satirical poem, was born in Wor-
cestershire 1612, and died 1680.
BYRON, GEORGE GORDON, Lord, was
born in London, Jan. 22d, 1788.
He entered Trinity College, Cam-
bridge, in 1805. During his leisure
hours he had penned some boyish
verses which were published in
1807 under the title of "Hours of
Idleness." They were noticed
somewhat disdainfully in the Ed-
inburgh Review. Stung to the
quick by this article, with the au-
thorship of which Lord Brougham is
charged, the young nobleman retort-
ed in a poem, English Bards and

Scotch Reviewers," which showed
the world that the abused versicles
were but the languid recreations of
a man in whose hand, when roused
to earnest work, the pen became a
weapon of tremendous power. Two
years of foreign travel led the poet
through those scenes which he de-
scribes in "Childe Harold's Pilgrim-
age." Poeins and dramas followed,
showing wonderful literary fertility,
and in 1812 Byron was the acknowl-
edged head of the English literary
world. In the latter part of his life
he gave himself to the cause of
Grecian independence, and died
April 19, 1824. While displaying
an extraordinary power and splen-
dor of language, some of Byron's
longer poems show a depravity un-
redeemed by wit. They have the
same effect by the side of his better
effusions, that some rank, offensive
weed has in a garden of lilies and
roses. The poetical fame of Byron
was greater in his lifetime than it
can ever be again. With as little
power as any great poet ever pos-
sessed of delineating the character
and passions of other men, Byron
was not true to nature unless when
he drew his materials from within;
but much of his poetry, unreal and
fantastic as it is in its representa-
tions of human life, has the singular
charm which belongs to the self-
drawn image of a nature nobly en-
dowed, but vacillating morally be-
tween the extremes of goodness and
of evil. Extracts from pp. 42, 58,
60, 64, 124, 236.

CESAR, CA'IUS JU'LIUS, the first Ro-
man emperor, whence future em-
perors were called Cæsars. He was
one of the greatest men that Rome
produced; renowned both for his

military exploits and for his ability
as a historian. He fell beneath the
daggers of conspirators on the ides
of March, 43 B. C., and in the 56th
year of his age.

CAIRN (the ai like a in care), a heap
of stones to mark a grave, &c.
CA'IUS (ka'y us).

CALYP'So, in fabulous history, the
queen of the island on which Ulysses
suffered shipwreck, and where he
was detained by her spells.
CAM'O-ENS, DOM LUIS, the Portu-
guese poet, is supposed to have
been born at Lisbon, about the year
1524.
The
He died in 1579.
"Lusiad" is his principal poem;
but he left also a great number of
sonnets, some of which equal those
of Petrarch. Mentioned by Words-
worth, p. 122.

CAMPBELL, THOMAS, one of the great-
est lyric poets of the age, was born
July 27, 1777, at Glasgow, Scotland,
where his father was a merchant.
Educated at the university of his
native town, Campbell removed to
Edinburgh, and in 1799 published
his "Pleasures of Hope," which
lifted him at once into a great repu-
tation. In 1802, before he had
reached his 26th year, he wrote his
"Hohenlinden," and "Lochiel's
Warning." This last poem was a
great favorite with Sir Walter Scott;
and Irving speaks of the two poems

66

as exquisite gems, sufficient of
themselves to establish the author's
title to the sacred name of poet."
His ballad of "Lord Ullin's Daugh-
ter" is an extraordinary specimen
of scenic power, or picturing in
words. Indeed, his genius shines
most conspicuously in his lyrics,
which are among the noblest in the
language. HisGertrude of Wy-
oming is a beautiful but not a
great poem. Campbell is one of
the most correct and elegant of
modern writers of verse. His schol-
arship was extensive; and he was
prouder of his Greek than of his
poetry. For a number of years
(1820-1831) he edited the London
New Monthly Magazine. No man
was more earnest in his sympathy
with all that was generous and
noble. Early in life he married
his cousin, Miss Sinclair; but the
death of one son and the madness
of another cast a gloom on his ex-
istence. The infirmities of charac-

ter which grew partly out of his
unhappiness every kind heart will
forget in the splendor of his genius
and the amiableness of his personal
qualities. Few English poems are
more widely and repeatedly quoted
than his shorter lyrics, and they are
not likely to be soon superseded by
anything better in the same vein.
In the compression, energy, and
grace of his poetical diction he has
rarely been equaled. Campbell
died in 1844, at Boulogne, and his
mortal remains lie interred in West-
minster Abbey. See pp. 195, 226,
345, 479.

CAP-A-PIE (kap-ä-pē′), from head to
foot. (Fr.)

CARTHAGINIAN (-jin'yan), pertaining
to ancient Carthage. The Cartha-
ginians, being devoted chiefly to
commerce, neglected the arts and
sciences, and produced no literature
that has endured.

CAT'A-PHRACT, a species of heavy
defensive armor; a horseman in
complete armor.

CAT'ILINE (-line), a Roman patrician,
born about B. C. 109, and famous for
his conspiracy against the govern-
ment of Rome. He was eloquently
denounced by Cicero, and, fly-
ing from the city, was slain in
battle.

CAUSTICITY (-tis'i-ty).

CENTRE or CENTER. The latter form
is preferred by Webster.
CERVANTES, MIGUEL, the celebrated
Spanish novelist, was born 1547,
died 1616. His reputation rests
chiefly on his "Don Quixote,"
written to ridicule knight-errantry.
CHAGRIN (sha-green' or sha-grin).
CHALDEE (kal-de'), relating to Chal-
dea, anciently a part of the Baby-
lonian empire on the Euphrates.
Chaldea was famous for its sages
or wise men.

CHALICE (chal'is; but there is au-
thority also for kal'is).
CHANCEL (chan'sel).

CHANNING, WM. ELLERY, was born
at Newport, R. I., 1780. His ma-
ternal grandfather, Wm. Ellery,
was one of the signers of the Dec-
laration of Independence. Chan-
ning was educated at Harvard Col-
lege; studied for the ministry, and
in 1803 accepted a call to take
charge of the Unitarian church in
Federal Street, Boston. He re-
tained the situation till his death,

(Oct. 2, 1842), during which period
his reputation as a preacher and an
ethical writer was very great. His
discourses and essays give him a
lofty rank, not only as an eloquent
advocate of human rights, but as
one of the foremost masters of an
English style at once pure, lumi-
nous, and forcible. Always fearless
in his utterance of unpopular truths,
he did not shrink from the discus-
sion of the moral duties of the
American people in regard to slav-
ery; and now, read in the light of
subsequent events, his views will
be found to be as wise as they are
humane. His sympathies went
forth to the toiling millions of every
grade; to the sailors, the poor work-
women, the day-laborers; but he
was disposed to look less to changes
in external condition than to intel-
lectual culture and moral develop-
ment, for permanent reforms. The
great work of the age he conceived
to be "the diffusion of intelligence
and enlightened religion through
the mass of the people." He was
ever anxious to raise the profession
of teachers to its rightful position
of honor; regarding schools as the
fountain-heads of intellectual cul-
ture and moral enlightenment. See
pp. 76, 118, 238.

CHARADE (shă-rade'), a syllabic enig-
ma, so named from its inventor,
made upon a word the two syllables
of which, when separately taken,
are themselves words. See speci-
men, p. 345.
CHARTA (kar'ta).

CHATHAM, WM. PITT, earl of, was
born in Cornwall, England, Nov. 15,
1708. Educated at Oxford he en-
tered Parliament in 1736. His fig-
ure was tall and manly; his deport-
ment dignified and graceful; his
countenance singularly expressive.
His voice was both full and clear.
While his lowest whisper was dis-
tinctly heard, his middle tones were
sweet, rich, and beautifully varied;
and when he elevated his voice to
its highest pitch, the House was
completely filled with the volume
of the sound. All accounts concur
in representing the effects of his
oratory to have been prodigious.
The spirit and vehemence which
animated it the appositeness of
his invective the grandeur of his
ideas, and the heart-stirring nature

of his appeals, are all confessed by
the united testimony of his contem-
poraries. In 1756 he was at the
head of the ministry. In 1757 an
attempt, partially successful, was
made to drive "the great com-
moner," as he was called, from
power; but after an interval, he re-
turned with greater influence than
ever. Finding himself, however,
inadequately seconded by his col-
legues, he resigned office 1768. In
the House of Lords he strenuously
urged the abandonment of coercive
measures against America; but his
warnings were rejected, and in 1776
the colonies declared themselves
independent. It was while exhort-
ing the lords on the subject of a
reconciliation with America, that
he fell down in a convulsive fit in
the House, April 8, 1778, dying on
the 11th of the following month, in
the 70th year of his age. The pri-
vate life of Chatham was no less
amiable and exemplary than his
public career was illustrious. As

an orator he stands foremost among
English debaters. His second son
was the celebrated William Pitt.
See speech, p. 113.
CHEVALIER (shev-a-leer').
CHILLON (shil-long').
CHIVALRY (Shiv'al-ry).

CHOPS, in nautical usage, the mouth
or entrance.

CHRISTENDOM (kris'n-dom), Christian
countries collectively.
CHRISTIANITY (kris-te-an'i-ty).
CICERO, Marcus Tullius, the most
eminent of Roman orators, was born
B. C. 106. He distinguished him-
self not only as a statesman, but as
an advocate and writer. His works
are numerous. While occupying
the office of consul, he denounced
the conspiracy of Catiline, and drove
the profligate from Rome. For this
service the public enthusiasm heap-
ed upon Cicero unwonted honors;
in the senate and in the forum he
was saluted as parens patriæ (the
parent of his country). For an ac-
count of the death of Cicero, see
note, p. 375; speech, p. 456.
CIMBRI (sim'bri), a Celtic people who
occupied a region, now a part of
Denmark. They were defeated in
battle by Marius, B. C. 102.
CI'MON, an Athenian general, son
of Miltiades, distinguished himself
against the Persians, 470 B. C. He

His

displayed his wisdom and patriotism
by founding public schools.
CLANGOR (klang'gur).
CLERK (klerk or klark).
COLERIDGE, Samuel Taylor, distin
guished as a poet and philosopher,
was the son of a clergyman, and
born in Devonshire, England, in
1772. He entered the university at
Cambridge, but suddenly left and
enlisted in London into a horse regi-
ment. Discovered and rescued by
his friends, he returned to Cam-
bridge, which he subsequently left
without a degree. He now associ-
ated himself with Southey, and
another young poet, Lovel, in a
Utopian scheme of founding a
Pantisocracy, or republic of pure
freedom, in America; but this pro-
ject evaporated very harmlessly in
the marriages of the poets with three
sisters at Bristol. Coleridge's hab-
its of mind and of business rendered
his publications unprofitable to him-
self, and disastrous to his publishers.
Opium-eating gradually unhinged
the structure of his mind, and he
became an exile from his family
and his dearest friends, of whom
Wordsworth had been one.
capital defect seemed to be a want
of energetic will. His prose works
include dissertations on theology,
history, politics, the principles of
society. His poetical works consist
of odes, ballads, dramas; but most
of them exhibit incompleteness of
design. His translations from the
German of Schiller are very admi-
rable. The conspicuous features of
his poetry are its exquisite melody
of versification, and the fine literary
taste by which the diction is chas-
tened. His "Hymn to Mont Blanc,"
in its exultant sublimity, equals the
best efforts of Milton. Coleridge
was celebrated for his powers of
conversation. He died at Highgate,
July, 1834. His son, Hartley Cole-
ridge inherited his father's infirmi
ties, and much of his father's genius.
See
pp. 274, 434.
COLLINS, WILLIAM, the son of a hat-
ter, was born in Chichester, Eng-
land, 1720. In 1744 he settled in
London, but suffered from poverty
even beyond the common lot of
poets. He published his Odes, and
planned gigantic enterprises of au-
thorship; but his mode of life, act-
ing on latent tendencies to insanity,

lawyer and patriot, celebrated for
his eloquence and wit, was born of
humble parents in the neighborhood
of Cork, 1750. He became a mem-
ber of the Irish house of commons
in 1784. His oratorical powers
were of the most brilliant descrip-
tion, and through them he wielded
an immense influence over his coun-
trymen. He died in London 1817.
See p. 260.

DACTYL'IC, pertaining to a dactyl or
poetical foot consisting of three
syllables, the first long and the
others short, like the joints of a
finger; the Greek word daktulos
meaning a finger.
DANIEL (dan'e-el).

DANTE (dän'te), ALIGHIERI, the sub-
limest of the Italian poets, was born
at Florence, 1265, and died at Ra-
venna, 1321.
DAUNT (dänt).

DAVY, SIR HUMPHREY, a celebrated
chemist, born in England, 1779,
died 1838.

DECATUR, STEPHEN, an American
naval officer, distinguished for
bravery and skill, was born 1779,
and fell in a duel with Commodore
Barron, 1820.

DECEASE (-sese not -seze).
DECIUS (de'se-us), a consul of ancient
Rome, B. C. 340. The night before
a great battle, he and his colleague
had a vision, announcing that the
general of one side and the army of
the other were devoted to death.
The consuls thereupon agreed that
the one whose wing first began
to waver should devote himself
and the army of the enemy to
destruction. This fortune fell to
Decius; and as his wing gave way,
he rushed among the thickest of
the enemy, and was slain, leaving
the victory to the Romans."
DEFENSE OF DEFENCE. Webster pre-
fers 8, because s is used in the de-
rivative defensive.

DEMOCRACY. This word is derived
from the Greek demos, people,
krateo, to govern.

DEMOS THE-NES, the greatest orator

of antiquity, was born at Athens, in
Greece, about 380 B. C. In his
first attempts to speak before the
people, his feeble and stammering
voice, his interrupted respiration,
his ungraceful gestures, and his ill-
arranged periods, brought upon
him general ridicule. His failure,

however, only roused his energies;
he resolved to correct the deficien-
cies of his youth, and overcame
them with a zeal and perseverance
which have passed into a proverb.
He was an active foe to all en-
croachments on public freedom,
and was consequently maligned by
Eschines who favored the aristo-
cratic faction. It was to rouse his
countrymen against Philip, King of
Macedonia, that the most splendid
orations of Demosthenes, called his
Philippics, were pronounced. He
died B. C. 322. "His manner,"
says Hume, "is rapid harmony
exactly adjusted to the sense; it is
vehement reasoning without any
appearance of art; it is disdain,
anger, boldness, freedom, involved
in a continued stream of argument;
and, of all human productions, the
orations of Demosthenes present to
us the models which approach the
nearest to perfection." See pp. 123,
247, 481.

DESIGN (de-sine' or de-zine').
DEWY (dū'y).

DEXTEROUS or DEXTROUS. Webster
prefers the latter form.
DICKENS, CHARLES, the most popular
English novelist of his day, was
born at Portsmouth, England, 1812.
Early in life he was placed in
an attorney's office; then he be-
came a reporter for some of the
daily papers of London, and at
length began to sketch on paper,
under the signature of Boz, the va-
ried life he witnessed. His fame
dates from the publication of his
"Pickwick Papers" in 1837. Then
followed "Nicholas Nickleby," a
tale crowded with finely drawn por-
traits and scenes of modern English
life; and "Oliver Twist," in which
some of the lowest forms of London
life are depicted. A visit to Amer-
ica in 1842 supplied material for
two new works," American Notes
for General Circulation," and
"Martin Chuzzlewit." In both his
besetting tendency to caricature is
prominent. Seizing an odd feature
or whimsical trait in a man or
woman, he creates from that sin-
gle quality a character. Dickens's
works all betray haste in the com-
position. Commanding large sums
by his pen, he is obviously tempted
to give little time to that condensa-
tion and elaboration which might