p-books.com
The Nuttall Encyclopaedia - Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge
Edited by Rev. James Wood
Previous Part     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18 ... 54     Next Part
Home - Random Browse

BLOUNT, CHARLES, a deist, born in London; assailant of revealed religion; was involved in all the controversies of the time; died by his own hand (1654-1693).

BLOWPIPE, a contrivance by which a current of air is driven through a flame, and the flame directed upon some fusible substance to fuse or vitrify it.

BLUeCHER, Prussian field-marshal, familiarly named "Marshal Forwards," born at Rostock; served first in the Swedish army, then in the Prussian; distinguished as a leader of cavalry, and met with varying fortune; at the age of 70 commanded the centre of the Allied Army in 1813; distinguished himself at Luetzen and Leipzig; pursued the French across the Rhine; pressed forward to Paris at the time of Napoleon's abdication; defeated by Napoleon at Ligny, 16th June 1815; arrived on the field of Waterloo just as the French were preparing to make their last charge, and contributed to decide the fate of the day (1742-1819).

BLUE MOUNTAINS, a range of thickly wooded mountains traversing Jamaica from E. to W., from 5000 to 7000 ft. in height; also a chain of mountains in New South Wales of two parallel ranges, with a deep chasm between, and full of gloomy ravines and beetling precipices, the highest 4100 ft.

BLUE NOSE, a nickname given to an inhabitant of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick.

BLUEBEARD, a wealthy seigneur, the owner of a castle; marries a beautiful woman, and leaves her in charge of the keys of the apartments in his absence, with injunctions not to unlock any of the doors, an injunction which she fails to respect, and finds to her horror the remains of his former wives locked up in one of them; her disobedience is discovered, and she is to prepare for death, but is rescued, as she lies with her head on the block, by the timely arrival of her brothers, who at once despatch the husband to his merited doom.

BLUE-BOOKS, Parliamentary documents bound in blue paper, as the corresponding documents in France are in yellow; they have been published regularly since the beginning of the 18th century, those of a single session now forming a collection of some 60 folio volumes.

BLUE-COAT SCHOOL, a name given to Christ's Hospital, London, founded in the reign of Edward VI., from the blue coats worn by the boys.

BLUE-GOWN, in Scotland a beggar, a bedesman of the king, who wore a blue gown, the gift of the king, and had his license to beg.

BLUE-STOCKING, a female pedant or femme savante, a name derived from a learned coterie, formed in the 15th century, at Venice, who wore blue stockings as a badge.

BLUFF HAL, or HARRY, Henry VIII. of England.

BLUM, a German politician, born at Cologne; tried by court-martial and shot for abetting a political movement in Vienna in 1848, a proceeding which created a wide-spread sensation at the time all over Europe; b. 1807.

BLUMENBACH, JOHANN FRIEDRICH, a distinguished German naturalist and ethnologist, born at Gotha; studied at Jena; became professor at Goettingen, an office he filled for 60 years; his works gave a great impulse to scientific research in all directions; the chief were "Institutiones Physiologicae," "Manual of Natural History," "Manual of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology"; he made craniology a special study; was a great advocate for religious liberty (1752-1840).

BLUMENTHAL, LEONARD VON, field-marshal in the Prussian army; distinguished in the wars with Denmark, Austria, and France; an eminent strategist; b. 1810.

BLUMI'NE, the siren that Calypsowise in "Sartor" seduced Teufelsdroeckh at the commencement of his career, but who opened his eyes to see that it is not in sentiment, however fine, that the soul's cravings can find satisfaction.

BLUNT, JOHN HENRY, D.D., born at Chelsea; wrote largely on theological and ecclesiastical subjects (1823-1884).

BLUNTSCHLI, JOHANN KASPAR, a distinguished jurist, born at Zurich; an authority in international law; a liberal conservative both in Church and State; founder and president of the Protestant Union called the Protestantenverein (1808-1881).

BOABDIL, or ABU-ABDALLAH, surnamed "The Unfortunate," the last Moorish king of Granada, from 1481 to 1492; expelled from his throne by Ferdinand of Castile and Aragon; as he rode off he halted on a hill called "The Last Sigh of the Moor," and wept as he looked back on the Alhambra, while his mother added to his bitterness with the cutting sarcasm, "Weep as a woman for a throne you have not been able to defend as a man"; died shortly after in Africa, recklessly throwing away his life on a field of battle.

BOADICE'A, a British heroine, queen of the Iceni, who occupied Norfolk and Suffolk; roused by indignity done to her and her people by the Romans, gathered round her an army, who, with a murderous onslaught, attacked their settlements and destroyed them; but being attacked and defeated in turn by Suetonius Paulinus, the Roman governor, she put, in her despair, an end to her life by poison, A.D. 61. Cowper made her the theme of one of his poems.

BOANERGES (i. e. Sons of Thunder), applied by Christ to the sons of Zebedee for the vehemence of their zeal.

BOAZ and JACHIN, two pillars of brass at the entrance of Solomon's Temple, signifying respectively strength and stability.

BOB'ADIL, CAPTAIN, a braggadocio in Ben Jonson's "Every Man in his Humour."

BOBECHE, a French theatrical clown, under the Empire and the Restoration, son of an upholsterer of the St. Antoine faubourg, the type of the merry-andrew at country fairs.

BOCCACCIO, GIOVANNI, the celebrated Italian raconteur, born near Florence; showed early a passion for literature; sent by his father to Naples to pursue a mercantile career; gave himself up to story-telling in prose and verse; fell in love with Maria, a beautiful woman, daughter of the king, styled by him Fiammetta, for whom he wrote several of his works, and his great work, the "Decameron"; early formed a lifelong friendship with Petrarch, along with whom he contributed to the revival and study of classic literature; lectured on Dante in Florence; Petrarch's death deeply affected him, and he died the year after (1313-1375).

BOCCHERINI, LUIGI, a celebrated Italian musical composer, born at Lucca; was associated with Manfredi, the violinist; his works were numerous; appears to have lived in poverty and obscurity (1740-1805).

BOCHART, SAMUEL, a Protestant divine, born at Rouen; pastor at Caen; a geographer and an Orientalist; wrote a treatise on sacred geography; celebrated for a nine-days' discussion with the Jesuit Verin (1599-1667).

BODE, JOHANN ELERT, an astronomer, born at Hamburg; was professor of Astronomy and director of Observatory at Berlin; produced a number of astronomical works, one of his best, "An Introduction to the Knowledge of the Starry Heavens;" gave name to the law of the planetary distances, called Bode's Law, although it was observed by Kepler long before his day (1747-1826).

BODEL, a celebrated troubadour of the 13th century, born at Arras.

BODENSEE, another name for the Lake of Constance, well called the filter of the Rhine.

BODIN, JEAN, a publicist and diplomatist, born at Angers; author of "The Republic," in six books, published at first in French and then in Latin, which summed up all the political philosophy of his time, and contributed to prepare the way for subsequent speculations; was the precursor of Hobbes and Montesquieu (1530-1596).

BODLEIAN LIBRARY, the university library of Oxford, founded, or rather restored, by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1593; enlarged from time to time by bequests, often munificent. It possesses 400,000 printed volumes and 30,000 MSS.

BODLEY, SIR THOMAS, born at Exeter; employed on embassies by Elizabeth on the Continent, where he collected a number of valuable books; bequeathed them and his fortune to the university library of Oxford, named after him (1545-1613).

BODMER, JOHANN JACOB, a distinguished Swiss critic, born near Zurich; the first, by study of the masters in literature of Greece and Rome, France, England, and Italy, to wake up Germany to a sense of its poverty in that line, and who aided, along with others, in the inauguration of a new era, which he did more by his republication of the Minnesingers and part of the "Nibelungen Lied" than by his advocacy (1698-1783).

BODMIN (5), the county town of Cornwall, supersedes Truro as capital; an important agricultural centre; has large annual fairs for cattle, horses, and sheep.

BODONI, an Italian printer; settled at Parma, where his press was set up in the ducal palace, whence issued magnificent editions of the classics, Horace, Virgil, Tacitus, Tasso, and, last of all, Homer. He was often tempted to Rome, but he refused to quit Parma and the patronage of the ducal house there (1740-1813).

BOeDTCHER, LUDWIG, a Danish lyric poet, born at Copenhagen; lived chiefly in Italy (1793-1874).

BOECE, HECTOR, a humanist and Scottish historian, born at Dundee; professor of Philosophy at Paris; friend of Erasmus; was principal of university at Aberdeen; wrote "History of Bishops of Mortlach and Aberdeen," and "History of Scotland" in excellent Latin (1465-1536).

BOECKH, PHILIP AUGUST, classical antiquary, born at Carlsruhe; professor of Ancient Literature in Berlin; a classic of the first rank, and a contributor on a large scale to all departments of Greek classical learning; was an eminently learned man, and an authority in different departments of learning (1785-1867).

BOEHM, SIR JOSEPH EDGAR, sculptor, born in Vienna, of Hungarian parentage; settled in England; executed a colossal statue of the Queen at Windsor, a seated statue of Carlyle on the Thames Embankment, a statue of Bunyan at Bedford, &c.; patronised by the Queen and royal family; buried in St. Paul's by the Queen's desire (1785-1869).

BOEHME, JACOB, a celebrated German mystic, born at Goerlitz; of an imaginatively meditative turn from boyhood as a neat-herd, and afterwards in his stall as a shoemaker; spent his whole life in meditation on divine things; saw in the Bible a revelation of these as in no other book; seemed to have eyes given him to see visions of these things himself, for which he felt he had no organ to express, and which he conveyed to others in mystical, apocalyptical speech; a thinker very fascinating to all minds of the seer class. He was subject to persecution, as all of his stamp are, by the men of the letter, and bore up with the meekness which all men of his elevation of character ever do—"quiet, gentle, and modest," as they all are to the very core, in his way of thinking; and his philosophy would seem to have anticipated the secret of Hegel, who acknowledges him as one of the fathers of German philosophy. He left writings which embody a scheme of mystical theology, setting forth the trinity in unity of the Hegelian system, that is, viewing the divine as it is in itself, as it comes out in nature, and as it returns to itself in the human soul (1575-1624).

BOEHMER, a German historian, born at Frankfort; author of works on the Carlovingian period of history (1795-1863).

BOEO'TIA, a country of ancient Greece, N. of the Gulf of Corinth; the natives, though brave, were mere tillers of the soil under a heavy atmosphere, innocent of culture, and regarded as boors and dullards by the educated classes of Greece, and particularly of Athens, and yet Hesiod, Pindar, and Plutarch were natives of Boeotia.

BOERHAAVE, a great physician, born near Leyden, and son of a pastor; ultimately professor of Medicine and Botany there, as well as of Chemistry; chairs of which he filled and adorned with the greatest distinction; his reputation spread over Europe, and even as far as China—a letter from which bore the simple address, "To M. Boerhaave, Europe," and found him; his system was adopted by the profession, and patients from far and wide came to consult him—among others, Pope Benedict VIII. and Peter the Great; his character was as noble as his abilities were great; his principal works were "Institutiones Medicae," "Aphorismi de Cognoscendis et Curandis Morbis," "Libellus de Materia Medica," and "Institutiones Chemicae" (1668-1738).

BOERS (i. e. peasants engaged in tillage), Dutch colonists of an independent republican temper, who in the 17th century squatted in S. Africa; gave themselves to agriculture and cattle-rearing; settled at length in the Transvaal in a self-governed community by themselves.

BOETHIUS, ANICIUS MANLIUS SEVERINUS, a Roman statesman, born at Rome, of Consular rank, a profoundly learned man, held the highest offices, Consul among others, under Theodoric the Goth; his integrity and opposition to injustice procured him enemies, who accused him of treason; he was cast into prison, and finally put to death; wrote in prison his "De Consolatione Philosophiae," in five parts, employing verse and prose alternately, which King Alfred translated into Anglo-Saxon; he was canonised as a martyr, and his influence was great during the Middle Ages (470-524).

BOEUF, FRONT DE, a character in "Ivanhoe."

BOGATZKY, KARL HEINRICH VON, religious writer; wrote hymns and an autobiography; is best known as the author of the "Golden Treasury" (1690-1744).

BOGDANOVITCH, a Russian poet, called by his countrymen the "Russian Anacreon"; his best-known poem "Psyche" (1743-1803).

BOGERMANN, JOHANN, Dutch divine, translated the Bible into Dutch, and was President of the Synod of Dort (1576-1633).

BOGOTA' (100), capital of the United State of Colombia, situated on a remarkable, almost mountain-encircled, plateau, on the river Bogota, 65 m. SE. of its port, Honda, the highest navigable point of the Magdalena, is 8600 ft. above sea-level, and has a spring-like climate. It is regularly built, with innumerable churches, a mint, university, library, and observatory, and several schools. Though the country is fertile and the mountains rich in coal, iron, salt, and precious metals, its situation and the want of a railway hinder trade.

BOG-TROTTER, a name given to the Scottish moss-troopers, now to certain Irish for their agility in escaping over bogs.

BOGUE, DAVID, born in Berwickshire, a Congregational minister; one of the founders of the London Foreign Missionary, the Foreign Bible, and the Religious Tract Societies (1750-1825).

BOHEMIA (5,843), the most northerly province in Austria, two-thirds the size of Scotland; is encircled by mountains, and drained by the upper Elbe and its tributaries. The Erzgebirge separate it from Saxony; the Riesengebirge, from Prussia; the Boehmerwald, from Bavaria; and the Moravian Mountains, from Moravia. The mineral wealth is varied and great, including coal, the most useful metals, silver, sulphur, and porcelain clay. The climate is mild in the valleys, the soil fertile; flax and hops the chief products; forests are extensive. Dyeing, calico-printing, linen and woollen manufactures, are the chief industries. The glassware is widely celebrated; there are iron-works and sugar-refineries. The transit trade is very valuable. The people are mostly Czechs, of the Slavonic race, Roman Catholics in religion; there is a large and influential German minority of about two millions, with whom the Czechs, who are twice as numerous, do not amalgamate; the former being riled at the official use of the Czech language, and the latter agitating for the elevation of the province to the same status as that of Hungary. Education is better than elsewhere in Austria; there is a university at Prague, the capital. In the 16th century the crown was united with the Austrian, but in 1608 religious questions led to the election of the Protestant Frederick V. This was followed by the Thirty Years' War, the extermination of the Protestants, and the restoration of the Austrian House.

BOHEMIAN, name given to one who lives by his wits and shuns conventionality.

BOHEMIAN BRETHREN, a fraternity of an extreme sect of the Hussites, organised as United Brethren in 1455; broken up in the Thirty Years' War, met in secret, and were invited, under the name of Moravians or Herrnhuters, by Count Zinzendorf to settle on his estate.

BOHEMOND, first prince of Antioch, son of Robert Guiscard; set out on the first crusade; besieged and took Antioch; was besieged in turn by the Saracens, and imprisoned for two years; liberated, he collected troops and recaptured the city (1056-1111).

BOHLEN, VON, a German Orientalist, professor at Koenigsberg (1796-1840).

BONN, HENRY GEORGE, an enterprising publisher, a German, born in London; issued a series of works identified with his name (1796-1884).

BOeHTLINGK, OTTO, Sanskrit scholar, a German, born in St. Petersburg; author, among other works, of a Sanskrit dictionary in 7 vols.; b.1815.

BOIARDO, MATTEO MARIA, Count of Scandiano, surnamed the "Flower of Chivalry"; an Italian poet, courtier, diplomatist, and statesman; author of "Orlando Innamorato" (1456), the model of Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso," which eclipsed it (1434-1494).

BOIELDIEU, ADRIEN FRANCOIS, a distinguished French musical composer of operas; author of the "Calife de Bagdad," "Telemaque," and "La Dame Blanche," reckoned his masterpiece; called the French Mozart (1775-1834).

BOIGNE, COUNT DE, a French soldier of fortune, born at Chambery; served under France, Russia, East India Company, and the prince of the Mahrattas, to whom he rendered signal service; amassed wealth, which he dealt out generously and for the benefit of his country (1751-1830).

BOII, an ancient people of Gaul, occupying territory between the Allier and the Loire.

BOILEAU, NICOLAS (surnamed Despreaux, to distinguish him from his brother), poet and critic, born in Paris; brought up to the law, but devoted to letters, associating himself with La Fontaine, Racine, and Moliere; author of "Satires" and "Epistles," "L'Art Poetique," "Le Lutrin," &c., in which he attached and employed his wit against the bad taste of his time; did much to reform French poetry, as Pascal did to reform the prose, and was for long the law-giver of Parnassus; was an imitator of Pope, but especially of Horace (1636-1711).

BOISARD, a French fabulist of remarkable fecundity (1743-1831).

BOIS-GUILLEBERT, a French economist, cousin of Vauban; advocate of free trade; d. 1714.

BOIS-LE-DUC (27), capital of North Brabant, 45 m. SE. of Amsterdam, and with a fine cathedral; seat of an archbishop.

BOISMONT, THE ABBE, one of the best French pulpit orators of the 18th century (1715-1786).

BOISROBERT, THE ABBE, a French poet, one of the first members of the French Academy; patronised by Richelieu (1592-1662).

BOISSONADE, JEAN FRANCOIS, a French Greek scholar; for a time carried away by the revolutionary movement, but abandoned politics for letters (1774-1857).

BOISSIERE, a French lexicographer (1806-1885).

BOISSY D'ANGLAS, COUNT, a member and president of the Convention in Paris, noted for his firmness and coolness during the frenzy of the Revolution: one day the Parisian mob burst in upon the Convention, shot dead a young deputy, Feraud, "sweeping the members of it before them to the upper-bench ... covered, the president sat unyielding, like a rock in the beating of seas; they menaced him, levelled muskets at him, he yielded not; they held up Feraud's bloody head to him; with grave, stern air he bowed to it, and yielded not"; became a senator and commander of the Legion of Honour under Napoleon; was made a peer by Louis XVIII. (1756-1826).

BOISTE, a French lexicographer (1765-1824).

BOKHA'RA (1,800), a Mohammedan State in Central Asia, N. of Afghanistan, nominally independent; but the Khan is a vassal of the Czar. The surface is arid, and cultivation possible only near the rivers-the Oxus, Zarafshan, and Karshi. In the sands of the Oxus, gold and salt are found. Rice, cotton, and cereals are grown; silk, cotton-thread, jewellery, cutlery, and firearms are manufactured. The people are of Turk and Persian origin. The capital, Bokhara (70), is on the plain of the Zarafshan, a walled, mud-built city, 8 or 9 m. in circumference, with numerous colleges and mosques, the centre of learning and religious life in Central Asia. It has important trade and large slave markets.

BOLAN' PASS, a high-lying, deep, narrow gorge, extending between Quetta (Beluchistan) and Kandahar (Afghanistan), sloping upwards at an inclination of 90 ft. a mile; is traversed by a torrent.

BOLESLAUS, the name of several dukes of Poland, of whom the most famous is Boleslaus I. the Great, who ruled from 992 to 1025.

BOLEYN, ANNE, or BULLEN, second wife of Henry VIII. and mother of Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thoman Bullen (afterwards Earl of Wiltshire); after a three years' residence at the French Court became maid of honour to Queen Katherine; attracted the admiration of Henry; was married to him, and became queen; charged with adultery and conspiracy, was found guilty and beheaded; was of the Reformed faith; her marriage with Henry had important bearings on the English Reformation (1507-1536).

BOLINGBROKE, HENRY ST. JOHN, VISCOUNT, English statesman, orator, and political writer, born at Battersea; Prime Minister of Queen Anne in the Tory interest, after her dismissal of the Whigs; on the accession of George I. fled to France and joined the Pretender; was impeached and attainted; returned in 1723 to his estates, but denied a seat in the House of Lords, an indignity which he resented by working the overthrow of Walpole; was the friend of Pope and Swift, and the author of "Letters" bearing upon politics and literature. "Bolingbroke," says Prof. Saintsbury, "is a rhetorician pure and simple, but the subjects of his rhetoric were not the great and perennial subjects, but puny ephemeral forms of them—the partisan and personal politics of his day, the singularly shallow form of infidelity called Deism and the like; and his time deprived him of many, if not most, of the rhetorician's most telling weapons. The 'Letter to Windham,' a sort of apologia, and the 'Ideal of a Patriot King,' exhibit him at his best." It was he who suggested to Pope his "Essay on Man" (1678-1751).

BOLIVAR, SIMON, surnamed the Liberator, general and statesman, born at Caracas; a man of good birth and liberal education; seized with the passion for freedom during a visit to Madrid and Paris, devoted himself to the cause of S. American independence; freed from the yoke of Spain Venezuela and New Grenada, which, in 1819, he erected into a republic under the name of Colombia; achieved in 1824 the same for Upper Peru, henceforth called Bolivia, after his name; accused of aspiring to the Dictatorship, he abdicated, and was preparing to leave the country when he died of fever, with the sage reflection on his lips, "The presence of a soldier, however disinterested he may be, is always dangerous in a State that is new to freedom"; he has been called the Washington of S. America (1783-1830).

BOLIVIA (1,500), an inland republic of S. America, occupying lofty tablelands E. of the Andes, and surrounded by Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Chili. The S. is chiefly desert; in the N. are Lake Titicaca and many well-watered valleys. The very varied heights afford all kinds of vegetation, from wheat and maize to tropical fruits. In the lower plains coffee, tobacco, cotton, and cinchona are cultivated. The most important industry is mining: gold, silver, copper, and tin. Trade is hampered by want of navigable rivers, but helped by railways from Chili, Peru, and Argentina. Silver is the chief export; manufactured goods are imported. The country has been independent since 1825; it lost its sea provinces in the war with Chili, 1879-83. The capital is Sucre (12), but La Pay (45) and Cochabamba (14) are larger towns.

BOLLAND, JOHN, a Jesuit of Antwerp, born in Belgium; compiled five vols. of the Lives of the Saints called "Acta Sanctorum," which was continued by others, called after him "Bollandists."

BOLLANDISTS, a succession of Jesuits who produced the Lives of the Saints, now extended to sixty vols.

BOLOGNA (147), an ancient walled city of Italy, on a fertile plain, at the foot of the Lower Apennines, 83 m. N. of Florence; has many fine buildings, a university, one of the oldest in Europe, schools of music and art, libraries, and art collections. There are some silk and other industries, and considerable trade.

BOLOGNA, JOHN OF, one of the most celebrated sculptors of art in his time, born at Douai, settled at Florence (1524-1608).

BOLOR-TAGH, a high tableland in Central Asia, stretching from the Hindu Kush mountains northwards to the Tian Shan.

BOLSE'NA, a small town in Italy, on the E. shore of Lake Bolsena.

BOLSENA, a lake with clear water in a hollow crater of a volcano, and abounding with fish, but with an unwholesome atmosphere.

BOLTON (115), manufacturing town of Lancashire.

BOLTON ABBEY, an old abbey in Yorkshire, 6 m. E. of Skipton; was founded by the Augustinian canons.

BOMA, a station on the Lower Congo, in the Congo Independent State; once a great slave mart.

BOMARSUND, a fortress of the island of Aland occupied by Russia, destroyed by the Anglo-French fleet in 1854; the Russians bound not to restore it.

BOMBA, nickname of Ferdinand II., late king of the Two Sicilies, given him, it is alleged, from his calling upon his soldiers to bombard his people during an insurrection.

BOMBASTES FURIOSO, an opera by Thomas Rhodes in ridicule of the bombastic style of certain tragedies in vogue.

BOMBAY (26,960), the western Presidency of India, embraces 26 British districts and 19 feudatory states. N. of the Nerbudda River the country is flat and fertile; S. of it are mountain ranges and tablelands. In the fertile N. cotton, opium, and wheat are the staple products. In the S., salt, iron, and gold are mined; but coal is wanting. The climate is hot and moist on the coast and in the plains, but pleasant on the plateaux. Cotton manufacture has developed extensively and cotton cloths, with sugar, tea, wool, and drugs are exported. Machinery, oil, coal, and liquors are imported. BOMBAY (822), the chief city, stands on an island, connected with the coast by a causeway, and has a magnificent harbour and noble docks. It is rapidly surpassing Calcutta in trade, and is one of the greatest of seaports; its position promises to make it the most important commercial centre in the East, as it already is in the cotton trade of the world. It swarms with people of every clime, and its merchandise is mainly in the hands of the Parsees, the descendants of the ancient fire-worshippers. It is the most English town in India. It came to England from Portugal as dowry with Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II., who leased it to the East India Company for L10 a year. Its prosperity began when the Civil War in America afforded it an opening for its cotton.

BON GAULTIER, nom de plume assumed by Professor Aytoun and Sir Theodore Martin.

BONA (30), a seaport in Algeria, in the province of Constantine, on a bay of the Mediterranean, with an excellent harbour and a growing trade; is much improved since its occupation by the French in 1832. Near it are the ruins of Hippo, the episcopal city of Augustine.

BONA, an ascetic writer, surnamed the Fenelon of Italy, one of feuillant order of monks (1609-1674).

BONA DEA (the good goddess), a Roman goddess of fertility, worshipped by women; her priests vestals and her worship by rites from which men were excluded. Her symbol was a serpent, but the name under which she was worshipped is not known.

BONALD, VICOMTE DE, a French publicist, a violent royalist and ultramontanist; looked upon the Catholic religion and the royal authority as fundamental to the stability of the social fabric, and was opposed to the law of divorce, which led to its alteration. He denied that language was innate, but revealed, and that causation was inherent in matter (1758-1840).

BONAPARTE, name of a celebrated family of Italian origin settled in Corsica; the principal members of it were: CHARLES MARIE, born at Ajaccio, 1744; died at Montpellier, 1785; married, 1767. MARIE-LAETITIA RAMOLINO, born at Ajaccio, 1750; died at Rome, 1836; of this union were born eight children: JOSEPH, became king of Naples, 1806; king of Spain from 1808 to 1813; retired to United States after Waterloo; returned to Europe, and died at Florence, 1844. NAPOLEON I. (q. v.). LUCIEN, b. 1775; became president of the Council of the Five Hundred, and prince of Canino; died in Viterbo, 1840. MARIE-ANNE-ELIZA, b. 1777; married Felix Bacciochi, who became prince of Lucca; died at Trieste, 1826. LOUIS, b. 1778; married Hortense de Beauharnais; father of Napoleon III.; king of Holland (from 1806 to 1810); died at Leghorn, 1846. MARIE PAULINE, b. 1780; married General Leclerc, 1801; afterwards, in 1803, Prince Camille Borghese; became Duchess of Guastalla; died at Florence, 1825. CAROLINE-MARIE, b. 1782; married Marat in 1800; became Grand-duchess of Berg and Cleves, then queen of Naples; died at Florence, 1839. Jerome, b. 1784, king of Westphalia (from 1807 to 1813); marshal of France in 1850; married, by second marriage, Princess Catherine of Wuertemburg; died in 1860; his daughter, the Princess Mathilde, b. 1820, and his son, Prince Napoleon, called Jerome, b. 1822, married Princess Clothilde, daughter of Victor Emmanuel, of which marriage was born Prince Victor Napoleon in 1862.

BONAR, HORATIUS, a clergyman of the Free Church of Scotland, and a celebrated hymn writer, born at Edinburgh (1808-1889).

BONAVENTURA, ST., cardinal, surnamed the Seraphic Doctor, his real name John Fidenza, born in Tuscany; entered the Franciscan Order; was chosen general of the Order and papal legate at the Council of Lyons in 1274, during the session of which he died; was a mystic in theology; ascribed knowledge of the truth to union with God, such as existed between man and his Maker prior to the Fall, a state which could be recovered only by a life of purity and prayer; his writings were admired by Luther (1221-1274).

BONCHAMP, CHARLES, MARQUIS DE, French general, born in Anjou, served in the American war; became one of the chiefs of the Vendean army; fell at the battle of Cholet, and when dying, relented over the blood already shed; ordered the release of 5000 prisoners which his party, in their revenge, was about to massacre; d. 1793.

BOND, WILLIAM, a distinguished American astronomer (1789-1815), who with his son, GEORGE PHILLIPS, discovered a satellite of Neptune and an eighth satellite of Saturn (1826-1865).

BONDU (30), a country of Senegambia, a dependency of France; yields maize, cotton, fruits.

BONE, HENRY, a celebrated enamel painter, especially in miniature on ivory; born at Truro (1755-1834).

BONER, ULRICH, a German fabulist and Dominican monk of the 14th century, author of "Der Edelstein" (The Jewel), a book of fables.

BONHEUR, ROSA, a celebrated French animal painter, born at Bordeaux; brought up in poverty from ill-fortune; taught by her father; exhibited when she was 19; her best-known works are the "Horse Fair" and the "Hay Harvest in Auvergne," "Ploughing with Oxen," considered her masterpiece; through the Empress Eugenie she received the Cross of the Legion of Honour; during the siege of Paris her studio was spared by order of the Crown Prince; b. 1822.

BONHOMME, JACQUES, a name of contempt given by the nobility of France to the peasants in the 14th century.

BONIFACE, the name of nine popes. B. I., pope from 418 to 422, assumed the title of First Bishop of Christendom; B. II., pope from 530 to 532; B. III., pope for 10 months, from 607 to 608; B. IV., pope from 608 to 614; B. V., pope from 617 to 625; B. VI., pope in 896; B. VII., pope from 974 to 985; B. VIII., pope from 1294 to 1303, a strenuous assertor of the papal supremacy over all princes, and a cause of much turmoil in Europe, provoked a war with Philip the Fair of France, who arrested him at Anagni, and though liberated by the citizens died on his way to Rome; B. IX., pope from 1389 to 1405, the first pope to wear the Triple Crown.

BONIFACE, ST., the Apostle of Germany, born in Devonshire, his real name Winfried; consecrated Pepin le Bref; was made Primate of Germany; was, with 53 companions, massacred by the barbarians of Friesland, whom he sought to convert (680-755).

BONIN', a group of rocky islands SE. of Japan, and since 1878 subject to it.

BONINGTON, RICHARD, an eminent English landscape painter of exceptional precocity, born near Nottingham; painted the "Ducal Palace" and "Grand Canal" at Venice, his masterpieces (1801-1828).

BONIVARD, FRANCOIS DE, a Genevese patriot and historian, twice imprisoned by Charles III., a Duke of Savoy, for his sympathy with the struggles of the Genevese against his tyranny, the second time for six years in the Castle of Chillon; immortalised by Lord Byron in his "Prisoner of Chillon"; he was released at the Reformation, and adopted Protestantism (1496-1571).

BONN (38), a Prussian town on the Rhine, SE. of Cologne, an old Roman station, with a famous university; the birthplace of Beethoven, with a monument to his memory; it is a stronghold of the old Catholics.

BONNAT, JOSEPH LEON, a French painter, born at Bayonne; imitated for a time the religious paintings of the old masters, but since 1862 has followed a style of his own; "Christ at the Cross" in the Palais de Justice, Paris, is his work; b. 1833.

BONNER, EDMUND, bishop of London, born at Worcester; was chaplain to Wolsey; sided with Henry VIII. against the Pope; fell into disgrace under Edward VI.; was restored by Mary, whom he served in her Anti-Protestant zeal; affected to welcome Elizabeth to the throne; was again deposed and imprisoned for refusing to take the oath of supremacy under Elizabeth; died in the Marshalsea Prison: he does not deserve all the odium that has been heaped on his memory; he was faithful as a bishop, consistent in his conduct, and bore the indignities done him with manly fortitude (1495-1569).

BONNET, CHARLES DE, Swiss naturalist and philosopher, born at Geneva; his studies as a naturalist gave a materialistic cast to his philosophy; though he did not deny the existence of mind, still less that of its sovereign Author, he gave to material impressions a dominant influence in determining its manifestations (1720-1793).

BONNET-PIECE, a gold coin of James V. of Scotland, so called from the king being represented on it as wearing a bonnet instead of a crown.

BONNEVAL, CLAUDE-ALEXANDRE, COMTE DE. See ACHMED PASHA.

BONNIE DUNDEE, Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee.

BONPLAND, AIME, a French botanist and traveller, born at Rochelle; companion of Alexander von Humboldt in his S. American scientific explorations; brought home a large collection of plants, thousands of species of them new to Europe; went out again to America, arrested by Dr. Francia in Paraguay as a spy, kept prisoner there for about nine years; released, settled in the prov. of Corrientes, where he died; wrote several works bearing on plants (1773-1858).

BONSTETTEN, CHARLES VICTOR DE, a Swiss publicist and judge, born at Berne; wrote on anthropology, psychology, &c. (1745-1832).

BONTEMPS, ROGER, a French personification of a state of leisure and freedom from care.

BONZE, a Buddhist priest in China, Japan, Burmah, &c.

BOOLE, English mathematician, born at Lincoln; mathematical professor at Cork; author of "Laws of Thought," an original work, and "Differential Equations" (1815-1864).

BOOMERANG, a missile of hard curved wood used by the Australian aborigines of 21/2 ft. long; a deadly weapon, so constructed that, though thrown forward, it takes a whirling course upwards till it stops, when it returns with a swoop and falls in the rear of the thrower.

BOONE, DANIEL, a famous American backwoodsman; d. 1822, aged 84.

BOOeTES (the ox-driver or waggoner), a son of Ceres; inventor of the plough in the Greek mythology; translated along with his ox to become a constellation in the northern sky, the brightest star in which is Arcturus.

BOOTH, BARTON, English actor, acted Shakespearean, characters and Hamlet's ghost (1681-1733).

BOOTH, JOHN WILKES, son of an actor, assassinated Lincoln, and was shot by his captors (1839-1865).

BOOTH, WILLIAM, founder and general of the Salvation Army, born in Nottingham; published "In Darkest England"; a man of singular self-devotion to the religious and social welfare of the race; b. 1839.

BOOTHIA, a peninsula of British N. America, W. of the Gulf of Boothia, and in which the N. magnetic pole of the earth is situated; discovered by Sir John Boss in 1830.

BOOTON, an island in the Malay Archipelago, SE. of Celebes; subject to the Dutch.

BOPP, FRANZ, a celebrated German philologist and Sanskrit scholar, born at Mayence; was professor of Oriental Literature and General Philology at Berlin; his greatest work, "A Comparative Grammar of Sanskrit, Zend, Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, Old Slave, Gothic, and German"; translated portions of the "MAHABHARATA," q. v. (1791-1867).

BORA, KATHARINA, the wife of Luther, born in Meissen, originally a nun, who, with eight others, was at Luther's instance released from her convent; proved "a pious and faithful wife" to Luther, as he says of her, and became the mother to him of six children, three sons and three daughters (1499-1552).

BORDA, a French mathematician and physicist, born at Dax, in the dep. of Landes, served in both army and navy; one of those employed in measuring an arc of the meridian to establish the metric system in France (1733-1799).

BORDEAUX (256), a great industrial and commercial city, and chief seat of the wine trade in France and the third seaport on the Garonne; cap. of the dep. of Gironde; the birthplace of Rosa Bonheur and Richard II., his father, the Black Prince, having had his seat here as governor of Aquitaine. There are sugar-refineries, potteries, foundries, glass and chemical works. The cod-fishing industry has its base here. A cathedral dates from the 11th century. There are schools of science, art, theology, medicine, and navigation, a library, museum, and rich picture-gallery.

BORDER MINSTREL, Sir Walter Scott.

BORDERS, THE, the shifting boundary between Scotland and England before the Union, a centre of endless fighting and marauding on the opposite sides for centuries.

BORDONE, an Italian painter, born at Treviso, a pupil of Titian and Giorgione; his most celebrated picture, "The Gondolier presenting the Ring of St. Mark to the Doge" (1500-1570).

BORE, a watery ridge rushing violently up an estuary, due to a strong tidal wave travelling up a gradually narrowing channel. Bores are common in the estuary of the Ganges and other Asiatic rivers, in those of Brazil, and at the mouth of the Severn, in England.

BOREAS, the god of the north wind, and son of the Titan Astraeus and of Aurora.

BORGHESE, name of a family of high position and great wealth in Rome: Camillo, having become Pope in 1605 under the title of Paul V.; and Prince Borghese having married Pauline Bonaparte, sister of Napoleon, who separated himself from her on the fall of her brother (1775-1832); the palace of the family one of the finest in Rome, and has a rich collection of paintings.

BORGHESI, COUNT, an Italian savant skilled in numismatics (1781-1860).

BORGIA, CAESAR, fourth son of Pope Alexander VI.; was made cardinal at the age of 17, an honour he relinquished to become a soldier, in which capacity it is alleged he gave himself up to deeds of inhumanity, which have made his name a synonym for every action that is most crafty, revolting, and cruel; a portrait of him by Raphael, in the Borghese gallery, is a masterpiece. Notwithstanding the execration in which his memory is held, he is reputed to have been just as a ruler in his own domain, and a patron of art and literature; d. 1507.

BORGIA, FRANCESO, third general of the Order of the Jesuits, a post he filled with great zeal as well as prudent management; was beatified by Urban VIII., and canonised by Clement IX., 1671 (1510-1572).

BORGIA, LUCRETIA, sister of Caesar Borgia, born at Rome; her father annulled her first marriage, and gave her to a nephew of the king of Naples, who was murdered by her brother's assassins, when she married the Duke of Ferrara; was celebrated for her beauty and her patronage of letters, though she has been accused of enormities as well as her brother (1480-1523).

BORGU, fertile and densely-peopled state in Africa, traversed by the Niger, subject to the Royal Niger Company, in one of the chief towns of which Mungo Park lost his life.

BORLASE, WILLIAM, antiquary and naturalist, born in St. Just, Cornwall; author of "Observations on the Antiquities of Cornwall" and "Natural History of Cornwall"; was vicar in his native parish (1696-1772).

BORN, BERTRAND, one of the most celebrated troubadours of the 12th century, born in Perigord; aggravated the quarrel between Henry II. of England and his sons; is placed by Dante in the "Inferno."

BORNE, LUDWIG, a political writer, born at Frankfort, of Jewish parentage; disgusted with the state of things in Germany, went to Paris after the Revolution there of 1830; was disappointed with the result, and turned Radical; he and Heine were at deadly feud (1787-1837).

BORNEO (1,800), an island in the Malay Archipelago, the third largest in the globe, Australia and New Guinea being larger; its length 800 m., and its breadth 700, covered with mountains in the interior, Kinabalu the highest (13,000 ft.); has no volcanoes; bordered all round with wide plains and low marshy ground; rich in vegetation and in minerals, in gold and precious stones; its forests abound with valuable timber, teak, ebony, &c.; all tropical crops and spices are cultivated; the population is Dyak, Malay, and Chinese; possessed in great part by the Dutch, and in the north part by the British.

BORNHOLM (35), an island belonging to Denmark, in the Baltic; has no good harbour; agriculture, cattle-breeding, and fishing the occupation of the inhabitants.

BORNU (5,000), a Mohammedan State in the Central Soudan, W. and S. of Lake Tehad; famed for a breed of horses; population mostly negroes; the ruling race of Arab descent, called Shuwas; climate hot and unhealthy in the low ground, but temperate in the high.

BORO BUDOR, the ruin of a magnificent Buddhist temple in Java, ornamented with figures of Buddha and scenes in his life, with representations of battles, processions, chariot races, &c.

BORODINO, a village 70 m. W. of Moscow; the scene of a bloody battle between Napoleon and the Russians, Sept. 7, 1812.

BORORO, a large Brazilian nation between Cuyaba and Goyaz.

BOROUGH, in Scotland BURGH, is in its modern sense primarily a town that sends a representative to Parliament; but it is further an area of local government, exercising police, sanitary, and sometimes educational, supervision, and deriving its income from rates levied on property within its bounds, and in Scotland sometimes from "common good" and petty customs. Its charter may be held from the Crown or granted by Parliament.

BOROUGH ENGLISH, descent of lands to a youngest son.

BOROWLASKI, COUNT, a Polish dwarf, of perfect symmetry, though only three feet in height; attained the age of 98.

BORROME'AN ISLANDS, four islands in Lago Maggiore, of which three were converted into gardens by Count Borromeo in 1671, on one of which stands a palace of the Borromeos, enriched with fine paintings and other works of art.

BORROME'O, ST. CARLO, cardinal and archbishop of Milan, a prominent member of the Council of Trent, and contributed to the Tridentine Catechism; conspicuous by his self-sacrificing offices during a plague in the city of which he was the archbishop (1538-1584).

BORROMEO, FREDERIGO, nephew and successor of the preceding, of equal status in the Church, and similar character (1584-1631).

BORROW, GEORGE HENRY, traveller and philologist, born in Norfolk; showed early a passion for adventure and a facility in languages; was appointed agent for the Bible Society in Russia and Spain; in his fondness for open-air life, associated much with the gipsies; wrote an account of those in Spain, and a famous book, entitled "The Bible In Spain"; wrote "Lavengro," his masterpiece (a gipsy designation applied to him, meaning "word-master," which he was), which is chiefly autobiography (1803-1831).

BORROWDALE, a valley in the Lake District, W. Cumberland, celebrated for its beautiful scenery.

BORTHWICK CASTLE, a ruined peel tower, 13 m. SE. of Edinburgh, where Queen Mary and Bothwell spent four days together in June 1567.

BORY DE SAINT-VINCENT, JEAN BAPTISTE, a French traveller and naturalist (1780-1846).

BOSCAWEN, EDWARD, a British admiral, known from his fearlessness as "Old Dreadnought"; distinguished himself in engagements at Puerto Bello, Cathagena, Cape Finisterre, and the Bay of Lagos, where, after a "sea hunt" of 24 hours, he wrecked and ruined a fine French fleet, eager to elude his grasp (1711-1761).

BOSCOVICH, ROGER JOSEPH, an Italian mathematician and astronomer, born at Ragusa; entered the Order of the Jesuits; was professor in Pavia, and afterwards at Milan; discovered the equator of the sun and the period of its rotation; advocated the molecular theory of physics, with which his name is associated; died insane (1701-1787).

BOSIO, BARON, a celebrated Italian sculptor; patronised in France (1769-1845).

BOSNA-SERAI (38), capital of Bosnia, and seat of authority.

BOSNIA (1,200), a province in NW. of the Balkan Peninsula, under Austria-Hungary; the inhabitants of Servian nationality.

BOS'PHORUS (Ox-ford), a channel 17 m. long and from 3 to 1/2 m. broad, and about 30 fathoms deep, strongly defended by forts, extending from the Sea of Marmora to the Black Sea; subject to Turkey. It derives its name from the channel which, according to the Greek myth, Zeus, in the form of an ox, crossed into Europe with Europa on his back.

BOS'QUET, PIERRE FRANCOIS JOSEPH, a marshal of France, distinguished in Algiers and the Crimea; was wounded at the storming of the Malakoff (1810-1861).

BOS'SUET, JACQUES BENIGNE, bishop of Meaux, born at Dijon, surnamed the "Eagle of Meaux," of the see of which he became bishop; one of the greatest of French pulpit orators, and one of the ablest defenders of the doctrines of the Catholic Church; the great aim of his life the conversion of Protestants back to the Catholic faith; took a leading part in establishing the rights of the Gallican clergy, or rather of the Crown, as against the claims of the Pope; proved himself more a time-server than a bold, outspoken champion of the truth; conceived a violent dislike to Madame Guyon, and to Fenelon for his defence of her and her Quietists; and he is not clear of the guilt of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes; wrote largely; his "Discourse on Universal History" is on approved lines, and the first attempt at a philosophy of history; his Funeral Orations are monuments of the most sublime eloquence; while his "Politique founded on Holy Scripture" is a defence of the divine right of kings. "Bossuet," says Professor Saintsbury, "was more of a speaker than a writer. His excellence lies in his wonderful survey and grasp of the subject, in the contagious enthusiasm and energy with which he attacks his point, and in his inexhaustible metaphors and comparisons.... Though he is always aiming at the sublime, he scarcely ever oversteps it, or falls into the bombastic or ridiculous.... The most unfortunate incident of his life was his controversy with Fenelon" (1627-1704).

BOSSUT, CHARLES, French mathematician, born near Lyons, confrere of the Encyclopaedists; his chief work "L'Histoire Generale des Mathematiques"; edited Pascal's works (1730-1814).

BOSTON (19), a Lincolnshire seaport, on the Witham, 30 m. SE. of Lincoln; exports coal, machinery, corn, and wool, and imports timber and general goods. There is a large cattle and sheep market, also canvas and sail-cloth works. Fox, the martyrologist, was a native. It has a spacious church, which is a conspicuous landmark and beacon at sea.

BOSTON (561), on Massachusetts Bay, is the capital of Massachusetts and the chief city of New England, one of the best-built and best-appointed cities of the Union. With an excellent harbour and eight converging railways it is an emporium of trade, and very wealthy. Sugar, wool, hides, and chemicals are imported; farm produce, cattle, cotton, and tobacco exported; boot and shoe making is one of many varied industries. The many educational institutions and its interest in literature and art have won for it the title of American Athens. Among famous natives were Franklin, Poe, and Emerson; while most American men of letters have been associated with it. The Boston riots of 1770 and 1773 were the heralds of the revolution, and the first battle was fought at Bunker Hill, not far off, now included in it.

BOSTON, THOMAS, a Scottish divine, born at Duns, educated at Edinburgh, became minister of Ettrick; author of the "Fourfold State," a popular exposition of Calvinism, and "The Crook in the Lot," both at one time much read and studied by the pious Presbyterian burghers and peasantry of Scotland; the former an account of the state of man, first in innocence, second as fallen, third as redeemed, and fourth as in glory. He was a shrewd man and a quaint writer; exercised a great influence on the religious views of the most pious-minded of his countrymen (1676-1732).

BOSTON TEA-PARTY, the insurgent American colonists who, disguised as Indians, boarded, on Dec. 16, 1773, three English ships laden with tea, and hurled several hundred chests of it into Boston harbour, "making it black with unexpected tea."

BOSWELL, JAMES, the biographer of Johnson, born at Edinburgh, showed early a penchant for writing and an admiration for literary men; fell in with Johnson on a visit to London in 1763, and conceived for him the most devoted regard; made a tour with him to the Hebrides in 1773, the "Journal" of which he afterwards published; settled in London, and was called to the English bar; succeeded, in 1782, to his father's estate, Auchinleck, in Ayrshire, with an income of L1600 a year. Johnson dying in 1784, Boswell's "Life" of him appeared five years after, a work unique in biography, and such as no man could have written who was not a hero-worshipper to the backbone. He succumbed in the end to intemperate habits, aggravated by the death of his wife (1740-1795).

BOSWELL, SIR ALEXANDER, son and heir of the preceding, an antiquary; mortally wounded in a duel with James Stuart of Dunearn, who had impugned his character, for which the latter was tried, but acquitted (1775-1822).

BOSWORTH, a town in Leicestershire, near which Richard III. lost both crown and life in 1485, an event which terminated the Wars of the Roses and led to the accession of the Tudor dynasty to the throne of England in the person of Henry VII.

BOSWORTH, JOSEPH, an Anglo-Saxon scholar, born in Derbyshire; became professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford; was the author of an Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Dictionary (1789-1876).

BOTANY BAY, an inlet in New South Wales, 5 m. S. of Sydney; discovered by Captain Cook in 1770; so called, by Sir Joseph Banks, from the variety and beauty of its flora; was once an English convict settlement.

BOTH, JOHN AND ANDREW, Flemish painters of the 17th century, the former a landscape and the latter a figure painter; worked frequently on the same canvas.

BOTHNIA, a prov. of Sweden, divided into E. and W. by a gulf of the name.

BOTHWELL, a village in Lanarkshire, on the Clyde, 8 m. SE. of Glasgow; scene of a battle between Monmouth and the Covenanters in 1679.

BOTHWELL, JAMES HEPBURN, Earl of, one of the envoys sent in 1560 to convey Mary, Queen of Scots, from France home; was made Privy Councillor the year after; had to flee to France for an act of conspiracy; was recalled by Mary on her marriage with Darnley; was a great favourite with the queen; was believed to have murdered Darnley, though when tried, was acquitted; carried off Mary to Dunbar Castle; pardoned; was made Duke of Orkney, and married to her at Holyrood; parted with her at Carberry Hill; fled to Norway, and was kept captive there at Malmoee; after ten years of misery he died, insane, as is believed (1525-1577).

BOTOCUDOS, a wandering wild tribe in the forests of Brazil, near the coast; a very low type of men, and at a very low stage of civilisation; are demon-worshippers, and are said to have no numerals beyond one.

BO-TREE, a species of Ficus, sacred to the Buddhists as the tree under which Buddha sat when the light of life first dawned on him. See BUDDHA.

BOTTA, CARLO GIUSEPPE, an Italian political historian, born in Piedmont; his most important work is his "History of Italy from 1789 to 1814"; was the author of some poems (1766-1837).

BOTTA, PAUL EMILE, Assyriologist, born at Turin, son of the preceding; when consul at Mosul, in 1843, discovered the ruins of Nineveh; made further explorations, published in the "Memoire de l'Ecriture Cuneiform Assyrienne" and "Monuments de Ninive" (1802-1870).

BOeTTGER, an alchemist who, in his experiments on porcelain, invented the celebrated Meissen porcelain (1682-1719).

BOTTICELLI, SANDRO, or ALESSANDRO, a celebrated painter of the Florentine school; began as a goldsmith's apprentice; a pupil of Fra Lippo Lippi; the best-known examples of his art are on religious subjects, though he was no less fascinated with classical—mythological conceptions; is distinguished for his attention to details and for delicacy, particularly in the drawing of flowers; and it is a rose on the petticoat of one of his figures, the figure of Spring, which Ruskin has reproduced on the title-page of his recent books, remarking that "no one has ever yet drawn, or is likely to draw, roses as he has done;... he understood," he adds, "the thoughts of heathens and Christians equally, and could in a measure paint both Aphrodite and the Madonna" (1447-1515).

BOeTTIGER, KARL AUGUSTE, German archaeologist, was a voluminous writer on antiquities, especially classical (1760-1835).

BOTTOM, a weaver in the interlude in "Midsummer-Night's Dream," whom, with his ass's head, Titania falls in love with under the influence of a love-potion.

BOTZARIS, one of the heroes of the war of Greek independence (1789-1823).

BOUCHARDON, a celebrated French sculptor (1698-1762).

BOUCHER, a French painter, born at Paris (1703-1770).

BOUCHER DE PERTHES, French naturalist and anthropologist, born in Ardennes (1783-1868).

BOUCICAULT, DION, a dramatic writer, author of popular Irish pieces, as "The Colleen Bawn" and "The Shaughraun" (1822-1890).

BOUCICAUT, MARSHAL DE, one of the bravest and noblest of French soldiers, born at Tours; distinguished in several famous battles; was taken captive by the English at Agincourt; died in England (1364-1421).

BOUFFLERS, CHEVALIER DE, field-marshal of France, courtier and author (1737-1815).

BOUFFLERS, MARQUIS DE, marshal of France, distinguished for his defence of Namur (1695) and of Lille (1708), and his masterly retreat from Malplaquet (1645-1711).

BOUGAINVILLE, LOUIS ANTOINE DE, a French navigator, born in Paris; voyaged round the world, which occupied him two years and a half; his "Travels" had a remarkably stimulating effect on the imaginations of the "philosophies," as described by him in "Un Voyage autour du Monde" (1729-1811).

BOUGH, SAM, landscape painter, born at Carlisle, and settled in Edinburgh for 20 years (1822-1878).

BOUGUER, PIERRE, French physicist, born in Brittany; wrote on optics and the figure of the earth (1698-1758).

BOUGUEREAU, ADOLPHE, a distinguished French painter, born at Rochelle in 1825; his subjects both classical and religious, as well as portraits.

BOUHOUR, LE PERE, French litterateur, born at Paris (1628-1702).

BOUILLE, MARQUIS DE, a French general, born in Auvergne, distinguished in the Seven Years' War, in the West Indies and during the Revolution; "last refuge of royalty in all straits"; favoured the flight of Louis XVI.; a "quick, choleric, sharp-discerning, stubbornly-endeavouring man, with suppressed-explosive resolution, with valour, nay, headlong audacity; muzzled and fettered by diplomatic pack-threads,... an intrepid, adamantine man"; did his utmost for royalty, failed, and quitted France; died in London, and left "Memoirs of the French Revolution" (1759-1800). See for the part he played in it, CARLYLE'S "FRENCH REVOLUTION."

BOUILLON, district in Belgium, originally a German duchy; belonged to Godfrey, the crusader, who pledged it to raise funds for the crusade.

BOUILLY, JEAN NICOLAS, a French dramatist, born near Tours, nicknamed, from his sentimentality "poete lacrymal" (1763-1842).

BOULAINVILLIERS, a French historian, author of a "History of Mahomet" (1658-1722).

BOULAK (20), the port of Cairo, on the Nile.

BOULAN'GER, JEAN MARIE, a French general, born at Rennes; of note for the political intrigues with which he was mixed up during the last years of his life, and the dangerous popular enthusiasm which he excited; accused of peculation; fled the country, and committed suicide at Brussels (1837-1891).

BOULAY DE LA MEURTHE, a French statesman, distinguished as an orator; took part in the redaction of the Civil Code; was a faithful adherent of Napoleon (1761-1840). Henri, a son, vice-president of the Republic from 1849 to 1851 (1797-1858).

BOULDER, a large mass or block of rock found in localities often far removed from the place of its formation, and transported thither on the ice of the Glacial Age.

BOULEVARD, the rampart of a fortified city converted into a promenade flanked by rows of trees and a feature of Paris in particular, though the boulevard is not always on the line of a rampart.

BOULOGNE, BOIS DE, a promenade between Paris and St. Cloud, much frequented by people of fashion, and a favourite place of recreation; it rivals that of the Champs Elysees.

BOULOGNE-SUR-MER (46), a fortified seaport in France, on the English Channel, in the dep. of Pas-de-Calais, 27 m. SW. of Calais, one of the principal ports for debarkation from England; where Napoleon collected in 1803 a flotilla to invade England; is connected by steamer with Folkestone, and a favourite watering-place; the chief station of the North Sea fisheries; is the centre of an important coasting trade, and likely to become a naval station.

BOULOGNE-SUR-SEINE (32), a town on the right bank of the Seine, 5 m. SW. of Paris, from which it is separated by the Bois-de-Boulogne.

BOULTON, MATTHEW, an eminent engineer, born at Birmingham; entered into partnership with James Watt, and established with him a manufactory of steam-engines at Soho, on a barren heath near his native place; contributed to the improvement of the coinage (1728-1809).

"BOUNTY," MUTINY OF THE, a mutiny which took place on the ship Bounty, on the 28th April 1789, bound from Otaheite to the West Indies, on the part of 25 of the crew, who returned to Otaheite after setting the captain (Bligh) adrift with others in an open boat. Bligh reached England after a time, reported the crime, to the seizure at length of certain of the offenders and the execution of others. Those who escaped founded a colony on Pitcairn Island.

BOURBAKI, CHARLES DENIS SOTER, a French general, born at Pau, served in the Crimean War and in Italy, suffered disastrously in the Franco-German War, and attempted suicide; served for a time under Gambetta, afterwards retired; b. 1816.

BOURBON, a family of French origin, hailing from Bourbonnais, members of which occupied for generations the thrones of France, Naples, and Spain, and who severally ruled their territories under a more or less overweening sense of their rights as born to reign. Two branches, both of which trace back to Henry IV., held sway in France, one beginning with Louis XIV., eldest son of Louis XIII., and the other, called the Orleans, with Philip of Orleans, second son of Louis XIII., the former ending with Charles X. and his family, and the latter ending with Louis Philippe and his line. The branches of the family ruling in Spain and Naples began with Philip VI., grandson of Louis XIV., the former branch still (1899) in power, the latter ending with Francis II. in 1860.

BOURBON, CHARLES DE, styled the Constable de Bourbon, acquired immense wealth by the death of an elder brother and by his marriage, and lived in royal state; was for his daring in the field named Constable of France by Francis I.; offended at some, perhaps imaginary, injustice Francis did him, he clandestinely entered the service of the Emperor Charles V., defeated the French at Pavia, and took Francis captive; parted from Charles, laid siege to Rome, and fell in the assault, mortally wounded, it is said, by Benvenuto Cellini (1489-1527).

BOURBONNAIS, ancient province in the centre of France, being the duchy of Bourbon; united to the crown in 1531; cap. Moulins.

BOURDALOUE, LOUIS, a French Jesuit, born at Bourges, called the "king of preachers, and preacher of kings"; one of the most eloquent pulpit orators of France; did not suffer by comparison with Bossuet, his contemporary, though junior; one of the most earnest and powerful of his sermons, the one entitled "The Passion," is deemed the greatest. His sermons are ethical in their matter from a Christian standpoint, carefully reasoned, and free from ornament, but fearless and uncompromising (1632-1704).

BOURDON, SEBASTIAN, a French painter, born at Montpellier; his chef-d'oeuvre "The Crucifixion of St. Peter," executed for the church of Notre Dame (1616-1671).

BOURDON DE L'OISE, a French revolutionist, member of the Convention; banished to Guiana, where he died in 1791.

BOURGELAT, a famous French veterinary surgeon, born at Lyons, and founder of veterinary colleges at Lyons in 1762; was an authority on horse management, and often consulted on the matter (1712-1779).

BOURGEOIS, SIR FRANCIS, painter to George III.; left his collection to Dulwich College, and L10,000 to build a gallery for them (1756-1811).

BOURGEOISIE, the name given in France to the middle class, professional people, and merchants, as distinguished from the nobles and the peasants, but applied by the Socialists to the capitalists as distinct from the workers.

BOURGES (43), a French town in the dep. of Cher; birthplace of Louis XI. and Bourdaloue.

BOURGET, PAUL, an eminent French novelist and essayist, born at Amiens; a subtle analyst of character, with a clear and elegant style, on which he bestows great pains; his novels are what he calls "psychological," and distinct from the romantist and naturalistic; b. 1852.

BOURIGNON, ANTOINETTE, a Flemish visionary and fanatic; resolved religion into emotion; brought herself into trouble by the wild fancies she promulgated, to the derangement of others as well as herself (1615-1680).

BOURMONT, LOUIS AUGUSTE VICTOR, COMTE DE, a French marshal; at the Revolution joined the Bourbons on the frontiers; served the royal cause in La Vendee; held high commands under Napoleon; commanded under Ney on Napoleon's return from Elba; deserted on the eve of Waterloo to Louis XVIII.; gave evidence against Ney to his execution; commanded the expedition against Algiers; refused allegiance to Louis Philippe on his accession, and was dismissed the service (1773-1846).

BOURNE, HUGH, founder of the Primitive Methodists, and a zealous propagator of their principles; he was a carpenter by trade, and he appears to have wrought at his trade while prosecuting his mission, which he did extensively both in Britain and America (1772-1852).

BOURNEMOUTH (38), a town in Hants, on Poole Bay, 37 m. SW. of Southampton, with a fine sandy beach; a great health resort; is of recent, and has been of rapid, growth.

BOURRIENNE, LOUIS ANTOINE FAUVELET, secretary of Napoleon, and a school friend, born at Sens; held the post for five years, but dismissed for being implicated in disgraceful money transactions; joined the Bourbons at the Restoration; the Revolution of 1830 and the loss of his fortune affected his mind, and he died a lunatic at Caen; wrote "Memoirs" disparaging to Napoleon (1769-1834).

BOUSSA, a town in Central Africa, capital of a State of the same name, where Mungo Park lost his life as he was going up the Niger.

BOUSTROPHE'DON, an ancient mode of writing from right to left, and then from left to right, as in ploughing a field.

BOUTERWEK, FRIEDRICH, a German philosopher and professor of Philosophy at Goettingen; a disciple of Kant, then of Jacobi, and expounder of their doctrines; wrote "History of Poetry and Eloquence among the Modern Races" (1766-1828).

BOWDICH, THOMAS EDWARD, an English traveller, born at Bristol; sent on a mission to Guinea, and penetrated as far as Coomassie; wrote an interesting account of it in his "Mission to Ashanti" (1791-1824).

BOWDITCH, NATHANIEL, American mathematician, born at Salem, Massachusetts; a practical scientist; published "Practical Navigation," translated the "Mecanique Celeste" of Laplace, accompanied with an elaborate commentary (1773-1838).

BOWDLER, THOMAS, an English physician; edited expurgated editions of Shakespeare and Gibbon in the interest of moral purity; added in consequence a new term to the English language, Bowdlerism (1754-1825).

BOWDOIN, JAMES, an American statesman, born in Boston, of French extraction; a zealous advocate of American independence; author of "Discourse on the Constitution of the United States" (1727-1790).

BOWEN, RICHARD, a gallant British naval commander, distinguished himself in several engagements, and by his captures of the enemy's ships; killed by grape-shot at the storming of Santa Cruz, at the moment when Nelson was wounded (1761-1797).

BOWER, WALTER, abbot of Inchcolm, Scottish chronicler; continued Fordun's History down to the death of James I. in 1437 from 1153 (1385-1449).

BOWLES, WILLIAM LISLE, a poet, born in Northamptonshire; his sonnets, by their "linking," as Professor Saintsbury has it, "of nature's aspect to human feeling," were much admired by Coleridge, and their appearance is believed to have inaugurated a new era in English poetry, as developed in the Lake School (1762-1850).

BOWLING, TOM, a typical British sailor in "Roderick Random."

BOWLING, SIR JOHN, linguist and political writer, born at Exeter; friend and disciple of Bentham as well as editor of his works; first editor of Westminster Review; at the instance of the English Government visited the Continental States to report on their commercial relations; became governor of Hong-Kong; ordered the bombardment of Canton, which caused dissatisfaction at home (1792-1872).

BOWYER, WILLIAM, printer and scholar, born in London; wrote on the origin of printing, and published an edition of the Greek New Testament with notes (1699-1777).

"BOX AND COX," a farce by J. M. Morton, remarkable for a successful run such as is said to have brought the author L7000.

BOY BISHOP, a boy chosen on 6th December, St. Nicholas' Day, generally out of the choir, to act as bishop and do all his episcopal duties, except celebrate mass. For the term of his office, which varied, he was treated as bishop, and if he died during his tenure of it was buried with episcopal honours. The term of office was limited in 1279 to 24 hours.

BOYARS, the old nobility of Russia, whose undue influence in the State was broken by Peter the Great; also the landed aristocracy of Roumania.

BOYCE, WILLIAM, composer, chiefly of church music, born in London; published a collection of the "Cathedral Music of the Old English Masters"; composed "Hearts of Oak," a naval song sung by ships' crews at one time before going into action (1710-1779).

BOYCOTT, CAPTAIN, an Irish landlord's agent in Connemara, with whom the population of the district in 1880 refused to have any dealings on account of disagreements with the tenantry.

BOYD, ANDREW KENNEDY HUTCHISON, a Scottish clergyman and writer; bred for the bar, but entered the Church; known to fame as A. K. H. B.; author of "Recreations of a Country Parson," which was widely read, and of Reminiscences of his life; died at Bournemouth by mischance of swallowing a lotion instead of a sleeping-draught (1825-1899).

BOYD, ZACHARY, a Scottish divine; regent of a Protestant college at Samur, in France; returned to Scotland in consequence of the persecution of the Huguenots; became minister of Barony Parish, Glasgow, and rector of the University; preached before Cromwell after the battle of Dunbar; author of the "Last Battell of the Soule in Death" and "Zion's Flowers," being mainly metrical versions of Scripture, called "Boyd's Bible" (1585-1653).

BOYDELL, JOHN, an English engraver and print-seller, famous for his "Shakespeare Gallery," with 96 plates in illustration of Shakespeare, and the encouragement he gave to native artists; he issued also Hume's "History of England," with 196 plates in illustration (1719-1804).

BOYER, BARON, French anatomist and surgeon; attendant on Napoleon, afterwards professor in the University of Paris; wrote works on anatomy and surgical diseases, which continued for long text-books on those subjects; was a man of very conservative opinions (1757-1833).

BOYER, JEAN PIERRE, president of Hayti, born at Port-au-Prince of a negress and a Creole father; secured the independence of the country; held the presidency for 25 years from 1818, but suspected of consulting his own advantage more than that of the country, was driven from power by a revolution in 1843; retired to Paris, where he spent the rest of his life and died (1776-1850).

BOYLE, CHARLES, fourth Earl of Orrery, distinguished for the connection of his name with the Bentley controversy, and for its connection with an astronomical contrivance by one Graham to illustrate the planetary system (1676-1731).

BOYLE, RICHARD, first and great Earl of Cork, distinguished among Irish patriots and landlords for what he did to improve his estates and develop manufactures and the mechanical arts in Ireland, also for the honours conferred upon him for his patriotism; when Cromwell saw how his estates were managed he remarked, that had there been one like him in every province in Ireland rebellion would have been impossible (1566-1643).

BOYLE, THE HON. ROBERT, a distinguished natural philosopher, born at Lismore, of the Orrery family; devoted his life and contributed greatly to science, especially chemistry, as well as pneumatics; was one of the originators of the "Royal Society"; being a student of theology, founded by his will an endowment for the "Boyle Lectures" in defence of Christianity against its opponents and rivals; refused the presidentship of the Royal Society, and declined a peerage (1626-1691).

BOYLE LECTURES, the lectureship founded by the Hon. Robert Boyle in 1691, and held for a tenure of three years, the endowment being L50 per annum; the lecturer must deliver eight lectures in defence of Christianity, and some of the most eminent men have held the post.

BOYLE'S LAW, that the volume of a gas is inversely as the pressure.

BOYNE, a river in Ireland, which flows through Meath into the Irish Sea; gives name to the battle in which William III. defeated the forces of James II. on 30th July 1690.

BOZ, a nom de plume under which Dickens wrote at first, being his nickname when a boy for a little brother.

BOZZY, Johnson's familiar name for Boswell.

BRABANT, in mediaeval times was an important prov. of the Low Countries, inhabitants Dutch, cap. Breda; is now divided between Holland and Belgium. It comprises three provs., the N. or Dutch Brabant; Antwerp, a Belgian prov., inhabitants Flemings, cap. Antwerp; and S. Brabant, also Belgian, inhabitants Walloons, cap. Brussels; the whole mostly a plain.

BRACTON, HENRY DE, an English "justice itinerant," a writer on English law of the 13th century; author of "De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae," a "Treatise on the Laws and Customs of England," and the first attempt of the kind; d. 1268.

BRADAMANTE, sister to Rinaldo, and one of the heroines in "Orlando Furioso"; had a lance which unhorsed every one it touched.

BRADDOCK, EDWARD, British general, born in Perthshire; entered the Coldstream Guards, and became major-general in 1754; commanded a body of troops against the French in America, fell in an attempt to invest Fort Duquesue, and lost nearly all his men (1695-1755).

BRADDON, MISS (Mrs. John Maxwell), a popular novelist, born in London; authoress of "Lady Audley's Secret," "Aurora Floyd," and some 50 other novels; contributed largely to magazines; b. 1837.

BRADFORD (216), a Yorkshire manufacturing town, on a tributary of the Aire, 9 m. W. of Leeds; it is the chief seat of worsted spinning and weaving in England, and has an important wool market; coal and iron mines are at hand, and iron-works and machinery-making are its other industries. Also the name of a manufacturing town on the Avon, in Wilts.

BRADLAUGH, CHARLES, a social reformer on secularist lines, born in London; had a chequered career; had for associate in the advocacy of his views Mrs. Annie Besant; elected M.P. for Northampton thrice over, but not allowed to sit till he took the oath, which he did in 1886; died respected by all parties in the House of Commons; wrote the "Impeachment of the House of Brunswick" (1833-1891).

BRADLEY, JAMES, astronomer, born in Gloucestershire; professor of Astronomy at Oxford, and astronomer-royal at Greenwich; discovered the aberration of light and the nutation of the earth's axis; made 60,000 astronomical observations (1693-1762).

BRADSHAW, GEORGE, an engraver of maps in Manchester; published maps illustrative of certain canal systems, and did the same service for railways, which developed into the well-known "Railway Guide" (1830-1863).

BRADSHAW, JOHN, president of the High Court of Justice for trial of Charles I., born at Stockport; bred for the bar; a friend of Milton; a thorough republican, and opposed to the Protectorate; became president of the Council on Cromwell's death; was buried in Westminster; his body was exhumed and hung in chains at the Restoration (1586-1659).

BRADWARDIN, THOMAS, archbishop of Canterbury, surnamed "Doctor Profundus" from his treatise "De Causa Dei" against Pelagianism; chaplain to Edward III.; was present at Crecy and at the taking of Calais; died of the black death shortly after his consecration (1290-1348).

BRADWARDINE, the name of a baron and his daughter, the heroine of "Waverley."

BRAEMAR', a Scottish Highland district SW. of Aberdeenshire; much frequented by tourists, and resorted to for summer country quarters.

BRAG, JACK, a pretender who ingratiates himself with people above him.

BRAGA (23), a city, 34 m. NE. of Oporto, Portugal; the residence of the Primate; the capital of Minho.

BRAGANZA, capital of Traz-os-Montes, in Portugal; gives name to the ruling dynasty of Portugal, called the House of Braganza, the eighth duke of Braganza having ascended the throne in 1640, on the liberation of Portugal from the yoke of Spain.

BRAGI, the Norse god of poetry and eloquence, son of Odin and Frigga; represented as an old man with a long flowing beard and unwrinkled brow, with a mild expression of face; received in Valhalla the heroes who fell in battle.

BRAHAM, JOHN, a celebrated tenor singer, the most so in Europe of his day, and known all over Europe; was particularly effective in rendering the national songs; born in London, of Jewish parents; composed operas, which, however, were only dramas interspersed with songs. Scott described him as "a beast of an actor, but an angel of a singer" (1774-1856).

BRAHE, TYCHO, a Swedish astronomer, of noble birth; spent his life in the study of the stars; discovered a new star in Cassiopeia; had an observatory provided for him on an island in the Sound by the king, where he made observations for 20 years; he was, on the king's death, compelled to retire under persecution at the hand of the nobles; accepted an invitation of the Kaiser Rudolf II. to Prague, where he continued his work and had Kepler for assistant and pupil (1546-1601).

BRAHMA, in the Hindu religion and philosophy at one time the formless spirit of the Universe, from which all beings issue and into which they all merge, and as such is not an object of worship, but a subject of meditation; and at another the creator of all things, of which VISHNU (q. v.) is the preserver AND SIVA (q. v.) the destroyer, killing that he may make alive. See TRIMURTI.

BRAHMAN, or BRAHMIN, one of the sacred caste of the Hindus that boasts of direct descent from, or immediate relationship with, Brahma, the custodians and mediators of religion, and therefore of high-priestly rank.

BRAHMANAS, treatises on the ceremonial system of Brahminism, with prescriptions bearing upon ritual, and abounding in legends and speculations.

BRAHMAPUTRA (i. e. son of Brahma), a river which rises in Tibet, circles round the E. of the Himalayas, and, after a course of some 1800 m., joins the Ganges, called the Sampo in Tibet, the Dihong in Assam, and the Brahmaputra in British India; it has numerous tributaries, brings down twice as much mud as the Ganges, and in the lower part of its course overflows the land, particularly Assam, like an inland sea.

BRAHMINISM, the creed and ritual of the Brahmans, or that social, political, and religious organisation which developed among the Aryans in the valley of the Ganges under the influence of the Brahmans. According to the religious conception of this class, Brahma, or the universal spirit, takes form or incarnates himself successively as Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, which triple incarnation constitutes a trimurti or trinity. In this way Brahma, the first incarnation of the universal spirit, had four sons, from whom issued the four castes of India—Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras—all the rest being outcasts or pariahs. See CASTE.

BRAHMO-SOMAJ (i. e. church of God), a secession from traditional Hinduism, originated in 1830 by Rammohun Roy, and developed by Chunder Sen; founded on theistic, or rather monotheistic, i. e. unitarian, principles, and the rational ideas and philosophy of Europe, as well as a profession of a sense of the brotherhood of man no less than the unity of God.

BRAHMS, JOHANNES, a distinguished composer, born at Hamburg; of great promise from a boy; settled in Vienna; has no living rival; the appearance of compositions of his an event in the musical world; approaches Beethoven as no other does; distinguished as a performer as well as a composer; b. 1833.

BRAIDWOOD, JAMES, born in Edinburgh; director of the London fire brigade; distinguished for his heroism on the occasion of great fires both in Edinburgh and London (1790-1861).

BRAILLE, a blind Frenchman, invented printing in relief for the blind (1809-1852).

BRAINERD, American missionary to the Red Indians, born in Connecticut; his Life was written by Jonathan Edwards, in whose house he died (1718-1747).

BRAMAH, JOSEPH, an engineer, born in Barnsley, Yorkshire; author of many mechanical inventions, 18 of which were patented, among others the hydraulic press, named after him (1748-1814).

BRAMANTE, DONATO, architect; laid the foundation of St. Peter's at Rome, which he did not live to complete (1444-1514).

BRAMBLE, MATTHEW, a gouty humorist in "Humphrey Clinker"; of a fretful temper, yet generous and kind, who has a sister, MISS TABITHA, an ungainly maiden at forty-five, and of anything but a sweet temper.

BRAMHALL, JOHN, archbishop of Armagh, born in Yorkshire, a high-handed Churchman and imitator of Laud; was foolhardy enough once to engage, nowise to his credit, in public debate with such a dialectician as Thomas Hobbes on the questions of necessity and free-will (1594-1663).

BRAMWELL, SIR FREDERICK, civil engineer, president of the British Association in 1888, and previously of Association of Engineers; b. 1818.

BRAN, name given to Fingal's dog.

BRAND, JOHN, antiquary, born in Durham, wrote a "Popular Antiquities" (1744-1784).

BRANDAN, ST., ISLAND OF, an island reported of by St. Brandan as lying W. of the Canary Islands, and that figured on charts as late as 1755, in quest of which voyages of discovery were undertaken as recently as the beginning of the 18th century, up to which time it was believed to exist.

BRANDE, chemist, born in London; author of "Manual of Chemistry" and other works (1788-1866).

BRANDENBURG (2,542), in the great northern plain of Germany, is a central Prussian province, and the nucleus of the Prussian kingdom; most of it a sandy plain, with fertile districts and woodlands here and there.

BRANDENBURG, THE HOUSE OF, an illustrious German family dating from the 10th century, from which descended the kings of Prussia.

BRANDES, GEORGE, a literary critic, born at Copenhagen, of Jewish parents; his views of the present tendency of literature in Europe provoked at first much opposition in Denmark, though they were received with more favour afterwards; the opposition to his views were such that he was forced to leave Copenhagen, but, after a stay in Berlin, he returned to it in 1862, with the support of a strong party in his favour.

BRANDT, a Swedish chemist; chanced on the discovery in 1669 of phosphorus while in quest of a solvent to transmute metals, such as silver, into gold; d. 1692.

BRANDT, SEBASTIAN, a satirical writer, born at Strassburg; author of the "Narrenschiff" or "Ship of Fools," of which there have been many translations and not a few imitations (1458-1521).

BRANDY NAN, a nickname for Queen Anne, from her fondness for brandy.

BRANDYWINE CREEK, a small river in Delaware; scene of a victory of the British over the Americans in 1777.

BRANGTONS, THE, a vulgar, evil-spoken family in Miss Burney's "Evelina."

BRANT, JOSEPH, Indian chief who sided with the British in the American war; a brave and good man; d. 1807.

BRANTOME, PIERRE DE BOURDEILLES, a French chronicler, contemporary of Montaigne, born in Perigord; led the life of a knight-errant, and wrote Memoirs remarkable for the free-and-easy, faithful, and vivid delineations of the characters of the most celebrated of his contemporaries (1527-1614).

BRASIDAS, a Spartan general, distinguished in the Peloponnesian war; his most celebrated action, the defeat at the expense of his life, in 422 B.C., of the flower of the Athenian army at Amphipolis, with a small body of helots and mercenaries.

BRASS, SAMPSON, a knavish attorney in "Old Curiosity Shop"; affected feeling for his clients, whom he fleeced.

BRASSES, sepulchral tablets of a mixed metal, called latten, inlaid in a slab of stone, and insculpt with figures and inscriptions of a monumental character; the oldest in England is at Stoke d'Abernon, in Surrey.

BRASSEY, THOMAS, a great railway contractor, born in Cheshire; contracted for the construction of railways in all parts of the world (1805-1870).

BRAUN, AUGUSTE EMIL, German archaeologist, born at Gotha; works numerous, and of value (1809-1856).

BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE, Marshal Ney, so called from his fearlessness in battle; Napoleon had on one occasion said, "That man is a lion."

BRAXY, an inflammatory disease in sheep, due to a change in food from succulent to dry; and the name given to the mutton of sheep affected with it.

BRAY, a Berkshire village, famous for Simon Aleyn, its vicar from 1540 to 1588, who, to retain his living, never scrupled to change his principles; he lived in the reigns of Charles II., James II., William III., Queen Anne, and George I.

BRAZEN AGE, in the Greek mythology the age of violence, that succeeded the weak Silver Age. See AGES.

BRAZIL (14,000), the largest South American State, almost equal to Europe, occupies the eastern angle of the continent, and comprises the Amazon basin, the tablelands of Matto Grosso, the upper basin of the Paraguay, and the maritime highlands, with the valleys of the Parana and San Francisco. Great stretches of the interior are uninhabitable swamp and forest lands; forests tenanted by an endless variety of brilliant-plumed birds and insects; the coasts are often humid and unhealthy, but the upper levels have a fine climate. Almost all the country is within the tropics. The population at the seaports is mostly white; inland it is negro, mulatto, and Indian. Vegetable products are indescribably rich and varied; timber of all kinds, rubber, cotton, and fruit are exported; coffee and sugar are the chief crops. The vast mineral wealth includes diamonds, gold, mercury, and copper. Most of the trade is with Britain and America. The language is Portuguese; the religion, Roman Catholic; education is very backward, and government unsettled. Discovered in 1500, and annexed by Portugal; the Portuguese king, expelled by the French in 1808, fled to his colony, which was made a kingdom 1815, and an empire in 1822. The emperor, Pedro II., was driven out in 1889, and a republic established on the federal system, which has been harassed ever since by desultory civil war. The capital is Rio Janeiro; Bahia and Pernambuco, the other seaports.

BRAZIL-WOOD, a wood found in Brazil, of great value for dyeing red, the colouring principle being named Brasilin.

BRAZZA (22), an island in the Adriatic, belonging to Austria; is richly wooded; noted for its wines; yields marble.

BRAZZA, PIERRE SAVORGNAN DE, explorer, born in Rome; acquired land N. of the Congo for France, and obtained a governorship; b. 1852.

BREADFRUIT-TREE, a South Sea island tree producing a fruit which, when roasted, is used as bread.

BREAL, MICHEL, a French philologist, born at Landau; translator into French of Bopp's "Comparative Grammar"; b. 1832.

BRECHE-DE-ROLAND, a gorge in the dep. of the Haute-Pyrenees, which, according to tradition, Charlemagne's Paladin of the name of Roland cleft with one stroke of his sword when he was beset by the Gascons.

BRECHIN, a town in Forfarshire, W. of Montrose, on the S. Esk, with a cathedral and an old round tower near it, 85 ft. high, the only one of the kind in Scotland besides being at Abernethy.

BREDA (23), fortified town, the capital of N. Brabant; a place of historical interest; Charles II. resided here for a time during his exile, and issued hence his declaration prior to his restoration.

BREECHES BIBLE, the Geneva Bible, so called from its rendering in Gen. iii. 7, in which "aprons" is rendered "breeches."

BREECHES REVIEW, the Westminster, so called at one time, from one Place, an authority in it, who had been a leather-breeches maker at Charing Cross.

BREGNET, a French chronometer-maker, born at Neuchatel; a famous inventor of astronomical instruments (1747-1823).

BREHM, ALFRED EDMUND, German naturalist; his chief work "Illustrirtes Thierleben" (1829-1884).

BREHON LAWS, a body of judge-created laws that for long formed the common law of Ireland, existed from prehistoric times till Cromwell's conquest. The origin of the code is unknown, and whether it was at first traditional; many manuscript redactions of portions exist still.

BREMEN (126), the chief seaport of Germany, after Hamburg; is on the Weser, 50 m. from its mouth, and is a free city, with a territory less than Rutlandshire. Its export and import trade is very varied; half the total of emigrants sail from its docks; it is the head-quarters of the North German Lloyd Steamship Company. Textiles, tobacco, and paper industries add to its prosperity; was one of the principal cities of the Hanseatic League.

BREMER, FREDRIKA, a highly popular Swedish novelist, born in Finland; "The Neighbours," "The President's Daughter," and "Strife and Peace," are perhaps her best stories; has been called the Jane Austen of Sweden.

BREMER, SIR JAMES, rear-admiral; distinguished in the Burmese and Chinese wars (1786-1850).

BREMERHAVEN, the port of Bremen, on the estuary of the Weser, founded for the accommodation of large vessels in 1830, with a large hospice for emigrants.

BRENDAN, ST., an Irish saint, born at Tralee, celebrated for his voyages in quest of "a land beyond human ken" and his discovery of "a paradise amid the waves of the sea"; founded a monastery at Clonfert; died in 577, in his ninety-fourth year.

BRENNER PASS, pass on the central Tyrolese Alps, 6853 ft. high, between Innsbruck and Botzen, crossed by a railway, which facilitates trade between Venice, Germany, and Austria.

BRENNUS, a Gallic chief, who, 300 B.C., after taking and pillaging Rome, invested the Capitol for so long that the Romans offered him a thousand pounds' weight of gold to retire; as the gold was being weighed out he threw his sword and helmet into the opposite scale, adding Vae victis, "Woe to the conquered," an insolence which so roused Camillus, that he turned his back and offered battle to him and to his army, and totally routed the whole host.

BRENTA, an Italian river; rises in the Tyrol, waters Bassano, and debouches near Venice.

BRENTANO, CLEMENS, poet of the romanticist school, born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, brother of Goethe's Bettina von Arnim; was a roving genius (1778-1849).

BRENTFORD, market-town in Middlesex, on the Brent, 10 m. W. of London, that figures in history and literature.

BRENZ, JOHANN, the reformer of Wuertemberg, and one of the authors of the Wuertemberg Confession, as well as a catechism extensively used (1499-1570).

BRESCIA (43), a city of Lombardy, on the Mella and Garza, 50 m. E. of Milan; has two cathedrals, an art gallery and library, a Roman temple excavated in 1822, and now a classical museum; its manufactures are woollens, silks, leather, and wine.

BRESLAU (335), the capital of Silesia, second city in Prussia; an important commercial and manufacturing centre, and has a first-class fortress; is on the Oder, 150 m. by rail SE. of Frankfort; it stands in the centre of the Baltic, North Sea, and Danube trade, and has a large woollen industry and grain market; there are a cathedral, university, and library.

BRESSAY, one of the Shetland Isles, near Lerwick, with one of the best natural harbours in the world.

BREST (76), a strongly-fortified naval station in the extreme NW. of France; one of the chief naval stations in France, with a magnificent harbour, and one of the safest, first made a marine arsenal by Richelieu; has large shipbuilding yards and arsenal; its industries are chiefly related to naval equipment, with leather, waxcloth, and paper manufactures.

BRETON, JULES ADOLPHE, a French genre and landscape painter, born at Courrieres, in Pas-de-Calais, 1827.

BRETON DE LOS HERREROS, Spanish poet and dramatist; wrote comedies and satires in an easy, flowing style (1800-1873).

BRETEUIL, BARON DE, an ex-secretary of Louis XVI. (1733-1807).

BRETHREN OF THE COMMON LIFE, a Dutch branch of the "Friends of God," founded at Deventer by Gerard Groote.

BRETSCHNEIDER, HENRY GOTTFRIED VON, a German satirical writer, born at Gera; led a bohemian life; served in the army; held political posts; composed, besides satirical writings, "Almanach der Heiligen auf das Jahr, 1788," "Wallers Leben und Sitten," and the comic epic, "Graf Esau" (1739-1810).

BRETSCHNEIDER, KARL GOTTLIEB, a German rationalistic theologian; much regarded for his sound judgment in critical matters; his theological writings are of permanent value; his chief works, "Handbuch der Dogmatik," and an edition of Melanchthon's works.

BRETWALDA, a title apparently of some kind of acknowledged supremacy among the Anglo-Saxon kings, and the leader in war.

BREUGHEL, a family of Butch painters, a father and two sons, the father, Peter, called "OLD" B. (1510-1570); a son, John, "VELVET" B., either from his dress or from the vivid freshness of his colours (1560-1625); and the other, Peter, "HELLISH" B., from his fondness for horrible subjects (1559-1637).

BREVET', a commission entitling an officer in the army to a nominal rank above his real rank.

BREVIARY, a book containing the daily services in the Roman Catholic Church and corresponding to the English Prayer-Book; differs from the "Missal," which gives the services connected with the celebration of the Eucharist, and the "Pontifical," which gives those for special occasions.

BREWER, JOHN SHERREN, historian, professor of English Literature in King's College, London; author of "Calendar of Letters and Papers of Henry VIII.'s Reign," his work the sole authority on Henry's early reign (1810-1879).

BREWER OF GHENT, Jacob Arteveld.

BREWSTER, SIR DAVID, an eminent Scottish natural philosopher, born at Jedburgh; edited the "Edinburgh Encyclopaedia," in the pages of which Carlyle served his apprenticeship; specially distinguished for his discoveries in light, his studies in optics, and for his optical inventions, such as the kaleidoscope and the stereoscope; connected with most scientific associations of his time; wrote largely on scientific and other subjects, e. g., a Life of Newton, as well as Lives of Euler, Kepler, and others of the class; Principal of the United Colleges of St. Andrews, and afterwards of Edinburgh, being succeeded at St. Andrews by James David Forbes, who years before defeated him as candidate for the Natural Philosophy chair in Edinburgh; bred originally for the Church, and for a time a probationer (1781-1868).

BREWSTER, WILLIAM, leader of the Pilgrim Fathers in the Mayflower, who conveyed them to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620; had been a clergyman of the Church of England.

BRIAN BOROIHME, an Irish chief, who early in the 10th century established his rule over a great part of Ireland, and made great efforts for the civilisation of the country; died defeating the Danes at Clontarf, being, it is said, the twenty-fifth battle in which he defeated them.

BRIANCON, the highest town in France, 4300 ft. above sea-level, 42 m. SE. from Grenoble, with a trade in cutlery.

BRIAREUS, a Uranid with 50 heads and 100 arms, son of Ouranos and Gaia, i. e. Heaven and Earth, whom Poseidon cast into the sea and buried under Etna, but whom Zeus delivered to aid him against the Titans; according to another account, one of THE GIANTS (q. v.).

BRICE, ST., bishop of Tours in the beginning of the 5th century, and disciple of St. Martin. Festival, Nov. 19.

BRICE'S, ST., a day in 1002 on which a desperate attempt was made to massacre all the Danes in England and stamp them wholly out, an attempt which was avenged by the Danish king, Sweyn.

BRICK, JEFFERSON, an American politician in "Martin Chuzzlewit."

BRIDE OF THE SEA, Venice, so called from a ceremony in which her espousals were celebrated by the Doge casting a ring into the Adriatic.

BRIDEWELL, a house of correction in Blackfriars, London, so called from St. Bridget's well, near it.

BRIDGE OF ALLAN, a village on Allan water, 3 m. N. of Stirling, with a mild climate and mineral waters.

BRIDGE OF SIGHS, a covered way in Venice leading from the Ducal Palace to the State prison, and over which culprits under capital sentence were transported to their doom, whence the name.

BRIDGENORTH, MAJOR RALPH, a Roundhead in "Peveril of the Peak."

BRIDGEPORT (48), a thriving manufacturing town and seaport of Connecticut, U.S., 58 m. NE. from New York.

BRIDGET, MRS., a character in "Tristram Shandy."

BRIDGET, ST., an Irish saint, born at Dundalk; entered a monastery at 14; founded monasteries; takes rank in Ireland with St. Patrick and St. Columba. Festival, Feb. 1 (453-523). Also the name of a Swedish saint in the 14th century; founded a new Order, and 72 monasteries of the Order.

BRIDGETON, a manufacturing town in New Jersey, 38 m. S. of Philadelphia.

BRIDGETOWN (21), capital of Barbadoes, seat of the government, the bishop, a college, &c.; it has suffered frequently from hurricane and fever.

BRIDGEWATER, FRANCIS EGERTON, 3RD DUKE OF, celebrated for his self-sacrificing devotion to the improvement and extension of canal navigation in England, embarking in it all his wealth, in which he was aided by the skill of Brindley; he did not take part in politics, though he was a supporter of Pitt; died unmarried (1736-1803).

BRIDGEWATER, FRANCIS HENRY EGERTON, 8TH EARL OF, educated for the Church, bequeathed L8000 for the best work on natural theology, which his trustees expended in the production of eight works by different eminent men, called "Bridgewater Treatises," all to be found in Bohn's Scientific Library (1758-1829).

BRIDGMAN, LAURA, a deaf, dumb, and blind child, born in New Hampshire, U.S.; noted for the surprising development of intellectual faculty notwithstanding these drawbacks; Dickens gives an account of her in his "American Notes" (1829-1889).

BRIDGWATER, a seaport town in Somersetshire, 29 m. SW. of Bristol.

BRIDLEGOOSE, JUDGE, a judge in Rabelais' "Pantagruel," who decided cases by the throw of dice.

BRIDLINGTON, a watering-place in Yorkshire, 6 m. SW. of Flamborough Head, with a chalybeate spring.

BRIDPORT, VISCOUNT, a British admiral, distinguished in several engagements (1797-1814).

BRIEG (20), a thriving, third, commercially speaking, town in Prussian Silesia, 25 m. SE. of Breslau.

BRIENNE, JEAN DE, descendant of an old French family; elected king of Jerusalem, then emperor of Constantinople; d. 1237.

BRIENZ, LAKE OF, lake in the Swiss canton of Bern, 8 m. long, 2 m. broad, over 800 ft. above sea-level, and of great depth in certain parts, abounding in fish. Town of, a favourite resort for tourists.

BRIEUC, ST., (19), a seaport and an episcopal city in the dep. of Cotes-du-Nord, France.

BRIGADE, a body of troops under a general officer, called brigadier, consisting of a number of regiments, squadrons, or battalions.

BRIGANTES, a powerful British tribe that occupied the country between the Humber and the Roman Wall.

BRIGGS, HENRY, a distinguished English mathematician; first Savilian professor at Oxford; made an important improvement on the system of logarithms, which was accepted by Napier, the inventor, and is the system now in use (1561-1631).

Previous Part     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18 ... 54     Next Part
Home - Random Browse