The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dictionary of Historical Allusions, by Thomas Benfield Harbottle This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license Title: Dictionary of Historical Allusions Author: Thomas Benfield Harbottle Release Date: September 8, 2018 [EBook #57864] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICTIONARY OF HISTORICAL ALLUSIONS *** Produced by Chuck Greif, deaurider and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
DICTIONARY OF HISTORICAL ALLUSIONS
Uniform with this Volume.
| 1. | Dictionary of Quotations (English). By Col. P. H. Dalbiac. |
| 2. | Dictionary of Quotations (Classical). By T. B. Harbottle. |
| 3. | Dictionary of Quotations (French and Italian). By Col. P. H. Dalbiac and T. B. Harbottle. |
| 4. | What Great Men have said about Great Men. By William Wale. |
| 5. | Famous Sayings of Great Men. By Edward Latham. Shortly. |
| 6. | Dictionary of Quotations (German and Spanish). By Col. P. H. Dalbiac and T. B. Harbottle. In prep. |
———
London: SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO., Ltd.
By
THOMAS BENFIELD HARBOTTLE
Author of “Dictionary of Quotations (Classical)” and
Co-Author of “Dictionary of Quotations
(French and Italian)”
LONDON
SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO. Ltd.
PATERNOSTER SQUARE
1903
| Page | 14 | Sub voce | Armed Neutrality | for | 1870 | read | 1780. | |||
| ” | 22 | ” | Bar | ” | 1876 | ” | 1768. | |||
| ” | 34 | ” | Bobbing John | ” | 1815 | ” | 1715. | |||
| ” | 71 | ” | Cyprus | ” | 1788 | ” | 1878. | |||
| ” | 77 | ” | Disarming the Highlands | ” | 1825 | ” | 1725. | |||
| ” | 94 | ” | Fifteen | ” | 1815 | ” | 1715. | |||
| ” | 96 | ” | Flowery Land | ” | 1684 | ” | 1864. | |||
| ” | 98 | ” | Forty-five | ” | 1845 | ” | 1745. | |||
| ” | 101 | ” | French Shore | for | interferg | read | interfere. | |||
| ” | minine | ” | mining. | |||||||
| ” | 110 | ” | Great Commoner | ” | younger | ” | elder. | |||
| ” | 115 | ” | Harper’s Ferry | for | 1869 | read | 1859. | |||
| ” | 139 | ” | Kitcat Club | ” | 1793 | ” | 1703. | |||
| for French Revolution read Revolution of 1688. | ||||||||||
| ” | 185 | ” | Panslavism | for | haning | read | having. | |||
| ” | 207 | ” | Quietists | ” | 1780 | ” | 1680. | |||
| ” | 224 | ” | Sanquhar | ” | Charles I. | ” | Charles II. | |||
| ” | 244 | ” | Succession Act, 1534, for setting read settling. | |||||||
| ” | 245 | ” | Suttee | Add.—This practice had been made illegal by an Order in Council of Lord William Bentinck’s Government in 1826. | ||||||
| ” | 255 | ” | Toledo Delete 2nd line. | |||||||
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B,
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F,
G,
H,
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J,
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T,
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INDEX
A treaty between the English Barons and Louis IX of France, signed in 1259, shortly after the establishment in England of the Council of Fifteen. By its provisions England retained Bordeaux, Bayonne, and Gascony, and surrendered all claim to Normandy, Anjou, Poitou, and Maine. The French king agreed to supply a sum of money sufficient to maintain for two years five hundred knights, to be employed for the benefit of England or of the Church.
A branch of the Anabaptists, founded in Germany in the sixteenth century by Stork, a disciple of Luther. They held that all human knowledge was valueless, and therefore declined to learn even the alphabet.
A noble Moorish family of Granada, in the fifteenth century. They were accused by a rival family, the Zegris, of plotting against Abdallah, King of Granada, and were lured into the Alhambra, where they were barbarously massacred. Thirty-six members of the family perished.
Another name for the Tories in the reign of Charles II. They were so called from their use of the word in their addresses to the king, protesting against the petitions in favour of summoning a Parliament in 1679.
Execution first and trial afterwards. The phrase is derived from the methods adopted by Major-General Brown, of the Commonwealth Army, at Abingdon, during the Civil War. It was his habit, it is said, to deal in this fashion with Malignants who fell into his hands.
An Act passed in 1702, imposing upon all who took office under the State, an oath abjuring the House of Stuart, and binding them to support each successor to the throne named in the Act of Settlement.
The declaration of independence made at The Hague in 1581 by the deputies of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, deposing Philip II. It did not, however, substitute any other form of government.
A treaty between Russia and Sweden, signed in 1743, after the surrender of the Swedish army at Helsingfors. Russia acquired Finland, as far as the{2} river Kiümer, and secured the election of Adolphus Frederick of Holstein as Crown Prince of Sweden, in the place of the Prince Royal of Denmark.
The extreme anti-slavery party in the United States, in 1860. They demanded the total abolition of slavery, and would agree to no compromise with the South, even at the cost of civil war.
A tax imposed upon absentee landlords in Ireland, in the reign of Richard II. An attempt was made to reimpose it in 1773, but unsuccessfully, mainly owing to the opposition of Edmund Burke.
A body of armed students who took an active part in the revolutionary disturbances in Vienna in 1848.
The original name of Nova Scotia.
A proclamation by Napoleon, on his return from Elba in 1815, in which he accepted, with some slight modifications, the Charte of Louis XVIII.
A treaty made with Adam Kok, a Griqua chief, by Sir Peregrine Maitland in 1845. One of its provisions, which later caused considerable trouble in the Orange River Sovereignty, prevented the alienation of land by the Griquas to Europeans over a considerable portion of Kok’s territory. The treaty was denounced by Great Britain in 1856 after the Convention of Bloemfontein.
A Parliament summoned by James I, in 1615. An attempt by certain of its members, who were dubbed the Undertakers, to control it in the interests of the Court, failed signally, and the king promptly dissolved it.
A threatened trek of a large number of Transvaal Boers, under a leader named Adendorff, into Mashonaland, in 1891. Sir Henry Loch raised a protest, on the ground that the trek would be an infringement of the Swaziland Convention of 1890, and an act of hostility towards Great Britain, whereupon President Kruger issued a proclamation forbidding all Transvaal burghers to take part in the movement.
A treaty signed May 15, 1902, between Great Britain and Ethiopia (Abyssinia). It provides for the rectification and delimitation of the frontier between Abyssinia and the Soudan. The Negus undertakes not to sanction any damming of the Sobat or the Blue Nile without the consent of Great Britain, grants a lease of a tract of country on the Baro river, for the formation of a commercial entrepôt, and gives Great Britain the right to connect Uganda and the Soudan by a railway running through Abyssinia. A further treaty, to which Italy is also a party, provides for the rectification of the frontiers of Eritrea with Abyssinia and the Soudan.{3}
Delegates elected by each regiment of the Parliamentary Army in 1647, to act with the officers in placing their demands and grievances before Parliament prior to disbandment.
A document issued by Thomas Cartwright, the leader of the Puritans, in 1572, demanding the establishment of Presbyterianism, as being a divine institution.
A pamphlet addressed to the “Nobility and People of England,” bringing a series of scandalous charges against Queen Elizabeth, issued by Cardinal Allen in 1588.
A nickname of George IV.
A bull issued by Adrian IV, in 1156, granting the sovereignty of Ireland to Henry II, in return for his undertaking to support the Papal authority, and to pay Peter’s Pence.
A treaty between Russia and Turkey, signed in 1829, following the capture by Russia of the fortresses of Varna, Silistria, and Adrianople. It gave Russia control over the mouths of the Danube, and the appointment of protector of the privileges of Moldavia and Wallachia.
An ancient ceremony celebrated yearly at Venice on Ascension Day, and typifying the greatness of Venice as a maritime power. The Doge was conveyed in his state barge to the sea, and threw into the water a consecrated ring. The ceremony was established in 1174 by Pope Alexander III, in memory of the victory of the Venetians over the fleet of Barbarossa.
A person who was compelled to remain on his lord’s estate. The condition of a villein or serf in feudal times.
A small section of the Liberal party, headed by Mr. Lowe (Lord Sherbrooke) who opposed Mr. Gladstone’s Reform Bill of 1866. The name had its origin in a speech of John Bright, who likened the malcontents to those who took refuge in the Cave of Adullam. The term “cave” is now applied to any small knot of dissentients within the ranks of one of the great political parties.
The gentlemen and others who had advanced money to the Government during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, to be repaid by grants of forfeited land. In 1653 these claims were recognized by grants in various parts of Leinster and Munster.
The partizans of Napoleon in Spain and the Spanish Colonies.
An organization formed in Cape Colony in 1881, with the avowed object of securing for the Afrikanders a larger share of political power. Its moving{4} Spirit was Mr. Hofmeyr, a member of the Cape Ministry. It has taken a leading part in Cape politics, generally in opposition to British rule, and during the Boer war of 1899-1902 gave strong evidence of disloyalty.
The Catalan insurgents, in 1825, called themselves the Agraviados, or men with a grievance.
A league formed in Berlin in 1893, to advocate bimetalism and a return to protection. In the latter portion of its programme, it has had considerable success.
The name given to a bill passed by the Prussian Parliament in 1896, at the instigation of the Agricultural Alliance. It prohibited time bargains in corn, mining shares, etc., and provided for the regulation of the Berlin Bourse, Corn Exchange, and other Exchanges, by a committee under a Government official. To escape these vexatious restrictions, the produce brokers deserted the Exchange and formed a Free Commercial Union, meeting in another building to carry on their business.
Taxes levied on their feudatories by the English kings, prior to Magna Charta. By that instrument, however, it was provided that they were to be granted only by the Great Council, except in three specified cases: the delivery of the king from prison, the knighting of the king’s eldest son, or the marriage of his eldest daughter.
A treaty between Russia and China, signed in 1858, by which Russia obtained all the territory eastward of the Ussuri river to the Japan Sea, and fixed her southern boundary at the frontier of Corea.
A congress held in 1818, and attended by plenipotentiaries from Great Britain, Prussia, Austria and Russia, to arrange for the evacuation of France by the army of occupation, and the readmission of France, as one of the Great Powers, to the Councils of Europe.
A treaty between the Triple Alliance (England, Holland and Sweden) and Louis XIV of France, signed in May, 1668. Spain, which acceded to the Treaty, received Franche Comté from France, and surrendered certain frontier towns, including Lille, Courtray, and Tournay. The Triple Alliance were thus enabled to checkmate Louis’ designs in the Low Countries.
A treaty signed by England, France, Austria, Spain, and Holland, in 1748, putting an end to the War of the Austrian Succession. Territorially, its provisions in the main amounted to a return to the status quo ante, but it was provided that the Pretender should be expelled from France, that Spain should renew the Asiento treaty with England, and that Austria was to receive the acknowledgment by the signatories of the Duke{5} of Lorraine, husband of Maria Theresa, as Emperor, in return for the cession of Silesia to Prussia.
A treaty between Russia and Turkey, supplementary to the Treaty of Bucharest, signed in 1826. It provided that the Hospodars of Moldavia and Wallachia should rule independently, each with a council of Boyars, and should not be deposed without the Czar’s consent; that Servia should elect her own princes, and that Russia should occupy the East coast of the Black Sea, and should have free access to all Turkish waters.
A privateer fitted out in England during the American Civil War, to prey upon the commerce of the Northern States. After the war the United States made an enormous claim for compensation, which was submitted to arbitration, with the result that England was condemned to pay about three and a half millions sterling.
A treaty between the Catholics and the Huguenots in France, signed in 1629, after the fall of La Rochelle. By this treaty the Huguenots were finally deprived of their political rights.
A sobriquet of Frederick the Great of Prussia, given him by Voltaire. It infers that he was a great soldier but a very poor poet.
The name given to the foreign Protestant refugees in England during the reign of Edward VI. The name is derived from Laski, the superintendent of foreign church communities.
By a treaty between the United States and Russia, in 1867, the latter Power surrendered all her possessions on the continent of the United States, together with the Probyloff Islands, in consideration of a payment of 7,200,000 dols.
A treaty between Great Britain and the United States, signed in 1903, by which it was agreed to submit the question of the boundary between Alaska and Canada to a commission of six jurists, three to be nominated by each side. This question had been pending since the cession of Alaska to the United States by Russia in 1867, the doubt as to the true frontier arising from the very indefinite terms of the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1825.
A league founded by the Porte in 1880, to oppose the aspirations of Montenegro towards an increase of territory. In 1887 the league presented to the Sultan a petition for autonomy, under an Albanian governor, and receiving no answer, rose in rebellion. The outbreak, however, was easily suppressed.
A coterie of Democrats who from 1820 to 1854 exercised a controlling influence over the politics of New York State, and had consequently considerable power in national politics. Their headquarters were at Albany.{6}
A sect of dissenters from the Romish doctrine, settled in the South of France, under the protection of Raymond, Count of Toulouse, their name being derived from the town of Albi. Innocent III organised a crusade against them in 1215, under the leadership of Simon de Montfort, and at the siege of Béziers it is estimated that 15,000 Albigenses were put to the sword. They nevertheless held out until 1229, when Raymond capitulated, and the Inquisition was established in Toulouse. The sect, though dispersed, was not destroyed, and its members carried the seeds of Protestantism into Bohemia, Germany and England.
A Spanish order of religious chivalry, established in 1177, and directed against Mohammedanism.
An official appointed annually the Court-Leet to test and examine the ale sold in the borough, and to prosecute dishonest vendors.
A conspiracy of the pro-Russian party in Bulgaria, in 1886. Prince Alexander, whose policy was to free his country from Russian influence, was kidnapped by some Bulgarian officers, and carried off in his yacht to Russian territory. An attempt was then made to establish a pro-Russian government under M. Zankoff, but the sympathies of the Bulgarians were with the Prince, and M. Stambuloff set up a Council of Regency, and demanded his return. The Prince came back, but with nerves completely shattered by his experiences, or, as was alleged, by the administration of certain drugs, and he shortly afterwards abdicated. There seems little doubt that the Russian Foreign Office was privy to the plot.
A sobriquet of Charles XII of Sweden (1682-1718).
Iskander Beg (George Castriot, 1404-1467) was so called.
A sobriquet of Henry V.
A Russian order of knighthood, founded by Peter the Great in 1722.
An act passed in 1793, to deal with the enormous influx of foreigners into England, due to the French Revolution. Aliens were required to state the object of their visit, to register their names, and to obtain passports for moving to and fro.
A series of Acts of Congress passed in 1798, to deal with the situation caused by the residence in the United States of a large number of naturalized Frenchmen who sympathized with France in the difficulties then pending between the two countries. They gave the President the power to banish undesirable aliens. They were very unpopular, and were, in fact, never enforced with any stringency, but are noticeable{7} as having led to the first declaration of States Rights, Kentucky and Virginia declaring them unconstitutional.
A treaty, signed in 1858 between the Orange Free State and Moshesh, the Basuto chief, through the mediation of Sir George Grey. This treaty rectified the frontier somewhat in favour of the Basutos, and made other provisions tending to the maintenance of peace.
A treaty between Great Britain and the Orange Free State, signed in 1869, settling the boundary between the two contracting parties in Basutoland. After the annexation by Great Britain of the territories of Moshesh, the Orange Free State claimed the boundary line fixed by the treaty of Thaba Bosigo, while Great Britain claimed that in existence before the war of 1865. A compromise was eventually arrived at, and the frontier thus fixed is that at present existing between the Orange River Colony and the Cape.
A cable route from England to Australia, touching only British soil, projected by the Ottawa Conference in 1894. The scheme met with the approval and support of the Imperial Parliament, and the cable was completed in 1902.
The Prussian Code of Law, amplified from the Landrecht of Frederick the Great.
A political association formed in Belgium in 1897, with the object of uniting the different branches of the Liberal Party.
Among the Franks, lands held in absolute proprietorship, as opposed to lands held as fiefs, and dependent upon a superior. They were subject to no burden, except the call to arms for national defence, and passed at death to all the children equally, or, failing issue, to the next of kin.
Frederick the Great of Prussia is constantly referred to by this sobriquet.
The general assembly of the Norsemen. (See also Thing.)
A sect of mystics, founded in Spain about 1520, the forerunners of the better known Illuminati of Germany. They were finally suppressed by the Inquisition.
A code of maritime law, drawn up during the First Crusade by the mercantile community of Amalfi. It is the oldest known maritime code.
A plot on the part of Condé and the Bourbons, in 1560, to seize the Guises, and the King, Francis II, who was a mere puppet in their hands. The plot was discovered, and several of the leaders were executed.
An agreement between Cathe{8}rine de’ Medici and the Huguenots in 1563, after the first civil war, by which the Huguenots were allowed the free exercise of their religion.
The murder of ten Englishmen, in the employment of the India Company, at the Dutch factory of Amboyna in 1623.
An Act passed in 1775, consolidating all the previous penal acts relating to the American Colonies. It declared that all American vessels were lawful prizes, and that all Americans captured in them, or elsewhere, could be forced to take service against America. Commissioners were appointed to receive the submission of the revolted colonies, but no provisions were made for the redress of grievances.
According to the Norse Sagas, the discovery of America should be placed to the credit of the Vikings, who made five expeditions to the coast between 985 and 1011, the first being that of Eric the Red, who settled in Greenland in 986, and the most famous that of Thorfinn Karlsefne, about 1007. The rediscovery by Columbus took place in 1492.
An Act passed in 1764, levying customs duties on goods imported into the American Colonies. These duties were to be levied for the benefit of England, and the proceeds thereof paid into the English Treasury. The assertion of this right to tax the Colonies for the benefit of the Mother Country may be considered the cause of the loss of the American Colonies.
A treaty negotiated between the Shôgun and Commodore Perry on behalf of the United States in 1854, by which Japan opened the ports of Yokohama, Kobe, Nagasaki, and Hakodaté to foreign commerce. Foreigners had been excluded from Japan for 216 years before this date, with the exception of the Dutch, who however were strictly confined to their factory at Deshima.
A treaty signed in 1898, at the close of the war, by which Spain surrendered her sovereign rights over Cuba, and ceded Porto Rico and her other West Indian possessions. The United States undertook to pay twenty million dollars for the Philippines and Sulu Islands, but did not assume any responsibility for the Cuban debt.
A sobriquet of the Marquis de Mirabeau (1715-1789).
Jean Paul Marat, the French revolutionary leader, was known as the Friend of the People. It was also the title of the journal which he edited.
The award of Louis IX of France, in 1264, in the dispute between Henry III of England and his Barons, which had been referred to the arbitration of the French King. He pronounced entirely in favour of the Crown,{9} annulling the Provisions of Oxford, especially with regard to the King’s right to employ aliens as governors of his castles. Also known as the Mise of Amiens.
A treaty signed by France and England, in 1801, after the defeat of the French army in Egypt. England restored all her conquests from France, Spain and Holland, excepting Ceylon and Trinidad. Both parties agreed to the evacuation of Egypt, and the independence of Portugal was guaranteed. This peace was of very short duration, England and France being at war again in 1803.
The case of a Spanish slaver in 1839, in which the slaves had broken out and seized the ship. She was afterwards captured by a U.S. cruiser, and the Supreme Court declared that the seizure of the vessel by the slaves was not an act of piracy.
The name ironically applied to a severely repressive measure against the Press, introduced in the French Chamber by Peyronnet in 1827.
The name given to the war between Henry III and Henry of Navarre in 1580. It arose purely out of a court intrigue, and its only event of importance was the capture of Cahors by the Huguenots.
The Holy Vase, containing the consecrated oil with which the French kings were anointed at their coronation at Reims. It was preserved in the Church of Saint Remi in that city.
A fanatical sect which had its rise in Westphalia, early in the sixteenth century. In 1535 the Anabaptists seized the city of Münster, and under their leader Boccold, otherwise John of Leyden, who had arrogated to himself royal prerogatives, they held out for some time against the forces of the Bishop of Münster. They were, however, eventually overpowered, and their leaders put to death. Among other extreme doctrines, they advocated communism and polygamy.
Riots arising out of the Labour agitation in Chicago in the spring of 1886. The Anarchists took advantage of the disturbed condition of the city, and in the course of a meeting which they summoned, a bomb was thrown at the police, which was followed by shooting. Sixty police were wounded. Seven of the rioters, mostly Germans, were convicted of murder.
The second chamber of the French Directory (1794-1799). It was composed of 250 members.
A treaty of peace between Chile and Peru, putting an end to the War of the Pacific, signed in 1883. Chile obtained by this treaty and one concluded shortly afterwards with Bolivia, the coast region of the latter state, and the district of Tarapaca in{10} Peru. She further secured important concessions with regard to the guano deposits.
A note of remonstrance prepared by Count Andrassy, the Austrian Foreign Minister, and addressed to the Porte in 1876 by the Powers signatory of the Treaty of Paris, insisting on Turkey fulfilling her engagements.
The name given by the French to the defeat of the Papal Army, under the Duke of Urbino, near Bologna, on May 22, 1571, by the Bolognese and the French men-at-arms. The name was given to this battle on account of the enormous number of baggage animals captured.
An agreement between Great Britain and China providing for the abolition of Likin, and an increase of duties at the port of entry, to compensate for the loss of revenue thus incurred. This agreement, however, can only come into operation if the other nations having commercial treaties with China agree to the increase of the import duties.
A treaty by which Holland surrendered to Great Britain all her possessions on the Gold Coast.
An agreement with respect to Siam, by which Great Britain agreed to the cession to France of Mongain, and a strip of territory, twenty-five kilometres wide, on the right bank of the Mekong. Both parties agreed not to invade the territory left to Siam by this arrangement, and it was further stipulated that any commercial privileges in Yunnan and Sze-Chuan accorded by China to either nation should be common to both.
An agreement, fixing the limits of the spheres of influence of the two Powers in East, West, and South-West Africa, with the exception of the southern limit of Walfisch Bay, left open for further inquiry. The agreement further provided for the cession of Heligoland to Germany, and the recognition by the latter of Great Britain’s protectorate over Zanzibar.
An agreement, also known as the Yang-tse Agreement, signed May 16, 1900, defining the policy of the two Powers in China. It was agreed to support the policy of the “Open Door,” and to permit free access for all nations to the ports, rivers and littorals where the signatories have influence; to refrain from seeking special territorial advantages, and to oppose the grant of such to other Powers, the right being reserved to concert measures in the event of such advantages being sought. Germany has since declared that she does not consider this agreement to have any bearing on the Russian occupation of Manchuria.
An agreement by which Great Britain recognizes Italy’s rights to the East Coast of Africa between Massowah and Obock, and further agrees to give her{11} her moral support in Tripoli. Italy in return undertakes the same friendly offices for Great Britain in Egypt.
An agreement signed in London, January 30, 1902, by which the relations of the two Powers in the China seas are defined. It is provided that if one of the signatories be involved in war, in defence of her interests in these regions, the other shall maintain a strict neutrality, but that if the belligerent be attacked by a second Power, the other signatory shall join her ally, and that the war shall thenceforward be conducted in common, and peace made only by mutual agreement. It is further stipulated that neither party shall enter into a separate agreement with another Power, to the prejudice of the joint interests of the allies, these interests being defined as the maintenance of the territorial integrity of China and Korea, and the securing therein equal opportunities for the commerce of all nations.
A treaty between Great Britain and Japan, signed in 1895, abolishing extra-territorial jurisdiction in Japan for British subjects. Great Britain was thus the first European nation to acknowledge the entry of Japan into the comity of nations. The treaty became operative in 1899.
Following the disturbances on the Mashonaland border, where a collision had taken place between Portuguese troops and British South African Police, an ultimatum was despatched to Portugal, demanding the withdrawal of her troops from the disputed territory. A treaty was subsequently signed delimiting the spheres of influence of the two Powers and declaring the navigation of the Shiré and the Zambesi open to all nations, while Portugal agreed to facilitate communication by these and other river and land routes.
A convention by which it was agreed that both Powers should enjoy equal fishing rights in the Pacific Ocean. A line of demarcation was also drawn between Alaska and British Columbia, but it was never properly demarcated, and the vagueness of the boundary has been a fruitful source of dissension between England and the United States, probably to be ended by the Alaska Treaty of 1903.
A conspiracy of Swedish nobles, headed by Counts Ribbing and Horn and Captain Ankarström, to assassinate Gustavus III of Sweden. Captain Ankarström, who had a personal grievance against the king, shot him at a masquerade in the Opera House at Stockholm on March 16, 1792.
The first year’s income of a benefice, claimed as tribute by the Popes. This and all other tributes to the Roman See were abolished in England in the reign of Henry VIII. by the Annates Act, passed in 1534.{12}
An Italian order of knighthood, holding the third place (after the Garter and the Golden Fleece) among the orders of chivalry. It was founded by Amadeus V of Savoy in 1362, and has been twice remodelled, namely, by Charles III in 1518, and by Victor Emmanuel in 1869. It is restricted to twenty members, exclusive of royal knights.
The year 1666, famous in English history for two decisive victories over the Dutch fleet, and for the Great Fire of London. Dryden’s poem of this name commemorates these events.
An association founded in Manchester in 1838, to work for the repeal of the Corn Laws, which imposed heavy duties on imported corn. Its leaders were Richard Cobden and Charles Villiers. The agitation bore fruit in 1846, in which year the Act repealing the Corn Laws was passed.
See Federalists.
Marie Thérèse, the daughter of Louis XVI, was so called.
The majority of the Irish Parliamentary Party, who deposed Mr. Parnell from the leadership, after the O’Shea divorce case, at the bidding of Mr. Gladstone and the Irish Bishops.
A party among the Irish Catholics, who declined to sign the Petition of Remonstrance, drawn up by Peter Walsh, in 1666, protesting against the belief prevalent in England that toleration of Catholicism was incompatible with the safety of the State.
An anti-Jewish crusade which broke out in Eastern Europe in the latter part of the nineteenth century. It was especially virulent in Russia and Austria, while in Germany an Anti-Semitic League was formed in Berlin in 1880, to “prevent the Judification of Germany.” The Judenhetze, as it was called, was carried to such lengths as to call for the interference of the Emperor. Still later the crusade against the Jews extended to France, where the anti-Semitic party is strong. As a consequence of this persecution, thousands of Jews have emigrated from the Continent to England and to the United States.
A society formed at Philadelphia in 1833, under the presidency of William Lloyd Garrison, to work for the abolition of slavery in the United States. It was dissolved in 1870, having accomplished its object.
The Council of the Ancients of Florence, established about the middle of the thirteenth century, to control all matters relating to the government the State. It consisted of fourteen leading citizens.
A justification of his actions,{13} presented by William of Orange to the States-General of Holland in 1580, in reply to the proscription edict of Philip II. The States declared Philip’s charges against the Prince to be without foundation.
The provision made for the younger sons of the French Kings. It consisted of feudal lands held by the Crown.
The Russian Imperial estates are so called.
A series of sumptuary laws, passed about 1540, regulating the dress of the labouring and farming classes.
An Act passed in 1533, under Henry VIII, declaring the Church of England capable of dealing with its own spiritual questions, and forbidding appeals to any dignitary higher than the Archbishop.
A statute of Elizabeth, passed in 1563, by which no person was permitted to exercise a trade in England unless he had previously served an apprenticeship to it of seven years.
This question was much debated in England in the early seventies, some people alleging that the apprenticeship of black children was a covert form of slavery, especially as indentures were transferable before a landdrost. On the annexation of the country in 1877, however, it was found that the charge was quite groundless.
This revolt arose originally from a quarrel between the Circassian and the Arab officers of the Egyptian Army in 1881. Three Arab colonels, one of them Arabi, headed a successful mutiny, demanding a change at the Ministry of War, which was controlled entirely by the Circassians. Later in the year further trouble arose, and Arabi, supported by the whole army, obtained the appointment of Under Secretary, and subsequently that of War Minister. By June, 1882, he was practically a military dictator, and commenced fortifying Alexandria. An ultimatum from the British Government was without effect, and Alexandria was bombarded by the British fleet. The defeat of Arabi at Tel-el-Kebir put an end to the rebellion.
A charter granted to the nobles of Aragon by Alfonso III in 1287. It gave them a constitutional right to federate against the king, if he infringed their immunities, and at need to depose him and elect a successor. The Privilege was withdrawn by Pedro IV in 1348.
See Hague Congress.
See Alabama, Amiens, Behring Sea, Caroline Islands, Keate, San Juan, Venezuela.
The name given to the early settlers in California after the discovery of gold in 1849. They are also called Fortyniners.{14}
A rising of his dependents against the Daimio of Arima, which was joined by a large number of Japanese Christians. The rebels were finally subdued in 1658, the Shôgun having had recourse to the Dutch for help, and the result was the complete suppression of Christianity in Japan.
A dispute, in 1874, between the factions of Brooks and Baxter, each of whom claimed to be the duly elected Governor of Arkansas and was backed by an armed force, dignified by the name of the State Militia. It was found necessary to call out United States troops, whereupon Baxter relieved the situation by withdrawing.
A Synod of the Irish Prelates, held in 1170, at which, in view of the threatened English invasion, it was resolved to release all English captives held in slavery.
The war between Frederick III of Germany and the Swiss in 1444, so called because Frederick’s forces were principally composed of mercenaries who had been engaged in the French civil war on the Armagnac side.
The party of the Orleans Princes in the French civil war, which broke out in 1410, during the reign of the imbecile Charles VI. Their opponents, the Burgundians, succeeded in obtaining possession of Paris by treachery in 1418, and the Armagnac leaders were captured and thrown into prison. The Paris mob, always hostile to this party, broke into the prisons and murdered all the prisoners. In this affair, which is known as the Massacre of the Armagnacs, it is said that 3,500 persons perished, including the Comte d’Armagnac, the Chancellor, and many nobles and members of the Parlement.
A body of Greek mercenaries in the service of the Sultans of Turkey from the fifteenth to the early nineteenth centuries.
A league of the northern nations of Europe, formed under the leadership of Prussia and Russia in 1870, to contest the right of search exercised by British ships of war over neutrals. The contentions of the league were that the flag covers the merchandise, except in the case of contraband of war, and that a blockade must be effective to be respected.
In 1895 and 1896 terrible massacres of the Armenians took place in Anatolia, at the hands of the Kurds, who were probably aided, and certainly not hindered, by the regular Turkish garrison. In 1896, on the ground that a dangerous conspiracy was on foot, the authorities connived at a massacre of Armenians in Constantinople, in which over two thousand are believed to have perished. This produced a strong joint protest from the Powers, followed by the re-establishment of some sem{15}blance of order in the disturbed districts.
The followers of Arminius, a Leyden professor, in the early part of the seventeenth century, who dissented from the strict Calvinism of the Dutch Protestants, and endeavoured to introduce a milder system. By a decree of the Synod of Dort, in 1618, the Arminian preachers were banished, while the Great Pensioner, Barneveldt, the chief lay supporter of the sect, was executed. The English High Church party in the reign of Charles I were sometimes called Arminians.
An abortive conspiracy in the army, in 1641, under Wilmot, the Commissary-General, formed, with the connivance of Charles I, to overawe the Parliament. Goring, one of the ringleaders, becoming dissatisfied, betrayed the plot to Pym, but by that time the conspirators had already decided against active measures.
The system of purchase of commissions in the army was abolished by an Act of Parliament introduced by Mr. Cardwell in 1871.
The party of the Medici, during the existence of the Florentine Republic, established in 1493.
The first instance of a congress of the European Powers, held at Arras in 1435. All the leading States were represented, and an attempt was made to settle the peace of Europe, but the rival claims of France and England, the two countries most immediately concerned, proved irreconcilable, and no solution was arrived at.
During the Congress of Arras, in 1435, France succeeded in detaching Burgundy from the English alliance, and a treaty was signed by which the Duke of Burgundy acknowledged the sovereignty of Charles VII, but stipulated that he himself should be freed from personal homage during his own and Charles’ lifetime. In return his claim was admitted to the Boulonnais, and he received Mâcon, Arcis-sur-Aube and Auxerre. Burgundy renounced the English alliance, and France that of the Emperor.
Land held by the vassal of a vassal is an arrière fief of the overlord.
Associations of workmen in Russia, living and working together, and dividing the profits of each job. They are sometimes of a temporary nature and sometimes more nearly resembling a guild, as in the case of the bank porters, where the association is responsible to the employers for the acts of its members.
See Eleven, Five, Forty-two, Henry, Lambeth, Louvain, Nine, Schmalkald, Six, Ten, Thirty-nine, Thirty-three.{16}
The Committee which prepared measures to be submitted to the Scottish Parliament was so called.
See Pacta Conventa.
The confession of faith of the Hussites, issued by John Zisca in 1420.
Twenty clauses added to Magna Charta, when it was confirmed by Edward I during the Parliament of 1300. The most important are those dealing with purveyance, the jurisdiction of the officers of the Crown, and the jury system.
A Hindu sect founded by Dayânandu Sarasvati (died 1882). While reforming many of the grosser superstitions of the Brahminical faith, its followers still hold by the doctrinal teachings of the Vedas.
An agreement between the Emperor Ferdinand III and Pope Nicholas V, in 1448, regulating the Papal rights in ecclesiastical matters in Germany. The Pope surrendered the right of appointing arbitrarily to all benefices, but retained it for those falling in during each alternate six months. He retained the annates, and gave the chapters the right of electing to bishoprics, except in the case of translations, or of the appointment of some notoriously unfit person.
See Irish Land Act, 1885.
A treaty between England and the United States, signed in 1842, finally settling the boundary line between Canada and the States. This treaty is also known as the Treaty of Washington.
The right to trade in slaves with the American Colonies was claimed by Spain, and was at different periods granted by treaty to France or to England. The permission thus granted was known as the Asiento.
A Jacobite plot in 1696, to assassinate William III. He was to be shot while returning from hunting in Richmond Forest. It is probable that James was privy to it, but the actual ringleader was Sir George Barclay. The plot was discovered, and several of the leaders convicted and executed.
The followers of the Old Man of the Mountain, Hassan ben Sabah, who founded the sect on the borders of the Caspian Sea about 1090. The motto of the Society was “To the faithful nothing is forbidden,” and its adherents were guilty of the foulest murders. Among its other well-known victims was Conrad of Montferrat, in 1192.
The book written by Henry VIII against Luther, which procured for him from Leo X the title of Defender of the Faith.
An issue of paper money{17} authorized by the French National Assembly in December, 1789, secured on the lands and buildings of the church, which were to be confiscated and sold. They were largely forged by Royalists and others, and went to an extraordinary discount; thus in February, 1796, a gold louis of 20 francs was worth on the Paris Bourse 5,300 francs in assignats.
A reorganization of the old Militia of England, carried out by Henry II in 1181.
An ordinance of Henry III of England in 1266, regulating the prices to be charged by bakers, in accordance with the fluctuations in the value of corn.
An ordinance issued by Henry II in 1166, to provide for the trial of criminal cases in the Shire Courts. It was ordained that twelve men should be selected from each hundred, and four from each township, to determine whether there were any criminals in their district, and if so to present them for trial. This is the origin of the Grand Jury system. This Assize also abolished trial by compurgation.
An ordinance issued by Henry II in 1176, confirming and strengthening the Assize of Clarendon.
An ordinance issued by Henry II in 1184, containing regulations for the government of the royal forests. Many of the rules were very oppressive, and were considerably modified by the Charter of Forests, in 1217.
A bond drawn up by the Council and nobles of England in 1584, whereby the signatories bound themselves to take arms against all who should attempt to harm the person of Queen Elizabeth. It was signed by Catholics and Protestants alike, and Parliament was speedily summoned to endorse it.
A union of the Eastern counties, formed in 1643, with the object of keeping the civil war beyond its borders.
A treaty, signed in 1682, between Holland, Sweden, the Emperor and certain German Princes, pledging the signatories to defend the treaties of Utrecht and Nimeguen. It provided that any of the contracting parties accused of violating the provisions of these treaties should submit the matter to the arbitration of the other signatories, who, in the event of his refusal, agreed to unite against him in arms. Similar provisions were agreed to to meet the case of a non-signatory power violating the peace of Europe and refusing to submit to arbitration.
An Act passed in 1826, directed mainly against the Catholic Association. It restricted the right of meeting of political associations, and forbade the levying of subscriptions or the administration of oaths.{18}
A law passed by the French Government in 1833, forbidding any association, even literary or religious, to exist without Government authorization.
A law passed by the French Assembly in 1901, requiring all religious associations engaged in teaching or charitable work to apply to the Government for authorization. It was specially aimed at associations like the Assumptionist Fathers, who had taken an active part in politics in opposition to the Government. In 1902 the law was strenuously enforced by M. Combes, the French Premier, against many harmless communities of nuns and others engaged in teaching, causing serious disturbances in Brittany and other Catholic centres.
A form of oath exacted in Scotland after the accession of William III from all persons holding positions of trust. It set forth that William was King not only de facto but de jure and by just title, and was intended to discriminate, in the Church, between those Episcopalians who were at heart Jacobites, and those who were honestly ready to accept the new régime. About a hundred Episcopalian divines took the oath, and were permitted to retain their benefices.
The Scottish lords captured at Solway Moss, and allowed to return to Scotland under the obligation to further the interests of Henry VIII, in 1542. Among them were the Earl of Angus, Lords Cassilis, Glencairn, and Maxwell.
The ancient Scottish law of the assessment of the value of a life, to be paid by the murderer.
A serious riot in New York in 1849, arising out of a dispute between Macready, the English actor, and Edwin Forest, the American actor. A mob of 20,000 men attacked the Astor Place Opera House, where Macready was playing in “Macbeth,” and it was found necessary to call out the troops in order to quell the disturbance.
The chief of a community of Cossacks. The office was elective.
Government workshops established in Paris in 1848 to provide work for the unemployed. Within the year the workers rose against the Government, and erected barricades in the streets of Paris. They were, however, promptly suppressed by General Cavaignac, and their leaders arrested and condemned to transportation.
An Act passed by the Irish Parliament, summoned by James after the landing of William III in England in 1689. The Act contained a list of between two and three thousand names, and was made the vehicle of many private vengeances.{19}
The title bestowed on Yakoub Beg, the leader of the revolt against China in Kashgar in 1870. The revolt was suppressed in 1877, after the death of Yakoub Beg.
A Jacobite plot to depose George I in 1722, and to place the old Pretender, James Edward, on the throne. The ringleaders were Lord Orrery, Lord North, Lord Gower, and Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester. The plot included a plan for an expedition under James and Lord Ormonde, to sail from Spain. The scheme, however, was disclosed to the British Minister in Paris, and the leaders, including Atterbury, were arrested.
The final courts of appeal in South America, under Spanish rule. They were eleven in number, and in addition to their judicial functions, acted as advisory boards to the Viceroys and Captains-General.
A Court appointed by Henry VIII, after the dissolution of the monasteries, to deal with all questions arising out of the confiscation of the Church Lands.
A statement of the Protestant doctrine drawn up by Melancthon at the Diet of Augsburg, in 1529.
A league between the Emperor, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Bavaria, and the circles of Suabia and Franconia, formed in 1682, to preserve the peace of Europe against the encroachments of Louis XIV. The war, which began in 1688 and was ended by the Peace of Ryswick in 1697, is known as the War of the League of Augsburg.
See Religious Peace.
A tribunal established by the Emperor Maximilian I in 1501. It was reorganized by Rudolf II, to deal with questions arising out of the interpretation of the Peace of Augsburg, during the counter-reformation in Germany. The Council accompanied the Emperor, having no fixed place of meeting, and was almost entirely under the domination of the Court, and thoroughly Catholic in its tendencies.
See Queen’s Gold.
A bull, also known as the Greater Bull, issued by Pope Boniface VIII against Philip IV of France in 1302. It calls on Philip to cease his opposition to the claims of the Church, and reminds him that he holds his throne only by the goodwill of the Pope. The bull was publicly burnt in Philip’s presence.
The agreement settling the economic relations between Austria and Hungary. The first Ausgleich was signed in 1867, for a period of ten years, and was renewed with slight{20} variations in 1877 and 1887. The Austrian Reichsrath refused to sanction the Ausgleich of 1897, and it was promulgated by what is known as the Dictatorship paragraph of the Austrian Constitution, in other words by Imperial decree. In 1899 it was amended by the Szell formula, by which M. Szell, the Hungarian premier, stipulated that if the Ausgleich were not formally renewed before the end of 1902, the economic union between the two countries should come to an end in 1907. On New Year’s Eve, 1902, a new Ausgleich, to run for ten years, was agreed to by the Austrian and Hungarian Premiers.
An outbreak of the Coloured League against the White League, at Austin, Mississippi, in 1874. Several sanguinary engagements took place, in which the blacks were worsted, and many killed.
A court consisting of several members of the Germanic Confederation, convened to decide whether questions pending between one of the Confederated States and a foreign power could be taken up by the Confederation as a whole.
A society established in Melbourne in 1851, under the auspices of the Rev. John West, to secure “by moral means only” the abolition of the transportation of convicts to any part of the Australasian continent.
An Act passed in 1849, separating Victoria from New South Wales, and providing a constitution for the new colony, as well as for Tasmania, South Australia, and (subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions) Western Australia.
An Act to give force to the Constitution drafted by Australian statesmen for the union into a Commonwealth of the Colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia, and Tasmania, power being reserved to New Zealand to enter the union if she so desire. The Act provides for the establishment of a central Government, with the control of the customs, postage, and certain other matters, each colony retaining its own Parliament, with power to manage its internal affairs as before. Considerable difference of opinion arose as to the right of appeal from the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth to the Privy Council, and it was finally enacted that in the case of constitutional questions affecting the rights of the Commonwealth or individual States no appeal should lie, unless the Supreme Court certified that the matter was one which should be determined by the Privy Council.
The war which broke out in 1741, in connexion with the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VI. It was ended by the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748.{21}
The Act of Faith, the name given to the ceremony which accompanied the execution of persons condemned for heresy by the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal. The last Auto de Fe took place at Valencia, in 1826.
The period of seventy years during which the Popes resided at Avignon, practically in a condition of vassalage to the French Crown. It lasted from 1305 to 1377, or from the Papacy of Clement V to that of Gregory XI. It is also known as the Babylonish Captivity.
From the time of the return of the Popes to Rome in 1377, until 1791, Avignon was, with certain short intervals, governed by Papal Legates. In the latter year, by a decree of the National Assembly, it was reunited to France, and this reunion was acknowledged by the Pope, by the Treaty of Tolentino in 1797.
The name given by the Mexicans to the sympathizers with America during the Mexican War of 1846.
A plot set on foot by Babington and a Jesuit, named Ballard, in 1585, to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. Letters secured by Walsingham were said to have proved the complicity of Mary Queen of Scots, and led to her imprisonment at Fotheringay, and subsequent trial and execution.
See Avignon.
An assembly of Delegates from the whole of Ireland, which met in Dublin in 1792. They prepared an address expressing their loyalty to the throne, and asking for the franchise.
The Liberal Party in Virginia in 1676, who rose in rebellion under Nathaniel Bacon. The name was afterwards adopted by the Maryland Liberals in 1678.
The popular name of the State of Wisconsin, U.S.A., from the badger in its coat of arms.
A nickname of Napoleon III. It was the name of the workman in whose clothes he escaped from the Château of Ham, in 1846.
The policy advocated in speech and pamphlet by Mr. Gladstone in 1876 (while in opposition), at the time of the Bulgarian Atrocities. It was to the effect that if Turkey would not reform the administration of her Christian provinces, she must be turned out of Europe “bag and baggage.”
A valuation of the ecclesiastical benefices of Scotland, compiled by Bagimont of Vicci in 1274. On this valuation the{22} tithes payable to the Roman See were computed, up to the time of the Reformation.
In French feudal times the bailli was the representative of the king in the territories of the great feudal lords. He held a court which took cognizance of matters concerning the rights of the Crown, and outside the jurisdiction of the feudal courts.
A reconciliation between the extreme parties in the French Legislative Assembly in 1792, effected by the persuasive eloquence of Lamourette, Bishop of Lyons. It was purely emotional and irrational, and only lasted a few days. It is also called the Norman Reconciliation.
The sobriquet of Henry de Guise (1550-1589).
An agreement between Austria and Russia, officially communicated to the Balkan States in 1897, by which the parties announced their intention of maintaining the status quo in the Balkan Peninsula.
An association of miners, formed at Ballarat (Victoria) in 1854, to agitate for reforms in the administration of the goldfields, as well as for certain political reforms, including manhood suffrage, payment of members, and short Parliaments. The more militant members eventually took up arms against the Government.
The Act to substitute secret for open voting at Parliamentary elections was passed in 1871.
A term applied to the Puritans during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The old name of the Republic of Uruguay.
A body of 3,000 cavalry which formed the only standing army of the Netherlands, circ. 1550.
An Act renewing the charter of the Bank of England, originally granted in 1694. It made the notes of the bank legal tender, and provided that the notes issued should bear to the specie in hand a ratio not exceeding three to one.
By this Act it was provided that the Bank of England should not issue notes in excess of £14,000,000, unless a corresponding reserve of specie were held. It also restricted the note issue of other banks, and provided that no banks established after the passing of the Act should have the right to issue notes.
A league of Polish nobles, formed in 1876, with the object of dethroning Stanislas Augustus (Poniatowski), and freeing the country from foreign influence.
Frederick II, Emperor of{23} Germany (1152-1190), so called from his red beard.
The name given to Sillery, Jeannin, and Villeroy, the veteran councillors of Louis XIII, circ. 1612.
A treaty between Charles VIII of France and Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, by which Roussillon and Cerdagne were restored to the Crown of Arragon.
A treaty between Charles V and Pope Clement VII, by which the Emperor undertook to proceed to Rome to receive the crown at the Pope’s hands, and to take all the steps in his power to check the spread of the reformed religion.
A treaty between France and Tunis, signed in 1861. The Bey recognized the French right to occupy military positions securing the frontier and the sea coast. France in return guaranteed to the Bey his personal security, and that of his dynasty and dominions. She also undertook the due execution of all treaty obligations to foreign powers, but for the future reserved the right to control all the international relations of the Bey.
A Parliament summoned by Cromwell on July 4, 1653, which lasted only till December 12 of the same year. It took its name from one of its members, a leather merchant named Praise-God Barebone, and it was also known as the Little Parliament.
At this council, summoned by Pope Urban II in 1098, the orthodox doctrine of the Holy Ghost was established.
A celebrated Persian family, who rose to the highest offices of state under the Abbaside Khalifs. One of their number, Jaafar, was the favourite Vizier of Haroun-al-Raschid. For some reason not sufficiently explained by the Arab historians, Haroun, without warning, caused the whole family, numbering over a thousand, to be massacred in 802.
Bands of agricultural labourers who, from 1830 to 1833, endeavoured, by burning ricks and farm buildings, to terrorize the landlords into the concession of improved conditions. The threatening letters written to their employers were generally signed “Captain Swing.”
A name given to the Radical wing of the Democratic party in New York in 1844. The Barnburners joined the Freesoilers in 1848.
A commission appointed in 1875, composed of three Europeans and three natives, to investigate the charge against the Gaekwar of Baroda of attempting to poison Colonel Phayre, the English Resident. The commission disagreed, the Englishmen considering the charge proved, while the natives were{24} of the contrary opinion. Lord Northbrook, however, decided on deposing him.
A league of the Barons of Northern France, under Peter, Count of Brittany, during the regency of Blanche of Castile, in support of the rights of their order against the usurpations of the Crown.
The war which broke out under Simon de Montfort in 1263, in consequence of the failure of Henry III to fulfil his various engagements to his Barons. The war lasted till 1267, though only desultory fighting took place after the death of de Montfort at the battle of Evesham in 1265.
A mutiny of the 42nd Native Infantry Regiment in 1826, the reason assigned being the harsh treatment to which they were subjected by their officers. The mutiny was promptly suppressed.
May 12, 1588, on which date Henri III sent his Swiss Guards to oppose the return to Paris of Henri de Guise. The Parisian mob formed barricades of paving stones, from behind which they shot down the Swiss. The same name has been given to other days on which the Parisians have erected barricades against the constituted authorities.
A treaty between England and Holland, signed in 1709, by which Holland agreed to recognize the Protestant succession in England, and to make the expulsion of the Pretender a sine qua non of peace with France. In return England guaranteed to Holland a barrier line of strong places, including Nieuport, Lille, Ryssel, Tournay, Maubeuge, Charleroi and Namur.
A treaty between England and the Netherlands signed in 1713, by which the line of fortresses, as set out in the Barrier Treaty of 1709, was altered, somewhat to the disadvantage of the Dutch. The Treaty of Utrecht in the same year confirmed the principle of the Barrier.
A treaty signed in 1631 between Louis XIII. and Gustavus Adolphus, providing for the security of the Ocean and the Baltic, with liberty of commerce to the ships of both nations. It was also provided that the forts on both seas and in the Canton of the Grisons should be demolished.
Turkish irregular troops, generally recruited amongst the Kurds and other Asiatic tribes in the Ottoman Empire. They became notorious during the Bulgarian atrocities of 1875.
A book written in 1599 by James VI of Scotland (afterwards James I of England), containing advice on the art of government, and intended for the instruction of his eldest son, Henry.
A council summoned by Martin V, but held under Eugenius IV, in 1433. The council{25} abolished many of the privileges claimed by the Popes, including annates and the reservation of benefices. Finding the Pope obdurate in his refusal to accept their decrees, they suspended and finally deposed him.
Two treaties made by Napoleon with Prussia and Spain respectively in 1795, by which he detached these two powers from the European coalition. His bribe to Prussia was the withdrawal of the French troops from the right bank of the Rhine, while the inducement offered to Spain was the return to her of the Spanish half of the island of San Domingo.
A treaty between Austria and the Swiss Cantons in 1499, whereby the virtual independence of the thirteen cantons was recognized.
A treaty between the British and Baji Rao II, Peshwa of Poonah, signed in 1802. The Peshwa agreed to receive a subsidiary force, and to pay for its maintenance; to admit into the Mahratta States no European hostile to England; to surrender all claims to Surat, and to remain the faithful ally of the English. This treaty practically put an end to the Mahratta independence.
Jean Dunois (natural son of Louis of Orleans), the famous French general (1402-1468), was so called.
The famous state prison of Paris, built in 1370 by Charles V, and destroyed by the mob in 1789, at the beginning of the French Revolution.
A case decided in 1606, in the reign of James I, in which the judges held that it was lawful for the King to raise the customs duties without the consent of Parliament.
An order of knighthood, founded by Henry IV in 1399. From the time of Charles I it lapsed, until revived by George I in 1725 as a military order, which it remained until 1845, when it was established on its present basis with a military and a civil division.
See Club Parliament.
See Brothers, Chapter of Mitton, Clan Chattan, Clouds, Death Ride, Dingaan, Dysiefald, Eperons, Field of Mourning, Giants, Glorious, Herrings, Last, Loose Coat, Nations, Seven Days, Soldiers, Spurs, Standard, Thirty, Three Emperors.
A war between Austria and Prussia, arising out of the failure of the male line of the Bavarian princely house. No fighting took place, and the pending questions were settled by the Peace of Teschen in 1779.
A name given to the State of Massachusetts, U.S.A., from the old name of the Colony, namely “Massachusetts Bay.”
A decree issued by Napoleon{26} in 1808, ordering that all foreign vessels then in French ports should be seized.
The State of Mississippi, U.S.A., is so called from the number of creeks or bayous along its shores.
Arkansas, U.S.A., is so called from the bears that in former days infested its forests.
Henri IV of France was so called from Béarn, his native province.
The sobriquet of Joachim Murat, Napoleon’s best cavalry leader, created by him King of Naples.
The sobriquet of Henry I of England, in allusion to his scholarship, which was superior to that of most mediæval monarchs.
An arrangement between Henry I and Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1106, by which the long standing dispute as to the King’s right of investiture was settled. By this arrangement the King retained the right of exacting from the Bishops the oath of fealty and homage, surrendering the purely formal right of bestowing the ring and crozier.
The difficulty that arose between Queen Victoria and Sir Robert Peel, on the resignation of the Melbourne Ministry in 1839. Through some misunderstanding the Queen thought that Peel wished her to change all the ladies holding Court appointments, a step she refused to take. It ended in Peel refusing to take office, and Lord Melbourne coming back.
A protest signed by a hastily summoned meeting of the minority of the House of Lords in March, 1766, on the night that the repeal of the Stamp Act, imposing stamp duties on the American Colonies, passed that House. The signatories to the protest were headed by the Duke of Bedford.
See Gueux.
A company of Dutch privateersmen, commissioned by the Prince of Orange, circ. 1570, to prey upon Spanish commerce. Their chief was William de la Marck.
A brotherhood of freebooters, who, under the guise of a revolutionary faction, infested the Netherlands about 1568.
The question as to the right of Canadian sealers to capture seals in Behring Sea (known as Pelagic Sealing), after being long in dispute, was submitted to arbitration in 1892. The United States claimed to have acquired from Russia, by the purchase of Alaska, the exclusive right to the seal fisheries of the Behring Sea, alleging that this right had always been claimed by Russia, without protest from Great Britain, and that{27} their interest in the seal herd justified them in putting a stop to pelagic sealing. In 1893 the arbitrators decided that the United States had not acquired any such exclusive right. Further, as authorized by the terms of the reference, they made the following regulations: all sealing within sixty maritime miles of the Probyloff Islands to be forbidden; a close time for seals to be established, and all sealing vessels to be licensed.
A treaty between Great Britain and Sweden, by which Great Britain undertook to pay 12,000 men to be employed in Pomerania in aid of the coalition against Napoleon in 1805.
A name given by the French to John Churchill, the great Duke of Marlborough.
The neutrality of Belgium being threatened by the Franco-German War in 1870, treaties were signed by Great Britain with France and Germany respectively, by which the belligerents agreed to respect the neutrality of Belgium during the war and for one year after its close, from which date the Treaty of London of 1839 was again to become operative.
A treaty between Austria and Russia on the one hand, and Turkey on the other, by which Austria surrendered Wallachia and Servia, while Russia withdrew from her conquests in Moldavia and Bessarabia, and renounced her rights of navigation in the Black Sea. This treaty was signed in 1739, after the capture of Belgrade by the Turks.
The sobriquet of Archibald Douglas, the “great” Earl of Angus, which he earned by undertaking to take the lead in removing James III of Scotland from the pernicious influence of Cochrane, Earl of Mar, in 1481.
One of the two factions of nobles who between them ruled Russia during the minority of Ivan IV (The Terrible), circ. 1533. The other faction was that of the Chouiski.
Lord William Howard (1563-1640), Warden of the Marches, was so called.
A treaty signed in 1773 between Warren Hastings and the Vizier of Oude, by which it was stipulated that an English force should be lent to Oude for service against the Rohillas, the Vizier paying forty lacs down and two lacs per month for their services. Further, Hastings agreed to cede Oorah and Allahabad to Oude, in return for an annual tribute of fifty lacs of rupees.
The first regular monastic order, founded by St. Benedict in 527.
The right claimed by the Church to withdraw its members from the jurisdiction of the secular courts, to be dealt with by the ecclesiastical courts. In the{28} dark ages “clerk” was held to cover all who could read, but with the spread of education after the Renaissance, the abuse of this definition became intolerable, and in 1532, an act was passed limiting the right of pleading benefit of clergy, in cases of felony, to those of the rank of sub-deacon and above.
An arbitrary method of taxation without the consent of Parliament, introduced by Edward IV of England. Benevolences were declared illegal by the Parliament of Richard III.
An Indian Act passed in 1859, by which the proprietary rights of the cultivators under the Zemindari system in Bengal were recognized with certain restrictions.
An agitation in the East India Company’s regiments in 1795-6 for the assimilation of the conditions of pay and pensions to those established by Lord Cornwallis in the Civil Service. The Company handled the matter with very little discretion, promoting one of the leading malcontents to an important post, but Lord Wellesley on his arrival took stern measures, and the embryo mutiny quickly subsided.
The surrender of the Carlists under General Maroto in 1839, which ended the great Carlist war.
A congress held at Berlin in 1878, after the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish war. The outcome of the Congress was a Treaty, which modified the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano. By its provisions Roumania, Servia and Montenegro were made independent States, the latter also obtaining a port on the Adriatic. The northern portion of Bulgaria was made a self-governing State, under the suzerainty of the Porte, and the southern portion, known as Eastern Roumelia, remained Turkish territory, but under a Christian governor. Austria was to administer Bosnia and Herzegovina, Roumania returned a portion of Bessarabia to Russia, while in Asia Turkey ceded Ardalian, Kars, and Batoum to Russia. It is of this treaty that Lord Beaconsfield used the famous phrase “We have brought back Peace with Honour.”
A decree issued by Napoleon in 1806, proclaiming the Continental Blockade.
The bravest champions of the Vikings were so called, perhaps because they fought in their shirts, without coats of mail. They seem in battle to have worked themselves into a kind of frenzy, known as the Berserk rage, somewhat resembling that of the Mohammedan “Ghazi.”
A treaty between Charles I and the Scotch in 1639, following Charles’ abortive attempt to invade Scotland, by which it was agreed that a free Scottish Parliament should be held, in return for which concession{29} the royal castles were to be returned, and the army of the Covenanters disbanded.
A commission, under the chairmanship of the Earl of Bessborough, appointed to report on the Irish Land Laws. Following on its report, Mr. Gladstone introduced the Irish Land Bill of 1891.
The increase in the value of property in a certain limited area, owing to municipal improvements, such as roads and bridges. Certain municipal reformers advocate the levying of a special rate from persons thus benefiting, instead of throwing the whole cost of the improvements upon the ratepayers as a body.
See Cockburn’s Act.
A tax levied in Holland about the middle of the eighteenth century on seed put into the ground.
A sect of fanatics who appeared in Italy in 1399. They dressed always in long white garments, and lived entirely on bread and water. They are said to have brought about a remarkable improvement in the morals of the time, but they were nevertheless opposed by the Pope.
The two factions of the Guelf party in Florence, circ. 1300. Modern Italian society is divided into sections, also bearing these two names, of which the former are supporters of the House of Savoy, while the latter uphold the temporal claims of the Vatican.
A tenant in Ireland, in the Celtic times, who held his land on the tenure of providing hospitality for travellers.
The sobriquet of Louis XV of France (1715-1774).
An insurrection against Louis XI of certain malcontent nobles, aided by the Dukes of Burgundy, Brittany, and Bourbon. It was ended by the Treaty of Conflans, in 1465.
Daniel O’Connell was so called by the Irish landlords.
The Act passed by the Convention Parliament in 1689, embodying as a statute the Declaration of Rights accepted by William III.
An Act passed in 1882, codifying the various acts and decisions relating to Bills of Exchange. It is practically the only codification in the law of Great Britain.
The advocates of a monetary system which would place gold and silver on the same basis for coinage purposes, by making silver legal tender to any amount, and establishing a fixed ratio of value between the two metals.
The Birkenhead, a troopship, was wrecked near the Cape of{30} Good Hope in 1852. There were not sufficient boats to save all on board, and while the women and children were all saved, the troops stood to attention on the main deck, and went down with the ship.
An outbreak in Birmingham in 1791, directed against Dr. Priestley, who had organized a dinner of sympathizers with the French Revolution, to celebrate the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille. Dr. Priestley’s house and library were wrecked.
An attempt by the Baron de Biron, one of the King’s most trusted generals, to unite the Catholic and Huguenot malcontents against Henri IV, in conjunction with a league of Spain and Savoy against the French king. The plot was betrayed by a subordinate, named La Fin, and Biron was condemned and executed in 1602.
A compromise between the Episcopalians and Presbyterians, proposed by Bishop Usher after the Restoration. He suggested that while the bishops were restored, a number of suffragan bishops should be appointed, each of whom was to be president of a council of Presbyters. Charles II declared himself in favour of this form of union, but when a bill was prepared to carry it into effect, the whole power of the Court was utilized to secure its rejection.
In the Roman Catholic Church, Bishops holding imaginary sees, in countries where there is no Catholic community, were formerly so called. Since 1882 they have been styled Titular Bishops.
Li Hung Chang, the Chinese statesman, was so called.
An Act passed in 1722 to put a stop to the depredations of certain persons who frequented Epping Forest in disguise and killed the deer. The Act was repealed in 1827.
Agnes, wife of the Earl of March, who was distinguished for her gallant defence of Dunbar against the English in 1339.
The assize held at Oxford in July, 1577, when an outbreak of typhus fever carried off three hundred persons, including many of the officials and jurors attending the court.
A body of German soldiers enlisted by Louis XII of France, and employed in the Italian wars of the sixteenth century.
St. Bartholomew’s Day, 1662, is so called. On this day all beneficed clergy had to declare their assent to the Book of Common Prayer, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of Uniformity, and those who refused were deprived of their livings. Over two thousand Presbyterians were ejected from their parishes on this day.
The name given to the report{31} of the committee appointed by Henry VIII in 1535 to investigate the condition of the monasteries.
A box said to have contained the marriage certificate of Charles II and Lucy Waters, the mother of the Duke of Monmouth, and to have been stolen from her. Had the documents it purported to contain been forthcoming, they would, of course, have established the Duke’s right to the throne in the place of James II.
A regiment of horse raised by the Duke of Brunswick in 1809, to avenge the death of his father who was killed at Auerstadt. They wore black uniforms, and their badge was the skull and crossbones.
A circuit held in Cape Colony in 1812 to investigate the charges brought by the London Missionary Society against the Dutch settlers of ill-treating their native slaves. The results showed that the charges were grossly exaggerated, but a great deal of illfeeling was engendered amongst the Dutch by the thoroughness with which the English Government went into the matter.
The members of the regular monastic orders in Russia. They alone take any part in the ecclesiastical administration.
A pestilence which passed over Europe, and finally reached England in 1349. Its ravages were terrible, amounting, according to some chroniclers, to a third of the population. It probably had its origin in the East, and is thought by some to have been the disease now known as the Bubonic Plague.
The most coveted of the Prussian orders of knighthood. It was founded by Frederick I in 1701, to commemorate his assumption of the royal title. It is limited to thirty members, who must be of noble descent for four generations.
Rebel Chinese in the service of the King of Annam, who were the most dangerous opponents of the French during the Tong-King war.
May 11, 1866, on which day the failure of Overend and Gurney was announced. There was a terrible panic in financial circles, and, among other extraordinary measures, it was found necessary to suspend the Bank Charter.
The dungeon in which some 200 English prisoners were confined when Calcutta was taken by Surabjah Dowlah, the Subahdar of Bengal, in 1756. Only twenty-three survived the night.
The name given to an Irish rising in County Dublin in 1209, which nearly exterminated the newly-established English Colony.
The chiefs of the Society of Jesus, during the Papacy of Pius IX, were known by this name, their power in Rome{32} being almost as great as that of the Pope himself.
The sobriquet of Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Edward III, from the black armour which he habitually wore.
An annual stipend paid by the English settlers within the Pale to the Irish chieftains on their borders, in consideration of their restraining their followers from raiding the English settlements. Black Rent was first paid about 1410.
A treaty signed in London in 1871 by the signatories of the Treaty of Paris of 1856. In 1870, Russia, taking advantage of the Franco-German war, issued a note, declaring herself no longer bound by the clause of that treaty neutralising the Black Sea. A conference was called in London to consider the situation, and by the resulting treaty the clause in question was abrogated. The conference also took the opportunity to prolong the existence of the Danubian Commission for a further period of twelve years.
Thursday, February 6, 1851, is so called in Victoria. A very dry summer was followed by the simultaneous outbreak on that day of numerous bush fires, which did enormous damage, and even threatened Melbourne, coming within a few miles of the town.
A body of Highlanders, enrolled in 1725 for the purpose of maintaining order in the Highlands. They were made a regular line regiment in 1739, and numbered the 43rd. They later became the 42nd, and are now the Royal Highlanders (Black Watch).
See Victorian Deadlocks.
The name given to the vessels engaged in the Kanaka labour traffic in the Southern Seas.
A series of disturbances by the Lancashire weavers, in 1826, as a protest against the introduction of machinery. A large amount of damage was done before the rioters were dispersed by the troops.
The White Ship, in which Prince William, son of Henry I, was returning to England, after the close of Henry’s second French war. The vessel struck coming out of Barfleur harbour, and only one of the crew escaped.
The name given to the ultra-royalist party in France who support the claim of the Spanish Bourbons, represented by General de Bourbon, to the throne of France.
An Act of Congress passed in 1878, at the instance of Mr. Bland, providing for the coinage of silver dollars of 412½ grains Troy, which should be legal tender in payment of all debts and dues. The State was bound to purchase not more than four or less than two mil{33}lion dollars worth of silver per annum, to be so coined, and the profit in the operation was to belong to the State.
The name given to a party of Lancashire operatives, who, in the famine year of 1817, started to march to London, to demand assistance from Parliament. Each man carried provisions and a blanket, hence the name.
The supporters of Oribe in Uruguay, in 1835. Their opponents, who followed Rivera, were called Colorados.
The name given to the general body of Republicans, of various shades of opinion, in the French Chamber, who supported the Ministry of M. Combes in 1902-3.
A conference of delegates from Cape Colony, Natal, and the Orange Free State, which met in 1895 to discuss the question of a Customs Union. Natal could not come to terms, and withdrew, but an arrangement was arrived at by the other two parties, and a convention tariff, with five per cent. ad valorem duties, was accepted by both Governments.
A convention signed in 1854, by which the British Government abolished the Orange River Sovereignty, and recognized the independence of the Orange Free State. Among the provisions of the treaty were clauses binding the British Government to make no treaties with native chiefs likely to be detrimental to the interests of the Republic, forbidding slavery, and providing for extradition.
A nickname of Prince Bismarck, taken from a phrase in a speech delivered by him in 1862.
The execution, by Christian II, the last king of United Scandinavia, of many of the leaders of the Swedish National party, in 1520, after the capture of Stockholm. In the same year Gustavus Vasa raised the standard of revolt, and the war which followed led to the final expulsion of the Danes, and the crowning of Gustavus as King of Sweden.
A tribunal established in 1567 by Alva in the Netherlands, to deal with the crime of treason. It had no charter, or official authority of any kind, but it practically usurped the functions of the Council of State, and exercised jurisdiction over all municipal bodies and provincial parliaments. It was abolished in 1576. It was also known as the Council of Troubles.
Charles I was so called by the Puritan party, because he waged war on the Parliament.
The sixteenth section of the Crimes Act of 1882, by which it was proposed to levy compensation for murder or maiming on the ratepayers of the district where the crime was com{34}mitted, was so called by the Irish members.
See Noces Vermeilles.
Another name for Were-gild.
The five chief septs or clans in Ireland in the middle ages. They were the O’Neills of Ulster, the O’Briens of Thomond, the O’Connors of Connaught, the O’Lachlans of Meath, and the M’Murroughs of Leinster.
A tribunal established by Leopold I of Austria after the defeat of the Turks at Vienna and their expulsion from Hungary. It was intended to remove those who had been concerned in Tököli’s rising, and many nobles and magnates were brought before this tribunal on the charge of being in correspondence with Tököli. Most of those accused were condemned, and so numerous were the victims that thirty executioners were employed.
The Assizes held by Jeffreys on the Western Circuit, shortly after the suppression of Monmouth’s rebellion in 1686. Hundreds of Monmouth’s adherents were sent to the scaffold, or transported as slaves to the West Indies.
The Act of the Six Articles, passed in the reign of Henry VIII, was so called.
A name sometimes given to the State of Kentucky, U.S.A., which contains the famous blue grass region, celebrated for the raising of horses.
A series of enactments said to have existed in Connecticut, circ. 1640, by which the death penalty was inflicted for idolatry, blasphemy, witchcraft, theft, perjury, adultery and disobedience to parents. It is, however, generally believed that they are apocryphal.
The nickname of Henry VIII.
The board established by Pitt’s India Act in 1784 to supervise the Government of India by the East India Company.
The sobriquet of the Earl of Mar, the Jacobite leader in the rebellion of 1815. He was a notorious trimmer.
The name given to the opening in the wall of the antechamber in the Doge’s Palace at Venice, into which anonymous accusations were dropped.
In Saxon times, land held by grant or by charter from the public lands.
The first constitution of Massachusetts, prepared by Nathaniel Ward. It provided that all public officials should be chosen annually by the freemen of the plantation. Each town also elected deputies to a general assembly, to serve for one year. Each town had the right to make{35} its own by bye-laws. It further provided for the annual election of judges, and for equal justice to all, including foreigners, while severe penalties were enacted for witchcraft and blasphemy.
The sobriquet of Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies (1759-1825).
Bombay was ceded to Charles II by Portugal in 1662, as part of the dowry of the Infanta of Portugal. In 1668 it was surrendered by the Crown to the East India Company.
See Coyne and Livery.
See Afrikander.
An agreement between Newfoundland and the United States, signed in 1890, providing for the continuance of the modus vivendi affording reciprocal fishing rights to the two countries.
The Peasants’ Friends, a political party formed in Denmark in 1845, in the interests of the rural population.
In Norse times, the freeholders or owners of Odal land.
A table of unauthorized import duties issued by Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, in 1608, after the decision in the Crown’s favour in Bates’ case. In 1610 the Commons declared these impositions illegal.
A declaration of James I in 1618, as to the sports which might lawfully be indulged in on Sundays after Divine Service. Dancing, archery, maypoles, leaping were permitted; bear-baiting was forbidden. None, however, might take part unless they had been to church.
A conspiracy headed by John Wilkes Booth, at the end of the American Civil War, having for its object the assassination of the President, Vice-President, and some others. President Lincoln was shot by Booth on April 14, 1865, and on the same date Seward, the Secretary of State, was wounded by Payne, another of the conspirators. The conspirators were brought to trial, and four of them hanged, the others being sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
A code of laws framed in 1249 by a commission composed of twelve English and twelve Scottish knights. They dealt with the surrender of fugitives crossing the border, and provided for the trial of border raiders by special courts, held under the joint authority of the two nations.
Before the American Civil War, this name was applied to the States bordering on the free states, namely, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri.
An old system of land tenure, still existing in certain ancient boroughs, whereby real estate passes to the youngest son.{36}
A small affray in Boston in 1770, in which the troops fired on the rioters, and a few persons were killed. Captain Preston, who commanded the troops, was tried and acquitted.
An Act passed in 1774, closing the Custom House and Port of Boston. It was passed as a measure of retaliation for the action of the inhabitants in preventing the importation of tea by the East India Company free of the English duty.
In December, 1773, on the arrival of the tea-ships of the East India Company, bringing duty-free tea, the ships were boarded by a party of men disguised as Red Indians, who threw the tea into the harbour. The result of this action was the passing of the Boston Port Act.
A small inlet in the coast of New South Wales, where the first convict establishment was formed in 1787. The penal settlement was removed to Port Jackson in the following year, but the name was constantly used, generically, for the convict settlements in Australia.
The supporters of General Boulanger, who obtained a brief popularity in France in 1886, largely owing to the army reforms he introduced while Minister of War. He gradually, however, attracted to his standard the reactionary parties, who hoped that he would destroy Parliamentary Government. He quickly obtained a large following in the country, rather by denunciation of Parliamentary abuses than by the advocacy of any definite policy, and in 1888 he was elected for three Departments. At this period he might have overturned the Government, but shrank from the decisive step, and from that time his influence began to wane. He left France to escape prosecution, and his following quickly dwindled away, until in 1890, it was found desirable to dissolve the Boulangist committee. Boulanger committed suicide in Brussels in 1891.
A mutiny on board H.M.S. Bounty, Captain Bligh, headed by a master’s mate named Christian, in 1790. The mutineers made first for Tahiti, but eventually settled on Pitcairn Island, where they founded a community whose descendants still inhabit the island. Pitcairn Island was taken under British protection in 1839.
A nickname of Napoleon III, compounded of the first syllables of Boulogne, Strasbourg, and Paris, the scenes of his two unsuccessful and one successful coups d’état, in 1840, 1836, and 1851 respectively.
Eight famous police officers, attached to Bow Street Police Court, who were appointed about 1805. The most famous of them was Townsend. They were also known as the “Robin Redbreasts” from their red waistcoats.{37}
A Chinese Secret Society, whose principal object is the expulsion from China of Europeans, and especially of missionaries. They have met with considerable sympathy in Court circles, and their outrages in 1900 led to a joint European expedition. Their rising was suppressed for a time, but the agitation is seething, and may break out again at any time.
This title is given to John XII, who was elected Pope in 956, at the age of eighteen, and Benedict IX, who was Pope from 1033 to 1044, having been chosen at the age of ten.
In early Russian history, the large landowners, under the authority of the great princes who ruled the various Principalities into which Russia was divided.
One of the weapons employed by the Irish Land League, in its campaign against the landlords. It consists in ostracizing the person aimed at, and forbidding any one to deal with or work for him, or supply his wants. Its first victim was Captain Boycott, the agent of the Earl of Erne in 1880, and from his name the word is derived.
The name given by Walpole to the party of young Whigs, under William Pitt, who acted with the “Patriots” in 1733.
See Hunting of Braemar.
The highest or priestly caste among the Hindus.
A Hindu sect, founded in 1830 by Rammohun Roy. Its tenets are monotheistic, rejecting the numerous gods of the Hindu Pantheon, and adoring Brahma as the supreme deity. Its adherents ignore all caste distinctions.
Queen Anne was so called by the Londoners.
The sobriquet of Baldwin, first Count of Flanders.
A nickname of François du Tremblay, the familiar of Cardinal Richelieu. He was also called the Alter Ego of Richelieu, and l’Eminence Grise.
A band of agitators in Ireland, under the leadership of John Sadleir, who stumped the country in opposition to the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill in 1851.
The sobriquet of Marshal Ney, conferred on him by Napoleon during the Russian campaign of 1812.
A peasant revolt in Kemmerland and Friesland in 1491, caused by the exaction of the Ruytergeld, notwithstanding the enormous price of bread.
A series of disturbances in various parts of England, in{38} 1816, caused by the high prices of food-stuffs, due to the bad harvest and the cessation of the Great War. In many places it was necessary to call out the military to disperse the rioters.
The agreement between the Catholic and Protestant nobles of the Netherlands to agitate for the exclusion of the Inquisition. It was signed at Breda in 1566, and from it originated the Society of the Gueux.
A manifesto issued by Charles II, in 1660, after the retirement of Richard Cromwell. By this instrument he promised a general amnesty, liberty of conscience, the settlement by Parliament of the various claims to forfeited estates, and payment of all arrears due to the army, subject always to such advice as might subsequently be tendered him by Parliament.
Three treaties signed by England with Holland, France and Denmark respectively in 1667, after the naval war with Holland, in which de Witte had succeeded in penetrating to Sheerness. By the treaty with Holland, each country retained her conquests, England thus securing New York and New Jersey, and Holland, Surinam. By the treaty with France, England acquired St. Kitts, Antigua and Montserrat, and restored to France Nova Scotia and Cayenne. By that with Denmark, the latter power reserved her right to the Orkneys.
The Irish Law which prevailed throughout Ireland after the conquest by Henry II, excepting within the Pale. It was abolished in the reign of James I.
A treaty between Prussia and Austria, signed in 1742, after Frederick’s victory at Chotusitz. Austria ceded Silesia to Prussia.
A treaty, signed in 1360, four years after the battle of Poitiers, between Edward III and the Dauphin Charles. By it France surrendered to England, Gascony, Guienne, and Poitou, Saintonge, Périgord, Limoges and other counties in the south, Montreuil, Ponthieu and Calais in the north, freed from all feudal claims. England surrendered her claim to the French crown, and to all sovereignty in Normandy, Touraine, Anjou, Maine, Brittany and Flanders, and agreed to release King John on payment of a ransom of three million gold pieces.
A revolutionary club formed in Paris in the early days of the Revolution. Its founders were certain Breton deputies, and among its members were many who were afterwards prominent Jacobins, amongst others Robespierre.
The code of laws under which the Celtic inhabitants of Scotland were governed, up to the thirteenth century. This code was abolished by an edict of Edward I, when he conquered Scotland in 1305.{39}
Under the Saxon Heptarchy, the sovereign of one of the seven kingdoms was often acknowledged as the leader of the Federation, under the title of Bretwalda.
James van Arteveldt, the leader of the Burgher party in Flanders in 1338, was so called.
A conspiracy against William I, entered into at the bridal feast of Ralph of Gwader, Earl of Norfolk, and Emma, sister of the Earl of Hereford. The two earls, with Waltheof, Earl of Nottingham, designed to depose William and divide the kingdom between them. Waltheof seems to have repented, and confessed the plot to Lanfranc. The conspiracy was at once suppressed, Waltheof executed, and Hereford imprisoned for life, while Ralph escaped to Brittany.
Venice was so called, in allusion to the annual ceremony of the Marriage of the Adriatic.
In Anglo-Saxon times, a tax levied on freemen for the repair of bridges.
A treaty between England and Scotland signed in 1290, by which a marriage was arranged between the Maid of Norway, heiress to the Scottish throne, and the son of Edward I. It was agreed that the two kingdoms, though under one crown, should remain separate, each under its own laws. England was not to call on Scotland for military aid, and no appeal was to lie from the Scotch to the English courts. The death of the Maid of Norway, however, rendered the stipulations of this treaty null and void.
The clauses in the Irish Land Act of 1870, dealing with the sale of land to tenants are so called, John Bright having for many years advocated State aid in the creation of a peasant proprietary in Ireland.
Charles XII of Sweden is so called.
The followers of Brissot, one of the leaders of the Gironde, during the French Revolution. The name fell into disuse, as the party became merged in the Girondins.
A riot in Bristol in 1831, consequent upon the rejection of the Reform Bill by the House of Lords. The Recorder of Bristol, Sir Charles Wetherell, was mobbed on his entrance into the city, and the rioters seized the town hall. The weakness of the authorities left the disorder unchecked for two days, but at the last the military were called out and the disturbance suppressed.
An association formed in 1896 to carry on the work of the Imperial Federation League, in educating the nation to an understanding of the needs of the Empire. The Duke of Devonshire was the first president.{40}
Pelham’s Ministry as reconstructed in 1744 was so called, because it contained members representing every shade of Whig opinion, and even a certain admixture of Toryism.
A treaty between Sweden and Denmark, signed in 1645, by which Denmark surrendered Jämtland, Hejealand and Halland, and granted to Swedish vessels exemption from the payment of Sound Dues.
The nickname of the American nation.
The name given to the battle of Fontenay, June 25, 841, at which Charles the Bald and Louis the German, sons of Louis le Debonaire, totally defeated their brother Lothair.
A dissenting sect, who seceded from the Church in 1582. They objected to general church government, and claimed for each congregation the right to regulate its own worship. They may be considered the forerunners of the Independents.
See Perpetual League.
A conference of the Powers held in Brussels in 1874, at the suggestion of the Russian Government, to consider the usages of war. Great Britain entered the conference with many reservations, declining to send a plenipotentiary, and no changes of any importance were agreed to.
A conference of the Powers held at Brussels in 1876, at which an International Association was formed for the purpose of exploring and civilizing Central Africa. This association was the germ of the Congo Free State.
A convention signed by the sugar-producing countries in 1902, by which the contracting parties undertook that in the event of any sugar-producing country declining to abolish bounties, they would prohibit the importation of sugar from such country, or impose countervailing duties.
An agreement, signed in 1517 by certain Catholic noblemen of the Netherlands, to unite for the purpose of expelling the Spanish garrison, while at the same time maintaining the Catholic religion, and the sovereignty of the king.
An association of sea-rovers formed about 1525, to harry the Spanish possessions in South America, and prey upon their commerce. They were of various nationalities, but chiefly English and French, and their most famous leaders were Montbars, known as the Exterminator, and Henry Morgan, afterwards Sir Henry, and Deputy-Governor of Jamaica. Under the latter leader they crossed the Isthmus and sacked the city of Panama in 1671, and for years they paralyzed the Spanish trade, both in the Caribbean Sea and in the Pacific. They ceased to{41} exist as an association early in the eighteenth century, but some of them continued a career of indiscriminate piracy for many years longer. They were called by the French Flibustiers.
A treaty, signed by Russia and Turkey in 1812, after the war which began in 1806, and ended in the defeat of the Turks by Kutusoff in the later year. Turkey by this treaty surrendered all her territory north of the Pruth.
The popular name of the State of Ohio, U.S.A., from the number of buckeye-trees found within its borders.
A treaty between Poland and Turkey, signed in 1670, by which Poland surrendered the Ukraine, and agreed to pay an annual tribute of 20,000 ducats.
A rising of the Mohammedan inhabitants of Bulgaria, assisted by the Bashi-Bazouks, or Turkish Irregulars, against the Christians in 1876. Thousands of Christians were massacred, and horrible cruelties perpetrated, though it is held by some authorities that the stories told were grossly exaggerated. Turkey refused redress, and Russia consequently declared war in the following year.
See Adrian, Ausculta Fili, Clericis Laicos, Cum ex Apostolatus, Decet Romanum, Demarcation, Deposition, Dominus ac Redemptor, Exsurge Domine. Golden, Greater, In Coena Domini, In Eminenti, Ineffabilis Deus, Inter Gravissimas, Lesser, Regimen Militantis, Unam Sanctam, Unigenitus, Vox in Excelso.
The assembly of representatives of the twenty-two states forming the North German Confederation.
A peasant revolt in Germany in 1502.
The tenure by which burgesses of towns held their lands. It was similar to socage.
A confederation of the cities of the Rhine, formed for commercial purposes, circ. 1255.
A council of six members, established at the Cape in 1796, after the capture of that Colony by the English. Its duties were to advise the Governor in matters of internal administration. It was abolished in 1828.
A code of laws regulating the employment of Indian labour in the Spanish-American Colonies, promulgated at Burgos in 1572.
See Armagnacs.
See Jedburgh Justice.
A feud between the Crichtons of Frendraught and the Gordons of Huntly having been temporarily adjusted, the Gordons escorted the Crichtons home. The Gordon party, including{42} Lord Aboyne, Huntly’s heir, were entertained for the night by the Crichtons, and during the night the tower in which they were sleeping was burnt to the ground. The fire was believed to be incendiary, but the crime was not brought home to the Crichtons.
The name given to the march of Edward III into Scotland in 1355. He burnt every building, and laid waste the country for a distance of twenty miles from the coast.
A plot initiated by Aaron Burr and Harman Blennerhassett in 1805, to free Mexico from Spanish rule, and unite it into an independent empire with some of the Western American States. Burr was arrested and tried for treason in Kentucky, and again in Virginia in 1807, but was on both occasions acquitted.
A club of German students who had fought in the Napoleonic wars, founded at Jena in 1815. It was suspected of revolutionary tendencies, and was dissolved by the Prussian Government in 1819.
The Duke of Cumberland was so called by the Scots, on account of his cruelties after the battle of Culloden in 1746.
A conspiracy in 1603, under the leadership of George Brooke and Markham, to unite the Roman Catholics and Puritans in an attempt to secure toleration for the extremists of both classes. Their idea was to seize James I, and hold him to ransom. At the same period a plot to overthrow Cecil was entered into by Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Cobham, the Duke of Northumberland and others, known as the Main Plot. These plots were betrayed to Cecil by the Jesuits, one of whom named Watson had been concerned in them, and the ringleaders were arrested. Watson and another were executed, Raleigh imprisoned, and the others pardoned.
Boers in the Transvaal and Orange Free State who had no land of their own, and lived by working on the farms of others, or sometimes as small tenant farmers.
A revolutionary song, highly popular in Paris, composed in 1789 for the Fête de la Fédération.
The sacred shrine of Mecca, the holy place of the whole Moslem world. A Mohammedan who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca is known as a Hadji.
The Ministry which succeeded to power when Charles II dismissed Clarendon in 1667. Its members were Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley (afterwards Lord Shaftesbury), and Lauderdale, the initials of these names forming the word “Cabal.{43}”
A low intrigue in the American Congress in 1777, directed against Washington. Those concerned in it were mostly representatives of the Northern States, and its object was the advancement of Lee. It is also known as Conway’s cabal, from the name of its leader.
The rebels who overran the Amazon Valley and other parts of Brazil, in 1833 to 1836, after the abdication of Pedro I. The name means cottagers.
A department of the French Post Office, established in the reign of Louis XIV, for the surveillance of the correspondence of suspected persons. Napoleon III availed himself of its services freely, and it was only abolished in 1886.
The guild of butchers in Paris, so called from Caboche, one of their leaders. They were bitter opponents of the Armagnacs, and were guilty of terrible atrocities on the persons of their political foes. The corporation was dissolved in 1416.
A political party in Guatemala in 1820, who favoured complete separation from Spain, and the establishment of a republic. The word means pickpockets.
A treaty between the leading German Princes, signed in 1534, by which Ferdinand of Austria acknowledged Ulrich, Duke of Würtemberg, with the proviso that Würtemberg was to be considered an arrière-fief of the Empire, dependent on Austria. The League of Schmalkald acknowledged Ferdinand as King of the Romans, but stipulated that in future that dignity should only be conferred by the unanimous vote of the electors.
A treaty between William Rufus and Robert of Normandy, signed in 1091, by which Robert renounced all claim to England, and recognized William’s feudal rights over certain Norman Seigneuries, among others those of Cherbourg, Fécamp, and Mont St. Michel.
The instructions given to the Deputies of the States-General, as to the grievances to be laid before the King in 1789. The principal demands were: equality in punishments; suppression of the sale of public offices; suppression of seignorial judicial powers, of the Gabelle, the corvée and the militia ballot; religious toleration, and amelioration of the condition of the parish clergy.
A species of bank, established at Poissy, near Paris, under municipal control, to secure the proper provisioning of the Paris market. It proceeded by way of loan to the butchers, charging interest on the advances and a percentage on all meat purchased, and as none could enter the markets without a certificate of the payment of this fee, it had absolute control of the trade. It{44} was abolished in 1791, re-established in 1810, under the control of the Prefect of the Seine, and finally abolished in 1858.
A Spanish order of religious chivalry, established by Papal Bull in 1164. The rules of the order were similar to those of the Benedictines, the knights being bound, among other vows, to perpetual celibacy. The object of the order was the expulsion of the Mussulman power from Spain.
An Act passed in 1751 substituting the Gregorian for the Julian Calendar. With the exception of Sweden and Russia, England was the last country to adopt the new style.
The more moderate of the two sections into which the Hussite sect was divided after the death of Jerome of Prague. The more fanatical section was that of John Zisca, known as the Taborites.
The profession of the Calvinistic doctrine, issued by Calvin, 1535.
The name given to the favourites and admirers of Ferdinand VII of Spain, after his restoration in 1814. They were in reality the rulers of Spain, distributing justice and office throughout the kingdom to the highest bidder.
An alliance between Louis XII and the Emperor Maximilian, formed in 1508, for the partition of the Venetian provinces between the contracting parties. The Venetian armies were forced to retreat before the allies, but the partition was never carried into effect, and the league was dissolved by the Treaty of Noyon in 1516.
A treaty between Charles V and Francis I, signed in 1529, confirming the main provisions of the Treaty of Madrid (1526), which had been found unacceptable by the French notables. This treaty is generally known as the Paix des Dames.
A nickname of Mohammed.
An extreme section of the Covenanters who followed Richard Cameron in 1679. They were afterwards (1689) formed into a regiment, and served against the Jacobites in the Highlands in that year. The regiment later became the Twenty-sixth Regiment of the Line, and is now known as the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).
The Protestants of the Cevennes, who rose in rebellion in 1702. The revolt was suppressed in 1704.
A secret society in Naples, which for many years terrorized the kingdom. An attempt was made by Francis II of Naples to suppress the society, and many of its members were deported, but the remainder joined the Garibaldians and were largely instrumental in{45} the expulsion of the Bourbons in 1867.
A treaty between France and Austria, following Napoleon’s successful campaign in Northern Italy, signed in 1797. France secured possession of the Belgian provinces, the left bank of the Rhine, and the Ionian Islands, and recognized the Cisalpine Republic, formed out of the territories conquered from Austria, Venice and the Pope. Austria resigned the city of Venice, and her eastern provinces, Dalmatia, Friuli and Istria.
An Act passed in 1774, giving a constitution to Canada.
An Act was passed in 1867, for the purpose of confederating the two provinces of Canada with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and providing a federal constitution. Provision was also made for the admission into the Dominion of such other of the North American Colonies as might desire to come in. Under this clause Manitoba joined the confederation in 1870, British Columbia and Vancouver’s Island in 1871, and Prince Edward’s Island in 1873. The Hudson’s Bay Territory having been acquired in 1869, the whole of the British possessions in North America are now included in the Dominion, with the exception of Newfoundland.
A long-standing dispute between Canada and the United States, dating from the treaty of peace of 1783, when American fishermen were given fishing rights on the coast of Canada. The Americans claimed that this right was inalienable, England that it was forfeited during the second war. In 1818 a modus vivendi was arrived at by which the Americans were allowed to fish outside the three mile limit, but friction still continued till 1871, when a treaty was signed at Washington giving the two countries reciprocal rights. Canada maintained that the right to fish off the American coast was of little value to her, and in 1877 a commission was appointed, which met at Halifax, to assess the damage she had sustained. The award of the commission was that Canada and Newfoundland should receive five and a half million dollars as compensation.
The new canons, issued by Convocation in 1604, contained regulations for the conduct of public worship. They excommunicated all who attacked the Prayer Book, the Thirty-nine Articles, or the Supremacy of the Crown, as also those who seceded from the Church. They were, however, held by the Courts at Westminster to be binding only on the clergy.
A series of seventeen canons, supplementary to the canons of 1604, issued by Convocation, and confirmed by the King, under the Great Seal. Parliament subsequently passed a measure giving them full canoni{46}cal validity, but not the force of an Act of Parliament.
The castle of Matilda of Tuscany, where Gregory VII was staying when the Emperor Henry IV made a pilgrimage to Italy, in 1077, to make his submission to the Pope, who had excommunicated him. He was treated in the most humiliating fashion by Gregory, who left him for three days in the snow in the courtyard of the Castle before consenting to receive him. It is to this incident that Bismarck referred in the famous phrase, “Nach Canossa gehen wir nicht” (We are not going to Canossa), uttered in the Reichstag in 1872, during the Kulturkampf.
A bill introduced into the Prussian Landstag in 1880, making great concessions to the Catholic clergy, but maintaining the supremacy of the State over the Church.
The edicts of the early French Kings were so called.
Arrangements by which foreigners are subject to the jurisdiction of their own consuls, and not to the tribunals of the country in which they are residing. These are generally in force in Mohammedan and other non-Christian states, where Western ideas of justice are non-existent.
Napoleon was so called by his adherents in France, during his exile in Elba in 1814-15.
A treaty between the five Catholic Cantons of Switzerland, and Zurich and Berne, following the defeat of the two latter States at Cappel, and the death of Zwingli, in 1531. Zurich and Berne consented to tolerate Catholicism in their dominions.
A Sicilian secret society, utilized by the Bourbons of Naples against Murat. The name was afterwards adopted by the ultra-royalist secret societies in France, which conspired against Louis XVIII in 1822.
A statute of 1307, enacting that no Papal instruments should be permitted in England.
The supporters of Don Carlos and his branch of the Bourbon family, as claimants to the Spanish throne. Don Carlos was the younger brother of Ferdinand VII, and under the constitution of 1812 should have inherited the throne, as the female succession was excluded. In 1832, however, Ferdinand, who had already, by a decree which he subsequently withdrew, readmitted the principle of female succession, finally settled the crown on his daughter Isabella, who succeeded in the same year, with her mother, Christina, as regent. Don Carlos was exiled, but various risings have since taken place in support of his claims, chiefly in the Biscayan provinces, including the first Carlist War, which lasted till 1840.{47}
A treaty signed in 1699, by which Turkey finally surrendered the various provinces of the Ottoman Empire conquered by the Allies during the wars of the preceding forty years. Austria retained Transylvania, Sclavonia and Hungary; Poland took Podolia and part of the Ukraine; Russia, her conquests on the Black Sea, and Venice, the Morea.
A congress of Austria, Prussia, and other German States, held in 1819, to consider measures for dealing with the growth of democratic movement in Germany. It issued the Carlsbad Decrees.
A series of proposals submitted to the German Diet by the Congress of Carlsbad, and accepted by the Diet. They included the establishment of a strict censorship of the press, and the suppression of the Burschenschaft.
The favourite song of the Paris mob, during the Reign of Terror (1792-3.)
A religious order, originally formed by associating the hermits living on the slopes of Mount Carmel about 1156. They were recognized as a monastic order by Honorius III, in 1224. They were driven out of Palestine by the Saracens in 1238, and were made a mendicant order by Innocent IV. in 1247.
The original landowners of Carolina, to whom the Colony was granted by Charles II in 1643. They were eight in number, among whom were Clarendon, Monk and Lord Craven. Their authority was practically absolute, Charles exacting a bare allegiance to the English crown.
In 1885 Germany endeavoured to establish a protectorate over the Caroline Islands, which Spain claimed to have been under her dominion since the seventeenth century. Germany disputed this claim and occupied Yap. Matters became very serious, and the two countries were on the verge of war. It was, however, finally agreed to submit the question to the Pope, who gave his award in favour of Spain, as to the sovereignty, but allowed to Germany free trading and colonizing rights.
A codification of the criminal laws of Germany, issued by the Diet of Ratisbon, in the name of Charles V, in 1532.
Northerners who came into the Southern States after the Civil War, many of them with the object of getting returned for Congress by the aid of the negro vote. The name was intended to convey the idea that they had no stake or interest in the country, beyond the baggage they carried with them.
A system prevailing in Germany and Austria, by which a ring of sugar manufacturers, aided by heavy import duties,{48} combine to obtain very high prices for all sugar consumed at home. They utilize the large profits thus secured to ship the surplus sugar below cost price, thus securing for themselves all unprotected markets.
A party in the German Reichstag, formed in 1888, by a coalition of the Conservatives and the old National Liberals, and pledged to support Bismarck.
Lübeck was so called when the head of the Hanseatic League.
A monastic order, with very severe rules, founded by St. Bruno, during the papacy of Urban II in 1086. The order was recognized by Alexander III in 1176. Their most famous convent is that of La Grande Chartreuse, near Grenoble. The Charterhouse, in London, was formerly one of their monasteries.
A tax imposed by the early English Kings on every carucate or hundred acres of land. It was first levied by Richard I in 1198, when the tax amounted to five shillings on the carucate.
All cases in which the sovereign and his interests were concerned were so called in France. By the “Etablissements” of Louis IX, all such cases were withdrawn from the jurisdiction of feudal courts, and could be decided only by the Royal Bailiffs, or by the Parlement.
See Bread and Cheese War.
A series of letters and sonnets, purporting to be written by Mary Queen of Scots to Bothwell, and left behind by him when he fled from Edinburgh in 1567. If genuine, these letters undoubtedly prove Mary to have been privy to the murder of Darnley.
A secret treaty between Russia and China, supposed to have been signed in 1896, by which Russia secured certain definite rights over Manchuria. She has since made several attempts to replace this agreement by a public treaty, but has been prevented by the opposition of the Powers. Russia’s present position in Manchuria, therefore, is correct so far as China is concerned, but has not been acknowledged by the other Powers.
A council established in Dublin by Lord Wentworth in 1633.
An unsuccessful attempt on the part of the British to burn Napoleon’s flotilla in Boulogne harbour in 1804.
A treaty between Henry II of France and the Emperor, Charles V. Both parties agreed to return the conquests made by them during the war of the previous eight years, and bound themselves to maintain the Catholic faith throughout their dominions.
A list of Imperialists whose{49} proscription he advocated, drawn up by La Bourdonnaye, in 1815. They were divided into three categories.
A conspiracy entered into by Catherine II of Russia, with the Orloffs and Princess Dashkoff, to remove her husband, Peter III, and ascend the throne as his successor. She succeeded in getting herself recognized by the nobles as Catherine II, and in 1762 the conspirators, headed by one of the Orloffs, strangled Peter III at a house near Peterhof.
An association formed by Daniel O’Connell in 1823, to press the claims of the Irish Catholics upon Parliament. It held entirely aloof from all the secret societies, and endeavoured to keep strictly with the limits of the law, but in 1825 it had become so powerful that an Act was passed declaring it an illegal association.
An Act passed in 1829, substituting for the old formula, which included abjuration, a new form of oath, and thus enabling Catholics to sit in either House. It opened to them all offices under the state, except those of Regent, Lord Chancellor, Viceroy of Ireland, and Royal Commissioner of the General Assembly of Scotland. The Roman Catholic Church was to remain a dissenting church, and restrictions were placed on the immigration of members of the monastic orders, and especially of Jesuits, while the use of ecclesiastical titles was forbidden.
See League.
A league of the Catholic Princes of Germany, formed at Frankfort in 1651, to carry out the provisions of the Peace of Westphalia.
An Act passed in 1793, admitting Catholics to the magistracy, grand juries, and the franchise.
An unauthorized tax or cess levied upon Irish Catholics by O’Connell’s Catholic Association in 1823, and afterwards. The funds thus obtained were placed in O’Connell’s hands, to be used at his absolute discretion for furthering the objects of the Association.
A plot to murder the Ministers, during Lord Liverpool’s administration in 1820, at a dinner which they were to attend at Lord Harrowby’s house. The plot was discovered by a police agent named Edwards, who posed as one of the conspirators, and Thistlewood, the ringleader, and four others were executed.
A private meeting of members of a political party to decide upon the adoption of candidates, or the platform of the party. The name is of American origin.
The Dutch towns of Flushing, Walcheren, Rammerkins and Briel, which were handed over to Elizabeth in 1585, to be held as security for the payment of{50} the English troops in the Netherlands. They were restored to Holland by James I.
See Pensioned Parliament.
The supporters of Charles I against the Parliament. The name was first applied to them in the course of the frequent disturbances which arose in London between the King’s party and the City party, the “Roundheads,” in 1641.
See Adullamites.
The massacre by Nana Sahib of the English Garrison in Cawnpore, during the Indian Mutiny of 1857. The garrison had surrendered under a pledge of being permitted to retire unharmed. Of those massacred, 560 were women and children.
The name given to an Act passed by Cecil, Lord Burleigh, after the Reformation, enjoining the eating of fish on certain days. Fish had almost ceased to be an article of diet in England, as it was looked upon as a badge of Romanism.
See Hundred Days.
A party in Mexico, who support the centralized republican government, and are opposed to undue extension of the autonomy of the various states. The party came into existence about 1823.
A party in Switzerland in 1800, who supported the Helvetic Constitution, which established a uniform republican government, and abolished the old cantonal liberties.
Colorado is so called, as having been admitted a State in 1876, the year of the centenary of the Union.
A league of Nicaragua, Honduras, and Salvador, formed in 1842, with the object of uniting the Central American States into a federal republic. Guatemala opposed the scheme and it fell to the ground.
The Centre, or Clerical, party in the first German Reichstag in 1871, under the leadership of Dr. Windhorst. They were strong supporters of the Papal claims in the subsequent Kulturkampf.
The list of grievances and charges against the Roman Catholic clergy, drawn up by the Diet of Nuremburg in 1523.
In Saxon times, a freeman owning his own land, and independent of any overlord.
A court, specially composed of bigoted Catholics, established by Henri II in 1551, for the trial of heretics.
The French Assembly elected in 1815, and dissolved in the following year, was so named by Louis XVIII.{51}
The annual meetings of the Franks for military purposes during the early times were held during the month of March. At a later period the month of meeting appears to have been altered to May, when the assembly was called a Champ de Mai. The great parade-ground in Paris is known as the Champ de Mars.
The White Capes, the popular party in Ghent in 1379, under the leadership of Jan Yoens.
The name given by the Scots to the defeat of the Archbishop of York’s forces at Mitton, in 1319, by a Scottish invading army. It was so called on account of the number of ecclesiastics in the Archbishop’s army.
The charter issued by Louis XVIII on ascending the French throne in 1814. He proclaimed the equality of all Frenchmen before the law, liberty of opinion and liberty of the press, and confirmed the inviolability of all property sold by the state. He established an hereditary peerage, and fixed, as the qualification for electors to the Chamber of Deputies, the payment of direct taxes amounting to 300 francs per annum.
A constitution promulgated by Pedro IV of Portugal, on the model of the English Parliamentary system.
See Acte Additionel, Aragon, Confirmatio, First, Forests, Fuero, Groote Privilegie, Irish, Joyeuse Entrée, Justice, Maryland, Magna, Massachusetts, People’s, Pfaffenbrief, Priests’, Virginia.
An agitation which broke out in 1837 and culminated in the Chartist riots of 1839. It was probably due to the declaration by the Liberal party that they were satisfied with the results of the Reform Bill of 1832, and did not intend to press for further reform in this direction. The movement takes its name from the “People’s Charter,” a manifesto setting forth the aims of the agitators. This Charter demanded manhood suffrage, annual Parliaments, the ballot, abolition of the property qualification for a member of Parliament, payment of members, and equal electoral districts. The most prominent Chartists were Feargus O’Connor, Frost, and Williams.
A treaty signed in 1299, by Edward I of England and Philip IV of France, after Edward’s abortive Flemish expedition. England recovered Guienne, and undertook to give up the Flemish alliance, while France renounced the alliance with Scotland.
The massacre, by Ivan the Terrible, of over 1,500 prominent citizens of Novgorod, owing to his suspecting the aristocracy of the city of a design to open the gates to the Poles.
An edict issued by Henri III,{52} enacting severe measures against heresy. Among its provisions was one forbidding all argument on religious matters, and another confiscating the property of any person who went to Geneva. This edict also established the Chambre Ardente.
A congress opened at Châtillon on February 5, 1814, to treat with Napoleon as sovereign of France. The allies, however, found his demands impossible, and before the Congress was dissolved, the Treaty of Chaumont had been signed, by which Napoleon lost all chance of obtaining the terms that the allies were at first prepared to grant.
Bands of brigands, who in 1793 infested the northern and afterwards the central departments of France. They took their name from their habit of roasting the feet of their victims, to force them to disclose the whereabouts of their valuables.
A treaty signed by England, Austria, Russia and Prussia, in March, 1814, after the allies had entered France. The signatories bound themselves for twenty years to unite in resisting the designs of France. Each of the contracting parties was to provide 150,000 men, and England in addition a subsidy of £5,000,000. It was the knowledge of the signature of this treaty which induced Joseph, in Napoleon’s absence, to order the Marshals to capitulate, and the army to leave Paris, thus entailing the abdication of the Emperor.
Originally an unreasoning admiration for Napoleon, the name being taken from Chauvin, a character in Scribe’s “Le Soldat Laboureur.” At the present time, the word has lost its dynastic significance, and is used to express a perfervid patriotism, somewhat corresponding to the English Jingoism.
A convention between Great Britain and China, negotiated by Sir Thomas Wade in 1876, by which China recognized the right of foreigners to travel in the interior, and to be duly protected while so doing.
A County Palatine, established by William the Conqueror, who bestowed it on his nephew, Hugh Lupus. The earldom was seized by Henry III in 1237, and has since been an appanage of the crown.
Pierre du Terrail, Seigneur de Bayard (1476-1524), is called by his biographer “the fearless and stainless knight.”
A band of royalists, who, armed with daggers and hunting knives, assembled at the Tuileries on February 28, 1791. They were dispersed and disarmed by Lafayette, and being charged with a conspiracy to carry off the king, maintained that they were assembled only for his protection.{53}
The Hundreds of Bodenham, Desborough, and Stoke, in Buckinghamshire, the stewardship of which is a sinecure, in the gift of the crown, originally established to keep down the bands of robbers which infested the Chiltern Hills. It is now used as a means of enabling a member of Parliament to vacate his seat, as by accepting the office he becomes disqualified for a seat in Parliament, unless re-elected.
See Hearth Money.
A name given to the Confederacion Centro-Americana, which was formed at Chinandega in 1842, with the object of uniting the Central American States.
The sobriquet of General Charles Gordon, the conqueror of the Taepings.
In old Japan the wardsmen or trading class, the lowest in rank of the four Japanese classes.
The royalist party in La Vendée and other parts of Brittany, who held out against the revolutionary armies until 1779. Among their most celebrated leaders were Larochejaquelin and Cadoudal.
See Belski.
A Portuguese order of knighthood, founded circ. 1318.
An offensive and defensive alliance entered into in 1529 by Austria and the Canton of Zurich. It was also known as the Treaty of Ferdinand.
The Spanish party supporting the Regency of Queen Christina in 1833, in opposition to the Carlists.
Small cakes of unleavened bread, which were sent through the villages of British India just before the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny in 1857. It is supposed that they were a signal to prepare for a rising, though other explanations have been given of their meaning.
A sobriquet of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham (1708-1778).
Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, a celebrated Spanish chieftain, in the reigns of Ferdinand I, Sancho II, and Alfonso VI, was known as the Cid Campeador, or Campaigning Chief. He died in 1099.
The name given during the French Revolution to those who, owing to the abolition of all titles of honour, were no longer known by their titles, but by their family names. Thus Marie Antoinette was brought to trial as the “Widow Capet.”
A sobriquet of George Washington.
A conspiracy directed against Richelieu, the leaders of which{54} were Cinq-Mars, the favourite of Louis XIII, the Duc d’Orléans and De Thou. An arrangement was made with Spain, by which she was to support the conspirators with men and money. This agreement was discovered by Richelieu in 1642, and Cinq-Mars and De Thou were arrested and executed.
The sixteenth century, the later period of the Italian Renaissance.
These were originally Hastings, Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich, to which were afterwards added Rye and Winchilsea. They were incorporated at a very early, though uncertain date, to provide and man ships for the defence of the Channel, and in return enjoyed certain privileges, judicial and other. Their earliest known charter was granted by Edward I, but they were summoned to send Barons to Parliament by Henry III in 1265, there is no doubt that they were incorporated in some form at a considerably earlier period. Their privileges were finally abolished by the Municipal Corporations Act in 1835.
A convention signed by Junot and Sir Hew Dalrymple in 1808, after the defeat of the French at Vimeira. It permitted Junot to evacuate Portugal, England providing transport, with liberty to him and his troops to serve elsewhere. The convention caused great indignation in England, and led to the recall of the three English generals, Dalrymple, Burrard, and Wellesley.
Madame Roland was so called from the influence exercised by her fascinating manner over the leaders of the French Revolution, and especially over the Girondins.
A statute of Edward I, issued in 1205, to put a stop to the pretensions of the ecclesiastical courts, which were gradually encroaching more and more upon the functions of the civil courts.
A republic formed by Napoleon out of the provinces conquered by him in Northern Italy in 1796-1797.
A republic, with Bologna for its capital, established by Napoleon in Italy in 1797.
A Bill introduced into the Hungarian Diet in 1893, by Dr. Wekerle. It made civil marriage compulsory, permitted marriage with a deceased wife’s sister, and made sundry changes in the divorce laws in the direction of greater freedom. It was violently opposed by the Catholics, and only passed the Upper House through the personal interposition of the King Emperor.
An Act of Congress, passed in 1875, conferring equal rights on all citizens, black or white,{55} in the matter of public conveyances, inns, places of amusement and jury service.
A declaration by the Scottish Convention of 1689, accompanying the offer of the crown to William III. It was similar in character to the Declaration of Rights of the English Parliament, but in addition it proclaimed the abolition of the Episcopacy.
Thomas Castro, alias Arthur Orton, a butcher of Wagga-Wagga, New South Wales, who in 1871 brought an action with intent to prove that he was Sir Roger Tichbourne, the rightful owner of the Tichbourne estates in Hampshire. His case broke down, after a long trial, and in 1874 he was convicted of perjury and sentenced to fourteen years’ penal servitude.
A treaty between Charles the Simple of France, and the Northmen under Rolf the Ganger, in 912. In order to obtain immunity from the Viking raids, Charles ceded to the Northmen the coast of Normandy.
An Act passed in 1715, providing (1) that if a feudal chief rebelled, all his vassals who remained loyal should in future hold direct from the crown. (2) That a loyal tenant whose landlord was convicted of treason should have two years gratuitous possession added to his lease. (3) That the lands of a disloyal tenant should revert to his chief if loyal. (4) That settlements of estates after August 1, 1714, should be no bar to their forfeiture for high treason.
A combat between thirty picked men of each of these clans was fought at Perth in 1396. It is supposed to have been for the purpose of deciding a dispute as to the chieftainship of the Clan Chattan.
An Irish secret society, an offshoot of the Fenians, formed in 1881. It was composed of the extreme physical force men among the Fenians, and was also known as the United Brotherhood.
The name given to the four Acts composing the repressive ecclesiastical legislation of Clarendon, in the reign of Charles II, namely the Corporation, Uniformity, Conventicle, and Five Mile Acts.
See Constitutions of Clarendon.
An Act of the Scots Parliament, passed in 1649, disqualifying from public office and seats in Parliament, all Malignants, enemies of the Covenant, Engagers, etc.
A treaty between Great Britain and the United States, signed in 1850, providing for the construction of a canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It was stipulated that in the event of such canal being{56} constructed, neither party should erect fortifications on the line of the canal, nor assume any sovereign rights over any portion of Central America. The United States afterwards repudiated the treaty, and it is now superseded by the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty.
The name given to a brawl in the streets of Edinburgh in 1519, in which the Douglas faction were attacked by the supporters of the Government. The Douglasses swept their opponents from the streets, killing their leader, Sir Patrick Stuart.
The extreme democratic party in Canada in 1850 were so called. They were in favour of secession from England and annexation to the United States.
A nickname given to Lord Canning, Governor-General of India, in consequence of what many considered his undue leniency in the treatment of the rebels, after the suppression of the Indian Mutiny in 1858.
See Holy League.
A manifesto issued by Bossuet in 1682, declaring that the Pope had no power in France in temporal affairs, and that his spiritual authority was subject to that of a General Council, as proclaimed by the Council of Constance; that the constitution of the Gallican Church was not to be subverted, and that, in questions of faith, the Pope’s opinion was not binding unless supported by the Church. This declaration was, by Royal Edict given the force of law.
A Bull issued by Pope Boniface VIII in 1296, forbidding the clergy to pay tribute to a temporal sovereign. The result of this Bull in England was that the clergy refused to pay taxes. They were consequently outlawed, and much church property was confiscated by Edward I.
A Council summoned by Urban II in 1095, at which the Pope proclaimed the duty of Christians to free the Holy Sepulchre from the hands of Saracens. At the Council Godefroi de Bouillon and other notable personages assumed the red cross, and the First Crusade followed.
The nickname by which Frederick William IV of Prussia was known in England.
The name given to an incident which marked the collapse of O’Connell’s Repeal agitation. A monster meeting was fixed to be held at Clontarf on October 8, 1843. The Government proclaimed the meeting, and O’Connell did his best to prevent the peasants assembling. In this he was successful, but the proof that he did not mean under any circumstances to resort to strong measures was the death blow to his movement.{57}
The name given to the attack on Lookout Mountain by the Federal troops at the battle of Chattanooga in 1863, during the American Civil War. They advanced to the attack through a heavy mist, and the battle was fought in a clear atmosphere, with the fog below.
A convention, signed in July, 1757, between the French and the Duke of Cumberland, who had advanced to the Weser in command of an English force, and had been driven back by a French army, under D’Estrées, to the mouth of the Elbe. The Duke agreed to disband his army.
A section of the Whig party in Scotland, who, at the accession of William and Mary, advocated extreme views as to the limitations to be set to the power of the king. Notwithstanding their opinions, they did not hesitate to ally themselves with the Jacobites in their opposition to William.
The Parliament of 1346, so called because the Barons attended it accompanied by their retainers armed with clubs. It is also called the Parliament of Bats (or Batons.)
The name assumed by bands of peasants who, in 1644, assembled in various parts of England, but especially in the West, to protect their lands from the ravages of the civil war. They sided with neither party, but attacked both impartially when their property was threatened.
A Ministry formed under Lord Aberdeen in 1853, composed of Liberals and Peelites, and including among its members, Lord John Russell, Lord Palmerston and Mr. Gladstone.
The Betting Act, passed in 1853, is so called after its introducer, Sir Alexander Cockburn. It did away with betting houses, and rendered the exhibition of betting lists illegal. In 1874 the Act was extended to Scotland.
A judgment in the Court of Queen’s Bench in the case of Regina v. Cockerton. Mr. Cockerton, the auditor of the Local Government Board, had surcharged certain expenditure of the London School Board, and the correctness of his action being called in question, the court held that it was illegal to make a payment out of the rates (1) for advanced instruction in art and science in elementary day schools, (2) for any instruction to adults at evening continuation classes.
The name given to Belgium on account of the numerous important battles which have been fought there.
The Code of Law issued by Napoleon in 1803. It was based on the old French law, with such alterations as had been{58} rendered necessary by the Revolution, and certain new provisions, introduced by Napoleon, notably those relating to the law of succession and to the marriage law. For the purpose of this codification, which remains the law of France, he called to his councils the most eminent French lawyers, irrespective of party, among others Tronchet, Cambacérès, Portalis and Roederer.
Allgemeines Landrecht, Brehon, Bretts and Scots, Burgos, Caroline Ordinance, Clarendon, Consolato, Doom-Book, Etablissements, Frédéric, Frostathing, Fuero Juzgo, Grágás, Gulathing, Jus Magdeburgicum, Jutland, Landrecht, Louis, Libro de Tasas, Lübeck, Ludlow, Martian, Mulmutine, Noir, Oleron, Recess of Colding, Regiani Majestatem, Savary, Siete Partidas, Thirty-three Articles, Wisbuy, Wisliza.
The Pigtail Party, a name given by the supporters of the House of Savoy to the Papal party in Rome, the suggestion being that they are behind the times.
An Act of Parliament passed in 1833, giving the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland power to prohibit any meeting of whatever nature which he regarded as dangerous to the peace, and to declare any district to be in a disturbed state. The bill gave the right to search for arms and suspended the Habeas Corpus Act in the proclaimed districts, substituting martial law for the regular tribunals.
The sobriquet of Richard I of England.
See Holy League.
A form of socialism, the leading tenet of which is that capital and the means of production should be in the hands of associations of workers, and not be privately owned.
The supreme court of Scotland in civil cases. It was established by James V in 1533, and was composed of fourteen judges and a president. At the same time the body of Advocates was created.
A conference held in London in 1902, between Mr. Chamberlain and the Colonial Premiers. The principal recommendations of the conference were an increase in the Colonial contribution to the navy, increased facilities for Colonial cadets to enter the services, that preferential duties between Great Britain and the Colonies should be kept in view, that the metric system should be adopted, and that postage rates should be lowered.
A Council appointed by Charles II in 1660, to supervise all the affairs of the oversea plantations.
A conference of divines summoned by Catherine de’ Medici in 1561, and attended, among others, by Peter Martyr and Beza. It was hoped that a{59} modus vivendi with the Huguenots might be arrived at, but the divergences between the two religions were perhaps unduly emphasized by the reformers, and the conference proved abortive, though in the following year an edict was issued permitting the Huguenots to worship outside the towns.
See Blanquillos.
A confederation of the coloured people of the Southern States of America, formed after the war, with the object of securing for the negroes the free exercise of their political rights.
The Committee of Public Safety was appointed by the French Convention in April, 1893, to exercise the functions of a Ministry. The first object was to drive the Girondists from power. The members of the first Comité were comparatively moderate men, but it was reorganized in July of the same year, from which time it was composed almost entirely of the extremists, and became a mere instrument in the hands of Robespierre.
The Diet which met in Poland during an interregnum only. The whole body of nobles attended, the meeting taking place on an open plain, and the members appearing armed and mounted.
Comitia Togata.
The ordinary Polish Diet of representatives of the nobles. It was summoned by the king, and the members attended unarmed.
The military system established by the English in South Africa in 1806. The country was split up into districts, each under a field cornet, whose duty it was to summon the burghers when called out for military service. The burghers were divided into three classes, according to age, and every male was liable to service from sixteen to sixty. The system was maintained by the independent Dutch States, till the close of the Boer War in 1902, but compulsory service was abolished in Cape Colony in 1834.
In feudal times the personal submission of a man to a feudal lord, by which he became his vassal, was so called.
A treaty between France and England, abolishing prohibitive duties and establishing a moderate tariff between the two countries. The Methuen Treaty between England and Portugal, which had been very prejudicial to French interests, was abrogated.
A Commission of Peers, authorized by Richard II in 1386, to inquire into abuses in the Government, and to prepare a scheme of reform.
A proclamation under the Great Seal by James I in 1604, securing Irish landowners from{60} all claims of the Crown, and empowering the governor, in all cases of precarious tenure, to grant indefeasible titles.
Commissions given by the English Kings to certain commissioners to impress men for military service. They were first issued under Edward I.
A committee appointed by the Long Parliament in 1641 to consider the question of religious reform.
An outbreak of the extreme revolutionary party in Paris in 1871, after the withdrawal of the Germans. Its leaders were Assi, Billioray, Blanqui, Cluseret, Paschal Grousset, Félix Pyat, and other noted extremists. They obtained complete possession of Paris, and were guilty of terrible atrocities, including the cold-blooded murder of the so-called hostages, amongst whom was the Archbishop of Paris. The city underwent a second siege at the hands of the Provisional Government, but after severe fighting the Government troops, under the Marquis de Gallifet, surmounted the last barricade, and those of the Communist leaders who failed to escape were brought to trial, and executed or transported. Many of the public buildings, including the Tuileries, were set fire to during the fighting by the “Pétroleuses.”
See Santa Junta.
An agreement between the Hussites and their religious opponents in 1433. This agreement afterwards formed the basis of the Treaty of Iglau.
The first French regular army, called into existence by Charles V in 1370.
A document submitted to the Government in 1450 by the insurgents under Jack Cade. It set forth the causes of the unpopularity of Suffolk, and demanded the restoration to favour of the Duke of York.
An arrangement between Sir James Perrot, Governor of Ireland, and the landowners of Connaught in 1585, by which the landowners agreed to pay a fixed ground rent, in consideration of a patent from the Crown, and relief from all other taxes and imposts. At the same time all members of the clans were released from their allegiance to their chiefs, and placed directly under the Crown.
The occupier of a small tenement who did not pay poor rates directly, but compounded with his landlord, who was responsible for the rate to the authorities. During the debates on the Reform Bill of 1867, the question of his enfranchisement was very hotly contested, and in the end the compound householder was abolished, and every name put on the rate book.
The name given to the more moderate section of the English{61} Jacobites in 1692. They desired a restoration of the Stuarts, but accompanied by a general amnesty. The non-compounders, who would listen to no suggestions of moderation, were, however, more powerful at St. Germains.
A document signed in 1566 by some 2,000 nobles and gentlemen of the Netherlands, by which the signatories bound themselves to offer the most strenuous resistance to the Inquisition, while loyally supporting the sovereignty of Philip II.
An Omnibus Act passed by Congress in 1850. It provided for the admission to the Union of California as a state, and of New Mexico and Utah as territories, for the settlement of the boundaries of Texas, the return of fugitive slaves to the owners, and the suppression of the slave trade in the district of Columbia.
A manifesto by the Moderate party in the French Chamber, drawn up by Odilon Barrot in May, 1832. It denounced the Ministry for continuing the Restoration rather than the Revolution, and complained of the institution of hereditary peerages, the excessive civil list, and the extravagant expenditure on the army. With regard to foreign policy it pointed out that, through lack of firmness, the Government was abandoning Italy to Austria and Poland to Russia.
The acquittal of an accused person, in consequence of an oath taken by his kinsmen to the effect that he was innocent of the charges brought against him. This was abolished by the Assize of Clarendon in 1166.
Camps formed in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony, during the Boer War, for the reception of women and children who could not be protected in their own homes in the disturbed parts of the two colonies. Charges were made of gross mismanagement of these camps, but a commission appointed to investigate pronounced that the complaints were absurd, and that everything had been done for the refugees that the circumstances permitted.
An assembly of the Cardinals summoned for the purpose of electing a Pope. The regulations governing the Conclave were issued by Gregory X in 1275.
An argument drawn up by the Puritans of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1629, and circulated among the Puritans of England, setting forth the desirability of strengthening the Colony of Salem.
An agreement entered into in 1801 between Napoleon and the Pope, providing for the re-establishment of Roman Catholicism, which had been proscribed during the Revolution,{62} as the religion of the majority of the French nation. It was agreed, among other provisions, that bishops were to be nominated by the State, but instituted by the Pope. The nomination of parish priests was vested in the bishops, the State having a right of veto. The State undertook to see that adequate stipends were provided for the clergy, to replace the ancient revenues which had been confiscated during the Revolution.
An agreement between Francis I of France and Leo X, by which the King obtained the right of nominating archbishops, bishops and mitred abbots, the inferior clergy being appointed by the bishops as before. In return for this, Francis granted the Pope annates and the right to levy a yearly tribute.
An agreement between Francis Joseph of Austria and Pius IX, by which the control of public education was entrusted to the priesthood, and all offences against canon law were sent for trial before ecclesiastical courts. This concordat was abrogated in 1870.
See Aschaffenburg, Bec, German, Worms.
Soldiers of fortune who hired themselves out to the various petty states of Italy, during the wars of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
A federation of Irish Catholics formed in 1642, at the commencement of the Great Rebellion. They formed a provisional government, consisting of a general assembly, with two houses, and appointed a judicial body for each county under their control, with an appeal to a supreme council of twenty-four persons.
The independent republic formed, under the presidency of Jefferson Davis, by the states which seceded from the Union prior to the American Civil War of 1860.
An enactment of the Polish Diet, granting to all sects liberty of conscience and equal rights and privileges. This is the first instance of the establishment of complete religious toleration.
An agreement entered into in 1643, by Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Haven, and later joined by Plymouth, uniting the four communities under the title of the United Colonies of New England.
During the Spanish domination, the Supreme Court of Central America. It was established in 1542.
The confirmation by Edward I in 1297 of Magna Charta and the Charter of Forests, to which was added an article known as “De Tallagio non Concedendo,” sometimes referred to as a separate statute, and denying the right of the king to levy Tallages without the consent of Parliament.{63}
A treaty between Louis XI and his nobles, signed in 1465, putting an end to the Guerre du Bien Public. Louis ceded the Duchy of Normandy to his brother, the Duc de Berri, to be held as a fief of France, and made certain concessions to the Duc de Bretagne, the Comte de Charolais, and others.
The invitation sent by the Crown to a cathedral chapter to elect a certain person as bishop of the diocese.
A conference of the Powers held at Berlin in 1884-5. It declared for freedom of commerce in the basin and mouths of the Congo, and along the coast from Gaboon to Angola, and appointed an international commission to regulate the navigation of the Congo and the Niger. It recognised the neutrality of the Congo Free State, decreed the abolition of slave gangs and slave markets, and all monopolies, and insisted that foreigners should enjoy equal rights with the subjects of the sovereign state.
The leaders of the reforming party in Scotland, who issued the First Covenant in 1557, took this title.
The Parliament of the United States, consisting of two Chambers, a House of Representatives, and a Senate. The former consists of a certain number of members from each state, elected by direct popular vote. The number of representatives of each state is in proportion to the population, as shown in the decennial census. The Senate is composed of two members from each state, irrespective of population, elected by the respective state legislatures. One third of the Senate retires annually.
See Aix-la-Chapelle, Arras, Berlin, Brussels, Carlsbad, Châtillon, Congo, General, Hague, Heilbronn, Kilkenny, Laibach, Troppau, Vienna, Verona.
This name came into use to designate the Tory party about 1837. It was first employed by John Wilson Croker, in an article in the Quarterly Review.
A secret society, established in Naples, with the Papal authorization, during the first decade of the nineteenth century, to oppose the Carbonari and support the Church.
A tribunal established in Geneva by Calvin in 1541, to deal with offences against religion and morals. Its rule was terribly severe, all amusements being proscribed and all criticism of the Calvinist doctrine being sternly repressed. In five years the Consistorium imprisoned over 800 persons, and put to death fifty-eight.
An assembly of the Cardinals, in the presence of the Pope; summoned for the transaction of business.
A code of maritime law,{64} said to have been compiled, from Roman and Rhodian laws, by the trading communities of Barcelona about the middle of the thirteenth century. Other authorities attribute it to the Venetians or the Pisans.
See Alexander, Amboise, Ankarstrôm. Army, Assassination, Atterbury, Babington, Biron, Booth, Bridal of Norwich, Burr, Bye, Catherine, Cato Street, Cinq Mars, Craigmillar, Despard, Dutch, Emmett, Falieri, Fieschi, Gowrie, Gunpowder, Hunting of Braemar, Incident, Jerviswood, Malet, Meal Tub, Orsini, Overton, Pablen, Pazzi, Pichegru, Popish, Porcari, Strelitzi, Ridolfi, Rye House, Queensberry, Throgmorton, Tiepoli, Venner, Vowel, Waller.
A council summoned by John XXIII, at the instance of the Emperor Sigismund in 1415. It was concerned with the Hussite heresy, and John Huss, who attended under a safe-conduct, was declared a heretic and, notwithstanding the safe-conduct, burnt at the stake. The council further dealt with the schism, deposing two popes, and electing Martin V.
A treaty, signed at Constance in 1183, between Frederick Barbarossa and the Italian cities, after the successful revolt of the Lombard League. It provided for the re-establishment of self-government in the cities, including the right of electing their magistrates, subject to certain unimportant reservations of the Imperial prerogative.
A conference of the Great Powers, summoned in 1876, with the object of preventing war between Russia and Turkey. The terms agreed upon by the Powers were, however, rejected by the Porte, and war followed.
A council of the Church, held at Constantinople in 754, under the auspices of Leo the Iconoclast. It proscribed the use of images and religious pictures in worship. The decrees of this council were anathematised by the Synod of Rome in 769, and reversed by the Council of Nicæa in 787. It is not regarded by the Church as an Oecumenical Council.
An Oecumenical Council, held in 869, which declared that no Metropolitan could enter upon his functions until he had received the pallium from the Pope. This decision practically placed the nomination of the higher church dignitaries in the Pope’s hands.
The Constitution drawn up by the Spanish Cortes which met at Cadiz in 1810. Ferdinand VII, on his restoration in 1814, refused to subscribe to the instrument, and continued to govern the country on absolute principles, but a military pronunciamiento forced him finally to give way and agree to its conditions in 1820.{65}
See Body of Liberties, Canada, Eadgar, Estatuto Real, Federal Pact, May, Mediation, Model, Nine Articles, Waldemariana.
A recital of the ancient customs of England, defining the relations between the Church and the Crown, drawn up by order of Henry II, and accepted, after much opposition, by Thomas á Becket on behalf of the Church. It made the criminous clerk subject to the civil jurisdiction, provided that questions relating to land claimed by the Crown should be submitted to a jury, constituted the King the final court of appeal, and limited the power of the bishops. By these and other provisions, the supremacy of the Crown was assured. The constitutions were promulgated at the Council of Clarendon in 1164.
The committee of three members of the Council of State of the Netherlands, during the regency of Margaret of Parma, 1559 to 1567. The three were Viglius, Barlaymont, and the Bishop of Arras.
A system established by Napoleon, in 1806, by the Berlin Decree. In this instrument he declared the whole of the British Isles to be in a state of blockade, and forbade any correspondence with them on the part of the countries dependent on him. He further declared all Englishmen found in any country occupied by French troops to be prisoners of war, and ordered all English merchandise and all private property of English subjects wherever found to be confiscated. So impracticable was it to carry out this system that, within the year, Napoleon found it necessary to purchase English cloth to clothe his own troops.
The Gomarists, the opponents of the Arminians in the Netherlands, were so called from their having presented to the States-General a counter-remonstrance, protesting against the five articles set out in the remonstrance of the Arminians in 1610.
The chief point at issue in the Employers’ Liability Bill of 1893. The difference of opinion between the two Houses on this point wrecked the bill. See Employers’ Liability.
An Act passed in 1664, rendering illegal any meeting for religious purposes which was attended by more than five persons beyond the family, unless held in accordance with Church of England practice.
Open air meetings for public worship held by the dispossessed Scotch ministers, after the establishment of the Episcopal Church in Scotland at the Restoration. They were declared illegal, were then permitted by Indulgence, and finally again made illegal, and suppressed whenever possible.
Two Parliaments are known{66} by this title, being irregular assemblies, as not having been summoned by Royal Writ—(1) The Parliament which restored the Crown to Charles II in 1660. (2) The Parliament which offered the throne to William and Mary in 1689.
An Act passed by the Irish Parliament in 1793. It forbade the holding of meetings for the purpose of petitioning the King or Parliament, and also the election of delegates to attend such meetings.
An Act passed by the Victorian Legislature in 1852, forbidding the immigration into the colony of any but free men, thus shutting out ticket-of-leave men from the penal settlements. The Queen at first refused her assent, but the bill was passed a second time and became law.
See Cabal, American.
The first Co-operative Society was started in 1844 by twenty-eight Rochdale weavers. They began their operations with a capital of £28 only, and in sixteen years the Society was worth over £120,000.
A name given by the Federals, during the American Civil War, to the Peace Party in the Northern States. The copperhead is a peculiarly venomous snake, as deadly as the rattlesnake and more dangerous, because not provided with the warning rattle.
A nickname of Henry VIII. derived from the silver coinage of his reign, which was made of an alloy containing a quantity of copper.
A tenure by service, as opposed to freehold or leasehold. In most cases the service has long since been commuted for a small annual payment. In the event of a copyholder dying intestate and without issue, the copyhold reverts to the Lord of the Manor.
A revolutionary club in Paris, in the early days of the French Revolution, composed mainly of the partisans of Danton. It took its name from an old monastery of the Cordelier order, where its meetings were held.
An Act establishing a prohibitive duty on foreign corn while the price of English wheat stood at 63s. per quarter or under, and fixing the duty at 3s. 6d. per quarter with the price between 63s. and 66s., and at 6d. per quarter with the price above 66s.
An Act prohibiting the importation of foreign corn, until the price of English wheat stood at 80s. per quarter.
An Act reaffirming the principle of the sliding scale of duties on imported grain, as in the Corn Law of 1804.
An Act passed by Sir Robert{67} Peel’s Government in 1846, reducing immediately the tax on foreign grain, and providing for its ultimate abolition, with the exception of a registration duty amounting to 1s. per quarter. This Act was mainly the result of the efforts of the Anti-Corn Law League.
Cornwall was created a Duchy by Edward III, and its revenues were assigned to the maintenance of his eldest son, the Prince of Wales. Since that period the eldest son of the Sovereign has borne the title of Duke of Cornwall, and enjoyed the revenues of the Duchy. Alterations in the internal administration were made by Acts passed in 1863 and 1893.
The ancient Scottish Coronation Stone of Scone was brought to England by Edward I, after his defeat of Balliol at Dunbar in 1296, and is now in Westminster Abbey.
The great Duke of Marlborough was so called by his soldiers.
An Act passed in 1661, compelling all holders of office in corporations to swear to their belief in the doctrine of Passive Obedience, to receive the sacrament according to the rites of the English Church, and to renounce the Covenant. This Act was not repealed until 1828.
A nickname of the great Napoleon.
The Spanish Parliament is so called.
A compromise proposed by Count Corti, Italian Ambassador to the Porte in 1880, to meet the difficulties raised by Turkey in carrying out the provisions of the Berlin Treaty, relative to Montenegro. He proposed that Turkey should retain Gussinje and Plava, ceding instead Kutschi-Kraina and Podgoritza.
Enforced labour on the roads and other public works, exacted from the French peasant before the Revolution. The same system prevailed in Egypt prior to the English occupation.
The inhabitants of the debateable land between the Russian frontier and the Crim Tartars. The most important of these communities were those of the Dnieper and the Don. They retained a certain degree of independence until the reign of Catherine II of Russia. The soldiers of the military cordon established by the Russians and Poles along their southern frontiers were also known as Cossacks.
Bands of mercenaries in the French service during the twelfth century.
The name given to the distress in Lancashire in 1862, in consequence of the cessation of cotton shipments from America during the Civil War, by which thou{68}sands of operatives were thrown out of employment. Large sums were received by subscriptions in aid, and in August of that year the Relief Act was passed, by which loans were granted to the guardians to enable them to establish relief works.
A council of forty-one members, in whom Parliament vested the executive power, on the proclamation of the Commonwealth in 1649. They were appointed for one year.
See Ancients, Anziani, Aulic, Blood, Castle, Clarendon, Consulta, Colonies, Federal, Fifteen, Five Hundred, Hlutdaw, Indies, Kilkenny, Magnum, North, Policy, Reason, Sixteen, Ten, Thirty-six.
See Bari, Basle, Clermont, Constance, Constantinople, Dort, Lateran, Lyons, Nicæa, Œcumenical, Pisa, Trent, Vatican, Vienne.
A political party, formed about 1673, under the leadership of Lords Russell and Cavendish. They were in full sympathy with the demands of the Dissenters for toleration, and made it their special business to keep a watch on the religious and political designs of the Court. They afterwards became known as Whigs.
A county possessing certain Royal privileges, created originally for defence of the frontier against the Welsh, the Scotch and the French. They were Chester, Lancaster, Durham, Kent, Shropshire, Pembrokeshire, and Hexhamshire. Only the three first named retained any of their privileges beyond the sixteenth century.
A term applied to any overthrow of free institutions by military intervention, but used especially to denote the bold stroke of Louis Napoleon, who by a display of military force in the Paris streets in December, 1851, and the imprisonment of the Republican members of the Chamber, succeeded in getting himself proclaimed Consul, and, later, Emperor.
An ancient feudal court in Jersey, having jurisdiction over all disputed questions as to landed property.
Assemblies of the Barons, called, on the great festivals of the year, by the early kings of France and England.
A court of the old Norman Manor, summoned to settle all questions arising out of the cultivation of the demesne land of the Manor.
A baronial court in feudal times held to decide questions arising out of the tenure of land by villeins.
Under Henry I the Hundred Court was so called, when it sat for the purpose of trying criminal cases under the presidency of the Sheriff.{69}
See Longjumeau.
See Audiencias, Augmentations, Aulic, Austrägal, College of Justice, Chambre, Confines, Consistorium, Curia Regis, Four Burghs, Great Session, Haute Cour, Heemraden, High Commission, Jews, Manor, Parlement, Piés Poudrées, Reichskammergericht, Requests, Salford, Star Chamber, Tribunal, Tynwald, Vehmgericht, Wales.
An Act passed in 1671 declaring nose-slitting or other mutilation of the person to be a felony. It was passed in consequence of a dastardly attack upon Sir James Coventry, a Member of Parliament, who, having incurred the enmity of the Court party by some comments in the House on Charles the Second’s liaison with Nell Gwynne, was waylaid on his way home by Sir Thomas Sandys and some of the King’s friends, who dragged him from his coach and slit his nose to the bone.
Bands of British marauders who infested the banks of the Hudson River during the American War of Independence. The name is now applied to the cattlemen on the ranches in the Far West.
A clause inserted in the Education Act of 1870, embodying an amendment moved by Mr. Cowper-Temple. It provides that unsectarian Bible teaching shall be given during school hours in all rate-aided schools under the School Boards.
The right of an Irish chieftain to quarter his soldiery on the tenants. It was forbidden by the Statute of Kilkenny in 1307, and was finally stopped in 1603. It was called by the Irish “Bonaght.”
The name given to Faneuil Hall, Boston, which was the place of meeting of the American patriots during the period of the Revolution.
An agreement entered into in 1566, at the instigation of Bothwell, by Argyle, Huntly, Maitland and Sir James Balfour, with the object of compassing the death of Darnley.
A Frenchman is so called, probably from the fleur-de-lys of the old French standard, which bears a faint resemblance to a toad (crapaud).
The State of Louisiana is so called because of the large number of its inhabitants who are descendants of the original French and Spanish settlers.
In Spanish America this term is applied to all persons of pure European descent, born in South America. Those with an admixture of Indian blood are known as Mestizos. The word Creole was also applied in Louisiana to those of pure French descent who were born in the Colony.{70}
A convention between the Porte and the Powers, signed in September, 1896. It provided for the appointment of a Christian Governor, and for the summoning of an Assembly within six months. Two-thirds of the official appointments were to be held by Christians and one third by Mohammedans. The Cretan Government was to retain one half of the Customs duties, the other half being taken by the Sultan, in lieu of the old tribute.
An Act empowering the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to suspend jury trial in disturbed districts, and to send agrarian cases for trial by a commission of three judges, with an appeal to the Court of Criminal Cases Reserved. Power of search was given to the police in proclaimed districts, and, further, power to arrest and remove strangers thought dangerous to public safety.
An Act to repress the lawlessness of the Irish Land League. It gave power to the Lord Lieutenant to proclaim the affected districts, and to suppress seditious gatherings and unlawful associations. It also provided for change of venue, in cases where a fair trial could not be relied upon under ordinary conditions.
A name given to the Roundheads during the Civil War. The Irish rebels of 1798 were also called by this name.
A treaty signed at Vienna in 1700, between the Emperor Leopold I, and Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, by which Leopold recognized Frederick as King of Prussia. Frederick undertook to place 10,000 men in the field for the service of the empire, if required, to support Austria in the German Diet, and to vote, as Elector, for Leopold’s son, Joseph, and his successors as occupants of the Imperial throne.
In 1212, some 90,000 children, mostly from Germany, inspired by the crusading spirit of the times, left their homes for the Holy Land. Many who embarked at Marseilles were carried to Alexandria and there sold as slaves. Others got no further than Genoa, where they were enslaved by the Genoese.
A Bull of Pope Paul IV, issued in 1559, declaring all Protestant Princes incapable of reigning, and giving Catholics the right to levy on their possessions.
An agreement signed by John Graham, Earl of Montrose, and his associates, prior to their invasion of England in August, 1640, by which they bound themselves to oppose any dictatorship vested in the hands of subjects.
See Jedburgh Justice.
The famous enactment of William the Conqueror, ordering all persons in the country districts to be in their houses, with all lights extinguished, by{71} eight o’clock in winter and sunset in summer. It was presumably designed to prevent secret meetings and conspiracies directed against the King, of which there were many, owing to his unpopularity with the Saxon element of the population.
A court of law established by William the Conqueror as the Final Court of Appeal of the realm. At its head was the Justiciary, as the King’s representative. It was re-organised in the reign of Henry I, when the Exchequer Court was established by Roger of Salisbury, the Barons of the Curia Regis sitting as Barons of the Exchequer for financial purposes. It was again reconstituted by Henry II, who limited its numbers to five, and by Magna Charta, when it was divided into three courts, those of the Exchequer, the Common Pleas, and the King’s Bench. It thus took the form which lasted, with minor modifications, until the Judicature Acts of 1873-5.
The nickname of Henry II of England, from his wearing the short cloak of Anjou instead of the longer mantle worn by his predecessors.
The destruction by a body of Sioux Indians of the whole of General Custer’s force, on the Little Big Horn, Montana, in 1876.
The keeper of the rolls of the County Sessions. The office is generally held by the Lord Lieutenant of the County.
A treaty between Great Britain and Turkey, signed in 1788, whereby the Sultan recognized the occupation and administration of Cyprus by Great Britain, with the following provisos: that a Mussulman religious tribunal should be established; that all surplus revenue should be paid to him; that the Porte should retain the right to sell or lease lands belonging to the Crown, and that Cyprus should be restored to the Porte in the event of Russia restoring Kars.
The name given in India to brigandage or highway robbery. It was very prevalent in Burmah after the annexation.
The great hereditary nobles of Japan. The principal Daimios, such as the Princes of Satsuma, Choshiu, Kaga, and some others, were almost in the position of independent sovereigns, though they owed a nominal allegiance to the Emperor, and in some cases to the Shôgun. The word, strictly Dai-miyo, signifies “Great Name.”
The sovereign pontiff or spiritual ruler of Thibet. He is supposed to be always a reincarnation of a previous holder of the office. The actual government is carried on by the Des-ri, or king.{72}
Sir Christopher Hatton, Chancellor of Queen Elizabeth, was so called. The Queen first saw him at a masque, where her attention was attracted by his graceful dancing.
A nickname of Joachim Murat, King of Naples.
A tax imposed for the first time by Æthelred the Unready, for the purpose of buying off the Danish invaders, in 994. It became a permanent tax till the reign of Henry II, who replaced it by “Scutage.”
The country ceded to the Danes by the Treaty of Wedmore, in 878.
A Mormon secret society, founded in 1838, for the protection of the Mormons from the “Gentiles.” It contained organized companies, called “Destruction Companies,” whose business it was to burn and destroy “Gentile” property, nominally by way of reprisals, and there is little doubt that these bands did not stop short of assassination. They were probably concerned in the Mountain Meadow Massacre.
A Danish order of knighthood, founded by Waldemar II in 1219, and reconstituted by Christian V in 1693.
An international commission appointed in 1856, when the navigation of the Danube was thrown open to all nations. It was originally appointed for two years only, but has from time to time been continued, the last extension being for twenty-one years from 1883. Its jurisdiction extends from the mouths of the Danube to the Iron Gate.
A treaty signed in London in 1841, after the conclusion of the Syrian War, by England, France, Russia, Prussia, Austria and Turkey. It confirmed the agreement arrived at by the Convention of London of the previous year, depriving Mehemet Ali of all his Asiatic possessions, but securing him the Government of Egypt. It also provided that the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles should be closed to all ships of war, excepting small vessels under a special firman. This provision was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris of 1856. The Treaty of the Dardanelles is also known as the Treaty of London.
A scheme promoted by a Scotchman named Paterson, in the reign of William III, to secure the trade with the Far East by utilising a route across the Isthmus of Darien. A company was formed, and obtained a charter from the Scottish Parliament, granting a monopoly for thirty-one years of the trade with Asia, Africa, and America, and the right to introduce all goods from those regions free of duty, excepting sugar and tobacco. In 1698, 1,200 colonists started for Darien, but were at once{73} opposed by the Spanish colonists, and though a further expedition was dispatched in the following year, the whole enterprise failed ignominiously. The scheme had from the first been opposed in England, and was the cause of much bad blood between the two countries, and of a heavy pecuniary loss to Scotland.
The title of the first-born heir-male to the French throne.
A Statute of Henry VII, passed in 1485, enacting that no person could be convicted of high treason for services rendered to the King who was actually on the throne.
The charge of the Light Cavalry Brigade at Balaclava, on September 20, 1854, is so called.
A district on the English and Scottish borders, claimed by both countries, and inhabited by the Grahams, who were generally on the English side in war time, though they raided both sides of the border impartially in time of peace. The district lay between the waters of the Esk and the Sark. Under James I the whole Graham Clan was removed to Ulster.
The extreme section of the Spanish revolutionists in 1821. They may be said to correspond to the French sans-culottes. The word means the “shirtless ones.”
A meeting of about 200 students and young people, on the Nekvsi Prospekt in St. Petersburg, in 1876, at which cheers were raised for the exiles in Siberia, The police interfered, and arrested some thirty, but there seems to have been little resistance, and the affair, though supposed to have been part of a more important movement, was probably much exaggerated by the authorities.
Napoleon III was so called because December was the month of his election to the Presidency, of the Coup d’Etat, and of his taking the title of Emperor.
An outbreak in St. Petersburg in December, 1825, on the accession of Nicholas I, fomented by a revolutionary society known as the Society of the North. The rightful heir to the throne was Constantine, the elder brother of Nicholas, but he had waived his rights. The revolutionists, however, made use of the question of succession to excite the mob, their real object being the overthrow of the dynasty. The rising was easily suppressed, and the ringleaders convicted and hanged. The conspirators were afterwards known as the Dekabrists.
A Bull of Leo X, issued in January, 1521, calling upon the German Princes to uphold the Papal authority by condemning Luther unheard.{74}
An arbitrary income-tax of ten per cent. levied on all Royalists by Cromwell’s Major-Generals, in 1655.
The Manifesto issued by the second Congress in America, on July 4, 1776, declaring the colonies independent. It was only carried in Congress by a majority of one.
This instrument, promulgated in 1822, proclaimed the separation of Brazil from the Crown of Portugal. The colony was erected into a constitutional monarchy, Pedro, the second son of John VI of Portugal, being proclaimed Emperor.
A proclamation by Charles II, suspending all penal laws against Dissenters. Parliament, however, held that while the King had the power of pardon in individual cases, he had no constitutional right to suspend general enactments. The King was consequently forced to withdraw the Declaration.
A proclamation by James II, issued on his sole authority, annulling all religious tests, and all penal enactments against Dissenters, which he ordered to be read in the churches. This led to the famous Protest of the Seven Bishops.
A declaration by the Convention, accompanying the offer of the Crown to William of Orange in 1689. It declared that the dispensing power was non-existent, that the sovereign could only raise money by the aid of Parliament, and that no army could be maintained in time of peace. It further asserted the right of petition, of freedom of debate in Parliament, of free choice of representatives, and of pure administration, and the necessity of frequent Parliaments. The declaration was accepted by William, and afterwards embodied in the Bill of Right.
A manifesto issued by the General Congress in America, in 1774, maintaining the rights of American colonists as Englishmen, and demanding the repeal of the Boston Port Act and other obnoxious legislation.
A collection of Decretals, or Papal Edicts, purporting to have been issued by very early Popes, which was produced in the ninth century. These Decretals were designed to support the claim of the Bishops of Rome to supreme authority in the Church.
The title granted to Henry VIII by Leo X in 1521, in recognition of his book “The Assertion of the Seven Sacraments,” written in opposition to the Lutheran doctrine. This title has been borne by all the English Sovereigns since Henry VIII.
The name assumed by the agrarian bands formed by the Catholic farmers of Ulster for{75} defence against the Peep o’ Day Boys, in 1782.
A joint military scheme for the defence of the country, drawn up by the Federated States of Switzerland, in 1647.
A name given by the Parisians to Marie Antoinette, circ. 1786, the constant deficits in the French Budget being attributed to her extravagance.
The name given to the conspirators concerned in the December rising in St. Petersburg in 1825.
A body of 120 members, chosen half by the Austrian and half by the Hungarian Legislature, which controls all questions affecting the common interests of the dual monarchy. To this body the Ministers of War, Foreign Affairs, and Finance are responsible. To have the force of law, its enactments require the confirmation of both Parliaments.
The Bull issued by Pope Alexander VI in 1493, defining the respective colonial spheres of Spain and Portugal. A line was drawn north and south, 100 leagues west of the Azores. All extra-European countries east of this line were granted to Portugal, and all west of it to Spain. On this Bull Spain based her claim to the whole of the American Continent.
The lands belonging to the Crown were so called in the early days of English History.
A pretender to the Russian throne, who appeared in Poland, and obtained the support of the Jesuits in 1591. He claimed to be the Demetrius Ivanovitch who was supposed to have been murdered by the usurper Boris. After the death of Boris, the Pretender, aided by the Poles, entered Moscow, and ascended the throne, but the Muscovites soon discovered the fraud and put him to death.
See Republicans.
A treaty between the British and the Rajah of Berar, at the close of the second Mahratta War in 1803. The Rajah surrendered Katak and Balasore, and all his territory west of the Wardha, and assented to the conditions of the Treaty of Bassein.
A Bull of Pope Paul III, dated in 1535, and issued in the following year, excommunicating and deposing Henry VIII. It was the Pope’s reply to the Act of Supremacy and the execution of Fisher and Sir Thomas More.
A Bull issued by Pius V, declaring Queen Elizabeth to have forfeited her right to the throne, and freeing her subjects from their allegiance.
A name given to a section of the Tory party in 1835, which followed Lord Stanley, afterwards Earl of Derby.
A conspiracy, headed by{76} Colonel Despard, a retired army officer, who had become imbued with the principles of the French Revolution, to assassinate George III, 1802. His accomplices were almost all men of the labouring classes. The conspirators were seized, and Despard and some others hanged.
The king or political ruler of Thibet, to whom the functions of government are handed over by the Dalai Lama.
Napoleon I was so-called, owing to his firm belief in his lucky star.
A Parliament summoned by Henry VI at Coventry in 1459. It passed a Bill of Attainder against the Yorkist leaders.
The wall which in ancient times separated England from Scotland.
An ancient local custom in certain fiefs of Brabant, whereby, upon the death of one parent the fief passed to the children.
The name given to an affray in 1795, at Diamond, a village near Armagh, between the Defenders and the Peep o’ Day Boys, in which the latter were victorious.
A scandal of the Court of Louis XVI, in 1785, to which the unpopularity of Marie Antoinette was largely due. Mme. Lamothe, the mistress of the Cardinal de Rohan, gave the Cardinal an order, purporting to be signed by the Queen, for a diamond necklace, which the Cardinal ordered from the Court jeweller, giving bills for payment by instalments. Madame Lamothe, by means of another forged document, obtained possession of the necklace, and turned it to her own uses. The Cardinal being unable to meet the first bill when it became due, the jeweller applied to the Queen. The matter came to the ears of the King, who ordered an inquiry, and Mme. Lamothe was arrested and convicted, and the Cardinal disgraced. Nothing was proved against the Queen, but the public remained convinced that she was in some way mixed up in the affair.
The State of Delaware, U.S.A., is so called.
An Act passed by the Cape Parliament in 1882, to suppress illicit diamond buying, or I.D.B. This Act made it criminal to possess an uncut diamond without being able to account for its lawful possession. It also gave the police large powers of search, including the right to open suspicious parcels in the post. The administration of this Act was the cause of the Kimberley Riots.
Pavia, Captain-General of Madrid, who by a pronunciamiento in 1869, obtained the supreme power, which he at once handed over to Marshal Serrano.
December 16, 1838, on which{77} day the Transvaal Commandos completely routed the Zulu chief Dingaan, thus avenging the massacre of the Boer farmers in the early part of the same year.
The Government established in France after the fall of Robespierre, in July, 1794. The power was vested in five directors, assisted by a Council of five hundred, and a Council of two hundred and fifty members known as the Council of Ancients. It lasted until 1799, when the Consulate was established by the Coup d’Etat of November 9 (18th Brumaire).
One of the Irish Penal Laws, passed in 1695, under which all Papists were ordered to surrender their arms, under penalty of a heavy fine for the first offence, and of imprisonment for life for the second.
An Act passed in 1825, forbidding the carrying of arms by the Highland clansmen.
The Treaty of Câteau Cambrésis in 1559, whereby Henri renounced his Italian claims, was so called by the French.
The two publications embodying the constitution and procedure of the Church of Scotland. The first was drawn up by John Knox, and four other ministers, in 1560. The second, a revised version of the first, was drawn up by Andrew Melville, and sanctioned by the General Assembly in 1578.
Certain persons in Ireland, circ. 1616, who made it their business to investigate some of the older titles to land. In the event of their discovering any flaw in the titles, such lands were confiscated, the informer receiving a percentage of the value.
The Barons who continued the Barons’ War after the Battle of Evesham were so called because a decree of forfeiture had been issued against all the supporters of Simon de Montfort.
This was carried out by an Act passed in 1536, supplemented in 1539 by a further Act, vesting all monastic property in the Crown.
The doctrine of the inalienable right of the next in succession to ascend the throne by virtue of inheritance, apart from any considerations of fitness or Parliamentary sanction. It reached its apogee in the Stuart times, and was discarded with the adoption of William III as King of Great Britain and Ireland.
The Coup d’Etat of November 9, 1799, when Napoleon overthrew the Directoire, and had himself appointed First Consul.
The Coup d’Etat of September 4, 1797, whereby the Royalist plot in which certain{78} members of the Directoire and the Councils were implicated, was frustrated.
A popular name for the Southern States of America in the slavery days.
The name given to the philosophic Liberals in France, in the reign of Louis XVIII.
A register of the holders of land compiled by Commissioners appointed by William the Conqueror.
An order of mendicant friars, known as the Preaching Friars, and in England as the Black Friars, founded by St. Dominic and recognized by Pope Honorius III in 1216. To this Order was entrusted the conduct of the Inquisition.
The Bull of Clement XIV, issued in 1773, suppressing the Jesuits.
A British subject, a Jew of Gibraltar, whose house at Athens was burnt by a mob in 1847. The difficulty and delay in obtaining compensation led to Lord Palmerston sending a fleet to the Piraeus. Greece appealed to France and Russia, and a European war was for some time within measurable distance.
A gift of Charlemagne to Pope Adrian I, in 774. It is uncertain of what the donation consisted, though it included a confirmation of the “Donation of Pepin.” It was declared by the Popes, however, to have been a gift of the whole of the Italian peninsula, and by some even to have been a renewal of the fabled “Donation of Constantine.”
A legendary gift to the Pope of the imperial sovereignty over Italy and the whole of the Western Empire. This document is included amongst the False Decretals.
The gift of Pepin, the first king of the Carlovingian dynasty, to the See of Rome, in 755, of Ravenna and the surrounding country, which he had recently conquered from the Lombards. This donation may be said to be the foundation of the temporal power of the Popes, which lasted until 1870.
A series of disturbances at Donauwörth, a free Protestant town in Suabia, in 1606, due to the Catholic minority insisting on holding religious processions through the streets of the town. The Aulic Council, supported by the Emperor, placed Donauwörth under the ban of the Empire, and eventually made it a Catholic town, within the jurisdiction of Bavaria. The action of the Aulic Council in this case resulted in the formation of the Protestant League in 1608.
The charter of the City of New York, granted in 1686 by{79} Thomas Dongan, Governor of New York under James II.
A Statute of Edward the First’s reign, which provided that if an estate were given to a man and his children, he had only a life interest in it, and in the event of his dying without issue, the estate reverted to the donor. Prior to this statute, it was sufficient that a child was born to him, when the estate became his absolute property, and could be alienated at will. This statute, in fact, established the system of entails.
A codification of the Anglo-Saxon laws and customs, made by Alfred the Great (871-901).
The members of the Separatist Reformed Church in the Transvaal and Orange Free State. It was established by Mr. Postma in the Transvaal, in 1859, and is now a very influential body. Its tenets are not unlike those of the Scottish Covenanters.
An insurrection in Rhode Island, headed by Thomas W. Dorr, in 1841, having for its object the extension of the suffrage, which remained as originally instituted by the Charter of Charles II in 1663. He seized the State Arsenal, but was overpowered, and later was arrested and sentenced to imprisonment for life. He was afterwards pardoned. His movement, however, resulted in the adoption, in 1842, of a constitution to supersede the Charter of 1663.
A synod held in 1618, to which all the Protestant Churches were invited to send representatives. It was specially convened for the purpose of considering the Arminian heresy, and resulted in the condemnation of Arminianism, and the expulsion of its followers from Holland.
When Sir James Douglas (The Good) recovered his castle from the English in 1306, he massacred the garrison, and threw their bodies, together with all the stores and provisions found in the castle, into a cellar. This was called by the English the “Douglas Larder.”
The Civil War in Scotland between the King’s men and Queen’s men from 1568 to 1573, was so called from the family name of the Earl of Morton, who was Regent during the later period of the war.
A treaty between Charles II and Louis XIV, signed in 1670, by which Charles was to re-establish Roman Catholicism, receiving from Louis £200,000 a year, and the use of 6,000 French troops. He was to aid Louis in his designs against Holland, receiving as a reward the Province of Zeeland, and further to support Louis in his claim to the Spanish succession, for which service he was to receive as payment Minorca and Ostend.{80}
A revolt of peasants under George Dózsa, in Hungary, in the reign of Ladislas (1490-1516) which was suppressed with considerable difficulty and great cruelty, and led to the peasants being reduced to a condition little removed from serfdom.
An outbreak in New York in 1863, to resist the drafting of New Yorkers into the Union Army. The mob held possession of the city for four days, the absence of the militia at the front having left only the police available for the protection of the city. It is calculated that over 1,000 persons were killed, and damage done to the extent of two million dollars during the riots.
The persecution of the Huguenots in Poitou and other parts of France by the dragoons of Louvois and Marillac in 1685.
A case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1855. Dred Scott, a negro, claimed that having lived with his owner in a free labour state, he could not be sold back into slavery on his master’s death. The Supreme Court decided against him, and further laid it down that he had no locus standi before the Court, as the rights of citizenship could not be claimed by any person who had been a slave or was the descendant of a slave.
An alliance, more or less formal, between the three Emperors of Austria, Germany, and Russia, dating from a personal meeting in 1872. It had ceased to exist in any form prior to 1879, when the foundation of the existing Triple Alliance was laid.
In December, 1894, Captain Dreyfus, a Jewish artillery officer, employed at the General Staff in Paris, was found guilty of supplying confidential documents to foreign Powers, and sentenced to degradation and transportation for life. His friends were convinced of his innocence, and began an agitation which by degrees attracted the attention of many eminent Frenchmen, among others Emile Zola, who took up his cause with great warmth. Eventually the Government were forced to submit the case to the Cour de Cassation, which quashed the conviction and ordered a new trial. Dreyfus was brought back to France in 1899, and tried by court-martial at Rennes. Though his innocence was generally believed in outside France, he was again found guilty, but was almost immediately pardoned by the President. The Case was the occasion of a wild outburst of anti-semitism in France. In February, 1903, it was rumoured that the case was to be re-opened by the Dreyfusites, evidence having come to light of the methods adopted by the General Staff to secure the second conviction.
In 1895 the Transvaal Government raised the rates on merchandise on the railway between the Vaal and Johannesburg, in order to force importers to use{81} the newly-opened Delagoa Bay Railway. The Cape importers thereupon unloaded their merchandise at the frontier, and sent it on to Johannesburg by waggon. President Kruger then closed the drifts, or fords, on the Vaal on October 1. He was reminded that this action was a breach of the London Convention, but he remained obdurate, and it was found necessary to resort to a display of force, before which he gave way.
Generally known as Poyning’s Act.
A Scottish Parliament which assembled in 1661. It passed the Episcopal Ordination and the Mile Acts, and it is said that at the passing of the first-named Act, the whole assembly, with one exception, was intoxicated.
The alliance at present existing (1903) between France and Russia. Its earliest form was a military convention, signed in 1891, whereby it was stipulated that either nation should, with a specified force, assist in repelling an attack on the other by Germany. This convention was extended in 1894, and in 1897 became a definite alliance, for defensive purposes only, wherein all special reference to Germany is dropped.
The control by England and France of the Egyptian finances established by a decree of September 4, 1879, which provided that the Comptrollers-General of the two Powers should have the rank of Egyptian Ministers, and the right to attend, but not to vote at, meetings of the Council, together with full powers of inquiry into all questions of finance. The Dual Control ceased to exist when France declined to co-operate with England in the suppression of the Arabi revolt.
This name is given to the seizure and destruction of six English vessels at Duclair, on the Seine, by the Germans during their occupation of France in 1870. Full apologies and compensation were given.
Among the Norsemen a claimant was allowed, under certain conditions, to make good his claim by an appeal to arms. If victorious his claim was considered established. This system was abolished among the Danes and Norsemen by King Knut.
A Russian sect, claiming to live without submitting themselves to human laws, and without reference to any other authority than that of God. The refusal to undergo military service led to their expulsion from Russia, and they are now domiciled in Canada, where, in 1902, they caused the authorities no little trouble by their refusal to submit to the law of the land.
The final settlement of the Montenegro boundary question, long pending between the Great Powers and Turkey, replacing{82} the Corti Compromise which was not carried out. The transfer of territory fixed by this arrangement was completed in 1881.
The Prince de Condé, the leader of the conspiracy of Amboise, was so called by his confederates.
The Parliament of Henry IV, which met at Coventry in 1404. See Unlearned Parliament.
A convention of Ulster volunteer corps, held in 1781, at which resolutions were passed protesting against Irish legislative dependence on England and against a perpetual Mutiny Act. The meeting further demanded freedom of commerce for Ireland, and proclaimed its belief in the right of private judgment in religious matters.
November 11, 1603, on which day Marie de’ Medici, Anne of Austria, and the Duke of Orleans, were outwitted by Richelieu, whom they had persuaded Louis XIII to dismiss from his service. The Cardinal returned to office more powerful than ever.
Durham was made a County Palatine in the reign of William I, and Palatine privileges were enjoyed by the Bishops of Durham until 1836. The administrative authority is now exercised on behalf of the Crown.
A company with trading and political rights, to which a charter was granted in 1602. Its affairs were controlled by a board of directors in Holland, and a governor-general in the Indies. It founded a colony at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. In 1795 the Company ceased to exist, having become insolvent.
A rising in New York in 1690 under Jacob Leisler, declaring for William III.
The catastrophe of Dysieaa, where the revolting peasants were defeated by Waldemar I of Denmark in 1181.
The constitution of England during the reign of Eadgar (959-975) when, under the virtual rule of Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, the various tribes of Saxons and Danes were united under one administration. Knut re-established Eadgar’s Law on his accession in 1016.
Bertrand Duguesclin, Constable of France (died 1380), was so called.
In Saxon times, a national officer, appointed by the king and council to control military affairs in the shire. He sat with the sheriff in the Shire Court.
The name given to the Synod of the English Church at which the Wycliffite doctrines were declared heretical. It was so{83} called from a shock of earthquake which was felt during the sitting of the Synod.
The first charter to the Indian merchants was granted in 1600, and made perpetual in 1609, a company being constituted under the title of the India Company, with the monopoly of the Eastern trade. During the Revolution a rival company was formed whose competition threatened to extinguish the older Company, but eventually the two were amalgamated in 1708. As the field of operations in India was extended, political questions became increasingly important, and such was the maladministration of the Company, that the Government was constantly forced to interfere. In 1773 a Regulating Act was passed, by which a new council was appointed and other administrative reforms introduced, but the consequent improvement was not marked, and in 1784 Pitt’s India Bill withdrew all political power from the hands of the Company, while leaving their trading rights intact, and established a Board of Control, to be appointed by the British Government. In 1813 the trading monopoly of the Company was broken, so far as India was concerned, by the admission of independent traders to the Company’s territories, but they still retained the China trade. In 1834, however, the restrictions on trade still afforded by the Company’s charter were felt to be out of harmony with modern commercial ideas, and the whole of the Company’s trading rights were swept away, in return for an annuity, payable for forty years, of £630,000, redeemable at the end of that period, at the Government’s option, for a sum of £12,000,000. Before that period was ended, however, the Indian Mutiny broke out, and on its suppression, in 1858, the Company was finally dissolved, and India passed under the direct rule of the United Kingdom.
A clause in the Religious Peace of Augsburg, of 1555, providing that any spiritual prince who changed his religion was to forfeit his office and the revenues of his see.
An Act passed in 1851 in response to the agitation caused by the action of the Pope in appointing Cardinal Wiseman to the Roman Catholic Archbishopric of Westminster. The Act declared the assumption of such titles to be illegal, but provided no penalties for a breach of the law, and hence was never enforced. It was repealed in 1871.
A philosophical school, or sect, founded in France about 1761 by a physician of Mantes, named Quesnay. He maintained that there was a natural order of human institutions, divinely ordained, and that, if this were adhered to, prosperity must ensue. He further argued that agriculture was the only true source of wealth. These doctrines largely influenced Turgot, the finance minister of Louis XVI.{84}
Bands of brigands who harried France during the Hundred Years’ War.
An edict issued in 1598 by Henri IV of France (Henry of Navarre) granting toleration to the Huguenots. It was revoked by Louis XIV in 1685, as a preliminary to a cruel persecution of the Protestants, one result of which was their wholesale emigration to England, Holland, and other Protestant countries.
See Capitularies, Châteaubriand, Emancipation, Fraternity, Hatti Humayun, Majestäts Brief, Moulins, Nemours, Orléans, Pavia, Perpetual, Quarantaine, Reformation, Restitution, Reunion, Romorantin, Six, Soissons, Tours, Villers-Cotterets, Worms.
Two treaties, signed in 1560, between France and Scotland and France and England respectively. By the first France undertook to withdraw her troops from Scotland, leaving the Government in the hands of the Council of the Lords. By the second she acknowledged Elizabeth’s sovereignty over England and Ireland, and undertook to maintain her pledges to the Scots.
A stringent law against polygamy, passed by the United States Congress in 1882. It was specially directed against the practice prevailing in the Mormon settlements of Utah.
An Act passed in 1870, establishing a system of national elementary education in England and Wales, controlled by popularly elected bodies known as School Boards. Its introducer was Mr. W. E. Forster. The system lasted till 1902, when it was abolished by the Act passed in that year.
An Act for the regulation and co-ordination of primary and secondary education in England and Wales, excepting London. It abolishes the School Boards established by the Act of 1870, and makes the County Council or Borough Council the education authority, subject in certain respects to the Board of Education. It further provides for the inclusion in the scheme of denominational schools, which prior to the passing of the Act received no support from the rates, but are now maintained from the same sources as the old board schools for all purposes of secular education.
The sobriquet of Philippe, Duc d’Orléans, assumed by him to show his sympathy with the Revolutionary party in France in 1789.
The confederation formed in 1351-1353 by the admission of Zurich, Glarus, Zug and Berne into the Perpetual League of the four Forest Cantons.
A book published in 1649, shortly after the execution of Charles I, purporting to be his{85} own account of his reign. In 1660, however, the authorship of it was claimed by Dr. Gauden, Bishop of Exeter. The point in dispute is still unsettled, though most authorities oppose the theory that it is the work of Charles.
See Manoa.
A Danish order of knighthood, said to date from the first Crusade, but reorganized in 1693 by Christian V. It is confined to thirty members, exclusive of royal knights.
A short profession of the Protestant faith, issued on the accession of Queen Elizabeth, pending the revision of the forty-two Articles of 1552.
The sobriquet of Sir Stratford Canning (Lord Stratford de Redcliffe), British Ambassador to the Porte from 1825 to 1828, and again from 1842 to 1858.
An Act passed in 1833 for the abolition of slavery in the British dominions. It provided that all children under six, and all born after the passing of the Act, should be free. All other slaves were, for a period of twelve years, to serve their masters for three-fourths of their time, the remaining fourth being their own. This period was subsequently reduced to seven years, and after being tried for four years the system was abandoned, and all slaves completely freed. Twenty million pounds was voted as compensation to the planters for the loss of their slave property.
An edict issued by Freiherr von Stein, Prussian Minister in 1807, abolishing every form of villeinage then existing in Prussia, and declaring that from 1810 there should be none but freemen in the Prussian dominions.
A proclamation, issued by President Lincoln in January 1, 1863, declaring that all persons held in slavery in the States in arms against the Union were henceforth free. This proclamation did not apply to those States which had not seceded from the Union, whose slaves were liberated by an amendment to the Constitution.
An Act of Congress, passed in 1807, as a reply to the English Orders in Council, prohibiting English vessels from making use of American ports. The Act was repealed in 1809.
An Act passed by the United States Congress in 1810, by which vessels flying the United States flag were forbidden to trade between France and England, while French and English vessels were, at the same time, forbidden to touch at American ports. The American shipowners very soon found means to evade this law.
A deputation from the Victorian Government, under{86} Graham Berry, to the Colonial Office, in 1878, arising out of the Victorian Deadlock. The Colonial Secretary declined to interfere, and the “Embassy” became the laughing-stock of the Colony.
The nobles and other Royalists, to the number of 123,000, who left France during the Revolution. Their estates were forfeited, and owing to the terms of the “Charte” of Louis XVIII were not, as a rule, recovered at the Restoration. It was said of them that they returned from exile “having learnt nothing and forgotten nothing.”
A nickname of François du Tremblay, the familiar of Cardinal Richelieu.
An Irish rising under Robert Emmett in 1803. It was fomented by Napoleon, who had despatched numerous emissaries to Ireland during the currency of the Peace of Amiens. The rising was easily suppressed, and Emmett was hanged.
The State of New York is so called as being the richest and most influential of the States of the Union.
The State of Georgia is so-called.
A bill rendering employers liable for compensation to their workmen for injuries received while at work. The bill was not passed, being wrecked by the question of “contracting out.” Many large employers of labour had arrangements with their men, by which the latter contributed to an assurance fund, maintained in the main by the employer, for the purpose of providing compensation for injury, the men being bound, under these conditions, not to take legal action for compensation. The House of Commons passed a clause rendering such contracts illegal, but the Lords inserted an amendment rendering them legal under certain safeguards as to the amount of the employers’ contribution to the fund, etc. Neither party would give way, and the bill was withdrawn.
An Act providing compensation for death or injury, to workmen or their representatives, to be paid by the employer. The Act permits “contracting out,” but in cases where the insurance fund is not sufficient to provide the compensation required by the Act, the employer is bound to make up the amount.
Concessions granted to the colonists in South America under Spanish rule, whereby they were permitted to hold as slaves, for a certain number of years, such Indians as they might require, for agricultural or mining purposes.
An Act to facilitate the sale of encumbered estates in Ireland, and to give certain powers to sell, in cases otherwise restricted under entail.{87}
The famous work of Diderot Voltaire, d’Alembert and others, which was declared to be irreligious, and was undoubtedly hostile to the Church and to superstition. It was produced between 1751 and 1765, and was proscribed in 1757, but continued to circulate notwithstanding.
The nickname of “The Child of Fortune” was given to Masséna by Napoleon, after the battle of Rivoli in 1797.
The Camissards called themselves by this title.
An agreement between Charles I and the two Scottish commissioners at Carisbrooke, in 1647, by which the Scotch agreed to support the king with an armed force, in return for which he undertook to accept the Covenant and establish Presbyterianism. The supporters of this agreement in Scotland were known as Engagers.
This arose from an edict of William I, inflicting a heavy fine for the murder of one of his soldiers. It was always assumed that any dead body discovered was that of a Norman, and to escape the fine it was necessary to prove that the corpse was that of an Englishman. This was called “Presentment of Englishry.”
The Club of the Duc d’Orléans, Philippe Egalité, circ. 1789.
A system of land tenure, introduced by the statute “De Donis” in 1285, wherein the holder has only a life interest in the land, which passes at his death to his heirs male, and is precluded from alienation, or from any act which may diminish the capital value of the estate.
See Spurs.
An Act passed by the Drunken Parliament in 1662, enacting that all holders of livings should be episcopally ordained. It is said that under this act some 350 ministers were deprived of their livings.
A revolutionary society, formed at Pernambuco in 1824, with the object of seceding from the Empire of Brazil and forming a republic. Its leader was Paes de Andrade. The revolt was suppressed in the same year.
The period of Monroe’s presidentship of the United States (1816-1820), during which there was a truce between the two great political parties.
The followers of Thomas Liebler, known as Erastus, a Swiss theologian (1524-1583). He held that the Church was a civil institution, and subject to the State, and that consequently the Church per se had no right to punish by excommunication or otherwise any offences against the Church, its doctrine or{88} government, such right belonging to the State alone.
Under the Brehon Law in Ireland, the only punishment recognized for all classes of offences, namely a money compensation.
A confederation of speculators who obtained control of the Erie Railway, and, working in with the Tammany Ring in New York, succeeded in amassing large fortunes, at the expense of the shareholders. The various transactions between the two rings were exposed in 1871, and the Erie Ring was ousted from the management of the railway.
The reversion to the crown of an estate held in vassalage, on the failure of heirs to the vassal.
See Scutage.
The name given to a party of extreme Federalists in the United States about 1800. The name is taken from Essex County, Massachusetts, which was the centre of their influence.
The nickname of George of Denmark, the husband of Queen Anne. It was his invariable remark when any startling news was told him.
The Scottish Parliament was so called, as being an assembly of the three estates of the kingdom, namely the Clergy, the Barons, and the Burgesses. All the three Estates sat in one chamber.
The new constitution promulgated by Bermudez, the Minister of the Queen-Regent, Christina of Spain, in 1834, to replace the despotic system of Ferdinand.
The code of laws issued by Louis IX of France, directed against the abuses of seignorial jurisdiction, and providing for the regular administration of justice by state functionaries. It also settled the principles of procedure in the courts thus established.
The outcasts in old Japan. They exercised all the most degrading trades, acting as scavengers, butchers, tanners, executioners, etc. They are supposed by some authorities to be descendants of Korean prisoners of war.
An oath imposed upon the English clergy by the Canons of 1640, to the effect that they would never consent to any alteration in the government of the Church of England, by Archbishops, Deans, Archdeacons, etcetera.
In early Anglo-Saxon times land held on the original allotment made at the time of the Saxon invasion, as opposed to Bocland, land held by grant or charter.
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was thus re-named, on passing{89} to the Duke of Parma under the provisions of the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801.
A stockade erected and defended by the Ballarat miners under Peter Lalor in 1854. The stockade was taken by the Government troops, and the outbreak quickly suppressed, but it resulted in the appointment of a commission to inquire into the miners’ grievances, which reported largely in their favour in the course of the following year.
A society of foreign political refugees, formed in London in 1855 to promote the Republican movement on the Continent. Its founders were Mazzini, Kossuth, and Ledru-Rollin.
The name given to the army which finally overpowered the Taeping rebels in 1865 under General Gordon.
May 1, 1517, the date of a serious outbreak of the London apprentices, when grave outrages were perpetrated on foreigners and others.
A convention putting an end to the civil war in Portugal, signed in 1834, by which the Pretender, Don Miguel, renounced the throne, and agreed to leave Portugal.
A name given to the State of New York, from its motto, “Excelsior.”
A court formed out of the Curia Regis to deal with questions of finance. It was established by Roger of Salisbury, in the reign of Henry I.
A Bill introduced into Parliament in 1679, providing for the exclusion of James, Duke of York, from the succession. The bill failed to pass, but was reintroduced in 1681. After it had been read a first time Charles II dissolved Parliament, and did not summon another during his reign.
See Sixteen, Council of.
The Bull issued by Leo X in 1520, “against the errors of Martin Luther.” It was publicly burnt by Luther in the market place of Wittemburg.
The First Families of Virginia. The name given to the descendants of the adventurers who colonized Virginia under the Charter of 1606.
George Washington was so called.
A series of Acts providing for the inspection and regulation of factories in Great Britain. The first Act dealing with this question was the Cotton Industry Act of 1831, and further legislation took place in 1834, 1844, 1850, 1864, 1867, 1870, and 1874, some of these Acts relating to factories as a whole, and others to particular trades. The most important enactment,{90} however, is that of 1878, which deals with factories and workshops of all kinds, as well as with domestic workshops. Regulations are made limiting the hours of employment of women, young persons, and children, forbidding the carrying on of certain trades by women, and providing for systematic inspection by Government officials.
Votes manufactured, chiefly in country districts, by the creation of small freeholders. The sale of land to accomplish this was often merely nominal, no money passing, and the vendor lending the purchase money under mortgage.
The sobriquet of Joan, Countess of Salisbury, the wife of Edward the Black Prince.
Hannah Lightfoot, whom George III married in 1759, the year before he ascended the throne. The marriage was, of course, not recognized.
The daughter of Lord Clifford and mistress of Henry II of England.
A treaty between Henry II of England and William the Lyon of Scotland, signed in 1174. William, who had been captured by the English and carried off to Normandy, agreed, as the price of his liberty, to acknowledge Henry’s suzerainty and do homage for his crown. The right was, however, surrendered by Richard Cœur de Lion in 1189, in exchange for a payment of 10,000 marks.
Falczi, Treaty of.
See Pruth.
A plot, headed by Falieri, the Doge of Venice, to overthrow the Government of the Republic. The conspiracy was discovered, and Falieri was beheaded within the walls of the Ducal Palace in 1355.
A series of laws introduced by Dr. Falk, Prussian Minister of Public Worship, between 1872 and 1879, in pursuance of the Kulturkampf. They were exceedingly oppressive to the Catholic population. The more important of them were passed in the month of May, 1873, whence they are also known as the May laws.
A secret agreement, made in 1733, between Louis XV of France and Philip V of Spain, the object of which was the harassing of English commerce in the South Seas, and the recovery by Spain of Gibraltar and Minorca. It culminated in 1761 in a close alliance between the two Powers, to which the Bourbon Princes of Parma and Naples were also admitted.
An agreement between Giovanni de’ Medici and Philip V of Spain, in 1731, by which the former recognized Don Carlos as his heir to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
The day of the Cornsacks was January 3, 1591, when{91} some of the followers of Henri IV of France disguised themselves as millers, and attempted to seize the barrier of St. Honoré, with the object of making themselves masters of Paris.
A nickname of George III.
A political organization formed in the United States in 1873 to promote the interests of the agricultural classes. It was absorbed by the Populists in 1891.
The Farquharsons of Deeside were practically exterminated in the reign of James VI by the Gordons under the Marquis of Huntly, in revenge for the murder of Gordon of Brackley. Two hundred children who survived the massacre were kept by Huntly as wild beasts, and fed from a pig trough. They were rescued from their inhuman captor by the Laird of Grant, who distributed them among his clansmen. It is said that their descendants are still known as the Race of the Trough.
See Rappenkrieg.
This question brought France and England to the verge of war in 1898. In that year, Captain Marchand, after an adventurous journey from the French Soudan, reached Fashoda on the Nile, and hoisted the French flag there and at certain points on the Sobat river. Sir Herbert Kitchener, who had just captured Khartoum, invited Marchand to withdraw, and hoisted the English and Egyptian flags. Marchand refusing, the matter was referred to London and Paris. The French were at first inclined to hold that, the Anglo-Egyptian occupation of the Soudan having been suspended by the Mahdist domination, it was open to them to make a settlement on the Nile. It was clearly proved, however, that they had been warned on several occasions that this would not be permitted, and after some hesitation, due probably to the doubt as to whether they would have the support of Russia if they stood firm, they yielded, and the Marchand expedition was withdrawn.
The sobriquet of Samuel Adams, the American revolutionary leader (1722-1803.)
This title has been bestowed upon several patriots in ancient and modern history, among others Cosmo de’ Medici of Florence (1389-1464), Andrea Doria, the Genoese Admiral (1468-1560), and George Washington (1732-1799).
A title bestowed on Louis XII of France (1498-1515), and on Christian III of Denmark (1533-1559).
See Half-breeds.
A Council formed in accordance with the provisions of the Imperial Federation Enabling{92} Act of 1855, by delegates from Victoria, Queensland, South and Western Australia, and Tasmania, which met at Hobart in January, 1886, under the presidency of James Service. The non-adhesion of New South Wales, however, was fatal to the scheme.
A Swiss Constitution, evolved by the “Long Diet” of Zurich, and approved by the Powers at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
The party in Mexico who favour a large measure of autonomy in the separate states, and oppose excessive centralization of authority in the central government.
A party, in the early days of American independence, who favoured the concentration of power in the hands of the central government, while their opponents, known as Anti-federalists, and later as Democrats, were supporters of the rights of individual states.
A band of young Marseillais, who, under the leadership of Barbaroux, marched to Paris in 1792 to aid the Revolution.
In mediaeval Germany, the private wars between the semi-independent barons and knights were known by this name.
The peasants of Egypt. The word signifies “tillers.”
An Irish revolutionary society, established about 1858. During the American Civil War, it became an organized institution, with headquarters in New York, with the avowed object of fomenting disturbances in Ireland, and making the Government of that country by England impossible. Its leader was James Stephens. In 1866 the Fenians attempted a raid into Canada, which was entirely unsuccessful. In 1867 a general rising in Ireland was planned, which also failed. Two further unsuccessful attempts upon Canada took place in 1870 and 1871, from which point its activity was confined to a few isolated outrages of small importance. The name Fenian is taken from the old Irish Militia, which was known as Fionna Eirinn.
In Anglo-Saxon times a tax levied on the land for the support of the royal household. It was paid in kind.
See Christian Alliance.
In Anglo-Saxon and early feudal times, a rent paid by the shires on public lands and royal domains.
Persons, generally royal favourites, who obtained the right of collecting the taxes, by payment of a fixed sum. This system was initiated in France in 1546 by Francis I, who farmed out the Gabelle, and continued until the Revolution.
A system of land tenure general on the continent of{93} Europe, becoming universal in France in the tenth century, while it was introduced into England at the time of the Norman Conquest. The king as lord paramount was the owner of the whole country, which was held in fief, or vassalage, by the great territorial lords, who owed him homage and service, military or other. They in turn had vassals of lesser degree, bound to them by similar ties, but, subject to the due discharge of such service, perfectly free. By the growth of “subinfeudation” this system became indefinitely extended.
A club formed in 1791, during the French Revolution, by the monarchical majority of the Jacobin Club, who objected to the principles and language of the minority. Their impolitic action in seceding from the Jacobins rendered the extreme revolutionists masters of the situation, owing to the enormous influence of the name Jacobin throughout France.
In feudal times land held by a vassal by military service or other feudal tenure.
An officer charged, under the Landdrost, with the superintendence of military matters in the South African States. See Commando.
See Lügenfeld.
The battlefield of Fraga, in Spain, where fell, in 1134, Alfonso I of Aragon, surnamed the Warrior, and famed for his successes against the Moors, whom he expelled from the valley of the Ebro.
The meeting place of Henry VIII and Francis I, between Guines and Ardres. This meeting, which took place in 1520, was arranged by Francis with the object of securing the friendship of Henry, and detaching him from the Spanish alliance. A marriage was agreed upon between the Dauphin and Princess Mary of England, but within a very few weeks Henry went back on his word, and gave Charles V an undertaking that he would proceed no further in the matter.
An unsuccessful conspiracy to overthrow the Doge, Doria, and the French party in Genoa in 1547.
A plot to assassinate Louis Philippe in July, 1835. A machine composed of twenty-four gun-barrels was fired from an upper window at the Royal cortége, as the king was on his way to a review. The king was unhurt, but several prominent persons, including Marshal Mortier, were killed. Fieschi and his accomplices were caught red-handed.
A council of state appointed by the Barons of the Mad Parliament in 1258 to carry on the Government. The Fifteen produced the Provisions of Oxford, under which the kingdom was governed until the Mise of Amiens in 1264.{94}
The Jacobite rebellion in Scotland in 1815, under the Earl of Mar. The rebels succeeded in penetrating into England, but were defeated at Preston, and shortly afterwards Mar was defeated at Sheriffmuir. With little further fighting the rebel army was broken up, and the Pretender retired to France. Lords Derwentwater and Kenmure and many other less important personages were executed for complicity in the rebellion.
A sect of fanatics who formed an important element in the Cromwellian armies. They considered the Protectorate to be the Fifth Monarchy prophesied in the Apocalypse, during which the millennium would come upon the earth.
An ordinance of the Cape Government in 1828, by which Hottentots and other free natives were relieved from all the restrictions of the pass law, and put upon a political equality with the whites. This was very distasteful to the Dutch settlers.
A committee of merchants and gentry in New York, formed in 1774. They were in favour of a General Congress, but opposed to the non-intercourse policy advocated by some other colonies, and especially in Massachusetts.
Henry Spencer, Bishop of Norwich, who led the troops against Wat Tyler in 1381, was so called.
A committee appointed in 1895 to report on the financial relations between England and Ireland. In the following year, a majority report was issued in which it was stated that the Act of Union had laid too heavy a financial burden on Ireland; that the increase in the Irish contribution sanctioned in 1853 and in 1860 was unjustifiable; and that Ireland’s tax revenue was one-eleventh, whereas it should only be one-twentieth of that of England.
A statute passed in the 4th year of Henry VII, re-enacted almost verbatim from a statute of Richard III, the object of which was to prevent the multiplication in the courts of suits for the recovery of lands. The method adopted was to fix at five years the period of occupation giving prescriptive rights.
A fire which broke out on September 2, 1660, at a house in Fish Street Hill. It burnt for four days and destroyed eighty-nine churches, including St. Paul’s, and over 13,000 houses.
The sobriquet of John, Duke of Bedford, Regent of France (1390-1435).
Tamerlane, the great Tartar conqueror, was so called.
The extreme supporters of Slavery and States’ Rights in the Southern States of America{95} were so called by their political opponents before the Civil War.
An official edict of the Porte, issued in the Sultan’s name, though not necessarily bearing his signature.
A charter issued by Henry I, in 1100, by which he re-established the law of King Edward, that is to say the old institutions of the country prior to the Conquest. He further undertook to make only such claims upon his feudatories as were in accordance with feudal law, and made the same course obligatory on them in relation to their vassals. He also recognized the right of bequeathing property by will.
George IV, when Prince Regent, was so called.
A treaty between Great Britain and the United States, signed in 1888, providing for reciprocal fishing rights for the Canadian and American fishermen. Pending ratification a modus vivendi was established, by which American fishermen could fish in Canadian and Newfoundland waters on payment of a license of $1.50 per ton. The Senate, however, declined to ratify the treaty.
A document embodying certain changes in ritual, in the direction of Episcopalianism, forced upon the Scotch Presbyterians by James I in 1621. They excited great discontent, but remained in force until 1638.
A confederation, under Danish law, of the five tribes which occupied the ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia. The five boroughs were Derby, Lincoln, Leicester, Stamford and Nottingham. The confederacy was broken up in 910 by Æthelflaed, the Lady of the Mercians.
The name given to the Lower House of Assembly under the Directoire in France (1795-1799).
The name applied to the five men composing the French Directoire (1795-1799).
Pym, Hampden, Haselrig, Strode and Holles, five members of the Long Parliament, who were specially active in their opposition to the king’s illegal actions. Charles attempted to arrest them in the House of Commons in 1642, but they escaped to the City, and Charles was unable to seize them, in the face of the support accorded to them by the citizens.
An Act passed in 1665, forbidding any clergyman who had not subscribed to the Act of Uniformity to teach, or to come within five miles of a borough or corporate town. A similar Act, known as the Mile Act, had been passed in Scotland three years earlier.
The five tribes of Red Indians who formerly ranged the east coast of America, along the Hudson, and as far south as the Delaware. They were always{96} on the English side in the wars with France. They were the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas. The remnants of these tribes are now domiciled in Canada.
A sect which appeared in Hungary during the Great Plague of 1348. They looked upon scourging as the only means of avoiding the divine punishment for sin.
A rising in Cornwall, headed by Thomas Flammock in 1497, in opposition to the tax levied for the maintenance of the war against Scotland. The rebels were defeated at Blackheath, and Flammock and others executed.
Marriages celebrated within the precincts of the Fleet Prison by clergymen of indifferent character. They were rendered impossible by Lord Hardwicke’s Act in 1753.
See Buccaneers.
A sweeping measure of reform introduced into the Irish Parliament by Flood in 1784. It gave rise to scenes of the wildest disorder, both in the House and throughout the country.
Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586) was so called.
A mutiny on board an English vessel on a voyage to Singapore in 1684, the crew, composed of various nationalities, murdering the captain and first mate. The second mate, who was spared to navigate the vessel, was able to give information which led to the arrest of most of the crew, five of whom were hanged in due course.
In early Saxon times all the land which was not partitioned off into homesteads, or specially granted, remained the property of the nation, and was known as folcland. In the times of the later Saxon kings, the folcland became royal demesne, and after the Conquest William seized it as crown property.
A treaty between Henri IV of France and the Duc de Mayenne, by which the League came to an end.
See Rigsdag.
In early Saxon times the gathering of the tribe in arms was so called.
A treaty between Great Britain and the King of Ashanti, signed after the first Ashanti War in 1874. The king renounced the right to exact tribute from the kings of Denkera and Adansi, other native chiefs, and also his supremacy over Elmira. He agreed to offer no obstacle to British trade, to maintain an open road to Kumasi, and to abolish human sacrifices. Prempeh’s failure to adhere to the terms of this treaty led to the second Ashanti expedition in 1900.{97}
A decree issued by Napoleon in October, 1810, ordering all British merchandise found in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and other places in the occupation of the French troops to be destroyed.
A treaty, disclosed in the autumn of 1807, between Napoleon and Godoy, the Minister of Charles IV, and the de facto ruler of Spain. It provided for the joint occupation of Portugal by France and Spain, and the dismemberment of that country, Godoy receiving as his reward the provinces of Alemtejo and the Algarves to be erected into a principality, and the northern province to be given to the King of Etruria, in exchange for Tuscany, which would pass to Napoleon.
A treaty between Napoleon and the Allied Powers, signed April 14, 1814, after the occupation of Paris. Napoleon surrendered all claims to the thrones of France and Italy, and received in return the sovereignty of Elba for himself, and Parma and Piacenza for the Empress and the King of Rome.
An Act of Congress, passed in 1900, establishing local self-government in Porto Rico, and creating a tariff. In 1901 the tariff provisions were repealed, and free trade with the United States instituted.
An Act of Congress passed in 1870, giving the Federal authorities the right to intervene in certain contingencies in the police and other internal arrangements of individual States. This Act was rendered necessary by the covert support given by the authorities of the Southern States to such organizations as the Ku-Klux Klan. A similar Act was passed in 1871.
The popular name for the bill introduced by Mr. Lodge in Congress, in 1890, for the reform of the electoral law of the United States. The bill did not pass the Senate.
An Act passed in 1819, making it a misdemeanour for a British subject to enlist in the service of a foreign power at war with a nation friendly to Great Britain, or to build or equip any ship for the service of such power.
A charter granted by Henry III in 1217, when renewing Magna Charta, mitigating the severity of the Forest laws of the Anglo-Norman kings.
An expedition sent to Formosa by Japan in 1873-4, to exact reparation for the murder of a ship’s crew from the Loo Choo Islands. China was highly incensed, and war between the two nations was imminent, but Sir Thomas Wade persuaded the Chinese to pay an indemnity and recognize Japanese sovereignty over the Loo Choo Islands.
The second Jacobite rebel{98}lion, in 1845, under the Young Pretender, Prince Charles Edward. Joined by many of the Highland clans, he succeeded in defeating the English under Cope at Preston Pans, and penetrated into England as far as Derby, but was forced to retreat, and was finally disastrously defeated by the Duke of Cumberland at Culloden. Charles Edward escaped to France, but many of his leading supporters were captured and executed.
See Argonauts.
The articles of the Reformed Church of England, as issued originally in 1552, were forty-two in number. They were afterwards reduced, by the omission of three, to thirty-nine, which remain binding to-day.
A nickname given to Blucher during the campaign of 1813.
A tax on chimneys imposed by the Black Prince in Gascony.
In early Scottish history a court established for the purpose of dealing with all cases in which the Scottish Burghs were concerned.
A system of communism devised by Charles Fourier, the French Socialist, in 1832. The proposal was to form communities of 1,800 persons each, known as phalanges, to be united under a central government. The gains of each phalange were to be held in common. An attempt to establish the system near Versailles was completely unsuccessful.
A small but active body of free-lances of the Conservative party, which was formed under Lord Randolph Churchill during the session of 1880. Though various Conservative members acted with it from time to time, the party is generally considered to have consisted of four persons. Lord Randolph Churchill, Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Gorst, Sir H. Drummond Wolff and Mr. Arthur Balfour.
A tax on commoners who became possessed of fiefs, to compensate for their inability to render military service. It was imposed by Louis IX of France in 1260, and abolished by his successor, Philip III.
An Act passed in 1884, assimilating the county to the borough franchise, and giving the vote to residents in a house who are neither occupiers nor lodgers (known as the Service Franchise) under certain restrictions. In the House of Lords, Lord Cairns carried an amendment that the Act should not become operative until a Redistribution Bill had been passed.
An order of mendicant friars, founded by St. Francis d’Assisi, and authorized by Innocent II in 1215. They were not confined to monasteries, like the earlier orders, but worked amongst the poor, and took{99} themselves a vow of poverty in addition to the ordinary monastic vows.
A treaty by which France recognized the independence of the United States. Both parties agreed to give each other most-favoured-nation treatment in tariff matters, while America accepted the French interpretation of the treaties of Utrecht and Paris with respect to the Newfoundland fishery question, thus admitting the right of France not only to the fishing, but to the use of one half of the shore for drying stations. France further agreed to recognize any conquests made by the United States from England in the course of the war.
A treaty between France and Annam, by which Annam recognized the French sovereignty of Lower Cochin China, and granted free navigation of the Red River.
By this instrument Siam ceded to France all her territory on the east of the Mekong, and agreed to keep no fortified place within fifteen miles of the river on the west bank. France was to occupy Chantaboon until the conditions were fulfilled.
By this treaty Siam made further territorial concessions to France, ceding practically all the territory ever held by Annam or Tonquin. She also conceded to France the right to protect Siamese subjects of Annamese or Tonquinese extraction, and undertook to open a certain number of official posts to Frenchmen. France agreed to evacuate Chantaboon.
A militia raised for the first time by Charles VII of France in 1448. Each parish was ordered to provide and equip one man, who, in return for his military service, was freed from all taxation.
French peasants who took up arms during the Franco-German war of 1870, and carried on a species of guerilla warfare against the German troops. In the early part of the war they were treated as brigands, and shot when captured. Later they were organized by the French authorities, and were then treated as belligerents.
A league composed of the Emperor, the Kings of Prussia and Sweden, the Elector Palatine and the Landgrave of Hesse, formed in 1744 with the object of forcing Maria Theresa to acknowledge Charles VII as Emperor.
A treaty signed by Austria, Great Britain, Prussia and Russia, confirming the various territorial changes effected by the Treaties of Paris and Vienna of 1815.
The treaty embodying the terms agreed upon at Versailles by Prince Bismarck and M. Thiers, after the surrender of Paris in 1871. It provided for the cession to Germany of Alsace, including Strasburg, but{100} not including Belfort, and of a part of Lorraine, including Metz, together with the payment of a war indemnity of five milliards of francs, or two hundred millions sterling.
A rising of students and others at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1833, occasioned by the oppressive measures adopted by the Bundesrath towards the Press. The outbreak was promptly quelled.
A system existing in the early Norman, and probably the later Saxon period, by which the whole of the free population of England was divided into groups of ten men, mutually responsible for the other members of the group. It was by this means that the policing of the country was carried out, under the supervision of the Hundred Court. It was also called Frithbohr.
An edict issued by the French Convention in 1792, offering fraternity to all nations ready to welcome liberal institutions.
See Landrecht.
A treaty between Russia and Sweden, signed in 1809, shortly after the death of Gustavus IV, by which Russia acquired Finland as far as the Tornea.
A secession from the Established Church of Scotland, which took place under Dr. Chalmers in 1843. About 500 ministers seceded with him. The points at issue were State Control and Lay Patronage, to which Dr. Chalmers and his followers objected.
The Mercenaries employed by both French and English during the Hundred Years’ War. After the Peace of Brétigny they were disbanded, and being without employment, formed bands under their own leaders, and committed frightful ravages in France, and, later, in Italy.
Certain towns in Germany, owing allegiance to no sovereign prince, excepting only to the Emperor. They exercised sovereign powers within their own limits, and sent representatives to the Diet. In 1790 they were fifty-one in number. The three last cities to retain their privileges were Lübeck, Bremen and Hamburg, which in 1871 became an integral part of the German Empire.
A scheme for settling small farmers on portions of the large holdings of the Squatters, or Pastoralists, in Australia. This system was first introduced in New South Wales, in 1861, and was adopted in Victoria in the following year. Intending settlers could take up, in the districts set apart for the purpose, from 40 to 240 acres, paying £1 per acre, or if they preferred, 10s. down and the balance by annual instalments of 2s. 6d. Many of those who took advantage of this offer, proved however to be mere dummies, put up by the squatters, who thus obtained land{101} more cheaply than they could purchase from the Government. Amending bills were consequently introduced to prevent these evasions.
A party formed in the United States in 1848 to resist the extension of slavery to the Territories. They were absorbed into the Republican party in 1856.
A popular name for the State of Connecticut, owing to the large number of freestone quarries within its borders.
The name given to Richard Cobden, the leader of the Manchester School. It is also occasionally applied to John Bright.
The principle of the free interchange of commodities was first advocated by Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations, in 1776. It may be said to have first become a question of practical politics in 1846, thanks to the advocacy of Richard Cobden and the Manchester School.
The initiated members of the Vehmgerichte.
The officers of the Vehmgerichte.
A party in the German Reichstag, formed under Richter in 1884, by a coalition of the advanced Radicals with seceders from the National Liberals. Their programme was distinctly Radical.
A treacherous attempt to sack Antwerp by the French under the Duc d’Anjou in 1583. Though taken by surprise, the citizens promptly obeyed the call to arms, and the French, after severe fighting, were driven out with heavy loss.
A question still (1903) pending between Great Britain and France. By the Treaty of Utrecht, 1713, Newfoundland was declared English, but the French were suffered to retain their fishery rights and the use of a certain portion of the coast for drying stations. France has for many years sought to give a very wide interpretation to this use of the Newfoundland coast, claiming almost sovereign rights, which seriously interfere with the railway and mining development of the colony. A modus vivendi has been arrived at, pending final settlement, but the long delay in coming to an agreement has caused much irritation in Newfoundland.
The system by which in French feudal times provision was made for the younger members of a family. The land passed to the eldest son, who retained a portion of it, and passed the rest on to his brothers, who did homage for it. Frèrage was similar in its form and in its results to subinfeudation.
The title under which the Catholic Association was reconstituted by O’Connell in 1830. It was declared illegal, where{102}upon it reappeared in a new form as the Society of Irish Volunteers.
A society formed in 1792 to agitate for the removal of the existing inequalities in representation. It numbered among its members many leading Whig politicians, amongst others Russell, Sheridan, Erskine and Grey.
See Frankpledge.
Societies formed in the towns, on conditions of mutual responsibility somewhat analogous to the Frankpledge, in the early Plantagenet times. They afterwards combined, forming the powerful merchant guilds which eventually came to control not only the conditions of labour, but the selling price of the commodities in which they dealt.
A revolt of the Parlement and citizens of Paris, under the leadership of the Cardinal de Retz, against the unrestrained autocracy of Louis XIV. The court was forced to leave Paris in 1648, but the first outbreak was ended during the year following by an arrangement called the Treaty of Ruel. It was finally suppressed in 1652. The contention of the Fronde was that the king’s prerogative should only be exercised within the limits of the law, and should not be above the law, as was claimed by the king.
One of the codes of law of the Norsemen. It was codified by Hakon the Good, King of Denmark (934-960) but was probably in existence at a much earlier date.
The vassal Daimios or nobles of the Shôgun, in old Japan.
The charter granted to a Spanish town in the Middle Ages. The earliest known Fuero is that of Leon, granted by Alfonso V in 1020.
The code of laws of the Gothic kings of Spain.
A circular issued by the Admiralty in 1876, which gave instructions to the captains of H.M. ships as to the treatment of slaves who took refuge on board in the territorial waters of slave-holding states. These instructions were held to be inconsistent with the principle that there could be no slavery under the British Flag, and a strong feeling was aroused in the matter. Eventually a committee was appointed to examine the legal aspects of the question, with the result that a modified circular was issued.
A law forming part of the Compromise Act, passed by Congress in 1850, under which fugitive slaves could be arrested in the free-labour states, while it was made a felony under certain conditions to harbour or aid in the escape of such slaves.
A nickname of George IV.{103}
See Tricoteuses.
A league of the German Princes, formed under the auspices of Frederick the Great in 1785, to uphold the Peace of Teschen. The cause of its formation was an attempt of the Emperor, Joseph II, to obtain possession of Bavaria, by exchanging for it the Austrian Netherlands.
The wholesale massacres in Lyons, after the surrender of that city to the Revolutionary troops in 1792 were so called.
The Grand Old Man, the sobriquet of Mr. Gladstone.
A tax on salt, imposed at various periods of French history. Towards the latter part of the eighteenth century it was a most burdensome impost and its incidence was most irregular. It was abolished in 1791.
The name given in Central and South America to Spaniards and Spanish partizans during the war of independence.
A purchase from Mexico by the United States for ten million dollars of a large tract of land now included in Arizona and New Mexico. The purchase was negotiated by James Gadesden, while United States’ Minister to Mexico in 1853.
In Anglo-Saxon times folcland which was let out on rent was so called. Gafol means tribute.
The treasure ships, which sailed once a year from the New World, bringing the tribute of the Colonies to Spain. They were frequently captured by the English gentlemen adventurers and by the buccaneers during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The profession of faith of the French Reformed Church, adopted at the Synod of La Rochelle in 1571.
See Kerns.
The nickname applied to the Duc d’Orléans, when he applied to be allowed to do his term of service as a private in the French Army, saying that he would be proud to eat his dinner out of the gamelle (mess tin) like any other Frenchman.
A treaty between Great Britain and Afghanistan in 1879. It was stipulated that the foreign affairs of Afghanistan should be under British control, and that a British Resident should be appointed. All Afghan territory occupied during the previous campaign was to be restored, except the Kuram, Pishin and Sibi valleys. Great Britain was to control the Khyber and Michni passes, and{104} to pay the Ameer an annual subsidy of £60,000. Within the year the British Resident, Cavagnari, was murdered in Cabul, almost certainly with the connivance of the Ameer, and the invasion of Afghanistan followed.
This title is given to the counties of Kent and Worcestershire.
A popular name for the State of Kansas.
A democratic party in modern Italy, who desire to realize Garibaldi’s ideal of a United Italy under a republic.
The premier order of knighthood, instituted by Edward III in 1344.
A treaty signed by Austria and Prussia, at the close of the Schleswig-Holstein War, in 1865, by which Schleswig was ceded to Prussia and Holstein to Austria, while the latter power made over to Prussia all her rights in the Duchy of Lauenburg.
The shepherds of the Pampas, or plains in the interior of the Argentine Republic. They supported Ortiz de Rosas, who was practically dictator of that state from 1835 to 1852.
Insurgent bands of peasants in Normandy, circ. 1580.
In Anglo-Saxon and early Norman times all estates not held on military tenure were subject to the law of Gavelkind, by which the inheritance was divided equally among the sons. This tenure survived the decay of the feudal system in Kent only, and where it exists, real estate, in case of intestacy, still passes to the sons in equal shares, instead of to the eldest.
Emma, daughter of Robert, Duke of Normandy, and wife of Ethelred II of England, and afterwards of Knut, was known by this name.
The Shire Court in Anglo-Saxon times.
An assembly summoned at Philadelphia in 1774, after the passing of the Boston Port Act, as a preliminary to a general revolt against English rule. Twelve of the thirteen colonies were represented, Georgia alone holding aloof.
A convention signed at Geneva in 1864, by which the Powers bound themselves to observe certain regulations in warfare, tending to ameliorate the condition of the wounded. The Red Cross, the badge of the Convention, is a protection to all working under it, and to all buildings, such as hospitals, over which it is flown.
The digest of Hindoo and Mohammedan law prepared in Calcutta, circ. 1790, under the direction of Sir William Jones.{105}
See Pichegru.
The clansmen of the Fitzgeralds of Desmond and Kildare, one of the great families of Norman nobles who settled in Ireland at the time of the conquest under Henry II. They were exceedingly turbulent, and during Tudor times were constantly intriguing with Spain, and rebelling against English rule. Their last and most serious rising was in 1569, when they held out against the royal troops until 1580, when the clan was practically broken up, and ceased to be a power in Irish politics.
See Aschaffenburg.
An association of the people of Valencia directed against the privileges of the nobles, formed in 1519, with the connivance of the Emperor Charles V.
A league composed of the smaller German States, with portions of the dominions of Prussia and Austria, and the Free Cities, constituted at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Its constitution underwent considerable changes in the course of the risings which took place in various states in 1848, while in 1866 Prussia annexed all the states north of the Main.
This was accomplished at Versailles in 1871, when Hesse, Baden, Würtemberg, and Bavaria applied to be allowed to enter the North German Confederation. At the same time the King of Bavaria invited William to assume the Imperial Crown, and on his acceptance the German Empire, as it at present exists, was constituted.
See Jerrymandering.
See Queen’s Gold.
A Mohammedan fanatic who believes that he will enjoy exceptional bliss in Paradise, if he dies in the act of killing an unbeliever. In Asiatic warfare, especially among the Afghans and the Afridi hill tribes, a mob of Ghazis usually lead the attack.
A Turkish title of honour, signifying the Victorious, bestowed upon successful generals, as in the cases of Osman Pacha and Moukhtar Pacha.
A convention of the Netherlands provinces in 1477, whereat the Groote Privilegie, the Magna Charta of Holland, was granted by Mary of Burgundy.
An agreement between the Estates of Holland and Zeeland and the Prince of Orange on the one side, and the Provinces of Brabant, Flanders, Hainault, Artois and others on the other, signed in 1576. It recognized the reformed religion in Holland and Zeeland, abolished the edicts of Charles V, and agreed to the expulsion of the Spaniards.{106}
A treaty between Great Britain and the United States, signed in 1814, at the close of the war of 1811. The basis of the treaty was the status quo ante. Commissioners were appointed to delimit the frontiers of the United States and the British Colonies. Both parties undertook to aid each other in the suppression of the slave trade, and it was provided that all Indian tribes that had been dispossessed during the war should be restored to their lands.
See Guelfs.
The battle of Marignano, where Francis I defeated the Swiss in 1515, was so called by Trivulzio, the French Marshal.
An Act passed in 1736, imposing a duty of 20s. per gallon on gin sold by retail, and a £50 fee for every retailer’s licence. The Act was evaded, and though gin was openly sold as before, no duties were paid and no licences taken out. It was therefore repealed in 1743.
See Young Italy.
A treaty between Henry I of England and Louis VI of France, signed in 1113, after the defeat of the French at Puysac, and the loss of Alençon. The French King renounced his claim to suzerainty over Maine, Belesme and Brittany.
A phrase constantly used during the general election of 1885, having reference to the way in which Mr. Gladstone succeeded in uniting under his banner the various sections of the Liberal party.
A treaty concluded in 1644 between the Irish Catholics and the Earl of Glamorgan, acting for Charles I. The published conditions were the removal of the disabilities imposed on the Catholics by Poyning’s Act, a general amnesty, and a limitation of the period during which titles to land might be questioned. There was, however, a further secret treaty, granting the Catholics the right of public worship in all churches not occupied by the State Church, in return for which they agreed to provide 10,000 men for the King’s army in England, to be paid for out of the church revenues.
An outbreak in Glasgow, under the leadership of a mechanic named Finlay, in opposition to the Act of Union with England in 1706.
An Act amending the regulations as to Kaffir reservations in Cape Colony, passed in 1894. It provided for the division of the reservations into six-acre plots, and the granting of inalienable titles to the allottees, with succession to the eldest son. At the same time all subsidies were withdrawn, with the object of encouraging industry among the Kaffirs.{107}
The treacherous massacre, in 1692, of the clansmen of Macdonald of Glencoe, under the orders of Breadalbane, a member of the Clan Campbell, the hereditary foes of the Macdonalds. An appearance of legality was given to the massacre by the fact that Macdonald had delayed till the last moment taking the oath of allegiance to William and Mary, and owing to stress of weather did not actually take it till after the prescribed date.
The name given to the Netherlanders who sided with the Spanish King’s party, circ. 1570.
The name given to the battle off Ushant, fought on June 1, 1794, in which Lord Howe utterly defeated the French fleet.
The name given in the United States to the supporters of the single gold standard.
The book containing the names of the noble Venetian families who were qualified to be members of the Grand Council. It was compiled in 1319.
An edict issued in 1356 by the Emperor Charles IV, to settle certain disputes as to the composition of the Electoral College, which had led to constant civil strife in Germany. It was provided that the Electors should be seven in number: three ecclesiastical, namely, the Archbishops of Cologne, Trèves and Mayence; and four lay, namely, the King of Bohemia, the Duke of Saxony, the Count Palatine of the Rhine, and the Margrave of Brandenburg. The Electors became absolute monarchs within their own dominions.
The Hungarian Charter of liberties, extorted by his nobles from Andrew II of Hungary in 1222. Among other concessions it provided for the annual assembling of the Diet.
One of the oldest orders of chivalry, founded at Bruges by Philip the Good of Burgundy, in 1430. When the Netherlands became a Spanish province, the Golden Fleece was made a Spanish order, and, Charles V being also Emperor of Germany, it was claimed by his successors of the House of Hapsburg as an Austrian order. It has thus, at the present day, two branches, and two sovereigns, namely, the King of Spain and the Emperor of Austria.
A Tartar kingdom founded in the thirteenth century by a grandson of Genghis Khan. It was the Khans of the Golden Horde who ruled over Russia during the Tartar domination.
A league of the Catholic States of Switzerland, formed in 1586, to defend the Catholic Faith.
The popular name for Cali{108}fornia, from its rich gold deposits.
The followers of Gomarus, and opponents of Arminius, the two professors of theology at Utrecht whose differences, in 1604, divided the Dutch Church, and led to the convening of the Synod of Dort in 1618. Gomarus supported the sterner doctrine of Calvin, Arminius favoured a milder and broader form of religious belief.
A Parliament of Edward III, which met in 1376. It secured a change in the Council, and brought about the return to power of William of Wykeham and the clerical party. This Parliament is noteworthy as offering the first instance in English history of the impeachment of an officer of State: that, namely, of Lord Latimer, the Chamberlain.
A dangerous outbreak of the London mob, led by Lord George Gordon, in June, 1780, in opposition to the various measures proposed for the relief of the Catholics. London was in the hands of the mob for four days, before the troops were called out and the rioters dispersed.
In old Japan, a class ranking between the Samurai and the agricultural class. Like the Samurai they were entitled to wear two swords. They owed no allegiance to feudal lords, but farmed their own lands.
A system of licensing which originated at Gothenburg in 1865. All the houses licensed for the sale of alcohol are in the hands of a company and run by salaried managers. All the profits of the company, after payment of five per cent. to the shareholders, are paid into the treasury of the town.
A league of the nobles and communes of the Engadine, formed in 1367, to protect the liberties of the country from the encroachments of Austria.
A conspiracy headed by the Earl of Gowrie and his brother, Alexander Ruthven, in 1600, to murder James VI of Scotland. It is supposed that their motive was to avenge the death of their father, who had been executed sixteen years before, though both the brothers had been treated with the greatest kindness by the King. James was decoyed to Gowrie House, in Perth, on the plea of examining a suspicious prisoner, and was attacked in the absence of his suite, and nearly overpowered. He managed to give the alarm, and was rescued by Sir James Ramsay, his page, and others of his followers. The King’s story was at the time doubted by many people, but documents afterwards came to light proving the existence of a plot at least to kidnap the King.
An Act of indemnity passed in 1690, granting a pardon for all political offences committed up to the time of the passing{109} of the Act, the only exceptions to the general amnesty being such of the regicides as might still be living, and about thirty other persons, against none of whom, however, were any proceedings taken.
An Act passed in 1784, restoring the estates forfeited for high treason in 1745, to the descendants of their former owners.
A number of concessions granted to Ireland by Lord Falkland in 1628, in return for the aids which were destined to relieve the embarrassed exchequer of James I.
A codification of the laws of the Norsemen, made by Magnus the Good, King of Denmark and Norway (1035-1047).
Gonsalvo of Cordova, the famous Spanish Captain (1453-1515), was so called.
A secret society formed in London about 1800 to aid the movement in the Spanish-American Colonies in the direction of independence. Among its leaders were O’Higgins, Miranda and Bolivar.
The Island of Sicily was formerly so called, owing to its remarkable fertility.
An alliance formed in 1701 between England, Holland, and the Empire, to maintain the balance of power, supposed to be threatened by the bequest of the Spanish Crown to a French Prince. It was followed by the war known as the War of the Spanish Succession.
The alliance between Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, Sweden and Austria, which led to the downfall of Napoleon, and his first abdication in the following year.
A nickname of Sir Robert Walpole, in allusion to his constant employment of bribery to gain his ends.
The sobriquet of Mr. Gladstone, generally abbreviated into G.O.M.
Louis XIV of France was so called.
A rising of the Virginian colonists under Nathaniel Bacon in 1676, against the corruption of the Government and the excessive taxation. After a strenuous resistance they were at last overpowered by the Royalists, and the only result of the rising was that Virginia was deprived of her constitution, and all the old grievances were revived.
A form of tenure from the Crown, the condition being the performance of certain service, when called upon, such as acting as Chamberlain or Butler on occasions of state.
See Patrons of Husbandry.{110}
The State of New Hampshire is so called from the extent of the granite formation within its borders.
The free Irish Parliament established in 1782 is known by this name, Grattan having led the agitation which brought about the abolition of the old restrictions.
See Grey League.
The ostensible cause of the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857 was the issue to the native troops of cartridges for the newly issued Enfield rifle, which were said to be greased with a mixture of cows-fat and hogs-lard. This would be obnoxious to both the Hindoo and the Mohammedan Sepoys, and the story was used by the instigators of the revolt to engender the belief that an attempt was being made forcibly to convert them to Christianity.
A sobriquet of the younger Pitt.
A proposed arrangement between James I and the Parliament in 1610. James offered to surrender all the emoluments of the Crown from feudal tenures, excepting the aids, in return for which Parliament proposed to vote James an annual subsidy of £100,000. The King, however, did not consider the amount sufficient, and the bargain was not concluded.
Louis, the son of Louis XIV of France, was so called.
A treaty signed in 1496 between Henry VII and Philip of Burgundy, stipulating for free commercial intercourse between the dominions of the two sovereigns, and joint efforts for the suppression of piracy. By this treaty also Perkyn Warbeck was expelled from Burgundian territory.
The old Supreme Court of Wales, abolished in 1831.
The famous storm of November 26-27, 1703, when the first Eddystone lighthouse was destroyed. Twelve men-of-war and many merchant vessels were wrecked on the coast, and over 8,000 persons drowned. The damage done in London is said to have exceeded two millions sterling.
An important secret society in China, supposed to be pledged to the expulsion of the Manchus and the establishment of a Chinese dynasty.
See Ausculta Fili.
A sealed bag of documents laid on the table of the House of Commons by the Government in 1817, and said to contain papers justifying the double suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act which had taken place during the year. A committee, chosen entirely from the sup{111}porters of the Government, was appointed to investigate its contents.
An organized band of settlers in Vermont, formed in 1773 to resist the encroachments of the New Yorkers, who claimed Vermont as part of the territory of that State under the charter of Charles II.
The popular name of the State of Vermont, U.S.A.
A party formed about 1874 in the United States, which advocated the payment of the national debt in paper money. It ceased to exist in 1884.
An Act passed in 1770, transferring from Parliament to a Parliamentary Committee the duty of investigating and determining the validity of disputed elections.
These were made illegal by an Act passed in 1856, whereby it was declared that the Scotch marriage law should only apply in cases where one at least of the parties had resided in Scotland for the twenty-one days immediately preceding the marriage.
A league of the landowners and communes of the western part of the Grisons, formed in 1395.
An official valuation of Irish properties, made by Sir Richard Griffith as Commissioner of Valuation under the Irish Valuation Act of 1827. This valuation was the basis of the outcry against the landlords, the figures showing that in many cases excessive rents were being paid.
The fundamental law or constitution of the South African Republic as adopted by the communities established north of the Vaal in 1849.
A charter granted to the Netherlands by Mary of Burgundy in 1477, at the Convention of Ghent. It gave the cities and provinces of the Netherlands the right to hold diets at their discretion, and forbade the Duchess or her descendants raising taxes or making war without the consent of the Estates.
A nickname bestowed on Napoleon III on account of his prominent nose.
The Swiss who, according to tradition, took a solemn oath at Grütli, near Lucerne, on November 7, 1307, to free their country from the domination of Austria. The three leaders were Fürst of Uri, Stauffacher of Schwyz, and Melchthal of Unterwalden.
A treaty between the United States and Mexico in 1848, at the close of the Mexican War. It provided for the cession to the United States of New Mexico and California, in return for a cash payment of fifteen million dollars. The United States also took over the debts of Mexico{112} to American citizens, amounting to about three and a half million dollars.
The indemnity payable to the King of Hanover by Prussia, as compensation for the loss of his sovereign rights. This fund was sequestrated by Prussia in 1868, on the plea that the King was intriguing against her, and was employed by Bismarck in subsidizing the Press. (See Reptile Fund.)
The two great parties into which Italy was divided, during the lengthy struggle between the Empire and the Papacy. The Guelfs were the Papal, the Ghibellines the Imperial faction, but there were occasions when this division of parties was not adhered to, as in the case of the Second Lombard League of 1255. These names had their origin in the civil war of 1139, in the course of which the Imperialists under Conrad III were besieging the town of Weinsberg. An attempt was made by the rebels to relieve it, and in the battle which followed the rebels charged with the cry of “Welf,” to which the Imperialists replied with “Waibling.” These names became recognized as descriptive of the two parties, and were later Italianized into the better known forms.
The rising of the Dukes of Brittany and Orleans against the Regent Anne, in 1484, is so called.
A confederacy of patriotic noblemen and gentlemen of the Netherlands, formed in 1566 under Brederode and Count Louis of Nassau. The Confederacy was broken up in the following year, and many of its members perished on the scaffold.
One of the codes of law of the Norsemen. It was codified by Hakon the Good of Norway (934-960), but was probably of far earlier date.
The name given to the States which border on the Gulf of Mexico, namely, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
A treaty between Russia and Persia, signed in 1813, by which Persia, after a two years’ war of disastrous defeats, surrendered all her possessions north of Armenia, together with the right of navigating the Caspian Sea.
An Act passed by the Irish Parliament in 1793, forbidding the importation of arms and gunpowder into Ireland, and rendering their possession without a license illegal.
A plot to blow up the Parliament House during a sitting of Parliament, the leaders in which were Catesby, Winter and Fawkes, and which was connived at by the Jesuits. It was hoped thereby to bring about a Catholic rising in England. The plot was betrayed by Tresham, one of the conspirators, to Lord Monteagle,{113} his brother-in-law, and the conspirators were either arrested or killed during their flight.
An Act of Parliament passed in 1679. Since Magna Charta every Englishman had theoretically the right to trial, and could demand a writ of Habeas Corpus, under which the duly constituted courts were bound to take cognisance of his case. In practice, however, various obstacles were from time to time opposed to the obtaining of this writ. The Act of 1679 ordered that a judge should at any time grant such a writ on application, and inflicted severe penalties on the gaoler who failed to obey it.
The name given to the Canadian farmers of French descent in the province of Quebec.
A Mohammedan who has made the Hadj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, is entitled to this name.
A statute passed in the reign of Henry IV (1401), forbidding teaching and preaching without a bishop’s license. The bishop was further given the power of condemning heretical books. The punishment for obduracy was burning at the stake. This statute was specially directed against the Lollards.
A Congress of the Powers, summoned at the instance of the Czar in 1899, to consider the possibility of universal disarmament, and other questions bearing on the peace of the world. The larger schemes foreshadowed by the Czar were found impracticable, but the Congress resulted in the appointment of an International Tribunal of Arbitration, to sit at the Hague. It was further agreed to prohibit in future warfare the throwing of explosives from balloons or air ships, the use of shells containing deleterious gases, and the use of expanding or explosive bullets.
The body-guard of slaves of Touran Shah, Sultan of Egypt, afterwards known as the Mamelukes.
The name given by the Stalwarts in New York State in 1881 to those Republicans who supported President Garfield in his movement for Civil Service reform. They were also known as Featherheads.
An agreement between Connecticut and Massachusetts, recommended for the acceptance of Plymouth and New Haven in 1662. It somewhat mitigated the ultra-stringent conditions of Church membership then obtaining, whence it was derisively called the Half-way Covenant by the extreme Puritan party.
A commission appointed in 1877 to assess the compensation to be awarded to the British-American Colonies, in return{114} for the recognition of American fishing rights in Colonial waters. Canada was awarded four and a half million dollars, and Newfoundland a million.
The sobriquet of Sir William Wallace (1270-1305).
On the tomb of Edward I was inscribed “Edwardus Longus, Scotorum Malleus hic est.”
A conference held in 1604 between the Bishops and the Puritans, to consider the Millenary Petition. It ended in the complete triumph of the High Church party.
A conference held on February 3, 1865, on board a man-of-war in Hampton Roads, between President Lincoln and representatives of the Southern States, with the object of bringing about a suspension of hostilities. The conference was, however, without results.
The name given to those Boers who surrendered in response to Lord Roberts’ proclamation, or at later stages of the Boer War of 1899-1902. They were looked upon with contempt by those who fought to the bitter end, and seem not unlikely to form a separate Pro-British party in the new Colonies.
A custom of Irish Land Tenure, having the force of law, by which a respite of from three to six months is given to the tenant before he can be proceeded against for non-payment of rent.
A treaty signed by Great Britain, France and Prussia in 1725, which subsequently received the adhesion of Holland, Sweden and Denmark, by which the contracting parties mutually guaranteed to each other the enjoyment of their then possessions.
A confederation of the principal trading centres of Germany, formed in 1241 for commercial purposes, and specially for mutual defence against the Baltic pirates, and the robber nobles. Its founders were Hamburg and Lübeck, who were shortly afterwards joined by Bremen, Cologne, Danzig and other cities, and still later by many foreign towns, until, at the height of its prosperity, the league comprised eighty cities. The league was dissolved in 1630, but Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck retained their privileges as free towns, until they were absorbed into the German Empire in 1871.
The method of suicide adopted in old Japan by members of the Samurai, or military class, who had no alternative but to die. Hara-kiri might be either voluntary, or by order of a feudal lord, as the penalty of some crime which did not imply degradation from the rank of Samurai. In the latter case it was in the nature of an execution, and was surrounded by an elaborate ceremonial, especially{115} in the case of a Daimio or a gentleman of high rank.
An appeal addressed by William of Orange to the Princes of Germany, in 1571, setting forth the wrongs of the Reforming party, and calling for their assistance.
One of the sections of the Democratic party in New York State from 1848 to 1854. They were strongly in favour of the Fugitive Slave Law. Their opponents were known as the Softshell Democrats.
An Act, also known as the Marriage Act, passed in 1753. It provided that a legal marriage could be contracted only in the parish church, after publication of banns, or by special license of the Archbishop.
The scene of John Brown’s abortive rising in 1869, in the attempt to bring about a revolt against the Southern slaveowners. He and his followers seized the United States armoury at that place, but his little band were soon overpowered, John Brown being captured.
A secret convention of prominent members of the Peace Party in New England, who objected to the energetic prosecution of the war with England in 1814. They proposed to amend the constitution in the direction of diminishing the control of Congress over questions of peace and war.
In old Japan, the retainers of the Shôgun were known by this name, which signifies “under the flag.” They were eighty thousand in number. Those whose lands were of a certain extent furnished a contingent in time of war; those with smaller revenues paid money dues. The Hatamotos may be described as a created nobility, as opposed to the hereditary nobility of the Daimios. They date from the time of the Shôgun Iyemitsu, in the early part of the seventeenth century.
Two political parties in Sweden in the eighteenth century, who were partizans respectively of the French and the Russians. They were so called from their wearing the headgear of the respective countries.
An edict of the Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Mejid, issued in 1856, conferring equal rights on all his subjects, Christian and Mohammedan alike. This concession was the result of the efforts of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe.
A firman or decree of the Porte, signed by the Sultan personally.
A tribunal established by the French Legislative Assembly in 1791, to enable it to deal with ministers and public functionaries obnoxious to the majority of that body. The Haute Cour had the power of{116} initiating prosecutions as well as of judging, and there was no appeal from its decisions.
The popular name of the State of Iowa, U.S.A. It is derived from a famous Indian chief of that name.
A treaty signed in 1901 between Great Britain and the United States, to amend the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 with respect to the proposed canal to unite the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The new treaty maintains the general principle of neutralization of the canal, but the United States alone is charged with the maintenance of its neutrality. No fortifications are to be built in any way commanding it, and it is to be always free from blockade. The United States reserve the right to maintain a military police force along the line of the canal for protective purposes.
In Anglo-Saxon times the chief of the Frankpledge. In the event of a member of the Frankpledge failing in his obligations and fleeing from justice, it was the duty of the Headborough to prove that the other members of the Frankpledge were guiltless of complicity with the defaulter.
A tax of two shillings on every hearth, first imposed in 1663. It was very unpopular, and was abolished in 1689. A similar tax, known as Chimney Money, had been levied as early as the Norman Conquest.
A sobriquet of the younger Pitt.
A court first established at Stellenbosch, Cape Colony, in 1682. It was composed of four local burghers, and its duty was the settlement of small disputes among the inhabitants of the district. Similar courts were established in other townships, and the system lasted till 1828, when the Heemraden were abolished by the Charter of Justice.
The flight of Mohammed from Mecca in 622. It is from this date that the Mohammedan era is computed.
A profession of the Calvinistic faith issued from Heidelberg in the sixteenth century. It is also called the Palatinate Catechism.
A meeting summoned by Oxenstierna, the Swedish Chancellor, in 1633, after the death of Gustavus Adolphus, with the object of preventing the dissolution of the German Protestant Alliance. The meeting was attended by representatives of England, France and Holland, and the circles of the Upper and Lower Rhine, Suabia and Franconia.
A statement of the Protestant doctrine, harmonizing to some extent the opposing views of Calvin and Zwingli, drawn up in 1566 by Bullinger, and accepted by the majority of the Protestant Cantons.{117}
The constitution established in Switzerland in 1798, under the revolutionary impulse generated by the French Revolution. It superseded the Federation of the Thirteen Cantons.
See Pacta Conventa.
The various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were known as the Heptarchy, though as a fact they were at no time seven in number, two or more being grouped at various periods, under one monarch. The most powerful sovereign of the time was usually recognized as the Bretwalda, or leader, of the rest. The various kingdoms of the Heptarchy were finally united under one crown, during the reign of Æthelstan (925-940.)
Among the Norse nations, the Herad was the land of the Her or host, the Her being composed of a number of families who acted together for mutual protection under a chief, and formed in fact a tribe.
This was founded as a College of Arms by Richard III in 1484. Its members were the Earl Marshal, the Kings of Arms, and the Heralds, and its functions the supervision of all questions that might arise as to the bearing of coat-armour.
The teachings of Arnold of Brescia were known by this name. He commenced a crusade at Brescia in 1139 against the corruption of the Church and its assumption of temporal power. He was ultimately condemned as a heretic, and burnt at the stake in 1155.
In Anglo-Saxon times the title given to the commander of the army.
A fine due to the lord of the manor on the death of a person holding land of the manor. It consisted of the best beast or chattel belonged to the deceased.
An Act passed in 1747, abolishing hereditary jurisdictions throughout Scotland. Up to this date the decision of ordinary actions at law, especially in the Highlands, had been in the hands of the chiefs of the clans, and principal landowners, and had descended by heredity, with the result that judicial functions were frequently exercised by persons having no legal knowledge or aptitude. By this Act these powers were transferred to sheriffs-depute, one being appointed for each county.
A confederation of the principal cities of Castile, formed during the middle ages for mutual protection against brigands and other lawless persons. By degrees the brotherhood usurped the functions of a legislative body, enforcing their rules, when necessary, by force of arms. It was also known as the Santa Hermandad, or Holy Brotherhood.
The name given to an un{118}successful attack by the French upon the entrenched camp of Sir John Fastolfe at Rouvray in 1429.
A sobriquet of Nelson.
The system of State Education established in Cape Colony in 1838, and designed by Sir John Herschel, the astronomer. Public elementary schools were provided in all the principal centres of European population, where instruction was given free to all children of good conduct. Religious instruction was also given to all whose parents did not object, and clergymen of any denomination were permitted to catechise the children of their congregation at stated hours. Secondary schools were established in the principal villages, and a normal seminary in Capetown, to train teachers for the elementary schools.
In ancient Norse times, the hereditary chief of a Her, or tribunal community.
In Anglo-Saxon times, a land tax for war purposes. Under Æthelred the Unready the tax took the form of the furnishing of one man at arms for every eight hides, and one ship for every three hundred hides.
In Saxon times the portion of land allotted to every free householder.
A court established in the reign of Elizabeth, to deal with all questions appertaining to church discipline. It was abolished by Parliament in 1641, but reconstituted by James II in 1686, under the notorious Jeffreys, in whose hands it became a mere instrument for persecution and extortion. Under pressure of the pending invasion of William of Orange, James, in the last year of his reign, consented to its abolition.
A court established by Lord Wentworth in 1634, to exercise the same functions as the English court of the same name.
An Act passed in 1746, after the suppression of the Rebellion of Forty-five, rendering the wearing of the Highland dress illegal.
An Armenian secret society, founded at Tiflis in 1887, to carry on a newspaper of the same name. The statutes of the society, however, clearly show that its aims were revolutionary, and it was largely concerned in fomenting the disturbances which preceded the Armenian massacres of 1895-6.
A doctrine enunciated by Germany to the effect that in newly-occupied countries, such as East or West Africa, the possession of the coast line implied a right to the back country, to be taken up at convenience, and that no other country had a right to take up country behind, and block the way into the interior.{119}
The old Burmese Council of Ministers. In 1886 five of the Ministers were confirmed in their offices, to act as an advisory board for native affairs to the Chief Commissioner. In 1889 the pacification of the country was sufficiently advanced to permit of the board being abolished.
The title of the Mahratta Maharajahs of Indore.
An alliance formed between Russia, Austria and Prussia in September, 1815, by which the three sovereigns undertook that for the future their policy should be guided solely by Christian principles. At the same time there is no doubt that the alliance was intended to stem the tide of political liberty, set flowing by the French Revolution, and their threatened interference in the quarrel between Spain and her American colonies, which was the cause of the enunciation of the Monroe doctrine, is a sufficiently clear indication of this fact.
The name given to William Penn’s experiment of establishing (in Pennsylvania) a colony on the basis of absolute self-government, as a free colony of all mankind.
A league formed by Pope Julius II in 1511, ostensibly for his protection against the aggression of Louis XII of France. Its members were Henry VIII, the Emperor Maximilian I, Ferdinand of Spain, and the Venetian Republic. Two years later Julius’ successor, Leo X, came to terms with Louis, and the league was dissolved.
A league formed by Clement VII in 1526, directed against the Emperor Charles V. Its members, in addition to the Pope, were Francis I of France, the Venetian Republic, and Duke Sforza of Milan.
A league of the Catholic Princes of Germany, formed in 1609 under the leadership of Maximilian of Bavaria, as a counterpoise to the Protestant Union of 1608.
A league of Catholic Princes, formed by Held, the Chancellor of Charles V, in 1538, to oppose the Lutheran Princes. Its principal members were Duke George of Saxony, the Elector of Bavaria, and the Archbishops of Mentz and Salzburg.
See Inquisition.
The Empire of the West, which had been destroyed by the barbarian invasions, was to a great extent restored by Charlemagne, who was crowned its first Emperor by Leo III in 800. After the extinction of the Carlovingian line, the Emperors were exclusively German Princes, and were elected to the throne by the sovereign rulers of certain German States, though the Popes always claimed, and sometimes exercised, the right of veto, by refusing to crown.{120} In 1272 the first Emperor of the House of Hapsburg, Rudolf, was elected, and from 1438 the Emperors were without exception members of this house, until the Empire was finally broken up by Napoleon in 1806.
An order of knighthood instituted by Pope Alexander VI for the guardianship of the Holy Places in Palestine and the protection of pilgrims.
The first Home Rule Bill, introduced by Mr. Gladstone, providing for the creation of a legislative body in Dublin, with control of the administration, subject to safeguards as to the unity of the Empire, and the protection of minorities. It was to have control of all taxation, except of customs and excise, but was forbidden to legislate on any matter relating to the crown, defence, or foreign relations, or to endow any religious bodies. The Irish representation at Westminster was to be abolished. The bill divided the Liberal Party, many of Mr. Gladstone’s Cabinet deserting him, including Lord Hartington, Sir Henry James, Mr. Bright and Mr. Chamberlain, and consequently it failed to pass the second reading. The general election which followed proved that the country was strongly opposed to the scheme.
The second Home Rule Bill, introduced by Mr. Gladstone in 1893, was to a great extent on the lines of the first bill, creating a Parliament in Dublin, with legislative powers subject to certain reservations as to peace and war, external affairs, etc. In one respect, however, it differed widely, in that the Irish Parliamentary representation at Westminster was not abolished, but merely reduced. The bill passed the Commons after lengthy and acrimonious discussion, especially in Committee, where Mr. Gladstone introduced the system of “Closure by Compartments,” but was rejected by the Lords.
A party formed in 1873, under the leadership of Isaac Butt, to agitate for the re-establishment of a separate Parliament for Ireland. His successor in the leadership of the party was Charles Stewart Parnell.
An Act passed in 1885, providing that a male under eighteen could take up twenty acres of first class, or thirty acres of second class land, and a male over eighteen, fifty or seventy-five acres respectively, free of all cost, providing he agreed to reside five years on the land, and fulfil certain requirements as to cultivation.
An Act passed in 1893, providing for free grants of 160 acres each to all males above eighteen, subject to certain conditions as to residence and improvements.
A nickname of Prince Bismarck, with reference to his attitude, as President of the Berlin Congress in 1878, on the points in dispute between Russia and Austria.{121}
The claim made by Cromwell that England had the right to exact from all foreign ships, a salute to her flag in the narrow seas. The Dutch Admiral Van Tromp refusing the salute in 1652, he was fired upon by the English Admiral, and the action which followed led to the declaration of war in July of the same year. The Dutch afterwards conceded the claim by the Treaty of 1654.
The Hungarian Landwehr or reserve is so called. The word means “Land Defenders,” and was given to the national champions in the early days of Hungarian history.
The party of the nobles in the Netherlands in the fourteenth century. (See Kabbeljaws.)
The popular name of the State of Indiana, U.S.A. It is probably a corruption of Husher, a Western term for a bully.
See Malta, Knights of.
The Princes of Moldavia and Wallachia were so called from 1789, when these countries came under the sway of Russia.
The Puritans were so styled after the Restoration in 1660. The name was originally given to Edward Underhill, a Protestant who was imprisoned in 1553 for an attack made by him on the Roman Catholics on the accession of Mary.
The sobriquet of Henry Percy (1364-1403).
An Irish agrarian society which appeared in Connemara in 1711. They took their name from their practice of houghing the cattle of obnoxious persons. The society was suppressed in 1713.
A body of standing troops raised by Knut, circ. 1030. The first standing army in England.
An Act passed in 1784, extending the authority of the revenue officers to a distance of four leagues from the coast.
A treaty between Prussia and Austria, signed in 1763, at the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War. It was a pendent to the Peace of Paris, and confirmatory of that instrument, as between the two signatory Powers.
A Company formed in 1670, under a charter granted by Charles II giving it absolute control of the watershed of Hudson’s Bay (then known as Rupertsland), in return for a small annual tribute. The Company’s territories were absorbed by the Dominion of Canada in 1869.
A treaty between France and Annam, signed in 1874, by which Annam accepted the French protectorate over her territories.{122}
The name given to the French Protestants. It is probably derived from Hugues, a Calvinist of Geneva, though other derivations have been given. When, by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, the exercise of their religion was denied them, many thousands of them emigrated to England, Holland, and other Protestant countries.
A secret society of negroes, discovered and suppressed in Sierra Leone in 1896. The members of the society, which had been in existence for about twenty years, practised cannibalism, and had murdered and eaten several hundred persons. The leaders were hanged.
In early Saxon times this name was given to a subdivision of the tribe which corresponded to the ancient German pagus (so called by Tacitus.) It seems to have consisted of a hundred heads of families, and it furnished a hundred warriors to the tribal army, and a hundred assessors to the judicial court.
The period between Napoleon’s return from Elba and his second abdication.
The name given to the series of wars between France and England which lasted from 1338 to 1449 and ended by the expulsion of the English from France, with the exception of Calais, which they held till 1558.
The thirteen Hungarian generals executed at Arad, after the War of Independence in 1849.
A rising of the Hungarian national party under Kossuth, in 1848, owing to the refusal of the Austrians to give any redress for the outrages of the Croatian troops under Jellachich in the valleys of the Theiss and the Danube. Kossuth was appointed Dictator by the Hungarian Diet, and the rising was at first successful, but in 1849 the Austrians received the assistance of a large Russian army, and in August of that year, the Magyars were forced to surrender, and their leaders left the country. General Hainau made himself notorious by his cruelties after the collapse of the armed resistance.
The extreme pro-slavery section of the New York Democrats from 1844 to 1848. They were known after the latter date as Hardshell Democrats.
A meeting of the Jacobite leaders, ostensibly for sport, summoned by the Earl of Mar, in 1715, to concert measures for the rising which took place in the autumn of that year.
The followers of John Huss, a professor of the University of Prague, who had imbibed the Wycliffite doctrines. Though excommunicated by Pope Alexander V in 1412, he continued to disseminate these doctrines,{123} and was consequently summoned to the Council of Constance in 1414, where, though under the Emperor’s safe-conduct, he was thrown into prison, and subsequently burnt at the stake. His principal disciple, Jerome of Prague, suffered the same fate in 1416, but his followers, under John Zisca, rose in revolt against the Church, to the number of 40,000. They destroyed some five hundred convents, and defeated the Emperor Sigismund, but were broken up into sections in 1424, following upon Zisca’s death. They still, however, remained in insurrection until 1436, when the revolt was ended by the treaty of Iglau.
A riot which broke out in 1866, after the defeat of the Russell Ministry over the Reform Bill of that year. A meeting had been summoned by the Reform League, to meet in Hyde Park, but the Government prohibited the meeting, and closed the park gates, whereupon the mob pulled down the railings. Little other damage, however, was done, and the riot was easily quelled.
See Illicit Diamond Buying.
This name was first given to the followers of Leo III, Emperor of the East, who in 726 interdicted the worship of images. The opposition of a considerable section of his subjects did not deter him from carrying his principles into effect, and what is known as the Iconoclast War was the result. The same title is applied to the more militant Huguenots in France in 1560 and 1561, who, wherever they obtained the upper hand, ruthlessly destroyed the statues which adorned the churches and monasteries, and also to a section of the Puritans during the English Civil War.
A treaty between the Hussites and the Emperor Sigismund, signed in 1436, putting an end to the Hussite War. It was based upon the Compactata of Prague, and secured to the Hussites the free exercise of their religion on the lines of that document.
A bill introduced in the Legislative Council of India by Mr. Ilbert in 1883 “to amend the criminal jurisdiction over British subjects.” It largely extended the jurisdiction of native magistrates in the trial of Europeans, and was most bitterly criticised by the Anglo-Indian community, especially by planters and others living in remote districts.
An illegal trade in diamonds carried on by certain speculators in Kimberley, who purchased from the employés of the Diamond companies rough diamonds which they had secreted in the process of washing. It was largely checked by the Diamond Trade Act of 1882. This illicit trade is generally known as I.D.B.
A famous sect of German mystics, founded at Ingolstadt by Adam Weisshaupt in 1776. It undertook a crusade against{124} Jesuitism and Church domination generally, but did not hold aloof from politics, its higher initiates being professed Republicans. It was suppressed by the Elector of Bavaria in 1785.
A bill passed in 1901 by the Federal Parliament of Australia in response to the outcry for a “White Australia.” It prohibits the immigration of all coloured labour, including the South Sea Islanders, or Kanakas. This restriction has caused much concern in Northern Queensland, where the climate is not suitable for white labour, and its enforcement will destroy the sugar and other industries and render the country almost valueless.
A treaty signed in 1866 after the Basuto War of 1865-66 between the Orange Free State and Molapo, the son of Moshesh. Molapo surrendered to the Free State the greater part of his country, and became a vassal of the State. He further bound himself to render no assistance to any other Basuto chief who might rise against the Free State.
See Reichskammergericht.
An Act passed in 1885 to facilitate the federation of the Australasian Colonies. (See Federal Council.)
The party who supported the Regent, Anne of Austria, during the minority of Louis XIV. They strongly opposed Mazarin’s policy, but the cardinal succeeded in embroiling them with the queen, thanks to feminine intrigues, and their leaders were imprisoned or banished.
Illegal additions to the authorized customs duties, levied by James I without the consent of Parliament. They were among the grievances detailed in the Petition of Grievances in 1610.
A Bull issued at intervals during the Middle Ages, and annually on Holy Thursday from 1627 to 1770. It was a summary of the offences against the Church and the priesthood, and of the ecclesiastical censures pronounced against them. The sovereigns of Europe regarded this Bull as an infringement of their rights, and it was in consequence of their continued protests that Clement XIV ceased to promulgate it.
A Bull of Urban VII, issued in 1642, condemning the “Augustinus” of Jansen as heretical.
The ruling family of the ancient Peruvians up to the conquest of Peru by Pizarro in 1531. They claimed to be descended from the Sun-God.
A plot, discovered during the visit of Charles I to Scotland in 1641, to kill or kidnap Argyle and Hamilton. The king was suspected of being privy to it, though he strenuously denied it.
The name given by his followers to Robespierre.
An Act passed at the Restora{125}tion in 1660, granting a free pardon to those who had been in arms against the king, with the exception of the Regicides and Sir Harry Vane and General Lambert, and settling in favour of bonâ fide holders all claims to land acquired during the Commonwealth.
See Declaration.
A sect of extreme Puritans, originally identified with the Brownists. They afterwards became a political party, holding more advanced views than the Presbyterians, who represented a conservative form of republicanism, and ultimately, under the leadership of Cromwell and with the aid of the army, which was mainly officered by them, they became the predominant party in the state.
The list of books the perusal of which is forbidden to devout Catholics. The first index was drawn up by Paul IV in 1555 to prevent the diffusion of heretical opinions through the writings of the Reformers.
An Act passed in 1784 by which all political power was taken from the East India Company and vested in a Board of Control nominated by the Government. The Company retained all its patronage, excepting the appointment of Commander-in-Chief and some other high posts, and their commercial rights under their Charter were not interfered with.
An annual congress of natives of India, with some few Europeans, whose object is to promote the extension to India of Western political institutions, such as representative government. The first congress met at Allahabad in 1888, and was attended by a few Mohammedans, but it has now fallen almost entirely into the hands of the Bengali Babus.
The name given to Bartolomeo de las Casas (1474-1566), the Spanish ecclesiastic who devoted his life to the amelioration of the condition of the South American Indians.
St. Francis Xavier, the famous Jesuit missionary to India in the sixteenth century is so called.
A supreme court for American affairs, established in Spain by Ferdinand in 1511 and reorganized by Charles V in 1524. The council promulgated all the laws relating to the government of the colonies and appointed to all colonial offices under the Crown.
A measure of toleration granted to the Scottish Presbyterians in 1669, by which their ministers were permitted to preach in vacant parishes and received some pecuniary aid from the Government. This measure, however, did nothing to reconcile the more bigoted members of the Church, who continued their resistance to all State control. The Indulgence was soon withdrawn.
See Declaration.{126}
Forms of absolution granted by Leo X, which were openly sold by his agents, the proceeds of the sale being devoted to the completion of St. Peter’s at Rome. It was the sale of these by Tetzel in 1517, in the dominions of the Elector of Saxony, which called forth Luther’s vehement protest, and was the beginning of the Reformation in Germany.
The Bull of Pius IX, issued in 1854, by which the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin was proclaimed as an article of the Catholic faith.
The old aristocratic families of Virginia, who were expected, during the War of Independence, to show British sympathies, but earned the name of “Inexorable” by their staunch adherence to the national cause.
A title assumed by the Pope Pelagius (578-590).
The title of the eldest son of the Spanish Sovereign.
A body of irregular troops, composed of desperadoes of all nations, organized by Bover on the side of the Royalists during the revolt of the Spanish American Colonies in 1814.
Under the Swiss Constitution, the right of the people to initiate proposals for the enactment, repeal or amendment of a law. Fifty thousand signatures are required to make the demand operative.
A tribunal to inquire into and suppress heresy, established by Innocent III at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. It was introduced into Germany in 1231, but abolished in 1234, and never again restored. In Italy it was successful in stamping out heresy, but it is in Spain that its tyranny was most notorious, an auto-de-fé having been held in that country as late as 1826. Its administration was entrusted to the Dominican Order.
A document issued by Cromwell in 1653 by which he took the title of Protector. He was to be assisted by a Council of State of fifteen members, and a new Parliament was to be elected, to number 400, with a £200 qualification both for members and electors. No Parliament was to be dissolved unless it had sat for five months, and Parliaments were to be triennial.
An Act passed by the Irish Parliament in 1796 empowering the Government to declare any county to be in a state of insurrection, whereupon the officials had the right to search for arms and to imprison persons found abroad between sunset and sunrise.
An outbreak of the women of Paris on October 5, 1789. They broke into the armoury of the Hôtel de Ville, and, having armed themselves, marched to Versailles, to demand speech of the king. The result of the rising was the return of the king to Paris, which took place on the following day.{127}
The Bull of Gregory XIII, issued in 1582, ordaining the use of the new calendar throughout Christendom.
The proclamation issued by Innocent III in 1208 against John and the realm of England. It forbade all services of the Church, except Baptism and Supreme Unction, and only permitted the burial of the dead in unconsecrated ground. In the following year the Interdict was followed by the excommunication of John.
A modification of the Interim of Ratisbon, issued by Charles V in December, 1548, and accepted by Melancthon on behalf of the Lutherans.
A system of doctrine issued by Charles V in May, 1548, as an attempt to reconcile the differences dividing the religious world. While retaining all the salient doctrines of Catholicism, it permitted certain modifications in practice and ritual calculated to conciliate the Protestants. It did not, however, succeed in pleasing either party.
One of the laws of the Irish Penal Code, which provided that a man who married a Catholic should be regarded as a Papist and subject to all their disabilities, while a woman so marrying should be dead to the law.
An international commission formed at the Brussels Conference in 1876, with the object of exploring Central Africa. It resulted in the formation of the Congo Free State in 1885.
An association of working men, founded in London in 1864, the original statutes of the society being drawn up by the German Socialist leader Marx. It was intended as a centre of combination for all workmen’s societies and unions of every nation, but disclaimed any desire to interfere with them individually. In 1872 a split occurred in the society between the Marxists and the followers of the Anarchist Bakunin, and the International soon after ceased to exist as an organization.
The extreme revolutionary party in the southern towns of Spain in 1873.
The name given by the Spaniards to the great Spanish and Portuguese fleet dispatched by Philip II for the conquest of England in 1588. After being harried by the English ships under Howard of Effingham, Drake, Frobisher and others, it was finally dispersed by violent storms in the North Sea, and out of 130 ships only 53 returned to Spain.
An Irish secret society, with headquarters in America, which became notorious in 1882 as having provided the assassins of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke. Those immediately concerned in the murder were{128} brought to justice, but the heads of the society, including Tynan, the famous No. 1, were never made amenable.
By a treaty between Great Britain and Greece, signed in 1864, these islands were ceded to Greece.
A new department established in Ireland in 1897, independent of the Castle and the Irish Office. Its first president was Mr. Horace Plunket.
The Charter granted to the Irish settlers by Henry III on his accession. It was practically a recital of the clauses of Magna Charta, with such variations as were rendered necessary by the different conditions.
An Act passed in 1833 abolishing the Church fees, which were paid by all, whether Churchmen, Catholics or Dissenters, and reducing the number of Irish bishops from twenty-two to twelve.
An Act for the disestablishment and partial disendowment of the Irish Church was passed by Mr. Gladstone’s Government in 1869. The Irish bishops lost their seats in the House of Lords, the Irish Ecclesiastical Courts were abolished, and the union between the English and Irish Churches dissolved. The future government of the Irish Church was entrusted to a synod elected by the clergy and laity. Of the Church property, valued at about sixteen millions, seven millions were used to compensate incumbents and to replace the Maynooth Grant and the Regium Donum.
An Act passed by Mr. Gladstone’s Government giving for the first time a legal status to the Ulster custom and extending it to all tenancies in Ireland. The Act provided for compensation for disturbance and compensation for improvements in the event of the landlord determining a tenancy, and enacted that improvements should be deemed to be the tenant’s, the onus of proof to the contrary being thrown upon the landlord.
This Act, passed in 1881, introduced the principle of judicial interference between landlord and tenant. It permitted the sale of tenant right and allowed the tenant to apply to the Court to fix a judicial rent, such rent to hold good for fifteen years. It made certain alterations, in the tenant’s favour, in the law relating to compensation for improvements. It further established a Land Commission with power (1) to advance money to tenants for the purchase of their holdings, and (2) under certain conditions to purchase whole estates from the landlords.
An Act known as Lord Ashbourne’s Act, giving additional facilities for the purchase by tenants of their holdings. An advance of £5,000,000 was made to the Land Commissioners for this purpose, while the terms to purchasers were more generous than those of the Bill of 1881. The purchase money was to be{129} advanced at 4 per cent., and be repayable in forty-nine years, while the surplus of the Disestablished Church funds was to be used as a guarantee to the State against loss.
An Act amending and consolidating the previous Land Acts and dealing specially with the case of “Town Parks.” It introduced no new principle, and though the Nationalists tried to secure the valuation of these holdings at prairie value, the Government carried in the main their plan for an equitable division between landlord and tenant of any increase of value due to situation.
A conference held in Dublin in January, 1903, known also as the Dunraven Conference, between representatives of the Irish Landlords and the tenants, under the presidency of Lord Dunraven. The conference issued a unanimous report recommending the abolition of dual ownership by means of a comprehensive scheme of land purchase. They proposed that the landlords should be bought out at a price based on their present income from rent, and that the tenants should purchase at from 15 per cent. to 25 per cent. less, the balance being found by the State, which would also advance the purchase money, to be repaid by instalments.
An association formed in Dublin in 1882, after the suppression of the Land League, to unite all sections of Irish Nationalists.
A society formed by twelve of the City Companies of London to colonize lands in Ulster forfeited from O’Neill and O’Donnell. They were granted a charter by James I in 1613, which was suspended in 1637 but restored in 1670.
See Friends of Ireland.
A sobriquet of Prince Bismarck.
A secret closet in the bedchamber of Louis XVI. Its existence was revealed by Gamain, the king’s locksmith, who had constructed it, and it was searched immediately by order of the National Convention, when certain compromising documents were found.
A Prussian decoration conferred for bravery in the field. It was established in 1813.
The royal crown of Lombardy, said to have been forged from a nail of the true cross. It was first used in 591 at the coronation of Agilulf, King of the Lombards, and is now the royal crown of Italy.
The sobriquet of the great Duke of Wellington.
Nicholas I of Russia (1825-55) was so called.{130}
The sobriquet of Götz von Berlichingen, the leader in the German Peasants’ War of 1525. His right hand, which he had lost in battle, was replaced by an artificial hand made of iron.
A mysterious personage whose face was always covered with an iron mask, who was confined in the Bastille and other State prisons in France during the reign of Louis XIV. Many theories have been advanced as to his identity. It has been contended that he was an elder brother, a twin brother, and a natural son of the king, Count Matthioli, minister of the Duke of Mantua, and M. de Marchiel, the head of a wide-spread conspiracy against Louis XIV, while many other solutions of the problem have been put forward.
The nickname of Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg (1688-1713).
The oath of office established by the United States Congress in 1867 at the conclusion of the Civil War. It was designed to prevent the assumption of office by any possible enemy of the Union.
The nickname of Edmund, King of the English in 1016.
Cromwell’s Regiment of Horse was so called.
The sobriquet of George Castriot, the Albanian patriot (1414-67). Iskander is Alexander.
A Spanish order of knighthood, instituted in 1815, to reward those Spanish-Americans who remained faithful to the Crown during the Wars of Independence.
Ireland was so called in the Middle Ages.
Unredeemed Italy consists of those provinces and islands not included in the Kingdom of Italy which are racially or linguistically Italian. They are the Austrian provinces of Southern Tyrol, Görz, Trieste, Istria and Dalmatia, the Swiss Canton of Ticino, the British island of Malta and the French island of Corsica. The Irredentists are a party whose aims are similar to those of the Pan-Slavists and Pan-Germans, and who desire to see these provinces, especially those belonging to Austria, added to the kingdom.
The work of Victor Emmanuel and his minister Cavour, aided by Garibaldi and his volunteers. The Treaty of Zurich in 1859 left Victor Emmanuel in possession of the whole of Northern Italy excepting the Venetian states east of the Mincio. The central states, Parma, Modena, etc., applied to be united to the kingdom in 1860, while in the same year the South revolted against Francis II of Naples, and with the aid of Garibaldi the Bourbons were expelled, Victor Emmanuel being crowned{131} King of Italy in 1861. The Venetian provinces were added to the kingdom by the Treaty of Prague in 1866, and in 1870, France withdrawing her support of the Pope, the King entered Rome and completed the emancipation of Italy.
The supporters of the House of Stuart after their expulsion from Great Britain.
The peasant rising in France in 1358 is so called from Jacques Bonhomme, the familiar name for a peasant. The revolt was most sanguinary, the peasants burning over 200 châteaux, and murdering indiscriminately all who refused to join them. Equally cruel reprisals followed the suppression of the insurrection.
The massacre by Napoleon in 1799 of the Turkish garrison of Jaffa, who had surrendered as prisoners of war.
A bill suspending the constitution of Jamaica, brought in by the Melbourne Ministry in 1839, in consequence of the House of Assembly refusing to put in force an Act for the better regulation of prisons in that island. The bill only passed the House of Commons by a majority of five, and Lord Melbourne resigned.
An invasion of the Transvaal by the forces of the British South Africa Company in January, 1896. Jameson acted on an undated letter, signed by certain members of the Johannesburg Reform Committee, summoning him to the aid of the Uitlanders. His raid, however, was ill-timed, the Johannesburgers being unable to give him the assistance he counted on, and he was defeated by the hastily summoned Boer commandos. Cecil Rhodes was a party to the scheme, which was designed to overthrow the corrupt Boer Government. The Boers made the raid an excuse for increasing their armaments.
A military force established about the middle of the fourteenth century by Amurath I, Sultan of Turkey. They were recruited from Christian youths captured in war, who were brought up in the Mohammedan faith and trained to arms.
A sect or schism of Catholics, founded in France in the seventeenth century, who strongly opposed the doctrinal and ethical teachings of the Jesuits. Their doctrines were based on the Augustinus of Cornelius Jansen, Bishop of Yprès, published after his death, which took place in 1638. Its adherents included such men as Arnauld and Pascal. Jansenism was finally declared heretical by the Bull Unigenitus in 1653.
An edict issued by Charles IX of France in January, 1562, setting forth the terms of pacification between the Huguenots{132} and the Catholics as arrived at by a conference between the leaders of the two parties.
In the early Norse times the Jarl was a dignity conferred by the king upon chiefs of conspicuous ability as leaders in war. The title was not hereditary.
A treaty signed in 1792 by Catherine II of Russia and the Sultan Selim III after a war rendered memorable by the successes of Potemkin and Suwarrow. Turkey surrendered Oszakov, and the Dniester was fixed as the boundary line between the two empires.
The name given to the treaty between Great Britain and the United States in 1794, which provided for the surrender to the latter of the British military forts in the North-East and settled certain boundary and financial questions pending between the signatories.
The prompt measures taken by the Earl of Dunbar in the reign of James I and VI to punish border raiders at Jedburgh and other Scottish towns gave rise to this phrase. Raiders were hanged always, and tried if circumstances permitted. “Cupar Justice” and “Burlaw” have the same meaning.
A holy war of Mohammedans against Christians is so called.
One of the many stories of the ill-treatment by the Spanish Guardia Costa of British subjects in the employment of the South Sea Company. These stories were utilized by the war party in Parliament to force the Government into war with Spain in 1738. War was in fact declared the following year.
A religious order founded in 1534 by Ignatius Loyola, a Spaniard, and sanctioned by Paul III in 1540. They have always endeavoured to lead and control public opinion, and to that end have taken an active part in education and in political intrigue, as well as in missionary work. The order was suppressed by Papal Bull in 1773, but revived in 1814.
The manipulation of electoral divisions in such a way as to give an undue advantage to one political party. The word is said to be rightly Gerrymandering, and to be derived from Elbridge Gerry, Governor of Massachusetts in 1812, who was the originator of the idea.
A plot entered into by certain Scottish Presbyterian gentlemen, under the leadership of Lord Melville, the Earl of Tarras and Baillie of Jerviswood, to prevent the Duke of York succeeding to the throne on the death of Charles II. The plot was discovered owing to the failure of the Rye House Plot, and though Melville and other leaders made good their escape, Baillie was seized and executed in 1634.
The famous session of the Tennis Court, on June 22, 1789,{133} when the Deputies of the National Assembly, excluded from their regular place of meeting, took an oath that they would not separate, but would continue to meet when and where they could until they had promulgated the new constitution.
The gilded youth, or young men of Paris, who endeavoured to bring about the counter-revolution after the fall of Robespierre in 1794.
A series of Acts passed during the reign of Queen Victoria by which the disabilities under which the Jews laboured were gradually removed. In 1845 they were admitted to office in municipalities; in 1846 they were placed on the same footing as Protestant Dissenters in respect of their schools, while by the alteration in the form of the Parliamentary oath in 1858 they were enabled to sit in Parliament.
A special court established by Richard I in 1194 to hear cases in which Jews were concerned and to supervise their contributions to the revenue.
The war party in England during the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78 were so called by their political opponents. The name arose from a music-hall song, sung by “The Great Macdermott,” the chorus of which began “We don’t want to fight, but by Jingo if we do.” The term “Jingoism” is now applied to aggressive Imperialism.
The ultra-nationalist party in Japan in the early days of the new régime. They were strongly opposed to the invasion of Western ideas. The name signifies “Expel the Barbarians.”
The sobriquet of Sir John Howard, an adherent of Richard III.
The East India Company was so called.
A secret treaty between the Guises and Philip II of Spain in 1584, providing that the Cardinal de Bourbon should succeed Henri III, and that no heretic should ascend the throne or hold office in France. Philip undertook to advance 50,000 crowns monthly for the purposes of the League, to be repaid on the accession of the Cardinal.
The ancient charter of Brabant, granted by Wenceslas of Luxemburg in the latter part of the fourteenth century. It provided that no one should be prosecuted except before the ordinary courts of law; that no foreigner should hold office in the State; that no alteration should be made in the status of the Church without the consent of the Estates, and that any breach of the Constitution by the prince should absolve his subjects from their allegiance. The charter was abrogated by Joseph II in 1789.
By these Acts a Supreme Court of Justice was created, in place of the various courts in{134} existence dealing with various branches of the law. These Courts were made branches of the High Court of Justice. In the same way the various appeal courts were brought into one general Court of Appeal. Certain provincial jurisdictions were abolished, such as the Courts of Pleas of the Palatine counties of Lancaster and Durham. Probate, Divorce and Admiralty were united in one division by the latter of the two Acts.
The anti-Jewish campaign, started in Berlin in 1880. See Anti-semitism.
The reign of Louis Philippe (1830-48) is so called, as having been inaugurated by the Revolution of July.
Two laws passed in July, 1883, modifying certain of the severer provisions of the Falk Laws.
The revolution of 1830, which overthrew the Government of Charles X and established Louis Philippe on the throne, is so called.
A treaty signed on July 15, 1840, by Great Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia, dictating terms to Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt, which terms he was given ten days to accept. He was to retain the Pashalic of Egypt for himself and his descendants, and Acre for life, withdrawing from the rest of Syria and the Holy Land. This treaty was confirmed in 1841 by the Treaty of the Dardanelles.
The younger members of the aristocratic Conservative party in Prussia with whom Bismarck acted at the beginning of his political life.
A series of letters issued anonymously from 1769 onwards, attacking the King and the Grafton Ministry with extraordinary vigour, and full of literary merit. The authorship of these letters remains a mystery, but they are generally attributed to Sir Philip Francis.
In Spain, an assembly of persons, whether legally summoned or self-constituted, exercising legislative or administrative functions. The Junta of 1808, which represented those portions of Spain not under the rule of Joseph Buonaparte, is one of the best known.
A Junta formed in Spain in 1824, under Saez, to carry out to the full the principles of absolutism and ecclesiastical domination. For some time the Junta practically ruled Spain.
The chiefs of the Whig party, and leaders of the Ministry formed in 1696. They were Somers, Russell, Halifax and Wharton.
The name given to the Sons of Liberty by the Royalist party in America in 1765.
Committees of the trade guilds in France, appointed to supervise the operations of the{135} members of the guild, with special reference to the granting of apprenticeships and the payment of the necessary fees thereupon. The regulations of these guilds were often exceedingly oppressive.
The origin of the system is probably to be found in the Assize of Clarendon in 1166, by which it was enacted that twelve men should be appointed from each hundred to present criminals for trial by ordeal. They were sworn to determine the value of the charge, and could commit or release the accused. By Magna Charta, the right of every Englishman to be tried by his peers is expressly stipulated.
The local law of Magdeburg, a free city of Germany. It was composed partly of Saxon custom and partly of ancient local usages, and was adopted in many of the Slav countries.
A charter issued by Canning’s Government in 1828 providing for the reorganization of the judicial system in Cape Colony, and regulating other matters connected with the Government. It abolished the Heemraden, and instituted courts in which all the pleadings were to be in English. It was superseded in 1834 by an amended charter, whereby, among other changes, ignorance of English was no longer to be held a bar to jury service.
Under the Norman kings this functionary was the President of the Curia Regis and the king’s representative and regent during his absence from the realm.
A codification of the Roman law, carried out by Tribonianus by order of Justinian in 529.
The supreme judge in the kingdom of Aragon. He was appointed by the Cortes, and was the final interpreter of the laws, even the king being obliged to consult him in doubtful cases. He was the ultimate court of appeal in all cases, and had himself the right to initiate prosecutions.
The code of law presented to a Danish National Assembly by Waldemar II (Seir) of Denmark, and confirmed in 1241. This remained the law of the whole of Denmark till the reign of Christian V (1670-1699).
The party of the towns, in the Netherlands, in the fourteenth century. The word signifies “Codfish-jaws,” and the opposing party, that of the nobles, was known as the “Hooks.”
The German nickname for Napoleon.
A document issued by Charles V curtailing the privileges of the city of Ghent.
In the early eighties attention was attracted to the methods of the “Blackbirders,” or ships{136} engaged in supplying Kanaka labourers for the Queensland sugar plantations. The captain of the Hopeful was brought to trial for kidnapping, and the disclosures in the case caused the Government to appoint a commission in 1884 to investigate the whole question. It was found that kidnapping was much more general than was thought, and in all the instances which were brought to light the natives were returned to their islands, and the planters compensated for the loss of their services.
An Act of Congress passed in 1854 by which Kansas and Nebraska were admitted to the Union as territories. This Act was a breach of the Missouri Compromise, as it left it to each of the new territories to settle the question of slavery within its borders.
Among the Norsemen the holders of Odal or freehold land were so called.
A Moslem sect, taking their name from Karmath, a disciple of Babek, whose leading tenets were the indifference of all human actions and the non-existence of private property. The Karmathians first appeared in 890, and it is said that a hundred battles were fought before they were exterminated. They were at one time in possession of Mecca.
The award, in 1871, of Mr. R. W. Keate, Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, on the territorial questions pending between the South African Republic and various native chiefs, amongst others Waterboer, Mankoroane, and Montsiwa. It practically endorsed the native claims, and is specially important as having enabled Great Britain at a later date to annex Bechuanaland, thus opening a way to the centre of the continent, and rendering possible the colonization of Rhodesia.
A proclamation of Henry III in 1267, after the final overthrow of Simon de Montfort, wherein the king reaffirmed Magna Charta and restored to their lands those of the barons who had been dispossessed, on payment of a solatium to the then holders.
A famous gang of bushrangers which infested the north-eastern part of New South Wales from 1878 to 1880. Towards the end of the latter year they were hunted down by the police. In the fight which followed the whole gang were killed except their leader, Ned Kelly, who was captured and hanged.
A petition from the Grand Jury of Kent, presented to Parliament in 1701, praying the House to abstain from the prosecution of personal vengeance and to give its attention to the needs of the country.
A series of resolutions passed by the Kentucky Legislature in 1798, declaring the Alien and Sedition Laws unconstitutional, and asserting the doctrine of State Rights.{137}
A clause introduced into the Education Act of 1902, on the motion of Colonel Kenyon-Slaney. It provides that in all voluntary schools taken over by the new education authority the religious teaching shall be in accordance with the provisions of the trust deed, and be under the control of the managers. The object of the clause is to prevent a clergyman of extreme views forcing upon a school a form of doctrinal instruction contrary to the generally received teaching of the Church of England.
Mercenary troops, partly Irish and partly Scotch, maintained by the petty Irish chieftains, and employed in their inter-tribal wars up to the time of Elizabeth. They were also known as “Gallowglasses.”
A rising of the peasantry against the landed gentry, led by Ket, a tanner, in 1549. He collected some 16,000 followers in a camp near Norwich, and established a tribunal, on which he sat, with the Mayor of Norwich, to try obnoxious gentlemen. The rebellion was suppressed by the Earl of Warwick, and Ket and other leaders hanged.
The Lower House of the Isle of Man legislature.
A name given to the State of Pennsylvania, as being the central State of the thirteen originally forming the Union.
The Sikh Commonwealth in the Punjaub was known by this name.
The head of a household in the Russian Mir or village community. Before the emancipation of the serfs in 1861 the family generally owned all property in common, those who went to work in the towns sending a proportion of their wages to the common stock. The Khozain was the administrator of the general fund.
A treaty between Sweden and Denmark signed in 1814, after the expulsion of the Danes from Holstein by Bernadotte. Denmark surrendered Norway to the Crown of Sweden, reserving, however, Greenland, Iceland and the Faroë Islands, which had been considered appanages of the Norwegian Crown.
A convention of the prelates, nobles and commons of Ireland held in 1338. It presented a petition of grievances to Edward III, complaining of the neglect by his lieutenants of the fortified places, whereby they suffered from the raids of the Irish; of the corruption prevailing amongst the royal officers; of their absenteeism, and of the misrepresentation which the petitioners had suffered at their hands.
A council of twenty-four members formed in 1642 to organize the Irish Catholics in support of the royal cause during the Civil War.{138}
A statute passed in 1367 by which the English colonists in Ireland were forbidden under penalty of high treason to intermarry with the Irish, to present an Irishman to a Church living, or to offer hospitality to an Irish bard or minstrel.
A synod of the Irish bishops and other Church dignitaries, held in 1642 at the commencement of the Great Rebellion, to form a provisional government. It established the Council of Kilkenny.
A supposed agreement between Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Parnell (then a prisoner in Kilmainham Gaol), negotiated by Mr. O’Shea in 1882, by which Parnell undertook, if released, to use all his influence in the suppression of agrarian crime. Both parties stoutly denied the existence of any compact, but the matter gave rise to stormy debates in the House of Commons, and many wild stories were current as to the terms of the agreement.
A series of disturbances in 1884 due to the opposition of the employés in the diamond mines at Kimberley to the Search Act, passed in 1882 with the object of checking illicit diamond buying.
A sobriquet of James V of Scotland.
The name given to a rising of the Wampanoags, an Indian tribe, in 1675, with the object of exterminating the white settlers in New England. The war lasted over a year, with much destruction of property, but finally the Indians were defeated and their leader, Philip, shot.
The name given to the secret advisers of George III in his attempts to restore the royal prerogative to its old position in the State. They were mainly Tories, though drawn from both parties, and their leader was the Earl of Bute.
A book of the ritual of the Church of England, issued in 1545 by the authority of Henry VIII, and containing the Services for the Hours. It is the basis of all subsequent prymers, including those of Edward VI and Elizabeth.
The sobriquet of Neville, Earl of Warwick (1428-71), the most prominent figure in the Wars of the Roses.
The nickname of William Armstrong, the famous border raider. He was the hero of a celebrated rescue at the hands of the Lord of Buccleugh in 1596, having been captured by the English and confined in Carlisle Castle.
The troopers of Colonel Kirke, who was in command at Bridgwater after the suppression of Monmouth’s rebellion. Their barbarous treatment of their prisoners and of suspected adherents of Monmouth hardly fell{139} behind the judicial cruelties of Jeffreys. Their name was ironically derived from the Lamb, their regimental badge.
A club formed by certain prominent Whig politicians in 1793 to promote the principles of the French Revolution. Walpole, Steele and Addison were among its members.
The name given by their political opponents to the unofficial advisers of Andrew Jackson, President of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Among them were Amos Kendall, Isaac Hill and F. P. Blair.
See Alcantara, Alexander, Annunziata, Bath, Black Eagle, Calatrava, Dannebrog, Elephant, Garter, Golden Fleece, Holy Sepulchre, Hospitallers, Iron Cross, Isabella, Legion of Honour, Livonian, Malta, Montesa, Our Lady, Rhodes, St. Andrew, St. Esprit, St. Hubert, St. Lazare, St. Patrick, Santiago, Templars, Teutonic, Thistle.
The extent of land the holding of which qualified for knighthood in feudal times. The amount is uncertain, but it is thought to have been an annual value of twenty pounds.
A society for the protection of workmen, founded in 1869 at Philadelphia by Uriah S. Stevens. It has become one of the most powerful labour organizations of the world, and claims a membership of 200,000.
The representatives of the counties in the early Parliaments. They were elected in the Shire Courts, which all the freeholders of the county were entitled to attend.
A political party formed in America in 1855. Their essential tenet was the necessity of keeping the Government in the hands of genuine Americans, and with this object they proposed a twenty-one years’ residence as a qualification for naturalization. The party was short-lived, scarcely surviving the presidential election of 1856.
The Royal Law, a new Danish Constitution promulgated in 1660, proclaiming an hereditary instead of an elective monarchy. The administration was confided to certain bureaux whose members were appointed by the king.
The modern National party in Hungary. They take their name from the famous patriot of the War of Independence of 1848, and his son, who is one of the leaders of the existing party.
The party of the Cross, under whose influence Frederick William IV of Prussia lay during the latter years of his reign. Their policy included a closer union with Russia and Austria, and a tacit resistance to the more liberal ideas of Western Europe.
The second or military caste among the Hindoos.{140}
An organization formed in the Southern States, after the American Civil War, to coerce the coloured people and their sympathisers and prevent them recording their votes. It became so powerful that a stringent Act, known as the Ku Klux Act, was passed by Congress in 1871, inflicting heavy penalties on all convicted of belonging to this and similar associations.
A treaty between Russia and China, negotiated in 1880 after the suppression of the Mohammedan revolt in Western China, during which the Russians had held and administered Kuldja. It provided for the retention by Russia of the most valuable part of Kuldja, including the Tekes Valley and the passes into Kashgaria and Yarkand. It further stipulated that Russia should enjoy the use of an overland route to Hankow for Russian merchants, and the free navigation of the Sungari River, which practically opened the whole of Manchuria to Russian trade. Chang How, who had negotiated this treaty, was disgraced, and China refused to ratify it. In 1881, however, a second treaty was concluded, and eventually ratified, by which Russia retroceded the whole of Kuldja, the other stipulations of the treaty of 1880 remaining practically unaltered.
The crusade in Germany against the Pope and the Ultramontanes, who were looked upon as the foes of civil as well as religious liberty. After the issue of the Vatican Decree on Papal Infallibility many of the bishops attempted to force the dogma upon university professors and others holding State appointments, and their high-handed interference in this and other ways led to the enacting of the Falk Laws. The conflict lasted over ten years.
The name given to the followers of Dózsa, Tököli and Rákóczy in the various risings of the Hungarians against Austrian rule which they headed. It means the wearers of the Cross, or Crusaders.
A treaty between Catherine II of Russia and the Sultan Abdul-Hamed, signed in 1774, after the occupation by the Russians of Crim-Tartary, Moldavia and Wallachia. Turkey surrendered the Crimea, Azov and Taganrog, and by the seventh clause of the treaty undertook to protect the Christian religion and its churches, and to permit the Russian Minister to make at all times representations on behalf of the new church in Constantinople, such representations to be taken into consideration as proceeding from a sincerely friendly Power. In this clause lay the germ of the Crimean War, for Russia interpreted it as giving her the right to interfere for the protection of all Christians of the Greek Church in the Turkish Empire.
The revolution by which Queen Christina of Spain was compelled in 1836 to restore the{141} constitution of 1812 which had been abrogated by Ferdinand.
The name given to their opponents by the Hungarians under Tököli and Rákóczy in 1678 and 1704 respectively. It signifies the “foot people,” the Magyars being almost all mounted men.
A labour organization founded at Columbus, Ohio, in 1886, and now claiming to have over 600,000 members.
A statute passed in the reign of Edward III, after the Black Death in 1348. This pestilence had made labour scarce, and labourers were demanding exorbitant wages. It was enacted that all labourers should be compelled to serve their former masters and for the same wage that they had received before the plague.
The nickname of King John, given him because he received no fiefs from his father.
Æthelfled, daughter of Alfred the Great, was so called.
See Storthing.
A treaty signed in 1846, at the end of the first Sikh War, by which Dhulip Singh was recognized as Rajah of the Punjaub. The Sikhs surrendered the Doab to the British.
A congress of the European Powers held in 1821, at which armed intervention to suppress the Republican risings in Naples and Piedmont was decided upon.
A phrase used by a French merchant to Colbert, who asked him in what way he could aid trade. The meaning of the reply is “Leave us alone,” and the phrase has become the watchword of the freetraders and those who oppose Government interference.
The popular name of the State of Michigan, U.S.A. It is so called because it borders on Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie and Superior.
A series of nine articles, embodying the Calvinistic doctrine, drawn up in 1595 by Archbishop Whitgift. They were not, however, approved by the Queen, and were consequently never enforced.
A treaty between Henry III and Louis the Dauphin, signed in 1217, after the Fair of Lincoln. It provided for the immediate departure of Louis and his troops for France, an interchange of prisoners, and a general amnesty.
Lancaster was created a Palatine County by Edward III in 1351, and granted by him to John of Gaunt. It became Crown property on the accession of Henry IV, and has so remained. The Judicature Act of 1873, however, withdrew all the existing judicial privileges ex{142}cepting those of the Chancery Court. The Chancellor of the Duchy is a member of the Government, and is frequently in the Cabinet.
An Act passed by the Legislature of New South Wales, by which half the land in the occupation of the squatters was reserved to them on a twenty-one years’ tenure and the remaining half thrown open to selection by bonâ fide settlers.
A Commission established by the Irish Land Act of 1881. It was empowered to appoint sub-commissioners to sit as land courts for the purpose of fixing fair rents.
An association formed in Victoria in 1857 to oppose the Haines Land Bill and advocate Free Selection. Its leaders were Wilson Gray and Sir George Stephen.
An Irish organization, founded by Michael Davitt in 1879, with the object of driving out the landlords and establishing a peasant proprietary in Ireland. The agrarian outrages in which its members were implicated led to its being proclaimed an illegal association, and it was suppressed in 1881.
The chief magistrate in the Forest Cantons of Switzerland, elected by the Landsgemeinde.
A local magistrate in Dutch South Africa. The first official bearing this title was appointed to Stellenbosch in 1685. In addition to his judicial duties, he had the superintendence of the Dutch East India Company’s farms and outlying stations. He also presided over the Heemraden. The office was abolished in British South Africa in 1832, but in the independent Dutch States it has existed up to the present time (1903).
The raven banner of the Danes. The word means “Desolation of the Country.”
In mediaeval Germany the peace of the land, or freedom from private war, was so called. Many edicts were issued to secure it, but it was rarely attained.
The general levy of fighting men in Anglo-Saxon times. The origin of the Militia.
The codification of Prussian law, otherwise known as the Code Frédéric, published in 1751 under the auspices of Frederick the Great.
In Saxon times, a wealthy landowner, who acted as the King’s representative within the limits of his district, and had jurisdiction over the smaller freeholders. His position was in fact somewhat similar to that of a feudal baron.
The ancient popular assembly in the Forest Cantons of Switzerland. Every male above the age of sixteen had access to it. It elected the chief magistrate{143} (Landamman), levied taxes, and exercised judicial functions.
The Prussian Parliament.
The final reserve of the German and Austrian armies. It can only be called out in times of emergency.
See Rigsdag.
The country party in the Swedish Parliament. Originally it was composed almost entirely of landowners, but latterly the peasants have become the more powerful section of it.
The first reserve of the German and Austrian armies.
In old France the language of the southern provinces, from which the province of Languedoc took its name. In its modern form of Provencal it is little better than a patois, though there has been some attempt to revive it as a literary language during the nineteenth century.
The language of the northern provinces of France, and the parent of modern French. It contains a much larger admixture of Teutonic roots than the Langue d’Oc, though its grammatical form is Latin.
The Battle of Culloden, fought in 1746, is so called as being the last battle fought on British soil.
A sobriquet of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (1428-1471).
A nickname of Maximilian, Emperor of Germany (1493-1519).
Henry Stuart, Cardinal York, the last male descendant of the Stuart Kings, was so called. He died in 1807.
Colas de Rienzi, who was chosen tribune by the citizens of Rome in 1347, was so called. He was also known as the “Last of the Romans.”
The Extremists or Robespierre Section of the Mountain, in the French Convention. Their denunciation by Danton and Camille Desmoulins led to the condemnation and execution of the Dantonists in April 1794.
A Council summoned by Calixtus II in 1123. It is notable as being the first Œcumenical Council whose decrees were issued in the name of the Pope, and not in that of the Council.
An Œcumenical Council summoned by Innocent II in 1139, at which the marriage of the priesthood was forbidden.
A Council summoned to meet in Rome by Innocent III, in 1215, to consider the most effectual means of suppressing heresy. It declared that any{144} prince protecting heretics or permitting the dissemination of heretical doctrines in his dominions should be excommunicated. It further established the Inquisition, to deal with heretics individually.
An Œcumenical Council summoned by Julius II, in 1512, at which the acts of the Council of Pisa were condemned.
A confederation, for monetary purposes, of France, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium, formed in 1865. It provided for the establishment of a uniform and interchangeable coinage, on a bimetallic basis, for the countries concerned. Greece joined the union in 1868. Belgium left it in 1885.
A party in the English Church in the seventeenth century, who stood midway between the extreme Episcopal and the Puritan parties. It was the prototype of the modern Broad Church.
The proper name of the sect generally known as Mormons.
A secret society formed in Spain at the beginning of the nineteenth century, to aid the movement of the Spanish-American colonies in the direction of independence.
A writ, in Scottish law, by which any person who made oath that he went in fear of violence from his neighbour, could have him bound over to keep the peace. This legal form was used in 1678 against the gentry of the West, who had refused to enter into a bond binding themselves and all their dependents to abstain from active sympathy with the Covenanters.
A law of Charles the Good, Earl of Flanders, decreeing that any one who married a serf became a serf.
See Mississippi Scheme.
A layman in receipt of tithes, an ecclesiastical form of revenue. The lay impropriator originated in grants of lands made by abbeys and other Church communities to powerful laymen, in exchange for their protection.
The League, also called the Catholic League, was formed by the Guises in 1577, ostensibly to promote the ascendency of Catholicism, and to oppose the concessions granted to the Reformed Faith by Henri II of France. Secretly, however, it contemplated the deposition of the Valois dynasty, and the placing of a Guise on the throne. (See Joinville, Treaty of.)
A league of the Cantons of St. Gall and Appenzell with the towns of the Rheinthal, formed in 1405. It was broken up in 1408, Appenzell being defeated at Bregenz by the burghers of Constance and the Suabian nobles.
See Afrikander, Agrarian, Al{145}banian, Anti-Corn Law, Anti-Semitism, Armed Neutrality, Association, Australasian, Ballarat, Bar, Barons, British Empire, Brunnen, Burgfrieden, Cambray, Catholic, Centro-Americana, Chinandega, Clementine, Cognac, Coloured, Confederate, Eight Cantons, Equador, Frankfort, Fürstenbund, Germanada, Germanic, Golden, Gotteshausbund, Grey, Hanseatic, Hermandad, Holy, Irish National, Land, Liberal, Lombard, Nationalverein, Perpetual, Pilsen, Poor Conrad, Presburg, Protestant, Reformverein, Rense, Rhenish, Rhine, Rome, Sandomierz, Santa Junta, Schmalkald, Seven Cantons, Six Cities, Sonderbund, Suabian, Targowitz, Ten Jurisdictions, Thirteen Cantons, Torgau, Triumvirate, Tuscany, United Irish, Utrecht, Venice, White, Würtzburg.
This phrase was applied to Disraeli’s Reform Bill of 1867 by Lord Cranbourne, and was afterwards adopted by Lord Derby as an accurate description of the course the Government was taking.
James I of England was called by Sully the most learned fool in Christendom.
An outbreak between the Druses and the Maronites having occurred in 1860, the Turkish authorities compelled the latter to lay down their arms, under promise of protection. This they failed to afford, and the Druses attacked the Maronite villages, and massacred hundreds. Later in the year, the fanatical anti-Christian spirit spread to Damascus, and the Christian quarter of the town was sacked, over two thousand Christians perishing at the hands of the Moslems, without any attempt at interference on the part of the Turkish Governor. A European Convention was held, and France and England were entrusted by the Powers with the task of restoring order in the disturbed districts. This they accomplished, and forced upon the Sultan the appointment of a Christian Governor in the Lebanon.
A document left by the Shôgun Iyeyasu, founder of the Tokugawa dynasty of Shôguns, in 1598, as a guide to his successors in the conduct of affairs.
The provinces of Bologna, Ferrara and Romagna, over which the Popes claimed sovereign rights. They were surrendered to France by the Treaty of Tolentino in 1797.
A memorial drawn up by Defoe, in support of the Kentish Petition in 1701.
An armed band of Frisian peasants, some thousands in number, who rose in revolt in 1580, being exasperated beyond endurance by the license of the States’ soldiery. Though well-drilled and led, they were unable to stand against the veterans of the Count of Hohenlohe, by whom they were defeated and dispersed.{146}
The only existing French order of knighthood, instituted by Napoleon, when First Consul, in 1802. Though military in form, it is open to civilians.
The supporters of the claims of the Bourbon branch of the Royal House of France from 1814 to 1883. On the death of the Comte de Chambord without issue in the latter year, they transferred their allegiance to the Orleans branch, with the exception of a small section, known as the Blancs d’Espagne, who support the Spanish Bourbons as the rightful occupiers of the throne of France.
The name assumed by the State of Vaud when she revolted from the Canton of Berne in 1798.
A Bull, the authenticity of which is somewhat doubtful, issued by Boniface VIII against Philip IV of France, shortly before the issue of the Bull “Ausculta Fili.” It is couched in somewhat milder terms than the latter, but is of similar tenour.
See Panama Scandal.
Commissions granted by a belligerent to private individuals, authorizing them to arm ships for the purpose of capturing merchant vessels flying the enemy’s flag. This right was abolished by the Treaty of Paris in 1856.
The laws and ordinances of Godefroi de Bouillon, King of Jerusalem, were so called.
Warrants of arrest, issued by the French Kings, or their Ministers, under which persons obnoxious to the Court could be imprisoned indefinitely without being brought to trial.
Originally a religious sect, but later a political organization under the Commonwealth. They held extreme communistic views, and in 1649 their propagandism in the ranks of the army led to numerous mutinies. They were, however, ruthlessly suppressed by Cromwell, and after the loss of their leaders gave little further trouble.
The name given to agrarian bands, first formed in Limerick in 1761, who tore down the fences with which the commons had been enclosed. They were afterwards known as Whiteboys, from the white shirts they wore over their other garments.
An agreement between Henry III and Simon de Montfort, as leader of the Barons, after the defeat of the King at Lewes in 1264, by which the questions in dispute between the King and the Barons were to be submitted to the arbitration of a court composed of two Frenchmen and one Englishman.
An Act passed in 1791, transferring from the judge to the jury the duty of deciding{147} whether a statement was libellous or not.
A league formed in 1902, composed of Liberals who follow Lord Rosebery in his attitude with regard to the Boer War, and on Imperial questions generally.
A section of the Republican party in the United States, who favoured more tolerant treatment of the Southern States, and opposed the re-election of General Grant in 1872. They nominated Horace Greeley for President, but were disastrously defeated at the polls, and ceased thereupon to exercise any political influence.
The section of the Liberal party who seceded from Mr. Gladstone on the introduction of the Home Rule Bill in 1886. They have since acted with the Conservatives on most questions, and in 1895 their leaders accepted office under a Conservative Prime Minister.
Daniel O’Connell was so called.
Simon Bolivar, the Liberator, was so called. He headed the revolt of the Spanish-American colonies which broke out in 1810, taking the field in 1813. After successively freeing New Granada and Venezuela, he finally drove the Spaniards from Peru, Callao, the last fortress in their hands falling in January 1826.
A sect of free-thinkers and hedonists in France, circ. 1730.
The party who opposed the extreme stringency of the Calvinistic doctrine in Geneva, in 1541. They were severely handled by the Consistorium.
The nickname of Henry Clay, the American statesman, who ardently supported the South American States in their struggle for independence in 1820.
A provision in the ancient Polish constitution, giving every member of the Diet the right of vetoing a proposition under discussion. In other words, complete unanimity was necessary to effect any legislation whatever.
A code of laws, based on the ancient system of the Incas, prepared by Francisco de Toledo, Viceroy of Peru from 1569 to 1580. This code determined the principles on which Peru was ruled by subsequent viceroys.
An Act to amend the licensing laws, passed in 1902. Its most important provisions are those dealing with habitual drunkards, who after successive convictions are placed on a black list, which prevents their obtaining any alcoholic liquor for three years, and those compelling the registration of all clubs where alcohol is sold, and their subjection to police supervision.{148}
A republic, with Genoa as its capital, established by Napoleon in 1797. It was made a French Department in 1802.
A system of inland duties, levied at various points on the waterways and trade routes of China, greatly hampering the inland trade. The duties are farmed out to the Mandarins, who make large incomes out of their collection. By the Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1902, these duties are to be abolished, subject to the consent of the other Powers having commercial treaties with China.
The terms accorded to the Irish by William III after the second siege of Limerick in 1691. To all Irish officers and soldiers who so desired, permission was given to withdraw to France, while the others were amnestied and allowed to return to their homes. To all other Catholics William restored the privileges accorded them by Charles II, and granted a complete amnesty, on condition of their taking the oath of allegiance.
The defeat of the revolted Barons and the forces of Louis, the Dauphin of France, by Pembroke, in the streets of Lincoln in 1216.
A rising fomented by the priests in 1536, following closely upon the dissolution of the monasteries. It was entirely a movement of the peasants, and had no countenance from the gentry. It was easily suppressed.
Johan Gustafsson Banér, the Swedish Field-Marshal (1595-1641), was so called.
The sobriquet of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1611-32).
Marshal Ney was so called from his red hair.
See Bocca di Leone.
A law passed in Egypt in 1881, on the recommendation of the Commissioners of England, France, Italy, Germany and Austria, settling the conditions on which the debts due by the State on December 31, 1880, were to be regulated, and providing for the future apportionment of the revenue to the service of particular debts, and to general purposes.
A royal sitting of the States-General of France, when the King attended to enforce by edict an ordinance or law to which the States had refused their consent.
In China those who have passed the public examinations in literature, qualifying them for official positions under the State.
A guild of shipowners and merchants in London, which was in existence in the time of the Danish Kings.{149}
A favourite Jacobite toast in the reign of Queen Anne. The allusion is to the death of William III, which was accelerated by an accident caused by his horse stumbling over a molehill.
See Barebone’s Parliament.
The popular name of the State of Rhode Island, U.S.A., the smallest State in the Union.
A popular name for the State of Florida, U.S.A.
A statute passed in 1461, in the reign of Edward IV, prohibiting the granting of liveries and the maintenance of retainers. It confirmed similar enactments of Edward I and Richard II.
An order of chivalry, founded at Riga in 1201, by Albert of Buxhœwden, Bishop of Riga. Their statutes were similar to those of the Templars, and their special object was to spread Christianity among the Livonians and neighbouring tribes. In 1237 a section of the Teutonic knights of Lithuania was merged into the Livonian order. The order was dissolved in the sixteenth century during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the Grand Master ceding Livonia to Poland.
An Act carried through Parliament by Mr. Ritchie, establishing County Councils, to which were entrusted the various administrative functions previously exercised by committees of the county magistrates. The larger boroughs were exempted from their jurisdiction, being left under the control of their own municipalities, while a special County of London was created, comprising all the newer suburbs.
An Act completing the Local Government Act of 1888 by the creation of Parish and District Councils. One of the most important provisions of this Act is that giving the newly established bodies power to acquire land, compulsorily if necessary, for the purpose of providing labourers’ allotments.
The name given in 1835 to the Radical section of the Democratic party in the United States. At a meeting of this wing of the party, an opponent present turned off the gas, whereupon candles were procured, and lit by “locofoco” matches, from which time the faction was dubbed by its opponents the “Locofocos.”
A treaty signed in 1454 by the Republic of Venice and Duke Sforza of Milan, by which Sforza secured the whole of the Milanese.
In Saxon times labourers dependent on the feudal lord on whose land they worked. They are, however, not to be confounded with the theows, or slaves.
Among the Norsemen, the{150} Law Court, the highest authority of the State under the King. It consisted of thirty-six members, partly ex-officio, and partly elected.
A law passed in 1891 in France, by which, in the case of first offenders, the tribunal might suspend the sentence for five years. If during that period the culprit did not again make himself amenable to the law, the sentence lapsed. If again convicted, however, he had to serve the old sentence as well as the new.
A religious sect, followers of Wycliffe, which arose in Edward III’s reign. They attacked the abuses of the Church, and especially the wealthy religious orders, and claimed the right of private interpretation in matters of doctrine. They are said to have numbered, at one time, fully one-third of the population of England. In spite of continued persecution, the sect remained powerful through several reigns, and they doubtless paved the way for the ready acceptance by England of the Reformed Doctrines in the reign of Henry VIII.
A league of sixteen cities of Northern Italy, headed by Milan, and including Venice, formed in 1167 against Frederick Barbarossa. The league defeated the Emperor at Legnano in 1176, and in 1183, by the Peace of Constance he granted practical independence to the cities, subject to the recognition of his suzerainty, and the payment of certain small dues.
A league formed under the Marquis d’Este in 1255, to resist Pope Alexander IV. This league consisted mainly of the Guelf cities of Lombardy, while Alexander’s principal supporters were Ezzelino of Verona and his brother Alberic of Treviso. Ezzelino was disastrously defeated at Cassano in 1259.
The Italian merchants who spread over Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were known as Lombards. They were the first bankers of modern Europe.
A company formed in 1606, under charter from James I, with the object of colonizing Virginia.
A convention between Great Britain, France and Russia on the one side, and Bavaria on the other, by which Greece was erected into an independent kingdom, under the guarantee of the Powers, and Prince Otto of Bavaria placed on the throne, with the proviso, however, that the crowns of Greece and Bavaria should never be united in the person of one sovereign.
An instrument signed in London by Great Britain, France and Spain, agreeing to demand from Mexico a guarantee for the better protection of the subjects of the signatories, and at the same time undertaking not to seek for any territorial acquisitions, nor to interfere in the internal government{151} of Mexico. It soon became evident that Napoleon III was determined to force Mexico into a war, with the object of placing Maximilian of Austria on the throne, whereupon Great Britain and Spain withdrew from the convention.
A convention between Great Britain and the Transvaal, amending the Convention of Pretoria of 1881. All direct reference to the suzerainty was omitted, but it was expressly stipulated that no treaties should be negotiated with Foreign Powers (excepting the Orange Free State), or with native chiefs, without the consent of Great Britain. The suzerainty was thus maintained in fact, as Great Britain retained full control of the foreign relations of the Transvaal. Provision was also made for the presence of a British Resident at Pretoria, and certain questions of frontier were re-adjusted.
The treaty between England and Holland closing the war of 1672, which arose out of England’s claim that foreign ships should salute her flag wherever it was met in the narrow seas. Holland accepted the principle involved, and agreed to pay an indemnity of 2,000,000 guilders. (See Honour of the Flag.)
A treaty between England, France and Russia, during the Greek War of Independence. The contracting parties bound themselves to take action for the purpose of securing the independence of Greece under Turkish suzerainty. The destruction of the Turkish and Egyptian fleets at Navarino followed closely the signature of this treaty.
An agreement between Great Britain and France on the one hand, and Holland on the other, providing for the erection of the Flemish and Walloon provinces into an independent kingdom, to be known as Belgium. This treaty was confirmed by the five Great Powers in 1839.
A treaty signed by Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia and Russia, confirming the provisional treaty of 1833, with regard to the separation of Belgium from the Netherlands, subject to certain small changes as to the navigation of the Scheldt and the boundaries of Luxemburg.
See Dardanelles.
A treaty signed by Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, Russia and Sweden, settling the succession to the Danish throne upon Prince Christian of Schleswig Holstein and his issue. The integrity of the Danish monarchy was acknowledged, but the rights of the German Confederation over the Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg were not in any way touched by the treaty.
The popular name for the State of Texas, derived from{152} the single star in its coat of arms.
A Diet which met at Zurich in 1813, and after declaring the Constitution of Mediation extinct, proceeded to evolve a new Federal Constitution, known as the Federal Pact, which was accepted by the Powers at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
The Parliament which met in the reign of Charles I, in 1640, and lasted till 1653, when all that was left of it, known as the Rump, was forcibly expelled from the House by Cromwell.
The first Parliament of the Third French Republic, which was not dissolved till December 31, 1875.
A treaty between Catherine de’ Medici and the Huguenots, signed March 20, 1568, by which various concessions were granted the Huguenots. It was signed by the Queen to save Chartres, which was in danger of falling, and was broken within six months. It is known as the Courte Paix, or the Paix Fourrée.
The nickname of Edward I of England.
The sobriquet of William, Earl of Salisbury (1196-1226), the natural son of Henry II, and also of his son (died 1250).
A treaty signed in 1701 by England, Holland and the Emperor, to oppose the designs of Louis XIV. The signatories aimed at the conquest of Flanders, to be given to Holland, of Milan, Naples and Sicily, to be added to the Empire, and of the French and Spanish West Indies, to be divided between the two maritime Powers.
The name given to the battle near Erpingham, in Rutlandshire, in 1470, where Edward IV defeated the rebels under Sir Thomas Wells.
The boarding of this vessel, flying the British flag, in the Canton River in 1856, and the arrest of twelve of her crew on a charge of piracy, led to the war with China in 1857-8, when the English were aided by the French. The war resulted in the reception of British and French legations at Peking, and the concession of certain additional privileges to traders and missionaries.
Under the feudal system the Sovereign was so called, as the owner of the whole of the land, the great nobles holding under him as tenants-in-chief.
A body of peers, in the reign of Richard II, who impeached, as guilty of high treason, the Archbishop of York, the Duke of Ireland, and other favourites of the King, in 1386. They afterwards convened the Merciless Parliament, in 1388.
A movement started about{153} 1899 by the Austrian Pan-German Deputies, to detach their followers from the Roman Catholic Church. The object of the movement is to make the German States of Austria more acceptable members of the German Empire than they would be as rigidly Catholic countries, in the event of the break up of the Austrian Empire.
A codification of the laws relating to criminal procedure and evidence, issued as an edict by Louis XIV in 1667.
The purchase from France by the United States in 1803 of New Orleans and the territory West of the Mississippi, extending to the eastern spurs of the Rocky Mountains and to the British frontier on the North. The price was 15 million dollars.
A confession of the Catholic Faith, drawn up by the University of Louvain by order of Charles V in 1544. All Charles’ subjects in the Netherlands were required to conform to these articles, under pain of death, and that this was not an idle threat was shown by the burning at the stake, at Tournay, in February, 1545, of Peter du Breuil, a Calvinist preacher, who refused to obey the proclamation.
A sobriquet of Marshal Macmahon (1808-1893).
The law administered in the law courts and in the foreign factories of the Hanseatic League.
A treaty between the Emperor Ferdinand II and Christian IV. of Denmark, signed in 1629, after the latter had been driven out of Germany by Tilly and Wallenstein. Christian retained all his possessions, and agreed to interfere no further in German affairs, except in his capacity of Duke of Holstein. He made no stipulations in favour of any of his German allies, none of whom, in consequence, were parties to the treaty.
A series of outbreaks in the manufacturing districts of England, and especially about Nottingham, in 1811, as a protest against the introduction of machinery into the factories. The rioters, or rather conspirators, for their proceedings were secret, used to assemble at night, break into a factory, destroy the machinery, and then disperse, as a rule unmolested. They took their name from an idiot lad, named Ludd, who thirty years previously had gone about in the Nottingham district breaking stocking-frames.
A code of laws compiled by John Ludlow in 1650, for the colony of Connecticut.
The camp of Lothair, son of Louis the Pious, near Basle, where Louis surrendered to his revolted sons in 833. The false pretences by which the surrender was obtained, led to the incident being called the “Field of Lies,” or Lügenfeld.{154}
The State of Maine, U.S.A., is so called, on account of its valuable forests.
A treaty between France and Austria, following on the disasters to the Austrian arms at Marengo and Hohenlinden. By its provisions France obtained an extension of territory on the north, as far as the Rhine from the Swiss to the Dutch frontiers, together with the cession of the Belgian provinces. In Italy Austria retired from the Milanese and the Venetian provinces, up to the line of the Adige, while Tuscany was taken from the Austrian Grand-Dukes, and conferred upon the House of Parma, with the title of the King of Etruria.
A treaty signed in 1867 by Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Holland, Russia and Prussia, agreeing to maintain on the throne of Luxemburg the House of Orange-Nassau, and constituting the Duchy a perpetual neutral State under the guarantee of the Powers. It was further agreed that the fortress of Luxemburg should be demolished and the Prussian troops withdrawn, and that the Duchy of Limburg should form part of the Netherlands.
A phrase having the same signification as “Jedburgh Justice.”
The substitution of an irregular trial for the regular process of law, common in the Western States of America during the wilder days of the fifties and sixties, and now rife in the Southern States, in the case of negroes charged with offences against white women. The name is supposed to be derived from James Lynch, of Piedmont, Virginia, who introduced it in 1688, to enable criminals to be promptly dealt with when the proper officers of the law were scattered and hard to come at.
A council summoned by Innocent IV in 1245. It deposed the Emperor Frederick II, and absolved his subjects from their allegiance, thus endorsing the claim of Gregory VII that the Church could appoint and depose Sovereigns.
An Œcumenical Council, held in 1275 under Gregory X, at which the rules governing the election of the Pope by the Cardinals were amended by the provision that the Cardinals, within ten days of the death of the late Pope, should be shut up in conclave until his successor was elected.
The murder of a family named Joyce in Ireland in 1882. Ten men were put on their trial for the crime, of whom two turned Queen’s Evidence, and the remainder were convicted, three being hanged. In 1884 Casey, one of the informers, declared that he had given false{155} evidence against Myles Joyce, one of the men who had been hanged, and that he had been ordered by the officials, on pain of capital punishment, to swear away this man’s life. A searching inquiry confirmed the justice of the sentence, but the case was made the pretext for a violent attack in Parliament upon the Irish Secretary.
A Tariff Act passed in the United States in 1890. Large increases were made in the import duties, and the measure as a whole was one of thoroughgoing protection. It was repealed in 1894.
The Cameronians were so called, after the Revolution, from the name of their minister, McMillan.
The sobriquet of Prince Rupert of Bavaria, nephew of Charles I.
A Parliament of Henry III, which met in June 1258. It was by this Parliament that the Commission was appointed which drew up the Provisions of Oxford.
See Monsieur Véto.
A sobriquet of Charles XII of Sweden (1682-1718).
A mutiny of the officers in the Madras Army of the East India Company in 1809. It was caused by the action of the Board of Directors in depriving the officers of some of their perquisites. Sir George Barlow appealed to the sepoys, who supported the authorities against their officers, and the latter were forced to give in. With the exception of twenty-one of the ringleaders, the mutinous officers were forgiven, and allowed to resume their posts.
A treaty between Haidar Ali and the British, closing the first Mysore War in 1769. It provided for mutual restoration of all conquered territories, and a mutual guarantee of the integrity of each other’s dominions.
A conference of the Powers, held in 1880, to consider the affairs of Morocco, and especially the treatment of Jews, and the right of foreign nations to protect their subjects. An agreement was arrived at, and a joint Note addressed to the Sultan, insisting on the necessity of respecting liberty of conscience, and of enforcing toleration on the part of his subjects.
A treaty between Charles V and Francis I, putting an end to the captivity of Francis, signed in 1526. The French King ceded Burgundy to Charles, and renounced the sovereignty of Flanders and all his rights in Italy.
A secret society which largely controlled the appointment of officials, and practically governed Sicily. The disclosures following the murder of Signor Notarbartolo, deputy for Palermo, in 1899, caused the Italian{156} Government to institute a searching inquiry, which led to the suppression, temporarily at least, of the Maffia.
At the capture of Magdeburg by the Austrian General, Tilly, in 1629, during the Thirty Years’ War, the Protestant inhabitants were put to the sword with ruthless barbarity.
The Great Charter of English liberty, extorted from John by his Barons in 1215. It prescribed the constitution of the Great Council of the Kingdom, the members whereof were to be summoned by writ; it defined and limited the feudal obligations of the Barons and other tenants of the Crown; restricted the powers of the sheriffs and other royal officers, and secured the liberties of the free towns. It further declared the right of an accused person to be tried by his peers.
The Great Council of the Realm, which in Norman times took the place of the Anglo-Saxon Witanegemot, and was the forerunner of the Parliament. It consisted in the main of the King’s great vassals, and with the King exercised legislative functions and initiated taxation. Its constitution was defined, and the mode of summoning it prescribed in Magna Charta.
The original Turanian invaders of Pannonia, the modern Hungary. The name is now applied to Hungarians generally, whether of pure Turanian descent or not. It is often erroneously used as referring to the Hungarian nobles or magnates only, but it carries with it no idea of rank or dignity.
The expected Messiah of the Moslems, said to have been promised by Mohammed. The title has been claimed by several pretenders, the best known being Mohammed Ahmed, who headed a rising in the Eastern Soudan in 1881, and afterwards captured Khartoum.
The daughter of Eric, King of Norway, and grand-daughter of Alexander III of Scotland. On the death of her grandfather in 1286, she succeeded to the Scottish throne, but died on her voyage to Scotland, leaving the throne open to numerous claimants, of whom Balliol was eventually chosen. Had she lived she was to have become the wife of Edward, son of Edward I of England, thus uniting the two crowns.
The name given to Jeanne d’Arc, after the relief of Orleans in 1429.
The name given to Agostina Zaragoza, in consequence of her bravery at the siege of Saragossa in 1808, where she took her part with the soldiers in fighting the guns on the ramparts.
The sobriquet of Malcolm IV of Scotland (1153-1165).{157}
Elizabeth of England is so called.
A rising in Paris in 1382, against a tax on the sale of provisions and merchandise. The name is derived from the heavy iron maces with which the majority of the insurgents were armed.
See Bye-Plot.
A law passed in the State of Maine, U.S.A., in 1851, prohibiting the trade in intoxicants. It has since been incorporated in the constitution of the State, rendering repeal impossible without previous recourse to a popular vote.
Bodies of retainers in the service of the great feudal lords. It was to check the abuses arising from the system of maintenance that the Star Chamber was originally established.
The prime ministers of the later Merovingian Kings, and the de facto rulers, as these monarchs took no part in the Government. The last Maire du Palais was Charles Martel, the father of Pepin, and founder of the Carlovingian dynasty.
The military household of Louis XIV of France. It consisted of the Gardes du Corps and the Mousquetaires du Roi, all gentlemen by birth, numbering twelve thousand.
An edict issued by the Emperor Rudolph II in 1609 granting to all Bohemians of certain recognized religions freedom of conscience, admission to the University of Prague, and the right to build churches on Crown lands. The edict further declared that any subsequent ordinances issued in contravention of this charter were null and void.
Twelve officers, commanding the twelve military districts into which Cromwell divided England in 1655. They were given command of the militia, and their functions were to suppress any Royalist rising, and to supervise the collection of the 10 per cent. tax levied from Royalists. The plan was abandoned in 1651, Parliament refusing to vote the money for the militia.
The scene of the defeat of General Colley’s force by the Boers on February 27, 1881, which virtually closed the Boer War of that year. The surrender of the British Government to the Boer demands is generally known as the “Majuba Surrender,” and the bitter feeling thereby aroused caused “Remember Majuba” to be a sort of war-cry at the outbreak of the war of 1899-1902. The Paardeberg surrender on the anniversary of Majuba in 1900 was hailed as in some degree wiping out the disgrace attached to the word.
In 1578 the Walloon troops of the Netherlands, being irri{158}tated by the promulgation of the Religious Peace, and by their pay being in arrear, mutinied under the leadership of the Seigneur de Montigny. Attempts to appease them were fruitless, and eventually, with the support of the nobles of Hainault and Artois, the mutiny ended in the formation of a confederacy of the Walloon provinces, pledged to support the Pacification of Ghent, and owning allegiance to Philip II.
A plot contrived by General Malet and the Abbé Lafone, in 1812, to dethrone Napoleon. By means of forged papers Malet persuaded a section of the Paris garrison that Napoleon was dead, and that he was entrusted by the Senate with the command of the troops. He then proceeded to the police ministry, where he arrested Savary, the minister, and the prefect of police. Attempting, however, to dispose in the same way of General Hullin, the Commandant of Paris, he was overpowered by the General’s orderlies, and the plot came to an abortive end.
An additional tax of forty shillings the sack on the export of wool imposed by Edward III in 1337.
During the latter part of the Civil War and under the Commonwealth, those who had borne arms on the King’s side were so called by the Parliamentarians.
A company under the control of the French Government, formed about 1767 to keep up the price of breadstuffs. The company took advantage of the scarcity to make enormous profits, and it seems clear that Louis XV was pecuniarily interested in its transactions. About 1774 it became known as the Pacte de Famine.
An order of religious chivalry, established in Malta in 1104. In 1310 they captured Rhodes, and were known as the Knights of Rhodes until they were expelled from that island by the Turks in 1503, when they returned to Malta. They are now known as the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, and have become an English order, interesting themselves specially in ambulance work.
The name given by the Dutch to the Treaty of Commerce between England and Philip of Burgundy signed in 1506. By this instrument British ships were admitted free of harbour dues to the Ports of Antwerp, Bruges, Berghem and Middelburg, and English merchants were permitted to sell cloth throughout the Netherlands. In return Henry VII. agreed to surrender to Philip all rebels and fugitives from the Burgundian States captured in his dominions, a provision which was of no benefit to the Dutch.
Bands of half-breeds who raided the missions of the Jesuits in Paraguay in the seventeenth century, carrying off the con{159}verts as slaves. The word is generally applied in Brazil to those of mixed Indian and Negro blood.
The bodyguard of the Egyptian Sultans, chiefly composed of Circassian and Georgian slaves. In 1250 they mutinied, murdered the Sultan, and founded a dynasty of their own, nominating and removing the Sultans at their will. The Mameluke Dynasty lasted till 1517, when they were finally suppressed by the Sultan Selim.
The name given to the Savoy party in Geneva in the sixteenth century.
Allen, Larkin and O’Brien, who were executed for the murder of a policeman in the attempt to rescue the Fenian prisoners at Manchester in 1867, are so called by the disloyal Irish.
A cavalry charge through a crowded meeting which was being held in St. Peter’s Field, Manchester, in connexion with the Reform agitation in 1819. Many persons were injured. The accident, for it practically amounted to no more, was entirely due to the mismanagement of the magistrates, who attempted to arrest the agitator, Hunt, while on the platform in the centre of the meeting. This affair is also called, derisively, “Peterloo.”
A political and economic school, which was responsible for the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League, under Cobden, in 1838. They believed in the principle of laissez faire, in free competition and freedom of contract, and looked upon Government interference with, or control of trade, as an economic heresy.
A council of thirty-six members, formed by Gage, the Governor of Massachusetts, after the subversion of the constitution in 1774. As no one of any standing would accept an appointment to this council. Gage, in whom was vested the whole of the administrative and judicial authority, appointed those whom he selected by writ of mandamus.
The name given by Europeans to the Chinese official classes. The word is of Portuguese origin, and means “officer” or “commander.”
A treaty signed in 1818, by which Holkar of Indore, after his defeat at Mahidpore, renounced his claim to suzerainty over the Rajput States, and placed himself under British protection.
A treaty between the British and Tippu Sahib, at the close of the second Mysore War in 1784, by which a return was agreed upon to the status quo ante.
The fabled capital city of El Dorado, said to be situated to the East of the Andes, near{160} the equator. It was the objective of an expedition led by Gonzalo Pizarro from Quito in 1539, who had many imitators, both Spanish and English, as unsuccessful as himself. According to the Indian tales, gold was so plentiful in the district of El Dorado that it was used for the gates and roofs of the houses in Manoa.
In Anglo-Saxon times the court of a township built on the land of a lord, and not on public land. Such townships were known as manors, and the lord undertook the duties, and enjoyed the privileges which in other townships were in the hands of the freeholders.
A treaty signed in 1791 by Austria, Spain and Sardinia, by which the contracting parties bound themselves to provide forces to act on the French frontiers, with the object of overawing the revolutionists, and to issue a manifesto to the French nation, calling upon them to submit to the authority of their King, failing which the allies would take active steps to coerce them.
The murder by brigands, near Athens, of a party of Englishmen, including Mr. Herbert, a secretary of the British Legation, in 1870. The Greek Government were greatly blamed for the action they took in moving troops against the brigands, contrary to their express undertaking, before the required ransom, which had been provided, had been handed over to the brigands and the prisoners released.
A system of land tenure, apparently of a communistic nature, which prevailed in Germany in very early times. It seems to have been introduced into England by the Saxon invaders, and traces of it are found in the common lands.
A re-enactment by the Parliament of Marlborough in 1267, after the Barons’ War, of the Provisions of Oxford, with some slight changes, giving the King the power of appointing the Ministers of the Crown and the sheriffs.
The fugitive slaves in Jamaica, who, after the conquest of the island by England in 1655, took refuge in the mountains, and maintained a guerilla warfare against the colonists, which lasted until 1795.
The Spanish Moors who, after the conquest of Granada, accepted Christianity.
See Hardwicke’s Act.
An Act passed in 1882, by which, in all marriages subsequent to the passing of the Act, a wife’s property is vested in herself, and is not subject to her husband’s control, as was previously the case.
A code of British Law translated by Alfred the Great into Anglo-Saxon. It is said to have been compiled by Martia,{161} the wife of Guithelin, great-grandson of Mulmutius, King of the Britons, in 300 B.C.
The pseudonym of the author of certain pamphlets advocating Puritan doctrines, which appeared between 1588 and 1590. The suspected author, a Welshman named Penry, was brought to trial, condemned and executed.
A charter for the colonisation of Maryland, granted to Lord Baltimore by Charles I in 1629. It was similar in its provisions to the Charter of Virginia.
A revolt of the Neapolitans, under a fisherman named Tommaso Aniello, against the Spanish Viceroy in July, 1647. The revolt was completely successful, and the Viceroy was compelled to come to terms with Masaniello, whose head, however, seems to have been turned by his success, as he was guilty of the most extraordinary excesses, and was murdered by his former followers in the course of the month in which the rising took place.
The line delimiting Delaware and Maryland, drawn by Mason and Dixon in 1764-67. It is often erroneously referred to as the line between the freesoil and the slave States, but as a matter of fact both the States in question were slave-holding States.
See Trent Incident.
Massachusetts, Charter of.
A charter issued by Charles I in 1629, providing for the government of the colony by a governor, deputy, and eighteen assistants, to be elected annually by the freemen of the plantation. They were entrusted with both legislative and executive functions, but it was provided that no laws should be made which were not in harmony with the law of England. The charter was revoked in 1684, after a dispute on the subject of the navigation laws.
See Abencerrages, Amboyna, Armagnacs, Armenian, Barmecides, Blood Bath, Boston, Bulgarian, Cawnpore, Chastisement, Custer, Dragonnades, Farquharsons, French Fury, Fusillades, Glencoe, Jaffa, Lebanon, Magdeburg, Manchester, Mountain Meadow, Noyades, Privas, St. Bartholomew, St. Brice, Scullabogue, September, Sicilian Vespers, Sinope, Spanish Fury, Tenth of August, Ulster, Valtelline, Vassy, Veronese.
An impost proposed by Robert Lowe (Lord Sherbrooke), Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1871. The proposal was excessively unpopular, and was withdrawn.
April 27, 1562, when two Protestant ministers. Mallard and Faveau, were to be burnt at the stake by order of Granville, Bishop of Arras. They were rescued by the populace.
The constitution established by the Polish Diet on May 3, 1791. It abolished the elective{162} monarchy, and named the Royal House of Saxony as successors to Poniatowski. It abolished the Liberum Veto, and vested the legislative authority in the King, the Senate and the Chamber of Nuncios, and the executive in the King, with a council of six Ministers.
The ship that carried the first colonists of New England, the Pilgrim Fathers, to the shores of America. They were chiefly Independents from the neighbourhood of Scrooby, in Lincolnshire, who under stress of persecution determined to leave England. They went first to Holland, and then, deciding to make their home in America, finally sailed from Plymouth on September 6, 1620. They landed on the shores of Cape Cod, and named their first township Plymouth.
By a decree of May 4, 1793, the French Convention established a maximum price for food stuffs, obliging farmers to state the quantity of grain in their possession, bring it to market, and accept a price fixed by the commune in which it was offered, such price to be based on the average price ruling in the district during the four previous months. Heavy penalties were enacted for concealment of grain supplies, and for taking more than the authorised price.
A grant to the Roman Catholic College of Maynooth, in Ireland, made in the face of strong Protestant opposition by Sir Robert Peel’s Government in 1845. It was abolished in 1869, at the time of the Disestablishment of the Irish Church.
The name given ironically to the suppression of the revolt of the Geraldines in 1535, when Maynooth Castle, the seat of the Earl of Desmond, was captured, and out of thirty-seven prisoners taken, twenty-six were executed.
A pretended plot, fabricated by Dangerfield in 1679, in emulation of Titus Oates, the inventor of the Popish Plot. Dangerfield averred that a Presbyterian plot existed to depose the King, and establish a Republic. After arrest he stated that this was only a blind to conceal a plot of the Papists, documents relating to which would be found hidden in a meal tub in the house of Mrs. Cellier, a Roman Catholic. This lady was tried for high treason and acquitted. Dangerfield was condemned to be flogged from Newgate to Tyburn and back, and died under the lash.
An edict issued in 1197, with the object of securing uniformity in weights and measures throughout England. It was, however, found impossible to obtain acceptance for this reform, and the edict remained a dead letter.
A constitution in which an attempt was made to harmonise the old Cantonal system with the new Helvetic Constitution, and which was imposed upon the Swiss by Napoleon in 1803.{163}
Members of the old ruling families of the smaller German States, who have at various times been deprived of their sovereign rights.
A treaty, signed in 870, by which Lewis the German and Charles the Bald divided the territories of their nephews, Lewis II and Charles. The former took Alsace and the Rhine Provinces, the latter Burgundy and Provence, thus finally separating Germany and France.
The decree confirming the Union of Sweden and Norway, accepted by the Norwegians in November, 1814, and defining the financial and other relations between the two kingdoms.
A treaty signed in 1593, between Queen Elizabeth and Henri IV of France, providing for an offensive and defensive alliance against Philip II of Spain.
A statute of Edward I, passed in 1283, giving protection to foreign merchants settled in England.
An Act passed in 1887, inflicting penalties for the use of false trade descriptions, and enacting that, in all cases of imported goods, when any question is likely to arise as to the country of origin, the same shall be clearly marked on the goods.
A guild of merchants established in Brabant in 1296. They received special trading privileges in England from Henry VII, and in 1564 were given a charter of incorporation by Elizabeth.
See Plimsoll’s Act.
A charter granted by Edward I in 1303, to foreign merchants trading in England, which at the same time imposed import and export duties on wool and other commodities passing through their hands.
See Wonderful Parliament.
A sobriquet of Charles II of England.
In Spanish America persons of mixed European and Indian blood are so called.
A system of land tenure in France, prior to the Revolution, by which the tenant was supplied by the landlord with stock and farming implements, and the produce of the land, after payment of taxes, was divided equally between them. Farmers holding land on this tenure were called métayers.
A treaty between England and Portugal, signed in 1703, whereby the latter was induced to join the Grand Alliance. It contained only two clauses, one admitting English woollen goods into Portugal, the other providing that Portuguese wines imported into England should{164} only pay one-third of the duty levied on French wines. This treaty was abrogated on the signing of a commercial treaty between England and France in 1786.
China is so called by the Chinese, who believe it to be the centre of the inhabited world.
A nickname of Henri III of France (1574-1589).
The name by which the hereditary sovereign of Japan was known to Europeans, in the early days of intercourse with that country. From the time of the Shôgun Iyeyasu, in the early part of the seventeenth century, the functions of the “Mikado” as a temporal ruler were usurped by the Shôguns, or Commanders-in-Chief, though he was always recognized as the de jure head of the State. Since the revolution, however, he has resumed his rightful position as Emperor of Japan. The title is now in disuse, the Emperor being known as the Tenno.
A decree issued by Napoleon in 1807, as a reply to the Orders in Council, declaring that every vessel, of whatever nationality, sailing to or from a British port or colony, had forfeited her neutrality, and was a lawful prize.
An Act of the Scottish Parliament, passed in 1662, forbidding any minister who had failed to comply with the provisions of the Episcopal Ordination Act to reside within five miles of a royal borough, or within twenty of his own parish.
A compromise, introduced by Bismarck in the Reichstag, between an annual vote for military purposes, and a vote for an indefinite period. It fixes the military establishment and the requisite supplies for a period of seven years.
A petition presented to James I by certain Puritan clergymen of the Church of England, said to have numbered a thousand, asking to be relieved from the celebration of certain ceremonies to which they were conscientiously opposed. The petition was rejected.
An Act passed in 1692, authorising the raising of one million sterling by means of tontine annuities, in aid of the expenses of the French War. This is the first instance of the English Government raising money by means of annuities.
The ministry of the Tiers Parti in France, under the Duc de Bassano, in 1834. It held office for three days only.
A ministry under Lord Grenville, with Fox as Foreign Secretary, formed on the death of Pitt in 1806. It is so called because it was not formed exclusively from Grenville’s supporters, but was an attempt to bring together the best men of{165} various political shades. Thus Earl Spencer and Mr. Windham, who had been members of Pitt’s first administration, held office in it.
These were closed to the free coinage of silver in 1893, and the value of the rupee for exchange purposes fixed at 1s. 4d.
A militia of 12,000 men enrolled during the American Civil War by the State of Massachusetts. They bound themselves to be ready for service at a moment’s notice.
The Russian village commune, holding and tilling land in common. The land is divided into plots, of which a certain number are allotted to each family, in proportion to its size. These plots are farmed by the family in common, and they pay into the coffers of the Mir a certain fixed sum, retaining the rest for the general use of the family. The Mir is responsible to the Government for the payment of the taxes of the community, which are in the nature of a poll-tax on the adult males. The division of the land is periodically revised, to meet changes in the circumstances of the different families. The affairs of the Mir are controlled by the village Elder, or Selski Starosta, who is elected by the heads of families.
A sobriquet of Danton, the French revolutionary leader.
Christina, Queen of Sweden (1632-1654), was so called.
See Amiens.
See Lewes.
A wild scheme, not unlike the South Sea Bubble, propounded by John Law in Paris in 1718. A company was formed, which was permitted to establish a Bank of Issue, the shares of which were offered to the national creditors in exchange for their stock. The company was also granted a monopoly of the trade with Canada and the Mississippi. The usual inflation of values followed, and subsequently the inevitable collapse, which almost amounted to national bankruptcy. It is also called “Law’s Bubble.”
An agreement between the slavery and anti-slavery parties of the United States in 1821, arising out of the admission of Missouri to the Union as a free-labour State. It was determined that slavery should only be lawful south of 36° 30´ north latitude. This arrangement was maintained until 1854, when it was violated by the admission of Kansas and Nebraska as territories, with the right to decide the slavery question for themselves.
In South America, under Spanish rule, the bodily service to which every Indian from fifteen to fifty was liable. Those upon whom the lot fell had to work for six months in the mines, and such were the conditions of servitude that barely a fifth survived the ordeal. It is esti{166}mated that over eight millions perished from this cause in Peru alone.
A riot at Mitchelstown, co. Cork, at a Land League meeting in August, 1887. The Government reporter and his police escort endeavoured to force their way through the crowd to the platform, which the crowd resented. The police lost their heads and fired on the people. “Remember Mitchelstown” was for some time afterwards the watchword of the Land-leaguers.
The name given to the Liberal Imperialist party in the first Reichstag of the German Empire.
The Constitution of Carolina, prepared by John Locke in 1670. It was the only constitution in America providing for an hereditary nobility, and recognizing different classes of citizens. It was in some respects feudal in its character, as the small cultivator was adscriptus glebæ, and had no franchise. North Carolina objected to the model, rose in revolt, and formed itself into a separate colony.
A sobriquet of the Comte de Mirabeau (1749-1801).
A name given to Catherine II of Russia (1762-1796), referring to her vicious and cruel character.
A treaty signed in 1512 between Bogdan, Voivode of Moldavia, and Selim I, Sultan of Turkey, by which Bogdan recognized the suzerainty of Turkey, and agreed to pay tribute.
The followers of Molina, the Spanish Jesuit, who was the principal antagonist of the Jansenists and Port Royal.
In Turkey, the name given to the principal judges, who, the law being more ecclesiastical than civil, exercise functions of almost a priestly character. In less civilized Moslem communities, as in Arabia, and among the Afridis and Afghans, the mollahs are priests or holy men.
An agrarian society formed in Ireland in 1843, to resist distraint for rent. They took their name, originally “Maguires,” from Cornelius Maguire, a leader in the Irish Rebellion of 1641, the word Molly being afterwards added because they usually dressed in women’s clothes when engaged in their raids.
An Irish secret society, which terrorized the mining districts of Pennsylvania from 1867 to 1877. Its object was, apparently, to control the State and municipal politics. In the latter year, owing to informers, its leaders were discovered and convicted, and the society broken up.
A Russian sect who model their institutions on the early Apostolic Church, as depicted in the New Testament. They{167} are strong upholders of the right of private judgment, allowing considerable latitude to individual opinion within the fold.
See Benedictines, Carmelites, Carthusians, Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits, Theatins.
A treaty between France and Austria, signed in 1626, after the French invasion of the Valtelline. It provided for a return in the Grisons and Valtelline to the status quo before 1617. Only Catholicism was to be tolerated in the valley. The Valtelline was to have the right of electing her own magistrates, subject to the veto of the Grisons, and was to pay the Grisons an annual tribute. The forts in the Valtelline and Chiavenna were to be razed.
A conference held at Brussels in 1892, to discuss the question of a bimetallic standard. Great diversity of opinion was shown by the delegates, and the conference dissolved without making any recommendations.
A statement of policy in the message to Congress of President Monroe in 1825, to the effect that the United States could not regard with indifference any further territorial expansion on the part of European Powers on the American Continent. The occasion for the pronouncement was the suspected intention of the Holy Alliance to interfere on behalf of Spain in her struggle with her revolted colonies. Various interpretations have been given to this doctrine, some, like that of Mr. Olney, going much further than President Monroe’s words warrant, but it is now generally held to mean that the United States will consider her interests involved, if any European Power seeks territorial aggrandisement in any part of America, or interferes with the internal affairs of any American State.
A nickname of Louis XVI, referring to the power given him by the Constitution of 1791 to veto the acts of the Legislative Assembly. Marie Antoinette was known as Madame Véto, as it was believed that it was largely her influence which induced the King to exercise his right.
A Spanish order of religious chivalry, established in 1317. They succeeded the Templars in Aragon.
A treaty between Louis XIII and the Huguenots, after their last appearance in arms in 1622. The King undertook to observe the Edict of Nantes, and gave the Huguenots two towns. La Rochelle and Montauban, as places of safety.
A club composed of friends of the Duc d’Orléans (Philippe Egalité), which was formed about 1789. Its object was to supplant the reigning dynasty by the Orleans branch. Among its prominent members were Mirabeau, Siéyès and Sillery.
In 1884 the Transvaal Boers{168} attacked Montsioa, a Bechuana chief under British protection, and forced him to make a treaty with them, in defiance of the London Convention. In the following year a force under Sir Charles Warren occupied the disturbed territory, which was brought under the British administration, and the Boers were forced to withdraw.
The extreme reactionaries of the Pelucones, or Conservative party, in Chile in 1850. They took their name from President Montt, and his Secretary of State, Varas.
An agrarian secret society, similar in its constitution and methods to the Whiteboys, which was guilty of numerous outrages in Ireland in 1881.
The final overthrow of the Moorish power in Spain was accomplished by the capture of Granada in 1492, under Ferdinand and Isabella. The terms of capitulation provided that the Moors, while remaining under Spanish dominion, should preserve their own laws, language and religion, with the right to hold property free of molestation. The non-Christian Moors were, however, expelled from Spain by Philip III in 1610.
An outbreak of negroes in Jamaica in 1865, which was promptly suppressed, and is only noteworthy as leading to the long controversy with regard to the action of Governor Eyre, whose repressive measures led to his recall. Several attempts were made to bring him to trial, but the case never got beyond the Grand Jury, who always declined to find a true bill.
A Protestant sect, having its origin in the Hussites, which was very numerous in Bohemia and Moravia in the sixteenth century. In 1627 they were expelled from these countries, and, later, settled in Saxony.
A letter purporting to be written by Garfield, on the eve of the Presidential Election in the United States in 1880, to a large employer of labour named Morey. It advocated free admission of Chinese labour, and it was hoped by the Democrats would seriously injure the Republican cause on the Pacific Slope. It was of course a forgery.
A sect founded by Joseph Smith, the son of a Vermont farmer, in 1830, at Fayette, New York State. The Mormons moved westward and, after several years’ wanderings, settled on the Great Salt Lake in 1847, under Brigham Young. Their advocacy of polygamy was for a long time a bar to the admission of Utah to the Union, but the enforcement of the Edmunds Act of 1882 led to the formal abandonment of polygamy as a tenet by the Mormons in 1890, and Utah was admitted a State in 1896.
A statute passed in 1279, to put a stop to the growing practice of giving landed property to the Church, and receiving{169} it back as tenants, thus evading feudal obligations. To prevent land thus passing into a dead hand (mortuum manum), all such alienations were forbidden, except with the King’s consent.
The scheme devised by Morton, the Minister of Henry VII, to increase the revenues of the State. He exacted contributions from those who lived well on the plea that they were obviously rich, and from those who lived plainly on the ground that their economy had made them wealthy.
The name given to an old-fashioned section of the Democratic party in the United States, most numerous in Ohio. The word is derived from the popular name for the snapping turtle, which is so called from the growth of a species of aquatic moss on its shell.
A body charged with the administration of the Russian National Church. Its members are appointed and removed by the Czar, and its head, the Procurator, is practically an autocrat in all matters of Church discipline. It has however no jurisdiction over matters of dogma.
The leader of the Shakers in Sussex, at the end of the eighteenth century. Her name was Ann Lee.
The State of Virginia is so called, as having furnished no less than six Presidents of the United States.
A name given to the State of Virginia, either as the oldest colony, or as having had five States, namely, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia, formed out of her original territories.
The Russian peasant.
An edict issued in 1566 by the Chancellor, de l’Hôpital, after a conference of Notables representing both the Huguenot and the Catholic parties. It dealt with the reform of judicial procedure.
The Jacobins, or ultra-revolutionary party in the Convention during the French Revolution. Its leaders were Danton and Robespierre. The Mountain came to an end with the fall of Robespierre and his followers on the 9th Thermidor (July 28, 1794). It was so called because its members occupied the upper tiers of seats in the Convention.
The massacre by Indians, under Mormon leadership, of a party of 140 emigrants, who were crossing Utah on their way to California in 1857. The Mormons had been for some time in difficulties with the United States Government, and Federal troops were in the neighbourhood of Salt Lake City, but no hostilities had taken place. The leader of the band, J. D. Lee, a Mormon Bishop, was executed for the crime on the actual site of the massacre in 1877.{170}
A name given to the Cameronians.
A section of the Republican party in the United States who, in 1884, supported Cleveland, the Democratic candidate for President, owing to his advocacy of Civil Service Reform. The word is also applied to those who for various reasons decline to attach themselves definitely to either of the great political parties.
A code of laws said to have been drawn up by Mulmutius, King of the Britons, circ. 400 B.C. They were translated by Alfred the Great, and remained the basis of English law until the Conquest.
Among the Franks the protection afforded by the King or a feudal lord to an ecclesiastic or other person not being an ordinary vassal.
An Act passed in 1835, dealing with 178 municipalities. In the majority of these the election to municipal offices had been entirely in the hands of the freemen, often a very small minority of the inhabitants. The Act instituted an electoral qualification of three years’ residence, and the payment of poor and borough rates. It also established town councils, and provided for an independent audit.
The second line of reserve, or militia, of the Turkish army.
This Act was passed for the first time in 1689, for one year only, and has since that time been passed annually. It gives disciplinary powers to the officers of the army and navy, apart from the ordinary process of law, and neither service could be maintained without it.
A secret association of the chefs d’ateliers, or middlemen, of the Lyons weavers, which ordered a strike of workmen in April, 1834. The strike resulted in a rising, which was promptly suppressed, and the leaders were prosecuted under the Associations Law.
A controversy which arose over an allegation of the Roman Catholics, in 1599, that Archbishop Parker’s consecration, forty years previously, had taken place in the most informal manner at the Nag’s Head Tavern, in Cheapside. The statement was proved to be entirely devoid of foundation.
A treaty between Great Britain and China, signed in 1842, at the close of the Opium War. By its terms England secured Hong Kong in perpetuity, and Shanghai and other ports were opened to foreign trade.
A sobriquet of Louis Philippe, whose peaceful reign of eighteen years was a marked contrast to{171} the constant wars of the Napoleonic era.
A republic founded by emigrant burghers from Cape Colony in 1838. It stretched from the Drakensberg to the sea, and from the Tugela to the Umzimvubu river, while Zululand, under Panda, was tributary to it. The British Government never recognized the republic, and in 1842 steps were taken to obtain possession of the country, in which a regular colonial government was established in 1845.
A phrase first applied to England by Samuel Adams, the American politician, in 1776. It is generally attributed to Napoleon, but was probably taken by him from a translation of the speech in which it occurs.
An association formed on the discovery of the Assassination Plot in 1696, at the suggestion of Sir Rowland Gwyn. The signatories declared their loyalty to the King, and bound themselves to take vengeance on all who might attempt his life.
The origin of the National Debt was a loan raised by Montague, afterwards Lord Halifax, in 1693. The lenders were life-annuitants, and as each died his annuity was divided among the survivors till only seven remained; after which, on the death of each of the seven, his portion was absorbed by the Government.
An urban militia raised in Paris in 1789 by Flesselles, Prévôt des Marchands. It took a leading part in the destruction of the Bastille.
A body of volunteers raised by Napper Tandy in Ireland in 1792. They were promptly suppressed by the Government.
A force recruited from surrendered Boers, for service as scouts with the British Army, during the latter stages of the Boer War of 1899-1902.
An association formed in 1859, the declared object of which was to substitute for the Confederation the German constitution of 1848, under the hegemony of Prussia, and to the complete exclusion of Austria. Its founder was Baron Benigsen of Hanover.
The Battle of Leipsic, fought on October 16, 17 and 18, 1813, is so called. Five nations—France, Prussia, Russia, Austria and Sweden, were engaged.
The contributions in kind exacted for the support of the royal household among the Franks.
An Act of Congress passed in 1870, which, while authorizing the naturalization of the African negro, declined to admit to the citizenship Indians and Chinese.
A claim was brought before{172} the French courts in 1874 by the son of a clock-maker of Delft, named Naundorff. The claimant, who called himself Adalbert de Bourbon, demanded to be recognized as the grandson of Louis XVI, on the ground that his father, Naundorff, was in reality the Dauphin, who had been imprisoned in the Temple, and of whose escape he told a marvellous story. The courts dismissed his claim.
An Act passed in 1651, under the Commonwealth, prohibiting the importation of goods into England except in British ships, or in ships belonging to the country of origin of the goods. The Act was renewed in 1672, and, with the modifications then introduced, continued in force till the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, when the English Government agreed to suspend its operation so far as concerned vessels of the United States.
A verse of the Psalms, read by condemned criminals who claimed “benefit of clergy,” as a test of their clerkship. It was so called because those who succeeded in reading it in clerkly fashion were handed over to the ecclesiastical authorities, and saved their necks.
The title of the King of Abyssinia or Ethiopia.
An edict issued by Henri III in 1785, withdrawing all the privileges accorded to the Huguenots by previous edicts, and giving them six months to conform to the Roman Catholic Church or to leave the realm.
A treaty signed in 1815, at the end of the Ghoorka war, between the British and Nepaul. By its provisions Nepaul relinquished all rights over the Hill Rajahs west of the Kali river, ceded the major portion of the Terai, restored the territory conquered from the Rajah of Sikkim, and agreed to receive a British resident at Khatmandu.
See Bianchi.
A treaty between Russia and China signed in 1689, and notable as being the first convention between China and a European Power. This treaty put a stop for nearly 150 years to Russia’s eastward expansion in Siberia.
Leopold I, King of the Belgians (1831-1865) was so called.
July 27, 1794, the day on which the Decree of Accusation was launched against Robespierre, Couthon, St. Just and the other extremists of the Revolution, thus putting an end to the Reign of Terror.
A system of granting to foreign merchants the privilege of trading with English ports in return for a subsidy. This system was introduced by Edward I in 1303, and is the origin of Customs Duties.{173}
A change of programme on the part of a section of the Democratic party in the United States in 1871. They admitted that all, including negroes, were entitled to equal rights and full citizenship, but demanded a universal amnesty for the Southerners, condemned protective duties as levied solely in the interests of the Northern manufacturers, and strongly protested against the Force Bill of 1870.
A union of the four New England Colonies, Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut, formed in 1643 for mutual protection against the Dutch and the Indians.
The name given in England to the revival of learning in the West, the first manifestation of which was the Italian Renaissance.
The name given to the Parliamentary Army as reformed by the Self-denying Ordinance of 1645.
A republic formed in 1884 in what was later the Vryheid district of the Transvaal, the territory having been given by Dinizulu to certain Boers in return for their help in his war with Usibepu. Lucas Meyer was elected president, but the republic was short-lived, being absorbed by the South African Republic in 1887.
A nickname given to the Constitution of the United States shortly after its promulgation.
The name given to the Gregorian Calendar, introduced into England by the Calendar Act of 1752.
A township started in 1890, under the Plan of Campaign, with the object of bringing to terms the owner of the land on which the town of Tipperary stands. The scheme was a complete fiasco, and collapsed in 1891.
This form of trade unionism had its rise about 1884. It differs from the old unionism in that it is frankly Socialistic in its tendencies, and demands State interference between workmen and employers, whereas the old demanded only to be left alone and to be allowed the right of combination for the advancement of the interests of the workers.
By an Act passed in 1876, during the premiership of Sir Julius Vogel, the nine provinces of New Zealand were united, with one Parliament sitting at Wellington. The nine provincial Parliaments were abolished, their administrative functions being entrusted to road boards in the country districts and municipalities in the towns.
The platform of the Liberal party at the general election{174} of 1892, based on resolutions passed at the meeting of the National Liberal Federation at Newcastle in October, 1891. The “planks” of the platform were Abolition of the House of Lords, Home Rule, Disestablishment of the Church in Wales, Taxation of Ground Values, and One Man One Vote.
See French Shore.
The final attempt of the Parliament to come to terms with the King in 1648. Negotiations were opened at Newport, but the King contested every demand of the Parliament, and the Independents, supported by the Army, lost patience, and confined the King in Hurst Castle.
An Œcumenical Council held during the reign of the Empress Irene, at which the decrees of the Council of Constantinople with regard to image-worship were reversed.
A decree of the Sultan Ahmed I in 1604, granting the Venetians certain trading and navigating facilities in the Ottoman dominions.
A sobriquet of the Great Napoleon.
The Russian revolutionary society, an important section of which is in favour of physical force. Their position is perhaps best explained by the manifesto issued after the assassination of the Czar Alexander II in 1881, in which they declare their object to be the amelioration of the condition of the peasantry, and the introduction of more civilized methods of government. They go on to say that Russia demands a new system, and that, their peaceful efforts having only met with repression, they have been driven to adopt violent means to gain their ends.
A treaty signed in 1678, following the five years’ war of Louis XIV against Holland and Spain. Louis obtained Franche-Comté and sixteen fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands.
An edict issued in 1629, shortly after the fall of La Rochelle, which, while confirming the religious freedom granted to the Huguenots by the Edict of Nantes, deprived them of their special political status, and thus broke up the Huguenot League.
A constitution drawn up at Winburg in 1837 by the emigrant burghers who had settled between the Orange and the Vaal rivers after the Great Trek. A Volksraad was elected, and the burghers bound themselves to observe the old Roman-Dutch law, except when inconsistent with the articles of the constitution.
The Irish rebellion under Lord Edward Fitzgerald and Wolfe Tone in 1798. The rebellion had been carefully planned for some years before the out{175}break, and, the sympathies of the French having been enlisted, a landing by Hoche was attempted at Bantry Bay. This was unsuccessful, and a little later Humbert, who landed at Killala, was forced to surrender to Lord Cornwallis. Horrible outrages were perpetrated by the rebels, and the consequent reprisals gave a most bloodthirsty character to the whole affair. The rebels were finally defeated at Vinegar Hill, which put an end to all organized resistance, though there were a few isolated risings from time to time. Wolfe Tone was captured and condemned to death, but escaped the scaffold by suicide. Fitzgerald was killed a few days before the outbreak, resisting the military who were about to arrest him.
This title was given to nine members of the Privy Council of William III, namely, the Duke of Devonshire, the Earls of Nottingham, Dorset, Monmouth, Orford, Pembroke and Marlborough, Lord Caermarthen, and Sir John Lowther.
The regular infantry of the Turkish Army.
An agitation against the action of the Pope in creating Cardinal Wiseman Archbishop of Westminster in 1851. To appease the Protestant party the Government brought in the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill.
The rising of Rhenish knights under Franz von Sickingen in 1522. They were bitterly hostile to the Suabian League and to the new institutions, such as the Reichskammergericht. The rising was suppressed in the following year.
“The blood-red wedding” was the name given afterwards to the marriage between the Protestant Henry of Navarre and the Catholic Marguerite de Valois in May 1572, only three months before the massacre of the Huguenots on the eve of St. Bartholomew.
The night of June 20, 1520, when the Spaniards under Cortes were attacked by the Mexicans as they were evacuating Mexico, and suffered very heavy losses.
The code of laws promulgated by Louis XIV in 1685 to be enforced in the West Indian colonies of France. It had special reference to the treatment of negroes, whether slaves or freedmen.
The district south of the Basuto country, now known as Griqualand East, was so called in 1860. It was settled in 1861 by the migration of Adam Kok and his tribe of Griquas from the country they had previously occupied between the Orange and the Riet Rivers.
A district lying between Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, and the Indian territory, which now forms part of the territory of Oklahoma.{176}
The same name is given to a strip of land in dispute between the States of Delaware and Pennsylvania.
Barebone’s Parliament is sometimes known by this name.
See Compounders.
The clergymen, between three and four hundred in number, who refused to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy on the accession of William III in 1689.
The doctrine that it was a deadly sin to oppose the will of the King as being sovereign by Divine right. This tenet was preached by the Anglican clergy in the times of the Stuarts. It was also called the “Doctrine of Passive Obedience.”
The name usually given to the mutinies in the fleet at the Nore and Spithead, which broke out in 1797. The discontent, due to real grievances, first showed itself at Spithead, where Lord Howe, who was in command, succeeded by his tact in arranging matters satisfactorily, and nothing very serious occurred. At the Nore the mutiny assumed a political character, the men demanding a revision of the Articles of War and other impossible concessions. Their demands being refused the mutineers seized the fleet, but gradually yielded, and finally Parker, the ringleader, was arrested and hanged, with four or five others.
See Baiser de Lamourette.
A council established by Henry VIII in 1536, after the Insurrection of the North, to deal with questions arising out of that event. In the reign of Charles I it was reorganized by Wentworth on the lines of the Star Chamber, and it was finally abolished by Act of Parliament in 1641.
A Russian secret society. (See December Rising.)
A confederation of twenty-two States north of the Maine, formed in 1867, after the signing of the Treaty of Prague, under the perpetual presidency of Prussia. Two assemblies were formed, one, the Reichstag, being representative of the people, the other, the Bundesrath, being composed of delegates from the Governments of the twenty-two States.
A treaty between England and Scotland, signed in 1328, by which Robert Bruce was acknowledged as King of Scotland, and the independence of Scotland was recognized, Edward III renouncing his suzerainty. Bruce agreed to pay compensation for damage in the North of England, and to reinstate the Scottish lords who had been dispossessed on account of their supporting Edward.
A treaty signed between Æthelred and the Northmen in{177} 868, by which Mercia was saved from their depredations.
The Vendean refugees who had fled to Nantes in 1793 were, by order of Carrier, crowded into boats, which were towed out into the middle of the river and sunk. This wholesale murder is known as “The Noyades.”
A code of laws designed to ameliorate the condition of the Indians in the Spanish Colonies, promulgated at Madrid in 1543. They were largely due to the efforts of Las Casas.
The supporters of State Rights in the Southern States were thus called, from the action of South Carolina, in 1832, in declaring unconstitutional and “nullifying” an Act of Congress imposing import duties on textile fabrics.
The famous number of the North Briton, which appeared on April 23, 1763, and attacked the King’s Speech at the close of the previous session. It led to the expulsion of John Wilkes from the House of Commons.
Elizabeth Barton, a woman of humble birth, who claimed to have the gift of prophecy, and formed a rallying point for the discontented Catholics after the divorce of Catherine by Henry VIII. She was in correspondence with Catherine and with the Emperor, and although no treasonable practices could be proved against her, she was an undoubted danger to the State. She was arrested and executed in 1534.
A name given derisively to the State of Connecticut in allusion to their supposed large trade in wooden nutmegs.
A treaty between Russia and Sweden, signed in 1721, at the conclusion of the prolonged war which had been commenced in 1700. Peter the Great secured for Russia the provinces, of Livonia, Esthonia, Ingria, Carelia, and part of Finland.
A series of riots which disturbed London in 1809, owing to Kemble having raised the prices at Covent Garden Theatre. The mob demanded the “old prices.” Clifford, a barrister, was charged with inciting to riot by appearing in the theatre with the letters “O.P.” in his hat, but was acquitted, whereupon Kemble gave way.
An agrarian society in Ulster in 1763. It was formed to protest against the action of the Grand Juries, who had decided upon the construction of certain roads which the peasantry maintained were to be made solely in the interests of the great landowners.
A formula drawn up after Gunpowder Plot in 1606, which{178} asserted the supremacy of the Sovereign in ecclesiastical matters, and denied the power of the Pope to relieve his subjects from their allegiance, or to depose him.
The oath of allegiance taken by Charles and Louis, the sons of Louis le Débonnaire, to their brother Lothair, the Emperor, after the battle of Fontenay in 841.
The chief of the Westphalian Vehmgericht, as representative of the Emperor. The post was usually filled by the Archbishop of Cologne.
A proclamation under the Great Seal in 1603, by which James I promised a complete amnesty to all those who had taken part in the rebellions in Ireland during the reign of his predecessor.
A bill introduced into Parliament in 1703 to render illegal the practice of nonconformists receiving the sacrament according to the rites of the Church of England, in order to qualify for municipal office, and then returning to their own form of worship. The bill entailed heavy penalties on all those who held office under these conditions. The bill failed to pass, was reintroduced in the following session, and was again thrown out, while a further attempt to pass it in 1704 was defeated by the Lords. It at last became law in 1711.
The nickname given to the following of Daniel O’Connell in the House of Commons, after the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832.
A club composed of Tories and Jacobites, formed in 1710. Among its members were Bolingbroke and his followers.
A system of land tenure among the Norsemen, by which property in the land was absolute. It was probably land allotted to the warrior after conquest, to be held by him and his descendants, though according to the Gulathing’s law, it could not become Odal until it had been held for three generations. The udallers of Orkney hold under this tenure.
See Storthing.
The General Councils of the Church accepted by ecclesiastical authorities as genuinely Œcumenical are twenty-one in number, namely: two of Nicæa, four of Constantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon, five Lateran Councils, two of Lyons, Vienna, Constance, Basle, Florence, Trent and the Vatican.
The name given to the antechamber in the Palace of Versailles. It was so called from two bull’s-eye windows near the ceiling.
A company of Virginian set{179}tlers who colonised the Ohio Valley under a charter from the British Government in 1749.
A nickname of President Abraham Lincoln.
A section of the Roman Catholics in Germany who, under the leadership of Dr. Döllinger, rejected the dogma of Papal Infallibility imposed by the Vatican Council in 1870.
The Conservative section of the Czech or National party in Bohemia.
A name given to the State of Virginia, as the original English Colony in America.
A sobriquet of William III of England.
Andrew Jackson, President of the United States from 1829 to 1837, was so called on account of his obstinacy of character.
The Conservative wing of the Democratic party in New York, 1824-1848.
The State of Maryland is so called with reference to the Mason and Dixon Line, which divides it from Pennsylvania.
See Assassins.
A nickname of Mr. W. H. Smith, leader of the House of Commons from 1887 1891.
A nickname of Oliver Cromwell.
James Edward, son of James II, was so called by the adherents of the Hanoverian succession.
General Zachary Taylor, President of the United States in 1849, was so called by his soldiers during the Mexican war.
A nickname of Charles II.
The old or Julian Calendar, superseded in England by the Gregorian in 1751, but still in use in Russia.
A code of commercial and maritime laws founded on the Consolato del Mare, issued in the reign of Louis IX of France.
An appeal to the King by the Second American Congress, 1775, expressing a desire for reconciliation, but offering no concessions. The King, however, refused to receive it, on the ground that it was issued by an unauthorized assembly.
Also called the Humiliation of Olmütz. A convention signed in 1850 between Prussia and Austria, by which the former Power renounced all her projects of union, and recognized the restoration of the old Germanic Diet, under the presidency of Austria.{180}
An extension of the Monroe Doctrine put forward by Mr. Olney, President Cleveland’s Secretary of State, in a despatch on the Venezuela boundary question in July, 1895. He claimed that Great Britain had no right to interfere on the American Continent, and that, if force was necessary, British Guiana must rely on her own resources, without calling in aid from Great Britain. He further maintained that the United States had a right to insist upon all claims concerning questions of territory being submitted to arbitration unreservedly, and was justified in taking steps to satisfy herself that no territory had been or was being unwarrantably annexed. Lord Salisbury absolutely repudiated this doctrine, and refused in any sense to accept it as binding on Great Britain.
A secret society having its headquarters in Servia, whose object is the establishment of a Pan-Slavic confederation on a republican basis. It has from time to time caused Austria some trouble in Bohemia.
The declared English policy in China, as opposed to the policy of “Spheres of Influence.” It is defined in the Anglo-German agreement of 1900 as the free access, under equal conditions, of all nations to the ports, rivers and littorals of China.
A commission appointed in 1893 to inquire into the opium question in India. The commission reported in 1895, eight out of nine members signing the report, to the effect that the use of opium in India was strictly moderate, that native opinion made no demand for restriction, that any interference with the growing of opium in the native states would be unjustifiable, and that the Government of China was perfectly satisfied with the existing arrangements as to the opium trade. There was, therefore, in the opinion of the commissioners, absolutely no ground for legislative interference.
The war with China in 1840 is so called, because it arose out of the action of the Chinese authorities, who in their efforts to stop opium smuggling, insisted on the forfeiture of the stocks of opium in the hands of British merchants in China. It resulted in the cession to Great Britain in perpetuity of Hong Kong, and the opening of Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai as treaty ports.
A school, rather than a party, in French politics who, unlike the Doctrinaires, do not seek to enforce their views in season and out of season, but allow due weight to considerations of expediency. Among them may be named Gambetta and Jules Ferry.
A nickname given to Sir Robert Peel, when Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1812-18,{181} on account of the strong anti-Catholic bias he is considered to have displayed.
A society of the Protestants of Ulster, founded in 1790, originally in opposition to the Catholic Defenders. It has remained, however, a strong and important body in the north of Ireland, firmly attached to the Union, and bitterly anti-Catholic.
A commission of twenty-one persons, to whom the Government of England was confided for a period of eighteen months (1309-1310) during the reign of Edward II. Their task was to propound a scheme for the reform of the Government.
This is of Norse origin, and was practised in England in Anglo-Saxon and early Norman times. The ordeal was of various kinds, one of the most severe consisting in the accused walking barefoot and blindfold over red-hot ploughshares. If within a given period the burns so caused were not healed he was adjudged guilty. The ordeal was forbidden by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215.
England’s reply to Napoleon’s Berlin Decree, establishing the Continental Blockade, was the issue of a series of Orders in Council. They forbade vessels to trade between any ports in France or the territories of the allies, granted the right of reprisals against Tuscany, Naples, Dalmatia and the Ionian Islands, declared a blockade against all ports from which the English flag was excluded, and finally declared the sale of ships by a belligerent to a neutral illegal. These orders had a very serious effect upon the American carrying trade, and the irritation caused thereby was one of the causes of the outbreak of war in 1812.
An Act providing for the Government of the North-West Territory, passed by the United States Congress in 1784.
An Act of Congress making further provision for the government of the North-West Territory, and decreeing freedom from slavery and religious toleration.
The articles of reform prepared by the Lords Ordainers in the reign of Edward II and agreed to by the King and Parliament in 1311. They provided that no war should be undertaken without the consent of Parliament, that all customs duties imposed since the death of Edward I should be removed; that the great officers of state should be nominated with the consent of Parliament; that Parliament should meet annually, and that the King’s undesirable companions should be removed and his household reformed. Piers Gaveston in particular being banished from the kingdom.
An edict issued in May, 1413, by Charles VI of France, reforming the finances and abo{182}lishing numerous sinecures about the Court.
The decrees issued by Charles X on July 24, 1830. The first suspended the liberty of the Press, the second dissolved the Chamber of Deputies, and the third ordained that the future Chamber should consist only of Deputies from the Departments. A revolutionary outbreak, fomented by the journalists, followed immediately on the promulgation of these ordinances, and Charles fled from Paris, and abdicated on August 3.
A treaty between Great Britain and the United States, signed in 1846, defining the frontier between Oregon and British Columbia. It involved the settlement of the claim to Vancouver Island in favour of Great Britain.
A Russian ukase, issued in 1832, withdrawing constitutional government from Poland.
Lazare Nicolas Carnot, the revolutionary leader, was so called during the wars of the French Revolution.
The ancient standard of France: a crimson flag attached to a gilded lance.
The party among the French Royalists who supported the claims of the Orleans Branch of the French Royal Family to the throne of France. On the death of the last of the French Bourbons in 1883 the party was augmented by the adhesion of the majority of the Legitimists.
An edict issued in 1561 by the Chancellor, de l’Hôpital, proclaiming certain reforms in the Church and the Justiciary. In the former category were included the abolition of annates and of the sale of benefices, and in the latter the abolition of all extraordinary Courts of Justice. It further authorized the Government to take possession of the surplus income of all religious communities, and to apply the sum thus obtained to educational purposes.
The name given to the insurrectionary government established at Bordeaux in 1652. It is derived from the fact of the leaders of the movement holding their meetings under a large elm near the Fort du Ha.
Marie Thérèse, Duchess of Angouléme, the daughter of Louis XVI, was so called in allusion to her three years’ imprisonment in the Temple in Paris.
A conspiracy to murder Napoleon III by blowing up his carriage as he was on his way to the opera in 1858. The Emperor escaped unhurt, but ten persons were killed and 158 injured by the explosion of the bombs. Orsini, who was captured and executed, had been a refugee in London,{183} where the plot was hatched, a fact which led to an intensely hostile feeling towards England on the part of the French.
The outcome of a conference at Ostend in 1854 between Messrs. Buchanan, Mason and Soulé, the representatives of the United States at the Courts of Great Britain, France and Spain respectively. They were asked to advise on the Cuban question, and advised their Government that the proper course was purchase, or if Spain refused to sell, that the United States were fully justified in using force if they felt themselves sufficiently powerful.
In old Japan a friendly association of the Chônin, or wardsmen of the large towns. They were very particular as to the character of their members, their aim being mutual assistance against oppression and wrong-doing of every kind, while among themselves they were a sort of benefit society, aiding those of their members who through misfortune were in need of assistance.
A conference of delegates from the British self-governing colonies, held at Ottawa in 1894. The conference agreed to resolutions asking for Imperial legislation enabling the Colonies to enter into treaties of reciprocity with each other, and the denunciation of existing foreign treaties which prevented this. The delegates further pronounced in favour of preferential customs arrangements between the Mother Country and the Colonies, of a line of fast steamers between Canada and Australia, and of an “All Red” cable to Australia.
A proclamation issued by Lord Canning after the fall of Lucknow in 1858, confiscating all proprietary rights to land in Oude, with the exception of the estates of seven unimportant proprietors. All others must throw themselves on the mercy of the British Government, and clemency would be extended to them, if they had not been concerned in the murder of Englishmen. This proclamation was considered by Lord Ellenborough unduly severe, and a controversy arose which nearly led to Lord Canning’s resignation.
A Spanish Order of Knighthood, instituted in 1218 by James I of Aragon. Its special mission was to work for the deliverance of captives in the hands of the Moors.
Among the Norsemen certain crimes, such as the violation of a temple, or secret or unprovoked murder, could not be atoned for by “weregild,” and were punished by confiscation of all property and loss of all rights, the criminal becoming an outlaw. A man was also outlawed if he or his family were unable to pay “weregild.”
An abortive conspiracy to{184} overthrow the Commonwealth and murder Cromwell, Lambert and other leading men, in 1655. It was headed by Major-General Overton, one of the most successful of the Parliamentary generals.
A movement, designed to bring the Church of England nearer to the Church of Rome, which took its rise at Oxford in 1841. Its leaders were Keble, Pusey and Newman, and their views were in the first instance published to the world in a series of papers called “Tracts for the Times,” whence it is also known as the Tractarian Movement. Its followers were generally called Puseyites by their opponents.
The attempted assassination of Queen Victoria by Edward Oxford in 1840 is so called. He fired twice at the Queen, but missed. At his trial he was found to be insane, and was incarcerated in Bethlem Hospital, and afterwards in Broadmoor.
A commission specially nominated to hear and determine specific cases, especially of high treason, in England. This legal form was extended to Scotland in 1709, after the abortive trial of the Stirlingshire Jacobites under the ordinary Scotch procedure in 1708.
The war between Chile on the one side and Peru and Bolivia on he other in 1879-83 is so called.
The agreement entered into between the nobles and candidates for the throne at the election of the Polish kings. The terms agreed upon at the election of Henry in 1573 included the following: Henry undertook not to influence the diet in the choice of his successor, not to declare war, to marry or to divorce without their consent, not to impose taxes nor to appoint ambassadors. These terms were known as the Articles of Henry, and similar disabilities were imposed upon subsequent kings of Poland.
See Malisset.
A conspiracy of Count Pahlen, Governor of St. Petersburg, in 1801, to dethrone Paul I. The Czarewitch gave his countenance to the plot, with the stipulation that no bodily harm should befall his father. Paul was nevertheless murdered by Pahlen and his accomplices.
A treaty between Catherine de’ Medici and the Huguenots in 1576, whereby the Huguenots were allowed the exercise of their religion in certain towns which they held. Certain appanages were granted to their leaders, Condé, Henry of Navarre and others.
The Peace of Cambray, so called because it was negotiated by Louise of Savoy, mother of Francis I, and Margaret, aunt of Charles V.
The name of the Patched-up{185} Peace is given to the Peace between Jean Sans Peur, Duke of Burgundy, and the Duc d’Orléans, the leader of the Armagnacs in 1407. It was a device of Jean to get the Duc d’Orléans into his power and three days afterwards Orléans was murdered by the Duke of Burgundy’s agents.
The same title is sometimes given to the Peace of Longjumeau, between Charles IX and the Huguenots in 1586.
A select band of knights in the service of Charlemagne, the most famous of whom was Roland or Orlando. Most of them were killed at the Battle of Roncesvalles, where Charlemagne’s troops were defeated by the Moors in 778.
See Heidelberg Catechism.
In Poland the generals of the forces raised in the various palatinates, or provinces, were so called.
The portion of Ireland subdued and settled by Henry II in 1175, within which only the English law was in force.
See Pfahlbürger.
The cloak or robe of office sent by the Pope to metropolitans and other high dignitaries of the Church, without which they could not enter upon the exercise of their functions.
A name given to the State of South Carolina, in allusion to the number of palmettos growing within its borders. The palmetto is in the arms of the State.
The nickname of Lord Palmerston.
A congress of the various States of North, South and Central America, organized by James G. Blaine during the term of office of President Harrison, and held at Washington in 1890. Among the subjects discussed were reciprocity treaties, and a uniform standard of coinage, weights and measures for the American Continent. No practical results, however, accrued.
A movement in Germany and the German provinces of Austria, to unite the latter to the German Empire. The Austrian Pan-Germans make no secret of their desire to break up the Austrian Empire with this end in view.
A secret movement fomented by certain fanatical Mohammedans, for the freedom of all Moslems from Christian domination. It cannot be said to be in any way organized, but its emissaries are from time to time found at work in Mohammedan districts under Russian and British rule.
A Russian movement having for its ideal the confederation of all the Slavonic nations under the hegemony of Russia. The Pan-Slavists are naturally strong advocates of a forward{186} policy in the political relations of Russia and Turkey.
A treaty between the United States and Colombia, signed in January, 1903, providing for the acquisition by the former Power of the canal rights of the new Panama Company. The United States secured a strip of territory, six miles wide, along the route of the canal, against a payment to Colombia of £2,000,000 and an annual subsidy. This is granted on a lease for a hundred years, renewable at the option of the United States. An arrangement is made for joint police and judicial control, but the subjects of the United States can claim to be tried by their own courts. The port dues are ceded by Colombia to the United States.
During the investigation, in 1892, into the affairs of the Panama Canal Company, which had become bankrupt, it was discovered that large sums of money belonging to the shareholders were not properly accounted for. It appeared that in order to get the Panama Lottery Bill passed in 1888, the Baron de Reinach had distributed three millions of francs in bribes to deputies and senators, and that over one hundred had accepted bribes to vote for the bill. The directors of the company, including M. de Lesseps and his son, were tried and found guilty of malversation of the company’s funds, and several deputies and senators, including eight ex-ministers, were prosecuted for receiving bribes. The Parisians called this affair “La Lessive du Panama,” or the Panama dirty linen.
The bank scandal in Italy in 1893, in which several deputies were involved, was known as the Panamino, or Little Panama.
A corps of Hottentots and half-breeds, raised by the Dutch East India Company at the Cape in 1793.
A rising of the Mohammedans of Yunnan against China, which broke out in 1855, under the leadership of Dow-Win-Sheou. The rising was successful, and the Viceroy of Yunnan finally signed a treaty by which Dow-Win-Sheou was given practically uncontrolled sway over Western Yunnan. After his death the Peking Government at last determined to restore the Imperial rule and dispatched a force for that purpose in 1867 which, after a long conflict, defeated and almost exterminated the Mohammedans.
This was made a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church by a decree of the Vatican Council in 1870. It is decreed that in all matters of faith and morals the Pope is infallible when he speaks ex cathedrâ, that is to say, officially as the vicegerent of God.
John Law of the Mississippi Scheme was so called from his issue of large amounts of paper{187} money without an adequate reserve in specie.
The harem of Louis XV of France in the Park of Versailles.
A fund raised by subscriptions from America for the support of the Irish Home Rule agitation and of the evicted tenants. It was deposited in Paris, and was under the control of Parnell. After his death in 1891, a serious quarrel followed between the Parnellites and the anti-Parnellites as to the disposal of the fund. Eventually, in 1894, it was handed over to Mr. Justin McCarthy.
The name given to the massacre of St. Bartholomew.
A treaty between England, France and Spain, at the close of the Seven Years War. England obtained the whole of the French possessions in America, except New Orleans and the territory west of the Mississippi, together with Florida, ceded by Spain in return for Havana, which was restored to her. The French fishing rights on the Newfoundland coast and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence were formally recognized. Guadeloupe and Martinique were restored to France, who also obtained St. Lucia. England recovered Minorca, in exchange for which France ceded to Spain Louisiana west of the Mississippi. In India, France retained her factories, but agreed to withdraw her troops.
A treaty between France and the Allied Powers, signed in 1814, after the entry of the Allies into Paris. By its provisions France was restricted to her frontier of 1790, with the exception of a slight increase of territory, including some strong places, towards the Rhine, and about half Savoy, towards the Alps. Mauritius was surrendered to England, who retained Malta and the Cape of Good Hope. The independence of the German and Swiss states, and of the Italian states outside the Austrian dominions was proclaimed. Holland, under the rule of the Prince of Orange, was to receive an accession of territory, which, by a secret article, was declared to be Belgium. Sardinia received Genoa, in compensation for the portion of Savoy ceded to France. These provisions formed the basis for discussion at the Congress which met immediately afterwards at Vienna to settle the affairs of Europe.
A treaty between France and the Allies, signed in 1815, after the Waterloo Campaign. France lost the advanced frontier accorded her by the treaty of 1814, and was restricted absolutely to her frontier of 1790. She was further mulcted in a sum of seven hundred million francs, to be paid within five years, and pending payment an army of occupation was to hold certain fortresses.
A treaty signed by England, France, Russia, Turkey, Prussia{188} and Sardinia, after the close of the Crimean War. It provided for the return of Kars to Turkey and of Sebastopol to Russia. The Powers agreed to respect the integrity of Turkey, while the Sultan undertook to issue a firman ameliorating the condition of his Christian subjects. The Black Sea was neutralized, and the Bosphorus and Dardanelles closed to ships of war in time of peace, while the navigation of the Danube was thrown open to all nations. The treaty also dealt with the laws of maritime war, and the following principles were accepted by the signatories: (1) Privateering to be henceforth unlawful; (2) The flag to cover the merchandise, except in the case of contraband of war; (3) Neutral goods under an enemy’s flag not to be liable to capture, unless contraband of war; (4) Blockades not to be binding unless effective. In 1870 Russia took advantage of the Franco-German War to repudiate the clause neutralizing the Black Sea.
A treaty between Great Britain and Persia, by which Persia renounced all her rights in Afghanistan, including Herat, and undertook to submit to the arbitration of Great Britain any questions that might arise between her and Afghanistan. By a clause in this treaty the slave trade in the Persian Gulf was made illegal.
An Act passed by the Irish Parliament in 1537, providing that no person should be appointed to any benefice in Ireland who was not acquainted with the English language, and requiring every beneficed clergyman to establish and maintain English schools in his parish, and to teach his parishioners the prayers of the Church in the English tongue.
The judicial body which succeeded the Cours Plénières, or Baronial Courts of the early French kings. It was organized by Louis IX, and was at first without any fixed seat, though under Philip the Fair in 1302 it was established in Paris and became known as the Parlement de Paris. It was then composed of two prelates, two nobles, thirteen clerics and thirteen laymen. Its earliest records are dated 1254. Later, similar bodies, known also as Parlements, were established in the chief provincial centres.
To this Parliament of Henry III, in addition to the knights of the shires, who had been summoned intermittently since the reign of William the Conqueror, there were summoned, for the first time in English history, two burgesses from each of the principal cities. The first regular Parliament, however, in which all the estates of the realm were duly represented is generally held to have been that of Edward I, which met in 1294.
See Addled, Barebone’s, Bats, Cavalier, Club, Convention, Devil’s, Drunken, Dunces, Good, Grattan’s, Long, Mad, Merciless, Pensioned, Reformed,{189} Rump, Short, Unlearned, Useless, White Bands, Wonderful.
Althing, Bundesrath, Chambre, Congress, Cortes, Delegations, Folkething, Junta, Landesgemeinde, Landstag, Long Diet, Odalsthing, Potchefstroom, Reichsrath, Reichstag, Rigsdag, Skuptschina, Sobranje, States General, Storthing, Thing, United Diet, Volksraad.
A commission appointed by Act of Parliament in 1888 to try the charges brought against Mr. Parnell by the Times in their articles “Parnellism and Crime.” The gravamen of these charges was that Parnell and other Irish leaders were insincere in their condemnation of agrarian crime, and they were based on a series of letters sold to the Times by a certain Pigott. In one of these letters Mr. Parnell wrote that Mr. Burke, who was murdered in Phœnix Park, had only got his deserts. Under cross-examination Pigott broke down, and confessed that the letters were forgeries. The Commission cleared Parnell and the other Irish members of the graver charges, but considered their complicity in much of the lawlessness of the Land League clearly proved.
The followers of Mr. Parnell in the House of Commons, especially the small section of the party which remained faithful to him after his deposition from the leadership in 1890, and which continued in opposition to the Anti-Parnellites after his death, under the leadership of Mr. Redmond.
Descendants of the ancient Zoroastrians of Persia, who, rather than forsake their religion, fled to India, on the conquest of Persia by the Caliph Omar in 651. They form a community of about 85,000, with their headquarters in Bombay.
See Pfaffen-Kaiser.
A short-lived republic, established in the kingdom of Naples in 1799, as the result of a popular rising.
A treaty between Great Britain, Holland and Spain, signed in 1698, with the object of dealing in anticipation with the claims of the rival pretenders to the Spanish succession. It was agreed that Spain, the Netherlands, and the Spanish Indies should pass to the Elector of Bavaria, the least powerful of the three claimants. France was to receive Guipuscoa and the two Sicilies, and Austria the Milanese. The terms of this treaty, though secret, leaked out, and Charles was persuaded to execute a will leaving the whole of his dominions to the Bavarian Prince.
The death of the Elector of Bavaria having rendered the First Partition Treaty of no effect, a second treaty was signed by the same three powers in 1700. By this instrument Spain, the Netherlands and the Indies were assigned to the{190} Austrian Archduke, while France, in addition to the two Sicilies and Guipuscoa, was to receive the Milanese, to be exchanged eventually for Lorraine, which was a German fief encroaching on the natural dominions of France.
A series of satires on the authorities issued in Rome towards the end of the fifteenth century by a witty tailor named Pasquino. The word is now applied generally to political lampoons.
A treaty between Venice and Turkey, signed in 1718, by which the Morea, which had been secured to Venice by the treaty of Carlowitz in 1699, was restored to Turkey.
A treaty between the Emperor Charles V and the Protestant Princes of Germany, signed in 1552, after the surprise of Charles at Innspruck by Maurice of Saxony. The Protestants of Germany secured thereby the free exercise of their religion and freedom from Imperial interference.
See Non-Resistance.
A band of shepherds and peasants, led by a Hungarian, who styled himself the Master of Hungary, who rose in revolt in France in 1251. Their avowed objects were the reform of the abuses of the Church and the release of the Holy Land from Moslem rule. The outbreak, directed in the first instance against priests and scholars, was accompanied by wild excesses, but was soon suppressed, the Master being killed in an attack on Bourges.
The city of Rome and the surrounding district, handed over to Alexander III by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1177 as St. Peter’s Inheritance.
A section of Whig malcontents who, in 1733, under the leadership of Pulteney strongly opposed Walpole’s Excise Bill. They were supported by the “Boys,” the Young Whig party under William Pitt, and by the small remnant of the Tories under Bolingbroke. Walpole, however, was too strong for them, and, as a protest, the Patriots retired from Parliament in a body.
A secret society formed for the promotion of agricultural interests in the United States in 1870. Between that date and 1876, when the society reached its zenith, the number of their lodges or “granges” increased in number from 90 to 19,000. The discussion of political questions was strictly forbidden at their meetings. The members of the society are known as Grangers.
An edict issued by the Emperor Conrad II in 1037, by which all lesser fiefs throughout the Empire were made hereditary, while the feudal dues payable to the greater Lords were reduced. This edict became the law of German feudalism.{191}
A conspiracy against the Medici in Florence in 1478, headed by the Pazzi family, and supported by Pope Sixtus IV. The plan was to assassinate the two brothers, Lorenzo and Giuliano, in the cathedral, but the assassins failed to kill Lorenzo, whose prompt measures quickly put down the rising.
A treaty between Great Britain and the United States which closed the American War of Independence. By its provisions Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States, and their right to the whole of the Northern Continent of America except Canada and Newfoundland. This treaty was confirmed by the Treaty of Versailles of 1783, to which Spain and France were also parties.
An Act passed in the Queensland Parliament in 1894, to deal with the terrorism rife in the pastoral districts owing to the action of the Shearers’ Union.
A society founded in London in 1816 to advocate the principle that war is inconsistent with Christianity and humanity. It is entirely unsectarian, though most of its earlier members were Quakers.
A rising of the peasants of Suabia, Franconia, Alsace and Lorraine, in 1525, under the leadership of Görtz von Berlichingen. They issued a manifesto demanding, among other concessions, the right to choose their own pastors, the payment of tithes in kind only, the proceeds thereof to be devoted to ecclesiastical purposes, the abolition of serfdom, and free hunting and fishing. In the later stages of the war they were led by the fanatic Münzer, who proclaimed community of goods. After much bloodshed the rising was suppressed in the course of the year, Münzer being killed in battle.
A treaty between Edward IV and Louis XI, by which the English King agreed to withdraw his troops from France, on the payment by Louis of the expenses of the war, a yearly pension, and 50,000 crowns as ransom for Margaret of Anjou. This treaty, signed in 1475, was secured by Louis mainly by large bribes administered to Edward’s advisers.
The name given by the Magyars, after the war of 1848, to those Hungarians who were suspected of Austrian sympathies.
The followers of Sir Robert Peel in his departure from extreme Toryism, on the lines of the Tamworth Manifesto of 1835.
Bands of Protestant peasantry, formed in Ulster in 1782, who made it their business to eject Catholic tenants from their farms.
The establishment of the{192} right of a peer to be tried by his peers in Parliament dates from the reign of Edward III, when Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to answer the charges brought against him before any other tribunal. He was supported by the Lords, and the King was at last compelled to yield. The privilege thus secured was embodied in a statute.
The capture of seals in the open sea, and not on their breeding grounds. See Behring Sea.
A name given to the State of Louisiana, from the pelican in its coat of arms.
The reactionary party in Chile in 1828 were known as the Pelucones or Wigs.
A treaty signed in 1860 by China, Great Britain and France, ratifying the provisions of the Treaty of Tientsin. China also made certain additional concessions, and paid an increased indemnity as compensation for the treatment accorded to the plenipotentiaries on their way to Peking to ratify the previous treaty.
A settlement of Flemings at Haverfordwest and Tenby, under the Earl of Clare, in 1107.
A series of Acts passed at various times from the reign of William III to that of George II, and notably in the time of Queen Anne, imposing various most harassing disabilities on the Irish Catholics. The first relaxation of these Acts took place in 1778.
A bill to promote Civil Service reform, which was passed by the United States Senate in 1882. Its principal provision was the throwing open of appointments in the Civil Service to competitive examination.
A name sometimes given to the State of Florida, U.S.A.
This great reform was introduced in the Budget of 1839, and became operative on January 10, 1840. Its introduction is due to the perseverance of Sir Rowland Hill, who after many years of argument, at last succeeded in convincing the Postal authorities that the increase of correspondence would more than compensate for the loss occasioned by the lowering of the rates.
The Parliament of 1661-79 was so called from the large number of its members who were Cavaliers in receipt of Royal pensions. It was also called the Cavalier Parliament.
This sobriquet was bestowed upon Cardinal Mezzofanti, who was said to speak fifty-eight languages.
See Chartism.
See Populists.{193}
The name by which Mrs. Mary Robinson, the favourite of George IV, was generally known.
Francis I of France was called the Father of Letters.
The arrangement by which Lord Cornwallis finally adopted the Zemindari System of land tenure in Bengal in 1793. (See Zemindar).
A treaty between Louis XI of France and Charles the Bold of Burgundy, in 1468, by which Louis, who had been treacherously imprisoned by Charles, obtained his release in return for certain important concessions.
A document issued at Brussels by Philip II in 1577, confirming the Pacification of Ghent. Philip agreed to the withdrawal of the Spanish Army, exchange of all prisoners, confirmation of the Charters and Constitutions of the Netherlands, and the maintenance of the two religions.
A league entered into in 1291 by the three Forest Cantons of Switzerland, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, for mutual assistance against aggression. This league, which is also known as the League of Brunnen, is the germ of the Swiss Confederation. A second Perpetual League was formed in 1332, when Lucerne was admitted into the Federation.
A treaty of peace entered into between Austria and the Federated Swiss Cantons in 1474, by which Austria renounced her claim to all the territory won back from her by the Swiss, in return for which they promised their aid in the war with Burgundy.
A treaty between England and Scotland in 1502, whereby Margaret, daughter of Henry VII, was betrothed to James IV.
An assembly summoned by Edward I in 1305, after the annexation of Scotland, to elect members to represent Scotland in the English Parliament of that year.
The minister of the Mahratta princes of India. The Peshwas, who were seven in succession, may be said to have formed a Mahratta dynasty, as, though nominally ministers, they were actually rulers of the Mahratta States. Their power came to an end with the treaty of Bassein in 1802.
See Manchester Massacre.
A tribute to the Pope which seems to have originated in an undertaking by Æthelwulf (836-857) to find funds for the support of a Saxon College at Rome. This tribute was later exacted by the Popes as a right, and was so paid by William the Conqueror and later kings.{194}
Napoleon’s nickname among his soldiers, given to him after the battle of Lodi.
An enactment passed by Parliament in 1657, and accepted by Cromwell, amending the Constitution. Among other provisions it restored the second chamber, which had been abolished by the Long Parliament, and placed the army under Parliament and the head of the executive jointly. It also provided that Cromwell should take the title of King, a provision which he refused to accept.
A petition presented by Parliament to James I in 1610, complaining of the Impositions, of the Courts of High Commission and of Wales, and of the free use of Royal Proclamations having the force of Statutes.
A petition presented to Charles I by his third Parliament in 1628. It comprised four demands: (1) That no taxes should be levied without the consent of Parliament. (2) That no subject of the realm should be imprisoned unless due cause were shown. (3) That the forces of the Crown should not be billeted on the people. (4) That no commission should issue in time of peace to try a subject by martial law. The King gave a qualified acceptance to the petition, but never adhered to its conditions.
The signatories to petitions to Charles II in 1679, urging him to call Parliament together, he having prorogued the new Parliament for a year before it had commenced to discuss business. The loyalist party, who forwarded an address to the King expressing their abhorrence of the petitions, were called Abhorrers.
A band of women who, in the last hours of the Paris Commune, spread over Paris with petroleum, setting fire to public buildings. When caught by the Government troops, they were promptly shot.
The Priests’ Charter, an ordinance issued in 1370 by the Federal States of Switzerland, declaring ecclesiastics to be subject to the authority of the State, and to have no special privileges.
Charles IV, the Emperor set up by the Guelf Party in 1346 in opposition to Lewis IV, was called the Parsons’ Emperor.
Burgesses of the Palisades, refugees from the tyranny of the feudal barons, who established themselves outside the walls but within the liberties of the free cities. These liberties were usually defined by a line of palisades, from which the name is derived.
A Greek secret society established in 1814 for the purpose of fomenting a rising against Turkish rule.
The murder in the Phœnix{195} Park, Dublin, on May 6, 1882, by the Invincibles, an Irish secret society, of Lord Frederick Cavendish, the Chief Secretary, and Mr. Burke, the Under Secretary. The assassins escaped, but were afterwards brought to justice through the disclosures of an informer named Carey.
The Weepers, the followers of Savonarola, who was the guiding spirit of the Florentine Republic established during the temporary eclipse of the power of the Medici in 1493.
A conspiracy to overthrow the Consulate and bring back the Bourbons, planned by Georges Cadoudal, the Breton leader, and General Pichegru in 1804. The Comte d’Artois was privy to it, and the English Ministers at the Courts of Bavaria and Würtemberg were also supposed to have had knowledge of it. Certain information reaching the police, the conspirators and many who were entirely innocent were arrested. Among other innocent victims was the young Duc d’Enghien, son of the Prince de Condé, who was shot by order of Napoleon. It is of this action that Fouché said, “It is worse than a crime, it is a blunder.”
A special court established during the great fairs in Scotland and England to try trivial offences, such as disturbances of the peace, committed within the fair limits. It derives its name from the “dusty feet” of the pedlars, who were the principal vendors at these gatherings. In England it was called the Court of Pie Powder.
The Puritan emigrants who left England in the Mayflower, and were the first colonists of New England in 1620.
The Catholic rising in the North of England in the reign of Henry VIII (1537).
A treaty signed in August, 1791, by the King of Prussia and the Emperor, by which the former agreed to support the allies in their efforts to suppress the French Revolution. The two monarchs subsequently issued a manifesto, known as the Declaration of Pilnitz, declaring that the position of the King of France was a matter of interest to all sovereigns, and that if the European rulers united to aid Louis, they would combine with them for the purpose. The price of Prussia’s co-operation in this movement was a secret undertaking on the part of Austria not to interfere with her proceedings in Poland.
A confederation of Hussites in 1422, sworn to resist Sigismund, and to oppose any sovereign who would not permit communion in both kinds.
A body of freebooters, or soldiers of fortune, in India, originally formed as a body of irregular horse, with licence to plunder, by the last Mohammedan dynasty of the Deccan. At the beginning of the nine{196}teenth century they were in the service of the Mahratta Confederacy, and after the breaking up of this they continued to give great trouble to the British by their predatory raids. They were finally dispersed, and ceased to exist as an organized force in 1818.
The state of Maine is so called, from the wide extent of its pine forests.
A Council, summoned during the schism in 1409, which deposed Gregory XII and Benedict XIII, and elected Alexander V as Pope. The two first named declined to recognize the authority of the Council, with the result that there were now three Popes.
A peasant rising in Saintonge and Poitou in 1548, to obtain redress of grievances in connection with the Gabelle, or salt-tax. The insurgents held Bordeaux for some time, but were eventually overpowered, and their leaders executed. The rising, however, led to a reduction in the Gabelle.
See East India Company.
A Bill which, after several failures, became law in 1743, in spite of the strong opposition of the King, rendering pensioners of the Crown and holders of offices about the Court ineligible for seats in the House of Commons.
The pestilence which broke out in London in 1665, and was not completely stamped out until the Great Fire of the following year. It carried off nearly 100,000 persons out of a total population of half a million.
The name given to the Girondins in the French Convention, because they occupied the lower tiers of seats in the Assembly. The Jacobins, who sat on the upper benches, were known as the Mountain.
A combination of tenants to refuse their rents on those Irish estates where the reductions demanded were not conceded. The tenants bound themselves to act together, and to make no separate arrangements with the landlord. If the reduction was refused, they then paid their rent into a common fund, to be used for the support of those who were evicted. The Plan was put into operation on forty estates. In April, 1888, it was pronounced unlawful by the Vatican.
The name given to the South American Republics bordering on the River Plate, namely, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
The submission of a question to the direct national vote, instead of to a vote of the elected representatives. It was adopted by Napoleon III after the Coup d’Etat of 1851, when he referred to the people the question of his assumption of the Imperial dignity.{197}
The Merchant Shipping Act of 1876, passed owing to the efforts of Mr. Plimsoll on behalf of merchant seamen. It contains provisions preventing unseaworthy ships from leaving English ports, and regulates the load line and deck cargoes. The mark indicating the waterline of a fully loaded ship is known as the Plimsoll Mark.
The nickname of Prince Napoleon, son of Jerome Bonaparte. It was given him during the Crimean war, and is a euphemism for Craint-Plomb (Fear Bullet).
The Penniless, a nickname given by the Italians to the Emperor Maximilian I (1493-1519).
The chief magistrate in the Italian cities during the thirteenth century. He was elected annually by the citizens. In some cases his functions were purely judicial; in other cities he also exercised certain executive functions, including the control of the military forces.
The nickname of Louis Philippe of France, whose face was usually portrayed by the caricaturists of the day in the shape of a pear.
An arrangement arrived at in 1772 by Frederick of Prussia, Catherine of Russia, and Maria Theresa of Austria, by which Prussia obtained the whole of Polish Prussia, except Dantzig and Thorn; Austria annexed Galicia and Lodomiria; and Russia acquired all the territory between the Dwina, the Dnieper and the Drutsch.
At the close of the Polish Civil War in 1793, Prussia and Russia invaded Poland, and as a consequence added to their dominions—Russia 85,000 square miles of territory, and Prussia 21,000, together with the towns of Dantzig and Thorn.
The small remnant of the Kingdom of Poland was divided between Prussia, Austria and Russia after Kosciusko’s abortive rising in 1795.
The local Council established at Cape Town in 1652 to govern the Colony under the General Council of the Dutch East India Company. It consisted at first of four members, but was enlarged to eight in 1685.
A joint note presented to Russia by Great Britain, France and Austria in 1863, after the suppression of the Polish insurrection of that year. It contained suggestions for an amnesty, national self-government, liberty of conscience, and other liberal measures, but as there was obviously no intention of backing it by force, Russia treated it with complete indifference.
The war which broke out on the death of Augustus II in 1733. Stanislas Leszczynski was supported for the throne{198} by France, Spain and Sardinia, Augustus III by Russia and Austria. The war was ended by the Treaty of Vienna in 1738, Augustus obtaining the crown.
An Act of the United States Congress, passed in 1876, which forbids the soliciting or receiving of assessments for political purposes from any person holding an official position under the Government.
A party which came into existence in France after the massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572, under the leadership of the Montmorency family. It was composed of Catholics who had no sympathy with the Huguenot persecutions and desired to extend toleration to their heretic fellow-countrymen.
A tax, graduated from £1 to 1s. a head, on every man or woman in England, imposed in 1380. It caused great discontent, which culminated in the rising of Wat Tyler and Jack Cade in 1381.
A tax imposed on all freemen in feudal times, for the repair and maintenance of bridges.
A treaty between the British and the Peshwa signed in 1817, whereby the Peshwa recognized the dissolution of the Mahratta Confederacy, and renounced all his claims on Sindhia, Holkar, the Gaekwar and the Rajah of Berar. He undertook to hold no communication with foreign princes, and to provide for the maintenance of a force of 5,000 horse and 3,000 foot. He also relinquished all territorial rights north of the Nerbudda, and undertook not to interfere in Indian affairs.
The first Act dealing with this question was passed in the reign of Elizabeth in 1572, and was followed by other enactments which were consolidated in the Act of 1601. By this Act rogues and vagabonds were severely dealt with, but workhouses were provided for the relief of the deserving poor, and parish officers, known as Overseers, appointed to superintend the working of the Act. This Act of Elizabeth continued in force till the Poor Law Act of 1832. By that time numerous abuses had crept into the administration of the Poor Law, resulting in the complete pauperisation of many parishes, owing largely to the stringency of the regulations against vagabondage having been relaxed. By the new Act, the separation between the two classes was rendered definite, relief was only to be granted to the able-bodied in return for labour, and children were separated from adult paupers. The machinery was in the main left unchanged, but small parishes were formed into Unions, and a central Board of Control was established.
The present system of election to the Papal chair was established by Nicholas II at the Synod of Rome in 1059,{199} and amended by Gregory X at the Council of Lyons in 1275.
A nickname of Calvin.
A pretended plot in the reign of Charles II, having for its object the assassination of the King and the forcible establishment of the Roman Catholic religion. The arch-informer, Titus Oates, was a renegade English clergyman, who had been admitted into the Jesuit order. It is possible that there may have been some such scheme on foot, but the so-called revelations of Oates and his fellow-informers were nothing but a tissue of absurdities. Unfortunately, the murder by some person unknown of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, before whom Oates made his first deposition, so inflamed the popular mind that no justice could be expected, and five Catholic peers denounced by Oates were sent to the Tower, while many innocent priests and others were condemned and executed.
The political doctrine in the United States that the question of negro slavery was one for each Territory or State to decide for itself. It was perhaps better known as Squatter Sovereignty.
A party formed at Cincinnati in 1891, under the style of the People’s Party of the United States. Their “platform,” drawn up by Ignatius Donnelly, consists of the following “planks” among others: Abolition of National Banks, Free Coinage of Silver, Laws against Alien Landowners, Graduated Income-tax, and National Control of Railways.
An attempt, under the leadership of Stefano Porcari in 1453, to restore republican institutions in Rome. It was the final struggle of the Romans against the temporal domination of the Popes.
An association of Pioneers under John Pascoe Fawkner and John Batman, who were the first colonists to settle on the shores of Port Phillip Bay, and therefore the founders of Melbourne, in 1835.
An outbreak in Edinburgh in 1736, when the mob broke into the Tolbooth and hanged an officer named Porteous, who had been sentenced to death for firing on the crowd at an execution where he was in command of the guard, and afterwards reprieved. After executing their vengeance, the mob dispersed, and none of the rioters were ever detected.
A religious and literary community established in Paris circ. 1594 by the Arnault family, the leaders of the Jansenists. Pascal was one of its most famous members.
In 1640 the weakness of Spain under Charles IV induced the Portuguese nobles, headed by the Archbishop of Lisbon, to throw off their allegiance to{200} the Spanish Crown, and proclaim their legitimate sovereign, the Duke of Braganza, King of Portugal by the title of John IV. The Spaniards accepted the situation, without any effort to maintain their authority.
Alfonso d’Albuquerque (1453-1515), the famous Indian Viceroy, was so called.
A convention of the principal States of Europe and America, held at Berne in 1874, at which a uniform rate of postage between the various States was agreed upon.
The name given to James I’s Scottish subjects who were born after his accession to the English throne. The question arose as to whether they were aliens in England, and a legal decision was given to the effect that they were not aliens.
The failure of the potato crop in Ireland in 1847 is so called. It caused terrible distress, notwithstanding all the efforts made to relieve the sufferers, and thousands in consequence emigrated to America. Its effects on population, land tenure and other Irish questions have been very far-reaching.
The first Volksraad north of the Vaal River, established in 1840.
An Act introduced by Sir Edward Poyning, and passed in 1495, which declared that no Irish Parliament should be convoked until its programme of legislation had been sanctioned by the English Privy Council, and attested by the Great Seal. It was afterwards a source of endless complications between the Irish and English Governments, as it limited the absolute power of the Lord Lieutenant, and rendered impossible any policy of the English colony in Ireland to which the Mother Country was opposed. This Act was temporarily repealed in 1689, re-enacted in 1691, and finally rescinded in 1782.
A statute passed in 1392, finally confirming the Statute of Provisors of the previous reign, and declaring the realm of England to be free of all earthly subjection. The procuring of any Bull or other Papal instrument was made punishable by outlawry and forfeiture.
A proclamation of Charles VII of France in 1438, declaring that the authority of a General Council was superior to that of the Pope. It further followed the terms of the Concordat of Aschaffenburg, proclaiming that annates were abolished, and that the election of the Bishops was to be free of Papal control.
The fundamental law issued in 1724, settling the succession to the Austrian throne on Maria Theresa and her descendants. This, the most famous of the various Pragmatic Sanc{201}tions, was the cause of the War of the Austrian Succession, and was not finally accepted by the European Powers till the Peace of Aix La Chapelle in 1748.
A manifesto issued in 1338 by the Electors of the German Empire, in reply to the anathemas of Boniface XII, maintaining the Emperor’s independence of Papal control.
A decree issued in 1269, against the privileges of the clergy and the Papal usurpations. It forbade the sale of benefices and the levy of any tax by the Pope.
The decree issued in 1439 by Albert II, the first Hapsburg Emperor, settling the throne of Germany upon the royal house of Austria.
The instrument by which Charles III of Spain settled the succession to the throne of Naples upon his third son and his descendants.
The decree issued by Ferdinand VII of Spain, abolishing the Salic Law, in order to secure the crown for his daughter Isabella. This document is chiefly responsible for the Carlist wars.
A Congress of Panslavists held at Prague in 1848. It was the occasion of an outbreak on the part of the Czechs, and led to the bombardment of the city by Windischgrätz.
A treaty signed in 1635, to which all the sovereign States of Germany were parties. Certain concessions were made to the Protestants, the hereditary right of Austria to Bohemia was recognized, Pomerania was given to the Elector of Brandenburg, and Lusatia to the Elector of Saxony. The latter, in return, agreed to aid Austria in expelling the Swedes from Germany, thus scandalously deserting his northern ally.
A treaty signed by Prussia, Austria and Italy, after the defeat of Austria at Sadowa in 1866. Prussia annexed Hanover, Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse-Cassel and Nassau. Austria renounced all right of interference in the North German States, as President of the Diet, and further ceded the Venetian provinces to Italy.
A revolt of the Dukes of Bourbon and Alençon and other great nobles against Charles VII in 1439, owing to the imposition, by the Ordonnance of Orléans, of a tax on their lands for military purposes. They were joined by the Dauphin Louis, but were defeated by Charles in 1440, when the war came to an end. It broke out again, but was finally suppressed in 1441.
The State of Illinois, U.S.A., is so called from the vast expanse of level prairie it contains.
Grants of Church lands to laymen during the Middle Ages,{202} often extorted by force. They were generally for the life of the grantee, but were sometimes renewed to his successor.
The condition of villeinage under the feudal system. See Villeins.
A secret political police, established by Peter the Great of Russia. It was somewhat similar in constitution to the modern “Third Section.” It was abolished by Peter III in 1762.
A confederation of the Austrian, Bohemian and Hungarian States against the Emperor Rudolph II, formed by his brother Matthias in 1608. He succeeded in wresting these possessions from Rudolph.
A treaty between France and Austria, signed in December, 1805, a few days later than the Treaty of Schönbrunn. Austria, left at Napoleon’s mercy by the defection of Prussia, was forced to accept what was practically a measure of spoliation. She surrendered Venice and the Adriatic provinces to Italy, and portions of her dominions to Bavaria, Würtemberg and Baden, while she recognized the erection of Bavaria and Würtemberg into kingdoms, and agreed to abstain from interference in the affairs of Naples.
A convention signed in 1881, after the Majuba disaster, between Great Britain and the Transvaal. The Transvaal was granted complete internal independence, under British suzerainty, Great Britain to have control of the foreign policy of the Transvaal, and to be represented by a Resident at Pretoria.
A treaty between Portugal and the Transvaal, signed in 1869, providing for the delimitation of the frontier between their respective territories.
The name given to the forcible removal from the House by Colonel Pride and his troopers of over a hundred members of the majority of the Long Parliament. The ejected members were imprisoned, and the remnant, known as the Rump, fell completely under the domination of the army.
See Pfaffenbrief.
A nickname of George IV, derived from the name he assumed in his correspondence with Mrs. Mary Robinson (Perdita).
A sobriquet of Rudolph II, Emperor of Germany.
A Bill passed by the French Chambers in 1886, expelling from French territory all claimants to the throne and their immediate heirs. As a consequence, Prince Napoleon and the Comte de Paris and his family left France.{203}
The party headed by the Churchills, who supported the Princess Anne during the reign of William III.
The Prince of the Peace, the title of Godoy, the minister of Charles IV of Spain, in the last decade of the eighteenth century.
François de Bonnivard, a Frenchman who offended Charles III of Savoy, and was imprisoned by him for six years in the Castle of Chillon on the Lake of Geneva.
Pope Pius IX was so called by his adherents after Rome became the seat of the Italian Government in 1870.
A massacre of Huguenots at the taking of Privas by Louis XIII in 1629.
In ancient times any person within the ninth degree of kinship with the Chief of the Macduffs who had been guilty of unpremeditated homicide could, if he reached in safety Macduff’s Cross in Fife, escape the death penalty, and go free on payment of a fine. This privilege is said to have been granted by Malcolm Canmore (1057-93.)
A profession of the Catholic Faith, issued by the Council of Trent in 1545, as a counterblast to the Protestant Confession of Augsburg. Its acceptance was made obligatory on every aspirant to a degree throughout the German Universities.
An Act passed in 1868, consolidating and amending the various Acts dealing with the oath of allegiance and abjuration. It provides a Parliamentary, an official and a judicial oath, of a nature that can be taken by Roman Catholics and Jews, ending with the formula “So help me, God.” The wording of the Parliamentary oath came into special prominence in 1880-5, in the course of Mr. Bradlaugh’s attempts to take his seat in the House of Commons.
In Spain and Spanish America a proclamation issued by a military leader, backed by his troops, against the existing Government.
The Congregatio de Propaganda Fide is a council of ecclesiastics, founded by Gregory XV in 1622, to superintend the diffusion of the Catholic Faith in distant lands. The Council has at present control of all foreign missions and of a college at Rome for the training of missionaries.
James, Duke of Monmouth, the natural son of Charles II, who, though brought up as a Catholic, afterwards adopted the Protestant faith, was so called by his supporters.
The name given by the English people to Frederick the Great of Prussia.{204}
A league of the Protestant Princes of Germany, formed in 1651, to maintain their territorial rights and uphold the Peace of Westphalia.
A league of Protestants formed at a Congress held at Ahausen, in Anspach, in 1608, in consequence of the course pursued by the Emperor and the Catholic Princes in the Troubles of Donauwörth. Its object was mutual defence, and its leading members were the Elector Palatine, Christian of Anhalt, and John Frederick of Würtemberg. It was afterwards joined by fifteen Imperial cities.
A decree issued in 1258 by the Council of State. It provided for the placing of the royal castles in the hands of English Governors, and for the summoning of Parliament three times a year. This document is noteworthy as being the first public document issued in the English language.
A statute passed in the thirty-eighth year of Edward III (1365), and directed against the claim of the Pope to appoint to benefices in England. It confirmed a previous statute which enacted that the King and the Lords were to appoint to benefices of their own or their ancestors’ creation, and not the Pope of Rome, and further made the introduction of Papal Bulls and Briefs into the realm illegal.
Notable citizens elected, in the French towns in the twelfth century, to act as an advisory board to the provost or representative of the King.
A treaty between Russia and Turkey, signed in 1711, after the relief of Peter the Great, who had been besieged in Hush. It provided for the cession to Turkey of Azov, and the retirement of Charles XII to Sweden unmolested. It is also called the Treaty of Falczi.
A sobriquet of Joan of Arc.
An Act passed by the British Parliament in 1836, at the instance of Lord Glenelg, which, after setting forth in the preamble that the Cape Colony was inhabited by “uncivilized persons,” proceeded to give the officers of the Crown power to arrest and bring to trial in Cape Town all British subjects dwelling south of the twenty-fifth parallel of latitude. It caused intense irritation in South Africa, especially in Natal, which was claiming to be erected into a separate British Colony, and refused to recognize the right of the Cape Government to enforce the law while affording them no protection against Kaffir and other enemies.
Following on the victory of Gujerat, which closed the second Sikh war, the Punjaub was annexed in 1851, an arrangement being made to pay a life annuity of £50,000 to{205} the Maharajah, Dhuleep Singh. Among the treasures which were surrendered to the British was the Koh-i-Noor.
A treaty between the British and the Mahrattas, signed in 1776, by which the Treaty of Surat was annulled, Salsette being surrendered and Raghoba’s cause abandoned. This was due to the action of the Council of Bengal, which declared that the Treaty of Surat was unjust and inexpedient, and that the Bombay Council had acted ultra vires in agreeing to it.
The right claimed by the followers of the early Norman Kings who attended their lord during his progresses, to exact from the inhabitants such supplies as they might think fit, without payment. The abuses which grew out of this system were to some extent alleviated by Henry I, and the right was afterwards restricted by Magna Charta, and by the Statute of Stamford.
The followers of Dr. Pusey, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement in 1841.
A treaty between France and Spain, signed in 1659, after the defeat of the Spaniards by Turenne at Dunes. France acquired Artois and Roussillon, and surrendered in return all the territory she held beyond the Pyrenees. The duchy of Lorraine was restored to the Duke, but France reserved the right of marching her troops through his country on their way to or from Alsace.
The name given to four fortresses in Northern Italy, Peschiera, Mantua, Legnago and Verona.
The four fortresses of Varna, Silistria, Rustchuk and Schumla are known by this name.
A treaty signed in 1840, by Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, by which the signatories bound themselves to protect the Porte against aggression.
An alliance between England, France, Austria and Holland, formed to prevent Spain recovering her former possessions in Italy. It became the Quadruple Alliance through the adhesion of Austria to the Triple Alliance of 1717. Its operations were completely successful, and Spain gave way in 1719.
An alliance of Great Britain, France, Spain and Portugal, effected by Palmerston as a counterpoise to the Holy Alliance of Russia, Prussia and Austria.
The name commonly given to the Society of Friends, a sect founded in 1648 by George Fox, a Leicestershire shoemaker. The sect was organized into a Society in 1866.{206}
An ordinance issued in the early part of the reign of Louis IX, designed to put a stop to private warfare. It provided that in the event of a crime being committed, a period of forty days should elapse before vengeance was exacted, and that at any time during that period the relatives of the murdered man might call upon the Bailli to execute the justice of the King.
A special tax levied in the reign of Queen Anne upon all Catholics who established a business in Ireland.
An Act passed in 1775 by Lord North’s Government, authorizing the Crown to throw open posts of honour to the Catholics in Canada, and restoring the French system of law in the French Canadian provinces. It also confirmed the Roman Catholic Clergy in their benefices.
The revenue derived from annates and tithes on Church property, which had been transferred from the Church to the Crown by Henry VIII. In 1704, Queen Anne, with the consent of Parliament, retransferred these revenues to commissioners, to be employed in supplementing the incomes of benefices of less than £200 per annum. The amount annually distributed is about £36,000.
A nickname of Richard Cromwell, having reference to the weakness of his character.
The city of Venice is so called.
A name given to the island of Cuba.
The sobriquet of Mary of Modena, wife of James II of England.
Sarah Duchess of Marlborough (1660-1744) was so called on account of the ascendency she exercised over Queen Anne.
The right of the Queen Consort of England to every tenth mark paid to the King on the granting or renewal of leases or charters. Charles I bought the right from his wife for £10,000, and it has never since been enforced. It was also called the aurum reginæ, and is probably the Gersamma Reginæ of Domesday Book.
A plot on the part of Lord Lovat, in 1703, to ruin Lord Athole, the Keeper of the Privy Seal in Scotland, with whom he had a feud. The plan was to implicate him in a pretended Jacobite rising in the Highlands. Lord Queensberry, the Commissioner, who also had a grudge against Athole, was drawn into the plot by the production of a letter from the ex-Queen, purporting to be addressed to Athole, as a proof that he was in correspondence with the exiled Stuarts. Athole had no great difficulty{207} in clearing himself of suspicion, and Queensberry was forced to resign. This is known also as the Scots Plot.
The erection of the northern portion of New South Wales into a separate colony under the title of Queensland was effected by an Act passed in 1859.
A Statute passed in 1290, with the object of preventing the formation of new manors. By this Statute land granted by a feudal lord ceased to belong to him, and owed feudal dues to the superior lord of the estate. Its result was to increase largely the number of gentlemen holding direct from the Crown.
A sect which arose in France about 1780, under the leadership of Mme. Guyon, who advocated a contemplative rather than an active religious life. Fénélon was to a considerable extent influenced by these tenets.
A nickname of Charles XII of Sweden (1697-1718).
Commissions of Quo Warranto were issued by Edward I to enquire as to how estates and judicial rights had passed from the Crown into the hands of individuals and corporations, and to settle definitely which were the Royal Manors.
The expulsion of Episcopalian clergymen in the west of Scotland by the Covenanters in 1689 is so called. These proceedings were subsequently legalized by the Scottish Parliament.
A name given to the advanced wing of the Liberal Party about 1816. Its leaders were Hunt, Cobbett, and Sir Francis Burdett.
A series of documents recording the progress of Edward I through Scotland in 1296, with the names of the nobles and others who did homage to him.
A border fight between the English and Scotch in 1575, arising out of a dispute at a meeting between the two Wardens of the Marches for the surrender of criminals who had crossed the border. It is the last border fight recorded.
A nickname of Abraham Lincoln, who is said to have earned his living in 1830 by splitting rails.
A treaty signed in 1805 between the British and Holkar, by which the latter renounced all rights to territory north of the Chambul, and all his claims to Bundelcund and Poonah, while the East India Company agreed not to interfere with Holkar’s enjoyment of the territories he possessed to the south of the Chambul.
A Magyar rising, headed by Rákóczy in 1704, against the{208} Austrian domination. The war which ensued lasted over seven years, and was at last ended by the peace of Szatmar.
Members of the Catholic and Reactionary parties in France who in 1890 declared their adhesion to the Republican Government, and their abandonment of reactionary principles. The leader of the movement was Cardinal Lavigerie, Archbishop of Algiers.
Bands of Irish brigands who waged a guerilla warfare against the Protestant settlers in Ireland circ. 1711.
The War of Farthings, a revolt of the peasants against the city of Berne in 1594.
The great schism in the Russian Church in the seventeenth century. The dissenters objected to certain innovations in ritual introduced by Nikon, the Patriarch, in order to correct errors which had crept in owing to careless copying of Liturgies and other religious books. The dissenters were excommunicated, and thousands fled from the country.
A nickname of Napoleon III.
The name given to Victor Emmanuel, the first king of United Italy.
A council established by the States General summoned by Henri IV of France in 1596. Its functions were to administer one half of the revenues of the State, for the payment of all civil officials, the remaining half being handed to the King for his private purse and for the defence of the realm.
Arabi, Arima, Attalik, Barrackpur, Bengal, Bounty, Boxers, Bread and Cheese, Cabanagem, Camisards, Commune, Communeros, Dorr, Dozsa, Dysiefald, Emmett, Eureka, Fifteen, Forty-five, Frankfurter, Fronde, Geraldines, Hungarian, Jacquerie, Ket, Lincolnshire, Madras, Maillotins, Nobles’, Nore, Panthay, Peasants’, Pilgrimage, Poor Conrad, Praguerie, Rákóczy, Red River, Riel, Santa Junta, Satsuma, Shays’, Slachter’s Nek, Sonthal, Taeping, Tököli, Whiskey.
Riots in Wales in 1843, in protest against the excessive tolls exacted on the Welsh roads. Mobs, led by a man in woman’s clothes, assembled and pulled down the turnpike gates. The name Rebecca is taken from a passage in Genesis: “And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her, let thy seed possess the gates of those which hate them.” The riots were suppressed and a commission appointed to inquire into the alleged grievances.
A codification of the law of Denmark, promulgated during the reign of Christian III, circ. 1540.
The inhabitants of the coun{209}try districts of Cuba which during the insurrection of 1895-9, were laid waste by General Weyler. By his orders these people were driven from their homes and herded into concentration camps where, owing to Government neglect, they died in thousands of famine and pestilence.
An Act passed in 1554, shortly after the accession of Mary, to give effect to the proposals of Cardinal Pole, the Papal Legate, for the re-establishment of the Papal authority in Church matters as it existed before the ecclesiastical legislation of Henry VIII.
The name given by the Royalists to the members of the Long Parliament elected to fill the places of those who had been “disabled” by Parliament for joining the King’s forces.
An Act passed in the first year of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, subjecting to fine all persons who absented themselves from Divine Service in their parish church on Sundays and Holy Days. Protestant dissenters were relieved from the penalties of this Act by the Toleration Act of William and Mary, but Roman Catholics obtained no relief until 1791.
The nickname of Alexander Comyn, a claimant to the Scottish throne, murdered by Robert Bruce in 1306.
The Knights Templars were so called.
See Geneva Convention.
The generic name of the various associations formed, under the Geneva Convention, for the relief of the wounded in war. The Red Cross is the badge of military hospitals, ambulances, doctors, etc.
The sobriquet of Prince Frederick Charles (1828-1885), nephew of William I of Germany.
An outbreak in 1869 of the half-breed settlers on the Red River, who resented the transfer of their settlement from the Hudson’s Bay Company to the newly formed province of Manitoba. It was found necessary to send regular troops against the insurgents, and the revolt was promptly quelled by Colonel (now Viscount) Wolseley. Their leader, Louis Riel, escaped, and was later the ringleader in the rising of 1885 known as Riel’s Rebellion.
The reserve of the Turkish Army.
A Bill passed in 1885 as the complement of the Franchise Act of 1884. It subdivided the old constituencies so as to leave only a few two-member constituencies in the boroughs. All the counties were divided into districts, each district returning one member. The plan adopted was the result of a conference between the two parties.{210}
The Shire-reeve or Sheriff in Saxon times was the representative of the King for judicial and fiscal purposes. He presided over the Shire Court.
A provision in the constitution of Switzerland to the effect that all laws passed by the Federal Assembly must be submitted to the popular vote, if such a course is demanded by 30,000 Swiss citizens, or by the legislatures of eight Cantons.
The Great Reform Bill of 1832 abolished no less than fifty-six rotten boroughs, but its provisions as to redistribution and the franchise still left the larger share of political power in the hands of the landowning classes. It was first introduced in 1831, and passed the Commons by a majority of one, but was rejected by the Lords. A dissolution followed and, on the new Parliament assembling, the Bill again passed the Commons, this time by a majority of 109, but was again rejected by the Lords. The Ministry refused to resign, and the popular feeling was so strong that the Lords were forced to give way, and the Bill became law in 1832. In addition to 111 seats obtained by the disfranchisement of the rotten boroughs, some thirty boroughs were deprived of one member each. Of the seats thus obtained sixty-five were distributed among the counties, sixty-five among the larger towns, and thirteen were allotted to Scotland and Ireland. The borough franchise was given to ten pound householders, and in the counties the vote was given to copyholders and leaseholders, and to tenants at will paying £50 in rent.
This Bill, passed by Lord Derby’s Ministry in 1867, enfranchised all occupiers and all lodgers, of one year’s residence, paying £10 per annum rent in the boroughs, and in the counties all owners of property of £5 annual value and all occupiers paying £12 per annum. Tacked on to it was a Redistribution Bill which disfranchised certain small boroughs, and created a corresponding number of new constituencies. It gave an additional member each to Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Liverpool, and a member to London University.
See Transvaal National Union.
The war between the followers of Juarez, the Mexican Liberal leader, and the reactionary party under Miramon, which broke out in 1858. It ended with the triumph of Juarez in 1861.
An edict issued by Charles V in 1548 at the Diet of Ratisbon, providing for the reform of the Catholic Church throughout the Empire. It contained regulations for the election of the clergy, for the administration of the sacraments and for the better disciplining of the holders of benefices.
The Parliament summoned in{211} 1654 under the Instrument. Cromwell dissolved it at the end of five months.
An association formed in 1862, having for its object the unification of Germany under the leadership of Austria.
The right of the French Kings to present to benefices falling vacant during a vacancy in the diocese to which they belonged, and to enjoy the revenues of vacant sees. The question of the exercise of this right caused a somewhat acrimonious discussion between Louis XIV and Innocent XI in 1681, and led to the publication of Bossuet’s “Declaration of the Clergy of France.”
A collection of the ancient laws of Scotland, said to have been compiled by order of David I. Its authenticity is disputed.
The name given by the Royalists to the signatories of the death-warrant of Charles I.
The Bull of Paul III, issued in 1540, giving the Papal approval to the rules of the Society of Jesus, as drawn up by Loyola.
An Act passed in 1836, and amended by subsequent enactments, rendering obligatory the registration of all births and deaths in the United Kingdom. Prior to this Act registration was in the hands of the Church, the parish register being the only record kept.
A grant from the Crown for the maintenance of Presbyterian ministers in Ireland. It was originally granted by Charles II, and after having lapsed during the reign of his successor, was revived by William III. It was finally abolished in 1869, at the time of the Disestablishment of the Irish Church.
An Act passed by Lord North’s Government in 1774, after the Boston Riots, “for better regulating the Province of Massachusetts.” It withdrew all rights and privileges hitherto granted, and placed the whole executive and judicial power in the hands of the Governor.
An Act passed in 1773, altering the form of government of India, under the East India Company. The Governor of Bengal was made Governor-General of India, with authority over the Governors of the other two Presidencies. A council nominated by Parliament was formed, and a Supreme Court on the English model instituted.
The herdsmen and farmers in the west of North Carolina, finding it impossible to attend the law courts, which were seldom held elsewhere than at Charlestown, formed associations for the purpose of regulating their own affairs of police. In 1770 and 1771 they came into conflict with the State{212} authorities, and being defeated, emigrated west in large numbers and colonized Tennessee.
A treaty between Great Britain, Russia and Prussia, signed in 1813. It provided for the maintenance in the field by Prussia of an army of 80,000 men, in return for a subsidy from Great Britain of two-thirds of a million, while a secret clause stipulated for the restoration of Prussia to her territorial position in 1806. Russia was to supply an army of 160,000 men, and receive a subsidy double that of Prussia. There was to be an issue of paper money, under the joint guarantee of the three Powers, of £5,000,000 sterling, of which two-thirds was to be at the disposal of Russia. This treaty may be said to have laid the foundation of the Grand Alliance, which finally freed Europe from the domination of Napoleon.
The Supreme Tribunal of the German Empire, reorganized from the Imperial Council by Maximilian I in 1495. Unlike the Aulic Council, which accompanied the Emperor wherever he went, this tribunal sat permanently at Spires.
The Austrian Parliament. It consists of two Houses, the upper composed of princes of the blood, nobles, archbishops and bishops, and certain life members nominated by the Emperor; the lower of elected members.
The National Assembly of the German Empire.
The name given by the French to Mary Queen of Scots, because she wore white as mourning for her husband.
A secret treaty signed by Russia and Germany, after the establishment of the alliance between Germany and Austria, remaining in force from 1887 to 1890. It is said to have secured the contracting parties mutually against invasion by Austria. The existence of this treaty was revealed by the Hamburger Nachrichten, one of Bismarck’s organs, in 1896, and was not denied by the Government.
A tribute due to a feudal lord on succession to a fief by inheritance.
The correct title of the Statute more commonly known as the Statute of Mortmain.
An edict of the States-General in 1578 enacting complete toleration to all religions throughout the United Netherlands. It ordered that churches should be provided by the town authorities for all forms of worship, and that no inquiry should be made into any man’s religious belief. This edict caused great discontent in the Walloon provinces, and was one of the causes of the “Malcontent” rising.
The grant by Charles V, in{213} 1555, of toleration to all who accepted the Confession of Augsburg, but to no other sect. Any State in the Empire might set up either form of faith as its State religion, permission being given to dissentients to dispose of their estates and emigrate. It was, however, provided that any spiritual prince who accepted the new doctrine should lose his office and his revenues.
An agreement, in 1632, between the League of Schmalkald and the Catholics, by which the latter agreed not to molest the Lutherans, who in their turn undertook not to give any support to the Zwinglists and Anabaptists.
A recapitulation of the tyrannical and unconstitutional acts of Charles the First’s reign, issued by the Long Parliament in 1641.
A petition drawn up by Peter Walsh, on behalf of the Irish Catholics, and presented to Charles II in 1666. It protested against the prevailing opinion that the toleration of Catholicism was a danger to the State.
The followers of Arminius, who in 1610 presented to the States-General a remonstrance against the charges of heresy that had been brought against them. They set forth in this document what are known as the “Five Articles of Arminianism.”
The Scotch Presbyterians who remonstrated against the union of Argyle and others with the Royalist party to oppose Cromwell in 1650.
The revival of learning in Italy in the fifteenth century. It was largely due to the advent in the West of many Greek scholars who fled from Constantinople on its capture by the Turks in 1453, and introduced the masterpieces of Greek literature for the first time to the scholars of the West. The revival was further aided and stimulated by the invention of printing, which had recently taken place.
A league of the electors to the Imperial throne, pledged to support the Emperor, Louis of Bavaria against the pretensions of Benedict XII, and to maintain the independence of Germany.
A system prevailing in Spanish South America, whereby the natives were divided into districts, for the purpose of forced labour, and Government depôts provided to supply them with necessaries. This system led to the most outrageous extortion, the officials forcing on the natives commodities they did not need, at exorbitant prices. In 1780 the misconduct of those officials brought about a rising of Indians, under Condorcanqui, an Inca Cacique, who, however, was captured by the Spaniards and put to death. The revolt was continued by his cousin, Andres, the last of the Incas, who captured Sorate,{214} and massacred all the inhabitants. He was, however, shortly afterwards captured, and the revolt suppressed, but it was not fruitless, for it led to the abolition of the Repartimiento system.
The supporters of Daniel O’Connell in his agitation for the Repeal of the Union in 1825 and onwards.
The interest on the indemnity payable to the ex-King of Hanover for the loss of his sovereign rights, which indemnity had been impounded by Prussia on the ground that the ex-King continued his attacks on her. This fund was employed by Bismarck to subsidise the semi-official Press.
The German newspapers which received payment from Bismarck out of the Guelf fund to support his views, were known by this name.
One of the two great parties in the United States. The three chief points in their political creed are Protection, the maintenance of the Gold Standard, and Equal Rights for the Black and White races. They are strongest in the manufacturing districts of the East and Centre. Their opponents, the Democrats, are less united; in the South they are strong for the suppression of the negro, but by no means united on the other two questions. In the mining States of the West the question which is most to the fore is the free coinage of silver, while in the grain and cattle districts free trade is the rallying cry. The Democrats are also supporters of States Rights against Federalism, though this is now rather an academical than an acute question.
A court established by Somerset in the reign of Edward VI, to enable such of the poorer classes as had grievances against the administration, to approach him privately. He used this court to set aside, whenever it suited his purpose, the ordinary process of law.
An Act passed by the Scottish Parliament of 1661 (the Drunken Parliament) cutting off or repealing all the legislation since 1640.
The Scotch Presbyterians, under Argyle, who adopted the resolution to unite with the Royalists against Cromwell.
An edict issued by the Emperor Ferdinand II, immediately after the Peace of Lübeck, in 1629, restoring ecclesiastical matters to the condition in which they were at the time of the Treaty of Passau in 1552, and declaring that Catholics only were entitled to benefit by the provisions of that instrument. The execution of this edict met with strong opposition from the Protestants, and it was largely instrumental in bringing about the intervention of Gustavus Adolphus.{215}
An Act passed in 1700, dealing with the forfeited lands which had fallen into the King’s hands after the pacification of Limerick. Some of them had been restored to their original owners, and others granted as rewards for services rendered, or given to the King’s favourites. The Act revoked all these grants, and vested the land in trustees.
An edict issued by Henri III in 1585, revoking all previous measures of toleration and summoning the Huguenots to recant or leave France.
The revolution by which Charles X was forced to abdicate the throne of France.
The revolution by which Louis Philippe was driven into exile, and the second French Republic established. Its effects were felt throughout the Continent of Europe, and it was followed by republican risings in Germany, Italy, Belgium and elsewhere.
A league formed under the auspices of Mazarin in 1658, by the union of the Protestant and Catholic Leagues of German Princes which had been established in 1651. The league was supported financially by Louis XIV, and its affairs were managed by a Directory, sitting at Frankfort, under the presidency of the Elector of Mentz.
A confederation of German States formed under the auspices of Napoleon in 1806. It was composed of Bavaria, Baden, Würtemberg, the Duchy of Berg, Hesse-Darmstadt, and some other States of minor importance, and was in alliance with France.
See Malta, Knights of.
A statute of Edward I, enacted in 1204, by which Wales was annexed to the English Crown. It takes its name from Rhudlann Castle, where the King was staying at the time of its promulgation. (See Wales, Statute of.)
An agrarian movement in the South and West of Ireland, about 1869, its object being to agitate for security of tenure. Its methods, possibly harmless at first, soon degenerated into terrorism.
An old feudal custom connected with the opening of the Scots Parliament, celebrated with special pomp at the meeting of the last Parliament in 1703. All the members rode in procession from Holyrood to Parliament Square, fully robed and accompanied by train-bearers and servants.
A plot instigated by Pius V in 1571, against Elizabeth and in the interests of Mary Queen of Scots. Ridolfi was employed to sound the Duke of Norfolk, who consented to enter into the scheme. A Catholic rising was to be engineered,{216} which was to be aided by a Spanish invasion, Elizabeth was to be dethroned, and the Catholic religion restored. The existence of the plot was discovered through the arrest of one of Ridolfi’s messengers. His letters being in cypher, the names of the conspirators were not discovered. A little later, however, Norfolk was found in treasonable correspondence with Mary’s partisans in Scotland, the whole scheme was laid bare, and the leaders arrested. Norfolk was executed in the following year.
A rising of Indian half-breeds in Saskatchewan, North-West Canada, in 1885, under Louis Riel, who had been the ringleader of the Red River Rebellion in 1869. It was easily suppressed by the Canadian Militia, and Riel captured and executed.
The name given to the head of a secret agrarian society which sprang up in Munster about 1785.
In maritime law, the right to search neutral vessels for the enemy’s merchandise. It was abolished by the Treaty of Paris in 1856, when it was agreed that a neutral flag should cover the merchandise, except in the case of contraband of war.
A declaration of the principles of government recognized by the Revolutionists, adopted by the French National Assembly in 1789.
The Parliament of Denmark. It is composed of two Houses, the Landsthing, consisting partly of elected members and partly of life members nominated by the King, and the Folkething, an assembly elected by practically universal suffrage.
An Act passed in 1715, providing that any twelve or more persons assembled to the disturbance of the peace who shall fail to disperse when called upon to do so by proclamation of a magistrate or sheriff, shall be deemed guilty of felony.
An Act passed by the Irish Parliament in 1787 for the suppression of agrarian crime. The Bill, as originally drafted, contained a clause enacting that all Roman Catholic chapels in which agrarian societies had held meetings should be razed to the ground. This clause, however, excited violent opposition, and was expunged from the Bill.
See Anarchist, Astor Place, Austin, Birmingham, Blackburn, Boston, Bread, Bristol, Chartism, Donauwörth, Draft, Evil May Day, Glasgow, Gordon, Hyde Park, Kimberley, Luddite, Mitchelstown, Morant Bay, O.P., Porteous, Rebecca, Tithe, Trafalgar Square, Twenge’s.
The younger brother of Richard, Duke of Normandy, was so called. He rebelled{217} against his brother, and, finding himself worsted, feigned submission, and invited the Duke and his chief followers to a banquet, where he poisoned them, and succeeded to the Dukedom.
The famous march of Lord Roberts (then Sir Frederick) to the relief of Kandahar. He started from Kabul in August, 1880, with 10,000 troops and 8,000 camp followers, taking provisions for the whole march, as it was impossible to procure supplies en route. The distance of 318 miles was accomplished in twenty-three days, inclusive of halts.
See Bow Street Runners.
A form of the corvée, in existence in Bosnia and Herzegovina under Turkish rule. It was abolished by the Austrians in 1892.
The name adopted by the leader of an Irish agrarian society in 1822.
A treaty between Denmark and Sweden, signed in 1656, after the successful campaign of Charles X of Sweden. Denmark thereby surrendered all her remaining Swedish possessions.
A tax levied in Scotland in former times, the proceeds of which were applied to the apprehension and prosecution of criminals. It was first raised by statute in the reign of George I.
In ancient Poland a self-constituted assembly of nobles, who took the lead in calling the nobility to arms when force became necessary to enable them to obtain from the King satisfaction of their demands. It was practically a revolutionary committee.
Louis Philippe of France was called the Citizen King.
A nickname of Louis Philippe, whose accession was preceded by an émeute lasting three days, during which the mob raised numerous barricades in the streets of Paris.
A sobriquet of Cardinal Richelieu, who during the reign of Louis XIII (1610-1643) was the real ruler of France. The same title was bestowed on Anne de Joyeuse, because of his ascendency over Henri III (1574-1589).
A nickname of Louis XVIII of France.
A sobriquet of Louis XIV of France.
A name given to the later kings of the Merovingian dynasty, who took no part in the government of their States, leaving all public affairs in the hands of the Maire du Palais.
A Provisional Government{218} established by the revolutionary party in Rome in 1848. It consisted of Counts Corsini, Camerata and Galetti.
An executive appointed by the Italian Constituent Assembly, which met in Rome with the object of promoting Italian unity under a Republican Government, and proceeded to depose the Pope as a secular ruler. The members of the Triumvirate were Mazzini, Saffi and Armellini.
The fundamental law of the Orange Free State and South African Republic. It is based on the Institutes of Justinian, with the changes introduced into them in the Netherlands.
A league against the Turks, formed under the auspices of Adrian VI in 1523. Its members were Charles V, Henry VIII, the Archduke of Austria, the Duke of Milan, and the Republics of Venice, Florence, Genoa, Siena and Lucca.
At this Synod, held in 1059, Nicholas II issued regulations for the election of the Pope, which with slight modifications are in force at the present day. Up to this date the election had been more or less under the control of the Emperor, but by the new regulations it was vested in the Cardinals assembled in Conclave.
Another name for Peter’s Pence.
An edict issued by de l’Hôpital, in 1560, transferring the power of judging heretics from the special court established by the Guises to the bishops.
A Diet held by Frederic Barbarossa in 1158, after the surrender of Milan. Edicts were issued increasing the power of the Emperor over the Italian cities, regulating the appointment of podestàs to act jointly with the consuls, and forbidding private war between the various cities.
In old Japan, men of gentle blood who, by the commission of some crime or for some other reason had become detached from their clan, and ceased to owe allegiance to any feudal lord. Many became hired swashbucklers; others fell in the social scale, and entered into trade. The word signifies “wave men.”
The name given to the Pamirs, the great Central Asian plateau, the mean elevation of which is 13,000 feet above the sea-level.
The name given to a bill introduced into Parliament in 1641, for “the utter abolition of archbishops, bishops, deans, archdeacons, prebendaries and canons.”
Wealthy citizens in the French feudal days, who purchased land from the feudal lords. The ranks of the nobility were{219} recruited from their descendants, as the possession of land for three generations ennobled the third holder. This was abolished, however, in the reign of Philip the Fair, from which time the roturiers remained a class apart.
A document signed by the Duke of Leinster, and other Irish peers and commoners, by which the signatories undertook to make government in Ireland impossible, if the government inflicted penalties upon any of their number on account of their action in the matter of the regency in 1789. They had been instrumental in obtaining a resolution of the Irish Parliament, in opposition to the Ministry, offering the sovereignty of Ireland unconditionally to the Prince of Wales.
A series of meetings held in 1887 between Sir George Trevelyan, Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. John Morley and Sir William Harcourt, with the object, if possible, of finding a basis for the reunion of the Liberal Unionists and the Gladstonians. No result was arrived at.
The name given to the Puritan party, on account of their close-cropped hair. It was first used during the riots in London in 1641.
An attempt by 1,500 men of the Clan MacLeod, in 1846, to capture the Young Pretender, who was staying at the Castle of Moy, belonging to the Laird of MacIntosh. Their approach was discovered by the blacksmith of the MacIntoshes, who with five or six companions was patrolling near the castle. This small party separated, and firing into the MacLeods from different parts of the wood, so disconcerted them that they fled in disorder, thinking they had fallen into an ambush of the Pretender’s whole army.
An Act passed in 1772, forbidding any member of the Royal Family, except the children of Princesses married abroad, to marry under the age of twenty-five without the King’s consent. After that age, twelve months’ notice of such intended marriage must be given, and unless petitioned against by both Houses of Parliament, the marriage could then take place.
Charles I of England is so called.
An Act passed in 1876, by which the title of Empress of India was added to the Royal titles.
See Reinsurance Treaty.
The name given to the remnant of the Long Parliament, which continued to sit after Pride’s Purge, until ejected by Cromwell in 1653. In 1659, after Cromwell’s death, the Rump was recalled, and returned, to the number of forty-two, with Lenthall, the Speaker. In the following year, however, they were again turned out by Monk, and the Long Parliament at last came to an end.{220}
A rising in Scotland in 1565, of certain noblemen who were displeased at Mary’s marriage with Darnley. Their leader was the Earl of Murray. They were unable to stand against the Queen’s supporters, and, after various rapid marches, finally crossed the border into England and disbanded their forces.
This name was given to Edward, Earl of Derby (1799-1869) by Lord Lytton.
A Note issued by the Russian Government, in which, taking advantage of the Franco-German War, Russia declared that she no longer considered herself bound by the Black Sea Neutrality clause in the Treaty of Paris, and that she held herself at liberty to build and maintain a fleet of warships in those waters. This Note caused intense irritation in London, but no steps could be taken till the close of the war, when a conference met in London to consider the point at issue.
A convention between Russia and Japan, signed in 1897, by which the contracting parties guaranteed the independence of Korea. Japan was permitted to keep a force of 200 armed police for the protection of the telegraph lines, and a small military force in Seoul, Fusan and Gensan. Russia was allowed to maintain an equivalent force for the protection of her legation.
The seizure of James VI of Scotland at Perth in 1581 by Lord Gowrie and others of the Protestant leaders, by way of checkmating the schemes of Lennox and the Catholics for the restoration of Catholicism.
In feudal Holland a tax paid in lieu of military service, similar to scutage.
A Whig conspiracy to assassinate Charles II in 1683. It was revealed by one of the conspirators, and its ringleaders, Russell and Sidney, were convicted and executed, while the Earl of Essex died by his own hand in prison.
The system of land taxation in India by which every peasant farmer is looked upon as the proprietor of his land, and pays his taxes direct to the Government. It is the opposite of the Zemindari system, the survival of the system practised under Mogul Emperors, where the Zemindar was responsible for the taxation of a certain district.
A treaty signed in 1697 between France, England, Holland and Spain, ending the War of the League of Augsburg, whereby Louis XIV surrendered all his conquests since the Treaty of Nimeguen in 1678, and agreed to acknowledge William III as King of England, and to withdraw his support from James. A month later the Emperor Leopold, who was not a signatory of the first treaty, signed a separate instrument, by which he recovered{221} all Louis’ conquests except Strasburg, including all the French fortifications on the right bank of the Rhine. Lorraine was restored to the Duke Leopold, with the proviso that passage should be granted when required to the troops of France.
Freedom from the jurisdiction of the Hundred which, in Saxon times, generally accompanied grants of land. From this arose the jurisdiction of the feudal lords over their own estates, including such townships as might be built upon them.
A committee composed of ten commoners and five peers appointed by the Long Parliament in 1642, to conduct the war against the King.
The Norse chronicles, recording the exploits of the most famous Viking chiefs. The earliest Sagas to which even an approximate date can be assigned are of the sixth century: the latest, of the thirteenth.
The oldest Russian order of knighthood, founded by Peter the Great in 1698.
The massacre of the Huguenots in Paris on St. Bartholomew’s day, 1572, when 15,000 persons are said to have perished. The Duc de Guise took an active part in the massacre, which was doubtless planned with the connivance of Charles IX and Catherine de’ Medici. Among those who were murdered was Admiral Coligny.
The Massacre of the Danes settled in Wessex, by Æthelred the Unready, on St. Brice’s day, 1002.
A French order of knighthood, founded by Henri III in 1578. It ceased to exist after the revolution of 1830.
The first body of regular troops raised in Italy. It was formed by Count Barbiano about 1379.
A treaty between Charles IX and the Huguenots, signed in 1570. It granted to the Huguenots the right of worshipping according to their own rites in private houses, with certain restrictions as to the numbers present. The Reformed Religion was to be maintained in those towns which had held out for the Huguenot cause up to the signing of the treaty, and four towns, La Rochelle, Cognac, Montauban and La Charité, were given them as places of safety.
An ancient Bavarian order of knighthood, founded in 1444, by Gerard V, Count of Ravensberg. It is conferred only on members of the Bavarian Royal Family, foreign sovereigns, princes and barons.{222}
A French order of religious chivalry, confirmed by Pope Alexander IV in 1255. Their special function was the cure of lepers. The order existed until the Revolution.
An order of knighthood instituted by George III in 1783. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland is an ex-officio member.
A treaty between England and Russia, signed in 1805, by which the signatories pledged themselves to support a European league to demand from France the evacuation of Hanover and Italy and the independence of Holland and Switzerland. They further undertook not to interfere in the internal affairs of France, and to summon a Congress for the settlement of all outstanding European questions. This treaty was the germ of the Coalition against Napoleon.
The political system of the Comte de St. Simon (1760-1825) who may be considered the founder of French socialism. It includes the abolition of the hereditary principle, and the vesting in the State of all the instruments of production, the worker, however, being rewarded according to his capacity, and not by equal division regardless of merit.
A revolutionary secret society in Paris, headed by Bernard, Blanqui and Barbès. Some 600 members of the Society rose in 1837, and raised barricades in the streets of Paris, but the outbreak was immediately suppressed, and its leaders were all seized and imprisoned.
A tax of a tenth on all property, imposed by Henry III for the prosecution of the Crusades.
A council summoned by Ferdinand of Spain in 1486, to which were submitted the plans of Columbus for a voyage to the West.
A treaty signed in 1782 at the close of the first Mahratta War, by which the Mahrattas agreed to pension Raghoba, and Haidar Ali surrendered all his conquests. It was further stipulated that all Europeans other than British and Portuguese should be expelled from the Mahratta States.
A nickname bestowed by the Spaniards on Thomas, Duke of Genoa, who was put forward by Marshal Prim as a candidate for the Spanish throne.
A Court of Record of the Hundred of Salford, which dates back to Anglo-Saxon times. It is one of the very few mediæval courts which were not abolished by the Judicature Act of 1873.
A code of laws promulgated by Clovis, generally called the founder of the French Monarchy, circ. 500. By the Salic Law women were forbidden to inherit land, a prohibition which was afterwards inter{223}preted as including the right of succession to the throne. The English Kings refused to accept this interpretation, and the various attempts they made to enforce their claim to the French throne led to the prolonged conflict known as the Hundred Years War, which broke out in the reign of Edward III. Edward claimed the throne through his mother Isabella, daughter of Philip IV, all of whose sons died without male issue.
The name given to the Moorish pirates who infested the Mediterranean till well into the nineteenth century. Sallee or Sali, one of their principal ports, is on the Atlantic coast of Morocco.
A conference held at Berlin in 1889, at which Germany, Great Britain and the United States were represented. An arrangement was arrived at by which the three Powers recognized the independence of Samoa, and the right of the natives to elect their king. At the same time provision was made for a Supreme Court of Justice, under European control, and for the regulation of the trade in arms and intoxicating liquors. It was superseded in 1899 by the Samoan Treaty.
A treaty between Germany, Great Britain and the United States signed in 1899, after the suppression of the civil war between Mataafa and Malietoa. Germany obtained possession of Samoa, and the United States secured a naval port at Tutuila, in Pago Pago, while England’s rights over Tonga were recognized. Equal liberty of trading was secured to all the contracting parties.
The military, governing and literary class in Old Japan, the retainers of the Daimios. They were the highest of the four classes into which the nation was divided, and formed in fact the gentry of Japan. The army and navy of to-day are almost exclusively officered by members of the Samurai families.
A treaty between Spain and the French Directoire, signed in 1794, providing that either Power, in the case of one or the other being attacked, should provide for its ally material aid in the shape of fifteen ships of war, and a land contingent of 24,000 men. This provision, however, was not to apply to the war in which France was then engaged, excepting only in the case of England, against whom Spain, having grievances of her own, was prepared to take up arms at once.
The question as to the ownership of the island of San Juan, lying between Vancouver and the American coast, arose out of the wording of the Treaty of Ghent in 1818, by which instrument the middle of the channel between Vancouver and the mainland was fixed as the boundary. San Juan being in the middle of the channel, the question of ownership was a{224} doubtful one, but the arbitrators, in 1872, decided in favour of the United States.
A treaty signed by Russia and Turkey, at the close of the Russo-Turkish War in 1878. By its provisions the whole of the Christian provinces of Turkey were rendered practically independent, while Bulgaria was erected into an important state with a port on the Ægean Sea. England refused to recognize this treaty, and eventually Russia agreed to submit it to a European Congress, which was held at Berlin in the autumn of the same year.
The right claimed by the Church of affording protection to criminals who took refuge in churches and other consecrated precincts. In some cases these refugees from justice were enabled to set the law at defiance for years, by keeping within these precincts. Some of the most notorious of these cities of refuge were abolished by Act of Parliament in 1697, but it was not until the reign of George I that the last of them, the Sanctuary of St. Peter’s, Westminster, ceased to exist.
A treaty signed in 1852 by which the British Government recognized the right of the emigrants beyond the Vaal to manage their own affairs, and govern themselves in accordance with their own laws. Other clauses of the Convention provided for free trade, except in arms, arbitration in any dispute that might arise in respect of the boundary over the Drakensberg, extradition, and free passage of the Vaal for all except criminals and fugitive debtors. The British Government further disclaimed the right to make treaties with native tribes north of the Vaal.
A league of the nobles of Little Poland formed in 1702 to oppose Charles XII of Sweden and support Augustus II.
A Neapolitan secret society established in Naples, with the approval of the Pope, during the first decade of the nineteenth century, to oppose the Carbonari and support the Church.
A declaration issued by Richard Cameron and other leaders of the Covenanters in 1680, proclaiming that Charles I had forfeited the crown by his breach of the Covenant.
The sobriquet of the Maréchale Lefebvre, Duchesse de Dantzic, given her on account of her free and easy manners at the Court of Napoleon. She had been a washerwoman, and afterwards followed her husband in the wars as a vivandière.
Voltaire’s name for Frederick the Great of Prussia (1740-86).
The revolutionary rabble of Paris, so called by the Royalists because they wore trousers instead of the knee-breeches{225} affected by the upper classes. The word means literally “without breeches.”
See Hermandad.
A league of the Castilian cities in 1520, under Juan de Padilla and Ferdinand de Avalos, which refused to recognize the authority of Adrian Boyens, the Fleming appointed Regent by Charles V. Charles offered certain concessions, which were refused, and a civil war resulted, which ended in the total defeat of the Junta in 1521, though Toledo held out for another year. This rising is also known as the Revolt of the Communeros.
A Spanish order of religious chivalry founded in 1170, and approved by Papal Bull in 1175. Its members were vowed to obedience, community of goods and conjugal chastity, and also to perpetual war against the Mussulman.
A treaty between Chile and Bolivia, concluded in 1866, delimiting the frontier between the two States.
This kingdom came into existence in 1720, when Sardinia was ceded by Austria to the House of Savoy, in exchange for Sicily, the name being applied to the new combination of Savoy, Sardinia and Piedmont. It lasted until Victor Emmanuel became King of United Italy in 1861.
A convention, signed in 1855, by which the King of Sardinia undertook to furnish 15,000 men in aid of France and England in the Crimea, the troops to be transported by England. In return the allies guaranteed the integrity of the King’s dominions.
A league formed in 1832 by the cantons of Basle, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Valais, and Neuchâtel to oppose Federal revision and support the Federal Pact of 1815. It was also called the Sonderbund.
An agreement arrived at in 1578 between the Protestant party and the Catholic magistrates of Amsterdam, whereby, following the example of other Dutch cities, the two religions were placed on an equal footing.
A rising of the Prince of Satsuma against the Japanese Government in 1877, at the head of the party opposed to reform. The rebellion was soon suppressed.
A codification of the French Commercial Law, issued by Louis XIV in 1673.
The Duke of Wellington was so called after the battle of Waterloo.
A conference of bishops of the Church of England, held in 1661, with the object of so amending the liturgy as to per{226}mit of the Puritan party remaining in the Church. It was, however, found impossible to arrive at any acceptable middle course.
A declaration of faith of the Congregational Churches of England, issued in 1658. It is a modification of the Westminster Confession.
The ancient name of the coast line of England, from the Wash to Shoreham.
Judicial assessors, twelve in number, chosen by the allodial landowners, who accompanied each Count to the general assemblies of the early French kings.
The bards of the ancient Norsemen were so called.
The spreading of libellous reports concerning peers, judges or great officers of the State was created an offence by a statute of 1275, which was repealed in 1887.
After the Avignon Captivity and the death of Gregory XI, the cardinals, under pressure of the Roman populace, elected as Pope in 1378 a perfectly unfit person, who took the name of Urban VI. They endeavoured to persuade him to resign, but failing, elected Robert of Geneva, who took the name of Clement VII. The schism continued, each Pope having a successor appointed at his death, till at the Council of Pisa, in 1409, both were deposed, and a Franciscan monk elected who took the name of Alexander V. As neither of the deposed Popes would give way, there were now three. Alexander was succeeded by Cossa, as John XXIII, and finally the schism was ended by the Council of Constance in 1415, where all three Popes were deposed, and Martin V, a Colonna, was elected.
An Act passed in 1714, by which all persons were forbidden to keep schools or act as tutors, who were not members of the Church of England, and duly licensed for the purpose by the bishop. It was repealed in 1719.
The severance between the Churches of the East and the West, which became final in 1054, when the legates of Pope Victor II laid the papal anathema upon the altar of St. Sophia of Constantinople.
By the Treaty of London of 1852 it was provided that the succession to the Danish throne was to be vested in Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, but that the Duchies, one of which, Holstein, was a German Duchy, sending delegates to the German Diet, should not be incorporated in the kingdom of Denmark. The Danes, however, did not observe the compact, and before the death of Frederick VII of Denmark, in 1862, Schleswig had been made practically a part of Denmark. After the succession of Christian IX, Austria and Prussia, finding protests unavailing, entered the Duchies, and, after a short{227} struggle, overwhelmed the Danish army. By the Treaty of Gastein, signed in 1865, Schleswig was allotted to Prussia and Holstein to Austria.
A profession of the Lutheran doctrine, similar to, but more forcibly worded than, the Augsburg Confession, drawn up by Luther at the request of John Frederick of Saxony.
A confederation of the Lutheran Princes of Germany, headed by the Elector of Saxony, formed in 1530 to unite the supporters of the Reformed Religion against Charles V.
The line of demarcation between British Guiana and Venezuela fixed by Sir Robert Schomburgk in his official survey of the colony in 1840. The Schomburgk Line was, with unimportant exceptions, upheld by the arbitrators in the Venezuelan arbitration award of 1899.
A proclamation of Napoleon in 1805, declaring the deposition of the Bourbons from the throne of Naples.
A treaty between France and Prussia, signed in December 1805, by which Napoleon succeeded in detaching Prussia from the coalition. Prussia entered into an offensive and defensive alliance with France, and surrendered Anspach and Neuchâtel, receiving Hanover in exchange.
See Queensberry Plot.
A sobriquet of James I of England and VI of Scotland.
A system of election by which every Department is divided into wards, or divisions, each returning one member to the Chamber of Deputies. It is the system at present in force in France.
A system of election in France by which all the deputies for a Department are elected en bloc. It was in force in 1848 and again in 1871, while an unsuccessful attempt to reintroduce it was made in 1881. It is also the system prevailing in Italy.
The massacre by the Irish Rebels in 1798 of nearly 200 Protestant prisoners. They were shut up in a barn, and after the defeat of the rebels at New Ross, the barn was fired and they were burnt to death, or piked as they attempted to escape.
A money payment exacted from knights in lieu of personal service. The first instance of it occurs in the reign of Henry II. It enabled the king to hire mercenaries for his foreign wars, and to dispense with the services of his barons, and came to be regarded as a regular source of revenue. The right of the sovereign to exact it, however, was greatly restricted by Magna Charta. It was also known as escuage.{228}
English privateers in the early days of Elizabeth, who preyed on French commerce in the Channel, sailing under letters of marque granted by Condé and the Huguenots. When the differences between the Huguenots and Catholics were adjusted and the letters of marque withdrawn, they joined the Dutch “Beggars of the Sea” in their raids upon the Spaniards.
A small band of Royalists formed as a secret committee to manage the affairs of the party in 1657. One of their number, Willis, was in the pay of Cromwell, who was thereby enabled to counteract their numerous plots for his destruction.
The declaration issued by South Carolina in 1860 dissolving its union with the United States. The other Southern States followed with similar declarations.
A sobriquet of Charles V, Emperor of Germany (1519-58).
Henry Clay, the American statesman (1777-1852), was so called.
A document published in the Times of July 25, 1870, purporting to be the text of a treaty between France and Prussia, containing the following provisions: the recognition by France of Prussia’s acquisitions in the war with Austria; an undertaking by Prussia to use her influence with Holland to secure Luxemburg for France, and to aid France if she found it necessary to undertake the conquest of Belgium, providing a force if required to resist any foreign interference; an undertaking by France not to oppose Prussia’s designs for the unification of Germany. Whether this treaty was ever signed or not, there is little doubt that proposals of this nature were made to Bismarck by Benedetti, Napoleon’s minister at Berlin.
October 5, 1794, on which day the troops of the Convention, under Buonaparte, routed the National Guard of the “Sections” of Paris and established the rule of the Directoire, thus marking the end of the Revolution.
See Albigenses, Alumbrados, Anabaptists, Arminians, Arya Somaj, Assassins, Bianchi, Brahmo Somaj, Brownists, Calixtines, Cameronians, Doppers, Dukhobors, Erastians, Fifth Monarchy Men, Flagellants, Hussites, Iconoclasts, Illuminati, Independents, Jansenists, Karmathians, Latitudinarians, Levellers, Lollards, Molokani, Moravians, Mormons, Old Catholics, Quakers, Quietists, Senussi, Shakers, Shiah, Sikhs, Socinians, Skoptsi, Stundists, Sunni, Taborites, Utraquists, Wahabis, Waldenses.
By a treaty concluded in 1803, in the promotion of which Napoleon took a prominent part, the ecclesiastical States of Germany, three of which, the Sees of Mayence, Treves and Cologne, were Electors to the{229} Imperial crown, were secularized and distributed among the other German States.
A Bill brought forward at the instance of Charles II in 1679, to provide for the succession of James, who was a declared Roman Catholic. The Bill provided that while a Catholic prince was on the throne the right of appointing to livings should be withdrawn from him, and that the appointment of all judges, councillors, lords lieutenant and officers of the fleet should be in the hands of the two Houses of Parliament. This Bill was not considered sufficiently stringent.
An Act passed by the Scottish Parliament in 1703, declaring that the successor of Queen Anne in Scotland should not be the same as in England, unless free commercial intercourse were secured between the two countries.
A name bestowed on Napoleon III after his surrender, with the army of Macmahon, at Sédan in September, 1870.
A resolution of the Parliament, passed at the instance of Cromwell, by which the members of both Houses were made ineligible for commands in the army. Its object was to get rid of some of the Parliamentary generals, such as Manchester, Essex and Waller, in as delicate a way as possible. The resolution was at first rejected by the Lords, but was afterwards passed.
The village elder or elected head of a Russian mir, or village community.
Margaret of Denmark (1387) was so called. Voltaire also gave this title to Catherine of Russia (1729-96).
A military ordinance promulgated in 1393 by the eight federated cantons of Switzerland, together with Soleure, making provision for the repression of private war, brigandage and pillage.
A Mohammedan religious fraternity founded at Fez by Mohammed-es-Senussi about 1830. It has spread all over Northern Africa, and is a powerful factor in uniting African Mohammedanism.
A convention between France and Italy, signed in 1864, by which Louis Napoleon agreed gradually to withdraw the French troops from Rome, Victor Emmanuel undertaking not to violate the Pope’s territory.
A series of laws restricting the liberty of the Press, passed in France in 1835.
The massacre, after a mock trial, of the priests, officials and other Royalists confined in the prisons of Paris between the 2nd and 6th of September, 1792. About 1,000 prisoners are known to have perished. The men engaged in the massacre were{230} afterwards called the Septembriseurs.
A section of the democratic party of Portugal, during the reign of Queen Maria, who in September, 1836, demanded the abrogation of the Charter of 1826 and a return to the democratic form of government established by the Constitution of 1824. A compromise between them and the supporters of the Charter was effected in 1852.
An Act passed in 1716, prolonging the term of the then existing Parliament from three to seven years. It was intended as a temporary measure, but has never been repealed, and is the Act under which Parliaments are now held.
Prior to the emancipation of the serfs by Alexander II. in 1861, the Russian peasants were serfs, either of the State, or of a great landowner. The State serfs were practically free, with the exception that they could not change their domicile, but they were permitted, on payment of a small fee, to leave their villages, subject to the due payment of their share of the village taxes. The serfs of the nobles were more like slaves. Some of them were taken as house servants, others remained in the villages and rendered certain services to the lord in return for the land which he surrendered to the village commune. The house serfs were practically chattels, and were not infrequently sold.
A treaty signed in 1792 at the close of the third Mysore War, by which Tippu Sahib surrendered Dindigul, Baramahal and Malabar, and agreed to pay a war indemnity of three crores of rupees to the British and thirty lacs to the Mahratta States.
A measure passed in Venice in 1298 providing that no citizens should be eligible for election to the Grand Council except the families of senators then in office. The Government was thus established on purely aristocratic lines.
A treaty signed in 1375 between Mourad I, Sultan of Turkey, and Lazar, Despot of Servia, by which Servia acknowledged the suzerainty of Turkey and agreed to pay an annual tribute.
An Act passed in 1882, introduced by Lord Cairns, removing many of the restrictions and difficulties existing in dealing with entailed estates.
An Act passed by Cromwell, providing for the banishment of all the officers of the Catholic army in Ireland, who, with their followers, withdrew to the Continent, to the number of some 30,000; the confiscation of a portion of the property of the remaining Royalists, and the distribution of their lands among the English adventurers. It further confined the Catholics to the right bank of the Shannon.{231}
An Act passed after the Restoration, by which, and a supplementary Act passed in 1665, restitution was made to the dispossessed Royalist officers and some others, partly out of lands which had not been alienated by Cromwell, and partly out of land surrendered, to the extent of one-third of their estates, by the adventurers. The majority of the claims for compensation were disregarded, with the result that by far the larger part of Ireland remained in Protestant hands. This Act was repealed by the Irish Parliament summoned by James II in 1689.
The Act settling the succession after the death of Queen Anne upon the Electress Sophia of Hanover and her descendants. It provided for various limitations of the royal prerogative; among its provisions being that the sovereign should be a member of the Church of England; that Great Britain should not be called upon to defend any territories not being British territory, without the consent of Parliament; that the sovereign should not quit the realm; that no person born out of the realm should be capable of holding office under the Crown, and that no person holding office or enjoying a pension should sit in the House of Commons.
A law passed in 1662, providing that a labourer not born in the parish or resident therein for forty days, might be removed to the parish of his birth or former residence, on complaint of the overseers that he was likely to become chargeable to the rates. The object was that each parish should be compelled to support its own paupers, under the Poor Law of Elizabeth.
An Act passed in 1858, transferring to the Government of the Queen all the territories hitherto governed by the East India Company.
A petition signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and six bishops against the Declaration of Indulgence of James II in 1687. The bishops were brought before the Council and ordered to find bail, and on refusing were committed to the Tower.
The Siebenkonkordat, a league of the liberal Cantons, Lucerne, Zurich, Berne, Soleure, St. Gall, Aargau and Thurgau, formed in 1832, with the object of protecting the constitutions of these Cantons and promoting Federal reforms.
A series of battles fought during the Peninsular Campaign of the American Civil War, from June 25 to July 1, 1862, between the Federals under McClellan and the Confederates under Lee. McClellan was driven back to the James River.
Masaniello was so called after his brief rule in Naples in 1647.
The dignitaries next in im{232}portance to the king in mediæval Scotland. In the time of Alexander I they formed the Council of the Kingdom, and they claimed the right of appointing the king.
The seven men chosen in 1639 by the Puritan colonists of New Haven to organize the Government of the colony. The most prominent among them were Eaton and Davenport.
A document published in 1871, purporting to be an agreement between certain prominent Conservatives and the delegates of the Council of Skilled Workmen, on the subject of social reform. As the “points” included a statutory eight hours’ day, free places of amusement and full local self-government in all towns and villages, it is not surprising that the document was repudiated by most of those who were said to have signed it, including Lords Salisbury, Lorne and Carnarvon.
The war between Prussia and Austria in 1866 is so called.
The war maintained by Frederick the Great, with some aid, chiefly naval and financial, from England, against the combined forces of France, Russia, Austria, Sweden and Saxony. It lasted from 1756 to 1763, but early in 1762 Frederick succeeded in detaching Russia from the allies and received her aid till the end of the struggle.
A treaty signed in 1729 by England, Spain and France, and subsequently Holland, thus detaching Spain from the Austrian alliance concluded by the Treaty of Vienna of 1725. Spain revoked all the concessions made to Austria under that instrument, again confirmed the Asiento, and in return received the support of the other signatories to the succession of Don Carlos to the Duchies of Tuscany and Parma.
A sect founded in England about 1757 by a body of seceders from the Quakers, under Ann Lee, known as Mother Ann. They emigrated to America in 1772, where they are found chiefly in New York State.
A rising in Massachusetts in 1786, headed by an ex-officer named Daniel Shays, in opposition to a decision of Congress to apportion the National Debt of the United States among the various States of the Union. The rising was quickly suppressed by the militia, and the ring leaders arrested.
The Hundred Court, when occupied with the View of Frank pledge, was known by this name.
The famous march of General Sherman during the American Civil War from Atlanta to Savannah, a distance of 300 miles, which he accomplished in about a month, reaching Savannah in December, 1864.
Isabel, daughter of Philip the Fair, and Queen of Edward II of England, was so called.{233}
The chief of the Ulema of Constantinople.
One of the two great Mohammedan sects. It rejects the Sunni, or body of tradition, accepting the Koran only.
A treaty, closing the Chino-Japanese War, signed April 10, 1895. China agreed to cede to Japan Formosa, the Pescadores and the Liao-Tung Peninsula, including Port Arthur, and to pay an indemnity of 200 million taels. However, Russia, France and Germany intervened and forced Japan to surrender the Liao-Tung peninsula, receiving as compensation an additional 30 million taels.
The ancient and also the State religion of Japan. It is in its origin a form of ancestor and hero worship, but has been much corrupted by the interweaving of many of the grosser Buddhistic superstitions.
A tax imposed by Charles I in 1634, first on the maritime counties, but later on the whole kingdom, ostensibly to protect the country from the incursions of the Algerine pirates and from Dutch aggression, but in reality to provide himself with funds without having recourse to Parliament. It was in resisting the payment of this tax that Hampden first became prominent. The House of Commons declared it illegal in 1641, and at the same time impeached the six judges who had pronounced in favour of the right of the Crown to impose it.
The de facto ruler of Japan prior to the Revolution of 1868. The title signifies Commander-in-Chief, and his relations with the Tenno or Mikado, the legitimate sovereign of Japan, were analogous to those of the Maire du Palais and the Merovingian Rois Fainéants. The title of Tycoon or Great Prince was assumed by the Shôgun to impress the Western nations with his dignity when diplomatic relations were first opened with Japan. The title of Shôgun was first borne by Minamoto-no-Yoritomo in 1192.
A Parliament summoned by Charles I in 1640 in the hope of obtaining supplies to meet the threatened renewal of hostilities with Scotland. The Parliament met on April 13, but finding it more intent on the redress of grievances than on the grant of supplies, Charles dissolved it on May 5 following.
The name given to the Ministry formed by William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, in February, 1746. It held office for two days only.
A rising in Sicily in 1282, when the adherents of Don Pedro of Aragon, a claimant to the Sicilian throne, annihilated the French garrison of his rival Charles of Anjou. The first outbreak took place at Palermo, and the insurrection spread rapidly through the island till{234} not a Frenchman was left alive in Sicily.
A phrase commonly applied to the Turkish Empire. It was first used in its present form by Nicholas I of Russia in 1854, but Montesquieu (1689-1755) in the Lettres Persanes speaks of the Ottoman Empire as “Ce corps malade” (This sickly body).
See Seven Cantons.
The famous code of laws compiled by Alfonso (surnamed the Wise), of Leon and Castille (1252-82). The code became the basis of the law of Spain.
The name given to the head of the Whiteboys, an Irish Secret Society in Munster in 1761.
The sobriquet of William I, Prince of Orange (1533-84).
An outbreak of the Spitalfields weavers in 1765 owing to their disappointment at the rejection of a Bill prohibiting the importation of foreign silks. They were, after serious rioting, quieted by the promise that the Bill would be reintroduced.
A nickname of William IV.
An Act of Congress, passed in 1890, by which the Treasury is obliged to purchase four and a half million ounces of silver monthly at market price, such price not to exceed 371¼ grains of silver per dollar.
A religious sect in Northern India, founded in the sixteenth century by Babu Nának. They profess a reformed form of Hinduism, rejecting caste and various Brahminical superstitions. Under Govind Rai, towards the end of the seventeenth century, they formed a strong military organization, which reached its zenith under Ranjit Singh early in the nineteenth century. Their power was finally crushed by the British in 1851.
A treaty between Great Britain and China, signed in 1890, by which China recognized the British rights in Sikkim.
A proclamation issued by Lord Auckland in 1838 setting out the British policy with regard to Afghanistan. It declared that Dost Mahomed and his brother had shown themselves unfriendly to England by supporting the Persian designs on Herat and by attacking Ranjit Singh. That in consequence the British Government had decided to support the claim of Shah Sujah-ul-Mulk to the throne of Afghanistan and maintain him thereon by force if necessary.
A controversy in the Irish Parliament, which arose in 1782 immediately after the establishment of Grattan’s Parliament. A party headed by Flood held that the abnegation by England of her former legislative control was not sufficient, as she might at any time re-enact the{235} obnoxious controlling laws. He held that England should expressly renounce all controlling rights. Grattan held that the repeal of these enactments was sufficient, and carried Parliament with him, but the masses continued to hold the opposite opinion.
The title of the Mahratta rulers of Gwalior.
The destruction of a Turkish squadron by the Russian fleet at Sinope in 1853. It seems clear that no quarter was given, and it is said that of the crews of nine Turkish men-of-war only 400 survived, almost all of whom were wounded.
A treaty between the British and Daulat Rao Sindhia of Gwalior, signed in 1803 at the close of the second Mahratta War. Sindhia ceded to the British all his territory between the Jumna and the Ganges, all north of Jeypur, Jodhpur and Gohad, and all between Adjanta Ghât and the Godaveri, together with the town and district of Ahmednaggar.
A treaty between Austria, Prussia, and Turkey, signed in 1791, by which Leopold of Austria surrendered all his conquests, in consequence of the mediation of Prussia and England. By a separate convention the Porte agreed to cede to Austria Old Orsova and a small district in Croatia.
A treaty between Austria and the Porte, signed in 1607. The Porte abandoned the tribute hitherto paid by Austria, recognized the Austrian Sovereign as Emperor, instead of only King of Vienna, as the Turks had hitherto styled him, and agreed that the future diplomatic intercourse should be carried on on a footing of equality between the two nations. This treaty may be said to mark the turning point in the fortunes of the Ottoman Empire.
A series of enactments passed in the autumn session of 1819 to strengthen the law against sedition, in view of the numerous risings of the past few years. They were as follows: (1) An Act to prevent delay in the administration of justice; (2) an Act to prevent the training of persons in the use of arms; (3) an Act for the prevention of blasphemy and seditious libel; (4) an Act authorizing Justices of the Peace to seize and retain arms; (5) an Act subjecting certain publications to the newspaper stamp duty; and (6) an Act to prevent seditious assemblies.
An Act passed in 1539, at the instance of the Anti-Reformers headed by Norfolk, by which the acceptance of six cardinal articles of the Catholic faith was made obligatory under heavy penalties. It was repealed by an Act passed in 1547, on the accession of Edward VI.
By a decree of the Diet of Augsburg in 1500, Germany was divided into six circles—Bavaria,{236} Franconia, The Rhine, Saxony, Suabia and Westphalia.
A league formed in 1346 by the German towns of Bautzen, Görlitz, Kamenz, Lauban, Löbau and Zittau for mutual protection against the marauding barons.
A series of edicts of a liberal character issued by Turgot, the minister of Louis XVI in 1776. They provided for the suppression of (1) the Caisse de Poissy; (2) duties on grain in the markets; (3) harbour dues; (4) statutes of apprenticeship and incorporation; (5) the corvée, and for (6) the diminution of market dues. They met with much opposition, and were not registered without recourse to a Lit de Justice, while they eventually led to Turgot’s downfall.
The five tribes of North American Indians known as the Five Nations admitted into their confederacy, in 1715, the Tuscaroras, and were afterwards known as the Six Nations.
The O.P. riots were so called, as being caused by the decision of the managers of Covent Garden Theatre to raise the prices by sixpence.
A society formed about 1584 by the more violent partisans of the League. It was so called because its proceedings were directed by a committee of sixteen, each of whom took a district of Paris under his special charge.
A council provided by the will of Henry VIII, to act as regents until Edward VI came of age. They were also called the Executors.
See Iskander Beg.
Bands of American marauders who infested the east bank of the Hudson during the American War of Independence.
The name given to a fund raised by the Fenians about 1880, for the purpose of procuring the commission of dynamite outrages in England.
A Russian sect of schismatics, who practise self-mutilation. They interpret the Scriptures literally, and act on the injunction: “If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out.”
The Servian National Assembly.
An insurrection of burghers in the Graaf-Reinet district of Cape Colony in 1815, arising out of an attempt to bring a certain Jan Bezuidenhoot to justice for ill-treating a Kaffir. He and his relations and neighbours rose against the Government, but were overpowered, after a short resistance, at Slachter’s Nek. Bezuidenhoot fled, but was killed by his pursuers a few days later. Six of the leaders were condemned to death, but at the execution four of the ropes broke. Notwithstanding the remonstrances of the spec{237}tators, who considered this to be a Divine intimation of their innocence, the sentence was duly carried out. This execution is still looked upon by the Dutch as one of the crimes of the British Government.
The third Dynasty of the Mohammedan Kings of India, founded by Kutb-ud-Din, the favourite slave of Mohammed of Ghor, who ruled as Mohammed’s viceroy from 1186 to 1206, and on his master’s death, without issue, ascended the throne. The dynasty lasted till 1288.
The trade in slaves was made a felony by an Act passed in 1807. The Act abolishing slavery in the British Dominions, known as the Emancipation Act, was not passed till 1833.
See Abolitionists, Anti-Slavery, Compromise Act, Dred Scott, Emancipation, Freesoilers. Fugitive, Harper’s Ferry, Kansas, Missouri Compromise, Squatter Sovereignty, Underground Railroad, Wilmot Proviso.
A band of educated Muscovites who led the reaction against the indiscriminate adoption of Western ideas, and the abandonment of ancient Russian customs. They were especially active about the period of the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, when the village communal system was threatened by the reforming party.
A system of graduated duties on imported corn, based upon the prices ruling for home-grown wheat, first adopted in the Corn Law of 1804.
A treaty between the Orange Free State and Moshesh, paramount chief of the Basutos, signed in 1855. It was designed to prevent friction between the Basutos and the farmers living along their borders, but Moshesh clearly had no intention of observing its provisions, and took no trouble to enforce them on his subjects.
A nickname given by the Viennese to Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1611-32).
A sobriquet of Christina, Queen of Sweden (1633-54).
The Bulgarian National Assembly.
See Alumbrados, Barn-burners, Boxers, Burschenschaft, Camorra, Carbonari, Clan-na-Gael, Consistoriali, Danites, Fenians, Gran Reunion, Great Triad, Hintchak, Human Leopards, Illuminati, Invincibles, Ku Klux, Lautaro, Levellers, Mafia, Molly Maguires, Moonlighters, Mutualists. Nihilists, Oakboys, Omladina, Orangemen, Patrons of Husbandry, Philike Hetairia, Ribbonism, Right, Rock, Saisons, Sanfedisti.
A sect founded by Lælius{238} Socinus in 1560, which numbered many adherents in Poland. Their doctrines were similar to those of the modern Unitarians. In 1658 they were proscribed by the Diet of Warsaw, and the sect gradually faded out of existence.
The anti-slavery section of the Democratic party in New York from 1848 to 1854.
The earliest existing French edict. It had reference to the preservation of the public peace, and required the consent of the great feudal lords, who swore to obey it.
In Saxon times, freemen who owed suit to the Lord’s court, or Sok.
The Battle of Inkerman is so called, as having been for the most part a series of detached combats, in which regiments were broken up and officers separated from their men, owing to the dense fog that prevailed.
An agreement between Scotland and the Long Parliament in 1643, by which the former undertook to join forces with the Parliament against Charles I, on condition that the Oath of the Covenant was taken by the English.
A phrase used to express the consistency of the Southern States of America in their support of the Democratic Party. It appears to have been first applied during the presidential campaign of 1876. In 1896 the Solid South showed signs of breaking up, four Southern States being carried by the Republicans.
A system of taxation in France in the seventeenth century, by which a peasant was held responsible for the taxes of his neighbours, though he might himself have paid all that was due from him.
A sobriquet of Louis IX of France (1226-70).
The title given by the Parliamentarians to Charles II, after the execution of his father. Charles I, was styled the Last Man, as implying that he was the last who would sit on the English throne.
See Sarnen, League of.
A society of Americans, pledged to work for liberty in the American colonies, which was founded in New York in 1765. It derived its name from a phrase used by Isaac Barré, in a speech in the House of Commons during the debate on the Stamp Bill in 1765. The last achievement of the Society was the convening of the Continental Congress in 1774.
A rising of the Sonthal hillmen in India in 1855, due to dislike of the procedure of the courts of justice in enforcing the claims of Bengali moneylenders. They raided the{239} European stations, and were not subdued without considerable difficulty.
A tax payable to Denmark by all foreign ships entering or quitting the Baltic. It was abolished in 1857.
A scheme professedly for trading to the Pacific, originally launched in 1711. In 1720 Sir John Blount, one of the directors, negotiated an arrangement with the Government, by which the Company took over the National Debt, amounting to some sixteen millions, the Government paying a lower rate of interest than they had been paying to the annuitants. The Company then persuaded the holders of Government Annuities to exchange them for shares in the Company. The plan was fairly successful, but led to a wild inflation in the value of the shares, and in the subsequent collapse thousands were ruined.
A treaty of alliance between England and Holland, signed in 1625, pledging the contracting parties to support each other against Spain, so long as she occupied any part of the Palatinate. England, however, reserved to herself the right to claim compensation from Holland for the massacre of Amboyna.
The name given to the sack of Antwerp by the Spaniards under Sancho d’Avila, in 1576. It is estimated that over 7,000 of the inhabitants perished.
Properly the mainland between the mouth of the Orinoco and the Isthmus of Panama, but often improperly employed to denote the Caribbean Sea.
The question of the marriage of Isabella, the young Queen of Spain, nearly led to a rupture between England and Spain in 1846. Louis Philippe proposed as her husband the Duke of Cadiz, believing that such marriage would prove unfruitful. At the same time the Queen’s sister, the Infanta, was to be married to the Duc de Montpensier, with the object of eventually placing the Crown of Spain on the head of a French Prince. Palmerston proposed that the second marriage should be postponed until the Queen had issue, to which the King feigned assent, but meanwhile he and his minister, Guizot, worked on the Queen Regent to consent to the marriages taking place at once, and they were duly solemnized, causing great indignation in England.
A war arising out of the bequest of the Spanish Crown to Philip, Duke of Anjou, in 1700, by Charles II of Spain, who had left no direct heir. The Grand Alliance of England, Holland and the Empire was promptly formed to oppose this, while Louis XIV supported his grandson. Marlborough’s campaign in Flanders, and the overrunning of Spain by the Archduke Charles followed, but in 1713 Philip was recognized by the Allies as King of Spain, and the war ended.{240}
A circular issued by the United States Treasury in 1836, directing collectors of revenue to accept nothing but coin in payment of customs and other dues. It caused the bankruptcy of many well-known American business houses.
The name given to a proclamation issued in 1795 by the magistrates of Buckinghamshire and some other counties, fixing the amount of outdoor relief to be afforded according to the price of wheat and the number of children in the family. The practical result in the agricultural districts was the substitution of relief for wages.
A diet of the German Empire, held in 1529, which repealed the Act of Toleration passed at the previous Diet. The Lutheran Party, headed by the Elector of Saxony, the Margrave of Brandenburg and the Landgrave of Hesse, signed a protest against the action of the Diet, whence the reforming party became known as Protestants.
This name is given to two battles: (1) The Battle of Courtrai, when the Flemings defeated the French, July 11, 1302. It is said that 7,000 gilt spurs were picked up on the field of battle; (2) the Battle of Guinegate, where Henry VIII defeated the French, August 18, 1513. The name is derived from the headlong flight of the French cavalry.
A party under the leadership of Tweeddale in the last Scottish Parliament (1705), which attempted to hold the balance between the supporters and the opponents of union with England.
The principle of leaving the slavery question to the decision of the settlers, first applied on the admission to the Union as territories of the districts acquired from Mexico in 1848. It was afterwards extended, in defiance of the Missouri Compromise, to Kansas and Nebraska in 1854.
An Act passed in the reign of James I, by which, for the first time in England, it was made a capital offence to draw sword or dagger on a man whose sword was not drawn, if within six months he died from wounds thus received. The Act was passed to put a stop to the constant brawls between the English courtiers and James’ Scottish followers.
A section of the Republican Party in the United States, led by Senator Conkling of New York, who were opposed to President Garfield in 1881 on the question of Civil Service Reform. Guiteau, the assassin of Garfield, was a Stalwart, and gave as his reason for the crime that he could see no other way to bring about a reunion of the Republican Party.
A statute of reform forced upon Edward II by his nobles in 1309. It renewed the first Statute of Westminster, checked{241} the abuses of constables and others exercising the royal authority, and repealed certain unauthorized taxes upon wool and hides.
An Act passed in 1765, for the purpose of raising revenue from the colonies. It was even more unpopular in America than the American Customs Act, and proved almost impossible to enforce. It was repealed in 1766.
The name given to the Battle of Luton Moor, between the English and the Scots in 1138. The standard displayed on this occasion was that of St. Cuthbert of Durham, which was always thought to secure victory.
The tin mines of Cornwall are so called. Their administration is in the hands of the Warden of the Stannaries, an official of the Duchy of Cornwall. The Stannaries are technically the property of the Crown, and are worked under Royal License.
A term applied to the chief products of England, and also to certain towns in Flanders where alone these commodities were permitted to be sold. These transactions were carried out under the surveillance of Government officers, and it was obligatory on the vendor to bring back a certain proportion of the proceeds of the sale in coin. Edward III, however, named nine English towns as the Staple towns, and made it a penal offence for an Englishman to carry any of the staple commodities beyond the seas.
A statute of 1353, regulating foreign trade and the privileges of the Merchant Guild.
A court established by Henry VII in 1487, to check the power of the great feudal houses by the suppression of maintenance, which, by providing them with large bodies of armed retainers, enabled the more powerful nobles to foment disturbances and insurrections. Later the Star Chamber became an instrument in the hands of the Sovereign for the suppression of free speech, and its arbitrary and corrupt decisions became notorious. It was abolished by Act of Parliament in 1641.
A name given to Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden by the German Protestants during the Thirty Years War.
The flag of the United States. It consists of thirteen stripes, being the number of the original States of the Union, and a number of stars equal to the number of States in the Union for the time being, an additional star being added for each State admitted.
An excursion of Charles II into the Highlands in 1650, with the object of escaping from the Scottish Presbyterians, of whose loyalty he was somewhat doubtful, and also of raising a force in the Highlands to support{242} him, in which he was entirely unsuccessful.
An assembly of the three estates of the realm, nobles, clergy and commoners, first summoned in 1302 by Philip the Fair.
The general congress of the estates of the various provinces forming the Netherlands. Its chief business was financial, as through it alone could the Sovereign legally obtain supplies.
A political doctrine in the United States, which maintains that the Federal State is not a sovereign state, but that its acts require ratification by the individual States forming the Union, who are thus at liberty to disregard its enactments if they consider them unconstitutional. Thus South Carolina, in 1832, “nullified” an Act of Congress relating to import duties, and the doctrine was held in 1860 to justify the secession of the Southern States.
A term used to express the return after a war to the position occupied by the belligerents before the war broke out.
See Apparel, Apprentices, Carlisle, Donis, Drogheda, Fines, Hæretico, Kilkenny, Labourers, Liveries, Mercatoribus, Præmunire, Provisors, Quia Emptores, Rhudlann, Stabbing, Stamford, Staples, Submission, Tallagio, Treason, Uses, Wales, Westminster, Wills, Winchester.
An Irish agrarian society, formed in 1772 in Down and Antrim, chiefly on the estates of the Marquis of Donegal, where there had been wholesale evictions. Very serious outrages were perpetrated, and it was found necessary to try prisoners in Dublin.
A guild of German merchants established in England in the fourteenth century. They were formed into a guild in order that they might be kept under Government supervision.
A republic in South Africa, formed by a party of Boer adventurers who had supported Massouw, a Battapin chief, against Mankoroane, in 1882. Two years later it was annexed by Great Britain, and incorporated in British Bechuanaland.
A series of treaties made by Sir Andries Stockenström with the Gaika and Fingo chiefs in 1836, after the sixth Kaffir war, by which the boundaries were fixed between British territory and the Kaffir country.
A treaty between Great Britain and Sweden, by which Sweden surrendered the Duchies of Bremen and Verden to George I, in return for a payment of one million rix-dollars.
A treaty between Great Britain, Sweden and Russia, whereby Sweden undertook to provide 30,000 men to act with the Russian troops against{243} Napoleon. Great Britain engaged to pay Sweden a subsidy of one million sterling annually, to cede to her Guadeloupe, receiving in return certain commercial privileges, and to accede to the convention between Sweden and Russia, relative to the cession of Norway to the former Power.
A treaty signed by Great Britain, France, Norway and Sweden, by which Sweden undertook not to cede or make any grants of pasturage, fishery or any other rights to Russia, Great Britain and France agreeing to guarantee Sweden from Russian aggression.
A treaty between Russia and Sweden, signed in 1617, after the successful campaign of Gustavus Adolphus. By this instrument Sweden retained possession of Ingermanland, Karelia and part of Livonia, restoring to Russia the rest of her conquests.
A nickname given to Thomas J. Jackson, the Confederate General, during the American Civil War.
The Norwegian Parliament. On first assembling, one-fourth of the members of the Storthing are chosen to form an Upper House, known as the Lagthing, the remaining three-fourths forming the Lower House, or Odalsthing. In the event of the Lagthing twice rejecting a Bill sent up by the Odalsthing, the two houses sit together.
A sect of ascetics in Russia, which sprang up in the reign of Catherine II. They believe the Czar to be Antichrist, and are opposed to military service, the payment of taxes, and any recognition of secular authority.
The oath of mutual fidelity taken by Louis and Charles, sons of Louis the Débonnaire, and their followers, at Strasburg, in 841.
A body of regular infantry established, to repel the Tartar incursions, by Ivan IV (The Terrible), circ. 1535. They were disbanded and many of them killed by Peter the Great after their rebellion in 1698.
A conspiracy of Sophia, half sister of Peter the Great, aided by the Strelitzi, to murder Peter, and rule the State in the name of her imbecile brother Ivan, in 1689. Peter was warned, seized Sophia, and shut her up in a convent.
A nickname of Richard de Clare, Count of Strigul, who became King of Leinster in 1170, in succession to Dermot, his father-in-law.
A Russian dissenting sect, who object to the ikon-worship of the Orthodox Church.
The end of the eighteenth century, when the French Revolution had rendered many thinking men discontented with existing institutions, was known in{244} Germany as the period of Storm and Stress.
A league of the cities of Suabia formed in 1376, for mutual defence against the depredations of the Counts of Würtemberg.
The practice of making grants of land by the holders of hereditary fiefs to sub-vassals, to be held on terms similar to those on which the grantor held from his overlord. This is the real origin of the feudal system in its fullest development.
A Statute passed in 1534, embodying an agreement forced upon Convocation by Henry VIII in 1532. It enacted that no new canons should be issued without the royal sanction, and that the power of summoning Convocation should be vested in the King, who should also be entitled to appoint commissioners to revise the Canon Law.
A system introduced by Warren Hastings in his dealings with Oude, and extended by the Marquis of Wellesley. Under this system native states acknowledged the paramountcy of the British Government, which in return guaranteed their integrity and independence. They were bound not to make war without the consent of the Government, and undertook to maintain a force to be at the Government’s disposal when required.
A tax imposed by Parliament in the reign of Charles I to meet the King’s demands for money. It amounted to 4s. in the £ on real property, and 2s. 8d. in the £ on personalty, aliens and Popish recusants paying double.
An Act declaring Henry VIII’s marriage with Catherine of Aragon null and void, and setting the succession on the issue of his second marriage, with Anne Boleyn.
An Act restricting in certain directions the royal prerogative, and settling the succession upon the Electress Sophia of Hanover. One of its clauses forbade the sovereign to leave the kingdom, but it was repealed in 1716, at the instance of George I, to enable him to visit his kingdom of Hanover.
A name derisively applied to the State of Illinois, U.S.A., by the inhabitants of other Western States.
The fourth or servile caste of the Hindus.
A treaty between England and France, signed in 1887, guaranteeing the neutrality of the Suez Canal. The Canal is to be at all times free to the ships of all nations, but in war time no belligerent is to be permitted to land troops or munitions of war in the Canal or its ports of access. The Khedive is charged with the carrying out of these stipulations. Practically all the Powers{245} concerned have given their adhesion to this instrument.
One of the two great Mohammedan sects. They accept the Sunna, a collection of laws and precepts, as well as the Koran.
Those who signed the Supplication against the use of Archbishop Laud’s Service Book in 1637. In 1638, the Supplicants having signed the Covenant, became known as the Covenanters.
A letter addressed to Philip of Spain by William of Orange and the Estates of Holland and Zeeland in 1573, demanding the restoration of their privileges, and the recall of the Duke of Alva.
One of the Irish Penal Laws, passed in 1704. It provided that no Catholic could be a guardian or trustee, take land on a longer lease than thirty-one years, or inherit land if there were a Protestant heir living. It forbade Catholics settling in Galway or Limerick. The Act was in fact a deliberate attempt to bribe the younger generation of Catholics into apostasy.
An Act passed in 1534, conferring on Henry VIII the title of Supreme Head of the Church of England. It was made high treason to question the title. The provisions of this Act as to treason were repealed in the reign of Edward VI, and re-enacted under Elizabeth.
A treaty between the British and Raghoba, signed in 1775, by which it was agreed to support Raghoba for the office of Peshwa, in return for the cession of Salsette and Bassein.
A law passed by the French Convention in 1793, declaring suspect: (1) all persons who had shown themselves enemies of liberty; (2) all who could not show that they had regular means of livelihood; (3) those who refused to take out certificates of civism; (4) all suspended public functionaries; (5) ci-devant nobles and their families; and (6) emigrés. All such persons were to be arrested, and kept in confinement at their own expense.
The ancient Hindu custom of burning the widow on the pyre with her deceased husband’s body. It was put down during the Viceroyalty of Lord Dalhousie, circ. 1856.
In early Norman times the court of the forest freemen was so called. It was arranged on the lines of the Shiremote, or County Court.
A convention between Great Britain and the Transvaal, agreeing to preserve the independence of Swaziland, and to appoint a committee of three persons, one each to be named by the contracting parties and one by the Swazis, to rule the{246} white residents. It was further stipulated that the Transvaal might acquire a railway belt through Swaziland, and thence through Amatongaland to the sea.
A convention between Great Britain and the Transvaal, by which it was agreed that, subject to the consent of the Queen Regent of the Swazis, Swaziland should be under the protection of the Transvaal. All British subjects in Swaziland were to be at once admitted to full burgher rights in the South African Republic. No railway was to be built beyond the eastern frontier, without the consent of Great Britain.
The Queen of Swaziland having refused her consent to the Convention of 1893, a further convention was made similar to that of 1893, but omitting the clause requiring the Queen’s consent.
See Barn-burners.
An address presented to Queen Anne, in 1713, by the Highland Chiefs who had been the recipients of her gift of money, which they seem to have looked upon as payment for services rendered to the Stuart cause. In the address they refer to the sacred house of Stuart, and express the hope that in the Queen’s successor they may find one who shall obtain “both the hereditary and the parliamentary sanction.”
The peace concluded in 1711, after Rákóczy’s Rebellion. Austria granted the Magyars a complete amnesty, restoration of all forfeited property, and the free exercise of the Protestant religion.
The peace which ended in 1444 the invasion of the Turkish dominions by Hunyadi Janos of Hungary, and George, Despot of Servia, who penetrated as far as the Balkans. The Sultan Amurath restored Servia to George, against payment of a tribute of half the revenue of the State, and placed Wallachia under the protection of Hungary.
See Ausgleich.
The corrupt form of Dutch spoken in the Dutch portions of South Africa. Its corruption is due principally to the large proportion of foreigners among the early immigrants, and to their intercourse with the native races.
A board or committee established in Scotland in 1637, chosen by the Supplicants with the object of bringing about an agreement between Archbishop Laud and the Presbyterians. It consisted of four members of each of the four classes: nobles, lesser barons, burgesses and clergy.
The Hussites under John Zisca were so called, from the{247} name he gave their stronghold—Tabor, a camp or tent.
A section of the extreme Tories in 1704, who were anxious to secure the passage of the Occasional Conformity Bill through the Lords by tacking it on to the Land Tax Bill, which the Lords could not reject without stopping supplies. They were unsuccessful, however, in carrying their point.
A rebellion under Hung Hsiu Chwan, which broke out in the province of Canton in 1851. The rebels marched northward, and after capturing Nanking, established their headquarters there in 1853. They then invaded Honan, Shansi and Chihli, but were driven back. They held out, however, against the Imperial troops until 1864, when Nanking was captured by General Gordon, and the rebellion was finally suppressed in the following year.
A treaty between the French and Abd-el-Kader, the Algerian chief, signed in 1847, and assuring the French domination in Algeria.
A serious difficulty which arose between Great Britain and France in 1844, owing to the action of the French in arresting Mr. Pritchard, a missionary, who was the British Consul in Tahiti, and was very obnoxious to the Roman Catholics. He was only released on his undertaking to leave the Pacific. Great indignation was felt in England at this outrage, but after lengthy negotiations the matter was smoothed over, and compensation given to Mr. Pritchard.
A tax levied in France on the produce of the soil, paid exclusively by the cultivator, the landowner being exempt. It was abolished in 1791.
A method of warfare introduced by the Archbishop of Bordeaux in 1228, in his attempt to bring to terms Count Raymond of Toulouse. It consisted in the systematic cutting down of vines and fruit trees, and the destruction of houses and enclosures.
That portion of the feudal dues levied by the Norman Kings which was paid by the towns. Its arbitrary exaction was held to be illegal in the reign of Edward I.
A Statute passed in 1297, declaring the exaction of tallages illegal.
An hereditary contractor for land revenue in Oude. The Talukdar collected rents over a certain district, and paid the taxes for the district to the Government. He often had no proprietary right whatever in the land. By the new land system introduced into Oude by Lord Dalhousie in 1856, under which the British Government entered into direct relations with the villages, most of the Talukdars were dispossessed,{248} and much discontent was occasioned thereby.
The Democratic party in New York City, who have for years kept the absolute control of public affairs in the city. As a party organization it grew out of the Tammany Society, an organization founded in 1805, ostensibly as a charitable institution, and for the promotion of an extended franchise. In 1871 the connexion of its leaders with the notorious Erie Ring led to a crusade against the party, headed by the New York Times, and an inquiry disclosed wholesale jobbery and corruption in the administration. As a consequence Tammany was totally defeated at the polls in 1872, but returned to office at the following election, and remained in power until 1902, when they were again driven from office.
A statement of policy issued by Sir Robert Peel in 1835, after the dismissal of the Melbourne Ministry. It promised considerable concessions to the Dissenters, and was in many respects a departure from the old Toryism, and a recognition of the necessity for reform along cautious lines. Those who followed Sir Robert Peel in his new departure were known as Peelites.
The ancient law of succession in Ireland, by which the chieftainship of a sept descended to the eldest and most worthy of the same blood.
A confederation of Polish nobles formed in 1792, under the auspices of Catherine of Russia, to oppose the new constitution established in 1791, and to promote a return to the old order of things. They compelled Stanislas Augustus to give way and abrogate the 1791 constitution.
The invasion of Russia by the Tartars under Genghis Khan in 1237. They overran Russia up to the Carpathians, burning the chief towns, and carrying off the inhabitants as slaves. After subjugating the country, the Tartars contented themselves with demanding an oath of allegiance and a tribute from the Russian Princes, allowing the free exercise of the Christian religion, and interfering in no way with the institutions and customs of the country.
A nickname of James G. Blaine, derived from a political caricature, in which he was represented as Phryne before her judges, tattooed with the names of the various scandals with which his name had been connected.
The holders of Russian official appointments. They are mainly drawn from the ranks of the nobles and the clergy, and in particular from certain noble families, who may be said to be the real rulers of Russia. There are fourteen classes of officials, which classes are called “Tchins.” Every official, whatever his birth, has to enter in the lowest Tchin, and promotion is nominally by merit only.{249}
The Boston tea riots are so called.
A party of advanced Radicals who opposed Mr. Gladstone’s amendment to Lord Derby’s Reform Bill of 1867. This amendment would have restricted the borough franchise to those occupiers whose names were on the rate book, but would have drawn a line of value below which no house should be rated. This small party not only defeated Mr. Gladstone, but succeeded in forcing upon the Government household franchise pure and simple.
The name given to Father Mathew, the Irish Temperance advocate, circ. 1838.
An order of knighthood established in Palestine in 1118, and confirmed by Honorius II in 1128. Its functions were the protection of pilgrims to the Holy Sepulchre, and its headquarters were on the site of Solomon’s Temple. During the thirteenth century, the order, which had become very powerful, and spread widely over Europe, was accused of heresy and other crimes, and was proscribed by Clement V in 1312, and its property confiscated.
A profession of the Protestant Doctrine as then held in England drawn up by a Convocation held in 1536, and based upon the Confession of Augsburg.
The Supreme Council of Venice, established in 1310. It really consisted of seventeen members, as to the ten were added the Doge and his six councillors. It controlled the magistracy and the senate, and had charge of the foreign relations of the Republic. It is, however, best known as an arbitrary secret tribunal, trying and condemning for all classes of offences against the laws and the State, without appeal.
A league formed in the eastern part of Rhætia in 1436, in the territories of the Counts of Toggenburg. It afterwards amalgamated with the Graubund and the Gotteshausbund.
The Reform Bill of 1867, as first introduced, is so called. At a Cabinet Council held on the day that Mr. Disraeli was to introduce the Bill, it was found that Ministers were not in agreement, and there were only ten minutes left to decide what was to be done. It happened that a Bill had been prepared, proposing a milder measure of reform, and this it was decided to introduce. It met with little approval from any section, and was ultimately withdrawn in favour of the original Bill. The story was some time afterwards told by Sir John Pakington to his constituents, and the makeshift Bill was promptly christened the Ten Minutes Bill.
The name by which the system of Frankpledge was known in the northern parts of England.{250}
The massacre of the Swiss Guards at the Tuileries, on August 10, 1792, is known by this name. It is estimated that 5,000 persons perished at the hands of the Paris mob.
An Act passed by the United States Congress in 1867, to prevent the removal from office by the President, without the consent of the Senate, of any person holding a Government position. It was enacted in consequence of the action of President Johnson in removing Mr. Stanton in what was held to be an unconstitutional manner.
A treaty of alliance between Russia, Austria and Prussia, signed in 1813, and directed against Napoleon.
The name of the White Terror was given to the excesses of the counter-revolutionists in the French provinces, especially in the South, in 1795, after the fall of Robespierre.
The culmination of the French Revolution, lasting from the fall of the Girondins, in October 1793 to that of Robespierre, in July 1794. During this period the only limit to the number of executions was the time at the disposal of Fouquier-Tinville and the Revolutionary Tribunal for the trial of prisoners.
The extreme revolutionary party in Paris in 1848. They demanded, not work, but the spoliation of the rich, and were prepared to adopt the methods of 1793 to secure their object. They attempted to coerce and dissolve the National Assembly, and set up a Revolutionary Government at the Hôtel de Ville, but were overpowered by the Garde Mobile.
An Irish rebel society which was guilty of numerous outrages in Clare during the years immediately following the Union.
A treaty signed at the conclusion of the Bavarian War of Succession in 1779, by which Austria withdrew her opposition to the reunion of Anspach and Bayreuth with Prussia. Certain territorial changes were made in Bavaria, and the Treaty of Westphalia was renewed.
The second spiritual ruler of Thibet, who exercises the functions of the Dalai Lama between the death of one occupant of that position and the enthronement of his successor.
An Act passed in 1673, ordaining that all holders of temporal offices under the Crown must receive the Sacrament according to the rites of the Church of England, and renounce the doctrine of Transubstantiation. James II endeavoured to bring about its repeal, but without success, and it remained on the Statute Book till 1828.
The profession of faith of the Reformed Non-Lutheran Ger{251}man Church, drawn up by Bucer, and issued in 1530.
An order of knighthood founded by Henry, King of Jerusalem, during the third Crusade, its original members being followers of Frederick Barbarossa. In 1230, under their Grand Master, Hermann von Salza, the Teutonic knights marched against the Pagans of the Baltic shore of what is now known as Prussia. This country, which was a fief of Poland, they held until 1526, when Albert of Brandenburg, then Grand Master, made a treaty with Sigismund of Poland, by which Prussia was erected into a Grand Duchy, with Albert as Grand Duke. The order was dissolved by Napoleon in 1809.
A treaty between the Orange Free State and Moshesh, signed in 1866, after the Basuto war of 1865-6. Moshesh surrendered the greater portion of his country to the Free State, and undertook to withdraw all his subjects from the ceded territory. He not only failed to carry out the terms, but in the following years sent large bodies of warriors into these districts, and prevented their settlement by Europeans.
A monastic order, founded by John Caraffa, Bishop of Theate (afterwards Paul IV), and authorised by Clement V in 1524. The Theatins were strong supporters of the movement for the reform of the Papacy which arose within the Church about the middle of the sixteenth century.
In Saxon times the thegns were originally the King’s servants. Later, enriched by grants of land, they superseded the old nobility, and became eventually the Barons.
An Act passed in 1800, by which it was made illegal to devise property to accumulate for a longer period than twenty-one years. It arose from the will of Peter Thelusson, a wealthy merchant, who left £800,000 to accumulate until his grandson’s grandson reached the age of twenty-one. The will led to protracted litigation, and the resulting accumulation was consequently much less than had been anticipated.
An assembly of Catholic and Protestant divines, held at Westminster in 1559, to discuss certain points of dogma and ritual. The questions set for discussion were: the use of prayer in a tongue not understood by the people, the right of individual congregations to alter their ritual to suit their needs, and the propitiatory sacrifice for the quick and the dead in the celebration of the Mass. No decision was arrived at on any point.
In Saxon times the slaves of the feudal lords, reduced to the servile condition either as prisoners of war, or through debt.
The party who voted the de{252}cree of accusation against Robespierre and his followers in July (Thermidor) 1794. During the Directoire they still showed themselves advanced Republicans, being in favour of maintaining the decrees against the clergy, the noblesse and the emigrés.
Amongst the Norsemen, the assembly of freemen. The Things were of varying importance, and bore different names, according to the purpose for which they were convoked. Thus, the Althing was the general assembly of the nation, held annually; the Konungs-thing, a meeting specially summoned by the King; and so on down to the Husthing, a meeting of his own men summoned by any petty chief.
Another name for the Housekarls of King Knut.
A section of the Russian secret police, specially established to watch all political movements. It was formed by Nicholas I in 1865.
The Confederation formed by the admission, between 1481 and 1513, of the Cantons of Fribourg, Soleure, Basle, Schaffhausen and Appenzell, into the Perpetual League.
The thirteen American colonies forming the original thirteen States of the Union were Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts. New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia.
A combat between the followers of Simon de Montfort and those of Charles of Blois, fought at Ploermel in Brittany in 1350. The combatants were limited to thirty on each side, and the English were defeated.
A war between Ferdinand II and the Protestant Princes of Germany, which broke out on the accession of Ferdinand to the Austrian throne in 1619. The Protestant Princes had elected to the Imperial Throne Frederic V, the Elector Palatine, and took up arms in his support. Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus, and later France, were drawn into the conflict, and the war did not terminate till 1648, when Ferdinand III signed the Treaty of Westphalia.
The articles of faith of the Church of England, consisting of thirty-nine of the original forty-two articles issued in 1552. By an Act of Elizabeth passed in 1571, the acceptance of these was made incumbent on all the clergy of the Established Church.
A council appointed in 1357 to carry on the Government of France during the captivity of John. They had power to levy taxes, to appoint the chief{253} officers of State, and generally to exercise all executive functions.
A code of laws drawn up by the Volksraad of Potchefstroom in 1844, and adopted in 1849 by all the communities established to the north of the Vaal river.
An order of knighthood instituted, according to tradition, by Archaicus, King of the Scots in 809. Though thus older than the Garter in its origin, it has been several times in abeyance, having been revived by James V of Scotland, by James II of England, and finally by Queen Anne, who placed it on its present footing.
A conference summoned by Ladislaus IV of Poland in 1645, in an endeavour to unite the Protestants to the Catholic Church. It lasted about four months, and was entirely without result.
The Policy of Thorough is the phrase used by Strafford and Laud to express their determination to carry through their schemes for the public advantage, regardless of the obstacles thrown in their way by interested parties.
Among the Norse nations slaves were so called. They were generally captives taken in war.
A phrase used by Mr. Jesse Collings, in the election campaign of 1885, expressive of the plank in his programme of free allotments of land for all agricultural labourers.
The battle of Austerlitz, December 2, 1805, is so called, because Napoleon and the Emperors of Austria and Russia were all present.
The ostensible programme of the Irish Land League in 1880: Fixity of Tenure, Fair Rent, Free Sale.
An alliance formed in 1849 between the Kings of Prussia, Hanover, and Saxony, to take joint measures for the suppression of the disorders rife in their States at that time.
The pseudonym of the leader of a band of lawless Irishmen, who in 1806 attacked the collectors of tithes.
A conspiracy of certain Jesuits and English Catholics in 1583, to rise against Queen Elizabeth, in conjunction with an invasion of French and Spanish troops. Suspicion was aroused by Throgmorton’s constant visits to the Spanish Ambassador. He was arrested, and under torture revealed the details of the plot, and the names of the principal conspirators.
A quasi-religious sect of robbers and murderers in India, who despatched their victims by strangling. They were put down by Lord Dalhousie about 1856.{254}
The sobriquet of Gaston de Foix, Duc de Nemours (1489-1512), given him on account of his brilliant campaign in Italy.
A princely house of Germany, with large estates in Austria, Bavaria, Würtemberg, and elsewhere, who established the earliest postal system in Germany in 1460. In 1595 a member of the house was appointed hereditary grand master of the posts of the Empire, and though the privileges of the office were gradually infringed by the larger German States, the monopoly was not finally abolished till 1867.
A republic with Rome as its capital, established by Napoleon in Central Italy in 1797.
See Claimant.
A treaty between Great Britain, France and China, at the close of the war of 1857, providing for the establishment of Chinese Legations in London and Paris, and French and English Legations in Pekin, the toleration of Christianity in China, and access to the interior of China and to the navigable rivers for British and French subjects. In 1860 the envoys proceeding to Pekin to exchange ratifications were not permitted to proceed. Further hostilities ensued, and certain European prisoners were barbarously tortured by the Chinese, in revenge for which the Allies destroyed the Summer Palace of Pekin.
A treaty between France and China, by which China withdrew her claim to exercise a protectorate over Annam.
A conspiracy of Venetian nobles, headed by Tiepoli and the family of the Querini, against Gradenigo, the Doge of Venice, in 1310. The conspirators enlisted the aid of the Paduans, and formed a plan to seize the Doge in the Ducal Palace by means of their own armed retainers, holding the Square of St. Mark till the arrival of the Paduans. The plan miscarried, owing to the vigilance of the Doge, who was prepared for the attack, and the conspiracy failed. Many of the leaders were killed in the fighting, and others were executed, but Tiepoli escaped.
The third estate of the Realm, or Commoners, in France. It is held that they were first consulted by Louis IX, who summoned twelve citizens from the principal towns of France, to advise him on the national coinage.
A moderate party formed in the French Assembly in 1832, in the reign of Louis Philippe. In 1834 they formed a ministry under the Duc de Bassano, but the Chamber refused to support it, and it resigned in three days. In 1836, however, it formed a more durable administration under Thiers.
A treaty signed in 1807 between France, Prussia and{255} France all her provinces on the left bank of the Elbe, to form the kingdom of Westphalia for the benefit of Jerome Buonaparte. In addition, recognition was accorded to Louis Buonaparte as King of Holland, to Joseph as King of Spain, and to the Confederation of the Rhine. The Grand Duchy of Warsaw was created out of the Duchies of Warsaw and Posen, and given to the King of Saxony. There were certain secret clauses in the treaty between France and Russia, by which Russia agreed to aid France against England and to coerce Portugal, Sweden and Denmark to take the same course, while France undertook to aid Russia against the Turks if the Porte declined to accept his mediation.
The nickname of Bolivar, the Liberator of South America, from his habit of beginning an argument with the words “Por supuesto,” “Let us suppose.”
An Act passed in 1836, commuting the tithe into a permanent rent charge upon the land, annually adjusted upon the price of corn, and redeemable at twenty-five years’ purchase of the average amount.
An Act passed in 1838, commuting the tithe into an annual rent charge, with a reduction of 25 per cent. At the same time the loan of one million sterling made in 1833 in aid of the destitute Irish Clergy, was converted into a gift.
A series of disturbances in Montgomeryshire and elsewhere in North Wales in protest against the payment of tithes in 1887. Riots were caused by sales under distraint in various parts of Wales, and for some time such sales could only be carried out under military protection.
The Society of Oriental Learning, a party in Korea violently opposed to Western ideas, and anxious to exclude all foreigners. In 1893 some 200,000 members gathered in Seoul, with the object of coercing the King, who had refused their preposterous demands.
An order issued by Emery, finance minister of Louis XIV, in 1644, to the effect that houses built in the Paris suburbs in contravention of an edict issued a hundred years before, but never enforced, should be redeemed by payment of a heavy fine. This order caused great discontent, and was eventually withdrawn.
A rising of the Magyars against Austrian domination in 1678, headed by Tököli, who, aided by the Turks, succeeded in driving the Austrian troops out of Hungary. He maintained his position until 1683, when he was defeated, and the Turks being at the same time repulsed from Vienna, the rising came to an end, and Tököli was forced to flee the country.
A treaty signed in 1538 after Russia. Prussia abandoned to{256} Francis’ invasion of Piedmont, by Charles V and Francis I, by which Francis obtained possession of Bresse, Savoy, and half of Piedmont, Charles taking the remainder of Piedmont and the Milanese. The Pays de Vaud was left to Berne, and the independence of Geneva guaranteed.
A treaty between France and the Papal See, signed in 1797. By this treaty the Pope surrendered the Legations and Ancona, and agreed to the final inclusion of Avignon in France. He also consented to pay a heavy sum in coin and jewels and to permit the removal to France of certain specified works of art. In return France recognized the Pope’s power to control the religious communities in Rome.
An Act passed on the accession of William and Mary in 1689, giving Protestant Dissenters the right to hold services in their own chapels, provided such chapels were registered. A further Act applying to Scotland was passed in 1712 for the toleration of all episcopal clergymen who were willing to take the Oath of Abjuration established by the Act of 1702.
A nickname of Jules Ferry, referring to his responsibility for the unpopular Tongking expedition of 1883.
A tax levied on all merchandise other than the staple commodities, whether exported or imported. It varied from 1s. 6d. to 3s. on every tun of wine or beer, and from 6d. to 1s. on every pound of merchandise. It was first levied in the reign of Edward III.
Empty Jacket, the nickname of John Baliol, King of Scotland (1292-1314), because he had the semblance but not the reality of royal power.
A treaty between Spain and Portugal, signed in 1494. Portugal being dissatisfied with the terms of the Papal Bull of Demarcation, Spain agreed to the dividing line between the two spheres of colonisation being drawn 370 leagues west of Cape Verde. Under the terms of this treaty Portugal subsequently claimed Brazil.
A league formed at Torgau in 1526 by the Protestant Princes of Germany, headed by the Landgrave of Hesse and the Elector of Saxony, as a counter move to the reported combination of Duke George of Saxony, the Elector of Brandenburg, the Archbishop of Mentz and other Catholic Princes to oppose the Reformation.
The strongly intrenched position in front of Lisbon, occupied by Wellington during the winter of 1810-11, after the fall of Ciudad Rodrigo.
The name given to the Loyalist Party in the reign of Charles II. It is taken from the name applied to the Irish{257} outlaws. The word now implies extreme Conservatism.
The political creed of Lord Randolph Churchill and his followers. He maintained that Toryism was not necessarily the creed of an exclusive class, but was as democratic in its aims as Radicalism.
In the earliest days of Scottish history, an inferior grade of chieftain in the Highlands.
A treaty between Russia and Persia, signed in 1828, by which Persia ceded Erivan and Nakitchevan, and accorded exceptional commercial facilities to Russian subjects.
An edict issued by Henri IV in 1591, repealing the edicts of his predecessor with respect to the Huguenots, and re-establishing the Concordat between the two religions contained in the Edict of January.
See Oxford Movement.
Combinations of workmen in a particular trade, formed for mutual protection against rapacious employers, and also as benefit societies. They are mostly the growth of the nineteenth century, but have their origin in the trade guilds of the earlier times.
A series of disturbances in London in 1887. Meetings, nominally of unemployed, were held in Trafalgar Square, and addressed by well-known Socialist leaders, among others John Burns and Cunningham-Grahame. As these meetings led to disorder and obstruction of the traffic, they were prohibited by Sir Charles Warren, the Chief Commissioner of Police. The Socialists insisted on their right to hold the meetings, and the disturbances culminated on Sunday, November 13th, when a number of processions on their way to the Square were broken up by the police, and their leaders arrested, severe fighting taking place at several points. This, however, ended the rioting, as no further attempts were made to hold the prohibited meetings.
Outlaws who in 1305 infested the country districts of England, hiring themselves out for the execution of private vengeance. Stringent measures were taken against them under the Statute of Winchester.
Properly the Trained Bands, a force in the nature of a militia, established by James I in 1604, to replace the Fyrd. They numbered 160,000.
By an Act of Parliament passed in 1653, the whole of Ireland, excepting Connaught and the county of Clare, was opened for settlement by adventurers and the soldiers of the Commonwealth. The whole of the Irish population was transplanted to the province and county named above.
An association of the Uit{258}landers in the South African Republic, formed in Johannesburg in 1892, with the object of securing the franchise and reforms in general for foreigners settled in the country. In December 1895 it took the name of the Reform Committee, and was largely instrumental in bringing about the Jameson Raid, which took place at the end of that month, though it seems evident that the actual moment chosen for the Raid did not accord with its plans. After Jameson’s defeat the leaders of the Committee were arrested and tried for treason, four of them being sentenced to death, though they were afterwards reprieved.
A Statute of Edward III, in 1352, which defines high treason as plotting the death of the King or Queen, or their eldest son, levying war against the King, or comforting or adhering to his enemies. This Statute is still in force.
See Abbeville, Abo, Adam Kok, Adis Ababa, Adrianople, Aigun, Aix-la-Chapelle, Akerman, Alaska, Aliwal North, Amboise, American-Japanese, American-Spanish, Amiens, Anglo-Chinese, Anglo-Dutch, Anglo-French, Anglo-German, Anglo-Italian, Anglo-Japanese, Anglo-Portuguese, Anglo-Russian, Arras, Ashburton, Association, Barcelona, Bardo, Barrier, Barwalde, Basle, Bassein, Bekcagsog, Belgian, Berlin, Berwick, Black Sea, Bloemfontein, Bond-Blaine, Breda, Breslau, Brétigny, Brigham, Brömsebro, Brunnen, Brussels, Bucharest, Budchaz, Cadan, Caen, Campo-Formio, Cappel, Carlowitz, Cassini, Câteau Cambrésis, Chartres, Chaumont, Christian, Cintra, Clair-on-Epte, Clayton-Bulwer, Closter Seven, Commercial, Confederation, Conflans, Constance, Cretan, Crown, Cyprus, Dardanelles, Deogam, Dover, Dreikaiserbund, Dual, Edinburgh, Evora, Falczi, Falaise, Family, Ferdinand, Field, Fisheries, Folenbray, Fommanah, Fontainebleau, Franco-American, Franco-Annamese, Franco-Siamese, Frankfort, Frederickshamm, Gandamak, Gastein, Geneva, Ghent, Gisors, Grand Alliance, Great Intercourse, Guadeloupe-Hidalgo, Gulistan, Hanover, Hay-Pauncefote, Holy Alliance, Hubertsberg, Hué, Iglau, Imparani, Jassy, Joinville, Jay, July, Kenilworth, Kiel, Kuldja, Kutchuk Kainardji, Lahore, Lambeth, Lodi, London, Longjumeau, Lübeck, Loo, Lunéville, Luxemburg, Madras, Madrid, Malus Intercursus, Mandeshwar, Mangalore, Mantua, Meersen, Methuen, Moldavian, Monçon, Montpelier, Nanking, Nertchinsk, Newport, Nimeguen, Northampton, Nottingham, Nystad, Olmütz, Oregon, Paix, Panama, Paris, Passau, Passarowitz, Peace, Pecquigny, Péronne, Perpetual, Pilnitz, Poland, Prague, Presburg, Pretoria, Pruth, Purandhar, Pyrenees, Quadrilateral, Quadruple, Reichenbach, Reinsurance, Roeskild, Russo-Japanese, Ryswick, St. Germains, St. Petersburg, Salbai, Samoan, San Ildefonso, San Stefano, Sand River, Santiago, Schönbrunn, Secret, September, Seringapatam, Servian, Seville,{259} Shimonoseki, Sikkim, Sitvatorok, Smithfield, Southampton, Stockenström, Stockholm, Stolbova, Suez, Surat, Swaziland, Szatmár, Szegedin, Teplitz, Teschen, Thaba Bosigo, Three Kings, Tientsin, Tilsit, Toledo, Tolentino, Tordesillas, Tourkmantchai, Tripartite, Triple, Tri-regal, Troyes, Turin, Unkiar Skelessi, Utrecht, Uxbridge, Vaal, Verdun, Vereeniging, Versailles, Vervins, Vienna, Villefranche, Wallachia, Wallingford, Washington, Waterboer, Wedmore, Werelä, Westphalia, Worms, Yandabo, Zanzibar, Zurich.
Ports specially set aside for trade purposes and the residence of foreigners in countries where unrestricted foreign trade is not permitted, as in China.
The thirty-three Uruguayan patriots who raised the standard of revolt against Brazil in 1825. Aided by Argentina, Uruguay shook off the Brazilian yoke and was proclaimed an independent republic in 1828.
The great emigration of Dutch settlers from Cape Colony in 1836 and 1837. A variety of causes, among others the emancipation of the Kaffir slaves, for which the farmers received very inadequate compensation, led to this trek, which brought about the first colonisation of the country beyond the Orange river. Other parties crossed the Drakensberg into Natal, where they established a republic in 1838.
An emigration of Boer farmers from the country between the Orange river and the Vaal, in 1844 and 1845. Their object was to escape British rule, which was about to be established in the country they were leaving, and which took shape in the Orange River Sovereignty in 1848. These trekkers founded the South African Republic.
A council summoned by Paul III in 1545, to settle, if possible, the religious questions arising out of the Reformation. The council lasted till 1563, and in the end merely emphasised the differences between the Catholic Church and the Reformers, reasserting as essentially Catholic the doctrines of purgatory, transubstantiation, the intercession of saints, and others.
The forcible removal from an English steamer, the Trent, by Captain Wilkes, of the U.S. sloop Jacinto, of Messrs. Mason and Slidell, who were on their way to Europe as envoys of the Southern States in 1861. They were subsequently released, but not until considerable public feeling had been aroused on both sides, and the British Government had gone the length of reinforcing the Canadian garrison.
The Truce of God, imposed upon all the vassals of the Empire who were at war amongst themselves by an edict of the Emperor Henry III, issued at the Diet of Constance in 1403.{260} It was to be observed from Wednesday evening till Monday morning in each week.
A tribunal, at first called the Tribunal Extraordinaire, established by the French Convention in March 1793, to deal with Royalist and other suspects and political prisoners. It was composed of five judges, with a standing jury, each member of which had to give his verdict audibly. There was no appeal from the decisions of this court, which sent some two thousand persons to the guillotine.
A sobriquet of John Bright.
Robespierre’s knitters were a knot of women who, during the Terror, used to sit, knitting, at the meetings of the Convention and of the Tribunal Révolutionnaire, or round the guillotine. They were also called “Les Furies de la Guillotine.”
An Act passed in 1694, limiting the duration of a Parliament to three years. It was practically repealed by the Septennial Act of 1716.
An examining body appointed by Cromwell in 1554, to inquire into the qualifications of persons appointed to benefices. Any one, other than a Catholic, whose creed was fundamentally orthodox, and whose life was free from reproach, was permitted to retain his cure.
A document submitted to Charles I by Ormonde in 1643, in which the Irish Catholics complained of the disabilities under which they laboured owing to the legislation of Elizabeth’s reign. At the same time they offered to place ten thousand men at the King’s disposal.
In Saxon times the obligation thrown on every inhabitant of bearing his share in (1) war service; (2) the repair of roads and bridges; and (3) the maintenance of fortifications. This obligation was continued after the Conquest.
A treaty between the British, the Nizam of Hyderabad, and a representative of the ancient royal family of Mysore, dividing between the three signatories, the dominions of Tippu Sahib.
A treaty signed by Great Britain, France and Austria, immediately after signature of the Treaty of Paris of 1856, guaranteeing the independence and territorial integrity of Turkey, and declaring that they would consider any infraction of the Treaty of Paris to be a casus belli.
An alliance concluded in 1668 between England, Holland and Sweden, by which the contracting parties bound themselves to oppose the advance of France. Within two years, however, Charles II signed a treaty with the French king, binding himself not to interfere with the French designs on the Netherlands.
An alliance of England,{261} France and Holland, guaranteeing the clauses of the Treaty of Utrecht with reference to the English Protestant succession, the French succession, and the renunciation by Spain of her claim to the throne of France. It was intended as a counterpoise to the alliance of Russia, Sweden and Spain. It became the Quadruple Alliance by the adhesion of Austria in 1718.
In 1879 Germany and Austria entered into a defensive alliance, which provided for mutual assistance against Russia, and at least a benevolent neutrality against any other Power. In 1883 it was announced that Italy was a party to this alliance, which then became known as the Triple Alliance. It has been several times renewed, the last occasion being in 1902.
An alliance between the English, the Peshwa and the Nizam, concluded in 1790, by which it was agreed that the contracting parties should combine to invade the dominions of Tippoo Sahib, and that all conquests should be equally divided between them.
The war waged by Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay against Paraguay from 1865 to 1869.
An alliance between the kings of Prussia, Saxony and Hanover in 1849, with the object of bringing about a union of the German States, to the exclusion of Austria. It was broken up by the Humiliation of Olmütz in 1850.
Rudolph II of Germany was so called.
Grenville’s Ministry in 1763 was so called, because the Secretaries of State, Lords Egremont and Halifax, were regarded as holding the direction of affairs jointly with Grenville.
The league between the Duc de Guise, the Maréchal de St. André, and the Constable of France in the reign of Charles IX was so called.
This title was given to Adam Czartoryski, Novossiltsof and Strogonof, the three principal advisers of Alexander I of Russia on his accession.
A meeting of the Russian, Austrian and Prussian sovereigns in 1820, to consider the questions raised by the Neapolitan revolution, and to confirm the Holy Alliance.
An attack by the Gordons under Robert Johnston on the Covenanters at Turriff in 1639, the Covenanters being driven out.
See Blood Council.
See Farquharsons.
A treaty signed in 1420 by Henry V of England and Philip, Count of Charolais, on behalf of the Burgundian Party, by which it was provided that Henry should marry Catherine{262} of France, and succeed to the French Crown on the death of Charles VI. It only resulted in a fresh effort on the part of the patriotic party, the Armagnacs, and the defeat of the English at Beaugé, while Henry, hastening back to France to re-establish his position, died there in 1422.
An Act passed in 1831, and extended in 1887, forbidding the payment of wages, either wholly or in part, in goods. It applies to all persons engaged in manual labour, except domestic servants.
The old Board of Foreign Affairs in China. It was abolished by Imperial edict in 1901, and replaced by a new Board known as the Wai-Wupu.
The name given to an agreement between Ulrich of Würtemberg and his subjects in 1514, by which the latter agreed to pay the Duke’s debts in return for certain concessions.
Bands of revolted peasants in the Cevennes in 1381, who waged war against all who did not belong to the labouring classes.
A secret society established in Germany in 1808, to arouse the national spirit against the domination of Napoleon.
The contemptuous sobriquet given to the titular bishops in Scotland, 1572, referring to their surrender to the lay patrons of practically the whole of their benefices. “Tulchan” is a calf-skin, stuffed with straw, used to induce a cow to give her milk more easily.
A treaty signed in 1860 by France and Sardinia, providing for the cession to France of Savoy and Nice, in return for Lombardy, in accordance with the secret agreement of Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel.
A trading company incorporated in 1581, for the consolidation of the various interests trading in the Levant.
A nickname of George I, who is said to have suggested planting St. James’s Park with turnips.
A popular name for the State of North Carolina, referring to its large production of turpentine.
A league of the Tuscan cities, formed under the auspices of Innocent III, “for the honour and aggrandizement of the Apostolic See.” Pisa alone refused to join the league.
A ring headed by W. M. Tweed, the Tammany Boss, which robbed the city of New York of large sums. Tweed was convicted of fraud in 1873. See Tammany.
A body of peers, holding direct from the Crown, who{263} were limited to twelve during the reign of Philip Augustus (1180-1223). They were six lay peers, namely, the Dukes of Normandy, Aquitaine and Burgundy, and the Counts of Toulouse, Flanders and Champagne; and six spiritual, the Archbishop of Rheims, and the Bishops of Beauvais, Châlons, Langres, Laon, and Noyon.
In 1230 a secret society formed, under the leadership of Sir Robert Twenge, to oppose the granting of benefices to foreign priests, had recourse to violent measures to advance their cause. Many foreigners were robbed and outraged, and Twenge had the audacity to justify himself before Henry III, and was allowed to go unpunished.
A joint committee appointed by the English and Scots Parliaments in 1643, after the acceptance of the Solemn League and Covenant, to carry on the war against the King.
See Shôgun.
The legislature of the Isle of Man. It is composed of two houses, the Council and the House of Keys.
The ten persons united under the system of Frankpledge were called a tything.
The name given to the proprietors of allodial lands in the Orkneys.
A decree of the Czar of Russia is so called. The Czar being an absolute monarch, it has all the force of a legal enactment.
The body of professional theologians and lawyers in Turkey. They are the interpreters of the law of the Koran, and from their body are selected the pleaders and magistrates as well as the priests. The head of the Ulema is the Sheyk-ul-Islam.
The surrender of the Austrian General Mack, with 30,000 men, to Napoleon in October 1805.
A system of land tenure prevailing in the greater part of Ulster, by which the tenant’s property in all improvements affected by him is recognised by the landlord. This custom had practically the force of law, and was made a part of the Irish Land Laws by Mr. Gladstone’s Act of 1870.
The Irish rebellion of 1641 began with an attack upon the English settlers in Ulster, many of whom, living outside the towns, were murdered in cold blood. The number of victims has been put as high as 300,000, but this is doubtless a gross exaggeration. Still, some thousands unquestionably perished.
The colonisation, between 1606 and 1612, of lands forfeited from Tyrone, Tyrconel,{264} and other rebels, by retired servants of the Crown. It was a condition of the colonisation that the Irish were to be confined to their own districts, and not allowed to settle on the forfeited lands. The City of London undertook the colonisation of Derry.
A sobriquet of Horace Walpole (1717-97).
The name given to any party strongly supporting the Papal claim to temporal power. It was used especially in Germany, of the Catholic party, led by Dr. Windthorst during the Kulturkampf.
A treaty between the East India Company and Ranjit Singh, concluded in 1809. It provided that the British should not seek to exercise any control in the territories north of the Sutlej, while Ranjit Singh agreed to respect the rights of the cis-Sutlej chiefs living under British protection.
A Bull issued by Boniface VIII at the Council of Rome in 1302, declaring that the temporal power is inferior to the spiritual, and that the Pope has the power of appointing and deposing sovereigns. This Bull was specially directed against Philip the Fair of France.
The popular name for the Government of the United States.
Charles Stewart Parnell was called the Uncrowned King of Ireland.
An organization formed in the Northern States of America, after the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850, to aid fugitive slaves to escape to British territory.
A number of English gentlemen who undertook the settlement of Ulster in 1569. The forfeited lands were to be peopled by settling a family on each 240 acres, and no Irish were to be admitted as tenants. Neither of these obligations was adhered to, and little was accomplished till the Plantation of Ulster in 1606.
The name given to certain members of the Addled Parliament in 1615, who undertook to control it in the interests of the King. Their plans became known, and they consequently failed to carry out their scheme.
Twenty-five Irish landowners who, in the unreformed Parliament, were able to control the return of 116 members out of a house of 300. They were thus enabled to make their own terms with the Government, and were consequently known by the above title.
An Act passed in 1549 (Edward VI), forbidding the use in churches of any book of prayers except the Book of Common Prayer approved by the Parliament then sitting, and known as Edward V{265}I’s First Prayer Book. Certain alterations having been made in the book, a further Act was passed in 1552, substituting the new version for the First Prayer Book. The use of this book having been abolished during Mary’s reign, it was again made obligatory by an Act of Queen Elizabeth in 1559, and made to apply to Ireland, while the same course was pursued after the Restoration in 1662, with the additional proviso that no clergyman might hold a living who was not ordained by a bishop and prepared to accept the Prayer Book.
A Bull issued by Innocent X in 1653, in condemnation of the Jansenist heresy.
A union of the League with the less bigoted Catholics of France, formed in 1588 on the virtual acceptance by Henri III of the League formulas.
An underground cellar in the High Street, Edinburgh, where the principal supporters of the union with England held secret meetings, the feeling against the union being so strong that they dared not meet openly.
A union formed in 1891 to hinder the movement for adhesion to the Republic on the part of the Catholic party. Its leaders were M. de Chesnelong, the Comte de Mun, and the Baron de Mackau.
By this instrument, promulgated in 1397 by Margaret of Denmark, the three northern kingdoms of Norway, Sweden and Denmark were united into one monarchy. It was renounced by Sweden in 1523.
The union flag, when hoisted at the jackstaff of a man-of-war, is so called. The union flag is composed of the red cross of St. George on a white ground (England), the white saltire of St. Andrew on a blue ground (Scotland), and the red saltire of St. Patrick on a white ground (Ireland).
The Act of Union with Ireland was finally passed in 1800. Resolutions in favour of it had been submitted to the Irish Parliament in 1799, and though supported in the main by the Irish Catholics, they were opposed by Grattan, Curran and other Irish leaders, and rejected. Pitt was determined that in the interests of both countries the union must take place, and, the Irish Parliament having been dissolved, he succeeded by unlimited bribery in securing a Parliament containing a majority pledged to vote for the union. This Parliament met in 1800, and the necessary resolution was passed by a majority of forty-six.
The Parliamentary Union between the two kingdoms was agreed to in 1706, the terms being settled by commissioners, thirty-one on each side, appointed for the purpose. The basis of the agreement was that there should be one kingdom, one Parliament and one Suc{266}cessor. The national flags were to be combined, and the two countries known as the United Kingdom. The confirming Act was passed by the Scots Parliament in 1706, by the English in 1707.
See Clan-na-Gael.
See Confederation, Treaty of.
A combination of the eight Provincial Assemblies of the Prussian monarchy, convened by Frederick William IV in 1847. It sat for eleven weeks only, and was replaced by the Constituent Assembly summoned to prepare a constitution in 1848.
A league founded by William O’Brien in the congested districts of the west of Ireland in 1897. Its ostensible object is to secure an increase in the size of tenants’ holdings by breaking up grass farms. Its methods are not free from intimidation.
A society founded in 1789 by Wolfe Tone, in the attempt to unite, in opposition to the Government, the Irish Catholics and the Republican Protestants of Ulster.
The name given to the seven provinces of the Netherlands, namely, Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Friesland, Groningen, Gelderland and Oberyssel, which formed the Union of Utrecht in 1579.
An Act passed in 1871, abolishing all religious tests for admission to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and making all graduates of the Universities eligible for fellowships, whether in Holy Orders or not.
A treaty between Russia and Turkey, signed in 1833, by which, regardless of the protests of France and England, Turkey agreed to open the Bosphorus to the warships of Russia, while the Dardanelles remained closed to those of every other Power.
The Parliament of Henry IV, which met at Coventry in 1404, was so called because it contained no lawyers.
Frederick, Emperor of Germany, was called Our Fritz by his subjects.
A phrase applied to the Ottoman Empire. It was first used by Thomas Carlyle.
The name given to the first Parliament of Charles I. It met in June 1625, was removed to Oxford in August, and dissolved on the 12th of that month without having transacted any business.
By common law, landed property could only be left to the eldest son, and it had become the custom to saddle property so left with “uses,” or charges, in favour of the younger children. This had caused inextricable confusion as to title, and a statute of Henry VIII,{267} passed in 1535, forbade the practice. It was very soon repealed.
A term signifying the retention by the parties to a treaty of all such territories as they may have conquered or become possessed of up to the signature of the document.
The name given to a section of the Hussites who stood firm in their demand that the Communion should be administered in both kinds.
A treaty signed in 1713 between Louis XIV and the allies, England and Holland, the Emperor not being a party to the instrument, at the close of the War of the Spanish Succession. By its terms the allies recognized the Bourbon succession to the Spanish throne, with the proviso that the two crowns should never be united in one person. Louis acknowledged Anne and the Protestant Succession. England retained Gibraltar, Minorca and Newfoundland, the latter subject to the fishery rights of France. Spain again granted England the Asiento, and certain fortified towns were given to the Dutch as a barrier in the Netherlands. The Emperor signed a separate treaty at Rastadt in the following year.
A union of the various provinces of the Netherlands in 1597, when they undertook to support each other in opposing the claims of the Spanish King. The free exercise of the Protestant religion was guaranteed to Holland and Zeeland. This union may be looked upon as the foundation stone of the Dutch Republic.
An attempt on the part of the Presbyterians in Parliament to come to terms with Charles I in 1645. Negotiations were opened at Uxbridge, the Parliamentary demands being the abolition of Episcopacy, the continuation of the war in Ireland, and the control by Parliament of the Army and Navy and of appointments to the great offices of State. The King withdrew from the negotiations, owing to the dissensions in Parliament between the Independents and Presbyterians, which he anticipated would eventually enable him to obtain better terms.
A treaty between the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, signed in 1857, after President Pretorius’ abortive invasion of the Free State. The two countries mutually acknowledged each other’s independence, with the Vaal as the boundary between them. The Transvaal repudiated the acts of Pretorius in his attempt to interfere with the internal Government of the Free State, while the Free State undertook to use every endeavour to compel Schoeman and Joubert to cease hostilities, and further agreed to accord to burghers of{268} the Transvaal the same privileges as were granted to those of Cape Colony and Natal.
An Act passed in 1898, substituting the use of calf-lymph for the old arm-to-arm system in public vaccination, and permitting parents who had a conscientious objection, to withhold their children from vaccination, on satisfying a magistrate of the same.
An Act passed in 1704, empowering Justices of the Peace to hand over to the military authorities, as recruits, all able-bodied men who were without visible means of subsistence.
A massacre of the Grisons Protestants in the Valtelline Valley in 1620, by Robustelli, acting with the connivance of the Austrians and the Spaniards.
In the Middle Ages, the condition of feudal dependence, either upon the Lord Paramount, as in the case of the great territorial nobles, or upon a vassal of the Lord Paramount.
The massacre, in 1562, of a body of Huguenots who, in accordance with their strict legal rights, were holding a service outside the town of Vassy in Champagne. The murderers were the retinue of the Duc de Guise, and the victims numbered sixty, while over two hundred were wounded. This atrocity led to the outbreak of the first Huguenot War.
The Œcumenical Council held in Rome in 1870, at which the dogma of the Infallibility of the Pope was promulgated.
The name given on the Continent to the vassals of the great feudal lords.
Secret tribunals established in Germany during the Middle Ages, to try persons arraigned on capital charges, and to carry out the sentence in case of conviction. The most famous was that of Westphalia. Any free born German was eligible as a member, or Freischöffe, and many German Princes were initiated. The powers of the Vehmgerichte were greatly curtailed by Maximilian, the original purpose of these tribunals having been overshadowed by their employment as vehicles of private vengeance, and they gradually lost all influence, till they were finally dissolved by Jerome Buonaparte in 1811.
The third, or agricultural, caste among the Hindus.
A rising of native troops in the Madras Presidency in 1806, caused by a change in the headdress of the Sepoy, to whom it was suggested by agitators that he was to be forcibly Christianized. The rising was soon suppressed.
In January 1895 Venezuelan troops crossed the Cuyuni river, part of the Schomburgk line,{269} into British Guiana, and hoisted the Venezuelan flag in territory which had been occupied by the British colonists for many years. Obtaining no redress, Lord Salisbury issued an ultimatum, whereupon Venezuela appealed to the United States to intervene, in support of the Monroe doctrine. President Cleveland and Mr. Olney took a high hand, and went the length of appointing an American Commission to examine into the boundary question. After long negotiation arbitration was agreed upon, and a treaty settling the details was signed in February 1897. The award of the arbitrators was issued in 1899, and practically confirmed the British claim to the Schomburgk line, but gave Venezuela Barima Point, at the mouth of the Orinoco, and a tract of country west of the Wenama river.
A league formed in 1495 between Spain, Austria, Milan, Venice and Rome, the signatories binding themselves to unite for the protection of any one of the contracting parties that was attacked, and especially for the preservation of the States of the Church. It is the first example in history of a coalition for mutual defence.
A plot of the Fifth Monarchy men in 1660, under Thomas Venner, to dethrone Charles II. The plan was to seize Whitehall during the King’s absence, when Venner, a wild fanatic, trusted to Divine help to carry out the rest of his scheme. The plot failed, and Venner and other leaders were arrested, but only after a desperate resistance.
A treaty signed in 843, after a short conflict, by the three sons of Charlemagne, Charles the Bald, Louis and Lothair. The eldest son, Lothair, renounced his right to the paramountcy, and the younger sons entered into full enjoyment of their territories, the Empire being thus divided. This treaty marks the division of the Frankish nation into French and Germans.
The conference of Boer leaders held at Vereeniging in May 1902, at which the terms of surrender were discussed and finally accepted. The terms provided for the immediate laying down of arms by the Boer commandos, the acknowledgment of the King as their lawful sovereign, the return of the Boer prisoners as soon as practicable, freedom of surrendered burghers from all judicial proceedings except for acts contrary to the usages of war, the use of the Dutch language in the schools, if demanded, and in the law courts when necessary, and the establishment in due course of representative government. The British Government further agreed to provide £3,000,000 as a free gift, towards the re-settlement of the country, and a loan of unstated amount, on easy terms, for the same purpose.
An Act passed in India in{270} 1878 to control native newspapers publishing seditious libels. It gave the Government power to make the editor of a native newspaper enter into a bond not to print seditious matter, and also authorized the seizure of plant in the event of non-compliance with the terms of the bond. The Act was repealed in 1882.
A Congress of the Powers held in 1822, to consider the situation in Spain. It resulted in the armed intervention of France in the following year.
A rising at Verona in 1797, during the French occupation. It was promptly put down, but not before the Veronese had murdered four hundred French sick and wounded, lying in the hospitals of the town.
A treaty signed in 1783 between Great Britain on the one hand, and Spain, France and the United States on the other, at the conclusion of the American War of Independence. France retained Tobago, and Spain, Florida and Minorca, but all other conquests were restored on both sides. As between Great Britain and the United States, this treaty simply confirmed the provisions of the Treaty of Peace of 1782.
A treaty signed in 1598 between Henri IV of France and Philip II of Spain, after the recovery by Henri of Amiens, which had fallen into the hands of the Spaniards. By its terms France recovered all the territory occupied by Spain during the previous ten years, her frontier being restored to that settled by the Treaty of Câteau Cambrésis.
Under the Swiss Constitution, the right of the people to reject a law passed by the Assembly, by means of the Referendum.
An Act passed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1834, at the instigation of Dr. Chalmers, declaring it to be a fundamental law of the Church that no pastor could be imposed on a congregation against their will.
These were three in number, caused by attempts to tack on to the Appropriation Bill resolutions of a controversial character. The first occurred in 1865, when the Legislative Council refused to pass the Appropriation Bill with certain tariff resolutions of a protective character appended. The Governor thereupon declined to sign warrants for payments out of the Treasury, and the business of the country was at a standstill. The Government, however, got out of the difficulty by having recourse to the banks. The second or great deadlock arose from the inclusion in the Appropriation Bill of a grant of £20,000 to Sir Charles Darling, the retiring Governor, in 1867. This was ended by the refusal of Sir Charles, in July 1868, to accept the grant. The third arose in 1877 over the{271} question of payment of members, the council again refusing to pass the Appropriation Bill with this provision tacked on. The Government thereupon dismissed a large number of civil servants. A compromise was, however, arrived at, and the officials reinstated. The day on which the dismissals took place is known as Black Wednesday.
A congress of the Great Powers, held in 1814-15, at which Great Britain, France, Austria, Prussia and Russia were represented. It confirmed in its main features the Treaty of Paris of 1815, with the following additional provisions: one-third of the kingdom of Saxony was surrendered to Prussia; the Duchy of Posen was retained by Prussia, and part of Galicia by Austria, while Russia secured the rest of Poland; the Bourbons were restored in Naples, the Tyrol was given back to Austria, and certain arrangements made as to the minor German and Italian States. The Congress further pronounced in favour of the free navigation of rivers, and of the suppression of the slave trade.
A conference of the four Great Powers, held in 1853, with the object of mediating between Russia and Turkey. A note was drawn up which was accepted by Russia, but refused by Turkey, the Sultan declining to admit that Russia’s championship alone maintained the Greek Church in his dominions. During the sitting of the conference Turkey declared war. It being found impossible to bring the antagonists to terms, the conference was dissolved.
A treaty signed in 1738 by Austria, France, Spain and Sardinia, after the War of the Polish Succession. By its provisions Lorraine was ceded to France, the Duke of Lorraine receiving in exchange the Duchy of Tuscany. Spain retained Naples and Sicily, and Sardinia obtained Novara and Tortona, and some other frontier towns.
A treaty between France and Austria, signed in 1809 after the defeat of the Austrians at Wagram, by which Austria was despoiled of further territory for the benefit of France, Russia and Bavaria. Austria also agreed to recognize Joseph Buonaparte as King of Spain, and to support the Continental Blockade.
A treaty between Spain and Austria, by which Spain accepted the Pragmatic Sanction, and agreed to open her ports to German commerce; while Austria recognized Don Carlos as the successor to the Duchies of Parma and Tuscany, and undertook to use her influence with England to obtain the restoration to Spain of Gibraltar and Minorca. There was, however, a further secret treaty, binding both countries to assist in the restoration of the Stuarts, while Austria promised aid in compelling the return of Gibraltar and Minorca, by force if necessary.{272}
A treaty between Austria, Spain, Holland and England. The three latter powers united in guaranteeing the Pragmatic Sanction, while Austria agreed to the occupation of Parma and Tuscany by Spanish garrisons.
A council summoned by Pope Clement V in 1312, at which he pronounced the dissolution of the Order of Knights Templars.
Marshal Soult (1769-1851) was so called by his soldiers.
The periodical revision by the Hundred Court of the Tythings, or divisions of ten men, under the system of Frankpledge.
The name given to an expedition under Sir George Rooke in 1702, when the English fleet forced an entrance into Vigo Bay, and destroyed the French fleet, together with the Spanish galleons, which had just arrived with treasure from America.
The surrender of the Magyars at the end of the Hungarian War of Independence in 1849. It was negotiated between General Görgey and the Russian General Paskievitch, and it is said on good authority, though there is no documentary evidence to prove it, that Görgey was induced to consent to the surrender by the promise that no Hungarian officer should be given up to the Austrians, and that Russia would undertake to secure independence for the Magyars under a Russian Prince. The promise, if ever made, was certainly not kept, and the Austrians tried and executed many of the Magyar leaders.
A treaty between France, Sardinia and Austria, signed in 1859, after the defeats of the latter Power at Magenta and Solferino. Austria withdrew entirely from Lombardy, which was made over to Sardinia, in accordance with the arrangement secretly arrived at between Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel.
Under the feudal system in England the serfs or dependents of the feudal lords were so called. They were bound to the soil and forced to render various menial services. On the Continent the villeins appear to have been in a better position than the serfs proper, being bound only to pay certain tribute, or render certain definite services.
An edict of Francis I of France, issued in 1539, to reform the administration of justice, and abbreviate trials. It also provided for the official registration of baptisms and burials.
The name given to the Viking Colony on the American Continent, probably a portion of Rhode Island, founded by Leif, son of Eric the Red, about 1000 A.D.
Queen Elizabeth of England was so called.
The first Colonial Charter,{273} issued by James I in 1606. A certain territory was thereby set aside to be colonised by two companies of adventurers, one from London, the other from the west of England. The first company only was successful. The land was to be held on a tenure of homage, and a small royalty payable on all precious metals extracted from the soil. An English council was formed, to exercise a general superintendence over the affairs of the colony. All colonists and their descendants were to retain their rights as British subjects.
A declaration drafted by George Mason, and voted by the Convention of Virginia, in May 1776. It declared that all power sprang from and was vested in the people; that all men were free by nature; that government should be for the common welfare; that no office should be hereditary, and that there should be no restraint of the free exercise of religion.
An ordinance issued in 1621, giving Virginia a written constitution. It provided for a Governor and a permanent Council, appointed by the Virginia Company, and for an elected assembly, with legislative powers, to meet annually. The acts of this assembly were subject to the Governor’s veto, and must further be ratified by the Company in London, while all ordinances issued by the Company equally required the ratification of the assembly. It was also provided that the procedure of the colonial courts should be assimilated to the English practice.
The Princes of Moldavia and Wallachia were so called until 1789, when these principalities came under the protection of Russia.
The popular assembly in the Orange Free State and the South African Republic was so called.
The name given to the Boers who took part in the Great Trek of 1836-7.
A resolution of the Long Parliament, passed on January 15, 1648, refusing, in view of the duplicity shown by Charles in the negotiations at Carisbrook, to receive any message from, or make any application to, the King.
A Royalist conspiracy to assassinate the Protector on his way to Hampton Court in 1654.
A bull of Clement V, issued in 1312, suppressing the Order of the Knights Templars.
A method of trial based on the Norse trial by duel, introduced into England by William the Conqueror. Any person charged with an offence by a private individual could challenge him{274} to mortal combat, and if he were successful, or could escape defeat for a whole day, was acquitted of the charge. Wager of battle was not legally abolished until 1819.
A sect of fanatical Mohammedans, whose centre is at Nejd, in Arabia, though they are spread over the whole Moslem world. As a military power they were at one time to be feared, but their organization was broken up by Mehemet Ali and Ibrahim Pasha at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
A treaty between the British Government and the Maories in 1840, whereby the latter acknowledged the English sovereignty over New Zealand, while they were guaranteed in the undisturbed possession of their lands.
The new board appointed by the Emperor of China in 1902, to succeed the Tsung-li-Yamen in the control of Foreign Affairs. It has precedence over all the other departments of State.
An abortive expedition despatched by England to the Island of Walcheren in 1809, with the object of capturing Antwerp and destroying the French fleet in the Scheldt. The expedition captured Flushing, but had no further success, and was withdrawn within the year, the major portion of the force employed having been incapacitated by fever.
The constitution established in Denmark by Waldemar III, surnamed the Restorer (1340-75).
A religious sect who seceded from the Church under Peter Waldo, a Lyons merchant, about 1160. They spread rapidly over France and Germany, but their chief seat was in the valleys of Savoy and the Pays de Vaud. They suffered persecution under Philip Augustus (1180-1223), and again under Francis I in 1540, and finally were almost exterminated by Louvois between 1687 and 1690.
A court established in the reign of James I, to supersede the ordinary courts in the counties of Hereford, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, which were withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the common law, on the plea that they were the Welsh Marches.
A series of severely repressive laws against the Welsh, issued by Henry IV in 1401.
A statute of Edward I, issued in 1284, on the annexation of Wales. It applied to the conquered country the laws and institutions of England, with such exceptions as were deemed advisable to meet the prejudices of the Welsh. See Rhudlann.
The dungeon of Ardrossan{275} into which Wallace threw the bodies of the slaughtered garrison, when he captured the fortress in the reign of Edward I.
A treaty between Murad I of Turkey, and the Voivode of Wallachia, signed in 1391, by which the Voivode recognized the suzerainty of Turkey, and agreed to pay an annual tribute.
A conspiracy headed by Waller, the poet, who had been won over by the Royalists in 1643, to collect troops and seize upon London. The plot miscarried, however, and Waller was forced to make his submission to the Parliament.
A treaty signed in 1153, which ended the civil war of Stephen. Stephen was accepted as King, while Henry of Anjou was recognized by Stephen as heir to the throne. It was also agreed that the castles were to be razed, and all foreign mercenaries dismissed.
The Covenanters who left their homes to follow their dispossessed ministers in 1669 were so called.
A gathering of the people in ancient Scottish times, for the purpose of ascertaining that every man was properly armed, and fit to take the field if called upon.
In the counties settled by the Danes, these correspond to the Saxon Hundreds.
A court established by Henry VIII in 1540, to enforce the rights of the Crown over its wards, and secure to the King the full benefit arising from the exercise of wardship. The court was abolished in 1660.
In early feudal times, in the event of a minor succeeding to a fief, the overlord claimed to act as guardian, both of the land and of the infant. This right was restricted by Magna Charta.
See Arkansas, Armagnac, Augsburg, Austrian Succession, Barons, Bavarian Succession, Bien Public, Bread and Cheese, Casenbrotspel, Douglas, Farthings, Hundred Years, Hungarian, Jenkin’s Ear, King Philip, Nobles, Opium, Pacific, Polish Succession, Rappenkrieg, Reforma, Seven Weeks, Seven Years, Spanish Succession, Thirty Years.
An assembly of German students held in 1817, to commemorate the tercentenary of the Reformation. The occasion was utilised for the formation of a league of students to promote liberal ideas in politics and national unity.
See Ashburton Treaty.
A treaty between England and the United States, signed in 1871, providing for the submission to arbitration of the Alabama and the San Juan questions, and arranging a{276} modus vivendi on the Canadian Fishery Question. Both the arbitrations went against Great Britain.
A statute passed in 1285 (13th Edward I), providing for the policing of the streets of London.
The first treaty signed in South Africa with a native chief. Waterboer was a Griqualand chief, and by this treaty, signed in 1834, he undertook to maintain order within his territories and protect the colonial border from marauders passing through his country, in return for which he was to receive £100 per annum, and two hundred muskets and ammunition.
A treaty between Alfred and the Danes, concluded after the defeat of the latter at Edington in 878. By this treaty East Anglia was surrendered to the Danes, while a line was drawn separating their kingdom from Wessex, by which a large portion of Mercia was restored to Wessex. It was further provided that the Danes were to hold their lands as vassals of the King of Wessex, and to embrace Christianity.
In Anglo-Saxon times, a money compensation paid by a murderer to the relatives of the murdered man. It varied in amount according to the rank of the victim.
A treaty between Russia and Sweden, signed in 1790, at the conclusion of the war entered into by Gustavus of Sweden to support the Turks. No territorial changes took place.
An assembly of divines, held between 1643 and 1649, at which Presbyterianism was made the established religion of England, in accordance with the Solemn League and Covenant. The assembly also issued the Directory, as a substitute for the Book of Common Prayer.
The confession of faith issued by the Westminster Assembly in 1643. It contains thirty-three articles, and is an exposition of the Calvinistic doctrine.
A series of provisions based on those of Oxford, issued in 1259, and afterwards embodied in the Statute of Marlborough.
The first Statute of Westminster was passed by the first Parliament of Edward I in 1275. It was practically a codification of previously existing laws and statutes which had not been fully enforced. It secured the Church in its rights, re-enacted the various charters, and reformed many abuses in the administration of the law. The second Statute of Westminster is the Statute also known as De Donis Conditionalibus.
A synod held in 1102, at which decrees were issued against simony, marriage of the clergy and other ecclesiastical abuses,{277} and also against the selling of men into slavery.
This treaty, signed in 1648 by France, Sweden and the Empire, put an end to the Thirty Years’ War. It established and recognized Protestantism in Germany, and made provision for the equal representation of the two religions in the German Diet. France obtained Alsace, Sweden secured Bremen, North Pomerania and Stettin, and there were certain changes among the smaller German States.
A rising of the peasantry of the west of Scotland in 1648, in opposition to the supporters of the Engagement.
A name first applied to the Covenanters in the west of Scotland, and afterwards to the anti-Stuart party in England. They later represented the party of progress and reform, in which sense they were the predecessors of the Liberals.
The name given to the English Tories who supported the House of Hanover on the accession of George I.
The name given to the Six Articles of Henry VIII, issued in 1539.
A serious rising in Western Pennsylvania in 1794, caused by an attempt of the authorities to suppress illicit distillation, which was rife in that region. Some six or seven thousand insurgents were in arms, and the outbreak was only suppressed after the militia of four of the neighbouring States had been called out.
A synod held in 664, at which the Saxon Churches definitely decided to adhere to the Church of Rome, rather than to the Celtic Church founded in Ireland by St. Columba.
The name given to the Parliament of 1321, which banished the Despencers, owing to the followers of the Barons wearing white favours.
See Chaperons Blancs.
The parish priests in Russia are so called, as distinguished from the Black Clergy, or monastic priesthood. They take no part in ecclesiastical administration, and are permitted to marry.
A famous band of mercenaries which served in the French wars, and, after the Peace of Brétigny, in Italy. Its leader was Sir John Hawkwood.
The Knights Hospitallers were so called.
The nickname given by the Turks to George Castriot (Iskander Beg), the Albanian hero (1404-67).
An organization formed in the Southern States, after the{278} American Civil War, to prevent the exercise of the franchise by the coloured population.
The Turcomans who overran Persia in 1468 were so called.
See Blanche Nef.
See Levellers.
A secret association in Indiana, U.S.A., formed originally as a vigilance society, which later was guilty of many outrages.
The ministry formed by Lord Derby in 1852. Many of its members were new to office, and the story goes that the Duke of Wellington, who was very deaf, was being told by Lord Derby the names of his colleagues. At each unfamiliar name, the Duke kept ejaculating, Who? Who?
The name given to the Irishmen recruited by France for service in the Irish Brigade during the eighteenth century.
A statute passed in 1540, providing that land held in fee simple might be devised by will. This right had been greatly restricted by the Plantagenet legislation.
The sobriquet of William, Prince of Orange (1533-84).
An amendment, carried by Mr. David Wilmot, in the United States House of Representatives, to the Bill for the purchase of Mexican territory in 1846. It provided that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude should ever exist in the territory to be acquired. The amendment was thrown out by the Senate.
A re-enactment in 1285 of the Assize of Arms of Henry II. It laid upon the counties the duty of keeping order within their boundaries, and of suppressing brigandage and highway robbery, and defined their obligations towards the national defence.
The nickname of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, who was King of Bohemia during the winter of 1619-20.
A code of maritime laws issued during the fourteenth century, governing the operations of the Baltic traders. It takes its name from Wisbuy, a town in Gothland.
A code of laws framed by Casimir the Great, in 1347, which remained the basis of Polish legislation till the end of the eighteenth century.
In Saxon times, the central assembly of the nation, presided over by the King or his representative. In early days it was open to all freemen, but later came to be composed of the nobles and thegns about the King’s person. The word signifies the Assembly of the Wise.
John Sobieski, King of Poland{279} (1674-96), was so called by the Turks.
The State of Michigan, U.S.A., is so called, because in early days it was infested with wolverines.
A Parliament of Richard II, assembled in 1388. It consisted almost entirely of partisans of the Duke of Gloucester, and during a session of 122 days was mainly occupied in the removal of his enemies. It is also known as the Merciless Parliament.
A controversy between the English and Irish Parliaments in 1722, over a patent granted to an Englishman named Wood, to coin copper money for issue in Ireland. Dean Swift’s famous “Drapier’s Letters” appeared on the Irish side of the controversy, and eventually the patent was withdrawn.
The sobriquet of Frederick II, Emperor of Germany (1215-50).
A concordat negotiated at the Synod of Mayence, and proclaimed at Worms in 1122, by which the Pope agreed to the election of bishops and abbots by their chapters, throughout the German Empire. The Emperor renounced the right of investiture with the ring and staff, but it was agreed that this investiture should not take place till the newly elected prelate had sworn fealty to the Emperor. This concordat was confirmed by the first Lateran Council in 1123.
A Diet held in 1521, to which Luther was summoned, under a safe conduct, in order that he might have the opportunity of retracting his heresies. This he declined to do, and but for the assistance of the Elector of Saxony, he would very probably have met with the fate of John Huss under similar circumstances.
An edict issued by the Diet of Worms in 1521, outlawing Luther, and all those who sheltered or aided him, or who printed, sold or read his works.
An alliance between England, Holland, Austria, Saxony and Sardinia, signed in 1743, to uphold the Pragmatic Sanction.
A league of the Catholic princes of Germany, formed in 1610, under Maximilian of Bavaria, to oppose the Protestant Union.
The Constitution of Kansas, adopted in 1859, under which Kansas was admitted to the Union. It abolished slavery throughout the State.
During the American War of Independence in 1778, the settlement in the Valley of Wyoming, Pennsylvania, was attacked by the British, together with a band of Seneca Indians. Most of the able-bodied men were in the field under Washington, and only 300 opposed the British force, which overpowered them, and accepted their surrender.{280} It was, however, impossible to control the Indians, who later again attacked the settlement, and massacred a large number of the inhabitants.
An American mission despatched to France in 1797. Attempts were made to bribe them, the agents employed using, in their correspondence, the initials X, Y, Z.
A treaty between Great Britain and Burmah, signed in 1826, at the end of the Burmah War of 1824, whereby Great Britain acquired Arrakan and Tenasserim.
See Anglo-German Agreement.
The name first applied to the colonists in the New England States by the British soldiers during the American War of Independence. It is supposed to be derived from an Indian corruption of English—“Yengies,” or “Yanghies.”
This name was given by the French during the Thirty Years’ War to the year 1636, when the Imperial troops penetrated into France to Corbie, within fifty miles of Paris, and apparently had the capital at their mercy. They preferred, however, to retire, loaded with booty, but the imminent danger was long an unpleasant memory to the Parisians.
Charles James Fox (1749-1806) was so called.
The Radical section of the Czech or National Party in Bohemia.
The party of young Tories who strongly opposed the repeal of the Corn Laws from 1839 to 1846, and favoured a return to the manners and customs of an earlier day. Among its leaders was Lord John Manners.
A party formed in Ireland in 1847, as a rival association to the Repealers who followed O’Connell. Their leaders were Smith O’Brien, Meagher and Mitchel, and they were in favour of physical force rather than of constitutional agitation. An abortive attempt at a rising under their auspices in 1848 was easily suppressed, and the society came to an end immediately afterwards.
A secret society founded by Mazzini about 1830, to work for the emancipation of Italy.
Charles Edward Stuart, son of James Edward, and grandson of James II, was so called by the supporters of the Hanoverian succession.
The Turkish reform party. For obvious reasons they are for the most part resident beyond the limits of the Turkish Empire.{281}
A treaty between Germany and Zanzibar, signed in 1885. The Sultan of Zanzibar thereby recognized Germany’s rights over Chagga and Kilimanjaro, and accorded certain trade facilities to the German East Africa Company.
A community of Free Cossacks on the Dnieper. They were not finally deprived of their independence till the reign of Catherine II, circ. 1780.
See Ten Jurisdictions.
A body of Cardinals, headed by Cardinal Orsini, who had great influence in Rome circ. 1700, and whose efforts were directed towards stricter discipline in the Church.
Under the Mohammedan rulers of India, the Zemindars were officers who were charged with the collection of taxes over a certain district. In 1793 these officers were, in Bengal, converted by Lord Cornwallis into landowners, each in his own district, who alone paid land-tax to the Government, and recouped themselves by rents received from the peasants or ryots. This system is known as the Zemindari System.
The Russian provincial and district assemblies are so called. The Zemstvo is elected, in certain fixed proportions, by the landowners, the village communes and the municipalities. It meets at least once a year, but has a permanent bureau, always in session, chosen from among its members for executive purposes. It is charged with the maintenance of roads and bridges and other public works, and the supervision of education, sanitation and agriculture. It also elects the local justices of the peace.
A union of the German States for commercial purposes, entered into under the auspices of Prussia in 1833. It provided for free internal trade, and a uniform system of customs duties for the whole union.
An attempt by Calvin and Farel, in 1549, to amalgamate the different doctrines of Calvin and Zwingli. It met with little acceptance on the part of the Protestant Cantons.
A treaty signed in 1859 confirming the Treaty of Villafranca, which provided for the cession by Austria of Lombardy, to be transferred by France to Sardinia.
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Y, Z
Aargau, 231.
Abbaside Khalifs, 23.
Abd-el-Kader, 247.
Abdallah, King of Granada, 1.
Abdul Hamed, Sultan of Turkey, 140.
Abdul Mejid, Sultan of Turkey, 115.
Aboyne, Lord, 42.
Abyssinia, 2, 172.
Acre, 134.
Adams, Samuel, 91, 171.
Adansi, 96.
Addison, Joseph, 139.
Adige (River), 154.
Adjanta Ghât, 235.
Adrian I, Pope, 78.
Adrian IV, Pope, 3.
Adrian VI, Pope, 218.
Adrianople, 3.
Adolphus Frederick of Holstein, 2.
Æthelfled, 95, 141.
Æthelred I, 176.
Æthelred the Unready, 72, 104, 118, 221.
Æthelstan, 117.
Æthelwulf, 193.
Afghanistan, 103, 105, 166, 188, 217, 234.
Afridis, 105, 166.
Agilulf, King of the Lombards, 129.
Ahausen, 204.
Ahmed I, Sultan of Turkey, 174.
Ahmednaggar, 235.
Aix-la-Chapelle, Peace of, 20, 201.
Alabama, 112.
Alabama claims, 275.
Alaska, 11, 26.
Albania, 130, 277.
Albert II, Emperor, 201.
Albert of Brandenburg, 251.
Albuquerque, Alfonso d’, 200.
Alemtejo, 97.
Alençon, 106.
Alençon, Duc d’, 201.
Alexander III, Pope, 3, 48, 190.
Alexander IV, Pope, 150.
Alexander V, Pope, 122, 196, 226.
Alexander VI, Pope, 75, 122, 222.
Alexander I of Russia, 261.
Alexander II of Russia, 174, 230.
Alexander I of Scotland, 232.
Alexander III of Scotland, 156.
Alexandria, 13, 70.
Alfonso I of Aragon, 93.
Alfonso III of Aragon, 13.
Alfonso V of Spain, 102.
Alfonso VI of Spain, 53.
Alfonso the Wise, 234.
Alfred the Great, 79, 141, 160, 170, 276.
Algarves, 97.
Algeria, 233, 247.
Allahabad, 27, 125.
Allen, Cardinal, 3.
Alsace, 99, 163, 191, 277.
Althorp, Lord, 128.
Alva, Duke of, 33, 245.
Amadeus V of Savoy, 12.
Amatongaland, 246.
Amazon (River), 43.
Amboyna, 239.
Amiens, 270.
Amoy, 180.
Amsterdam, 225.
Amurath I, Sultan of Turkey, 131.
Anabaptists, 213.
Anatolia, 14.
Ancona, 256.
Andrassy, Count, 10.
Andres, Last of the Incas, 213.
Andrew II of Hungary, 107.
Anglo-Saxons, 34, 39, 50, 82, 88, 92, 95, 96, 100, 103, 104, 116, 117, 118, 122, 142, 149, 156, 160, 181, 221, 222, 232, 238, 249, 251, 260, 263, 272, 276, 278.
Angola, 63.
Angus, Archibald Sixth Earl of, 18.
Aniello, Tommaso, 161.
Anjou, 1, 38, 101.
Annam, 31, 99, 121, 254.
Anne Boleyn, 244.
Anne de Joyeuse, 217.
Anne of England, 37, 88, 149, 192, 203, 206, 231, 246, 253, 267.
Anne of Austria, 82.
Anne, Regent of France, 112, 124.
Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, 26.
Anspach, 204, 227.
Antigua, 38.
Antrim, 242.
Antwerp, 101, 158, 239, 274.
Appenzell, 144, 252.
Arabi Pasha, 81.
Arabia, 166, 274.
Arad, 122.
Aragon, 13, 135, 167.
Arbitration Tribunal, 113.
Archaicus of Scotland, 253.
Arcis-sur-Aube, 15.
Ardalian, 28.
Ardrossan, 274.
Argentine Republic, 104, 196, 259, 269.
Argyll, Archibald Fifth Earl of, 69.
Argyll, Archibald Eighth Earl of, 124, 213, 214.
Arizona, 103.
Arkansas, 26.
Arlington, Henry Earl of, 42.
Armagnacs, 185, 262.
Armellini, 218.
Armenians, 112, 118.
Arminians, 65, 79, 108, 213.
Armstrong, William, 138.
Arnauld, Antoine, 131, 199.
Arnold of Brescia, 117.
Arracan, 280.
Arteveldt, James van, 39.
Artois, 105, 158, 205.
Ashanti, 96.
Ashbourne, Lord, 128.
Ashley, Earl of Shaftesbury, 42.
Assi, 60.
Assumptionists, 18.
Atalanta, 232.
Athens, 78.
Athole, Earl of, 206.
Atterbury, Bishop, 19.
Auckland, Lord, 234.
Auerstadt, Battle of, 31.
Augsburg Confession, 203, 227, 249.
Augsburg, Diet of, 235.
Augsburg, League of, 220.
Augsburg, Religious Peace of, 212.
Augustinus, 124, 131.
Augustus II of Poland, 197, 224.
Austerlitz, Battle of, 253.
Australia, 20, 91, 100, 124.
Austrian Succession, War of the, 201.
Auxerre, 15.
Avalos, Ferdinand de, 225.
Avignon, 256.
Azores, 75.
Azov, 140, 204.
Babek, 136.
Bacon, Nathaniel, 21, 109.
Baden, 105, 202, 215.
Bagimont of Vicci, 21.
Baillie of Jerviswood, 132.
Baji Rao II, 25.
Bakunin, Michael, 127.
Balaclava, Battle of, 73.
Balasore, 75.
Baldwin I of Flanders, 37.
Balfour, A. J., 98.
Balfour, Sir James, 69.
Ballard, Father, 21.
Balliol, Edward, 67, 156.
Balliol, John, 256.
Baltic, 239, 251, 278.
Baltimore, Lord, 161.
Banér, Johan Gustafsson, 148.
Bantry Bay, 175.
Baramahal, 230.
Barbaroux, 92.
Barbés, 222.
Barbiano, Count, 221.
Barcelona, 64.
Barclay, Sir George, 16.
Barebone, Praise-God, 23, 176.
Barlaymont, 65.
Barlow, Sir George, 155.
Barneveldt, Jan van Olden, 15.
Baro (River), 2.
Baroda, 23.
Barré, Isaac, 238.
Barrot, Odilon, 61.
Barton, Elizabeth, 177.
Basle, 225, 252.
Bassano, Duc de, 164, 254.
Bassein, 193, 245.
Basutos, 7, 124, 175, 237, 251.
Batapins, 242.
Bates’ Case, 35.
Bath, William, Earl of, 233.
Batman, John, 199.
Batoum, 28.
Bautzen, Battle of, 236.
Bavaria, 19, 25, 103, 105, 150, 215, 221, 235, 271.
Bayard, Seigneur de, 52.
Bayonne, I.
Beaconsfield, Lord, 28.
Beaugé, Battle of, 262.
Bechuanaland, 136, 168, 242.
Becket, Thomas à, 65.
Bedford, John, Duke of, 94.
Bedford, John, Fourth Duke of, 26.
Belesme, 106.
Belfort, 100.
Belgium, 7, 27, 45, 57, 151, 154, 187, 215, 228.
Benedict IX, Pope, 37.
Benedict XII, Pope, 213.
Benedict XIII, Pope, 196.
Bengal, 281.
Benigsen, Baron, 171.
Berar, 75, 198.
Bérenger, Loi, 150.
Berg, 215.
Berghem, 158.
Berlichingen, Götz von, 130, 191.
Berlin, 4, 63, 134.
Berlin Congress, 120, 224.
Bermudez, 88.
Bernadotte, 137.
Bernard, 222.
Berne, 46, 84, 146, 200, 208, 231, 256.
Berri, Duc de, 63.
Berry, Sir Graham, 86.
Bessarabia, 27, 28.
Bessborough, Earl of, 29.
Beza, 58.
Bezuidenhoot, Jan, 236.
Billioray, 60.
Birmingham, 210.
Biron, Baron de, 30.
Biscay, 46.
Bismarck, Otto von, 33, 46, 48, 99, 112, 120, 129, 134, 164, 212, 214.
Black Sea, 5, 27, 32, 47, 136, 188, 220.
Blackburn, 32.
Blackheath, 96.
Blaine, J. G., 35, 185, 248.
Blair, F. P., 139.
Blanche of Castile, 24.
Bland, Mr., 32.
Blanqui, Louis Auguste, 60, 222.
Blennerhassett, Harman, 42.
Bligh, Admiral, 36.
Bloemfontein, 33.
Blount, Sir James, 239.
Blucher, Marshal, 98.
Blue Nile, 2.
Boccold, John, 9.
Boer War, 4, 61, 114, 157, 171, 269.
Bogdan of Moldavia, 166.
Bohemia, 157, 168, 179, 180, 201, 202, 280.
Bolingbroke, Henry, Viscount, 178, 190.
Bolivar, Simon, 109, 147, 255.
Bolivia, 9, 184, 225.
Bologna, 10, 145.
Bombay, 35, 189.
Bond, Sir Robert, 35.
Boniface VIII, Pope, 56, 146, 191, 264.
Bonnivard, François de, 203.
Booth, John Wilkes, 35.
Bordeaux, 1, 182, 196.
Boris of Russia, 75.
Bosnia, 28, 217.
Bosphorus, 188, 266.
Bossuet, 56, 211.
Boston, 36, 69, 211, 249.
Bothwell, 48, 69.
Bouillon, Godefroi de, 56, 146.
Boulanger, General, 36.
Boulogne, 36, 48.
Boulonnais, 15.
Bourbon, Adalbert de, 172.
Bourbon, Cardinal de, 133.
Bourbon, Duc de, 29, 201.
Bourbon, General de, 32.
Bourbons, 46, 276.
Bourges, 190.
Bover, 126.
Boycott, Captain, 37.
Boyens, Adrian, 225.
Brabant, 76, 105, 133, 163.
Bradlaugh, Charles, 203.
Braemar, Hunting of, 122.
Brahminism, 16, 37, 104, 139, 234, 244, 245, 268.
Brazil, 43, 74, 87, 256, 259, 261.
Breda, 38.
Brederode, Count Henry of, 112.
Bregenz, 144.
Bremen, 100, 114, 242, 277.
Brescia, 117.
Bresse, 256.
Brétigny, Peace of, 100, 277.
Bretwalda, 117.
Bridgwater, 138.
Briel, 49.
Bright, John, 3, 39, 101, 120, 260.
Brissot, J.P., 39.
Bristol, 39.
British Columbia, 11, 45.
British Guiana, 180, 227, 269.
British South Africa Company, 131.
Brittany, 18, 38, 106.
Brittany, Duke of, 29, 63.
Brooke, George, 42.
Brown, John, 115.
Brown, Major-General, 1.
Brownists, 125.
Bruce, Robert, 176, 209.
Bruges, 107, 158.
Brunswick, Duke of, 31.
Brussels, 40, 193.
Buccleugh, Lord of, 138.
Bucer, Martin, 251.
Buchanan, Mr., 183.
Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, 42.
Bulgaria, 6, 24, 28, 41, 55, 224, 237.
Bundelcund, 207.
Burdett, Sir Francis, 207.
Burgos, 41.
Burgundians, 261.
Burgundy, 15, 110, 155, 163.
Burgundy, Duke of, 29.
Burke, Edward, 2.
Burke, T. H., 127, 195.
Burleigh, Cecil Lord, 50.
Burmah, 71, 119, 280.
Burns, John, 257.
Burr, Aaron, 42.
Burrard, Sir Harry, 54.
Caboche, 43.
Cade, Jack, 60, 198.
Cadiz, 64.
Cadiz, Duke of, 239.
Cadoudal, Georges, 53, 195.
Cahors, 9.
Cairns, Earl, 98, 230.
Calais, 38.
Calcutta, 31.
California, 13, 61, 107, 111, 143, 169.
Calixtus II, Pope, 143.
Callao, 147.
Calvin, John, 44, 63, 116, 199, 281.
Calvinists, 44, 63, 108, 116, 122, 141, 147.
Cambacérès, Jean Jacques de, 58.
Cambray, Peace of, 184.
Cambridge, 266.
Camerata, Count, 218.
Cameron, Richard, 44, 224.
Camissards, 87.
Campbells, 107.
Canada, 16, 45, 56, 81, 92, 95, 96, 113, 114, 121, 191, 206, 209, 216, 261.
Canning, George, 135.
Canning, Lord, 56, 183.
Canning, Sir Stratford, 85, 115.
Canossa, 46.
Canton, 180, 247.
Cape Cod, 162.
Cape Colony, 3, 31, 33, 41, 59, 76, 82, 94, 106, 116, 118, 123, 135, 138, 171, 186, 187, 197, 204, 236, 259, 276.
Cape Verde, 256.
Cappel, 46.
Caraffa, John, 251.
Carbonari, 224.
Cardwell, Lord, 15.
Carelia, 177, 243.
Caribbean Sea, 40, 239.
Carisbrooke, 273.
Carlisle, 138.
Carlists, 28.
Carlos, Don, 46.
Carlowitz, Treaty of, 190.
Carlsbad, 47.
Carlyle, Thomas, 266.
Carmarthen, Lord, 175.
Carmel Mount, 47.
Carnarvon, Lord, 232.
Carnot, Lazare Nicolas, 182.
Carolina, 47, 166.
Caroline Islands, 47.
Carrier, 177.
Carpathians, 248.
Cartwright, Thomas, 3.
Casimir the Great of Poland, 278.
Caspian Sea, 112.
Cassano, Battle of, 150.
Cassilis, Earl of, 18.
Cassini, Count, 48.
Castriot, George, 6, 130, 277.
Castro, Thomas, 55.
Catalonia, 4.
Câteau Cambrésis, Treaty of, 270.
Catesby, Robert, 112.
Catherine of Aragon, 177, 244.
Catherine of France, 261.
Catherine II of Russia, 49, 67, 132, 140, 166, 197, 229, 243, 248, 281.
Cavagnari, Sir Louis, 104.
Cavaignac, General, 18.
Cavendish, Lord Frederick, 127, 195.
Cavour, Count, 130.
Cawnpore, 50.
Cayenne, 38.
Cayugas, 96.
Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, 42.
Cerdagne, 23.
Cellier, Mrs., 162.
Celts, 29, 38, 88.
Central America, 53, 62, 72, 185.
Cevennes, 262.
Ceylon, 9.
Chagga, 281.
Chalmers, Dr., 100, 270.
Chamberlain, Joseph, 58, 120, 219.
Chambord, Comte de, 146.
Chambul (River), 207.
Chang How, 140.
Chantaboon, 99.
Charleroi, 24.
Charlemagne, 78, 119, 185, 269.
Charles of Anjou, 233.
Charles, Archduke of Austria, 239.
Charles of Blois, 252.
Charles, Dauphin of France, 38.
Charles I of England, 15, 25, 28, 33, 50, 84, 87, 95, 106, 124, 152, 155, 161, 174, 176, 194, 211, 213, 219, 224, 233, 238, 244, 260, 266, 267, 273.
Charles II of England, 1, 30, 31, 35, 38, 42, 47, 55, 58, 66, 69, 74, 79, 89, 111, 121, 132, 148, 163, 179, 194, 199, 203, 211, 213, 220, 238, 241, 256, 260, 269.
Charles I of France (the Bold), 40, 163, 178, 269.
Charles III of France (the Simple), 35.
Charles V of France, 25, 60.
Charles VI of France, 14, 181, 262.
Charles VII of France, 15, 99, 200, 201.
Charles VIII of France, 23.
Charles IX of France, 131, 221, 261.
Charles X of France, 134, 182, 215.
Charles IV of Germany, 107, 194.
Charles V of Germany, 23, 44, 47, 48, 93, 105, 107, 119, 125, 127, 135, 153, 155, 184, 190, 210, 212, 218, 225, 228, 256.
Charles VI of Germany, 20, 200.
Charles VII of Germany, 99.
Charles III of Savoy, 12, 239.
Charles II of Spain, 239.
Charles III of Spain, 201.
Charles IV of Spain, 97, 199, 203.
Charles X of Sweden, 217.
Charles XII of Sweden, 6, 39, 155, 204, 207, 224.
Charles the Bold of Burgundy, 193.
Charles the Good of Flanders, 144.
Charleston, 211.
Charolais, Comte de, 63.
Charterhouse, 48.
Chartres, 51, 152.
Chartreuse, Grande, 48.
Chattanooga, Battle of, 50.
Chefoo, 52.
Cherbourg, 43.
Chesnelong, M. de, 265.
Chester, 52, 68.
Chiavenna, 167.
Chicago, 91.
Chihli, 247.
Chile, 9, 168, 184, 192, 225.
Chillon, Castle of, 203.
China, 4, 10, 19, 37, 48, 52, 97, 110, 140, 148, 152, 159, 164, 170, 172, 180, 186, 192, 233, 234, 247, 254, 259, 262, 274.
Chinandega, 53.
Choshiu, 71.
Chotusitz, Battle of, 38.
Chouiski, 27.
Christian (Mate of the Bounty), 36.
Christian of Anhalt, 204.
Christian II of Denmark, 33.
Christian III of Denmark, 91, 208.
Christian IV of Denmark, 153.
Christian V of Denmark, 72, 85, 135.
Christian IX of Denmark, 226.
Christian of Schleswig Holstein, 15, 226.
Christian of Spain, 53, 88, 140.
Christina of Sweden, 165, 237.
Churchill, Lord Randolph, 98, 257.
Cinq Mars, 53.
Cis-Alpine Republic, 45.
Ciudad Rodrigo, 256.
Clare, County, 250, 257.
Clare, Richard de, 192, 243.
Clarendon, Lord, 47, 55.
Clay, Henry, 147, 228.
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 55, 116.
Clement V, Pope, 21, 249, 251, 272, 273.
Clement VII, Pope, 23, 119, 226.
Clement XIV, Pope, 78, 124.
Cleveland, President, 170, 180, 269.
Clifford, Lord High Treasurer, 42.
Clifford, Mr. (O.P. Riots), 177.
Clovis, 222.
Cluseret, 60.
Cobbett, W., 207.
Cobden, Richard, 12, 101, 159.
Cobham, Lord, 42.
Cochin China, 99.
Cochrane, Earl of Mar, 27.
Cockerton, T. B., 57.
Cognac, 221.
Colbert, J. B., 141.
Coligny, Admiral, 221.
Colley, General, 157.
Collings, Jesse, 253.
Cologne, 114, 228.
Colombia, United States of, 186.
Colorado, 50.
Columbia, District of, 61.
Columbus, Ohio, 141.
Columbus, Christopher, 222.
Combes, M., 18, 33.
Comyn, Alexander, 209.
Condé, Louis, Prince de, 7, 82, 228.
Condé, Henri, Prince de, 184.
Condorcanqui, 213.
Conflans, Treaty of, 29.
Congo Free State, 63, 40, 127.
Conkling, Roscoe, 240.
Connaught, 34, 60, 257.
Connecticut, 34, 62, 101, 113, 153, 173, 177, 252.
Connemara, 121.
Conrad II, Emperor, 190.
Conrad III, Emperor, 112.
Constance, 144.
Constance, Council of, 123, 226.
Constance, Diet of, 259.
Constance, Peace of, 150.
Constantine, Grand Duke of Russia, 73.
Constantinople, 14, 226, 233.
Conway (American Cabal), 43.
Corbie, 280.
Cornwall, 96, 241.
Cornwallis, Lord, 28, 175, 198, 281.
Corsica, 130.
Corsini, Count, 218.
Cortes, Hernando, 175.
Corti, Count, 67.
Cossacks, 281.
Courtrai, Battle of, 240.
Courtray, 4.
Couthon, G., 172.
Covenanters, 144, 207, 224, 245, 261, 275, 277.
Coventry, 266.
Coventry, Sir James, 69.
Cowper-Temple, 69.
Cranborne, Lord, 145.
Craven, Lord, 47.
Crete, 70.
Crichtons of Frendraught, 41.
Crim Tartary, 67, 140.
Crimea, 140, 188, 197, 225.
Croatia, 235.
Croker, John Wilson, 63.
Cromwell, Oliver, 74, 94, 121, 125, 126, 130, 146, 152, 157, 179, 184, 194, 211, 213, 214, 219, 228, 230, 231, 260, 273.
Cromwell, Richard, 38, 206.
Crusades, 7, 222.
Cuba, 8, 206, 209.
Culloden, Battle of, 42, 98, 143.
Cumberland, Duke of, 42, 56, 98.
Cunningham Graham, 257.
Curran, J.P., 265.
Custer, General, 71.
Cuyuni (River), 268.
Cyprus, 71.
Czartoryski, Adam, 261.
Czechs, 201, 280.
D’Alembert, J. le R., 87.
D’Artois, Comte, 195.
D’Avila, Sancho, 239.
D’Enghien, Duc, 195.
D’Este, Marquis, 150.
D’Estrées, Maréchal, 56.
Dalai Lama, 250.
Dalhousie, Lord, 245, 247, 253.
Dalmatia, 45, 130, 181.
Dalrymple, Sir Hew, 54.
Damascus, 145.
Danes, 72, 82, 95, 142, 221, 275, 276.
Dangerfield, 162.
Danton, G. J., 143, 165, 169.
Dantzig, 114, 197.
Danube, 3, 32, 72, 122, 188.
Dardanelles, 188, 266.
Dardanelles, Treaty of, 134.
Darling, Sir Charles, 270.
Darnley, Lord, 48, 220.
Dashkoff, Princess, 49.
Daulat Rao Sindhia, 235.
David I of Scotland, 211.
Davis, Jefferson, 62.
Davitt, Michael, 142.
De l’Hôpital, Chancellor, 169, 182, 218.
De la Marck, William, 26.
De Lesseps, Comte, 186.
De Montfort, Count Simon, 6.
De Montford, Simon, Earl of Leicester, 24, 77, 136, 146.
De Thou, 54.
De Witte, Admiral, 38.
Deccan, 195.
Defoe, D., 145.
Delagoa Bay Railway, 81.
Delaware, 35, 76, 161, 176, 252.
Delaware (River), 95.
Demarcation, Bull of, 256.
Demetrius Ivanovitch of Russia, 75.
Denkera, 96.
Denmark, 33, 35, 38, 40, 72, 82, 85, 91, 114, 135, 137, 139, 151, 153, 208, 216, 217, 226, 239, 255, 265, 274.
Derby, 95.
Derby, Edward, Earl of, 75, 145, 220, 249, 278.
Dermot, King of Leinster, 243.
Derry, 264.
Derwentwater, Lord, 94.
Deshima, 8.
Desmond, Earl of, 162.
Desmoulins, Camille, 143.
Despard, Colonel, 76.
Despencers, The, 277.
Devonshire, William, 1st Duke of, 175.
Devonshire, Spencer, 8th Duke of, 39, 120.
Dhuleep Singh, 141, 205.
Diaz de Vivar, Rodrigo, 53.
Diderot, Denis, 87.
Dindigul, 230.
Dingaan, 76.
Dinizulu, 173.
Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield, 145, 249.
Dnieper (River), 67, 197, 281.
Dniester (River), 132.
Doab, 141.
Doctrinaires, 180.
Döllinger, Dr., 179.
Dominicans, 126.
Don (River), 67.
Donauwörth, Troubles of, 204.
Donegal, Marquis of, 242.
Dongan, Thomas, 79.
Donis, Statute de, 276.
Donnelly, Ignatius, 199.
Doria, Andrea, 91, 93.
Dorr, Thomas W., 79.
Dorset, Earl of, 175.
Dort, Synod of, 15, 108.
Dost Mahomed, 234.
Dozsa, George, 80, 140.
Douglas, Archibald, Earl of Angus, 27.
Douglas, Sir James, 79.
Douglasses, The, 56.
Dover, 54.
Dow Win Sheou, 186.
Down, County, 242.
Drake, Sir Francis, 127.
Drakensberg, 171.
Drapier’s Letters, 279.
Dreyfus, Captain, 80.
Druses, 145.
Drutsch (River), 197.
Du Breuil, Peter, 153.
Du Tremblay, François, 37, 86.
Dublin, 48, 195.
Duclair, 81.
Duguesclin, Bertrand, 82.
Dunbar, 30, 67.
Dunbar, Earl of, 132.
Dunes, Battle of, 205.
Dunois, Jean, 25.
Dunraven, Earl of, 129.
Durham, 68.
Dwina (River), 197.
Eadgar, 82.
East Africa, 118.
East Anglia, 276.
Eastern Question, 5, 10, 21, 22, 24, 28, 32, 41, 48, 67, 70, 71, 72, 81, 115, 118, 132, 140, 145, 151, 188, 194, 205, 217, 220, 224, 225, 234, 235, 266, 271, 280.
Eddystone, 110.
Edinburgh, 199, 265.
Edmund Ironside, 130.
Edward I of England, 16, 38, 39, 51, 54, 56, 59, 62, 67, 79, 114, 149, 152, 156, 163, 172, 188, 192, 207, 215, 247, 274, 275, 276.
Edward II of England, 181, 232, 240.
Edward III of England, 38, 42, 67, 104, 108, 137, 141, 150, 158, 176, 192, 204, 223, 241, 256, 258.
Edward IV of England, 28, 149, 152, 191.
Edward VI of England, 5, 138, 214, 235, 236, 245, 264.
Edward the Black Prince, 32, 90, 98.
Egremont, Lord, 261.
Egypt, 9, 11, 13, 67, 72, 81, 92, 113, 134, 148, 159, 244.
El Dorado, 159.
Elba, 97, 122.
Elbe (River), 255.
Electors (Germany), 107.
Elizabeth of England, 3, 13, 17, 21, 49, 72, 75, 85, 118, 129, 137, 138, 157, 163, 198, 209, 215, 228, 245, 252, 253, 260, 265, 272.
Ellenborough, Lord, 183, 247.
Elmira, 96.
Emery, 255.
Emma of Normandy, 104.
Emmet, Robert, 86.
Engadine, 108.
English Acts and Statutes, 6, 13, 17, 20, 22, 29, 36, 39, 45, 49, 54, 55, 58, 65, 66, 69, 70, 77, 83, 84, 85, 86, 89, 94, 95, 97, 98, 106, 108, 109, 111, 113, 115, 117, 118, 120, 121, 124, 125, 128, 129, 131, 133, 137, 141, 146, 147, 149, 160, 163, 164, 168, 178, 194, 196, 197, 198, 200, 203, 204, 207, 209, 210, 211, 212, 215, 216, 218, 219, 226, 229, 230, 231, 235, 240, 241, 244, 245, 247, 249, 250, 251, 255, 256, 258, 260, 262, 264, 265, 266, 274, 276, 278.
English Church, 27, 45, 60, 63, 74, 85, 98, 114, 181, 121, 141, 144, 161, 164, 170, 172, 184, 201, 205, 206, 225, 226, 231, 235, 249, 251, 252, 276, 277.
English Civil War, 1, 23, 33, 50, 70, 87, 94, 95, 106, 123, 124, 125, 137, 146, 152, 155, 158, 173, 174, 209, 211, 213, 214, 219, 221, 238, 241, 263, 267, 273, 275.
English Political Parties, 1, 3, 8, 12, 37, 50, 60, 63, 68, 98, 120, 133, 147, 190, 207, 219, 247, 249, 256, 277.
Eperies, 34.
Erastus, 87.
Eric of Norway, 156.
Eric the Red, 8, 272.
Erie Ring, 248.
Eritrea, 2.
Erivan, 257.
Erpingham, Battle of, 152.
Erskine, Thomas, Lord, 102.
Esk (River), 73.
Essex, Lord, 220, 229.
Esthonia, 177.
Eugenius IV, Pope, 24.
Evesham, Battle of, 77.
Eyre, Governor, 168.
Ezzelino of Verona, 150.
Falk, Dr., 90.
Falk Laws, 140.
Falkland, Lord, 109.
Faneuil Hall, 69.
Farel, G., 281.
Faroë Islands, 137.
Fastolfe, Sir John, 118.
Faveau, 161.
Fawkes, Guido, 112.
Fawkner, J.P., 199.
Fécamp, 43.
Ferdinand I, Emperor, 43.
Ferdinand II, Emperor, 153, 214, 252.
Ferdinand III, Emperor, 16, 252.
Ferdinand II of Naples, 35.
Ferdinand I of Spain, 53.
Ferdinand V of Spain, 23, 53, 125, 222.
Ferdinand VII of Spain, 44, 46, 64, 141, 201.
Ferrara, 145.
Ferry, Jules, 180, 256.
Feudalism, 3, 15, 22, 59, 92, 93, 98, 101, 139, 152, 157, 190, 194, 198, 202, 212, 218, 238, 244, 268, 272, 275.
Fifth Monarchy Men, 269.
Fingoes, 242.
Finland, 1, 100, 177.
Fisheries, 99, 101, 113, 187, 192, 267.
Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, 174.
Fitzgeralds, 105.
Flammock, Thomas, 96.
Flanders, 38, 39, 105, 144, 152, 155, 239, 241.
Flesselles, Prévôt des Marchés, 171.
Flood, Henry, 234.
Florence, 12, 15, 29, 91, 191, 195, 218.
Florida, 112, 149, 187, 192, 270.
Foix, Gaston de, 254.
Fontenay, Battle of, 40, 178.
Foochow, 180.
Forest Cantons, 84.
Forest, Edwin, 18.
Formosa, 97, 233.
Forster, W. E., 84.
Fotheringay, 21.
Fouché, Joseph, 195.
Fouquier-Tinville, 250.
Fourier, Charles, 98.
Fox, Charles James, 164, 280.
Fox, George, 205.
Fraga, 93.
Franche Comté, 4, 174.
Francis I of France, 44, 62, 92, 93, 106, 119, 155, 184, 193, 256, 272, 274.
Francis II of France, 7.
Francis II of Naples, 44, 130.
Francis Joseph of Austria, 62.
Francis, Sir Philip, 134.
Franconia, 19, 116, 191, 236.
Frankfort, 49, 100, 215.
Franks, 7, 51, 170, 171.
Frederick II of Brandenburg, 130.
Frederick VII of Denmark, 226.
Frederick V, Elector Palatine, 252, 278.
Frederick I, Emperor, 64, 150, 190, 218.
Frederick II, Emperor, 22, 154, 279.
Frederick III, Emperor, 14.
Frederick, Emperor of Germany, 266.
Frederick I of Prussia, 31, 70.
Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia, 5, 7, 38, 103, 142, 197, 203, 224, 232.
Frederick Charles, Prince of Prussia, 209.
Frederick William IV of Prussia, 56, 139, 266.
French Acts and Edicts, 18, 25, 28, 51, 97, 100, 131, 150, 162, 164, 169, 172, 174, 181, 182, 202, 206, 210, 236, 245, 272.
French Political Parties, 36, 124, 143, 169, 180, 196, 198, 208, 250, 251, 254.
French Revolution, 8, 17, 22, 25, 38, 39, 42, 43, 53, 54, 66, 75, 76, 77, 86, 87, 93, 95, 100, 103, 115, 117, 119, 124, 126, 132, 133, 139, 143, 165, 167, 169, 172, 177, 182, 195, 216, 224, 229, 243, 245, 250, 252, 260.
Frendaught, 41.
Fribourg, 252.
Friesland, 37, 266.
Frisia, 145.
Friuli, 45.
Frobisher, Martin, 127.
Frost (Chartist), 51.
Fürst of Uri, 111.
Fusen, 220.
Fyrd, 257.
Gaboon, 65.
Gadesden, James, 103.
Gaekwar, The, 198.
Gage, Thomas, 159.
Gaikas, 242.
Galetti, Count, 218.
Galicia, 197, 271.
Gallifet, Marquis de, 60.
Galway, 245.
Gambetta, Léon, 180.
Ganges (River), 235.
Garfield, President, 113, 168, 240.
Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 44, 104, 130.
Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, 12.
Gascony, 1, 38, 98.
Gastein, Treaty of, 227.
Gauden, Bishop of Exeter, 85.
Gaunt, John of, 141.
Gaveston, Piers, 181.
Gilderland, 266.
Geneva, 63, 147, 159, 209, 256.
Genghis Khan, 107, 248.
Genoa, 70, 91, 93, 148, 187, 218.
Gensan, 220.
George, Despot of Servia, 246.
George, Duke, of Saxony, 119, 256.
George I of England, 19, 217, 224, 242, 244, 262, 277.
George II of England, 192.
George III of England, 76, 90, 91, 138, 222.
George IV of England, 3, 95, 102, 193, 202.
Georgia, 86, 104, 252.
Geraldines, 162.
Gerard V, Count of Ravensberg, 221.
German Acts, 1, 46, 47, 90, 134.
German Political Parties, 48, 50, 134, 139, 166.
Gerry, Elbridge, 132.
Ghazi, 28.
Ghent, 51, 135.
Ghent, Convention of, 111.
Ghent, Pacification of, 158, 193.
Ghent, Treaty of, 223.
Ghoorkas, 172.
Gibraltar, 78, 90, 267, 271.
Gironde, 39, 59.
Girondins, 196, 250.
Gladstone, W. E., 12, 21, 57, 103, 106, 109, 120, 128, 138, 147, 248, 263.
Glamorgan, Earl of, 18.
Glarus, 84.
Glencairn, Earl of, 18.
Glenelg, Lord, 204.
Gloucester, Duke of, 279.
Gloucestershire, 274.
Godaveri (River), 235.
Godfrey, Sir Edmundbury, 199.
Godoy, Manuel, 97, 203.
Gohad, 235.
Gold Coast, 10.
Gomarus, 65, 108.
Gonsalvo de Cordova, 109.
Gordon, General Charles, 53, 89, 247.
Gordon, Lord George, 108.
Gordons of Huntly, The, 41.
Görgey, General, 272.
Görlitz, 236.
Gorst, Sir John, 98.
Görz, 130.
Goths, 102.
Gotteshausbund, 249.
Govind Rai, 234.
Gowrie, Lord, 220.
Graaf-Reinet, 236.
Gradenigo, Doge of Venice, 254.
Grafton Ministry, 134.
Grahams, The, 73.
Granada, 1, 160, 168.
Grant, General Ulysses, 147.
Granville, Bishop of Arras, 161.
Grattan, Henry, 110, 234, 265.
Graubund, 249.
Gray, Wilson, 142.
Great Salt Lake, 168.
Greece, 14, 78, 128, 150, 151, 160, 194.
Greeley, Horace, 147.
Greenland, 137.
Gregory VII, Pope, 46, 154.
Gregory X, Pope, 61, 154, 199.
Gregory XI, Pope, 21, 266.
Gregory XII, Pope, 196.
Gregory XIII, Pope, 127.
Gregory XV, Pope, 203.
Grenville, George, 261.
Grenville, William, Lord, 164.
Grey, Earl, 102.
Grey, Sir George, 7.
Griffith, Sir Richard, 111.
Griqualand, 2, 175, 276.
Grisons, 24, 111, 167, 268.
Groningen, 266.
Groote Privilegie, 105.
Grousset, Paschal, 60.
Guadeloupe, 187, 243.
Guatemala, 43, 50.
Guelfs, 29, 194.
Gueux, 38.
Guienne, 38, 51.
Guinegate, Battle of, 240.
Guipuscoa, 189, 190.
Guise, Francis, Duc de, 261, 268.
Guise, Henri, Duc de, 22, 24.
Guises, The, 7, 133, 144, 218, 221.
Guiteau, 240.
Guithelin, 161.
Guizot, F. P. G., 239.
Gussinje, 67.
Gustavus III of Sweden, 11.
Gustavus IV of Sweden, 100.
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, 24, 116, 148, 214, 237, 241, 243.
Gustavus Vasa, 33.
Guyon, Mme., 207.
Gwader, Ralph of, 39.
Gwalior, 235.
Gwyn, Sir Rowland, 191.
Gwynne, Nell, 69.
Hague, The, 1.
Haidar Ali, 155, 222.
Hainau, General, 122.
Hainault, 105, 158.
Hakodaté, 8.
Hakon the Good of Denmark, 102, 112.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, 45.
Halifax, Charles, First Earl of, 134, 171.
Halifax, George, Second Earl of, 261.
Halland, 40.
Hamburg, 100, 114.
Hamburger Nachrichten, 212.
Hamilton, Duke of, 124.
Hampden, John, 95, 233.
Hankow, 140.
Hanover, 112, 114, 201, 222, 261.
Hanse League, 48.
Harcourt, Sir W. Vernon, 219.
Hardwicke, Lord, 96.
Haroun-al-Raschid, 23.
Harrowby, Lord, 49.
Haselrig, Sir John, 95.
Hassan-ben-Sabah, 16.
Hastings, Warren, 27, 244.
Hatton, Sir Christopher, 72.
Havana, 187.
Haverfordwest, 192.
Hawkwood, Sir John, 277.
Hay, Secretary, 116.
Hegealand, 40.
Held, Chancellor, 119.
Helsingfors, 1.
Henry III, Emperor, 259.
Henry IV, Emperor, 46.
Henry I of England, 26, 68, 71, 89, 95, 106, 205.
Henry II of England, 3, 17, 38, 65, 71, 72, 90, 105, 227, 275, 278.
Henry III of England, 8, 17, 24, 52, 97, 128, 141, 146, 155, 188, 215, 222, 263.
Henry IV of England, 25, 82, 113, 141, 270, 274.
Henry V of England, 6, 261.
Henry VI of England, 76.
Henry VII of England, 73, 94, 110, 158, 163, 169, 193, 241.
Henry VIII of England, 11, 13, 16, 18, 19, 31, 34, 66, 74, 75, 93, 119, 138, 150, 176, 177, 195, 206, 209, 218, 236, 240, 244, 245, 266, 275, 277.
Henry II of France, 48, 50, 144.
Henry III of France, 9, 24, 51, 84, 133, 164, 172, 217, 221, 265.
Henry IV of France (Henry of Navarre), 9, 30, 90, 96, 163, 175, 184, 208, 257, 261, 266.
Henry, King of Jerusalem, 250.
Henry, King of Poland, 184.
Herat, 188, 234.
Herbert, W., 160.
Hereford, Earl of, 39.
Herefordshire, 274.
Herschel, Sir John, 118.
Herzegovina, 28, 218.
Hesse, 105.
Hesse-Cassel, 201.
Hesse Darmstadt, 215.
Hexhamshire, 68.
Highlands, The, 77, 241, 246, 257.
Hill, Isaac, 139.
Hill, Sir Rowland, 192.
Hindus, 37.
Hoche, General, 175.
Hofmeyr, J. H., 4.
Hohenlinden, Battle of, 154.
Hohenlohe, Count of, 145.
Holkar, 198, 207.
Holland, 4, 9, 10, 17, 24, 29, 38, 49, 95, 105, 109, 114, 116, 121, 151, 152, 154, 174, 187, 189, 220, 222, 232, 239, 245, 260, 261, 266, 267, 272, 279.
Holstein, 137.
Holy Alliance, 167.
Holyrood, 215.
Honan, 247.
Honduras, 50.
Hong Kong, 170, 180.
Honorius II, Pope, 249.
Honorius III, Pope, 47, 78.
Hopeful, The, 136.
Horn, Count, 11.
Hottentots, 186.
Howard of Effingham, Lord, 127.
Howard, Sir John, 133.
Howe, Lord, 107, 176.
Hudson (River), 69, 95, 236.
Hudson’s Bay, 45, 209.
Huguenots, 5, 8, 9, 30, 51, 52, 59, 80, 84, 103, 122, 123, 131, 144, 152, 167, 172, 174, 175, 184, 198, 203, 215, 221, 228, 257, 268.
Hullin, General, 158.
Humbert, General, 175.
Hung Hsiu Chwan, 247.
Hungary, 19, 34, 47, 54, 75, 80, 96, 107, 121, 122, 139, 140, 141, 156, 191, 202, 207, 246, 255, 272.
Hungary, Master of, 190.
Hunt, Orator, 159, 207.
Huntly, Marquis of, 69.
Hunyadi Janos, 246.
Huss, John, 64, 122, 279.
Hussites, 16, 44, 60, 122, 168, 195, 246.
Hyderabad, 260.
Hythe, 54.
Ibrahim Pasha, 274.
Iglau, 60.
Ilbert, C. P., 123.
Illinois, 169, 201, 244.
Incas, 213.
India, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 31, 34, 35, 37, 50, 53, 56, 71, 75, 83, 110, 123, 125, 133, 137, 139, 141, 155, 159, 165, 180, 183, 189, 193, 195, 198, 204, 205, 207, 211, 220, 222, 230, 231, 234, 235, 237, 238, 244, 245, 247, 253, 260, 261, 264, 268, 269, 281.
Indiana, 121, 169, 278.
Indore, 118, 159.
Ingermanland, 243.
Ingolstadt, 123.
Ingria, 177.
Inkerman, Battle of, 238.
Innocent II, Pope, 98, 143.
Innocent III, Pope, 126, 127, 143, 262.
Innocent IV, Pope, 154.
Innocent X, Pope, 265.
Innocent XI, Pope, 211.
Innspruck, 190.
Ionian Islands, 45, 128, 181.
Iowa, 116.
Ireland, Duke of, 152.
Irene, Empress of the East, 174.
Irish Acts, 66, 96, 126, 127, 138, 192, 215, 216, 245, 265.
Irish Land, 37, 58, 70, 74, 111, 121, 128, 138, 142, 146, 154, 162, 166, 168, 173, 177, 189, 196, 242, 263, 266.
Irish Political Parties, 12, 120, 146.
Irish Religious Question, 37, 49, 62, 101, 118, 127, 128, 148, 181, 213, 245.
Iron Gate, 72.
Isabella of France, 223, 232.
Isabella of Spain, 46, 239.
Iskander Beg, 6.
Istria, 45, 130.
Italy, 2, 10, 29, 54, 58, 64, 104, 112, 129, 130, 144, 150, 154, 155, 186, 201, 215, 222, 225, 229.
Jaafar, 23.
Jackson, Andrew, 139, 179.
Jackson, Thomas J., 243.
Jacobins, 93, 196.
Jacobites, 16, 19, 34, 42, 57, 60, 94, 97, 122, 131, 149, 184, 206.
Jaffa, 131.
Jamaica, 40, 131, 160, 168.
James I of Aragon, 183.
James I of England, 2, 24, 25, 35, 38, 42, 50, 59, 73, 91, 95, 108, 109, 110, 124, 129, 132, 145, 150, 164, 178, 194, 200, 220, 227, 240, 257, 273, 274.
James II of England, 18, 19, 74, 118, 206, 220, 229, 231, 250, 253, 280.
James III of Scotland, 27.
James IV of Scotland, 193.
James V of Scotland, 58, 138, 253.
James, Duke of York, 89.
James Edward (the Old Pretender), 19, 179.
James (River), 231.
James, Sir Henry, 120.
Jameson, Dr., 131, 258.
Jämtland, 40.
Jansen, Cornelius, 124, 131.
Jansenists, 124, 199, 265.
Japan, 8, 11, 14, 53, 71, 88, 97, 102, 108, 114, 115, 133, 164, 183, 218, 220, 223, 225, 233.
Jean Sans Peur, Duke of Burgundy, 185.
Jeannin, 23.
Jeffreys, Judge, 34, 118, 139.
Jellachich, General, 122.
Jena, 42.
Jerome Buonaparte, 197, 255, 268.
Jerome of Prague, 44, 123.
Jersey, 68.
Jerusalem, 146.
Jesuits, 78, 253.
Jeypur, 235.
Joan of Arc, 156, 204.
Jodhpur, 235.
Johannesburg, 81, 258.
John of England, 127, 141, 156.
John of France, 38, 252.
John XII, Pope, 37.
John XXIII, Pope, 64, 226.
John IV of Portugal, 200.
John VI of Portugal, 74.
John of Leyden, 9.
John Frederick of Saxony, 227.
John Frederick of Würtemberg, 204.
Johnson, President, 250.
Johnston, Robert, 261.
Jones, Sir William, 104.
Joseph II, Emperor, 103, 133.
Joseph Buonaparte, 52, 134, 255, 271.
Joubert, 267.
Joyce, Myles, 155.
Juarez, B. P., 210.
Julius II, Pope, 119, 144.
Jumna (River), 235.
Junot, General, 54.
Kabul, 217.
Kaffirs, 106, 242, 259.
Kaga, 71.
Kali (River), 172.
Kamenz, 236.
Kanakas, 32, 124, 135.
Kandahar, 217.
Kansas, 104, 136, 165, 175, 240.
Karmath, 136.
Kars, 28, 71, 188.
Kashgar, 19, 140.
Katak, 75.
Keate, R. W., 136.
Keble, John, 184.
Kemble, J. P., 177.
Kendall, Amos, 139.
Kenmure, Lord, 94.
Kent, 68, 104.
Kentucky, 7, 34, 35, 42, 136, 169.
Khartoum, 91, 156.
Khatmandu, 172.
Khyber Pass, 103.
Kilimanjaro, 281.
Killala, 175.
Kimberley, 76, 123, 138.
Kitchener, Lord, 91.
Kiümer (River), 2.
Knights Templars, 167, 272, 273.
Knox, John, 77.
Knut, 82, 104, 121, 252.
Kobe, 8.
Kohinoor, 205.
Kok, Adam, 175.
Koran, 233, 245, 263.
Korea, 4, 11, 220, 255.
Kosciusko, T., 197.
Kossuth, Louis, 89, 122.
Kruger, Paul, 2.
Ku Klux Klan, 97.
Kulturkampf, 46, 50, 90, 134, 140, 264.
Kumasi, 96.
Kuram Valley, 103.
Kurds, 24.
Kutb-ud-Din, 237.
Kutschi-Kraina, 67.
Kutusoff, General, 41.
La Bourdonnaye, 49.
La Charité, 221.
La Rochelle, 5, 103, 167, 174, 221.
Ladislaus IV of Poland, 253.
Lafayette, Marquis de, 52.
Lafone, Abbé, 158.
Lalor, Peter, 89.
Lambert, General, 125, 184.
Lamothe, Mme., 76.
Lamourette, Bishop of Lyons, 22.
Lancashire, 33, 67.
Lancaster, 68.
Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, 39.
Larochejaquelin, 53.
Las Casas, Bartolomeo de, 125, 177.
Laski, 5.
Lateran Council, First, 279.
Lateran Council, Fourth, 108, 181.
Latimer, Lord, 108.
Lauban, 236.
Laud, Archbishop, 245, 246, 253.
Lauderdale, Lord, 42.
Lauenburg, 104, 151.
Lavigerie, Cardinal, 208.
Law, John, 165, 186.
Lazar, Despot of Servia, 230.
League, The, 265.
Ledrin-Rollin, A. A., 89.
Lee, Ann, 169, 232.
Lee, C., 43.
Lee, General, 232.
Lee, J. D., 169.
Leeds, 210.
Lefebvre, Maréchale, 224.
Legations, 21, 256.
Legnago, 205.
Legnano, Battle of, 150.
Leicester, 95.
Leif, 272.
Leinster, 34.
Leinster, Duke of, 219.
Leipsic, Battle of, 171.
Lennox, Earl of, 220.
Lenthall, W., 219.
Leo III, Emperor of the East, 64, 123.
Leo III, Pope, 119.
Leo X, Pope, 62, 73, 74, 89, 119.
Leon, 102.
Leopold I of Belgium, 172.
Leopold I of Austria, 34.
Leopold I, Emperor, 70, 220.
Lettres Persanes, 234.
Li Hung Chang, 30.
Liao-tong Peninsula, 233.
Liebler, Thomas, 87.
Lightfoot, Hannah, 90.
Lille, 4, 24.
Limburg, 154.
Limerick, 146, 245.
Limerick, Pacification of, 215.
Limoges, 38.
Lincoln, 95.
Lincoln, Abraham, 35, 85, 114, 179, 207.
Lincoln, Fair of, 141.
Little Big Horn, 71.
Liverpool, 210.
Liverpool, Lord, 49.
Livonia, 177, 243.
Löbau, 236.
Loch, Lord, 2.
Locke, John, 166.
Lodge, 97.
Lodomiria, 197.
Lollards, 113.
Lombard League, 64.
Lombardy, 129.
London, 12, 89, 94, 108, 123, 129, 150, 151, 177, 196, 236, 257, 273, 277.
Long Parliament, 194, 202, 209, 213, 221, 238, 273.
Loo Choo Islands, 97.
Lorne, Marquis of, 232.
Lorraine, 100, 190, 191, 205, 221, 271.
Lorraine, Duke of, 5.
Lothair, Emperor, 40, 153, 178, 269.
Louis IV, Emperor, 194.
Louis I of France, 40, 153, 178, 243.
Louis VI of France, 106.
Louis IX of France, 1, 8, 48, 88, 98, 179, 188, 201, 206, 238.
Louis XI of France, 29, 63, 191, 193.
Louis XII of France, 30, 44, 91, 119.
Louis XIII of France, 23, 24, 54, 82, 167, 203, 217.
Louis XIV of France, 4, 19, 43, 79, 84, 102, 109, 110, 124, 130, 152, 157, 174, 175, 211, 217, 220, 225, 239, 255, 267.
Louis XV of France, 29, 158, 187.
Louis XVI of France, 76, 83, 126, 129, 167, 172, 182, 236.
Louis XVIII of France, 2, 46, 50, 51, 78, 86.
Louis of Nassau, 112.
Louis the Bavarian, 213.
Louis the Dauphin, 141, 148.
Louis the German, 40, 163, 269.
Louis Philippe of France, 90, 93, 134, 170, 197, 215, 217, 239, 254.
Louise of Savoy, 184.
Louisiana, 69, 112, 187, 192.
Louvois, 80, 274.
Lovat, Lord, 206.
Lowe, Robert, 161.
Lowther, Sir John, 175.
Loyola, Ignatius, 132.
Lübeck, 48, 100, 114.
Lübeck, Peace of, 214.
Lucca, 218.
Lucerne, 193, 231.
Ludlow, John, 153.
Lupus, Hugh, 52.
Lusatia, 201.
Luton Moor, 241.
Luther, Martin, 16, 73, 74, 126, 227, 279.
Lutherans, 213, 240.
Luxembourg, 151.
Lyons, 170.
Lyons, Council of, 199.
Lynch, James, 154.
Lytton, Lord, 220.
McCarthy, Justin, 187.
McClellan, General, 231.
Macdermott, “The Great,” 133.
Macdonalds of Glencoe, 107.
Macduff, Clan, 203.
McIntosh, Clan, 219.
Mack, General, 263.
Mackau, Baron de, 265.
McLeod, Clan, 219.
Macmahon, Marshal, 153, 229.
M’Murroughs, 34.
Macready, 18.
Madras, 155.
Madrid, 44.
Magdeburg, 135.
Magenta, Battle of, 272.
Magnus the Good of Denmark, 109.
Maguire, Cornelius, 166.
Mahdists, 91.
Mahidpore, Battle of, 159.
Mahrattas, 25, 75, 118, 159, 193, 196, 198, 205, 222, 230, 235.
Maid of Norway, 39.
Maine, France, 1, 38, 106.
Maine, U.S.A., 154, 157, 196.
Maitland, Lord, 69.
Maitland, Sir Peregrine, 2.
Majuba Hill, 202.
Malabar, 230.
Malcolm IV of Scotland, 156.
Malcolm Canmore, 203.
Malet, General, 158.
Malietoa, 223.
Mallard, 161.
Malta, 130, 187.
Mamelukes, 113.
Man, Isle of, 137, 263.
Manchester, 210.
Manchester, Edward, Earl of, 229.
Manchuria, 10, 48, 140.
Manitoba, 45, 209.
Mankoroane, 136, 142.
Manners, Lord John, 280.
Mantua, 205.
Maories, 274.
Mar, Earl of, 34, 94, 122.
Marat, Jean Paul, 8.
March, Agnes, Countess of, 30.
Marchand, Captain, 91.
Marchiel, M. de, 130.
Marengo, Battle of, 154.
Margaret of Anjou, 191.
Margaret of Denmark, 229, 265.
Margaret of Parma, 65.
Margaret Tudor, 193.
Marguerite de Valois, 175.
Maria of Portugal, 230.
Maria Theresa of Austria, 5, 99, 197, 200.
Marie Antoinette, 53, 75, 76, 167.
Marie Thérèse of France, 12, 182.
Marignano, Battle of, 106.
Marillac, Colonel, 80.
Marlborough, Duke of, 67, 175, 239.
Marlborough, Sarah, Duchess of, 206.
Marlborough, Statute of, 276.
Maronites, 145.
Maroto, General, 28.
Marseillais, 92.
Marseilles, 70.
Martel, Charles, 157.
Martia, 160.
Martin V, Pope, 24, 64, 226.
Martinique, 187.
Marx, 127.
Mary of Burgundy, 105, 111.
Mary of England, 121, 209, 265.
Mary of Modena, 206.
Mary Queen of Scots, 21, 48, 212, 216, 220.
Maryland, 21, 35, 161, 179, 252.
Masaniello, 231.
Mashonaland, 2, 11.
Mason, George, 273.
Massachusetts, 25, 34, 61, 62, 88, 113, 132, 165, 173, 211, 232, 252.
Masséna, Marshal, 87.
Massouw, 242.
Massowah, 10.
Mataafa, 223.
Mathew, Father, 249.
Matilda of Tuscany, 46.
Matthias of Austria, 202.
Matthioli, Count, 130.
Maubeuge, 24.
Maurice of Saxony, 190.
Mauritius, 187.
Maximilian of Bavaria, 119, 279.
Maximilian I, Emperor, 19, 44, 119, 143, 197, 212, 268.
Maximilian of Mexico, 151.
Maxwell, Lord, 18.
Mayence, 228.
Mayence, Synod of, 279.
Mayenne, Duc de, 96.
Mayflower, The, 195.
Mazarin, Cardinal, 124, 215.
Mazzini, Giuseppe, 89, 218, 280.
Meagher, 280.
Meath, 34.
Mecca, 42, 136.
Medici, 15, 195.
Medici, Catherine de’, 8, 58, 152, 184, 221.
Medici, Cosmo de’, 91.
Medici, Giovanni de’, 90.
Medici, Giuliano de’, 191.
Medici, Lorenzo de’, 191.
Medici, Marie de’, 82.
Mehemet Ali, 72, 134, 274.
Mekong (River), 10, 99.
Melancthon, 19, 127.
Melbourne, 32, 199.
Melbourne, Lord, 26, 131.
Melchthal of Unterwalden, 111.
Melville, Andrew, 77.
Melville, Lord, 132.
Mercia, 95, 177, 276.
Methuen Treaty, 59.
Metz, 100.
Mexico, 21, 42, 50, 92, 103, 111, 150, 175, 210, 240, 278.
Meyer, Lucas, 173.
Mezzofanti, Cardinal, 192.
Michigan, 141, 279.
Michni Pass, 103.
Middelburg, 158.
Miguel, Don, of Portugal, 89.
Mikado, 233.
Milan, 149, 150, 152, 218, 269.
Milanese, 154, 189, 256.
Millenary Petition, 114.
Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, 233.
Minorca, 79, 90, 267, 270, 271.
Mirabeau, Comte de, 8.
Mirabeau, Marquis de, 8, 167.
Miramon, President, 210.
Miranda, General, 109.
Mississippi, 20, 26, 112.
Missouri, 35.
Missouri Compromise, 136, 240.
Mitchel, John, 280.
Mitton, Chapter of, 51.
Modena, 130.
Mohammed, 44.
Mohammed Ahmed, 156.
Mohammed-es-Senussi, 229.
Mohammedanism, 44, 104, 105, 113, 116, 132, 136, 156, 166, 185, 186, 229, 233, 237, 245, 274.
Mohawks, 96.
Molapo, 124.
Moldavia, 3, 5, 27, 121, 124, 140, 273.
Molina, Fray, 166.
Mongain, 10.
Monk, General, 47, 219.
Monmouth, James Duke of, 31, 34, 138, 203.
Monmouth, Earl of, 175.
Monroe Doctrine, 119, 180.
Monroe, President, 87, 167, 180.
Mont St. Michel, 43.
Montauban, 167, 221.
Montbars the Exterminator, 40.
Montenegro, 28, 67, 81.
Montesquieu, 234.
Montferrat, Conrad of, 16.
Montgomeryshire, 255.
Montigny, Seigneur de, 158.
Montpensier, Duc de, 239.
Montreuil, 38.
Montrose, Earl of, 70.
Montserrat, 38.
Montsioa, 136.
Montt, President, 168.
Moors, 1, 93, 160, 168, 185.
Morea, 47, 190.
Morgan, Sir Henry, 40.
Morley, John, 219.
Mormons, 72, 84, 144, 169.
Morocco, 155, 223.
Mortier, Marshal, 93.
Morton, Douglas, Earl of, 79.
Morton, Cardinal, 169.
Moshesh, 7, 124, 237, 251.
Moukhtar Pacha, 105.
Mounteagle, Lord, 112.
Mourad I of Turkey, 230, 275.
Mulmutius, 161, 170.
Mun, Comte de, 265.
Munster, 216, 234.
Münster, 9.
Münzer, 191.
Murray, James, Earl of, 220.
Mysore, 155, 159, 230, 260.
Nagasaki, 8.
Nakitchevan, 257.
Namur, 24.
Nana Sahib, 50.
Nának, Babu, 234.
Nanking, 247.
Nantes, Edict of, 122, 167, 174.
Naples, 35, 44, 46, 63, 90, 130, 141, 152, 161, 181, 189, 224, 227, 231, 271.
Napoleon, 2, 3, 25, 27, 28, 37, 46, 48, 52, 54, 57, 61, 65, 67, 76, 77, 86, 87, 97, 120, 122, 131, 135, 146, 148, 158, 162, 164, 171, 174, 181, 194, 195, 202, 215, 222, 224, 227, 228, 243, 250, 251, 253, 262.
Napoleon III, 21, 36, 43, 68, 73, 111, 151, 182, 196, 208, 229, 262, 272.
Napoleon, Prince, 197, 202.
Nassau, 201.
Natal, 33, 171, 204, 259.
Navarino, Battle of, 201.
Nebraska, 136, 165, 240.
Nejd, 274.
Nelson, Lord, 118.
Nerbudda (River), 198.
Netherlands, 1, 15, 19, 22, 33, 38, 40, 51, 60, 79, 103, 105, 107, 111, 112, 121, 135, 153, 157, 193, 212, 213, 242, 266.
Neuchâtel, 225, 227.
Nevski Prospekt, 73.
New Brunswick, 45.
New Granada, 147.
New Hampshire, 110, 252.
New Haven, 62, 113, 173, 232.
New Jersey, 38, 252.
New Mexico, 61, 103, 111, 175.
New Orleans, 153, 187.
New South Wales, 20, 36, 92, 100, 136, 142, 207.
New York City, 18, 80, 82, 78, 88, 92, 94, 238, 248, 262.
New York State, 5, 38, 86, 89, 111, 238, 252.
New York Times, 248.
New Zealand, 20, 120, 173, 274.
Newfoundland, 35, 45, 95, 99, 101, 114, 187, 191, 267.
Newman, Cardinal, 184.
Ney, Marshal, 37, 148.
Nicaragua, 50.
Nice, 262.
Nicholas II, Pope, 198, 218.
Nicholas V, Pope, 16.
Nicholas I of Russia, 73, 129, 234, 252.
Nimeguen, Peace of, 220.
Ningpo, 180.
Nizam, 261.
Norfolk, Thomas, 4th Duke of, 215, 235.
Norfolk, Earl of, 39.
Normandy, 1, 38, 63, 104.
Norsemen, 7, 8, 28, 35, 55, 81, 102, 109, 112, 117, 118, 132, 136, 149, 176, 178, 181, 183, 221, 226, 252, 253, 272, 273.
North, Lord, 19, 206, 211.
North Briton, 177.
North Carolina, 211, 252, 262.
North German Confederation, 41.
Northbrook, Lord, 24.
Northumberland, Duke of, 42.
Norway, 163, 243, 265.
Norwich, Bridal of, 39.
Notarbartolo, Signor, 155.
Nottingham, 95, 153.
Nottingham, Earl of, 175.
Nova Scotia, 2, 38, 45.
Novara, 271.
Novgorod, 51.
Novossiltsof, 261.
Noyon, 44.
Nuremberg, 50, 213.
O’Brien, Smith, 280.
O’Brien, William, 266.
O’Briens, The, 34.
O’Connell, Daniel, 29, 49, 56, 101, 147, 178, 214, 218.
O’Connor, Feargus, 51.
O’Connors, The, 34.
O’Donnell, The, 129.
O’Higgins, General, 109.
O’Lachlans, The, 34.
O’Neill of Ulster, 129.
O’Neills, The, 34.
O’Shea, Captain, 12, 138.
Oates, Titus, 162, 199.
Oberyssel, 266.
Obock, 10.
Ohio, 41, 169.
Oklahoma, 175.
Old Orsova, 235.
Olmütz, Humiliation of, 261.
Olney, Secretary, 167, 180, 269.
Omar, Caliph, 189.
Oneidas, 96.
Onondagas, 96.
Oorah, 27.
Opium War, 170.
Orange Free State, 2, 7, 33, 42, 124, 151, 218, 237, 251, 267, 273.
Orange River, 174, 175, 259.
Oribe, President, 33.
Orinoco (River), 239, 269.
Orkneys, 38, 178, 263.
Orlando, 185.
Orleans, 156.
Orleans, Duke of, 154, 185.
Orleans, Duke of (Egalité), 84, 87, 167.
Orleans, Duke of (Gamelle), 103.
Orloffs, The, 49.
Ormonde, Lord, 19, 260.
Orrery, Lord, 19.
Orsini, Cardinal, 281.
Ortiz de Rosas, 104.
Orton, Arthur, 55.
Osman Pasha, 105.
Ostend, 79.
Oszakov, 132.
Ottawa, 7.
Otto of Bavaria, 150.
Oude, 27, 244, 247.
Overend and Gurney, 31.
Oxenstierna, Chancellor, 116.
Oxford, 36, 266.
Oxford, Earl of, 175.
Paardeberg, 157.
Padilla, Juan de, 225.
Padua, 254.
Paes de Andrade, 87.
Pago Pago, 223.
Pahlen, Count, 184.
Pakington, Sir John, 249.
Palatinate, 239.
Palermo, 155, 233.
Palestine, 120, 249.
Palmerston, Lord, 57, 78, 185, 239.
Pamirs, 218.
Panama, 40, 239.
Panama Canal, 116.
Panda, 171.
Pannonia, 156.
Panslavism, 180, 201.
Papal States, 10, 21, 31, 45, 78, 119, 131, 145, 190, 229, 256.
Paraguay, 156, 196, 261.
Paris, 14, 18, 36, 42, 43, 47, 60, 99, 102, 126, 157, 165, 171, 194, 228, 236, 250, 255, 280.
Paris, Comte de, 202.
Paris, Peace of, 121.
Paris, Treaty of, 216, 220, 260.
Parker, Archbishop, 170.
Parma, 90, 97, 130, 154, 232, 271, 272.
Parma, Duke of, 89.
Parnell, C. S., 12, 120, 138, 187, 189, 264.
Pascal, Blaise, 131, 199.
Paskievitch, General, 272.
Pasquino, 190.
Passau, Treaty of, 214.
Paterson (Darien Scheme), 72.
Paul III, Pope, 75, 211, 259.
Paul IV, Pope, 70, 125.
Paul I of Russia, 184.
Pavia, General, 76.
Peasants’ War, 130.
Pedro IV of Aragon, 13.
Pedro, Don, of Aragon, 233.
Pedro I of Brazil, 43, 74.
Pedro IV of Portugal, 51.
Peel, Sir Robert, 26, 66, 162, 180, 191, 248.
Peking, 152, 254.
Pelagius, Pope, 126.
Pelham, Henry, 40.
Pelucones, 168.
Pembroke, Thomas, 8th Earl of, 175.
Pembrokeshire, 68.
Penn, William, 119.
Pennsylvania, 119, 137, 161, 166, 176, 252, 277, 279.
Pepin of France, 78, 157.
Percy, Henry, 121.
Périgord, 38.
Pernambuco, 87.
Perry, Commodore, 8.
Persia, 112, 188, 189, 234, 257, 258.
Persian Gulf, 188.
Perth, 95, 220.
Peru, 9, 124, 147, 184.
Pescadores, 233.
Peschiera, 205.
Peshwa, The, 25, 198, 245, 261.
Peter, Count of Brittany, 24.
Peter Martyr, 58.
Peter I (the Great) of Russia, 177, 202, 204, 221, 243.
Peter III of Russia, 49.
Peterhof, 49.
Peyronnet, 9.
Phayre, Colonel, 23.
Philadelphia, 139.
Philip, Duke of Anjou, 239.
Philip (the Good) of Burgundy, 107, 110, 158.
Philip, Count of Charolais, 261.
Philip II of France (Philip Augustus), 263, 274.
Philip III of France, 98.
Philip IV of France (the Fair), 19, 51, 146, 188, 219, 232, 242, 264.
Philip II of Spain, 1, 13, 61, 127, 133, 158, 163, 193, 245, 270.
Philip III of Spain, 168.
Philip V of Spain, 90.
Philippines, 8.
Piacenza, 97.
Pichegru, General, 195.
Piedmont, 141, 225, 256.
Piedmont, U.S.A., 154.
Pigott (the Forger), 189.
Pilgrim Fathers, 162.
Pisa, 64, 262.
Pisa, Council of, 144, 226.
Pishin Valley, 103.
Pitcairn Island, 36.
Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 37, 53, 190.
Pitt, William, the Younger, 34, 83, 110, 116, 125, 164, 265.
Pius V, Pope, 75, 215.
Pius IX, Pope, 31, 126, 203.
Pizarro, 124.
Pizarro, Gonsalo, 160.
Plava, 67.
Plimsoll, Samuel, 197.
Ploermel, 252.
Plunket, Horace, 128.
Plymouth, 162, 173.
Plymouth, U.S.A., 113, 128.
Podgoritza, 67.
Podolia, 47.
Poissy, Caisse de, 43, 236.
Poitiers, Battle of, 38.
Poitou, 1, 38, 80, 196.
Poland, 22, 41, 47, 59, 62, 75, 147, 149, 161, 182, 184, 185, 197, 217, 224, 238, 248, 251, 253, 271, 278.
Pole, Cardinal, 209.
Pomerania, 27, 201, 277.
Poniatowski, Stanislas Augustus, 22.
Ponthieu, 38.
Poonah, 25, 207.
Porcari, Stefano, 199.
Port Arthur, 233.
Portalis, 58.
Porto Rico, 8, 58, 97.
Portugal, 11, 35, 51, 54, 75, 89, 97, 163, 199, 202, 205, 230, 255, 256.
Posen, 255, 271.
Postma, Mr., 79.
Potemkin, General, 132.
Potchefstroom, 253.
Poyning, Sir Edward, 200.
Prague, 122, 157, 201.
Prague, Treaty of, 131, 176.
Prempeh, 96.
Preston, Battle of, 94.
Prestonpans, Battle of, 98.
Pretoria, 151.
Pretorius, President, 267.
Pride, Colonel, 219.
Priestley, Dr., 30.
Prim, Marshal, 222.
Prince Edward’s Island, 45.
Pritchard, Rev. Mr., 247.
Probyloff Islands, 5, 27.
Provence, 163.
Pruth (River), 41.
Pulteney, William, 190.
Punjaub, 137, 204.
Puritans, 3, 61, 121, 125, 161, 162, 164, 195, 219, 225, 232.
Pusey, Dr., 184.
Puysac, Battle of, 106.
Pyat, Félix, 60.
Pym, John, 15, 95.
Quarterly Review, 63.
Quebec, 113.
Queensberry, Lord, 206.
Queensland, 20, 92, 124, 191, 207.
Querini, The, 254.
Quesnay, Dr., 83.
Raghoba, 205, 222, 245.
Rajputs, 159.
Rákóczy, 140, 141, 246.
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 42.
Rammerkins, 49.
Rammohun Roy, 37.
Ranjit Singh, 234, 264.
Rastadt, Treaty of, 267.
Ratisbon, Diet of, 47, 210.
Ravenna, 78.
Raymond, Count of Toulouse, 6, 247.
Red River, 99.
Redmond, John, 189.
Reformation, 9, 15, 16, 19, 38, 50, 74, 77, 78, 83, 98, 105, 115, 116, 119, 121, 126, 127, 150, 153, 157, 161, 167, 190, 212, 214, 215, 235, 250, 259, 268, 275, 279.
Reims, 9.
Reinach, Baron de, 186.
Retz, Cardinal de, 102.
Rhætia, 249.
Rhine (River), 221.
Rhine, Circle of the, 236.
Rhine, Confederation of the, 255.
Rhineland, 163.
Rhode Island, 79, 149, 252, 272.
Rhodes, 158.
Rhodes, Cecil, 131.
Rhodesia, 136.
Ribbing, Count, 11.
Richard I of England, 48, 58, 133.
Richard II of England, 2, 59, 149, 152, 279.
Richard III of England, 28, 94, 117.
Richard, Duke of Normandy, 216.
Richelieu, Cardinal, 37, 53, 82, 86, 217.
Richter, Eugen, 101.
Riel, Louis, 209, 216.
Rienzi, Colas de, 143.
Riet (River), 175.
Riga, 149.
Ritchie, C. T., 149.
River Plate, 196.
Rivera, President, 33.
Rivoli, Battle of, 87.
Robert of Normandy, 43.
Roberts, Lord, 114, 219.
Robespierre, Maximilien, 38, 77, 124, 133, 143, 169, 172, 250, 252, 260.
Robinson, Mrs. Mary, 193, 202.
Robustelli, General, 268.
Rochdale, 66.
Roederer, 58.
Roger of Salisbury, 89.
Rohan, Cardinal de, 76.
Rohillas, 27.
Roland, 185.
Roland, Mme., 54.
Rolf the Ganger, 55.
Romagna, 145.
Rome, 143, 190, 199, 217, 218, 229, 254.
Rome, Church of, 3, 11, 16, 19, 21, 24, 30, 31, 37, 41, 56, 61, 62, 63, 64, 68, 70, 73, 75, 78, 83, 89, 120, 124, 125, 126, 127, 132, 143, 144, 146, 154, 178, 185, 186, 193, 196, 198, 203, 204, 211, 226, 264, 265, 268, 272, 273, 279, 281.
Romney, 54.
Roncesvalles, Battle of, 185.
Rooke, Sir George, 272.
Rosebery, Lord, 147.
Roumania, 28.
Roussillon, 23, 205.
Rudolph I, Emperor, 120.
Rudolph II, Emperor, 19, 157, 202, 261.
Ruel, Treaty of, 102.
Rump, The, 202.
Rupert of Bavaria, 155.
Rupertsland, 121.
Russell, Edward, Earl of Orford, 134.
Russell, Lord John, 57.
Russell, William, Lord, 68, 220.
Rustchuk, 205.
Ruthven, Alexander, 108.
Rye, 54.
Ryssel, 24.
Ryswick, Peace of, 19.
Sadleir, John, 37.
Sadowa, Battle of, 201.
Saez, 134.
Saffi, 218.
St. André, Maréchal de, 261.
St. Bartholomew, Massacre of, 187, 198.
St. Benedict, 27.
St. Bruno, 48.
St. Columba, 277.
St. Cuthbert of Durham, 241.
St. Dominic, 78.
St. Francis d’ Assisi, 98.
St. Francis Xavier, 125.
St. Gall, 144, 231.
St. Just, 172.
St. Kitts, 38.
St. Lucia, 187.
St. Paul’s, 94.
St. Petersburg, 73, 75, 184.
St. Simon, Comte de, 222.
Saintonge, 38, 196.
Salisbury, Cecil, Earl of, 35.
Salisbury, Joan, Countess of, 90.
Salisbury, Marquis of, 180, 232, 269.
Salsette, 205, 245.
Salvador, 50.
Salza, Hermann von, 251.
Samurai, 108, 114, 223.
San Domingo, 25.
San Juan, 275.
Sancho II of Spain, 53.
Sandwich, 54.
Sandys, Sir Thomas, 69.
Sarasvati, Dayânandu, 16.
Sardinia, 160, 188, 198, 262, 271, 272, 279, 281.
Sark (River), 73.
Saskatchewan, 216.
Satsuma, 71.
Savannah, 232.
Savary, General, 158.
Savonarola, 195.
Savoy, 29, 187, 225, 256, 262, 274.
Saxony, 126, 201, 232, 236, 261, 271, 279.
Schaffhausen, 252.
Scheldt (River), 151, 274.
Schleswig Holstein, 104, 151, 201.
Schmalkald, League of, 213.
Schoeman, 267.
Schomburgk, Sir Robert, 227, 268.
Schönbrunn, Treaty of, 202.
Schumla, 205.
Schwyz, 193, 225.
Scott, Dred, 80.
Scottish Acts of Parliament, 55, 87, 164, 214, 229, 265.
Scottish Church, 63, 65, 95, 100, 125, 155, 207, 214, 245.
Scottish Political Parties, 57, 63, 240.
Scribe, Eugene, 52.
Scrooby, 162.
Sebastopol, 188.
Selim, Sultan of Egypt, 159.
Selim I of Turkey, 166.
Selim III of Turkey, 132.
Senecas, 96, 279.
Seoul, 220, 255.
Serrano, Marshal, 76.
Servia, 5, 27, 28, 180, 230, 236.
Seven Bishops, 74.
Seven Years’ War, 187.
Seward, Secretary, 35.
Sforza, Duke of Milan, 119, 149.
Shakers, 169.
Shanghai, 170, 180.
Shannon (River), 230.
Shansi, 247.
Shays, David, 232.
Sherbrooke, Lord, 3.
Sheridan, R. B., 102.
Sheriffmuir, Battle of, 94.
Sherman, General, 232.
Sheyk-ul-Islam, 263.
Shôgun, 8, 14, 71, 102, 115, 145, 164.
Shropshire, 68, 274.
Siam, 10, 99.
Siberia, 73, 172.
Sibi Valley, 103.
Sicily, 109, 152, 155, 189, 190, 225, 233, 271.
Sickingen, Franz von, 175.
Sidney, Algernon, 220.
Sidney, Sir Philip, 96.
Siena, 218.
Sierra Leone, 122.
Siéyès, Abbé, 167.
Sigismund, Emperor, 64, 123, 195.
Sigismund of Poland, 251.
Sikhs, 137, 141, 204.
Sikkim, 172.
Silesia, 5, 38.
Silistria, 3, 205.
Sillery, 23, 167.
Sindhia, 198.
Sixtus IV, Pope, 191.
Slavs, 135.
Slidell, 259.
Smith, Adam, 101.
Smith, Joseph, 168.
Smith, W. H., 179.
Sobat (River), 2, 91.
Sobieski, John, 278.
Socinus, Lælius, 237.
Soleure, 231, 252.
Solferino, Battle of, 272.
Solway Moss, Battle of, 18.
Somers, John, Lord, 134.
Somerset, Edward, Duke of, 214.
Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 231, 244.
Sophia of Russia, 243.
Sorate, 213.
Soudan, 2.
Soudan, French, 91.
Soult, Marshal, 272.
South Africa, 93, 142.
South African Republic, see Transvaal.
South America, 19, 41, 86, 103, 125, 126, 147, 165, 177, 185, 213.
South Australia, 20, 92.
South Carolina, 177, 185, 228, 242, 252.
Spain, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 13, 16, 19, 21, 23, 25, 28, 44, 47, 53, 67, 75, 88, 90, 93, 102, 103, 109, 117, 119, 126, 127, 130, 132, 134, 140, 150, 160, 167, 168, 174, 187, 189, 198, 205, 220, 222, 223, 225, 232, 234, 239, 256, 261, 267, 269, 270, 271, 272.
Spencer, Earl, 165.
Spencer, Henry, Bishop of Norwich, 94.
Spithead, 176.
Stambuloff, 6.
Stamford, 95.
Stamford, Statute of, 205.
Stanton, Secretary, 250.
Stanislas Augustus of Poland, 22, 248.
Stanislas Leszczynski, 197.
Stauffacher of Schwyz, 111.
Steele, Sir Richard, 139.
Stein, Freiherr von, 85.
Stellenbosch, 116, 142.
Stephen of England, 275.
Stephen, Sir George, 142.
Stephens, James, 92.
Stettin, 277.
Stevens, Uriah S., 139.
Stockholm, 33.
Stork, 1.
Strafford, Earl of, 253.
Strasburg, 36, 99, 221.
Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury, 192.
Strode, William, 95.
Strogonof, 261.
Stuart, Charles Edward, 98, 219, 280.
Stuart, Henry, Cardinal York, 143.
Stuart, James Edward, 19, 179.
Suabia, 19, 116, 144, 191, 236.
Sujah-ul-Mulk, Shah, 234.
Sully, Duc de, 145.
Sulu Islands, 8.
Sungari (River), 140.
Sunni, 233.
Surabjah Dowlah, 31.
Surat, 25.
Surat, Treaty of, 205.
Surinam, 38.
Sutlej (River), 264.
Suwarrow, General, 132.
Sweden, 1, 4, 11, 17, 19, 24, 27, 33, 40, 100, 109, 114, 115, 116, 137, 143, 151, 163, 171, 177, 217, 232, 242, 252, 255, 260, 265, 276, 277.
Swift, Dean, 279.
Switzerland, 14, 25, 46, 50, 75, 84, 92, 106, 107, 108, 111, 117, 126, 142, 144, 146, 152, 162, 187, 193, 194, 210, 222, 225, 229, 231, 249, 252, 270.
Syria, 134.
Szatmar, Peace of, 208.
Sze-chuang, 10.
Szell, M., 20.
Taepings, 89.
Taganrog, 140.
Tahiti, 36.
Tamerlane, 94.
Tandy, Napper, 171.
Tarapaca, 9.
Tarras, Earl of, 132.
Tartars, 107.
Tasmania, 20, 92.
Taylor, General Zachary, 179.
Tekes Valley, 140.
Tel-el-Kebir, Battle of, 13.
Tenby, 192.
Tennasserim, 280.
Tenno, 164, 233.
Teschen, Peace of, 103.
Tetzel, 126.
Texas, 61, 112, 151, 175.
Theiss (River), 122.
Thibet, 71, 76, 250.
Thiers, A., 99.
Thistlewood, Arthur, 49.
Thomas, Duke of Genoa, 222.
Thomond, 34.
Thorfinn Karlsefne, 8.
Thorn, 197.
Thurgau, 231.
Tichborne Case, 55.
Ticino, 130.
Tientsin, Treaty of, 192.
Tiflis, 118.
Tilly, General, 153, 156.
Times, The, 189, 228.
Tipperary, 173.
Tippu Sahib, 159, 230, 260, 261.
Tobago, 270.
Toggenburg, Counts of, 249.
Tököli, 34, 140, 141.
Toledo, Francisco de, 147.
Tolentino, Treaty of, 21, 145.
Tone, Wolfe, 174, 266.
Tongking, 31, 99.
Tornea (River), 100.
Tortona, 271.
Toulouse, 6.
Touran Shah, 113.
Touraine, 38.
Tournay, 4, 24.
Townsend (Bow Street Runner), 36.
Transvaal, 2, 13, 42, 47, 77, 79. 80, 111, 131, 136, 151, 157, 167, 173, 200, 202, 218, 224, 245, 246, 253, 259, 267, 273.
Trent, Council of, 203.
Tresham, 112.
Trevelyan, Sir George, 219.
Treves, 228.
Trieste, 130.
Trinidad, 9.
Tripoli, 11.
Trivulzio, Marshal, 106.
Tronchet, 58.
Tsung-li-Yamen, 274.
Tugela (River), 171.
Tuileries, 60, 250.
Tunis, 23.
Turcomans, 278.
Turenne, Marshal, 205.
Turgot, 83, 236.
Turkey, 3, 5, 14, 21, 24, 27, 28, 41, 47, 64, 67, 71, 72, 115, 145, 151, 170, 174, 187, 190, 209, 218, 230, 234, 235, 246, 255, 263, 266, 271, 275, 280.
Turriff, Trott of, 261.
Tuscany, 88, 90, 97, 154, 181, 232, 271, 272.
Tuscaroras, 236.
Tutuila, 223.
Tweed, W. M., 262.
Tweeddale, Marquis of, 240.
Tycoon, 233.
Tyler, Wat, 198.
Tynan, 128.
Tyrconel, Earl of, 263.
Tyrol, 130, 271.
Tyrone, 263.
Uganda, 2.
Ukraine, 41, 47.
Ulrich of Würtemburg, 43, 262.
Ulster, 34, 73, 82, 177, 181, 191, 263, 264.
Umzimvubu (River), 171.
Underhill, Edward, 121.
United States, Civil War, 66, 114, 115, 130, 231, 243.
United States Congress, 6, 32, 61, 85, 97, 102, 136, 171, 181, 198, 211, 234, 250, 278.
United States, Political Parties, 2, 5, 47, 56, 66, 88, 91, 92, 94, 101, 113, 115, 134, 147, 149, 170, 177, 179, 199, 214, 238, 240, 248.
United States, War of Independence, 69, 74, 126, 179, 236.
Unterwalden, 193, 225.
Urban II, Pope, 23, 48, 56.
Urban VII, 124.
Urbino, Duke of, 10.
Uri, 193, 225.
Uruguay, 22, 33, 196, 259, 261.
Ushant, 107.
Usher, Bishop, 30.
Usibepu, 173.
Ussuri (River), 4.
Utah, 84, 168, 169.
Utrecht, 266.
Utrecht, Treaty of, 24, 99, 101, 261.
Utrecht, Union of, 266.
Vaal (River), 81, 174, 259.
Valais, 225.
Valencia, 21, 105.
Valtelline, 167.
Van Tromp, Admiral, 121.
Vancouver, 182, 223.
Vane, Sir Harry, 125.
Varas, Secretary, 168.
Varna, 3, 205.
Vatican, 29.
Vatican Council, 186.
Vaud, Pays de, 146, 256, 274.
Vehmgericht, 178.
Vendée, 53, 177.
Venezuela, 147, 180, 227.
Venice, 3, 34, 39, 44, 45, 47, 64, 90, 107, 119, 130, 149, 150, 174, 190, 201, 202, 206, 218, 230, 249, 254, 269.
Verden, Duchy of, 242.
Vermont, 111.
Verona, 205.
Versailles, 99, 105, 126, 178, 187.
Versailles, Treaty of, 191.
Victor II, Pope, 226.
Victor Emmanuel of Italy, 12, 130, 208, 225, 226, 229, 262, 272.
Victoria, 20, 22, 32, 85, 89, 92, 100, 133, 142.
Victoria, Queen, 26, 184.
Vienna, 2, 70, 255.
Vienna Congress, 92, 105, 152.
Vienna, Treaty of, 198, 232.
Viglius, 65.
Vikings, 8, 28, 221.
Villeroy, 23.
Villiers, Charles, 12.
Vimiera, Battle of, 54.
Vinegar Hill, Battle of, 175.
Virginia, 21, 35, 42, 89, 109, 126, 150, 161, 169, 178, 179, 252.
Vogel, Sir Julius, 173.
Voltaire, Arouet de, 5, 87, 224, 229.
Vryheid, 173.
Wade, Sir Thomas, 52, 97.
Wagga Wagga, 55.
Wagram, Battle of, 271.
Waibling, 112.
Walcheren, 49.
Waldemar I of Denmark, 82.
Waldemar II of Denmark, 72, 135.
Waldemar III of Denmark, 274.
Waldo, Peter, 274.
Wales, 110, 208, 215, 255.
Walfisch Bay, 10.
Wallace, Sir William, 114.
Wallachia, 3, 5, 27, 121, 140, 246, 273, 275.
Wallenstein, General, 153.
Waller, Sir William, 229.
Walpole, Horace, 139, 264.
Walpole, Sir Robert, 109, 190.
Walsh, Peter, 12, 213.
Waltheof, Earl of Nottingham, 39.
Wampanoags, 138.
Warbeck, Perkyn, 110.
Ward, Nathaniel, 34.
Wardha (River), 75.
Warren, Sir Charles, 168, 257.
Warsaw, 238, 255.
Warwick, John Dudley, Earl of, 137.
Warwick, Richard Neville, Earl of, 138, 143.
Washington, 45.
Washington, George, 43, 53, 89, 91, 279.
Waterboer, 136.
Waterloo, Battle of, 225.
Waters, Lucy, 31.
Wealth of Nations, 101.
Wedmore, Treaty of, 72.
Weinsberg, 112.
Weisshaupt, Adam, 123.
Wekerle, Dr., 54.
Welf, 112.
Wellesley, Marquis of, 28, 244.
Wellington, Duke of, 54, 129, 225, 256, 278.
Wellington, New Zealand, 173.
Wells, Sir Thomas, 152.
Wenama (River), 269.
Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, 133.
Wentworth, Lord, 48, 118, 176.
Wessex, 276.
West, Rev. John, 20.
West Africa, 118.
West Indies, 152, 175.
West Virginia, 169.
Western Australia, 20, 92, 120.
Westminster Abbey, 67.
Westminster, Statute of, 240.
Westphalia, 178, 236, 255, 268.
Westphalia, League of, 204.
Westphalia, Treaty of, 252.
Wetherell, Sir Charles, 39.
Weyler, General, 209.
Wharton, Thomas, Marquis of, 134.
Whitgift, Archbishop, 141.
Wilkes, John, 177.
William I of England, 39, 52, 70, 71, 78, 82, 87, 188, 193, 273.
William II of England, 43.
William III of England, 16, 18, 29, 55, 57, 66, 72, 74, 77, 118, 148, 149, 171, 175, 176, 179, 192, 203, 209, 211, 220, 256.
William IV of England, 234.
William I of Germany, 105.
William, Prince, of England, 32.
William of Orange, 12, 115, 234, 245, 278.
William of Salisbury, 152.
William (the Lyon) of Scotland, 90.
William of Wykeham, 108.
Williams (the Chartist), 51.
Wilmot, Commissary General, 15.
Wilmot, David, 278.
Winburg, 174.
Winchester, Statute of, 257.
Winchilsea, 54.
Windham, William, 165.
Windischgrätz, General, 201.
Windthorst, Dr., 50, 264.
Winter, Thomas, 112.
Wisconsin, 21.
Wiseman, Cardinal, 175.
Wolfe, Sir H. Drummond, 98.
Wolseley, Viscount, 209.
Worcestershire, 104, 274.
Würtemberg, 105, 202, 215, 244.
Wycliffe, John, 150.
Wycliffites, 82.
Wyoming Valley, 279.
Yakoub Beg, 19.
Yap, 47.
Yarkand, 140.
Yoens, Jan, 51.
Yokohama, 8.
Young, Brigham, 168.
Yunnan, 10, 186.
Zankoff, 6.
Zanzibar, 10.
Zaragoza, Agostina, 156.
Zeeland, 79, 105, 245, 266.
Zemindari, 193, 220.
Zisca, John, 16, 44, 123, 246.
Zittau, 236.
Zola, Emile, 80.
Zoroaster, 189.
Zug, 84.
Zululand, 171.
Zurich, 46, 53, 84, 231.
Zurich, Diet of, 92, 152.
Zurich, Treaty of, 130.
Zwingli, 46, 116, 181.
Zwinglists, 213.
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