. If, therefore, there were
external bodies, it is impossible we should
ever know it ; and if there were not, we
should have exactly the same reason for
believing there were as we have now.
All, therefore, which really exists is spir-
it, or the thinking principle ourselves,
our fellow-men, and God. What we call
ideas are presented to us by God in a cer-
tain order of succession, which order of
successive presentation is what we mean
by the laws of nature.

IDEN'TITY, sameness, as distinguish-
ed from similitude and diversity ; the
sameness of a substance under every pos-
sible variety of circumstances. Among
philosophers, personal identity denotes
the sameness bf the conscious subject /,
throughout all the various states of which
it is the subject. System of identity, in
philosophy, (otherwise called identism,)
a name which has been given to the met-
aphysical theory of the. German writer
Schelling. It rests on the principle that
the two elements of thought, the objects
respectively of understanding and rea-
son, called by the various terms of mat-
ter and spirit, objective and subjective,
real and ideal, &c., are only relatively
opposed to one another, as different forms
of the one absolute or infinite : hence
sometimes called the two' poles of the
absolute. In a secondary sense the term
identity denotes a merely relative same-
ness, which may be also called logical,
or abstract. Thus, in logic, whatever

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CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[iDO

things arc subjects of the same attribute,
or collection of attributes, are considered
the same ; for example, dog and lion are
the same relatively to the common no-
tion quadruped, under which they are
both contained. Again, in physics, a tree
may be assumed to be the same in rela-
tio;i to all the rights of property, not-
withstanding the physical change which
it undergoes from the constant segrega-
tion of old, and aggregation of new par-
ticles. Lastly, it is only in this logical
use of the term, that we can be said in
memory to be conscious of the identity
of the reproduced, and the original idea,
for if they were absolutely identical, it
would be impossible to distinguish be-
tween the first appearance, and the re-
currence of an idea.

IDEOGRAPHIC CHARACTERS, in
philology, characters used in writing
which express figures or motions, instead
of the arbitrary signs of the alphabet.
The Chinese characters are ideographic,
although the symbols, at first intended to
represent distinct objects, have become
by use merely conventional. The hiero-
glyphical characters of the ancient Egyp-
tians were of the same description. Ideo-
graphical writing is opposed to phonetic.

IDEOL'OGY, literally, the science of
mind, is the term applied by the latter
disciples of Condillac to the history and
evolutions of human ideas, considered as
so many successive modes of certain origi-
nal or transformed sensations. The writ-
ings of this school are characterized by an
unrivalled simplicity, boldness, and sub-
tlety ; and the different phases of its doc-
trines are admirably exhibited in the
physiological researches of Cabanis, the
moral dissertations of Garat and Volney,
and the metaphysical disquisitions of
Destutt de Tracy..

IDES, one of the three epochs or divi-
sions of the ancient Roman month. The
calends were the first days of the differ-
ent months ; the ides, days near the mid-
dle of the months; and the nones, the
ninth day before 'the ides. In the months
of March, May, July, and October, the
ides fell on the 15th ; in the other months
on the 13th. The Romans used a very
peculiar method of reckoning the days of
the month. Instead of employing the
ordinal numbers first, second, third, &c.,
they distinguished them by the number
of days intervening between any given
day and the next following of the three
fixed divisions. For example, as there
were always eight days between the nones
and the ides, the day after the nones was

called the eighth before the ides, the next
the seventh day before the ides, the next
the sixth day before the ides, and so on.
In leap years, when February had twen-
ty-nine days, the extra day was accounted
for by calling both the twenty-fourth and
twenty-fifth days of that month the sixth
day before the calends of March ; whence
the leap year got the name of bissextile,
(from bis, twice and sextus, sixt/i.)

ID'IOM, in philology, a mode of speak-
ing or writing foreign from the usages of
universal grammar or the general laws
of language, and restricted to the genius
of some individual tongue. Thus, a sen-
tence or phrase consisting of words ar-
ranged in a particular manner may be a
Latin idiom ; the same, arranged in a
different manner, an English idiom, <fcc.
The use of a particular inflexion of a word
may also be an idiom. We also use the
term idiom in a more general sense, to
express the general genius or character
of a language. AVe have a number of
subordinate words to express the idioms
of particular tongues : thus, a Latin id-
iom is a Latinisrn, a French idiom a Gal-
licism, &c. The word idiom is also not
uncommonly, but incorrectly, used in the
same sense with the French idiome ; a
dialect or variety of language. Idiotisme
is the French term expressing the correct
signification of the English " idiom."

IDIOPATII'IC, a disease which does
not depend upon any other disease, and
which is thus opposed to those diseases
which are symptomatic. Thus, an epi-
lepsy is idiopatfiic, when it happens mere-
ly through some fault in the brain ; and
sympathetic, when it is the consequence
of some other disorder.

IDIOSYN'CRASY, a peculiar temper-
ament or organization of body, whereby
it is rendered more liable to certain dis-
orders, than bodies differently constituted
usually are.

IDOL'ATRY, in its literal acceptation,
denotes the worship paid to idols. It is
also used to signify the superstitious ado-
ration paid to other objects. Soon after
the flood, idolatry seems to have been the
prevailing religion of all the world ; for
wherever we cast our eyes at the time of
Abraham, we scarcely see anything but
false worship and idolatry. The heavenly
bodies appear to have been the first ob-
jects of idolatrous worship ; and, on ac-
count of their beauty, their influence on
the productions of the earth, and the reg-
ularity of their motions, the sun and moon
were particularly so, being considered as
the most glorious and resplendent images

ILL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

309

of the Deity ; afterwards, as their senti-
ments became more corrupted, they be-
gan to form images, and to entertain the
opinion, that by virtue of consecration,
the gods were called down, to inhabit or
dwell in their statues. But history plain-
ly teaches us, that before the idea of one
infinite and true God was properly com-
prehended by men, their imaginations
created rulers and deities, to whom they
ascribed the direction of all outward
events, and every tribe or family had its
peculiar object of adoration. The selfish
and cunning turned this frailty to their
own advantage ; and hence originated
seers, oracles, and all the numerous su-
perstitions which have disgraced the
world.

I'DYL, a short pastoral poem. The
Greek word is derived from ius, form, or
visible object; and hence the object, or.
at least, the necessary accompaniment of
this species of poem, has been said to be
a vivid and simple representation of or-
dinary objects in pastoral nature. But
in common usage the signification of this
word is hardly different from that of
eclogue. The poems of Theocritus are
termed Idyls, those of Virgil Eclogues ;
but it would be difficult to assign a dis-
tinction between the two, except what
arises from the greater simplicity of lan-
guage and thought which characterizes
the former. Many critics, however, aver
that the eclogue requires something of
epic or dramatic action ; the idyl only
picturesque representation, sentiment, or
narrative. In English poetry, among
this class may be ranked, The Seasons
of Thomson, Shenstone's School-mistress,
Burn's Cottager's Saturday Night, Gold-
smith's Deserted Village, &c., &c.

IG'NIS FAT'UUS, a kind of lumi-
nous meteor, which flite about in the air
a little above the surface of the earth,
and appears chiefly in marshy places, or
near stagnant waters, or in churchyards,
during the nights of summer. There are
many instances of travellers having been
decoyed by these lights into marshy pla-
ces, where they perished ; and hence the
name Jack-with-a-lantern, Will-with-a-
wisp : some people ascribing the appear-
ance to the agency of evil spirits, who
take this mode of alluring men to their
destruction. The cause of the phenome-
non does not seem to be perfectly under-
stood ; it is generally supposed to be
produced by the decomposition of animal
or vegetable matters, or by the evolution
of gases which spontaneously inflame in
the atmosphere.

IGNORA'MTJS, in law, the endorse-
ment of a grand jury on a bill of indict-
ment, equivalent to "not found." The
jury are said to ignore a bill when they
do not find the evidence such as to make
good the presentment.

I. H. S. an abbreviation for Jesus Ho-
minum Salvator, Jesus the Saviour of
Mankind.

IL'IAD, the oldest epic poem in exist-
ence ; commonly attributed to Homer,
but according to some modern hypotheses,
the work of several hands. The theme
of the poem is the siege of Ilium (whence
its name) or Troy ; or, more properly
speaking, the quarrel of Achilles with
Agamemnon, general of the Grecian ar-
my before that city. It consists of twen-
ty-four books. The first book relates the
origin of the quarrel ; and the residue of
the poem contains an account of the ef-
forts made by Agamemnon and the chiefs
who adhered to his party to conquer the
Trojans without the aid of Achilles, their
defeat, the pacification of Achilles, his
resumption of arms in the common cause^
and the death of Hector by his hand.
Neither the landing of the chieftains, nor
the conclusion of the war and capture of
Troy, come within its range.

ILLATIVE CONVERSION, in logic,
is that in which the truth of the converse
follows from the truth of the exposita or
proposition given. Thus the proposition
"no virtuous man is a rebel," becomes,
by illative conversion, " no rebel is a vir-
tuous man." "Some boasters are cow-
ards ;" therefore, a converse, " Some
cowards are boasters."

ILLUMINA'TI, or THE ENLIGHT-
ENED, a secret society formed in 1776,
chiefly under the direction of Adam
Weishaupt, professor of law at Ingolstadt,
in Bavaria. Its professed object was the
attainment of a higher degree of virtue
and morality than that reached in the
ordinary course of society. It numbered
at one time 2000 members. It was sup-
pressed by the Bavarian government in
1784. It has been supposed that this
and some other secret societies were ac-
tively engaged in preparing the way for
the French revolution ; but of this no
satisfactory proof has been adduced.
Among the early Christians, the term II-
luminati was given to persons who had
received baptism ; in which ceremony
they received a lighted taper, as a sym-
bol of the faith and grace they had re-
ceived by that sacrament.

ILLUMINATING, the art of laying
colors on initial capitals in books, or other-

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[IMA

wise embellishing manuscript books, as
was formerly done by artists called Illu-
minators. These manuscripts, contain-
ing portraits, pictures, and emblematic
figures, form a valuable part of the rich-
es preserved in the principal libraries in
Europe.

ILLUSTRA'TION, in rhetoric, appears
to differ from comparison or simile in
this only, that the latter is used merely
to give force to the expression : the for-
mer to throw Jjght upon an argument.
The term illustration is, however, some-
times used i trwider sense, in which it
seems to comprehend example, which is
the recital of a particular fact or instance
evincing the truth of a general proposi-
tion laid down in the argument ; and
, parable, which is a species of symbolical
narrative, in which the actors and events
are intended to represent certain other
actors and events in a typical manner.

IM'AGE, in rhetoric, a term somewhat
loosely used ; but which appears general-
ly to denote a metaphor dilated, and
rendered a more complete picture by the
assemblage of various ideas through
which the same metaphor continues to
run, yet not sufficiently expanded to form
an allegory.

IM'AGES, in sculpture. This word
was used among the ancients, more par-
ticularly to denominate the portraits of
their ancestors, either in painting or
sculpture. The Greeks and Romans en-
tertained for these images the greatest
veneration, and even rendered them a
sort of worship. The Romans preserved
with especial care the images of their
ancestors, and had them carried both in
their funeral pomps and in their triumphs.
This honor, however, was restricted to
figures of such as had held important offices
in the state ; as for instance, those of aedile,
praetor, or consul. These images were
often made of wax, sometimes of mar-
ble, and were occasionally adorned with
pearls. The atrium or porch of those
families who had for a long time held the
principal magistracies, were filled with
an infinite number of these images. They
became smoke-dried, in course of time,
by the fire which was always kept lighted
in the atrium, in honor of the lares, or
household gods. In order to prevent this,
they were sometimes deposited in the
chests or presses. On days of solemnity
or rejoicing, they drew these statues forth,
crowned them with laurel, or decked them
with the habits which characterized the
public offices of the parties whom they
depicted. The ancients were likewise

habituated to engrave upon their rings
the images of their friends, with which
they also ornamented their cups and
vases. The disciples of Epicurus did not
content themselves with depositing the
image of their master in their inner or
sleeping apartments, where they render-
ed it a species of worship, but bore it, in
like manner, on their rings, and hod it
engraven on their vases. The Roman
emperor Claudius permitted not his sub-
jects indiscriminately to wear his figure
on their rings, but those alone who had
made public entry of them thus, in fact,
forming a kind of tax thereon. It was
also customary, among the ancients, to
place at the stern of a vessel the images
of certain deities or animals, which thence
acquired the title of tutelce navis, the
guardian of the ship. Another custom
was to set up, both in public and private
libraries, the images or busts of the most
celebrated writers. Both Greeks and
Romans offered in the temples of their
gods, not only images of themselves, but
of other personages also. Thus Diogenes
Laertius informs us, that Mithridates,
son of Rodobates, dedicated to the Muses
the statue of Plato. According to an-
other ancient author, Romulus dedicated
to Vulcan certain chariots of gold, toge-
ther with his own statue ; and we read in
Tacitus, that Julia dedicated to Augustus
the image of Marcellus. Since the in-
troduction of Christianity, the use of
images has been preserved in the Greek
and Roman Catholic churches.

IMAGINA'TION, the faculty of the
mind which forms images or representa-
tions of things. It acts either in presenting
images to the mind of things without, or
by reproducing those whose originals are
not, at the moment, present to the mind
or the sense. W^herefore distinguish
(1.) original imagination, or the faculty
of forming images of things in the mind
that is, the faculty which produces the
picture of an object which the mind per-
ceives by the actual impression of the
' object from the (2.) reproductive ima-
gination, or the faculty which recalls the
image of an object in the mind without
the presence of the object. Besides the
power of forming, preserving, and recall-
ing such conceptions, the imagination has
also the power (3.) to combine different
conceptions, and thus create new images.
In this case, it operates involuntarily,
according to the laws of the association
of ideas, when the mind is abandoned to
the current of ideas, as in waking dreams
or reveries. The association of ideas is

IMP]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

311

either directed to a definite object by the
understanding, or it operates only in sub-
jection to the general laws of the under-
standing. In the former case, the ima-
gination is confined ; in the latter, its op-
erations are free, but not lawless, the
general law of tendency to a definite end
fixing limits to its action, within which it
may have free play, but which must not
be overstepped. The free and yet reg-
ulated action of the imagination alone
can give birth to the productions of the
Fine Arts. In this ease, it forms images
according to ideas. It composes, creates,
and is called the poetical faculty. Prom
the twofold action of the imagination, we
may distinguish two spheres, within which
it moves the prosaic and the poetical.
In the former, it presents subjects on
which the understanding operates for the
common purposes of life. Hero it is re-
stricted by the definite object for which
we put it in action. In the latter, it gives
life to the soul, by a free, yet regulated
action, elevates the mind by ideal crea-
tions, and representations above common
realities, and thus ennobles existence.
Imagination operates in all classes, all
ages, all situations, all climates, in the
most exalted hero, the profound thinker,
the passionate lover, in joy and grief, in
hope and fear, and makes man truly
man.

IM'AM, or IM'AN, a Mahometan
priest, or head of the congregations in
their mosques. In ecclesiastical affairs
they are independent, and are not subject
to the mufti, though he is the supreme
priest.

IMBRO'GLIO, (a word borrowed from
the Italian brogliare, to confound or mix
together ; whence the French brouiller
and English embroil.) In literary lan-
guage, the plot of a romance or a drama,
when much perplexed and complicated,
is said to be an " imbroglio." The small
burlesque theatrical pieces so termed by
the Italians derive their ludicrous char-
acter from a similar species of absurdity.

IMITA'TION, the act of following in
manner, or of copying in form ; the act
of making the similitude of anything, or
of attempting a resemblance. By the
imitation of bad men, or of evil exam-
ples, we are apt to contract vicious hab-
its. In the imitation of natural forms
and colors, we are often unsuccessful.
Imitation, in music, is a reiteration of the
same air, or of one which is similar, in
several parts where it is repeated by one
after the other, either in unison, or at
the distance of a fourth, a fifth, a third,

or any interval whatever. Imitation, in
oratory, is an endeavor to resemble a
speaker or writer in the qualities which
we propose to ourselves as patterns. A
method of translating, in which modern
examples and illustrations are used for
ancient, or domestic for foreign, or in
which the translator not only varies the
words and sense, but forsakes them as
he sees occasion.

IMMOLA'TIO, a ceremony used in the
Roman sacrifices ; it consisted in throwing
upon the head of the victim some sort of
corn and frankincense, together with the
mola or salt cake, and a little wine.

IMMORTAL'ITY, the quality of end-
less duration, as the immortality of the
soul. The idea that the dissolution of the
body involves the annihilation of exist-
ence, is so cheerless, so saddening, that
the wisest and best of men, of all ages,
have rejected it, and all civilized nations
have adopted the belief of its continuation
after death, as one of the main points of
their religious faith. The Scriptures af-
ford numerous evidences of the soul's
immortality ; the hope of it is a religious
conviction ; man cannot relinquish it,
without abandoning, at the same time,
his whole dignity as a reasonable being
and a free agent ; and hence the belief
in immortality becomes intimately con-
nected with our belief in the existence
and goodness of God.

IMMU'NES, in Roman history, an epi-
thet applied to such provinces as had ob-
tained an exemption from the ordinary
tribute. The term is also applied to
soldiers who were exempt from military
service.

IMMU'NITY, in jurisprudence, legal
freedom from any legal obligation. Thus
the phrase "ecclesiastical immunities"
comprehends all that portion of the rights
of the Church, in different countries,
which consists in the freedom of its mem-
bers, or of its property, from burdens
thrown by law on other classes.

IMPALE'MENT, the putting to death
by thrusting a stake through the body,
the victim being left to perish by linger-
ing torments. This barbarous mode of
torture is used by the Turks, as a punish-
ment for Christians who say anything
'against the law of the prophet, who in-
trigue with a Mohammedan woman, or
who enter a mosque.

IMPARISYL'LABIC, in grammar, an
epithet for words having unequal sylla-
bles.

IMPAR'LANCE, in law, a privilege
or license granted, on petitioning the

812

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

court for a day to consider or advise what
answer the defendant shall make to the
plaintiff's declaration.

1MPASTATION, the mixture of vari-
ous materials of different colours and
consistencies, baked or bound together
with some cement, and hardened by the
air or by fire.

IMPEACH'MENT, the accusation and
prosecution of a person for treason, or
other high crimes and misdemeanors. In
England the house of lords has an origi-
nal jurisdiction in criminal matters, ex-
ercised over either peers or commons,
upon impeachment by a member of the
lower house. Any member of the house
of commons may not only impeach one
of their own body, but also any lord of
parliament. When any person is im-
peached, articles, containing the accusa-
tion, are exhibited on behalf of the com-
mons, who appoint managers to conduct
the prosecution. These articles are car-
ried to the lords, and if they find the ac-
cused guilty upon sufficient evidence, no
pardon under the Great Seal can be
pleaded to such impeachment. Till the
house of commons demand judgment on
an impeachment exhibited by them, the
lords cannot pass sentence. In the United
States, it is the right of the house of
representatives to impeach, and of the
senate to try and determine impeach-
ments. The senate of the United States,
and the senates in the several states, are
the high courts of impeachment.

IMPER'ATIVE, in grammar, one of
the moods of a verb, used when we would
command, exhort, or advise ; as go, at-
tend, &c.

IMPERA'TOR, in Roman antiquity,
a title of honor conferred on victorious
generals, by their armies, and afterwards
confirmed by the senate. After the over-
throw of the republic, imperator became
the highest title of the supreme ruler;
and in later times it had the signification
which we attach to the word emperor.

IMPER'FECT CON'CORDS, in music,
such as are liable to change from major
to minor, or the contrary, as are thirds
and sixths ; still, however, not losing
their consonancy.

IMPER'FECT TENSE, in grammar,
that modification of a verb which ex-
presses that the action or event of which
we speak was, at a certain time to which
we refer, in an unfinished state. This is
in English designated by the auxiliary
" was." joined with the present participle.

IMPE'RIAL, in architecture, a species
of dome whose profile is pointed towards

the top and widens towards the base, thus
forming a curve of contrary flexure. 7m-
perial, pertaining to an empire. Thus
the imperial chamber, means the sove-
reign court of the German empire ; an
imperial city, a city in Germany which
has no head but the emperor : the impe-
rial diet, an assembly of all the states in
the German empire.

IMPE'RIALIST, a subject or soldier
of an emperor. The denomination im-
perialists is often given to the troops or
armies of the emperor of Austria.

IMPER'SONAL VERB, in grammar,
a verb used only in the third person sin-
gular, with it for a nominative in English,
as it rains ; and without a nominative in
Latin, as pugnatur.

IMPETRA'TION, in law. the obtain-
ing anything by request or prayer : but
in old statutes, it is taken for the pro-
obtaining of church benefices from the
court of Rome, which belonged to the
disposal of the king and other lay-patrons
of the realm.

IMPOSE', in printing, to put the pages
on the imposing stone, and fit on the
chase, and thus prepare the form for the
press. In legislation, to lay on a tax,
toll, duty, or penalty. To impose on, to
mislead by a false pretence.

IMPOSITION of hands, a religious
ceremony, in which a bishop lays his hand
upon the head of a person, in ordination,
confirmation, or in uttering a blessing.
This practice is also generally observed
at the ordination of congregational minis-
ters, while one prays for a blessing on the
labors of him they are ordaining. Impo-
sition of hands was a Jewish ceremony,
introduced not by any divine authority,
-but by custom ; it being their practice,
whenever they prayed for any person, to
lay their hands on his head. Our Saviour
observed the same ceremony both when
he conferred his blessing on the children,
and when he cured the sick.

IMPOSSIBLE, that which cannot bo
done or effected. A proposition is said to
be impossible, when it contains two ideas,
which mutually destroy each other, and
which can neither be conceived nor united
together in the mind : thus, it is impossi-
ble that a circle should be a square, or
that two and two should make five. A
thing is said to be physically impossible,
that cannot be done by any natural pow-
ers, as the resurrection of the dead ; and
morally impossible, when in its own na-
ture it is possible, but attended with diffi-
culties or circumstances which give it tbfl
appearance of being impossible.

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AND THK FINE ARTS.

313

IM'POST, any tax or tribute imposed
by authority ; particularly a duty or tax
laid by government on goods imported.
In architecture, that part of a pillar in
vaults and arches, on which the weight
of the building rests; or the capital of a
pillur, or cornice which crowns the pier and
supports the first stone or part of an arch.
IM'POTBNCE, or IM'POTENCY,
want of strength or power, animal, intel-
lectual, or moral. The first is a want of
some physical principle, necessary to an
action ; the last denotes the want of pow-
er or inclination to resist or overcome
habits or natural propensities.

IMPRESCRIPTIBLE RIGHTS, such
rights as a man may use or not at pleas-
ure, those which cannot be lost to him
by the claims of another founded on pre-
scription.

IMPRES'SION, in the Arts, is used to
signify the transfer of engravings from a
hard to a soft substance, whether by
means of the rolling-press, as in copper-
plate and lithographic printing, or by
copies in wax, &c., from medals and en-
graved gems. The word is also used to
denote a single edition of a book ; as, the
whole impression of the work was sold in
two months.

IMPRIMATUR, (Latin, let it be
printed,) the word by which the licenser
allows a book to be printed, in countries
where the censorship of books is rigorous-
ly exercised. This formula was much
used in English books printed in the 16th
and 17th centuries; and this permission
is even still vested in some of the British
universities, especially in Scotland, where
it is nothing unusual to find on the title-
page of some works recommended to pub-
lic favor by the senatus academicus the
"imprimatur" of the principal.

IMPRFMIS,(Zan,) in the first place ;
first in order.

IM'PRINT, the designation of the
place where, by whom, and when a book
is published, are always placed at the
bottom of the title. Among the early
printers it was inserted at the end of the
book, and is styled the colophon.

IMPROMP'TU, in literature, any short
and pointed production supposed to be
brought forth on the spur of the moment ;
generally of an epigrammatic character.

IMPROPRIA'TION, in law, the act of
appropriating or employing the revenues
of a church living to one's own use. Lay
impropriation is an ecclesiastical living
in the hands of a layman. Before the
destruction of the monasteries by Henry
VIII., in 1539, many livings were in the

possession of impropriators ; the great
tithes they kept themselves, allowing the
small tithes to the vicar or substitute who
served the church. On the suppression
of the monasteries, Henry disposed of the
great tithings among his favorites.

IM'PROVISATORE, an Italian word,
signifying a person who has the talent of
composing and reciting a suite of verses
on a given subject immediately and with-
out premeditation. This peculiar talent,
thus restricted, appears to belong, almost
exclusively, to the Italian language and
people. Much, no doubt, of the facility
of these improvisator!, which appears al-
most preternatural to one unaccustomed
to hear them, arises from the peculiar
ease and flexibility of their language, and
its richness in rhymes. But this circum-
stance will not wholly account for so sin-
gular a national faculty ; for, about the
time of the revival of letters, Italy pos-
sessed improvisatori in Latin as well as
Italian. Many poets have enjoyed con-
siderable celebrity in their day from their
success in this mode of composition ; but
we are not aware that any of their poems
have acquired a permanent celebrity, al-
though often taken down from their reci-
tation. Tuscany and the Venetian states
have been most famous for the production
of improvisatori, especially Sienna and
Verona ; in which latter city the talent
seems to have been perpetuated by suc-
cession. The chevalier Bernardino Per-
fetti, the most famous of all these reciters,
was of Sienna : he flourished in the first
half of the 17th century. He is said to
have possessed unbounded erudition, and
to have been able to pour forth extem-
pore poetical essays on the most absbruse
questions of science. There have been
many distinguished females possessed of
this talent, (improvisatrici.) Gorilla, the
most celebrated of them, was of Pistoia
in Tuscany. She was the original of
Madame de Stael's Corinne. She re-
ceived in 1776 the laureate crown at
Rome, an honor which had also been ac-
corded to Perfetti. Germany is said to
have produced one noted improvisatrice,
Anna Louisa Karsch. There appears no
reason why the term improvisation should
not also be applied to the delivery of un-
premeditated discourses in prose. It is
the exertion of a very similar faculty,
perfected in the same manner by habits
to a degree almost inconceivable by those
not accustomed to witness its exercise.
It is, however, much more general. The
North American Indians are represented
to possess it in a high degree. In Eu-

314

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

rope, it is most generally to be found in
the pulpit. Public secular oratory of this
unpremeditated description is far more
common in England, and the power much
more sedulously cultivated, thtth in any
continental country,

INA'LIENABLE, an epithet applied
to such things as cannot be legally alien-
ated or made over to another : thus the
dominions of a sovereign, the revenues
of the church, the estates of a minor, &c.
are inalienable, otherwise than with a
reserve of the right of redemption.

INAUGURATION, was originally
applied to the Roman ceremony of ad-
mission to the college of augurs, or sooth-
sayers, or to the selection of a proper site
for the erection of temples or other na-
tional edifice? ; but it afterwards received
a more extended signification, and is now
used in a sense nearly synonymous with
the consecration of a prelate, or the coro-
nation of a king or emperor. It means
also an introduction to any office with
certain ceremonies.

INCA, or VNCA, a name given by the
Indians of ancient Peru to their kings
and princes of the blood. The empire of
the Incas, founded, according to tradition,
by the celebrated Manco Capac, extended
over the table-land of the Andes, from
Pasto to the neighborhood of Chili, as
well as the low lands on the coast. It
was destroyed by the Spaniards under
Pizarro and Almagro. The blood royal
of the Incas is preserved, or believed to
be so, among the Indians of the present
day, and Tupac Amaru, who carried on
a long and nearly successful insurrection
against Spain in the latter part of the
last century, professed to be descended
from them.

IN C.ENA DOMINI, (Lat. at the
Lord's Supper,) the name of a celebrated
papal bull, containing a collection of ex-
tracts from different constitutions of the
pope, comprising those rights which, since
the time of Gregory VII., have been un-
interruptedly claimed by the Roman see,
and a proclamation of anathema against
all who violate them. It was annually
read on Holy Thursday, whence it re-
ceives its name ; but lately on Easter
Monday. The sects of heretics are cursed
in it by their several designations. A
copy of the bull is hung up at the door
of the churches of St. Peter and St. John
Lateran : and all patriarchs, primates,
bishops, <fec., are required to have it read
once or more annually in their churches.

INCARNA'TION, a word in common
use among the theologians to express the

union of the Godhead with the Manhood
in Jesus Christ. The real manner of this
union, or indwelling of the God in the
Man, is allowed to be a mystery such as
cannot bo fully apprehended by the hu-
man intellect.

IN'CENSE, in the materia medica, a
dry resinous substance, known by the
name of thus and olibanum. The burn-
ing of incense made part of the daily
service of the Jewish temple ; and in the
Romish church it is the deacon's office to
incense the officiating priest or prelate,
and the choir. In the religious rites of
heathen nations, too, the odors of spices
and fragrant gums were burnt as incense.

INCEP'TIVE, in grammar, an epithet
for verbs which express a proceeding by
degrees in an action.

INCOG'NITO, (abbreviated to incog.,)
unknown, or so disguised as not to be rec-
ognized; a mode of travelling without
any mark of distinction, which is some-
times adopted by princes and great people
who do not wish to be recognized.

INCOMPATIBLE, in a general sense,
morally inconsistent; or that cannot sub-
sist with another, without destroying it :
thus, truth and falsehood are essentially
incompatible : so cold and heat are in-
compatible in the same subject, the
strongest overcoming and expelling the
weakest. In a legal sense, that is incom-
patible which cannot be united in the
same person, without violating the law,
or constitution.

INCORPORATION, in law, the for-
mation of a legal or a political body, with
the quality of perpetual existence or suc-
cession, unless limited by the act of in-
corporation.

IN'CUBUS, or Nightmare, the name
of a disease which consists in a spasmodic
contraction of the muscles of the breast,
usually happening in the night, and at-
tended with a very painful difficulty of
respiration and great anxiety. The most
obvious symptom of this disease is a sen-
sation of some great weight laid upon the
breast. Sometimes Jhe sufferer finds him-
self in some inextricable difficulty, en-
deavoring to escape from a monster, or,
perhaps, in imminent danger of falling
from a precipice, while his limbs refuse
to do their office, until he suddenly awa-
kens himself by starting from his recum-
bent posture, or by a cry of terror.

INCUM'BENT, the person who is in
present possession of an ecclesiastical
benefice.

INCUNAB'ULA, in bibliography, a
term applied to books printed during the

IND]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

315

early period of the art ; in general con-
fined to those which appeared before the
year 1500.

INDECLI'NABLE, in grammar, a
word admitting of no declension or in-
flexion. Adverbs, prepositions, particles,
conjunctions, are all indeclinable. In
classical languages,, indeclinable nouns are
those few (chiefly borrowed by the Greeks
and Latins from foreign languages) of
which the termination is not altered in
the several cases.

INDEFEA'SIBLE, in law, an epithet
for an estate, or any right which cannot
be defeated or made void.

INDEFINITE, or INDETER'MI-
N ATE, that which has no certain bounds ;
or to which the human mind cannot affix
any. Descartes makes use of this word
in his philosophy instead of infinite, both
in numbers and quantities, to signify an
inconceivable number, or a number so
great as not to be capable of any addi-
tion. Indefinite, is also used to signify a
thing that has but one extreme ; for in-
stance, a line drawn from any point and
extended infinitely. Indefinite, in gram-
mar, is understood of nouns, pronouns,
verbs, participles, articles, &c. which are
left in an uncertain indeterminate sense,
and not fixed to any particular time,
thing, or other circumstance.

INDEM'NITY,. in law, a writing to
secure one from all damage and danger
that may ensue from any act. Act of
Indemnity, .an act passed every session
of parliament for the relief of those who
have neglected to take the necessary
oaths, <fcc.

INDENT'URE, in law, a writing con-
taining an agreement or contract made
between two or more persons ; so called
because it was indented or cut scollopwise,
so as to correspond with another writing
containing the same words. But indent-
ing is often neglected, while the writings
or counterparts retain the name of in-
dentures.

INDEPENDENTS, a sect of Protes-
tants, distinguished,_not by doctrine, but
discipline. They regard every congrega-
tion of Christians, meeting in one build-
ing for the purpose of public worship, as
a complete church, independent of any
other religious government ; and they
reject tire use of all creeds, as impious
substitutes for the letter of the Scripture.
The direction of each church is vested in
its elders. The Independents arose in
the reign of Elizabeth; and during the
civil wars of England, in the 17th century,
they formed a powerful party.

IN'DEX, in arithmetic and algebra,
the number that shows to what power the
quantity is to be raised ; the exponent.
Index, j.n literature, an alphabetical table
of the contents of a book. Expurgatory
index, a catalogue of prohibited books in
the church of Rome.

IN'DIAN, a general name of any na-
tive of the Indies ; as, an East Indian,
or West Indian, It is particularly ap-
plied to an aboriginal native of the Amer-
ican continent.

IN'DIAN ARCHITEC'TURE, the ar-
chitecture of India, in its details, bears a
striking resemblance to that of Persia
and Egypt, and they are considered to

Indian Capital Elephantal.
have a common origin. Its monuments
may be divided into two classes, the ex-
cavated, which is either in the form of a
cavern, or in which a solid rock is sculp-
tured into the resemblance of a building ;
and the constructed, in which it is actu-
ally a building, or formed by the aggre-
gation of different materials. The first
class is exemplified in the caves of Ele-
phanta and Ellora, and the sculptured
pagodas of Mavalipouram. and the sec-
ond class in the pagodas of Chillimbaram,
Tanjore, and others. The architecture
of India, it is said, resembles in its details
that of Egypt, but its differences are also
very striking. In the architecture of
Egypt, massiveness and solidity are car-
ried to the extreme ; in Indian architec-
ture these have no place. In the former,
the ornaments are subordinate to the
leading forms, and enrich without hiding
them. In the latter, the principal 'forms
are overwhelmed and decomposed by the
accessories. In the one grandeur of ef-
fect is the result, while littleness is the
characteristic of the other.

IN'DIAN INK, a substance brought

316

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

INF

from China, used for water-colors. It is
in rolls or in square cakes, and is said to
consist of lump-black and animal glue.

IMMC'ATI VK, in grammar, .the first
mood, or manner, of conjugating a verb,
by which we simply affirm, deny, or indi-
cate something ; as. he writes ; they run.

INDIC'TIOX, CYCLE OF, in chronol-
ogy, a mode of computing time by the
space of fifteen years, instituted by Con-
stantiue the Great ; originally the period
for the payment of certain taxes. The
popes, since the time of Charlemagne,
have dated their acts by the year of the
indiction, which was fixed on the 1st of
January. At the time of the reforma-
tion of the calendar, the year 1582 was
reckoned the tenth year of indiction.
Now this date, when divided by 15, leaves
a remainder, 7, that is, three less than
the indiction, and the sa^ne must neces-
sarily be the case in all subsequent cases;
so that, in order to find the indiction for
any year, divide the date by 15, and add
3 to the remainder. It has no connection
with the motions of the heavenly bodies.

INDICTMENT, in law, a written ac-
cusation of one or more persons for a
crime or misdemeanor, preferred to, and
presented on oath by a grand jury. In
determining whether there is a reason-
able cause to put the accused upon his
trial, the grand jury hear evidence only
of the charge ; and if twelve of them are
satisfied of the truth of the charge, the
indictment is then said to be found, and
is publicly delivered into court. If the
grand jury think the accusation ground-
less, the accused is discharged ; but a
new bill of indictment may be preferred
to a subsequent grand jury. By the con-
stitution of the United States, no person
is held to answer for a capital or other-
wise infamous crime, unless on a present-
ment or indictment by a grand jury, ex-
cept in cases arising in the land or naval
forces ; and the same principle is adopted
in several of the states.

INDORS'ER, he who writes his name
on the back of a bill of exchange. That
which is written on the back is called the
indorsement; and the person to whom
the bill is assigned by indorsement, is the
indorsee.

INDUC'TIOX. the counter-process in
scientific method to deduction, implies
the raising individuals into generals, and
those into still higher generalities; de-
duction being the bringing down of uni-
versals to lower genera or to individuals.
Every deduction, therefore, to be valid,
must rest on a prior induction, which, in

order that we may obtain logical cer-
tainty, must be a complete induction;
that is to say, must include all the indi-
viduals which constitute the genus. This,
it is evident, is impossible, so long as we
assume the only power necessary to in-
duction to be the observation of particu-
lars ; for these are infinite in number :
we can never be sure that we have ob-
served them all. We are therefore com-
pelled, if we are to admit the possibility
of science properly so called, to allow the
necessity of some spontaneous action of
the understanding in every inductive pro-
cess ; of a faculty, in short, which takes
occasion from experience to arrive at the
knowledge of truths not contained in that
experience.

INDULGENCE, a power claimed by
tht Roman Catholic church of granting
to its contrite members remission for a
certain term, either on earth or in pur-
gatory, of the penalty incurred by their
transgressions. The practice was first
instituted in the eleventh century by
Popes Gregory VII., Victor, and Urban
II., as a recompense to those who em-
barked in the perilous enterprise of the
Crusades ; but its benefits in process of
time extended to all who, either by dona-
tions or other services, contributed to the
well-being of the church. It was the
profligate sale of indulgences that first
excited Luther to commence his warfare
against the see of Rome ; and although
the traffic in indulgences has been repro-
bated by many councils, and some minor
corruptions have been partially reformed,
still the Council of Trent decreed the
usefulness and validity of such instru-
ments, and left the whole control of their
nature and manner of issuing them en-
tirely in the discretion of the pope for
the time being.

INDUL'TO, in ecclesiastical affairs, an
Italian term for a dispensation granted
by the pope, to do or obtain something
contrary to the common law.

IN ES'SE, (Latin,) actually existing ;
distinguished from in. posse, which de-
notes that a thing is not, but may be.

IN'FAMY, in law. that total loss of
character or public disgrace which a con-
vict incurs, and by which a person is ren-
dered incapable of being a witness or a
juror.

IN'FANCY, the period physically con-
sidered, from birth to seven years, and
legally, till 21, previously to which no
one can inherit or execute any obligation,
or incur any responsibility except for
necessaries.

INF]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

INFANT'E, and INFANT'A, appel-
lations severally given to all the sons
and daughters of the kings of Spain and
Portugal, except the eldest. The dignity
of the title consists in the pre-eminence
implied by styling the children of the
king, the children.

IN'FANTRY, the general name for
soldiers who serve on foot. The term is
in all probability derived from the Italian
word fante, signifying a child or young
person ; and was originally conferred on
the young Italian peasantry, who served
in the wars on foot, the nobles being usu-
ally mounted. There are, however, va-
rious ot^er accounts of the origin of the
term. Among the ancient Greeks and
Romans, the infantry constituted the chief
strength of an army ; and, with the ex-
ception of that period in European his-
tory during which the institutions of chiv-
alry prevailed, when the tournament
with its gay appendages engaged the at-
tention of all the powerful nobles and
otherwise distinguished persons, who thus
imparted to the cavalry a factitious im-
portance, it has generally been regarded
as the principal military arm. Since the
institution of standing armies this has
been peculiarly the case.

INFEC'TION, the act or process of
infecting, or the act by which poisonous
matter, morbid miasmata, or exhalations,
produce disease in a healthy body. The
thing which infects. The terms infection
and contagion are used as synonymous
in a great majority of cases. Different
writers proposed and attempted to make
a distinction between them, but there has
been a great disagreement as to what the
distinction should be ; and in general no
regard is paid to the proposed distinctions.
Infection is used in two acceptations ; first,
as denoting the effluvium or infectious
matter exhaled from the person of one
diseased, in which sense it is synonymous
with contagion ; and secondly, as signi-
fying the act of communication of such
morbid effluvium, by which disease is
transferred. The atmosphere and other
inert substances are often contaminated
by the deleterious or offensive qualities
of malaria, the matter of contagion, efflu-
via from putrid animal or vegetable sub-
stances.

INFEODA'TION of tithes, in law, the
granting of tithes to mere laymen.

INFE'RI^E, in Roman antiquity, sac-
rifices offered to the infernal deities for
the souls of the departed.

IN'FINITE, in mathematics, infinite
quantities are such quantities as are

either greater or less than assignable
ones. And infinite series, a series con-
sidered as infinitely continued as to the
number of its terms.

INFINITES'IMAL, a term denoting
an indefinitely small quantity.

INFIN'ITIVE, in grammar, a mood
expressing the action of the verb, without
limitation of person or number, as to
love.

INFINITY, a term applied to the
vast and the minute, to distances and
spaces too great to be expressed in any
numbers of measures, or too small to be
expressed by any fraction ; and one of
the incomprehensible, but necessarily ex-
isting wonders of the universe. We ap-
ply infinity to God and his perfections.
We speak of the infinity of his existence,
his power, and his goodness.

INFIR'MARY, a charitable establish-
ment where the poor may receive medi-
cal advice and medicine gratis.

INFLECTION, in grammar, in strict-
ness of language is any change which
takes place in a word from a modifica-
tion of its sense between the root and the
termination. The inflection must, there-
fore, not be confounded with the termina-
tion itself. Thus, the syllable am is the
root of all the words employed in the
conjugation of the Latin verb amo, I love :
in the imperfect tense, the inflection is
the syllable ab. The termination varies
according to the person ; amabam, ama-
bas, amabat.

INFLUEN'ZA, an epidemic catarrh
which has in various times spread more
rapidly and extensively than any other
disorder, and this universality of its at-
tacks, together with the greater severity
of its symptoms, principally distinguishes
it from common catarrh. It attacks
all ages and conditions of life, but is
seldom fatal, except to the aged, or to
those previously suffering, or having
a tendency to pulmonary disease. The
epidemics of 1831-2, and of 1836-7, were
nearly universal throughout the civilized
world.

INFORM A'TION, in law, an accusa-
tion or complaint exhibited against a
person for some criminal offence. An in-
formation differs from an indictment,
inasmuch as the latter is exhibited on the
oath of twelve men. but the information
is only the allegation of the individual
who exhibits it. He who communicates
to a magistrate a knowledge of the vio-
lations of law, is an informer ; but he
who makes a trade of laying informa-
tions, is termed a common informer

318

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[iNL

and is generally held in disesteem by so-
ciety.

INFHALAPS A'RIANS, in church his-
tory, an appellation given to such pre-
destinarians as think the decrees of God,
in regard to the salvation and damnation
of mankind, were formed in consequence
of Adam's fall.

INFU'LA, in Roman antiquity, abroad
kind of fillet, made of white wool, which
the priests used to wear round their heads.
At later periods, the imperial governors
wore infula as a sign of dignity, and, as
such, it was adopted, in the 7th century,
by the bishops of the Roman Catholic
church, who continue to wear it on solemn
occasions. It is, in fact, the mitre ;
which the bishops of the church of Eng-
land have in their coat of arms, but
never wear on their head.

IN'GOT, a small bar of metal made of
a certain form and size, by casting it in
moulds. The term is chiefly applied to
the small bars of gold and silver, intend-
ed either for coining or for exportation to
foreign countries.

IN'GRESS, E'GRESS, andRE'GRESS,
in law, words frequently used in leases of
lands, which signify a free entry into, a
going out of, and returning from some
part of the premises leased to another.

INGRES'SU, in law, a writ of entry,
termed also a prcecipe quod reddat.

INGRESS'US, in law, a duty which the
heir at full age formerly paid to the chief
lord for entering upon lands which had
fallen to him.

INHABITANT, a dweller ; one who
dwells or resides permanently in a place,
or who has a fixed residence, as distin-
guished from an occasional lodger or visi-
tor ; as the inhabitant of a house or
cottage; the inhabitants of a town, city,
county, or state. So brute animals are
inhabitants of the regions to which their
natures are adapted ; and we speak of
spiritual beings, as inhabitants of heaven.
In English law, the term inhabitant
is used in various technical senses. Thus
a person having lands or tenements in
his own possession, is an inhabitant for
the purpose of repair of bridges, wher-
ever he may reside ; but for purposes of
personal services, the inhabitant must
necessarily be a resident. For the pur-
pose of the poor rate, the word means a
person residing permanently, and sleep-
ing in the parish. Where the right of
voting is in inhabitant householders, it is
generally understood that an inhabitant
is one who keeps a house in his own occu-
pation, either personally residing in it,

or having it occupied by servants and
ready for his residence, he having what
is termed the animus revertendi, or in-
tention to return.

INHE'RENT, that which is insepara-
ble, distinguished from the accidental
and acquired ; as the inherent qualities
of the magnet. <fec.

INHERITANCE, an estate derived
from an ancestor to an heir by succession
or in course .of law ; or an estate which
the law casts on a child or other person,
as the representative of the deceased an-
cestor. An estate, or real property which
a man has to himself and heirs, or the
heirs of his body, &c., is termed ajfreehold
of inheritance.

INHIBITION, in law, a writ to forbid
a judge's proceeding in a cause that lies
before him. This writ generally issues
out of a higher court to an inferior, nnd
is of much the same nature as a prohibi-
tion.

INITIATIVE, in politics. In legisla-
tive assemblies constituted so as to com-
prise more than one chamber, or more
than one distinct and co-ordinate power,
that branch of the legislature to which
belongs of right the power to propose
measures of a particular class is said to
have the initiative with respect to those
measures. Thus in England all proposi-
tions for taxing the subject, whether di-
rectly or indirectly, must begin in the
Commons ; a usage which has been
adopted in most modern constitutions.
On the other hand, there are some private
bills which by custom originate in the
Lords ; and one bill, that, namely, for a
general pardon, is proposed in the first
instance by the crown.

IN JUNCTION, in law, a writ or pro-
hibition granted in several cases ; and
for the most part grounded on an inter-
locutory order or decree, made in the
court of chancery or exchequer, for stay-
ing proceedings either in courts of law,
or ecclesiastical courts. When the reason
for granting an injunction ceases, the in-
junction is dissolved.

IN'JURY, in a legal sense, any wrong
or damage done to another, either in his
person, rights, reputation, or goods.
Whatever impairs the quality or dimin-
ishes the value of goods or property, is an
injury; so also whatever impairs the
health, weakens the mental faculties, or
prejudices the character of a person, is an
injury.

IN'LAND, in law, that part of any
land or mansion which lay next to the
mansion-house, and was used by the lord

INQ]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

319

himself. In geography, that which is sit-
uated in the interior of a country remote
from the sea-coast. Inland bills, In com-
merce, bills payable in the country where
they are drawn

INLAY'ING, the art of diversifying
cabinet-work, or working in wood or metal
with several pieces of different colors, cu-
riously put together.

IN LIM'INE, (Latin,) in the outset ;
before anything is said or done.

INN, in England, a college of muni-
cipal or common law professors and stu-
dents ; formerly, the town-house of a no-
bleman, bishop, or other distinguished
personage, in which he resided when he
attended the court. Inns of court, col-
leges or corporate societies in which stu-
dents of law reside and once were in-
structed. The principal are the Inner
Temple, the Middle Temple, Lincoln's
Inn, and Gray's Inn. Every candidate
for the rank of barrister-at-law is obliged
to be admitted a member of one of these
societies, and to submit to its regulations
as a student. Inns of Chancery, colleges
in which young students formerly began
their law studies. These are now occu-
pied chiefly by attorneys, solicitors, &c.

IN'NATE IDE'AS, principles or ideas
supposed to be stamped on the mind from
the first moment of its existence, and
which it constantly brings into the world
with it : a doctrine which has given rise
to much discussion, and which the cele-
brated Locke took great pains to refute.

IN'NOCENTS' DAY, a festival ob-
served in the church on the 28th of De-
cember, in memory of the children that
were slain by command of Herod.

INOCULA'TION, the insertion of poi-
sonous or infectious matter into any part
of the body ; but in this country the
phrase is commonly used to signify the
insertion of the virus of the common
small-pox, the insertion of the virus of the
cow-pox being called Vaccination. In-
oculation was introduced into general no-
tice by Lady Mary Wortley Montague,
whose son was inoculated at Constanti-
nople about the year '1721, and whose
daughter was the first who underwent
the operation in England. A milder dis-
ease is thus propagated than when it is
received in the natural way.

IN PRO'PRIA PERSO'NA, (Latin,)
in one's own person or character.

IN'QUEST, judicial inquiry. It may
either be a jury to decide on the guilt of
an accused person, according to fact and
law ; or to examine the weights and
measures used by shopkeepers ; decide

on the cause of any violent or sudden
death ; or to examine into accusations
before trial.

INQUTRY, writ of, in law, a writ that
issues out to the sheriff to summon a
jury to inquire what damages a plaintiff
has 'sustained in an action upon the case
where judgment goes by default.

INQUISFTION, the title given to a
court armed with extensive criminal au-
thority in various European countries ;
especially instituted to inquire into of-
fences against the established religion.
The first of these tribunals of faith was
that established in the south of France
after the conquest of the Albigenses in
the 13th century. They were established
in Spain in the middle of the same cen-
tury, not without much opposition on the
part of the bishops and secular clergy,
who, in Castile, long maintained their
exclusive spiritual jurisdiction. In 1480,
the supremo general .inquisition was
founded at Seville by Queen Isabella,
with the aid of the Cardinal Pedro Gon-
zalez de Mendoza. This great court,
commonly known by the name of the
Holy Office, had far more extensive au-
thority than those local tribunals of the
same name which had previously been
established. Thomas de Torquemada,
prior of a Dominican convent, was its
first president, with the title of inquisitor-
general. The process of the inquisition
was widely different from that of all other
courts of justice. The kings named the
grand inquisitor, who appointed his as-
sessors, some of whom were secular, but
the greater part regular ecclesiastics :
the counsellors were six or seven in num-
ber, of whom one, by the ordinance of
Philip III., must be a Dominican. A
party who was brought under cognizance
of the court by secret accusation was im-
mediately seized by its officers, (termed
officials or familiars,) and his property
put under sequestration. If the accused
was fortunate enough to absent himself,
and did not appear at the third summons,
he was excommunicated, and in some
cases burnt in effigy. The subsequent
process of the court by imprisonment,
secret examination, and torture, is well
known. Penitent offenders were sub-
jected to imprisonment, scourging, con-
fiscation, and legal infamy. Those con-
victed, who were sentenced to death, wore
burnt at the Autos da Fe, which usually
take place on some Sunday between
Trinity and Advent. During the 18th
century, the chief officers of the inquisi-
tion were for the most part men of intel-

320

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[INS

ligence and moderation, and its proceed-
ings chiefly directed against parties guilty
of such offences against decency or reli-
gion as would have been punishable in
most European countries, although not
by an equally arbitrary process. But
there were exceptions to this general
character ; and by the provincial courts
of inquisition, of which Spain contained
sixteen, some acts of barbarous injustice
were committed. According to a common
calculation, 340,000 persons had been
punished by the inquisition from 1481 to
1808, of whom nearly 32,000 were burnt.
In that year it was abolished by Napo-
leon. It was afterwards re-established
by Ferdinand III. in 1814; but having
been again abrogated by the Cortes in
1820, it has not been since reconstituted.
In Portugal, the supreme court of in-
quisition was established in 1557. Its
history in many respects resembles that
of the Spanish court; but in the 18th
century its power was greatly curtailed
by ordinances which required a certain
degree of publicity in its procedure. It
was abolished by the Cortes of 1821.
There were courts of inquisition in vari-
ous southern provinces of France, the
principal that of Languedoc, established
at Toulouse, which was first founded after
the war against the Albigenses; but their
power was limited not long after their
creation, and fell into desuetude long be-
fore their final abolition. In several
Italian states courts of inquisition have
been established ; but the institution has
never taken much hold on the sentiments
or habits of the people of that country.
It was restored at Rome by Pius VII.
after the expulsion of the French, but
had jurisdiction only over the faith and
conduct of the clergy.

INQUISITOR, in law, any officer, as
the sheriff and the coroner, having power
to inquire into certain matters. Grand
inquisitor is the name given to a judge
of the Inquisition.

INSAN'ITY, mental derangement of
any degree, from slight delirium to raving
madness. It is, however, rarely used to
express temporary delirium occasioned
by fever, Ac.

INSCRIBE', to engrave on a monu-
ment, pillar, &c. ; or to commend by a
short address, less formal than a dedica-
tion ; as, to inscribe an ode or book to a
prince.

INSCRIP'TI, in Roman antiquity, a
name given to those who were branded
with any ignominious mark after the
manner in which slaves were treated.

I N S C R I P'T ION, any monumental
writing, engraved or affixed to a thing,
to give a more distinct knowledge of it,
or to transmit some important fact to
posterity. The inscriptions mentioned
by Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, suf-
ficiently show that this was the first
method of conveying instruction to man-
kind, and transmitting the knowledge of
history and sciences to posterity : thus
the ancients engraved upon pillars both
the principles of sciences, and the history
of the world. Pisistratus carved precepts
of husbandry on pillars of stone ; and the
treaties of confederacy between the Ro-
mans and Jews were engraved on plates
of brass. Antiquarians have accordingly
been very curious in examining the in-
scriptions on ancient ruins, coins, medals,
<fcc.

INSOLVENCY, inability of a, person
to pay all his debts ; or the state of want-
ing property sufficient for such payment.
Insolvency is a term in mercantile law,
applied to designate the condition of all
persons unable to pay their debts accord-
ing to the ordinary usage of trade. A
bankrupt is an insolvent, but persons
may be in a state of insolvency, without
having committed any of the specific acts
which render them liable to a commission
of bankruptcy.

INSPIRATION, the infusion of ideas
into the mind by the Holy Spirit ; the
conveying into the minds of men, ideas,
notices, or monitions by extraordinary or
supernatural influence. Inspiration of
the sacred writers, is defined an influence
of the Holy Spirit exercised on the under-
standings, imaginations, memories, and
other mental powers of tb* writers, by
means of which they were qualified for
communicating to the world divine reve-
lation, or the knowledge of the will of
God, without error or mistake. Writers
on theology have enumerated several
kinds or degrees of inspiration, which
are founded upon the supposition that
God imparted to the sacred writers that
measure and degree of assistance which
was just suited to the nature of the sub-
jects which they committed to writing,
and did not supersede the use of their
natural powers and faculties, and of their
acquired knowledge where these were suf-
ficient. The measure of divine assistance
which enabled Moses to give an account
of the creation ; Joshua to record with
exactness the settlement of the Israel-
ites in Canaan ; David to mingle pro-
phetic information with the varied ef-
fusions of gratitude, contrition, and

INS]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

321

piety ; Isaiah to deliver predictions re-
specting the Messiah; and the Evange-
lists to record, in their own several styles
and ways, the life and transactions of
Jesus Christ, has been termed inspira-
tion of direction. In some cases inspira-
tion only produced correctness and accu-
racy in relating past occurrences, and
preserved the writers generally from rela-
ting anything derogatory to the revelation
with which it was connected. This has
been termed inspiration of superintend-
ency. Where indeed it not only commu-
nicates ideas, new and unknown before,
but has also imparted greater strength
and vigor to the efforts of the mind than
the writers could otherwise have attain-
ed, this divine assistance has been called
inspiration of elevation. Further, when
the prophets and apostles received such
communications of the Holy Spirit, as
suggested and dictated minutely every
part of the truths delivered ; this, which
is the highest degree of divine assistance,
has been termed inspiration of sugges-
tion. The infusion or communication of
ideas or poetic spirit, by a superior being
or supposed presiding power ; as, the in-
spiration of Homer or other poet.

INSTALLA'TION, the ceremony of
inducting, or investing with any charge,
office, or rank ; as, the placing a dean or
prebendary in his stall or seat, or a knight
into his order.

INSTAL'MENT, in commercial tran-
sactions, the payment of a certain por-
tion of a gross sum, which is to be paid
at different times, or, as the phrase is, by
instalments. In constituting a capital-
stock by subscriptions of individuals, it
is customary to afford facilities to sub-
scribers by dividing the sum subscribed
into instalments, or portions payable at
distinct periods. In large contracts also,
it is not unusual to agree that the money
shall be paid by instalments.

IN'ST ANT, a part of time or duration
in which no succession is perceived. There
are three kinds of instants distinguished
by the schoolmen ; a temporary, a natu-
ral, and a rational instant. The first is
a part of time immediately preceding
another ; the second is what is otherwise
termed a priority of nature, which ob-
tains in things subordinated in acting, as
first and second causes, or causes and
their effects ; and the third is not any
real instant, but a point which the un-
derstanding conceives to have existed
before some other instant, founded on the
nature of the things which cause it to be
conceived..

INSTAN'TER, in law, instantly ; with-
out the least delay ; as, the party was
compelled to plead instanter.

INSTAN'TI^E CRUCIS, in philoso-
phy, crucial instances or examples ; a
phrase invented by the fancy of Bacon.
The use of crucial examples or experi-
ments is to facilitate the process of induc-
tion. For example. A and B, two differ-
ent causes, may produce a certain number
of similar effects ; find some effect which
the one produces and the other does not,
and this will point out, as the direction-
post at a point where two highways meet,
(crux,) which of these causes may have
been in operation in any particular in-
stance. Thus, for example, many of the
symptoms of the Oriental plague are
common to other diseases ; but when the
observer discovers the peculiar bubo or
boil of the complaint, he has an instantia
cruets, which directs him immediately to
its discovery.

IN STATU QUO, (Latin,) a term sig-
nifying that condition in which things
were left at a certain period ; as when
belligerent parties agree that their mu-
tual relations should be in statu quo, or
as they were before the commencement
of a war ; and the like.

INSTAURA'TA TER'RA, in arche-
ology, land ready stocked or furnished
with all things necessary to carry on the
employment of a farmer.

INSTAU'RUM ECCLE'SIJE, the vest-
ments, plate, and all utensils belonging
to a church.

IN'STINCT, that power of volition or
impulse produced by the peculiar nature
of an animal, which prompts it to do cer-
tain things, independent of all instruction
or experience, and without deliberation,
where such act is immediately connected
with its own individual preservation, or
with that of its kind Indeed, it is mani-
fest that instinct not only makes animals
perform certain actions necessary to the
preservation of the species, but often alto-
gether foreign to the apparent wants of
the individual ; and often, also, extremely
complicated. We cannot attribute these
actions to intelligence, without supposing
a degree of foresight and understanding
infinitely superior to what we can admit
in the species that perform them. The
actions performed by instinct are not the
effects of imitation, for the individuals
that execute them have often never seen
them done by others ; they bear no pro-
portion to the common intelligence of the
species, but become more singular, more
skilful, more disinterested, in proportion

322

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[INT

as the animals belong to the less elevated
classes. They are so much the property
of the species, that all the individuals
perform them in the same manner, with-
out any improvement. The duckling
hastens to the water, the hen remains the
proper time on her eggs during incuba-
tion, the beaver builds his curious habita-
tion with a skill peculiar to the species,
and the bees construct, with architectural
accuracy, their waxen colls. Instinct,
theu, is the general property of the living
principle, or the law of organized life in
a state of action.

INSTITUTE, or INSTITUTION, any
society instituted or established according
to certain laws, or regulations, for the
furtherance of some particular object,
such as colleges or seminaries for the
cultivation of the sciences, Literary In-
stitutes, Mechanics' Institutes, and others.
We apply the word institution to laws,
rites, and ceremonies, which are enjoined
by authority as permanent rules of con-
duct or of government; as, the institu-
tions of Moses or Lycurgus. Also, a so-
ciety of individuals for promoting any
public object, as a charitable or benevo-
lent institution.

INSTRUMENT, MUSICAL, a machine
or sonorous body, artificially constructed
for the production of musical sounds.
They are divided into three kinds, wind
instruments, stringed instruments, and
instruments of percussion. Mathemati-
cal instruments, a common case of, con-
tains, a pair of plain compasses ; a pair
of drawing compasses ; a drawing pen ; a
protractor ; a parallel ruler ; a plain
scale ; and a sector ; besides black lead
pencils. Instrument, in law, a deed or
writing drawn up between two parties,
and containing several covenants agreed
between them.

INSTRUMEN'TAL MU'SIC, music
produced by instruments, as distinguished
from vocal music ; particularly applied
to the greater compositions, in which the
human voice has no part. Until the mid-
dle of the last century, the Italian com-
posers used no other instruments in their
great pieces than violins and bas. c -viols ;
at that time, however, they began to use
the haut-boy and the horn ; and even to
this day, the Italians use wind instru-
ments much less than the French and
Germans. In general, symphonies and
overtures, solos, duets, terzettos, quar-
tettos, Ac., sonatas, fantasias, concerts for
single instruments, dances, marches, Ac.,
belong to instrumental music.

IN'SULATED, in architecture, an ap-

pellation given to such columns as stanc
alone, or free from any contiguous wall,
<fcc., like an island in the sea ; whence
the name.

IXSUR'ANCE, in law and commerce,
the act of providing against a possible
loss, by entering into contract with one
who is willing to give assurance ; that is,
to bind himself to make good such possi-
ble loss, upon the contingency of its oc-
currence. In this contract, the chances of
the benefit are equal to the insurer and
the assurer. The first actually pays a cer-
tain sum, and the latter undertakes to
pay a larger, if an accident should hap-
pen. The one, therefore, renders his
property secure ; the other receives mo-
ney, with the probability that it is clear
gain. The instrument by which the con-
tract is made, is denominated a policy,
and the stipulated consideration is called
the premium. These are generally for
protection against losses by fire, or risks
at sea. Policies on lives are another de-
scription of this contract, whereby a
party, for a certain premium, agrees to
pay a certain sum, if a person, to whose
life it relates, shall die within a time
specified, or to pay the executors of the
insured a certain sum at the time of his
death. These policies, however, usually
make an exception of death by suicide.
According to general practice, a life in-
surance is seldom made by the payment
of a single sum when it is effected, but
almost always by the payment of an an-
nual premium during its continuance,
the first being paid down at the com-
mencement of the insurance. An indi-
vidual, therefore, who has insured a sum
on his life, would forfeit all the advanta-
ges of the insurance, were he not to con-
tinue regularly to make his annual pay-
ments.

INTA'GLTOS, precious stones on which
are engraved the heads of eminent men,
inscriptions, <tc., such as are set in
rings, Ac.

IN'TELLECT, that faculty of the hu-
man soul or mind, which receives or
comprehends the ideas communicated to
it by the senses, or by perception, or by
other means ; the faculty of thinking ;
otherwise called the understanding. It
is applied to the mind when only its ra-
tional powers are considered, apart from
the animating principle, or the will, and
from the source of the passions. A clear
intellect receives and entertains the same
ideas which another communicates with
perspicuity. In the philosophy of Kant,
the intellect is distinguished into two fao-

INT]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

323

ultios, understanding and reason. The
understanding, acting on experience,
merely compares, judges, and measures
its representations, and is conversant
solely with their mutual limits and rela-
tions, classifying them according to cer-
tain schemes of its own which are called
categories. While, however, the under-
standing is thus limited, the activity of
the reason is unbounded, and as the prin-
ciple of principles, it is the base and the
verification of every special principle and
reasoning.

INTEND'ANT, a word much used in
France, denoting a person who has the
charge, direction, or management of some
office or department ; as an intendant
of marine, an intendant of finance, <fcc.

INTER'CALARY DAY, in the calen-
dar, a day inserted out of the usual
order to preserve the account of time.
Thus every fourth year containing 360
days, while the other years contain only
365, one of the months in that year must
have an additional day, which is called
the intercalary day. The additional day
was given to February, as being the
shortest month, and in the ancient Roman
calendar was inserted between the 24th
and 25th days. In the ecclesiastical cal-
endar it still retains that place ; but in
the civil calendar it is the 29th.

INTERCESSION, in Roman antiquity,
the act of a tribune of the people, where-
by he inhibited the act of another magis-
trate, or prevented the passing of a law
in the senate, which was usually done by
the single word -veto.

INTERCOLUMNIA'TION, in archi-
tecture, the space between two columns,
which is always to be proportioned to the
height and bulk of the columns. It is
one of the most important elements in
architecture, and on it depend the effect
of the columns themselves, their propor-
tion, and the harmony of an edifice.

IN'TERDICT, in ecclesiastical history,
a spiritual weapon, by which the popes
used in former times to reduce individuals
or whole states to the most abject submis-
sion to their power. In the middle ages
it was the most terrible blow which could
be inflicted on the people or the prince.
When an interdict was laid on a kingdom
all spiritual services ceased ; the church-
es were shut up ; the sacraments were
no longer administered ; no corpses were
buried with funeral rites ; and all the
ministry of the church which was then
believed to be the only channel of salva- |
tion was forbidden to be exercised. The
first memorable occasion on which this \

method of warfare was adopted was the
marriage of King Robert of France with
Bertha his cousin, when Gregory V.
in 998 issued interdicts against the whole
country, and compelled the sovereign to
dissolve his union. It had, however,
been often used before by bishops ; an
instance is quoted by Moreri as early as
A.D. 870. The ban under which England
was laid in the reign of John by Inno-
cent III. is well known in the history
of that country. The latest pretensions
to the exercise of this power were as-
sumed by Pius VII., when h^ issued an in-
efficient decree against Napoleon in 1809.

IN'TERIM, in modern European his-
tory, the name given to a decree of the
Emperor Charles V., after the overthrow
of the Protestant League of Smalcalde,
in which he attempted to reduce to har-
mony the conflicting opinions of the Prot-
estants and Romanists. The use of the
cap, kowever, and the marriage of the
clergy, were the only points which he
conceded to the Reformers ; and it be-
came a question among them, and gave
rise to many serious disputes, whether
they could conscientiously submit even to
a temporary decree of such a nature. The
enactments of the interim were intended
only to remain in full force till some defin-
itive settlement could be made ; whence
it derives the name by which it is gene-
rally known. It received the force of
law at the Diet of Augsburgh, in 1548.
Its provisions against the Protestants
were however, in most respects, set aside
by the treaty of Passau, 1552.

INTERJEC'TION, in grammar, an in-
declinable part of speech, serving to ex-
press some passion or emotion of the
mind ; as, " Alas ! my fondest hopes are
now forever fled !"

INTERLACING ARCHES, in archi-
tecture, circular arches which intersect
each other, as in the figure. They are fre-

Interlacing Arcade, Norwich Cathedral
quent in arcades in the Norman style of
the twelfth century, and from them Dr.
Milner supposed the pointed arch to
have had its origin.

324

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[INT

INTERLOC'UTOR, in literary phra-
seology, a person who is introduced as
taking part in a dialogue ; in dramatic
literature, termed dramatis persona :
the latter name, however, comprehends
such as appear on the stage but take no
part in speaking, termed by the Greeks
mute personages.

INTERLOC'UTORY Order or Decree.
in law, an order that does not decide the
cause, but only some matter incident
thereto, which may happen in the inter-
mediate stage of a cause ; as when, in
chancery, th^ plaintiff obtains an order
for an injunction until the hearing of the
cause ; which order, not being final, is
called interlocutory.

IN'TERLUDE, in the drama, a light
entertainment exhibited on the stage be-
tween the principal performance and the
afterpiece. At present, the term inter-
lude is applied principally to small comic
operas, written for two or three persons.
In ancient tragedy, the chorus sung the
interludes between the acts.

IN'TERMEDE, or INTERMEZ'ZO,
in dramatic literature, nearly the same
with interlude. A short musical piece,
generally of a burlesque character ; but
many, not intended merely for introduc-
tion between the acts of a more serious
performance, are comprised under these
names by the French and Italians.

INTERNUN'CIO, an envoy of the
pope, sent to small states and republics,
distinguished from the nuncio who repre-
sents the pope at the courts of emperors
and kings. Also a species of diplomatic
officers, who ranked, according to the old
practice, between ambassadors and pleni-
potentiaries.

INTERPOLATION, in philological
criticism, the insertion of spurious pas-
sages in the writings of some ancient
1 author.

INTERREG'NUM, the time during
which a throne is vacant in elective king-
doms ; for in such as are hereditary, like
that of England, there is no such thing
as an interregnum.

INTERROGATION, in grammar, a
character or point (?) denoting a ques-
tion, as, Do you love me ? Interroga-
tion, in rhetoric, a figure containing a
proposition in the form of a question.

INTERROG'ATORY, in law. a ques-
tion in writing demanded of a witness in
a cause who is to answer it under the
solemnity of an oath.

IN'TERVAL, in music, the difference
between the number of vibrations, pro-
duced by one sonorous body of a certain

magnitude and texture, and of those pro-
duced by another of a different magni-
tude and texture, in the same time. The
ancients divided the intervals into simple
or uncomposite, which they call diastems,
and composite intervals, which they call
systejns. Modern musicians consider the
semitone as a simple interval, and only
call those composite which consist of two
or more semitones.

INTONA'TION, in music, the act of
sounding the notes in the scale with the
voice, or any other given order of musi-
cal tones. It consists, in fact, in giving
to the tones of the voice or instrument
that occasional impulse, swell, and de-
crease, on which, in a great measure, all
expression depends.

INTOXICA'TION, the state produced
by the excessive use of alcoholic liquids.
It may be called progressive madness.
Its first stage is marked by an increased
circulation of the blood ; the conscious-
ness is not yet attacked, the fancy is
more lively, and the feeling of strength
and courage is increased. In the second
stage, the effect on the brain is more de-
cided : the peculiarities of character, and
the faults of temperament, which in his
sober moments the individual could con-
trol and conceal, manifest themselves
without reserve. Consciousness, in the
next stage, becomes more weakened : the
balance of the body cannot be kept, and
dizziness attacks the brain. In the next
degree, the .soul is overwhelmed in the
tumult of animal excitement ; conscious-
ness is extinguished ; the organs of speech
refuse to perform their office, or the
tongue pours forth an incoherent jargon ;
the face is red and swollen ; the eyes are
protruded and meaningless ; and the
drunkard falls into a state of stupor and
insensibility.

INTRAN'SITIVE, in grammar, an
epithet for a verb that expresses actions
that do not pass over to an object, as I
go, I come, I sleep, &o.

IN TRAN'SITU, a Latin expression,
signifying, during the passage from one
place to another.

INTRENCH'MENT, in fortification,
any work that shelters a post against the
attacks of an enemy.

IN'TROIT, in ecclesiastical antiqui-
ties, the verses chanted or repeated at
the first entering of the congregation into
the church ; a custom as old as the fourth
century: called " ingressa" in the Am
brosian ritual.

INTRU'SION, in law, a violent or un
lawful seizing upon lands or tenements.

INVj

AND THK FINE ARTS.

325

INTUI'TICLNr, the act by which the
mind perceives the agreement or dis-
agreement of two ideas, or the truth of
things, immediately, or the moment they
are presented, without the intervention
of other ideas, or without reasoning and
deduction. Intuition is the most simple
act of the reason or intellect, on which,
according to Locke, depends the certainty
and evidence of all our knowledge ; which
certainly every one finds to bo so great,
that he cannot imagine, and therefore
cannot require, greater. In the philoso-
phy of Kant, the term intuition is used
to denote the single act of the sense upon
outward objects according to its own laws.

INTU'ITIVE, perceived by the mind
immediately, without the intervention of
argument or testimony ; exhibiting truth
to the mind on bare inspection ; as, in-
tuitive evidence. The different species
of intuitive evidence, according to Dugald
Stewart, are, 1. The evidence of axioms ;
2. The evidence of consciousness ; of per-
ception and of memory ; 3. The evidence
of those fundamental laws of human be-
lief which form an essential part of our
constitution, and of which our entire con-
viction is implied, not only in all specu-
lative reasonings, but in all our conduct
as active beings. Of this class is the evi-
dence for our own personal identity; for
the existence of the material world ; for
the continuance of those laws which have
been found, in the course of our past ex-
perience, to regulate the succession of
phenomena. Such truths no man ever
thinks of stating to himself in the form
of propositions ; but all our conduct and
all our reasonings proceed on the suppo-
sition that they are admitted. Every
step which the reason makes in demon-
strative knowledge has intuitive certain-
ty ; and, consequently, the power of rea-
son presupposes that of intuition.

IN'VALIDS, those soldiers or sailors
who, either on account of wounds or length
of service, are admitted into hospitals,
and there maintained at the public ex-
pense. The practice of making provision
for soldiers worn out or disabled in the
public service dates from high antiquity.
The liberality of Pisistratus to the Athe-
nian soldiers is known to every scholar ;
and the history of ancient Rome is re-
plote with instances of the veterans of the
legions being rewarded with grants of
land. It must be admitted, however, that
in ancient times such recompenses had
not their origin in that high philanthropic
feeling by which the moderns are actu-
ated in making provision for military and

naval invalids ; for they were granted
only after victory, and emanated more
from individual power or favor than from
any general or established principles of
benevolence. In modern times there is
no civilized country without institutions
for the maintenance of invalids ; but the
most magnificent are, without question,
the Greenwich and Chelsea hospitals in
England, ana m France the Hotel des In-
valides.

IN VEN'TION", the action or operation
of finding out something new ; the con-
trivance of that which did not before ex-
ist ; as, the invention of logarithms ; the in-
vention of the art of printing ; the inven-
tion of the orrery. Invention differs from
discovery. Invention is applied to the
contrivance and production of something
that did not before exist. Discovery
brings to light that which existed before,
but which was not known. We are in-
debted to invention for the thermometer
and barometer. We are indebted to dis-
covery for the knowledge of the islands
in the Pacific ocean, and for the knowl-
edge of galvanism, and many species of
earth not formerly known. This distinc-
tion is important, though not always ob-
served. That which is invented. The
cotton gin is the invention of Whitney ;
the steamboat is the invention of Fulton.
The Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders
are said to be inventions of the Greeks ;
the Tuscan and Composite are inventions
of the Latins. In painting, the finding
or choice of the objects which are to enter
into the composition of the piece. In
poetry, it is applied to whatever the poet
adds to the history of the subject. In
rhetoric, the finding and selecting of ar-
guments to prove and illustrate the point .

INVERSION, in rhetoric and philolo-
gy, the transposition of words out of their
natural order. Every language has a
customary arrangement of its own to reg-
ulate the order of succession in which
words forming part of the same sentence,
member, or proposition follow each other.
On the other hand, there is undoubtedly
a natural or philosophical order of words
following each other in the same analyt-
ical succession in which ideas present
themselves to the mind, varied occasion-
ally by that produced by the succession
of sentiments or emotions ; and as in eve-
ry language many customary phrases, if
not the general arrangement of the words,
are contrary to this primitive order, eve-
ry language has customary inversions of
its own. Deviations from the customary

326

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITEKATUIIE

[ION

order of words are more commonly called
transpositions ; but each word has, of
course, a relative and somewhat arbitra-
ry signification. As an instance of ordi-
nary inversion, it may be observed that,
according to the metaphysical or analyt-
ical order, the subject of a proposition
precedes the predicate, being the first idea
which presents itself to the mind. Thus,
in the construction of a sentence contain-
ing a proposition, "Solon is wise," or
"Alexander reigns," we habitually fol-
low the order of nature. But when a sub-
stantive and adjective in connection form
part of a sentence, i. e., a subject or pred-
icate, or a part of either, the substantive
is that which seems naturally to present
itself first to the mind ; whereas in most
modern languages it follows the adjective,
while in the Greek and Latin its ordinary
although not its necessary place was be-
fore it : " Who is a wise man V " Vir
bonus est quis?" "The end of a long
silence." " Finis silentii diuturni." It
is in general to be observed, that modern
languages admit far less readily than an-
cient of transposition ; but there are con-
siderable differences in this respect be-
tween modern languages themselves.
German admits much latitude, French
very little. In our own language we are
frequently able to vary the analytical or-
der by following what maybe termed the
order of emotion, where a French writer
could not do so : thus in the proposition,
" Great is Diana of the Ephesians," it
would be impossible, in French, to give
the force which is added to the expression
by the transposition of the predicate to
the beginning without violating the ha-
bitual rules of construction. A similar
instance of inversion is to be found in the
Swedish and some kindred languages, in
which the article follows instead of pre-
ceding the noun. Inversion, in music,
the change of place between two notes of
an interval ; that is, placing the lower
note an octave higher, or the higher note
an octave lower.

INVERT'ED ARCH, in architecture,
one wherein the lowest stone or brick is

the key-stone. It is used in foundations,
to distribute the weight of particular
points over the whole extent of the foun-

dation, and hence its employment is fre-
quently of the first importance in con-
structive architecture.

INVES'TITURE, in feudal law, the
delivery of a fief by a lord to his vassal,
accompanied by peculiar ceremonies.
The investiture of a bishop was, properly
speaking, his endowment with the fiefs
and temporalities of the see. Hence it
became a subject of contest between the
popes and emperors, and one of the prin-
cipal grounds of the great quarrel of
Guelfs and Ghibellines. It was conceded
by the emperors to the Roman see in
1122 ; but the question was ended by a
substantial compromise, which left the
nomination in reality in the hands of the
temporal prince in European monarchies
under the Roman Catholic religion.

LNVOCA'TION, in literature, signi-
fies, in a general sense, an address at the
commencement of a poem, preferred to
the Muses or some other being supposed
capable of giving inspiration. Thus,
while the ancient poets generally ad-
dressed their invocations to some partic-
ular muse or divinity, Milton invokes
the " Heavenly Muse" and the " Holy
Spirit;" and, in his Henriade, Voltaire
calls to his aid " auguste Verite."

IN' VOICE, in commerce, a written ac-
count of the particulars of merchandise
shipped or sent to a purchaser, factor. &c.
with the value or prices and charges an-
nexed.

lON'IC DIALECT, the most eupho-
nious of the four written varieties of the
Greek language, was spoken by the in-
habitants of the Ionian Islands, and in
their colonial possessions in Asia Minor.
It was originally the same as the Attic
dialect, at least they boasted of a com-
mon origin ; but from the extensive com-
mercial intercourse of the lonians with
the eastern nations, -their language grad-
ually imbibed a portion of Asiatic effem-
inacy, which at length became its chief
characteristic, forming a striking con-
trast to that combination of strength and
harmony which distinguished the dialect
of Attica. The chief writers in the Ionic
dialect are Herodotus, Hippocrates, and
Galen : but it is in the writings of the
first that the most complete specimen is
to be found.

IONIC ORDER, one of the five or-
ders of architecture. The distinguish-
ing characteristic of this order is the
volute of its capital. In the Grecian
Ionic, the volutes appear the same on
the front and rear ; being connected on the
flanks by a baluster-like form ; through

ISA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

327

the external angles of the capitals of the
corner columns, however, a diagonal vo-
lute is introduced. The Romans gave
their Ionic four diagonal volutes, and
curved the sides of the abacus. The
Greek volute continues the fillet of the
spiral along the face of the abacus,
whereas in the Roman, its origin is be-
hind the ovolo. In the modern Ionic cap-
ital, the volutes are placed diagonally,
and the abacus has its sides hollowed out.
The shaft, including the base, which is
half a diameter, and the capital to the
bottom of the volute, generally a little
more, is about 9 diameters high, and may
be fluted in 24 flutes, with fillets between
them ; these fillets are seuai-circular. The
pedestal is a little taller and more orna-
mented than the Doric. The bases used
to this order are very various. The Attic
base is very often used, and with an as-
tragal added above the upper torus,
makes a beautiful and appropriate base.
The cornices of this order may be divided
into three divisions, the plain Grecian
cornice, the dentil cornice, and the mo-
dillion cornice. The best examples of
this order are the temple on the Ilissus,
of Minerva Polias, aifd Erichtheus in the
Acropoli?, and the aqueduct of Adrian at
Athens ; the temple of Fortuna Virilis,
and the Coliseum at Rome. The bold-
ness of the capital, with the beauty of
the shaft, makes it eligible for porticoes,
frontispieces, entrances to houses, &c.

lON'IC PHILOSOPHERS, the earliest
among the Greek schools of philosophy.
Speculation arose in Greece, as elsewhere,
in the attempt to discover the laws of
outward phenomena, and the origin and
successive stages of the world's develop-
ment. Such an attempt, it is needless
to say, must at first have been extremely
rude. To th^ student of philosophical
literature, however, no such undertaking,
however unsuccessful, can possibly be
otherwise than interesting ; and in this
instance in particular we are able to dis-
cover the manifest traces of that liveli-
ness of thought and systematic spirit
which distinguish the later Greek specu-
lations. The fathers of the Ionic school
were Thales and his disciple Anaximenes.
They were succeeded in the same line of
thought by Diogenes of Apollonia, and
Heraclitus of Ephesus. The character-
istic mark which distinguishes the specu-
lations of these thinkers is the endeavor
to refer all sensible things to one origi-
nal principle in nature. The two first
named were satisfied with a. very simple
solution of the problem. Water with the

one, and air with the other, were made
the original materials out of which all
things arose, and into which they were
finally resolved. In their successors the
germs of a more philosophical doctrine
are apparent. They retain, indeed, the
simplicity of an original element ; but
the air of Diogenes and the fire of He-
raclitus are apparently only sensible
symbols which they used only in order to
present more vividly to the imagination
the energy of the one vital principle
which is the ground of all outward ap-
pearances. It would indeed be a mistake
to regard these philosophers as 'material-
ists. The distinction between objective
and subjective, between a law operating
in the universe, and the corresponding
apprehension of that law by reason, how-
ever obvious it may seem at the pres-
ent day, seems to have required the deep
meditation of numerous powerful think-
ers to bring it into clear consciousness.
But we meet also with a class of thinkers
in whom the contrary tendency prevail-
ed. Anaximander (B.C. 590) and Anax-
agoras. the master of Pericles, agree
in this respect, that they consider the
world to be made up of numberless small
particles, of different kinds and of various
shapes, by the change in whose relative
position all phenomena are to be account-
ed for. This hypothesis is combined by
Anaxagoras with a Supreme Reason, the
author of all that is regular and harmo-
nious in the disposition of these element-
ary atoms. Anaxagoras may indeed be
considered as the first philosopher who
clearly and broadly stated the leading
distinctions between mind and matter.

I'RONY, a mode of speech, or writing,
expressing a sense contrary to what the
speaker or writer means to convey.
When irony is uttered, the dissimulation
is generally apparent from the manner
of speaking, which may be either accom-
panied by an arch look or by affected
gravity.

ISA'IAH, or the Prophecy of ISAIAH,
a canonical book of the Old Testament.
Isaiah is the first of the four great pro-
phets, the other three being Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, and Daniel. The style of Isniiih
is noble, sublime and florid. Grotius
calls him the Demosthenes of the He-
brews. He had the advantage, above
the other prophets, of improving his
diction by conversing with men of the
greatest learning and elocution ; and this
added a sublimity, force, and majesty to
what he said. He boldly reproved the
vices of the age in which he lived, and

328

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ivo

openly displayed the judgments of God
that threatened the Jewish nation ; at
the same time denouncing vengeance on
the Assyrians, Egyptians, Ethiopians,
Moabites, Edomites, Syrians, and Ara-
bians, who were instrumental in inflict-
ing those judgments. He foretold the
deliverance of the Jews from their cap-
tivity in Babylon, by the hands of Cyrus,
king of Persia, a hundred years before it
came to pass ; but the most remarkable
of his predictions are those concerning
the Messiah, in which he not only foretold
his coming in the flesh, but many of the
great and memorable circumstances of
his life and death. The whole, indeed,
bears the stamp of genius and true inspi-
ration.

I'SIS, one of the chief deities in the
Egyptian mythology. By the Egyptians
she was regarded as the sister or sister-
wife of Osiris, who concurred with her in
the endeavor to polish and civilize their
subjects ; to teach them agriculture and
other necessary arts of life: Among the
higher, and more philosophical theolo-
gians, she was made the symbol of pan-
theistic divinity. By the people she was
worshipped as the goddess of fecundity.
The cow was sacred to her. She is repre-
sented variously, though most usually as
a woman with the horns of a cow, and
sometimes with the lotus on her head,
and the sistrum in her hand.

IS'LAMISM, the practical as well as
the doctrinal tenets of the Mohammedan
religion, embracing the whole of their
civil and religious polity.

ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED, ac-
cording to the Grecian mythology, the
Happy Islands, supposed to lie westward
in the ocean, whither after death, the
souls of the virtuous were transported.
In the early mythology of the Greeks,
the Islands of the Blessed, the Elysian
fields, and the infernal regions, were
generally confounded with each other.

ISOTOM'IC, in music, consisting of
intervals, in which each concord is alike
tempered, and in which there are twelve
equal semitones.

IS'SUE, in law, the legitimate off-
spring of parents. Also, the profits
arising from lands, tenements, fines, &o.
The point of matter at issue between
contending parties in a suit, is when a
thing is affirmed on the one side, and
denied on the other.

IST'IIMIAN GAMES, so called be-
cause they were celebrated in the Isth-
mus of Corinth, which joins the Pelopon-
nesus to the Continent, at the temple of

Isthmian Neptune, which was surrounded
with a thick forest of pine. They were
originally held in the night, and had
perhaps fallen into disuse, when Theseus
restored them, and ordered them to be
celebrated in the day. The contests were
of the same kind as at the Olympic games ;
and so great was the concourse at these
games, that only the principal people ; of
the most remarkable cities, could have
place.

ITAL'IAN, a native of Italy, or the
language spoken by its inhabitants. The
origin of this beautiful and most harmo-
nious tongue, is involved in great ob-
scurity.

ITAL'ICS, in printing, characters or
letters (first used in Italy) which stand
inclining; thus Italic; and which are
often used by way of distinction from Ro-
man letters, for emphasis, antithesis, or
some peculiar importance attached to the
words in which they are employed.
Italicize, to write or print in Italic char-
acters.

ITALIC SCHOOL OF PHILOSO-
PHY, comprehends properly the Pytha-
gorean and Eleatic systems taken to-
gether; but sometimes it is used as
synonymous merely with the school of
Pythagoras. Under the several heads
will be found the chief features of these
philosophical systems, which, comprising
as they do all that can be said in refer-
ence to the Italic school, it would seem
unnecessary in this place further to ad-
vert to. The Italic school has been so
designated from the fact that its founder,
Pythagoras, taught in Italy, spreading
his doctrine among the people of Ta-
rentum, Metapontuin, Heraclea, Naples,
etc.

I'VORY, the tusks and teeth of the
elephant, and of the walrusor sea-horse ;
a hard, solid substance, or a fine white
creamy color, and greatly esteemed for
the fineness of its grain, and the high
polish tt is capable of receiving. That
of India loses its color and becomes yel-
low ; but that of Achem and Ceylon is
free from this imperfection. Ivory is
extensively used by cutlers in the manu-
facture of handles for knives and forks ;
by miniature painters for their tablets;
by turners, in making numberless useful
and ornamental objects, as well as for
chess-men, billiard balls, toys. Ac. ; also
by musical and philosophical instrument
makers; comb-makers; and by dentists
for making artificial teeth; for which
last-mentioned purpose the ivory of the
walrus is preferred. The western and

JAC]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

32G

eastern coasts of Africa, the Cape of
Good Hope, Ceylon, India, and the coun-
tries to the eastward of the straits of
Malacca, are the great marts whence
supplies of ivory are derived. Ivory
articles are said to be manufactured to a
greater extent, and with better success,
at Dieppe, than in any other place in
Europe ; but the preparation of this
beautiful material is much better under-
stood by the Chinese than by any other
people. No European artist has hitherto
succeeded in cutting concentric balls after
the manner of the Chinese ; and their
boxes, chess-men, and other ivory arti-
cles, are all far superior to any that are
to be met with anywhere else. The use
of ivory was well known in very early
ages. We find it employed for arms,
girdles, sceptres, harnesses of horses,
sword-hilts, Ac. The ancients were also
acquainted with the art of sculpturing in
ivory, of dying and encrusting it. Homer
refers to the extreme whiteness of ivory.
The coffer of Cypselus was doubtless the
most ancient monument of this kind in
basso-relievo, and we meet with similar
instances in the temple of Juno, at Olym-
pius; in the time of Pausanias that is
to say, seven hundred years after it had
been built. Antiquity possessed numer-
ous statues of ivory, particularly in the
temples of Jupiter and of Juno at Olym-
pius. In these statues there was very
frequently a mixture of gold. The most
celebrated are stated to have been the
Olympian Jupiter and the Minerva of
Phidias : the former was covered with a
golden drapery, and seated on a throne
formed of gold, of ivory and cedar-woSd,
and enriched with precious stones. In
his hand the god held a figure of Victory,
alike of ivory and gold. The Minerva
was erected in the Parthenon at Athens
during the first year of the eighty-seventh
Olympiad, the year which commenced
the Peloponnesian war. Pausanias, like-
wise, makes mention of an ivory statue
of Juno, on her throne, of remarkable
magnificence, by Polycletes, together with
an infinity of others.

I'VY, in mythological painting and
sculpture, a plant, the leaves of which
were made very plentiful use of by an-
cient artists on vases, pedestals, altars,
<tc. It was also, in the shape of a crown,
the constant attribute of Bacchus, proba-
bly because, being evergreen, it implied,
in an allegorical and at the same time
elegant manner, the eternal youth of that
deity.

J, this letter, although very ancient,
has been added to the English alphabet
only in modern days. Its form was origi-
nally identical with that of I, and it ia
only within the last century that any dis-
tinction was made between them. The
separation of these two letters in English
dictionaries is of still more recent date.
It seems to have had the sound of y in
many words, as it still has in the German.
The English sound of this letter may be
expressed by dzk, or edzh, a compound
sound coinciding exactly with that of g,
in genius; the French _;', with the articu-
lation d preceding it. It is the tenth
letter of the English alphabet, and the
seventh consonant.

JA'COBINS, in French history, a po-
litical club, which bore a well-known part
in the first revolution. It was first form-
ed by some distinguished members of the
First Assembly, particularly from Brit-
tany, where revolutionary sentiments ran
high. They took, at first, the name of
Friends of the Revolution ; but as, at the
end of 1789, they held their meetings in
the hall of a suppressed Jacobin monas-
tery in the Rue Saint Honore, the name
of Jacobins, at first familiarly given them,
was finally assumed by themselves. The
history of the Jacobin club is, in effect,
the history of the Revolution. It con-
tained at one time more than 2,500 mem-
bers, and corresponded with more than
400 affiliated societies in France. The
club of the Cordeliers, formed by a small
and more violent party out of the.general
body of Jacobins, was reunited with the
parent society in June, 1791 ; but con-
tinued to form a separate section within
its limits. The Jacobin club, which had
almost controlled the first assembly, was
thus, during the continuance of the sec-
ond, itself divided between two contend-
ing parties; although the name of Jaco-
bins, as a political party, is commonly
given to that section which opposed the
Girondists or less moderate in the club no
less than in the assembly. After the
destruction of the latter under the Con-
vention, the club was again exclusively
governed by the more violent among its
own members, until the downfall of Robes-
pierre. After that period it became un-
popular ; and its members having at-
tempted an insurrection on behalf of the
subdued Terrorists, November 11, 1794,
the meeting was dispersed by force, and
the club finally suppressed. Some wri-

330

CYCLOl'EDIA OF LITERATURE

[JAN

tors, such as Barrue.. nave seen in the
first formation of this and similar socie-
ties, the long-concocted operations of a
conspiracy against legitimate government
and religion throughout Europe. The
Jacobins, and the other principal clubs
of the Revolution, adopted all the forms
of a legislative assembly. In the consti-
tution of 1792, their legal existence was
recognized. See the historians of the
French Revolution, especially Carlyle,
Mignet, and Thiers, for general views;
Buchez et Roux, Histoire Parlemen-
taire de la Revolution Franfaise, for the
most complete series of details respecting
the Jacobins and their meetings which
has yet been made public. Jacobins, in
ecclesiastical history, the religious of the
order of St. Dominic were so called in
France, from the situation of the princi-
pal convent at Paris, near the Rue St.
Jacques.

JAC'OBITES, in English history, that
party which, after the Revolution of 1688,
adhered to the dethroned monarch James
II., and afterwards to his descendants.
In Scotland and Ireland, where the revo-
lution was not effected except with the
assistance of arms, the Jacobite party
formed one of the two great divisions of
each nation ; and although crushed in the
latter country by conquest, they contin-
ued in the former to comprise a large
proportion of the population until long
after the last rebellion in 1745. But in
England the revolution was effected at
first with the consent of all parties ; the
adherents to the exiled monarch were si-
lenced : yet in a year or two, the Jaco-
bite faction rose into strength, and con-
tinued to harass the government of AVil-
liam throughout his reign. Its immedi-
ate cause was to be found in the refusal
of a portion of the bishops and clergy to
take the oaths to the new government,
which gave, as it were, a certain consist-
ency and tangible ground of opposition to
the friends of the dethroned monarch in
general. At the same time many of Wil-
liam's chief advisers and officers main-
tained a secret correspondence with James
II. at the French court, less from any at-
tachment to his cause than with a view
to secure their own interest in case of his
return. After the death of James II. in
France, and accession of Anne in Eng-
land the efforts of the party languished
for a time ; but towards the close of her
reign they revived, on the prospect of a
change in the succession. In 1715, on
the arrival of George I., broke out the
unsuccessful first rebellion in Scotland :

its ill conduct and failure proved a con-
siderable check to the hopes of the Eng-
lish Jacobites. Bishop Atterbury, the
last of their bolder intriguers and adher-
ents, was banished in 1722: after which
time it is probable that no extensive con-
spiracy took place on their part. In
Scotland, however, the party maintained
its strength unabated, until the second
rebellion of 1745, by its complete failure,
put an end to its political existence.
Jacobites, in ecclesiastical history, the
monophysite Christians of Syria are so
called, from Jacob Baradzi, who revived
their belief and form of worship in that
country and Mesopotamia, in the middle
of the 6th century. Many unsuccessful
attempts have been made at various times
to unite them with the church of Rome.

JAC'OBUS, a gold coin in the reign
of James I. of the value of 25s.

JAC'QUERIE, in history, the name
popularly given to a revolt of the French
peasantry against the nobility, which took
place while king John was a prisoner in
England, in 1356. Jacques Bonhomme
was a term of derision applied by the
nobles to the peasants, from which the
insurrection took its name. It began in
the Beauvoisis, under a chief of the name
of Caillet, and desolated Picardy, Artois,
and Brie, where savage reprisals were
executed against the nobility for their
oppressions. It was suppressed after some
weeks by the dauphin and Charles the
Bad, king of Navarre. A similar spirit
in England produced, not many years
afterwards, the rebellion of Wat Tyler.

JACTITA'TION of Marriage, a suit
inthe ecclesiastical court, when one of
the parties declares that he or she is
married, which if the other party deny,
and no adequate proof of the marriage be
brought, the offending party is enjoined
silence on that head.

JAMBS, in architecture, the side or
vertical pieces of any opening in a wall,
which bear the piece that discharges the
superincumbent weight of such wall.

JAN'IZARIES, or JAN'ISSARIES,
the appellation given to the grand seig-
nior's guard, or the soldiers of the Turk-
ish infantry. They became turbulent,
and rising in arms against the sultan, in
May, 1826, were attacked, defeated, and
subsequently abolished, and their places
supplied by troops trained after the Eu-
ropean manner.

JAN'SENISTS, a denomination of Ro-
man Catholics in France, who followed
the opinon of Jansen, bishop of Ypres,
and formed a considerable party in tho

JEW]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

331

latter half of the 17th century. The Jan-
senists were Calvinistic in many of their
sentiments, and in several respects ap-
proximated to the reformed opinions.
They did not, however, separate them-
selves from the Catholic church ; nor did
they long survive the decree of Alexan-
der VII., by which certain propositions
extracted from their writings are con-
demned as heretical. The Jansenists are
chiefly celebrated for the contest they
maintained with the Jesuits, by whom,
they were at last overcome, and subjected
to the enmity both of Louis XIV. and
the pope.

JAN'UARY. the first month of the
year. By some the name is derived from
Janus, a Roman divinity ; by others from
janua, a gate. The months of January
and February were inserted in the Ro-
man year by Numa Pompilius. The
Roman feast of the kalends of January
seems to have been converted in the 6th
century into the Christian festival of the
circumcision.

JA'NUS, a Latin deity, originally the
same as the sun. He was represented
with two faces looking opposite ways, and
holding a key in one hand, a staff in the
other. He presided over the commence-
ment of all undertakings, whence the first
month in the year was named after him.
His temple at Rome was kept open in
the time of war, and shut in peace. The
warlike disposition of the Romans is
manifest from the fact that this temple
was only shut six times in 800 years:
viz., once in the reign of Numa ; at the
conclusion of the first Punic war ; thrice
in the reign of Augustus ; and once again
under Nero.

JEAL'OUSY, that passion or peculiar
uneasiness which arises from the fear
that a rival may rob us of the affection
of one whom we love, or the suspicion
that he has already done it ; or it is the
uneasiness which arises from the fear
that another does, or will enjoy some
advantage which we desire for ourselves.
A man's jealousy is excited by the atten-
tions of a rival to his favorite lady. A
woman's jealousy is roused by her hus-
band's attentions to another woman. The
candidate for office manifests a jealousy
of others who seek the same office. The
jealousy of a student is awakened by the
apprehension that his fellow will bear
away the palm of praise. In short, jeal-
ousy is awakened by whatever may ex-
alt others, or give them pleasures and
advantages which we desire for ourselves.
Jealousy is nearly allied to envy, for

jealousy, before a good is lost by our-
selves, is converted into envy, after it is
obtained by others.

JEHO'VAH, one of the Scripture
names of God, signifying the Being who
is self-existent, and gives existence to
others. This is the awful and ineffable
name of the God of Israel, which was re-
vealed to Moses ; denoting Him who is,
who was, and who is to come.

JEM'IDAR, in military affairs, a
black officer, who has the same rank as a
lieutenant in the East India Company's
service.

JES'DTTS, or the Society of Jesus, the
most celebrated of all the Romish reli-
gious orders; founded by Ignatius Lo-
yola, a Spaniard, in the year 1534, when
he, with Francis Xavier and four or five
other students at the university of Paris,
bound themselves to undertake the con-
version of unbelievers. As a religious
body, the Jesuits differ from their pred-
ecessors, inasmuch as, their principle
being to conform as much as possible
with the manners of the age, they have
never adopted the austere observances
and exclusive spiritual character upon
which all earlier orders had grounded
their claims to notoriety. They are di-
vided into different classes ; of which only
the professed take the religious vows of
poverty, chastity, and obedrence to their
superior. Among the novices are fre-
quently enrolled influential laymen, as
was Louis the XIV. himself in his latter
years ; and this is one of the means which
the order has employed to extend its ef-
ficiency where it would be least liable to
observation. The professed are of sev-
eral ranks, the whole body being under
the absolute control of the general, whose
abode is fixed in Rome, and whose coun-
cil consists of an admonitor and five as-
sistants or counsellors, who represent the
five principal Catholic states Italy, Ger-
many, France, Spain, and Portugal. To
Rome, as the central seat of the order,
are sent monthly communications from
the superiors of the different provinces
through which its members are distrib-
uted.

JEU D'ESPRIT', (French,) a witti-
cism or unexpected association of ideas.

JEWS, the descendants of Abraham,
once an independent tribe in Palestine,
but dispersed by the Romans ; yet still
distinguished by their religion, peculiar
pursuits, and primitive customs. They
are the negotiators of money between all
nations, and everywhere distinguished for
their successful enterprise and accumu-

332

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[J09

lations of wealth. They have, however,
lost the distinction of twelve tribes,
though perhaps more numerous than at
any period. See JUDAISM.

JEW'S'-HARP, an instrument of mu-
sic, of a very imperfect character, which,
placed between the teeth and by means
of a spring struck by the finger, gives a
sound which is modulated by the breath.
By some it has been called thvjaw's-harp,
because the place where it is played upon
is between the jaws.

JOB, or the book of Job, a canonical
book of the Old Testament, containing
the narrative of a series of misfortunes
which happened to a man named Job, as
a trial of his patience and fortitude, to-
gether with conferences which he held with
his several friends on the subject of his
misfortunes, and the manner in which he
was restored to happiness. Many of the
Jewish Rabbins pretend that this relation
is purely a fiction ; others think it a sim-
ple narrative of a matter of fact ; while
a third class of critics acknowledge that
the ground-work of the story is true, but
that it is written in a poetical style, and
decorated with peculiar circumstances, to
render the narration more profitable and
interesting. Such is the opinion of Gro-
tius, who supposed that the events record-
ed in it happened in Arabia, while the
Hebrews wandered in the desert. The
whole narrative is characterized by sim-
plicity of manner and intensity of feel-
ing, combined with pure and lofty senti-
ments, illustrating in a striking manner,
the nature of man and the providence of
God.

JOHN BULL, the well-known collec-
tive name of the English nation, was
first used in Arbuthnot's satire, The
History of John Bull, usually published
in Swift's works ; in which the French are (
designated as Lewis Baboon, the Dutch
as Nicholas Frog, &c.

JOHN (Sr.) THE EVANGELIST,
the author of the Gospel which bears his
name, of the book of Revelations, which
he wrote while an exile in the isle of Pat-
mos, and of three Epistles. He was
emphatically called " the disciple whom
Jesus loved ;" and he was one of the
most pure and estimable characters men-
tioned in the New Testament.

JOHN THE BAPTIST, the inspired
harbinger of the Messiah. His zeal, as
one who came to " prepare the way" of
a greater and more glorious prophet,
was equalled only by his self-denial and
humility. He at last fell a victim to his
independence and severe virtues, being

beheaded by order of Herod Antipas, te-
trarch of Galilee, to gratify a vindictive
woman. His disciples are said to have
been the founders of the sect of Sabians.

JOINT-STOCK, stock held in com-
pany. Joint- Stock Companies, associa-
tions of a number of individuals for the
purpose of carrying on a specified busi-
ness or undertaking. They are generally
formed for the accomplishment of exten-
sive schemes of trade or manufacture, or
the completion of some object of national
and local importance, such as railways,
bridges, canals, Ac. They have also been
found well adapted for the formation of
banks.

JOINT-TEN'ANCY, in law, a tenure
of estate by unity of interest, title, time,
and possession.

JOINT'URE, in law, a wife's separate
estate, secured by will, or by marriage
settlement. In other cases the wife in-
herits one third.

JO'NAH, prophecy of, a canonical
book of the Old Testament, in which it
is related that Jonah, about the year 771,
B.C., was ordered to go and prophesy the
destruction of the Ninevites, on account
of their wickedness. But instead of
obeying the divine command, he embark-
ed for.Tarshish, when a tempest arising,
the mariners drew lots to determine who
was the cause of it, and as the lot fell to
him he was thrown into the sea, and was
swallowed by a great fish, which after
three days, cast him on the shore. After
this he boldly preached to the people of
Nineveh, and predicted their destruction ;
but which, on account of their repentance,
was averted. Jonah, dreading the suspi-
cion which might attach to him as a false
prophet, retired to a mountain at a dis-
tance from the city, where he learnt the
folly and unreasonableness of his own dis-
content. It may be observed that some
critics consider this book as a collection
of traditions, collected after the destruc-
tion of Nineveh, while others treat it as
a mere allegorical poem.

JOSH'UA, a canonical book of the Old
Testament, containing a history of the
wars and transactions of the person whose
name it bears. This book is divisible into
three parts, the first of which is a history
of the conquest of Canaan ; the second,
which begins with the 12th chapter, is a
description of that country, and the di-
vision of it among the tribes : and the
third, comprised in the last two chapters,
contains the renewal of the covenant
which he caused the Israelites to make,
and the death of their victorious leader.

JUL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

333

JOUR'NAL, a diary ; an account of
daily transactions and events ; or the
book containing such account. Among
merchants, a book in which every partic-
ular article or charge is fairly entered
from the waste book or blotter. In navi-
gation, a daily register of the ship's
ourse and distance, the winds, weather,
and other occurrences. A paper publish-
ed daily, or other newspaper ; also, the
title of a book or pamphlet published at
stated times, containing an account of in-
ventions, discoveries, and improvements
in arts and sciences ; as, the Journal des
Savans ; the Journal of Science. A nar-
rative, periodically or occasionally pub-
lished, of the transactions of a society,
<fcc., as the Journals of the Houses of
Congress.

JU'BILEE, a grand festival celebrated
every fiftieth year, by the Jews, in com-
memoration of their deliverance out of
Egypt. At this festival, which was a
season of joy, all debts were to be can-
celled ; all bond-servants were set free ;
all slaves or captives were released ; and
all estates which had been sold reverted
to the original proprietors or their de-
scendants. In imitation of the Jewish
jubilee, the Romish church instituted a
year of jubilee, during which the popes
grant plenary indulgences, &c.

JU'DAISM, the religious doctrines aiM
rites of the Jews, a people of Judah, or
Judea. These doctrines and rites are de-
tailed in the five books of Moses, hence
called the law. The Caraites acknowl-
edge no other ; but the ttabbinists, the
second of the two sects of Jews, add those
inculcated by the talmud. The following
is a summary of the religious creed of the
Jews : 1, that God is the creator and ac-
tive supporter of all things ; 2, that God
is ONE, and eternally unchangeable ; 3,
that God is incorporeal, and cannot have
any material properties ; 4, that God
shall eternally subsist ; 5, that God is
alone to be worshipped ; 6, that whatever
has been taught by the prophets is true :

7, that Moses is the head and father of
all contemporary doctors, and of all those
who lived before and shall live after him ;

8, that the law was given by Moses; 9,
that the law shall always exist, and nev-
er be altered ; 10, that God knows all the
thoughts and actions of man; 11, that
God will reward the observance and pun-
ish the breach of his law; 12. that the
Messiah is to come, though he tarry a
long time ; and 13, that there shall be a
resurrection of the dead when God shall
think fit. These doctrines, commonly re-

ceived by the Jews to this day, were
drawn up about the end of the eleventh
century by the famous Jewish rabbi Mai-
monides.

JUDG'ES, THE BOOK OF, a canonical
book of the Old Testament, so called from
its relating the state of the Israelites un-
der the administration of many illustrious
persons who were called judges, from the
circumstance of their being both the civil
and military governors of the people.
The power of the judges extended to af-
fairs of peace and war. They were pro-
tectors of the laws, defenders of religion,
avengers of all crimes ; but they could
make no laws, nor impose any new bur-
thens upon the people. They lived with-
out pomp or retinue, unless their own for-
tunes enabled them to do it ; for the
revenues of their office consisted in vol-
untary presents from the people. They
continued from the death of Joshua till
the beginning of the reign of Saul.

JTJDG'MENT, in metaphysics, a fac-
ulty of the soul, whereby it compares
ideas, and perceives their agreement or
disagreement. In law, the sentence or
doom pronounced in any cause, civil or
criminal, by the judge or court by which
it is tried. Judgments are either inter-
locutory, that is, given in the middle of
a cause on some intermediate point, or
final, so as to put an end to the action.

JU'DICES SELEC'TI, in Roman an-
tiquities, were persons summoned by the
praetor, to give their verdict in criminal
matters in the Roman courts, as juries
do in ours. No person could be regular-
ly admitted into this number till he was
twenty-five years of age. Sortitia Judi-
cum, or impanelling the jury, was the of-
fice of the Judex Qucestionis, and was
performed after both parties were come
into court, for each had a right to reject
or challenge whom they pleased, others
being substituted in their room.

JUDI'CIUM DEI, the term formerly
applied to all extraordinary tria ; ls of se-
cret crimes, as those by arms, single com-
bat, ordeals, &e., in which it was believed
that heaven would miraculously interfere
to clear the innocent and confound the
guilty.

JU'LIAN PE'RIOD, in chronology,
signifies a revolution of 7980 years, which
arises from multiplying the solar cycle,
the cycle of the moon, and the cycle of
indiction into one another. This period
is of great use, as the standard and gen-
eral receptacle of all other epochas. peri-
ods, and cycles : into this as into a large
ocean, all the streams of time discharge

334

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[JUR

themselves, yet so as not to lose their pe-
culiar characters ; and had historians re-
marked the number of each cycle in each
year respectively, there could have been
no dispute about the time of any action
or event in past ages. When the Chris-
tian era commenced 4713 years of the
Julian period were elapsed, 4713 there-
fore being added to the year of our Lord,
will give the year of the Julian period.

JULY', the seventh month of the year.
It was the fifth month of the old Roman
year, and known by the name of Quin-
tilis ; but received the name of July in
compliment to Julius Caesar, who reform-
ed the calendar, in such a manner, that
this month stood as it does now with ns,
the seventh in order.

JUNE, the sixth month of the year, in
which is the summer solstice. It was the
fourth month of the old Roman year, but
the sixth of the year as reformed by Nu-
ma and Julius Caesar. Some suppose it
received its name in honor of Junius Bru-
tus. It was looked upon as under the
protection of Mercury.

JU'NO, the Latin name of the divinity
called by the Greeks Hera. She was the
sister and consort of Jupiter, and was
held to preside over marriage, and pro-
tect married women. She was represented
as the model of majestic beauty, in royal

attire and attended by her favorite bird
the peacock. Her principal temples in
Greece were at Samos and Argos. She
was also the patroness of Veii, whence
she was invited to Rome on the occasion
of the last siege of the ffirmer city.

JUN'TA, a grand Spanish council of
state. Besides the assembly of the states
or cartes, there wore two juntas : one
which presided over the commerce, the
mint, and the mines ; and the other form-
ing a board for regulating the tobacco
monopoly. The assembling of a junta by
Napoleon in 1808, and the part they sub-
sequently played in Spanish history, are
sufficiently known to the reader. In
English the term junto (evidently of
Spanish origin) is used almost synony-
mously with cabal or faction.

JU'PITER, the supreme deity among
the Greeks and Romans. He was called
by the Greeks Zeus (Ztttj,) and appears
originally to have been worshipped as an
elemental divinity who presided over
rain, snow, lightning, &c. He was the
son of Saturn, whom he deposed from his
tnrone, and thence became the supreme
monarch of gods and men. He married
his sister Juno, by whom he had Vulcan,

but he had a numerous progeny besides,
the chief of whom was Minerva. His
most celebrated Grecian temple was at
Olympia in Elis, and his chief oracle was
at Dodona in Epirus. He is usually rep-
resented as seated on an ivory throne
with a sceptre in his left hand and a
thunderbolt in his right. The eagle, his
favorite bird, is generally placed by the
side of the throne.

JURISCON'SULT, a master of Roman
jurisprudence, who was consulted on the
interpretation of the laws.

JURISDICTION, in its most general
sense, is the power to make, declare, or
apply the law ; when confined to the ju-

jus]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

335

diciary department, it is what we denom-
inate the judicial power, the right of ad-
ministering justice through the laws.
Inferior courts have jurisdiction of debt
and trespass, or of smaller offences ; the
supreme courts have jurisdiction of trea-
son, murder, and other high crimes.

JURISPRUDENCE, the science which
gives a knowledge of the laws, customs,
and rights of men in a state or commu-
nity, necessary for the due administration
of justice.

JU'RIS U'TRUM, in law, a writ in
behalf of a clergyman whose predeces-
sor has alienated the lands belonging to
his church.

JU'RY, a certain number of men sworn
to inquire into or to determine facts, and
to declare the truth according to the
evidence legally deduced, and they are
sworn judges upon evidence in matters of
fact. When the object is inquiry only,
the tribunal is sometimes called an in-
quest or inquisition ; but when facts are
to be determined by it for judicial pur-
poses, it is always termed a jury. Trial
by jury, in popular language, signifies
the determination of facts in the admin-
istration of civil or criminal justice by
twelve men, sworn to decide facts truly
according to the evidence produced be-
fore them. Grand juries are exclusively
incident to courts of criminal jurisdiction ;
their office is to examine into charges of
crimes brought to them, and if satisfied
that they are true, or at least that they
deserve more particular examination, to
return a bill of indictment against the
accused, upon which he is afterward tried
by a petty jury. A grand jury must
consist of twelve at the least, but in prac-
tice a greater number usually serve, and
twelve must always concur in finding
every indictment. Petty or common ju-
ries consist of twelve men only. They
are appointed to try all cases both civil
and criminal, and to give their verdict
according to the evidence adduced.

JUS, (Latin,) in its general accepta-
tion, signifies that which is right or con-
formable to law. Jus accrescendi, in
law, the right of survivorship between
two joint tenants. Jus coronec, signifies,
in general, the rights of the crown. These
are a part of the laws of the kingdom,
though they differ in many things from
the general laws relating to the subject.
Jus duplicatum, is a double right, and
is used when a person has the possession
of a thing, as well as a right to it. Jus
divinum, is that which is ordered by a
revelation, in contradistinctiyn to that

which is ordered by reason : but it is evi-
dent that the distinction exists only in
the form, and not in the essence, because
that which is ordered by our reason is to
be referred to God, as its origin, equally
with that which is decreed by revelation.
Jus gentium, the law of nations, or
the laws established between different
kingdoms and states, in relation to each
other. Jus hereditatis, the right or law
of inheritance. Jus patronatus, in tho
canon law, is the right of presenting to a
benefice ; or a kind of commission grant-
ed by the bishop to inquire who is the
rightful patron of a church. Jus pos-
sessionis, is a right of seisin or possession,
as jus proprietaiis is the right of owner-
ship of lands, Ac. Jus quiritium. in an-
tiquity, the fullest enjoyment of Roman
citizenship. This is also called Jus civile
and Jus urbanum. Jus imaginis. the
right of using pictures and statues, sim-
ilar to the modern right of bearing coats
of arms, which was allowed to none but
those whose ancestors or themselves had
borne some curule office.

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, the word
justice is applied to judicial magistrates ;
as justices of such a court, and, in the
English laws, justices of the forest, hun-
dred, or the laborers, &c. ; and hence the
appellation justice of the peace that is,
a judicial magistrate intrusted with the
conservation of the peace. A great part
of the civil officers, are, in fact, the con-
servators of the peace, as their duty is to
prevent or punish breaches of the peace.
Thus the judges, grand-jurymen, justices
of the peace, mayors and aldermen of
municipal corporations, sheriffs, coro-
ners, constables, watchmen, and all offi-
cers of the police, are instituted for the
purpose of preventing, in different ways,
crimes and disturbances of the peace of
the community, or for arresting, trying
and punishing the violators of the laws
and good order of society. In England
and the United States, the justice of the
peace, though not high in rank, is an offi-
cer of great importance, as the first ju-
dicial proceedings are had before him in
regard to arresting persons accused of
grave offences ; and his jurisdiction ex-
tends to trial and adjudication for small
offences. In case of the commission of
a crime or a breach of the peace, a com-
plaint is made to one of these magistrates.
If he is satisfied with the evidence of a
commission of some offence, the cogni-
zance of which belongs to him, either
for the purpose of arresting, or for trying
the party accused, he issues a warrant

330

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[KAL

directed to a constable, or other executive
ofiicer designated by the law for this
purpose, ordering the person complained
of to be brought before him, and he there-
upon tries the party, if the offence bo
within his jurisdiction, and acquits him
or awards punishment. If the offence
charged be of a graver character, the ad-
judication upon which is not within the
justice's jurisdiction, the question then
is, whether the party complained of is to
be imprisoned, or required to give bonds
to await his trial before the tribunal
having jurisdiction, or is to be discharg-
ed ; and on these questions the jus-
tice decides according to his view of
the law and the facts. In the United
States, the office is held only by special
appointment, and the tenure is different
in different states, the office having been
held, in one state at least, during good
behavior ; but the commission is more
usually for seven years, or some other
specific limited period. These magis-
trates have usually also a civil jurisdic-
tion, of suits for debts, on promises, or
for trespasses, (where the title to real es-
tate does not come in question, and with
some other exceptions,) to an amount
varying, in the different states, from
$13.33 to $100. In some states, a party
may appeal from the decision of the jus-
tice to a higher tribunal, whatever may
be the amount in question, in a civil suit,
and whatever may be the judgment. In
other states, no appeal is allowed, except
in case of an amount in question exceed-
ing four dollars, or some other certain,
but always inconsiderable sum. So an
appeal is usually allowed to the accused
party in a criminal prosecution before a
justice of the peace, in case of the judg-
ment being for a penalty over a certain
specified and small amount, or an impris-
onment over a certain number of days. It
is evidently of the greatest importance to
the peace and good order of a community,
that the justices should be discreet, hon-
est and intelligent.

JUSTIFICATION, in law, the show-
ing good reason in a court, why one has
done the thing for which he is called to
answer. Pleas in justification must set
forth some special matter : thus, on be-
ing sued for a trespass, a person may
justify it by proving that the land is his
own freehold ; that he entered a house,
in order to apprehend a felon ; or by vir-
tue of a warrant, to levy a forfeiture ; or,
in order to take a distress. In theology,
justification signifies remission of sin and
absolution from guilt and punishment,

or an act of free grace by which God par-
dons the sinner and accepts him as right-
eous, on account of the merits of Christ.

JUVENA'LI^E, in Roman antiquity,
a feast instituted for youth by Nero,
when his beard was first shaven.

The eleventh letter of the English al-
phabet, is borrowed from the Greeks,
being the same character as the Greek
kappa, answering to the Oriental kaph.
It represents a close articulation, formed
by pressing the root of the tongue against
the upper part of the mouth, with a de-
pression of the lower jaw and opening of
the teeth. It is usually denominated a
guttural, but is more properly a palatal.
Before all the vowels, it has one invaria-
ble sound, corresponding with that of c,
before a, o, and M, as in keel, ken. In
monosyllables, it is used after c, as in
crack, check, deck, being necessary to ex-
hibit a correct pronunciation in the de-
rivatives, cracked, checked, decked, crack-
ing, for without it, c, before the vowels e
and i would be sounded like s. Formerly,
k was added to c, in certain words of Lat-
in origin, as in musick, publick, republick.
But in modern practice, k is very properly
omitted, being entirely superfluous, and
the more properly, as it is never written
in the derivatives, musical, publication,
republican. It was till lately retained
in traffick, as in monosyllables, on ac-
count of the pronunciation of the deriva-
tives, trafficked, trafficking, but we now
write traffic. K is silent before n, as in
know, knife, knee. As a numeral, K
stands_for 250 ; and with a stroke over it
thus, K, 250,000. As a contraction, K
stands for knight, as K.B., Knight of the
Bath ; K.G., Knight of the Garter ;
K.C.B., Knight Commander of the Bath ;
K.T., Knight of the Thistle ; and K.H.,
Knight of Hanover. This character was
not used by the ancient Romans, and
rarely in the later ages of their empire.
In the place of k they used c, as in clino,
for the Greek fAo-w. In the Teutonic
dialects, this Greek letter is sometimes
represented by h.

KA'LAND, a lay fraternity instituted
in Germany in the 13th century, for the
purpose of doing honor to deceased rela-
tives and friends. The term is probably
derived from kalendae, the first day of
any month, as the members of this society
chose thai, day for the observance of their

KAN]

ceremonies. These consisted originally
of prayers, followed by a slight repast, in
which all the members participated ; but
in process of time the religious purposes
of the society became wholly merged in
the festivities, so that it eventually was
found necessary to abolish the fraternity
on account of its excesses.

KA'MI, spirits or divinities, the belief
in which appears to have characterized
the ancient religion of Japan before it
became intermingled with foreign doc-
trines, and still constitutes its ground-
work. Those spirits are partly ele-
mental, subordinate to the gods of the
sun and moon, and partly the spirits of
men ; but, in fact, every natural agent
or phenomenon has its spirit or genius.
The human spirits survive the body, and
receive happiness or punishment for the
actions of the individual in life. Distin-
guished benefactors of their species, or
men renowned for purity of life, are dei-
fied; and their kami become objects of
worship, like the heroes of antiquity.
The number of them is said at present to
bo above 3,000. They are worshipped in
temples in which no images are retained,
each particular divinity being merely
typified by a mirror, the emblem of
purity ; and all the rites of the worship
appear to be symbolical of purification.

KAM'SIN, the name given to a hot
and dry southerly wind, common in Egypt
and the deserts of Africa, which prevails
more or less for fifty days. On the ap-
proach of this wind the sky becomes dark
and heavy, the air gray and thick, and
filled with a dust so subtile that it pene-
trates everywhere. It is not remarkably
hot at first, but increases in heat the
longer it continues, during which time it
causes a difficulty of breathing, and when
at its highest pitch, will sometimes cause
suffocation.

KAN'TIAN PHILOS'OPHY, (known
also by the name of the Critical Philoso-
phy,) a system which owes its existence
to Immanuel Kant, professor of logic and
metaphysics in the university of Ktinigs-
berg in the latter half of the 18th cen-
tury. The promulgation of Kant's doc-
trines forms a very marked era in the
history of philosophy. Our limits will
prevent us from giving an explanation
of this system in any degree adequate to
its importance. We must confine our-
selves to a brief outline of its leading
features. At the time when Kant com-
menced his metaphysical labors the phil-
osophical world was divided between the
sensualism of the French followers of
22

AND THE FINE ARTS.

337

Locke on the one hand, and the dogmatic
rationalism of the disciples of Wolf and
Leibnitz on the other. The former, by a
species of analytical legerdemain, re-
solved all our mental powers into modifi-
cations of sense ; while the latter, in an
equally indiscriminating spirit, though
with far more laudable intentions, sought
to construct a systsm of real truth out of
the abstract conceptions of the under-
standing. Against both of these schools
Kant declared c pen warfare. Withdraw-
ing himself froiji all ontological specula-
tion, he sought, by a stricter analysis of
our intellectual powers, to ascertain the
possibility and to determine the limits
of human knowledge. He divides the
speculative part of our nature into three
great provinces sense, understanding,
and reason. Our perception of the out-
ward world is representative merely : of
things as they are in themselves it affords
us no notices. In order to render human
experience possible, two ground-forms,
under which all sensible things are con-
templated, are assumed time and space.
To these he assigns a strictly subjective
reality. The truth of the fundamental
axioms of geometry rests on the necessity
and universality of our intuitions of space
in its three dimensions intuitions which
are not derived from any one of our
senses, or from any combinations of them,
but lie at the ground and are the condition
of all sensible human experience. The
understanding, or the faculty which com-
bines and classifies the materials yielded
by sense, Kant subjects to a similar analy-
sis. All its operations are generalized
into four fundamental modes or forms of
conception ; which, after the example of
Aristotle, he names categories. These
are four in number : 1. Quantity, includ-
ing unity, multeity, totality ; 2. Quality,
divided into reality, negation, and limita-
tion ; 3. Relation, viz. substance and acci-
dent, cause and effect, action and reac-
tion ; and 4. Modality, also subdivided
into possibility, existence, and necessity.
These form, as it were, the moulds in
which the rude material of the senses is
shaped into conceptions, and becomes
knowledge properly so called. The cate-
gories in themselves are the subject-mat-
ter of logic, which is so far forth a pure
science, determinable a priori. The third
and highest faculty, the reason, consists
in the power of forming ideas pure
forms of intelligence, to which the sensi-
ble world has no adequate correspondents.
Out of these ideas no science can be
formed ; they are to be regarded as regu-

338

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[KET

lative only, not as constitutive. The ex-
istence of God, immortality, freedom,
are the objects after which the reason is
perpetually striving, but concerning
which it can decide nothing either one
way or the other. Thus far Kant's sys-
tem may bo regarded as one of pure
skepticism. The deficiencies of our spec-
ulative reason he conceives to be supplied
by the moral faculty, to which he has
given the name of practical reason, the
object of which is to determine, not what
is, but what ought to be. As the former
determines the form of our knowledge,
so the latter prescribes the form of our
action. Obligation is not a mere feeling ;
it has a pure form under which the reason
is compelled to regard human conduct.
The personality of man, which lies at the
ground of speculative knowledge, becomes,
in relation to action, freedom of the will.
It is in our moral nature that we must
seek for the only valid foundation of the
belief in God, the immortality of the soul,
and a future state in which the demands
of the practical reason shall be realized.

KEEL, the lowest piece of timber in a
ship, running her whole length from the
lower part of her stem to the lower part
of her stern post, and supporting the
whole frame. Sometimes a second keel,
or false keel, as it is called, is put under
the first.

KEEL'-HAULTNG, among seamen, a
punishment of offenders at sea by letting
them down from the yard-arm with ropes,
and drawing them under the keel from
one side to the other.

KEEL'SON, or KEL'SON, in naval
architecture, a principal timber in a ship,
laid withinside across all the timbers over
the keel, and fastened with long bolts ; so
that it forms the interior or counterpart
of the keel.

KEEP, a strong tower in old castles,
where the besieged retreated in cases of
extremity. It is also called the donjon
or dungeon.

KEEP'ER, in English law, an officer
of different descriptions, as the keeper of
the great seal, a lord by his office, and
one of the privy council, through whose
hands pass all charters, commissions, and
grants of the king under the great seal ;
the keeper of the privy seal, through
whose hands pass all charters, &c., before
they come to the great seal. There is
also the keeper of the forests, the keeper
of the touch, an officer of the mint, &e.

KEEP'ING, a term used in various
branches of the Fine Arts, to denote the
jnst proportion and relation of the vari-

ous parts. In painting, it signifies the
peculiar management of coloring and
chiaro oscuro, so as to produce a proper
degree of relievo in different objects, ac-
cording to their relative position and im-
portance. If the lights, shadows, and
half tints be not in proper keeping, that
is, in their exact relative proportion of
depths, no rotundity can be effected, and
without due opposition of light, shade,
and colors, no apparent separation of ob-
jects can take place.

KE'RI-CHE'TIB, in philology, the
name given to various readings in the
Hebrew Bible. Keri signifies that which
is read, and chetib that which is written.
When any such various readings occur,
the false reading or ehetib is written in
the text, and the true reading or keri is
written in the margin. These correc-
tions, which are about 1000 in number,
have been generally attributed to Ezra ;
but as several keri-chetibs are found in the
sacred books the produce of his own pen, it
is more probable that they are of later
date.

KEY, in music, the name of the funda-
mental note or tone, to which the whole
piece is accommodated, and in which it
usually begins and always ends. There
are but two species of keys ; one of the
major, and one of the minor mode, all the
keys in which we employ sharps or flats
being deduced from the natural keys of
C major and A minor, of which they are
mere transpositions. The keys of an or-
gan or pianoforte, are movable project-
ing levers, made of ivory or wood, so
placed as conveniently to receive the fin-
gers of the performer, by which the me-
chanism is set in motion and the sounds
produced.

KEY'STONE, in architecture, the
highest central stone of an arch; that
placed on the top or vertex, to bind the

K, the Keystone.

two sweeps together. In some arches the
keystone projects from the face. In vault-
ed Gothic roofs, the keystones are usu-
ally ornamented with a boss or pendant.

KNl]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

339

KHAN, an Asiatic governor. In the
north of Asia this title expresses the full
regal dignity ; but there are also khans
of provinces, cities, &o. " This is the
word," says Sir William Jones, <: so va-
riously and so erroneously written by
Europeans. The sovereign lord of Tar-
tary is neither the cham, as our travellers
call him, nor the fian, as Voltaire will
have it ; but the khdn, or cdn, with an
aspirate on the first letter." Khan is
frequently used to signify an Eastern
caravansera, in which travellers find a
gratuitous lodging, provided their stay
be limited to a single night.

KING, the chief magistrate or sove-
reign of a nation ; a man invested with
supreme authority over a nation, tribe,
or country. Kings are absolute mon-
archs, when they possess the powers of
government without control, or the entire
sovereignty over a nation : they are
called limited monarchs when their power
is restrained by fixed laws. Kings are
hereditary sovereigns, when they hold the
powers of government by right of birth
or inheritance, and elective, when raised
to the throne by choice. The person of
the king of England is sacred. He can-
not, by any process of law, be called to
account for any of his acts. His concur-
rence is necessary for every legislative
enactment. He sends embassies, makes
treaties, and even enters into wars with-
out any previous consultation with par-
liament. He nominates the judges, and
the other high officers of state, the officers
of the army and navy, the governors of
colonies and dependencies, the bishops,
deans, and some other dignitaries of the
English Church. He calls parliament
together, and can at his pleasure pro-
rogue or dissolve it. He is the fountain
of honor ; all hereditary titles are de-
rived from his grant. King at arms, an
officer in England of great antiquity, and
formerly of great authority, whose busi-
ness is to direct the heralds, preside at
their chapters, and have the jurisdiction
of armory. There are three kings at
arms, viz.. garter, clarencieux, and nor-
roy (nortfiroy.) The first of these is
styled principal king at arms, and the
two latter provincial kings, because their
duties are confined to the provinces ; the
one (clarencieu.r,) officiating south of the
Trent, and the other (norroy,J north of
that river. There is also a Lyon king at
arms for Scotland, and an Ulster king at
arms for Ireland, whose duties are nearly
analogous to those of England.

KINGS, BOOKS OF, two canonical books

of the Old Testament, so called because
they contain the history of the kings of
Israel and Judah, from the beginning of
the reign of Solomon, down to the Baby-
lonish captivity, for the space of near six
hundred years.

KING'S BENCH, BANCUS REGIUS,
so called because the king used formerly
to sit there in person. It is the supreme
court of common law in England, consist-
ing of the Lord Chief Justice, and three
puisne or inferior judges, who hear and
determine, for the most part, all pleas
which concern the crown.

KI'OSK, (a Turkish word,) a kind of
summer-house, or open pavilion, with a
tent-shaped roof, and supported by pillars.
Kiosks have been introduced from Turkey
and Persia into European gardens, which
they greatly serve to embellish.

KIRK, in Scotland, a church. Kirk-
man, one of the church of Scotland.
Kirk sessions, an inferior church-judica-
tory, in Scotland, consisting of the minis-
ters, elders, and deacons of a parish.

KIT-CAT CLUB, the name of a cele-
brated association in London, instituted
about 1688 by some young men, origi-
nally for convivial purposes ; but as its
most distinguished members were whigs
in politics, it gradually assumetl a politi-
cal character, till in the reign of Queen
Anne it came to be regarded as exclu-
sively political in its objects. At that
period it comprised above forty noblemen
and gentlemen of the first rank and qual-
ity, merit and fortune, firm friends to
the Hanoverian succession ; among whom
were Addison, Steele, Marlborough, Wai-
pole, &c. &c. It was originally formed
in Shire Lane, and derived its name from
one Christopher (Kit) Kat, who supplied
the members with mutton pies. The
fame of this club has been transmitted
chiefly by the collection of the portraits
of the members painted by Sir Godfrey
Kneller, himself a member, who was
obliged to invent a new-sized canvass ac-
commodated to the height 6T walls ;
whence has originated the application of
the epithet kit-kat to any portrait about
three quarters in length. It was dissolved
in the year 1720.

KNIGHT. Originally, a knight was a
youth ; and young men being employed
as servants, hence it came to signify a
servant. But among our warlike ances-
tors, the word was particularly applied
to a young man after he was admitted to
the privilege of bearing arms. The ad-
mission to this privilege was a ceremc-
ny of great importance, and was the

340

CYCLOPEDIA OP LITERATURE

origin of the institution of knighthood.
JIoncc, in foudiil times, a knight was a
man admitted to military rank by a
certain ceremony. This privilege was
conferred on youths of family and for-
tune, and hence sprung the honorable
title of knight, in modern usage, which
in dignity ranks next to nobility. Knight-
hood is the highest rank of a commoner,
but a knight is still a commoner. A
knight has the title of Sir before his
Christian name, as, Sir John, Sir Wil-
liam. Anciently, when the Christian
name was not known, the style was Sir
Knight.

KNIGHT'ED, created a knight,
KNIGHT-ER'RANT, or wandering
Knight, one who in the generous enthu-
siasm of chivalry, set out, attended by
his esquire or shield-bearer, with the de-
sign of exposing his life wherever wrong
was to be redressed. The chivalrous age
in which this profession was taken up,
demanded such exertions ; and though
poetry has given an air of fiction, to the
adventures of knights-errant, they are
founded on truth.

KNIGHT'HOOD, the order or frater-
nity of knights. The order of knight-
hood, as now existing, appears to have
originated in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, and it was introduced into
England from France. It was a military
institution, but there appears to have
been something of a religious character
belonging to it, and the order of knight-
hood, like the orders of the clergy, could
be conferred only by persons who were
themselves members of the order. In
early times some knights undertook the
protection of pilgrims ; others were vow-
ed to the defence or recovery of the
holy sepulchre ; others roved about as
knights-errant, seeking adventures. It
was common to create knights on various
occasions. The most honorable species
of knighthood was that conferred on the
field and after a battle ; but the more
common fashion, especially in France,
was to make knights when a battle
was expected. In the age of chivalry,
the youth who aspired to the honor of
knighthood, was first educated, in general,
as a page attached to the family, and
especially to the ladies of some noble
house, during which period he was also
trained to the use of arms, riding, Ac.
When properly qualified for arms he be-
came an esquire, or squire, in which
capacity he attended on some knight, and
was his shield-bearer. The third, and
highest rank of chivalry, was that of

knighthood, which was not conferred be-
fore the twenty-first year, except in the
case of distinguished birth or great
achievements. The candidate, when the
order was conferred with full solemnity,
had to go through various imposing pre-
liminary ceremonies, and was then ad-
mitted with religious rites. Knighthood
was conferred by the accolade, which

Conferring Knighthood.

from the derivation of the name, should
appear to have been originally an em-
brace, but afterwards consisted, as it still
does, in a blow of the flat of a sword on
the neck of the kneeling candidate. The
oath of knighthood was previously ad-
ministered. Knighthood is now conferred
in England by the king, (or queen when
the throne is filled by a female,) by sim-
ple verbal declaration, attended with a
slight form, without any patent or other
written instrument. It gives to the party
precedence over esquires and other un-
titled gentlemen. Sir is prefixed to the
baptismal name of knights and baronets,
and their wives have the legal designation
of Dame, which is ordinarily converted
into L/ady. The chief distinction of rank
which subsisted between knights in France
and England, was that of knights bache-
lors, and knights bannerets. The knight
bachelor was of the lower order, and ob-
tained his honor without any reference
to a qualification of property, and many
of this rank were mere adventurers, who
offered their services in war to any suc-
cessful leader. The knight banneret was
one who possessed fiefs to a considerable
amount, and was obliged to serve in war
with a greater attendance, and carried a
banner. The orders of knighthood are
of two classes ; either they are associa-
tions, or fraternities, possessing proper-

LAB]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

341

ty and rights of their own, as indepen-
dent bodies, or they are merely honorary
associations, established by sovereigns
within their respective dominions. To
the former class belonged the three cele-
brated religious orders founded during
the Crusades Templars, Hospitallers,
and Teutonic Knights. The other class,
consisting of orders merely titular, em-
braces most of the existing European
orders ; such as the order of the Golden
Fleece, the order of the Holy Ghost, the
order of St. Michael. The three great
British orders are the Garter, the Thistle,
and St. Patrick. The Garter is the most
ancient and illustrious of 'the three. It
was founded by Edward the Third. The
knights, twenty-five in number, are the
most eminent persons of the English na-
tion, together with many illustrious for-
eigners, chiefly sovereign princes. The
order of the Thistle was instituted in
1540, by James the .Fifth of Scotland.
The number of knights is sixteen, all of
whom are nobility of Scotland. The or-
der of St. Patrick was instituted in 1783.
The number of knights is twenty-two,
who are peers of Ireland. The order of
the Bath differs in some respects from
those spoken of. It is now composed of
three classes, military, and civil knights,
grand crosses, knights commanders, and
knights companions. All these orders
have particular badges. There are also
knights of the Guelphic order, knights of
the Ionian order, of St. Michael and St.
George.

KNOUT, a mode of punishment in
Kussia, which at one time was exercised
with the greatest possible barbarity, but
which is now less cruel, though it at pres-
ent consists of a severe scourging on the
back with a leather strap, in the point of
which wire is interwoven. Formerly, in
addition to this, the nose was slit up, and
the ears were cut off.

K N W L' E D G E, that information
which the mind receives, either by its
own experience, or by the testimony of
others. The beneficial use of knowledge
is wisdom. That portion of knowledge,
the truth of which can be demonstrated,
is science.

KRAAL, the name given to the villa-
ges of the Hottentots.

KRA'KEN, a name applied in the
fabulous epoch of zoology to a marine
monster of gigantic size.

L. the twelfth letter of the English al-
phabet. It is a semi-vowel, formed in
the voice by intercepting the breath be-
tween the tip of the tongue and the fore-
part of the palate, with the mouth open.
There is something of aspiration in its
sound, and therefore our British ances-
tors usually doubled it, or added an h to
it; as in Han, or llian, a temple. In Eng-
lish words of one syllable it is doubled at
the end, as in all, wall, mill, well, &o.,
but not after diphthongs and digraphs, as
foul, fool, prowl, growl, foal, &o. ; words
of more syllables than one, as foretel,
proportional, &c., are written with a sin-
gle I. In some words I is mute, as in
half, calf, talk, chalk. It may be placed
after most of the consonants, as in blue,
clear, Jlame, &c., but befjyre none of them.
As a numeral letter L denotes 50 ; and
with a dash over it, 50,000.

LA, in music, the syllable by which
Guido denotes the last sound of each hex-
achord : if it begins in C, it answers to
our A ; if in G, to E ; and if in F, to D.
LAB'ADISTS, a sect who lived in the
17th century, the followers of Jean de
Labadie, who held that God can and does
deceive men, that the observance of the
Sabbath is not required, and other heret-
ical opinions.

LA'BARUM, in Roman antiquity, the
standard borne before the emperors ;
being a rich purple streamer, supported
by a spear. It was the name given to
the imperial standard, upon which Con-
stantine, after his conversion, blazoned
the monogram of Christ.

LA'BORED, in the Fine Arts, a term
applied to works of art wherein are ap-
parent the marks of constraint in the ex-
ecution ; and used in opposition to the
term easy or free.

LAB'YRINTH, literally a place, usu-
ally subterraneous, full of inextricable
windings. Ancient history gives an ac-
count of four celebrated labyrinths ; the
Cretan, Egyptian, Lemnian, and Italian.
The first was built by Daedalus at the in-
stigation of Minos, to secure the Mino-
taur ; the second is said to have been
constructed by Psammetichus, king of
Egypt ; the third was on the island of
Lemnos, and was supported by columns
of great beauty; and the fourth was
designated by Porsenna. king of Etruria,
as a tomb for himself and his successors.
Of these labyrinths the Cretan is most
:elebrated in the historical and mytholo-

342

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITKRATUKE

gical writings of antiquity ; but the
Egyptian was by far the most important,
both in extent and magnificence. The
latter, which was built on the isle of Me-
roe, was a vast edifice, composed of twelve
palaces, all contained within the compass
of one wall, and communicating with
each other. It had only one entrance ;
but the innumerable turnings and wind-
ings of the terraces and rooms of which
it consisted rendered it impossible for
those who had once entered within its
walls to get out without a guide. It is
said to have been designed either as a
burial-place for the Egyptian kings, or
for the preservation of the sacred croco-
diles, the chief objects of Egyptian idola-
try. It was partly demolished between
the reigns of Augustus and Titus ; but
even at the period of Pliny's visit, its
ruins were magnificent. With regard to
the labyrinth of. Crete, no doubt can now
remain, after the statements of Cockerell
and Tournefort, that its existence was a
reality, and not merely a fabulous crea-
tion of the Grecian imagination. Accord-
ing to these travellers the island of
Crete abounds even at the present day in
extensive caverns, one of which, consist-
ing principally of many long windings
and narrow passages that can only be
safely explored by means of a clue, ex-
hibits a wonderful similarity in all es-
sential particulars to the famous laby-
rinth of Dsedalus. It is impossible, at
this distant period, to pronounce with
certainty on so difficult a question ; but
the substantial coincidences that exist
between the ancient and modern laby-
rinths seem to leave little doubt as to
their identity.

LACHRYMATO'RY, in antiquity, a
vessel in which were collected the tears
of a deceased person's friends, and pre-
served along with the ashes and urn. It
was a small glass bottle or phial, many
of which have been found in the tombs
itnd sepulchres of the ancients.

LA'CONISM, a short and pointed say-
ing ; so termed from the celebrity which
the Lacedsemouians enjoyed in antiquity
for their belief and sententious mode of
expressing themselves produced by the
severe discipline of their institutions, and
the gravity which it engendered. When
they became famous for this quality, they
appear to have begun to aim at the ex-
hibition of it in rather an affected man-
ner, of which some curious instances are
contained in Herodotus. None of the
many Laconi^ms recorded in ancient his-
tory are more noble than the expression

of the Spartan mother to her son, when
presenting him with his buckler : >} ran n
Ini rov "either bring it back, or be
brought home dead upon it."

LA'DING, a term applied to the goods
in a ship, whose quantity is limited by
her own tonnage, when the specific gravi
ty^if the goods is greater than water.

liA'DY, this word originally apper-
tained only as a title to the daughters of
earls ; but now, by custom, it belongs to
any woman of genteel manners and edu-
cation.

LA'DY-DAY, the 25th of March, so
called because it is the day of the An-
nunciation of the Virgin Mary.

LAGOON', a name given to those
creeks, or shallow lakes, which extend
along the coast, and which contain nu-
merous small islands ; Venice, for in-
stance, is built on sixty of them. To-
wards the sea the islets are secured by
dams, natural or artificial.

LAIR, among 'sportsmen, the place
where the deer harbor by day. This
term is also used to signify a place where
cattle usually rest under shelter; also
the bed or couch of a wild beast.

LAIRD, a title of honor in the High-
lands, equivalent to that of Lord.

L A'lTY, the great body of the faithful,
as opposed to those who are set apart for
the ministration of the services and sac-
raments the clergy. This distinction is
plainly observed in the writers of the
third century Origen, Cyprian, and Ter-
tullian ; and is generally supposed to
have prevailed from the first foundation
of Christianity. The word laity is prop-
erly a general name for the people : in
the writings of the Fathers /Jtwnicoi, secu-
lars, Wicorai, private men, and Aiocoi, lay-
men, are used indifferently to express
this class.

L A'MA, a pretended delegate of heav-
en, or pontiff of Tartary and Thibet. He
is worshipped as a supernatural being
by his subjects, and is never to be seen
but in the secret recesses of his palace,
where he sits cross-legged on a cushion.
The people believe that the supreme di-
vinity lives in him, that he knows and
sees everything in the deepest recesses of
the heart, and that he never dies, but on
the dissolution of his mortal frame his
soul enters into the body of a new-born
child. The worship of his followers con-
sists in clamorous songs and prayers, in
splendid processions, in the solemnization
of certain festivals, and in personal aus-
terities.

LAMENTA'TIONS, a canonical book

LANf]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

343

of the Old Testament, written by the
prophet Jeremiah. The first four chap-
ters of the Lamentations are an abeceda-
ry, every verse or couplet beginning with
ono of the letters of the Hebrew alpha-
bet, in the alphabetical order.

LAMPADEPHO'RIA, a torch race,
which it was customary to exhibit at cer-
tain sacred festivals at Athens. The per-
formers were three young men, to one of
whom, chosen by lot, was given a lighted
torch, which he was to carry to the goal
unextinguished ; or if he failed, to deliver
it to the second ; who, if he failed also,
gave it to the third : whence a metaphor
is sometimes derived by ancient writers,
** to be applied to persons who anxiously
wait for the deaths of others. If the run-
ners slackened their pace, they were driv-
en on by the blows of the spectators.

LANCE, a weapon consisting of a long
shaft with a sharp point, much used by
the nations of antiquity, and also by the
moderns before the invention of gunpow-
der. The Macedonian phalanx and the
Roman infantry, as well as the most bar-
barous nations, all considered the lance
as one of the most effective weapons ; and
even at the present day it is still consid-
ered of great value, though it is now al-
most universally borne by cavalry. Al-
most all the armies of Europe have now
regiments of lancers, so called from the
lance being the chief offensive weapon
with which they are armed. The lances in
use among the European cavalry have a
shaft of ash or beech wood, eight, twelve,
or in some cases even sixteen feet long,
with a steel point eight or ten inches in
length, adorned by a small flag, the wav-
ing of which is said to frighten the ene-
my's horses. The ancient lancea was a
general term for missile weapons or jav-
elins.

LAN'DAMMAN, in Switzerland, the
president of the diet of the Helvetic re-
public. The highest magistrate in ten
of the cantons also bears the title of
landamman ; in the others he is desig-
nated by various appellations.

LAN'DAU, the name given to a pe-
culiar kind of carriage, which opens and
closes at the top ; so called from Landau
in Germany, where they were originally
made.

LAND'FALL, the first land seen after
a voyage is so called. A good landfall is
when the land is seen as expected.

LAND'GRAVE, a title taken by some
German counts in the twelfth century,
who wished to distinguish themselves from
tho inferior counts under their jurisdic-

tion ; and thus assumed the designation
of land-graf, or count of the whole coun-
try. This was tho origin of the land-
graves of Thuringia, of Lower and High-
er Alsace, the only three who were prin-
ces of the empire.

LAND'SCAPE, the scenery presented
to the eye in the country ; as also, in its
more common acceptation, a picture rep-
resenting such scenery. A landscape in
the latter sense may, however, become
allegorical and historical ; n the meaning
applied by artists to thoe terms. The
chief study of the landscape painter is
the vegetable world, air, water, rocks,
and buildings. To these he may impart
an ideal beauty, and thus elevate his
art above mere topographical painting ;
which may be applied to his work, if he
merely copies without refinement what is
presented to his eye.

LAND'SCAPE GAR'DENING, the
art of laying out grounds so as to produce
the effect of natural landscape. Its prin-
ciples are the same as those upon which
the landscape painter proceeds in com-
posing a picture.

LAN'GUAGE, human speech; the ex-
pression of ideas by words or significant
articulate sounds, for the communication
of thoughts. Language consists in the
oral utterance of sounds, which usage has
made the representatives of ideas. When
two or more persons customarily annex
the same sounds to the same ideas, the
expression of these sounds by one person
communicates his ideas to another. This
is the primary sense of language, the use
of which is to communicate the thoughts
of one person to another through the or-
gans of hearing. Articulate sounds are
represented by letters, marks, or charac-
ters which form words. Hence, language
consists also in words duly arranged in
sentences, written, printed, or engraved,
and exhibited to the eye. The speech or
expression of ideas peculiar to a particu-
lar nation. Men had originally one and
the same language, but the tribes or
families of men, since their dispersion,
have distinct languages. Many philolo-
gists have included all known languages
under three great divisions: 1. Lan-
guages composed of monosyllabic roots
without any forms of grammar. To this
class belong the Chinese idioms. 2. Lan-
guages composed of monosyllabic roots, but
with a great abundance of grammatical
forms, as the Indo-Germanic, Armenian,
and other languages. S. Languages whose
verbal roots consist in their present form of
two syllables, and require three consonants

344

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LAN

for the expression of their fundamental
meaning. This class is limited to the
iScheiuitic languages, including the Ara-
m;i' in, the Hebrew, and Arabic. The
Indo-Germanic languages are divided
into 1. The Indian branch, comprising
the Sanscrit, and its derivatives. 2. The
Medo-Persic or Arian branch, at the
head of which stands the Zend. 3. The
Teutonic branch, with the Gothic at its
head, and comprising the different Ger-
man dialects, the Anglo-Saxon, the Ice-
landic, Swedish, Danish, &c. 4. The
Grseco-Latin branch, comprising the two
ancient classical languages. 5. The Sla-
vonic branch, including the Lithuanian,
the ancient Prussian, the Russian, the
Polish, and Bohemian. 6. The Celtic
branch, including the Welsh, Cornish,
Armorican, the Irish' or Erse, the Gaelic
or Highland Scotch, and the Manx.

The comparative perfection of a lan-
guage, as an instrument for the commu-
nication of thought, depends mainly on
its copiousness. In order to estimate
this, it must be borne in mind that the
classes of words employed in a language
are all reducible into two, which have
been termed by some notional and rela-
tional- The former express distinct ideas
or notions ; the latter serve to display
the relation, connection, and order of
ideas. Nouns and verbs belong to the
first class ; prepositions, adverbs, &c., and
the signs denoting the inflections of verbs
and nouns, to the latter. With respect
to the former class, all languages, to be
serviceable for the purposes of life, must
be sufficiently copious to express all dis-
tinct notions. But the comparative rich-
ness of a language is mainly shown by
the manner in which this is done. As
nations advance from barbarism towards
civilization, new notions, and new varie-
ties of notions, are constantly requiring
utterance. In those in which this can
easily be done by composition, (as in Greek
and German,) great facilities are afford-
ed for the easy expression of thought,
comparatively with those in which it can
only be effected by the laborious process
of borrowing and adopting words from
the vocabularies of more advanced na-
tions.

But it is in the relational words, or modes
in which relations of ideas are expressed,
that the genius of different languages
most varies. The Chinese, in their sin-
gular and obscure tongue, seem never to
have reached beyond the process of vary-
ing the collocation of their unchangeable
roots in the sentence, in order to express

varieties of meaning. The next process
should appear to be that of using auxili-
ary words. In many languages (our own
among the number) relations are almost
wholly expressed in this manner. But
in others the auxiliary words have, in
course of time, coalesced with the princi-
pal : so that many relations are expressed
by varying the beginning, termination,
Ac., of the principal word. This, at
least, is the most probable origin of those
forms termed in grammar inflection*, or
forms of declension and conjugation, in
which Greek, Latin, Sanscrit, German,
and their derivative languages are more
or less rich; the Greek, for example, be-
ing more copious than the Latin or mod- '
ern German, in having the dual form and
additional tenses (the aorists, and the
paulo-post futurum.) And some lan-
guages (especially among the American
Indians) are so curiously constructed as to
carry the power of inflection far beyond
this point. A complex idea, which in
English would require to be expressed
by a pronoun, an adverb, and an auxili-
ary verb, (or, perhaps, a second auxiliary
verb also, e.g., "I desire," or "I ab-
stain,") together with the principal verb,
would in some American languages be
expressed merely by a variety of the
form of the principal verb itself.

As a general rule, the power of inflec-
tion adds greatly to the copiousness of
a language ; and although some enthusi-
asts, in their admiration of our own. have
maintained that the process of conjugat-
ing or declining by auxiliary words and
particles is more convenient, and affords
more variety and harmony than that by
changes in the termination of the verb or
noun, it is probable that few candid rea-
soners will hold the same opinion. But
there are distinctions in language, aris-
ing out of relations simply imaginary,
which may be pronounced unnecessary
and cumbersome. Such are the genders,
common to almost all languages of the
Indo-European family except our own,
but for which it would be difficult to as-
sign either utility or beauty.

Another and a more substantial disad-
vantage of language rich in inflections,
if the fact be true, is to be found in the
greater difficulty which common people
are supposed to have in framing their
speech grammatically and accurately un-
der this system than the other. The
greater the niceties of a language, it has
been urged, the greater the difference
must inevitably be between the variety
spoken and written by educated men and

LAP]"

AND THE FINE ARTS.

345

that in use among the uneducated 5 and
it has been contended that in ancient
Italy, for instance, the rustic language
was altogether different from the written
Latin. But the facts on which this rea-
soning rests may be pronounced extremely
controvertible. There are certainly some
grounds for the suspicion that there was
an unusual difference between the vul-
gar and the polished Roman tongue, at
least in the later times of the empire ;
but if this was always the case, it is sin-
gular that Plautus and Terence should
nowhere furnish us, by way of heighten-
ing the ludicrous, with instances of un-
grammatical locution. The language of
ancient Greece was more refined and in-
flective than that of Home ; and there is
no appearance that there was a greater
diversity between the speech of the peas-
ant and the philosopher and rhetorician
than in any modern country. In Attica
the very reverse seems to have been the
truth, since its most elegant writers and
orators appear carefully to have modelled
their language on the common dialect of
their countrymen. And, finally, the wild
Indians of America speak with purity a
language often surpassing in variety of
inflections those of the most civilized and
illustrious nations of the Old World.

LANGUEN'TE, in music, a direction
to the performer, when prefixed to a
composition denoting that it is to be per-
formed in a languishing or soft manner.

LAO'COON, in fabulous history, the
priest of Apollo or Neptune during the
Trojan war. While he was engaged in
sacrificing a bull to Neptune, two enor-
mous serpents sent by Minerva, in re-
venge for his having endeavored to dis-

suade the Trojans from admitting the
famous wooden horse within their walls,
issued from the sea ; and having fastened
on his two sons, whom he vainly endeav-
ored to save, at last attacked the father
himself, and crushed him to death in their
complicated folds. This story has gained
immortal celebrity from its forming the
subject of one of the most beautiful
groups of sculpture in the whole history
of ancient Art. The composition is py-
ramidal, and represents Laocoon and his
two sons writhing and expiring in the
convulsions of the serpents. Agony in
an intense degree is exhibited in the
countenance and convulsed body of La-
ocoon, who is attempting to disengage
himself from the serpents ; and the sons
are represented as imploring assistance
from their helpless parent. This famous
group of sculpture was discovered at
Rome among the ruins of the palace of
Titus, at the beginning of the 16th cen-
tury, and afterwards placed in the Far-
nese palace, whence it found its way to
the Vatican. It was executed by Poly-
dorus, Agesander, Athenodorus, the three
celebrated artists of Rhodes.

LAP'IDARY, one who polishes and
engraves stones. This is effected by
means of friction produced by wheels of
various metal, according to the nature
of the stone to be worked. Thus dia-
monds require wheels of soft steel ; ru-
bies, sapphires, and topazes, copper
wheels ; emeralds, amethysts, &c., leaden
wheels worked with oil and various
powders. The term lapidary is also used
for a virtuoso skilled in the nature, kinds,
<fcc. of precious stones, or a merchant who
deals in them. Lapidary -style, denotes
that which is proper for monumental or
other inscriptions.

LA'PIS LA'ZULI, in painting, a stone
of an azure or blue color, of which the
paint called ultramarine is made. It is
a combination of silex, the blue fluate of
lime and sulphate of lime, and iron ; is
very compact and hard, and is found in
lumps of a beautiful blue color, richly
variegated with clouds of white, and
veins of shining gold color.

LA'PIS MARMO'REUS, in archaol-
ogy, a marble stone in Westminster Hall,
in the midst of which stood a chair
wherein the English kings anciently sat
at their coronation. The courts of Chan-
cery and King's Bench were erected over
this stone.

LATITUDE, in ancient geography, a
people of Thessaly, chiefly known to ug
from their fabled contests with the Cen-

346

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

* [LAT

taurs. The battle between the Centaurs
:nrl the L;i]iit!iu' has been described by
Hcsiod, and by Ovid with great minute-
ness. To the Lapithre has been attributed
the invention of bits and bridles for
horses.

LAPSE, in ecclesiastical law, an omis-
sion on the part of the patron to present
to a benefice within six months after it is
vacant, upon which default the ordinary
has a right to collate to the said benefice.
Lapsed Legacy, one which falls or is
lost by a lapse ; as where the legatee
dies before the testator, or where a legacy
is given upon a future contingency, and
the legatee dies before the contingency
happens.

LAR'CENY, is the fraudulent taking
by a person of the goods of another, with-
out his consent, with the intent, on the
part of the taker, to appropriate them to
his own use. Larceny was formerly di-
vided, in England, into two kinds, grand
and petty ; the former being the stealing
of an article over the value of one shil-
ling, the latter, that of an article not
over that value. The same division of
the kinds of the offence, according to the
value of the thing stolen, is made in some
of the United States. But this distinction
is abolished in England by a statute. In
that country, the punishment for grand
larceny was death; but, most frequently
of late years, it has been commuted for
transportation ; and, now, the punish-
ment of all simple larceny, of whatever
value, is, the imprisonment or transpor-
tation. In the United States, the pun-
ishment is usually imprisonment in the
common jail, or penitentiary, for a longer
or shorter period.

LA'RES, in antiquity, the domestic or
household gods among the Romans, which
the family honored as their protectors.
They were Linages of wood, stone, or
metal, and generally stood upon the
hearth in a kind of shrine.

LAR'GO andL ARGHET'TO, (Italian,)
musical terms, directing to slow move-
ment. Largo is one degree quicker
than grave, and two degrees quicker than
adagio.

L AR'VA, spectres of the deceased were
so termed by the Romans : mere empty
forms or phantoms, as their name indi-
cates ; yet endowed with a sort of exist-
ence resembling life, since they were to
be propitiated by libation and sacrifice.
The larva of Caligula, according to Sue-
tonius, -was often seen in his palace after
his decease. The larvae are described by
Seneca, and often represented in paint-

ings and on gems under the figure of a
skeleton ; sometimes under those of old
men, with shorn locks and long beards,
carrying an owl on their hands.

LA'RVTNX, an organ of the voice, be-
ing a cartilaginous cavity connected with
the windpipe, and on the size and flexi-
bility of which depend the powers and
tones of the human voice. The superior
opening of the larynx is called the glottis.

LASCAR', in the East Indies, a native
seaman, or a gunner.

LAT'ERAN, a church at Rome, the
Pope's see, and the metropolitan or the
whole world, dedicated to St. John Late-
ran. The name is derived from the Ro-
man family of the Laterani, who possessed
a palace on this spot, which was seized
by Nero, and became from his time an
imperial residence. The Lateran palace
was given by Constantine to the popes,
who continued to inhabit it until their
retirement to Avignon, when it was ex-
changed for the Vatican. The building
was then converted into a church. Eleven
councils have been held in the Basilica
of this name (hence styled Lateran coun-
cils in ecclesiastical history,) of which
four are considered by the Roman Catho-
lics to be general. The last of these (or
the 12th General, according to the same
computation) is the most celebrated. It
was held in 1215 by Innocent III., and
is principally famous as establishing the
Roman Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist,
using for the first time the term transub-
stantiation for the change of the elements.
This council was convoked on the occasion
of the heresy of the Albigenses, and its
exposition of the Catholic faith is directed
principally against them. It established
also some canons for the maintenance of
discipline among the clergy, and that
which enforces confession and commun-
ion upon all the faithful at least once a
year.

LAT'ICLAVE, in antiquity, an orna-
ment of dress worn by Roman senators.

LAT'IN, the language spoken by the
ancient Romans, or the inhabitants of
Latium, from which it derives its name.
The Latin tongue was, for a while, con-
fined almost wholly within the walls of
Rome ; nor would the Romans allow the
common use of it to their neighbors, or to
the nations they subdued : but, by de-
grees, they in time became sensible of
the necessity of its being generally un-
derstood for the convenience of com
merce; .and accordingly used their en-
deavors that all the nations subject to
their empire, should be united by one

LAW]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

347

common language, so that at length they
imposed the use of it by an express law.

LATITUDINA'RIANS, in ecclesias-
tical history, a class of English divines
in the reign of Charles II., opposed alike
to the high tenets of the ruling party in
the church, and the fanaticism which then
distinguished so many of the Dissenters.
Henry More, and the other Platonizing
divines of the time, were sometimes com-
prehended under this appellation. The
word has been since very generally used
to designate those who hold opinions at
variance with the more rigid interpreta-
tion of Scripture and church traditions,
or merely as a term of party vitupera-
tion.

LA'TRIA, the highest kind of worship,
or that paid to God : distinguished by the
Catholics from dulia, or the inferior wor-
ship paid to saints.

LAU'REATE, literally crowned with
laurels ; applied at present to a well-
known officer in the royal household. At
the Certamina, or gymnastic and other
contests celebrated under the Roman em-
perors, especially at the Quinquatria, or
Eeast of Minerva, poets also contended,
and the prize was a crown of oak or olive
leaves. But it was from some tradition-
ary belief respecting the coronation of
Virgil and Horace with laurel in the
Capitol, (of jvhich, however, no record is
extant.) that the dignity of poet laureate
was invented in the 14th century, and
conferred on Petrarch at Rome by the
senator or supreme magistrate of the
city. It was intended to confer the same
honor on Tasso, who, however, died on
the night before the proposed celebration.
In 1725 and 1776 it was granted to two
celebrated improvisatori, the Signor Ru-
fetti and the Signora Morelli, better known
by the name of Gorilla. In most Euro-
pean countries the sovereign has assumed
the privilege of nominating a court poet
with various titles. In France and Spain
these have never been termed poets lau-
reate ; but the imperial poet, or Poeta
Cesareo, in Germany, was invested with
the laurel. This crown, however, was
customarily given at the universities in
the middle ages to such persons as took
degrees in grammar and rhetoric, of
which poetry formed a branch'; whence,
according to some authors, the term Bac-
calaureatus has been derived. In Eng-
land traces of a stipendiary poet royal are
found as early as Henry III., and of a
poet laureate by that name under Edward
IV. Skelton, under Henry VII. and
VIII., was created poet laureate by the

universities of Oxford and Cambridge,
and appears to have held the same dig-
nity at court; but the academical and
court honor were distinct until the ex-
tinction of the university custom, of
which Henry VIII. 's reign exhibits the
last instance. Royal poets laureate are
supposed not to have begun to write in
English until after the Reformation.
The office was made patent by Charles I.,
and the salary fixed at 100 annually,
and a tierce of Spanish Canary wine.
Under Queen Anne it was placed in the
control of the lord-chamberlain. In the
reign of George III. the annual tierce of
wine was commuted for an increase of
salary, and at the close of the same reign
the custom of requiring annual odes from
the lord-chamberlain was discontinued.
The most distinguished poets in recent
times who have held the office are
Southey, Wordsworth, and Tennyson.

LAUREA'TION, in the Scotch univer-
sities, signifies the act of taking the de-
gree of master of arts, which the students
are permitted to do after four years'
study.

LAURENTA'LIA, in antiquity, a fes-
tival kept by the Romans on the 23d of
December, in memory of Acca Laurentia,
the nurse of Romulus and Remus. She
was called Lupa by way of nick-name ;
hence the story of the wolf that suckled
the royal twins.

LAW, an established or permanent
rule, prescribed by the supreme power of
a state to its subjects, for regulating their
social actions. Laws may be divided into
the following classes : declaratory laws ;
directory laws ; remedial laws ; and pro-
hibitory and penal laws. Declaratory
laws only declare what the law shall be,
not what it has been, or is. Directory
laws are those which prescribe rules of
conduct, or limit or enlarge rights, or
point out modes of remedy. Remedial
laws are those whose object it is to redress
some private injury, or some public in-
convenience . Prohibitory and penal laics
are those which forbid certain things to
be done or omitted, under a penalty, or
vindicatory sanction. The legislation of
no country, probably, ever gave origin to
its whole body of laws. In the very for-
mation of society, the principles of nat-
ural justice, and the obligations of good
faith, must have been recognized before
any common legislature was acknowl-
edged. Debts were contracted, obliga-
tions created, personal property acquired,
and lands cultivated, before any positive
rules were fixed is to the rights of posses-

348

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LAZ

ion and enjoyment growing out of them.
The first rudiments of jurisprudence re-
sulted from general consent or acquies-
cence ; and when legislation began to act
upon it, it was rather to confirm, alter, or
add to, than to supersede, the primitive
principles adopted into it. The forma-
tion of codes, or systems of general law,
for the government of a people, and
adapted to their wants, takes place only
in advanced stages of society, when knowl-
edge is considerably diffused, and legisla-
tors have the means of ascertaining the
best principles of policy and the best rules
for justice, not by mere speculation and
theory, but by the results of experience,
and the reasoning of the learned and the
wise. We shall now proceed to give sep-
arate definitions of the word law, as it is
variously applied. Municipal or civil
law, is a rule of civil conduct prescribed
by the supreme power of a state, com-
manding what its subjects are to do, and
prohibiting what they are to forbear.
The law of nature, otherwise called ethics,
or morals, comprehends those rules of
right and wrong, of which the sentiment
is in every man's breast, and of the jus-
tice of which reflection affords sufficient
conviction. The divine law is that which,
not being naturally felt, nor discovered
by reflection, is found only in inspired
writings. The law of nations is that rule
of conduct which nations are to observe
toward each other. This is founded upon
the law of nature ; but either ascertained
or modified by usage, or by mutual com-
pacts. The written law, those laws or
rules of action prescribed or enacted by a
sovereign or state, and promulgated and
recorded in writing. Unwritten or com-
mon law, a rule of action which derives
Us authority from long usage, or estab-
lished custom, which has been immemori-
ally received and recognized by judicial
tribunals. Ecclesiastical or canon law, a
rule of action prescribed for the govern-
ment of a church. Martial law, the rules
ordained for the government of an army
or military force. Marine laws, rules
for the regulation of navigation, and the
commercial intercourse of nations.
Physical laws, the invariable tendency
or determination of any species of matter
to a particular form with definite proper-
ties, and the determination of a body to
certain motions, changes, and relations,
which uniformly take place in the same
circumstances. The Mosaic law, the in-
stitutions of Moses, or the code of laws
prescribed to the Jews, as recorded in the
Old Testament. That part which relates

to the mere external rites and ceremo-
nies to be observed by them, as distinct
from the moral precepts, is called the
ceremonial law.

LAY. the lyric poems of the old French
minstrels, or trouv^res, were termed lais ;
but the title appears, in modern usage, to
be peculiarly appropriate to narrative
poems, or serious subjects of moderate
length in simple style and light metre.

LAY BROTH'ERS, persons received
into convents of monks, under the three
vows, but not in holy orders. The intro-
duction of this class of devotees appears
to have begun in the llth century. They
are dressed somewhat differently from the
other monks or brothers of the choir, and
often employed in the manual exercises
necessary for the uses of the community.
The Carthusian and Cistercian orders are
said to have first recognized the distinc-
tion, and their example was followed by
the other orders. The same distinction
exists in-monasteries of females between
the nuns, properly so called, and the lay
sisters, or sisters converse.

LAY EL'DERS, in Presbyterian
churches, ministers of ecclesiastical juris-
diction, not ordained as clergymen, who
assist the pastor in each congregation.
The divines of that persuasion rest the
appointment of lay elders in some meas-
ure on that of presbyters " iaevery city,"
by Paul and Barnabas, who, they ima-
gine, from the manner in which they are
mentioned, could not have been all
preachers.

LAY'MAN, the appellation by which
the rest of the community are distinguish-
ed from the clergy. Layman or lay-Jig-
ure, among painters, signifies a small
statue, whose joints are so formed that it
may be put into any attitude for the pur-
pose of adjusting the drapery of figures.

LA'ZAR-HOUSE, or LAZARET'TO,
a public building in the southern Euro-
pean states of the nature of an hospital,
for the reception of the poor and those
afflicted with contagious disorders. In
some places lazarettoes are set apart for
the performance of quarantine ; in which
case only those are admitted who have
arrived from countries infested by the
plague, or suspected of being so.

LAZARISTS, in ecclesiastical history,
a body of missionaries, founded by St.
Vincent de Paul in 1632 ; so termed from
occupying the priory of St. Lazarus, at
Paris, as their head-quarters. Their
primary object was to dispense religious
instruction and assistance among the
poorer inhabitants of the rural districts

LEC]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

349

of France. They were dispersed at the
time of the revolution, but have since re-
established a congregation at Paris ; and
the French Government has lately pro-
jected entrusting them with the spiritual
care of the colony at Algiers.

LAZ'AllUS, SAINT, ORDER, OF, a
military order of religious persons, ori-
ginally an association of knights, for the
purpose of maintaining lepers, <fec., in
lazar-houses or hospitals, especially in
the Holy Land. Being driven out of
Palestine in 1253, they followed St. Louis
to France. In 1490, their order was sup-
pressed by Pope Innocent VIII.. and
united with that of St. John ; but the bull
was not universally received. In 1572,
they were united in Italy with the order
of St. Maurice ; in 1608, in France, with
that of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The
knights of these united orders were al-
lowed to marry.

LAZZARO'NI, a name given to the
poorer classes at Naples, from the hospi-
tal of St. Lazarus, which served as a
refuge for the destitute in that city.
Forty years ago two large sections of the
people were generally comprehended un-
der this name, the fishermen, and the
lazzaroni, properly so called, who lived in
the streets, and performed no other labor
but that of errand porters and occasional
servants. ThSse alone were estimated at
40,000. These lazzaroni formed a power-
ful community, which under Masaniello,
accomplished the revolution of Naples;
and, in later times overthrew the popular
government, under the influence of Car-
dinal Ruffo and the English party. But
during the French occupation of Naples
they ceased to exist as a distinct class ;
and the name is now only used to desig-
nate, in general language, the mob or
populace of that great city.

LEAD'ING NOTE, in music, the sharp
seventh of the scale.

LEADS, or SPACE LINES, are pieces
of type metal cast to specific thickness
and lengths, lower than types, so that
they do not make any impression in print-
ing, but leave a white space where pla-
ced. Their general use is to be placed
between the lines when a work is not
closely printed, which is considered to
look better than when printed solid, and
also to branch out the heads of pages and
titles.

LEAGUE, in politics, an alliance be-
tween two or more powers, in order to
execute some common enterprise. It is
more active, and less durable, than an
alliance or a confederacy ; both of which

have some permanent object, while neither
necessarily requires active co-operation.
In the middle ages, the word league was
used nearly in the sense now attached to
these latter terms: hence we read of
the Hanseatic league, and of the three
leagues still subsisting in the canton of
the Grisons in Switzerland ; both of
which were more properly confederacies.
The word is of Spanish origin; and it
has been said that the period of its com-
monest use in political language was
commensurate with that during which the
Spanish government exercised the great-
est influence among those of Europe
the 16th and 17th centuries.

LEASE, in law, a demise of lands or
tenements, or a conveyance of them, gene-
rally in consideration of rent or other
annual recompense, for term of years,
for life, or at will, provided it be for a
shorter term than the lessor has in the
premises. The party letting the lands,
&c. is called the lessor, and the party to
whom they are let, the lessee. Any one
of the conditions of a lease not being
complied with, the proprietor may resume
possession.

LEC'TERN or LET'TERN, a reading
desk or stand for the larger books, used
in the service of the Roman Catholic
church. The lectern was sometimes a fix-
ture of stone or marble, but it was oftener
constructed of wood or brass, and mova-
ble. It was of various forms, sometimes
highly decorated and enriched ; a fre-
quent form of the brass lettern was that
of a pelican or an eagle, with its wings
expanded to receive the book.

LECTI'C A, a sort of couch used by the
Romans for the same purpose as the se-
dan chair, or rather the palanquin, is
employed by the moderns, with this differ-
ence, that the person carried on the
lectica reclined. It was used also for the
conveyance of dead bodies to the funeral
pile. The persons who carried the lectica
were called lecticarii, whose number in
the Lower Empire is said to have amount-
ed to 11,000.

LEC'TISTER'NIUM, a religious festi-
val or ceremony among the ancient Ro-
mans, celebrated during times of public
calamity, and remarkable as a singular
relic of barbarous superstition, retaining
the impression of a very rude age. In
this festival the gods themselves were
invited to the entertainment ; their stat-
ues were taken from their pedestals, laid
on couches with pillows and pedestals,
and placed at the table, while the ser-
vants used gravely to convey the viands

350

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LEG

to the idols' lips. The first festival of
this sort, according to Livy, which took
place, was held in the year of Rome 354,
on the occasion of a contagious disease
which committed frightful ravages among
their cattle, and lasted for eight succes-
sive days. On the celebration of this festi-
val enemies were said to forget their ani-
mosity, and all prisoners were liberated.

LEC'TOR, in the early church, a per-
son set apart for the purpose of reading
parts of the Bible and other writings
of a religious character to the people.
They were consecrated by prayers and
ceremonies for this office, and in the
third century appear to have formed
proper officers of the church.

LEC'TURE, a discourse read or pro-
nounced on any subject ; usually, a formal
or methodical discourse, intended for in-
struction ; as, a lecture on morals, philos-
ophy, rhetoric, or theology : but the term
is applied in a more extended sense to
every species of instruction communica-
ted viva voce. In the Scotch and conti-
nental universities, as well as those re-
cently established in England, the great
business of teaching is carried on by
means of public lectures delivered at
stated periods, and embracing the differ-
ent subjects included in the curriculum
of study. Pulpit lectures have for their
object some portion of Scripture, which is
explained, and the doctrines therein con-
tained stated and enforced.

LEG'ACY, in law, a bequest or gift
by will of any personal effects ; the per-
son bequeathing is called the testator,
and he to whom it is bequeathed the leg-
atee. There is also a residuary legatee,
or one to whom, after the several de-
vises or bequests made by will, the resi-
due of the testator's estate and effects are
given.

LEG'ATE, the pope's ambassador to
foreign countries ; either a cardinal or a
bishop. The power of a legate is some-
times given without the title. It was one
of the ecclesiastical privileges of England
from the Norman conquest, that no for-
eign legate should be obtruded upon the
English, unless the king should desire it
upon some extraordinary emergency, as
when a case was too difficult for the Eng-
lish prelates to determine.

LEGATION, a term denoting the body
of official persons attached to an embassy.
Hence secretary of legation.

LEGATO, (Italian,) in music, a word
used in an opposite sense to staccato, and
implying that the notes of a movement or
passage to which it is affixed are to be per-

| formed in a close, smooth, and gliding
manner.

LE'GEND, a book used in the ancient
Roman churches, containing the lessons
that were to be read. The word was
afterwards used to denote a chronicle or
register of the lives of saints. As these
histories were often nothing more than
pious fictions, the name of a legend was
given to the incredulous fables which
make pretensions to truth. Legend, in
Roman antiquity, signifies the motto en-
graved upon medals, which differs from
the inscription properly so called. The
inscription signifies words placed on the
reverse of a medal in lieu of figures ; but
the legend is the word made use of round
the head or other figure.

LEG'ER, the principal book used
in merchants' accounts, wherein every
man's particular account is kept ; the
book into which a summary of the jour-
nal is carried. L/eger-lines, in music,
those lines added to the usual stave of
five lines, when more are wanted for notes
ascending or descending.

LEGERDEMAIN', tricks, which, from
the dexterity of the performer, are made
to deceive the observer, and are called
sleight of hand.

LE'GION, in Roman antiquity, a body
of soldiers in the Roman army, consist-
ing of different numbers at different pe-
riods of time. In the time of Romulus
the legion consisted of 3,000 foot and 300
horse ; though after the reception of the
Sabines, it was augmented to 4,000. In
the war with Hannibal it was raised to
5,000 ; after this it sunk to 4,000 or 4,500,
which was the number in the time of Po-
lybius. The number of legions kept in
pay together, also differed according to
times and occasions. Each legion was
divided into ten cohorts, each cohort into
ten companies, and each company into
two centuries. The chief commander of
the legion was called Legatus (lieuten-
ant.) The principal standard of a legion
was a silver eagle ; and the legions were
named from their commanders, (as the
Claudian legion.) or from the place
where they were stationed, <fcc. The
word legion was revived in the time of
Napoleon; and has since been commonly
applied to a body of troops of an indefi-
nite number, and usually of different
kinds; as the English- German legion,
the British legion in Spain, Ac.

LE'GION OF HONOR, an order in-
stituted by Napoleon, while consul, (May
19, 1802,) for military and civil merit. It
consisted of different grades of merit, as

LEV]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

351

grand crosses, crosses, commanders, offi-
cers, and legionaries ; all of whom re-
ceive pensions with this mark of distinc-
tion.

LEGISLATOR, one who frames or es-
tablishes the laws and polity of a state or
kingdom. The term is chiefly applied to
some distinguished persons of antiquity,
such as Moses among the Jews ; These-
us, Draco, Solon, among the Athenians ;
Lycurgus among the Spartans ; and
Numa among the Romans.

LEGISLATURE, the supreme power
of a state.

LEGIT'IMACY, a word which, in a
political sense, is variously defined, ac-
cording to the bias of the party by whom
it is used. But in its most commonly re-
ceived acceptation, it denotes the lawful-
ness of the government, in an hereditary
monarchy, where the supreme dignity
and power pass by law from one regent
to another, according to the right of pri-
mogeniture. Legitimate means, accord-
ing to law ; hence, children born in wed-
lock are called legitimate, and those born
out of wedlock are styled illegitimate.

LE'MURES, among the ancient Ro-
mans, spectres or ghosts, believed to be the
souls of the dead, which tormented men
in the night. In order to lay them, a
ceremony called lemuria was observed
on the nights of the 9th, llth, and 13th
of May.

LENT, a solemn time of fasting and
abstinence in the Christian church, ob-
served as a time of humiliation before
Easter, the great festival of our Saviour's
resurrection. It begins on Ash-Wednes-
day, and continues forty days.

LE'ONINE VERSE, a kind of Latin
verse, consisting of hexameters and pen-
tameters, of which the final and middle
syllables rhyme. Some say it derived
its name from pope Leo I. (A.D. 680,)
others from Leonius, a poet of the 12th
century.

LES'SONS, are certain portions of the
Scriptures read in most Christian churches
during divine service, the performance of
which in the ancient church devolved,
among other duties, on the catechumen.
In the English church, the course of
lessons begins with the year at the book
of Genesis, and, with the omission of
the two books of Chronicles, continues
through the Old Testament, including
portions of the Apocrypha. Ii) the second
lessons, as they are called, the same
course is followed with the New Testa-
ment. In the Presbyterian church, the
word lesson, in this sense, is unknown,

I though the practice of reading a portion
of Scripture is almost universally adopt-
ed ; but the selection of the passage is
left to the choice of the officiating cler-
gyman.

LE'THE, in Greek mythology, the
River of Oblivion : one of the streams of
the infernal regions. Its waters possessed
the quality of causing those who drank
them to forget the whole of their former
existence. In the sixth book of Virgil's
JKneid, the shades of the departed, after
fulfilling their various destinies in the
infernal regions during a thousand years,
are brought to drink of the water of
Lethe, as a preparation fortheir trans-
migration into new bodies.

LET'TER, a mark or character, writ-
ten, printed, engraved, or paintc 1 ; used
as the representative of a sound, or of an
articulation of the human organs of
speech. By sounds, and articulations or
closures of the organs, are formed syl-
lables and words. Hence a letter is the
first element of written language, as a
simple sound is the first element of
spoken language or speech. As sounds
are audible and communicate ideas to
others by the ear, so letters are visible
representatives of sounds, and communi-
cate the thoughts of others by means of
the eye. Letters are distinguished by
grammarians into vowels, and consonants
(which latter arc again subdivided into
mutes, and liquids) and diphthongs, ac-
cording to the organ employed in their
pronunciation.

LEVANT'', in geography, is applied in
a general sense to any country situated
to the eastward of us, or in the eastern
part of any continent or country ; but, in
a more contracted signification, it is given
to that part of the Mediterranean Sea
bounded by Asia Minor on the north,
Syria and Palestine on the east, Egypt
and Barca on the south, and by the island
of Candia and the rest of the Mediterra-
nean on the west.

LEVEE, in court phraseology, a cere-
monial visit of the nobility, gentry, Ac.,
who assemble to pay their respects to the
queen (or king.) It consists of gentlemen
only, by which it is distinguished from
what is termed a drawing-room, where
ladies as well as gentlemen attend.

LEV'EE-EN-MASSE, a military ex-
pression for the patriotic rising of a whole
people, including all capable of bearing
arms, who are not otherwise engaged in
the regular service ; and is the most for-
midable obstacle an enemy can encoun-
ter. In Germany it is called the land-

352

CYCLOPEDIA OF laTERATURK

sturm, in distinction from the landwehr,
or militia. In 1813 the governments of
Northern Germany called it forth in
every part of the country.

LEVI'ATIIAN, a word which, in the
Hebrew, signifies a great fish. Some
suppose, from the description of it in the
book of Job, it means a whale, while
others have presumed it is a crocodile.
In Isaiah, however, it is called the crook-
ed serpent.

LE' VITES, a term applied in Scripture
to such of the tribe of Levi as were em-
ployed in the lower offices and ministries
of the temple. In this particular, they
were distinguished from the priests, who,
being descended from Aaron, were like-
wise of the tribe of Levi. The Levites
bore some resemblance in the tabernacle,
and temple of the Jews, to the deacons
among Christians. They were employed
in bringing wood, water, and other neces-
saries for the sacrifice, and they sung
and played upon instruments in the tem-
ple. They also applied themselves to the
study of the law, and were the ordinary
judges of the country, though always
subordinate to the priests. Their subsist-
ence was the tithes of corn, fruit and
cattle throughout Israel ; but the priests
were entitled to a tenth of their tithes,
by way of first-fruits to the Lord.

LEVIT'ICUS, a canonical book of the
Old Testament, so called from its con-
taining the laws and regulations relating
to the priests, Levites, and sacrifices.
These duties, rites and ceremonies, formed
what is termed the L,evitical. law.

LEXICOL'OGY, or LEXICOG'RA-
PHY, a word used by some writers to
express that branch of philology which
treats of words alone, independently of
their grammatical and rhetorical uses;
considering their senses, their composi-
tion and their etymology.

LEX'ICON, a dictionary of words, or
vocabulary ; originally, and still usually,
confined to dictionaries of the Greek or
Hebrew tongues. The oldest Greek lex-
icon is the Onomasticon, which was writ-
ten 180 years before Christ : the oldest
Hebrew lexicon belongs to the 9th cen-
tury.

LEZE-MAJ'ESTY, in jurisprudence,
any crime committed against the sove-
reign power in a state. The name is
derived from the Roman phrase, "crimen
laesfe majestatis," which denoted a charge
brought against a citizen for acts of re-
bellion, usurpation of office, and general
misdemeanors of a political character,
which were comprehended under the title

of injuries to the " majesty of the Roman
people." The emperors transferred to
all offences against themselves the same
criminal character ; and offences of leze-
majesty were multiplied under their ar-
bitrary governments.

LIBA'TION, among the Greeks and
Romans, was an essential part of solemn
sacrifices. It was also performed alone,
as a drink offering, by way of procuring
the protection and favor of the gods, in
the ordinary affairs of life. At sacrifices,
after the libation had been tasted by the
priest, and handed to the bystanders, it
was poured upon the victim. At enter-
tainments a little wine was generally
poured out of the cup, before the liquor
began to circulate.

LI'BEL, in law, the malicious defama-
tion of any person, either written or print-
ed, in order to provoke him to anger, or to
expose him to public hatred, contempt, or
ridicule. Any book, pamphlet, writing,
or picture, containing such representa-
tions, although only communicated to a
single person, is considered in law a
publication of it ; and libellers may be
brought to punishment by a prosecution,
or be compelled to make reparation by a
civil action. The civil action is grounded
upon the injury which the libel is sup-
posed to occasion to the individual ; the
public prosecution upon its tendency to
provoke a breach of the peace. In a
civil action, the plaintiff recovers dam-
ages, the amount of which is settled by
the jury : but, upon an indictment, the
jury has merely to acquit the defendant,
or to find him guilty, after which the
court passes judgment. Libel, in the ec-
clesiastical and admiralty courts, is the
name given to the formal written state-
ment of the complainant's ground of com-
plaint against the defendant.

LI'BER, in Roman mythology, a sur-
name of Bacchus, in reference, perhaps,
to the idea of his being a liberator or de-
liverer. Liber was originally an old
divinity, who presided over fertility, and
who was worshipped in connection with
Libera (a name of Proserpine,) and Ceres.

LIB'ERAL, in politics, a conventional
name given to that party in a country
which advocates progressive reform of
abuses in the state, real or supposed.

LIBTERAL ARTS, such as depend
more on the exertion of the mind than
on manual labor, and regard intellectual
improvemOT^nd amusement, rather than
the necessity of subsistence.

LIBERA'LIA, -i sacred festival, with
games ; so called from Liber, a Latin

AND THE FINE ARTS.

353

name of Bacchus, in honor of which god
they were celebrated at Home. It was
on occasion of this festival that the Ro-
man youths who attained the ago of
seventeen assumed the manly dress, or
toga.

LIBER'TAS, in the mythology of the
Greeks and Romans, was a goddess wor-
shipped with peculiar veneration. By the
former she was invoked by the synony-
mous title Eleutheria; and throughout
all parts, both of Greece and Italy, statues,
temples, and altars were erected in honor
of her. At Rome, her most famous tem-
ple, built by T. Gracchus, was situated on
the Aventine Mount. She was repre-
sented under the figure of a woman, hold-
ing in one hand a cap, the symbol of
liberty, and two poniards in the other.
In modern times a cap is also used as a
symbol of liberty ; thus, in France a red
cap formed the badge of the Jacobin club.
In England a blue cap with a white
border is used as a symbol of the consti-
tutional freedom of the nation, and Bri-
tannia sometimes bears it on the point of
her spear.

LIBER'TUS, in Roman antiquity, a
person who from being a slave had ob-
tained his freedom. The liberti were
such as had been actually made free
themselves ; the libertini were the chil-
dren of such persons.

LIB'ERT Y, freedom from restraint, in a
general sense, and applicable to the body,
or to the will or mind. The body is at
liberty, when not confined ; the will or
mind is at liberty, when not checked or
controlled. A man enjoys liberty, when
no physical force operates to restrain his
actions or volitions. Natural liberty,
consists in the power of acting as one
thinks fit, without any restraint or con-
trol, except from the laws of nature. It
is a state of exemption from the control
of others, and from positive laws and the
institutions of social life. This liberty is
abridged by the establishment of govern-
ment. Civil liberty, is the liberty of men
in a state of society, or natural liberty,
so far only abridged and restrained, as is
necessary and expedient for the safety
and interest of the society, state, or na-
tion. A restraint of natural liberty, not
necessary or expedient for the public, is
tyranny or oppression. Civil liberty is
an exemption from the arbitrary will of
others, which exemption is .secured by
established laws, which restrain every
man from injuring or controlling another.
Hence the restraints of law are essential
to civil liberty. Political liberty, is
23

sometimes used as synonymous with civil
liberty. But it more properly designates
the liberty of a nation, the freedom of a
nation or state from all unjust abridg-
ment of its rights and independence by
another nation. Hence we often speak
of the political liberties of Europe, or the
nations of Europe. Religious liberty, is
the free right of adopting and enjoying
opinions on religious subjects, and of
worshipping the Supreme Being accord-
ing to the dictates of conscience, without
external control. Liberty, in metaphys-
ics, as opposed to necessity, is the power
of an agent to do or forbear any particu-
lar action, according to the determination
or thought of the mind, by which either
is preferred to the other. Liberty of the
press, is freedom from any restriction on
the power to publish books ; the free
power of publishing what one pleases,
subject only to punishment for abusing
the privilege, or publishing what is mis-
chievous to the public or injurious to in-
dividuals.

LI'BRARY, a collection of books be-
longing to a private person, or to a pub-
lic institution or a company. An apart-
ment, or suite of apartments, or a whole
building appropriated to the keeping of
books. The most celebrated library of
antiquity was the Alexandrian in Lower
Egypt. The principal libraries of mod-
ern times are the Royal library at Paris,
the Bavarian State library at Munich,
the Imperial library at Petersburg, the
Imperial library at Vienna, the Univer-
sity library at Gdttingen, the Royal li-
brary at Dresden, the Royal library at
Copenhagen, the Royal library at Berlin,
the Vatican library at Rome, the Am-
brosian library at Milan, the Bodleian,
library at Oxford, the University library
at Cambridge, the library of the British
Museum in London, the Advocates' li-
brary in Edinburgh, and that of Trinity
College in Dublin.

LI'CENSE. in law, an authority given
to a person to do some lawful act. A li-
cense is a personal power, and therefore
cannot be transferred to another. If the
person licensed abuse the power given
him, he becomes a trespasser. A license
may be either verbal or written ; when
written, the paper containing the author-
ity is called a license.

LTCEN'TIATE, in law, one who has
full license to practise any art or faculty ;
generally, a physician who has a license
to practise, granted by the college of phy-
sicians.

LIC'TORS, in Roman antiquity, offi-

354

CYCLOPEDIA OF UTKRATUKE

cers or beadles who carried the fasces be-
fore the chief magistrates whenever they
appeared in public. It was also a, part
of their duty to be the public executioners
in beheading, scourging, Ac. A dictator
was attended by twenty-four lictors; a
consul by twelve ; the master of the horse,
six ; a prsetor, six ; and each vestal vir-
gin had one.

LIEGE, in law, a term used either as
liege lord, signifying one that acknowl-
edges no superior, or the chief lord of the
fee ; or as liege man, he who owes horn-
Age and allegiance to the liege lord. By
the term liege people is meant the sub-
jects of a monarch, because they owe him
their allegiance.

LI'EN, in law, the right which one
person, in certain cases, possesses of de-
taining property belonging to another,
when placed in his possession, until some
demand, which the former has, is satis-
fied. Liens are of two kinds : particular
liens, that is, where the person in posses-
sion of goods may detain them until a
claim which accrues to him from those
identical goods is satisfied ; and general
liens, that is, where the person in posses-
sion may detain the goods, not only for
his claim accruing from them, but also
for the general balance of his account
with the owners. Some liens also are
created by express agreement, and some
by usage.

LIEUTEN'ANT, this word, like cap-
tain, and many others, has received grad-
ually a much narrower meaning than it
had originally. Its true meaning is a
deputy, a substitute, from the French
lieu, (place, post,) and tenant, (holder.)
A lieutenant general du royaume is a
person invested with almost all the pow-
ers of the sovereign. Such was the count
d'Artois (afterwards Charles X.) before
Louis XVIII. entered France, in 1814.
Lieutenant-general was formerly the ti-
tle of a commanding general, but at pres-
ent it signifies the degree above major-
general. Lieutenant-colonel is the offi-
cer between the colonel and major.
Lieutenant, in military language, signi-
fies the officer next below a captain.
There are first lieutenants, and second, or
sous-lieutenants, with different pay.
A lieutenant in the navy is the second
officer next in command to the captain of
a ship. In England, the lord-lieutenant
of a county has the authority to call out
the militia in case of invasion or Rebel-
lion. The governor of Ireland is also
called lord-lieutenant of Ireland. In
some English colonies, jointly under a

governor-general, the chief magistrate
of each separate colony is called lieuten-
ant-governor. Many of the United States
choose lieutenant-governors to act in c;t.-o
of the governor's death.

LIG'ATURE, in music, the tie which
binds several notes of like length to-
gether, by which they appear in groups.

Thus * * * ^ four quavers, by means
of a ligature at the top or bottom, assume
the form >__\ i j , the line connecting them

being the ligature.

LIGHT, that imponderable ethereal
agent or matter which makes objects per-
ceptible to the sense of seeing, but the
particles of which are separately in-
visible. It has been believed that light
is a fluid or real matter, existing inde-
pendent of other substances, with prop-
erties peculiar to itself. Its velocity is
astonishing, as it passes through a space
of nearly twelve millions of miles in a
minute. Light, when decomposed, is
found to consist of rays differently color-
ed ; as, red, orange, yellow, green, blue,
indigo, and violet. The sun is the prin-
cipal source of light in the solar system ;
but light is also emitted from bodies ig-
nited, or in combustion, and is reflected
from enlightened bodies, as the moon.
Light is also emitted from certain putre-
fying substances. It is usually united
with heat, but it exists also independent
of it. The intensity of light, at different
distances from a luminous body, is in-
versely as the squares of those distances,
so that in this respect it follows the same
law as heat, sound, and the force of grav-
ity. Light acts a very important part
in the vegetable economy. The green
color of plants and the hues of flowers
entirely depend upon it. It is also found
to assist in developing the forms of some
of the lower classes of animals. There
are two theories respecting the nature
of light. Some maintain that it is com-
posed of material particles, which are
constantly thrown off from the luminous
body ; while others suppose that it is a
fluid, diffused through all nature, and
that the luminous body occasions waves
or undulations in this fluid, by which the
light is propagated in the same manner
as sound is conveyed through the air.
The first is called the corpuscular, the
second the undulatory theory; the lat-
ter is now more generally entertained,
several facts being wholly inexplicable
on the former theory. The language,
however, which is employed in treating

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355

of light is, for the most part, accommo-
dated to the former. Light, in painting,
the medium by which objects are dis-
cerned. In a picture it means the part
the most illuminated. This may happen
from natural light, as the sun or moon ;
or from artificial light, as a fire, candle,
&c. The principal light is generally
made to fall on the spot where the prin-
cipal figures are placed, and generally
near the centre of the picture. A re-
flected light is that which a body in shad-
ow receives from a contiguous light ob-
ject.

LIGIIT'NING, a sudden discharge of
electricity from a cloud to the earth, or
from the earth to a cloud, or from one
cloud to another, that is, from a body
positively charged to one negatively
charged, producing a vivid flash of light,
and usually a loud report, called thun-
der. Sometimes lightning is a mere in-
stantaneous flash of light without thun-
der, as heat-lightning, lightning seen by
reflection, the flash being beyond the
limits of our horizon. AVhen the flash
of lightning takes a zigzag course, or
when it branches out, it is termed forked
lightning; when it has the appearance
of a sudden and wide illumination, it is
called sheet-lightning.

LIM'BO, a region, supposed by some
of the school theologians to lie on the
edge or neighborhood of hell. This serv-
ed as a receptacle for the souls of just
men, not admitted into purgatory or
heaven. Such were, according to some
Christian writers, the patriarchs and oth-
er pious ancients who died before the
birth of Christ : hence the limbo was
called Limbus Patrum. These, it was
believed, would be liberated at Christ's
second coming, and admitted to the priv-
ileges of the blessed in heaven. Though
some have asserted that, when our Saviour
went down into hell, he liberated these
souls, and carried them away with him
into heaven. This latter idea is proba-
bly an adorned representation of the re-
markable passage in St. Peter's epistle,
(i. 3, 19,) where he says that Christ
preached to the spirits in prison ; and,
being held by certain of the later fathers,
seems to have given some influence to
the growing opinion in favor of a purga-
tory. The limbus puerorum, or infan-
tum, was a similar receptacle allotted
by some of the schoolmen to the souls of
infants who die unbaptized. Dante has
fixed his limbo, in which the distinguished
spirits of antiquity are confined, as the
outermost of the circle of his hell. The

use which Milton has made of the same
superstitions belief is well known.

LIMITA'TION, in law, a certain time
prescribed by statute, within which an
action must be brought.

LINE, in fortification, whatever is
drawn on the ground of the field, as a
trench, or a row of gabions, &c. Lines
are most commonly made to shut up an
avenue, or entrance to some place, and
are distinguished into lines of approac/i,
of defence, of communication, &c. Line,
in genealogy, a series or succession of
relations, from a common progenitor.
Direct line, is that which goes from fa-
ther to son ; being the order of ascendants
and descendants. The collateral line, is
the order of those who descend from a
common father related to the former, but
out of the line of ascendants and descend-
ants : in this are placed uncles, aunts,
nephews, &c. A ship of the line, in na-
val affairs, any vessel of war large enough
to be drawn up in the line of battle. In
military affairs, regular troops, in dis-
tinction from the militia, volunteers, <fcc.,
are called troops of the line.

LIN'EN, cloth made of flax, being
much finer than that which is made of
hemp. In common linen the warp and
woof cross each other at right angles ; if
figures are woven in, it is called damask.
The species of goods which come under
the denomination of linen, are table-
cloths, sheeting, cambric, lawn, shirting,
towels, &o. The chief countries in which
linens are manufactured are Russia, Ger-
many, Switzerland, Holland, Scotland,
and Ireland. In several parts of Ger-
many, Switzerland,Flanclers, and France,
linens are frequently embellished with
painting ; and in England the produce
of the Irish^inen manufacture is beauti-
fully printed in the manner of calicoes.
In the middle ages, linen and woollen
cloth formed the only materials for dress
and fine linen was held in very high es
timation. In more ancient times linen
formed the dress of the Egyptian priests,
who wore it at all their religious cere-
monies.

LIPOGRAMMAT'IC WORKS or
WRITINGS, compositions in which a
particular letter is omitted throughout.
The ancients produced many ingenious
trifles of this description. In the Odys-
sey of Tryphiodorus there was no A in the
first book, no B in the second, and so on.
There are other pieces of modern inven-
tion, such as the Pugna Porcorum, in
which all the words begin with the letter
P. Odes in Spanish, containing only one

356

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LIT

of the vowels, arc refinements on the same
invention.

LIST, the enclosed field of ground
wherein the ancient knights held their
jousts and tournaments ; so called from
its being encircled with pales, barriers,
or stakes, as with a list. Some of these
were double, one for each cavalier, which

kept them apart, and prevented them
from coming nearer each other than a
spear's length. ^lence the expression to
enter the lisfs is synonymous with enga-
ging in contest.

LIT'ANY, signifies a general suppli-
cation ; and was applied by the Eastern
church in early ages to a special form
of prayer which was introduced into the
ritual, or used on particular occasions.
The term passed over into the Western
church, where the words rogatio and
supplicatio have been used in the same
technical sense. It is supposed that the
change of term was occasioned by the
frequency of processional supplications
from the Eastern to the Western church-
es, beginning in the fourth century. The
litany of the English Church is mostly
translated from the forms of the Western
litanies previously used in that country ;
those of the breviary of Salisbury and
York. The direction in the prayer-book
is, that the litany shall be read on
Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays : on
the two former, as fast-days in the primi-
tive Church ; the one as the day in which
Christ was sold by Judas, the other as
that of the crucifixion, and therefore pe-
riods of peculiar humiliation : on the
Sunday, as the day appointed for the most
complete and solemn service in the week.
LITERA'TI, in general, denotes men
of learning. In antiquity, those who
were branded with any le*ters by way
of ignominy, were so called.

LIT'ERATES, in ecclesiastical affairs,

<u a name given to those who are admitted
to ordination by the bishop without hav-
ing taken a university degree.

LIT'ERATURE, in the general sense
of the word, comprises the entire results
of knowledge and mental activity ex-
pressed in writing ; but in a narrower
sense, it is used to denote the depart-
ment of elegant letters, excluding works
of abstract science and mere erudition.
In this limited view it comprehends
languages, particularly Greek and Lat-
in, grammar, etymology, logic, rhetoric,
poetry, history, criticism, bibliography,
and a description of the attainments
of the human mind in every sphere
of research and invention. The history

of literature represents the develop-
ment and successive changes of civil-
ization, so far as these are exhibited
in written works, and embraces the his-
tory of the literature of special ages or
countries, and of the separate branches
of literature, as poetry, rhetoric, philol-
ogy, and so forth. A brief sketch of the
literature of different nations, in ancient
and modern times, will be given in the
present article.

I. ANCIENT LITERATURE.

1. Chinese Literature. The antiquity
of Chinese literature is proportionate to
that of the language, and its develop-
ment has been greatly promoted by the
early invention of the art of printing,
which has been known in China for at
lea^t nine hundred years. The Chinese
language presents a remarkable speci-
men of philological structure, which for
ingenuity of arrangement and copious-
ness of expression, is not surpassed in
any written literature. It belongs to
that class of idioms which are called
monosyllabic. Every word consists of
only one syllable. The roots or original
characters of the Chinese are only 214
in number, and it is supposed that a
minute analysis would reduce them to
a still smaller amount. Each of these
characters represents one word, and each
word an idea. Their various combina-
tions form the whole language. Taken
singly, they express the principal objects
or ideas that are suggested in the com-
mon intercourse of life ; and combined,
according to obvious analogies, they are
made to comprehend the entire field of
thought. Thus the character, which
originally represents the word hand, is
so modified and combined with others,
as to denote every variety of manual
labor and occupation. The Chinese
characters are written from top to bot-
tom, and from right to left. The lines
are not horizontal, but perpendicular and
parallel to each other. Much impor-
tance is attached by the Chinese to the
graphic beauty of their written charac-
ters, which in picturesque effect, it must
be owned, are superior to most forms of
alphabetic symbols. The grammar of
the language is very limited. The nouns
and verbs cannot be inflected, and hence
the relation of words to each other in a
sentence can be understood only from
the context, or marked by their position.

The Chinese literature is rich in works
in every department of composition, both

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

357

verse and prose. Their scholars are
fond of discussions in moral philosophy,
but they have also numerous books of
history, geography, voyages, dramas,
romances, tales, and fictions of all kinds.
The labors of various European travellers
and students have given us specimens of
almost every description of Chinese liter-
ature. In legislation, we have a trans-
lation of the Penal Code of the Empire ;
in politics and morals, the sacred books
of Confucius, and his successor Meng-
Tsew ; in philology and belles-lettres,
a well-executed dictionary of the lan-
guage ; several translations and ab-
stracts of history ; and selections from
the drama, criticism, and romance.
Among the most successful explorers of
the field of Chinese literature, we may
mention Staunton, Davis, Morrison,
Klaproth,. and llemusat, who have fol-
lowed up the earlier researches of the
Jesuits at Pekin, and greatly elucidated
a subject which had been supposed to be
inaccessible.

2. Greek Literature. The language
which we call Greek, was not the prim-
itive language of Greece, for that coun-
try was originally inhabited by the Pe-
lasgi, whose language had become extinct
in the time of Herodotus. With regard
to its origin, there is a diversity of opin-
ion among the learned, although it
evidently forms a branch of the exten-
sive family of languages, known by the
name of Indo-Germanic. It has existed
as a spoken language for at least three
thousand years, and with the exception
of the Arabic and the English, has been
more widely diffused than any other
tongue". Out of Greece, it was spoken in
a great part of Asia Minor, of the south
of Italy and Sicily, and in other regions
which were settled by Grecian colonies.
The Greek language is divided into four
leading dialects, the JEolic, Ionic, Doric,
and Attic, beside which there are several
secondary dialects. The four principal
dialects may, however, be reduced to
two, the Hellenic-Doric, and the Ionic-
Attic, the latter originally spoken in the
northern part of Peloponnesus and At-
tica, the former in other parts of Greece. |
In each of these dialects, there are cele-
brated authors. To the Ionic dialect,
belong in part the works of the oldest
poets. Homer, Ilesiod. Theognis ; of
some prose writers, especially Herodotus
and Hippocrates : and the poems of Pin-
dar, Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus.
The Doric dialect was of the greatest an-
tiquity. We have few remains of Doric

prose, which consists chiefly of mathe-
matical or philosophical writings. Af-
ter Athens became the centre of litera-
ry cultivation in Greece, the works of
JSschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aris-
tophanes, Thucydides, Xenophon, Plato,
Isocrates, Demosthenes, and so forth,
were regarded as standards of style, and
made the Attic the common dialect of
literature. Poetry, however, was not
written in the Attic diafcct. The pecu-
liarities of Homer were imitated by all
subsequent poets, except the dramatists,
and even they assumed the Doric to a
certain degree in their choruses, for the
sake of the solemnity of expression
which belonged to the oldest liturgies
of the Greeks. According to the gen-
eral tradition, Cadmus the Phoenician,
was the first who introduced the alpha-
bet into Greece. His alphabet consisted
of but sixteen letters; four are said to
have been invented by Palamedes in the
Trojan war, and four more by Simonides
of Ceos. It has been maintained how-
ever by some persons, that the art of
writing was practised by the Pelasgi
before the time of Cadmus. On the
other hand, many of the most sagacious
critics, place the origin of writing in
Greece at a much later period.

The origin of Greek literature, or the
intellectual cultivation of the Greeks, by
written works, dates at a period of which
we have few historical memorials. The
first period of Grecian cultivation, which
extends to 80 years after the Trojan war,
is called the ante-Homeric period, and is
destitute of any literary remains, proper-
ly deserving the name. Of the poets
previous to Homer, nothing satisfactory
is known. The most ancient was Oleu,
who is mentioned by Pausanias. He was
followed by Linus ; Orpheus, Musaeus, and
others, but the poems which are circu-
lated under their names cannot be re-
garded as their genuine productions. It
was in the Greek colonies of Asia Minor,
that the first great impulse was given
to the development of literature ; and
among them we find the earliest authen-
tic specimens of Greek poetry and his-
torical composition. Situated on the
borders of a noble sea, enjoying a climate
of delicious softness and purity, abound-
ing in the most nutritious and tempting
products of nature, whose fertility was
not inferior to its beauty, these colonies
possessed a character of refined voluptu-
ousness, which, if not favorable to the
performance of great deeds, allured the
dreamy spirit to poetical contemplations,

358

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LIT

and was manifested in noble creations of
the fancy, which have not been surpassed
in the progress of cultivation. Living
near the scene of the Trojan war, the
bards devoted their first poems to the
celebration of Grecian heroism. With
them, commenced the second period of
Greek literature, which we call the Epic
age. Of these, Homer alone has survived.
We have from him the two great poems,
the Iliad andfc Odyssey, with several
hymn? and epigrams. He gave his name
to the Homeridae, an Ionian school of
minstrels, who preserved the old Homeric
and epic style, and who are probably the
Authors of much that has been ascribed
to.Homer himself.

Next to the Homeridae, come the Cyclic
poets, whose works embrace the whole
circle of mythology and tradition, de-
scribing the origin of the gods and of the
world, the adventures of the Heroic times,
the Argonautic expedition, the labors of
Hercules and Theseus, the principal
events of the Theban and Trojan wars,
and the fortunes of the Greeks after the
fall of Troy. A transition between these
historic- poets and the later school of
Ionian minstrelsy, is formed by Hesiod,
who conducted poetry back from Asia
Minor into Greece. Of the sixteen works
ascribed to him. we have the Theogony,
the Shield of Hercules, and Works and
Days, the last, an agricultural poem, in-
terspersed with moral reflections and pru-
"dential maxims.

The third period commences with the
growth of lyric poetry, of apologues and
philosophy, with which history gained a
new development and a higher degree of
certainty. Lyric poetry sprung up on
the decline of the Epic school, and was
much cultivated from the beginning of
the epoch of the Olympiads (776 B.C.,) to
the first Persian war. The poems of this
period are considered among the most
valuable productions of Grecian litera-
ture. Many of them resembled the epic,
and contained the subjects of heroic song.
They were sung by bands of youths and
maidens, accompanied by instrumental
music. Among the most celebrated of
the lyric poets were Archilochus of Paros,
the inventor of the Iambus ; Tyrtfeus,
Terpander, and Alcman, whose martial
strains enkindled the valor of the Spar-
tans ; Callimachus of Ephesus, inventor
of the elegiac measure ; Simonides and
Anacreon of Ceos ; the impassioned Sap-
pho of Mitylene ; Stesichorus, Hipponax,
and Pindar. Many didactic poems, fa-
bles, and proverbs were written during

this period, and served to prepare the
way for prose composition.

The philosophy of this age was marked
by its constant reference to practical
affairs. Among its expounders, we may
consider the seven wise men of Greece,
as they are called, (Periander, or accord-
ing to some, Epiuaenides of Crete, Pitta-
cus, Thales. Solon, Bias, Chilo, and Cleo-
bulus,) of whom six acquired their fame,
not by the teaching of speculative ab-
stractions, but by their admirable wisdom
in the affairs of life, and their skill in the
offices of state. Their celebrated sayings
are the maxims of experience, applied to
the practical relations of life. But with
the progress of intellectual culture, a
taste for speculative inquiries was un-
folded. This resulted in the establish-
ment of the Ionic philosophy by Thales,
the Italian, by Pythagoras, and the older
and later Eleatic. With the development
of these schools, we are brought to the
scientific period of Greek literature. The
Ionic school ascribed a material origin
to the universe. Its principal followers
were Pherecydes, Anixatnander, Ariaxa-
mines, Anaxagoras, Diogenes of Apollo-
nia, and Archilaus of Miletus. Of the
Pythagorean school, which explained the
organization of the world by number and
measure, were Ocellus Lucanus, Timaeus
of Locris, Epicharmus, Theages, Archy-
tas, Philolaus, and Eudoxus. - To the
older Eleatic school, which cherished a
more sublime, but less intelligible con-
ception of the origin of the world, as-
suming the fact of a pure necessary
existence, belonged Xenophanes and Par-
menides ; to the later Eleatic, Melissus
and Diagoras. Until about the com-
mencement of the 90th Olympiad, the
philosophers and their disciples were dis-
persed throughout the various Grecian
cities. Athens subsequently became their
chief residence, where the class of men
called Sophists first rose into importance
as public teachers. Of these, the most
distinguished names that have been pre-
served to us are Gorgias of Leontium,
Protagoras of Abdera, Hippias of Elis,
Prodicus of Cos, Trasimaeus and Tisias.
They were especially devoted to the sub-
jects of politics and eloquence, but also
made a study of the natural sciences,
mathematics, the theory of the fine nrt.,
and philosophy. Professing the art of
logic as a trade, they were less earnest
in the pursuit of truth, than in ' he con-
struction of plausible arguments. Their
fallacious pretences awakened the honest
indignation of Socrates, who not only be-

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

359

came their zealous antagonist, but gave
a vigorous and original impulse to the
progress of philosophy. This shrewd and
subtle reasoner opened a new direction
to philosophical research, turning it to
the study of human nature, and of the
laws of psychology and ethics instead of
barren speculations and theories. With-
out leaving any written record of his
genius, he is known at the present day
by the affectionate and beautiful memo-
rials which have been consecrated to his
character in the productions of his disci-
ples. Among these, Plato was pre-emi-
nent by the force and comprehensiveness
of his reason, the marvellous keenness of
his insight in the region of transcenden-
tal ideas, the vigor and acuteness of his
logical faculties, and the winning sweet-
ness and grace of expression, which lend
a charm to his writings that has never
been equalled in philosophical literature.
The masterly conversations of Socrates,
in which he expounded the principles of
his philosophy in the streets and market-
place of Athens, are reproduced with ad-
mirable dramatic effect, in the glowing
pages of his eloquent disciple.

The progress of history kept pace in
Grecian cultivation with the development
of philosophy. Among the oldest histori-
cal prose writers, are Cadmus, Dionysius,
and Hecatseus of Miletus, Hellanicus of
Mitylene, and Pherecydes of Scyros.
After them appears Herodotus, who has
received the name of the Homer of his-
tory. He was followed by Thucydides,
the grave, condensed, and philosophical
historian of the Peloponnesian War.
Strongly contrasted with his sternness
and energy, is Xenophon, whose limpid
narrative flows on with the charming
facility of a graceful stream, presenting
a delightful specimen of the tranquil
beauty of Greek prose in its most simple
form. These three historians distin-
guished the period from 550 to 500 B.C.,
during which time we have to notice the
introduction of a new class of poetical
creations.

The popular festivals, which were
celebrated after the vintage, with rude
songs and dances, led to the gradual cre-
ation of the drama. A more artistic
form was given to the wild choruses in
honor of Bacchus ; the recitation of fa-
bles by an intermediate speaker was in-
troduced into the performances ; and
soon the games of the vintage festival
were repeated on other occasions. The
spirit of the drama was thus cherished,
until the appearance of jEschylus, who

may be deemed the author of the dra-
matic art in Greece. He divided the sto-
ry into different portions, substituted the
dialogue for recitation by a single per-
son, and assigned the various parts to
skilful actors. The three great tragic
writers are ^Eschylus, Sophocles and
Euripides, while the most distinguished
rank in comedy is held by Cratinus,
Eupolis, Crates, and especially Aristo-
phanes, j)

During this period we find several
didactic and lyric poets, while the sister
art of eloquence was illustrated by the
names of Lysias, Demosthenes) jEschines,
Antiphon, Gorgias, and Isocrates.

The succeeding period, which is usu-
ally called the Alexandrine, was char-
acterized by the prevalence of a critical
spirit ; the luxuriant bloom of the ear-
lier Greek literature had passed away ;
and the fresh creative impulses of ge-
nius were made to yield to the love of
speculation and the influence of erudi-
tion. The glowing imaginative philos-
ophy of Plato was succeeded by the
more rigid system of Aristotle, who
fdunded the Peripatetic school, and gf^e
order and precision to the principles of
reasoning. With the passion for subtle
analysis, which was the characteristic of
his mind, he drew a sharp line of distinc-
tion between logic and rhetoric, ethics
and politics, physics and metaphysics,
thus enlarging the boundaries of philos-
ophy, and establishing a system which
exercised an undisputed supremacy for
ages. The dogmatic tendencies of Aris-
totle found their counterpart in the
skeptical principles of which Pyrrho of
Elis was the most distinguished advocate.
The same principles prevailed to a cer-
tain extent in the Middle and New Acad-
emies founded by Arcesilaus and Car-
neades, while the Socratic philosophy
was modified by the disciples of the Stoic
school, established by Zeno, and of the
Epicurean, which bears the name of its
celebrated founder. At length the intel-
lectual sceptre which had been so long
wielded by the philosophers and poets of
Greece, passed from Athens to Alexan-
dria ; the nation itself was absorbed in
the progress of Roman conquest ; Greek
literature ceased to give birth to original
productions ; and its brilliant career be-
came the subject of history.

Hebrew Literature. The language
and literature of the ancient Hebrews,
apart from its religious character and
claims, presents a curious and important
subject of investigation. It is the oldest

360

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LIT

literature of which any remains have
come down to modern times. With a
rich poetical coloring, a profound senti-
ment of humanity, and a lofty religious
faith, it sustains a most intimate relation
to the development of the intellect and
the moral and political history of the
race. The Hebrew language is one of the
oldest branches of the numerous family
of languages which have received the
name Shemitic, on account of the sup-
posed descent of the nations by which
they were spoken, from Shem, the son
of Noah. These are the Chaldaic, the
Aramsean, the Hebrew, the Syriac, the
Arabic, the Phoenician, and the Ethio-
pian. The history of the language has
been divided by many critics into four
periods. I. From Abraham to Moses.
II. From Moses to Solomon. III. From
Solomon to Ezra. IV. From Ezra to
the end of the age of the Maccabees,
when it was gradually lost in the modern
Aramsean and became a dead language.
The differences, however, which can be
traced in the language are so slight, that
a sounder division would be into only two
periods, the first extending from the time
of Moses to the reign of Hezekiah, and
the second from the reign of Hezekiah to
its final extinction as a spoken language.
The written characters or letters, which
date from the time of Solomon, were the
same as the Phoenician. During the
Babylonish captivity, the Hebrews re-
ceived from the Chaldees the square
character in common use, and in the
time of Ezra, the old Hebrew manu-
scripts were copied in these characters.
The punctuation of the language was not
settled until after the seventh century of
the Christian era. The accents, vowels,
points, and divisions into words, were also
introduced at a later period.

The poetical and religious sentiment
was the foundation of Hebrew literature.
Lyric poetry received a rich development
under David, to whom are ascribed sev-
eral noble specimens of song and elegy.
The fragments of didactic poetry which
bear the name of Solomon are stamped
with a character of practical wisdom, and
often exhibit an energy of expression,
which authorize us to class them among
the most extraordinary productions of
ancient literature. After the division of
the kingdom, the prophets became the
great- teachers of the people, and have left
various collections of their writings, none
of which have come down to us with com-
pleteness. Upon the return of the exiled
people from the Babylonish captivity.

the remains of Hebrew literature were
collected by a college of learned men un-
der the direction of Ezra, and from their
labors we have received the books of tho
Old Testament in their present form.

Roman Literature. The language of
the ancient Romans is usually called
Latin, for though Rome and Latium
were originally separate communities,
they always appear to have spoken the
same language. The Latins, as far as
we can decide on such a question at the
present day, seem to have formed a part
of that great race which overspread both
Greece and Italy under the name of Pe-
lasgians. It is supposed that the Pelas-
gians who settled in Italy originally
spoke the same language with the Pelas-
gians who settled in Greece. The Greek
and Latin languages accordingly have
many elements in common, though each
has its own distinctive character.

The history of Roman literature may
be divided into four periods. I. From
the earliest times till Cicero. II. To
the death of Augustus, A.D. 14. III. To
the death of Trojan. IV. To the con-
quest of Rome by the Goths. During
the first five hundred years of the Roman
history, scarcely any attention was paid
to literature. Its earliest attempts were
translations and imitations of the Greek
models. The Odyssey was translated into
Latin by Livius Andronicus, a Greek
captive of Tarentum, and the earliest
writer of whom we have any account.
His tragedies and comedies were taken
entirely from the Greek. He was fol-
lowed by Naevius, who wrote an historical
poem on the first Punic war, by the two
tragic writers Pacuvius and Attius, and
by Ennius, B.C. 239, the first epic poet,
and who may be regarded as the founder
of Roman literature. Being a Greek by
birth, he introduced the study of his
native language at Rome, and had
among his pupils Cato, Scipio Africanus,
and other distinguished citizens of that
day. At the same time, he taught the
Romans the art of easy and graceful
writing in their own language, and helped
to inspire them with a love of literature
by his refined taste and elegant cultiva-
tion. Contemporary with Ennius was
Plautus, whose dramatic pieces, in imi-
tation of the later comedy of the Greeks,
were remarkable for their vivacity of
expression and their genuine comic hu-
mor. He was followed by Cecilius and
Terence, of whom the latter has left
several admirable comedies, fully im-
bued with the Grecian spirit. The first

AND THE FINE ARTS.

361

prose writers were Quintus Fabius Pictor
and Lucius Cincius Alimentus, who lived
in the time of the second Punic war, and
wrote a complete history of Rome. Their
style was meagre and insipid, aiming
only at brevity, and entirely destitute of
ornament or grace.

With the age of Augustus, in which
some earlier writers are usually reckoned,
a new spirit is exhibited in Roman litera-
ture. In didactic poetry, Lucretius sur-
passed his Grecian masters, by the force
of thought and the splendor of diction,
which characterize his great philosophical
poem on the origin of the universe. Ca-
tullus attempted various styles of poetry,
in all of which he obtained eminent suc-
cess. His lyric and elegiac poems, his
epigrams and satires, are marked by
singular versatility of feeling, frequent
flashes of wit, and rare felicity of ex-
pression. Among the elegiac poets, of
whose genius we still possess the remains,
the highest distinction was gained by Ti-
bullus, Propertius and Ovid. The former
of these poets was pronounced by Quinc-
tilian to be the greatest master of elegiac
verse ; Ovid possessed an uncommon fer-
tility of invention and ease of versifica-
tion ; while Propertius tempers the vo-
luptuous cast of his writings with a
certain dignity of thought and vigorous
mode of expression. The great lyric
poet of the Augustan age is Horace,
whose graceful and sportive fancy, com-
bined with his remarkable power of deli-
cate and effective satire, continues to
make him a favorite with all who have
the slightest tincture of classical learning.
The noblest production of this period,
however, is the ./Eneid of Virgil, which,
with his elaborate poem on rural affairs,
the Georgics, and his sweet and tender
pastorals, or Eclogues, fairly entitles him
to the position which has been given him
by universal consent, of the most gifted
epic and didactic poet in Roman litera-
ture.

The prose writings of the Latin authors,
taken as a whole, betray a higher order of
genius and cultivation than the works of
the poets. In this department, the pre-
eminence belongs to Cicero, whose vari-
ous productions in eloquence, philosophy,
and criticism, are amon'g the most valu-
able treasures of antiquity. In history,
Cesar, Sallust, and Livy. are the most
prominent names, who, each in his own
peculiar style, h'ave left models of his-
torical composition, which have been the
admiration of every subsequent age.
The literature of the Augustan period

partook of the general character of the
Roman people. Devoted to the realiza-
tion of practical objects, with slight ten-
dencies to the ideal aspect of things, and
absorbed in the exciting game of politics
and war, the Romans had little taste
either for abstract speculation or for the
loftiest flights of poetical fancy. Hence
no new system of philosophy was pro-
duced in their literature ; their best
poets were essentially imitative ; and of
all branches of study, those connected
with popular eloquence were held in the
greatest esteem.

With the death of Augustus com-
menced the decline of Roman litei nture.
Among the poets of this period, are Phse-
drus, an ingenious fabulist, the satirists,
Juvenal and Persius, whose works are
more important for their illustrations of
the manners of the age. than for their
poetical merit, and Lucan, who describes
the wars of Cesar and Pompey in an in-
sipid historical epic. In prose, we have
the sombre, but condensed and powerful
histories of Tacitus, and the quaint and
artificial treatises on ethics and philosophy
by Seneca. Subsequent to the reign of
Trajan, we meet with no writers, who
have any claim upon our attention, and
the literature of Rome, after a brief in-
terval of splendor, during the golden age
between Cicero and Augustus, passes into
unimportance and obscurity.

Sanscrit Literature. Until the close
of the last century, the Sanscrit literature
was almost wholly unknown to the learned
of Europe. The Roman Catholic mis-
sionaries in India, had, to a certain ex-
tent, engaged in the study of the lan-
guage at an earlier period, but it is only
since the year 1790, that it has attracted
the attention of eminent scholars. Among
those who have given an impulse to the
study of Sanscrit, and who have them-
selves pursued it with distinguished suc-
cess, are Sir William Jones, Wilkins,
Forster, Colebrooke, Wilson. Haughton,
Rosen, Chezy, Burnouf, A. W. Schlegel,
and Bopp. We are indebted to their
labors for a knowledge of this rich and
curious literature, which, on many ac-
counts, may be considered as one of the
most remarkable products in the history
of intellectual culture.

The Sanscrit language is a branch of
the Indo-Germanic family of languages,
and is supposed to bear the greatest re-
semblance to the primitive type. In its
construction, it is in the highest degree
ingenious and elaborate, and the variety
and beauty of its forms are well adapted

362

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LIT

to illustrate the laws of the formation of
language. It is the sacred language of
the Bramins, and contains the Vedas, the
oldest records of their religion. The last
century before the Christian era, was the
period of its richest blossoming, although
it extends back to a far more remote
antiquity. It appears in its most ancient
form in the Vedas, which date from the
thirteenth century before Christ, and in
that state exhibits many striking analo-
gies with the Zend, the ancient language
of Persia. These writings are the foun-
dation of Sanscrit literature, and diffuse
their influence through the whole course
of its development.

The Vedas are divided into four classes,
the first being in poetry, the second in
prose,,^^ third consisting of lyrical
prayers, and the fourth of devotional
pieces, intended to be used in sacrifices
and other religious offices. Each Veda
is composed of two parts, the prayers and
the commandments. The Sanscrit pos-
sesses a variety of other works in sacred
literature, which contain not only a co-
pious exposition of religious doctrines,
but numerous discussions of philosophi-
cal and scientific subjects, and an exten-
sive collection of poetical legends.

The two oldest and most interesting
epic poems are " The Kamayana," de-
scribing the seventh great incarnation of
Vishnu, and "The Mahabharata," devo-
ted to the wars of two rival lines descend-
ed from the ancient Indian monarch,
Bharata. An episode from this work
called "Bhagavat Gita" has been trans-
lated by Wilkins, Herder, Schlegel and
others, and has excited no small interest
as an illustration of the early Oriental
philosophy.

A new character was given to Sanscrit
poetry about one hundred years before
the Christian era, by the introduction of
themes connected with courts and princes.
It lost the popular and national ten-
dency which appears in the two great-
epics, alluded to above, and assumed n,
more artificial form. With a manifest
improvement in the mere externals of
style, the new poetry shows a degeneracy
in point of thought, and an entire ab-
sence of original invention. In the
principal works of this class we find la-
bored descriptions of natural objects, and

tion, and whose epic, lyric, and dramatic
productions, must be allowed to possess
considerable merit. His best descriptive
poem, entitled ' Meghaduta," is a model
of simplicity and elegance. It exhibits
a highly ideal character, tracing out the
spiritual significance of visible phenome-
na, and striving to penetrate into the
hidden life of the universe. The drama
called ''Sacontala" or the "Fatal Ring,"
by this author, has received the warm-
est commendation from modern critics.
" All its scenes," says the genial Herder,
" are connected by flowery bands, each
grows out of the subject as naturally as
a beautiful plant. A multitude of sub-
lime as well as tender ideas are found in
it, which we should look for in vain, in a
Grecian drama." A valuable translation
of this poem has been made by Sir Wil-
liam Jones.

The influence of religious speculation
in India early gave birth to numerous
philosophical writings. With the love
of contemplation, to which the natives
are so strongly inclined, and the progress
of thought in opposition to the doctrines
of the Vedas, a variety of philosophical
systems was the natural consequence.
The oldest of these is called the " Sank-
hya." It teaches the duality of matter
and spirit, which are essentially different
in their nature, though found in such
intimate union. The problem of life, is
the emancipation of the soul from the do-
minion of the senses, -and the attainment
of blessedness by the supremacy of the in-
tellect. Another system of transcenden-
tal speculation is named the li Nyaya.''
This is constructed from strict logical
deductions, which it applies to the inter-
pretation of nature, and arrives at a
theory of materialism, the reverse of the
Sankhya ideality. The Nyaya school
has produced a multitude of writings.
Opposed to each of these systems is the
" Mimansa," which maintains the doc-
trines of the Vedas in their original
strictness, and strives to reconcile them
with the suggestions of philosophy.

The Sanscrit literature, moreover,
abounds in works on various other
branches of learning. Its philological
treatises, especially, are of great value.
The Indian grammarians surpass those
of any other ancient people. No less

many curious artifices of composition, j important are the Sanscrit works on

but they are destitute both of brilliancy
of imagination and depth of reflection.
The most fertile author of the new school
is undoubtedly Calidasa, who attempted
almost every species of poetical composi-

rhetoric, criticism, music, astronomy, and
jurisprudence. They Well deserve the
attention of the scholar, not only on
account of their intrinsic character, but
as precious memorials of the early de-

LIT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

363

velopment of the intellect, and significant
illustrations of the history of the race.

II. MODERN LITERATURE.
r An interval of eight centuries separates
/the period of the decline of Roman litera-
ture from that of the first dawn of modern
literature in Europe. The successive
invasions of the barbarians during the
rapid dismemberment of the ancient em-
pire of Rome, for a time destroyed all
languages, and centuries elapsed before
the new tongues were sufficiently ma-
tured for the cultivation of letters. In
the Eastern Empire, during the third,
fourth, and fifth centuries after Christ,
nothing was produced except some works
of theology, by the Fathers of the Church.
The Arabs first began to cultivate litera-
ture in the sixth, and the Persians in the
ninth century after Christ. The Pro-
vencal, or language of the Troubadours,
in the south of France, first attained a
stable character towards the close of the
ninth century, and the Langue d' Oil, or
Romance-tongue of Normandy, about fifty
years later. Nearly all of the living
languages of Europe date the first be-
ginnings of their literature as far back
as the tenth century, though, except to
gratify a philological taste, there is little
that will repay the student of modern
literature for going beyond the twelfth
century. The following sketches of the
literature of civilized- nations, since the
decline of classic literature, have been
arranged nearly in the order of time :

Arabic Literature, Literature, after
its final decay and extinction in the East-
ern and Western Roman Empires, revived
first among the Arabic tribes in the East.
Even before the era of Mahomet, there
were renowned poets and story-tellers in
Arabia. In the fifth century, during the
great fairs of Mecca, poetical contests
frequently took place, the victorious pro-
ductions being lettered with gold and
hung up in the Caaba. Among the most
renowned poets of this period were
Amralkeis, Tharafa, and Antar. Their
works are distinguished by imaginative
power, richness of illustration, and great
skill in depicting the passions of love
and revenge. With Mahomet commenced
a memorable epoch in Arabic literature.
Through the Koran, which was arranged
from Mahomet's teaching?, by Abubekr,
the first caliph, the method of writing
and the literary style of the nation were
determined. The reigns of Haroun Al-
Raschitl and Al-Mainun in the seventh
and eighth centuries, were the most en-

lightened period of the Arabic dominion,
though for two centuries afterwards the
nation produced many eminent geogra-
phers, philosophers, jurists and histori-
ans. Under the government of Al-Ma-
mun, excellent universities were estab-
lished at Bagdad, Bussora and Bokhara,
and extensive libraries in Alexandria,
Bagdad and Cairo. The dynasty of the
Abbassides in Bagdad emulated that of
the Ornmanides in Spain ; during the tenth
century the University of Cordova was
almost the only refuge of literature in
Europe. The labors of the Arabic schol-
ars and travellers contributed greatly to
the spread of geographical knowledge.
Ibn Battita, who in the thirteenth century
visited Africa, India, China, and Russia,
ranks with Marco Polo and Rubruquis.
In the twelfth century Abu'l Kasein
wrote the history of the Arabs in Spain ;
Bohaeddin, a biography of Sultan Sala-
din ; Ibn Arabschah described the ex-
ploits of Tamerlane, and Hadji Khalfa,
in later times, has produced an encyclo-
pedia of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish
literature. The style of the Arabian
historians is clear, concise, and unincum-
bered with imagery. The most renowned
philosopher was Avicenna, who flourished
in the eleventh century. Averrhoes,
whose name is also familiar to scholars,
was famous as an expounder of the sys-
tem of Aristotle. In the departments
of medicine, astronomy, geometry.- and
arithmetic, there are many Arabic works
which exhibit great research and scien-
tific knowledge.

The number and variety of the works
produced by the Arabian poets, is most
remarkable, and their influence on the
modern literature of Europe was greater
than is generally suspected. In pic-
turesque narration they have rarely been
excelled, and the "Thousand and One
Nights." which first appeared in its col-
lected form during the reign of Caliph
Mansur in the ninth century, has been
naturalized in all modern languages.
Only half of this, however, is Arabic ;
the remainder having been translated
from the Sanscrit and Persian. The
Arabian poets left many poetic chron-
icles, the most celebrated of which are :
" The Deeds of Antar," " The Deeds of
the Warriors," and "The Deeds of tho
Heroes." Of late years, several eminent
French and German scholars have given
their attention to the study of Arabic
literature, the best works of which aro
ow accessible through their translations
Persian. Literature. The modern lit-

364

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

erature of Persia succeeded that of Arabia.
After the conquest of the country by the
caliphs, about the middle of the seventh
century, the arts and sciences of the
Arabs, together with the religion of Ma-
homet, were transplanted upon Persian
soil, but the fruits of this new culture did
not appear for several succeeding genera-
tions. The first Persian books, both of
poetry and history, were written in the
early part of the tenth century, and for
several centuries there was no interrup-
tion in the list of renowned authors.
Literature was encouraged and rewarded,
whatever might be the political convul-
sions that affected the empire. Persian
poetry consists for the most part of small
lyrics, arranged in divans, or collections.
There are also several voluminous histori-
cal, romantic, and allegorical poems, be-
sides legends and narratives told in a mix-
ture of prose and verse. The first Persian
poet is Rudegi, who flourished about the
year 952. Firdusi, the great epic poet
of Persia, died in the year 1030, at the
age of seventy. He wrote the " Schah-
namefi," or " Kings' Book'," describing
the deeds of the Persian rulers, from the
creation of the world to the downfall of
the Sassanide dynasty in 632. He was
thirty years in the composition of this
work, which contains sixty thousand
verses. The most celebrated portion is
that recounting the adventures of the
hero Rustem. Nisami, at the close of the
twelfth century, wrote extensive romantic
poems, the most remarkable of which
were "Medjnoun and Leila," and " Is-
kander-Nameh" an epic on Alexander
the Great. Chakani was a celebrated
writer of odes in the thirteenth century.
Saadi, one of the most celebrated Persian
authors, was born in 1175, and lived till
1263. His poems are principally moral
and didactic, but rich with the experience
of a fruitful life, and written in a very
simple and graceful style. His best
works are the Gulistan. or " Garden of
Roses," and the Bostan, or " Garden of
Trees." Hafi/,, the Oriental poet of love,
was born at Schiraz, in the beginning of
the fourteenth century, where he lived as
a dervish in willing poverty, resisting the
invitations of the caliphs to reside in
Bagdad. In the year 1388, he had an
interview with Tamerlane, by whom he
was treated with much honor. His poems
consisted of odes and elegies, which have
been collected into a " Divan." His
lyrics, devoted to the praise of love undjj
wine, are full of fire and melody.

Djami, who died in 1492, was one of

the most prolific of Persian writers. His
life was spent at Herat, where, in the
hall of the great mosque, he taught the
people the precepts of virtue and religion.
He left behind him forty works, theologi-
cal, poetical, and mystical. Seven of his
principal poems were united under the
title of " The Seven Stars of the Bear."
His history of mysticism, entitled " The
Breath of Man," is his greatest prose
work. Among the later Persian poems
are the Sctiehinscheh-Nameli, a continua-
tion of the Book of Kings, and the George-
Nameh, an account of the conquest of
India by the British. The Persian is
the only Mahometan literature contain-
ing dramatic poetry. Its dramas stri-
kingly resembl-e the old French myste-
ries. Of the collections of tales, legends,
and fairy-stories, the most celebrated are
the Amcari soheili, or " Lights of the
Canopy," and the Behari danisch, or
"Spring of Wisdom." The historical
works in the Persian language are very
numerous and valuable. They embrace
the history of the Mohammedan races,
from Mongolia to Barbary. The princi-
pal works are the Chronicle of Wassaf, a
history of the successors of Genghis Khan,
which appeared in 1333; the "Marrow
of the Chronicles," by Khaswini, in 1370,
and the Rauset Essafa, a great universal
history, of which modern historians have
made good use. It was written by Mir-
chond, about the year 1450. In the de-
partments of ethics, rhetoric, theology,
and medicine, the Persian scholars are
only second to the Arabic. They also
excelled in translation, and have repro-
duced in Persian, nearly the entire lit-
erature of India.

Italian Literature. The Italian lan-
guage assumed a regular and finished
character at the court of Roger I., king of
Sicily, in the twelfth century. Several
poets arose, who, borrowing the forms of
verse from the Proven9al troubadours,
gave the people songs in their native
language in place of the melodies of the
Moors and Arabians. The Italian soon
became the court language of Italy, and
Malespina's History of Florence, which
was written in the year 1280, is scarcely
inferior, in elegance and purity of style
to any Italian prose works which have
since been produced. The first genuine
poet of Italy, however, was her greatest,
and one of the greatest of all time.
Dante commenced his great poem of the
" Divina Commedia" in the year 1304,
just before his exile from Florence, and
completed it during his many years of

LIT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

365

wandering from one court of Italy to
another. Out of the rude and imperfect
materials within his reach, he constructed
an epic which places his name beside that
of him whom he humbly called his mas-
ter Virgil. Taking the religious faith
of his time as the material, ho conducts
the reader through the sad and terrible
circles of Hell, the twilight region of
Purgatory, and the fair mount of Para-
dise, showing him all forms of torture
and punishment for the vile, all varieties
of supreme happiness for the pure and
good. The poem takes a fierce and
gloomy character from the wrongs and
persecutions which the poet endured in
his life. Dante died in 1321, at which
time Petrarch, who was born in 1304, had
commenced those studies which led to the
restoration of classic literature to Italy.
As an enthusiastic admirer of antiquity,
he imparted to his contemporaries that
passion for the study of the Greek and
Roman authors which preserved many
of their masterpieces at a moment when
they were about to be lost to the world.
His songs and sonnets, most of which
were inspired by his unfortunate love for
Laura de Sade, give him a worthy place
after Dante, in Italian literature. He
died in 1374. Contemporary with Pe-
trarch was the great master of Italian
prose Boccaccio, who was born in 1313.
He early devoted his life to literature,
and in 1341, assisted at the celebrated
examination of Petrarch, previous to his
coronation in the capitol. His principal
work is the Decamerone, a collection of
one hundred tales, which, notwithstand-
ing the impurities with which they are
disfigured, are models of narration, and
exhibit the most varied powers of ima-
gination and invention. Boccaccio is
considered as the inventor of romances
of love a branch of literature which was
wholly unknown to antiquity.

For a century following the death of
Boccaccio, the literature of Italy shows no
great name, though several scholars dis-
tinguished themselves by their attain-
ments and the aid which they rendered to
the cause of classic literature. The most
noted of these were John of Ravenna;
Lionardo Aretino, who wrote a history of
Florence in Latin ; Poggio Bracciolini, a
most voluminous writer, who enjoyed the
patronage of Cosmo de' Medici, at Flo-
rence; Francesco Fileflo and Lorenzo
Valla, both men of great erudition, whose
labors contributed to bring on a new era
of Italian literature. Lorenzo de' Medici,
called the Magnificent, towards the close

of the fifteenth century, gave the first im-
pulse to the cultivation of the Italian
tongue, which had been lost sight of in the
rage for imitating Latin poets. Besides
being the author of many elegant songs
and sonnets, his court was the home of all
the authors of that period. Among these
were Politiano, who wrote Orfeo, a fable
formed on the myth of Orpheus, which was
performed at the court of Mantua, in
1483 ; Luigi Pulci, the author of Mor-
gante Maggiore, and Boiardo, author of
the Orlando Innamorato. Both the last-
named poems are chivalrous romances,
written in the ottava rima, and full of a
quaint humor, which before that time had
only appeared in the prose of Boccaccio.
But the master of the gay and sparkling
poetic narrative was Ariosto, wh - was
born in 1474, and first appeared as a i au-
thor about the year 1500. Five years
later he commenced his Orlando Furioso,
which was not completed till 1516. This
is a romantic poem in forty-six cantos,
celebrating the adventures of Roland, the
nephew of Charlemagne. It is one of the
classics of Italy, and has been translated
into all modern languages. After the
death of Ariosto in 1533, no literary work
of any prominence appeared until Tor-
quato Tasso published his Jerusalem De-
livered, in 1581. Alamanni, Trissino and
Bernardo Tasso flourished in the interval
and produced labored poems, which are no
longer read. The subject of Tasso's poem
is the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre from
the Moslems, by the Crusaders, under
Godfrey of Bouillon. The wrongs and
persecutions heaped upon Tasso clouded
his mind and shortened his days ; he died
in Rome, in 1595, on the day before that
appointed for his coronation. Three other
Italian authors of the sixteenth century
are worthy of mention : Cardinal Bembo,
the mostlBnished scholar of his day, and
author of a history of Venice ; Nicolo
Machiavelli, whose name has become sy-
nonymous with all that is sinister and un-
scrupulous in polities, from his treatise
entitled " The Prince," for which, after
his death, an anathema was pronounced
against him; and Pietro Aretino, one of
the most infamous and dissolute men of
his time. Machiavelli wrote an admira-
ble History of Florence, which is still a
standard work.

In the half-century following the'death
of Tasso, there are but two poets who
have attained any renown ; Guarini, the
author of Pastor Fido, and Tassoni, who
wrote the Secchia Kapita (Rape of the
Bucket.) Filicaja, whose impassioned ly-

366

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LIT

rics are still the revolutionary inspiration
of Italy, belongs to the latter part of the
seventeenth century; he died in 1707.
After another long interval arose Frugo-
ni. a lyric poet of some celebrity, who
died in 1768. and Metastasio, the author
of plays, operas and ballets innumerable.
He is remarkable for his wonderful com-
mand of the language, and the free and
spirited movement of his dialogue. He
died in 'Vienna, in the year 1782. During
this same period, Italian dramatic litera-
ture received a new accession in Goldoni,
whose comedies are still the glory of the
Italian stage. He had a rival in Count
Gazzi, whose works, nevertheless, are far
inferior to Goldoni's in humor and bril-
liancy. What Goldoni did for comedy, Al-
fieri accomplished for Italian tragedy.
This author justly stands at the head of
modern Italian literature. His tragedies,
odes and lyrics exhibit an eloquence and
fervor of thought which is scarcely reach-
ed by any other author. His principal
works are Saul, Myrrha, Octavia, Bru-
tus the Second, and Philip II. Since the
commencement of this century, Italy has
not been barren of authors. Pindemonte,
who has published several volumes of dra-
matic poetry ; Ugo Foscolo, author of a
poetn called "The Sepulchres ;" Manzoni,
who wrote 1 Promessi Sposi, (The Be-
trothed,) a charming romance of life on
the shores of Lake Como ; Silvio Pellico,
whose Le Mie Prigione is a narrative of
his sufferings in the prison at Spielberg,
and Niccolini, equally celebrated as a
poet and prose writer. Mazzini, Trium-
vir of Rome during the brief period of I
the Republic, and Gioberti, are the most
distinguished Italian authors of the pres-
ent generation.

Spanish Literature. The earliest es-
say in Spanish literature is the Chron-
icle of the Cid, which is supposed to have
been written about the middle of the
twelfth century. In form the poem is
sufficiently barbarous, though the lan-
guage is remarkably spirited and pictur-
esque. It has been the fount of number-
less songs and legends, through the later
centuries. It narrates the adventures of
Kuy Diaz de Bivar, the Cid Campeador.
In the following century, Gonzales de
Berceo, a monk, wrote nine voluminous
poems on the lives of the saints. Alfonso
X. of Castile, whose reign terminated in
1284, was the author of a poem entitled
The Philosopher's Stone, besides several
prose works. The first author of the
fourteenth century was Prince Don John
Manuel, who wrote a prose work entitled

Count Lucanor, a collection of tales em-
bodying lessons of policy and tnorulity.
He was followed by Pedro Lopez da
Ayala, and Mendoza, Marquis de San-
tillana ; though the latter belongs prop-
erly to the next century. He produced
a number of works, both prose and poetry,
all of which were remarkable for the
erudition they displayed. Some of his
lighter poems are very graceful and me-
lodious.

Under the reign of Charles V. Spanish
literature first reached its full develop-
ment. After the union of Arragon and
Castile and the transfer of the seat of the
government to Madrid, the Castilian be-
came the court language, and thus re-
ceived a new polish and elegance. The
first author of this period was ' Bos-
can, an imitator of Petrarch in some re-
spects, but a poet of tnnch native fervor
and passion. Garcilaso de la Vega, the
friend of Boscan, surpasses him in the
sweetness of his verses and in their sus-
ceptibility and imagination. He was a
master of pastoral poetry, and his ec-
logues are considered models of that
species of writing. His life was actively
devoted to the profession of arms. He
fought under the banner of Charles XI. in
Tunis, Sicily, and Provence, and was
finally killed while storming the walls of
Nice. Don Diego de Mendoza, one of the
most celebrated politicians and generals
of that period, is generally awarded a
place next to Garcilaso. He was a patron
of classical literature, and the author
of a history of the Moorish Revolt in
the Alpuxarra, and a History of the
War of Grenada, but a man of cruel
and tyrannical character. Montemayor,
who flourished at the same time, attain-
ed much celebrity from his pastoral
of Diana. These authors during the
reign of Charles V. gave Spanish poetry
its most graceful and correct form, and
have since been regarded as models of
classic purity. The great masters of
Spanish literature, however, were re-
served for the succeeding generation.
Herrera and Ponce de Leon, lyrical
poets, fill the interval between the age
of Garcilaso de la Vega and Cervantes.
Herrara is considered the first purely
lyrical poet of Spain. Ponce de Leon,
who was imprisoned five years by the
Inquisition for having translated the
song of Solomon, was the author of sev-
eral volumes of religious poetry.

Two of the brightest stars of Spanish
literature, Cervantes and Lope de Vega,
were contemporaries, and were followed

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367

in the next generation, by the third, Cal-
deron. Cervantes was born in 1549. He
travelled through Italy, lost a hand at
the battle of Lepanto, and was five years
a slave in Barbary. He commenced his
literary career by the writing of come-
dies and tragedies, the first of which,
Galatea, was published in 1584. Thirty
of his comedies have been entirely lost.
His great work, Don Quixote, was pub-
lished in 1605, and was immediately
translated into all the languages of Eu-
rope. From this time until his death in
1616, he wrote many novels and comedies.
The tragedy of Numantia, and the com-
edy of Life in Algiers, are the only two
of his plays which have been preserved.
To this same period belongs Don Alonzo
de Ercilla, whose epic of La Aracuana
was written during the hardships of a
campaign against the Aracuanian In-
dians in Chili. Lope de Vega was born
in 1562, and after a life of the most mar-
vellous performances died in 1635. He
was a prodigy of learning, imagination,
and language. Out of eighteen hundred
dramas which he wrote, one hundred
were each produced in the space of a
single day. His detached poeuis have
been printed in 27 volumes in quarto.
Very few of his plays are now read or
performed. The only remaining authors
of eminence during this period are Que-
vedo, who wrote several moral and reli-
gious works and three volumes of lyrics,
pastorals, and sonnets ; Villegas, an ana-
creontic poet ; and tHe Jesuit Mariana,
author of a History of Spain. The life
of Calderon de la Barca, the illustrious
head of the Spanish drama, extended
from 1600 to 1687. His plays are of four
kinds : sacred dramas, from Scriptural
sources ; historical dramas ; classic dra-
mas ; and pictures of society and man-
ners. The most celebrated are The Con-
stant Prince, El Secreto a Voces and El
Magico prodigioso. A number of small
dramatists were contemporary with Cal-
deron, but with his death Spanish litera-
ture declined, and has since produced few
eminent names. Luyando, counsellor
of state, published two tragedies in 1750,
and in 1758 appeared Tke Life of Friar
Gerund, by Salazar a work in the style
of Don Quixote, but directed against the
clergy instead of the chivalry. It abounds
with wit and satire, and is perhaps the
best Spanish prose work of the last cen-
tury. Towards the close of the century
Huerta achieved considerable reputa-
tion by his attempts to revive the Spanish
drama. Tomas de Yriarte published in

1782 his Literary Fables, and a few years
later Melendez appeared as the author
of two volumes of idyls and pastorals.
Both of these authors display considera-
ble lyric genius ; but since their death,
in the early part of the present century,
Spain has produced no new name in lit-
erature.

Portuguese Literature. Portugal first
acquired its position as an independent
kingdom after the battle of Ourigue, in
1139. The date of the origin of its lite-
rature is nearly coeval with that of the
monarchy. Hermiguez and Moniz, two
knights who flourished under Alfonso I.,
wrote the first ballads. King Dionysius,
who reigned from 1279 to 1325, and his
son, Alfonso IV. were both renovired as
poets, but few vestiges of their writings
remain. It was not until the fifteenth
century, however, that Portuguese litera-
ture attained any considerable merit.
Macias, a Portuguese knight engaged in
the wars with the Moors of Grenada, was
called El Enamorado, on account of the
tender and glowing character of his ama-
tory poems. The first distinguished poet
of the country was Bernardin Ribeyro,
who nourished under the reign of Em-
manuel the Great, in the beginning of
the sixteenth century. His most cele-
brated productions arehis eclogues, the
scenes of which are laid on the banks of
the Tagus and the sea-shores of Portugal.
His lyrics of love, the origin of which i<3
attributed to an unholy passion for the
king's daughter, are wonderfully sweet
and melodious. The first prose work in
Portuguese worthy of note, is a romance
entitled The. Innocent Girl, which ap-
peared about this period. Saa de Mi-
randa, who also attained celebrity as a
Spanish author, was born in Coimbra in
1495, and wrote many sonnets, lyrics and
eclogues in his native tongue. He also
wrote a series of poetical epistles, after
the manner of Horace. Antonio Ferreira,
who was born in 1528, followed the ex-
ample of Miranda in his sonnets and
eclogues, but surpassed him in entering
the field of dramatic literature. His
Inez de Castro, founded on the tragic
story of that lady, displays much power
and pathos in the delineation of the char-
acters. The other poets of this genera*
tion were Andrade Caminha, Diego Ber-
nardes and Rodriguez de Castro, all of
whom wrote lyrics, sonnets and pastorals,
few of which have survived them.

The sole star of Portuguese literature,
who is now almost its only representative
to other nations, was Luis de Camoens,

368

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LIT

who was born in 1525. After studying
at Coimbra, where he was coldly treated
by Ferreira, he embraced the profession
of arms, and lost an eye in the siege of
Ceuta. Sailing for India in 1533, he
reached Goa in safety, participated in an
expedition against the king of Cochin-
China, spent a winter in the islands of
Ormuz, and afterwards, on account of a
satire entitled Follies in India, directed
against the Portuguese governor, was ban-
ished to Macao, on the coast of China.
During his residence of five years in that
place, he wrote his great epic of The Lu-
siad, devoted to celebrating the passage
of the Cape of Good Hope by Vasco de
(in ma, and the triumph of Portuguese
arms and commerce in the Orient. On
his return to Portugal he was shipwreck-
ed on the coast of Cambodia, and escaped
by swimming, with the Lusiad in his
hand, held above the waves. He died in

freat poverty, in 1579. He left behind
im many sonnets, songs and pastorals,
but most of them are penetrated with a
vein of deep and settled melancholy.
Among the successors of Camoens, the
most noted are Gil Vicente, a dramatic
writer, who is supposed to have served as
a model to Lope de Vega and Calderon ;
and Rodriguez Lobo, who was at one time
considered a rival of Camoens. He wrote
the Winter Nifttft, a series of philosoph-
ical conversations, Spring, a romance,
and numberless pastorals. Cortereal also
described in a ponderous epic the adven-
tures of Manuel de Sousa Sepulveda, a
distinguished Portuguese.

The age of Camoens also gave rise to a
new branch of literature. John de Barros,
born in 1496, is esteemed by his coun-
trymen as the Livy of Portugal. He
commenced his career by a romance en-
titled The Emperor Clarimond, but after
his return from service on the coast of
Guinea, he devoted himself to the prepa-
ration of a grand historical work on the
Portuguese empire. Only one fourth of
this, entitled Portuguese Asia, which was
published in 1552, appeared. This is one
of the most comprehensive, accurate and
interesting historical works of that age.
Alfonso D Albuquerque, one of the most
distinguished contemporaries of Barros,
wrote a series of Commentaries, and
Couto and Castanheda undertook to com-
plete the work which Barros had left un-
finished. Bernardo de Brito, born in
1570, designed to give a universal History
of Portugal, but, commencing with the
Creation, he died by the time he reached
the Christian Era. Osorio, Bishop of

Sylvez, who died in 1580, wrote the His-
tory of King Emmanuel, describing the
religious troubles of that time in a most
liberal and enlightened spirit. Manuel
de Faria, born in 1590, almost rivalled
Lope de Vega in the amount of his
works ; his dissertations on the art of
poetry are held in most value. He also
wrote a History of Portugal and a Com-
mentary on Camoens. After the subju-
gation of Portugal by Philip II. of Spain,
the literature of the country declined,
and presents no distinguished name for
nearly a century following. The first
author of the last century is the Count of
Ericeyra, born in 1673. He was a gene-
ral in tb-? army, and a scholar of splendid
attainments. His chief work was the
Henriqueide, a epic poem, describing
the adventures of Henry of Burgundy,
th<? founder of the Portuguese monarchy.
Towards the close of the last century,
Antonio Garpao and the Countess de Vi-
mieiro acquired some celebrity by their '
dramatic productions. The only Portu-
guese authors of note, whom the present
century has brought forth, are Antonio
da Cruz e Silva, who imitated Pope and
other English poets, and J. A. da Cunha,
an eminent, mathematician and elegiac
poet. The Portuguese colonies have pro-
duced a few writers, the most noted of
whom are Vascencellos and Clauuio Man-
uel da Costa.

French Literature. The literature of
France was later in its development than
that of the other nations of Southern Eu-
rope. It was necessary to wait the de-
cline of the two romance-tongues of Nor-
| mandy and Provence before the language
! could take a settled form, and a still fur-
i ther time "elapsed before it was sufficiently
j matured for the purposes of the scholar
and the author. During the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries the kingdom
produced many romances, in which the
influence of the literature of the Trou-
ve'res and Troubadours was manifest.
Gilbert de Montreuil, Castellan de Coucy,
and some others were noted for this spe-
cies of composition ; many sacred dramas
and mysteries were written in the north
of France, and about the middle of the
fifteenth century, several romantic epics
appeared. The only remarkable name
of this early period is the renowned
chronicler, Froissart, who was born in
1337, and in the .course of his travels
and sojourn at all the courts of Europe,
was witness of many of the chival-
rous events he describes in his "Chron-
icles of France, Spain, Italy. England

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

369

and Germany." Philip de Comines, who
died in 1509, passed his life in the ser-
vice of Louis IX., and left behind him
the " Memoirs" of his time. The latter
part of the fifteenth century produced
many small writers of satires, odes, songs,
&c., among whom, Charles, Duke of Or-
leans, takes the first rank. The sacred
mysteries, the first attempt at theatrical
representation, gradually gave place to
a rude form of drama and comedy, and a
very successful comedy of French life ap-
peared in 1475.

With the reign of Francis I. the study
of the classics became popular in France,
and from that time till the age of Louis
XIV. the progress of French literature
was rapid and uninterrupted. The six-
teenth century produced a few great
names. Scaliger and Casaubon were re-
nowned for their scholastic acquirements ;
Clement Marot and Theodore Beza cul-
tivated poetry under Francis I., whose sis-
J,er, Margaret of Valois, published a col-
lection of novels, called the Heptameron ;
Ronsard was the first French poet who
showed strong original genius, and, with
Regnier, gave the national poetry a freer
and more characteristic tone. The drama
was improved by Etienne Jodelle, who
imitated the Greek tragedians ; Claude
de Seyssel wrote the History of Louis
XII. ; and Brantoine and Agrippa d'Au-
bigne left behind them many memoirs and
historical essays. But the boast of the
age is the names of Malherbe, Rabelais
and Montaigne. Malherbe, born in 1554,
is considered the first French classic, in
poetry ; his language is most inflexibly
pure and correct. Rabelais was born in
1483, and his romance of " Gargantua
and Pantagruel" was first published in
1533. Notwithstanding its grossness it is
one of the most lively, humorous and bril-
liant books in the language. It satirizes
the clerical and political characters of his
time. Montaigne, whose life extended
from 1533 to 1592, wrote three volumes of
Essays, on moral, political and religious
subjects, which on account of their elegant
style no less than the treasures of thought
they contain, have always held their
place among French classics.

The seventeenth century is the glory of
French literature. Under the auspices
of Richelieu, Colbert and Louis XIV. all
departments of letters, science and art
reached a height unknown before. The
French Academy was founded by Riche-
lieu in 1635, and the language, at that
time unrivalled in clearness, perspicacity
and flexibility, gradually became the po-
24

lite tongue of Europe. Dramatic poetry,
especially, founded on the principles of
the Greek theatre, attained a, character
it has never since reached. Corneille,
born in 1606, was the father of the classic
French drama. His first play, The Cid,
belongs rather to the romantic drama, but
through the influence of the Academy his
later works, the most eminent of which
are Les Horaces, Cinna, Polyeucte and
Mart de Pompee are strictly classical.
His dramatic works amount to thirty-
three. Racine," who was born in 1639,
brought the classic drama to perfection.
His language is the most elegant and
melodious of all French dramatists, while
he is inferior to none in his knowledge of
nature and his command of the senti-
ments and passions. His plays, though
constructed on the classic model, are not
confined strictly to classic subjects. The
most celebrated are : Andromaque, Baja-
zet, Mitliridate, Phtdre, Esther and
Athalie. After these two authors ranks
Moli^re, the father and master of French
comedy. His Tartujfe has a universal
celebrity. Ho died in 1673. Crebillon,
sometimes called the French Jischylus,
was a writer of tragedies. Legrand, Reg-
nard, and Scarron distinguished them-
selves as dramatists of secondary note.
To this age belong Le Sage, the author
of Gil Bias ; La Fontaine, the greatest
fabulist since Esop ; and Boileau, the sat-
irist and didactic poet, whose Art poeti-
que and Lutrin or " Battle of the Books"
have been made classic. Mademoiselle
de Scudery wrote many chivalrous ro-
mances, and Perrault's fairy tales soon
became household words. The Telcma-
que of Fenelon was also produced during
this period. This author, with Bourda-
loue, Bossuet and Massillon, were cele-
brated as theological writers and pulpit
orators. Madame de Sevigne's letters
are unsurpassed as specimens of graceful,
polished and spirited epistolary writing.
As historians, Rollin is the most dis-
tinguished, but Mezeray, author of the
national Chronicles, the Jesuit D'Orleans,
author of Histories of Revolutions in Eng-
land and Spain, and Bossuet's theological
histories, are worthy of notice.

During the eighteenth century, when
the literature of Spain, Italy and Portu-
gal were on the decline, nd England and
Germany remained stationary, France
still maintained her supremacy. In 1694
was born Voltaire, who in the course of
his life made himself master of nearly
every department of literature. His first
play, (Edipe, was successfully performed

370

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LIT

in 1718, though his epic of the Henriade,
written at the same time, was not pub-
lished till 1729. Many of his succeeding
plays were unsuccessful, and his satires
and philosophical essays produced only
banishment. His principal plays are
Zaire, Alzire, Brutus, Oreste, Mahomet
and Tancrtdt. After his return from
Germany, he settled at Ferney on the
Lake of Geneva, where for twenty years
he devoted himself to literature. His
principal works are : History of Charles
XII. of Sweden ; History of Russia under
Peter the Great; Pyrrhonisms de I'his-
toire, Droits de I'homme and the Diction-
naire Philoso/ihique. Jean Jaques Rous-
seau, born in 1712, exercised scarcely less
influence on French literature, than Vol-
taire. His first work, a dissertation on
Modern Music, appeared in Paris in 1743,
about which time he wrote several come-
dies and tragedies and composed an opera.
His romance entitled Nouvelle Heloise,
was published in 1760. and his Contrdt
Social and Emile in 1762. His most re-
markable work, the Confessions, was com-
pleted in 1770, and he 'died in 1778. As
bold and independent as Voltaire in his
philosophical views, he had nothing of his
cynicism. His works, the style of which
is absolutely fascinating, express a sin-
cere sympathy with humanity. Montes-
quieu, whose Spirit of Laws is a stand-
ard work on jurisprudence, belongs to
the first half of the eighteenth century.
Among the historians contemporary with
Voltaire were Condorcet, author of a His-
tory of Civilization, andBarthelemy, who
also wrote the Voyage dujeune Anachar-
sis. La Bruyere. La Harpe and Madame
d'Epinay distinguished themselves by
their didactic and epistolary writings.
The most noted novelists were Marmon-
tel, Bernardin de St. Pierre, author of
Paul and Virginia, and Louvet. Mari-
vaux attained distinction as a writer of
comedies, and Beaumarchais as a drama-
tist and writer of operas. The well-known
Barber of Seville is from his pen. France
produced few lyric poets during the last
century. Lebrun, Delille and Joseph
Chenier are the most worthy of mention,
but the Marseillaise of Rouget de Lisle
is the finest lyric of the century, if not of
all French literature. Mirabeau, Bar-
nave, Sieyes and the leaders of the Rev-
olution gave a new and splendid charac-
ter to French oratory, towards the close
of the century.

Chateaubriand, de Stael and Beranger
connect the age of Rousseau and Voltaire j
with the modern literature of France. |

Chateaubriand was born in 1769, and
published his first work, the Essay on
Revolutions, in London, in 1797, while in
exile. His Atala, the subject of which
was derived from his adventures among
the Natchez tribe of Indians, on the Mis-
sissippi, appeared in 1801, and his Genie
du Christianisme in 1802. He also pub-
lished Les Martyrs in 1807, and an ac-
count of his travels in the East. He
filled many diplomatic stations under the
Bourbons, and was made peer of France.
After his death, which took place in 1848,
his autobiography was published, under
the title of Memoires d'outre Tombe.
Madame de Stael, the daughter of M.
Neckar, afterwards minister under Louis
XVI., was born in 1766, and first appear-
ed as an author in 1788, when she pub-
lished a series of letters on the life and
writings of Rousseau. During the French
Revolution she remained in Switzerland
and England, where she wrote several po-
litical pamphlets, dramas, and essays on f
life and literature. Her romance of Co-
rinne was published in 1807, and her De
I'Allemagne, which directed Attention to
the literature of Germany, in 1810. Her
work entitled Ten Years of "Exile, was
written in Sweden ; she died in Paris in
1817. Beranger, who still lives at Passy,
near Paris, is the first song-writer of
France. Many of his lyrics and ballads
have become household words with the
common people. Casimir Delavigne, who
died in 1843, was among the first restor-
ers of that lyric school, which Lamartine,
Victor Hugo and Alfred de Musset have
since carried to a high degree of perfec-
tion. The most renowned names in co-
temporary French literature, are, as po-
ets : Alphonse de Lamartine. author of
Meditations Poetiques, Harmonies Po-
et iques and La Chute d'un Ange ; Victor
Hugo, author of three volumes of lyrical
romances and ballads ; Alfred de Musset ;
Jean Reboul, a disciple of Lamartine ;
and Auguste Barbier, who mingles with
his poems a vein of keen satire. Jasmin,
a barber of Agen, has obtained much ce-
lebrity by his poems in the Gascon dia-
lect. The new school of French romance
has infected the modern literature of all
countries. Balzac, who died in 1850, is
unequalled as a painter of society and
manners* Eugene Sue, whose Mysteries
of Paris and Wandering Jew have been
so widely read, delights in exciting sub-
jects and the most intricate and improba-
ble plots ; Alexander Dumas, best known
by his Count of Monte Christo, and his
romances of travel, is a master of pictur-

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371

esque narrative ; Victor Hugo is best
known as a novelist by his Notre Dame
de Paris, a brilliant historical fiction,
and Paul de Kock, as a lively though
unscrupulous painter of Parisian life,
enjoys a remarkable popularity. The
most striking and original writer of fic-
tion is Madame Dudevant, better known
as " George Sand," whose Andre, Lettres
d'un Voyageur and Consuelo, have placed
her in the first rank of French authors.
As dramatists, Scribe, Leon Gozlan, Eti-
enne Arago, Germain Delavigne and Fe-
lix Pyat have distinguished themselves.
The most prominent historical and politi-
cal writers are Lamartine, Thiers, Miche-
let, Guizot, Louis Blanc and Thibau-
deau ; while Cousin and Cotute are the
founders of the new schools of philosophy.
French oratory now occupies a higher
position than ever before ; its most illus-
trious names are Guizot, Thiers, Berryer,
Lamartine, Odilon Barrot and Victor
Hugo.

German Literature. The first period
of German literature commenced with
the reign of Charlemagne in the eighth
century, and extends to the time of the
Suabian emperors, at the close of the
twelfth century. The first learned so-
ciety was instituted by Alcuin,the great-
est scholar of Charlemagne's time. In
the succeeding period, Einhard, Rithard,
and Lambert von Aschaffenburg dis-
tinguished themselves as historical and
theological writers. About this time also
originated those epic ballads and frag-
ments which were afterwards collected
under the title of the Niebelungen-Lied,
or ' Lay of the Nibelungen," and the
" Song of Hildebrand." The Neibelun-
gen-Leid, which has been called the Ger-
man Iliad, received its present form
about the year 1210. Its subject is the
history of Siegfried, son of the King
of the Netherlands, his marriage with
Chriemhild. sister of Gunther, King of
the Burgundians, and the revenge of
Brunhild, Queen of Ireland, who married
Giinther.

The second period terminates with the
close of the fifteenth century. It includes
the Minnesingers, or German Trouba-
dours, who were the result of the inter-
course of Germany with Italy and France,
which made German scholars acquainted
with the amatory literature of Provence.
The most renowned Minnesingers were
AVolfram von Eschenbach, who wrote
Parcival, Walter von der Vogelweide,
the most graceful and popular of all, and
Hoinrich von Ofterdingen. Otto von

Friesingen achieved renown for his his-
tories, which were written in Latin.

The third period, dating from the com-
mencement of the fifteenth century, at
which time the German language was
fully developed and subjected to rule, ex-
tends to the present time . It has been sub-
divided by German critics into three parts,
viz.: 1. to the commencement of the Thirty
Years' War ; 2. to Klopstock and Lessing ;
3. to our own day. The progress of the
Reformation in the fifteenth dentury ope-
rated very favorably upon German lite-
rature. Melancthon, Luther, Ulric von
Hutten and the other leaders of the
movement were also distinguished schol-
ars. The celebrated Paracelsus, the natu-
ralist, Gesner, the painter, Albert Diirer,
and the astronomers Kepler and CoTer-
nicus, flourished also in the fifteenth cen-
tury. The most distinguished poet of
this period was Hans Sachs, the shoe-
maker poet of Nuremberg. He was the
master of a school or guild of poetry,
which was then considered as an elegant
profession. In the number of his works
he rivals Lope de Vega, as ho is said to
kave written 6048, 208 of which were
comedies and tragedies. He died in 1576.
Martin Opitz, who marks the commence-
ment of a new era in German poetry,
was born in 1597. He first established a
true rhythm in poetry, by measuring the
length of the syllables, instead of merely
counting them, as formerly. His princi-
pal poems are Vesuvius, Judith, and a
number of lyrics. He was followed by
Paul Flemming and Simon Dach, who
wrote in the low German dialect. As
prose writers of the seventeenth century,
Puffendorf, a writer on jurisprudence and
international law, Leibnitz, the distin-
guished philosopher and the Brothers
Baumgarten, are most prominent. There
is no great name in German literature,
however, from Opitz till the middle of
the last century, when Gellert, Gessner,
Klopstock and Hagedorn were the inau-
guration of a new life. Under these au-
thors, and others of less note, the lan-
guage attained a richness of expression,
a flexibility of style, and a harmony of
modulation which it never possessed bo-
fore. Gellert, born in 1715, is distin-
guished for his " Spiritual Songs and
Odes," his letters and his romance of
The Swedish Countess, which is the first
domestic novel written in the German
language. Gessner is best known through
his idyls, in which he followed the classic
models. Hagedorn, who died in -1754,
wrote many poems ; he is supposed to

372

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LIT

have exercised considerable influence on
Klopstock in his earlier years. As prose
writers, Forstcr, Mendelssohn, the philos-
opher, and Musaus, who made a collec-
tion of German legends and traditions,
are worthy of note.

With Klopstock commenced the golden
age of German literature, and the list of
renowned names continues unbroken un-
til the present time. Klopstock was born
in 1724. In his odes and lyrical poems
he struck out a new and bold path, cast-
ing aside the mechanical rules of the
older schools of German poetry. His
greatest work is the Messias, a sacred
epic, which was commenced in 1745, and
finished in 1771. Lessing, born in 1729,
stands by the side of Klopstock as a poet,
while he is also distinguished as a prose
writer. He may be considered as the
first successful German dramatist, his
plays of Emilia Galotti, Minna von
Barnhelm, and Nathan the Wise, still
keeping their place on the stage. As a
critical writer on all branches of the Fine
Arts, he is also distinguished. Wieland
follows next in the list of German classics.
Born in 1733, he is the link between
the age of Gellert and Klopstock, and
that of Schiller and Goethe. He died in
1813. His principal works are The New
Amadis, which illustrates the triumph
of spiritual over physical beauty, the
heroic epic of Oberon, a romance of the
middle ages, the drama of Alceste, the
History of the Abderites, a satirical ro-
mance, besides many letters, satires, and
criticisms on literature and art. Herder,
his cotemporary, in addition to his fame
as a poet, is celebrated for his philosoph-
real and theological writings, and his
Spirit of Hebrew Poetry. He died in
1803. At the commencement of. this
century, Wieland, Herder, Goethe, and
Schiller, were gathered together at the
Court of Weimar the most illustrious
congregation of poets since Shakspeare,
Spenser. Ben Johnson, and Fletcher, met
together in London. Goethe was born in
1749, and from his boyhood displayed a
remarkable talent for literature, science,
and art. His first romance, The Sor-
rows of Werter, produced a great sensa-
tion throughout all Europe. His tragedy
of Got* von Berlichingen, written at the
age of 22, established his fame as a poet.
After his settlement at Weimar, in 1776,
his works followed each other rapidly.
He produced the tragedies of Iphigenia,
Egmont, Tasso, and Clavigo, the pasto-
ral epic of Hermann und Dorothea, the
philosophical romances of Wilhelm Meis-

ter and Die Wahlverwandschaften, the
West-Ostliche Divan, a, collection of
poems founded in his studies of Oriental
litarature, and the first part of his great-
est work, Faust. He also published nar-
ratives of travel in France and Italy, and
Wahrheit und Dichtung, an autobiogra-
phy of his life. His philosophic and sci-
entific writings, especially his theory of
color, are scarcely less celebrated than
his literary works. He is equally a mas-
ter in all departments of literature, and
is generally acknowledged as the greatest
author since Shakspeare. He died in
1832. Schiller, born in 1759, exercised
scarcely less influence on German litera-
ture, than Goethe. His tragedy of the
Robbers produced nearly as great a revo-
lution as the Sorrows of Werter. On
account of this and other works he was
obliged to fly from his native Wurtem-
berg, and after many vicissitudes, settled
in Weimar, with his great colleagues.
After a brief but intense and laborious
life, he died in 1805. After the Robbers,
he wrote the following dramatic works :
Fiesco, Cabal and Love, Don Carlos,
The Maid of Orleans, Marie Stuart,
William Tell, The Bride of Messina,
and Wallenstein. The last is the great-
est drama in the German language.
His lyrical poems are unsurpassed. His
principal prose works are the History of
the Netherlands and History of the
Thirty Years' War. This period, so
glorious for German literature, produced
also the poets, Burger, author of Lenore
and The Wild Huntsman ; Count Stol-
berg ; Voss, author of Luise ; Salis and
Matthisson, elegiac poets ; Tiedge, au-
thor of Urania ; and the hero Korner,
the Tyrtaeus of the wars of 1812 and
1813. The department of prose was filled
by many distinguished writers of philoso-
phy, history, and romance, some of whom
are still living. Kant, who lived from
1724 to 1804, is the father of modern
German philosophy, and exercised a great
influence on all his cotemporaries. Schle-
gel, in the department of literary criti-
cism, and Winckelmann, in that of art,
are renowned names. Hegel and Fichte
succeeded Kant as philosophers, and Al-
exander von Humboldt became the lead-
er of a new and splendid company of
writers on cosmical science. The name
of Tieck heads the school of modern Ger-
man romance. He was born in 1773, and
early attracted attention by his Blue-
beard and Puss in Boots. In addition to
a great number of plays, romances, and
poems, he produced, in conjunction with

LIT]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

373

Schlegel, a German translation of Shak-
speare, which is the most remarkable
work of its kind in all literature. Jean
Paul Richter, the most original and pe-
culiar of all German authors, was born
in 1763, and died in 1825. His first work
was a humorous and satirical production, '
entitled The (rreenlandic Lawsuit, fol- [
lowed by " Selections from the Devil's
papers." His works are distinguished
by a great knowledge of human nature,
a bewildering richness of imagination,
and a style so quaint and involved, as
almost to form a separate dialect. His
best works are Titan, Hesperus, Die un- \
sichtbare Loge, and Flower, Fruit and
Tkorn Pieces. E. T. A. Hoffman is
scarcely less original, in his romances,
which have a wild, fantastic, and super-
natural character Among other Ger-
man authors, the brothers Grimm are
celebrated for their Kinder und Haus
Miihrchen, the notorious Kotzebue for
his plays, and Wolfgang Mentzel for his
History of Germany and German litera-
ture.

Since the commencement of the present
century Germany has been prolific of
authors, but the limits of this sketch
prohibit us from much more than the
mere mention of their names. Baron de
la Motte Fouque is known as the author
of Undine, one of the most purely poet-
ical creations of fiction, Sintram and
Thiodolf, the Icelander. Borne attained
celebrity as a satirist, critic, and political
writer. Uhland stands at the head of the
modern generation of poets. His bal-
lads, romances, and his epic of Ludwig
der J3aier, are among the best German
poems of the day. After him rank
Riickert, also renowned as an Oriental
scholar; Hauff, a lyric poet, and author
of the romance of Liechtenstein ; Gustav
Schwab, Justinus Kerner, author of the
Seeress of Prevorst ; Arndt, author of the
German Fatherland, the national lyric ;
Anastasius Grun, (Count Auersperg,)
author of the Pfaff von Kahlenberg ;
Nicholas Lenau, author of Savonarola;
Ferdinand Freiligrath, a vigorous politi-
cal poet ; Heinrich Heine, author of
many popular songs and ballads ; Cha-
rnisso, who also wrote the romance of
Peter Schlemihl; Gutzkow, distinguished
as a dramatist ; Halm, also a dramatist,
and author of Der Solm der Wildniss ;
and, as lyric poets, Herwegh, Geibel, and
Bock. Among the distinguished prose
writers are Schlosser, author of a Uni-
versal History ; Neander, author of a
History of the Church, and a Life of

Christ ; Prince Piickler-Muskau and the
Countess Hahn-IIahn, critics and tour-
ists ; Zschokke, (a Swiss,) distinguished
as a novelist, and Feuerbach; Schelling,
as a philosopher; Strauss, author of a
Life of Christ and head of the German
"Rationalists:" Miiller, as a historian,
and Krummacher, a writer of fables and
parables. As historians, Rotteck, Nie-
buhr, and Ranke, are among the most
distinguished of the present century.
One of the most popular living prose
writers is Adalbert Stifter, whose Stu-
dien are unsurpassed for exquisite purity
and picturesqueness of style.

Scandinavian Literature. Under this
head we have grouped the literature of
the three nations of Scandinavian origin.
Sweden. Norway, and Denmark. The
old Scandinavian Eddas, or hymns of
gods and heroes, may be traced back to
the seventh or e ghth century. The
earlier Edda, which was collected and
arranged by Sarnund in the year 1100,
consists of legends of the gods, most of
which were probably written in the eighth
century. The latter Edda, collected by
Snorre Sturleson in the first half of the
thirteenth century, contains fragments
of the songs of the Skalds who flourished
in the ninth and tenth centuries, espe-
cially in the latter, when their genius
reached its culmination in Norway and
Iceland. Among the most renowned
works of the Skalds were the JEiriksmal,
the apotheosis of King Eric, who died in
952, and the Hakonarmal, describing the
fall of Jarl Haco. A celebrated Skald
was Egill Skalagrimsson, who wrote three
epic poems, and two drapas, or elegiac
poems. The power of the Skalds declined
through the eleventh and twelfth centu-
ries, and after the fourteenth, when the
Christian element first began to appear
in Icelandic poetry, wholly disappeared.
Many sagas were written in prose, and
the Heimskringla of Snorre Sturleson,
who died in Iceland in 1238, contains the
chronicles of Scandinavian history from
its mythic period to the year 1177.

Previous to the establishment of the
University of Upsala, in 1476, the only
literature of Sweden was a few rhymed
historic legends. The two centuries suc-
ceeding this period have left no" great
names, and few distinguished ones. Saxo-
Grammaticus made a collection of le-
gends in the fifteenth century ; Olaus
Magni wrote a history of the North in
Latin ; Messenius, who died in 1637,
wrote comedies and a historical work en-
titled Scandia illustrata ; Axel Oxen-

374

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LIT

stiorna, the celebrated minister, was also
a theologist and patron of literature ;
Olof Rudbeck. a distinguished scholar,
published in 1675 his Atlantica, wherein,
from the study of the old Sagas, he en-
deavored to show that Sweden was the
Atlantis of the ancients. George Stjern-
hjelin, who died in 1672, was the author
of a poem called Hercules, whence he is
named the father of Swedish poetry.
Swedenborg, the most striking character
in Northern literature, was born in 1688.
After several years of travel in England
and on the continent, he established him-
self in Sweden, where he devoted his at-
tention to science, and produced a number
of works on natural philosophy, miner-
alogy, zoology, and other kindred sub-
jects. The close of his life was entirely
occupied with his religious studies, and
the production of his Arcana Caelestia,
which contains his revelations of the fu-
ture life, and his theory of the spiritual
universe. These writings gave rise to a
new religious sect, the numbers of which,
in the United States, are supposed to
number about 6000. He professed to be
visited by the Holy Spirit, and his works
are considered by his disciples as equally
inspired with those of the Apostles. He
died in London in 1772. Dalin and Mad-
ame Nordenflycht, were the first noted
poets of the last century. They were
succeeded by a multitude of lyric and
didactic poets ; but Swedish poetry did
not attain a high character before the
commencement of the present century.
Among the authors most worthy of note
are Lidner, Bellman, and Thorild. A
grand history of Sweden, by Professors
Geijer, Fryxell, and Strutnbolrn, is nearly
completed. The present century pro-
duced Atterbom and Dahlgren, poets of
considerable celebrity, and Tegner, the
first of Swedish poets, whose Frithiqf's
Saga has been translated into English,
French, and German. Longfellow has
translated his Children of the Lord's
Supper. In the glow of his imagination,
his fine artistic feeling and his wonderful
command of rhythm, Tegner ranks among
the first of modern poets. He died in
1850. Geijer and Runeberg are at the
head of the living poets of Sweden. As
writers of fiction, Count Sparre, author
of Adolf Findling, Fredrika Bremer,
whose fame as a painter of Swedish life,
has extended over both hemispheres,
and Madame Flygare-Carlen, author of
the Rose of Thistle Island, have at-
tained an honorable place. The most
celebrated works of Miss Bremer are

The Neighbors, The Home, and Strife
and* Peace.

There are few names in Danish litera-
ture before the last century. Ludwig
von Holberg, born in 1685, was the first
who achieved a permanent reputation as
poet and historian. Towards the close
of the last century, Denmark produced
many distinguished scholars and men of
science. Rafn and Finn Magnusen res-
cued the old Icelandic sagas from obliv-
ion, and established the fact of the dis-
covery of New England by Bjorne in the
tenth century ; Peterson became re-
nowned as a classical scholar and critic ;
Oersted is a well-known name in science
and philosophy ; and Miiller and Allen
successfully labored in the department
of history. Nearly all these authors first
became known in the present century.
At the head of Denmark's poets it (Eh-
lenschlager, who died in 1850. His na-
tional tragedies, epics, and lyrics were
written partly in German and partly in
Danish. He is considered the originator
of the artist-drama, of which his Coreg-
gio is a masterpiece. Baggesen, who
commenced his career in the last century,
is one of the first Danish lyric poets.
Heiberg devoted himself to vaudeville
and the romantic drama, and Hauch to
tragedy, in which he is justly distin-
guished. Hertz is known through his
King Rtne's Daughter, which has been
successfully produced on the English
stage. One of the most distinguished of
modern Danish authors is Hans Chris-
tian Andersen, known alike as poet, nov-
elist, and tourist. His romaftces of Da-
nish life are the most characteristic of
his works, though he is better known out
of his native country by his Improvisa-
tore and The True Story of my Life.

Russian Literature The first frag-
ments of Russian Literature belong to
the tenth and eleventh centuries. They
consist principally of rude songs and le-
gends, the hero of which is Wladimir the
Great, who first introduced Christianity
into the country. Nestor a monk in the
monastery of Kiev, who died in the year
1116, left behind him a collection of
annals, beginning with 852, which throw
much light on the early history of Russia.
After the empire was freed from the
Mongolian rule by Ivan I. in 1478, the
progress of literature and the arts was
more rapid. The first printing-press wns
established in Moscow in 1564, though
the Academy in that city was not founded
until a century later. Peter the Great
devoted much attention to the Russian

LIT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

375

language and literature. At his com-
mand, the characters used in printing
were greatly simplified and improved.
The first Russian newspaper was printed
in 1705, in this character.

From 1650 to 1750, Russia produced
several authors, but principally among
the clergy, and their works are disserta-
tions on theology or lives of the saints.
Tatitschev wrote a History uf Russia,
which still retains some value. The only
poet of this period was Kantemir, son of
the Hospodar of Moldavia, who entered
the Russian service, devoted himself to
study, and obtained much reputation
from his satires. Towards the close of
the last century, and especially during
the reigns of Elizabeth and Catharine II.
the establishment of universities and
academies of science and art, contributed
greatly to the development of the lan-
guage and the encouragement of litera-
ture. The distinction between the old
Slavic and modern Russian dialects is
strongly exhibited in the works of Lomo-
nosow, and the predominance of the latter
was still further determined by Sumara-
kow, the first Russian dramatist, whose
plays were performed on the stage.
Choraskow, who belongs to the last half
of the eighteenth century, wrote a long
epic poem on the Conquest of Kazan, and
another on Wladimir the Great. He was
considered the Homer of his time, but is
now never read. Among his cotemporary
poets were Prince Dolgoruki, who wrote
philosophic odes and epistles, and Count
Chvostow, the author of some of the best
lyric and didactic poetry in the language.

The first Russian poet whose name was
known beyond the borders of the empire,
was Derzhavin, who was born at Kazan
in 1743, and after filling important civil
posts under the Empress Catharine, died
in 1816. Many of his most inspired
odes were addressed to his imperial patro-
ness. His ode " To God," has been trans-
lated into nearly all languages, and a
Chinese copy, printed in letters of gold,
hangs upon the walls of the palace at Pe-
kin. The prose writers of this period
were Platon, Lewanda and Schtscherba-
tow, who wrote a History of Russia.
Under Alexander I. in the commence-
ment of the present century, Russian
literature made rapid advances. Karam-
sin, who stood at the head of Russian au-
thors during this period, first freed the
popular style from the fetters of the clas-
sic school, and developed the native re-
sources of the language. Prince Alexan-
der Schakowski wrote many comedies and

comic operas, and Zukowski, following in
the path of Karamsin, produced some
vigorous and glowing poetry. Count
Puschkin. one of the most celebrated Rus-
sian-authors, was born in 1799. His first
poem published at the age of fourteen,
attracted so much attention that he re-
solved to devote himself to literature.
An " Ode to Freedom," however, procur-
ed him banishment to the south of Rus-
sia, where his best poems were written.
His works are : Russian and Ljudmilla,
a romantic epic of the heroic age of Rus-
sia ; the Mountain Prisoner, a story of
life in the Caucusus ; the Fountains of
Baktsckirsarai, and Sorts Godunojf, a
dramatic poem. In his invention, the
elegance o." his diction and the richness
of his fancy, Puschkin excels all other
Russian authors. He was killed in a
duel, in 1837. His cotemporary Baratyn-
ski, who stood nearest him in talent,
died in 1844. Other poets of the present
generation are Lermontow, Podolinski
and Baron Delwig. Russian romance is
not yet fairly developed. The first names
in this department are Bestuzew, who
sufiered banishment in Siberia and met
death in the Caucusus, where his best
work, Amaleth-Beg, was written and
Bulgarin, author of Demetrius and
Mazeppa. The only histories written in
Russia are Histories of Russia. The best
of these, which have been produced by
the present generation of authors, are
those of Ustrialow, Pogodin, Polewoi and
Gen. Michailowski-Danilewski.

Polish Literature. The Polish lan-
guage has received a more thorough de-
velopment and boasts a richer literature
than any other language of Slavic origin.
It first reached a finished and regular
form in the sixteenth century, though a
fragment of a hymn to the Virgin re-
mains, which was supposed to have been
written by St. Adalbert, in the fifteenth
century. The first bloom of Polish litera-
ture happened during the reigns of Sigis-
mund I. and Augustus, from 1507 to
1572. Michael Rey, the father of Polish
poetry, was a bold, spirited satirist. He
died in 1586, and was followed by the
brothers Kochanowski, Miaskowski and
Szymonowicz, who, for his Latin odes,
was called the Latin Pindar. Bielski
wrote the Kronika, a collection of Polish
legends, and Gurnicki, Secretary to Sigis-
mund, a History of the Crown of Poland.
Orzechowski, one of the most distinguish-
ed orators of his day, wrote in the Latin
language, the Annales Poloniee.

After the commencement of the seven-

376

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LIT

teenth century, Polish letters declined,
and as the kingdom cauio under the as-
cendency of the Jesuits, a corresponding
change came over the character of the
literature. Kouhowski, who died in 1700,
was historiographer to King John So-
bieski, and accompanied him against the
Turks. Opaliuski, the Woiwode of Posen,
published in 1652 his Satyres, a lively
and characteristic work, and a number of
Jesuit historians undertook histories of
the country, in which few of them were
successful.

Through the influence of French au-
thors, Polish literature made another ad-
vanco, at the close of the first half of the
last century. The first poet who served to
concentrate the scattered elements of
Polish poetry, was Krasicki, who was
born in 1734, and in 1767 was made
Bishop of Ermeland. He wrote a mock-
heroic poem, Myszeis, (The Mousead,)
an epic entitled Vfoyna. Clwclmska, (The
War of Chocim,) and many fables in
verse. The most prominent of the later
poets are Godebski, Wezyk, author of ro-
mances and dramas, Felinski, author of
Barbara Jiadziwill, and Gen. Kropinski,
who wrote Ludgarda. Tropinski, who
died in 1825, was the author of many ad-
mirable lyrics and idyls, and a tragedy
called Judyta. Niemcewicz, his contem-
porary, wrote the Historical Lives of
Poland, a History of the reign of Sigis-
inund III., and a romance : Johann v.
Tenczyn. The university of Wilna,
which in 1815 was the seat of Polish learn-
ing, witnessed a revolution in the charac-
ter of the literature. Several young au-
thors, with Mickiowicz at their head, de-
termined to free themselves from the
classic spirit of the language, and imi-
tate the later English and German
schools. From this time Polish fiction
took a freer, bolder and more varied form.
Mickiewicz, born in 1798, published his
first volume of poetry in 1822. Banished
to the interior of Russia, on account of
political troubles, he wrote a series of
sonnets which attracted the attention of
Prince Galizin, under whose auspices his
epic poem, Konrad Wallenrod. was pub-
lished in 1828. He is now Professor of
Slavic literature in the College of France.
His polish epic of Pan Tadeusz first ap-
peared in Paris, in 1834. Among his con-
temporary authors, the most noted are :
Odyniec, author of the drama of Izora ; \
Korsak, a lyric and elegiac poet ; Garcz-
ynski, who wrote many fiery battle-songs ;
and Czajkowski, a noted writer of Slavic
romances. The later prose writers of !

Poland are the histo7ical Lelewel, and
Count Plater. It is to be feared that Po-
lish literature will expire with the pres-
sent generation.

Englisti Literature. The English lan-
guage, like other composite modern
tongues, such as the French and Italian,
passed through several phases before
reaching its present form and character.
During the prevalence of the Anglo-
Saxon tongue, from the fifth century to
the Norman conquest, England boasted
several authors, whose names and works
have in part descended to us. The ven-
erable Bede, born in Northumberland,
in 672, is distinguished for his scholar-
ship. He left an Ecclesiastical history
of the Angles, which forms the basis of
early English history. The monk Caed-
mon, who flourished in the seventh cen-
tury, wrote a paraphrase of Genesis and
some fragments which are supposed to
have given Milton the first idea of " Para-
dise Lost." The song -jf Beowulf, which
belongs to the eighth cc itury, is a spirited
and stirring heroic. King Alfred's poems
belong to the best specimens of Anglo-
Saxon literature. The Norman conquest
introduced the French language and the
literature of the Trouveres, while the
Anglo-Saxon was left to the peasants and
thralls. Out of these elements, howev-
er; the English language was gradually
formed, and under the reign of Edward
III., in the fourteenth century, was made
the language of the court. It then as-
sumed a character which is intelligible
to the educated English of the present
day, and that period, therefore, may be
considered as the first age of English lit-
erature.

The earliest English author is Chaucer,
" the morning-star of English song," who
was born in 1328, and produced his first
poem, T/ie Court of Love, in 1347. .Dur-
ing his life he enjoyed the favor of Ed-
ward III. and his son, John of Gaunt.
He filled various diplomatic stations,
among others that of ambassador to
Genoa. During his residence in Italy,
he became familiar with the works of
Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch, and is
supposed to have visited the latter. He
also wrote Troilus and Cressida, The
House of Fame, and The Canterbury
Tales, his most famous work, an imita-
tion, in poetry, of the Decameron. He
died in 1400. The first prose works in
the English language were translations
of the gospels and of some of the classics.
AVickliffe, the Reformer, who first made
an English version of the Bible, was a

AND THE FINE ARTS.

377

contemporary of Chaucer. Sir Thomas
Wyatt, and Henry Howard, Earl of Sur-
rey, who flourished under the reign of
Henry VIII., in the beginning of the
sixteenth century, are the next English
poets of note. They wrote principally
songs and odes. Surrey was beheaded
on charge of treason in 1547.

The reign of Elizabeth, at the close of
the sixteenth century, was the golden age
of English literature. Shakspeare, Spen-
ser, Raleigh, Sidney, Ben Jonson, Beau-
mont and Fletcher, formed a constella-
tion of poets and dramatists, such as no
other age or country ever produced.
Spenser, born in 1553, became early as-
sociated with Sir Philip Sidney, to whom,
in 1579, he dedicated his first work, the
Sliepherd's Calendar, a pastoral. From
1586 to 1598, he was sheriff of the county
of Cork, in Ireland, and resided at Kil-
colman Castle, where his greatest work,
The Faery Queen, was composed This
is an allegory in 12 books, written in
stanza of his own invention, (modelled,
however, on the Italian ottava rima,)
and which now bears his name. He died
in 1599. Sidney, who was born in 1554,
is best known as the author of Arcadia,
a pastoral romance, and the Defence of
Poetry. He is the first writer who gave
an elegant and correct form to English
prose. Shakspeare, the greatest dramat-
ic poet of any age, was born in 1564.
He commenced his career by preparing
for the stage the plays of some of his pre-
decessors, and this fact has thrown some
doubt about the authenticity of two or
three of the plays included among his
works. The order in which his own plays
appeared has never been satisfactorily
ascertained. The following, however,
are known to have been written before
1598 : The Tico Gentlemen of Verona;
Love's Labor Lost; The Comedy of Er-
rors ; Midsummer Night's Dream ;
Romeo and Juliet ; Merchant of Venice ;
Richard II.; Richard III.; Henry IV.,
and King John. The Tempest, which
appeared in 1611, is believed to be his
last dramatic work. He also wrote the
poems of Venus and Adonis, and The
Rape of Lucrece, a lyric called The
Passionate Pilgrim, and a great num-
ber of sonnets, some of which are the fin-
est in the language. He died in 1616.
Ben Jonson was born in 1574, and pub-
lished his first dramatic work, the com-
edy of Every Man in his Humor, in
1596. In addition to other comedies, the
best of which are Volpone, the Fox, and
The Alchymist, he wrote many exquisite

songs and madrigals. Sir Walter Kal-
eigh is more distinguished as a gallant
knight and daring adventurer than as
an author, yet his lyrics and his History
of the World, written during twelve
years' imprisonment in the Tower, give
him full claim to the latter title. He
was born in 1552 and was beheaded by
order of James I. in 1617. Beaumont
and Fletcher, contemporaries and in some
degree imitators of Shakspeare, deserve
the next place after him, among the dra-
matists of that period. Beaumont is sup-
posed to have been the inventive genius
of their plays, and Fletcher to have sup-
plied the wit and fancy. The Faithful
Shepherdess is the work of Fletcher
alone. Many dramatists flourished dur-
ing this and the succeeding generation,
whose works are now but little read, but
who would have attained eminence but
for the greater lights with which they
are eclipsed. The most noted of them
are Marlowe, Marston, Chapman, Decker,
Webster, Ford and Massinger.

Between Shakspeare and Milton, the
only name which appears in English lit-
erature is Cowley, the author of the
Davideis, a forgotten epic. Milton was
borne in 1608, and in his early boyhood
exhibited the genius which afterwards
made him the first English poet, and one
of the great masters of English prose.
His Hymn on the Nativity, was written
in his twenty-first, and his mask of Co-
mus, in his twenty-third year. L' Alle-
gro, II Penseroso, and Lycidas soon af-
terwards appeared. After his return
from Italy, he devoted his attention to
theology and politics. His treatise on
Marriage was published in 1643, his
Areopagitica in 1644, and his famous re-
ply to Salmasius in 1651. In the follow-
ing year he lost his sight, and was obliged
to retire from public service. His Para-
dise Lost appeared in 1665, and was fol-
lowed by Paradise Regained in 1671,
and Samson Agonistes. He died in 1674.
Dryden, who, born in 1631, was known as
a poet during Milton's life, introduced a
new school of poetry the narrative and
didactic. His first noted poem, the An-
nus Mirabilis, was produced in 1666,
his satire of Absalom and Achitophel in
1681, and shortly afterwards his Hind
and Panther, a religious satire. He also
wrote several rhymed tragedies and an
Essay on Dramatic Poesy. Defoe, born
in 1663, wrote the world-renowned nar-
rative of Robinson Crusoe, which was
first published in 1719. The seventeenth
century was also an important epoch for

878

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LIT

English philosophical literature. Lord
Bacon, born in 1561, published his De
dignitate et augmentis Scientarum in
1605, and his celebrated Novum Orga-
num in 1620. These, although written in
Latin, are the most important philosophi-
cal works which have ever emanated from
an English author. Hobbes, a writer on
politics, jurisprudence and moral phi-
losophy, died in 1679. Locke, born in
1632, first published his Essay on the
Human Understanding, in 1690.

The commencement of the last century
brings us to a group of authors of very
different character. The influence of
French literature began to be felt, and
the characteristics of the English writers
of this period are elegance and grace.
This is properly the age of English prose,
which was enriched, successively, by Ad-
dison, Horace Walpole, Swift, Sterne.
Richardson, Smollett, Fielding, Hume,
Gibbon, Chesterfield, and Robertson. The
first poet who rose to eminence in the last
century, was Pope, who was born in 1688,
and published his Essay on Criticism in
1711. His most celebrated poetical works
are the Rape of the Lock, the Essay on
Man, and The Dunciad. Thomson, au-
thor of The Seasons and the Castle of
Indolence, lived and died in the first half
of the century. Gay, a contemporary
poet, is distinguished for his Fables.
Gray ranks as one of the finest lyric po-
ets of England. The few odes he has left,
and his Elegy in a Country Churchyard,
belong to the classics of the language.
Goldsmith was born in 1728, and died in
1774. His poems of The Traveller, and
The Deserted Village, and his romance
of the Vicar of Wakefield, will live as
long as his native tongue. Cowper closes
the list of the poets of the last century.
He died in 1800, after a life darkened by
religious melancholy. His Task, Table-
talk, and ballad of John G-ilpin, are his
best poetical works. Returning to the
prose writers, Addison is first in point of
time, having been born in 1672. His best
works are his essays, contributed to The
Spectator, which he established in 1711,
in conjunction with his friend Steele.
His English has rarely been excelled for
purity and elegance. Chesterfield, Lady
Montague, and Horace Walpole, are dis-
tinguished as epistolary writers. Dean
Swift, born in 1667, was a politician and
satirist, but i^ now best known by his
Tale of a Tub, published in 1704. and
Gulliver's Travels, in 1726. Sterne, in
his Tristram Shandy and The Senti-
mental Journey, displayed a droll min-

gling of wit and pathos, in a style exceed-
ingly lively and flexible. Richardson,
one of the first English romance-writers,
was born in 1689. His principal novels,
which are of immense length, are Pa-
mela, Clarissa Harlowe, and Sir Charles
G-randison. Smollett, his successor, pub-
lished his Roderick Random, in 1748,
and Humphrey Clinker, his last work, in
1771. Hume, in addition to political and
philosophical works, wrote the History
of England, from the invasion of Caesar
to the rebellion of 1688, which was pub-
lished in 1673-4. Smollett wrote four
volumes in continuation of the history.
Gibbon, born in 1737, completed, after
twenty years' labor, his History of the
Decline and Fall of the R> tan Empire,
which appeared from 1782 10 1788. Rob-
ertson, the contemporary of Gibbon, pub-
lished his History of Scotland in 1759,
and his History of the Reign of Charles
V. in 1769. Dr. Johnson, whose Rasselas,
Liives of the Poets, and contributions to
The Rambler, exercised such a salutary
influence on the popular taste of his time,
died in 1784. His Dictionary of the
English Language, was first published
in 1755. Edmund Burke, one of the most
finished and powerful of English orators,
published, in 1756, his Essay on the Sub-
lime and Beautiful, which is a model of
philosophical writing. He died in 1797.

With the present century commenced
a new era in English literature. The
reign of the drama and the epic were
over ; the reign of romance, in both prose
and poetry, and the expression of a high-
er and more subtle range of imagination,
now commenced. The language lost
something, perhaps, of its classic polish
and massive strength, but became more
free and flowing, more varied in style,
and richer in epithet. The authors in
whom this change is first apparent, are
Coleridge and Wordsworth, in poetry,
and Scott in prose. Nearly coeval with
the two former, but different in charac-
ter, were Byron and Moore ; the latter
are the poets of passion, the former of
imagination. Scott, in his Waverley nov-
els, first developed the neglected wealth
of English romance. Burns, although his
best songs are in the Scottish dialect,
stands at the head of all English song-
writers. Campbell, in the true lyric in-
spiration of his poems, is classed with

I Gray. Rogers and Southey can scarcely
be ranked among those poets who assisted

! in developing the later English litera-
ture. The former imitates the old mod-
els ; the latter, more daring in his forms

LIT

AND THE FINE ARTS.

379

of verse, and more splendid in his imagi-
nation, has never been able to touch the
popular heart. Coleridge's prose works
contain probably the most important
contributions to English philosophical
literature, since the time of Bacon. The
department of history has been amply
filled by Scott, Alison, author of a Ilis-
tory of Europe, Gillies and Grote, cele-
brated for their Histories of Greece, Na-
pier, in his History of the Peninsular
War, Hallam, in his History of the Mid-
dle Ages, and Macaulay in his History
of England. Most of these writers are
now (1851) living. Those who have died
since the beginning of the century, are
Keats, in 1820; Shelley, in 1822 ; Byron,
in 1824 : Scott, in 1832 ; Coleridge, in
1834 ; Southey, in 1843 ; Campbell, in
1844 ; Thomas Hood, in 1848 ; and
Wordsworth, in 1850. Kogers and Moore
are still living, at an advanced age ;
Leigh Hunt, the author of The Rimini,
survives his friends, Shelley and Keats.
The field of historical romance, open'ed
by Sir Walter Scott, has been success-
fully followed by Sir Edward Bulwer
Lytton and G. P. R. James. As novelists
of English life and society, under all its
aspects, Dickens and Thackeray and of
late years, Miss Bronte, author of Skir-
ley and Jane Eyre stand preeminent.
As essayists and critics, the names of
Lords Jeffrey and Brougham, Sidney
Smith, Macaulay, Professor Wilson, De
Quincey, Carlyle and Stevens, surpass
even the group who produced The Taller
and the Spectator. Carlyle, in his Sartor
Resartus, Past and Present, and Heroes
and Hero- Worship, has made use of an
idiom of his own a broken, involved,
Germanesque diction, which resembles
that of no other English author. The
most prominent living English poets, are
Thomas Moore, Leigh Hunt, Rogers,
Alfred Tennyson, the present poet-lau-
reate, Milnes, Barry Cornwall, Robert
Browning, a lyric and dramatic poet, his
wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, prob-
ably the most impassioned and imagina-
tive of English female authors, Walter
Savage Landor, Mary Howitt, R. H.
Home, author of Orion, Croly, Philip
James Bailey, author of Festus, and T.
N. Talfourd, author of the tragedy of
Ion. As prose writers, there still remain
Hallam, Macaulay, Grote, Professor Wil-
son, Brougham, Bulwer, Dickens, Thack-
eray, Miss Bronte, Miss Martineau,
James, Howitt, Stevens, and a number
of others. All English works of any
merit are now immediately reprinted in

this country, and the English literature
of the present century is as familiar to
most Americans as their own.

American Literature. The literature
of the United States belongs almost ex-
clusively to the present century. The
language being that of England, and all
the treasures of English literature the
common inheritance of our countrymen,
whatever American authors produce is
necessarily measured by the English
standard. The language comes to us
finished and matured, while the means
of intellectual cultivation until a com-
paratively recent period have been
limited, and our abundant stores of le-
gend and history are still too fresh to be
made available for the purposes of poetry
and fiction. The present generation,
however, has witnessed the growth of a
national literature, if not peculiarly
American in language, at least in style
and the materials it has chosen. Our
most eminent poets and prose writers are
still living, and almost every year adds
to the list of younger authors, and to the
regard in which American literature is
held abroad.

The seventeenth century boasted two
or three authors, but none, we believe,
native to the soil. Mrs. Anne Bradstreet,
wife of a governor of Massachusetts,
published in 1640, a poem on the Four
Elements, smoothly versified, but of little
poetical merit. Cotton Mather, born in
1663, is almost the only prose writer
worthy of note. His " Magnalia" eon-
tains some valuable historical matter.
The last century produced some distin-
guished prose writers and some accom-
plished versifiers, though no poet in the
true sense of the title. Franklin, born in
1706, was master of a singularly clear,
compact, and vigorous style. Jonathan
Edwards, who flourished during the last
century, wrote a celebrated treatise on
the Will, which is one of the first meta-
physical works in the language. The
Revolutionary struggle, and the circum-
stances which preceded and succeeded it,
produced a number of bold and brilliant
writers and speakers, among whom were
Jefferson, Hamilton, the Adamses, Rich-
ard Henry Lee, and Patrick Henry. The
diplomatic correspondence of the Revolu-
tion has rarely been surpassed. Philip
Freneau, who has been called the first
American poet, wrote many patriotic
songs, which were sung during the strug-
gle, but none have retained their original
vitality. Trumbull was the author of a
Hudibrastic poem entitled McFingal, in

380

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LIT

which the Tories were held up to ridicule ;
the first part was published in 1775.
Joel Barlow, who aspired to the rank of
an epic poet, published in 1787, his
" Vision of Columbus," which, in 1808,
was expanded into the " Columbiad,"
and printed in what was then a style of
unusual magnificence.

Dana, Bryant, , Washington Irving,
Cooper, Paulding ; and Everett, all born
towards the close of the last century, are
still living. Dana may be considered as
the first genuine poet the United States
has produced. His " Buccaneer" is a
picturesque and striking poem, founded
on a legend of the pirates who formerly
frequented the American coast. Irving's
"Knickerbocker's History of New York"
appeared in 1809, and instantly gave
him a position, as a writer of the purest
style and of exquisite humor and fancy.
His latest production, a Biography of
Goldsmith, to whom he has been com-
pared, was published in 1849. Many of
his works among them the " Sketch
Book," "Bracebridge Hall," "The Al-
hambra," and the " Life of Columbus,"
were first published in England, where
he lived many years. Cooper's first essay
jn literature was a novel of society enti-
tled " Precaution," but he subsequently
confined himself to the two fields in which
he has earned his best fame the forest
and the ocean. His most successful
novels are : "The Spy." the "Pioneers,"
the " Deerslayer," the " Pilot," and the
" Pathfinder. 1 ' Bryant first attracted
noticed by his poem of " Thanatopsis,"
written in his nineteenth year. His first
volume, "The Ages," was published in
1825. The most distinguished authors
who have died since the commencement
of the century are Dr. Channing, whose
essays," criticisms, and moral, religious,
and political writings have won him much
celebrity as a prose writer ; William
Wirt, author of the "British Spy," a
collection of letters written in a chaste
and elegant style ; Charles Brockden
Brown, the earliest American novelist,
author of "Wieland;" Richard Henry
Wilde, author of a "Life of Tasso;"
Chief Justice Marshall, who compiled a
voluminous " Life of Washington ;" Hen-
ry Wheaton, author of standard works on
law and political economy ; Judge Story,
author of several celebrated legal works ;
Edgar A. Poe, a most original and
strongly marked character, who wrote
tho poem of "The Raven," and a num-
ber of weird and fantastic prose stories ;
Margaret Fuller, a lady of remarkable

acquirements, who has left behind her
much admirable descriptive and criti-
cal writing ; and of poets of lesser note,
Robert C. Sands, author of " Yamoyden ;"
J. G. C. Brainard; Pinckney, a very
graceful song-writer ; P. P. Cooke, au-
thor of the " Froissart Ballads ;" and
Mrs. Osgood, a female writer, who gave
evidence of possessing a brilliant and in-
exhaustible fancy. The most eminent
living authors, many of whom are still
young, and have scarcely reached the
maturity of their powers, are Irving,
Cooper, Bryant, Dana, Paulding, author
of a number of humorous stories ; Miss
Sedgwick, who chose for the objects of
her fictions the early history of New
England; N. P. Willis, whose poems,
stories, anc -coords of travels in Europe
and the East, are unsurpassed in point
and brilliancy ; Longfellow, the most
popular poet of the country ; Ralph Waldo
Emerson, the essayist and poet, and the
founder of a new school of philosophy ;
Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of the
" Scarlet Letter" and the " House of the
Seven Gables ;" E. P. Whipple, an essay-
ist and critic ; W. Gilmore Simms, J. P.
Kennedy, and Dr. Bird, all of whom have
written novels relating to the early his-
tory of the South ; Halleck, the author
of the magnificent poem of Marco Bozza-
ris ; Prescott, the historian, author of the
"Conquest of Mexico," "Conquest of
Peru, and " Lives of Ferdinand and
Isabella ;" Bancroft, who is now engaged
in publishing a complete history of the
United States ; Herman Melville, author
of " Typee," "Oinoo," and "Whitejack-
et;" Mrs. Kirkland, and C. F. Hoffman,
both of whom have admirably sketched
the wild life of the West; Whittier, a
fiery and earnest poet, who strikes un-
hesitatingly at what he deems oppres-
sion ; Lowell, one of the youngest and
most encouraging of American poets ;
and Donald C. Mitchell, who has lately
achieved an honorable reputation as a
prose writer. It is unnecessary to carry
the enumeration further, since all the
remaining authors are young, and every
day adds something to their intellectual
stature and relative positions.

LITHOG'RAPHY, the art of tracing
letters, figures, or other designs on stone,
and of transferring them to paper by im-
pression ; an art invented in 1793 by A.
Sennefelder at Munich, in Bavaria. The
principles upon which this art is founded,
are 1. The quality which a compact
granular limestone has of imbibing grease
or moisture ; and 2. The decided antipa-

LOG]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

381

thy of grease and water for each other.
A drawing being made upon the stone
with an ink or crayon of a greasy compo-
sition, is washed over with water, which
sinks into all parts of the stone not de-
fended by the drawing. A cylindrical
roller, charged with printing ink is then
passed all over the stone, and the draw-
ing receives the ink, whilst the water de-
fends the other parts of the stone from it
on account of its greasy nature. Impres-
sions of the drawing may then be taken
upon paper, by means of a lithographic
press. The mosc convenient and useful
way, however, of proceeding, is to write
with proper ink on a prepared paper,
and then transfer the writing to the stone
by passing it through the press.

LIT'URGY, an office at Athens, by
which persons of considerable property
were bound to perform certain public du-
ties, or supply the commonwealth with
necessaries at their own expense. The
persons on whom this office was imposed
were usually among the richest inhabit-
ants ; and if any one selected to fill it
could find another more wealthy than
himself who was exempt from public
duty, he could insist on being released
from his charge, which then devolved on
the party denounced. This obnoxious in-
stitution was abolished on the proposition
of Demosthenes. It is from this term
that the English liturgy, in ecclesiastical
meaning, has been derived ; the sense
having been contracted from public min-
istry or service in general to the ceremo-
nies of religious worship. LITURGY, the
ritual according to which the religious
services of a church are performed. In
the writings of the ancients, the name is
restricted to the service of the Eucharist,
which afterwards came to be distinguish-
ed in the Western church by the term of
missa, or mass. There still exist in
Greek, Latin, and some Oriental lan-
guages, various rituals by which the Eu-
charist was celebrated in very early ages.
Some have supposed that all these may
be referred to one original liturgy, which
may have been universally adopted in
the primitive church. Palmer, the latest
English writer on this subject, conceives
that the number of original liturgies may
be reduced to four, but not lower. These
he entitles the great Oriental liturgy, the
Alexandrian, the Roman, and the Galli-
can ; each of which was extensively used
from the Apostolic age in the quarters
from which he assigns them their names,
and became the parents of many other
rituals, such as were used, with constant-

ly diverging variations, in the different
patriarchates of the empire. The earli-
est period at which any liturgical forms
were consigned to writing is the end of
the third or beginning of the fourth cen-
tury ; at least the liturgy called of St.
Basil can be traced as high as the latter
period. This practice, also, seems fre-
quently to have been applied only to cer-
tain parts of the service. We find, there-
fore, great differences in the MSS. which
now exist; and it becomes very difficult
to ascertain what the contents of the
primitive rituals were, and trace the pe-
riods at which many rites and ceremonies
have been introduced into the service.
The liturgy of the Church of England is
a liturgy in the wider and more usual
acceptation of the term, comprehending
the whole of the various services used on
ordinary and extraordinary occasi ns
throughout the year.

LIVERY, a suit of clothes made of
different colors and trimmings by which
noblemen and gentlemen have their ser-
vants distinguished ; supposed to have
originated in the practice followed by
cavaliers at tournaments, whp used to
distinguish themselves by wearing the
livery or badge of their mistresses. Per-
sons of distinction formerly gave liveries
to persons unconnected with their own
household or family, to engage them in
their quarrels for the time being. The
Romish church has also liveries for con-
fessors, virgins, apostles, martyrs, peni-
tents, &o. A particular dress or garb,
appropriate or peculiar to particular
times or things ; as, the livery of May ;
the livery of autumn. Livery of' seisin,
in law, signifies delivering the possession
of lands, &o. to him who has a right to
them.

LIVERYMAN, a freeman of the city
of London, admitted member of some
one of the city companies, by which he
enjoys certain powers and privileges.
From among their number are elected
the common council, sheriff, and other
superior officers of the city.

LLOYD'S LIST, a London periodical
publication, in which the shipping news
received at Lloyd's coffee-house is pub-
lished. On account of the extensive in-
formation which it contains, it is of great
importance to merchants. Lloyd's Cof-
\ fee-house has long been celebrated as the
' resort of eminent merchants, under-wri-
! ters, merchants, insurance brokers, <tc.,
and the books kept there are replete with
valuable maritime intelligence.

LO'CUM TE'NENS, a deputy or

382

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[LOU

substitute : one who supplies the place of
another, or executes his office.

LOCUS IN QUO, in law, the place
where anything is alleged to be done in
pleadings, &c. Locus partitus, a di-
vision made between two towns or coun-
ties, to make trial where the land or place
in question lies.

LODGE, in architecture, a small house
situated in a park or domain, subordinate
to the mansion ; also, the cottage situ-
ate at the gate of the avenue that leads
to the mansion.

LODGEMENT, in military affairs, is a
work raised with earth, gabions, fascines,
Ac., to cover the besiegers from the ene-
my's fire, and to prevent their losing a
place which they have gained, and are
resolved, if possible, to keep.

LOG'IC, various definitions have been
given of logic, some including too little,
and others too much. Logic has been
called the Art of Reasoning ; this defini-
tion has been properly amended by call-
ing it the Science as well as the Art of
Reasoning : meaning by the former, the
analysis of the mental process which
takes place whenever we reason ; and, by
the latter, the rules grounded upon that
analysis for conducting the process cor-
rectly. But the word Reasoning, again,
is ambiguously used. In one of its ac-
ceptations it means syllogizing, or that
mode of inference which may be called
concluding from generals to particulars.
The better definition of this term, how-
ever, and that which accords more with
the general usage of the English lan-
guage, makes it signify the inferring of
any assertion from assertions already ad-
mitted. But the province of logic is
wider than reasoning even in this exten-
sive sense, for it undoubtedly includes,
for instance, precision of language and
accuracy of classification ; in other words,
definition and division. These various
operations might be brought within the
compass of the science, by defining logic
as the science which treats of the opera-
tions of the human understanding in the
pursuit of truth. This definition, how-
ever, includes too much. Truths are
known to us in two ways : some are known
directly and of themselves ; some through
the medium of other truths. It is only
with the latter that logic has to do.
Logic is not the science of belief, but the
science of proof. But as the far greatest
portion of our knowledge, whether of
general truths, or of particular facts, is
avowedly matter of inference, our defini-
tion of logic is in danger of including the

whole field of knowledge; unless we
qualify it by some further limitation,
showing where the domain of the other
arts and sciences, and of common pru-
dence ends, and that of logic begins. The
distinction is, that the science or knowl-
edge of the particular subject matter
furnishes the evidence, while logic fur-
nishes the principles and rules of the esti-
mation of evidence : logic points out what
relations must subsist between data, and
whatever can be concluded from them.
" Logic, then, is the science of the opera-
tions of the understanding which are sub-
servient to the estimation of evidence :
both the process itself of proceeding from
known truths to unknown, and all intel-
lectual operations auxiliary to this."
Logic was highly valued, perhaps over-
valued, among the ancient philosophers.
The Stoics in particular were celebrated
for their application of its principles to
their own favorite metaphysical discus-
sions. From the abuse o/ logical knowl-
edge arose the celebrated fallacies of the
Sophists. Zeno is called the father of
logic or dialectics ; but it was then treated
with particular reference to the art of
disputation, and soon degenerated into-
the minister of sophistry. It is to Aris-
totle, however, that the science owes, not
only its first exposition, but its complete
development. His logical writings were
called Organon in later ages, and for
almost two thousand years after him
maintained authority in the schools of
the philosophers, and in the middle ages
it became the foundation of the scholas-
tic philosophy, which was little better
than a revival under another form, of the
logic of the Athenian Sophists.

LOGIS'T^E, in antiquity. Athenian
magistrates, ten in number, whose office
it was to receive and pass the accounts
of magistrates when they went out of
office.

LOGOG'HAPHY, a system of taking
down the words of an orator without
having recourse to short-hand, which was
put in practice during the French revo-
lution. Twelve or fourteen reporters
were seated round a table. Each had a
long slip of paper, numbered. The writer
of No. 1 took down the first three or four
words, and as soon as they were spoken
gave notice to his neighbor by touching
his elbow, or some other sign ; No. 2
passed the sign to No 3, and so on, until
the first line of each slip was filled ; No. 1
then began the second line : thus all the
12 or 14 slips, when filled, being arranged
parallel to each other, formed a single

LOO]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

383

page. This mode required great atten-
tion and quickness, and was not found to
answer well in practice. It was intro-
duced in the National Assembly in Octo-
ber, 1790, the expenses being paid by the
civil list ; and continued until the 10th
of August, 1792, when Louis XVI. and
his family, taking refuge from insurrec-
tion in the assembly, occupied the box of
the logographe. After that time it was
not used. Logography is also used to
denote a method of printing in which
whole words in type are used instead of
single letters. This method was at one
time introduced into the printing of a
daily London newspaper ; but after a
short trial was abandoned as incon-
venient.

LOG'OGRIPH, a kind of riddle, which
consists in some allusion or mutilation of
words, being of a middle nature between
an enigma and a rebus. The word is
used by Ben Jonson.

L K, in Northern mythology, the
name of a malevolent deity ; correspond-
ing to the Ahriman of the Persians, who
is represented to be at war with both
gods and men, and originating all the
evil with which the universe is desolated.
In the Edda (the great poem of the
Norwegian nations) he is described as
the great serpent which encircles the
earth (supposed to be emblematical of
sin or corruption,) and as having given
birth to Hela, or Death, the queen of the
infernal regions.

LOL'LARDS, a class of persons in
Germany and the Netherlands, who pro-
fessed, in the 14th century, to undertake
spiritual offices in behalf of the sick and
dead, and succeeded in attracting the
attention and love of the mass of the
people when they were, in a great meas-
ure, alienated from the secular and regu-
lar clergy by their general indifference
and neglect. The origin of the name has
been much disputed ; but the inquiries
of Mosheiin'seern to lead to the result
that it is compounded of the German
words lallen (identical with the lallare of
the Romans, and the lull of our own lan-
guage, signifying to sing in a murmuring
strain) and hard, a common affix, as in
the somewhat similar word beghard. A
Lollard, therefore, meant one in the
habit of singing to the praise of God, or
funeral dirges and the like, as was the
custom of the early professors of this holy
manner of life. The Lollards, however,
were accused probably through the envy
and spite of the mendicant friars and
others whose neglected duties they so

zealously performed of holding many
heretical opinions. It is not impossible
that there might have been some degree
of enthusiasm mixed up with so ardent
and unworldly a devotion ; but the
charges of violent reforming views, still
more those of practical vice, appear to
rest upon no authentic grounds. In pro-
cess of time the term was applied by the
partisans of the church to the heretics
and schismatics of the day generally ;
and the followers of Wicliffe in England
are frequently stigmatized under the
name of Lollards.

LOM'BARD, a term anciently used in
England for a banker or money-lender.
The name is derived from the Italian
merchants, the great usurers or money-
lenders of the middle ages, principally
from the cities of Lombardy, who are said
to have settled in London in the middle of
the 13th century, and to have taken up
their residence in a street in the city
which still bears their name.

LONGEVITY, length or duration of
life, generally designating great length
of life. Lord Bacon observes, that the
succession of ages, and of the generation
of men seems no way to shorten tb
length of human life, since the age of man
from the time of Moses to the present has
stood at about eighty years, without grad-
ually declining, as one might have ex-
pected ; but doubtless there are times
wherein men live to a longer or shorter
age in every conntry ; and it has been
remarked that those generally prove
longest-lived who use a simple diet, and
take most bodily exercise ; and shortest-
lived who indulge in luxury and ease ;
but these things have their changes and
revolutions, whilst the succession of man-
kind holds on uninterrupted in its course.
There are, however, several essential
circumstances which must combine to give
any individual a chance of exceeding the
usual period assigned to human existence.
These may be comprehended under the
following heads : a proper configuration
of body ; being born of healthy parents ;
living in a healthy climate and good at-
mosphere ; having the command of a suf-
ficient supply of food ; constant exercise ;
a due regulation of sleep ; a state of mar-
riage ; and due command of the passions
and temper.

LOOP'IIOLES, in fortification, aper-
tures formerly made in the battlements,
or in the walls of fortified places, for dis-
charging arrows and javelins against the
assailants. Since the invention of gun-
j powder and the substitution of cannon for

384

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

LOU

Buch missiles, loopholes have necessarily
been discontinued in the construction of
fortresses, the assailants of which are
now sought to be driven back by guns
fired through apertures of a different
character, designated embrasures, which
see.

LORA'RIUS, in antiquity, one who
stimulated the gladiators to continue the
fight by exercising the scourge upon
them. Also, a. slave who bound and
scourged others at his master's pleasure.

LORD, a title of courtesy given to all
British and Irish noblemen, from the
baron upwards ; to the eldest sons of
earls ; to all the sons of marquesses and
dukes ; and, as an honorary title, to cer-
tain official characters ; as the lord mayor
of London, the lord chamberlain of the
king's household, the lord chancellor, the
lord chief justice, <fec. Lord is also a
general term, equivalent with peer.
Lord, in law, one who possesses a fee or

anor. This is the primitive meaning of
the word ; and it was in right of their feofs
that lords came to sit in parliament. In
Scripture, a name for the Supreme Be-
ing. When LORD, in the Old Testament,
is printed in capitals, it is the translation
of the Hebrew word for JEHOVAH, and
might with great propriety be so render-
ed. It is also applied to Christ, to the
Holy Spirit, to kings, and to prophets.

LORDS, HOUSE OF, is composed of the
five orders of nobility, viz. dukes, mar-
quesses, earls, viscounts, and barons, who
have attained the age of 21 years, and
labor under no disqualification ; of the 16
representative peers of Scotland; of the
28 representative peers of Ireland ; of 2
English archbishops and 24 bishops, and
4 representative Irish bishops.

LORD'S SUPPER, a ceremony among
Christians by which they commemorate
the death of Christ, and make at the
same time a profession of their faith.
The blessed founder of our religion in-
stituted this rite when he took his last
meal with his disciples ; breaking the
bread, after the oriental manner, as a fit-
ting symbol of his body, which was soon
to be broken, while the wine was signifi-
cant of that blood which was about to be
shed.

LORI'CA, in Roman antiquity, a cui-
rass, a brigandine, or coat of mail, which
was made of leather, and set with plates
of various forms, or rings like a chain.

LOTOPH'AGI, a name given to a peo-
ple of ancient Africa who inhabited the
Regio Syrtica, so called from the lotus
berry forming their principal food. They

were represented as a mild, hospitable
race of men. The food with which they
were nourished, among other peculiar
qualities, is said to have had the power
of obliterating all remembrance of one's
native country.

LOTTERY, a game of hazard in which
small sums are ventured for the chance
of obtaining a larger value, either in mo-
ney or other articles. In general, lotte-
ries consist of a certain number of tickets
drawn at the same time with a correspond-
ing number of blanks and prizes, by
which the fate of the tickets is determin-
ed. This species of gaming has been re-
sorted to at different periods by most of
the European governments, as a means
of raising money for public purposes.
Both state and private lotteries were en-
tirely abolished in England in 1823, on
the ground that they tended to foster a
spirit of gambling in the great body of the
people, and gave rise to many delusive
and fraudulent schemes. In 1836 they
were suppressed in France. They have
been prohibited in most of the United
States, but still exist in several of the
states of Germany.

LOUIS-D'OR, a French gold coin,
which received its name from Louis XIII.,
who first coined it in 1631. The value of
the old Louis-d'or was equal to 24 francs ;
the new Louis is of the value of 20 francs.

LOU'IS, ST., KNIGHTS OF, the name of
a military order in France instituted by
Louis XIV. in 1693.

LOU'VRE, one of the most ancient
palaces of France. It existed in the time
of Dagobert as a hunting seat, the woods
then extending all over the actual site of
the northern portion of Paris down to the
banks of the Seine. The origin of its
name has not been satisfactorily ascer-
tained. It was formed into a stronghold
by Philip Augustus, who surrounded it
with towers and fosses, and converted it
into a state prison for confining the re-
fractory vassals of the crownT It was then
without the walls of Paris ; but, on their
extension in the latter part of the 14th
century, it was included within their cir-
cuit. Charles V. made additions to it.
That part of the palace now called the
Vieux Louvre was commenced under the
reign of Francis I., after the designs of
Pierre L'Escot, abbot of Clugny. When
Charles IX resided in the Louvre, he
began the long gallery which connects it
with the Tuilleries, and in which is now
deposited the celebrated collection of pic-
tures. It was finished under Henry IV.
Louis XIV., from the designs of Lemer-

LUS]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

385

cier, erected the peristyle which forms
the entrance to the Vieux Louvre from
the side of the Tuilleries. That monarch
also gave a beginning to the remainder
of the present modern edifice, from the
designs of Claude Perrault. The edifice
has never been finished; though, under
the reigns of succeeding monarchs, and
especially during that of Napoleon, it has
slowly advanced towards completion. The
eastern front, though not finished even
now, exhibits a facade of surpassing beau-
ty perhaps, in its kind, never equalled.
The quadrangle of the Louvre is a per-
fect square on the plan. Three of its
sides were from the designs of Perrault,
above mentioned. Besides the gallery
above adverted to, which contains some
of the finest pictures in the world, the
Louvre contains a museum of sculpture,
antiquities, and other specimens of art,
equally valuable.

LOVE, an affection of the mind excited
by beauty and worth of any kind, or by
the qualities of an object which commu-
nicate pleasure, sensual or intellectual.
It is opposed to hatred. Love between
the sexes, is a compound affection, con-
sisting of esteem, benevolence, and ani-
mal desire. Love is excited by pleasing
qualities of any kind, as by kindness, be- j
nevolence, charity, and by the qualities j
which render social intercourse agreea-
ble. In the latter case, love is ardent
friendship, or a strong attachment spring-
ing from good-will and esteem, and the
pleasure derived from the company, civ-
ilities, and kindnesses of others. Be-
tween certain natural relatives, love
seems to be in some cases instinctive.
Such is the love of a mother for her child,
which manifests itself toward an infant,
before any particular qualities in the
child are unfolded. This affection ip ap-
parently as strong in irrational animals
as in human beings. We speak of the
love of amusement, the love of books, the
love of money, and the love of whatever
contributes to our pleasure or supposed
profit. The love of God is the first duty
of man, and this springs from just views [
of his attributes or excellencies of his j
character, which afford the highest de- j
light to the pious heart. Esteem and '
reverence constitute ingredients in this
affection, and a fear of offending him is
its inseparable effect.

LU'DI, in antiquity, the shows or pub-
lic exhibitions which were made among
the Greeks and Romans, for the display
of skill and the entertainment of the
people. ,

LUKE, or Gospel of St. Luke, a canon-
ical book of the New Testament, distin-
guished for fulness, accuracy, and traces
of extensive information. Some think it
was properly St. Paul's gospel, and when
that apostle speaks of his gospel, he
means what is called St. Luke's. Ire-
naeus says, that St. Luke digested into
writing what St. Paul preached to the
gentiles; and Gregory Nazianzen tells
us, that St. Luke wrote with the assist-
ance of St. Paul.

LTJ'NACY, a species of insanity or
madness, supposed to be influenced by
the moon, or periodical in the month.
In law, strictly, the condition of an in-
sane person who has lucid intervals ; but,
for convenience, the term is commonly
used as embracing the condition of all
those who are under certain legal disa-
bilities on account of mental deficiency ;
such as idiots, fatuous persons, <fec. ; in
short, all who are of unsound mind. By
the law of England, the sovereign has
the custody of lunatics. This is, in prac-
tice, delegated to the keeper of the great
seal, to whom applications for a commis-
sion of lunacy are directed.

LTJPERCA'LIA, a Roman festival in
honor of Pan, celebrated in February ;
when the Luperci ran up and down the
city naked, having only a girdle of goat's
skin round their waist, and thongs of the
same in their hands, with which they
struck those they met, particularly mar-
ried women, who were thence supposed
to be rendered prolific. The name is de-
rived from lupus, a wolf; because Pan
protected cattle from that animal. The
indecencies and excesses attending the
processions of the Lupercals, which had
degenerated from high religious rites
to vulgar superstitions, provoked the in-
dignation of Christians in the 4th and 5th
centuries.

LUPER'CI, the Roman priests of Pan,
and most ancient religious order in the
state, having been instituted, according
to tradition, by Evander, king of Pallan-
tium, a town that occupied the Palatine
Hill before Rome was built. There were
three companies of them; viz. the Fabi-
ani, Quintiliani, and Julii the last of
whom were founded in honor of Julius'
Caesar.

LU'SIAD, the name given to the great
epic poem of Portugal, written by C&-
moens, and published in 1571. The sub-
ject of this poem is the establishment of
the Portuguese empire in India ; but
whatever of chivalrous, great, beautiful,
or noble, could be gathered from the tra-

386

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[MAD

ditions of his country, has been inter-
woven into the story. Among all the
heroic poets, either of ancient or modern
times, there has never, since Homer, been
any one so intensely national, or so loved
or honored by his countrymen, as Ca-
moens. It seems as if the national feel-
ings of the Portuguese had centered and
reposed themselves in the person of this
poet, whom they consider as worthy to
supply the place of a whole host of poets,
and as being in himself a complete liter-
ature to his country. The great defect
of the Lusiad consists in its preposterous
mythological machinery, and its clumsy
management ; but in all the qualities of
versification and beauty of language it is
perfect, and may be regarded as the
" well, pure and undefiled," of the Por-
tuguese language. Few modern poems
have been so frequently translated as the
Lusiad. Mr. Adamson, in his Memoirs
of the Life and Writings of Camoens,
notices one Hebrew translation of it, five
Latin, six Spanish, four Italian, three
French, four German, and two English.
Of the two English versions one is that
of Sir R. Fanshawe, written during Crom-
well's usurpation, and distinguished for
its fidelity to .the original ; the other is
that of Mickle, who, unlike the former,
took great liberties with the original, but
whose additions and alterations have met
with great approbation from all critics
except, as indeed was to be expected,
from the Portuguese themselves.

M, the thirteenth letter of the English
alphabet, is a liquid and labial consonant,
pronounced by slightly striking the under
lip against the upper one. It is some-
times called a semi-vowel, as the articu-
lation or compression of the lips is ac-
companied with a humming sound through
the nose. M. as a numeral stands for
mille, a thousand ; and with a dash over
it, 1,000,000. M. A. magister artium :
M. D. medicines doctor : MS. manuscript,
and MSS. manuscripts. M. also stands
for noon, from the Latin meridies : hence
P.M. post meridiem (afternoon;) and
A.M. ante meridiem (morning.) M, in
French, stands for Monsieur ; MM. for
Messieurs.

MAB, in northern mythology, the
queen of the imaginary beings called
fairies ; so fancifully described by the
sportive imagination of Shakspeare, in
Komeo and Juliet.

MACARON'IC or MACARO'NIAN,
an appellation given to a burlesque kind
of poetry, made up of a jumble of words
of different languages, of Latin words
modernized, or of native words ending in
Latin terminations. Drummond's Pole-
mo-Middinia, a Scottish burlesque, is,
perhaps, the best known macaronic form
of our language.

MAC'CABEES, two apocryphal books
of Scripture, containing the history of
Judas and his brothers, and their wars
against the Syrian kings in defence of
their religion and liberties. The first
book is an excellent history, and comes
nearest to the style of the sacred histo-
rians. The second book of the Maccabees
begins with two epistles sent from the
Jews of Jerusalem to the Jews of Egypt
and Alexandria, to exhort them to observe
the feast of the dedication of the new altar
erected by Judas on his purifying the
temple.

MACH'IAVELISM, the principles in-
culcated by Machiavelli, an Italian writer,
secretary and historiographer to the re-
public of Florence. Hence the word
Machiarelian denotes political cunning
and artifice, intended to favor arbitrary
power.

MACHICOL A'TIONS, in architecture,
openings made through the roofs of por-
tals to the floor above, or in the floors
of projecting galleries, for the purpose
of defence, by pouring n
through them boiling lead,
pitch, &c., upon the enemy.
In the galleries they are
formed by the parapet or
breast-work B being set
out beyond the face of
the wall C on corbels D ;
the spaces E between
the corbels, being open
throughout, are the ma-
chicolations.

MAC'ROCOSM, the universe, or the
visible system of worlds ; opposed to
microcosm, or the world of man.

MADON'NA. a term of compellation.

equivalent to madam. It is given to the

Virgin Mary ; and pictures of the Italian

j schools, representing the Virgin, are

! generally called madonnas.

MAD'NESS, a dreadful kind of delir-
ium, without fever, in which the patient
| raves or is furious. Melancholy and msid-
i ness may very justly be considered as
' diseases nearly allied ; for they have both
the same origin, that is, an excessive con-
gestion of blood in the brain : they only
differ in degree, and with respect to the

MAG]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

387

time of appearing ; melancholy being the
primary disease, of which madness is the
augmentation.

MAD'RIGAL, one of the lesser kind
of poems, usually consisting of fewer ver-
ses than the sonnet or roundelay. In its
composition the fancy and convenience of
the poet are not subjected to very strict
rules, rhymes and verses of different
species being often intermixed. The sub-
jects are mostly of a tender and gallant
nature ; the character often quaint, the
expression marked with great simplicity.
Grassineau, in his Musical Dictionary,
describes the madrigal as " a little piece
of poetry, the verses whereof are free
and easy, usually unequal : it borders on
a sonnet and an epigram, but has not the
briskness of the one, nor the poignancy
of the other."

MiiESTO'SO, in music, an Italian word
signifying majestic, and used as a direc-
tion to play the part with force and
grandeur.

MAGAZINE', in literature, a pam-
phlet periodically published, containing
miscellaneous papers or compositions.
The first publication of this kind in Eng-
land, was the Gentleman's Magazine,
which first appeared in 1731, under the
name of Sylvanus Urban, by Edward
Cave, and which is still continued. A
magazine differs from a newspaper and
review ; the peculiar province of a news-
paper is to communicate information on
politics and passing events, both foreign
and domestic ; and that of the review is
to communicate information on literary
and scientific subjects, and to give a crit-
ical survey of these. The magazine,
while it embraces all the features of the
newspaper and review, is of a more mis-
cellaneous character, containing, in the
form of tales, sketches, poetry, Ac., a
great variety of matter of an original
character which would be foreign to the
others.

M AGGIO'RE, in music, an Italian epi-
thet signifying greater.

MA'GI, or MA'GIANS, an ancient
religious sect in Persia, and other eastern
countries, who maintained that there were
two principles, the one the cause of all
good, the other the cause of all evil ; and,
abominating the adoration of images,
worshipped God only by fire, which they
looked upon as the brightest and most
glorious symbol of the Deity. This re-
ligion was reformed by Zoroaster, who
maintained that there was one supreme
independent being; and under him two
principles or angels, one the angel of

goodness and light, and the other of evil
and darkness. The priests of the Magi
were the most skilful mathematicians
and philosophers of the ages in which
they lived, insomuch that a learned man
and a magician became synonymous
trms.

MAG'IC, properly signifies the doc-
trine of the Magi ; but the Magi being
supposed to have acquired their extra-
ordinary skill from familiar spirits or
other supernatural information, the word
magic acquired the signification it now
bears, viz. a science which teaches to
perform wonderful and surprising acts,
by the application of certain '"means,
which procure the assistance and inter-
position of demons. The magicians of
antiquity were generally acquainted with
certain secret powers, properties and
affinities of bodies, and were hence ena-
bled to produce surprising effects, to as-
tonish the vulgar ; and these surprising
effects, produced by natural causes, pro-
cured them the credit in their pretensions
to supernatural and miraculous power
Astrology, divination, enchantments and
witchcraft, were parts of this fanciful
science ; which, from being truly respec-
table once, as having had for its object
mathematics and natural philosophy, by
these means became contemptible, its
professors opprobrious, its productions
ridiculous, and its illusions mere jug-
gler's tricks.

MAGISTRATE, a public civil officer,
invested with the executive government
or some branch of it. In this sense, the
president of the United States is the
highest or first magistrate. But the word
is more particularly applied to subor-
dinate officers, to whom the executive
power of the law is committed, either
wholly or in part ; as, governors, mayors,
justices of the peace, and the like.

MAG'NA CHARTA, the Great Char-
ter of Liberties, obtained by the English
barons from king John, in 1215. The
barons consisted of the whole nobility of
England; their followers comprehended
all the yeomanry and free peasantry,
and the accession of the capital was a
pledge of the adherence of the citizens
and burgesses. John had been obliged
to yield to_this general union, and con-
ferences were opened, on the plain called
Runnymede, on the banks of the Thames,
near Staines, in sight of the forces of
each other. At length the preliminaries
being agreed on, the barons presented
heads of their grievances and means of
redress ; and the king directed that the

CrCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[MAI

articles should be reduced to the form of
a charter, in whi<-h ft ate it issued as a
royal grant. To secure the execution of
this charter, John wns compelled to sur-
render the city and Tower of London, to
be temporarily held by the barons, and
consented that the barons should chodse
twenty-five of their number, to be guar-
dians of the liberties of the kingdom, with
power, in case of any breach of the char-
ter, or denial of redress, to make war on
the king, to seize his castle and lands,
and to distress and annoy him in every
possible way till justice was done. Many
parts of the charter were pointed against
the abuses of the power of the king as
lord paramount; the tyrannical exercise
of the forest laws was checked, and many
grievances incident to feudal tenures
were mitigated or abolished. But besides
these provisions, it contains many for the
benefit of the people at large, and a few
maxims of just government, applicable
to all places and times.

MAG'NATES, in Hungary at this day,
and formerly also in Poland, the title of
the noble estate in the national represen-
tation. The Hungarian magnates are
divided into greater and lesser; certain
high state officers belonging to the first
class, the counts and barons of the king-
dom to the second. The title is of Latin
derivation.

MAGNIF'ICO, the title given by cour-
tesy to a nobleman of Venice.

MAGNIL'OQUENCE, a lofty manner
of speaking; tumid, pompous words or
style ; language expressive of pretensions
greater than realities warrant.

MAHA'BARATA, the name of one
of the great Indian epic poems, the sub-
ject of which is a long civil war between
two dynasties of ancient India, the Kurus
and Pandus. This poem embraces the
whole circle of Indian mythology ; but it
is still more valuable as embodying an
immense number of historical fragments,
which will be of great importance to the
future historian of India. Many episodes
from the jWahabarata have been ably
translated by some of the most celebrated
Orientalists ; and parts of the original
have been published at different periods
in Germany. The period at which the
]\Iahabarata was written is wholly un-
known, and it has no less baffled all the
researches of the learned to discover the
date at which it assumed its present me-
thodical form.

MA'HADO, a name of one of the In-
dian deities, from whom the sacred Gan-
ges is fabled to spring.

MAHOMETANS, or MOHAMME-
DANS, believers in the doctrines and di-
vine mission of Mahomet, the warrior
and prophet of Arabia, whose creed main-
tains that there is but one God, and that
Mahomet is his prophet, and teaches cere-
monies by prayer, with washings, 4c.,
almsgiving, fasting, sobriety, pilgrimage
to Mecca, <fcc. Besides these they have
some negative precepts and institutions
of the Koran, in which several things are
prohibited, as usury, the drinking of wine,
all games that depend upon chance, the
eating of blood and swine's flesh, and
whatever dies of itself, is strangled, or is
killed by a blow or by another beast.
These doctrines and practices Mahomet
established by the sword, by preaching,
and by the alcoran or koran, which con-
tains the principles of his religion ; and
he and his followers met with such suc-
cess, as in a few years to subdue half the
known world.

MA'HOUND, formerly a contempt-
uous name for Mohammed and the devil,
and thence applied to any character of
seeming power and great wickedness. In
Scotland Mahoun was formerly used, as
meaning Satan.

MAI'A, in Grecian mythology; 1,
the daughter of Atlas and Pleione, one
of the Pleiads, who became mother of
Mercury by Jupiter : 2, a daughter of
the god Faunus. and wife of Vulcan ; fre-
quently confounded by mythologists with
the former personage.

MAIN'PllIZE, in law, the receiving a
person into friendly custody who might
otherwise be committed to prison, on se-
curity given for his forthcoming on a day
appointed.

MAIN'TENANCE, in law, is an un-
lawful maintaining or supporting a suit
between others, by stirring up quarrels,
or interfering in a cause in which the
person has no concern. Thus if any per-
son disinterested in a cause officiously
gives evidence, without being called upon
for that purpose, or acts the part of coun-
sel by speaking in the cause, or retains
an attorney for the party, he is guilty of
maintenance, and is liable to be prosecu-
ted by indictment. But it is no mainte-
nance, where a person gives a poor man
money out of charity to carry on a suit.

MAIN'TENANCE, CAP OF, a cap of
dignity, anciently belonging to the rank
of a duke ; termed by the French bonnet
ducal.

MA J'ESTY, this title of honor is deriv-
ed from the Romans, among whom it stood
for the collective power and dignity of the

MAN]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

389

sovereign body ; as majestas populi Ro-
mani. Hence treason was termed crimen
lessee majestatis, an injury offered to maj-
esty. Majesty was the attribute of con-
suls, praetors, &c., only as representing
the public ; and hence, in later times,
when it was transferred to the emperors
along with the sovereign power, inferior
magistrates were entitled, in ceremonial
language, by the appellation of dignitas.
Majesty is now the conventional title of
European emperors and kings.

MA'JOR, the title of several military
officers, as major-general, major of a bri-
gade, major of a regiment, &c. In logic,
the Major term is, in a syllogism, the
predicate of the conclusion. The major
premise is that which contains the major
term. In hypothetical syllogisms, the
hypothetical premise is called the major.
In music, an epithet applied to the
modes in which the third is four semi-
tones above the tonic or key-note, and
to intervals consisting of four semitones.
The major mode takes a major or sharp
3d, and is thus distinguished from that
having a minor or flat one. The major
mode has always a greater 3d, that is, a
third consisting of two tones, and the
minor mode has always a minor third ;
that is, a 3d consisting of a tone and a
semitone.

MAJORAT', in modern legal phrase-
ology, as employed by several European
nations, the right of succession to prop-
erty according to age.

MAJORITY, in law, in the United
States, the age of twenty-one, at which
time the male citizen is allowed to exer-
cise the right of suffrage. In politics, the
age at which the sovereign, in hereditary
monarchies, becomes capable of exercising
supreme authority.

MALADMINISTRATION, bad man-
agement of public affairs, or a misde-
meanor in public employments, particu-
larly of executive and ministerial duties,
prescribed by law.

MA'LUM IN SE, (Latin.) in law, an
offence at common law, in distinction from
malum prohibitum ; such as playing at
unlawful games, &c., which are only
mala prohibita under certain circum-
stances.

MALVERSATION, in law, misbehav-
ior in an office, employ, or commission,
as breach of trust, extortion, <fcc.

MAM'ELUKE, (Arabic, memalik, a
Slave,) a name applied to the male slaves
imported from Circassia into Egypt by
the master of that country. In the 13th
century, when the countries in the vicin-

' ity of Mount Caucasus were ravaged by
Genghis Khan, Nojtnedden, sultan of
Egypt) purchased several thousands of
the natives of those regions, especially
Turks, and formed them into an armed
body of guards. These guards, or
Mamelukes, in the sequel, seized on all
the power of the country, murdered the
sultan, Touran Shah, A.D. 1258, and made
Ibeg, one of their own number, his suc-
cessor. After that period the Mame-
lukes, whose numbers were continually
enriched by importations from their own
country, governed Egypt 263 years.
This military sovereignty was destroyed
by Selim I., the Turkish sultan, who took
Cairo in 1517. Nevertheless, the Mame-
lukes, under their 24 beys, continued for
200 years more to exercise a power
scarcely inferior to that of the Turkish
pachas, whom, in the 18th century, they
reduced to mere ciphers in the govern-
ment. Their power was again consider-
ably broken by the French invasion under
Bonaparte, to which they offered a de-
termined opposition. After the abandon-
ment of Egypt by the French, the struggle
between the beys and the pachas was
renewed : finally, in 1811, the present
pacha, Mohammed Ali, having invited
the principal leaders of the Mamelukes
to a banquet, slew 470 of them by treach-
ery, and compelled the remainder to
submission.

MAM ; MON, in the Syriac language,
signifies riches. It is used Matt. vi. 24,
and Luke xvi. 13, and is there called the
mammon of unrighteousness, intimating
that riches are frequently the instruments
of iniquity, or acquired by unrighteous
means.

MAN, mankind ; the human race ; the
whole species of human beings ; beings
distinguished from all other animals by
the powers of reason and speech, as well
as by their shape and dignified aspect.
When opposed to -woman, man some-
times denotes the male sex in general.
It sometimes bears the sense of a male
adult of some uncommon qualifications ;
particularly, the sense of strength, vigor,
bravery, virile powers, or magnanimity,
as distinguished from the weakness,
timidity, or impotence of a boy, or from
the narrow-mindedness of low-bred men.
So, in popular language, it is said, he is
no man. Play your part like a man.
He has not the spirit of a man. An in-
dividual of the human species. Under
this phraseology, females may be com-
prehended. So a law restraining man,
or every man from a particular act,

390

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[MAN

comprehends women and children, if of
competent age to be the subjects of law.
One who is master of his mental powers,
or who conducts himself with his usual
judgment, we say, he is not his own man.
It is sometimes used indefinitely, with-
out reference to a particular individual ;
any person ; one. This is as much as a
man can desire.

MANDA'MUS, in law, a writ issued
from a court of law, and directed to any
person, corporation, or inferior court,
commanding the performance of some
special thing.

MANDARIN', the magistrates and
governors of provinces in China, who are
chosen out of the most learned men, and
whose government is always at a great
distance from the place of their birth.

MAN'DUCI, in antiquity, hideous fig-
ures introduced at the public representa-
tions of the Romans, which served as
bugbears.

MAN'EGE, the art of breaking in and
riding horses, or the place set apart for
equestrian exercises.

MA'NES, in the pagan system of the-
lg v i a general name for the infernal
deities. The ancients comprehended un-
der the term manes not only Pluto, Pros-
erpine, and Minos, but the souls of the
deceased were likewise included. It was
usual to erect altars and offer libations
to the manes of deceased friends and re-
lations, for the superstitious notion that
the spirits of the departed had an im-
portant influence on the good or bad
fortune of the living, made people very
cautious of offending them. When it was
not known whether a corpse had been
buried or not, a cenotaph was erected,
and the manes were solemnly invited to
rest there, from fear that otherwise they
would wander about the world, terrifying
the living, and seeking the body which
they had once inhabited.

MAN'GONEL, an engine formerly
used for throwing stones and battering
walls.

MAN'IIOOD, the state of one who is a
man. of an adult male, or one who is ad-
vanced beyond puberty, boyhood, or
childhood ; virility. The qualities of a
man ; courage ; bravery ; resolution.

MANICHEES', in church history, a
sect of Christian heretics in the third cen-
tury, the followers of Manes, who made
his appearance in the reign of the empe-
ror Probus ; pretending to be the Com-
forter whom our Saviour promised to
send into the world. He taught that
there are two principles, or gods, coeternal

and independent of each other ; the first-
principle, or light, the author of all good :
the second principle, or darkness, the
author of all evil a doctrine which he
borrowed from the Persian magi.

MAN'IFEST, an invoice of a cargo of
goods, imported or laden for export, to
be exhibited at the custom-house by the
master of the vessel, or the owner or
shipper.

MANIFES'TO, in politics, a declara-
tion of motives publicly issued by a bel-
ligerent state, or by a general acting with
full powers, previously to the commence-
ment of hostilities. They are in the form
of letters, with a superscription or head-
ing addressed to the public in general,
and signed with the name of the authority
who sends them forth. The usage of
issuing manifestoes is said to date so far
biu-k as the 14th century. The term is
probably derived from the Latin words
" manifestum est," with which such docu-
ments usually commenced.

MANIP'ULUS, in Roman antiquity, a
body of infantry, consisting of two hun-
dred men, and constituting the third part
of a cohort.

MAN'NER, in the Fine Arts, a peculi-
arity of treating a subject, or of execut-
ing it, by which individual artists are
distinguished : the latter arising out
of a particular mode of using the media
and implements of art, the former out
of a singular method of observing na-
ture.

MAN'OR, an ancient royalty or lord-
ship, formerly called a barony, consisting
of demesnes, services, and a court-baron ;
and comprehending in it messuages, lands,
meadow, pasture, wood, rents, an advow-
son, Ac. It may contain one or more
villages, or hamlets, or only a great part
of a village, Ac. In these days, a manor
rather signifies the jurisdiction and roy-
alty incorporeal, than the land or site ;
for a man may have a manor in gross, as
the law terms it, that is, the right and
interest of a court-baron, with the per-
quisites thereto belonging. Some estates
injhe United States still retain the name
ofrnanor, from the times of the colonies.

MANSARD-ROOF, in architecture, a
roof of peculiar construction, named after
its first practicer Julius, or as some say,
Francis Mansard, who used it upon all
his principal buildings. Before the time
of either of these architects, however,
this kind of roof was employed by the
Abbe de Clugny in the old palace of the
Louvre.

MANSLAUGHTER, in a genera)

MAll]

AND THE FINE AKTS.

391

sense, the killing of a man or of men ;
destruction of the human species ; mur-
der. In law, the unlawful killing of a
man without malice, express or implied.
This may be voluntary, upon a sudden
heat or excitement of anger ; or invol-
untary, but in the commission of some
unlawful act. Manslaughter differs from
murder in not proceeding from malice
prepense or deliberate, which is essential
to constitute murder. It differs from
homicide excusable, being done in conse-
quence of some unlawful act, whereas
excusable homicide happens in conse-
quence of misadventure.

MAN'TELET, in fortification, a kind
of movable parapet, or wooden penthouse,
used in a siege. Mantelets are cased with
tin and set on wheels, so as to be driven
before the pioneers, to protect them from
the enemy's small shot.

MAN'TLE, in architecture, the piece
lying horizontally across from one jamb
of a chimney to the other. In mala-
cology, the external fold of the skin of
the uiollusks.

MAN'UAL, was applied originally to
the Roman Catholic service book, from its
convenient size, (being such as might be
carried in the hand ;) but it now signifies
any small work used chiefly for the pur-
pose of reference.

MANUMIS'SION, among the Romans,
the solemn ceremony by which a slave
was emancipated, or liberated from per-
sonal bondage.

MAN'OSCRIPTS, literally writings of
any kind, whether on paper or any other
material, in contradistinction to such as
are printed. Books were generally writ-
ten upon vellum, after the papyrus used
in classical times had become obsolete,
until the general introduction of paper
made from rags, about the 15th century
after Christ ; and the finest and whitest
vellum is generally indicative of great
ago in a manuscript. The dearness of
this material gave rise to the practice
of using old manuscript books on which
the writing had been erased, and also to
that of abbreviations. These were ci^ied
to excess in the 12th century, and from
that time until the invention of printing ;
and for a long period subsequent to that
invention, abbreviations were still in com-
mon use : in Greek printing they were
usual until within the last fifty years.
Of Latin MSS., those prior to the reign
of Charlemagne (A.D. 800) are consid-
ered ancient. Manuscripts of the early
classical age were written on sheets rolled
together. Illuminated manuscripts' are

such as are embellished with ornaments,
drawings, emblematical figures, <fec., il-
lustrative of the text. This practice was
introduced at a very early period ; for
we find the works of Varro. Pomponius
Atticus. and others adorned by illumina-
tions. But it was chiefly employed in the
breviaries and prayer-book of the early
Christian church. The colors most em-
ployed for this purpose were gold and
azure. Illuminations were in a high
state of perfection between the 5th and
10th centuries; after which they seemed
to have partaken of he barbarism of the
middle ages, which threw their chilling
influence over every description of art.
On the revival of the arts in the 15th and
16th centuries many excellent perform-
ances were produced ; but the art did not
take deep root, and became extinct with
the invention of printing.

MAP, a delineation of a country ac-
cording to a scale, in which the prop t-
tion, shape, and position of places are
exactly preserved. The top is usually
the north, and the right hand the east,
and, when otherwise, distinguished by a
Jleur de lis pointing to the north. It is
called a universal map when it repre-
sents the whole surface of the earth, or
the two hemispheres ; and a particular
map when it only represents particular
regions or countries. A map is properly
a representation of land, as distinguished
from a chart, which only represents thi
sea or sea-coast. In maps, three things
are essentially requisite : 1, that all
places have the same situation and dis-
tance from the great circles therein, as on
the globe, to show their parallels, longi-
tudes, zones, climates, and other celestial
appearances ; 2, that their magnitudes
be proportionable to their real magnitudes
on the globe ; 3, that all places have the
same situation, bearing and distance, as
on the earth itself. The degrees of
longitude are always numbered at top
and bottom, and the degrees of latitude
on the east and west sides.

MAR'ABUTS, or MAR'ABOOTS, in
Northern Africa, among the Berbers, a
kind of saints or sorcerers who are held
in high estimation. They distribute amu-
lets, affect to work miracles, and are
thought to exercisa the gift of prophecy.
They live with a good deal of pomp, and
maintain a numerous train of wives and
concubines. They make no pretensions
to abstinence or self-denial.

MARANA'THA, amongst the Jews,
was a form of threatening, cursing, or
anathematizing, and was looked upon as

392

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[MAF

the most severe denunciation they had.
The word is said to signify the Lord comes,
or is come : which taken as a curse or
threat may be thus paraphrased, " the
Lord come quickly to take vengeance on
thee for thy crimes."

MARCH, the third month of the year,
according to the calendar of Numa and
Julius Caesar ; but in the calendar of
Romulus it stood first, in honor of his re-
puted father, Mars. This month seems
to have a strong claim to the first place
in the series, because in March the sun
enters into the sign%Aries, which is reck-
oned the first sign of the zodiac. March,
in music, a military air, played by
inflatile and pulsatile instruments, to
regulate the steps and to animate the
minds of soldiers. The march, however,
has long been adapted to every species of
musical instrument, and some of the most
celebrated compositions of the greatest
masters are in this style ; as the March of
the Priests in Mozart's Zauber-Jlote, the
Peasant's March in AVeber's Freiscliutz,
and, above all, Beethoven's Funeral
Marches. In most Dictionaries of musi-
cal terms, it is truly said that a march
should always be composed in com-
mon time, with an odd crotchet or
quaver at the beginning. It is usually
quick for ordinary marching, and slow
for grand occasions ; but no general rules
can be laid down for its composition.
March of the Deities. The ancients,
in all their representations of the super-
human powers, and even of heroic men
or demigods, paid great attention to their
step or gait. They held a grave, steady,
and at the same time light step to be in-
dicative of dignity and even of a spiritual
nature. Occasionally, as on a medal of
Antoninus representing the advance of
Mars to Sylvia, the figure appears rather
to glide over the surface of the earth
than to tread upon it. The Belvidere
Apollo has a similar character of step or
walk. The foot of the deity scarcely
presses the ground.

MARCHES, borders or confines, partic-
ularly the boundaries between England
and Wales. The office of " lords marchers"
was originally to guard the frontiers.

MARCO'SIANS, a sect of Christian
heretics in the second century, so called
from their leader Marcus, who represent-
ed the Deity as consisting not of a
trinity, but a quaternity, viz. the Ineffa-
ble, Silence, the Father, and Truth.

MAR'GIN, in printing, is the arrange-
ment of the pages in a sheet at proper
distances from each other, according to

the size of the paper; so that when the
sheet is printed and folded, the border of
white paper round them shall be regular
and uniform in every leaf of the book.
In architecture, that part of the upper
side of a course of slates which appears
uncovered by the next superior course.

MAR'GRAVE, or, more properly,
MARKGRAVE, a title of rank formerly
used in Germany, and equivalent to the
English marquis. Both words spring
from a common origin.

MARI'A THERE'SA, ORDER OF, a
military order of Austria, consisting of
grand crosses, commanders, and knights ;
founded in 1757.

MARINES', a corps of men enlisted to
serve as soldiers on board of ships-of-war
in naval engagements, and on shore un-
der certain circumstances. They some-
times assist, particularly in the British
service, in performing some naval duties
on board of ship.

MAR'ITIME LAW, signifies the laws
relating to harbors, ships, and sailors.
It forms an important branch of the com-
mercial law of all trading nations, and
embraces an infinite variety of subjects,
most of which have been defined under
their respective heads. The most cele-
brated codes of maritime law have been,
in classical times, that of Rhodes ; in
modern times, the Consolato del Mare, a
compilation supposed to have been framed
at Barcelona as early as the 9th century ;
the laws of the Isle of Oleron, in the time
of Richard I. of England ; the laws of
Wisby, in the island of Gothland, to
which some northern jurists have assigned
an earlier origin than the laws of Oleron.
but which there can be little doubt were
merely a compilation from those above
specified. But by far the most complete
and well-digested system of maritime
jurisprudence that has ever appeared is
that comprised in the Ordonnance de la
Marine, issued by Louis XIV. in 1681,
by which maritime law was elevated to
the rank of a regular system, and has
formed the basis of many of the subse-
qudlB decisions of American, English,
and foreign courts. This excellent code
was compiled under the direction of
M. Colbert, by individuals of great talent
and learning, after a careful revision of
all the ancient sea laws of France and
other countries, and upon consultation
with the different parliaments, the courts
of admiralty, and the chambers of com-
merce of the different towns. It com-
bines whatever experience and the wisdom
of ages had shown to be best in the Roman

MAR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

393

laws, and in the institutions of the modern
maritime states of Europe.

MARK, or the Gospel of ST. MARK, a
canonical book of the New Testament,
the second in order. St. Mark wrote his
gospel at Rome, where he accompanied
St. Peter, in the year of Christ 44. Ter-
tullian, and others, pretend that St. Mark
was no more than an amanuensis to St.
Peter, who dictated this gospel to him ;
others assert that he wrote it after St.
Reter's death. Nor are the learned less
divided as to the language this gospel
was written in ; some affirming it to
have been in Greek, and others in Latin.
It however seems plainly intended for
Christian converts from paganism, and
is distinguished from the other evangeli-
cal writings by its brevity, passing over
much that relates to the character of
Christ as Messiah.

MAROONS', the name given to re-
volted negroes in the West Indies, and
in some parts of South America. In
many cases, by taking to the forests and
mountains, they have rendered them-
selves formidable to the colonies, and
sustained a long and brave resistance to
the white population.

MARQUE, letter of, a power granted
by a state to its subjects, to make re-
prisals on the subjects of a state with
whom it is at war.

MAR'QUETRY, in architecture, inlaid
work consisting of different pieces of
divers colored woods of small thickness
glued on to a ground usually of oak or
fir, well dried and seasoned, which, to
prevent casting and warping, is composed
of several thicknesses. The early Italian
builders used it in cabinet work, and John
of Vienna, and others of his period, by its
means represented figures and land-
scapes ; but in the present day it is
chiefly confined in its use to floors, in
which the various pieces of wood are
usually disposed in regular geometrical
figures, and are rarely of more than
three or four species.

MAR'QUIS, or MAR'QUESS, a
of honor, next in dignity to that of
first given to those who commanded the
inarches, or borders and frontiers of a
kingdom. Marquises were not known
in England till Richard II. in the year
1337, created Robert de Vere marquis of
Dublin. The marquis's coronet is a cir-
cle of gold set round with four strawberry
leaves, and as many pearls on pyramidal i
points of equal height alternate.

MAR'RIAGE, the act of uniting a man :
and woman for life ; wedlock ; the state i

or condition of being married ; the legal
union of a man and woman for life.
Marriage is regarded by the law as a
civil contract binding the parties to cer-
tain reciprocal obligations, and the gen-
eral principle of law respecting this, as
well as other civil contracts, is, that it is
to be held valid according to the usage
of the country wherein it is made. Al-
though among protestants marriage has
ceased to be regarded as a sacrament, yet
in most protestant countries the entrance
into the married state has continued to
be accompanied witB religious observ-
ances. These are not, however, in the
eye of the law, essential to the constitu-
tion of a valid marriage, any fu. ther
than the legislative power may have
seen it proper to annex them to and in-
corporate them with the civil contract.
The laws concerning marriage are differ-
ent, in the separate states of the Union.
By the laws of most of the states, as well
as that of Scotland, a marriage is valid,
when contracted by any form of ceremony
without the proclamation of banns, or the
aid of a clergyman, provided the parties
on the occasion express a solemn accept-
ance of each other as man and wife. It
is also contracted by the writing of the
parties without any ceremony, provided
the writing express their acceptance of
each other as man and wife. Also by a
verbal acceptance of each other as man
and wife in the presence of witnesses, or
by a promise followed by intercourse.

MARSEILLAISE HYMN, the name
popularly, though erroneously, given to
the national anthem of the French. The
origin of this song, which has played so
important a part in the revolutions not
only of France but other continental
states, was long involved in obscurity ;
but the following statement respecting
it may be relied on as authentic : The
Marseillaise Hymn was the production
of Rouget de Lille, a French officer of en-
gineers, who was quartered at Strasburg
in the year 1791, when Marshal Luckner
commanded the army, i\i that time en-
tirely composed of young conscripts.
The marshal was to march the following
morning of a certain day ; and, late in
the evening previous, he inquired if there
were any men of a musical or poetical
genius in the army who could compose a
song to animate his young soldiers.
Some one mentioned Captain Rouget de
Lille, who was immediately ordered into
the presence of the marshal to receive
his commands on the subject ; which
having been given, and a promise made

394

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITE

by Do Lille that a song would be ready
the following morning, he went to his
quarters, and during the night he nfot
only wrote the song in question, butalso
set it to music; and next morning the
army marched to its tune, and cirriod
everything before it with an enthusiasm
only to be equalled by absolute phrensy.
The song is said to have been styled the
Marseillaise Hymn from a body of troops,
on their march from Marseilles, having
entered Paris playing that tune at a time
when it was little known in the capital.
The original of the Marseillaise is said
to be in the possession of Louis Philippe.

-MARS, or MA'VORS, the Latin
names of the deity called by the Greeks
Ares. lie was fabled to be the son of
Juno, conceived by means of the virtue
of a certain plant; and was worshipped
as the God of War. At Rome he was
honored as the progenitor of Romulus,
the founder of the city, of which he was
held to be the protector; and it was to
the honor of this divinity that the Latin
husbandmen used to offer up a peculiar
sacrifice, called suuvetaurilia, which, as
the derivation of the word implies, con-
sisted of a 'pig, a sheep, and a bull.

MAR'S HAL, a title of honor in many
European countries, applied to various
dignities and high offices. The deriva-
tion of the word, and its early use, are
extremely uncertain. The title of Mar-
shal of England is now hereditary in the
family of the Dukes of Norfolk. William
Fitz-Osborn and Roger de Montgomery
are said to have been marshals to Wil-
liam the Conqueror. The earl marshal
is eighth in rank among the great officers
of state in England. He has the same
jurisdiction over the court of chivalry
which was formerly exercised by the con-
stable and marshal jointly. Marshal of
France is the highest military rank in
the French army. This officer appears
first in history under the reign of Philip
Augustus, as commander-in-chief of the
royal armies. The number of marshals
w.is increased by several successive sove-
reigns : in the reign of Henry IV. the
states of Blois limited it to four, but this
restriction was not observed ; and, in the
reign of Louis XIV., there were at one
period no less than twenty. After the
deposition of Louis XVI. the dignity of
marshal ceased; but was revived by Na-
poleon, with the title of Marshal of the
Empire.

MARTEL'LO TOWERS, the name
given to the circular buildings of mason-
ry which were erected along different

parts of The British coastg at the com-
iiiciii-cniciii of the present century, in-
tended as a defence against the meditated
invasion of Napoleon. The origin of the
name is usually supposed to be derived
from a fort in Mortella (Myrtle) Bay,
Corsica, which, after a determined resist-
| ance, was at last captured by the British
in 1794. These towers were prctided
with vaulted roofs, and consisted of two
stories the lower for the reception of
stores, the upper, which was shell-prowl',
for the casement of troops ; and the wall
of the building terminated in a parapet,
which secured the men in working the
pieces of artillery, which, besides, were
constructed on moving pivots, so as to be
fired in any direction. In most places of
England these towers have been dis-
mantled ; those that remain either serve
as stations for the coast blockade force,
or, like that near Leith, are not employed
for any purpose.

MARTINET', a cant phrase for a se-
vere military disciplinarian : probably
derived from a certain Colonel Martinet,
who served in the French army under
Louis XIV., who was the inventor of a
peculiar whip, called by his name, for the
purpose of military punishment, and also
(if Voltaire may be believed) of the
bayonet.

MAR'TYR, any innocent person who
suffers death in defence of a cause, rather
than abandon it. In the Christian sense
of the word, it is one who lays down his
life for the gospel, or suffers death for the
sake of his religion. The Christian church
has abounded in martyrs, and history is
filled with surprising accounts of their
singular constancy and fortitude under
the most cruel torments human nature
was capable of suffering. The primitive
Christians believed that the martyrs en-
joyed very singular privileges : that
upon their death they were immediately
admitted to the beatific vision, while other
souls waited for the completion of their
piness till the day of judgment ; and
God would grant chiefly to their
ers the hastening of his kingdmn,
and shortening the times of persecution.
The festivals of the martyrs are of very
ancient date, and may be carried back at
least till the time of Polycarp, who suf-
fered martyrdom about the year of
Christ 168. On these days the Christians
met at the graves of the martyrs, and
offered prayers and thanksgivings to
God for the examples they had afforded
them; they celebrated the eucharist, and
gave alms to the poor ; which, together

MAS]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

395

with a panegyrical oration or sermon,
and reading the acts of the martyrs,
were the spiritual exercises of these an-
niversaries.

MARTYROL'OGY, a catalogue or list
of martyrs, including the history of their
lives and sufferings.

MA'SONS, or FREE AND ACCEPTED
MASONS, a term applied to a fraternity
of great antiquity, and so called probably
because the first founders of that society
were persons of that craft or occupation.
It is generally understood that they are
bound by an oath of secresy not to reveal
anything that passes within the society,
and the members throughout the whole
world are known to each other by certain
secret signs.

MAS'ORA, a Hebrew work on the
bible, by several Rabbins. It is a collec-
tion of remarks, critical, grammatical,
and exegetical, on the books of the Old
Testament by the Jewish doctors of the
third and succeeding centuries. It is di-
vided into the great and little ; the for-
mer contains the whole collection in sepa-
rate books ; the little is an extract from
the observations which were written in
the margins of the biblical manuscripts.

MASQUE, or MASK, a species of
drama. It originated from the custom in
processions, and other solemn occasions,
of introducing personages in masks to rep-
resent imaginary characters. Many of
these characters, even in the religious
shows of Italy, <fcc., wore of a grotesque
description, and the performance often
intermixed with dancing and buffoonery.
By degrees, in England, something of
a dramatic character was added to these
exhibitions. At first, as in the well-
known progresses of Queen Elizabeth,
monologues or dialogues in verse were
put into the mouths of the masked per-
formers ; and in the reign of James I.,
they had ripened into regular dramat-
ic performances ; sometimes, as in the
Tempest of Shakspeare, introduced by
way of interlude in regular plays ; at
other times acted as separate pulfcs,
with much machinery and decorOTTOn.
Ben Jonson was the first, and indeed
almost the only classical English writer
(with the exception of Milton, in the soli-
tary and noble specimen of Comus) who
devoted much labor and taste to this
department of the drama. His masques
were represented at court ; the Queen of
James I., and after her the accomplished
Queen Henrietta Maria, did not disdain
to take part, at least as silent dramatis
persona?, in some of these pageants. The

taste for them died away in the reign of
Charles I., and after the interruption
given to the progress of dramatic art and
literature by the civil wars, they were
not again brought into fashion.

MASQUERADE', (Ital. mascherata,)
an amusement practised in almost every
civilized country of modern times, con-
sisting of a ball and other festivities in
which only those who are masked or dis-
guised can participate. This species of
amusement had its origin in Italy, where,
according to Hall's Chronicle, they had
become fashionable so early as the begin-
ning of the 16th century.

MASS, in the church of Rome, the
prayers and ceremonies used at the cele-
bration of the eucharist ; or, in other
words, consecrating the bresd and wine
into the body and blood of Cnrist, and
offering them so transubstantiated, as an
expiatory sacrifice for the quick and the
dead. As the mass is believed to be a
representation of the passion of our
blessed Saviour, so every action of the
priest, and every particular part of the
service, is supposed to allude to the par-
ticular circumstances of his passion and
death. It consists of three parts : the
offertorium, or offering the elements on
the altar ; the consecration, by which
they are supposed to undergo the tran-
substantiation into the real body and
blood of Christ; and the sumption, or
actual participation in them by the com-
municants. These ceremonies are ac-
companied by the recitation of various
prayers ; and the priest goes through
numerous evolutions, which are supposed
to represent the circumstances attending
the passion of our Lord. The general
division of masses consists in high and
low ; high mass is sung by the choristers,
and celebrated with the assistance of a
deacon and sub-deacon ; low masses are
those in which the prayers are barely re-
hearsed without singing. There are a
great number of different or occasional
masses in the Romish church, many of
which have nothing peculiar but the
name : as the masses of the saints, <fco.

MAS'SIVE, in architecture, sculpture,
<fcc., heavy, full, solid. This term is one
of commendation, or otherwise, according
to the nature of the work respecting
which it is used. Thus in speaking of
an abutment, a wall, the pier of a bridge,
&c.. the architect is complimented by the
application of this term ; whereas, the
precise contrary is generally the case,
when it is employed in speaking of a
portico, an arch, column, or a roof.

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CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[MAU

MAS'TER, a man who rules, governs,
or directs either men or business. A man
who has servants is their master; he who
has apprentices is their master, as he has
the government and direction of them.
In commercial navigation, the person
intrusted with the care 'and navigation
of a ship ; otherwise called captain. In
skips of war, an officer who takes rank
immediately after the lieutenants, and
navigates the ship under the direction of
the captain. The director of a school ; a
teacher; and instructor. In this sense
the word is giving place to the more ap-
propriate words, teacher, instructor, and
preceptor. A title of dignity or a degree
in colleges and universities ; as, Master
of Arts. In the American and English
universities this degree follows that of
Bachelor ; it is the highest in the faculty
of arts, but subordinate to that of doctor
of divinity. In all the. arts. A professor
of either of the fine arts, who gives lec-
tures thereon to students. In another,
and more general sense, any distinguish-
ed practiser of art, whose works are
sufficiently excellent to have attained
him an undying reputation, and to ren-
der his performances referred to as mo-
dels for style and execution by the young
artist. Without the existence of the
works of the great masters, the arts
would still be in their infancy.

MA'STER-SING'ERS, a class of poets
who flourished in Germany during the
15th and part of the 16th century. They
were confined to a few imperial towns,
and their chief seat was the city of Nu-
remberg. They were generally of burg-
her extraction ; and formed regular cor-
porations, into which proficients were
admitted by the ordinary course of ap-
prenticeship. Their poetry (generally
confined to devotional or scriptural pieces,
legendary tales, with some admixture of
satire and amatory lyrics) was subjected
to a peculiar and pedantic code of laws,
both composition and versification ; and
a board of judges (styled merker) assem-
bled to hear the poems recited, and mark
the faults which might be committed in
either particular : he who had the fewest
faults received the prize. Hans Sachs,
the famous cobbler of Nuremberg, was a
member of these societies ; although his
genius was of too independent a charac-
ter to submit to the trammels of their
poetical regulations.

MAT'ADOR, in Spanish bull-fights,
the name given to the person who gives
the death wound to the bull. After the
banderilleros have goaded the animal to

madness by fastening squibs upon him
and discharging them, the matador (el
matador, the killer,) advances with a
naked sword and aims a fatal blow at
him. If this is effectual, the slaughtered
animal is dragged away and another is
brought forward.

MATERIALISM, the doctrine held
by those who maintain that the soul of
man is not a spiritual substance distinct
from matter, but that it is the result or
effect of the organization of matter in the
body. This theory, however, does not
explain how matter can think, and how
physical motion can produce mental
changes, which we do not observe in so
many organic beings. In decided oppo-
sition to materialism, is our consciousness
of the identity and liberty of man, which
would be annihilated by it, because mat-
ter is governed by the necessity of nature,
and free will therefore excluded.

MAT'INS, the first part of the daily
service, particularly in the Romish
church.

MATRA'LIA, in antiquity, a Roman
festival celebrated by the matrons, in
honor of the goddess Mater Matula, on
the third of the ides of June.

MATRIC'ULATE, to enter or admit
to membership in a body or society, par-
ticularly in a college or university, by
enrolling the name in a register.

MATRONA'LIA, a Roman festival
instituted by Romulus, and celebrated on
the calends of March, in honor of Mars.
It was kept by matrons, to whom pres-
ents were made by the men, as by hus-
bands to their wives, &c. Bachelors were
entirely excluded from any share in the
solemnity.

MAT'THEW, or Gospel of St. Mat-
thew, a canonical book of the New Testa-
ment. St. Matthew wrote his gospel in
Judea, at the request of those he had
converted, and it is thought he began it
in the year 41, eight years after Christ's
resurrection. It was written, according
to the testimony of all the ancients, in
thdhHebrew or Syriac language, which
walRhen common in Judea : but the
Greek version of it, which now passes for
the original, is as old as the apostolical
times. St. Matthew's view in writing his
gospel, was chiefly to show the royal de-
scent of Jesus Christ, and to represent
his life and conversation among men.

M AUN'DAY THURSDAY, the Thurs-
day in passion-week, or next before Good
Friday. The word is supposed by some
to be derived from the Saxon mand, a
basket ; because on that day princes used

MEAJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

397

to give alms to the poor from their bas-
kets. Others think it was called Maun-
day or Mandate Thursday, from the dies
mandati, (the day of command,) the com-
mand which Christ gave his disciples to
commemorate him in the Lord's supper,
which he this day instituted ; or from the
new commandment that he gave them to
love one another, after he had washed
their feet as a token of his love to them.

MAUR, SAINT, CONGREGATION
OF, a learned body of religious of the
Benedictine order ; so called from a vil-
lage near Paris, where they were estab-
lished in 1618. On the request of Louis
XIII., Gregory XV. gave this order his
approval by an apostolic brief, dated 17th
of May, 1621 ; and it obtained new priv-
ileges from Urban VIII., by a bull dated
21st of January, 1627. The fame of this
body attracted the attention of many
other religious orders, several of which
were induced to submit to its rules ; and
at last it numbered upwards of a hundred
religious houses. The literary world owes
to them a series of very valuable editions
of ancient Greek authors, chiefly fathers,
during the 17th century. Among the
most eminent of its members during that
period may be mentioned Jean Mabillon,
Thierri Ruinart, Hugh Menard, and Ber-
nard de Montfaucon, &o. &o. (See Mo-
shoim, Eccl. Hist., vol. v.)

M AUSOLE'UM, a general designation
of any superb and magnificent monument
of the dead, adorned with rich sculpture,
and inscribed with an epitaph. In a
more confined acceptation it signifies the
pompous monument in honor of some em-
peror, prince, or very illustrious person-
age ; but it properly and literally signi-
fies that particular monument built by
Artemisia, to the memory of her husband
Mausolus, king of Caria, whence it de-
rives its name. This monument was so
superb that it was reckoned one of the
wonders of the world.

MAX'IM, an established proposition
or principle ; in which sense, according to
popular usage, it denotes nearly the same
as axiom in philosophy and mathenwRcs.
Maxims are self-evident propositions,
and the principles of all science ; for on
these, and definitions, all demonstrative
knowledge depends. In music, the long-
est note formerly used, equal to two longs,
or four breves.

MAY, the fifth month of our year, but
the third of the Roman. The name is
supposed to be derived from Maia, the
mother of Mercury, to whom the Romans
offered sacrifices on the first day of the

month ; but various other derivations
have been assigned to it. See CALENDAR.

MAY-DAY. The 1st of May is usually
so called in England, by way of eminence,
in commemoration of the festivities which
from a very early period were till recent-
ly, and in many parts of the country are
still observed on that day. It would be
out of place in this work to give any de-
tailed account of them, as they are uni-
versally known ; but a few words as to
their origin may not be out of place. In
looking at the nature of these rites, which
are, to a certain extent, common to every
place in which they are observed, it is evi-
dent that they had their origin in the hea-
then observances practised in honor of the
Latin goddess Flora ; but it is impossible
to fix with accuracy the precise period at
which they were introduced into Eng-
land. The earliest notice of the celebra-
tion of May-day may be traced to the Dru-
ids, who on May-eve were accustomed to
light large fires on eminences in gratitude
and joy for the return of Spring. At a
later period the observance of this day
appears not to have been peculiar to any
class of society, for the most exalted as
well as the lowest persons took part in it.
In his Court of Love Chaucer says, that
on this day "forth goeth all the Court,
most and least, to fetch the flowers fresh,
and braunch and bloom ;" and it is well
known that Henry VIII. and Katherine,
and all the court partook in their diver-
sion. The custom has been but partially
introduced into the United States.

MAY'HEM, in law. a wound or hurt, by
which a man loses the use of any member.
It originally applied to such corporeal
injuries as rendered a man less fit for war.

MAYOR, (Lat. major, meaning the
first or senior alderman,) the title of
the chief municipal officer of a borough,
to whom it appears to have been first
given by charters granted some time
after the conquest. In France, the first
municipal officer of each commune, ac-
cording to a general system established
by the law of 14th December, 1789, which
created municipalities. The maire has
one or more adjuncts or assessors, accord-
ing to the population of the commune,
chosen in the same manner.

MEAS'URE, in music, the interval or
space of time between raising and de-
pressing the hand in a movement ; being
the same as bar. The measure is regula-
ted according to the different values of the
notes of a piece, by which the time as-
signed to each note is expressed. Semi-
breves, for instance, occupy one rise and

398

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[MED

one fall, called a whole measure. In
poetry, the measure or metre is the man-
ner of ordering and combining the quan-
tities, or the long and short syllables.
Thus hexameter, pentameter, iambic,
Sapphic verses, &c., consist of different
measur es. In dancing, the interval be-
tween steps, corresponding to the interval
between notes in the music.

MED'AL, a piece of metal in the form
of a coin, intending to convey to posterity
the portrait of some great person, or the
memory of some illustrious action. The
parts of a medal are the two sides, one
of which is called the face or head, and
the other the reverse. On each side is
the area, or field, which makes the middle
of the medal ; the rim, or border ; and
the exergue, or plain circular space just
within the edge : and on the two sides
are distinguished the type, or the figure
represented, and the legend, or inscrip-
tion. Egyptian medals are the most
ancient ; but the Grecian medals far excel
all others in design, attitude, strength,
and delicacy. Those of the Romans are
beautiful, the engraving fine, the inven-
tion simple, and the taste exquisite.
They are distinguished into consular and
imperial ; the consular medals are the
most ancient, though the copper and silver
ones do not go farther back than the
484th year of Rome, and those of gold
no farther than the year 546. Among
the imperial medals, a distinction is made
between those of the upper and lower em-
pire. The first commenced under Julius
Cajsar, and continued till A.D. 260 : the
lower empire includes a space of nearly
1200 years, and ends with the taking
of Constantinople. The use of medals is
very considerable : they often throw great
light on history, in confirming such pas-
sages as are true in old authors, in
reconciling such as are variously narra-
ted, and in recording such as have been
omitted. In this case a cabinet of medals
may be said to be a body of history. It
was, indeed, an excellent way to perpetu-
ate the memory of great actions, thus to
coin out the life of an emperor, and to
put every exploit into the mint a kind
of printing before the art was invented.
Nor are medals of less use in architec-
ture, painting, poetry, &c. ; for a cabinet
of medals is a collection of pictures in
miniature, and by them the plans of
many of the most considerable buildings
of antiquity are preserved.

MEDAL'LIONS, are medals of a
larger size, and supposed to have been
struck by the different emperors for their

friends, or for foreign princes and ambas-
sadors. That the smallness of the num-
ber of these, however, might not put to
hazard the loss of the devices they bore,
the Romans generally took care to stamp
the subjects of them upon their ordinary
coins. Medallions, in respect to othei
coins, resembled what modern medals,
properly so speaking, are in respect to
money, having had no current value, but
merely an arbitrary one.

ME'DIANT, in music, the chord which
is a major or minor third higher than the
key note, according as the mode is major
or minor.

ME'DIATIZA'TION, the annexation
of the smaller German sovereignties to
larger contiguous states, which took place,
on a large scale, after the dissolution of
the German empire in 1806. The same
thing had been done on various occasions
during the continuance of the empire ;
and the dominions so annexed were said
to be mediatized, i. e., made mediately
instead of immediately dependant on the
empire. The term was retained when
the abolition of the German union had
rendered it in strictness inappropriate.
A few more were mediatized after the
peace of 1815.

MEDIA'TOR, a term applied to Jesus
Christ, as interceding between God and
man. and obtaining for the latter the re-
mission of the punishment due to original
and contracted sin. The divinity of our
Saviour is argued from his mediatorial
character : it seeming impossible that a
mere man could efficaciously intercede by
the sacrifice of himself for the sins of his
fellow-men. Those reasoners, therefore,
who have arrived at the conclusion of the
mere humanity of Christ, either express-
ly deny or essentially modify the idea of
his mediatorial character.

MEDICINE, the art which treats of
the means of preserving health when
present, and of restoring it when lost : an
art that assists nature in the preservation
of health by the use of proper remedies.
It is founded on the study of man's physi-
cal Und moral nature, in health and in
disease. It has struggled at all times,
and continues to struggle, with favorite
theories ; and has, with the slowness
which marks all the important advance-
ments of mankind, but lately emerged
from some of the prejudices of many
centuries, and will doubtless longcontinue
subject to others. Hippocrates, who lived
about the middle of the fifth century
before the Christian era, is the earliest
author on medicine whose writings havo

MEM]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

399

been preserved. He was a man of very
superior medical acquirements, and, by
the consent of posterity, he has been
styled the Father of Medicine.

MEDI'ETAS LIN'GILE, in law, a
jury consisting of half natives and half
foreigners, which is impanelled in cases
where the party to be tried is a foreigner.

MEDIE'VAL, relating to the middle
ages. Medieval architecture, the archi-
tecture of Europe during the middle ages,
including the Norman and early Gothic
styles.

ME'DIUM, in philosophy, the space or
region through which a body in motion
passes to any point, in logic, the mean
or middle term of a syllogism, being an
argument or reason for which we affirm
or deny anything. Medium also denotes
the means or instrument by which any-
thing is accomplished, conveyed, or car-
ried on. Thus money is the medium of
commerce ; bills of credit or bank-notes
are often used as mediums of trade in
the place of gold and silver ; and intelli-
gence is communicated through the me-
dium of the press.

MEDU'SA, in mythology, the chief of
the Gorgons ; according to Hesiod, the
eldest daughter of Celo and the sea-god
Phorcua. Various stories are related of
this mythological personage ; but her
chief peculiarity was the power she pos-
sessed of turning all who looked upon her
into stone. She was slain by Perseus,
who placed her head in the shield of
Minerva, where it continued to retain the
same petrifying power as before.

MEGALE'SIAN GAMES, one of the
most magnificent of the Roman exhibi-
tions of the circus ; in honor of Cybele, the
mother of the gods.

MEGA'RIAN SCHOOL OP GREEK
PHILOSOPHY, founded at Megara by
the disciples of Socrates, who retired
thither after his death, and distinguished
in later times by its logical subtlety. Its
most celebrated names were those of
Euclides, Eubulides, and Stilpo.

MEL'ODRAME, or MEL'O-DRAMA,
a dramatic performance in which music
is intermixed ; or that species of drama
in which the declamation of certain pas-
sages is interrupted by music. If only
only one person acts, it is a monodrama ;
if two, a duodrama. It differs from the
opera and operetta in this, that the per-
formers do not sing, but declaim, and the
music only fills the pauses, either prepar-
ing or continuing the feelings expressed
by the actors. Melo-dramas are gene-
rally romantic and extravagant.

MEL'ODY, in music, the agreeable
effect of different sounds, ranged and dis-
posed in succession ; so that melody is
the effect of a single voice or instrument,
by which it is distinguished from harmo-
ny. " Melody," says an eminent French
musician, " is for music, what thought is
for poetry, or drawing for painting."

MELPO'MENE, the muse who pre-
sides over tragedy ; represented usually
with a mask in one hand, a club or dagger
in the other, and with buskins on her feet.

MELUSI'NE, in the mediaeval my-
thology of France, a beautiful nymph or
fairy, whose history occupies a large
space in the popular superstitions of that
country. She is represented as the
daughter of Helmas, king of Albania,
and the fairy Persine ; and as having
married Raymund, count of Toulouse,
who built her the magnificent castle of
Lusignan (originally called Lusineem,
the anagram of Melusine). Like most
of the fairies of that period, she wae
doomed to a periodical metamorphosis,
during which the lower part of her body
assumed the form of a fish or a serpent..
On these occasions she exerted all her
ingenuity to escape observation ; but hav-
ing been once accidentally seen by her
husband in this condition, she swooned
away, and soon afterwards disappeared,
none knew whither. But her form is said
to be seen from time to time on the tower
of Lusignan, clad in mourning, and ut-
tering deep lamentations ; and her ap-
pearance is universally believed to indi-
cate an impending calamity to the royal
family of France.

MEM'BER, a limb : a part appendant
to the body. We say of a figure, in the
arts of design, that its different members
are exact and well proportioned. In ar-
chitecture, this word is applied to each
of the different parts of a building, to
each separate portion of an entablature,
or to each different moulding of a cornice.

MEM'OIRS, a species of history, writ-
ten by persons who had some share in the
transactions they relate ; answering to
what the Romans called commentarii
(commentaries.) They furnish the reader
with interesting individual anecdotes, and
often expose the most secret motives, or
disclose the whole character of events,
which miy be barely hinted at in books
of general history. These qualities, when
the writer is to be relied on for his vera-
city and judgment, give them an advan-
tage over the other kinds of historical
writings, since they satisfy the mere
reader for amusement as we'll as the stu-

400

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[MEM

dent. The French were the earliest,
and have always been by far the most
successful writers, in this branch of
literature. Their historical memoirs,
partly autobiographical, and partly the
works of authors who had access to the
papers and memorials of those whose
lives they illustrated, form a complete
series from the sixteenth century to
the present time, and throw the great-
est light on some portions of history ;
while their memoirs of celebrated indi-
viduals in the ranks of literature and
fashion are still more numerous and
interesting. In the last century, this
branch of literature became so popular,
that any distinguished individual who
did not leave authentic memoirs of him-
self was sure to become the subject, after
his death, of fabricated memoirs, pub-
lished under his name ; and this species
of falsification, of which Voltaire then
complained, appears to be now carried on
as extensively as at any former period.
The collections of historical memoirs re-
cently edited in Paris contain three series
of historical memoirs relating to French
history, and one of English memoirs,
translated, illustrating the period of the
civil war and revolution. The latter un-
dertaking was conducted by M. Guizot.

MEMORABILIA, things remarkable
and worthy of remembrance.

MEMO'llIAL, in diplomacy, a species
of informal state of paper much used in
negotiation. Memorials are said to be
of three classes. 1. Memorials in the
form of letters, subscribed by the writer,
and speaking in the second person as ad-
dressed to another. 2. Memorials proper,
or written representations, subscribed by
the writer, and with an address, but not
speaking in the second person. 3. Notes,
in which there is neither subscription nor
address. Species of the first class of me-
morials are, circulars from the bureau
of foreign affairs sent to foreign agents ;
answers to the memorials of ambassadors ;
and notes to foreign cabinets and ambas-
sadors.

MEM'ORY, is defined to be the power
or capacity of having what was once pres-
ent to the senses or the understanding
suggested again to the mind, accompa-
nied by a distinct consciousness of past
existence. The term is also employed,
though more rarely, to denote the act or
operation of remembering, or the pecu-
liar state of the mind when it exercises
this faculty, in contradistinction to the
faculty itself. Various opinions have
been propounded by metaphysicians re-

1 specting the nature and origin of the
faculty of memory. Upon this point,
j however, it is not our intention to enter
into any details, as this question is so
mixed up with that of other faculties of
the mind, such as perception and associa-
tion, and such metaphysical questions, as
personal identity, Ac., as to be insepara-
ble from them ; and to these heads we
must refer the reader for information.
We may, however, remark, that the an-
cient Platonists and Peripatetics ascribed
the faculty of memory to the common
theory of ideas ; that is, of imnges in the
brain or in the mind, of all the objects of
thought ; and in this opinion they were
supported, with slight modifications, by
many other philosophers of antiquity.
But Dr. Reid, who has examined this
question with great acuteness has satis-
factorily demonstrated the thwry of the
ancients to be very defective. The more
modern theories of Locke, Hume, and
other philosophers, also meet with little
consideration from the same acute meta-
physician, who, after exposing their fal-
lacies, sums up in these words : " Thus,
when philosophers have piled one suppo-
sition on another, as the giants piled the
mountains in order to scale the heavens,
it is all to no purpose memory remains
unaccountable ; and we know as little
how we remember things past as how wo
are conscious of the present." The word
memory is not employed uniformly in
the same precise sense, but it always
expresses some modification of that fac-
ulty which enables us to treasure up,
and preserve for future use the knowledge
which we acquire ; a faculty which is ob-
viously the great foundation of all inteb-
lectual improvement. The word memory
is sometimes used to express a capacity
of retaining knowledge, and sometimes a
power of recalling it to our thoughts
when we have occasion to apply it to use.
The latter operation of the mind, how-
! ever, is more properly called recollection.
Hence a distinction is made between mem-
ory and recollection. Memory retains
past ideas without any, or with little
effort ; recollection implies an effort to
! recall ideas that are past. Memory de-
! pends upon attention, without which even
| the objects of our perceptions make no
impression on the memory, and the per-
manence of the impcession which any-
thing leaves in the memory is propor-
| tioned to the degree of attention which
< was originally given to it. There is also
a strong connection between memory and
I the association of ideas.

MER]

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401

MEM'PHIAN, pertaining to Mem-
phis ; a term expressive of something very
obscure : a sense borrowed from the intel-
lectual darkness of Egypt in the time of
Moses.

MEN'DICANTS, a term applied to
several orders of monks who live on alms,
or beg from door to door.

MEN'NONITES, or MENNONISTS,
a sect founded by a German, named Simon
Menno, in 1645, the leading tenet of
which is, that Jesus Christ's nature did
not partake of that of his mother.

MENOL'OGY, in the Greek church, a
brief calendar of the lives of the saints, or
a simple remembrance of those whose
lives are not written.

MEN'SA, in archaeology, denotes all
patrimony or goods necessary for a liveli-
hood.

MENSA'LIA, in law, such parsonages
or spiritual livings as were united to the
tables of religious houses, called by the
canonists mensal benefices.

MENSA'RII, in Roman antiquity, of-
ficers appointed to manage the public
treasury.

MENSO'RES, in antiquity, those offi-
cers who were sent onward to t provide
lodgings for the Roman emperors in their
routes, and to the domestics who waited
at table. Mensores frumentarius^ dis-
tributors of the corn.

ME'NU, INSTITUTES OP, the name
given to the most celebrated code of In-
dian civil and religious law ; so called
from Menu, Menou, or Manu, the son of
Brama, by whom it is supposed to have
been revealed. The Hindoos themselves
ascribe to this system the highest anti-
quity ; and many of the most learned
Europeans are of opinion that of all
known works there is none which carries
with it more convincing proofs of high
antiquity and perfect integrity. Sir W.
Jones assigns the date of its origin some-
where between Homer and the Twelve
Tables of the Romans ; and Schlegel as-
serts it as his belief that it was seen by
Alexander the Great in a state not ma-
terially different from that in which we
possess it. The Institutes of Menu are of
a most comprehensive nature : they em-
brace all that relates to human life ; the
history of the creation of the world and
man ; the nature of God and spirits ; and
a complete system of piorals, government,
and religion. The work, says Sir W.
Jones, contains abundance of curious mat-
ter, interesting both to speculative law-
yers and antiquaries, with many beauties
which need not to be pointed out, and with

many blemishes which cannot be justified
or palliated : it is a system of despotism
and priestcraft ; both, indeed, limited by
law, but artfully conspiring to give mutu-
al support.

MERCA'TOR'S CHART, a chart, in
which the parallels of latitude and the
meridians are represented by straight
lines.

MER'CHANT, one who exports the
produce of one country, and imports the
produce of another ; or. according to popu-
lar usage, any trader who deals wholesale.

MER'CY-SEAT, in scripture antiqui-
ties, a table, or cover, lined on both sides
with plates of gold, and set over the ark
of the covenant, on each side of which was
a cherubim of gold with wings spread over
the mercy-seat.

MER'CURY, the I ttirr name of the
Grecian Hermes. He was the son of Ju-
piter and Maia, and discharged the office
of the messenger of the gods. Part of his
duty was also to conduct the shades of the
dead to the infernal regions. He presides
over eloquence, profit, good fortune, and
theft ; in which he was himself so great a
proficient that, on the day of his birth, he

stole fifty kine from the herds of Apollo,
whom he repaid by the gift of his inven-
tion, the lyre.

MER'GER. in law, is the destruction
of a lesser estate in lands and tenements
by the acquisition of a greater estate in
the same immediately succeeding by the
same party and in the same right. Thus
an estate for years is said to merge, or
sink, in an estate for life, if there be no
other estate vested in another person in-
tervening between the two ; and an estate

402

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITKRATURE

for life in an estate of inheritance. There
is no merger of an estate tail.

MEll'LON, in fortification, is that part
of a parapet which is terminated by two
embrasures of a battery.

MER'MAID, an imaginary or fabulous
creature, which seamen have described as
having the head and body of a woman,
with the tail of a fish. Mermen also have
been seen, if we might trust the same
authority. It is not, however, any recent
fiction ; ancient writers having given full
credence to it.

MES'MERISM, the doctrine of animal
magnetism, so named from its author,
Frederic Anthony Mesmer, a German
physician. In 1778, Mesmer propounded
a theory, according to which all the phe-
nomena of life are referred to the motion
and agency of a certain universal mag-
netic fluid, which admits of being influ-
enced by external agents, and especially
by magnetic instruments. Wonderful
effects were said to have been produced
by him and others who co-operated with
him, upon animal bodies, and many cures
performed by the agency of a certain
magnetical apparatus. The use of mag-
netic instruments is now quite exploded,
and the principal means used to produce
the effects of mesmerism are such as
touching and stroking with the hands,
according to rule, breathing on a person,
fixing the eye upon him, Ac. The mes-
merized person must always be of a
weaker constitution than the mesmerizer,
and, if possible, of a different sex, and
must also believe devoutly in the science.
The effects produced upon the person to
whom mesmerism is communicated, or
the mesmeree, as he is called, consist
partly in bodily sensations, as chilliness,
heaviness, flying pains, &c. ; partly in a
diminished activity of the external sen-
ses; partly in fainting, convulsions, sleep,
with lively dreams, in which the mesme-
ree is transported to higher regions, ob-
serves the internal organization of his
own body, prophesies, gives medical pre-
scriptions, receives inspired views of heav-
en and hell, purgatory, &c. ; reads sealed
letters laid on his stomach, and when
awakened is totally unconscious of what
he has experienced. Six stages or de-
grees of mesmerism have been enume-
rated, viz. the walking stage, the stage
of half-sleep, mesmeric sleep or stupor,
somnambulism, self -contemplation or
clairvoyance, universal illumination, in
which the patient knows what is going on
in distant regions, and all that has hap-
pened or will happen to those persons

with whom he is brought into mesmeric
relation, and so forth. More latterly
mesmerism has been associated with
phrenology, so that by touching certain
organs, the patient, when mesmerized, is
made to dance, sing, fight, or steal, <fcc.

MESNE, in law, a lord of a manor who
has tenants holding under him, though
he holds the manor of a superior. Mcspe
process, an intermediate process whi'-li
issues pending the suit, upon gome col-
lateral interlocutory matter. Sometimes
it is put in contradistinction tojinai pro-
cess, or process of execution, and then it
signifies all such processes as intervene
between the beginning and end of a suit.

MESS, in military language, denotes
a sort of ordinary, or public dinner, for
the* maintenance of which every officer,
who takes his meals there, gives a certain
proportion of his pay. In a British mili-
tary mess-room the young subaltern and
the veteran field-officer meet on equal
terms, a soldierlike frankness prevails,
and the toils of service are, as they ought
to be, forgotten during the moments de-
voted to social hilarity. In naval lan-
guage, the mess denotes a particular
company of the officers or crew of a ship,
who eat* drink, and associate together :
hence the term messmate is applied to
any one of the number thus associated.

MES'SAGE, an official communication
sent by a President or King to the con-
gress of the nation.

MES'SEXGERS, certain officers em-
ployed in the secretary of state's depart-
ment to convey despatches, either at
home or abroad.

MESSI'AD, the name given to the
only modern epic poem of Germany ; the
subject of which is, as the name implies,
the sufferings and triumphs of the Mes-
siah. It is written in hexameter verse,
for which, as we have elsewheze observed,
the German is better fitted than any
modern language, and consists of 20
books. The publication of this poem
procured for its author unbounded repu*
tation ; but posterity does not appear to
sanction the high award pronounced on it
by contemporaneous writers. Schlegel,
indeed, maintains that the modern liter-
ature of Germany may be said to date
from the Messiad ; but this high praise
must be understood as referring chiefly
to its having been among the first, pro-
ductions in which the power and resources
of the German language were developed,
rather than to its innate merits as an
epic poem, or to the influence it has
exercised over the national poetry of

MET]

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403

Germany. The reputation of Klopstock
among his own countrymen rests chiefly
on his Odes ; and it must be admitted
that in all those parts of his epic into
which a lyric spirit could be infused in
other words, whenever the feelings or the
sympathies were to be excited there are
few poets, either ancient or modern, to
whom he deserves to be postponed : but,
on the other hand, the dignity and sub-
limity of his sentiments are not unl're-
quently disfigured by the pedantry and
affectation of his style, and the tedious-
ness of his episodes.

MESSI'AH, a Hebrew word signifying
the anointed; a title which the Jews
gave to their unexpected great deliverer,
whose coming they still wait for : and a
name which Christians apply to Jesus
Christ, in whom the prophecies relat-
ing to the Messiah were accomplished.
Among the Jews, anointing was the cere-
mony of consecrating persons to the
highest offices and dignities ; kings,
priests, and sometimes prophets were
anointed : thus Aaron and his son re-
ceived the sacerdotal, Elisha the prophetic,
and David, Solomon, and others, the
royal unction. The ancient Hebrews
being instructed by the prophets, had
very clear notions of the Messiah ; these,
however, were changed by degrees ; inso-
much that when Jesus Christ appeared
in Judea, they were in expectation of a
temporal monarch, who should free them
from their subjection to the Romans.
Hence they were greatly offended at the
outward appearance, the humility, and
seeming weakness of our Saviour ; which
prevented their acknowledging him to be
the Christ they expected.

MES'SUAGB, in law, is said to be
properly a dwelling-house with a small
portion of land adjacent, or the site of the
manor. It is now one of the general
words used in the legal description of
dwelling-houses with the land attached.

MESTI'ZO, in Spanish America, the
child of a Spaniard or Creole and a native
Indian.

METAB'ASIS, in rhetoric, transition ;
a passing from one thing to another.

METACAR'PUS, in anatomy, that
part of the hand between the wrist and
the fingers. The inner part of the meta-
carpus is called the palm, and the other
the back of the hand.

METACH'RONISM. an error in chro-
nology, by placing an event after its real ',
time.

METALEP'SIS, in rhetoric, the con-
tinuation of a trope in one word through

a succession of significations, or the union
of two or more tropes of a different kind
in one word, so that the several grada-
tions or intervening senses come between
the word expressed and the thing intend-
ed by it.

METAMOR'PIIOSIS, the changing of
something into a different form ; in
which sense it includes the transform-
ation of insects, as well as the mytholo-
gical changes related by the poets of
antiquity.

MET'APHOR, in rhetoric, is the ap-
plication of a word in some other than its
ordinary use, on account of some appli-
cability or resemblance between the two
objects : thus, if we call a hero a lion ; a
shrewd, crafty fellow, a fox ; a minister,
a pillar of the state, <fec., we speak meta-
phorically. Brevity and power are the
characteristic excellencies of the meta-
phor ; novelty shows the original wit :
but metaphors indulged in merely for the
sake of unexpected contrast, frequently
prove more allied to the ridiculous than
the sublime, and ought to be but rarely
used. Metaphors have been divided by
writers on rhetoric into several classes ;
but the most appropriate are those' which
are termed analogical, and which derive
their force, not from any actual resem-
blance between two objects, but from a
resemblance between the relations which
they bear respectively to certain other
objects. Thus "the sea of life" is a com-
mon and appropriate metaphor ; not from
any resemblance between the idea of the
visible sea and the complex notion of
that abstraction which we term human
life, but because there is a fancied simi-
larity between the position of navigators
in an uncertain voyage and that of human
beings engaged in the manifold scenes of
life

METAPH'RASIS, a bare or literal
translation out of one language into
another.

METAPHYS'ICS, that branch of phi-
losophy which inquires into the science
of the mind, or spiritual existence. With
respect to animals, it takes them up where
physiology leaves them ; and, proceeding
higher, ventures to speak of Deity itself.
The end of this science is the search of
pure and abstracted truth. It casts a
light upon all the objects of thought and
meditation, by ranging every being with
all the absolute and relative perfections
and properties, modes and attendants of
it, in proper ranks or classes ; and thereby
it discovers the various relations of things
to each other, and what are their general

404

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[MET

or special differences from each other ;
wherein a great part of human knowledge
consists. It has been Very pertinently
remarked that " a man who contemns
metaphysics must think his own nature
unworthy of examination. Metaphysical
inquiries, indeed, have often been disfig-
ured with overstrained subtilty and revolt-
ing sophistry, and too often arbitrary
analogies, bold comparisons, and unmean-
ing mysticism have claimed and received
homage as having unlocked the long-
hidden truth ; but the same has taken
place in regard to religion and politics,
and all the great subjects which strongly
stir the soul of man."

MET'APLASM, in grammar, a trans-
mutation or chang_e made in a word by
transposing or retrenching a syllable or
letter.

METATH'ESIS, in literature, a figure
by which the letters or syllables of a
word are transposed. In medicine, a
change or removal of a morbid cause,
without expulsion.

METEMPSYCHO'SIS, the doctrine of
transmigration, which supposes that the
soul of man, upon leaving the body, be-
comes the soul of some other animal.
This was the doctrine of Pythagoras and
his followers, and such is still the prevail-
ing doctrine in some parts of Asia, par-
ticularly in India and China. The Indian
doctrine of metempsychosis rests on the
supposition that all beings derive their ori-
gin from God, and are placed in this world
in an altogether degraded condition, from
which they all, but more particularly the
human race, must either decline into still
lower degradation, or rise gradually to
a higher state more accordant with their
divine original, according as they give
ear to the vicious or the virtuous sugges-
tions of their nature. It must be re-
marked, however, that the Indians make
a wide distinction between the future
destiny of those who have passed through
life tainted by the usual vices and infirmi-
ties of human nature, and those whose
lives have been spent in the constant
discharge of religious duties. In the
latter case, the soul does not pass through
different stages of existence, "but pro-
ceeds directly to reunion with the Supreme
Being, with which it is identified, as a
river at its confluence with the sea merges
therein altogether. His vital faculties,
and the elements of which his body con-
sist?, are absorbed completely and abso-
lutely ; both name and form cease ; and
he becomes immortal, without parts or
members."

METEMP'TOSIS, a term in chronolo-
gy expressing the solar equitation neces-
sary to prevent the new moon from
happening a day too late, or the suppres-
sion of the bissextile once in 134 years.

METEOROM'ANCY, a species of
divination by thunder and lightning, held
in high estimation by the Romans.

METH'OD, a suitable and convenient
arrangement of things or ideas. In logic
and rhetoric, the art or rule of disposing
ideas in such a manner that they may be
easily comprehended, either in order to
discover the truth, or to demonstrate it to
others. Method is essential to science ;
and without method, business of any kind
will fall into confusion. In studying a
science, we generally mean by method, a
system of classification, or arrangement of
natural bodies according to their common
chars, -teristics ; as the method of Ray,
the Linnaean method. The difference be-
tween mctlwd and system is this : system
is an arrangement founded, throughout
all its parts, on some one principle ;
method is an arrangement less fixed and
determinate, and founded on more gener-
al relations.

METHOD'IC SECT, a name given to
certain ancient physicians, who conducted
their practice by rules after the manner
of Galen and his followers, in opposition
to the empiric sect.

METH'ODISTS, the body of Chris-
tians to whom this name is chiefly applied
are the followers of the late John Wesley,
the founder of this numerous sect ; hence
called Wesleyan Methodists. But the
term bears a more extensive meaning,
being applied to several bodies or sections
of Christians who have seceded or with-
drawn from the Wesleyan denomination.
The origin of the Methodist Society took
place at Oxford in 1729. After the Revo-
lution, when the principles of religious
toleration were recognized amid the pro-
gress of free inquiry, the clergy of the
Established Church were thought by some
to have sunk into a state of comparative
lukewarmness and indifference. This
alleged degeneracy was observed with
pain by John Wesley and his brother
Charles, when students at the University
of Oxford ; and being joined by a few of
their fellow-students who were intended
for the ministry in the Established Church,
they formed the most rigid rules for the
regulation of their time and studies, for
reading the Scriptures, for self-examina-
tion, and other religious exercises. The
ardent piety and rigid observance of
system in everything connected with tht

MET]

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405

new opinions displayed by the Wesleys
and their adherents, as well as in their
college studies, which they never neglect-
ed, attracted the notice and excited the
jeers of various members of the Univer-
sity, and gained for them the appellation
of Methodists ; in allusion to the met/io-
dici, a class of physicians at Home who
practised only by theory.

METOE'CI, the resident aliens, who
formed a large class of the inhabitants
of Athens. They were distinguished
from the few full citizens by many disa-
bilities and burdens. Thy had no share
in the administration of the state, and
were precluded from the power of pos-
sessing landed estates. Each was com-
pelled to purchase the shelter he receiv-
ed from the state by the payment of a
small annual sum, and to place himself
under the guardianship of a citizen, who
was his formal representative in the
courts of law. They were generally en-
gaged in mercantile and mechanical busi-
ness.

METON'IC CY'CLE, in chronology,
the period of nineteen years, in which
the lunations of the moon return to the
same days of the month ; so called from
its discoverer Meton, an Athenian, who
lived about 400 B.C. From its great use
in the calendar, this is called the golden
number.

METONYM'IA, or MET'ONYMY, in
rhetoric, a figure of speech whereby one
thing is put for another, as the cause for
the effect, the part for the whole, and the
like ; as, " my friend keeps a good table,"
instead of good provisions; "that boy
has a clear head," meaning intellect.

METO'PA, in architecture, the square
space in the frieze between the triglyphs
of the Doric order. It is left either plain
or decorated, according to the taste of the
architect. In the most ancient examples
of this order, the metopa is left quite
open, as is manifest from a passage al-
luded to in the 'art.

METOPOS'COPY, the art of divina-
tion by inspecting the forehead, treated
of especially by the famous Cardanus.
The signs of the forehead are chiefly its
lines ; but moles and spots are also sup-
posed to have their particular meaning.
The lines are under the dominion of their
several planets.

ME'TRE, in the classical sense of a
word, a subdivision of a verse. The
Greeks measured some species of verses
(the dactylic, choriambic, antispastic,
Ionic, &c.) by considering each foot as a
metre ; in others (the iambic, trochaic,

and anapaestic,) each dipodia, or two feet,
formed a metre. Thus, the dactylic hex-
ameter (the heroic verse) contains six
dactyls and spondees : the iambic, ana-
paestic, and trochaic trimeter, six of those
feet respectively. A line is said to be
acatalectic when the last syllable of tho
last foot is wanting ; brachycatalectic,
when two syllables are cutoff in the same
way; hypercatalectic, when there is one
superfluous syllable.

METROMA'NIA, a rage for compos-
ing verses, which is said (upon the au-
thority of a respectable medical work) to
have once seized a person in a tertian
fever, who was otherwise by no means
gifted with poetical powers, but who,
when the fit was off, became as dull and
prosaic as the most unimaginative of hu-
man beings could desire. We apprehend
that fits of this kind are more frequent
than the public have any idea of.

MET'RONOME, an instrument for
measuring musical time. It is contrived
on the principle of a clock, having a short
pendulum, whose bob being movable up
and down on the rod, is thus capable of
increasing or decreasing the length of a
note or bar as required by the character
of the music. The length or duration of
a note is often expressed at the head of a
piece of music by stating that a pendulum
of a given length in inches will vibrate a
minim, crotchet, or other note, as the
case may be.

METROP'OLIS, the capital or princi-
pal city of a country or province : as Lon-
don or Paris. The term metropolis is
also applied to archiepiscopal churches,
and sometimes to the principal or mother
church of a city. The Roman empire
having been divided into thirteen dioceses,
and one hundred and twenty provinces,
each % diocose and each province had its
metropolis, or capital city, where the pro-
consul had his residence. To this civil
division, the ecclesiastical was afterwards
adapted, and the bishop of the capital
city had the direction of affairs, and the
pre-eminence over all the bishops of the
province. His residence in the metropo-
lis gave him the title of metropolitan.

METROPOLITAN, in early ecclesi-
astical history, was a title applied to the
archbishop, or chief ecclesiastical digni-
tary, resident in a city. The establish-
ment of metropolitans took place at the
end of the third century, and was con-
firmed by the council of Nice. In some
of the Protestant states of Germany the
title exists to the present time, and the
person in possession of it has rank equiv-

406

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[MIL

alcnt to the bishops of the English
church.

MEZ'ZANINE, in architecture, an
entresole, or little window, less in height
than in breadth, serving to give light to
an attic.

MEZ'ZO, in music, an Italian word,
signifying lialf. Thus mezzo forte, mez-
zo piano, mezzo voce, imply a middle
degree of piano or soft. By mezzo sopra-
no is understood, a pitch of voice between
the soprano or treble and counter-tenor.

MEZZOTIN'TO, a particular manner
of engraving, so called from its resem-
blance to drawings in Indian ink. To
perform this, the smooth surface of the
copper or steel plate is furrowed all over
with an instrument made for the purpose,
till the whole is of a regular roughness
throughout ; so that if a paper were to be
worked off from it at the copper-plate
press it would be black all over. When
this is done, the plate is rubbed with
charcoal, black chalk, or black lead, and
then the design is drawn with white chalk ;
after which the outlines and deepest
shades are not scraped at all, the next
shades are scraped but little, the next
more, and so on, till the shades gradu-
ally falling off, leave the paper white, in
which places the plate is perfectly bur-
nished. By an artificial disposition of the
shades, and different parts of a figure on
different plates, mezzotintos are printed
in colors, so as to represent actual paint-
ings.

MI'CAH, a canonical book of the Old
Testament, written by the prophet Mieah ;
in which the writer censures the reigning
vices of Jerusalem and Samaria, and de-
nounces the judgments of God against
both kingdoms. The birthplace of our
Saviour is thus designated by him : " But
thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, little among
the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall
come forth a ruler in Israel, whose gene-
ration is of old, from everlasting."

MICH'AELMAS, or Feast of St. Mi-
chael, a festival of the Komish church,
observed on the 29th of September. In
England, Michaelmas is one of the regu-
lar periods for settling rents ; and an old
custom is still in use of having a roast
goose for dinner on that day, probably
because geese are at that period most
plentiful, and in the highest perfection.

MI'CROCOSM, man has been called so
by some fanciful writers on natural phi-
losophy and metaphysics, by reason of a
supposed correspondence between the dif-
ferent parts and qualities of his nature
and those of the universe.

MICROG'RAPHY, the description of
objects which are too minute to be seen
without the help of a microscope.

MIDDLE AGES, a term used by histo-
rians to denote that period which begins
with the final destruction of the Roman
empire, and ends with the revival of let-
ters in Europe, or, as some writers have it,
with the discovery of America ; i. e. from
the eighth to the fifteenth century. In gen-
eral, it may be said, the middle ages em-
brace that period of history in which the
feudal system was established and devel-
oped, down to the most prominent events
which necessarily led to its overthrow.

MID'SHIPMAN. Midshipmen are
young gentlemen ranking as the highest
of the class of petty officers on board a
ship of war ; their duty is to pass to the
seamen the orders of the captain or other
superior officer, and to superintend the
performance of the duties so commanded.

MID'SUMMER, the summer solstice.
3?he 24th of June is Midsummer-davj
which is also quarter day.

MILIEU, (JUSTE,) PARTY OF THE,
a French party nickname, arising, it is
said, out of a casual expression of King
Louis Philippe, but which has obtained
a notoriety rather greater than such
ephemeral phrases usually acquire. It
has served to denote the great party op-
posed to the Carlists, or Legitimists, on
the one hand, and to the extreme left
section of the Chamber of Deputies, with
its allies the Republicans, on the other.
After the overthrow of the feeble ministry
of Lafitte, in March, 1831, Casimir Perier
was authorized to form a new cabinet ;
and his administration seems to have re-
alized more than any other the ideal of
a government of the Juste Milieu. After
a short interval he was succeeded by
Soult ; who has been perhaps, since that
time, more identified with the Juste Mi-
lieu party than any other minister :
Mole, Guizot, Dupin, Thiers, Barrot, the
most eminent statesmen 'of France, hav-
ing each of them adopted a line and
formed to a certain extent a party of his
own, alternately aided and opposed by
the great body of the partisans of the
Juste Milieu.

MILI'TIA, a body of soldiers, regu-
larly enrolled and trained, though not in
constant service in time of pence, nnd
thereby distinguished from standing ar-
mies. In England the origin of this na-
tional force is generally traced back to
Alfred.

MILLENA'RIANS, or CHILTASTS,
a name given to those who, in the prim

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

407

itive ages, believed that the saints will
one day reign on earth with Jesus Christ
a thousand years. The former appella-
tion is of Latin original, the latter of
Greek. The Millenarians held, that af-
ter the coming of Antichrist, and the
destruction of all nations which shall fol-
low, there shall be a first resurrection of
the just alone ; that all who shalfbe found
upon earth, both good and bad, shall con-
tinue alive the good, to obey the just
who are risen as their princes the bad
to be conquered by the just, and to be
subject to them ; that Jesus Christ will
then descend from heaven in his glory ;
that the city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt,
enlarged, embellished, and its gates stand
open night and day.

MILLENNIUM, the reign of Christ
with his saints upon earth for th'e space
of a thousand years ; an idea derived
from a passage in the 20th chap, of the
Apocalypse, and not uncommonly enter-
tained by Christians in all ages, but es-
pecially in the times of the primitive
church. The opinion seems to be traced
as far back as to Papias, a father of the
second century. It is the subject of much
discussion among the writers of that and
the succeeding ages ; was maintained by
Justin Martyr, Irenseus, Tertullian, and
many others, and powerfully refuted by
Origen.

MIME, the name given by the ancient
Greeks and Romans at once to a species
of dramatic entertainment, and to the
authors and actors by whom it was re-
spectively composed and performed. It
consisted chiefly of a rude representation
of common life, and resembled the mod-
ern farce or vaudeville in its character
and accompaniments. Sophron of Syr-
racuse, who lived about 400 years be-
fore the Christian era, is considered the
inventor of this species of composition.
His pieces were read even with pleasure
by Plato, who is said to have introduced
this kind of dramatic entertainment into
Athens.

MIME'SIS, in rhetoric, imitation of
the voice and gestures of another person.

MIND, the intellectual or intelligent
power in man. "When the mind," says
Mr. Locke, " turns its view inward upon
itself, thinking is the first idea that oc-
curs ; wherein it observes a great variety
of modifications, whence it frames to itself
distinct ideas. Thus the perception an-
nexed to any impression on the body by
an external object, is called sensation;
when an idea recurs without the presence
of the object, it is called remembrance ;

when sought after by the mind, and again
brought into view, it is recollection ; when
the ideas are taken notice of, and, as it
were, registered in the memory, it is at-
tention ; when the mind fixes its view on
any one idea, and considers it on all sides,
it is called study.

MINER'VA, the Latin goddess corres-
ponding to, and confounded with, the
Grecian Pallas or Athena. She was
fabled to have sprung in full armor from,
the forehead of her father Jupiter. Mi-
nerva was worshipped as the goddess of
wisdom, and the patroness of industry
and the arts. Athens, the city to which
she gave name, was her favorite spot ;
and there her worship was celebrated with
great splendor, and the magnificent tem-
ple, the Parthenon, erected to her honor.

MINERVA'LIA, in Roman antiquity,
festivals celebrated in honor of Minerva,
in the m'onth of March; at which time
the scholars had a vacation, and usua!'y
made a present to their masters, called
from this festival minerval.

MINIATURE, a representation of na-
ture on a very small scale. Miniature
painting is generally executed on ivory;
and is. as to composition, drawing, and
finishing, subject to the same laws as
Painting.

MIN'IM, in music, a note equal to two
crotchets, or half a semibreve.

MIN'IMS, a religious order in the
church of Rome, founded by St. Francis
do Paula, towards the end of the 15th
century.

MIN'ISTER, the pastor of a church,
duly authorized to perform religious wor-
ship in public, administer the sacraments,
&o. In politics; one to whom a sovereign
prince intrusts the administration of the
government ; as, a minister of state ; the
prime minister ; or a. foreign minister.
In the United States, no minister (or
secretary, in the language of our govern-
ment) can be chosen either representative
or senator. Foreign minister, a person
sent from one government to another, and
accredited to the latter, in order to trans-
act public business in the name of his
government

MIN'NEHOFE, the name given by
the Germans to the courts of love, so fa-
mous in the history of chivalry. The sub-
jects brought before these courts were
chiefly connected with the Romantic gal-
lantry of the period, and consisted either
of questions proposed with the view to
entrap the judges into some awkward de-
cision ; or of serious complaints, resulting
from affairs of the heart which were dis-

408

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[MIN

cussed and decided upon with all the for-
mality of a court of law. These minne-
hofe were for a long period looked upon
as forming an indispensable part in all
chivalrous exercises. Knights, ladies, and
poets participated alike in their proceed-
ings ; and large collections of their de-
cisions are still extant. A certain num-
ber of ladies, remarkable at once for per-
sonal and mental attractions, acted as
judges in these courts: the fair sex also
conducted the proceedings as counsel, at-
torneys-general, and solicitors-general,
&c. ; and they were attended by a nume-
rous train of nobles, knights, and others,
who we're invested by the court with gra-
dations of rank and precedency analogous
to those conferred by the sovereign.

MIN'NESINGERS, the most ancient
school of German poets, whose name is
derived from the old German word minne
(love.) The songs and fame of the Pro-
vencal troubadours appear to have pen-
etrated into Germany under the first
emperors of the house of Hohenstauifen ;
in whose time the crusades and the fre-
quent Italian wars combined to bring
their nation, seated as it is in the centre
of Europe, to closer communication with
those surrounding it. The minnesingers
imitated in German the strains of those
early poets, and, like them, made love
their principal subject; which was cele-
brated with much of pedantry and false
conceits, but, at the same time, not with-
out generous and chivalric feeling. The
verses of the minnesingers are in the old
Swabian dialect of the high German,
which, under the Hohenstauffens, them-
selves of Swabian race, was the court lan-
guage. As was the case with the trouba-
dours, the minnesingers belonged to two
different classes : there were among them
many knights, princes, and even sove-
reigns ; while there was also another tflass
of more professional poets wandering
minstrels, who attached themselves to
the persons of the distinguished chiefs, or
wandered from court to court. The oldest
of the minnesingers known to us is Henry
of Veldeck, about 1170. During the re-
mainder of the 12th and first half of the
13th century, this school of poets flourish-
ed ; afterwards it gradually declined, and
was succeeded by the less chivalrous and
homelier school of the master-singers.
We possess the names of more than 300

Eoets, and pieces of the composition of a
irge proportion of them, who sang during
the short period in question.

MI'iN'OR, in law, an heir male or fe- |
male, under the age of twenty-one. In |

logic, the second proposition of a regular
syllogism. In music, sign ifieskss. and is
applied to certain concords or intervals,
which differ from others of the same de-
nomination by half a tone.

MINOK'ITY, in law, a state of being
under age. Also the smaller number of
persons who give 'their votes on any ques-
tions, particularly in parliament : oppos-
ed to majority.

MI'NOS, in mythological history, was
son of Jupiter and Europa, and king of
Crete, and so celebrated as a lawgiver on
earth that after his death he was appoint-
ed judge of the internal regions, in which
office he was associated with JEacus and
Rhadamanthus.

MIN'OTAUR, a fabled monster of clas-
sical antiquity, half man and half bull,
frequently mentioned by the poets.

MIN'STER, was anciently applied only
to the church of a monastery or convent ;
and forms the termination of the name of
many places in England in which such
churches formerly existed, as Westmin-
ster, Leominster, &c. It is sometimes,
but incorrectly, used in common language
to signify a cathedral church.

MIN'STRELS, defined by Percy as an
order of men in the middle ages who sub-
sisted by the arts of poetry and music,
and sang to the harp verses composed by
themselves or others. They appear to
have been the successors of the minne-
singers, scalds, and bards of different
European nations, who, even after the
age of chivalry had passed, attempted to
gain a subsistence by practising those
arts which at an earlier period had pro-
cured fame and honor for their predeces-
sors. In the piping times of peace, the
minstrel sang of mimic war to the dull
barons of dungeon castles, who had ears,
although they could not read ; who,
doubly steeped in the ennui of wealth
and want of occupation, listened greedily,
like other great men, to their own praises.
Minstrelsy supplied the lack of a more
refined intellectual entertainment and of
rational conversation, as professional
gentlemen do now at civic banquets :
their harpings lulled the rude Sauls to
sleep, which is now done by quarto epics.
The person of the minstrel was sacred ;
his profession was a passport; he was
" high placed in hall a welcome guest ;"
the assumption of his character became
the disguise of lovers of adventure.

MIN'UET, a dance in slow time and
with short measured steps, which re-
quires great dignity and grace of car-
riage.

MI*]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

409

MIN'UTE, an architectonic measure ;
the lower diameter of a column, being
divide I into .sixty parts, each part is call-
ed a minute.

ML'QUELETS, in modern history, a
species of partisan troops raised in the
north of Spain, and chiefly in Catalonia.
The tuiquelets became first known in the
wars between Spain and France in the
17th century. At several periods (in
1689, 1789, and again in the wars of Na-
poleon) tlSj French have endeavored to
organize similar corps, to oppose ^to the
miquelets in the mountain warfare of
those districts.

MIK'ACLE, an event or effect produced
in a manner different from the common
and regular method of Providence, by the
interposition either of God himself, or
some superior agent to whom He delega-
ted the power. Lord Bacon observes,
that a miracle was never wrought by
God to convert an atheist, because the
light of nature might have led him to
o tnfess a God : but miracles, says he, are
designed to convert idolaters, and the su-
perstitious, who have acknowledged a
deity, but erred in the manner of adoring
him ; because no light of nature extends
so far as fully to declare the will and
true worship of God.

MIR'ZA, the common style of honor in
Persia, when it precedes the surname of
an individual. When appended to the
surname it signifies prince.

MISAN'THROPY signifies a general
dislike or aversion to man and mankind ;
in contradistinction to philanthropy, which
means the love of our species.

MIS'CELLANY, a word usually ap-
plied to a collection of literary works or
treatises. The most celebrated collection
of works known by this name is Constable's
Miscellany.

MISCH'NA, or MIS'NA. the code or
collection of the civil law of the Jews.
The Jews pretend, that when God gave
the written law to Moses, he gave him
also another not written, which was pre-
served by tradition among the doctors of
the synagogue, till through their disper-
sion they were in danger of departing
from the traditions of their fathers, when
it was judged proper to commit them to
writing.

MISDEMEAN'OR, in law. a minor
offence, or one of less magnitude than
that which is generally designated a
crime, the latter being, in common usage,
male to denote an offence of a more
atrocious character.

MISERE'RE, the 50th Psalm, 4th of

the Penitential Psalms, is that designated
by the Roman Catholic church under this
word, on account of its first words (in
the Vulgate translation, " miserere met
Deus, secundum magnam misericordium
tuam.") It is the usual psalm appointed
for acts of penitence and mortification.

MISNO'MER, in law, a misnaming or
mistaking a person's name. The Chris-
tian name of a person should always be
perfect, but the law is not so strict in re-
gard to surnames, a small mistake in
which will be overlooked.

MISPRIS'ION, in law, any high of-
fence under the degree of capital, but
bordering thereon. Misprision of trea-
son consists in a bare knowledge and con-
cealment of treason, without assenting to
it. Misprisions are called negative, when
they consist in the concealment of some-
thing that ought to be revealed ; and
positive, when they consist in the com-
mission of something which ought not to
be done.

MIS'SAL, in the Romish church, the
book which contains the prayers and
ceremonies of the Mass. Some early
missals are beautifully executed, and are
objects of bibliomania.

MISSA'LIA, the money paid to a
Catholic priest for a mass read for the
dead.

MISSIL'IA, in antiquity, were a cer-
tain kind of largesses thrown among the
Roman people, such as small coins of
gold or silver, sweetmeats, &c.

MIS'SIO, among the Romans, was a
full discharge given to a soldier after
twenty years' service, and differed from
the exauctoratio, which was a discharge
from duty after seventeen years' service.
Missi also signified a rescue sent by the
emperor or person who exhibited the
games, to a wounded gladiator.
TlMIS'SIONARIES, all religious com-
munities, from the earliest ages of Chris-
tianity, have endeavored to propagate
their tenets, not by the force of arms, but
by the persuasive precepts of the Gospel ;
and there is scarcely a corner of the
habitable globe which has not been pene-
trated by men expressly sent out to carry
its glad tidings to pagan nations. Fore-
most among the Protestant countries
which have thus distinguished themselves,
are the United States and England.

MIS'SIONS, stations of missionaries
in infidel countries. In geography, the
extensive districts formerly under the
control of missionaries of the church of
Rome, on the borders of the Spanish and
Portuguese settlements in America, were

410

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

MOD

so called. These missionaries chiefly
belonged to the orders of the Capuchins,
Dominicans, and Jesuits ; but the latter
were the most celebrated and the most
successful. Their settlements in Para-
guay comprehended a vast province,
which they governed with independent
authority : in Brazil they had also exten-
sive districts under their control. The
downfall of the order was followed by
the destruction of these settlements.

MITH'RAS, the grand deity of the
Persians, supposed to be the sun or god
of fire, to which they paid adoration as the
purest emblem of the divine essence.

MI'TRA, in antiquity, a cap or cover-
ing for the head, worn by the Roman
ladies, sometimes by the men, but it was
looked upon as a mark of effeminacy in
them, especially when it was tied upon
their heads. Amongst the Greeks, mitra
was a piece of defensive armor made of
brass, lined with wool, and worn next to
the skin, under the coat of mail.

Ml'TRE, a sacerdotal ornament worn on
the head by bishops and certain abbots on
solemn occasions ; being a sort of cap.
pointed and cleft at top. The high priest
among the Jews wore a mitre or bonnet
on his head.

MIT'TIMUS, in law, a precept or com-
mand in writing under the hand and seal
of a justice of the peace, or other proper
officer, directed to the gaoler or keeper
of a prison, for the receiving and safe
keeping of an offender charged with any
crime until he be delivered by due course
of law.

MNEMONICS, the art of assisting
the memory an art which, when founded
on a simple system, is of incalculable
use to all persons, but more especially to
those who wish to study history and the
sciences to advantage. The ancieois
were well acquainted with mnemonics ;
according to some, the science came from
the East to the Greeks ; others consider
the poet Simonides as the inventor of
them. The principal difficulty in attain-
ing a competent knowledge of history,
consists in retaining the dates of the
several epochas, eras, &c., to which the
principal occurrences in history belong ;
but this difficulty is considerably obviated
by the employment of modern systems
of mnemonics.

MNEMOS'YNE, in classical mytholo-
gy, the goddess of memory : daughter,
according to the genealogists, of Uranus
(Heaven) and Gaia (Earth,) and mother,
by Jupiter, of the Nine Muses. Her
statues usually have the figure enveloped

in long and ample drapery, and the right
hiiihl raised towards the chin.

MOAT, a ditch made round the old
castles, and filled with water. The moat
surrounding a military fortress of modern
construction (or the ditch) is left dry ;
but where it is capable of inundation at
pleasure, this circumstance is considered
an advantage to the system of defence.

MODE, a term used by Locke to de-
note "such complex ideas, which, how-
ever compounded, contain not in them
the supposition of subsisting by them-
selves, but are considered as dependences
on, or affections of, substances. ' Of these
modes there are two kinds, simple and
mixed. Simple modes are " only varia-
tions or different combinations of the
same simple idea, without the mixture
of any other, as a dozen or a score, which
are nothing but the ideas of so many
distinct units added together." Mixed
modes are those " compounded of simple
ideas of several kinds put together to
make one complex one e. g., beauty ;
and consisting of a certain composition
of color and figure, causing delight in the
beholder." The term is now universally
laid aside by writers on mental philoso-
phy. In music, a regular disposition of
the air and accompaniments relative to
certain principal sounds, on which a
piece of music is formed, and which are
called the essential sounds of the mode.
In the earliest Greek music there were
only three modes, but various new modes
were afterwards added. The moderns,
however, only reckon two modes, the
major and minor. The major mode is
that division of the octave by which the
intervals between the third and fourth,
and seventh and eighth, become half-
tones, and all the other intervals whole
tones. The minor mode is that division
by which the intervals between the second
and third, and fifth and sixth, become
half-tones, and all the others whole
tones. In logic, the form or manner of a
syllogism with respect to the quantity
and quality of its constituent propositions.

MOD'EL, in the Fine Arts, that which
is an object of imitation. In painting
and sculpture, it is the individual whom
the artist procures for getting up his
proportions, details, play of the mus-
cles, &c. Also in sculpture, it is the term
applied to the small sketch in wax or
clay for a work of art. In architecture,
it is a small pattern in relief, either of
wood, plaster, or other material, of the
building proposed to be executed.

MOD'ELLING, in the Fine Arts, the

MOL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

411

art of making a mould from which works
in plaster are to be cast ; also used for
the forming in clay of the design itself.

MOD'EKATES, the name given to a
party in the Church of Scotland which
arose early in the eighteenth century,
claimed the character of moderation in
doctrine, discipline, and church govern-
ment, and which has continued to exist
in a greater or less degree of vigor down
to the present time.

MOD'ERATOR, a person who presides
at a public assembly, to propose ques-
tions, preserve order, and regulate the
proceedings.

MOD'ERNS, those who have lived in
times recently passed, or are now living;
opposed to the ancients. The term is
especially applied to those of modern
nations, or of nations which arose out of
the ruins of the Greek and Roman em-
pires, the people of which are called
the ancients.

MODIFICATION, in philosophy, that
which modifies a thing, or gives it this or
that manner of being. Quantity and
quality are accidents which modify all
bodies. According to Spinosa's system,
all the beings that compose the universe
are only so many different modifications
of one and the same substance ; and it
is the different arrangement and situa-
tion of their parts, that make all the
difference between them.

MODIL'LION, in architecture, an or-
nament sometimes square on its profile,
and sometimes scroll-shaped, with the in-
tervention of one or two small horizontal
members placed at intervals under the
corona in the richer orders. They should
stand centrally over columns when the
latter are employed. They are simplest
in the Ionic and Composite orders, more
carving being bestowed on them in the
Corinthian order.

MODULATION, in music, the art of
composing agreeable to the laws pre-
scribed by any particular key, or of
changing the mode or key. Also the reg-
ular progression of several parts through
the sounds that are in the harmony of any
particular key, as well as the proceeding
naturally and regularly from one key to
another. In pieces of a mild and quiet
character, it is not proper to modulate so
often as in those which have to express
violent and great passions. Where every-
thing relating to expression is considered,
modulation also must be so determined by
the expression, that each single idea in
the melody shall appear in the tone that
is most proper for it.

MOD'ULES, in architecture, a meas-
ure equal to the semi-diameter of a Doric
column. It is a term only applied in the
Doric order, and consists of thirty min-
utes.

MO'DUS OPER AN'DI, a Latin phrase,
signifying the way or method by which
an operation or performance of any kind
is effected.

MOGRA'BIANS, or MEN OF THE
WEST, a name formerly given to a spe-
cies of Turkish infantry, composed of the
peasants of the northern parts of Africa,
who sought to ameliorate their condition
by entering into foreign service.

MO'GUL. GREAT, the name by whieh
the chief of itie empire so called, founded
in Hindostan by Baber, in the 15th cen-
tury, was known in Europe. The last
person to whom this title of right be-
longed was Shah Allum ; and the Mogul
empire having terminated at his death in
1806, his vast possessions fell chiefly into
the hands of the East India Company.

MOLE, a mound or massive work
formed of massive stones laid in the sea
by means of coffer-dams, extended in a
right line or as an arch of a circle, before
a port, which it serves to defend from the
violent impulse of the waves ; thus pro-
tecting ships in a harbor. The word is
sometimes used for the harbor itself.
Among the Romans, a kind of mausoleum,
built like a round tower on a square base,
insulated, encompassed with columns, and
covered with a dome.

MO'LINISM, in Roman Catholic the-
ology, a system of opinions on the sub-
jects of grace and predestination some-
what resembling that advocated by the
Arminian party among Protestants. It
derived its name from the Jesuit Louis
Molina, professor of theology in the uni-
versity of Evora in Portugal.
>. MOL'L AH, the title of the higher order
of judges in the Turkish empire. After
the three first magistrates of the empire
follow fourteen mollahs, who preside over
the fourteen principal seats of justice in
the empire; among these, the mollahs
of Mecca and Medina have the highest
rank.

MO'LOCH, the name of the chief god
of the Phoenicians, frequently mentioned
in Scripture as the God of the Ammon-
ites, and probably the same as tffe Saturn
of the Syrians and Carthaginians. Hu-
man sacrifices were offered at the shrine
of this divinity; and it was chiefly in the
valley of Tophet, to the east of Jerusa-.
loin, that this brutal idolatry was perpe-
trated.

412

CVCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[MON

MOLOS'SUS, in Greek and Latin poe-
try, a foot consisting of three long sylla-
bles, MIS <:ku,r<:hijard-wall.

MO'MIEKS, the name by which cer-
tain religionists of tiio so-called Evangel-
ical party have been designated in Swit-
zerland, and some parts of France and
Germany, since 1818.

MO'NAD, in metaphysics, this word
has been used by Leibnitz and his follow-
ers, partisans of what has been called the
Monadic Theory. " After studying,"
says Stewart, " with all possible diligence
what Leibnitz has said of his monads in
different parts of his works, I find myself
quite incompetent to annex any precise
idea to the word as he employed it." He
then quotes the following as " some of his
most intelligible attempts to explain his
meaning:" " A simple substance has no
parts : a compound substance is an aggre-
gate of simple substances, or of monads."
" Monads, having no parts, are neither
extended, figured, nor divisible. They
are the real atoms of nature ; in other
words, the elements of things."

MON'ARCHY, the government of a
single person. Monarch and monarchy
are equivalent in common speech to king
and kingdom : so that we often read of
the Spartan monarchs, &c., although the
government of Sparta was under a double
race of kings reigning at the same time.
Monarchies are usually said to bo of four
kinds absolute, limited, hereditary, and
elective, which are self-explanatory terms.
The only elective monarchy in Europe
was that of Poland. All absolute and
limited monarchies have adopted the
hereditary principle.

MON'ASTERY, the general name for
those religious houses appropriated to
the reception and maintenance of monks
and nuns, but especially of the former.

MON 'DAY, the second day of the week
is so called, and means, literally, the day
of the moon. Its equivalents in Fr. and
Germ, are respectively Lundi and Mon-
tag. signifying also day of the moon.

MON'EY, in political economy, the
name given to the commodity adopted to
serve as the universal equivalent of all
other commodities, and for which individ-
uals readily exchange their surplus pro-
ducts or services.

MONK, a man who retires from the
ordinary temporal concerns of the world,
and devotes himself to religion. Monks
usually live in monasteries, on entering
' which they take a vow to observe certain
rules Some, however, live as hermits in
solitude, and others have lived a strolling

life without any fixed residence. Monks
are distinguished by the color of their
habits into bl:iuk, white, gray, <fec.

MON'OCHOKD, a musical instrument
originally having but one string :i
name imports; but it i. now generally
constructed with two, by means of which
the musician is better enabled to try the
proportions of sounds and intervals, and
judge of the harmony of two tempered
notes.

MON'OCHROME, an ancient mode of
painting in which only one color is
used. The most numerous monuments
existing of this kind of painting are on
terra cotta.

MON'ODY, a species of poem of a
mournful character, in which a single
mourner is supposed to bewail himself;
thus distinguished from those pastoral
elegies which are in the form of dia-
logues.

MONOG'AMY, the state or condition
of those who have only been once mar-
ried, and are restrained to a single wife.

MON'OGRAM, in archaeology, a char-
acter or cipher composed of one, two, or
more letters interwoven, being an abbre-
viation of a name ; anciently used as a
seal, badge, arms, &c. Printers, engrav-
ers, &c., formerly made use of monograms
to distinguish their works.

MON'OGRAPH, a treatise on a single
subject in literature or science.

MON'OLITH, a term recently intro-
duced into the language, to signify a
pillar or other large substance consisting
of a single stone. Some remarkable
monoliths have been found in Egypt ;
of these, the zodiac of Denderah. and the
obelisk of the Luxor, both of which have
been removed to Paris, are well-known
examples.

MON'OLOGUE, a dramatic scene, in
which a person appears alone on the
stage, and soliloquizes.

MONOMA'NIA, the name given by
some physicians to that form of mania
in which the mind of the patient is ab-
sorbed by one idea.

MONOPH'YSITE, one who maintains
that Jesus Christ had but one nature, or
that the human and the divine nature
were so united as to form one nature
only.

MONOP'OLY, an exclusive right, se-

I cured to one or more persons, to carry on

| some branch of trade 'or manufacture ;

or the sole power of vending any species

of goods, obtained either by engrossing

the articles in market by purchase, or by

a license from the government. The most

MOR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

413

frequent monopolies formerly granted,
were the right of trading to certain for-
eign countries, the right of importing or
exporting certain articles, and that of ex-
orcising particular arts or trade?. There
is, however, one species of monopoly,
sanctioned by the laws of all countries
that have made any advances in the arts
the exclusive right of an invention or im-
provement for a limited number of years.

MON'OTHEISM, the doctrine or be-
lief of the existence of one God only : op-
posed to polytheism, or a plurality of
gods.

MON'OTONE, in rhetoric, a sameness
of sound, or the utterance of successive
syllables on one unvaried key, without
infliction or cadence.

MONSEIG'NEUR, a title of courtesy
in France, which was prefixed to the titles
of dukes and peers, archbishops, bishops.
and some other exalted personages, and
used in addressing them. Monseigneur
simply was, before the Revolution, the
title given to the dauphin. Monsieur is
now the common title of courtesy and
respect in France.

MONT DE PIETE, the name given on
some parts of the Continent to certain
benevolent institutions, established for
the purpose of lending money to the poor
at a moderate rate of interest. They
originated under the papal government
in the 15th century, and were intended to
countervail the exorbitant usurious prac-
tices of the Jews, who formed at that pe-
riod the great money-lenders of Europe.

MON'UMENT, in architecture, a
building or erection of any kind, destined
to preserve the memory or achievements
of the person who raised it, or for whom
it was raised; as a triumphal arch, a
Mausoleum, a pyramid, a pillar, a tomb,
Ac.

MOOD, (sometimes written mode,) in
grammar, the manner of forming a verb,
or the manner of the verb's inflections, so
as to express the different forms and man-
ners of the action, or the different inten-
tions of the speaker.

MOOT'-CASE, or MOOT'-POINT, an
unsettled point or question to be mooted
or debated.

MOR AL'ITY, the duties of men in their
social character ; or that rule of conduct
which promotes the happiness of others,
' and renders their welfare accordant with
our own. This implies, that our acts
must proceed from a motive of obedience
to the divine will. The term moralities
was given to a kind of allegorical plays,
formerly in vogue, and which consisted of

moral discourses in praise of virtue and
condemnation of vice. They were oc-
casionally exhibited as late as the reign
of Henry VIII., and after various modi-
fications, assumed the form of the masque,
which became a favorite entertainment at
the court of Elizabeth and her successor.

MORAL PHILOSOPHY, the science
of manners and duty ; the science which
treats of the nature and condition of man
as a social being, of the duties which re-
sult from his social relations, and the
reasons on which they are founded. It
is denominated a science, as it deduces
the rules of conduct and duty from the
principles and connections of our nature,
and proves that the observance of them
is productive of our happiness. It is
likewise called an art as it contains a
system of rules for becoming virtuous
and happy ; and whoever practises these
rules attains an habitual power or facil-
ity of becoming virtuous and happy. It
is an art and a science of the highest dig-
nity, importance, and use. Its object is
man's duty, or his conduct in the several
moral capacities and connections which
he sustains. Its office is to direct our
conduct, to show whence our obligations
arise, and where they terminate. Its
use or end is the attainment of happiness,
and the means it employs are rules for
the right conduct of our moral powers.
Like natural philosophy, it appeals to
nature or fact ; it depends on observa-
tion, and it builds its reasonings on plain
incontrovertible experiments, or upon the
fullest induction of particulars which the
subject will admit. The terms, moral
philosophy, moral science, and morals,
are synonymous, though some writers
have employed them improperly to de-
note the whole field of knowledge, relat-
ing primarily to the mind of man, thus
giving them a signification co-extensive
with the word metaphysics.

MORAL SENSE, an innate or natural
sense of right and wrong ; an instinctive
perception of what is right or wrong in
moral conduct, which approves some ac-
tions and disapproves others, independent
of education or the knowledge of any pos-
itive rule or law. But the existence of
any such moral sense is very much
doubted.

MORA'VIANS, otherwise called
HERNHUTTERS, or UNITED BRETHREN, a
sect of Christians, among whom social
polity makes a figure as conspicuous, at
least, as religious doctrine. The United
Brethren are much attached to instru-
mental as well as vocal music ; celebrate

414

rVCUH'KDIA OF LITERATURE

[MOT

agapas or love feasts ; and east lots, to
discover the will of the Lord. These
people live in communities, and provide
for their poor; but do not make a com-
mon stock of their property. They wear
a plain, uniform dress, and are extremely
methodical in all their concerns.

MORBIDEZ'ZA, delicacy or softness
of style, as opposed to anything harsh,
hard, or angular. This word is more
particularly applicable, in painting and
sculpture, to representations of human
flesh and its characteristics.

MOR'DENTE. in music, a grace in
use by the Indian school, which is effected
by turning upon a note without using
the note below.

MORESQUE', in painting, a species
of ornamental painting, in which foliage,
fruits, flowers, Ac., are combined, by
springing out of each other, without the
introduction of the human figure, or that
of any animals ; and receiving its name
from having been much used by the
Moors, who, however, were not the in-
ventors of it.

MORGANAT'IC MAR'RIAGE,
or Left-handed Marriage, a marriage be-
tween a man of superior and a woman of
inferior rank, in which it is stipulated
that the latter and her children shall not
enjoy the rank or inherit the possessions
of her husband. Such marriages are not
uncommon in the families of sovereign
princes, and of the higher nobility in
Germany ; but they are restricted to per-
sonages of these exalted classes.

MOR'ION, a kind of helmet copied by
the Spaniards from the Moors.

MOR'PHEUS, in ancient mythology,
the god of dreams; the son of Somnus, who
presided over sleep, with whom he is fre-
quently confounded. The chief distinc-
tion between them appears to be this :
Morpheus had the power of assuming
only the human shape, while the trans-
formations of Somnus were unlimited.
He is generally represented as a beautiful
youth, with a bunch of poppies in his hand,

MORTALITY, BILLS OF. Bills of
Mortality are extracts from official regis-
ters, showing the numbers who have died
in some fixed period of time, as a year, a
month, or a week ; and hence they are
called yearly, monthly, or weekly bills.

MORT'GAGE, literally, a dead pledge ;
the grant of an estate in fee as security
for the payment of money, and on the
condition that if the money shall be paid
according to the contract, ihe grant shall
be void, and the mortgagee shall recon-
vey the estate to the mortgager.

MORT'MAIN, in law, an alienation
of lands, tenements, or hereditaments, to
any corporation, sole or aggregate, guild,
or fraternity. The foundation of the
statutes of mortmain is MagnaCharta;
by which it was rendered unlawful for
any one to give his lands to a religious
house, &c. in order to take them back
again to hold of the same house ; which
was extended, by interpretation, so as
to annul gifts of lands which religious
houses did not give back to the donor
to his own use, but kept in their own
hands after taking.

MOSA'IC, in painting, a species of
representation of objects by means of
very minute pieces of stones or pebbles
of different colors, carefully inlaid upon
a ground generally of metal. In St.
Peter's at Rome are to be seen some
works of this sort on a magnificent scale.
This art was practised at a very early
period, and was re-introduced to Italy
by the Byzantine Greeks.

MOSQUE, a Mahometan temple, or
place of religious worship. All mosques
are square buildings, generally construct-
ed of stone, in the Moresque or Saracenic
style of architecture. Before the chief-
gate is a square court paved with white
marble, and surrounded with a low gal-
lery whose roof is supported by marble
pillars. In these galleries the Turks
wash themselves before they enter the
mosque.

MOTET', in music, a composition con-
sisting of from one to eight parts, of a
sacred character.

MO'TION, in painting and sculpture,
the change of place or position which
from certain attitudes a figure seems to
be making in its representation in a
picture. It can be only implied from the
attitude which prepares the animal for
the given change, and differs from action,
which see. Upon motion in art, depends
that life which seems to pervade a picture
when executed by a master. In music,
the manner of beating the measure so as
to hasten or retard the pronunciation of
the words or notes.

MO'TION IN COURT, in law, an
occasional application to the court, by
the parties or their counsel, for the pur-
pose of obtaining some rule or order of
court which becomes necessary in the
progress of a cause. Motions are either
of a criminal nature, as motions for an
attachment for a misbehavior ; or of a
civil nature. Motions are accompanied
by affidavits stating the facts on which
they are grounded, and generally prece-

MUN'J

AND THE FINK ARTS.

415

ded by a notice to the opposite party.
In any public assembly, the proposing of
any matter for the consideration of those
present.

MOT'TO, is used to signify a word or
sentence added to a device ; and when put
upon a scroll, it is commonly employed
as an external ornament of coat armor.
The use of mottoes for this purpose is
very ancient. The term motto is also
applied as a sentence or quotation pre-
fixed to any writing or publication.

MOULD'INGS, in architecture, certain
projections beyond the bare wall, column,
&c., an assemblage of which forms a
cornice, or other decoration.

MOUNT'ING, the act of straining a
print or drawing upon canvass, or of pla-
cing it upon an ornamental frame.

MOVABLE FEASTS, certain festi-
vals held in commemoration of different
events recorded in the Gospels and the
Acts of the Apostles, and connected with
the personal circumstances of Christ du-
ring the last year of his earthly life, and
after his death. As they are reckoned
backward and forward from his resur-
rection, and as the celebration of that
day depends on the time of new moon,
which varies at different times through
the space of a month, these dependent
festivals also vary in the same way.
Easter is always the first Sunday after
the first new moon after the 21st of
March ; and from this all the others are
reckoned for each year.

MOVE'MENT, in politics, an expres-
sion that has been adopted of late years
into the political vocabulary of most Eu-
ropean nations, signifying that party in
a state whose principles consist in a rest-
.less endeavor to obtain such concessions
in favor of popular rights as will ulti-
mately place the chief functions of gov-
ernment in the hands of the people. It
is opposed to the Conservative party.

MUCK, RUNNING A, a phrase which
has been adopted into the English lan-
guage to signify an indiscriminate attack
upon friends and enemies. This expres-
sion is derived from the Javan word
amok, which means to kill; the inhabi-
tants of Java, and many other of the
Asiatic islands, being remarkable for an
irresistible phrensy resulting from a de-
sire of vengeance, which leads them to
aim at indiscriminate destruction, and
thus to subject themselves to be treated
like wild beasts which it is impossible to
take alive.

MUEZ'ZIN, or MUED'DIN, among
the Mahometans, the crier who announces

the hour of prayer from the minaret, and
reminds the faithful of their duty.

MUF'TI, the chief priest among the
Mussulmans, appointed by the grand
seignior himself. He is the oracle in all
doubtful questions of their law.

MUGGLETO'NIANS, a religious sect
which arose in England, about the year
1657 ; so denominated from their leader
Ludowic Muggleton, a tailor, who, with
his associate Reeves, asserted that they
were the two last witnesses of God men-
tioned in the Revelations.

MULAT'TO, a term in general use in
American countries, in which there exists
a mixed population of different races and
colors, for the offspring of a union be-
tween a white and a negro.

MUL'LION. in
architecture, a ver-
tical division be-
tween the lights of
windows, screens,
&e., in Gothic ar-
chitecture. Mul-
lions are rarely
found earlier than
the early English
style. Their mould-
ings are very va-
rious. Sometimes
the styles in wains-
coting are called
mullions.

MU'LIER, in
law, a married wo-
man, in distinction from a concubine.
Also, a name for lawful issue born in
wedlock, who are preferred before an
elder brother of illegitimate birth.

MULTO'CA, the name given to the
code of laws by which the Turkish empire
is governed, consisting of the precepts
contained in the Koran, the oral injunc-
tions of Mohammed, and the decisions of
the early caliphs and doctors. It relates
to every subject of life, and comprises
various matters appertaining to govern-
ment, the sultan being the sole judge of
its application to particular cases.

MUNICIPAL, in the Roman civil law,
an epithet which signifies, invested with
the rights and privileges of Roman citi-
zens. Thus the municipal cities were
those whose inhabitants were capable of
enjoying civil offices in the city of Rome ;
though the greater part of them had no

suffrages or votes there. In modern

times, Municipal law pertains solely to
the citizens and inhabitants of a state,
and is thus distinguished from political
law, commercial law, and the law of na-

416

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[MUS

tions. And those are called municipal
officers who are elected to defend the in-
terest of cities, to maintain their rights
and privileges, and to preserve order and
harmony among the citizens ; such as
mayors, bheriffs, aldermen, &c.

MU'NIMENTS, in law, the writings
relating to a person's inheritance, by
which he is enabled to defend his title to
his estate : or, in a more general sense,
all manner of evidences, s.ich as charters,
feofments, releases, <fec.

MU'RAL CROWN, among the ancient
Romans a golden crown or circle of gold,
indented and embattled, bestowed on him
who first mounted the wall of a besieged
place and there planted a standard.

MUR'DER, in law, the wilful and felo-
nious killing a person from premeditated
malice ; provided the party wounded or
otherwise hurt, die within a year and a
day after the fact be committed. To
constitute murder, in law, the person
killing another must be of sound mind or
in possession of his reason, and the act
must be done with malice prepense and
aforethought ; but malice may be implied,
as well as expressed.

MUR'ZAS, the name given to the
hereditary nobility of the Tartars, or,
more strictly, perhaps, to the second class
of their nobility, the first or principal
class being designated beys.

MU'SES, in the poetry of the ancients,
personifications of the various branches
of delightful exercises in which human
genius displays itself. They were beau-
tifully said to be the daughters of Jove
and Mnemosyne, or Memory ; and they
were represented as companions of Apol-
lo upon Parnassus. As the subject was
wholly dependent upon the fancy of the
poet, it was not always treated of
alike. Thus according to some, all the
functions of the Muses were united
in three persons ; Mneme, Aoede, and
Melete ; that is, Memory, Song, and
Meditation ; but it was more usual to
reckon nine, and to name them as follows :
Clio, to whom they attributed the inven-
tion of history ; Melpomene, the inventor
of tragedy ; Thalia, of comedy ; Euterpe,
of the use of the flute ; Terpsichore, of
the harp ; Erato, of the lyre and lute ;
Calliope, of heroic verse ; Urania, of
astrology ; and Polyhymnia, of rhetoric.

MUSE'UM, a place set apart as a re-
pository for curious, valuable, and inter-
esting objects connected with the arts and
sciences, more especially such as relate
to natural history. The term was origi-
nally applied to a study or a place set

apart for learned men in the royal palace
of Alexandria, by Ptolemy Philadelphus,
who founded a college, and gave salaries
to the several members, adding also an
extensive library, which was one of the
most celebrated in the world.

MU'SIC, is the science of sounds, con-
sidered as capable of producing melody,
and agreeably affecting the mind by a
due disposition, combination, and propor-
tion. It treats of the number, time,
division, succession, and combination of
sounds. It is divided into theoretical
music, which inquires into the properties
of concords and discords, and explains
their combinations and proportions for
the production of melody and harmony ;
and practical music, which is the art of
applying the theory of music in the com-
position of all sorts of tunes and airs.
Music is also either vocal or instrumental.
Vocal music is the melody of a single
voice, or the harmony of two or more
voices in concert ; instrumental music is
that produced by one or more instru-
ments. As civilization advances, music.
as a science, gains new advocates ; and
the day is evidently fast approaching
when few will decry music on the ground
that its effects are merely sensual. It is
addressed to the ear, indeed ; but all the
influences which we receive from without
are conveyed through the medium of the
senses ; and the tones of music often
speak a language to the soul richer in
meaning than words could express.
Nothing is merely sensual which makes
a lasting spiritual impression upon us ;
and those who deny to music such a
power, have not heard its sublimest
strains, or have not the capacity to ap-
preciate them. With regard to the an-
tiquity of music, it appears to have been
almost coeval with man. Moses tells us
that Jubal, who lived before the flood,
was the inventor of the kinnor and the
hugah, i. e. the harp and the organ.
The Jews were fond of music in their re-
ligious ceremonies, their feasts, their
public rejoicings, their marriages and
their mournings. Kings nnd great men
among the Jews studied music, and David
made a very great proficiency in it. In
their time, indeed, music had reached
its highest perfection among the Hebrew
nation, and part of their religious service
consisted in chanting solemn psalms,
with instrumental accompaniments.
The invention of the lyre is nscribed to
Hermes Tristnegistus, the Mercury of the
Egyptians, which is a proof of its anti-
quity : but a still greater proof of the

MYSJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

417

existence of musical instruments amongst
them at a very early period, is drawn
from the figure of an instrument said to
be represented on an obelisk, erected, as
is supposed, by Sesostris at Heltopolis.
The Greeks, we know, were exceedingly
fond of music. It had a considerable
share in their education ; and so great
was its influence over their bodies as well
as their minds, that it was thought to be
a remedy for many disorders.

MU'SICAL GLASSES, a musical in-
strument consisting of a number of glass
goblets, resembling finger glasses, which
are tuned by filling them more or less
with water, and played upon with the
end of a finger damped.

MUS'SULMAN, or MOS'LEM, a fol-
lower of Mahomet. This word signifies,
in the Turkish language, a true believer.

MUSTER-ROLL, a specific list of the
officers and men in every regiment, troop,
or company, made out by the adjutant,
and delivered to the inspecting field-
officer or pay-master, <fcc., by which they
are paid, and their strength and condi-
tion known.

MUTE, in law, a person that stands
speechless when he ought to answer or
plead. In grammar, a letter that repre-
sents no sound. Mutes are of two kinds :
the pure mutes which entirely intercept
the voice, as k, p, and t, in the syllables,
ek, ep, et : and the impure mutes, which
intercept the voice less suddenly, as b, d,
and g, in the syllables eb, ed, eg.

MUTES, in the grand seignior's se-
raglio, dumb officers who are sent to stran-
gle, with the bow-string, bashaws or other
persons who fall under the sultan's dis-
pleasure. Mutes, among undertakers,
men who are employed to stand at the
door of the deceased, until the body is
carried out.

MU'TINY, an insurrection of soldiers
or seamen, or open resistance to the au-
thority of their commanders. Any at-
tempt to excite opposition to lawful au-
thority, or disobedience, of commands, is
by the laws of most-nations declared to be
mutiny, and is punishable by the sentence
of a court-martial.

MU'ZARAB, Christians living under
the government of the Moors in Spain ; so
called, it is said, from an Arabic werd signi-
fying imitators or followers of the Arabs.

MYOL'OGY, the doctrine of the mus-
cles. In the Fine Arts, the term is ap-
plied to a description of the muscles of
animals.

MYRIORA'MA, a movable picture,
capable of forming an almost endless va-

riety of picturesque scones, by means of
several fragments or sections of land-
scapes on cards, which may be placed to-
gether in numberless combinations.

MYR'MIDONS, in classical mytholo-
gy, a people on the southern borders of
Thessaly, who accompanied Achilles to
the Trojan war.

MYS'TERY, something secret or con
coaled, impossible or difficult to compre
hend. All religions, true or false, have
their mysteries. In the religions of Pa
gan antiquity, the secret rites and cer-
emonies performed by a select few in
honor of some divinity were so called.
"Each of the Pagan gods," says Bishop
Warburton, " had, besides the public and
open, a secret worship paid them, into
which none were admitted but those who
had been selected by preparatory ceremo-
nies, called initiation ; and this secret
worship was termed the mysteries." The
first mysteries of which we have any ac-
count were those of Isis and Osiris in
Egypt ; whence they were introduced into
Greece and Italy, and in process of time
disseminated through the northern and
western nations of Europe. The religion
of the Jews was likewise full of myste-
ries ; their laws, nay, their whole constitu-
tion and nation, were mysterious ; but
the mysteries of the Old Testament were
generally types or shadows of something
in the New. The Christian religion has
also its mysteries ; but, in the scripture
language, the word mystery is used with
some latitude, and denotes whatever is
not to be known without a divine revela-
tion.

MYS'TERIES, in modern literature, a
species of dramatic composition, with
characters and events drawn from sacred
history. Saint Gregory Nazianzen com-
posed the earliest sacred dramas extant,
on the model of the Greek tragedies, but
with Christian hymns substituted for the
ancient chorus. The mysteries of the
middle ages are thought by some to have
been first introduced by pilgrims return-
ing from the Holy Land. They originated
among, and were probably first perform-
ed by, ecclesiastics.

MYS'TICISM, in religion, a word of
very vague signification, applied, for the
most part, indiscriminately to all those
views or tendencies in religion which as-
pire towards a more direct communica-
tion between man and God, not through
the medium of the senses, but through
the inward perception of the mind, than
that which is afforded us through revela-
tion.

418

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[NAR

MYS'TICS, a, religious soot distinguish-
ed by their i>ri>tV-Miij a pure, sublime,
and perfect devotion, with an entire dis-
interested love of God, free from all selfish
considerations, and by their aspiring to a
state of passive contemplation.

MYTHOL'OGY, the history of the
fabulous gods and heroes of antiquity,
with the explanations of the fables or al-
legories couched therein. According to
the opinion of most writers, among whom
is that profound thinker, Lord Bacon, a
great deal of concealed instruction and
allegory was originally intended in most
part of the ancient mythology : he ob-
serves, that some fables discover a great
and evident similitude, relation, and con-
nection with the thing they signify, as
well in the structure of the fable, as in
the meaning of the names whereby the
persons or actors are characterized. He
also takes a more enlarged and higher
view of the subject, and looks on them not
as the product of the age, nor the inven-
tion of the poets, but as sacred relics,
or. as he terms them, "gentle whispers,
and the breath of better times, that from
the tradition of more ancient nations,
came at length into the flutes and trum-
pets of the Greeks."

N, the fourteenth letter and eleventh
consonant of the English alphabet, is an
imperfect mute or semi-vowel, because
part of its articulation may be continued
for any length of time ; it is also a liquid,
and a nasal letter, the sound being formed
by forcing the voice strongly through the
mouth and nostrils, which, at the same
time, is intercepted by applying the tip
of the tongue to the fore part of the pal-
ate, with the lips open. It has one sound
only, .and after m is silent, or nearly so,
as in hymn, condemn. Among the an-
cients, N stood as a numeral for 900;
and, with a dash over it, for 9000. N.
or No. stands as an abbreviation for nu-
mero. number; also for north.

N A'BOB, an Indian word for a deputy ;
a title of dignity and power applied to
those who act under the soubahs or vice-
roys. The term, however, has become
proverbial, of late years, to signify a
person who has acquired great wealth,
and lives in great splendor.

NA'HUM, or ike prophecy of Nahum,
a canonical book of the Old Testament.
Nahum, the seventh of the twelve minor

prophets, was a native of Elkoshai, a
little village of Galilee. The subject of
his prophecy is the destruction of Nine-
veh, which he describes in the most lively
and pathetic manner ; his style being bold
and figurative.

NA'iADS,inmythology,water-nymphs,
or deities that preside over brooks and
fountains. They arc represented as beau-
tiful women, with their heads crowned
with rushes, and reclining against an urn
from which water is flowing.

NAIVETE', naturalness; absence of
artifice. The essential meaning of the
word is a natural, unreserved expression
of sentiments and thoughts, without re-
gard to conventional rules, and without
weighing the construction which may be
put upon the language or conduct.

NAME, a word whereby men have
agreed to express some idea ; or which
serves to signify a thing or subject spoken
of. Names are either proper or appel-
lative. Proper names are those which
represent some individual thing or per-
son, so as to distinguish it from all other
things of the same species ; and are either
called Christian, as that given us at bap-
tism, or surnames ; the first imposed for
the distinction of persons, answering to
the Roman prcenomen ; the second for
the distinction of families, answering to
the nomen of the Romans, and the patro-
nymicum of the Greeks. The ancient
Britons, says Cainden, generally took
their names from colors, because they
painted themselves. When they were
subdued by the Romans, they took Ro-
man names ; the Saxons introduced the
German names ; the Danes brought with
them their names ; and the Normans in-
troduced theirs.

NARRA'TION, in rhetoric, the term
usually applied to the second division of
an oratorical discourse, in which the facts
of the case are set forth from which the
orator intends to draw his conclusions.
This part of a discourse should be charac-
terized by the greatest simplicity of style,
as well as by absence of all rhetorical or-
naments.

NARCIS'SUS, in mythology, the beau-
tiful son of Cephesus and the nymph Li-
riope, whose history formed one of the
most favorite topics with the poets of
classical antiquity. Though beloved by
all the Grecian nymphs, he treated them
with contemptuous indifference ; but hav-
ing accidentally seen his own image re-
flected in a fountain, he became so ena-
mored of it that he languished till ho
died, and thus realized the prophecy of

NAT]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

419

Tiresias, that he should live until he saw
himself. After his death the gods, moved
with compassion for his fate, changed
him into the flower which bears his name.

NATA'LIS, or NATALIS DIES, prop-
erly signifies a birth-day ; but it was
used by the ancients more particularly
to signify the feast held on the anniver-
sary of the birth-day of an emperor :
hence in time it served to denote any sort
of feast ; and the primitive Christians
used it in this sense.

NA'TION, a collective appellation for
a people inhabiting a certain extent of
territory under the same government.
The word is also used in some universi-
ties by way of distinguishing students of
different districts or countries, as the case
may be. This latter meaning is borrow-
ed from the custom that was adopted in
the University of Paris previously to the
institution of faculties, when those who
resorted to it from different countries
lived under the same institutions and
masters, a common country, however,
being the only bond of union.

NATIONAL GUARD (OF FRANCE..)
a military institution composed of citi-
zens, and not incorporated with the stand-
ing army. It may in fact be considered
the army of the people, in opposition to
the standing force, considered as the army
of the state. It is, therefore, not liable
to be sent across the frontiers, except by
the consent of the individuals composing
it ; but when the country is attacked, it
is expected to act, with or without the
aid of the regulars ; also to concur with
the latter in preserving the public peace.
The officers are elected by their comrades,
and not appointed by the public author-
ities.

NATIVITY, the day of a person's
birth. The word nativity is chiefly used
in speaking of the saints, as the nativity
of St. John the Baptist, &c. But when
we say the Nativity, it is understood to
mean that of Jesus Christ, or Christmas
Day.

NAT'URAL, in music, a character
marked thus %. whose office is to con-
tradict the flats or sharps placed at the
beginning of a stave or elsewhere, and by
the use of which the note to which it is
prefixed returns to the diatonic scale.

NATURALIZATION, in law, the act
of naturalizing an alien, or placing him
in the condition (that is, investing him
with the rights and privileges) of a natu-
ral subject.

N A'TURE, a word of vast and compre-
hensive signification, embracing as it

were, the whole universn all that H
comprised under the superintending caro
of the great Creator. Thus when we say,
Nature is benevolent and wise, we under
stand either the Deity himself, or
power performing the will of the Deity,
and conducting everything in this world
under his order : a notion supported by
some ancient systems of philosophy,
adopted by poets, and most easy to popu-
lar idea. Independently of this, however,
we often say Nature herself, &c. in a
merely figurative sense ; personifying the
laws of nature, that is, the properties of
matter. When, therefore, we say, that
nature covers the earth with abundance,
we mean that God covers the earth with
abundance ; when we say that nature is
magnificent and inexhaustible, we mean
that creation is magnificent and inex-
haustible. When we speak of the study
of nature, we mean the study of creation ;
which embraces first the knowledge of
things, and secondly the knowledge of
the properties of things. Nature (mean-
ing thereby the whole body of created
things) presents an assemblage of object*
in every respect worthy of the attention
of mankind. Nature is made to conform
in some degree to the hand of man, and
resist only when his ignorance violates its
essential order. It yields its secrets to
his inquiries ; to his sensibility it presents
the most engaging images ; and remains,
to all ages, a picture perpetually renewed
of the primitive creation of God. There
is another sense, too, in which the word
nature is of continual occurrence ; viz.,
the nature of man ; by which we under-
stand the peculiar constitution of his body
or mind, or the qualities of the species
which distinguish him from other animals.
So also we express by this word, the es-
sential qualities or attributes of any other
thing ; as the nature of blood, of a metal,
of plants, &c. Again, when we allude' to
the established or regular course of things,
we say, this or that event is not accord-
ing to nature. In the Fine Arts, nature
often means the successful imitation of
nature ; but, with artists of a higher order,
nature does not signify a mere copy, but
as it were, the expression of the ideal of
nature, at which she aims in all her for-
mations, yet without ever absolutely at-
taining it. By the law of nature is un-
derstood, that system of principles which
human reason has discovered to regulate
the conduct of man in all his various re-
lations. In its most extensive sense, it
comprehends man's duties to God, to him-
self, and to all mankind.

420

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[NEF

NA'VAL AR'CHITECTURE, or SHIP-
BUILDING, the art of constructing vessels
for the purposes of navigation, was, in all
probability, anterior to the deluge, and
is generally admitted to have been hand-
ed down by Noah to his posterity. That,
in a rude state, it was practised in Egypt,
there is no question ; and the Greeks are
supposed to have derived their knowledge
of it from the Carthaginians. But nei-
ther in Greece nor in Rome, did naval
architecture rise to what may be termed
a scientific knowledge of the art of ship-
building. The crusades first gave the
impulse to improvements in ship-building.
In modern times the United States and
England excel in naval architecture.
The American vessels in elegance of form
and speed in sailing, surpass those of all
other nations.

NAVA'LIS CORO'NA, a crown among
the Romans, given to him who first
boarded an enemy's ship ; it was a circle
of gold representing the beaks of ships.

NAVE, in architecture, that part of a
temple enclosed by the walls. The part
in front of it was called pronaos, and that
in the rear posticum. In modern archi-
tecture, it is the middle part or alley of a
church, between the aisles or wings.

NAVIGA'TION, the art and science
by which, in open seas, ships are conduct-
ed from port to port. This is effected by
charts of the seas, and by keeping a jour-
nal of the courses from hour to hour, and
the distance on each by means of the log
line, each knot on which corresponds to a
mile of distance. Also by observations on
the sun, moon, and stars, made with instru-
ments, and checked by tables and alma-
nacs.

NAVIGA'TION LAAVS, a branch of
maritime law, defining the peculiar priv-
ileges to be enjoyed by British ships,
apd the way in which they shall be man-
ned ; as also the conditions under which
foreign ships shall be allowed to engage
in the trade of this country, either as
importers or exporters of commodities.

NA'VY, the whole naval establishment
of any country, including the collective
body of ships, officers, men, stores, <fcc.

NAZ'ARITE, among the Jews, one
who had laid himself under the obligation
of a vow to observe the rules of Nazarite-
ship, either for his whole life as was the
case with Samuel, and John the Baptist,
or only for a specified time. The rules
of Nazariteship, during the time specified
in the vow, obliged the man or woman
to more than ordinary degrees of purity.

NECES'SITY, the cause of that which

cannot be otherwise, or whatever is done
by a power that is irresistible ; in which
sense it stands opposed to freedom. The
schools distinguish a physical necei-.sity
and a moral necessity ; and a simple or
absolute necessity, and a relative one.
Physical necessity, is the want of a prin-
ciple, or of a natural means necessary to
act, which is otherwise called a physical
or natural impotence. Mural necessity, is
only a great difficulty, such as that aris-
ing from a long habit, a strong inclina-
tion, or violent passion. Simple or abso-
lute necessity, is that which has no
dependence on any state or conjuncture,
or any particular situation of things, but
is found everywhere, and in all the cir-
cumstances in which the agent can be
supposed. Relative necessity, is that
which places a man in a real incapacity
of acting or not acting in those circum-
stances, and that situation he is found in,
though in other circumstances, and in
another state of things, he might act or
not act. AVhen a man's actions are de-
termined by causes beyond his control, he
acts from necessity, and is not a free
agent.

NECROL'OGY, a register of the deaths
of benefactors in a monastery. Former-
ly, also, what is now called martyrology
was called necrology. A register of dis-
tinguished persons who die within a cer-
tain period (not a record of their lives
and actions, for that is biography) is also
known by this term.

NEC'ROMANCY, a sort of magic prac-
tised by the Jews, Greeks, and Romans,
by which they attempted to raise the
dead or make them appear. The witch
of Endor is a striking example of a bold
and artful deception of this kind.

NECROP'OLIS, in antiquity, the name
given to some ancient cemeteries in the
vicinity of large cities. It has also been
given to some of our modern ones.

NEC'TAR, in mythology, the supposed
drink of the gods, and which was imagin-
ed to contribute much towards their eter-
nal existence. It was, according to the
fables of the poets, a most beautiful and
delicious liquor, far exceeding anything
that the human mind can imagine. It
gave a bloom, a beauty and a vigor, which
surpassed all conception, and together
with ambrosia (their solid food.) repaired
all the decays or accidental injuries of
the divine constitution.

NEFAS'TI DI'ES, an appellation
given by the Romans to those days where-
in it was not allowed to administer jus-
tice or hold courts.

NEO]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

421

NEGA'TION, in logic, a declaration
that something is not, or the affirming
one thing to be different from another ;
as, the soul is not matter.

NEG'ATIVE, in general, something
that implies a negation : thus we say, neg-
ative quantities, negative signs, nega-
tive powers, Ac. " Our words and ideas,"
says Dr. Watts, " are so unhappily linked
together, that we can never know which
are positive, which negative ideas, by
the words that express them : for some
positive terms denote a negative idea, as
dead ; and there are both positive and
negative terras invented to signify the
same and contrary ideas, as unhappy and
miserable.'' If we say, such a thing is
"not a man," or "not white," nothing is
determined ; the thing may be a dog, and
it may be black : something of a positive
character is necessary to express what it
is. Negative pregnant, in law, a neg-
ative which implies an affirmation ; as
when a person denies having done a thing
in a certain manner or at a certain time,
as stated in the declaration ; which im-
plies that he did it in some manner.

NEHEMI'AH, a canonical book of the
Old Testament, so called from the name
of its author. Nehemiah was born at
Babylon during the captivity, and suc-
ceeded Ezra in the government of Judah
and Jerusalem. He was a Jew, and was
promoted to the office of cup-bearer to
Artaxerxes Longimanus, king of Persia;
when the opportunities he had of being
daily in the king's presence, together
with the favor of Esther the queen pro-
cured him the favor of being authorized
to repair and fortify the city of Jerusa-
lem, in the same manner as it was before
its destruction by the Babylonians.

NE INJUSTE VEX'ES, in law, a writ
that lies for a tenant who is distrained by
his lord for more services than he is
obliged to perform, being a prohibition to
the lord not to distrain or vex his tenant.

NEMJE'AN GAMES, in antiquity,
celebrated games in Greece, deriving
their name from Nemaea, a village be-
tween the cities of Cleonse and Philus,
where they were celebrated every third
year. They were instituted in memory
of Archemorus or Opheltes ; but, after
some intermission, were revived by Her-
cules, in honor of Jupiter, after his vic-
tory over the Nema?an lion. The exercises
were chariot races, and all the parts of
the Pentathlon.

NEM. CON. for Nemine contradicente,
(no one opposing,) a term chiefly used in
parliamentary bodies when anything is

carried without opposition. Nemine dis~
sentiente, (no one dissenting,) are termi
similarly applied.

NEM'ESiS, a Greek divinity, worship
ped as the goddess of vengeance. Ac-
cording to Ilesiod, she was the daughter
of Night, and was represented as pursu
ing with inflexible hatred the proud and
insolent. The reluctance of the Greeks
to speak boastfully of their good fortune,
lest they should incur a reverse, is well
known ; and from various passages in the
Anthologia, and other ancient writings, it
is clear that this feeling originated in a
desire to propitiate this divinity. The
worship of this goddess was very exten-
sive. Temples were erected to her honor,
not only in Greece, but throughout tho
Roman empire. Nowhere, however, was
her worship so pompously celebrated as
at Rhamnus, a town of Attica, where she
had a statue 10 cubits high of a single
stone, and so exquisitely beautiful as to
equal even the finest productions of Phid-
ias.

NEOL'OGY, a new phrase or word in-
troduced into a language, or any innova-
tion on ordinary modes of expression.
Most European tongues have their clas-
sical diction fixed by precedent and au-
thority ; and words introduced by bold or
careless writers, since this standard was
established, go by the name of neologisms
until usage has added them at last to the
received national vocabulary. Neology,
in the last century, was the name given
by orthodox divines in Germany, to the
novel system of interpretation which
then began to be applied by many to the
records of revealed religion.

NEOMF/NIA, in antiquity, a festival
observed at the beginning of a lunar
month in honor of all the gods, but par-
ticularly Apollo.

NE'OPHYTE, in the primitive church
newly converted Christians were so term-
ed ; and the same appellation is still
given, in the Roman Catholic church, to
converts made by missionaries among the
heathen, to any person entering on the
priestly office, and to those persons new-
ly received into the communion of the
church.

NEOPLATON'ISTS, in ancient liter-
ature, the mystical philosophers of the
school of Ammonius Saccas and Plotinus
are commonly so called, who mixed some
tenets of ancient Platonism with others
derived from a variety of sources, and
particularly from the demonology of the
East They flourished in the 4th and
5th centuries of the Christian era.

422

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[NEU

NEORA'MA, an invention of Allaux, a
Frenchman, in 1827, for representing the
interior of a large building in which the
spectator appears to be placed. Every-
thing is exhibited to the life by means of
groups and shading.

NEPEN'THE. a species of inagic po-
tion, mentioned by the Greeks and Rom-
ans, which was supposed to have the
power of obliterating all pain and sorrow
from the memory of those who partook
of it. It is now used figuratively to ex-
press any efficient remedy in giving rest
and consolation to an afflicted mind.

NEPHA'LIA, Grecian festivals or
sacrifices instituted in honor of various
deities, as Aurora, Venus, <fcc. They
were so called because no wine was offer-
ed during their celebration. It was
"hiefly at Athens that these festivals were
observed.

NE PLUS ULTRA, i. e. no farther, the
extremity or utmost extent to which any-
thing can go.

NEPTUNA'LIA, in antiquity, feasts
observed by the Romans in honor of
Neptune. They differ from the Consua-
lia, in which that god was considered as
presiding over horses and the manege ;
whereas, the Neptunalia were feasts of
Neptune, in his more general character
as god of the sea.

NEP'TUNE, a Roman divinity, whose
attributes are nearly the same as those
of the Greek Poseidon. He was the
brother of Jupiter, and presided over the

sea. He is represented similar in ap-
pearance to Jupiter, but his symbols are
a trident and the dolphin.

NEPTUN'IAN, orNEPTUN'IST, one
who adopts the theory that the sub-
stances of which the earth is composed

were formed from aqueous solution ; op-
posed to the Plutonic theory, which attri-
butes the earth's formation to the action
of fire.

NE'REIDS, in mythology, sea-nymphs,
daughters of Nereus and Doris, and cele-
brated for their beauty. In ancient mon-
uments the Nereids are represented as
riding upon sea-horses, sometimes with
the human form entire, and at others
with the tail of a fish.

NE'REUS, a marine Grecian deity,
son of Ocean and Earth. He possessed
the gift of prophecy, and was distinguish-
ed for his knowledge and love of truth
and justice.

NESS, the termination of several
names of places in Great Britain, where
there is a headland or promontory, as
Inverness, Sheerness. The word is prob-
ably derived from the Fr. nez, or the
Germ, nase, nose.

NESTO'RIANS, the followers of Nes-
torius, patriarch of Constantinople, in the
first half of the fifth century. This pre-
late agitated the Christian world, after
the Arian controversy had been quietly
settled, by the introduction of certain
subtle disputations concerning the incar-
nation of Christ, from whence debates
and contentions arose which harassed
the church for the space of more than
two centuries. He affected to distin-
guish with peculiar precision between the
divine and human natures united in
Christ ; and, in guarding over-carefully
against the propensity which he discover-
ed in the Christians of his own day to
confuse the two, and look upon them as
absorbed into one compound substance,
he forbade men to entertain any combin-
ed notion at all, and kept constantly be-
fore their eyes both the god and the
man.

NEUTRALITY, the state of being
unengaged in disputes or contests between
others ; the state of taking no part on
either side. In international law, that
condition of a nation or state in which
it does not take part directly or indirect-
ly in a war between other states. A
neutral state has the right of furnishing
to either of the contending parties all
supplies which do not fall within the de-
scription of contraband of war, which sig-
nifies in general, arms and munitions of
war, and those out of which munitions of
war are made. All such articles are
liable to be seized. A neutral state has
also the right to conclude such treaties with
either belligerent party, as are uncon-
nected with the subject of the war.

NIB]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

423

NEWEL, in architecture, the space,
either solid or open, round which the
steps of a staircase are turned about.

NEWS, literally, fresh information.
This word has been fancifully derived
from the initial letters of the four cardi-
nal points of the compass, north, east,
west, and south.

NEWS'PAPERS, publications in num-
bers, consisting commonly of single sheets,
and published at short and stated inter-
vals, conveying intelligence of ^passing
events. In Rome, under the government
of the emperors, periodical notices of pass-
ing events (diurna, acta diurna) were
compiled and distributed for general
reading ; but our accounts of these an-
cient newspapers, derived from classical
sources, are somewhat obscure and un-
certain. In modern Europe, the earliest
occasional sheets of daily intelligence
seem to have appeared at Venice, during
the war of 1563 against the Turks ; and
the earliest regular paper to have been a
monthly one, published in the same city
by the state : but these were distributed
in manuscript, and, owing to the jealousy
of the government, continued to be so
down to very late times. Extraordinary
gazettes are said to have been published
in England by authority, during the time
when the arrival of the Spanish Armada
was apprehended ; but the specimens pre-
served in the British Museum, and so
long regarded as authentic, seem now to
be demonstrated forgeries. The Mercu-
ries, Intelligencers, &c. of the civil wars,
seem to have been the first English pa-
pers which appeared regularly. The G-a-
zette de France appeared regularly from
1631 to 1792, forming a collection of 163
volumes ; it was continued, also, but with
some interruptions, through the period of
the revolution ; and the name still exists,
the journal so called being at present,
however, but a second-rate paper. From
their first imperfect beginning, news-
papers have gradually increased in num-
ber, matter, and consequence, until they
form, jn many countries, one of the most
important features in the social economy
of the people ; exercising a marked in-
fluence on domestic manners, literature,
and usages, but more especially powerful
as a great political instrument.

NEW STYLE, the method of reckon-
ing the days of the year in accordance
with the Gregorian Calendar, which ad-
justs the odd hours and minutes, by which
the earth's revolution exceeds 365 days,
and renders celestial phenomena and ter-
restrial reckoning equal.

NEW TES'TAMENT, the name given
to that portion of the Bible which com-
prises the writings of the apostles and
their immediate disciples. It consists of
five historical books, viz., the respective
Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John, and the Acts of the Apostles (at-
tributed to Luke;) of twenty- one apos-
tolical epistles, of which the early fathers
have unanimously ascribed fourteen to
St. Paul, three to St. John, two to St.
Peter, one to St. James, and one to St.
Jude ; and of the book known by the name
of the Apocalypse or the Revelation of
St. John.

NEWTO'NIAN SYS'TEM, or Newto-
nian Philosophy, a phrase often applied
to the Copernican or Solar system, which
was generally adopted before Newton's
time ; and by others applied to the laws
of planetary motion, first promulgated
by Kepler and Hooke ; but strictly appli-
cable only to certain geometrical and
analytical demonstrations of those known
laws, as developed by the genius and in-
dustry of Sir Isaac Newton. The chief
parts of the Newtonian philosophy Sre ex-
plained by the author in his " Principia."

NEW YEAR'S DAY. The celebration
of the commencement of the new year
dates from high antiquity. The Jews
regarded it as the anniversary of Adam's
birth-day, and celebrated it with splendid
entertainments a practice which they
have continued down to the present time.
The Romans also made this a holiday,
and dedicated it to Janus with rich and
numerous sacrifices ; the newly-elected
magistracy entered upon their duties on
this day ; all undertakings then com-
menced were considered sure to terminate
favorably ; the people made each other
presents of gilt dates, figs, and plums ;
and even the emperors received from
their subjects new year's gifts, which at
a later period it became compulsory to
bestow.

NIBELUN'GEN, LAY OF THE, the
name given to the most ancient existing
monument of German epic poetry. The
origin of this poem is veiled in great ob-
scurity ; it is supposed to have existed, in
substance at least, two centuries before
the reign of Charlemagne, and, like the
early compositions of poets in all ages,
to have consisted originally of detached
ballads and poems, which were afterwards
gradually collected, and at length mould-
ed into the complete form in which tiiey
at present exist. The last of the modifi-
cations which it underwent took place
towards the end of the 12th century, and

424

CVCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

NJZ

is attributed to the Minnesinger Hen-
rich von Ofterdingen. The story turns
upon the adventures of Chrimhild of
Burguniy, who is first won by the valiant
Siegfried, and after he is treacherously
murdered gives her hand to Attila, king
of the Huns, chiefly in the hope that
through his power and influence she may
be revenged on the murderers of her for-
mer lord. The Nibelungen Lied formed
for many centuries the chief traditionary
record of the romantic deeds and senti-
ments of the German nation, but at the
era of the Reformation it sank wholly
into oblivion ; from which, however, it has
within the last thirty years been rescued,
and permanently placed by the labors
and commentaries of Hagen, Zeune, Sim-
rock, and Schlegel, among the most con-
spicuous monuments of human genius.
All the questions relating to its origin,
nature, and characteristics are discussed
with great interest by the German lite-
rati, to many of whom, indeed, it forms a
distinct branch of study. In the Nibelun-
gen Lied, in the same manner as in the
legends of Troy and of Iceland, the inter-
est turns on the fate of a youthful hero,
who is represented as invested with all the
attributes of beauty, magnanimity, and
triumph, but dearly purchasing all these
perishable glories by the certainty of an
early and predicted death. In his person,
as is usual, we have a living type both of
the splendor and the decline of the heroic
world. The poem closes with the descrip-
tion of a great catastrophe borrowed from
a half-historical incident in the early tra-
ditions of the north. In this respect also,
as in many others, we cannot fail to per-
ceive a resemblance to the Iliad. If the
last catastrophe of the German poem be
one more tragical, bloody, and litanic
than anything in Homer, the death of the
German hero, on the other hand, has in
it more solemnity and stillness, and is
withal depicted with more exquisite
touches of tenderness than any similar
scene in any heroic poem with which we
are acquainted. The Nibelungen Lied
is, moreover, a poem abounding in vari-
ety ; in it, both sides of human life, the
joyful as well as the sorrowful, are de-
picted in all their reality.

NICE, COUN'CIL OF, the first, and.
according to most writers, the most im-
portant, oecumenical council held in the
Christian church. It was convened, A.D.
325, at Nicfea, by the emperor Constan-
tine, in order to settle the differences that
had arisen in the Christian church in
respect to the doctrines of Arius. This

council was attended by upwards of 250
bishops, of \fhorn a groat majority cauie
from the East, by presbyters, deacons,
and others from all parts of the Christian
world. The chief question, as was re-
marked above, was the Arian heresy ;
and the council issued in the excommuni-
cation of Arius. The decision of this
council had not the effect of restoring tran-
quillity to the Eastern church, for the
Arian controversy was still warmly car-
ried on; but it has supplied that mode
of stating the doctrine of the Divinity (as
far as relates to the Father and Son) in
which it has ever since been received by
the orthodox sects

NI'CENE CREED, in ecclesiastical
affairs, a particular creed, or confession
of faith, drawn up by the clergy in the
council of Nice, and since adopted by the
church of England.

NICHE, in architecture, a hollow or
recess in a wall, for the reception of a
statue or bust.

NICOLA'TIANS, one of the earliest
Christian sects, mentioned in the Reve-
lations of St. John, where the angel of
God reproaches the church of Pergarnos
with harboring persons of this denomina-
tion. They are there characterized as
inclining to the licentious and pagan
practices of the Gentiles.

NIM'BUS, a circle or disk, of a lumi-
nous nature, which, on sundry ancient
medals and other monuments, environs
the heads of divinities or sovereigns : the
primitive Christian artists adopted this
usage, and applied it to their personifica-
tions of the great Founder of their reli-
gion, and also to the saints and martyrs
of the holy church. There can be little
doubt but that the origin of this custom
arose from a desire on the part of the
people of remote antiquity to compliment
their kings and heroes by decorating
them with a resemblance to the rays of
the sun, the great apparent source of
life, heat, and fertility.

NI'OBE, in classical mythology,
daughter of Tantalus, and one of the
Pleiades, married to Amphiou, 'king of
Thebes. Proud of her numerous and
flourishing offspring, she provoked the an-
ger of Apollo and Diana, who slew them
all : she was herself changed by Jupiter,
in Phrygia, into a rock, from which a
rivulet, fed by her tears, continually
pours. The subject of Niobe and her
children was a great favorite with the
poets of antiquity.

NIZAM', the title of great officers of
state in the Asiatic governments.

NON]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

425

NOBIL'ITY, the general appellation
for a privileged order of society which
exists in every civilized country, with
the exception of the United States and
Norway, in Roman antiquity persons
were not noble by birth, but in conse-
quence of the public offices held by their
ancestors, who had the sole right to be-
queath their images to their descendants.
An hereditary nobility is found in the
infancy of most nations, ancient and
modern. Its origin is to be attributed to
various causes ; for the most part to mil-
itary despotism ; in some cases, to the
honors paid to superior ability, or to the
guardians of the mysteries of religion.
The priestly nobility of the remotest an-
tiquity has everywhere yielded to the
superiority of military chieftains. In
Erance and Germany, the first hereditary
nobility begins with the downfall of the
Carlovingian dynasty ; in England, with
the conquest of the Normans, in the tenth
and eleventh centuries ; and was after-
wards spread over all Europe ; for, since
that time, dignities, as well as lands, have
become hereditary. A contemporary
writer has remarked, that " it is a curi-
ous particular in the history of nobility,
that among the natives of Otaheite, rank is
not only hereditary, but actually descends
to the son, to the degradation of the
father while yet alive : thus, he who is a
nobleman to-day, if a son be born to him.
is a commoner to-morrow, and his son
takes his rank."

NO^LE, in numismatics, a gold coin
value 6s. Bd. which was struck in the
reign of Edward III., and stamped with
the impression of a ship, which emblem
is supposed to have been commemora-
tive of a naval victory obtained by
Edward over the French at Sluys, in
1340.

NO'MADS, or NO'MADES, a name
given to nations whose chief occupation
consists in feeding their flocks, and who
have no fixed place of abode, but shift
their residence according to the state of
pasture. Nomadic tribes are seldom
found to quit their wandering life, until
they are compelled to do so by being sur-
rounded by tribes in settled habitations,
or unless they can make themselves mas-
ters of the settlements of a civilized na-
tion.

NO'MANCY, the art or practice of di-
vining the destiny of persons by the let-
ters which form their names.

NOM DE GUERRE, a French term
commonly used to denote an assumed or
fictitious name.

NOMENCLA'TOR, in Roman antiqui-
ty, was usually a slave who attended
upon persons that stood candidates for of-
fices, and prompted or suggested to them
the names of all the citizens they met,
that they might address them by their
names ; which, among that people, was es-
teemed an especial act of courtesy.

NOMENCLATURE, was originally
applied to a catalogue of the most ordina-
ry words in any langiflge, with their sig-
nifications, &c., drawn up for the purpose
of facilitating their use and retention to
those who are endeavoring to acquire a
language. But, in a more general sense,
this term is employed to denote the lan-
guage peculiar to any science or art :
thus we speak of the nomenclature of
chemistry, botany, &c.

NO'MINALISTS, a term originally
applied to a scholastic sect which arose in
the llth century. Its founder was John
Roscelin, a churchman of Compiegne,
who asserted that general terms have no
corresponding reality either in or out of
our minds, being, in truth, words, .and no-
thing more. This doctrine naturally ex-
cited great consternation among the
schoolmen, with whom, hitherto, all that
was real in nature was conceived to de-
pend on these general notions or essences.
Its promulgator underwent much per-
secution for his opinions, and was ul-
timately compelled to retract them, as
inconsistent with the doctrine of the Trin-
ity as it was then stated. He found,
however, an able successor in the person
of Peter Abelard, who attracted numer-
ous disciples by his dialectical skill and
eloquence, and. with his followers, whom
he led in a body to Paris, was the occasion
of founding the celebrated university of
that city. After his death, the ancient
realism was restored to its supremacy;
nor do we meet with a nominalist until
the 13th century, when William of Occam
revived his doctrines under some modifica-
tions.

NON'AGE, the time of life before a
person, according to the laws of his coun-
try, becomes of age to manage his own
concerns.

NON-ASSUMP'SIT, in law, is a gen-
eral plea in a personal action, by which
a man denies that he has made any
promise. The following legal terms or
phrases, beginning with now, properly
follow in this place ; viz. Non compos
mentis, a phrase to denote a person's not
being of sound memory and understand-
ing. A distinction is made between an
idiot and a person non compos mentis,

426

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[NOV

the former being constitutionally desti-
tute of reason, the latter deprived of that
with which he was naturally endowed :
but, to many purposes, the law makes no
distinction between the two. Non dis-
tringendo, a writ granted not to distrain.
Non est inventus, that is, literally,
"lie has not been found;" the answer
made by the sheriff in the return of the
writ, when the defendant is not to be found
in his bailiwick. -WVbn liquet, " it does not
appear ;" a verdict given by a jury, when
a matter is to be deferred to another day
of trial. Non pros, or Nolle prosequi, is
a term made use of to signify that the
plaintiff will proceed no farther in his ac-
tion. In criminal cases it can only be
entered by the attorney-general.

NONCONFORMIST, one who refuses
to conform to the rites and worship of the
established church. The name was at
first particularly applied to those clergy-
men who were ejected from their livings
by the act of uniformity in 1662.

NONES, in the Roman calendar, the
fifth f l ay of the months January, Februa-
ry, April, June, August, September, No-
vember, and December ; and the seventh
of March, May, July, and October ; these
four last months having six days before
the nones, and the others only four.
March, May, July, and October had
six days in their nones ; because these
alone, in the ancient constitution of the
year by Numa, had thirty-one days a-
pieee, the rest having only twenty-nine,
and February thirty ; but when Caesar
reformed the year, and made other
months contain thirty-one days, he did
not allot them six days'of nones. The
nones, like the calends and ides, were
reckoned backwards.

NON'SUIT, in law, the default or non-
appearance of the plaintiff in a suit,
when called in court, by which the plain-
tiff is presumed to signify his intention
to drop the suit ; he is therefore nonsuited,
that is, his non-appearance is entered
on the record, and this entry amounts to
a judgment of the court that the plaintiff
has dropped the suit.

NON'JURORS, the adherents of James
II. who refused to take the oath of alle-
giance to the government and crown of
England at the Revolution, when James
abdicated, and the Hanoverian family
was introduced.

NOR'MAL, an adjective signifying that
the ordinary structure peculiar to a fami-
ly, a genus, or a species, is in no wise
departed from.

NOR'MAN ARCHITECTURE, astyle

of architecture imported into England
immediately from Normandy, at the time
of the Conquest. It is readily distin-
guished from the styles which succeeded
to it by its general massive character,
round-headed doors and windows, and low
square central tower.

NORNES, in Scandinavian mythology,
the three fates, equivalent to the Moira,
of the Greeks. Their names were Urd,
Worand, and Sculd ; or Past, Present,
and Future. They were represented as
endowed with great beauty, but of a
melancholy and sombre disposition ; they
were consulted even by the gods, and
their decrees were sure and irrevocable.
NO'TABLES, in French history, the
deputies of the states under the old re-
gime, appointed and convoked on certain
occasions by the king. In 1786 this as
sernbly was summoned, 160 years aftei
its last meeting, and proposed various
reforms in different branches of the gov-
ernment. It again met, for the last
time, in 1788.

NO'TARIES, APOSTOL'ICAL AND
IMPE'RIAL, public notaries appointed
by the popes and emperors, in virtue of
their supposed jurisdiction over other
powers, to exercise their functions in
foreign states. Edward II. forbade the
imperial notaries to practise in England.
Charles VIII. of France, in 1490, abol-
ished both these classes of notaries, and
forbade his lay subjects to employ them.
NO'TARY, or NO'TARY PUB'LIG, in
modern usage, an officer authorized to
attest contracts or writings, chiefly in
mercantile matters, to make them authen-
tic in a foreign country ; who protests
foreign bills of exchange, and inland bills
and notes : and in particular, to note the
non-payment of an accepted bill.

NOTE, in music, a character which, by
its place on the staff, represents a sound,
and by its form, determines the time or
continuance of such sound. There are
six notes in ordinary use, viz., the semi-
breve, minim, crotchet, quaver, semiqua-
ver, and demisemiquaver. To these may
be added the breve, yet met with in
sacred music, and the half demisemi-
quaver, much used by the moderns.

NOTTUR'NO, in music, originally sy-
nonymous with serenade ; but applied at
present to a piece of music in which the ,
emotions chiefly of love and tenderness -
are developed. Of modern composers
hopin, Field, and Herg are the most
distinguished in this department.

NOVA'TIANS. the followers of Nova-
tian, a presbyter of Rome, who was stig-

KOXJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

raatized as a schismatic and heretic, and
founded a sect of this name in the 3d
century, which continued to flourish to
the end of the 5th. The aim of Nova-
tian was to deny readmission into the
church to all persons who, in the time of
persecution, or on other accounts, had
once lapsed from the faith.

NOVEL, in literature, a fictitious tale,
or imaginary history of real life, gen-
erally intended to exhibit the operation
of the passions, foremost among which is
love. *In the novel," says Goethe, "sen-
timents and events are to be chiefly rep-
resented ; in the drama, character and
actions. The hero of the novel must be
passive, or, at least, not in a high degree
active ; but we expect of the dramatic
hero action." The Italian novella, of
which the bust and earliest specimens are
those contained in the Decameron of
Boccaccio, was rather a short tale, tufc-
ing on an event, or on a series of adven-
tures of humor, pathos, or intrigue, than a
novel in the modern acceptation of the
term. In its present signification in the
English language, it seems to express a
species of fictitious narrative somewhat
different from a romance ; yet it would
be difficult to assign the exact distinction,
and. in the French language, the same
name (roman) is used for both ; while it
differs from a tale merely in the circum-
stance that a certain degree of length is
necessary to constitute a novel. Although,
in fact, the terms novel and romance are
often used indifferently, yet they have also
often been treated as distinct classes of
composition in English literature. Per-
haps, if we seek to draw the distinction
with as much of accuracy as the subject
will admit, we may say that the proper
object of a novel is the delineation of
social manners, or the development of a
story founded on the incidents of ordina-
ry life, or both together. Thus will be ex-
cluded from the class of novels, on the one
hand, tales of which the incidents are not
merely improbable, (for this may .be the
case in a novel,) but occurring out of the
common course of life, and such as are
founded on imaginary times and imagi-
nary manners, tales of supernatural in-
cidents, chivalrous romances, pastoral
romances. &c. : and, on the other hand,
we must exclude from the same class
fictitious narratives, in which the author's
principal object is neither the story nor the
costume, but which are obviously written
with an ulterior view, although their inci-
dents and character may perhaps, in
other respects, fall under the definition

Thus, political, philo-
sophical, and satirical fictions are clearly
not to be ranked as novels. But it is
obvious that no definition can be drawn
which shall, on this subject, entirely satis-
fy the caprices of popular language. Of
the novel, in this confined sense, the
works of Richardson, and those of Field-
ing and Smollett, afforded, perhaps, the
first examples in English literature. The
first of these authors gave birth to the
sentimental novel, the latter two to the
comic or humorous. Marivaux, Prevost,
<fec., spread the former style of composi-
tion in France ; where, as well as on the
Continent generally, it attained a high
degree of vogue. The novel of manners,
whether comic or serious, has, perhaps,
been always a more popular species of
fiction in England. It may be doubted
whether the historical fiction, to which
Sir Walter Scott has given such universal
popularity, belongs strictly to the class
of novel or romance. By aiming at the
delineation of real, although past man-
ners, and by the general turn of the
story, it seems to resemble the former;
while the romantic character of many of
its incidents seems to assimilate it to
the latter.

NOVEM'BER, the eleventh month of
the Julian year, consisting only of thirty
days. It is the first winter month in the
northern hemisphere, and the first sum-
mer month of the southern. Its name,
November, originates in its being the
ninth month of the Roman reckoning.

NOVICE, a person not yet skilled or
experienced in an art or profession. Nov-
ice is more particularly used in monas-
teries for a religious person, in his or her
novitiate, or year of probation, and who
has not made the vows.

NOVI HOM'INES, among the Romans,
were such persons as, by their own per-
sonal merit, had raised themselves to cu-
rule dignities without the aid of family
connections. This reproach, as is well
known, was addressed by Catiline to
Cicero.

NOVITIATE, the term appointed for
the trial of those who are to enter a
monastery, in order to ascertain whether
they have the qualifications necessary for
living up to the rule to which they are to
bind themselves by vow. The novitiate
is generally very severe ; the novice gen-
erally having to perform many menial
offices about the convent, and to give ac-
count of the most trifling actions to the
master of the novices.

NOX, in mythology, the goddess of

428

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[NUM

night. In the Grecian mythology, she
was the daughter of Chaos, the sister of
Elpen and Erebus, and the mother of
jEther, Hemera, M:m;it:is, Motnus, the
Fates, &c., Ac.; which were all personifi-
cations of the natural phenomena life,
sleep, death, &c.

NUDE COM'PACT, in law, a contract
made without any consideration, and
therefore not valid. Nude matter, a bare
allegation of something done.

NUDIPEDA'LIA, in antiquity, a fes-
tival in which all were obliged to walk
barefooted. This was done on account
of some public calamity ; as the plague,
a famine, &c., &c. It was likewise usual
for the Roman matrons, when any sup-
plication and vows were to be made to the
goddess Vesta, to walk in procession to
her temple barefooted.

NU'DITIES, in painting and sculpture,
those parts of the human figure which
are not covered with drapery. The gods,
demigods, and heroes of antiquity are
generally represented either entirely
naked, or with a slight mantle only thrown
across the shoulders. Figures of fauns,
satyrs, <fcc., also have this distinction.
An exception must, however, be made
with respect to Jupiter, who is very sel-
dom found without an ample robe envel-
oping different parts of his body. Per-
haps the reverence entertained by the
ancients for this their principal deity,
prevented them from exhibiting him in a
state of absolute nudity.

NUI'SANCE, in law, that which in-
commodes or annoys ; something that
produces inconvenience or damage. Nui-
sances are public or private : public, when
they annoy citizens in general, as ob-
structions of the highway ; private, when
they affect individuals only, as when one
man erects a house so near his neighbor's
as to throw the water off the roof upon
his neighbor's land or house, or to inter-
cept the light that his neighbor before
enjoyed.

NUM'BERS, the title of the fourth
book of the Pentateuch, so called because
it contains an account of the numbering
of the people. The book comprehends a
period of the Israelitish history of about
thirty-eight years. Numbers, in poetry,
oratory, music, <fcc. are certain meas-
ures, or cadences, which render a verse,
period, or song, agreeable to the ear.
Poetical numbers consist in a certain
harmony in the order and quantity of syl-
lables constituting feet. Rhetorical num-
bers are a sort of simple, unaffected har-
mony, less apparent than that of verse,

but such as w perceived and affects the
mind with pleasure.

NU'MERAL LET'TERS, the Roman
capital letters which stand as substitutes
for figures ; as I for 1 ; X for 10 ; L for
50; Cfor 100. &<

NUMISMATICS, the science of coins
and medals, principally those struck by
the ancient Greeks and Romans. The word
coin is in modern times applied to those
pieces of metal struck for the purpose of
circulation as money ; while the word med-
al signifies pieces of metal similartlo coins
not intended for circulation as money, but
struck and distributed in commemoration
of some person or event. Ancient coins,
however, are often termed in common lan-
guage medals. The parts of a coin or
medal are, the obverse or face, containing
generally the head, bust, or figure of the
sovereign or person in whose honor the
iftdal was struck, or some emblematic
figure relating to him ; and the reverse,
containing various figures or words. The

words around the border form the legend,
those in the middle or field the inscrip-
tion. The lower part of the coin sepa-
rated by a line from the figures or the
inscription, is the basis or exergue, ami
contains the date, the place where the
coin was struck, &c. The metals of which
coins and medals have been chiefly com-
posed are gold, silver, brass or copper.
The earliest coins are Phoenician, and
were struck or imprinted from dies unre-
versed, so that the inscription was re-
versed; but those struck by the ancient
Greeks and Romans are most deserving
our attention. The study of coins and
medals is indispensable to archaeology,
and to a thorough acquaintance with the
Fine Arts. They indicate the names of
countries and cities, determine their po-
sition, and present pictures of many cele-
brated places. They fix the period of
events, and enable us to trace series of
kings. In short, they serve to make us
acquainted with whatever relates to an-
cient usages, civil, military, and religious,
while they enable us to trace the epochs

OAS]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

429

of different styles of art, and are of great
assistance in our philological researches.

NUN'CIO, an ambassador from the
pope to some Catholic prince or state, or
who attends some congress or assembly
as the pope's representative. The nun-
cio is generally a prelate of the court of
Home ; if a cardinal, he is styled legate.
Since the time of the council of Trent the
nuncios have acted as judges of appeal
from the decisions of the respective bish-
ops in those countries which are subject
to the decretals and discipline of the
council of Trent. In other Catholic king-
doms and states holding themselves inde-
pendent of the court of Rome in matters
of discipline, the nuncio has merely a
diplomatic character like the minister
of any other foreign power.

NUNCUPATIVE WILL, in law, a
will or testamentary desire expressed
verbally, but not put into writing. It
depends merely on oral testimony for
proof, though afterwards reduced to writ-
ing. Nuncupative, in a general sense,
signifies something that exists only in
name.

NUN'DINJS, in antiquity, days set
apart by the Romans for the country
people to expose their wares and commod-
ities to sale, very similar to the large
markets or fairs. They were called Nun-
dince, because they were kept every ninth
day.

NUN'NERY, in the Romish church, a
religious house for nuns, or females who
have bound themselves by vow to a sin-
gle life.

NYCHTHEM'ERON, among the an-
cients, signified the whole natural day,
or day and night, consisting of twenty-
four hours, or equal parts. This way of
considering the day was particularly
adopted by the Jews, and seems to owe its
origin to that expression of Moses, in the
first chapter of Genesis, "the evening
and the morning were the first day."

NYMPH/E'A, certain public baths at
Rome, of which there were twelve in num-
ber, adorned with curious statues of the
Nymphs, to whom they were consecrated,
furnished with pleasant grottoes, and sup-
plied with cooling fountains, which ren-
dered them exceedingly delightful, and
drew great numbers to frequent them.
Silence was particularly required there,
as appears by this inscription, Nympkis
loci, bibe, lava, tace.

NYMPHS, female beings, in Grecian
mythology, partaking of the nature of
gods and men. They peopled all the re-
gions of earth and water, and were vari-

ously designated, according to the places
of their abode. Thus, the Naiades inhab-
ited the streams, the Oreiades the moun-
tains, the Dryades the woods, the llama-
dryades trees, with which they were born
and died. They are represented as very
beautiful ; they constituted the atten-
dants of various of the higher female
divinities, especially Diana, and were also
considered as having been the nurses of
many of the gods, as Jupiter and Pan.

0, the fourth vowel and the fifteenth
letter in the alphabet, is pronounced by
projecting the lips, and forming an open-
ing resembling the letter itself. The
English language designates not less
than four sounds by the character o, ex-
emplified in the words no, prove, for, not.
The French indicate the sound o (pro-
nounced as in no) by various signs. The
use of o is next in frequency to that of a.
With an apostrophe after it, signifies
son in Irish proper names ; as O'Neil, (the
son of Neil,) like the prefix Mac. Among
the ancients, was a mark of triple time,
from the notion that the ternary, or
number 3, is the most perfect of num-
bers, and properly expressed by a circle,
the most perfect figure. is often used
as an interjection or exclamation to ex-
press a wish, admiration, warning, pity,
imploring, and sometimes surprise ; but
when language expressive of strong emo-
tion is used the introductory exclamation
is properly Oh ! Shakspeare uses for
a circle or oval.

OAN'NES, in ancient mythology, the
most celebrated divinity of the Babylo-
nians. He was represented as a sea-
monster, with human feet and hands ;
and was said to dwell in the abysses of
the Red Sea, whence he was in the habit
of issuing daily, and proceeding to Baby-
lon, where he communicated instruction
on religion, the science of government,
and the useful arts. It has been gene-
rally supposed that Cannes was identical
with the god Dagon.

O'ASIS, a fertile spot, watered by
springs, and covered with verdure, situ-
ated in the midst of the uninhabited des-
erts of Northern Africa ; the name is
also applied to a cluster of verdant spots.
In the desert of Sahara there arc several
of these. They serve as stopping-places
for the caravans, and often contain vil-
lages. In Arabic, they are called wadys.

430

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[OBE

OATH, a solemn affirmation or decla-
ration, made with an appeal to God for
the truth of what is affirmed. The appeal
to God in an oath, implies that the person
imprecates his vengeance and renounces
his favor if the declaration is false ; or if
the declaration is a promise, the person
invoices the vengeance of God if he should
fail to fulfil it. A person who is to be a
witness in a cause may have two oaths
administered to him ; the one to speak
the truth, in relation to what the court
shall think fit to ask him, concerning him-
self or anything else that is not evidence
in the cause ; and the other purely to
give evidence in the cause wherein he is
produced as a witness. The laws of all
civilized states have required the security
of an oath for evidence given in a court
of justice ; and the Christian religion,
while it utterly prohibits profane and
needless swearing, does not seem to for-
bid oaths duly required, or taken on ne-
cessary occasions. But the Quakers and
Moravians, swayed by the sense which
they put upon that text of Scripture in
St. Matthew, which says, : ' Swear not at
all," and St. James's words, ch. v. 12,
refuse to swear on any occasion, even at
the requisition of a magistrate, and in a
court of justice. Any believer in a defi-
nite form of religion can be a witness, and
the oath may be administered " accord-
ing to such forms and ceremonies as he
may declare to be binding." But persons
who cannot take an oath are incapable
of being witnesses ; such, therefore, as
will not declare their belief in God. in a
future state of rewards and punishments,
and that perjury will be punished by the
Deity, are excluded ; as well as those who,
from their years of ignorance, are inca-
pable of comprehending the nature of an
oath. Oaths to perform illegal acts do
not bind, nor do they excuse the per-
formance of the act. Perjury is the wil-
ful violation of an oath administered by
a lawful authority to a witness in a judi-
cial proceeding. Different formalities
have been customary in different coun-
tries in taking oaths. The Jews some-
times swore with their hands lifted up,
and sometimes placed under the thigh of
the person to whom they swore. This
was also the custom among the Athenians
and the Romans. The ancients guarded
against perjury very religiously ; and
for fear they might fall into it through
neglect of due form, they usually de-
clared that they bound themselves only
so far as the oath was practicable : and
lest the obligation should lie upon their

ghosts, they made an express obligation,
when they swore, that the oath should
be cancelled at their death. Perjury
they believed could not pass unpuuished,
and expected the divine vengeance to
overtake the perjured villain even in this
life.

OBADI'AH, or THE PROPHECY OP
OBADIAH, a canonical book of the Old
Testament, which is contained in one
single chapter, and is partly an invective
against the cruelty of the Edomites, and
partly a prediction of the deliverance of
Israel, and of the victory and triumph
of the whole church over her enemies.

O'BEAH, a species of witchcraft prac-
tised among the negroes, the apprehen-
sion of which operating upon their super-
stitious fears, is frequently attended with
disease and death.

OBEDIENCE, PAS'SIVE, in politics,
signifies the unqualified obedience which,
according to some political philosophers,
is due from subjects to the supreme pow-
er in the state ; insomuch that not only
its lawful, but its unlawful commands,
may not be forcibly resisted without sin.
OB'ELISK, a lofty quadrangular mon-
olithic column, "diminishing upwards,
with the sides gently inclined, but not so
as to terminate in an apex at the top ;
neither is it truncated or cut off at the
summit, but the sides are sloped off so as
to form a flattish pyramidal figure, by
which the whole is suitably finished off
and brought to a point, without the upper
part being so contracted as to appear in-
significant." Egypt was, properly speak-
ing, the land of obelisks ; and they are
unquestionably to be reckoned among the
most ancient monuments of that extraor-
dinary people. Much learning and in-
genuity has been expended in endeavor-
ing to ascertain their origin, and the
purposes for which they were erected ;
but it does not appear that any satisfac-
tory solution of the problem has hitherto
been given. It has been frequently as-
serted that obelisks were originally erect-
ed in honor of the sun, of which they
were said to be symbolical, and that they
served the purposes of a gnome or sun-
dial ; but this opinion is now almost
totally rejected, and it is generally be-
lieved that obelisks were nothing more
than monumental structures, servhig as
ornaments to the open squares in which
they were generally built, or intended to
celebrate some important event and to
perpetuate its remembrance. They were
usually adorned with hieroglyphics; and
we learn from the testimony of Diodorus

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431

and Strabo that the inscriptions with
which they were charged declared the
amount of gold and silver, the number of
troops, and the quantity of ivory, per-
fumes, and corn which all the countries
subject to Egypt were required to furnish.
The two largest obelisks were erected by
Sesostris in Heliopolis. They were form-
ed of a single block of granite, and meas-
ured 180 feet in height.

OB'ELUS, in diplomatics, a mark so
called from its resemblance to a needle ;
usually thus orthus -i- in ancient MSS.
The common use of the line in modern
writing is to mark the place of a break in
the sense, where it is suspended, or where
there is an ungrammatical transition ;
but a paragraph introduced where the
sense is suspended, is more properly
marked by the sign of a parenthesis.

O'BERON, in mediaeval mythology,
the king of the fairies. Wieland's beau-
tiful poem, and Weber's romantic opera
of this name, the Midsummer Night's
Dream, and innumerable other poems
and tales of which he is the hero, have
made the name of Oberon so familiar,
that it will be unnecessary to do more in
this place than to state the origin of the
fable. The name Oberon first appears in
the old French fabliaux of Huon of Bor-
deaux ; it is identical with Auberon, or
Alberon. the first syllable of which is
nothing more than the old German word
Alb, elf or fairy. He was represented
as endowed with magic powers, and with
the qualities of a good and upright mon-
arch, rewarding those who practised truth
and honesty, and punishing those who
acted otherwise. His wife's name was Ti-
tania, or Mab, whose powers have been so
beautifully depicted in Romeo and Juliet.

O'BIT, a funeral solemnity, or office
for the dead, most commonly performed
when the corpse lies in the church un-
interred. It likewise signifies an annual
commemoration of the dead, performed
on the day of their death, with prayers,
alms, &c.

OBIT'UARY, a register in which are
enrolled the names of deceased persons
for whom obits are to be performed, and
the days of their funeral. It is also used
for the book containing the foundation or
institution of the several obits in a church
or monastery. In the former sense it is
synonymous with necrology, in the latter
with martyrology.

OB'JECT, that about which any power
or faculty is employed, or something ap-
prehended or presented to the mind by
sensation or imagination. Thus that

quality of a rose which is perceived by
the sense of smell, is an object of percep-
tion. When the object is not in contact
with the organ of sense, there must be
some medium through which we obtain
the perception of it. The impression
which objects make on the senses, must
be by the immediate application of them
to the organs of sense, or by means of the
medium that intervenes between the or-
gans and the objects.

OB'LATE, in ecclesiastical antiqui-
ties, 1. A person who, on embracing the
monastic state, had made a donation of
all his goods to the community. 2. One
dedicated to a religious order by his pa-
rents from an early period of his life. 3.
A layman residing as an inmate in a re-
gular community to which he had assign-
ed his property either in perpetuity or
for the period of his residence. 4. A lay-
man who had made donation, not only of
his property, but his person, as bondsman
to a monastic community. In France the
king possessed, in ancient times, a privi-
lege of recommending a certain number
of oblati, chiefly invalided soldiers, to
monasteries, whom they were bound to
maintain.

OBLA'TION, a sacrifice, or offering
made to God. In the canon-law, obla-
tions are defined to be anything offered
by godly Christians to God and the
church, whether movables or immova-
bles. Till the fourth century, the church
had no fixed revenues, the clergy wholly
subsisting on voluntary oblations.

OBLIGATION, in general, denotes
any act whereby a person becomes bound
to another to do something. Obligations
are of three kinds, viz. natural, civil, and
mixed. Natural obligations are entirely
founded on natural equity ; civil obliga-
tions, on civil authority alone, without
any foundation in natural equity ; and
mixed obligations are those which being
founded on natural equity, are further
enforced by civil authority. In a legal
sense, obligation signifies a bond, wherein
is contained a penalty, with a condition
annexed for the payment of money, <fec.

OBLIGA'TO, in music, a term applied
to a movement or composition written for
a particular instrument. It sometimes
means that a movement is restrained by
certain rules to give particular expres-
sion to a passage, action, &c.

OB'OLUS, a small Grecian silver coin,
equal to one penny farthing. It was this
coin which they placed in the mouth of
the dead, to pay Charon for their passage
over the Styx.

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CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[OCT

OBSECRA'TIO, in Roman antiquity,
a solemn ceremony performed by the
chief magistrates of Rome, to avert any
impending calamity. It consisted of
prayers offered up to the gods whom they
Mipposed to be enraged. So exact were
they in observing the prescribed form on
these occasions, that a person was ap-
pointed to read it over to the man who
was to pronounce it, and the most trifling
omission was held sufficient to vitiate the
whole solemnity.

OBSECRATION, in rhetoric, a figure
in which the orator implores the assist-
ance of God or man.

OB'SEQUIES, were solemnities per-
formed at the burials of eminent persons.
The term is now used for the funeral it-
self.

OBSES'SION, the state of a person
vexed or besieged by an evil spirit. In
the language of exorcists, demoniacal ob-
session differed from demoniacal posses-
sion : in the latter, the demon had pos-
session of the patient internally ; in the
former he attacks him from without.
Well-known marks of obsession were the
Being miraculously hoisted or elevated
in the air, speaking languages of which
the patient had no knowledge, aversion
to the offices of religion, and so forth.

OBSID'IONAL CROWN, in Roman
antiquities, a crown granted by the state
to the general who raised the siege of a
beleaguered place. It was formed of
grass growing on the rampart. Obsidi-
onal coins, in numismatics, are pieces
struck in besieged places to supply the
place of current money. They are of
various base metals, and of different
shapes. Some of the oldest known are
those which were struck at the siege of
Pavia, under Francis I.

OB'VERSE, or FACE, in numismat-
ics, the side of the coin which contains
the principal symbol : usually, in the
coins of monarchical states, ancient and
modern, the face in profile of the sove-
reign ; in some instances, the full or half
length figure.

OCCASIONALISM, or the System of
Occasional Causes, in metaphysics, a
name which has been given to certain
theories of the Cartesian school of phi-
losophers, especially Arnold Geulinx, of
Antwerp, by which they accounted for
the apparent action of the soul on the
body ; e. g. in the phenomena of volun-
tary motion. According to these theories,
(which were more or less clearly develop-
ed by different writers,) the will was not
the cause of the action of the body ; but

whenever the will required a motion, God
caused the body to move in the required
direction.

OCCULT', something secret, hidden or
invisible, as the occult quality of matter.
The occult sciences are magic, necro
mancy, <fcc.

OCE'ANUS, in Greek mythology, the
oldest of the Titans : according to some,
the son of Ouranos and Gaia. His con-
sort was Tethys, his daughters the Ocea-
nides. In Homer, the word ocean merely
designates the " river," or^treain, which,
according to his notion, encompassed the
earth.

; OCHLOCRACY, a word coined to ex-
press the condition of a state in which the
populace have acquired an immediate
illegal control over the government ; and,
by a figure commonly used in the exag-
geration of political speakers and writers,
a government in which the power of the
lower classes predominates, either for a
time or permanently.

OCTAVE, in music, an eighth, or an
interval of seven degrees or twelve semi-
tones. The octave is the most perfect of
the chords, consisting of six full tones
and two semi-tones major. It contains
the whole diatonic scale. The most sim-
ple perception that we can have of two
sounds, is that of unisons ; the vibrations
there beginning and ending together.
The next to this is the octave, where the
more acute sound makes precisely two
vibrations, while the grave or deeper
makes one ; consequently, the vibrations
of the two meet at every single vibration
of the more grave one. Hence, unison
and octave pass almost for the same con-
cord ; hence, also, the ratio of the two
sounds that form the octave is as 1 to 2.
The octave may be doubled, tripled, and
multiplied at pleasure, with changing its
nature, but a double octave is less agree-
able to the ear than a single one ; a triple
octave, still less agreeable than a double
one, and so on.

OCTA'VO, in printing, the form of a
page which is made by folding *a sheet
into eight leaves, or sixteen pages. It is
often written 8vo.

OCTO'BER, in chronology, the tenth
month of the Julian year, consisting of
thirty-one days : it obtained the name of
October from its being the eighth month
in the calendar of Romulus.

OCTASTY'LOS, in architecture, a tem-
ple or other building having eight col-
umns in front.

OCTROI, an old French term (from auc-
torltas) signifying a grant or privilege

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433

from government, is particularly applied
to the commercial privileges granted to
a person or to a company. In a like
sense the term is applied to the constitu-
tion of a state granted by a prince, in
contradistinction to those which are de-
rived from a compact between a ruler
and the representatives of the people. It
also signifies a tax levied at the gates of
some cities in France upon all articles
of food.

O'DALISQUES, properly ODALIKS,
(Turkish, oda, a chamber,) female slaves
employed in domestic service about the
persons of the wives, female relatives,
&c. of the sultan.

ODD'FEL'LOWS, persons affiliated to
certain associations that originated, about
the year 1820 ; but now oddfellow socie-
ties form parts of an important system,
widely ramified in Great Britain and the
United States. The oddfellows are in
many respects similar to freemasons, as
to initiatory rites, secret oaths, <fcc. ; and
hold frequent meetings, ostensibly for
philanthropic purposes.
, ODE, among the Greeks and Komans,
was a short lyric composition, usually in-
tended to be sung, and accompanied by
some musical instrument, generally the
lyre ; hence the expression lyric verse.
In the modern sense of the word, the ode
appears to be distinguished from the
song by greater length and variety, and
by not being necessarily adapted to music.
It is distinguished also from the ballad,
and other species of lyric poetry, by its
being confined to the expression of senti-
ment, or of imaginative thought, on a
given subject, not admitting of narrative,
except incidentally. The odes of Pindar,
Anacreon, and Horace, are, in fact, the
models on which the modern notion of the
ode is formed, and which have been imi-
tated in similar compositions in modern
times. Until the science of Greek metres
was so accurately explored as it has
recently been, the Pindaric ode was sup-
posed to admit of an excessive irregularity
in the length and measure of lines. In
point of fact, however, a scheme of per-
fect metrical irregularity pervaded the
Greek ode : the Anacreontic ode consists
of a number of lines of the same metrical
length and arrangement. The Horatian
ode, again, consists of an indefinite num-
ber of stanzas, precisely similar to each
other, each forming a complete metrical
whole. The Dithyrambic ode was a
bacchanalian song ; and as, from the
attributes of the divinity to which it was
dedicated, it admitted great irregularity

and license, the name has been transfer-
red in modern times to all odes partaking
of a wild and impetuous character.

ODE'UM, orODE'ON,in ancient archi-
tecture, a building wherein the poets and
musicians contended for the prizes, both
in vocal and instrumental music. Peri-
cles, who was the first person to erect one
of these buildings at Athens, instituted it
for the choragi of the different tribes to
rehearse their performances ; but these
buildings in the end were used for far
different purposes from those for which
they were originally destined. An odeum
was to be found in all the principal cities
of antiquity. The word odeon has been
preserved in most modern languages :
thus, there is an odeon in Paris, appro-
priated to theatrical and other similar
purposes.

DIN, a Scandinavian deity, who
seems, like the Jupiter of the Greeks, to
have formed the connecting link between
the ancient and more recent systems of
their mythology. The conqueror Odin
appears to have been a chieftain who led
the Asi (the Goths) from the confines of
Asia to northern Europe. But, when
deified by public adoration, the attributes
of an earlier deity seem to have been
transferred to him. Odin is the chief of
the gods ; by his wife Freya he has two
chief sons, Thor and Balder : the death
of the latter (for the Scandinavian gods
are not all immortal) furnishes many
legends to the northern mythology.

OD'YSSEY, an epic poem, attributed,
in general, to Homer, but, according to
some modern hypotheses, not by the hand
of the author of the Iliad. The subject
of the poem is the return of Ulysses from
Troy to his native island, Ithaca.

(ECON'OMY, in architecture, the har-
monious and skilful combination of the
parts of the building, which renders them
suitable to their several purposes, and
tends to connect them conveniently with
each other.

(ECUMENICAL, in the Greek lan-
guage applied to ecclesiastical matters in
the sense of universal. Several patri-
archs of Constantinople and Rome as-
sumed the title of oecumenical (par-
ticularly John, A.D. 590, and Cyril, his
successor,) apparently in opposition to
the pretensions of the bishop of Rome.
(Ecumenical councils are those to which
prelates resorted from every part of
Christendom under the jurisdiction of the
Roman empire.

OFFENCE', in law, the violation of
any law ; this is termed capital if pun-

434

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[OLL

ished with death, and not capital if visit-
ed with any other punishment.

OF'FERINGS, literally, gifts present-
ed at the altar in token of acknowledg-
ment of the Divine goodness. Offerings
constituted a large portion of the Jewish
worship. They consisted chiefly of bread,
salt, fruits, wine, and oil, and had differ-
ent names according to the purposes for
which they were employed. A distinc-
tion has often been made between offer-
ings and sacrifices ; the former being said
to refer only to the fruits of the earth,
the latter to animals ; but this can scarce-
ly have been the case, for both the burnt
and the sin offering required animals to
be sacrificed. Among the Greeks, Ro-
mans, and other nations, the same prac-
tice prevailed of offering at their altars
wheat, flour, and bread. In a modern
sense, the term offering is applied to cer-
tain dues payable by custom to the
Church, as the Easter offerings, &c. This
latter custom has obtained from the first
period of Christianity, when those who
officiated at the altar had no other main-
tenance or allowance than the free gifts
or offerings (oblations) of the people.

OF'FERTORY, the first part of the
Mass, in which the priest prepares the
elements for consecration. In the Eng-
lish communion service, it denotes the
sentences which are delivered by the of-
ficiating priest while the people are
making their oblations or offerings.

OF'FICER, is used generally to signify
any person in the enjoyment of a post or
office, whether civil or military, under the
crown. Under their different heads will
be found a notice of the chief civil and
military officers ; to these the reader is
referred.

OFF'SET, in architecture, the superior
surface left uncovered by the continuation
upwards of a wall where the thickness
diminishes, forming a ledge.

OGEE, or 0. G., in architecture, a
moulding, consisting of two members, the
one concave, the other convex ; or, of a
round and a hollow, somewhat like an S.

O'GIVE, in architecture, an arch or
branch of a Gothic vault ; which, instead
of being circular, passes diagonally from
one angle to another, and forms a cross
with the other arches. The middle, where
the ogives cross each other, is called the
key. The members or mouldings of the
ogives are called nerves, branches, or
reins ; and the arches which separate the
ogives, double arches.

O'GRES, the well-known name of those
imaginary monsters with which the nur-

sery tales of England abound. They are
usually represented as cannibals of ma-
lignant dispositions, and as endowed with
gigantic height and power. It is difficult
to speak with certainty of the origin of
these fabulous creations ; but it is proba-
ble that the term ogre is derived from
Oegir, one of the giants in the Scandina-
vian mythology ; though it has been al-
leged, with perhaps more probability,
that it has been borrowed from the Ogurs,
or Onogurs, a desperate and savage Asi-
atic horde, which overran'part of Europe
about the middle of the 5th century.

OIL-PAINT'ING, the art of painting
with oil colors, which are the kind most
commonly used for large pictures. This
art has the pre-eminence above all other
kinds of painting on account of its liveli-
ness, strength, agreeableness, and natural
appearance ; on account of the variety
and mixture of tints; in short, on account
of the charm of the coloring. The vari-
ous colors chiefly used in oil painting are,
white lead, Cremnitz white, chrome, king's
yellow, Naples yellow, patent yellow, the
ochres, Dutch pink, terra da Sienna, yel-
low lake, vermilion, red lead, Indian an*
Venetian red, the several sorts of lake,
brown, pink. Vandyke brown, burnt and
unburnt amber, ultramarine, Prussian
and Antwerp blue, ivory black, blue black,
asphaltum. The principal oils are those
extracted from the poppy, nut, and lin-
seed, the latter being used for the ground
work. Oil paintings are made upon wood,
copper, and other metals ; also upon walls
and thick silk, but now most commonly
upon canvas, stretched upon a frame, and
done over with glue or gold for a ground,
and by some with white water colors.

OLIGARCHY, a state in which the
sovereign power is lodged in the hands
of a small, exclusive class, is so called.
It differs from aristocracy, in that the
latter term appears to designate a govern-
ment in which the whole of a particular
class or interest, e. g., the noble, the
wealthy, &c., share directly or indirectly in
the management of public affairs ; while,
in an oligarchy, it is a party or section
formed out of one of these classes which
enjoys the advantages of government.

O'LIO, a miscellany; a collection of
various pieces. It is chiefly applied to
musical collections.

OL'LA PODRI'DA, the name given to
a favorite dish of all classes in Spain ;
consisting of a mixture of all kinds of
meat cut into small piece?, and stewed
with various kinds of vegetables. The
epithet podrida is applied to this dish, in

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435

consequence of the poorer classes being
obliged to serve it up so often that the
odor arising from long keeping is far from
agreeable. The phrase olla podrida is
often used metaphorically in England for
any incongruous melange.

OLYMP'I AD, in chronology, a Grecian
epoch of four years, being the interval
between the celebration of the Olympic
games.

OLYMP'IC GAMES, the greatest of
the national festivals of Greece, cele-
brated once every four years at Olympia,
or Pisa, in Elis, in honor of Olympian Ju-
piter. Their institution is variously at-
tributed to Jupiter, Pelops, and Hercules ;
but it appears that they had fallen into
disuse for some time, till they were revived
by Iphitus, 776 B.C. From this period it
is that the Olympiads are reckoned. Like
the other public festivals, the Olympian
games might be attended by all who bore
the Hellenic name; and such was their
universal celebrity, that spectators qua-
ternially crowded to witness them, not
only from all parts of Greece itself, but
from every Grecian colony in Europe,
Asia, and Africa, In these games, none
were allowed to contend but those who
could prove that they were freemen of
genuine Hellenic origin, and unstained
by crime or immorality.

OME'GA, the name for the Greek long
o. It was the last letter in the Greek
alphabet, as alpha was the first ; and
from the expression in Revelations, " I
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and
which was. and which is to come, the Al-
mighty," the characters of alpha and
omega became with the Christians sym-
bolical hieroglyphics.

O'MENS, casual indications, from
which men believe themselves enabled to
conjecture or foretell future events. The
essential characteristic of all omens is
their happening by accident ; and it is
this which distinguishes them from all
other modes of divination. This branch
of superstition seems nearly as ancient
as the world itself; and in none do we
find such remarkable indications of same-
ness of origin. Many external circum-
stances appear to be received in almost
all countries as ominous. The omens in
which the Thugs or secret murderers of
India, believe with peculiar devotion, aro
almost the very same which an ancient
Roman would have observed with equal
attention ; especially the appearance of
animals on the right or left hand. Omens,
among the Greeks (and, we may add,

among almost all nations in periods of
ignorance, and among the vulgar of the
present day,) may be divided into three
classes : those derived from natural oc-
currences, relating to inanimate objects,
lightning, earthquakes, phosphoric ap-
pearances, <fec. ; those derived from ani-
mals, especially birds, the region of their
appearance, their voices, &c. ; and those
which the individual drew from sudden
sensations of his own. Sneezing, in most
times and countries, has been a peculiarly
ominous occurrence. The Romans, as is
well known, carried the science of omens
to a very profound depth : the flight of
birds was the main element in augury;
the omens afforded by the entrails of sac-
rificed animals, in the learning of extis-
picium. One remarkable variety be-
tween Greek and Roman divination has
often been noticed ; the right hand in the
former generally denoted good luck, and
the left the contrary. Among the Ro-
mans this rule was reversed, although
their writers in later times often adopt
the Greek mode of expression.

ONE'IROCRIT'ICS, the science of in-
terpreting dreams : treated of by Arte-
midorus, Macrobius, and other classical
writers ; by Thomas Aquinas, and others
of the schoolmen ; and, among many
other moderns, by Cardanus, and Maio,
a Neapolitan philosopher. According to
all these writers, the secret of one irocriti-
cal science consists in the relation sup-
posed to exist between the dream and the
thing signified ; but they are far from
keeping to the relations of agreement
and similitude, and they frequently have
recourse to others of dissimilitude, and
contrariety.

ONOM'ATOPE, or ONOMATOPOEIA,
in grammar and rhetoric., a figure in
which words are formed to resemble the
sound made by the thing signified, or in
which words are formed or supposed to be
formed in imitation of natural sounds ;
as, to buzz, as bees ; to crackle, as burn-
ing thorns or brushwood ; to creak, as a
door on its hinges, &c. A word whose
sound corresponds to the sound of the
thing signified, or which expresses by its
sound the thing represented ; as, to neigh,
to murmur, to bleat. Greek and German
are rich in words of this description.

ONTOL'OGY. the doctrine of being ; a
name formerly given to that part of the
science of metaphysics which investigates
and explains the nature and essence of
all beings, their qualities and attributes.
It investigates the nature, 1. of things in
general, their possibility, reality, and

436

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[OPT

necessity ; 2. of substance and accidence,
cause, effect, and mutual operation ; 3.
of quantity, quality, similarity, and
equality of things; 4. of space and time;
and 5. of the simple and compound.

O'NUS PROBAN'DI, in law, the bur-
den of proving what has been alleged
against another.

O'PENINGS, in architecture, the pierc-
ings or unfitted parts in a wall, left for
the purpose of admitting light, air, <fec.

PERA, a musical drama in which
the music forms an essential part, and not
merely an accompaniment. The whole
dramatic art of the ancients possessed
much of an operatic character. The
choric parts were sur\g ; and if the dia-
logue was not carried on in the musical
tone termed recitative in modern times,
it was certainly delivered in an artifi-
cially raised and sustained key, very
different from the ordinary or oratorical
speech. The first operas in modern times
were performed in Italy, about the end
of the 15th century. The Orpkeo of
Poliziano has been cited as the first com-
plete piece of this sort. According as the
serious or the comic character prevails in
the opera, it is termed opera seria. or opera
buffa. The name of grand opera is given
to that kind which is confined to music
and song ; of which the recitativo is a
principal feature. An operetta is a short
musical drama of a light character ; to
which species of composition the French
vaudeville belongs. The opera, properly
speaking, admits only of singing and re-
citation, although, in some of the German
operas, dialogue is also introduced. The
romantic opera, which is considered as a
German invention, is a compound be-
tween the two Italian species. Metasta-
sio in Italy, and Goethe in Germany,
have both written for the opera ; but
these are splendid exceptions, and the
poetry has, in most instances, been held
entirely subservient to the music.

O'PHIOMANCY, the art of divination
from serpents. Thus, the seven coils of
the serpent seen on the tomb of Anchises
were held to indicate the number of years
of JEneas's future wanderings.

O'PHITES, the name of an early sect
of Christian heretics, who emanated from
the Gnostics, so called from their worship-
ping the serpent that tempted Eve. They
considered the serpent as the father of all
the sciences, which, but for the tempta-
tion of our first parents, would never have
been known.

OPIN'ION, the judgment which the
mind forms of any proposition, for the

truth or falsehood of which there is not
sufficient evidence to produce absolute
belief. Some things are known to bo
scientifically correct, or capable of mathe-
matical demonstration ; but other things
depend on testimony. When one or two
men relate a story including many cir-
cumstances to a third person, and another
comes who positively contradicts it, either
in whole or in part, he, to whom those
jarring testimonies are given, weighs all
the circumstances in his own miud, bal-
ances the one against the other, and
lends an assent more or less wavering, to
that side on which the evidence appears
to preponderate. This assent is his opin-
ion respecting the facts of which he has
received such different accounts.

OPISTHOG'R APHUM, in classical an-
tiquity, a set of tickets, or roll of parch-
ment or paper, answering the purpose of
a memorandum book, or commonplace
book, to enter notes and other extempo-
rary matters to be revised afterwards : so
called from being written over both on
the front and back. Any ordinary MS. in
which the transcriber had employed both
the front and back of the papyrus was
indeed an opisthograph, strictly so called.

OPPOSITION, in politics, a word well
understood in free representative govern-
ments, but nowhere else : denoting that
intelligent and independent spirit in the
members of the legislative assembly,
which induces them to persevere in op-
posing whatever legislation is injurious
to the state, but which does not so far in-
fluence them as to oppose what is bene-
ficial. A temperate and consistent oppo-
sition is therefore an essential element
of good government ; for though it may
struggle against an existing administra-
tion, it contributes at the same time to
the soundness and vigor of the body poli-
tic. Opposition, in logic, the disagree-
ment between propositions which have
the same subject and the same predicate.
In rhetoric, a figure whereby two
things are joined, which .-sc'-.:!n incom-
patible.

OP'TATIVE, in grammar, a mode or
form of a Greek verb, by which is express-
ed the wish or desire to do a thing.

OPTE'RIA, in antiquity, presents made
by the bridgroom to the bride when he
first saw her.

OPTI'MATES, in Roman antiquity,
one of the divisions of the Roman people,
opposed to the Populares. It does not
certainly appear what were the charac-
teristic differences betwixt these two par-
ties. Some say the Optimates were warm

ORA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

437

supporters of the dignity of the chief
magistrate, and sticklers for the grandeur
of the state ; caring little for the other
classes ; whereas the Populares boldly
stood up for the rights of the people,
pleaded for larger privileges, and labored
to bring matters nearer to a level. Tully
says, that the Optimates were the best
citizens, who wished to deserve the appro-
bation of the better sort ; and that the
Populares courted the favor of the popu-
lace, not so much considering what was
right, as what would please the people
and gratify their own thirst of vain glory.

OPTI'ME, a scholar in the first class
of mathematics at Cambridge.

OP'TIMISM, that philosophical and
religious doctrine which maintains that
this world, in spite of its apparent imper-
fections, is the best that could have been
devised, and that everything in nature is
ordered for the best,

OP'TION, in ecclesiastical law, a pre-
rogative of the archbishops of the church
of England. Every bishop is bound, im-
mediately after his confirmation, to make
a legal conveyance to the archbishop of
the next avoidance of any one benefice
or dignity belonging to his see which the
archbishop may choose (whence the
name.)

OR'ACLE, the name primarily given
to the response delivered by the ancient
heathen divinities to those who consulted
them respecting the future, but afterwards
applied both to the place where responses
were given as well as to the divinities
from whom the responses were supposed
to proceed. To the desire so natural to
man to obtain a glimpse into futurity,
coupled with the ennobling belief that his
destiny was predetermined in a higher
sphere, is doubtless to be traced the
origin of the art of divination, which has
in all, but more especially in the earlier
stages of society, exercised so powerful
an influence over the human mind. But,
of all the modes of divination, that by
consulting the oracle was the most popu-
lar. In other cases, as the interpretation
of events depended on man alone, there
might be mistake or deception ; but in
the oracle, when the deity was believed
to pronounce either in his own voice or
in that of a consecrated agent, it was
supposed there could be none. Hence
oracles obtained such credit and celebrity
in antiquity, but more especially among
the Greeks, that they were resorted to
on every occasion of doubt and emergen-
cy, both by princes and states, as well as
by private individuals. The general

characteristics of oracles were ambiguity,
obscurity, and convertibility; so that
one answer would agree with several
various and sometimes directly opposite
events. Thus, when Crossus was on the
point of invading the Medes, he consult-
ed the oracle of Delphi as to the success
of the enterprise, and received for an
answer that by passing the river Halys
he would ruin a great empire. But
whether it was his own empire or that of
his enemies that was destined to be ruined
was not intimated ; and in either case,
the oracle could not fail to be right.

OR'ANGEMEN, the name given by
the Catholics in Ireland to their Protes-
tant countrymen, on account of their ad-
herence to king William (of the house of
Orange,) while the former party support-
ed the cause of James II.

ORA'TION, in modern usage, an ora-
tion differs from a sermon, from an argu-
ment at the bar, from a speech before a
deliberative assembly, and from a popu-
lar harangue, though all these are ora-
tions in the generic sense. The word is
now applied chiefly to discourses pro-
nounced on special occasions, as a fune-
ral oration, an oration on some anniver-
sary. -&c., and to academic declamations.

OR'ATOR, in modern usage, signifies
an eloquent public speaker ; or a person
who pronounces a discourse publicly on
some special occasion. In ancient Rome
orators were advocates of a superior kind,
differing from the patrons : the latter
were allowed only to plead causes on be-
half of their clients; whereas the former
might quit ttio forum and ascend the ros-
tra or tribunal, to harangue the senate
or the people. The orators had rarely a
profound knowledge of the law, but they
were eloquent, and their style was gene-
rally correct and concise.

ORATO'RIO, a sacred musical compo-
sition, consisting of airs, recitatives, du-
ets, trios, choruses, &c., the subject of
which is generally taken from Scripture.
The text is usually in a dramatic form,
as in Handel's Samson ; but it sometimes
takes the form of a narrative, as in 7s-
rael in Es;ypt ; occasionally it is of a
mixed character, as in Haydn's Creation ;
and sometimes it consists merely of de-
tached passages from Scripture as in the
Messiah. The origin of oratorios has
been variously ascribed ; but the most
prevalent opinion regards them as origi-
nally founded upon the spiritual songa
and dialogues which were sung or recited
by the priests of the oratory. The more
recent introduction of this species of

438

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ORD

musical drama is on all sides attributed
to St. Philippo Neri, about the middle of
the 16th century; but oratorios, properly
so culled, were not produced till about
a century afterwards. At first the per-
sons introduced were sometimes ideal,
sometimes parabolical, and sometimes, as
in the latter oratorios, taken from sacred
history ; but this species of drama soon
assumed a more regular form, and orato-
rios became great favorites in Italy ;
where they were constantly performed
during the Carnival ; and they have since
given birth to some of the noblest and
most elaborate compositions of the great
masters both of that and other countries.

OR'ATORY. the art of speaking well,
or of speaking according to the rules of
rhetoric, in order to persuade. To con-
stitute oratory, the speaking must be just
and pertinent to the subject ; it must be
methodical, all parts of the discourse
being disposed in due order and connec-
tion ; and it must be embellished with the
beauties of language and pronounced with
eloquence. Oratory consists of four parts,
invention, disposition, elocution, and pro-
nunciation. Diction, manner, gesture,
modulation, a methodical arrangement of
the several topics to be introduced, and a
logical illustration of them, are all essen-
tial requisites in oratory ; and, as Cicero
has observed, " the action of the body
ought to be suited to the expressions, not
in a theatrical way, mimicking the words
by particular gesticulations, but in a man-
ner expressive of the general sense, with
a sedate and manly inflection."

OR'ATORY, signifies, commonly, a
room in a private house set apart for
prayer. It differs from a chapel, inas-
much as it does not contain an altar, nor
may mass be celebrated in it. Oratory,
Priests of t/ie, a religious order founded
by Philip Nevi, in 1574, for the study of
theology, and for superintending the re-
ligious exercises of the devout ; but they
are not bound by monastic vows. This
order still exists in Italy.

OR'CHESTRA, the space in theatres
between the stage and the seats of the
spectators. It was appropriated by the
Greeks to the chorus and musicians, by
the Romans to the magistrates and sena-
tors, and by moderns to the musicians.
The word is also used to denote the whole
instrumental band performing together
in modern concerts, operas, or sacred
music.

ORDE'AL, an ancient mode of trial,
in which an appeal was made to God to
manifest the truth, by leaving nature to

its ordinary course, if the accused were
guilty ; by interposing a miracle if inno-
cent. This mode of distributing justice
in criminal charges prevailed, during the
middle ages, throughout almost the whole
of Europe ; and it is still practised in
some parts of the East Indies. In Eng-
land it existed from the time of the Con-
fessor to that of Henry III., who abol-
ished it by declaration : while it lasted,
the more popular modes of resorting to it
were those of Jire (or the hot iron,) and
of water; the former for freemen and
people of rank, the latter for psasants.
The method of administering the ordeal
by fire, in England, was by placing nine
red-hot plough-shares in a line, at certain
distances from each other, and requiring
the person accused to walk over them
barefoot and blindfold. If his feet always
alighted in the spaces between the shares,
so that he passed ower them unhurt, his
success was deemed a divine assertion of
his innocence ; if on the contrary, he was
burnt, the disaster was an oracular proof
of his guilt. The ordeal by water was of
two kinds ; either by plunging the bare
arm to the elbow in boiling water, or by
casting the person suspected into a river
or pond of cold water, and if he floated
without an effort to swim, it was an evi-
dence of guilt, but if he sunk. he was ac-
quitted. There were also ordeals by lot,
as by the casual choice between a pair of
dice, one marked with a cross and the
other blank, mentioned in the laws of the
Frisons. The famous trial of the bier, in
which the supposed perpetrator was re-
quired to touch the body of a murdered
person, and was pronounced guilty if the
blood flowed, may be regarded as a spe-
cies of ordeal, although founded more on
usage than legal enactment ; as this form
of superstition did not become prevalent
until later times, when ordeals were no
longer a recognized part of the law. To
the same head may be referred the vari-
ous absurd and cruel methods which were
adopted in different countries to try sus-
pected witches. Ordeals are of common
use in the judicial practice of various
heathen nations, especially of the Hin-
doos.

ORDER OF THE DAY, in parliamen-
tary usage, one method of superseding a
question already proposed to the House is
by moving "for the order of the day to
be read." This motion, to entitle it to
precedence, must be for the order gen-
erally, and not for any particular order ;
and, if this is carried, the orders must be
read and proceeded on in the course ic

ORD]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

439

which they stand. But it can be in its
turn superseded by a motion " to ad-
journ."

OR'DERS, or HO'LY OR'DERS, de-
note the character and office peculiar to
ecclesiastics, whereby they are set apart
for the ministry. Since the Reformation,
there are three orders of the clergy ac-
knowledged, namely, bishops, priests, and
deacons ; whence the phrase, " to be in
orders," is the same as to be of the cleri-
cal order. Religious orders, associa-
tions, or societies of monastics, bound to
lead strict and devotional lives, according
to the prescribed rules of their respective
communities. An order, in fact, consists
in the rules to be observed by those who
enter it ; thus some orders are more aus-
tere than others, and one order dresses in
white, while another is habited in'gray or
black. Military Orders are societies es-
tablished by princes, the members of
which are distinguished by particular
badges, and consist of persons who have
done particular service to the prince and
state, or who enjoy, by the privileges of
birth, the highest distinctions in the state.
They originated from the institutions of
chivalry and the ecclesiastical corpora-
tions, and were, in the beginning, frater-
nities of men, who, in addition to particu-
lar duties enjoined by the law of honor,
united for the performance of patriotic or
Christian purposes. Free birth and an
irreproachable life were the conditions of
admission. During the time of the cru-
sades numerous military orders arose,
and were an example for all future or-
ders. The oldest of the religious military
orders is that of St. John of Jerusalem j
and on their model the secular military
orders were formed in later times, which
united religious with military exercises.
But the original pious object of these or-
ders was changed, and they acquired by
degrees their present character. Or-
ders, in law, rules made by the court in
causes there depending.

OR'DINAL, or ORDER, the name
given in England to an old work contain-
ing the ritual or religious ceremonies ne-
cessary to be performed before the or-
dination of a priest. It was composed in
the reign of Edward VI., and revised by
the English clergy in 1552.

OR'DINANCE, in law, a temporary
act of parliament, not introducing any
new law, but founded on souie act former-
ly made ; consequently, such ordinances
might be altered by subsequent ones.

OR'DINARY, in general signifies com-
mon or usual ; thus an ambassador or

envoy in ordinary, is one sent to reside
constantly at some foreign court, in order
to preserve a good understanding, and
watch over the interest of bis own nation.
Ordinary, in the common and canon
law, one who has ordinary or immediate
jurisdiction. In which sense, archdeacons
are ordinaries ; though the appellation is
more frequently given to the bishop of
the diocese, who has the ordinary ecclesi-
astical jurisdiction.

ORDINA'TION, the conferring holy
orders, or initiating a person into the
priesthood. In the church of England
the first thing necessary on application
for holy orders, is the possession of a
title. , that is, a sort of assurance from a
rector to the bishop, that, provided the
latter finds the party fit to be ordained,
the former will take him for his curate,
with a stated salary. The candidate is
then examined by the bishop or his chap-
lain, respecting both his faith and his
erudition ; and various certificates are
necessary, particularly one signed by the
clergyman of the parish in which he has
resided during a given time. Subscrip-
tion to the thirty-nine articles is requir-
ed, and a clerk must have attained his
twenty-third year before he can be or-
dained a deacon ; and his twenty-fourth
to receive priest's orders. The ceremony
of ordination is performed by the bishop
by the imposition of hands on the person
to be ordained. In the English church,
and in most Protestant countries where
the church is connected with the state,
ordination is a requisite to preaching ;
but in some sects ordination is not consid-
ered necessary for that purpose, although
it is considered proper previous to the ad-
ministration of the sacraments by the
preacher. In the Presbyterian and con-
gregational churches, ordination means
the act of settling or establishing a li-
censed preacher over a congregation with
pastoral charge and authority : or the
act of conferring on a clergyman the
powers of a settled minister of the gospel,
without the charge of a particular church,
but with general powers wherever he
may be called to officiate.

ORD'NANCE, a general name for ar-
tillery of every description. Ordnance
Office, or Board of Ordnance, an office
kept within the tower of London, which
superintends and disposes of all the arms,
instruments, and utensils of war, both by
sea and land, in all the magazines, gar-
risons, and forts in Great Britain. The
Board of Ordnance is divided into two
distinct branches, the civil and the mill-

440

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ORl

tary; the latter being subordinate to,
and under the authority of the former.

ORD'ONNANCE, in architecture, the
right assignment, for convenience and
propriety, of the measure of the several j
apartments, that they be neither too
large nor too small for the purposes of
the building, and that they be conveni-
ently distributed and lighted.

' R E A D S, in Greek mythology,
nymphs of the mountains, companions of
Diana, and usually invoked along with
that goddess.

OR'GAN, in music, a wind instrument,
of ancient invention, blown by bellows,
and containing numerous pipes of various
kinds and dimensions, which, for its
solemnity, grandeur, and rich volume of
tone, is particularly fitted for the pur-
pose for which it is commonly employed.
Organs are sometimes of an immense
size. St. Jerome mentions an organ with
twelve pair of bellows, which might be
heard at the distance of a thousand paces,
or a mile ; and another at Jerusalem,
which might be heard at the Mount of
Olives. The organ in the Cathedral
church at Ulm, in Germany, is said to be
93 feet high and 28 broad, its largest
pipe being 13 inches in diameter, and it
having 16 pair of bellows.

ORGA'NIC LAWS, in modern politi-
cal phraseology, the name given to laws
directly concerning the fundamental
parts of the constitution of a state. Ac-
cording to the distinction taken by some
French writers, fundamental laws are
merely declaratory, containing the princi-
ples or theory of government. Organic
laws are those which apply those prin-
ciples to the actual condition of society,
by positive enactment, and add the sanc-
tion of punishment.

ORGA'NISTS, the old name given in
the Roman Catholic church to those
priests who organized or sang in parts.
The name organists of the hallelujah was
applied in the 13th century, to certain
priests who assisted in the performance
of the mass. They were generally four
in number, and derived their name from
singing in parts, or organizing the melody
appropriated to the word hallelujah.

ORGANIZATION, the processes by
which an organized body is formed : also,
the totality of the parts which constitute,
and of the laws which regulate an organ-
ized body.

OR'GANON, in philosophical lan-
guage, nearly synonymous with method,
and implying a body of rules and canons
for the direction of the scientific faculty,

either generally or in reference to some
particular department ; as, the organon
of Aristotle ; the organon of Bacon. The
organon of Aristotle is his System of
Logic, and contains his Categories, his
treatise on Interpretation, or the nature
of Propositions, his former and latter
Analytics, and his eight books of Topics ;
to which may be added, his book on Soph-
isms. The Novum, Organon of Bacon
contains the development of his system
of philosophy, or the inductive system.

ORGAN POINT, in music, a succession
of chords, in some of which the harmony
of the fifth is taken unprepared on the
bass as a holding note, whether preceded
by the tonic or by the harmony of the
fourth of the key.

OR'GIA, in antiquity, feasts and sac-
rifices performed in honor of Bacchus,
instituted by Orpheus, and chiefly cele-
brated on the mountains by wild, dis-
tracted women, called bacchce. These
feasts were held in the night : hence the
term, "nocturnal orgies."

OR'GUES, in fortification, long and
thick pieces of wood shod with iron, and
suspended each by a separate rope over a
gate so as to be ready to let fall and stop
it up upon the approach of an enemy.
The term also denotes a machine com-
posed of arquebuses, or musket-barrels,
linked together so that they may be dis-
charged all at once, and used to defend
breaches.

O'RIEL, a large bay or recessed win-
dow in a hall, chapel, or other apartment.
It usually projects from the outer face of
the wall, either in a semi-octagonal or
semi-square plan, and is of various kinds
and sizes. When not on the ground-floor
it is supported on brackets or corbels.

O'RIENT, the east or eastern part of
the horizon. In surveying, to orient a
plan signifies to mark its situation or
bearing with respect to the four cardinal
points.

ORIEN'TALS, the natives or inhabi-
tants of the Eastern parts of the world.
It is common to give this appellation to
the inhabitants of Asia from the Helles-
pont and Mediterranean to Japan. An
orientalism is an idiom of the eastern
languages. An orientalist, one versed in
the eastern languages and literature.

O'RIFLAMME, the ancient royal
standard of France. It was the banner
of the abbey of St. Dennis, which was
presented by the abbot to the lord-protec-
tor of the convent, whenever engaged in
the field on its behalf. This protector-
ship was attached to the countship of

ORP]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

441

Vexin ; and when that county was added
to the possessions of the crown by Philip
I., this banner, which he bore in conse-
quence, became, in time, the great stand-
ard of the monarchy. By some it is said
to have been lost at Agincourt, but, ac-
cording to others, its last display in the
field was in the reign of Charles VII.

OR'IGENISTS, in the history of the
church, followers of Origen of Alexandria,
a celebrated Christian father, who held
that the souls of men have a pre-existent
state ; that they are holy intelligences,
and sin before they are united to the
body, <fcc.

ORIG'INAL, in the Fine Arts, a work
not copied from another, but the work of
the artist himself. When an artist copies
his own work, it is called a duplicate. A
certain freedom and ease are always dis-
cernible in an original, which in a copy
are looked for in vain ; though copies
have sometimes been executed which it
is almost impossible to detect, and which
have deceived even excellent judges. In
its more obvious and general sense, the
word is used as an adjective, and applied
to such productions as possess the princi-
ples of novelty or invention, as distin-
guished from that of imitation or man-
nerism ; but as a substantive, it means
such works as are the undoubted perfor-
mances of the great masters in any given
art or branch of art, a distinction which
it is often very difficult to award justly,
and which has been consequently given,
over and over again, through want of
complete evidence, to successful and spir-
ited copies.

ORIL'LON, in fortification, a round
mass of earth faced with a wall, raised
on the shoulder of those bastions that
have casements to cover the cannon of
the retired flank.

ORI'ON, in Greek mythology, the son
of Hyrieus; according to Homer a youth
slain by Diana, on account of the love
borne to him by Aurora; but according
to others, a king and a mighty hunter.
Antiquity is full of contradictions re-
specting the origin, character, and fate of
this mythological personage, and the
only point in which it agrees respecting
him is in his elevation to the stars after
his death.

OR'LO, in architecture, the plinth to
the base of a column or a pedestal.

R' MO LU, bronze or copper, gilt,
usually goes under this name. The
French are celebrated in this branch of
manufacture.

ORNITH'OMANCY, divination by the

flight of birds. The Efcruscans were the
most celebrated practisers of it.

OROMAS'DES, in Persian mythology,
the principle of Good, created by the will
of the great eternal spirit Zeruane Ak-
herene, simultaneously with Ahriman,
the principle of evil, with whom he is in
perpetual conflict. Oromasdes is the
creator of the earth, sun, moon, and stars,
to which he originally assigned each its
proper place, and whose various move-
ments he continues to regulate. Ac-
cording to the Persian myths, the world
which is to last 12,000 years, during
which the war between the Good and
Evil principle is to go on increasing, is
at length to bo consumed, the Evil prin-
ciple exterminated, and a new world be
formed.

OR'PHAN, a fatherless child or minor;
or one that is deprived both of father and
mother. The lord chancellor is the gen
eral guardian of all orphans and minor"
throughout the realm. In London the
lord-mayor and aldermen have the cus-
tody of the orphans of deceased freemen,
and also the Keeping of their lands and
goods : accordingly, the executors or ad-
ministrators of freemen leaving such or-
phans, are to exhibit inventories of the
estates of the deceased, and give security
to the chamberlain of London for the
orphan's part.

OR'PHANS' COURT, a court in some
states of the United States of America,
having jurisdiction of the persons and
estates of orphans.

OR'PHEAN MYSTERIES, the mys-
teries of which Orpheus was the founder
were so called. These mysteries were at
a remote period in the highest estimation,
and exercised an important influence over
the intellectual development of mankind.
Their nature is involved in an impenetra-
ble veil of obscurity ; but there can be
no doubt that they partook of the general
character of all mysteries, inculcating a
purer knowledge of religion than was
compatible with the superstitious obser-
vances then prevalent. On the union of
these mysteries with the Bacchanalian
orgies they fell into merited contempt,
and were at length gradually disused.
The initiated in these mysteries, as well
as the persons employed to initiate candi-
dates in them, were called, in some cases,
OrpheotelestcB.

OR'PHEUS, a mythological personage ;
according to the common story, :i son of
the Thraoian river /Eagrus and the muse
Calliope. His power of moving inani-
mate things by music, the share he borft

442

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITEllATURB

OSS

in the Argonautic expedition, his descent
into the Shades to recover his wife Eury-
dice, and his death by the violence of the
Thraeian women, are well-known circum-
stances in ancient romantic fable. Mod-
erns have imagined that his name is a
general mythic designation for the earliest
bards who came with their art from Thrace
to Greece. Whether any fragments of
poetry either of the real Orpheus or
of this supposed school, existed in Grecian
classical ages, has been doubted. What
passed as the poetry of Orpheus in the
time of Aristotle seems to have been
decidedly supposititious, as much so as the
poems which we possess under the same
name, some of which are thought to be
as recent as the 4th century after Christ.
According to modern theories, the Orphic
poetry of ancient times contained the
whole body of Grecian esoterical religion
and import of the Mysteries.

OR'THODOX, or OR'THODOXY, these
terms are restricted in application to
right judgments in matters of religious
faith; and although every sect maintains
of course the exclusive correctness of its
own views, yet the title of orthodoxy is
appropriated by ecclesiastical historians
to the standard maintained by the Catho-
lic or universal church. The term ortho-
dox is generally restricted also to those
principal tenets which have been always
held by the great mass of professing Chris-
tians : large bodies of dissenters in Eng-
land are allowed by the church to be
orthodox, inasmuch as they hold the three
creeds, and therefore profess the principal
articles of the Christian faith in common
with those who differ from them in mat-
ters of church authority and discipline.

OR'THOEPY, the art of uttering words
with propriety ; a correct pronunciation
of words.

ORTHOG'RAPHY, that part of gram-
mar which teaches the nature and prop-
erties of letters, and the proper spelling
or writing of words. In architecture, the
elevation or representation of the front
of abuilding. The internal orthography,
called also a section, is a delineation of
a building, such as it would appear if the
external wall were removed. In per-
spective, the right side of any plane, i. e.
the side or plane that lies parallel to a
straight line which may be imagined to
pass through the outward convex points
of the eyes, continued to a convenient
length.

O'RUS, an Egyptian god, son of Isis
and Osiris, according to Herodotus ; an-
swering to the Greek Apollo. He frequent-

ly appears in Egyptian paintings sitting
on the lap of Isis.

OSIAN'DRIANS, in ecclesiastical his-
tory, a sect among the Lutherans ; so
called from their founder Osiander, a
celebrated divine. They differed from
the followers of Luther and Calvin as to
the efficient cause of the justification.

OSI'RIS, in mythology, one of the chief
Egyptian divinities, the brother and hus-
band of Isis, and, together with her, the
greatest benefactor of Egypt, in to which he
introduced a knowledge of religion, laws,
and the arts and sciences. After having
accomplished great reformations at home,
he visited the greater part of Europe and
Asia, where he enlightened the minds of
men by teaching them the worship of the
gods and the arts of civilization. He was
styled " the Manifester of Good ;" and to
this title he had an undisputed right, for
he appeared on earth to benefit mankind ;
and after having performed the duties he
had come to fulfil, and fallen a sacrifice
to Typhon the evil principle (which was
at length overcome by his influence after
his leaving the world,) he ''rose again to
a new life," and became the "judge of
mankind in a future state." Other titles
of Osiris were, " President of the West,"
" Lord of the East," " Lord of Lords,"
" Eternal Ruler." " King of the Gods,"
<tc. Osiris has been identified with many
of the Grecian divinities ; but more espe-
cially with Jupiter, Pluto, and with Bac-
chus, on account of bis reputed conquest
of India. Osiris was particularly wor-
shipped at Philae and Abydus : so sacred
was the former that no one was permitted
to visit it without express permission ;
and the latter was regarded with such
veneration that persons living at a dis-
tance from it sought, and with difficulty
obtained, permission to possess a sepul-
chre within its necropolis.

OS'SIAN'S POEMS, the name given
to a collection of poems, alleged to have
been the production of Ossian, the son of
Fingal, a Scottish bard, who lived in the
third century. They were first given to
the world in an English version by James
M'Pherson, Esq., in 1760, with the assur-
ance that they were translations made
by himself from ancient Erse manuscripts
which he had collected in the Highlands
of Scotland ; and such was the enthusiasm
which their appearance excited, that they
may be almost said to have given a new
tone to poetry throughout all Europe.
There were not, however, wanting many
distinguished persons who, from the first,
denied their authenticity; foremost among

OTT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

443

whom was Dr. Johnson, who boldly pro-
nounced the whole of the poems ascribed
to Ossian to be forgeries ; and his opinion
was corroborated by Hume, Gibbon, and
many others, who defied M'Pherson to
produce a manuscript of any Erse poem
of earlier date than the sixteenth century.
On the other hand, M'Pherson's asser-
tions as to the genuineness of the poems
found warm supporters in Dr. Blair, Dr.
Henry, Lord Kaimes, and many other
distinguished names, and almost to a man
in the whole body of the Highlanders.
In this unsettled state the controversy
remained till the year 1800, when Mal-
colm Laing, so well known for his histor-
ical labors, in a Dissertation appended
to the second volume of his History of
Scotland, endeavored to establish, from
historical and internal evidence, that the
so called poems of Ossian are absolutely
and totally spurious. The sensation cre-
ated by this Dissertation was unprece-
dented. Many converts were made to
the opinions therein set forth ; but the
general disbelief in the authenticity of
the poems was not complete till 1805,
when a committee of the Highland Soci-
ety of Edinburgh, which had been ap-
pointed in 1797 to inquire into their na-
ture and authenticity, reported to the
effect " that they had not been able to
obtain any one poem the same in title
and tenor with the poems of Ossian."
Since that period the controversy, so far
as it regards their translation from Erse
manuscripts, may be said to be terminat-
ed. But although these poems had never
been committed to writing, or rather have
not been handed down in writing, there
can be, we believe, .but little doubt that
many of them still exist in the Highlands
of Scotland, in a dress not very different
from that in which they were rendered
by M'Pherson into English, having been
committed to memory, and transmitted
from one bard or storyteller to another
in regular succession; and consequently
their pretensions to be regarded as his-
torical authority on many points can
scarcely be denied. Their scene is some-
times laid in Scotland, but more fre-
quently in Ireland ; and they may be
justly considered the Iliad and Odyssey
of the Celtic race of the two islands,
handed down by tradition only what the
poems of Homer were, in all likelihood,
to the Greeks themselves before they
were acquainted with the art of writ-
ing.

OSSILE'GIUM, in antiquity, the act
of collecting the bones and ashes of the

dead after the funeral-pile was consumed,
and which was performed by the friends
or near relations of the deceased, who
first washed their hands and ungirt their
garments. When all the bones were col-
lected, they were washed with wine, milk,
perfumes, and the tears of friends ; after
this ceremony was over, the relics were
put into an urn, and deposited in a sep-
ulchre.

OS'TRACISM, in Grecian antiquity, a
kind of popular judgment or condemna-
tion among the Athenians, whereby such
persons as had power and popularity
enough to attempt anything against the
public liberty were banished for a term
of ten years. This punishment was called
ostracism, from a Greek word which
properly signifies a shell ; but, when ap-
plied to this object, it is used for the bil-
let on which the Athenians wrote the
names of the citizens whom they intended
to banish, which was a piece of baked
earth, or tile, in the form of a shell. If
6000 of the shells deposited in the place
appointed were in favor of the banish-
ment of the accused, it took effect ; other-
wise he was acquitted. After the expi-
ration of ten years, the exiled citizen was
at liberty to return to his country, and
take possession of his wealth, and all his
civil privileges. To this sentence no dis-
grace was attached; for it was never in-
flicted upon criminals, but only upon
those who had excited the jealousy or
suspicion of their fellow-citizens, by the
influence they had gained by peculiar
merit, wealth, or other causes. Aristotle
and Plutarch called ostracism the " med-
icine of the state."

OTTA'VA RI'MA, an Italian form of
versification, consisting of stanzas of two
alternate triplets and a couplet at the
end : the verses being, in the proper Ital-
ian metre, the heroic of eleven syllables.
It is a happy metre, in the hands of an
able versifier, for the expression of feel-
ings varying from the sublime and pa-
thetic to the humorous ; although rather
deficient in variety, and possessing too
little repose and solemnity for the sus-
tained majesty of epic poetry. It has
been adopted by the Germans, who have
given it something of an elegiac turn ;
and, of late, by English poets, of whom
the most distinguished is Lord Byron,
who has employed it in his Beppo and
Don Juan, works belonging to a mixed
class of poetry, between the serious and
the burlesque.

OT'TOMAN, an appellation given to
what pertains to the Turks or their gov-

444

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

ernment ; as, the Ottoman power or em-
pire. The word originated in Othman,
the name of a sultan who assumed the
government about the year 1300. The
finest countries of the old world have
been ruled for five hundred years by the
Turks, or Ottomans, a mixed people, com-
posed of Tartars, robbers, slaves, and kid-
napped Christian children.

OUT'LAWRY, the putting a man out
of the protection of the law, or the pro-
cess by which a man is deprived of that
protection. A defendant is outlawed in
Great Britain, upon certain proceedings
being had, when he does not appear to
answer to an indictment or process. On
an outlawry for felony, the person forfeits
his lands, goods, and chattels. In person-
al actions, the goods and chattels only are
liable ; and they are forfeited to the king,
with the profits of the lands ; for the
party being without the law, is incapable
of taking care of them himself. In an
indictment for treason or felony, an out-
lawry of the party indicted is equivalent
to a conviction. But in the case of either
treason or felony, an outlawry may be
reversed by a writ of error, or plea ; and
the judgment upon the reversal is, that
the party shall be restored to all that he
lost, &c. ; he must, however, plead to the
indictment against him.

OUT'LINE, contour; the line by which
a figure is defined ; the exterior line. In
drawing, the representation of an imagi-
nary line circumscribing the boundary of
the visible superficies of objects, without
indicating by shade or light the elevations
or depressions, and without color. The
study of contour or outline is of the
greatest importance to the painter, and
in recent times great attention has been
paid to it. The first sketch of a figure.
First general sketch of any scheme or
design.

OUT'WORKS, in fortification, all those
works of a fortress which are situated
without the principal wall, within or be-
yond the principal ditch. They are de-
signed not only to cover the body of the
place, but also to keep the enemy at a
distance, and prevent his taking advan-
tage of the cavities and elevations usual-
ly found in the places about the counter-
scarp, which might serve them either as
lodgments, or as rideaux, to facilitate the
carrying on their trenches, and planting
their batteries against the place : such
are ravelins, tenailles, horn-works, crown-
works, Ac.

0V A'TION, an inferior kind of triumph
which, according to the ancient Roman

custom, was granted to distinguished mil-
itary leaders. Some antiquaries imagine
the distinction between the triumph and
the ovation to have originally consisted,
not in the greater or less degree of honor,
but in the latter being strictly appropri-
ated to successes by which peace was ob-
tained, or to distinguish brilliant achieve-
ments in time of peace. Thus we find
that ovations were permitted, though
triumphs were not, in civil wars. An
ovation was celebrated by Mark Antony
and Octavius to solemnize their recon-
ciliation.

O'VERT ACT, in law, an open or
manifest act from whence criminality is
implied. No indictment for high treason
is good unless some overt act is alleged in it.

O'VERTURE, the introductory piece
of music prefixed to an opera or oratorio.
Its movements in works of the modern
school generally contain snatches of the
more prominent and leading airs in the
opera, and introduce the audience to a
general notion of the emotions which it
is the desire of the author to excite. The
word overture also signifies a proposal. ;
in which sense it is always used in the
Presbyterian church to indicate those res-
olutions proposed by presbyteries and
synods, and afterwards laid before the
General Assembly, either for its sanction
or rejection.

O'VOLO, in architecture, a moulding
whose profile is the quadrant of a circle ;
though in Grecian architecture there is a
deviation from that exact form, which is
most apparent at the upper portion,
where it resembles the form of an egg,
whence this moulding derives its name.

OWL, THE, among the ancients,
generally was considered as an omen of
misfortune or death. As, however, ac-
cording to Philostratus, theEgyptians rep-
resented Minerva under the form of an
owl, the Athenians, so peculiarly under
the care of this goddess, looked upon the
appearance of this bird as a favorable
omen. From this circumstance it formed
upon ancient coins, the symbol of Athens
and her foreign possessions.

OWL'ING, so called from its being
usually carried on in the night, is the
offence of transporting wool or sheep out
of England, contrary to the statute.

OX'GANG, in English antiquities, was
used to signify as much land as a single
ox could ear or plough in a season. The
oxgang was contracted or expanded ac-
cording to the quality of the land ; forty
acres constituting the maximum and six
the minimum of the measure.

PAG]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

445

OXYMO'RON, a rhetorical figure, in
which an epithet of a quite contrary sig-
nification is added to a word; as, tender
cruelty.

O'YER AND TEE/MINER, in law, a
court by virtue of the king's commission,
to hear and determine all treasons, felo-
nies, and misdemeanors.

YES, in law, corrupted from the
French "oyez,hear ye;" the expression
used by the crier of a court, in order to
enjoin silence when any proclamation is
made.

P, a consonant of the labial series. As
was to bo expected from the approxima-
tion of this letter in sound to b, it is sus-
ceptible of interchange with the latter in
nearly all the languages of which we have
any knowledge, but more especially in
the German. P. M. stands for post me-
ridiem, afternoon; P. S. for postscript.
As a numeral, P, like C, stands for one
hundred, and with a dash over it, P, for
four hundred thousand. P, in music, an
abbreviation of the Italian word piano,
soft, denoting that the force of the voice
or instrument is to be diminished. P.P.
means piu piano, or more soft ; and
P. P. P. pianissimo, as soft as possible.

PACA'LI A, a feast among the Romans
in honor of the goddess Pax. or peace,
who was worshipped as a deity with great
solemnity, and honored with an altar and
a magnificent temple.

PACHA', or PASHAW, the military
governor of a Turkish province. The
most distinguished of them have three
horse tails carried before them; the in-
ferior, two. Though the pacha is ap-
pointed and removed at the will of the
sultan, his powef* is very groat, and the
provincial administration is in his hands.
This word is also written bashaw.

PA'CHACA'MAC, the name given by
the idolaters of Peru to the being whom
they worshipped as the creator of the
universe ; this divinity was held in the
highest veneration. In the fruitful val-
ley of Pachncama (whence the name) the
incas dedicated to his honor a temple of
such splendor and wealth, that notwith-
standing the rapacity of the Spanish
soldiers, by whom it was plundered pre-
viously to the arrival of Pizarro, that
general is said to have drawn from it treas-
ures to the amount of 900,000 ducats.
The ruins of this temple which still re-

main, furnish a high notion of its former
magnificence.

PACIFICA'TION, EDICTS OF, the
term usually applied to the edicts issued
by the French monarchs in favor of their
Protestant subjects, in the view of allay-,
ing the commotions occasioned by their
previous persecutions. The first edict of
this nature was promulgated by Charles
IX. in 1562 ; but the most celebrated was
the edict of Nantes issued by Henry IV.
in 1598, and revoked by Louis XIV. in
1685.

PAC'TIO, among the Romans, was a
temporary cessation from hostilities ; a
truce or league for a limited time. It
differed from Fcedus, which was a per-
petual league, and required one of those
heralds called Feciales, to confirm it by
solemn proclamation ; neither of which
conditions were necessary in the truce
called Pactio.

PAD'ISHAH, a title assumed by the
Turkish sultan. Formerly the Ottoman
Porte applied that name only to the king
of France, calling the other European sov-
ereigns koral ; but it has since been ap-
plied to other foreign princes of Europe.

PA'DUAN COINS, in the Fine Arts,
coins forged by the celebrated Paduans,
Cavino and Bassiano ; who were also the
artists employed on the pope's medals,
from Julius III. to Gregory XIII. (1571.)
These coins hold the first rank in imita-
tions of ancient medals for their masterly
execution.

Pj35'AN, among the ancients, a song
of rejoicing in honor of Apollo, chiefly
used on occasions of victory and triumph.
Such songs were named Paeans, because
the words lo Paean ! frequently occurred
in them, which alluded to Apollo's contest
with the serpent. Paean, in ancient poe-
try, a foot of four syllables, of which there
are four kinds, the paean primus, secun-
dus, &c.

P^'DOBAP'TISTS, those who hold
that baptism should be administered dur-
ing infancy. The great majority of Chris-
tian churches which allow the baptism of
infants are thus denominated from that
circumstance, and are thereby distin-
guished from the Antipredobaptists. i. e.,
those who deny the validity of infant
baptism.

P^EDOTHY'SIA, the inhuman custom
of sacrificing children, which prevailed
among the heathens.

PAGANA'LIA, in antiquity, certain
festivals observed by the Romans in the
month of January. They were instituted
by Servius Tullius, who appointed a cer-

446

CYCLOPKDIA OF LITERATURE

[l J AO

tain number of villages (pagi,) in each of
which an altar was to be raised for an-
nual sacrifices to their tutelar gods, at
which all the inhabitants were to assist.
and give presents in money according to
their sex and age, by which means the
number of country-people was known.

PA'GANISM, the religion of the hea-
then world, in which the Deity is rep-
resented under various forms, and by all
kinds of images or idols ; it is therefore
called idolatry or image worship. The
theology of the pagans was of three sorts,
fabulous, natural, and political or civil.
The first treats of the genealogy, worship,
and attributes of their deities, who were
for the most part the offspring of the
imagination of poets, painters, and stat-
uaries. The natural theology of the
pagans was studied and taught by the
philosophers, who rejected the multiplici-
ty of gods introduced by the poets, and
brought their theology to a more rational
form. The political or civil theology of
the pagans was instituted by legislators,
statesmen, and politicians to keep the
people in subjection to the civil power.
This chiefly related to their temples, al-
tars, sacrifices, and rites of worship. In
its origin paganism, as a system, was
simple. A few great divinities were
placed in heaven to guide the affairs of
the visible and invisible worlds. By de-
grees each great planet, each law of na-
ture, each region and city, nay each river,
fountain, wood, tree, mineral, had its tu-
telary divinity. The laws of nature were
often inexplicable ; what more obvious
than to infer that each was subject to a su-
perior power 1 As the ideas of men became
more precise and refined, gods were placed
over human faculties and passions : thus
the understanding and the will, love and
revenge, were the offspring of certain dei-
ties. Mere abstractions were similarly
personified ; until the empire of reason,
of sentiment, and of morals, was as much
pervaded as earth, air, and ocean with
these visionary beings. In all countries
we find instances of deification of individu-
als. Thus he who during life, proved
himself a benefactor to his countrymen,
who taught them useful arts, or freed
them from some impending evil, would
be regarded with affectionate admiration
by his contemporaries ; and time, which
so constantly increases every object,
would convert a great exploit, a shining
virtue, into a divine effort. But it not
unfrequently happened that men were
often deified for brute strength, unac-
companied by those elevated mental qual-

ities which form the noblest distinction
of the hero. It may, however, be observ-
ed, that in such cases men were always
reverenced for the quality most wanted
in a state. If a district were infested by
wild beasts, or by predatory savages, a
Hercules arose to free it. If a country
required laws, a Minos established them.
If the culture of the grape was unknown, a
Bacchus appeared to teach it. Such ben-
efactors, it was believed, deserved, as
they certainly obtained, the peculiar fa-
vor of heaven rewards which far trans-
cended those bestowed on other men. In
most cases, however, each was held to be
a divinity, or at least the offspring of one.
As the generation of the gods was a re-
ceived tenet, and their union with mortals
of constant occurrence, imagination had
little difficulty in the filiation of a ben
efactor. Moat nations were eager to
proclaim a god as their founder ; and
when one laid claim to the honor, the ex-
ample was speedily followed by others
with equal appearance of justice. Hence
the prodigious number of divinities ;
heaven and hell, the earth and the plan-
ets, air and ocean, the whole frame of na-
ture, every part of the universe, visible
and invisible, even the realms of imagina-
tion, being pervaded by them ; and hence
idolatry became a complicated system,
endless in its forms of worship as in its
objects.

PA'GEANT, in its general sense, apub-
lic representation or exhibition of a showy
and splendid character. It was a very
early custom in the middle ages, both in
England and on the Continent, to celebrate
festive occasions of a public nature, as
royal visits, marriages. <fcc., by some orna-
mental show in the public streets of cities.
During the period of chivalry these shows
began to be exhibited with the addition
of masked figures, repreitenting allegori-
cal personages, with appropriate scenery ;
and as, in process of time, speeches in
verse or prose were put into the mouths
of these figures, and sometimes a kind
of dramatic entertainment performed be-
tween them, the pageant consequently
holds a place in early English literature.

PAGO'DA, a Hindoo place of worship,
divided, like our churches, into an open
space, a place for worship, and an interior
or chancel. The most remarkable pago-
das are those of Benares, Siarn, Pegu,
and particularly that of Juggernaut, in
Orissa. In the interior of these build-
ings, besides altars and statues of the
gods, there are many curiosities. The
statues, which are likewise called pago-

PAL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

447

das, and which are often numerous, are
usually rude images of baked earth,
richly gilt, but without any kind of ex-
pression. Pagoda is also the name of a
gold or silver coin current in Hindostan,
of different values in different parts of
India, from $2.00 to $2.25.

PAINS AND PEN'ALTIES, in law,
an act for the infliction of pains and
penalties beyond or contrary to the com-
mon law, in the particular cases of great
public offenders.

PAINTING, the art of representing
objects in nature, or scenes in human life,
with fidelity and passion. It was coeval
with civilization, and practised, with suc-
cess by the Greeks and Romans ; obscured
for many centuries, but revived in Italy
in the 15th century, where it produced
the Roman, Venetian, and Tuscan schools ;
afterwards, the German, Dutch, Flemish,
French and Spanish schools ; and, finally,
the English school, which equals, and bids
fair to transcend them all, in correct-
ness of drawing, effect of coloring, and
taste of design. It is distinguished into
historical painting, portrait painting,
landscape painting, animal painting, ma-
rine painting, &c. ; and as regards the
form and the materials, into painting in
oil, water colors, fresco, miniature, dis-
temper, mosaic, <fcc. Historical paint-
ing is the noblest and most compre-
hensive of all branches of the art ; for
in that the painter vies with the poet,
embodying ideas, and representing them
to the spectator. He must have technical
skill, a practised eye and hand, and must
understand how to group his skilfully
executed parts so as to produce a beauti-
ful composition ; and all this is insuf-
ficient without a poetic spirit which can
form a striking conception of an histori-
cal event, or create imaginary scenes of
beauty. The following rules of criticism
in painting have been laid down : 1. The
subject must be well imagined, and, if
possible, improved in the painter's hands ;
he must think well as an historian, poet,
or philosopher ; and more especially as
a painter, in making a wise use of all
the advantages of his art, and in finding
expedients to supply its defects. 2. The
expression must be proper to the sub-
ject, and the characters of the persons ;
it must be strong, so that the dumb-
show may be perfectly and readily un-
derstood ; every part of the picture must
contribute to this end; colors, animals,
draperies, and especially the attitudes of
the figures. 3. There must be one prin-
cipal light, and this and all the subor-

dinate ones, with the shadows and re-
poses, must make one entire and harmo-
nious mass ; while the several parts must
be well connected and contrasted, so
so as to make the whole as grateful to
the eye as a good piece of music is to
the ear. 4. The drawing must be just ;
nothing must be out of place, or ill-pro-
portioned ; and the proportions should
vary according to the characters of the
persons drawn. 5. The coloring, whether
gay or solid, must bo natural, and such
as delights the eye, in shadows as well
as in lights and in middle tints ; and the
colors, whether they are laid on thick, or
finely wrought, must appear to have been
applied by a light and accurate hand. 6.
Nature must be the obvious foundation of
the piece ; but nature must be raised and
improved, not only from what is common-
ly seen to what is rarely met with, but
even yet higher, from a judicious and
beautiful idea in the painter's mind.

PAIR'ING, in parliamentary lan-
guage, that practice by which two mem-
bers of a legislative body, of opposite po-
litical opinions, agree to absent them-
selves from divisions of the house during
a stated period.

PAL'ACE, a magnificent house in
which a sovereign or other distinguished
person resides ; as a royal palace ; a pon-
tifical palace ; a ducal palace. Palace-
Court, a court in England which admin-
isters justice between the domestic ser-
vants of the crown.

PAL'ADIN, a name formerly given to
the knights-errant, who travelled from
place to place to give proofs of their
valor and their gallantry ; extolling their
own mistresses as unrivalled in beauty,
and compelling those who refused to ac-
knowledge the truth of their panegyrics
to engage with them in mortal combat.
Of this kind the most famous were Ama-
dis of Gaul and the brave Roland or
Orlando.

PAL^EOG'RAPHY. a description of an-
cient writings, inscriptions, characters, <fec.

PAL^ES'TRA, in Grecian antiquity, a
public building where the youth exercised
themselves in wrestling, running, play-
ing at quoits, &c. Some say the palses-
tra consisted both of a college and an
academy, the one for exercises of the
mind, the other for those of the body ;
but most authors describe the palaestra
as a mere academy for bodily exercises.

PALANQUIN', or PALANKEEN', a
sort of litter or covered carriage, used in
the East Indies, and borne on the should-
ers of four porters, called coolies, eight of

448

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PAN

whom are attached to it, and who relieve
each other. They are usually provided
with a bed and cushions, and a curtain,
which can bo dropped when the occupant
is disposed to sleep. The motion is easy,
and the travelling in this way safe and
rapid.

PALA'RIA, in antiquity, an exercise
performed by the Roman soldiers, to im-
prove them in all their necessary ma-
noeuvres.

PAL'ATINE, an epithet applied ori-
ginally to persons holding an office or
employment in the palace of a sover-
eign ; hence it imports possessing royal
privileges, as the counties palatine of
Lancaster, Chester, and Durham, in Eng-
land, which have particular jurisdictions.
On the continent a palatine, or count
palatine, is a person delegated by a
prince to hold courts of justice in a prov-
ince, or one who has a palace and a court
of justice in his own house.. All the
princes of the German empire were ori-
ginally servants of the imperial crown.
In course of time they acquired indepen-
dent authority, and secured that author-
ity to their heirs : among these was the
count palatine, or of the palace, in the
German language denominated the pfalz-
graf. This officer was a president who
decided upon appeals made to the emper-
or himself, from the judgment of provin-
cial courts. All titles, except that of
lord, which is complimentary, and belong-
ed to territory, were originally official,
as are those of judge, general, Ac., at
this day.

PALEOL'OGY, a discourse or treatise
on antiquities, or the knowledge of an-
cient things.

PAL'FRE Y, a word seldom used except
in novels and romances to signify a small
or gentle horse, such as is fit for a lady's
use. It is also used by the old poetical
writers for a horse used by kings or noble-
men, or on state occasions.

PALI'CI, in Grecian mythology, twin
divinities worshipped in Sicily, and espe-
cially in the neighborhood of JEtna ;
sons, according to some, of Jupiter and
Thalia, the daughter of Vulcan ; accord-
ing to others, of Vulcan and ..Etna,
daughter of Ocean. Their heads appear
on coins of Catania.

PA'LIMPSEST, the name given to a
sort of parchment, from which whatever
was written thereon might be erased, so
as to admit of its being written on anew.
The term means, literally, twice rubbed.

PALINDROME, in composition, a
verse or lino which reads the same either

forwards or backwards ; e. g. that which
is put in the mouth of Satan Signa te,
signa, temere me fangis el angis (cross
thyself, cross thyself, you touch and tor-
ment me in vain ;) or, Roma tibi subito
motibus ibit amor.

PALINGENE'SIA, in philosophy, a
new or second birth regeneration. The
doctrine of the destruction and reproduc-
tion of worlds and living beings is Orien-
tal ; but the word in question appears to
be of Stoical origin.

PAL'HJODE, or PAL'INODY, a re-
cantation, particularly a poetical one, of
anything dishonorable or false uttered
against another person.

PAL'LET, among painters, a little
oval tablet of wood or ivory, on which a
painter places the several colors he has
occasion to use. The middle serves to
mix the colors on, and to make the tints
required. It is held by putting the
thumb through a hole made at one end
of it.

PAL'LITJM, an upper garment or
mantle worn by the Greeks, as the toga
was by the Romans. Each of these was
so peculiar to the respective nations, that
Palliatus is used to signify a Greek, and
Togatus a Roman. Pallium, or Pall,
also the woollen mantle which the Roman
emperors were accustomed from the
fourth century, to send to the patriarchs
and primates of the empire, and which
was worn as a mark of ecclesiastical dig-
nity. Since the 12th century it has con-
sisted of a white woollen band or fillet,
which is thrown over the shoulders out-
side of the sacerdotal vestments ; one
band hanging over the back, and another
over the' breast, and both ornamented
with a red chaplet.

PALM'ER, a pilgrim bearing a staff;
or one who returned from the Holy Land,
bearing branches of palm : he was dis-
tinguished from other pilgrims by his pro-
fession of poverty, and living on alms as
he travelled.

PALMISTRY, a mode of telling for-
tunes by the lines of the hand ; a trick of
imposture much practised by gipsies.

PALM SUNDAY, the sixth Sunday
in Lent, the next before Easter, commem-
orative of our Saviour's triumphal en-
trance into Jerusalem, when palm branch-
es were strewed in the way.

PAN, the chief rural divinity of the
Greeks, who presided over flocks and
herds. He was said by some to be the
son of Mercury ; and his birthplace was
Arcadia, to which province his worship
seems to have been confined in early

PAN]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

449

times. The introduction of his worship
into the other Grecian states is thus ac-
counted for. He was represented with
the head and breast of an elderly man,
while his lower parts were like the hind
quarters of a goat, whose horns he like-
wise bore on his forehead. His emblems
were the shepherd's crook and pipe of
seven reeds, his own invention,

PANATHENJE'A, in Grecian anti-
quity, an ancient Athenian festival, in
honor of Minerva, who was the protec-
tress of Athens, and called Athena. There
were two solemnities of this name, one
of which was called the greater panathe-
ncea, and celebrated once in five years.
These were distinguished from the less
(which were celebrated every third year)
not only by their greater splendor and
longer continuance, but particularly by
the solemn procession, in which' the pe-
plus, a sacred garment, consecrated by
young virgins, and made of white wool,
embroidered with gold, was carried from
the Acropolis into the temple of the god-
dess, whose ivory statue was covered with
it. This festival was so holy, that crimi-
nals were released from the prisons on
the occasion of its celebration, and men
of distinguished merit were rewarded with
gold crowns.

PANCRA'TIUM,- among the ancients,
a kind of exercise which consisted of
wrestling and boxing. In these contests
it was customary for the weaker party,
when he found himself pressed by his
adversary, to fall down, and fight rolling
on the ground.

PAN'DECTS, the name of a volume
of the civil law, digested by order of the
emperor Justinian.

PAN'DIT, or PUN'DIT, a learned
Brahmin ; or one versed in the Sanscrit
language, and in the sciences, laws, and
religion of the country.

PANDOURS', a kind of light infantry,
formerly organized as separate corps in
the Austrian service ; raised from the
Servian and Rascian inhabitants of the
Turkish frontier, and originally under
leaders of their own, styled Harumbachas.
Since 1755, they have been included in
the regular army.

PANEGY'RIC, in oratory, an eulogy
or harangue, written or spoken, in praise
of an individual or body of mn. Among
the ancients, orations were recited in
praise of the departed on various occa-
sions, before solemn assemblies : hence
the name. Among the later Romans,
the baser practice prevailed of reciting
panegyrical orations on distinguished
29

living persons in their presence. Among
the moderns panegyrical oratory has
been chiefly confined to funeral discourses
from the pulpit.

PAN'EL, in law, a schedule or roll of
parchment on which are written the
names of the jurors returned by the
sheriff. Impanelling a jury, is returning
their names in such schedule.

PAN'IC, an ill-grounded terror in-
spired by the misapprehension of danger.
The origin of the word is said to be de-
rived from Pan, one of the captains of
Bacchus, who with a few men routed a
numerous army, by a noise *which his
soldiers raised in a rocky valley favored
with a great number of echoes. Hence
all ill-grounded fears have been called
panic fears.

PAN'OPLY, literally all the armor
that can be worn for defence : complete
armor.

PANORA'MA, a picture in which all
the objects of nature that are visible from
a single point are represented on the in-
terior surface of a round or cylindrical
wall, the point of view being in the axis
of the cylinder. The rules according to
which the different objects are represent-
ed in perspective are easily deduced from
the consideration that the lines on the
panorama are the intersections of the
cylindrical surface of the picture, with,
one or more conical surfaces having their
summits at the point of view, and of
which the bases are the lines of nature
which the artist proposes to represent.
In executing this kind of perspective, t ho
artist divides the horizon into a conside-
rable number of parts, twenty, for exam-
ple, and draws, in the ordinary way, on
a plane surface, a perspective view of all
the objects comprised in each of these
portions of the horizon. He then paints
on a canvass, representing the develop-
ment of the cylindrical surface, the twen-
ty drawings, in as many vertical and
parallel stripes ; and the picture is com-
pleted by stretching the canvas on the
cylindrical wall of the rotunda which is .
to contain the panorama. When a paint-
ing of this kind is well executed, its truth
is such as to produce a complete illusion.
No other method of representing objects
is so well calculated to give an exact idea
of the general aspect and appearance of
a country as seen all round from a given
point.

PANTHE'A, in antiquity, statues com-
posed of the figures or symbols of several
divinities.

PAN'THEISM, in metaphysical theol-

450

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PAR

ogy, tho. theory which identifies nature,
or the universe in its totality with God.
This doctrine differs from atheism in the
greater distinctness with which it asserts
the unity and essential vitality of nature,
parts of which all animated beings arc.
The most ancient Greek philosophers
were pantheists in this sense, Anaxago-
raa being the first who distinctly stated
the coexistence with nature of a reason-
able creator " a mind, the principle of
all things." In this sense, too, Spinosa
may be called a pantheist. The pa.nthe-
ism of Schelling, and many modern Ger-
man philosophers, is of a different stamp.
According to these thinkers, God is con-
ceived as the absolute and original Being,
revealing himself variously in outward
nature, and in human intelligence and
freedom.

PANTHE'ON, in Roman antiquity, a
temple of a circular form, dedicated to
all the heathen deities. It was built on
the Campus Martius, by Agrippa, son-
in-law to Augustus; but is now converted
into a church and dedicated to the Virgin
Mary and all the martyrs. It is, how-
ever, called the rotunda, on account of its
form, and is one of the finest edifices in
Rome. The well-preserved portico seems
to be of a later period than the temple
itself; it consists of sixteen columns of
oriental granite, each of which is 15 feet
in circumference. The interior was for-
merly adorned with the most beautiful
statues of the various deities, but they
were removed by Constantine to Constan-
tinople ; at present there are in the eight
niches, eight fine columns, placed there
by the emperor Adrian. What is very
remarkable, and shows the alteration
which has taken place at Rome, is, that
the entrance is now twelve steps below,
though heretofore it was twelve steps
above the surface of the ground.

PAN'TOMIME, in the modern drama,
a mimic representation by gestures, ac-
tions, and various kinds of tricks perform-
ed by Harlequin and Columbine as the
'hero and heroine, assisted by Pantaloon
and his clown. Pantomimes, among the
ancients, were persons who could imitate
all kinds of actions and characters by signs
and gestures. Scaliger supposes they
were first introduced upon the stage to
succeed the chorus and comedies, and
divert the audience with apish postures
and antic dances. In after times their
interludes became distinct entertain-
ments, and were separately exhibited.

PA'PACY, the office of pope, or, his-
torically, the succession of popes in the

see of Rome. The origin of the term is
oriental. The word papas was used in
lower Greek, with the signification of
father, and is still applied by the Greek
church to the priests of that communion.
In the Western Church, the title was not
uncommonly given to bishops in general,
and was not confined to the Roman pon-
tiff for several centuries.

PA'PER-MONEY, or PA'PER CUR'-
RENCY, bank notes or bills issued by
the credit of government, and circulated
as the representative of coin. In a more
extensive sense, these terms may denote
all kinds of notes and bills of exchange.

PA PIST, one that adheres to the doc-
trines and ceremonies of the church of
Rome ; a Roman Catholic.

PAPY'RUS, an Egyptian sedge-like
plant, or reed-grass, which has acquired
an immortal fame in consequence of its
leaves having furnished the ancients with
paper. It grows in the marshes of Egypt
or in the stagnant places of the Nile. Its
roots are tortuous, and in thickness about
four or five inches : its stem, which is tri-
angular and tapering, rises to the height
of ten feet, and is terminated by a com-
pound, wide spreading, and beautiful
umbel, which is surrounded with an in-
volucre composed of eight large sword-
shaped leaves. The uses of the papyrus
were, however, by no means confined to
the making of paper. The inhabitants
of the countries where it grows, even to
this day, manufacture it into sail-cloth,
cordage, and sometimes wearing apparel.
PAR, (Latin, equal,) in commerce, is
said of any two things equal in value ;
and in money-affairs, the equality of one
kind of money or property with another :
thus, when $101) stock is worth exactly
$100 specie, the stock is said to be at par;
that is, the purchaser is required to give
neither more nor less of the commodity
with which he parts, than he receives of
that which he acquires : thus, too, the par
of exchange is the equal value of money
in one country and another.

PA'RA, a Turkish coin, very small and
thin, of copper and silver, the fortieth
part of a Turkish piaster.

PAR' ABLE, a fable or allegorical rep-
resentation of something real or appar-
ent in life or nature, from which a moral
is drawn for instruction. Parables are
certainly a most delicate way of impress-
ing disagreeable truths on the mind, and
in many cases have the advantage of a
more open reproof, and even of formal
lessons of morality : thus Nathan made
David sensible of his guilt by a parable ;

PAR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

451

and thus our Saviour, in compliance with
the customs of the Jews, who had a kind
of natural genius for this sort of instruc-
tion, spoke frequently in parables, most
beautifully constructed, and calculated to
convince them of their errors and pre-
judices.

PARACEL'SIAN, a name given to a
physician who follows the practice of
Paracelsus, a celebrated Swiss physician
and alchymist who lived at the close of
the 15th century, and who performed
many extraordinary cures by means to-
tally unknown to the generality of medi-
cal practitioners of his time.

PARACH RONISM, an error in chro-
nology, by which an event is related as
having happened later than its true
date.

PAR'ACLETE, a name attached to the
Holy Spirit, as an advocate, intercessor,
or comforter of mankind. It was not an
uncommon opinion of the early heretics,
that the Paraclete, whose mission was
promised by Christ, was to appear corpore-
ally upon the earth, and complete the dis-
pensation announced by our Lord and the
apostles ; and they drew a distinction be-
tween the person of the Comforter and
the effusion of his grace upon the disciples
on the day of Pentecost. Accordingly,
several of them, Simon Magus, Manes,
and others, gave themselves out as this
expected Paraclete; andTertullian him-
self was at one period infatuated by the
claims advanced by Montanus to this
personification.

PARACROS'TIC, a poetical composi-
tion in which the first verse contains, in
order, all the letters which commence the
remaining verses of the poem or division.
According to Cicero, the original sibylline
verses were paracrostics.

PAR'ADIGM, in grammar, an example
of a verb conjugated in the several moods,
tenses and persons.

PAR'ADISE, a region of supreme fe-
licity ; generally meaning the garden of
Eden, in which Adam and Eve were placed
immediately after their creation. The
locality of this happy spot has been as-
signed, by different writers, to places the
most opposite. In truth there is scarcely
any part of the world where Paradise has
not been sought for. The most probable
opinion is, that it was situated between
the confluence of Euphrates and Tigris,
and their separation ; Pison being a
branch arising from one of them after
their separation, and Gihon, another
branch arising from the other, on the
western side. When Christians use the

word, they mean that celestial paradise,
or place of pure and refined delight in
which the souls of the blessed enjoy ever-
lasting happiness. In this sense it is
frequently used in the New Testament :
our Saviour tells the penitent thief on the
cross, " This day shalt thou be with me
in Paradise ;" and St. Paul, speaking of
himself in 'the third person, says, ' I
knew a man who was caught up into
Paradise, and heard unspeakable words,
which it is not lawful for a man to utter."

PAR'ADOX, in philosophy, a tenet or
proposition seemingly absurd, or con-
trary to received opinion, yet true in
fact.

PAR'AGOUE, a figure in grammar by
which the addition of a letter or syllable
is made to the end of a word.

PAR/AGON, a model by way of dis-
tinction implying superior excellence or
perfection : as, a paragon of beauty or
eloquence.

PAR'AGRAM, a play upon words.
Hence paragrammatist, an appellation
for a punster.

PAR' AGRAPH, any section or portion
of a writing which relates to a particular
point, whether consisting of one sentence
or many sentences. Paragraphs are gen-
erally distinguished by a break in the
lines ; or, when a great quantity of print
is intended to be compressed into a small
space, they may be separated by a dash,
thus . A paragraph is also some-
times marked thus, ^\.

PARALEP'SIS, or PAR'ALEPSY, a
figure in rhetoric by which the speaker
pretends to pass by what at the same
time he really mentions.

PARALIPOM'ENA, in matters of lit-
erature, denotes a supplement of things
omitted in a preceding work.

PAR'ALLEL, is often used metaphori-
cally, to denote the continued comparison
of two objects, particularly in history.
Thus we speak of drawing an historical
parallel between ages, countries, or men.
Parallel passages, are such passages
in a book as agree in import ; as, for
instance, the parallel passages in the
bible.

PARAL'OGISM, in logic, a fallacious
argument or false reasoning ; an error
committed in demonstration, when a con-
sequence is drawn from principles which
are false, or though true, are not proved;
or when a proposition is passed over that
should have been proved by the way.

PAR'AMOUNT, in Eng. the supreme
lord of the fee. The lords of those ma-
nors that have other manors under them

452

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PAR

are styled lords-paramount ; and the
king, who, in law, is chief lord of all the
lands in England, is thus the lord-para-
mount. In common parlance, it means
superior to anything else ; as, a man's
private interest is usually paramount to
all other considerations.

PAR'ANYMPH, among the ancients,
the person who waited on the bridegroom
and directed the nuptial solemnities. As
the paranymph officiated only on the
part of the bridegroom, a woman called
pronuba officiated on the part of the
bride. In poetry, the term paranymph
is still occasionally used for the bride-
man.

PAR'APEGM, in ancient customs, sig-
nified a brazen table fixed to a pillar, on
which laws and proclamations were en-
graved. Also, a table set in a public
place, containing an account of the rising
and setting of the stars, eclipses, seasons,
Ac.

PAR'APET, in fortification, a wall,
rampart, or elevation of earth for screen-
ing soldiers from an enemy's shot. It
means literally, a wall breast high.

PA'RAPH, in diplomatics, the figure
formed by a flourish of the pen at the
conclusion of a signature. This formed,
in the middle ages, a sort of rude provi-
sion against forgery, like the flourishes
in the plates of bank notes. In some
countries (as in Spain,) the paraph is
still a usual addition to a signature.

PAIIAPIIERNA'LIA, in English law,
the goods which a wife brings with her
at her marriage, or which she possesses
beyond her dower or jointure, and which
remain at her disposal after her husband's
death. They consist principally of the
woman's apparel, jewels, <fcc., which, in
the lifetime of her husband, she wore as
the ornaments of her person ; nor can
the husband devise such ornaments and
jewels of his wife, though, during his life,
he has power to dispose of them.

PAR'APHRASE, an explanation of
some text or passage in a book, in a more
clear and ample manner than is express-
ed in the words of the author ; such as
the paraphrase of the New Testament by
Erasmus. A paraphrase partakes of the
nature both of a version, if the work par-
aphrased be in a foreign language, and
of a commentary. Its object is to ex-
press the full sense contained in the
words which are paraphrased, by the in-
troduction of circumlocutions, explana-
tory clauses, and expansions of the au-
thor's meaning.

PAR'ASANG, a Persian measure of

length, varying in different ages, and in
different places, from thirty to fifty stadia
or furlongs.

PARASCE'NIUM. in the Grecian and
Roman theatres, was a place behind the
scenes whither the actors withdrew to
dress and undress themselves. The Ro-
mans more frequently called it pustsce-
nium.

PARASCE'VE, a word signifying prep-
aration, given by the Jews to the sixth
day of the week, or Friday ; because, not
being allowed to prepare their food on
the sabbath day, they provided and pre-
pared it on the day previous.

PARASI'TI, among the Greeks, were
an order of priests, or at least ministers
of the gods, -resembling the Epulones at
Rome. Their business was to collect and
take care of the sacred corn destined for
the service of the temples and the gods ;
to see that sacrifices were duly perform-
ed, and that no one withheld the first
fruits, &c. from the deities. In every vil-
lage of the Athenians, certain Parasiti,
in honor of Hercules, were maintained
at the public charge ; but, to ease the
commonwealth of this burthen, the ma-
gistrates at last obliged some of the richer
sort to take them to their own tables, and
entertain them at their individual ex-
pense : hence the word parasite, by which
we denote a hanger-on, a fawning flat-
terer, one who, for the sake of a good
dinner at the expense of another person,
would be ready to surfeit him with adula-
tion.

PARAVAIL', in feudal law, the lowest
tenant holding under a mediate lord, as
distinguished from a tenant in capite,
who holds immediately of the king.

PAR'CM, or the FATES, in the hea-
then mythology, TS3re three goddesses
who were supposed to preside over the ac-
cidents and events, and to determine the
date or period of human life. They were
called Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis, and
are represented as spinning the thread of
human life ; in which employment Clotho
held the distaff, Lachesis turned the
wheel, and Atropos cut the thread. Their
persons are variously described ; some-
times they are represented as old women,
one holding a distaff, another a wheel,
and a third a pair of scissors. Others
paint Clotho in a robe of various colors,
with a crown of stars upon her head, and
holding a distaff in her hand ; Lachesis in
a garment covered with stars, and hold-
ing several spindles ; and Atropos they
clad in black, cutting the thread with a
large pair of scissors.

PAR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

453

PAR'CENER, or CO-PAR'CENER, in
law, a coheir, or one who holds lands by
descent from an ancestor in common with
others. The holding or occupation of
lands of inheritance by two or more per-
sons, differs from joint tenancy, which is
created by deed or devise, whereas par-
cenary is created by the descent of lands
from a common ancestor.

PAREL'CON, in grammar, the addi-
tion of a word or syllable at the end of
another.

PAREM'BOLE, a figure in rhetoric,
often confounded with the parenthesis.
The parembole is, in reality, a species of
parenthesis ; but its specific character is
this, that it relates to the subject ; while
the parenthesis is foreign from it.

PA'RENT, a term of relationship ap-
plicable to those from whom we im-
mediately receive our being. Parents,
by the law of the land as well as by the
law of nature, are bound to educate,
maintain, and defend their children, over
whom they have a legal as well as a nat-
ural power : they likewise have interest
in the profits of their children's labor,
during their nonage, in case the children
live with and are provided for by them ;
yet the parent has no interest in the real
or personal estate of a child, any other-
wise than as his guardian. The laws re-
lating to the mutual rights and duties of
parents and children are a very important
part'of every code, and have a very inti-
mate connection with the state of society
and with civil institutions. In ancient
times, when paternity was a great foun-
dation of civil authority, the parental
rights were much more absolute than in
the modern, extending, in some countries,
to the right of life and death, and con-
tinuing during the life of the two parties.

PARENTA'LIA, in antiquity, funeral
obsequies, or the last duties paid by chil-
dren to their deceased parents. The term
is also used for a sacrifice, or solemn ser-
vice, offered annually to the manes of the

PARENTHESIS, in rhetoric, a figure
by which a series of words is inserted in
a sentence, having no grammatical con-
nection with those which precede or fol-
low, with the object of explaining some
detached portion of the sentence. In an-
cient authors, a parenthetical form of
writing is even more common than among
moderns ; because much which a Greek or
Roman author would have conveyed by
way of parenthesis is now inserted in sep-
arate explanatory notes.

PA'RIAS, a degraded tribe of Hindoos,

who live by themselves in the outskirts
of towns ; and, in the country, build their
houses apart from the villages, or rather
have villages of their own. They dare
not in cities pass through the streets
where the Brahmins live ; nor enter a
temple of the superior castes. They are
prohibited from all approach to anything
pure, and are doomed to perform all
kinds of menial work.

PAR IM'PAR, in antiquity, a game
of chance practised among the Greeks
and Romans. It was identical with the
game of " even or odd" practised by the
boys of modern times.

PAR'ISH, the precinct or territorial
jurisdiction of a secular priest, or a cir-
cuit of ground or district inhabited by
people who belong to one church, and are
under the particular charge of its minis-
ter. In the earliest ages of the church,
the name parish was applied to the dis-
trict placed under the superintendence of
the bishop, and was equivalent to the
diocese. Parishes were originally eccle-
siastical divisions, but they now come
under the class of civil divisions. In
England, their limits cannot be altered
but by legislative enactment ; and in
Scotland it requires the authority of the
Court of Session, together with the con-
sent of three fourths of the heritors, to
erect new churches and to disjoin parish-
es. Towns originally contained but one
parish, but from the increase of inhab-
itants, many of them are divided into
several parishes. The number of parish-
es and parochial chapelries in England
and Wales is estimated at about 10,700.
In Scotland, the number of parishes rec-
ognized by law is 948. In some of the
United States, parish is an ecclesiastical
society not bounded by territorial limits ;
but the inhabitants of a town belonging
to one church, though residing promiscu-
ously among the people belonging to
another church, are called a parish. This
is particularly the case in Massachusetts.
In Connecticut, the legal appellation of
such a society is ecclesiastical society.

PARK, in England, a large piece of
ground enclosed and privileged for beasts
of the chase. Also, a piece of ground in
cities, planted with trees and devoted to
public recreation. Park of artillery, a
place in the rear of both lines of an
army for encamping the artillery, which
is formed in lines, the guns in front, the
ammunition wagons behind the guns, and
the pontoons and tumbrils forming the
third line. The whole is surrounded with
a rope.

454

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PAR

PAR'LIAMENT, the grand assembly
of tho three estates in Groat Britain, or
the great council of the nation, consisting
of the King, Lords, and Commons, which
form the legislative branch of the govern-
ment. The word parliament was intro-
duced into England under the Norman
kings. The supreme council of the na-
tion was called by our Saxon ancestors,
the wittenagemote, the meeting of wise
men or sages. A parliament is called by
the king's [queen's] writ, or letter, direct-
ed to each lord, summoning him to ap-
pear ; and by writs sent by the lord
chancellor under the great seal, com-
manding the sheriffs of each county to
take the necessary steps for the election
of members for the county, and the bor-
oughs contained in it. On the day ap-
pointed for the meeting of parliament,
the king [queen] sits in the house of lords
under a canopy, dressed in his [her] robes,
as are all the lords in theirs ; and, the
commons being summoned to the bar of
that house, the sovereign addresses both
houses on the state of public affairs.
The commons are then required to choose
a speaker, which officer being presented
to and approved by the sovereign, the
latter withdraws, the commons retire to
their own house, and the business of par-
liament begins. In the house of lords,
the seat of each member is prescribed
according to rank ; though, except in the
presence of the king [queen] this formali-
ty is almost wholly dispensed with. The
princes of the blood sit on each side of
the throne ; the two archbishops against
the wall on the king's right hand; the
bishops of London, Durham, and Win-
chester below the former, and the other
bishops according to priority of conse-
cration. On the king's [queen's] left
hand, above all the dukes except those
of the blood royal, sit the lord treasurer,
lord president, and lord privy-seal ; then
the dukes, marquises, and earls, the in-
dividuals of each class taking precedence
according to the date of their creation.
Across the room are woolsacks, continued
from ancient custom ; and on the first of
these, immediately before the throne, sits
the lord chancellor, as speaker of the
house. On the other woolsacks are seated
judges, masters in chancery, and the
king's counsel, who only give their advice
on points of law. In the house of commons
there are no peculiar seats for any mem-
bers. The speaker only has a chair ap-
propriated to him at the upper end of
the house, and at a table before him
sit the clerk and his assistant. When

the parliament is thus assembled, no
member is to depart without leave. Upon
extraordinary occasions, all the members
are summoned; otherwise three hundred
of the commons is reckoned a full house,
and forty may compose a house for the
dispatch of business. The method of
making laws is much the same in both
houses. In each house the act of the
majority binds the whole ; and this ma-
jority is declared by votes openly given ;
not privately, or by ballot.

PARLIAMENTARIAN, an epithet
for those who sided with the English re-
publican parliament in opposition to king
Charles I.

PARNAS'SUS, in mythology, a cele-
brated mountain in ancient Greece, sa-
cred to Apollo and the Muses, and, from
the numerous objects of classical interest
of which it formed the theatre, considered
"holy" by the Greeks. On its side stood
j the city of Delphi, near which flowed the
Castalian spring, the grand source of an-
cient inspiration ; and from this circum-
stance, in metaphorical language, the
word Parnassus has come to signify poe-
try itself. A good collection of the Italian
poets, printed at Milan, bears the title
11 Parnasso Italiano.

PARO'DY, a kind of writing in which
the words of an author or his thoughts
are, by some slight alterations, adapted
to a different purpose ; or it may be de-
fined, a poetical pleasantry in which the
verses of some author are, by way of rid-
icule, applied to another object ; or in
turning a serious work into burlesque by
affecting to observe the same rhymes,
words, and cadences.

PAR'OL, in law, anything done ver-
bally, or by oral declaration ; as parol
evidence. Parole, in military affairs, a
promise given by a prisoner of war when
suffered to be at large, that he will return
at the time appointed, unless he shall
have previously been discharged or ex-
changed. Parole also means the watch-
word given out every day in orders by a
commanding officer, in camp or garrison,
by which friends may be distinguished
from enemies.

PAROMOL'OGY, in rhetoric, a figure
of speech by which the orator concedes
something to his adversary, in order to
strengthen his own argument.

PARONOMA'SIA, a rhetorical figure,
by which words nearly alike in sound, but
of very different or opposite meanings,
arc affectedly or designedly used; a play
upon words.

PAR'QUETRY, a species of joinery or

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455

cabinet work, which consists in making a
parquet, or inlaid floor, composed of small
pieces of wood, either square or triangu-
lar, which, by the manner of their dispo-
sition, are capable of forming various
combinations of figures. Two sorts of
wood are employed for this purpose al-
most of the same color, or differing only
in shade, and these two sorts suffice for
the production of a great variety of
effects.

P AR'RICIDE, strictly signifies the mur-
der or murderer of a father, as matricide
does of a mother ; yet this word is ordina-
rily taken in both senses, and is also ex-
tended to the murder of any near relation.
The word parricide is also applied to one
who invades or destroys any to whom he
owes particular reverence, as his country
or patron. By the Roman law it was
punished in a severer manner than any
other kind of homicide. After being
scourged, the delinquents were sewn up
in a leathern sack.

PARRICID'ITJM, a name given by a
decree of the Roman senate to the ides
of March, which was the anniversary of
Caesar's assassination. Dolabella the
consul proposed a law to change its
name to Natalis Urbis, as he looked
on that day as the birthday of Roman
liberty.

PAR'SEE, the name given by English
writers to the Persian* refugees, driven
from their country by the persecutions
of the Mussulmans, who now inhabit
various parts of India. Their principal
emigration to Baroach, Surat, and the
neighboring coast, is supposed to have
taken place about the end of the eighth
century. The sacred fire, the emblem of
their religion, called behrem, is believed
by them to have been brought by the first
emigrants from Persia, and, after many
changes of place, is now preserved at
Odisari and Nausari, near Surat, and at
Bombay. In this latter city, under the
protection of the British government,
they have grown into a colony of consid-
erable numbers and of great opulence.
They have become particularly distin-
guished in the art of shipbuilding, and
the dock-yard of Bombay is now almost
exclusively in their hands. Their charac-
ter is variously estimated by different
observers ; but all agree in attributing to
them industry and economy, and attach-
ment to their religion, and to those of the
higher class strong sentiments of honor
and honesty. Their number is said to
equal 700,000 ; and at Bombay, according
to late calculations, at least 20,000.

PARS'ING, in grammar, the resolving
a sentence into its elements, by showing
the several parts of speech of which it is
composed, and their relation to each
other according to grammatical rules.

PAR'SON, the rector or incumbent of
a parish, who has the parochial charge
or cure of souls. Parsonage, a rectory
endowed with a house, glebe, lands, tithes,
&c., for the maintenance of the incum-
bent.

PAR'THENON, in ancient architec-
ture, the name given to the celebrated
Grecian temple of Minerva, erected dur-
ing the splendid era of Pericles. It was
built of marble upon a spot elevated on
all sides above the town and citadel ; of
the Doric order ; 222 Greek feet in length,
and 69 in height. This magnificent tem-
ple had resisted all the ravages of time ;
had been in turn converted into a Chris-
tian church and a Turkish mosque ; but
in the year 1687, when the Venetians
besieged the citadel of Athens, under the
command of general Koenigsmarck, a
bomb fell most unluckily on the devoted
Parthenon, set fire to the powder which
the Turks had shut up therein, and thus
the roof was entirely destroyed, and the
whole building almost reduced to ruins.

PARTICEPS CRIM'INIS, in law, an
accomplice, or one who has a share in
the guilt.

PARTICIPANTS, a semi-religious
order of knighthood, founded by Pope
Sextus V., in 1586, in honor of Our Lady
of Loretto. The members of this order
were allowed to marry. The order was
soon extinguished; and the title of Knights
of Loretto is now conferred on some civil
servants of the pope.

PARTITION, in music, the arrange-
ment of the several parts of a composition
on the same page or pages, ranged
methodically above and under each other,
so that they may be all under the eye of
the performer or conductor, and sung or
played jointly or separately as the com-
poser intended. It is commonly called a
score. In architecture, the vertical as-
semblage of materials which divides one
apartment from another. It is usually,
however, employed to denote such divi-
sion when constructed of vertical pieces of
timber called quarters. In politics, the
division of the states of a sovereign or
prince, after his decease, among his heirs,
as was the custom in some of the prince-
ly families in the ancient German em-
pire : or among other powers, such as
that of the states of the king of Spain,
which was in contemplation (against all

456

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PAS

justice) between William III., Louis
XIV., and the Dutch, by the treaties of
1698 and 1699, when Charles II., the
reigning monarch, was without near
heirs. But the most celebrated parti-
tions in history, to which the name has
become almost exclusively attached, were
those of Poland by llussia, Prussia, and
Austria.

PARTNERSHIP, the association of
two or more persons for the prosecution
of any trade, manufacture, or commercial
enterprise, at their joint expense. In
this case the connection is formed by con-
tract ; each partner furnishing a part of
the capital stock, and being entitled to a
proportional share of profit, or subject to a
proportional share of loss ; or one or more
of the partners may furnish money or
stock, and the others may contribute
their services. A partnership or associa-
tion of this kind is a standing or perma-
nent company, and is denominated a, firm
or house. Though partnerships ought not
to be entered into without great circum-
spection, the benefits of a union of the
means and advantages of different per-
sons for the conduct of a business, in many
instances, are too obvious to need illus-
tration.

PAR'TT, in politics, a body of men
united under different leaders for promot-
ingi by their joint endeavors, the nation-
al interest, upon some particular prin-
ciple in which they are all agreed. The
origin of party may be traced to that law
of the human mind which is founded in
our natural desire of sympathy, and our
disposition to afford it. From the earliest
ages down to the present time, the prin-
ciple of mutual eo-operation has been
adopted with success in executing favor-
ite designs, and in aiming at the accom-
plishment of certain ends. Among the
ancient Romans, for example, " iderp.
sentire de republica" formed a princip'al
ground of friendship and attachment ;
and the same feeling, modified by differ-
ent forms of government and other cir-
cumstances, is at present in full operation
in all the civilized states of Europe and
America. The benefits of party may be
briefly stated to be, increased energy in
pursuit of a common object, regular co-
operation, mutual control and regulation,
and an advantageous division of labor.
But, though party or combination may in
this manner be productive of good results,
like every other principle and feeling in
our nature, it is liable to be abused. It
involves a frequent sacrifice of individual
notions of what is just and proper, and

tempts bodies of men to act in a way that
would often be deemed discreditable in
individuals. Perhaps the worst effect of
party is its tendency to generate narrow,
false, and illiberal prejudices, by teach-
ing the adherents of one party to regard
those that belong to an opposing party as
unworthy of confidence ; and in making
them oppose good measures because they
happen to be proposed by a different
party, and support bad measures because
they are proposed or supported by their
own party.

PASIG'RAPHY, the imaginary uni-
versal language to be spoken and written
by all nations, the invention of which has
exercised the ingenuity of so many learn-
ed men, has been denoted by this word.
Leibnitz seems to have been one of the
first who conceived this to be possible.
Many writers in Germany (where the
name was invented) have followed him in
the endeavor to devise schemes for this
fanciful object. In England, Bishop
Wilkins, in the reign of Charles II., in-
vented a scheme for a universal language,
grammar and character.

PASQUINADE', a satirical writing
directed against one or more individuals.
A mutilated ancient statue of a gladiator
dug up at Rome about 300 years ago,
which now lies in the court of the Capi-
tol, was popularly termed, by the Ro-
mans, " Pasquino/' from the name, it is
said, of a barber of eccentric and well-
known character, opposite to whose house
it was originally set up. This statue, and
another, called by the populace Marforio,
which was situated near it, were used for
the purpose of bearing satirical placards,
often reflecting on the court and church
of Rome, which were affixed to them at
night, not unfrequently in the form of a
dialogue between the two statues. So
annoying did Pasquin often become to the

fovernment, that on one occasion a serious
esign was entertained of throwing him
into the river ; but the ministers of the
reigning pontiff are said to have dissuad-
ed him from it, representing that if this
were done " the frogs in the Tiber would
croak louder than ever Pasquin had
spoken." He has, however, lost his pub-
lic spirit, and rarely or never ventures to
attack the powers that be. But his
statue is still the occasional receptacle
of jocose comments on private matters.
The difference between a pasquinade and
a satire is, that the end of the latter is to
correct and reform, while that of the
former is only to ridicule and expose.
PAS'SING-BELL, the bell that is

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

457

tolled at the hour of death, or immediate-
ly after death. The passing-bell was
originally intended to drive away any
demon that might seek to take possession
of the soul of the deceased, on which ac-
count it was sometimes called the soul-
bell. Mr. Ellis in his notes to Brand,
quotes Wheatley's apology for our re-
taining this ceremony ; " Our church,"
says he, " in imitation of the saints in
former ages, calls on the minister, and
others who are at hand, to assist their
brother in his last extremity. In order
to this, she directs that when any one is
passing out of this life a bell should be
tolled."

PAS'SION, or THE PAS'SIONS, are
strong feelings or emotions of the mind
excited by an adequate cause, and exist-
ing in such strength as to engross the
whole man, and resist the influence of
every other cause of sensation. In order
to form a clear notion of the passions, we
must begin with rejecting the phrase
that man is possessed of this or that
number of passions, and say that he is
possessed of one quality, that is, suscep-
tibility, which is liable to be acted upon
by this or that number of causes. Man,
therefore, has not so many feelings, but
one feeling, assuming different forms of
appearance according to the impression
it receives; and the number of passions is
exactly that of the circumstances that
are important to a sentient creature.
Now, these, in a comprehensive point of
view, are only of two kinds ; those that
contribute to its pleasure, and those that
are productive of pain. It is for this
reason that, according to some, man has
only two passions : the desire of happi-
ness, and the aversion to evil ; but sub-
divided, each order has its genera, and
each genus its species. The desire of
happiness is separated into love, or the
wish to possess that which will impart
happiness ; hope, which is the expecta-
tion of possessing it ; and joy, which is
the assurance of possession. The aver-
sion to evil is separated into fear, which
belongs to the dread of evil ; grief, which
belongs to the presence of it ; and anger,
which resents it. These, again, to which
also other genera may be added, are dis-
tinguished into species ; as, to fear belong
terror and horror ; and to anger, envy,
jealousy, hatred, and malice. Some think
the most natural division of the passions
is into pleasurable and painful. Pas-
sions, in painting and sculpture, the rep-
resentation in the countenance and other
parts, of the violent emotions of the mind,

produced by anger, fear, grief, &c. The
expression of the passions is a language
without which the painter can never hope
for success ; it is in this that he has the
means of appealing to the sympathy of
the spectator. The close observation of
nature under similar circumstances is
the only mode by which his aim can bo
accomplished.

PAS'SION-WEEK, the week immedi-
ately preceding the festival of Easter ; so
called, because in that week our Saviour's
passion and death happened. The Thurs-
day in this week is called Maundy
Thursday, and the Friday, Good Friday.
The "passion of Christ" is celebrated in
the Catholic and most Protestant churches
on the European continent during Lent,
and particularly during Passion-week, by
sermons relating to the sufferings of the
Saviour ; and it is no inconsiderable
treat to the lovers of sacred music who
may be sojourning at Rome during the
time, to hear the compositions of Pales-
trini, Pergolesi, Allegri, <fec., in the purest
style, as performed in the Sistine Chapel.

PAS'SIVE, in grammar, a term given
to a verb which expresses passion, or the
effect of an action of some agent. Pas-
sive obedience, in civil polity, denotes not
only quiet unresisting submission to pow-
er, but implies the denial of the right of
resistance, or the recognition of the duty
to submit in all cases to the existing gov-
ernment. Passive prayer, among mystic
divines, is a suspension of the soul or in-
tellectual faculties, and yielding only to
the impulses of grace. Passive com-
merce, trade in which the productions of
a country are carried on by foreigners in
their own ships : opposed to active com-
merce.

PASS'OVEE, a solemn festival of the
Jews, celebrated on the 14th day of the
month following the vernal equinox, and
instituted in commemoration of their prov-
idential deliverance on the night before
their departure from Egypt, when the
destroying angel, who put to death the
first-born of the Egyptians, passed over
the house of the Hebrews, which were
sprinkled with the blood of a lamb.

PASS'PORT, a written license from a
king, governor, or other proper authority,
granting permission or safe conduct for
one to pass through his territories, or to
pass from one country to another, or to
navigate a particular sea without moles-
tation. Also, a license for importing or
exporting contraband goods or movables
without paying the usual duties. In all
passports it is usual to describe the per-

458

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PAT

sons, purposes, and destinations of the
traveller, intended to show that their
characters are good, and their objects in
travelling lawful. The use of passports
is abolished in the United States and
England.

PASTE, in gem sculpture, a prepara-
tion of glass, calcined crystal, lead, and
other ingredients, for imitating gems.
This art was well known to the ancients,
and after being long lost, was restored,
at the end of the fifteenth century, by a
Milanese painter.

PAS'TEL, in painting, a crayon formed
with any color and gum water, for paint-
ing on paper or parchment. The great
defect of this mode of painting is its want
of durability.

PASTIC'CIO, in painting, a picture
painted by a master in a style dissimilar
to that in which he generally painted.
David Teniers could, for instance, imitate,
with surprising exactness, the styles of
many of the first masters of Italy and
Flanders. The same may be affirmed of
Luca Giordano, a Neapolitan artist.

PASTOPH'ORI, in antiquity, priests
among the Greeks and Romans whose of-
fice it was to carry the images along with
the shrines of the gods at solemn festivals.
The cells or apartments near the temples
where the Pastophori lived, were called
Pastophorla.

PAS'TORAL, something descriptive of
a shepherd's life ; or a poem in which any
action or passion is represented by its ef-
fects on a country life. The complete
character of this poem consists in sim-
plicity, brevity, and delicacy; the two
first of which render an eclogue or idyl
natural, and the last delightful. As the
fir^ strains of poetry must have been
heard in the primitive times of the hu-
man race, and as a shepherd's life is con-
genial with this mode of occupation, we
naturally consider poetry as having origi-
nated in the pastoral period ; but the
poetic idea of pastoral life, where all is
purity and simplicity, is not supported by
experience in past or present times.

PASTORA'LE, in ecclesiastical affairs,
that part of theology which includes the
execution of the duties of the clergyman,
or the practical application of his theolo-
gical knowledge. In the pastorale of a
Roman Catholic priest, the chief part of
the canon law is comprised ; while that of
the Protestant minister consists of princi-
ples addressed merely to his understand-
ing, including certain rules which experi-
ence has shown to be important for the
execution of clerical duties.

PATAVIN'ITY, a term used by clas-
sical scholars to denote a peculiarity of
Livy's diction ; so denominated from Pa-
tavium or Padua, the place of his nativ-
ity ; but as authors are not agreed as to
what this patavinity consists in, it may
reasonably be concluded that it is one of
those delicacies which are undiscernible
when a language is no longer spoken.

PATE, in fortification, a kind of plat
form, resembling what is called a horse-
shoe ; not always regular, but generally
oval, encompassed only with a parapet,
and having nothing to flank it.

PAT'ENTS, orLET'TERS PATENT,
(open letters,) writings sealed with the
great seal, granting a privilege to some
person, or authorizing a man to do or en-
joy that which he could not of himself.
They are called patent on account of their
form being open, ready to be exhibited
for the confirmation of the authority del-
egated by them. In England and the
United States, patents are granted for a
term not exceeding fourteen years. The
time in England may be prolonged by a
private act, and in the United States by
act of congress. In France, patents are
given for five, ten, or fifteen years, at the
option of the inventor ; but this last term
is never to be prolonged without a par-
ticular decree of the legislature. The
caveat is an instrument by which notice is
requested to be given to the person who
enters it, whenever any application is
made for a patent for a certain invention,
which is therein described in general
terms, and must be renewed annually.
It simply gives notice that the invention
is nearly completed, with a request that,
if any other person should apply for a pat-
ent for the same thing, the preference
may be given to him who entered it.

PA'TERA, in architecture, an orna-
ment frequently seen in the Doric frieze,
and in the tympans of arches. The pa-
tera was a small dish or vase used by the
Romans in their sacrifices, in which they
offered their consecrated food to the gods,
and with which they made libations ; and
hence, as the Doric was used for temples,
it became an ornament of that order. It
was also enclosed in urns with the ashes
of the dead, after it had been used in the
libations of wine and other liquors at the
funeral.

PAT'ERNOSTER, the Lord's prayer,
so called from the two first words thereof
in Latin. It is also sometimes used for
a rosary or string of beads, used by Ro-
man Catholics in their devotions ; but
more especially for every tenth large

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

459

bead in the said rosary ; for at this they
repeat the Lord's prayer ; and at the in-
tervening small ones, only an Ave Ma-
ria. In architecture, the same term is
used for an ornament cut in the form of
beads, either oval or round, for astragals,
Ac.

P A'THOS, language capable of moving
the tender passions, and of exciting the
finest emotions of the soul.

PATIENCE, the quality of enduring
affliction, pain, persecution, or other evil,
without murmuring or fretfulness.

PAT'IN, in the Romish church, the
cover of the chalice, used for holding par-
ticles of the host.

PA'TOIS, a word in general use in
most European countries, signifying the
dialect peculiar to the lower classes.

PA'TRES CONSCRIP'TI.aname given
to the Roman senators in general, though
at first it was applied to a particular part
of that body. The hundred appointed by
Romulus were called simply Patres ; a
second hundred added by Romulus and
Tatius upon the union of their people,
were denominated Patres Minorum Gen-
tium ; a third hundred being afterwards
added by Tarquinius Priscus, the two
latter classes were called Patres Con-
scripti, because they were written down
or put upon the list with the original
hundred of Romulus.

PA'TRIARCH, properly signifies the
head or chief of a family. The name of
patriarchs is generally confined to the
progenitors of the Israelites who lived
before Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
&o.; or to the heads of families before the
flood, as the antediluvian patriarchs. The
appellation has from hence been trans-
ferred to the bishops of the first churches
of the East ; as, the patriarchs of Antioch,
Alexandria, Jerusalem. Constantinople.

PATRI'CIAN, in Roman history, a
title given at first to the descendants of
the senators whom Romulus created, and
called patres, " fathers." It was after-
wards enjoyed by those who became sen-
ators by other channels than that of he-
reditary claim : but the dignity of the
patricians was lessened by the fall of the
republic, the civil wars, and the estab-
lishment of the imperial dignity. The
word patrician, in its general and mod-
ern acceptation, signifies noble ; senato-
rial ; not plebeian.

PAT'RICK, ST., Order of, an Irish
order of'knighthood, instituted by George
III. in 1783, which is the only one be-
longing to Ireland, but it is the most
splendid of any.

PA'TRIOT, one who sincerely loves
his country, and who, as a proof of that
love, exerts his best energies in contrib-
uting to his country's welfare. In the
Latin of the middle ages, patriota signi-
fied a native, in contradistinction to pere-
grinus, a foreigner, that is, one who did
not enjoy the rights of citizenship. As the
native, or citizen, was considered to be
attached by his interests to the common-
wealth, the word gradually received the
meaning of a citizen who loves his coun-
try. Like many other words, its true
meaning has at times been sadly pervert-
ed, or irreverently used.

PAT'RIOTISM, the love of one's coun-
try the noblest passion that animates
the breast of a true citizen, either in de-
fending it from foreign enemies, or in
protecting its rights and maintaining its
laws and institutions in vigor and purity
when assailed by domestic foes.

PATROL', in war, a round or march
made by the guard in the night-time, to
observe what passes, and to secure the
peace and safety of a city or camp, or oth-
er place. The patrol generally consists of
a body of five or six men detached from
a body on guard, and commanded by a
Serjeant.

PA'TRON, in its most general sense,
signifies one that specially countenances
and supports another, or lends his aid to
advance the interests of some underta-
king ; as a patron of the Fine Arts ; the
patrons of a charitable institution, Ac.
Patron, (patronus,) among the Romans,
was an appellation given to any per-
son in power, under whose protection
a few inferiors put themselves, under cer-
tain conditions of obedience and personal
service. The persons protected were
called clients. The duty of the patrons was
to be their clients' counsellors in difficult
cases, their advocates in judgments, their
advisers in matters of doubt, and their
overseers in all their affairs. Patron
was also a title conferred on a master who
had freed his slave ; the relation of pa-
tron commencing when that of master ex-
pired. The patron was legal heir to his
freedmen, if they died intestate, or with-
out lawful issue born after their freedom
commenced. By the Papianlaw, if afreed-
man's fortune amounted to ten thousand
sesterces and he had three children, the
patron was entitled to a child's portion.
Patron in the English canon and common
law. a person who, having the advowson of
a parsonage, vicarage, or other spiritual
promotion belonging to his manor, has
the gift and disposition of the benefice,

460

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PED

and may present to it whenever it be-
comes vacant. Patron, in the church
of Rome, a guardian or saint, whose
name a person bears, or under whose pro-
tection he is placed, and whom he in-
vokes : or a saint, in whose name a
church or order is founded. Lay-patron-
age is a right attached to a person either
as founder or as heir of the founder, or
as possessor of the see to which the pa-
tronage is annexed. Ecclesiastical pa-
tronage is that which a person is entitled
to by virtue of some benefice which he
holds.

PATRONYM'IC, a term applied to
such names of men and women as are de-
rived from those of their parents or an-
cestors ; as Tydides, the son of Tydeus.

PAULI'CIANS, in ecclesiastical histo-
ry, a branch of the ancient Manichees,
so called from their founder, one Paul us,
an Armenian. For several centuries they
suffered great persecution, and were at
length wholly exterminated.

PAUSA'NIA, in Grecian antiquity, a
festival, in which were solemn games,
wherein nobody contended but free-born
Spartans. It was instituted in honor of
Pausanias, the Spartan general, under
whose conduct the Greeks overcame Mar-
donius, in the celebrated battle at Plataea.

PAUSE, a character of time in music,
marked thus '""*, denoting that the note
over which it is placed is to be drawn out
to a greater length than usual, or to be
embellished with appoggiatures, shakes,
or other graces.

PAVIL'ION, in architecture, a kind
of turret or buiMing, usually insulated
and contained under a single roof: some-
times square, and sometimes in form of a
dome Sometimes a pavilion is a pro-
jecting part in front of a building; some-
times it flanks a corner. In military af-
fairs, a tent raised on posts. The word is
also sometimes used for a flag, ensign, or
banner.

PAWNBROKER, a species of banker,
who advances money at a certain rate of
interest upon the security of goods de-
posited in his hands ; having power to
sell the goods if the principal sum. and
the interest thereon, be not paid within
a specified time. The practice of advan-
cing money to the poor, either with or
without interest, seems to have been occa-
sionally adopted in ancient times ; but the
first public establishments of this kind
were founded in Italy, under the name of
Monti di Pieta, in the 14th and 15th cen-
turies, and were intended to countervail
the exorbitant usurious practices of the

Jews, who formed at that period the great
money-lenders of Europe. From Italy
these establishments gradually spread
over the Continent, jn many parts of
which they still exist.

PAX, on allegorical divinity among

the ancients, worshipped as the goddess

of peace. She had a celebrated temple

at Rome, which was built by Vespasian,

and was consumed by fire in the reign of

| Comrnodus. This term is sometimes ap-

i plied to a small image of Christ, because,

in former times, the kiss which the people

gave it before leaving church was called

the kiss of peace.

PEACE, in a general sense, signifies a
state of tranquillity or freedom from dis-
turbance.* In a political sense, freedom
from war with a foreign power, or from
internal commotion. It likewise denotes
a calm and tranquil state of the mind,
which is the effect of a clear conscience.
Also, that quiet, order, and security
which is guaranteed by the laws.

PEC ULATOR, one who defrauds the
public by appropriating to his own use
money entrusted to his care.

PECU'LIAR, in the English canon law,
a parish or church that has jurisdiction
within itself, and is competent to the
granting probates of wills and letters of
administration, exempt from the ordinary
or bishop's court. Court of Peculiars, a
branch of the court of arches, belonging
to the archbishop of Canterbury, which
takes cognizance of matters relating to
parishes that have a peculiar jurisdic-
tion.

PED'AGOGUE, among the ancient
Greeks, a slave charged with the personal
care of a boy from the earliest age after in-
fancy (from the milk, in the loose phrase
of Plutarch ; from about the age of seven,
as it is more accurately stated by
JEschines) until he became a youth, i. e.,
until the seventeenth or twentieth year.
The pedagogue's duty was to attend his
charge on all occasions when he left his
father's house ; to the lecture-rooms, of
masters, the theatres, <fec. He was also
entrusted with the duty of instructing
and disciplining the child in all the inferior
branches of education and ordinary man-
ners. He was, consequently, of a very
superior order of common slaves.

PED'ALS, in music, the keys played
by the feet, (hence the name,) by which
the deepest bass pipes of an organ are
put in motion. A pedal is also used
under a piano, in order to strengthen and
prolong the tones. In a harp, the podal
serves to elevate the notes half a tone.

PEN]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

461

PED'ESTAL, in architecture, the low-
est part of a column, being that which
serves as its stand. It consists of three
parts, viz., a trunk or dye, which forms
the body ; a cornice, the head ; and a
base, the foot of the pedestal.

PEDIMENT, the triangular finishing
above the entablature at the end of build-
ings or over porticoes. The mouldings of
the entablature bound the inclined sides
of the pediment. Also the triangular
finishing over doors and windows. In the
debased Roman style the same name is
given to these same parts, though not

Pediment.

triangular in their form, but circular, el-
liptical, or interrupted. In the architec-
ture of the middle ages, small gables and
triangular decorations over openings,
niches. &c., are called pediments. These
have the angle at the apex more acute
than the corresponding decoration of clas-
sic architecture.

PEER, in England, a nobleman or peer
of the realm. The lords of parliament
are the peers of each other; for whatever
formality of precedence may attach to
the title of duke, earl, marquis, or vis-
count, it is a barony which conveys the
right to a seat in parliament, and confers
every privilege annexed. It is as a baron,
not as a duke, bishop, &c. that a peer
sits in parliament ; and the parliamentary
rights are, at the present day, the essence
of nobility. In compliance with an
ancient practice, peers are sometimes
still created by titles which convey the
idea of local rights to which they have in
reality no pretension ; but though this is
a mere form, the rank they gain is not
an empty one ; it is that of an hereditary
legislator of the realm. A peer is not to
be put upon any inquest, even though
the cause have relation to two peers ; and
where a peer is a defendant in a court of
equity, he is not to be sworn to his answer,
which is to be received upon the faith of
his honor ; but when he is to answer to in-
terrogatories, or to make an affidavit, or
to be examined as a witness, he is to be
sworn. There are two peculiarities at-
tending the trial of a peer : 1st, the num-
ber of jurors is greater than ordinary,
every peer having a right to sit ; 2dly,
unanimity is not required, but the deci-
sion depends upon the majority, which,
however, must amount to twelve.

PEER'ESS, a woman who is noble by

descent, creation or marriage. If a peer-
ess by descent or creation marries a per-
son under the degree of nobility, she still
continues noble ; but if she has obtained
the dignity by marriage only, by a sub-
sequent marriage with a commoner she
loses it; though by the courtesy of Eng-
land, she always retains her title.

PEG'ASUS, in Greek mythology, a
winged horse, produced by Neptune ; or
according to some authors, which sprung
from the blood of Medusa when Perseus
cut off her head.

PEINE FORTE ET DURE, a special
punishment inflicted in ancient times on,
those who, being arraigned of felony, re-
fused to put themselves on the ordinary
trial, but stood mute. It was vulgarly
called pressing to death.

PELA'GIANS, a Christian sect who
appeared about the beginning of the fifth
century. Pelagius, the founder of it, was
born in Wales, and his real name was
Morgan, which in the Welsh languages
signifies sea born ; whence the Latin name
Pelagius. Some of our ancient historians
pretend that he was abbot of Bar.gor ; but
this is impossible, because the British
monasteries were of a later date. St.
Austin gives him the character of a very
pious man, and a person of superior birth.
Among other genets of belief, the Pelagi-
ans denied original sin, maintaining that
Adam would have died, whether he had
sinned or not ; while they asserted the
doctrine of free will, and the merit of
good works.

PE'NAL LAWS, laws made for the
punishment of criminal offences.

PEN'ALTY, (in law,) a fine or forfei-
ture by way of punishment, which is a
pecuniary penalty ; but the wovd penalty
is not confined to this ; for imprisonment,
whipping, transportation, &c. are equally
penalties, though in the shape of personal
punishments.

PEN'ANCE, in ecclesiastical law, the
infliction of some pain or bodily suffering,
as fasting, flagellation, &c ; as an exer-
cise of repentance for some sin, either vol-
untary or imposed. Penance is one of the
seven sacraments of the Romish church.

PENA'TES, in Roman antiquity, tute-
lar deities, either of countries or of par-
ticular houses, in which last sense they
were the same with the lares. The Pena-
tes were originally the tutelar gods of
the Trojans ; but being adopted by the
Romans, they were thus named.

PEND'ANT, in gothic architecture, an
ornamented polygonal piece of stone or
timber hanging down from the vault or

462

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

PEO

roof of a building. Of stone pendants
some exquisite examples may be seen in
Henry VII. "s chapel at Westminster. In
ancient writers the springers of arches,
which rest on shafts or corbels, are called
pendants. In painting, <fec. a picture or
print which from uniformity of size and
subject seems to hang up as a companion
to another. The term may also be ap-
plied to bassi relievi of similar sizes.

PENETRA'LE, was a sacred room or
chapel in private nouses, set apart for the
worship of the household gods among the
Romans. In temples also there were
penetralia, or apartments of peculiar
sanctity, where the images of the gods
were kept, and certain solemn ceremonies
peformed.

PENITEN'TIARY, in the ancient
Christian church, a name given to certain
presbyters, appointed in every church to
receive the private confessions of the peo-
ple, in order to facilitate public discipline,
by acquainting them what sins were to
be expiated by public penance, and to
appoint private penance for such crimes
as it might be deemed unadvisable to
censure publicly. Penitentiary, at the
court of Rome, an office in which are ex-
amined and delivered out the secret
bulls, graces, or dispensations relating to
cases of conscience, confessions, &c. The
title of penitentiary was also given to an
officer in some cathedrals, who WHS vested
with power from the bishop to absolve in
cases reserved to him. Penitentiary, the
name of prisons where felons are kept to
hard labor.

PEN'ITENTS, an appellation given
to certain fraternities in Catholic coun-
tries, distinguished by their different
habits, and generally employed in chari-
table acts.

PEN'NON, in heraldry, a small point-
ed flag, borne by a gentleman. When
knighthood was conferred upon him, the
point was cut off, and the square flag that
remained bore the name of banner.

PEN'SION, an annual allowance of a
sum of money to a person by government,
in consideration of past services, civil or
military ; or, at least, such a pension
ought to be.

PEN'StONER, one who receives an
annuity from another, whether in con-
sideration of service past or present, or
merely as a benevolence.

PENTAM'ETER, in Latin and Greek
poetry, a verse consisting of five feet or
metres. The two first may be either dac-
tyls or spondees ; the third is always a
spondee, and the two last anapaests. A

pentameter verse subjoined to an hex-
ameter constitutes what is called elegiac.
The pentameter has not been generally
introduced into any modern language
with which we are acquainted : though
Goethe and Schiller have left us some
excellent specimens of the facility with
which it might be engrafted on the Ger-
man language. The hexameter and pen-
tamer distich is beautifully described in
the lines of Schiller, which are thus ren-
dered by Coleridge, who was long con-
sidered as the original author :

In the hexameter rises the fountain's .silvery

column :
In Ihe pentameter aye falling in melody back.

Every page of Ovid's Heroides or Tristia,
illustrates the manner in which the hex-
ameter breaks, as it were, and falls back
in the pentameter, thereby adding a most
exquisite grace to the rhythm ; indeed
the secret genius of the metre appears to
consist in this play.

PEN'TASTICH, in poetry, a compo-
sition consisting of five verses.

PEN'TASTYLE, in architecture, a
building in which there are five rows of
columns.

PEX'TATEUCH, an appellation given
! to the first five books of the Old Testa-
: ment, viz. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
I Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

PENTATH'LUM, in antiquity, a gen-
eral name for the five exercises perform-
ed at the Grecian games, namely, wrest-
ling, boxing, leaping, running, and play-
ing at the discus.

PENTECON'TER, in antiquity, a Gre-
cian vessel of fifty oars ; smaller than a
trireme.

PEN'TECOST, a solemn festival of the
Jews, instituted in memory of the pro-
mulgation of the law, and so named be-
cause that event took place on the fiftieth
day after their departure from Egypt.
It is retained by us in the Christian church
(and by us called Whitsuntide) on account
of the miraculous descent of the Holy
Ghost on the apostles, which happened on
one of the annual returns of its celebra-
tion.

PENUL'TIMA, PENULT', or PENUL-
TIMATE SYLLABLE, in grammar, the last
syllable but one of a word ; and hence the
anti-penulttmate syllable is the last but
two, or that immediately before the pe-
nultima.

PEO'PLE, the body of persons who com-
pose a community, town, city, or nation.
We say, the people of a town ; the people
of New York or Paris ; the American peo-

PER]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

463

pie. In this sense, the word is not used
in the plural, but it comprehends all
classes of inhabitants, considered as a col-
lective boily, or any portion of the inhab-
itants of a city or country.

PERCEPTION, the act of perceiving
or of receiving impressions by the senses ;
or that act or process of the mind which
makes known an external object. In
other words, the notice which the mind
takes of external objects. We gain a
knowledge of the coldness and smoothness
of marble by perception. In philoso-
phy, the faculty of perceiving ; the facul-
ty or peculiar part of man's constitution,
by which he has knowledge through the
medium or instrumentality of the bodily
organs, or by which he holds communica-
tion with the external world. It is dis-
tinguished from conception by the cir-
cumstance that its objects are in every
instance supposed to have an actual ex-
istence. We may conceive things that
have no reality, but we are never said to
perceive, such things. Perception differs
from consciousness in that it takes cog-
nizance only of objects without the mind.
We perceive a man, a horse, a tree ;
when we think or feel, we are conscious
of our thoughts and emotions. It is fur-
ther supposed in perception that the ob-
jects of it are present. We can remem-
ber former objects of perception, but we
do not perceive them again until they are
once more present. The term perception,
however, is sometimes analogically em-
ployed in common speech in reference to
truths, the evidence of which is certain.
Thus we may perceive the truth of a math-
ematical proposition. Various theories
of perception have arisen among philoso-
phers. These have been designated by
the terms idealism and realism.

PERFECTIBILITY, the capability
of arriving at perfection. This word,
which is entirely modern, and scarcely
as yet admitted in our language on clas-
sical English authority, is commonly used
in reasoning on the social condition of
mankind.

PERFECTION", in the highest sense
to which this word can be applied, means
an inherent or essential attribute of
supreme or infinite excellence. If we
speak of physical perfection, we mean
that a natural object has all its powers,
faculties, or qualities entire and in full
vigor, and all its parts in due proportion.
Moral perfection is the complete pos-
session of such moral qualities and vir-
tues as the thing spoken of is capable of

PE'RI, in Persian mythology, are the
descendants of fallen spirits, excluded
from paradise until their penance is ac-
complished.

PERIB'OLOS, in architecture, a court
or enclosure entirely round a temple,
surrounded by a wall. One of the most
extraordinary examples of a peribolos is
at Palmyra, where the great temple is
surrounded by a wall with two rows of
interior columns, each side whereof is
from 700 to 800 feet long.

PER'IDROME, in ancient architec-
ture, the space in a peripteral temple
between the walls of the cell and the
columns. It is a term that may be ap-
plied to any gallery of communication
round an edifice.

PE'RIOD, in rhetoric, has been defined
" a passage, i. e., series of words, develop-
ed in properly connected parts." In a
stricter sense, a period is a sentence so
framed that the grammatical construc-
tion will not admit a close, and the mean-
ing remains suspended until the end of
it. A sentence in which the sense would
permit of a stop before its completion is,
in this sense, not a period. The Greek
and Latin languages were much more
periodic than most modern tongues; that
is, they admitted of the construction of
sentences so that a single grammatical
connection should run through a great
series of words, while a similar series, in
a modern language, would be so arranged
as to form several distinct grammatical
wholes.

PERIOD ICALS, in literature, com-
prise the whole of those publications
which appear at regular intervals, wheth-
er devoted to general information, or es-
pecially intended for some particular
class of readers. They consequently in-
clude all the newspapers, reviews, and
magazines, as well as such works on sci-
ence and art as are published in a series
of volumes, parts, or numbers; and while
they have contributed greatly to the dif-
fusion of general knowledge, they have
done much towards promoting the cause
of truth, and facilitating the progress of
science.

PERIPATETICS, the followers of
Aristotle, whose doctrines are distinguish-
ed by the name of peripatetic philosophy.
He also was called the Peripatetic because
he delivered his lectures walking in the
Lyceum at Athens.

PERIPH'RASIS, or PER'IPHRASE,
in rhetoric, circumlocution ; or the use
of more words than are necessary to ex-
press an idea.

464

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PER

PERIPTEROUS, in architecture, an
opithet for a place encompassed about
with columns.

PER'ISTYLE. a range of columns
surrounding anything, as the cella of a
temple, or any place, as a court or clois-
ter. It is frequently but incorrectly lim-
ited in signification to a range of columns
surrounding the interior of a place.

PER'JURY, in law, is a wilful false
oath taken in a court of justice, by a wit-
ness lawfully required to depose the
truth in a matter of some consequence to
the point in question. A false oath there-
fore, taken before no court, or before a
court incompetent to try the issue in
question, does not constitute the offence
of perjury. Perjury is a misdemeanor at
common law, and punishable by fine and
imprisonment. Subornation of perjury
is the offence of procuring a man to com-
mit perjury.

PER'MIT, a note given by the officers
of customs to authorize the landing, deliv-
ery or transfer, of imported merchandize.

PERORA'TION, the concluding part
of an oration, in Which the speaker re-
capitulates the principal points of his dis-
course or argument, and urges them with
greater earnestness and force, with a view
to make a deep impression on his audience.
The main excellence of a peroration con-
sists in vehemence, pathos, and brevity.

PERPETUITY, in the doctrine of
Annuities, is the sum of money which will
purchase a certain annuity to continue
forever. This is equal to the product of
the annuity into the number of years in
which the simple interest of any sum will
equal the principal. For example, if the
rate of interest be 4 per cent., the simple
interest of any sum will amount to a sum
equal to the principal in twenty-five
years. The value, therefore, of the per-
petuity of $100 per annum is $2500.
The number of years is equal to unit di-
vided by the rate of interest, or 100 divid-
ed by the rate per cent.

PERSECUTION, the infliction of pain,
punishment, or death upon others un-
justly, more especially for adhering to a
religious creed or mode of worship. The
history of the world is full of persecutions ;
and there is scarcely any dominant sect
or party, religious or political, which has
not at times disgraced humanity by in-
flicting unjust punishment or penalties
upon their fellow-men, for adhering to
principles which their consciences dictated
and their judgment approved.

PER'SEUS, son of Jupiter, and Danae,
one of the most distinguished heroes of

the Grecian mythology. His history is
too well-known to bo recapitulated here.
His chief exploit was the conquest of
Medusa.

PERSEVE'RANCE, in theology, the
continuance of the elect in a state of
grace to the end of their lives, which, ac-
cording to some theologians, must always
be the case with him who has once been
truly called into such a state. Since God
is represented as the image of perfection
and immutability in himself, so, it is ar-
gued, having once begun the preparation
of a human being for a blessed eternity,
he will not leave his work unfinished ;
but the person concerned must necessarily
persevere to the end in a state of accept-
ance, under the absolute decree of which
he was originally elected unto life.

PER'SONAL, in law, belonging to the
person and not to the thing ; as personal
goods, opposed to real property or estates ;
personal action, an action against the
person, wherein a man claims satisfac-
tion in damages for an injury to his per-
son or property. Personal identity, in
metaphysics, sameness of being, of which
consciousness is- the evidence.

PER'SONAL PROP'ERTY, according
to the division recognized by our law, is
best defined negatively, as including
everything which may be made the sub-
ject of property, and which is not legally
considered as appertaining to land. The
original distinction was undoubtedly be-
tween things movable and immovable.

PERSONIFICATION, the giving to
an inanimate object the sentiments and
language of a rational being ; or the rep-
resentation of an inanimate being with
the affections and actions of a person.
The more the imagination prevails among
a people, the more common are personifi-
cations ; and as reflection acquires the
ascendancy personifications are less used.

PERSPECTIVE, the science which
teaches the representation of an object or
objects on a definite surface so as to affect
the eye when viewed from a given point,
in the same manner as the object or ob-
jects themselves. Correctly defined, a
perspective delineation is a section, by
the plane or other surface, on which the
delineation is made, of the cone of rays
proceeding from every part of the object
to the eye of the spectator. It is inti-
mately connected with the arts of design.
and is indispensable in architecture, en-
gineering, fortification, sculpture, and
generally all the mechanical arts; but it
is particularly necessary in the art of
j painting, as without a correct observance

PER]

AND THK FINE ARTS.

465

of the rules of perspective no picture can
have truth and life. Perspective alone
enables us to represent foreshortenings
with accuracy, and it is requisite in de-
lineating even the simplest positions of ob-
jects. Suppose we view a point situated
beyond an upright transparent plane, as
a glass window, the spot where a straight
line from the eye to this point will go
through the window is the perspective
representation of it : for the eye views all
objects by means of rays of light, which
proceed from it, to the different points
of the object, in straight lines. Let us
then imagine a spectator to be looking
at a prospect without doors, from within,
through a glass window; he will per-
ceive not only the vast extent which so
small an aperture will admit to be seen
by his eye, but also the shape, size, and
situation of every object upon the glass.
If the objects are near the window, the
spaces which they take upon the glass
will be proportionably larger than when
they are at a greater distance ; if they
are parallel to the window, then their
shapes upon the glass will be parallel
also ; but if they are oblique, then their
shapes will be oblique, and so on. And
he will always perceive, that as he alters
the situation of his eye, the situation of
the objects upon the window will be altered
also : if he raises his eye, the objects
will seem to keep pace with it, and rise
higher upon the window ; and the contrary
if he lowers it. And so in every situation
of the eye, the objects upon the window
will seem to rise higher or lower ; and con-
sequently the depth of the whole prospect
will be proportionably greater or less, as
the eye is elevated or depressed : and the
horizon will, in every situation of the
eye, be upon a level with it : that is, the
imaginary line which parts the earth and
sky will seem to be raised as far above
the ground upon which the spectator
stands as his eye is. Now suppose the
person at the window, keeping his head
steady, draws the figure of an object seen
through it upon the glass with a pencil, as
if the point of the pencil touched the ob-
ject : he would then have a true represen-
tation of the object in perspective, as it ap-
pears to his eye : for as vision is occasion-
ed by pencils of rays coming in straight
lines to the eye from every point of the
visible object, it is plain that, by join-
ing the points in the transparent plane
through which all those pencils of rays
respectively pass, an exact representation
must be formed of the object, as it ap-
pears to the eye in that particular posi-
30

tion, and at that determined distance.
And were pictures of things to be always
first drawn on transparent planes, this
simple operation, with the principle on
which it is founded, would comprise the
whole theory and practice of perspective.
Perspective is divided into two branches,
linear and aerial. Linear perspective
has reference to the position, form, mag-
nitude, &c. of the several lines or con-
tours of objects, &c. The outlines of such
objects as buildings, machinery, and most
works of human labor which consist of
geometrical forms, or whhh can he re-
duced to them, may be most accurately ob-
tained by the rules of linear pferspective,
since the intersection with an interposed
plane of the rays of light proceeding
from every point of such objects may be
obtained by the principles of geometrj.

Oblique perspecthre.

Parallel perspective.

Linear perspective includes the various
kinds of projection ; as scenographic,
orthographic, ichnographic, stereograph-
ic projections, &c. Aerial perspective
teaches how to give due diminution to
the strength of light, shade, and colors
of objects according to their distances,
and the quantity of light falling on them,
and to the medium through which they
are seen. Perspective plane, the surface
on which the object or picture is delinea-
ted, or it is the transparent surface or plane
through which we suppose objects to be
viewed; it also termed the plane of pro-
jection, and the plane of the picture.
'Parallel perspective is where the picture
which is supposed to be so situated, as to
be parallel to the side of the principal
object in the picture ; as a building, for
instance. Oblique perspective, is when
the plane of the picture is supposed to
stand oblique to the sides of the object
represented ; in which case the represen-
tations of the lines upon those titles will
not bo parallel among themselves, but
will tend toward their vanishing point.
Isometrical perspective, a kind of per-

466

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PHA

spective on the principles of orthographic
projection invented by Professor Farish
of Cambridge, by which solids, of the form
of rectangular parallelopipeds, or such
as are reducible to this form, can be
represented with their three pair of
planes in one figure, which gives a more
intelligible idea of their form than can
be done by a separate plan and elevation.
At the same time, this method admits of
their dimensions being measured by a
scale as directly as by the usual mode of
delineation. As applied to machinery, it
gives the elevation and ground plan in
one view. It is considered for such pur-

poses, to be preferable to the methods
in common use, as it is easier and simpler
in its application.

PESTILENCE, any contagious or in-
fectious disease that is epidemic and mor-
tal. It is also used to denote any moral
disease or corruption destructive of hap-
piness.

PET'ALISM, in antiquity, a form of
proscription or banishment practised at
Syracuse, by writing the person's name
on a leaf; whence the name. It differed
from the Athenian ostracism merely in
being for five years instead of ten, and
the name being written on leaves instead
of shells or tiles.

PETARD', in fortification, a hollow
engine shaped like a sugar-loaf, to be
loaded with powder and fixed on a plank ;
made for breaking open gates, draw-
bridges. <fcc.

PET" ASUS, in antiquity, a covering
for the head, similar to a broad-brimmed
hat, used to keep off the heat of the sun.
In architecture, the cupola of a house, in
the form of a petasus.
1 PETAURTST^E, in antiquity, a name
given to certain athleta, who threw them-
selves from a machine called a petaurum,

which was hung high in the air, and de-
scended to the earth by means of a rope.

PETER-PENCE, the popular name
of an impost, otherwise termed " the fee
of Home," or, in the Anglo-Saxon,
"Romescot:" originally a voluntary
offering by the faithful to the see of
Rome ; afterwards a due levied in various
amounts from every house or family in
a country. Peter-pence were paid in
France, Poland, and other realms. In
England this tax is recognized by the
Norman laws of William the Conqueror.
Edward III. discontinued the payment
when the popes resided at Avignon ; but
it was afterwards revived, and finally
ceased in the reign of Henry VIII.

PETIT, or PETTY. The former word
occurs in our law books in such phrases
as petit jury, petit treason, petit larceny,
4-c. ; but the practice is giving way to the
use of the English petty. Petit treason,
the crime of killing a person to whom the
offender owes duty or subjection. Thus
the crime of murder, when a wife kills
her husband, or a servant his master, has
this appellation. Petit larceny, the
stealing of goods of the value of twelve
pence, or under that amount. Petit
jury, a jury of twelve freeholders who
are empanelled to try causes in a court ;
so called in distinction from the grand
jury, which tries the truth of indictments.

PETI'TION, a formal supplication or
request made by an inferior to a superior,
especially to one having some jurisdiction
Also, a paper containing a supplication
or solicitation.

PETI Tip PRINCIP'II, in logic, the
taking a thing for true, and drawing con-
clusions from it as such ; when it is either
false, or at least requires to be proved
before any inferences can be deduced
from it. In common parlance this is
called " begging the question."

PHA'ETON, in mythology, the son of
Apollo and Clymenes, one of the Oceani-
des, according to most writers. The fable
of his adventures is well known. Taunted
with his doubtful origin, he asked his fa-
ther to lend him the chariot of the sun
for a day, as a proof of his filial rights.
Unable to guide the fiery steeds, he was
dashed to the ground by Jupiter with a
thunderbolt, to prevent his consuming
the heavens and earth.

PHALANSTE'RIANISM, the system
of Charles Fourier, the French socialist ;
who, as a remedy for the evils of society,
as at present constituted, advocated its
reorganization into so many phalanste-
ries, containing each from BOO to 2000

PHI]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

467

persons, upon principles similar to those
of joint-stock companies ; the members to
lire in one spacious edifice, cultivating a
common domain ; the proceeds to be
shared according to the amount of capi-
tal, skill, or labor invested by each.

PHA'LANX, in the military affairs of
Greece, a square and compact battalion
or body of soldiers, formed in ranks and
files compact and deep, with their shields
joined and pikes crossing each other, so as
to render it almost impossible to break it.
At first the phalanx consisted of 4000
men, but was afterwards doubled and
even quadrupled. The Macedonian pha-
lanx is thus described by Polybius. It
was a square of pikemen, consisting of
sixteen in flank and five hundred in front ;
the soldiers stood so close together that
the pikes of the fifth rank extended three
feet beyond the front : the rest, whose
pikes were not serviceable owing to their
distance from the front, couched them
upon the shoulders of those that stood
before them, and so locking them toge-
ther in file, pressed forward to support
and push on the former rank, by which
means the assault was rendered more vio-
lent and irresistible. The word phalanx
is likewise used for any combination of
people distinguished for firmness or so-
lidity of union.

PHAR'ISEES, a sect among the Jews,
who distinguished themselves by their
zeal for the traditions of the elders, which
they derived from the same fountain with
the written word itself, pretending that
both were delivered to Moses on Mount
Sinai, and were therefore both of equal
authority. From their rigorous observ-
ance of these traditions they considered
themselves as more holy than other Jews,
and therefore separated themselves from
them ; and hence, from the Hebrew word
pharis, which signifies to separate, they
had the name of p/iarisees or separatists.
The pharisees numbered in their ranks
the most distinguished lawyers and states-
men in Judaea ; and as pers.ons of all
conditions were admitted into their socie-
ty, they gained a political influence which
often decided the fate of the Jewish na-
tion under the Maccabees, and brought
into their hands the power which had
been left to the great council by the Ro-
mans in the time of Christ. They be-
lieved in a resurrection from the dead,
and the existence of angels ; but, accord-
ing to Josephus, their belief extended to
no more than a Pythagorean resurrec-
tion, that is, of the soul only, by its trans-
migration into another body and being

born anew with it. From this resurrec-
tion they excluded all who were notorious-
ly wicked, being of opinion that the souls
of such persons were doomed to a state
of everlasting woe.

PHA'ROS, a light-house or lofty build-
ing near the sea, where a fire is kept
burning during the night to serve as a
beacon to vessels. The Pharos of Alex-
andria, built in the reign of Pharos, was
one of the most celebrated works of anti-
quity, and from this circumstance the
name is supposed to have been given to
edifices of a similar description. The
tower of king Pharos stood at the mouth
of the Nile ; it consisted of several stories
or galleries, surmounted with a lantern,
and was seen for many leagues at sea, as
well as all along the coast.

PHELLOPLAS'TICS, the art of repre-
senting works of architecture on a re-
duced scale in cork, which affords very
fine models, and are. cheaper than those
in wood, stone, gypsum, <fcc.

PHIDI'TIA. in antiquity, Lacedemo-
nian festivals, remarkable for the fru-
gality of the entertainment, and the char-
itable intention of the meeting. They
were held in public places, and in the
open air. Those who attended made con-
tributions of flour, wine, cheese, and figs.
Rich and poor assisted alike at this feast,
and were upon the same footing ; the de-
sign of the institution being, like that of
the Roman Charistia, to reconcile differ-
ences, and to cultivate peace, friendship,
and a good understanding among all the
citizens, of every rank and degree.

PHIGA'LIAN MARBLES, (so called
from having been discovered near the
site of Phigalia, a town of Arcadia,) the
name given to a series of sculptures in
alto relievo, now deposited in the British
Museum, where they form part of the
collection known by the name of the Si-
gin Marbles. They originally formed
the fringe round the interior of the cella
of the temple dedicated to Apollo the De-
liverer ; a title conferred on him by the
Phigalians in gratitude for his having
delivered them from a pestilence. They
represent the combat of the Centaurs aud
the Lapithae, and that of the Greeks and
Amazons. The similarity, both in design
and execution, which they bear to the
decorations on the Parthenon leaves no
doubt that they are the workmanship of
the same master minds which designed,
constructed, and adorned that splendid
monument of the golden age of art.

PHIL ANTHRO'PINISM,aname given
in Germany to the system of education

468

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PHI

on natural principles, as it is termed,
which was promoted by Basedow and his
friends in the last century, and mainly
founded on the notions of Locke and Rous-
seau. An institution for the purposes of
education founded under the protection
of the Duke of Dossau, in 1774, was the
first so called " Philanthropin." It was
dissolved in 1793; and of the similar in-
stitutions afterwards founded, only one,
it is said, has continued to maintain it-
self. But the influence of the labors of
the Philanthropinists has undoubtedly
entered largely into the modern system
of education.

PHILAN'THROPY, good-will and be-
nevolence towards the whole of mankind.
It differs from friendship, inasmuch as it
has no limits to its sphere of action,
whereas friendship may be confined to an
individual ; but a true philanthropist so
loves his fellow-men that he is continually
exerting himself for their welfare.

PHILIP'PIC, a word used to denote
any discourse or declamation full of acri-
monious invective. .It is derived from an
oration made by Demosthenes against
Philip of Macedon, in which the orator
inveighs against the indolence of the
Athenians. The fourteen orations of
Cicero against Mark Antony are also
called philippics.

PHILOL'OGY, in its usual acceptation,
is that branch of literature which compre-
hends a knowledge of the etymology or
origin and combination of words, and
whatever relates to the history, affinity,
and present state of languages. In a
wider sense it signifies an assemblage of
sciences, consisting of grammar, rhetoric,
poetry, antiquities, history, criticism, &o.,
usually understood by the French term
belles lettres. Of late j'ears, however, a
new and very extensive province has been
added to the dominion of philology ;
namely, the science of language in a more
general sense, considered philosophically
with respect to the light it throws on the
nature of human intellect and progress
of human knowledge-; and historically,
with reference to the connection between
different tongues, and the connection
thus indicated between different nations
and races. Some attempts have recently
made to confine the use of the word phi-
lology to this particular branch of learn-
ing. It comprehends, 1. Phonology, or
the knowledge of the sounds of the hu-
man voice ; which appears to include or- I
thography, or the system to be adopted
when we endeavor to render, by our own I
alphabet, the sounds of a foreign Ian- ;

guage ; 2. Etymology; 3. Ideology, or the
science of the modification of language
by grammatical forms, according to the
various points of view from which men
contemplate the ideas which words are
meant to express.

PHILOSOPHER'S STONE, a stone
or preparation which the alchymists
formerly sought, as the instrument of
converting the baser metals into pure
gold. The alchymists held that the baser
metals were all convertible into silver
and gold by a long series of processes,
and the instrument by which it was sup-
posed that this mighty change was to be
effected, was a certain mineral to be pro-
duced by these processes, which being
mixed with the base metal would trans-
mute it, and this was called the philoso-
pher's stone.

PHILOS'OPHY, literally, the love of
wisdom. But in modern acceptation,
jjjiilosophy is a general term denoting an
explanation of the reasons of things ; or
an investigation of the causes of all phe-
nomena both of mind and of matter.
When applied to any particular depart-
ment of knowledge, it denotes the collec-
tion of general laws or principles under
which all the subordinate phenomena or
facts relating to that subject, are compre-
hended. Thus, that branch of philosophy
which treats of God, Ac., is called the-
ology ; that which treats of nature is
called physics, or natural philosophy ;
that which treats of man is called logic
and ethics, or moral philosophy ; that
which treats of the mind is called intel-
lectual or mental philosophy, or meta-
physics. The term philosophy is often
used, apparently with no great precision,
though it is not difficult to deduce from
the use of this term the general meaning
or notion which is attached to it. We
speak of the philosophy of the human
mind as being of all philosophies that to
which the name philosophy is particularly
appropriated ; and when the term philos-
ophy is used absolutely, this seems to be
the philosophy that is spoken of. Other
philosophies are referred to their several
objects by qualifying terms : thus we
speak of natural philosophy, meaning
thereby the philosophy of nature, or of
material objects. We also speak of the
philosophy of positive law, understanding
thereby the philosophy of those binding
rules, properly called laws. The terms
philosophy of history, philosophy of man-
ufactures, and other such terms are also
used. All objects then which can occupy
the mind may have something in common,

PHlJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

469

called their philosophy; which philos-
ophy is nothing else than the general
expression for that effort of the mind
whereby it strives, pursuant to its laws,
to reduce its knowledge to the form of ul-
timate truths or principles, and to deter-
mine the immutable relations which
exist between things as it conceives them.
The philosophy which comprises within
itself all philosophies is that which labors
to determine the laws or ultimate prin-
ciples in obedience to which the inind
itself operates. Thus, every kind of
knowledge, the objects of which are things
external, has its philosophy or principles,
which, when discovered and systematized,
form the science of the things to which
they severally belong. But we must as-
sume that the mind also has its laws and
powers which may be discovered by ob-
servation, as we discover by observation
the laws or principles which govern the
relations of things external to the mind,
or conceived as external. Accordingly
the human mind, by the necessity im-
printed on it, seeks to discover th ujti-
mate foundation of all that it knows or
conceives ; to discover what itself is, and
what is its relation to all things, and so it
strives to form a system out of all such
altimato laws or principles. Such a sys-
tem may be called a philosophy in the
proper and absolute sense of the term, and
the attempt to form such a system is to
philosophize. Systems of philosophy
have existed in all nations. The objects
of philosophy are to ascertain facts or
truth, and the causes of things or their
phenomena ; to enlarge our views of
God and his works, and to render our
knowledge of both practically useful and
subservient to human happiness. Pytha-
gorean philosophy, the system taught by
Pythagoras, who flourished 500 years be-
fore the Christian era. He deserted the
Deity as one incorruptible, invisible being;
and differed from some of the ancients, as
Epicurus, in conceiving a cornection be-
tween God and man ; that is. in teaching
the doctrine of a superintending provi-
dence. He asserted the immortality of the
soul ; but in a sense essentially peculiar,
and which appears to have been adopted
by Plato, as it is in part at this day by the
Hindoos. In the cosmogony of Pythago-
ras, spirit, however diffused through all
animals, was part of the Divinity himself,
separated only by the gross forms of mat-
ter, and ready, whenever disengaged, to
unite itself with the kindred essence of
God ; but God was only purity ; and the
mind recoiled from the idea of uniting with

him a portion of spirit soiled with the cor-
ruption of a sinful life. The soul, there-
fore, once tainted, could never return to
the Deity whence it emanated, till it had
again recovered its innocence. After hav-
ing animated a human body by which
crimes had been committed, it was denied
the great object of its desire, a union with
its God, and forced to enter into other
bodies, till at length it filled a righteous
one. To this theory was added another,
by means of which punishments, propor-
tioned to its offences, were awarded : ac-
cording to this, the soul of a negro-driver
would pass into the body of an infant ne-
gro; and that which in one existence
plied the whip, in the other would receive
the lash : the soul of the wicked would
occupy the body of some animal exposed
to suffering ; and that of a being of few
foibles undergo a sentence proportionably
mild. Such is the doctrine of the me-
tempsychosis or transmigration of souls,
a leading feature in the Pythagorean
system. Socratic philosophy, or the
doctrines of Sgcrates, who flourished at
Athens about 400 years B.C., and died a
martyr in the cause of natural religion
against paganism. He is said to have
opened the career of moral philosophy in
Greece, where he preceded Plato, from
the writings of which latter the philoso-
phy of Socrates is chiefly known, for he
wrote nothing himself. While other phi-
losophers boasted of their knowledge, he
laid the greatest stress upon his igno-
rance, asserting that ho knew nothing
but this, that he knew nothing. Socrates
led men from the contemplation of uni-
versal nature to that of themselves ; a
branch of philosophy which was inculcat-
ed in that famous inscription, Know thy-
self! The Socratic method of argument
was that of leading an antagonist to ac-
knowledge a proposition himself, by dint
of repeated questions, in preference to
that of laying it down authoritatively.
Platonic philosophy, -a, system of theology
and morals, delivered by Plato about 350
years B.C. Plato, it is said, labored to re-
establish natural religion by opposing pa-
ganism. The existence of the one God
was zealously inculcated by him ; and
also the immortality of the soul, the res-
urrection of the dead, the everlasting
reward of righteousness, and punishment
of sin. It was Plato, too, who taught
that the world was created by the Logos
or Word; and that through knowledge
of the word men live happily on earth
and obtain eternal felicity hereafter.
From him, also, came the doctrine of

470

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITKRATURE

[PHI

grace, and the inducements to monastic
life ; for he pressed upon his disciples
that the world is tilled with corruption ;
that it is the duty of the righteous to fly
from it and to seek a union with God,
who alone is life and health ; that in the
world the soul is continually surrounded
with enemies: and that, in the unceasing
combat through which it has to struggle,
it can conquer only with the assistance
of God or of his holy angels. " A happy
immortality," said Plato, "is a great
prize set before us, and a great object of
hope, which should engage us to labor in
the acquirement of wisdom and virtue
all the time of our life." In morals, he
taught that there is nothing solid and
substantial but piety, which is the source
of all virtues and the gift of God ; that
the love of our neighbor, which proceeds
from the love of God as its principle,
produces that sacred union which makes
families and nations happy ; that self-
love produces that discord and division
which reigns among mankind, and is the
chief cause of our sins : that it is better
to suffer wrong than to do it; that it is
wrong to hurt an enemy or to revenge
an injury received; that it is better to
die than to sin ; and that man ought
continually to learn to die, and yet to en-
dure life with all patience and submis-
sion to the will of God. The Aristotelian
philosophy, which succeeded the Platonic,
is characterized by a systematic striving
to embrace all the objects of philosophy
by cool and patient reflection. The Epi-
curian philosophy, or the system of Epi-
curus, an Athenian. This teacher laid
down, as the basis of his doctrine, that
the supreme good consists in pleasure ;
a proposition that soon suffered a two-
fold abuse. On the one hand, by mis-
construction, it was regarded as a bare-
faced inculcation of sensuality ; on the
other, adopted by the luxurious, the in-
dolent, and the licentious, as a cloak and
authority for their conduct ; and hence it
has happened that the name Epicurean
is now used in an absolute sense to desig-
nate one minutely and luxuriously at-
tentive to his food. Epicurus is reported
to have written three hundred books, but
of these none are extant ; and the partic-
ulars of his philosophy, which have come
down to posterity, are chiefly found in
the writings of Lucretius, Diogenes, La-
ertius, and Cicero. His system, for which
he is said to have been almost wholly
indebted to Democritus, consisted of three
parts : canonical, physical, and etherial.
Soundness and simplicity of sense, assist-

ed with some natural reflections, consti-
tuted all the method of Epicurus. His
search after truth proceeded only by the
senses, to the evidence of which he gave
so great a certainty that he considered
them as the first natural light of man-
kind. It is in the meanings allowed to
the words pleasure and pain that every-
thing which is important in the morals
and doubtful in the history of the Epicu-
rean system is contained. According to
Gassendus, the pleasure of Epicurus con-
sisted in the highest tranquillity of tnind,
united with the most perfect health of
body ; blessings enjoyed only through the
habits of rectitude, benevolence, and tem-
perance ; but Cicero, Horace, Plutarch,
and several of the fathers of the Christian
church represent the system in a very dif
ferent point of view. The disagreement,
however, is easily reconciled, if we believe
one side to speak of what Epicurus taught,
and the other of what many of his follow-
ers, and still more of those who took shel-
ter under his name, were accustomed to
practise. To the foregoing we must add
the Stoic philosophy, or the doctrines of
Zeno the stoic, whose morality was of a
magnanimous and unyielding kind, form-
ed to resist temptation to evil, and to
render men callous to adversity : thus
they maintained, among other things,
that a man might be happy in the midst
of the severest tortures ; the Cynic phi-
losophy, the followers of whijh affected a
great contempt of riches and of all scien-
ces except morality ; and the Skeptical
philosophy, under Pyrrho, who affected to
doubt everything. In glancing at the
history of philosophy, the student has
abundant opportunities of observing its
gradual development as a science, and
tracing the progress and aberrations of the
human mind in themselves subjects most
imports; and instructive. Departing
from, or only partially retaining, the con-
flicting dogmas of the Greek and Roman
philosophers, we find the scholastics of
the middle ages engaged in a struggle for
the attainment of intellectual excellence,
under the influence of principles derived
from the Christian faith and doctrine ; yet
the progress of philosophic truths was for
a long time feeble, irregular, and vacillat-
ing. During the 15th century, there arose
a freer and more independent spirit of
inquiry, penetrating deeper into ultimate
causes ; till at length, the cool and search-
ing energy of Bacon enabled him to pro-
duce his Novum Organum. and to give a
more substantial basis to the efforts of the
intellect, by making observation and ex-

PHO'j

AND THE PINE ARTS.

471

perience the predominant character of
philosophy. Some there were, however,
who disputed his laws, and hence new
theories occasionally obtained a tempora-
ry distinction ; but his doctrines, in a
great measure, ultimately prevailed ; and,
at no distant period, the calm reasoning
of Locke introduced into the study of the
human mind the method of investigation
which his great predecessor had pointed
out. The subject, however, presents so
wide and tempting a field for observation,
that we dare not venture on it, lest, by
unduly extending one article, we may be
compelled to curtail others which equally
demand our attention ; and enough, per-
haps, has been already said to direct the
inquiring mind towards a study which, as
it were, embraces all nature in its mighty
grasp.

PH(E NIX, in fabulous history, a won-
derful bird which the ancients describe as
of the size of an eagle ; its head finely
crested with a beautiful plumage, its
neck covered with feathers of a gold color ;
its tail white, and its body purple. By
some authors this bird is said to come
from Arabia to Egypt every five hundred
years, at the death of his parent bringing
the body with him, embalmed in myrrh,
to the temple of the sun, where he buries
it. According to others, when he finds
himself near his end, he prepares a nest
of myrrh and precious herbs, in which he
burns himself; but from his ashes he re-
vives in the freshness of youth. The
several eras when the phoenix has been
seen are fixed by tradition. The first, we
are told, was in the reign of Sesostris ; the
second in that of Amasis ; and in the pe-
riod when Ptolemy, the third of the Ma-
cedonian race, was seated on the throne
of Egypt, another phoenix directed its
flight towards Heliopolis. From late my-
thological researches, it is conjectured
that the phoenix is a symbol of a period
of 500 years, of which the conclusion was
celebrated by a solemn sacrifice, in which
the figure of a bird was burnt.

PHONET'IC WRI'TING, that writing
in which the signs used represent sounds ;
in opposition to ideographic, in which
they represent objects, or symbolically
denote abstract ideas, as in the figurative
part of the Egyptian hieroglyphics. The
signs representing sounds are usually ar-
bitrary, or at least have become so in
process of time ; as in the ancient Roman
alphabet, of which the letters are for the
most part derived from the Hebrew or
Phoenician, in which languages they may
have originally partaken of a symbolical

character. But, in a species of phonetic
] writing which is intermixed with the
figurative hieroglyphics in Egyptian in-
scriptions, every letter is denoted by a
figure representing some object, the name
of which begins with that letter.

PHONOL'OGY, the science or doctrine
of the elementary sounds uttered by the
human voice, including its various de-
grees of intonation.

PHOTOGEN'IC DRAWING, the name
given by Mr. H. F. Talbot, the inventor or
discoverer of it, to a "new art," which,
) though not identical, is very similar to
j that of M. Daguerre. The outline of the
process is as follows : A piece of copper
is plated in the usual way with silver by
passing the metals together through a
rolling mill, and is then cut into pieces
of a proper size. The silver surface is
carefully polished, and cleansed by wiping
it over with a piece of cotton dipped in
dilute nitric acid, washing, and drying.
When thus duly prepared and much
depends upon the manner in which these
preliminary operations are performed and
the materials used the plate is subjected
to the diffused vapor of iodine, which
forms a slightly brown or yellow film
upon the silver ; it is then ready to be
subjected to the action of the image to
be represented, which is thrown upon it,
care being taken to exclude all other light,
by an instrument upon the principle of
the camera obscura. In the course of
a few seconds or minutes, the requisite
time depending upon the intensity of the
light, the plate is removed ; and though
nothing is as yet visible upon it it has re-
ceived the image, which is brought out
and rendered evident by subjecting it,
inclined at an angle of about 45, to the
vapor of mercury. This operation is per-
formed in a box with a glass side ; at the
bottom of which is a basin of mercury,
heated to about 170, so that the operator
may see the progress of the appearance
of the image, and remove the plate when
it is perfect ; but light must be as far as
possible excluded, and more especially
daylight. The plate is then washed by
cautious immersion in a solution of hy-
po-sulphite of soda, and lastly with boil-
ing distilled water, and allowed to dry:
it is now perfect, may be exposed to light
without injury ; but must be carefully
protected from all friction by covering it
with a glass. The action of the various
shades of light upon the film of iodine,
and the subsequent influence of the mer-
curial vapor upon which the visibility of
the picture depends, have not been satis-

472

CVCLOPKDIA OF LITERATURE

[PHV

factorily explained, and require further
experimental elucidation. The perfection
of the drawing, and the extraordinary
manner in which the minutest details are
represented, we have noticed in our for-
mer article ; they must, however, be
seen to be accurately judged of and duly
appreciated.

PHRASE, a short sentence or expres-
sion ; said to be complete when it conveys
complete sense, as "to err is human;"
and incomplete when it consists of several
words without affirming anything. Any I
peculiar sentence or short idiomatic ex-
pression is also denominated a phrase.
In music, any regular symmetrical course
of notes which begin and complete the
intended expression.

PHRENOL'OGY, a modern science, |
which professes to teach, from the con-
formation of the human skull, the par-
ticular characters and propensities of
men, presuming that the powers of the
mind and the sensations are performed
by peculiar parts of the brain : the front
parts being intellectual, the middle senti-
mental, and the hinder parts governing
the animal propensities : the degree being
in proportion to the projection or bulk
of the parts. It was long ago observed
by physiologists, that the characters of
animals were determined by the forma-
tion of the forehead, and that the intelli-
gence of the animal, in most cases, rose
or fell in proportion to the elevation or
depression of the skull. But it was re-
served to Drs. Gall and Spurzheim to ex-
pand this gerrn of doctrine into a minute
system, and to map out the whole cranium
into small sections, each section being the
dwelling-place, or workshop, of a certain
faculty, propensity, or sentiment, in all
amounting to thirty-six, and to which
certain names have been given in order
to mark their specific qualities, their uses
and abuses.

PHYLAC'TERY, among the ancients,
a general name given to all kinds of
spells, charms, or amulets, which they
wore about them, to preserve them from
disease or danger. It is more particu-
larly used to signify a slip of paper on
which was written some text of Scripture,
especially of the Decalogue, which the
more devout Jews wore on the forehead,
breast, or neck, as a badge of their re-
ligion. Among the primitive Christians,
a phtjlactery was a case in which they
inclosed the relics of their dead.

PHY'LiE, the tribes into which the
whole of Attica was divided in antiquity.
Originally there were but four phylae,

which were frequently remodelled, but
remained the same in number till soon
after the expulsion of the Pisistradidte,
when Cleisthenes caused their number to
be increased to ten. What the precise
nature of the change effected on this
occasion was is not known, but it is prob-
able that the new tribes embraced a large
number of citizens that had been exclu-
ded from the former. The phylse were
afterwards increased to twelve, by the
addition of two in honor of Antigonous
and his son Demetrius. The Athenian
senate was composed of fifty delegates
from each of these tribes.

PHY'LARCH, an Athenian officer ap-
pointed for each phyle or tribe, to super-
intend the registering of its members
and other common duties. The title ans-
wers to that of the Roman tribune, but
its functions never reached the same im-
portance.

PHYSICAL, an epithet denoting that
which relates to nature or natural pro-
ductions, as opposed to things moral or
imaginary. We speak of physical force
or power, with reference to material
things : thus armies and navies are the
physical force of a nation ; whereas knowl-
edge, skill, Ac., constitute moral force.
A physical body or substance, is a mate-
rial body or substance, in distinction from
spirit or metaphysical substance. Physi-
cal education, the education whioh is
directed to the object of giving strength,
health, and vigor to the bodily organs
and powers.

PHYSIOGXOM'ICS, among physi-
cians, signs in the countenance which
serve to indicate the state, disposition, <fec.,
both of the body and mind : and hence
the art of reducing these signs to practice
is termed physiognomy.

PHYSIOG'NOMY, the art of discov-
ering the predominant temper or other
characteristic qualities of the mind by
the features of the face or external
signs of the countenance. Whatever be
thought of the possibility of laying down
strict rules for such judgments, it is a
fact of e very-day occurrence, that we are,
almost without reflection on our part,
impressed favorably or unfavorably in
regard to the temper and talents of others
by the expression of their countenances.
No study, says Lavater, mathematics ex-
cepted, more justly deserves to be termed
a science than physiognomy. It is a de-
partment of physics, including theology
and belles-lettres; and in the same man-
ner with these sciences may be reduced
to rule. It may acquire a fixed and ap-

PIC]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

473

propriate character; it may be commu-
nicated and taught. Physiognomy, he
adds, is a source of pure and exalted men-
tal gratification. It affords a new view
of the perfection of Deity ; it displays a
new scene of harmony and beauty in his
works ; it reveals internal motives, which,
without it, would only have been discov-
ered in the world to come. We all have
some sort of intuitive method by which we
form our opinions ; and though our rules
for judging of men from their appear-
ance may often fail, we still continue to
trust in them.

PHYSIOG'NOTYPE, a machine for
taking an exact imprint or cast of the
countenance, lately invented by a Pari-
sian. This instrument is a metallic, oval
plate, pierced with a large quantity of
minute holes very closely together, and
through each of which a wire passes with
extreme facility. These needles have
the appearance of a brush. The whole
is surrounded with a double case of tin,
which contains warm water, in order to
keep the instrument of a proper tempe-
rature with the blood. If any figure be
applied against this brush of needles, it
will yield to the slightest pressure, and
leave an exact mould, taking Up only
about two seconds.

PIANO-FORTE, a musical stringed
instrument, the strings of which are ex-
tended over bridges rising on the sound-
ing-board, and are made to vibrate by
means of small covered hammers, which
are put in motion by keys. It has been
gradually improved, till it has become
one of the most important instruments in
all domestic musical entertainments.

PIAS'TRE, a variable denomination
of money. In the West, its use is nearly
confined to Italy, and Spain with its colo-
nies ; in which it generally means a dollar,
or the largest silver coin of those regions ;
but the term is there obsolescent. The
old rose piastre of Tuscany contains 10
pauls, or about $1.05 ; the old two-globed
piastre of Spain, whether Mexican or Se-
villan, is worth about $1.03. Both pass in
the United States for a dollar. In the
East, on the other hand, piastre means a
coin of scarcely l-20th the value of the
foregoing; namely, worth about five cents.

PIAZ'ZA, an Italian name for a por-
tico or covered walk. The word literally
signifies a broad open place or square ;
whence it came to be applied to the walks
or porticos surrounding them.

PI'BROCH, martial music produced by
the bag-pipe of the Highlanders. It is
said to signify also the instrument itself;

but the former meaning, if, indeed, there
are any instances of the latter to be found
in any classical writer, has received the
sanction of the two most celebrated poets
of their time, Lord Byron and Sir Walter
Scott. The connoisseurs, says the latter
writer, in pipe-music, affect to discover,
in a well-composed pibroch, the imitative
sounds of march, conflict, flight, pursuit,
and all the "current of a heady fight."

PICARDS', the name of a fanatical and
immoral sect of Christians, who sprang
up in Bohemia in the fifteenth century.
They derived their name from Picard, a
native of Flanders, who styled himself
the New Adarn, and attempted to revive
the absurdities of the Adamites of the
second century in imitating the state of
primeval innocence. They were com-
pletely annihilated by Zisca, the great
general of the Hussites, who, struck with
their abominable practices, had marched
against them.

PICK'ET, or PIC'QUET, in military
discipline, a certain number of men, horse
or foot, who do duty as an outguard, to
prevent surprises Also, a punishment
which consists in making the offender
stand with one foot on a pointed stake.
Pickets, in fortification, sharp stakes,
sometimes shod with iron, used in laying
out ground, or for pinning the fascines
of a battery. In the artillery, pickets
five or six feet long are used to pin the
park lines ; in the camp, they are used
about six or eight inches long to fix the
tent cords, or five fee't long in the cavalry
camp to fasten the horses.

PICTS' WALL, an ancient wall began
by the emperor Adrian, A.D. 123, on the
northern boundary of England, from
Carlisle to Newcastle, to prevent the in-
cursions of the Picts and Scots. It was
first made only of turf, strengthened with
palisades till the emperor Severus coming
in person into Britain, had it built with
stone ; and Actius, the Roman general,
rebuilt it with brick, A.D. 430. Some re-
mains of this wall are still visible in parts
of Northumberland and Cumberland.

PICTURESQUE', an epithet denoting
that peculiar kind of beauty which,
either in a prospect, a painting, or a de-
scription, strikes the mind with great
power, or imparts to it agreeable sensa-
tions. In the theory of the Arts,- tho
word picturesque is used as contradistin-
guished from poetic and plastic. The
poetical has reference to the fundamental
idea to be represented to the painter's
conception of his subject ; whilst the pic-
turesque relates to the mode of express-

474

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PIL

ing the conception, the grouping, the
distribution of objects, persons, and lights.
The poetical part of a picture, as well as
its mechanical execution, may be without
fault, and yet the picture be a total
failure as regards the picturesque.

PIER, a very strong stone wall or
mass of solid stone-work running into the
water, to resist the force of the sea, to
support the arches of a bridge, or the
quay of a wharf, and to withstand the
dashing of waves. Also, a part of the
wall of a house between windows.

PIE'RIAN, an epithet given to the
muses, from Mount Pierus, in Thessaly,
which was sacred to them ; or from their
victory over the nine daughters of the
Macedonian king, Pierus.

PI'ETIST, a person belonging to a
sect of Protestants which sprung up in
Germany, in the latter part of the 17th
century. They professed great strictness
and purity of life, affecting to despise
learning and ecclesiastical polity, as also
forms and ceremonies in religion, and
giving themselves up to mystic theology.

PI'ETY, that holy principle which
consists in veneration accompanied with
love for the Supreme Being ; and which
manifests itself, in practice, by obedience
to God's will, and a pure devotion to his
service. Piety both towards God and
man was one of the virtues held in most
esteem by the ancients, and is therefore
commemorated on innumerable medals,
sometimes under the figure of a female
carrying children, or of ./Eneas bearing
his father, Ac., but more frequently
under that of a female standing at an
altar.

PIG'MENTS, preparations of various
kinds used in painting and dyeing, to im-
part the colors required. They are ob-
tained from animal, vegetable, and min-
eral substances.

PIGiMY, by ancient authors on nat-
ural history,~this name was applied to a
fabulous race of dwarfish and deformed
human beings ; it is now restricted to a
species of npe, the Chimpanzee. Ancient
fable described a nation of pigmies dwell-
ing somewhere near the shores of the
ocean, and maintaining perpetual wars
with the cranes ; of which Athenaeus
gives the mythological origin. Ctesias
the6reek historian, as quoted by Photius,
represented a nation of them as inhabit-
ing India, and attending Us king on his
military expeditions. Other ancients be-
lieved them to inhabit the Indian islands.

PILASTER, a debased pillar; a square
pillar projecting from a pier, or from a

wall, to the extent of from 4 to \ of its
breadth. Pilasters origi-
nated in the Grecian antre.
In Roman architecture
they were sometimes ta- ^
pered like columns, and
finished with capitals mo-
delled after the order with
which they were used.

PILE'US, in antiquity,
a hat or cap worn by the
Romans, during any in-
disposition which prevent-
ed them from appearing
safely with their heads un-
covered, as was the gener-
al custom. The Pileus
was also worn by such as
had lately received their
freedom, because on hav-
ing their liberty granted,
they were constantly shav-
ed : the Pileus, therefore,
being necessary on this
account, was also esteemed a badge of
liberty ; hence pileo donari signifies to be
made free.

PIL'GRIM. one that travels to a dis-
tance from his own country to visit a holy
place for devotional purposes. In the
middle ages, kings, princes, bishops, and
others made pilgrimages to visit the holy
sepulchre at Jerusalem, in pious devotion
to the Saviour. This was permitted while
Palestine was held by the Saracens ; but
when the Turks obtained possession of
that country, the Christian pilgrims were
visited with the greatest indignities, and
their repeated complaints occasioned the
excitement which led to the crusades. In
subsequent times pilgrimages to Rome,
Compostella, Loretto, Tours, and other
places where the relics of martyrs and
saints attracted the notice of devotees,
have been common ; and pilgrims to this
day travel to Rome, where they are pro-
vided for in establishments founded es-
pecially for their reception and entertain-
ment. But pilgrimages are not confined
to Christian nations. According to a com-
mand in the Koran, every good Mussul-
man is enjoined once in his lifetime to
repair to Mecca; and there are many
other places, especially in Persia, endow-
ed with sufficient sanctity to attract mul-
titudes of pilgrims. The Hindoos have
also their pilgrimages, the most celebrat-
ed of which is to the city of Juggernaut,
where stands the temple erected in honor
of the deity of the same name ; a full ac-
count of which will be found in the Geo
Diet., art. " Juggernaut." Among exist-

PIS]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

475

ing Christian pilgrimages, the most cel-
ebrated is that of Marianzell, in Austria.

PIL'L AK, a kind of irregular column,
either too massive or too slender for reg-
ular architecture ; the parts and propor-
tions of which, not being restricted to any
rules, are arbitrary.

PIL'LORY, an instrument of punish-
ment, consisting of a frame of wood erect-
ed on posts, made to confine the head and
hands of a criminal, in order to expose
him to view, and to render him publicly
infamous.

PI'LUM, a missile weapon used by the
Roman soldiers, and in a charge darted
upon the enemy. Its point was so long
and small, that after the first discharge it
was generally so bent as to be rendered
useless.

PINA'CIA, among the Athenians,
were tablets of brass inscribed with the
names of all the citizens in each tribe,
who were duly qualified and willing to
be judges of the court of Areopagus.
These tablets were cast into one vessel
provided for the purpose, and the same
number of beans, a hundred being white
and all the rest black, were thrown into
another. Then the names of the candi-
dates and the beans were drawn out one
by one ; and they whose names were
drawn out together with the white beans
were elected judges or senators.

PINACOTHE'CA, in ancient architec-
ture, the apartment in a house for the
reception of paintings.

PINDAREES', the name given in
British India to the hordes of mounted
robbers who, for several years, (since
1812,) infested the possessions of the East
India Company. These freebooters have
existed since 1761, but made themselves
particularly formidable in the 19th cen-
tury. They were descended mostly from
the caste of Mohammedan warriors, which
formerly received high pay from the In-
dian princes ; and these latter, after be-
coming tributary to the British, secretly
excited the Pindarees to attack the com-
pany. In 1817 the marquis of Hastings,
then governor-general, determined on
their destruction, and being attacked on
all sides, they were conquered and dis-
persed.

PINDAR'IC, an ode in imitation of
the odes of Pindar, the prince of Greek
lyric poets.

PIN'- MONEY, gifts by a husband to
his wife for the purchase of apparel, or-
naments for her person, or for private ex-
penditure. Usually, however, a sum of
money for that purpose is secured by the

husband to his wife by settlement, or by
articles executed before the marriage,
and such a provision cannot be attached
for the husband's debts.

PIN'NACE, a small vessel navigated
with oars and sails, and having generally
two masts which are rigged like those of a
schooner ; also one of the boats belonging
to a man of war, usually with eight oars,
and used to carry the officers to and from
shore.

PIN'NACLE, in architecture, the top
or roof of a building, terminating in a
point. Among the ancients the pinnacle
was appropriated to temples ; their ordi-
nary roofs being all flat. It was from
the pinnacle that the pediment took its
rise.

PIONEER', in military tactics, a mili-
tary laborer, or one whose business is to
attend an army in its march, to clear the
way, by cutting down trees and levelling
roads : as also to work at intrenchrnents,
or form mines for destroying an enemy's
works.

PI'RACY, the crime of robbery or tak-
ing of property from others by open
violence on the high seas without author-
ity. It includes all acts of robbery and
depredation committed at sea, which, if
occurring upon land, would amount to
felony. The word pirate signifies literal-
ly an adventurer. Piracy is also fre-
quently used to signify any infringement
on the law of copyright. It is extremely
difficult to lay down any general principle
on which to decide as to what is and what
is not piracy. Generally it is held, that
one writer may borrow the ideas or
theories of another : but that he must
dress them up and explain them in a dif-
ferent way, and in his own language.
This, however, is often done so as merely
to evade the law : and it were well, in
order to make greater attention be paid
to originality, were the law as to piracy
less lax than it is at present.

PIROGUE', a kind of canoe, used in
the Southern and Eastern seas, made from
a single trunk of a tree hollowed out.
Pirogues are generally small, and work-
ed by paddles ; they are, however, some-
times large, decked, rigged with sails,
and furnished with out-riggers.

PIROUET'TE, in dancing, a rapid cir-
cumvolution upon one foot, which on the
stage is repeated by the dancers many
times in succession. In riding, it is the
sudden short turn of a horse, so as to
bring his head suddenly in the opposite
direction to where it was before.

PIS'CARY, in our ancient statutes,

476

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PLA

the right or liberty of fishing in another
man's waters.

PITCH, in music, the degree of acute-
ness or graveness of a note. It may be
the key-note, or the note on which any
air or part begins. Any sound less acute
than some other sound, is said to be of a
lower pitch than that other sound, and
vice versa. Concert pitch, in musical
performances, the degree of acuteness or
gravity generally adopted for some one
given note, and by which every other note
is governed. It is not regulated by any
fixed standard. The opera pitch is high-
er than the concert pitch. Pitch of a
roof, in architecture, the inclination of
the sloping sides of the roof to the horizon,
or the vertical angle formed by the slop-
ing sides. It is usually designated by
the ratio of its height to its span.

PIU', in music, Italian for a little
more. It is prefixed to words to increase
their force, as piu allegra, a little brisk-
er ; piu piano, a little softer, &c.

FIX, a covered vessel used in Roman
Catholic countries for holding the conse-
crated host. Fixes are most frequently
made of gold or silver, and sometimes are
in form like a chalice with merely the
addition of a lid.

PLAC'AKD, properly a written or
printed paper posted in a public place.
It seems to have been formerly the name
of an edict, proclamation, or manifesto
issued by authority, but this sense is, I
believe, seldom or never annexed to the
word. A placard now is an advertise-
ment, or a libel, or a paper intended to
censure public or private characters or
public measures, posted in a public place.
In the case of libels or papers intended
to censure public or private characters,
or the measures of government, these
papers are usually pasted up at night for
secrecy. It is also used for any paper
posted to give public notice, as an adver-
tisement.

PLA'CITA, (Lat.,) in the middle ages,
were public courts or assemblies, in which
the sovereign presided when a consulta-
tion was held upon the affairs of the state.

PLAFOND', the ceiling of a room whe-
ther flat or arched ; also the under side of
the projection of the larmier of the cornice,
generally any soffit.

PL A'GALMEL'ODIES, in music, such
as have their principal notes lying be-
tween the fifth of the key and its octave
or twelfth.

PLA'GIARISM, (from the Latin legal
lorm plagium, which signified the offence
of stealing a slave, or kidnapping a free

person into slavery.) A plagiary, in the
modern sense of the word, is one who
borrows without acknowledgment, in lit-
erary composition, the thoughts or words
of another ; and the theft itself is styled
plagiarism.

PLAGUE, a malignant and contagious
disease that often prevails in Egypt, Sy-
ria, and Turkey. It generally proves
fatal to nations and great cities, but is
arrested by cleanliness, or the avoiding
of putrid fermentations of which it seems
to be an extension.

PLAIN-SONG, a term in ancient ec-
clesiastical music signifying the plain,
unvaried chant of churches ; so called in
contradistinction from the prick-song, or
variegated music sung by note. It is an
extremely simple melody and admits but
one measure, the duple, and only notes
of equal value. It is rarely allowed to
extend beyond the compass of an octave.
It is still used in the Romish church.

PLAIN'TIFF, in law, the person who
commences a suit before a judicial tribu-
nal, for the recovery of a claim ; opposed
to defendant.

PLAN, the representation of some-
thing drawn on a plane ; as a map, chart,
or ichnography. It is, however, more
particularly used for a draught of a build-
ing, as it appears, or is intended to ap-
pear on the ground ; showing the extent,
division, and distribution of its area, or
ground plot, into apartments, rooms, pas-
sages, <fec. A perspective plan is that
which is exhibited according to the rules
of perspective. The word plan also sig-
nifies a scheme or project ; the form of
something to be done existing in the mind,
with the several parts adjusted in idea.
A plan, in this sense, may be expressed
in words or committed to writing ; as a
plan of a constitution of government, the
plan of a military expedition, &c.

PL ANTA'GENET, the surname of the
royal family of England from Henry II.
to Richard III. inclusive. The origin of
the name is involved in deep obscurity.
The best antiquaries derive it from the
well-known story of the Earl of Anjou,
the ancestor of the royal race, who hav-
ing made a pilgrimage to Rome, where
he was scourged with broom twigs, as-
sumed the name of Plantagenista, (lite-
rally, a broom twig,) which his descend-
ants retained. The name Plantagenet
belongs to the noble house of Bucking-
ham.

PLANTATION, in the United States
and the West Indies, a cultivated estate;
a farm. In the United States, this word i.

PLE]

AND THE PINE ARTS.

applied to an estate, a tract of land occu-
pied and cultivated, in those states only
where the labor is performed by slaves,
and where the land is more or less appro-
priated to the culture of tobacco, rice, in-
digo, and cotton, that is, from Maryland to
Georgia inclusive, on the Atlantic, and in
the western states where the land is ap-
propriated to the same articles, or to the
culture of the sugar-cane. From Mary-
land, northward and eastward, estates in
land are called farms. An original set-
tlement in a new country ; a town or
village planted.

PLAS'TIC ART, a branch of sculp-
ture, being the art of forming figures of
men and animals in plaster, clay, &c.
The word plastic signifies having power
to give form or fashion to a mass of mat-
ter ; as, the plastic hand of the Creator,
<fcc. Plastic nature, a certain power by
which, as an instrument, many philoso-
phers, both ancient and modern, supposed
that the great motions in the corporeal
world, and the various processes of gene-
ration and corruption were perpetually
carried on.

PL AT'BAND, in architecture, a square
moulding projecting less than its height
or breadth. The fillets between the flutes
of columns are sometimes called, but
improperly, by this name. It is also
sometimes used to denote the lintel of a
door.

PLATE, in architecture, a piece of
timber lying horizontally on a wall for
the reception of the ends of girders,
joints, rafters, &c.

PLAT'FORM, in architecture, a row
of beams which support the timber-work
of a roof; also any erection consisting of
boards raised above the ground for an
exhibition or any other temporary pur-
pose. Platform, in the military art, an
elevation of earth on which cannon are
mounted to fire on an enemy.

PLATON'IC, pertaining to Plato, his
school, philosophy, opinions, &c. The
leading characteristic of the mind of
Plato is its comprehensiveness. This
quality discovers itself equally in the
form in which his philosophy is commu-
nicated, and in that philosophy itself.
The form to which we allude is, it is well
known, that of the dialogue. The Dia-
logues of Plato are at once vivid repre-
sentations of Athenian life and character,
and constituent parts of a system of uni-
versal philosophy; the harmonious pro-
ductions of a genius which combined the
dramatic imagination with the scientific
intellect in a degree which has never be-

fore nor since been equalled. It is in this
circumstance that we must seek alike for
the influence which Plato's writings have
exerted, and for the difficulty of rightly
apprehending their meaning. What has
been said of history in general may with
equal truth be applied to the Platonic
dialogues that they are " philosophy
teaching by examples." In place of a
formal refutation of sophistry, we are
introduced to living sophists ; in the room
of an elaborate system of philosophy,
we meet the greatest philosophers of his
day, reasoning and conversing with dis-
ciples eager in the pursuit of knowledge
with Athenians full of national preju-
dices, with men abounding with individ-
ual peculiarities. Platonic love denotes
a pure spiritual affection, for which Plato
was a great advocate, subsisting between
the different sexes, unmixed with carnal
affections, and regarding no other object
but the mind and its excellencies. It is
also sometimes understood as a sincere dis-
interested friendship subsisting between
persons of the same sex, abstracted from
any selfish'views, and regarding no other
object than the individual so esteemed.
Platonic year, or the great year, a period
of time determined by the revolution of
the equinoxes, or the space of time in
which the stars and constellations return
to their former places in respect to the
equinoxes. This revolution, which is cal-
culated by the precession of the equinoxes,
is accomplished in about 25,000 years.

PLA'TONIST, one that adheres to the
philosophy of Plato.

PLATOON', in the military art, a small
square body of forty or fifty musketeers,
drawn out of a battalion of foot, and
placed between the squadrons of horse to
sustain them ; or a small body acting
together, but separate from the main
body ; as, to fire by platoons.

PLEA, in law, that which is alleged by
a party for himself in court, in a cause
there depending ; but in a more limited
sense, the defendant's answer to the plain-
tiff's declaration and demand. That
which the plaintiff alleges in his decla-
ration is answered and repelled, or justi-
fied by the defendant's plea.

PLEAD'INU. in law, a speech deliver-
ed at the bar in defence of a cause : but,
in a stricter sense, pleadings are all the
allegations of the parties to a suit, made
after the declaration, till the issue is
joined. In this sense they express what-
ever is contained in the bar, replication,
rejoiner, &o. till the question is brought
to issue, that is, to rest on a single point.

478

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

PLE

Pleading, amongst the Greeks and
Romans, was limited as to its duration,
by a clepsydra or hour-glass of water ;
and to see that the orators had justice
done them, in this respect, an officer was
appointed to distribute the proper quan-
tity of water to each.

PLEAS'URE, the gratification of the
senses or of the mind ; agreeable sensa-
tions or emotions ; some enjoyment or
delight lasting for a time and then ceas-
ing ; the excitement, relish, or happiness
produced by enjoyment or the expecta-
tion of good ; opposed to pain. We re-
ceive pleasure from the indulgence of
appetite ; from the view of a beautiful
landscape ; from the harmony of sounds;
from agreeable society ; from the expec-
tation of seeing an absent friend ; from
the prospect of gain or success of any
kind. Pleasure, bodily and mental, car-
nal and spiritual, constitutes the whole
of positive happiness, as pain constitutes
the whole of misery. Pleasure is prop-
erly positive excitement of the passions
or the mind ; but we give the name also
to the absence of excitement, when that
excitement is painful ; as when we cease
to labor, or repose after fatigue, or when
the mind is tranquillized after anxiety
or agitation. Pleasure is susceptible of
increase to any degree ; but. the word,
when unqualified, expresses less excite-
ment or happiness than delight or joy.

PLEAS URE-GROUND, that portion
of ground adjoining a dwelling in the
country which is exclusively devoted to
ornamental and recreative purposes. In
the ancient style of gardening, the pleas-
ure-ground was laid out in straight walks,
and regular or symmetrical forms, com-
monly borrowed from architecture ; but,
in the modern style, it is laid out in
winding walks, and in forms borrowed
direct from nature. A portion of lawn
or smooth grassy surface may be con-
sidered as essential to the pleasure-
ground under both styles.

PLEBEIANS, the free citizens of
Rome who did not come under the class
of the patricians or clients. Though
always personally independent, they had
in early times no political power, the
government being entirely in the hands
of the patricians, who, with their clients
and the king, formed the original people.
The class of plebeians was of after-
growth, and probably drew its numbers
from various sources, as from clients
whose obligations were dissolved by the
decay of the houses of their patrons, and
the inhabitants of conquered states who

where admitted to rights of citizenship.
The plebeian families with patrician
names are supposed to have arisen from
marriages of disparagement- contracted
between the higher and lower classes. As
this body, from its constitution, naturally
grew in vigor while the patricians became
weaker, it soon formed the main strength
of the Roman armies, and became desir-
ous of sharing in the advantages of the
conquests made by its prowess ; while the
patricians, on their part, tenaciously
clung to all their privileges, and, far
from yielding to the demands of the other
party, exercised the severe rights which
as creditors they possessed over the lib-
erties of many of its members. This
state of things produced a continued series
of collisions between the two orders, in
which the latter gradually gained ground,
till, in the last ages of the republic, it
was admitted to a full share of all the
powers and privileges before confined to
one order.

PLEDGE, something left in pawn ;
that which is deposited with another as
security for the repayment of money bor-
rowed, or for the performance of some
agreement or obligation. In law, bail ;
surety given for the prosecution of a suit,
or for the appearance of a defendant, or
for restoring goods taken in distress and
replevied. To pledge, in drinking, is to
warrant a person that he shall receive no
harm while drinking, or from the draught ;
a practice which originated with our an-
cestors in their rude state, and which was
intended to assure the person that he
would not be stabbed while drinking, or
poisoned by the liquor. Notwithstanding
the reason has long since ceased, the cus-
tom still continues a remarkable in-
stance of the force of habit.

PLENIPOTENTIARY, a person in-
vested with full power to transact any
business; generally, an ambassador from a
prince, invested with full power to negoti-
ate a treaty or conclude peace with an-
other prince or state.

PLE'ONASM, redundancy of words in
speaking or writing ; the use of more
words to express ideas, than are necessa-
ry. This may be justifiable when we in-
tend to present thoughts with particular
perspicuity or force, as '' I saw it with
my own eyes," " I heard it with my oicn

PLETH'RON, or PLETH'RUM, in
Grecian antiquity, a square measure, the
exact contents of which are not certainly
known. Some suppose it to correspond
with the Roman juger, or 240 feet ; others

POE]

AND THE FIJ5E ARTS.

479

say it was the square of a hundred cu-
bits.

PLINTH, a flat, square member, in
form of a brick, which serves as a foun-

a. Torus, b. Plinth.

dation of a column ; being the flat square
table under the moulding of the base and
pedestal, at the bottom of the order.
Plinth of a statue, is a base, flat, round,
or square. Plinth of a wall, two or
three rows of bricks advanced from the
wall, in form of a flatband ; and, in gen-
eral, any flat, high moulding, that serves
in a front wall to mark the floors, to sus-
tain tho eaves of a wall, or the larmier
of a chimney.

PLOT, any stratagem or plan of a com-
plicated nature, adapted to the accom-
plishment of some mischievous purpose ;
as a plot against the government, or
against the life of a person. .Plot, in dra-
matic writings, the fable of a tragedy or
comedy, but more particularly the knot
or intrigue, comprising a complication of
incidents which are ultimately unfolded.
Plot, in surveying, the plan or draught of
any field, farm, <fcc. surveyed with an in-
strument, and laid down in the proper
figure and dimensions.

PLU'TEUS, the wall sometimes made
use of to close the intervals between the
columns of a building; it was either of
stone or some less durable material when
it occurred in the interior of a building.
The pluteus was also a kind of podium
interposed between two orders of columns,
where one was placed above the other.
A movable gallery on wheels, shaped like
an arched sort of wagon, used by besieg-
ers for the protection of their archers,
who were stationed on it to clear the
walls with their arrows.

PLU'TUS, the god of riches, said to
have been the son of Jasius and Demeter
or Ceres. There are no particulars known
as to his worship ; but he is introduced
ns an actor in the play of Aristophanes
which bears his name, and he bears a
part also in the Timon of Lucian.

PLU'TO, in Greek and Roman mythol-
ogy, the brother of Jupiter and Neptune,
and lord of the infernal regions. He is
represented as an old man with a digni-
fied but severe aspect, holding in his hand
a two-pronged fork. He was generally
called by the Greeks Hades, and by the
llomans Orcus and Dis. His wife was

Proserpine, daughter of Jupiter and
Ceres, whom Pluto seized in the island
of Sicily while she was plucking flowers,
and carried to the lower world.

PO'DIUM, (Latin,) in architecture,
the part in an amphitheatre projecting
over the arena, above which it was raised
about 12 or 15 feet : in this part sat the
personages of distinction. The word is
also used to signify a balcony.

PCE'CILE, a celebrated portico or
gallery at Athens, where Zeno inculcated
his doctrines. The Poecile was adorned
with the statues of gods and benefactors ;
and the picture of Polygnotus, so jfell-
known to the classical reader, which rep-
resented Miltiades at the head of the
1000 Greeks at the battle of Marathon,
was here suspended for ages.

PO'EM, a metrical composition ; a
composition in which the verses consist of
certain measures, whether in blank verse
or in rhyme ; as, the poems of Homer or
of Milton ; opposed to prose. This term
is also applied to some compositions in
which the language is that of excited
imagination ; as the poems of Ossian.

PO'ET, one who has a particular
genius for metrical composition, combin-
ed with those higher requisites which be-
long to a lively imagination, and a keen
sense of the beauties of nature. Many
write verses who have no just claim to
the title of poets, and yet such writers
may be many degrees beyond those versi-
fying scribes who, in derision, are termed
poetasters.

POET'ICAL JUS'TICE, a term often
used in speaking of dramatic writings, to
denote a distribution of rewards and pun-

480

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

FOE

ishments to the several characters at the
catastrophe or close of a piece.

PO'ET LAU'REATE, the appellation
given to a poet whose duty it is to com-
pose birth-day odes, and other- poems of
rejoicing, for the monarch in whose ser-
vice he is retained. The laureate's post
in England is at present filled by Alfred
Tennyson, and the services formerly
required are dispensed with. The first
mention of a king's poet in England, un-
der the title of poet laureate, occurs in
the reign of Edward IV. Poeta laurea-
tus was, however, also an academical title
in England, conferred by the universities
when the candidates received the degrees
in grammar (which included rhetoric and
versification.) The last instance of a lau-
reated degree at Oxford occurs in 1512.
Ben Jonson was court poet to James I.
and received a pension, but does not ap-
pear to have the title of laureate formal-
ly granted him. Dryden was appointed
laureate to Charles II.. and afterwards
to James II., by regular patent under
privy seal. Nahum Tate, Howe, Eusden,
Cibber, Whitehead, T. Warton, Pye,
Southey, Wordsworth, and Tennyson, (the
last of whom was appointed in 1851.)

PO'ETRY. To produce a complete and
satisfactory definition of poetry has been,
hitherto, unsuccessfully attempted by
writers on taste, and by poets themselves.
A popular one, sufficiently adapted to
general notions, is furnished by the doyen
of living critics, Lord Jeffrey : " The end
of pAtry is to please ; and the name, we
think, is strictly applicable to every met-
rical composition from which we derive
pleasure without any laborious exercise
of the understanding." But, in the first
place, it has been truly observed that
" verse is the limit by which poetry is
bounded : it is the adjunct of poetry, but
not its living principle." " Poetry," says
Coleridge, " is not the proper antithesis
to prose, but to science. Poetry is op-
posed to science, and prose to metre."
" The proper and immediate object of
science is the acquirement or communi-
cation of truth ; the proper and immedi-
ate object of poetry is the communication
of immediate pleasure." It is essentially a
creative art : its operation is " making,"
not transcribing. "Imitation" it is, as
Aristotle defines it ; not because it copies,
but because it has its model in nature,
and can never depart far from it without
losing its character. Lord Bacon ex-
plains this by saying, that poetry " doth
raise and erect the mind, by submitting
the shows of things to the desire of the

mind." The imagination alters these
" shows of things" by adding or subtract-
ing qualities, and poetry produces to view
the forms which result from the operation.
1. Imagination is, emphatically, the
great poetical faculty. It is " the first
moving or creative principle of the mind,
which fashions out of materials previous-
ly existing, new materials and original
truths." It is " a Complex power, in-
cluding those faculties which are called
by metaphysicians conception, abstrac-
tion, and judgment :" the first enabling
us to form a notion of objects of percep-
tion and knowledge ; the second " sepa-
rating the selected materials from the
qualities and circumstances which are
connected with them in nature ;" the
third selecting the materials. Its opera-
tions are most various, and it exhibits
itself in poetry in very different degrees
and forms. It may shine here and there,
chiefly in comparison, or in bold and
pleasing metaphor, breaking the chain
of a narrative, as in Homer and the
earlier poetry of most nations ; it may
hurry image on image, connected only
by those exquisite links of thought which
are present in the mind of the poet, in
daring, compressed, rapid language, as
if language were inadequate to its ex-
pression, as in the inspired prophets, in
jEschylus, and often in Shakspeare; it
may predominate in entire sustained
conceptions, grasping at general features,
as in Milton ; it may cling more closely
to the " shows of things," dwelling in
particulars, reproducing with startling
vividness images little altered, graphic,
and minute, as in Dante.

2. No distinction has given critics more
trouble, in the way of definition, than
that between imagination and fancy.
<; Fancy," it has been said, " is given to
beguile and quicken the temporal part
of our nature ; imagination to incite and
support the eternal." " The distinction
between fancy and imagination," says
another, " is simply that the former alto-
gether changes and remodels the original
idea, impregnating it with something ex-
traneous ; the latter leaves it undisturbed,
but associates it with things to which in
some view or other it bears a resem-
blance."

3. Lord Jeffrey associates with the
pleasure of imagination that derived from
"the easy exercise of reason." This is
produced chiefly by the faculties of
thought, wit, and reflecM.on. It may, in-
deed, be doubted wheth\, T the expression
of thought, however energetic and acute,

POE]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

481

clad in current poetical diction, is really
poetry. Certainly it is so, if at all, in a
very inferior degree to that of the ima-
gination.

4. The expression of passion, sentiment,
or pathos, is the most common and uni-
versal of all sources of poetical pleasure.
It is the very soul of all early and simple
poetry ; it pervades no less that of the
most civilized communities. Yet this
class of poetry is less truly and emphati-
cally poetical than the imaginative, al-
though more popular. The pleasure oc-
casioned by it is of a mixed nature : it
arises from the excitement of peculiar
sympathies; not produced, but heightened
only, by the form in which that excite-
ment is conveyed.

5. The dramatic faoulty, of which we
have already spoken, seems to consist in
acute powers of observation of the varie-
ties of human character, together with
the rarer power of delineating it with
such force as to bring the imaginary per-
son distinctly before the reader. It is the
wonderful and unique characteristic of
Shakspeare, in whom all individuality,
as has often been observed, seems abso-
lutely lost.

6. The descriptive faculty is of the same
kind ; that of bringing the objects of ex-
ternal nature, or passing scenes of what-
ever sort, vividly before the reader's fancy.
It is obvious that this also is a faculty com-
mon to poets with many others who are
not so : but sustained energy of descrip-
tion, as in Homer, forms a magnificent
groundwork for strictly poetical ornament.
In the poetry of modern times, especially
in this country, and in Germany, the
description of external nature has been
made subservient to the purposes of im-
agination and reflection by writers of
high genius ; and this combination pecu-
liarly characterizes the taste of the age.

7. Lord Jeffrey ranks last the pleasure
derived from diction as of a secondary
order, which it undoubtedly is, and yet
almost essential. The highest poetry,
without beauty of style, is rarely or never
popular. We have no space to charac-
terize minutely this poetical quality ; but
by way of example, it may suffice to ob-
serve that Virgil is, perhaps, of all poets,
he of whose charm the greatest propor-
tion is derived from simple beauty and
felicity of diction ; through a whole range
of ill-chosen subjects, always graceful,
always equable, and as nearly approach-
ing to faultlessness as human skill can
construct.

8. Lastly, we must not omit the pleas-

ure of melody : not essential to poetry,
since there may be poetry without verse ;
not always a merit of the poet's own,
since much depends on the language ; and
a Greek or Italian poet, cscteris paribus,
will ever be preferable to an English or
German one on this account alone ; but
a grace which heightens the charm of
the noblest poetry, and sometimes capti-
vates the sense even in the most indiffer-
ent.

Dr. Channingsays, "In an intellectual
nature, framed for progress and for higher
modes of being, there must be creative
energies, powers of original and ever-
growing thought ; and poetry is th i form
in which those energies are chiefly mani-
fested. It is the glorious prerogative of
this art that ' it makes all things new'
for the gratification of a divine instinct.
It indeed finds its elements in what it
actually sees and .experiences in the
worlds of matter and mind ; but it com-
bines and blends these into new forms and
according to new affinities ; breaks down,
if we may so say, the distinctions and
bounds of nature ; imparts to material
objects life, and sentiment, and emotion,
and invests the mind with the powers and
splendors of the outward creation ; de-
scribes the surrounding universe in the
colors which the passions throw over it,
and depicts the mind in those moments
of repose or agitation, of tenderness or
sublime emotion, which manifests its thirst
for a more powerful and joyful existence.
To a man of a literal and prosaic" char-
acter, the mind may seem lawless in
these workings ; but it observes higher
laws than it transgresses, the laws of the
immortal intellect; it is trying and de-
veloping its best faculties ; and in the
objects which it describes, or in the emo-
tions which it awakens, anticipates those
states of progressive power, splendor,
beauty, and happiness, for which it was
created. We accordingly believe that
poetry, far from injuring society, is one
of the great instruments of its refinement
and exaltation. It lifts the mind above
ordinary life, gives it a respite from de-
pressing cares, and awakens the conscious-
ness of its affinity with what is pure and
noble. In its legitimate and highest
efforts it has the same tendency and
aim with Christianity ; that is to spiritu-
alize our nature. True, poetry has been
made the instrument of vice, the pander
of bad passions : but, when genius thus
stoops, it dims its fires, and parts with
much of its power; and, even when poe-
try is enslaved to licentiousness or misan-

482

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[POL

thropy, she cannot wholly forget her true
vocation. Strains of pure feeling, touch-
es of tenderness, images of innocent hap-
piness, sympathies with suffering virtue,
bursts of scorn or indignation at the
hollowness of the world, passages true to
our moral nature, often escape in an im-
moral work, and show us how hard it is
for a gifted spirit to divorce itself wholly
from what is good. Poetry has a natural
alliance with our best affections. It de-
lights in the beauty and sublimity of the
outward creation and of the soul. It
indeed portrays with terrible energy the
excesses of the passions ; but they are
passions which show a mighty nature,
which are full of power, which command
awe, and excite a deep though shuddering
sympathy. Its great tendency and pur-
pose is, to carry the mind above and
beyond the beaten, dusty, weary walks
of ordinary life ; to lift it into a purer
element, and to breathe into it more pro-
found and generous emotion. It reveals
to us the loveliness of nature, brings back
the freshness of youthful feeling, revives
the relish of simple pleasures, keeps
unquenehed the enthusiasm which warm-
ed the spring-time of our being, refines
youthful love, strengthens our interest
in human nuture by vivid delineations
of its tenderest and loftiest feelings,
spreads our sympathies over all classes
of society, knits us by new ties with uni-
versal being, and through the brightness
of its prophetic visions, helps faith to
lay hold on the future life. It is not true
that the poet paints a life which does
not exist. He only extracts and concen-
trates, as it were, life's ethereal essence,
arrests and condenses its volatile fra-
grance, brings together its scattered beau-
ties, and prolongs its more refined but
evanescent joys ; and in this, he does well ;
for it is good to feel that life is not
wholly usurped by cares for subsistence
and physical gratifications, but admits,
in measures which may be indefinitely
enlarged, sentiments and delights worthy
of a higher being."

POINT, in music, a mark or note an-
ciently used to distinguish tones or
sounds. Hence, simple counterpoint is
when a note of the lower part answers
exactly to that of the upper : and figura-
tive counterpoint is when a note is synco-
pated, and one of the parts makes several
notes or inflections of the voice, while the
other holds on one. In modern music, a
dot placed by a note to raise its value or
prolong its time by one half, so as to
make asemibreve equal to three minims ;

a minim equal to three quavers, <tc. A
character used to mark the divisions of
writing, or the pauses to be observed in
reading or speaking ; as the comma, sem-
icolon, colon, and period. The period is
called a, full stop, as it marks the close of
a sentence. Particular ; single thing or
subject. In what point do we differ 7 All
points of controversy between the parties
are adjusted. We say, in point of antiqui-
ty, in point of fact, in point of excellence.
The letter in every point is admirable.
The treaty is executed in every point.

POLA'CRE, a vessel with three masts,
used in the Mediterranean. The masts
are usually of one piece, so that they
have neither tops, caps, nor cross-trees,
nor horses to their upper yards.

POL'EMARCU. in antiquity, ar Athe-
nian magistrate whose duty it was i take
care that the children of such as lost their
lives in their country's service were main-
tained out of the public treasury. He had
also the care of sojourners and stran-
gers in Athens ; his authority over them
being equal to that of the archon over the
citizens.

POLEM'ICS, controversial writings,
particularly applied to controversies on
matters of divinity.

POLE'-STAR, or PO'LAR STAR, in
astronomy, a star of the second magni-
tude, the last in the tail of Ursa Minor,
which is nearly vertical to the pole of the
earth. Owing to its proximity, it never
sets ; it is therefore of great use to nav-
igators in the northern hemisphere, in
determining the latitudes, &c.

POLICE', is a term employed to desig-
nate those regulations which have for
their object to secure the maintenance of
good order, cleanliness, health, &c. in
cities and country districts ; and it is also
used to designate the description of force
by which these objects are effected. This
force differs from military in its being
commanded by civil officers and not be-
ing under military law ; but it is general-
ly drilled and armed in a half military
manner, and has a distinctive uniform.
The police force is employed alike to pre-
vent and detect offences ; and may be
either open or secret. By an open police
is meant officers dressed in their ac-
customed uniform, and known to every-
body ; while by a secret police is meant
officers whom it may be difficult or im-
possible to distinguish from certain classes
of citizens, whose dress and manners they
may think it expedient to assume. The
latter are employed that they may. with-
out exciting the suspicion of guilty par-

POL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

483

ties, or of those who are projecting some
outrage, acquire their confidence, and by
making themselves masters of their se-
crets, secure their apprehension or pre-
vent the outrage.

POL/ICY, in its primary signification,
is the same as polity, comprehending the
fundamental constitution or frame of
civil government in a state or kingdom.
But by usage, policy is now more gen-
erally used to denote what is included
under legislation and administration,
and may be defined, the art or manner of
governing a nation; or that system of
measures which the sovereign of a coun-
try adopts and pursues, as the best adapt-
ed to the interests of the nation. Thus
we speak of domestic policy, or the sys-
tem of internal regulations in a nation ;
foreign policy, or the measures which
respect foreign nations ; commercial pol-
icy, or the measures which respect com-
merce. Policy, in commerce, the writing
or instruction by which a contract of
indemnity is effected between the insurer
and the insured ; or the instrument con-
taining the terms or conditions on which
a person or company undertakes to indem-
nify another person or company against
losses of property exposed to peculiar
hazards, as houses or goods exposed to
fire, or ships and goods exposed to de-
struction on the high seas. The terms
policy of insurance -or assurance, are also
used for the contract, between the insurer
and the insured. Policies are valued or
open ; valued, when the property or
goods insured are valued at prime cost ;
open, when the goods are not valued, but
if lost, their value must be proved.

POLITE'NESS, polished manners, or
that conduct towards others which good
will in the first place, and good sense in
the second, imperiously dictates. It
unites gracefulness and gentility of be-
havior with an obliging willingness to
conform to the wants and wishes of
others.

POLITICAL ARITHMETIC, the art
of making arithmetical calculations on
matters relating to a nation, its revenues,
value of lands and effects, produce of
lands or manufactures, population, and
the general statistics of a country.

POLITICAL ECON'OMY, the science
of the laws which regulate the production,
distribution, and consumption of the pro-
ducts, necessary, useful, or agreeable to
man, which it requires some portion of
voluntary labor to produce, procure, or
preserve. It must be observed, however,
that the limits of this department of

knowledge are not yet accurately defined ;
hence much discussion has arisen among
different writers as to its extent, object,
and the various subjects to be compre-
hended under it. It is, in general, said
of political economy, that its object is
to ascertain the circumstances most fa-
vorable for the production of wealth, and
the laws which determine its distribution,
among the different ranks and orders into
which society is divided ; and this defini-
tion seems quite unexceptionable, pro-
vided it be clearly understood, that by
wealth, in this science, is meant only
those articles or products which require
some portion of human industry for their
production, acquisition, or preservation,
and which, consequently, possess ex-
changeable value. The principal topics
discussed by political economists are :
1. The definition of wealth; 2. of pro-
ductive and unproductive labor ; 3. on
the nature and measures of value ; 4. on
the rent of land ; 5. the wages of labor ;
6. the profits of capital ; 7. the results
of machinery ; 8. the circulating medium
or currency ; 9. the nature and conditions
of commerce, or exchange of commodities.
Continental writers on political economy
not only treat of the principles which
govern the production and accumulation
of wealth, and its distribution and con-
sumption, but also introduce in their
systems inquiries into the principles ac-
cording to which the governments of
states may be organized, so as to promote
in the best manner the well-being of those
subjected to their authority ; but this
last subject belongs properly to general
politics.

POL'ITICS, the science of government;
that part of ethics which consists in the
regulation and government of a nation
or state, for the preservation of its safe-
ty, peace, and prosperity ; comprehend-
ing the defence of its independence and
rights against foreign control or conquest,
the augmentation of its strength and
resources, and the protection of its citi-
zens in their rights, with the preservation
and improvement of their morals. Poli-
tics, in its widest extent, is both the
science and the art of government, or
the science whose subject is the regula-
tion of man. in all his relations as the
member of a state, and the application of
this science. In other words, it is the
theory and practice of obtaining the onda
of civil society as perfectly as possible.
The subjects which political .science
comprises have been arranged under the
following heads : 1. Natural law ; 2.

484

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[POL

abstract politics, that is, the object of a
state, and the relations between it and
individual citizens ; 3. political economy ;
4. the science of police, or municipal reg-
ulation : 5. practical politics, or the
conduct of the immediate public affairs
of a state; 6. history of politics; 7. his-
tory of the European system of states,
being the only system in which the
modern art of politics has received a prac-
tical development ; 8. statistics ; 9. posi-
tive law relating to state affairs, com-
monly called constitutional law ; 10. prac-
tical law of nations ; 11. diplomacy ; 12.
the technical science of politics, an ac-
quaintance with the forms and style of
public business in different countries. In
common parlance we understand by the
politics of a country the course of its gov-
ernment, more particularly as respects
its relations with foreign nations.

POL'ITY, the form or constitution of
civil government of a nation or state ;
and in free states, the frame or funda-
mental system by which the several
branches of government are established,
and the powers and duties of each desig-
nated and defined. The word seems also
to embrace legislation and administra-
tion of government. 2. The constitution
or general fundamental principles of gov-
ernment of any class of citizens, consider-
ed in an appropriate character, or as a
subordinate state.

POLL, in elections, the register of
those who give their vote, containing
their name, place of residence, <fcc. Also
the place where the votes are registered;
as "we are going to the poll;" "several
electors were unable to get to the poll,"
Ac.

POLL TAX, a tax still levied in many
of the continental states, and formerly
also in England, in proportion to the
rank or fortune of the individual. In
England this species of tax was first
levied in 1378; and, as is well known, it
was from the brutality with which the
levying of it was accompanied, that the
rebellion of Wat Tyler took its rise in
1381. Various poll taxes were levied at
different periods in the subsequent his-
tory of England; but they were finally
nbolished in the reign of William III.
See TAXATION.

POLONOISE', in music, a movement
of three crotchets in a bar, with the
rhythmical cesura on the last.

POLYANTOG'RAPHY, the act or
practice of multiplying copies of one's
own hand-writing, by engraving on stone ;
a species of lithography.

POL'YARCHY, a word sometimes used
by political writers in a sense opposed to
monarchy : the government of many,
whether a privileged class (aristocracy,)
or the people at large (democracy.)

POL'YCHROMY, a modern term used
to express the ancient practice of color-
ing statues, and the exteriors and inte-
riors of buildings. This practice dates
from the highest antiquity, but probably
reached its greatest perfection in the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

POLYG'AMY, a plurality of wives or
husbands at the same time. In some
countries, as in Turkey for instance,
polygamy is allowed ; but by the laws
of England, polygamy is made felony,
except in the case of absence beyond the
seas for seven years. Polygamy pre-
vailed among the Jewish patriarchs, both
before and under the Mosaic law ; but
the state of manners had probably be-
come reformed in this respect before the
time of Christ, for in the New Testament
we meet no trace of its practice. Polyg-
amy has been allowed under all the re-
ligions which have prevailed in Asia.
By the laws of Mohammed, every Mus-
sulman is permitted to have a plurality
of wives : the Arabs, however, seldom
avail themselves of this privilege The
ancient Romans never practised it,
though it was not forbidden among them ;
and Mark Antony is mentioned as the
first who took the liberty of having two
wives. From that time it became fre-
quent in the Roman empire, till the
reigns of Theodosius, Honorius, and Ar-
cadius, who prohibited it A.D. 393.

POL'YGLOT, a word generally applied
to such Bibles as have been printed with
the text represented in various languages,
The most ancient instance of this parallel
representation of various texts is the
work of Origen, known by the name of
the Hexapla, in imitation of which seve-
ral similar editions of the Scriptures have
been published since the invention of
printing ; of which the most important
are, 1. The Complutensian, or edition
of Cardinal Ximenes, printed at Alcala
in Spain, 1515, in four languages, com-
prehended in six vols., folio. 2. The Ant-
werp Polyglot, by Montanus, 8 vols.,
folio, 1569." 3. The Paris Polyglot, by
Le Jay, 10 vols., folio, 1628-45. 4. The
English or Walton's Polyglot, London,
1657. These contain among them the
Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Samaritan
texts, with Latin versions each : the Sep-
tuagint, the Greek of the New Testament
the Italic and the Vulgate.

PON]

AND THK FINE ARTS.

485

POL'YGRAPH, an instrument for mul-
tiplying copies of a writing with ease
and expedition.

POLYG'RAPHY, the art of writing
in various ciphers, and deciphering the
same.

POLYHYM'NIA, among the Greeks
and Roman?, the muse that presided
over lyric poetry, to whom is attributed
the invention of mimes and pantomimes.
By the Grecian artists she is represented
covered with a veil, and in a meditating
posture. Her attributes are the lyre and
the plectrum. She places the forefinger
of her right hand upon her mouth, or
holds a scroll.

P L Y M ' A T H Y, the knowledge of
many arts and sciences. Hence a person
who is acquainted with many branches
of learning is styled a polymath.

POL'YSTYLE, a term applied to an
edifice, the columns of which are too nu-
merous to be readily counted ; which
reminds us of an old tradition respecting
the pillars at Stonehenge namely, that
no two persons ever counted their num-
ber alike on the first trial.

POL'YSYLLABLE, in grammar, a
word consisting of more syllables than
three ; for when a word consists of one,
two, or three syllables, it is called a
monosyllable, dissyllable, and trisyllable.

POLYSYN'DETON, in grammar and
rhetoric, a figure in which a redundance
of conjunctions, especially copulative ones,
is used ; as, il we have armies and fleets
and gold and stores all the sinews of
war."

POLYTECH'NIC, an epithet denoting
or comprehending many arts ; as, a
polytechnic school ; the Polytechnic Gal-
lery. The POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL, in
France, was established by a decree of
the national convention of March llth,
1794, which was passed by the influence
of Monge, Carnot, Fourcroy, &c. It is
now established in the buildings of the
ancient college of Navarre. Napoleon
did much for it, and under him it re-
ceived considerable modifications. The
pupils were obliged to live in the build-
ing, and wear a uniform. Its object is to
diffuse a knowledge of the mathematical,
physical, and chemical sciences, and to
prepare the pupils for the artillery ser-
vice and the various departments of
engineering, military, naval, and civil.
The number of pupils is limited to 300.
The terms for the students not supported
on the foundation are 1000 francs a year,
independent of the expense of uniform
and books. The pupil, at the time of

admission, must be more than sixteen
and less than twenty years old. The
course of studies lasts two years, in cer-
tain cases three. A rigorous examination
precedes admission, and another exami-
nation takes place before the pupils
leave the institution, and it is invariably
attended by the greater number of the
marshals of France, together with many
of the most distinguished scholars.

POMCE'RIUM, in antiquity, a space
of ground both within and without the
walls, which the augurs consecrated on
the first building of any city.

POMO'NA, the Italian goddess of
fruit-trees. Her worship was assiduously
cultivated at Rome, where there was a
Jlamen pomonalis, who sacrificed to her
every year for the preservation of the
fruit,

POM'PA CIRCEN'SIS, or CEREA'-
LIS, in antiquity, a procession exhibited
at the Ludi Cereales of the Romans,
consisting of a solemn march of the per-
sons who were to engage in the exercises
of the circus, attended by the magistrates
and ladies of quality ; the statues of the
gods and illustrious men being carried
along in state on wagons called thensae.

PON'TIFEX, among the Romans, was
one of the order of Pontifices. who had
the superintendence and direction of
divine worship in general. The Pon-
tifices were erected into a college consist-
ing of fifteen persons, of whom the eight
first had the title of Majores, and the
seven others of Pontifices Minores. They
made together but one body, the chief of
which was called Pontifex Maximus.

PON'TIFF, the high or chief priest in
the Romish and Greek churches. The
ancient Romans had a college of pontiffs ;
the Jews had their pontiff's; and the
pope is called a sovereign pontiff'. The
word pontificate is used for the state or
dignity of a pontiff, or high-priest ; but
more particularly for the reign of a pope.

PONTIFICA'LIA, the robes in which
a bishop performs divine service.

PONTOONS', or PONTOON BRIDGE,
a floating bridge, formed of flat-bottomed
boats, anchored or made fast in two lines,
and used in forming bridges over rivers
for the passage of armies. Pontoon car-
riage, a vehicle formed of two wheels
only, and two long side pieces, whose fore-
ends are supported by timbers.

PONT- VOLANT',' in military affairs,
a kind of bridge used in sieges for sur-
prising a post or outwork that has but
narrow moats. It is composed of two
small bridges laid one above the other,

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[l-OR

and so contrived that, by the aid of cords
and pulleys, the upper one may be pushed
forward till it reaches the destined point.

POOR, THE, in political economy, the
term employed to designate those per-
sons, or that portion of the population of
any county, who, being destitute of
wealth, are, through age, bodily or men-
tal infirmity, want of employment, or
other cause, unable to support them-
selves, and have to depend for support
on the contributions of others.

PO'P-55. in Roman antiquity, certain
officers of inferior rank who assisted the
priests at sacrifices.

POPE, the head of the Roman Catho-
lic church. The appellation of pope was
anciently given to all Christian bishops;
but about the latter end of the eleventh
century, in the pontificate of Gregory

VII. it was adopted by the bishop of
Rome, whose peculiar title it has ever
since continued. The spiritual moniirchy
of Rome sprung up soon after the declen-
sion of the Roman empire. The bishops
of Rome affect to owe their origin to the
appointment of St. Peter, who was con-
sidered as transferring the keys of heaven
(figuratively consigned to his keeping,) to
these bishops as his successors ; hence
they assumed a supremacy which was ad-
mitted by all the Western Christians, but
resisted by the Eastern ones, who in
Greece, Turkey, and Russia, have a sep-
arate Greek church. The vices of the
clergy led, however, in the 14th and 15th
centuries, to schisms ; and a personal
quarrel between the pope and Henry

VIII. induced the latter to assume the
title of the Head of the Anglican church,
as well as to recognize the principles of
the Reformers, which were adopted by
many German princes, and the Northern
sovereigns. The pope retains his spirit-
ual ascendancy throughout Italy, France,
Austria, Spain, and Portugal ; and four
fifths of the Irish are Catholics. He is
also regarded as a sovereign in certain
provinces contiguous to Rome.

POP'ULAR, enjoying the favor of the
great body of the people ; as, a popular
ministry. Also, whatever pertains to the
common people ; as the popular voice.
In law, a popular action is one which
gives a penalty to the person that sues
for the same.

POPULA'RES, the name of a party at
Rome, who struggled to ingratiate them-
selves with the people, and, by eytend-
ing their influence and power, to increase
their own. The Populares were opposed
to the Optimates.

POPULARITY, the state of possess-
ing the affections and confidence of the
people in general. " The man whose
ruling principle is duty, is never per-
plexed with anxious corroding calcula-
tions of interest and popularity."

POPULA'TION, .the aggregate num-
ber of people in any country. Owing to
the increase of births above that of the
deaths, the population is continually in-
creasing in most parts of the habitable
world. " Countries," says Adam Smith,
in his Wealth of Nations, " are populous,
not in proportion to the number of peo-
ple whom their produce can clothe and
lodge, but in proportion to that of those
whom it can feed." The law of population,
or of the increase of the human species,
has not, till a comparatively recent pe-
riod, attracted that attention to which it
is eminently entitled. It was formerly
taken for granted that every increase of
population was an advantage, and it was
usual for legislators to encourage early
marriages, and to bestow rewards on those
who brought up the greatest number of
children. But recent researches have
shown that every increase in the numbers
of a people, occasioned by artificial expe-
dients, and which is not either accompa-
nied or preceded by a corresponding in-
crease of the means of subsistence, can be
productive only of misery or of increased
mortality ; that the difficulty never is to
bring human beings into the world, but
to feed, clothe, and. educate them when
there ; that mankind do everywhere in-
crease their numbers, till their farther
multiplication is restrained by the diffi-
culty of providing subsistence, and the
poverty of some part of the society ; and
that, consequently, instead of attempting
to strengthen the principle of increase,
we should rather endeavor to strengthen
the principles by which it is controlled
and regulated.

PORCH, in architecture, a kind of ves-
tibule supported by columns at the en-
trance of temples, halls, churches, or
other buildings. By way of distinction,
a public portico in Athens, where Zeno the
philosopher taught his disciples, was called
the porch. Hence, the porch, in clas-
sical literature, is equivalent to the school
of the Stoics.

PORTCUL'LIS, a strong grating of
timber or iron, resembling a harrow,
made to slide in vertical grooves in the
jambs of the entrance gate of a fortified
place, to protect the gate in case of as-
sault. The vertical bars, when of wood,
were pointed with iron at the bottom, for

1'OS] AND THE

the purpose of striking into the ground
when the grating was dropped, or of in-

AND THE FINE ARTS.

juring whatever it might fall upon. In
general there were a succession of port-
cullises in tire same gateway. It is some-
times called a portclu.se.

PORTE, THE SUBLIME, the official
title of the government of the Ottoman
empire : said to be derived from a gate
of the palace at Broussa, the original
metropolis of that empire, Bab Huina-
yoor, the sublime gate.

PORT'GREVE, or PORTREEVE, in
former times, a chief magistrate of a
port or maritime town. This officer is
now styled either mayor or bailiff. Ac-
cording to Camden, the chief magistrate
of London was anciently called portgreve,
but was exchanged by Richard I. for two
bailiffs, and these gave place in the reign
of John to a mayor.

PORTHOLES, the openings or embra-
sures in the sides of ships of war, through
which guns are put.

POR'TICO, in architecture, a kind of
gallery on the ground, supported by col-
umns, where people may walk under
cover. Though this word is derived from
porta, a gate or door, yet it is used for
any arrangement of columns which form
a gallery. The Athenians were curious
in their porticoes, and the poets and phi-
losophers recited their works, and held
their disputations there. The most fa-
mous portico was that called Paecile,
which was in fact a picture gallery adorn-
ed with the works of the greatest masters.

PORTLAND VASE, a celebrated cin-
erary urn or vase, long in possession of
the noble family of the Barberini at
Rome (whence it was called the Barberi-
ni vase ;) from whom it came into posses-
sion of the Portland family, who deposit-
ed it, in 1810, in the British Museum, of
which it is one of the most valuable re-
liques. This beautiful specimen of ancient
art was found in the tomb of the Empe-
ror Alexander Severus and his mother
Mammnoa.

POR'TRAIT, in painting, the repre-

sentation of an individual, or, more strict-
ly speaking, of a face, painted from real
life. Portraits are of full length, half
length, &c. ; and are executed in oil or
water colors, crayons, &e.

PORT ROY'ALISTS, the name popu-
larly given to the members of the cele-
brated convent of the Port Royal des
Champs. It was founded about 1204, by
Matthieu de Marli, on the eve of his de-
parture for the Holy Land ; and, though
originally limited in its means and ob-
jects, it gradually acquired such impor-
tance as to have secured for it a prominent
place in the history of Europe. It would
be out of place here to give any details
of its varied fortunes, and the religious
controversies which it carried on in the
17th century the period of its greatest
importance. It was abolished by Louis
XIV., as a nest of Jansenists and heretics.
Among the distinguished names connect-
ed with Port Royal, are those of Lance-
lot, Paschal, Arnauld, Nicole de Sacy s
and Tillemont. The school books which
were published for the use of that insti-
tution, were translated into all the lan-
guages of Europe, and maintained their
reputation long after its abolition.

POSID'IUM, or POSID'EON, in an-
cient chronology, the seventh month of
the Athenian year, which consisted of
thirty days, answered to the latter part
of December and beginning of January,
and had its name from a festival in honor
of Neptune Posidonius which was during
that month celebrated.

POSI'TION, in painting, the placing
of the model in the manner best cal-
culated for the end in view by the artist.
Such positions as are most natural and
easy, and which exhibit the peculiar
habit of the individual, in portrait paint-
ing, are preferable.

POS'ITIVE, is used in opposition to
relative or arbitrary : thus, we say,
beauty is no positive thing, but depends
on different tastes. It is also used in
opposition to natural : as, a thing is of
positive right, meaning that it is founded
on a law which depends absolutely on the
authority of him who made it.

POS'SE COMITA'TUS, in law, the
armed power of the county, or the attend-
ance of all persons charged by the
sheriff to assist him in the suppression
of riots, &c.

POSSES'SION, in law, the holding or
occupying of anything, either de jure or
de facto. Possession de jure, is the title
a man has to enjoy a thing, though it be
usurped and in the actual possession of

488

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PRA

another; or where lands are descended
to a person, and he has not yet entered
into them : and possession de facto, or
actual possession, is where there is an
actual and effectual enjoyment of a thing.
Long undisturbed possession is presump-
tive proof of right or property in the
possessor.

POST-DATE, to date after the real
time ; as to post-date a bill or a contract,
that is, to date it after the true time of
drawing the one or making the other.

POST-DILU'VIAN, a person who
lived after the flood, or who has lived
since that event.

POST-DISSETZIN, in law, a writ in-
tended to put in possession a person who
has been disseized after a judgment to
recover the same lands of the same per-
son, under the statute of Merton.

POS'TSA, in law, is the return of a
record of the proceedings in a cause after
a trial and verdict by writ of nisi prius,
into the court of common pleas, after a
verdict ; and there afterwards recorded.

POS'TERN, in fortification, a small
gate, usually in the angle of a flank of a
bastion, or in that of the curtain or near
the orillon, descending into the ditch.

POS'THUMOUS, born after the death
of a father. Also, published after the
death of the author ; as postkumous
works.

POS'TIL, a marginal note ; originally,
a note in the margin of the Bible, so
called because written after the text.

POSTLIMIN'IUM, or POSTLIM'I-
NY, among the Romans, was the return
of a person to his own country who had
gone to sojourn in a foreign country, or
who had been banished or taken by an
enemy. In the modern law of nations,
the right of postliminy is that by virtue
of which, persons and things taken by an
enemy in war, are restored to their
former state, when coming again under
the power of the nation to which they
belonged. But this cannot extend in all
cases to personal effects, on account of
the difficulty of ascertaining their iden-
tity.

POST'-NOTE, in commerce, a bank
note intended to be transmitted to a dis-
tant place by the public mail, and made
payable to order ; differing in this from
a common bank note, which is payable
to the bearer.

POST'-OFFICE, an establishment for
the reception, conveyance, and delivery
of letters, <fcc. Posts were originally
intended to serve merely for the convey-
ance of public dispatches, and of persons

travelling by authority of government.
But the great convenience it afforded to
individuals, particularly as commercial
transactions multiplied and extended, to
have a safe, regular, and speedy commu-
nication between distant parts of the
country, induced the government to con-
vert it into a source of revenue.

POST POSI'TION, in music, retarda-
tions of the harmony, effected by placing
discords upon the accented parts of a bar
not prepared and resolved according to
the rules for discords.

POSTSCE'NIUM, in architecture, the
back part of the theatre behind the
scenes, furnished with conveniences for
robing the actors and depositing the
machinery.

POSTSCRIPT, an addition made to a
letter after it is concluded and signed by
the writer. Also, any addition made to
a literary performance after it had been
supposed to be finished, containing some-
thing omitted or something new occur-
ring to the writer.

POSTULATES, fundamental princi-
ples in any art or science, which are too
easy and self-evident to need demonstra-
tion.

POWER, in a philosophical sense, the
faculty of doing or performing anything.
The exertion of power proceeds from the
will ; and in strictness, no being destitute
of will or intelligence can exert power.
Active power is that which moves the
body ; speculative power is that by which
we see, judge, remember, or, in general,
by which we think. Power may exist
without exertion : we have power to speak
when we are silent. This word, indeed,
has an almost unlimited signification,
whether as regards animal strength or
mental ability : we speak of the powers
of genius ; the reasoning powers ; the
power which a man has of relieving the
distressed ; his moral power, quadrate,
<fcc. Power, in law, the authority which
one man gives another to act for him.
The instrument or deed by which this is
done is called a power of attorney.

PR^ECEP'TORIS, in ecclesiastical af-
fairs, certain benefices having their name
from being possessed by the more emi-
nent Templars, whom the ohief master,
by his authority, created and called
PrcBceptores Templi.

PR2ECIPE IN CAP'ITE. in law, a
writ issuing out of the court of chancery
for a tenant who held of the king in chief,
as of his crown, and not as of any honor,
castle, or manor.

PR^ECOG'NITA, things previously

PRE]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

489

known in order to understand something
else. Thus a knowledge of the structure
of the human body is one of the prcecog-
nita of medical science and skill.

PRJEFEC'TURE, in antiquity, an ap-
pellation given to certain towns in Italy,
whose inhabitants had the name of Roman
citizens, but were neither allowed to en-
joy their own laws nor magistrates, being
governed by annual prefects sent from
Rome. These were generally such places
as were suspected, or had some way or
other incurred the displeasure of the
state. The title prcefectus was given to
many officers in ancient Rome.

PKJSMUNI'RE, in law, a writ granted
against a person for introducing and
maintaining the papal power, creating an
imperiurn in imperio, and yielding that
obedience to the mandates of the pope,
which constitutionally belongs to our
rightful sovereign.

PR^ENO'MEN, among the Romans,
like our Christian name, served to distin-
guish brothers, &c., from each other : as
Caius, Lucius, Marcus, Julius, <fcc. Care
was generally taken, in conferring the
prcenomen, to give that of the father to
the pldest, that of the grandfather to the
second, and so on. The prcenomen was
not brought into use till long after the
nomen, or family name.

PR^E'TOR, a chief magistrate among
the Romans, institutedfor the administra-
tion of justice in the absence of the con-
suls. The office of praetor was instituted
in the year of the city 388, to administer
justice in the city, instead of the consuls,
who were at that time wholly engaged in
foreign wars. The institution also was
intended to compensate to the nobility the
loss of their exclusive right to the consul-
ship, to which honor the commons had
now put in their claim, and succeeded.
The pra3tor decreed and proclaimed pub-
lic feasts, had the power to make and re-
peal laws, with the approbation of the
senate and the people ; and kept a regis-
ter of all the freed-men who were en-
franchised at Rome. In the absence of
the consuls he had a right to command
the armies ; he also commanded the
quaestors, who served him as lieutenants,
and ware charged with part of the busi-
ness of his office. He was entitled to the
prcetexta, the curule chair, and two lie-
tors to walk before him in Rome, and six
when out of the city.

PR^ETORI A'NI, or Pretorian Guards,
were the emperor's guards, who in time
were increased to ten thousand. The
Prsetorian bands owe their first institu-

tion to Scipio Africanus, who chose for
his guards a company of the bravest men
in his army ; but in time they became
very inimical to the liberties of their
country.

PR^ETO'RIUM, among the Romans,
denoted the hall or court where the prae-
tor administered justice : it was also his
palace.

PRAGMAT'IC SANC'TION, in the
civil law, is a rescript or answer of the
sovereign, delivered by advice of his
council to some college, order, or body of
people, who consult him in relation to the
affairs of their community. A similar
answer given to an individual is called
simply a rescript. The term pragmatic
sanction was give-* to the settlement
made by Charles VI. emperor of Germa-
ny, when, having no sons, in 1722 he set-
tled his hereditary dominions on his eld-
est daughter, the archduchess Maria
Theresa.

PRA'TIQUE, in commerce, a license
or permission to hold intercourse and
trade with the inhabitants of a place,
after having performed quarantine, or
upon a certificate that the ship did not
come from an infected place.

PRAX'EANS, a sect of heretics that
sprung up in Asia in the second century ;
so called from their founder, Praxeas, an
Asiatic haeresiarch. The distinguishing
characteristics of this sect were their
denial of plurality of persons in the god-
head, and their belief that it was the
Father himself who suffered on the cross.
The Monarchic!, Sabellians, and Patri-
passians adopted these sentiments.

PREAD'AMITE, an appellation given
to the inhabitants of the earth, who by
some are supposed to have lived before
Adam.

PRE' AMBLE, in law, the introduc-
tory matter to a statute, which contains
the reasons for making such an enact-
ment.

PREB'END, the stipend or mainte-
nance a prebendary receives out of the es-
tate of a cathedral or collegiate church.
Prebends are simple or dignitary ; a.
simple prebend has no more than the rev-
enue for its support : but a prebend with
dignity, has always a jurisdiction annex-
ed to it.

PREB'ENDARY, an ecclesiastic who
enjoys a prebend. The difference be-
tween a prebendary and a canon is, that
the former receives his prebend in consid-
eration of his officiating in the .church ;
but the latter merely in consequence of
his being received into the cathedral.

490

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITEKATUKE

PRECEDENCE, by custom and cour-
tesy, the right of taking place before
another, which is determined by author-
ity, and followed exactly on all public
occasions of processions and the like.

PRE'CEDENT. in law, a judicial de-
cision, which serves as a rule for future
determinations in similar or analogous
cases : thus the precedents of a court
have the force of laws, and no court will
reverse a judgment contrary to many
precedents. Precedent also frequently
denotes an original authentic instrument
or writing, which serves as a form to
draw others by.

PRECEN'TOR, the chanter or master
of the choir in a cathedral.

PRE'CEPT, in law, a command in
writing sent by a justice of the peace,
Ac., for bringing a person, record, or
other matter before him. In a general
sense, a precept signifies any command-
ment or order intended as an authorita-
tive rule of action : but applied particu-
larly to commands respecting moral con-
duct. Hence preceptor, a teacher.

PREDESTINA'TION, in theology, a
term to denote the pre-ordination of
men by the Supreme Being to everlast-
ing happiness or misery. One who be-
lieves in this doctrine is called a predes-
tinarian.

PREDIC'AMENT, in logic, a cate-
gory. The school philosophers distribute
all the objects of our thoughts and ideas
into genera or classes, which the Greeks
call categories, and the Latin predica-
ments.

PRED'ICATE, in logic, that part of a
proposition which affirms or denies some-
thing of the subject : thus, in these prop-
ositions, "snow is white, ink is not white,"
whiteness is the predicate affirmed of
snow, and denied of ink.

I'RE-EMP'TION, the right of pur-
chasing before others. Prior discovery
of land inhabited by uncivilized tribes is
held to give the discoverer the pre-
emption, or right of purchase before
others.

PRE-EXIST'ENCE, in philosophy, the
existence of anything before another ;
commonly used for the existence of the
human soul, in some former condition,
before it became connected with its pres-
ent body. It was the doctrine of the Py-
thagorean school, and connected with their
peculiar tenet of the Metempsychosis.
It was also the doctrine of Plato ; and
he uses in support of it arguments which
have exercised a strong influence on many
minds, and to this day are constantly re- i

curring to those who study the subject on
independent principles; particularly the
rapidity of learning in early childhood,
which he explains as an effort of reminis-
cence, not acquisition. Others have en-
listed into the service those peculiar sen-
sations which are sometimes raised by
scenes, persons, sounds, words, though
seen or heard, as our reasons would per-
suade us, for the first time, as if we were
conscious of some prior familiarity with
men. This poetical, rather than philo-
sophical view of the subject, is beauti-
fully illustrated in a well-known ode of
Wordsworth.

PREF'ACE. the observations prefixed
to a work or treatise, intended to inform
the reader of its plan and peculiarities.
There are few subjects which afford so
wide a field for the display of skill and
address as preface writing ; and those
who wish to witness an unrivalled exhi-
bition of these qualities may consult
some of Dr. Johnson's prefaces, either to
his own writings or to the numerous
works which he edited.

PRE'FECT, an important political
functionary in modern France. Under
the old regime, the officers who were
sent round to the provinces to superintend
the details of administration on behalf of
the king were at first styled maitres des
requetes. These were made permanent
local officers in the reign of Henry II.,
and afterwards attained many additional
powers, with the title of intendants.
These were abolished at the revolution,
when various attempts were made to
establish elective local governments. By
a law of the year 1800 prefects were
first appointed for the departmpnts, with
powers similar in many respects to those
of the old intendants, with a council of
prefecture, and a general council of the
department ; which, however, fell into
disuse. With slight variations, the pre-
fects retain the same jurisdiction. They
are, in some respects, analogous to our
sheriffs : but with far greater powers.
They possess not the nominal only, but
the actual direction of the police estab-
lishment, within their respective depart-
ments, together with extensive powers
of municipal regulation ; the arrondissc-
ments or districts into which the depart-
ments are subdivided are under sous-
prefets appointed by them. Their power,
however, is considerably controlled by
that of the council of the prefecture,
which acts in some measure as a court of
appeal from the prefect, taking cogni-
zance of various cases within the sphere

ilOJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

491

of his administrative interference, if legal
disputes arise upon it.

PRE'JUDICE, decision neither found-
ed upon nor consistent with reason, and
the error of ignorance, weakness, or idle-
ness. It is the enemy of all truth, knowl-
edge, and improvement ; and is the blind-
ness of the mind, rendering its powers use-
less and mischievous. Innumerable are
the prejudices we imbibe in our youth ;
we are accustomed to believe without
reflection, and to receive opinions from
others without examining the grounds by
which they can be supported.

PRE'LATE, an ecclesiastic raised to
some eminent dignity in the church ; as a
bishop, an archbishop, or a patriarch.
The office or dignity of a prelate is called
a prelacy.

PRELIMINARY, in general, denotes
something to be examined and determined
before an affair can be treated of to the
purpose. The preliminaries of peace con-
sist chiefly in settling the powers of am-
bassadors, and certain points in dispute,
which must be determined previous to the
treaty itself.

PRE'LUDE, a short flight of music;
the preface or introduction to a move-
ment, and usually consisting of a few bars
of harmony in the same key as the move-
ment which it precedes ; being, in fact, a
preparation to the ear for what is to fol-
low. Something introductory, or that
shows what is to follow ; something pre-
ceding which bears some relation or re-
semblance to that which is to follow.

PRE M'ISES, in logic, the two first prop-
ositions of a syllogism, from which the
inference or conclusion is drawn. Also,
propositions antecedently proposed or
proved. Premises, in law, lands, tene-
ments, <fcc. before mentioned in a lease or
deed.

PRE'MIUM, properly, a reward or
recompense ; but it is chiefly used in a
mercantile sense for the sum of money
given to an insurer, whether of ships,
houses, lives, Ac. Also the recompense
or prize offered for a specific recovery, or
for success in an enterprise. It is some-
times synonymous with interest ; but gen-
erally it is a sum per cent. ; distinct from
the interest, as, the bank lends money to
government at a premium of 2 per cent.

PREMON'STRANTS, a religious order
of regular canons or monks of Premontre,
in the isle of France ; instituted in 1120.

PREPENSE', in law, premeditation
and forethought as applied to bad actions ;
whence the term malice prepense.

PREROGATIVE, an exclusive or pe-

culiar privilege. The royal prerogative
is that special pre-eminence which a
sovereign has not only over other per-
sons, but over the ordinary course of the
common law, in right of the legal dignity.
Among these are the right of appointing
ambassadors, and of making peace and
war. It is the prerogative of a father to
govern his children. And the right of
governing created beings is the preroga-
ative of the Great Creator.

PRES'BYTER, in the primitive Chris-
tian church, an elder ; one who had au-
thority in the church, and whose duty
was to watch over the flock. The word
is borrowed from the Greek translation
of the Old Testament, where it usually
signifies a ruler or governor ; it being a
title of office and dignity, not of age, and
in this sense bishops are sometimes called
presbyters in the New Testament.

PYESBYTE'RIANS, a sect of Protes-
tants, so called from their maintaining
that the government of the church ap-
pointed in the New Testament was by
presbyteries; that is, by ministers and
ruling elders, associated for its govern-
ment and discipline. The presbyterians
stand opposed to the episcopalians, the
latter preferring the hierarchy of bishops ;
and to congregationalists or independ-
ents, who hold every pastor to be as a
bishop or overseer of his own congrega-
tion, independent of any person or body
of men.

PRES'BYTERY, is that form of eccle-
siastical polity according to which there
is no gradation of order in the church,
but which vests church government in a
society of clerical and lay presbyters, or,
in common phraseology, ministers and
lay elders, all possessed officially of equal
rank and power.

PRESCRIPTION, in law, a right and
title to a thing grounded upon a contin-
ued possession of it beyond the memory
of man. Prescription differs from a cus-
tom, which is a local usage. Prescription
is ^personal usage annexed to the person.

PRES'ENCE OF MIND, that calm,
collected state of the mind and faculties,
which enables a person to speak or act
without disorder or embarrassment in
unexpected difficulties.

PRESENTA'TION, in ecclesiastical
law, the act of a patron offering his clerk
to the bishop, to be instituted in a bene-
fice of his gift. An advowson is the right
of presentation. A patron may revoke
his presentation before institution, but
not afterwards.

PRESENTMENT, in law, a declara-

492

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

tion or report made by jurors or others
of any offence to be inquired of in the
court to which it is presented.

PRES'ENTS, in the plural, is used in
law, for a deed of conveyance, a lease, or
other written instrument ; as in the
phrase, " Know all men by these pres-
ents ;" that is, by the writing itself, per
presentes.

PRESIDENT, an officer appointed to
preside over a corporation, company, or
assembly of men, to keep order, manage
their concerns, or govern their proceed-
ings. Also an officer appointed or elect-
ed to govern a province or territory, or
to adminster the government of a nation.
The supreme executive officer of the
United States of America is styled presi-
dent. The qualifications required of a
person raised to this dignity are, to be a
natural-born citizen of the age of thirty-
five years, and to have resided fourteen
years within the States. The election
is by electoral colleges in every state.
These colleges contain, in each state, a
number of electors equal to all the sena-
tors and representatives of that state in
congress; but their appointment varies
in different states, and at different times ;
sometimes it is made by their respective
legislatures, sometimes by general elec-
tion throughout the state, sometimes part
of the electors are chosen by district and
j>art by general election. The colleges
in each state vote by ballot for a presi-
dent (and at the same time for a vice-
president) ; and the votes of all the elec-
tors, taken in this manner, are counted
by the president of the senate : when, if
any person have an absolute majority of
votes, he is duly elected ; if not, the elec-
tion is made by the house of representa-
tives between the three persons having
the highest number ; in which case the
votes are taken by states, and a majori-
ty of all the states is necessary to con-
stitute a choice.

PRESS, is metaphorically applied ei-
ther to the whole literature of a country,
or to that part of it more immediately
connected with newspapers, or other pe-
riodical publications.

PREST'- MONEY, called earnest-mo-
ney, the sum given to a soldier at the
time he enlists, so called because it binds
the receiver to be ready for service at all
times appointed.

PRESUMP'TIVE EVIDENCE, in
law, is that which is derived from circum-
stances which necessarily or usually at-
tend a fact, as distinct from direct evi-
dence or positive proof.

PRETEN'SION, a holding out the ap-
pearance of right or possession of a thing,
with a view to make others believe what
is not real, or what, if true, is not yet
known or admitted. There are ill-found-
ed pretensions and well-founded preten-
sions : for instance, a man may make
vretensions, to rights which he cannot
maintain, or to skill which he does not
possess; and he may make pretensions
to acquirements which he really posses-
ses, but is not known to possess.

PRETERI'TION, in rhetoric, a figure
by which, in pretending to pass over any-
thing, we make a summary mention
of it ; as, ''I will not say the prince is
noble, or that he is as learned as he is
accomplished," Ac. The most artful
praises are those bes.owed oy way of
preterition.

PRETERNAT'URAL, an epithet for
those events in the physical world which
are deemed extraordinary, but not mirac-
ulous ; in distinction from events which
are supernatural, which cannot be pro-
duced by physical laws or powers, and
must therefore be produced by the direct
intervention of Omnipotence.

PREVARICA'TION, a deviation from
the plain path of truth and fair dealing ;
a shuffling or quibbling to evade the
truth or the disclosure of truth. In the
civil law, the collusion of an informer
with the defendant, for the purpose of
making a sham prosecution. In common
law, a seeming to undertake a thing
falsely or deceitfully, for the purpose of
defeating or destroying it.

PREVENTIVE SERVICE, an ap-
pellation for the duty performed by the
armed police officers engaged to watch
the coasts, for the purpose of preventing
smuggling aud other illegal acts. The
men thus employed are also sometimes
termed the coast blockade force.

PRIA'PUS, a divinity introduced into
Grecian mythology after the time of
Alexander. He was the god of fruitful-
ness, and by the Romans was looked on
particularly as the guardian of gardens,
in which indecent and rudely sculptured
wooden statues of him were usually set
up.

PRICE CUR'RENT, in commerce, a
published list or enumeration of the vari-
ous articles of merchandise, with their
prices, the duties (if any) payable there-
on when imported or exported, with the
drawbacks occasionally allowed upon
their exportation.

PRIEST, according to the modern ac-
ceptation of the word, is a person who is

AND THE FINE ARTS.

493

set apart or consecrated to the ministry
of the Gospel. In its most general sense
the word includes all orders of the clergy
duly licensed according to the forms and
rules of each respective denomination of
Christians : but Protestants are accus-
tomed to apply the word more especially
to clergymen of the Roman Catholic per-
suasion. In primitive ages, the fathers
of families, princes, and kings were
priests. In the days of Moses the office
of priest was restricted to the tribe of
Levi, and the priesthood consisted of
three orders, the high-priest, the priests,
and the Levites ; and the office was made
hereditary in the family of Aaron.
Among pagans, priests were persons
whoso appropriate business was to offer
/ sacrifices and perform other sacred rites
of religion.

PRI M ACY, the chief ecclesiastical sta-
tion or dignity. The archbishop of Can-
terbury is primate of all England.

PRIMITIVE COLORS, these are
said to be restricted to three namely,
red, yellow and blue, from the mixtures
and combinations of which all other col-
ors, tints, and gradations are produced

PRIMOQEN ITURE, in law, the right
of the first-born. This right is an unjust
prerogative, and contrary to the natural
right ; for since it is birth alone gives
children a title to the paternal succession,
the chance of primogeniture should not
throw any inequality among them. It
was not till the race of Hugh Capet, that
the prerogative of succession to the crown
was appropriated to the first-born. By
the ancient custom of gavel-kind, still
preserved in Kent, primogeniture is dis-
regarded, the paternal estate being
equally shared among the sons.

PRINCE, a general title for all sove-
reigns or persons exercising the functions
of government in an independent man-
ner, even though they are permitted so
to do by the will of another.

PRIN'CIPAL, in commerce, is the
capital of a sum due or lent, so called in
opposition to interest. It also denotes
the first fund put by partners into a com-
mon stock, by which it is distinguished
from the calls or accessions afterwards
required. In law, the absolute perpe-
trator of a crime is called a principal in
the first degree ; a principal in the
second degree, is one who is present,
aiding and abetting ; distinguished from
an accessary. In architecture, a main
timber in an assemblage of carpentry.
Thus, in a roof, the strong rafters used
for trussing the beams are called princi-

pal rafters. In the Fine Arts, the chief
circumstance in a work of art, to which
the rest are to be subordinate.

PRIN'CIPLE, in a general sense, the
origin, source, or primordial substance
of anything. In science, a truth ad-
mitted either without proof, or considered
as having been before proved. In ethics,
that which is believed, and serves as a
rule of action or the basis of a system ;
as the principles of morality ; the prin-
ciples of the Stoics, Ac.

PRINCIPLES, in the Fine Arts, those
general and fundamental truths from
which the rules and maxims of art are
deduced. To each art particular princi-
ples are attached on which its theory is
founded. These principles, before they
can be said to have stability, must be
found to depend on certain truths, which,
recognized by every one, and indisputa-
ble, oblige the mind to concur in the
deductions that result from them. Before
a law in any art is laid down, it is ne-
cessary to trace it to the principles from
which it springs, though there may be
causes which prevent those principles
being universally admitted ; such as
ignorance, prejudice, love of novelty, and
the like.

PR ['OR, the superior of a convent of
monks, or one next in dignity to an abbot.

PRISCIL'LIANISTS. in church histo-
ry, a Christian sect, so called from their
leader Priscillian, a Spaniard by birth,
and bishop of Avila. He is said to have
practised magic, and to have maintained
the principal errors of the Manichees ;
but his peculiar tenet was, that it is law-
ful to make false oaths in the support of
one's cause and interest.

PRIVATEER', a ship or vessel of war
owned and equipped by private persons
at their own expense, and who are per-
mitted by the government to seize or
plunder the vessels of an enemy in war.
The owners of privateers must give bond
not to break the stipulations of treaties
subsisting with their government, nml
not to misuse their captives. If a ship
bo fitted out and act as a privateer with-
out being licensed or commissioned by
government, it is a pirate. That the
severest, restrictions should be enforced
on privateering is manifestly for the in-
terest of individuals, to whatever bellig-
erent power they belong. TJfce wish to
amass plunder is the only principle by
which they are actuated ; and such being
the case, it would be idle to suppose that
they should be very scrupulous about
abstaining from excesses.

494

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PRO

PRIVILEGE, in law, some peculiar
benefit granted to certain persons or
places, contrary to the usual course of the
law, or beyond the common advantages
of other citizens. Thus the nobles of
Great Britain have the privilege of being
tried by their peers only ; and members
of parliament have the privilege of ex-
emption from arrests in certain cases.

PllIV'ITY, in law, is a peculiar mu-
tual relation which subsists between indi-
viduals connected in various ways ; so that,
besides those who are actually parties to
a transaction, others connected with these
parties are said to be privy to the trans-
action, and are bound by its consequen-
ces. Several sorts of privity are enu-
merated by writers on law ; but those of
most ordinary occurrence are three : privi-
ty of blood, of estate, and of contract.
The former subsists between an ancestor
and his heir ; the second between lessor
and lessee, tenant for life and reversioner
created by the same instrument ; and
privity of contracts between those who are
parties to a contract, which species of
privity is personal only.

PRIV Y-COUN'CIL, in British polity,
an executive body, with whose assistance
the crown issues proclamations, which, if
not contrary to law, are binding on the
subject. Anciently, the privy council
was a high court of justice ; but in mod-
ern times it seldom or never interferes
with judicial matters, confining itself to
the executive branch of government. A
privy-council is summoned on a warning
of forty-four hours, and never held with-
out the presence of a secretary of state.
In debates, the lowest delivers his opin-
ion first ; the sovereign, if present, last ;
and though the privy-councillors thus
give their opinions, it is that of the sov-
ereign alone which is decisive. Prii'y-
seal, a seal affixed by the queen, or by the
lord keeper of the privy-seal, to instru-
ments that afterwards pass the great seal.
The word priry-seal, is also used ellipti-
cally for the person intrusted with the
privy-seal ; as, " the qeeen's sign-man-
ual is the warrant to the privy-seal, who
makes out a writ or warrant thereon to
the chancery."

PRIZE, anything captured by a bel-
ligerent using the right of war : in com-
mon language, only ships thus captured,
with the property taken in them, are so
called. Prizes taken in war are condemn-
ed by the proper judicature in the courts
of the captors; such condemnation is held
to divest the title of the proprietor and
confer a new ownership. In order to give

jurisdiction to a court of prize ; it is deemed
necessary, by the law of nations, that the
property captured, should be in posses-
sion of the captors in their own ports,
those of an ally, or of a neutral ; but no
belligerent power has a right to capture
in the ports of a neutral country, or
within a marine league of her shores ; nor
does a capture made then render the ad-
judication valid. Subject to capture are
hostile property, that is, the property
of persons domiciled in a hostile coun-
try, and neutral property, contraband of
war.

PRO and CON, i. e. prj and contra, for
and against, a phrase frequently occur-
ring in common parlance.

PROBABILITY, that state of a ques-
tion which falls short of moral certainty,
but inclines the mind to receive it as the
truth. Demonstration produces certain
knowledge ; proof produces belief, and
probability opinion. If the chance that
a thing may happen is less than the
chance that it may not happen, it is said
to be probable ; and the numbers which
express these variable chances, when as-
certained, constitute what is termed the
science of probabilities. As applied to
human life, founded on tables of mor-
tality, it serves as the foundation of
societies which, for certain annual pre-
miums, varied according to age, under-
take to pay certain sums to the heirs of
the party, whose life is thereby insured
for that sum.

PRO'BATE, in law, the proof of the
genuineness and validity of a will, or the
exhibition of the will to the proper officer,
and such other proceedings as the law pre-
scribes, as preliminary to the execution
of it by the executor.

PROB'LEM, in logic, a proposition
that appears neither absolutely true nor
false, and consequently may be asserted
either in the affirmative or negative. In
a general sense, a problem may be defin-
ed, any question involving doubt, or un-
certainty, and requiring some operation
or further evidence for its solution.

PRO'CESS. in law, the whole course of
proceedings in any cause, real or person-
al, civil or criminal, from the original
writ to the end of the suit. In a more
limited sense, process denotes that by
which a man is first called into any tem-
poral court. Original process is the
means taken to compel the defendant to
appear in court. Mesne process is that
which issues, pending the suit, upon some
collateral or interlocutory matter. Final
process is the process of execution.

PRO]

PROCE'S VERBAL, in the language
of French jurisprudence, an authentic
written minute or report of an official act
or proceeding, or statement of facts. The
term is also used to signify minutes drawn
up by a secretary or other officer of the
proceedings of an assembly.

PRO'CHRONISM, an error in chronol-
ogy, when events are dated anterior to
the time at which they happened.

PROCLAMATION, a public notice or
declaration of anything in the name of
the supreme magistrate. Proclamation
is used for a solemn declaration of war
and peace, and in monarchies for the act
of notifying the accession of a prince to
the throne ; also for the public declaration
used at the calling of a court ; and for va-
rious other objects.

PRO CONFES'SO, in law, a term ap-
plied to a defendant in chancery who ap-
pears and is afterwards in contempt for
not answering ; wherefore the matter con-
tained in the bill shall be taken pro con-
fesso, that is, as though it had been con-
fessed.

PROCON'SUL, a Roman magistrate
sent to govern a province with consular
authority. The proconsuls were appoint-
ed from the body of the senate, and their
authority expired at the end of a year
from their appointment. Before the pro-
consul quitted Rome, he went up to the
Capitol, offered sacrifice, put on the robe
of war called paludamentum, and then
departed from the city in pomp, preced-
ed by lictors, with rods and axes, and at-
tended by his friends to some distance
from Rome. His equipage, consisting of
pavilions, horses, mules, clerks, secreta-
ries, &c. was called his viaticum, and pro-
vided at the public expense.

PROCRUS'TES, in mythology, a fa-
mous robber of ancient Greece, who tor-
tured his victims by placing them on an
iron bed, which their stature was made to
fit by stretching or mutilating them so as
to suit its dimensions; whence the well-
known metaphorical expression, the bed
of Procrustes. He was killed by Theseus
near Hermione.

PROC'TOR, a person employed to man-
age another's cause in a court of civil or
ecclesiastical law, as in the court of ad-
miralty, or in a spiritual court. Also
the magistrate or superintendent of a
university.

PROCURATION, in law, a composi-
tion paid by an incumbent to the bishop
or archdeacon, to commute for the en-
tertainment which was to have been given
him at his visitation. Also, tho instru-

AND THE FINE AKTS.

495

ment by which a person is empowered to
transact the affairs of another.

PROCURATO'RES, under the Roman
emperors, were officers sent into the prov-
inces to regulate the public revenue, re-
ceive it, and dispose of it as the emperor
directed. Such an officer was Pontius Pi-
late in Judea ; but as the Jews were look-
ed upon as a rebellious people, besides his
authority over the revenue, he was in-
vested with all the power of a pro-consul,
even a power of life and death. Pro-
curatores, in the Roman courts of judi-
cature, were properly such lawyers as as-
sisted tho plaintiff in proving, or the de-
fendant in clearing himself from the mat-
ter of fact alleged. They are often con-
founded with the adi>\i,ales.

PROD'IGY, in ordinary modern lan-
guage, signifies a surprising though natu-
ral event ; in contradistinction to miracle,
which is something out of the course of
nature. Among the Romans, however,
any extraordinary event or appearance
to which, from insufficient acquaintance
with natural history, they could not as-
sign a cause, was termed a prodigy, and
regarded as a supernatural event, indica-
tive of favorable or (more generally) of
unfavorable dispositions of their gods.
Hence the number of recorded prodigies,
many evidently false, some real but mis-
understood, which Livy has inserted in
his annals.

PRO'DUCE, in an enlarged sense, is
what any country yields from labor, and
national growth, which may serve either
for the use of the inhabitants, or be ex-
ported to foreign countries. In a more
limited sense, we speak of the produce of
a farm, of a mine, of a tax, &e. ; but
when we allude to a work either of na-
ture or art, we use the word production.

PRO'EM, preface ; introduction ; pre-
liminary observations to a book or writ-
ing.

PROFESSION, a word which, when
applied to a person's vocation or employ-
ment, designates an occupation not mere-
ly mechanical. We say, the learned
professions; the profession of a clergy-
man, a lawyer, a physician, a surgeon, a
lecturer, or a teacher. In like manner,
we use the word professional when speak-
ing of literary and scientific studies, pur-
suits, or duties.

PROFES'SOR, in its original sense,
signifies one who makes open declaration
of his sentiments or opinions, particular-
ly one who makes a public avowal of his
belief in the Christian doctrine and reve-
lation. In its more modern and common

496

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

acceptation, a professor is one that pub-
licly teaches any science or branch of
learning ; as a professor of natural his-
tory, of mathematics, of theology, Ac.
In a university, some professors are de-
nominated from the arts they profess,
others from the founders of the professor-
ships, or those who assigned a revenue
for the support of the professors.

PRO'FILE, in general, the view of an
object from one of its chief sides, at which
more or less of the other side is hidden
from the eye. Profile, in sculpture and
painting, a head, portrait, <fcc., repre-
sented sideways, or in a side view. On
almost all medals, faces are represented
in profile. Profile, in architecture, de-
notes the outline of a figure, building, or
member, also the draught of a building,
representing it as if cut down perpen-
dicularly from the roof to the foundation.

PROF'IT, in political economy, means
the advantage or gain resulting to the
owner of capital from its employment
in industrious undertakings. It is the
premium, as it were, on accumulation.
Were there no profit there would be little
or no motive to save and amass ; and all
the vast advantages that society derives
from the formation and employment of
capital would be unknown. But without
taking into account the security and con-
sequence conferred on the possessors of
capital or wealth, and looking only at its
tangible results, profit consists of that
part of the produce raised by the agency
of capital employed in industrious under-
takings that remains in the hands of
those by whom it is employed after re-
placing the capital itself, or such portions
of it as may have been wasted in the busi-
ness, and every expense necessarily in-
curred in superintending its employment.
The rate of profit is the proportion which
the amount of profit derived from an un-
dertaking bears to the capital employed
in it.

PROF'IT AND LOSS, in commerce,
the gain or loss arising from goods bought
and sold ; the former of which, in book-
keeping, is placed on the creditor's side :
the latter on the debtor's side. Net profit
is the gain made by selling goods at a
price beyond what they cost the seller,
and beyond all costs and charges.
Among the many wise precepts which
appear in the pages of the " Rambler,"
there are few more worthy to be borne
in mind than this : " Let no man antici-
pate uncertain profits."

PRO'GRAMME, a detailed account or
advertisement ofsoine public performance.

In a university, a billet or advertisement
to invite persons to an oration. In anti-
quity, an edict posted in some public
place.

PRO'HEDHI, certain Athenian officers
chosen to superintend the proceedings in
the two legislative assemblies ; so called
because they had the privilege of sitting
in the front seats.

PROHIBITION, in law, a writ to for-
bid any court from proceeding in a cause
then depending, on suggestion that the
cause of ii Joes not properly belong to
that court.

PROJEC'TURE, in architecture, the
jotting or leaning outwards of the mould-
ings and other members of architecture
beyond the face of a wall, column, &c.

PROLEGO'MENA, in literature, pre-
liminary or introductory observations or
dissertations prefixed to any work. The
famous dissertation prefixed by D'Alera-
bert to the Encyclopedic, and the disser-
tations prefixed by Dugald Stewart.
Playfair, Leslie, and Mackintosh to the
last edition of the Encyclopaedia Bri-
tannica, are among the best specimens of
prolegomena.

PROLEP'SIS. a figure in rhetoric, by
which the speaker anticipates or prevents
objections, b3' alluding to or answering
them himself.

PRO'LOGUE, in dramatic poetry, an
address to the audience previous to the
commencement of the play, delivered by
one of the performers. It may either be
in prose or verse, but is generally in the
latter; and it usually consists of apolo-
getic remarks on the merits of the piece
about to be represented. Sometimes it
relates to the situation in which the au-
thor or actors stand to the public, and
sometimes it contains allusions to subjects
incidental to neither.

PROLU'SION, in literature, a term
formerly applied to certain pieces or com-
positions made previously to others, by
way of prelude or exercise.

PROME'TIIEUS, according to the most
ordinary form of his legend in Greek my-
thology, one of the Titans, who was ex-
posed to the wrath of Jupiter on account
of his having taught mortals the arts,
and especially the use of fire ; which
he was said to have stolen from heaven,
concealed in a pipe. According to an-
other story, Prometheus was actually the
creator of men ; and in the Protagoras
of Plato he is made not to have created,
but to have inspired them with thought
and sense. His punishment was to be
chained to a rock on Caucasus, where a

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497

vulture perpetually gnawed his liver ;
from which he was finally rescued by Her-
cules. This legend has formed the sub-
ject of the grandest of all the poetical
illustrations of Greek supernatural be-
lief, the Prometheus Bound of JSschy-
lus. Many have recognized in the indom-
itable resolution of this suffering Titan,
and his stern endurance of the evils in-
flicted on him by a power with which he
had vainly warred for supremacy, the
prototype of the arch-fiend of Milton.
Others have sought for a recondite anal-
ogy, and discovered in the tortures en-
dured by Prometheus as a sacrifice for
mankind, whom he had benefited, a fore-
shadowing of the great mystery of Chris-
tianity.

PROMISSORY NOTE, a writing or
note of hand, promising the payment of
a certain sum at a certain time, in con-
sideration of value received by the prom-
isor.

PROOF, in law and logic, that degree
of evidence which convinces the mind of
the certainty of truth or fact, and pro-
duces belief. Proof differs from dem-
onstration, being derived from person-
al knowledge or conclusive reasoning;
whereas the term demonstration is ap-
plicable only to those truths of which the
contrary is inconceivable. In printing,
.n impression on which the errors and
mistakes are marked for the purpose of
being corrected. Proofs are first proof,
which is the impression taken with all the
errors of workmanship. After it is read
by the copy, and' the errors corrected,
which if not many, and carefully done,
another impression is printed with more
care, to send to the author ; this is termed
a clean proof. On it he makes his cor-
rections and alterations : when those are
altered in the types, another proof is
printed, and read over carefully, previ-
ously to the whole number being printed
off; this is called the press proof.

PROPAGANDA, during the French
revolution, was a term applied to secret
societies whose object was the propaga-
tion of democratical principles ; and it has
since beuome to signify any kind of insti-
tution for making proselytes for political
objects. The name was originally given
to those institutions which were erected
by the papal court, for the extension of
its own power and the Catholic religion
among those who were not within its pale.
It was called the congregatio de propa-
ganda fide, (society for propagating the
faith,) and was founded by Gregory XV.
in 1622.

PROP'ERTY, a particular virtue ot
quality which nature has bestowed on
some things exclusive of all others : thus
color is a property of light ; extension,
figure, divisibility, and impenetrability,
are properties of bodies. <fec. Property,
in law, is defined to be the highest right
a person has, or can have, to anything.
At this day property in lands, <fcc., is ac-
quired either by entry, descent, law, or
conveyance ; and in goods and chattels
property may be gained various ways,
as by gift, inheritance, or purchase. The
labor of inventing, making, or producing
anything, constitutes one of the highest
and indefeasible titles to property. That
also is a person's property to which he
has a legal title, whether in his posses-
sion or not. Much has of late been said
respecting the right of an author to his
literary productions, as a species of abso-
lute property; and why the productions
of manual labor should rank higher in
the scale of rights than the productions
of the intellect or why the former should
be held without limitation, and the latter
be limited to a term of years will require
better arguments to substantiate than
have yet been advanced.

PRO'PHET, in general, one who fore-
tels future events ; but when we speak of
the prophets, we mean those inspired per-
sons among the Jews who were commis-
sioned by God to declare his will and pur-
poses to that people. Among the canon-
ical books of the Old Testament, we have
the writings of sixteen prophets, four of
which are denominated the " greater pro-
phets," viz. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
and Daniel ; so called from the length or
extent of their writings, which exceed
those of the others, viz. Hosea, Joel,
Amos, Obadiah, Jonas, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Haggai, Zachariah, and Mal-
achi, who are called the lesser " pro-
phets." The deep sense and religious
fire of these men, so far before their age,
present a phenomenon that can be ex-
plained only by the special action of di-
vine influences. They appear, therefore,
as messengers of God, divinely inspired
seers ; and their preachings and songs
were preserved by the Hebrews as the
word of God, and among them were ren-
dered more impressive by their connec-
tion with poetry and music. Their con-
stant object was the preservation of the
doctrines of revelation in their purity :
and the richness, originality, and sub-
limity of their writings still awaken the
admiration of those who deny them the
character of prophecies. The prophecies

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[PRO

in general are supposed to have had a
double sense, and a double completion ;
one sense referred to, which had its ac-
complishment about the time when the
prophets wrote ; the other sense had a
relation to distant times and events, to
which it applies in a somewhat allegori-
cal manner.

PROPITIA'TION, in theology, an
atonement or sacrifice offered to God to as-
suage his wrath, and render him propi-
tious. Among the Jews there were both or-
dinary and public sacrifices, as holocausts,
Ac., offered by way of thanksgiving ; and
extraordinary ones, offered by particular
persons guilty of any crime, by way of
propitiation. It was also a feast among
the Jews, celebrated on the 10th of the
month Tisri, in commemoration of the
divine pardon proclaimed to their fore-
fathers through Moses, who, as God's
agent, remitted the punishment due to
the crime of their worshipping the golden
3alf. The lloraish church believe the
mass to be a sacrifice of propitiation for
the living and the dead. The reformed
churches allow of no propitiation but that
one offered by Jesus Christ on the cross.

PROPI'TIATORY, or MERCY-SEAT,
the cover or lid of the ark or covenant,
lined within and without with plates of
gold. This is said to have been a type of
Christ.

PROPOR'TIOX, in the Fine Arts, the
most proper relation of the measure of
parts to each other and to the whole.
The Greeks used the word to express this
idea. In many instances, proportion may
he considered almost synonymous with
fitness, though there is a distinction be-
tween them ; since every form suscepti-
ble of proportion may be considered either
with respect to its whole as connected
with the end designed, or with respect to
the relation of the several parts to the
end. In the first case, fitness is the thing
considered ; in the second, proportion.
Fitness, therefore, expresses the general
relation of means to an end, and propor-
tion the proper relation of parts to an
end. It is hence needless to dwell on the
intimate connection that exists between
beauty and proportion, in all complex
forms.

PROPOSITION, in logic, is defined
" a sentence indicative ;" i. e., a sentence
which affirms or denies. Thus, sentences
in the form of command or question are
excluded from the character of proposi-
tions Logical propositions are said to
be divided, first, according to substance,
into categorical and hypothetical ; second-

ly, according to quality, into affirmative
and negative; thirdly, according to quan-
tity, into universal and particular. 1. A
categorical proposition is where the sen-
tence affirms or denies absolutely, as
" man is mortal." A hypothetical propo-
sition is defined to be two or more cate-
goricals united by a conjunction, as "if
Caius is man, he is mortal." There are
several sorts of hypothetical propositions ;
conditional, disjunctive, casual, <5cc. 2.
An affirmative proposition is one whose
copula (or conjunction) is affirmative, as
"man is mortal;" a negative proposition
has a negative copula, as " man is not
immortal." 3. An universal proposition
is when the predicate is said of the whole
of the subject, as " all men are mortal,"
" Caius is mortal ;" a particular when it
is said of part of the subject only, as
' some men are rich." To these two
species may be added the indefinite prop-
osition, when the subject has no sign of
universality or particularity, or is a sin-
gular noun, which is either universal or
particular according to the matter.

PROPRE'FECT, among the Romans,
the prefect's lieutenant, or an officer
whom the prajtorium commissioned to do
any part of his duty.

PROPRyE'TOR, a Roman magistrate,
who, having discharged the office of
praetor at home, was sent into a province
to command there with his former preto-
rial authority.

PROPY'L^EUM, in ancient architec-
ture, the vestibule of a house. The
vestibules or porticoes of Athens, leading
to the Acropolis were thus denominated.

PRO RA'TA, in commerce, a term some-
times used by merchants for in propor-
tion ; as each person must reap the profit
or sustain the loss pro rata to his interest,
that is, in proportion to his stock.

PRO RE NA'TA, according to exigen-
cies or circumstances.

PROROGATION, a term used at the
conclusion of a session of parliament, de-
noting its continuance from one session to
another ; as an adjournment is a con-
tinuation of the session from day to day.

PROSCE'NIUM, in the Grecian and
Roman theatres, was the stage or place
before the scene, where the pulpitum
stood, into which the actors came from
behind the scenes to perform.

PROSCRIPTION, a punishment in use
among the Romans, which had some anal-
ogy to our outlawry. The names of the
proscripti. or persons suffering under
proscription, were posted up in tablets at
the forum, to the end that they might be

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499

brought to justice, a reward being pro-
posed to those who took them, and a pun-
ishment to those who concealed them.
Under the triumvirate many of the best
Roman citizens fell by proscription.

PROSE, in literature, all language not
in verse. Prose diction, to be good, or
even admissible, in ordinary criticism,
must be conformable to the rules of com-
position as to style, cadence, &c.

PROSECU'TION, in law, the institu-
tion and carrying on a suit in a court of"
law or equity ; or the process of exhibit-
ing formal charges against an offender
before a legal tribunal, and pursuing
them to final judgment. The person who
institutes and carries on a criminal suit is
called the prosecutor.

PROS'ELYTE, a new convert to some
religion, system or party. Thus a pagan
converted to Christianity is a proselyte ;
and, although the word primarily refers
to converts to some religious creed, we
speak familiarly of proselytes to the theo-
ries of Lavoisier, Black, &c.

PRO'SERPINE, the Latin form of
Persephone, the name of a Grecian god-
dess, sprung from Jupiter and Ceres.
She was stolen from her mother by Pluto,
who, enamored of her beauty, carried her
off from the plains of Enna in Sicily, while
sporting with her companions, to the in-
fernal regions, where she became his
queen. The wanderings of Ceres in search
of her daughter were much celebrated by
the ancient poets. When she at last dis-
covered the place of her concealment, a
compromise was entered into, by which
Proserpine was allowed to spend two
thirds of the year with her parents and
the rest with Pluto in his empire.

PROS'ODY, the science which treats
of quantity, accent, and the laws of har-
mony, both in metrical and prose com-
position. In the Greek and Latin lan-
guages every syllable had its determinate
value or quantity, and verses were con-
structed by systems of recurring feet,
each foot containing a definite number of
syllables possessing a certain quantity
and arrangement. The versification of
modern European languages, in general,
is constructed simply by accent and num
ber of syllables. They have, therefore,
no prosody strictly so called. The Ger-
mans, however, have labored to subject
their language to the ancient metrical
system, but with indifferent success.

PROSONOMA'SIA, a figure in rheto-
ric, wherein allusion is made to the like-
ness of a sound in several names or words :
a kind of pun.

PROSOPOG'RAPHY, in rhetoric, a
word used by some critical writers to sig-
nify the description of animated objects.
Of this figure the portraits of the horse
and the leviathan in the book of Job are
well-known and beautiful examples.

PROSOPOLEP'SY, a premature opin-
ion or prejudice against a person, formed
by a view of his external appearance.

PROSOPOPE'IA, a figure in rhetoric
by which things are represented as per-
sons, or by which things inanimate are
spoken of as animated beings, or by which
an absent person is introduced as speak-
ing, or a deceased person is represented
as alive and present. It includes per-
sonification, but is more extensive in its
signification.

PROSPEC'TUS, the outline or plan of
a literary work, containirg the general
subject or design, with the necessary par-
ticulars as to the mode of publication.
The word prospectus has recently been
adopted in announcing many undertak-
ings and schemes which are not purely
literary.

PRO'STYLE, in architecture, a range
of columns in the front of a temple.

PRO'TASIS, in grammar and rhetoric,
every properly constructed period is said
to be naturally divisible into two parts ;
of which the first is termed protasis, the
second apodosis. In the ancient drama,
the protasis was the exposition, usually
contained in the first part of the piece,
either by way of soliloquy or dialogue,
serving to make known the characters
and the plot to the audience.

PRO'TEST, a formal and solemn dec-
laration of opinion, given in writing, com-
monly against some act ) as, the formal
and recorded dissent of a minority against
the majority of any public body. Pro-
test, in commerce, a formal declaration
made by a notary-public, at the request
of the holder of a bill of exchange, for
non-acceptance or non-payment of the
same, protesting against the drawer and
others concerned, for the exchange, char-
ges, damages, and interest. This protest
is written on a copy of the bill, and no-
tice given to the indorser of the same,
by which he becomes liable to pay the
amount with charges and interest : also,
a similar declaration against the drawer
of a note of hand for non-payment to a
banking firm, <fcc. There is also another
kind of protest, viz. a writing attested by
a justice of the peace or consul, drawn
by the master of a vessel, stating the se-
verity of the voyage by which the ship
has suffered, and snowing that the dam-

500

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PRO

age was not occasioned by his misconduct
or neglect.

PROT'ESTANT, in church history, a
name first given in Germany to those
who adhered to the doctrine of Luther :
because, in 1529, they protested against
a decree of the emperor Charles V. and
the diet of Spires, declaring that they
appealed to a general council. This
name was afterwards extended to the
Calvinists, and is now become common to
all who belong to the reformed churches.

PROTESTATION, in law, a declara-
tion in pleading, by which the party in-
terposes an oblique allegation or denial
of some fact, protesting that it does or
does not exist.

PROTOCOL, in the French language,
signifies the formulae or technical words
of legal instruments ; in Germany, it
has been used to denote the minutes or
rough draught of an instrument or a
transaction. It is in the latter sense that
the word has been borrowed by diplo-
macy, in which it signifies the original
copy of any dispatch, treaty, or other
document.

PRO'TO MARTYR, a term applied to
Stephen, the first Christian martyr; and
used also for the first sufferer in any
cause, religious or political.

PRO'TOPOPE, the imperial confessor,
an officer of the holy directing synod,
the supreme spiritual court of the Greek
church in Russia.

PROTOTYPE, an original or model
after which anything is formed.

PROVERB, a familiar saying, which
has been variously defined. In point of
form, there are two species of proverbs ;
one containing a maxim directly express-
ed in a concise and familiar style ; the
other, in which a maxim is expressed
metaphorically, e.g. " honesty is the best
policy," or, rather, allegorically, e. g.
" strike, while the iron is hot." In point
of substance, proverbs are for the most
part rules of moral, or, still more prop-
erly, of prudential conduct. In dra-
matic literature, chiefly French, the
term has been applied to short pieces,
in which some proverb or popular say-
ing is taken as the foundation of the
plot. They originated in the fondness
of the higher class of France for private
theatricals, which became a sort of pas-
sion about the middle of the last century.
Carmantelli was the most successful wri-
ter of proverbs at the time of their high-
est popularity. Those of M. Theodore
Leclercq, at the present time, have met
with considerable success. Proverbs, the,

of Solomon, one of the canonical books
of the Old Testament. According to the
arrangement in its present shape, the
first nine books form a species of intro-
duction ; those from the tenth to the
twenty-fourth contain the proverbs of
Solomon, properly so called ; and the re-
mainder furnishes a kind of appendix ;
including the thirtieth and thirty-first,
which contain the proverbs of Agur, the
.son of Jakeh, and of king Lemuel.

PROVIDENCE, in theology, the care
and superintendence which God exercises
over his creatures. A belief in divine
providence is founded on this rational
principle, that the same power which
caused a thing to exist is necessary to
continue its existence.

PROVINCE, among the Romans, a
country of considerable extent, which, be-
ing reduced under their dominion, was
new modelled according to the pleasure
of the conquerors, subjected to the com-
mand of annual governors sent from
Rome, and obliged to pay such taxes and
contributions as the senate thought fit to
demand. These provinces had the appel-
lations of consular or praetorian, accord-
ing as they were governed by consuls or
prtetors. Among the moderns, a country
belonging to a kingdom or state, either
by conquest or colonization, usually situ-
ated at a distance from the kingdom or
btate, but more or less dependent on and
subject to it.

PROVIN'CIALISM, a mode of speech
peculiar to a province or district of coun-
try remote from the principal country or
from the metropolis.

PROVISION AL, provided for present
need or for a temporary occasion ; as, a
provisional government, a provisional
treaty, Ac.

PROVI'SO, in law, an article or clause
in any statute, agreement, contract, &c.,
by which a conditional stipulation is in-
troduced.

PROVI'SOR, the title in the ancient
French universities, of an officer charged
with the management of their external
affairs, both spiritual and temporal, and
to a certain extent with their discipline
also. The provisor of the Sorbonne was
an officer of high importance among the
clergy. The principals of Napoleon's
Lyceum had the title of provisors, and
the modern royal colleges retain it for
the same functionary.

PROVOST, in a general sense, a per-
son who is appointed to preside over or
superintend ; as, the prorost of a college.
The provost-marslial of an army, is an

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501

officer appointed to arrest and secure
deserters and other criminals, to hinder
the soldiers from pillaging, to regulate
weights and measures. &c. There is a
similar officer in the English navy, who
has the charge of the prisoners taken at
sea.

PROXI'MATE CAUSE, that which
immediately precedes and produces the
effect, as distinguished from the remote or
predisposing cause.

PROX'Y, the agency of another who
acts as a substitute for his principal. In
England, any member of the house of
lords may cause another peer to vote for
him as his proxy in his absence.

PRYTANE'UM, in Grecian antiquity,
the senate-house in Athens, where the
council of the prytanes assembled, and
where those who had rendered any signal
service to the commonwealth were main-
tained at the public expense. Pryta-
neum was also a name given to all places
sacred to Vesta. Hence those widows
called prytanides, who took care of the
sacred fire, received their name.

PSALM, a divine song or hymn ; but
chiefly appropriated to the hundred and
fifty Psalms of David, a canonical book
of the Old Testament. Most of these
psalms have a particular title, signifying
either the name of the author, the person
who was to set it to music or sing it, the
instrument that was to be used, or the
subject and occasion of it. Some have
imagined that David was the sole author
of the Book of Psalms ; but the titles of
many of them prove the contrary. Some
of the psalms were apparently written by
Solomon ; a few belong to the reigns of
the kings immediately succeeding him ;
and several to the mournful days of the
Babylonish captivity and of the return,
especially those headed " for the sons of
Korah," most of which are probably by
the same author. Finally, a few seem to
belong to the age of the Maccabees. The
" Psalms of David," whether actually
composed by him, or merely of his time,
probably constituted an earlier collection,
which extended to the seventy-second.
But, by whomsoever penned, they are
among the highest and subliinest efforts
of poetry ; and the holy light of revela-
tion, the inspiring belief in the eternal
true God, spreads over them a bright
splendor, and fills them with a deep and
holy fervor.

PSAL'TERY, a musical instrument
used by the Hebrews, the true form of
which is not now known. That which is
now used is a flat triangular instrument,

truncated at the top, and strung with
thirteen chords of wire.

PSEUDEPIG'RAPIIY, the ascription
of false names of authors to works. This
was carried to a great extent among the
Christians of the fourth and following
centuries.

PSEU'DO, a prefix (from the Greek)
used in the composition of many words
to denote false, or spurious; as, Apaeiido-
apostle, or false apostle; & pseudo-proph-
et, or false prophet, Ac.

PSY'CHE, in mythology, the daughter
of Sol and Constancy. She was so loved
as to be taken for Venus herself. This
goddess becoming jealous of her rival
charms, ordered Cupid to inspire her
with love for some contemptible wretch.
But Cupid fell in love with her himself.
Many were the trials Psyche underwent,
arising partly from her own indiscretion,
and partly from the hatred of Venus,
with whom, however, a i ^conciliation
was ultimately effected. Psyche, by Ju-
piter's command, became immortal, and
was forever united with her beloved.

PSYCHOL'OGY, in its larger accepta-
tion, may be taken as synonymous with
mental philosophy. The word is more
frequently used in reference to the lower
faculties of the mind, and the classifica-
tion of the phenomena which they present.
All psychology is built on experience,
either immediate, or revived by the mem-
ory and imagination. But, in reflect-
ing on our intellectual faculties, we dis-
cover in them certain laws, which, as
soon as they are presented to us, we at
once recognize as universal and necessary;
certain conditions without the fulfilment
of which we are sensible that no act of in-
tellection could have taken place. This
universality is something very different
from the empirical truth, as a matter of
fact, which we attribute to the laws of
association, which are, indeed, universal,
but which might, for aught we can see,
have been different from what they are.
Corresponding to this distinction, German
writers have discriminated between a
higher, or rational, and a lower, or em-
pirical psychology ; the first, that of
Kant, who sought, in all our mental fac-
ulties, to determine that only which is
necessary and immutable ; the second, that
of Hartley, who treats all our intellec-
tual acts as alike objects of mere history,
dependent for their validity only on the
fact that they do really recur in such and
such order. The psychology of Aristotle
was of the latter description. He, conse-
quently, regard^ the science as forming

602

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[PUN

one of the physical sciences, or those
which are conversant with the contingent
and changeable. Many pregnant psy-
chological truths are discoverable in that
philosopher's work on the soul ; in partic-
ular, the doctrine of association, the mas-
ter-light of all sound experimental psy-
chology, owes its first enunciation to him.
Among later writers who have made
valuable contributions to the science may
be enumerated Hobbes, Locke, Hartley,
and Sir Thomas Brown. The value of
these authors' writings in this peculiar
province cannot be too highly apprecia-
ted. It is only when psychology intrudes
upon the domain, or usurps the attributes
of the higher philosophy, that its claims
need to be resisted. As a preparation
for metaphysical and theological thought,
and, indeed, as an indispensable requisite
for the science of man, whether history,
politics, or ethics, it is not easy to exag-
gerate its importance.

PUB'LICAN, among the Romans, a
farmer of the taxes and public revenues,
the inferior officers of which class were
deemed oppressive ; they were conse-
quently regarded by the Jews and other '
tributary nations with no small degree :
of detestation. Under the modern term
of publicans are comprised inn-keepers,
hotel-keepers, alehouse-keepers, keepers
of wine vaults, <fcc.

PUB'LICIST, a writer on the laws
of nations.

PUCK, in mediaeval mythology, the
" merry wanderer of the night," whose
character and attributes are so beauti-
fully depicted in the Midsummer Night's
Dream. This celebrated fairy is known
by a variety of names ; as Robin Good-
fellow and Friar Rush in England; and
in Germany, as Knecht Ruprecht; but
it is by his designation of Puck, that he
is most generally known both in Eng-
land, Germany, and the more northern
nations. He was the chief of the do-
mestic tribe of fairies, or brownies, as
they are called in Scotland ; and innu-
merable stories are told of his nocturnal
exploits, among which, drawing the wine,
and cleaning the kitchen while the
family were asleep, are the most promi-
nent. The word is probably derived
from the old Scandinavian puki, a boy ;
it is also synonymous with pug, or j
monkey, whose form this fairy is said to I
have most frequently assumed.

PUL'PIT, an elevated place or inclosed
stage in a church, in which the preacher J
stands. It is called also a desK. Pulpits 1
in modern churches ai^of wood, but in

ancient times some were made of stone,
others of marble, and richly carved.

PUN, a species of wit which has been
gravely pronounced "low;" but surely
it is both fastidious and cynical thus to
define it. A pun is an expression in
which two different applications of a word
present an odd or ludicrous idea ; but it
does not necessarily follow that the ideas
to which it gives rise shall be low, that
is, vulgar. That they often are so, we
admit ; but he must be of an incorrigibly
saturnine disposition who would declare
that all the mirth-inspiring puns which
the inimitable Hood draws from his ex-
haustless quiver are to be accounted low.
An inveterate punster, who is constantly
on the watch for opportunities to torture
every expression into a quibble, is not to
be tolerated in decent society ; but it
would be hard indeed if the laws of de-
corum were so strict, as to debar us from
cheering the dull realities of life with an
occasional scintillation of wit, even at
the hazard of perpetrating a bad pun.

PUNCTUA'TION, in grammar, the
discriminating use of certain marks
adopted to distinguish the clauses of a
period, sometimes with reference to the
sense, and at others to the grammatical
construction. Thus, a full point ( . )
closes a perfect sentence ; a colon ( : )
indicates an adjunct; a semicolon (;)
distinguishes its principal part ; and a
comma ( , ) parts subordinate to the
semicolon. A sentence, which may in-
clude several periods, terminates a
branch of the subject or argument. A
question is indicated by (?); an ex-
clamation by ( ! ) ; and it is sometimes
convenient to include a collateral circum-
stance in a parenthesis ( ). The an-
cients were altogether unacquainted with
punctuation.

PU'NIC, pertaining to the Carthagin-
ians or their language. Also, a term
implying treacherous, deceitful ; &spunic
faith.

PUN'ISHMENT, the infliction of pain,
or personal suffering according to law,
for crimes ; intended as an example, to
deter others and to correct the offen-
der. The punishment of crimes against
the laws is inflicted by the supreme power
of the state in virtue of the right of gov-
ernment vested in the legislature, and
belongs only to persons clothed with au-
thority. Some punishments consist of ex-
ile or transportation, others in loss of lib-
erty by imprisonment. Locke observes,
" The rewards and punishments of an-
ther life, which the Almightly has estab-

PYC

AND THE FINE ARTS.

503

lished as the enforcements of his law, are
of weight enough to determine the choice
against whatever pleasure or pain this
life can show."

PURGATION, the act or operation of
clearing one's self of a crime ; a mode of
trying persons accused of any crime,
which was formerly in practice.

PUR'GATORY, a place appointed for
the satisfaction of temporal punishments,
which, according to the Roman Catholic
church, are distinguished from the eter-
nal, of which the latter only are remitted
to us by the death of Christ. There is
none, perhaps, of the peculiar articles of
the Romish faith in favor of which so
little can be advanced from the language
of Scripture ; and it may be safely averred
that it was not from that source that the
opinion ever gained possession of men's
minds. It seems to be a natural but too
strict an inference from the imperfecny
disclosed economy of the divine judg-
ments, which we find to admit of every
degree of severity in this life, and are
liable to conclude from analogy must bo
subject to some equivalent adjustment in
the next. Accordingly, we discover some
imperfect recognitions of the idea in in-
dividual writers several centuries before
it can be proved that it formed an estab-
lished article of faith. Augustin is con-
sidered the earliest of these ; and he speaks
vaguely and inconsistently. It was first
inculcated as a doctrine by Gregory the
Great, who seems to have connected it
with the then popular belief that the
world was closely approaching to its end.

PURIFICATION, in religion, the act
or operation of cleansing ceremonially,
by removing any pollution or defilement.
Purification by washing was common to
the Hebrews and to Pagans ; and the Mo-
hammedans always use it previous to de-
votion.

PU'RIM. among the Jews, the feasts
of lots, instituted to commemorate their
deliverance from the machinations of
Hainan.

PU'RIST. a name sometimes applied
to rigorous critics of purity in literary
style.

PU'RITAN, the name by which the
dissenters from the church of England
were generally known in the reign of
Elizabeth, and the first two Stuarts. The
name Puritan was given (probably in
derision) to them on account of th6 supe-
rior purity of doctrine or discipline which
the more rigid reformers claimed as their
own ; maintaining that they followed the
word of God alone in opposition to all

human inventions and superstitions, of
which they believed the English church
to retain a considerable share, notwith-
standing its alleged reformation. Hume
gives this name to three parties' : the po-
litical puritans, who maintained the high-
est principles of civil liberty ; the puri-
tans in discipline, who were averse to
the ceremonies and government of the
episcopal church ; and the doctrinal puri-
tans, who rigidly defended the specula-
tive system of the first reformers.

PUR'LIN, in architecture, a piece of
timber extending from end to end of a
building or roof, across and under the
rafters, to support them in the middle.

PUR'SER, in the navy, an officer on
board a man-of-war, who takes charge of
the provisions, and attends to their pres-
ervati&n and distribution among the offi-
cers and crew.

PUR'SUIVANT, in heraldry, the low-
est order of officers at arms. The pur-
suivants are properly attendants on the
heralds when they marshal public cere-
monies.

PU'SEYISM, in the church of England,
the name given to certain new doctrines
promulgated of late years by Dr. Pusey,
in conjunction with other divines of Ox-
ford, in a series of pamphlets, entitled
"Tracts for the Times" These doctrines
have manifestly a strong tendency to-
wards Romanism, and accordingly many
of their advocates have already gone over
to the church of Rome ; they relate chiefly
to the exclusive claim of episcopacy to
the apostolical succession ; the denial of
the validity of ordination or of the ad-
ministration of the sacraments by all who
cannot prove their claim to unbroken
apostolical descent in the episcopal line ;
the alleged virtue of such ordination in
conferring efficacy on the sacraments in
the simple opus operatum, or rite ad-
ministered; the exclusive authority of
the ehurch, as based on tradition ; the
introduction into the church of England
of many of the observances of Romanism ;
the doctrine of Reserve, (see Tract, No. 90,)
and such kindred matters, believed by
protestants to be contrary to Scripture,
and identical with the doctrines of the
church of Rome; leading to the same in-
terference between the human conscience
and the direct authority of the word of
God.

PYC NOSTYLE, in ancient architec-
ture, a building where the columns stand
very close to each other ; only one diame-
ter and a half of the column being al-
lowed to each intercolumniation.

504

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[QUA

PYR'AMID, a solid body standing on
a triangular square, or polygonal base,
and terminating in a vertex or point at
the top. Or, in other words, it is formed
by the meeting of three or more planes
at a point termed the apex. The Pyra-
mids of Egypt are noble monuments of
Egyptian grandeur, about forty in num-
ber, near Memphis. The largest is 481
feet in height, measured perpendicularly,
and the area of its base includes eleven
acres. The object of this kind of monu-
ment was, undoubtedly, eitherto perpetu-
ate the recollection of some memorable
event, or to stand as a testimony of the
glory and splendor of deceased monarchs.
That it was principally sepulchral has
been rendered tolerably evident. Among
other reasons, because it was held, from
its shape, symbolical of immortality.

PYR'OMANCY, among the classical
ancients, a species of divination by means
of the fire of the sacrifice ; in which, if the
flames immediately took hold of and con-
sumed the victims, or if they were bright
and pure, or if the sparks rose upward in
a pyramidal form, success was said to be
indicated. If the contrary took place,
misfortunes were said to be presaged.

PYR'RHIC DANCE, called by the Ro-
mans Pyrrhica Saltatio, a species of war-
like dance, said to have been invented
by Pyrrhus to grace the funeral of his
father Achilles, though this point is in-
volved in obscurity. This dance consist-
ed chiefly in such an adroit and nimble
turning of the body as represented an
attempt to avoid the strokes of an enemy
in battle, and the motions necessary to
perform it were looked upon as a kind of
training for the field of battle. This dance
is supposed to be described by Homer as
engraved on the shield of Achilles. Lord
Byron describes the Suliotes as still per-
forming this dance.

PYRR'HONISTS, a sect of ancient
philosophers, so called from Pyrrho, a
native of Eli., in Peloponnesus. The
opinions of these philosophers, who were
also called skeptics, terminated in the
incomprehensibility of all things, in which
they found reason both for affirming and
denying ; they accordingly seemed to be
always in search of truth, without ever
acknowledging that they had found it :
hence the art of disputing upon all things,
without ever going further than suspend-
ing our judgments, is called pyrrhonism.

PYTHAGO REANS, a sect of ancient
philosophers, so called from being the
followers of Pythagoras of Sainos, who
lived in the reign of Tarquin, the last

king of Rome. The doctrine of metemp-
sychosis, or the transmigration of souls
through different orders of animal cxi.-t-
ence, is the main feature by which the
Pythagorean philosophy is popularly
known. It is, however, by no means
certain that the genuine Pythagoreans
held this doctrine in a literal sense. It
may have been only a mythical way of
communicating their belief in the indi-
viduality and post mortem duration of
the soul.

PYTH'IA, or PYTH'ONESS, in an-
tiquity, the priestess of Apollo, who de-
livered oracular answers at Delphi, in

PYTH'IAN GAMES, one of the four
great national festivals of Greece, cele-
brated every fifth year in honor of Apol-
lo, near Delphi. Their institution is
variously referred to Amphictyon, son of
Dwicalion, founder of the council of Am-
phictyons, and Diomed, son of Tydeus ;
but the most common legend is, that they
were founded by Apollo himself, after he
had overcome the dragon Python. The
contests were the same as those atOlym-
pia, and the victors were rewarded with
apples and garlands of laurel.

Q, the seventeenth letter of the Eng-
lish alphabet, is not to be found either in
the Greek, old Latin, or Saxon alphabets ;
is never sounded alone, but in conjunction
with u, and never ends any English word.
For qu in English, the Dutch use kw, the
Germans qu, and the Swedes and the
Danes qv. It appears, in short, that q is
precisely k, with this difference in use,
that q is always followed by u in English,
and k is not. As a numeral Q stands for
500, and with a dash over, it stands for
500,000. Q is used as an abbreviation
for question ; it also stands for quantity,
or quantum, as q. pi. quantum placit, as
much as you please ; and q. s. quantum
sufficit, i. e. as much as is necessary.
Among mathematicians, Q. E. D. stands
for quod erat demonstrandum, that is,
which was to be demonstrated ; and Q. E.
F. quod erat faciendum, which was to be
done.

QUACK'ERY, the boastful pretensions
of an empiric or ignorant quack.

QUADRAGES'IMA, lent; so called
because it consists of forty days.

QUAD'RANGLE, in architecture, any

QUA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

505

range of houses or buildings with four
sides in the form of a square.

QUADRI'GA, in antiquity, a car or
chariot drawn by four horses. On the re-
verses of medals, we frequently see the
emperor or Victory in a quadriga, hold-
ing the reins of the horses.; whence these
coins are, among numismatologists, called
nummi quadrigati and victoriati.

QUADRIREME', a species of the
naves lonce used by the Romans and also
by the Greeks, being a galley with four
benches or banks of rowers.

QUAD'ROON, the name given in South
America to the offspring of a mulatto
woman by a white man.

QU^E'RE, a term expressive of doubt,
and calling for further information.

QUJ33'TIO, in logic, the third proposi-
tion in a syllogism, which contains the
question to be proved.

QUJiS'TOR, an officer among the Ro-
mans who had the management of the
public revenue or treasury. The qucBstor-
s/iip was the first office any person could
fill in the commonwealth.

QUA'KERS, or FRIENDS, a religious
sect which made its first appearance in
England during the protectorate of Crom-
well. Their founder was George Fox, a
native of Drayton, in Leicestershire. He
proposed but few articles of faith, insist-
ing chiefly ou moral virtue, mutual char-
ity, the love of God, and a deep atten-
tion to the inward motions and secret ope-
rations of the spirit. He required a plain
simple worship, and a religion without
ceremonies, making it a principal point
to wait in profound silence the directions
of the Holy Spirit. Although at first the
Quakers were guilty of some extravagan-
cies, these wore off, and they settled into
a regular body, professing a great aus-
terity of behavior, a singular probity
and uprightness in their dealings, a great
frugality at their tables, and a remark-
able plainness and simplicity in their
dress. Their system, or tenets, are laid
down by Robert Barclay (one of their
members,) in a sensible, well-written
" apology," addressed to Charles II.
Their principal doctrines are, that God
has given to all men, without exception,
supernatural light, which being obeyed
can save them ; and that this light is
Christ, the true light, which lighteth
every man th-.it cometh into the world :
that the Scriptures were indeed given by
inspiration, and are preferable to all the
other writings in the world ; but that they
are no more than secondary rules of faith
and practice, in subordination to the light

or spirit of God, which is the primary
rule : that immediate revelation has not
ceased, a measure of the spirit being
given to every one : that all supersti-
tions and ceremonies in religion, of mere
human institution, ought to be laid
aside : that in civil society, the saluting
one another by pulling off the hat, bend-
ing the body, or other humiliating pos-
ture, should be abolished; and that the
use of the singular pronoun thou when
addressing one person, instead of the cus-
tomary you, should be strictly adhered
to. They farther laid it down as a solemn
obligation, not to take an oath, encourage
war, engage in private contests, nor even
carry weapons of defence. The society is
governed by its own code of discipline,
which is enacted and supported by meet-
ings of four degrees, for discipline ; name-
ly, preparative, monthly, quarterly, and
yearly meetings. The preparative digest
and prepare the business for the monthly
meetings, in which the executive power
is principally lodged, subject however to
the revision and control of the quarterly
meetings, which are subordinate and ac-
countable to it, and subject to its supervi-
sion and direction. Its authority is par-
amount, and it possesses the sole power to
make or amend the discipline. There are
at present ten yearly meetings, namely,
London, Dublin, New England, New-
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Virginia,
North Carolina, Ohio, and Indiana. The
number of Quakers in the United States
is about 150,000.

QUALIFICATION, any natural en-
dowment, or any acquirement which fits
a person for a place, office, or employ-
ment. Also any property or possession
which gives one a right to exercise the
elective franchise, or furnishes one with
any legal power or capacity.

QUALITY, in the philosophy of Kant,
the second category, (there being four in
all,) comprising the notions of existence
or reality, non-existence or negation, and
limitation.

QUAN'TITY, in prosody, the amount
of time in a syllable. Syllables are either
short or long ; the former being the unit
or smallest measure of time, the latter
consisting of two times. This distinction
is clearly marked in the ancient lan-
guages, in which some syllables are ne-
cessarily long or short by position, others
by the nature of the vowels which they
contain ; and, in the Latin language,
some common, or susceptible of being
sounded as long or short, according to
certain rules of elegance or convenience.

506

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[QL-E

All the metrical system of the ancient
languages is founded on quantity. In
most modern languages there is, strictly
speaking, no quantity, ns distinct from
emphasis or accent ; the long syllables
being those which receive the arsis, the
short those which receive the thesis. In
the German language, however, critics
have endeavored to establish a conven-
tional system of quantity, and thus to
adapt that language to regular versifi-
cation in the ancient Greek and Latin
metres.

QUAN'TUM, [Lat.] the quantity.
Quantum, meruit (as much as he de-
served,^ in law, an action grounded on a
promise that the defendant would pay to
the plaintiff for his service as much as he
should deserve. Quantum valebat, an
action to recover of the defendant for
goods sold, as much as they were worth.

QUAR'ANTINE, the restraint of in-
tercourse to which a ship arriving in port
is subjected, on the presumption that she
may be infected with a malignant, con-
tagious disease. This is either for forty
days, or for any other limited term, ac-
cording to circumstances. A ship thus
situated is said to be' performing quar-
antine. The term is derived from the
Italian quaranta, forty ; it being gener-
ally supposed that if no infectious dis-
ease breaks out within forty days, or six
weeks, no danger need be apprehended
from the free admission of the individuals
under quarantine. During this period
all the goods, clothes, <tc. that might be
supposed capable of retaining the infec-
tion, are subjected to a process of purifi-
cation, which is a most important part
of the quarantine system. In law, the
period of forty days, during which the
widow of a man dying possessed of land,
has the privilege of remaining in the
principal messuage or mansion house.

QUARTER-DAYS, the days which be-
gin the four quarters of the year, namely,
the- 25th of March, or Lady Day ; the
24th of June, or Midsummer Day ; the
29th of September, or Michaelmas Day;
and the 25th of December, or Christmas
Day.

QUAR'TER-SES'SIONS, a court of
justice, held quarterly, before magistrates
of the district to try minor offences by
jury, after bills found by a grand jury.
The legal powers ofr these are often very
great, but the questions may in many
cases be removed to superior courts.

QUARTET'TO, in music, Italian for
a piece for four voices or four instru-
ments.

QUAR'TO, in printing and bookbind-
ing, a size made by twice folding a sheet,
which then makes four leaves.

QUASH'ING, in law, the overthrowing
and annulling of anything : as, to quask
an indictment.

QUA'SI CON'TRACT, in the civil
law, an act which has not the strict form
of a contract, but yet has the force of
one. Thus, if one person does another's
business in -his absence, without his pro-
curation, and it has succeeded to the
other person's advantage ; the one may
have an action for what he has disbursed,
and the other to make him give an
account of his administration ; which
amounts to a quasi contract.

QUATRAIN', in poetry, a piece con-
sisting of four verses, the rhymes usually
alternate ; sometimes also, especially in
French poetry, intermixed, the first and
fourth, second and third, rhyming to-
gether.

QUA'VER, in music, a measure of
time equal to half a crotchet, or an
eighth of a semibreve. Also a shake or
rapid vibration of the voice.

QUEEN, a woman who holds a crown
singly ; or, by courtesy, one who is mar-
ried to a king. The former is distin-
guished by the title of queen regnant ;
the latter by that of queen consort. A
queen consort is a subject, though as the
wife of the king she enjoys certain pre-
rogatives. The widow of a king is called
a queen dowa&er.

QUES'TION. the application of torture
to prisoners under criminal accusation,
according to the laws of France before
the Revolution. The question was of
two kinds : one, where strong evidence,
but insufficient of Itself to justify a con-
demnation to death, existed against a pris-
oner on a capital charge ; he might then be
subjected to torture to produce confession.
This was termed the question prepara-
toire. It was abolished by an ordinance
of Louis XVI. in 1780. The other, termed
question prealable or definitive, was ap-
plied to the prisoner when convicted of a
capital offence, in order to make him
discover supposed accomplices. It was
abolished by the National Assembly.

QUEST'-MEN, in law, persons chosen
to inquire into abuses and misdemeanors,
especially such as relate to weights and
measures.

QUES'TUS, in law, land which does
not descend by hereditary right, but is
acquired by one's own labor and indus-
try.

QUID PRO QUO, in law, an equiva-

QUO]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

507

lent, or the mutual consideration and
reciprocal performance of both parties to
a contract.

QUID'NUNC, one who is curious to
know everything that passes, and is con-
tinually asking " What now 1" or " What
news ?" one who knows or pretends to
know all occurrences ; a news gossiper.

QUI'ETISTS, in ecclesiastical history,
a sect of mystics, originated by Molino,
a Spanish priest, who maintained that
religion consists in the internal rest and
meditation of the mind, wholly employed
in contemplating God and submitting to
his will. This doctrine was termed
quietism. Its leading feature was the
description of the happiness of a soul re-
posing in perfect quiet on God, so as to
become conscious of His presence only,
and untroubled by external things. He
even advanced so far as to maintain that
the soul, in its highest state of perfection,
is removed even beyond the contempla-
tion of God himself, and is solely occu-
pied in the passive reception of divine
influences.

QUINDECEM'VIRI, in Roman an-
tiquity, a college of fifteen magistrates,
whose business it was to preside over the
sacrifices. They were also the interpre-
ters of the Sibyl's books ; which, however,
they never, consulted but by an express
order of the senate.

QUINQUAGENA'RIUS, in Roman
antiquity, an officer who had the com-
mand of fifty men.

QUINQUAGES'IMA, or Shrove Sun-
day, so called as being about the fiftieth
day before Easter.

QUINQUA'TRI A, in Roman antiquity,
festivals celebrated in honor of Minerva
with much the same ceremonies as the
Panathencea were at Athens.

QUINQUENXA'LIA, in antiquity,
Roman games that were celebrated ev-
ery five years.

QUIN'QUIREME, in antiquity, a gal-
ley having five seats or rows of oars.

QUINTI'LIS, in chronology, the month
of July, so called because it was the fifth
month of ilomulus's year, which began
in March. It received the name of July
from Marc Antony, in honor of Julius
Caesar, who reformed the calendar.

QFIRINA'LIA, in antiquity, a feast
celebrated among the Romans in honor
of Romulus, who was called Quirinus.
These feasts were held on the 13th of
the calends of March.

QUIRI'TES, in antiquity, a name
given to the populace of Rome, as dis-
tinguished from the soldiery.

QUT-TAM, in law, a term for an action
brought, or information exhibited, at the
suit of the king, on a penal statute
wherein half the penalty is directed U
fall to the suer or informer.

QUIT-RENT, in law, a small rent
payable by the tenants of most manors,
whereby they go quit and free from all
other services.

QUI VIVE, (French,) literally, "who
lives?" The challenge of the French
sentries to those who approach their
posts; equivalent to the English "Who
goes there 1" Hence, to be on the qui
vive, is to be on the alert ; to be all ac-
tivity.

QUIZ, an obscure question ; something
to puzzle. One whom an observer can-
not make out ; an odd fellow. The more
general use of the word, however, is
to signify one addicted to mockery and
jesting in simulated gravity ; and also
the act itself. This word and its deriva-
tives are used only in colloquial or vul-
gar language. It is said to have origi-
nated in a joke. Daly, the manager
of a Dublin play-house, wagered that he
would make a word of no meaning to bo
the common talk and puzzle of the city
in twenty-four hours ; in the course of
that time the letters q, u, i, z were
chalked or pasted on all the walls of
Dublin, with such an effect that the
wager was won.

QUOAD HOC, a term used frequently
in law reports to signify that " as to the
thing named," the law is so, <fec.

QUOD'LIBET, (Lat. what you, please,)
in the language of the schoolmen, ques-
tions on general subjects within the range
of their inquiries were termed questiones
quodUbetictB. or miscellaneous. In French
the word quodlibet, or quolibet, is retain-
ed, in the sense of a slight jeu d' esprit,
pun, &c. What is termed in music a
" pot-pourri" was also called in Germany
a quodlibet.

QUOD PERMIT'TAT, in law, a writ
for the heir of him that is disseized of
common pasture, against the heirs of the
disseizor.

QUO JU'RE, in law, a writ that lies
for a person who has lands wherein an-
other claims common of pasture time out
of mind ; and is brought in order to com-
pel the person to show by what title he
challenges it.

QUO'RUM, in law, a word frequently
mentioned in our statutes, and in com-
missions both of justices of the peace and
others. By it is generally understood,
such a number of justices as are compe-

508

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[RAI

tent by law to transact business. The
term ' is derived from the words of the
commission, quorum A. 13. unum esse
rolumus.

QUOTA'TION, a passage quoted or
cited ; the part of a book or writing named,
repeated, or adduced as evidence or illus-
tration. In mercantile language, the
current price of commodities or stocks,
published in prices-current, <fcc.

QUO WARKAN'TO, in law, the name
of a writ which lies against any particular
persons, or bodies politic or corporate,
who usurp or make an improper use of
any franchise or liberty, in order to ob-
lige them to show by what right and title
they hold or claim such franchise.

R, the eighteenth letter of our alpha-
bet, is numbered among the liquids and
semi-vowels, and is sometimes called the
canine letter. Its sound is formed by a
guttural extrusion of the breath, which
in some words is through the mouth, with
a sort of quivering motion or slight jar
of the tongue. In words which we have
received from the Greek language we fol-
low the Latins, who wrote k after r, as
the representative of the aspirated sound
with which this letter was pronounced by
the Greeks ; as in rhapsody, rhetoric, &c.;
otherwise it is always followed by a vowel
at the beginning of words and syllables.
As an abbreviation, R in English, stands
for rex and regina ; as George R. ; Victo-
ria R. In the notes of the ancients, R.
or RO. stands for Roma; R.C. Romano,
civitas ; R.G.C. rei gerendee causa; R.F.
E.D. recte factual et dictum ; 11G.F. regis
filius ; R.P. respublica. or Romani prin-
cipes. As a numeral, R, in Latin authors,
stands for 80, and with a dash over it, for
80,000.

RAB'BI,-or RAB'BIX, a title assumed
by the pharisees and doctors of the law
among the Jews, which literally signifies
master or lord. There were several gra-
dations before they arrive.l at the dignity
of a rabbin ; but it does not appear that
there was any fixed age or previous ex-
amination necessary ; when, however, a
man had distinguished himself by hi?
skill in the written and oral law, and
passed through the subordinate degrees,
ho was saluted a rabbin by the public
voice. In their schools the rabbins sat
upon raised chairs, and their scholars at
their feet : thus St. Paul is said to have

studied at the feet of Gamaliel. Such of
the doctors as studied the letter or text
of the scripture were called caraites, those
who studied the cabballa, cabbalists, and
those whose study was in the traditions
or oral law, were called rabbinista. The
customary duty of the rabbins, in general,
was to pray, preach, and interpret the law
in the synagogues. Among the modern
Jews, the learned men retain no other
title than that of rabbi; they have great
respect paid them, have the first places
or seats in their synagogues, determine
all matters of controversy, and frequently
pronounce upon civil affairs.

RAB'DOMANCY, in antiquity, a sort
of divination by means of rods, according
to their manner of falling when they were
set up.

R A'C A, a Syriac word signifying empty,
foolish, beggarly ; a term of extreme con-
tempt. The Jews used to pronounce the
word with certain gestures of indignation,
as spitting, turning away the head, <tc.
Our Saviour intimates that whosoever
should call his neighbor raca, should be
condemned by the council of the Sanhe-
drim.

RACE, the lineage of a family, or the
series of descendants indefinitely continu-
ed. All mankind are called the race of
Adam ; the Israelites are of the race of
Abraham ; and in like manner, we say,
the Capetine or the Carlovingian race of
kings, <fcc.

RACK, a horrid engine of torture, fur-
nished with pulleys and cords, <fcc., for ex-
torting confession from criminals or sus-
pected persons. Its use is entirely un-
known in free countries.

RACO' VI ANS, in ecclesiastical history,
the Unitarians of Poland are sometimes
so called ; from Racow, a small city of
that country, where Jacobus a Sienna,
its head, erected a public seminary for
their church in 1600. Here the ' Racov-
ian Catechism," originally composed by
Socinus, and revised by his most eminent
followers, was published.

RA'DIX. in etymology, a primitive
word from which spring other words.

RAF'TERS, the pieces of timber ex-
tending from the plate of a building so as
to meet in an angle at the trfp, and form
the roof.

RAIL, in architecture, the horizontal
part in any piece of framing or panelling.
Thus, in a door, the horizontal pieces
between which the panels lie. are called
rails, whilst the vertical pieces between
which the panels are inserted are called
stifles.

RAT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

509

RA'JAH, one of the ancient hereditary
princes of India, before its conquest by
the Moguls ; some of whom are tributary
to Europeans, and some are said to be in-
dependent.

RALLENTAN'DO, in music, an Ital-
ian tertn, implying that the tune of the
passage over which it is placed is to be
gradually decreased.

RAM'ADAN, the name given to the
great fast or Lent of the Mohammedans.
It commences with the new moon of the
ninth month of the Mohammedan year ;
and, while it continue?, the day is spent
uninterruptedly in pra\ers and other de-
votional exercises. Even the night is
passed by the more rigid of the faithful in
the mosques, which are splendidly illu-
minated on this occasion ; but, generally
speaking, the arrival of sunset is the sig-
nal for a more than usually unlimited
indulgence in the pleasures of the table ;
and, on the third evening of the fast, the
grand vizier commences a series of official
banquets. The Ramadan ends on the day
preceding the only other great festival of
the Mohammedans the Bairum equiva-
lent to our Easter.

RAMAYA'NA, the oldest of the two
great Sanscrit epic poems, describes the
life and actions of the hero llama, and
his wife Sita; and especially Rama's e*x-
pedition to Ceylon, to rescue Sita from
the tyrant Rawana. The poem is thought
to have been composed before the Chris-
tian era ; but there is no certain indica-
tion of its age.

RA'MISTS, in philosophy, the parti-
sans of Pierre Rame, better known by his
Latin name of Ramus, roynl professor of
rhetoric and philosophy at Paris, in the
reign of Henry II. He perished in the
massacre of St. Bartholomew. His system
of logic was opposed to that of the Aris-
totelian party ; and during the latter half
of the 16th century a vehement contest
was maintained between their respective
adherents in France, Germany, and other
parts of Europe.

RAM'PART, in fortification, an eleva-
tion or mound of ea rth round a place, capa-
ble of resisting the cannon of an enemy ;
and formed into bastions, curtains, &e. Sol-
diers continually keep guard upon the
ramparts, and pieces of artillery are
planted there for the defence of the place.
Rampart, in civil architecture, is used
for the space left between the wall of a
city and the nearest houses.

RAN'GER, in England, an officer
whose duty it was to walk through the
forest, and present all trespassers at the

next forest court. The office of ranger
is not of the same importance as former-
ly, but the situation is still tilled, and his
duties are of a similar kind.

RANK, the degree of elevation which
one man holds in respect to another.
This is particularly defined in regard to
the nobility in monarchical countries, as
also in all offices of state, as well as in the
officers of the army and navy. Rank, in
military tactics, the straight line which
the soldiers of a battalion or squadron
make as they stand side by side. Rank
and file, a name given to the men carry-
ing firelocks, and standing in the ranks,
in which are included the corporals.

RAN'SOM, money -naid for redeeming
a captive, or for obta.ning the liberty of
a prisoner of war.

RAN'TERS, a sect of dissenters, origi-
nating in Staffordshire, England, in 1807,
and marked by the extravagance of their
religious enthusiasm. They sprang from
the Wesleyan Methodists, from whom
they separated, and by whom they are
disowned. They hold camp meetings
annually, and differ from the parent
stock in many of their outward ceremo-
nies, but they still assimilate to the origi-
nal connection in their religious opinions.

RANZ DE VACHE, in music, a favor-
ite national air among the Swiss shep-
herds, which they play upon their bag-
pipes while tending their flocks and
herds. It consists of a few simple inter-
vals, is entirely adapted to the primitive
life of these people and their instrument
(the Alpenhorn, horn of the Alps,) and
has an uncommon effect in the echoes of
the mountains. This effect becoming inti-
mately associated with the locality of
Switzerland, explains the many anecdotes
of the home -sickness caused by the sound
of the Ranz des Vacfies, when heard by
the Swiss in foreign countries.

R ASKOL'NIKS, the name of the largest
and most important body of dissenters
from the Greek Church in the Russian
dominions. They designate themselves
Starowerzi, or the Orthodox; but differ
from the Greek church only in the out-
ward forms of religion, and in maintain-
ing a more strict ecclesiastical discipline.
This body was formerly subjected to
persecution; but it is now treated with
comparative toleration, though its mem-
bers are still excluded from the service
of the state. Their number is said to be
about 300,000.

RATE, in English law, an assessment
by the pound for public purposes ; as, for
the poor, the highways, church repairs,

510

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[REA

county expenses, &c. In the navy, the
order or class of a ship, according to its
magnitude or force.

RA'TION, the proportion or fixed al-
lowance of provisions, drink, forage, &o.,
assigned to each soldier for his daily sub-
sistence, and for the subsistence of horses.
Seamen in the navy also have rations of
certain articles.

RATION A'LE, the account or solution
of any phenomenon or hypothesis, ex-
plaining the principles on which it de-
pends, and every other circumstance.

HA'TIONALISM, the interpretation
of scripture truths upon the principles of
human reason; which has become famous
in the present day by the theological
systems to which it has given birth in
Germany. The history of the progress
of the opinions of the reformed churches
of that country may be found in Dr.
Pusey's essay upon this subject. He con-
ceives the polemical discussions which
prevailed throughout those communities
in the 17th and first half of the following
century to have prepared the way for the
reception of the low views of Christianity,
as a moral system, which were derived
from the writings of the concealed or
avowed deists of England. From the
middle of the last century there have
arisen in Germany a succession of di-
vines Baumgarten, Michaelis, Semler,
Eichhorn, Paulus, Bretschneider, &a., who
have endeavored either to affix a lower and
more human character to the invisible
operations of God upon men through
Christianity, or to reduce the accounts
which we have of the foundation of our
religion to the mixture of truth and
error natural to fallible men. They have
questioned the genuineness of almost all
the separate parts of Scripture, and the
accuracy of all their supernatural narra-
tives. The discredit into which these
theologians appear to have fallen arises,
in a great measure, from the inability
they have shown to produce a connected
and consistent system of religion upon
the low ground which they have taken up.
Of later years a much more spiritual con-
ception of the nature of Scripture promises
and Christian assistances is observable in
the writings of German divines, under the
operation of which their theological criti-
cism has already assumed a more dig-
nified and exalted tone. The sensa-
tion created by Strauss'a Liift of Christ,
the latest, and in some respects the most
remarkable production of the Rationalist
school, may probably have aided in this
reaction.

RAVELINS, in fortification, detached
works composed of two faces, forming
salient angles, and raised before the
counterscarp.

RE, in grammar, a prefix or insepara-
ble particle at the beginning of words, to
repeat or otherwise modify their mean-
ing; as in re-action, re-export. <fec.

REACH, in sea language, signifies the
distance between any two points of land,
lying nearly in a right line.

REA'DER, in ecclesiastical matters,
one of the five inferior orders in the Ro-
mish church. In the Church of England,
a reader is a deacon appointed to do di-
vine service in churches and chapels of
which no one has the cure. There are
also readers (priests) attached to various
eleemosynary and other foundations.

RE'ALISM, in philosophy, is the op-
posite of idealism, and is that philosophi-
cal system which conceives external things
to exist independently of our conception
of them ; but realism becomes material-
ism if it considers matter, or physical
substance, as the only original cause of
things, and the soul itself as a material
substance.

RE'ALISTS, in philosophy, a sect of
school philosophers formed in opposition
to the Nominalists, who held that words,
artd not things, were the objects of dialec-
tics.

REALM, a royal jurisdiction or extent
of a king's dominions.

REAL PRES'ENCE, in the Romish
church, the actual presence of the body
and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, or
the conversion of the substance of the
bread and wine into the real body and
blood of Christ.

REAR, a military term for behind.
Rear-guard, a body of men that marches
in the rear of the main body to protect
it. Rear-rank, the last line of men that
are drawn up two or more deep. The
rear is also a naval term applied to the
squadron which is hindermost.

REA'SON, that particular faculty in
man of which either the exclusive or the
more intense enjoyment distinguishes
him from the rest of the animal creation.
Like most of the terms in the science of
mind, that of reason has been employed
in a great variety of significations. Du-
gald Stewart takes it in its widest sense,
and comprises under it all the operations
of the intellect upon the materials of
knowledge which are furnished in the
first instance by sense and perception.
Its office is to distinguish the trua from
the false, right from wrong, and to com-

REB]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

511

bine means for the attainment of partic-
ular ends. According to this definition,
therefore, the province of reason is' coex-
tensive with the range of human activity,
and it directs itself to the three supreme
objects of desire to man the good, the
beautiful, and the true. Mr. Hume,
however, withdraws the discernment of
right and wrong, and of the beautiful
and its contrary, from the domain of rea-
son ; and, on the other hand, also, denies
the certainty of the truth which it enun-
ciates, and limits its convincing force
merely to a certain weight of probability.
Locke's usage of the term, again, par-
taking as it does of the general looseness
of his phraseology, is very different. In
one passage reason is declared to be the
faculty which finds out the means, and
rightly applies them, to discover either
the certain agreement or disagreement
of two ideas, or their probable connection.
But. in another place, it is said to be
conversant with certainty alone ; while
the discovery of what, as probable, en-
forces a contingent assent or opinion, is
ascribed to an especial faculty, which is
called the judgment. Bird, on the other
hand, confines the latter term to the ap-
prehension of intuitive truth ; but agrees
so far with Locke as to make it one part
of reason, whose other part is reasoning,
both demonstrative and moral. On the
whole, however, it is clear that in the
mind of Locke the terms reasoning and
reason were nearly, if not quite equiva-
lent. But reasoning and deduction are
evidently not the source either of the
dignity or the authority of the human
intellect. The discursive faculty can
never establish any other than a condi-
tional truth, which predisposes some an-
terior and pre-established verity as its
basis and verification. If there were not
in the human mind something primary,
unconditional, and absolute, to which all
reasonings might be referred, as to their
source and foundation, the discursive pro-
cess would proceed into infinity, and its
conclusions be, as Hume asserts that they
are, without any power to enforce assent.
But there are unquestionably in the hu-
man mind certain necessary and univer-
sal principles, which, shining with an
intrinsic light of evidence, are themselves
above proof, but the authority for all
mediate and contingent principles. That
which is thus above reasoning is the rea-
son. In the language of English philoso-
phy, the terms reason and understanding
are nearly identical, and are so used by
Stewart ; but in the critical philosophy

of Kant a broad distinction has been
drawn between them. Reason is the
principle of principles ; either specula-
tively verifies every special principle, or
practically determines the proper ends
of human action. Approximately, it
may be called the sum of what, in Scotch
philosophy, has been denominated the
laws of man's intellectual constitution.
The understanding, on the other hand, is
coextensive with the vernacular use of
reason. It is that which conceives of
sensible objects under certain general
notions, which again it compares one
with another, or with particular repre-
sentations of them, or with the objects
themselves. It is, therefore, the faculty
of reflection and generalization. But the
act of comparison is called a judgment ;
and the understanding, when it enunci-
ates its conceptions, becomes also the
faculty of judging. But the truth of a
proposition which is not identical, or the
enunciation of a primary truth, cannot
be immediately certain. To prove it,
recourse must be had to other proposi-
tions previously admitted ; the under-
standing, that is, must deduce one judg-
ment from another^ and so becomes the
discursive faculty, or reasoning. Farther,
in discovering these mediate truths, and
in the regular and methodical disposition
of them for the purpose of conclusion, as
well as in the selection of means for the
accomplishment of its ends, it exhibits
itself as a power of adaptation.

RE'BEC, a Moorish word, signifying a
stringed instrument somewhat similar to
the violin, having three strings tuned in
fifths, and playe* with a bow. It was
introduced by the Moors into Spain. It,
appears to have been much used at
festive entertainments.

REB'EL, one who revolts from the
government to which he owes allegiance,
either by openly renouncing the authori-
ty of that government, or by taking arms
and openly opposing it.

REBEL'LION, nn open and avowed
renunciation of the authority of the
government to which one owes allegiance.
Rebellion differs from insurrection ; for
insurrection may bo a rising in opposi-
tion to a particular act or law, without a
design to renounce wholly all subjection
to the government. It may lead to, but
is not necessarily in the first instance
rebellion. Rebellion differs also from
mutiny, that being an insurrection of
soldiers or sailors asjninst the authority
of their officers. Rebellion, the great,
the revolt of the Long Parliament

512

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATI KB

[KBC

against the authority of Charles I., in
English history, is commonly so denomi-
nated.

RE BUS, an enigmatical representa
tion of some name, Ac. by using figures
or pictures instead of words. Camden
tells us the rebus was in great esteem
among our forefathers, and he was no-
body who could not hammer out of his
name an invention by this wit-craft, and
picture it accordingly. In heraldry, a
coat of arms which bears an allusion to
the name of a person. . .

REBUTTER, in law, the defendant's
answer to the plaintiffs sur-rejoinder, in
a cause depending in the court of chan-
cery, Ac.

RECAPTION, in law, the taking a
second distress of one formerly distrain-
ed for the same cause during the plea
grounded upon the former distress. It is
also the name of a writ which lies for the
party thus distrained, to recover dam-
ages, Ac.

RECEIPT', in commerce, an acquit-
tance or discharge in writing for money
received, or other valuable considera-
tion.

RECHABITES, a religious order
among the ancient Jews, instituted by
Jonadab, the son of Rechab, from whom
they derived their name. It comprised
only the family and posterity of the
founder, who was anxious to perpetuate
among them the nomadic life ; and with
this view prescribed to them several
rules, the chief of which were to abstain
from wine, from building houses, and
from planting vines. These rules were
observed by the Reclmbites with great
strictness. In recent times, a branch of
the Temperance society has assumed the
name of Rechabites.

RECIPROCAL, in general, something
that is mutual, or which is returned equal-
ly on both sides, or that affects both par-
ties alike. 'Reciprocal terms, in logic,
are those which have the same significa-
tion ; and consequently are convertible
and may be used for each other.

RECI TATIVE, language delivered in
musical tones ; or, as the Italians define
it, speaking music. It is used in operas,
Ac. to express some action or passion, or
to relate a story or reveal a secret or de-
sign. It differs from an air in having no
fixed time or measure ; and it is not gov-
erned by any principal or predominant
key, though its final cadence or close
must be in some cognate key of the air
which follows, or, at least, in no very re-
mote key. There are two kinds of recita-

tive, unaccompanied and accompanitd.
The first is when a few occasional chords
are struck by the piano-forte or violon-
cello to give the singer the pitch, and in-
timate to him the harmony. The second
is when all, or a considerable portion, of
i the instruments of the orchestra accompa-
! ny the singer, either in sustained chords
| or florid passages, in order to give the
1 true expression or coloring to the passion
| or sentiment to be expressed.

RECK OXING, in navigation, an ac-

count of the ship's course and distance

, calculated from the log-board without

the aid of celestial observation. This is

called the dead-reckoning.

RECOG NIZANCE, in law, a bond or

| obligation acknowledged in some court,

| or before some judge, with condition to

do some particular act, as to appear at

the assizes, to keep the peace, Ac. The

> person who enters into such bond is

\ called the recosnizor ; the person to

i whom one is bound is the recognize.*.

RECOLLEC TION, the act of recalling
', to the memory, as ideas that have
escaped ; or the operation by which ideas
. are recalled to the memory or revived in
the mind. Recollection differs from re-
membrance, as it is the consequence of
volition, or an effort of the mind to revive
ideas ; whereas remembrance implies no
, such volition. We often remember things
| without any voluntary effort. Recollec-
tion is called also reminiscence.

RECOLLECTS, monks of the orderof

St. Francis under a reformed rule. The

first separation from the original body

I seems to have taken place towards the

end of the 14th century, when some reli-

i gions person?, desirous of returning to

stricter discipline, assumed the title of

j Brothers of the Observance. From these

originated the Recollects, (living in a

I state of recollection, or reclnsion,) first

; established in Spain by the Count de

i Belalcazar. about 1434, and afterwards

i introduced into Italy. After much oppo-

i sition. they acquired the possession of

great wealth and court favor in France,

during the 16th and 17th centuries.

RECONNOITRE, in military lan-
| gnage. means to inform one's self by
' ocular inspection of the situation of an
I enemy, or the nature of a piece of ground.
It is one of the most important depart-
, ments of the military art, and must
, precede every considerable movement.
Reconnoitering not unfrequently brings
j on engagements, and considerable bodies
j of troops march out to cover the recon-
j noitering party, and to make prisoners

RED]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

513

if possible, in order to obtain information
from them.

REC'ORD, a register ; an authentic or
official copy of any writing, or account of
any facts and proceedings whether public
or private, entered in a book for pres-
ervation ; or the book containing such
copy or account ; as, the records of
statutes orof judicial courts; the records
of a town or parish ; the records of a
family. In a popular sense, the term
records is applied to all public documents
preserved in a recognized repository ;
but, in the legal sense of the term, rec-
ords are contemporaneous statements
of the proceedings of those higher courts
of law which are distinguished as courts
of record, written upon rolls of parch-
ment. Records are said to be of three
kinds : 1. judicial records ; 2. ministe-
rial records on oath, being offices or
inquisitions found; 3. records made by
conveyance or consent, as fines, recover-
ies, or deeds enrolled. In the court of
session, a record is a judicial minute
subscribed by the counsel of the parties
in a cause, and by the lord ordinary,
whereby the parties mutually agree to
hold certain pleadings, as containing
their full and final statement of facts and
pleas in law. This record forms the basis
of the future argument, and of the deci-
sion of the cause. The term records, in
Scotch law, is usually applied to public
registers for decrees of courts, deeds, in-
struments, and probative writings of
every kind. Authentic memorial; as,
the records of past ages. Court of
record, is a court whose acts and judicial
proceedings are enrolled on parchment or
in books for a perpetual memorial ; and
their records are the highest evidence of
facts, and their truth cannot be called
in question. Debt of record, is a. debt
which appears to be due by the evidence
of a court of record, as upon a judgment
or a recognizance. Trial by record is
where a matter of record is pleaded, and
the opposite party pleads that there is no
such record. In this case, the trial is by
inspection of the record itself, no other
evidence being admissible.

RECORD'ER, a person whom the
mayor and other magistrates of a city or
corporation associate with them for their
better direction in matters of justice, and
proceedings in law. He also speaks in
their name, upon public occasions.

RECOVERY, in law, the obtaining a

right to something by a verdict and

judgment of court from an opposing

party in a suit ; as, the recovery of debt,

damages, and costs, by a plaintiff; the
recovery of land in ejectments, Ac.

REC'TOR, in Great Britain, a term
applied to the possessors of several offi-
cial situations ; as, 1. a clergyman who
has the charge and cure of a parish, and
the property of the tithes, &c.; 2. the
chief elective officer in several universi-
ties; 3. the head master of large public
schools in Scotland ; 4. the governor in
several convents ; 5. the superior of a
seminary or college of the Jesuits.
REC'TUS IN CU'RIA, in law, one
who stands at the bar, no person objecting
anything against him. Also, one who
has reversed an outlawry, and can there-
fore partake of the benefit of the law.

RECUR'RENT VERSES, in poetry,
verses that read the same backwards as
they do forwards.

RECU'SANT, in English history, one
who refuses to acknowledge the kingly
supremacy in matters of religion ; as a
popish recusant, who acknowledges only
the supremacy of the pope.

RED'DIDIT SE, a law term, used in
cases where a man renders himself in
discharge of his bail.

REDEMPTION, in law, the liberation
of an estate from a mortgage ; or the
purchase of the right to re-enter upon it
by paying the principal sum for which
it was mortgaged, with interest and costs ;
also, the right of redeeming and re-enter-
ing. In war and in commerce, the, act of
procuring the deliverance of persons or
things from the possession and power of
captors by the payment of an equivalent ;
as, the redemption of a ship and cargo.
In theology, the ransom or deliverance
of sinners from the bondage of sin and the
penalties of God's violated law by the
atonement of Christ.

REDEMP'TORISTS, a religious order
founded in Naples by Liguori, in 1732,
and revived in Austria in 1820. They
are bound by the usual monastic vows,
and devote themselves to the education
of youth and the propagation of Catholi-
cism. They style themselves members of
the order of the Holy Redeemer, whence
their name ; but they are also often
called Liguorists, from the name of their
founder.

REDONDIL'LA, formerly a species of
versification used in the south of Europe,
consisting of a union of verses of four, six,
and eight syllables, of which generally
the first rhymed with the fourth, and the
second with the third. At a later period,
verses of six and eight syllables in gene-
ral, in Spanish and Portuguese poetry,

514

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

KEF

wore called redondillas, whether they
made perfect rhymes or assonances only.
These became common in the dramatic
poetry of Spuin.

REDOUBT', in fortification, a small
square fort without any defence but in
front : used in trenches, lines of circum-
vallation, contravallation, and approach,
to defend passages, &c.

REDUCE', to copy a picture, a drawing,
or print, diminishing its size, and at the
same time carefully preserving its pro-
portions. This is done either by the
artist adopting himself a smaller scale, or
by the employment of mechanical instru-
ments, such as the pantograph.

REDUCTIO AD ABSUR'DUM, in
logic, a mode of argundent by which the
truth of a proposition is proved by show-
ing the absurdity of the contrary.

REDUPLICATION, in logic, a kind
of condition expressed in a proposition
indicating or assigning the manner where-
in the predicate is attributed to the
subject.

REFEC'TIOX, among certain ecclesias-
tics, a spare meal or repast just suffic-
ing for the support of life ; hence the hall
in convents, and other communities, where
the monks, nuns, &c., take their refec-
tions or meals in common, is called the
refectory.

REFEREE', one to whose decision a
thing is referred ; particularly, a person
appointed by a court to hear, examine,
an-l decide a case between parties, pend-
ing before the court, and make report
thereon.

REF'ERENCE, in law, the act of re-
ferring a matter in dispute to the decision
of an arbitrator. Also, in the court of
chancery, the referring a matter to a
master. Reference, in printing, a mark
in the text of a work referring to a simi-
lar one in the side or at the bottom of the
paije.

REFEREN'DARIES, in the early mon-
archies of Europe, after the fifth century,
public officers charged with the duty of
procuring, executing, and despatching
diplomas and charters. The office of
great referendary, in the French mon-
archy, became merged in that of chan-
cellor.

REFLECTION, the operation of the
mind by which it turns its views back
upon itself and its operations ; the review
or reconsideration of past thoughts, opin-
ions, or decisions of the mind, or of past
events.

RE'FLEX, in painting, is a term used
to denote those places in a picture which

are supposed to be illuminated by a
light reflected from some other body,
represented in the same piece.

REFORM', PARLIAMENTARY, a
change to some considerable extent in the
representative part of the English consti-
tution, by an extension of the elective
franchise to modern largo towns, such
as Manchester, Birmingham, Ac.,, which
heretofore sent no members to parlia-
ment and by taking away the franchise
from places which had long since become
insignificant.

REFORMATION, the term applied
by Protestants, universally, to denote the
change from the Roman Catholic to the
Protestant religion, which was first set on
foot in Germany by Luther, A D. 1517,
but had been begun in England by Wick-
liffe, and was afterwards completed by
Henry VIII. who assumed the title of
Head of the Church. Of all the errors,
frauds, and superstitions of the church of
Rome, the one which proved most injuri-
ous to religion and morals, and that which
was most deplored by enlightened and
conscientious men, was the facility with
which riches were allowed to purchase
salvation ! Wealth was invested in mon-
asteries, shrines, and chantries ; and
few persons who had any property at their
<>wn disposal went out of the world with-
out bequeathing some of it to the clergy
for saying masses, in number proportion-
ed to the amount of the bequest, for the
benefit of their souls. Thus were men
taught to put their trust in riches ; their
wealth, being thus invested, became avail-
able to them beyond the grave ; and in
whatever sins they indulged, provided
they went through the proper forms and
obtained a discharge, they might pur-
chase a free passage through purgatory,
or, at least, an abbreviation of the term
and a mitigation of its torments while
they lasted. But purgatory was not the
only invisible world over which the au-
thority of the church extended ; for to the
pope, as to the representative of St. Peter,
it was pretended that the keys of heaven
and hell were given ; a portion of this
power was delegated to every priest, and
they inculcated that the soul which de-
parted without confession and absolution,
bore with it the weight of its deadly sins
to sink it to perdition. To this let us add,
that the arrogance of the priests had ex-
asperated the princes ; the encroachments
of the mendicant friars did injury to the
secular ecclesiastics; and a thousand in-
nocent victims of the inquisition called
for vengeance. Other causes also con-

BEOJ

AND THK FINK AKTS.

515

spired to bring on the day of religious
freedom : the means of information were
vastly increased by the art of printing ;
materials for thinking were laid before
the people by instructive works in the
vulgar tongues ; the number of learned
men increased ; and the intelligence for
which the Reformation was to open a way
began to act generally and powerfully.
The centre of Europe, together with the
north, which had long submitted with re-
luctance to Rome, was ready to counte-
nance the boldest measures for shaking
off the priestly yoke, of which the best
and most reflecting men had become im-
patient. But no one anticipated the
quarter whence the first blow would be
struck. Leo X. was created pope in 1513 ;
and, little affected by the universal de-
sire for reformation in the church, he
seemed placed at its head merely to em-
ploy its revenues in the gratification of
his princely tastes. Albert, elector of
Mentz and archbishop of Magdeburg, a
prince of a similar character, received
from Leo, in 1516, permission to sell in-
dulgences within his own jurisdiction, on
condition of sharing the profits with the
pope. In this traffic, Albert employed,
among others, John Tetzel, a Dominican
monk of Leipsic, who went about from
place to place, carrying on his trade with
the most unblushing impudence, and ex-
tolling his certificates above the papal
bulls (which required repentance,) as un-
conditional promises of the forgiveness of
sins in time and eternity. Luther, an
Augustine monk of Erfurt, a man of
powerful mind, and distinguished more
for his deep piety and strong love of truth,
than for deep erudition, set his face
against this abuse, first in his sermons,
and afterwards in ninety-five theses, or
questions, which he affixed to the door of
the church, Oct. 31, 1517. This led to
several public disputations, in which
lie had such a decided advantage over his
antagonists, that this man, who was
hardly known before, became the public
champion of all enlightened men who la-
mented the degeneracy of the church of
Christ. The respect for the Roman court,
which was perceptible in his earlier writ-
ings, he now discarded, as the injustice of
the papal pretensions had become clear to
him. The most complete success attend-
ed his endeavors ; and wherever the re-
formed religion found its way, the worship
of God recovered that simplicity, and
warmth, and sincerity, which had char-
acterized it among the first Christians.
Religion was no longer a mere subject of

the imagination, but appealed to the rea-
son and feelings of men, and invited close
investigation. The reformation also had
an important influence on morals. While
the reformers abolished the principle of
blind obedience to the pope and other ec-
clesiastical dignitaries, denied the merit
of penances, fasts, and alms, and rejected
the possibility of acts of supererogation,
by which saints had enriched the treasury
of the church, they again awakened the
smothered moral feelings of men, and in-
troduced that more elevated morality
which requires holiness of heart and pu-
rity of conduct.

REFORM'ED CHURCH, comprises in
a general sense, all those bodies of Chris-
tians that have separated from the church
of Rome since the era of the Reforma-
tion ; but it is applied in a restricted
sense to those Protestant churches which
did not embrace the doctrines and disci-
pline of Luther, and more particularly to
the Calvinistic churches on the Continent.

REFUGEE', in political history, a term
applied to the French protestants, who,
on the revocation of the edict of Nantes,
fled from the persecution of France. The
same term was also applied to the French
priests and other royalists who sought an
asylum in this country at the commence-
ment of the revolution.

REGA'LIA, in law, the rights and
prerogatives of the sovereign power ;
also the ensigns of royalty, the crown,
sceptre, &c., worn by our kings and
queens at their coronation. Regalia of
the church-, are the rights and privileges
which cathedrals, Ac. enjoy by royal
grants. This term is particularly used
for such lands and hereditaments as have
been given by different sovereigns to the
church.

REGARD'ER, in England, an ancient
officer of the king's forest, whose business
is to inquire into all offences and defaults
committed within the forest, and to ob-
serve whether the other officers execute
their respective duties.

REGAT'TA, a name given to yacht
and boat races. The word is adopted
from the regatta in Venice, where boats,
containing one person only, contest for
prizes on the canals that intersect that
city. It is generally a very gay and
attractive spectacle, from the number of
spectators present in ornamented gondo-
las

REGENERATION, in theology, the
new birth of man unto righteousness,
following on the abolition of the original
corruption of his nature. Similar Ian-

516

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[REH

guage was used respecting the admission
of proselytes to the privilege of Judaism :
so, also, in other religions. The Sanscrit
name for a Brahmin is said to signify
" twice-born ;" and Tertullian says that
the heathens used baptism in their mys-
teries, "in regenerationem." When our
Saviour admonished Nicodemus not to
marvel at his words, " Ye must be born
again," he added, with reference, doubt-
less, to the doctrines already taught
among the Jews, "Art thou a master of
Israel, and knowest not these things?"
But whether the new birth to which allu-
sion is made in these solemn passages of
Scripture, actually takes place by and
through baptism ; whether baptism, duly
administered by those authorized, is in
itself an " opus operatum," in the lan-
guage of the schools ; or whether the re-
generation spoken of as the condition of
our salvation takes place after, and inde-
pendent of baptism, by the operation of the
Spirit on the inner man this is a ques-
tion on which Protestants have never
agreed among themselves, and which
divides the English church at this day.
The former is the commonly received or
Catholic doctrine ; and has been so from
very early times, as far as we can con-
clude from the language of the fathers
and ancient forms of the church. But it
does not appear to be positively declared
by the Church of England, though infer-
red from various passages in the baptis-
mal service.

RE'GENT, one who governs a kingdom
during the minority or absence of the
rightful monarch. In English universi-
ties, a master of arts under five years'
standing, and a doctor under two. A
member of a board or corporate body in
the state of New York, who have power
to grant acts of incorporation for colle-
ges, and to visit and inspect all colleges,
academies, and schools of the state.

REG'IGIDE, the offence of slaying a
king or other sovereign. The early Greek
republics, unaccustomed to the legitimate
rule of monarchs, saw, in the occasional
subjugation which they underwent from
successful partisans, a mere usurpation,
or tyranny ; and tyrannicide was with
them only the slaying of a public enemy.

REG'IMEN, the regulation of diet, or,
in a more general sense, of all the non-
naturals, with a view to preserve or re-
store health. In grammar, that part of
*vntax, or construction, which regulates
frne dependency of words, and the altera-
tions which one occasions or requires in
Another in connection with it.

REGIMENT, in military affairs, a
body of troops, either horse, foot, or artil-
lery ; the infantry consisting of one or
more battalions, and commanded by acolo-
nel or lieutenant-colonel. Regimentals,
the uniform clothing of the army.

REGISTER, an official account of the
proceedings of a public body, or a book
in which are entered and recorded me-
moirs, acts, and minutes, to be had re-
course to occasionally, as well as for pre>
serving and conveying to future times
an exact knowledge of transactions
Register, in printing, such an accurate
arrangement of the lines and pages, that
those printed on one side of the sheet
shall fall exactly on those of the other.

RE'GIUS PROFES'SOR, in literature,
a title given to each of the five readers or
lecturers in the university of Oxford, so
called from king Henry VIII., by whom
these professorships were founded.

REG LET, or RIG'LET, in architec-
ture, a flat narrow moulding, used chiefly
in pannels and compartments, to separate
the parts or members from each other,
and to form knots, frets, and other orna-
ments. In printing, a ledge or thin slip
of wood exactly planed, used to separate
lines and make the work more open.

REG'NUM ECCLESIASTICUM, in
law, the absolute and independent power
which was possessed and exercised by the
clergy previous to the reformation, in all
spiritual matters ; in distinction from the
regnum seculars.

REGRA'TER, one who buys and re-
sells in the same fair or market ; a,fore-
staller being one who buys on the road to
the market.

REG'ULA, in archaeology, the book of
rules or orders of a monastery.

REG'ULARS, in military affairs, that
part of the army which is entirely at the
disposal of government. In ecclesiasti-
cal history, regulars are such as live
under some rule of obedience, and lead a
monastic life.

REHABILITATION, in foreign crim^
inal law, is the reinstatement of a crim-
inal in his personal rights which he has
lost by a judicial sentence. Thus, in
Scotland, a pardon from the king is said
to rehabilitate a witness laboring under
infamia juris. In France, persons con-
demned to imprisonment or compulsory
labor may demand their rehabilitation
five years after the expiration of their
penalty : the demand is considered by the
cour royale of the district, and pronoun-
ced upon by the king in his privy council.
Various singular forms were attached to

AND THE FINK ARTS.

517

the process of rehabilitation in ancient
times. There are extant letters of Charles
VI.. given in 1383, permitting a criminal
whose hand had been cut off for homi-
cide to replace it by another made in
such fashion as he may choose.

REHEAR'SAL, the recital in private
of an opera, oratorio, or, in short, any
dramatic work, previously to public ex-
hibition.

REI'NECKE, (the fox,) the name of a
celebrated popular German epic poem,
which, during the latter part of the middle
ages and early centuries of modern times,
enjoyed an almost European reputation.
It became first known through the medi-
um of a Low German version in the 15th
century; and it has. with few interrup-
tions, ever since involved the German
literati in discussions as to its origin,
which are yet apparently far from being
settled. It contains a humorous and sa-
tirical account of the adventures of Rei-
necke (the fox) at the court of King Nodel
(the lion ;) exhibits the cunning of the
former, arid the means which he adopted
to rebut the charges preferred against
him, and the hypocrisy and lies by which
he contrived to gain the favor of his sove-
reign, who loaded him with honors. The
king, the officers of his court, and all his
subjects are represented, as in Esop's
Fables, under the names of the animals
best suited to their respective characters ;
and the poem is an admirable satire on
the intrigues practised at a weak court.
The most successful versions of this poem
are those of Goethe, in hexameters ; of
Soltau, in the measure of the original ;
and the more recent attempt of Ortlepp.
This poem appears, in some form or
other, to have been known throughout
Europe.

REIS-EPFEN'DT, the name given to
one of the chief Turkish officers of state.
He is chancellor of the empire and min-
ister of foreign affairs, in which capacity
he negotiates with the ambassadors and
interpreters of foreign nations.

RE.JOIN'DER, in law, the defendant's
answer to the plaintiff's reply.

RELA'TION, in logic, one of the ten
predicaments or accidents belonging to
substance. Relation, inharmonical, in
music, a term to express that some harsh
and displeasing discord is produced in
comparing the present note with that of
another part.

REL'ATIVE, in general, a term sig-
nifying not absolute, but considered as
belonging to or respecting something
else. Relative, in grammar, a word

which relates to or represents another
word, called its antecedent, or to a sen-
tence, or member of a sentence, or to a
series of sentences, which constitutes its
antecedent. Relative terms, in logic,
terms which imply relation, as guardian
and ward ; husband and wife ; master and
servant.

RELAY', a supply of horses ready on
the road to relieve others, in order that
a traveller may proceed without delay.
In hunting, relay signifies fresh sets of
dogs, or horses, or both, placed in readi
ness, in case the game coines that way,
to be cast off. or to mount the hunters in
lieu of the former.

RELEASE', in law, is a discharge or
conveyance of a person's right in landa
or tenements, to another who has some
former estate in possession. The words
generally used therein, are. " remised,
released, and forever quit-claimed."

REL'ICS, in the Romish church, are
the remains of saints and holy men, or of
their garments, &c., which are enjoined
to be held in veneration, and are consid-
ered, in many instances, to be endued
with miraculous powers. They are pre-
served in the churches, to which they are
often the means of attracting pilgrimages,
and in very ignorant times and places
have been actually made objects of ado-
ration. The virtues which are attributed
to them are defended by such instances
from Scripture as that of the miracles
that were wrought by the bones of Elisha.

RELIEF', (RELIEVO,) in sculpture,
that species of sculpture in which the
figures are engaged on or rise from a
ground. There are three sorts of relievo
basso-relievo, in which the figures or

other objects have but small projection
from the ground on which they are sculp-
tured ; mezzo-relievo, in which the figures
stand out about half their natural pro-
portions, the other half appearing im-
mersed in the ground ; and lastly, alto-
relievo, in which the figures stand com-
pletely out from the ground, being
attached to it only in a few places, and
in others worked entirely round like single

518

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[REM

statues; such are the metopsc of the
Elgin marbles in the British Museum,
which marbles also, in the Panathenaic

procession, exhibit some exquisite ex-
amples of basso-relievo. Relief, in ar-
chitecture, the projection of a figure or
ornament from the ground or plane on
which it is sculptured. In painting, the
appearance of projection, or the degree
of boldness which a figure exhibits to
the eye at a distance. In feudal law,
* a fine or composition which the heir of
a tenant, holding by knight's service or
other tenure, paid to the lord at the
death of the ancestor, for the privilege
of taking up the estate which, on strict
feudal principles, had lapsed or fallen to
the lord on the death of the tenant.
This relief consisted of horses, arms,
money, and the like, the amount of
which was originally arbitrary, but after-
ward fixed at a certain rate by law. It
is not payable, unless the heir at the
death of his ancestor had attained to the
age of twenty-one years.

RELIEF''SYNC)D, a respectable body
of Presbyterian dissenters in Scotland,
whose ground of separation from the
established church was the violent exer-
cise of lay patronage which obtained in
the latter. Though patronage, or the ap-
pointment of clergymen to church bene-
fices by presentations had been establish-
ed by net of Parliament in 1712, yet a
minority of the clergy were opposed to
that measure; or at least to the intrusion
of a minister into parochial charge con-
trary to the sentiments of the people.
The majority of the church, however, en-
tertained different views, and rigorously
enforced the provisions of the act of 1712.
With this state of things the people gene-
rally, but particularly in rural districts,
were dissatisfied ; and hence the origin of
the Secession church, and the Relief.

RELI'GrON, that worship and homage
which is due to God, considered as our
crenfor, preserver, and most bountiful
benefactor. It is divided into natural

and revealed. By natural religion \e
meant, that knowledge, veneration, and
love of God, and the practice of those
duties to him, our fellow-creatures, and
ourselves, which are discoverable from
the right exercise of our rational facul-
ties, from considering the nature and
perfections of God, and our relation to
him and to one another. By revealed re-
ligion is meant, natural religion explain-
ed, enforced, and enlarged, from the ex-
press declarations of God himself, from
the mouths or pens of his prophets. &e.
Religion, in a more contracted sense, is
used for any system of faith and worship ;
and even for the various sects into which
each religion is divided. Religion is dif-
ferent from theology, inasmuch as the
latter is speculative and the former prac-
tical. Religion is a system of dirties ;
theology a system of opinions. Theology
inquires into the nature of the po\ver or
powers to whom all visible things are
in subjection; religion is the sentiment
which springs from that inquiry. The
slightest knowledge of history is sufficient
to inform us that religion has evei had a
powerful influence in moulding the sen-
timents and manners of men. In one
region or age it has been favorable to
civilization and refinement; in another
it has been so directed as to fetter genius
or warp the human mind. That, however,
depends on the purity of the doctrine and
the liberality of its teachers.

RELI'GIOUS HOUSES, different asyla
or habitations for priests, nuns, and poor,
still existing in Catholic countries, and
before the Reformation abounding in Eng-
land. They consisted of abbeys, monas-
teries, priories, hospitals, friaries, and
nunneries, supported by lands and be-
quests left them by pious persons, which
became enormous. Nearly the whole
(above 3000) were dissolved, and their
wealth seized by Henry the Eighth ; the
monks, nuns, and officers being allowed
pensions.

RELIQ'UJE, in Roman antiquity, the
ashes and bones of the dead, remaining
after burning their bodies; which were
gathered up, put into urns, and after-
wards deposited in tombs.

RE'LIQUARY, the receptacle for the
relics venerated in Roman Catholic
churches. The difference between a reli-
quary and a case used for the same pur-
pose is, that the former is smaller in di-
mensions, and contains only small frag-
ments; the latter, in many instances, en-
tire bodies.

REMAIN'DER, in law, an estate in

REP]

AND THK FINE ARTS.

519

lands, tenements, or rents, not to be en-
joyed till after a term of years or an-
other person's decease. There is this
difference between a remainder and a
reversion; in case of a reversion, the es-
tate granted, after the limited time, re-
verts to the grantor or his heirs ; but by
a remainder it goes to some third person
or a stranger.

REMINIS'CENCE, that faculty of the
mind by which ideas formerly received
into it, but forgotten, are recalled or re-
vived in the memory.

REM'ON'STRANCE, a strong repre-
sentation of reasons against a measure,
either public or private; and .when ad-
dressed to a public body, prince or magis-
trate, it may be accompanied with a peti-
tion or supplication for the removal or pre-
vention of some evil or inconvenience.

REMON'STRANTS, in ecclesiastical
history, the appellation given to the Ar-
minians who remonstrated against the
decisions of the Synod of Dort, in 1618.

REM'PHAN, an idol worshipped by
the Israelites while in the wilderness,
according to the language of St. Stephen,
as recorded in the acts, " Ye took up the
tabernacle- of Moloch, and the star of
your god Remphan." In this passage
commentators are agreed that St. Ste-
phen quotes the words of Amos, " Ye have
borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and
Chiun, your images." Chiun and Rem-
phan are, therefore, the same, and both
are thought to be personifications of Sir-
ius, the Dog-star.

RENT, in law, a sum of money issuing
yearly from lands and tenements ; a com-
pensation or return, in the nature of an
acknowledgment, for the possession of a
corporeal inheritance. Rack-rent, is &
rent of the full value of the tenement, or
near it. Afee-farm rent, is a rent charge
issuing out of an estate in fee, of at least
one-fourth of the value of the lands at the
time of its reservation.

RENT'AL. a schedule in which the
rents of manors are set down. It contains
the lands let to each tenant, with their
names, and the several rents arising.

RENT CHARGE, in law, a charge of.
rent upon land, with a clause of distress
in case of non-payment.

REPEAT', in music, a character show-
ing that what was last played or sung
must be repeated.

REPENT'ANCE, in a religious sense,
sorrow or deep contrition for sin, as an of-
fence and dishonor to God, and a violation
of his holy law ; but to render it accepta-
ble, it must be followed by amendment i

j of life. Legal repentance, or such as is
excited by the terrors of legal penalties,
may exist* without an amendment of
life.

REP'ERTORY, a place in which things
are disposed in an orderly manner, so
that they can be easily found, as the in-
dex of a book, a common-place book, <fec.
REPLEVIN, in law, a remedy grant-
ed on a distress, by which a person, whose
effects are distrained, has them restored
to him again, on his giving security to
the sheriff that he will pursue his action
against the party distraining, and return
the goods or cattle if the taking them
shall be adjudged lawful.

REPLICA'TION, in logic, the assum-
ing or using the same term twice in the
same proposition.

REPOSE . in the Fine Arts, the absence
of that agitation which is induced by the
scattering and division of a subject into
too many unconnected parts, in which case
a work is said to want repose. Where re-
pose is wanting from this cause, "the
eye," says Sir Joshua Reynolds, " is per-
plexed and fatigued, from not knowing
where to rest, where to find the principal
action, or which is the principal figure ;
for where all are making equal preten-
sions to notice, all are in danger of neg-
lect."

REPORTING, the act of giving ac-
count of anything, of relating, or of mak-
ing statements of facts or of adjudged
cases in law. Newspaper reporting, the
name given to that system ly which the
Congressional debates and proceedings,
and the proceedings of public meetings,
<fec., are promulgated throughout the
country.

REPRESENTATION, in politics, the
part performed by a deputy chosen by a
constituent body to support its interests,
and act in its name on a public occasion.
Thus a plenipotentiary represents the
sovereign or the state which delegates
him at a foreign court. But the most or-
dinary use of the word is to express the
principal function of the delegate of a
constituency in a legislative assembly.
Representation, in this sense, was un-
known to the political systems of the an-
cients, and seems to have originated in
the necessities and usages of feudal times ;
the lord not being able to levy aid from
his vassals without their consent, it be-
came customary for these to delegate pow-
ers to individuals from among their num-
bers to attend his summons, and confer
with him respecting the aid required.
Hence, in our own country, the represen-

520

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[KES

tation of county freeholders by knight?,
of communities by their chosen burgesses,
in parliament. The most complete early
model of a representative feudal assem-
bly is to be found in the parliament of the
Sicilies under the Suabian kings; but
England is the only country in which it
has expanded regularly into a legislature.

REPRESENTATIVE, one who law-
fully represents another for the perfor-
mance of any duty, according to the
wishes of the other and to his own honest
judgment. A member of the house of
commons is the representative of his con-
stituents and of the nation. In matters
concerning his constituents only, he is
supposed to be bound by their instruc-
tions ; but in the enacting of laws for the
nation, he is supposed not to be bound
by their instructions,- as he acts for the
whole nation. Any other construction of
his duty would be derogatory to him as a
free and independent member of the
senate.

REPRIEVE', in law, a warrant for
suspending the execution of a malefactor.

REPRI'SALS, LETTERS OF, in na-
tional law, the capture of property be-
longing to the subjects of a foreign power
in satisfaction of losses sustained by a
citizen of the capturing state. Letters of
reprisal are granted by the law of na-
tions, where the subject of one state has
been oppressed or injured by the subjects
of another, and where justice has been re-
fused on application by letters of request.

REPRI'SES, in law, deduction or pay-
ments out of the value of lands ; such as
rent-charges, or annuities.

REPROBA'TION, in theology, is a
term commonly applied to the supralap-
sarian tenet of the consignment of all
mankind to eternal punishment, with the
exception of those whom God has arbi-
trarily selected for eternal happiness.

REPUB'LIC, that form of government
in which the supreme power is vested in
the people. A republic may be either an
aristocracy or a democracy : the supreme
power, in the former, being consigned to
the nobles or a few privileged individuals,
as was formerly the case in Venice and
Genoa ; while, in the latter, it is placed
in the hands of rulers chosen by and from
the whole body of the people, or by their
representatives assembled in a congress
or national assembly. The free towns of
the Continent, Hamburg, Frankfort, Lii-
beck, and Bremen, are instances of this
latter form of government ; but the most
perfect example of it is to be found in the
United States, and in some of the South

American confederations which have
shaken off the Spanish yoke. In Swit-
zerland, aristocracy is partially blended
with democracy in the form of govern-

REQUESTS', COURT OF, in law, a
convenient court for the recovery of small
debts, held by commissioners duly quali-
fied, who try causes by the oath of par-
ties and of other witnesses.

RE'QUIEM, in music, a prayer in the
Romish church, which begins with Re-
quiem ceternam dona eisdomine; whence,
"losing a requiem," is tosing-a mass
for the rest of the souls of deceased per-
sons.

RE'SCRIPT, the wiswer of an empe-
ror, when consulted by particular persons
on some difficult question. This answer
serves as a decision of the question, and
is therefore equivalent to an edict or de-
cree.

RES'CUE, in law, the forcible retaking
of a lawful distress from the distrainor,
or from the custody of the law : also, the
forcible liberation of a defendant from
the custody of the officer.

RESERVATION, in law, a clause
or part of an instrument by which some-
thing is reserved, not conceded or grant-
ed. Mental reservation, is the withhold-
ing of expression or disclosure of some-
thing that affects a proposition or state-
ment, and which if disclosed would mate-
rially vary its import.

RESERVE', or CORPS DE RESERVE, in
military affairs, the third or last line of
an army drawn up for battle ; so called
because they are reserved to sustain the
rest, as occasion requires, and not to en-
gage but in case of necessity.

RESIDENTIARY, a canon or other
ecclesiastic installed into the privileges
and profits of a residence.

RESID'UARY LEGATEE', in law,
the legatee to whom the residue of a
personal estate is given by will, after
deducting all debts and specific legacies.

RESOLU'TION, the operation or pro-
cess of separating the parts which com-
pose a complex idea or a mixed body.
The determination or decision of a legis-
lative body ; or a formal proposition
offered for legislative determination.
Resolution, in music, the writing out
of a canon or fugue in partition from
a single line. Resolution of a discord,
the descent by a tone or a semitone, ac-
cording as the mode may require, of a
discord which has been heard in the pre-
ceding harmony.

RES'ON ANCE, in music, the returning

UET]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

521

of sound by the air acting on the bodies
of stringed musical instruments

RESPONDENT, in law, one that an-
swers in a suit, particularly a chancery
suit. In the schools, one who maintains
a thesis in reply, and whose province is
to refute objections or overthrow argu-
ments.

RESPONSE', an answer; but more
particularly used to denote the answer of
the congregation to the priest, in the
litany and other parts of divine service.
In the llomish church, a kind of anthem
sung after the morning lesson.

UESSEX'TI, a word employed in the
arts connected with drawing, to signify
whatever is pronounced or expressed with
force. Thus we speak of muscles ressenti,
or a'mnnner ressenti. Nature exhibits all
the varieties of form, but these are only
occasionally to be so denominated. Wo-
men, children and men of delicate hab-
its or profession, display only muscles
ligbtly shaped and unmarked by strenu-
ousness, while, on the other hand, men
exercised to robust employments present
this style of person. Who is not struck
with the contrast between the Farnese
Hercules and the Belvedere Apollo or the
Antinous ? Among the moderns, Raf-
faelle is perhaps the greatest painter to
be cited for the precision and variety of
the shapes which he has adapted to differ-
ent figures, as well as for superiority in
the art in general.

REST, in music, n pause or interval
of time, during which there is an inter-
mission of the voice or sound. A rest
may be for a bar, or more than a bar, or
for a part of a bar only. The pause or
cessation of sound is equal in duration
to the note represented by the rest. As
there are six musical characters called
notes, so there are as many rests.

RESTORATION, renewal; revival;
re-establishment. In England, the re-
turn of King Charles II., in 1660. is byway
of eminence called the Restoration ; and
the 29th of May is kept as an anniver-
sary festival, in commemoration of the
re-establishment of monarchy.

RESURRECTION, the history of the
resurrection of our Saviour is detailed
in the separate narration of each of the
four Evangelists, and is also referred to
and insisted on in the Acts of the Apostles,
and in every one of the Epistles. The
importance of this history, as an evidence
of the truth of Christianity, is pointed out
in a peculiar manner by Paley ; namely,
that it was alleged from the beginning by
all the propagators of Christianity, and

relied on as the great test of the doc-
trines which they taught : consequently,
if the fact be untrue, they must all have
been either deceivers, or deceived in a
point on which it is morally impossible
they could be so.

RETAIN'ER, in old English law, a
servant not dwelling in the master's
house or employed by him in any distinct
occupation, but wearing his livery (i. e.,
hat, badge, or suit,) and attending on
particular occasions ; an important relic
of the times of private warfare. The
giving liveries, or retaining this class of
servants, was forbidden by man}' statutes
with little effect. In the language of the
bar, a fee given to a counsel to secure his
services : or .rather, as it has been said,
to prevent the opposite side from engag-
ing them. A special retainer is for a
particular case expected to come on. A
general retainer is given by a party de-
sirous of securing a priority of claim on
the counsel's services for any case which
he may have in any court which that
counsel attends. The effect of it is mere-
ly this, that if a counsel having a general
retainer receive a special retainer on the
other side, he cannot accept it until
twenty-four hcurs after notice shall have
been given of its arrival to the party so
generally retaining him ; when, if he does
not receive a brief or a special retainer
from the latter, he is bound to accept it.
The same word in its strict legal accepta-
tion signifies the engagement of an attor-
ney by his client, which enhances the
mutual duties implied by the law between
them.

RETIA'RIUS, th^name of a class of
Roman gladiators armed in a peculiar
way. The retiarius was furnished with a
trident and net, with no more covering
than a short tunic ; and with these im-
plements ho endeavored to entangle and
despatch his adversary, who was called
secutor (from sequi, to follow,) and was
armed with a helmet, a shield, and a
sword.

RET'ICENCE, or RET'ICENCY, in
rhetoric, a figure by which a person
really speaks of a thing, while he makes
a show as if he would say nothing on the
subject.

RETIC'ULATED WORK, in architec-
ture, that wherein the stones are square
and laid lozengewise, resembling the
meshes of a net. This species of masonry
is scarcely ever practised in the present
day : but it was very common among the
ancients.

RETIRADE', in fortification, a kind

522

CYCLOPEDIA OF -LITERATURE

of retrenchment in the body of a bastion
or other work, which is to be disputed
inch by inch, after the defences aro dis-
mantled.

RETRAX'IT, in law, the withdrawing
or open renunciation of a suit in court,
by which the plaintitf loses his action. A
retraxlt is a bar to any future action,
which a nonsuit is not

RETRENCII'MENT, in the artof war,
any kind of work raised to cover a post
and fortify it against the enemy, such as
fascines loaded with earth, gabions, sand-
bags, <fcc.

RE'TRO, a prefix to many words, as in
retrocession, retrogradatiou, &c. : imply-
ing a going backward.

RE'TURN, in law, a certificate from
sheriffs and bailiffs of what is done in the
execution of a writ. Return days, certain
days in term time for the return of writs.
In military and naval affairs, an
official account, report, or statement ren-
dered to the commander ; as, the return
of men fit for duty ; or the return, of pro-
visions, ammunition, <tc. Returns, in
commerce, that which is returned, wheth-
er in goods or specie, for merchandise
sent abroad. Also, the return of money
laid out in the way of trade ; as, " small
profits bring quick returns." Returns
of a mine, in fortification, the windings
and turnings of a gallery leading to a
mine. Returns, in military affairs, state-
ments given in by the officers of regi-
ments, companies, Ac, of the number,
condition, &c., of their men, horses, &c.

REVE ILLE, in military affairs, the
beat of drum about break of day, to give
notice that it is tiro for the soldiers to
rise and for the senunels to forbear chal-
lenging.

REVELATION, the act of revealing,
or making a thing public that was before
unknown. It is also used for the dis-
coveries made by God to his prophets,
and by them to the world ; and more
particularly for the books of the Old and
New Testament. The principal tests of
the truth of any revelation are. its being
worthy of God, and consistent with his
known attributes ; and in its having a
tendency to refine, purify, and exalt the
mind of man to an imitation of the Deity
in his moral perfections.

REVELS, MASTER OF THE, or
LORD OF MISRULE, the name of an
officer formerly attached pro tempore to
royal and other distinguished houses,
whose duty it was to preside over the
Christinas entertainments. This office
was first permanently instituted in the

rein of Henry VIII., and appears to
have gone out of fashion towards the end
of the 17th century.

REVENDICA'TION, a term of tin-
civil law, signifying a claim legally
made to recover property, by one claim-
ing as owner. The right of property
must, generally speaking, be complete,
to proceed to the action of revendication ;
thus, no such action can be brought for
corporeal things until after delivery, by
which they pass.

REVENUE, in a general sense, is an
annual or continual income, or the yearly
profit that accrues to a man from his
lands or possessions ; but in modern
usage, revenue is generally applied to
the annual produce of taxes, excise, cus-
toms, duties, &c. which a nation or 'state
collects or receives into the treasury for
public use.

REVEREND, a title of respect given
to the clergy. In Roman Catholic coun-
tries the members of the different reli-
gious orders are styled reverend. In
England, deans are very reverend, bishops
right reverend, and archbishops most
reverend. In Scotland, the principals of
the universities and the moderator of the
General Assembly for the time being are
styled very reverend.

REVERIE, a loose or irregular train
of thoughts, occurring in musing or medi-
tation ; or any wild, extravagant conceit
of the fancy or imagination.

REVE1VSION, in law, is when the
possession of an estate which was parted
with for a time returns to the donor or
his heirs. Also the right which a person
has to any inheritance, or place of profit,
after the decease of another.

REVET'MENT, in fortification, a
strong wall on the outside of a rampart,
intended to support the earth.

REVIEW, in military tactics, the dis-
play of a body of troops, for the purpose
of exhibiting the state of their appear-
ance and discipline before some superior
officer or illustrious personage. Review,
in literature, a critical examination of a
new publication. Also a periodical pub-
lication containing critical examinations
and analyses of new works. The person
who performs this duty is called the re-
viewer. Revieir, (bill of.) in chancery, a
bill where a cause has been heard, but
some errors in law appearing, or some
new matter being discovered after the
decree was made, this bill is given for a
fresh examination into the merits of the
cause.

REVISE', a second proof-sheet of a

RHY]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

523

work, for the revisal or re-examination
of the errors corrected. The act of revi-
sing a book or writing for publication, is
termed a revision.

REVTVOR, in law, the reviving of a
suit which is abated by the death of any
of the parties. This is done by a bill of
revivor.

REVOKE', to reverse or repeal. A
law, decree, or sentence is revoked by the
same authority which enacted or passed
it. A devise may be revoked by the
devisor, a use by the grantor, and a will
by the testator. A law may cease to
operate without an express revocation.

REVOLU'TION, in politics, a material
or entire change in the constitution of
government. Thus the revolution in
England, in 1688, was produced by the
abdication of King James II. the estab-
lishment of the house of Orange upon
the throne, and the restoration of the
constitution to its primitive state. In
like manner, though with very different
consequences, the revolution in France
effected a change of constitution. In the
United States, the war of 1776, which
achieved the independence of the thirteen
states, is known as THE REVOLUTION.

REX SACRO'RUM, among the Ro-
mans, was a person appointed to preside
in certain sacred duties. He generally
performed such office as the kings of
Rome had reserved to themselves before
the abolition of their power. He was
chosen by the augurs and pontifices, at
the establishment of the commonwealth,
that the name of king might not be wholly
extinct; and in order that his power
might never be dangerous to civil liberty,
he was not permitted to have the least
share in civil affairs.

RHAB DOMANCY, properly, divina-
tion by a rod or wand. Some persons have
been believed to be endowed by nature
with a peculiar sense or perception, by
which they are enabled to discover things
hid in the earth, especially metals and
water. But a more prevalent opinion
has been, that the discovery of these
substances might be effected by means of
a divining rod. A divining rod is a branch
of a tree, generally hazel, forked at the
end, and held in a particular way, by the
two ends, in the hands of the adept ; and
is supposed to indicate the position of
the substance sought by bending towards
it with a slow rotatory motion, the adept,
according to modern practice, being placed
in contact with some metallic or other
magnetic substance. The art is said to
be occasionally practised in the south of

France and Italy, under the names of
metalloscopy, hydroscopy. &c.

RHAP'SODI, in antiquity, a name
given to such poets as recited or sung
their own works, in detached pieces, from
town to town. Hence the term rhapso-
dies was particularly applied to the
works of Homer, which were so rehearsed.
In modern usage, a collection. of pas-
sages, composing a new piece, but with-
out necessary dependence or natural con-
nection, is called a rhapsody.

RHEN'ISH, pertaining to the river
Rhine, or to Rheims, in France : as Rhen-
ish wine.

RHE'TIAN, pertaining to the ancient
Rhaeti, or to Rhsetia, their country, as
the Rhetian Alps, now the country of
Tyrol and the Grisons.

RHET'ORIC, the art of speaking with
propriety, elegance, and force ; or, as
Lord Bacon defines it, the art of ap-
plying and addressing the dictates of
reason to the fancy, and of recommending
them there so as to affect the will and
desires. Rhetoric and oratory differ from
each other as the theory from the prac-
tice ; the rhetorician being the one who
describes the rules of eloquence, and the
orator he who uses them to advantage.
The parts of rhetoric are, invention, dis-
position, and elocution. The forms of
speech by which propriety and elegance
are produced, are denominated tropes
and figures. The general manner in
which the orator employs his words for
the formation of his speech is called style,
which is variously distinguished. Rheto-
ric divides an oration or speech into five
parts : the exordium, narration, confirma-
tion, refutation, and peroration. The
exordium is the part in which the speaker
prepares the minds of the auditors for
what he is about to advance. It ought
to be expressed with considerable care
and perspicuity, and the matter and man-
ner should be to the purpose, brief, and
modest. The narration is the recital of
facts or events ; and should have the
qualities of clearness, probability, brevi-
ty, and consistency. The confirmation
establishes the proofs of a discourse, and
arranges them in the manner best adapt-
ed to enforce conviction. The refuta-
tion, or anticipation, furnishes arguments
to answer the assertions that may be op-
posed to the narration. The peroration,
or conclusion, should recapitulate the
whole with condensed force and energy.

RHYME, in poetry, the correspond-
ence of sounds in the last words or sylla-
bles of verses. The latter is the true

524

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

rhyme of modern European languages.
There are rhymed verses in the Latin
classical poets, where the jingle seems
intentional, and more distinct examples
of it in the fragments of Roman military
songs, <tc., which have come down to us.
But in the earlier period of the decay of
the Latin language, when accent was sub-
stituted for metre in the rhythmical ar-
rangement of the verse, rhyme made its
way into the composition of church hymns,
Ac. It has been attempted with little
success, to deduce this innovation from
the Goths, and from the Arabians ; but
the former, like the old Teutonic races,
probably used alliteration, but no rhyme
in their verses ; and the latter could not
have influenced European literature until
a period long after that in which rhyme
first appears. A rhyme in which the
final syllables only agree (strain, com-
plain,) is called a male rhyme ; one in
which the two final syllables of each verse
agree, the last being short (motion,
ocean,) female ; and the latter is some-
times extended in Italian poetry to three
syllables (femore, immemore,) when the
verse is called sdriicciolo. In English
such a license is hardly permissible, ex-
cept in burlesque poetry (see Hudibras
and Don Juan, for instances.) By the
strict rules of French prosody, the male
and female species of rhymes must be
alternately used, however intricate the
disposition of the verse may be ; although
the last short syllable is generally mute,
or very slightly sounded. Rhymes which
extend not only beyond the three last
syllables, but through the whole struc-
ture of the lines, are used in Arabian and
Persian poetry. Rhymes in which the
consonants of the last syllable in each
verse are identical, (dress, address,) are
vicious in English, but rather admired in
French poetry. One more singularity of
English poetry deserves notice : while,
from the irregularity of our spelling,
many syllables rhyme with each other,
although widely dissimilar in orthography
(woo, pursue,) there are, on the other
band, rhymes which speak to the eye,
and not to the ear ; i. e., in which the
orthography of the rhyming syllables is
the same, but the pronunciation different ;
as, wind, find; gone, alone. This is a
license only rendered admissible by pre-_
cedent.

RIIYMOPCE'IA, in ancient music, that
part of the science which prescribed the
laws of rhyme, or what appertained to
the rhythmic art.

RHYTHM, in music, variety in the

movement as to quickness or slowness,
or length and shortness of the notes ; or
rather the proportion which the parts of
the motion have to each other. Metre ;
verse ; number. Rhythm is the conso-
nance of measure and time in poetry,
prose composition, and music, and by an-
alogy, dancing. In poetry, it is the rela-
tive duration of the moments employed
in pronouncing the syllables of a verse ;
and in music, the relative duration of
the sounds that enter into the composi-
tion of an air. Prose also has its rhythm,
and the only difference (so far as sound
is concerned) between verse and prose is,
that the former consists of a regular suc-
cession of similar cadences, or of a limit-
ed variety of cadences, divided by gram-
matical pauses and emphases into pro-
portional clauses, so as to present sensi-
ble responses to the ear, at regular pro-
portioned distances ; prose, on the other
hand, is composed of all sorts of cadences,
arranged without attention to obvious
rule, and divided into clauses which have
no obviously ascertained proportion, and
present no responses to the ear at any
legitimate or determined intervals. In
dancing, the rhythm is recognized in the
sound of the feet.

RIDEAU', in fortification, a rising
ground commanding a plain : also a
trench covered with earth in form of a
parapet to shelter soldiers.

RI'DER, or RI'DER-ROLL, in law, a
schedule, or small piece of parchment,
often added to some part of a record or
act of parliament.

RI'DING, in England, one of the three
jurisdictions into which the county of
York is divided, anciently under the
government of a reeve.

RIFACIMEN'TO, an Italian word, of
late often used in English, to denote a
remaking or furbishing up anew. Its
most usual application is to the process
of recasting literary works, so as to adapt
them to a somewhat different purpose or
to a changed state of circumstances.

RIGHT OF PROP'ERTY, in political
economy, the right which states, bodies
of individuals and individuals have to
the exclusive use and enjoyment of such
lands, natural powers, and products as
have been appropriated or set apart for
any peculiar purpose.

klNFORZAN'DO, in music, a direc-
tion to the performer, denoting that the
sound is to be increased. It is marked
thus < ; when the sound is to be dimin-
ished this mark > is used.

RING'LEADER, the leader of any

RoaJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

525

association of men engaged in violation
of law or an illegal enterprise, as rioters,
mutineers, and the like. According to
some this name is derived from the prac-
tice which men associating to oppose law
have sometimes adopted, of signing their
names to articles of agreement in a ring,
that no one of their number might be
distinguished as the leader. According
to others it signified originally, one who
took the lead in forming the ring of a
dance.

RINGS, FAIRY, a name given to ir-
regular circles In pastures and lawns on
which agarics spring up, and which be-
come much more verdant than the sur-
rounding grass. They are caused by the
centrifugal growth of the spawn of the
agaric, which radiates from a common
centre, and bears the fructification,
which is what appears above ground,
only at the circumference. The verdure
of the grass where these fungi grow
seems to be caused either by their ma-
nuring the ground when they decay, or
by the nitrogen they give off, which is an
active stimulant to vegetation. The ap-
plication of fairy rings was given to this
phenomenon from their being regarded
as the places where the fairies held their
nocturnal revels.

RI'OT. in law, is said to be a tumult-
uous disturbance of the peaue by three
persons or more assembling together of
their own authority in order to assist
each other against any one who shall
oppose them in the execution of a private
purpose, and afterwards executing the
same in a violent and turbulent manner.
A rout is said to be a disturbance of the
peace by persons assembled together to
do a thing, which, if executed, would
make them rioters, and making some
motion towards that object ; an unlawful
assembly, a similar disturbance by per-
sons who neither execute their purpose,
nor make any actual motion towards the
execution of it.

RIPIE'NO, in music, a term signifying
full, and is used in compositions of many
parts, to distinguish those which fill up
the harmony and play only occasionally,
from those that play throughout the
piece.

RITE, a formal act of religion or other
solemn duty ; the manner of performing
divine service as established by law or
custom.

RITORNEL'LO, in music, a passage
which is played whilst the principal
voice pauses : it often signifies the intro-
duction to an air or any musical piece.

This ritornello is often repeated after the
singing voice has concluded; hence tho
name.

RIT'UAL, a book containing the rites,
or directing the order and manner to be
observed in celebrating religious cere-
monies, and performing divine service in
the church.

ROBES, MASTER OP THE, an offi-
cer in the royal household of England,
whose duty, as the designation implies,
consists in ordering the sovereign's robes.
Under a queen, this office, which has
always been one of great dignity, is per-
formed by a lady, who enjoys the highest
rank of the ladies in the service of tho

^ROB'IN-GOOD'FELLOW, an old do-
mestic goblin, called in Scotland a
brownie.

ROC, the well-known monstrous bird
of Arabian mythology, of the same fabu-
lous species with the simurg of the Per-
sians. In the notes to vol. iii. of Mv.
Lane's edition of the Arabian Nights'
.Entertainments are some curious ex-
tracts from the writers of old voyages of
that nation ; showing that the tale was
either founded on, or supported by, the
wonderful accounts of travellers. Even
Sinbad's well-known adventure, when his
crew broke the roc's egg, and were attack-
ed in consequence by the enraged pair of
birds, is borrowed from the serious narra-
tion of Ibn-El-Wardee. The roc is also
described by Marco Paulo. The size of
this infamous monster is, of course, de-
scribed with all the luxuriance of oriental
imagination. Ibn-El-Wardee makes one
of its wings 10.000 fathoms long. Mr.
Lane appears to think that this extrava-
gant fictjon was suggested by the condor ;
but the size and power of that bird are
much exaggerated, even in the common
accounts. The bearded vulture of Egypt
seems a better archetype of the roc. In
a drawing from an illuminated Persian
MS., which Mr. Lane has copied, the roc,
or rather simurg, which is represented as
performing the slight operation of carry-
ing off three elephants in its beak and
claws, is something like a cock, with
eagle's wings and an extravagant tail.
The simurg is a creature of importance
in Persian mythology: it is the phoenix
of oriental fable, one only living at a
time, and attains the .age of 1700 years.

RODOMONTADE', a term that has
passed into most European languages ;
from Rodoraont, a boisterous character in
Orlando Furioso,

RO'GA. in antiquity, a present which

526

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ROM

the emperors made to the senators, magis-
trates, and even to the people. These
rogcc were distributed by the emperors
on the first day of the year, on their birth-
day, or on the~n.alo.lis dies of the cities.

ROGA'TION, in the Roman jurispru-
dence, a demand made by the consuls, or
tribunes of the people, when a law was
proposed to be passed. Rogatio is also
used for the decree itself made in conse-
quence of the people giving their assent
to this demand, to distinguish it from a
senatus consultant, or decree of the senate.

ROGA'TION-WEEK, the week pre-
ceding Whitsunday, thus called from the
three rogat ion-days or feasts therein, viz.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, on
each of which extraordinary prayers and
processions were made for the fruits of
the earth. The word rogation is derived
" a rogando Deurn," " petitioning God."

ROLL', an official writing ; a list, regis-
ter, or catalogue ; as a muster roll, a court
roll, &c. Roll call, the calling over the
names of the men who compose any part
of a military body. Rolls of parliament,
the manuscript registers, or rolls of the
proceedings of the ancient English parlia-
ments, which before the invention of
printing were all engrossed on parch-
ment, and proclaimed openly in every
county. In these rolls are also contained
a great many decisions of difficult points
of law, which were frequently in former
times referred to the decisioa of that high
court.

ROLL MOULDING, in architecture,
a round moulding divided longitudinally
along the middle, the upper half of which
projects over the lower. It occurs often

in the early Gothic decorated style, where
it is profusely used for drip-stones, string-
courses, abacuses, <fcc. Roll and fillet
moulding, a round moulding with a

square fillet on the face of it. It is most
usual in the early decorated style, and

appears to have passed by various grada-
tions into the ogee.

RO'MAN, a native or citizen ot tlome ;
or something pertaining to the place, its
people, or their religion. One of the
Christian church at Rome to which St.
Paul addressed an epistle, consisting of
converts from Judaism or Paganism.
In literature, the ordinary printing char-
acter now in use, in distinction from the
Italic.

RO'MAN CATH'OLICS, that society
of Christians whose members acknowledge
the pope as visible head of the church.
The Roman doctors hold that the Scrip-
ture is not sufficient for its own interpre-
tation. The books which compose the
canon of the New Testament are, they
conceive, desultory and incomplete ;
being many of them written for special
occasions, at a period considerably later
than the foundation of the religion in
various districts, in some of which whole
generations of believers may have passed
away without having seen or heard of
their precious contents. It is not to be
supposed, however, that doctrines so im-
portant as those shadowed forth in the
Epistles of St. Paul, or the Gospel of St.
John, could have been left untaught to
the churches which flourished before their
publication or beyond their reach. It
must be admitted, therefore, they argue,
that the first preachers of Christianity
must have been commissioned and in-
structed to deliver these same doctrines
orally ; and it is affirmed that several
important doctrines are imperfectly de-
veloped in Scripture, and would not be
understood, except for some such illustra-
tion by the way, the result of which is
conveyed in the creeds of the first centu-
ries. It is also affirmed that the practice
of the primitive church, the infallibility
of which is assumed, authenticates various
articles of Roman belief, of which only
very slight hints are to be found in Scrip-
ture.

ROMANCE', in literature, a tale or
fictitious history of extraordinary adven-
tures, intended to excite the passions of
wonder and curiosity, and to interest the
sensibilities of the heart. The romance
differs from the notel, as it treats of great
actions and extravagant adventures,
soaring beyond the limits of fact and real
life. Romances have of late years given
way to historical novels ; and even such
as are occasionally published are very
different from those of the olden time, in
which the blandishments of beauty and
the enterprises of chivalry were incon-

ROM]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

527

gruously blended with fictions exceeding
all bounds of human credulity. The
earliest modern romances were collections
of chivalrous adventures, chiefly founded
on the lives and achievements of the war-
like adherents of two sovereigns, one of
whom, perhaps, had only a fabulous ex-
istence, while the annals of the other
have given rise to a wonderful series of
fables Arthur and Charlemagne. These
romances were metrical compositions in
that branch of the modern French lan-
guage termed the langue d'oil, which pre-
vailed throughout the north of Franco,
and especially in Normandy. Besides
these a great variety of smaller tales, some
chivalrous, some marvellous, some simply
ludicrous, termed. fabliaux, exist in the
same language. The date of these com-
positions extend from the 12th to the 15th
centuries. From the hands of these
rhymers the tales of chivalry passed first
into those of prose compilers, who re-
duced them into a form more resembling
that of our modern romances. The
French prose romances of chivalry, still
confined to the same classes of subjects,
belong to the 14th and loth centuries.

ROMANCE'RO, in Spanish, the gene-
ral name for a collection of the national
ballads or romances; so called from the
Roman or Romanic tongue, which in the
early part of the middle ages, seems to
have been the common appellation of all
the dialects spoken from the Alps to the
western extremity of the Mediterranean.
The TLomance.ro General, the most cele-
brated of these collections, was published
in 1604-14.

ROMANES'QUE, in painting, apper-
taining to fable or romance. In histori-
cal painting, it consists in the choice of a
fanciful subject rather than one founded
on fact. The romanesque is different
from romantic, because the latter may be
founded on truth, which the former never
is. Romanesque, in literature, is applied
to the common dialect of Languedoc and
some other districts in the south of France,
which is a remnant of the old Romanee
language, now nearly extinct. This term
must not be confounded with Romaic,
which is used to signify the language of
modern Greece.

R-O'MAN LAW, the name given to the
law which was founded originally upon
the constitutions of the ancient kings of
Rome ; next upon the twelve tables of
the decemviri; then upon the laws or
statutes enacted by the senate or by the
people ; the edicts of the proctor and the
responsa prudentum, or the opinions of

learned lawyers ; and lastly upon the
imperial decrees or constitutions of the
emperors. The principles of the Roman
law are incorporated in a remarkable
degree with those of the law of Scotland,
and they have exerted an extraordinary
influence ever every system of jurispru-
dence in Europe.

RO'MAN SCHOOL. This school of
painting, which, like the Florentine, ad-
dressed itself to the mind, is formed upon
antique models. Its style was poetical ;
embellished with all the grandeur, pathos,
and freedom from common matters that
the happiest imagination could conceive.
In touch its masters were easy, correct in
drawing, learned and full of grace. In
composition it is sometimes whimsical,
yet always elegant. The heads of the
figures are always drawn with great
respect to truth and expression, and it
exhibits great intelligence in contrasting
attitudes. It is in coloring that it dis-
plays the greatest marks of negligence,
while in draperies it is eminently success-
ful. At the head of this school was
Raffaelle ; and among its other principal
masters were Giulio Romano, Zuccaro,
M. A. Caravaggio, Baroocio, Andrea
Sacchi (perhaps the best colorist of this
school.)

ROMAN'TIC. By romantic is under-
stood that singular intermixture of the
wonderful and the mysterious with the
sublime and beautiful which introduces
us into an enchanted existence, and
raises us above the bare realities of life
by its dazzling peculiarities. Antiquity
was a stranger to this feeling, nor had
the classic languages any term to express
it. The term romanticism an offshoot
of romantic is of recent invention, and
is applied chiefly to the fantastic and
unnatural productions of the modern
French school of novelists, at the head
of which are Victor Hugo, Balzac,
' George Sand," <fcc., and their imitators
in France and other countries.

ROMANZIE'IU, in Italian liierature,
a series of poets who took for the subject
of their compositions the chivalrous ro-
mances of France and Spain ; and, with
one or two exceptions only, those relating
to the exploits of Charlemagne and his
fabulous Paladins. The earliest of these
poets flourished in the latter end of the
15th century. Boiardo, although not
absolutely the first in order of time, is
considered as having laid the ground-
work, in his Orlando Innamorato, of the
edifice of fiction raised by his successors.
Pulei, in the Morsrante Moggiore, was

528

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ROS

the first who allied the romantic inci-
dents and sentiments of chivalry with
light and humorous satire. Berni re-
modelled the work of Boiardo. Ariosto,
in the Orlando Furioso, carried this
species of poetry to the highest degree
of perfection. These are the four princi-
pal Romanzieri ; but many other poets
of the same school flourished until the
end of the 16th century. Tasso composed
one of his early poems (II Rinaldo) on
the common model. In the beginning
of the 18th century, the Abate Fortigu-
erra compiled his Ricciardetto, a poem
of a semi-burlesque character, intended
originally as a parody, but completed as
a serious composition ; and thus closes
the list of the Romanzieri. All these
poets adopted the ottava rima, invented
by Boccaccio. In their poems the thread
of the main narration" is frequently in-
terrupted by a multiplicity of minor
adventures and intrigues ; and this com-
plication of plot appears to have con-
stituted one of the characteristic features
of the chivalrous epic.

RON'DEAU, a species of poetry,
usually consisting of thirteen verses, of
which eight have one rhyme, and five
another. It is divided into three coup-
lets, and at the end of the second and
third, the beginning of the rondeau is
repeated in an equivocal sense, if possi-
ble.

RON'DO, in music, either vocal or
instrumental, generally consists of three
strains, the first of which closes in the
original key, while each of the others is j
so constructed as to reconduct the ear in I
an easy and natural manner to the first
strain.

ROPOROG'RAPHY, a kind of Ara-
besque style of decoration, found in j
Pompeii, in which slender columns, !
formed of parts of plants and animals,
are the chief characteristic.

RO'SARY. in the Roman Catholic
church, a string of beads, or a chaplet
consisting of five or fifteen decades of
beads, to direct the recitation of so many
Ant Marias, or prayers addressed to the
Virgin. Mary. The rosary serves not
only to ascertain the number of recitals,
but is intended also to keep the thoughts
alive to the act of devotion.

ROSES, FESTIVAL OF, a rural fes-
tival of some parts of France, in which
the best behaved maiden of the town or
village (called La Rosiere) is annually
crowned with roses in the church, whither
she is conducted with great pomp by the
villagers. These festivals were originally

celebrated on the 8th of June at Salency,
a village of Picardy, under Louis XIII ,
but they were afterwards introduced
into SurSne, near Paris, whence they
extended to many other places, and have
latterly even penetrated to Moravia.
The Persians have also an annual festi-
val of roses which consists of bands of
youth parading the streets with music,
and offering roses, as the Italians during
the carnival confetti, to all they meet,
for which they receive a trifling gratuity.

ROSES, WHITE AND RED, in Eng-
lish history, the well-known feuds that
prevailed between the houses of York
and Lancaster are so called, from the
emblems adopted by their respective
partisans ; the adherents of the house of
York having the white, those of Lancas-
ter the red rose, as their distinguishing
symbol. These wars originated with the
descendants of Edward III., and after
extending over a period of more than
eighty years, during which England
formed an almost uninterrupted scene
of bloodshed and devastation, were at
last put an end to by the victory of
Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, over
Richard III., in 1485, the victor uniting
in his own person the title of Lancaster
through his mother, and that of York by
his marriage with the daughter of Ed-
ward IV. Since that period the rose has
been the emblem of England, as the
thistle and shamrock (see those terms)
are respectively the symbols of Scotland
and Ireland.

ROSE WINDOW, in architecture, a
circular window divided into compart-
ments by mullions or tracery radiating or
branching from a centre. It is called

also Catherine
window.

Wheel and Mary-gold

ROU]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

529

ROSET'TA STONE, the name given to
a stone in the British museum, originally
found by the French near the Rosetta
mouth of the Nile. It is a piece of black
basalt, and contains part of three distinct
inscriptions, the first or highest in hiero-
glyphics, the second in enchorial charac-
ters, and the third in Greek. According
to the Greek inscription the stone was
erected in the reign of Ptolemy Epipha-
nes, about 193 years before Christ. The
inscriptions however are much mutilated,
and they have led to no important dis-
covery.

ROSICRU'CIANS, a sect of visionary
speculators who existed in Germany about
the beginning of the 17th century. They
ascribed, indeed, a much higher antiquity
to themselves; but it is probable that if
any body of philosophers who adopted
this title ever existed in reality, they
were the alchemists, fire philosophers,
or Paraelsists of the 16th century, who
adopted this mode of giving vogue and
fashion to their tenets. Germany was
inundated with tracts, from 1600 to 1630,
purporting to come from supporters or
from enemies of this sect, in which their
opinions and intentions are canvassed,
but generally in a wild and unintelligible
manner. From one of these, a Treatise
on the Laws of the Rosicrucians, by
Ritter von Maier (1618.) we learn that
the fraternity had six fundamental laws :
1. That their chief end and object was
to cure the sick without fee or reward. 2.
That in travelling they were to change
their habits and dress, so as to accommo-
date themselves to those of the countries
in which they sojourned. 3. To meet
once a year on a certain day and at a
certain place, kept secret from the rest
of the world. 4. To fill up vacancies in
their body by electing members. 5. To
use the letters R C as their common sym-
bol. 6. That the fraternity should re-
main undivulged for one hundred years
from its foundation. It appears proba-
ble that the device of the rose issuing out
of the cross, which was the same with
Martin Luther's seal, was adopted for
the purpose of attracting the notice of
the religious : the rose was explained to
represent the blood of Christ. It would
appear from these laws that some species
of Freemasonry was intended; and the
Rosicrucians have been by some connect-
ed with the Freemasons ; but there is, in
point of fact, no evidence that any such
society existed at all, and the name and
other circumstances were probably only
the device of some alchemists, who usually

conveyed their own notions Under cover
of symbolical language.

ROS'TRA, in antiquity, a part of the
Roman forum, where orations, pleadings,
funeral harangues, &c., were delivered.
It was so called from rostrum, the beak
of a ship, because it was made of the
beaks of the ships taken at Antium.

ROS'TRUM, an important part of the
ancient ships of war, which were hence
denominated naves rostratce. The ros-
trum, or beak, was made of wood and
brass, and fastened to the prow to an-
noy the enemy's vessels. The first
rostra were made long and high ; but
they were afterwards made short and
strong, and placed so low as to pierce the
enemy's ships under water. The rostra
taken by the Romans from their enemies,
and hung up as trophies of victory in the
forum, occasioned the pulpit, or place for
the orators, to be called rostra.

RO'TA, the name of an ecclesiastical
court at Rome, composed of twelve pre-
lates. This is one of the most august
tribunals in Rome, taking cognizance of
all suits in the territory of the church, by
appeal ; and of all matters beneficiary
and patrimonial.

ROTUN'DA, a name given to any
building that is round both on the outside
and inside ; but more particularly to a
circular building at Rome, which was an-
ciently called the Pantheon.

ROUE, a term applied to a person, in
the fashionable world, who, regardless of
moral principle, devotes his life to sen-
sual pleasures.

ROUN'DEL AY, a sort of ancient poem,
consisting of thirteen verses, of which
eight are in one kind of rhyme, and five
in another. It is divided into couplets ;
at the end of the second and third of
which, the beginning of the poem is
repeated, and that, if possible, in an
equivocal or punning sense. Roundelay,
also signifies a song or tune in which the
first strain is repeated, and a kind of
dance.

ROUND'HEADS, in British history,
a name given, during the civil war, to the
Puritans or members of the parliament
party, from the practice which prevail-
ed among them of cropping the hair
round.

ROUND'ROBIN, a term applied to a
memorial or remonstance drawn up by
any body of men (though the practice is
almost entirely confined to the army and
navy,) who have determined to stand by
each other in making a statement of their
common grievances to the government,

530

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[RUI

or some person high in authority. The
term is supposed to be corrupted from
ruban rond, because their signatures
are written round the remonstrance, or
in a circular form, so that it cannot be
seen who signed it first.

ROUND TABLE, KNIGHTS OF THE,
the name given to the famous order of
knights that existed in England under
the reign of King Arthur, by whom it
was founded. The members of this order
are said to have been forty in number,
and derived their name from a huge
round marble table, round which they
were accustomed to sit. Their adven-
tures form the themes of much of the
early romantic poetry and ballads of
England.

ROY'AL, pertaining to or becoming
one who is invested with regal power.
Among seamen, a small sail spread im-
mediately above the top-gallant sail ;
sometimes termed the top-gallant royal.
Royal Society, a society- incorporated
by Charles II. under the name of " The
President, Council, and Fellows of the
Royal Society, -for the Improvement of
Natural Philosophy." Royal Academy
of London, a corporation instituted by
George III. for the advancement of draw-
ing, painting, engraving, sculpture, mod-
elling, and architecture. Royal Institu-
tion, a corporation erected in the year
1800 ; the great object of which is to ren-
der science applicable to the comforts
and conveniences of mankind.

RU'BEZAHL, the name of a famous
spirit of the Riesengebirge in Germany,
who is celebrated in innumerable sagas,
ballads, and tales, and represented under
the various forms of a miner, hunter,
monk, dwarf, giant, &e. He is said to
aid the poor and oppressed, and shows
benighted wanderers their road ; but
wages incessant war with the proud and
wicked. The origin of the name is ob-
scure.

RU'BICON, a small river which sep-
arated Italy from Cisalpine Gaul, the
province allotted to Csesar. When Caesar
crossed that stream, he invaded Italy,
with the intention of reducing it to his
power. Hence the phrase to pass the
Rubicon, signifies to take a desperate
step in an enterprise, or to adopt a meas-
ure from which one cannot recede, or
from which he is determined not to re-
cede.

RU'BRIC, in the language of the old
copies of manuscripts, and of modern
printers, any writing or printing in red
ink. The date and place on a title-page

being frequently in red ink, the word
rubric has come to signify the false name
of a place on a title-page. Many books
printed at Paris bear the rubric of Ge-
noa, London, Ac. But the most common
use of the word is in ecclesiastical mat-
ters. In MS. Missals, the directions pre-
fixed to the several prayers and offices
were written or printed in red ink ; and
hence, the rubric familiarly signifies the
order of the liturgy, in Roman Catholic
countries as well as in England.

RU'BY, a precious stone, next to the
diamond in hardness and value. Its con-
stituent parts are alumina, silica, carbo-
nate of lime, and oxyde of iron. The most
esteemed, and, at the same time, rarest
color, of the oriental ruby, is pure car-
mine, or blood red of considerable intensi-
ty, forming, when well polished, a blaze
of the most exquisite and unrivalled tint.
It is, however, more or less pale, and
mixed with blue in various proportions ;
hence it occurs rose-red and reddish white,
crimson, peach-blossom red, and lilac
blue the latter variety being named
oriental amethyst. A ruby, perfect both
in color and transparency, is much less
common than a good diamond, and when
of the weight of three or four carats, is
even more valuable than that gem. The
king of Pegu, and the monarchs of Siam
and Ava, monopolize the rarest rubies ;
the finest in the world is in the possession
of the first of these kings : its purity has
passed into a proverb, and its worth,
when compared with gold, is inestimable.

RU'DIMENTS, the first elements or
principles of any art or science. In bot-
any, the gerinen, ovary or seed-bud, is
the rudiment of the fruit yet in embryo ;
and the seed is the rudiment of a new
plant.

RUDOL'PHINE TA'BLES, a celebra-
ted set of astronomical tables, published
by Kepler, and thus entitled in honor of
the emperor Rudolph or Rudolphus.

BU'INS, a term peculiarly applied to
magnificent buildings fallen into decay
by length of time, and whereof there only
remains a confused heap of materials.
Such are the ruins of the tower of Belus,
two days' journey from Bagdat in Syria,
on the banks of the Euphrates ;. which are
now no more than a heap of bricks, ce-
mented with bitumen, and whereof we
only perceive the plan to have been
square. Such also are the ruins of a fa-
mous temple, or palace, near Schiras, in
Persia, which the antiquaries will main-
tain to have been built by Ahasuerus, and
which the Persians now call Tchelminar,

AND THE FINE ARTS.

531

or Chelminar, q. d. the Forty Columns,
on account of so many columns remaining
pretty entire, together with the traces of
others, a great quantity of bassi rilievi,
and unknown characters, sufficient to
show the magnificence of the antique
architecture. The most remarkable ru-
ins still existing of entire cities are those
of Palmyra and Persepolis, of Hercula-
neum and Pompeii.

RULE, that which is established as a
principle, or settled by authority for guid-
ance and direction. Thus, a statute or
law is a rule of conduct for the citizens of
a state ; precedents in law are rules of
decision to judges. Rule, in monasteries,
corporations, or societies, a law or regula-
tion to be observed by the society and its
particular members. In grammar, an
established form of construction in a par-
ticular class of words.

RUNES, are properly the signs or let-
ters of the ancient alphabet peculiar to
the northern nations (Germans and Scan-
dinavians.) Schlegel deduces this alpha-
bet from the Phoenicians. Others have
supposed it to have been derived from
that of the Romans ; but its originally
consisting only of sixteen letters has been
urged as an argument against this hy-
pothesis The runen inscriptions found in
Germany (especially Northern Saxony,)
are thought by some to have tokens of an
origin somewhat different from the Scan-
dinavian. The antiquity of both has been
much disputed. Of those found in Goth-
land, it is said that the oldest are not
earlier than A.D. 1200, the latest 1449 ;
1300 stones with Runic inscriptions have,
it is said, been discovered in Sweden ;
many in Denmark ; none in Lapland or
Finland. Runic staves are massive sticks,
generally of willow, inscribed with Runic
characters, probably of magical import.

RUNNING-TI'TLE, in printing, the
title of a book that is continued from
page to page on the upper margin, called,
among printers, the heads.

RUN'NYMEDE, a celebrated meadow
where the conference was held Juno 15th,
1215, between John and the English ba-
rons, in which the former was compelled
to sign Magna Churta and the Chnrta de
Foresta. It is five miles east of Windsor,
and is now divided into several enclosures

RUPEE', a coin current in the Mogul
empire, and other parts of India. The
gold rupee is worth about 2s. 6d. sterling.
Of the silver rupees the new and old are
of different values.

RU'RAL ECON'OMY, the general
management of territorial property, ei-

ther by the proprietor ar his agent. On a
small scale, the agent is termed a bailiff
or farm servant ; and on a large scale, a
land steward or factor. The duties of the
latter are to collect the rents, and see
that the different clauses in the leases
by which the tenants hold their lands are
fulfilled ; and of the former, to cultivate
the land in such a manner as to produce
the greatest profit, or to fulfil the inten-
tions of the proprietor as to the kiml of
produce which he considers it desirable
to obtain.

RUS'SIA COM'PANY, a regulated
company for conducting the trade with
Russia ; first incorporated by charter of
Philip and Mary, sanctioned by act of
parliament in 1566.

RUSTICA'TION, in universities and
colleges, the punishment of a student for
some offence, by compelling him to leave
the institution and reside for a time in
the country.

RUS'TIC-WORK, in a building, a term
used when the stones, <fcc., in the face
of it are hacked and indented so as to be
rough.

RUTH, BOOK OF, a canonical book
of the Old Testament, being a kind of ap-
pendix to the Book of Judges, and an in-
troduction to those of Samuel. Its title
is derived from the person whose story is
therein principally related.

RY'OT, in Hindostan, a renter of land
by a lease which is considered as perpet-
ual, and at a rate fixed by ancient sur-
veys and valuations. The ryots or peas-
ants may be considered as the cultivators
of the soil in India, having a perpetual
hereditary and transferable right of occu-
pancy, so long as they continue to pay
the share of the produce of the land de-
manded by the government.

S, the nineteenth letter and fifteenth
consonant of our alphabet, is a sibillnnt
articulation ; the sound being formed by
driving the breath through a narrow
passage between the palate and the
tongue elevated near it, together with a
motion of the lower jaw and teeth towards
the upper. The sound of this letter
varies, being strong in some words, as in
this, thus, &c., and soft in words which
have a final e, as muse, wise, &c. It ia
generally doubled at the end of words,
whereby they become hard and harsh, as
in kiss, loss, <fcc. In a few words it is

532

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[SAC

silent, as in isle and viscount. As an
abbreviation in music, S stands for solo.
In books of navigati >n, and in common
usage, S stands for south, S.E. for south-
cast, 3.W. for south-icest, S.S.E. for south-
south-east, S.S.W. for south-south-icest.
In the notes of the ancients, S stands for
Sextus ; Sp. for Spurius ; and S.P.Q-R.
for stnat'is populusque Romanus.

SABJJ'ANS, or SA'BIAXS, idolaters
of the East, who, in all ages, whether
converted in part to Judaism Christian-
ity, or Mohammedanism, or unacquainted
with either, hare worshipped the stars.
Some of the Sabaeans, who acknowledge
the name of Christ, are distinguished by
the title of " Christians of St. John," on
account of their attachment to the bap-
tism of that forerunner of the Messiah.
Sabaism bears the marks of a primitive
religion ; to the adoration of the stars, it
joins a strong inculcation of respect for
agriculture. This belief prevailed .in
very remote ages in the Asiatic countries
between the Euphrates and the Mediter-
ranean ; and Chaldaea, the native land of
astronomy, was its most celebrated seat.
Many allusions are made to this species of
worship in the Old Testament, especially
in the invectives of the prophets against
the various forms of idolatry borrowed by
the Jews from their heathen neighbors.

SAB'AOTH, a word of Hebrew deri-
vation, signifying armies. It is used.
Horn. ix. 29 ; James v. 4, " the Lord of
Sabaoth."

SABA'SIA, in ancient mythology, fes-
tivals in honor of various divinities, en-
titled Sabasii ; the origin of which term
is not clear. Mithras, the sun, is called
Sabasins in ancient monuments, whence
the word seems to have some connection
with the root of Sabaism ; but Bacchus was
also thus denominated, according to some,
from the Saba?, a people of Thrace : and
the nocturnal Sabasia were celebrated in
his name.

SABBAT A'RIAXS. a sect of baptists
who are only remarkable for adhering to
the Judaic sabbath, the observance of
which they contend was not annulled by
the Christian dispensation.

SAB BATH, the seventh day of the
week, a day appointed by the Mosaic law
fur a total cessation from labor, and for the
service of God, according to the divine
command, " Remember that ye keep holy
the Sabbath day," Ac. From the accounts
we hare of the religions service practised
in the patriarchal age, it appears that
imineJialely after the fall, when Adam
was restored to faror through a mediator,

I a stated form of pnblic worship was insti-
, tuted, which man was required to observe,
! in testimony, not only of bis dependence
on the Creator, but also of his faith and
: hope in the promise made to our first
parents, and seen afar off. In the earliest
times of Christianity, the desire of dis-
| tinguishing the Christian from the Jewish
; observance, gave rise to the celebration
, of Sunday, the first day of the week, as
' a sacred festival in commemoration of
our Saviour's resurrection hence em-
phatically called " the Lord's day." The
converts from Judaism, however, retained
the celebration of the Sabbath, though
they adopted also that of Sunday ; and
thus in course of time the strict solemni-
ties of the one became blended with the
cheerful piety of the other. But inde-
pendent of the divine injunction, a sabbath,
or weekly day of rest and pious medita-
tion, is an institution, on whichever day
kept, highly conducive to the happiness
and comfort of mankind. We may here
observe, that this septenary division of
time has been, from the earliest ages,
uniformly observed over all the eastern
world. The Assyrians, Egyptians, Ara-
bians, and Persians, made use of a week
consisting of seven days. Many futile
attempts have been made to account for
this uniformity ; but a practice so gener-
al and prevalent could never have taken
place had not the septenary distribution
of time been instituted from the begin-
ning, and handed down by tradition.

SABBAT'ICAL YEAR, in the Jew-
ish economy, was every setenth. year, in
: which the Israelites were commanded to
suffer their fields and vineyards to rest or
to lie without tillage. The first sabbatical
year, celebrated by the children of Israel,
was the fourteenth year after their coming
into the land of Canaan ; because they
were to be seven years in making them-
selves masters of it, and seven more in
dividing it amongst themselves. This
year was reckoned from Tisri or Sep-
tember, and for several reasons was called
the year of release : 1. because the ground
remained entirely unfilled ; 2. because
such debts as had been contracted during
the six preceding years, were remitted
and cancelled; and 3. because all He-
brew slaves were then set at liberty.

SABEL'LIAXS, a sect of Christians
founded by Sabelliu*. at Ptolemais, in
the third century. Their doctrine taught
that the Father, the Son. and the Spirit
are names of the one God under different
ei rcu instances.

SAC, in law, the privilege enjoyed by

SAG]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

533

the lord of a manor, of holding courts,
trying causes, and imposing fines.

SACK, a wine much esteemed by our
ancestors. It was brought from Spain,
and is supposed to have been very simi-
lar to sherry or canary.

SACK'BUT, a wind instrument of the
trumpet species, but differing from the
common trumpet in form and size. It is
of low or bass pitch, and is drawn out or
shortened by means of sliders, according
to the acuteness or gravity of the tone
to be produced. It is, in fact, the trom-
bone of the Italians.

SAC'RAMENT, in Christian rituals, is
defined an outward sign of a spiritual grace
annexed to its use. The lloman church
recognizes seven sacraments : baptism,
confirmation, the eucharist, penance, ex-
treme unction, ordination, and marriage.
The Sabasan Christians reduce the sacra-
ments to four ; the eucharist, baptism, or-
dination, and marriage. The Protestant
churches acknowledge only two, the eu-
churist or Lord's supper, and baptism;
but they agree with the lloman church
in styling the eucharist. pre-eminently,
the holy sacrament. The eucharist is
also known in the Roman church by the
name of " the host."

SACRAMENTA'LIA, in ecclesiastical ;
history, certain sacramental offerings for-
merly paid to the parish priest at Easter,
<Scc.

S-ACRAMEN'TUM MILITA'RE, in
antiquity, the name of the oath taken by
the Roman soldiers after the levies were
completed.

S AC'RIFICE, a solemn act of religious
worship, consisting in the dedication or
offering up something animate or inani-
mate on an altar, by the hands of the
priest, either as an expression of grati
tude to the Deity for some signal mercy,
or to acknowledge our dependence on him,
and conciliate his favor. The Jews had
two sorts of sacrifices, taking the word in
its most extensive signification : the first
were offerings of tithes, first-fruits, cakes,
wine, oil, honey, Ao., and the last, offer-
ings of slaughtered animals. The prin-
cipal sacrifices of the Hebrews consisted
of bullocks, sheep, and goats; but doves
and turtles were accepted from those who
were not able to bring the other; and
whatever the sacrifice might be, it must
be perfect and without blemish. The
rites of sacrificing were various, all of
which are very minutely described in the
books of Mo-ins.

SAC'RILEGE, the crime of violating
or profaning sacred things ; or the alien-

ating to laymen or to common purposes
what has been appropriated or conse-
crated to religious persons or uses. .

SAC'RISTY, in architecture, an apart-
ment attached to a church, in which the
consecrated vessels of the church, and the
garments in which the clergyman offici-
ates, <fec., are deposited.

SAD'DER, a work in the modern Per-
sian tongue, comprising a summary of
various parts of the Zendavesta, or sacred
books of the ancient Persians. The au-
thority and character of the Sadder are
supposed to bo very small ; some attribute
it to the Parsees, and give it an antiquity
of several centuries ; others consider it a
more modern forgery.

SAD'DUCEES, a sect among the an-
cient Jews, esteemed as free-thinkers,
rather than real Jews, though they as-
sisted at all the ceremonies of worship in
the temple. Their origin and name is
derived from one Sadoc^ who flourished
in the reign of Ptolemy Phihulelphus,
about 263 years B.C. They denied the
immortality of the soul, and the exist-
ence of all spiritual and immaterial bo-
ings. They acknowledged, indeed, that
the world was formed by the power of
(rod, and superintended by his providence ;
but that the soul at death suffered one
common extinction with the body. They
held the Scriptures alone to be of divine
authority, and obligatory upon men, as a
systetn of religion and morals ; and paid
no regard to those traditionary maxims
and human institutions which the Jews in
general so highly extolled, and the Phari-
sees reverenced even more highly than
the Scriptures themselves. The tenets
of the Sadducees are called Sadducism.
SAFE-CON'DUCT, a pass or warrant of
security given by the sovereign under the
great seal to a foreigner, for his safe com-
ing into and passing out of the kingdom.
Generally speaking, passports have super-
seded the use of special safe-conducts.

SA'GA, the general name of those an-
cient compositions which comprise at once
the history and mythology of the north-
ern European races. Their language is
different from the modern Danish, Swed-
ish, and Norwegian, and is more power-
ful and expressive than either of these
later dialects. Of the mythological sagas
the most famous are the saga of Regnar,
Lodbrok, the Ilervarar saga, the Voluspa
saga, and the Wilkina saga. The histori-
cal are very numerous ; the Jomsvilkingia
saga and the Kaflinga saga comprehend
much of the early annals of Norway and
Denmark ; and the Eyrbiggia saga is the

534

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[8A!

chief historical document of ancient Ice-
laud. It is, however, to be remembered,
that the chief object of the relators is the
interest of the narrative ; so that as mere
histories they are of imperfect value.
Many of them are collected in the great
work of Snorre Sturleson called Heim-
skringla. The most classical period of
these compositions is considered by anti-
quaries to fall within the 12th and 13th
centuries.

SAGITTA'RII, in the Roman army
under the emperors, were young men
armed with bows and arrows, who, toge-
ther with the Funditores, were generally
sent out to skirmish before the main body.

SAINT, in a limited but the most usual
sense of the word, signifies certain indi-
viduals whose lives were deemed so emi-
nently pious, that the church of Rome
has authorized the rendering of public
worship to them. In its widest sense, it
signifies the pious, who in this world
strictly obey the commands of God, or
enjoy, in the eternal world, that bliss
which is the reward of such a life on
earth. The doctrine of saints, and the
ideas and usages which grew out of it,
form one of the main points of difference
between the Protestants and Roman Cath-
olics. In all probability, the veneration
paid to saints, relics, &c. originated from
the virtues displayed by the early Chris-
tian martyrs; and it is also very natural
to suppose, that in ages when information
was transmitted chiefly by tradition, facts
easily became exaggerated, without in-
tentional violation of the truth ; and many
miracles were, accordingly, reported to
have been wrought by their relics or in-
tercession.

SAINT JOHN, KNIGHTS OF, or
HOSPITALLERS, a military order of
religious persons. They derived their
name from a church and monastery
dedicated to St. John the Baptist, founded
at Jerusalem about 1048, by merchants
from Amalfi, the brotherhood of its mem-
bers being devoted to the duty of taking
care of poor and sick pilgrims. The order
was instituted as a military brotherhood
by Raymond du Puy, its principal, early
in the 12th century. It was divided into
three ranks knights, chaplains, and ser-
vitors ; and in its military capacity it
was bound to defend the church against
the infidels. It possessed various posses-
sions and settlements at different times
in different parts of the East. In the 13th
century, being driven from Palestine,
the knights of this order fixed their prin-
cipal seat first in Cyprus, and afterwards

at Rhodes, where they remained from
1309 to 1522, when the island was cap-
tured by Solyman II. After several
changes of settlement, they were fixed in
1530 by Charles V. at Malta and its de-
pendent islands, whence they took the
name of Knights of Malta. Here they
maintained themselves until 1798, when
the island was taken by Napoleon. The
order, however, continued to subsist,
notwithstanding the loss of its sovereign
possessions both in Malta and in Tuscany .
the seat of the chapter is now at Ferrara.
Before the French Revolution the num-
ber of knights was estimated at 3000.
The temporal powers of the order were
chiefly concentrated in the hands of the
grand master ; but he was, in fact, con-
trolled by the governors of the eight
languages. These were, of Provence.
Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon, Ger-
many, Castile, and England. The lands
were divided into priories, commander-
ies, and bailliages. The spiritual power
was exercised by the chapter, consisting
of eight ball ivi conventuales. The knights
were under the rules of the order of St.
Augustine; but Protestants were not
bound to celibacy. They were required
to be necessarily of good descent ; but
those whose proofs of noble ancestry
were unquestionable were termed cava-
lier I di giustizia, while others who could
not show such proofs might be admitted
on account of their merits as cavalieri di

r jSAINT SIMO'NIANS. Claude Henri,
Count de S. Simon, of the ancient family
of that name, born in 1760, was engaged
during the greater part of his life in a
series of unsuccessful commercial enter-
prises, a traveller, and in the early por-
tion of his life a soldier in America; but
having dissipated a considerable fortune,
' and been unable to draw the attention
j of the public to a variety of schemes, po-
litical and social, which he was constantly
publishing, he attempted suicide in 1820 ;
he lived, however, a few years longer,
and died in 1825, leaving his papers and
projects to Olinde Rodriguez. St. Simon's
views of society and the destiny of mnn-
i kind are contained in a variety of works,
' and especially in a short treatise entitled
the Nouteau Christianisme, published
after his death by Rodriguez. This book
docs not contain any scheme for the
foundation of a new religion, such as his
disciples afterwards invented. It is a
diatribe against both the Catholic and
Protestant sects for their neglect of
I the main principle of Christianity, the

SAL]

AND THE FINE AKTS.

elevation of the lower classes of society ;
and inveighs against " 1'exploitation de
1'homtne par 1'homme," the existing
system of individual industry, under
which capitalist and laborer have oppo-
site interests and no common object. The
principle of association, and just division
of the fruits of common labor between the
members of society, he imagined to be
the true remedy for its present evils.
After his death these ideas were caught
up by a number of disciples, and formed
into something resembling a system.
The new association, or St. Simonian
family., was chiefly framed by llodri-
guez, Bazar, Thierry, Chevalier, and
other men of talent. After the revolu-
tion of July, 1830, it rose rapidly into
notoriety, from the sympathy between
the notions which it promulgated and
those entertained by many of the repub-
lican party. In 1831. the society had
about 3000 members, a newspaper (the
Globe,) and large funds. The views of
the St. Simonian family were all directed
to the abolition of rank and property in
society, and the establishment of associa-
tion, (such as the followers of Mr. Owen
have denominated co-operative,) of which
all the members should work in common
and divide the fruits of their labor. But
with these notions, common to many
other social reformers, they united the
doctrine, that the division of the goods
of the community should be in due pro-
portion to the merits or capacity of the
recipient. Society was to be governed
by a hierarchy, consisting of a supreme
pontiff, apostles, disciples of the first,
second, and third order. On the 22d
Jan., 1832, the family was dispersed by
the government.

SAL'ARY, the stipend or remunera-
tion made to a man for his services
usually a fixed annual sum ; in distinc-
tion from icages, which is for day labor ;
and pay, which is for military service.

SAL'IC, or SAL'IQUE LAW, an an-
cient and fundamental law of France,
usually supposed to have been made by
Pharamond, or at least by Clovis, by
virtue of which males only can inherit
the throne. Though, by this law, the
crown of France is prevented from being
worn by a woman, the provision was a
general one, without particular regard
to the royal family ; as the crown of
England descends to the eldest son, by
thetfeneral right of primogeniture. The
Salic Franks, from whom this term was
derived, settled in Gaul in the reign of
Julian, who is said to have given them

lands on condition of their personal ser-
vice in war. The historian Millot ob-
serves, there is no ground for believing
that the Salic law expressly settled the
right of succession to the crown ; it only
says that, with relation to the Salic land,
women have no share of heritage, without
restricting it to the royal family, for all
those Salic lands which were held by
right of conquest.

SAL'LY, in the military art, the issu-
ing out of the besieged from a town
or fort, and falling upon the besiegers in
their works, in order to cut them off or
harass and exhaust them. " To cut off
a sally" is to get between those that
made the sally and their town.

SAL'LY-PORT. in fortification, a post-
ern gate, or a passage underground from
the inner to the outer works, such as from
the higher flank to the lower, or to the
communication from the middle of the cur-
tain to the ravelin. Sally-ports are also
doorways on each quarter of a fire-ship,
out of which the men make their escape
into the boats as soon as the train is
fired.

SALOON', a spacious and lofty sort of
hall, vaulted at top, and usually compre-
hending two stories, with two ranges of
windows. The saloon is a grand room in
the middle of a building, or at the head
of a gallery, &c. Its faces or sides should
all have a symmetry with each other;
and as it commonly takes up the height
of two stories, its ceiling should be with a
moderate sweep. The saloon is a state-
room much used in the palaces of Italy,
where the balmy and luxuriant nature of
the climate renders airy and spacious
apartments desirable ; and from thence
it travelled into France and England.
People of distinction are generally re-
ceived by the master of a house in the
saloon. It is sometimes built square,
sometimes round or oval, sometimes oc-
tagonal, and sometimes in other forms.

SALUTE', in military discipline, a
testimony or act of respect performed in
different ways, according to circumstan
ces. In the army, the officers salute by
dropping the point of the sword ; also by
lowering the colors and beating the drums.
In the navy, salutes are made by dis-
charges of cannon, striking the colors or
top-sails, or by volleys of small arms.
Ships always salute with an odd number
of guns ; and galleys with an even num-
ber. The vessel under the wind of the
other fires first.

SAL'VAGE, in commerce, allowance
or compensation made to those by whose

536

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[SAN

exertions ships or goods have been saved
from the dangers of the seas, fire, pirates,
or enemies. The crew of a ship are not
entitled to salvage for any extraordinary
efforts they may have made in saving her,
out passengers are entitled to recompense
for extraordinary services performed in
the hour of danger. If the salvage be
performed at sea, or within high or low
water mark, the Marine Court has jurisdic-
tion over the subject, and will fix the sum
to be paid, and adjust the proportions,
which vary according to circumstances.
In cases where the party cannot agree,
the salvors may retain the property un-
til compensation is made ; or they may
bring an action or commence a suit in
court, against the proprietors for the
amount claimed.

SAMAR'ITAN, an inhabitant of Sa-
maria, or one that belonged to the sect
which derived their appellation from that
city. After the fall of the kingdom of
Israel, the people remaining in its terri-
tory (consisting of the tribes of Ephraim
and Manasseh, mingled with some Assy-
rian colonists,) were called Samaritans
by the Greeks, from the city of Samaria,
around which they dwelt. When the
Jews, on their return from captivity, re-
built the temple of Jerusalem, the Sa-
maritans desired to aid in the work ; but
their offers were rejected by the Jews,
who looked upon them as unclean, on ac-
count of their mixture with heathens ;
and the Samaritans revenged themselves
by hindering the building of the city and
temple. Hence the hatred which pre-
vailed between the Jews and Samaritans,
which, in the time of Jesus, when the
latter were confined to a narrow strip of
country between Judca and Galilee, pre-
vented all intercourse between them, and
still continues. In their religious opin-
ions and usages they resemble those Jews
who reject the Talmud, and differ from
the rabbinical Jews, in receiving only the
Pentateuch and book of Joshua, and in
rejecting all the other portions of the
Bible, as well as the Talmud and rabbin-
ical traditions : but in their manners,
rites, and religious ceremonies, they ad-
here strictly to the Mosaic law.

SA'MIEL, the Arabian name for a hot
suffocating wind peculiar to the desert of
Arabia. It blows over the deserts in the
month of July and August : it approaches
the very gates of Bagdat, but is said never
to affect a person within its walis. It fre-
quently passes with the velocity of light-
ning, and there is no way of avoiding its
dire effects, but by falling on the ground,

and keeping the face close to the earth.
Those who are negligent of this precau-
tion experience instant suffocation.

SAMNITES', in antiquity, a sort of
gladiators who derived their name from
their armor. They are mentioned by
Cicero and others.

SAM'UEL, the books of, two canonical
books of the Old Testament, so called, as
being usually ascribed to the prophet
Samuel. The books of Samuel, and the
books of Kings, are a continued history of
the reigns of the kings of Israel and Ju-
dah. The first book of Samuel compre-
hends the transactions under the govern-
ment of Eli and Samuel, and under Saul
the first king; and also the acts of David
while he lived under Saul. The second
book is wholly occupied in relating the
transactions of David's reign.

SAN-BEN'ITO, a kind of linen gar-
ment, painted with hideous figures, and
worn by persons condemned by the in-
quisition. Also a coat of sackcloth used
by penitents on their reconciliation to the
church.

SANCTIFICA'TION, in an evangeli-
cal sense, the act of God's grace by which
I the affections of men are purified or
! alienated from sin and the world, and ex-
j alted to a supreme love of God.

SANC'TUARY, in a general sense, any
i sacred asylum ; but more especially sig-
j nifying the SANCTUM-SANCTORUM, the
most retired part of the temple at Jerusa-
lem, called also the Holy of Holies, in
which was kept the ark of the covenant,
and into which no person was permitted
to enter except the high-priest, and that
only once a year, to intercede for the
people. From the time of Constantino
downwards, certain churches have been
set apart in many Catholic countries, to
be an asylum for fugitives from the hands
of justice. In England, particularly down
to the Reformation, any person who had
taken refuge in a sanctuary was secured
against punishment, if within the space
of forty days he gave signs of repentance,
and subjected himself to banishment. In
Scotland, the Abbey of Holyroodhouse
and its precincts, as having been a royal
residence, have the privilege of giving
sanctuary to debtors in civil debts. When
a person retires to the sanctuary he is
protected against personal violence,
which protection continues for twenty-
four hours; but to enjoy it longer the
person must enter his name in the books
kept by the baillie of the Abbey. This
sanctuary does not protect a crown debt-
or, nor a fraudulent bankrupt.

SAR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

537

SAN'DAL, in antiquity, a kind of cost-
ly slipper, worn by the Greek and Roman
ladies, made of silk or other precious
stuffs, and ornamented with gold or silver.

SANG FROID, [Fr. cold blood,} free-
dom from agitation or excitement of
mind.

SAN'GIAC, the title of a provincial
governor in Turkey, next in authority to
a bey or viceroy.

SAN'HEDRIM, a word said to be de- j
rived from the Greek, and signifying the
great public council, civil and religious,
of the ancient Jewish republic or hierar-
chy. This council consisted of seventy
elders, who received appeals from other
tribunals, and had power of life and
death.

SANS'CRIT, the learned language of
Hindustan. The literal meaning of the
word Sanscrita is polished, and it is used
by grammarians in the sense of " regu-
larly inflected or formed." And it is a
question whether, in its present form, it
was ever a spoken language, although
the theory of Schlegel is, that it was im-
ported by the conquering or Brahminical
caste. It constitutes the most ancient
literature of the Hindoos, and is radically j
connected with the various dialects of
Hindostan, so that they may be regarded
as more or less deflected from it. Cole- j
brooke, however, is of opinion that " there ;
seems no good reason for doubting that ;
it was once universally spoken in India ;" j
and he says, that " those who are learned
in Sanscrit, at the present day, deliver
themselves with such fluency as is suf-
ficient to prove that it may have been
spoken in former times with as much
facility as the contemporary dialects of
the Greek language, or the more modern
dialects of the Arabic tongue." Nine
tenths of the " Hindustani," it is said,
may be traced to the Sanscrit ; the re-
maining tenth is thought to be, perhaps,
founded on the old " Hindi" language,
which Sir W. Jones thought anterior to
it, conceiving the Sanscrit to have been
introduced by conquerors in some very
distant age. In the Hindoo drama, the
gods and saints are made to speak in
Sanscrit ; while women, benevolent genii,
<fcc., speak another dialect, and the lower
personages a third.

SANS-CULOTTES, [from sans, without,
and culottes, breeches.] the name given
in derision to the popular party, by the
aristocratical, in the beginning of the
French revolution of 1789 ; but though
in the first instance applied by way of
contempt, yet when the fiercest principles

of republicanism prevailed, sans-culot-
tism became a term of honor ; and some
of their bravest generals in their dis-
patches announcing their victories, gloried
in the name.

SAP'PHIC, pertaining to Sappho, a
Grecian poetess ; as Sapphic odes, <fcc.
The Sapphic verse consists of eleven
syllables in five feet, of which the first,
fourth, and fifth, are trochees, the second
a spondee, and the third a dactyl, in the
first three lines, of each stanza, with a
fourth consisting only of a dactyl and a
spondee.

SAP'PHIRE, a precious stone of a
fine blue color. In hardness it is only
inferior to the diamond ; and the sapphire
which is found in the same mines with
the ruby, is nearly allied to that gem.
They are found in various places ; as
Pegu, Calicut, Cananor, and Ceylon, in
Asia ; and Bohemia and Silesia, in Eu-
rope. The most highly prized varieties
are the crimson and carmine red ; these
are the oriental ruby of the jeweller:
the next is sapphire ; and the last is
sapphire, or oriental topaz. The aste-
rias, or star-stone, is a very beautiful
variety, in which the color is generally
of a reddish violet, with an opalescent
lustre.

SAP'PING, in sieges, &c., the act of
working underground to gain the descent
of a ditch, counterscarp, ifcc.

SAR'ABAND, in music, a composition
in triple time very similar to a minuet.
When denoting music for the dance, it is
to the same measure which usually ter-
minates when the beating hand rises;
being thus distinguished from the courant,
which ends when the hand falls.

SAR'ABITES, a kind of oriental monks
or csenobites, described by Cassian in his
Institutions ; and supposed to be the
same with those called Rernoboth by St.
Jerome and Eust., and characterized as
vicious and ignorant. They seem to have
been seceders from the ordinary monastic
life, which formed a species of society
rather resembling that of the Moravians
of the present day, and without commu-
nity of goods.

SARACENIC ARCHITECTURE.
Egypt and Syria present many specimens
of Saracenic architecture, which form a
striking contrast with the ancient Egyp-
tian and Greek styles. The Saracens, in
"Egypt, have borrowed but little (if any)
of their style from the aborigines of the
country. The style called Suracenic,
which is justly supposed to have been the
parent of the Gothic, is distinguished by

538

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

SAT

the boldness and loftiness of its vaultings ;
the peculiar mixed form of its curves;
the slenderness of its columns ; the va-
riety of its capitals ; the prodigious mul-
tiplicity of its mouldings and ornaments :
presenting a strong assemblage of friezes,
mosaics, foliage, and arabesques, inter-
laced with flowers, and disposed alto-
gether with much skill. The Egyptian
Saracenic diifers from the Spanish prin-
cipally in the form of the arch, as may
be seen by comparing the gate of Cairo
with that of the Alhambra in Grenada,
or the great church at Cordova. Among
the principal remains of the former style
are the walls of Alexandria, built, in
878. by the Caliph Motahwnkkel ; several
arcades of the aqueduct of Alexandria,
which are distinguished by the medley
of the capitals ; the greater and the
smaller pharos, the mosque and the an-
cient palace of the sultans, in the same
city : there are also several buildings of
the sultan Saladin, whose real name was
Joseph or Jussuf, which bear his latter
appellation, as the walls at Cairo, the
Granaries, &c.

SAKCOPH'AGUS, a species of lime-
stone of which ancient coffins were made,
and which, according to Pliny, had the
power of destroying within forty days the
corpses put into them. This quality
brought the stone into use for coffins, and
thus the name came to be applied to
all coffins of stone, though often used for
a contrary purpose to that which the
name expresses Of the great number
of sarcophagi which have come down to
us, several are known by particular
names; as, the sarcophagus of Homer,
in the Besborodko gardens at St. Peters-
burg; and that of Alexander the Great,
in the British museum, once in the mosque
of St. Athanasius at Alexandria. It was
taken by the British from the French,
during their memorable campaign in
Egypt.

SARDON'IC LAFGII, (risus sardoni-
cus,) so called from the herb sardo7iia,
which being eaten is said to cause a dead-
ly convulsive laughter, or spasmodic
grin.

SAR'DONYX, a genus of semi-pellucid
gems, of the onyx structure, zoned or tab-
ulated, and composed of the matter of
the onyx variegated with that of the red
or yellow earnelian.

SAS'TRA, among the Hindoos, a book
containing sacred ordinances. The six
great Sastras, in the opinion of the Hin-
doos, contain all knowledge, human and
divine. These are called the Veda, Upa-

veda, Vedanga, Purana, Dherma, and
Dersana.

SA'TAN, a Hebrew word signifying
enemy or adversary, and used as such,
without any reference to the Evil Power
itself, in one or two passages of the Old
and New Testaments. The equivalent
term in Greek for this word is literally
one who accuses or calumniates ; whence
the word devil is derived.

SAT'IRE, in literature, a species of
writing, generally poetical, the object of
which is always castigation. It presup-
poses not merely much natural wit, but
also acute observation, and much variety
of life and manners to call this wit into
exercise. Satire, in the literary sense
of the word, as designating a species of
composition, is usually confined to a spe-
cies of poetry ; but prose works, of which
the contents are of a satirical character,
are often comprehended under the same
appellation. Dramatic writings, also, are
not satires in the stricter sense of the
word, although their contents be of a
satirical character. According to their
subjects, satires are divided into political
and moral, and these again severally
subdivided into personal and general.
Political satires, in almost every lan-
guage, have been nearly confined to
prose ; the moral satire alone has found
its appropriate vehicle in verse. The
only Greek satirist of whom any frag-
ments have reached us was Archilochus,
and his attacks were evidently directed
against individuals. Aristophanes pos-
sessed a vein of satirical power, both in
the indignant and ludicrous strain, which
has never been surpassed ; and his dra-
mas contain not only sarcasms on indi-
viduals, but also political and ethical les-
sons of the highest value. But the moral
satire, properly so called, was invented
by the Romans, not only in form, but in
substance also, and by them carried to
perfection ; and it is remarkable that the
only species of Roman poetry which has
any degree of originality is that which
would seem to have accorded the least
with the grave and austere turn of the
genuine Roman character. In the liter-
ature of the modern nations, the fate of
satire has been similar to that which has
befallen many other species of composi-
tion. The name and form of the ancient
satire have been preserved by many wri-
ters, who have produced, for the most
part, little besides cold or exaggerated
imitations of antiquity. But the true
spirit of satire, in its moral beauty, its
humor, and its delicate irony, has been

SCA]

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539

inherited by others, who had too much
originality of thought to tie down their
genius to an antiquated form of writing.

SAT'URDAY, the last day of the week.
The Scandinavians, and from them the
Saxons, had a deity named Sealer, from
whom the English name of the dies Sa-
turnii of the llomans maybe derived;
but the subject is by no means clear.

SAT'URN, an Italian deity having
many points of similarity with the
Grecian Kronos, with whom he is, ac-
cordingly, frequently identified. He
seems to have been originally the god
of earth, (of which his wife Tellus. Ops, or
Rhea was the goddess,) and presided
over tillage, of which the sickle he car-
ried was the symbol. The treasury at
Rome was in his temple. The Grecian
Kronos was the youngest son of Heaven
and Earth, and the father of Jupiter,
Juno, Neptune, and Pluto. He usurped
the sovereignty, and was in his turn de-
posed and imprisoned by Jupiter. His
reign was celebrated by the ancient poets
as the golden age. The whole history of
this deity is probably allegorical. The
name itself, with a slight variation signi-
fies time, and his attribute of the sickle,
together with the account of his being the
son of Heaven, by whose luminaries time
is measured, and tho husband of Rhea
(flowing,) and of his devouring his own
progeny, are corroborative of this conjec-
ture.

SATURN A'LIA, in antiquity, feasts in
honor of Saturn. The Saturnalia had
their origin in Greece, but by whom they
were instituted or introduced among the
Romans is not known : but they were
celebrated with such circumstances as
were thought characteristic of the golden
age ; particularly the overthrow of dis-
tinction and rank. Slaves were reputed
masters during the three days of this
festivity ; were at liberty to say what
they pleased ; and, in fine, were served at
table by their owners. These festivities,
in which men indulged in riot without
restraint, were held annually about the
middle of December.

SAT'YRS, in classical mythology, di-
vinities, or rather supernatural person-
ages, represented with the heads, arms,
and bodies of men, and the lower parts of
goats. They were under the peculiar
government of the god Bacchus. Some
antiquaries have fancied that the notion
of satyrs arose from the introduction of
ourang-outangs by the real Bacchus on
his return from his conquest of India, and
derive the name from the Heb. sahurim.

hairy men ; Bacchus, according to tra-
dition, having remained some time in
Palestine during his return. In the same
way we may perhaps account for St. Au-
gustin's story, of a satyr having been
seen and caught, in his own time, in the
deserts of Africa. In Grecian dramatic
literature, the name satyr is applied to a
theatrical piece, in which the chorus con-
sisted of satyrs of a semi-burlesque char-
acter to judge of it by the only specimen
left to us, the Cyclops of Euripides. It
was customary for the tragedian to pre-
sent at the same time three tragic pieces
and one satyr, forming a tetralogy.

SAU'CISSE, in the art of war, a long
pipe or bag, made of cloth well pitched,
or of leather, filled with powder, and ex-
tending from the chamber of the mine to
the entrance of the gallery. It serves to
communicate fire to mines, caissons, bomb
chests, &c.

SAUCISSONS', in fortification, fagots
or fascines, made of great boughs of
trees bound together ; their use being
to cover men, or to make epaulements,
&c.

SAX'ON ARCHITEC'TURE, the ar-
chitecture of England before the Norman
conquest. There are some supposed re-
mains of this style in existence, but the
characteristics are not satisfactorily de-
termined.

SCAF'FOLDING, in architecture, is
the temporary combination of timber-
work, by the means of upright poles and
horizontal pieces, on which latter are
laid the boards for carrying up the differ-
ent stages or floors of a building, and
which are struck or removed as soon as
they have answered their purpose.

SCAGLIO'LA, a mixture of fine gyp-
sum and powdered selenite, made into a

540

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[SCB

paste with glue, and serving to form
paintings of a stony hardness. The pro-
cess is as follows : Upon a tablet of
white stucco (consisting of this gypsum
paste,) the outlines of the work designed
are traced with a sharp instrument, and
the cavities thus made are filled up with
successive layers of paste, of the same
composition, but colored. It takes a very
high polish, and, when executed by a
skilful workman, is an admirable imita-
tion of marble.

SCALD, signifies in the ancient Norsk
language a poet. In the old northern lit-
erature, those mythological poems of
which the writers are known are properly
called songs of the Scalds, while those of
unknown authors are termed Eddas. It
appears from Tacitus that the ancient
Germans had those three classes of poems
which were found at a later era in Scan-
dinavia, namely, relating to the gods, to
heaven, and to historical subjects. The
Scalds whose remains have come down to
us are very numerous. Their poems are
partly alliterative, and partly rhymed ;
and this latter circumstance seems to in-
dicate works of comparatively recentdate.
The historical value of their poems is con-
siderable ; but they are written in a pe-
culiar vein of exaggeration, and in a met-
aphysical and almost enigmatical fash-
ion, which appears to have been charac-
teristic of the poetical art of the north.

SCALE, in music, a progressive series
of sounds arising in acuteness or falling
in gravity from any given pitch to the
greatest practical distance, through such
intermediate degrees as create an agree-
able and perfect succession, wherein all
the harmonical intervals are conveniently
divided.

SCAMIL'LI, in ancient architecture, a
sort of second plinths or blocks under stat-

.--. Scamilli.

ues, columns, <fcc., to raise them, but not,
like pedestals, ornamented with any kind
of moulding.
SCANDA'LUM M AGNA'TUM, in law,

a defamatory speech or writing made or
published to the injury of a person of dig-
nity.

SCAN'NING, in Latin poetry, the ex-
amining a verse by counting the feet, to
see whether the quantities be duly ob-
served ; or, according to modern usage, to
recite or measure verse by distinguishing
the feet in pronunciation.

SCAPE'-GOAT, in the Jewish ritual,
a goat which was brought to the door of
the tabernacle, where the high-priest laid
his hands upon him, confessing the sins of
the people, and putting them on the head
of the goat ; after which the goat was
turned loose into the wilderness.

SCAP'ULARY, a part of the habit of
certain religious orders in the Romish
church, consisting of two narrow slips of
cloth worn over the gown, covering the
back and breast, and extending to the
feet.

SCAR'AMOUCH, a personage in the
old Italian Comedia dell' Arte, dressed
in the Spanish or Hispano-Neapolitan
costume, and representing a military per-
sonage, a poltroon and braggadocio, who
always ended by receiving a beating from
the hands of Harlequin. The most cele-
brated Scaramouch of the Italian theatre
at Paris was Tiberio Fiurelli, a Neapoli-
tan, who had the honor of making Louis
XIV. laugh when an infant j and whose
agility was such that he was able, accord-
ing to his biographers, to give a box on
the ear with his foot at the age of 80.

SCARP, in fortification, the interior
talus or slope of the ditch next the place
at the foot of the rampart. In heraldry,
the scarf which military commanders
wear for ornament.

SCENE, in dramatic literature, dra-
matic representations, having, it is sup-
posed, originally taken place on spots of
ground shaded with boughs of trees. The
imaginary place in which the action of
the play is supposed to pass ; also a divi-
sion of a drama : properly speaking,
whenever the action changes to a new
scene or place. But in the French thea-
tre, and those framed on its model, (in
which unity of place is observed,) every
entry of an actor constitutes a new scene.
On the English stage, the subdivision
called a scene is extremely arbitrary ; the
scenes in most plays being far more nu-
merous than the actual changes of scene,
while at the same time the French rule is
not observed, and actors enter in the mid-
dle of a scene. The scenes in a play are
numbered as subdivisions of the act.

SCENE PAINT'ING, a department of

SCH]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

541

painting which forms a walk of art both
peculiar and extensive, and has its own
laws, its own practical and scientific rules,
in the same way as perspective has. The
follower of scene painting should, in the
first place, be deeply conversant with
that particular knowledge, by means of
which he is enabled to decide on the ef-
fects of those colors he employs by day,
when they shall be subjected to a strong
artificial light. In the next instance, it is
absolutely indispensable that he should
be well versed in the rules of both linear
and aerial perspective. He traces, by
fixed geometrical operations, lines bent
or inclined, which the spectator, placed at
the proper point of view, imagines to be
straight ones. He employs gradual dim-
inutions of plans which give the appear-
ance of an extent and distance existing
merely in his own art ; thus in a few fath-
oms to which he is bounded expressing
an extent sometimes almost infinite. He
uses chiefly water colors, on account of
their operating promptly, and presenting
no glossy surface. To the scene painter
the use of brilliant colors, of skilful
ctiiaro-scuro, of striking management of
masses of light and shade, is obvious. He
addresses less the heart or understanding
than the eye. With him effect is every-
thing. His fame, as well as his works,
is commonly of short duration ; and there
is consequently the greater reason that he
should acquire that promptness and de-
cision of style which would secure im-
mediate approbation.

SCE NERY, the appearance of the va-
rious objects presented to our view; as,
the scenery on the banks of the Thames
at Richmond is diversified and pleasing;
or, the landscape scenery presented to
the view from the Malvern hills is pictu-
resque and varied. The paintings repre-
senting the scenery of a play.

S C E N G'R A P H Y, in perspective,
stands opposed to ichnography and or-
thography. Ichnography is the ground-
plan ; orthography, the elevation or a flat
view of a front of an object; and scenog-
raphy, is the perspective view, which
takes several sides, and represents every-
thing in its apparent proportions.

SCEP'TICISM, also called Pyrrho-
nism, (from its founder, Pyrrho, who lived
under Alexander the Great,) the doctrine
of a sect of philosophers, who maintained
that no certain inferences can be drawn
from the senses, and who therefore doubt-
ed of every thing. In theology, scepticism
is a denial of the divine origin of the
Christian religion, or of the being, per-

fections, and truth of God. The most
celebrated sceptics of modern times are,
Montaigne (A.D. J580 ;) Glanville, an
Englishman, who flourished about the
i period of the Restoration; Bayle, and
I Hume. Of these Mr. Hume has the merit
of producing the most systematic and
comprehensive scheme of scepticism the
world has yet seen. According to this
philosopher, all the objects of conscious-
ness may be reduced to two classes 1.
the impressions on the senses ; and 2.
ideas, or copies of those impressions,
| which differ from their originals only in
being less vivid. All knowledge, save
that of mathematical relations, consists
in the arrangement of these impressions
according to the order of their succession.
Of the connection between any two links
of this succession we know nothing ; that
to which we give the name of causation
being, in fact, nothing more than habitual
sequence relatively to the phenomena,
and custom, or often-repeated association,
in relation to ourselves.

SCEP'TRE, a short staff, the emblem
of sovereign power. It is an ensign of
royalty of greater antiquity than the
crown. It was at first an unornamented
staff, or baton, but afterwards became
covered with ornaments in ivory, gold,
&c. At the present time the sceptre and
ball form the two most important em-
blems of royal and imperial power.

SCHED'ULE, in law, a scroll of paper
or parchment appended to a will or any
other deed. Also an inventory of goods,
&c.

SCHE'RIF, a title given in the East,
by prescriptive usage, to those who de-
scend from Mohammed through his son-
in-law and daughter, AH and Fatima.
They are also called Emir and Seid, and
have the privilege of wearing the green
turban. The chiefs of Mecca and Medina,
who are always supposed to belong to this
sacred family, are styled the scherifs of
those cities.

SCHISM, in a theological sense, a divi-
sion or separation in a church or denom-
ination of Christians ; or breach of uni-
ty among people of the same religions
persuasion. Hence, one who separates
from an established c'lurch or religiout
faith is termed a schismatic. In Scrip-
ture, the word schism seems to denote a
breach of charity, rather than a differ-
ence of doctrine.

SCHOLAS'TICS,aclass of philosophers
or schoolmen, who arose in the- middle
ages, and taught a peculiar kind of phi-
losophy, which consisted in applying the

542

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[set

ancient dialectics to theology, and inti-
mately uniting both. On account of the
excessive subtilty which prevailed in the
scholastic philosophy, the expression
scholastic has been used for the extreme
of subtilty. After the Reformation and
the revival of letters, the system gradu-
ally declined, till it gave place to the
enlightened philosophy of Lord Bacon and
the great men who have followed in his
track and carried out his principles.

SCHO'LIA. notes or annotations on
an ancient author. Scholiast, one who
writes scholia, for the purpose of illus-
trating ancient authors.

SCHOOL, a house or place of rendez-
vous for pupils or students to receive in-
struction in various arts and branches of
useful and necessary knowledge. In
modern usage, the word school compre-
hends every place of education, whether
a college, an academy, a primary school,
or a school for learning any single art or
accomplishment. " The changes which
have taken place in science, and in the
whole condition of modern nations, who
are no longer dependent, like those of the
middle ages, for their means of intellec-
tual culture, on the remains of ancient
civilization, necessarily make the charac-
ter of school instruction very different
from what it was formerly, when the
whole intellectual wealth of Europe was
contained in two languages ; and though
these noble idioms will always retain a
high place in a complete system of edu-
cation, yet their importance is compara-
tively less, while that of the natural sci-
ences, history, geography, politics, Ac.
has very much increased. All this has
had a great influence upon schools, and
will have a still greater. The import-
ance of education, moreover, is now set
in strong relief by the general conviction,
entertained in free countries, that the
general diffusion of knowledge is the only
true security for well-regulated liberty,
which must rest on a just sense of what
is due from man to man ; and few results
can be attained by the student of history
and of mankind more delightful than this
of the essential connection of light and
liberty ; not that great learning neces-
sarily leads to liberty ; history affords
many instances which disprove this ; but
that a general diffusion of knowledge al-
ways tends to promote a general sense
and a love of what is right and just, as
well as to furnish the means of securing ;
it." For the foregoing remarks, which
are not less forcible than apparent, we
are indebted to Blackie's edition of the |

Conversations Lexicon. Schools, Infant,
are said to owe their origin to Mr. .Rob-
ert Owen of Scotland. They have now
been in operation since the year 1820.
Schools, Normal, schools for the educa-
tion of persons intended to become school-
masters, teachers, or professors in any
line. Normal schools form a regular
part of the establishments for education
in many continental states, especially in
Germany. The normal school of Paris
was suppressed in 1821, but revived a
few years afterwards under the name of
preparatory school, and has now (since
the event of 1830) resumed its original
title. Schools, Sunday, first set on foot
by Mr. Robert Raikes of Gloucester. The
number of children at present frequent-
ing Sunday-schools in England, varies
from 800,000 to 900,000. The education
given is almost uniformly confined to
reading alone ; but many Sunday-schools
appear to have evening schools connected
with them, open two or three times a
week, in which writing and arithmetic
are taught. The system of Sunday-school
instruction prevails to a great extent in
the United States, where it is almost ex-
clusively of a religious character. School,
among painters, the style and manner of
painting among the great masters of the
art at any particular period, as the Ital-
ian, Flemish, Dutch, Spanish, and English
schools. School, in philosophy, a system
of doctrine as delivered by particular
teachers, as the Platonic school, the school
of Aristotle, <fcc. Also, the seminaries
for teaching logic, metaphysics, and the-
ology, which were formed in the middle
ages, and. which were characterized by
academical disputations and subtilties of
reasoning. Hence school divinity is the
phrase used to denote that theology which
discusses nice points, and proves every-
thing by argument.

SCIAG'RAPHY, in architecture, a
profile or section of a building to exhibit
its interior structure.

SCI'ENCE, in a general sense, knowl-
edge, or certain knowledge ; the knowl-
edge of many methodically digested and
arranged so as to become attainable by
one; the comprehension or understanding
of truth or facts by the mind. The
science of God must be perfect. In
philosophy, a collection of the general
principles or leading truths relating to
any subject. Pure science, as the mathe-
matics, is built on self-evident truths ;
but the term science is also applied to
other subjects founded on generally ac-
knowledged truths, as metaphysics ; or

SCR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

543

on experiment and observation, as
chemistry and natural philosophy; or
even to an assemblage of the general
principles of an art, as the science of
agriculture; the science of navigation.
The knowledge of reasons and their con-
clusions, constitutes abstract science;
that of causes and effects, and of the laws
of nature, natural or physical science.
The term science is often used to signify
that which we know inductively, or by
the experience of particulars, from which
we ascend to general conclusions not
necessarily constituted by those particu-
lars, yet warranted by previous experi-
ence and by analogies widely observed.
This signification of the term is applica-
ble to physical, moral, arid practical
science. Physical or natural science is
that which is susceptible of experiment,
and is therefore said to be founded on ex-
perimental evidence. Moral science, is
that which, lying in great part beyond
the reach of experiment, rests for its
certainty on aggregated facts, supported
by concurrent testimony, by experience,
and by analogy, so as to leave no room
for doubt, though not demonstrable.
Practical science, is that which consists
of general observations arising out of
experience, and is otherwise called
theory in correlation to an art or practice
belonging to it. The term science, how-
ever, is more particularly used in con-
tradistinction to art and literature. As
distinguished from the former, a science
is a body of truths, the common princi-
ples of which are supposed to be known
and separated, so that the individual
truths, even though some or all may be
clear in themselves, have a guarantee
that they could have been discovered and
known either with certainty, or with such
probability as the subject admits of, by
other means than their own evidence.
As distinguished from literature, science
is applied to any branch of knowledge
which is made the subject of investiga-
tion with a view to discover and apply
first principles.

SCI'RE FA'CIAS, in law, a judicial |
writ summoning a person to show cause j
to the court why something should not
be done ; as, to require sureties to show
cause why the plaintiff should not have
execution against them for debt and
damages, or to require a third person to
show cause why goods in his hands by
replevin, should not be delivered to
satisfv the execution, <fcc.

SCLAVO'NIAN, or SCLAVONIC,
pertaining to the Sclavi, or their lan-

guage a people that anciently inhabited
the country between the rivers Save and
Drave. Hence the word came to denote
the language which is now spoken in
Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, &c.

SCORE, in music, a collection of all
the vocal and instrumental parts of a
composition, arranged on staves one above
the other, and bar for bar, present-
ing at once, to the eye of a skilful mu-
sician, the effect of the whole band as the
composition proceeds. A composition so
arranged is also said to be in score.

SCOT, in law, a customary contribu-
tion laid upon all subjects according to
their ability. Whoever were assessed to
any contribution, though not by equal
portions, were said to pay scot and lot.

SCO'TIA, in architecture, the name of a
hollow moulding, chiefly used between the
tori in the bases of columns. It takes its
name from the shadow formed by it, which
seems to envelop it in darkness. It is
sometimes called a casement ; and often,
from its resemblance to a common pulley,
trochilus.

SCOT'ISTS, a sect of school-divines
and philosophers, thus called from their
founder, J. Duns Scotus, a Cordelier, who
maintained the immaculate conception
of the Virgin, or that she was born with-
out original sin, in opposition to Thomas
Aquinas and the Thomists.

SCREEDS, in architecture, wooden
rules for running mouldings. Also the ex-
treme guides on the margins of walls and
ceilings for floating to, by the aid of the
rules. They are always necessary for
running a cornice when the ceiling is not
floated.

SCREEN, in architecture, a partition
usually wrought with rich tracery, placed
behind the high altar of a church, and
also before small chapels and tombs.
Sometimes, as at Easter, they are placed
temporarily at the sides of choirs.

SCRIBES, the copyists, and at the same
time the interpreters of the law, in the
later periods of the Jewish history. They
were held in great honor among that
people, and ranked with the priests them-
selves in their estimation. In the New
Testament we find them generally refer-
red to in connection with the Pharisees,
to which sect they appear generally tc
have belonged, and with whom they co-
incided in temper and sentiments. Some
ancient writers conceive the scribes to
have formed peculiar sects in themselves ;
but there is no authority to sustain this
opinion.

SCRIP'TURE, or the Holy Scriptures,

544

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[scu

an appellation given, by way of emi-
nence, to the sacred and inspired writings
of the Old and New Testaments.

SCRIVENER, money scriveners, in old
English usage, were parties who received
money to place it out at interest, and
supplied parties who wished to lend mon-
ey on security.

SCRU'TINY, in law, an examination
of suffrages or votes at an election, for
the purpose of ascertaining whether they
are good or not. In the primitive church,
an examinatign of catechumens who were
to receive baptism on Easter-day.

SCULP'TURE, the art of giving form
and expression, by means of the chisel
and other implements, to masses of stone
or other hard substances, so as to repre-
resent figures of every description, ani-
mate and inanimate. It is generally
thought that sculpture had its origin from
idolatry, as it was found necessary to place
before the people the images of their gods
to enliven the fervor of their devotion.
But to form conclusions concerning the
rise and progress of the arts and sciences,
without the aid of historical evidence, by
analogies which are sometimes accidental,
and often fanciful, is a mode of reasoning
which, at best, must ever be liable to
suspicion. In whatever country the ear-
liest attempts were made, the Egyptians
were the first who adopted a certain style
of art. Their works were gloomy and
grave, but still they were full of deep
sentiment, and connected, as would ap-
pear by the hieroglyphics which covered
them, with poetry and history, and by the
mummies, with the belief of immortality.
Interesting as the subject would doubt-
less prove, it is far beyond our limited
means to trace the progress of this beau-
tiful art through all its stages in the
classic days of Greece, till its decline in
Rome, where, though all the treasures of
the Grecian sculptors had been carried to
deck the Roman capital, the art never
became naturalized. During the long
and gloomy interval of barbarism that
succeeded the downfall of imperial Rome,
sculpture, with the sister arts, lay dor-
mant and forgotten. At length, however,
through the genius of Michael Angelo
Buonarotti, and the skill and perseve-
rance of some of his distinguished suc-
cessors, seconded by the patronage of the
illustrious house of Medici, the treasures
of antiquity were collected, and modern
art nobly tried to rival the grace and
sublimity which existed in the ancient
models. Though till within the last cen-
tury it could hardly be said that a British ,

school of sculpture existed, yet the talent
that has been successfully called into
action has produced many works of ster-
ling merit. The names of Flaxman,
Chantrey, Baily, and Westmacott, are
alone sufficient to redeem the national
character in this department of art. In
the United States, the productions of
Greenough, Powers and other distin-
guished artists, have been received with
admiration by the most fastidious connois-
seurs. The very essence of sculpture is
correctness ; and when to correct and
perfect form is added the ornament of
grace, dignity of character, and appro-
priate expression, as in the Apollo, the
Venus, the Laocoon, the Mose.of Michael
Angelo, and many others, this Art may
be said to have accomplished its pur-

Eose. Sculpture, practice of. What has
een said under the article Painting,
relative to anatomy, comparative anato-
my, symmetry, invention, expression,
and drapery, equally applies to the art
of sculpture, and need not be here re-
peated. AVe shall, therefore, merely state
the different methods practised in produ-
cing a work in this art. A model as large
as the intended figure or group is first made
in clay. It is placed on a stand called the
sculptor's easel ; and the general form is
got out with the hand and fingers, small
box-wood tools being made use of to
touch the parts that the fingers cannot
reach. The clay is kept moist, to pre-
vent its shrinking till the model is com-
pleted. The model is then moulded in
plaster of Paris, before it begins to dry,
whence a matrix is formed, into which
plaster is introduced; and the matrix
being broken away from it, the model in
clay is thus transferred into one of plas-
ter. This becomes the standard from
which the artist takes all the measure-
ments for the figure he is about to exe-
cute. The block of marble and the model
being now placed on stands, with a gradu-
ated rod, which moves on a frame per-
pendicular to it, and has a point attached
to it which can be made to advance and
recede at jjleasure, certain prominent
points are selected and marked in the
model, and their distapce measured on
the frame longitudinally and vertically,
and also the distance that the point of
the rod is advanced or receded to touch a
given point. This being found on the
outside of the rough block, the particular
point is drilled down to as great a distance
as was measured in the model. This ope-
ration being repeated for a great number
of points, the surface is worked away

AND THE FINK ARTS.

545

to all the several points found as above,
till at last it begins to assume the general
form of the model. As the sculptor ap-
proaches the surface which is to be left
when finished, more caution and finer
tools become necessary, till at length it
is brought into a state for his finishing
touches. The process which we have de-
scribed of bringing the shapeless block
into something like the form it is ulti-
mately to bear, and which is an operation
purely mechanical, is performed by infe-
rior workmen, by which the artist's labor
and time are much spared. It is only
with such a genius as Michael Angelo
that the making a model could be dispen-
sed with.

SCU'TUM, in antiquity, a sort of buck-
ler of both an oblong and an oval form.

SGYL'LA, a rock in the sea between
Sicily and Italy, which was very formi-
dable to the mariners among the ancients.
It was opposite to the whirlpool Charyb-
dis.

SEAL, in law, the impression or
device printed on wax which is put to
any deed by way of ratification.

SEA'MAN, an individual engaged in
navigating ships or other vessels upon
the high seas. Various regulations have
been enacted with respect to the hiring
of seamen, their conduct, and the pay-
ment of their wages ; but these particu-
lars are too numerous for insertion here,
and not within the seope of this work.

SE A'MANSHIP, an acquaintance with
the art of managing and navigating a
ship ; applicable both to officers and the
men, and indispensably necessary in
those who have the ship under their com-
mand.

SEA-'SONS, the four divisions or por-
tions of the year, namely, Spring, when
the sun enters Aries ; Summer when he
enters Cancer ; Autumn, when he enters
Libra ; and Winter when he enters Cap-
ricorn. The diversity of the seasons de-
pends upon the oblique position of the
sun's path through the heavens, whereby
this luminary rises to different heights
above the horizon, making the day some-^
times longer, and sometimes shorter than*
the nights. When the sun rises highest
at noon, its rays fall most nearly in the
direction of a perpendicular, and conse-
quently a greater number is received
upon a given spot; their action also, at
the same time, continues the longest.
These circumstances make the difference
between summer and winter. It is found
that the sun does not rite so high in sum-
mer, nor descend so low in winter, at the
35

present time as it did formerly ; in other
words, the obliquity of the ecliptic, which
is half the difference between the sun's
greatest and least meridian altitudes, is
growing less and less continually, and the
seasons are thus tending, though slowly,
to one unvaried spring.

SEC'OND, in music, an interval of a
conjoint degree, being the difference be-
tween any sound and the next nearest
sound above or below it. There are three
kinds of- seconds, the minor second or
semitone, the major second, and the ex-
treme sharp second

SEC'OND SIGHT, a superstitious no-
tion, prevalent in the highlands of Scot-
land, by which certain persons are sup-
posed to be gifted with a kind of super-
natural sight, or the power of seeing
future or distant events as if they really
happened. But the peculiarity of the
Highland superstition seems to consist in
this, that persons were supposed to be
endowed with the faculty who were in no
other respect feared or reverenced for
their supernatural powers ; it was regard-
ed as a mere natural power, like superior
sharpness of sight or hearing. The in-
habitants of the Western Islands were
thought to be peculiarly gifted with it.
It could not be exerted at pleasure ; the
power came on the seer involuntarily,
and often to his extreme terror and suf-
fering. Nevertheless, certain rules were
in fashion for the interpretation of the
visions ; such, for instance, as that men-
tioned by Sir W. Scott, that if a seer saw
a figure with his back to him, on altering
the position of his own plaid if the
figure appeared with its plaid similarly
arranged the vision regarded the seer
himself.

SEC'RET ARY, an officer whose duty it
is to write letters and other instruments,
for and under the orders and authority
of a public body or an individual.
Secretary of State, an officer who trans-
acts and superintends the affairs of a par-
ticular department of government. In
Great Britain, there are three principal
secretaries of state. In this country, the
secretary of state conducts treaties with
foreign powers, and corresponds with the
public ministers abroad, and foreign
ministers of the United States. He also
keeps the seal of the United States, but
cannot use it without the authority of
| the president.

SECT, a collective term for a body of
! persons adhering to some philosophical
I or religious system, but constituting a
I distinct party by holding sentiments dif-
ferent from those of other men. Most

546

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[SL

seels have originated in a particular per-
son, who taught and propagated some
peculiar notions in philosophy or religion,
and who is considered to have been its
founder.

SECTA'RIAN, one of a party in reli-
gion which has separated itself from the
established church, or which holds tenets
different from those of the prevailing
denomination in a kingdom or state.

SEC'TION, in general, denotes a dis-
tinct part or portion of something which
is divided, or the division itself. Such
are the subdivisions of a chapter, called
also paragraphs and articles. In archi-
tectural drawings, the word section is ap-
plied to the view of an edifice cut down
the middle for the purpose of exhibiting
the interior, and describing the height,
breadth, thickness, of wall, arches, domes,
&c. The drawings relative to an archi-
tectural work cannot be said to be com-
plete, unless they comprise plan, eleva-
tion, and section. 9

SEC'ULAR, something that is tempo-
ral, in which sense the word stands oppos-
ed to ecclesiastical : thus we say, secular
power, secular jurisdiction, &c. Among
Catholics, secular is more peculiarly used
for an ecclesiastic who lives at liberty in
the world, not confined to a monastery,
nor bound by vows, or subjected to the
particular rules of any religious com-
munity ; in which sense it stands opposed
to regular. Thus we say, the secular
clergy, and the regular clergy. The act
of rendering secular the property of the
clergy, is called secularization.

SEC'ULAR GAMES, in antiquity,
solemn games held among the Romans
once in an age or century. They lasted
three days and three nights, during
which time sacrifices were performed,
theatrical shows exhibited, with combats,
.sports. <fcc., in the circus. The first who
had them celebrated at Rome was Vale-
rius Publicolo, the first consul created
after the expulsion of the kings. At the
time of the celebration of the secular
games, heralds were sent throughout all
the empire, to intimate that every one
might come and see those solemnities
which he never yet had seen, nor would
ever see again.

SECULARIZATION, in politics, the
appropriation of church property to sec-
ular uses. In most European states
such appropriations have taken place on
a great scale within the last century. In
England, the only great secularization
has been that made under Henry VIII.

SECUN'DUM AR'TEM, (Lat) accord-

ing to the rules of art. In medicine, a
term frequently used in prescriptions, to
denote that the recipe must be made up
with particular care. Secundum na-
turam, according to the course of nature.

SECUTO'RES, in antiquity, a descrip-
tion of gladiators among the Romans,
who fought against the retiarii. The
secutores were artned with a sword and a
buckler, to keep off the net or noose of
their antagonists, and they also wore a
casque. This name was also given to
such gladiators as took the place of those
killed in the combat, or who fought the
conqueror.

SE DEFENDEN'DO, in law, a plea
used for one who is charged with the
death of another, by alleging that he
was under a necessity of committing the
act in his own defence.

SEDI'TION, in polities, an opposition
to the laws, or the administration of jus-
tice, and in disturbance of the public
peace. In general, it signifies a local or
limited opposition to civil authority ; a
commotion of less extent than an insur-
rection, and consequently less than re-
bellion.

SEE, the name usually given to the
diocess of a bishop in England. It was
originally applied exclusively to the
papal chair at Rome ; but it has long
been used in its present wide significa-
tion.

SEIGN'IORAGE,- a royal right or
prerogative of the king or queen regnant
of England, by which they claim an al-
lowance of gold and silver brought in the
mass to be exchanged for coin. A lord
of a manor is sometimes styled a seignior,
and the lordship a seigniory.

SE'IZIN, or SE'ISIN, in law, posses-
sion. Seizin in fact, or deed, is actual
or corporal possession ; seizin in law, is
when something is done which the law
accounts possession or seizin, as enrol-
ment ; or when lands descend to an heir,
but he has not yet entered on them. In
this case the law considers the heir as
seized of the estate, and the person who
^wrongfully enters on the land is accounted
a disseizor.

SELEU'CID^I, a term in chronology
designating a particular era. The era
of the Seleucidse, or the Syro-Macedonian
era, is a computation of time, com-
mencing from the establishment of the
Seleueidaa, a race of Greek kings, who
reigned as successors of Alexander the
Great, in Syria, as the Ptolemies did in
Egypt. This era we find expressed in
the book of the Maccabees, and OH a

SEN]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

547

great number of Greek medals, struck by
the cities of Syria, &c. The Kabbins call
it the era of contracts : and the Arabs
the era of tho two horns. According to
the best accounts, the first year of this
era falls in the year 312 before Christ,
being about eleven or twelve years after
Alexander's death.

SELF-COMMAND', that steady equa-
nimity which enables a man in every
situation to exert his reasoning faculty
with coolness, and to do what the exist-
ing circumstances require. It depends
much upon the natural temperament of
the body, and much upon the moral cul-
tivation of the mind ; and he who from
his early youth has been accustomed to
muke his passions submit to his reason,
will, in any sudden emergency, be more
capable of acting with a cool and steady
resolution, than he who has tamely
yielded to or allowed himself to bo con-
trolled by the influence of his passions.

SELF-KNOWL'EDGE. a difficult but
most important acquisition. It is difficult,
because every man is more or less
blinded by some fallacy peculiar to him-
self, and it is disagreeable to investigate
our errors, our faults, and our vices. But
these difficulties are more than counter-
balanced by the advantages of self-
knowledge. By knowing the extent of
our abilities, we shall be restrained from
rashly engaging in enterprises beyond
our ability ; by investigating our opin-
ions, we may discover those which are
based upon false principles ; and by
examining our virtues and vices, we
shall learn what principles ought to be
strengthened, and what habits or propen-
sities ought to be abandoned.

SELF-LOVE, an instinctive principle
in the human mind which impels every
rational creature to preserve his life, and
promote his own happiness. It is very
generally confounded with selfishness,
but their springs of action and their
results are very different; for selfishness
is the parent and nurse of every vice,
while self-love only prompts him who is
actuated by it to procure to himself the
greatest possible sum of happiness during
his whole existence.

SEL'LING OUT, among stockbrokers,
a transfer of one's share of stock from
one person to another, in distinction from
buying in, which is the purchase of the
stock held by another.

SEM'IBllEVE, in music, the measure
note by which all others are regulated.
It contains the time of two minims,
which are divided either into four

crotchets, eight quavers, sixteen semi-
quavers, or thirty-two demi-semiquavers.

SEM'ICOLON, in grammar and punc-
tuation, the point ( ; ) the mark of a
pause to be observed in reading, of less
duration than the colon, double the dura-
tion of the comma, or half the duration
of the period. It is used to distinguish
the conjunct members of a sentence.

SEMI-DIAPA'SON, in music, a de-
fective octave, or an octave diminished
by a minor semitone.

SEM'INAilY, any place of education,
in which young persons are instructed in
the several branches of learning.

SEMI-PELA'GIANS, a sect of Chris-
tians, who hold that God has not by pre-
destination dispensed his grace to one
more than to another; that Christ died
for all men ; that the grace purchased by
Christ and necessary to salvation, is of-
fered to all men ; that man, before he re-
ceives grace, is capable of faith and holy
desires; and that man being born free, is
capable of accepting grace, or of resisting
its influence.

SEMIQUAVER, in music, a note of
half the duration of the quaver, being the
sixteenth of tho semibreve.

SEMITIC LAN'GUAGES, one of the
great families of languages. They have
been divided thus : 1. Ar.imEean. (in the
north,) including Eastern and Western
Aramaean ; the Eastern embraces the As-
syrian, the Babylonian, from which seve-
! ral dialects originated, as the Chaldaic,
the Syro-Chaldaic ; and the Samaritan.
The Western Aramaean includes the Sy-
riac dialect, the Palmyrene, and the Sa-
bian idiom, a corrupted Syriac dialect. 2.
Canaanitish languages, which comprise
the Phoenician language, with its dia-
lect the Punic, the Hebrew with the Rab-
i binic dialect. 3. The Arabic language,
from which originated the Ethiopian or
Abyssinian.

SEM'ITONE, in music, half a tone;
an interval of sound, as between mi and
fa, in the diatonic scale, which is only half
the distance of the interval between ut
and re, or sol and la. A semitone, strict-
ly speaking, is not half a tone, as there
are three kinds of semitones ; greater,
lesser, and natural.

SEM'I-VOWEL, in grammar, a half
vowel, or an articulation which is accom-
panied with an imperfect sound; as, el,
em, en, which, though uttered with close
organs, do not wholly interrupt the
sounds.

SEN'ATE. an assembly or council of
senators : that is, a body of the principal

548

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[SEN

inhabitants of a state, invested with a
share in the government. The senate of
ancient Komo was, of all others, the most
celebrated : it appointed judges, either
from among the senators or knights, to
determine processes ; it also appointed
governors of provinces, and disposed of
the revenues of the commonwealth, Ac.
Yet the whole sovereign power did not
reside in the senate, since it could not
elect magistrates, make laws, or decide
on war and peace ; in all which cases the
senate was obliged to consult the people.
One of the qualifications of a senator was
the possession of property to the amount
of 80,000 sesterces, about 7000J. In
many republican constitutions of modern
times, the upper house of the national as-
sembly has been so called. The senate
of the United States is composed of two
members for each state of the Union.
The senators are chosen by the state for
six years. The American senate, besides
its legislative functions, is also a species
of executive council, assisting the presi-
dent ; its consent being necessary for the
ratification of treaties, appointment of
ambassadors, judges of the supreme court,
heads of departments in the administra-
tion, &c. It is also the high court of im-
peachment for public functionaries. Sen-
ate-kouse, a building in which the senate
meets, or a place of public council. Sen-
ate, in the university of Cambridge, is
equivalent to the convocation at Oxford,
and consists of all masters of arts, and
higher graduates, being masters of arts,
who have each a voice in every public
measure, in granting degrees, in electing
members of parliament, a chancellor, &c.

SENA'TUS AUCTOR'ITAS, a vote of
the Komau senate, drawn up in the same
form as a decree, but without its force, as
having been prevented from passing into
a decree by some of the tribunes of the
people.

SENA'TUS CONSUL'TUM, a decree
of the Roman senate, pronounced on some
question or point of law ; which, when
passed, made a part of the law.

SEN'ESCIIAL, an officer in the houses
of princes and dignitaries, who has the
superintendence of feasts and public cer-
emonies. In some instances, the senes-
chal is an officer who has the dispensing
of justice, as the high seneschal of Eng-
land, &o.

SENSE, the faculty of the soul by
which it perceives external objects by
means of impressions made on certain or-
gans of the body. The external organs of
sense are usually classed under five heads,

viz. those of sight, hearing, feeling, smell,
and taste. The nerves and the brain are
the organs of sensation. If the external
organ be destroyed, no sensation can be
produced : where there are no nerves
there is no sensation : where the nervous
branches are most numerous there is
most sensation ; if the nerve be destroyed,
sensation cannot be produced from those
parts to which the nerve belongs, which
are further from the brain than the in-
jured parts. All the nerves terminate in
the brain. If the brain is compressed,
sensation is suspended : if the brain is
considerably injured, sensation ceases.
Sensations are the rudiments and ele-
ments of our ideas, that is, of all our
thoughts and feelings. In the earliest
exercise of the sensatdve power, sensa-
tions are simple, uncompounded with the
relics of former corresponding sensations :
but the sensations soon become percep-
tions ; that is, they instantaneously recall
the relics of other corresponding sensa-
tions. The accuracy and extent of the
perception depends on the vividness and
efficaciousness of the compound sensa-
tions, and the number of them received
from the same or similar objects in differ-
ent situations, and through the medium
of different senses. The object therefore
of earlier education should be to invigo-
rate the organs of sense. Common sense
is that power of the mind which, by a
kind of instinct, or a short process of rea-
soning, perceives truth, the relation of
things, cause and effect, &c., and hence
enables the possessor to discern what is
right and expedient, and adopt the best
means to accomplish his purpose. Moral
sense implies, a determination of the
mind to be pleased with those affections,
actions or characters of rational agents,
which are considered good and conducive
to virtue.

SENSIBIL'ITY. acuteness of percep-
tion, or that quality of the mind which
renders it susceptible of impressions ;
delicacy of feeling; as sensibility to
pleasure or pain, shame or praise.

SEN'SUALISM, in mental philoso-
phy, that theory which resolves all our
mental acts and intellectual powers into
various modifications of mere sensation.
The best known, and the most elaborate
attempt of this kind which has been
made in modern times, is that of Con-
dillac, who conceived that he was follow-
ing out the principles of Locke into their
legitimate consequences. For this belief
it cannot be denied that there exists at
least plausible ground. Locke does in-

SEP

AND THE FINE ARTS.

549

deed draw a distinction between sensa-
tion and reflection, as separate sources
of " ideas :" but his account of reflection
is so vague, and its existence apparently
so unsupported in his system, as to
justify the attempt to reduce it to mere
revived sensation. The writings of Con-
dillac may be regarded as a fair reductio
ad absurdum of the theory which at-
tempts to explain the existence of our
mental phenomena independently of con-
ditions in the mind itself. The theory
opposed to sensualism is called intellect-
ualism.

_ SEN'TENCE, in law, a judicial deci-
sion publicly and officially declared in a
criminal prosecution. In civil cases, the
decision of a court is called ^judgment.
In grammar, a number of words con-
taining complete sense, and followed by
a full pause ; a period.

SEN'TIMENT, in its primary sense,
signifies a thought prompted by passion
or feeling. Also, the decision of the
inind, formed by deliberation or reason-
ing. Sentiments, in poetry, and espe-
cially dramatic, are the thoughts which
the several persons express, whether
they relate to matters of opinion, pas-
sion, &c.

SEN'ZA, in music, signifies without;
as senza stromenti, without instruments ;
con e senza violini, with and without
violins.

SEPARATISTS, a religious sect
which originated in Dublin about the
year 1803. Their principle, like that of
most sects at their commencement, was
to return more nearly to what they con-
ceived to be the primitive form of Chris-
tianity. There is nothing very peculiar
in their tenets, beyond their withdrawal
from the fellowship of other Christian
bodies. In the year 1833 an act of par-
liament was passed for their relief in the
matter of oaths.

SE'POYS, the name given to the
Hindoo or native troops in the service
of the East India Company, of whom
there are nearly 200,000, chiefly infantry,
though there are several regiments of
cavalry and some companies of artillery.
They are all disciplined after the Euro-
pean manner, and are hardy, temperate,
and subordinate. Their dress consists of
a red jacket, with a white cotton vest,
trowsers reaching only half-way down
the thighs, and a light turban. The
character of the Sepoys as soldiers has
been the subject of much discussion. Ac-
cording to a modern writer, "the Sepoys
have justly been celebrated for excellent

qualities; as, for instance, patience and
fortitude under difficulties and priva-
tions. But, on the other hand, if we
analyze the account of the wars in which
they have been employed, we shall find
that they seem to possess passive rather
than active courage ; for instance, that
in line they will remain steady under
fire ; in a broken or close country, how-
ever, where skirmishers and small de-
tachments are necessarily most employed,
'they are found wanting." Others, how-
ever, disagree even from this modified
dispraise.

SEPT, in Irish history, a clan, race, or
family, proceeding from a common pro-
genitor.

SEPTEM'BER, so called from its be-
ing the seventh month in the Roman year
as established by Romulus, which began
with March, is the ninth month in the
calendar of Nurna. Several of the Roman
emperors gave names to this month in
honor of themselves ; but, unlike the
month of August, whose ancient name of
Sextilis has been quite merged in that of
Augustus, the name of September has out-
lived every other appellation.

SEPTEM'BRISTS, the name given to
the agents in the dreadful massacre which
took place in Paris on September 2, 1792,
during the French Revolution. The num-
bers that perished in this massacre have
been variously given ; but the term has
become proverbial throughout Europe
for all that is bloodthirsty and malignant
in human nature.

SEPTEN'NIAL, happening or return-
ing every seven years, as septennial par-
liaments, i. e. new parliaments chosen
j every seven years, as they are at present
appointed in England.

SEPTEN'TRION, or SEPTEN'TRI-
ON AL, pertaining to the north or north-
ern regions of the globe.

SEPTUAGES'IMA, in the calendar,

the third Sunday before Lent, or before

Quadragesima Sunday : supposed to take

its name from being about seventy days

' before Easter.

SEP'TUAGINT, a Greek version of the
books of the Old Testament, so called be-
cause the translation is supposed to luivn
, been made by seventy-two Jews, who, for
the sake of round numbers, are usually
called the seventy interpreters. This
; translation is said to have been made at
the request of Ptolemy Philadelphia,
king of Egypt, about 280 years before the
birth of Christ. It was in use in the time
of our Saviour, and is that out of which
all the citations in the New Testament

550

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[8KB

from the Old are taken. It was also the
ordinary and canonical translation made
use of by the Christian church in the ear-
liest ages ; and it still subsists in the
churches both of the east and west. It is
however observable, that the chronology
of the Septuagint makes fifteen hundred
years more from the creation to Abraham,
than the present Hebrew copies of the
Bible.

SEP'ULCHRE, a place destined for the
interment of the dead. This term is
chiefly used in speaking of the burying
places of the ancients, those of the mod-
erns being usually called tombs. Sepul-
chres were held sacred and inviolable,
and the care taken of them has always
been held a religious duty. Those who
have searched or violated them, have been
thought odious by all nations, and were
always severely punished. The Egyp-
tians called sepulchres eternal houses, in
contradistinction to their ordinary houses
or palaces, which they called inns, on ac-
count of their short stay or pilgrimage on
earth. The sepulchres of the Hebrews
in general were hollow places dug out of
rocks. Thus Abraham is said to bury
Sarah his wife in the cave of Macpelah.
In such sepulchres, also, the bodies of
Lazarus and Jesus Christ were buried.
And the same custom prevails in the East
to this day, according to the account of
modern travellers. Knights of the holy
Sepulchre, a military order, established
in Palestine about the year 1114.

SEPULTU'RA, in archaeology, an of-
fering made to the priest for the burial
of the dead body.

SE'QUENCE, in music, a regular suc-
cession of similar sounds. In gaming, a
set of cards immediately following each
other, in the same suit, as a king, queen,
knave, &c. ; thus we say, a sequence of
three, four, or five cards.

SEQUESTRA'TION, in law, the act
of taking a thing, in controversy, from
the possession of both parties till the
right be determined b}' course of law.
In the civil law, the act of the ordinary,
disposing of the goods and chattels of a
person deceased, whose estate no one will
meddle wirh.

SE'QUIN, or ZE CHIN, a gold coin of
Venice and Turkey, of different values in
different places, but generally about 9s.

SERAG'LIO, a Persian word, signify-
ing the palace of a prince or lord ; but
the term is used, by way of eminence, for
the palace of the Grand Seignior at Con-
stantinople, and all the officers and de-
pendents of his court ; and in it is trans-

! acted all the business of the government.
j In this building are also kept the females
of the harem.

SERAI', a large building for the ac-
commodation of travellers, common in
the East. In Turkey they are called
khans; in Persia, caravanserais, which
we write caravansaries ; but in Tartary
and India, simply serais.

SER'APH, a spirit of the highest rank
in the hierarchy of angels; thus called
from their being supposed to be most in-
flamed with divine love, or holy zeal,
owing to their more immediate attend-
ance at the throne of God. The Hebrew
plural is seraphim : the English plural
is regularly formed (seraphs.)

SERA'PIS, an Egyptian deity. The
image and worship of this go<i were
brought from Sinope in Pontus, to Alex-
andria, in the last year of Ptolemy Soter,
in consequence, it is said, of a vision of
Ptolemy I. According to some accounts,
this image was a statue of Jupiter ; but
however this may have been, Serapis was
clearly, as Sir G. Wilkinson expresses it,
" at most a Grreco-Egyptian deity,"
And there is no foundation for the notion
entertained by some early Christian
fathers, that he represented the patriarch
Joseph, (which they supported by an ar-
gument drawn from the ornament in the
shape of a bushel, which the images of
this god usually bore on the head ;) or for
that of some modern antiquaries, that it
was another name for Apis.

SERAS'KIER, a Turkish general or
commander of land forces.

SERENADE', signified originally mu-
sic performed in the open air. on a serene
evening ; but it is now universally ap-
plied to a musical performance made by
gentlemen in a spirit of gallantry under
the windows of ladies whom they admire.
This practice, which was formerly very
general in Spain and Italy, has latterly
fallen greatly into disuse in these coun-
tries : but it is still very common in the
German university towns, where the stu-
dents are in the habit of assembling in
the evening under the windows of a fa-
vorite professor, and offering him a musi-
cal tribute.

SERENE' HIGH'NESS, a title of
courtesy in European etiquette of con-
siderable antiquity. Before the dissolu-
tion of the German empire, Serene and
Most Serene Highness were the appro-
priate addresses of princely houses hold-
ing immediately of the empire. Since
that period the rules of princely etiquette
have become more uncertain.

SEVJ

AND THE FINE ARTS.

551

SERF, a servant, or as is the case in
some couutries, a peasant slave, attached
to tho soil and transferred with it.

SEJR'GEANT, in military affairs, a
non-commissioned officer in a company
of infantry or troop of cavalry, whose
duty is to order and form the ranks, and
see discipline preserved. Sergeant-at-
law, in England, a barrister who usually
pleads in the court of common-pleas, but
who is allowed to plead also in other
courts. Every judge must first bo a ser-
geant-at-law. Sergeant-at-arms, or at
mace, an officer appointed to attend the
person of the sovereign, arrest persons of
quality that offend, &c. A similar ser-
geant attends the lord chancel lor ; a third
the speaker of the house of commons;
and a fourth, the lord mayor of London,
on solemn occasions. Common sergeant
an officer of the city of London, who at-
tends the lord mayor and court of alder-
men on court days, and is in council with
them on all occasions. He is, more par-
ticularly, to take care of the orphan's
estates. Sergeantry, in the old English
law, is of two kinds. Grand sergeantry,
is a kind of knight service, by which the
tenant was bound to do some special hon-
orary service to the king in person, as
to carry his banner or sword, or be his
champion at his coronation, &c. Petit
sergeantry was a tenure by which the
tenant was bound to render to the king
annually some small implement of war,
as a bow, a sword, a lance, &c.

SER'MON, in ecclesiastical usage. The
use of the sermon or homily as a portion
of the communion service is said to be of
remote antiquity. This ancient custom
fell into partial disuse during a great
part of the middle ages. The homilies
of Elfric, archbishop of Canterbury, in
the 10th century, were long used in the
English church ; but these became anti-
quated ; and in the year 1281, preaching
seems to have been generally omitted.
In that year archbishop Pcckham order-
ed in his Constitutions, that four sermons
should be delivered during the year.
But for some time prior to the Reforma-
tion preaching was again coming more
into use ; and the publication of homilies
by authority, seems to have completely
restored the ancient practice. See HOM-
ILY.

SER'VICE, in a general sense, labor,
whether of body or mind, or of both unit-
ed, performed in pursuance of duty, or at
the command of a superior. The service
of persons who spontaneously perform
something for another's benefit, is termed

voluntary, and that of those who work by
compulsion involuntary service. Public
worship is termed, divine service. The
duty which a tenant owes to his lord for
his fee, is called personal service. The
word service is also applied to the duty
of naval or military men when serving
their country ; as home service, foreign
service, limited service, &c. Various le-
gal processes are also distinguished by
the term service, as the service of Aicrit,
an attachment, an execution, &c.

SER'VITOR, a poor scholar at Oxford,
answering to a sizer at Cambridge, who
attends on other students for his mainte-
nance and learning. *

SES'QUI, in music, a whole and a half;
which, joined with altera, terza, quarta,
&c., is much used in the Italian music to
express a set of ratios, particularly the
several'species of triple time.

SES'SION, in law, a sitting of justices
in court upon their commission, as the
session oyer and termincr, &c. The ses-
sion of a judicial court is called a term :
thus a court may have two sessions or
four sessions annually. The term sessions,
or quarter sessions, is applied to those
quarterly meetings of justices of the
peace, when minor offences are tried, or
business performed which requires the
sanction of two or more justices. Session
of Congress, the season and space be-
tween its meeting and its adjournment.

SES'TERCE, in antiquity, a Roman
coin, the fourth part of a denarius in
value, or about twopence. The sester-
tiuni, or sestertium pondus, was 250 de-
narii ; about $35. One qualification of a
Roman knight was the possession of es-
tate of the value of four hundred thou-
sand sesterces ; that of a senator was dou-
ble this sum.

SET'-OFF, is a term used in law, when
the defendant acknowledges the plaintiff's
demand, but makes a demand of his own,
to set-off or counterbalance the debt
either wholly or in part.

SETTLEMENT, in law, the right
which an individual acquires to parochial
assistance, under the statutes for the re-
lief of the poor, in that parish or district
to which he legally belongs, and in whi<;h
he is said to have the settlement.

SEVENTH, in music, an interval ;
whereof there are four species. First, the
defective seventh, consisting of three
tones and three greater semitones. Sec-
ond, the minor seventh, consisting of
seven degrees and six intervals, diatoni-
cally taken ; four being tones, and the
rest greater semitones. Third, the major

552

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

SHA

seventh, being only a major semitone less
than the octave. Fourth, the extreme
sharp seventh, which is only a comma
less than the octave.

SEVEN YEARS' WAR, in history, a
war carried on 'in Germany between two
alliances, headed respectively by Austria
and Prussia, from the year 1756 to 1763,
when it was ended by the peace of Hu-
bertsburg. It was signalized chiefly by
the extraordinary campaigns of Frederick
II., the Great King of Prussia. His prin-
cipal ally throughout the struggle was
England ; while he was, at one period,
assailed by the forces of Austria. France,
the Empire, Sweaen, and Russia. When
the forces of the Prussian sovereign had
been almost annihilated by this coalition,
the death of the Russian empress. Eliza-
beth, caused the withdrawal of Russia
from the alliance of his enemies, and
brought about the termination of the war
without material advantages gained by
any party.

SEWER, in architecture, a subterra-
neous conduit, or channel, to receive and
carry off the superfluous water and filth
of a city. The sewers of Rome have been
the models of those of the modern cities
of Europe. They are as old as the elder
Tarquin. These cloaca: had, between the
Quirinal, Capitoline, and Palatine hills,
many branches, which, joining in the Fo-
rum, now the Campo Vaccino, were re-
ceived for conveyance into the Tiber by a
larger one called the cloaca maxima. It
must be admitted, however, that it is er-
roneous to designate the Roman cloacae
by the term sewers. They were rather
drains, made to cjarry off the stagnant
water of the pestilential marshes which
occupied much of the low ground near
the Tiber, and the spaces between the
Aventine. Palatine, and Capitoline hills.
The height and width of the cloaca max-
ima are equal, each measuring 13 1-2
feet.

SEXAGES'IMA, the second Sunday
before Lent, or the next to Shrove Sun-
day : so called as being about the 60th
day before Easter.

SEXHIX'DENI, or SEX'HINDMEN,
in Anglo-Saxon history, the middle
thanes, who were rated at 600 shillings.

SEX'TAIN, in poetry, a stanza con-
taining six verses.

SEXTARY-LANDS, in law, lands
given to a church or religious house for
the maintenance of the sexton or sac-
ristan.

SEXTI'LIS, the sixth month of Rom-
ulus's year, but the eighth of the year

of Numa. It was vinder the protection of
Ceres, and was afterwards called August,
in honor of Augustus.

SEX'TON, an under officer of the
church, whose business it is to take care
of the vessels, vestments, Ac. belonging
to the church, and to attend the officiat-
ing clergyman, and perform other duties
pertaining to the church. He was an-
ciently called the sacristan.

SFORZA'TO, in music, an Italian term
signifying that the note over which it is
placed must be struck with force.

SFUMA'TO, in painting. This term is
applied to the species of painting in which
the tints are extremely smooth and
blended, so as to present that sort of in-
definite contour and outline displayed by
natural appearances on a misty day. or
at a considerable distance. This style, in
the hands of a master, is very agreeable
and harmonious. Perhaps Guercino has
seized its true spirit better than any other
artist of celebrity.

SGRAFIT'TO, in painting, a species
of painting in which the ground is pre-
pared with dark stucco, on which a white
coat is applied ; which last being re-
moved with an iron instrument, the
chipping it away opens to the black
ground and forms the shadows, giving it
the appearance of a chiaro-scuro paint-
ing. The principal pictures of Polidoro
da Caravaggio are executed in this man-
ner, which is capable of great effect, and
is extremely durable, though it must be
conceded the appearance is rather harsh.

SHAB'RACK, a military term, of
Hungarian origin, used for the cloth
furniture of a cavalry officer's troop-
horse or charger.

SHAD'OW, in painting, Ac. Shadow
must not be confounded with obscurity ;
the latter being an entire privation of
light, whilst the former is merely a gra-
dation of it, the parties in shade being
still radiated by the light dispersed
through the air. According to Felibien,
it may be regarded simply as a light
cloud covering the bodies and depriving
them of the stronger brilliancy without
rendering their colors and shapes imper-
ceptible. It is requisite, in a picture,
that there should be different modifica-
tions of shadow, as operated on by situa-
tion and surrounding objects. The di-
rection of the shades should be diagonal,
and the effects triangular, like those of
lights. The progression of the latter, in
fact, should serve as a model for the
former, to the end that the chiaro-scuro
should be well and naturally balanced.

SHE]

AND -THE FINE ARTS.

553

SHAFT, in architecture, that part of a
column between the base and capital,
sometimes called the trunk of the
column. The shaft of a column always
diminishes io OJirneter from about a
third of itL height. Sometimes it has a
slight swelling in the lower part of its
height. In the oldest Doric columns, the
diminution was so considerable as to give
the column a conical appearance. In
the Doric edifices at Athens, the upper
diameter is not more than a quarter loss
than the lower diameter.

SHAH, the title given by European
writers to the monarch of Persia, who in
his own country is designated by the
compound appellation of Padishah, which
see.

SHAH-NAMAH, the most ancient and
celebrated poem in the modern Persian
language, by the poet who received as a
title of honor the name " Firdousi," by
which he is known. Its date is supposed
to be about A. D. 1000. A complete
translation into English, in four volumes,
was published by Captain Macan, Cal-
cutta, 1829.

SHAKE, in music, an embellishment,
consisting of an alternate reiteration of
two notes, comprehending an interval
not greater than one whole tone, nor less
than a semitone.

SHA'KERS, in ecclesiastical history, a
sect said to have originated by a secession
from the body of Quakers, in 1747) in
Lancashire ; who received their nick-
name from the peculiar contortions of
body which .they adopted in their re-
ligious exercises. Anne Lee, the great
female leader of this sect, joined the
society in 1758 ; and, considering herself
persecuted in England,'went, with a few
followers, to New York in 1774, and died
ten years afterwards, at which time her
sect had made great progress in America.
She was considered as the woman spoken
of in Revelations. Several flourishing
establishments of this sect exist in vari-
ous parts of the United States.

SHA'MANISM, a general name ap-
plied to the idolatrous religions of a num-
ber of barbarous tribes, comprehending
those of Finnish race, the Ostiaks,
Samojeds, and other inhabitants of Si-
beria as far as the Pacific Ocean. These
nations generally believe in a Supreme
Being, but to whom they attribute little
share in the immediate government of
the world : this is in the hands of a num-
ber of secondary gods, both benevolent
and malevolent towards men. They ap-
pear to have very uncertain and fluetua-

' ting opinions respecting these last. Thus,
those tribes which dwell on the frontier
of Russia are said *o admit Saint Nicho-
las among their gods.

SHAM'ROCK, the Irish name for
three-leaved grass, or trefoil. According
to legendary tradition, when St. Patrick
landed near Wicklow, to convert the
Irish, in 433, the pagan inhabitants were
about to stone him ; but having obtained
a hearing, he endeavored to explain to
them the Trinity in Unity ; but they
could not understand him, till, plucking
a trefoil from the ground, he said, " Is it
not as possible for the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, aa for these leaves, to grtjw
upon a single stalk?" Upon which (says
the legend) the Irish were immediately
convinced.

SHARP'ING, in archaeology, a cus-
tomary present of corn made about Christ-
mas, by farmers in some part of England
to the smiths for sharpening their iron
implements of husbandry.

SHAS'TER, among the Hindoos, a
sacred book containing the dogmas of the
religion of the Bramins and the cere-
monies of their worship. It consists of
three 1 parts: the first containing the moral
laws of the Hindoos ; the second the rites
and ceremonies of their religion ; the
third the distribution of the people into
tribes or classes, with the duties per-
taining to each.

SHAWM, in antiquity, an instrument
used in the sacred music of the Hebrews.

SHEATHING, in naval architecture,
sheets of copper nailed all over the out-
side of a ship's bottom, to protect the
planks from the pernicious effects of
worms.

SHEIK, an elder or chief of the Ara-
bic tribes or hordes. 'They are very
proud of their long line of noble ances-
tors ; and some of them also take the
title of emir. The Mohammedans also
call the heads of their monasteries sheiks,
and the Turkish mufti is sometimes
called sheik ulislam, or chief of the true
believers.

SHE'KEL, a Jewish silver coin, worth
about (524 cents. There was also the
golden shekel, worth $9.

SHEKI'NAH, the Jewish name for the
Divine presence, which rested, in the
shape of a cloud, over the " propitiatory,"
or " mercy-seat," as it is rendered in our
translation. The Jews reckon it among
the five particulars which were in the
first temple, and wanting in the second.
On this account God is so often said in
Scripture to " dwell between the cheru-

554

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[SHI

bitn ;" that is, between the images of the
cherubim on the mercy-seat.

SHEMIT'IC, an epithet for anything
pertaining to Shein, the son of Noah.
What are termed the Shemitic languages
are the Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, Hebrew,
Samaritan, Ethiopia, and the old Phoeni-
cian.

SHERIFF, an officer appointed in each
county, to execute process, preserve the
peace, and give assistance to justices and
others in doing so. In England, during
his office, which is but for a year, he is
the first man in his county, and has at
his disposal the whole civil force of that
county, so as to enable him to preserve
rtie peace. He only executes in person
such parts of his office as are either
purely honorary, or are of some dignity
and public importance, his other func-
tions being performed by a deputy or
under sheriff.

SHEW'-BREAD, in the Jewish rites,
the loaves of unleavened bread which the
priest placed on the golden table in the
sanctuary. They were shaped like a
brick, and weighed about S Ibs. The
loaves were twelve in number, represent-
ing the twelve tribes of Israel ; and were
to be eaten by the priest only.

SHIB'BOLETU, the name given to a
sort of test or criterion by which the an-
cient Jews sought to distinguish true
persons or things from false. The term
originated thus: After the battle gained
by Tephtha over the Ephraimites, the
Gileadites commanded by the former se-
cured all the passes of the river : and on
an Ephraimite attempting to cross, they
asked him it' he was of Ephraim. If he
said no, they bade him pronounce the
word Skibboleth, which the Ephraimites
from inability to give the aspirate called
Sibboletk ; and by this means he was de-
tected and instantly thrown into the river.
In modern times this word has been
adopted into the language of politics, in
which it signifies those political opinions
on which all the members of a party are
agreed, or the watchword by which it is
intended to unite them.

SHIELD, a broad piece of defensive
armor, formerly borne on the left arm,
as a defence against arrows, darts, lances,
and other weapons. The shields of the
ancients were of different shapes and
sizes, and generally made of leather, or
wood covered with leather. The surface,
or as it is called in heraldry, the.^eW, of
the shieM, or escutcheon, appears to have
been in all ages decorated with figures
emblematical or historical, serving to ex-

press the sentiments, record the honors,
or at least distinguish the person of the
warrior.

SUI'ITES, that class of the Moham-
medans to which the Persians belong. '
They reject the three first caliphs, and
consider Ali as being the only rightful
successor of Mohammed. They do not ac-
knowledge the Sunna, or body of tradi-
tions respecting Mohammed, as any part
of the law, and on these accounts are
treated as heretics by the Sunnites, or
orthodox Mohammedans.

SHIL'LING, an English silver coin,
equal in value to twelve pence. The
word is supposed, by some, to be derived
from the Latin silicas, which signifies a
quarter of an ounce, or the 48th part of a
Koman pound. In support of this ety-
mology, it is alleged that the Saxon shil-
ling was also the 43th part of the Saxon
pound.

SHI P'-B U I L D I N G, the practical
branch of naval architecture, or the art
of constructing vessels for navigation,
particularly ships and other vessels of a
large kind, bearing masts ; in distinction
from boat-building. To give an idea of
the enormous quantity of timber neces-
sary to construct a ship of war, we may
observe that 2,000 tons, or 3,000 loads,
are computed to be required for a seven-
ty-four. Now, reckoning fifty oaks to the
acre, of 100 years' standing, and the quan-
tity in each tree at a load and a half, it
would require forty acres of oak-forest to
build one seventy-four ; and the quantity
increases in a great ratio, for the largest
class of line-of-battle ships. A first-rate
man-of-war requires about 60,000 cubic
feet of timber, and uses 180,000 pounds
of rough hemp, ip the cordage and sails
for it. The average duration of these
vast machines, when employed, is com-
puted to be fourteen years. Ship-build-
ing made but very slow progress until the
introduction of the compass, when the
application of astronomy to nautical pur-
suits at once set the mariner free irom
the land. Thenceforward the mariner,
thrown upon the wide ocean, was brought
into contact with unknown perils, to ob-
viate which he was led to untried experi-
ments. The art has since strode forward
with giant steps. To the Italians. Cata-
lans, and Portuguese, belong most of the
advances in the earlier days of its revival;
the Spaniards followed up the discovery
of the new world with a rapid improve-
ment in the form and size of their ships,
some of which, taken by the cruisers of
Elizabeth, carried 2000 tons. In modern

SIB]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

555

times, to Great Britain, France, .and the
United States belongs the credit of the
progress made in this important branch
of art. See Ct/cl. Useful. Arts.

SHIP'-MONEY, in English history,
an ancient impost upon the ports, towns,
cities, boroughs, and counties of the realm,
for providing ships for the king's service.
This demand was Revived by Charles I.
in the year 1635 and 1636 ; being laid by
the king's writ under the great seal, with-
out the consent of parliament, was held
to be contrary to the laws and statutes
of the realm, and subsequently abolished.

SHIP'S-PA'PERS, certain papers or
documents, descriptive of the ship, its
owners, the nature of the cargo, &c.
They consist 1st, of the certificate of
registry, license, charter-party, bills of
lading, bill of health, &c. which are re-
quired by law of the country ; and 2dly, of
those documents required by the law of
nations to be on board neutral ships, to
vindicate their title to that character.

SHIRE, in English topography, the
same with county. The word, which was
originally spelt scir or scire, signifies a
division. Alfred is said to have made
those divisions, which he called satrapias,
and which took the name of counties, after
earls, comites, or counts were set over
them. He also subdivided the satrapias
into centuries or hundreds; and these
into decennas, or tenths of hundreds,
now called tithings.

SHIRE-MOTE, the ancient name in
England for the county court.

SHIT'TIM-WOOD, in Scripture, a
kind of precious wood of which the tables,
altars, and boards of the tabernacle were
made. The wood is said to be hard,
smooth, and very beautiful.

SHORE, in architecture, a piece of
timber or other material placed in such a
manner as to prop up a wall or other
heavy body. Dead-shore, an upright
piece fixed in a wall that has been cut or
broken through for the purpose of making
some alterations in the building In ma-

rine language, shores are props or stan-
chions fixed under a ship's side or bottom,

to support her on the stocks, or when laid
on the blocks on the ship.

SHRINE, properly the receptacle of
the remains or relics of a saint. Shrines
are of two sorts : portable, used in proces-
sions, called in Latin feretra. ; and fixed,
in churches. The approp r iate place for
shrines, in the churches ot tne middle
ages, was generally in the eastern part,
in the space behind the high altar. Such
is the situation of the celebrated shrine
of the three kings of Cologne ; and such
was that of the shrines at St. Alban's,
Canterbury, Durham, and Westminster,
before the Reformation.

SHROVE-TUES'DAY, the Tuesday
after Quinquagesiraa Sunday, or the day
immediately preceding the first of Lent ;
being so called from the Saxon word
shrive, to confess ; that day having been
employed by the people in confessing
their sins to the parish priest, and there-
by qualifying themselves for a more re-
ligious observance of the approaching
fast.

SIB'YLS, in antiquity, certain women
who pretended to be endowed with a pro-
phetic spirit. They resided in various
parts of Persia, Greece, and Italy ; and
were consulted on all important occasions.
They delivered oracular answers, and, as
it is pretended, wrote certain prophecies
on leaves in verse, which are called
Sibylline verses ; but these Sibylline
oracles seem to have been composed to
answer political purposes. The number
of Sibyls, according to Varro, was ten.

SIB'YLLINE BOOKS, documents sup-
posed to contain the fate of the Roman
empire. Nine of them are said to have
been offered by an old woman, called
Amalthsea. to Tarquin the Proud ; but
Tarquin refusing to give the price she
asked, she went away, and burned three
of them. Returning with the remainder,
she offered them to the king on the same
terms as before ; and, on his second re-
fusal, departed again, and returned with
three, which she still offered at the same
price as the original nine. The king,
struck with her conduct, at last acceded
to her offer, and entrusted the care of the
books to certain priests. They were pre-
served in a stone chest beneath the temple
of Jupiter Capitolinus, and were consulted
in times of public danger or calamity.
They were destroyed by the fire that con-
sumed the Capitol in the Marsic war.
After this calamity, ambassadors were
sent to collect such fragments of Sibylline
prophecies as they could pick up in
various countries ; and from the verses

556

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

|SIK

thus collected Augustus formed two new
books, which were deposited in two gilt
cases in the temple of the Palatine Apol-
lo. Silylline verses are often quoted by
Christian writers, as containing prophe-
cies of Christianity ; but these are spu-
rious a forgery of the second century.

SICILIAN VES'PERS, in modem
history, the rtame commonly given to the
great massacre of the French in Sicily, in
A.D. 1282. They were the soldiers and
subjects of Charles of Anjou, who had
made himself master of the island after
the defeat and death of Conradin. The
insurrection broke out on the evening of
Easter Tuesday, whence its name. Its
consequence was the expulsion of Charles;
and the islanders placed themselves un-
der the protection of the king of Arragon.

SIDEROG'RAPHY, the art or practice
of engraving on steel, by means of which,
impressions may be transferred from a
steel plate to a steel cylinder in a rolling
press constructed on a peculiar principle.
Hence the term siderographic art, ap-
plied to steel plate engraving.

SID EROMANCY, in antiquity, a spe-
cies of divination performed by burning
straws, &c. on red-hot iron.

SIEGE, in the art of war, the encamp-
ment of an army before a fortified place,
with a design to take it. A siege differs
from a blockade, as in a siege the invest-
ing army approaches the fortified place
to attack and reduce it by force ; but in a
blockade, the army secures all the ave-
nues to the place to intercept all supplies,
and waits till famine reduces the besieged
to surrender. To raise the siege, is to
give over the attack of a place, and quit
the works thrown up against it.

SIERKA, a term used for a hill, or
chain of hills, particularly in Spain, the
west coast of Africa, and the coasts of
Chili and Peru.

SIGILLA'RIA, feasts in honor of Sat-
urn, celebrated after the Saturnalia. At
this festival little statues of gold, silver,
<fcc. were sacrificed to the god instead of
men, who had been the usual victims, till
Hercules abolished the barbarous custom.

SIGN, in a general sense, a visible
token or representation of anything.
Also, any motion, appearance, or event
which indicates the existence or approach
of something else. Sign, in astronomy,
the twelfth part of the ecliptic. The signs
are reckoned from the point of intersec-
tion of the ecliptic and equator, at the
vernal equinox, and are named respec-
tively, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer,
Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius,

Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces. On ac-
count of the precession of the equinoxes,
the positions of these constellations in the
heavens no longer correspond with the
divisions of the ecliptic of the same name,
but are now considerably in advance of
them : the constellation Aries, for exam-
ple, being in that pjirt of the ecliptic
called Taurus.

SIG'NA, in antiquity, standards or en-
signs among the ancients : those of the
Romans usually bore the figure of an
eagle ; but the signa of the Greeks bore
the figures of various animals.

SIG'NALS, certain signs agreed upon
between parties at a distance, for the pur-
pose of conveying instantaneous informa-
tion, orders, &e. Signals are particularly
useful in the navigation of fleets, and in
naval engagements. They are made by
the admiral or commander-in-chief of a
squadron, either in the day, or by night,
whether for sailing, fighting, or the bet-
ter security of the merchant-ships under
their convoy. They are very numerous
and important, being all appointed and
determined by the lords of the admiralty,
and communicated in the instructions
sent to the commander of every ship of
the fleet or squadron before their putting
to sea. Day-signals are usually made
by the sails, by flags and pendants, or
guns ; night-signals are lanterns disposed
in certain figures, rockets, or the firing
of guns ; fog-signals, by guns, drums,
bells, Ac. There are signals of evolution
addressed to a whole fleet, to a division,
or to a squadron ; signals of movements
to particular ships ; and signals of service,
general or particular. Signals used in
the army are mostly made by beat of
drum or the sound of the bugle.

SIG'NATURE, in printing, is a letter
put at the bottom of the first page at
least, in each sheet, as a direction to the
binder, in folding, gathering, and collat-
ing them. Also, the name of a person
written or subscribed by himself.

SIG'NET, CLERK OF THE, an offi-
cer, in England, continually in attendance
! upon the principal secretary of state, who
I has the royal signet in his keeping for
the signing of letters, grants, Ac.

SIGN- MANUAL, in English polity,
the royal signature. In a general sense,
it is the signature of any one's name in
his own hand-writing.

SIKHS, a religious sect in Hindostan,
(founded about A.D. 1500,) which pro-
fesses the purest Deism, and is chiefly
distinguished from the Hindoos by wor-
shipping one only invisible God. The

SIM]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

557

name Sikhs, or lions, was given to the
sect, on account of the heroic manner in
which they resisted their Mohammedan
oppressors, against whom they long fought
with varying success. They ultimately
subdued Lahore, and established for them-
selves a country which includes the Pun-
jaub, a part of Mooltan, <fcc. In 1846 and
1847, they were conquered by the British
troops.

SILEN'TIARY, among the Romans,
the title of office of a class of slaves at-
tached to wealthy houses. In the court
of the emperors, there was a body of offi-
cers attached to the household styled
silentiaries. Thence the title came to
functionaries of higher authority, and
was borne by cabinet secretaries in the
Lower Empire, and in the courts of
Charlemagne and other western poten-
tates who^erived their code of ceremonial
from Byzantium. Members of the privy
council seem to have been sometimes
called by this name under the Plantage-
nets in England.

SILE'NUS, a Grecian divinity, the fos-
ter-father and attendant of Bacchus, and
likewise leader of the satyrs. This deity
was remarkable for his wisdom, his drun-
kenness being regarded as inspiration.
He was represented as a robust old man
in a state of intoxication, and riding on
an ass, with a can in his hand.

SILHOUET'TE, in the Fine Arts, a
name given to the representation of an
object filled in of a black color, and in
which the inner parts are sometimes in-
dicated by lines of a lighter color, and
shadows or extreme depths by the aid of
a heightening of gum or other shining
medium. This sort of drawing derives
its name from its inventor, Etienne de
Silhouette, the French minister of finance
in 1759. Representations of this sort
may be well enough taken from the sha-
dow of a person thrown on a piece of
paper placed against a flat surface or
wall. The likeness may be still 'better
taken, if on a reduced scale, by means of
the instrument called a pantograph. The
invention of what is called a silhouette
is, however, ascribed to a remote period,
being said to have been the method
whereby the daughter of a Greek potter
drew the outline of her lover's portrait
on a wall ; and has been placed at the
time of the renewal of the Olympic games,
shortly before the expedition of the Bac-
chiades from Corinth, about 776 B.C. It
is to be observed that Sicyon and Corinth
were the first cities in which painting
flourished; and that Crato of Sicyon,

Philocles of Egypt, and Cleanthes of Co-
rinth, were considered the inventors of
jnonoc/iromes, OB silhouettes, as they
have been more recently called, which
were applied to large objects. The Etrus-
can vases furnish to an amazing extent,
and in boundless variety, some of the
most beautifully drawn and elegant mon-
ochromes or silhouettes that have ever
been executed.

S I L'L N, in fortification, a work
raised in the middle of a ditch to defend
it when it is too wide.

SIM'ILE, in rhetoric, a comparison
of two things, which though different in
other respects, agree in some strong
points of resemblance ; by which compar-
ison the character or qualities of a thing
are illustrated or presented in an im-
pressive light.

SIMO'NIANS, the name given to the
followers of Simon Magus, who pretended
to be the great virtue and power of God
sent from heaven to earth. Their system
was a medley of the philosophy of Plato,
the mythological fables of the heathens,
and of Christianity. The sum of their
doctrines, as enjoined by their founder,
was, that from the Divine Being, as a
fountain of light, flow various orders of
eternal natures, subsisting within the
plenitude of the Divine essence ; that be-
yond these in the order of emanation are
different classes of intelligences, to the
lowest of which belongs the human soul ;
that matter is the most remote produc-
tion of the emanative power, which, on
account of its infinite distance from the
fountain of light, possesses sluggish and
malignant qualities, which appear the.
divine operations, and are the cause of
evil ; that it is the great design of philos-
ophy to deliver the soul from its impris-
onment in matter, and restore it to that
divine light from which it was derived ;
and that for this purpose God had sent
us one of the first aeons into the world.
He believed also in the transmigration
of souls, and denied the resurrection of
the body.

SIM'ONY, in law, the illegal buying
or selling ecclesiastical preferment; or
the corrupt presentation of any one to a
benefice for money or reward. The word
is derived from the Chaldaean Magus,
Simon, who, according to the Acts of the
Apostles, wished to buy of them the
power of working miracles.

SIMOON', or SIMOOM', a hot, arid
wind which blows in Arabia, Syria, and
the adjacent countries, and chiefly about
the time of the equinoxes. The simoon,

558

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[SIB

which is identical with the khamsin of Sy-
ria and (he sainiel of the Turks, and re-
sembles in many respects the sirocco and
soranu of olher countries, derives its qual-
ities from blowing over sandy deserts
heated intensely by the sun. Sometimes
it blows in squalls., bearing along with it
quantities of burning sand and dust. In
the desert it is greatly dreaded ; and the
only chance of safety the traveller has, is
to fall down with his face close to the
ground, and to continue as long as possi-
ble without drawing breath. It is de-
scribed by Bruce, Volney, Charind, Mal-
colm, and other travellers.

SIM'PLE CONTRACT, in law, a term
applied to debts, where the contract upon
which the obligation arises, is neither as-
certained by matters of record, nor yet by
deed or special instrument.

SIMPLICITY, in all the arts. That
quality opposed to exuberance or preten-
sion. We say that a work of art pos-
sesses a noble simplicity when the effect
produced by it is the result of means
neither numerous nor complicated. We
say also that a form is simply beautiful
when, as in the majority of antique vases,
it pleases by its agreeable contour alone,
without the assistance of any accessories.
With regard to an edifice similar remarks
ripply. It is simply elegant when there
is no confused or contradictory diversity
of parts, and when the whole is harmo-
nious and graceful. Experience has
abundantly proved, that simplicity, as
distinguished from meanness or boldness,
is always conformable to good taste.
This quality may be evidenced in all the
.different portions of a work, from the
general plan even to the execution of the
minutest details. The best works of art
are always the simplest in point of de
sign. Their projectors sought the prin-
ciples of grandeur and beauty not in a
superfluous quantity of parts, but in uni-
ty, in connection, in tout ensemble. It is
true that the great masters have some-
times produced works the composition of
which is extremely rich, but only when
the subject necessarily demanded such
profusion. When Poussin painted the
gathering of manna by the Israelites in
the Desert, he could not limit himself to
a small number of figures. But often,
in the finest specimens of pictorial art, a
single group, composed of four or five
figures, is found sufficient to tell an in-
teresting story, and to display the most
consummate ability in the artist.

SIM'PULUM, in antiquity, a vessel
resembling a cruet, used at sacrifices and

libations for taking a very little wine at
a time.

SIMULATION, the assumption of a
deceitful appearance or character. It
differs from dissimulation, inasmuch as
the former assumes a false character,
while the latter only conceals the true
one ; but both are truly designated by the
word hypocrisy.

SFNECURE. a church benefice without
cure or care, or guardianship of souls ;
as where there is a parish without church
or inhabitants. The word is applied to
any post that brings profit without labor.
SI'NE DI'E, in parliamentary lan-
guage, a Latin phrase used for the ad-
journment of a debate without fixing a
day when it shall be resumed. In law,
a term applied to a defendant when judg-
ment is given in his favor, and he is
suffered to go sine die, or dismissed the
court.

SINK'ING FUND, in politics, a term
applied to a portion of the public reve-
nue set apart to be devoted to the reduc-
tion or diminution of the national debt.

SI NON OM NES, in law, a writ on
association of justices, by which, if all
in commission cannot meet at the day
assigned, it is allowed that two or more
of them may proceed to finish the busi-
ness.

SI'RENS, melodious divinities, who
dwelt on the shores of Sicily, and so
charmed passing mariners by the sweet-
ness of their song that they forgot their
homes, and remained there till they per-
ished of hunger. Their history has been
variously described. According to Homer,
in the Odyssey, as Ulysses and his com-
panions were on their homeward voyage
from JE&ca,, they came first to the island
of the Sirens ; but they passed in safety :
for, by the directions of Circe, Ulysses
stopped the ears of his companions with
wax, and had himself tied to the mast
before approaching the island ; so that,
although when he heard the song of the
Sirens he made signs for his companions to
unbind him. they only secured him the
more closely in compliance with his pre-
vious instructions. Thus he listened to
the songs of the Sirens, and escaped not-
withstanding. Hence it was feigned that
they threw themselves into the sea from
vexation at the escape of Ulysses, an
oracle having predicted that they should
live only so long as their strains had
power to arrest all who heard them. But
according to other poets, they threw them-
selves into the sea from rage and despair
on hearing the more melodious song of

SLA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

559

Orpheus. Originally there were only two
Sirens ; but their number was afterwards
increased to three, and their names are
given with great variety.

SIROC'CO, a periodical wind which
generally blows in Italy and Dahnatia ]
every year about Easter. It blows from j
the southeast by south, and is attended j
with heat, but not rain ; its ordinary |
period is twenty days, and it usually
ceases at sunset. When the sirocco does
not blow in this manner, the summer is
almost free from westerly winds, whirl-
winds, and storms. This wind is preju- j
dictal to plants, drying and burning up I
their buds ; and also causes an extraordi-
nary weakness and lassitude in men. In
the summertime, when the westerly wind
ceases for a day, it is a sign that the
sirocco will blow the day following, which
usually begins with a sort of whirlwind.

SIRVEN'TE, in the literature of the
middle ages, a species of poem in com-
mon use among the Troubadours, usually
satirical, and divided into strophes of a
peculiar construction.

SIS'TRUM. a kind of timbrel, which
the Egyptian priests of Isis used to shake
with their hands at the festivals of that
goddess.

SIS'YPHUS, in ancient mythology,
one of the descendants of ^Eolus, respect-
ing whom a variety of opinions prevails.
By some he is said to have resided at
Epyra, in the Peloponnesus ; others
maintain that he was a Trojan prince,
who was punished for betraying state
secrets ; while others allege that he was
a notorious robber, slain by Theseus.
Be this as it may, all the ancient poets
are agreed that he was distinguished for
his craftiness and cunning ; and that his
punishment in Tartarus for his crimes
committed on earth consisted in rolling a
huge stone to the top of a high hili,
which constantly recoiled, and thus ren-
dered his labor incessant.

SITOPH YLAX, in Grecian antiquity,
an Athenian magistrate, who had the
superintendence of the corn, and was to
take care that no one bought more than
was necessary for the provision of his
family.

SI'VA, in Hindoo mythology, a title
given to the Supreme Being, considered
in the character of the avenger or de-
stroyer. Sir William Jones has compared
Siva to Jupiter ; but he appears to share
many of the attributes of Pluto. Under
the name of Mahadeva, ho is exhibited
also as a type of reproduction : to de-
stroy, according to the Vedantas of India, |

the Sufis of Persia, and even to many
European schools of philosophy, being
only to generate' or reproduce under
another form.

SIXTH, in music, an interval formed
of six sounds, or five diatonic degrees.
There are four kinds of sixths, two conso-
nant and two dissonant.

SI'ZARS, the lowest class of students
at Cambridge, England. At Oxford the
same class go in different colleges by the
denominations of servitors, <fcc. They
are such as have certain allowances made
ill their battels (college bills,) through
the benefactions of founders or other
charitable persons. In college phrase-
ology, a size is a portion of bread, meat,
&c. allotted to a student ; and hence the
name sizar. The sizars at Cambridge are
almost entirely on the same footing with
independent students; at Oxford they
are somewhat lower, and some relics of
their former degraded condition still
subsist in certain colleges in the customs
of bringing up dishes to dinner, dining
off the remnants of the fellows' dinners,
4o.

SKETCH, an outline or general de-
lineation of anything ; a first rough or
incomplete draught of a plan or any
design : as, the sketch of a building; the
sketch of an essay. In painting, the first
delineated idea of the artist's conception
of a subject, in which are usually distin-
guishable the fire and enthusiasm with
which the subject is expressed and felt.
Sketches are made either with carbon,
with the pen, or the pencil ; in general,
that method is preferred which seems to
present the greatest promptitude and
facility.

SLAN'DER, in law, a malicious def-
amation of a man by words spoken. It
is not actionable unless it impute some
crime punishable by law ; or some infec-
tious disease, such as leprosy or the like,
which may have the effect of excluding
from society the person slandered ; or be
uttered concerning him in his trade or
business in such a way as to impair his
means of livelihood; or, lastly, unless it
be attended with special damage. In this
case, such special damage must be aver-
red upon the pleadings.

SLA'VERY, bondage ; the state of
entire subjection of one person to the
will of another. Slavery is the obliga-
tion to labor for the benefit of the master,
without the contract or consent of the
servant; or it is the establishment of a
right which gives one person such a
power over another, as to make him ab-

560

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[soc

solute master of his life and property.
But the condition of a slave is susceptible
of innumerable modifications, and there
are few nations, whether of ancient or
modern times, among whom slavery has
been long established, that have not
enacted certain laws for limiting the.
power of a master over his slave.
Slavery may proceed from crimes, from
captivity, or from debt. Slavery is also
voluntary or involuntary ; voluntary,
when a person sells or yields his own
person to the absolute command of
another ; involuntary, when he is placed
under the absolute power of anothef
without his own consent. Slavery no
longer exists in Great Britain, nor in any
of her colonies, nor in the northern states
of America.

SLEEP, one of the most mysterious
phenomena in the animal world ; a state
wherein the body appearing perfectly at
rest, external objects act on the organs of
sense as usual, without exciting the usual
sensations. The voluntary exertion of
our mental and corporeal powers being
suspended, we rest unconscious of what
passes around us, and are not affected by
the ordinary impressions of external
objects.

SLEIGHT OF HAND, tricks perform-
ed by persons who, by great practice, or
confederacy with others, perform acts ap-
parently out of the course of nature,
which the vulgar and ignorant believe,
and even the intelligent admire.

SLUR, in music, a mark connecting
notes that are to be sung to the same
syllable, or made in one continued breath
of a wind instrument, or with one stroke
of a stringed instrument.

SMAB/AGD, another name for the
emerald. Hence, smaragdine, an epi-
thet for anything pertaining to or re-
sembling an emerald ; of an emerald
green.

SMORZA'TO, in music, a term denot-
ing that the violin bow is to be drawn to
its full extent, but gradually lighter till
the sound is nearly lost.

SMUG'GLING, the offence of import-
ing goods without paying the duties im-
posed by law. Smuggling owes its
existence, in many cases, to oppressive
duties.

SOAVE', in music, a term denoting to
the player that the music to which it is
prefixed is to be executed with sweet-
ness.

SOBRI'ETY, a word expressive not
only of habitual temperance with regard
to intoxicating liquors, but also of an ha-

bitual freedom from enthusiasm or inor-
dinate passion ; as, the sobriety of age, a
period when calmness and rational views
are expected'to take the place of an over-
heated imagination.

SOC'AGE, in law, a tenure of lands by
or for certain inferior services of hus-
bandry to be performed by the lord of the
fee ; a tenure distinct from chivalry or
knight's service, in which the render was
uncertain.

SO'CIALTSM, a social state in which
there is a community of property among
all the individuals composing it, a state
of things in which there are no individual
or separate rights in property. It is
otherwise termed agrarianism and com-
munism.

SO'CIALIST, one who advocates a
community of property among all the
citizens of a state. Some of this sect
contend also for a community of females,
or a promiscuous intercourse of the sexes ;
and they have likewise been accused of
holding various other heterodox prin-
ciples. They are also called Owenites
from Robert Owen, one of the first pro-
mulgators of the social tenets in this
country. In France, parties holding sim-
ilar opinions are called Fourierists, and
St. Simonians, from Fourier and St.
Simon, two noted socialist leaders. They
are also called communists.

SOCI'ETY, in its most enlarged sense,
signifies the whole race or family of man ;
as, " the true and natural foundations of
society, are the wants and fears of individ-
uals." In a narrower sense, it signifies,
persons living in the same neighborhood,
who frequently meet in company. It is
also a name given to any association of
persons uniting together, and co-operat-
ing to effect some particular object, as
the societies or academies for promoting
the cause of literature ; benevolent socie-
ties, for purposes of public charity ; mis-
sionary societies, for sending missionaries
abroad ; and various others. In society,
a man not only finds more leisure, but
better opportunities of applying his tal-
ents with success. The social principle,
in fact, is of such an expansive nature,
that it cannot be confined within the cir-
cuit of a family, of friends, or a neigh-
borhood ; it spreads into wider systems,
and draws men into larger communities
and commonwealths ; since it is in these
only that the more sublime powers of our
nature attain the highest improvement
and perfection of which they are capable.
The purposes for which benevolent and
religious societies ore formed will be best

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

561

inferred from the epithets with which
they are connected ; temperance societies
are established with a view to promote
sobriety, mendicity societies for the relief
of the indigent, &c. There is no feature,
perhaps, which distinguishes a civilized
from a savage state more than the estab-
lishment of such societies ; and in this
view England has a right to claim a
place in the foremost ranks of civilization,
whether we regard the number or the
principles of the management of its reli-
gious and benevolent institutions.

SO'CII, among the Romans, were such
states as were in alliance with the com-
monwealth of Rome. In the time of
Polybius, all Italy was subject to the
Romans ; yet no state or people in it had
been reduced into the form of a province,
but retained in general their own laws
and governors, and were termed socii, or
confederates. The socii received no con-
sideration for their service, but a distri-
bution of corn. The auxilia differed from
the socii, as being borrowed at a certain
pay from foreign princes and states. The
name of socii in time ceased ; all the
natives of Italy being accounted Romans,
and honored with the jus civitatis.

SOCIN'IANS, the followers of Socinus,
the uncle and the nephew, both of the
same name, and celebrated for similar
opinions concerning the nature of Christ.
The nephew, Faustus Socinus, was the
principal founder of the sect. He was an
Italian, born at Sienna, in 1539 ; who
after publishing a treatise on the nature of
the Saviour, desired to be admitted into
a society of Unitarians already existing
in Poland. Their opinions do not appear
to have precisely corresponded with his,
and admission was refused him ; nor did
he effect during his lifetime the institu-
tion of any distinct congregation ; but
the views which he disseminated in his
writings were gradually referred to and
adopted by many ministers and religious
communities, especially in Poland, Where
Crellius, Wolgozenius, and others pub-
lished a Socinian system of theology, i
comprised in the Bibliotkeca Frntrum
Polonorum. Since the death of Socinus,
the theologians who have asserted the j
mere humanity of Christ have been gen- j
erally denominated Socinians. The doc- ;
trines, however, to which that appellation
can with strictness be applied are not
precisely equivalent to those of the mod-
ern Unitarians. The Socinian denies the
existence of Christ previous to his birth
of the Virgin Mary : he allows, however,
that that birth was miraculous, and con-

siders the Saviour as an object of peculiar
reverence and an inferior degree of wor-
ship. By the term Mediator, as applied
to Christ, he understands that in estab-
lishing the new covenant he was the me-
dium between God and man ; and of his
sacrifice he says that as the Jewish sac-
rifices were not mado for the payment
of sins, but for the remission of them,
so also the death of Christ was designed
for the remission of sins through God's
favor, and not for the satisfaction of them
as an equivalent.

SOCIOL'OGY, social science, or the
science of society, according to the Posi-
tive Philosophy of M. Compte. It treats
of the general structure of human society,
the laws of its development, and the
progress of actual civilization. Sociology
is the most complex of all the sciences,
and consists of derivative truths, verified
by experience from psychology and the
laws of ethology, or the science of the
formation of character. The laws of
social phenomena are nothing but the
laws of the thoughts, feelings, and actions
of men united together in the social
state ; and these laws are approximate
generalizations obtained from the past
history and present observation of all
stages of civilization. And as men's
thoughts, feelings, and actions are sub-
ject to fixed laws, that is, uniform se-
quences, so must also the phenomena
of society, that is, of aggregates of men.
The fundamental problem of society is to
discover the laws by which any state of
society produces the state which follows
it, and takes its place, and to show by
deduction that these laws are derivative
from those of human nature. The sub-
ject matter of the sciences of man, and
of society, is peculiar in varying from
age to age. and in being progressive. The
laws of human nature, and of the ex-
ternal circumstancesjn which men are
placed, form their characters, and men
themselves in turn mould and shape cir-
cumstances for themselves and their pos-
terity. The institutions of a people are the
results of their ideas, and as society advan-
ces, mental qualities tend more and more
to prevail over bodily, and aggregates
of men over individuals. The elements
of permanent social union are education
through life, which is always a restrain-
ing discipline, the feeling of allegiance
or loyalty to something fixed and perma-
nent, and a strong and active principle
of nationality or union for common in-
terest. Such are some of the leading
principles of sociology ; but to understand

562

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[SOK

the science aright, it is necessary to
have recourse to M. Compte's gre<U work.
" Cours de Philosopkle Positive," and
the last book of Mill's System of Logic.

SOCK, the shoe of the ancient actors
in comedy. Hence the word is used for
comedy, and opposed to buskin or trage-
dy ; as, " I have no talents either for the
sock or buskin."

SOC'LE, in architecture, a flat square
member under the basis of pedestals of
vases -and statues, serving as a foot or
stand.

SOCRATTC PHILOS'OPHY, in amore
extensive sense, is used to comprehend
the whole development of philosophy of
Greece from Socrates to the Neo Plato-
nists. The title is so far just, ns all the
schools of this period, with the single ex-
ception of the Epicurean, called them-
selves by the name of Socrates, and arro-
gated to themselves the merit of exclu-
sively propagating the trfte doctrines of
Socrates. But in a narrow and more
proper signification, it signifies the pecu-
liar direction and method which Socrates
gave to philosophical inquiry. The So-
cratic method of reasoning and instruc-
tion was by interrogatories. Instead of
laying down a proposition authoritative-
ly, this rnethoj led the antagonist or dis-
ciple to acknowledge it himself by dint
of a series of questions put to him. It
was not the object of Socrates to establish
any perfectly evolved system of doctrine,
so much as to awaken by his discourses a
new and more comprehensive pursuit of
science, which should direct itself to all
that is knowable. To him is ascribed
two of the very first principles of science,
namelj', the inductive method and the
definition of ideas. ' '

SOFFIT, the under part or ceiling of
a cornice. Any timber ceiling formed
of cross-beams of flying cornices, the
square compartments or panels of which
are enriched with sculpture, painting, or
gilding; such are those in the palaces of '
Italy, and in the apartments of the Lux-
embourg at Paris. The term is also em-
ployed for the under side or face of an
architrave; and more especially for that
of the corona or larmier, which the an-
cients called lacunaria, the French de- ;
nominate plafond, and we usually the
drip. It is enriched with compartments
of roses ; and in the Doric order has
eighteen drops, disposed in three ranks
(six in each,) placed, to the right of the
guttcB at the bottom of the triglyphs.
The word soffit has likewise been applied
to the ceiling of an arch.

; SO'FI, a Persian word, which is em-
ployed to designate religious persons,
otherwise termed Dervishes. It ia prob-
ably a corruption of the Greek sophos,
wise. Sofi was the surname borne by the
ancestors of the kings of Persia of the
race preceding that which now occupies
the throne ; and Shah Ismael Sofi, the
first monarch of that race, also bore it;
hence by European writers of the 16th
and 17th centuries it was used errone-
ously as a title of the king of Persia.

SO'FISM, the mystical doctrines of the
class of Mohammedan religionists called
Sofia. This name is indeed generally ap-
plied in the East to persons living to-
gether in a monastic way, and professing
an ascetic life. But the tenets peculiar-
ly denoted by the name of Sufism are
those of a sect which is said to be gaining
ground extensively in oriental countries,
especially among the educated classes of
Mohammedans. These tenets, like those
of the Quitetists and other Christian sects
of mystics, are founded on a notion of
the union of the human soul with the
divinity by contemplation and the subju-
gation of the appetites : but, as has been
too frequently the case among Christians
also, they have afforded a cover for the
most licentious lessons of refined de-
bauchery. The principles of Sufism ap-
pear also to have a remarkable affinity,
in some respects, with ttaose pantheistic
notions which are prominent in the system
of the Bramins, .and seem to form the
very foundation of the still more widely
extended religion of Buddha.

SOIREE', the term originally given
by the French to certain evening parties
held for the sake of conversation only,
music, dancing, and similar entertain-
ments being excluded ; but the word has
been since introduced into all the lan-
guages of modern Europe, and is now
employed to designate most descriptions
of evening parties in which ladies and
gentlemen are intermixed, whatever be
the amusements introduced. It is fre-
quently applied in England to the public
meetings of certain societies held for the
advancement of their respective objects,
at which tea and other refreshments are
dispensed during the intervals of business.

SOKE, in English law, a term which
anciently had various significations, viz.:
1. The liberty or privilege of tenants ex-
cused from customary burdens and impo-
sitions. 2. The power of administering
justice. 3. The precinct in which the
chief lord exercised his soc, or liberty of
keeping court within his own jurisdiction

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

563

4. A stipulated payment or rent to the
lord for using his land, with such liberty
and privilege as made the tenant the soke-
man or freeholder. Sake-men, those
who held by no servile tenure, but paid
their rent as a soke, or sign of freedom.

SOLA'RIUM, in antiquity, a place on
the tops of houses exposed to the sun,
where the Romans used to take air and
exercise.

SOL'DAN, a title formerly given to
the general who commanded the caliph's
army ; the epithet was afterwards applied
to a governor of Egypt.

SOL'DIER, a man enrolled for mili-
tary service, or whose occupation is
military. It is generally applied to a
private, or one in the ranks : but it is
also 'a proper appellation for an officer
of any grade who possesses valor, skill,
and experience.

SCLDU'RII, in antiquity, a kind of
military clients or retainers to the great
men in Gaul, who bound themselves to
bear all the good or ill fortune of their
patrons.

SOL'ECISM, among modern gram-
marians, any word or expression which
does not agree with the established usage
of writing or speaking. As customs I
change, that which may be regarded as a
solecism at one time, may at another be
considered as correct language. Hence a
solecism differs from a barbarism, which
consists in the use of a word or expres-
sion altogether contrary to the spirit of
the language.

SOLFEG'GIO, in music, the system
of arranging the scale by the names ut,
re. mi, fa, sol, la, by which musical stu-
dents are taught to sing, these notes
being represented to the eye by lines and
spaces, to which the syllables in question
are applied.

SOLI'CITOR, in law, a person author-
ized and employed to prosecute the suits
of others in courts of equity. Solicitor-
general, in British polity, an officer of
the crown. Till the 13th of Charles II.,
he, with the attorney-general, had a
right, on special occasions, to sit in the j
house of lords.

SOLIFID'IAN, in theology, one who
Maintains that faith alone, without works,
is necessary to justification.

SO'LO, in music, a passage, or perfect
piece in which a single voice or instru-
ment performs without accompaniment.
Peculiar freedom, ease, distinctness, and
power of execution, are required to per-
form the solo with correctness, taste, and
feeling.

SO'MATIST, one who denies the exist-
ence, and consequently the agency, of
spiritual substances.

SOMATOL'OGY, the doctrine of bodies
or material substances.

SOM'NUS, in classical mythology, the
poetical god of sleep, is the son of Erebus
and Nox, or of Nox alone. He dwells
with his brother Death in a palace at the
western extremity of the earth. Homer
makes Juno seek him in the isle of Lem-
nos, whither he had repaired for love of
the nymph Pasithea. Ovid makes him
dwell in a cavern among the Scythians or
Cimmerians ; Statius in ^Ethiopia.

SON, in its primary sense, is the male
issue of a parent, father or mother. In a
more extended sense, as often used in the
Scriptures, sons include descendants in
general ; as, we are all sons of Adam.
Also a native or inhabitant of a country ;
as, the sons of America.

SONA'TA, in music, a piece or com-
position of music, wholly executed by in-
struments ; and which, with regard to the
several kinds of instruments, is what the
cantata is with respect to vocal perform-
ances.

SONG, in general, that which is sung
or uttered with musical modulations of
the voice, whether of the human voice or
that of a bird. A little poem to be sung,
or uttered with musical modulations : a
ballad. The term is applied to either a
short poetical or musical composition, but
most frequently to both in union. As a
poetical composition it may be largely
defined a short poem divided into portions
of returning measure, and turning upon
some single thought or feeling. As a
union of poetry and music, it may be de-
fined a very brief lyrical poem, founded
commonly upon agreeable subjects, to
which is added a melody for the purpose
of singing it. As denoting a musical com-
position, song is used to signify a vocal
melody of any length or character, and
not confined to a single movement ; but
as regards performance, it is confined to
an air for a single voice. Tho songs of a
country are characteristic of its manners.
Every country has its love songs, its war
songs, and its patriotic songs. A hymn ;
a sacred poem or hymn to be sung either
in joy or thanksgiving, as that sung by
Moses and the Israelites after escaping
the dangers of the Red Sea and Pharaoh's
wrath ; or of lamentation, as that of Da-
vid over the death of Saul and Jonathan.
Songs of joy are represented as constitut-
ing a part of heavenly felicity.

SON'NET. in poetry, a short composi-

664

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[SOB

tion of fourteen or fifteen lines, deca or
endecasyllabic, rhymed according to an
intricate but not always precisely similar
arrangement. It is the oldest form in
which the Italian language was used ;
but was, at a still earlier period, employ-
ed, although not commonly, by the Pro-
venyal poets. In Italy, Dante, and the
Tuscan poets his contemporaries brought
the sonnet into public estimation, about
the" beginning of the 14th century ; but
by them it was invariably employed as
the vehicle of thoughts wrapped in very
obscure language, and probably of a sym-
bolical nature, though generally, in their
outward signification, breathing the spirit
of romantic and chivalrous love. By Pe-
trarch, in the course of the same century,
the sonnet was carried to perfecfion in
point of form and polish ; although ap-
plied by him, as it had been by his pred-
ecessors, almost exclusively to the sub-
ject of his figurative and mystical passion.
Since the time of Petrarch the sonnet has
been a favorite form of composition in
Italy, especially for the purposes of oc-
casional poetry. In France it has had
little success ; or rather the French son-
net is a different poem, less regular in its
construction than the Italian. In Ger-
many and England the comparative pov-
erty in rhymes of their respective lan-
guages has rendered it unusual : but Mil-
ton has given to it a dignity peculiarly
his own, together with much of the melo-
dy and tenderness which characterize his
Italian models. The proper sonnet con-
sists of two quatrain's, with four lines and
two rhymes each, and two terzines, each
with three lines and a single rhyme.
The last six lines, however, are suscepti-
ble of various arrangements ; the one
usually adopted in English is the rhym-
ing of the fifth and sixth lines together,
frequently after a full pause, so that the
sonnet ends with a point, as in an epi-
gram The sonnet generally consists of
one principal idea, pursued through the
various antitheses of the different stro-
phes. Pieces of a similar metrical structure
in octo-syllabic lines are termed by the
Italians Anacreontic sonnets. It is some-
times said that there is " hardly an educat-
ed Italian who has not composed a sonnet."
SOOTH'SAYING, the foretelling of
future events by persons without divine
aid or authority, and thus distinguished
from prophecy by inspiration.

SOPH'ISM, a subtilty in reasoning,
the arguments not being logically sup- i
ported, or in which the inferences are not I
justly deduced from the premises.

SOPH'ISTS, a name at first given to
philosophers, and those who were remark-
able for their wisdom : it was afterwards
applied to rhetoricians, and lastly to such
as spent their time in verbal niceties,
logical conundrums, sententious quibbles,
and philosophical enigmas. The follow-
ing, called the Pseudomenos, for exam-
ple, was a famous problem amongst the
ancient sopliists : " When a man says, /
lie, does he lie, or does he not lie ? If he
lies, he speaks truth ; and if he speaks
the truth, he lies." We find the leading
feature of the sophistic doctrine to be a
dislike to everything fixed and necessary,
in ethics as well as philosophy. Pre-
scription was represented as the sole
source of moral distinctions, which must
consequently vary with the character and
institutions of the people. The useful
was held to be the only mark by which
one opinion could be distinguished from
another. An absolute standard of truth
is as absurd a notion in speculation as an
absolute standard of morals in practice ;
that only is true which seems so to the
individual, and just as long as it so seems.
" Man is the measure of all things."
These and similar doctrines they main-
tained with great subtlety and acuteness,
and found numerous disciples among
those who were well prepared for the ad-
mission of tenets which swept away at
once all the remnants of those prejudices
which might still interpose a barrier be-
tween their passions and their gratifica-
tion. Considered as a link in the chain
of philosophical development, the So-
phists were doubtless the involuntary
cause of the greater depth and soundness
of the subsequent Grecian philosophy.
The success which they had found in de-
molishing the systems of their predeces-
sors proved the necessity of laying the
foundations of human knowledge deeper
than heretofore had been done ; and it is
thus to the Sophists that we may attrib-
ute the more critical and cautious spirit
which distinguishes the doctrines of Plato
and Aristotle from those of Heraclitus or
Parmenides.

SOPRA'NO, in music, one of the inter-
mediate portions of the scale, which is a
species of the treble, suited to the female
voice.

SORBON'NE, the name of a college
originally instituted for the education
of secular clergymen at the university
of Paris, so called after Robert of Sorbon,
in Champagne, a theologian of Paris,
who founded it during the reign of St.
Louis, about 1250, and endowed it with

sou]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

565

an income which was subsequently much
increased. This institution, the teachers
in which were always doctors and pro-
fessors of theology, acquired so much
fame, that its name was extended to the
whole theological faculty of the universi-
ty of Paris.

SOR'CERY, magic, or divination by
the supposed assistance of evil spirits,
or the power of commanding evil spirits.

SORI'TES, in logic, an imperfect syllo-
gism, or an abridged form of stating a
series of syllogisms; or it is a species of
reasoning in which a series of proposi-
tions are so linked together, that the
predicate of the one becomes continually
the next in succession, till a conclusion is
formed by bringing together the subject
of the first proposition and the predicate
of the last. Thus, all men of revenge
have their souls often uneasy. Uneasy
souls are a plague to themselves. Now
to be one's own plague is folly in the
extreme. Therefore all men of re-
venge are extreme fools. A sorites has
as many middle terms as there are in-
termediate propositions between the first
and the last ; and, consequently, it may
bo drawn out into as many syllogisms.

SORTIE', in military language, the
issuing of a body of troops from a be-
sieged place to attack the besiegers ; a
sally.

SOR'TILEGE, divination by lots. A
very ancient mode of exploring future
events, and which has been supposed by
superstitious persons in modern times to
derive countenance from various inci-
dents in sacred history, especially the
choice of St. Matthias by lot to the place
of an apostle.

SOSTENU'TO, in music, a term im-
plying that the notes of the movement or
passage or note over which it is placed,
is to be held out its full length in an
equal and steady manner.

SOT'TO, in music, a term signifying
below, or inferior; as, sotto il soggetto,
below the subject ; but sotto voce is used
to signify with a restrained voice or
moderate tone.

SOUL, in metaphysics, the intellectual
principle, immaterial and immortal. Va-
rious have been the opinions of philoso-
phers concerning the substance of the
human soul ; but, as Lord Bacon observes,
the doctrine concerning the rational soul
of man must be deduced from revelation ;
for as its substance, in its creation, was
not formed out of the mass of heaven and
earth, but immediately inspired by God;
and as the laws of the heavenly bodies, \

together with those of our earth, make
th$ subject of philosophy, so no knowledge
of the substance of the rational soul can
be had from philosophy. By the word
soul, we also denote the spirit, essence,
or chief part ; as, charity is the soul of
all the virtues. Also the animating prin-
ciple, or that which gives life and energy
to the whole ; as, an able commander is
the soul of an army.

SOUTHCOT'TIANS, the followers of
Joanna Southcott, a religious fanatic,
who was born at Gittisharn, in Devon-
shire, in 1750. She first pretended to a
divine mission, and held herself out as
the woman spoken of in the book of Rev-
elation. After she had attained .her
grand climacteric, in 1814, she announc-
ed herself as the mother of the promised
Shiloh, whose speedy advent she predict-
ed. Her death, in December of that year,
did not undeceive her disciples, and the
sect continued to exist for many years,
nor are we aware that it is yet altogether
extinct. Many of her followers wore long
beards and a peculiar costume.

SOUTH SEA BUBBLE, a term given to
a commercial ' scheme" in 1720, which,
for a time, produced a kind of national de-
lirium in England. A company for trad-
ing to the South Seas, which was entitled
the " South Sea Company," had been
sanctioned by government, with the spe-
cious pretence of discharging the national
debt, by reducing all the funds into one.
Blunt, the projector, had taken the hint
of his plan from Law's celebrated Missis-
sippi scheme, which, in the preceding
year, had, in France, entailed ruin upon
many thousand families of that kingdom.
In the project of Law there was some-
thing substantial. It promised an ex-
clusive trade to Louisiana ; though the
design was defeated by the frantic eager-
ness of the people. But the South Sea
scheme was buoyed up by nothing but
the folly and rapaciousness of individ-
uals, which became so blind and extrav-
agant, that Blunt was able to impose
upon the whole nation, and make tools
of the other directors, to serve his own
purpose and that of a few associates.
When this projector found that the South
Sea stock did not rise according to his
expectation, he circulated a report that
Gibraltar and Port Mahon would be ex-
changed for some places in Peru ; by
which means the English trade to the
South Sea would be protected and en-
larged. This rumor, diffused by emissa-
ries, acted like a contagion. In five days
the directors opened their books for a

566

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[SPH

subscription of 1,000,0001. at the rate of
3001. for every lOOt. capital. Persons at
all ranks crowded to the house in such a
manner, thut the first subscription ex-
ceeded 2,000.000/. of original stock. In
a few days this stock advanced to 340Z ;
and the subscriptions were sold for double
the price of the first payment. In a
little time the stock reached 1,OOOZ., and
the whole nation was infected with the
spirit of stock-jobbing to an incredible
extent. The infatuation prevailed till
the 8th of September, when the stock be-
gan to fall, and some of the adventurers
awoke from their delirium. On the 29th
of the same month, the stock had sunk
to 1501. : several eminent goldsmiths and
bankers, who had lent great sums upon
it, were obliged to stop payment and ab-
scond ; and the ebb of this portentous
tide was so violent that it carried every-
thing in its way, and an infinite number
of families were overwhelmed with ruin.
Public credit sustained a terrible shock;
the nation was thrown into a ferment ;
and nothing was heard but the ravings
of grief, disappointment, and despair.

SOVEREIGN, a supreme ruler, or
one who possesses the highest authority
without control. A king or queen reg-
nant. An English gold coin, value twen-
ty shillings.

SPA'HI, one of the Turkish cavalry.

SPAN'DREL, in architecture, the ir-
regular triangular space comprehended
between the outer curve or extrados of
an arch, a horizontal line drawn from its
apex, and a perpendicular line from its
springing. In Gothic Architecture, span-
drels are usually ornamented with trace-
ry, foliage, &c. Spandrel bracketing, a
cradling of brackets which is placed be-
tween curves, each of which is in a verti-
cal plane, and in the circumference of a
circle whose plane is horizontal. Span-
drel irall, a wall built on the back of an
arch filling in the spandrels.

S P E A K ' E R, in the parliamentary
sense, an officer who acts as chairman
during a sitting. The Speaker of Con-
gress, is a member of the house elected by
a majority of votes to act as chairman or
president, in putting questions, reading
bills, keeping order, and carrying into
execution the resolutions of the honse.
The Speaker is not to deliver his senti-
ments upon any question ; but it is his
duty to interrupt a member whose lan-
guage is indecorous ; or who wanders from
the subject of debate : he may also stop
a debate, to remind the house of any
standing order, or established mode of

proceeding, which he sees about to be
violated. He, however, submits every-
thing to the decision of the house. If
the number of votes, on the two sides of a
question be equal, he may decide it by
his own ; but otherwise he cannot vote.
When the house resolves itself into a
committee, the chair is filled by a tempo-
rary chairman, and the speaker is then
capable of addressing the house on any
subject, like a private member.

SPE'CIALTY, in law, a special con-
tract or bond ; the evidence of a debt by
deed or instrument under seal, thereby
differing from what is called simple con-
tract.

SPECIFICATION, the act of specify-
ing, or designation of particulars : as, the
specification necessary to be given in
taking out a patent ; or, the specification
of a charge against a naval or military
officer.

SPEC'TACLE, something that is ex-
hibited to view as extraordinary or de-
serving especial notice ; as, the combats
of gladiators in ancient Rome were spec-
tacles at once wonderful and brutal ; or,
the manager has this season produced a
splendid spectacle.

SPEC'TRE, a phantom or apparition
created, when supposed to be seen, by
the mind, through its own fears or guilty
recollections.

SPECULATION, in commerce, the act
or practice of buying articles of mer-
chandise, or any purchasable commodity
whatever, in expectation of a rise of
price, and of selling the same at a con-
siderable advance. In this it is distin-
guished from regular trade, in which the
profit expected is the difference between
the retail and wholesale prices, or the
difference of price in the place where the
goods are purchased, and the place to
which they are to be carried for market.
Speculation on a large scale, upon the
principle of monopolizing, or that kind
of speculation which consists in the pur-
chase and sale of shares in public com-
panies, as well as " dabbling" in the
stocks, and a -variety of other hazard-
ous transactions which might be named,
are different species of gambling, and
are often no less ruinous.

SPHINX, in antiquity, an emblemati-
cal figure, composed of the head and
breasts of a woman, the wings of a bird,
the legs and claws of a lion, and the body
of a dog ; and said to have been the
Egyptian symbol of Theology. Also, a
fabulous monster of Thebes. According
to mythological history, its father was

AND THE FINE ARTS.

567

Typhon the gigantic son of Terra, and it
was sent by Juno to afflict the Thebans,
which it did by proposing enigmatical
questions to persons, whom it killed if
they could not expound them. At length,
(Edipus having explained its famous rid-
dle on man, it precipitated itself from a
rock, and was dashed to pieces. This
riddle was as follows : " What creature is
that which goes in the morning upon four ;
at noon, upon two ; and in the evening
upon three legs." (Edipus answered,
"It is man ; who, in his infancy, crawls
upon all four, walks afterwards on two,
till old age brings him to his staff, which
constitutes three legs." The Grecian
sphinx was probably borrowed from
Egypt : where the enormous figure, now
half buried in the sand, was probably the
archetype of the more elegant monster
of Greece. This figure is close to the
Pyramids of Ghizeh, and was disinterred
by the late Mr. Belzoni, but has been
again nearly covered.

SPHRAGIS'TICS, the science of seals,
their history, peculiarities, and distinc-
tions, especially with a view to the means
which they afford of ascertaining the age
and genuineness of documents to which
tltey are affixed. Ancient seals were
chiefly impressed on common wax of dif-
ferent colors ; sealing-wax came into use
in the 16th century. This branch of diplo-
matics owes its origin to Heineccius, who
published a work on the subject in 1709.

SPICCA'TO, in music, a term indicat-
ing that every note is to have its distinct
sound. When used in relation to instru-
ments played with a bow, it is to be un-
derstood that every note is to have a
bow distinct from the preceding or suc-
ceeding one.

SPIN'ET, a musical stringed instru-
ment, played on by two ranges of keys,
the foremost range being in the order of
the diatonic scale ; and the other range
set backward, in the order of the artificial
notes or semitones.

SPINO'SISM, in philosophy, the sys-
tem of Benedict Spinosa, a Jew of Am-
sterdam, born in 1634, which is develop-
ed in his works on ethics. In it he de-
duces by strictly mathematical reasoning,
from a few axioms, the well-known prin-
ciples, that "there can be no substance
but God; whatever is is in God, and nothing
can be conceived without God." Hence
his scheme is called, with justice, Pan-
theistic. In fact, as Mr. Hallam observes,
" He does not essentially differ from the
Pantheists of old. He conceived, as they
had done, that the infinity of God requir-

ed the exclusion of all other substance :
that he was infinite ab omni parte, and
not only in certain senses." " It was one
great error of Spinosa," says the same
writer, " to entertain too arrogant a no-
tion of the human faculties ; in which, by
dint of his own subtle demonstrations, he
pretended to show a capacity of adequate-
ly comprehending the nature of what he
denominated God. And this was accom-
panied by a rigid dogmatism, no one prop-
osition being stated with hesitation ; by
a disregard of experience, at least as the
basis of reasoning ; and by a uniform pref-
erence of the synthetic mode."

SPIN'STER, in law, the common title
by which an unmarried woman, without
rank or distinction, is designated.

SPIRE, in architecture, the pyramidal
or conical termination of a tower or tur-
ret. The earliest spires were merely py-
ramidal or conical roofs, specimens of
which still exist in Norman buildings, as
that of the tower of Than church in Nor-
mandy. These roofs, becoming gradually
elongated, and more and more acute, re-
sulted at length in the elegant tapering
spire ; among the many existing exam-
ples of which, probably, that of Salisbury
is the finest. The spires of medieval
architecture, to which alone they are ap-
propriate, are generally square, octago-
nal, or circular in plan ; they are some-
times solid, more frequently hollow, and
are variously ornamented with bands en-
circling them, with panels more or less
enriched, and with spire lights, which aro
of infinite variety. Their angles are
sometimes crocketted, and they are al-
most invariably terminated by a finial.
In the later styles the general pyramidal
outline is obtained by diminishing the
diameter of the building in successive
stages, and this has been imitated in mod-
ern spires, in which the forms and details
of classic architecture have been applied
to structures essentially medieval. The
term spire is sometimes restricted to sig-
nify such tapering buildings, crowning
towers or turrets, as have parapets at
their base. When the spire rises from
the exterior of the wall of the tower with-
out the intervention of a parapet, it is
called a broach.

SPIR'IT. in metaphysics, an incorpo-
real being of intelligence. Also, excite-
ment of mind, animation, or whatever
has power or energy ; the quality of any
substance which manifests life nnd activi-
ty ; disposition of mind excited nnd direct-
ed to a particular object, &c. Holy Spir-
it, the third person in the Trinity.

668

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[STA

SPIRITUAL, mental; intellectual;
immaterial. Also, relating to . sacred
things, or ecclesiastical. Spiritually
minded, having the affections refined and
elevated above sensual objects, and placed
on God and his law. Spiritual court, a
court held by a bishop or other ecclesias-
tic.

SPIR'ITUALISM, as distinguished
from Materialism. That system accord-
ing to which all that is real is spirit,
soul, or self ; that which is called the ex-
ternal world being either a succession of
notions impressed on the mind by the
Deity, or else the mere educt of the mind
itself. The first is the spiritualism of
Berkeley ; the second, which may be
called pure egotism, that of Fichte.

SPON'DEB, in the Latin and Greek
prosody, a poetic foot of two long sylla-
bles. Spondaic, pertaining to a spon-
dee.

SPON'SIONS, in international l#w,
acts and engagements made on behalf
of states by agents not specially author-
ized, or exceeding the limits of the au-
thority under which they purport to be
made, are so called by writers on this
branch of jurisprudence. Such conven-
tions must be confirmed by express or
tacit ratification ; the latter of which is
implied from the fact of acting under it
as if bound by its stipulations ; but mere
silence is not, in general, held equivalent
to ratification. Such are the official acts
of admirals or generals suspending or
limiting hostilities, capitulations of sur-
render, oartels of exchange, &c.

SPON'SOR, one who binds himself to
answer for another, and is responsible for
his default. .Hence, sponsor, in baptism,
is a surety for the moral education of
the child baptized.

SPONTANEOUS, an epithet for things
that act by their own impulse, or with-
out any apparent external agency ; as,
the spontaneous combustion of vegetable
substances, which, when highly dried,
and closely heaped, will burst into a
flame.

SPRING, the season of the year when
increasing solar heat restores the ener-
gy of vegetation. It comprehends the
months of March, April, and May, in
the middle latitudes, north of the Equa-
tor.

SQUAD'RON, in the art of war, a di-
vision or body of troops, which, among
the ancients, was always square : whence
its name. A squadron of skips, a di- !
vision or part of a fleet employed on a
particular expedition, and commanded ,

by a vice or rear-adiniral, or a commo-
dore.

STA'BAT MATER DOLORO'SA, the
first words of a celebrated Latin hymn of
the church, in rhymed lines of eight
syllables without metre ; said to have
been composed by a Franciscan monk
name] Jacopone, in the 14th century.
It has been set to music by nearly all the
great composers ; but the best known of
all their compositions is that of Pergolesi,
commenced by him when nearly on his
deathbed, and finished by another hand.
The stabat mater is performed in the ec-
clesiastical services of the Roman church
during Holy Week.

STACC A'TO, in music, a term denoting
that the notes to which it is affixed are to
be detached in a striking way from each
other, being much like spiccato, which
see.

STA'DIUM, in ancient architecture,
an open area used for exercise by the
Grecian youth. With the Romans it
was much in the form of the circi, but
most of the Grecian stadia were enclosed
by merely an earthen mound. Vitruvi-
us informs us that its length was much
greater than its breadth ; the lists were
formed by a bank or terrace. Though
the stadium mostly formed part of a
gymnasium, it sometimes formed a separ-
ate structure, and was built at great cost
and with considerable elegance : witness
that on the Corinthian Isthmus mention-
ed by Pausanias, as well as that of
Herodie Atticus at Athens, which was
of large dimensions, and constructed of
Pentelican marble. Besides this, men-
tion is made by that author of several
others.

STADT'HOLDER, the name formerly
given to the coininander-in-chief of the
military forces in the republic of the
United Netherlands.

STAFF, in military affairs, an estab-
lishment of officers in various depart-
ments, attached to an army, or to the com-
mander of an army. The staff includes
officers not of the line, as adjutants,
quarter-masters, chaplain, surgeon, Ac.
The staff is the medium of communica-
tion from the comniander-in-chief to
every department of an army. An en-
sign of authority ; a badge of office ; as,
a constable's staff. Also a pole erected
in a ship to hoist and display a flag, call-
ed a Qng-staff".

STAGE, in the drama, the place of ac-
tion and representation, included between
the pit and the scenes, and answering to
the proscenium or pulpitum, of the an-

STA]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

569

cients. The word stage also often implies
the whole dramatic art in composition
and performance. A floor or platform
o.f any kind elevated above the ground or
common surface, as for an exhibition to
public view ; as, a stage for a mounte-
bank ; a stage erected for public speak-
ers. A place of rest on a journey ; as,
how far is it to the next stage 1 or the
distance between two places of rest on a
road ; as, it is a twelve mile stage.
Hence the word stage-coach.

STA'GYRITE, an appellation given
to Aristotle, from Stagira, a town in
Macedonia, the place of his birth.

STAIRS, in architecture, steps for
ascending from the lower to the upper
part of a house. When these are enclosed
with walls or balustrades, with landing-
places for communication between the
several stories of a building, the whole is
called a staircase. Vitruvius makes no
mention of staircases in his Treatise on
Architecture ; and, indeed, with the an-
cients they formed no feature in the in-
terior, being generally on the outside of
the houses. Those of which traces re-
main are narrow, and so inconvenient
that in some cases the steps are a foot in
height. In modern architecture, they
are often constructed with great display
of skill and magnificence, and are no
small test of the skill and power of the
architect. Those stairs which proceed in
a right line of ascent are called fliers ;
when they wind round a solid or open
newel they are called winders. Mixed
stairs are such as partly wind and partly

fly-

STALL, in architecture, a seat raised
on the sides of the choir or chancel of a
church, mostly appropriated to a digni-
tary of a cathedral or collegiate church.
Sometimes stalls are placed near the high
altar, for the priest and deacon or sub-
deacon to rest while the service in certain
parts is carried on .by the choristers. In
churches of the kinds named there is gen-
erally a series of them.

STAMP, in England, a mark set upon
things chargeable with duty to govern-
ment, as evidence that the duty is paid ;
as, the stamp on a newspaper, the stamp
on a bond or indenture, Ac. Any instru-
ment for making impressions on other
bodies. A character of reputation, good
or bad, fixed on anything; as, the Scrip-
tures bear the stamp of a divine origin ;
this person bears on his unblushing face
the stamp of roguery.

STAN'ZA, in poetry, a series or num-
ber of verses connected with each other

in a poem, of which the metro is con-
structed of successive series similar in
arrangement. Thestanza, however, must
be understood to form a shorter division
than the classical strophe, to which this
definition would bo equally applicable.
The term is of Italian origin, and signifies
literally a station or resting-place : it is
so called 'from terminating with a full
point or pause. The ottava rima, which
consists of six lines in alternate rhyme
ended by a couplet, the lines being deca,
or rather hendeca-syllabic, is the prin-
cipal Italian stanza. The Spenserian
stanza (which was perhaps invented by
the poet from whom it derives its name,
but wa!S certainly first applied by him to
the construction of a regular poem) con-
sists of eight deca-syllabic verses and an
Alexandrine at the end ; the first and
third verses forming the last rhyme ; the
second, fourth, fifth, and seventh another;
and the eighth and ninth a third rhyme.
Lord Byron has given both to the Ottava
and the Spenserian stanza in English
verse a peculiar and original character.

STAR'-CHAMBER, formerly, a court
of criminal jurisdiction at Westminster,
England, so called from its roof being
ornamented with gilt stars. This court
took upon itself to decide upon those
cases of offence with Regard to which the
law was silent ; and was in criminal mat-
ters what the exchequer is in civil. It
passed judgment without the intervention
of a jury. It differed from all other ju-
diciary courts in this, that the latter were
governed only by the common law, or
immemorial custom, and acts of parlia-
ment ; whereas the former often admitted
for law the proclamations of the king in
council.

STA'ROST, a title under the Polish

! republic enjoyed by noblemen who were
in possession of certain castles and do-

j mains called starosties. These were grants

i of the crown, and only conferred for life,
but generally renewed after the demise
of a possessor to his heirs.

STATES, or ESTATES, in modern
European history, (French etats, German
stande.) those divisions of society, pro-
fessions, or classes of men, which have
partaken, either directly or by represen-
tation, in the government of their coun-
try. Their number has varied in differ-

! ent countries. In France, and most other
feudal kingdoms, there have been three
estates, (nobles, clergy, commonalty.)
members of the ancient national assem-
blies. Hence the well-known appellation
tiers etat (third estate) for the last. In

570

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

STK

Sweden there are at this day four : no-
bility, clergy, citizens, peasants. In most
countries the ancient system of assemblies
convoked from separate estates disap-
peared by the progress of absolute gov-
ernment in the 16th and 17th centuries;
and in modern monarchical constitutions
the English system of government by
king, lords, and commons, or analogous
powers, has prevailed. But the states
have been reconstituted of late years in
some German monarchies and grand
duchies, the electorate of Hesse Cassel,
&c

STATES-GENERAL, in French his-
tory, assemblies which were first called
A.D. 1302, and were held occasionally
from that period to the year 1614,
when they were discontinued, till they
were summoned again at an interesting
period, viz., in the year 1789. These
states-general, however, were very differ-
ent from the ancient assemblies of the
French nation under the kings of the
first and second race. There is no point
with respect to which the French anti-
quaries are more generally agreed than
in maintaining that the states-general
had no suffrage in the passing of laws,
and possessed no proper jurisdiction.
The whole tenor of the French history
confirms this opinion.

STATIONERY, the name given to all
the materials employed in the art of
writing, but more especially to those of
pen, ink, and paper. The term station-
ery is derived from the business of book-
sellers having been anciently carried o
entirely in stalls, or stations.

STATISTICS, a term of somewhat
modem date, adopted to express a more
comprehensive view of the various par-
ticulars constituting the general and po-
litical strength and resources of a country
than was usually embraced by writers on
political arithmetic. The principal ob-
jects of the science of statistics are the
extent and population of a state ; the
occupation of the different classes of its
inhabitants ; the progress of agriculture,
of manufactures, and of internal and
foreign trade ; the income and wealth of
the inhabitants, and the proportion drawn
from them for the public service by taxa-
tion ; their health and longevity ; the
condition of the poor ; the state of schools
and other public institutions of utility ;
with every other subject, the knowledge
of which may be useful in ascertaining
the moral condition and political strength
of a country, its commerce, arts, &c.

STAT'UE, in sculpture, a representa-

tion in relief in some solid substance, aa
marble or bronze, or in some apparently
solid substance, of a man or other ani-
mal. There are various species of statues :
1. Those smaller than nature. 2. Those
of the same size as nature. 3. Those
larger than nature. 4. Those that are
three or more times larger than nature,
and are called colossal. The first were
by the ancients confined to men and gods
generally. The second were confined to
the representation of men celebrated for
their learning and talents, who had ren-
dered service to the state, and were ex^!-
cuted at the public expense. The third
were confined to kings, emperors, and,
when more than twice the size of nature,
to heroes. The fourth species were con-
fined to statues of the gods, or of kings
and emperors represented under the
form of gods Equestrian statues are
those in which the figure is seated on a
horse.

STA'TUS QUO, in politics, a treaty
between two or more belligerents, which
leaves each party in possession of the
same territories, fortresses, <fec. as it

| occupied before hostilities broke out, is

j said to leave them " in statu quo ante
bellurn," in the same state as before the

i war.

STATUTES, acts of Congress, which

j are either public or private. Statutes
are distinguished from common law. The
latter owes its binding force to the prin-
ciples of justice, to long use, and the
consent of a nation. The former owe
their binding force to a positive command
or declaration of the governing power.

STAVE, in music, the five horizontal
and parallel lines on which the notes of
tunes are written or printed.

STEE'PLE, in architecture, an append-
age erected generally in the western end

I of churches, to hold the bells. Steeples are
denominated, according to their form,
either spires or towers : the first are such
as ascend continually diminishing either
conically or pyramidally : the latter are
merely parallelepipeds, and are covered
at top platform-wise. The steeple ap-
pears to have originated in Gothic archi-
tecture.

STEN'CILLING, a method of painting
on walls with a stencil, so as to imitate
the figures on paper-hangings.

STENOG'RAPHY, the art of writing
in short-hand, by using abbreviations or
characters for whole words. Some sys-
tems are replete with unmeaning symbols
and ill-judged contractions ; while others
are too prolix, by containing a multi-

BTl]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

plicity of characters, and those characters
not simple or easily remembered. No
system of arbitrary signs, in fact, how-
ever scientific, can, without extensive
practice, be of much use to the student ;
and it is not therefore surprising that
many of our most expert reporters neg-
lect or abandon the study of it altogether.

STENTO'RIAN, [from Stentor, a her-
ald in Homer, whose voice was as loud as
the united voices of fifty other men,J able
to utter a very loud sound. The word
stentorophonic is also sometimes, though
rarely, used.

STERCO'RIANISM, in ecclesiastical
history, a nickname which seems to have
been applied in the Western church, in
the 5th and 6th century, to those who
held the opinion that a change took place
in the consecrated elements, so as to
render the divine body subject to the act
of digestion.

STEREOG'RAPHY, the art of drawing
the forms and figures of solids upon a
plane.

STEREOT'OMY, the science or art of
cutting solids into certain figures or sec-
tions ; as walls or other members in the
profiles of architecture.'

STEll'EOTYPE, an entire solid plate
or piece of type cast from an impression
in gypsum of a page composed with mov-
able types. Thus we say a book is printed
on stereotype, or in stereotype. In the
latter use, the word seems rather to signify
the workmanship, or manner of printing,
than the plate. See Cycl. Useful Arts.

STER'L'ING, in English commerce, a
term which is applied to money, signify-
ing that it is of the fixed, or standard,
national value ; thus, "a pound sterling"
is not indefinitely " a pound," but " an
English pound." Camden appears to
offer the true etymology of this word,
when he derives it from easterling, and
corroborates, if not demonstrates, the
propriety of this suggestion, by quoting
old deeds, where English coin is always
called nummi easterlingi. In explana-
tion, he observes, that in the reign of
Richard I. money coined in the eastern
part of Germany grew to be much es-
teemed in England, on account of its
purity : this money was called easterling
money, as all the people of those parts
were called easterlings ; and in conse-
quence of the partiality related, some of
the easterling coiners were invited into
the kingdom, to perfect its coinage, which
was thenceforward denominated easter-
ling, esterling, or sterling. During a
considerable period, the only coin in Eng-

land 'was one of about the value of a
penny: whence it happens, that many
ancient writers use the word easterling
as a substantive, and synonymously with
penny. The word sterling has also a
more general application. We speak of
sterling value, sterling worth, or sterling
wit ; thereby meaning genuine and of
good quality.

STEWARD, a man who is employed
in wealthy families to superintend the
household generally, to collect the rents
or income, keep the accounts, <fcc.

STICII'O MANGY, divination by lines
or passages in books taken at hazard.
Among the Romans verses from the
Sibylline books were written on slips of
paper, which were thrown into a vessel ;
and future events were conjectured from
the interpretation of one of these slips
drawn out at hazard. Of the same kind
were the Sortes Virgiliance, Homericce,
&G.; a sort of literary superstition by
which the works of authors were consult-
ed, and the meaning of a line casually
taken assumed as indicative of the fate
of the person discovering it. Verses of
the Bible selected in this way by chance
have been, and are still, frequently taken
by the superstitious as oracular. This
sort of divination has been called biblio-
mancy, or sortes biblicae. It was con-
demned by the council of Vannes in 465,
and other early synods ; but was long
afterwards practised in France at the
elections of bishops, abbots, &c. The cus-
tom of drawing by lots verses from the
Bible on such occasions is said to have
prevailed as late as 1740, in the cathe-
drals of Ypres, St. Omer, and Boulogne.

STIFF, constrained, labored, wanting
in ease and gracefulness of style. Such,
for example, are the Egyptian figures,
those of the most ancient Greek style,
certain Gothic figures, Ac. Stiffness is
essentially opposed to beauty of form.
Nature, bountiful in almost all her pro-
visions, has given to the limbs and move-
ments of men freedom and suppleness ;
and it is only through the unworthy
affectation which sometimes springs
from sophisticated habits of society, that
constrained or stiff movements are dis-
cernible, except in people out of health.

STIG'MATIZING. in antiquity, the
act of affixing a mark upon slaves,
sometimes as a punishment, but more
usually in order to know them. It was
done by applying a red-hot iron, marked
with certain letters, to their foreheads,
till a fair impression was made, and then
pouring ink into the furrows, that the

572

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[STO

inscription might be the more conspicu-
ous. Stigmatizing, among some nations,
was, however, looked upon as a distin-
guishing mark of honor and nobility.

STIPENDIARY, one who performs
services for a settled compensation, or
stipend, either by the day, month, or
year.

STIP'PLING, in the arts, a method of
engraving in dots, as distinguished from
etching in lines.

STIPULATION, a contract or bar-
gain ; as, the stipulations of the allied
powers of Europe to furnish each his con-
tingent of troops.

STO',33, in antiquity, porticoes in Ath-
ens, which were the resort of philosophers,
particularly the Stoics.

STOCK, in commerce, any fund con-
sisting of money or goods employed by a
person in trade, particularly the sum of
money raised by a company for carrying
on any trading concern. Stock is a gen-
eral name for the capitals of trading com-
panies. It is a word also that denotes
any sum of money which has been lent to
government, on condition of receiving a
certain interest till the money is repaid.
Hence the price of stocks, or rates per
cent., are the several sums for which $100
of those respective stocks sell at any given
time.

STOCK -BROKER, one who deals in
the purchase and sale of stocks or shares
in the public funds, for others.

STOCK'-JOBBER, one who speculates
in the prices of stock from day to day, or
by anticipation for future time : a despe-
rate species of gambling, by which thou-
sands are annually ruined. Stock-hold-
er, one who is a proprietor in the public
funds, or in the funds of a bank or other
company.

STO'IC, a disciple of the philosopher
Zeno, who founded a sect. He taught that
men should be free from passion, unmov-
ed by joy or grief, and submit without
complaint to the unavoidable necessity
by which all things are governed. The
Stoics are proverbially known for the
sternness and austerity of their ethical
doctrines, and for the influence which
their tenets exercised over some of the
noblest spirits of antiquity. Their sys-
tem appears to have been an attempt to
reconcile a theological pantheism, and
a materialist psychology, with a logic
which seeks the foundations of knowledge
in sensible experience, and a morality
which claims as its first principle the ab-
solute freedom of the human will. " Live
according to nature" is, with the Stoics,

the expression of the coincidence which
ought to exist between the human will
and the universal reason, which they
identified with the life and power of na-
ture. This coincidence is virtue, the only
good ; as vice, its opposite, is the only
evil. All things else are in themselves
indifferent; being approved or disapprov-
ed only by comparison. Virtue, accord-
ing to them, is the perfect harmony of
the soul with itself; vice is, in its essence,
inconsistent and self-contradictory. The
wise man, the ideal of human perfection,
is absolutely and without qualification,
free. His actions are determined by his
free will, with a power as irresistible as
that by which universal nature is guided
and animated.

STO' LA, in antiquity, a long robe in
use among the Roman ladies, over which
I they wore a large mantle, or cloak, called
the pallium. Also, a sacerdotal orna-
ment worn by the Romish parish priests
over their surplice, as a mark of supe-
riority in their respective churches ; and
by other priests over the alb, while cele-
brating mass.

STOLE, a long vest or robe, which
forms a part of the sacerdotal dress of
Roman Catholic parish priests over their
surplice, as a mark of superiority in their
respective churches, and by other priests
over the alb while celebrating mass. It
is a long broad white band, of silk or sil-
ver stuff, lined with stiff linen, worn by
deacons over the left shoulder, and reach-
ing to the right hip ; but the priests wear
it over both shoulders, and hanging down
across the breast. It is marked with three
crosses, and not unfrequently has little
bells at the end.

STONE'HENGE, in English topogra-
phy, the remains of a public structure
of the ancient Britons, still extant upon
Salisbury plain. It consists of many un-
hewii stones, which with some that are
wanting, appear to have originally com-
posed four ranks, one within another.
Some of them, especially in the outermost
and the third ranks, are twenty feet high
and seven broad. -The vertical stones
sustain horizontal ones, laid across their
heads, and fastened by mortises. The
whole is supposed to have been once
joined together. The purpose of a place
of this description, among the generations
which, two thousand years ago, peopled
the island of Britain, and were not so
barbarous or inconsiderable as is com-
monly supposed, and as the vanity and
superior refinement of the Romans con-
tribute to represent, seems to have been

STR]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

573

that of religious worship. What that
religion was can only be conjectured ; but
judging of these ruins by their similarity
to the huge remains of buildings still ex-
isting in Egypt as well as from the cir-
cumstance that the heads and horns of
oxen and other animals have been found
buried in the spot it has been thought
that the rites peculiar to solar worship
were there performed ; and, consequently,
that Stonehenge was once a temple of
Baal.

STOP, the instrument by which the
sounds of wind music are regulated ; as,
the stops of a flute or an organ. The
stops of an organ are a collection of pipes
similar in tone and quality, which run
through the whole or a great part of the
compass of the instrument. In great
organs, the stops are numerous and mul-
tifarious ; but the principal ones are the
two diapasons, the principal, the twelfth,
ihejifteenth, the sesquialtera, the mixture
or furniture, the trumpet, the clarion,
and the cornet. The choir-organ usually
contains the stopt diapason, the dulciana,
the principal, the Jlute, the twelfth, the
bassoon, and the vox humana. The stops
of an organ are so arranged, that by
means of registers the air proceeding
from the bellows may be admitted to
supply each stop or series of pipes, or
excluded from it at pleasure ; and a valve
is opened when the proper key is touched,
which causes all the pipes belonging to
the note, in those series of which the re-
gisters are open, to sound at once. Sev
eral of the stcyps are designed to produce
imitations of different musical instru-
ments, as the trumpet, clarion, cornet
smdjtute stops.

STOR'THING, the parliament of Nor-
way. It is elected once in three years,
and sits every year for the despatch of
business. The election is double ; every
quajified person (an owner or life-renter
of land paying taxes in the country, and
every one possessing land or houses of 156
rix dollars value in towns) joining in the !
election of councillors, who elect out of !
their own body the representatives of the ;
country. These must be from 75 to 100
in number. The storthing, when elected,
divides itself into two houses : one fourth,
chosen by the rest, joining the laything,
or upper house ; the remainder the odels-
thing, or lower house. The storthing has
the usual powers of a legislative assem-
bly in a constitutional country, and the
king has only a suspensive veto ; which, if
the storthing passes a law three times in
six successive years, becomes of no effect, j

STRAPPA'DO, a military punishment
formerly practised. It consisted in draw-
ing an offender to the top of a beam and
letting him fall, by which means a limb
was sometimes dislocated.

STRAT'EGY, properly the science of
combining and employing the means
which the different branches of the art
of war afford, for the purpose of forming
projects of operations, and of directing
great military movements. It was for-
merly distinguished from the art of mak-
ing dispositions and of manoeuvring, when
in the presence of the enemy ; but mili-
tary writers now, in general, comprehend
all these subjects under the denomination
of grand and elementary tactics.

STRATH'SPEY, in Scotland, a species
of dance in which two persons are en-
gaged. It is so denominated from the
country of Strathspey, probably as hav-
ing been first used there. A species of
dance music in common time, peculiar to
Scotland. It probably originated in the
same district as the above dance.

STRATOC'RACY, a military govern-
ment, or that form of government in
which the soldiery bear the sway.

STRENGTH, force of writing ; vigor ;
nervous diction. The strength of words,
of style, of expression, and the like, con-
sists in the full and forcible exhibition of
ideas, by which a sensible or deep im-
pression is made on the mind of a hearer
or reader. It is distinguished from soft-
ness or sweetness. Strength of language
enforces an argument, produces cuiivic-
tion, or excites wonder or other strong
emotion ; softness and sweetness give
pleasure.

STREPITO'SO, in music, an Italian
word denoting that the part to which it
is prefixed must be performed in an im-
petuous and boisterous style.

STRETCH'ING COURSE, in archi-
tecture, a course in which the bricks or
stones are laid horizontally with their
lengths in the direction of the face of the
wall.

STRET'TO, in music, a term indicating
that the measure to which it is affixed is
to be performed short and concise, hence
quick It is the opposite of largo.

STRIDE, in architecture, the fillets
which separate the furrows or grooves
of fluted columns.

STRO'PHE, a division of a Greek
choral ode answering to a stanza. The
name is derived from orptyuv, to turn,
because the singers turned in one direc-
tion while they recited that portion of
the poein ; they then turned round and

574

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATUEK

[STY

sung the next portion, which was of ex-
actly the same length and metre as the
preceding, and was termed the antistro-
phe. These were sometimes followed by
another strophe and antistrophe, some-
times by a single stanza called the epode.

STRUC'TURE, in its usual accepta-
tion, a building of some size and im-
portance. Also, form or construction ;
as, " we know but little of the structure
and constitution of the terraqueous
globe."

STUC'CO, in building, .a fine kind of
plaster composed of lime, sand, whiting,
and pulverized marble ; used for cover-
ing walls, &c.

STUD, in building, a small piece of
timber or joist inserted in the sills and
beams, between the posts, to support the
beams or other main timbers.

STUD'IES, in painting, a term applied
to those preparatory sketches or exercises
made by an artist, consisting of separate
parts of a picture, first designed and
painted unconnectedly, with a view to
their future introduction into the entire
work. Thus, entire figures in some in-
stances ; in others, human heads, hands,
or feet, animals, trees', plants, flowers,
and, in short, anything designed from
nature, receive the general name of
studies. The use of studies is to enable
a painter to acquire a practical knowl-
edge of his art, and facility of execution.
Pieces of instrumental music composed
for the purpose of familiarizing the
player with the difficulties of his instru-
ment.

STUD'Y, application of the mind to
books, to art or science, or to any subject,
for the purpose of learning what was not
before known; the occupation of a stu-
dent. Also, the apartment devoted to
study or literary avocations.

STYLE, in literature, the word style
may be defined to mean the distinctive
manner of writing which belongs to each
author, and also to each body of writers,
allied as belonging to the same school,
country, or age. It is that which, to use
the expression of Dryden, individuates
each writer from all others. The style
of an author is made up of various
minute particulars, which it is extremely
difficult to describe, but each of which
adds something to the aggregate of qual-
ities which belong to him. Collocation
of words, turn of sentences, syntax,
rhythm ; the relation, abundance, and
the character of his usual figures and
metaphors ; the usual order in which
thoughts succeed each other ; the logical

form in which conclusions are generally
deduced from their premises ; the par-
ticular qualities most insisted on in de
scription ; amplification and conciseness,
clearness and obscurity, directness and
indirectness, exhaustion, suggestion, sup-
pression all these are features of style,
in the largest sense of the expression, in
which it seems to comprehend all pecu-
liarities belonging to the manner in
which thought is communicated from the
writer to the reader. Excellence of style,
particularly of the rhetorical parts of
style, was more cultivated by the ancients
than the moderns ; and less, perhaps, at
the present day, than at any former
period since the English language began
to be written in prose with correctness
and elegance. Since the period when
Bolingbroke, Junius, Johnson. Gibbon,
and Burke became established as models,
a certain superficial sameness of style,
wanting in the roughness and vulgarity,
but also in the force and individuality
of old English composition, seems to
prevail to such an extent as to render
modern writing extremely monotonous
and artificial. But it should never be
forgotten that whatever quality may
command a temporary popularity, no
work, either in poetry or prose, has ever
permanently maintained its hold on pub-
lic admiration without excellence of
style. Style, in the Fine Arts, the mode
in which an artist forms and expresses
his ideas on and of a given subject. It
^s the form and character that he gives
to the expression of his ideas, according
to his particular facultiS and powers.
Style may be almost considered as the
refinement of manner; it is a charac-
teristic essence by which we distinguish
the works of one master from another.
From literature this word has passed into
the theoretic language of the Fine Arts :
and as in that we hear of the sublime,
brilliant, agreeable, historic, regular,
y.atural, confused, and other styles, so
we have almost the same epithets ap-
plied to styles of art. Indeed this is not
wonderful, since the principles of taste,
in both the one and the other, are found-
ed in nature ; and it is a well-known
saying, that poetry is a speaking picture.
This word is improperly used as applied
to coloring and harmony of tints : we
speak of the style of a design, of a com-
position, of draperies, <&c.; but not of the
style of coloring, but rather the method
or manner of coloring. The definition
of this word by Sir Joshua Reynolds :'s as
follows: "Style in painting is the came

SUB]

AND THE FINE ART8.

675

as in writing a power over materials,
whether words or colors, by which con-
ception^ or sentiments are conveyed."
Style, in chronology, the manner of com-
puting time, with regard to the Julian or
Gregorian calendar, and termed either
old style or new. By the old style the
year consisted of 365 days and 6 hours ;
but the new or Gregorian style was made
to correspond more nearly with the period
of the sun's revolution, reckoning the
year to be 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes
20 seconds, by retrenching 11 days from
the old style. The new style was in-
troduced into Germany in 1700, and in
1752 into England by act of parliament,
whereby the 2d of September in that
year was reckoned the 14th. Style, in
architecture, a particular mode of erect-
ing buildings, as the Gothic style, the
Saxon style, the Norman style, &c.

STY'LITE, the title given to a peculiar
class of anchorites from the places on
which they took up their solitary abodes,
being the tops of various columns in
Syria and Egypt. This strange method
of devotion took its rise in the second
century, and continued to be practised
by many individuals for a great length
of time. The most famous among them
was one St. Simeon, in the 5th century,
who is said to have lived thirty-seven
years upon various columns of consider-
able height in the neighborhood of An-
tioch.

STY'LOBATE, in architecture, in a
general sense, any sort of basement on
which columns are placed to raise them
above the level of the ground or floor ;
but in its technical sense, it is applied
only to a continuous unbroken pedestal,
upon which an entire range of columns
stand, contradistinguished from pedestals,
which are merely detached fragments
of a stylobate placed beneath each
column.

STYX, in mythology, a nymph : the
daughter, according to Hesiod, of Ocea-
nus and Thetis ; but other mythologists
relate the genealogy differently. She
d'.velt in a rock palace in the infernal re-
gions, from whence ona of the infernal
rivers burst forth. This river, Styx, was
one of the ten arms or branches of Ocea-
nus The gods of Olympus swore by the
water of Styx ; and a deity, who took
this oath in vain was banished from the
heavenly mansions for ten years, to en-
dure various torments.

SUB, a Latin preposition for under
or below ; used as a prefix to many Eng-
lish words denoting inferiority of rank or

defect in quality ; as, subaltern, subordi-
nate, &c.

SU'BAH, in India, a province or vice-
royship. Hence, jubahdar, the gover-
nor of a province. Subakdar is also
used for a native of India, who ranks
as captain in the European companies.

SUBAL'TERN, a term for a military
officer below the rank of captain.

SUBDOM'INANT, in music, that note
which is a fifth below the key-note. It is
a species of governing note, inasmuch as
it requires the tonic to be heard after it
in the plagal cadence. In the regular
ascending scale of seven notes it is the
fourth ; the term, however, has its origin
from its relation to the tonic as the fifth
below.

SUB'JECT, one that owes allegiance
to a government, and is governed by its
laws. Men in free governments are sub-
jects as well as citizens ; as citizens, they
enjoy rights and franchises ; as subjects,
they are bound to obey the laws. Sub-
ject, that on which any mental opera-
tion is performed, or which is treated or
discussed.

SUB JEC'TIVE and OB JEC'TIVE, are
terms expressing the distinction which in
analyzing every intellectual act we ne-
cessarily make between ourselves, the con-
scious subject, and that of which we are con-
scious, the object. "I know" and "some-
thing is known by me," are convertible
propositions ; every act of the soul that is
not thus resolvable belongs to the emotive
part of our nature, as distinguished from
the intelligent and percipient. For the
distinction between subject and object,
all-important in intellectual philosophy,
and the neglect of which has been the
cause of infinite confusion and perplexity,
we are indebted to the schoolmen ; from
whom it was derived, through Wolf and
Leibnitz, by Kant and the modern Ger-
man philosophers.

SUBLAPSA'RIAN, in theology, one
who maintains that the sin of Adam's
apostasy being imputed to all his poster-
ity, God in his compassion decreed to send
his Son to rescue a great number from
their lost state, and to accept of his obe-
dience and death on their account. The
word sublapsarian is opposed to supra-
lapsarian.

SUBLIME', in literature, that style or
manner of writing in which a sublime
thought, or a fact sublime in its charac-
ter, is suitably presented to the mind. It
has often been said, but we suspect
there is no valid ground for the assertion,
that when men grow philosophical.

576

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

they can seldom excel in the sublime.
The sources of the sublime in language
are well enumerated by Longinus. The
first is elevation of mind ; the second, ar-
dent sensibility ; the third, the proper
use of figures ; the fourth, grandeur of
diction ; and the fifth, a dignified har-
mony of arrangement. The sublime in
narration is exemplified in the well-
known commencement of the book of
Genesis : " God said let there be light,
and there was light." Sublime, in the
Fine Arts, high or exalted in style. That
which in art is raised above the higher
standard of nature or its prototypes.
Sublimity is incompatible with our ideas
of elegance, grace, or any of the other
sources of beauty, though these may all
enter into an object wherein those and
many other qualities may be combined
with sublimity. They have been, how-
ever, not unfrequently considered as some
of the sources of the sublime. The nod
of Jupiter, in the hands of such a master
as Homer, is an indication of sublimity ;
but when Longinus tells us, that, as ap-
plied to literature, the constituent ingre-
dients of sublimity are boldness in
thought, the pathetic, proper application
of figures, use of tropes and beautiful ex-
pressions, and last, musical structure and
sounds, we are inclined to think he had
very indistinct notions of it himself. We
cannot better exemplify the meaning of
this term than by referring the reader to
the works of Michael Angelo in the Sis-
tine Chapel, wherein, as Fuseli has truly
said, " his line is uniformly grand ; char-
acter and beauty were admitted only as
far as they could be made subservient to
grandeur. The child, the female, mean-
ness, deformity, were by him indiscrimi-
nately stamped with grandeur. A beggar
rose from his hand the patriarch of pov-
erty ; his infants teem with the man, his
men are giants." The terribile via,, hint-
ed at by Agostino Caracci, is indeed the
sublime. Note. The true nature of sub-
limity is a subject of great interest and
importance in mental philosophy, and it
has always been a favorite subject of
speculation. The term, psychologically
considered, has two significations : one
that of tlje quality or circumstance in
objects, which raises the emotion named
sublimity; the other that of the emotion
itself. The invariable condition in ob-
jects, either material or moral, is vast-
ness or intensity. The invariable condi-
tion of the emotion of sublimity that
which distinguishes this emotion from
every other emotion is a comprehension

I of this vastness, with a simultaneous feel-
j ing of our own comparative insignificance,
i together with a concomitant sense of
present security from any danger which
might result from this superior power.
The antithesis to the emotion of sublim-
ity is the emotion of contempt. In every
case of sublimity in material objects,
whatever feelings may simultaneously
concur, vastness will be found an inva-
riable condition vastness either of form
or of power ; as in the violent dashing of
a cataract, in the roar of the ocean, in the
violence of the storm, in the majestic
quiet of Mont Blanc, preserving its calm
amidst all the storms that play around it.
In the moral world, the invariable condi-
tion of sublimity is intensity intensity
of will. Mere intensity is sufficient to
produce the sublime. Lear, who appeals
to the heavens, " for they are old like
him," is sublime from the very intensity
of his sufferings and his passions. Lady
Macbeth is sublime from the intensity of
her will, which crushes every female feel-
ing for the attainment of her object.
Scsevola, with his hand in the burning
coals, exhibits an intensity of will which
is sublime. In all the cases above-men-
tioned we are moved by a vivid feeling
of some greater power than our own ; or
some will more capable of suffering, more
vast in its strength, than our feeble va-
cillating will.

SUBLIM'ITY, in oratory and compo-
sition, loftiness of sentiment or style.
Also, moral grandaur ; as, " the incom-
prehensible sublimity of God."

SUBME'DIANT, in music, the sixth
note, or middle note between the octave
and subdominant.

SUBORNATION, in law, the crime of
procuring a person to take such a false
oath as constitutes perjury.

SUBPCE'NA, in law, a writ command-
ing the attendance in court of a person
on whom it is served ; as a witness, Ac.

SUBREPTION, the act of obtaining
a favor by surprise or unfair representa-
tion, that is, by the suppression of facts.

SUBROGATION, in the civil law, the
substituting of one person in the place
of another, and giving him his rights.

SUBSCRIPTION, the act of signing
or setting one's hand to a paper. Also
the giving of a sum of money, or enga-
ging to give it, for the furtherance of
some common object in which several are
interested, as subscriptions in support of
charitable institutions, and the like.

SUB'SIDY, in England, an aid or tax
granted to the king, by parliament, upon

SUF]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

577

any urgent occasion, and levied on every
subject of ability, according to a certain
rate on lands and goods : but the word in
some of the statutes, is confounded with
that of customs. It signifies, in modern
usage, a sum of money given by the gov-
ernment of one nation to that of another,
for the immediate purpose of serving the
latter, and the ultimate one, of benefiting
the former. Thus Great Britain subsi-
dized Austria and Prussia, to engage
those powers in resisting the progress of
the French during the war with Napoleon.

SUB'STANCE, something that we con-
ceive to subsist of itself, independently
of any created being, or any particular
mode or accident. Our ideas of substan-
ces, as Mr. Locke observes, are only
such combinations of simple ideas as are
taken to represent distinct things subsist-
ing by themselves, in which the confu-
sed idea of substance is always the chief.
Thus the combination of the ideas of a
certain figure, with the powers of motion,
thought, and reasoning joined to the sub-
stance, make the ordinary idea of a man ;
and thus the mind observing several sim-
ple ideas to go constantly together, which
being presumed to belong to one thing,
or to be- united in one subject, are called
by one name, which we are apt afterwards
to talk of, and consider, as one simple
idea. The word is equally applicable to
matter or spirit ; we say, " stone is a hard
substance;" "the soul of man is an im-
material substance, endued with thought;"
and, " in a good epitome, we may have
the substance of a large book," &c.

SUBSTITUTE, in law, one delegated
to act for another. In the militia, one
engaged to serve in the room of another.

SUB'URBS, the buildings, streets, or
parts that lie without the walls, but in
the immediate vicinity of a city. Hence
suburban, inhabiting or being situated
near a city.

SUCCEDA'NEUM, that which is used
for something else ; a substitute. Hence
succedaneous, being employed for or sup-
plying the place of something else.

SUCCESSION APOSTOL'ICAL, in
theology, by these words is meant the un-
interrupted succession of priests in the
church by regular ordination, from the
first commission given by our Saviour to
the Apostles, and recorded in the Gospels,
down to the present day. And the doc-
trine of " the apostolical succession," as it '
is popularly called, means the belief that |
the clergy so regularly ordained have a
commission from God to preach the gos-
pel, administer the sacraments, and guide
52

the church ; that through their ministra-
tion only we can derive the grace which
is communicated by the sacraments. It
follows, of course, that those sects of
Christians which have no regular succes-
sion, (having seceded from Romanism
without retaining ministers regularly or-
dained, or having subsequently interrupt-
ed the succession, that is, all Protestant
bodies, except the church of England)
have, properly speaking, neither church
nor sacraments, since they possess no
apostolical authority. This doctrine was,
by admission on all hands, of very great
antiquity in the church ; but whether that
antiquity is primitive or not, is a matter
of discussion at the present day.

SUCCES'SION, LAW OF, in political
economy, the law or rule according to
which the succession to the property of
deceased individuals is regulated. Gen-
erally speaking, this law obtains only in
cases where a deceased party has died
intestate, or in cases where the power
of bequeathing property by will, is limi-
ted by the legislature. It is plain that
in cases of intestacy, where the deceased
either leaves a number of descendants,
or where he leaves no direct descend-
ants, the law, in order to prevent endless
disputes and litigation, must interfere
to regulate the succession to the proper-
ty ; and it will necessarily follow that
the succession will be determined in dif-
ferent countries by local circumstances,
depending partly on the peculiar state
and institutions of each country, and on
the views entertained by its legislators of
what is just and proper, and most condu-
cive to the public advantage. Hence it
is to no purpose in a matter of this kind
to look for any general or fixed princi-
ples. The succession to the property of
those dying intestate, and the power of
bequeathing property by will or testa-
ment, depend wholly on the rules and
regulations enacted in each country ;
and these necessarily vary with the vary-
ing circumstances of different countries
and conditions of society.

SUE, to institute legal process against
a person ; to prosecute in a civil action
for the recovery of ft real or supposed
right ; as to sue for debt or damages.

SUF'FERANCE, a term in law, ap-
plied to tenants ; a tenant at sufferance
being one that continues after his title
ceases, without positive leave of the owner.

SUFFE'TES, certain Carthaginian
magistrates, whose office bore considera-
ble analogy to that of the Spartan kings
and Roman consuls. Their number was

578

[SUN

two, and they were elected annually
from the noblest families of the state.
The functions of the sufl'etes seems prin-
cipally to have been confined to the
management of civil affairs. Thus it
was their province to assemble the senate
and preside in it, and also to propose the
subjects of debate, and collect the votes ;
but there are instances recorded of suf-
fetes leading the armies of their country.
All the cities of note in the Carthagin-
ian dominions had likewise their suf-
fetes ; but these, of course, were invested
with merely municipal authority.

SUF'FRAG AN, in ecclesiastical polity,
a term of relation applied to a bishop,
with respect to the archbishop who is his
superior ; or rather, an assistant bishop.

SUF'FRAGE, a vote given in deciding
a controverted question, or in the choice
of a man for an office or trust ; as, a true
patriot deserves the suffrages of his
fellow-citizens.

SU'ICIDE, the crime of self-murder.
Although the practice of self-annihila-
tion, under particular circumstances, was
upheld by many of the ancient philoso-
phers, the general lawfulness of suicide
was by no means universally received in
the ancient pagan world ; many of the
most considerable names, both Greek and
Roman, having expressly declared against
that practice. Pythagoras, Socrates,
Plato, Tully, have condemned it; even
Brutus himself, though he fell by his own
hand, yet in his cooler and philosophical
hours, wrote a treatise wherein he highly
condemned Cato, as being guilty of an
act both of impiety and cowardice in
destroying himself. According to modern
law, to constitute a suicide, the person
must be of years of discretion and of
sound mind.

SUIT, in law, an action or process for
the recovery of a right or claim. In a
general sense, suit denotes a number of
things use.d together, and in a degree
necessary to be united, in order to answer
the purpose ; as a suit of curtains, a suit
of armor, or a suit of clothes. We also
use the word when speaking of a number
of attendants or followers ; as, a noble-
man and his suit. It is right, however,
to state, ' that custom has now pretty
generally established the use of the
French word suite (pronounced sweet) in
this last named case.

SUITOR, in legal phraseology, one
who attends a court to prosecute a demand
of right in law, as a plaintiff, petitioner
or appellant.

SUL'TAN, in Arabic, mighty. Various

1 Mohammedan princes are styled by this
title besides the Ottoman umpurur or
grand sultan, to whom it is commonly
given by Europeans, but whose peculiar
title of Padishah is more dignified. The
princes of the deposed family of the klum
of the Crim Tartars are also styled sul-
! tan : so also the pacha of Egypt in that
country, although not by the court of
Constantinople.

SUM'MEK, one of the four seasons of
the year ; beginning in the northern
hemisphere., when the sun enters Cancer,
about the 21st of June, and continuing
for three months ; during which time, the
sun being north of the equator, renders
this the hottest period of the year. In
latitudes south of the equator, just the
opposite takes place, or, in other words,
it is summer there when it is winter here.

SUM'MONS, in law, a warning or ci-
tation to appear in court ; or a written
notification signed by the proper ofiicer,
to be served on a person, warning him
to appear in court at a day specified, to
answer to the demand of the plaintiff.

SUMP'TUARY LAWS, those laws
which, in extreme cases, have occasional-
ly been made to restrain or limit the ex-
penses of citizens in apparel, food, furni-
ture, &c. Sumptuary laws are abridg-
ments of liberty, and of very difficult ex-
ecution.

SUN'DAY, the first day of the week,
called also the Lord's-day, because it is
kept holy in memory of the resurrection
of Christ ; and the sabbath-day, because
substituted, in the Christian worship, for
the sabbath, or day of rest, in the old dis-
pensation. This substitution was first de-
creed by Constantino the Great, A.D. 321,
before whose time both the old and new
sabbath were observed by Christians.

SUN'NIAH, the name given to the sect
commonly considered as orthodox among
the Mussulmans by the followers of Ali.
The latter believe that the sovereign
imanship, or imaginary dignity which
conveys supremacy over all the faithful,
belongs of right to the descendants of Ali,
son-in-law of Mohammed. The schism
between these two sects has subsisted
from the earliest times of Mohammedan-
ism ; when Ali, having become fourth ca-
liph after the death of Othman, a rebel-
lion was raised against him by Maaniah,
founder of the Ommiad race of caliphs
about the year 1000 of the Christian era.
The division took place between the two
parties in the court of the caliph Moli
I' Mah, which resulted in the Schiite par-
ty becoming pre-eminent in Persia, the

SUP]

AND THE FINE AliTS.

579

Sunniahites in Turkey and most other
Mohammedan countries.

SUPERCAR'GO, a person in a mer-
chant's ship, appointed to manage the
sales and superintend all the commercial
concerns of the voyage.

SUPEREROGA'TiON, in theology, a
term applied to such works as a man does
which exceed the measure of his duty.

SUPERINTENDENT, one who has
the oversight and charge of something,
with the power of direction ; as, the su-
perintendent of public works, <fec.

SUPERNATURAL, being beyond or
exceeding the powers or laws of nature ;
miraculous. A supernatural event is
one which is not produced according to
the ordinary or established laws of nat-
ural things. Thus if iron has more spe-
cific gravity than water, it will sink in
that fluid ; and the floating of iron on
water must be a supernatural event.
Now no human being can alter a law of
nature ; the floating of iron on water
therefore must be caused by divine power
especially exerted to suspend, in this in-
stance, a law of nature. Hence, super-
natural events or miracles can be pro-
duced only by the immediate agency of
divine power.

SUPERNUMERARY, in military af-
fairs, is an epithet for the officers and
non-commissioned officers attached to a
regiment for the purpose of supplying the
places of such as fall in action, &c.

SUPERSE'DEAS, in law, a writ or
command to suspend the powers of an
officer in certain cases, or to stay proceed-
ings.

SUPERSTFTION, a habit of the hu-
man mind, attributed to those who are
thought to attach religious importance to
things of a too trivial nature ; or to those
who are thought wrong in their ideas of
the government of the world, not on the
side of excluding supernatural agency,
but the reverse. Also, the belief of what
is absurd, or belief without evidence.

SUPERSTRUCTURE, any kind of
building raised on a foundation or basis ;
the word being used to distinguish what
is erected on a wall or foundation from
the foundation itself.

SUPERTON'IC, in music, the note
next above the key-note.

SUP'PLE, in all the Arts. A praise-
worthy quality opposed to hardness or
inflexibility. It is to be sought in con-
tours, in attitudes, in adjustments, and in
fact in all the parts of composition. The
contours should be sinuous, flowing ; the
attitudes easy and unconstrained ; the

adjustments natural ; the compositions
various. The term is more strictly ap-
plied to the movement of contours, the
flow of draperies, &c. than to the general
ordonnance of a work.

SUP'PLEMENT, in literature, an ad-
dition made to a book or paper, by which
it is made more full and complete.

SUPPOSITION, in music, the use of
two successive notes of equal value as to
time, one of which being a discord sup-
poses the other a concord. The harmony,
though by rule falling on the accented
part of the bar, and free from discords,
requires their proper preparation and res-
olution ; and they are called passing
notes. Discords on the unaccented part
of the measure are allowable by conjoint
degrees, and it is then not required that
the harmony should be so complete on
the accented part. This transient use of
discords followed by concords is what we,
after the French, call supposition, where-
of there are several kinds.

SUPPRESSION, a figure in grammar
is sometimes so called by which words are
omitted in a sentence, which are never-
theless to be understood as necessary to a
perfect construction : -as, for instance, in
most languages, the repetition of a noun
is avoided where it is coupled with a pro-
noun in one branch of the proposition ;
e. g., '' this (horse) is my horse," or " this
horse is mine" (horse.)

SUPRALAPSA'MAN, in theology,
one who maintains that God, antecedent
to the fall of man, decreed the apostasy
and all its consequences, determining to
save some and condemn others, and that
in all he does he considers his own glory
only.

SUPREM'ACY, in English polity, the
supreme and undivided authority of the
sovereign over all persons and things in
this realm, whether spiritual or tempo-
ral. Oath of supremacy, in Great Bri-
tain, an oath which acknowledges the su-
premacy of the sovereign in spiritual af-
fairs, and abjures the pretended suprem-
acy of the pope.

SUPREME', highest in authority;
holding the highest place in government
or power. The parliament of Great
Britain is supreme in legislation ; but
] the king is supreme in the administra-
tion of the government. In the United
States, the congress is supreme in regu-
lating commerce and in making war arid
peace. In the universe, God only is the
supreme ruler and judge. His commands
are supreme, and binding on all hia
creatures.

580

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[srn?

SUPRANAT'URALISTS, a name
given of late years to the middle party
among the divines of Germany, to distin-
guish them from the Rationalists, who
exclude all supernatural manifestations
from religion ; and from the Evangelical
party, whose tenets are of a more strict
description. Thus many of the supra-
naturalists have given way to the system
of accommodation (as it is termed) in
religious matters, so far as to deny the
doctrine of original sin, and other tenets
which have been considered as funda-
mental : others approximate to what are
regarded as orthodox Protestant opinions.

SUE/CHARGE, in law, any extra
charge made by assessors upon such as
neglect to make due returns of the taxes
to which they are liable.

SURE TY, in law, one who enters into
a bond or recognizance to answer for
another's appearance in court, or for his
payment of a debt, or for the performance
of some act. and who, in case of the
principal debtor's failure, is compellable
to pay the debt or damages.

SUR'NAME, the family name ; the
name or appellation added to the bap-
tismal or Christian name. Camden de-
rives it from sur, as being added over or
above the other, in a metaphorical sense
only. The most ancient surnames were
formed by adding the name of the father
to that of the son. in jvhich manner were
produced several 'English surnames, end-
ing with the word son ; thus, Thomas
William's son, makes Thomas William-
son. The feudal system introduced a
second description of surnames, derived
from the names of places. In short, the
greater part of surnames originally des-
ignated occupation, estate, place of
residence, or some particular thing or
event that related to the person.

SUR'PLICE, a white garment worn by
clergymen of some denominations over
their other dress, in their ministrations.
It is particularly the habit of the clergy
of the Church of England.

SURREBUT'TER, in law, the replica-
tion or answer of the plaintiff to the
defendant's rebutter.

SURREJOIN'DER, in law, a second
defence, as the replication is the first, of
the plaintiff's declaration in a cause, and
is an answer to the rejoinder of the de-
fendant.

SURREN'DER, in law, a deed testify-
ing that the tenant for life or years of
lauds, &c. yields up his estate to him
that has the immediate estate in remain-
der or reversion.

| SUR'ROGATE, in the civil law, a dep-
, uty, or person substituted for another.
| A magistrate who presides over the set-
I tlement of estates of deceased persons.

SURVEY'OR, in law, one who views
and examines for the purpose of ascer-
taining the condition, value, and quality
of a thing ; or who surveys or superin-
tends any business, as the surveyor of
the highways, a parochial officer who
sees that the roads are kept in repair,
<fcc.

SURVFVOR, in law, the longest liver
of joint-tenants, or of any two persons
who have a joint interest in a thing; in
which case, if there be only two joint-
tenants, upon the death of one, the whole
goes to the survivor ; and if there be
more than two, the part of the deceased
is divided among all the survivors.

SUSPENSION, temporary privation
of power, authority, or rights, usually
intended as a punishment. A military
or naval officer's suspension takes place
when he is put under arrest. In law,
prevention or interruption of operation ;
as the suspension of the habeas corpus
act. Suspension, in rhetoric, a keeping
of the hearer in doubt and in attentive
expectation of what is to follow, or what
is to be the inference or conclusion from
the arguments or observations. Suspen-
sion of arms, a short truce agreed on by
hostile armies, in order to bury the dead,
make proposals for surrender, Ac.

SUSPEN'SION-BRIDGE, a structure
which is hung and stretched across some
chasm, water-course, or other space, over
which it is designed to form a passage.
In modern structures of this sort, the
leading features for the most part consist
in fixing securely, in the two opposite
banks, the extremities of strong chains,
which, being carried over piers or pillars,
reach across the space to be passed in
such a manner that each portion of chain
intercepted between two piers is allowed
naturally to assume, by its weight, the
figure of the curve named the catenarian.
From these chains, a platform for the
roadway is suspended by means of a
series of equidistant vertical rods. The
largest suspension bridge in Great
Britain, is that over the Menai Strait in
Wales, the distance between the points
of suspension being 560 feet. A remark-
able structure of this kind is over the
Niagara river below the Falls, connect-
ing the American and Canadian shores.

SUTTEE', the act of sacrifice to which
a Hindoo widow submits, namely, that of
immolating herself on the funeral pile of

SYL]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

581

her husband. Though none of the sacred
books of the Hindoos absolutely command
the suttee, they speak of it as highly
meritorious, and the means of obtaining
eternal beatitude. It is believed also to
render the husband and his ancestors
happy, and to purify him from all oien-
ces, even if he had killed a brahmin.
Since the year 1756, when the British
power in India became firmly established,
upwards of 70,000 Hindoo widows have
thus been sacrificed. It is gratifying
however, to add, that this shocking per-
version of devotion has at length been
abolished ; and to Lord Bentinck, the
governor-general of India, the honor of
the abolition is due. Public opinion in
England, was greatly divided as to the
propriety of interfering with a solemn
religious rite of a foreign nation : but the
humane decision of the governor-general
appears to have been received by the
public with heartfelt satisfaction. A short
time before Lord Bentinck's order, a
rajah in the hill country, who died, had
twenty-eight wives burned with his body !

SWAIN'MOTE, in English law,- one
of the forest courts to be holden be-
fore the verderers, as judges, by the stew-
ard of the swainmote : the swains, or
countrymen, composing the jury.

SWEDENBOR'GIANS, the followers
of Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish noble-
man, who died in 1772. He conceived
the society which he founded to be the
New Jerusalem spoken of in the Apoca-
lypse ; and that he was gifted with pecu-
liar insight into spiritual things, and he
professed to hold conversation with spirits,
and to be instructed by them in the mys-
teries of religion. The Swedenborgians
interpret Scripture by a system of corres-
pondences, supposing it to have three
distinct senses, accommodated respective-
ly to particular classes, both of men and
angels. They date the last judgment of
the spiritual world and the second advent
of Christ from the year 1757. They
abound principally in England and in the
United States, where they have at the
present day several chapels in the large
towns. They are distinguished as a body
for their intelligence and excellent char-
acter.

SWELL, in music, a set of pipes in an
organ', acted upon by a key board, and
capable of being increased in intensity of
sound by the action of a pedal, which
allows of its being thereby gradually
augmented.

SWIND'LING, the practices of a swind-
ler. When a person by the assumption

of a false character, or by a false repre-
sentation of some sort, obtains the pos-
session of money or other property from
another or others, and appropriates it to
himself, he is said to be guilty of
swindling, and is liable to punishment
by law.

SWORD, ORDER OF THE, a Swedish
military order of knighthood, instituted
by Gustavus Vasa.

SYB'ARITE, a term used metaphori-
cally to designate an effeminate voluptu-
ary ; so called from the inhabitants of
Sybaris, formerly a town of Italy on the
gulf of Tarentum, whom a devotion to
sensual pleasures had so enfeebled that
they became an easy prey to the Cro-
tonians, a people comparatively insig-
nificant in point of numbers, by whom
their city was levelled to the ground
B.C. 310.

SYC'OPHANT, an obsequious flatter-
er or parasite. This word was originally
used to denote an informer against
those who stole figs, or exported them
contrary to law. Hence, in time it came
to signify a tale-bearer, or informer in
general ; thence a flatterer, deceiver, or
parasite.

SYL'LABLE, a letter, or a combina-
tion of letters, uttered together, or at a
single effort or impulse of the voice. A
vowel may form a syllable by itself, as a,
the definite, or in amen ; e in even ; o in
over, and the like. A syllable may also
be formed of a vowel and one consonant,
as in go, do, in, at; or a syllable may be
formed by a vowel with two articulations,
one preceding, the other following it, as
in can, but, tun ; or a syllable may con-
sist of a combination of consonants, with
one vowel or diphthong, as strong, short,
camp, voice. A syllable sometimes forms
a word, and is then significant, as in go,
run, write, sun, moon. In other cases, a
syllable is merely part of a word, and by
itself is not significant. Thus ac. in
active, IKI.S no signification. At least one
vowel or open sound is essential to the
formation of a syllable ; hence in every
word there must be as many syllables as
there are single vowels, or single vowels
and diphthongs. A word is called accord-
ing to the number of syllables it contains,
viz., monosyllable, a word of one syllable ;
dissyllable, a word of two syllables :
trisyllable, a word of three syllables ;
polysyllable, a word of many syllables.

SYL'LABUS, an abstract or com-
pendium containing the heads of a dis-
course.

SYLLEP'SIS, in grammar, a figure

582

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

SYM

by which we conceive the sense of words
otherwise than the words import.' and
construe them according to the intention
of the author. Also, where two nomina-
tive cases singular of different persons
are joined to a verb.

SYL'LOGISM, a form of reasoning or
argument, consisting of three proposi-
tions, of which the two first are called
the premises, and the last the conclusion.
In this argument, the conclusion neces-
sarily follows from the premises ; so that
if the two first propositions are true, the
conclusion must be true, and the argu-
ment amounts to demonstration. Thus,
a plant has not the power of locomotion ;
an oak is a plant ; therefore an oak has
not the power of locomotion. These prop-
ositions are denominnted the major, the
minor, and the conclusion. The three
propositions of a syllogism are made up
of three ideas or terms, and these terms
are called the major, the minor, and the
middle. The subject of the conclusion is
called the minor term; its predicate is
the mnjor term, and the middle term is
that which shows the connection between
the major and minor term in the conclu-
sion ; or it is that with which the mnjor
and minor terms are respectively com-'
pared. Syllogisms are divided by some
into single, complex, conjunctive, Ac.,
and by others into categorical, hypothet-
ical, conditional, &c. The figure of a
syllogism is a proper disposition of the
iniiMIe term with reference to the major
and minor terms. The figures are gene-
rally reckoned three. The mood of a
syllogism is the designation of its three
propositions, according to their quantity
and quality. The quantity and quality
of propositions, in logic, are marked by
arbitrary symbols, as A, E, I, 0. Every
assertion may be reduced to one of four
forms the universal affirmative marked
by A ; the universal negative, marked
by E ; the particular affirmative marked
by I ; and the particular negative, mark-
ed by 0. From these, by combination,
all syllogisms are derived. In order to
remember the figures, certain words have
been long used by writers on logic, which
make a grotesque appearance ; but which
nevertheless are of considerable use.
Thus, under the first figure, we have
Barbara, Celarent, Darii. Ferio ; under
the second. Cesare, Camestres, Festino,
Baroko ; and under the third, Darapti,
Disamis, Datisi, Felapton, Bokardo, Fe-
riso. Each of these words designates a
particular mood. The rules of syllogism
may be thus briefly expressed: 1. One at

; least of the premises must be affirmative,
I and one at least universal ; 2. The middle
j term must enter universally in one of the
premises ; und, 3. The conclusion must
not speak of any term in a wider sense
than it was spoken of in the premise in
wh^ch it entered. A term universally
spoken of is either the subject of univer-
sal affirmative, or the predicate of any
negative. Syllogisms are nothing else
than reasoning reduced to form and me-
thod, and all that passes under the name
of reasoning, unless it can be made syl-
logistic, is no reasoning at all, but a muss
of words without meaning. The syllo-
gism is the instrument of self-examina-
tion, and the last weapon of resort in
dispute ; and a bad syllogism, with one
of the premises implied only, and not ex-
pressed, is the first resource of fallacy.
To bring forward the suppressed premise,
is the visible destruction of every argu-
ment which is logically bad.

SYLPH, the name given to the spirits
of air in the fantastic nomenclature of
the Rosicrucians and Cabalists. The use
which Pope has made of this fancy in his
Rape of the Lock is well known. H seems
to have borrowed it from the enigmatical
romance called the Count de Gabalis.

SYM'BOL, the emblem, sign or repre-
sentation of some moral quality by the
images or properties of natural things ;
as the lion is a symbol of courage ; the
lamb, a symbol of meekness ; two hands
joined together, a symbol of union, Ac.
These symbols were much used by the
ancienta in representing their deities,
and are still continued in various ways.
In the eucharist, the bread and wine ure
called symbols of the body and blood of
Christ. Symbolical philosophy, is the
philosophy expressed by hieroglyphics.

SYM'PATHY, the quality of being
affected by feelings similar to those of
another in whose fate we are interested.
This kind of sympathy is produced through
the medium of organic impression, and
is a correspondent feeling of pain or re-
gret. Thus we sympathize with our
friends in distress. The word sympathy
is also used, but less correctly, to denote
an agreement of affections or inclinations,
or a conformity of natural temperament
which makes two persons pleased with
each other.

SYM'PHONY, in music, a composition
which, from the etymology of the term,
evidently implies that the voice anciently
formed an essential part of its construc-
tion. In the present day, however, the
term is otherwise applied, and is ex-

SYN]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

583

clusively used for a piece in which instru-
ments only are engaged. It is, in fact, a
composition for a perfect instrumental
orchestra, which, until the beginning of
the eigiitegnth century, was unknown.
Tlio Concert I grossi of Corelli were the
first of the species, which was carried out
to a greater extent in the works of Gemi-
niani and Vivaldi ; but it does not seem
to us that before the time of Haydn it
can be said to have assumed the form
which the name now imports. There is,
perhaps, no musical composition in which
the power of the author is so completely
developed as in a symphony. The mu-
sician in it becomes a poet, or, perhaps
rather, a painter. Scenes and the pas-
sions are represented therein by a com-
bination of musical sounds; in, illustra-
tion of which we need only cite that
splendid work of Beethoven, known to all
under the name of II Pastorale. The
general form of the symphony may be
thus described : It opens with a short,
serious, slow movement; this is followed
by, and forms a contrast to one of spirit
and of a lively nature ; then comes an
andante varied, or an adagio or slow
movement ; a minuet with its trio follows ;
and the symphony usually closes with a
livelv movement.

SYMPO'SIARCH, among the ancients,
was the director and manager of an en-
tertainment. This office was sometimes
performed by the person at whose ex-
pense the feast was provided, and some-
times by the person whom he thought fit
to nominate. The feasts of the ancients
were called symposia: hence the name.

SYNJE'RESIS, the shortening of a word
by the omission of a letter, as ne'er for
never.

SYN'AGOGUE, the religious assem-
blies of the Jews are so called by Hel-
lenic writers. The Jews had no syna-
gogues, it is thought, before the Babylon-
ish captivity. They were first formed
after the return of the Jews to the Holy
Land. The rule was, that a synagogue
was to be erected in any place where
there were ten persons of full age and
free condition ready to attend the service
of it. Others, however, consider the ten
batelnim, to use the Hebrew word, to
have been ten elders, or stationary men
of the synagogue. The service performed
in the synagogue consisted, and still con-
sists, of 'prayers, reading the Scriptures,
and preaching and expounding of them.
The prayers are contained in liturgies.
The reading of the Scriptures consists of
three portions: the "Shema," certain se-

| lected passages from Deuteronomy and
Numbers ; the law and the prophets. The
third part of the service is mentioned in
several places in the narratives of the life
of our Saviour, and the Acts. The times
of the synagogue service were three da.ys
a week (Monday, Thursday, and Satur-
day,) besides the holy days. The minis-
tration of the synagogue was not confined
to the order of priests ; the elders, or
" rulers of the synagogue" were persons
qualified, and duly admitted, of all tribes.

SYNAL(E'PHA, in grammar, a con-
traction of syllables, performed principal-
ly by suppressing some vowel or diphthong
at the end of a word, before another vowel
or diphthong at the beginning of the next :
as, ill' ego, for ille ego.

SYN'CIIISIS, in rhetoric, a confused
and disorderly placing of words in a sen-
tence.

SYN'CHRISIS, in rhetoric, a figure of
speech in which opposite persons or things
are compared.

SYNCHOllE'SIS, in rhetoric, a figure
of speech wherein an argument is scof-
fingly conceded to, for the purpose of re-
torting to it more pointedly.

SYNCHRONISM, in chronology, con-
currence of two or more events in time.
Synchronal, simultaneous, or happening
at the same time.

SYN'CRETISM, in philosophy, the
blending of the tenets of different schools
into a system. A party among the Pla-
tonists at the revival of letters, to which
belonged Ammonius, Pico della. Miran-
dola, Bessarion, and other distinguished
men, have received the name of Syncre-
tists.

SYN'CRETISTS, in ecclesiastical his-
tory, the partisans of Calixtus, a Luther-
an divine of the 16th century, who en-
deavored to form a comprehensive scheme
which should unite the different professors
of Christianity. The opinions of Calix-
tus raised a strong controversy in the
Lutheran church. A new confession of
faith was drawn up in Saxony for the pur-
pose of excluding his partisans. As doc-
trines, however, they did not long sur-
vive his death, although not without ef-
fect on the spirit of the age.

SYN COPATE, in a primary sense, to
contract, as a word, by taking one or more
letters or syllables from the middle.
In music, to prolong a note begun on the
unaccented part of a bar, to the Accented
part of the next bar; or to connect the
last note of a bar with the first of the fol-
lowing.

SYN'DIC, an officer of government in-

584

CYCLOPEDIA, OF LITERATURE

[SYS

vested with different powers in different
countries ; generally a kind of magistrate
entrusted with the affairs of a city or
community. The university of Cambridge
has its syndics; and in Paris almost all
the companies, the university, &c. have
theirs.

SYN'DICI, in antiquity, orators ap-
pointed by the Athenians to plead in be-
half of any law which was to be enacted
or abrogated.

SYNECDOCHE, in rhetoric, a figure
or trope by which the whole of a thing is
put for a part, or a part for the whole ; as
the genus for the species, or the species
for the genus, &c.

SYN'OD, in ecclesiastical affairs, a
council or meeting to consult on matters
of religion. In Scotland, a synod is com-
posed of several adjoining presbyters.
The members are the ministers, and a
ruling elder from each parish.

SYN'ONYMS, words of the same lan-
guage which have a similar signification.
Strictly speaking, words having exactly
the same signification are not to be found
in any language, unless one of them has
been borrowed from another language ;
but in this case the shades of difference
are often so slight that words may be
frequently used for one another, and this
interchange produces a pleasing variety in
composition, necessary in poetry. Syn-
onyms form an important object of phi-
lological study, demanding, on the part
of the inquirer, great knowledge of the
principles of language.

SYNOP'SIS, a collection of things or
parts' so arranged as to exhibit the whole
or the principal parts in a general view.

SYN'TAX, that division of the gram-
matical art which analyzes the depen-
dence of parts of speech upon one another
and supplies rules for their mutual gov-
ernment. Syntax, as an art, may be
divided into two branches : the one com-
mon to all languages, and by which words
are made to agree in gender, number, case,
person, and mood ; the other peculiar to
each language, and by which one mood
is made to govern another, and the con-
sequent variations effected ; the first of
these is called concord, the second
government. It has been said that the
first merit of language is intelligibility ;
its first grace, purity ; and that every
other excellence is subordinate. Syntax,
then, especially deserves attention : as
neither intelligibility nor purity of style
can be found where the rules of syntax
are violated

S YN'THESIS, in logic, that process of
reasoning in which we advance by a regu-
lar chain from principles before estab-
lished or assumed, and propositions al-
ready proved, until we arrive at the
conclusion. The synthetical is therefore
opposed to the analytical method.

SYNTON'IC, in music, an epithet used
by ancient musical writers to distinguish
a species of the diatonic genus.

SYR'IAC, pertaining to Syria or its
language ; as, the Syriac version of the
Pentateuch.

SYR'IACISM, orSYR'IANISM, a Syr-
ian idiom, or a peculiarity in the Syrian
language.

S Y R'l N X, a nymph of Arcadia,
daughter of the river Ladon. Pan became
enamored of her and attempted to offer
her violence ; but Syrinx escaped, and
at her own request was changed by
the gods into a reed, called syrinx by
the Greeks. The god made himself a
pipe with the reeds into which his favorite
nymph had been changed, and upon this
pipe he is often introduced playing, in
pictures.

SYS'TEM, in science and philosophy,
a whole plan or scheme, consisting of
many parts connected in such a manner
as to create a chain of mutual dependen-
cies ; or a regular union of principles or
parts forming one entire thing. Thus we
say the planetary system, or the whole
of the bodies supposed to belong to each
other ; a system of botany, or that which
comprehends the whole science of plants ;
a system of philosophy, or a theory or
doctrine which embraces the whole of phi-
losophy. The great utility of systems is
to classify the individual subjects of our
knowledge in such a way as to enable us
readily to retain and employ them, and at
the same time to illustrate each by show-
ing its connection with all. In the Fine
Arts, a collection of the rules and princi-
ples upon which an artist works. In
music, an interval compounded or sup-
posed to be compounded of several less-
er intervals, as the fifth, octave, Ac., the
elements of which are called diastems.

SYS'TYLE, in architecture, the disposi-
tion of columns in a building near to each
other, but not quite so thick as the pyc-
nostyle : the intercolurnniation being
only two diameters of the column.

SYSY'GIA, in music, any combination
of sounds so proportioned to each other
as to produce a pleasant effect on the
ear. In grammar, the coupling different
feet together in Greek or Latin verse.

TAB]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

585

T, is the twentieth letter of the Eng-
lish Alphabet, and a close consonant. It
represents a close joining of the end of
the tongue to the root of the upper teeth,
as may be perceive,d by the syllable, at,
et, ot, ut, in attempting to pronounce
which, the voice is completely intercept-
ed. It is therefore numbered among the
mutes, or close articulations, and it dif-
fers from d chiefly in its closeness ; for
in pronouncing ad, ed, we perceive the
voice is not so suddenly and entirely in-
tercepted, as in pronouncing at and et.
T by itself has one sound only, as in take,
turn, bat, bolt, smite, bitter. So we are
accustomed to speak ; but in reality, can
hardly be said to have any sound at all.
Its use, like that of all mute articula-
tions, is to modify the manner of uttering
the vocal sound which precedes or follows
it. When t is followed by h, as in think and
that, the combination really forms a dis-
tinct sound for which we have no single
character. This combination has two
sounds in English ; aspirated, as in think,
and vocal, as in t/iat. The letters ti, be-
fore a vowel, and unaccented, usually
pass into the sound of sh, as in nation,
motion, partial, substantiate ; which are
pronounced nashon, moshon, parshal,
substanshate. In this case, t loses en-
tirely its proper sound or use, and being
blended with the subsequent letter, a new
sound results from the combination, which
is in fact a simple sound. In a few words,
the combination of ti has the sound of
the English ch, as in Christian, m.ixtion,
question. T is convertible with d. Thus
the Germans write tag, where we write
day, and gut for good. It is also con-
vertible with s and z, for the Germans
write wasser, for water, and zahm for
tame. T, as an abbreviation, stands for
theologia ; as, S. T. D. Sancton theologies
doctor, doctor of divinity. In ancient
monuments and writings, T is an abbre-
viature which stands for Titus, Titius,
or Tulliits. As a numeral, T, among the
Latins, stood for 160, and with a dash
over the top, f , for 160.000. In music, T
is the initial of tenor, vocal, and instru-
mental.

TABARD', a sort of tunic, or mantle,
covering the body before and behind,
reaching below the loins, but open at the
sides from the shoulders downwards : an
ordinary article of dress in England and
France in the middle ages. It was at
first chiefly used by the military, after-

wards by other classes. The tabard, with
coats of arms blazoned before and behind,
is the state dress of heralds to this day.
It is the dress .worn by the knaves in
cards. Long tabards, which reached to
the mid-leg, were a peculiarly English
fashion.

TABASHEER', a Persian word signify-
ing a light white porous substance found
in the joints of the bamboo : it consists
almost entirely of silica. It is said to be
used medicinally in the East Indies ; but
its virtues must be merely imaginary.

TABEL'LION, in the Roman empire,
officers who had charge of public docu-
ments were so called ; they were also
secretaries, or registrars, and in some
cases judges. The notaries were their
assistants. In France, the titles of " Ta-
bellion" and " Greffier" were confounded,
and Henry IV. united the functions of
tabellion with those of notary ; but the
old title seems still to be retained (or was
until the Revolution) m some few places.

TAB'ERN ACLE, a Latin word signify-
ing a tent or cabin. The tabernacle which
was carried from station to station by the
Jews during their wanderings in the des-
ert, was a tent of sails and skins stretch-
ed upon a framework of wood, and divid-
ed into two compartments ; the outer,
named the Holy, being that in which in-
cense was burned, and the show-bread
exhibited ; and the inner, or Holy of Ho-
lies, in which was deposited the ark of
the covenant. The Feast of Tabernacles
was one of the three principal festivals
among the Jews. It commenced on the
15th of the month Tisri, corresponding
with the 30th of September, and lasted
seven days, during which the people
dwelt in booths formed of the boughs of
trees. It was instituted in commemora-
tion of the habitation of their ancestors
in similar dwellings during the forty
years of their pilgrimage in the wilder-
ness.

TAB'LATURE, in music, the use of
the letters of the alphabet, or any other
character, for expressing the notes or
sminds of a composition. It is not now a
usual mode of writing. In its stricter
and more original sense, it is a mode of
writing music for a particular instrument
on parallel lines (of which each repre-
sents a string of the instrument) by means
of certain letters of the alphabet. Thus
A denotes that the string is to be struck
open, B that one of the fingers is to be
put on the first stop, C on the second, D
on the third, and so on through the oo-
tave.

586

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

TA'BLEAUX VI'VANTS, the name
given to an amusement in which groups
of persons dressed in appropriate costume
aro made to represent some interesting
scene in the works of distinguished paint-
ers or authors. It is thus managed: The
room in which the spectators are placed
being darkened, the group assume their
respective attitudes behind a frame (or
some other contrivance intended to rep-
resent it) covered with gauze ; and can-
dles being so placed as to reflect light
upon the group from above, the illusion is
complete. These representations are not
unfrequently resorted to in England; but
their homo is chiefly in France and Ger-
many, where they form an important
feature on all festive occasions. They
owe their present popularity to the cele-
brated M. Hiindel-Sehutz, whose genius
for imitation and delineation was unri-
valled in Germany. Tableaux are often
employed to represent some scene in
which a riddle is concealed.

TAB'LETS, in Roman antiquities,
pieces of ivory, metal, stone, or other
substance, used in judiciary proceedings,
or in the passing of laws.

TABOO', a word used by the South
Sea islandejrs to denote something conse-
crated, sacred, and forbidden to be touch-
ed, or set aside for particular uses and
persons.

T A'BORITES, the denomination of one
of the parties into which the followers of
Huss, in Bohemia, separated after the
death of their leader. They were so
called from Tubor, a hill or fortress of
Bohemia, upon which they encamped
during the struggle which they main-
tained against the civil and ecclesiastical
power. At their head stood John Ziska
von Brockznow, who was distinguished at
once for his indomitable courage and his
remorseless cruelty After various fanat-
ical exhibitions, which were met by their
adversaries with determined hostility,
the better and more quietly disposed
portion of the Taboritesi formed them-
selves into a religious society under the
denomination of the Bohemian Brethfen.
They established several Christian com-
munities, elected their own bishops,
priests, and elders ; drew up a rigorous
plan of ecclesiastical discipline ;. and sent
forth missionaries to various parts, though
with little success. Though harassed by
persecutions, they continued to augment
their numbers, and at the end of the 15th
century they counted about 200 commu-
nities of adherents. At the end of this
period the distinctive name and opinions

of the Taborites were lost among the va-
rious assailants of the Romish corruptions,
who formed the vanguard of the Refor-
mation in Genniiny,

TABULA'TUM, in ancient architec-
ture, a terra used to denote the floors,
ceilings, and other wood-work in a house :
occasionally also it .was applied to the
balconies and other projections of a like
nature.

TAC'TICS, a term which, in its most
extensive sense, relates to those evolu-
tions, manoeuvres and positions which
constitute the main-spring of military
and naval finesse : tactics are the means
by which discipline is made to support
the operations of a campaign, and are
studied for the purpose of training all the
component parts according to one regular
plan or system ; whereby celerity, pre-
cision, and strength are combined, and
the whole rendered effective.

TA'GES, an old Italian divinity, who
is represented to have sprung as a beau-
tiful boy from the earth, which a Tuscan
ploughman had furrowed too deep. The
first act of this earth-born god was to
foretell from the wings of birds what was
to happen to the peasants, by whom he
was quickly surrounded ; and hence he
was worshipped as the inventor of
augury. A collection of his prophecies
was made and preserved in the sacred
records of Etruria.

TAIL, or FEE-TAIL, in law, a limited
estate or fee; opposed to fee-simple.

TAILLE, iwancient French jurispru-
dence, any imposition levied by the king
or any other lord on his subjects. There
is some obscurity about the derivation
of this word. It is commonly deduced
from talcre, tallies, little pieces of wood
with which reckonings were made. But
whether these were not so called from
their use in telling or counting does not
appear. Again, it is apparently con-
nected with the Gerin. zoll, Engl. toll ;
but these words are derived by some,
through the Ital. tolta, from the Lnt.
tollere, to raise. Perhaps the whole
series of words is from the same original
root ; but it is not easy to trace the
affinities. The Royal Tattle, in old
France, which was the impost commonly
understood under the general name, \\:>
a personal or rather mixed constitution,
from persons not noble or ecclesiastical,
or enjoying certain other exemptions
imposed according to their supposed
ability, measured by their goods. In the
respect in which it fell on the agricul-
tural class, from which it was chiefly

TAL]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

587

levied, it is described by Adam Smith as
" a tax on the supposed profits of the
farmer, which they estimate by the stock
which he has upon the farm."

TAL'BOTYPE, a photogenic process
invented by Mr. II. Fox Talbot, in which
paper, prepared in a particular manner,
is used instead of the silvered plates of
M. Daguerre. The process has also been
termed calotype.

TAL'ENT, among the ancients, the
name of a coin, the true value of which
cannot well be ascertained, but it is
knojm that it was different among differ-
ent nations. Among the Hebrews there
was both a talent of gold and a talent of
silver ; the gold coin weighed only four
drachms, and was the same as the shekel
of gold : but their talent of silver, called
dear, was equivalent to three thousand
shekels, or one hundred and thirteen
pounds, ten ounces, troy weight. The
Attic talent is supposed to .have been of
the value of 193J. 15s. sterling. The
Romans had the great talent and the
little talent; the great talent equal to
99Z. 6s. 8rf., and the little talent to 751.
sterling.

TA'LES, in law, additional jurymen,
when those impanelled do not appear, or,
appearing, are challenged.

TALIO'NIS LEX, (Latin,) a punish-
ment in which a person convicted of a
crime suffered exactly in the same man-
ner as he had offended : thus an eye was
required for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth. This mode of punishment was
established by the Mosaic law, and was
in some cases imitated by the Romans.

TAL'ISMAN, among the Eastern na-
tions, a figure cut in metal, stone, &c.,
supposed to have been made with par-
ticular ceremonies, and under particular
astrological circumstances, and to possess
various virtues, but chiefly that of avert-
ing disease or violent death from the
wearer. In a more general sense, any
portable object endowed with imaginary
influence in controlling evil spirits, &c.
has been so designate'd. The term is
frequently used as synonymous with
amulet ; but, strictly speaking, the latter
is not believed to possess such extensive
powers as the talisman.

TAL'LY, a mode of reckoning between
buyers and sellers, which before the use
of writing was almost universal, and
which is even still partially used. The
tally is a piece of wood on which notches
or scores are cut as marks of number. It
is customary for traders to have two of
these sticks, or one stick cleft into two

parts, and to mark or notch them in a
corresponding manner; one to be kept
by the seller, the other by the purchaser.
In the English exchequer are tallies
of Iqans, one part being kept in the ex-
chequer, the other being given to the
creditor in lieu of an obligation for money
lent to government.

TAL'MUD, the traditionary or un-
written laws of the Jews. It is called
unwritten, to distinguish it from the
textual or written law ; and is, in fact,
the interpretation which the rabbins affix
to the law of Moses, which embodies their
doctrine, polity, and ceremonies, and to
which many of them adhere more than to
the law itself. There are two Talmuds,
that of Jerusalem and that of Babylon ;
not to mention those of Onkelos and
Jonathan, which are rather paraphrases
than volumes of traditionary doctrines.
The Talmud of Jerusalem consists of two
parts the Gemara, and the Mishna.
The Mishna signifies a doubling or
reiteration ; the Gemara, a work brought
to perfection or completed from the
Chaldee gamar, to finish or complete.
The Gemara and the Mishna together,
strictly speaking, form the Talmud ; but
the rabbins are wont to designate the
Pentateuch of Moses the Jirst part of the
Talmud, and which is simply the law.
The second part is the Mishna, which is
a more extensive explication or amplifi-
cation of the law ; and the third part the
Gemara, as finishing and completing it.
The Mishna is the work of Rabbi Judah
Hakkadosh, 120 years after the destruc-
tion of the temple of Jerusalem. It is
written in a tolerably pure style, and its
reasonings are much more solid than
those of the Gemara, which the Jewish
doctors, it is stated, have stuffed with
dreams and chimeras, and many igno-
rant and impertinent questions and dis-
putations. The Gemara was written
about 100 years afterwards by Rabbi
Jochanan, the rector of the school at
Tiberias. These two works form the Je-
rusalem Talmud. But the Talmud of
Jerusalem is less esteemed than the
Talmud of Babylon formed by Rabbi Asa
or Aser, who had an acadamy for forty
years at a place called Sara, near Baby-
lon, whence it was denominated thj
Babylonish Talmud. It is this Talmud
which the Jews more frequently consult;
and it is especially esteemed by those
Jews who live beyond the Euphrates,
from the circumstance that it was cotn*-
piled at Babylon. Rabbi Asa was called
to his fathers before this celebrated com-

588

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[TAR

mentary on the Mishna was completed ;
but it was finished by his disciples (some
say his children) about 500 years after
Christ. With the exception of the sacred
authors, these Talmuds, after the Ch&ldee
paraphrases, are the most ancient books
of doctrine possessed by the Jews.

TAL'ON, in architecture, a kind of
moulding, which consists of a cymatium,
crowned with a square fillet. It is con-
cave at the bottom, and convex at the
top ; and is usually called by workmen
an ogee, or 0. G.

TAM'BOUR, in fortification, a kind of
work formed of palisades or pieces of
wood ten feet long, planted close together,
and driven firm into the ground. Tam-
bour, in architecture, is applied to a wall
of a circular building, surrounded with
columns.

TAMBOURINE', one of the most an-
cient musical instruments, and still used,
particularly in Biscay, where a large
kind of tambourine, called tambour de
Basque, is used to accompany all the na-
tional songs and dances. In Scripture
this instrument is designated a timbrel ;
in profane history we find it was popular
among most of the Eastern nations ; and
in the middle ages it was used by the
Troubadours and minstrels. The present
tambourine consists of a wooden or braz-
en hoop, over which a skin is extended,
and which is hung with bells. Sometimes
the thumb of the right hand is drawn in
a circle over the skin ; sometimes the
fingers are struck against it ; while it
is supported by the thumb of the left
hand. From the performance of it being
capable of displaying various graceful
movements of the body, the tambourine
is generally an attribute of Terpsichore.

TAN'ISTRY, a tenure of lands in Ire-
land, by which the proprietor had only a
life estate, and to this he was admitted
by election. The primitive intention
seems to have been that the inheritance
should descend to the oldest or most
worthy of the blood and name of the de-
ceased ; but the practice often gave rise
to the fiercest and most sanguinary con-
tests between tribes and families.

TAN'TALUS, in Greek mythology, a
king of Lydia, Phrygia, or Paphlagonia,
According to different authors, whose
punishment in the infernal regions is
well known to classical readers. He was
condemned to be plunged in water, and
have delicious fruits continually hanging
over his head, without the power of satis-
fying either thirst or hunger. His crime
is differently represented. According to

some, he served to the gods at a feast the
limbs of his own son Pelops ; according
to others, he revealed the mystery of the
gods, of whom he was high-priest : while
others attribute to him the vices of pride
and too great wealth.

TARE, in commerce, an allowance for
the outside package that contains such
goods as cannot be unpacked without det-
riment ; or for paper, bands, cords, &c.
When the tare is deducted, the remainder
is called the net or neat weight.

TAR'GUM, in sacred literature, a
name given by the Jews to certain glasses
and paraphrases of the Scriptures, writ-
ten in the Chaldaio language : a work
which was occasioned by the long cap-
tivity of that people.

TAR'IFF, in commerce, a list or table
of custom-house and excise duties im-
posed on goods, with their respective
rates.

TARPE'IAN, in Roman antiquity, an
appellation given to a steep rock in
Rome ; whence, by the law of the twelve
tables, those guilty of certain crimes
were precipitated. It was named after
Tarpeia, the daughter of Tarpeius, the
governor of the citadel of Rome, who
promised to open the gates of the city to
the Sabines, provided they gave her their
gold bracelets, or, as she expressed it,
what they carried on their left hands.
The Sabines consented, and, as they en-
tered the gates, threw not only their
bracelets, but their shields, upon Tarpeia,
who was crushed under the weight. She
was buried in the capitol.

TARTU'FFE, a common French nick-
name for hypocritical pretenders to de-
votion. It is derived from the celebrated
comedy of Moliere, of which the hero is
so called. Whether Moliere invented, or
took it from the popular language of the
time, does not appear : some say that he
intended to attack Louis XIV. 's confessor,
Pe*re la Chaise, whom he had once seen
eating truffles with peculiar go&t ; and
thence the name. The play was written
in 1664, but not acted till 1669 ; great
difficulties being thrown in the way of
the author by the clergy and the papal
legate. On one occasion it was prohibit-
ed when the curtain was on the point of
rising, and Moliere announced to the
public its disappointment in the well-
known equivocal words, " Monsieur le
president ne veut pas qu'on le joue."
When at last licensed (through the influ-
ence, it is said, of the king himself), it
had a run of three months with unparal-
leled success ; and the eager attention

TAX]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

589

and applause which it still excites bear
testimony at onee to the keenness of the
wit, and the peculiar relish of the public
for the exposure of the frailties of those
who profess a religious character. In
England, this play has been made more
than once to serve the popular passions
of the day. Gibber translated it and
made the hero a non-juring churchman ;
and the play is still acted under the name
of T/ie Hypocrite, in which the Tartuffe
is a methoiiistical divine.

TASTE, that power of the mind which
is conversant about the beautiful, both
of nature and of art. In the Latin lan-
guage, the same metaphor obtained a
very wide application, and the term sa-
pient a, was employed to signify quickness
and correctness of judgment generally.
Shaftsbury's use of the term is nearly as
extensive, being applied by him to man-
ners, morals, and government, and to wit,
ingenuity, and beauty. In its modern
use it is restricted to those objects which
fall within the province of imagination.
Now, although imagination derives its
objects pre-eminently from those of the
sight and hearing, and although the epi-
thet beautiful, is, for the most part, con-
fined to these, yet the mental power
which judges of them borrows its name
from a third sense. The reason of this
is satisfactorily shown by Coleridge. The
senses, he observes, are either purely or-
ganic, or mixed. The former present
their objects to the mind distinct from its
perception of them, while the latter in-
variably blend the perception of the ob-
ject with a certain consciousness of the
percipient subject. To the latter class
belong the touch, the smell, and the taste.
Of these, taste and smell differ from the
touch, as adding to that reference to our
vital being which is common to the three
a degree of enjoyment or otherwise ;
while the taste is distinguished from the
smell only by its more frequent and dig-
nified use in human nature. By taste
then, as applied to the Fine Arts, we must
be supposed to mean an intellectual per-
ception of any object, blended with a dis-
tinct reference to our sensibility of enjoy-
ment or dislike. In the same essay Cole-
ridge gives another and a wider definition
of taste ; as " a metaphor taken from one
of the mixed senses, and applied to objects
the more purely organic, and of our
moral sense, when we would imply the
co-existence of an immediate personal
dislike or complacency." Now, by the
constitution of man's nature, every exer-
tion of human activity, in the pursuit of

the good, the beautiful, and the true,
combines a sense of pleasure, or the con-
trary, with the perception of their re-
spective objects ; and this fact would justi-
fy the widest application of the ineta.phor.
AVhile, however, in the case of the true,
this co-existent pleasure has not received
any distinctive appellation, and while
conscience, as comprehending the sense
of approbation and disapprobation, is
characteristically applied to the moral
energy, that of taste has been confined to
the perception of beauty and the accom-
panying gratification. But taste, like
all other metaphorical terms, is extreme-
ly inaccurate ; and by directing attention
exclusively to this element of pleasure,
it has led to a very inadequate conception
of the true nature of the faculty which it
designates. Thus Hutcheson maintains
that the faculty is peculiar, and a sense
which similarly, to the other senses, pro-
cures a pleasure totally distinct from a
cognition of principles, or of the causes, re-
lations, and usages of an object : that beau-
ty strikes, at first sight, and that knowl-
edge the most perfect will not increase the
pleasure which it gives rise to : and lastly,
that all the diversity of sentiments exci-
ted in different minds by the beautiful,
arise solely from the modifications of the
sense by association, custom, example,
and education. Among the advocates of
the theory of a moral taste we may
reckon Hume, Akenside, Blair, Lord
Kames, and Beattie.

TATTOO', the beat of the evening
drum, giving notice to soldiers to repair
to their quarters in garrison, or to their
tents in camp.

TAURID'IA, among the Romans, were
certain games in honor of the infernal
gods. They are sometimes called taurii
ludi.

TAUTOL'OGY, in rhetoric, a vicious
diction, by which the same idea is ex-
pressed in two or more different words or
phrases, apparently intended to convey
different meanings.

TAXA'TION, a tax is a rate or duty
laid by government on the incomes or
property of individuals, or on the pro-
ducts consumed by them ; the produce of
such duty or rate being placed at the
disposal of government. A tax may be
either general or particular ; that is, it
may either affect all classes indiscrimi-
nately, or only one or more classes. Tax-
ation is the general term used to express
the aggregate of particular taxes. It is
also the name given to that branch of the
science of political economy which ex-

590

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

plains the mode in which the revenue re-
quired for the public service may be most
advantageously raised.

TAX'ES, the assessments imposed by
law tor the public service, either direct,
as on persons and necessaries ; or indirect,
as on luxuries and raw materials. Taxes
imposed on goods at the time of their im-
portation, are denominated customs, du-
ties, or imposts.

TE'BETH, the tenth month of the Jew-
ish ecclesiastical year, and fourth of the
civil. It answers to our month of Decem-
ber.

TECH NICAL, that method of speak-
ing which is proper, or peculiarly apper-
taining, to any given art. Artists and
amateurs are accustomed, when they talk
of matters relating to the arts, to employ
many expressions which are not introdu-
ced into ordinary language, or at least do
not bear the same signification. This
species of conversation is not without its
advantages. The terms it employs are
often arbitrary, but they are much clearer
than any other would be to the artist or
connoisseur, inasmuch as he has habitua-
ted himself to combine with them, and
with them alone, the ideas meant to be
conveyed ; and they besides often save a
round-about way of expression. But this
.stated, we are bound to add that they
should never be introduced into books,
excepting only such as are addressed spe-
cifically to the practisers of our art ; for
in any work designed for the purposes of
general information, they merely tend
to mystify and confuse the reader.

TECHNOL'OGY, a treatise on the
Arts ; or an explanation of the terms of
the Arts. A technical word is a word that
belongs properly or exclusively to the
Arts ; and when speaking of the terms of
Art, we say technical terms, technical lan-
guage, <fec.

TE DEUM, (from the first words of the
original Latin, " Te Deum laudamus;"
We praise thee, God.) The authorship
of this sublime hymn has been ascribed
by some to Ambrose and Augustine ; by
others to Ambrose alone, to Hilary, and
other less distinguished persons. It is,
however, generally thought to have been
composed in the Gallican church : the
most ancient mention of it being in the
rule of Caesarius, bishop of Aries in the
fifth century. The Te Deum, in the office
of matins, is always sung after the read-
ing of Scripture; in the English morning
service, between the two lessons.

TEM'PERAMENT, in music, the ac-
commodation or adjustment of the imper-

fect sounds, by transferring a part of their
defects to the more perfect ones, to reme-
dy in part the false intervals of instru-
ments of fixed sounds, as the piano, organ,
&c.

TEMPERANCE SOCFETIES. The
evils of intemperance have long been the
subject of much anxious observation in
civilized nations, more especially in the
United States ; and the idea of concen-
trating public sentiment upon it, in some
form, to produce important results, seems
to have been first conceived in this coun-
try ; a meeting, called the General Asso-
ciation of Massachusetts Proper, having
been held in 1313, for the express object
of "cheeking the progress of intempe-
rance." The first attempt of the society
was to collect facts towards a precise ex-
hibition of the nature and magnitude of
the existing evil with the view of drawing
public attention to it, and of directing
endeavors for its removal. The reports
presented from year to year, embraced
statements and calculations which were
found to make out a case of the most
appalling nature, such as to amaze even
those whose solicitude on the subject had
been greatest. In 1830, from data care-
fully collected, the Massachusetts society
stated in their report, that the number
who died annually victims of intempe-
rance was estimated at above 37,000; and
that 72,000,000 gallons of distilled spir-
its were consumed in the country, being
about six gallons on an average for every
man, woman, and child of the whole popu-
lation. It also stated that about 400,000
of the community were confirmed drunk-
ards ; and that there appeared reason to
believe that intemperance was responsi-
ble for four fifths of the crime committed
in the country, for at least three quarters
of the pauperism existing, and for at
least one third of the mental derange-
ment. By these exposures, and an un-
relaxing perseverance in the course they
had commenced; by the circulation of
tracts and the addresses of travelling
agents; by the formation of auxiliary
associations, and by obtaining individual
responsibility for the performance of a
variety of duties tending to promote the
great object in view, public notice was
attracted, and it led to an imitation of the
practice in Great Britain and Ireland.
Of late years the cause of temperance
has made great progress in all parts of
the United States.

TEM'PLARS, or Knights of the Tern- '
pie, a military order of religious persons.
It was founded by an association of

TEN]

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591

knights, in the beginning of the 12th [
century, for the protection of pilgrims on '
the roads in Palestine : afterwards it took
for its chief object the protection of the j
Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem against the j
Saracens. Knights were fixed at JerUsa- I
letn by King Baldwin II., who gave them
the ground on the east of the Temple.
Their rules were taken from those of the
Benedictine monks : they took the vows
of chastity, obedience, and poverty. The
classes of the order were knights, esquires,
servitors, and chaplains ; the universal
badge of the order was a girdle of linen
thread. The officers of the order were cho-
sen by the chapter from among the
knights : they were, for military affairs, [
marshals, and bannerets : for purposes
of government, priors, who superintended
single priories or preceptories ; abbots,
commanders, and grand priors, who gov-
erned the possessions of the order within
separate provinces ; and the grand master,
who, in some respects, assumed the dignity
of a sovereign prince, being independent in
secular matters, and depending solely on
the pope in spiritual. The chief part of
the- 9000 estates, lordships, <fec., which the
society possessed in the 13th century,
was situated in France; and the grand
master was usually of that nation. The
Templars were driven from Palestine by
the Saracens, with the rest of the Chris-
tians, and then fixed the chief seat of
their order in Cyprus. Their exorbitant
power and wealth, and the haughty man-
ner in which they endeavored to keep
aloof from the control of European sov-
ereigns, and act as a military republic
independent' of their authority, were
probably the principal reasons which in-
duced Pope Clement V. and Philip the
Fair of France to concert their overthrow.
The charges of heresy and idolatry, which
ware preferred against them, were at least
unsupported by evidence. In 1307, Ja-
quesde Molay, the grand master, having
been enticed into France, was arrested by
Philip ; the templars' estates were seized ;
many of them burned alive, after the
mockery of a trial ; and, in 1312, the
order was abolished by a bull of Clement
V. Its vast estates fell partly into the
hands of the sovereigns of the countries
in which they were situated, partly into
those of the Hospitallers and other mili-
tary orders. Detached bodies of the
order, however, continued to subsist for
some time in different countries.

TEM'PLE, a place of worship, chiefly
applied to heathen worship. Originally
temples were open places, as Stonehenge,

in Wiltshire. In Rome, some of the
temples were open, and called sacel-
la ; others were roofed, and called cedes.
The most celebrated of the ancient pa-
gan temples were those of Belus in
Babylon, Vulcan at Memphis, Jupiter
at Thebes, Diana at Ephesus, Apollo in
Miletus, Jupiter Olympius in Athens,
and Apollo at Delphi. The most celebra-
ted and magnificent temple erected to the
true God, was that built by Solomon in
Jerusalem. The Temples, in London, are
two inns of court, so called because an-
ciently the dwellings of the Knights
Templars. They are called the Inner
and the Middle Temple, and are situated
near the Thames.

TEM'PO, (Italian for time,) signifies,
in music, the degree of quickness with
which a musical piece is to be executed.
The different degrees of time are designa-
ted by the following terms, largo, ada-
gio, andante, allegro, and presto ; and
the intermediate degrees are described
by additions.

T E M'P ORAL, belonging to secular
concerns ; not spiritual ; as the temporal
revenues of the church, called temporali-
ties. Temporal courts are those which
take cognizance of civil suits ; temporal
power, civil or political power.

TENAIL', in fortification, an outwork
consisting of two parallel sides with a
front, in which is a re-entering angle. It
is single or double.

TENAIL'LONS, in fortification, works
constructed on each side of the ravelins,
like the lunettes, but differing in this,
that one of the faces of the tenaillon is in
the direction of the ravelin, whereas that
of the lunette is perpendicular to it.

TEN'ANT, in law, one who holds lands
or tenements by any right or title, par-
ticularly one who occupies lands or tene-
ments at a yearly rent, for life, years, or
at will. Tenant in capite, in England,
is one who holds immediately of the king.
According to the feudal system, all lands
in England are considered as held imme-
diately or mediately of the king, who is
styled lord paramount. Such tenants,
however, are considered as having the
fee of the lands and permanent possession.
TEN'DER, a small vessel employed to
attend a larger one for supplying her
with provisions or naval stores, or to
convey intelligence, <fec. In law, an offer
either of money to pny a debt, or of ser-
vice to be performed, in order to save a
penalty or forfeiture which would be in-
curred by non-payment or non-perform-
ance.

592

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[TEH

TE'NET, any opinion, principle, or
doctrine which a person believes and
maintains ; as, the tenets of Christianity ;
the tenets of Plato, &c.

TEN'OR, in music, the more delicate
of the two voices which belong to the
mature nge of male singers, it being the
second of the four parts reckoning from
the bass ; and originally the air, to which
the other parts were auxiliary. What is
called counter-tenor (between the treble
and the tenor) is in reality only a higher
tenor.

TENSE, in grammar, an inflection of
verbs by which they are made to signify
or distinguish the time of actions or
events ; as the present tense, denoting
the time that now is ; the preterite or
past, the time that was ; and the future,
the time that will be. Some tenses like-
wise denote the state of the action, as to
its completeness or otherwise, in a certain
degree or time, as the imperfect tense,
which denotes an unfinished action at a
certain time ; the perfect, a finished ac-
tion at any time ; and the pluperfect, a
finished action before a certain time.

TEN'URE, the feudal relation between
lord and vassal in respect of lands. Ten-
ures in capite, or in chief, were those by
which land was held immediately of the
crown ; raesne tenures, of mesne or infe-
rior lords. English tenures under the
feudal system are reduced by Blackstone
to four : knight-service, or chivalry ; free
socage ; pure villenage ; and villein-so-
cage.

TER'APHIM, household deities or
images. The teraphim seem to have
been either wholly or in part of human
form and of small size. They appear to
have been superstitiously reverenced as
penates or household gods, and in some
shape or other to have been used as do-
mestic oracles. They are mentioned
several times in the Old Testament Scrip-
tures.

TERM, in law, the space of time which
the courts are open for the trial of causes.
In universities, <fcc., the fixed period or
time during which students are compelled
to reside there previously to their taking
a degree. These fall within the four
quarters of the year, and are distinguish-
ed by the same names as the law terms.
In the Arts, a word or expression that
denotes something peculiar to an art : as,
a technical term.. In contracts, terms
mean conditions upon which work is
agreed to be performed.

TERMINA'LIA, in antiquity, feasts
held by the Romans on the 22d and

I 23d of February, in honor of Terminus,
the god of boundaries or land-marks.
Cakes and fruit were originally offered,
but afterwards animals formed part of the
sacrifice.

TER'MINI, in architecture, figures
used by the Romans for the support of
entablatures, in the place of columns :
the upper part consisted of the head and
breast of a human body, and the lower
of the inverted frustum of a cone. They
were so called because they were princi-
pally used as boundary marks, and rep-
resented their god Terminus, whose altar
was on the Tarpeian rock, where he was
represented with a human head, without
feet or arms, to intimate that he never
moved, wherever he might be placed.

TER'MINISTS, in ecclesiastical his-
tory, a name given to a class among the
Calvinists, whose tenet it is (or was, for
such opinions hardly exist at the present
day,) that there are persons to whom
God has fixed, by a secret decree, a cer-
tain term before their death, after which
he no longer wills their salvation, how-
ever long they may Jjve. They instanced
the case of Pharaoh, Saul, and Judas,
among others.

TERMINOL'OGY. that branch of a sci-
ence or art which explains the meaning
of its technical terms. In some sciences
it is of particular importance ; in botany,
for instance, where not even a leaf can
be described without an agreement on
certain technical terms.

TER'MINUS, (Lat.) in ancient archi-
tecture, a stone raised for the purpose of
marking the boundary of a property.
Also, a pedestal increasing in size as it
rises, or a parallelepiped for the recep-
tion of a bust. Terminus was the name
of the god of boundaries among the Ro-
mans. Terminus, in more recent times,
is applied to the beginning or the end :
i. e., to the first and last station of a rail-
road.

TER'RACE, a platform or bank of
earth raised and breasted, particularly in
fortifications. Also, a raised walk in a gar-
den, having sloping sides raised with turf.

TER'RA COT'TA, in the Arts, the
name given to a very large class of re-
mains of antiquity modelled in clay,
many admirable specimens of which have
been discovered in Tuscany and Rome.
They consist of lamps and vessels of
various kinds, besides entire figures and
reliefs, some of which display the talents
of the sculptor or modeller in no ordinary
degree. Terracotta is literally "baked
clay ;" and the various articles so named,

TKT]

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593

of modern manufacture, (some of which
are extremely tasteful,) are modelled or
cast in a paste made of pipe or potter's
clay and a fine-grained colorless sand,
from Ryeg'ate, with pulverized pot-
sherds, slowly dried in the air, and after-
wards baked in a kiln.

TER'R^E FIL'IUS, a scholar at the
university of Oxford, England, formerly
appointed to make jesting and satirical
speeches.

TERROR, EEIGN OF, in the history
of the French Revolution. This term
has been generally applied to the period
during which the executions were most
numerous, and the country under the
sway of the actual terror inspired by the
ferocious measures of its governors, who
had established it avowedly as the prin-
ciple of their authority. It seems to be
most properly confined to the period be-
tween October, 1793, when the revolu-
tionary tribunal, although constituted at
an earlier time, was first put in perma-
nent action on the fall of the party of the
Gironde, and the overthrow of Robes-
pierre and his accomplices in thermidor
(July,) 1794. The agents and partisans
of the system.have been termed Terror-
ists.

TER'ZA RI'MA, a peculiar and com-
plicated system of versification, borrowed
by the early Italian poets from the
Troubadours. The verses are the ordi-
nary Italian heroic lines of eleven sylla-
bles (interspersed very rarely with ten-
syllable lines) The rhyme is thus
arranged : At the commencement of a
poem or portion of a poem, verses 1 and
3 rhyme together ; as do verses 2, 4, and
6 ; the third rhyme begins with verse 5,
which rhymes to 7 and 9 ; the fourth is
formed by 8, 10, and 12, and so on ; and
the poem or canto ends abruptly, the
last rhyme, like the first, being on a
couplet instead of a triplet. It is obvious
that the ryhme is interlaced throughout,
and continually in suspense, so that no
pause can be found until the end of the
poem or flanto ; as, at the end of every
line, there must still bo a rhyme incom-
plete. This continuity gives a very
peculiar character to the metre, and
renders it highly expressive of sustained
narrative or passion, and the abruptness
of the conclusion is often turned to good
effect by masters of versification. This
metre has been rendered celebrated by
Dante, who wrote in it his Divina Corn-
media. It has been adopted by his
imitators, of whom the latest. Nincenzo
Monti, has used it to much advantage ;
38

and by Ariosto and other poets for their
satires Byron has adopted it in Eng-
lish, with indifferent success, in his
Prophecy of Dante; and it has been
attempted by various translators.

TERZET'TO, in music, a composition
in three 'parts.

TES'SELLATED PAVE'MENT, in
ancient architecture, a pavement formed
of small square pieces of stone called
tesserae or dies. They are frequently,
indeed mostly, found inlaid in different
colors and patterns, and with a central
subject. They are embedded in cement,
and rest on prepared hard strata.

TES'SERA, in Roman antiquities, a
die, six-sided, like the modern dice ; and
thus to be distinguished from the talus,
which had only three sides. Tickets or
tallies used for various puposes were
called tesserae. Thus guards were set at
night in their camps by means of a tes-
serae with a particular inscription, given
from one centurion to another, through
the army.

TES'TAMENT, in law, a solemn
authentic instrument in writing, whereby
a man declares his last will as to the
disposal of his estate and effects after
his death. Testament, in theology, the
name of each of the volumes of the Holy
Scriptures, that is, the Old and the New-
Testament. The first Testament printed
in the English language was in 1526.
This translation was made by William
Tyndale, and was published abroad, after
which it was circulated at Oxford and
London.

TES'TIMONY, th evidence of facts,
oral, as in a court of law, or written, as in
the records of history. Testimony is
probable and credible when in accordance
with general experience, corroborated,
and disinterested ; but improbable, and
unworthy of credit, when contrary to
general experience, and uncorroborated.

TE'THYS, in Greek mythology, the
daughter of Uranus and Gaia, and wife
of her brother Oceanus. The symbol of
the sea, and of the element of water ; in
which character she is sometimes con-
founded with Thetis, unless indeed the
name of the latter goddess be only anoth-
er form of hers.

TET'RACHORD, in music, a concord
consisting of three degrees or intervals,
and four terms or sounds ; in modern
music it is commonly called a fourth.
The word, in its strictly literal sense,
signifies any instrument with four strings,
and was applied to the lyre in its primi-
tive state.

594

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[THE

TET'RAD, the number four; a collec-
tion nf four things.

TETRADI APA'SON, a musical chord,
otherwise called a quadruple eighth or
twenty-ninth.

TET'RADITES, a word used in sev-
eral senses, all of them, however, bearing
upon its original derivation from four.
1. Among the ancients children were so
called who were born in the fourth
month ; and such were believed to be
unlucky. 2. The Manichees and others,
who believed the Godhead to consist of
four instead of three persons, bore this
name. And. 3. In ecclesiastical history,
different sects of heretics were so called,
in consequence of the respect with which
they regarded the number four.

TETRAD'ORON, in ancient architec-
ture, a species of brick used by Greek
builders in the private dwellings, four
palms in length.

TETRADRACII'MA, in ancient coin-
age, a silver coin worth four drachms,
about 75 cents.

TE'TRARCH, a Roman governor of
the fourth part of a province. Such
originally was the import of the title tet-
rarch ; but it was afterwards applied to
any petty king or sovereign. The office,
or the territory of a tetrarch, was called
a tetrarchate.

TETRAS'TICH, a stanza, epigram, or
poem consisting of four verses.

TET'RASTYLE, in ancient architec-
ture, a building with four columns in front.

TEUTON 1C, belonging to the Teu-
tones, an ancient people of Germany.
The Teutonic language is the parent of
the German-Dutch and Anglo-Saxon.
Teutonic order, a religious order of
knights, established towards the close of
the twelfth century, and thus called as
consisting chiefly of Germans or Teutones.
The original object of the association was
to defend the Christian religion against
the infidels, and to take care of the sick
in the Holy Land. It was at one period
immensely rich and powerful.

TEXT, a term signifying an original
discourse exclusive of any note or com-
mentary. Also, a certain passage of
Scripture, chosen by a preacher to be the
subject of his sermon. Text-book, a book
containing the leading principles or most
important points of a science or branch
of learning, arranged in order for the use
of students.

THAM'MUZ, the tenth month of the
Jewish civil year, containing 29 days, and
answering to a part of June and a part of
July.

THANE, in early English history, a
title of honor belonging to the Anglo-
Saxon nobility. In its original meaning,
it signified a minister or honorable re-
tainer, and was applied to the followers
of kings and chieftains. The thanes in
England were formerly persons of some-
dignity ; of these there were two orders,
the king's thanes, who attended the Sax-
on and Danish kings in their courts, and
held lands immediately of them ; and the
ordinary thanes, who were lords of man-
ors, and who had a particalar jurisdic-
tion within their limits. In a later age
of the Anglo-Saxon power, the term thane
seems to have been applied to all landed
proprietors who were below the rank of
earl, and above that of alderman, and
had the privilege of assisting in framing
the laws. The rank of thane implied the
possession of a certain amount of landed
property, and five hides of land is sup-
posed to have been the amount required
for a thane of the highest order. After
the Conquest, this title was disused, and
baron took its place. In Scotland, thane
was a recognized title down to the end of
the 15th century, and it appears to have
implied from the first a jiigher dignity
than in England, and to have been, for
the most part, synonymous with earl,
which title was generally annexed to the
territory of a whole country.

THE'ATINES, a religious order in the
Roman Catholic church, the earliest in
point of date of the communities of " reg-
ular clerks :" it was founded in 1524 by
St. Cajetan of Thiene. The members, be-
sides the ordinary monastic vows, bound
themselves to the duties of the cure of
souls, preaching against heresies, tending
the sick and convicts, and to abstain from
possessing property Or asking for alms.

THE'ATRE, in architecture, a build-
ing appropriated to the representation of
dramatic spectacles. The theatres of the
Greeks and Romans display some of the
most extraordinary specimens of their
power in the Arts. Bacchus has the rep-
utation of being the invento* of them,
which, after their temples, appear to have
been the most important public edifices
of these people. They seem to have been
carried to perfection in the Grecian colo-
nies at an earlier period than they were
in the mother country. The first theatre
of stone at Athens, called the theatre of
Bacchus, was built in the time of The-
mistocles ; and as there seems little doubt
that the Athenians were the inventors of
the drama as a regular scenic action, it is
fair to presume that they were the first

THE]

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595

to regulate the form and proportions
which necessity and pleasure dictated in
their arrangement. The subjoined dia-
gram shows the general form of the
Greek theatre, which differed but little
from that of the Romans ; and the instruc-
tions given by Vitruvius in the eighth
chapter of his fifth book, as to the gene-
ral outline of the plan, are as follows :
" Whereas in the Latin theatre the points

of the four triangles touch the circumfer-
ence, in the theatres of the Greeks the
angles of three squares are substituted ;
and the side of that square which is
nearest to the place of the scene, at the
points where it touches the circumference
of the circle, is the boundary of the pro-
scenium. A line drawn parallel to this,
at the extremity of the circle, will give
the front of the scene. Through the cen-
tre of the orchestra, opposite to the pro-
scenium, another parallel line is drawn
touching the circumference on the right
and left ; then, one foot of the compasses
being fixed on the right-hand point, with
a radius equal to the distance from the
left point, describe a circle on the right-
hand side of the proscenium, and, placing
the foot of the compasses on the left-hand
point, with the distance of the right-hand
interval describe another circle on the
left side of the proscenium. Thus de-
scribing it from three centres, the Greeks
have a larger orchestra, and their scene
is further recessed. The pulpitum, which
they call \oyeiov, is less in width ; wherefore
among them the tragic and comic per-
formers act upon the scene, the rest going
through their parts in the orchestra."
The ancient theatres were frequently
used for the deliberations of the general
assembly of the people on political mat-
ters, as we find from Tacitus and Auso-
nius in respect of the theatres at Antioch
and Athens. Notwithstanding the use of
those buildings in later times as quarries
freely used by the inhabitants of the
cities in which they stood, there are still
considerable ruins at Ephesus, Alabauda,

Teos, Smyrna, Hieropolis, Cyzicus, Alin-
da, Magnesia, Laodicea, Mylassa, Sardis,
Miletus, Stratonicea, Telmessus, Jasus,
and Patara, all in Asia Minor ; in Sicily,
nt Catana, Taurorninium, Syracuse, Ar-
gyrium, and Segesta. In' Greece, ruins
are still extant at Athens, Sparta, in the
I island of Egina, at. Epidaurus, and Me-
i galopolis. According to Pnusanias, that
at Epidaurus, built by Polycletus, sur-
passed all the other theatres of Greece in
its beauty and proportions ; but in gran-
deur and magnificence the Roman thea-
tres far surpassed those of the Greeks ;
nor is this surprising, considering the pop-
ulation the former had to accommodate
compared with that of the latter. For a
very considerable period the theatres of
Rome, like those of the Etruscans, were
of wood; and Pompey, on his return from
the war against Mithridates, was the first
who constructed one of stone. This must
have been of large dimensions, inasmuch
as it would contain 40,000 spectators.
The remains of it as some stables of a
palace are still visible. There were two
other considerable theatres in Rome ; the
first built in the year 741 of the city, by
Cornelius Balbus ; and the second which
was begun by Julius Caesar, but not
finished till the time of Augustus, who
dedicated it to his friend Marcellus.
From the remains it appears that it was
a specimen of great beauty and purity,
as far as relates to the profiles of two of
its orders, there being no vestiges of the
upper order. The only other remains of
Roman theatres are at Saguntum and
Oranges, though the Romans usually
erected theatres in their newly conquered
cities, or at least embellished and im-
proved those they found on the spot. The
modern theatres of Rome are, perhaps,
the worst in Europe. Italy, however,
boasts some beautiful examples ; the
principal whereof are those at Parma,
now in a very dilapidated state, Milan,
Verona, Turin, IJaples, and Bologna. In
France, a very fine theatre at Bourdenux ;
the theatre at Versailles ; and some ele-
gant theatres in Paris. We subjoin a
short table of the width of the stage in a
few European and American theatres :
Milan .... 40 feet

San Benedetto, Venice . 40
Theatre Franyais, Paris . 40
Parma .... 40
Uourdeaux ... 39
Turin .... 39

Covent-Garden . . 37

Argentino, at Rome . 36

Theatre Italien, Paris . 33
Broadway Theatre, New York 45

596

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[THE

THE'BAID, the name given to the
heroic poein of Statins, which celebrates
the civil war of Thebes waged between
the two brothers Eteocles and Polynices.
It consists of twelve books.

THE'BAN YEAR, in chronology, the
Egyptian year of 365 days 6 hours was
so culled.

THEFT, in jurisprudence, the general
name for the most ordinary class of of-
fences against property ; for which Eng-
lish law uses the peculiar designation of
larceny. The difficulty of distinguishing
between theft, those other species of
fraudulent appropriation which are re-
garded by the laws of most countries as
criminal offences, and, finally, that class
which is only the subject of civil action,
has given rise to a variety of definitions.

THE'ISM, the belief or acknowledg-
ment of the existence of a God, as op-
posed to theism. It has sometimes been
defined to be deism; but theism differs
from deism, for although deism implies
a belief in the existence of a God, yet it
'signifies in modern usage a denial of rev-
elation, which theism does not.

THEOC'RACY, a term expressing the
government of a state immediately by
God. The constitution of the Israelites,
previous to the appointment of kings,
was emphatically a theocracy ; their
chief magistrates or judges being for the
most part occasional officers appointed by
the express direction of God. The kingly
government may still be considered in a
secondary sense as a theocracy, from the
general superintendence which Jehovah
continued to exercise over it. All poli-
ties may in this sense be called theocratic
in which the final appeal in matters of
moment is made to the will of God, as
expressed in oracles, by auguries, or the
mouth of the priesthood.

THEOG'ONY, that branch of the hea-
then theology which taught the genealo-
gy of their gods.

THEOLO'GIUM, in. the ancient thea-
tre, a kind of little stage, above that
whereon the ordinary actors appeared ;
being the place where the machinery of
the gods was arranged.

THEOL'OGY, the study of religion, or
the science which instructs in the knowl-
edge of God and divine things. Theology
consists of two branches, natural and re-
vealed. Natural theology is the knowl-
edge we have of God from his Works, by
the light of nature and reason. Revealed
theology is altogether founded on divine
revelation. There are several other
branches into which theology may be di-

vided as, 1. Exegetical theology, which
consists in the explanation and interpre-
tation of. the Scriptures. 2. Didactic
or speculative theology, by which the
several doctrines of religion are stated
and explained and their truth establish-
ed. 3. Systematic theology, which ar-
ranges methodically fefce great truths of
religion, so as to enable us to contem-
plate them in their natural connection,
and to perceive both the mutual depend-
ence of the parts, and the symmetry of
the whole. 4. Practical theology, which
consists of an exhibition, first, of precepts
and directions ; and, secondly, of the mo-
tives by which we should be excited to
comply with these ; and both these
rules and these motives may be either
found expressly revealed in Scripture,
or they may be inferences from what it
teaches.

THEOM'ANCY, a species of prophecy
in which a god himself was believed to
reveal future events.

THEOPHIL AN'THROPISTS, the title
assumed by a deistical society formed at
Paris during the French revolution. The
object of its founders was to revive public
religious ceremonies, which had alto-
gether ceased during the reign of terror,
without returning to the rites and cere-
monies of Christianity. The revival of
the Catholic religion hastened the decline
of the society, and in 1802 the consuls
prohibited them from holding their meet-
ings in the churches.

THEOR'BO, a musical instrument
made in form of a large lute, except
that it has two necks. It is used by
the Italians for playing a thorough
bass.

THE'ORY, in science, properly ex-
presses a connected arrangement of facts
according to their bearing on some real
or hypothetical law. A hypothesis has
been distinguished from a theory as an
assumption which is conceived to afford a
support to the discovered law. Thus,
some have imagined that the facts of
gravitation are explained on the supposi-
tion of a subtle and all-pervading ether.
Here it is evident that the facts, and
therefore the theory or connected survey
of them, are unaffected by the supposi-
tion in question. The abstract principles
of any science or art, considered without
reference to practice.

THEOS'OPHIST, one who pretends to
derive his knowledge from divine illumi-
nation.

THERAPEU'TJE, a term applied to
those who are wholly employed in the

THO]

THE FINE ARTS.

597

service of religion. This general term
has been applied to particular sects of
men, concerning whom there have heen
great disputes among the learned. It is
generally supposed that St. Mark estab-
lished a particular society of Christians
about Alexandria, of whom Philo gives
an account, and calls them Therapeutee.
He speaks of them as a particular sect,
retired from the world, who spent their
time in reading the writings of ancient
authors, in singing hymns and songs
composed by some of their own sect, and
in dancing together the whole night.
Some suppose they were Essenes ; others
imagine they were Jews, residing in
Egypt ; and Eusebius and others consider
them as Christians.

THER'MIDOR, in the French calen-
dar, the'name of the llth month in the
year in the French Republic. It com-
menced on the 19th of July, and ended
on the 17th of August. It was the month
signalized by the overthrow of Robes-
pierre and the Reign of Terror ; thence
commonly called the Revolution of Ther-
midor, and those who boasted of having
participated in it called themselves Ther-
midorians.

THE'SIS, a position or proposition
which a person advances and offers to
maintain, or which is actually maintain-
ed by argument; a theme.

THE'SPIAN ART, that of tragedy or
tragic acting is so termed ; from Thespis,
an Athenian, who lived in the first half
of the 6th century before Christ, and in-
troduced the first rudiments of a tragic
stage.

THE'URGY, the magician's art ; or
the power or act of performing supernat-
ural things by invoking the name of
God or of subordinate agents.

THIRTY YEARS' WAR, in history,
properly a series of wars carried on be-
tween the Protestant and Roman Catho-
lic leagues in Germany, in the first half j
of the 17th century. The house of Aus-
tria was, throughout, at the head of the
latter party. The Protestant princes of
Germany were assisted by various foreign
powers ; in the earlier part of the war by
Denmark and Sweden, and afterwards by
France. It is considered to have com-
menced with the insurrection of the Bo-
hemians in 1618, and ended with the
peace of Westphalia in 1648. The cele-
brated history of this war, by Schiller,
is rather a spirited historical essay than
an accurate narrative.

THIS'TLE, or SAINT AN'DREW, a \
Scottish order of knighthood, said to be ,

of great antiquity, but revived by James
V. in 1540 ; again by James II. of Eng-
land. VII. of Scotland, in 1687 ; and a
third time in 1703, by Queen Anne, who
increased the number of knights to twelve,
and placed the order on a permanent
footing. The thistle, as is well known,
is the national emblem of Scotland ; and
the national motto is very appropriate,
being " Nemo me impune lacesset," no-
body shall provoke me with impunity.
This is also the motto of the order of the
thistle.

THO'LUS, this word has been various-
ly defined as the middle or centre of an
arched or vaulted roof as the roof itself
of a temple or church, or as the lantern
or cupola of a large public hall. Pausa-
nias applies the term to several circular
edifices with a cupola at top, but which
were not considered temples. At Athens
was a building of this description, in
which were found sundry little silver
images, and where the Prytanea offered
sacrifices. At Epidaurus was another
tholus, in the wood sacred to ^Esculapius,
and behind the temple of that deity.
Pausanias speaks of this as a very ro-
markable structure. It was built of white
marble. Polycletes was the architect,
and the interior was adorned with paint-
ings. In Sparta was an edifice of a simi-
lar kind, in which were found statues of
Jupiter and Venus.

THO'MISTS, the followers of Thomas
Aquinas, with respect to predestination
and grace, in opposition te Scotus.

THOR, in Scandinavian mythology,
the son of Odin and Freya, and the di-
vinity who presided over all mischievous
spirits that inhabited the elements. His
power is represented as irresistible. Many
of his deeds are preserved in the Edda ;
but it is probable that the worship of this
divinity under the name of Donan, or
god of thunder, spread also into Germany,
where traces of him are still to be found
in numerous local appellations, as Don-
nersberg, Thorstein, &c. As the worship
of this god extended, nothing was more
likely than that the Germans should
confound him with the Jupiter of the
Romans, who were then invading their
country ; and hence in Germany the day
sacred to Jupiter was denominated Don-
nerstag. while the Scandinavian equiva-
lent of the same deity has been retain-
ed by the English in Thursday (Thor's
day.)

THOTH, an Egyptian divinity, con-
sidered by the Greeks as identical with
Mercury. His hieroglyphic represents

598

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[TIHT

the beginning of the astronomical year.
He was regarded as the inventor of wri-
ting and Egyptian philosophy ; nnd is
hence paralleled with Mercury by Cicero.

He is represented as a human figure with
the head of a lamb or ibis.

THOR'OUGH-BASS, in music, the art
by which harmony is superadded to any
proposed bass, and include^ the funda-
mental rules of composition. This branch
of the musical science is twofold, theoreti-
cal and practical. Theoretical thorough-
bass comprehends the knowledge of the
connection and disposition of all the sev-
eral chords, harmonious and dissonant,
and includes all the established laws by
which they are formed and regulated.
Practical thorough-bass supposes a fa-
miliar acquaintance with the figures, a
facility in taking the chords they indi-
cate, and judgment in the various appli-
cations and effects of those chords in ac-
companiment.

THOUGH T, properly, that which
the mind thinks. Thought is either the
act or operation of the mind, when at-
tending to a particular subject or thing,
or it is the idea consequent on that ope-
ration. We say, a man's thoughts are
employed on government, on religion, on
trade, or arts, or his thoughts are em-
ployed on his dress or on his means of
living. By this we mean that the mind
is directed to that particular subject or
object ; that is, according to the literal
import of the verb think, the mind, the
intellectual part of man, is set upon such
an object, it holds it iu view or contem-
plation, or it extends to it, it stretches
toil.

THOU'SAND AND ONE NIGHTS,
more commonly called the Arabian
Nights' Entertainments, from the title
adopted in our first translation from Gal-
land's version. A well-known collection
of oriental tales, which has acquired in
the west a popularity never attained by
any other eastern composition. The his-
tory of the work has been the subject of
much investigation, especially by De
Sacy, Von Hammer, and our last learned
translator Mr. Lane, from whom we bor-
row most of this article. It is the opinion
of Mr. Lane that the work, in its present
form, is the composition of a single au-
thor living in Egypt; and that it was
most probably " not commenced earlier
than the last quarter of the 15th centu
ry of our era, and completed before the
termination of the first quartef of the
next century, soon after the conquest of
Egypt by the Osmanlee Turks in 1517."
But the origin of the tales is a much
more difficult subject of inquiry. It seems
to be now established (from the discover-
ies of De Sacy and Von Hammer) that
there was an ancient Persian collection qf
stories, known by the name of the He-
zar Afzdneh, (the " Thousand Fanciful
Tales,") of unknown antiquity, but cer-
tainly older than the 9th century of our
era; that the framework of this collec-
tion was the same with that of the modern,
namely, the story of the cruel king Sha-
kryar and his ingenious queen Chehra-
zdd ; and that this was very early trans-
lated into Arabic by the name of the
Thousand Nights. But Mr. Lane differs
from these learned orientalists in still
believing that the early work was only a
model ; that the greater proportion of
the modern tales are really Arabian, es-
pecially all those founded on the supposed
adventures of the Khalif Haroun and
his queen Zobeyde, a few only being dis-
tinctly of Persiiin or Indian original.

THREN'ODY, a species of short, occa-
sional poem, composed on the occasion of
the funeral of some distinguished person-
age.

THUGS, a secret and wide-spread asso-
ciation of robbers and murderers in the
upper provinces of Hindostan. The ex-
istence of this association was scarcely
known to the British government before
the year 1810. and nocombined measures
were taken to put it down until about 1830.
The Thugs are considered to be a degene-
rate sect of Kali worshippers, and are
peculiarly superstitious in their observan-
ces. To rob and murder is with them a
sacred duty, and they are directed it all

TIR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

599

their proceedings by auguries, supposed
to be vouchsafed by their tutelary god-
dess Behowanee. They usually move in
gan^s, consisting of from ten to two
hundred or three hundred men, of all
races, castes, sects, and religions, yet
all joining in the worship of Kali, and
sacrificing to their tutelary goddess
every victim they can seize, and sharing
the plunder among themselves. Still
they shed no blood unless when forced by
circumstances, but strangle their victims
by means of a rope or handkerchief.
Particular classes, however, are altogeth-
er exempt from their attacks; among
whom are dancing girls, minstrels, sikhs,
fome religious mendicants, tailors, oil-
men, blacksmiths, and carpenters. In
1830 vigorous measures were adopted for
their suppression, and between 1830 and
1837 upwards of 3000 were brought to
justice. In consequence of these meas-
ures, the numbers of Thugs have rapidly
diminished, and it is to be hoped that
they will soon be totally extinct. The
system practised by the Thugs is termed
Thugee.

THULE, a name given by the ancients
to the most northern country with which
they were acquainted. Some authors
imagine it to have been Iceland; others
consider it to have been the coast of Nor-
way ; while there are many who have not
attached to it the idea of any precise
country.

THUM'MIM, a Hebrew word denoting
perfections. The urim, and t/iummim,
were worn in the breastplate of the high
priest, but what they were has never
been satisfactorily ascertained.

THURS'D AY, the fifth day of the week.
so named by the Saxons from Thor, the
old Teutonic god of thunder, answering
to the Jove of the Greeks and Romans.

TIA'RA, an ancient crown, which does
not appear to have always the same shape.
Among the Persians, however, it was a
sort of turban, formed like a half-moon,
and from this is derived the tiara of the
pope. Originally the popes wore a com-
mon bishop's mitre. The tiara and keys
are badges of the papal dignity. Tiara,
the well-known ornament with which
the ancient Persians adorned their
heads. It was in the form of a tower,
and adorned with peacocks' feathers.
Xenophon says that it was sometimes
encompassed with a diadem, at lea.st
in ceremonies, and had frequently the
figure of a half-moon embroidered upon
it. This was the name also originally
given to the mitre of the popes. It was

nothing more than a round high cap, at
first single instead of double, like that
of the other bishops. Nicholas the First
added the first gold circle, as the sign of
the civil power. The second was added
by Boniface about 1300; the third by
Urban V. about 1365.

TIERS ETAT, third estate. This
term was universally applied in France
to the mass of the people under the old
regime. Before the cities rose to wealth
and influence, the nobility and clergy
possessed the property of almost the
whole country, and the people were sub-
ject to the most degrading humiliations ;
but as trade and commerce began to ren-
der men independent, and they were able
to shake off their feudal bonds, the tiers
etat gradually rose into importance ; and
at length the third estate, during the
revolution, may be said to have become
the nation itself.

TIM'BREL, an ancient musical instru-
ment ; a kind of tabor or tambourine, fre-
quently mentioned in Scripture.

TIME, in music, that affection of sound
whereby shortness or length is denomi-
nated as regards its continuity on the
same degree of tune. Time may be con-
sidered either with respect to the abso-
lute duration of the notes themselves,
measured by motion foreign to music, or
with respect to the proportion or quan-
tity of notes compared with each other.
The signs or characters by which the
time of notes is represented are given
under the article Music.

TIMOC'RACY, that form of govern-
ment whose laws require a certain prop-
erty to enable a citizen to be capable of
the highest offices.

TIRAILLEURS', in the military art, a
name given to a species of infantry, sel-
dom intended to fight in close order, but
generally dispersed, two and two always
supporting each other, and in general to
skirmish in front of the line. They must
be particularly expert in their move-
ments, to collect quickly into masses at
the sound of the bugle, and disperse again
with equal expedition ; and to act con-
stantly with the whole army They
were introduced by the French during
the wars of their revolution, and were
soon found so useful as to be indispen-
sable

TIRO'NIAN NOTES, the short-hand
of Roman antiquity. According to the
received story, they were introduced into
Rome by Tiro, the freedtnan and favorite
of Cicero : he is supposed to have import-
ed the art from Greece. MSS., written

600

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

JTOL

entirely in what are called the Tironinn
notes, are not unfrequently of the date
of the 7th century and downwards ;
and they are still common in marginal
notes.

TIS'RI, the first Hebrew month of
the civil year, and the seventh of the
ecclesiastical ; answering to a pnrt of
our September and a part of October.

TI'TAN, in Grecian mythology, ac-
cording to the more modern account, the
eldest son of Uranus and G-aia, who re-
linquished the sovereignty of gods and
men to his younger brother Saturn, the
latter undertaking to destroy all his
children, so that the monarchy might re-
vert to those of Titan. He afterwards
recovered the sovereignty from Saturn ;
but Jupiter, the son of the latter, van-
quished him, and restored it to his father.
This, however, is a tale altogether un-
known to the original rnythologists. Ac-
cording to them, the Titans were many in
number, children of Uranus, and Gaia.
Hesiod makes them six. The children
of the Titans, Atlas for example, retain-
ed the same appellation. The war of
these Titans with Jupiter was the subject
of many different and contradictory le-
gends. Its scene was laid in Thessaly ;
by Homer, on the mountains Olympus,
Pelion, and Ossa. By some writers
Titan is identified with Hyperion ; but
this point is involved in great ob-
scurity.

TITHES, in English ecclesiastical law,
the tenth part of the increase annually
arising from the profits of land and stock,
allotted to the clergy for their support.
The great tithes are chiefly corn, hay,
and wood ; other things of less value are
comprehended under the name of small
tithes. Tithes are personal, predial, or
mixed ; personal, when accruing from
labor, art, or trade ; predial, when aris-
ing from the earth, as hay, wood, and
fruit ; and mixed, when accruing from
beasts, wh"ich are fed off the land. The
custom of paying tithes, or of offering a
tenth of what a man enjoys, has not only
been practised under the Jewish law, and
by Christians, but we also find something
like it among the heathens. The Baby-
lonians and Egyptians gave their kings a
tenth of their revenues. The Romans
offered a tenth of all they took from their
enemies to the gods ; and the Gauls, in
like manner, gave a tenth to their god
Mars.

TI'THTNG, a community of ten men,
into which all England was divided in the
time of the. Saxons.

TME'SIS, in grammar, a figure by
which a compound word is separated into
two parts, and one or more words inserted
between them ; as, of whom be thou ware
also ; 2 Tim. iv. 15, for, of whom beicare
thou also.

TOC'SIN, an old French word of
which the derivation seems not to be as-
certained. Gregory of Tours uses the
word " seing" for the sound of a bell
signifying an alarum bell. The use of
the terrible tocsin, during the troubles
of the Revolution, to assemble the multi-
tude, has rendered the word almost pro-
verbial.

TO'GA, the name given to the princi-
pal outer garment worn by the Romans.

It was a loose flowing garment made of
wool and sometimes of silk, the usual
color being white. It covered the whole
body with the exception of the left arm,
and the right of wearing it was the ex-
clusive privilege of every Roman citizen.
The toga virilis, or manly gown, was as-
sumed by Roman youths when they at-
tained the age of fourteen. The toga
prcetexta was worn by the children of
the nobles, by girls until they were mar-
ried, and by boys until they were four-
teen, when they assumed the toga ririlis.
It was also the official robe of the higher
magistrates of the city. The toga picta,
or ornamented toga, was worn by gene-
rals in their triumph.

TOLERATION, in a general sense,
the allowance of that which is not wholly
approved ; but more especially, the al-
lowance of religious opinions and modes
of worship in a state, when contrary to
or different from those of the established
church or belief.

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AND THE FINE ARTS.

601

TOL'MEN, a species of druidical mon-
ument, composed of a large stone placed
horizontally upon other stones, fixed ver-
tically in the earth, about three or four
feet high, and not fewer in number than
three, nor more than fifteen. In form it
is generally a parallelogram. The tol-
men is also at times composed only of a

large stone, one end resting on the
ground, and the other end supported by
a stone placed under it. The large stone
or table has generally a hole pierced
through. Some have supposed the tol-
men to be a kind of druidal oracle, the
hole through the stone being an acoustic
contrivance, by means of which the
priests could return oracular answers.
Others suppose the tolmens to have been
altars on which victims were sacrificed ;
the hole being used as a means of dis-
persing the blood of the victim on those
who wished such bloody baptism. A
third opinion is, that they indicate, or
rather constitute places of sepulture.
They are also called cromlechs.

TOMB, is used to express both the
grave or sepulchre in which the body of a
deceased person is interred, and a mon-
ument erected in his memory. In many
countries it was customary to burn the
bodies of the dead, and to collect the
ashes into an urn which was deposited in
a tornb. The tombs of the Jews were
generally hollow places hewn out of a
rock. The Greeks constructed their
tombs outside the walls of their cities,
with the exception of those raised to dis-
tinguished personages. The same dis-
tinction was observed by the Romans ;
their sepulchres wore in the country near
the high roads.

TONE, the degree of elevation which
any sound has, so as to determine its
acuteness or gravity. Musical tones
differ from those of common speech
chiefly by being more prolonged, so as to
give the ear a more decided perception
of their height, formation, and relation
to each other. There are two kinds of

tones, major and minor. The tone major
is in the ratio of 8 to 9, which results
from the difference between the fourth
and fifth. The tone minor is as 9 to 10,
resulting from the difference between the
minor third and the fourth. Tone, in
painting, <fcc., a term used chiefly in
coloring to express the prevailing hue.
Thus we say, this picture is of a dull
tone, of a lively tone, of a soft tone, of a
clear tone, &c., and thus it may be also
observed it is requisite to heighten the
tone of this wqrk, or otherwise, to render
the colors more vivid, and, in some in-
stances, the masses more decided and the
figures more striking. The word tone,
in relation to chiaro-scuro, expresses the
degree of brightness or intensity. Tone
is not precisely synonymous with tint;
the latter relating rather to the mixture
of colors, and the former to their effect.
Tones, ecclesiastical, in music, the eight
modes now generally called the Gregorian
Chant, in which the service of the Cath-
olic church is performed ; four whereof
are authentic, and four of them plagal.
Pope Gregory has been considered the
inventor of them. They are the founda-
tion of all music, and will ever be con-
sidered stupendous monuments of com-
position.

TON'IC, in music, the principal note
of the key. It is the chief sound upon
which all regular melodies depend, and
in which they all terminate. Its octaves,
both above and below, are equally called
by the same name. It is, however, to be
understood that the termination here
alluded to has relation only to the chief
melody, or to its bass, inasmuch as the
inner or mean parts of the harmony con-
clude on the third or mediant, and the
fifth or dominant.

TON'TINE, a sort of increasing life
annuity, or a loan given by a number
of persons with the benefit of survivor-
ship. Thus an annuity is shared among
a number, on the principle that the share
of each, at his death, is enjoyed by the
survivors, until at last the whole goes to
the last survivor, or to the last two or
three, according to the terms on which
the money is advanced.

TO'PAZ, a gem or precious stone, very
generally of a fine yellow or gold color.
It sometimes occurs in masses, but more
generally crystallized in rectangular
octahedrons. The oriental topaz is most
esteemed : its color borders on the
orange. The occidental, or that found in
Peru, is of a softer substance, but its
color is nearly the same. There is also

602

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[TOR

the oriental aqua-marine, or blue topaz,
besides several other kinds, of inferior
worth and beauty.

TOOTH OR'NAMENT, in architect-
ure, one of the peculiar marks of the
early English style. It consists of a
pyramid, having its sides partially cut
out, so as to have the resemblance of an
inverted flower. It is generally inserted
in a hollow moulding.

Tooth ornament.

TO'PHET, a polluted unclean place
near Jerusalem, into which the Jews
used to throw the carcasses of beasts, or
the bodies of men to whom they refused
burial ; and where a fire was perpetually
kept up to consume all that was brought.
Hence Tophet is sometimes used met-
aphorically for hell. This place had also
been defiled by human sacrifices which
had been offered to Moloch. Hence Mil-
ton says of this hideous deity, that he

Made his grove

The pleasant valley of Hinnom : Tophet thence
And black Gehenna called, the type of Hell.

The name is derived by some from Heb.
toph, a drum, on account of the beating
of drums and other instruments by which
the cries of the children sacrificed to
Moloch were stifled.

TOPICS, in rhetoric. By abstracting
from a proposition which conveys a truth
in the concrete (i. e., respecting certain
circumstances expressed in the terms of
the proposition) a portion of those cir-
cumstances denominated accidental, we
arrive at the same truth in the abstract,
or (in stricter language) more widely
applicable, and accommodated to many
different sets of accidental circumstances.
Thus, for example, in jurisprudence,
from an investigation of the truth in
various insulated cases in which a too
strict application of legal principles has
been attended with evil effects, we deduce
the general truth that such application
is so attended ; or, in the proverbial
phrase, "summum jus sumraa injuria."
Among the helps inployed by the an-
cients in their favorite study of rhetoric
was tho collection and arrangement of a

great variety of such general truths, ac-
cording to the several sciences or subjects
to which they belonged. These they
termed topoi, or places ; from which the
modern term topic is derived. They
considered it useful for the student in
rhetoric to have at hand, -b^- means of his
memory, those compendious expressions
of universal sentiment, and the general
reasonings or declamations applicable to
each of them, in order to employ them
for particular use by performing the
converse of that operation by which they
were arrived at ; viz. clothing them with
the particular circumstances of the case.
Thus the topos just cited might be useful
to the forensic orator ; it affords a sub-
ject for reasoning and declamation
applicable to a great number of in-
dividual instances. Many of these topics
answer to what in modern phrase we
should term axioms ; and, indeed, some
of the axioms of pure mathematics are
enumerated by Aristotle among the
topics which are proper to every species
of oratory.

TOPOG'RAPHY, the accurate descrip-
tion or draught of some particular place
or tract of land, as of any particular
county, city, town, castle, <fec. Topogra-
phy goes into minute details which
geography does not enter upon.

TORQUE, in antiquity, a chain or col-
lar formed of a number of small ringlets
interlaced with each other, framed of
metal, and worn around the neck. No-
ornament perhaps was of more early or
general use. It is mentioned in Genesis,
as one of the ornaments conferred by
Pharaoh on Joseph. It was in use among
the Greeks and Romans, but peculiar-
ly among the Celtic nations. The le-
gends respecting the torques of the Gauls
who invaded Rome are well known. It
was from his victory over a Gaul that T.
Mantius Torquatus derived his surname.
And no relic is more commonly found in
this country by antiquarian explorers.
Boadicea wore a long golden torque.

TOR'SO, the trunk of a statue, mutila-
ted of head and limbs.

TO'RUS, in architecture, a large round
moulding in the bases of columns, resem-
bling the astragal in form, but larger.

WRY, in British history, a political
party opposed to the Whigs, and adhe-
ring to the ancient constitution of Eng-
land. The word Tory is Irish, and was
formerly applied to a class of depredators
in that country ; but the distinctions of
Tory and Whig (as political partisans)
wore not known before the year 1678, in

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603

the reign of Charles II., when those who
believed that the Catholics conspired
against the king and state, as deposed
by Titus Gates, were called Whigs, and
those who disbelieved it, Tories. Of late
years the term Conservatives has been
adopted by the Tories, as tending to con-
vey the best explanation of their princi-
ples. During the American Revolution,
those who favored the British were called
Tories.

TOUR'N.AMENT, a well-known mili-
tary sport of the middle ages, which with-
out doubt arose from the exercises of
military training. A joust or just is,
properly speaking, the encounter of two
knights in this species of exercise ; the
tournament, an assembly held for the
purpose of exhibiting such justs, or the
encounter of several knights on a side.
The earlier tournaments were highly
dangerous and sanguinary sports. They
were performed with the ordinary weap-
ons of warfare, the lance and the sword ;
and the combatants had only the strength
of their armor to rely on for their defence.
It was a recognized custom, that whoever
slew or disabled an adversary in the
tournament was indemnified against all
consequences. The account of the tour-
nament given by the Count of Chablais,
in Savoy, to Edward I. on his return from
Palestine to England, as given by Thomas
de Walsingham, represents a sort of
violent mSlee, in which knights, esquires,
and archers were engaged on both sides,
endeavoring to unhorse their riders and
overthrow the footmen by every possible
means. But in the course of time this
chivalric amusement became the subject
of minute regulations, which in some de-
gree diminished the danger and insured
the fairness of the sport. In tournaments,
when under the strict regulation of
knightly usage, two sorts of arms were
employed : those expressly made for the
purpose, viz., lances with blunt heads of
iron ; and the ordinary arms of warfare,
termed, " armes aoutrance," which were
only employed by such champions as were
desirous to signalize themselves in a
more than ordinary degree, and frequent-
ly were not permitted by the judges of
the tournament. Every knight attending
was required to show his noble birth and
rank, as a title to admission. These were
at first proclaimed by the heralds with
sound of trumpet; and hence the word
blazonry, which signifies the correct de-
ciphering of the heraldic symbols on a
coat-of-arms, is derived by some from the
German blasen, to blow. Afterwards,

when armorial bearings became general,
the shield of the knight gave token of his
rank and family. The attendance of la-
dies at the tournaments, their distribu-
tion of prizes to those who had borne
themselves best, arming and unarming
the knights, <fec.. are various romantic
circumstances well known to the reader
of chivalric legends ; but they must not
be supposed to have been the necessary,
or even usual accompaniments of these
knightly sports, at least until a later age,
when the taste for gallantry, combining
with that for show and spectacle, turned
these military exhibitions of skill into lit-
tle more than gorgeous pageants. The re-
vival of the tournament was recently at-
tempted in the west of Scotland by the
Earl of Eglinton ; but we scarcely suppose
that the success of that attempt was either
commensurate with its deserts, or was
such as to induce any party to renew it.
At the court of Wurtemberg tournaments
are not unt'requently exhibited at this
day.

TOWER, in arehitecture, a building
raised to a considerable elevation, and
consisting of several stories. Towers are
either round or square, and flat on the
top, by which they are distinguished from
spires or steeples. Before the invention
of guns, places were not only fortified
with towers, but attacked with mova-
ble towers mounted on wheels, which
placed the besiegers on a level with the
walls.

TOWN'SHIP, the corporation of a
town ; the district or territory of a town.
In New England, the counties are di-
vided into townships of five, six, seven, or
perhaps ten miles square, and the inhab-
itants of such townships are invested
with certain powers for regulating their
own affairs, such as repairing roads, pro-
viding for the poor, &c.

TRA'BEA, in Roman antiquities, the
robe used at first by the kings, but after-
wards by consuls and augurs. The purple
trabea was used only on the occasion of
great sacrifices. The second sort, of purple
and white, was commonly worn by consuls
on state occasions. A third, of purple
and scarlet, was the dress of the au-
gurs.

TRACT, or TREA'TISE. in literature,
both originally from the same Latin
word tractatus ; the latter through the
French. It would be difficult to assign
any reason for the difference in significa-
tion between two words identical in ori-
gin and etymological meaning ; but the
first' is now commonly used to describe

604

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[TRA

short compositions, in which some partic-
ular subject is " treated," generally in
the form of a pamphlet ; the latter, more
extensive works.

TRADE, the business of buying and
selling for money, comprehending every
species of exchange or dealing It is,
however, chiefly used to denote the bar-
ter or purchase and sale of goods, wares,
and merchandise, either by wholesale or
retail. Foreign trade consists in the ex-
portation and importation of goods, or
the exchange of the commodities of the
different countries. Inland or home trade
is the exchange or buying and selling of
goods within a country. The word trade
has also a more limited signification,
designating the business which a person
has learned, and which he either carries
on or is employed in ; as, the trade of a
carpenter, a smith, &c. The liberal arts,
learned professions, and agriculture are
not included.

TRADITION, a truth of doctrine or
fact, delivered or handed down to one
from another, and received on the faith
that the first to whom it was so delivered
received it from an authentic source. In
common language, the word is used to
signify records of facts preserved in the
memory of successive persons or genera-
tions only, and not committed to writing.
In theology, tradition means, generally,
that body of doctrine and discipline sup-
posed to have been put forth by our Sa-
viour or his inspired apostles, and not
committed to writing ; and thus the word
is used in a contrary sense from "Scrip-
turd." And such traditions are of two
sorts ; tradition of doctrine (such as that
of the Trinity,) which is commonly said to
be directly affirmed by tradition and prov-
ed by Scripture ; and tradition of rites and
ceremonies, called by Hooker "traditions
ecclesiastical," or " ordinances made in
the prime of Christian religion, establish-
ed with that authority which Christ has
loft to his church in matters indifferent,
and, on that consideration, requisite to
be observed till like authority give just
cause to alter them."

TRA'Q-EDY, a species of drama, in
which the diction is elevated and the ca-
tastrophe melancholy. The name is
usually derived from the ancient Greek
custom of leading about a goat in proces-
sion at the festivals'of Bacchus, in whose
honor those choral odes were sung which
were the groundwork of the Attic tragedy.
A Greek tragedy always consisted of two
distinct parts ; the dialogue, which cor-
responded in its general features to the

dramatical compositions of modern times;
and the chorus, the whole tone of which
was lyrical rather than dramatical, and
which was meant to be sung while the
dialogue was intended to be recited. The
unity of time : namely, that the dura-
tion of the action should not exceed
twenty-four hours : and that of place,
namely, that the scene in which the
events occur should be the same through-
out, are modern inventions. Eschylus
is called the father of tragedy.

TRAGI-COM'EDY ; in literature, a
compound name, invented to express a
class of the drama which should partake
both of tragedy and comedy. If the mix-
ture of serious with humorous portions in
the piece alone entitles it to this name,
then all the plays of Shakspeare (with
the single exception of the Merry Wives
of Windsor, to which some add the
Twelfth, Night.) as being pure comedies,
belong to this class ; as do, indeed, almost
all the works of the old English drama-
tists. But Troilus and Cressida alone,
of the plays of Shakspeare, bears this
title in old editions : on what account we
do not know. French critics define the
distinction to be, that the ecent of the
tragi-comedy is not unhappy or bloody.
Dacier condemns them as illegitimate.
Guarini, the Italian poet, wrote an essay
on the subject.

TRAMON'TANE. lying beyond, or on
the farther side of the mountains ; ap-
plied, particularly by the Italians, to
such as live north of the Alps.

TRANCE, a state in which the volun-
tary functions of the body are suspended,
and the soul seems to be rapt in visions.

TRANSACTION, the doing or per-
forming of any business ; management
of any affair. That which is done ; an
affair. We are not to expect in history
a minute detail of every transaction.
In the civil law, an adjustment of a dis-
pute between parties by mutual agree-
ment. Philosophical transactions, the
published volumes containing the several
papers relating to the sciences, which
have been read at the meetings of certain
philosophical societies, as the Royal So-
ciety of London, and the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, and which have been thought
worthy of being made public at the ex-
pense of such societies. These transac-
tions contain the several discoveries and
histories relative to the sciences, such as
natural history, mathematics, mechani-
cal philosophy, chemistry, Ac., either
made by the members themselves, or
communicated by them from their corre-

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605

spondents, with the various experiments,
observations, <fec., made by them or trans-
mitted to them.

TRANSALPINE, lying to the north
or west of the Alps ; as, Transalpine
Gaul : opposed to Cisalpine.

TRANSATLANTIC, lying or being
beyond the Atlantic. When used by a
person in Europe or Africa, transatlantic
signifies being in America ; and vice versa.

TRANSCENDEN'TAL, a word used
by German philosophers to express that
which transcends or goes beyond the
limits of actual experience. This general
meaning is somewhat restricted by Kant,
who draws a distinction between the tran-
scendental and the transcendent. The
transcendental he defines to be that which,
though it could never be derived from
experience, yet is necessarily connected
with experience, an 1 which maybe short-
ly expressed as the intellectual form, the
matter of which is supplied by sense. " I
call," says he, " all knowledge transcen-
dental, which has regard in general not
so much to objects as to our mode of
knowing or apprehending objects (that is
to say, to formal knowledge.) so far as
this is conceived to be possible a priori.
A system of such conceptions would be j
named transcendental philosophy, as the
system of all the principles of pure rea-
son." The transcendent, on the contrary,
is that which regards those principles as
objectively real to which Kant assigns
only a subjective or formal reality, and
consequently is by him regarded as be-
yond the limits of the human reason al-
together.

TRAN'SCRIPT, a copy of any original
writing, particularly that of an act or in-
strument inserted in the body of another.
The title to land must be transferred by
deed.

TRAN'SEPT, in architecture, the aisle
of ancient churches, extending across the
nave and main aisles.

TRANS'FER, in commerce, an act
whereby a person surrenders his right,
interest, or property in anything to an-
other.

TRANSFIGURATION, the super-
natural change which is described to have !
taken place in the appearance of Christ,
when, as is recorded, he took Peter,
James, and John up into a high rnoun- j
tain with him, and was transfigured be- j
fore them, his face shining as the sun,
and his raiment showing white as light.
There appeared in conversation with him
Moses and Elias ; and the apostles erect-
ed three tabernacles or tent? to them.

An ancient tradition assigns Mount Ta-
bor as the scene of this event, upon which
three contiguous grottoes hare been
fashioned to represent the three taberna-
cles. -

TRANSITION, in rhetoric, is of two
kinds. The first is when a speech is in-
troduced abruptly ; as when Milton gives
an account of our first ancestors' evening
devotions :

Both turn'd, and under open sky adored
The God thut made both air, sky, earth and
heaven

Thou also madest the night,

Maker omnipotent, and Thou ihe day.

The second is when a writer suddenly
leaves the subject he is upon, and passes
to another, from which it seems different
at first view, but serves to illustrate it.
In music, a change of key from major to
minor, or the contrary.

TRANSLATION, in literature, the
rendering of a literary work from the
original language into another. The pe-
culiar merits and peculiar difficulties of
successful translation have often been
pointed out by critics, but their judicious
directions have been seldom realized by
authors. In truth, those difficulties re-
quire a talent of so high an order to sur-
mount them, that few writers are fit to
undertake the office of translators (we
mean of works of any high literary mer-
it,) except those whose genius has more
congenial occupation in original composi-
tion ; for notwithstanding Dryden's sar-
castic remark, that " imitation of an au-
thor is the most advantageous way for a
translator to show himself, but it is the
greatest wrong which can be done to the
memory and reputation of the dead," we
are inclined to doubt whether, in reality,
imitation be not the more advantageous
method of the two. " It is the office of
the translator to represent the forms of
language according to the intention with
which they are employed: he will there-
fore, in his translation, make use of the
phrases in his own language to which use
and custom have assigned a similar con-
ventional import ; taking care, however,
to avoid those which, from their form, or
any other circumstances, are connected
with associations exclusively belonging to
modern manners. He will likewise, if he
is capable of executing his work upon a
philosophic principle* endeavor to render
the personal and local allusions into the
genera of which the local or personal va-
riety employed by the original author ia
merely the accidental type, and to repror
duce them in one of those permanent

606

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[TBA

forms which are connected with the uni-
versal and immutable habits of mankind.
The faith iful translator will not venture
to take liberties of this sort ; ho renders
into English all the conversational phrases
according to their grammatical and logi-
cal form, without any reference to the
current usage which has affixed to them
an arbitrary sense, and appropriated
them to a particular and definite purpose.
The spirited translator, on the contrary,
employs the corresponding modern phras-
es ; but he is apt to imagine that a peculiar
liveliness and vivacity may be imparted
to his performance by the employment
of such phrases as are particularly con-
nected with modern manners ; and if at
any time he feels more than usually anx-
ious to avoid the appearance of pedantry,
he thinks he cannot escape from it in any
way more effectually than by adopting
the slang and jargon of the day. The pe-
culiarities of ancient times he endeavors
to represent by substituting in their place
the peculiarities of his own time and na-

TRANSMIGRA'TION, the Pythago-
rean doctrine of the passing of the soul'
from one body into another. A belief in
this, under various modifications, has ex-
isted in different ages of the world, and
by various nations. This belief in the
transmigration of the soul, as a means of
purification and penance, may have been
attended with good consequences in cer-
tain states of society ; but the Christian is
content to leave undrawn the veil which
the Creator has placed over the particular
circumstances of our future condition.

THANSMUTA TiON, the change of
one substance into another of a different
nature. The transmutation of base metals
into gold was one of the dreams of alche-
my.

TRAjSf'SOM, in architecture, a lintel
over a door, or the piece that is framed
across a double light window. In a ship,
the beam or timber extended across the
stern-post to strengthen the aft part and
give it due form.

TRANSPORTATION, in English law,
a species of punishment. It is not known
to the common law of England, and was
originally a commutation of punishment,
pardon being granted to various descrip-
tions of offenders on condition of under-
going transportation*: generally for seven
or fourteen years, or for life. It is now
a statutable punishment for a great varie-
ty of offences. It is said to have been
first inflicted as a punishment by a law
in the time of Elizabeth, enacting that

such rogues as were dangerous to the in-
ferior people should be biinished. At that
time the English plantations in North
America were the receptacles of trans-
ported convicts. Virginia, the Jerseys,
Delaware, Maryland, Ac. are the districts
which received the greatest accession to
their population from this cause. At the
very commencement of the practice, the
same arguments were employed against
it by Lord Bacon which are urged at this
day by many law reformers. " It is,"
he says, " a shameful and unblessed thing
to take the scum of the people, and wick-
ed condemned men, to be those with whom
you plant." After the loss of the Amer-
ican colonies, several years elapsed be-
fore the government fixed on any place
by way of substitute. At length, in 1787,
Botany Bay, on the coast of New South
Wales, was fixed upon : 760 convicts were
despatched that year. But when the ex-
pedition arrived, it was discovered that
Botany Bay (discovered by Cook in
1770) afforded no practicable site for the
colony, which was consequently landed at
Port Jackson, where the town of Sydney
was founded. From that period to the
present, great numbers of convicts have
been transported to Port Jackson, and to
the later founded colony of Van Die-
men's Land the only two English penal
settlements. Much has been done of late
years towards regulating the condition of
the convicts in the colony, and subjecting
the worst part of them to severe priva-
tions ; in particular, by transporting some
of them to particular depots, where they
are liable to close inspection and hard
labor. Among the writers who have late-
ly contended against the policy of con-
tinuing the punishment of transportation,
we may particularly mention Archbishop
Whately.

TRANSPOSITION, in grammar, a
change of the natural order of words in
a sentence. Transposition, in music, a
change in the composition, either in the
transcript or the performance, by which "
the whole is removed into another key.

TRANSUBSTANTIA'TION, in the-
ology, the supposed conversion or change
of the substance of the bread and wine
in the eucharist, into the body and blood
of Jesus Christ. This is a main point in
the Roman Catholic religion, and is re-
jected by the Protestants, the former
maintaining the transubstantiation to be
real, the latter only figurative ; interpret-
ing the text hoc est corpus meum, " this
signifies my body ;" but the council of
Trent strenuously contended for the lit-

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607

eral sense of the verb est. and say ex-
pressly, that in transubstaiitiation, the
body and blood of Christ are truly, really,
and substantially under the species of
bread and wine.

TRANSUMP'TION, a syllogism by
concession or agreement, used where a
question proposed is transferred to anoth-
er ; with this condition, that the proof of
the latter should be admitted for a proof
of the former.

TRAP'PISTS, the name of a religious
order which still exists in Normandy. It
was founded in 1140 by a Count de Per-
che, in a deep valley called La Trappe,
whence the name of the order, and has
survived all the changes and revolutions
of Prance. The rules of this order are
of the strictest kind. It was, however.
far less celebrated under its original
foundation, than from the reform it un-
derwent under the celebrated Abbe de
Ranee, in the reign of Loins XIV.

TRAVERSE, 'in law, a denial of what
the opposite party has advanced in any
stage of the pleadings. In fortification,
a traverse is a trench with a little para-
pet for protecting men on the flank :
also, a wall raised across a work.

TRAVESTY, the burlesque imitation
of an author's style and composition.
Most travesties purposely degrade the
subject treated: though they may be in-
tended either to ridicule absurdity, or to
convert a grave performance into a hu-
morous one.

TREA'SON, in law, is divided into
high treason, and petty treason. High
treason is the greatest crime of a civil
nature of which a man can be guilty.
In general, it is the offence of attempting
to subvert the government of the state to
which the offender owes allegiance.

TREAS'URER, in law, an officer to
whose care the treasure of the govern-
ment or of any company, is committed.
The Lord High Treasurer of England
has the charge of all the national rev-

TREAS'URE-TROVE, in law, money
or any other treasure found hidden under
the earth.

TREAS'URY, a place or building
where wealth or valuable stores are de-
posited.

TREA'TY. an agreement, league, or
contract between two or more nations or
sovereigns, formally signed by commis-
sioners properly authorized, and solemn-
ly ratified by the several sovereigns or
the supreme power of each state. Trea-
ties are of various kinds, as treaties for

regulating commercial intercourse, trea-
ties of alliance, offensive and defensive,
treaties for hiring troops, treaties of
peace, &c. In most monarchies, the
power of making and ratifying treaties is
vested in the sovereign ; in republics, it
is vested in the chief magistrate, senate,
or executive council ; in the United
States, it is vested in the president, by
and with the consent of the senate ; while
in the Germanic confederation, the par-
ticular states have the right of making
treaties of alliance and commerce not in-
consistent with the fundamental laws of
the confederation. The East India Com-
pany enjoys the right of making treaties
under certain limitations ; but in all
cases treaties can only be made by the
sovereign power in a state, or by parties
upon whom the sovereign power has co: . -
ferred that right Hence, in order to
enable a public minister or other diplo-
matic agent to conclude and sign a treaty,
he must be furnished with full power by
the sovereign authority, and the treaty
concluded in this manner is binding on
the state, in the same manner as if it had
been concluded immediately by the sove-
reign power. In the United States, it is
necessary that the sanction of the legis-
lative body be given to treaties of com-
merce, or those which impose taxes on
the people, entered into by the exe-
cutive.

TREB'LE, the highest or most acute of
the parts in music which is adapted to the
voice of females or boys. Treble note, the
note in the treble stave, placed on the
line with the cliff.

TRENCH'ES, or lines of approach, in
fortification, ditches cut in oblique zig-
zag directions, to enable besiegers to ap-
proach a fortified place without being ex-
posed to the fire of its cannon. Hence
the terms "to open the trenches," to
break ground for the purpose of carrying
on approaches to a besieged place ;
" mount the trenches," to mount guard
in the trenches, &c.

TRENT, COUN'CIL OF, in ecclesias-
tical history, was assembled by Paul III.
in 1545, and continued, in twenty-five
sessions, until 1563, under Julius III.
and Pius IV. This celebrated council
was convoked at a period when the Chris-
tian world was agitated by the early ef-
forts of the reformers ; and its most im-
portant decrees have therefore reference
to the points on which the controversies
of the Reformation chiefly turned : e. g. t
transubstantiation, image-worship, the
authority of the pope. There is a certain

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CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

TRI

degree of ambiguity in the expression of
some of its decrees, owing to the uncertain-
ty which the doctrines of the reformers
caused in the minds of supporters of the
i; "in isli faith. But, on the whole, it can-
not be denied that they express the gene-
ral belief of Western Christians at the pe-
riod when they were drawn up; and that
they condemn, although with little decision
and firmness, many of the more gross abu-
ses of the church. The-authority of these
decrees (except so far as the more strictly
doctrinal part of them is embodied in the
creed of Pope Pius IV.) has been much
debated among Romish ecclesiastics. In
Germany, Poland, and Italy, they ap-
pear to have been adopted from the be-
ginning 'without restriction; in Spain
only with a reservation of the rights of
the monarch ; in France they have never
been solemnly received But as regards
the more important portions of them
which contain the rule of faith, they
probably accurately express the belief of
the Roman Catholic church at the pres-
ent day.

TRES'PASS, in law, any violation
of another's rights ; as, the unlawfully
entering on his premises ; but when
violence accompanies the act, it is called
a trespass vi et armis. In a moral
sense, the transgression of any divine
law or command is a trespass.

TRI'AD, in music, the common chord,
consisting of the third, fifth, and eighth.

TRI'AL, in law, the examination of
causes before a proper judge, which, as
regards matters of fact, are to be tried
by a jury ; as regards matters of law, by
the judge ; and as regards records, by
the record itself.

TRIB'UNE,.in Roman antiquity, the
title of various officers. A tribune of
the people, was chosen out of the plebeians
to protect them against encroachments
and oppressions of the patricians, and
the attempts of the senate and consuls
on their liberty. These tribunes were
not, strictly speaking, magistrates, or
invested with magisterial powers ; but
they exercised a great influence upon
public affairs. They had the power of
putting a negative on the decrees of the
senate, and of arresting the proceedings
of magistrates by their veto ; and in
process of time their influence was in-
creased to such a degree, that they
endangered the safety of the state.
Military tribune, an officer in the
Roman army, who commanded in chief
over a body of forces, particularly the
division of a legion, consisting usually

of about 1000 men. The title of tribune
was also given, as we observed above, to
various other officers ; as Tribuni tcrarii,
tribunes of the treasury. Tribuni fab-
ricarum, those who had the direction of
the making of arms. Also, Tribuni
marinorum, Tribuni nolanorum, Tri-
buni voluptatum, mentioned in the
Theodosian code, as intendants of the
public shows, and other diversions.
Tribune, in the French houses of legisla-
ture, the pulpit or elevated place from
which the members deliver their speeches,
which they usually read, if of any con-
siderable length. In general, only short
replies are made extempore.

TRIB'UTE. a sum of mouey paid by
an inferior sovereign or state to a
superior potentate, to secure the friend-
ship or protection of the latter. The
black mail formerly levied by the Scot-
tish borderers on their less powerful
neighbors, for protecting their property
from the depredations of caterans, was a
species of tribute.

TRICLINIUM, in ancient architec-
ture, a room furnished on three sides
with couches, the fourth side being left
open for facilitating the attendance of
the servants, in which company was re-
ceived and the repasts served. The
winter triclinia were placed to the west,
and those for summer to the east.

TRI'COLOR, the national French ban-
ner of three colors, blue, white, and red,
adopted on the occasion of the first
revolution. The immediate occasion for
adopting them is said to have been that
they were the colors worn by the ser-
vants of the Duke of Orleans ; and they
were first assumed by the people when
the minister Neckar was dismissed in
1789. But these colors, in combination,
appear to have formed a national em-
blem in France from a very early period.
It is also said to have* been formed by
uniting the three colors successively
used in the French standards at different
periods; viz. the blue of the -banner of
St. Martin, the red of the oriflamme, and
the white of the white cross, supposed to
have been assumed under Philip of
Valois. The three colors were given by
Henry IV. to the Dutch on their desiring
him to confer on them the national colors
of his country ; and they have since been
| borne successively by the Dutch republic
and the kingdom of the Netherlands.
The domestic livery of Louis XIV. was
tricolored, as were also the liveries of the
Bourbon kings in Spain. At the revolu-
tion, when the three colors were assumed

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609

on the national flag, they were borne in
the same order as the Dutch, but in a
different position, viz. the division of
colors parallel to the flag-staff ; whereas
in the Dutch flag it is at right angles
with it. Tricolored flags have been
adopted in some of the German states,
and in Belgium, &c.; and they are often
employed as emblematical of liberty.

TRI'DENT, an attribute of Neptune,
being a kind of three-pronged sceptre
which the fables of antiquity put into the
hands of that deity.

TRIERAR'CHIA, an Athenian in-
stitution which imposed on a certain body
of citizens the duty of fitting out triremes
for the use of the state. About 1200
citizens were usually chosen for this
purpose from the richest individuals,
and these were subdivided into clubs of
12 or 16 to each ship. Demosthenes in-
troduced a new regulation, by which the
burden to be borne by each individual
was made to bear a given proportion to
his property.

TRIET'BRIS, in Grecian chronology,
a cycle invented by Thales to connect his
year, which consisted of 12 months of 30
days each, amounting to 360 days ; this
falling short of the true solar year, he
inserted a month of 30 days at the end
of every three years, by which means he
made it exceed the true year by 13 days.

TRIFO'RIUM, (Latin,) in Gothic ar-
chitecture, an arched story between the
lower arches and the clere-story in the
aisles, choir, and transepts of a church.
An example may be seen in Westminster
Abbey, where the triforium aifords a
communicating gallery entirely round
the church.

TRIG'AMY, the state of having three
husbands or three wives at the same time.

TRIG'LYPH, in architecture, a mem-
ber of the Doric frieze, repeated at equal
intervals.

TRIL'LO, in music, a term by which
it is intimated that the performer is to
beat quickly on two notes in conjoint de-
grees alternately one after another, be-
ginning with the highest and ending with
the lowest. It is- marked with a single
T as well in a vocal as in an instrumen-
tal part.

TRI'LOBITES, the name given by
Cuvier to an order of Crustaceans, com-
prehending those remarkable fossil spe-
cies in which the body is divided into
three lobes by two fissures which run pa-
rallel to its axis.

TRIL'OGY, the word applied to a se-
ries of three dramas, which, although
39

each of them is in one sense complete,
yet bear a mutual rehition, and form but
parts of one historical and poetical pic-
ture. All the plays of yEschylus, and
the Henry VI. of Shakspeare, are exam-
ples of a trilogy.

TRIN'GLE, in architecture, a little
square member or ornament, fixed exact-
ly over every triglyph, under the plat-
band of the architrave, from whence the
guttae or pendant drops hang down.

TRINITA'RIANS, a religious order
founded in 1198 under the pontificate of
Innocent III. Its members devoted
themselves especially to the duty of ran-
soming captives taken by the Moors and
other infidels. Another body of Trinita-
rians was formed in consequence of a
reformation of the order in 1578. There
was also a fern ale order of the same name,
and dedicated to the same objects.

TRIN'ITY, in theology, the ineffable
mystery of three persons in one God
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

TRIN'ITY HOUSE, a society so called
in England, incorporated by Henry VIII.
in 1515, for the promotion of commerce
and navigation, by licensing and regu-
lating pilots, ordering and erecting bea-
cons, light-houses, &c. This corporation
is governed by a master, four wardens,
eight assistants, and thirty-one elder bro-
thers ; besides numerous inferior members
of the fraternity, named younger breth-
ren. Many valuable privileges are at-
tached to this corporation, and its revenue
amounts to about 140. OOO/. per annum.

TRI'O, in music, an instrumental piece
of three obligato voices, or two chief
voices and an accompnnj'ing bass, or of
one chief voice and two accompanying
parts.

TRIOLETT', a stanza of eight lines,
in which, after the third the first line,
and after the sixth the first two lines, are
repeated, so that the first line is heard
three times.

TRIP'LET, in music, a name given to
three notes sung or played in the time
of two.

TRIP'LE TIME, in music, a time con-
sisting of three measures in a bar.

TRIPLI'CITY, in astrology, the divi-
sion of the signs according to the number
of the elenlents, each division consisting
of three signs.

TRI'POD, in Grecian antiquity, the
sacred seat, supported by three feet, on
which the priestesses among the ancients
used to deliver the oracles.

TRI'POS, at the university of Cam-
bridge, the name given to one who pre-

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CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

pares what is termed a tripos paper A
tripos paper, also called a trifios, is a
printed list of the successful candidates
for mathematical honors, accompanied by
a piece in Latin verse. There are two
of these papers, designed to commemo-
rate the two tripos days, or days of ex-
amination. The first contains the names
of the wranglers, and senior optimes, and
the second the names of the junior op-
times. The word tripos is supposed to
refer to the three-legged stool, formerly
used at the examinations for these honors.

TRI'REME, in Greek and Roman an-
tiquity, a galley with three tiers or banks
of oars, in which the rowers were placed
upon seats ascending gradually one above
another.

TRISOLYMPON'ICA, in antiquity,
one among the Greeks who returned three
times victorious from the Olympic games,
and on whom special honors were con-
ferred by the state.

TRITHE'IST, in theology, one who
believes that there are three distinct
Gods in the Godhead, that is, three dis-
tinct substances and essences.

TRI'TONE, in music, an interval, now
generally called a sharp fourth, consist-
ing of four degrees, and containing three
tones between the extremes, on which
account the ancients gave it its name.
It is, moreover, divisible into six semi-
tones, three diatonic and three chromatic.
In dividing the octave, we find on one
side the tritone and on the other the false
fifth.

T RI'TONS, in the Greek mythology, a
kind of demi-gods, half man and half
fish, upon whom the Nereids rode.

TRI'UMPH, in Roman antiquity, a
public and solemn honor conferred by the
Romans on a victorious general, by al-
lowing him a magnificent procession
through the city. The triumph was of
two kinds, the greater and the less, the
latter of which was called an oration.
The splendid spectacle was as follows :
the whole senate went out to meet the
victor, who, being seated in a gilded char-
iot, usually drawn by white horses, and
clad in his triumphal robes, was followed
by the kings, princes, and generals whom
he had vanquished, loaded with chains.
Singers and musicians preceded, followed
by choice victims, and by the spoils and
emblems of the conquered cities and pro-
vinces. Lastly followed the victorious
army, horse and foot, crowned with laurel,
and adorned with the marks of distinc-
tion they had received, shouting lo tri-
umphe, and singing songs of victory, or

of sportive raillery. Upon the capitol,
the general rendered public thanks to the
gods for the victory, caused the victims to
be slaughtered, and dedicated the crown
which he wore and a part of the spoils to
Jupiter. All the temples were open, and
all the altars loaded with offerings and
incense ; games and combats were cele-
brated in the public places; the general
gave a costly feast, and the shouts of the
multitude rent the air with their rejoic-
ings.

TRIUM'PHAL ARCH, in architecture,
an arch erected to perpetuate the memo-
ry of a conqueror, or of some remarkable
victory or important event. At first it
consisted of a single arch, decorated mere-
ly with a statue and spoils of the victori-
ous commander ; but arches were after-
wards erected with two, and then with
three passages. Those on the Via Tri-
umphalis in Rome were the most magni-
ficent ; and in cases where they served as
gates, they were usually constructed with
two openings, so that one was appropriat-
ed for carriages passing into, and the
other for carriages passing out of the city.
The following is a list of some of the prin-
cipal triumphal arches of antiquity : The
arch at Rimini, erected in honor of Augus-
tus on the completion of the repairs of
the Flaminian Way from Rome to that
city. It was one of the noblest as well as
most ancient of the arches of the ancients,
having a Single passage about thirty-
three feet wide, and was, contrary to the
usual practice, crowned with a pediment.
The lesser arch of Septimus Severus at
Rome, commonly called the Arch of the
Goldsmiths, is a curious example, being
of a single opening, and crowned with a
flat lintel. An extremely elegant arch
at Susa, on the Italian side of Mont Ce-
nis. in honor of Augustus. The arches of
Aurelian and Janus, which possess more

| singularity than beauty.

TRIUM'VIRATE, an absolute govern-

1 ment administered by three persons, with

I equal authority; as that of Augustus,
Marc Antony, and Lepidus, which gave
the last blow to the Roman republic ; fer

! Augustus having vanquished Lepidus and

; Antony, the triumvirate was soon con-

I verted into a monarchy.

TRIUM VIRS, (triumciri.) in Roman

| history, three men who jointly obtained
the sovereign power in Rome.

TRO'CHEE, in the Greek and Latin

| poetry, a foot consisting of two s3 T llables,

j the first long, and the second short.

TRO'CHILUS, in architecture, a name

I used by the ancients for a hollow ring

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611

round a column, which the moderns call
scotia.

TROG'LODYTES, certain tribes in
Ethiopia who are represented by ancient
writers as living in subterranean caverns,
and respecting whom we have many fab-
ulous stories.

TROM'BONE, a deep-toned instru-
ment of the trumpet kind, consisting of
three tubes ; the first, to which the mouth-
piece is attached, and the third, which
terminates in a bell-shaped orifice, are
placed side by side ; the middle tube is
doubled, and slides into the other two
like the tube of a telescope. By the side
of the tube, every sound in the diatonic
and chromatic scales being within its
compass, is obtained in perfect tune, and
thus the trombone surpasses every other
instrument, in admitting, like the violin
or the voice, the introduction of the slide.
The trombone is of three kinds, the alto,
the tenor, and the T)ase ; and in orches-
tral music, these are generally used to-
gether, forming a complete harmony in
themselves.

TROOP, in cavalry, a certain number
of soldiers mounted, who form a compo-
nent part of a squadron. It is the same
with respect to formation, as company in
the infantry. The word troops (in the
plural) signifies soldiers in general,
whether more or less numerous, inclu-
ding infantry, cavalry, and artillery.

TROPE, in rhetoric, a change in the
signification of a word, from a primary
to a derivative sense, a word or expres-
sion used in a different sense from that
which it properly signifies ; or a word
changed from its original signification to
another, for the sake of giving life or
emphasis to an idea ; as, when we call a
stupid fellow an ass, or a shrewd man a
fox. Tropes are chiefly of four kinds,
metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and
irony ; but to these may be added, alle-
gory, prosopopoeia, autonomasia, and per-
haps some others. Some authors make
figures the genus, of which trope is a
species ; others make them different
things, defining trope to be a change of
sense, and figure to be any ornament, ex-
cept what becomes so by such change.

TRO'PHY, anything taken and pre-
served as a memorial of victory, as arms,
standards, &c. taken from an enemy. It
was customary with the ancients to erect
their trophies on a spot where they had
gained a victory. At first they consisted
of the arms they had taken ; but after-
wards trophies were formed of bronze,
marble, or even gold. In architecture,

an ornament representing the stem of a
tree, charged or encompassed with mili-
tary weapons.

TROUBADOURS', poets who flourished
in Provence from the 10th to the 13tlt
century. They wrote poems on love and
gallantry, on the illustrious characters
and remarkable events of the times, &c.,
which they set to music and sung : they
were accordingly general favorites in
different courts, diffused a taste for their
language and poetry over Europe, and
essentially contributed towards the res-
toration of letters and a love for the Arts.
The royal court in Provence, at Aries,
was, from the times of Boso I., for nearly
two centuries, the theatre of the finest
chivalry, the centre of a romantic life.
The assembly of knights and Troubadours,
with their Moorish story-tellers and buf-
foons, and ladies acting as judges or par-
ties in matters of courtesy, exhibit a
glittering picture of a mirthful, soft, and
luxurious life. The knight of Provence
devoted himself to the service of his la-
dy-love in true poetic earnest, and made
the dance and the sport of the tilt-yard
the great business of his life. Each
baron, a sovereign in his own territory,
invited the neighboring knights to his
castle to take parts in tournaments and
to contend in song, at a time when the
knights of Germany and Northern France
were challenging each other to deadly
combat. There the gallant knight broke
his lance on the shield of his manly an-
tagonist ; there the princess sat in the
circle of ladies, listening seriously to the
songs of the knights, contending in
rhymes respecting the laws of love, and
at the close of the contest, pronouncing
her sentence (arrel d'amour.) Thus the
life of the Provenfals was lyrical in the
highest degree ; but it was necessarily
superficial, and would lose its chief value
if unaccompanied by music. In the llth
and 12th centuries it had attained its
highest bloom : it had spread into Spain
and Lombardy, and even German empe-
rors (Frederic Barbarossa,) and English
kings (Richard Coeur de Lion,) composed
songs in the Provenfal dialect. But the
poetry of the Troubadours, as in the course
of time it became more common, became
degraded into mere ballad-singing ; and
the few specimens of it that have been
preserved, consist of short war-songs and
lyrics of pastoral life and love.

TRO'VER, in law, an action which lies
against any one who, having the goods
of another unjustly in his possession, re-
fuses to deliver them up.

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CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

TDI

TRUCE, an agreement between states.
or those representing them, for the sus-
pension of hostilities. Such an agree-
ment, when made by officers of the state
in the general exercise of their duty, and
not authorized for the purpose expressly,
or by necessary implication, ranks among
that class of conventions which jurists term
sponsions, and which are binding only
if ratified. A general armistice or truce
differs from a partial, which is limited to
particular places ; as between two armies,
or between a besieged fortress and the
besieging army. The former, in general,
requires ratification ; power to include
the latter is held to be implied in the
general authority of military and naval
officers.

TRUCE OF GOD, a suspension of arms,
which occasionally took place in the
middle ages, putting a stop to private
hostilities. The right to engage in these
hostilities was jealously maintained by
the inferior feudatories of the several
monarchies of Europe. But it was re-
strained by the repeated promulgation
of these truces, under the authority of the
church.

TRUM'PET, the loudest of all portable
wind instruments, consisting of a folded
tube, generally of brass. Speaking
trumpet, a tube, from six to fifteen feet
in length, made of tin, perfectly straight
and having a very large aperture ; the
mouth-piece being large enough to ad-
mit both lips. By means of this instru-
ment the voice is carried, with distinct-
ness, for a mile or more. It is chiefly
used at sea. The feast of trumpets, a
festival among the Jews, observed on the
first day of the 7th month of the sacred
year, which was the first of the civil year,
and answered to our September. The
beginning of the year was proclaimed by
sound of trumpet.

TRUST, in law, is a term commonly
used to designate any equitable right or
interest, as distinguished from a legal
one ; properly, that class of equitable
rights supposed to be founded in the con-
fidence placed by one party in another ;
the name trustee denoting the person in
whom confidence is placed. The origin of
copveyances in trust may be traced to the
fidei commissum of the Romans, which
was a gift by will to a person capable of
taking in trust for another incapable by
the Roman law of taking such benefit,
whose claim under such gifts was for a
long time precarious, and merely fiduci-
ary, but came at length to be recognized
and enforced by law.

TRUSTEE', in law, one to whom is
confided the care of an estate, money, or
business, to keep or manage for the bene-
fit of another, either by the direction of a
body of creditors or at the instance of an
individual, &c., or by a legal instrument
called a deed of trust.

TRUTH, exact accordance with that
which is, has been, or shall be. Moral
truth consists in relating things according
to the honest persuasion of our minds,
and is called also veracity. Metaphysi-
cal or transoendental truth, denotes the
real existence of things conformable to
the ideas which we have annexed to their
names.

TU'BA, a wind instrument, used by
the ancient Romans, resembling our
trumpet, though of a somewhat different
form.

TU'DOR STYLE, in architecture, a
name frequently applied to the latest

Gothic style in England, called also
Florid Gothic. The period of this style
is from 1400 to 1537. It is character-
ized by a flat arch, shallow mouldings,
and a profusion of panelling on the
walls.

TUES'DAY, the third day of the week,
answering to the dies Martis of the Ro-
mans, but dedicated by the Saxons to
Tuisco. The peculiar attribute of the
deity worshipped under this name is not
clearly known.

TUI'LERIES, the residence of the
French monarchs, on the right bank of
the Seine, in Paris. It was begun by
Catharine de Medici, wife of Henry II.,
in 1564, and the latest additions made to
it were by Napoleon, in 1808. The ex-
terior of the Tuileries is deficient in har-
mony, having been built at different

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613

times, and on very different plans, but
the interior is magnificent.

TU'MULUS, a barrow or mound of
earth in ancient times raised to the
memory of the dead. Barrows of loose
stones or of dark mould and flints are
very common in England ; and urns con-
taining the ashes of those who have here
been buried, with spears, swords, shields,
bracelets, beads, <fcc., -are among the prin-
cipal contents. We find, indeed, that
these rude funeral monuments are met
with in .most countries.

TUNE, a short air or melody ; a series
of musical notes in some particular mea-
sure, and consisting of a single series, for
one voice or instrument, the effect of
which is melody ; or a union of two or
more series or parts to be sung or played
in concert, the effect of which is harmo-
ny. Thus we say, a merry tune, a lively
tune, a grave tune, a psalm tune, a mar-
tial tune. Correct intonation in singing
or playing; the state of giving the proper
sounds; as when we say, a harpsichord is
in tune ; that is, when the several chords
are of that tension, that each gives its prop-
er sound, and the sounds of all are at due
intervals, both of tones and semitones.

TU'NING, the art or operation of ad-
justing the various sounds of a musical
instrument, so that they may be all ut
due intervals, and the scale of the instru-
ment brought into as correct a state as
possible. In tuning an instrument, the
first point is to fix upon some one note as
a leading note, and then by the pitch of
it to determine the relative sounds of all
the rest. The art or operation of ad-
justing two or more musical instruments,
so as to bring them into agreement with
each other, as two or more violins, a vio-
lin and violoncello, &c. Horns, fifes,
flutes. Ac., have a permanent relative
scale, and only change their pitch by
change of temperature.

TU'NING-FORK, a steel instrument
consisting of two prongs and a handle ;
used for tuning instruments, for regulat-
ing their pitch, and also the pitch of
voices. There are two kinds of tuning
forks in use ; one of which sounds C ma-
jor, and the other A minor. The first is
used in tuning piano-fortes, and the sec-
ond in orchestras, for the violins, &c.

TU'NIC, a garment worn within doors
by the Romans of both sexes, under the
toga : the slaves and common people only
appearing in it abroad. The senators
wore a tunic with a broad stripe of purple
sewed on the breast : the equites had nar-
row stripes.

TUN'NEL, a subterraneous passage.
Some are cut through hills to continue
the lines of canals, from half a mile to
two or three miles long ; others are
formed on the lines of railroad, where
steep hills render them necessary.

TUR'BAN, a head-dress worn by most
Oriental nations, of very various forms,
but consisting generally of a piece of fine
cloth or linen wound round a cap. The
cap is red or green, roundish on the top,
and quilted with cotton. The Turkish
sultan's turban contains three heron's .
feathers, with many diamonds and other
precious stones. The grand vizier has two
heron's feathers; other officers but one.

TUR'BARY, in English law, the right
of digging turf on another man's land.
Common of turbary, is the liberty which
a tenant enjoys of digging turf on the
lord's waste.

TURK'ISH AR'CHITECTURE, this
style assimilates itself, in a great meas-
ujg, to that of the Saracenic. In their
public buildings they indulge, above all
other things, in a great number of towers
and minarets. They employ little art, on
the other hand, in the construction of pri-
vate houses, the lower parts of which are
'generally of cut stone, and the upper of
bricks dried in the sun. The dwellings
of the rich are surrounded by a court-
yard ; and jn the interior is often a beauti-
ful hall, paved with marble and adorned
with fountains. This hall is ordinarily
of the whole height of the building, and
surmounted by a small dome.

TURN'PIKES, the name given to the
toll gates on the public roads, the ancient
gate being a mere pole or pike.

TUR'QUOISE, or TURK'OIS, a mine-
ral of a beautiful sky-blue color, occur-
ring in thin layers, or in rounded masses.
It is destitute of lustre, but susceptible
of a high polish, and is much used in
jewellery. It contrasts well with dia-
monds and pearls set in gold. Some nat-
uralists say that the turquoise is a" bone
impregnated with cupreous particles, and
not a real stone.

TUS'C AN ORDER, in architecture, one
of the five orders, and the simplest of
them all. It is not found in any ancient
example. Palladio has given two ex-
amples of this order, from one of which
the profile here given is adopted, though
by some that composed by Vignola has
been preferred. The base, as will be
seen on inspection, consists of a simple
torus with its fillet, accompanied by a
plinth. Sir William Chambers assigns
to the column, with its base and capital,

614

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ULE

a height equal to seven of its diameters.
Vitruvius speaks of this order with little
praise, but Palladio commends it for its

great utility. It does not allow the in-
troduction of ornament ; and it is to be
observed, thai its columns are never
fluted. By some architects it has been va-
ried on the shaft with rustic cinctures ; but
such taste is perhaps very questionable.

TUT'TO, or TUT'TI, in Italian music,
a direction for all to play in full concert.

TWELFHIN'DI, among the Anglo-
Saxons, men of the highest rank, who
were assessed at 1200 shillings; and if
any injury were done to such persons,
siitisfaction was to be made according to
their worth.

TYM'PAN, in architecture, that part
of the bottom of the pediments which is
enclosed between the cornices. In car-
pentry, it is applied to the pannels of
doors in the same sense. Among the
Greeks and Romans, a tympanum was a
musical instrument, not unlike the tam-
bourine, beaten wirh the hand.

TYPE, in theology, a sign or symbol ;
a figure of something to come ; as, the
paschal lamb was a type of Christ. To
the word in this sense is opposed anti-
type ; Christ, therefore, is the antitype.
In natural history, type means a gene-
ral form, such as is common to the species
of a genus, or the individual of a species.

TY'PHON, the evil genius of Egyptian
mythology. According to Sir G. Wilkin-
son they seem to have acknowledged two
deities, who answered to the description

given by the Greeks of Typho. " One
who was the brother of Netpe, and op-
posed to his brother Osiris, as the bad to
the good principle ; the other bearing the
name of Typho, and. answering to that
part of his character which represents
him as the opponent of Horus :" the
true evil genius Ombte, whom the Greeks
seem to confound with Typho. " He is
figured under the human form, having
the head of a quadruped, with square-
topped ears, which some might have
supposed to represent an ass with clipped
ears, if the entire animal did not top
frequently occur to prevent this erroneous
conclusion." In his Egyptian names is
" Ombte," in which Sir G. Wilkinson
thinks he traces a connection with An-
tceus, the son of Earth. There appears
to have been a general propensity to
erase his figure and titles from the monu-
ments at some remote epoch.

TY'RANT, one who exercises arbitrary
or excessive power. A monarch or other
ruler who, by injustice or cruel punish-
ment, or the demand of unreasonable
services, imposes burdens and hardships
on those under his control, which law does
not authorize, and which are repugnant
to the dictates of humanity. The word
tyrant, in its original signification, mere-
ly meant an absolute ruler ; but the
abuse of the office led to a different ap-
plication of the word.

U, the twenty-first letter and the fifth
vowel of the alphabet, is generally pro-
nounced nearly like eu shortened or
blended ; as in annuity, enumerate, mute,
duke, rule, infuse. In some words, as in
bull, pull, full, the sound of u is that of
the Italian u, the French ou, but short-
ened. Its other sound is heard in tun,
run, rub, snub. &c.

UBIQUITA'RIANS, in ecclesiastical
history, a sect of Lutherans who sprung
up in Germany about the year 1590, and
maintained that the body of Jesus Christ
is (ubique) omnipresent, or in every
place at the same time.

U'KASE, in Russia, a proclamation or
imperial order published.

ULE'MA, the college or corporation
composed of the three classes of the
Turkish hierarchy : the imans, or minis-
ters of religion ; the muftis, or doctors
of law ; the cadis, or administrators of
justice. This organization, according to

TTNl]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

613

D'Ohisson was first framed by the caliphs,
and adopted, along with the other .prin-
ciples of their government, by the Otto-
man sultans. Candidates for admission
into the Uletna are educated at the dif-
ferent colleges (medresses) of the em-
pire. The Sheikh, ul Islam, or mufti of
Constantinople, is the president of the
whole body.

ULTIMATUM, (from ultimus, last,)
in modern diplomacy, the final condi-
tions offered for the settlement of a dis-
pute, or the basis of a treaty, between
two governments. The word is also used
for any final proposition or condition.

UL'TRA, a prefix to certain words in
modern politics, to denote those members
of a party who carry their notions to
excess. In 1793, those persons in France
were called ultra-revolutionists, who de-
manded much more than the constitution
they adopted allowed. When the Bour-
bons returned to France in 1815, the
words ultra-royalists and ultra-liberals
were much used, and have become com-
mon wherever political parties exist.

ULTRAMARINE', in painting, a
valuable pigment affording a beautiful
sky-blue color. Its name ultramarine
is derived from being brought from be-
yond sea. that is to say, from Hindostan
and Persia, and it was originally ob-
tained only from the rare mineral lapis
lazuli. Ultramarine ashes, a pigment
which is the residuum of lapis lazuli,
after the ultramarine has been extracted.

ULTRAMON'TANE, an epithet ap-
plied to countries which lie beyond the
mountain : thus France, with regard to
Italy, is an ultramontane country.

UM'BER. in painting, a pigment
affording a fine dark-brown color. It is
a dusky-colored earth, or ore, and was
formerly brought from Umbria, in Italy.
It is used in two states ; the first its
natural one, with the simple precaution
of levigation, or washing ; the second,
that in which it is found after being
burnt. The hues of burnt and unburnt
umber greatly differ from each other.

UN, in philology, a particle of nega-
tion, giving to words to which it is pre-
fixed a negative signification. Un and
in were formerly u-ed indifferently for
this purpose ; but the tendency of modern
usage is to prefer the use of in, in some
words, where un was before used. It is
prefixed generally to adjectives and par-
ticiples, but sometimes also to verbs, as
in unbend, unbind, <fec.

U'NA VO'CE, (Latin,) with one voice;
unanimously.

UNBELIEF', in the sense used in the
New Testament, signifies a disbelief of
the truth of the gospel, and a distrust
of God's promises, &c.

UN'CIAL, pertaining to letters of a
large size, used in ancient manuscripts.

UNC'TION, the anointing with con-
secrated oil, a practice among the Jews in
consecrating kings and priests ; also still
in use at coronations : and is one of the
seven sacraments of the Catholic church.
It is performed, in cases of mortal
disease, by anointing the head, hands,
and feet with oil consecrated by the
bishop, and accompanied with prayers.
The anointing of persons who are on
their death-bed is called extreme unction.
UNDERSTANDING, the intellectual
faculty, or that faculty of the human
mind by which it apprehends the real
state of things presented to it, or by
which it receives or comprehends the
ideas which others express and intend to
communicate.

UNDERWRITER, one who under-
signs a policy of insurance on a ship or
its cargo, at a certain rate per cent.

UNDINES', or ONDINES, the name
given by the Cabalists to one class of
their spirits of the elements, namely,
those residing in the waters. The an-
cient Greeks believed springs and lakes
to be haunted by a peculiar race of su-
pernatural nymphs, and this belief
passed down unimpaired to the middle
ages. The ancient Saxons adored the
female deity of the Elbe ; and the belief
in undines is still scarcely eradicated in
that region. The Saxon peasants report
that an undine is often met in the market-
place of Magdeburg, dressed as a girl of
their own class, but always to be known
by having one corner of her apron wet.
Near Toulouse many objects of value
were once discovered on draining a large
artificial lake, which are supposed to
have been thrown in as offerings to the
spirits of the water. The nixe of the
northern countries is of the same family,
and the Scottish kelpies are creatures of
a similar superstition.

UNIFORM'ITY, ACT OF, the act of
the English parliament by which the form
of public prayers, administration of sac-
raments and other rites, is prescribed to
be observed in all the churches.

UN'ION, or Act of Union, in politics,
the act by which Scotland was united to
England, or by which the two kingdoms
were incorporated into one, in 1707. Also,
the legislative union of Great Britain and
Ireland, in 1801. The United States are

616

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[(TNI

also called the Union. Among painters,
union denotes a symmetry and agreement
between the several parts of a painting.
In architecture, harmony between the
colors in the materials of a building. In
ecclesiastical affairs, the combining orcon-
solidat ing of two or more churches into one.

U'NISON, in music, a coincidence or
agreement of sounds, proceeding from an
equality in the number of vibrations
made in a given time by a sonorous body.
Unison consists in sameness of degree, or
similarity in respect to gravity or acute-
ness, and is applicable to any sound,
whether of instruments or of the human
organs, <fcc.

UNITA'RIAN, a name used to desig-
nate a religious denomination who hold
to the personal unity of God, in opposi-
tion to the doctrine of the Unitarian faith.
They profess to derive their views from
Scripture, and to make it the ultimate
arbiter in all religious questions, thus
distinguishing themselves from the Ra-
tionalists (otherwise called the Anti-su-
pernaturalists) of Germany. They un-
dertake to show that, interpreted accord-
ing to the settled laws of language, the
uniform testimony of the sacred writings
is, that the Holy Spirit has no personal
existence distinct from the Father, and
that the Son is a derived and dependent
being, whether as some believe, created
in some remote period of time, or, as
others, beginning to live when he appear-
ed on earth. Three of the passages of the
New Testament, which have been relied
on to prove the contrary, (1 John v. 7 ;
1 Tim. iii. 16 ; and Acts xx. 28,) they
hold, with other critics, to be spurious.
Others (as John i. 1, &c. ; Romans ix. 5,)
they maintain to have received an erro-
neous interpretation. They insist that
ecclesiastical history enables them to
trace to obsolete systems of heathen phi-
losophy the introduction of the received
doctrine into the church, in which, once
received, it has been sustained on grounds
independent of its merits ; and they go so
far as to aver that it is satisfactorily re-
futed by the biblical passages, when
rightly understood, which are customari-
ly adduced in its support The principal
Unitarian authorities are Dr. Priestley
and Mr. Belsharn. who were among the
most active teachers of the doctrine in
Great Britain, and Dr. William E. Chan-
ning in this country, whose writings on
the subject have been widely circulated.
In the Unite 1 ! States, the Unitarian doc-
trine has prevailed to a considerable ex-
tent among the Congregatioualists of

i New England, and is said to number
about two hundred and fifty churches in
connection with that body.

U'NITIES, in the drama, are three
of time, place, and action. The latter
only is strictly adhered to in the dramatic
compositions of classical antiquity ; but
what is termed by moderns the classical
drama (in opposition to the romantic) re-
quires all three.

U'NITY, the state of being one ; one-
ness. Unity may consist of a simple sub-
stance or existing being, as the soul ; but
usually it consists in a close junction of
particles or parts, constituting a body de-
tached from other bodies. Unity is a thing
undivided itself, but separate from every
other thing. In poetry, the principle by
which a uniform tenor of story and pro-
priety of representation is preserved. In
the Greek drama, the three unities re-
quired were those of action, of time, and
of place ; in other words, that there should
be but one main plot ; that the time sup-
posed should not exceed twenty-four
hours, and that the place of the action be-
fore the spectators should be one and the
same throughout the piece. In the epic
poem, the great and almost only unity is
that of action. In music, such a combina-
tion of parts as to constitute a whole, or a
kind of symmetry of style and character.
In all the arts, the correspondence of the
various parts of a work, so that they may
form one harmonious whole. Unity is in-
dispensable in every work of art. In law,
the properties of a joint estate are deriv-
ed from its unity, which is fourfold ; unity
of interest, unity of title, unity of time,
and unity of possession; in other words,
joint-tenants have one and the same in-
i terest, accruing by one and the same con-
\ veyance, commencing at the same time,
j and held by one and the same undivid-
| ed possession. Unity of possession is a
| joint possession of two rights by seve-
ral titles, as when a man has a lease of
land upon a certain rent, and afterwards
buys the fee simple. This is a unity of
possession, by which the lease is extin-
guished. Unity of faith, is an equal be-
lief of the same truths of God, and pos-
session of the grace of faith in like form
and degree. Unity of spirit, is the one-
ness which subsists between Christ and
his saints, by which the same spirit dwells
in both, and both have the same disposi-
tion and aims; and it is the oneness of
Christians among themselves, united un-
der the same head, having the same spir-
it dwelling in them, and possessing the
same graces, faith, love, hope. Ac.

ONI]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

617

UNIVER'SALISTS, those Christians
who believe in the final salvation of all
men, in opposition to the doctrine of eter-
nal punishment. There is, however, a
great difference of opinion, in regard to
the future state, among those who are
called Universalists : some believe in a
remedial punishment of limited duration,
which will end in a universal restoratien
to goodness and happiness ; others believe
that all men will be happy after the dig-
solution of the body, but in different de-
grees until the resurrection ; and yet
others hold that the future state of all
will be alike perfect and happy immedi-
ately after death. This denomination
has made great progress within a few
years in the United States, and numbers
about 1200 churches.

UNIVERSALITY, in painting. This
quality, though impossible, strictly speak-
ing, to be attained by any individual,
should, in a modified sense, be acquired
by the artist who enters for fame in the
hazardous lists of historical painting.
According to the subject which he has to
treat, it is requisite that he should know
well how to represent both landscape and
architecture. He will occasionally find
himself obliged to introduce the figures
of horses, dogs, tigers, lions, serpents,
<fec. Warlike arms, utensils devoted to
sacred ceremonies, whether ancient or
modern, groups of cattle, human figures
in short, almost every object which is
susceptible of exhibition on canvass may
be regarded as likely to fall in his way,
and to demand a faithful delineation.
The ancient artists, it is true, mostly dis-
claimed this universality ; with them the
sole object frequently was, to paint with
exactness and expression the human form:
but modern art has exploded their exclu-
sive system ; and requires at the hand of
the painter of history an acquaintance
with the extensive range to which we
have alluded.

U'NIVERSE, the collective name of
heaven and earth : or totality of space,
and all its material contents and phe-
nomena, of whose boundless extent and
smallest parts finite beings can have no
just idea ; but. as far as we can discover,
it is filled with an ethereal fluid, in which
masses of matter are equally disposed
throughout space, which masses, like our
sun, act as centres of motion, excite lumi-
nosity, and transfer motion and momenta
to subordinate spheres, like our earth,
bach centre being millions of millions
of miles distant from the others.

UNIVER'SITY, a name applied to an

establishment for a liberal education,
wherein professors in the several branch-
es of science and polite literature aro
maintained, and where degrees or honors
attached to the attainments of scholars,
are conferred. Such an establishment is
called a university or universal school, as
intended to embrace the whole compass
of study. The universities of Great Bri-
tain are seated at Oxford, Cambridge, St.
Andrew's, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edin-
burgh. They are governed by chancel-
lors, vice-chancellors, proctors, and bea-
dles ; and ever}' college has its master and
tutors ; there are also public lectures of
professors in every established branch of
knowledge. The students and all the
%nembers wear an ancient costume con-
sisting of trencher-caps and gowns, varied
according to their degrees, which are
bachelors of arts, divinity, law, music,
medicine ; masters of arts, and doctors of
divinity, law, and physic. The London
University and King's College, are two
collegiate establishments in the metropo-
lis, of recent foundation, which may prob-
ably be the precursors of others. Univer-
sities in their present form, and with
their present privileges, are institutions
comparatively modern. They sprang
from the convents of regular clergy or
from the chapters of cathedrals in the
church of Rome, where young men were
educated for holy orders, in that dark
period when the clergy possessed all the
little erudition which was left in Europe.
Probably in every town in Europe where
there 'is now a university, which has any
claim to be called ancient, these convents
were seminaries of learning from their
first institution ; for it was not till the
more eminent of the laity began to see
the importance of literature and science,
that universities distinct from convents
were founded, with the privilege of ad-
mitting to degrees, which conferred some
rank in civil society. These universities
have long been considered as lay corpora-
tions ; but as a proof that they had this
kind of ecclesiastical origin, it will be suf-
ficient to observe, that the pope arroga-
ted to himself the right of vesting them
with all their privileges ; and that, prior
to the Reformation, every university in
Europe conferred its degrees in all the
faculties by authority derived from a
papal bull. The most ancient universi-
ties in Europe are those of Oxford, Cam-
bridge, Paris, Salamanca, and Bologna;
and in the two English universities, the
first-founded colleges are those of Uni-
versity, Baliol, and Merton, in the for-

618

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

mer, and St. Peter's in the latter. Oxford
and Cambridge however, were universi-
ties, or, as they were then called, studies,
some hundreds of years before colleges
or schools were built in them ; for the for-
mer flourished as a seminary of learning
in the reign of Alfred the Great, and the
other, if we may credit its partial histo-
rians, at a period still earlier. The univer-
sities of Scotland are four, St. Andrews,
Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh.
In Ireland there is but one university,
viz., that of Dublin, founded by Queen
Elizabeth, and very richly endowed. The
University of Oxford, in England, is an
establishment for the purposes of educa-
tion, which corresponds to a federal body
united for political purposes. As, in this
latter case, the several states have separ-
ate jurisdictions, separate duties, and to a
certain extent separate interests, so the
several colleges and halls which compose
the academical body, have each its own
private regulations for the education of its
members, but all contribute to the uni-
versity education. This may be brought
under the heads of public examinations
and college preparation. In its early
constitution, and in the gradual additions
which for many ages were made to it,
the system now followed in the German
universities was kept in view, and pro-
fessorships or readerships in the different |
arts and sciences were established ; but
these university officers are no longer the j
main sources of instruction. The demand i
for instruction created by the degree
examination, is met almost exclusively
by lectures delivered in the several col-
leges and halls, or rather, by private tu-
tors in the colleges and halls ; so exclu-
sively indeed, that, although some knowl-
edge of Greek is essential for a degree,
and a considerable proficiency for the
higher class degrees, the Greek professor
has no lectures. What is actually re-
quired for a degree of bachelor of arts is,
that the student should display some ac-
quaintance with the facts and doctrines
of the Christian religion, and especially
with the peculiar tenets of the church of
England, as set forth in its articles ; some
proficiency in the Greek and Latin lan-
guages, in one or more of the ancient
philosophical treatises, or, in lieu of this,
in a portion of ancient history : some
knowledge also, either of the elements of
logic or of the elements of geometry.
The statute, however, contemplates the
probability of a much higher standard of
qualification in a portion of the students ;
and for these it provides honors addition-

al to that of a mere degree. Their
names are printed, arranged in four cl;i>-
ses, according to a fixed standard of
merit for each class. The candidate
is permitted to name the book in which
he wishes to be examined : and the
examiners are, besides, at liberty to exa-
mine in any books which they may select.
The mathematical examinations ure con-
ducted principally by means of printed
questions, answered in writing. A candi-
date for the first class may be stated gen-
erally to have acquired a knowledge of,
1. the elements of analytical geometry
and trigonometry ; 2. the differential and
integral calculus and its applications; 3.
mechanics, including the principles of its
application to the solar system, embracing
the substance of the three first sections
of Newton's Principia, which are also
read in the original forms ; 4. the princi-
ples of hydrostatics, optics, and plane as-
tronomy. The examinations take place
twice a year. Prizes are given for the
encouragement of compositions in prose
and verse, in Latin and English. There
are also public scholarships, which ope-
rate as rewards and encouragements of .
general proficiency or particular acquire-
ments. These include classical literature,
mathematics, Hebrew, and the law. The
university also affords facilities for the
acquirement of various branches which
do not enter into the qualifications for a
degree. Thus the several professors of
geology, chemistry, and many other
branches of science, are always provided
with classes, often with numerous ones.
We now proceed to the college prepara-
tion for the public examinations. It is
this that really constitutes the Oxford
education. The process of instruction in
the college is by no means of recitations.
Every head of a house appoints a certain
number of tutors for this purpose. Ques-
tions are put by the tutor, and remarks
made by him on the book which is the
subject of study. He also gives direc-
tions respecting the proper mode of study-
ing. The students usually attend two,
three, or four tutors, why thus give in-
struction in different branches. The col-
lege tutor, moreover, has interviews, from
time to time, with his pupils, separately,
for the sake of ascertaining the indi-
vidual's state of preparation for the pub-
lic examination, assisting him in his
difficulties, Ac. .Besides these college
tutors, however, there are private tutors,
who superintend the studies of individu-
als, and prepare them for attendance on
the exorcises of the college tutors. These

UNI]

AND THE FINK ARTS.

619

private tutors are particularly useful to
that large class of students who come
to college insufficiently prepared. The
college instruction closes at the end of
eaph term, with a formal examination of
each member separately, by the head and
tutors, who attend for this purpose. This
summing up of the business of the term
is called, in the technical language of the
place, collections or terminals. Each
student presents himself in turn, with the
books in which he has received instruction
during the term, and, in many colleges,
with the essays and other exercises which
he has written, his analyses of scientific
works, abridgments of histories and the
like. In some colleges the students are
required to present, for their examina-
tion, some book also, in which they have
not received instruction during the term.
Besides the other studies pursued in the
colleges, the students write weekly short
essays on a given subject, occasionally
interchanged with a copy of Latin verses,
for those skilled in versification. The
liberality of donors has enabled the col-
leges to provide indirectly for the pro-
motion of study by means of exhibitions,
scholarships, and fellowships. Every col-
lege and hall examines, if it thinks fit,
its own candidates for admission, and
pronounces, each according to a standard
of its own, on their fitness or unfifness
for the university. The first universities
founded in Germany wore those of Prague,
1348, and Vienna, 1365, both after the
model of thatof Paris: in both the divi-
sion into four nations was adopted. This
circumstance caused the decline of the
former, and the foundation of a new one.
The emperor Charles IV. had divided the
teachers and students, when the univer-
sity of Prague was founded, into the Bo-
hemian, Polish, Bavarian, and Saxon
nations. The Germans, therefore, (as the
Polish nation consisted chiefly of German
Silesians,) had the advantage over the
Bohemians : and, as these were unwilling
to suffer their oppressions, John Huss
and Jerome of Prague induced the em-
peror Wenceslaus to make three nations
of the Bohemian and one of the two Ger-
man. Several thousand students and
teachers withdrew immediately, and gave
rise to the university of Leipsic, in 1409,
where they were divided into four na-
tions, the Misnian, Saxon, Bavarian, and
Polish. None of the other German uni-
versities, founded in the fifteenth centu-
ry, adopted the division into nations. '
Universities were now expressly estab- |
lished, and not loft to grow up of them- 1

selves, as before. For almost three cen-
turies, the popes continued to erect these
institutions, ajnd exercised the right of
protecting and of superintending them.
Monarchs who wished to establish a uni-
versity, requested the papal confirmation
(which never was denied,) and submitted
to the authority which the Roman see
arrogated over them. Wittenberg was
the first German universitv which re-
ceived its confirmation (in 1502,) not from
the pope, but from the German emperor ;
but even this institution eventually re-
quested the papal confirmation. Marburg
was established in 1525, without papal
or imperial confirmation : the latter, how-
ever, was subsequently given. Even
Gottingen, founded in 1734, obtained im-
perial privileges, after the model of those
of Halle. The unhappy thirty year's
war did much injury to the German uni-
versities ; but since that period, they have
advanced beyond those of any other coun-
try ; and it may be said that the principal
part of the liberty left to the Germans has
been academical liberty; hence, also, their
abive of it ; hence, too, the fondness with
which a German recalls his life at the uni-
versitv ; and hence the students' .jealousy
of their privileges. Germany has more
universities than any other country. The
general organization of a German univer-
sity is as follows : A number of prqfes-
sores ordinarii are appointed for the va-
rious branches. They divide themselves
into four faculties, each having a dean an-
nually chosen by themselves from among
their number. All these professors gen-
erally form the senate, at the head of
which is the rector, who is chosen an-
nually. They have jurisdiction over the
students, in regard to small offences and
matters of police, and make the general
provisions respecting instruction, with the
consent of the government. Professors
in most universities are appointed by the
government. Besides these professors,
there are an indefinite number of profes-
sores extraordinarii, for the same brunch-
es, or for particular parts of them. They
receive small salaries, and are the persons
to whom the government look to fill va-
cancies. They are generally persons who
have distinguished themselves, and whose
talents the government wishes to secure.
In Berlin, there are a great many of these
extraordinary professors. The last class of
lecturers are the docentes, or licentiates,
who, after undergoing an examination,
have obtained permission to teach (licen-
tia docendi.) They receive no salary.
Any person can request to be examined

620

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[usir

by the faculty in this way, and thus ca-
pacitate himself to teach. From them
the prqfessores extraordir\arii are ordi-
narily taken. Every person in these
three classes can lecture upon whatever
subject he may choose, the professors being
only obliged to deliver lectures also on
the branches for which they are particu-
larly appointed. Thus we constantly find
theologians lecture on politics, philoso-
phers on theological subjects and statis-
tics ; theologians on philology, &c. Very
often three or four courses are delivered
on the same subject. The German stu-
dent, in the Protestant universities, is
left at full liberty to choose the lectures
which he will attend. No official exami-
nation takes place during his term of
study. The only regulation is that, in
the case of most sciences, he is required
to attend certain lectures, and study full
three years, if he wishes to obtain an ap-
pointment, practise a profession, &c., if
he is not specially exempted from so
doing. If he wishes to practise medicine,
he must study in Prussia four years. The
German student usually divides his term
of study among two or more universities ;
but whilst he is thus left almost a,t full
liberty while at the university, he must
go through a severe examination, particu-
larly in Prussia, if he wishes to become
a clergyman, statesman, practise as phy-
sican, lawyer, or teacher in a superior
school. These examinations are both
oral and in writing, and the successive
steps of promotion are attended with new
examinations. In the United States, the
word university has been applied to Har-
vard College at Cambridge, and other
smaller literary institution?, but not with
exact propriety, as those seminaries are
usually devoted to the elementary studies
of an academical course.

URA'NIA, in Grecian mythology, the
muse of astronomy. She is generally
represented with a crown of stars, in a
garment spotted with stars, and holding
in her left hand a celestial globe or a
lyre. Urania is likewise the name of
the heavenly Venus, or of pure intellec-
tual love. One of the Oceanides, or sea-
nymphs, was also called Urania.

U ' R I M, the Urim and Thummim,
among the Israelites, signify lights and
perfections. These were a kind of orna-
ment belonging to the habit of the high
priest, in virtue of which he gave oracular
answers to the people ; but what they were
has not been satisfactorily ascertained.

URN, in antiquity, a kind of vase of a
roundish form, but largest in the middle,

destined to receive the ashes of the dead.
The substances employed in the con-
struction of these vessels were numerous.
Amongst them are gold, bronze, glass,
terra cotta, marble, and porphyry. Many
have been discovered bearing inscriptions;
others with the name only of the party
to whose remains they were devoted.
It was also customary with the Romans
to put the names of those who were to
engage at the public games, into urns,
taking them in the order in which they
were drawn out. Into such a vessel also
they threw the notes of their votes at the
elections. The urn (urna) was also a
Roman measure for liquids, containing
about three gallons and a half, wine meas-
ure. It was half the amphora.

UR'SULINES ; or Nuns of St. Ursulm,
a sisterhood founded by St. Angela of
Brescia, in 1537, at first without being
bound to the rules of the monastic life,
but devoting themselves merely to the
practice of Christian charity and the ed-
ucation of children Many governments,
which abolished convents in general, pro-
tected the Ursulines on account of their
useful labors, particularly in the practice
of attending on the sick, and administering
to their cure and their comforts.

U'SANCE, in commerce, the time fixed
for the payment of bills of exchange,
reckoned either from the day on which
the bill is accepted, or from that of its
date, varying in different countries, and
thus called, because wholly dependent on
usage.

USH'ER, literally a "door-keeper;"
being derived from the French "huissier."
In Britain, usher is the name given to
several public officers, in which sense it
seems to be synonymous with sergeant.
These ushers are in waiting, introduce
strangers, and execute orders. Usher is
also used as the denomination of an assist-
ant to a school-master ; where it seems
to refer to his office of introducing the
scholars to learning.

USTRI'NUM, in Roman antiquities, a
public burning-place, enclosed by walls,
in which bodies, mostly of the poorer sort
of people, were consumed. An ustrinum,
according to Montfaufon, was square,
and in compass about 300 feet.

USUCAP'TION, in the civil law, the
acquisition of the title or right to prop-
erty by the undisputed possession and
enjoyment of it for a certain term pre-
scribed by law.

U'SUFRUCT, in the civil law, the tem-
porary use or enjoyment of lands or ten-
ements ; or the right of receiving the

VAG]

AND THE FINE ARTS,

621

fruits and profits of an inheritance, with-
out a pdwer of alienating the property.

U'SURY, a compensation or reward for
money lent. In this sense it is merely
equivalent to interest. In the common
business of life, however, it rarely has
this signification ; but is chiefly used in
an odious sense, to express an exorbitant
or illegal compensation for money lent,
in contradistinction to legal interest.

UTILITA'RIANS, a name which has
been given to a particular sect of modern
politicians ; those, namely, who profess
to try the excellence of modes of govern-
ment and usages simply by their utility.
The celebrated Jeremy Bentham, regard-
ed as the founder of this sect, introduced
into the critical department of politics a
closer logic than had been commonly ap-
plied to it ; and aimed at applying his
famous principle, " the greatest happiness
of the greatest number," as an immedi-
ate test by which to affirm or deny the
value of institutions. It is evident that
all political sects, both of writers and
statesmen, profess ultimately the same
object. The real characteristic of the
Utilitarians consists in the peculiar sense
in which they understand it. They con-
fine for the most part the proposed utility,
so as to restrict it to that which is useful
for the material and economical well-
being of the multitude.

UTI POSSIDE'TIS, in politics, a treaty
which leaves belligerent parties mutually
in possession of what they have acquired
by their arms during the war is said to
be based on the principle of uti possidetis
" as you possess."

UTO'PIA, a term invented by Sir T.
More, and applied in his celebrated wrk
called Utopia to an imaginary island,
which he represents to have been discov-
ered by a companion of Amerigo Ves-
pucci, and as enjoying the utmost perfec-
tion in laws, politics, <fcc., in contradis-
tinction to the defects of those which then
existed. The work was first printed in
1516, but Froben's edition, of 1518, is
more correct. The word Utopia has now
passed into all the languages of Europe
to signify a state of ideal perfection ; and
Utopian is used synonymously with/aTi-
ciful or chimerical.

V. the twenty-second letter of the al-
phabet, is a labial articulation, nearly
allied tof. being formed by the same or-

gans ; but v is vocal, and f is aspirate,
and this constitutes the principal differ-
ence between them. V has one sound
only, as in vain, very, vote, vanity.
Though v and u have as distinct uses aa
any two letters in the alphabet, they were
formerly considered as one letter; and in
some encyclopaedias and dictionaries the
absurd practice of arranging the words
which begin with these letters is still con-
tinued. As a numeral, V stands for 5 ;
and with a dash over it, in old books, for
5000.

VA, in music, Italian for " go on," as
va crescendo, go on increasing.

VACATION, in law, the period be-
tween the end of one term and the begin-
ning of another : and the same in the
universities.

VA'DE IN PACE, (Lat. go in peace.)
In monastic communities offences were
sometimes punished by the dreadful in-
fliction of starving to death in prison ; and
bones have been occasionally found among
the ruins of convents of victims who ap-
pear to have perished in this manner.
The punishment acquired this name from
the words in which the sentence was pro-
nounced. The use which Walter Scott has
made of this custom in his poem of Mar-
mion is well known. But it is no roman-
tic fiction.

VA'DE-MECUM (from the Latin, sig-
nifying Go icitk me,) a favorite book or
other thing that a person constantly car-
ries with him.

VA 'GRANT, in law, the word vagrant
has a much more extended meaning than
that assigned to it in ordinary language,
and in its application the notion of wan-
dering is almost lost. By the law va-
grants are divided into three classes
idle and disorderly persons ; rogues and
vagabonds ; incorrigible rogues. Under
the first class are included, every person
who refuses or neglects to maintain him-
self and family, he being able to do so ;
paupers returning without certificate to
parishes from which they have been le-
gally removed ; pedlars without license,
beggars, common prostitutes, <fcc. Under
| the second class, are included every per-
! son committing any offence which would
constitute him an idle or disorderly per-
I son, and who has been once already con-
victed, fortune tellers, and other impos-
I tors ; persons guilty of indecent exhibi-
I tions ; persons collecting alms or money
I under false pretences ; wanderers who
' have no visible means of subsistence, and
: cannot give a good account of themselves ;
j persona playing at games of chance in

622

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[VAN

public place? ; reputed thieves ; persons
having in their possession housebreaking
implements or offensive weapons with in-
tent to use them. Under the third class
are included persons guilty of the last
class of offences, having been already con-
victed ; persons breaking out of legal con-
finement ; every person apprehended as a
rogue and vagabond, and violently resist-
ing any constable or other peace officer,
so apprehending him. For all these of-
fences the punishment is imprisonment or
hard labor for a longer or shorter period,
according to the nature of the particular
offence. In Scotland, the laws against
vagrants, as beggars, fortune tellers, jug-
glers, minstrels, &c., are of a much less
stringent nature, and such persons are
seldom apprehended or punished, unless
where police regulations are enforced, or
where they are entering a parish in the
face of an advertised prohibition, or where
they are committing or in the notorious
habit of committing petty delinquencies.

VAL'ENTINE'S DAY, the 14th of
February, a festival in the calendar in
honor of St. Valentine, who suffered mar-
tyrdom in the reign of the emperor Clau-
dius.- He was eminently distinguished for
his love and charity ; and the custom of
choosing valentines, or special loving
friends, on this day, is by some supposed
to have thence originated. The following
solution is, however, the more probable
one. It was the practice in ancient Rome,
during a great part of the month of Feb-
ruary, to celebrate the Lupercalia, which
were feasts in honor of Pan and Juno,
whence the latter deity was named Fe-
bruata, or Februalis. On this occasion,
amidst a variety of ceremonies, the names
of young women were put into a box,
from which they were drawn by the men,
as chance directed. The pastors of the j
early Christian church, who by every pos-
sible means endeavored to eradicate the
vestiges of pagan superstitions, and chief-
ly by some commutations of their forms,
substituted, in the present instance, the
names of particular saints, instead of
those of the women ; and as the festival
of the Lupercalia had commenced about
the middle of February, they appear to
have chosen Valentine's-day for celebrat-
ing the new feast, because it occurred
nearly at the same time.

VAL'ET, originally, the sons of
knights, and afterwards those of the
nobility before they had attained the
age of chivalry. The name is sometimes
written vasletus. and seems to be derived
from the same root with vassal ; probably

the Celtic gwas. Valet in French, and
varlet in English, degenerated in later
times into the signification of servant.

VALIIAL'LA, the palace of immor-
tality, in the Scandinavian mythology,
inhabited by the souls of heroes slain in
battle.

VALKY'RIUR, the Fates of the
Scandinavian mythology : the " choosers
of the slain," who conduct heroes killed
in battle to Valhalla.

VALLA'RIS CORO'NA, in antiquity,
a golden crown which the Roman generals
bestowed on him who, in attacking the
enemy's camp, first broke in upon the
lines or pallisades. It was also called
Corona castrensis.

VAL'LUM, among the Romans, was
the parapet which fortified their encamp-
ments.

VALO'REM, or AD VALOREM, ac-
cording to the value ; as, an ad valorem
duty.

VAL'UE, in commerce, the price or
worth of any purchasable commodity.
The intrinsic value denotes the real and
effective worth of a thing, and is used
chiefly with regard to money, the popular
value of which may be raised or lowered,
but its real or intrinsic value, depending
wholly on its weight and purity, is not
at all thereby affected The value of
commodities is regulated principally by
the comparative facility of their produc-
tion, and partly on the relation of the
supply and demand. But many other
causes operate to raise or depreciate the
value of an article ; as monopolies,
fashion, new inventions, the opening of
new markets, or the stoppage of com-
me,rcial intercourse through war, &c.
And, in fact, in all countries where mer-
chants are possessed of large capitals,
and where they are left to be guided in
the use of them by their own discretion
and foresight, the prices of commodities
will frequently be very much influenced,
not merely by the actual occurrence of
changes in the accustomed relation of
the supply and demand, but by the mere
anticipation of them. Value, in another
sense, denotes those properties in a thing
which render it useful or estimable : thus,
for instance, the real or intrinsic value
of iron is far greater than that of gold.

VAM'PLET, in archaeology, a piece
of steel, formed like a funnel, placed on
tilting spears just before the hand to se-
cure it, but which might be taken off at
pleasure.

VAN'DALS, a ferocious race, who, it
is believed, were either a Sclavonic tribe,

VAU]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

623

or came from the north of Germany, be-
tween the Elbe and the Vistula. During
the 4th and 5th centuries they became
very powerful, and, under Genseric, their
king, overran Spain, Gaul, and Italy.
They subsequently established them-
selves in Africa ; but were eventually
subdued by Belisarius, the celebrated
lloman general in the reign of Justinian,
who took their king, Gelimer, prisoner,
and carried him to Constantinople in
triumph. From the ferocity of their
character, and the havoc they made of
the finest works of art, the words Van-
dalism and Vandalic have been applied
to such acts as imply a rude and savage
ferocity combined with a disregard of
the advantages of civilization.

VA'RIANCE, in law, a difference of
statement between two material docu-
ments in a cause ; as where the plain-
tiff's declaration differed (formerly) from
the writ, or where it differs from a deed
on which it is grounded. And, in or-
dinary language, a departure in the oral
evidence from the statement in the
pleadings is termed a variance. This
variance may be either immaterial or
material ; and, in the latter case, amend-
able or not : according to a great variety
of distinctions. Variation, in music, the
different manner of playing or singing
the same air or tune, by subdividing the
notes into several others of less value, or
by adding graces, Ac., yet so that the
tune itself may be discovered through all
its embellishments. In grammar, change
of termination of nouns and adjectives,
constituting what is called case, number,
and gender.

VARIO'RUM EDITIONS, in litera-
ture, editions of the Greek and Roman
classics, in which the notes of different
commentators are inserted.

VARRO'NIAN SATIRE, a species of
satire so called from the learned Varro,
who first composed it. The style was
free and unconfined, containing both
prose and verse intermixed according to
the fancy of the writer.

VAR'TABED, one of an order of
ecclesiastics in the Armenian church.
They differ from the priests by living in
seclusion and celibacy. They also preach,
while the priests do not.

VARU'NA, in Hindoo mythology, the
god of the waters, the Indian Neptune,
and the regent of the west division of the
earth. He is represented as awhile man,
four-armed, riding on a sea animal, with
a rope in one of his hands, and a club in
another.

VASE, in architecture, an ornament
placed on cornices, socles, or pediments,
representing such vessels as the ancients
used in sacrifices, &c. The Grecian art-
ists gave to every vase the shape best
adapted to its use, and most agreeable to
the eye. A great number of these ves-
sels have been preserved to the present
day, and offer to artists models of the
most beautiful forms. Among florists,
the calyx of a plant, as the tulip, is called
a vase.

VAT'ICAN, the ancient palace of the
popes, and the most magnificent in the
world, stands at Rome on the right bank
of the Tiber, and on the hill anciently
called by the same name ; derived, ac-
cording to Aulus Gellius, from Vaticini-
um, or rather from an ancient oracular
deity of the Latins, called by the Romans
Jupiter Vaticanus, who was worshipped
there. Some say that Pope Symmachus
began t^e construction of the palace. It
was inhabited by Charlemagne in 800;
and the present irregular edifice has been
raised by the gradual additions of a long
series of pontiffs. Its extent is enormous,
the number of rooms, at the lowest com-
putation, amounting to 4422 ; and its
riches in marbles, bronzes, and frescoes,
in ancient statues and gems, and in paint-
ings, are unequalled in the world ; not to
mention its library, the richest in Europe
in manuscripts. The length of the mu-
seum of statues alone is computed to be
a mile : here are the Sistine Chapel ; the
Camere of Raphael, painted by himself
and pupils ; the Museum of Pius VI., pe-
culiarly rich in objects of ancient Italian
workmanship ; and other deposits of art
and antiquity, each of which by itself
would suffice to render a city illustrious.

VAU'DEVILLE, in French poetry, a
species of light song, frequently of a sa-
tirical turn, consisting of several couplets
and a refrain or burden, introduced into
theatrical pieces. The origin of the word
is disputed ; some derive it from Vau-de-
vire, a village in Normandy. Short comic
pieces interspersed with such songs are
also termed Vaudevilles.

VAITDOIS, the inhabitants of some
valleys in the Alps between Italy and
Provence, from whence they derive their
name ; and who must be distinguished
from the Waldenses, or followers of Peter
Waldo, who acquired celebrity in the 12th
century, and from whom some writers
have deduced both their religious tenets
and their appellation also. The Vaudois
are celebrated for having maintained the
purity of their doctrine for many ages

624

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[VED

before the Reformation ; and it has been
asserted by some theologians that the
true spirit of the primitive Christianity
was kept alive among them throughout
the whole period of Romish corruption.
This position, however, does not seem
susceptible of proof. Another claim that
they possess to a place in ecclesiastical
history, is derived from the numerous
persecutions to which they have been
exposed on account of the witness they
have so long borne against the erro-
neous doctrines of the nations by whom
they are surrounded. Their extreme
antiquity is certain at all events ; and
the numerous attempts which have been
made by Komanist writers to fix on them
the stigma of Manicheism seem unsup-
ported by the evidence. For the last
three centuries they have been viewed
with displeasure by the dukes of Savoy
and the kings of Sardinia, their masters,
and repeatedly visited with milifciry ex-
ecution, or more legal forms of violence.
One great persecution, in the 17th cen-
tury, is known to us by Milton's noble
sonnet.

VAULT, in architecture, a continued
arch, or an arched roof, so constructed
that the stones, bricks, or other material

of which it is composed, sustain and keep
each other in their places. Vaults are
of various kinds, cylindrical, elliptical,
single, double, cross, diogonal, Gothic,
Ac. When a vault is of greater height
than half its span, it is said to be sur-
mounted, and when of less height, sur-
based. A rampant vault is one which
springs from planes not parallel to the
horizon. One vault placed above an-
other constitutes a double vault. A conic
vault is formed of part of the surface of a
cone, and a spherical vault of part of the
surface of a sphere, as fig 4. A vault is
simple, as figs. 1 and 4, when it is formed

by the surface of some regular solid,
around one axis ; and compound, as figs.
2 and 3, when compounded of more than
one surface of the same solid, or of two
different solids. A groined vault, fig. 3,
is a compound vault, rising to the same
height in its surfaces as that of two equal
cylinders, or a cylinder with a cylindroid.

VAVASOR, an ancient title of nobili-
ty in England, said by Camden to be
next below a baron.

VEA'DER, the 13th month of the Jew-
ish ecclesiastical year.

VE'DA, the name by which the Hin-
doos designate the collective body of their
Scriptures ; sometimes called Vedam,
Bedam, <fcc., according to various provin-
cial pronunciations, by European writers.
The four Vedas (Rig, Yajust, Saman, and
Atharvan,) are believed, according to the
orthodox creed, to have been revealed by
Brahma. But the subdivisions are infi-
nite, as are also the connected works
Upavedas, Angas, Upangas, <fec. ; some
of which are considered by Mr. Cole-
brooke to constitute, according to received
opinion, a fifth Veda. The arrangement
is ascribed to one Vyasa, a sage of whom
nothing positive can be ascertained. The
Vedas chiefly consist of prayers, precepts
or maxims, and stories ; called respec-
tively by different titles. Thus a portion
of the mythological histories are called
Puranas ; but these are not to be con-
founded with the poems of romantic my-
thology called by the same name. The
genuineness and antiquity of the Vedas
have been matter of much dispute among
western antiquaries. The chief .chrono-
logical data are, that they were compiled
before the supposed incarnation of Vishnu,
as Rama and Kirshna, under which titles
he is now so commonly worshipped among
the Hindoos ; and also before the appear-
ance of Buddha. Sir William Jones gave
them a conjectural antiquity -of about
3000 years ; and Mr. Colebrooke arrives
at about the same conclusion.

VEDAN'TA, a sect among the Hin-
doos, whose theory of philosophy is pro-
fessedly founded on the revelations con-
tained in the Vedas. Its fundamental
tenets appear to have a near connection
with the opinions of Epicharmus, Plato,
Pyrrho, and what is termed the Berke-
lian philosophy among ourselves: namely,
that matter has no existence independent
of mental perception ; with the ordinary
consequences of that doctrine, of which
those practically most important are the
maxims of Quietism.

VEDET'TE, in military affairs, a sen-

VJEN]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

625

tinel on horseback detached from the main
body of the army, to discover and give
notice of the enemy's movements.

VEHMIC COURTS, criminal courts
of justice, established in Germany during
the middle ages. These courts are com-
monly said to have originated in those
held by the Missi Dominici, or imperial
legates, sent by Charlemagne into the
provinces of his empire ; but many cir-
cumstances denote their descent from the
more ancient tribunals of the German
tribes, held in the open air in the primi-
tive periods of their history. But the
character under which these institutions
became formidable and important, about
the beginning of the 13th century, arose
from the disordered state of northern
Germany after the dissolution of the
dtfehy of Saxony. The Vehmic. or as
they were called, free courts, wore then
modelled on a secret system of organiza-
tion. The president was usually a prince
or count of the empire ; his assistants
were persons affiliated to the society by
secret initiation, to the number, it is said,
at one time of 100,000. All these were
bound to attend the secret meetings of the
courts when summoned, and to execute
their decrees, if necessary, by taking the
life of persons condemned. Westphalia,
styled, in the language of the free courts,
the Red Land, was the district in which
their central authority was seated. These
courts exercised a great power, which
was occasionally serviceable in repressing
the lawless violence of the nobles of that
period, but which was also liable to be
perverted to the gratification of private
malice and tyranny. Various leagues
were formed in the fifteenth century, by
the nobles of the empire, for the purpose
of destroying their influence ; which was
at last effected, chiefly by the introduc-
tion of a better system of public judica-
ture and police in the several states.

VEH'TES, in antiquity, light armed
troops in the Roman armies, who derived
their name, a vdocitate, from their swift-
ness. They seem not to have been divid-
ed into distinct bodies or companies, but
to have hovered loosely in front of the
army. They were disposed sometimes
before the front of the hastati, sometimes
dispersed up and down among the void
spaces, and sometimes placed in two bod-
ies in the wings. The Velites generally
began the combat, skirmishing in flying
parties with the first troops of the enemy,
and, when repulsed, fell back by the
flanks of the army, or rallied again in
the rear. Their armor was a javelin,
40

casque, cuirass, and shield, all of a light
construction.

VEL'LUM, a fine kind of parchment
made of calves' skins, rendered particu-
larly clear and white. The invention of
vellum has been usually, though errone-
ously, ascribed to Attains, king of Perga-
mus, now Bergamo: but the art of
writing upon skins was known long before
the time of Attains, and is assignable to
Eumenes, king of Pergamus, the contem-
porary with Ptolemy Philadelphus, who^e
motive for giving his attention to the im-
provement of vellum is said to be as fol-
lows : The Egyptian monarch was anx-
iously employed in perfecting his magni-
ficent library at Alexandria ; with these
feelings ana views, he prohibited the ex-
portation of the papyrus from his domin-
ions, that he might not be subjected to
the inconvenience of wanting paper for
the multitude of scribes, whom he con-
stantly employed to copy the MSS. which
he had, by means of skilful emissaries,
collected in every part of the known world.

VENEER'ING, the art of inlaying
furniture, <fcc., with different kinds of
wood, metal, or other materials. Also,
of making representations of flowers,
birds, and otlftr figures.

VENE'TIAN SCHOOL, the distin-
guishing character of this school is color-
ing, and a consummate intellectual knowl-
edge of chiaro-scuro ; in both which, all is
grace, spirit, and faithful adherence to
nature, so seductive as to lead the spec-
tator away from any consideration of its
defects. It is an exquisite bouquet of
well-arranged flowers ; or a collection of
pulpy, juicy, saccharine fruits. But it is
not to be inferred that it is altogether
wanting in still higher accomplishments :
for the head of it was Tiziano de Vece'lli ;
and in its ranks are to be found Tintoret-
to, Paul Veronese, Giorgione, and many
other illustrious masters. See PAINTING.

VE'NIAL SIN, in theology, is defined
by Roman Catholic theologians, a sin
which weakens sanctifying grace, but
does not take it away. It is not neces-
sary, although commendable, to mention
such sin in confession. Reformed theo-
logians altogether reject the formal dis-
tinction between venial and mortal sin.

VENI'RE FA'CIAS, in law, a judicial
writ, directed to the sheriff, to cause a
jury to come or appear in the neighbor-
hood where a cause is brought to issue, to
try the same. A venire facias de nova,
being a writ directing the sheriff to cause
a jury to come and try a cause a second
time, is granted where there has been a

626

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[VER

mis-trial ; on the ground of irregularity,
as, for instance, in summoning the jury ;
on the ground of misconduct by the jury ;
and also in certain cases where the ver-
dict given is imperfect by reason of some
ambiguity and uncertainty. The great
rule of difference between a venire de
novo in the latter case and a new trial is,
that the former is only granted on matter
appearing on the record.

VENI, SANC'TE SPIRI'TUS, (Lat.
Come, Holy Ghost.) The name given to
a mass in the Roman Catholic church to
invoke the assistance of the Iloly Spirit.

VEN'TIDUCT, in building, a passage
for wind or air ; a subterraneous passage
or spiracle for ventilating apartments.

VENTILA'TION, the act of expelling
impure air, and of dissipating noxious
vapors. Few persons are aware how
very necessary a thorough ventilation is
to the preservation of health. We pre-
serve life without food for a considerable
time ; but keep us without air for a very
few minutes, and we cease to exist. It is
not, however, enough that we have air ;
we must have/res/i air, for the principle
by which life is supported is taken from
the air during the act of breathing. One
fourth only of the atmosphere is capable
of supporting life ; the remainder serves
to dilute the pure vital air, and render it
more fit to be respired.

VENTRIL'OQUISM, an art or prac-
tice of speaking, by means of which the
voice appears to proceed from different
places ; though the utterer does not
change his place, and in many instances
does not appear to speak. It has been
considered that the sounds were produc-
ed independent of the labial and lingual
organs, and was supposed to be a natural
peculiarity, because few persons have
learned it by being taught ; but it is cer-
tain that practice only is necessary to
carry this act of illusion to a high degree
of perfection, and that the sound is not
produced during inspiration, but proceeds
as usual, during expiration, with a less
opened mouth. The art of the ventrilo-
quist consists merely in this : after draw-
ing a long breath, he breathes it out
slowly and gradually, dextrously dividing
the air, and diminishing the sound of the
voice by the muscles of the larynx and
the palate, moving the lips as little as
possible.

VEN'DE, in law, a neighborhood or
near place ; the place where an action is
laid. The county in which the trial of
a particular cause takes place, is said to
be the venue of that cause. Originally

jurors were summoned from the immedi-
ate neighborhood where a fact happened,
to try it by their own knowledge, but they
are nowsummonable from the body of the
county. In what are termed local actions,
the actual place in which the subject
matter is situated must be laid as the
venue in the action ; but in those actions
termed transitory, that is, actions of debt,
contract, for personal injuries, &c., any
county may be laid as the venue in the
action. In criminal trials, the venue is
the county in which the offence charged
was actually committed. The courts,
however, have a discretionary power of
changing the venue, both in civil and
criminal cases.

VERBA'TIM ET LITERA'TIM, [Lat.]
word for word, and letter for letter.

VER'DICT, in law, the answer of.a
jury given to the court concerning any
matter of fact in any cause, civil or crim-
inal, committed to their trial and exam-
ination.

VERGE, in law, the compass or extent
of the royal court, within which is bound-
ed the jurisdiction of the lord steward of
the royal household.

VER'GERS, certain officers of the
courts of the queen's bench and common-
pleas who carry white wands before the
judges. There are also vergers of cathe-
drals and collegiate churches, who carry
a rod tipped with silver before the bishop,
dean, &c.

VEllMIL'IOST, a red pigment, of a
hue between scarlet and crimson. There
are two kinds of vermilion ; the one
natural or native, and the other artificial
or factitious. Native vermilion is found
in several silver-mines, in the form of a
ruddy sand, which only requires to be pu-
rified. Factitious or common vermil-
ion is made of the red sulphuret of mer-
cury, or, as it was formerly called facti-
tious cinnabar, reduced to a very fine
powder.

VER'NAL, appearing in or appertain-
ing to the spring : as, vernal flowers are
preparatives to autumnal fruits. Vernal
signs, in astronomy, the signs in which
the sun appears in the spring. Vernal
equinox, the equinox in March ; opposed
to the autumnal equinox, in September.

VER'SATILE, an epithet for that
quality which enables persons to turn
readily from one thing to another.

VERSE, in poetry, a line or part of a
composition, the cadences of which are
similar in each. The harmony of every
verse is complete in itself. _Verses are
made up of feet, the number and species

vie]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

of which constitute the character of the
verse, as hexameter, pentameter, &c. In
the Greek and Kotnan versification, afoot
was determined by its quantity ; in the
English, quantity is supplied by accent.
Blank-verse, poetry in which the lines do
not end in rhymes. Heroic verse usually
consists of ten syllables, or, in English, of
five accented syllables, constituting five
feet. Versification is the art of adjust-
ing the syllables, and forming them into
harmonious measure.

VERST, a Russian measure of length,
containing 3500 feet ; about three quar-
ters of an English mile.

VESI'CA PISCIS, a name given to a
symbolical representation of Christ, of a
pointed oval or egg-shaped fortn, made
by the intersection of two equal circles
cutting each other in their centres. The
actual figure of a fish found on the sar-
cophagi of the early Christians gave way,
in course of time, to this oval-shaped
ornament, which was the most common
symbol used in the middle ages. It is to
be met with sculptured, painted on glass,
in ecclesiastical seals, &c. &c. The aureole
or glory, in pictures of the Virgin, &c.,
was frequently made of this form.

VES'PERS, the evening songs or pray-
ers in the Romish church. Sicilian ves-
pers, in French history, a massacre of all
the French in Sicily, in the year 1582.
It is so called, because the ring of the
bell for vespers was the signal.

VES'TALS, in antiquity, certain vir-
gins consecrated at Rome to the service
of the goddess Vesta, and to whom was
committed the care of the vestal fire,
which was to be kept perpetually burning
upon her altar. Their dress was a white
vest, with a purple border ; a white linen
surplice, called suparum linteum ; and
over this a large purple mantle, with a
long train. On their heads they wore the
infula, and from the infula hung ribbons.
When a vestal was convicted of unchasti-
ty, she was led to the Campus Sceleratus,
and stripped of her habit solemnly by the
pontiff. She was then put alive into a
pit, with a lighted candle, a little water
and milk, and thus covered up to pine and
languish away the short remainder of her
miserable existence.

VES'TIBULE, in architecture, a porch
or entrance into a building. In fortifica-
tion, that space or covered ground which
is in front of a guard-house.

VES'TRY, a place adjoining the church
where the vestments of the minister are
kept ; also where the parishioners assem-
ble for the discharge of parochial busi-

ness ; whence such a meeting is also called
a vestry. Vestry-clerk, an officer ap-
pointed to attend all vestries, and take
account of their proceedings, <fec.

VET'ERAN, among the Romans, a
soldier who had passed the legal age of
military service, which extended from
seventeen to forty-six, was termed vete-
ranus ; or, in the later times of the re-
public, one who had served a requisite
number of campaigns, generally twenty-
five.

VE'TO, in politics, the power en-
joyed by a branch of the legislature,
which cannot of itself originate or mod-
ify a law, to reject the propositions of
the other branch or branches. In the
Polish diet, every noble who was an in-
dependent member could prevent any res-
olution from passing by his simple dis-
sent (expressed in the words "Nie poz-
walam," / do not permit ) The privilege
of thus arresting the deliberations of the
diet was termed the " liberum veto," and
proved the fertile source of the disorders
and anarchy of that country. In most
constitutional monarchies the king has an
absolute veto (as in France and Eng-
land;) in some it is only suspensive.
Thus, in Norway, if three successive
storthings (assemblies) repeat the same
resolution, it becomes law against the
will of the king. The president of the
United States may return a bill, with his
reasons for dissenting from it, to the
house in which it originated ; but if both
houses pass it afterwards by a majority
of two thirds in each, it is not in his power
again to reject it.

VFADUCT, a structure made for con-
veying a carriage way, either by rais-
ing mounds or arched supports across
marshes, rivers, &c., as is the case with
some of the railroads, or. by perforation
through hills, &c.

VIAT'ICUM, among the Romans, an
allowance or provision made by the re-
public for such of its officers or magis-
trates as travelled upon the business of
the state into any of the provinces. The
term viaticum implies not only money
for defraying the expenses of travelling,
but their clothes, ornaments, baggage,
&c. Viaticum, in the church of Rome,
an appellation given to the eucharist,
when administered to persons at the point
of death.

VIA'TOR, in Roman antiquity, an ap-
pellation given in common to all officers
of any of the magistrates ; as lictors, ac-
censi, scribes, criers, <fec.

VIC'AR, a particular kind of parish

ear

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

VIL

priest, where the predial tithes are im-
propriated, that is, belonging to a chapter
or religious house, or to a layman, who
receives them, and only allows the vicar
the smaller tithes as a salary. Vicars
apostolical, in the Romish church, are
those who perform the functions of the
pope in churches or provinces committed
to their direction. The title of vicar-
general was given by Ilenry VIII. to the
earl of Essex, with power to oversee all
the clergy, and regulate all church af-
fairs. It is now the title of an office,
which, as well as that of official principal,
is united in the chancellor of the diocese.
The business of the vicar-general is to
exercise jurisdiction over matters purely
spiritual.

VICE, (Lat. vice, in the turn or place,)
is used in composition to denote one qui
vicem gerit, who acts in the place of ano-
ther, or is second in authority. Thus we
have such words as vice-chamberlain,
vice-chancellor, vice-resident, vicegerent,
viceroy, ^c. Vice, in sniithery, an instru-
ment used for holding fast any piece of
iron which the artificer is working upon.
Among glaziers, a machine for drawing
lead into flat rods for case windows.

VIC'TOKY, in classical mythology, a
goddess, called by Varro the daughter of
Heaven and Earth. Her altar was pre-
served in the curia or senate-house of
Rome ; and its destruction was the sub-
ject of one of the latest contests between
Christians and pagans.

VIDELICET, in law. In pleading, it
is usual to state any allegation which
forms part of the facts set out, but which
it is not intended to prove with precision,
with the word "scilicet" (in English,
"to wit") preceding it. Thus, numbers
and dates, for instance, are frequently
laid under a videlicet : as where anything
is alleged to have taken place heretofore,
" to wit," on such a day; or where, in
trespass, the plaintiff charges the defend-
ant with carrying away or injuring
divers, " to wit," so many articles, &c.
The general rule on this subject is, that
where an allegation is in itself material,
so that the issue cannot be established
without it, there the putting a videlicet
before it will not dispense with the proof;
but where an allegation is in itself imma-
terial, there (in general, but not always,)
the omission of a videlicet before it will
render it material, and make it necessary
for the party so alleging it to prove it as
stated. But the distinctions on this
subject run, as may be supposed, into
extreme minuteness.

VI ET AR'MIS, in law, words made
use of in indictments and actions of tres-
pass, to show the violent commission of
any trespass or crime.

VT'GIL, an ecclesiastical usage, the
evening before a feast day, is so termed.
The observation of vigils is said by some
to be nearly the oldest of Christian cere-
monies. According to Lactantius, Je-
rome, and other ancient authorities, tho
second advent of our Saviour was ex-
pected to take place on the vigil of
Easter. They were originally celebrated
by meeting together at night (as they
are still on some occasions in the Eastern
churches,) and are said thus to preserve
the memory of the nocturnal assemblies
of Christians in times of persecution.

VIGNETTE', originally, a kind of
flourish of vine leaves and flowers in the
vacant part of the title-page of a book,
above the dedication, or at the end of a
division. At present, however, the word
signifies any small engraved embellish-
ment for the illustration or decoration
of a page of any work ; and, in a more
limited sense, such illustrations as are
softened off at the edges, and not ter-
minated by a definite boundary line. In
architecture, ornamental carving in im-
itation of vine leaves.

VIGORO'SO, in music, a term which,
prefixed to a movement, denotes that it
is to be performed with strength and
firmness.

VIK'ING, a pirate. The Vikingr
were Northmen who infested the Eu-
ropean seas in the 8th. 9th, and 10th
centuries. They were generally the sons
of Northern kings, who betook them-
selves to piracy as a means of distin-
guishing themselves, and of obtaining an
independent command.

VIL'LA, in Roman antiquities, origi-
nally any country dwelling, farm-house,
<fec., but in architectural language, the
country residences of individuals of the
wealthier classes were so called. Many
descriptions of ancient villas are hero
and there scattered in the pages of clas-
sical writers ; but the two most complete,
undoubtedly (besides those contained in
the work of Vitruvius,) are the accounts
given by Pliny the younger of his Lau-
rentine and Tuscan residences : the first
being the complete picture of a marine,
and the second of an inland villa. The
remains of the first are thought to have
been discovered not far from Ostia, in the
beginning of the last century. The most
important parts of an ordinary villa
were the porticoes, one or more, along

vis]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

the front or sides of the mansion ; the
triclinium or dining-room : the wings
forming suits of living apartments, com-
monly called, in the time of Pliny,
diseta; ; the baths, with their appur-
tenances, the hypocausta or vaulted
heating-rooms, apodyteria or dressing-
rooms, rooms for exercise, &c. Adjacent
to the main portico are generally the
xystus.

VIL'LAGE, in English legal phrase-
ology, a subdivision of a parish ; some-
times a whole parish, and sometimes a
manor. Most commonly it means the
out part of a parish, consisting of a few
houses separate from the rest. In coun-
tries where there are peasants attached
to the glebe, or possessing distinct rights
and obligations from other subjects, a
village is properly a place inhabited by
peasants only. From the Latin villa
was derived the French ville, city, ori-
ginally signifying any residence ; and
thence a collection of houses which grad-
ually grew around a principal residence.
Thus, especially in Normandy, ville is a
common termination to the names of
towns.

VIL'LEIN, a name given, in ancient
times, to persons not proprietors of land,
many of whom were attached to the
land, and bound to serve the lord of the
manor.

VIN A'LIA, in antiquity, a festival ob-
served by the Romans, Aug. 19, in honor
of Jupiter and Venus.

VI'OL, a stringed musical instrument of
the same form as the violin, but larger.
Viols are of different kinds ; the largest
is called the bass viol, whose tones are
deep, soft, and agreeable.

VIOLIN', the most perfect of all string-
ed musical instruments played with the
bow. The violin consists of three chief
parts the neck, the table, and the sound-
board. The violin has four catgut strings
of different sizes, of which the largest is
wound round with wire. Music for the
violin is always set in the G key, which
on that account is called the violin key ;
and the excellence of the instrument con-
sists in its purity and distinctness,
strength, and fulness of tone.

VIOLONCEL'LO, a musical instrument
which comes between the viola di braccio
(or arm violin) and the double bass, both
as to size and tone. It is constructed en-
tirely on the same plan with the violin ;
and the player holds it between his knees.
Its notes are written in the F or bass
clef; and it generally accompanies the
double bass.

VIOLO'NO, the English double bass,
a deep-toned musical instrument, the
largest of the kind played with a bow,
and principally used to sustain the har-
mony.

VIR'GA, in archaeology, the rod or
staff which sheriffs, bailiffs, &c. carry as a
badge of their office.

VIR'GINAL, in music, a stringed and
keyed instrument resembling the spinnet.
It is now quite obsolete, though former-
ly in great repute.

VIR'TU, a lov of the Fine Arts, and a
taste for curiosities.

VIR'TUE, in moral philosophy, is em-
ployed both in an abstract and compre-
hensive sense, to signify the law or laws
in which right conduct consists, and also
concretely for that quality of actions and
persons which arises from their agree-
ment with the rules of morality. By
theories of virtue are understood the dif-
ferent explanations which have been giv-
en, both of that which distinguishes right
from wrong, and of the nature of the
feelings with which virtue and vice are
contemplated by mankind. The distinc-
tion of these two questions, so frequently
confounded by ethical writers, is due to
Adam Smith, but has since been strongly
insisted upon by Mackintosh and Hamp-
den.

VIRTUO'SO, one skilled in antique or
natural curiosities ; a lover of the liberal
arts.

VIS'COUNT, (pron. vi'count) in France
and England, a nobleman next in degree
to an earl. The first viscount was creat-
ed in the reign of Henry VI. A vis-
count's coronet has neither flowers nor
points raised above the circle, like those
of superior degree, but only pearls placed
on Siva, the circle itself.

VISH'NU, one of the three principal
deities of the Hindo* mythology, the
other two being Brama and Siva. He
is commonly called the Preserver, the
other two being respectively the Creator
and the Destroyer. The great objects of
his providence are brought about by his
successive incarnations or avatars, in
which he appears and acts on earth.
Nine of these have taken place. The
last is said to have been the appearance
of Buddha, which is supposed by some
learned orientalists to have taken place
about A.D. 1014 ; and hence the Buddhists
reject the Vedas, which were compiled
before that event. The tenth avatar of
Vishnu is yet to take place, when he
will appear on a white horse, with a
blazing scimitar, for the everlasting

G30

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[voc

punishment of the wicked. One of the
incarnations of Vishnu is the celebrated
Juggernaut, whose temple and worship
hold such a prominent place in Indian
superstition. On the grand annual fes-
tival in his honor, all distinctions of
castes and classes are forgotten, and
even on that occasion the Brahminical
Hindoos and the followers of Buddha
cease their religious hostilities. The
word Juggernaut signifies literally Lord
of the Universe : and it is said that on the
day he expired, Buddha assumed this ap-
pellation, exclaiming " Universe, lam
thy Lord."

VIS'ION, BEATIF'IC, in theology.
The doctors of the church distinguish
three manners of seeing or knowing God :
which they call, 1 . Abstractive vision; i. e.
through the consideration of his attri-
butes. 2. Beatific or intuitive vision; that
which the faithful enjoy in heaven. The
belief termed Catholic by the Romanists
is, that this vision is accorded to the just,
who die without leaving a sin unexpiated,
immediately on their departure. The
Greek church holds that they do not en-
joy it until after the general resurrec-
tion. This is one of the opinions con-
demned by the Council of Florence in
1439 ; and its decision is confirmed by
that of Trent. 3. The third kind of vision,
or comprehension, is that which belongs
to God, who alone can know Himself as
"He is. Prophetic vision is only the
knowledge of future or distant events,
given by inspiration.

VISITA'TION, in ecclesiastical polity,
an office or act of superintendence, per-
formed by a bishop once in three years,
by visiting the churches and their rectors.
&c., throughout the whole diocese. Pa-
rochial visitation by the archdeacon is
annual.

VIS'ITOR. in law. an inspector into
the government of a corporation.

VIS'UAL, in perspective, the visual
point is a point in the horizontal line, in
which all the ocular rays unite.

VITRIFIED WALLS or FORTIFI-
CATIONS, ancient remains discovered in
Scotland, constructed of stones piled
rudely upon one another, and firmly ce-
mented together by some matter which
has been vitrified by means of fire.
They generally surround the top of some
steep conical hill. They have been dis-
covered chiefly in the Highlands, but
also in Galloway. The vitrification is
mostly external, the interior of the walls
being a mere heap of loose stones.
Daines Barrington considered the vitrifi-

cation to be accidental, but his explana-
tion of how it took place is not very
intelligible. It seems more reasonable
to suppose that the art was derived from
observation of the ease with which some
kinds of earth containing much iron ore
are vitrified by fire, and that the process
was rendered easy by the quantities of
wood which in early days covered the
Highlands

VIVA'CE, in music, an Italian epi-
thet, signifying lively ; and vivacissimo,
very lively.

VI'VARY, a place for keeping living
animals, as a park, a warren, a pond,
&c.

VI'VA VO'CE, (Latin,) by word of
mouth; as, to vote, or to communicate
with another person, vivd voce.

VIZIR, (in Arabic, a porter ; and, by
a singular metaphor, the title in various
oriental countries of a minister and
councillor of state.) The grand khalifs
had their vizirs, who attained to the
hiffeest rank and consideration in their
states, and were often more powerful
than their masters ; but after the crea-
tion of the new dignity of Emir-ul-ornrah
(commander of commanders,) by Khalif
Radhi, the older title lost much of its
consideration. In Turkey, the council-
lors of state who sit in the divan, gen-
erally eight in number, are styled vizirs ;
and the chief among them vizir azem,
rendered by us by grand vizir, which is
the highest temporal dignity in the em-
pire.

VOCAB'ULARY, a list or collection
of the words of a language, arranged in
alphabetical order and explained ; a
word-book ; the words of a science ; a
dictionary or lexicon. We often use vo-
cabulary in a sense somewhat different
from that of dictionary, restricting the
signification to the list of words ; as when
we say, the vocabulary of Johnson is
more full or extensive than that of En-
tick. We rarely use the word as synony-
mous with dictionary, but in other
countries the corresponding word is so
used, and this may be so used in Eng-
lish.

VO'CAL MU'SIC, music produced by
the voice, either unaccompanied or ac-
companied by instruments. Vocal music
has many advantages over instrumental,
in its endless variety of intonation and
expression, and in the support which it
derives from its connection with words.

VOCA'TION, in divinity, the grace
vouchsafed by God to any man in calling
him from death unto life, and putting

vou]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

631

him into the way of salvation. It is also
used for the call of the Holy Spirit, by
which persons are supposed to be initiate ~
into the clerical order.

VOICE, the g'ounds produced by the
organs of respiration, especially the
larynx. The lungs, the wind-pipe, &c.,
the finely-arched roof of the mouth, and
the pliability of the lips, are each of the
greatest importance in producing the
% different intonations which render the
human voice so agreeable and harmoni-
ous. A good musical voice depends
chiefly upon the soundness and power of
the organs of utterance and of hearing ;
and is much promoted by the practice of
singing and gymnastic exercises that
expand the che-t.

VOIRE DIRE, in law, according to
ancient practice, an objection to the com-
petency of a witness, in a trial at com-
mon law, could only be taken on a pre-
liminary examination, in which the wit-
ness was sworn to speak the truth, and
then examined touching his interest in
the subject matter. The same practice is
still followed occasionally, although the
objection may now be taken when it
arises on the examination in chief.

YOL'TA, in music, an Italian word,
signifying that the part is to be repeated,
one, two, or more times.

VOL'TIGEUR, a foot-soldier in a se-
lect company of every regiment of French
infantry. Voltigeurs were established
by Napoleon during his consulate. Their
duties, exercises, and equipment, are
similar to those of our light companies.
In the United States, a light horseman.

VOL'TI SU'BITO, in music, a term
directing that the leaf is to be turned
t over quickly.

VOL'UME, properly signifies a roll or
book, so called a volvenrlo, because the
ancient books were rolls of bark or parch-
ment. This manner lasted till Cicero's
time. The several sheets or pieces were
glued or pasted end to end, and written
only on one side. At the bottom a stick
was fastened, called umbilicus, round
which it was rolled ; and at the other
end was a piece of parchment, on which
the title of the book was written in let-
ters of gold. Of such volumes, Ptolemy's
library in Alexandria contained, as some
authors say, 700,000.

VOL'UNTARY, in music, a piece play-
ed by a musician exteinporarily, accord-
ing to his fancy.

VOL'UNTEER, a person who enters
into military or other service of his own
free will.

VOLUTE', in architecture, a kind of
spiral scroll, used in the Ionic and Com-
posite capitals, of which it is a principal
ornament. The number of volutes in the
Ionic order is four ; in the Composite,

eight. There are also eight angular vo-
lutes in the Corinthian capital, accom-
panied with eight smaller ones, called
helices.

VOMITO'RIA, in architecture, the
openings, gates, or doors, in the ancient
theatres and amphitheatres, which gave
ingress and egress to the public.

VOTE, the suffrage of the people of
each of the members of an assembly,
where any affair is to be carried by a
majority assembled in large meetings.

VO'TIVE, in numismatics. Votive
medals are such as were struck in grate-
ful commemoration of any auspicious
event, such as the recovery from sickness
of a prince, &c. ; especially those of the
Roman emperors, struck every five, ten,
or twenty years, on which the public vows
on their behalf are recorded. The cus-
tom is said to have originated in the re-
peated continuance of Augustus in his
high offices at the prayers of the people
A votive tablet, picture, &c., is one dedi-
cated in consequence of the vow of a wor-
shipper ; in classical Europe some deity,
in modern Roman Catholic countries, tc
saints.

VOUCH'ER, one who gives witness
or full attestation to anything. In law,
the act of calling in a person to make
good his warranty of title. A book, pa-
per, or document which serves to vouch
the truth of accounts, or to confirm and
establish facts of any kind. The mer-
ihant's books are his vouchers for the cor-
rectness of his accounts. Notes, bonds,
receipts, and other writings, are used aa
vouchers in proving facts. In Scots law,
voucher is the technical name for the writ-
ten evidence of payment.

VOUS'SOIRS, in bridges, are the stones
which immediately form the arch, being
of the shape of a truncated wedge. Their

632

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[WAG

under sides form .the intrados or soffitt.
The length of the middle voussoir, or key-
stone, ought to be about l-15th or l-16th
of the span, and the rest should increase
all the way down to the imposts. Their
joints should be cat perpendicular to the
curve of the intrados ; consequently the
angle of the sides is Determined by the
curvature.

VOW, a solemn and religious promise,
or oath. The use of vows is found in most
religions. They make up a considerable
part of the pagan worship, being made
either in consequence of some deliver-
ance, under some pressing necessity, or
for the success of some enterprise. Among
the Jews, all vows were to be voluntary,
and made by persons wholly in their own
power ; and if such person made a vow in
anything lawful and possible, he was
obliged to fulfil it. Among the Roman-
ists, a person is constituted a religious by
taking three vows, that of poverty, chas-
tity, and obedience. Vows, among the
Romans, signified sacrifices, offerings,
presents, and prayers made for the
Caesars and emperors, particularly for
their prosperity and the continuance of
their empire.

VOWEL, in grammar, a letter which
can be pronounced alone, thus distin-
guished from consonants, which require
to be sounded with the aid of a vowel.
They are divided in ancient prosody into
long, short, and common, i. e., either long
or short at pleasure. A diphthong con-
sists of two vowels, of which the sounds
run (or are supposed to run) into one
another.

VUL'CAN, in mythology, the Latin
name for the divinity called by the
Greeks Hephaestus, the god who presided
over the working of metals. He was also
called Mulciber. He was the son of Ju-
piter, who, incensed at his interference
on the part of his mother Juno, cast him
out of heaven : he fell in the isle of Lem-
nos, and broke his leg in the fall. His
feats as the patron of armorers and work-
ers in metal, his marriage with Venus,
and her infidelities, form the subjects of
many of the best known classical stories.
There is about the character of Vulcan
much of the usual confusion belonging to
Greek mythology. Cicero mentions three
Vulcans, besides the son of Jupiter : one,
the child of Uranus ; another, of Nilus,
who reigned in Egypt ; a third, of Macna-
lius. A peculiarity attending the wor-
ship of Vulcan was, that the victims were
wholly consumed, in reference to his char-
acter as god of fire. In sculpture, he is

represented as bearded, with a hammer
and pincers, and a pointed cap. He does
not appear lame, as represented by the
poets. Cicero, however, praises the sculp-
tor Alcamenes for making his lameness
observable without amounting to defor-

VULCAN'IC THE'ORY, a system
which ascribes the changes on the earth's
surface to fire, while others ascribe the
whole to water, under a theory called _
Neptunian.

VUL'GATE, a very ancient Latin
translation of the Bible, which was trans-
lated from the Greek of the Septuagint.
It is the only one acknowledged by the
llomish church to be authentic.

W, the twenty-third letter of the Eng-
lish alphabet, takes its written form from
the union of two V's, and its naino of
double u from the Roman capital V rep-
resenting that which we call U. In Eng-
lish it is always followed by a vowel, ex-
cept when followed by h, as in when, or
by r, as in wrong. The w, being a strong,
breathing, is nearly related to all aspi-
rated sounds, and throngh them again to
the gutturals, so that we find w and g
often interchanged in different languages,
as in the words William , G-uillaume, <fcc.

WAD'SETT, an ancient tenure or
lease of land in the Highlands of Scot-
land, which seems to have been upon a
kind of mortgage.

WA'GER OF BAT'TLE, an ancient
mode of trial by single combat, where, in
appeals of felony, the appellee might
fight with the appellant to prove his in- *
nocence ; and it is but recently that this
relic of barbarism and injustice has been
abolished. It was also used in affairs of
chivalry and honor, and in civil cases
upon issue joined in a writ of right.

WA'GER OF LAW, the offer, on the
part of the defendant in an action of debt
by simple contract, to take an oath in
court in the presence of eleven compur-
gators, that he owes the plaintiff nothing
in the manner and form as he has de-
clared, whereupon the law allows him his
discharge.

WA'GES, in political economy, are the
return made or compensation paid to
those employed to perform nny kind of
labor or service by their employers. In
ordinary language, the term wages is
usually employed to designate the sums

WAK]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

633

paid to artisans or laborers employed in
manufactures, in household services, and
in agriculture, mines, and other manual
occupations. Substantially and in fact,
however, it has a much more extensive
application : the salaries of public func-
tionaries of all sorts, and the fees of law-
yers, physicians, and other professional
men, are as really wages as the sums
paid by them to the menials in their ser-
vice, and depend on the same laws and
principles. " Every man," says Dr. Pa-
ley, " has his work. The kind of work
varies, and that is all the difference there
is. A great deal of labor exists besides
that of the hands, many species of indus-
try besides bodily operation, equally ne-
cessary, requiring equal assiduity, more
attention, more anxiety. It is not true,
therefore, that men of elevated stations
are exempted from work ; it is only true
that there is assigned to them work of a
different kind ; whether more easy or
more pleasant may be questioned ; but
certainly not less wanted, nor less essen-
tial to the common good."

WAHA'BEES, a Mussulman sect, of
which the founder was a learned Arabian,
named Abd el Wahiib, who became per-
suaded of the corruption, both of doctrine
and practice, prevalent among the pro-
fessors of Islam, especially the Turks.
His daughter married Mohammed Ibn
Saoud, the principal person of the town
of Derayeh, who became his first convert
and leader of the sect, about 1760. Like
the original prophet of their faith, Saoud
and his followers propagated their doc-
trines at once by persuasion and arms.
Abd el Aziz and Ibn Saoud, the son and
grandson of the first Saoud, carried their
arms to the utmost extremities of Arabia,
and, conformably with the old Moham-
medan principle, established a spiritual
and temporal leadership united in their
persons. The Bedouins, or wandering
tribes, formed the bulk of their converts.
They acknowledged the Koran and the
Sunne, or orthodox tradition, and they
professed adherence to the liberal tenets
of both ; but they accused the other Mo-
hammedans of an idolatrous veneration
for the prophet and other saints, and de-
nied the intercession of saints altogether.
Like the early Protestants of Europe,
their favorite taste was the destruction
of the cupolas and tombs of saints. To
this the mob of Wahabys added a strong
aversion to the rich dress of the Turks,
and to the practice of smoking tobacco,
which had been prohibited by Abd el
Wahdb much on the same bold principle

which had induced Mohammed himself to
condemn the use of wine. The province of
Nedjd became the chief seat of the Waha-
by power. Under the last Saoud (a very
handsome man, whom the Arabs called
Abou Showareb, or the Father of Mus-
taches,) it reached its greatest extent.
Like the early caliphs, he administered
justice in person to great part of Arabia.
The Wahabys, in the first twenty years
of this century, extended their plunder-
ing expeditions to Syria, Irak, and Mes-
opotamia. In 1803 they took Mekka,
and soon conquered the Hidjah. In 1809
Mehernet AH began hostilities in Arabia ;
and in 1812 the Hidjah was restored, and
the caravans of pilgrims once more ar-
rived with their usual pomp at Mekka;
but for some years afterwards the Waha-
bys maintained their superiority in the
rest of Arabia. Saoud died in 1814, and
was succeeded in his political and relig-
ious authority by his son Abdallah, under
whom the Wahabys were finally subdued
by Mehemet AH ; but we possess no au-
thentic account of their conquest, or their
present condition.

WAIFS, in law, goods found, of which
the owner is not known, and which are
claimed by the crown. These were ori-
ginally such goods as a thief, when pur-
sued, threw away to prevent his being
apprehended.

WAIN'SCOT, in architecture, the
framed lining in panels wherewith a wall
is faced. The wood originally used for
this purpose being a species of foreign
oak, that wood has acquired the name
from the purpose to which it was thus
applied.

WAITS,formerly, minstrels or musical
watchmen, who attended on great men, and
sounded the watch at night. At present
the name is given to those itinerant musi-
cians who, in most of the large towns of
England andScotland, especially London,
go round the principal streets at night for
some time before Christmas, play two or
three tunes, call the hour, then remove
to a suitable distance, where they go
through the same ceremony, and so on
till four or five o'clock in the morning.

WAI'VER, in law, the passing by, or
declining to accept a thing ; applied
either to an estate, to a plea, <fec.

WAI'WODE, in the Turkish empire,
the governor of a small province 01
town.

WAKE, in antiquities and popular

usage, the word is of the same meaning

as vigil; and the custom originated in

I the processions which took place early in

634

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[\VAP

the morning of feast days to the church,
and were not uncommonly followed by
revelling and drunkenness. At present
most fast days are popularly called wakes
by the English peasantry ; but the pe-
culiar " wake" or " revel" of county
parishes was, originally, the day of the
week on which the church had been dedi-
cated ; afterwards, the day of the year.
In 1536, an act of convocation appointed
that the wake should be held in every
parish on the same day, namely, the
first Sunday in October ; but it was dis-
regarded. Wakes are expressly men-
tioned in Charles the First's Hook of
Sports, among the feasts which it was his
majesty's pleasure should be observed.
The wake appears to have been also held
on the Sunday after the day of dedica-
tion : or, more usually, the day of the
saint to whom the church was dedicated.
A strange practice of celebrating fu-
neral rites by the lower orders in Ireland,
has been thus described by Miss Edge-
worth : "At night the body is waked;
that is to say, all the friends and neigh-
bors of the deceased collect in a barn or
stable, where the corpse is laid upon some
boards, or an unhinged door, supported
upon stools, the face exposed, the rest of
the body covered with a white sheet.
Round the body are stuck, in brass candle-
sticks, which have been borrowed per-
haps at five miles' distance, as many
candles as the poor person can beg or
borrow, observing always to have an odd
number. Pipes and tobacco are first dis-
tributed, and then, according to the abil-
ity of the deceased, cakes and ale, and
sometimes whiskey, are dealt to the com-
pany."

WALDEN'SES, in ecclesiastical his-
tory, a remarkable religious sect, said to
have derived their name from Peter Wal-
do, a merchant of Lyons, who preached
what he regarded as the pure doctrine of
the Scriptures about 1 180. Historians have
confounded them, on the one hand, with
the Vaudois (see that article,) who appear,
although their history is involved in
much obscurity, to be an older and separ-
ate people ; and on the other (especially
those of the Catholic party,) with the
Albigenses ; and thus it has been endeav-
ored to throw on them the discredit of
the Manichean tracts, which are common-
ly (but on very doubtful testimony) im-
puted to the latter. It seems clear, how-
ever, that the Waldenses were distinct
from these, and probably from the Vau-
dois also. Their distinguishing character,
it has been said, " seems to have consist-

ed in a strict adherence to what they con-
sidered to be the doctrine originally
delivered by Christ to his apostles." And
out of their extremely literal interpreta-
tion of the Gospel appears to have arisen
most of their peculiarities, whether good
or evil. They seein to have rejected an
established succession of the priesthood,
and the distinguishing characteristics of
the priestly office ; the high Catholic doc-
trine of the sacraments, besides the com-
mon ecclesiastical abuses of their day ;
and are said, in addition, to have protest-
ed against oaths, warfare, lawsuits, and
the accumulation of wealth. Their later
history is obscure ; and it may be said of
them, as well as of other sects of the day,
that they had little of the elements of
permanence, the same opinions being
continually promulgated afresh by new
reformers, and then receiving new de-
nominations.

WALPUR'GIS NIGHT, the night of
the 1st of May, a festival of St. Philip
and St. James. Saint Walpurga was an
English lady, sister of Boniface, the apos-
tle of the Germans : her festival falls on
the same day with that of the above-men-
tioned saints, and is a common day in
Germany, like Lady-day in England, for
the commencement of leases, <fec. It is
also known as the day on the eve of which,
according to popular superstition, the
great witch festival is held on the sum-
mit of the Brocken, in the Hartz moun-
tains. This superstition is supposed to
have originated in the rites performed by
the pagan remnants of the Saxons to
their gods, when their nation was forcibly
converted to Christianity ; which, being
secretly celebrated in remote places,
were supposed by the vulgar to be super-
natural orgies.

WALTZ, a national German dance,
but now common in England, and other
European countries. To waltz with ef-
fect, much grace and precision are neces-
sary, or else it becomes a mere vulgar
exercise. The waltz of the north of Ger-
many was grave and slow, whilst that of
the south is gay, and the quick gay waltz
is by far the most prevalent.

WAM'PUM, shells used by the Ameri-
can Indians as money or a medium of
commerce. These shells are run on a
string, and form a broad belt, which is
worn as an ornament or girdle.

WAP'ENSHAW, an exhibition of
arms, according to the rank of the individ-
ual, made formerly at certain times in
every district. These exhibitions or meet-
ings were not designed for military exer-

WAR]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

635

tises, but only for showing that the lieges
were properly provided with arms.

WAP'ENTAKE, in law, a division or
district, peculiar to some of the northern
counties of England, and answering to
the hundred or cantred, in other counties.
This name had its origin in a custom of
touching lances or spears when the chief
or leading man of the hundred entered on
his office.

WAR, a contest between nations or
states, carried on by force, either for de-
fence, or for revenging insults and re-
dressing wrongs, for the extension of com-
merce or acquisition of territory, or for
obtaining and establishing the superiori-
ty and dominion of one over the other.
These objects are accomplished by the
slaughter or capture of troops, and the
capture and destruction of ships, towns,
and property. Among rude nations, war
is often waged and carried on for plun-
der. As war is the contest of nations or
states, it always implies that such contest
is authorized by the monarch or the sov-
ereign power of the nation. When war
is commenced by attacking a nation in
peace, it is called an offensive war, and
such attack is aggressive. When war is
undertaken to repel invasion or the at-
tacks of an enemy, it is called defensive,
and a defensive war is considered as jus-
tifiable. When war arises between dif-
ferent portions or members of the same
nation, or between the established govern-
ment of a nation, and a portion of the
people resisting it, it is called a civil war.
Very few of the wars that have desolated
nations and deluged the earth with blood,
have been justifiable. Happy would it be
for mankind, if the prevalence of Chris-
tian principles might ultimately extin-
guish the spirit of war, and if the ambi-
tion to be great might yield to the ambi-
tion of being good. The " rights of war"
are such as arise in times of hostilities
1. between enemies ; 2. between neutrals.
As between enemies, it is a general law
that subjects of a hostile state who are
not in arms, or who have submitted, may
not be slain. The killing of prisoners is
only justifiable in very extreme cases.
The usage of exchanging prisoners is now
general, but was only firmly established
in the 17th century; and it is not now
considered obligatory. As to property,
that belonging to the government of the
vanquished nation belongs to the victori-
ous state, wherever it is found ; but pri-
vate rights are unaffected by conquest,
with the remarkable exception of private
property when at sea, which is by gene-

ral usage held lawful prize. Acts of hos-
tility are only lawful, according to mod-
ern usage, when committed by those au-
thorized by the express or implied com-
mand of the state ; such as the regularly
commissioned military and naval forces
of the nation, and all others called out by
the government in its defence, as well as
persons spontaneously defending them-
selves in case of necessity. Irregular
bands of marauders are therefore denied
the rights of war, and liable to be treated
as banditti ; and this distinction is gene-
rally only observed so far as suits the bel-
ligerent's purpose. For private citizens
taking up arms, although in obedience to
proclamations, are constantly liable to be
treated as marauders ; as by the French
in the Peninsular war, and in numerous
other cases.

WARD, in law, a term applied to all
infants under the power of guardians.
A certain district, division, or quarter of
a town or city.

WAR'DEN, a keeper; as, the warden
of a prison. Warden of a college, the
head or president. Warden of the cinque
ports, an officer or magistrate who has
the jurisdiction of certain ports or havens
in England.

WARD'MOTE, a court kept in every
ward in London, usually called the ward-
mote court ; of this court the inquest has
power every year to inquire into all defi-
ciencies with regard to the officers of the
ward.

WARD'SHIP, guardianship ; care and
protection of a ward. Right of guardian-
ship. Wardship, under the feudal sys-
tem, was one of the incidents of tenure
by knight service. When the tenant
died, and his heir was under the age of
21, being a male, or 14, being a female,
the lord was entitled to the wardship of
the heir, and was called the guardian in
chivalry. This wardship consisted in
having the custody of the body and lands
of such heir, without any account of the
profits, till the age of 21 in males, and
14 (which was afterwards advanced to 16)
in females, the male heir being then con-
sidered capable of performing knight
service, and the female capable of marry-
ing. This right of wardship was abol-
ished under the commonwealth. Pupil-
age ; state of being under a guardian.

WARMTH, in painting, that glowing
effect which arises from the use of warm
colors, and also from the use of trans-
parent colors, in the process of glazing ;
opposed to leaden coldness.

WAR'RANT, in law, a precept autho-

CYCLOPEDIA OF L1TEKATUKE

[WED

rizing an officer to seize an offender and
bring him to justice. Warrant of attor-
ney, an authority given to an attorney
by his client to appear and plead for
him ; or in a more general sense, that by
which a man appoints another to act in
his name, and warrants his transaction.
Search warrant, a precept authorizing a
person to enter houses, Ac. to search for
stolen or contraband goods, or to discover
whether a criminal be there concealed.
Wan-ant officer, an officer holding a
warrant from the navy board, such as the
master, surgeon, purser, Ac. of a ship.
Press warrant, in the navy, a warrant
issued by the admiralty, authorizing an
officer to impress seamen.

WAR'RANTY, in law, a covenant by
deed, made by one party to another, to
secure to him the enjoyment of an estate
or other thing bargained for. Warranty
is real, when annexed to lands and tene-
ments granted in fee or for life. &c., and
personal, when it respects goods sold or
their quality. If a man sells goods
which are not his own, or which he has
no right to sell, the purchaser may have
satisfaction for the injury. And if the
seller expressly warrants the goods to be
sound, and they prove to be otherwise, he
must indemnify the purchaser. But the
warranty must be at the time of sale.

WAR'REN, a franchise or privileged
place for keeping beasts and fowls of the
warren, as hares, partridges, and pheas-
ants.

WAS'SAIL-BOWL, a large drinking
vessel, in which the Saxons, at their pub-
lic entertainments, drank health to each
other, saying, " Wses hsel !" " Health
be to you !" or " Your health !" It was
also a Saxon custom, to go about with
such a bowl, at the time of the Epiphany,
singing a festival song, drinking the
health of the inhabitants, and, of course,
collecting money to replenish the bowl.
This custom, from which christmas-boxes,
christmas-ale, bell men's verses, and
carols, are all, probably, more or less
derived, was called wassailing, and those
who practised it, wassailers.

WASTE, in law, an epithet for lands
which are not in any man's occupation,
but lie common.

WATCH AND WARD, the custom of
watching by night, and warding or keep-
ing the peace by day in towns and
cities, which was first appointed by Henry

WA'TER-COL'ORS, in painting and
limning, colors diluted and made with
gum- water instead of oil. The principal

of the water-colors are as follow: White
Ceruse, white lead, Spanish white, flake
white, spodium ; Black Burnt cherry-
stones, ivory black, lampblack; Green
Green bice, green verditer, grass green,
sap green, verdigris distilled; Blue
Sanders blue, terre blue, blue verditer,
indigo, litmus, smalt, Prussian blue,
light blue, ultramarine, blue bice ; Brown
Spanish brown, Spanish liquorice, um-
ber, bistre, terra de Sienna, burnt and
unburnt ; Red Native cinnabar, burnt
ochre, Indian red, red lead, minium,
lake, vermilion, carmine, red ink, Indian
lake ; Yellow English ochre, gall stones,
gamboge, masticot, ochre de luce, orpi-
ment, Roman ochre, Dutch pink, saffron
water, king's yellow, gold yellow, French
berries.

WA'TER-GAVEL, in law, a rent paid
for fishing, or any other benefit received
from some river.

WA'TER-LINE, a horizontal line sup-
posed to be drawn about a ship's bottom,
at the surface of the water. This is
higher or lower, according to the depth
of water necessary to float her.

WA'TER-LOGGED, is said of a ship
when, by leaking and receiving a great
quantity of water into her hold, she has
become so heavy as to be totally unman-
ageable.

WA'TERMAN, one who plies with a
boat upon a river ; a ferryman.

WA'TER-MARK, the utmost limit of
the rise of the flood. The mark visible
in paper, which is made in the manufac-
turing of it. -n

WA'TER-TABLE, in architecture, a
ledge in the wall of a building, about 18
or 20 inches from .the ground.

WAX'-WORK, figures formed of wax,
in imitation of real persons. Where the
likenesses are correct, and the artist has
displayed good taste in adjusting the
draperies, &c., a collection of wax-work
figures, representing public characters,
affords an amusing exhibition. But
figures of this kind overstep the proper
limit of the Fine Arts ; and their ghastly
fixedness has a tendency to make us
shudder even while gratifying our curi-
osity. At present wax is used for ana-
tomical preparations, or for fruits : it
also serves the sculptor for his models
and studies.

WAYS AND MEANS, the financial re-
sources to meet the public expenditure,
or supplies voted by Congress.

WEDNES'DAY, the fourth day of the
week, so called from Wodin, or Odin, a
deity or chief among the northern nations

WES]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

637

of Europe. Ash Wednesday, the first
day of Lent. Some think the day receiv-
ed this name, or Dies cinerum, from the
custom in the early ages of the church,
of penitents appearing in sackcloth with
ashes on their heads. But, however cer-
tain it is that such a practice prevailed,
there is no evidence that it was done pre-
cisely on that day.

WEEK, a period of seven days, of un-
certain origin, but which has been used
from time immemorial in eastern coun-
tries. The week did not enter into the
calendar of the Greeks, who divided the
civil month into three periods of ten
days each ; and it was not introduced at
Rome till after the reign of Theodosius.
By some writers the use of weeks is sup-
posed to be a remnant of the tradition of
the creation ; by others, that it was sug-
gested by the phases of the moon ; while
a third class, with more probability, re-
fer its origin to the seven planets known
in ancient times. This opinion explains
the circumstance that the days of the
week have been universally named after
the planets, according to a particular
order. In the ancient Egyptian astron-
omy, the order of the planets, in respect
of distance from the earth, beginning
with the most remote, is Saturn, Jupiter,
Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the
Moon. The day was divided into 24
hours, and each successive hour conse-
crated to a particular planet in the order
now stated ; so that one hour being con-
secrated to Saturn, the next fell to Jupi-
ter, the third to Mars, and so on ; and
each day was named after the planet to
which its first hour was consecrated.
Now, suppose the first hour of a particu-
lar day to have been consecrated to
Saturn, it is evident that Saturn would
also have the 8th, the 15th, and the 22d
hours. The 23d hour would therefore
full to Jupiter ; the 24th to Mars ; and
the 25th, or the first hour of the following
day, would belong to the Sun, from which
it would take its naine. By proceeding
in the same manner, it is found that the
first hour of the third day would fall to
the Moon, the first of the fourth day to
Mars, of the fifth to Mercury, of the
sixth to Jupiter, and of the seventh to
Venus. The cycle being completed, the
first hour of the eighth day would return
to Saturn, and all the others constantly
succeed in the same order. According to
Dio Cassius, the Egyptian week began
with Saturday. The Jews, on their
flight from Egypt, made Saturday the
last day of the week. The Saxons seem

to have borrowed the week from some
eastern nation, substituting the names
of their own divinities for those of the
gods of Greece. In England, the Latin
names of the days are still retained in
legislative and judiciary acts.

WELL, a cylindrical excavation sunk
perpendicularly into the earth to such a
depth as to reach a supply of water, and
walled with stone or brick to support the
earth. Well, in the military art, a depth
which the miner sinks under ground, with
branches or galleries running out from
it, either to prepare a mine, or to discover
and disappoint the enemy's mine.

WELSH, the language or general
name of the people of Wales. The Welsh
call themselves Cymry, their country
Cymru, and tke name of their language,
Cymraeg. Tney are supposed to be the
Cimbri, of Jutland. It was to Wales that
the ancient Britons fled when Great Bri-
tain was invaded by the Saxons; and
there they long maintained themselves
as an independent state, preserving their
own language, and being governed by
their native kings ; till Llewellin, their
last prince, being vanquished and slain
in 1283, while resisting the forces of Ed-
ward I., the country was united to Eng-
land. The people submitted to the Eng-
lish dominion with extreme reluctance ;
and Edward, as a conciliatory means,
promised to give them for their prince a
Welshman by birth, and one who could
speak no other language. This notice
being received with joy, he invested in
the principality his second son, Edward,
then an infant, who had been born at
Carnarvon. The death of his eldest son,
Alphonso, happening soon after, young
Edward became heir also of the English
monarchy, and united both nations under
one government ; but some ages elapsed,
before the animosity which had long sub-
sisted between them was totally extin-
guished.

WER'EGILD, in ancient English law,
a compensation paid for a man killed by
the person who caused his death. Black-
stone says it was paid partly as a penal-
ty to the king for the loss of a subject,
partly to the lord of the vassal, and part-
ly to the next of kin.

WEST, one of the cardinal points, be-
ing that point of the horizon where the
sun sets at the equinox, or any point in
a direct line between the spectator or
other object, and that point of the horizon.
In a less strict sense, it is that region of
the hemisphere near the point where the
sun sets when in the equator.

638

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[WHI

WESTERN E M'PIRE, the name given
by historians to the western division of
the Roman empire, when divided, by the
will of Theodosius the Great, between his
sons Honorius and Arcadius, A.D. 395.
After the deposition of the emperor Au-
gustulus by Odoacer, A.D. 476, the Wes-
tern empire was definitely at an end.
But when Charlemagne, in the year 800,
assumed the imperial crown, it was with
the view of reassuming the ancient dig-
nity of the Caesars in Western Europe ;
and after him the German emperors were
considered by the jurists of their own
country, and of their party in Italy, as
representing the majesty of ancient Rome,
the Italian states being looked on as feu-
datories of the empire.

WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY, a
name given to the synod of divines and
laymen, who in the reign of Charles I.,
assembled by authority of parliament, in
Henry the Seventh's chapel, Westmin-
ster, for the purpose of settling the gov-
ernment, liturgy, and doctrine of the
Church of England. The great majority
of those who attended this assembly were
presbyterians. Those members of epis-
copalian principles refrained from attend-
ing, because the king had declared against
the assembly. The Westminster Assem-
bly continued in existence for five years
and a half. They signed the solemn
league and covenant, drew up the Con-
fession of Faith, a Directory for Public
Worship, the Larger and Shorter Cate-
chisms, and some other publications of
temporary importance.

WHEEL, BREAK'ING ON THE,
a mode of capital punishment, said to
have been first employed in Germany ;
according to some writers, on the mur-
derers of Leopold, duke of Austria, in
the 14th century. According to the Ger-
man method of this savage execution,
the criminal was laid on a cart-wheel
with his arms and legs extended, and
his limbs in that posture fractured with
an iron bar. But in France (where it
was restricted to cases of assassination,
or other murders of an atrocious descrip-
tion, highway robbery, parricide, and
rape ) the criminal was laid on a frame
of wood in the form of a St. Andrew's
cross, with grooves cut transversely in it
above and belorf the knees and elbows ;
and the executioner struck eight blows
with an iron bar, so as to break the limbs
in those places, sometimes finishing the
criminal by two or three blows on the
chest or f tomach : thence called coups de
grace. He was then unbound and laid

on a small carriage wheel, with his face
upwards, and his arms and legs doubled
under him ; there to expire, if still alive.
Sometimes the sentence contained a re-
tentum, by which the executioner was
directed to strangle the criminal, either
before the first, or after one, two or three
blows. This punishment was abolished
in France at the Revolution ; but it is
still resorted to in Germany as the pun-
ishment for parricide, the last instance
of which took place in 1827 near Gottin-
gen. The assassin of the bishop of Erme-
land in Prussia, in 1841, was sentenced
to the wheel.

WHIG, one of a political party which
had its origin in England in the 17th
century, in the reign of the Stuarts, when
great contests existed respecting the royal
prerogatives. Those who supported the
king in his high claims were called To-
ries, and the advocates of popular rights
were called Whigs. The term is of Scot-
tish origin, and was first used in the reign
of Charles II. According to Bishop
Burnet, it is derived from whiggam, a
word which was used by the peasants
of the south-west of Scotland, in driving
their horses ; the drivers being called
uhiggamores, contracted to whiggs. In
1648, after the news of the Duke of Ham-
ilton's defeat, the clergy stirred up the
people to rise and march to Edinburgh,
and they themselves marched at the head
of their parishes. The Marquis of Ar-
gyle and his party 'came and headed
them. This was called the whiggamores'
inroad, and ever after that all that op-
posed the court came, in contempt, to be
called whiggs; and from Scotland, the
word was brought to England, where it
has since continued to be used as the
distinguishing appellation of the political
party opposed to the Tories. It was
first assumed as a party name by that
body of politicians who were most active
in placing William III. on the throne of
England. Generally speaking, the prin-
ciples of the whigs have been of a pop-
ular character, and their measures, when
in power, tending to increase the demo-
cratic influence in the constitution. In
American history, the friends and sup-
porters of the war and the principles of
the revolution, were called whigs, and
those who opposed them were called
tories and royalists. One of the two
great political parties in the United
States, is called whig.

WHIS'PERING DOMES, or GALLE-
RIES, are places in which whispers or
feeble sounds are communicated to a

WIN]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

635

greater distance than under any ordinary
circumstances. In order to produce this
effect, the form of the roof or walls of the
building must be such that sound pro-
ceeding from one part is transmitted by
reflection or repeated reflections to an-
other. The dome of St. Paul's church in
London furnishes an instance.

WHIST, the most perfect game at the
card table, requiring great attention and
silence, whence its name. This game is
played by four persons, who cut for
partners ; the two highest and the two
lowest are together, and the partners sit
opposite to each other : the person who
cuts the lowest card is to deal first, giving
one at a time to each person, till he comes
to the last card, which is turned up for
the trump, and remains on the table till
each person has played a card. The
person on the left hand side of the dealer
plays first, and whoever wins the trick is
to play again, thus going on till the cards
are played out. The ace, king, queen,
and knave of trumps are called honors;
whichever side holds three of these
honors, reckons two points towards the
game, or for the whole of the honors, four
points, the game consisting of ten points.
The honors are reckoned after the tricks ;
all above six tricks reckoning also to-
wards the game.

WHITFIELD'IAN METH'ODISTS,
the name given to the most numerous
body of the Methodists after the Wesley-
ans ; so called from Whitfield, whose
early connection with the Methodists will
be found noticed under that term. Soon
after the return of Mr. Whitfield from
America in 1741, he withdrew connection
from Wesley on account of religious
tenets ; the former holding the high doc-
trine of Calvinism, and differing from the
latter chiefly on the subjects of election
and general redemption. But though
they differed in sentiments, these good
men lived and died united in heart.
AVhitfield devoted his life to itinerant
preaching, and was, if possible, more
popular as an energetic and eloquent
pulpit orator than his former coadjutor,
lie did not confine his labors to Great
Britain and Ireland, but visited North
America no fewer than seven different
times ; and died there at Boston, in 1770,
in the fifty-sixth year of his age. But
he can scarcely be said to be the founder
of a sect : his chief object was itinerating.
At several places, indeed, he erected
chapels, or tabernacles, as he called them ;
but these he invariably left to the care
of any orthodox clergyman, whether in.

the establishment or among the dissen-
ters, who was prepared to occupy them.

WHIT'SUNTIDE, the fiftieth day
after Easter, and which is properly called
Pentecost. It is said to have received its
popular name from the circumstance,
that, formerly, people newly baptized
came to church between Easter and Pen-
tecost in white garments.

AVICK'LIFFITES, a religious sect
which sprung up in England in the reign
of Edward III., and took its name from
John Wickliffe, doctor and professor of
divinity in the University of Oxford, who
maintained that the substance of the sacra-
mental bread and wine remained unalter-
ed after consecration ; and opposed the doc-
trine of purgatory, indulgences, auricular
confession, the invocation of saints, and
the worship of images. He made an
English version of the Bible, and com-
posed two volumes called Aletheia, that
is, Truth, from which John Huss learned
most of his doctrines. In short, to this
reformer we owe the first hint of the ref-
ormation, which was effected about two
hundred years after.

WIG'WAM, a name given by the
English to the huts or cabins of the North
American Indians.

WILL, that faculty of the mind by
which we determine either to do or for-
bear an action. The will is directed or
influenced by the judgment. The under-
standing or reason compares different ob-
jects, which operate as motives ; the
judgment determines which is prefer-
able, and the will decides which to pur-
sue. The freedom of the will is essential
to moral action, and is the great distinc-
tion of man from the brute.

WILL or TES'TAMENT, the disposi-
tion of a person's estate, to take effect
after his or her decease. No person un-
der twenty-one can make a valid will.
Wills are to be construed as if made im-
mediately before the death of the testa-
tor, unless a contrary intention is ex-
pressed ; and properties bequeathed in
general terms include all property in the
possession of the testator at his decease,
whether acquired before or after the will
was made.

WINCHESTER BUSH'EL, the origi-
nal English standard measure of capacity,
given by King Edgar, and kept in the
town-hall of the ancient city of Winchester,
with other measures both of quantity and
length. Until the year 1826, when the
imperial standard measure was introdu-
ced, the Winchester bushel was the stand-
ard for England.

640

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

WIN'TER, ode of the four seasons of
the year, commencing on the day when
the sun's distance from the zenith of the
place is the greatest, and ending on that
when it is at a mean between the great-
est and the least. The coldness of winter
is therefore owing to the shortness of the
days, or time during which the sun is
above the horizon, and the oblique direc-
tion in which his rays fall upon our part
of the globe at that season.

WIS'DOM, the right use of knowledge.
It may be considered both as a faculty of
the mind and as an acquirement. In
the former sense it is the faculty of dis-
cerning or judging what is most just,
proper, and useful ; in the latter, the
knowledge and use of what is best, most
just, and most conducive to prosperity or
happiness. In Scripture theology, wis-
dom is the knowledge and fear of God,
and sincere and uniform obedience to his
commands ; in other words, true religion.
Wisdom of Solomon, one of the books
of the Apocrypha. It is by many thought
to have been written after the cabalistic
philosophy was introduced among the
Jews.

WIT, in its original signification, was
synonymous with wisdom. Thus we read
of our ancient witenagemot, or Saxon
parliament, an assembly of wise men ;
and so late as the Elizabethan age, a
man of great or pregnant wit, meant a
man of vast judgment. The word wit,
however, like many other words, has in
the course of time undergone various
mutations. According to Locke, wit lies
in the assemblage of ideas, and putting
those together with quickness and variety,
so that a congruity of associations and
pleasant images may be present to the
fancy ; while Pope defines it to be a quick
conception and an easy delivery. It is
evident that wit excites in the mind an
agreeable surprise, and that this is en-
tirely owing to the strange assemblage j
of related ideas presented to the mind.
Of so much consequence are surprise and
novelty, that nothing is more vapid than
a joke that has become stale by frequent
repetition. For the same reason, a witty
repartee is infinitely more pleasing than
a witty attack ; and a pun or happy al-
lusion thrown out extempore in conversa-
tion, will often appear excellent, though
it might be deemed execrable in print.
Humor and wit are both addressed to the
comic passion ; but humor aims at the
risibility, and wit at the admiration ;
humor is the seasoning of farce, and wit
of comedy; humor judges by instiqet;

wit by comparison. As a learned divine
has well observed, " sometimes it playeth
in words and phrases, taking advantage
from the ambiguity of their sense, or the
affinity of their sound ; sometimes it is
wrapped in a dress of humorous expres-
sion ; sometimes it lurketh under an odd
similitude ; sometimes it is lodged in a
sly question, in a smart answer, in a
quirkish reason, in a shrewd intimation,
in cunningly diverting or cleverly retort-
ing an objection ; sometimes it is couched
in a bold scheme of speech, in a tart irony,
in a lusty hyperbole, in a startling meta-
phor, in a plausible reconciling of contra-
dictions, or in acute nonsense. Often it
consisteth in one knows not what, and
springeth up one can hardly tell how."
Note. It is difficult to give any strict
definition of the term wit, its precise
boundaries being still too unsettled. It
has passed through a greater variety of
significations in the course of the last
two centuries than most other terms in
the English language. Originally, wit
signified wisdom ; and anciently a man
of icitte, was a wise man. In the reign
of Elizabeth, a man of pregnant wit, or
of great wit, was a man of vast judgment.
In the reign of James I. wit was used to
signify the intellectual faculties or mental
powers collectively. In the time of Cow-
ley it came to signify a superior under-
standing, and more particularly a quick
and brilliant reason. By Dryden it is
used as nearly synonymous with talent
or ability. According to Locke, it con-
sists in quickness of fancy and imagina-
tion. Pope defined icit to be a quick
conception and an easy delivery; accord-
ing to which, a man of wit, or a wit, is a
man of brilliant fancy ; a man of genius.
At present, icit is used to designate a
peculiar faculty of the mind, connected
with the more comprehensive faculty of
the imagination : and also the effect pro-
duced by this faculty, which consists in
the display of remote resemblances be-
tween dissimilar objects, or an unexpected
combination of remote resemblances; in
the exhibition or perception of ludicrous
points of analogy or resemblance among
things in other respects dissimilar.
Hence, a man of wit, or a wit, is con-
sidered to be a man in whom a readiness
for such exercise of the mind is remark-
able. It is evident that wit excites in
the mind an agreeable surprise, and that
arising, not from anything marvellous in
the subject, but solely from the imagery
employed or the strange assemblage of
related ideas presented to the mind.

WIT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

641

This end is effected, 1. by debasing
things pompous or seemingly grave ; 2.
by aggrandizing things little and frivo-
lous ; or, 3. by setting ordinary objects in
a particular and uncommon point of
view, by means not only remote, but ap-
parently contrary. Hence arise a great
many kinds of wit. Wit is often joined
with humor, but not necessarily so ; it
often displays itself in the keenest satire ;
but when it is not kept under proper con-
trol, or whe'n it becomes the habitual ex-
ercise of the mind, it is apt to impair the
nobler powers of the understanding, to
chill the feelings, to check friendly and
social intercourse, and to break down
those barriers which have been estab-
lished by courtesy. At the same time,
when kept within its proper sphere, and
judiciously used, it may be rendered very
effective in attacking pedantry, preten-
sion, or folly, and may also be employed
as a powerful weapon against error.

WITCH'CRAFT, a supernatural power,
which persons were formerly supposed to
obtain the possession, of, by entering into
compact with the evil one. Indeed, it
was fully believed that they gave them-
selves up to him body and soul ; and he
engaged that they should want for no-
thing, and be able to assume whatever
shape they pleased, to visit and torment
their enemies ! The insane fancies of dis-
eased minds, unusual phenomena of na-
ture, and the artful machinery of design-
ing malignity, ambition, or hypocrisy,
were all laid at Satan's feet. Witchcraft
was universally believed in throughout
Europe till the 16th century, and even
maintained its ground with tolerable
firmness till the 17th. Vast numbers of
reputed witches were convicted and con-
demned to be burnt. In short, it is re-
corded, that 500 witches were burned at
Geneva in three months, about the year
1515 ; that 1000 were executed in one
year in the diocese of Como; and it has
been calculated that not less than 100,000
victims must have suffered, in Germany
alone, from the date of Innocent's bull,
in 1484, which directed the Inquisition to
be vigilant in searching out and punish-
ing witches, to the final extinction of the
prosecutions. The number of those put
to death in England has been estimated
at about 30.000 ! Much has been said
concerning the connection between reli-
gious fanaticism and the superstition of
witchcraft. It has been seen that the
cruelties and absurdities of witch perse-
cution had reached a great height even
before the Reformation ; but it can
41

scarcely be denied that the strong reli-
gious excitement which produced and ac-
companied that event was in some way
connected with the rapid spread and de-
velopment of that atrocious system. The
more intense the belief in the overruling
providence of God, and his immediate
interference in the course of ordinary
events (which especially characterized
the revival of religion,) the more does the
parallel belief in the agency of evil spirits,
and their dealings with man, appear to
take root in the imagination. Sir W.
Scott observes that, among Protestant
sects, the Calvinists (whose views of re-
ligion were at once the most gloomy and
the most engrossing) seem to have afford-
ed the most terrible examples of this pre-
vailing mania. There seems also to have
been a constantly recurring tendency to
treat witchcraft and heresy as allied
offences. It appears, upon the whole,
that the persecutions during the 16th and
17th centuries were most violent in those
countries which were the scene of much
strife between the two religions, or in
which the Calvinist opinions were pushed
to an extreme France, the Netherlands,
Northern and Western Germany, Swit-
zerland, Scotland, England under the
Commonwealth, and at a still later period
New England. A singular example of
the contagion of fanaticism suddenly
spreading with extraordinary violence,
and subsiding again after one terrible
outbreak, is to be found in the history
of the witch persecutions in Sweden, in
the end of the 17th century. In Italy,
with the exception of one or two of the
northern districts, the superstition was
generally less prevalent, or at least less
distressing in its effects ; and the same
may be said of Spain, after the first pe-
riod of the history of the Inquisition.

WITENAGE'MOTE, literally, an as-
sembly of wise men. Among the Anglo-
Saxons, the great national council or
parliament, consisting of nobles, or chiefs,
the largest landholders, and the principal
ecclesiastics. The meetings of this coun-
cil were frequent ; they formed the high-
est court of judicature in the kingdom ;
they were summoned by the king in any
political emergency ; their concurrence
was necessary to give validity to laws,
and treaties with foreign states were sub-
mitted to their approval. They had
even power to elect the king, and if the
sceptre descended in his race, it was by
means of the formal recognition of the
new king by the nobles, bishops, Ac., in
an assembly convened for the purpose.

642

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[woo

It seems that in East Anglia the posses-
sion of forty hides of land was necessary
to entitle a person to rank among those
termed in the Latin of the age " pro-
ceres," who appear to have been .mem-
bers of the great council. The powers
and character of the witenagemote passed
to the great council of the early Norman
kings, which are called by the same
name by Saxon writers.
' WITNESS, in law, one who gives evi-
dence in a judicial proceeding. In civil
cases, witnesses are compelled to attend
by the process called subpoena ad testifi-
candum (which see,) and punishable if
they neglect to do so by attachment or
action. In criminal cases, by subpoena
or by recognizance taken by the magis-
trate before whom the information is

'wO'DEN, or WUOTAN, an Anglo-
Saxon divinity, considered to correspond
with the Mercury of the ancient Greeks
and Romans ; from whom Wednesday
derives its name. He is sometimes also,
though erroneously, considered as iden-
tical with Odin.

WOM'AN, the female of the human
race, grown to an adult age. In the pa-
triarchal ages women were used agreea-
bly to that simplicity of manners which
for a long time after pervaded all na-
tions. They drew water, kept sheep,
and fed the cattle ; as may be observed
in what is related of Rebecca, the niece
of Abraham, and Rachel, the daughter
of Laban. Among the Greeks and Ro-
mans, women were employed in spinning,
weaving, embroidery, and all sorts of
needle-work ; their education being whol-
ly confined to their domestic duties. It
is in the Christian home only that woman
reigns the mother, sister, wife, and
friend. The influence of Christianity
gave woman a new station in society,
broke her chains, and released her from
the degrading restrictions in which she
had almost become the soulless thing
which she had been represented to be.
As man ceased to be a mere citizen of his
own country, and felt himself to be a
citizen of the world, so woman was
restored to her natural rights. " In
every age and country (says Gibbon,)
the wiser, or at least the stronger, of the
two sexes has usurped the powers of the
state, and confined the other to the cares
and pleasures of domestic life. In heredi-
tary monarchies, however, and especially
in those of modern Europe, the gallant
spirit^ of chivalry, and the law of succes-
sion, have accustomed us to allow a

singular exception ; and a woman is often
acknowledged the absolute sovereign of
a great kingdom, in which she would
be deemed incapable of exercising the
smallest employment, civil or military.
But as the Roman emperors were still
considered as the generals and magis-
trates of the republic, their wives'
mothers, although distinguished by the
name of Augusta, were never associated
to their personal honors ; and a female
reign would have appeared an inexpia-
ble prodigy in the eyes of those primitive
Romans who married without love, or
loved without delicacy and respect."
Born to feel and inspire the kind and
tender affections, it is the fault of men
if well-educated females become not the (
grace and ornament of society. This, at
least, is the rule ; the reverse of this,
the exception.

WON'DER, that emotion which is ex-
cited by something presented to the
senses which is either sudden, extraordi-
nary, or not well understood. The word
wonder is nearly allied to astonishment,
though it expresses less, and much less
than amazement. Among the ancients,
the seven wonders of the world were
the Egyptian pyramids the mausoleums
erected by Artemisia the temple of
Diana, at Ephesus the walls and hang-
ing gardens of Babylon the colossus at
Rhodes the statue of Jupiter Olympus
and the Pharos or watch-tower at Alex-
andria.

WOOD-ENGRAV'ING, or wood-cut-
ting, the art of cutting figures in wood,
that they may be printed by the same
process as common letter-press. The
mode of engraving on wood is exactly
the reverse of that of copper-plate, the
parts intended to appear being raised on
the surface. The wood which is used for
the purpose of engraving, is that of the
box-tree, of which a considerable quan-
tity is imported from Turkey. The
design drawn upon the wood is the re-
verse of the object copied, so that when
the impression is taken from the engrav-
ing, the object is correctly represented.

WOOD'-GELD, in ancient English
customs, the gathering or cutting of wood
within the forest ; or the money paid for
the same to the foresters. Sometimes it
also seems to signify an immunity from
this payment by the king's grant.

WOOL'SACK, the seat of the Lord
Chancellor of England, in the House of
Lords, is so called, from its being a large
square bag of wool without back or arms,
covered with red cloth.

WRl]

AND THE FINE ARTS

643

WORDS, are signs, or symbols of
ideas and thoughts, produced by sounds,
and combinations of sounds, or by letters
and their combinations. In the lan-
guage of an old writer, who somewhat
quaintly expresses himself. " He that has
names without ideas, wants meaning in
his words, and speaks only empty sounds.
He that has complex ideas without
names for them, wants despatch in his
expression. H*e that uses his words
loosely and unsteadily, will either not be
minded or not understood. He that ap-
plies names to ideas, different from the
common use, wants propriety in his lan-
guage, and speaks gibberish ; and he
that has ideas of substances disagree-
ing with the real existence of things, so
far wants the materials of true knowl-
edge."

WORLD, the whole system of created
globes ; or the orbs which occupy space,
and all the beings which inhabit them.
The duration of the world is a subject
which has given rise to much disputation.
Plato, after Ocellus Lucanus, held it to
be eternal, and to have flowed from God
as rays flow from the sun. Aristotle, who
was much of the same opinion, asserts
that the world was not generated so as to
begin to be a world, which before was
none : he lays down a pre-existing and
eternal matter as a principle, and thence
argues the world eternal. His arguments
amount to this, that it is impossible an
eternal agent, having an eternal passive
subject, should continue long without ac-
tion ; and his opinion was for a long time
generally followed, as seeming to be the
fittest to end the dispute among so many
sects about the first cause. But some of
the modern philosophers refute the im-
aginary eternity of the world by this ar-
gument, that if it be ab eterno, there
must have been a generation of individ-
uals in a continual succession from all
eternity, since no cause can be assigned
why they should not be generated, viz.,
one from another. By the world we
sometimes understand the things of this
world, its pleasures and interests. It
also means the customs and manners of
mankind ; the practice of life.

WOR'SHIP, or DIVINE' WOR'SHIP,
the act of paying divine honors to the
Supreme Being; or, the reverence and
homage offered up to God in prayer, ado-
ration, and other devotional exercises,
expressive of pious veneration. If the
worship of God, says Paley, be a duty of
religion, public worship is a necessary in-
stitution ; because without it the greater

part of mankind would exercise no reli-
gious worship at all.

WRANG'LER, SENIOR, in the univer-
sity of Cambridge, the student who passes
the best examination (especially in math-
ematical knowledge) in the senate-house,
for the first degree or that of bachelor in
arts ; they who follow next in the same
division are respectively termed second,
third, fourth, &c. wranglers.

WRECK, in navigation, the destruc-
tion of a ship and the cargo, by being
driven ashore, or found floating at sea in
a deserted and unmanageable condition.
But in order to constitute a legal wreck,
the goods must come to land. In former
times the most inhospitable and barbar-
ous conduct was exercised against all who
had the misfortune to suffer from the
perils of the sea; but as commerce and
navigation were extended, the law was
made to afford the adventurous mariner
protection. In England, and other coun-
tries, wrecks had been adjudged to the
king : but the rigor and injustice of this
law was modified so early as the reign
of Henry I., when it was ruled, that if
any person escaped alive out of the ship,
it should be no wreck. And after various
modifications, it was decided, in the reign
of Henry III. that if goods were cast on
shore, having any marks by which they
could be identified, they were' to revert
to the owners, if claimed any time within
a year and -a day. The plundering of
wrecks had, however, become so confirmed
by the custom of ages, that various sub-
sequent penal statutes were enacted to
repress it.

WREST'LING, a kind of combat or
engagement between two persons un-
armed, body to body, to prove their
strength and dexterity, and try which
can throw his opponent on the ground.
Wrestling is an exercise of very great
antiquity and fame. It was in use in the
heroic age; and had considerable rewards
and honors assigned to it at the Olympic
games.

WRIT, in law, a precept issued by
some court or magistrate in the name of
the government, and addressed to a sher-
iff, his deputy, or other subordinate ex-
ecutive officer, commanding him to do
some particular thing. Writs are distin-
guished into original and judicial, the
former being such as a party sues out
without any direction of the court in the
particular case ; the latter, such as are
issued in pursuance of a decree, judg-
ment, or order of a court. A writ or
summons, is called a subpoena, when it

644

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[XES

requires witnesses to appear ; a latitat,
when it is assumed the party is concealed ;
of habeas corpus, when it is to bring up
the body ; of premunire, when it incurs
forfeiture of all property ; and of qui tarn,
when to recover a fine, of which the pros-
ecutor is to have a share.

WRI'TING, an art and act of express-
ing and conveying our ideas to others by
letters or characters visible to the eye.
Without its aid the experience of each
generation would hate been almost en-
tirely lost to succeeding ages, and only a
faint glimmer of truth could have been
discerned through the rnists of tradition.
The most ancient remains of writing,
which have been transmitted to us, are
upon hard substances, such as stones and
metals, which were used for edicts and
matters of public notoriety. Thus we
read that the decalogue was written on
two tables of stone ; but this practice was
not peculiar to the Jews, for it was used
by most of the Eastern nations, as well
as by the Greeks and Romans. The laws
penal, civil, and ceremonial, among the
Greeks, were engraven on tables of brass,
called cyrbes. The Chinese, before the
invention of paper, wrote or engraved
with an iron tool, or style, upon thin
boards or on bamboo. Pliny says, that
table-books of wood were in use before
the time of Homer. In later times these
tables were usually waxed over, and
written upon with a style. What was
written upon the tables which were thus
waxed over was easily effaced, and by
smoothing the wax new matter might be
substituted in the place of what was writ-
ten before. The bark of trees was also
used for writing by the ancients, and is
so still in several parts of Asia. The
same may be said of the leaves of trees.
But the Greeks and Romans continued
the use of waxed table-books long after
the use of papyrus, leaves, and skins
became common, because they were so
convenient for correcting extemporary
compositions.

X, the twenty-fourth letter of the Eng-
lish alphabet, is borrowed from the Greek.
When used at the beginning of a word, it
has precisely the sound of z, but in the
middle and at the end of words, its sound
is the same as ks ; as, icax. luxury, tax-
atior, <tc. In French, x has the various
pronunciations of s, ss, gz, and z, accord-
ing to circumstances. The Italians never

use it, on account of its guttural charac-
ter, but express it by ss, as in Alessan-
dro ; and the Germans generally substi-
tute for it, ks, gs, or cfis. X begins no
word in our language but such as are of
Greek original ; and is in few others but
what are of Latin derivation. As a nu-
meral, X stands for ten. When laid
horizontally, thus, *!, it stands for a
thousand, and with a dash over it, ten
thousand. As an abbreviation, X stands
for Christ, as in Xn., Christian ; Xmas.,
Christmas.

XANG'TI in theology, a name among
the Chinese for the Supreme Being.

XAN'THICA, in antiquity, a Mace-
donian festival, so called because it was
observed in the month Xanthus, which
is supposed to have been the same as
April.

XEBEC', a small three-masted vessel,
used in the Mediterranean sea, and on the
coasts of Spain, Portugal and Barbary.
Being generally equipped as a corsair,
the xebec is constructed with a narrow
floor, for the sake of speed, and of a great
breadth, so as to be able to carry a con-
siderable force of sail without danger of
overturning. When close hauled, it car-
ries large lateen sails. The Algerine
xebecs usually carried from 16 to 24 guns,
and from 300 to 450 men, two thirds of
whom were soldiers.

XENELA'SIA, in antiquity, a law
among the Spartans, by which strangers
were excluded from their society, not out
of fear lest they should imitate the Spar-
tan manners, but lest the Spartans should
be contaminated by foreign vices. It was
a barrier set up against contagion ; but
was not so strict as to exclude deserving
men, or any talent worthy of being re-
ceived.

XE'NIA, among the Greeks and Ro-
mans, were presents made by strangers to
such persons as had treated them with
kindness and hospitality. Xenia was also
a name given to the gifts and presents
made to the governors of provinces by the
inhabitants of them.

XENODO'CHIA, in antiquity, places
where strangers were lodged and enter-
tained.

XENOPARO'CHI, in antiquity,
Roman officers whose business it was to
provide every necessary for ambassa-
dors.

XEROPH'AGY, the name given to a
sort of fast which was adopted in the
primitive ages of Christianity, and which
consisted entirely of dry viands.

XES.'TA, in antiquity, an Athenian

AND THE FINE ARTS.

measure of capacity, answering to the
Roman sextarius.

XYLOCO'PIA, among the Greeks, a
sort of punishment inflicted with a
cudgel.

XYLOG 'RAPHY, wood- engraving ;
the act or art of cutting figures in
wood, in representation of natural ob-
jects.

XY'LON, a species of punishment in
use among the Greeks, which answered
to our putting oifenders in the stocks.

XYNOE'CIA, an Athenian festival,
observed in memory of Theseus having
united all the petty communities of At-
tica into one commonwealth, whose as-
semblies were ever after to beheld in the
Prytaneum at Athens.

XYS'TARCH, an officer in the Grecian
gymnasium, who presided over the xystus,
as lieutenant to the gymnasiarch. His
business was to superintend the athletes
in their exercises in the two xysti.

XYS'TER, in surgery, an instrument
used for scraping bones.

XYS'TUS, or XYS'TOS, among the
Greeks and Romans, a portico covered at
the top, designed for the exercise of the
wrestlers when the weather did not per-
mit them to contend in the open air. The
Xystus made a necessary part of a gym-
nasium : and the name given to the ath-
letse who performed their exercises there,
was Xysticl.

Y, the twenty-fifth letter of the Eng-
lish alphabet, is sometimes used as a
vowel, and at other times as a consonant :
as the latter at the beginning of words.
In the middle and at the end of words, y
is precisely the same as i ; being sound-
ed as i long, when accented, as in reply,
defy; and as i short, when unaccented,
as in synonymous, liberty, ability, &c.
Y, as a numeral, stands for 150, and with
a dash over it, for 150,000. Y, by the
Pythagoreans, was made the emblem or
symbol of virtue and vice. The broad
line at the bottom of the letter, repre-
sents the innocency and simplicity of in-
fancy and early youth. The place where
it is divided into two parts shows us the
years of discretion, when we take the
side of wisdom or of folly, andean discrim-
inate what is right from what is wrong.
The narrow line on the right exhibits to
the fancy the strait path that leads to
happiness, and the difficulties which at-
tend a course of virtue. The broad line

on the left represents the broad road that
leads to destruction, and the seducing
blandishments of vice.

YACHT, a . sailing vessel, pleasure
boat, or small ship with one deck, suffi-
ciently large for a sea voyage. In its
original signification it is a vessel of state
used to convey princes, ambassadors, and
other great personages from one kingdom
to another. It is usually fitted with a
variety of convenient apartments and
suitable furniture. The smaller yachts
are generally rigged as sloops.

YA'GERS, or JAGERS, light infantry
armed with rifles (chasseurs, riflemen.)
In the Prussian service, the Yagers form
a distinct corps with peculiar discipline ;
in that of Austria, light infantry, gene-
rally from the mountain districts. In
Germany the term jasper is applied to a
peculiar species of higher servant attach-
ed to the families of the aristocracy.

YA'HOO, a name given by Swift, in
one of his imaginary voyages, to a race
of brutes, having the form of man and
all his degrading passions. They are
placed in contrast with the Houyhnhums,
or horses endowed with reason, the whole
being designed as a satire on the human
race. Chesterfield uses the -term yahoo
for a savage, or one resembling a savage.

YAN'KEE, a word commonly applied
to an inhabitant of the United States, as
John Bull is to an Englishman or Myn-
heer to a Dutchman. It is said to have
originated in a corrupt pronunciation of
the word English by the native Indians
of America, who called the early settlers
from Great Britain Yengeese, but this
etymology is doubtful.

YEO'MAN. in English polity, a com-
moner, or a plebeian of the first or most
respectable class. In ancient times, it
denoted one of those who held folk-land;
that is, had no .fief, or book-land, and
therefore did not rank among the gentry.
What he possessed, however, he possessed
independently ; he was, therefore, no
man's vassal. To understand the true
condition of the ancient yeomen, it must
be observed that there were some lands
which never became subject to the feudal
system. These were called folk-lands, or
the lands of the people. When therefore,
it is said that the sovereign is lord of the
soil of all England, the assertion is not
true. He is certainly the lord paramount
of all fiefs ; but he has no such reversion-
ary interest in lands that were never
held in fee. The collective body of yeo-
rnen or freeholders is termed Yeomanry.
Yeomen of the Guard, & certain de-

646

CYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE

[ZEM

gcription of foot-guards, who attend im-
mediately on the person of the sovereign.
They were established by Henry VIII.,
and their office and dress continue the
same.

YEZDEGER'DIAN, noting an era,
dated from the overthrow of the Persian
empire, when Yezdegerd was defeated by
the Arabians, in the eleventh year of the
Hegira, A.D. 636.

YEZ'IDEES, a small tribe bordering
on the Euphrates, whose religion is said
to be a mixture of the worship of the
devil, with some of the doctrines of the
Magi, Mohammedans, and Christians.

YO'GA, among the Hindoos, a species
of asceticism, which consists in a complete
abstraction from all worldly objects, by
which the Hindoo ascetic expects to ob-
tain final emancipation from further mi-
grations, and union with the universal
spirit. Those who practise the Yoga are
called Yogis, and the horrible tortures
which they commit on themselves have
been often described.

YOUTH, in painting, sculpture, <fcc.
The most beautiful period of life, and
consequently that which the artist will
select to display and embody his abstract
ideal of corporeal human perfection.
The smooth and glowing substance of the
skin, the beautifully defined contours of
the figure, the firm and well knit muscles
of man, and the delicious shapeliness of
woman ; these qualities, as they are in
themselves uniformly amiable in real
life, so they cannot fail to draw forth the
ability of the artist, and excite the admi-
ration of the beholder, when transmitted
to canvass or marble.

YULE, the common Scottish name for
Christmas. It appears to be a very an-
cient Celtic word. In Welsh, wyl or
gywl signifies a holiday; whence also the
old phrase, " Gule of August," the first
day of August, or fast of St. Peter and
Vincula, for which various absurd ety-
mologies have been found. Perhaps the
old French word ' Noel," for Christmas
(used also generally as a popular cry of
rejoicing,) has the same original. Count
de Gebelin, however, derives yule from a
supposed primitive word; connected with
the idea of revolution or " wheel."

Z, the last letter of the English alpha-
bet, is a sibillant articulation and semi-
vowel ; bearing the same relation to s,

as v does to f. In Italian, it is some-
times sounded like our ts, sometimes like
ds ; in Spanish, it corresponds to our th;
and in French, when pronounced at all,
it has the sound of a forcibly articulated
s. As a numeral, Z stands for 2,000, and
with a dash over it for 2,000,000.

ZAC'CHO, in architecture, the lowest
part of the pedestal of a column.

ZAIMS, a name for certain leaders or
chiefs among the Turks, who support and
pay a mounted militia of the same name.

ZEAL'OT, one who engages warmly in
any cause, and pursues his object with
earnestness and ardor. It is generally
used in dispraise, or applied to one whose
ardor is intemperate and censurable.
The fury of zealots was one cause of the
destruction of Jerusalem.

ZECHARI'AH, one of the minor pro-
phets, who prophesied in the reign of
Darius Hystaspes. The design of the
first part of Zechariah's prophecy, like
that of his contemporary, Haggai, is to
encourage the Jews to proceed with re-
building the Temple, by giving them
assurance of God's aid and protection.
From this he proceeds to foretel the
glory of the Christian church (the true
Temple of God.) under its great High-
priest and Ruler, Jesus Christ ; of whom
Zerubbabel and Joshua were figures. He
treats of his death, sufferings, and king-
dom, in many particulars not mentioned
by any other of the minor prophets before
him ; everything relating to those great
events becoming more explicit, in pro-
portion as their accomplishments drew
nearer. His style, like that of Haggai,
is for the most part prosaic, especially
towards the beginning ; the last six
chapters are more elevated ; for which
reason, among others, these six chapters
are, by many commentators, ascribed to
the prophet Jeremiah. .

ZEMINDAR', a title introduced into
India by its Mohammedan conquerors,
conferred in Bengal, and generally
throughout the Mogul empire, on the
agent employed to collect that share of
the produce of the soil which belongs to
it. The zemindars were the great land-
holders of the Mogul empire ; but the
nature of their tenure has given rise to
much dispute. Whether they were heredi-
tary, absolute owners of the soil, or only
tenants of the sovereign at a fixed rent
by way of land-tax, for which they were
personally responsible, was a question
much agitated by writers on Indian sub-
jects at the period of the " Permanent
Settlement" in 1793. By that settlement

ZOT]

AND THE FINE ARTS.

647

the rent was to be fixed in the first
instance by custom, and the zemindar
was then to give the ryot a lease re-
stricted to himself and his assignees on
performance of its conditions ; his own
share being fixed as before at 10 per cent,
of the assessment, and his hereditary
right secured. A zemindary, i. e., the
district of a zemindar, is liable to be sold
by government for arrears of revenue,
and existing leases with the ryots to be
set aside. At present the land-tax of
India is levied in three methods, which
prevail in different districts the " ze-
mindar settlement," by which the zemin-
dar is responsible to government ; the
" mouzawar" or village settlement, by
which the collector contracts with the
head man of the village ; and the " ryot-
war" or cultivator settlement, by which
the tax is collected immediately from the
peasantry.

ZEND, or ZENDAVES'TA, a book
ascribed to Zoroaster, and containing his
pretended revelations ; which the an-
cient magicians and modern Persians,
called also Gaurs, observe and reverence
in the same manner as the Christians do
the Bible, and the Mahometans do the
Koran, making it the sole rule of their
faith and manners.

ZEN'DIK, in Arabic, a name given
to those who are chnrged with atheism,
or rather disbelief of any revealed reli-
gion ; or with magical heresies. The sect
of Zendiks opposed the progress of Mo-
hammedanism in Arabia with great ob-
stinacy. It appears to have had many
features in common with Sadduceeism
among the Jews.

ZEPHANI'AH, a canonical book of
the Old Testament, containing the pre-

dictions of Zephaniah, the son of Cushi,
and grandson of Gedaliah ; being the
ninth of the twelve lesser prophets. He
prophesied in the time of king Josiah, a
little after the captivity of the ten tribes,
and before that of Judah ; so that he was
contemporary with Jeremiah.

ZEPH'YRUS, or ZEPH YR, the west
wind ; a wind blowing from that cardinal
point opposite to the east. The poets
personify it, and represent Zephyrus as
the mildest and most gentle of all the
deities of the woods ; the character of
this personage is youth and gentleness.
It is also called Favonius and Occidens.

ZEUG'MA, a figure in grammar by
which an adjective or verb which agrees
with a nearer word, is, by way of supple-
ment, referred to another more remote.

ZO'IIAR, a Jewish book, highly esteem-
ed by the rabbis, and supposed to be of
great, though altogether unascertained
antiquity. It consists of cabalistical com-
mentaries on Scripture, especially the
books of Moses. It has been translated
into Latin.

ZOLL'VEREIN, the Prussian or Ger-
man commercial or customs union, found-
ed, through the example and efforts of
the government of Prussia, in the year
1834, and having for its object the estab-
lishment of a uniform rate of customs
duties throughout the various states join-
ing the union.

ZOOL'ATRY, the worship of animals,
which was the characteristic of the an-
cient Egyptian religion most remarked
upon by foreigners.

ZOTHE'CA, in architecture, a, small
room, or alcove, which might be added
to or separated from another, by means
of curtains and windows.

FINIS.

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