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Title: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 1 - "Calhoun" to "Camoens"
Author: Various
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 1 - "Calhoun" to "Camoens"" ***
Transcriber's notes:
(1) Numbers following letters (without space) like C2 were originally
printed in subscript. Letter subscripts are preceded by an
underscore, like C_n.
(2) Characters following a carat (^) were printed in superscript.
(3) Side-notes were relocated to function as titles of their respective
paragraphs.
(4) Macrons and breves above letters and dots below letters were not
inserted.
(5) The following typographical errors have been corrected:
Article CALIPH: "Mohallab was soon after deprived of the government
of Khorasan, Hajjaj accusing him of partiality towards the rebels
of Yemenite extraction." 'Hajjaj' amended from 'Majjaj'.
Article CALIPH: "Moreover, Hajjaj, in order to maintain the regular
revenue from taxation, had been obliged to introduce stringent
regulations ..." 'maintain' amended from 'maintian'.
Article CALIPH: "Yazid b. Mohallab, the enemy of Hajjaj, was made
governor of Irak." 'Hajjaj' amended from 'Majjaj'.
Article CALIPH: "Still, they could not believe that it was
according to the will of the caliph that they were thus treated,
until a certain number of their chiefs went as a deputation to
Hisham ..." 'were' amended from 'here'.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE
AND GENERAL INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME V, SLICE I
Calhoun to Camoens
ARTICLES IN THIS SLICE:
CALHOUN, JOHN CALDWELL CALW
CALI CALYDON
CALIBRATION CALYPSO
CALICO CAM (CÃO), DIOGO
CALICUT CAMACHO, JUAN FRANCISCO
CALIFORNIA CAMALDULIANS
CALIFORNIA, LOWER CAMARGO, MARIE ANNE DE CUPIS DE
CALIFORNIA, UNIVERSITY OF CAMARGUE
CALIPASH and CALIPEE CAMARINA
CALIPH CAMBACÉRÈS, JEAN JACQUES RÉGIS DE
CALIPHATE CAMBALUC
CALIVER CAMBAY
CALIXTUS (popes) CAMBAY, GULF OF
CALIXTUS, GEORG CAMBER
CALL CAMBERT, ROBERT
CALLANDER CAMBERWELL
CALLAO CAMBIASI, LUCA
CALLCOTT, SIR AUGUSTUS WALL CAMBODIA
CALLCOTT, JOHN WALL CAMBON, PIERRE JOSEPH
CALLIAS CAMBON, PIERRE PAUL
CALLIAS and HIPPONICUS CAMBORNE
CALLIMACHUS (Athenian sculptor) CAMBRAI
CALLIMACHUS (Greek poet) CAMBRIA
CALLINUS CAMBRIAN SYSTEM
CALLIOPE CAMBRIC
CALLIRRHOE CAMBRIDGE, EARLS AND DUKES OF
CALLISTHENES CAMBRIDGE, RICHARD OWEN
CALLISTO CAMBRIDGE (of England)
CALLISTRATUS (grammarian) CAMBRIDGE (Maryland, U.S.A.)
CALLISTRATUS (Athenian poet) CAMBRIDGE (Massachusetts, U.S.A.)
CALLISTRATUS (Greek sophist) CAMBRIDGE (Ohio, U.S.A.)
CALLISTRATUS (of Aphidnae) CAMBRIDGE PLATONISTS
CALLOT, JACQUES CAMBRIDGESHIRE
CALLOVIAN CAMBUSLANG
CALM CAMBYSES
CALMET, ANTOINE AUGUSTIN CAMDEN, CHARLES PRATT
CALNE CAMDEN, JOHN JEFFREYS PRATT
CALOMEL CAMDEN, WILLIAM
CALONNE, CHARLES ALEXANDRE DE CAMDEN (New Jersey, U.S.A.)
CALORESCENCE CAMDEN (South Carolina, U.S.A.)
CALORIMETRY CAMEL
CALOVIUS, ABRAHAM CAMELFORD, THOMAS PITT
CALPURNIUS, TITUS CAMELLIA
CALTAGIRONE CAMEO
CALTANISETTA CAMERA
CALTROP CAMERA LUCIDA
CALUIRE-ET-CUIRE CAMERA OBSCURA
CALUMET CAMERARIUS, JOACHIM (classical scholar)
CALUMPIT CAMERARIUS, JOACHIM (German botanist)
CALVADOS CAMERARIUS, RUDOLF JAKOB
CALVART, DENIS CAMERINO
CALVARY CAMERON, JOHN
CALVÉ EMMA CAMERON, RICHARD
CALVERLEY, CHARLES STUART CAMERON, SIMON
CALVERT (English artists) CAMERON, VERNEY LOVETT
CALVERT, FREDERICK CRACE CAMERON OF LOCHIEL, SIR EWEN
CALVERT, SIR HARRY, BART CAMERONIANS
CALVES' HEAD CLUB CAMEROON
CALVI CAMILING
CALVIN, JOHN CAMILLUS, MARCUS FURIUS
CALVINISTIC METHODISTS CAMILLUS and CAMILLA
CALVISIUS, SETHUS CAMISARDS
CALVO, CARLOS CAMOENS, LUIS VAZ DE
CALHOUN, JOHN CALDWELL (1782-1850), American statesman and
parliamentarian, was born, of Scottish-Irish descent, in Abbeville
District, South Carolina, on the 18th of March 1782. His father, Patrick
Calhoun, is said to have been born in Donegal, in North Ireland, but to
have left Ireland when a mere child. The family seems to have emigrated
first to Pennsylvania, whence they removed, after Braddock's defeat, to
Western Virginia. From Virginia they removed in 1756 to South Carolina
and settled on Long Cane Creek, in Granville (now Abbeville) county.
Patrick Calhoun attained some prominence in the colony, serving in the
colonial legislature, and afterwards in the state legislature, and
taking part in the War of Independence. In 1770 he had married Martha
Caldwell, the daughter of another Scottish-Irish settler.
The opportunities for obtaining a liberal education in the remote
districts of South Carolina at that time were scanty. Fortunately, young
Calhoun had the opportunity, although late, of studying under his
brother-in-law, the Rev. Moses Waddell (1770-1840), a Presbyterian
minister, who afterwards, from 1819 to 1829, was president of the
University of Georgia. In 1802 Calhoun entered the junior class in Yale
College, and graduated with distinction in 1804. He then studied first
at the famous law school in Litchfield, Conn., and afterwards in a law
office in Charleston, S.C., and in 1807 was admitted to the bar. He
began practice in his native Abbeville District, and soon took a leading
place in his profession. In 1808 and 1809 he was a member of the South
Carolina legislature, and from 1811 to 1817 was a member of the national
House of Representatives.
When he entered the latter body the strained relations between Great
Britain and the United States formed the most important question for the
deliberation of Congress. Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House, being
eager for war and knowing Calhoun's hostility to Great Britain, gave him
the second place on the committee of foreign affairs, of which he soon
became the actual head. In less than three weeks the committee reported
resolutions, evidently written by Calhoun, recommending preparations for
a struggle with Great Britain; and in the following June Calhoun
submitted a second report urging a formal declaration of war. Both sets
of resolutions the House adopted. Clay and Calhoun did more, probably,
than any other two men in Congress to force the reluctant president into
beginning hostilities.
In 1816 Calhoun delivered in favour of a protective tariff a speech that
was ever after held up by his opponents as evidence of his inconsistency
in the tariff controversy. The embargo and the war had crippled American
commerce, but had stimulated manufactures. With the end of the
Napoleonic wars in Europe the industries of the old world revived, and
Americans began to feel their competition. In the consequent distress in
the new industrial centres there arose a cry for protection. Calhoun,
believing that there was a natural tendency in the United States towards
the development of manufactures, supported the Tariff Bill of 1816,
which laid on certain foreign commodities duties higher than were
necessary for the purposes of revenue. He believed that the South would
share in the general industrial development, not having perceived as yet
that slavery was an insuperable obstacle. His opposition to protection
in later years resulted from an honest change of convictions. He always
denied that in supporting this bill he had been inconsistent, and
insisted that it was one for revenue.
From 1817 to 1825 Calhoun was secretary of war under President Monroe.
To him is due the fostering and the reformation of the National Military
Academy at West Point, which he found in disorder, but left in a most
efficient state. Calhoun was vice-president of the United States from
1825 to 1832, during the administration of John Quincy Adams, and during
most of the first administration of Andrew Jackson. This period was for
Calhoun a time of reflection. His faith in a strong nationalistic policy
was gradually undermined, and he finally became the foremost champion of
particularism and the recognized leader of what is generally known as
the "States Rights" or "Strict Construction" party.
In 1824 there was a very large increase in protective duties. In 1828 a
still higher tariff act, the so-called "Bill of Abominations," was
passed, avowedly for the purpose of protection. The passage of these
acts caused great discontent, especially among the Southern states,
which were strictly agricultural. They felt that the great burden of
this increased tariff fell on them, as they consumed, but did not
produce, manufactured articles. Under such conditions the Southern
states questioned the constitutionality of the imposition. Calhoun
himself now perceived that the North and the South represented diverse
tendencies. The North was outstripping the South in population and
wealth, and already by the tariff acts was, as he believed, selfishly
levying taxes for its sole benefit. The minority must, he insisted, be
protected from "the tyranny of the majority." In his first important
political essay, "The South Carolina Exposition," prepared by him in the
summer of 1828, he showed how this should be done. To him it was clear
that the Federal Constitution was a limited instrument, by which the
sovereign states had delegated to the Federal government certain general
powers. The states could not, without violating the constitutional
compact, interfere with the activities of the Federal government so long
as the government confined itself to its proper sphere; but the attempt
of Congress, or any other department of the Federal government, to
exercise any power which might alter the nature of the instrument would
be an act of usurpation. The right of judging such an infraction
belonged to the state, being an attribute of sovereignty of which the
state could not be deprived without being reduced to a wholly
subordinate condition. As a remedy for such a breach of compact the
state might resort to nullification (q.v.), or, as a last resort, to
secession from the Union. Such doctrines were not original with Calhoun,
but had been held in various parts of the Union from time to time. It
remained for him, however, to submit them to a rigid analysis and reduce
them to a logical form.
Meantime the friendship between Calhoun and Jackson had come to an end.
While a member of President Monroe's cabinet, Calhoun had favoured the
reprimanding of General Jackson (q.v.) for his high-handed course in
Florida in 1818, during the first Seminole War. In 1831 W.H. Crawford,
who had been a member of this cabinet, desiring to ruin Calhoun
politically by turning Jackson's hostility against him, revealed to
Jackson what had taken place thirteen years before. Jackson could brook
no criticism from one whom he had considered a friend; Calhoun,
moreover, angered the president still further by his evident sanction of
the social proscription of Mrs Eaton (q.v.); the political views of the
two men, furthermore, were becoming more and more divergent, and the
rupture between the two became complete.
The failure of the Jackson administration to reduce the Tariff of 1828
drew from Calhoun his "Address to the People of South Carolina" in 1831,
in which he elaborated his views of the nature of the Union as given in
the "Exposition." In 1832 a new tariff act was passed, which removed the
"abominations" of 1828 but left the principle of protection intact. The
people of South Carolina were not satisfied, and Calhoun in a third
political tract, in the form of a letter to Governor James Hamilton
(1786-1857) of South Carolina, gave his doctrines their final form, but
without altering the fundamental principles that have already been
stated.
In 1832 South Carolina, acting in substantial accordance with Calhoun's
theories, "nullified" the tariff acts passed by Congress in 1828 and
1832 (see NULLIFICATION; SOUTH CAROLINA; and UNITED STATES). On the 28th
of December 1832 Calhoun resigned as vice-president, and on the 4th of
January 1833 took his seat in the Senate. President Jackson had, in a
special message, taken strong ground against the action of South
Carolina, and a bill was introduced to extend the jurisdiction of the
courts of the United States and clothe the president with additional
powers, with the avowed object of meeting the situation in South
Carolina. Calhoun, in turn, introduced resolutions upholding the
doctrine held by South Carolina, and it was in the debate on the
first-named measure, termed the "Force Bill," and on these resolutions,
that the first intellectual duel took place between Daniel Webster and
Calhoun. Webster declared that the Federal government through the
Supreme Court was the ultimate expounder and interpreter of its own
powers, while Calhoun championed the rights of the individual state
under a written contract which reserved to each state its sovereignty.
The practical result of the conflict over the tariff was a compromise.
Congress passed an act gradually reducing the duties to a revenue basis,
and South Carolina repealed her nullification measures. As the result of
the conflict, Calhoun was greatly strengthened in his position as the
leader of his party in the South. Southern leaders generally were now
beginning to perceive, as Calhoun had already seen, that there was a
permanent conflict between the North and the South, not only a
divergence of interests between manufacturing and agricultural sections,
but an inevitable struggle between free and slave labour. Should enough
free states be admitted into the Union to destroy the balance of power,
the North would naturally gain a preponderance in the Senate, as it had
in the House, and might, within constitutional limits, legislate as it
pleased. The Southern minority recognized, therefore, that they must
henceforth direct the policy of the government in all questions
affecting their peculiar interests, or their section would undergo a
social and economic revolution. The Constitution, if strictly
interpreted according to Calhoun's views, would secure this control to
the minority, and prevent an industrial upheaval.
An element of bitterness was now injected into the struggle. The
Northern Abolitionists, to whom no contract or agreement was sacred that
involved the continuance of slavery, regarded the clauses in the Federal
Constitution which maintained the property rights of the slave-owners as
treaties with evil, binding on no one, and bitterly attacked the
slave-holders and the South generally. Their attacks may be said to have
destroyed the moderate party in that section. Any criticism of their
peculiar institution now came to be highly offensive to Southern
leaders, and Calhoun, who always took the most advanced stand in behalf
of Southern rights, urged (but in vain) that the Senate refuse to
receive abolitionist petitions. He also advocated the exclusion of
abolitionist literature from the mails.
Indeed from 1832 until his death Calhoun may be said to have devoted his
life to the protection of Southern interests. He became the exponent,
the very embodiment, of an idea. It is a mistake, however, to
characterize him as an enemy to the Union. His contention was that its
preservation depended on the recognition of the rights guaranteed to the
states by the Constitution, and that aggression by one section could
only end in disruption. Secession, he contended, was the only final
remedy left to the weaker. Calhoun was re-elected to the Senate in 1834
and in 1840, serving until 1843. From 1832 to 1837 he was a man without
a party. He attacked the "spoils system" inaugurated by President
Jackson, opposed the removal of the government deposits from the Bank of
the United States, and in general was a severe critic of Jackson's
administration. In this period he usually voted with the Whigs, but in
1837 he went over to the Democrats and supported the "independent
treasury" scheme of President Van Buren. He was spoken of for the
presidency in 1844, but declined to become a candidate, and was
appointed as secretary of state in the cabinet of President Tyler,
serving from the 1st of April 1844, throughout the remainder of the
term, until the 10th of March 1845. While holding this office he devoted
his energies chiefly to the acquisition of Texas, in order to preserve
the equilibrium between the South and the constantly growing North. One
of his last acts as secretary of state was to send a despatch, on the
3rd of March 1845, inviting Texas to accept the terms proposed by
Congress. Calhoun was once more elected to the Senate in 1845. The
period of his subsequent service covered the settlement of the Oregon
dispute with Great Britain and the Mexican War. On the 19th of February
1847 he introduced in the Senate a series of resolutions concerning the
territory about to be acquired from Mexico, which marked the most
advanced stand as yet taken by the pro-slavery party. The purport of
these resolutions was to deny to Congress the power to prohibit slavery
in the territories and to declare all previous enactments to this effect
unconstitutional.
In 1850 the Union seemed in imminent danger of dissolution. California
was applying for admission to the Union as a state under a constitution
which did not permit slavery. Her admission with two Senators would have
placed the slave-holding states in the minority. In the midst of the
debate on this application Calhoun died, on the 31st of March 1850, in
Washington.
Calhoun is most often compared with Webster and Clay. The three
constitute the trio upon whom the attention of students at this period
naturally rests. Calhoun possessed neither Webster's brilliant rhetoric
nor his easy versatility, but he surpassed him in the ordered method and
logical sequence of his mind. He never equalled Clay in the latter's
magnetism of impulse and inspiration of affection, but he far surpassed
him in clearness and directness and in tenacity of will. He surpassed
them both in the distinctness with which he saw results, and in the
boldness with which he formulated and followed his conclusions.
Calhoun in person was tall and slender, and in his later years was
emaciated. His features were angular and somewhat harsh, but with a
striking face and very fine eyes of a brilliant dark blue. To his slaves
he was just and kind. He lived the modest, unassuming life of a country
planter when at his home, and at Washington lived as unostentatiously as
possible, consistent with his public duties and position. His character
in other respects was always of stainless integrity.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--A collected edition of Calhoun's _Works_ (6 vols., New
York, 1853-1855) has been edited by Richard K. Crallé. The most
important speeches and papers are:--_The South Carolina Exposition_
(1828); _Speech on the Force Bill_ (1833); _Reply to Webster_ (1833);
_Speech on the Reception of Abolitionist Petitions_ (1836), _and on
the Veto Power_ (1842); a _Disquisition on Government_, and a
_Discourse on the Constitution and Government of the United States_
(1849-1850)--the last two, written a short time before his death,
defend with great ability the rights of a minority under a government
such as that of the United States. Calhoun's _Correspondence_, edited
by J. Franklin Jameson, has been published by the American Historical
Association (see _Report_ for 1899, vol. ii.). The biography of
Calhoun by Dr Hermann von Holst in the "American Statesmen Series"
(Boston, 1882) is a condensed study of the political questions of
Calhoun's time. Gustavus M. Pinckney's _Life of John C. Calhoun_
(Charleston, 1903) gives a sympathetic Southern view. Gaillard Hunt's
_John C. Calhoun_ (Philadelphia, 1908) is a valuable work.
(H. A. M. S.)
CALI, an inland town of the department of Cauca, Colombia, South
America, about 180 m. S.W. of Bogotá and 50 m. S.E. of the port of
Buenaventura, on the Rio Cali, a small branch of the Cauca. Pop. (1906
estimate) 16,000. Cali stands 3327 ft. above sea-level on the western
side of the Cauca valley, one of the healthiest regions of Colombia. The
land-locked character of this region greatly restricts the city's trade
and development; but it is considered the most important town in the
department. It has a bridge across the Cali, and a number of religious
and public edifices. A railway from Buenaventura will give Cali and the
valley behind it, with which it is connected by over 200 m. of river
navigation, a good outlet on the Pacific coast. Coal deposits exist in
the immediate vicinity of the town.
CALIBRATION, a term primarily signifying the determination of the
"calibre" or bore of a gun. The word _calibre_ was introduced through
the French from the Italian _calibro_, together with other terms of
gunnery and warfare, about the 16th century. The origin of the Italian
equivalent appears to be uncertain. It will readily be understood that
the calibre of a gun requires accurate adjustment to the standard size,
and further, that the bore must be straight and of uniform diameter
throughout. The term was subsequently applied to the accurate
measurement and testing of the bore of any kind of tube, especially
those of thermometers.
In modern scientific language, by a natural process of transition, the
term "calibration" has come to denote the accurate comparison of any
measuring instrument with a standard, and more particularly the
determination of the errors of its scale. It is seldom possible in the
process of manufacture to make an instrument so perfect that no error
can be discovered by the most delicate tests, and it would rarely be
worth while to attempt to do so even if it were possible. The cost of
manufacture would in many cases be greatly increased without adding
materially to the utility of the apparatus. The scientific method, in
all cases which admit of the subsequent determination and correction of
errors, is to economize time and labour in production by taking pains in
the subsequent verification or calibration. This process of calibration
is particularly important in laboratory research, where the observer has
frequently to make his own apparatus, and cannot afford the time or
outlay required to make special tools for fine work, but is already
provided with apparatus and methods of accurate testing. For
non-scientific purposes it is generally possible to construct
instruments to measure with sufficient precision without further
correction. The present article will therefore be restricted to the
scientific use and application of methods of accurate testing.
_General Methods and Principles._--The process of calibration of any
measuring instrument is frequently divisible into two parts, which
differ greatly in importance in different cases, and of which one or the
other may often be omitted. (1) The determination of the value of the
unit to which the measurements are referred by comparison with a
standard unit of the same kind. This is often described as the
_Standardization_ of the instrument, or the determination of the
_Reduction factor_. (2) The verification of the accuracy of the
subdivision of the scale of the instrument. This may be termed
calibration of the scale, and does not necessarily involve the
comparison of the instrument with any independent standard, but merely
the verification of the accuracy of the relative values of its
indications. In many cases the process of calibration adopted consists
in the comparison of the instrument to be tested with a standard over
the whole range of its indications, the relative values of the
subdivisions of the standard itself having been previously tested. In
this case the distinction of two parts in the process is unnecessary,
and the term calibration is for this reason frequently employed to
include both. In some cases it is employed to denote the first part
only, but for greater clearness and convenience of description we shall
restrict the term as far as possible to the second meaning.
The methods of standardization or calibration employed have much in
common even in the cases that appear most diverse. They are all
founded on the axiom that "things which are equal to the same thing
are equal to one another." Whether it is a question of comparing a
scale with a standard, or of testing the equality of two parts of the
same scale, the process is essentially one of interchanging or
substituting one for the other, the two things to be compared. In
addition to the things to be tested there is usually required some
form of balance, or comparator, or gauge, by which the equality may be
tested. The simplest of such comparators is the instrument known as
the _callipers_, from the same root as calibre, which is in constant
use in the workshop for testing equality of linear dimensions, or
uniformity of diameter of tubes or rods. The more complicated forms of
optical comparators or measuring machines with scales and screw
adjustments are essentially similar in principle, being finely
adjustable gauges to which the things to be compared can be
successively fitted. A still simpler and more accurate comparison is
that of volume or capacity, using a given mass of liquid as the gauge
or test of equality, which is the basis of many of the most accurate
and most important methods of calibration. The common balance for
testing equality of mass or weight is so delicate and so easily tested
that the process of calibration may frequently with advantage be
reduced to a series of weighings, as for instance in the calibration
of a burette or measure-glass by weighing the quantities of mercury
required to fill it to different marks. The balance may, however, be
regarded more broadly as the type of a general method capable of the
widest application in accurate testing. It is possible, for instance,
to balance two electromotive forces or two electrical resistances
against each other, or to measure the refractivity of a gas by
balancing it against a column of air adjusted to produce the same
retardation in a beam of light. These "equilibrium," or "null," or
"balance" methods of comparison afford the most accurate measurements,
and are generally selected if possible as the basis of any process of
calibration. In spite of the great diversity in the nature of things
to be compared, the fundamental principles of the methods employed are
so essentially similar that it is possible, for instance, to describe
the testing of a set of weights, or the calibration of an electrical
resistance-box, in almost the same terms, and to represent the
calibration correction of a mercury thermometer or of an ammeter by
precisely similar curves.
_Method of Substitution._--In comparing two units of the same kind and
of nearly equal magnitude, some variety of the general method of
substitution is invariably adopted. The same method in a more
elaborate form is employed in the calibration of a series of multiples
or submultiples of any unit. The details of the method depend on the
system of subdivision adopted, which is to some extent a matter of
taste. The simplest method of subdivision is that on the binary scale,
proceeding by multiples of 2. With a pair of submultiples of the
smallest denomination and one of each of the rest, thus 1, 1, 2, 4, 8,
16, &c., each weight or multiple is equal to the sum of all the
smaller weights, which may be substituted for it, and the small
difference, if any, observed. If we call the weights A, B, C, &c.,
where each is approximately double the following weight, and if we
write a for observed excess of A over the rest of the weights, b for
that of B over C + D + &c., and so on, the observations by the method
of substitution give the series of equations,
A - rest = a, B - rest = b, C - rest = c, &c. (1)
Subtracting the second from the first, the third from the second, and
so on, we obtain at once the value of each weight in terms of the
preceding, so that all may be expressed in terms of the largest, which
is most conveniently taken as the standard
B = A/2 + (b - a)/2, C = B/2 + (c - b)2, &c. (2)
The advantages of this method of subdivision and comparison, in
addition to its extreme simplicity, are (1) that there is only one
possible combination to represent any given weight within the range of
the series; (2) that the least possible number of weights is required
to cover any given range; (3) that the smallest number of
substitutions is required for the complete calibration. These
advantages are important in cases where the accuracy of calibration is
limited by the constancy of the conditions of observation, as in the
case of an electrical resistance-box, but the reverse may be the case
when it is a question of accuracy of estimation by an observer.
In the majority of cases the ease of numeration afforded by
familiarity with the decimal system is the most important
consideration. The most convenient arrangement on the decimal system
for purposes of calibration is to have the units, tens, hundreds, &c.,
arranged in groups of four adjusted in the proportion of the numbers
1, 2, 3, 4. The relative values of the weights in each group of four
can then be determined by substitution independently of the others,
and the total of each group of four, making ten times the unit of the
group, can be compared with the smallest weight in the group above.
This gives a sufficient number of equations to determine the errors of
all the weights by the method of substitution in a very simple manner.
A number of other equations can be obtained by combining the different
groups in other ways, and the whole system of equations may then be
solved by the method of least squares; but the equations so obtained
are not all of equal value, and it may be doubted whether any real
advantage is gained in many cases by the multiplication of
comparisons, since it is not possible in this manner to eliminate
constant errors or personal equation, which are generally aggravated
by prolonging the observations. A common arrangement of the weights in
each group on the decimal system is 5, 2, 1, 1, or 5, 2, 2, 1. These
do not admit of the independent calibration of each group by
substitution. The arrangement 5, 2, 1, 1, 1, or 5, 2, 2, 1, 1, permits
independent calibration, but involves a larger number of weights and
observations than the 1, 2, 3, 4, grouping. The arrangement of ten
equal weights in each group, which is adopted in "dial"
resistance-boxes, and in some forms of chemical balances where the
weights are mechanically applied by turning a handle, presents great
advantages in point of quickness of manipulation and ease of
numeration, but the complete calibration of such an arrangement is
tedious, and in the case of a resistance-box it is difficult to make
the necessary connexions. In all cases where the same total can be
made up in a variety of ways, it is necessary in accurate work to make
sure that the same weights are always used for a given combination, or
else to record the actual weights used on each occasion. In many
investigations where time enters as one of the factors, this is a
serious drawback, and it is better to avoid the more complicated
arrangements. The accurate adjustment of a set of weights is so simple
a matter that it is often possible to neglect the errors of a
well-made set, and no calibration is of any value without the most
scrupulous attention to details of manipulation, and particularly to
the correction for the air displaced in comparing weights of different
materials. Electrical resistances are much more difficult to adjust
owing to the change of resistance with temperature, and the
calibration of a resistance-box can seldom be neglected on account of
the changes of resistance which are liable to occur after adjustment
from imperfect annealing. It is also necessary to remember that the
order of accuracy required, and the actual values of the smaller
resistances, depend to some extent on the method of connexion, and
that the box must be calibrated with due regard to the conditions
under which it is to be used. Otherwise the method of procedure is
much the same as in the case of a box of weights, but it is necessary
to pay more attention to the constancy and uniformity of the
temperature conditions of the observing-room.
_Method of Equal Steps_.--In calibrating a continuous scale divided
into a number of divisions of equal length, such as a metre scale
divided in millimetres, or a thermometer tube divided in degrees of
temperature, or an electrical slide-wire, it is usual to proceed by a
method of equal steps. The simplest method is that known as the method
of Gay Lussac in the calibration of mercurial thermometers or tubes of
small bore. It is essentially a method of substitution employing a
column of mercury of constant volume as the gauge for comparing the
capacities of different parts of the tube. A precisely similar method,
employing a pair of microscopes at a fixed distance apart as a
standard of length, is applicable to the calibration of a divided
scale. The interval to be calibrated is divided into a whole number of
equal steps or sections, the points of division at which the
corrections are to be determined are called _points of calibration._
_Calibration of a Mercury Thermometer_.--To facilitate description, we
will take the case of a fine-bore tube, such as that of a thermometer,
to be calibrated with a thread of mercury. The bore of such a tube
will generally vary considerably even in the best standard
instruments, the tubes of which have been specially drawn and
selected. The correction for inequality of bore may amount to a
quarter or half a degree, and is seldom less than a tenth. In ordinary
chemical thermometers it is usual to make allowance for variations of
bore in graduating the scale, but such instruments present
discontinuities of division, and cannot be used for accurate work, in
which a finely-divided scale of equal parts is essential. The
calibration of a mercury thermometer intended for work of precision is
best effected after it has been sealed. A thread of mercury of the
desired length is separated from the column. The exact adjustment of
the length of the thread requires a little manipulation. The
thermometer is inverted and tapped to make the mercury run down to the
top of the tube, thus collecting a trace of residual gas at the end of
the bulb. By quickly reversing the thermometer the bubble passes to
the neck of the bulb. If the instrument is again inverted and tapped,
the thread will probably break off at the neck of the bulb, which
should be previously cooled or warmed so as to obtain in this manner,
if possible, a thread of the desired length. If the thread so obtained
is too long or not accurate enough, it is removed to the other end of
the tube, and the bulb further warmed till the mercury reaches some
easily recognized division. At this point the broken thread is
rejoined to the mercury column from the bulb, and a microscopic bubble
of gas is condensed which generally suffices to determine the
subsequent breaking of the mercury column at the same point of the
tube. The bulb is then allowed to cool till the length of the thread
above the point of separation is equal to the desired length, when a
slight tap suffices to separate the thread. This method is difficult
to work with short threads owing to deficient inertia, especially if
the tube is very perfectly evacuated. A thread can always be separated
by local heating with a small flame, but this is dangerous to the
thermometer, it is difficult to adjust the thread exactly to the
required length, and the mercury does not run easily past a point of
the tube which has been locally heated in this manner.
Having separated a thread of the required length, the thermometer is
mounted in a horizontal position on a suitable support, preferably
with a screw adjustment in the direction of its length. By tilting or
tapping the instrument the thread is brought into position
corresponding to the steps of the calibration successively, and its
length in each position is carefully observed with a pair of reading
microscopes fixed at a suitable distance apart. Assuming that the
temperature remains constant, the variations of length of the thread
are inversely as the variations of cross-section of the tube. If the
length of the thread is very nearly equal to one step, and if the tube
is nearly uniform, the average of the observed lengths of the thread,
taking all the steps throughout the interval, is equal to the length
which the thread should have occupied in each position had the bore
been uniform throughout and all the divisions equal. The error of each
step is therefore found by subtracting the average length from the
observed length in each position. Assuming that the ends of the
interval itself are correct, the correction to be applied at any point
of calibration to reduce the readings to a uniform tube and scale, is
found by taking the sum of the errors of the steps up to the point
considered with the sign reversed.
Table I.--_Calibration by Method of Gay Lussac_.
+----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| No. of | | | | | | | | | | |
| Step. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
+----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| Ends of |+.010|-.016|-.020|-.031|+.016|+.008|+.013|+.017|+.004|-.088|
| thread. |+.038|+.017|-.003|-.022|+.010|+.005|+.033|+.018|+.013|-.003|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Excess- |-.028|-.033|-.017|-.009|+.006|-.003|-.020|-.001|-.004|+.005|
| Length | | | | | | | | | | |
| Error of |-17.6|-22.6|- 6.6|+ 1.4|+16.4|+ 7.4|- 9.6|+ 9.4|+ 6.4|+15.4|
| step. | | | | | | | | | | |
| Correc- |+17.6|+40.2|+46.8|+45.4|+29.0|+21.6|+31.2|+21.8|+15.4| 0 |
| tion. | | | | | | | | | | |
+----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
In the preceding example of the method an interval of ten degrees is
taken, divided into ten steps of 1° each. The distances of the ends of
the thread from the nearest degree divisions are estimated by the aid
of micrometers to the thousandth of a degree. The error of any one of
these readings probably does not exceed half a thousandth, but they
are given to the nearest thousandth only. The excess length of the
thread in each position over the corresponding degree is obtained by
subtracting the second reading from the first. Taking the average of
the numbers in this line, the mean excess-length is -10.4 thousandths.
The error of each step is found by subtracting this mean from each of
the numbers in the previous line. Finally, the corrections at each
degree are obtained by adding up the errors of the steps and changing
the sign. The errors and corrections are given in thousandths of 1°.
_Complete Calibration._--The simple method of Gay Lussac does very
well for short intervals when the number of steps is not excessive,
but it would not be satisfactory for a large range owing to the
accumulation of small errors of estimation, and the variation of the
personal equation. The observer might, for instance, consistently
over-estimate the length of the thread in one half of the tube, and
under-estimate it in the other. The errors near the middle of the
range would probably be large. It is evident that the correction at
the middle point of the interval could be much more accurately
determined by using a thread equal to half the length of the interval.
To minimize the effect of these errors of estimation, it is usual to
employ threads of different lengths in calibrating the same interval,
and to divide up the fundamental interval of the thermometer into a
number of subsidiary sections for the purpose of calibration, each of
these sections being treated as a step in the calibration of the
fundamental interval. The most symmetrical method of calibrating a
section, called by C.E. Guillaume a "Complete Calibration," is to use
threads of all possible lengths which are integral multiples of the
calibration step. In the example already given nine different threads
were used, and the length of each was observed in as many positions as
possible. Proceeding in this manner the following numbers were
obtained for the excess-length of each thread in thousandths of a
degree in different positions, starting in each case with the
beginning of the thread at 0°, and moving it on by steps of 1°. The
observations in the first column are the excess-lengths of the thread
of 1° already given in illustration of the method of Gay Lussac. The
other columns give the corresponding observations with the longer
threads. The simplest and most symmetrical method of solving these
observations, so as to find the errors of each step in terms of the
whole interval, is to obtain the differences of the steps in pairs by
subtracting each observation from the one above it. This method
eliminates the unknown lengths of the threads, and gives each
observation approximately its due weight. Subtracting the observations
in the second line from those in the first, we obtain a series of
numbers, entered in column 1 of the next table, representing the
excess of step (1) over each of the other steps. The sum of these
differences is ten times the error of the first step, since by
hypothesis the sum of the errors of all the steps is zero in terms of
the whole interval. The numbers in the second column of Table III. are
similarly obtained by subtracting the third line from the second in
Table II., each difference being inserted in its appropriate place in
the table. Proceeding in this way we find the excess of each interval
over those which follow it. The table is completed by a diagonal row
of zeros representing the difference of each step from itself, and by
repeating the numbers already found in symmetrical positions with
their signs changed, since the excess of any step, say 6 over 3, is
evidently equal to that of 3 over 6 with the sign changed. The errors
of each step having been found by adding the columns, and dividing by
10, the corrections at each point of the calibration are deduced as
before.
TABLE II.--_Complete Calibration of Interval of 10° in 10 Steps._
+----------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| Lengths of Threads. | 1° | 2° | 3° | 4° | 5° | 6° | 7° | 8° | 9° |
+----------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
|Observed excess-lengths 0° | -28 | -32 | -47 | -62 | -11 | -15 | -48 | - 2 | - 8 |
| of threads, in various 1° | -33 | -21 | -47 | -28 | +14 | - 8 | -22 | +21 | +24 |
| positions, the 2° | -17 | + 2 | - 8 | + 1 | +26 | +23 | + 6 | +58 | |
| beginning of the 3° | - 9 | +26 | + 5 | - 3 | +41 | +36 | +28 | | |
| thread being set 4° | + 6 | +31 | - 7 | + 4 | +45 | +49 | | | |
| near the points. 5° | - 3 | + 5 | -15 | - 6 | +43 | | | | |
| 6° | -20 | + 7 | -16 | + 2 | | | | | |
| 7° | - 1 | +23 | +10 | | | | | | |
| 8° | - 4 | +29 | | | | | | | |
| 9° | + 5 | | | | | | | | |
+----------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
TABLE III.--_Solution of Complete Calibration._
+------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Step No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
+------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| 1 | 0 | - 5 | +11 | +20 | +34 | +25 | + 7 | +26 | +23 | +32 |
| 2 | + 5 | 0 | +16 | +23 | +39 | +29 | +12 | +31 | +28 | +37 |
| 3 | -11 | -16 | 0 | + 8 | +24 | +13 | - 4 | +15 | +13 | +22 |
| 4 | -20 | -23 | - 8 | 0 | +15 | + 5 | -12 | + 7 | + 4 | +13 |
| 5 | -34 | -39 | -24 | -15 | 0 | - 9 | -26 | - 8 | -10 | - 2 |
| 6 | -25 | -29 | -13 | - 5 | + 9 | 0 | -17 | + 2 | - 1 | + 8 |
| 7 | - 7 | -12 | + 4 | +12 | +26 | +17 | 0 | +19 | +16 | +26 |
| 8 | -26 | -31 | -15 | - 7 | + 8 | - 2 | -19 | 0 | - 3 | + 6 |
| 9 | -23 | -28 | -13 | - 4 | +10 | + 1 | -16 | + 3 | 0 | + 9 |
| 10 | -32 | -37 | -22 | -13 | + 2 | - 8 | -26 | - 6 | - 9 | 0 |
+------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Error of | | | | | | | | | | |
| step. | -17.3| -22.0| - 6.4| + 1.9| +16.7| + 7.1| -10.1| + 8.9| + 6.1| +15.1|
+------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
|Corrections.| +17.3| +39.3| +45.7| +43.8| +27.1| +20.0| +30.1| +21.2| +15.1| 0|
+------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
The advantages of this method are the simplicity and symmetry of the
work of reduction, and the accuracy of the result, which exceeds that
of the Gay Lussac method in consequence of the much larger number of
independent observations. It may be noticed, for instance, that the
correction at point 5 is 27.1 thousandths by the complete calibration,
which is 2 thousandths less than the value 29 obtained by the Gay
Lussac method, but agrees well with the value 27 thousandths obtained
by taking only the first and last observations with the thread of 5°.
The disadvantage of the method lies in the great number of
observations required, and in the labour of adjusting so many
different threads to suitable lengths. It is probable that
sufficiently good results may be obtained with much less trouble by
using fewer threads, especially if more care is taken in the
micrometric determination of their errors.
The method adopted for dividing up the fundamental interval of any
thermometer into sections and steps for calibration may be widely
varied, and is necessarily modified in cases where auxiliary bulbs or
"ampoules" are employed. The Paris mercury-standards, which read
continuously from 0° to 100° C., without intermediate ampoules, were
calibrated by Chappuis in five sections of 20° each, to determine the
corrections at the points 20°, 40°, 60°, 80°, which may be called the
"principal points" of the calibration, in terms of the fundamental
interval. Each section of 20° was subsequently calibrated in steps of
2°, the corrections being at first referred, as in the example already
given, to the mean degree of the section itself, and being afterwards
expressed, by a simple transformation, in terms of the fundamental
interval, by means of the corrections already found for the ends of
the section. Supposing, for instance, that the corrections at the
points 0° and 10° of Table III. are not zero, but C° and C'
respectively, the correction C_n at any intermediate point n will
evidently be given by the formula,
C_n = C° + c_n + (C' - C°)n/10 (3)
where c_n is the correction already given in the table.
If the corrections are required to the thousandth of a degree, it is
necessary to tabulate the results of the calibration at much more
frequent intervals than 2°, since the correction, even of a good
thermometer, may change by as much as 20 or 30 thousandths in 2°. To
save the labour and difficulty of calibrating with shorter threads,
the corrections at intermediate points are usually calculated by a
formula of interpolation. This leaves much to be desired, as the
section of a tube often changes very suddenly and capriciously. It is
probable that the graphic method gives equally good results with less
labour.
_Slide-Wire._--The calibration of an electrical slide-wire into parts
of equal resistance is precisely analogous to that of a capillary tube
into parts of equal volume. The Carey Foster method, employing short
steps of equal resistance, effected by transferring a suitable small
resistance from one side of the slide-wire to the other, is exactly
analogous to the Gay Lussac method, and suffers from the same defect
of the accumulation of small errors unless steps of several different
lengths are used. The calibration of a slide-wire, however, is much
less troublesome than that of a thermometer tube for several reasons.
It is easy to obtain a wire uniform to one part in 500 or even less,
and the section is not liable to capricious variations. In all work of
precision the slide-wire is supplemented by auxiliary resistances by
which the scale may be indefinitely extended. In accurate electrical
thermometry, for example, the slide-wire itself would correspond to
only 1°, or less, of the whole scale, which is less than a single step
in the calibration of a mercury thermometer, so that an accuracy of a
thousandth of a degree can generally be obtained without any
calibration of the slide-wire. In the rare cases in which it is
necessary to employ a long slide-wire, such as the cylinder
potentiometer of Latimer Clark, the calibration is best effected by
comparison with a standard, such as a Thomson-Varley slide-box.
_Graphic Representation of Results._--The results of a calibration are
often best represented by means of a correction curve, such as that
illustrated in the diagram, which is plotted to represent the
corrections found in Table III. The abscissa of such a curve is the
reading of the instrument to be corrected. The ordinate is the
correction to be added to the observed reading to reduce to a uniform
scale. The corrections are plotted in the figure in terms of the whole
section, taking the correction to be zero at the beginning and end. As a
matter of fact the corrections at these points in terms of the
fundamental interval were found to be -29 and -9 thousandths
respectively. The correction curve is transformed to give corrections in
terms of the fundamental interval by ruling a straight line joining the
points +29 and +9 respectively, and reckoning the ordinates from this
line instead of from the base-line. Or the curve may be replotted with
the new ordinates thus obtained. In drawing the curve from the
corrections obtained at the points of calibration, the exact form of the
curve is to some extent a matter of taste, but the curve should
generally be drawn as smoothly as possible on the assumption that the
changes are gradual and continuous.
The ruling of the straight line across the curve to express the
corrections in terms of the fundamental interval, corresponds to the
first part of the process of calibration mentioned above under the term
"Standardization." It effects the reduction of the readings to a common
standard, and may be neglected if relative values only are required. A
precisely analogous correction occurs in the case of electrical
instruments. A potentiometer, for instance, if correctly graduated or
calibrated in parts of equal resistance, will give correct relative
values of any differences of potential within its range if connected to
a constant cell to supply the steady current through the slide-wire. But
to determine at any time the actual value of its readings in volts, it
is necessary to standardize it, or determine its scale-value or
reduction-factor, by comparison with a standard cell.
[Illustration: CALIBRATION CURVE.]
A very neat use of the calibration curve has been made by Professor
W.A. Rogers in the automatic correction of screws of dividing machines
or lathes. It is possible by the process of grinding, as applied by
Rowland, to make a screw which is practically perfect in point of
uniformity, but even in this case errors may be introduced by the
method of mounting. In the production of divided scales, and more
particularly in the case of optical gratings, it is most important
that the errors should be as small as possible, and should be
automatically corrected during the process of ruling. With this object
a scale is ruled on the machine, and the errors of the uncorrected
screw are determined by calibrating the scale. A metal template may
then be cut out in the form of the calibration-correction curve on a
suitable scale. A lever projecting from the nut which feeds the
carriage or the slide-rest is made to follow the contour of the
template, and to apply the appropriate correction at each point of the
travel, by turning the nut through a small angle on the screw. A small
periodic error of the screw, recurring regularly at each revolution,
may be similarly corrected by means of a suitable cam or eccentric
revolving with the screw and actuating the template. This kind of
error is important in optical gratings, but is difficult to determine
and correct.
_Calibration by Comparison with a Standard._--The commonest and most
generally useful process of calibration is the direct comparison of the
instrument with a standard over the whole range of its scale. It is
necessary that the standard itself should have been already calibrated,
or else that the law of its indications should be known. A continuous
current ammeter, for instance, can be calibrated, so far as the relative
values of its readings are concerned, by comparison with a tangent
galvanometer, since it is known that the current in this instrument is
proportional to the tangent of the angle of deflection. Similarly an
alternating current ammeter can be calibrated by comparison with an
electrodynamometer, the reading of which varies as the square of the
current. But in either case it is neccessary, in order to obtain the
readings in amperes, to standardize the instrument for some particular
value of the current by comparison with a voltameter, or in some
equivalent manner. Whenever possible, ammeters and voltmeters are
calibrated by comparison of their readings with those of a
potentiometer, the calibration of which can be reduced to the comparison
and adjustment of resistances, which is the most accurate of electrical
measurements. The commoner kinds of mercury thermometers are generally
calibrated and graduated by comparison with a standard. In many cases
this is the most convenient or even the only possible method. A mercury
thermometer of limited scale reading between 250° and 400° C., with gas
under high pressure to prevent the separation of the mercury column,
cannot be calibrated on itself, or by comparison with a mercury standard
possessing a fundamental interval, on account of difficulties of stem
exposure and scale. The only practical method is to compare its readings
every few degrees with those of a platinum thermometer under the
conditions for which it is to be used. This method has the advantage of
combining all the corrections for fundamental interval, &c., with the
calibration correction in a single curve, except the correction for
variation of zero which must be tested occasionally at some point of the
scale.
AUTHORITIES.--Mercurial Thermometers: Guillaume, _Thermométrie de
Précision_ (Paris, 1889), gives several examples and references to
original memoirs. The best examples of comparison and testing of
standards are generally to be found in publications of Standards
Offices, such as those of the Bureau International des Poids et
Mésures at Paris. Dial Resistance-Box: Griffiths, _Phil. Trans._ A,
1893; Platinum Thermometry-Box: J.A. Harker and P. Chappuis, _Phil.
Trans._ A, 1900; Thomson-Varley Potentiometer and Binary Scale Box:
Callendar and Barnes, _Phil. Trans._ A, 1901. (H. L. C.)
CALICO, a general name given to plain cotton cloth. The word was spelt
in various forms, including "calicut," which shows its derivation from
the Indian city of Calicut or Kolikod, a seaport in the presidency of
Madras, and one of the chief ports of intercourse with Europe in the
16th century, where cotton cloths were made. The name seems to have been
applied to all kinds of cotton cloths imported from the East. In England
it is now applied particularly to grey or bleached cotton cloth used for
domestic purposes, and, generally, to any fairly heavy cotton cloth
without a pattern. In the United States there is a special application
to printed cloth "of a coarser quality than muslin." In England "printed
calico" is a comprehensive term.
CALICUT, a city of British India, in the Malabar district of Madras; on
the coast, 6 m. N. of Beypur. In 1901 the population was 76,981, showing
an increase of 14% in the decade. The weaving of cotton, for which the
place was at one time so famous that its name became identified with its
_calico_, is no longer of any importance. Calicut is of considerable
antiquity; and about the 7th century it had its population largely
increased by the immigration of the Moplahs, a fanatical race of
Mahommedans from Arabia, who entered enthusiastically into commercial
life. The Portuguese traveller Pero de Covilham (q.v.) visited Calicut
in 1487 and described its possibilities for European trade; and in May
1498 Vasco da Gama, the first European navigator to reach India, arrived
at Calicut. At that time it was a very flourishing city, and contained
several stately buildings, among which was especially mentioned a
Brahminical temple, not inferior to the largest monastery in Portugal.
Vasco da Gama tried to establish a factory, but he met with persistent
hostility from the local chief (_zamorin_), and a similar attempt made
by Cabral two years later ended in the destruction of the factory by the
Moplahs. In revenge the Portuguese bombarded the town, but no further
attempt was made for some years to establish a trading settlement there.
In 1509 the marshal Don Fernando Coutinho made an unsuccessful attack on
the city; and in the following year it was again assailed by Albuquerque
with 3000 troops. On this occasion the palace was plundered and the town
burnt; but the Portuguese were finally repulsed, and fled to their ships
after heavy loss. In the following year they concluded a peace with the
zamorin and were allowed to build a fortified factory on the north bank
of the Kallayi river, which was however again, and finally, abandoned in
1525. In 1615 the town was visited by an English expedition under
Captain Keeling, who concluded a treaty with the zamorin; but it was not
until 1664 that an English trading settlement was established by the
East India Company. The French settlement, which still exists, was
founded in 1698. The town was taken in 1765 by Hyder Ali, who expelled
all the merchants and factors, and destroyed the cocoa-nut trees,
sandal-wood and pepper vines, that the country reduced to ruin might
present no temptation to the cupidity of Europeans. In 1782 the troops
of Hyder were driven from Calicut by the British; but in 1788 it was
taken and destroyed by his son Tippoo, who carried off the inhabitants
to Beypur and treated them with great cruelty. In the latter part of
1790 the country was occupied by the British; and under the treaty
concluded in 1792, whereby Tippoo was deprived of half his dominions,
Calicut fell to the British. After this event the inhabitants returned
and rebuilt the town, which in 1800 consisted of 5000 houses.
As the administrative headquarters of the district, Calicut maintains
its historical importance. It is served by the Madras railway, and is
the chief seaport on the Malabar coast, and the principal exports are
coffee, timber and coco-nut products. There are factories for
coffee-cleaning, employing several hundred hands; for coir-pressing and
timber-cutting. The town has a cotton-mill, a saw-mill, and tile, coffee
and oil works. A detachment of European troops is generally stationed
here to overawe the fanatical Moplahs.
CALIFORNIA, one of the Pacific Coast states of the United States of
America, physically one of the most remarkable, economically one of the
more independent, and in history and social life one of the most
interesting of the Union. It is bounded N. by Oregon, E. by Nevada and
Arizona, from which last it is separated by the Colorado river, and S.
by the Mexican province of Lower California. The length of its medial
line N. and S. is about 780 m., its breadth varies from 150 to 350 m.,
and its total area is 158,207 sq. m., of which 2205 are water surface.
In size it ranks second among the states of the Union. The coast is bold
and rugged and with very few good harbours; San Diego and San Francisco
bays being exceptions. The coast line is more than 1000 m. long. There
are eight coast islands, all of inconsiderable size, and none of them as
yet in any way important.
_Physiography._--The physiography of the state is simple; its main
features are few and bold: a mountain fringe along the ocean, another
mountain system along the east border, between them--closed in at both
ends by their junction--a splendid valley of imperial extent, and
outside all this a great area of barren, arid lands, belonging partly to
the Great Basin and partly to the Open Basin region.
Along the Pacific, and some 20-40 m. in width, runs the mass of the
Coast Range, made up of numerous indistinct chains--most of which have
localized individual names--that are broken down into innumerable ridges
and spurs, and small valleys drained by short streams of rapid fall. The
range is cut by numerous fault lines, some of which betray evidence of
recent activity; it is probable that movements along these faults cause
the earthquake tremors to which the region is subject, all of which seem
to be tectonic. The altitudes of the Coast Range vary from about 2000 to
8000 ft.; in the neighbourhood of San Francisco Bay the culminating
peaks are about 4000 ft. in height (Mount Diablo, 3856 ft.; Mount St
Helena, 4343 ft.), and to the north and south the elevation of the
ranges increases. In the east part of the state is the magnificent
Sierra Nevada, a great block of the earth's crust, faulted along its
eastern side and tilted up so as to have a gentle back slope to the west
and a steep fault escarpment facing east, the finest mountain system of
the United States. The Sierra proper, from Lassen's Peak to Tehachapi
Pass in Kern county, is about 430 m. long (from Mt. Shasta in Siskiyou
county to Mt. San Jacinto in Riverside county, more than 600 m.). It
narrows to the north and the altitude declines in the same direction.
Far higher and grander than the Coast Range, the Sierra is much less
complicated, being indeed essentially one chain of great simplicity of
structure. It is only here and there that a double line of principal
summits exists. The slope is everywhere long and gradual on the west,
averaging about 200 ft. to the mile. Precipitous gorges or canyons often
from 2000 to 5000 ft. in depth become a more and more marked feature of
the range as one proceeds northward; over great portions of it they
average probably not more than 20 m. apart. Where the volcanic
formations were spread uniformly over the flanks of the mountains, the
contrast between the canyons and the plain-like region of gentle slope
in which they have been excavated is especially marked and
characteristic. The eastern slope is very precipitous, due to a great
fault which drops the rocks of the Great Basin region abruptly downward
several thousand feet. Rare passes cross the chain, opening at the foot
of the mountains on the east and the west high on their flanks,
7000-10,000 ft. above the sea. Between 36° 20' and 38° the lowest gap
of any kind is above 9000 ft., and the average height of those actually
used is probably not less than 11,000 ft. The Kearsarge, most used of
all, is still higher. Very few in the entire Sierra are passable by
vehicles. Some forty peaks are catalogued between 5000 and 8000 ft., and
there are eleven above 14,000. The highest portion of the system is
between the parallels of 36° 30' and 37° 30'; here the passes are about
12,000 ft. in elevation, and the peaks range from 13,000 ft. upward,
Mount Whitney, 14,502 ft., being the highest summit of the United
States, excluding Alaska. From this peak northward there is a gradual
decline, until at the point where the Central Pacific crosses in lat.
39° 20' the elevation is only 7000 ft.
Of the mountain scenery the granite pinnacles and domes of the highest
Sierra opposite Owen's Lake, where there is a drop eastward into the
valley of about 10,000 ft. in 10 m.; the snowy volcanic cone of Mt
Shasta, rising 10,000 ft. above the adjacent plains; and the lovely
valleys of the Coast Range, and the south fork of the King river--all
these have their charms; but most beautiful of all is the unique scenery
of the Yosemite Valley (q.v.). Much of the ruggedness and beauty of the
mountains is due to the erosive action of many alpine glaciers that once
existed on the higher summits, and which have left behind their
evidences in valleys and amphitheatres with towering walls, polished
rock-expanses, glacial lakes and meadows and tumbling waterfalls.
Remnants of these glaciers are still to be seen,--as notably on Mt.
Shasta,--though shrunk to small dimensions. Glacial action may be
studied well as far south as 36°. The canyons are largely the work of
rivers, modified by glaciers that ran through them after the rivers had
formed them. All of the Sierra lakes and ponds are of glacial origin and
there are some thousands of them. The lower lake line is about 8000 ft.;
it is lower to the north than to the south, owing to the different
climate, and the different period of glacial retrogression. Of these
lakes some are fresh, and some--as those of the north-east
counties--alkali. The finest of all is Tahoe, 6225 ft. above the sea,
lying between the true Sierras and the Basin Ranges, with peaks on
several sides rising 4000-5000 ft. above it. It is 1500 ft. deep and its
waters are of extraordinary purity (containing only three grains of
solid matter to the gallon). Clear Lake, in the Coast Range, is another
beautiful sheet of water. It is estimated by John Muir that on an
average "perhaps more than a mile" of degradation took place in the last
glacial period; but with regard to the whole subject of glacial action
in California as in other fields, there is considerable difference of
opinion. The same authority counted 65 small residual glaciers between
36° 30' and 39°; two-thirds of them lie between 37° and 38°, on some of
the highest peaks in the district of the San Joaquin, Merced, Tuolumne
and Owen's rivers. They do not descend, on an average, below 11,000 ft.;
the largest of all, on Mt. Shasta, descends to 9500 ft. above the sea.
Volcanic action has likewise left abundant traces, especially in the
northern half of the range, whereas the evidences of glacial action are
most perfect (though not most abundant) in the south. Lava covers most
of the northern half of the range, and there are many craters and
ash-cones, some recent and of perfect form. Of these the most remarkable
is Mt. Shasta. In Owen's Valley is a fine group of extinct or dormant
volcanoes.
Among the other indications of great geological disturbances on the
Pacific Coast may also be mentioned the earthquakes to which California
like the rest of the coast is liable. From 1850 to 1887 almost 800 were
catalogued by Professor E.H. Holden for California, Oregon and
Washington. They occur in all seasons, scores of slight tremors being
recorded every year by the Weather Bureau; but they are of no
importance, and even of these the number affecting any particular
locality is small. From 1769 to 1887 there were 10 "destructive" and 24
other "extremely severe" shocks according to the Rossi Forel
nomenclatural scale of intensity. In 1812 great destruction was wrought
by an earthquake that affected all the southern part of the state; in
1865 the region about San Francisco was violently disturbed; in 1872 the
whole Sierra and the state of Nevada were violently shaken; and in 1906
San Francisco (q.v.) was in large part destroyed by a shock that caused
great damage elsewhere in the state.
North of 40° N. lat. the Coast Range and Sierra systems unite, forming a
country extremely rough. The eastern half of this area is covered
chiefly with volcanic plains, very dry and barren, lying between
precipitous, although not very lofty, ranges; the western half is
magnificently timbered, and toward the coast excessively wet. Between
35° and 36° N. lat. the Sierra at its southern end turns westward toward
the coast as the Tehachapi Range. The valley is thus closed to the north
and south, and is surrounded by a mountain wall, which is broken down in
but a single place, the gap behind the Golden Gate at San Francisco.
Through this passes the entire drainage of the interior. The length of
the valley is about 450 m., its breadth averages about 40 m. if the
lower foothills be included, so that the entire area is about 18,000 sq.
m. The drainage basin measured from the water-partings of the enclosing
mountains is some three times as great. From the mouth of the Sacramento
to Redding, at the northern head of the valley, the rise is 552 ft. in
192 m., and from the mouth of the San Joaquin southward to Kern lake it
is 282 ft. in 260 m.
Two great rivers drain this central basin,--the San Joaquin, whose
valley comprises more than three-fifths of the entire basin, and the
Sacramento, whose valley comprises the remainder. The San Joaquin is a
very crooked stream flowing through a low mud-plain, with tule banks;
the Sacramento is much less meandering, and its immediate basin, which
is of sandy loam, is higher and more attractive than that of the San
Joaquin. The eastward flanks of the Coast Range are very scantily
forested, and they furnish not a single stream permanent enough to reach
either the Sacramento or San Joaquin throughout the dry season. On the
eastern side of both rivers are various important tributaries, fed by
the more abundant rains and melting snows of the western flank of the
Sierra; but these streams also shrink greatly in the dry season. The
Feather, emptying into the Sacramento river about 20 m. N. of the city
of Sacramento, is the most important tributary of the Sacramento river.
A striking feature of the Sacramento system is that for 200 m. north of
the Feather it does not receive a single tributary of any importance,
though walled in by high mountains. Another peculiar and very general
feature of the drainage system of the state is the presence of numerous
so-called river "sinks," where the waters disappear, either directly by
evaporation or (as in Death Valley) after flowing for a time beneath the
surface. These "sinks" are therefore not the true sinks of limestone
regions. The popular name is applied to Owen's lake, at the end of
Owen's river; to Mono lake, into which flow various streams rising in
the Sierra between Mount Dana and Castle Peak; and to Death Valley,
which contains the "sink" of the Amargosa river, and evidently was once
an extensive lake, although now only a mud-flat in ordinary winters, and
a dry, alkaline, desert plain in summer. All these lakes, and the other
mountain lakes before referred to, show by the terraces about them that
the water stood during the glacial period much higher than it does now.
Tulare lake, which with Buena Vista lake and Kern lake receives the
drainage of the southern Sierra, shows extreme local variations of
shore-line, and is generally believed to have shrunk extremely since
1850, though of this no adequate proof yet exists. In 1900 it was about
200 sq. m. in area. In wet seasons it overflows its banks and becomes
greatly extended in area, discharging its surplus waters into the San
Joaquin; but in dry seasons the evaporation is so great that there is no
such discharge. The drainage of Lassen, Siskiyou and Modoc counties has
no outlet to the sea and is collected in a number of great alkaline
lakes.
Finally along the sea below Pt. Conception are fertile coastal plains of
considerable extent, separated from the interior deserts by various
mountain ranges from 5000 to 7000 ft. high, and with peaks much higher
(San Bernardino, 11,600; San Jacinto, 10,800; San Antonio, 10,140).
Unlike the northern Sierra, the ranges of Southern California are broken
down in a number of places. It is over these passes--Soledad, 2822 ft.,
Cajon, San Gorgonio, 2560 ft.--that the railways cross to the coast.
That part of California which lies to the south and east of the southern
inosculation of the Coast Range and the Sierra comprises an area of
fully 50,000 sq. m., and belongs to the Basin Range region. For the most
part it is excessively dry and barren. The Mohave desert--embracing
Kern, Los Angeles and San Bernardino, as also a large part of San Diego,
Imperial and Riverside counties--belong to the "Great Basin," while a
narrow strip along the Colorado river is in the "Open Basin Region."
They have no drainage to the sea, save fitfully for slight areas through
the Colorado river. The Mohave desert is about 2000 ft. above the sea in
general altitude. The southern part of the Great Basin region is vaguely
designated the Colorado desert. In San Diego, Imperial and Riverside
counties a number of creeks or so-called rivers, with beds that are
normally dry, flow centrally toward the desert of Salton Sink or "Sea";
this is the lowest part of a large area that is depressed below the
level of the sea,--at Salton 263 ft., and 287 ft. at the lowest point.
In 1900 the Colorado river (q.v.) was tapped south of the Mexican
boundary for water wherewith to irrigate land in the Imperial Valley
along the Southern Pacific railway, adjoining Salton Sea. The river
enlarged the canal, and finding a steeper gradient than that to its
mouth, was diverted into the Colorado desert, flooding Salton Sea;[1]
and when the break in this river was closed for the second time in
February 1907, though much of its water still escaped through minor
channels and by seepage, a lake more than 400 sq. m. in area was left. A
permanent 60 ft. masonry dam was completed in July 1907. The region to
the east of the Sierra, likewise in the Great Basin province, between
the crest of that range and the Nevada boundary, is very mountainous.
Owen's river runs through it from north to south for some 180 m. Near
Owen's lake the scenery is extremely grand. The valley here is very
narrow, and on either side the mountains rise from 7000 to 10,000 ft.
above the lake and river. The Inyo range, on the east, is quite bare of
timber, and its summits are only occasionally whitened with snow for a
few days during the winter, as almost all precipitation is cut off by
the higher ranges to the westward. Still further to the east some 40 m.
from the lake is Death Valley (including Lost or Mesquite Valley)--the
name a reminder of the fate of a party of "forty-niners" who perished
here, by thirst or by starvation and exposure. Death Valley, some 50 m.
long and on an average 20-25 m. broad from the crests of the inclosing
mountain ranges (or 5-10 m. at their base), constitutes an independent
drainage basin. It is below sea level (about 276 ft. according to recent
surveys), and altogether is one of the most remarkable physical features
of California. The mountains about it are high and bare and brilliant
with varied colours. The Amargosa river, entering the valley from
Nevada, disappears in the salty basin. Enormous quantities of borax,
already exploited, and of nitrate of soda, are known to be present in
the surrounding country, the former as almost pure borate of lime in
Tertiary lake sediments.
The physiography of the state is the evident determinant of its climate,
fauna and flora. California has the highest land and the lowest land of
the United States, the greatest variety of temperature and rainfall, and
of products of the soil.
[Illustration: Map of CALIFORNIA and NEVADA]
_Climate._--The climate is very different from that of the Atlantic
coast; and indeed very different from that of any part of the country
save that bordering California. Amid great variations of local weather
there are some peculiar features that obtain all over the state. In the
first place, the climate of the entire Pacific Coast is milder and more
uniform in temperature than that of the states in corresponding latitude
east of the mountains. Thus we have to go north as far as Sitka in 57°
N. lat. to find the same mean yearly temperature as that of Halifax,
Nova Scotia, in latitude 44° 39'. And going south along the coast, we
find the mean temperature of San Diego 6° or 7° less than that of
Vicksburg, Miss., or Charleston, S.C. The quantity of total annual heat
supply at Puget Sound exceeds that at Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Cleveland
or Omaha, all more than 500 m. farther south; Cape Flattery, exposed
the year round to cold ocean fogs, receives more heat than Eastport,
Maine, which is 3° farther south and has a warmer summer. In the second
place, the means of winter and summer are much nearer the mean of the
year in California than in the east. This condition of things is not so
marked as one goes inward from the coast; yet everywhere save in the
high mountains the winters are comparatively mild. In the third place,
the division of the year into two seasons--a wet one and a dry (and
extremely dusty) one--marks this portion of the Pacific Coast in the
most decided manner, and this natural climatic area coincides almost
exactly in its extension with that of California; being truly
characteristic neither of Lower California nor of the greater part of
Oregon, though more so of Nevada and Arizona. And finally, in the fourth
place, except on the coast the disagreeableness of the heat of summer is
greatly lessened by the dryness of the air and the consequent rapidity
of evaporation. Among the peculiarities of Californian climate it is not
one of the least striking that as one leaves the Sacramento or San
Joaquin plains and travels into the mountains it becomes warmer, at
least for the first 2000 or 3000 ft. of ascent.
Along both the Coast Range and the Sierra considerable rainfall is
certain, although, owing to the slight snow accumulations of the former,
its streams are decidedly variable. A heavy rain-belt, with a normal
fall of more than 40 in., covers all the northern half of the Sierra and
the north-west counties; shading off from this is the region of 10-20
in. fall, which covers all the rest of the state save Inyo, Kern and San
Bernardino counties, Imperial county and the eastern portion of
Riverside county; the precipitation of this belt is from 0 to 10 in. In
excessively dry years the limits of this last division may include all
of the state below Fresno and the entire Central Valley as well. In the
mountains the precipitation increases with the altitude; above 6000 or
7000 ft. it is almost wholly in the form of snow; and this snow, melting
in summer, is of immense importance to the state, supplying water once
for placer mining and now for irrigation. The north-west counties are
extremely wet; many localities here have normal rainfalls of 60-70 in.
and even higher annually, while in extreme seasons as much as 125 in.
falls. Along the entire Pacific Coast, but particularly N. of San
Francisco, there is a night fog from May to September. It extends but a
few miles inland, but within this belt is virtually a prolongation of
the rainy season and has a marked effect on vegetation. Below San
Francisco the precipitation decreases along the coast, until at San
Diego it is only about 10 in. The south-east counties are the driest
portions of the United States. At Ogilby, Volcano, Indio and other
stations on the Southern Pacific line the normal annual precipitation is
from 1.5 to 2.5 in.; and there are localities near Owen's lake, even on
its very edge, that are almost dry. For days in succession when it
storms along the Southern California coasts and dense rain clouds blow
landwards to the mountains, leaving snow or rain on their summits, it
has been observed that within a few miles beyond the ridge the contact
of the desert air dissipates the remaining moisture of the clouds into
light misty masses, like a steam escape in cold air. The extreme heat of
the south-east is tempered by the extremely low humidity characteristic
of the Great Basin, which in the interior of the two southernmost
counties is very low. The humidity of places such as Fresno, Sacramento
and Red Bluff in the valley varies from 48 to 58. Many places in
northern, southern, central, mountain and southern coastal California
normally have more than 200 perfectly clear days in a year; and many in
the mountains and in the south, even on the coast, have more than 250.
The extreme variability in the amount of rainfall is remarkable.[2] The
effects of a season of drought on the dry portions of the state need not
be adverted to; and as there is no rain or snow of any consequence on
the mountains during summer, a succession of dry seasons may almost bare
the ranges of the accumulated stock of previous winter snows, thus
making worse what is already bad.
The Colorado desert (together with the lower Gila Valley of Arizona) is
the hottest part of the United States. Along the line of the Southern
Pacific the yearly extreme is frequently from 124° to 129° F. (i.e. in
the shade, which is almost if not quite the greatest heat ever actually
recorded in any part of the world). At the other extreme, temperatures
of -20° to -36° are recorded yearly on the Central (Southern) Pacific
line near Lake Tahoe. The normal annual means of the coldest localities
of the state are from 37° to 44° F.; the monthly means from 20° to 65°
F. The normal annual means on Indio, Mammoth Tanks, Salton and Volcano
Springs are from 73.9° to 78.4 F.; the monthly means from 52.8° to
101.3° (frequently 95° to 98°). The normal trend of the annual isotherms
of the state is very simple: a low line of about 40° circles the angle
in the Nevada boundary line; 50° normally follows the northern Sierra
across the Oregon border; lines of higher temperature enclose the Great
Valley; and lines of still higher temperature--usually 60° to 70°, in
hotter years 60° to 75°--run transversely across the southern quarter of
the state.
Another weather factor is the winds, which are extremely regular in
their movements. There are brisk diurnal sea-breezes, and seasonal
trades and counter-trades. Along the coast an on-shore breeze blows
every summer day; in the evening it is replaced by a night-fog, and the
cooler air draws down the mountain sides in opposition to its movement
during the day. In the upper air a dry off-shore wind from the Rocky
Mountain plateau prevails throughout the summer; and in winter an
on-shore rain wind. The last is the counter-trade, the all-year wind of
Alaska and Oregon; it prevails in winter even off Southern California.
There is the widest and most startling variety of local climates. At
Truckee, for example, lying about 5800 ft. above the sea near Lake
Tahoe, the lowest temperature of the year may be -25° F. or colder, when
70 m. westward at Rocklin, which lies in the foothills about 250 ft.
above the sea, the mercury does not fall below 28°. Snow never falls at
Rocklin, but falls in large quantity at Truckee; ice is the crop of the
one, oranges of the other, at the same time. There are points in
Southern California where one may actually look from sea to desert and
from snow to orange groves. Distance from the ocean, situation with
reference to the mountain ranges, and altitude are all important
determinants of these climatic differences; but of these the last seems
to be most important. At any rate it may be said that generally speaking
the maximum, minimum and mean temperatures of points of approximately
equal altitude are respectively but slightly different in northern or
southern California.[3]
Death Valley surpasses for combined heat and aridity any meteorological
stations on earth where regular observations are taken, although for
extremes of heat it is exceeded by places in the Colorado desert. The
minimum daily temperature in summer is rarely below 70° F. and often
above 90° F. (in the shade), while the maximum may for days in
succession be as high as 120° F. A record of 6 months (1891) showed an
average daily relative humidity of 30.6 in the morning and 15.6 in the
evening, and the humidity sometimes falls to 5. Yet the surrounding
country is not devoid of vegetation. The hills are very fertile when
irrigated, and the wet season develops a variety of perennial herbs,
shrubs and annuals.
_Fauna._--California embraces areas of every life-zone of North America:
of the boreal, the Hudsonian and Canadian subzones; of the transition,
the humid Pacific subzone; of the upper austral, the arid or upper
Sonoran subzone; of the lower austral, the arid or lower Sonoran; of the
tropical, the "dilute arid" subzone. As will be inferred from the above
account of temperature, summer is longer in the north, and localities
in the Valley have more hours of heat than do those of south California.
Hence that climatic characteristic of the entire Pacific Coast--already
referred to and which is of extreme importance in determining the
life-zones of California--the great amount of total annual heat supply
at comparatively high latitudes. A low summer temperature enables
northern species to push far southward, while the high heat total of the
year enables southern species to push far north. The resultant
intermingling of forms is very marked and characteristic of the Pacific
Coast states. The distribution of life-zones is primarily a matter of
altitude and corresponds to that of the isotherms. The mountain goat and
mountain sheep live in the Sierran upper-land, though long ago well-nigh
exterminated. The Douglas red squirrel is ubiquitous in the Sierran
forests and their most conspicuous inhabitant. White-tailed deer and
especially black-tails are found on the high Sierra; the mule deer, too,
although its habitat is now mainly east of the range, on the plateau, is
also met with. Grizzly, black, cinnamon and brown bears are all
Californian species once common and to-day rare. When Americans began to
rule in California elk and antelope herded in great numbers in the Great
Valley; the former may to-day sometimes be seen, possibly, in the
northern forests, and the latter occasionally cross into the state from
Nevada. The sage-hen is abundant on the eastern flank of the Sierra.
Grouse, quail, crows and woodpeckers (_Melanerpes formicivorus_) furnish
species characteristic of the state. There are various species of
ground-squirrels and gophers, which are very abundant. Noteworthy in the
animal life of the lower Sonoran and tropic region are a variety of
snakes and lizards, desert rats and mice; and, among birds, the cactus
wren, desert thrasher, desert sparrow, Texas night-hawk, mocking-bird
and ground cuckoo or road runner (_Geococcyx Californianus_). The
California vulture, the largest flying bird in North America and fully
as large as the Andean condor, is not limited to California but is
fairly common there. In the zoology and botany of California as of the
rest of the Pacific Coast, the distinctions between the upper austral
and humid transition zones are largely obliterated; and as one passes
southward into the arid lands, life forms of both these zones
intermingle with those of the arid transition.
Fish are abundant. The United States fish commission, and an active
state commission established in 1869, have done much to preserve and
increase this source of food. In 1904 the yield of the fisheries of the
three Pacific Coast states was 168,600,000 lbs., valued at
$6,681,000,--nearly half that of the New England states, more than
one-third that of the Middle Atlantic states and more than that of the
South Atlantic and Gulf states combined. Of the total, California
yielded between a quarter and a third. A third of her fish comes from
the Sacramento river. Some 230--more or less--marine food fishes are to
be found in the market at San Francisco. The exports of fish from that
port from 1892-1899 were valued at from $2,000,000 to $2,500,000
annually. Native oysters are small and of peculiar flavour; eastern
varieties also are fattened, but not bred in California waters. Shrimp
are abundant; the shrimp fishers are Chinese and four-fifths of the
catch is exported to China. Sturgeon were once the cheapest fish after
salmon; to-day, despite all efforts to increase the supply, they are the
dearest. Salmon, once threatened with extinction, have been saved,
maintained in good supply, and indeed have probably regained their
pristine abundance. Shad and striped bass are both very abundant and
cheap. Black bass, flounders, terrapin, sea-turtles, perch, turbot, sole
and catfish are also common. Great herds of seals once lay like
toll-gatherers off the Golden Gate and other bays of the coast, taking a
large share of the salmon and other fish; but they are no longer common.
The sea-lions sometimes raid the rivers for 100 m. inland. They have
greatly increased since hunting them for their hides and oil ceased to
be profitable, and thousands sometimes gather on the Farallones, off the
Golden Gate.
_Flora._--Inclusiveness of range in the distribution of vegetable life
is perhaps more suggestive than the distribution of animal species. The
variation is from dwarf mountain pine to giant cactus and dates. The
humid transition belt is the habitat of California's magnificent
forests. Nut pine, juniper and true sage-brush (_Artemisia tridentata_)
characterize the upper Sonoran,--although the latter grows equally in
the transition zone. Cereals, orchard fruits and alfalfa are of primary
importance in the upper and of secondary importance in the lower
Sonoran. In the arid portions of this and the tropic areas the
indigenous plants are creosote, mesquite and alfileria bushes, desert
acacias, paloverdes, alkali-heath, salt grass, agaves, yuccas
(especially the Spanish-bayonet and Joshua tree) and cactuses. Among
exotics the Australian saltbush spreads successfully over the worst
alkali land. The introduction of other exotics into these zones,--made
humid by irrigation, which converts them, the one into true
austro-riparian the other into true humid tropical,--has revolutionized
the agricultural, and indeed the whole, economy of California. At the
two ends of Cajon Pass, only four or five kilometres apart, are the two
utterly distinct floras of the Mohave desert and the San Bernardino
valley. Despite the presence of the pass, plants do not spread, so great
is the difference of climatic conditions. On the desert the same plant
will vary in different years from 4 in. to 10 ft. in height when equally
mature, according to the rainfall and other conditions of growth. Many
mature plants are not taller than 0.4 to 0.8 in. The tree yucca often
attains a height of 20 to 25 ft., and a diameter of 1.5 ft. About 600
species of plants were catalogued in desert California in 1891 by a
government botanical party. The flora of the coast islands of California
is very interesting. On Santa Cruz Professor Joseph Le Conte found 248
species, nearly all of which are distinctively Californian, 48 being
peculiar to the surrounding islands and 28 peculiar to Southern
California. Various other things indicate a separation of the islands
from the mainland in quaternary times; since which, owing to the later
southward movement on the continent of northern forms in glacial times,
there has been a struggle for existence on the mainland from which the
islands have largely escaped.
_Forests._--The forests and agricultural crops of the state demand
particular notice. In 1900 the woodland was estimated by the United
States census at 22% of the state's area, and the total stand at 200,000
million ft. of timber. The variety of forest trees is not great, but
some of the California trees are unique, and the forests of the state
are, with those of Oregon and Washington, perhaps the most magnificent
of the world. At least the coniferous forests which make up nine-tenths
of California's woodland surpass all others known in number of species
and in the size and beauty of the trees. Forty-six species occur,
namely, 32 species of pitch trees (18 pines), 12 species of the
cypresses and their allies (2 sequoia), and 2 species of yews or their
allies. Peculiar to California are the two species of sequoia
(q.v.),--the redwood (_S. sempervirens_), and the big-tree (_S.
gigantea_), remnants of an earlier age when they were common in other
parts of the world. The redwood grows only in a narrow strip on the
Coast Range from Southern Oregon (where there are not more than 1000
acres) down nearly to the Golden Gate, in a habitat of heavy rains and
heavy fogs. They cover an area of about 2000 sq. m. almost unmixed with
other species. One fine grove stands S. of San Francisco near Santa
Cruz. These noble trees attain very often a height of more than 300 ft.,
frequently of 350 and even more, and a butt diameter of more than 15 to
20 ft., with clean, straight fluted trunks rising 200 ft. below the
lowest branches. They grow in a very dense timber stand; single acres
have yielded 1,500,000 ft. B.M. of lumber, and single trees have cut as
high as 100,000 ft. The total stand in 1900 was estimated by the United
States census as 75,000,000,000 ft., and the ordinary stand per acre
varies from 25,000 to 150,000 ft., averaging probably 60,000 ft. The
redwood is being rapidly used for lumber. There is nowhere any
considerable young growth from seed, although this mode of reproduction
is not (as often stated) unknown; the tree will reproduce itself more
than once from the stump (hence its name). In thirty years a tree has
been known to grow to a height of 80 ft. and a diameter of 16 in. The
wood contains no pitch and much water, and in a green condition will not
burn. To this fact it owes its immunity from the forest fires which
wreak frightful havoc among the surrounding forests. As the redwood is
limited to the Coast Range, so the big tree is limited wholly to the
Sierra Nevada. Unlike the redwood the big tree occurs in scattered
groves (ten in all) among other species. Its habitat extends some 200
m., from latitude 36° to 39°, nowhere descending much below an altitude
of 5000 ft., nor rising above 8000 ft. The most northerly grove and the
nearest to San Francisco is the Calaveras Grove near Stockton; the
Mariposa Grove just south of the Yosemite National Park, is a state
reservation and easily accessible to tourists. The noblest groves are
near Visalia, and are held as a national park. The average height is
about 275 ft., and the diameter near the ground 20 ft.; various
individuals stand over 300 ft., and a diameter of 25 ft. is not rare. One
tree measures 35.7 ft. inside the bark 4 ft. above the ground, 10 ft. at
200 ft. above the ground, and is 325 ft. tall. Specimens have been cut
down that were estimated to be 1300 and even 2200 years old; many trees
standing are presumably 2500 years old. It is the opinion of John Muir
that the big tree would normally live 5000 years or more; that the
California groves are still in their prime; that, contrary to general
ideas, the big tree was never more widely distributed than now, at least
not within the past 8000 or 10,000 years; that it is not a decaying
species, but that on the contrary "no tree of all the forest is more
enduringly established in concord with climate and soil," growing like
the mountain pine even on granite, and in little danger save from the
greed of the lumberman; but other excellent authorities consider it as
hardly holding its own, especially in the north. Three main wood belts
cover the flanks of the Sierra: the lower or main pine belt, the silver
fir belt, and the upper pine belt. The sugar pine, the yellow or silver
pine and the Douglas spruce (considerably smaller than in Oregon and
Washington), are rivals in stature and nobility, all attaining 200 ft.
or more when full grown; and the incense cedar reaches a height of 150
ft. In this belt and the following one of firs the big tree also grows.
The white silver fir (_abies concolor_) and the silver or red fir (_ab.
magnifica_), standing 200 to 250 ft., make up almost wholly the main
forest belt from 5000 to 9000 ft. for some 450 m. Above the firs come
the tamarack, constituting the bulk of the lower Alpine forest; the
hardy long-lived mountain pine; the red cedar or juniper, growing even
on the baldest rocks; the beautiful hemlock spruce; the still higher
white pine, nut pine, needle pine; and finally, at 10,000 to 12,000 ft.,
the dwarf pine, which grows in a tangle on the earth over which one
walks, and may not show for a century's growth more than a foot of
height or an inch of girth. The Nevada slope of the mountains below 7500
ft. is covered with the nut pine down to the sage plains. Its nuts are
gathered in enormous amounts by the Indians for food; and it is
estimated that the yearly harvest of these nuts exceeds in bulk that of
all the cereals of California (John Muir). On the Sierra the underbrush
is characterized by the pungent manzanita, the California buckeye and
the chamiso; the last two growing equally abundantly on the Coast Range.
The chamiso and the manzanita, with a variety of shrubby oaks and thorny
plants, often grow together in a dense and sometimes quite impenetrable
undergrowth, forming what is known as "chaparral"; if the chamiso occurs
alone the thicket is a "chamisal." The elm, the hickory, the beech, the
chestnut, and many others of the most characteristic and useful trees of
the eastern states were originally entirely wanting in California. Oaks
are abundant; they are especially characteristic of the Great Valley,
where they grow in magnificent groves. Up to 1910 national forest
reserves amounted to 27,968,510 acres. In 1909 Congress created a
national forest to include the big tree groves in Calaveras and Tuolumne
counties. One of the noblest redwood areas (that of Santa Cruz county)
is a state reservation (created in 1901). Even within reservations
almost all the merchantable timber is owned by private individuals. In
addition to native trees many others--especially ornamental
species--have been successfully introduced from various parts of the
world.
_Soil._--Sand and loams in great variety, grading from mere sand to
adobe, make up the soils of the state. The plains of the north-east
counties are volcanic, and those of the south-east sandy. It is
impossible to say with accuracy what part of the state may properly be
classed as tillable. The total farm acreage in 1900 was 28,828,951
acres, of which 41.5% were improved; since 1880 the absolute amount of
improved land has remained practically constant, despite the
extraordinary progress of the state in these years. Much land is too
rough, too elevated or too arid ever to be made agriculturally
available; but irrigation, and the work of the state and national
agricultural bureaus in introducing new plants and promoting scientific
farming, have accomplished much that once seemed impossible. The
peculiarities of the climate, especially its division into two seasons,
make Californian (and Southern Arizona) agriculture very different from
that of the rest of the country. During the winter no shelter is
necessary for live-stock, nor, during summer, for the grains that are
harvested in June and July, and may lie for weeks or months in the
field. The mild, wet winter is the season of planting and growth, and so
throughout the year there is a succession of crops. The dangers of
drought in the long dry seasons particularly increase the uncertainties
of agriculture in regions naturally arid. Irrigation was introduced in
Southern California before 1780, but its use was desultory and its
spread slow till after 1850. In 1900 almost 1,500,000 acres were
irrigated--an increase of 46% since 1890. About half of this total was
in San Joaquin Valley. California has the greatest area of irrigated
land of any state in the Union, and offers the most complete utilization
of resources. In the south artesian wells, and in the Great Valley the
rivers of the Sierra slope, are the main source of water-supply. On
nearly all lands irrigated some crops will grow in ordinary seasons
without irrigation, but it is this that makes possible selection of
crops; practically indispensable for all field and orchard culture in
the south, save for a few moist coastal areas, it everywhere increases
the yield of all crops and is practised generally all over the state. Of
the acreage devoted to alfalfa in 1899, 76.2% was irrigated; of that
devoted to subtropical fruits, 71.7%. Small fruits, orchard fruits,
hay, garden products and grains are decreasingly dependent on
irrigation; wheat, which was once California's great staple, is (for
good, but not for best results) comparatively independent of it,--hence
its early predominance in Californian agriculture, due to this success
on arid lands since taken over for more remunerative irrigated crops.
_Agriculture._--The spread of irrigation and of intensive cultivation,
and the increase of small farms during the last quarter of the 19th
century, have made California what it is to-day. Agriculture had its
beginning in wheat-raising on great ranches, from 50,000 even to several
hundred thousand acres in extent. A few of these, particularly in the
Great Valley, are still worked, but only a few. The average size of
farms in 1850 (when the large Mexican grants were almost the only farms,
and these unbroken) was 4466 acres; in 1860 it was 466.4, and in 1900
only 397.4 acres. Stock ranches, tobacco plantations, and hay and grain
farms, average from 800 to 530 acres, and counteract the tendency of
dairy farms, beet plantations, orchards, vegetable gardens and nurseries
to lower the size of the farm unit still further. The renting of large
holdings prevails to a greater extent than in any other state except
Texas. From 1880 to 1900 the number of farms above 500 and below 1000
acres doubled; half of the total in 1900 were smaller than 100 acres.
The most remunerative and most characteristic farming to-day is
diversified and intensive and on small holdings. The essential character
of California's economic life has been determined by the successive
predominance of grass, gold, grain and fruits. Omitting the second it
may be truly said that the order of agricultural development has been
mainly one of blind experiment or fortuitous circumstances. Staple
products have changed with increasing knowledge of climatic conditions,
of life-zones and of the fitness of crops; first hides and tallow, then
wool, wheat, grapes (which in the early eighteen-nineties were the
leading fruit), deciduous orchard fruits, and semi-tropical citrus
fruits successively. Prunes were introduced in 1854, but their
possibilities were only slightly appreciated for some thirty years. Of
various other crops much the same is true. Of late years progress has
been very intelligent; in earlier years it was gained through a
multitude of experiments and failures, and great pecuniary loss, and
progress was a testimonial chiefly to courage and perseverance. The
possibilities of the lower Sonoran and tropical areas are still
imperfectly known. Nature has been niggard of rain but lavish in soil
and sun. Irrigation has shown that with water, arid and barren plains,
veritable deserts may be made to bloom with immense wealth of
semi-tropical fruits; and irrigation in the tropical area along the
Colorado river, which is so arid that it naturally bears only desert
vegetation, has made it a true humid-tropical region like Southern
Florida, growing true tropical fruits.
In 1900 California ranked eleventh among the states in total value of
farm property ($796,527,955) and in 1899 fourteenth in the value of farm
products ($131,690,606). The growth of the former from 1890 to 1900 was
only 2.5%, one of the smallest increases among all the states.
The pastoral period extended from 1769 to 1848. The live-stock industry
was introduced by the Franciscans and flourished exceedingly. In 1834,
when the missions had already passed their best days, there were some
486,000 cattle, horses, mules and asses on the ranges, and 325,000 small
animals, principally sheep. Throughout the pre-American period
stock-raising was the leading industry; it built up the prosperity of
the missions, largely supported the government and almost exclusively
sustained foreign commerce. Hides and tallow were the sum and substance
of Californian economy. Horses were slaughtered wholesale at times to
make way for cattle on the ranges. There was almost no dairying; olive
oil took the place of butter, and wine of milk, at the missions; and in
general indeed the Mexicans were content with water. In the development
of the state under the American regime the live-stock industry has been
subordinate. A fearful drought in 1862-1864 greatly depressed it, and
especially discouraged cattle ranching. Sheep then became of primary
importance, until the increase of the flocks threatened ranges and
forests with destruction. As late as 1876 there were some 7,000,000
sheep, in 1900 only 2,581,000, and in 1906 only 1,750,000. In the total
value of all live stock (5,402,297 head) in 1900 ($65,000,000) the rank
of the state was 15th in the Union, and in value of dairy products in
1899 (12.84 million dollars) 12th. The live-stock industry showed a
tendency to decline after 1890, and the dairy industry also, despite
various things--notably irrigation and alfalfa culture--that have
favoured them.
Cereals replaced hides and tallow in importance after 1848. Wheat was
long California's greatest crop. Its production steadily increased till
about 1884, the production in 1880, the banner year, being more than 54
million bushels (32,537,360 centals). Since 1884 its production has
markedly fallen off; in 1905 the wheat crop was 17,542,013 bushels, and
in 1906, 26,883,662 bushels (valued at $20,162,746). There has been a
general parallelism between the amount of rain and the amount of wheat
produced; but as yet irrigation is little used for this crop. In the
eighth decade of the 19th century, the value of the wheat product had
come to exceed that of the annual output of gold. Barley has always been
very important. The acreage given to it in 1899 was one-fourth the total
cereal acreage, and San Francisco in 1902-1904 was the shipping point of
the larger part of American exported barley, of (roughly) three-quarters
in 1902, seven-eighths in 1903 and four-fifths in 1904. In 1906
California produced 38,760,000 bushels of barley, valued at $20,930,400.
The great increase in the acreage of barley, which was 22.5% of the
country's barley acreage in 1906, and 24.2% in 1905, is one reason for
the decreased production of wheat. The level nature of the great grain
farms of the valley led to the utilization of machinery of remarkable
character. Combined harvesters (which enter a field of standing grain
and leave this grain piled in sacks ready for shipment), steam
gang-ploughs, and other farm machinery are of truly extraordinary size
and efficiency. In 1899 cereals represented more than a third of the
total crop acreage and crop product ($93,641,334) of the state. Wheat
and other cereals are in part cut for hay, and the hay crop of 1906 was
1,133,465 tons, valued at $12,751,481. California is one of the leading
hop-producing states of the Union, the average annual production since
1901 being more than 10,000,000 lb. The product of sugar beets increased
between 1888 and 1902 from 1910 to 73,761 tons (according to the state
board of trade), and in 1909 (according to the department of
agriculture) it was 882,084 tons, from which 254,544,000 lb of sugar was
manufactured. In this industry California in 1909 ranked second to
Colorado. Truck gardening for export is an assured industry, especially
in the north. Great quantities of vegetables, fresh and canned, are
shipped yearly, and the same is true on a far larger scale of fruit.
Vegetable exports more than doubled between 1894 and 1903. In 1899 hay
and grain represented slightly more than a third of the farm acreage and
capital and also of the value of all farm products; live-stock and dairy
farms represented slightly more than half the acreage, and slightly
under 30% of the capital and produce; fruit farms absorbed 6.2% of the
acreage and 27% of the capital, and returned 22.5% of the value of
farm produce.
_Fruit-growing._--Horticulture is now the principal industry, and in
this field California has no rival in the United States, although
ranking after Florida in the growth of some tropical or semi-tropical
fruits,--pineapples, guava, limes, pomeloes or grape-fruit and Japanese
persimmons. In 1899 California's output of fruit was more than a fifth
of that of the whole Union. The supremacy of the state is established in
the growth of oranges, lemons, citrons, olives, figs, almonds, Persian
(or English) walnuts, plums and prunes, grapes and raisins, nectarines,
apricots and pomegranates; it also leads in pears, and peaches, but here
its primacy is not so assured. Southern California by no means
monopolizes the warm-zone fruits. Oranges, lemons and walnuts come
chiefly from that section, but citrus fruits grow splendidly in the
Sierra foothills of the Sacramento Valley, and indeed ripen earlier
there than in the southern district. Almonds, as well as peaches, pears,
plums, cherries and apricots, come mainly from the north. Over half of
the prune crop comes from Santa Clara county, and the bulk of the raisin
output from Fresno county. Olives thrive as far north as the head of the
Great Valley, growing in all the valleys and foothills up to 1500 or
2000 ft. They were introduced by the Franciscans (as were various other
subtropical fruits, pears and grapes), but their scientific betterment
and commercial importance date from about 1885. They grow very
abundantly and of the finest quality; for many years poor methods of
preparation prejudiced the market against the Californian product, but
this has ceased to be the case. The modern orange industry practically
began with the introduction into Southern California in 1873 of two
seedless orange trees from Brazil; from their stock have been developed
by budding millions of trees bearing a seedless fruit known as the
"Washington navel," which now holds first rank in American markets;
other varieties, mainly seedlings, are of great but secondary
importance. Shipments continue the year round. There has been more than
one horticultural excitement in California, but especially in orange
culture, which was for a time almost as epidemic a fever as gold seeking
once was. By reason of the co-operative effort demanded for the large
problems of irrigation, packing and marketing, the citrus industry has
done much for the permanent development of the state, and its
extraordinary growth made it, towards the close of the 19th century, the
most striking and most potent single influence in the growth of
agriculture. State legislation has advanced the fruit interest in all
possible ways. Between 1872 and 1903 exports of canned fruits increased
from 91 to 94,205 short tons; between 1880 and 1903 the increase of
dried fruit exports was from 295 to 149,531 tons; of fresh deciduous
fruits, from 2590 to 101,199; of raisins, from 400 to 39,963; of citrus
fruits, from 458 to 299,623; of wines and brandies between 1891 and
1903, from 47,651 to 97,332 tons. Of the shipments in 1903 some 44%
were from Southern California,--i.e. from the seven southernmost
counties.
Grape culture has a great future in California. Vines were first
introduced by the Franciscans in 1771 from Spain, and until after 1860
"Mission" grapes were practically the only stock in California.
Afterwards many hundreds of European varieties were introduced with
great success. "The state has such a variety of soil, slope, elevation,
temperature and climatic conditions as to reproduce, somewhere within
its borders, any wine now manufactured" (United States Census, 1900);
but experience has not as yet divided the state into districts of
specialized produce, nor determined just how far indigenous American
vines may profitably be used, either as base or graftings, with European
varieties. Grapes are grown very largely over the state. Raisins do well
as far north as Yolo county, but do best in Madera, Fresno, Kings,
Tulare and San Diego counties. The product is more than sufficient for
the markets of the United States. Dry wine grapes do best in the
counties around San Francisco Bay, on unirrigated lands; while sweet
wine stocks do best in Yolo, San Joaquin and the counties of the raisin
grape, and on irrigated lands. In 1900 California produced about
three-fifths in value ($3,937,871) and in 1905 the same proportion
($6,688,620) of the wine output of the United States. The value of
product more than sextupled from 1880 to 1900. In quantity the product
was more than four times the combined product of all other states. The
better California wines are largely sold under French labels. Brandies
are an important product. They are made chiefly from grapes, and are
used to fortify wines. It was officially estimated that in the spring of
1904 there were some 227,000 acres of vineyards in the state, of which
exactly five-tenths were in wine grapes and four-tenths in raisin
grapes.
_Gold._--Between the pastoral period and the era of wheat was the golden
epoch of Californian history. The existence of gold had long been
suspected, and possibly known, in California before 1848, and there had
been desultory washings in parts where there was very little to reward
prospectors. The first perfectly authenticated discovery was made near
Los Angeles in 1842. The discovery of real historical importance was
made in January 1848 (the 24th is the correct date) at John A. Sutter's
mill, on the south fork of the American river near Coloma, by a workman,
James W. Marshall (1810-1885). His monument now marks the spot. From
1848 to the 1st of January 1903, according to the state mining bureau,
California produced $1,379,275,408 in gold. There were two periods of
intense excitement. The first ended in 1854, at which time there was a
decided reaction throughout the United States in regard to mining
matters. The Californian discoveries had given rise to a general search
for metalliferous deposits in the Atlantic states, and this bad been
followed by wild speculations. At the time of their greatest
productiveness, from 1850 to 1853, the highest yield of the washings was
probably not less than $65,000,000 a year; according to the state mining
bureau the average production from 1851-1854 was $73,570,087
($81,294,270 in 1852, the banner year), and from 1850-1861 $55,882,861,
never falling below $50,000,000. The estimates of other competent
authorities differ considerably, and generally are somewhat less
generous than these figures.
At first the diggings were chiefly along the rivers. These were
"flumed,"--that is, the water was diverted by wooden flumes from the
natural channel and the sand and gravel in the bed were washed. All the
"gulches" or ravines leading down into the canyons were also worked
over, with or without water. These were the richest "placers," but in
them the gold was very unequally distributed. Those who first got
possession of the rich bars on the American, Yuba, Feather, Stanislaus
and the other smaller streams in the heart of the gold region, made
sometimes from $1000 to $5000 a day; but after one rich spot was worked
out it might be days or weeks before another was found. In 1848 $500-700
a day was not unusual luck; but, on the other hand, the income of the
great majority of miners was certainly far less than that of men who
seriously devoted themselves to trade or even to common labour. Many
extraordinary nuggets were found, varying from $1000 to $20,000 in
value. The economic stimulus given by such times may be imagined. For
several years gold-dust was a regular circulating medium in the cities
as well as in the mining districts of the state. An ounce of dust in
1848 frequently went for $4 instead of $17; for a number of years
traders in dust were sure of a margin of several dollars, as for example
in private coinage, mints for which were common by 1851. From the record
of actual exports and a comparison of the most authoritative estimates
of total production, it may be said that from 1848 to 1856 the yield was
almost certainly not less than $450,000,000, and that about 1870 the
billion dollar mark had been passed. Just at this time came the highest
point and the sudden fall of the second great mining fever of the state.
This was a stock speculation based on the remarkable output
($300,000,000 in 20 years) of the silver "bonanzas" of the Comstock lode
at Virginia City, Nevada, which were opened and financed by San
Francisco capitalists. The craze pervaded all classes. Shares that at
first represented so many dollars per foot in a tangible mine were
multiplied and remultiplied until they came to represent paper
thicknesses or almost nothing, yet still their prices mounted upward. In
April 1872 came the revulsion; there was a shrinkage of $60,000,000 in
ten days; then in 1873 a tremendous advance, and in 1875 a final and
disastrous collapse; in ten years thereafter the stock of the Comstock
lode shrank from $3,000,000 to $2,000,000. This Comstock fever belongs
to Californian rather than to Nevadan history, and is one of the most
extraordinary in mining annals.
First the "rocker," then the "tom," the "flume," and the hydraulic
stream were the tools of the miner. Into the "rocker" and the "tom" the
miner shovelled dirt, rocking it as he poured in water, catching the
gold on riffles set across the bottom of his box; thus imitating in a
wooden box the work of nature in the rivers. The "flume" enabled him to
dry the bed of a stream while he worked over its gravels. The hydraulic
stream came into use as early as 1852 (or 1853) when prospecting of the
higher ground made it certain that the "deep" or "high" gravels--i.e.
the detrital deposits of tertiary age--contained gold, though in too
small quantities to be profitably worked in the ordinary way. The
hydraulic process received an immense development through successive
improvements of method and machinery. In this method tremendous blasts
of powder, sometimes twenty-five or even fifty tons, were used to loosen
the gravel, which was then acted on by the jet of water thrown from the
"pipes." To give an idea of the force of the agent thus employed it may
be stated that when an eight-inch nozzle is used under a heavy head,
more than 3000 ft. may be discharged in a minute with a velocity of 150
ft. per second. The water as it thus issues from the nozzle feels to the
touch like metal, and the strongest man cannot sensibly affect it with a
crowbar. A gravel bank acted on by such tremendous force crumbled
rapidly, and the disintegrated material could be run readily through
sluices to the "dumps." Hydraulic mining is no longer practised on the
scale of early days. The results were wonderful but disastrous, for the
"dumps" were usually river-beds. From 1870-1879 the bed of Bear river
was raised in places in its lower course 97 ft. by the detritus wash of
the hydraulic mines, and that of Sleepy Hollow Creek 136 ft. The total
filling up to that time on the streams in this vicinity had been from
100 to 250 ft., and many thousand acres of fine farming land were buried
under gravel,--some 16,000 on the lower Yuba alone. For many years the
mining interests were supreme, and agriculture, even after it had become
of great importance, was invariably worsted when the two clashed; but in
1884 the long and bitter "anti-débris" or "anti-slickins" fight ended in
favour of the farmers. In 1893 the United States government created a
California Débris Commission, which has acted in unison with the state
authorities. Permits for hydraulic mining are granted by the commission
only when all gravel is satisfactorily impounded and no harm is done to
the streams; and the improvement of these, which was impossible so long
as limits were not set to hydraulic mining, can now be effectively
advanced. Quartz mining began as early as 1851. In 1908 about
five-eighths of the gold output was from such mines. Quartz veins are
very often as good at a depth of 3000 ft. as at the surface. A
remarkable feature of recent years (especially since 1900) is gold
"dredging." Thousands of acres even of orchard, vineyard and farming
land have been thus treated in recent years. Gold was being produced in
1906 in more than thirty counties. The annual output since 1875 has been
about $15,000,000 to $17,000,000; in 1905, according to the Mines
Report, it was $18,898,545. Colorado now excels California as a gold
producer.
_Mineral Products._--California produces more than forty mineral
substances that are of commercial significance. Gold, petroleum, copper,
borax and its products, clays, quicksilver and silver lead, in order of
importance, representing some four-fifths of the total. From 1894 to
1902 the aggregate production increased from 20.2 to 35.1 million
dollars; in 1908 it was $65,137,636. Metallic products long represented
three-fourths of the total, but the feature of recent years has been the
rising importance of hydrocarbons and gases, and of structural
materials, and indeed of non-metallic products generally. The production
of crude petroleum has grown very rapidly since about 1895. Oil is found
from north to south over some 600 m., but especially in Southern
California. The high cost of coal, which has always been a hindrance to
the development of manufactures, makes the petroleum deposits of
peculiar value. Their total output increased from 4,250,000 to
44,854,737 barrels between 1900 and 1908, and the value of the product
in 1908 was $23,433,502. The Kern river field is the most important in
the state and one of the greatest in the world. Those of Coalinga, Santa
Maria and Lompoc, and Los Angeles are next in importance. Both in 1900
and in 1905 California ranked fifth among the states of the United
States in the petroleum refining industry. Copper has risen in
importance in very recent years; it is mined mainly in Shasta county;
the value of the state's total product in 1908 was $5,232,986. Gold
mining still centres in the mountainous counties north of Tuolumne. This
is the region of quartz mining. In borax (of which California's output
in 1904 was 45,647 tons) and structural materials San Bernardino has a
long lead. More than nine-tenths of the borax product of the country
comes from about Death Valley. San Bernardino marbles have a very high
repute. California was the fourth state of the Union in 1908 in the
production of granite. It furnishes about two-fifths of the quicksilver
of the world. This has been mined since 1824; the output was greatest
from 1875-1883, when it averaged about 43,000,000 pounds. The New
Almaden mine (opened in 1824) in Santa Clara county produced from 1850
to 1896 some 73,000,000 pounds. The centre of production is north and
south of San Francisco Bay. Californian coal is almost wholly inferior
brown lignite, together with a small quantity of bituminous coals of
poor quality; the state does not produce a tenth part of the coal it
consumes. Of growing importance are the gems found in California: a few
diamonds in Butte county; rock crystal in Calaveras county; and
tourmalines, kunzite, the rare pink beryl and bright blue topazes in San
Diego county. Chrysoprase, mined near Porterville and near Visalia
(Tulare county), is used partly for gems, but more largely (like the
vesuvianite found near Exeter, in the same county) for mosaic work; and
there are ledges of fine rose quartz in the Coahuila mountains of
Riverside county and near Lemon Cove, Tulare county.
A vivid realization of the industrial revolution in the state is to be
gained from the reflection that in 1875 California was pre-eminent only
for gold and sheep; that the aggregate mineral output thirty years later
was more than a third greater than then, and that nevertheless the value
of farm produce at the opening of the 20th century exceeded by more than
$100,000,000 the value of mineral produce, and exceeded by $50,000,000
the most generous estimate of the largest annual gold output in the
annals of the state.
_Manufactures._--Previous to 1860 almost every manufactured article used
in the state was imported from the east or from Europe. Dairy products,
for example, for whose production good facilities always existed, were
long greatly neglected, and not for two decades at least after 1848 was
the state independent in this respect. The high cost of coal, the
speculative attractions of mining, and the high wages of labour,
handicapped the development of manufactures in early years. The first
continued to be a drag on such industries, until after 1895 the
increasing use of crude petroleum obviated the difficulty. Several
remarkable electric power and lighting plants utilize the water power of
the mountains.[4] Geographic isolation has somewhat fostered state
industries. The value of gross manufactured products increased 41.9%
from 1890 to 1900. In the latter year California ranked 12th among the
states in the gross value of all manufactures ($302,874,761); the
per-capita value of manufactured and agricultural products being
$293,--$89 of the latter, $204 of the former. Of the wage-earners 61%
were engaged in manufacturing. Fourteen industries represented from 41%
to 45% of the employees, wages, capital and product of the aggregate
manufacturers of the state. The leading ones in order of importance and
the value of product in millions of dollars were: the manufacture of
railway, foundry, and machine shop products (19.6 million dollars),
lumber and timber industries (18.57), sugar and molasses refining
(15.91), beef slaughtering (15.72), canning and preserving (13.08),
flour and grist milling (13.10), the manufacture of malt, vinous and
distilled liquors (9.26), leather industries (7.40), printing and
publishing (6.86). In the second, third and fifth of these industries
the state ranked respectively fifth, fourth and first in the Union.[5]
The canning and preserving of fruits and vegetables is in the main an
industry of the northern and central counties. In 1890 the state board
of forestry estimated that the redwood forests were in danger of
exhaustion by 1930. The redwood is a general utility lumber second only
to the common white pine, and the drain on the woods has been continuous
since 1850. The wood has a fine, straight and even grain; and though
light and soft, is firm and extremely durable, lying, it is
authoritatively asserted, for centuries in the forest without
appreciable decay. It takes a beautiful polish. The colour varies from
cedar colour to mahogany. A small southern belt in San Mateo, Santa
Clara and Santa Cruz counties is not being commercially exploited. The
annual lumber cut from 1898-1903 averaged more than 663,348,000 ft.; of
the 852,638,000 ft. cut in 1903, 465,460,000 were of redwood, and
264,890,000 of yellow pine; fir and sugar pines contributing another
104,600,000, and spruce and cedar 17,670,000 ft. In 1900 California
ranked 16th among the states in value of product ($13,764,647, out of a
total of $566,852,984). The total cut was under ½ of 1% of the
estimated stand. In Humboldt county, in the redwood belt near Eureka,
are probably the most modern and remarkable lumber mills of the world.
In 1900 it was estimated that lumbermen controlled somewhat less than a
fifth of the timber of the state, and the same part of the redwood.
After 1890 important shipyards were established near San Francisco. The
most important naval station of the United States on the Pacific coast
is at Mare Island at the northern end of San Francisco Bay, and the
private Union Iron Works, on the peninsula near San Francisco, is one of
the largest shipyards of the country. In 1905 more than one-half of the
factory product was the output of four cities: San Francisco
($137,788,233), Los Angeles ($34,814,475), Sacramento ($10,319,416) and
Fresno ($9,849,001); next ranked Oakland, Stockton, and San José.
The transportation facilities in California increased rapidly after
1870. The building of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines are
among the romances of American railway history. They joined tracks near
Ogden, Utah, in May 1869. The New Orleans line of the Southern Pacific
was opened in January 1883; the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé completed
its line to San Diego in 1885, and to San Francisco Bay in 1900. The San
Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake, with trans-continental connexions at the
eastern terminus, was chartered in 1901 and fully opened in March 1903.
Railway mileage increased 137.3% from 1870 to 1880, and 154.6% from
1880 to 1900. At the close of 1908 the total mileage was 7039.36 m.,
practically all of which is either owned or controlled by the two great
trans-continental systems of the Southern Pacific and the Atchison,
Topeka & Santa Fé. From 1869 to 1875 registered mail exchanges were
opened with China, Japan, Hawaii and Australia. There are now frequent
mail connexions from San Francisco with Hawaii, Australasia, and eastern
Asia, as well as with American ports north and south. The commerce of
San Francisco amounts to some $80,000,000 or $90,000,000 yearly, about
equally divided between imports and exports, until after 1905--in 1907
the imports were valued at $54,207,011, and the exports at $30,378,355
(less than any year since 1896). San Diego has a very good harbour, and
the harbours of San Pedro (Los Angeles) and Eureka are fairly good and
of growing importance. Grains, lumber, fish, fruits and fruit products,
petroleum, vegetables and sugar are the leading items in the commerce of
San Francisco. Other ports are of very secondary importance. Navigation
on the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers was very important in early
days, but is to-day of relatively slight importance in comparison with
railway traffic.
_Population._--The population of California increased in successive
decades from 1850 to 1910 respectively by 310.3, 47.3, 54.3, 40.3, 22.4
and 60.1%. (The percentage of increase in 1900-1910 was exceeded in
Washington, Oklahoma, Idaho, Nevada, North Dakota and Oregon.) In 1910
the total population was 2,377,549, or 15.2 per sq. m. In 1900 there were
116 incorporated towns and cities; and of the total population 43.3%
was urban,--i.e. resident in cities (11 in number) of 8000 or more
inhabitants. These 11 cities were: San Francisco (pop. 342,782), Los
Angeles (102,479), Oakland (66,960), Alameda (16,464), Berkeley
(13,214),--the last three being suburbs of San Francisco, and the last
the seat of the state university,--Sacramento, the state capital
(29,282), San José (21,500), San Diego (17,700), Stockton (17,506),
Fresno (12,470), and Pasadena (9117). Eight other cities had populations
of more than 5000--Riverside City (7973), Vallejo (7965), Eureka (7327),
Santa Rosa (6673), Santa Barbara (6587), San Bernardino (6156), Santa
Cruz (5659), and Pomona (5526).
Of the entire population in 1900 persons of foreign birth or parentage
(one or both parents being foreign) constituted 54.2 and those of native
birth were 75.3%. Of the latter six-tenths were born in California. The
foreign element included 45,753 Chinese (a falling off of 25,313 since
1890), and 10,151 Japanese (an increase of 9004 in the same decade).
Twenty-two foreign countries contributed over 1000 residents each, the
leading ones being the United Kingdom (91,638), Germany (72,449), Canada
(29,618; 27,408 being English Canadians), Italy (22,777), Sweden
(14,549), France (12,256), Portugal (12,068), Switzerland (10,974),
Japan, Denmark, and Mexico, in the order named. Persons of negro descent
numbered 11,045. Almost all the Indians of the state are taxed as
citizens. In 1906 of 611,464 members of religious denominations 354,408
were Roman Catholics, 64,528 Methodist Episcopalians, 37,682
Presbyterians, 26,390 Congregationalists, 24,801 Baptists, 21,317
Protestant Episcopalians, 11,371 Lutherans, and 9,110 members of
Eastern Orthodox churches. A peculiar feature in the population
statistics of California is the predominance of males, which in 1900 was
156,009; the Asiatic element accounts for a third of this number. Since
1885 the eight counties south of the Tehachapi Range, which are known
collectively and specifically as Southern California have greatly
advanced in population. In 1880 their population was 7.3, in 1890 17.2,
and in 1900 20.1% of the total population of the state. The initial
impulse to this increase was the beginning of the "fruit epoch" in these
counties, combined with a railway "rate-war" following the completion to
the coast in 1885 of the Santa Fe, and an extraordinary land boom
prevailing from 1886 to 1888. The conjuncture of circumstances, and the
immigration it induced, were unusual. The growth of the South, as of the
rest of the state, has been continuous and steady.
The Indians were prominent in early Californian history, but their
progress toward their present insignificance began far back in the
Spanish period. It proceeded much more rapidly after the restraining
influence of the missions was removed, leaving them free to revert to
savagery; and the downward progress of the race was fearfully
accelerated during the mining period, when they were abused, depraved,
and in large numbers killed. There have been no Indian wars in
California's annals, but many butcheries. The natives have declined
exceedingly in number since 1830, in 1900 numbering 15,377. They have
always been mild-tempered, low, and unintelligent, and are to-day a poor
and miserable race. They are all called "Digger Indians"
indiscriminately, although divided by a multiplicity of tongues.
_Government and Institutions._--In the matter of constitution-making
California has been conservative, having had only two between 1849 and
1910. The first was framed by a convention at Monterey in 1849, and
ratified by the people and proclaimed by the United States military
governor in the same year. The present constitution, framed by a
convention in 1878-1879, came into full effect in 1880, and was
subsequently amended. It was the work of the labour party, passed at a
time of high discontent, and goes at great length into the details of
government, as was demanded by the state of public opinion. The
qualifications required for the suffrage are in no way different from
those common throughout the Union, except that by a constitutional
amendment of 1894 it is necessary for a voter to be able to read the
state constitution and write his name. As compared with the earlier
constitution it showed many radical advances toward popular control, the
power of the legislature being everywhere curtailed. The power of
legislation was taken from it by specific inhibition in thirty-one
subjects before within its power; its control of the public domain, its
powers in taxation, and its use of the state credit were carefully
safe-guarded. "Lobbying" was made a felony; provisions were inserted
against lotteries and stock-exchange gambling, to tax and control common
carriers and great corporations, and to regulate telegraph, telephone,
storage and wharfage charges. The powers of the executive department
were also somewhat curtailed. For the judiciary, provisions were made
for expediting trials and decisions. Notable was the innovation that
agreement by three-fourths of a jury should be sufficient in civil cases
and that a jury might be waived in minor criminal cases, a provision
which of course was based on experience under the Mexican law. All these
changes in the organic law reflect bitter experience after 1850; and,
read with the history of those years as a commentary, few American
constitutions are more instructive. The constitution of 1879 corresponds
very closely to the ordinary state constitution of to-day. The
incorporation of banks issuing circulating notes is forbidden. Marriage
is not only declared a civil contract, but the laws expressly recognize
that the mere consent of the parties is adequate to constitute a binding
marriage. The union of whites with persons of African descent is
forbidden. Felons twice convicted may not be pardoned except on the
recommendation of a majority of the judges of the supreme court. Judges
and state executive officers are elected for terms longer than is usual
in the different states (supreme judges 12 years, executive officers 4
years). These few provisions are mentioned, not as of particular
importance in themselves, but as exceptions of some moment to the usual
type of state Constitutions (see UNITED STATES). The Australian ballot
was introduced in 1891. In local government there are no deviations from
the usual types that demand notice. In the matter of liquor-laws there
is local option, and a considerable proportion of the towns and smaller
cities, particularly in the south, adopt prohibition. In most of the
rest high licence is more or less strictly enforced.
The total assessed valuation of property grew from $666,399,985 in 1880
to $1,217,648,683 in 1900 and $1,879,728,763 in 1907. In 1904, when the
U.S. Census Report showed California to be the twenty-first state of the
Union in population but the sixth in wealth, the total estimated true
value of all property was $4,115,491,106, of which $2,664,472,025 was
the value of real property and improvements thereon. The per capita
wealth of the state was then reported as $2582.32, being exceeded only
by the three sparsely settled states of Montana, Wyoming and Nevada. In
1898 California had the largest savings-bank deposit per depositor
($637.75) of any state in the Union; the _per caput_ deposit was $110 in
1902, and about one person in seven was a depositor. The state bonded
debt in 1907 amounted to three and a half million dollars, of which all
but $767,529.03 was represented by bonds purchased by the state and held
for the school and university funds; for the common school fund on the
1st of July 1907 there were held bonds for $4,890,950, and $800,000 in
cash available for investment; for the university fund there were held
$751,000 in state bonds, and a large amount in other securities. The
total bonded county indebtedness was $4,879,600 in 1906 (not including
that of San Francisco, a consolidated city and county, which was
$4,568,600). A homestead, entered upon record and limited to a value of
$5000 if held by the head of a family and to a value of $1000 if held by
one not the head of a family, is exempt from liability for debts, except
for a mortgage, a lien before it was claimed as a homestead or a lien
afterward for improvements. A homestead held by a married man cannot be
mortgaged without consent of his wife.
Under an act approved on the 25th of March 1903 a state board of
charities and corrections,--consisting of six members, not more than
three being of the same political party, appointed by the governor, with
the advice and consent of the senate, and holding office for twelve
years, two retiring at the end of each quadrennium,--investigates,
examines, and makes "reports upon the charitable, correctional and penal
institutions of the state," excepting the Veterans' Home at Yountville,
Napa county, and the Woman's Relief Corps Home at Evergreen, Santa Clara
county. There are state prisons with convicts working under the public
account system, at San Quentin, Marin county, and Folsom, Sacramento
county. The Preston (Sonoma county) School of Industry, for older boys,
and the Whittier (Los Angeles county) State School, for girls and for
boys under sixteen, are the state reformatories, each having good
industrial and manual training departments. There are state hospitals
for the insane at Agnew, Santa Clara county; at Stockton, San Joaquin
county; at Napa, Napa county; at Patton, San Bernardino county; and,
with a colony of tubercular patients, at Ukiah, Mendocino county. In
1906 the ratio of insane confined to institutions, to the total
population, was 1 to every 270. Also under state control are the home
for care and training of feeble-minded children, at Eldridge, Sonoma
county; the institution for the deaf and the blind at Berkeley, and the
home of mechanical trades for the adult blind at Oakland. A Juvenile
Court Law was enacted in 1903 and modified in 1905.
The educational system of California is one of the best in the country.
The state board of education is composed of the governor of the state,
who is its president; the superintendent of public instruction, who is
its secretary; the presidents of the five normal schools and of the
University of California, and the professor of pedagogy in the
university. Sessions are long in primary schools, and attendance was
made compulsory in 1874 (and must not be less than two-thirds of all
school days). The state controlled the actual preparation and sale of
text-books for the common schools from 1885 to 1903, when the Perry
amendment to the constitution (ratified by popular vote in 1884) was
declared to mean that such text-books must be manufactured within the
state, but that the texts need not be prepared in California. The
experiment of state-prepared text-books was expensive, and its effect
was bad on the public school system, as such text-books were almost
without exception poorly written and poorly printed. After 1903
copyrights were leased by the state. Secondary schools are closely
affiliated with, and closely inspected by, the state university. All
schools are generously supported, salaries are unusually good, and
pension funds in all cities are authorized by state laws. The value of
school property in 1900 was $19,135,722, and the expenditure for the
public schools $6,195,000; in 1906 the value of school property was
$29,013,150, and the expenditure for public schools $10,815,857. The
average school attendance for all minors of school age (5-20 years) was
59.9%; of those native-born 61.5, of those foreign-born 34.6; of
coloured children, including Asiatics and Indians, 35.8, and of white,
60.8%. In 1900, 6.2% of the males of voting age, and 2.4% of the
native-born males of voting age, were illiterate (could not write). Some
3% of the total population could not speak English; Chinese and
Japanese constituting almost half of the number, foreign-born whites
somewhat less, and Indians and native-born whites of foreign parentage
together less than a tenth of the total. Of the higher educational
institutions of the state the most important are the state university at
Berkeley and Leland Stanford Jr. University at Palo Alto. The former is
supported with very great liberality by the state; and the latter, the
endowment of which is private (the state, however, exempting it from
taxation), is one of the richest educational institutions of America. In
1906 there were also five state normal schools (at Chico, Los Angeles,
San Diego, San Francisco, and San José), and a considerable number of
denominational colleges. There is also a state polytechnic school at San
Luis Obispo (1903).
_History._--The name "California" was taken from Ordoñez de Montalvo's
romance of chivalry _Las Sergas de Esplandian_ (Madrid, 1510), in which
is told of black Amazons ruling an island of this name "to the right of
the Indies, very near the quarter of the terrestrial paradise." The name
was given to the unknown north-west before 1540. It does not show that
the namers were prophets or wise judges, for the Spaniards really knew
California not at all for more than two centuries, and then only as a
genial but rather barren land; but it shows that the _conquistadores_
mixed poetry with business and illustrates the glamour thrown about the
"Northern Mystery." Necessarily the name had for a long time no definite
geographical meaning. The lower Colorado river was discovered in 1540,
but the explorers did not penetrate California; in 1542-1543 Juan
Rodriguez Cabrillo explored at least the southern coast; in 1579 Sir
Francis Drake repaired his ships in some Californian port (almost
certainly not San Francisco Bay), and named the land New Albion; two
Philippine ships visited the coast in 1584 and 1595, and in 1602 and
1603 Sebastian Vizcaino discovered the sites of San Diego and Monterey.
There was apparently no increase of knowledge thereafter for 150 years.
Most of this time California was generally supposed to be an island or a
group of islands. Jesuit missionaries entered Lower California as early
as 1697, maintaining themselves there until Charles III.'s expulsion in
1767 of all Jesuits from his dominions; but not until Russian
explorations in Alaska from 1745-1765 did the Spanish government show
interest in Upper California. Because of these explorations, and also
the long-felt need of a refitting point on the California coast for the
galleons from Manila, San Diego was occupied in 1769 and Monterey in
1770 as a result of urgent orders from Charles III. San Francisco Bay
was discovered in the former year. Meanwhile the Jesuit property in the
Peninsula had been turned over to Franciscan monks, but in 1772 the
Dominicans took over the missions, and the Franciscans not unwillingly
withdrew to Upper California, where they were to thrive remarkably for
some fifty years.
The rule of the missions.
This is the mission period--or from an economic standpoint, the
pastoral period--of Californian history. In all, twenty-one missions
were established between 1769 and 1823. The leader in this movement was
a really remarkable man, Miguel José Serra (known as Junipero Serra,
1713-1784), a friar of very great ability, purest piety, and tireless
zeal. He possessed great influence in Mexico and Madrid. "The theory of
the mission system," says H.H. Bancroft, "was to make the savages work
out their own salvation and that of the priests also." The last phrase
scarcely does justice to the truly humane and devout intentions of the
missionaries; but in truth the mission system was a complete failure
save in the accumulation of material wealth. Economically the missions
were the blood and life of the province. At them the neophytes worked up
wool, tanned hides, prepared tallow, cultivated hemp and wheat, raised a
few oranges, made soap, some iron and leather articles, mission
furniture, and a very little wine and olive oil. Such as it was, this
was about the only manufacturing or handicraft in California. Besides,
the hides and tallow yielded by the great herds of cattle at the
missions were the support of foreign trade and did much toward paying
the expenses of the government. The Franciscans had no sympathy for
profane knowledge, even among the Mexicans,--sometimes publicly burning
quantities of books of a scientific or miscellaneous nature; and the
reading of Fénelon's _Télémaque_ brought excommunication on a layman. As
for the intellectual development of the neophytes the mission system
accomplished nothing; save the care of their souls they received no
instruction, they were virtually slaves, and were trained into a fatal
dependence, so that once coercion was removed they relapsed at once into
barbarism. It cannot be said, however, that Anglo-Americans have done
much better for them.
The political upheavals in Spain and Mexico following 1808 made little
stir in this far-off province. Joseph was never recognized, and
allegiance was sworn to Ferdinand (1809). When revolution broke out in
Mexico (1811), California remained loyal, suffering much by the
cessation of supplies from Mexico, the resulting deficits falling as an
added burden upon the missions. The occupation of Monterey for a few
hours by a Buenos Aires privateer (1818) was the only incident of actual
war that California saw in all these years; and it, in truth, was a
ridiculous episode, fit introduction to the bloodless play-wars, soon to
be inaugurated in Californian politics. In 1820 the Spanish constitution
was duly sworn to in California, and in 1822 allegiance was given to
Mexico. Under the Mexican Federal constitution of 1824 Upper California,
first alone (it was made a distinct province in 1804) and then with
Lower California, received representation in the Mexican congress.
The following years before American occupation may be divided into two
periods of quite distinct interest. From about 1840 to 1848 foreign
relations are the centre of interest. From 1824 to 1840 there is a
complicated and not uninteresting movement of local politics and a
preparation for the future,--the missions fall, republicanism grows, the
sentiment of local patriotism becomes a political force, there is a
succession of sectional controversies and personal struggles among
provincial chiefs, an increase of foreign commerce, of foreign
immigration and of foreign influence.
The Franciscans were mostly Spaniards in blood and in sympathies. They
viewed with displeasure and foreboding the fall of Iturbide's empire and
the creation of the republic. They were not treasonable, but talked
much, refusing allegiance to the new government; and as they controlled
the resources of the colony and the good will of the Indians, they felt
their strength against the local authority; besides, they were its
constant benefactors. But secularization was in harmony with the growth
of republican ideas. There was talk in California of the rights of man
and neophytes, and of the sins of friars. The missions were never
intended to be permanent. The missionaries were only the field workers
sent out to convert and civilize the Indians, who were to be turned over
then to the regular clergy, the monks pushing further onward into new
fields. This was the well-established policy of Spain. In 1813 the
Spanish Cortes ordered the secularization of all missions in America
that were ten years old, but this decree was not published in
California until 1821. After that secularization was the burning
question in Californian politics. In 1826 a beginning toward it was made
in partially emancipating the neophytes, but active and thorough
secularization of the missions did not begin until 1834; by 1835 it was
consummated at sixteen missions out of twenty-one, and by 1840 at all.
At some of the missions the monks acted later as temporary curates for
the civil authorities, until in 1845-1846 all the missions were sold by
the government. Unfortunately the manner of carrying it out discredited
a policy neither unjust nor bad in itself, increasing its importance in
the political struggles of the time. The friars were in no way
mistreated: Californians did not share Mexican resentments against
Spaniards, and the national laws directed against these were in the main
quietly ignored in the province. In 1831 the mission question led to a
rising against the reactionary clerical rule of Governor Manuel
Victoria. He was driven out of the province.
This was the first of the opéra bouffe wars. The causes underlying them
were serious enough. In the first place, there was a growing
dissatisfaction with Mexican rule, which accomplished nothing tangible
for good in California,--although its plans were as excellent as could
be asked had there only been peace and means to realize them; however,
it made the mistake of sending convicts as soldiers. Californians were
enthusiastic republicans, but found the benefits of republicanism slow
in coming. The resentment of the Franciscans, the presence of these and
other reactionaries and of Spaniards, the attitude of foreign residents,
and the ambitions of leading Californian families united to foment and
propagate discontent. The feeling against Mexicans--those "de la otra
banda" as they were significantly termed--invaded political and even
social life. In the second place, there was growing jealousy between
northern towns and southern towns, northern families and southern
families. These entered into disputes over the location of the capital
and the custom-house, in the Franciscan question also (because the
friars came some from a northern and some from a southern college), and
in the question of the distribution of commands in the army and offices
in the civil government. Then there was the mission question; this
became acuter about 1833 when the friars began to destroy, or sell and
realize on, the mission property. The next decade was one of plunder and
ruin in mission history. Finally there was a real growth of
republicanism, and some rulers--notably Victoria--were wholly out of
sympathy with anything but personal, military rule. From all these
causes sprang much unrest and considerable agitation.
In 1828-1829 there was a revolution of unpaid soldiers aided by natives,
against alleged but not serious abuses, that really aimed at the
establishment of an independent native government. In 1831 Governor
Victoria was deposed; in 1836 Governor Mariano Chico was frightened out
of the province; in 1836 Governor Nicolas Gutierrez and in 1844-1845
Governor Manuel Micheltorena were driven out of office. The leading
natives headed this last rising. There was talk of independence, but
sectional and personal jealousies could not be overcome. In all these
wars there was not enough blood shed to discolour a sword. The rising of
1836 against Gutierrez seems to-day most interesting, for it was in part
a protest against the growth of federalism in Mexico. California was
even deferred to as (declared to be seems much too strong a statement)
an Estado Libre y Soberano; and from 1836 to 1838, when the
revolutionary governor, Juan B. Alvarado, was recognized by the Mexican
government, which had again inclined to federalism and, besides, did not
take the matter very seriously, the local government rested simply on
local sentiment. The satisfaction of this ended all difficulties.
American immigration.
American and European intriques.
By this time foreign influence was showing itself of importance. Foreign
commerce, which of course was contraband, being contrary to all Spanish
laws, was active by the beginning of the 19th century. It was greatly
stimulated during the Spanish-American revolutions (the Lima and Panama
trade dating from about 1813), for, as the Californian authorities
practically ignored the law, smuggling was unnecessary; this was,
indeed, much greater after 1822 under the high duties (in 1836-1840
generally about 100%) of the Mexican tariffs. In the early 'forties some
three-fourths of the imports, even at Monterey itself, are said to have
paid no duties, being landed by agreement with the officials. Wholesale
and retail trade flourished all along the coast in defiance of
prohibitory laws. American trade was by far most important. The Boston
traders--whose direct trade began in 1822, but the indirect ventures
long before that--were men of decided influence in California. The trade
supplied almost all the clothing, merchandise and manufactures used in
the province; hides and furs were given in exchange. If foreign trade
was not to be received, still less were foreign travellers, under the
Spanish laws. However, the Russians came in 1805, and in 1812 founded on
Bodega Bay a post they held till 1841, whence they traded and hunted
(even in San Francisco Bay) for furs. From the day of the earliest
foreign commerce sailors and traders of divers nationalities began to
settle in the province. In 1826 American hunters first crossed to the
coast; in 1830 the Hudson's Bay Company began operations in northern
California. By this time the foreign element was considerable in number,
and it doubled in the next six years, although the true overland
immigration from the United States began only about 1840. As a class
foreigners were respected, and they were influential beyond proportion
to their numbers. They controlled commerce, and were more energetic,
generally, than were the natives; many were naturalized, held generous
grants of land, and had married into Californian families, not excluding
the most select and influential. Most prominent of Americans in the
interior was John A. Sutter (1803-1880), who held a grant of eleven
square leagues around the present site of Sacramento, whereon he built a
fort. His position as a Mexican official, and the location of his
fortified post on the border, commanding the interior country and lying
on the route of the overland immigrants, made him of great importance in
the years preceding and immediately following American occupation;
although he was a man of slight abilities and wasted his great
opportunities. Other settlers in the coast towns were also of high
standing and importance. In short, Americans were hospitably received
and very well treated by the government and the people; despite some
formalities and ostensible surveillance there was no oppression
whatever. There was, however, some jealousy of the ease with which
Americans secured land grants, and an entirely just dislike of "bad"
Americans. The sources from which all the immigrants were recruited made
inevitable an element of lawlessness and truculence. The Americans
happened to predominate. Along with a full share of border individuality
and restlessness they had the usual boisterous boastfulness and a racial
contempt, which was arrogantly proclaimed, for Mexicans,--often too for
Mexican legal formalities. The early comers were a conservative force in
politics, but many of the later comers wanted to make California a
second Texas. As early as 1805 (at the time of James Monroe's
negotiations for Florida), there are traces of Spain's fear of American
ambitions even in this far-away province. It was a fear she felt for all
her American possessions. Spain's fears passed on to Mexico, the
Russians being feared only less than Americans. An offer was made by
President Jackson in 1835 to buy the northern part of California,
including San Francisco Bay, but was refused. In 1836 and 1844 Americans
were prominent in the incidents of revolution; divided in opinion in
both years they were neutral in the actual "hostilities" of the latter,
but some gave active support to the governor in 1836. From 1836 on,
foreign interference was much talked about. Americans supposed that
Great Britain wished to exchange Mexican bonds for California; France
also was thought to be watching for an opening for gratifying supposed
ambitions; and all parties saw that even without overt act by the United
States the progress of American settlement seemed likely to gain them
the province, whose connexion with Mexico had long been a notoriously
loose one. A considerable literature written by travellers of all the
countries named had before this discussed all interests. In 1840 for too
active interest in politics some Americans and Englishmen were
temporarily expelled.
The "Bear Flag."
In 1842 Commodore T.A.C. Jones (1789-1858) of the United States navy,
believing that war had broken out between his country and Mexico and
that a British force was about to seize California, raised the American
flag over Monterey (October 21st), but finding that he had acted on
misinformation he lowered the flag next day with due ceremony and warm
apology. In California this incident served only to open up agreeable
personal relations and social courtesies, but it did not tend to clarify
the diplomatic atmosphere. It showed the ease of seizing the country,
the indifference of the natives, and the resolution of the United States
government. Mexico sought to prevent American immigration, but the local
authorities would not enforce such orders, however positive. Between
1843 and 1845, Great Britain, the United States, and France opened
consulates. By 1845 there was certainly an agreement in opinion among
all American residents (then not 700 in number) as regards the future of
the country. The policy of France and Great Britain in these years is
unknown. That of the United States is fully known. In 1845 the American
consul at Monterey, Thomas O. Larkin (1802-1858), was instructed to work
for the secession of California from Mexico, without overt aid from the
United States, but with their good-will and sympathy. He very soon
gained from leading officers assurances of such a movement before 1848.
At the same time American naval officers were instructed to occupy the
ports in case of war with Mexico, but first and last to work for the
good-will of the natives. In 1845 Captain J.C. Frémont,--whose doings in
California in the next two years were among the main assets in a
life-long reputation and an unsuccessful presidential campaign,--while
engaged in a government surveying expedition, aroused the apprehensions
of the Californian authorities by suspicious and very possibly
intentionally provocative movements, and there was a show of military
force by both parties. Frémont had information beyond that of ordinary
men that made him believe early hostilities between the United States
and Mexico to be inevitable; he was also officially informed of Larkin's
secret task and in no way authorized to hamper it. Resentment, however,
incited him to personal revenge on the Californian government, and an
ambition that clearly saw the gravity of the crisis prompted him to
improve it unscrupulously for his own advancement, leaving his
government to support or disavow him according as war should come or
not. In violation therefore of international amities, and practically in
disobedience of orders, he broke the peace, caused a band of Mexican
cavalry mounts to be seized, and prompted some American settlers to
occupy Sonoma (14th June 1846). This episode is known as the "Bear Flag
War," inasmuch as there was short-lived talk of making California an
independent state, and a flag with a bear as an emblem (California is
still popularly known as the Bear Flag State) flew for a few days at
Sonoma. It was a very small, very disingenuous, inevitably an anomalous,
and in the vanity of proclamations and other concomitant incidents
rather a ridiculous affair; and fortunately for the dignity of
history--and for Frémont--it was quickly merged in a larger question,
when Commodore John Drake Sloat (1780-1867) on the 7th of July raised
the flag of the United States over Monterey, proclaiming California a
part of the United States. The opening hostilities of the Mexican War
had occurred on the Rio Grande. The excuses and explanations later given
by Frémont--military preparations by the Californian authorities, the
imminence of their attack, ripening British schemes for the seizure of
the province, etc.--made up the stock account of historians until the
whole truth came out in 1886 (in Royce's _California_). Californians had
been very friendly to Americans, but Larkin's intimates thought they had
been tricked, and the people resented the stealthy and unprovoked
breaking of peace, and unfortunately the Americans did not known how to
treat them except inconsiderately and somewhat contemptuously. The
result was a feeble rising in the south. The country was fully pacified
by January 1847. The aftermath of Frémont's filibustering acts, followed
as they were by wholly needless hostilities and by some injustice then
and later in the attitude of Americans toward the natives, was a growing
misunderstanding and estrangement, regrettable in Californian history.
Thus there was an end to the "lotos-land society" of California. Another
society, less hospitable, less happy, less contented, but also less
mild, better tempered for building states, and more "progressive," took
the place of the old.
California ceded to the United States.
The rush for gold.
By the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 Mexico ceded California to
the United States. It was just at this time that gold was discovered,
and the new territory took on great national importance. The discussion
as to what should be done with it began in Congress in 1846, immediately
involving the question of slavery. A furious conflict developed, so that
nothing was accomplished in two successive sessions; even at the end of
a third, in March 1849, the only progress made toward creating a
government for the territory was that the national revenue laws had been
extended over it and San Francisco had been made a port of entry.
Meanwhile conditions grew intolerable for the inhabitants. Before the
end of the war Mexican laws not incompatible with United States laws
were by international law supposed to be in force; but nobody knew what
they were, and the uncertainties of vague and variable alcalde
jurisdictions were increased when Americans began to be alcaldes and
grafted English common-law principles, like the jury, on Californian
practice. Never was a population more in need of clear laws than the
motley Californian people of 1848-1849, yet they had none when, with
peace, military rule and Mexican law technically ended. There was a
curious extra-legal fusion of laws, a half-breed legal system, and no
definite basis for either law or government. Even the acts and theories
of the officials were very inconsistent. Early in 1849 temporary local
governments were set up in various towns, and in September a convention
framed a free-state constitution and applied for admission to the Union.
On the 7th of September 1850 a bill finally passed Congress admitting
California as a free state. This was one of the bargains in the
"Compromise Measures of 1850" that were intended to dispose of the
question of slavery in the Territories. Meanwhile the gold discoveries
culminated and surpassed "three centuries of wild talk about gold in
California." For three months there was little excitement, then a wild
rush. Settlements were completely deserted; homes, farms and stores
abandoned. Ships deserted by their sailors crowded the bay at San
Francisco--there were 500 of them in July 1850; soldiers deserted
wholesale, churches were emptied, town councils ceased to sit,
merchants, clerks, lawyers and judges and criminals, everybody, flocked
to the foothills. Soon, from Hawaii, Oregon and Sonora, from the Eastern
states, the South Seas, Australia, South America and China came an
extraordinary flow of the hopeful and adventurous. In the winter of '48
the rush began from the states to Panama, and in the spring across the
plains. It is estimated that 80,000 men reached the coast in 1849, about
half of them coming overland; three-fourths were Americans. Rapid
settlement, excessive prices, reckless waste of money, and wild
commercial ventures that glutted San Francisco with all objects usable
and unusable made the following years astounding from an economic point
of view; but not less bizarre was the social development, nor less
extraordinary the problems of state-building in a society "morally and
socially tried as no other American community ever has been tried"
(Royce). There was of course no home life in early California. In 1850
women numbered 8% of the population, but only 2% in the mining
counties. The miners were an energetic, covetous, wandering, abnormally
excitable body of men. Occasionally a kind of frenzy even would seem to
seize on them, and lured by the hope of new deposits of unheard-of
richness thousands would flock on unfounded rumours to new and perhaps
distant localities, where many might perish from disease and starvation,
the rest returning in poverty and rags. Such were the Kern River fever
of 1855 and the greater "Fraser River rush" of 1858, the latter, which
took perhaps 20,000 men out of the state, causing a terrible amount of
suffering. Many interior towns lost half their population and some
virtually all their population as a result of this emigration; and it
precipitated a real estate crash in San Francisco that threatened
temporary ruin. Mining times in California brought out some of the most
ignoble and some of the best traits of American character. Professor
Josiah Royce has pictured the social-moral process by which society
finally impressed its "claims on wayward and blind individuals" who
"sought wealth and not a social order," and so long as possible shirked
all social obligations. Through varied instruments--lynch law, popular
courts, vigilance committees--order was, however, enforced, better as
times went on, until there was a stable condition of things. In the
economic life and social character of California to-day the legacies of
1848 are plain.
Disputed land grants.
The slavery question was not settled for California in 1850. Until the
Civil War the division between the Whig and Democratic parties, whose
organization in California preceded statehood, was essentially based on
slavery. The struggle fused with the personal contests of two men,
rivals for the United States Senate, William McKendree Gwin (1805-85,
U.S. senator, 1850-55 and 1857-61), the leader of the pro-slavery party,
and David Colbreth Broderick (1819-1859), formerly a leader of Tammany
in New York, and after 1857 a member from California of the United
States Senate, the champion of free labour, who declared in 1860 for the
policy of the Republican party. Broderick's undoing was resolved upon by
the slavery party, and he was killed in a duel. The Gwin party hoped to
divide California into two states and hand the southern over to slavery;
on the eve of the Civil War it considered the scheme of a Pacific coast
republic. The decade 1850-1860 was also marked by the activity of
filibusters against Sonora and Central America. Two of these--a French
adventurer, one Gaston Raoux, comte de Raousset-Boulbon (1817-1854), and
William Walker, had very picturesque careers. The state was thoroughly
loyal when war came. The later 'fifties are characterized by H.H.
Bancroft as a period of "moral, political and financial night." National
politics were put first, to the complete ignoring of excessive taxation,
financial extravagance, ignorant legislation and corruption in
California. The public was exploited for many years with impunity for
the benefit of private interests. One legacy that ought to be briefly
noted here is that of disputed land grants. Under the Mexican régime
such grants were generous and common, and the complicated formalities
theoretically essential to their validity were very often, if not
usually, only in part attended to. Titles thus gained would never have
been questioned under continued Mexican government, but Americans were
unaccustomed to such riches in land and to such laxity. From the very
first hundreds "squatted" on large claims, contesting the title. Instead
of confirming all claims existing when the country passed to the United
States, and so ensuring an immediate settlement of the matter, which was
really the most important thing for the peace and purse of the
community, the United States government undertook through a land
commission and courts to sift the valid from the fraudulent. Claims of
enormous aggregate value were thus considered and a large part of those
dating from the last years of Mexican dominion (many probably artfully
concocted and fraudulently antedated after the commission was at work)
were finally rejected. This litigation filled the state and federal
courts for many years. The high value of realty in San Francisco
naturally offered extraordinary inducements to fraud, and the largest
part of the city was for years involved in fraudulent claims, and its
peace broken by "squatter"-troubles. Twenty or thirty years of the
state's life were disturbed by these controversies. Land monopoly is an
evil of large proportions in California to-day, but it is due to the
laxness of the United States government in enabling speculators to
accumulate holdings and not to the original extent of Mexican grants.
In state gubernatorial elections after the Civil War the Democrats won
in 1867, 1875, 1882, 1886, 1894; the Republicans in 1871, 1879, 1890,
1898, 1902, 1906, 1910. Features of political life and of legislation
after 1876 were a strong labour agitation, the struggle for the
exclusion of the Chinese, for the control of hydraulic mining,
irrigation, and the advancement by state-aid of the fruit interests; the
last three of which have already been referred to above. Labour
conditions were peculiar in the decade following 1870. Mining, war times
and the building of the Central Pacific had up to then inflated prices
and prosperity. Then there came a slump; probably the truth was rather
that money was becoming less unnaturally abundant than that there was
any over-supply of labour. The turning off of some 15,000 Chinese
(principally in 1869-1870) from the Central Pacific lines who flocked to
San Francisco, augmented the discontent of incompetents, of disappointed
late immigrants, and the reaction from flush times. Labour unions became
strong and demonstrative. In 1877-1878 Denis Kearney (1847-1907), an
Irish drayman and demagogue of considerable force and daring, headed the
discontented. This is called the "sand-lots agitation" from the
favourite meeting-place (in San Francisco) of the agitators.
The outcome of these years was the Constitution of 1879, already
described, and the exclusion of Chinese by national law. In 1879
California voted against further immigration of Chinese by 154,638 to
883. Congress re-enacted exclusion legislation in 1902. All authorities
agree that the Chinese in early years were often abused in the mining
country and their rights most unjustly neglected by the law and its
officers. Men among the most respected in California (Joaquin Miller,
H.H. Bancroft and others) have said most in praise and defence of the
Chinaman. From railroad making to cooking he has proved his abilities
and trustworthiness. He is found to-day in the mines and fisheries, in
various lines of manufacture, in small farming, and in all branches of
domestic service. The question of the economic development of the state,
and of trade to the Orient, the views of the mercenary labour-contractor
and of the philanthropist, the factor of "upper-race" repugnance, the
"economic-leech" argument, the "rat-rice-filth-and-opium" argument, have
all entered into the problem. Certain it is that though the unprejudiced
must admit that exclusion has not been at all an unmixed blessing, yet
the consensus of opinion is that a large population, non-citizen and
non-assimilable, sending--it is said--most of their earnings to China,
living in the main meanly at best, and practically without wives,
children or homes, is socially and economically a menace outweighing the
undoubted convenience of cheaper (and frequently more trustworthy)
menial labour than the other population affords. The exclusion had much
to do with making the huge single crop ranches unprofitable and in
leading to their replacement by small farms and varied crops. Many of
the Chinese now in the state are wealthy. Race feeling against them has
become much less marked.
One outcome of early mission history, the "Pious Fund of the
Californias," claimed in 1902 the attention of the Hague Tribunal. (See
ARBITRATION, INTERNATIONAL, Hague cases section.) In 1906-1907 there was
throughout the state a remarkable anti-Japanese agitation, centring in
San Francisco (q.v.) and affecting international relations and national
politics.
GOVERNORS OF CALIFORNIA (State)[6]
I. SPANISH
Gasper de Portolá served 1767-1770
Filipe de Barri " 1771-1774
Felipe de Neve " 1774-1782
Pedro Pages " 1782-1791
Jose Antonio Romeu " 1791-1792
*José Joaquin de Arillaga " 1792-1794
Diego de Borica " 1794-1800
*José Joaquin de Arillaga " 1800-1804
José Joaquin de Arillaga " 1804-1814
*José Diario Arguello " 1814-1815
Pablo Vicente de Sola " 1815-1822
II. Mexican
Pablo Vicente de Sola served 1822
*Luis Antonio Arguello " 1822-1825
José Maria Echeandía " 1825-1831
Manuel Victoria " 1831
José Maria Echeandía[7] " 1831-1832
Pio Pico[8] " 1832
José Figueroa " 1832-1835
*José Castro " 1835-1836
*Nicolas Gutierrez " 1836
Mariano Chico " 1836
Nicolas Gutierrez " 1836
Juan Bautista Alvarado[9] " 1836-1842
Carlos Antonio Carrillo[10] " 1837-1838
Manuel Micheltorena " 1842-1845
Pio Pico " 1845-1846
III AMERICAN
(a) _Military_
John D. Sloat appointed 1846
Richard F. Stockton " 1846-1847
Stephen W. Kearny " 1847
R.B. Mason " 1847-1849
Bennett Riley " 1849
(b) _State_.
Peter H. Burnett 1849-1851 Democrat
*John H. McDougall 1851-1852 "
John Bigler 1852-1856 "
John M. Johnson 1856-1858 Know Nothing
John B. Weller 1858-1860 Lecompton Democrat
Milton S. Latham 1869 (6 days) " "
*John G. Downey 1860-1862 " "
Leland Stanford 1862-1863 Republican
Frederick F. Low 1863-1867 "
Henry H. Haight 1867-1871 Democrat
Newton Booth 1871-1875 Republican
*Romualdo Pacheco 1875 "
William Irwin 1875-1880 Democrat
George G. Perkins 1880-1883 Republican
George C. Stoneman 1883-1887 Democrat
Washington Bartlett 1887 "
*Robert W. Waterman 1887-1891 Republican
Henry H. Markham 1891-1895 "
James H. Budd 1895-1899 Democrat
Henry T. Gage 1899-1903 Republican
George C. Pardee 1903-1907 "
James N. Gillett 1907-1911 "
Hiram W. Johnson 1911- "
The mark * before the name of one of the Spanish governors indicates
that he acted only _ad interim_, and, in the case of governors since
1849, that the officer named was elected as lieutenant-governor and
succeeded to the office of governor.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--For list of works on California, see University of
California _Library Bulletin_, No. 9, 1887, "List of Printed Maps of
California"; catalogue of state official publications by State Library
(Sacramento, 1894). The following may be cited here on different
aspects:--
TOPOGRAPHY.--J. Muir, _Mountains of California_ (New York, 1894); H.
Gannett, "Dictionary of Elevations" (1898), and "River Profiles,"
publications of _United States Geological Survey_; G.W. James, _The
Wonders of the Colorado Desert_ (2 vols., Boston, 1906).
CLIMATE, &c.--_U.S. Department of Agriculture, California Climate and
Crop Service_, monthly reports; E.S. Holden, _Recorded, Earthquakes
in California, Lower California, Oregon, and Washington Territory_
(California State University, 1887); _United States Department
Agriculture, Weather Bureau, Bulletins,_ Alexander G. McAdie,
"Climatology of California" (Washington, 1903). There is a great mass
of general descriptive literature, especially on Southern California,
such as Charles Dudley Warner, _Our Italy_ (New York, 1891); Kate
Sanborn, _A Truthful Woman in Southern California_ (New York, 1893);
W. Lindley and J.P. Widney, _California of the South_ (New York,
1896); J.W. Hanson, _American Italy_ (Chicago, 1896); T.S. Van Dyke,
_Southern California_ (New York, 1886), &c.
FAUNA, FLORA.--Muir, _op. cit._; _United States Geological Survey,
19th Annual Report_, pt. v., H. Gannett, "Forests of the United
States"; idem, _20th Annual Report,_ pt. v., "United States Forest
Reserves"; _United States Division of Forestry, Bulletin_ No. 28, "A
Short Account of the Big Trees of California" (1900), No. 38, "The
Redwood" (a volume, 1903), also _Professional Papers, e.g._ No. 8,
J.B. Leiberg, "Forest Conditions in the Northern Sierra Nevada"
(1902); _California Board of Forestry, Reports_ (1885- ); _United
States Censuses,_ reports on forests; _United States Biological
Survey, North American Fauna,_ No. 16, 1899, C.H. Merriam,
"Biological Survey of Mt. Shasta"; _United States Department
Agriculture, Contributions from United States National Herbarium,_
iv., 1893, F.V. Coville, "Botany of Death Valley Expedition"; _State
Board of Fish Commissioners, Reports,_ from 1877; _United States Fish
Commissioners, Annual Reports,_ from 1871, and _Bulletins_ from 1882;
J. le Conte, "Flora of the Coast Islands" (1887), being _Bulletin_ No.
8 of California Academy of Sciences; consult also its _Proceedings_,
_Memoirs_, and _Occasional Papers;_ G.J. Peirce, _Studies on the
Coast Redwood_ (publication of Leland Stanford jr. University, 1901).
AGRICULTURE.--_California Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletins_
from 1884; _Reports of the State Dairy Bureau_, from 1898; _State
Board of Horticulture, Reports,_ 1889-1894; _United States Censuses,_
1890 and 1900, reports on irrigation.
INDUSTRIES.--J.S. Hittell, _Resources of California_ (7th ed., San
Francisco, 1879); J.S. Hittell, _Commerce and Industries of the
Pacific Coast_ (San Francisco, 1882); T.F. Cronise, _Natural Wealth
of California_ (San Francisco, 1868); E.W. Maslin, _Resources of
California,_ prepared by order of Governor H.H. Markham (Sacramento,
1893); _United States Treasury, Bureau of Statistics,_ report by T.J.
Vivian on "Commercial, Industrial, Agricultural, Transportation and
Other Industries of California" (Washington 1890, valuable for whole
period before 1890); _United States Censuses,_ 1890 and 1900, reports
on agriculture, manufactures, mines and fisheries; _California State
Board of Trade_ (San Francisco), _Annual Report_ from 1890. On Mineral
Industries:--J.R. Browne, Report on "Mineral Resources of the States
and Territories west of the Rocky Mountains" (_United States
Treasury,_ 2 vols., Washington, 1867-1868); _United States Geological
Survey, Annual Reports, Mineral Resources;_ consult also the
bibliographies of publications of the _Survey_, issued as _Bulletins;
California State Mining Bureau, Bulletins_ from 1888, note especially
No. 30, 1904, by A.W. Vodges, "Bibliography relating to the Geology,
Palaeontology and Mineral Resources of California" (2nd ed., the 1st
being _Bulletin_ No. 10, 1896); _California Débris Commission_,
_Reports_ (in _Annual Reports Chief of Engineers, United States Army,_
from 1893).
GOVERNMENT.--E.F. Treadwell, _The Constitution of the State of
California ... Annotated_ (San Francisco, 1902); _Johns Hopkins
University, Studies in History and Political Science,_ xiii., R.D.
Hunt, "Genesis of California's First Constitution"; _Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science,_ xii., R.D. Hunt,
"Legal Status of California, 1846-1849"; Reports of the various
officers, departments and administrative boards of the state
government (Sacramento), and also the _Appendix to the Journals of the
Senate and Assembly,_ which contains, especially in the earlier
decades of the state's history, many of these state official reports
along with valuable legislative reports of varied character.
HISTORY.--Accounts of the valuable archives in Bancroft, and by Z.E.
Eldridge in _California Genealogical Society_ (1901); elaborate
bibliographies in Bancroft with analyses and appreciations of many
works. Of general scope and fundamental importance is the work of two
men, Hubert H. Bancroft and Theodore H. Hittell. The former has
published a _History of California, 1542-1890_ (7 vols., San
Francisco, 1884-1890), also _California Pastoral, 1769-1848_ (San
Francisco, 1888), _California Inter-Pocula, 1848-1856_ (San Francisco,
1888), and _Popular Tribunals_ (2 vols., San Francisco, 1887). These
volumes were largely written under Mr. Bancroft's direction and
control by an office staff, and are of very unequal value; they are a
vast storehouse of detailed material which is of great usefulness,
although their judgments of men are often inadequate and prejudiced.
As regards events the histories are of substantial accuracy and
adequacy. Written by one hand and more uniform in treatment and good
judgment, is T.H. Hittell's _History of California_ (4 vols., San
Francisco, 1885-1897). The older historian of the state was Francisco
Palou, a Franciscan, the friend and biographer of Serra; his "Noticias
de la Nueva California" (Mexico, 1857, in the _Doc. Hist. Mex.,_ ser.
iv., tom, vi.-viii.; also San Francisco, 1874, 4 vols.) is no longer
of importance save for its historical interest. Of the contemporary
material on the period of Mexican domination the best is afforded by
R.H. Dana's _Two Years Before the Mast_ (New York, 1840, many later
and foreign editions); also A. Robinson, _Life in California_ (New
York, 1846); and Alexander Forbes, _California: A History of Upper and
Lower California from their First Discovery to the Present Time_
(London, 1839); see also F.W. Blackmar, "Spanish Institutions of the
Southwest" (_Johns Hopkins University Studies,_ 1891). A beautiful,
vivid and reputedly very accurate picture of the old society is given
in Helen Hunt Jackson's novel, _Ramona_ (New York, 1884). There is no
really scientific separate account of mission history; there are books
by Father Z. Engelhart, _The Franciscans in California_ (Harbor
Springs, Michigan, 1899), written entirely from a Franciscan
standpoint; C.F. Carter, _Missions of Nueva California_ (San
Francisco, 1900); Bryan J. Clinch, _California and its Missions: Their
History to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo_ (2 vols., San Francisco,
1904); Francisco Palou, _Relacion Historica de la Vida ... del Fray
Junipero Serra_ (Mexico, 1787), the standard contemporary source; the
_Craftsman_ (Syracuse, N.Y., vol. v.), a series of articles on
"Mission Buildings," by G.W. James. On the case of the Pious Fund of
the missions see J.F. Doyle, _History of the Pious Fund_ (San
Francisco, 1887); _United States Department of State,_ "United States
_v._ Mexico. Report of J.H. Ralston, agent of the United States and of
counsel in the matter of the Pious Fund of the Californias"
(Washington, 1902). On the "flush" mining years the best books of the
time are J.Q. Thornton's _Oregon and California_ (2 vols., New York,
1849); Edward Bryant's _What I Saw in California_ (New York, 1848); W.
Shaw's _Golden Dreams_ (London, 1851); Bayard Taylor's _Eldorado_ (2
vols., New York, 1850); W. Colton's _Three Years in California_ (New
York, 1850); E.G. Buffum's _Six Months in the Gold Mines; from a
Journal of Three Years' Residence in Upper and Lower California_
(London, 1850); J.T. Brooks' _Four Months among the Gold Finders_
(London, 1849); G.G. Foster, _Gold Regions of California_ (New York,
1884). On this same period consult Bancroft's _Popular Tribunals_;
D.Y. Thomas, "A History of Military Government in Newly Acquired
Territory of the United States," in vol. xx. No. 2 (New York, 1904) of
_Columbia University Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law_;
C.H. Shinn's _Mining Camps: A Study in American Frontier Government_
(New York, 1885); J. Royce, _California ... A Study of American
Character, 1846-1856_ (Boston, 1886); and, for varied pictures of
mining and frontier life, the novels and sketches and poems of Bret
Harte. See also P.H. Burnet, _Recollections and Opinions of an Old
Pioneer_ (New York, 1880); S.J. Field, _Personal Reminiscences of
Early Days in California_ (privately published, copyright 1893).
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In December 1904 Salton Sea was dry; in February 1906 it was
occupied by a lake 60 m. long.
[2] During the interval from 1850 to 1872 the yearly rainfall at San
Francisco ranged from 11.37 to 49.27 in.; from 1850 to 1904 the
average was 22.74, and the probable annual variation 4 in.
[3] The means for Los Angeles and Red Bluff, of Redding and Fresno,
of San Diego and Sacramento, of San Francisco or Monterey and
Independence, are respectively about the same; and all of them lie
between 56° and 63° F. The places mentioned are scattered over 3½° of
longitude and 6½° of latitude.
[4] Small masses of water made to fall great distances and the use of
turbines are important features of such plants. One on the North Yuba
river at Colgate, where there is a 700 ft. fall, serves Oakland, San
Jose and San Francisco, at high pressure yielding in San Francisco
(220 m. away) 75% of its power. Other plants are one at Electra (154
m. from San Francisco), and one on the San Joaquin, which delivers to
Fresno 62 m. distant.
[5] The 1905 census of manufactures deals only with establishments
under the factory system; its figures for 1905 and the figures for
1900 reduced to the same limits are as follows:--total value of
products, 1905, $367,218,494; 1900, $257,385,521, an increase of
42.7%; leading industries, with value of product in millions of
dollars--canning and preserving, first in 1905 with 23.8 millions,
third in 1900 with 13.4 millions; slaughtering and meat-packing,
second in 1905 with 21.79 millions, first in 1900 with 15.71
millions; flour and grist mill products, third in 1905 with 20.2
millions, fourth in 1900 with 13.04 millions; lumber and timber,
fourth in 1905 with 18.27 millions, second in 1900 with 13.71
millions; printing and publishing, fifth in 1905 with 17.4 millions,
sixth in 1900 with 9.6 millions; foundry and machine shop products,
sixdth in 1905 with 15.7 millions, fifth in 1900 with 12.04 millions;
planing mill products, seventh in 1905 with 13.9 millions, twelfth in
1900 with 4.8 millions; bread and other bakery products, eighth in
1905 with 10.6 millions, eleventh in 1900 with 4.87 millions.
[6] As months and even years often elapsed between the date when
early governors were appointed and the beginning of their actual
service, the date of commission is disregarded, and the date of
service given. Sometimes this is to be regarded as beginning at
Monterey, sometimes elsewhere in California, sometimes at Loreto in
Lower California. All the Spanish and Mexican governors were
appointed by the national government, except in the case of the
semi-revolutionary rulers of 1831-1832 and 1836 (Alvarado), whose
title rested on revolution, or on local choice under a national
statute regarding gubernatorial vacancies.
[7] Acting political chief, revolutionary title.
[8] Briefly recognized in South.
[9] Revolutionary title, 1836-1838.
[10] Appointed 1837, never recognized in the North.
CALIFORNIA, LOWER (_Baja California_), a long narrow peninsula between
the Gulf of California and the Pacific Ocean, forming a territory of the
republic of Mexico. Pop. (1895), 42,245; (1900) 47,624. Lower California
is a southward extension of the State of California, United States, and
is touched by only one of the Mexican states, that of Sonora on the E.
The peninsula is about 760 m. long and from 30 to 150 m. wide, and has
an area of 58,328 sq. m. It is traversed throughout its entire length by
an irregular range of barren mountains, which slopes toward the Pacific
in a succession of low hills, but breaks down abruptly toward the Gulf.
The coast has two or three good sheltered bays, that of La Paz on the
Gulf side and of Magdalena on the Pacific side being best known. The
coast is bordered by numerous islands, especially on the eastern side.
The general appearance of the surface is arid and desolate, partly
because of the volcanic remains, and partly because of the scanty
rainfall, which is insufficient to support vegetation other than that of
the desert except in the deeper mountain valleys. The northern part is
hot and dry, like southern California, but the southern part receives
more rain and has some fertile tracts, with a mild and pleasant climate.
The principal natural product in this region is _orchil_, or Spanish
moss, but by means of irrigation the soil produces a considerable
variety of products, including sugar cane, cotton, cassava, cereals,
tobacco and grapes. Horses, sheep and cattle are raised in the fertile
valleys, but only to a limited extent. The territory is rich in
minerals, among which are gold, silver, copper, lead, gypsum, coal and
salt. The silver mines near La Paz were worked by the Jesuits as early
as 1700. There are also extensive pearl fisheries in the Gulf, La Paz
being the headquarters of the industry, and whale fisheries on the W.
coast in the vicinity of Magdalena Bay. The development of mining and
other industries in the territory has led to an extension of the
California railway system southward into the peninsula, with the Mexican
government's permission, the first section of 37 m. from the northern
frontier being completed and opened to traffic in 1907. The territory is
divided into two districts, the northern having its capital at the
insignificant little village of La Ensenada, on Todos Santos Bay, and
the southern having its capital at La Paz, at the head of a deep bay
opening into the Gulf. La Paz is a port of call for steamships running
between Mazatlan and San Francisco, and had a population of 5056 in
1900. La Ensenada (pop. in 1906, about 1500), 65 m. by sea S. of San
Diego, Cal., is the only port for the northern part of the territory,
and supplies a district extending 250 m. along the coast and 60 m.
inland, including the mining camps of the north; it manufactures and
exports flour and leather.
By orders of Cortés the coast of Lower California was explored in 1539
by Francisco de Ulloa, but no settlement resulted. It was called
California, the name (according to E.E. Hale) being derived from a
popular Spanish romance of that time, entitled _Sergas de Esplandian_,
in which an island named California was mentioned and situated "on the
right hand of the Indies, very near the terrestrial paradise." The name
must have been given derisively, as the barren coasts of Lower
California could not have suggested the proximity of a "terrestrial
paradise." The exploration of the coast did not extend above the
peninsula until 1842. The name California was at first applied
exclusively to the peninsula; later, on the supposition that a strait
connected the Pacific with the head of the Gulf of California, the name
Islas Californias was frequently used. This erroneous theory was held as
late as 1721. The first settlement was made in 1597, but was abandoned.
From 1633 to 1683 five unsuccessful attempts were made to establish a
settlement at La Paz. Finally the Jesuits succeeded in founding a
mission at Loreto on the Gulf coast, in about 26° N. lat., in 1697, and
at La Paz in 1720. At the time of their expulsion (1767) they had
sixteen missions which were either self-supporting or were maintained by
funds invested for that special purpose. The settlement of Upper
California began in 1769, after which the two provinces were
distinguished as California Baja or Antigua, and California Alta, the
seat of government remaining in the former for a short time. The two
provinces were separated in 1804, were united under one governor
residing in California Alta in 1825, and were then reunited in a single
department through the political changes of 1836, which lasted no later
than 1847. Lower California was only slightly disturbed by the struggle
for independence among the Spanish-American colonies, but in 1822
Admiral Lord Cochrane, who was in the service of the Chilean
revolutionists, appeared on the coast and plundered San José del Cabo,
Todos Santos and Loreto. In the war between Mexico and the United States
La Paz and other coast towns were occupied by small detachments from
California. In 1853 a filibustering expedition against Sonora under
William Walker took possession of La Paz and proclaimed a republic
consisting of Sonora and the peninsula. Fearing an attack from the
mainland, the filibusters first withdrew to La Ensenada, near the
American frontier, and then in the following year broke up altogether
during an attempt to invade Sonora by land. A revolution under the
leadership of Marquez de Leon in 1879 met with some temporary success,
but died for want of material support in 1880. The development of mining
and other industries since that time, together with vigorous efforts to
found colonies in the more favoured localities, have greatly improved
the situation in the territory.
See the two volumes of H.H. Bancroft's _North Mexican States and
Texas_, lettered vols. 15 and 16 of his _Works_; also Arthur Walbridge
North, _The Mother of California_ (San Francisco, 1908).
CALIFORNIA, UNIVERSITY OF, one of the largest and most important of
state universities in America, situated at Berkeley, California, on the
E. shore of San Francisco Bay. It took the place of the College of
California (founded in 1855), received California's portion of the
Federal land grant of 1862, was chartered as a state institution by the
legislature in 1868, and opened its doors in 1869 at Oakland. In 1873 it
was removed to its present site. In the revised state constitution of
1879 provision is made for it as the head of the state's educational
system. The grounds at Berkeley cover 270 acres on the lower slopes
(299-900 ft.) of the Berkeley Hills, which rise 1000 ft. or more above
the university; the view over the bay to San Francisco and the Golden
Gate is superb. In recent years new and better buildings have gradually
been provided. In 1896 an international architectural competition was
opened at the expense of Mrs Phoebe R. Hearst (made a regent of the
university in 1898) for plans for a group of buildings harmonizing with
the university's beautiful site, and ignoring all buildings already
existing. The first prize was awarded in 1899 to Emile Bénard, of Paris.
The first building begun under the new plans was that for the college of
mines (the gift of Mrs Hearst), completed in 1907, providing worthily
for the important school of mining, from 1885 directed by Prof. S.B.
Christy (b. 1853); California Hall, built by state appropriation, had
been completed in 1906. The Greek theatre (1903), an open-air auditorium
seating 7500 spectators, on a hill-side in a grove of towering
eucalypts, was the gift of William Randolph Hearst; this has been used
regularly for concerts by the university's symphony orchestra, under
the professor of music, John Frederick Wolle (b. 1863), who originated
the Bach Festivals at Bethlehem, Pa.; free public concerts are given on
Sunday afternoons; and there have been some remarkable dramatic
performances here, notably Sudraka's _Mricchakattika_ in English, and
Aeschylus's _Eumenides_ in Greek, in April 1907. There are no
dormitories. Student self-government works through the "Undergraduate
Students' Affairs Committee" of the Associated Students. The faculty of
the university has its own social club, with a handsome building on the
grounds. At Berkeley is carried on the work in the colleges of letters,
social sciences, natural sciences, commerce, agriculture, mechanical,
mining and civil engineering, and chemistry, and the first two years'
course of the college of medicine--the Toland Medical College having
been absorbed by the university in 1873; at Mount Hamilton, the work of
the Lick astronomical department; and in San Francisco, that of
dentistry (1888), pharmacy, law, art, and the concluding (post graduate
or clinical) years of the medical course--the San Francisco Polyclinic
having become a part of the university in 1892. Three of the San
Francisco departments occupy a group of three handsome buildings in the
western part of the city, overlooking Golden Gate Park. The Lick
astronomical department (Lick Observatory) on Mount Hamilton, near San
José, occupies a site covering 2777 acres. It was founded in 1875 by
James Lick of San Francisco, and was endowed by him with $700,000,
$610,000 of this being used for the original buildings and equipments,
which were formally transferred to the university in 1888. The art
department (San Francisco Institute of art) was until 1906 housed in the
former home of Mark Hopkins, a San Francisco "railroad king"; it dated
from 1893, under the name "Mark Hopkins Institute of Art." The building
was destroyed in the San Francisco conflagration of 1906; but under its
present name the department resumed work in 1907 on the old site. At the
university farm, of nearly 750 acres, at Davisville, Yolo county,
instruction is given in practical agriculture, horticulture, dairying,
&c.; courses in irrigation are given at Berkeley; a laboratory of plant
pathology, established in 1907 at Whittier, Riverside county, and an
experiment station on 20 acres of land near Riverside, are for the study
of plant and tree diseases and pests and of their remedies. A marine
biological laboratory is maintained at La Jolla, near San Diego, and
another, the Hertzstein Research Laboratory, at New Monterey; the
Rudolph Spreckels Physiological Laboratory is in Berkeley. The
university has excellent anthropological and archaeological collections,
mostly made by university expeditions, endowed by Mrs Hearst, to Peru
and to Egypt. In 1907 the university library contained 160,000 volumes,
ranking, after the destruction of most of the San Francisco libraries in
1906, as the largest collection in the vicinity. The building of the Doe
library (given by the will of Charles Franklin Doe), for the housing of
the university library, was begun in 1907. The university has also the
valuable Bancroft collection of 50,000 volumes and countless pamphlets
and manuscripts, dealing principally with the history of the Pacific
Coast from Alaska through Central America, and of the Rocky Mountain
region, including Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico
and Western Texas. This collection (that of the historian Hubert Howe
Bancroft) was acquired in 1905 for $250,000 (of which Mr Bancroft
contributed $100,000), and was entrusted (1907) to the newly organized
Academy of Pacific Coast History. The library of Karl Weinhold
(1823-1901) of Berlin, which is especially rich in Germanic linguistics
and "culture history," was presented to the university in 1903 by John
D. Spreckels. The university publishes _The University of California
Chronicle_, an official record; and there are important departmental
publications, especially those in American archaeology and ethnology,
edited by Frederic Ward Putnam (b. 1839), including the reports of
various expeditions, maintained by Mrs Hearst; in physiology, edited by
Jacques Loeb (b. 1859); in botany, edited by William Albert Setchell (b.
1864); in zoology, edited by William Emerson Ritter (b. 1859); and in
astronomy, the publications of the Lick Observatory, edited by William
Wallace Campbell (b. 1862). In 1902, under the direction of Henry Morse
Stephens (b. 1857), who then became professor of history, a department
of university extension was organized; lecture courses, especially on
history and literature, were delivered in 1906-1907 at fifteen extension
"centres," at most of which classes of study were formed. Annexes to the
university, but having no corporate connexion with it, are the Berkeley
Bible Seminary (Disciples of Christ), the Pacific Theological Seminary
(Congregational), the Pacific Coast Baptist Seminary and a Unitarian
school.
The growth of the university has been extremely rapid. From 1890 to 1900
the number of students increased fourfold. In the latter year the
university of California was second to Harvard only in the number of
academic graduate and undergraduate students, and fifth among the
educational institutions of the country in total enrolment. In July 1907
there were 519 officers in the faculties and 2987 students, of whom 226
were in the professional schools in San Francisco. In addition there
were 707 students in the 1906 summer session, the total for 1906-1907
thus being 3684; of this number 1506 were women. The university
conferred 482 degrees in 1907, 546 in 1906, 470 in 1905. The affairs of
the university are administered by a board of twenty-three regents,
seven state officials and heads of educational institutions, being
members _ex officio_, and sixteen other members being appointed by the
governor and senate of the state; its instruction is governed by the
faculties of the different colleges, and an academic senate in which
these are joined. The gross income from all sources for 1905-1906 was
$1,564,190, of which about $800,000 was income from investments, state
and government grants, fees, &c., and the remainder was gifts and
endowments. There is a permanent endowment of more than $3,000,000,
partly from munificent private gifts, especially from Mrs Hearst and
from Miss Cora Jean Flood. The financial support of the state has always
been generous. No tuition fee is charged in the academic colleges to
students resident in the state, and only $10.00 annually to students
from without the state. The university maintains about 90 undergraduate
scholarships, and 10 graduate scholarships and fellowships. All
able-bodied male students are required to take the courses in military
science, under instruction by an officer of the United States army
detailed for the purpose. Physical culture and hygiene are prescribed
for all men and women. A state law forbids the sale of liquor within one
mile of the university grounds. To realize the ideal of the university
as the head of the educational system of the state, a system of
inspection of high schools has been developed, whereby schools reaching
the prescribed standard are entitled to recommend their graduates for
admission to the university without examination. It was anticipated at
one time that the foundation of the Leland Stanford Junior University at
Palo Alto would injure the state institution at Berkeley; but in
practice this was not found to be the case; on the contrary, the
competition resulted in giving new vigour and enterprise to the older
university. Joseph Le Conte (professor from 1872 to 1901) and Daniel C.
Oilman (president in 1872-1875) deserve mention among those formerly
connected with the university. In 1899 Benjamin Ide Wheeler (b. 1854)
became president. He had been a graduate (1875) of Brown University, and
was professor first of comparative philology and then of Greek at
Cornell University; his chief publications are _Der griechische
Nominalaccent_ (1885); _Analogy, and the Scope of its Application in
Language_ (1887); _Principles of Language Growth_ (1891); _The
Organization of Higher Education in the United States_ (1897); _Dionysos
and Immortality_ (1899); and _Life of Alexander the Great_ (1900).
CALIPASH and CALIPEE (possibly connected with _carapace,_ the upper
shell of a turtle), the gelatinous substances in the upper and lower
shells, respectively, of the turtle, the calipash being of a dull
greenish and the calipee of a light yellow colour.
CALIPH, CALIF, or KHALIF (Arab, _khalifa_; the lengthening of the a is
strictly incorrect), literally "successor," "representative," a title
borne originally by Abu Bekr, who, on the death of Mahomet, became the
civil and religious head of the Mahommedan state. In the same sense the
term is used in the Koran of both Adam and David as the vicegerents of
God. Abu Bekr and his three (or four) immediate successors are known as
the "perfect" caliphs; after them the title was borne by the thirteen
Omayyad caliphs of Damascus, and subsequently by the thirty-seven
Abbasid caliphs of Bagdad whose dynasty fell before the Turks in 1258.
By some rigid Moslems these rulers were regarded as only amirs, not
caliphs. There were titular caliphs of Abbasid descent in Egypt from
that date till 1517 when the last caliph was captured by Selim I. On the
fall of the Omayyad dynasty at Damascus, the title was assumed by the
Spanish branch of the family who ruled in Spain at Cordova (755-1031),
and the Fatimite rulers of Egypt, who pretended to descent from Ali, and
Fatima, Mahomet's daughter, also assumed the name (see FATIMITES).
According to the Shi'ite Moslems, who call the office the "imamate" or
leadership, no caliph is legitimate unless he is a lineal descendant of
the Prophet. The Sunnites insist that the office belongs to the tribe of
Koreish (Quraish) to which Mahomet himself belonged, but this condition
would vitiate the claim of the Turkish sultans, who have held the office
since its transference by the last caliph to Selim I. According to a
tradition falsely ascribed to Mahomet, there can be but one caliph at a
time; should a second be set up, he must be killed, for he "is a rebel."
(See MAHOMMEDAN INSTITUTIONS.)
CALIPHATE.[1] The history of the Mahommedan rulers in the East who bore
the title of caliph (q.v.) falls naturally into three main
divisions:--(_a_) The first four caliphs, the immediate successors of
Mahomet; (_b_) The Omayyad caliphs; (_c_) The Abbasid caliphs. To these
three groups the present article is confined; for the Western caliphs,
see SPAIN: _History_ (and minor articles such as ALMOHADES,
ALMORAVIDES); for the Egyptian caliphs see EGYPT: _History_ (§
Mahommedan) and FATIMITES. The history of Arabia proper will be found
under ARABIA: _History_.
A.--THE FIRST FOUR CALIPHS
After the death of Mahomet the question arose who was to be his
"representative." The choice lay with the community of Medina; so much
was understood; but whom were they to choose? The natives of Medina
believed themselves to be now once more masters in their own house, and
wished to promote one of themselves. But the Emigrants (see MAHOMET)
asserted their opposing claims, and with success, having brought into
the town a considerable number of outside Moslems, so as to terrorize
the men of Medina, who besides were still divided into two parties. The
Emigrants' leading spirit was Omar; he did not, however, cause homage to
be paid to himself, but to Abu Bekr, the friend and father-in-law of the
Prophet.
The affair would not have gone on so smoothly, had not the opportune
defection of the Arabians put a stop to the inward schism which
threatened. Islam suddenly found itself once more limited to the
community of Medina; only Mecca and Taif (Tayef) remained true. The
Bedouins were willing enough to pray, indeed, but less willing to pay
taxes; their defection, as might have been expected, was a political
movement.[2] None the less was it a revolt from Islam, for here the
political society and the religious are identical. A peculiar compliment
to Mahomet was involved in the fact that the leaders of the rebellion in
the various districts did not pose as princes and kings, but as
prophets; in this appeared to lie the secret of Islam's success.
1. _Reign of Abu Bekr_.--Abu Bekr proved himself quite equal to the
perilous situation. In the first place, he allowed the expedition
against the Greeks, already arranged by Mahomet, quietly to set out,
limiting himself for the time to the defence of Medina. On the return of
the army he proceeded to attack the rebels. The holy spirit of Islam
kept the men of Medina together, and inspired in them an all-absorbing
zeal for the faith; the Arabs as a whole had no other bond of union and
no better source of inspiration than individual interest. As was to be
expected, they were worsted; eleven small flying columns of the Moslems,
sent out in various directions, sufficed to quell the revolt. Those who
submitted were forthwith received back into favour; those who persevered
in rebellion were punished with death. The majority accordingly
converted, the obstinate were extirpated. In Yamama (Yemama) only was
there a severe struggle; the Banu Hanifa under their prophet Mosailima
fought bravely, but here also Islam triumphed.
The internal consolidation of Islam in Arabia was, strange to say,
brought about by its diffusion abroad. The holy war against the border
countries which Mahomet had already inaugurated, was the best means for
making the new religion popular among the Arabs, for opportunity was at
the same time afforded for gaining rich booty. The movement was
organized by Islam, but the masses were induced to join it by quite
other than religious motives. Nor was this by any means the first
occasion on which the Arabian cauldron had overflowed; once and again in
former times emigrant swarms of Bedouins had settled on the borders of
the wilderness. This had last happened in consequence of the events
which destroyed the prosperity of the old Sabaean kingdom. At that time
the small Arabian kingdoms of Ghassan and Hira had arisen in the western
and eastern borderlands of cultivation; these now presented to Moslem
conquest its nearest and natural goal. But inasmuch as Hira was subject
to the Persians, and Eastern Palestine to the Greeks, the annexation of
the Arabians involved the extension of the war beyond the limits of
Arabia to a struggle with the two great powers (see further ARABIA:
_History_).
After the subjugation of middle and north-eastern Arabia, Khalid b.
al-Walid proceeded by order of the caliph to the conquest of the
districts on the lower Euphrates. Thence he was summoned to Syria, where
hostilities had also broken out. Damascus fell late in the summer of
635, and on the 20th of August 636 was fought the great decisive battle
on the Hieromax (Yarmuk), which caused the emperor Heraclius (q.v.)
finally to abandon Syria.[3] Left to themselves, the Christians
henceforward defended themselves only in isolated cases in the fortified
cities; for the most part they witnessed the disappearance of the
Byzantine power without regret. Meanwhile the war was also carried on
against the Persians in Irak, unsuccessfully at first, until the tide
turned at the battle of Kadisiya (Kadessia, Qadisiya) (end of 637). In
consequence of the defeat which they here sustained, the Persians were
forced to abandon the western portion of their empire and limit
themselves to Iran proper. The Moslems made themselves masters of
Ctesiphon (Madain), the residence of the Sassanids on the Tigris, and
conquered in the immediately following years the country of the two
rivers. In 639 the armies of Syria and Irak were face to face in
Mesopotamia. In a short time they had taken from the Aryans all the
principal old Semitic lands--Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Assyria and
Babylonia. To these was soon added Egypt, which was overrun with little
difficulty by 'Amr ibn-el-Ass (q.v.) in 640. (See EGYPT: _History_, §
Mahommedan.) This completed the circle of the lands bordering on the
wilderness of Arabia; within these limits annexation was practicable and
natural, a repetition indeed of what had often previously occurred. The
kingdoms of Ghassan and Hira, advanced posts hitherto, now became the
headquarters of the Arabs; the new empire had its centres on the one
hand at Damascus, on the other hand at Kufa and Basra, the two
newly-founded cities in the region of old Babylonia. The capital of
Islam continued indeed for a while to be Medina, but soon the Hejaz
(Hijaz) and the whole of Arabia proper lay quite on the outskirt of
affairs.
The ease with which the native populations of the conquered districts,
exclusively or prevailingly Christian, adapted themselves to the new
rule is very striking. Their nationality had been broken long ago, but
intrinsically it was more closely allied to the Arabian than to the
Greek or Persian. Their religious sympathy with the West was seriously
impaired by dogmatic controversies; from Islam they might at any rate
hope for toleration, even though their views were not in accordance with
the theology of the emperor of the day. The lapse of the masses from
Christianity to Islam, however, which took place during the first
century after the conquest, is to be accounted for only by the fact that
in reality they had no inward relation to the gospel at all. They
changed their creed merely to acquire the rights and privileges of
Moslem citizens. In no case were they compelled to do so; indeed the
Omayyad caliphs saw with displeasure the diminishing proceeds of the
poll-tax derived from their Christian subjects (see MAHOMMEDAN
INSTITUTIONS).
It would have been a great advantage for the solidity of the Arabian
empire if it had confined itself within the limits of those old Semitic
lands, with perhaps the addition of Egypt. But the Persians were not so
ready as the Greeks to give up the contest; they did not rest until the
Moslems had subjugated the whole of the Sassanid empire. The most
important event in the protracted war which led to the conquest of Iran,
was the battle of Nehawend in 641;[4] the most obstinate resistance was
offered by Persis proper, and especially by the capital, Istakhr
(Persepolis). In the end, all the numerous and partly autonomous
provinces of the Sassanid empire fell, one after the other, into the
hands of the Moslems, and the young king, Yazdegerd III. (q.v.), was
compelled to retire to the farthest corner of his realm, where he came
to a miserable end.[5] But it was long before the Iranians learned to
accept the situation. Unlike the Christians of western Asia, they had a
vigorous feeling of national pride, based upon glorious memories and
especially upon a church having a connexion of the closest kind with the
state. Internal disturbances of a religious and political character and
external disasters had long ago shattered the empire of the Sassanids
indeed, but the Iranians had not yet lost their patriotism. They were
fighting, in fact, against the despised and hated Arabs, in defence of
their holiest possessions, their nationality and their faith. Their
subjection was only external, nor did Islam ever succeed in assimilating
them as the Syrian Christians were assimilated. Even when in process of
time they did accept the religion of the prophet, they leavened it
thoroughly with their own peculiar leaven, and, especially, deprived it
of the practical political and national character which it had assumed
after the flight to Medina. To the Arabian state they were always a
thorn in the flesh; it was they who helped most to break up its internal
order, and it was from them also that it at last received its outward
death-blow. The fall of the Omayyads was their work, and with the
Omayyads fell the Arabian empire.
2. _Reign of Omar_.--Abu Bekr died after a short reign on the 22nd of
August 634, and as a matter of course was succeeded by Omar. To Omar's
ten years' Caliphate belong for the most part the great conquests. He
himself did not take the field, but remained in Medina with the
exception of his visit to Syria in 638; he never, however, suffered the
reins to slip from his grasp, so powerful was the influence of his
personality and the Moslem community of feeling. His political insight
is shown by the fact that he endeavoured to limit the indefinite
extension of Moslem conquest, to maintain and strengthen the national
Arabian character of the commonwealth of Islam,[6] and especially to
promote law and order in its internal affairs. The saying with which he
began his reign will never grow antiquated: "by Allah, he that is
weakest among you shall be in my sight the strongest, until I have
vindicated for him his rights; but him that is strongest will I treat as
the weakest, until he complies with the laws." After the administration
of justice he directed his organizing activity, as the circumstances
demanded, chiefly towards financial questions--the incidence of taxation
in the conquered territories,[7] and the application of the vast
resources which poured into the treasury at Medina. It must not be
brought against him as a personal reproach, that in dealing with these
he acted on the principle that the Moslems were the chartered plunderers
of all the rest of the world. But he had to atone by his death for the
fault of his system. In the mosque at Medina he was stabbed by a Kufan
workman and died in November 644.
3. _Reign of Othman._--Before his death Omar had nominated six of the
leading Mohajir (Emigrants) who should choose the caliph from among
themselves--Othman, Ali, Zobair, Talha, Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas, and
Abdarrahman b. Auf. The last-named declined to be a candidate, and
decided the election in favour of Othman. Under this weak sovereign the
government of Islam fell entirely into the hands of the Koreish
nobility. We have already seen that Mahomet himself prepared the way for
this transference; Abu Bekr and Omar likewise helped it; the Emigrants
were unanimous among themselves in thinking that the precedence and
leadership belonged to them as of right. Thanks to the energy of Omar,
they were successful in appropriating to themselves the succession to
the Prophet. They indeed rested their claims on the undeniable priority
of their services to the faith, but they also appealed to their blood
relationship with the Prophet as a corroboration of their right to the
inheritance; and the ties of blood connected them with the Koreish in
general. In point of fact they felt a closer connexion with these than,
for example, with the natives of Medina; nature had not been expelled by
faith.[8] The supremacy of the Emigrants naturally furnished the means
of transition to the supremacy of the Meccan aristocracy. Othman did all
in his power to press forward this development of affairs. He belonged
to the foremost family of Mecca, the Omayyads, and that he should favour
his relations and the Koreish as a whole, in every possible way, seemed
to him a matter of course. Every position of influence and emolument was
assigned to them; they themselves boastingly called the important
province of Irak the garden of Koreish. In truth, the entire empire had
become that garden. Nor was it unreasonable that from the secularization
of Islam the chief advantage should be reaped by those who best knew the
world. Such were beyond all doubt the patricians of Mecca, and after
them those of Taif, people like Khalid b. al-Walid, Amr-ibn-el-Ass,
'Abdallah b. abi Sarh, Moghira b. Sho'ba, and, above all, old Abu Sofian
with his son Moawiya.
Against the rising tide of worldliness an opposition, however, now began
to appear. It was led by what may be called the spiritual noblesse of
Islam, which, as distinguished from the hereditary nobility of Mecca,
might also be designated as the nobility of merit, consisting of the
"Defenders" (_Ansar_), and especially of the Emigrants who had lent
themselves to the elevation of the Koreish, but by no means with the
intention of allowing themselves thereby to be effaced. The opposition
was headed by Ali, Zobair, Talha, both as leading men among the
Emigrants and as disappointed candidates for the Caliphate. Their
motives were purely selfish; not God's cause but their own, not religion
but power and preferment, were what they sought.[9] Their party was a
mixed one. To it belonged the men of real piety, who saw with
displeasure the promotion to the first places in the commonwealth of the
great lords who had actually done nothing for Islam, and had joined
themselves to it only at the last moment. But the majority were merely a
band of men without views, whose aim was a change not of system, but of
persons in their own interest. Everywhere in the provinces there was
agitation against the caliph and his governors, except in Syria, where
Othman's cousin, Moawiya, son of Abu Sofian (see below), carried on a
wise and strong administration. The movement was most energetic in Irak
and in Egypt. Its ultimate aim was the deposition of Othman in favour of
Ali, whose own services as well as his close relationship to the Prophet
seemed to give him the best claim to the Caliphate. Even then there were
enthusiasts who held him to be a sort of Messiah.
The malcontents sought to gain their end by force. In bands they came
from the provinces to Medina to wring concessions from Othman, who,
though his armies were spreading terror from the Indus and Oxus to the
Atlantic, had no troops at hand in Medina. He propitiated the mutineers
by concessions, but as soon as they had gone, he let matters resume
their old course. Thus things went on from bad to worse. In the
following year (656) the leaders of the rebels came once more from Egypt
and Irak to Medina with a more numerous following; and the caliph again
tried the plan of making promises which he did not intend to keep. But
the rebels caught him in a flagrant breach of his word,[10] and now
demanded his abdication, besieging him in his own house, where he was
defended by a few faithful subjects. As he would not yield, they at last
took the building by storm and put him to death, an old man of eighty.
His death in the act of maintaining his rights was of the greatest
service to his house and of corresponding disadvantage to the enemy.
4. _Reign of Ali._--Controversy as to the inheritance at once arose
among the leaders of the opposition. The mass of the mutineers summoned
Ali to the Caliphate, and compelled even Talha and Zobair to do him
homage. But soon these two, along with Ayesha, the mother of the
faithful, who had an old grudge against Ali, succeeded in making their
escape to Irak, where at Basra they raised the standard of rebellion.
Ali in point of fact had no real right to the succession, and moreover
was apparently actuated not by piety but by ambition and the desire of
power, so that men of penetration, even although they condemned Othman's
method of government, yet refused to recognize his successor. The new
caliph, however, found means of disposing of their opposition, and at
the battle of the Camel, fought at Basra in November 656, Talha and
Zobair were slain, and Ayesha was taken prisoner.
But even so Ali had not secured peace. With the murder of Othman the
dynastic principle gained the twofold advantage of a legitimate
cry--that of vengeance for the blood of the grey-haired caliph and a
distinguished champion, the governor Moawiya, whose position in Syria
was impregnable. The kernel of his subjects consisted of genuine Arabs,
not only recent immigrants along with Islam, but also old settlers who,
through contact with the Roman empire and the Christian church, had
become to some extent civilized. Through the Ghassanids these latter had
become habituated to monarchical government and loyal obedience, and for
a long time much better order had prevailed amongst them than elsewhere
in Arabia. Syria was the proper soil for the rise of an Arabian kingdom,
and Moawiya was just the man to make use of the situation. He exhibited
Othman's blood-stained garment in the mosque at Damascus, and incited
his Syrians to vengeance.
Ali's position in Kufa was much less advantageous. The population of
Irak was already mixed up with Persian elements; it fluctuated greatly,
and was largely composed of fresh immigrants. Islam had its headquarters
here; Kufa and Basra were the home of the pious and of the adventurer,
the centres of religious and political movement. This movement it was
that had raised Ali to the Caliphate, but yet it did not really take any
personal interest in him. Religion proved for him a less trustworthy and
more dangerous support than did the conservative and secular feeling of
Syria for the Omayyads. Moawiya could either act or refrain from acting
as he chose, secure in either case of the obedience of his subjects.
Ali, on the other hand, was unable to convert enthusiasm for the
principle inscribed on his banner into enthusiasm for his person. It was
necessary that he should accommodate himself to the wishes of his
supporters, which, however, were inconsistent. They compelled him
suddenly to break off the battle of Siffin, which he was apparently on
the point of gaining over Moawiya, because the Syrians fastened copies
of the Koran to their lances to denote that not the sword, but the word
of God should decide the contest (see further below, B.1; also ALI). But
in yielding to the will of the majority he excited the displeasure of
the minority, the genuine zealots, who in Moawiya were opposing the
enemy of Islam, and regarded Ali's entering into negotiations with him
as a denial of the faith. When the negotiations failed and war was
resumed, the Kharijites refused to follow Ali's army, and he had to turn
his armies in the first instance against them. He succeeded in disposing
of them without difficulty at the battle of Nahrawan, but in his success
he lost the soul of his following. For they were the true champions of
the theocratic principle; through their elimination it became clear that
the struggle had in no sense anything to do with the cause of God. Ali's
defeat was a foregone conclusion, once religious enthusiasm had failed
him; the secular resources at the disposal of his adversaries were far
superior. Fortunately for him he was murdered (end of January 661),
thereby posthumously attaining an importance in the eyes of a large part
of the Mahommedan world (Shi'a) which he had never possessed during his
life.
B.--THE OMAYYAD DYNASTY
_Summary of Preceding Movements._--The conquest of Mecca had been of the
greatest importance to the Prophet, not only because Islam thus obtained
possession of this important city with its famous sanctuary, but above
all because his late adversaries were at last compelled to acknowledge
him as the Envoy of God. Among these there were many men of great
ability and influence, and he was so eager to conciliate them or, as the
Arabic expression has it, "to mellow their hearts" by concessions and
gifts, that his loyal helpers (_Ansar_) at Medina became dissatisfied
and could only with difficulty be brought to acquiesce in it. Mahomet
was a practical man; he realized that the growing state needed skilful
administrators, and that such were found in much greater number among
the antagonists of yesterday than among the honest citizens of Medina.
The most important positions, such as the governorships of Mecca and
Yemen, were entrusted to men of the Omayyad house, or that of the
Makhzum and other Koreishite families. Abu Bekr followed the Prophet's
example. In the great revolt of the Arabic tribes after the death of
Mahomet, and in the invasion of Irak and Syria by the Moslems, the
principal generals belonged to them. Omar did not deviate from that line
of conduct. It was he who appointed Yazid, the son of Abu Sofian, and
after his death, his brother Moawiya as governor of Syria, and assigned
the province of Egypt to Amr-ibn-el-Ass ('Amr b. As). It is even
surprising to find among the leading men so few of the house of Hashim,
the nearest family of the Prophet. The puzzled Moslem doctors explain
this fact on the ground that the Hashimites were regarded as too noble
to hold ordinary administrative offices, and that they could not be
spared at Medina, where their counsel was required in all important
affairs. There is, however, a tradition in which Ali himself calls the
Omayyads born rulers. As long as Omar lived opposition was silent. But
Othman had not the strong personality of his predecessor, and, although
he practically adhered to the policy of Omar, he was accused of
favouring the members of his own family--the caliph belonged himself to
the house of Omayya--at the expense of the Hashimites and the Ansar. The
jealousy of the latter two was prompted by the fact that the
governorship and military commands had become not only much more
important, but also much more lucrative, while power and money again
procured many adherents. The truly devout Moslems on the other hand were
scandalized by the growing luxury which relaxed the austere morals of
the first Moslems, and this also was imputed to Othman.
We thus see how the power of the house of Omayya developed itself, and
how there arose against it an opposition, which led in the first place
to the murder of Othman and the Caliphate of Ali, and furthermore,
during the whole period of the Omayyad caliphs, repeatedly to dangerous
outbreaks, culminating in the great catastrophe which placed the
Abbasids on the throne. The elements of this opposition were of very
various kinds:--(1) The old-fashioned Moslems, sons of the _Ansar_ and
_Mohajir_, who had been Mahomet's first companions and supporters, and
could not bear the thought that the sons of the old enemies of the
Prophet in Mecca, whom they nicknamed _tolaqa_ (freedmen), should be in
control of the imamate, which carried with it the management of affairs
both civil and religious. This party was in the foreground, chiefly in
the first period. (2) The partisans of Ali, the Shi'a (Shi'ites), who in
proportion as their influence with the Arabs declined, contrived to
strengthen it by obtaining the support of the non-Arabic Moslems, aided
thereto, especially in the latter period, by the Abbasids, who at the
decisive moment succeeded in seizing the supreme power for themselves.
(3) The Kharijites, who, in spite of the heavy losses they sustained at
the hands of Ali, maintained their power by gaining new adherents from
among those austere Moslems, who held both Omayyads and Alids as
usurpers, and have often been called, not unjustly, the Puritans of
Islam. (4) The non-Arabic Moslems, who on their conversion to Islam, had
put themselves under the patronage of Arabic families, and were
therefore called maula's (clients). These were not only the most
numerous, but also, in virtue of the persistency of their hostility, the
most dangerous. The largest and strongest group of these were the
Persians, who, before the conquest of Irak by the Moslems, were the
ruling class of that country, so that Persian was the dominant language.
With them all malcontents, in particular the Shi'ites, found support; by
them the dynasty of the Omayyads and the supremacy of the Arabs was
finally overthrown. To these elements of discord we must add:--(1) That
the Arabs, notwithstanding the bond of Islam that united them,
maintained their old tribal institutions, and therewith their old feuds
and factions; (2) that the old antagonism between Ma'adites[11]
(original northern tribes) and Yemenites (original southern tribes),
accentuated by the jealousy between the Meccans, who belonged to the
former, and the Medinians, who belonged to the latter division, gave
rise to perpetual conflicts; (3) that more than one dangerous
pretender--some of them of the reigning family itself--contended with
the caliph for the sovereignty, and must be crushed _coûte que coûte_.
It is only by the detailed enumeration of these opposing forces that we
can form an idea of the heavy task that lay before the Prince of the
Believers, and of the amount of tact and ability which his position
demanded.
The description of the reign of the Omayyads is extremely difficult.
Never perhaps has the system of undermining authority by continual
slandering been applied on such a scale as by the Alids and the
Abbasids. The Omayyads were accused by their numerous missionaries of
every imaginable vice; in their hands Islam was not safe; it would be a
godly work to extirpate them from the earth. When the Abbasids had
occupied the throne, they pursued this policy to its logical conclusion.
But not content with having exterminated the hated rulers themselves,
they carried their hostility to a further point. The official history of
the Omayyads, as it has been handed down to us, is coloured by Abbasid
feeling to such an extent that we can scarcely distinguish the true from
the false. An example of this occurs at the outset in the assertion that
Moawiya deliberately refrained from marching to the help of Othman, and
indeed that it was with secret joy that he heard of the fatal result of
the plot. The facts seem to contradict this view. When, ten weeks before
the murder, some hundreds of men came to Medina from Egypt and Irak,
pretending that they were on their pilgrimage to Mecca, but wanted to
bring before the caliph their complaints against his vicegerents, nobody
could have the slightest suspicion that the life of the caliph was in
danger; indeed it was only during the few days that Othman was besieged
in his house that the danger became obvious. If the caliph then, as the
chroniclers tell, sent a message to Moawiya for help, his messenger
could not have accomplished half the journey to Damascus when the
catastrophe took place. There is no real reason to doubt that the
painful news fell on Moawiya unexpectedly, and that he, as mightiest
representative of the Omayyad house, regarded as his own the duty of
avenging the crime. He could not but view Ali in the light of an
accomplice, because if, as he protested, he did not abet the murderers,
yet he took them under his protection. An acknowledgment of Ali as
caliph by Moawiya before he had cleared himself from suspicion was
therefore quite impossible.
1. _The Reign of Moawiya._--Moawiya, son of the well-known Meccan chief
Abu Sofian, embraced Islam together with his father and his brother
Yazid, when the Prophet conquered Mecca, and was, like them, treated
with the greatest distinction. He was even chosen to be one of the
secretaries of Mahomet. When Abu Bekr sent his troops for the conquest
of Syria, Yazid, the eldest son of Abu Sofian, held one of the chief
commands, with Moawiya as his lieutenant. In the year 639 Omar named him
governor of Damascus and Palestine; Othman added to this province the
north of Syria and Mesopotamia. To him was committed the conduct of the
war against the Byzantine emperor, which he continued with energy, at
first only on land, but later, when the caliph had at last given in to
his urgent representations, at sea also. In the year 34 (A.D. 655) was
fought off the coast of Lycia the great naval battle, which because of
the great number of masts has been called "the mast fight," in which the
Greek[12] fleet, commanded by the emperor Constans II. in person, was
utterly defeated. Moawiya himself was not present, as he was conducting
an attack (the result of which we do not know) on Caesarea in
Cappadocia. The Arabic historians are so entirely preoccupied with the
internal events that they have no eye for the war at the frontier. The
contention which Moawiya had with Ali checked his progress in the north.
Moawiya was a born ruler, and Syria was, as we have seen, the best
administered province of the whole empire. He was so loved and honoured
by his Syrians that, when he invited them to avenge the blood of Othman,
they replied unanimously, "It is your part to command, ours to obey."
Ali was a valiant man, but had no great talent as a ruler. His army
numbered a great many enthusiastic partisans, but among them not a few
wise-acres; there were also others of doubtful loyalty. The battle at
Siffin (657), near the Euphrates, which lasted two months and consisted
principally in, sometimes bloody, skirmishes, with alternate success,
ended by the well-known appeal to the decision of the Koran on the part
of Moawiya. This appeal has been called by a European scholar "one of
the unworthiest comedies of the whole world's history," accepting the
report of very partial Arabic writers that it happened when the Syrians
were on the point of losing the battle. He forgot that Ali himself,
before the Battle of the Camel, appealed likewise to the decision of the
Koran, and began the fight only when this had been rejected. There is in
reality no room for suspecting Moawiya of not having been in earnest
when making this appeal; he might well regret that internecine strife
should drain the forces which were so much wanted for the spread of
Islam. That the Book of God could give a solution, even of this arduous
case, was doubtless the firm belief of both parties. But even if the
appeal to the Koran had been a stratagem, as Ali himself thought, it
would have been perfectly legitimate, according to the general views of
that time, which had been also those of the Prophet. It is not unlikely
that the chief leader of the Yemenites in Ali's army, Ash'ath b. Qais,
knew beforehand that this appeal would be made. Certainty is not to be
obtained in the whole matter.
On each side an umpire was appointed, Abu Musaa al-Ash'ari, the
candidate of Ash'ath, on that of Ali, Amr-ibn-el-Ass (q.v.) on that of
Moawiya. The arbitrators met in the year 37 (A.D. 658) at Adhroh, in the
south-east of Syria, where are the ruins of the Roman Castra described
by Brünnow and Domaszewsky (_Die Provincio Arabia,_ i. 433-463). Instead
of this place, the historians generally put Dumat-al-Jandal, the
biblical Duma, now called Jauf, but this rests on feeble authority. The
various accounts about what happened in this interview are without
exception untrustworthy. J. Wellhausen, in his excellent book _Das
arabische Reich und sein Sturz,_ has made it very probable that the
decision of the umpires was that the choice of Ali as caliph should be
cancelled, and that the task of nominating a successor to Othman should
be referred to the council of notable men (_shura_), as representing the
whole community. Ali refusing to submit to this decision, Moawiya became
the champion of the law, and thereby gained at once considerable support
for the conquest of Egypt, to which above all he directed his efforts.
As soon as Amr returned from Adhroh, Moawiya sent him with an army of
four or five thousand men against Egypt. About the same time the
constitutional party rose against Ali's vicegerent Mahommed, son of Abu
Bekr, who had been the leader of the murderous attack on Othman.
Mahommed was beaten, taken in his flight, and, according to some
reports, sewn in the skin of an ass and burned.
Moawiya, realizing that Ali would take all possible means to crush him,
took his measures accordingly. He concluded with the Greeks a treaty, by
which he pledged himself to pay a large sum of money annually on
condition that the emperor should give him hostages as a pledge for the
maintenance of peace. Ali, however, had first to deal with the
insurrection of the Kharijites, who condemned the arbitration which
followed the battle of Siffin as a deed of infidelity, and demanded that
Ali should break the compact (see above, A.4). Freed from this
difficulty, Ali prepared to direct his march against Moawiya, but his
soldiers declined to move. One of his men, Khirrit b. Rashid, renounced
him altogether, because he had not submitted to the decision of the
umpires, and persuaded many others to refuse the payment of the
poor-rate. Ali was obliged to subdue him, a task which he effected not
without difficulty. Not a few of his former partisans went over to
Moawiya, as already had happened before the days of Siffin, amongst
others Ali's own brother 'Aqil. Lastly, there were in Kufa, and still
more in Basra, many Othmaniya or legitimists, on whose co-operation he
could not rely. Moawiya from his side made incessant raids into Ali's
dominion, and by his agents caused a very serious revolt in Basra. The
statement that a treaty was concluded between Moawiya and Ali to
maintain the _status quo_, in the beginning of the year 40 (A.D. 660),
is not very probable, for it is pretty certain that just then Ali had
raised an army of 40,000 men against the Syrians, and also that in the
second or third month of that year Moawiya was proclaimed caliph at
Jerusalem. At the same time Bosr b. Abi Artat made his expedition
against Medina and Mecca, whose inhabitants were compelled to
acknowledge the caliphate of Moawiya. On the murder of Ali in 661, his
son Hasan was chosen caliph, but he recoiled before the prospect of a
war with Moawiya, having neither the ambition nor the energy of Ali.
Moawiya stood then with a large army in Maskin, a rich district lying to
the north of the later West Bagdad, watered by the Dojail, or Little
Tigris, a channel from the Euphrates to the Tigris. The army of Trak was
near Madain, the ancient Ctesiphon. The reports about what occurred are
confused and contradictory; but it seems probable that Abdallah b.
Abbas, the vicegerent of Ali at Basra and ancestor of the future Abbasid
dynasty, was in command. No battle was fought. Hasan and Ibn Abbas
opened, each for himself, negotiations with Moawiya. The latter made it
a condition of surrender that he should have the free disposal of the
funds in the treasury of Basra. Some say that he had already before the
death of Ali rendered himself master of it. Notwithstanding the protest
of the Basrians, he transported this booty safely to Mecca. When his
descendants had ascended the throne and he had become a demi-saint, the
historians did their best to excuse his conduct. Hasan demanded, in
exchange for the power which he resigned, the contents of the treasury
at Kufa, which amounted to five millions of dirhems, together with the
revenues of the Persian province of Darabjird (Darab). When these
negotiations became known, a mutiny broke out in Hasan's camp. Hasan
himself was wounded and retired to Medina, where he died eight or nine
years afterwards. The legend that he was poisoned by order of Moawiya is
without the least foundation. It seems that he never received the
revenues of Darabjird, the Basrians to whom they belonged refusing to
cede them.
Moawiya now made his entry into Kufa in the summer of A.H. 41 (A.D. 661)
and received the oath of allegiance as Prince of the Believers. This
year is called the year of union (_jama'a_). Moghira b. Sho'ba was
appointed governor of Kufa. Homran b. Aban had previously assumed the
government of Basra. This is represented commonly as a revolt, but as
Homran was a client of Othman, and remained in favour with the Omayyads,
it is almost certain that he took the management of affairs only to
maintain order.
One strong antagonist to Moawiya remained, in the person of Ziyad. This
remarkable man was said to be a bastard of Abu Sofian, the father of
Moawiya, and was, by his mother, the brother of Abu Bakra, a man of
great wealth and position at Basra. He thus belonged to the tribe of
Thaqif at Taif, which produced many very prominent men. At the age of
fourteen years Ziyad was charged with the financial administration of
the Basrian army. He had won the affection of Omar, by his knowledge of
the Koran and the Sunna of the Prophet, and by the fact that he had
employed the first money he earned to purchase the freedom of his mother
Somayya. He was a faithful servant of Ali and put down for him the
revolt excited by Moawiya's partisans in Basra. Thence he marched into
Fars and Kirman, where he maintained peace and kept the inhabitants in
their allegiance to Ali. After Ali's death he fortified himself in his
castle near Istakhr and refused to submit. Moawiya, therefore, sent Bosr
b. Abi Artat to Basra, with orders to capture Ziyad's three sons, and to
force Ziyad into submission by threatening to kill them. Ziyad was
obdurate; and it was due to his brother Abu Bakra, who persuaded Moawiya
to cancel the order, that the threat was not executed. On his return to
Damascus, Moawiya charged Moghira b. Sho'ba to bring his countryman to
reason. Abdallah b. 'Amir was made governor of Basra.
As soon as Moawiya had his hands free, he directed all his forces
against the Greeks. Immediately after the submission of Irak, he had
denounced the existing treaty, and as early as 662 had sent his troops
against the Alans and the Greeks. Since then, no year passed without a
campaign. Twice he made a serious effort to conquer Constantinople, in
669 when he besieged it for three months, and in 674. On the second
occasion his fleet occupied Cyzicus, which it held till shortly after
his death in 680, when a treaty was signed. In Africa also the extension
of Mahommedan power was pursued energetically. In 670 took place the
famous march of 'Okba ('Oqba) b. Nafi' and the foundation of Kairawan,
where the great mosque still bears his name. Our information about these
events, though very full, is untrustworthy, while of the events in Asia
Minor the accounts are scarce and short. The Arabic historians are still
absorbed by the events in Irak and Khorasan.
The talented prefect of Kufa, Moghira b. Sho'ba, eventually broke down
the resistance of Ziyad, who came to Damascus to render an account of
his administration, which the caliph ratified. Moawiya seems also to
have acknowledged him as the son of Abu Sofian, and thus as his brother;
in 664 this recognition was openly declared.[13] In the next year Ziyad
was appointed governor of Basra and the eastern provinces belonging to
it. As the austere champion of the precepts of Islam, he soon restored
order in the whole district. Outwardly, this was the case in Kufa also.
A rising of Kharijites in the year 663 had ended in the death of their
chief. But the Shi'ites were dissatisfied and even dared to give public
utterance to their hostility. Moghira contented himself with a warning.
He was already aged and had no mind to enter on a conflict. He died
about the year 670, and his province also was entrusted to Ziyad, who
appointed 'Amr b. Horaith as his vicegerent. At a Friday service in the
great mosque 'Amr was insulted and pelted with pebbles. Ziyad then came
himself, arrested the leader of the Shi'ites, and sent fourteen rebels
to Damascus, among them several men of consideration. Seven of them who
refused to pledge themselves to obedience were put to death; the
Shi'ites considered them as martyrs and accused Moawiya of committing a
great crime. But in Kufa peace was restored, and this not by military
force, but by the headmen of the tribes. We must not forget that Kufa
and Basra were military colonies, and that each tribe had its own
quarter of the city. A wholesome diversion was provided by the serious
resumption of the policy of eastern expansion, which had been
interrupted by the civil war. For this purpose Irak had to furnish the
largest contingent. The first army sent by Ziyad into Khorasan
recaptured Merv, Herat and Balkh, conquered Tokharistan and advanced as
far as the Oxus. In 673 'Obaidallah, the son of Ziyad, crossed the
river, occupied Bokhara, and returned laden with booty taken from the
wandering Turkish tribes of Transoxiana. He brought 2000 Turkish archers
with him to Basra, the first Turkish slaves to enter the Moslem empire.
Sa'id, son of the caliph Othman, whom Moawiya made governor of Khorasan,
in 674 marched against Samarkand. Other generals penetrated as far as
the Indus and conquered Kabul, Sijistan, Makran and Kandahar.
Ziyad governed Irak with the greatest vigour, but as long as discontent
did not issue in action, he let men alone. At his death (672-673), order
was so generally restored that "nobody had any more to fear for life or
estate, and even the unprotected woman was safe in her house without
having her door bolted."
Moawiya was a typical Arab _sayyid_ (gentleman). He governed, not by
force, but by his superior intelligence, his self-control, his mildness
and magnanimity. The following anecdote may illustrate this. One of
Moawiya's estates bordered on that of Abdallah b. Zobair, who complained
in a somewhat truculent letter that Moawiya's slaves had been guilty of
trespassing. Moawiya, disregarding his son Yazid's advice that he should
exact condign punishment for Zobair's disrespect, replied in flattering
terms, regretting the trespass and resigning both slaves and estate to
Zobair. In reply Zobair protested his loyalty to Moawiya, who thereupon
pointed a moral for the instruction of Yazid.
Moawiya has been accused of having poisoned more than one of his
adversaries, among them Malik Ashtar, Abdarrahman the son of the great
captain Khalid b. Walid, and Hasan b. Ali. As for the latter, European
scholars have long been agreed that the imputation is groundless. As to
Abdarrahman the story is in the highest degree improbable. Madaini says
that Moawiya was prompted to it, because when he consulted the Syrians
about the choice of his son Yazid as his successor, they had proposed
Abdarrahman. The absurdity of this is obvious, for Abdarrahman died in
the year 666.[14] Others say[15] that Moawiya was afraid lest
Abdarrahman should become too popular. Now, Abdarrahman had not only
been a faithful ally of Moawiya in the wars with Ali, but after the
peace devoted all his energy to the Greek war. It is almost incredible
that Moawiya out of petty jealousy would have deprived himself of one of
his best men. The probability is that Abdarrahman was ill when returning
from the frontier, that Moawiya sent him his own medical man, the
Christian doctor Ibn Othal, and that the rumour arose that the doctor
had poisoned him. It is remarkable withal that this rumour circulated,
not in Homs (Emesa), where Abdarrahman died, but in Medina. There a
young relation of Abdarrahman was so roused by the taunt that the death
of his kinsman was unavenged, that he killed Ibn Othal near the mosque
of Damascus. Moawiya imprisoned him and let him pay a high ransom, the
law not permitting the talio against a Moslem for having killed a
Christian. The story that this relative was Khalid, the son of
Abdarrahman, is absurd inasmuch as Moawiya made this Khalid commander
against the Greeks in succession to his father. In the third case--that
of Malik Ashtar--the evidence is equally inadequate. In fact, since
Moawiya did not turn the weapon of assassination against such men as
Abdallah b. Zobair and Hosain b. Ali, it is unlikely that he used it
against less dangerous persons. These two men were the chief obstacles
to Moawiya's plan for securing the Caliphate for his son Yazid. The
leadership with the Arabic tribes was as a rule hereditary, the son
succeeding his father, but only if he was personally fit for the
position, and was acknowledged as such by the principal men of the
tribe. The hereditary principle had not been recognized by Islam in the
cases of Abu Bekr, Omar and Othman; it had had some influence upon the
choice of Ali, the husband of Fatima and the cousin of the Prophet. But
it had been adopted entirely for the election of Hasan. The example of
Abu Bekr proved that the caliph had the right to appoint his successor.
But this appointment must be sanctioned by the principal men, as
representing the community. Moawiya seems to have done his best to gain
that approbation, but the details given by the historians are altogether
unconvincing. This only seems to be certain, that the succession of
Yazid was generally acknowledged before the death of his father, except
in Medina. (See MAHOMMEDAN INSTITUTIONS.)
Moawiya died in the month of Rajab 60 (A.D. 680). His last words are
said to have been: "Fear ye God, the Elevated and Mighty, for God,
Praise be to Him, protects the man that fears Him; he who does not fear
God, has no protection." Moawiya was, in fact, a religious man and a
strict disciple of the precepts of Islam. We can scarcely, therefore,
credit the charges made by the adversaries of his chosen successor
Yazid, that he was a drinker of wine, fond of pleasure, careless about
religion. All the evidence shows that, during the reign of the Omayyads,
life in Damascus and the rest of Syria was austere and in striking
contrast to the dissolute manners which prevailed in Medina.
2. _Rule of Yazid._--When Moawiya died, the opposition had already been
organized. On his accession Yazid sent a circular to all his prefects,
officially announcing his father's death, and ordering them to
administer the oath of allegiance to their subjects. In that sent to
Walid b. 'Otba, the governor of Medina, he enclosed a private note
charging him in particular to administer the oath to Hosain, Abdallah b.
Omar and Abdallah b. Zobair, if necessary, by force. Walid sent a
messenger inviting them to a conference, thus giving them time to
assemble their followers and to escape to Mecca, where the prefect Omar
b. Sa'id could do nothing against them. In the month Ramadan this Omar
was made governor of Medina and sent an army against Ibn Zobair. This
army was defeated, and from that time Ibn Zobair was supreme at Mecca.
On the news of Yazid's accession, the numerous partisans of the family
of Ali in Kufa sent addresses to Hosain, inviting him to take refuge
with them, and promising to have him proclaimed caliph in Irak. Hosain,
having learned that the majority of the inhabitants were apparently
ready to support him strenuously, prepared to take action. Meanwhile
Yazid, having been informed of the riotous behaviour of the Shi'ites in
Kufa, sent Obaidallah, son of the famous Ziyad and governor of Basra, to
restore order. Using the same tactics as his father had used before,
Obaidallah summoned the chiefs of the tribes and made them responsible
for the conduct of their men. On the 8th of Dhu'l-Hijja Hosain set out
from Mecca with all his family, expecting to be received with enthusiasm
by the citizens of Kufa, but on his arrival at Kerbela west of the
Euphrates, he was confronted by an army sent by Obaidallah under the
command of Omar, son of the famous Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas, the founder of
Kufa. Hosain gave battle, vainly relying on the promised aid from Kufa,
and fell with almost all his followers on the 10th of Muharram 61 (10th
of October 680).
No other issue of this rash expedition could have been expected. But, as
it involved the grandson of the Prophet, the son of Ali, and so many
members of his family, Hosain's devout partisans at Kufa, who by their
overtures had been the principal cause of the disaster, regarded it as
a tragedy, and the facts gradually acquired a wholly romantic colouring.
Omar b. Sa'd and his officers, Obaidallah and even Yazid came to be
regarded as murderers, and their names have ever since been held
accursed by all Shi'ites. They observe the 10th of Muharram, the day of
'Ashura, as a day of public mourning. Among the Persians, stages are
erected on that day in public places, and plays are acted, representing
the misfortunes of the family of Ali.[16] "Revenge for Hosain" became
the watchword of all Shi'ites, and the Meshed Hosain (Tomb of the martyr
Hosain) at Kerbela is to them the holiest place in the world (see
KERBELA). Obaidallah sent the head of Hosain to Damascus, together with
the women and children and Ali b. Hosain, who, being ill, had not taken
part in the fight. Yazid was very sorry for the issue, and sent the
prisoners under safe-conduct to Medina. Ali remained faithful to the
caliph, taking no share in the revolt of the Medinians, and openly
condemning the risings of the Shi'ites.
Ibn Zobair profited greatly by the distress caused by Hosain's death.
Though he named himself publicly a refugee of the House of God, he had
himself secretly addressed as caliph, and many of the citizens of Medina
acknowledged him as such. Yazid, when informed of this, swore in his
anger to have him imprisoned. But remembering the wisdom of his father,
he sent messengers with a chain made of silver coins, and bearing
honourable proposals. At the same time he received a number of the chief
men of Medina, sent by the prefect, with great honour and loaded them
with gifts and presents. But Ibn Zobair refused, and the Medinians, of
whom the majority probably had never before seen a prince's court,
however simple, were only confirmed in their rancour against Yazid, and
told many horrible tales about his profligacy, that he hunted and held
wild orgies with Bedouin sheikhs, and had no religion. A
characteristically Arabic ceremony took place in the mosque of Medina.
"I cast off the oath of allegiance to Yazid, as I cast off my turban,"
exclaimed the first, and all others followed, casting off one of their
garments, till a heap of turbans and sandals lay on the floor. Ibn
Hanzala was made commander. The Omayyads, though they with their clients
counted more than 1000 men, were not able to maintain themselves, and
were allowed to depart only on condition of strict neutrality.
At last the patience of Yazid was exhausted. An army--the accounts about
the number vary from 4000 to 20,000--was equipped in all haste and put
under the command of Moslim b. 'Oqba, with orders first to exact
submission from the Medinians, if necessary by force, and then to march
against Ibn Zobair. Moslim, having met the expelled Omayyads at Wadi
'l-Qora, encamped near the city (August 683) and gave the inhabitants
three days in which to return to obedience, wishing to spare the city of
the Prophet and to prevent the shedding of blood. When, however, after
the lapse of three days, a final earnest appeal had been answered
insultingly, he began the battle. The Medinians fought valiantly, but
could not hold out against the well-disciplined Syrians. Moreover, they
were betrayed by the Medinian family of the Banu Haritha, who introduced
Syrian soldiers into the town. Medina lies between two volcanic hills,
called _harra_. After one of these the battle has been named "The Day of
Harra." For three days the city was given up to plunder. It is said that
a thousand bastards (the "children of the Harra") were born in
consequence of these days. The remaining citizens were compelled to take
the oath of allegiance to Yazid in a humiliating form; the few who
refused were killed. Ali b. Hosain, who had refused to have anything to
do with the revolt, was treated with all honour. Mahommed b.
al-Hanafiya, the son of Ali, and Abdallah b. Omar had likewise
abstained, but they had left Medina for Mecca.
Moslim then proceeded towards Mecca. He was already ill, and died about
midway between the two cities, after having given the command, according
to the orders of the caliph, to Hosain b. Nomair. It is quite natural
that the man who delivered up the city of the Prophet to plunder, and at
whose hands so many prominent Moslems fell, should have been an object
of detestation to the devout. Even some European scholars have drawn a
false picture of his personality, as has been clearly shown by
Wellhausen. About Medina also false statements have been made. The city
recovered very soon from the disaster, and remained the seat not only of
holy tradition and jurisdiction, but also of the Arabic aristocracy. In
no city of the empire, during the reign of the Omayyads, lived more
singers and musicians than in Medina.
Hosain b. Nomair arrived before Mecca in September 683 and found Ibn
Zobair ready to defend it. A number of the citizens of Medina had come
to the aid of the Holy City, as well as many Kharijites from Yamama
under Najda b. 'Ämir. The siege had lasted 65--others say 40--days, when
the news came of the death of Yazid, which took place presumably on the
14th of Rabia I, 64 (12th November 683). Eleven days before a fire,
caused by imprudence, had consumed all the woodwork of the Ka'ba and
burst the black stone in three places. The evidence is quite conclusive;
yet the fire has been imputed to the Syrians, and a tale was invented
about ballistas which hurled against the House of God enormous stones
and vessels full of bitumen. In fact, the siege had been confined to
enclosure and skirmishes. It is said that on the news of the death of
Yazid a conference took place between Hosain and Ibn Zobair, and that
the former offered to proclaim the latter as caliph provided he would
accompany him to Syria and proclaim a general amnesty. Ibn Zobair
refused haughtily, and Hosain, with a contemptuous criticism of his
folly, ordered his army to break up for Syria.
Hitherto Ibn Zobair had confined himself to an appeal to the Moslems to
renounce Yazid and to have a caliph elected by the council (_shura_) of
the principal leading men. He now openly assumed the title of caliph and
invited men to take the oath of allegiance. He was soon acknowledged
throughout Arabia, in Egypt and in Irak. The Omayyads, who had returned
to Medina, were again expelled.
Yazid is described in the _Continuatio Isidori Byz._§27, as
"iucundissimus et cunctis nationibus regni eius subditis vir gratissime
habitus, qui nullam unquam, ut omnibus moris est, sibi regalis fastigii
causa gloriam appetivit, sed communis[17] cum omnibus civiliter vixit."
This is confirmed by the fact that Moawiya II. is said to have been a
mild ruler, like his father, and goes far to outweigh the prejudiced
account given by his opponents and coloured still further by tradition.
Against the accusation of being a drinker of wine he himself protested
in verses which he recited when he sent the army against Ibn Zobair.
Decisive is also the testimony of Ibn al-Hanafiya, who declared that all
the accusations brought by the Medinians were false. It may be true that
he was fond of hunting, but he was a peace-loving, generous prince. It
is uncertain at what age he died. Accounts vary between 33 and 39. The
latter finds confirmation in the statement that he was born in A.H. 25,
though another account places his birth in 22. As his son Moawiya who
succeeded him was certainly adult (the accounts vary between 17 and 23),
the latter date seems to be preferable.
3. Moawiya II. had reigned a very short time--how long is again wholly
uncertain--when he fell sick and died. Then commenced a period of the
greatest confusion. The mother of Yazid, Maisun, belonged to the most
powerful tribe in Syria, the Kalb, and it seems that this and the
cognate tribes of Qoda'a (Yemenites) had enjoyed certain prerogatives,
which had aroused the jealousy of the Qais and the cognate tribes of
Modar. Immediately after the death of Yazid, Zofar b. Harith, who had
already fought with Ibn Zobair against Yazid, had induced northern Syria
and Mesopotamia to declare for Ibn Zobair. In Homs (Emesa) the governor
No'man b. Bashir had pledged himself to the same cause. The prefect of
Damascus, Dahhak b. Qais, seemed to be wavering in his loyalty. Khalid,
the brother of Moawiya II., was still a youth and appears to have had no
strength of character. There was, however, a much more dangerous
candidate, viz. Merwan b. Hakam, of another branch of the Omayyads, who
had been Othman's right-hand man. He had pledged himself after some
hesitation to Yazid, but now his turn had come. The amir of the Kalb,
Ibn Bahdal, persuaded probably by Obaidallah b. Ziyad, conceived that
only a man of distinction could win the contest, and proclaimed Merwan
caliph, on condition that his successor should be Khalid b. Yazid, and
after him 'Amr b. Sa'id al-Ashdaq, who belonged to the third branch of
the Omayyads. Meanwhile Dahhak had declared himself openly for Ibn
Zobair. A furious battle (A.D. 684) ensued at Merj Rahit, near Damascus,
in which Dahhak and Zofar, though they had the majority of troops, were
utterly defeated. This battle became the subject of a great many poems
and had pernicious consequences, especially as regards the antagonism
between the Qais-Modar and Kalb-Yemenite tribes.
4. _Reign of Merwan I._--Merwan strengthened his position according to
the old oriental fashion by marrying the widow of Yazid, and soon felt
himself strong enough to substitute his own son Abdalmalik for Khalid b.
Yazid as successor-designate. Khalid contented himself with protesting;
he was neither a politician nor a soldier, but a student of alchemy and
astronomy; translations of Greek books have been ascribed to him (Jahiz,
_Bayan_, i. p. 126). In the year A.H. 435 there was still in Egypt a
brazen globe attributed to Ptolemy which had belonged to Khalid (Ibn
Qifti, p. 440, 1.15). He was also consulted about future events. There
were, however, not a few who deplored the fact that the throne had
passed from the descendants of Abu Sofian. This feeling gave rise to the
prophecy that there should appear later a Sofiani on the throne, who
would reign with might and wisdom. 'Amr Ashdaq made no opposition till
the death of Merwan. After the victory at Merj Rahit, Merwan conquered
Egypt, and installed as governor his second son Abdalaziz. An army sent
to the rescue by Ibn Zobair under the command of his brother Mus'ab was
beaten in Palestine by 'Amr Ashdaq. But a division sent by Merwan to the
Hejaz was cut to pieces. Obaidallah b. Ziyad set out with the purpose of
subduing Mesopotamia and marching thence against Irak. But he was
detained a whole year in the former country, by a rising of the Shi'ites
in Kufa, who were still in mourning for Hosain and had formed an army
which called itself "the army of the penitent." They were routed at Ras
'Ain, but Obaidallah had still to fight Zofar.
Meanwhile Mokhtar (son of that Abu 'Obaid the Thaqifite who had
commanded the Arabs against the Persians in the unfortunate battle of
the Bridge), a man of great talents and still greater ambition, after
having supported Ibn Zobair in the siege of Mecca, had gone to Kufa,
where he joined the Shi'ites, mostly Persians, and acquired great power.
He claimed that he was commissioned by Ali's son, Mahommed ibn
al-Hanafiya, who after the death of Hosain was recognized by the
Shi'ites as their Mahdi. A vague message from Mahommed, that it was the
duty of every good Moslem to take part with the family of the Prophet,
was interpreted in favour of Mokhtar, and thenceforward all the
Shi'ites, among them the powerful Ibrahim, son of Ali's right hand Malik
Ashtar, followed him blindly as their chief. Afterwards Ibn al-Hanafiya
seems to have acknowledged him distinctly as his vicegerent. Ibn
Zobair's representative in Kufa was compelled to flee, and all those who
had participated in the battle of Kerbela were put to death. An army
despatched against Obaidallah under Ibrahim routed the Syrians near
Mosul (battle of Khazir); Obaidallah and Hosain b. Nomair were slain.
Mokhtar was now at the zenith of power, but Ibn Zobair, determined to
get rid at all costs of so dangerous an enemy, named his brother Mus'ab
governor of Basra and ordered him to march against Kufa. Basra was at
that time full of fugitives from Kufa, Arabian chiefs who resented the
arrogance of Mokhtar's adherents, and desired eagerly to regain their
former position in Kufa. The troops of Basra had been, since the death
of Yazid, at war with the Kharijites, who had supported Ibn Zobair
during the siege of Mecca, but had deserted him later. Their caliph,
Nafi' b. Azraq, after whom they were called also Azraqites, threatened
even the city itself, when Mohallab b. Abi Sofra, a very able general,
compelled them to retire. Mohallab then marched with Mus'ab against
Kufa. Mokhtar fell, and with him the ephemeral dominion of the Persian
Shi'ites. This had been their first attempt to dispute the authority of
their Arabian conquerors, but it was not to be the last. Ibrahim b.
Ashtar, Mokhtar's governor of Mesopotamia, submitted and acknowledged
the Caliphate of Ibn Zobair.
5. Reign of Abdalmalik.--Merwan died on the 27th of Ramadan 65 (7th May
685); according to tradition, he was suffocated by his wife, because he
had insulted her son Khalid and herself. The accession of Abdalmalik was
attended with no difficulty, but the first years of his reign were
occupied by troubles in northern Syria, where, instigated by the Greeks,
the Mardaites of the Amanus, called Jarajima by the Arabs, penetrated
into the Lebanon. He was obliged to conclude an unfavourable treaty
first with them, later with the emperor of Constantinople. Moreover, in
the year 68 (A.D. 687-688) Syria was afflicted by a serious famine. Ibn
Zobair, however, was occupied at Mecca with the rebuilding of the Ka'ba,
and Mus'ab was harassed not only by the Kharijites, but also by a noble
freebooter, Obaidallah b. Horr, who had created for himself a
principality in the vicinity of Madain (Ctesiphon).
The period of the pilgrimage caused a momentary truce to all these
struggles, and in Dhu 'l-hijja, A.H. 68 (January 688), was seen the
curious spectacle of four different standards planted near Mecca,
belonging respectively to four chiefs, each of whom was a pretender to
the empire; the standard of Abdallah b. Zobair, caliph of Mecca; that of
the caliph of Damascus, Abdalmalik; that of Ali's son Mahommed b.
al-Hanafiya, Mahdi of the Shi'ites; and that of the Kharijites, who were
at that time under the command of Najda b. 'Amir. Such, however, was the
respect inspired by the holy places, that no disorders resulted.
When, in the year (69 A.H.) 689 Abdalmalik had at last encamped at Botan
Habib in the vicinity of Kinnesrin (Qinnasrin),[18] with the purpose of
marching against Mus'ab, his cousin 'Amr Ashdaq, to whom by the treaty
of Jabia, before the battle of Merj Rahit, the succession to Merwan had
been promised, took advantage of his absence to lay claim to the supreme
power, and to have himself proclaimed caliph by his partisans.
Abdalmalik was obliged to retrace his steps and to lay siege to his own
capital. The garrison of Damascus took fright, and deserted their posts,
so that 'Amr Ashdaq was compelled to surrender. The caliph Abdalmalik
summoned him to his palace and slew him with his own hand. Abdalmalik
has every claim to our esteem as one of the ablest monarchs that ever
reigned, but this murder remains a lasting blot on his career.
Abdalmalik could now give his whole attention to the projected
expedition against Irak. Mus'ab was encamped at Bajomaira in the
neighbourhood of Takrit. But Abdalmalik's first task was to subdue Zofar
and his Qaisites at Kerkesia (Qarqisia), and the rest of the partisans
of Mokhtar at Nisibis. Meanwhile, Mus'ab had to curb a violent revolt in
Basra, brought about by agents of Abdalmalik, and called after a place
in the city the revolt of the Jofrites. About the middle of A.D. 691
Abdalmalik at last encamped at Dair al-Jathaliq (the monastery of the
Catholicus) between Maskin, not far from the site of Bagdad, and
Bajomaira. Mus'ab's best troops were fighting under Mohallab against the
Kharijites; many Basrians were secretly favourable to the Omayyads, nor
were the Kufian soldiers to be trusted. The people of Irak had never
been accustomed to discipline, and no improvement had taken place during
the troubles of the last years. Abdalmalik, therefore, wrote secretly to
the chiefs of Mus'ab's army, and persuaded them to desert to him, with
the exception of Ibrahim b. Ashtar, the brave son of a brave father,
who, after the fall of Mokhtar, had become a faithful supporter of Ibn
Zobair. His death, in the beginning of the battle, decided the fate of
Mus'ab, who was slain sword in hand by a Shi'ite of Kufa.
This victory opened the gates of Kufa to Abdalmalik, and all Irak
received him with acclamation. Thence, a few days later, he sent Hajjaj
b. Yusuf at the head of 2000 Syrians against Ibn Zobair in Mecca, and
despatched a messenger to Tariq b.'Amr, who was encamped at Wadi
'l-Qora with 5000 men, to make himself master of Medina and thence to
rejoin Hajjaj. Before the arrival of this reinforcement, Hajjaj confined
himself to skirmishes, in which his soldiers always had the advantage.
Then, in Dhu 'l Qa'da 72 (March 25th, 692) Mecca was invested. The
blockade lasted more than six months, during which the city was a prey
to all the horrors of siege and famine. Hajjaj had set up a balista on
the hill of Abu Qobais, whence he poured on the city a hail of stones,
which was suspended only in the days of the pilgrimage. Ibn Zobair
employed against him Abyssinians armed with Greek-fire-tubes, who,
however, quitted him soon under the pressure of famine. This at length
triumphed over his last adherents. Ten thousand fighting men, and even
two of the sons of the pretender (it is said, on his own advice), left
the city and surrendered. Mecca being thus left without defenders, Ibn
Zobair saw that ruin was inevitable. Hajjaj having promised him amnesty
if he would surrender, he went to his mother Asma, the daughter of Abu
Bekr, who had reached the age of a hundred years, and asked her counsel.
She answered that, if he was confident in the justice of his cause, he
must die sword in hand. In embracing him for the last time, she felt the
cuirass he wore and exclaimed that such a precaution was unworthy of a
man resolved to die. He, therefore, took off the cuirass, and, when the
Omayyad troops made their way into the city, attacked them furiously,
notwithstanding his advanced age, and was slain. His head was cut off,
and sent by Hajjaj to Damascus.
With Ibn Zobair perished the influence which the early companions of
Mahomet had exercised over Islam. Medina and Mecca, though they
continued to be the holy cities, had no longer their old political
importance, which had already been shaken to its foundations by the
murder of Othman and the subsequent troubles. Henceforward we shall find
temporal interests, represented by Damascus, predominating over those of
religion, and the centre of Islam, now permanently removed beyond the
limits of Arabia, more susceptible to foreign influence, and
assimilating more readily their civilizing elements. Damascus, Kufa and
Basra will attract the flower of all the Moslem provinces, and thus that
great intellectual, literary and scientific movement, which reached its
apogee under the first Abbasid Caliphs at Bagdad, steadily becomes more
marked.
After the burning of the Ka'ba during the siege of Mecca by Hosain b.
Nomair, Ibn Zobair had rebuilt and enlarged the house of God. It is said
that he thus carried out a design of the Prophet, which he had not
ventured to undertake for fear of offending the newly converted
Koreishites. Hajjaj pulled down the enlargements and restored the Ka'ba
to its old state. Meanwhile, the caliph committed to him the government
of the Hejaz. The Medinians, whose loyalty was suspected, were treated
by him with severity; not a few _maulas_ (clients) were obliged to wear
a leaden badge on their neck (Tabari, ii. p. 854 seq.).
Thus the protracted war against Ibn Zobair was brought to an end; hence
this year (71) also is called the "year of union" (_jama'a_). But the
storms in Irak and Mesopotamia had not yet altogether subsided. The Qais
could not leave unavenged the blood shed at Merj Rahit. For about ten
years the Syrian and Mesopotamian deserts were the scene of a series of
raids, often marked by great cruelty, and which have been the subject of
a great many poems. Abdalmalik had need of all his tact and energy to
pacify ultimately the zealous sectaries, but the antagonism between
Yemenites (Kalb and Azd) and Modarites (Qais and Tamim) had been
increased by these struggles, and even in the far east and the far west
had fatal consequences.
When Abdalmalik, after a stay of forty days, returned from Irak to
Syria, he left two Omayyad princes as his vicegerents in Kufa and Basra.
Mohallab, who at the time of the battle of Bajomaira was in the field
against the Azraqites (Kharijites), and had put himself at the disposal
of the caliph, had orders to carry on the war. But the two princes
proved unequal to their task and did not support Mohallab sufficiently,
so that the Kharijites gained more than one victory. Abdalmalik in alarm
made Hajjaj governor of Irak with the most extensive powers. The troops
of Kufa, who accompanied Mohallab in an expedition against the
Kharijites, had abandoned their general and dispersed to their homes,
and nothing could induce them to return to their duty. Then, in the year
75 (A.D. 694), at the moment when the people were assembled in the
mosque for morning prayers, an unknown young man of insignificant
appearance, with a veil over his face, ascended the pulpit. It seemed at
first that he could not find his words. One of the audience, with a
contemptuous remark, took a handful of pebbles to pelt him with. But he
let them fall when Hajjaj lifted his veil and began to speak.
"Men of Kufa," he said, "I see before me heads ripe for the sickle, and
the reaper--I am he. It seems to me, as if I saw already the blood
between your turbans and your shoulders. I am not one of those who can
be frightened by inflated bags of skin, nor need any one think to
squeeze me like a fig. The Prince of the Believers has spread before him
the arrows of his quiver, and has tried every one of them by biting its
wood. It is my wood that he has found the hardest and strongest, and I
am the arrow which he shoots against you."
At the end of this address he ordered his clerk to read the letter of
the caliph. He began: "From the servant of God, Abdalmalik, Prince of
the Believers, to the Moslems that are in Kufa, peace be with you." As
nobody uttered a word in reply, Hajjaj said: "Stop, boy," and exclaimed:
"The Prince of the Believers salutes you, and you do not answer his
greeting! You have been but poorly taught. I will teach you afresh,
unless you behave better. Read again the letter of the Prince of the
Believers." Then, as soon as he had read: "peace upon ye," there
remained not a single man in the mosque who did not respond, "and upon
the Prince of the Believers be peace." Thereupon Hajjaj ordered that
every man capable of bearing arms should immediately join Mohallab in
Khuzistan (Susiana), and swore that all who should be found in the town
after the third day should be beheaded. This threat had its effect, and
Hajjaj proceeded to Basra, where his presence was followed by the same
results. Mohallab, reinforced by the army of Irak, at last succeeded,
after a struggle of eighteen months, in subjugating the Kharijites and
their caliph Qatara b. Foja'a, and was able at the beginning of the year
78 (A.D. 697) to return to Hajjaj at Basra. The latter loaded him with
honours and made him governor of Khorasan, whence he directed several
expeditions into Transoxiana. In the meantime Hajjaj himself had, in 695
and 696, with great difficulty suppressed Shabib b. Yazid at the head of
the powerful tribe of Shaiban, who, himself a Kharijite, had assumed the
title of Prince of the Believers, and had even succeeded in occupying
Kufa. In the east the realm of Islam had been very much extended under
the reign of Moawiya, when Ziyad was governor of Irak and Khorasan.
Balkh and Tokharistan, Bokhara, Samarkand and Khwarizm (modern Khiva),
even Kabul and Kandahar had been subdued; but in the time of the civil
war a great deal had been lost again. Now at last the task of recovering
the lost districts could be resumed. When, in 697, Hajjaj gave the
government of Khorasan to Mohallab, he committed that of Sijistan
(Seistan) to Obaidallah b. Abi Bakra, a cousin of Ziyad. This prefect
allowed himself to be enticed by Zanbil, prince of Zabulistan, to
penetrate into the country far from his base, and escaped narrowly, not
without severe losses. The command over Sijistan was now given to
Abdarrahman b. Ash'ath, a descendant of the old royal family of Kinda,
and a numerous army was entrusted to him, so magnificently equipped that
it was called "the peacock army." Not long after his arrival in
Sijistan, Ibn Ash'ath, exasperated by the masterful tone of Hajjaj, the
plebeian, towards himself, the high-born, decided to revolt. The
soldiers of Irak, who did not love the governor, and disliked the
prospect of a long and difficult war far from home, eagerly accepted the
proposition of returning to Irak, and even proclaimed the dethronement
of Abdalmalik, in favour of Ibn Ash'ath. The new pretender entered Fars
and Ahwaz (Susiana), and it was in this last province near Tostar
(Shuster) that Hajjaj came up with him, after receiving from Syria the
reinforcements which he had demanded in all haste from the caliph. Ibn
Ash'ath drove him back to Basra, entered the city, and then turned his
arms against Kufa, of which he took possession with aid from within.
Hajjaj, afraid lest his communications with Syria should be cut off,
pitched his camp at Dair Qorra, eighteen miles west from Kufa towards
the desert, where Mahommed, the brother of the caliph, and Abdallah, his
son, brought him fresh troops. Ibn Ash'ath encamped not far from him at
Dair al-Jamajim with a far more numerous army. In great alarm Abdalmalik
endeavoured to stifle the revolt by offering to dismiss Hajjaj from his
post. The insurgents rejected this offer, and hostilities recommenced.
At the end of three months and a half, in July 702, a decisive action
took place. Victory declared for Hajjaj. Ibn Ash'ath fled to Basra,
where he managed to collect fresh troops; but having been again beaten
in a furious battle that took place at Maskin near the Dojail, he took
refuge at Ahwaz, from which he was soon driven by the troops of Hajjaj
under 'Omara b. Tamim. The rebel then retired to Sijistan, and
afterwards sought an asylum with the king of Kabul. His partisans fled
before 'Omara's army and penetrated into Khorasan, where they were
isarmed by the governor Yazid, son of the celebrated Mohallab, who had
died in the year 701. The pretender was betrayed by the king of Kabul
and killed himself. His head was sent to Hajjaj and then to Damascus.
This happened in the year 703 or 704. Yazid b. Mohallab was soon after
deprived of the government of Khorasan, Hajjaj accusing him of
partiality towards the rebels of Yemenite extraction. He appointed in
his stead first his brother Mofaddal b. Mohallab, and nine months after
Qotaiba b. Moslim, who was destined in a later period to extend the sway
of Islam in the east as far as China.
The struggle of Ibn Ash'ath was primarily a contest for hegemony between
Irak and Syria. The proud Arabic lords could not acquiesce in paying to
a plebeian like Hajjaj, invested with absolute power by the caliph, the
strict obedience he required. They considered it further as an injustice
that the Syrian soldiers received higher pay than those of Irak. This is
apparent from the fact that one of the conditions of peace proposed by
Abdalmalik before the battle of Dair al-Jamajim had been that henceforth
the Irakian troops should be paid equally with the Syrian. Moreover,
Hajjaj, in order to maintain the regular revenue from taxation, had been
obliged to introduce stringent regulations, and had compelled a great
many villagers who had migrated to the cities to return to their
villages. Several of these were _faqihs_, students of Koranic science
and law, and all these seconded Ibn Ash'ath with all their might. But,
as Wellhausen has shown, it is not correct to consider the contest as a
reaction of the _maula's_ (Persian Moslems) against the Arabic
supremacy.
Immediately after the victories of Dair al-Jamajim and Maskin, in 702,
Hajjaj, built a new residence on the Tigris, between Basra and Kufa,
which he called Wasit ("Middle"). There his Syrian soldiers were not in
contact with the turbulent citizens of the two capitals, and were at any
moment ready to suppress any fresh outburst.
At the beginning of his reign Abdalmalik had replaced the humble mosque
built by Omar on the site of the temple at Jerusalem by a magnificent
dome, which was completed in the year 691. Eutychius and others pretend
that he desired to substitute Jerusalem for Mecca, because Ibn Zobair
had occupied the latter place, and thus the pilgrimage to the Ka'ba had
become difficult for the Syrians. This is quite improbable. Abdalmalik
was born and educated in Islam, and distinguished himself in his youth
by piety and continence. He regarded himself as the champion of Islam
and of the communion of the believers, and had among his intimates men
of acknowledged devoutness such as Raja b. Haywa. The idea of
interfering with the pilgrimage to the House of God at Mecca, which
would have alienated from him all religious men, and thus from a
political point of view would have been suicidal, cannot have entered
his mind for a moment. But the glorification of Jerusalem, holy alike
for Moslems, Christians and Jews, could not but exalt the glory of Islam
and its rulers within and without.
As soon as the expedition to Irak against Mus'ab had terminated, the
holy war against the Greeks was renewed. The operations in Asia Minor
and Armenia were entrusted to Mahommed b. Merwan, the caliph's brother,
who was appointed governor of Mesopotamia and Armenia, and in 692 beat
the army of Justinian II. near Sebaste in Cilicia. From this time forth
the Moslems made yearly raids, the chief advantage of which was that
they kept the Syrian and Mesopotamian Arabs in continual military
exercise. After the victorious march of Okba (Oqba) b. Nafi' through
north Africa and the foundation of Kairawan, his successor Qais b.
Zohair had been obliged to retreat to Barca (Cyrenaica). In the year 696
Abdalmalik sent Hassan b. No'man into Africa at the head of a numerous
army. He retook Kairawan, swept the coast as far as Carthage, which he
sacked, expelling the Greek garrisons from all the fortified places; he
then turned his arms against the Berbers, who, commanded by the Kahina
(Diviner), as the Arabs called their queen, beat him so completely that
he was compelled to retreat to Barca. Five years later he renewed the
war, defeated and killed the Kahina, and subdued the Berbers, who
henceforward remained faithful to the Arabs. Hassan continued to be
governor of Kairawan till after the death of Abdalmalik.
In the meantime Abdalmalik reconstituted the administration of the
empire on Arabic principles. Up to the year 693 the Moslems had no
special coinage of their own, and chiefly used Byzantine and Persian
money, either imported or struck by themselves. Moawiya, indeed, had
struck dinars and dirhems with a Moslem inscription, but his subjects
would not accept them as there was no cross upon them. Abdalmalik
instituted a purely Islamitic coinage. If we may believe Theophanes, who
says that Justinian II. refused to receive these coins in payment of the
tribute and therefore declared the treaty at an end, we must put the
beginning of the coinage at least two years earlier. Hajjaj coined
silver dirhems at Kufa in 694. A still greater innovation was that
Arabic became the official language of the state. In the conquered
countries till then, not only had the Greek and Persian administration
been preserved, but Greek remained the official language in the western,
Persian in the eastern provinces. All officials were now compelled to
know Arabic and to conduct their administration in that language. To
this change was due in great measure the predominance of Arabic
throughout the empire. Lastly, a regular post service was instituted
from Damascus to the provincial capitals, especially destined for
governmental despatches. The postmasters were charged with the task of
informing the caliph of all important news in their respective
countries.
All the great rivals of Abdalmalik having now disappeared, he was no
longer like his predecessors _primus inter pares_, but _dominus_. Under
his rule the members of the Omayyad house enjoyed a greater amount of
administrative control than had formerly been the case, but high office
was given only to competent men. He succeeded in reconciling the sons of
'Amr Ashdaq, and also Khalid b. Yazid, to whom he gave his own daughter
in marriage. He himself had married 'Atika, a daughter of Yazid, a union
which was in all respects a happy one. He took great care in the
education of his sons, whom he destined as his successors. His brother
Abdalaziz, governor of Egypt, whom Merwan had marked out as his
successor, died in the year 703 or 704, and Abdalmalik chose as heirs to
the empire first his son Walid, and after him his second son Suleiman.
He himself died on the 14th Shawwal 86 (9th October 705) at the age of
about sixty. His reign was one of the most stormy in the annals of
Islam, but also one of the most glorious. Abdalmalik not only brought
triumph to the cause of the Omayyads, but also extended and strengthened
the Moslem power as a whole. He was well versed in old Arabic tradition
and in the doctrine of Islam, and was passionately fond of poetry. His
court was crowded with poets, whom he loaded with favours, even if they
were Christians like Akhtal. In his reign flourished also the two
celebrated rivals of Akhtal, Jarir and Farazdaq.
6. _Reign of Walid I._--This is the most glorious epoch in the history
of Islam. In Asia Minor and Armenia, Maslama, brother of the caliph, and
his generals obtained numerous successes against the Greeks. Tyana was
conquered after a long siege, and a great expedition against
Constantinople was in preparation. In Armenia Maslama advanced even as
far as the Caucasus. In Africa, Musa b. Nosair, who succeeded Hassan b.
No'man as governor, in a short time carried his conquests as far as Fez,
Tangier and Ceuta, and one of his captains even made a descent on Sicily
and plundered Syracuse. When he returned from the west to Kairawan, he
made his client Tariq (or Tarik) governor of Tangier and of the whole
western part of Africa. Under him the chiefs who had submitted to the
Moslem arms retained their authority. One of them was the Greek exarch
of Tangier, Julian, who, supported by the powerful Berber tribe of
Ghomera, had long resisted and even asked for aid from Spain, but had
been compelled to surrender and was left governor of Ceuta. Meanwhile in
Spain, after the death of the Gothic king Witiza in the year 90
(708-709), anarchy arose, which was terminated by the council of
noblemen at Toledo electing Roderic, the powerful duke of Baetica, to be
his successor in the fifth year of Walid. The eldest son of Witiza then
applied to Julian, and asked the aid of the Arabs for the recovery of
his father's throne. Tariq forwarded the embassy to Kairawan, and Musa
asked the caliph's permission to send an expedition into Spain.
Authorized by Musa, Tariq now sent, in Ramadan 91 (July 710), 500
Berbers under the command of Tarif to reconnoitre the country. This
expedition, seconded by partisans of Witiza, was successful. In the
beginning of A.D. 711 Roderic had been summoned to the north on account
of an invasion of Navarra by the Franks, caused, it is said, by the
conspirators. Tariq, thus certain of meeting no serious opposition to
his landing, passed into Spain himself with an army composed mainly of
Berbers of the Ghomera tribe under the guidance of Julian. The spot
where he landed thence acquired the name of Jebel Tariq, "Mountain of
Tariq," afterwards corrupted into Gibraltar. Having made himself master
of Algeçiras and thereby secured his communication with Africa, Tariq
set out at once in the direction of Cordova. At the news of the invasion
Roderic hastened back and led a numerous army against the combined
forces of Tariq and the partisans of Witiza. A fierce battle took place
in the plain of Barbata on the little river of Guadaleta (north of
Medina Sidonia), in which Roderic was completely routed. The spoils of
the victors were immense, especially in horses, but the king himself had
disappeared. Fearing lest he should have escaped to Toledo and should
there fit out another army, the partisans of Witiza insisted that Tariq
should march immediately against the capital. Tariq complied with their
wishes, notwithstanding the express command of Musa b. Nosair that he
should not venture too far into the country, and the protests of Julian.
Having made himself master of Ecija and having despatched a detachment
under Moghith against Cordova, Tariq took Mentesa (Villanueva de la
Fuente) and marched upon Toledo, which he soon conquered. At the same
time Moghith took Cordova. But, notwithstanding these successes, Tariq
knew that his situation was most critical. King Roderic, who had escaped
to Lusitania, and the noble Goths, who had fled from Toledo, would
certainly not be slow in making efforts to regain what they had lost. He
therefore sent a message in all haste to Musa, entreating him to come
speedily. Musa, though angered by the disobedience of Tariq, hastened to
the rescue and embarked in April 712 with 18,000 men, among them many
noble Arabs, and began, advised by Julian, a methodical campaign, with
the purpose of establishing and securing a line of communication between
the sea and Toledo. After having taken Seville, Carmona and Merida, he
marched from the latter place by the Via Romana to Salamanca, after
having ordered Tariq to rejoin him in order to encounter king Roderic.
Not far from Tamames the king was defeated and killed. King Alphonso the
Great found his tombstone at Viseo with the inscription, "Hic requiescit
Rodericus rex Gothorum." After this battle Musa reconquered Toledo,
which, after the departure of Tariq, had recovered its independence, and
entered the capital in triumph. Already, before the expedition to
Salamanca, he had perceived that the sons of Witiza had neither military
nor political ability. He therefore proclaimed the caliph of Damascus as
sole ruler of the whole peninsula. The Gothic princes must content
themselves with honours and apanages, in which they readily acquiesced.
In the same year 93 (A.D. 712) Musa struck Moslem coins with Latin
inscriptions. Musa then continued the subjugation of Spain, till Walid
recalled him to Damascus. He obeyed after having appointed his son
Abdalaziz governor of Andalos (Andalusia), as the Arabs named the
peninsula, and assigned Seville as his residence. Abdalaziz consolidated
his power by marrying the widow of the late king Roderic. Musa left
Spain about August 714, and reached Damascus shortly before the death of
Walid. Notwithstanding the immense booty he brought, he did not receive
his due reward. Accused of peculation, he was threatened with
imprisonment unless he paid a fine of 100,000 pieces of gold. The old
man--he was born in the year 640--was released by Yazid b. Mohallab, the
then mighty favourite of the caliph Suleiman, but died in the same year
716 on his way to Mecca. His son Abdalaziz was an excellent ruler, who
did much for the consolidation of the new conquests, but he reigned only
one year and eleven months, when he was murdered. His death has been
falsely imputed by some historians to the caliph Suleiman.[19]
In the East the Moslem armies gained the most astonishing successes. In
the course of a few years Qotaiba b. Moslim conquered Paikend, Bokhara,
Samarkand, Khwarizm (mod. Khiva), Ferghana and Shash (Tashkent), and
even Kashgar on the frontiers of China. Meanwhile Mahommed b. Qasim
invaded Makran, took Daibol, passed the Indus, and marched, after having
beaten the Indian king Daher, through Sind upon Multan, which he
conquered and whence he carried off an immense booty.
Walid was the first caliph, born and trained as prince, who felt the
majesty of the imamate and wished it to be felt by his subjects. He
desired to augment the splendours of Islam and its sovereign, as
Abdalmalik had already done by building the dome of Jerusalem. In the
time of the conquest of Damascus, one half of the great church had been
made a mosque, while the remaining half had been left to the Christians.
Walid annexed this part, indemnifying the Christians elsewhere, and
restored the whole building sumptuously and magnificently. In his time
many fine palaces and beautiful villas were built in Syria, and Becker's
conjecture seems not altogether improbable, that from this period dates
the palace of Mashetta, the façade of which is now in the Kaiser
Friedrich Museum at Berlin, as perhaps also the country houses
discovered by Musil in the land of Moab. Walid also caused the mosque of
Medina to be enlarged. For this purpose, the apartments of the Prophet
and his wives were demolished, which at first caused much discontent in
Medina, some crying out that thereby a verse of the Book of God (S. 49,
v. 4) was cancelled. With this exception, the citizens of Medina had
nothing to complain of. The vicegerent of Abdalmalik had treated them
harshly. Walid immediately on his accession appointed as governor of
Hejaz his cousin Omar b. Abdalaziz, who was received there with joy, his
devoutness and gentle character being well known. But the reputation of
Omar attracted to the two holy cities a great number of the inhabitants
of Irak, who had been deeply involved in the rebellion of Ibn Ash'ath.
Hajjaj, however, was not the man to allow the formation of a fresh
nucleus of sedition, and persuaded the caliph to dismiss Omar in the
year 712, and appoint Othman b. Hayyan at Medina and Khalid al-Qasri at
Mecca. These two prefects compelled the refugees to return to Irak,
where many of them were severely treated and even put to death by
Hajjaj.
Few people have been so slandered as this great viceroy of the Orient.
In reality he was a man of extraordinary ability, and accomplished the
task committed to him with vigour and energy. To his unflagging
constancy was due the suppression of the dangerous rebellion of Ibn
Ash'ath. After the restoration of peace his capacity for organization
was displayed in all directions. The draining and tilling of submerged
or uncultivated land on a large scale, the promotion of agriculture in
every way, in particular by the digging of channels, and the regulation
of the system of taxation, were carried out on his initiative. He showed
the utmost wisdom in the selection of his lieutenants. The fear of his
name was so great that even in the desert there was security for life
and property, and his brilliant military successes were unquestionably
due in a great measure to the care which he bestowed on equipment and
commissariat. The heavy expenses entailed thereby were largely met by
the booty which he won. Hajjaj was a sincere Moslem; this, however, did
not prevent him from attacking Ibn Zobair in the Holy City, nor again
from punishing rebels, though they bore the name of holy men. He enjoyed
the entire confidence of Abdalmalik with Walid, but Suleiman, the
appointed successor, regarded him with disfavour. Yazid b. Mohallab,
whom he had recalled from Khorasan, and imprisoned, had escaped and put
himself under the protection of Suleiman, who made himself surety for
the fine to which Yazid had been condemned. Hajjaj foreboded evil, and
prayed eagerly that he might die before Walid. His death took place
about the end of Ramadan 95 (June or July 714).
7. _Reign of Suleiman_ (_Solaiman_).--Suleiman had early missed the
throne. Walid wished to have his son Abdalaziz chosen as his successor,
and had offered Suleiman a large sum of money to induce him to surrender
his rights. Walid went still further and sent letters to the governors
of all the provinces, calling on them to take the oath of allegiance to
his son. None, except Hajjaj and his two generals Qotaiba b. Moslim and
Mahommed b. Qàsim, consented thus to set at naught the order of
succession established by Abdalmalik; and Suleiman succeeded without
difficulty on the death of his brother Jomada II. 96 (February 715). We
can easily conceive the hatred felt by Suleiman for Hajjaj and for all
that belonged to him. Hajjaj himself was dead; but Suleiman poured out
his wrath on his family and his officers. The governors of Medina and
Mecca were dismissed; Mahommed b. Qasim, the conqueror of India, cousin
of Hajjaj, was dismissed from his post and outlawed. Qotaiba b. Moslim,
the powerful governor of Khorasan, tried to anticipate the caliph by a
revolt, but a conspiracy was formed against him, which ended in his
murder. Some historians say that he was falsely accused of rebellion.
Yazid b. Mohallab, the enemy of Hajjaj, was made governor of Irak. His
arrival was hailed with joy, especially by the Azd, to whom his family
belonged, and the other Yemenite tribes. Yazid discovered soon that the
system of taxation as regulated by Hajjaj could not be altered without
serious danger to the finances of the empire, and that he could not
afford the expenses which his prodigal manner of life involved. He
therefore asked the caliph to give him the governorship of Khorasan
also, and took his residence in Merv, where he was free from control. On
his return to Khorasan he set on foot a series of new expeditions
against Jorjan and Tabaristan, with only partial success. He sent,
however, to the caliph an exaggerated account of his victories and the
booty he had made. He had cause to repent this later.
Walid had, in the last years of his reign, made preparations for a great
expedition against Constantinople. Suleiman carried them on with energy,
and as early as the autumn of A.D. 715 Maslama invaded Asia Minor at the
head of a numerous army, whilst a well-equipped fleet under Omar b.
Hobaira sailed out to second him. It is said that Suleiman was firmly
persuaded that Constantinople would be conquered during his reign, in
accordance with a Sibylline prophecy which said that the city would be
subdued by a caliph bearing the name of a prophet, he himself being the
first to fulfil this condition.[20] Moreover, the Byzantine empire was
in these years disturbed by internal troubles. The first year of the
expedition was not unsuccessful. The siege of Amorium in Phrygia was
broken up, but Pergamum and Sardis were taken. On the 25th of August 716
the blockade of Constantinople began from the land side, and two weeks
later from the sea side. A few months before, Leo the Isaurian had
ascended the throne and prepared the city for the siege. This lasted
about a year. The besieged were hard pressed, but the besiegers suffered
by the severe winter, and were at last obliged to raise the siege.
Maslama brought back the rest of his army in a pitiful state, while the
fleet, on its return, was partly destroyed by a violent tempest. The
Moslems regard this failure as one of the great evils that have befallen
the human race, and one which retarded the progress of the world for
ages,[21] the other calamity being the defeat in the battle of Tours by
Charles Martel.
Maslama was still on his way back when Suleiman died at Dabiq in
northern Syria, which was the base of the expeditions into Asia Minor.
He seems not to have had the firmness of character nor the frugality of
Walid; but he was very severe against the looseness of manners that
reigned at Medina, and was highly religious. Raja b. Haywa, renowned for
his piety, whose influence began under Abdalmalik and increased under
Walid, was his constant adviser and even determined him to designate as
his successor his devout cousin Omar b. Abdalaziz. Suleiman was kind
towards the Alids and was visited by several of them, amongst others by
Abu Hashim, the son of Mahommed b. al Hanafiya, who after his father's
death had become the secret Imam (head) of the Shi'ites. On his way back
to Hejaz this man visited the family of Abdallah b. 'Abbas, which
resided at Homaima, a place situated in the vicinity of 'Amman, and died
there, after having imparted to Mahommed b. Ali b. Abdallah b. Abbas the
names of the chiefs of the Shi'a in Irak and Khorasan, and disclosed his
way of corresponding with them. From that time the Abbasids began their
machinations against the Omayyads in the name of the family of the
Prophet, avoiding all that could cause suspicion to the Shi'ites, but
holding the strings firmly in their own hands.
8. _Reign of Omar II._--Omar b. Abdalaziz did his best to imitate his
grandfather Omar in all things, and especially in maintaining the simple
manner of life of the early Moslems. He was, however, born in the midst
of wealth; thus frugality became asceticism, and in so far as he
demanded the same rigour from his relatives, he grew unjust and caused
uneasiness and discontent. By paying the highest regard to integrity in
the choice of his officers, and not to ability, he did not advance the
interests of his subjects, as he earnestly wished to do. In the matter
of taxes, though actuated by the most noble designs, he did harm to the
public revenues. The principle of Islam was, that no Moslem, whatever
might be his nationality, should pay any tax other than the _zakat_ or
poor-rate (see MAHOMMEDAN INSTITUTIONS). In practice, this privilege was
confined to the Arabic Moslems. Omar wished to maintain the principle.
The original inhabitants had been left on the conquered lands as
agriculturists, on condition of paying a fixed sum yearly for each
district. If one of these adopted Islam, Omar permitted him to leave his
place, which had been strictly forbidden by Hajjaj in Irak and the
eastern provinces, because by it many hands were withdrawn from the
tilling of the ground, and those who remained were unable to pay the
allotted amount. Omar's system not only diminished the actual revenue,
but largely increased in the cities the numbers of the _maula's_
(clients), mainly Persians, who were weary of their dependency on their
Arabic lords, and demanded equal rights for themselves. Their short
dominion in Kufa under Mokhtar had been suppressed, but the discontent
continued. In North Africa particularly, and in Khorasan the effect of
Omar's proclamation was that a great multitude embraced Islam. When it
became necessary to impose a tribute upon the new converts, great
discontent arose, which largely increased the number of those who
followed the Shi'ite preachers of revolt. Conversion to Islam was
promoted by the severe regulations which Omar introduced for the
non-believers, such as Christians and Jews. It was he who issued those
humiliating rescripts, which are commonly but unjustly attributed to
Omar I. But he forbade extortion and suppressed more than one illegal
impost. He endeavoured above all to procure justice for all his
subjects. Complaints against oppression found in him a ready listener,
and many unlawfully acquired possessions were restored to the legal
owners, for instance, to the descendants of Ali and Talha. Even to the
Kharijites he contrived to give satisfaction, as far as possible. In all
these matters he followed the guidance of divines and devotees, in whose
congenial company he delighted. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at
that these men saw in Omar the ideal of a prince, and that in Moslem
history he has acquired the reputation of a saint.
After the failure of the siege of Constantinople, the advanced posts in
Asia Minor were withdrawn, but the raids were continued regularly. It
has been said that it was Omar's intention to give up his Spanish
conquests, but the facts argue the contrary. The governor, named by
Omar, Samh b. Abdallah, even crossed the Pyrenees and took possession of
Narbonne; but he was beaten and killed at Toulouse in July 720. But Omar
did all he could to prevent the degradation of the Holy War, which,
instead of being the ultimate expedient for the propagation of Islam, if
all other means had failed, had often degenerated into mere pillaging
expeditions against peaceful nations.
9. _Reign of Yazid II._--Omar's reign was as short as that of his
predecessor. He died on the 24th of Rajab 101 (A.D. 9th February 720).
Yazid II., son of Abdalmalik and, by his mother 'Atika, grandson of
Yazid I., ascended the throne without opposition. He had at once,
however, to put down a dangerous rebellion. Yazid b. Mohallab had
returned to Irak, after the conquest of Jorjan, when Suleiman was still
alive. Shortly after, Adi b. Artat, whom Omar II. had appointed
governor, arrived, arrested Yazid, and sent him to Omar, who called him
to account for the money he had mentioned in his letter to Suleiman, and
imprisoned him when he pretended not to be able to pay the amount. Yazid
II. had personal grounds for ill-will to Yazid b. Mohallab. One of the
wives of the new caliph, the same who gave birth to that son of Yazid
II. who afterwards reigned as Walid II., was niece to the celebrated
Hajjaj, whose family had been ill-treated by the son of Mohallab, when
he was governor of Irak under Suleiman. Aware that Yazid b. Abdalmalik,
on ascending the throne, would spare neither him nor his family, Yazid
b. Mohallab had succeeded in escaping to Basra, the home of his family,
where his own tribe the Azd was predominant. Meanwhile 'Adi b. Artat had
all the brothers of Yazid and other members of the family of Mohallab
arrested, and tried to prevent Yazid from entering the city. But 'Adi
was too scrupulous to employ the public money for raising the pay of his
soldiers, whilst Yazid promised mountains of gold. Yazid stormed the
castle and took 'Adi prisoner, the public treasury fell into his hands,
and he employed the money to pay his troops largely and to raise fresh
ones. A pardon obtained for him from the caliph came too late; he had
already gone too far. He now proclaimed a Holy War against the Syrians,
whom he declared to be worse enemies of Islam than even the Turks and
the Dailam. Notwithstanding the warnings of the aged Hasan al-Basri, the
friend of Omar II., the religious people, took the part of Yazid, and
were followed by the _maulas_. Though the number of his adherents thus
increased enormously, their military value was small. Ahwaz (Khuzistan),
Fars and Kirman were easily subdued, but in Khorasan the Azd could not
prevail over the Tamim, who were loyal to the caliph. As the rebellion
threatened to spread far and wide, Yazid II. was obliged to appeal to
his brother, the celebrated Maslama. With the approach of the Syrians,
Yazid b. Mohallab tried to forestall them at Kufa. He took his way over
Wasit, which he mastered--the Syrian garrison seems to have been
withdrawn in the days of Omar II.--but, before he could get hold of
Kufa, the Syrian troops arrived. The meeting took place at 'Aqr in the
vicinity of Babel, and Yazid was completely defeated and fell in the
battle. His brothers and sons fled to Basra; thence they went by sea to
Kirman and then to Kandabil in India; but they were pursued relentlessly
and slain with only two exceptions by the officers of Maslama. The
possessions of the Mohallabites were confiscated.
Maslama was rewarded with the governorship of Irak and Khorasan, but
was soon replaced by Omar b. Hobaira, who under Omar II. had been
governor of Mesopotamia. He belonged to the tribe of Qais, and was very
severe against the Azd and other Yemenite tribes, who had more or less
favoured the part of Yazid b. Mohallab. In these years the antagonism
between Qais (Modar) and Yemenites became more and more acute,
especially in Khorasan. The real cause of the dismissal of Maslama was,
that he did not send the revenue-quota to Damascus. Omar b. Hobaira, to
supply the deficiency, ordered the prefect of Khorasan,
Sa'id-al-Harashi, to take tribute from the Sogdians in Transoxiana, who
had embraced Islam on the promise of Omar II. The Sogdians raised a
revolt in Ferghana, but were subdued by Sa'id and obliged to pay. A
still more questionable measure of Ibn Hobaira was his ordering the
successor of Sa'id Harashi to extort large sums of money from several of
the most respectable Khorasanians. The discontent roused thereby became
one of the principal causes of the fall of the Omayyads.
In Africa serious troubles arose from the same cause. Yazid b. Abi
Moslim, who had been at the head of the financial department in Irak
under Hajjaj, and had been made governor of Africa by Yazid II., issued
orders that the villagers who, having adopted Islam, were freed from
tribute according to the promise of Omar II., and had left their
villages for the towns, should return to their domiciles and pay the
same tribute as before their conversion. The Berbers rose in revolt,
slaughtered the unfortunate governor, and put in his place the former
governor Mahommed b. Yazid. The caliph at first ratified this choice,
but soon after dismissed Mahommed from his post, and replaced him by
Bishr b. Safwan, who under Hisham made an expedition against Sicily.
Yazid II. was by natural disposition the opposite of his predecessor. He
did not feel that anxiety for the spiritual welfare of his subjects
which had animated Omar II. Poetry and music, not beloved by Suleiman
and condemned by Omar, were held by him in great honour. Two
court-singers, Sallama and Hababa, exercised great influence, tempered
only by the austerity of manners that prevailed in Syria. He was so
deeply affected by the death of Hababa, that Maslama entreated him not
to exhibit his sorrow to the eyes of the public. He died a few days
later, on the 26th of January 724, according to the chroniclers from
grief for her loss. As his successor he had appointed in the first place
his brother Hisham, and after him his own son Walid.
10. _Reign of Hisham_.--Hisham was a wise and able prince and an enemy
of luxury, not an idealist like Omar II., nor a worldling like Yazid
II., but more like his father Abdalmalik, devoting all his energy to the
pacification of the interior, and to extending and consolidating the
empire of Islam. But the discontent, which had been sown under his
predecessors, had now developed to such an extent that he could not
suppress it in detail. His first care was to put an end to the
tyrannical rule of the Qaisites (Modarites) in Irak and Khorasan by
dismissing Omar b. Hobaira and appointing in his place Khalid al-Qasri.
This very able man, who under Hajjaj had been prefect of Mecca, belonged
properly neither to the Qaisites nor to the Yemenites, but as he took
the place of Ibn Hobaira and dismissed his partisans from their posts,
the former considered him as their adversary, the latter as their
benefactor. After his death, in particular, the Yemenites celebrated him
as their chief, and assigned as the reason for their revolt the injuries
which he suffered. Khalid himself assuredly did not intend it. He was a
loyal servant of the dynasty, and remained such even after receiving
very harsh treatment from them. For fifteen years Khalid governed the
eastern half of the empire, and continued to maintain peace with only
few exceptions throughout. He did much for the reclaiming and improving
of lands in Irak, in which the caliph himself and several princes took
an active part. The great revenues obtained thereby naturally caused
much jealousy. Khalid lived on a very rich scale and was extraordinarily
liberal, and he was charged with having carried out all his improvements
for his own interests, and upbraided for selling the corn of his estates
only when the prices were high. To these charges were added the
accusation that he was too tolerant to Christians, Jews and
Zoroastrians. As his mother professed the Christian religion, he was
accused of infidelity. At last a conspiracy, into which the principal
engineer of Khalid, Hassan the Nabataean, had been drawn, succeeded in
inciting Hisham against Khalid. They told him that Khalid had used
disrespectful terms in speaking of the caliph, and that he had
appropriated revenues belonging to the state. The latter imputation
especially influenced Hisham, who was very parsimonious. When the
dismissal of Khalid had been resolved upon, Yusuf b. Omar, his appointed
successor, was sent secretly to Kufa, where he seized on Khalid
unawares. For eighteen months Khalid remained in prison. But when he
declined even under torture to confess that he had been guilty of
extensive peculation, he was finally released. He settled at Damascus
and made a noble return for his injuries by taking an active part in the
war against the Greeks. In the summer of A.D. 740, while he was in Asia
Minor, a great fire broke out in Damascus, the guilt of which was
attributed to Khalid. Though it soon appeared that the imputation was
false, Khalid, on his return, was furious, and uttered very offensive
words against the caliph. Hisham, however, would not again punish his
old servant; on the contrary, he seems to have regarded his indignation
as a proof of innocence.
The successor of Khalid in Irak had not long been in office when Zaid b.
Ali, grandson of Hosain b. Ali, who had come to Kufa for a lawsuit, was
persuaded by the chiefs of the Shi'a to organize a revolt. He succeeded
in so far that 15,000 Kufians swore to fight with him for the
maintenance of the commandments of the Book of God and the _Sunna_
(orthodox tradition) of his Prophet, the discomfiture of the tyrants,
the redress of injury, and last, not least, the vindication of the
family of the Prophet as the rightful caliphs. The revolt broke out on
the 6th of January 740. Unfortunately for Zaid he had to do with the
same Kufians whose fickleness had already been fatal to his family. He
was deserted by his troops and slain. His body was crucified in Kufa,
his head sent to Damascus and thence to Medina. His son Yahya, still a
youth, fled to Balkh in Khorasan, but was discovered at last and hunted
down, till he fell sword in hand under Walid II. Abu Moslim, the founder
of the Abbasid dynasty, proclaimed himself his avenger, and on that
occasion adopted the black garments, which remained the distinctive
colour of the dynasty.
In Khorasan also there were very serious disturbances. The Sogdians,
though subdued by Sa'id al Harashi, were not appeased, but implored the
assistance of the Turks, who had long been contending earnestly against
the Arabs for the dominion of Transoxiana. They found besides a most
valuable ally in Harith b. Soraij, a distinguished captain of the Arabic
tribe of Tamim, who, with many pious Moslems, was scandalized by the
government's perfidy in regard to the new converts. Harith put himself
at the head of all the malcontents, and raised the black flag, in
compliance with a Sibylline prophecy, holding that the man with the
black flag (the Prophet's flag) would put an end to the tyranny, and be
the precursor of the Mahdi.[22] The government troops suffered more than
one defeat, but in the last month of the year 118 (A.D. 736) the
governor Asad al-Qasri, the brother of Khalid, after having defeated
Harith, gained a brilliant victory over the Turks, which finally caused
them to retreat. Asad died almost simultaneously with the dismissal of
Khalid. Hisham then separated Khorasan from Irak and chose as governor
of the former Nasr b. Sayyar, a valiant soldier who had grown grey in
war, and who, besides all his other capacities, was an excellent poet.
Nasr instituted a system of taxation, which, if it had been introduced
earlier, would perhaps have saved the Arabic domination. It was that
which later on was generally adopted, viz. that all possessors of
conquered lands (i.e. nearly the whole empire except Arabia), whether
Moslems or not, should pay a fixed tax, the latter in addition to pay a
poll-tax, from which they were relieved on conversion to Islam. During
the reign of Hisham, Nasr made a successful expedition against Harith
and the Turks. The propaganda of the Shi'a by the Abbasids was
continued in these years with great zeal.
In India several provinces which had been converted to Islam under the
Caliphate of Omar II. declared themselves independent, because the
promise of equal rights for all Moslems was not kept under the reign of
his successors. This led to the evacuation of the eastern part of India
(called Hind by the Arabs, Sind being the name of the western part), and
to the founding of the strong cities of Mahfuza and Mansura for the
purpose of controlling the land.
In the north and north-west of the empire there were no internal
disorders, but the Moslems had hard work to maintain themselves against
the Alans and the Khazars. In the year 112 (A.D. 730) they suffered a
severe defeat, in which the general Jarrah perished. But the illustrious
Maslama b. Abdalmalik, and Merwan b. Mahommed (afterwards caliph),
governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan (Adherbaijan), succeeded in repelling
the Khazars, imposing peace on the petty princes of the eastern
Caucasus, and consolidating the Arab power in that quarter. The war
against the Byzantines was continued with energy during the whole of
Hisham's reign. Moawiya, the son of Hisham, whose descendants reigned
later in Spain, was in command till 118 (A.D. 736), when he met his
death accidentally in Asia Minor by a fall from his horse. After his
death, Suleiman, another son of the caliph, had the supreme command.
Both were eager and valiant warriors. But the hero of all the battles
was Abdallah b. Hosain, surnamed al-Battal (the brave). He has been the
subject of many romantic tales. Tabari tells how he took the emperor
Constantine prisoner in the year 114 (A.D. 732; but Constantine V.
Copronymus only began to reign in 740 or 741 A.D.); another Arabic
author places this event in the year 122, adding that al-Battal, having
defeated the Greeks, was attacked and slain in returning with his
captives. The Greek historians say nothing about Constantine having been
made prisoner. It is probable that the Arabs took another Greek soldier
for the prince.[23] The victories of the Moslems had no lasting results.
During the troubles that began in the reign of Walid II., the Greeks
reconquered Marash (Germanicia), Malatia (Malatiyeh) and Erzerum
(Theodosiopolis).
In Spain the attention of the Moslems was principally turned to avenge
the defeat of Samh beyond the Pyrenees. As early as the second year of
the reign of Hisham, 'Anbasa, the governor of Spain, crossed the
Pyrenees, and pushed on military operations vigorously. Carcassonne and
Nîmes were taken, Autun sacked. The death of 'Anbasa in A.D. 725 and
internal troubles put a stop to further hostilities. The Berbers were
the chief contingent of the Moslem troops, but were treated by their
Arab masters as inferior people. They began to resent this, and one of
their chiefs, Munisa (Munuza), made himself independent in the north and
allied himself with Odo, king of Aquitaine, who gave him his daughter in
marriage. In the year 113 Abdarrahman b. Abdallah subdued Munisa,
crossed the mountains and penetrated into Gascony by the valley of
Roncesvalles. The Moslems beat Odo, gained possession of Bordeaux, and
overran the whole of southern Gaul nearly as far as the Loire. But in
October 732 their march was checked between Tours and Poitiers by
Charles Martel and after some days of skirmishing a fierce but
indecisive battle was fought. Abdarrahman was among the slain and the
Moslems retreated hastily in the night, leaving their camp to the
Franks. They were, however, not yet discouraged. In 739 the new governor
of Spain, Oqba (Aucupa) b. Hajjaj, a man of high qualities, re-entered
Gaul and pushed forward his raids as far as Lyons, but the Franks again
drove back the Arabs as far as Narbonne. Thenceforth the continual
revolts of the Berbers in Africa, and the internal troubles which
disturbed Spain until the reign of Abdarrahman I., effectually checked
the ambition of the Moslems.
In Africa the hand of government pressed heavily. The Berbers, though
they had pledged themselves to Islam and had furnished the latest
contingents for the Holy War, were treated as tributary serfs,
notwithstanding the promises given by Omar II. The Kharijites, of whom a
great many had emigrated to Africa, found them eager listeners. Still,
they could not believe that it was according to the will of the caliph
that they were thus treated, until a certain number of their chiefs went
as a deputation to Hisham, but failed to obtain an audience. Thereupon a
fierce insurrection broke out, against which the governor of Africa was
powerless. Hisham at once sent an army of more than 30,000 men, under
the command of Kolthum al-Qoshairi, and Balj b. Bishr. Not far from the
river Sabu in Algeria,[24] the meeting with the army of the insurgents
took place (A.D. 740). Kolthum was beaten and killed; Balj b. Bishr led
the rest of the Syrian army to Ceuta, and thence, near the end of 741,
to Spain, where they aided in the suppression of the dangerous revolt of
the peninsular Berbers. Balj died in 742. A year later the governor,
Abu'l-Khattar, assigned to his troops for settlement divers countries
belonging to the public domain.[25] An effort of the African Berbers to
make themselves masters of Kairawan failed, their army being utterly
defeated by the governor Hanzala.
Hisham died in February 743, after a reign of twenty years. He had not
been wanting in energy and ability, and kept the reins of the government
in his own hands. He was a correct Moslem and tolerant towards
Christians and Jews. His financial administration was sound and he
guarded against any misuse of the revenues of the state. But he was not
popular. His residence was at Rosafa on the border of the desert, and he
rarely admitted visitors into his presence; as a rule they were received
by his chamberlain Abrash. Hisham tried to keep himself free from and
above the rival parties, but as his vicegerents were inexorable in the
exaction of tribute, the Qaisites against the Yemenites, the Yemenites
against the Qaisites, both parties alternately had reason to complain,
whilst the non-Arabic Moslems suffered under the pressure and were
dissatisfied. He caused a large extent of land to be brought into
cultivation, and many public works to be executed, and he was accused of
overburdening his subjects for these purposes. Therefore, Yazid III. (as
also the Abbasids) on taking office undertook to abstain from spending
money on building and digging. The principle that a well-filled treasury
is the basis of a prosperous government was pushed by him too far.
Notwithstanding his activity and his devotion to the management of
affairs, the Moslem power declined rather than advanced, and signs of
the decay of the Omayyad dynasty began to show themselves. The history
of his four successors, Walid II., Yazid III., Ibrahim and Merwan II.,
is but the history of the fall of the Omayyads.
11. _Reign of Walid II._--Walid II. was a handsome man, possessed of
extraordinary physical strength, and a distinguished poet. But Hisham,
to whom he was successor-designate, foolishly kept him in the
background, and even made earnest efforts to get his own son Maslama
acknowledged as his successor. Walid therefore retired to the country,
and passed his time there in hunting, cultivating poetry, music and the
like, waiting with impatience for the death of Hisham and planning
vengeance on all those whom he suspected of having opposed him. His
first public action was to increase the pay of all soldiers by 10
dirhems, that of the Syrians by 20. The Omayyads who came to pay their
respects to him received large donations. Many philanthropic
institutions were founded. As to the family of his predecessor, he
contented himself with confiscating their possessions, with the single
exception of Suleiman b. Hisham, whom he had whipped and put in prison.
But the Makhzumites, who were related to Hisham by his mother, he
deprived of all their power and had them tortured to death. The
vicegerents of Hisham were replaced by Qaisites; Yusuf b. Omar, the
governor of Irak, being a Qaisite, was not only confirmed in his office,
but received with it the supreme command of Khorasan. He made use of it
immediately by ordering Nasr b. Sayyar to collect a rich present of
horses, falcons, musical instruments, golden and silver vessels and to
offer it to the caliph in person, but before the present was ready the
news came that Walid had been murdered.
It is not certain that Walid also suspected Khalid al-Qasri of having
intrigued against him. But Yusuf b. Omar did not rest until he had his
old enemy in his power. It is said that he guaranteed Walid a large sum
of money, which he hoped to extort from Khalid. This unfortunate man
died under torture, which he bore with fortitude, in Muharram 126
(November 743).
Walid designated his two sons as heirs to the Caliphate. These were
still under age and were not the children of a freeborn, noble mother.
Both circumstances, according to the then prevailing notions, made them
unfit for the imamate. Moreover, it was an affront, in particular, for
the sons of Walid I., who already had considered the nomination of Yazid
II. as a slight to themselves. A conspiracy arose, headed by Yazid b.
Walid I., and joined by the majority of the Merwanid princes and many
Kalbites and other Yemenites who regarded the ill-treatment of Khalid
al-Qasri as an insult to themselves. Various stories were circulated
about the looseness of Walid's manner of life; Yazid accused him of
irreligion, and, by representing himself as a devout and God-fearing
man, won over the pious Moslems. The conspirators met with slight
opposition. A great many troops had been detached by Hisham to Africa
and other provinces, the caliph himself was in one of his country
places; the prefect of Damascus also was absent. Without difficulty,
Yazid made himself master of Damascus, and immediately sent his cousin
Abdalaziz with 2000 men against Walid, who had not more than 200
fighting men about him. A few men hastened to the rescue, among others
'Abbas b. Walid with his sons and followers. Abdalaziz interrupted his
march, took him prisoner and compelled him to take the oath of
allegiance to his brother Yazid. Walid's small body of soldiers was soon
overpowered. After a valiant combat, the caliph retired to one of his
apartments and sat with the Koran on his knee, in order to die just as
Othman had died. He was killed on the 17th of April 744. His head was
taken to Damascus and carried about the city at the end of a spear.
On the news of the murder of the caliph, the citizens of Homs (Emesa)
put at their head Abu Mahommed as-Sofiani, a grandson of Yazid I., and
marched against Damascus. They were beaten by Suleiman b. Hisham at a
place called Solaimania, 12 m. from the capital. Abu Mahommed was taken
prisoner and shut up with several of his brethren and cousins in the
Khadra, the old palace of Moawiya, together with the two sons of Walid
II. One or two risings in Palestine were easily suppressed. But the
reigning family had committed suicide. Their unity was broken. The
holiness of their Caliphate, their legitimate authority, had been
trifled with; the hatred of the days of Merj Rahit had been revived. The
orthodox faith also, whose strong representative and defender had
hitherto been the caliph, was shaken by the fact that Yazid III.
belonged to the sect of the Qadaris who rejected the doctrine of
predestination. The disorganization of the empire was at hand.
12. _Reign of Yazid III._--Yazid III., on his accession, made a fine
speech, in which he promised to do all that could be expected from a
good and wise ruler, even offering to make place immediately for the man
whom his subjects should find better qualified for the Caliphate than
himself. He cancelled, however, the increase of the pay granted by Walid
and thus earned the nickname of the _Naqis_ (diminisher). As he owed his
position to the aid of the Kalbites, he chose his officers from among
them. The governorship of Irak was confided to a Kalbite, Mansur b.
Jomhur, a hot-headed and unscrupulous man. Yusuf b. Omar was unable to
offer resistance, and was ultimately taken and confined in the Khadra.
Mansur had hardly been three months in office when Yazid replaced him by
Abdallah, son of Omar II. The distant provinces, with the exception of
Sind and Sijistan, renounced the authority of the new caliph. In Africa
Abdarrahman b. Habib, a descendant of the famous 'Oqba b. Nafi', was
almost independent. In Spain every amir tried to free himself from a
suzerainty which appeared to him only nominal. Nasr b. Sayyar, the
governor of Khorasan, had not yet decided whether he ought to take the
oath of allegiance when Yazid died, after a reign of only five months
and a half, on the 12th of Dhu'l-Hijja A.H. 126 (25th September A.D.
744).
13. Yazid III. left his brother Ibrahim as his successor. He was
acknowledged as caliph only in a part of Syria, and reigned no longer
than two months, when he was obliged to abdicate and to submit to the
authority of Merwan II.
14. Merwan II., the son of Mahommed b. Merwan and cousin of Maslama, was
a man of energy, and might have revived the strength of the Omayyad
dynasty, but for the general disorder which pervaded the whole empire.
In 732 Hisham had entrusted to him the government of Armenia and
Azerbaijan, which he held with great success till the death of Walid II.
He had great military capacity and introduced important reforms. On the
murder of Walid he prepared to dispute the supreme power with the new
caliph, and invaded Mesopotamia. Yazid III., in alarm, offered him as
the price of peace the government of this province together with Armenia
and Azerbaijan. Merwan resolved to accept those conditions, and sent a
deputation to Damascus, which, however, had just reached Manbij
(Hierapolis) when Yazid died. Leaving his son Abdalmalik with 40,000 men
in Rakka, Merwan entered Syria with 80,000 men. Suleiman b. Hisham, at
the head of 120,000 men, was defeated at 'Ain al-Jarr, between Baalbek
and Damascus. Merwan made many prisoners, whom he treated with the
greatest mildness, granting them freedom on condition that they should
take the oath of allegiance to the sons of Walid II. He then marched
upon Damascus. But Suleiman b. Hisham, Yazid, the son of Khalid
al-Qasri, and other chiefs, hastened to the Khadra and killed the two
princes, together with Yusuf b. Omar. Suleiman then made himself master
of the treasury and fled with the caliph Ibrahim to Tadmor (Palmyra).
Only Abu Mahommed as-Sofiani escaped the murderers. When Merwan entered
Damascus this man testified that the sons of Walid II., who had just
become adult, had named Merwan successor to the Caliphate, and was the
first to greet him as Prince of the Believers. All the generals and
officers followed his example and took the oath of allegiance (7th
December A.D. 744). Merwan did all he could to pacify Syria, permitting
the Arabs of the four provinces to choose their own prefects, and even
acquiescing in the selection as prefect of Palestine of Thabit b.
No'aim, who had behaved very treacherously towards him before, but whom
he had forgiven. He did not, however, wish to reside in Damascus, but
transplanted the seat of government to his own town, Harran in
Mesopotamia. Suleiman b. Hisham and Ibrahim tendered their submission
and were pardoned.
But the pacification was only on the surface. Many Omayyad princes
considered Merwan as an upstart, his mother being a slave-girl; the
Damascenes were angry because he had chosen Harran for his residence;
the Kalbites felt themselves slighted, as the Qaisites predominated.
Thabit b. No'aim revolted in Palestine, Emesa (Homs) and Tadmor were
turbulent, Damascus was besieged by Yazid b. Khalid al Qasri. Merwan,
who wanted to march against Irak, was obliged to return to Syria, where
he put an end to the troubles. This time Thabit b. No'aim had to pay for
his perfidy with his life. After this new pacification, Merwan caused
the Syrians to acknowledge his two sons as heirs to the Caliphate, and
married them to two daughters of Hisham. All the Omayyad princes were
invited to the wedding, Merwan hoping still to conciliate them. He then
equipped 10,000 Syrians, and ordered them to rejoin the army of 20,000
men from Kinnesrin (Qinnasrin) and Mesopotamia, who, under Yazid b. Omar
b. Hobaira, were already on the march towards Irak. When these Syrians
came to Rosafa (Rusafa), Suleiman b. Hisham persuaded them to proclaim
himself caliph, and made himself master of Kinnesrin. From all sides
Syrians flocked to his aid till he had 70,000 men under his orders.
Merwan immediately ordered Ibn Hobaira to stop his march and to wait for
him at Durin, and marched with the main force against Suleiman, whom he
utterly defeated at Khosaf in the district of Kinnesrin. Suleiman fled
to Homs and thence to Tadmor and on to Kufa, leaving his brother Sa'id
in Homs. The siege of this place by Merwan lasted nearly five months.
After the victory the walls were demolished, and likewise those of
Baalbek, Damascus, Jerusalem and other towns. Syria was utterly crushed,
and therewith the bulwark of the dynasty was destroyed. Not until the
summer of 128 (A.D. 746) could Merwan resume his campaign against Irak.
The governor of this province, Abdallah, the son of Omar II., was a man
of small energy, whose principal care was his personal ease and comfort.
An ambitious man, Abdallah b. Moawiya, a great-grandson of Ali's brother
Ja'far, put himself at the head of a band of Shi'ites and _maulas_, made
himself master of Kufa and marched upon Hira, where, since Yusuf b.
Omar, the governor and the Syrian troops had resided. The rebels were
defeated, and Kufa surrendered (October 744) under condition of amnesty
for the insurgents and freedom for Abdallah b. Moawiya. This adventurer
now went into Media (Jabal), where a great number of _maulas_ and
Shi'ites, even members of the reigning dynasty and of the Abbasid
family, such as the future caliph Mansur, rejoined him. With their help
he became master of a vast empire, which, however, lasted scarcely three
years.
Ibn Omar did not acknowledge Merwan as caliph. For the moment Merwan
could do no more than send a new governor, Ibn Sa'id al Harashi. This
officer was supported only by the Qaisite troops, the Kalbites, who were
numerically superior, maintaining Ibn Omar in his residence at Hira.
There were many skirmishes between them, but a common danger soon forced
them to suspend their hostilities. The general disorder after the death
of Hisham had given to the Khawarij an opportunity of asserting their
claims such as they had never had before. They belonged for the greater
part to the Rabi'a, who always stood more or less aloof from the other
Arabs, and had a particular grudge against the Modar. Their leading
tribe, the Shaiban, possessed the lands on the Tigris in the province of
Mosul, and here, after the murder of Walid II., their chief proclaimed
himself caliph. Reinforced by many Kharijites out of the northern
provinces, he marched against Kufa. Ibn Omar and Ibn Sa'id al Harashi
tried to defend their province, but were completely defeated. Harashi
fled to Merwan, Ibn Omar to Hira, which, after a siege of two months, he
was obliged to surrender in Shawwal 127 (August A.D. 745). Mansur b.
Jomhur was the first to pass over to the Khawarij; then Ibn Omar himself
took the oath of allegiance. That a noble Koreishite, a prince of the
reigning house, should pledge himself to follow Dahhak the Shaibanite as
his Imam, was an event of which the Khawarij were very proud. Ibn Omar
was rewarded with the government of eastern Irak, Khuzistan and Fars.
Whilst Merwan besieged Homs, Dahhak returned to Mesopotamia and took
Mosul, whence he threatened Nisibis, where Abdallah, the son of Merwan,
maintained himself with difficulty. Suleiman b. Hisham also had gone
over to the Khawarij, who now numbered 120,000 men. Mesopotamia itself
was in danger, when Merwan at last was able to march against the enemy.
In a furious battle at Kafartutha (September A.D. 746) the Khawarij were
defeated; Dahhak and his successor Khaibari perished; the survivors were
obliged to retire to Mosul, where they crossed the Tigris. Merwan
followed them and encamped on the western bank. Immediately after the
battle of Kafartutha, Yazid b. Omar b. Hobaira directed his troops
towards Irak. He beat the Kharijites repeatedly and entered Kufa in May
or June 747. Ibn Omar was taken prisoner; Mansur b. Jomhur fled to Ibn
Moawiya. Ibn Hobaira was at last free to send Ibn Dobara with an army to
Mesopotamia. At his approach the Kharijites left their camp and fled to
Abdallah b. Moawiya, who was now at the height of his power. But it was
not destined to last. The two generals of Ibn Hobaira, Ibn Dobara and
Nobata b. Hanzala defeated his army; Ibn Moawiya fled to Khorasan, where
he met his death; the chief of the Kharijites, Shaiban Yashkori went to
eastern Arabia; Suleiman b. Hisham and Mansur b. Johmur escaped to
India. Thus, at last, the western and south-eastern parts of the empire
lay at the feet of Merwan. But in the north-east, in Khorasan, meanwhile
a storm had arisen, against which his resources and his wisdom were
alike of no avail.
When the news of the murder of Walid II. reached Khorasan, Nasr b.
Sayyar did not at once acknowledge the Caliphate of Yazid III., but
induced the Arab chiefs to accept himself as amir of Khorasan, until a
caliph should be universally acknowledged. Not many months later
(Shawwal 126) he was confirmed in his post by Yusuf b. Omar, the
governor of Irak. But Nasr had a personal enemy, the chief of the Azd
(Yemenites) Jodai' al-Kirmani, a very ambitious man. A quarrel arose,
and in a short time the Azd under Kirmani, supported by the Rabi'a, who
always were ready to join the opposition, were in insurrection, which
Nasr tried in vain to put down by concessions.
So stood matters when Harith b. Soraij, seconded by Yazid III.,
reappeared on the scene, crossed the Oxus and came to Merv. Nasr
received him with the greatest honour, hoping to get his aid against
Kirmani, but Harith, to whom 3000 men of his tribe, the Tamim, had gone
over, demanded Nasr's abdication and tried to make himself master of
Merv. Having failed in this, he allied himself with Kirmani. Nasr could
hold Merv no longer, and retired to Nishapur. But the Tamim of Harith
could not endure the supremacy of the Azd. In a moment the allies were
divided into two camps; a battle ensued, in which Harith was defeated
and killed. Originally, Harith seems to have had the highest aims, but
in reality he did more than any one else to weaken the Arabic dominion.
He brought the Turks into the field against them; he incited the native
population of Transoxiana against their Arab lords, and stirred up
discord between the Arabs themselves. Being a Tamimite, he belonged to
the Modar, on whom the government in Khorasan depended; but he aided the
Yemenites to gain the upper hand of them. Thus he paved the way for Abu
Moslim.
Since the days of Ali there had been two tendencies among the Shi'ites.
The moderate party distinguished itself from the other Moslems only by
their doctrine that the imamate belonged legally to a man of the house
of the Prophet. The other party, that of the ultra-Shi'ites, named
Hashimiya after Abu Hashim the son of Mahommed b. al-Hanafiya, preached
the equality of all Moslems, Arabs or non-Arabs, and taught that the
same divine spirit that had animated the Prophet, incorporated itself
again in his heirs (see SHI'ITES). After the death of Hosain, they chose
for their Imam Mahommed b. al-Hanafiya, and at his decease his son Abu
Hashim, from whom Mahommed b. Ali, the grandson of Abdallah b. Abbas,
who resided at Homaima in the south-east of Syria, obtained the secrets
of the party and took the lead (A.H. 98, see above). This Mahommed, the
father of the two first Abbasid caliphs, was a man of unusual ability
and great ambition. He directed his energies primarily to Khorasan. The
missionaries were charged with the task of undermining the authority of
the Omayyads, by drawing attention to all the injustices that took place
under their reign, and to all the luxury and wantonness of the court, as
contrasted with the misery of many of their subjects. God would not
suffer it any longer. As soon as the time was ripe that time could not
be far off--He would send a saviour--and out of the house of the
Prophet, the Mahdi, who would restore Islam to its original purity. All
who desired to co-operate in this holy purpose must pledge themselves to
unlimited obedience to the Imam, and place their lives and property at
his disposal. As a proof of their sincerity they were required at once
to pay a fixed sum for the Imam. The missionaries had great success,
especially among the non-Arabic inhabitants of Khorasan and Transoxiana.
Mahommed b. Ali died A.H. 126 (A.D. 743-744), and his son Ibrahim, the
Imam, took his place. Ibrahim had a confidant about whose antecedents
one fact alone seems certain, that he was a _maula_ (client) of Persian
origin. This man, Abu Moslim by name, was a man of real ability and
devoted to his master's cause. To him, in 745-746, the management of
affairs in Khorasan was entrusted, with instructions to consult in all
weighty matters the head of the mission, the Arab Suleiman b. Kathir. At
first the chiefs of the mission were by no means prepared to recognize
Abu Moslim as the plenipotentiary of the heir of the Prophet. In the
year 129 he judged that the time for open manifestation had arrived. His
partisans were ordered to assemble from all sides on a fixed day at
Siqadenj in the province of Merv. Then, on the 1st Shawwal (15th June
747), the first solemn meeting took place and the black flags were
unfolded. On that occasion Suleiman b. Kathir was still leader, but by
the end of the year Abu Moslim, whom the majority believed to belong
himself to the family of the Prophet, was the acknowledged head of a
strong army. Meantime, Nasr had moved from Nishapur to Merv, and here
the two Arabic armies confronted each other. Then, at last, the true
significance of Abu Moslim's work was recognized. Nasr warned the Arabs
against their common enemy, "who preaches a religion that does not come
from the Envoy of God, and whose chief aim is the extirpation of the
Arabs." In vain he had entreated Merwan and Ibn Hobaira to send him
troops before it should be too late. When at last it was possible to
them to fulfil his wish, it was in fact too late. For a moment it seemed
as though the rival Arab factions, realizing their common peril, would
turn their combined forces against the Shi'ites. But Abu Moslim
contrived to re-awaken their mutual distrust and jealousy, and, taking
advantage of the opportunity, made himself master of Merv, in Rabia II.
A.H. 130 (December 747). Nasr escaped only by a headlong flight to
Nishapur. This was the end of the Arabic dominion in the East. Many Arab
chiefs were killed, partly by order of Abu Moslim, partly by their
clients. The latter, however, was strictly forbidden by Abu Moslim. So
severe indeed was the discipline he exercised, that one of the chief
missionaries, who by a secret warning had rendered possible the escape
of Nasr from Merv, paid for it with his life.
As soon as Abu Moslim had consolidated his authority, he sent his chief
general Qahtaba against Nishapur. Nasr's son Tamim was vanquished and
killed, and Nasr retreated to Kumis (Qumis) on the boundary of Jorjan,
whither also advanced from the other side Nobata at the head of an army
sent by Merwan. Qahtaba detached his son Hasan against Nasr and went
himself to meet Nobata, whom he beat on the 1st of Dhu'l-hijja 130 (6th
August 748). Nasr could not further resist. He reached Sawa in the
vicinity of Hamadan, where he died quite exhausted, at the age of
eighty-five years. Rei and Hamadan were taken without serious
difficulty. Near Nehawend, Ibn Dobara, at the head of a large army,
encountered Qahtaba, but was defeated and killed. In the month of
Dhu'l-qa'da 131 (June 749) Nehawend (Nehavend) surrendered, and thereby
the way to Irak lay open to Qahtaba. Ibn Hobaira was overtaken and
compelled to retire to Wasit. Qahtaba himself perished in the combat,
but his son Hasan entered Kufa without any resistance on the 2nd of
September 740.
Merwan had at last discovered who was the real chief of the movement in
Khorasan, and had seized upon Ibrahim the Imam and imprisoned him at
Harran. There he died, probably from the plague, though Merwan was
accused of having killed him. When the other Abbasids left Homaima is
not certain. But they arrived at Kufa in the latter half of September
749, where in the meantime the head of the propaganda, Abu Salama,
called the wazir of the family of Mahomet, had previously undertaken the
government. This Abu Salama seems to have had scruples against
recognizing Abu'l-Abbas as the successor of his brother Ibrahim, and to
have expected that the Mahdi, whom he looked for from Medina, would not
be slow in making his appearance, little thinking that an Abbasid would
present himself as such. But Abu Jahm, on the instructions of Abu
Moslim, declared to the chief officers of the Khorasanian army that the
Mahdi was in their midst, and brought them to Abu'l-Abbas, to whom they
swore allegiance. Abu Salama also was constrained to take the oath. On
Friday, the 12th Rabia II. A.H. 132 (28th November 749) Abu'l-Abbas was
solemnly proclaimed caliph in the principal mosque of Kufa. The trick
had been carried out admirably. On the point of gathering the ripe
fruit, the Alids were suddenly pushed aside, and the fruit was snatched
away by the Abbasids. The latter gained the throne and they took good
care never to be deprived of it.
After the conquest of Nehawend, Qahtaba had detached one of his
captains, Abu 'Aun, to Shahrazur, where he defeated the Syrian army
which was stationed there. Thereupon Abu 'Aun occupied the land of
Mosul, where he obtained reinforcements from Kufa, headed by Abdallah b.
Ali, an uncle of Abu'l-Abbas, who was to have the supreme command.
Merwan advanced to meet him, and was completely defeated near the
Greater Zab, an affluent of the Tigris, in a battle which lasted eleven
days. Merwan retreated to Harran, thence to Damascus, and finally to
Egypt, where he fell in a last struggle towards the end of 132 (August
750). His head was cut off and sent to Kufa.[26] Abu Aun, who had been
the real leader of the campaign against Merwan, remained in Egypt as its
governor. Ibn Hobaira, who had been besieged in Wasit for eleven months,
then consented to a capitulation, which was sanctioned by Abu'l-Abbas.
Immediately after the surrender, Ibn Hobaira and his principal officers
were treacherously murdered. In Syria, the Omayyads were persecuted with
the utmost rigour. Even their graves were violated, and the bodies
crucified and destroyed. In order that no members of the family should
escape, Abdallah b. Ali pretended to grant an amnesty to all Omayyads
who should come in to him at Abu Fotros (Antipatris) and acknowledge the
new caliph, and even promised them the restitution of all their
property. Ninety men allowed themselves to be entrapped, and Abdallah
invited them to a banquet. When they were all collected, a body of
executioners rushed into the hall and slew them with clubs. He then
ordered leathern covers to be thrown upon the dying men, and had the
banquet served upon them. In Medina and Mecca Da'ud b. Ali, another
uncle of Abu'l-Abbas, conducted the persecution; in Basra, Suleiman b.
Ali. Abu'l-Abbas himself killed those he could lay his hands on in Hira
and Kufa, amongst them Suleiman b. Hisham, who had been the bitterest
enemy of Merwan. Only a few Omayyads escaped the massacre, several of
whom were murdered later. A grandson of Hisham, Abdarrahman, son of his
most beloved son Moawiya, reached Africa and founded in Spain the
Omayyad dynasty of Cordova.
With the dynasty of the Omayyads the hegemony passes finally from Syria
to Irak. At the same time the supremacy of the Arabs came to an end.
Thenceforth it is not the contingents of the Arabic tribes which compose
the army, and on whom the government depends; the new dynasty relies on
a standing army, consisting for the greater part of non-Arabic soldiers.
The barrier that separated the Arabs from the conquered nations begins
to crumble away. Only the Arabic religion, the Arabic language and the
Arabic civilization maintain themselves, and spread more and more over
the whole empire.
C.--THE ABBASIDS
We now enter upon the history of the new dynasty, under which the power
of Islam reached its highest point.
1. Abu'l-Abbas inaugurated his Caliphate by a harangue in which he
announced the era of concord and happiness which was to begin now that
the House of the Prophet had been restored to its right. He asserted
that the Abbasids were the real heirs of the Prophet, as the descendants
of his oldest uncle Abbas. Addressing the Kufians, he said, "Inhabitants
of Kufa, ye are those whose affection towards us has ever been constant
and true; ye have never changed your mind, nor swerved from it,
notwithstanding all the pressure of the unjust upon you. At last our
time has come, and God has brought you the new era. Ye are the happiest
of men through us, and the dearest to us. I increase your pensions with
100 dirhems; make now your preparations, for I am the lavish shedder of
blood[27] and the avenger of blood."
Notwithstanding these fine words, Abu'l-Abbas did not trust the
Kufians. He resided outside the town with the Khorasanian troops, and
with them went first to Hira, then to Hashimiya, which he caused to be
built in the neighbourhood of Anbar. For their real sympathies, he knew,
were with the house of Ali, and Abu Salama their leader, who had
reluctantly taken the oath of allegiance, did not conceal his
disappointment. Abu Jahm, the vizier (q.v.; also MAHOMMEDAN
INSTITUTIONS), or "helper," of Abu Moslim, advised that Abu Ja'far, the
caliph's brother, should be sent to Khorasan to consult Abu Moslim. The
result was that Abu Salama was assassinated, and at the same time
Suleiman b. Kathir, who had been the head of the propaganda in Khorasan,
and had also expected that the Mahdi would belong to the house of Ali.
It is said that Abu Ja'far, whilst in Khorasan, was so impressed by the
unlimited power of Abu Moslim, and saw so clearly that, though he called
his brother and himself his masters, he considered them as his
creatures, that he vowed his death at the first opportunity.
The ruin of the Omayyad empire and the rise of the new dynasty did not
take place without mighty convulsions. In Bathaniya and the Hauran, in
the north of Syria, in Mesopotamia and Irak Khorasan insurrections had
to be put down with fire and sword. The new caliph then distributed the
provinces among the principal members of his family and his generals. To
his brother Abu Ja'far he gave Mesopotamia, Azerbaijan and Armenia; to
his uncle Abdallah b. Ali, Syria; to his uncle Da'ud, Hejaz, Yemen and
Yamama (Yemama); to his cousin 'Isa b. Musa, the province of Kufa.
Another uncle, Suleiman b. Ali, received the government of Basra with
Bahrein and Oman; Isma 'il b. Ali that of Ahwaz; Abu Moslim, Khorasan
and Transoxiana; Mahommed b. Ash'ath, Fars; Abu 'Aun, Egypt. In Sind the
Omayyad governor, Mansur b. Jomhur, had succeeded in maintaining
himself, but was defeated by an army sent against him under Musa b.
Ka'b, and the black standard of the Abbasids was raised over the city of
Mansura. Africa and Spain are omitted from this catalogue, because the
Abbasids never gained any real footing in Spain, while Africa remained,
at least in the first years, in only nominal subjection to the new
dynasty. In 754 Abu Moslim came to Irak to visit Abu'l-Abbas and to ask
his permission to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. He was received with
great honour, but the caliph said that he was sorry not to be able to
give him the leadership of the pilgrimage, which he had already
purposely entrusted to his brother, Abu Ja'far.
Abu'l-Abbas died on the 13th of Dhu'l-hijja 136 (5th June 754). He seems
to have been a man of limited capacity, and had very little share in the
achievements accomplished in his name. He initiated practically nothing
without the consent of Abu Jahm, who was thus the real ruler. In the few
cases where he had to decide, he acted under the influence of his
brother Abu Ja'far.
2. _Reign of Mansur._--Abu'l-Abbas had designated as his successors
first Abu Ja'far, surnamed al-Mansur (the victorious), and after him his
cousin 'Isa b. Musa. Abu Ja'far was, according to the historians, older
than Abu'l-Abbas, but while the mother of the latter belonged to the
powerful Yemenite tribe of al-Harith b. Ka'b, the mother of Abu Ja'far
was a Berber slave-girl. But he was a son of Mahommed b. Ali, and was
therefore preferred by Abu Moslim to his uncles and cousins.
Abu'l-Abbas, however, had promised the succession to his uncle Abdallah
b. Ali, when he marched against Merwan. When the news of the death of
Abu'l-Abbas reached Abdallah, who at the head of a numerous army was on
the point of renewing the Byzantine war, he came to Harran, furious at
his exclusion, and proclaimed himself caliph. Abu Moslim marched against
him, and the two armies met at Nisibis, where, after a number of
skirmishes, a decisive engagement took place (28th November 754).
Abdallah was defeated and escaped to Basra, where he found a refuge with
his brother Suleiman. A year later he asked for pardon, and took the
oath of allegiance to Mansur. The caliph spared his life for a time, but
he did not forget. In 764 Abdallah met his death by the collapse of his
house, which had been deliberately undermined.
The first care of Mansur was now to get rid of the powerful Abu Moslim,
who had thus by another brilliant service strengthened his great
reputation. On pretence of conferring with him on important business of
state, Mansur induced him, in spite of the warnings of his best general,
Abu Nasr, to come to Madain (Ctesiphon), and in the most perfidious
manner caused him to be murdered by his guards. Thus miserably perished
the real founder of the Abbasid dynasty, the _Sahib addaula_, as he is
commonly called, the _Amin_ (trustee) of the House of the Prophet. A
witty man, being asked his opinion about Abu Ja'far (Mansur) and Abu
Moslim, said, alluding to the Koran 21, verse 22, "if there were two
Gods, the universe would be ruined." The Khorasanian chiefs were bribed
into submission, and order was at last re-established by Mansur's
general Khazim b. Khozaima in Mesopotamia, and by Abu Da'ud, the
governor of Khorasan in the east.
About the same time Africa[28] and Spain escaped from the dominion of
the eastern Caliphate; the former for a season, the latter permanently.
The cause of the revolt of Africa was as follows. Mansur had written to
Abdarrahman, announcing the death of Abu'l-Abbas, and requiring him to
take the oath of allegiance. Abdarrahman sent in his adhesion, together
with a few presents of little value. The caliph replied by a threatening
letter which angered Abdarrahman. He called the people together at the
hour of prayer, publicly cursed Mansur from the pulpit and declared him
deposed. He next caused a circular letter, commanding all Maghribins to
refuse obedience to the caliph, to be read from the pulpit throughout
the whole extent of the Maghrib (western North Africa). A brother of
Abdarrahman, Ilyas, saw in this revolt an opportunity of obtaining the
government of Africa for himself. Seconded by many of the inhabitants of
Kairawan, who had remained faithful to the cause of the Abbasids, he
attacked his brother, slew him, and proclaimed himself governor in his
stead. This revolution in favour of the Abbasids was, however, not of
long duration. Habib, the eldest son of Abdarrahman, who had fled in the
night of his father's murder, was captured, but the vessel which was to
convey him to Spain having been detained by stress of weather, his
partisans took arms and rescued him. Ilyas was marching against them,
when the idea occurred to Habib of challenging him to single combat.
Ilyas hesitated, but his own soldiers compelled him to accept the
challenge. He measured arms with Habib, and was slain. The party of
independence thus triumphed, but in the year 144 (761) Mahommed b.
Ash'ath, the Abbasid general, entered Kairawan and regained possession
of Africa in the name of the eastern caliph. From the year 800, it must
be added, Africa only nominally belonged to the Abbasids; for, under the
reign of Harun al-Rashid, Ibrahim b. al-Aghlab, who was invested with
the government of Africa, founded in that province a distinct dynasty,
that of the Aghlabites.
At the same time as the revolt in Africa, the independent Caliphate of
the western Omayyads was founded in Spain. The long dissensions which
had preceded the fall of that dynasty in the East had already prepared
the way for the independence of a province so distant from the centre of
the empire. Every petty amir then tried to seize sovereign power for
himself, and the people groaned under the consequent anarchy. Weary of
these commotions, the Arabs of Spain at last came to an understanding
among themselves for the election of a caliph, and their choice fell
upon one of the last survivors of the Omayyads, Abdarrahman b. Moawiya,
grandson of the caliph Hisham. This prince was wandering in the deserts
of Africa, pursued by his implacable enemies, but everywhere protected
and concealed by the desert tribes, who pitied his misfortunes and
respected his illustrious origin. A deputation from Spain sought him out
in Africa and offered him the Caliphate, which he accepted with joy. On
the 1st Rabia I. 138 (14th August 755) Abdarrahman landed in the Iberian
peninsula, where he was universally welcomed, and speedily founded at
Cordova the Western Omayyad Caliphate (see SPAIN: _History_).
While Mansur was thus losing Africa and Spain, he was trying to redeem
the losses the empire had sustained on the northern frontier by the
Byzantines. In 750-751 the emperor Constantine V. (Copronymus) had
unsuccessfully blockaded Malatia; but five years later he took it by
force and razed its wall to the ground. Mansur now sent in 757 an army
of 70,000 men under the command of his cousin Abdalwahhab, the son of
Ibrahim the Imam, whom he had made governor of Mesopotamia, the real
chief being Hasan b. Qahtaba. They rebuilt all that the emperor had
destroyed, and made this key of Asia Minor stronger than ever before.
The Moslems then made a raid by the pass of Hadath (Adata) and invaded
the land of the Byzantines. Two aunts of the caliph took part in this
expedition, having made a vow that if the dominion of the Omayyads were
ended they would wage war in the path of God. Constantine advanced with
a numerous army, but was afraid of attacking the invaders. The Moslems
also rebuilt Mopsuestia. But from 758 till 763 Mansur was so occupied
with his own affairs that he could not think of further raids.
In 758 (others say in 753 or 754) a body of 600 sectaries, called
Rawendis (q.v.), went to Hashimiya, the residence of the caliph, not far
from Kufa. They believed that the caliph was their lord, to whom they
owed their daily bread, and came to pay him divine honours. They began
by marching in solemn procession round the palace, as if it had been the
Ka'ba. Mansur being told of it said: "I would rather they went to hell
in obedience to us, than to heaven in disobedience." But as they grew
tumultuous, and he saw that this impious homage gave offence to his men,
he caused the principal leaders to be seized and thrown into prison. The
Rawendis immediately rose in revolt, broke the prison doors, rescued
their chiefs, and returned to the palace. The unfortunate fanatics were
hunted down and massacred to the last man, and thereby the ties that
bound the Abbasids to the ultra-Shi'ites were severed. From that time
forward the Abbasid caliphs became the maintainers of orthodox Islam,
just as the Omayyads had been. The name of Hashimiya, which the reigning
family still retained, was henceforward derived not from Abu Hashim, but
from Hashim, the grandfather of Abbas, the great-grandfather of the
Prophet.
A much greater danger now threatened Mansur. In the last days of the
Omayyads, the Shi'ites had chosen as caliph, Mahommed b. Abdallah b.
Hasan, whom they called the Mahdi and the "pure soul," and Mansur had
been among those who pledged themselves to him by oath. Not unnaturally,
the Alids in Medina were indignant at being supplanted by the Abbasids,
and Mansur's chief concern was to get Mahommed into his power.
Immediately after his occupying the throne, he named Ziyad b. Obaidallah
governor of Medina, with orders to lay hands on Mahommed and his brother
Ibrahim, who, warned betimes, took refuge in flight. In 758 Mansur,
informed that a revolt was in preparation, came himself to Medina and
ordered Abdallah to tell him where his sons were. As he could not or
would not tell, he together with all his brothers and some other
relatives were seized and transported to Irak, where Abdallah and his
brother Ali were beheaded and the others imprisoned. Notwithstanding all
these precautions, a vast conspiracy was formed. On the same day
Mahommed was to raise the standard of revolt in Medina, Ibrahim in
Basra. But the Alids, though not devoid of personal courage, never
excelled in politics or in tactics. In A.D. 762 Mahommed took Medina and
had himself proclaimed caliph. The governor of Kufa, 'Isa b. Musa,
received orders to march against him, entered Arabia, and captured
Medina, which, fortified by Mahommed by the same means as the Prophet
had employed against the besieging Meccans, could not hold out against
the well-trained Khorasanians. Mahommed was defeated and slain. His head
was cut off and sent to Mansur. When on the point of death, Mahommed
gave the famous sword of the Prophet called Dhu'l-Fiqar to a merchant to
whom he owed 400 dinars. It came later into the possession of Harun
al-Rashid. In the meanwhile Ibrahim had not only gained possession of
Basra, Ahwaz and Fars, but had even occupied Wasit. The empire of the
Abbasids was in great jeopardy. For fifty days Mansur stayed in his
room, neither changing his clothes nor allowing himself a moment's
repose. The greater part of his troops were in Rei with his son
al-Mahdi, who had conquered Tabaristan, in Africa, with Mahommed b.
Ash'ath, and in Arabia with 'Isa b. Musa. Had Ibrahim marched at once
against Kufa he might have crushed Mansur, but he let slip the
opportunity. A terrible conflict took place at Ba-Khamra, 48 m. from
Kufa. Homaid b. Qahtaba, the commander of Mansur's army, was defeated,
only a small division under 'Isa b. Musa holding its ground. At that
moment Salm, the son of the famous Qotaiba b. Moslim, came to the rescue
by attacking the rear of Ibrahim. Homaid rallied his troops, and Ibrahim
was overpowered. At last he fell, pierced by an arrow, and, in spite of
the desperate efforts of his followers, his body remained in the hands
of the enemy. His head was cut off and brought to Mansur.
Mansur could now give his mind to the founding of the new capital. When
the tumult of the Rawendis took place he saw clearly that his personal
safety was not assured in Hashimiya,[29] where a riot of the populace
could be very dangerous, and his troops were continually exposed to the
perverting influence of the fickle and disloyal citizens of Kufa. He had
just made choice of the admirable site of the old market-town of Bagdad
when the tidings came of the rising of Mahommed in Medina. In those days
he saw that he had been very imprudent to denude himself of troops, and
decided to keep henceforth always with him a body of 30,000 soldiers. So
Bagdad, or properly "the round city" of Mansur, on the western bank of
the Tigris, was built as the capital. Strictly it was a huge citadel, in
the centre of which was the palace of the caliph and the great mosque.
But around this nucleus there soon grew up the great metropolis which
was to be the centre of the civilized world as long as the Caliphate
lasted.[30] The building lasted three years and was completed in the
year 149 (A.D. 766). That year is really the beginning of the new era.
"The Omayyads," says the Spanish writer Ibn Hazm, "were an Arabic
dynasty; they had no fortified residence, nor citadel; each of them
dwelt in his villa, where he lived before becoming caliph; they did not
desire that the Moslems should speak to them as slaves to their master,
nor kiss the ground before them or their feet; they only gave their care
to the appointment of able governors in the provinces of the empire. The
Abbasids, on the contrary, were a Persian dynasty, under which the Arab
tribal system, as regulated by Omar, fell to pieces; the Persians of
Khorasan were the real rulers, and the government became despotic as in
the days of Chrosroes." The reign of Abu'l-Abbas and the first part of
that of Mansur had been almost a continuation of the former period. But
now his equals in birth and rank, the Omayyads and the Alids, had been
crushed; the principal actors in the great struggle, the leaders of the
propaganda and Abu Moslim were out of the way; the caliph stood far
above all his subjects; and his only possible antagonists were the
members of his own family.
'Isa b. Musa had been designated, as we have seen, by Abu'l-Abbas as
successor to Mansur. The latter having vainly tried to compel 'Isa to
renounce his right of succession, in favour of Mansur's son Mahommed
al-Mahdi, produced false witnesses who swore that he had done so.
However unwillingly, 'Isa was obliged at last to yield, but it was
understood that, in case of Mahommed's death, the succession should
return to 'Isa. One of the false witnesses was, it is asserted, Khalid
b. Barmak, the head of that celebrated family the Barmecides (q.v.),
which played so important a part in the reign of Harun al-Rashid. This
Khalid, who was descended from an old sacerdotal family in Balkh, and
had been one of the trusty supporters of Abu Moslim, Mansur appointed as
minister of finance.
A son of Mahommed the Alid had escaped to India, where, with the
connivance of the governor Omar b. Hafs Hazarmerd, he had found refuge
with an Indian king. Mansur discovered his abode, and caused him to be
killed. His infant son was sent to Medina and delivered to his family.
Omar Hazarmerd lost his government and received a command in Africa,
where he died in 770.
In A.H. 158 (A.D. 775) Mansur undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca, but
succumbed to dysentery at the last station on the route. He was about
sixty-five years of age, and had reigned for twenty-two years. He was
buried at Mecca. He was a man of rare energy and strength of mind. His
ambition was boundless and no means, however perfidious, were despised
by him. But he was a great statesman and knew how to choose able
officers for all places. He was thrifty and anxious to leave to his son
a full treasury. He seems to have cherished the ideal that this son,
called Mahommed b. Abdallah, after the Prophet, should fulfil the
promises of peace and happiness that had been tendered to the believers,
and therefore to have called him al-Mahdi. For that purpose it was
necessary that he should have the means not only to meet all state
expenses, but also to be bounteous. But from the report of the historian
Haitham b. 'Adi[31] about the last discourse which father and son had
together, we gather that the former had misgivings in regard to the
fulfilment of his wishes.
Khalid b. Barmak took the greatest care of the revenues, but contrived
at the same time to consult his own interests. Mansur discovered this in
the same year in which he died, and threatened him with death unless he
should pay to the treasury three millions of dirhems within three days.
Khalid already had so many friends that the sum was brought together
with the exception of 30,000 dirhems. At that moment tidings came about
a rising in the province of Mosul, and a friend of Khalid said to the
caliph that Khalid was the only man capable of putting it down.
Thereupon Mansur overlooked the deficiency and gave Khalid the
government of Mosul. "And," said a citizen of that town, "we had such an
awe and reverence for Khalid, that he appeased the disorders, almost
without punishing anybody."
3. _Reign of Mahdi._--As soon as Mansur was dead, Rabi', his client and
chamberlain, induced all the princes and generals who accompanied the
caliph, to take the oath of allegiance to his son Mahommed al-Mahdi, who
was then at Bagdad. Isa b. Musa hesitated, but was compelled to give in.
In 776 Mahdi constrained him for a large bribe to renounce his right of
succession in favour of his sons, Musa and Harun. Mansur wrote in his
testament to his son that he had brought together so much money that,
even if no revenue should come in for ten years, it would suffice for
all the wants of the state. Mahdi, therefore, could afford to be
munificent, and in order to make his accession doubly welcome to his
subjects, he began by granting a general amnesty to political prisoners.
Among these was a certain Ya'qub b. Da'ud, who, having insinuated
himself into the confidence of the caliph, especially by discovering the
hiding places of certain Alids, was afterwards (in 778) made prime
minister. The provincial governors in whom his father had placed
confidence, Mahdi superseded by creatures of his own.
In Khorasan many people were discontented. The promises made to them
during the war against the Omayyads had not been fulfilled, and the new
Mahdi did not answer at all to their ideal. A revolt in 160 under the
leadership of a certain Yusuf b. Ibrahïm, surnamed al-Barm, was
suppressed by Yazid b. Mazyad, who, after a desperate struggle, defeated
Yusuf, took him prisoner and brought him in triumph to Bagdad, where he
with several of his officers was killed and crucified. In the following
year, Mahdi was menaced by a far more dangerous revolt, led by a
sectary, known generally as Mokanna (q.v.), or "the veiled one," because
he always appeared in public wearing a mask. He took up his abode in the
Transoxianian province of Kish and Nakhshab, where he gathered around
him a great number of adherents. After some successes, the pretender was
ultimately cornered at the castle of Sanam near Kish, and took poison
together with all the members of his family. His head was cut off and
sent to Mahdi in the year 163.
Mahdi had been scarcely a year on the throne when he resolved to
accomplish the pilgrimage to Mecca. The chroniclers relate that on this
occasion for the first time camels loaded with ice for the use of the
caliph came to Mecca. Immediately on his arrival in the Holy City he
applied himself, at the request of the inhabitants, to the renewal of
the curtains which covered the exterior walls of the Ka'ba. For a very
long time no care had been taken to remove the old covering when a new
one was put on; and the accumulated weight caused uneasiness respecting
the stability of the walls. Mahdi caused the house to be entirely
stripped and anointed with perfumes, and covered the walls again with a
single cloth of great richness. The temple itself was enlarged and
restored. On this occasion he distributed considerable largesses among
the Meccans. From Mecca Mahdi went to Medina, where he caused the mosque
to be enlarged, and where a similar distribution of gifts took place.
During his stay in that city he formed for himself a guard of honour,
composed of 500 descendants of the Ansar,[32] to whom he assigned a
quarter in Bagdad, named after them the Qati'a (Fief) of the Ansar.
Struck by the difficulties of every kind which had to be encountered by
poor pilgrims to Mecca from Bagdad and its neighbourhood, he ordered
Yaqtin, his freedman, to renew the milestones, to repair the old
reservoirs, and to dig wells and construct cisterns at every station of
the road where they were missing. He also had new inns built and decayed
ones repaired. Yaqtin remained inspector of the road till 767.
During the reign of Mansur the annual raids against the Byzantines had
taken place almost without intermission, but the only feat of importance
had been the conquest of Laodicea, called "the burnt" ([Greek: hae
katakekaumenae]), by Ma'yuf b. Yahya in the year 770. At first the
armies of Mahdi were not successful. The Greeks even conquered Marash
(Germanicia) and annihilated the Moslem army sent from Dabiq. In 778,
however, Hasan b. Qahtaba made a victorious raid as far as Adhruliya
(Dorylaeum); it was on his proposition that Mahdi resolved on building
the frontier town called Hadath (Adata), which became an outpost. In 779
the caliph decided on leading his army in person. He assembled his army
in the plains of Baradan north of Bagdad and began his march in the
early spring of 780, taking with him his second son Harun, and leaving
his elder son Musa as his lieutenant in Bagdad. Traversing Mesopotamia
and Syria, he entered Cilicia, and established himself on the banks of
the Jihan (Pyramus). Thence he despatched an expeditionary force,
nominally under the command of Harun, but in reality under that of his
tutor, the Barmecide Yahya b. Khalid. Harun captured the fortress Samalu
after a siege of thirty-eight days, the inhabitants surrendering on
condition that they should not be killed or separated from one another.
The caliph kept faith with them, and settled them in Bagdad, where they
built a monastery called after their native place. In consequence of
this feat, Mahdi made Harun governor of the whole western part of the
empire, including Azerbaijan and Armenia. Two years later war broke out
afresh between the Moslems and the Greeks. Leo IV., the East Roman
emperor, had recently died, leaving the crown to Constantine VI. This
prince being only ten years old, his mother Irene acted as regent and
assumed the title Augusta. By her orders an army of 90,000 men, under
the command of Michael Lachanodrakon, entered Asia Minor. The Moslems,
on their side, invaded Cilicia under the orders of Abdalkabir who, being
afraid of encountering the enemy, retired with his troops. Irritated by
this failure, the caliph in 781 sent Harun, accompanied by his
chamberlain Rabi', with an army of nearly 100,000 men, with orders to
carry the war to the very gates of Constantinople. The patrician
Nicetas, count of Opsikion, who sought to oppose his march, was defeated
by Harun's general, Yazid b. Mazyad, and put to flight. Harun then
marched against Nicomedia, where he vanquished the domesticus, the chief
commander of the Greek forces, and pitched his camp on the shores of the
Bosporus. Irene took alarm, sued for peace, and obtained a truce for
three years, but only on the humiliating terms of paying an annual
tribute of 90,000 denarii, and supplying the Moslems with guides and
markets on their way home. This brilliant success so increased Mahdi's
affection for Harun that he appointed him successor-designate after Musa
and named him _al-Rashid_ ("the follower of the right cause"). Three
years later, he resolved even to give to him the precedence in the
succession instead of Musa, yielding to the importunity of Khaizoran,
the mother of the two princes, and to his own predilection. It was
necessary first to obtain from Musa a renunciation of his rights; and
for that purpose he was recalled from Jorjan, where he was engaged on an
expedition against the rebels of Tabaristan. Musa, informed of his
father's intentions, refused to obey this order, and Mahdi determined to
march in person against him. But, after his arrival at Masabadhan, a
place in Jabal (Media, the later Persian Irak), he died suddenly, at the
age of only forty-three. Some attribute his death to an accident met
with in hunting; others believe him to have been poisoned. Some European
scholars have suspected Musa of having been concerned in it, but of this
we have no proof whatever.
The reign of Mahdi was a time of great prosperity. Much was done for the
organization of the huge empire; agriculture and commerce flourished;
the revenues were increasing, whilst the people fared well. The power of
the state was acknowledged even in the far east: the emperor of China,
the king of Tibet, and many Indian princes concluded treaties with the
caliph. He was an ardent champion of the orthodox faith, repudiating all
the extravagant doctrine preached by the Abbasid missionaries and
formerly professed by his father. In particular he persecuted
mercilessly the Manichaeans and all kinds of freethinkers.
4. _Reign of Hadi_.--On the death of Mahdi, Harun, following the advice
of Yahya. b. Khalid, sent the insignia of the Caliphate, with letters of
condolence and congratulation, to Musa in Jorjan, and brought the army
which had accompanied Mahdi peacefully back from Media to Bagdad. Musa
returned in all haste to the capital, and assumed the title of _al-Hadi_
("he who directs"). The accession of a new caliph doubtless appeared to
the partisans of the house of Ali a favourable opportunity for a rising.
Hosain b. Ali b. Hasan III. raised an insurrection at Medina with the
support of numerous adherents, and proclaimed himself caliph. Thence he
went to Mecca, where on the promise of freedom many slaves flocked to
him, and many pilgrims also acknowledged him. Suleiman b. Mansur, the
caliph's representative in the pilgrimage of that year, was entrusted
with the command against him. Hosain was attacked at Fakh, 3 m. from
Mecca, and perished in the combat with many other Alids. His maternal
uncle, Idris b. Abdallah, a brother of Mahommed and Ibrahim, the rivals
of Mansur, succeeded in escaping, and fled to Egypt, whence by the help
of the postmaster, himself a secret partisan of the Shi'ites, he passed
into West Africa, where at a later period his son founded the Idrisite
dynasty in Fez (see MOROCCO).
Hadi, who had never been able to forget that he had narrowly escaped
being supplanted by his brother, formed a plan for excluding him from
the Caliphate and transmitting the succession to his own son Ja'far. To
this he obtained the assent of his ministers and the principal chiefs of
his army, with the exception of Yahya b. Khalid, Harun's former tutor,
who showed such firmness and boldness that Hadi cast him into prison and
resolved on his death. Some historians say that he had already given
orders for his execution, when he himself was killed (September 14th,
786) by his mother Khaizoran, who had systematically and successfully
intrigued against him with the object of gaining the real power for
herself. Hadi, indignant at the fact that she was generally regarded as
the real source of authority, had attempted to poison her, and
Khaizoran, hoping to find a more submissive instrument of her will in
her second and favourite son, caused Hadi to be smothered with cushions
by two young slaves whom she had presented to him. She herself died
three years later.
5. _Reign of Harun al-Rashid_.--We have now reached the most celebrated
name among the Arabian caliphs, celebrated not only in the East, but in
the West as well, where the stories of the _Thousand and One Nights_
have made us familiar with that world which the narrators represent in
such brilliant colours. Harun ascended the throne without opposition.
His first act was to choose as prime minister his former tutor, the
faithful Yahya b. Khalid, and to confide important posts to the two sons
of Yahya, Fadl and Ja'far, of whom the former was his own
foster-brother, the latter his intimate friend. The Barmecide family
were endowed in the highest degree with those qualities of generosity
and liberality which the Arabs prized so highly, and the chronicles
never weary in their praises. Loaded with all the burdens of government,
Yahya brought the most distinguished abilities to the exercise of his
office. He put the frontiers in a good state of defence; he filled the
public treasury, and carried the splendour of the throne to the highest
point. His sons, especially Fadl, were worthy of their father.
Although the administration of Hãrun's states was committed to skilful
hands, yet the first years of his long reign were not free from
troubles. Towards the year 176 (A.D. 792-793) a man of the house of Ali,
named Yahya b. Abdallah, another brother of Mahommed and Ibrahim, who
had taken refuge in the land of Dailam on the south-western shores of
the Caspian Sea, succeeded in forming a powerful party, and publicly
claimed the Caliphate. Hãrun immediately sent against him an army of
50,000 men, under the command of Fadl, whom he made governor of all the
Caspian provinces. Reluctant, however, to fight against a descendant of
the Prophet, Fadl first attempted to induce him to submit by promising
him safety and a brilliant position at the court of Bagdad.
Yahyaaccepted the proposal, but required that the caliph should send him
letters of pardon countersigned by the highest legal authorities and the
principal personages of the empire. Harun consented and Yahya went to
Bagdad, where he met with a splendid reception. At the end of some
months, however, he was calumniously accused of conspiracy, and the
caliph, seizing the opportunity of ridding himself of a possible rival,
threw him into prison, where he died, according to the majority of the
historians, of starvation. Others say that Ja'far b. Yahya b. Khalid, to
whose care he had been entrusted, suffered him to escape, and that this
was the real cause of Harun's anger against the Barmecides (q.v.).
Dreading fresh insurrections of the Alids, Harun secured the person of
another descendant of Ali, Musa b. Ja'far, surnamed al-Kazim, who
enjoyed great consideration at Medina, and had already been arrested and
released again by Mahdi. The unfortunate man was brought by the caliph
himself to Bagdad, and there died, apparently by poison.
Meanwhile Harun did not forget the hereditary enemy of Islam. In the
first year of his reign all the strong places of Kinnesrin and
Mesopotamia were formed into a special province, which received the name
of al-'Awasim ("the defending fortresses"), with Manbij (Hierapolis) as
its capital. The building of the fortress of Hadath having been
completed, Harun committed to Faraj the Turk the task of rebuilding and
fortifying the city of Tarsus. Thanks to these and similar measures, the
Moslem armies were able to advance boldly into Asia Minor. Almost every
year successful raids were made, in the year 797 under the command of
the caliph himself, so that Irene was compelled to sue for peace. An
attack by the Khazars called the caliph's attention from his successes
in Asia Minor. This people had made an irruption into Armenia, and their
attack had been so sudden that the Moslems and Christians were unable to
defend themselves, and 100,000 had been reduced to captivity. Two
valiant generals, Khozaima b. Khazim and Yazid b. Mazyad, marched
against the Khazars and drove them out of Armenia.
In the midst of the cares of war, Harun was assiduous in his religious
duties, and few years passed without his making the pilgrimage. Having
determined to fix the order of succession in so formal a manner as to
take away all pretext for future contentions, he executed a deed by
which he appointed his eldest son Mahommed his immediate heir, and after
him the second, Abdallah, and after Abdallah the third, Qasim. Mahommed
received the surname of _al-Amin_ ("the Sure"), Abdallah that of
_al-Ma'mun_ ("he in whom men trust"), and Qasim that of _al-Mo'tamin
billah_ ("he who trusts in God"). Harun further stipulated that Mamun
should have as his share during the lifetime of his brother the
government of the eastern part of the empire. Each of the parties
concerned swore to observe faithfully every part of this deed, which the
caliph caused to be hung up in the Ka'ba, imagining that it would be
thus guaranteed against all violation on the part of men, a precaution
which was to be rendered vain by the perfidy of Amim.
It was in the beginning of the following year, at the very moment when
the Barmecides thought their position most secure, that Harun brought
sudden ruin upon them. The causes of their disgrace have been
differently stated by the annalists (see BARMECIDES). The principal
cause appears to have been that they abused the sovereign power which
they exercised. Not a few were jealous of their greatness and sought for
opportunities of instilling distrust against them into the mind of
Harun, and of making him feel that he was caliph only in name. The
secret dissatisfaction thus aroused was increased, according to some
apparently well-informed authorities, by the releasing of the Alid Yahya
b. Abdallah, already mentioned. Finally Harun resolved on their
destruction, and Ja'far b. Yahya, who had just taken leave of him after
a day's hunting, was arrested, taken to the castle of Harun, and
beheaded. The following day, his father Yahya, his brother Fadl, and all
the other Barmecides were arrested and imprisoned; all their property
was confiscated. The only Barmecide who remained unmolested with his
family was Mahommed the brother of Yahya, who had been the chamberlain
of the caliph till 795, when Fadl b. Rabi' got his place. This latter
had henceforward the greatest influence at court.
In the same year a revolution at Constantinople overthrew the empress
Irene. The new emperor Nicephorus, thinking himself strong enough to
refuse the payment of tribute, wrote an insulting letter to Harun, who
contented himself with replying: "Thou shall not hear, but see, my
answer." He entered Asia Minor and took Heraclea, plundering and burning
along his whole line of march, till Nicephorus, in alarm, sued for
peace. Scarcely had the caliph returned into winter quarters when
Nicephorus broke the treaty. When the news came to Rakka, where Harun
was residing, not one of the ministers ventured to tell him, until at
last a poet introduced it in a poem which pleased the monarch.
Notwithstanding the rigour of the season, Harun retraced his steps, and
Nicephorus was compelled to observe his engagements. In 805 the first
great ransoming of Moslem prisoners took place on the banks of the
little river Lamus in Cilicia. But Nicephorus, profiting by serious
disturbances in Khorasan, broke the treaty again, and overran the
country as far as Anazarba and Kanisat as-sauda ("the black church") on
the frontier, where he took many prisoners, who were, however, recovered
by the garrison of Mopsuestia. Thus Harun was obliged to take the field
again. He entered Asia Minor with an army of 135,000 regulars, beside
volunteers and camp followers. Heraclea was taken, together with many
other places, and Tyana was made a military station. At the same time
his admiral, Homaid b. Ma'yuf, conquered Cyprus, which had broken the
treaty, and took 16,000 of its people captive. Nicephorus was now so
completely beaten that he was compelled to submit to very harsh
conditions. In the year 808 the second ransoming between the Moslems and
the Greeks took place near the river Lamus.
The disturbances in Khorasan were caused by the malversations of the
governor of that province, Ali b. 'Isa b. Mahan. The caliph went in
person to Merv, in order to judge of the reality of the complaints which
had reached him. Ali b. 'Isa hastened to meet the caliph on his arrival
at Rai (Rhagae), near the modern Teheran, with a great quantity of
costly presents, which he distributed with such profusion among the
princes and courtiers that no one was anxious to accuse him. Harun
confirmed him in his post, and, after having received the chiefs of
Tabaristan who came to tender their submission, returned through Bagdad
to Rakka on the Euphrates, which city was his habitual residence. In the
following year Rafi' b. Laith, a grandson of Nasr b. Sayyar, raised the
standard of revolt in Samarkand, and, at the head of a numerous army,
defeated the son of Ali b. 'Isa. Thereupon Ali fled from Balkh, leaving
the treasury, which was plundered by the populace after his departure.
The caliph on learning that the revolt was due to Ali's tyranny, sent
Harthama b. A'yan with stringent orders to seize Ali and confiscate his
possessions. This order was carried out, and it is recorded that 1500
camels were required to transport the confiscated treasures. The
caliph's hope that Rafi' would submit on condition of receiving a free
pardon was not fulfilled, and he resolved to set out himself to
Khorasan, taking with him his second son Mamun. On the journey he was
attacked by an internal malady, which carried him off, ten months after
his departure from Bagdad, A.H. 193 (March 809), just on his arrival at
the city of Tus. Harun was only forty-five years of age. He was far from
having the high qualifications of his grandfather Mansur; indeed he did
not even possess the qualities of his father and his brother. When the
latter asked him to renounce his right of succession, he was willing to
consent, saying that a quiet life with his beloved wife, the princess
Zobaida, was his highest wish, but he obeyed his mother and Yahya b.
Khalid. As long as the Barmecides were in office, he acted only on their
direction. After their disgrace he was led into many impolitic actions
by his violent and often cruel propensities. But the empire was,
especially in the earlier part of his reign, in a very prosperous state,
and was respected widely by foreign powers. Embassies passed between
Charlemagne and Harun in the years 180 (A.D. 797) and 184 (A.D. 801), by
which the former obtained facilities for the pilgrims to the Holy Land,
the latter probably concessions for the trade on the Mediterranean
ports. The ambassadors brought presents with them; on one of these
occasions the first elephant reached the land of the Franks.
Under the reign of Harun, Ibrahim b. al-Aghlab, the governor of Africa,
succeeded in making himself independent of the central government, on
condition of paying a fixed annual tribute to his suzerain the caliph.
This was, if we do not take Spain into the account, the first instance
of dismemberment, later to be followed by many others.
In the days of this caliph the first paper factories were founded in
Bagdad.
6. _Reign of Amin_.--On the death of Harun his minister, Fadl b. Rabi',
with the view of gaining the new caliph's confidence, hastened to call
together all the troops of the late caliph and to lead them back to
Bagdad, in order to place them in the hands of the new sovereign, Amin.
He even, in direct violation of Harun's will, led back the corps which
was intended to occupy Khorasan under the authority of Mamun. Aware,
however, that in thus acting he was making Mamun his irreconcilable
enemy, he persuaded Amin to exclude Mamun from the succession. Mamun, on
receiving his brother's invitation to go to Bagdad, was greatly
perplexed; but his tutor and later vizier, Fadl b. Sahl, a Zoroastrian
of great influence, who in 806 had adopted Islam, reanimated his
courage, and pointed out to him that certain death awaited him at
Bagdad. Mamun resolved to hold out, and found pretexts for remaining in
Khorasan. Amin, in anger, caused the will of his father, which, as we
have seen, was preserved in the Ka'ba, to be destroyed, declared on his
own authority that Mamun's rights of succession were forfeited, and
caused the army to swear allegiance to his own son Musa, a child of
five, on whom he bestowed the title of _an-Natiq bil-Haqq_ ("he who
speaks according to truth"), A.H. 194 (A.D. 809-810). On hearing the
news, Mamun, strong in the rightfulness of his claim, retaliated by
suppressing the caliph's name in all public acts. Amin immediately
despatched to Khorasan an army of 40,000 under the command of Ali b.
'Isa, who had regained his former influence, and told the caliph that,
at his coming to Khorasan, all the leading men would come over to his
side. Zobaida, the mother of the caliph, entreated Ali to treat Mamun
kindly when he should have made him captive. It is said that Fadl b.
Sahl had, through a secret agent, induced Fadl b. Rabi' to select Ali,
knowing that the dislike felt towards him by the Khorasanians would
double their strength in fighting against him. Mamun, on his side, sent
in all haste an army of less than 4000 men of his faithful Khorasanians,
and entrusted their command to Tahir b. Hosain, who displayed
remarkable abilities in the war that ensued. The two armies met under
the walls of Rai (Shaaban 195, May 811). By a bold attack, in the manner
of the Kharijites of yore, Tahir penetrated into the centre of the
hostile army and killed Ali. The frightened army fled, leaving the camp
with all its treasures to Tahir, who from that day was named "the man
with the two right hands." A courier was despatched immediately to Merv,
who performed the journey, a distance of about 750 miles, in three days.
On the very day of his arrival, Harthama b. A'yan had left Merv with
reinforcements. Mamun now no longer hesitated to take the title of
caliph.
When the news of Ali's defeat came to Bagdad, Amin sent Abdarrahman b.
Jabala to Hamadan with 20,000 men. Tahir defeated him, forced Hamadan to
surrender, and occupied all the strong places in Jabal (Media). The year
after, Amin placed in the field two new armies commanded respectively by
Ahmad b. Mazyad and Abdallah b. Homaid b. Qahtaba. The skilful Tahir
succeeded in creating divisions among the troops of his adversaries, and
obtained possession, without striking a blow, of the city of Holwan, an
advantage which opened the way to the very gates of Bagdad. He was here
reinforced by troops sent from Khorasan under the command of Harthama b.
A'yan, who was appointed leader of the war against Amin, with orders to
send Tahir to Ahwaz. Tahir continued his victorious march, conquered
Ahwaz, took Wasit and Madain, and pitched his camp near one of the gates
of the capital, where he was rejoined by Harthama. One after the other
the provinces fell away from Amin, and he soon found himself in
possession of Bagdad alone. The city, though blockaded on every side,
made a desperate defence for nearly two years. Ultimately the eastern
part of the city fell into the hands of Tahir, and Amin, deserted by his
followers, was compelled to surrender. He resolved to treat with
Harthama, as he was averse to Tahir; but this step caused his ruin.
Tahir succeeded in intercepting him on his way to Harthama, and
immediately ordered him to be put to death. His head was sent to Mamun
(September 813). It was presented to him by his vizier, Fadl b. Sahl,
surnamed Dhu'l-Riyasatain, or "the man with two governments," because
his master had committed to him both the ministry of war and the general
administration. Mamun hid his joy beneath a feigned display of sorrow.
Amin was only twenty-eight years old. As a ruler he was wholly
incompetent. He hardly comprehended the importance of the affairs with
which he was called upon to deal. He acted invariably on the advice of
those who for the time had his confidence, and occupied himself mainly
with the affairs of his harem, with polo, fishing, wine and music. The
five years of his reign were disastrous to the empire, and in particular
to Bagdad which never entirely recovered its old splendour.
7. _Reign of Mamun._--On the day following the death of Amin Tahir
caused Mamun to be proclaimed at Bagdad, and promised in his name a
general amnesty. The accession of this prince appeared likely to restore
to the empire the order necessary for its prosperity. It was not so,
however. The reign of Mamun--that reign in which art, science and
letters, under the patronage of the caliph, threw so brilliant a
lustre--had a very stormy beginning. Mamun was in no haste to remove to
Bagdad, but continued to reside at Merv. In his gratitude to Fadl b.
Sahl, to whose service he owed his success, he not only chose him as
prime minister of the empire, but also named his brother, Hasan b. Sahl,
governor of Media, Fars, Ahwaz, Arabia and Irak. The two generals to
whom he owed still more were not treated as they deserved. Harthama was
ordered to return to Khorasan; Tahir was made governor of Mesopotamia
and Syria, with the task of subduing Nasr b. Shabath, who with numerous
adherents refused submission to the caliph. The Alids seized on the
elevation of Mamun as a pretext for fresh revolts. At Kufa a certain Ibn
Tabataba placed an army in the field under Abu'l-Saraya, who had been a
captain in the army of Harthama. An army sent by Hasan b. Sahl was
defeated, and Abu'l-Saraya, no longer content to play a second part,
poisoned his chief, Ibn Tabataba, and put in his place another of the
family of Ali, Mahommed b. Mahommed, whom, on account of his extreme
youth, he hoped to govern at his will. Abu'l-Saraya's success continued,
and several cities of Irak--Basra, Wasit and Madain--fell into his
hands. Mecca, Medina and Yemen also were mastered by the Alids, who
committed all kinds of atrocities and sacrilege. Abu'l-Saraya, who even
struck money in Kufa, began to menace the capital, when Hasan b. Sahl
hastily sent a messenger to Harthama b. A'yan, who was already at Holwan
on his way back to Merv, entreating him to come to his aid. Harthama,
who was deeply offended by his dismissal, refused at first, but at last
consented, and at once checked the tide of disaster. The troops of the
Alids were everywhere driven back, and the whole of Irak fell again into
the hands of the Abbasids. Kufa opened its gates; Basra was taken by
assault. Abu'l-Saraya and Mahommed b. Mahommed fled to Mesopotamia, but
were made prisoners. The former was decapitated, the latter was sent to
Khorasan, the revolt in Arabia was quickly suppressed, and peace seemed
within reach. This, however, was by no means the case. The disorder of
civil war had caused a multitude of robbers and vagabonds to emerge from
the purlieus of Bagdad. These ruffians proceeded to treat the capital as
a conquered city, and it became necessary for all good citizens to
organize themselves into a regular militia. Harthama, having vanquished
Abu'l-Saraya, did not go to Hasan b. Sahl, but proceeded towards Merv
with the purpose of telling Mamun that the state of affairs was not as
Fadl b. Sahl represented it to him, and urging him to come to Bagdad,
where his presence was necessary. Fadl, informed of his intentions,
filled the caliph's mind with distrust against the old general, so that
when Harthama arrived Mamun had him cast into prison, where he died
shortly afterwards. When the tidings of his disgrace came to Bagdad, the
people expelled the lieutenant of Hasan b. Sahl, called by them the
Majuzi ("the Zoroastrian"), who had chosen Madain for his residence, and
put at their head Mansur, a son of Mahdi, who refused to assume the
title of caliph, but consented to be Mamun's vicegerent instead of Hasan
b. Sahl.
Meanwhile, at Merv, Mamun was adopting a decision which fell like a
thunderbolt on the Abbasids. In A.H. 201 (A.D. 817), under pretence of
putting an end to the continual revolts of the partisans of Ali, and
acting on the advice of his prime minister Fadl, he publicly designated
as his successor in the Caliphate Ali ar-Rida, a son of that Musa
al-Kazim who perished in the prison of Mahdi, a direct descendant of
Hosain, the son of Ali, and proscribed black, the colour of the
Abbasids, in favour of that of the house of Ali, green. This step was
well calculated to delight the followers of Ali, but it could not fail
to exasperate the Abbasids and their partisans. The people of Bagdad
refused to take the oath to Ali b. Musa, declared Mamun deposed, and
elected his uncle, Ibrahim, son of Mahdi, to the Caliphate.[33] It was
only indirectly that the news reached the caliph, who then saw that Fadl
had been treating him as a puppet. His anger was great, but he kept it
carefully to himself. Fadl was one day found murdered, and Ali b. Musa
died suddenly. The historians bring no open accusation against Mamun,
but it seems clear that the opportune removal of these men was not due
to chance. Mamun affected the profoundest grief, and, in order to disarm
suspicion, appointed as his prime minister the brother of Fadl, Hasan b.
Sahl, whose daughter Buran he afterwards married. Soon after the news
came to him that Hasan b. Sahl had become insane. Mamun appointed an
officer to act as his lieutenant, and wrote that he was coming to Bagdad
in a short time. From that moment the pseudo-caliph Ibrahim found
himself deserted, and was obliged to seek safety in concealment. His
precarious reign had, however, lasted nearly two years. Mamun had found
out also that the general uneasiness was largely due to his treatment of
Harthama and Tahir, the latter having been put in a rebellious country
without the men and the money to maintain his authority. The caliph
therefore wrote to Tahir to meet him at Nahrawan, where he was received
with the greatest honour. Having taken all precautions, Mamun now made
his solemn entry into Bagdad, but, to show that he came as a master, he
still displayed for several days the green colours, though at last, at
the request of Tahir, he consented to resume the black. From this time,
A.H. 204 (August 819), the real reign of Mamun began, freed as he now
was from the tutelage of Fadl.
When welcoming Tahir, Mamun bade him ask for any reward he might desire.
Tahir, fearing lest the caliph, not being able to endure the sight of
the murderer of his brother, should change his mind towards him,
contrived to get himself appointed governor of Khorasan. Like most of
the great Moslem generals, Tahir, it is said, had conceived the project
of creating an independent kingdom for himself. His death, A.H. 207
(A.D. 822), prevented its realization; but as his descendants succeeded
him one after the other in the post of governor, he may be said in
reality to have founded a dynasty in Khorasan. His son Abdallah b. Tahir
was a special favourite of Mamun, He brought Nasr b. Shabath to
subjection in Mesopotamia, and overcame by great ability a very
dangerous rebellion in Egypt. When he returned thence, the caliph gave
him the choice between the government of Khorasan and that of the
northern provinces, where he would have to combat Babak the Khorramite.
Abdallah chose the former (see below, § 8).
The pseudo-caliph, Ibrahim, who, since Mamun's entry into Bagdad, had
led a wandering life, was eventually arrested. But Mamun generously
pardoned him, as well as Fadl b. Rabi', the chief promoter of the
terrible civil war which had so lately shaken the empire. After that
time, Ibrahim lived peacefully at the court, cultivating the arts of
singing and music.
Tranquillity being now everywhere re-established, Mamun gave himself up
to science and literature. He caused works on mathematics, astronomy,
medicine and philosophy to be translated from the Greek, and founded in
Bagdad a kind of academy, called the "House of Science," with a library
and an observatory. It was also by his orders that two learned
mathematicians undertook the measurement of a degree of the earth's
circumference. Mamun interested himself too in questions of religious
dogma. He had embraced the Motazilite doctrine about free will and
predestination, and was in particular shocked at the opinion which had
spread among the Moslem doctors that the Koran was the uncreated word of
God. In the year 212 (A.D. 827) he published an edict by which the
Motazilite (Mu'tazilite) doctrine was declared to be the religion of the
state, the orthodox faith condemned as heretical. At the same time he
ordered all his subjects to honour Ali as the best creature of God after
the Prophet, and forbade the praise of Moawiya. In A.H. 218 (A.D. 833) a
new edict appeared by which all judges and doctors were summoned to
renounce the error of the uncreated word of God. Several distinguished
doctors, and, among others, the celebrated Ahmad b. Hanbal (q.v.),
founder of one of the four orthodox Moslem schools, were obliged to
appear before an inquisitorial tribunal; and as they persisted in their
belief respecting the Koran, they were thrown into prison. Mamun, being
at Tarsus, received from the governor of Bagdad the report of the
tribunal, and ordered that the culprits should be sent off to him.
Happily for these unfortunate doctors, they had scarcely reached Adana,
when news of the caliph's death arrived and they were brought back to
Bagdad. The two successors of Mamun maintained the edicts--Ahmad b.
Hanbal, who obstinately refused to yield, was flogged in the year
834--but it seems that Motasim did not himself take much interest in the
question, which perhaps he hardly understood, and that the prosecution
of the inquisition by him was due in great part to the charge which was
left him in Mamun's will. In the reign of Motawakkil the orthodox faith
was restored, never to be assailed again.[34]
In spite of these manifold activities Mamun did not forget the
hereditary enemy of Islam. In the years 830, 831 and 832 he made
expeditions into Asia Minor with such success that Theophilus, the Greek
emperor, sued for peace, which Mamun haughtily refused to grant.
Accordingly, he decided on marching in the following year against
Amorium, and thence to Constantinople itself. Having sent before him his
son Abbas to make Tyana a strong fortress, he set out for Asia Minor to
put himself at the head of the army, but died of a fever brought on by
bathing in the chill river, Pedendon, 40 m. from Tarsus, in Rajab 218
(A.D. August 833), at the age of forty-eight.
Mamun was a man of rare qualities, and one of the best rulers of the
whole dynasty after Mansur. By him the ascendancy of the Persian element
over the Arabian was completed. Moreover, he began to attract young
Turkish noblemen to his court, an example which was followed on a much
larger scale by his successor and led to the supremacy of the Turks at a
later period.
8. _Reign of Motasim._--Abu Ishak al-Mo'tasim had for a long time been
preparing himself for the succession. Every year he had bought Turkish
slaves, and had with him in the last expedition of Mamun a bodyguard of
3000. Backed by this force he seems to have persuaded the ailing caliph
to designate him as his successor. The chroniclers content themselves
with recording that he himself wrote in the name of the caliph to the
chief authorities in Bagdad and elsewhere that he was to be the
successor. His accession, however, met at first with active opposition
in the army, where a powerful party demanded that Abbas should take the
place of his father. Abbas, however, publicly renounced all pretension
to the Caliphate, and the whole army accepted Motasim, who immediately
had the fortifications of Tyana demolished and hastened back to Bagdad,
where he made his public entry on the 20th of September 833.
Motasim wanted officers for his bodyguard. Immediately after his coming
to Bagdad, he bought all the Turkish slaves living there who had
distinguished themselves. Among them were Ashnas, Itakh, Wasif, Sima,
all of whom later became men of great influence. The guard was composed
of an undisciplined body of soldiers, who, moreover, held in open
contempt the religious precepts of Islam. Tired of the excesses
committed by these Turks, the people of Bagdad beat or killed as many of
them as they could lay hands on, and Motasim, not daring to act with
severity against either his guard or the citizens, took the course of
quitting the city. Having bought in 834 territories at Samarra, a small
place situated a few leagues above Bagdad, he caused a new residence to
be built there, whose name, which could be interpreted "Unhappy is he
who sees it," was changed by him into Sorra-man-ra'a, "Rejoiced is he
who sees it." Leaving the government of the capital in the hands of his
son Harun al-Wathiq, he established himself at Samarra in 836. This
resolution of Motasim was destined to prove fatal to his dynasty; for it
placed the caliphs at the mercy of their praetorians. In fact, from the
time of Wathiq, the Caliphate became the plaything of the Turkish guard,
and its decline was continuous.
In the time of the civil war the marshlands in Irak between Basra and
Wasit had been occupied by a large population of Indians, called _yat_,
or, according to the Arabic pronunciation, _Zott_, who infested the
roads and levied a heavy tribute from the ships ascending and descending
the Tigris. From the year 821 onwards Mamun had tried in vain to bring
them to submission. When Motasim came back to Bagdad, after the death of
his brother, he found the people in great distress, their supply of
dates from Basra having been cut off by the Zott, and resolved to put
them down with all means. After seven months of vigorous resistance,
they at last yielded on condition of safety of life and property. In
January 835 the Zott in their national costume and with their own music
were conducted on a great number of boats through Bagdad. Thence they
were transported to Ainzarba (Anazarba) on the frontier of the Greek
empire. Twenty years later they entered Asia Minor, whence in a later
period they came into Europe, under the name of Athinganoi (Ziganes) and
Egyptians (gipsies).[35]
A far more difficult task lay before Motasim, the subjection of Babak
al-Khorrami in Azerbaijan. Though the name Khorrami is often employed by
the Moslem writers to designate such extravagant Moslem sectaries as
the Hashimiya, the real Khorrami were not Moslems, but Persian
Mazdaqites, or communists. The name Khorrami, or Khorramdini, "adherent
of the pleasant religion," seems to be a nickname. As they bore red
colours, they were also called Mohammira, or Redmakers. Their object was
to abolish Islam and to restore "the white religion." We find the first
mention of them in the year 808, when Harun al-Rashid sent an army
against them. During the civil war their power was steadily increasing,
and spread not only over Azerbaijan, but also over Media (Jabal) and
Khorasan. The numerous efforts of Mamun to put them down had been all in
vain, and they were now in alliance with the Byzantine emperor.
Therefore, in the year 835, Motasim made Afshin, a Turkish prince who
had distinguished himself already in the days of Mamun, governor of
Media, with orders to take the lead of the war against Babak. After
three years' fighting, Babak was taken prisoner. He was carried to
Samarra, led through the city on the back of an elephant, and then
delivered to the executioners, who cut off his arms and legs. His head
was sent to Khorasan, his body was crucified. For long afterwards the
place where this happened bore the name of "Babak's Cross."
In the hope of creating a diversion in Babak's favour, Theophilus in 837
fell upon and laid waste the frontier town of Zibatra. There and in
several other places he took a great number of prisoners, whom he
mutilated. The news arrived just after that of the capture of Babak, and
Motasim swore to take exemplary vengeance. He assembled a formidable
army, penetrated into Asia Minor, and took the city of Amorium, where he
gained rich plunder. During his return the caliph was informed of a
conspiracy in the army in favour of 'Abbas the son of Mamun, of which
'Ojaif b. 'Anbasa was the ringleader. The unfortunate prince was
arrested and died soon after in prison. The conspirators were killed,
many of them with great cruelty. (For the campaign see Bury in _J.H.S._,
1909, xxix. pt. i.)
Motasim had just returned to Samarra when a serious revolt broke out in
Tabaristan, Maziyar, one of the hereditary chiefs of that country,
refusing to acknowledge the authority of Abdallah Ibn Tahir, the
governor of Khorasan, of which Tabaristan was a province. The revolt was
suppressed with great difficulty, and it came out that it was due to the
secret instigation of Afshin, who hoped thereby to cause the fall of the
Tahirids, and to take their place, with the ulterior object of founding
an independent kingdom in the East. Afshin, who stood at that moment in
the highest favour of the caliph, was condemned and died in prison.
Motasim died a year later, January 842.
9. _Reign of Wathiq._--His son Wathiq, who succeeded, though not in the
least to be compared with Mamun, had yet in common with him a thirst for
knowledge--perhaps curiosity would be a more appropriate term--which
prompted him, as soon as he became caliph, to send the famous astronomer
Mahommed b. Musa into Asia Minor to find out all about the Seven
Sleepers which he discovered in the neighbourhood of Arabissus,[36] and
Sallam the Interpreter to explore the situation of the famous wall of
Gog and Magog, which he reached at the north-west frontier of China.[37]
For these and other personal pursuits he raised money by forcing a
number of high functionaries to disgorge their gains. In so vast an
empire the governors and administrators had necessarily enjoyed an
almost unrestricted power, and this had enabled them to accumulate
wealth. Omar had already compelled them to furnish an account of their
riches, and, when he found that they had abused their trust, to
relinquish half to the state. As time went on, nomination to an office
was more and more generally considered a step to wealth. During the
reign of the Omayyads a few large fortunes were made thus. But with the
increasing luxury after Mansur, the thirst for money became universal,
and the number of honest officials lessened fast. Confiscation of
property had been employed with success by Harun al-Rashid after the
disgrace of the Barmecides, and occasionally by his successors, but
Wathiq was the first to imprison high officials and fine them heavily on
the specific charge of peculation.
The caliph also shared Mamun's intolerance on the doctrinal question of
the uncreated Koran. He carried his zeal to such a point that, on the
occasion of an exchange of Greek against Moslem prisoners in 845, he
refused to receive those Moslem captives who would not declare their
belief that the Koran was created. The orthodox in Bagdad prepared to
revolt, but were discovered in time by the governor of the city. The
ringleader Ahmad b. Nasr al-Khoza'i was seized and brought to Samarra,
where Wathiq beheaded him in person. The only other event of importance
in the reign of Wathiq was a rising of the Arabian tribes in the
environs of Medina, which the Turkish general Bogha with difficulty
repressed. When he reached Samarra with his prisoners, Wathiq had just
died (August 846). That the predominance of the praetorians was already
established is clear from the fact that Wathiq gave to two Turkish
generals, Ashnas and Itakh respectively, the titular but lucrative
supreme government of all the western and all the eastern provinces. In
his days the soldiery at Samarra was increased by a large division of
Africans (Maghribis).
10. _Reign of Motawakkil._--As Wathiq had appointed no successor the
vizier Mahommed Zayyat had cast his eye on his son Mahommed, who was
still a child, but the generals Wasif and Itakh, seconded by the upper
cadi Ibn abi Da'ud, refused their consent, and offered the supreme power
to Wathiq's brother Ja'far, who at his installation adopted the name of
_al-Motawakkil 'ala 'llah_ ("he who trusts in God"). The new caliph
hated the vizier Zayyat, who had opposed his election, and had him
seized and killed with the same atrocious cruelty which the vizier
himself had inflicted on others. His possessions, and those of others
who had opposed the caliph's election, were confiscated. But the
arrogance of Itakh, to whom he owed his Caliphate, became insufferable.
So, with the perfidy of his race, the caliph took him off his guard, and
had him imprisoned and killed at Bagdad. He was succeeded by Wasif.
About this time an impostor named Mahmud b. Faraj had set himself up as
a prophet, claiming to be Dhu'l-Qarnain (Alexander the Great) risen from
the dead. Asserting that Gabriel brought him revelations, he had
contrived to attract twenty-seven followers. The caliph had him flogged,
and compelled each of the twenty-seven to give him ten blows on the head
with his fist. The "prophet" expired under the blows (850).
One of the first acts of Motawakkil was the release of all those who had
been imprisoned for refusing to admit the dogma of the created Koran,
and the strict order to abstain from any litigation about the Book of
God. The upper cadi Ibn abi Da'ud, the leader of the movement against
orthodoxy, who had stood in great esteem with Mamun and had fulfilled
his high office under the reigns of Motasim and Wathiq, had a stroke of
paralysis in the year 848. His son Mahommed was put in his place till
851, when all the members of the family were arrested. They released
themselves by paying the enormous sum of 240,000 dinars and 16,000,000
dirhems, which constituted nearly their whole fortune, and were then
sent to Bagdad, where father and son died three years later. An orthodox
upper cadi was named instead, and the dogma of the created Koran was
declared heresy; therewith began a persecution of all the adherents of
that doctrine and other Motazilite tenets. Orthodoxy triumphed, never
again to lose its place as the state religion. Hand in hand with these
reactionary measures came two others, one against Jews and Christians,
one against the Shi'ites. The first caliph who imposed humiliating
conditions on the Dhimmis, or Covenanters, who, on condition of paying a
certain not over-heavy tribute, enjoyed the protection of the state and
the free exercise of their cult, was Omar II., but this policy was not
continued. A proposition by the cadi Abu Yusuf to Harun al-Rashid to
renew it had not been adopted. Motawakkil, in 850, formulated an edict
by which these sectaries were compelled to wear a distinctive dress and
to distinguish their houses by a figure of the devil nailed to the
door, excluding them at the same time from all public employments, and
forbidding them to send their children to Moslem schools. Nevertheless,
he kept his Christian medical men, some of whom were high in favour. He
showed his hatred for the Shi'ites by causing the mausoleum erected over
the tomb of Hosain at Kerbela, together with all the buildings
surrounding it, to be levelled to the ground and the site to be ploughed
up, and by forbidding any one to visit the spot. A year before, a
descendant of Hosain, Yahya b. Omar, had been arrested and flogged on
his orders. He escaped afterwards, rose in rebellion at Kufa in 864, and
was killed in battle. It is reported that the caliph even permitted one
of his buffoons to turn the person of Ali into mockery.
In the year 848-849 Ibn Ba'ith, who had rendered good service in the war
against Babak, but had for some cause been arrested, fled from Samarra
to Marand in Azerbaijan and revolted. Not without great difficulty
Bogha, the Turkish general, succeeded in taking the town and making Ibn
Ba'ith prisoner. He was brought before Motawakkil and died in prison. In
the year 237 (A.D. 851-852) a revolt broke out in Armenia.
Notwithstanding a vigorous resistance, Bogha subdued and pacified the
province in the following year. In that same year, 852-853, the
Byzantines made a descent on Egypt with 300 vessels. 'Anbasa the
governor had ordered the garrison of Damietta to parade at the capital
Fostat. The denuded town was taken, plundered and burned. The Greeks
then destroyed all the fortifications at the mouth of the Nile near
Tinnis, and returned with prisoners and booty. The annual raids of
Moslems and Greeks in the border districts of Asia Minor were attended
with alternate successes, though on the whole the Greeks had the upper
hand. In 856 they penetrated as far as Amid (Diarbekr), and returned
with 10,000 prisoners. But in the year 859 the Greeks suffered a heavy
defeat with losses of men and cattle, the emperor Michael himself was in
danger, whilst the fleet of the Moslems captured and sacked Antalia.
This was followed by a truce and an exchange of prisoners in the
following year.
In 855 a revolt broke out in Homs (Emesa), where the harsh conditions
imposed by the caliph on the Christians and Jews had caused great
discontent. It was repressed after a vigorous resistance. A great many
leading men were flogged to death, all churches and synagogues were
destroyed and all the Christians banished.
In the year 851 the Boja (or Beja), a wild people living between the Red
Sea and the Nile of Upper Egypt, the Blemmyes of the ancients, refused
to pay the annual tribute, and invaded the land of the gold and emerald
mines, so that the working of the mines was stopped. The caliph sent
against them Mahommed al-Qommi, who subdued them in 856 and brought
their king Ali Baba to Samarra before Motawakkil, on condition that he
should be restored to his kingdom.
About this time Sijistan liberated itself from the supremacy of the
Tahirids. Ya'qub b. Laith al-Saffar proclaimed himself amir of that
province in the year 860, and was soon after confirmed in this dignity
by the caliph.
In 858 Motawakkil, hoping to escape from the arrogant patronage of
Wasif, who had taken the place of Itakh as head of the Turkish guard,
transferred his residence to Damascus. But the place did not agree with
him, and he returned to Samarra, where he caused a magnificent quarter
to be built 3 m. from the city, which he called after his own name
Ja'fariya, and on which he spent more than two millions of dinars (about
£900,000). He found the means by following the example of his
predecessor in depriving many officials of their ill-gotten gains. He
contrived to enrol in his service nearly 12,000 men, for the greater
part Arabs, in order to crush the Turks. In the year of his elevation to
the Caliphate, he had regulated the succession to the empire in his own
family by designating as future caliphs his three sons, _al-Montasir
billah_ ("he who seeks help in God"), _al-Mo'tazz billah_ ("he whose
strength is of God"), and _al-Mowayyad billah_ ("he who is assisted by
God"). By and by he conceived an aversion to his eldest son, and wished
to supplant him by Motazz, the son of his favourite wife Qabiha. The day
had been fixed on which Montasir, Wasif and several other Turkish
generals were to be assassinated. But Wasif and Montasir had been
informed, and resolved to anticipate him. In the night before, Shawwal
A.H. 247 (December 861), Motawakkil, after one of his wonted orgies, was
murdered, together with his confidant, Fath b. Khaqan. The official
report, promulgated by his successor, was that Fath b. Khaqan had
murdered his master and had been punished for it by death. For the
administrative system in this reign see MAHOMMEDAN INSTITUTIONS.
11. _Reign of Montasir._--On the very night of his father's
assassination Montasir had himself proclaimed caliph. He was a man of
very feeble character, and a mere puppet in the hands of his vizier
Ahmad b. Khasib and the Turkish generals. He was compelled to send
Wasif, the personal enemy of Ibn Khasib, to the frontier for a term of
four years, and then to deprive his two brothers Motazz and Mowayyad,
who were not agreeable to them, of their right of succession. He died
six months after, by poison, it is said.
12. _Reign of Mosta'in._--The Turkish soldiery, now the chief power in
the state, chose, by the advice of Ibn Khasib, in succession to
Montasir, his cousin Ahmad, who took the title of _al-Mosta'in billah_
("he who looks for help to God"). In the reign of this feeble prince the
Greeks inflicted serious losses on the Moslems in Asia Minor. A great
many volunteers from all parts, who offered their services, were hunted
down as rioters by the Turkish generals, who were wholly absorbed by
their own interests. The party which had placed Mosta'in on the throne,
led by Ibn Khasib and Otamish, were soon overpowered by Wasif and Bogha.
Ibn Khasib was banished to Crete, Otamish murdered. The superior party,
however, maintained Mosta'in on the throne, because they feared lest
Motazz should take vengeance upon them for the murder of his father
Motawakkil. But in the year 865 Wasif and Bogha fled with Mosta'in to
Bagdad, and Motazz was proclaimed caliph at Samarra. A terrible war
ensued; Mosta'in was obliged to abdicate, and was killed in the
following year.
In 864 a descendant of Ali, named Hasan b. Zaid, gained possession of
Tabaristan and occupied the great city of Rai (Rey) near Teheran. A year
later the province was reconquered by the Tahirid governor of Khorasan,
so that Hasan was obliged to retreat for refuge to the land of the
Dailam. But he returned soon, and after many reverses ruled over
Tabaristan and Jorjan for many years.
13. _Reign of Motazz._--Motazz, proclaimed caliph at Bagdad in the first
month of 252 (January 866), devoted himself to the object of freeing
himself from the omnipotent Turkish generals, especially Wasif and
Bogha, who had opposed his election. But such a task demanded an ability
and energy which he did not possess. He was obliged to grant them
amnesty and to recall them to Samarra. He mistrusted also his brothers
Mowayyad and Mowaffaq, who had interceded for them. He put the former to
death and drove the latter into exile to Bagdad. Some time after he had
the satisfaction of seeing Wasif killed by his own troops, and
succeeded, a year later, in having Bogha assassinated. But a more
difficult problem was the payment of the Turkish, Persian and African
guards, which was said to have amounted in A.H. 252 to 200,000,000
dirhems[38] (about £6,500,000), or apparently twice the revenue derived
from the land tax. As the provincial revenues annually decreased, it
became impossible to pay this sum, and Salih the son of Wasif, in spite
of the remonstrances of the caliph, confiscated the property of state
officials. Upon a further demand, Motazz, having failed to procure money
from his mother Qabiha, who was enormously rich, was seized upon and
tortured, and died of starvation in prison (Shaaban 255, July 868).
The dismemberment of the empire continued fast in these years, and the
caliph was compelled to recognize the virtual independence of the
governors Ya'qub the Saffarid (see SAFFARIDS and PERSIA, _History_, § B)
in Seistan, and Ahmad b. Tulun in Egypt.
14. _Reign of Mohtadi._--Immediately after the seizure of Motazz, the
Turks, led by Salih b. Wasif, proclaimed as caliph one of the sons of
Wathiq with the title of al-Mohtadi billah ("the guided by God"), who,
however, refused to occupy the throne until his predecessor had solemnly
abdicated. Mohtadi, who was a man of noble and generous spirit and had
no lack of energy, began by applying the precarious measure of power
which was left him to the reform of the court. He banished the musicians
and singers, and forbade all kinds of games; he devoted himself to the
administration of justice, and gave public audiences to the people for
the redress of their grievances. At the same time he contrived to
elevate the power of the Abna, the descendants of those Persian soldiers
who had established the dynasty of the Abbasids, in order to break the
supremacy of the Turks and other mercenaries. But Mohtadi came too late,
and the Turks did not leave him time to finish his work.
On the news of the conspiracy against Motazz, Musa, the son of the
famous general Bogha,[39] then governor of Media (Jabal), ordered his
deputy-general Moflih to return at once from a proposed invasion of
Dailam, and moved with his army towards Samarra, notwithstanding the
peremptory orders of the caliph. At his approach Salih, who was afraid
of Musa, hid himself, but was soon discovered and killed. At that moment
a Kharijite, named Mosawir, who in 867 had risen in Mesopotamia and
beaten more than one general of the government, took Balad and menaced
Mosul. Musa could not refuse to comply with the formal command of the
caliph to march against him. During the absence of these troops, Mohtadi
seems to have tried to get rid of the principal Turkish leaders. A
brother of Musa and one of his best generals, Bayikbeg (Baiekbak), were
killed, but the soldiery he had gained over for himself were not strong
enough. Mohtadi was overwhelmed and killed, Rajab 256 (June 870).
15. _Reign of Motamid._--Whether from weariness or from repentance, the
Turkish soldiery discontinued for a time their hateful excesses, and
their new leader, Musa b. Bogha, was without the greed and ambition of
his predecessors. A son of Motawakkil was brought out of prison to
succeed his cousin, and reigned for twenty-three years under the name of
_al-Mo'tamid 'ala'llah_ ("he whose support is God"). He was a feeble,
pleasure-loving monarch, but Mohtadi had regained for the Caliphate some
authority, which was exercised by Obaidallah b. Khaqan, the able vizier
of Mohtadi, and by Motamid's talented brother Abu Ahmad al-Mowaffaq;
Musa b. Bogha himself remained till his death a staunch servant of the
government. During the reign of Motamid great events took place. The
great power long wielded by the Tahirids, not only in the eastern
provinces, but also at Bagdad itself, had been gradually diminishing,
and came to an end in the year 873, when Ya'qub the Saffarid occupied
Nishapur and imprisoned Mahommed b. Tahir with his whole family. The
power of Ya'qub then increased to such an extent that he was not content
with the caliph's offer to recognize him as supreme in the provinces he
had conquered, and military governor of Bagdad, but marched against
Irak. The caliph himself, wearing the mantle and the staff of the
Prophet, then went out against him, and after a vigorous resistance he
was beaten by Mowaffaq, who had the command of the troops, and fled to
Jondisapur in Khuzistan, where he died three years later, leaving his
empire to his brother 'Amr. This prince maintained himself in power till
the year 900, when he was beaten and taken prisoner by Isma'il b. Ahmed
the Samanid. The Samanids had been governors of Transoxiana from the
time of Mamun, and after the fall of the Tahirids, had been confirmed in
this office by the caliph. After 287 (900) they were independent
princes, and under their dominion these districts attained to high
prosperity.
Motamid had also to deal with a rising of the negro slaves in the
province of Basra, led by one Ali b. Mahommed, who called himself a
descendant of Ali. It lasted from 869 to 883, and tasked the government
to its utmost.[40]
In the west, Ahmad b. Tulun became a mighty prince, whose sway extended
over Syria and a part of Mesopotamia. Motamid, who wished to free
himself from the guardianship of his brother Mowaffaq, concerted with
him a plan to emigrate to Egypt, Ahmad being himself angered against
Mowaffaq on personal grounds. Motamid's flight was stopped by his vizier
Ibn Makhlad, and the caliph himself was reconducted to Samarra as a
prisoner in the year 882. From that time there was war between the
Abbasids and the Tulunids. Ahmad died in 270 (884). His son Khomaruya
succeeded him, and maintained himself in power till his death in 896, in
which year his daughter was married to the caliph Motadid. Ten years
later Egypt was conquered by a general of the caliph Moktafi.
During the reign of Motamid the emperor Basil I. conducted the war
against the Moslems with great success, till in the year 270 (A.D. 884)
his army suffered a terrible defeat near Tarsus, in which the greater
part of the army, the commander Andreas, and many other patricians
perished.
Motamid had appointed his son al-Mofawwid as successor to the Caliphate,
and after him his brother Mowaffaq. When the latter died in the year
891, his son Abu 'l-'Abbas, _al-Mo'tadid_ ("he who seeks his support in
God"), was put in his place. Next year Mofawwid was compelled to
abdicate in favour of his cousin. Shortly after Motamid died, Rajab 279
(October 892). Not long before these events, the seat of the Caliphate
had been restored to Bagdad.
16. _Reign of Motadid_.--Motadid may be called, after Mansur, the most
able and energetic of all the Abbasid rulers. He took good care of the
finances, reformed the administration, was an excellent commander in
war, and maintained order as far as possible. The Kharijites in
Mesopotamia, who for many years had molested the government, were
finally crushed with the aid of their former ally Hamdan, who became the
founder of the well-known dynasty of the Hamdanites. The mighty house of
Abu Dolaf in the south-west of Media, which had never ceased to encroach
on the Caliphate, was put down. The governor of Azerbaijan and Armenia,
belonging to the powerful Turkish house of the Sajids or Sajites, whose
loyalty was always doubtful, planned an invasion of Syria and Egypt.
Motadid frustrated it by a quick movement. The citizens of Tarsus who
were involved in the plot were severely punished. The chief punishment,
however, the burning of the fleet, was a very impolitic measure, as it
strengthened the hands of the Byzantines.
Almost simultaneously with the rising of the negro slaves in Basra there
arose in the province of Kufa the celebrated sect of the Carmathians
(q.v.), Fatimites[41] or Isma'ilites. This powerful sect, which save for
a difference of opinion would have joined the negro rising, remained
outwardly quiet during Motamid's reign, but under Motadid the government
began to have misgivings about them. Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi, who had
founded a Carmathian state in Bahrein, the north-eastern province of
Arabia (actually called Lahsa), which could become dangerous for the
pilgrim road as well as for the commerce of Basra, in the year 900
routed an army sent against him by Motadid, and warned the caliph that
it would be safer to let the Carmathians alone. In the same year the
real chief of the sect, whose abode had been discovered by the caliph,
fled from Salamia in Syria, where he lived, to Africa, and hid himself
at Sijilmasa (in Tafilalt) in the far west, whence he reappeared ten
years later at Kairawan as the Mahdi, the first caliph of the
Fatimites.[42]
Motadid died in Rabia II. A.H. 289 (March 902), leaving the Caliphate to
his son _al-Moktafi billah_ ("he who sufficeth himself in God").
17. _Reign of Moktafi_.--Moktafi inherited his father's intrepidity, and
seems to have had high personal qualities, but his reign of six years
was a constant struggle against the Carmathians in Syria, who defeated
the Syrian and Egyptian troops, and conquered Damascus and other
cities. Moktafi led his troops in person, and his general, Mahommed b.
Suleiman, gained a signal victory. Three of their chiefs were taken and
put to death. But, to avenge their defeat, they lay in wait for the
great pilgrim caravan on its return from Mecca in the first days of 294
(906), and massacred 20,000 pilgrims, making an immense booty. This
horrible crime raised the whole Moslem world against them. Zikruya their
chief was defeated at last and perished.
After the defeat of the Syrian Carmathians, Mahommed b. Suleiman was
sent by the caliph to Egypt, where he overthrew the dominion of the
Tulunids. 'Isa b. Mahommed al-Naushari was made governor in their stead
(905).
The war with the Byzantines was conducted with great energy during the
reign of Moktafi. In the year 905 the Greek general Andronicus took
Marash, and penetrated as far as Haleb (Aleppo), but the Moslems were
successful at sea, and in 907 captured Iconium, whilst Andronicus went
over to the caliph's side, so that the Byzantine emperor sent an embassy
to Bagdad to ask for a truce and an exchange of prisoners.
18. _Reign of Moqtadir._--The sudden death of Moktafi, Dhu'l-qa'da 295
(August 908), was a fatal blow to the prestige of the Caliphate, which
had revived under the successive governments of Mowaffaq, Motadid and
himself. The new caliph, _al-Moqtadir billah_ ("the powerful through
God"), a brother of Moktafi, was only thirteen years of age when he
ascended the throne. Owing to his extreme youth many of the leading men
at Bagdad rebelled and swore allegiance to Abdallah, son of the former
caliph Motazz, a man of excellent character and of great poetical gifts;
but the party of the house of Motadid prevailed, and the rival caliph
was put to death. Moqtadir, though not devoid of noble qualities,
allowed himself to be governed by his mother and her ladies and eunuchs.
He began by squandering the 15,000,000 dinars which were in the treasury
when his brother died in largesses to his courtiers, who, however,
merely increased their demands. His very able vizier, the noble and
disinterested Ali b. 'Isa, tried to check this foolish expenditure, but
his efforts were more than counterbalanced by the vizier Ibn abi'l-Forat
and the court. The most shameless bribery and the robbery of the
well-to-do went together with the most extravagant luxury. The
twenty-four years of Moqtadir's reign are a period of rapid decay. The
most important event in the reign was the foundation of the Fatimite
dynasty, which reigned first in the Maghrib and then in Egypt for nearly
three centuries (see FATIMITES and EGYPT: _History_, "Mahommedan").
Far more dangerous, however, for the Caliphate of Bagdad at the time
were the Carmathians of Bahrein, then guided by Abu Tahir, the son of
Abu Sa'id Jannabi. In 311 (A.D. 923) they took and ransacked Basra; in
the first month of the following year the great pilgrim caravan on its
return from Mecca was overpowered; 2500 men perished, while an even
larger number were made prisoners and brought to Lahsa, the residence of
the Carmathian princes, together with an immense booty. The caravan
which left Bagdad towards the end of this year returned in all haste
before it had covered a third of the way. Then Kufa underwent the fate
that had befallen Basra. In 313 (A.D. 926) the caravan was allowed to
pass on payment of a large sum of money. The government of Bagdad
resolved to crush the Carmathians, but a large army was utterly defeated
by Abu Tahir in 315 (927), and Bagdad was seriously threatened. Next
year Mecca was taken and plundered; even the sacred Black Stone was
transported to Lahsa, where it remained till 339 (950), when by the
express order of the Imam, the Fatimite caliph, it was restored to the
Ka'ba.
In 317 (929) a conspiracy was formed to dethrone Moqtadir, to which
Munis, the chief commander of the army, at first assented, irritated by
false reports. Very soon he withdrew, and though he could not prevent
the plundering of the palace, and the proclamation as caliph of another
son of Motadid with the title _al-Qahir billah_ ("the victorious through
God"), he rescued Moqtadir and his mother, and at the same time his
imprisoned friend Ali b. 'Isa, and brought them to his own house. A few
days later, a counter-revolution took place; the leaders of the revolt
were killed, and Moqtadir, against his wish, was replaced on the throne.
In 320 (A.D. 932) Munis, discovering a court intrigue against him, set
out for Mosul, expecting that the Hamdanids, who owed to him their
power, would join him. Instead of doing this, they opposed him with a
numerous army, but were defeated. Munis took Mosul, and having received
reinforcements from all parts, marched against Bagdad. The caliph, who
wished nothing more than to be reconciled to his old faithful servant,
was forced to take arms against him, and fell in battle Shawwal 320
(October 932), at the age of 38 years. His reign, which lasted almost
twenty-five years, was in all respects injurious to the empire.
19. _Reign of Qahir_.--After the victory Munis acted with great
moderation and proclaimed a general amnesty. His own wish was to call
Abu Ahmad, a son of Moktafi, or a son of Moqtadir, to the Caliphate, but
the majority of generals preferring Qahir because he was an adult man
and had no mother at his side, he acquiesced, although he had a personal
dislike for him, knowing his selfish and cruel character. Qahir was a
drunkard, and derived the money for his excesses from promiscuous
confiscation. He ill-treated the sons of Moqtadir and Abu Ahmad, and
ultimately assassinated his patrons Munis and Yalbak, whose guardianship
he resented. In Jomada I. 322 (April 934) he was dethroned and blinded,
and died in poverty seven years later.
During the last years of Moqtadir and the reign of Qahir a new dynasty
rose. Buya, the chief of a clan of the Dailam, a warlike people who
inhabit the mountainous country south-west of the Caspian Sea, had
served under the Samanids, and found a footing in the south of Media
(Jabal), whence his three sons--well known under the titles they assumed
at a later period: 'Imad addaula ("prop of the dynasty"), Rokn addaula
("pillar of the dynasty"), and Mo'izz addaula ("strengthener of the
dynasty")--succeeded in subduing the province of Fars, at the time of
Qahir's dethronement (see PERSIA: _History_).
20. _Reign of Radi_.--Moqtadir's son, who was then proclaimed caliph
under the name of _ar-Radi billah_ ("the content through God"), was
pious and well-meaning, but inherited only the shadow of power. The
vizier Ibn Moqla tried to maintain his authority at least in Irak and
Mesopotamia, but without success. The treasury was exhausted, the troops
asked for pay, the people in Bagdad were riotous. In this extremity the
caliph bade Ibn Raiq, who had made himself master of Basra and Wasit,
and had command of money and men, to come to his help. He created for
him the office of Amir al-Omara, "Amir of the Amirs," which nearly
corresponds to that of Mayor of the Palace among the Franks.[43]
Thenceforth the worldly power of the Caliphate was a mere shadow. The
empire was by this time practically reduced to the province of Bagdad;
Khorasan and Transoxiana were in the hands of the Samanids, Fars in
those of the Buyids; Kirman and Media were under independent sovereigns;
the Hamdanids possessed Mesopotamia; the Sajids Armenia and Azerbaijan;
the Ikshidites Egypt; as we have seen, the Fatimites Africa, the
Carmathians Arabia. The Amir al-Omara was obliged to purchase from the
latter the freedom of the pilgrimage to Mecca, at the price of a
disgraceful treaty.
During the troubles of the Caliphate the Byzantines had made great
advances; they had even taken Malatia and Samosata (Samsat). But the
great valour of the Hamdanid prince Saif-addaula checked their march.
The Greek army suffered two severe defeats and sued for peace.
21. _Reign of Mottaqi_.--Radi died in Rabia I. A.H. 329 (December 940).
Another son of Moqtadir was then proclaimed caliph under the name of
_al-Mottaqi billah_ ("he who guards himself by God"). At the time of his
accession the Amir al-Omara was the Turkish general Bajkam, in whose
favour Ibn Raiq had been obliged to retire. Unfortunately Bajkam died
soon after, and his death was followed by general anarchy. A certain
Baridi, who had carved out for himself a principality in the province of
Basra, marched against Bagdad and made himself master of the capital,
but was soon driven out by the Dailamite general Kurtakin. Ibn Raiq
came back and reinstated himself as Amir al-Omara. But Baridi again laid
siege to Bagdad, and Mottaqi fled to Nasir addaula the Hamdanid prince
of Mosul, who then marched against Bagdad, and succeeded in repelling
Baridi. In return he obtained the office of Amir al-Omara. But the
Dailamite and Turkish soldiery did not suffer him to keep this office
longer than several months. Tuzun, a former captain of Bajkam, compelled
him to return to Mosul and took his place. Mottaqi fled again to Mosul
and thence to Rakka. The Ikshid, sovereign of Egypt and Syria, offered
him a refuge, but Tuzun, fearing to see the caliph obtain such powerful
support, found means to entice him to his tent, and had his eyes put
out, Saphar 333 (October 944).
22. _Reign of Mostakfi._--As successor Tuzun chose _al-Mostakfi billah_
("he who finds full sufficiency with God"), a son of Moktafi. This
prince, still more than his predecessors, was a mere puppet in the hands
of Tuzun, who died a few months later, and his successor Ibn Shirzad.
Such was the weakness of the caliph that a notorious robber, named
Hamdi, obtained immunity for his depredations by a monthly payment of
25,000 dinars. One of the Buyid princes, whose power had been steadily
increasing, marched about this time against Bagdad, which he entered in
Jomada I. A.H. 334 (December 945), and was acknowledged by the caliph as
legal sovereign, under the title of Sultan. He assumed at this time the
name of Mo'izz addaula. Mostakfi was soon weary of this new master, and
plotted against him. At least Mo'izz addaula suspected him and deprived
him of his eyesight, Jomada II. A.H. 334 (January 946). There were thus
in Bagdad three caliphs who had been dethroned and blinded, Qahir,
Mottaqi and Mostakfi.
23. _Reign of Moti._--Mo'izz addaula soon abandoned his original idea of
restoring the title of caliph to one of the descendants of Ali, fearing
a strong opposition of the people, and also dreading lest this should
lead to the recovery by the caliphs of their former supremacy. His
choice fell on a son of Moqtadir, who took the title of _al-Moti'
billah_ ("he who obeys God"). The sultan, reserving to himself all the
powers and revenues of the Caliphate, allowed the caliph merely a
secretary and a pension of 5000 dirhems a day. Though in public prayers
and on the coins the name of the caliph remained as that of the supreme
authority, he had in reality no authority out of the palace, so that the
saying became proverbial, "he contents himself with sermon and coin."
The Hamdanid prince of Mosul, who began to think his possessions
threatened by Mo'izz addaula, tried without success to wrest Bagdad from
him, and was obliged to submit to the payment of tribute. He died in 358
(A.D. 969), and ten years later the power of this branch of the
Hamdanids came to an end. The representative of the other branch, Saif
addaula, the prince of Haleb (Aleppo), conducted the war against the
Byzantines with great valour till his death in 356 (A.D. 967), but could
not stop the progress of the enemy. His descendants maintained
themselves, but with very limited power, till A.H. 413 (A.D. 1022).
Mo'izz addaula died in the same year as Saif addaula, leaving his power
to his son Bakhtiyar 'Izz addaula, who lacked his father's energy and
loved pleasure more than business.
While the Abbasid dynasty was thus dying out in shame and degradation,
the Fatimites, in the person of Mo'izz li-din-allah (or Mo'izz Abu Tamin
Ma'add) ("he who makes God's religion victorious"), were reaching the
highest degree of power and glory in spite of the opposition of the
Carmathians, who left their old allegiance and entered into negotiations
with the court of Bagdad, offering to drive back the Fatimites, on
condition of being assisted with money and troops, and of being rewarded
with the government of Syria and Egypt. The former condition was
granted, but the caliph emphatically refused the latter demand, saying:
"Both parties are Carmathians, they profess the same religion and are
enemies of Islam." The Carmathians drove the Fatimites out of Syria, and
threatened Egypt, but, notwithstanding their intrepidity, they were not
able to cope with their powerful rival, who, however, in his turn could
not bring them to submission. In 978-979 peace was made on condition
that the Carmathians should evacuate Syria for an annual payment of
70,000 dinars. But the losses sustained by the Carmathians during that
struggle had been enormous. Their power henceforward declined, and came
to an end in A.H. 474 (A.D. 1081).
Mo'izz addaula, as we have seen, professed a great veneration for the
house of Ali. He not only caused the mourning for the death of Hosain
and other Shi'ite festivals to be celebrated at Bagdad, but also allowed
imprecations against Moawiya and even against Mahomet's wife Ayesha and
the caliphs Abu Bekr, Omar and Othman, to be posted up at the doors of
the mosques. These steps annoyed the people and the Turkish soldiery,
who were Sunnites, and led at last to an insurrection. Moti was
compelled to abdicate, and Bakhtiyar was driven out of Bagdad
Dhu'l-qa'da 363 (August 974).
24. _Reign of Tai._--Moti left the empty title of caliph to his son
_al-Ta'i li-amri'llah_ ("the obedient to the command of God"). The Turks
who had placed him on the throne could not maintain themselves, but so
insignificant was the person of the caliph that 'Adod addaula, who
succeeded his cousin Bakhtiyar in Bagdad, did not think of replacing him
by another. Under this prince, or king, as he was called, the power of
the Buyids reached its zenith. His empire stretched from the Caspian to
the Persian Sea, and in the west to the eastern frontier of Syria. He
did his best to remedy the misery caused by the intestine Wars, repaired
the ruined mosques and other public edifices, founded hospitals and
libraries--his library in Shiraz was one of the wonders of the
world--and improved irrigation. It was also he who built the mausoleum
of Hosain at Kerbela, and that of Ali at Kufa. But after his death in
the year 372 (A.D. 983), his sons, instead of following the example of
their predecessors, the three sons of Buya, fought one against the
other. In 380 (A.D. 990) the youngest of them, Baha addaula, had the
upper hand. This prince, who was as avaricious as he was ambitious,
wishing to deprive the caliph Ta'i of his possessions, compelled him to
abdicate A.H. 381 (A.D. 991).
25. _Reign of Qadir._--A grandson of Moqtadir was then made caliph under
the name of _al-Qadir billah_ ("the powerful through God"). The only
deed of power, however, that is recorded of him, is that he opposed
himself to the substitution of a Shi'ite head cadi for the Sunnite, so
that Baha addaula had to content himself with giving to the Shi'ites a
special judge, to whom he gave the title of _naqib_ (superintendent).
During this caliphate the Buyid princes were in continual war with one
another. Meanwhile events were preparing the fall of their dynasty. In
350 (A.D. 961) a Turkish general of the Samanids had founded for himself
a principality in Ghazni, arid at his death in 366 (A.D. 976) his
successor Sabuktagin had conquered Bost in Sijistan and Qosdar in
Baluchistan, beaten the Indian prince Diaya Pala, and been acknowledged
as master of the lands west of the Indus. At his death in 387 his son
Mahmud conquered the whole of Khorasan and Sijistan, with a great part
of India. He then attacked the Buyids, and would have destroyed their
dynasty but for his death in the year 421 (A.D. 1030).
In 389 (A.D. 999) Ilek-khan, the prince of Turkistan, took Bokhara and
made an end to the glorious state of the Samanids, the last prince of
which was murdered in 395 (A.D. 1005). The Samanids had long been a
rampart of the Caliphate against the Turks, whom they held under firm
control. From their fall dates the invasion of the empire by that
people. The greatest gainer for the moment was Mahmud of Ghazni. In
Mesopotamia and Irak several petty states arose on the ruins of the
dominions of the Hamdanids and of the Abbasids.
Qadir died in the last month of A.H. 422 (November 1031). He is the
author of some theological treatises.
26. _Reign of Qaim_.--He was succeeded by his son, who at his accession
took the title of _al-Qaim bi-amri'llah_ ("he who maintains the cause of
God"). During the first half of his long reign took place the
development of the power of the Ghuzz, a great Turkish tribe, who took
the name Seljuk from Seljuk their chief in Transoxiana. Already during
the reign of Mahmud large bodies had passed the Oxus and spread over
Khorasan and the adjacent countries. In the time of his successor the
bulk of the tribe followed, and in the year 429 (A.D. 1038) Toghrul Beg,
their chief, beat the army of the Ghaznevids and made his entry into
Nishapur. Thenceforth this progress was rapid (see SELJUKS). The
situation in Bagdad had become so desperate that the caliph called
Toghrul to his aid. This prince entered Bagdad in the month of Ramadan
A.H. 447 (December 1055), and overthrew finally the dynasty of the
Buyids.[44] In 449 (A.D. 1058) the caliph gave him the title of "King of
the East and West." But in the following year, 450, during his absence,
the Shi'ites made themselves masters of the metropolis, and proclaimed
the Caliphate of the Fatimite prince Mostansir. They were soon
overthrown by Toghrul, who was now supreme, and compelled the caliph to
give him his daughter in marriage. Before the marriage, however, he
died, and was succeeded by his nephew Alp Arslan, who died in 465 (25th
December) (A.D. 1072). Qaim died two years later, Shaaban A.H. 467
(April 1075).
In the year 440 Mo'izz b. Badis, the Zeirid ruler of the Maghrib, made
himself independent, and substituted in prayer the name of the Abbasid
caliph for that of Mostansir. In order to punish him, the latter gave
permission to the Arab tribes in Egypt to cross the Nile, and granted
them possession of all the lands they should conquer. This happened in
442 (A.D. 1050) and was of the greatest significance for the subsequent
fate of Africa.
27. _Reign of Moqtadi_.--In the first year of the Caliphate of
_al-Moqtadi bi-amri'llah_ ("he who follows the orders of God"), a
grandson of Qaim, the power of the Seljuk empire reached its zenith. All
the eastern provinces, a great part of Asia Minor, Syria with the
exception of a few towns on the shore, the main part of West Africa
acknowledged the caliph of Bagdad as the Imam. Yemen had been subjected,
and at Mecca and Medina his name was substituted in the public prayers
for that of the Fatimite caliph. But after the death of Malik-Shah a
contest for the sultanate took place. The caliph, who had in 1087
married the daughter of Malik-Shah, had been compelled two years after
to send her back to her father, as she complained of being neglected by
her husband. Just before his death, the Sultan had ordered him to
transfer his residence from Bagdad to Basra. After his death he stayed
and supported the princess Turkan Khatun. This lost him his life. The
day after Barki-yaroq's triumphant entry into Bagdad, Muharram 487
(February 1094), he died suddenly, apparently by poison.
28. _Reign of Mostazhir_.--_Al-Mostazhir billah_ ("he who seeks to
triumph through God"), son of Moqtadi, was only sixteen years old when
he was proclaimed caliph. His reign is memorable chiefly for the growing
power of the Assassins (q.v.) and for the first Crusade (see CRUSADES).
The Seljuk princes were too much absorbed by internal strife to
concentrate against the new assailants. After the death of Barkiyaroq in
November 1104, his brother Mahommed reigned till April 1118. His death
was followed about four months later by that of Mostazhir.
29. _Reign of Mostarshid._--_Al-Mostarshid billah_ ("he who asks
guidance from God"), who succeeded his father in Rabia II. 512 (August
1118), distinguished himself by a vain attempt to reestablish the power
of the caliph. Towards the end of the year 529 (October 1134) he was
compelled to promise that he would confine himself to his palace and
never again take the field. Not long after he was assassinated. About
the same time Dobais was killed, a prince of the family of the Banu
Mazyad, who had founded the Arabian state of Hillah in the vicinity of
the ruins of Babel in 1102.
30. _Reign of Rashid._--_Al-Rashid billah_ ("the just through God")
tried to follow the steps of his father, with the aid of Zengi, the
prince of Mosul. But the sultan Mas'ud beat the army of the allies, took
Bagdad and had Rashid deposed (August 1136). Rashid escaped, but was
murdered two years later.
31. _Reign of Moqtafi._--His successor _Al-Moqtafi li-amri'llah_ ("he
who follows the orders of God"), son of Mostazhir, had better success.
He was real ruler not only of the district of Bagdad, but also of the
rest of Irak, which he subdued by force. He died in the month of Rabia
II. 555 (March 1160). Under his reign the central power of the Seljuks
was rapidly sinking. In the west of Atabeg (prince's guardian) Zengi,
the prince of Mosul, had extended his dominion over Mesopotamia and the
north of Syria, where he had been the greatest defender of Islam against
the Franks. At his death in the year 541 (A.D. 1146), his noble son, the
well-known Nureddin, who was called "the just king," continued his
father's glorious career. Transoxiana was conquered by the heathen
hordes of Khata, who towards the end of 535 (A.D. 1141) under the king
Ghurkhan defeated the great army of the Seljuk prince and compelled the
Turkish tribes of the Ghuzz to cross the Oxus and to occupy Khorasan.
32. _Reign of Mostanjid._--_Al-Mostanjid billah_ ("he who invokes help
from God"), the son of Moqtafi, enlarged the dominion of the Caliphate
by making an end to the state of the Mazyadites in Hillah. His allies
were the Arabic tribe of the Montafiq, who thenceforth were powerful in
southern Irak. The greatest event towards the end of his Caliphate was
the conquest of Egypt by the army of Nureddin, the overthrow of the
Fatimite dynasty, and the rise of Saladin. He was killed by his
majordomo in Rabia II. 566 (December 1170).
33. _Reign of Mostadi._--His son and successor _al-Mostadi'
bi-amri'llah_ ("he who seeks enlightenment by the orders of God "),
though in Egypt his name was now substituted in public prayers for that
of the Fatimite caliph, was unable to obtain any real authority. By the
death of Nureddin in 569 (A.D. 1174) Saladin's power became firmly
rooted. The dynasty founded by him is called that of the Ayyubites,
after the name of his father Ayyub. Mostadi died in the month of
Dhu'l-qa'da 575 (March 1180).
34. _Reign of Nasir._--Quite a different man from his father was his
successor _al-Nasir li-dini'llah_ ("he who helps the religion of God").
During his reign Jerusalem was reconquered by Saladin, 27 Rajab 583
(October 2nd, 1187). Not long before that event the well-known Spanish
traveller Ibn Jubair visited the empire of Saladin, and came to Bagdad
in 580, where he saw the caliph himself. Nasir was very ambitious; he
had added Khuzistan to his dominions, and desired to become also master
of Media (Jabal, or Persian Irak, as it was called in the time of the
Seljuks). Here, however, he came into conflict with the then mighty
prince of Khwarizm (Khiva), who, already exasperated because the caliph
refused to grant him the honours he asked for, resolved to overthrow the
Caliphate of the Abbasids, and to place a descendant of Ali on the
throne of Bagdad. In his anxiety, Nasir took a step which brought the
greatest misery upon western Asia, or at least accelerated its arrival.
In the depths of Asia a great conglomeration of east Turkish tribes
(Tatars or Mongols), formed by a terrible warrior, known under his
honorific title Jenghiz Khan, had conquered the northern provinces of
China, and extended its power to the frontiers of the Transoxianian
regions. To this heathen chief the Imam of the Moslems sent a messenger,
inducing him to attack the prince of Khwarizm, who already had provoked
the Mongolian by a disrespectful treatment of his envoys. Neither he nor
the caliph had the slightest notion of the imminent danger they conjured
up. When Nasir died, Ramadan 622 (October 1225), the eastern provinces
of the empire had been trampled down by the wild hordes, the towns
burned, and the inhabitants killed without mercy.
35. _Reign of Zahir_.--_Al-Zahir bi-amri'llah_ ("the victorious through
the orders of God") died within a year after his father's death, in
Rajab 623 (July 1226). He and his son and successor are praised as
beneficent and just princes.
36. _Reign of Mostansir_.--_Al-Mostansir billah_ ("he who asks help from
God") was caliph till his death in Jornada II. 640 (December 1242). In
the year 624 (1227) Jenghiz Khan died, but the Mongol invasion continued
to advance with immense strides. The only man who dared, and sometimes
with success, to combat them was Jelaleddin, the ex-king of Khwarizm,
but after his death in 628 (A.D. 1231) all resistance was paralysed.
37. _Reign of Mostasim_.--_Al-Mosta'sim billah_ ("he who clings to God
for protection"), son of Mostansir, the last caliph of Bagdad, was a
narrow-minded, irresolute man, guided moreover by bad counsellors. In
the last month of the year 653 (January 1256) Hulaku or Hulagu, the
brother of the gteat khan of the Mongols, crossed the Oxus, and began by
destroying all the strongholds of the Isma'ilis. Then the turn of Bagdad
came. On the 11th of Muharram 656 (January 1258) Hulaku arrived under
the walls of the capital. In vain did Mostasim sue for peace. Totally
devoid of dignity and heroism, he ended by surrendering and imploring
mercy from the barbarian victor. On the 4th of Saphar (February 10th) he
came with his retinue into the camp. The city was then given up to
plunder and slaughter; many public buildings were burnt; the caliph,
after having been compelled to bring forth all the hidden treasures of
the family, was killed with two of his sons and many relations. With him
expired the eastern Caliphate of the Abbasids, which had lasted 524
years, from the entry of Abu'I-Abbas into Kufa.
In vain, three years later, did Abu'I-Qasim Ahmad, a scion of the race
of the Abbasids, who had taken refuge in Egypt with Bibars the Mameluke
sultan, and who had been proclaimed caliph under the title _al-Mostansir
billah_ ("he who seeks help from God"), make an effort to restore a
dynasty which was now for ever extinct. At the head of an army he
marched against Bagdad, but was defeated and killed before he reached
that city. Then another descendant of the Abbasids, who also had found
an asylum in Egypt, was proclaimed caliph at Cairo under the name of
_al-Hakim bi-amrillah_ ("he who decides according to the orders of
God"). His sons inherited his title, but, like their father, remained in
Egypt without power or influence (see EGYPT: _History_, "Mahommedan
period"). This shadow of sovereignty continued to exist till the
conquest of Egypt by the Turkish sultan Selim I., who compelled the last
of them, Motawakkil, to abdicate in his favour (see TURKEY: _History_).
He died at Cairo, a pensionary of the Ottoman government, in 1538.
Another scion of the Abbasid family, Mahommed, a great-grandson of the
caliph Mostansir, found at a later period a refuge in India, where the
sultan of Delhi received him with the greatest respect, named him
Makhdumzadeh, "the Master's son," and treated him as a prince. Ibn
Batuta saw him when he visited India, and says that he was very
avaricious. On his return to Bagdad the traveller found there a young
man, son of this prince, who gained a single dirhem daily for serving as
imam in a mosque, and did not get the least relief from his rich father.
It seems that this Mahommed, or his son, emigrated later to Sumatra,
where in the old Samutra the graves of their descendants have been
lately discovered. (M. J. de G.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Throughout this article, well-known names of persons and places
appear in their most familiar forms, generally without accents or
other diacritical signs. For the sake of homogeneity the articles on
these persons or places are also given under these forms, but in such
cases, the exact forms, according to the system of transliteration
adopted, are there given in addition.
[2] See Noldeke, _Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber_
(1864), pp. 89 seq.
[3] De Goeje, _Mémoires d'hist. et de géog. orient._ No. 2 (2nd ed.,
Leiden, 1864); Nöldeke, _D.M.Z._, 1875, p. 76 sqq.; Baladhuri 137.
[4] The accounts differ; see Baladhuri 305. The chronology of the
conquests is in many points uncertain.
[5] Baladhuri 315 sq.; Tabari. i. 1068.
[6] He sought to make the whole nation a great host of God; the Arabs
were to be soldiers and nothing else. They were forbidden to acquire
landed estates in the conquered countries; all land was either made
state property or was restored to the old owners subject to a
perpetual tribute which provided pay on a splendid scale for the
army.
[7] Nöldeke, _Tabari_, 246. To Omar is due also the establishment of
the Era of the Flight (Hegira).
[8] Even in the list of the slain at the battle of Honain the
Emigrants are enumerated along with the Meccans and Koreish, and
distinguished from the men of Medina.
[9] It was the same opposition of the spiritual to the secular
nobility that afterwards showed itself in the revolt of the sacred
cities against the Omayyads. The movement triumphed with the
elevation of the Abbasids to the throne. But, that the spiritual
nobility was fighting not for principle but for personal advantage
was as apparent in Ali's hostilities against Zobair and Talha, as in
that of the Abbasids against the followers af Ali.
[10] Or, at least, so they thought. The history of the letter to
'Abdallah b. abi Sarh seems to have been a trick played on the
caliph, who suspected Ali of having had a hand in it.
[11] Ma'ad is in the genealogical system the father of the Modar and
the Rab'ia tribes. Qais is the principal branch of the Modar.
[12] The Arabs always call them Rum, i.e. Romans.
[13] A single genealogist, Abu Yaqazan, says that he was a legitimate
son of Abu Sofian, and that his mother was Asma, daughter of A'war.
But all others call his mother Somayya, who is said to have been a
slave-girl of Hind, the wife of Abu Sofian, and who became later also
the mother of Abu Bakra. We cannot make out whether Abu Sofian
acknowledged him as his son or not. At a later period, the Abbasid
caliph Mahdi had the names of Ziyad and his descendants struck off
the rolls of the Koreish; but, after his death, the persons concerned
gained over the chief of the rolls office, and had their names
replaced in the lists (see Tabari iii. 479).
[14] Aghani xx. p. 13, Ibn abi Osaibia i. p. 118.
[15] Tabari ii. p. 82.
[16] See Chodzko, _Théâtre persan_ (Paris, 1878).
[17] Dozy took _communis_ for a gloss to _civiliter_
[18] Formerly the capital of the homonymous province of Syria; it
lies a day's march west from Haleb (Aleppo).
[19] This account of the conquest is based partly on the researches
of Dozy, but mainly on those of Saavedra in his _Estudio sobre la
Invasion de los Arabes en España_ (Madrid, 1892). Some of the
details, however, e.g. the battle near Tamames and the part played by
the sons of Witiza, are based, not on documentary evidence, but on
probable inferences. For other accounts of the deaths of Musa and
Abdalaziz see Sir Wm. Muir, _Caliphate_ (London, 1891), pp. 368-9.
[20] Solaiman is the Arabic form of Solomon. The prophecy is to be
found in the _Kitab al-Oyun_, p. 24; cf. Tabari ii. p. 1138.
[21] Seyid Ameer Ali, _A Critical Examination of the Life and
Teachings of Mahomet_, pp. 341-343.
[22] Cf. Van Vloten, _Recherches sur la domination arabe, le
Chiitisme et les croyances messianiques sous le Khalifat des
Omayades_ (Amsterdam, 1894), p. 63 seq.
[23] Cf. Wellhausen, _Die Kampfe der Araber mit den Rom. in der Zeit
der Umaijiden_ (Göttingen, 1901), p. 31.
[24] Bayan i. p. 42; Dozy, _Histoire des musulmans d'Espagne_, i. p.
246, names the place Bacdoura or Nafdoura, the Spanish chronist
Nauam.
[25] Dozy i. p. 268.
[26] Merwan has been nicknamed _al-Ja'di_ and _al-Himar_ (the Ass).
As more than one false interpretation of these names has been given,
it is not superfluous to cite here Qaisarani (ed. de Jong, p. 31),
who says on good authority that a certain al-Ja'd b. Durham, killed
under the reign of Hisham for heretical opinions, had followers in
Mesopotamia, and that, when Merwan became caliph, the Khorasanians
called him a Ja'd, pretending that all'Ja'd had been his teacher. As
to al-Himar this was substituted also by the Khorasanians for his
usual title, al-Faras, "the race-horse."
[27] The Arabic word for "shedder of blood," _as-Saffah_, which by
that speech became a name of the caliph, designates the liberal host
who slaughters his camels for his guests. European scholars have
taken it unjustly in the sense of the bloodthirsty, and found in it
an allusion to the slaughter of the Omayyads and many others. At the
same time, it was not without much bloodshed that Abu'l-Abbas finally
established his power.
[28] The rule of the caliphs in Morocco, which had never been firmly
established, had already, in 740, given place to that of independent
princes (see MOROCCO, _History_).
[29] This Hashimiya near Kufa is not to be confused with that founded
by Abu'l-Abbas near Anbar.
[30] Cf. G. le Strange, _Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate_
(Oxford, 1900).
[31] Tabari iii. p. 443 seq.
[32] The first citizens of Medina who embraced Islam were called
Ansar ("helpers").
[33] On this event, see a remarkable essay by Barbier de Meynard in
the _Journal Asiatique_ for March-April, 1869.
[34] Cf. W.M. Patton, _Ahmed ibn Hanbal and the Mihna_ (Leiden,
1897); and article MAHOMMEDAN RELIGION.
[35] See M.J. de Goeje, _Memoire sur les migrations des Ziganes
travers l'Asie_ (Leiden, 1903); also GIPSIES.
[36] See M.J. de Goeje, "De legende der Zevenslapers van Efeze,"
_Versl. en Meded. der K. Akad. v. Wetensch. Afd. Letterk._ 4^e Reeks,
iii., 1900.
[37] See M.J. de Goeje, "De muur van Gog en Magog," _Versl. en
Meded._ 3^e Reeks, v., 1888.
[38] "Dinars" in the text of Tabari iii. 1685, must be an error for
"dirhems."
[39] This Bogha was called al-Kabir, or major; the ally of Wasif, a
man of much inferior consideration, al-Saghir, or minor.
[40] See Nöldeke, _Orientalische Skizzen_, pp. 155 seq.
[41] For the connexion between Carmathians and Fatimites see under
FATIMITES.
[42] M.J. de Goeje, _Mémoire sur les Carmathes du Bahraïn et les
Fatimides_ (Leiden, 1886).
[43] See Defrémery, _Mémoire sur les Emirs al-Omara_ (Paris, 1848).
[44] Henceforward the history of the Caliphate is largely that of the
Seljuk princes (see SELJUKS).
CALIVER, a firearm used in the 16th century. The word is an English
corruption of "calibre," and arises from the "arquebus of calibre," that
is, of standard bore, which replaced the older arquebus. "Caliver,"
therefore, is practically synonymous with "arquebus." The heavier
musket, fired from a rest, replaced the caliver or arquebus towards the
close of the century.
CALIXTUS, or CALLISTUS, the name of three popes.
CALIXTUS I., pope from 217 to 222, was little known before the discovery
of the book of the _Philosophumena_. From this work, which is in part a
pamphlet directed against him, we learn that Calixtus was originally a
slave and engaged in banking. Falling on evil times, he was brought into
collision with the Jews, who denounced him as a Christian and procured
his exile to Sardinia. On his return from exile he was pensioned by Pope
Victor, and, later, was associated by Pope Zephyrinus in the government
of the Roman church. On the death of Zephyrinus (217) he was elected in
his place and occupied the papal chair for five years. His theological
adversary Hippolytus, the author of the _Philosophumena_, accused him of
having favoured the medalist or Patripassian doctrines both before and
after his election. Calixtus, however, condemned Sabellius, the most
prominent champion of that system. Hippolytus accused him also of
certain relaxations of discipline. It appears that Calixtus reduced the
penitential severities applied until his time to those guilty of
adultery and other analogous sins. Under Calixtus and his two immediate
successors, Hippolytus was the leader of a schismatic group, organized
by way of protest against the election of Calixtus. Calixtus died in
222, in circumstances obscured by legends. In the time of Constantine
the Roman church reckoned him officially among the martyr popes.
(L. D.*)
CALIXTUS II. (d. 1124), pope from 1119 to 1124, was Guido, a member of a
noble Burgundian family, who became archbishop of Vienne about 1088, and
belonged to the party which favoured reform in the Church. In September
1112, after Pope Paschal II. had made a surrender to the emperor Henry
V., Guido called a council at Vienne, which declared against lay
investiture, and excommunicated Henry. In February 1119 he was chosen
pope at Cluny in succession to Gelasius II., and in opposition to the
anti-pope Gregory VIII., who was in Rome. Soon after his consecration he
opened negotiations with the emperor with a view to settling the dispute
over investiture. Terms of peace were arranged, but at the last moment
difficulties arose and the treaty was abandoned; and in October 1119
both emperor and anti-pope were excommunicated at a synod held at Reims.
The journey of Calixtus to Rome early in 1120 was a triumphal march. He
was received with great enthusiasm in the city, while Gregory, having
fled to Sutri, was delivered into his hands and treated with great
ignominy. Through the efforts of some German princes negotiations
between pope and emperor were renewed, and the important Concordat of
Worms made in September 1122 was the result. This treaty, made possible
by concessions on either side, settled the investiture controversy, and
was confirmed by the Lateran council of March 1123. During his short
reign Calixtus strengthened the authority of the papacy in southern
Italy by military expeditions, and restored several buildings within the
city of Rome. During preparations for a crusade he died in Rome on the
13th or 14th of December 1124.
See M. Maurer, _Pabst Calixt II._ (Munich, 1889); U. Robert, _Hisloire
du pape Calixte II._ (Paris, 1891); and A. Hauck's _Realencyklopädie_,
Band iii. (Leipzig, 1897).
CALIXTUS III. (_c._1378-1458), pope from 1455 to 1458, was a Spaniard
named Alphonso de Borgia, or Borja. A native of Xativa, he gained a
great reputation as a jurist, becoming professor at Lerida; in 1429 he
was made bishop of Valencia, and in 1444 a cardinal, owing his promotion
mainly to his close friendship with Alphonso V., king of Aragon and
Sicily. Chosen pope in April 1455, he was very anxious to organize a
crusade against the Turks, and having sold many of his possessions,
succeeded in equipping a fleet. Neither the princes nor the people of
Europe, however, were enthusiastic in this cause, and very little result
came from the pope's exertions. During his papacy Calixtus became
involved in a quarrel with his former friend, Alphonso of Aragon, now
also king of Naples, and after the king's death in June 1458 he refused
to recognize his illegitimate son, Ferdinand, as king of Naples,
asserting that this kingdom was a fief of the Holy See. This pope was
notorious for nepotism, and was responsible for introducing his nephew,
Rodrigo Borgia, afterwards Pope Alexander VI., to Rome. He died on the
6th of August 1458.
See A. Hauck's _Realencyklopädie_, Band iii. (Leipzig, 1897).
CALIXTUS, GEORG (1586-1656), Lutheran divine, was born at Medelby, a
village of Schleswig, in 1586. After studying philology, philosophy and
theology at Helmstädt, Jena, Giessen, Tübingen and Heidelberg, he
travelled through Holland, France and England, where he became
acquainted with the leading Reformers. On his return in 1614 he was
appointed professor of theology at Helmstädt by the duke of Brunswick,
who had admired the ability he displayed when a young man in a dispute
with the Jesuit Augustine Turrianus. In 1613 he published a book,
_Disputationes de Praecipuis Religionis Christianae Capitibus_, which
provoked the hostile criticism of orthodox scholars; in 1619 he
published his _Epitome theologiae_, and some years later his _Theologia
Moralis_ (1634) and _De Arte Nova Nihusii_. Roman Catholics felt them to
be aimed at their own system, but they gave so great offence to
Lutherans as to induce Statius Buscher to charge the author with a
secret leaning to Romanism. Scarcely had he refuted the accusation of
Buscher, when, on account of his intimacy with the Reformed divines at
the conference of Thorn (1645), and his desire to effect a
reconciliation between them and the Lutherans, a new charge was
preferred against him, principally at the instance of Abraham Calovius
(1612-1686), of a secret attachment to Calvinism. In fact, the great aim
of his life was to reconcile Christendom by removing all unimportant
differences. The disputes to which this attitude gave rise, known in the
Church as the Syncretistic controversy, lasted during the whole lifetime
of Calixtus, and distracted the Lutheran church, till a new controversy
arose with P.J. Spener and the Pietists of Halle. Calixtus died in 1656.
There is a monograph on Calixtus by E.L.T. Henke (2 vols., 1853-1856);
see also Isaak Dorner, _Gesch. d. protest. Theol._ pp. 606-624; and
especially Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopädie_.
CALL (from Anglo-Saxon _ceallian_, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch
_kallen_, to talk or chatter), to speak in a loud voice, and
particularly to attract some one's attention by a loud utterance. Hence
its use for a visit at a house, where the name of the occupier, to whom
the visit was made, was called aloud, in early times, to indicate the
presence of the visitor. It is thus transferred to a short stay at a
place, but usually with the idea of a specific purpose, as in "port of
call," where ships stop in passing. Connected with the idea of summoning
by name are such uses as "roll-call" or "call-over," where names are
called over and answered by those present; similar uses are the "call to
the bar," the summoning at an Inn of Court of those students qualified
to practise as barristers, and the "call within the bar" to the
appointment of king's counsel. In the first case the "bar" is that which
separates the benchers from the rest of the body of members of the Inn,
in the other the place in a court of law within which only king's
counsel, and formerly serjeants-at-law, are allowed to plead. "Call" is
also used with a particular reference to a divine summons, as of the
calling of the apostles. It is thus used in nonconformist churches of
the invitation to serve as minister a particular congregation or chapel.
It is from this sense of a _vocatio_ or summons that the word "calling"
is used, not only of the divine vocation, but of a man's ordinary
profession, occupation or business. In card games "call" is used, in
poker, of the demand that the hand of the highest bettor be exposed or
seen, exercised by that player who equals his bet; in whist or bridge,
of a certain method of play, the "call" for a suit or for trumps on the
part of one partner, to which the other is expected to respond; and in
many card games for the naming of a card, irregularly exposed, which is
laid face up on the table, and may be thus "called" for, at any point
the opponent may choose.
"Call" is also a term on the English and American stock exchanges for a
contract by which, in consideration of a certain sum, an "option" is
given by the person making or signing the agreement to another named
therein or his order or to bearer, to "call" for a specified amount of
stock at a certain day for a certain price. A "put," which is the
reverse of a "call," is the option of selling (putting) stock at a
certain day for a certain price. A combined option of either calling or
putting is termed a "straddle," and sometimes on the American stock
exchange a "spread-eagle." (See further STOCK EXCHANGE.) The word is
also used, in connexion with joint-stock companies, to signify a demand
for instalments due on shares, when the capital of the company has not
been demanded or "called" up at once. (See COMPANY.)
CALLANDER, a police burgh of Perthshire, Scotland, 16 m. north-west of
Stirling by the Caledonian railway. Pop. (1901) 1458. Situated on the
north bank of the Teith, here crossed by a three-arched bridge, and
sheltered by a ridge of wooded hills, it is in growing repute as a
health resort. A mile and a half north-east are the Falls of Bracklinn
(Gaelic, "white-foaming pool"), formed by the Keltie, which takes a leap
of 50 ft. down the red sandstone gorge on its way to the Teith. Two
miles north-west of Callander is the Pass of Leny, "the gate of the
Highlands," and farther in the same direction is Loch Lubnaig, on the
shores of which stand the ruins of St Bride's chapel. Callander owes
much of its prosperity to the fact that it is the centre from which the
Trossachs is usually visited, the route being that described in Scott's
_Lady of the Lake_. The ascent of Ben Ledi is commonly made from the
town.
CALLAO, a city, port and coast department of Peru, 8½ m. west of Lima,
in 12° 04' S., 77° 13' W. Pop. (1905) 31,128, of whom 3349 were
foreigners. The department includes the city and its environs,
Bellavista and La Punta, and the neighbouring islands, San Lorenzo,
Fronton, the Palominos, &c., and covers an area of 14½ sq. m. Callao is
the principal port of the republic, its harbour being a large bay
sheltered by a tongue of land on the south called La Punta, and by the
islands of San Lorenzo and Fronton. The anchorage is good and safe, and
the harbour is one of the best on the Pacific coast of South America.
The city stands on the south side of the bay, and is built on a flat
point of land only 8 ft. above sea-level. The houses are for the most
part low and cheaply built, and the streets are narrow, badly paved,
irregular and dirty. The climate is good and the coast is swept by cool
ocean breezes, the average temperatures ranging from 65° to 77° F., but
notwithstanding this, Callao has a bad reputation for fevers and
contagious diseases, chiefly because of its insanitary condition. Its
noteworthy public buildings are the custom-house and its storehouses
which occupy the old quadrangular fortress built by the Spanish
government between 1770 and 1775, and cover 15 acres, the prefecture,
the military and naval offices and barracks, the post-office, three
Catholic churches, a hospital, market, three clubs and some modern
commercial houses. The present city is half a mile north of the site of
the old town, which was destroyed by an earthquake and tidal wave in
1746. For a short time the commercial interests of the stricken city
centred at Bellavista, 1¼ m. east, where wheat granaries were built and
still remain, but later the greater convenience of a waterside site drew
the merchants and population back to the vicinity of the submerged town.
The importance of Callao in colonial times, when it was the only open
port south of Panama, did not continue under the new political order,
because of the unsettled state of public affairs and the loss of its
monopoly. This decline in its prosperity was checked, and the modern
development of the port began, when a railway was built from Callao into
the heart of the Andes, and Callao is now an important factor in the
development of copper-mining. The port is connected with Lima by two
railways and an electric tramway, with Oroya by railway 138 m. long, and
with Cerro de Pasco by railway 221 m. A short railway also runs from the
port to the Bellavista storehouses. The port is provided with modern
harbour improvements, consisting of sea-walls of concrete blocks, two
fine docks with berthing spaces for 30 large vessels, and a large
floating-dock (300 ft. long on the blocks and capable of receiving
vessels up to 21 ft. draught and 5000 tons weight), which was built in
Glasgow and was sent out to Callao in 1863. The docks are provided with
gas and electric lights, 18 steam cranes for loading and discharging
vessels, a triple line of railway and a supply of fresh water. Callao
was formerly the headquarters in South America of the Pacific Steam
Navigation Co., Ltd. (incorporated 1840), but Valparaiso now occupies
that position. There are, owing perhaps to the proximity of Lima, few
industrial establishments in the city; among them are a large sugar
refinery, some flour-mills, a brewery, a factory for making effervescent
drinks, and a number of foundries and repair shops. Being a port of the
first class, Callao is an important distributing centre for the coasting
trade, in which a large number of small vessels are engaged. The foreign
steamship companies making it a regular port of call are the Pacific
Steam Navigation Co. (British), the Compañia Sud-America (Chilean), the
Kosmos and Roland lines (German), the Merchants line (New York), and a
Japanese line from the ports of Japan and China. A subsidized Peruvian
line is also contemplated to ply between the Pacific ports of South
America with an eventual extension of the service to Europe. The
arrivals from and clearances for foreign ports in 1907 were as
follows:--
Steamers. Sailing Vessels.
No. Tonnage. No. Tonnage.
Arrivals 518 937,302 924 174,165
Clearances 517 937,706 931 163,365
The exports from Callao are guano, sugar, cotton, wool, hides, silver,
copper, gold and forest products, and the imports include timber and
other building materials, cotton and other textiles, general merchandise
for personal, household and industrial uses, railway material, coal,
kerosene, wheat, flour and other food stuffs. The maintenance of peace
and order, and the mining development of the interior, have added to the
trade and prosperity of the port.
The history of Callao has been exceptionally eventful. It was founded in
1537, two years after Pizarro had founded Lima. As the port of that
capital and the only open port below Panama it grew rapidly in
importance and wealth. It was raised to the dignity of a city in 1671.
The appearance of Sir Francis Drake in the bay in 1578 led to the
fortification of the port, which proved strong enough to repel an attack
by the Dutch in 1624. The city was completely destroyed and partly
submerged by the great earthquake of the 28th of October 1746, in which
about 6000 persons perished. The new city was strongly fortified and
figured prominently in the struggle for independence, and also in the
various revolutions which have convulsed the republic. Its political
autonomy dates from 1836, when it was made a coast department. The
Callao fortifications were bombarded by a Spanish fleet under Admiral
Mendez Nuñez on the 2nd of May 1866, when there were heavy losses both
in lives and material. Again, in 1880, the city was bombarded by the
Chileans, though it was almost defenceless, and fell into the possession
of the invaders after the capture of Lima in the following year. Before
the surrender all the Peruvian naval vessels in the harbour were sunk,
to prevent their falling into the possession of the enemy.
CALLCOTT, SIR AUGUSTUS WALL (1779-1844), English landscape painter, was
born at Kensington in 1779 and died there in 1844. His first study was
music; and he sang for several years in the choir of Westminster Abbey.
But at the age of twenty he had determined to give up music, and had
exhibited his first painting at the Royal Academy. He gradually rose to
distinction, and was elected an associate in 1807 and an academician in
1810. In 1827 he received the honour of knighthood; and, seven years
later, was appointed surveyor of the royal pictures. His two principal
subject pictures--"Raphael and the Fornarina," and "Milton dictating to
his Daughters," are much inferior to his landscapes, which are placed in
the highest class by their refined taste and quiet beauty.
His wife, MARIA, Lady Callcott (1786-1844), whom he married in 1827, was
a daughter of Admiral Dundas and widow of Captain Thomas Graham, R.N.
(d. 1822). With her first husband she travelled in India, South Africa
and South America, where she acted for some time as teacher of Donna
Maria, who became queen of Portugal in 1826; and in the company of her
second husband she spent much time in the south of Europe. She published
accounts of her visits to India (1812), and to the environs of Rome
(1820); _Memoirs of Poussin_ (1820); a _History of France_; a _History
of Spain_ (1828); _Essays toward a History of Painting_ (1836); _Little
Arthur's History of England_ (1836); and the _Scripture Herbal_ (1842).
CALLCOTT, JOHN WALL (1766-1821), English musician, brother of Sir
Augustus Callcott, was born at Kensington on the 20th of November 1766.
At the age of seven he was sent to a neighbouring day-school, where he
continued for five years, studying chiefly Latin and Greek. During this
time he frequently went to Kensington church, in the repairs of which
his father was employed, and the impression he received on hearing the
organ of that church seems to have roused his love for music. The
organist at that time was Henry Whitney, from whom Callcott received his
first musical instruction. He did not, however, choose music as a
profession, as he wished to become a surgeon. But on witnessing a
surgical operation he found his nervous system so seriously affected by
the sight, that he determined to devote himself to music. His intimacy
with Dr Arnold and other leading musicians of the day procured him
access to artistic circles; he was deputy organist at St George the
Martyr, Queen Square, Bloomsbury, from 1783 to 1785, in which year his
successful competition for three out of the four prize medals offered by
the "Catch Club" soon spread his reputation as composer of glees,
catches, canons and other pieces of concerted vocal music. The
compositions with which he won these medals were--the catch "O beauteous
fair," the canon "Blessed is he," and the glee "Dull repining sons of
care." In these and other similar compositions he displays considerable
skill and talent, and some of his glees retain their popularity at the
present day. In 1787 Callcott helped Dr Arnold and others to form the
"Glee Club." In 1789 he became one of the two organists at St Paul's,
Covent Garden, and from 1793 to 1802 he was organist to the Asylum for
Female Orphans. As an instrumental composer Callcott never succeeded,
not even after he had taken lessons from Haydn. But of far greater
importance than his compositions are his theoretical writings. His
_Musical Grammar_, published in 1806 (3rd ed., 1817), was long
considered the standard English work of musical instruction, and in
spite of its being antiquated when compared with modern standards, it
remains a scholarly and lucid treatment of the rudiments of the art.
Callcott was a much-esteemed teacher of music for many years. In 1800 he
took his degree of Mus.D. at Oxford, where fifteen years earlier he had
received his degree of bachelor of music, and in 1805 he succeeded Dr
Crotch as musical lecturer at the Royal Institution. Towards the end of
his life his artistic career was twice interrupted by the failure of his
mental powers. He died at Bristol after much suffering on the 15th of
May 1821. A posthumous collection of his most favourite vocal pieces was
published in 1824 with a memoir of his life by his son-in-law, William
Horsley, himself a composer of note.
Callcott's son, WILLIAM HUTCHINS CALLCOTT (1807-1882), inherited to a
large extent the musical gifts of his father. His song, "The last man,"
and his anthem, "Give peace in our time, O Lord," were his best-known
compositions.
CALLIAS, tyrant of Chalcis in Euboea. With the assistance of Philip II.
of Macedon, which he hoped to obtain, he contemplated the subjugation of
the whole island. But finding that Philip was unwilling to help him,
Callias had recourse to the Athenians, although he had previously (350
B.C.) been engaged in hostilities with them. With the support of
Demosthenes, he was enabled to conclude an alliance with Athens, and the
tribute formerly paid by Eretria and Oreus to Athens was handed over to
him. But his plan of uniting the whole of Euboea under his rule, with
Chalcis as capital, was frustrated by Philip, who set up tyrants chosen
by himself at Eretria and Oreus. Subsequently, when Philip's attention
was engaged upon Thrace, the Athenians in conjunction with Callias drove
out these tyrants, and Callias thus became master of the island
(Demosthenes, _De Pace_, p. 58; _Epistola Philippi_, p. 159; Diod. Sic.
xvi. 74). At the end of his life he appears to have lived at Athens, and
Demosthenes proposed to confer the citizenship upon him (Aeschines,
_Contra Ctesiphontem_, 85, 87).
CALLIAS and HIPPONICUS, two names borne alternately by the heads of a
wealthy and distinguished Athenian family. During the 5th and 4th
centuries B.C. the office of _daduchus_ or torch-bearer at the
Eleusinian mysteries was the hereditary privilege of the family till its
extinction. The following members deserve mention.
1. CALLIAS, the second of the name, fought at the battle of Marathon
(490) in priestly attire. Some time after the death of Cimon, probably
about 445 B.C., he was sent to Susa to conclude with Artaxerxes, king of
Persia, a treaty of peace afterwards misnamed the "peace of Cimon."
Cimon had nothing to do with it, and he was totally opposed to the idea
of peace with Persia (see CIMON). At all events Callias's mission does
not seem to have been successful; he was indicted for high treason on
his return to Athens and sentenced to a fine of fifty talents.
See Herodotus vii. 151; Diod. Sic. xii. 4; Demosthenes, _De Falsa
Legatione_, p. 428; Grote recognizes the treaty as a historical fact,
_History of Greece_, ch. xlv., while Curtius, bk. iii. ch. ii., denies
the conclusion of any formal treaty; see also Ed. Meyer,
_Forschungen_, ii.; J.B. Bury in _Hermathena_, xxiv. (1898).
2. HIPPONICUS, son of the above. Together with Eurymedon he commanded
the Athenian forces in the incursion into Boeotian territory (426 B.C.)
and was slain at the battle of Delium (424). His wife, whom he
divorced, subsequently became the wife of Pericles; one of his
daughters, Hipparete, married Alcibiades; another, the wife of
Theodorus, was the mother of the orator Isocrates.
See Thucydides iii. 91; Diod. Sic. xii. 65; Andocides, _Contra
Alcibiadem_, 13.
3. CALLIAS, son of the above, the black sheep of the family, was
notorious for his profligacy and extravagance, and was ridiculed by the
comic poets as an example of a degenerate Athenian (Aristophanes,
_Frogs_, 429, _Birds_, 283, and schol. Andocides, _De Mysteriis_,
110-131). The scene of Xenophon's _Symposium_ and Plato's _Protagoras_
was laid at his house. He was reduced to a state of absolute poverty
and, according to Aelian (_Var. Hist._ iv. 23), committed suicide, but
there is no confirmation of this. In spite of his dissipated life he
played a certain part in public affairs. In 392 he was in command of the
Athenian hoplites at Corinth, when the Spartans were defeated by
Iphicrates. In 371 he was at the head of the embassy sent to make terms
with Sparta. The peace which was the result was called after him the
"peace of Callias."
See Xenophon, _Hellenica_, iv. 5, vi. 3; and DELIAN LEAGUE.
CALLIMACHUS, an Athenian sculptor of the second half of the 5th century
B.C. Ancient critics associate him with Calamis, whose relative he may
have been. He is given credit for two inventions, the Corinthian column
and the running borer for drilling marble. The most certain facts in
regard to him are that he sculptured some dancing Laconian maidens, and
made a golden lamp for the Erechtheum (about 408 B.C.); and that he used
to spoil his works by over-refinement and excessive labour.
CALLIMACHUS, Greek poet and grammarian, a native of Cyrene and a
descendant of the illustrious house of the Battiadae, flourished about
250 B.C. He opened a school in the suburbs of Alexandria, and some of
the most distinguished grammarians and poets were his pupils. He was
subsequently appointed by Ptolemy Philadelphus chief librarian of the
Alexandrian library, which office he held till his death (about 240).
His _Pinakes_ (tablets), in 120 books, a critical and chronologically
arranged catalogue of the library, laid the foundation of a history of
Greek literature. According to Suidas, he wrote about 800 works, in
verse and prose; of these only six hymns, sixty-four epigrams and some
fragments are extant; a considerable fragment of the _Hecale_, an
idyllic epic, has also been discovered in the Rainer papyri (see Kenyon
in _Classical Review_, November 1893). His _Coma Berenices_ is only
known from the celebrated imitation of Catullus. His _Aitia_ (causes)
was a collection of elegiac poems in four books, dealing with the
foundation of cities, religious ceremonies and other customs. According
to Quintilian (_Instit._ x. i. 58) he was the chief of the elegiac
poets; his elegies were highly esteemed by the Romans, and imitated by
Ovid, Catullus and especially Propertius. The extant hymns are extremely
learned, and written in a laboured and artificial style. The epigrams,
some of the best specimens of their kind, have been incorporated in the
Greek Anthology. Art and learning are his chief characteristics,
unrelieved by any real poetic genius; in the words of Ovid (_Amores_, i.
15)--
"Quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet."
EDITIONS.--Hymns, epigrams and fragments (the last collected by
Bentley) by J.A. Ernesti (1761), and O. Schneider (1870-1873) (with
elaborate indices and excursuses); hymns and epigrams, by A. Meineke
(1861), and U. Wilamowitz-Möllendorff (1897). See _Neue Bruchstücke
aus der Hekale des Kallimachus_, by T. Gomperz (1893); also G. Knaack,
_Callimachea_ (1896); A. Bertrami, _Gl' Inni di Callimacho e il Nomo
di Terpandro_ (1896); K. Kuiper, _Studia Callimachea_ (1896); A.
Hamette, _Les Épigrammes de Callimaque: étude critique et litteraire_
(Paris, 1907). There are English translations (verse) by W. Dodd
(1755) and H.W. Tytler (1793); (prose) by J. Banks (1856). See also
Sandys, _Hist. of Class. Schol._ i. (ed. 1906), p. 122.
CALLINUS of Ephesus, the oldest of the Greek elegiac poets and the
creator of the political and warlike elegy. He is supposed to have
flourished between the invasion of Asia Minor by the Cimmerii and their
expulsion by Alyattes (630-560 B.C.). During his lifetime his own
countrymen were also engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the
Magnesians. These two events give the key to his poetry, in which he
endeavours to rouse the indolent Ionians to a sense of patriotism. Only
scanty fiagments of his poems remain; the longest of these (preserved in
Stobaeus, _Florilegium_, li. 19) has even been ascribed to Tyrtaeus.
Edition of the fragments by N. Bach (1831), and in Bergk, _Poetae
Lyrici Graeci_ (1882). On the date of Callinus, see the histories of
Greek literature by Mure and Müller; G.H. Bode, _Geschichte der
hellenischen Dichtkunst_, ii. pt. i. (1838); and G. Geiger, _De
Callini Aetate_ (1877), who places him earlier, about 642.
CALLIOPE, the muse of epic poetry, so named from the sweetness of her
vioce (Gr. [Greek: kallos], beauty; [Greek: ops], voice). In Hesiod she
was the last of the nine sisters, but yet enjoyed a supremacy over the
others. (See also MUSES, THE.)
CALLIRRHOE, in Greek legend, second daughter of the river-god Achelous
and wife of Alcmaeon (q.v.). At her earnest request her husband induced
Phegeus, king of Psophis in Arcadia, and the father of his first wife
Arsinoë (or Alphesiboea), to hand over to him the necklace and peplus
(robe) of Harmonia (q.v.), that he might dedicate them at Delphi to
complete the cure of his madness. When Phegeus discovered that they were
really meant for Callirrhoe, he gave orders for Alcmaeon to be waylaid
and killed (Apollodorus iii. 7, 2. 5-7; Thucydides ii. 102). Callirrhoe
now implored the gods that her two young sons might grow to manhood at
once and avenge their father's death. This was granted, and her sons
Amphoterus and Acarnan slew Phegeus with his two sons, and returning
with the necklace and peplus dedicated them at Delphi (Ovid, _Metam._
ix. 413).
CALLISTHENES (_c._ 360-328 B.C.), of Olynthus, Greek historian, a
relative and pupil of Aristotle, through whose recommendation he was
appointed to attend Alexander the Great in his Asiatic expedition. He
censured Alexander's adoption of oriental customs, inveighing especially
against the servile ceremony of adoration. Having thereby greatly
offended the king, he was accused of being privy to a treasonable
conspiracy and thrown into prison, where he died from torture or
disease. His melancholy end was commemorated in a special treatise
([Greek: Kallisthenaes ae peri penthous]) by his friend Theophrastus,
whose acquaintance he made during a visit to Athens. Callisthenes wrote
an account of Alexander's expedition, a history of Greece from the peace
of Antalcidas (387) to the Phocian war (357), a history of the Phocian
war and other works, all of which have perished. The romantic life of
Alexander, the basis of all the Alexander legends of the middle ages,
originated during the time of the Ptolemies, but in its present form
belongs to the 3rd century A.D. Its author is usually known as
pseudo-Callisthenes, although, in the Latin translation by Julius
Valerius Alexander Polemius (beginning of the 4th century) it is
ascribed to a certain Aesopus; Aristotle, Antisthenes, Onesicritus and
Arrian have also been credited with the authorship. There are also
Syrian, Armenian and Slavonic versions, in addition to four Greek
versions (two in prose and two in verse) in the middle ages (see
Krumbacher, _Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur_, 1897, p. 849).
Valerius's translation was completely superseded by that of Leo,
arch-priest of Naples in the 10th century, the so-called _Historia de
Preliis_.
See _Scriptores rerum Alexandri Magni_ (by C.W. Müller, in the Didot
edition of Arrian, 1846), containing the genuine fragments and the
text of the pseudo-Callisthenes, with notes and introduction; A.
Westermann, _De Callisthene Olynthio et Pseudo-Callisthene
Commentatio_ (1838-1842); J. Zacher, _Pseudo-Callisthenes_ (1867); W.
Christ, _Geschichte der griechischen Litteratur_ (1898), pp. 363, 819;
article by Edward Meyer in Ersch and Gruber's _Allgemeine
Encyklopädie_; A. Ausfeld, _Zur Kritik des griechischen
Alexanderromans_ (Bruchsal, 1894); Plutarch, _Alexander_, 52-55;
Arrian, _Anab_. iv. 10-14; Diog. Laërtius v. I; Quintus Curtius viii.
5-8; Suidas _s.v._ See also ALEXANDER THE GREAT (_ad fin._). For the
Latin translations see Teuffel-Schwabe, _Hist. of Roman Literature_
(Eng, trans.), § 399; and M. Schanz, _Geschichte der römischen
Litteratur_, iv. i., p. 43.
CALLISTO, in Greek mythology, an Arcadian nymph, daughter of Lycaon and
companion of Artemis. She was transformed into a bear as a penalty for
having borne to Zeus a son, Arcas, the ancestor of the Arcadians. Hera,
Zeus and Artemis are all mentioned as the authors of the transformation.
Arcas, when hunting, encountered the bear Callisto, and would have shot
her, had not Zeus with swift wind carried up both to the skies, where he
placed them as a constellation. In another version, she was slain by
Artemis. Callisto was originally only an epithet of the Arcadian Artemis
herself.
See Apollodorus iii. 8; Ovid, _Metam._ ii. 381-530; R. Franz, _De
Callistus fabula_ (1890), which deals exhaustively with the various
forms of the legend.
CALLISTRATUS, Alexandrian grammarian, flourished at the beginning of the
2nd century B.C. He was one of the pupils of Aristophanes of Byzantium,
who were distinctively called Aristophanei. Callistratus chiefly devoted
himself to the elucidation of the Greek poets; a few fragments of his
commentaries have been preserved in the various collections of scholia
and in Athenaeus. He was also the author of a miscellaneous work called
[Greek: Summikta] used by the later lexicographers, and of a treatise on
courtesans (Athenaeus iii. 125 B, xiii. 591 D). He is not to be confused
with Callistratus, the pupil and successor of Isocrates and author of a
history of Heraclea in Pontus.
See R. Schmidt, _De Callistrato Aristophaneo_, appended to A. Nauck's
_Aristophanis Byzantii Fragmenta_ (1848); also C.W. Müller, _Fragmenta
Historicorum Graecorum_, iv. p. 353 note.
CALLISTRATUS, an Athenian poet, only known as the author of a hymn in
honour of Harmodius (q.v.) and Aristogeiton. This ode, which is to be
found in Athenaeus (p. 695), has been beautifully translated by Thomas
Moore.
CALLISTRATUS, Greek sophist and rhetorician, probably flourished in the
3rd century. He wrote [Greek: Ekfraseis], descriptions of fourteen works
of art in stone or brass by distinguished artists. This little work,
which is written in a dry and affected style, without any real artistic
feeling, is usually edited with the [Greek: Eikones] of Philostratus.
Edition by Schenkl-Reisch (Teubner series, 1902); see also C.G. Heyne,
_Opuscula Academica_, v. pp. 196-221, with commentary on the
_Descriptiones_; F. Jacobs, _Animadversiones criticae in Callistrati
statuas_ (1797).
CALLISTRATUS of Aphidnae, Athenian orator and general in the 4th century
B.C. For many years, as _prostates_, he supported Spartan interests at
Athens. On account of the refusal of the Thebans to surrender Oropus,
which on his advice they had been allowed to occupy temporarily,
Callistratus, despite his magnificent defence (which so impressed
Demosthenes that he resolved to study oratory), was condemned to death,
361 B.C. He fled to Methone in Macedonia, and on his return to Athens in
355 he was executed.
See Xenophon, _Hellenica_, iii. 3, vi. 2; Lycurgus, _In Leocr._ 93.
CALLOT, JACQUES (1592-1635), French engraver, was born at Nancy in
Lorraine, where his father, Jean Callot, was a herald-at-arms. He early
discovered a very strong predilection for art, and at the age of twelve
quitted home without his father's consent, and set out for Rome where he
intended to prosecute his studies. Being utterly destitute of funds he
joined a troop of Bohemians, and arrived in their company at Florence.
In this city he had the good fortune to attract the notice of a
gentleman of the court, who supplied him with the means of study; but he
removed in a short time to Rome, where, however, he was recognized by
some relatives, who immediately compelled him to return home. Two years
after this, and when only fourteen years old, he again left France
contrary to the wishes of his friends, and reached Turin before he was
overtaken by his elder brother, who had been despatched in quest of him.
As his enthusiasm for art remained undiminished after these
disappointments, he was at last allowed to accompany the duke of
Lorraine's envoy to the papal court. His first care was to study the art
of design, of which in a short time he became a perfect master. Philip
Thomasin instructed him in the use of the graver, which, however, he
ultimately abandoned, substituting the point as better adapted for his
purposes. From Rome he went to Florence, where he remained till the
death of Cosimo II., the Maecenas of these times. On returning to his
native country he was warmly received by the then duke of Lorraine, who
admired and encouraged him. As his fame was now spread abroad in various
countries of Europe, many distinguished persons gave him commissions to
execute. By the Infanta Isabella, sovereign of the Low Countries, he was
commissioned to engrave a design of the siege of Breda; and at the
request of Louis XIII. he designed the siege of Rochelle and the attack
on the Isle of Ré. When, however, in 1631 he was desired by that
monarch to execute an engraving of the siege of Nancy, which he had just
taken, Callot refused, saying, "I would rather cut off my thumb than do
anything against the honour of my prince and of my country"; to which
Louis replied that the duke of Lorraine was happy in possessing such
subjects as Callot. Shortly after this he returned to his native place,
from which the king failed to allure him with the offer of a handsome
pension. He engraved in all about 1600 pieces, the best of which are
those executed in aquafortis. No one ever possessed in a higher degree
the talent for grouping a large number of figures in a small space, and
of representing with two or three bold strokes the expression, action
and peculiar features of each individual. Freedom, variety and _naiveté_
characterize all his pieces. His Fairs, his Miseries of War, his Sieges,
his Temptation of St Anthony and his Conversion of St Paul are the
best-known of his plates.
See also Edouard Meaume, _Recherches sur la vie de Jacques Callot_
(1860).
CALLOVIAN (from _Callovium_, the Latinized form of Kellaways, a village
not far from Chippenham in Wiltshire), in geology, the name introduced
by d'Orbigny for the strata which constitute the base of the Oxfordian
or lowermost stage of the Middle Oolites. The term used by d'Orbigny in
1844 was "Kellovien," subsequently altered to "Callovien" in 1849;
William Smith wrote "Kellaways" or "Kelloways Stone" towards the close
of the 18th century. In England it is now usual to speak of the
Kellaways Beds; these comprise (1) the Kellaways Rock, alternating clays
and sands with frequent but irregular concretionary calcareous
sandstones, with abundant fossils; and (2) a lower division, the
Kellaways Clay, which often contains much selenite but is poor in
fossils. The lithological characters are impersistent, and the sandy
phase encroaches sometimes more, sometimes less, upon the true Oxford
Clay. The rocks may be traced from Wiltshire into Bedfordshire,
Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, where they are well exposed in the cliffs at
Scarborough and Gristhorpe, at Hackness (90 ft.), Newtondale (80 ft.)
and Kepwick (100 ft.). In Yorkshire, however, the Callovian rocks lie
upon a somewhat higher palaeontological horizon than in Wiltshire. In
England, _Kepplerites calloviensis_ is taken as the zone fossil; other
common forms are _Cosmoceras modiolare_, _C. gowerianum_, _Belemnites
oweni_, _Ancyloceras calloviense_, _Nautilus calloviensis_, _Avicula
ovalis_, _Gryphaea bilobata_, &c.
On the European continent the "Callovien" stage is used in a sense that
is not exactly synonymous with the English Callovian; it is employed to
embrace beds that lie both higher and lower in the time-scale. Thus, the
continental Callovien includes the following zones:--
Upper Callovien / Zone of _Peltoceras athleta_, _Cosmoceras Duncani_,
(Divesien) \ _Quenstedtoceras Lamberti_ and _Q. mariae._
/ Zone of _Reineckia anceps_, _Stephanoceras
Lower Callovien < coronatum_ and _Cosmoceras jason_ and a lower zone
| of _C. gowerianum_ and _Macrocephalites
\ macrocephalus_.
Rocks of Callovian age (according to the continental classification) are
widely spread in Europe, which, with the exception of numerous insular
masses, was covered by the Callovian Sea. The largest of these land
areas lay over Scandinavia and Finland, and extended eastward as far as
the 40th meridian. In arctic regions these rocks have been discovered in
Spitzbergen, Franz Josef Land, the east coast of Greenland, and Siberia.
They occur in the Hebrides and Skye and in England as indicated above.
In France they are well exposed on the coast of Calvados between
Trouville and Dives, where the marls and clays are 200 ft. thick. In the
Ardennes clays bearing pyrites and oolitic limonite are about 30 ft.
thick. Around Poitiers the Callovian is 100 ft. thick, but the formation
thins in the direction of the Jura.
Clays and shales with ferruginous oolites represent the Callovian of
Germany; while in Russia the deposits of this age are mainly
argillaceous. In North America Callovian fossils are found in
California; in South America in Bolivia. In Africa they have been found
in Algeria and Morocco, in Somaliland and Zanzibar, and on the west
coast of Madagascar. In India they are represented by the shales and
limestones of the Chari series of Cutch. Callovian rocks are also
recorded from New Guinea and the Moluccas.
See JURASSIC; also A. de Lapparent, _Traité de géologie_, vol. ii.
(5th ed., 1906), and H.B. Woodward, "The Jurassic Rocks of Britain,"
_Mem. Geol. Survey_, vol. v. (J. A. H.)
CALM, an adjective meaning peaceful, quiet; particularly used of the
weather, free from wind or storm, or of the sea, opposed to rough. The
word appears in French _calme_, through which it came into English, in
Spanish, Portuguese and Italian _calma_. Most authorities follow Diez
(_Etym. Wörterbuch der romanischen Sprachen_) in tracing the origin to
the Low Latin _cauma_, an adaptation of Greek [Greek: kauma], burning
heat, [Greek: kaiein], to burn. The Portuguese _calma_ has this meaning
as well as that of quiet. The connexion would be heat of the day, rest
during that period, so quiet, rest, peacefulness. The insertion of the
_l_, which in English pronunciation disappears, is probably due to the
Latin _calor_, heat, with which the word was associated.
CALMET, ANTOINE AUGUSTIN (1672-1757), French Benedictine, was born at
Mesnil-la-Horgne on the 26th of February 1672. At the age of seventeen
he joined the Benedictine order, and in 1698 was appointed to teach
theology and philosophy at the abbey of Moyen-Moutier. He was
successively prior at Lay, abbot at Nancy and of Sénones in Lorraine. He
died in Paris on the 25th of October 1757. The erudition of Calmet's
exegetical writings won him a reputation that was not confined to the
Roman Catholic Church, but they have failed to stand the test of modern
scholarship. The most noteworthy are:--_Commentaire de la Bible_ (Paris,
23 vols. 1707-1716), and _Dictionnaire historique, géographique,
critique, chronologique et littéral de la Bible_ (Paris, 2 vols., 1720).
These and numerous other works and editions of the Bible are known only
to students, but as a pioneer in a branch of Biblical study which
received a wide development in the 19th century, Calmet is worthy of
remembrance. As a historical writer he is best known by his _Histoire
ecclésiastique et civile de la Lorraine_ (Nancy, 1728), founded on
original research and various useful works on Lorraine, of which a full
list is given In Vigouroux's _Dictionnaire de la Bible_.
See A. Digot, _Notice biographique et littéraire sur Dom Augustin
Calmet_ (Nancy, 1860).
CALNE, a market town and municipal borough in the Chippenham
parliamentary division of Wiltshire, England, 99 m. west of London by
the Great Western railway. Pop. (1901) 3457. Area, 356 acres. It lies in
the valley of the Calne, and is surrounded by the high table-land of
Salisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs. The church of St Mark has a
nave with double aisles, and massive late Norman pillars and arches. The
tower, which fell in 1628, was perhaps rebuilt by Inigo Jones. Other
noteworthy buildings are a grammar school, founded by John Bentley in
1660, and the town-hall. Bacon-curing is the staple industry, and there
are flour, flax and paper mills. The manufacture of broadcloth, once of
great importance, is almost extinct. Calne is governed by a mayor, four
aldermen and twelve councillors.
In the 10th century Calne (_Canna_, _Kalne_) was the site of a palace of
the West-Saxon kings. Calne was the scene of the synod of 978 when,
during the discussion of the question of celibacy, the floor suddenly
gave way beneath the councillors, leaving Archbishop Dunstan alone
standing upon a beam. Here also a witenagemot was summoned in 997. In
the Domesday Survey Calne appears as a royal borough; it comprised
forty-seven burgesses and was not assessed in hides. In 1565 the borough
possessed a gild merchant, at the head of which were two gild stewards.
Calne claimed to have received a charter from Stephen and a confirmation
of the same from Henry III., but no record of these is extant, and the
charter actually issued to the borough by James II. in 1687 apparently
never came into force. The borough returned two members to parliament
more or less irregularly from the first parliament of Edward I. until
the Reform Bill of 1832. From this date the borough returned one member
only until, by the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, the privilege
was annulled. In 1303 Lodovicus de Bello Monte, prebendary of
Salisbury, obtained a grant of a Saturday market at the manor of Calne,
and a three days' fair at the feast of St Mary Magdalene; the latter was
only abandoned in the 19th century. Calne was formerly one of the chief
centres of cloth manufacture in the west of England, but the industry is
extinct.
CALOMEL, a drug consisting of mercurous chloride, mercury subchloride,
Hg2Cl2, which occurs in nature as the mineral horn-quicksilver, found as
translucent crystals belonging to the tetragonal system, with an
adamantine lustre, and a dirty white grey or brownish colour. The chief
localities are Idria, Obermoschel, Horowitz in Bavaria and Almaden in
Spain. It was used in medicine as early as the 16th century under the
names _Draco mitigatus, Manna metallorum, Aquila alba, Mercurius
dulcis_; later it became known as calomel, a name probably derived from
the Greek [Greek: kalos], beautiful, and [Greek: melas], black, in
allusion to its blackening by ammonia, or from [Greek: kalos] and
[Greek: meli], honey, from its sweet taste. It may be obtained by
heating mercury in chlorine, or by reducing mercuric chloride (corrosive
sublimate) with mercury or sulphurous acid. It is manufactured by
heating a mixture of mercurous sulphate and common salt in iron retorts,
and condensing the sublimed calomel in brick chambers. In the wet way it
is obtained by precipitating a mercurous salt with hydrochloric acid.
Calomel is a white powder which sublimes at a low red heat; it is
insoluble in water, alcohol and ether. Boiling with stannous chloride
solution reduces it to the metal; digestion with potassium iodide gives
mercurous iodide. Nitric acid oxidizes it to mercuric nitrate, while
potash or soda decomposes it into mercury and oxygen. Long continued
boiling with water gives mercury and mercuric chloride; dilute
hydrochloric acid or solutions of alkaline chlorides convert it into
mercuric chloride on long boiling.
The molecular weight of mercurous chloride has given occasion for much
discussion. E. Mitscherlich determined the vapour density to be 8.3 (air
= 1), corresponding to HgCl. The supporters of the formula Hg2Cl2
pointed out that dissociation into mercury and mercuric chloride would
give this value, since mercury is a monatomic element. After
contradictory evidence as to whether dissociation did or did not occur,
it was finally shown by Victor Meyer and W. Harris (1894) that a rod
moistened with potash and inserted in the vapour was coloured yellow,
and so conclusively proved dissociation. A. Werner determined the
molecular weights of mercurous, cuprous and silver bromides, iodides and
chlorides in pyridine solution, and obtained results pointing to the
formula HgCl, etc. However, the double formula, Hg2Cl2, has been
completely established by H.B. Baker (_Journ. Chem. Soc._, 1900, 77, p.
646) by vapour density determinations of the absolutely dry substance.
Calomel possesses certain special properties and uses in medicine which
are dealt with here as a supplement to the general discussion of the
pharmacology and therapeutics of mercury (q.v.). Calomel exerts remote
actions in the form of mercuric chloride. The specific value of
mercurous chloride is that it exerts the valuable properties of mercuric
chloride in the safest and least irritant manner, as the active salt is
continuously and freshly generated in small quantities. Its
pharmacopeial preparations are the "Black wash," in which calomel and
lime react to form mercurous oxide, a pill still known as "Plummer's
pill" and an ointment. Externally the salt has not any particular
advantage over other mercurial compounds, despite the existence of the
official ointment. Internally the salt is given in doses--for an adult
of from one-half to five grains. It is an admirable aperient, acting
especially on the upper part of the intestinal canal, and causing a
slight increase of intestinal secretion. The stimulant action occurring
high up in the canal (duodenum and jejunum), it is well to follow a dose
of calomel with a saline purgative a few hours afterwards. The special
value of the drug as an aperient depends on its antiseptic power and its
stimulation of the liver. The stools are dark green, containing calomel,
mercuric sulphide and bile which, owing to the antiseptic action, has
not been decomposed. The salt is often used in the treatment of
syphilis, but is probably less useful than certain other mercurial
compounds. It is also employed for fumigation; the patient sits naked
with a blanket over him, on a cane-bottomed chair, under which twenty
grains of calomel are volatilized by a spirit-lamp; in about twenty
minutes the calomel is effectually absorbed by the skin.
CALONNE, CHARLES ALEXANDRE DE (1734-1803), French statesman, was born at
Douai of a good family. He entered the profession of the law, and became
in succession advocate to the general council of Artois, _procureur_ to
the parlement of Douai, master of requests, then intendant of Metz
(1768) and of Lille (1774). He seems to have been a man of great
business capacity, gay and careless in temperament, and thoroughly
unscrupulous in political action. In the terrible crisis of affairs
preceding the French Revolution, when minister after minister tried in
vain to replenish the exhausted royal treasury and was dismissed for
want of success, Calonne was summoned to take the general control of
affairs. He assumed office on the 3rd of November 1783. He owed the
position to Vergennes, who for three years and a half continued to
support him; but the king was not well disposed towards him, and,
according to the testimony of the Austrian ambassador, his reputation
with the public was extremely poor. In taking office he found "600
millions to pay and neither money nor credit." At first he attempted to
develop the latter, and to carry on the government by means of loans in
such a way as to maintain public confidence in its solvency. In October
1785 he recoined the gold coinage, and he developed the _caisse d'
escompte_. But these measures failing, he proposed to the king the
suppression of internal customs, duties and the taxation of the property
of nobles and clergy. Turgot and Necker had attempted these reforms, and
Calonne attributed their failure to the malevolent criticism of the
parlements. Therefore he had an assembly of "notables" called together
in January 1787. Before it he exposed the deficit in the treasury, and
proposed the establishment of a _subvention territoriale_, which should
be levied on all property without distinction. This suppression of
privileges was badly received by the privileged notables. Calonne,
angered, printed his reports and so alienated the court. Louis XVI.
dismissed him on the 8th of April 1787 and exiled him to Lorraine. The
joy was general in Paris, where Calonne, accused of wishing to augment
the imposts, was known as "Monsieur Deficit." In reality his audacious
plan of reforms, which Necker took up later, might have saved the
monarchy had it been firmly seconded by the king. Calonne soon
afterwards passed over to England, and during his residence there kept
up a polemical correspondence with Necker on the finances. In 1789, when
the states-general were about to assemble, he crossed over to Flanders
in the hope of being allowed to offer himself for election, but he was
sternly forbidden to enter France. In revenge he joined the _émigré_
party at Coblenz, wrote in their favour, and expended nearly all the
fortune brought him by his wife, a wealthy widow. In 1802, having again
taken up his abode in London, he received permission from Napoleon to
return to France. He died on the 30th of October 1802, about a month
after his arrival in his native country.
See Ch. Gomel, _Les Causes financières de la Révolution_ (Paris,
1893); R. Stourm, _Les Finances de l'ancien régime et de la
Révolution_ (2 vols., Paris, 1885); Susane, _La Tactique financière de
Calonne_, with bibliography (Paris, 1902).
CALORESCENCE (from the Lat. _calor_, heat), a term invented by John
Tyndall to describe an optical phenomenon, the essential feature of
which is the conversion of rays belonging to the dark infra-red portion
of the spectrum into the more refrangible visible rays, i.e. heat rays
into rays of light. Such a transformation had not previously been
observed, although the converse phenomenon, i.e. the conversion of short
waves of light into longer or less refrangible waves, had been shown by
Sir G.G. Stokes to occur in fluorescent bodies. Tyndall's experiments,
however, were carried out on quite different lines, and have nothing to
do with fluorescence (q.v.). His method was to sift out the long dark
waves which are associated with the short visible waves constituting the
light of the sun or of the electric arc and to concentrate the former to
a focus. If the eye was placed at the focus, no sensation of light was
observed, although small pieces of charcoal or blackened platinum foil
were immediately raised to incandescence, thus giving rise to visible
rays.
The experiment is more easily carried out with the electric light than
with sunlight, as the former contains a smaller proportion of visible
rays. According to Tyndall, 90% of the radiation from the electric arc
is non-luminous. The arc being struck in the usual way between two
carbons, a concave mirror, placed close behind it, caused a large part
of the radiation to be directed through an aperture in the camera and
concentrated to a focus outside. In front of the aperture were placed a
plate of transparent rock-salt, and a flat cell of thin glass containing
a solution of iodine in carbon bisulphide. Both rock-salt and carbon
bisulphide are extremely transparent to the luminous and also to the
infra-red rays The iodine in the solution, however, has the property of
absorbing the luminous rays, while transmitting the infra-red rays
copiously, so that in sufficient thicknesses the solution appears nearly
black. Owing to the inflammable nature of carbon bisulphide, the plate
of rock-salt was found to be hardly a sufficient protection, and Tyndall
surrounded the iodine cell with an annular vessel through which cold
water was made to flow. Any small body which was a good absorber of dark
rays was rapidly heated to redness when placed at the focus. Platinized
platinum (platinum foil upon which a thin film of platinum had been
deposited electrolytically) and charcoal were rendered incandescent,
black paper and matches immediately inflamed, ordinary brown paper
pierced and burned, while thin white blotting-paper, owing to its
transparency to the invisible rays, was scarcely tinged. A simpler
arrangement, also employed by Tyndall, is to cause the rays to be
reflected outwards parallel to one another, and to concentrate them by
means of a small flask, containing the iodine solution and used as a
lens, placed some distance from the camera. The rock-salt and cold water
circulation can then be dispensed with.
Since the rays used by Tyndall in these experiments are similar to those
emitted by a heated body which is not hot enough to be luminous, it
might be thought that the radiation, say from a hot kettle, could be
concentrated to a focus and employed to render a small body luminous. It
would, however, be impossible by such means to raise the receiving body
to a higher temperature than the source of radiation. For it is easy to
see that if, by means of lenses of rock-salt or mirrors, we focused all
or nearly all the rays from a small surface on to another surface of
equal area, this would not raise the temperature of the second surface
above that of the first; and we could not obtain a greater concentration
of rays from a large heated surface, since we could not have all parts
of the surface simultaneously in focus. The desired result could be
obtained if it were possible, by reflection or otherwise, to cause two
different rays to unite without loss and pursue a common path. Such a
result must be regarded as impossible of attainment, as it would imply
the possibility of heat passing from one body to another at a higher
temperature, contrary to the second law of thermodynamics (q.v.).
Tyndall used the dark rays from a luminous source, which are emitted in
a highly concentrated form, so that it was possible to obtain a high
temperature, which was, however, much lower than that of the source.
A full account of Tyndall's experiments will be found in his _Heat, a
Mode of Motion_. (J. R. C.)
CALORIMETRY, the scientific name for the measurement of quantities of
heat (Lat. _calor_), to be distinguished from thermometry, which
signifies the measurement of temperature. A calorimeter is any piece of
apparatus in which heat is measured. This distinction of meaning is
purely a matter of convention, but it is very rigidly observed.
Quantities of heat may be measured indirectly in a variety of ways in
terms of the different effects of heat on material substances. The most
important of these effects are (_a_) rise of temperature, (_b_) change
of state, (_c_) transformation of energy.
§ 1. The rise of temperature of a body, when heat is imparted to it, is
found to be in general nearly proportional to the quantity of heat
added. The _thermal capacity_ of a body is measured by the quantity of
heat required to raise its temperature one degree, and is necessarily
proportional to the mass of the body for bodies of the same substance
under similar conditions. The _specific heat_ of a substance is
sometimes defined as the thermal capacity of unit mass, but more often
as the ratio of the thermal capacity of unit mass of the substance to
that of unit mass of water at some standard temperature. The two
definitions are identical, provided that the thermal capacity of unit
mass of water, at a standard temperature, is taken as the unit of heat.
But the specific heat of water is often stated in terms of other units.
In any case it is necessary to specify the temperature, and sometimes
also the pressure, since the specific heat of a substance generally
depends to some extent on the external conditions. The methods of
measurement, founded on rise of temperature, may be classed as
_thermometric methods,_ since they depend on the observation of change
of temperature with a thermometer. The most familiar of these are the
method of mixture and the method of cooling.
§ 2. The _Method of Mixture_ consists in imparting the quantity of
heat to be measured to a known mass of water, or some other standard
substance, contained in a vessel or calorimeter of known thermal
capacity, and in observing the rise of temperature produced, from
which data the quantity of heat may be found as explained in all
elementary text-books. This method is the most generally convenient
and most readily applicable of calorimetric methods, but it is not
always the most accurate, for various reasons. Some heat is generally
lost in transferring the heated body to the calorimeter; this loss may
be minimized by performing the transference rapidly, but it cannot be
accurately calculated or eliminated. Some heat is lost when the
calorimeter is raised above the temperature of its enclosure, and
before the final temperature is reached. This can be roughly estimated
by observing the rate of change of temperature before and after the
experiment, and assuming that the loss of heat is directly
proportional to the duration of the experiment and to the average
excess of temperature. It can be minimized by making the mixing as
rapid as possible, and by using a large calorimeter, so that the
excess of temperature is always small. The latter method was generally
adopted by J.P. Joule, but the rise of temperature is then difficult
to measure with accuracy, since it is necessarily reduced in nearly
the same proportion as the correction. There is, however, the
advantage that the correction is rendered much less uncertain by this
procedure, since the assumption that the loss of heat is proportional
to the temperature-excess is only true for small differences of
temperature. Rumford proposed to eliminate this correction by starting
with the initial temperature of the calorimeter as much below that of
its enclosure as the final temperature was expected to be above the
same limit. This method has been very generally recommended, but it is
really bad, because, although it diminishes the absolute magnitude of
the correction, it greatly increases the uncertainty of it and
therefore the probable error of the result. The coefficient of heating
of a calorimeter when it is below the temperature of its surroundings
is seldom, if ever, the same as the coefficient of cooling at the
higher temperature, since the convection currents, which do most of
the heating or cooling, are rarely symmetrical in the two cases, and
moreover, the duration of the two stages is seldom the same. In any
case, it is desirable to diminish the loss of heat as much as possible
by polishing the exterior of the calorimeter to diminish radiation,
and by suspending it by non-conducting supports, inside a polished
case, to protect it from draughts. It is also very important to keep
the surrounding conditions as constant as possible throughout the
experiment. This may be secured by using a large water-bath to
surround the apparatus, but in experiments of long duration it is
necessary to use an accurate temperature regulator. The method of
lagging the calorimeter with cotton-wool or other non-conductors,
which is often recommended, diminishes the loss of heat considerably,
but renders it very uncertain and variable, and should never be used
in work of precision. The bad conductors take so long to reach a
steady state that the rate of loss of heat at any moment depends on
the past history more than on the temperature of the calorimeter at
the moment. A more serious objection to the use of lagging of this
kind is the danger of its absorbing moisture. The least trace of damp
in the lagging, or of moisture condensed on the surface of the
calorimeter, may produce serious loss of heat by evaporation. This is
another objection to Rumford's method of cooling the calorimeter below
the surrounding temperature before starting. Among minor difficulties
of the method may be mentioned the uncertainty of the thermal capacity
of the calorimeter and stirrer, and of the immersed portion of the
thermometer. This is generally calculated by assuming values for the
specific heats of the materials obtained by experiment between 100° C.
and 20° C. Since the specific heats of most metals increase rapidly
with rise of temperature, the values so obtained are generally too
high. It is best to make this correction as small as possible by using
a large calorimeter, so that the mass of water is large in proportion
to that of metal. Analogous difficulties arise in the application of
other calorimetric methods. The accuracy of the work in each case
depends principally on the skill and ingenuity of the experimentalist
in devising methods of eliminating the various sources of error. The
form of apparatus usually adopted for the method of mixtures is that
of Regnault with slight modifications, and figures and descriptions
are given in all the text-books. Among special methods which have been
subsequently developed there are two which deserve mention as
differing in principle from the common type. These are (1) the
constant temperature method, (2) the continuous flow method.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
The _constant temperature method of mixtures_ was proposed by N.
Hesehus (_Jour. Phys._, 1888, vii. p. 489). Cold water at a known
temperature is added to the calorimeter, immediately after dropping in
the heated substance, at such a rate as to keep the temperature of the
calorimeter constant, thus eliminating the corrections for the water
equivalent of the calorimeter and the external loss of heat. The
calorimeter is surrounded by an air-jacket connected to a petroleum
gauge which indicates any small change of temperature in the
calorimeter, and enables the manipulator to adjust the supply of cold
water to compensate it. The apparatus as arranged by F.A. Waterman is
shown in fig. 1 (_Physical Review,_ 1896, iv. p. 161). A is the
calorimetric tube, B the air-jacket and L the gauge. H is an electric
heater for raising the body to a suitable temperature, which can swing
into place directly over the calorimeter. W is a conical can
containing water cooled by ice I nearly to 0°, which is swung over the
calorimeter as soon as the hot body has been introduced and the heater
removed. The cold water flow is regulated by a tap S with a long
handle O, and its temperature is taken by a delicate thermometer with
its bulb at G. The method is interesting, but the manipulations and
observations involved are more troublesome than with the ordinary type
of calorimeter, and it may be doubted whether any advantage is gained
in accuracy.
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
The _continuous flow method_ is specially applicable to the important
case of calorific value of gaseous fuel, where a large quantity of
heat is continuously generated at a nearly uniform rate by combustion.
Fig. 2 illustrates a recent type of gas calorimeter devised by C.V.
Boys (_Proc. R.S.,_ 1906, A. 77, p. 122). The heated products of
combustion from the burner B impinge on a metal box H, through which
water is circulating, and then pass downwards and outwards through a
spiral cooler which reduces them practically to the atmospheric
temperature. A steady stream of water enters the apparatus by the
inflow thermometer O, flows through the spiral coolers N and M, and
finally through the box H, where it is well mixed before passing the
outflow thermometer P. As soon as a steady state is reached, the
difference of temperature between the outflow and inflow thermometers,
multiplied by the current of water in grammes per minute gives the
heat per minute supplied by combustion. The gas current is
simultaneously observed by a suitable meter, which, with subsidiary
corrections for pressure, temperature, &c., gives the necessary data
for deducing calorific value.
A continuous flow calorimeter has been used by the writer for
measuring quantities of heat conveyed by conduction (see CONDUCTION OF
HEAT), and also for determining the variation of the specific heat of
water. In the latter case two steady currents of water at different
temperatures, say 0° and 100° are passed through an equalizer, and the
resulting temperature measured without mixing the currents, which are
then separately determined by weighing. This is a very good method of
comparing the mean specific heats over two ranges of temperature such
as 0-50, and 50-100, or 0-20 and 20-40, but it is not so suitable as
the electric method described below for obtaining the actual specific
heat at any point of the range.
§ 3. _Method of Cooling._--A common example of this method is the
determination of the specific heat of a liquid by filling a small
calorimeter with the liquid, raising it to a convenient temperature, and
then setting it to cool in an enclosure at a steady temperature, and
observing the time taken to fall through a given range when the
conditions have become fairly steady. The same calorimeter is afterwards
filled with a known liquid, such as water, and the time of cooling is
observed through the same range of temperature, in the same enclosure,
under the same conditions. The ratio of the times of cooling is equal to
the ratio of the thermal capacities of the calorimeter and its contents
in the two cases. The advantage of the method is that there is no
transference or mixture; the defect is that the whole measurement
depends on the assumption that the rate of loss of heat is the same in
the two cases, and that any variation in the conditions, or uncertainty
in the rate of loss, produces its full effect in the result, whereas in
the previous case it would only affect a small correction. Other sources
of uncertainty are, that the rate of loss of heat generally depends to
some extent on the rate of fall of temperature, and that it is difficult
to take accurate observations on a rapidly falling thermometer. As the
method is usually practised, the calorimeter is made very small, and the
surface is highly polished to diminish radiation. It is better to use a
fairly large calorimeter to diminish the rate of cooling and the
uncertainty of the correction for the water equivalent. The surface of
the calorimeter and the enclosure should be permanently blackened so as
to increase the loss of heat by radiation as much as possible, as
compared with the losses by convection and conduction, which are less
regular. For accurate work it is essential that the liquid in the
calorimeter should be continuously stirred, and also in the enclosure,
the lid of which must be water-jacketed, and kept at the same steady
temperature as the sides. When all these precautions are taken, the
method loses most of the simplicity which is its chief advantage. It
cannot be satisfactorily applied to the case of solids or powders, and
is much less generally useful than the method of mixture.
§ 4. _Method of Fusion._--The methods depending on change of state are
theoretically the simplest, since they do not necessarily involve any
reference to thermometry, and the corrections for external loss of heat
and for the thermal capacity of the containing vessels can be completely
eliminated. They nevertheless present peculiar difficulties and
limitations, which render their practical application more troublesome
and more uncertain than is usually supposed. They depend on the
experimental fact that the quantity of heat required to produce a given
change of state (e.g. to convert one gramme of ice at 0° C. into water
at 0° C., or one gramme of water at 100° C. into steam at 100° C.) is
always the same, and that there need be no change of temperature during
the process. The difficulties arise in connexion with the determination
of the quantities of ice melted or steam condensed, and in measuring the
latent heat of fusion or vaporization in terms of other units for the
comparison of observations. The earlier forms of ice-calorimeter, those
of Black, and of Laplace and Lavoisier, were useless for work of
precision, on account of the impossibility of accurately estimating the
quantity of water left adhering to the ice in each case. This
difficulty was overcome by the invention of the Bunsen calorimeter, in
which the quantity of ice melted is measured by observing the diminution
of volume, but the successful employment of this instrument requires
considerable skill in manipulation. The sheath of ice surrounding the
bulb must be sufficiently continuous to prevent escape of heat, but it
must not be so solid as to produce risk of strain. The ideal condition
is difficult to secure. In the practical use of the instrument it is not
necessary to know both the latent heat of fusion of ice and the change
of volume which occurs on melting; it is sufficient to determine the
change of volume per calorie, or the quantity of mercury which is drawn
into the bulb of the apparatus per unit of heat added. This can be
determined by a direct calibration, by inserting a known quantity of
water at a known temperature and observing the contraction, or weighing
the mercury drawn into the apparatus. In order to be independent of the
accuracy of the thermometer employed for observing the initial
temperature of the water introduced, it has been usual to employ water
at 100° C., adopting as unit of heat the "mean calorie," which is
one-hundredth part of the heat given up by one gramme of water in
cooling from 100° to 0° C. The weight of mercury corresponding to the
mean calorie has been determined with considerable care by a number of
observers well skilled in the use of the instrument. The following are
some of their results:--Bunsen, 15.41 mgm.; Velten, 15.47 mgm.;
Zakrevski, 15.57 mgm.; Staub, 15.26 mgm. The explanation of these
discrepancies in the fundamental constant is not at all clear, but they
may be taken as an illustration of the difficulties of manipulation
attending the use of this instrument, to which reference has already
been made. It is not possible to deduce a more satisfactory value from
the latent heat and the change of density, because these constants are
very difficult to determine. The following are some of the values
deduced by well-known experimentalists for the latent heat of
fusion:--Regnault, 79.06 to 79.24 calories, corrected by Person to
79.43; Person, 79.99 calories; Hess, 80.34 calories; Bunsen, 80.025
calories. Regnault, Person and Hess employed the method of mixture which
is probably the most accurate for the purpose. Person and Hess avoided
the error of water sticking to the ice by using dry ice at various
temperatures below 0° C., and determining the specific heat of ice as
well as the latent heat of fusion. These discrepancies might, no doubt,
be partly explained by differences in the units employed, which are
somewhat uncertain, as the specific heat of water changes rapidly in the
neighbourhood of 0° C; but making all due allowance for this, it remains
evident that the method of ice-calorimetry, in spite of its theoretical
simplicity, presents grave difficulties in its practical application.
One of the chief difficulties in the practical use of the Bunsen
calorimeter is the continued and often irregular movement of the
mercury column due to slight differences of temperature, or pressure
between the ice in the calorimeter and the ice bath in which it is
immersed. C.V. Boys (_Phil. Mag._, 1887, vol. 24, p. 214) showed that
these effects could be very greatly reduced by surrounding the
calorimeter with an outer tube, so that the ice inside was separated
from the ice outside by an air space which greatly reduces the free
passage of heat. The present writer has found that very good results
may be obtained by enclosing the calorimeter in a vacuum jacket (as
illustrated in fig. 3), which practically eliminates conduction and
convection. If the vacuum jacket is silvered inside, radiation also is
reduced to such an extent that, if the vacuum is really good, the
external ice bath may be dispensed with for the majority of purposes.
If the inner bulb is filled with mercury instead of water and ice, the
same arrangement answers admirably as a Favre and Silbermann
calorimeter, for measuring small quantities of heat by the expansion
of the mercury.
[Illustration: Fig. 3.]
The question has been raised by E.L. Nichols (_Phys. Rev._ vol. 8,
January 1899) whether there may not be different modifications of ice
with different densities, and different values of the latent heat of
fusion. He found for natural pond-ice a density 0.9179 and for
artificial ice 0.9161. J. Vincent (_Phil. Trans._ A. 198, p. 463) also
found a density .9160 for artificial ice, which is probably very
nearly correct. If such variations of density exist, they may
introduce some uncertainty in the absolute values of results obtained
with the ice calorimeter, and may account for some of the
discrepancies above enumerated.
§ 5. The _Method of Condensation_ was first successfully applied by J.
Joly in the construction of his steam calorimeter, a full description of
which will be found in text-books. The body to be tested is placed in a
special scale-pan, suspended by a fine wire from the arm of a balance
inside an enclosure which can be filled with steam at atmospheric
pressure. The temperature of the enclosure is carefully observed before
admitting steam. The weight of steam condensed on the body gives a means
of calculating the quantity of heat required to raise it from the
atmospheric temperature up to 100° C. in terms of the latent heat of
vaporization of steam at 100° C. There can be no appreciable gain or
loss of heat by radiation, if the admission of the steam is sufficiently
rapid, since the walls of the enclosure are maintained at 100° C., very
nearly. The thermal capacity of the scale-pan, &c., can be determined by
a separate experiment, or, still better, eliminated by the differential
method of counterpoising with an exactly similar arrangement on the
other arm of the balance. The method requires very delicate weighing, as
one calorie corresponds to less than two milligrammes of steam
condensed; but the successful application of the method to the very
difficult problem of measuring the specific heat of a gas at constant
volume, shows that these and other difficulties have been very skilfully
overcome. The application of the method appears to be practically
limited to the measurements of specific heat between the atmospheric
temperature and 100° C. The results depend on the value assumed for the
latent heat of steam, which Joly takes as 536.7 calories, following
Regnault. Joly has himself determined the mean specific heat of water
between 12° and 100° C. by this method, in terms of the latent heat of
steam as above given, and finds the result .9952. Assuming that the mean
specific heat of water between 12° and 100° is really 1.0011 in terms of
the calorie at 20° C. (see table, p. 66), the value of the latent heat
of steam at 100° C., as determined by Joly, would be 540.2 in terms of
the same unit. The calorie employed by Regnault is to some extent
uncertain, but the difference is hardly beyond the probable errors of
experiment, since it appears from the results of recent experiments that
Regnault made an error of the same order in his determination of the
specific heat of water at 100° C.
§ 6. _Energy Methods._--The third general method of calorimetry, that
based on the transformation of some other kind of energy into the form
of heat, rests on the general principle of the conservation of energy,
and on the experimental fact that all other forms of energy are readily
and completely convertible into the form of heat. It is therefore often
possible to measure quantities of heat indirectly, by measuring the
energy in some other form and then converting it into heat. In addition
to its great theoretical interest, this method possesses the advantage
of being frequently the most accurate in practical application, since
energy can be more accurately measured in other forms than in that of
heat. The two most important varieties of the method are (_a_)
mechanical, and (_b_) electrical. These methods have reached their
highest development in connexion with the determination of the
mechanical equivalent of heat, but they may be applied with great
advantage in connexion with other problems, such as the measurement of
the variation of specific heat, or of latent heats of fusion or
vaporization.
§ 7. _Mechanical Equivalent of Heat._--The phrase "mechanical equivalent
of heat" is somewhat vague, but has been sanctioned by long usage. It is
generally employed to denote the number of units of mechanical work or
energy which, when completely converted into heat without loss, would be
required to produce one heat unit. The numerical value of the mechanical
equivalent necessarily depends on the particular units of heat and work
employed in the comparison. The British engineer prefers to state
results in terms of foot-pounds of work in any convenient latitude per
pound-degree-Fahrenheit of heat. The continental engineer prefers
kilogrammetres per kilogramme-degree-centigrade. For scientific use the
C.G.S. system of expression in ergs per gramme-degree-centigrade, or
"calorie," is the most appropriate, as being independent of the value of
gravity. A more convenient unit of work or energy, in practice, on
account of the smallness of the erg, is the _joule,_ which is equal to
10.7 ergs, or one _watt-second_ of electrical energy. On account of its
practical convenience, and its close relation to the international
electrical units, the _joule_ has been recommended by the British
Association for adoption as the absolute unit of heat. Other convenient
practical units of the same kind would be the _watt-hour,_ 3600 joules,
which is of the same order of magnitude as the kilo-calorie, and the
_kilowatt-hour,_ which is the ordinary commercial unit of electrical
energy.
§ 8. _Joule_.--The earlier work of Joule is now chiefly of historical
interest, but his later measurements in 1878, which were undertaken on
a larger scale, adopting G.A. Hirn's method of measuring the work
expended in terms of the torque and the number of revolutions, still
possess value as experimental evidence. In these experiments (see fig.
4) the paddles were revolved by hand at such a speed as to produce a
constant torque on the calorimeter _h_, which was supported on a float
_w_ in a vessel of water _v_, but was kept at rest by the couple due
to a pair of equal weights _k_ suspended from fine strings passing
round the circumference of a horizontal wheel attached to the
calorimeter. Each experiment lasted about forty minutes, and the rise
of temperature produced was nearly 3° C. The calorimeter contained
about 5 kilogrammes of water, so that the rate of heat-supply was
about 6 calories per second. Joule's final result was 772.55
foot-pounds at Manchester per pound-degree-Fahrenheit at a temperature
of 62° F., but individual experiments differed by as much as 1%. This
result in C.G.S. measure is equivalent to 4.177 joules per calorie at
16.5° C., on the scale of Joule's mercury thermometer. His
thermometers were subsequently corrected to the Paris scale by A.
Schuster in 1895, which had the effect of reducing the above figure to
4.173.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
§ 9. _Rowland_.--About the same time H.A. Rowland (_Proc. Amer. Acad._
xv. p. 75, 1880) repeated the experiment, employing the same method,
but using a larger calorimeter (about 8400 grammes) and a petroleum
motor, so as to obtain a greater rate of heating (about 84 calories
per second), and to reduce the importance of the uncertain correction
for external loss of heat. Rowland's apparatus is shown in fig. 5. The
calorimeter was suspended by a steel wire, the torsion of which made
the equilibrium stable. The torque was measured by weights O and P
suspended by silk ribbons passing over the pulleys n and round the
disk kl. The power was transmitted to the paddles by bevel wheels, f,
g, rotating a spindle passing through a stuffing box in the bottom of
the calorimeter. The number of revolutions and the rise of temperature
were recorded on a chronograph drum. He paid greater attention to the
important question of thermometry, and extended his researches over a
much wider range of temperature, namely 5° to 35° C. His experiments
revealed for the first time a diminution in the specific heat of water
with rise of temperature between 0° and 30° C., amounting to four
parts in 10.000 per 1° C. His thermometers were compared with a
mercury thermometer standardized in Paris, and with a platinum
thermometer standardized by Griffiths. The result was to reduce the
coefficient of diminution of specific heat at 15° C. by nearly one
half, but the absolute value at 20° C. is practically unchanged. Thus
corrected his values are as follows:--
Temperature 10° 15° 20° 25° 30° 35°
Joules per cal. 4.197 4.188 4.181 4.176 4.175 4.177
These are expressed in terms of the hydrogen scale, but the difference
from the nitrogen scale is so small as to be within the limits of
experimental error in this particular case. Rowland himself considered
his results to be probably correct to one part in 500, and supposed
that the greatest uncertainty lay in the comparison of the scale of
his mercury thermometer with the air thermometer. The subsequent
correction, though not carried out strictly under the conditions of
the experiment, showed that the order of accuracy of his work about
the middle of the range from 15° to 25° was at least 1 in 1000, and
probably 1 in 2000. At 30° he considered that, owing to the increasing
magnitude and uncertainty of the radiation correction, there "might
be a small error in the direction of making the equivalent too great,
and that the specific heat might go on decreasing to even 40° C." The
results considered with reference to the variation of the specific
heat of water are shown in the curve marked Rowland in Fig. 6.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
§ 10. _Osborne Reynolds and W.H. Moorby (Phil. Trans.,_ 1897, p. 381)
determined the mechanical equivalent of the mean thermal unit between
0° and 100° C., on a very large scale, with a Froude-Reynolds
hydraulic brake and a steam-engine of 100 h.p. This brake is
practically a Joule calorimeter, ingeniously designed to churn the
water in such a manner as to develop the greatest possible resistance.
The admission of water at 0° C. to the brake was controlled by hand in
such a manner as to keep the outflow nearly at the boiling-point, the
quantity of water in the brake required to produce a constant torque
being regulated automatically, as the speed varied, by a valve worked
by the lifting of the weighted lever attached to the brake.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
The accompanying illustration (fig. 7) shows the brake lagged with
cotton-wool, and the 4-ft. lever to which the weights are suspended.
The power of the brake may be estimated by comparison with the size of
the rope pulley seen behind it on the same shaft. With 300 pounds on a
4-ft. lever at 300 revolutions per minute, the rate of generation of
heat was about 12 kilo-calories per second. In spite of the large
range of temperature, the correction for external loss of heat
amounted to only 5%, with the brake uncovered, and was reduced to less
than 2% by lagging. This is the special advantage of working on so
large a scale with so rapid a generation of heat. But, for the same
reason, the method necessarily presents peculiar difficulties, which
were not overcome without great pains and ingenuity. The principal
troubles arose from damp in the lagging which necessitated the
rejection of several trials, and from dissolved air in the water,
causing loss of heat by the formation of steam. Next to the radiation
loss, the most uncertain correction was that for conduction of heat
along the 4-in. shaft. These losses were as far as possible eliminated
by combining the trials in pairs, with different loads on the brake,
assuming that the heat-loss would be the same in the heavy and light
trials, provided that the external temperature and the gradient in the
shaft, as estimated from the temperature of the bearings, were the
same. The values deduced in this manner for the equivalent agreed as
closely as could be expected considering the impossibility of
regulating the external condition of temperature and moisture with any
certainty in an engine-room. The extreme variation of results in any
one series was only from 776.63 to 779.46 ft.-pounds, or less than
½%. This variation may have been due to the state of the lagging,
which Moorby distrusted in spite of the great reduction of the
heat-loss, or it may have been partly due to the difficulty of
regulating the speed of the engine and the water-supply to the brake
in such a manner as to maintain a constant temperature in the outflow,
and avoid variations in the heat capacity of the brake. Since hand
regulation is necessarily discontinuous, the speed and the temperature
were constantly varying, so that it was useless to take readings
nearer than the tenth of a degree. The largest variation recorded in
the two trials of which full details are given, was 4-9° F. in two
minutes in the outflow temperature, and four or five revolutions per
minute on the speed. These variations, so far as they were of a purely
accidental nature, would be approximately eliminated on the mean of a
large number of trials, so that the accuracy of the final result would
be of a higher order than might be inferred from a comparison of
separate pairs of trials. Great pains were taken to discuss and
eliminate all the sources of constant error which could be foreseen.
The results of the light trials with 400 ft.-pounds on the brake
differ slightly from those with 600 ft.-pounds. This might be merely
accidental, or it might indicate some constant difference in the
conditions requiring further investigation. It would have been
desirable, if possible, to have tried the effect of a larger range of
variation in the experimental conditions of load and speed, with a
view to detect the existence of constant errors; but owing to the
limitations imposed by the use of a steam-engine, and the difficulty
of securing steady conditions of running, this proved to be
impossible. There can be no doubt, however, that the final result is
the most accurate direct determination of the value of the mean
calorie between 0° and 100° C. in mechanical units. Expressed in
joules per calorie the result is 4.1832, which agrees very closely
with the value found by Rowland as the mean over the range 15° to 20°
C. The value 4.183 is independently confirmed in a remarkable manner
by the results of the electrical method described below, which give
4.185 joules for the mean calorie, if Rowland's value is assumed as
the starting-point, and taken to be 4.180 joules at 20° C.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.]
§ 11. _Electrical Methods._--The value of the international electrical
units has by this time been so accurately determined in absolute measure
that they afford a very good, though indirect, method of determining the
mechanical equivalent of heat. But, quite apart from this, electrical
methods possess the greatest value for calorimetry, on account of the
facility and accuracy of regulating and measuring the quantity of heat
supplied by an electric current. The frictional generation of heat in a
metallic wire conveying a current can be measured in various ways, which
correspond to slightly different methods. By Ohm's law, and by the
definition of difference of electric pressure or potential, we obtain
the following alternative expressions for the quantity of heat H in
joules generated in a time T seconds by a current of C amperes flowing
in a wire of resistance R ohms, the difference of potential between the
ends of the wire being E = CR volts:--
H = ECT = C^2RT = E^2T/R (1).
The method corresponding to the expression C^2RT was adopted by Joule
and by most of the early experimentalists. The defects of the earlier
work from an electrical point of view lay chiefly in the difficulty of
measuring the current with sufficient accuracy owing to the imperfect
development of the science of electrical measurement. These difficulties
have been removed by the great advances since 1880, and in particular by
the introduction of accurate standard cells for measurements of
electrical pressure.
§ 12. _Griffiths_.--The method adopted by E.H. Griffiths (_Phil.
Trans.,_ 1893, p. 361), whose work threw a great deal of light on the
failure of previous observers to secure consistent results,
corresponded to the last expression E^2T/R, and consisted in
regulating the current by a special rheostat, so as to keep the
potential difference E on the terminals of the resistance R balanced
against a given number of standard Clark cells of the Board of Trade
pattern. The resistance R could be deduced from a knowledge of the
temperature of the calorimeter and the coefficient of the wire. But in
order to obtain trustworthy results by this method he found it
necessary to employ very rapid stirring (2000 revolutions per minute),
and to insulate the wire very carefully from the liquid to prevent
leakage of the current. He also made a special experiment to find how
much the temperature of the wire exceeded that of the liquid under the
conditions of the experiment. This correction had been neglected by
previous observers employing similar methods. The resistance R was
about 9 ohms, and the potential difference E was varied from three to
six Clark cells, giving a rate of heat-supply about 2 to 6 watts. The
water equivalent of the calorimeter was about 85 grammes, and was
determined by varying the quantity of water from 140 to 260 or 280
grammes, so that the final results depended on a difference in the
weight of water of 120 to 140 grammes. The range of temperature in
each experiment was 14° to 26° C. The rate of rise was observed with a
mercury thermometer standardized by comparison with a platinum
thermometer under the conditions of the experiment. The time of
passing each division was recorded on an electric chronograph. The
duration of an experiment varied from about 30 to 70 minutes. Special
observations were made to determine the corrections for the heat
supplied by stirring, and that lost by radiation, each of which
amounted to about 10% of the heat-supply. The calorimeter C, fig. 8,
was gilded, and completely surrounded by a nickel-plated steel
enclosure B, forming the bulb of a mercury thermo-regulator, immersed
in a large water-bath maintained at a constant temperature. In spite
of the large corrections the results were extremely consistent, and
the value of the temperature-coefficient of the diminution of the
specific heat of water, deduced from the observed variation in the
rate of rise at different points of the range 15° to 25°, agreed with
the value subsequently deduced from Rowland's experiments over the
same range, when his thermometers were reduced to the same scale.
Griffiths' final result for the average value of the calorie over this
range was 4.192 joules, taking the E.M.F. of the Clark cell at 15° C.
to be 1.4342 volts. The difference from Rowland's value, 4.181, could
be explained by supposing the E.M.F. of the Clark cells to have in
reality been 1.4323 volts, or about 2 millivolts less than the value
assumed. Griffiths subsequently applied the same method to the
measurement of the specific heat of aniline, and the latent heat of
vaporization of benzene and water.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
§ 13. _Schuster and Gannon._--The method employed by A. Schuster and
W. Gannon for the determination of the specific heat of water in terms
of the international electric units (_Phil. Trans._ A, 1895, p. 415)
corresponded to the expression ECT, and differed in many essential
details from that of Griffiths. The current through a platinoid
resistance of about 31 ohms in a calorimeter containing 1500 grammes
of water was regulated so that the potential difference on its
terminals was equal to that of twenty Board of Trade Clark cells in
series. The duration of an experiment was about ten minutes, and the
product of the mean current and the time, namely CT, was measured by
the weight of silver deposited in a voltameter, which amounted to
about 0.56 gramme. The uncertainty due to the correction for the water
equivalent was minimized by making it small (about 27 grammes) in
comparison with the water weight. The correction for external loss was
reduced by employing a small rise of temperature (only 2.22°), and
making the rate of heat-supply relatively rapid, nearly 24 watts. The
platinoid coil was insulated from the water by shellac varnish. The
wire had a length of 760 cms., and the potential difference on its
terminals was nearly 30 volts. The rate of stirring adopted was so
slow that the heat generated by it could be neglected. The result
found was 4.191 joules per calorie at 19° C. This agrees very well
with Griffiths considering the difficulty of measuring so small a rise
of temperature at 2° with a mercury thermometer. Admitting that the
electro-chemical equivalent of silver increases with the age of the
solution, a fact subsequently discovered, and that the E.M.F. of the
Clark cell is probably less than 1.4340 volts (the value assumed by
Schuster and Gannon), there is no difficulty in reconciling the result
with that of Rowland.
§ 14. _H.L. Callendar and H.T. Barnes_ (_Brit. Assoc. Reports,_ 1897
and 1899) adopted an entirely different method of calorimetry, as well
as a different method of electrical measurement. A steady current of
liquid, Q grammes per second, of specific heat, Js joules per degree,
flowing through a fine tube, A B, fig. 9, is heated by a steady
electric current during its passage through the tube, and the
difference of temperature d[theta] between the inflowing and the
outflowing liquid is measured by a single reading with a delicate pair
of differential platinum thermometers at A and B. The difference of
potential E between the ends of the tube, and the electric current C
through it, are measured on an accurately calibrated potentiometer, in
terms of a Clark cell and a standard resistance. If hd[theta] is the
radiation loss in watts we have the equation,
EC = JsQd[theta] + hd[theta] (2).
[Illustration: FIG. 9.]
The advantage of this method is that all the conditions are steady, so
that the observations can be pushed to the limit of accuracy and
sensitiveness of the apparatus. The water equivalent of the
calorimeter is immaterial, since there is no appreciable change of
temperature. The heat-loss can be reduced to a minimum by enclosing
the flow-tube in a hermetically sealed glass vacuum jacket. Stirring
is effected by causing the water to circulate spirally round the bulbs
of the thermometers and the heating conductor as indicated in the
figure. The conditions can be very easily varied through a wide range.
The heat-loss hd[theta] is determined and eliminated by varying the
flow of liquid and the electric current simultaneously, in such a
manner as to secure approximately the same rise of temperature for two
or more widely different values of the flow of liquid. An example
taken from the _Electrician_, September 1897, of one of the earliest
experiments by this method on the specific heat of mercury will make
the method clearer. The flow-tube was about 1 metre long and 1 millim.
in diameter, coiled in a short spiral inside the vacuum jacket. The
outside of the vacuum jacket was immersed in a water jacket at a
steady temperature equal to that of the inflowing mercury.
SPECIFIC HEAT OF MERCURY BY CONTINUOUS ELECTRIC METHOD
+-----------+---------------+------+-------------+----------------+
|Flow of Hg.| Rise of Temp. |Watts.| Heat-loss. | Specific Heat. |
+-----------+---------------+------+-------------+----------------+
| gm./sec. | d[theta] | EC | hd[theta] | Per gm. deg. |
| 8.753 | 11.764 |14.862| 0.655 | \ .13780 joules|
| 4.594 | 12.301 | 7.912| 0.865 | / .03297 cals. |
+-----------+---------------+------+-------------+----------------+
It is assumed as a first approximation that the heat-loss is
proportional to the rise of temperature _d[theta]_, provided that
_d[theta]_ is nearly the same in both cases, and that the distribution
of temperature in the apparatus is the same for the same rise of
temperature whatever the flow of liquid. The result calculated on
these assumptions is given in the last column in joules, and also in
calories of 20° C. The heat-loss in this example is large, nearly 4.5%
of the total supply, owing to the small flow and the large rise of
temperature, but this correction was greatly reduced in subsequent
observations on the specific heat of water by the same method. In the
case of mercury the liquid itself can be utilized to conduct the
electric current. In the case of water or other liquids it is
necessary to employ a platinum wire stretched along the tube as
heating conductor. This introduces additional difficulties of
construction, but does not otherwise affect the method. The absolute
value of the specific heat deduced necessarily depends on the absolute
values of the electrical standards employed in the investigation. But
for the determination of relative values of specific heats in terms of
a standard liquid, or of the variations of specific heat of a liquid,
the method depends only on the constancy of the standards, which can
be readily and accurately tested. The absolute value of the E.M.F. of
the Clark cells employed was determined with a special form of
electrodynamometer (Callendar, _Phil. Trans._ A. 313, p. 81), and
found to be 1.4334 volts, assuming the ohm to be correct. Assuming
this value, the result found by this method for the specific heat of
water at 20° C. agrees with that of Rowland within the probable limits
of error.
§ 15. _Variation of Specific Heat of Water._--The question of the
variation of the specific heat of water has a peculiar interest and
importance in connexion with the choice of a thermal unit. Many of the
uncertainties in the reduction of older experiments, such as those of
Regnault, arise from uncertainty in regard to the unit in terms of
which they are expressed, which again depends on the scale of the
particular thermometer employed in the investigation. The first
experiments of any value were those of Regnault in 1847 on the
specific heat of water between 110° C. and 192° C. They were conducted
on a very large scale by the method of mixture, but showed
discrepancies of the order of 0.5%, and the calculated results in
many cases do not agree with the data. This may be due merely to
deficient explanation of details of tabulation. We may probably take
the tabulated values as showing correctly the rate of variation
between 110° and 190° C., but the values in terms of any particular
thermal unit must remain uncertain to at least 0.5% owing to the
uncertainties of the thermometry. Regnault himself adopted the
formula,
s = 1 + 0.00004t + 0.0000009t^2 (Regnault), (3)
for the specific heat _s_ at any temperature _t_ C. in terms of the
specific heat at 0° C. taken as the standard. This formula has since
been very generally applied over the whole range 0° to 200° C., but
the experiments could not in reality give any information with regard
to the specific heat at temperatures below 100° C. The linear formula
proposed by J. Bosscha from an independent reduction of Regnault's
experiments is probably within the limits of accuracy between 100° and
200° C., so far as the mean rate of variation is concerned, but the
absolute values require reduction. It may be written--
s = S_100 + .00023(t - 100) (Bosscha-Regnault) (4).
The work of L. Pfaundler and H. Platter, of G.A. Hirn, of J.C. Jamin
and Amaury, and of many other experimentalists who succeeded Regnault,
appeared to indicate much larger rates of increase than he had found,
but there can be little doubt that the discrepancies of their results,
which often exceeded 5%, were due to lack of appreciation of the
difficulties of calorimetric measurements. The work of Rowland by the
mechanical method was the first in which due attention was paid to the
thermometry and to the reduction of the results to the absolute scale
of temperature. The agreement of his corrected results with those of
Griffiths by a very different method, left very little doubt with
regard to the rate of diminution of the specific heat of water at 20°
C. The work of A. Bartoli and E. Stracciati by the method of mixture
between 0° and 30° C., though their curve is otherwise similar to
Rowland's, had appeared to indicate a minimum at 20° C., followed by a
rapid rise. This lowering of the minimum was probably due to some
constant errors inherent in their method of experiment. The more
recent work of Lüdin, 1895, under the direction of Prof. J. Pernet,
extended from 0° to 100° C., and appears to have attained as high a
degree of excellence as it is possible to reach by the employment of
mercury thermometers in conjunction with the method of mixture. His
results, exhibited in fig. 6, show a minimum at 25° C., and a maximum
at 87° C., the values being .9935 and 1.0075 respectively in terms of
the mean specific heat between 0° and 100° C. He paid great attention
to the thermometry, and the discrepancies of individual measurements
at any one point nowhere exceed 0.3%, but he did not vary the
conditions of the experiments materially, and it does not appear that
the well-known constant errors of the method could have been
completely eliminated by the devices which he adopted. The rapid rise
from 25° to 75° may be due to radiation error from the hot water
supply, and the subsequent fall of the curve to the inevitable loss of
heat by evaporation of the boiling water on its way to the
calorimeter. It must be observed, however, that there is another grave
difficulty in the accurate determination of the specific heat of water
near 100° C. by this method, namely, that the quantity actually
observed is not the specific heat _at_ the higher temperature _t_, but
the _mean specific heat_ over the range 18° to _t_. The specific heat
itself can be deduced only by differentiating the curve of
observation, which greatly increases the uncertainty. The peculiar
advantage of the electric method of Callendar and Barnes, already
referred to, is that the specific heat itself is determined over a
range of 8° to 10° at each point, by adding accurately measured
quantities of heat to the water at the desired temperature in an
isothermal enclosure, under perfectly steady conditions, without any
possibility of evaporation or loss of heat in transference. These
experiments, which have been extended by Barnes over the whole range
0° to 100°, agree very well with Rowland and Griffiths in the rate of
variation at 20° C., but show a rather flat minimum of specific heat
in the neighbourhood of 38° to 40° C. At higher points the rate of
variation is very similar to that of Regnault's curve, but taking the
specific heat at 20° as the standard of reference, the actual values
are nearly 0.56% less than Regnault's. It appears probable that his
values for higher temperatures may be adopted with this reduction,
which is further confirmed by the results of Reynolds and Moorby, and
by those of Lüdin. According to the electric method, the whole range
of variation of the specific heat between 10° and 80° is only 0.5%.
Comparatively simple formulae, therefore, suffice for its expression
to 1 in 10,000, which is beyond the limits of accuracy of the
observations. It is more convenient in practice to use a few simple
formulae, than to attempt to represent the whole range by a single
complicated expression:--
Below 20° C. s = 0.9982 + 0.0000045(t - 40)^2 - 0.0000005(t - 20)^3.
From 20° to 60°, s = 0.9982 + 0.0000045(t - 40)^2 (5).
/ s = 0.9944 + .00004t + 0.0000009t^2
Above 60° to 200° < (Regnault corrd.)
\ s = 1.000 + 0.00022(t - 60), (Bosscha corrd.)
The addition of the cubic term below 20° is intended to represent the
somewhat more rapid change near the freezing-point. This effect is
probably due, as suggested by Rowland, to the presence of a certain
proportion of ice molecules in the liquid, which is also no doubt the
cause of the anomalous expansion. Above 60° C. Regnault's formula is
adopted, the absolute values being simply diminished by a constant
quantity 0.0056 to allow for the probable errors of his thermometry.
Above 100° C., and for approximate work generally, the simpler formula
of Bosscha, similarly corrected, is probably adequate.
The following table of values, calculated from these formulae, is
taken from the _Brit. Assoc. Report,_ 1899, with a slight modification
to allow for the increase in the specific heat below 20° C. This was
estimated in 1899 as being equivalent to the addition of the constant
quantity 0.20 to the values of the total heat h of the liquid as
reckoned by the parabolic formula (5). This quantity is now, as the
result of further experiments, added to the values of h, and also
represented in the formula for the specific heat itself by the cubic
term.
SPECIFIC HEAT OF WATER IN TERMS OF UNIT AT 20° C. 4.180 JOULES
+-------+-------+--------+---------+----------+
| t° C. |Joules.| s. | h | Rowland. |
+-------+-------+--------+---------+----------+
| 0° | 4.208 | 1.0094 | 0 | 0 |
| 5° | 4.202 | 1.0054 | 5.037 | 5.037 |
| 10° | 4.191 | 1.0027 | 10.056 | 10.058 |
| 15° | 4.184 | 1.0011 | 15.065 | 15.068 |
| 20° | 4.180 | 1.0000 | 20.068 | 20.071 |
| 25° | 4.177 | 0.9992 | 25.065 | 25.067 |
| 30° | 4.175 | 0.9987 | 30.060 | 30.057 |
| 35° | 4.173 | 0.9983 | 35.052 | 35.053 |
| 40° | 4.173 | 0.9982 | 40.044 | |
| 50° | 4.175 | 0.9987 | 50.028 | |
| 60° | 4.180 | 1.0000 | 60.020 | |
| 70° | 4.187 | 1.0016 | 70.028 | |
| 80° | 4.194 | 1.0033 | 80.052 | |
| 90° | 4.202 | 1.0053 | 90.095 | Shaw |
| 100° | 4.211 | 1.0074 | 100.158 | Regnault |
| 120° | 4.231 | 1.0121 | 120.35 | 120.73 |
| 140° | 4.254 | 1.0176 | 140.65 | 140.88 |
| 160° | 4.280 | 1.0238 | 161.07 | 161.20 |
| 180° | 4.309 | 1.0308 | 181.62 | 182.14 |
| 200° | 4.341 | 1.0384 | 202.33 | |
| 220° | 4.376 | 1.0467 | 223.20 | |
+-------+-------+--------+---------+----------+
The unit of comparison in the following table is taken as the specific
heat of water at 20° C. for the reasons given below. This unit is
taken as being 4.180 joules per gramme-degree-centigrade on the scale
of the platinum thermometer, corrected to the absolute scale as
explained in the article THERMOMETRY, which has been shown to be
practically equivalent to the hydrogen scale. The value 4.180 joules
at 20° C. is the mean between Rowland's corrected result 4.181 and the
value 4.179, deduced from the experiments of Reynolds and Moorby on
the assumption that the ratio of the mean specific heat 0° to 100° to
that at 20° is 1.0016, as given by the formulae representing the
results of Callendar and Barnes. This would indicate that Rowland's
corrected values should, if anything, be lowered. In any case the
value of the mechanical equivalent is uncertain to at least 1 in 2000.
The mean specific heat, over any range of temperature, may be obtained
by integrating the formulae between the limits required, or by taking
the difference of the corresponding values of the total heat h, and
dividing by the range of temperature. The quantity actually observed
by Rowland was the total heat. It may be remarked that starting from
the same value at 5°, for the sake of comparison, Rowland's values of
the total heat agree to 1 in 5000 with those calculated from the
formulae. The values of the total heat observed by Regnault, as
reduced by Shaw, also show a very fair agreement, considering the
uncertainty of the units. It must be admitted that it is desirable to
redetermine the variation of the specific heat above 100° C. This is
very difficult on account of the steam-pressure, and could not easily
be accomplished by the electrical method. Callendar has, however,
devised a continuous method of mixture, which appears to be peculiarly
adapted to the purpose, and promises to give more certain results. In
any case it may be remarked that formulae such as those of Jamin,
Henrichsen, Baumgartner, Winkelmann or Dieterici, which give far more
rapid rates of increase than that of Regnault, cannot possibly be
reconciled with his observations, or with those of Reynolds and
Moorby, or Callendar and Barnes, and are certainly inapplicable above
100° C.
§ 16. _On the Choice of the Thermal Unit._--So much uncertainty still
prevails on this fundamental point that it cannot be passed over without
reference. There are three possible kinds of unit, depending on the
three fundamental methods already given: (1) the thermometric unit, or
the thermal capacity of unit mass of a standard substance under given
conditions of temperature and pressure on the scale of a standard
thermometer. (2) The latent-heat unit, or the quantity of heat required
to melt or vaporize unit mass of a standard substance under given
conditions. This unit has the advantage of being independent of
thermometry, but the applicability of these methods is limited to
special cases, and the relation of the units to other units is difficult
to determine. (3) The absolute or mechanical unit, the quantity of heat
equivalent to a given quantity of mechanical or electrical energy. This
can be very accurately realized, but is not so convenient as (1) for
ordinary purposes.
In any case it is necessary to define a thermometric unit of class
(1). The standard substance must be a liquid. Water is always
selected, although some less volatile liquid, such as aniline or
mercury, would possess many advantages. With regard to the scale of
temperature, there is very general agreement that the absolute scale
as realized by the hydrogen or helium thermometer should be adopted as
the ultimate standard of reference. But as the hydrogen thermometer is
not directly available for the majority of experiments, it is
necessary to use a secondary standard for the practical definition of
the unit. The electrical resistance thermometer of platinum presents
very great advantages for this purpose over the mercury thermometer in
point of reproducibility, accuracy and adaptability to the practical
conditions of experiment. The conditions of use of a mercury
thermometer in a calorimetric experiment are necessarily different
from those under which its corrections are determined, and this
difference must inevitably give rise to constant errors in practical
work. The primary consideration in the definition of a unit is to
select that method which permits the highest order of accuracy in
comparison and verification. For this reason the definition of the
thermal unit will in the end probably be referred to a scale of
temperature defined in terms of a standard platinum thermometer.
There is more diversity of opinion with regard to the question of the
standard temperature. Many authors, adopting Regnault's formula, have
selected 0° C. as the standard temperature, but this cannot be
practically realized in the case of water, and his formula is
certainly erroneous at low temperatures. A favourite temperature to
select is 4° C., the temperature of maximum density, since at this
point the specific heat at constant volume is the same as that at
constant pressure But this is really of no consequence, since the
specific heat at constant volume cannot be practically realized. The
specific heat at 4° could be accurately determined at the mean over
the range 0° to 8° keeping the jacket at 0° C. But the change appears
to be rather rapid near 0°, the temperature is inconveniently low for
ordinary calorimetric work, and the unit at 4° would be so much larger
than the specific heat at ordinary temperatures that nearly all
experiments would require reduction. The natural point to select would
be that of minimum specific heat, but if this occurs at 40° C. it
would be inconveniently high for practical realization except by the
continuous electrical method. It was proposed by a committee of the
British Association to select the temperature at which the specific
heat was 4.200 joules, leaving the exact temperature to be
subsequently determined. It was supposed at the time, from the
original reduction of Rowland's experiments, that this would be nearly
at 10° C., but it now appears that it may be as low is 5° C., which
would be inconvenient. This is really only an absolute unit in
disguise, and evades the essential point, which is the selection of a
standard temperature for the water thermometric unit. A similar
objection applies to selecting the temperature at which the specific
heat is equal to its mean value between 0° and 100°. The mean calorie
cannot be accurately realized in practice in any simple manner, and is
therefore unsuitable as a standard of comparison. Its relation to the
calorie at any given temperature, such as 15° or 20°, cannot be
determined with the same degree of accuracy as the ratio of the
specific heat at 15° to that at 20°, if the scale of temperature is
given. The most practical unit is the calorie at 15° or 20° or some
temperature in the range of ordinary practice. The temperature most
generally favoured is 15°, but 20° would be more suitable for accurate
work. These units differ only by 11 parts in 10,000 according to
Callendar and Barnes, or by 13 in 10,000 according to Rowland and
Griffiths, so that the difference between them is of no great
importance for ordinary purposes. But for purposes of definition it
would be necessary to take the mean value of the specific heat _over a
given range_ of temperature, preferably at least 10°, rather than the
specific heat _at a point_ which necessitates reference to some
formula of reduction for the rate of variation. The specific heat at
15° would be determined with reference to the mean over the range 10°
to 20°, and that at 20° from the range 15° to 25°. There can be no
doubt that the range 10° to 20° is too low for the accurate thermal
regulation of the conditions of the experiment. The range 15° to 25°
would be much more convenient from this point of view, and a mean
temperature of 20° is probably nearest the average of accurate
calorimetric work. For instance 20° is the mean of the range of the
experiments of Griffiths and of Rowland, and is close to that of
Schuster and Gannon. It is readily attainable at any time in a modern
laboratory with adequate heating arrangements, and is probably on the
whole the most suitable temperature to select.
§ 17. _Specific Heat of Gases._--In the case of solids and liquids under
ordinary conditions of pressure, the external work of expansion is so
small that it may generally be neglected; but with gases or vapours, or
with liquids near the critical point, the external work becomes so large
that it is essential to specify the conditions under which the specific
heat is measured. The most important cases are, the specific heats (1)
at constant volume; (2) at constant pressure; (3) at saturation pressure
in the case of a liquid or vapour. In consequence of the small thermal
capacity of gases and vapours per unit volume at ordinary pressures, the
difficulties of direct measurement are almost insuperable except in case
(2). Thus the direct experimental evidence is somewhat meagre and
conflicting, but the question of the relation of the specific heats of
gases is one of great interest in connexion with the kinetic theory and
the constitution of the molecule. The well-known experiments of Regnault
and Wiedemann on the specific heat of gases at constant pressure agree
in showing that the _molecular specific heat,_ or the thermal capacity
of the molecular weight in grammes, is approximately independent of the
temperature and pressure in case of the more stable diatomic gases, such
as H2, O2, N2, CO, &c., and has nearly the same value for each gas. They
also indicate that it is much larger, and increases considerably with
rise of temperature, in the case of more condensible vapours, such as
Cl2, Br2, or more complicated molecules, such as CO2, N2O, NH3, C2H4.
The direct determination of the specific heat at constant volume is
extremely difficult, but has been successfully attempted by Joly with
his steam calorimeter, in the case of air and CO2. Employing pressures
between 7 and 27 atmospheres, he found that the specific heat of air
between 10° and 100° C. increased very slightly with increase of
density, but that of CO2 increased nearly 3% between 7 and 21
atmospheres. The following formulae represent his results for the
specific heat s at constant volume in terms of the density d in gms. per
c. c.:--
Air, s = 0.1715 + 0.028d,
CO2, s = 0.165 + 0.213d + 0.34d^2.
§ 18. _Ratio of Specific Heats._--According to the elementary kinetic
theory of an ideal gas, the molecules of which are so small and so far
apart that their mutual actions may be neglected, the kinetic energy
of translation of the molecules is proportional to the absolute
temperature, and is equal to 3/2 of pv, the product of the pressure
and the volume, per unit mass. The expansion per degree at constant
pressure is v/[theta] = R/p. The external work of expansion per degree
is equal to R, being the product of the pressure and the expansion,
and represents the difference of the specific heats S - s, at constant
pressure and volume, assuming as above that the internal work of
expansion is negligible. If the molecules are supposed to be like
smooth, hard, elastic spheres, incapable of receiving any other kind
of energy except that of translation, the specific heat at constant
volume would be the increase per degree of the kinetic energy namely
3pv/2[theta] - 3R/2, that at constant pressure would be 5R/2, and the
ratio of the specific heats would be 5/3 or 1.666. This appears to be
actually the case for monatomic gases such as mercury vapour (Kundt
and Warburg, 1876), argon and helium (Ramsay, 1896). For diatomic or
compound gases Clerk Maxwell supposed that the molecule would also
possess energy of rotation, and endeavoured to prove that in this case
the energy would be equally divided between the six degrees of
freedom, three of translation and three of rotation, if the molecule
were regarded as a rigid body incapable of vibration-energy. In this
case we should have s = 3R, S = 4R, S/s = 4/3 = 1.333. In 1879 Maxwell
considered it one of the greatest difficulties which the kinetic
theory had yet encountered, that in spite of the many other degrees of
freedom of vibration revealed by the spectroscope, the experimental
value of the ratio S/s was 1.40 for so many gases, instead of being
less than 4/3. Somewhat later L. Boltzmann suggested that a diatomic
molecule regarded as a rigid dumb-bell or figure of rotation, might
have only five effective degrees of freedom, since the energy of
rotation about the axis of symmetry could not be altered by collisions
between the molecules. The theoretical value of the ratio S/s in this
case would be the required 7/5. For a rigid molecule on this theory
the smallest value possible would be 4/3. Since much smaller values
are found for more complex molecules, we may suppose that, in these
cases, the energy of rotation of a polyatomic molecule may be greater
than its energy of translation, or else that heat is expended in
splitting up molecular aggregates, and increasing energy of vibration.
A hypothesis doubtfully attributed to Maxwell is that each additional
atom in the molecule is equivalent to two extra degrees of freedom.
From an m-atomic molecule we should then have S/s = 1 + 2/(2m + 1).
This gives a series of ratios 5/3, 7/5, 9/7, 11/9, &c., for 1, 2, 3,
4, &c., atoms in the molecule, values which fall within the limits of
experimental error in many cases. It is not at all clear, however,
that energy of vibration should bear a constant ratio to that of
translation, although this would probably be the case for rotation.
For the simpler gases, which are highly diathermanous and radiate
badly even at high temperature, the energy of vibration is probably
very small, except under the special conditions which produce
luminosity in flames and electric discharges. For such gases, assuming
a constant ratio of rotation to translation, the specific heat at low
pressures would be very nearly constant. For more complex molecules
the radiative and absorptive powers are known to be much greater. The
energy of vibration may be appreciable at ordinary temperatures, and
would probably increase more rapidly than that of translation with
rise of temperature, especially near a point of dissociation. This
would account for an increase of S, and a diminution of the ratio S/s,
with rise of temperature which apparently occurs in many vapours. The
experimental evidence, however, is somewhat conflicting, and further
investigations are very desirable on the variation of specific heat
with temperature. Given the specific heat as a function of the
temperature, its variation with pressure may be determined from the
characteristic equation of the gas. The direct methods of measuring
the ratio S/s, by the velocity of sound and by adiabatic expansion,
are sufficiently described in many text-books.
§ 19. _Atomic and Molecular Heats._--The ideal atomic heat is the
thermal capacity of a gramme-atom in the ideal state of monatomic gas
at constant volume. This would be nearly three calories. For a
diatomic gas, the molecular heat would be nearly five calories, or the
atomic heat of a gas in the diatomic state would be 2.5. Estimated at
constant pressure the atomic heat would be 3.5. Some authors adopt 2.5
and some 3.5 for the ideal atomic heat. The atomic heat of a metal in
the solid state is in most cases larger than six calories at ordinary
temperatures. Considering the wide variations in the physical
condition and melting points, the comparatively close agreement of the
atomic heats of the metals at ordinary temperatures, known as Dulong
and Petit's Law, is very remarkable. The specific heats as a rule
increase with rise of temperature, in some cases, e.g. iron and
nickel, very rapidly. According to W.A. Tilden (_Phil. Trans.,_ 1900),
the atomic heats of pure nickel and cobalt, as determined from
experiments at the boiling-points of O2, and CO2, diminish so rapidly
at temperatures below 0° C. as to suggest that they would reach the
value 2.42 at the absolute zero. This is the value of the minimum of
atomic heat calculated by Perry from diatomic hydrogen, but the
observations themselves might be equally well represented by taking
the imaginary limit 3, since the quantity actually observed is the
mean specific heat between 0° and -182.5° C. Subsequent experiments on
other metals at low temperatures did not indicate a similar diminution
of specific heat, so that it may be doubted whether the atomic heats
really approach the ideal value at the absolute zero. No doubt there
must be approximate relations between the atomic and molecular heats
of similar elements and compounds, but considering the great
variations of specific heat with temperature and physical state, in
alloys, mixtures or solutions, and in allotropic or other
modifications, it would be idle to expect that the specific heat of a
compound could be accurately deduced by any simple additive process
from that of its constituents.
AUTHORITIES.--Joule's _Scientific Papers_ (London, 1890); Ames and
Griffiths, _Reports to the International Congress_ (Paris, 1900), "On
the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat," and "On the Specific Heat of
Water"; Griffiths, _Thermal Measurement of Energy_ (Cambridge, 1901);
Callendar and Barnes, _Phil. Trans._ A, 1901, "On the Variation of the
Specific Heat of Water"; for combustion methods, see article
THERMOCHEMISTRY, and treatises by Thomsen, Pattison-Muir and
Berthelot; see also articles THERMODYNAMICS and VAPORIZATION.
(H. L. C.)
CALOVIUS, ABRAHAM (1612-1686), German Lutheran divine, was born at
Mohrungen in east Prussia, on the 16th of April 1612. After studying at
Königsberg, in 1650 he was appointed professor of theology at
Wittenberg, where he afterwards became general superintendent and
primarius. He died on the 25th of February 1686. Calovius was the most
noteworthy of the champions of Lutheran orthodoxy in the 17th century.
He strongly opposed the Catholics, Calvinists and Socinians, attacked in
particular the reconciliation policy or "syncretism" of Georg Calixtus
(cf. the _Consensus repetitus fidei vere lutheranae,_ 1665), and as a
writer of polemics he had few equals. His chief dogmatic work, _Systema
locorum theologicorum_ (12 vols. 1655-1677), represents the climax of
Lutheran scholasticism. In his _Biblia Illustrata_ (4 vols.), written
from the point of view of a very strict belief in inspiration, his
object is to refute the statements made by Hugo Grotius in his
Commentaries. His _Historia Syncretistica_ (1682) was suppressed.
CALPURNIUS, TITUS, Roman bucolic poet, surnamed SICULUS from his
birthplace or from his imitation of the style of the Sicilian
Theocritus, most probably flourished during the reign of Nero. Eleven
eclogues have been handed down to us under his name, of which the last
four, from metrical considerations and express MS. testimony, are now
generally attributed to Nemesianus (q.v.), who lived in the time of the
emperor Carus and his sons (latter half of the 3rd century A.D.). Hardly
anything is known of the life of Calpurnius; we gather from the poems
themselves (in which he is obviously represented by "Corydon") that he
was in poor circumstances and was on the point of emigrating to Spain,
when "Meliboeus" came to his aid. Through his influence Calpurnius
apparently secured a post at Rome. The time at which Calpurnius lived
has been much discussed, but all the indications seem to point to the
time of Nero. The emperor is described as a handsome youth, like Mars
and Apollo, whose accession marks the beginning of a new golden age,
prognosticated by the appearance of a comet, doubtless the same that
appeared some time before the death of Claudius; he exhibits splendid
games in the amphitheatre (probably the wooden amphitheatre erected by
Nero in 57); and in the words
maternis causam qui vicit Iulis[1] (i. 45),
there is a reference to the speech delivered in Greek by Nero on behalf
of the Ilienses (Suetonius, _Nero_, 7; Tacitus, _Annals_, xii. 58), from
whom the Julii derived their family.[2] Meliboeus, the poet's patron,
has been variously identified with Columella, Seneca the philosopher,
and C. Calpurnius Piso. Although the sphere of Meliboeus's literary
activity (as indicated in iv. 53) suits none of these, what is known of
Calpurnius Piso fits in well with what is said of Meliboeus by the poet,
who speaks of his generosity, his intimacy with the emperor, and his
interest in tragic poetry. His claim is further supported by the poem
_De Laude Pisonis_ (ed. C.F. Weber, 1859) which has come down to us
without the name of the author, but which there is considerable reason
for attributing to Calpurnius.[3] The poem exhibits a striking
similarity with the eclogues in metre, language and subject-matter. The
author of the _Laus_ is young, of respectable family and desirous of
gaining the favour of Piso as his Maecenas. Further, the similarity
between the two names can hardly be accidental; it is suggested that the
poet may have been adopted by the courtier, or that he was the son of a
freedman of Piso. The attitude of the author of the _Laus_ towards the
subject of the panegyric seems to show less intimacy than the relations
between Corydon and Meliboeus in the eclogues, and there is internal
evidence that the _Laus_ was written during the reign of Claudius
(Teuffel-Schwabe, _Hist, of Rom. Lit._ § 306, 6).
Mention may here be made of the fragments of two short hexameter poems
in an Einsiedeln MS., obviously belonging to the time of Nero, which if
not written by Calpurnius, were imitated from him.
Although there is nothing original in Calpurnius, he is "a skilful
literary craftsman." Of his models the chief is Virgil, of whom (under
the name of Tityrus) he speaks with great enthusiasm; he is also
indebted to Ovid and Theocritus. Calpurnius is "a fair scholar, and an
apt courtier, and not devoid of real poetical feeling. The bastard style
of pastoral cultivated by him, in which the description of nature is
made the writer's pretext, while ingenious flattery is his real purpose,
nevertheless excludes genuine pleasure, and consequently genuine
poetical achievement. He may be fairly compared to the minor poets of
the reign of Anne" (Garnett).
Calpurnius was first printed in 1471, together with Silius Italicus
and has been frequently republished, generally with Gratius Faliscus
and Nemesianus. The separate authorship of the eclogues of Calpurnius
and Nemesianus was established by M. Haupt's _De Carminibus bucolicis
Calpurnii et Nemesiani_ (1854). Editions by H. Schenkl (1885), with
full introduction and _index verborum_, and by C.H. Keene (1887), with
introduction, commentary and appendix. English verse translation by
E.J.L. Scott (1891); see H.E. Butler, _Post-Augustan Poetry_ (Oxford,
1909), pp. 150 foil., and F. Skutsch in Pauly-Wissowa's
_Realencyclopädie_, iii. 1 (1897). (J. H. F.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Iulis_ for _in ulnis_ according to the best MS. tradition.
[2] According to Dr R. Garnett (and Mr Greswell, as stated in
Conington's _Virgil_, i. p. 123, note) the emperor referred to is the
younger Gordian (A.D. 238). His arguments in favour of this will be
found in the article on Calpurnius by him in the 9th edition of the
_Encyclopaedia Britannica_ and in the _Journal of Philology_, xvi.,
1888; see in answer J.P. Postgate, "The Comet of Calpurnius Siculus"
in _Classical Review_, June 1902. Dean Merivale (_Hist. of the Romans
under the Empire_, ch. 60) and Pompei, "Intorno al Tempo del Poeta
Calpurnio" in _Atti del Istituto Veneto_, v. 6 (1880), identify the
amphitheatre with the Colosseum (Flavian amphitheatre) and assign
Calpurnius to the reign of Domitian.
[3] It has been variously ascribed to Virgil, Ovid, Lucan, Statius
and Saleius Bassus.
CALTAGIRONE, a city and episcopal see of the province of Catania,
Sicily, situated 1999 ft. above sea-level, 36 m. S.W. of Catania direct
(55 m. by rail). Pop. (1881) 25,978; (1901) town 35,116; commune 45,956.
It is well built, and is said to be the most civilized provincial town
in Sicily. Extensive Sicel cemeteries have been explored to the north of
the town (_Not. Scavi_, 1904, 65), and a Greek necropolis of the 6th and
5th centuries B.C. has been found to the south-east (_ibid._ 132).
Remains of buildings of Roman date have also been discovered; but the
name of the ancient city which stood here is unknown. The present name
is a corruption of the Saracen _Kalat-al-Girche_ (the castle of Girche,
the chieftain who fortified it).
CALTANISETTA, a town and episcopal see of Sicily, the capital of a
province of the same name, 60 m. S.E. of Palermo direct and 83 m. by
rail, situated 1930 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 43,303. The town is
of Saracenic origin, as its name _Kalat-al-Nisa_, the "Ladies' Castle,"
indicates, and some ruins of the old castle (called _Pietrarossa_) still
exist. Otherwise the town contains no buildings of artistic or
historical interest, but it commands striking views. It is the centre of
the Sicilian sulphur industry and the seat of a royal school of mines.
Two miles east is the interesting Norman abbey of S. Spirito.
CALTROP (from the Mid. Eng. _calketrappe_, probably derived from the
Lat. _calx_, a heel, and _trappa_, Late Lat. for a snare), an iron ball,
used as an obstacle against cavalry, with four spikes so arranged, that
however placed in or on the ground, one spike always points upwards. It
is also the botanical name for several species of thistles.
CALUIRE-ET-CUIRE, a town of eastern France, in the department of Rhone,
2½ m. N. by E. of Lyons by rail. Pop. (1906) 9255. It has manufactures
of coarse earthenware and hard-ware, copper and bronze foundries and
nursery-gardens.
CALUMET (Norm. Fr. form of _chalumet_, from Lat. _calamus_, a reed), the
name given by the French in Canada to the "peace-pipe" of the American
Indians. This pipe occupied among the tribes a position of peculiar
symbolic significance, and was the object of profound veneration. It was
smoked on all ceremonial occasions, even on declarations of war, but its
special use was at the making of treaties of peace. It was usually about
2½ ft. long, and in the west the bowl was made of red pipes tone
(catlinite), a fine-grained, easily-worked stone of a rich red colour
found chiefly in the Côteau des Prairies west of Big Stone Lake, Dakota.
The quarries were formerly neutral ground among the warring Indian
tribes, many sacred traditions being associated with the locality and
its product (Longfellow, _Hiawatha_, i.). The pipe stem was of reed
decorated with eagles' quills or women's hair. Native tobacco mixed with
willow-bark or sumac leaves was smoked. The pipe was offered as a
supreme proof of hospitality to distinguished strangers, and its refusal
was regarded as a grievous affront. In the east and south-east, the bowl
was of white stone, sometimes pierced with several stem holes so that
many persons might smoke at once.
See Joseph D. Macguire (exhaustive report,640 pages), "Pipes and
Smoking Customs of the American Aborigines" in _Smithsonian Report_
(American Bureau of Ethnology) for 1897, vol. i.; and authorities
quoted in _Handbook of American Indians_ (Washington, 1907).
CALUMPIT, a town of the province of Bulacán, Luzon, Philippine Islands,
at the junction of the Quiñgua river with the Rio Grande de la Pampanga,
about 25 m. N.W. of Manila. Pop. (1903) 13,897. It is served by the
Manila & Dagupan railway, and the bridge across the Rio Grande is one of
the longest in the Philippines. The surrounding country is a fertile
plain, producing large quantities of rice, as well as sugar, Indian corn
and a variety of fruits. Calumpit has a large rice-mill and one of the
largest markets in the Philippines. The bridge, convent and church of
the town were fired and completely destroyed by insurgent troops in
1899. The language is Tagalog.
CALVADOS, a department of north-western France, formed in 1790 out of
Bessin, Cinglais, Hiémois, Bocage, the Campagne de Caen, Auge and the
western part of Lieuvin. Pop. (1906) 403,431. Area, 2197 sq. m. It
received its name from a ledge of rocks, stretching along the coast for
a distance of about 15 m. between the mouths of the rivers Orne and
Vire. It is bounded N. by the English Channel, E. by the department of
Eure, S. by that of Orne, W. by that of Manche. The Bocage, or
south-western part of the department, is elevated, being crossed from
south-east to north-west by the hills of Normandy, the highest of which
is 1197 ft.; the rest of the surface is gently undulating, and consists
of extensive valleys watered by numerous streams which fall into the
English Channel. The coast, formed by cliffs, sandy beaches or reefs, is
generally inaccessible, except at the mouths of the principal rivers,
such as the Touques, the Dives, the Orne and the Vire, which are
navigable at high tide for several miles inland. Trouville is the chief
of the numerous coast resorts. The climate, though humid and variable,
is healthy. The raising of cattle, sheep and horses is the mainstay of
the agriculture of the department. Pasture is good and abundant in the
east and north-west, and there is a large export trade in the butter,
eggs and cheese (Camembert, Livarot, Pont l'Evêque) of these districts,
carried on by Honfleur, Isigny and other ports. The plain of Caen is a
great centre for horse breeding. Wheat, oats, barley, colza and potatoes
are the chief crops. The orchards of Auge and Bessin produce a superior
kind of cider, of which upwards of 40,000,000 gallons are made in the
department; a large quantity of cider brandy (eau-de-vie de Calvados) is
distilled. Poultry to a considerable amount is sent to the Paris
markets, and there is a large output of honey and wax. The spinning and
weaving of wool and cotton are the chief industries. Besides these,
paper-mills, oil-mills, tanneries, saw-mills, shipbuilding yards,
rope-works, dye-works, distilleries and bleach-fields, scattered
throughout the department, give employment to a number of hands. There
are productive iron-mines and building-stone, slate and lime are
plentiful. Fisheries, chiefly of lobster, oyster (Courseulles), herring
and mackerel, are prosecuted. Coal, timber, grain, salt-fish and cement
are among the imports; exports include iron, dairy products and sand.
Caen and Honfleur are the most important commercial ports. There is a
canal 9 m. in length from Caen to Ouistreham on the coast. The
department is served by the Ouest-Êtat railway. It is divided into the
six arrondissements (38 cantons, 763 communes) of Caen, Falaise, Bayeux,
Vire, Lisieux and Pont l'Evêque. Caen, the capital, is the seat of a
court of appeal and the centre of an _académie_ (educational division).
The department forms the diocese of Bayeux, in the ecclesiastical
province of Rouen, and belongs to the region of the III. army-corps. The
other principal towns are Falaise, Lisieux, Condé-sur-Noireau, Vire,
Honfleur and Trouville (q.v.).
Amongst the great number of medieval churches which the department
possesses, the fine Gothic church of St. Pierre-sur-Dives is second in
importance only to those of Lisieux and Bayeux; that of Norrey, a good
example of the Norman-Gothic style, and that of Tour-en-Bessin, in which
Romanesque and Gothic architecture are mingled, are of great interest.
Fontaine-Henri has a fine château of the 15th and 16th centuries.
CALVART, DENIS (1540-1619), Flemish painter, was born at Antwerp. After
studying landscape-painting for some time in his native city he went to
Bologna, where he perfected himself in the anatomy of the human form
under Prospero Fontana, and so completely lost the mannerism of Flemish
art that his paintings appear to be the work of an Italian. From Bologna
he went to Rome, where he assisted Lorenzo Sabbatini (1533-1577) in his
works for the papal palace, and devoted much of his time to copying and
studying the works of Raphael. He ultimately returned to Bologna and
founded a school, of which the greatest ornaments are Guido and
Domenichino. His works are especially admired for the power of grouping
and colouring which they display.
CALVARY, the conventional English rendering of the _calvaria_ of the
Vulgate, the Latin version of the Greek _[Greek: kranion]_, both meaning
"skull" and representing the Hebrew Golgotha, the name given to the
scene of Christ's crucifixion. The term "a Calvary" is applied to a
sculptured representation of the Crucifixion, either inside a church, or
adjoining one in the open air. There are many examples of the latter in
France, Italy and Spain. Among the most important are the Sacro Monte
(1486) at Varallo in Piedmont, and those at Guimiliau (1581), Plougastel
(1602), St Thegonnec (1610), and Pleyben near Quimper (1670), in
Brittany, all in good preservation.
CALVÉ EMMA (1864- ), Spanish operatic soprano, was born at Madrid, and
trained in Paris, making her first important appearance in opera at
Brussels in 1882. She sang mainly in Paris for some years, but in 1892
was first engaged at Covent Garden, London, and at once became famous as
the most vivid Carmen (in Bizet's opera) of the day.
CALVERLEY, CHARLES STUART (1831-1884), English poet and wit, and the
literary father of what may be called the university school of humour,
was born at Martley in Worcestershire on the 22nd of December 1831. His
father, the Rev. Henry Blayds, resumed in 1852 the old family name of
Calverley, which his grandfather had exchanged for Blayds in 1807. It
was as Charles Stuart Blayds that most of the son's university
distinctions were attained. He went up to Balliol from Harrow in 1850,
and was soon known in Oxford as the most daring and most high-spirited
undergraduate of his time. He was a universal favourite, a delightful
companion, a brilliant scholar and the playful enemy of all "dons." In
1851 he won the Chancellor's prize for Latin verse, and it is said that
the entire exercise was written in an afternoon, when his friends had
locked him into his rooms, declining to let him out till he had finished
what they were confident would prove the prize poem. A year later he
took his name off the books, to avoid the consequences of a college
escapade, and migrated to Christ's College, Cambridge. Here he was again
successful in Latin verse, and remains the unique example of an
undergraduate who has won the Chancellor's prize at both universities.
In 1856 he took second place in the first class in the Classical Tripos.
He was elected fellow of Christ's (1858), published _Verses and
Translations_ in 1862, and was called to the bar in 1865. Owing to an
accident while skating he was prevented from following up a professional
career, and during the last years of his life he was an invalid. His
_Translations into English and Latin_ appeared in 1866; his _Theocritus
translated into English Verse_ in 1869; _Fly Leaves_ in 1872; and
_Literary Remains_ in 1885. He died on the 17th of February 1884.
Calverley was one of the most brilliant men of his day; and, had he
enjoyed health, might have achieved distinction in any career he chose.
Constitutionally indolent, he was endowed with singular gifts in every
department of culture; he was a scholar, a musician, an athlete and a
brilliant talker. What is left us marks only a small portion of his
talent, but his sparkling, dancing verses, which have had many clever
imitators, are still without a rival in their own line. His humour was
illumined by good nature; his satire was keen but kind; his laughter was
of that human sort which is often on the verge of tears. Imbued with the
classical spirit, he introduced into the making of light verse the
polish and elegance of the great masters, and even in its most whimsical
mood his verse is raised to the level of poetry by the saving excellence
of style.
His _Complete Works,_ with a biographical notice by Sir W.J. Sendall,
appeared in 1901. (A. Wa.)
CALVERT, the name of three English artists: Charles (1785-1852), a
well-known landscape-painter; Edward (1803-1883), an important
wood-engraver and follower of Blake; and Frederick, an excellent
topographical draughtsman, whose work in water-colour is represented at
the Victoria and Albert Museum, and who published a volume of
_Picturesque Views in Staffordshire and Shropshire_ (1830).
CALVERT, FREDERICK CRACE (1819-1873), English chemist, was born in
London on the 14th of November 1819. From about 1836 till 1846 he lived
in France, where, after a course of study at Paris, he became manager of
some chemical works, later acting as assistant to M.E. Chevreul. On his
return to England he settled in Manchester as a consulting chemist, and
was appointed professor of chemistry at the Royal Institution in that
city. Devoting himself almost entirely to industrial chemistry, he gave
much attention to the manufacture of coal-tar products, and particularly
carbolic acid, for the production of which he established large works in
Manchester in 1865. Besides contributing extensively to the English and
French scientific journals, he published a work on _Dyeing and
Calico-Printing._ He died in Manchester on the 24th of October 1873.
CALVERT, SIR HARRY, BART. (c. 1763-1826), British general, was probably
born early in 1763 at Hampton, near London. He was educated at Harrow,
and at the age of fifteen entered the army. In the following year he
served with his regiment in America, being present at the siege of
Charleston, and serving through the campaign of Lord Cornwallis which
ended with the surrender of Yorktown. From 1781 to 1783 he was a
prisoner of war. Returning to England in 1784, he next saw active
service in 1793-1794 in the Low Countries, where he was aide-de-camp to
the duke of York, and in 1795 was engaged on a confidential mission to
Brunswick and Berlin. In 1799, having already served as deputy adjutant
general, he was made adjutant general, holding the post till 1818. In
this capacity he effected many improvements in the organization and
discipline of the service. He greatly improved the administration of the
army medical and hospital department, introduced regimental schools,
developed the two existing military colleges (since united at
Sandhurst), and was largely responsible for the founding of the Duke of
York's school, Chelsea. In recognition of his work as adjutant general
he was made a G.C.B. (1815), and, on retiring from office, received a
baronetcy (1818). In 1820 he was made governor of Chelsea hospital. He
died on the 3rd of September 1826, at Middle Claydon, Buckinghamshire.
CALVES' HEAD CLUB, a club established shortly after his death in
derision of the memory of Charles I. Its chief meeting was held on the
30th of each January, the anniversary of the king's execution, when the
dishes served were a cod's head to represent the individual, Charles
Stuart; a pike representing tyranny; a boar's head representing the king
preying on his subjects; and calves' heads representing Charles as king
and his adherents. On the table an axe held the place of honour. After
the banquet a copy of the king's _Ikon Basilike_ was burnt, and the
toast was "To those worthy patriots who killed the tyrant." After the
Restoration the club met secretly. The first mention of it is in a tract
reprinted in the _Harleian Miscellany_ entitled "The Secret History of
the Calves' Head Club." The club survived till 1734, when the diners
were mobbed owing to the popular ill-feeling which their outrages on
good taste provoked, and the riot which ensued put a final stop to the
meetings.
CALVI, a sea-port in Corsica, capital of an arrondissement in the N.W.
of the island, 112 m. N. of Ajaccio by road. Pop. (1906) 1967. It is
situated on the Bay of Calvi, in a malarial region, and is the port in
Corsica nearest to France, being 109 m. from Antibes; the harbour,
however, is exposed to the east and north-east winds. The modern town
lies at the foot of a rock, on which stands the old town with its steep
rock-paved streets and fortified walls, commanded by the Fort Muzello.
Fishing is carried on, and timber, oil, wine, lemons and other
sub-tropical fruits are exported to some extent. The most important
buildings are the old palace of the Genoese governor, used as barracks,
and the church (16th century), with the monument of the Baglioni
family, which was intimately associated with the history of the town.
Calvi was founded in the 13th century and in 1278 passed into the hands
of the Genoese. From that date it was remarkable for its adherence to
their side, especially in 1553 when it repulsed two attacks of the
united forces of the French and Turks. In recognition thereof the
Genoese senate caused the words _Civitas Calvi semper fidelis_ to be
carved on the chief gate of the city, which still preserves the
inscription. In 1794 Calvi was captured by the English, but it was
retaken by the Corsicans in the following year.
CALVIN, JOHN (1500-1564), Swiss divine and reformer, was born at Noyon,
in Picardy, on the 10th of July 1509. His father, Gérard Cauvin or
Calvin,[1] was a notary-apostolic and procurator-fiscal for the lordship
of Noyon, besides holding certain ecclesiastical offices in connexion
with that diocese. The name of his mother was Jeanne le Franc; she was
the daughter of an innkeeper at Cambrai, who afterwards came to reside
at Noyon. Gérard Cauvin was esteemed as a man of considerable sagacity
and prudence, and his wife was a godly and attractive lady. She bore him
five sons, of whom John was the second. By a second wife there were two
daughters.
Of Calvin's early years only a few notices remain. His father destined
him from the first for an ecclesiastical career, and paid for his
education in the household of the noble family of Hangest de Montmor. In
May 1521 he was appointed to a chaplaincy attached to the altar of La
Gésine in the cathedral of Noyon, and received the tonsure. The actual
duties of the office were in such cases carried out by ordained and
older men for a fraction of the stipend. The plague having visited
Noyon, the young Hangests were sent to Paris in August 1523, and Calvin
accompanied them, being enabled to do so by the income received from his
benefice. He lived with his uncle and attended as an out-student the
Collège de la Marche, at that time under the regency of Mathurin
Cordier, a man of character, learning and repute as a teacher, who in
later days followed his pupil to Switzerland, taught at Neuchâtel, and
died in Geneva in 1564. In dedicating to him his _Commentary on the
First Epistle to the Thessalonians,_ as "eximiae pietatis et doctrinae
viro," he declares that so had he been aided by his instruction that
whatever subsequent progress he had made he only regarded as received
from him, and "this," he adds, "I wish to testify to posterity that if
any utility accrue to any from my writings they may acknowledge it as
having in part flowed from thee." From the Collège de la Marche he
removed to the Collège de Montaigu,[2] where the atmosphere was more
ecclesiastical and where he had for instructor a Spaniard who is
described as a man of learning and to whom Calvin was indebted for some
sound training in dialectics and the scholastic philosophy. He speedily
outstripped all his competitors in grammatical studies, and by his skill
and acumen as a student of philosophy, and in the college disputations
gave fruitful promise of that consummate excellence as a reasoner in the
department of speculative truth which he afterwards displayed. Among his
friends were the Hangests (especially Claude), Nicolas and Michel Cop,
sons of the king's Swiss physician, and his own kinsman Pierre Robert,
better known as Olivétan. Such friendships testify both to the worth and
the attractiveness of his character, and contradict the old legend that
he was an unsociable misanthrope. Pleased with his success, the canons
at Noyon gave him the curacy of St Martin de Marteville in September
1527. After holding this preferment for nearly two years, he exchanged
it in July 1529 for the cure of Pont L'Évêque, a village near to Noyon,
and the place to which his father originally belonged. He appears to
have been not a little elated by his early promotion, and although not
ordained, he preached several sermons to the people. But though the
career of ecclesiastical preferment was thus early opened to him, Calvin
was destined not to become a priest. A change came over the mind both of
his father and himself respecting his future career. Gérard Cauvin began
to suspect that he had not chosen the most lucrative profession for his
son, and that the law offered to a youth of his talents and industry a
more promising sphere.[3] He was also now out of favour with the
cathedral chapter at Noyon. It is said also that John himself, on the
advice of his relative, Pierre Robert Olivétan, the first translator of
the Bible into French, had begun to study the Scriptures and to dissent
from the Roman worship. At any rate he readily complied with his
father's suggestion, and removed from Paris to Orleans (March 1528) in
order to study law under Pierre Taisan de l'Etoile, the most
distinguished jurisconsult of his day. The university atmosphere here
was less ascetic than at Paris, but Calvin's ardour knew no slackening,
and such was his progress in legal knowledge that he was frequently
called upon to lecture, in the absence of one or other of the regular
staff. Other studies, however, besides those of law occupied him while
in this city, and moved by the humanistic spirit of the age he eagerly
developed his classical knowledge. "By protracted vigils," says Beza,
"he secured indeed a solid erudition and an excellent memory; but it is
probable he at the same time sowed the seeds of that disease (dyspepsia)
which occasioned him various illnesses in after life, and at last
brought upon him premature death."[4] His friends here were Melchior
Wolmar, a German schoolmaster and a man of exemplary scholarship and
character, François Daniel, Francois de Connam and Nicolas Duchemin; to
these his earliest letters were written.
From Orleans Calvin went to Bourges in the autumn of 1529 to continue
his studies under the brilliant Italian, Andrea Alciati (1492-1550),
whom Francis I. had invited into France and settled as a professor of
law in that university. His friend Daniel went with him, and Wolmar
followed a year later. By Wolmar Calvin was taught Greek, and introduced
to the study of the New Testament in the original, a service which he
gratefully acknowledges in one of his printed works.[5] The conversation
of Wolmar may also have been of use to him in his consideration of the
doctrines of the Reformation, which were now beginning to be widely
diffused through France. Twelve years had elapsed since Luther had
published his theses against indulgences--twelve years of intense
excitement and anxious discussion, not in Germany only, but in almost
all the adjacent countries. In France there had not been as yet any
overt revolt against the Church of Rome, but multitudes were in sympathy
with any attempt to improve the church by education, by purer morals, by
better preaching and by a return to the primitive and uncorrupted faith.
Though we cannot with Beza regard Calvin at this time as a centre of
Protestant activity, he may well have preached at Lignières as a
reformatory Catholic of the school of Erasmus. Calvin's own record of
his "conversion" is so scanty and devoid of chronological data that it
is extremely difficult to trace his religious development with any
certainty. But it seems probable that at least up to 1532 he was far
more concerned about classical scholarship than about religion.
His residence at Bourges was cut short by the death of his father in May
1531. Immediately after this event he went to Paris, where the "new
learning" was now at length ousting the medieval scholasticism from the
university. He lodged in the Collège Fortet, reading Greek with Pierre
Danès and beginning Hebrew with François Vatable. It was at this time
(April 1532) that Calvin issued his first publication, a commentary in
Latin on Seneca's tract _De Clementia_. This book he published at his
own cost, and dedicated to Claude Hangest, abbot of St Éloi, a member of
the de Montmor family, with whom Calvin had been brought up. It was
formerly thought that Calvin published this work with a view to
influence the king to put a stop to the attacks on the Protestants, but
there is nothing in the treatise itself or in the commentary to favour
this opinion.
Soon after the publication of his first book Calvin returned to Orleans,
where he stayed for a year, perhaps again reading law, and still
undecided as to his life's work. He visited Noyon in August 1533, and by
October of the same year was settled again in Paris. Here and now his
destiny became certain. The conservative theology was becoming
discredited, and humanists like Jacques Lefèvre of Étaples (Faber
Stapulensis) and Gérard Roussel were favoured by the court under the
influence of Margaret of Angoulême, queen of Navarre and sister of
Francis I. Calvin's old friend, Nicolas Cop, had just been elected
rector of the university and had to deliver an oration according to
custom in the church of the Mathurins, on the feast of All Saints. The
oration (certainly influenced but hardly composed by Calvin) was in
effect a defence of the reformed opinions, especially of the doctrine of
justification by faith alone. It is to the period between April 1532 and
November 1533, and in particular to the time of his second sojourn at
Orleans, that we may most fittingly assign the great change in Calvin
which he describes (_Praef. ad Psalmos_; opera xxxi. 21-24) as his
"sudden conversion" and attributes to direct divine agency. It must have
been at least after his _Commentary on Seneca's De Clementia_ that his
heart was "so subdued and reduced to docility that in comparison with
his zeal for true piety he regarded all other studies with indifference,
though not entirely forsaking them. Though himself a beginner, many
flocked to him to learn the pure doctrine, and he began to seek some
hiding-place and means of withdrawal from people." This indeed was
forced upon him, for Cop's address was more than the conservative party
could bear, and Cop, being summoned to appear before the parlement of
Paris, found it necessary, as he failed to secure the support either of
the king, or of the university, to make his escape to Basel. An attempt
was at the same time made to seize Calvin, but, being forewarned of the
design by his friends, he also made his escape. His room in the Collège
Fortet, however, was searched, and his books and papers seized, to the
imminent peril of some of his friends, whose letters were found in his
repositories. He went to Noyon, but, proceedings against him being
dropped, soon returned to Paris. But desiring both security and solitude
for study he left the city again about New Year of 1534 and became the
guest of Louis du Tillet, a canon of the cathedral, at Angoulême, where
at the request of his host he prepared some short discourses, which were
circulated in the surrounding parishes, and read in public to the
people. Here, too in du Tillet's splendid library, he began the studies
which resulted in his great work, the _Institutes_, and paid a visit to
Nérac, where the venerable Lefèvre, whose revised translation of the
Bible into French was published about this time, was spending his last
years under the kindly care of Margaret of Navarre.
Calvin was now nearly twenty-five years of age, and in the ordinary way
would have been ordained to the priesthood. Up till this time his work
for the evangelical cause was not so much that of the public preacher or
reformer as that of the retiring but influential scholar and adviser.
Now, however, he had to decide whether, like Roussel and other of his
friends, he should strive to combine the new doctrines with a position
in the old church, or whether he should definitely break away from Rome.
His mind was made up, and on the 4th of May he resigned his chaplaincy
at Noyon and his rectorship at Pont l'Évêque. Towards the end of the
same month he was arrested and suffered two short terms of imprisonment,
the charges against him being not strong enough to be pressed. He seems
to have gone next to Paris, staying perhaps with Étienne de la Forge, a
Protestant merchant who suffered for his faith in February 1535. To this
time belongs the story of the proposed meeting between Calvin and the
Spanish reformer Servetus. Calvin's movements at this time are difficult
to trace, but he visited both Orleans and Poitiers, and each visit
marked a stage in his development.
The Anabaptists of Germany had spread into France, and were
disseminating many wild and fanatical opinions among those who had
seceded from the Church of Rome. Among other notions which they had
imbibed was that of a sleep of the soul after death. To Calvin this
notion appeared so pernicious that he composed a treatise in refutation
of it, under the title of _Psychopannychia_. The preface to this
treatise is dated Orleans 1534, but it was not printed till 1542. In it
he chiefly dwells upon the evidence from Scripture in favour of the
belief that the soul retains its intelligent consciousness after its
separation from the body--passing by questions of philosophical
speculation, as tending on such a subject only to minister to an idle
curiosity. At Poitiers Calvin gathered round him a company of cultured
and gentle men whom in private intercourse he influenced considerably.
Here too in a grotto near the town he for the first time celebrated the
communion in the Evangelical Church of France, using a piece of the rock
as a table.
The year 1534 was thus decisive for Calvin. From this time forward his
influence became supreme, and all who had accepted the reformed
doctrines in France turned to him for counsel and instruction, attracted
not only by his power as a teacher, but still more, perhaps because they
saw in him so full a development of the Christian life according to the
evangelical model. Renan, no prejudiced judge, pronounces him "the most
Christian man of his time," and attributes to this his success as a
reformer. Certain it is that already he had become conspicuous as a
prophet of the new religion; his life was in danger, and he was obliged
to seek safety in flight. In company with his friend Louis du Tillet,
whom he had again gone to Angoulême to visit, he set out for Basel. On
their way they were robbed by one of their servants, and it was only by
borrowing ten crowns from their other servant that they were enabled to
get to Strassburg, and thence to Basel. Here Calvin was welcomed by the
band of scholars and theologians who had conspired to make that city the
Athens of Switzerland, and especially by Oswald Myconius, the chief
pastor, Pierre Viret and Heinrich Bullinger. Under the aupices and
guidance of Sebastian Münster, Calvin now gave himself to the study of
Hebrew.
Francis I., desirous to continue the suppression of the Protestants but
anxious, because of his strife with Charles V., not to break with the
Protestant princes of Germany, instructed his ambassador to assure these
princes that it was only against Anabaptists, and other parties who
called in question all civil magistracy, that his severities were
exercised. Calvin, indignant at the calumny which was thus cast upon the
reformed party in France, hastily prepared for the press his _Institutes
of the Christian Religion_, which he published "first that I might
vindicate from unjust affront my brethren whose death was precious in
the sight of the Lord, and, next, that some sorrow and anxiety should
move foreign peoples, since the same sufferings threatened many." The
work was dedicated to the king, and Calvin says he wrote it in Latin
that it might find access to the learned in all lands.[6] Soon after it
appeared he set about translating it into French, as he himself attests
in a letter dated October 1536. This sets at rest a question, at one
time much agitated, whether the book appeared first in French or in
Latin. The earliest French edition known is that of 1540, and this was
after the work had been much enlarged, and several Latin editions had
appeared. In its first form the work consisted of only six chapters, and
was intended merely as a brief manual of Christian doctrine. The
chapters follow a traditional scheme of religious teaching: (1) The Law,
(as in the Ten Words), (2) Faith (as in the Apostles' Creed) (3) Prayer,
(4) the Sacraments; to these were added (5) False Sacraments, (6)
Christian liberty, ecclesiastical power and civil administration. The
closing chapters of the work are more polemical than the earlier ones.
His indebtedness to Luther is of course great, but his spiritual kinship
with Martin Bucer of Strassburg is even more marked. Something also he
owed to Scotus and other medieval schoolmen. The book appeared
anonymously, the author having, as he himself says, nothing in view
beyond furnishing a statement of the faith of the persecuted
Protestants, whom he saw cruelly cut to pieces by impious and perfidious
court parasites.[7] In this work, though produced when the author was
only twenty-six years of age, we find a complete outline of the
Calvinist theological system. In none of the later editions, nor in any
of his later works do we find reason to believe that he ever changed his
views on any essential point from what they were at the period of its
first publication. Such an instance of maturity of mind and of opinion
at so early an age would be remarkable under any circumstances; but in
Calvin's case it is rendered peculiarly so by the shortness of the time
which had elapsed since he gave himself to theological studies. It may
be doubted also if the history of literature presents us with another
instance of a book written at so early an age, which has exercised such
a prodigious influence upon the opinions and practices both of
contemporaries and of posterity.
After a short visit (April 1536) to the court of Renée, duchess of
Ferrara (cousin to Margaret of Navarre), which at that time afforded an
asylum to several learned and pious fugitives from persecution, Calvin
returned through Basel to France to arrange his affairs before finally
taking farewell of his native country. His intention was to settle at
Strassburg or Basel, and to devote himself to study. But being unable,
in consequence of the war between Francis I. and Charles V., to reach
Strassburg by the ordinary route, he with his younger brother Antoine
and his half-sister Marie journeyed to Lyons and so to Geneva, making
for Basel. In Geneva his progress was arrested, and his resolution to
pursue the quiet path of studious research was dispelled by what he
calls the "formidable obtestation" of Guillaume Farel.[8] After many
struggles and no small suffering, this energetic spirit had succeeded in
planting the evangelical standard at Geneva; and anxious to secure the
aid of such a man as Calvin, he entreated him on his arrival to
relinquish his design of going farther, and to devote himself to the
work in that city. Calvin at first declined, alleging as an excuse his
need of securing more time for personal improvement, but ultimately,
believing that he was divinely called to this task and that "God had
stretched forth His hand upon me from on high to arrest me," he
consented to remain at Geneva. He hurried to Basel, transacted some
business, and returned to Geneva in August 1536. He at once began to
expound the epistles of St Paul in the church of St Pierre, and after
about a year was also elected preacher by the magistrates with the
consent of the people, an office which he would not accept until it had
been repeatedly pressed upon him. His services seem to have been
rendered for some time gratuitously, for in February 1537 there is an
entry in the city registers to the effect that six crowns had been voted
to him, "since he has as yet hardly received anything."
Calvin was in his twenty-eighth year when he was thus constrained to
settle at Geneva; and in this city the rest of his life, with the
exception of a brief interval, was spent. The post to which he was thus
called was not an easy one. Though the people of Geneva had cast off the
obedience of Rome, it was largely a political revolt against the duke of
Savoy, and they were still (says Beza) "but very imperfectly enlightened
in divine knowledge; they had as yet hardly emerged from the filth of
the papacy."[9] This laid them open to the incursions of those fanatical
teachers, whom the excitement attendant upon the Reformation had called
forth, and who hung mischievously upon the rear of the reforming body.
To obviate the evils thence resulting, Calvin, in union with Farel, drew
up a condensed statement of Christian doctrine consisting of twenty-one
articles. This the citizens were summoned, in parties of ten each, to
profess and swear to as the confession of their faith--a process which,
though not in accordance with modern notions of the best way of
establishing men in the faith, was gone through, Calvin tells us, "with
much satisfaction." As the people took this oath in the capacity of
_citizens_, we may see here the basis laid for that theocratic system
which subsequently became peculiarly characteristic of the Genevan
polity. Deeply convinced of the importance of education for the young,
Calvin and his coadjutors were solicitous to establish schools
throughout the city, and to enforce on parents the sending of their
children to them; and as he had no faith in education apart from
religious training, he drew up a catechism of Christian doctrine which
the children had to learn whilst they were receiving secular
instruction. Of the troubles which arose from fanatical teachers, the
chief proceeded from the efforts of the Anabaptists; a public
disputation was held on the 16th and 17th of March 1537, and so excited
the populace that the Council of Two Hundred stopped it, declared the
Anabaptists vanquished and drove them from the city. About the same time
also, the peace of Calvin and his friends was much disturbed and their
work interrupted by Pierre Caroli, another native of northern France,
who, though a man of loose principle and belief, had been appointed
chief pastor at Lausanne and was discrediting the good work done by
Pierre Viret in that city. Calvin went to Viret's aid and brought Caroli
before the commissioners of Bern on a charge of advocating prayers for
the dead as a means of their earlier resurrection. Caroli brought a
counter-charge against the Geneva divines of Sabellianism and Arianism,
because they would not enforce the Athanasian creed, and had not used
the words "Trinity" and "Person" in the confession they had drawn up. It
was a struggle between the thoroughgoing humanistic reformer who drew
his creed solely from the "word of God" and the merely semi-Protestant
reformer who looked on the old creed as a priceless heritage. In a synod
held at Bern the matter was fully discussed, when a verdict was given in
favour of the Geneva divines, and Caroli deposed from his office and
banished. He returned to France, rejoined the Roman communion and spent
the rest of his life in passing to and from the old faith and the new.
Thus ended an affair which seems to have occasioned Calvin much more
uneasiness than the character of his assailant, and the manifest
falsehood of the charge brought against him, would seem to justify. Two
brief anti-Romanist tracts, one entitled _De fugiendis impiorum sacris,_
the other _De sacerdotio papali abjiciendo,_ were also published early
in this year.
Hardly was the affair of Caroli settled, when new and severer trials
came upon the Genevan Reformers. The austere simplicity of the ritual
which Farel had introduced, and to which Calvin had conformed; the
strictness with which the ministers sought to enforce not only the laws
of morality, but certain sumptuary regulations respecting the dress and
mode of living of the citizens; and their determination in spiritual
matters and ecclesiastical ceremonies not to submit to the least
dictation from the civil power, led to violent dissensions. Amidst much
party strife Calvin perhaps showed more youthful impetuosity than
experienced skill. He and his colleagues refused to administer the
sacrament in the Bernese form, i.e. with unleavened bread, and on Easter
Sunday, 1538, declined to do so at all because of the popular tumult.
For this they were banished from the city. They went first to Bern, and
soon after to Zürich, where a synod of the Swiss pastors had been
convened. Before this assembly they pleaded their cause, and stated what
were the points on which they were prepared to insist as needful for the
proper discipline of the church. They declared that they would yield in
the matter of ceremonies so far as to employ unleavened bread in the
eucharist, to use fonts in baptism, and to allow festival days, provided
the people might pursue their ordinary avocations after public service.
These Calvin regarded as matters of indifference, provided the
magistrates did not make them of importance, by seeking to enforce them;
and he was the more willing to concede them, because he hoped thereby to
meet the wishes of the Bernese brethren whose ritual was less simple
than that established by Farel at Geneva. But he and his colleagues
insisted, on the other hand that for the proper maintenance of
discipline, there should be a division of parishes--that
excommunications should be permitted, and should be under the power of
elders chosen by the council, in conjunction with the clergy--that
order should be observed in the admission of preachers--and that only
the clergy should officiate in ordination by the laying on of hands. It
was proposed also, as conducive to the welfare of the church, that the
sacrament of the Lord's Supper should be administered more frequently,
at least once every month, and that congregational singing of psalms
should be practised in the churches. On these terms the synod interceded
with the Genevese to restore their pastors; but through the opposition
of some of the Bernese (especially Peter Kuntz, the pastor of that city)
this was frustrated, and a second edict of banishment was the only
response.
Calvin and Farel betook themselves, under these circumstances, to Basel,
where they soon after separated, Farel to go to Neuchâtel and Calvin to
Strassburg. At the latter place Calvin resided till the autumn of 1541,
occupying himself partly in literary exertions, partly as a preacher and
especially an organizer in the French church, and partly as a lecturer
on theology. These years were not the least valuable in his experience.
In 1539 he attended Charles V.'s conference on Christian reunion at
Frankfort as the companion of Bucer, and in the following year he
appeared at Hagenau and Worms, as the delegate from the city of
Strassburg. He was present also at the diet at Regensburg, where he
deepened his acquaintance with Melanchthon, and formed with him a
friendship which lasted through life. He also did something to relieve
the persecuted Protestants of France. It is to this period of his life
that we owe a revised and enlarged form of his _Institutes_, his
_Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans_, and his _Tract on the Lord's
Supper_. Notwithstanding his manifold engagements, he found time to
attend to the tenderer affections; for it was during his residence at
Strassburg that he married, in August 1540, Idelette de Bure, the widow
of one Jean Stordeur of Liége, whom he had converted from Anabaptism. In
her Calvin found, to use his own words, "the excellent companion of his
life," a "precious help" to him amid his manifold labours and frequent
infirmities. She died in 1549, to the great grief of her husband, who
never ceased to mourn her loss. Their only child Jacques, born on the
28th of July 1542, lived only a few days.
During Calvin's absence disorder and irreligion had prevailed in Geneva.
An attempt was made by Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto (1477-1547), bishop of
Carpentras, to take advantage of this so as to restore the papal
supremacy in that district; but this design Calvin, at the request of
the Bernese authorities, who had been consulted by those of Geneva,
completely frustrated, by writing such a reply to the letter which the
bishop had addressed to the Genevese, as constrained him to desist from
all further efforts. The letter had more than a local or temporary
reference. It was a popular yet thoroughgoing defence of the whole
Protestant position, perhaps the best apologia for the Reformation that
was ever written. He seems also to have kept up his connexion with
Geneva by addressing letters of counsel and comfort to the faithful
there who continued to regard him with affection. It was whilst he was
still at Strassburg that there appeared at Geneva a translation of the
Bible into French, bearing Calvin's name, but in reality only revised
and corrected by him from the version of Olivétan. Meanwhile the way was
opening for his return. Those who had driven him from the city gradually
lost power and office. Farel worked unceasingly for his recall. After
much hesitation, for Strassburg had strong claims, he yielded and
returned to Geneva, where he was received with the utmost enthusiasm
(September 13, 1541). He entered upon his work with a firm determination
to carry out those reforms which he had originally purposed, and to set
up in all its integrity that form of church polity which he had
carefully matured during his residence at Strassburg. He now became the
sole directive spirit in the church at Geneva. Farel was retained by the
Neuchâtelois, and Viret, soon after Calvin's return, removed to
Lausanne. His duties were thus rendered exceedingly onerous, and his
labour became excessive. Besides preaching every day in each alternate
week, he taught theology three days in the week, attended weekly
meetings of his consistory, read the Scriptures once a week in the
congregation, carried on an extensive correspondence on a multiplicity
of subjects, prepared commentaries on the books of Scripture, and was
engaged repeatedly in controversy with the opponents of his opinions. "I
have not time," he writes to a friend, "to look out of my house at the
blessed sun, and if things continue thus I shall forget what sort of
appearance it has. When I have settled my usual business, I have so many
letters to write, so many questions to answer, that many a night is
spent without any offering of sleep being brought to nature."
It is only necessary here to sketch the leading events of Calvin's life
after his return to Geneva. He recodified the Genevan laws and
constitution, and was the leading spirit in the negotiations with Bern
that issued in the treaty of February 1544. Of the controversies in
which he embarked, one of the most important was that in which he
defended his doctrine concerning predestination and election. His first
antagonist on this head was Albert Pighius, a Romanist, who, resuming
the controversy between Erasmus and Luther on the freedom of the will,
violently attacked Calvin for the views he had expressed on that
subject. Calvin replied to him in a work published in 1543, in which he
defends his own opinions at length, both by general reasonings and by an
appeal to both Scripture and the Fathers, especially Augustine. So
potent were his reasonings that Pighius, though owing nothing to the
gentleness or courtesy of Calvin, was led to embrace his views. A still
more vexatious and protracted controversy on the same subject arose in
1551. Jerome Hermes Bolsec, a Carmelite friar, having renounced
Romanism, had fled from France to Veigy, a village near Geneva, where he
practised as a physician. Being a zealous opponent of predestinarian
views, he expressed his criticisms of Calvin's teaching on the subject
in one of the public conferences held each Friday. Calvin replied with
much vehemence, and brought the matter before the civil authorities. The
council were at a loss which course to take; not that they doubted which
of the disputants was right, for they all held by the views of Calvin,
but they were unable to determine to what extent and in which way Bolsec
should be punished for his heresy. The question was submitted to the
churches at Basel, Bern, Zürich and Neuchâtel, but they also, to
Calvin's disappointment, were divided in their judgment, some
counselling severity, others gentle measures. In the end Bolsec was
banished from Geneva; he ultimately rejoined the Roman communion and in
1577 avenged himself by a particularly slanderous biography of Calvin.
Another painful controversy was that with Sébastien Castellio
(1515-1563), a teacher in the Genevan school and a scholar of real
distinction. He wished to enter the preaching ministry but was excluded
by Calvin's influence because he had criticized the inspiration of the
Song of Solomon and the Genevan interpretation of the clause "he
descended into hell." The bitterness thus aroused developed into
life-long enmity. During all this time also the less strict party in the
city and in the council did not cease to harry the reformer.
But the most memorable of all the controversies in which Calvin was
engaged was that into which he was brought in 1553 with Michael Servetus
(q.v.). After many wanderings, and after having been condemned to death
for heresy at Vienne, whence he was fortunate enough to make his escape,
Servetus arrived in August 1553 at Geneva on his way to Naples. He was
recognized in church and soon after, at Calvin's instigation, arrested.
The charge of blasphemy was founded on certain statements in a book
published by him in 1553, entitled _Christianismi Restitutio_, in which
he animadverted on the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity, and advanced
sentiments strongly savouring of Pantheism. The story of his trial is
told elsewhere (see art. SERVETUS), but it must be noted here that the
struggle was something more than a doctrinal one. The cause of Servetus
was taken up by Calvin's Genevan foes headed by Philibert Berthelier,
and became a test of the relative strength of the rival forces and of
the permanence of Calvin's control. That Calvin was actuated by personal
spite and animosity against Servetus himself may be open to discussion;
we have his own express declaration that, after Servetus was convicted,
he used no urgency that he should be put to death, and at their last
interview he told Servetus that he never had avenged private injuries,
and assured him that if he would repent it would not be his fault if all
the pious did not give him their hands.[10] There is the fact also that
Calvin used his endeavour to have the sentence which had been pronounced
against Servetus mitigated, death by burning being regarded by him as an
"atrocity," for which he sought to substitute death by the sword.[11] It
can be justly charged against Calvin in this matter that he took the
initiative in bringing on the trial of Servetus, that as his accuser he
prosecuted the suit against him with undue severity, and that he
approved the sentence which condemned Servetus to death. When, however,
it is remembered that the unanimous decision of the Swiss churches and
of the Swiss state governments was that Servetus deserved to die; that
the general voice of Christendom was in favour of this; that even such a
man as Melanchthon affirmed the justice of the sentence;[12] that an
eminent English divine of the next age should declare the process
against him "just and honourable,"[13] and that only a few voices here
and there were at the time raised against it, many will be ready to
accept the judgment of Coleridge, that the death of Servetus was not
"Calvin's guilt especially, but the common opprobrium of all European
Christendom."[14]
Calvin was also involved in a protracted and somewhat vexing dispute
with the Lutherans respecting the Lord's Supper, which ended in the
separation of the evangelical party into the two great sections of
Lutherans and Reformed,--the former holding that in the eucharist the
body and blood of Christ are objectively and consubstantially present,
and so are actually partaken of by the communicants, and the latter that
there is only a virtual presence of the body and blood of Christ, and
consequently only a spiritual participation thereof through faith. In
addition to these controversies on points of faith, he was for many
years greatly disquieted, and sometimes even endangered, by the
opposition offered by the libertine party in Geneva to the
ecclesiastical discipline which he had established there. His system of
church polity was essentially theocratic; it assumed that every member
of the state was also under the discipline of the church; and he
asserted that the right of exercising this discipline was vested
exclusively in the consistory or body of preachers and elders. His
attempts to carry out these views brought him into collision both with
the authorities and with the populace,--the latter being not unnaturally
restive under the restraints imposed upon their liberty by the vigorous
system of church discipline, and the former being inclined to retain in
their own hands a portion of that power in things spiritual which Calvin
was bent on placing exclusively in the hands of the church rulers. His
dauntless courage, his perseverance, and his earnestness at length
prevailed, and he had the satisfaction, before he died, of seeing his
favourite system of church polity firmly established, not only at
Geneva, but in other parts of Switzerland, and of knowing that it had
been adopted substantially by the Reformers in France and Scotland. The
men whom he trained at Geneva carried his principles into almost every
country in Europe, and in varying degree these principles did much for
the cause of civil liberty.[15] Nor was it only in religious matters
that Calvin busied himself; nothing was indifferent to him that
concerned the welfare and good order of the state or the advantage of
its citizens. His work embraced everything; he was consulted on every
affair, great and small, that came before the council,--on questions of
law, police, economy, trade, and manufactures, no less than on questions
of doctrine and church polity. To him the city owed her trade in cloths
and velvets, from which so much wealth accrued to her citizens;
sanitary regulations were introduced by him which made Geneva the
admiration of all visitors; and in him she reverences the founder of her
university. This institution was in a sense Calvin's crowning work. It
added religious education to the evangelical preaching and the thorough
discipline already established, and so completed the reformer's ideal of
a Christian commonwealth.
Amidst these multitudinous cares and occupations, Calvin found time to
write a number of works besides those provoked by the various
controversies in which he was engaged. The most numerous of these were
of an exegetical character. Including discourses taken down from his
lips by faithful auditors, we have from him expository comments or
homilies on nearly all the books of Scripture, written partly in Latin
and partly in French. Though naturally knowing nothing of the modern
idea of a progressive revelation, his judiciousness, penetration, and
tact in eliciting his author's meaning, his precision, condensation, and
concinnity as an expositor, the accuracy of his learning, the closeness
of his reasoning, and the elegance of his style, all unite to confer a
high value on his exegetical works. The series began with _Romans_ in
1540 and ended with _Joshua_ in 1564. In 1558-1559 also, though in very
ill health, he finally perfected the Institutes.
The incessant and exhausting labours to which Calvin gave himself could
not but tell on his fragile constitution. Amid many sufferings, however,
and frequent attacks of sickness, he manfully pursued his course; nor
was it till his frail body, torn by many and painful diseases--fever,
asthma, stone, and gout, the fruits for the most part of his sedentary
habits and unceasing activity--had, as it were, fallen to pieces around
him, that his indomitable spirit relinquished the conflict. In the early
part of the year 1564 his sufferings became so severe that it was
manifest his earthly career was rapidly drawing to a close. On the 6th
of February of that year he preached his last sermon, having with great
difficulty found breath enough to carry him through it. He was several
times after this carried to church, but never again was able to take any
part in the service. With his usual disinterestedness he refused to
receive his stipend, now that he was no longer able to discharge the
duties of his office. In the midst of his sufferings, however, his zeal
and energy kept him in continual occupation; when expostulated with for
such unseasonable toil, he replied, "Would you that the Lord should find
me idle when He comes?" After he had retired from public labours he
lingered for some months, enduring the severest agony without a murmur,
and cheerfully attending to all the duties of a private kind which his
diseases left him strength to discharge. On the 25th of April he made
his will, on the 27th he received the Little Council, and on the 28th
the Genevan ministers, in his sick-room; on the 2nd of May he wrote his
last letter--to his old comrade Farel, who hastened from Neuchâtel to
see him once again. He spent much time in prayer and died quietly, in
the arms of his faithful friend Theodore Beza, on the evening of the
27th of May, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. The next day he was
buried without pomp "in the common cemetery called Plain-palais" in a
spot not now to be identified.
Calvin was of middle stature; his complexion was somewhat pallid and
dark; his eyes, to the latest clear and lustrous, bespoke the acumen of
his genius. He was sparing in his food and simple in his dress; he took
but little sleep, and was capable of extraordinary efforts of
intellectual toil. He had a most retentive memory and a very keen power
of observation. He spoke without rhetoric, simply, directly, but with
great weight. He had many acquaintances but few close friends. His
private character was in harmony with his public reputation and
position. If somewhat severe and irritable, he was at the same time
scrupulously just, truthful, and steadfast; he never deserted a friend
or took an unfair advantage of an antagonist; and on befitting occasions
he could be cheerful and even facetious among his intimates. "God gave
him," said the Little Council after his death, "a character of great
majesty." "I have been a witness of him for sixteen years," says Beza,
"and I think I am fully entitled to say that in this man there was
exhibited to all an example of the life and death of the Christian,
such as it will not be easy to depreciate, such as it will be difficult
to emulate."
Though Calvin built his theology on the foundations laid by earlier
reformers, and especially by Luther and Bucer, his peculiar gifts of
learning, of logic and of style made him pre-eminently the theologian
of the new religion. The following may be regarded as his
characteristic tenets, though not all are peculiar to him.
The dominant thought is the infinite and transcendent sovereignty of
God, to know whom is the supreme end of human endeavour. God is made
known to man especially by the Scriptures, whose writers were "sure
and authentic amanuenses of the Holy Spirit." To the Spirit speaking
therein the Spirit-illumined soul of man makes response. While God is
the source of all good, man as a sinner is guilty and corrupt. The
first man was made in the image and likeness of God, which not only
implies man's superiority to all other creatures, but indicates his
original purity, integrity and sanctity. From this state Adam fell,
and in his fall involved the whole human race descended from him.
Hence depravity and corruption, diffused through all parts of the
soul, attach to all men, and this first makes them obnoxious to the
anger of God, and then comes forth in works which the Scripture calls
works of the flesh (Gal. v. 19). Thus all are held vitiated and
perverted in all parts of their nature, and on account of such
corruption deservedly condemned before God, by whom nothing is
accepted save righteousness innocence, and purity. Nor is that a being
bound for another's offence; for when it is said that we through
Adam's sin have become obnoxious to the divine judgment, it is not to
be taken as if we, being ourselves innocent and blameless, bear the
fault of his offence, but that, we having been brought under a curse
through his transgression, he is said to have bound us. From him,
however, not only has punishment overtaken us, but a pestilence
instilled from him resides in us, to which punishment is justly due.
Thus even infants, whilst they bring their own condemnation with them
from their mother's womb, are bound not by another's but by their own
fault. For though they have not yet brought forth the fruits of their
iniquity, they have the seed shut up in them; nay, their whole nature
is a sort of seed of sin, therefore it cannot but be hateful and
abominable to God (_Instit._ bk. ii, ch. i. sect. 8).
To redeem man from this state of guilt, and to recover him from
corruption, the Son of God became incarnate, assuming man's nature
into union with His own, so that in Him were two natures in one
person. Thus incarnate He took on Him the offices of prophet, priest
and king, and by His humiliation, obedience and suffering unto death,
followed by His resurrection and ascension to heaven, He has perfected
His work and fulfilled all that was required in a redeemer of men, so
that it is truly affirmed that He has merited for man the grace of
salvation (bk. ii. ch. 13-17). But until a man is in some way really
united to Christ so as to partake of Him, the benefits of Christ's
work cannot be attained by him. Now it is by the secret and special
operation of the Holy Spirit that men are united to Christ and made
members of His body. Through faith, which is a firm and certain
cognition of the divine benevolence towards us founded on the truth of
the gracious promise in Christ, men are by the operation of the Spirit
united to Christ and are made partakers of His death and resurrection,
so that the old man is crucified with Him and they are raised to a new
life, a life of righteousness and holiness. Thus joined to Christ the
believer has life in Him and knows that he is saved, having the
witness of the Spirit that he is a child of God, and having the
promises, the certitude of which the Spirit had before impressed on
the mind, sealed by the same Spirit on the heart (bk. iii. ch. 33-36).
From faith proceeds repentance, which is the turning of our life to
God, proceeding from a sincere and earnest fear of God, and consisting
in the mortification of the flesh and the old man within us and a
vivification of the Spirit. Through faith also the believer receives
justification, his sins are forgiven, he is accepted of God, and is
held by Him as righteous, the righteousness of Christ being imputed to
him, and faith being the instrument by which the man lays hold on
Christ, so that with His righteousness the man appears in God's sight
as righteous. This imputed righteousness, however, is not disjoined
from real personal righteousness, for regeneration and sanctification
come to the believer from Christ no less than justification; the two
blessings are not to be confounded, but neither are they to be
disjoined. The assurance which the believer has of salvation he
receives from the operation and witness of the Holy Spirit; but this
again rests on the divine choice of the man to salvation; and this
falls back on God's eternal sovereign purpose, whereby He has
predestined some to eternal life while the rest of mankind are
predestined to condemnation and eternal death. Those whom God has
chosen to life He effectually calls to salvation, and they are kept by
Him in progressive faith and holiness unto the end (bk. iii.
_passim_). The external means or aids by which God unites men into the
fellowship of Christ, and sustains and advances those who believe, are
the church and its ordinances, especially the sacraments. The church
universal is the multitude gathered from diverse nations, which though
divided by distance of time and place, agree in one common faith, and
it is bound by the tie of the same religion; and wherever the word of
God is sincerely preached, and the sacraments are duly administered,
according to Christ's institute, there beyond doubt is a church of
the living God (bk. iv. ch. 1, sect. 7-11). The permanent officers in
the church are pastors and teachers, to the former of whom it belongs
to preside over the discipline of the church, to administer the
sacraments, and to admonish and exhort the members; while the latter
occupy themselves with the exposition of Scripture, so that pure and
wholesome doctrine may be retained. With them are to be joined for the
government of the church certain pious, grave and holy men as a senate
in each church; and to others, as deacons, is to be entrusted the care
of the poor. The election of the officers in a church is to be with
the people, and those duly chosen and called are to be ordained by the
laying on of the hands of the pastors (ch. 3, sect. 4-16). The
sacraments are two--Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism is the sign
of initiation whereby men are admitted into the society of the church
and, being grafted into Christ, are reckoned among the sons of God; it
serves both for the confirmation of faith and as a confession before
men. The Lord's Supper is a spiritual feast where Christ attests that
He is the life-giving bread, by which our souls are fed unto true and
blessed immortality. That sacred communication of His flesh and blood
whereby Christ transfuses into us His life, even as if it penetrated
into our bones and marrow, He in the Supper attests and seals; and
that not by a vain or empty sign set before us but there He puts forth
the efficacy of His Spirit whereby He fulfils what He promises. In the
mystery of the Supper Christ is truly exhibited to us by the symbols
of bread and wine; and so His body and blood, in which He fulfilled
all obedience for the obtaining of righteousness for us, are
presented. There is no such presence of Christ in the Supper as that
He is affixed to the bread or included in it or in any way
circumscribed; but whatever can express the true and substantial
communication of the body and blood of the Lord, which is exhibited to
believers under the said symbols of the Supper, is to be received, and
that not as perceived by the imagination only or mental intelligence,
but as enjoyed for the aliment of the eternal life (bk. iv. ch. 15,
17).
The course of time has substantially modified many of these positions.
Even the churches which trace their descent from Calvin's work and
faith no longer hold in their entirety his views on the magistrate as
the preserver of church purity, the utter depravity of human nature,
the non-human character of the Bible, the dealing of God with man. But
his system had an immense value in the history of Christian thought.
It appealed to and evoked a high order of intelligence, and its
insistence on personal individual salvation has borne worthy fruit. So
also its insistence on the chief end of man "to know and do the will
of God" made for the strenuous morality that helped to build up the
modern world. Its effects are most clearly seen in Scotland, in
Puritan England and in the New England states, but its influence was
and is felt among peoples that have little desire or claim to be
called Calvinist.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The standard edition of Calvin's works is that
undertaken by the Strassburg scholars, J.W. Bauin, E. Cunitz, E.
Reuss, P. Lobstein, A. Erichson (59 vols., 1863-1900). The last of
these contains an elaborate bibliography which was also published
separately at Berlin in 1900. The bulk of the writings was published
in English by the Calvin Translation Society (48 vols., Edinburgh,
1843-1855); the _Institutes_ have often been translated. The early
lives by Beza and Collodon are given in the collected editions. Among
modern biographies are those by P. Henry, _Das Leben J. Calvins_ (3
vols., Hamburg, 1835-1844; Eng. trans, by H. Stebbing, London and New
York, 1849); V. Audin, _Histoire de la vie, des ouvrages, et des
doctrines de Calvin_ (2 vols., Paris, 1841; Eng. trans, by J. McGill,
London, 1843 and 1850) unfairly antagonistic; T.H. Dyer, _Life of John
Calvin_ (London, 1850); E. Stähelin,_ Joh. Calvin, Leben und
ausgewählte Schriften_ (2 vols., Elberfeld, 1863); F.W. Kampschulte,
_Joh. Calvin, seine Kirche und sein Staat in Genf_ (2 vols., 1869,
1899, unfinished); Abel Lefranc, _La Jeunesse de Calvin_ (Paris,
1888); E. Choisy, _La Théocratie à Genève au temps de Calvin_ (Geneva,
1897); E. Doumergue, _Jean Calvin; les hommes et les choses de son
temps_ (5 vols., 1899-1908). See also A.M. Fairbairn, "Calvin and the
Reformed Church" in the _Cambridge Modern History_, vol. ii. (1904);
P. Schaff's, _History of the Christian Church_, vol. vii. (1892), and
R. Stähelin's article in Hauck-Herzog's _Real-encyk. für prot.
Theologie und Kirche._ Each of these contains a useful bibliography,
as also does the excellent life by Professor Williston Walker, _John
Calvin, the Organizer of Reformed Protestantism_, "Heroes of the
Reformation" series (1906). See also C.S. Horne in _Mansfield Coll.
Essays_ (1909). (W. L. A.; A. J. G.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The family name of Calvin seems to have been written
indifferently Cauvin, Chauve, Chauvin, Calvus, Calvinus. In the
contemporary notices of Gerard and his family, in the capitular
registers of the cathedral at Noyon, the name is always spelt Cauuin.
The anagram of Calvin is Alcuin, and this in its Latinized form
Alcuinus appears in two editions of his _Instltutio_ as that of the
author (Audin, _Vie de Calvin,_ i. 520). The syndics of Geneva
address him in a letter written in 1540, and still preserved, as
"Docteur Caulvin." In his letters written in French he usually signs
himself "Jean Calvin." He affected the title of "Maitre," for what
reason is not known.
[2] Pierre de Montaigu refounded this institution in 1388. Erasmus
and Ignatius Loyola also studied here.
[3] Calv. _Praef. ad Comment. in Psalmos._
[4] _Jo. Calvini Vita, sub init._
[5] _Epist. Ded., Comment in Ep. II. ad Corinthios praefix._
[6] This edition forms a small 8vo of 514 pages, and 6 pages of
index. It appeared at Basel from the press of Thomas Platter and
Balthasar Lasius in March 1536, and was published by Johann Oporin.
The dedicatory preface is dated 23rd August 1535. It is a masterpiece
of apologetic literature. See W. Walker, _John Calvin,_ 132 f., and
for an outline of the contents of the treatise, ib. 137-149.
[7] _Praef. ad Psalmos._
[8] _Ibid._
[9] Beza, _Vit. Calv. an. 1536._
[10] Fidelis Expositio Errorum Serveti, _sub init._ Calvini, _Opp_.
t. ix.
[11] Calvin to Farel, 20th Aug. 1553.
[12] Tuo judicio prorsus assentior. Affirmo etiam vestros magistratus
juste fecisse quod hominem blasphemum, re ordine judicata,
interfecerunt.--Melanchthon to Calvin, 14th Oct. 1554.
[13] Field _On the Church_, bk. iii. c. 27, vol. i. p. 288 (ed.
Cambridge, 1847).
[14] _Notes on English Divines_, vol. i. p. 49. See also _Table
Talk_, vol. ii. p. 282 (ed. 1835).
[15] W. Walker, _John Calvin_, pp. 403-8.
CALVINISTIC METHODISTS, a body of Christians forming a church of the
Presbyterian order and claiming to be the only denomination in Wales
which is of purely Welsh origin. Its beginnings may be traced to the
labours of the Rev. Griffith Jones (1684-1761), of Llanddowror,
Carmarthenshire, whose sympathy for the poor led him to set on foot a
system of circulating charity schools for the education of children. In
striking contrast to the general apathy of the clergy of the period,
Griffith Jones's zeal appealed to the public imagination, and his
powerful preaching exercised a widespread influence, many travelling
long distances in order to attend his ministry. There was thus a
considerable number of earnest people dispersed throughout the country
waiting for the rousing of the parish clergy. An impressive announcement
of the Easter Communion Service, made by the Rev. Pryce Davies, vicar of
Talgarth, on the 30th of March 1735, was the means of awakening Howell
Harris (1714-1773) of Trevecca, and he immediately began to hold
services in his own house. He was soon invited to do the same at the
houses of others, and ended by becoming a fiery itinerant preacher,
stirring to the depths every neighbourhood he visited. Griffith Jones,
preaching at Llanddewi Brefi, Cardiganshire--the place at which the
Welsh Patron Saint, David, first became famous--found Daniel Rowland
(1713-1790), curate of Llangeitho, in his audience, and his patronizing
attitude in listening drew from the preacher a personal supplication on
his behalf, in the middle of the discourse. Rowland was deeply moved,
and became an ardent apostle of the new movement. Naturally a fine
orator, his new-born zeal gave an edge to his eloquence, and his fame
spread abroad. Rowland and Harris had been at work fully eighteen months
before they met, at a service in Devynock church, in the upper part of
Breconshire. The acquaintance then formed lasted to the end of Harris's
life--an interval of ten years excepted. Harris had been sent to Oxford
in the autumn of 1735 to "cure him of his fanaticism," but he left in
the following February. Rowland had never been to a university, but,
like Harris, he had been well grounded in general knowledge. About 1739
another prominent figure appeared. This was Howell Davies of
Pembrokeshire, whose ministry was modelled on that of his master,
Griffith Jones, but with rather more clatter in his thunder.
In 1736, on returning home, Harris opened a school, Griffith Jones
supplying him with books from his charity. He also set up societies, in
accordance with the recommendations in Josiah Wedgwood's little book on
the subject; and these exercised a great influence on the religious life
of the people. By far the most notable of Harris's converts was William
Williams (1717-1791), Pant y Celyn, the great hymn-writer of Wales, who
while listening to the revivalist preaching on a tombstone in the
graveyard of Talgarth, heard the "voice of heaven," and was "apprehended
as by a warrant from on high." He was ordained deacon in the Church of
England, 1740, but Whitefield recommended him to leave his curacies and
go into the highways and hedges. On Wednesday and Thursday, January 5th
and 6th, 1743, the friends of aggressive Christianity in Wales met at
Wadford, near Caerphilly, Glam., in order to organize their societies.
George Whitefield was in the chair. Rowland, Williams and John
Powell--afterwards of Llanmartin--(clergymen), Harris, John Humphreys
and John Cennick (laymen) were present. Seven lay exhorters were also at
the meetings; they were questioned as to their spiritual experience and
allotted their several spheres; other matters pertaining to the new
conditions created by the revival were arranged. This is known as the
first Methodist Association--held eighteen months before Johm Wesley's
first conference (June 25th, 1744). Monthly meetings covering smaller
districts, were organized to consider local matters, the transactions of
which were to be reported to the Quarterly Association, to be confirmed,
modified, or rejected. Exhorters were divided into two classes--public,
who were allowed to itinerate as preachers and superintend a number of
societies; private, who were confined to the charge of one or two
societies. The societies were distinctly understood to be part of the
established church, as Wedgwood's were, and every attempt at estranging
them therefrom was sharply reproved; but persecution made their position
anomalous. They did not accept the discipline of the Church of England,
so the plea of conformity was a feeble defence; nor had they taken out
licenses, so as to claim the protection of the Toleration Act. Harris's
ardent loyalty to the Church of England, after three refusals to ordain
him, and his personal contempt for ill-treatment from persecutors, were
the only things that prevented separation.
A controversy on a doctrinal point--"Did God die on Calvary?"--raged for
some time, the principal disputants being Rowland and Harris; and in
1751 it ended in an open rupture, which threw the Connexion first into
confusion and then into a state of coma. The societies split up into
Harrisites and Rowlandites, and it was only with the revival of 1762
that the breach was fairly repaired. This revival is a landmark in the
history of the Connexion. Williams of Pant y Celyn had just published a
little volume of hymns, the singing of which inflamed the people. This
led the bishop of St David's to suspend Rowland's license, and Rowland
had to confine himself to a meeting-house at Llangeitho. Having been
turned out of other churches, he had leased a plot of land in 1759,
anticipating the final withdrawal of his license, in 1763, and a
spacious building was erected to which the people crowded from all parts
on Sacrament Sunday. Llangeitho became the Jerusalem of Wales; and
Rowland's popularity never waned until his physical powers gave way. A
notable event in the history of Welsh Methodism was the publication in
1770, of a 4to annotated Welsh Bible by the Rev. Peter Williams, a
forceful preacher, and an indefatigable worker, who had joined the
Methodists in 1746, after being driven from several curacies. It gave
birth to a new interest in the Scriptures, being the first definite
commentary in the language. A powerful revival broke out at Llangeitho
in the spring of 1780, and spread to the south, but not to the north of
Wales. The ignorance of the people of the north made it very difficult
for Methodism to benefit from these manifestations, until the advent of
the Rev. Thomas Charles (1755-1814), who, having spent five years in
Somersetshire as curate of several parishes, returned to his native land
to marry Sarah Jones of Bala. Failing to find employment in the
established church, he joined the Methodists in 1784. His circulating
charity schools and then his Sunday schools gradually made the North a
new country. In 1791 a revival began at Bala; and this, strange to say,
a few months after the Bala Association had been ruffled by the
proceedings which led to the expulsion of Peter Williams from the
Connexion, in order to prevent him from selling John Canne's Bible among
the Methodists, because of some Sabellian marginal notes.
In 1790, the Bala Association passed "Rules regarding the proper mode of
conducting the Quarterly Association," drawn up by Charles; in 1801,
Charles and Thomas Jones of Mold, published (for the association) the
"Rules and Objects of the Private Societies among the People called
Methodists." About 1795, persecution led the Methodists to take the
first step towards separation from the Church of England. Heavy fines
made it impossible for preachers in poor circumstances to continue
without claiming the protection of the Toleration Act, and the
meeting-houses had to be registered as dissenting chapels. In a large
number of cases this had only been delayed by so constructing the houses
that they were used both as dwellings and as chapels at one and the same
time. Until 1811 the Calvinistic Methodists had no ministers ordained by
themselves; their enormous growth in numbers and the scarcity of
ministers to administer the Sacrament--only three in North Wales, two of
whom had joined only at the dawn of the century--made the question of
ordination a matter of urgency. The South Wales clergy who regularly
itinerated were dying out; the majority of those remaining itinerated
but irregularly, and were most of them against the change. The lay
element, with the help of Charles and a few other stalwarts, carried the
matter through--ordaining nine at Bala in June, and thirteen at Llandilo
in August. In 1823, the _Confession of Faith_ was published; it is based
on the _Westminster Confession_ as "Calvinistically construed," and
contains 44 articles. The Connexion's _Constitutional Deed_ was formally
completed in 1826.
Thomas Charles had tried to arrange for taking over Trevecca College
when the trustees of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion removed
their seminary to Cheshunt in 1791; but the Bala revival broke out just
at the time, and, when things grew quieter, other matters pressed for
attention. A college had been mooted in 1816, but the intended tutor
died suddenly, and the matter was for the time dropped. Candidates for
the Connexional ministry were compelled to shift for themselves until
1837, when Lewis Edwards (1809-1887) and David Charles (1812-1878)
opened a school for young men at Bala. North and South alike adopted it
as their college, the associations contributing a hundred guineas each
towards the education of their students. In 1842, the South Wales
Association opened a college at Trevecca, leaving Bala to the North; the
Rev. David Charles became principal of the former, and the Rev. Lewis
Edwards of the latter. After the death of Dr Lewis Edwards, Dr. T.C.
Edwards resigned the principalship of the University College at
Aberystwyth to become head of Bala (1891), now a purely theological
college, the students of which were sent to the university colleges for
their classical training. In 1905 Mr David Davies of Llandinam--one of
the leading laymen in the Connexion--offered a large building at
Aberystwyth as a gift to the denomination for the purpose of uniting
North and South in one theological college; but in the event of either
association declining the proposal, the other was permitted to take
possession, giving the association that should decline the option of
joining at a later time. The Association of the South accepted, and that
of the North declined, the offer; Trevecca College was turned into a
preparatory school on the lines of a similar institution set up at Bala
in 1891.
The missionary collections of the denomination were given to the London
Missionary Society from 1798 to 1840, when a Connexional Society was
formed; and no better instances of missionary enterprise are known than
those of the Khasia and Jaintia Hills, and the Plains of Sylhet in N.
India. There has also been a mission in Brittany since 1842.
The constitution of the denomination (called in Welsh, "Hen Gorph," i.e.
the Old Body) is a mixture of Presbyterianism and Congregationalism;
each church manages its own affairs and reports (1) to the district
meeting, (2) to the monthly meeting, the nature of each report
determining its destination. The monthly meetings are made up of all the
officers of the churches comprised in each, and are split up into
districts for the purpose of a more local co-operation of the churches.
The monthly meetings appoint delegates to the quarterly Associations, of
which all officers are members. The Associations of North and South are
distinct institutions, deliberating and determining matters pertaining
to them in their separate quarterly gatherings. For the purpose of a
fuller co-operation in matters common to both, a general assembly
(meeting once a year) was established in 1864. This is a purely
deliberative conclave, worked by committees, and all its legislation has
to be confirmed by the two Associations before it can have any force or
be legal. The annual conference of the English churches of the
denomination has no legislative standing, and is meant for social and
spiritual intercourse and discussions.
In doctrine the church is Calvinistic, but its preachers are far from
being rigid in this particular, being warmly evangelical, and, in
general, distinctly cultured. The London degree largely figures on the
Connexional Diary; and now the Welsh degrees, in arts and divinity, are
being increasingly achieved. It is a remarkable fact that every Welsh
revival, since 1735, has broken out among the Calvinistic Methodists.
Those of 1735, 1762, 1780 and 1791 have been mentioned; those of 1817,
1832, 1859 and 1904-1905 were no less powerful, and their history is
interwoven with Calvinistic Methodism, the system of which is so
admirably adapted for the passing on of the torch. The ministerial
system is quite anomalous. It started in pure itineracy; the pastorate
came in very gradually, and is not yet in universal acceptance. The
authority of the pulpit of any individual church is in the hands of the
deacons; they ask the pastor to supply so many Sundays a year--from
twelve to forty, as the case may be--and they then fill the remainder
with any preacher they choose. The pastor is paid for his pastoral work,
and receives his Sunday fee just as a stranger does; his Sundays from
home he fills up at the request of deacons of other churches, and it is
a breach of Connexional etiquette for a minister to apply for
engagements, no matter how many unfilled Sundays he may have. Deacons
and preachers make engagements seven or eight years in advance. The
Connexion provides for English residents wherever required, and the
English ministers are oftener in their own pulpits than their Welsh
brethren.
The Calvinistic Methodists form in some respects the strongest church in
Wales, and its forward movement, headed by Dr. John Pugh of Cardiff, has
brought thousands into its fold since its establishment in 1891. Its
Connexional Book Room, opened in 1891, yields an annual profit of from
£1600 to £2000, the profits being devoted to help the colleges and to
establish Sunday school libraries, etc. Its chapels in 1907 numbered
1641 (with accommodation for 488,080), manses 229; its churches[1]
numbered 1428, ministers 921, unordained preachers 318, deacons 6179;
its Sunday Schools 1731, teachers 27,895, scholars 193,460, communicants
189,164, total collections for religious purposes £300,912. The
statistics of the Indian Mission are equally good: communicants 8027,
adherents 26,787, missionaries 23, native ministers (ordained) 15,
preachers (not ordained) 60.
The Calvinistic Methodists are intensely national in sentiment and
aspirations, beyond all suspicion loyalists. They take a great interest
in social, political and educational matters, and are prominent on
public bodies. They support the Eisteddfod as the promoter and inspirer
of arts, letters and music, and are conspicuous among the annual prize
winners. They thus form a living, democratic body, flexible and
progressive in its movements, yet with a sufficient proportion of
conservatism both in religion and theology to keep it sane and safe.
(D. E. J.)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Adherents and members in scattered hamlets and attending
different meeting-houses or chapels, often combine to form one
society or church.
CALVISIUS, SETHUS (1556-1615), German chronologer, was born of a peasant
family at Gorschleben in Thuringia on the 21st of February 1556. By the
exercise of his musical talents he earned money enough for the start, at
Helmstadt, of an university career, which the aid of a wealthy patron
enabled him to continue at Leipzig. He became director of the
music-school at Pforten in 1572, was transferred to Leipzig in the same
capacity in 1594, and retained this post until his death on the 24th of
November 1615, despite the offers successively made to him of
mathematical professorships at Frankfort and Wittenberg. In his _Opus
Chronologicum_ (Leipzig, 1605, 7th ed. 1685) he expounded a system based
on the records of nearly 300 eclipses. An ingenious, though ineffective,
proposal for the reform of the calendar was put forward in his _Elenchus
Calendarii Gregoriani_ (Frankfort, 1612); and he published a book on
music, _Melodiae condendae ratio_ (Erfurt, 1592), still worth reading.
For details see V. Schmuck's _Leichenrede_ (1615); J. Bertuch's
_Chronicon Portense_ (1739); F.W.E. Rost's _Oratio ad renovendam S.
Calvisii memoriam_ (1805); J G. Stallbaum's _Nachrichten über die
Cantoren an der Thomasschule_ (1842); _Allgemeine Deutsche
Biographie_; Poggendorff's _Biog.-Litterarisches Handworterbuch._
CALVO, CARLOS (1824-1906), Argentine publicist and historian, was born
at Buenos Aires on the 26th of February 1824, and devoted himself to the
study of the law. In 1860 he was sent by the Paraguayan government on a
special mission to London and Paris. Remaining in France, he published
in 1863 his _Derecho international teorico y practice de Europay
America_, in two volumes, and at the same time brought out a French
version. The book immediately took rank as one of the highest modern
authorities on the subject, and by 1887 the first French edition had
become enlarged to six volumes. Señor Calvo's next publications were of
a semi-historical character. Between 1862 and 1869 he published in
Spanish and French his great collection in fifteen volumes of the
treaties and other diplomatic acts of the South American republics, and
between 1864 and 1875 his _Annales historiques de la revolution de
l'Amerique latine_, in five volumes. In 1884 he was one of the founders
at the Ghent congress of the _Institut de Droit International._ In the
following year he was Argentine minister at Berlin, and published his
_Dictionnaire du droit international public et privé_ in that city.
Calvo died in May 1906 at Paris.
CALW or KALW, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Württemberg, on the
Nagold, 34 m. S.W. of Stuttgart by rail. Pop. (1905), 4943. It contains
a Protestant and a Roman Catholic Church, two schools, missionary
institution, and a fine public library. The industries include spinning
and weaving operations in wool and cotton. Carpets, cigars and leather
are also manufactured. The timber trade, chiefly with the Netherlands,
is important. The place is in favour as a health resort.
The name of Calw appears first in 1037. In the middle ages the town was
under the dominion of a powerful family of counts, whose possessions
finally passed to Württemberg in 1345. In 1634 the town was taken by the
Bavarians, and in 1692 by the French.
CALYDON ([Greek: Kalydon]), an ancient town of Aetolia, according to
Pliny, 7½ Roman m. from the sea, on the river Euenus. It was said to
have been founded by Calydon, son of Aetolus; to have been the scene of
the hunting, by Meleager and other heroes, of the famous Calydonian
boar, sent by Artemis to lay waste the fields; and to have taken part in
the Trojan war. In historical times it is first mentioned (391 B.C.) as
in the possession of the Achaeans, who retained it for twenty years, by
the assistance of the Lacedaemonian king, Agesilaus, notwithstanding the
attacks of the Arcarnanians. After the battle of Leuctra (371 B.C.) it
was restored by Epaminondas to the Aetolians. In the time of Pompey it
was a town of importance; but Augustus removed its inhabitants to
Nicopolis, which he founded to commemorate his victory at Actium (31
B.C.). The walls of Calydon are almost certainly to be recognized in the
Kastro of Kurtagá. These comprise a circuit of over 2 m., with one large
gate and five smaller ones, and are situated on a hill on the right or
west bank of the Euenus. Remains of large terrace walls outside the town
probably indicate the position of the temple of Artemis Laphria, whose
gold and ivory statue was transferred to Patras, together probably with
her ritual. This included a sacrifice in which all kinds of beasts, wild
and tame, were driven into a wooden pyre and consumed.
See W.M. Leake, _Travels in N. Greece_, i. p. 109, iii. pp. 533 sqq.;
W.J. Woodhouse, _Aetolia_, pp. 95 ssq. (E. Gr.)
CALYPSO, in Greek mythology, daughter of Atlas (or Oceanus, or Nereus),
queen of the mythical island of Ogygia. When Odysseus was shipwrecked on
her shores, Calypso entertained the hero with great hospitality, and
prevailed on him to remain with her seven years. Odysseus was then
seized with a longing to return to his wife and home; Calypso's promise
of eternal youth failed to induce him to stay, and Hermes was sent by
Zeus to bid her release him. When he set sail, Calypso died of grief.
(Homer, _Odyssey_, i. 50, v. 28, vii. 254; Apollodorus i. 2, 7.)
CAM (CÃO), DIOGO (fl. 1480-1486), Portuguese discoverer, the first
European known to sight and enter the Congo, and to explore the West
African coast between Cape St Catherine (2°S.) and Cape Cross (21° 50'
S.) almost from the equator to Walfish Bay. When King John II. of
Portugal revived the work of Henry the Navigator, he sent out Cam (about
midsummer (?) 1482) to open up the African coast still further beyond
the equator. The mouth of the Congo was now discovered (perhaps in
August 1482), and marked by a stone pillar (still existing, but only in
fragments) erected on Shark Point; the great river was also ascended for
a short distance, and intercourse was opened with the natives. Cam then
coasted down along the present Angola (Portuguese West Africa), and
erected a second pillar, probably marking the termination of this
voyage, at Cape Santa Maria (the Monte Negro of these first visitors) in
13° 26' S. He certainly returned to Lisbon by the beginning of April
1484, when John II. ennobled him, made him a _cavalleiro_ of his
household (he was already an _escudeiro_ or esquire in the same), and
granted him an annuity and a coat of arms (8th and 14th of April 1484).
That Cam, on his second voyage of 1483-1486, was accompanied by Martin
Behaim (as alleged on the latter's Nuremberg globe of 1492) is very
doubtful; but we know that the explorer revisited the Congo and erected
two more pillars beyond the furthest of his previous voyage, the first
at another "Monte Negro" in 15° 41' S., the second at Cape Cross in 21°
50', this last probably marking the end of his progress southward.
According to one authority (a legend on the 1489 map of Henricus
Martellus Germanus), Cam died off Cape Cross; but João de Barros and
others make him return to the Congo, and take thence a native envoy to
Portugal. The four pillars set up by Cam on his two voyages have all
been discovered _in situ_, and the inscriptions on two of them from Cape
Santa Maria and Cape Cross, dated 1482 and 1485 respectively, are still
to be read and have been printed; the Cape Cross padrão is now at Kiel
(replaced on the spot by a granite facsimile); those from the Congo
estuary and the more southerly Monte Negro are in the Museum of the
Lisbon Geographical Society.
See Barros, _Decadas da Asia_, Decade i. bk. iii., esp. ch. 3; Ruy de
Pina, _Chronica d' el Rei D. João II._; Garcia de Resende, _Chronica_;
Luciano Cordeiro, "Diogo Cão" in _Boletim_ of the _Lisbon Geog.
Soc._, 1892; E.G. Ravenstein, "Voyages of Diogo Cão," &c., in _Geog.
Jnl._ vol. xvi. (1900); also _Geog. Jnl._ xxxi. (1908). (C. R. B.)
CAMACHO, JUAN FRANCISCO (1824-1896), Spanish statesman and financier,
was born in Cadiz in 1824. The first part of his life was devoted to
mercantile and financial pursuits at Cadiz and then in Madrid, where he
managed the affairs of and liquidated a mercantile and industrial
society to the satisfaction and profit of the shareholders. In 1837 he
became a captain in the national militia, in 1852 Conservative deputy in
the Cortes for Alcoy, in 1853 secretary of congress, and was afterwards
elected ten times deputy, twice senator and life senator in 1877.
Camacho took a prominent part in all financial debates and committees,
was offered a seat in the Mon cabinet of 1864, and was appointed
under-secretary of state finances in 1866 under Canovas and O'Donnell.
After the revolution of 1868 he declined the post of minister of finance
offered by Marshal Serrano, but served in that capacity in 1872 and 1874
in Sagasta's cabinets. When the restoration took place, Camacho sat in
the Cortes among the dynastic Liberals with Sagasta as leader, and
became finance minister in 1881 at a critical moment when Spain had to
convert, reduce, and consolidate her treasury and other debts with a
view to resuming payment of coupons. Camacho drew up an excellent budget
and collected taxation with a decidedly unpopular vigour. A few years
later Sagasta again made him finance minister under the regency of Queen
Christina, but had to sacrifice him when public opinion very clearly
pronounced against his too radical financial reforms and his severity in
collection of taxes. He was for the same reasons unsuccessful as a
governor of the Tobacco Monopoly Company. He then seceded from the
Liberals, and during the last years of his life he affected to vote with
the Conservatives, who made him governor of the Bank of Spain. He died
in Madrid on the 23rd of January 1896. (A. E. H.)
CAMALDULIANS, or CAMALDOLESE, a religious order founded by St Romuald.
Born of a noble family at Ravenna _c._ 950, he retired at the age of
twenty to the Benedictine monastery of S. Apollinare in Classe; but
being strongly drawn to the eremitical life, he went to live with a
hermit in the neighbourhood of Venice and then again near Ravenna. Here
a colony of hermits grew up around him and he became the superior. As
soon as they were established in their manner of life, Romuald moved to
another district and there formed a second settlement of hermits, only
to proceed in the same way to the establishment of other colonies of
hermits or "deserts" as they were called. In this way during the course
of his life Romuald formed a great number of "deserts" throughout
central Italy. His chief foundation was at Camaldoli on the heights of
the Tuscan Apennines not far from Arezzo, in a vale snow-covered during
half the year. Romuald's idea was to reintroduce into the West the
primitive eremitical form of monachism, as practised by the first
Egyptian and Syrian monks. His monks dwelt in separate huts around the
oratory, and came together only for divine service and on certain days
for meals. The life was one of extreme rigour in regard to food,
clothing, silence and general observance. Besides the hermits there were
lay brothers to help in carrying out the field work and rougher
occupations. St Romuald and the early Camaldolese exercised considerable
influence on the religious movements of their time; the emperors Otto
III. and Henry II. esteemed him highly and sought his advice on
religious questions. Disciples of St Romuald went on missions to the
still heathen parts of Russia, Poland and Prussia, where some of them
suffered martyrdom. In his extreme old age St Romuald with twenty-five
of his monks started on a missionary expedition to Hungary, but he was
unable to accomplish the journey. He died in 1027. After his death
mitigations were gradually introduced into the rule and manner of life;
and in the monastery of St Michael in Murano, Venice, the life became
cenobitical. From that time to the present day there have always been
both eremitical and cenobitical Camaldolese, the latter approximating to
ordinary Benedictine life. The Camaldolese spread all over Italy, and
into Germany, Poland and France. Camaldoli itself exists as a "desert,"
the primitive observance of the institute being strictly maintained.
There are a few other "deserts," all in Italy, except one in Poland; and
there are about 90 hermits. The chief monastery of the cenobitical
Camaldolese is S. Gregorio on the Caelian Hill in Rome; they number less
than forty. Since the 11th century there have been Camaldolese nuns; at
present there are five nunneries with 150 nuns, all belonging to the
cenobitical branch of the order. The habit of the Camaldulians is white.
See Helyot, _Hist. des ordres religieux_ (1792) v. cc. 21-25; Max
Heimbucher, _Orden und Kongregationen_ (1896) i. § 29; and the art.
"Camaldulenser" in Wetzer and Welte, _Kirchenlexikon_ (2nd ed.), and
Herzog, _Realencyklopädie_ (3rd ed.). (E. C. B.)
CAMARGO, MARIE ANNE DE CUPIS DE (1710-1770), French dancer, of Spanish
descent, was born in Brussels on the 15th of April 1710. Her father,
Ferdinand Joseph de Cupis, earned a scanty living as violinist and
dancing-master, and from childhood she was trained for the stage. At ten
years of age she was given lessons by Mlle Françoise Prévost
(1680-1741), then the first dancer at the Paris Opéra, and at once
obtained an engagement as _première danseuse_, first at Brussels and
then at Rouen. Under her grandmother's family name of Camargo she made
her Paris _début_ in 1726, and at once became the rage. Every new
fashion bore her name; her manner of doing her hair was copied by all at
court; her shoemaker--she had a tiny foot--made his fortune. She had
many titled adorers whom she nearly ruined by her extravagances, among
others Louis de Bourbon, comte de Clermont. At his wish she retired from
the stage from 1736 to 1741. In her time she appeared in seventy-eight
ballets or operas, always to the delight of the public. She was the
first ballet-dancer to shorten the skirt to what afterwards became the
regulation length. There is a charming portrait of her by Nicolas
Lancret in the Wallace collection, London.
CAMARGUE (_Insula Camaria_), a thinly-populated region of southern
France contained wholly in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, and
comprising the delta of the Rhone. The Camargue is a marshy plain of
alluvial formation enclosed between the two branches of the river, the
Grand Rhône to the east and the Petit Rhône to the west. Its average
elevation is from 6½ to 8 ft. The Camargue has a coast-line some 30 m.
in length and an area of 290 sq. m., of which about a quarter consists
of cultivated and fertile land. This is in the north and on the banks of
the rivers. The rest consists of rough pasture grazed by the black bulls
and white horses of the region and by large flocks of sheep, or of
marsh, stagnant water and waste land impregnated with salt. The region
is inhabited by flocks of flamingoes, bustards, partridge, and by
sea-birds of various kinds. The Étang de Vaccarès, the largest of the
numerous lagoons and pools, covers about 23 sq. m.; it receives three
main canals constructed to drain off the minor lagoons. The Camargue is
protected by dikes from the inundations both of the sea and of the
rivers. Inlets in the sea-dike let in water for the purposes of the
lagoon fisheries and the salt-pans; and the river-water is used for
irrigation and for the submersion of vines. The climate is characterized
by hard winters and scorching summers. Rain falls in torrents, but at
considerable intervals. The mistral, blowing from the north and
north-west, is the prevailing wind. The south-eastern portion of the
Camargue is known as the Ile du Plan du Bourg. A secondary delta to the
west of the Petit Rhône goes by the name of Petite Camargue.
CAMARINA, an ancient city of Sicily, situated on the south coast, about
17 m. S.E. of Gela (Terranova). It was founded by Syracuse in 599 B.C.,
but destroyed by the mother city in 552 for attempting to assert its
independence. Hippocrates of Gela received its territory from Syracuse
and restored the town in 492, but it was destroyed by Gelon in 484; the
Geloans, however, founded it anew in 461. It seems to have been in
general hostile to Syracuse, but, though an ally of Athens in 427, it
gave some slight help to Syracuse in 415-413. It was destroyed by the
Carthaginians in 405, restored by Timoleon in 339 after its abandonment
by Dionysius's order, but in 258 fell into the hands of the Romans. Its
complete destruction dates from A.D. 853. The site of the ancient city
is among rapidly shifting sandhills, and the lack of stone in the
neighbourhood has led to its buildings being used as a quarry even by
the inhabitants of Terranova, so that nothing is now visible above
ground but a small part of the wall of the temple of Athena and a few
foundations of houses; portions of the city wall have been traced by
excavation, and the necropolis has been carefully explored (see J.
Schubring in _Philologus_, xxxii. 490; P. Orsi in _Monumenti dei
Lincei_, ix. 201, 1899; xiv. 756, 1904). To the north lay the lake to
which the answer of the Delphic oracle referred, [Greek: mhae kinei
Kamarinan], when the citizens inquired as to the advisability of
draining it.
CAMBACÉRÈS, JEAN JACQUES RÉGIS DE, duke of Parma (1753-1824), French
statesman, was born at Montpellier on the 18th of October 1753. He was
descended from a well-known family of the legal nobility (_noblesse de
la robe_). He was designed for the magistracy of his province; and in
1771, when for a time the provincial parlement was suppressed, with the
others, by the chancellor Maupeou, he refused to sit in the royal
tribunal substituted for it. He continued, however, to study law with
ardour, and in 1774 succeeded his father as councillor in the court of
accounts and finances of his native town. Espousing the principles of
the Revolution in 1789, he was commissioned by the _noblesse_ of the
province to draw up the _cahier_ (statement of principles and
grievances); and the _sénéchaussée_ of Montpellier elected him deputy to
the states-general of Versailles; but the election was annulled on a
technical point. Nevertheless in 1792 the new department of Hérault, in
which Montpellier is situated, sent him as one of its deputies to the
Convention which assembled and proclaimed the Republic in September
1792. In the strife which soon broke out between the Girondins and the
Jacobins he took no decided part, but occupied himself mainly with the
legal and legislative work which went on almost without intermission
even during the Terror. The action of Cambacérès at the time of the
trial of Louis XVI. (December 25, 1792-January 20, 1793) was
characteristic of his habits of thought. At first he protested against
the erection of the Convention into a tribunal in these words: "The
people has chosen you to be legislators; it has not appointed you as
judges." He also demanded that the king should have due facilities for
his defence. Nevertheless, when the trial proceeded, he voted with the
majority which declared Louis to be guilty, but recommended that the
penalty should be postponed until the cessation of hostilities, and that
the sentence should then be ratified by the Convention or by some other
legislative body. It is therefore inexact to count him among the
regicides, as was done by the royalists after 1815. Early in 1793 he
became a member of the Committee of General Defence, but he did not take
part in the work of its more famous successor, the Committee of Public
Safety, until the close of the year 1794. In the meantime he had done
much useful work, especially that of laying down, conjointly with Merlin
of Douai, the principles on which the legislation of the revolutionary
epoch should be codified. At the close of 1794 he also used his tact and
eloquence on behalf of the restoration of the surviving Girondins to the
Convention, from which they had been driven by the _coup d'état_ of the
31st of May 1793. In the course of the year 1795, as president of the
Committee of Public Safety, and as responsible especially for foreign
affairs, he was largely instrumental in bringing about peace with Spain.
Nevertheless, not being a regicide, he was not appointed to be one of
the five Directors to whom the control of public affairs was entrusted
after the _coup d'état_ of Vendémiaire 1795; but, as before, his powers
of judgment and of tactful debating soon carried him to the front in the
council of Five Hundred. The moderation of his views brought him into
opposition to the Directors after the _coup d'état_ of Fructidor
(September 1797), and for a time he retired into private life. Owing,
however, to the influence of Sieyès, he became minister of justice in
July 1799. He gave a guarded support to Bonaparte and Sieyès in their
enterprise of overthrowing the Directory (_coup d'état_ of Brumaire
1799).
After a short interval Cambacérès was, by the constitution of December
1799, appointed second consul of France--a position which he owed
largely to his vast legal knowledge and to the conviction which Sieyès
entertained of his value as a manipulator of public assemblies. It is
impossible here to describe in detail his relations to Napoleon, and the
part which he played in the drawing up of the Civil Code, later on
called the Code Napoleon. It must suffice to say that the skilful
intervention of Cambacérès helped very materially to ensure to Napoleon
the consulship for life (August 1, 1802); but the second consul is known
to have disapproved of some of the events which followed, notably the
execution of the duc d'Enghien, the rupture with England, and the
proclamation of the Empire (May 19, 1804). This last occurrence ended
his title of second consul; it was replaced by that of arch-chancellor
of the Empire. To him was decreed the presidence of the Senate in
perpetuity. He also became a prince of the Empire and received in 1808
the title duke of Parma. Apart from the important part which he took in
helping to co-ordinate and draft the Civil Code, Cambacérès did the
state good service in many directions, notably by seeking to curb the
impetuosity of the emperor, and to prevent enterprises so fatal as the
intervention in Spanish affairs (1808) and the invasion of Russia (1812)
proved to be. At the close of the campaign of 1814 he shared with Joseph
Bonaparte the responsibility for some of the actions which zealous
Bonapartists have deemed injurious to the fortunes of the emperor. In
1815, during the Hundred Days, he took up his duties reluctantly at the
bidding of Napoleon; and after the second downfall of his master, he
felt the brunt of royalist vengeance, being for a time exiled from
France. A decree of 13th May 1818 restored him to his civil rights as a
citizen of France; but the last six years of his life he spent in
retirement. He was a member of the Academy till the 31st of March 1816,
when a decree of exclusion was passed. In demeanour he was quiet,
reserved and tactful, but when occasion called for it he proved himself
a brilliant orator. He was a celebrated _gourmet_, and his dinners were
utilized by Napoleon as a useful adjunct to the arts of statecraft.
See A. Aubriet, _Vie de Cambacérès_ (2nd ed., Paris, 1825).
(J. Hl. R.)
CAMBALUC, the name by which, under sundry modifications, the royal city
of the great khan in China became known to Europe during the middle
ages, that city being in fact the same that we now know as Peking. The
word itself represents the Mongol Khan-Balik, "the city of the khan," or
emperor, the title by which Peking continues, more or less, to be known
to the Mongols and other northern Asiatics.
A city occupying approximately the same site had been the capital of one
of the principalities into which China was divided some centuries before
the Christian era; and during the reigns of the two Tatar dynasties that
immediately preceded the Mongols in northern China, viz. that of the
Khitans, and of the Kin or "Golden" khans, it had been one of their
royal residences. Under the names of Yenking, which it received from the
Khitan, and of Chung-tu, which it had from the Kin, it holds a
conspicuous place in the wars of Jenghiz Khan against the latter
dynasty. He captured it in 1215, but it was not till 1284 that it was
adopted as the imperial residence in lieu of Karakorum in the Mongol
steppes by his grandson Kublai. The latter selected a position a few
hundred yards to the north-east of the old city of Chung-tu or Yenking,
where he founded the new city of Ta-tu ("great capital"), called by the
Mongols Taidu or Daitu, but also Khan-Balik; and from this time dates
the use of the latter name as applied to this site.
The new city formed a rectangle, enclosed by a colossal mud rampart, the
longer sides of which ran north and south. These were each about 5-1/3
English m. in length, the shorter sides 3¾ m., so that the circuit was
upwards of 18 m. The palace of the khan, with its gardens and lake,
itself formed an inner enclosure fronting the south. There were eleven
city gates, viz. three on the south side, always the formal front with
the Tatars, and two on each of the other sides; and the streets ran wide
and straight from gate to gate (except, of course, where interrupted by
the palace walls), forming an oblong chess-board plan.
Ta-tu continued to be the residence of the emperors till the fall of the
Mongol power (1368). The native dynasty (Ming) which supplanted them
established their residence at Nan-king ("South Court"), but this proved
so inconvenient that Yunglo, the third sovereign of the dynasty,
reoccupied Ta-tu, giving it then, for the first time, the name of
Pe-king ("North Court"). This was the name in common use when the
Jesuits entered China towards the end of the 16th century, and began to
send home accurate information about China. But it is not so now; the
names in ordinary use being King-cheng or King-tu, both signifying
"capital." The restoration of Cambaluc was commenced in 1409. The size
of the city was diminished by the retrenchment of nearly one-third at
the northern end, which brought the enceinte more nearly to a square
form. And this constitutes the modern (so-called) "Tatar city" of
Peking, the south front of which is identical with the south front of
the city of Kublai. The walls were completed in 1437. Population
gathered about the southern front, probably using the material of the
old city of Yenking, and the excrescence so formed was, in 1544,
enclosed by a wall and called the "outer city." It is the same that is
usually called by Europeans "the Chinese city." The ruins of the
retrenched northern portion of Kublai's great rampart are still
prominent along their whole extent, so that there is no room for
question as to the position or true dimensions of the Cambaluc of the
middle ages; and it is most probable, indeed it is almost a necessity,
that the present palace stands on the lines of Kublai's palace.
The city, under the name of Cambaluc, was constituted into an
archiepiscopal see by Pope Clement V. in 1307, in favour of the
missionary Franciscan John of Montecorvino (d. 1330); but though some
successors were nominated it seems probable that no second metropolitan
ever actually occupied the seat.
Maps of the 16th and 17th centuries often show Cambaluc in an imaginary
region to the north of China, a part of the misconception that has
prevailed regarding Cathay. The name is often in popular literature
written Cambalu, and is by Longfellow accented in verse _Cámbalú_. But
this spelling originates in an accidental error in Ramusio's Italian
version, which was the chief channel through which Marco Polo's book was
popularly known. The original (French) MSS. all agree with the etymology
in calling it Cambaluc, which should be accented _Cambáluc_.
CAMBAY, a native state of India, within the Gujarat division of Bombay.
It has an area of 350 sq. m. Pop. (1901) 75,225, showing a decrease of
16% in the decade, due to the famine of 1899-1900. The estimated gross
revenue is £27,189; the tribute, £1460. In physical character Cambay is
entirely an alluvial plain. As a separate state it dates only from about
1730, the time of the dismemberment of the Mogul empire. The present
chiefs are descended from Momin Khan II., the last of the governors of
Gujarat, who in 1742 murdered his brother-in-law, Nizam Khan, governor
of Cambay, and established himself there.
The town of CAMBAY had a population in 1901 of 31,780. It is supposed to
be the _Camanes_ of Ptolemy, and was formerly a very flourishing city,
the seat of an extensive trade, and celebrated for its manufactures of
silk, chintz and gold stuffs; but owing principally to the gradually
increasing difficulty of access by water, owing to the silting up of the
gulf, its commerce has long since fallen away, and the town has become
poor and dilapidated. The spring tides rise upwards of 30 ft., and in a
channel usually so shallow form a serious danger to shipping. The trade
is chiefly confined to the export of cotton. The town is celebrated for
its manufacture of agate and carnelian ornaments, of reputation
principally in China. The houses in many instances are built of stone (a
circumstance which indicates the former wealth of the city, as the
material had to be brought from a very considerable distance); and
remains of a brick wall, 3 m. in circumference, which formerly
surrounded the town, enclose four large reservoirs of good water and
three bazaars. To the south-east there are very extensive ruins of
subterranean temples and other buildings half-buried in the sand by
which the ancient town was overwhelmed. These temples belong to the
Jains, and contain two massive statues of their deities, the one black,
the other white. The principal one, as the inscription intimates, is
Pariswanath, or Parswanath, carved in the reign of the emperor Akbar;
the black one has the date of 1651 inscribed. In 1780 Cambay was taken
by the army of General Goddard, was restored to the Mahrattas in 1783,
and was afterwards ceded to the British by the peshwa under the treaty
of 1803. It was provided with a railway in 1901 by the opening of the 11
m. required to connect with the gaekwar of Baroda's line through Petlad.
CAMBAY, GULF OF, an inlet in the coast of India, in the Gujarat division
of Bombay. It is about 80 m. in length, but is shallow and abounds in
shoals and sandbanks. It is supposed that the depth of water in this
gulf has been decreasing for more than two centuries past. The tides,
which are very high, run into it with amazing velocity, but at low water
the bottom is left nearly dry for some distance below the latitude of
the town of Cambay. It is, however, an important inlet, being the
channel by which the valuable produce of central Gujarat and the British
districts of Ahmedabad and Broach is exported; but the railway from
Bombay to Baroda and Ahmedabad, near Cambay, has for some time past been
attracting the trade to itself.
CAMBER (derived through the Fr. from Lat. _camera_, vault), in
architecture, the upward curvature given to a beam and provided for the
depression or sagging, which it is liable to, before it has settled down
to its bearings. A "camber arch" is a slight rise given to the
straight-arch to correct an apparent sinking in the centre (see ARCH).
CAMBERT, ROBERT (1628-1677), French operatic composer, was born in Paris
in 1628. He was a pupil of Chambonnières. In 1655, after he had obtained
the post of organist at the church of St Honoré, he married Marie du
Moustier. He was musical superintendent to Queen Anne of Austria, mother
of Louis XIV., and for a time held a post with the marquis de Sourdeac.
His earlier works, the words of which were furnished by Pierre Perrin,
continued to be performed before the court at Vincennes till the death
of his patron Cardinal Mazarin. In 1669 Perrin received a patent for the
founding of the _Académie Nationale de musique_, the germ of the Grand
Opéra, and Cambert had a share in the administration until both he and
Perrin were discarded in the interests of Lulli. Displeased at his
subsequent neglect, and jealous of the favour shown to Lulli, who was
musical superintendent to the king, he went in 1673 to London, where
soon after his arrival he was appointed master of the band to Charles
II. One at least of his operas, _Pomone_, was performed in London under
his direction, but it did not suit the popular taste, and he is supposed
to have killed himself in London in 1677. His other principal operas
were _Ariadne ou les amours de Bacchus_ and _Les Peines et les plaisirs
de l'amour_.
CAMBERWELL, a southern metropolitan borough of London, England, bounded
N. by Southwark and Bermondsey, E. by Deptford and Lewisham, W. by
Lambeth, and extending S. to the boundary of the county of London. Pop,
(1901) 259,339. Area, 4480 acres. It appears in Domesday, but the
derivation of the name is unknown. It includes the districts of Peckham
and Nunhead, and Dulwich (q.v.) with its park, picture-gallery and
schools. Camberwell is mainly residential, and there are many good
houses, pleasantly situated in Dulwich and southward towards the high
ground of Sydenham. Dulwich Park (72 acres) and Peckham Rye Common and
Park (113 acres) are the largest of several public grounds, and
Camberwell Green was once celebrated for its fairs. Immediately outside
the southern boundary lies a well-known place of recreation, the Crystal
Palace. Among institutions may be mentioned the Camberwell school of
arts and crafts, Peckham Road. In Camberwell Road is Cambridge House, a
university settlement, founded in 1897 and incorporating the earlier
Trinity settlement. The parliamentary borough of Camberwell has three
divisions, North, Peckham and Dulwich, each returning one member: but is
not wholly coincident with the municipal borough, the Dulwich division
extending to include Penge, outside the county of London. The borough
council consists of a mayor, ten aldermen, and sixty councillors.
CAMBIASI, LUCA (1527-1585), Genoese painter, familiarly known as
Lucchetto da Genova (his surname is written also Cambiaso or Cangiagio),
was born at Moneglia in the Genoese state, the son of a painter named
Giovanni Cambiasi. He took to drawing at a very early age, imitating his
father, and developed great aptitude for foreshortening. At the age of
fifteen he painted, along with his father, some subjects from Ovid's
_Metamorphoses_ on the front of a house in Genoa, and afterwards, in
conjunction with Marcantonio Calvi, a ceiling showing great daring of
execution in the Palazzo Doria. He also formed an early friendship with
Giambattista Castello; both artists painted together, with so much
similarity of style that their works could hardly be told apart; from
this friend Cambiasi learned much in the way of perspective and
architecture. Luchetto's best artistic period lasted for twelve years
after his first successes; from that time he declined in power, though
not at once in reputation, owing to the agitations and vexations brought
upon him by a passion which he conceived for his sister-in-law. His wife
having died, and the sister-in-law having taken charge of his house and
children, he endeavoured to procure a papal dispensation for marrying
her; but in this he was disappointed. In 1583 he accepted an invitation
from Philip II. to continue in the Escorial a series of frescoes which
had been begun by Castello, now deceased; and it is said that one
principal reason for his closing with this offer was that he hoped to
bring the royal influence to bear upon the pope, but in this again he
failed. Worn out with his disquietudes, he died in the Escorial in the
second year of his sojourn. Cambiasi had an ardent fancy, and was a bold
designer in a Raphaelesque mode. His extreme facility astonished the
Spanish painters; and it is said that Philip II., watching one day with
pleasure the offhand zest with which Luchetto was painting a head of a
laughing child, was allowed the further surprise of seeing the laugh
changed, by a touch or two upon the lips, into a weeping expression. The
artist painted sometimes with a brush in each hand, and with a certainty
equalling or transcending that even of Tintoret. He made a vast number
of drawings, and was also something of a sculptor, executing in this
branch of art a figure of Faith. Altogether he ranks as one of the
ablest artists of his day. In personal character, notwithstanding his
executive energy, he is reported to have been timid and diffident. His
son Orazio became likewise a painter, studying under Luchetto.
The best works of Cambiasi are to be seen in Genoa. In the church of
S. Giorgio--the martyrdom of that saint; in the Palazzo Imperiali
Terralba, a Genoese suburb--a fresco of the "Rape of the Sabines"; in
S. Maria da Carignano--a "Pietà," containing his own portrait and
(according to tradition) that of his beloved sister-in-law. In the
Escorial he executed several pictures; one is a Paradise on the
vaulting of the church, with a multitude of figures. For this picture
he received 12,000 ducats, probably the largest sum that had, up to
that time, ever been given for a single work.
CAMBODIA[1] (called by the inhabitants _Sroc Khmer_ and by the French
_Cambodge_), a country of south-eastern Asia and a protectorate of
France, forming part of French Indo-China.
_Geography_.--It is bounded N. by Siam and Laos, E. by Annam, S.E. and
S. by Cochin-China, S.W. by the Gulf of Siam, and W. by Siam. Its area
is estimated at approximately 65,000 sq. m.; its population at
1,500,000, of whom some three-quarters are Cambodians, the rest Chinese,
Annamese, Chams, Malays, and aboriginal natives. The whole of Cambodia
lies in the basin of the lower Mekong, which, entering this territory on
the north, flows south for some distance, then inclines south-west as
far as Pnom-penh, where it spreads into a delta and resumes a southerly
course. The salient feature of Cambodian geography is the large lake
Tonlé-Sap, in a depression 68 m. long from south-east to north-west and
15 m. wide. It is fed by several rivers and innumerable torrents, and
at flood-time serves as a reservoir for the Mekong, with which it is
connected by a channel some 70 m. long, known as the Bras du Lac and
joining the river at Pnom-Penh. In June the waters of the Mekong,
swollen by the rains and the melting of the Tibetan snows, rise to a
height of 40 to 45 ft. and flow through the Bras du Lac towards the
lake, which then covers an area of 770 sq. m., and like the river
inundates the marshes and forests on its borders. During the dry season
the current reverses and the depression empties so that the lake shrinks
to an area of 100 sq. m., and its depth falls from 45-48 ft. to a
maximum of 5 ft. Tonlé-Sap probably represents the chief wealth of
Cambodia. It supports a fishing population of over 30,000, most of whom
are Annamese; the fish, which are taken by means of large nets at the
end of the inundation, are either dried or fermented for the production
of the sauce known as _nuoc-mam_. The northern and western provinces of
Cambodia which fall outside the densely populated zone of inundation are
thinly peopled; they consist of plateaus, in many places thickly wooded
and intersected by mountains, the highest of which does not exceed 5000
ft. The region to the east of the Mekong is traversed by spurs of the
mountains of Annam and by affluents of the Mekong, the most important of
these being the Se-khong and the Tonle-srepok, which unite to flow into
the Mekong at Stung-treng. Small islands, inhabited by a fishing
population, fringe the west coast.
_Climate, Fauna and Flora._--The climate of Cambodia, like that of
Cochin China, which it closely resembles, varies with the monsoons.
During the north-east monsoon, from the middle of October to the middle
of April, dry weather prevails and the thermometer averages from 77° to
80° F. During the south-west monsoon, from the middle of April to the
middle of October, rain falls daily and the temperature varies between
85° and 95°. The wild animals of Cambodia include the elephant, which is
also domesticated, the rhinoceros, buffalo and some species of wild ox;
also the tiger, panther, leopard and honey-bear. Wild boars, monkeys and
rats abound and are the chief enemies of the cultivator. The crocodile
is found in the Mekong, and there are many varieties of reptiles, some
of them venomous. The horse of Cambodia is only from 11 to 12 hands in
height, but is strong and capable of great endurance; the buffalo is the
chief draught animal. Swine are reared in large numbers. Nux vomica,
gamboge, caoutchouc, cardamoms, teak and other valuable woods and gums
are among the natural products.
_People_.--The Cambodians have a far more marked affinity with their
Siamese than with their Annamese neighbours. The race is probably the
result of a fusion of the Malay aborigines of Indo-China with the Aryan
and Mongolian invaders of the country. The men are taller and more
muscular than the Siamese and Annamese, while the women are small and
inclined to stoutness. The face is flat and wide, the nose short, the
mouth large and the eyes only slightly oblique. The skin is dark brown,
the hair black and, while in childhood the head is shaved with the
exception of a small tuft at the top, in later life it is dressed so as
to resemble a brush. Both sexes wear the langouti or loin-cloth, which
the men supplement with a short jacket, the women with a long scarf
draped round the figure or with a long clinging robe. Morose,
superstitious, and given to drinking and gambling, the Cambodians are at
the same time clean, fairly intelligent, proud and courageous. The wife
enjoys a respected position and divorce may be demanded by either party.
Polygamy is almost confined to the richer classes. Though disinclined to
work, the Cambodians make good hunters and woodsmen. Many of them live on
the borders of the Mekong and the great lake, in huts built upon piles or
floating rafts. The religion of Cambodia is Buddhism, and involves great
respect towards the dead; the worship of spirits or local genii is also
wide-spread, and Brahmanism is still maintained at the court. Monks or
_bonzes_ are very numerous; they live by alms and in return they teach
the young to read, and superintend coronations, marriages, funerals and
the other ceremonials which play a large part in the lives of the
Cambodians. As in the rest of Indo-China, there is no hereditary
nobility, but there exist castes founded on blood-relationship--the
members of the royal family within the fifth degree (the _Brah-Vansa_)
those beyond the fifth degree (_Brah-Van_), and the _Bakou_, who, as
descendants of the ancient Brahmans, exercise certain official functions
at the court. These castes, as well as the mandarins, who form a class by
themselves, are exempt from tax or forced service. The mandarins are
nominated by the king and their children have a position at court, and
are generally chosen to fill the vacant posts in the administration.
Under the native régime the common people attached themselves to one or
other of the mandarins, who in return granted them the protection of his
influence. Under French rule, which has modified the old usages in many
respects, local government of the Annamese type tends to supplant this
feudal system. Slavery was abolished by a royal ordinance of 1897.
Cambodian idiom bears a likeness to some of the aboriginal dialects of
south Indo-China; it is agglutinate in character and rich in
vowel-sounds. The king's language and the royal writing, and also
religious words are, however, apparently of Aryan origin and akin to
Pali. Cambodian writing is syllabic and complicated. The books
(manuscripts) are generally formed of palm-leaves upon which the
characters are traced by means of a style.
_Industry and Commerce._--Iron, worked by the tribe of the Kouis, is
found in the mountainous region. The Cambodians show skill in working
gold and silver; earthenware, bricks, mats, fans and silk and cotton
fabrics, are also produced to some small extent, but fishing and the
cultivation of rice and in a minor degree of tobacco, coffee, cotton,
pepper, indigo, maize, tea and sugar are the only industries worthy of
the name. Factories exist near Pnom-Penh for the shelling of
cotton-seeds. The Cambodian is his own artificer and self-sufficing so
far as his own needs are concerned. Rice, dried fish, beans, pepper and
oxen are the chief elements in the export trade of the country, which is
in the hands of Chinese. The native plays little or no part in commerce.
Trade is carried on chiefly through Saigon in Cochin-China, Kampot, the
only port of Cambodia, being accessible solely to coasting vessels. With
the exception of the highway from Pnom-Penh (q.v.) the capital, to
Kampot, the roads of Cambodia are not suited for vehicles. Pnom-Penh
communicates regularly by the steamers of the "Messageries Fluviales" by
way of the Mekong with Saigon.
_Administration_.--At the head of the government is the king (_raj_).
His successor is either nominated by himself, in which case he sometimes
abdicates in his favour, or else elected by the five chief mandarins
from among the Brah Vansa. The _upayuvraj_ (_obbaioureach_) or king who
has abdicated, the heir-presumptive (_uparaj, obbareach_) and the first
princess of the blood are high dignitaries with their own retinues. The
king is advised by a council of five ministers, the superior members of
the class of mandarins; and the kingdom is divided into about fifty
provinces administered by members of that body. France is represented by
a resident superior, who presides over the ministerial council and is
the real ruler of the country, and by residents exercising supervision
in the districts into which the country is split up for the purposes of
the French administration. In each residential district there is a
council, composed of natives and presided over by the resident, which
deliberates on questions affecting the district. The resident superior
is assisted by the protectorate council, consisting of heads of French
administrative departments (chief of the judicial service, of public
works. &c.) and one native "notable," and the royal orders must receive
its sanction before they can be executed. The control of foreign policy,
public works, the customs and the exchequer are in French hands, while
the management of police, the collection of the direct taxes and the
administration of justice between natives remain with the native
government. A French tribunal alone is competent to settle disputes
where one of the parties is not a native.
The following is a summary of the local budget of Cambodia for 1899 and
1904:--
Receipts. Expenditure.
1899 £235,329 £188,654
1904 250,753 229,880
The chief sources of revenue are the direct taxes, including the
poll-tax and the taxes on the products of the soil, which together
amounted to £172,636 in 1904. The chief heads of expenditure are the
civil list, comprising the personal allowance to the king and the royal
family (£46,018 in 1904), public works (£39,593) and government house
and residences (£29,977).
_History_.--The Khmers, the ancient inhabitants of Cambodia, are
conjectured to have been the offspring of a fusion between the
autochthonous dwellers in the Indo-Chinese peninsula, now represented by
the Kouis and other savage tribes, and an invading race from the
plateaus of central Asia. As early as the 12th century B.C., Chinese
chronicles, which are almost the only source for the history of Cambodia
till the 5th century A.D., mention a region called Fou-nan, in later
times appearing under the name of Tchin-la; embracing the basin of the
Menam, it extended eastwards to the Mekong and may be considered
approximately coextensive with the Khmer kingdom. Some centuries before
the Christian era, immigrants from the east coast of India began to
exert a powerful influence over Cambodia, into which they introduced
Brahmanism and the Sanskrit language. This Hinduizing process became
more marked about the 5th century A.D., when, under S'rutavarman, the
Khmers as a nation rose into prominence. The name _Kambuja_, whence the
European form Cambodia, is derived from the Hindu _Kambu_, the name of
the mythical founder of the Khmer race; it seems to have been officially
adopted by the Khmers as the title of their country about this period.
At the end of the 7th century the dynasty of S'rutavarman ceased to rule
over the whole of Cambodia, which during the next century was divided
into two portions ruled over by two sovereigns. Unity appears to have
been re-established about the beginning of the 9th century, when with
Jayavarman III. there begins a dynasty which embraces the zenith of
Khmer greatness and the era during which the great Brahman monuments
were built. The royal city of Angkor-Thorn (see ANGKOR) was completed
under Yasovarman about A.D. 900. In the 10th century Buddhism, which had
existed for centuries in Cambodia, began to become powerful and to rival
Brahmanism, the official religion. The construction of the temple of
Angkor Vat dates probably from the first half of the 12th century, and
appears to have been carried out under the direction of the Brahman
Divakara, who enjoyed great influence under the monarchs of this period.
The conquest of the rival kingdom of Champa, which embraced modern
Cochin-China and southern Annam, and in the later 15th century was
absorbed by Annam, may probably be placed at the end of the 12th
century, in the reign of Jayavarman VIII., the last of the great kings.
War was also carried on against the western neighbours of Cambodia, and
the exhaustion consequent upon all these efforts seems to have been the
immediate cause of the decadence which now set in. From the last decade
of the 13th century there dates a valuable description of Tchin-la[2]
written by a member of a Chinese embassy thereto. The same period
probably also witnessed the liberation of the Thais or inhabitants of
Siam from the yoke of the Khmers, to whom they had for long been
subject, and the expulsion of the now declining race from the basin of
the Menam. The royal chronicles of Cambodia, the historical veracity of
which has often to be questioned, begin about the middle of the 14th
century, at which period the Thais assumed the offensive and were able
repeatedly to capture and pillage Angkor-Thorn. These aggressions were
continued in the 15th century, in the course of which the capital was
finally abandoned by the Khmer kings, the ruin of the country being
hastened by internal revolts and by feuds between members of the royal
family. At the end of the 16th century, Lovek, which had succeeded
Angkor-Thorn as capital, was itself abandoned to the conquerors. During
that century, the Portuguese had established some influence in the
country, whither they were followed by the Dutch, but after the middle
of the 17th century, Europeans counted for little in Cambodia till the
arrival of the French. At the beginning of the 17th century the Nguyen,
rulers of southern Annam, began to encroach on the territory of
Cochin-China, and in the course of that and the 18th century, Cambodia,
governed by two kings supported respectively by Siam and Annam, became a
field for the conflicts of its two powerful neighbours. At the end of
the 18th century the provinces of Battambang and Siem-reap were annexed
by Siam. The rivalries of the two powers were concluded after a last and
indecisive war by the treaty of 1846, as a result of which Ang-Duong,
the protégé of Siam, was placed on the throne at the capital of Oudong,
and the Annamese evacuated the country. In 1863, in order to counteract
Siamese influence there, Doudart de Lagrée was sent by Admiral la
Grandière to the court of King Norodom, the successor of Ang-Duong, and
as a result of his efforts Cambodia placed itself under the protectorate
of France. In 1866 Norodom transferred his capital to Pnom-Penh. In 1867
a treaty between France and Siam was signed, whereby Siam renounced its
right to tribute and recognized the French protectorate over Cambodia in
return for the provinces of Battambang and Angkor, and the Laos
territory as far as the Mekong. In 1884 another treaty was signed by the
king, confirming and extending French influence, and reducing the royal
authority to a shadow, but in view of the discontent aroused by it, its
provisions were not put in force till several years later. In 1904 the
territory of Cambodia was increased by the addition to it of the Siamese
provinces of Melupré and Bassac, and the maritime district of Krat, the
latter of which, together with the province of Dansai, was in 1907
exchanged for the provinces of Battambang, Siem-reap and Sisophon. By
the same treaty France renounced its sphere of influence on the right
bank of the Mekong. In 1904 King Norodom was succeeded by his brother
Sisowath.
See E. Aymonier, _Le Cambodge_ (3 vols., Paris, 1900-1904); L. Moura,
_Le royaume de Cambodge_ (2 vols., Paris, 1883); A. Leclère, _Les
codes cambodgiens_ (2 vols., Paris, 1898), and other works on
Cambodian law; Francis Gamier, _Voyage d'exploration en Indo-Chine_
(Paris, 1873).
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See also INDO-CHINA, FRENCH
[2] Translated by Abel Rémusat, _Noveaux Mélanges Asiatiques_ (1829).
CAMBON, PIERRE JOSEPH (1756-1820), French statesman, was the son of a
wealthy cotton merchant at Montpellier. In 1785 his father retired,
leaving the direction of the business to Pierre and his two brothers,
but in 1788 Pierre turned aside to politics, and was sent by his
fellow-citizens as deputy _suppléant_ to Versailles, where he was little
more than a spectator. In January 1790 he returned to Montpellier, was
elected a member of the municipality, was one of the founders of the
Jacobin club in that city, and on the flight of Louis XVI. in 1791, he
drew up a petition to invite the Constituent Assembly to proclaim a
republic,--the first in date of such petitions. Elected to the
Legislative Assembly, Cambon became noted for his independence, his
honesty and his ability in finance. He was the most active member of the
committee of finance and was often charged to verify the state of the
treasury. Nothing could be more false than the common opinion that as a
financier his sole expedient was to multiply the emissions of
_assignats_. His remarkable speech of the 24th of November 1791 is a
convincing proof of his sagacity. In politics, while he held aloof from
the clubs, and even from parties, he was an ardent defender of the new
institutions. On the 9th of February 1792, he succeeded in having a law
passed sequestrating the possessions of the _emigrés_, and demanded,
though in vain, the deportation of refractory priests to French Guiana.
He was the last president of the Legislative Assembly. Re-elected to the
Convention, he opposed the pretensions of the Commune and the proposed
grant of money to the municipality of Paris by the state. He denounced
Marat's placards as inciting to murder, summoned Danton to give an
account of his ministry, watched carefully over the furnishing of
military supplies, and was a strong opponent of Dumouriez, in spite of
the general's great popularity. Cambon then incurred the hatred of
Robespierre by proposing the suppression of the pay to the clergy, which
would have meant the separation of church and state. His authority grew
steadily. On the 15th of December 1792 he got the Convention to adopt a
proclamation to all nations in favour of a universal republic. In the
trial of Louis XVI. he voted for his death, without appeal or
postponement. He attempted to prevent the creation of the Revolutionary
Tribunal, but when called to the first Committee of Public Safety he
worked on it energetically to organize the armies. On the 3rd of
February 1793 he had decreed the emission of 800 millions of
_assignats_, for the expenses of the war. His courageous intervention in
favour of the Girondists on the and of June 1793 served Robespierre as a
pretext to prevent his re-election to the Committee of Public Safety.
But Cambon soon came to the conclusion that the security of France
depended upon the triumph of the Mountain, and he did not hesitate to
accord his active co-operation to the second committee. He took an active
share in the various expedients of the government for stopping the
depreciation of the _assignats_. He was responsible, especially, for the
great operation known as the opening of the _Grand Livre_ (August 24),
which was designed to consolidate the public debt by cancelling the
stock issued under various conditions prior to the Revolution, and
issuing new stock of a uniform character, so that all fund-holders
should hold stock of the revolutionary government and thus be interested
in its stability. Each fund-holder was to be entered in the Great Book,
or register of the public debt, for the amount due to him every year.
The result of this measure was a rise in the face value of the
_assignats_ from 27% to 48% by the end of the year. In matters of
finance Cambon was now supreme; but his independence, his hatred of
dictatorship, his protests against the excesses of the Revolutionary
Tribunal, won him Robespierre's renewed suspicion, and on the 8th
Thermidor Robespierre accused him of being anti-revolutionary and an
aristocrat. Cambon's proud and vehement reply was the signal of the
resistance to Robespierre's tyranny and the prelude to his fall. Cambon
soon had reason to repent of that event, for he became one of those most
violently attacked by the Thermidorian reaction. The royalist pamphlets
and the journals of J.L. Tallien attacked him with fury as a former
_Montagnard_. He was charged with being responsible for the discredit of
the _assignats_, and even accused of malversations. On the 21st of
February 1795 the project which he presented to withdraw four milliards
of _assignats_ from circulation, was rejected, and on the 3rd of April
he was excluded from the committee of finance. On the 16th Germinal,
Tallien procured a decree of accusation against him, but he was already
in safety, taking refuge probably at Lausanne. In any case he does not
seem to have remained in Paris, although in the riot of the 1st Prairial
some of the insurgents proclaimed him mayor. The amnesty of the 4th
Brumaire of the year IV. (the 5th of October 1795), permitted him to
return to France, and he withdrew to his estate of Terral near
Montpellier, where, during the White Terror, he had a narrow escape from
an attempt upon his life. At first Cambon hoped to find in Bonaparte the
saviour of the republic, but, deceived by the 18th Brumaire, he lived
throughout the whole of the empire in peaceful seclusion. During the
Hundred Days he was deputy for Hérault in the chamber of
representatives, and pronounced himself strongly against the return of
the Bourbons, and for religious freedom. Under the Restoration the
"amnesty" law of 1816 condemned him as a regicide to exile, and he
withdrew to Belgium, to St Jean-Ten-Noode, near Brussels, where he died
on the 15th of February 1820. (R. A.*)
See Bornarel, _Cambon_ (Paris).
CAMBON, PIERRE PAUL (1843- ), French diplomatist, was born on the 20th
of January 1843. He was called to the Parisian bar, and became private
secretary to Jules Ferry in the prefecture of the Seine. After ten years
of administrative work in France as secretary of prefecture, and then as
prefect successively of the departments of Aube (1872), Doubs (1876),
Nord (1877-1882), he exchanged into the diplomatic service, being
nominated French minister plenipotentiary at Tunis. In 1886 he became
French ambassador to Madrid; was transferred to Constantinople in 1890,
and in 1898 to London. He was decorated with the grand cross of the
Legion of Honour, and became a member of the French Academy of Sciences.
His brother, JULES MARTIN CAMBON (1845- ), was called to the bar in
1866, served in the Franco-Prussian War and entered the civil service
in 1871. He was prefect of the department of Nord (1882) and of the
Rhone (1887-1891), and in 1891 became governor-general of Algeria (see
Guyot, _L'oeuvre de M. Jules Cambon_, Paris, 1897), where he had served
in a minor position in 1874. He was nominated French ambassador at
Washington in 1897, and in that capacity negotiated the preliminaries of
peace on behalf of the Spanish government after the war with the United
States. He was transferred in 1902 to Madrid, and in 1907 to Berlin.
CAMBORNE, a market town in the Camborne parliamentary division of
Cornwall, England, on the Great Western railway, 13 m. E.N.E. of
Penzance. Pop. of urban district (1901), 14,726. It lies on the
northward slope of the central elevation of the county, and is in the
neighbourhood of some of the most productive tin and copper mines. These
and the manufacture of mining machinery employ most of the inhabitants.
The parish church of St Martin contains several monuments and an ancient
stone altar bearing a Latin inscription. There are science and art and
mining schools, and practical mining is taught in South Condurrow mine,
the school attracting a large number of students. It was developed from
classes initiated in 1859 by the Miners' Association, and a three years'
course of instruction is provided.
Camborne (_Cambron, Camron_) formed a portion of the extensive manor of
Tehidy, which at the time of the Domesday Survey was held by the earl of
Mortain and subsequently by the Dunstanville and Basset families. Its
interests were economically insignificant until the beginning of the
18th century when the rich deposits of copper and tin began to be
vigorously worked at Dolcoath. It has been estimated that in 1788 this
mine alone had produced ore worth £2,000,000 and in 1882 ore worth
£5,500,000. As the result of the prosperity of this and other mines in
the neighbourhood the population in 1860 was double that of 1830, six
times that of 1770 and fifteen times that of 1660. Camborne was the
scene of the scientific labours of Richard Trevithick (1771-1833), the
engineer, born in the neighbouring parish of Illogan, and of William
Bickford, the inventor of the safety-fuse, a native of Camborne. Three
fairs on the feasts of St Martin and St Peter and on 25th of February
were granted in 1708. The two former are still held, the last has been
transferred to the 7th of March. A Tuesday market formed the subject of
a judicial inquiry in 1768, but since the middle of the 19th century it
has been held on Saturdays.
CAMBRAI, a town of northern France, capital of an arrondissement in the
department of Nord, 37 m. S.S.E. of Lille on the main line of the
Northern railway. Pop. (1906) 21,791. Cambrai is situated on the right
and eastern bank of the Scheldt (arms of which traverse the west of the
town) and at one extremity of the canal of St Quentin. The
fortifications with which it was formerly surrounded have been for the
most part demolished. The fosses have been filled up and the ramparts in
part levelled to make way, as the suburbs extended, for avenues
stretching out on all sides. The chief survivals from the demolition are
the huge square citadel, which rises to the east of the town, the
chateau de Selles, a good specimen of the military architecture of the
13th century, and, among other gates, the Porte Notre-Dame, a stone and
brick structure of the early 17th century. Handsome boulevards now skirt
the town, the streets of which are clean and well-ordered, and a large
public garden extends at the foot of the citadel, with a statue of
Enguerrand de Monstrelet the chronicler. The former cathedral of Cambrai
was destroyed after the Revolution. The present cathedral of Notre-Dame
is a church of the 19th century built on the site of the old abbey
church of St Sépulchre. Among other monuments it contains that of
Fénelon, archbishop from 1695 to 1715, by David d'Angers. The church of
St Géry (18th century) contains, among other works of art, a marble
rood-screen of Renaissance workmanship. The Place d'Armes, a large
square in the centre of the town, is bordered on the north by a handsome
hôtel de ville built in 1634 and rebuilt in the 19th century. The Tour
St Martin is an old church-tower of the 15th and 18th centuries
transformed into a belfry. The triple stone portal, which gave entrance
to the former archiepiscopal palace, is a work of the Renaissance
period. The present archbishop's palace, adjoining the cathedral,
occupies the site of an old Benedictine convent.
Cambrai is the seat of an archbishop and a sub-prefect, and has
tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a board of
trade-arbitrators, a chamber of commerce and a branch of the Bank of
France. Its educational institutions include communal colleges,
ecclesiastical seminaries, and schools of drawing and music. The library
has over 40,000 volumes and there is a museum of antiquities and objects
of art. The chief industry of Cambrai is the weaving of muslin
(_batiste_) and other fine fabrics (see CAMBRIC); wool-spinning and
weaving, bleaching and dyeing, are carried on, as well as the
manufacture of chicory, oil, soap, sausages and metal boxes. There are
also large beet-sugar works and breweries and distilleries. Trade is in
cattle, grain, coal, hops, seed, &c.
Cambrai is the ancient Nervian town of _Camaracum_, which is mentioned
in the Antonine Itinerary. In the 5th century it was the capital of the
Frankish king Raguacharius. Fortified by Charlemagne, it was captured
and pillaged by the Normans in 870, and unsuccessfully besieged by the
Hungarians in 953. During the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries it was the
scene of frequent hostilities between the bishop and his supporters on
the one hand and the citizens on the other; but the latter ultimately
effected their independence. In 1478 Louis XI., who had obtained
possession of the town on the death of Charles the Bold, duke of
Burgundy, handed it over to the emperor, and in the 16th century Charles
V. caused it to be fortified with a strong citadel, for the erection of
which the castles of Cavillers, Escaudoeuvres and many others were
demolished. From that date to the peace of Nijmwegen, 1678, which
assigned it to France, it frequently passed from hand to hand by capture
or treaty. In 1793 it was besieged in vain by the Austrians. The League
of Cambrai is the name given to the alliance of Pope Julius II., Louis
XII., Maximilian I., and Ferdinand the Catholic against the Venetians in
1508; and the peace of Cambrai, or as it is also called, the Ladies'
Peace, was concluded in the town in 1529 by Louise of Savoy, mother of
Francis I., and Margaret of Austria, aunt of Charles V., in the name of
these monarchs. The bishopric of Cambrai dates from the 5th century, and
was raised in 1559 to the rank of an archbishopric, which continued till
the Revolution, and has since been restored. The bishops received the
title of count from the emperor Henry I. (919-936), and in 1510 were
raised to the dignity of dukes, their territory including the town
itself and its territory, called Cambrésis.
See E. Bouly, _Histoire de Cambrai et du Cambrésis_ (Cambria, 1843).
CAMBRIA, the Med. Lat. name for Wales. After the end of the western
Roman empire the Cymric Celts held for a while both Wales and the land
round the Solway (now Cumberland and adjacent regions), and the former
came to be called Cambria, the latter Cumbria, though the two names were
sometimes interchanged by early medieval writers.
CAMBRIAN SYSTEM, in geology, the name now universally employed to
designate the earliest group of Palaeozoic rocks which possesses a
connected suite of fossils. The strata of this system rest upon the
Pre-Cambrian, and are succeeded by the Ordovician system. Until the
fourth decade of the 19th century all stratified rocks older than the
Carboniferous had been grouped by geologists into a huge and indefinite
"Transition Series." In 1831 Adam Sedgwick and Sir Roderick I. Murchison
began the herculean task of studying and sub-dividing this series of
rocks as it occurs in Wales and the bordering counties of England.
Sedgwick attacked the problem in the Snowdon district, where the rocks
are highly altered and displaced and where fossils are comparatively
difficult to obtain; Murchison, on the other hand, began to work at the
upper end of the series where the stratigraphy is simple and the fossils
are abundant. Murchison naturally made the most of the fossils
collected, and was soon able to show that the transition series could be
recognized by them, just as younger formations had fossils peculiar to
themselves; as he zealously worked on he followed the fossiliferous
rocks further afield and continually lower in the series. This
fossil-bearing set of strata he first styled the "fossiliferous
greywacke series," changing it in 1835 to "Silurian system."
In the same year Sedgwick introduced the name "Cambrian series" for the
older and lower members. Murchison published his Silurian system in
1839, wherein he recognized the Cambrian to include the barren slates
and grits of Harlech, Llanberis and the Long Mynd. So far, the two
workers had been in agreement; but in his presidential address to the
Geological Society of London in 1842 Murchison stated his opinion that
the Cambrian contained no fossils that differed from those of the Lower
Silurian. Whereupon Sedgwick undertook a re-examination of the Welsh
rocks with the assistance of J.W. Salter, the palaeontologist; and in
1852 he included the Llandeilo and Bala beds (Silurian) in the Upper
Cambrian. Two years later Murchison brought out his _Siluria_, in which
he treated the Cambrian system as a mere local facies of the Silurian
system, and he included in the latter, under J. Barrande's term
"Primordial zone," all the lower rocks, although they had a distinctive
fauna.
Meanwhile in Europe and America fossils were being collected from
similar rocks which were classed as Silurian, and the use of "Cambrian"
was almost discarded, because, following Murchison, it was taken to
apply only to a group of rocks without a characteristic fauna and
therefore impossible to recognize. Most of the Cambrian rocks were
coloured as Silurian on the British official geological maps.
Nevertheless, from 1851 to 1855, Sedgwick, in his writings on the
British palaeozoic deposits, insisted on the independence of the
Cambrian system, and though Murchison had pushed his Silurian system
downward in the series of rocks, Sedgwick adhered to the original
grouping of his Cambrian system, and even proposed to limit the Silurian
to the Ludlow and Wenlock beds with the May Hill Sandstone at the base.
This attitude he maintained until the year of his death (1873), when
there appeared his introduction to Salter's _Catalogue of Cambrian and
Silurian Fossils._
It is not to be supposed that one of these great geologists was
necessarily in the wrong; each had right on his side. It was left for
the subsequent labours of Salter and H. Hicks to prove that the rocks
below the undoubted lower Silurian of Murchison did indeed possess a
characteristic fauna, and their work was confirmed by researches going
on in other countries. To-day the recognition of the earliest
fossil-bearing recks, below the Llandeilo formation of Murchison, as
belonging to the Cambrian system, and the threefold subdivision of the
system according to palaeontological evidence, may be regarded as firmly
established.
It should be noted that A. de Lapparent classifies the Cambrian as the
lowest stage in the Silurian, the middle and upper stages being
Ordovician and Gothlandian. E. Renevier proposed to use _Silurique_ to
cover the same period with the Cambrian as the lowest series, but these
differences of treatment are merely nominal. Jules Marcou and others
have used _Taconic_ (Taconian) as the equivalent of Cambrian, and C.
Lapworth proposed to apply the same term to the lowest subdivision
only; he had also used "Annelidian" in the same sense. These names are
of historical interest alone.
_Cambrian Rocks._--The lithological characters of the Cambrian rocks
possess a remarkable uniformity in all quarters of the globe. Muds,
sands, grits and conglomerates are the predominant types. In Scotland,
North America and Canada important deposits of limestone occur and
subordinate limestones are found in the Cambrian of central Europe.
In some regions, notably in the Baltic province and in parts of the
United States, the rocks still retain their original horizontality of
deposition, the muds are scarcely indurated and the sands are still
incoherent; but in most parts of the world they bear abundant evidence
of the many movements and stresses to which they have been exposed
through so enormous a period of time. Thus, we find them more
frequently, folded, tilted and cleaved; the muds have become shales,
slates, phyllites or schists, the grey and red sands and conglomerates
have become quartzites and greywackes, while the limestones are very
generally dolomitized. In the Cambrian limestones, as in their more
recent analogues, layers and nodules of chert and phosphatized material
are not wanting.
[Illustration: Distribution of Cambrian Rocks.]
Igneous rocks are not extensively developed; in Wales they form an
important feature and occur in considerable thickness; they are
represented by lavas of olivine-diabase and by contemporaneous tuffs
which are traversed by later granite and quartz felsite. In the Cambrian
of Brittany there are acid lavas and tuffs. Quartz porphyry, diabase and
diorite appear in the Ardennes. In Bohemia, North America and Canada
igneous rocks have been observed.
In China, on the Yang-tse river, a thick deposit has been found full of
boulders of diverse kinds of rock, striated in the manner that is
typical of glacial action. A similar deposit occurs in the Gaisa beds
near the Varanger Fjord in Norway. These formations lie at the base of
the lowest Cambrian strata and may possibly be included in the
pre-Cambrian, though in Norway they are clearly resting upon a striated
floor of crystalline rocks.
_Cambrian Life._--In a general survey of the life of this period, as it
is revealed by the fossils, three outstanding facts are apparent: (1)
the great divergence between the Cambrian fauna and that of the present
day; (2) the Cambrian life assemblage differs in no marked manner from
that of the succeeding Ordovician and Silurian periods; there is a
certain family likeness which unites all of them; (3) the extraordinary
complexity and diversity not only in the assemblage as a whole but
within certain limited groups of organisms. Although in the Cambrian
strata we have the oldest known fossiliferous rocks--if we leave out of
account the very few and very obscure organic remains hitherto recorded
from the pre-Cambrian--yet we appear to enter suddenly into the presence
of a world richly peopled with a suite of organisms already far advanced
in differentiation; the Cambrian fauna seems to be as far removed from
what must have been the first forms of life, as the living forms of this
remote period are distant from the creatures of to-day.
With the exception of the vertebrates, every one of the great classes of
animals is represented in Cambrian rocks. Simple protozoa appear in the
form of Radiolaria; Lithistid sponges are represented by such forms as
_Archaeoscyphia_, Hexactinellid sponges by _Protospongia_; Graptolites
(_Dictyograptus (Dictyonema_)) come on in the higher parts of the
system. Medusa-like casts have been found in the lower Cambrian of
Scandinavia (_Medusina_) and in the mid-Cambrian of Alabama
(_Brooksella_). Corals, _Archaeocyathus, Spirocyathus_, &c., lived in
the Cambrian seas along with starfishes (_Palaeasterina_), Cystideans,
_Protocystites, Trochocystites_ and possibly Crinoids, _Dendrocrinus_.
Annelids left their traces in burrows and casts on the sea-floor
(_Arenicolites, Cruziana, Scolithus_, &c.). Crustacea occupied an
extremely prominent place; there were Phyllocarids such as
_Hymenocaris_, and Ostracods like _Entomidella_; but by far the most
important in numbers and development were the Trilobites, now extinct,
but in palaeozoic times so abundant. In the Cambrian period trilobites
had already attained their maximum size; some species of _Paradoxides_
were nearly 2 ft. long, but in company with these monsters were tiny
forms like _Agnostus_ and _Microdiscus_. Many of the Cambrian trilobites
appear to have been blind, and they had not at this period developed
that flexibility in the carapace that some forms acquired later.
Brachiopods were fairly abundant, particularly the non-articulated forms
(_Obolus, Lingulella, Acrotreta, Discinopsis,_ &c.); amongst the
articulate genera are _Kutorgina, Orthis, Khynchonella._ It is a
striking fact that certain of these non-articulate "lamp-shells" are
familiar inhabitants of our present seas. Each of the principal groups
of true mollusca was represented: Pelecypods (_Modioloides_);
Gasteropods (_Scenella, Pleurotomaria, Trochonema_); Pteropods
(_Hyohthellus, Hyolithes, Salleretta_); Cephalopods (_Orthoceras,
Cystoceras_). Of land plants no traces have yet been discovered. Certain
markings on slates and sandstones, such as the "fucoids" of Scandinavia
and Scotland, the _Phycoides_ of the Fichtelgebirge, _Eophyton_ and
other seaweed-like impressions, may indeed be the casts of fucoid
plants; but it is by no means sure that many of them are not mere
inorganic imitative markings or the tracks or casts of worms.
_Oldhamia_, a delicate branching body, abundant in the Cambrian of the
south-east of Ireland, is probably a calcareous alga, but its precise
nature has not been satisfactorily determined.
_Cambrian Stratigraphy._--Wherever the Cambrian strata have been
carefully studied it has now been found possible and convenient to
arrange them into three series, each of which is characterized by a
distinctive genus of trilobite. Thus we have a Lower Cambrian with
_Olenellus_, a middle series with _Paradoxides_ and an Upper Cambrian
with _Olenus_. It is true that these fossils are not invariably present
in every occurrence of Cambrian strata, but this fact notwithstanding,
the threefold division holds with sufficient constancy. An uppermost
series lies above the _Olenus_ fauna in some areas; it is represented by
the Tremadoc beds in Britain or by the _Dictyonema_ beds or
_Euloma-Niobe_ fauna elsewhere. Three regions deserve special attention:
(1) Great Britain, the area in which the Cambrian was first
differentiated from the old "Transition Series"; (2) North America, on
account of the wide-spread occurrence of the rocks and the abundance and
perfection of the fossils; and (3) Bohemia, made classic by the great
labours of J. Barrande.
_Great Britain and Ireland._--The table on p. 88 contains the names
that have been applied to the subdivisions of the Cambrian strata in
the areas of outcrop in Wales and England; at the same time it
indicates approximately their relative position in the system.
In _Scotland_ the upper and middle series are represented by a thick
mass of limestone and dolomite, the Durness limestone (1500 ft.). In
the lower series are, in descending order, the "Serpulite grits" or
"Salterella beds," the "Fucoid beds" and the "Eriboll quartzite,"
which is divided into an upper "Pipe rock" and lower "Basal
quartzite."
The Cambrian rocks of _Ireland_, a great series of purple and green
shales, slates and grits with beds of quartzite, have not yet yielded
sufficient fossil evidence to permit of a correlation with the Welsh
rocks, and possibly some parts of the series may be transferred in the
future to the overlying Ordovician.
_North America._--On the North American continent, as in Europe, the
Cambrian system is divisible into three series: (1) the lower or
"Georgian," with _Olenellus_ fauna; (2) the middle or "Acadian," with
_Paradoxides or Dikelocephalus_ fauna; (3) the upper or "Potsdam,"
with _Olenus_ fauna (with Saratogan or St Croix as synonyms for
Potsdam). The lower division appears on the Newfoundland and Labrador
coasts, and is traceable thence, in a great belt south-west of those
points, through Maine and the Hudson-Champlain valley into Alabama, a
distance of some 2000 m.; and the rocks are brought up again on the
western uplift, in Nevada, Idaho, Utah, western Montana and British
Columbia. The middle division covers approximately the same region as
the lower one, and in addition it is found in the states of Texas,
Oklahoma, and Arizona, in western Montana, and possibly in western
Wisconsin. The lower division, in addition to covering the areas
already indicated, spreads over the interior of the United States.
_Bohemia_.--The Cambrian rocks of this country are now recognized by
J.F. Pompesk; to comprise the Paradoxidian and Olenelledian groups.
They were made famous through the researches of Barrande. The Cambrian
system is covered by his stages "B" and "C"; the former a barren
series of conglomerates and quartzites, the latter a series of grey
and green fissile shales 1200 ft. thick with sandstones, greywackes
and conglomerates.
+----------------+--------------------+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | | Midland and West of England. |
| | North Wales. | South Wales. +--------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| | | | Shropshire. | Malvern Hills. | Nuneaton. |
+----------------+--------------------+---------------+--------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| Upper Cambrian,| Tremadoc slates | Tremadoc beds | Shineton shales | Bronsil shales, | Upper Stockingford |
| _Olenus_ fauna | (_Euloma-Niobe_ | | and shales with | gray (_Niobe_ | shale |
| | fauna) | | _Dictyonema_ | fauna) | (Merivaleshales) |
| | Lingula flags | Lingula flags | | Malvern black | |
| | | | | shales | |
| | | | | (White-leaved-oak | |
| | | | | shales) | |
| | (1) Dolgelly beds | | | | |
| | (2) Ffestinieg beds| | | | Middle Stockingford |
| | | | | | shales (Oldbury |
| | | | | | shales) |
| | (3) Maentwrog beds | | | | |
+----------------+--------------------+---------------+--------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| Middle Cambrian| Menevian beds | Menevian beds | | | |
| _Paradoxides_ | | | | | |
| fauna | | Solva group | Comley or Hollybush| Hollybush sandstone | Lower Stockingford |
| | | | sandstone with | | shales (Purley |
| | | | upper Comley | | shales) |
| | | | limestone | | |
+----------------+--------------------+---------------+--------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| Lower Cambrian | Harlech grits and | Caerfai group | Lower Comley | Hollybush sandstone | Upper Hartshill |
| _Olenellus_ | Llanberis slates | | limestone | with Malvern | quarzite. |
| fauna | | | | quarzite and | _Hyolithes_ shales |
| | | | | conglomerate at | and limestone |
| | | | | the base | |
| | | | Wrekin quarzite | | Middle and lower |
| | | | | | Hartshill quarzite |
| | | | | | and the quarzite of|
| | | | | | the Lickey Hills |
+----------------+--------------------+---------------+--------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
_Scandinavia_.--Here the Cambrian system is only distinguished clearly
on the eastern side, where the three subdivisions are found in a thin
series of strata (400 ft.), in which black concretion-bearing shales
play an important part. Limestones and shales with the _Euloma-Niobe_
fauna come at the top. The upper series (_Olenus_) has been minutely
zoned by W.C. Brögger, S.A. Tullberg and J.C. Moberg. In the middle
series (_Paradoxides_) three thin limestone bands have been
distinguished, the Fragmenten-Kalk, the Exulans-Kalk and the
Andrarums-Kalk.
On the Norwegian side the Cambrian is perhaps represented by the Röros
schists which lie at the base of a great series of crystalline
schists, the probable equivalent of Ordovician and Silurian rocks.
_Baltic Province._--The Cambrian rocks in this region are nearly all
soft sediments, some 600 ft. thick; they reach from the Gulf of
Finland towards Lake Ladoga. At the base is the so-called "blue clay"
(really greenish) with ferruginous sandstones and with a fucoidal
sandstone at its summit. This division is the equivalent of the Lower
Cambrian. Above the fucoidal sandstone an important break appears in
the system, for the _Paradoxides_ and _Olenus_ divisions are absent.
The upper members are the "Ungulite grit" and about 20 ft. of
Dictyonema shale. Cambrian rocks have been traced into Siberia (lat.
71°) and on the island of Vaigatch.
_Central Europe._--Besides the Bohemian region previously mentioned,
Cambrian rocks are present in Belgium and the north of France, in
Spain and the Thüringer Wald. In the Ardennes the system is
represented by grits and sandstones, shales, slates and quartz
schists, and includes also whet slates and some igneous rocks. A.
Dumont has arranged the whole series (_Terrain ardennais_) into three
systems, an upper "Salmien," a middle "Revinien" and a lower
"Devillien," but J. Gosselet has subsequently proposed to unite the
two lower groups in one.
_France_.---In northern France Cambrian rocks, mostly purple
conglomerates and red shales, rest with apparent unconformability upon
pre-Cambrian strata in Brittany, Normandy and northern Poitou. In the
Rennes basin limestones--often dolomitic--are associated with
quartzites and conglomerates; silicious limestones also occur in the
Sarthe region. Farther south, around the old lands of Languedoc,
equivalents of the two upper divisions of the Cambrian have been
recorded; and the uppermost members of the system appear in Herault.
Patches of Cambrian rocks are found in the Pyrenees.
In _Spain_ slates and quartzites, the slates of Rivadeo, more than
9000 ft. thick, are followed by the middle Cambrian beds of La Vega,
thick quartzites with limestone, slates and iron ores. Cambrian rocks
occur also in the provinces of Seville and Ciudad-Real. Upper Cambrian
strata have been found in upper Alemtejo in Portugal.
In _Russian Poland_ is a series of conglomerates, quartzites and
shales; Some of the beds yield a _Paradoxides_ fauna.
In the _Thüringer Wald_ are certain strata, presumably Cambrian since
the uppermost beds contain the _Euloma-Niobe_ fauna.
_Sardinia_ contains both middle and upper Cambrian. The Cambrian
system is represented in the Salt Range of India by the Neobolus or
Khussack beds, which may possibly belong to the middle subdivision.
The same group is probably represented in Corea and the Liao-tung by
the thick "Sinisian" formation of F. von Richthofen.
In _South America_ upper Cambrian rocks have been recorded from north
Argentina.
The Lower Cambrian has been found at various places in _South
Australia_; and in _Tasmania_ a thick series of strata appears to be
in part at least of Upper Cambrian age.
_General Physical Conditions in the Cambrian Period._--The Cambrian
rocks previously described are all such as would result from deposition,
in comparatively shallow seas, of the products of degradation of land
surfaces by the ordinary agents of denudation. Evidences of shallow
water conditions are abundant; very frequently on the bedding surfaces
of sandstones and other rocks we find cracks made by the sun's heat and
pittings caused by the showers that fell from the Cambrian sky, and
these records of the weather of this remote period are preserved as
sharply and clearly as those made only to-day on our tidal reaches.
Ripple marks and current bedding further point, to the shallowness of
the water at the places where the rocks were made.
No Cambrian rocks are such as would be formed in the abysses of the
sea--although the absence of well-developed eyes in the trilobites has
led some to assume that this condition was an indication that the
creatures lived in abyssal depths.
At the close of the pre-Cambrian, many of the deposits of that period
must have been elevated into regions of fairly high ground; this we may
assume from the nature of the Cambrian deposits which are mainly the
product of the denudation of such ground. Over the land areas thus
formed, the seas in Cambrian time gradually spread, laying down first
the series known as Lower Cambrian, then by further encroachment on the
land the wider spread Upper Cambrian deposits--in Europe, the middle
series is the most extensive. Consequently, Cambrian strata are usually
unconformable on older rocks.
During the general advance of the sea, local warpings of the crust may
have given rise to shallow lagoon or inland-lake conditions. The common
occurrence of red strata has been cited in support of this view.
Compared with some other periods, the Cambrian was free from extensive
volcanic disturbances, but in Wales and in Brittany the earlier portions
of this period were marked by voluminous outpourings; a condition that
was feebly reflected in central and southern Europe.
No definite conclusions can be drawn from the fossils as to the climatic
peculiarities of the earth in Cambrian times. The red rocks may in some
cases suggest desert conditions; and there is good reason to suppose
that in what are now Norway and China a glacial cold prevailed early in
the period.
Considerable variations occur in the thickness of Cambrian deposits,
which may generally be explained by the greater rapidity of deposition
in some areas than in others. Nothing could be more striking than the
difference between the thicknesses in western and eastern Europe; in
Brittany the deposits are over 24,000 ft. thick, in Wales at least
12,000 ft., in western England they are only 3000 ft., and in northern
Scotland 2000 ft., while no farther east than Scandinavia the complete
Cambrian succession is only about 400 ft. thick. Again, in North
America, the greatest thicknesses are found along the mountainous
regions on the west and on the east--reaching 12,000 ft. in the latter
and probably nearly 40,000 ft. in the former (in British
Columbia)--while over the interior of the continent it is seldom more
than 1000 ft. thick.
Any attempt to picture the geographical conditions of the Cambrian
period must of necessity be very imperfect. It was pointed out by
Barrande that early in Palaeozoic Europe there appeared two marine
provinces--a northern one extending from Russia to the British Isles
through Scandinavia and northern Germany, and a southern one comprising
France, Bohemia, the Iberian peninsula and Sardinia. It is assumed that
some kind of land barrier separated these two provinces. Further, there
is a marked likeness between the Cambrian of western Europe and eastern
America; many fossils of this period are common to Britain, Sweden and
eastern Canada; therefore it is likely that a north Atlantic basin
existed. Prof. Kayser suggests that there was also a Pacific basin more
extensive than at present; this is borne out by the similarity between
the Cambrian faunas of China, Siberia and Argentina. The same author
postulates an Arctic continent, bordering upon northern Europe,
Greenland and North America; an African-Brazilian continent across the
present south Atlantic, and a marine communication between Australia and
India, where the faunas have much in common.
REFERENCES.--The literature devoted to the Cambrian period is very
voluminous, important contributions having been made by A. Sedgwick,
Sir R.I. Murchison, H. Hicks, C. Lapworth, T. Groom, J.W. Salter, J.E.
Marr, C.D. Walcott, G.F. Matthew, E. Emmons, E. Billings, J. Barrande,
F. Schmidt, W.C. Brögger, S.A. Tullberg, S.L. Torngrist, G. Linnarsson
and many others. A good general account of the period will be found in
Sir A. Geikie's _Text-Book of Geology_, vol. ii. 4th ed. 1903 (with
references), and from an American point of view, in T.C. Chamberlin
and R.D. Salisbury's _Geology_, vol. ii., 1906 (references to American
sources). See also J.E. Marr, _The Classification of the Cambrian and
Silurian Rocks_, 1883 (with bibliography up to the year of
publication); A. Geikie _Q.J. Geol. Sac.,_ 1891, xlvii., Ann. address,
p. 90; F. Frech, "Die geographische Verbreitung und Entwickelung des
Cambrium," _Compte Rendu. Congrès Géol. Internal. 1897,
St-Pétersbourg_ (1899); _Geological Literature added to the Geological
Society's Library,_ published annually since 1893. (J. A. H.)
CAMBRIC, a word derived from _Kameryk_ or _Kamerijk_, the Flemish name
of Cambrai, a town in the department of Nord, France, where the cloth of
this name is said to have been first made. It was originally made of
fine linen. There is a record of a privy purse expenditure in 1530 for
cambric for Henry VIII.'s shirts. Cambric has been used for many years
in the manufacture of handkerchiefs, collars, cuffs, and for fine
underclothing; also for the best shrouds, and for fine baby linen. The
yarns for this cloth are of very fine quality, and the number of threads
and picks often reaches and sometimes exceeds 120 per inch. Embroidery
cambric is a fine linen used for embroidery. Batiste, said to be called
after Baptiste, a linen-weaver of Cambrai, is a kind of cambric
frequently dyed or printed. All these fabrics are largely copied in
cheaper materials, mixtures of tow and cotton, and in many cases cotton
alone, taking the place of the original flax line yarns.
CAMBRIDGE, EARLS AND DUKES OF. Under the Norman and early Plantagenet
kings of England the earldom of Cambridge was united with that of
Huntingdon, which was held among others by David I., king of Scotland,
as the husband of earl Waltheof's daughter, Matilda. As a separate
dignity the earldom dates from about 1340, when William V., count
(afterwards duke) of Juliers, was created earl of Cambridge by King
Edward III.; and in 1362 (the year after William's death) Edward created
his own son, Edmund of Langley, earl of Cambridge, the title being
afterwards merged in that of duke of York, which was bestowed upon
Edmund in 1385. Edmund's elder son, Edward, earl of Rutland, who
succeeded his father as duke of York and earl of Cambridge in 1402,
appears to have resigned the latter dignity in or before 1414, as in
this year his younger brother, Richard, was made earl of Cambridge. In
the following year Richard was executed for plotting against King Henry
V., and his title was forfeited, but it was restored to his son,
Richard, who in 1415 became duke of York in succession to his uncle
Edward. Subsidiary to the dukedom of York the title was held by Richard,
and after his death in 1460 by his son Edward, afterwards King Edward
IV., becoming extinct on the fall of the Yorkist dynasty.
In 1619 King James I., anxious to bestow an English title upon James
Hamilton, 2nd marquess of Hamilton (d. 1625), created him earl of
Cambridge, a title which came to his son and successor James, 3rd
marquess and first duke of Hamilton (d. 1649). In 1651 when William, 2nd
duke of Hamilton, died, his English title became extinct.
Again bestowed upon a member of the royal house, the title of earl of
Cambridge was granted in 1659 by Charles II. to his brother Henry, duke
of Gloucester, only to become extinct on Henry's death in the following
year. In 1661 Charles, the infant son of James, duke of York, afterwards
King James II., was designated as marquess and duke of Cambridge, but
the child died before the necessary formalities were completed. However,
two of James's sons, James (d. 1667) and Edgar (d. 1671), were actually
created in succession dukes of Cambridge, but both died in childhood.
After the passing of the Act of Settlement in 1701 it was proposed to
grant an English title to George Augustus, electoral prince of Hanover,
who, after his grandmother, the electress Sophia, and his father, the
elector George Louis, was heir to the throne of England; and to give
effect to this proposal George Augustus was created marquess and duke of
Cambridge in November 1706. The title lapsed when he became king of
Great Britain and Ireland in 1727, but it was revived in 1801 in favour
of Adolphus Frederick, the seventh son of George III. He and his son are
dealt with below.
ADOLPHUS FREDERICK, duke of Cambridge (1774-1850), was born in London on
the 24th of February 1774. Having studied at the university of
Göttingen, Adolphus Frederick served in the Hanoverian and British
armies, and, in November 1801, was created earl of Tipperary and duke of
Cambridge, becoming a member of the privy council in the following year.
The duke is chiefly known for his connexion with Hanover. In 1815, on
the conclusion of the war, the electorate of Hanover was raised to the
rank of a kingdom, and in the following year the duke was appointed
viceroy. He held this position until the separation of Great Britain and
Hanover in 1837, and displaying tact and moderation, appears to have
ruled the country with great success during a difficult period.
Returning to England the duke became very popular, and was active in
supporting many learned and benevolent societies. He died in London on
the 8th of July 1850. In 1818 he married Augusta (1797-1889), daughter
of Frederick, landgrave of Hesse-Cassel. He left three children: his
successor, George; Augusta Caroline (b. 1822), who married Frederick
William, grand duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; and Mary Adelaide
(1833-1897), who married Francis, duke of Teck.
GEORGE WILLIAM FREDERICK CHARLES, duke of Cambridge (1819-1904), was
born at Hanover on the 26th of March 1819. He was thus about two months
older than his cousin, Queen Victoria, and was for that period in the
line of succession to the British throne. He was educated at Hanover by
the Rev. J.R. Wood, a canon of Worcester. In November 1837, after he had
served for a short time in the Hanoverian army, the rank of colonel in
the British army was conferred upon him, and he was attached to the
staff at Gibraltar from October 1838 to April 1839. After serving in
Ireland with the 12th Royal Lancers, he was appointed in April 1842
colonel of the 17th Light Dragoons (now Lancers). From 1843 to 1845 he
was colonel on the staff in the Ionian Islands, and was then promoted
major-general. In October 1846 he took command of the Limerick district,
and shortly afterwards of the Dublin district. In 1850 his father died,
and he succeeded to the dukedom. Being appointed inspector of cavalry
in 1852, he held that post until 1854, when, upon the outbreak of the
Crimean War, he was placed in command of the 1st division (Guards and
Highland brigades) of the British army in the East. In June of the same
year he was promoted lieutenant-general. He was present at the battles
of the Alma, Balaklava and Inkerman, and at the siege of Sevastopol. On
the 15th of July 1856 he was appointed general commanding-in-chief, on
the 9th of November 1862 field marshal, and by letters patent, 1887,
commander-in-chief. The long period during which he held the command of
the army was marked by many changes. The Crimean War brought to light
great administrative defects, and led to a regrouping of the
departments, which, with the whole personnel of the army, were brought
under the authority of the secretary of state for war. The
constitutional changes involved did not, however, affect seriously the
organization of the military forces. Only in 1870, after the successes
of Prussia had created a profound impression, were drastic changes
introduced by Cardwell into the entire fabric of the army. The objects
of the reformers of 1870 were undoubtedly wise; but some of the methods
adopted were open to question, and were strongly resented by the duke of
Cambridge, whose views were shared by the majority of officers. Further
changes were inaugurated in 1880, and again the duke found much to
criticize. His opinions stand recorded in the voluminous evidence taken
by the numerous bodies appointed to inquire into the condition of the
army. They show a sound military judgment, and, as against innovations
as such, a strong attachment to the old regimental system. That this
judgment and this attachment were not so rigid as was generally supposed
is proved by his published correspondence. Throughout the period of
change, while protesting, the duke invariably accepted and loyally
endeavoured to carry out the measures on which the government decided.
In a memorandum addressed to Mr Childers in 1880 he defined his attitude
as follows:--"Should it appear, however, that for reasons of state
policy it is necessary that the contemplated changes should be made, I
am prepared to carry them out to the best of my ability." This attitude
he consistently maintained in all cases in which his training and
associations led him, rightly or wrongly, to deprecate changes the need
for which was not apparent to him. His judgment was especially
vindicated in the case of an ill-advised reduction of the artillery
carried out by Mr. Stanhope. Under the order in council of February
1888, the whole responsibility for military duties of every kind was for
the first time centred upon the commander-in-chief. This, as pointed out
by the Hartington commission in 1890, involved "an excessive
centralization" which "must necessarily tend to weaken the sense of
responsibility of the other heads of departments, and thus to diminish
their efficiency." The duke of Cambridge, whose position entailed many
duties apart from those strictly appertaining to a commander-in-chief,
could not give personal attention to the vast range of matters for which
he was made nominally responsible. On the other hand, the
adjutant-general could act in his name, and the secretary of state could
obtain military advice from officials charged with no direct
responsibility. The effect was to place the duke in a false position in
the eyes of the army and of the country. If the administration of the
army suffered after 1888, this was due to a system which violated
principles. His active control of its training during the whole period
of his command was less hampered, and more directly productive of good
results.
Throughout his long term of office the duke of Cambridge evinced a warm
interest in the welfare of the soldier, and great experience combined
with a retentive memory made him a master of detail. He was famous for
plain, and strong, language; but while quick to condemn deviations from
the letter of regulations, and accustomed to insist upon great precision
in drill, he was never a martinet, and his natural kindliness made him
ready to bestow praise. Belonging to the older generation of soldiers,
he could not easily adapt himself to the new conditions, and in
dispensing patronage he was somewhat distrustful of originality, while
his position as a member of the royal family tended to narrow his scope
for selection. He was thus inclined to be influenced by considerations
of pure seniority, and to underrate the claims of special ability. The
army, however, always recognized that in the duke of Cambridge it had a
commander-in-chief devoted to its interests, and keenly anxious amid
many difficulties to promote its well-being. The duke resigned the
commandership-in-chief on the 1st of November 1895, and was succeeded by
Lord Wolseley, the duties of the office being considerably modified. He
was at the same time gazetted honorary colonel-in-chief to the forces.
He was made ranger of Hyde Park and St James's Park in 1852, and of
Richmond Park in 1857; governor of the Royal Military Academy in 1862,
and its president in 1870, and personal aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria
in 1882. He died on the 17th of March 1904 at Gloucester House, London.
The chief honours conferred upon him were: G.C.H., 1825; K.G., 1835;
G.C.M.G., 1845; G.C.B., 1855; K.P., 1861; K.T., 1881. From 1854 he was
president of Christ's hospital. The duke of Cambridge was married to
Louisa Fairbrother, who took the name of FitzGeorge after her marriage.
She died in 1890.
See Rev. E. Sheppard, _George, Duke of Cambridge; a Memoir of his
Private Life_ (London, 1906); and Willoughby Verner, _Military Life of
the Duke of Cambridge_ (1905).
CAMBRIDGE, RICHARD OWEN (1717-1802), English poet, was born in London on
the 14th of February 1717. He was educated at Eton and at St John's
College, Oxford. Leaving the university without taking a degree, he took
up residence at Lincoln's Inn in 1737. Four years later he married, and
went to live at his country seat of Whitminster, Gloucestershire. In
1751 he removed to Twickenham, where he enjoyed the society of many
notable persons. Horace Walpole in his letters makes many jesting
allusions to Cambridge in the character of newsmonger. He died at
Twickenham on the 17th of September 1802. His chief work is the
_Scribleriad_ (1751), a mock epic poem, the hero of which is the
Martinus Scriblerus of Pope, Arbuthnot and Swift. The poem is preceded
by a dissertation on the mock heroic, in which he avows Cervantes as his
master. The satire shows considerable learning, and was eagerly read by
literary people; but it never became popular, and the allusions, always
obscure, have little interest for the present-day reader. He made a
valuable contribution to history in his _Account of the War in
India...on the Coast of Coromandel from the year 1750 to 1760..._
(1761). He had intended to write a history of the rise and progress of
British power in India, but this enterprise went no further than the
work just named, as he found that Robert Orme, who had promised him the
use of his papers, contemplated the execution of a similar plan.
_The Works of Richard Owen Cambridge, Esq., including several Pieces
never before published, with an Account of his Life and Character by
his Son, George Owen Cambridge_ (1803), includes, besides the
_Scribleriad_, some narrative and satirical poems, and about twenty
papers originally published in Edward Moore's paper called _The
World_. His poems are included in A. Chalmers's _English Poets_
(1816).
CAMBRIDGE, a municipal and parliamentary borough, the seat of a
university, and the county town of Cambridgeshire, England, 56 m. N. by
E. of London by the Great Eastern railway, served also by the Great
Northern, London & North-Western and Midland lines. Pop. (1901) 38,379.
It lies in a flat plain at the southern border of the low Fen country,
at an elevation of only 30 to 50 ft. above sea-level. The greater part
of the town is situated on the east (right) bank of the Cam, a tributary
of the Ouse, but suburbs extend across the river. To the south and west
the slight hills bordering the fenland rise gently. The parliamentary
borough of Cambridge returns one member. The municipal borough is under
a mayor, 12 aldermen, and 36 councillors. Area, 3233 acres.
History
Cambridge University[1] shares with that of Oxford the first place among
such institutions in the British empire. It is the dominating factor in
the modern importance of the town, and it is therefore necessary to
outline the historical conditions which led to its establishment. The
geographical situation of Cambridge, in its present appearance
possessing little attraction or advantage, calls nevertheless for first
consideration. Cambridge, in fact, owed its growth to its position on a
natural line of communication between the east and the midlands of
England, flanked on the one hand by the deep forests which covered the
uplands, on the other by the unreclaimed fens, then desolate and in
great part impenetrable. The importance of this highway may be judged
from the number of early earthworks in the vicinity of Cambridge; and
the Castle Hill, at the north side of the present town (near the west
bank of the river), is perhaps a British work. Roman remains discovered
in the same locality give evidence of the existence of a small town or
village at the junction of roads; the name of _Camboritum_ is usually
attached to it, but without certainty. The modern name of Cambridge has
no connexion with this. The present form of the name has usually been
derived from a corruption of the original name Grantebrycge or
Grantabridge (Skeat); but Mr Arthur Gray points out that there is no
documentary evidence for this corruption in the shape of such probable
intermediate forms as Grantebrig or Crantebrig. On the other hand, he
brings evidence to show that the name Cantebrig, though not applied to
the whole town, was very early given to that quarter of it near the
Cante brig, i.e. the bridge over the Cante (the ward beyond the Great
Bridge was called "Parcelle of Cambridge" as late as 1340); in this
quarter, close to the bridge, Cambridge castle was built by the
Conqueror, and from the castle and the castle-quarter the name spread
within sixty years to the whole town, the similarity between the names
Grantebrig and Cantebrig playing some part in this extension (_The Dual
Origin of the Town of Cambridge_, p. 31). Granta is the earlier and
still an alternative name of the river Cam, this more common modern form
having been adopted in sympathy with the modern name of the town.
Cambridge had a further importance from its position at the head of
river navigation, and a charter of Henry I., in which the town is
already referred to as a borough, grants it exclusive rights as a
river-port, and regulates traffic and tolls. The wharves lay principally
along that part of the river where are now the celebrated "backs" of
some of the colleges, whose exquisite grounds slope down to the water.
The great Sturbridge or Stourbridge Fair at Barnwell, formerly one of
the most important in England, is a further illustration of the ancient
commercial importance of Cambridge; the oldest known charter concerning
it dates from the opening of the 13th century, though its initiation may
perhaps be placed a century before.
Concerning the early municipal history of Cambridge little is known, but
at the time of the Domesday survey its citizens felt themselves strong
enough to protest against the exactions of the Norman sheriff, Roger
Picot; and the town had attained a considerable degree of importance
when, in 1068, William the Conqueror built a castle on the site known as
Castle Hill, and used it as a base of operations against Hereward the
Wake and the insurgents of the fenland. Cambridge, however, has
practically no further military history. From the 14th century onward
materials were taken from the castle by the builders of colleges, while
the gatehouse, the last surviving portion, was removed in 1842.
The medieval spirit of emulation between the universities of Cambridge
and Oxford resulted in a series of remarkable fables to account for the
foundation of both. That of Cambridge was assigned to a Spanish prince,
Cantaber, in the 4321st year after the Creation. A charter from King
Arthur dated 531, and the transference of students from Cambridge to
Oxford by King Alfred, were also claimed as historical facts. The true
germ of the university is to be sought in the religious foundations in
the town. The earliest to be noticed is the Augustinian house of St
Giles, founded by Hugoline, wife of Roger Picot the sheriff, in 1092;
this was removed in 1112 to Barnwell, where the chapel dedicated to St
Andrew the Less is practically the sole remnant of its buildings. In
1224 the Franciscans came to Cambridge, and later in the same century a
number of other religious orders settled here, such as the Dominicans,
the Gilbertines and the Carmelites, who had before been established at
Newnham. Students were gradually attracted to these several religious
houses, and Cambridge was already recognized as a centre of learning
when, in 1231, Henry III. issued a writ for its governance as such,
among other provisions conferring certain disciplinary powers on the
bishop of Ely. It soon became evident that the influence of the
religious orders on those who came to them for instruction was too
narrow. This was recognized elsewhere, for it was in order to counteract
that influence that Walter de Merton drew up the statute of governance
for his foundation of Merton College, Oxford, a statute which was soon
afterwards used as a model by Hugh de Balsham, bishop of Ely, when, in
1281-1284 he founded the first Cambridge college, Peterhouse.
The friction between town and university, due in the main to the
conflict of their jurisdictions, the tradition of which, as in the
sister university, died hard in the annual efforts of some
undergraduates to revive the "town and gown" riots, culminated during
the rebellion of Wat Tyler (1381) in an episode which is alone worthy of
record and may serve to illustrate the whole. This was an attack by the
rabble, instigated, it is said, by the more reputable townspeople, on
the colleges, several of which were sacked. The attack was ultimately
defeated by the courage and resource of Henry Spenser or Le Dispencer,
bishop of Norwich. The relations of the university of Cambridge with the
crown were never so intimate as those of Oxford. Henry III. fortified
the town with two gates, but these were burnt by the rebellious barons;
and in much later times the two first of the Stuart kings, and the two
first of the Georges, cultivated friendly personal relations with the
university. During the civil war the colleges even melted down their
plate for the war chest of King Charles; but Cambridge showed little of
the stubborn royalism of Oxford, and submitted to the Commonwealth
without serious resistance.
Colleges.
The history of collegiate foundation in Cambridge after that of
Peterhouse may be followed through the ensuing description of the
colleges, but for ease of reference these are dealt with in alphabetical
order. The main street which traverses the town from south to north,
parallel to, and at a short distance from the river, is known
successively as Trumpington Street, King's Parade, Trinity Street, St
John's Street and Bridge Street. The majority of the colleges lie on
either side of this street, and chiefly between it and the river. Those
of St John's, Trinity, Trinity Hall, Clare, King's and Queens' present
the famous "backs" towards the river, which is crossed by a series of
picturesque bridges leading to the gardens and grounds on the opposite
bank.
_Christ's College_ is not among the group indicated above; it stands
farther to the east, in St Andrew's Street. It was founded in 1505 by
the Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. It incorporated God's
House, which had been founded by William Bingham, a cleric of London, in
1439, had been removed when the site was required for part of King's
College, and had been refounded with the countenance of Henry VI. in
1448. This was a small house, but the Lady Margaret's endowment provided
for a master, twelve fellows and forty-seven scholars. Edward VI. added
another fellowship and three scholarships and the present number of
fellows is fifteen. There are certain exhibitions in election to which
preference is given to schools in the north of England--Giggleswick,
Kirkby Lonsdale, Skipton and Sedbergh. The buildings of Lady Margaret's
foundation were in great part faced in classical style in the 17th
century; a building east of the old quadrangle is also of this period,
and is ascribed to Inigo Jones. The rooms occupied by the foundress
herself are preserved, though in an altered condition, as are those of
the poet Milton, who was educated here, and with whom the college has
many associations. In the fine gardens is an ancient mulberry tree
believed to have been planted by him. Among illustrious names connected
with this college are John Leland the antiquary, Archdeacon Paley,
author of the _Evidences_, and Charles Darwin, while Henry More and
others of the school of Cambridge Platonists in the 17th century were
educated here.
_Clare College_ lies close to the river, south of Trinity Hall. In 1326
the university erected a hall, known as University Hall, to accommodate
a number of students, and in 1338 Elizabeth de Burgh, countess of
Clare, re-endowed the hall, which took the name of Clare Hall, and only
became known as college in 1856. There was a strong ecclesiastical
tendency in this foundation; six out of the twenty fellows were to be
priests when elected. The foundation now consists of a master and
fifteen fellows, besides scholars, of whom three receive emoluments from
the endowment of Lady Clare. The old college buildings were in great
part destroyed by fire in 1521; the present buildings date from 1638 to
1715, and are admirable examples of their period. They surround a very
beautiful quadrangle, and the back towards the river is also fine.
Unconfirmed tradition indicates the poet Chaucer as an _alumnus_ of this
college; other famous men associated with it were Hugh Latimer the
martyr, Ralph Cudworth, one of the "Platonists," and Archbishop
Tillotson.
_Corpus Christi College_ (commonly called Corpus) stands on the east
side of Trumpington Street. The influence of medieval gilds in
Cambridge, the character of which was primarily religious, was
exceedingly strong. About the beginning of the 14th century there is
first mentioned the gild of St Mary, which was connected with Great St
Mary's church. The gild was at this time prosperous, but about 1350,
when the idea of the foundation of a college by the gilds was matured,
the fraternity of St Mary lacked the means to proceed save by
amalgamating with another gild, that of Corpus Christi. The age of this
institution, whose church was St Benedict's or St Bene't's, is not
known. By the two gilds, therefore, the "House of Scholars of Corpus
Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary" was founded in 1352, the foundation
being the only instance of its kind. In early times it was commonly
known as St Bene't's from the church connected with the Corpus gild
which stands over against the college, and served as its chapel for
nearly three centuries. The foundation consists of a master and twelve
fellows, with scholars of the old and later foundations. The ancient
small quadrangle remains, and is of historical rather than architectural
interest. The great quadrangle dates from 1823-1825. The library
contains the famous collection of MSS. bequeathed by Archbishop Matthew
Parker, _alumnus_ of the college, in the 16th century.
_Downing College_ is in the southern part of the town, to the east of
Trumpington Street. Sir George Downing, baronet, of Gamlingay Park, who
died in 1749, left estates to various relations, who died without issue.
In this event, Downing's will provided for the foundation of a college,
but the heirs contested the will with the university, and in spite of a
decision against them in 1769, continued to hold the estates for many
years, so that it was not until 1800 that the charter for the college
was obtained. The foundation-stone was laid in 1807, and the two ranges
of buildings, in classical style, represent all that was completed of an
intended quadrangle. The foundation consists of a master, professors of
English law and of medicine, six fellows and six scholars.
_Emmanuel College_ overlooks St Andrew's Street. It was founded in 1584
by Sir Walter Mildmay (_c_. 1520-1589), chancellor of the exchequer and
privy councillor under Queen Elizabeth. The foundation, considerably
enlarged from the original, consists of a master, sixteen fellows and
thirty scholars. There are further scholarships on other foundations
which are awarded by preference to pupils of Uppingham and other schools
in the midlands. Emmanuel was noted from the outset as a stronghold of
Puritanism; it is indeed recorded that Elizabeth rallied the founder on
his intention that this should be so. Mildmay assuredly had the welfare
of the church primarily at heart, and he attempted to provide against
the life residence of fellows, which he considered an unhealthy feature
in some colleges. The site of Emmanuel was previously occupied by a
Dominican friary, and some of its buildings were adapted to collegiate
uses. There is only a little of the earliest building remaining; the
greater part of the present college dates from the second half of the
18th century. The chapel, however, is by Sir Christopher Wren (1677).
Richard Holdsworth, Gresham professor, and William Sancroft, archbishop
of Canterbury, were masters of this college; Bishops Joseph Hall and
Thomas Percy were among its _alumni_, as was John Harvard, principal
founder of the great American college which bears his name.
_Gonville and Caius College_ (commonly called Caius, pronounced Kees),
stands mainly on the west side of Trinity Street. It arose out of an
earlier foundation. In 1348 Edmund Gonvile or Gonevill founded the hall
of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, which was commonly called
Gonville Hall, for the education of twenty scholars in dialectic and
other sciences, with endowment for a master and three fellows. This hall
stood on part of the present site of Corpus, but on the death of its
founder in 1351 it was moved to the north-west corner of the site of the
present Caius, by William Bateman, bishop of Norwich and founder of
Trinity Hall. The famous physician John Caius (q.v.), who was educated
at this small institution, later conceived the idea of refounding and
enlarging it, obtained a charter to do so in 1557, and became master of
the new foundation of Gonville and Caius College. The foundation
consists of a master and not less than twenty-two fellows, exclusive of
the provision under the will of William Henry Drosier (d. 1889), doctor
of medicine and fellow of the college, for the endowment of seven
additional fellowships. Since its refoundation by Caius, the college has
had a peculiar connexion with the study of medicine, while, besides many
eminent physicians, Sir Thomas Gresham, Judge Jeffreys, Robert Hare,
Jeremy Taylor, Henry Wharton and Lord Thurlow are among its noted names.
Three sides of the main quadrangle, Tree Court, including the frontage
towards Trinity Street, are modern (1870). The interior of this court is
picturesque, and the design of the smaller Caius Court was inspired by
Caius himself. He also designed the gates of Honour, Virtue and
Humility, of which the two first stand _in situ_; the gate of Honour is
a peculiarly good example of early Renaissance work. Caius is buried in
the chapel.
_Jesus College_ lies apart from and to the north-east of the majority of
the colleges. It was founded in 1406 by John Alcock, bishop of Ely. The
site was previously occupied by a Benedictine nunnery dedicated to St
Radigund, which was already in existence in the first half of the 12th
century and was claimed by Alcock to have been founded from Ely, to the
bishops of which it certainly owed much. The name given to Alcock's
college was that of "the most Blessed Virgin Mary, St John the
Evangelist, and the glorious Virgin Saint Radigund," but it appears that
the founder himself intended the name to be Jesus College. He provided
for a master and six fellows, but the foundation now consists of a
master and sixteen fellows, with twenty scholars or more. There are
several further scholarships confined to the sons of clergymen of the
Church of England. Architecturally Jesus is one of the most interesting
colleges in Cambridge, for Alcock retained, and there still remains, a
considerable part of the old buildings of the nunnery. The most
important of these is the church, which Alcock, by removing most of the
nave and other portions, converted into the usual form of a college
chapel. The tower, however, is retained. The bulk of the building is an
admirable example of Early English work, but there are traces of Norman;
and Alcock added certain Perpendicular features. Of the rest of the
college buildings, the hall is Alcock's work, the brick gatehouse is a
fine structure of the close of the 15th century, while the cloister is a
little later, and stands on the site of the nuns' cloister. Another
court dates from the 17th and early 18th centuries, and there is a
considerable amount of modern building. The most famous name connected
with Jesus College is that of Cranmer. Among many others are Sir Thomas
Elyot, John Bale, John Pearson, bishop of Chester, Hugh Peters, Gilbert
Wakefield, Thomas Malthus, Laurence Sterne and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
_King's College_ has its fine frontage upon the western side of King's
Parade. It was founded by King Henry VI. in 1441. The first site was
small and circumscribed, and in 1443 the existing site was with
difficulty cleared of dwellings. The king designed a close connexion
between this college and his other foundation at Eton; he provided for a
provost and for seventy scholars, all of whom should be Etonians. In
1861 open scholarships were instituted, and the foundation now consists
of a provost, forty-six fellows and forty-eight scholars. Half the
scholarships are still appropriated to Eton. An administrative
arrangement peculiar to King's College is that by which the provost has
absolute authority within its walls, to the exclusion of officers of the
University. The chief architectural ornament of the college, and one of
the most notable in the town, is the magnificent Perpendicular chapel,
comparable with those of St George at Windsor and Henry VII. at
Westminster Abbey. The building was begun in 1446, and extended (apart
from the interior fittings) over nearly seventy years. Within, the most
splendid features are the fan-vaulting which extends throughout the
chapel, the noble range of stained-glass windows, which date for the
most part from the early part of the 16th century, and the wooden organ
screen, which, with part of the stalls, is of the time of Henry VIII.
The college services are celebrated for the beauty of their music. The
bulk of the other collegiate buildings are of the 18th century or
modern. The old court of King's College is occupied by the modern
university library, north of the chapel; the gateway, a good example
(1444), is preserved. John Frith the Martyr, Richard Croke, Giles
Fletcher, Richard Mulcaster, Sir William Temple, William Oughtred, the
poet Waller, and Horace Walpole and others of his family are among many
illustrious _alumni_ of the college.
_Magdalene College_ (pronounced Maudlin) stands on the west bank of the
Cam, near the Great Bridge. In 1428 the Benedictines of Crowland Abbey
founded a home for student monks on this site, and in 1519 Edward, duke
of Buckingham, partly secularized this institution by founding
Buckingham College in connexion with it. After the dissolution of the
monastery, Thomas, Baron Audley of Walden, erected Magdalene in place of
the former house in 1542. The foundation consists of a master and seven
fellows, besides scholars. There are some valuable exhibitions
appropriated to Wisbech school. The appointment of the master is
peculiar, the office being in the gift of the occupant of Audley End, an
estate near Saffron Walden, Essex. Some parts of the original building
are preserved, but the most notable portion of the college is the
Pepysian library, dating _c_. 1700. It contains the very valuable
collection of books bequeathed by Samuel Pepys to the college, at which
he was a student. Buckingham College had Archbishop Cranmer as a
lecturer; Charles Kingsley and Charles Stewart Parnell were educated at
Magdalene.
_Pembroke College_ stands to the east of Trumpington Street. It was
founded in 1347 by Mary de St Paul, widow of Aylmer de Valence, earl of
Pembroke. Henry VI. made notable benefactions to it. The foundation
consists of a master and thirteen fellows, and there are six
scholarships on the original foundation, besides others of later
institution. The older existing buildings are mainly of the 18th
century, but much of the original fabric was removed and rebuilt in
1874. The chapel is of the middle of the 17th century, and is ascribed
to Sir Christopher Wren. The poets Spenser and Gray, Nicholas Ridley the
martyr, Archbishop Whitgift and William Pitt were associated with this
college; and from the number of bishops whose names are associated with
it the college has obtained the style of _collegium episcopale_.
_Peterhouse_ or St Peter's College is on the west side of Trumpington
Street, almost opposite Pembroke. It has already been indicated as the
oldest Cambridge college (1284). Hugh de Balsham, the founder, had
settled some secular scholars in the ancient Augustinian Hospital of St
John in 1280, but the experiment was not a success. Nor did he carry out
his full intentions as regards Peterhouse, the foundation of which
followed on the failure of the fusion of his scholars with the hospital;
but Simon Montagu, his successor in the bishopric of Ely, carried on his
work, and in 1344 gave the college a code of statutes in which the
influence of the Merton code is plainly visible. A master and fourteen
fellows formed the original foundation, but the present consists of a
master, and not less than eleven fellows and twenty-three scholars. The
hall retains some original work; it was first built out of a legacy from
the founder. The library building (_c_. 1590) is due to a legacy from Dr
Andrew Perne (master 1554-1580); and Dr Matthew Wren (master
1625-1634), uncle of the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren, directed
the building of the chapel and cloisters. The most famous name connected
with the college is that of Cardinal Beaufort.
_Queens' College_ stands at the south of the riverside group, and one of
its ranges of buildings rises immediately from the river. A college of
St Bernard had been established in 1445 by Andrew Docket or Dokett,
rector of St Botolph's church, who had also been principal of a hostel,
or students' lodge, of St Bernard. He sought and obtained the patronage
of Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI., who undertook the foundation of
a new house on another site in 1448, to bear the name of Queens'. Docket
became the first master. In 1465 Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward
IV., became the college's second foundress. The foundation consists of a
president and eleven fellows. The buildings are exceedingly picturesque.
The main quadrangle, of red brick, was completed very soon after the
foundation. The smaller cloister court, towards the river, retains
building of the same period, and the beautiful wooden gallery of the
president's lodge deserves notice. Another court is called Erasmus's;
the rooms which he is said to have occupied remain, and a walk in the
college garden across the river bears his name.
_St Catharine's College_, on the west side of Trumpington Street, was
founded by Dr Robert Woodlark or Wodelarke, chancellor of the university
and (1452) provost of King's College. It was opened in 1473, but the
charter of incorporation dates from 1475. The foundation provided for a
master (Woodlark being the first) and three fellows; there are now six
fellows, and twenty-six scholars. The principal buildings, surrounding a
court on three sides, date mainly from a complete reconstruction of the
college at the close of the 17th century.
_St John's College_, at the north of the riverside group of colleges,
was founded in 1511 by the Lady Margaret Beaufort, also foundress of
Christ's College. It replaced the Hospital of St John, which dated from
the early years of the 13th century, and has been mentioned already in
connexion with Peterhouse. The Lady Margaret died before the college was
firmly established, and her designs were not carried out without many
difficulties, which were overcome chiefly by the exertions of John
Fisher, bishop of Rochester, one of her executors. Thirty-two
fellowships were endowed, but subsequent endowments allowed extension,
and the foundation now consists of a master, fifty-six fellows, sixty
scholars and nine sizars. A large number of exhibitions are appropriated
to special schools. Of the four courts of St John's, the easternmost is
the original, and has a very fine Tudor gateway of brick. The chapel is
modern (1863-1869), an ornate example of the work of Sir Gilbert Scott.
The second court, practically unaltered, dates from 1508-1602. In this
there is a beautiful Masters' gallery, panelled, with a richly-moulded
ceiling; it is now used as a combination room or fellows' common-room.
The third court, which contains the library (1624), backs on to the
river, and the fourth, which is on the opposite bank, was built _c_.
1830. A covered bridge connects the two, and is commonly called the
Bridge of Sighs from a certain resemblance to the bridge of that name at
Venice. Among the notable names connected with this college are Cecil,
Lord Burghley, Thomas Cartwright, Wentworth, earl of Strafford, Roger
Ascham, Richard Bentley, John Cleveland, the satirist, Thomas Baker, the
historian, Lord Palmerston, Professor Adams, Sir John Herschel, Bishop
Colenso, Dr Benjamin Kennedy, Dean Merivale, Horne Tooke, Samuel Parr
and William Wilberforce, and the poets Herrick (afterwards of Trinity
Hall) and Wordsworth.
_Selwyn College_, standing west of the river (Sidgwick Avenue), was
founded in 1882 by public subscription in memory of George Augustus
Selwyn, bishop of New Zealand and afterwards of Lichfield, for the
purpose of giving university education with economy "combined,"
according to the charter, "with Christian training, based upon the
principles of the Church of England."
_Sidney Sussex College_ faces Sidney Street. It was founded under the
will (1588) of the Lady Frances Sidney, dowager countess of Sussex (d.
1589), and received its charter in 1596. The foundress provided for a
master, ten fellows and twenty scholars, but thirty-six scholarships
are now provided. The original buildings were of brick, but they were
plastered over and greatly altered by Wyatville about 1830. The Grey
Friars had occupied the site, and part of their buildings remained in
the chapel until 1777. A beautiful block of new buildings, with a
cloister, was erected in 1890. The most famous name associated with the
college is that of Oliver Cromwell, who was a fellow commoner, as also
was Thomas Fuller, author of the _Worthies of England_.
_Trinity College_, the front of which is on Trinity Street, is the
largest collegiate foundation in Cambridge, and larger than any in
Oxford. It was founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII. and absorbed several
earlier institutions--King's Hall (founded by Edward III. in 1336), St
Michael's or Michaelhouse (founded by Hervey de Stanton, chancellor of
the exchequer under Edward II., in 1323), Fyswick or Physick's Hostel,
belonging to Gonville Hall, and other hostels. Henry's original
foundation was for a master and sixty fellows and scholars, but Queen
Mary and other later benefactors enabled extensions to be made, and the
foundation now consists of a master (appointed by the crown), at least
sixty fellows, seventy-four scholars and sixteen sizars, with minor
scholars, chaplains librarian and the regius professors of Divinity,
Hebrew and Greek. Major scholarships are open to undergraduates, not
being of standing to take the degree of bachelor of arts, as well as to
non-members of the university under nineteen years of age, while minor
scholarships and exhibitions are open only to the latter. There are
valuable exhibitions appropriated to certain schools, of which the most
important are those confined to Westminster school. Trinity College is
entered from Trinity Street by the King's Gateway (1518-1535) preserved
from King's Hall, but subsequently altered. The principal or Great Court
is the largest in Cambridge and very fine. Its buildings are of
different dates. In the centre is a picturesque fountain, erected by
Thomas Neville, master (1593-1615), under whose direction much of the
building was carried out. The chapel on the north side of the court was
begun in the reign of Mary. The carved oak fittings within date from the
mastership of Richard Bentley (1700-1742). The organ is particularly
fine. A statue of Sir Isaac Newton by Roubiliac stands in the
antechapel, and Richard Porson and William Whewell are buried here. The
hall on the west of the court is Neville's work (1605), and very
beautiful. The second court is also his foundation and bears his name.
The library on the west side is the work of Sir Christopher Wren. Its
interior is excellent, and besides busts of some of the vast number of
famous men connected with Trinity, it contains a statue of Lord Byron by
the Danish sculptor Thorvaldsen. The New Court, Gothic in style, was
begun in 1823. The beautiful grounds and walks of the college extend
down to and beyond the river. The college has extended its buildings to
the opposite side of Trinity Street, where the two courts known as
Whewell's Hostel were built (c. 1860) at the charge of Dr William
Whewell during his mastership. The eminent _alumni_ of this great
college are too numerous to admit of selection.
_Trinity Hall,_ which lies near the river, south of Trinity, was founded
by William Bateman, bishop of Norwich, in 1350. On the site there had
been, for about twenty years before the foundation, a house of monastic
students from Ely. The present college is alone in preserving the term
Hall in its title. The foundation consists of a master and thirteen
fellows, and the study of law, which the founder had especially in mind,
is provided for by lectureships, and not less than three studentships
tenable by graduates of the college. The buildings are for the most part
modern or modernized, but the interior of the library well preserves its
character of the early part of the 17th century.
University buildings.
Of the churches of Cambridge one has long been recognized as the church
of the university, namely Great St Mary's, which stands in the centre of
the town, between King's Parade and Market Hill. It is a fine
Perpendicular structure, founded in 1478; but the tower was not
completed until 1608. Some Decorated details are preserved from a former
building. The university preachers deliver their sermons in this
church, but it was formerly the meeting-place of the university for the
transaction of business, for learned disputations and for secular
festivals. The "Cambridge chimes" struck by the clock are famous, and a
curfew is rung each evening on the great bell. The Senate House,
standing opposite Great St Mary's, dates from 1730 and is classical in
style. The buildings of the university library, in the immediate
vicinity, enclose two quadrangles, and in part occupy the site of the
old court of King's College. One of the quadrangles was formerly
occupied by the schools or lecture rooms, but as the library grew it
usurped their place. Important modern additions date from 1842, 1864 and
1888. The facade of the old schools is an excellent work of 1758. The
library is one of those which is entitled to receive, under the
Copyright Act, a copy of every book published in the United Kingdom. The
Fitzwilliam Museum, a massive classical building, was begun in 1837 to
contain the bibliographical and art collection bequeathed by Richard,
Viscount Fitzwilliam, in 1816. The museum of archaeology (classical,
general and local, 1884), is connected with the Fitzwilliam Museum. The
Pitt Press (1833), housing the university printing establishment, was
begun out of the residue of a fund for erecting the statues of William
Pitt in Hanover Square, London, and Westminster Abbey. It stands near
Pembroke, Pitt's college. The Selwyn Divinity School (1879), opposite St
John's College, was built largely at the charge of Dr William Selwyn,
Lady Margaret professor of divinity. The museums and lecture rooms
(begun in 1863) are extensive buildings on each side of Downing Street.
Included in these are the museum of zoology, which had its origin in
collections made by Sir Busick Harwood, professor of anatomy in
1785-1814, and contains the collection of fishes made by Charles Darwin
in the ship "Beagle"; the medical school, botanical museum and
herbarium, mineralogical museum, engineering laboratory (1894), optical
and astronomical lecture room, chemical laboratory (1887), and the
Cavendish laboratory for physical research (1874), the gift of William
Cavendish, 7th duke of Devonshire and chancellor of the university. The
Sedgwick Geological Museum, opened by King Edward VII. in 1904,
commemorates Adam Sedgwick, Woodwardian professor of geology, and
originated in the collections of Dr John Woodward (d. 1728). Adjoining
this building, in Downing Street is the law library, founded on a
bequest from Miss Rebecca Flower Squire (d. 1898) with the law school.
The observatory (1824) is on the outskirts of the town in Madingley
Road, and the botanic garden (founded 1762, and removed to its present
site in 1831) borders Trumpington Road. The club-rooms and debating hall
of the Cambridge Union Society are adjacent to the Holy Sepulchre
church.
The non-collegiate students of the university (i.e. those who receive
the university education and possess the same status as collegiate
students without belonging to any college) have lecture and other rooms
and a library in Fitzwilliam Hall. This body was created in 1869. The
students reside in lodgings. There are two women's colleges--Girton,
established in 1873 on the north-western outskirts of the town, having
been previously opened at Hitchin in 1869, and Newnham (1875),
originally (1873) a hall of residence for students attending special
lectures for women. Among other educational establishments mention must
be made of the Leys school, founded in 1875 by prominent Wesleyans for
non-sectarian education, and the Perse School, an ancient foundation
remodelled in 1902.
Non-university buildings.
Out of a number of ancient churches in Cambridge, two, besides Great St
Mary's, deserve special notice. In St Benedict's or Benet's, which has
been already mentioned in connexion with Corpus College, the tower is of
great interest, being the oldest surviving building in Cambridge, of
pre-Norman workmanship, having rude ornamentation on the exterior and
the tower arch within. The church of the Holy Sepulchre in Bridge Street
is one of the four ancient round churches in England. Its supposed date
is 1120-1140, but although it is doubtless to be associated with the
Knights Templars, the circumstances of its foundation are not known.
The chancel is practically a modern reconstruction, and an extensive
restoration, which has been adversely criticized, was applied by the
Cambridge Camden Society to the whole fabric in 1841. At several of the
villages neighbouring or suburban to Cambridge there are churches of
interest, as at Chesterton, Trumpington, Grantchester (where the name
indicates a Roman station, borne out by the discovery of remains), Fen
Ditton and Barnwell, near which is the Norman Sturbridge chapel. In
Cambridge itself there is a Norman house, much altered, which by a
tradition of unknown origin bears the name of the School of Pythagoras.
University constitution and administration.
The university is a corporate body, including all the colleges. These,
however, are also corporations in themselves, and have their own
statutes, but they are further subject to the paramount laws of the
university. The university statutes of Queen Elizabeth were only
replaced in 1858. The statutes as revised by a commission in that year
were soon found to require emendation; in 1872 another commission was
appointed, and in 1882 new statutes received the approval of the queen
in council. The head of the university is the chancellor. He is a member
of the university, of high rank and position, elected by the senate.
Being generally non-resident, he delegates his administrative duties to
the vice-chancellor, who is the head of a college, and is elected for
one year by the senate. The principal executive officers under the
vice-chancellor are as follows. The two proctors have as their main duty
that of disciplinary officers over the members of the university _in
statu pupillari_. In each year two colleges nominate one proctor each,
according to a fixed rotation which gives the larger colleges a more
frequent choice than the smaller. The proctors are assisted by four
pro-proctors. The public orator is the spokesman of the senate upon such
public occasions as the conferring of honorary degrees. The librarian
has charge of the university library. The registrary, with his
assistant, records the proceedings of the senate, &c., and has charge of
documents. The university returns two members to parliament, elected by
the members of the senate. The chancellor and _sex viri_ (elected by the
senate) form a court for offences against the university statutes by
members not _in statu pupillari_. The chancellor and six heads of
colleges, appointed by the senate, form a court of discipline for
members _in statu pupillari_.
Senate.
The senate in congregation is the legislative body. Those who have votes
in it are the chancellor, vice-chancellor, doctors of divinity, law,
medicine, science, letters and music, and masters of art, law, surgery
and music. The council of the senate, consisting of the chancellor,
vice-chancellor, four heads of colleges, four professors and eight other
members of the senate chosen by the vice-chancellor, brings all
proposals (called Graces) before the senate. The revenues of the
university are derived chiefly from fees at matriculation, for certain
examinations, and for degrees, from a tax upon all members of the
university, and from contributions by the colleges, together with the
profits of the University Press. A financial board, consisting of the
vice-chancellor _ex officio_ and certain elected members, administers
the finances of the university. There are boards for each of the various
faculties, and a General Board of Studies, with the vice-chancellor at
the head. There are university professors, readers or lecturers in a
large number of subjects. The oldest professorship is the Lady Margaret
professorship of divinity, instituted by the founders of Christ's and St
John's Colleges in 1502. In 1540 Henry VIII. founded the regius
professorships of divinity, civil law, physic, Hebrew and Greek.
College organization--undergraduates.
The head of a college generally bears the title of master, as indicated
above in the account of the several colleges. It has also seen that the
foundation of each college includes a certain number of fellows and
scholars. The affairs of the college are managed by the head and the
fellows, or a committee of fellows. The scholars and other members _in
statu pupillari_ are generally termed collectively undergraduates. Those
who receive no emoluments (and therefore pay the full fees) are
technically called pensioners, and form the bulk of the undergraduates.
Another group of students receiving emoluments are termed sizars; the
primary object of sizarships is to open the university course to men of
limited means. The title of fellow-commoners belongs to wealthy students
who pay special fees and have the right of dining at the fellows'
tables. This class has virtually ceased to exist. As regards his work,
the undergraduate in college is under the intimate direction of his
tutor; the disciplinary officer in college is the dean. Besides the
foundation scholarships in each college there are generally certain
scholarships and exhibitions founded by private or special benefactions;
these are frequently awarded for the encouragement of specific branches
of study, or are confined wholly, or by preference, to students from
certain schools.
Residence and examinations.
The total number of students is about 3000. The colleges cannot
accommodate this number, so that a student commonly spends some part of
his residence in lodgings, which are licensed by, and under the control
of, the university authorities. Such residence implies no sacrifice of
membership of a college. There are three terms--Michaelmas (October),
Lent and Easter (summer). They include together not less than 227 days,
though the actual period of residence for undergraduates is about 24
weeks annually. Undergraduates usually begin residence in Michaelmas
term. An elementary examination or other evidence of qualification is
required for admission to a college. After nine terms' (three years')
residence an undergraduate can take the first degree, that of bachelor
of arts (B.A.). The examinations required for the ordinary B.A. degree
are--(1) Previous examination or Little-go (usually taken in the first
term of residence or at least in the first year), including classics,
mathematics and a gospel in Greek and Paley's _Evidences of
Christianity_, or an additional Greek or Latin classic and logic. (2)
General examination in classics and mathematics, with a portion of
English history, &c. (3) Special examination in a subject other than
classical or mathematical. Candidates for honours are required to pass
the Previous examination with certain additional subjects; they then
have only a "tripos" examination in one of the following
subjects--mathematics, classics, moral sciences, natural sciences,
theology, law, history, oriental languages, medieval and modern
languages, mechanical sciences, economics. The mathematical tripos is
divided into two parts, in the first of which, down to 1909, the
candidates were classed in the result as Wranglers, Senior Optimes and
Junior Optimes. There was also an individual order of merit, the most
proficient candidate being placed at the head of the list as Senior
Wrangler. But in 1906 a number of important reforms of this tripos were
proposed by the Mathematical Board, and among these the abolition of the
individual order of merit was recommended and passed by the senate. It
is not employed in any other tripos. The classical tripos is also in two
parts, to the second of which certain kindred subjects are added
(ancient philosophy, history, &c.). Individual order of merit is not
observed in either part, the candidates being grouped in classes. There
are a large number of university prizes and scholarships on special
foundations. Such are the Smith's prizes for mathematics and natural
philosophy, on the foundation (1768) of Robert Smith, master of Trinity,
awarded up to 1883 after examination, but since then for an essay on
some branch of each subject, and the Chancellor's medals, of which two
have been awarded annually in classics since the foundation of the
prizes in 1751 by Thomas Holles, duke of Newcastle.
Affiliated colleges.
The university may adopt as affiliated colleges institutions in the
United Kingdom or in any part of the British empire which fulfil certain
conditions as to the education of adult students. Attendance at these
institutions is counted as equivalent to a certain period of residence
at Cambridge University in the event of a student wishing to pursue his
work here. There are over twenty such affiliated colleges. There are
also, in England, certain "affiliated centres." These are towns in which
there is no affiliated college, but students who have there attended a
course of education managed in connexion with the university by a
committee may enter the university with privileges similar to those
enjoyed by students from affiliated colleges.
May week.
The principal social function of the university is the "May Week" at the
close of the Easter term. It actually takes place in June and lasts
longer than a week. There is a great influx of visitors into Cambridge
for this occasion. The first four days are occupied by the college
boat-races on the Cam, and on subsequent days there are college balls,
concerts, theatrical performances and other entertainments. On the
Tuesday after the races there is a Congregation, at which prize
exercises are recited, and usually, but not invariably, a number of
honorary degrees are conferred on eminent men by invitation. This final
period of the academic year is called Commencement, or in Latin _Comitia
Maxim_.
AUTHORITIES.--For details of the administration of the university and
colleges, regulations as to studies, prizes, scholarships, &c., see
the annual _Cambridge University Calendar_ and _The Students' Handbook
to the University and Colleges of Cambridge_; see also R. Willis and
J.W. Clark, _Architectural History of the University of Cambridge_ (3
vols., Cambridge, 1886); J. Bass Mullinger, _History of the University
of Cambridge from the Earliest Times to the Accession of Charles I._
(2 vols., 1873-1884; third vol., 1909); and smaller _History of
Cambridge_, in Longman's "Epoch" Series (1888); J.W. Clark,
_Cambridge, Historical and Picturesque_ (London, 1890); T.D. Atkinson,
_Cambridge Described and Illustrated_, with introduction by J.W. Clark
(London, 1897); F.W. Maitland, _Township and Borough_ (Cambridge,
1898); C.W. Stubbs, _Cambridge_, in "Mediaeval Towns" series (London,
1905); Arthur Gray, _The Dual Origin of the Town of Cambridge_
(publications of the Cambridge Antiquarian Soc., new ser. No. I,
Cambridge, 1908); J.W. Clark, _Liber memorandorum ecclesie de
Bernewelle_ (Cambridge, 1907), with an introduction by F.W. Maitland.
For the individual colleges, see the series of _College Histories_, by
various authors (London, 1899 et seq.).
FOOTNOTE:
[1] See also UNIVERSITIES.
CAMBRIDGE, a city and the county-seat of Dorchester county, Maryland,
U.S.A., on the Choptank river, near Chesapeake Bay, about 60 m. S.E. of
Baltimore. Pop. (1890) 4192; (1900) 5747 (1958 being negroes); (1910)
6407. It is served by the Cambridge branch of the Philadelphia,
Baltimore & Washington railway (Pennsylvania railway), which connects
with the main line at Seaford, 30 m. distant, and with the Baltimore,
Chesapeake & Atlantic at Hurlock, 16 m. distant; and by steamers of the
Baltimore, Chesapeake & Atlantic railway company. It is a business
centre for the prosperous farming region by which it is surrounded, and
is a shipping point for oysters and fish; among its manufactures are
canned fruits and vegetables, flour, hominy, phosphates, underwear and
lumber. Cambridge was founded in 1684, received its present name in
1686, and was chartered as a city in 1900.
CAMBRIDGE, a city and one of the county-seats of Middlesex county,
Massachusetts, U.S.A., situated on the Charles river, in the outskirts
of Boston, of which it is in effect a part, although under separate
government. Pop. (1880) 52,669; (1890) 70,028; (1900) 91,886; (1910
census) 104,839. Of the total population in 1900, 30,446 were
foreign-born, including 11,235 Irish, 9613 English Canadians, 1944
English, 1483 French Canadians and 1584 Swedish; and 54,200 were of
foreign parentage (both parents foreign-born), including 24,961 of Irish
parentage, 9829 of English-Canadian parentage, 2587 of English
parentage, and 2288 of French-Canadian parentage. Cambridge is entered
directly by only one railway, the Boston & Maine. The township, now
practically built over by the city, contained originally several
separate villages, the names of which are still used as a convenience in
designating corresponding sections of the municipality: Old Cambridge,
North Cambridge, Cambridgeport and East Cambridge, the last two being
manufacturing and commercial districts.
Old Cambridge is noted as the seat of Harvard University (q.v.) and as a
literary and scientific centre. Radcliffe College (1879), for women,
practically a part of Harvard; an Episcopal Theological School (1867),
and the New Church (Swedenborgian or New Jerusalem) Theological School
(1866) are other educational institutions of importance. To Cambridge
also, in 1908, was removed Andover Theological Seminary, a
Congregational institution chartered in 1807, opened in Andover,
Massachusetts, in 1808 (re-incorporated under separate trustees in
1907). This seminary is one of the oldest and most famous theological
institutions in the United States; it grew out of the theological
teaching previously given in Phillips Academy, and was founded by the
widow of Lt.-Governor Samuel Phillips, her son John Phillips and Samuel
Abbot (1732-1812). The instruction was strongly Calvinistic in the
earlier period, but the seminary has always been "equally open to
Protestants of every denomination." Very liberal aid is given to
students, and there is no charge for tuition. The _Bibliotheca Sacra_,
founded in 1843 by Edward Robinson and in 1844 taken over by Professors
Bela B. Edwards and Edwards A. Park, and the _Andover Review_
(1884-1893), have been the organs of the seminary. In 1886 some of its
professors published _Progressive Orthodoxy_, a book which made a great
stir by its liberal tone, its opposition to supernaturalism and its
evident trend toward the methods of German "higher criticism." Legal
proceedings for the removal of five professors, after the publication of
this book, failed; and their successful defence helped to secure greater
freedom in thought and in instruction in American Presbyterian and
Congregational theological seminaries. The seminary is now affiliated
with Harvard University, though it remains independent and autonomous.
Cambridge is a typical New England city, built up in detached
residences, with irregular streets pleasantly shaded, and a considerable
wealth of historic and literary associations. There are many reminders
of the long history of Harvard, and of the War of Independence.
Cambridge was the site of the camp of the first American army, at the
outbreak of the war, and from it went the detachment which intrenched on
Bunker's Hill. Here are the Apthorp House (built in 1760), in which
General Burgoyne and his officers were lodged as prisoners of war in
1777; the elm under which, according to tradition, Washington took
command of the Continental Army on the 3rd of July 1775; the old Vassall
or Craigie House (1759), where Washington lived in 1775-1776, and which
was later the home of Edward Everett, Joseph E. Worcester, Jared Sparks
and (1837-1882) Henry W. Longfellow. Elbridge Gerry lived and James
Russell Lowell was born, lived and died in "Elmwood" (built in 1767);
Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge also; John Fiske, the
historian, lived here; and there are many other literary associations,
attractive and important for those interested in American letters. In Mt
Auburn Cemetery are buried many artists, poets, scholars and other men
and women of fame. Cambridge is one of the few American cities
possessing a crematorium (1900). The municipal water-works are
excellent. A handsome bridge joining Cambridgeport to Boston (cost about
$2,250,000) was opened late in 1906. Four other bridges span the Charles
river between the two cities. A dam between East Cambridge and Boston,
traversed by a roadway 150 ft. wide, was in the process of construction
in 1907; and an extension of the Boston subway into Cambridge to the
grounds of Harvard University, a distance of about 3 m., was projected.
The city government is administered almost entirely under the state
civil-service laws, Cambridge having been a leader in the adoption of
its provisions. A non-partisan association for political reform did
excellent work from 1890 to 1900, when it was superseded by a
non-partisan party. Since 1887 the city has declared yearly by
increasing majorities for prohibition of the liquor traffic. The high
schools enjoy a notable reputation. A handsome city hall (cost $235,000)
and public library (as well as a manual training school) were given to
the city by Frederick H. Rindge, a one-time resident, whose benefactions
to Cambridge aggregated in value $650,000. Cambridge has many
manufacturing establishments, and in 1905 the city's factory products
were valued at $42,407,064, an increase of 45.8% over their value in
1900. The principal manufactures are slaughtering and meat-packing
products, foundry and machine-shop products, rubber boots and shoes,
rubber belting and hose, printing and publishing products, carpentering,
pianos and organs, confectionery and furniture. Cambridge is one of the
chief publishing centres of the country. The tax valuation of property
in 1906 ($105,153,235) was more than $1000 per inhabitant.
Cambridge is "one of the few American towns that may be said to have
owed their very name and existence to the pursuit of letters" (T.W.
Higginson). Its site was selected in 1630 by Governor Winthrop and
others as suitable for fortifications and defence, and it was intended
to make it the capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; but as Boston's
peninsular position gave it the advantage in commerce and in defence
against the Indians, the plan fell through, although up to 1638 various
sessions of the general court and particular courts were held here. The
township records (published) are continuous since 1632. A direct tax for
the wooden "pallysadoe" about Cambridge led the township of Watertown in
1632 to make the first protest in America against taxation without
representation. The settlement was first known as the "New Towne," but
in 1638 was named Cambridge in honour of the English Cambridge, where
several score of the first immigrants to the colony were educated. The
oldest college in America (Harvard) was founded here in 1636. In 1639
there was set up in Cambridge the first printing press of British North
America (Boston having none until 1676). Other notable dates in history
are 1637 and 1647, when general synods of New England churches met at
Cambridge to settle disputed doctrine and define orthodoxy; the
departure for Connecticut of Thomas Hooker's congregation in 1636; the
meeting of the convention that framed the present constitution of the
commonwealth, 1779-1780; the separation of the Congregationalists and
Unitarians of the first parish church, in 1829; and the grant of a city
charter in 1846. The original township of Cambridge was very large, and
there have been successively detached from it, Newton (1691), Lexington
(1713), Brighton (1837) and Arlington (1867).
See Lucius R. Paige, _History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877_
(Boston, Mass., 1877); T.W. Higginson, _Old Cambridge_ (New York,
1899); Arthur Gilman (ed.), _The Cambridge of Eighteen Hundred and
Ninety-Six_ (Cambridge, 1896); and _Historic Guide to Cambridge_
(Cambridge, 1907.)
CAMBRIDGE, a city and the county-seat of Guernsey county, Ohio, U.S.A.,
on Wills Creek, about 75 m. E. by N. of Columbus. Pop. (1890) 4361;
(1900) 8241, of whom 407 were foreign-born; (1910 census) 11,327. It is
served by the Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania railways, and is
connected by an electric line with Byesville (pop. in 1910, 3156), about
7 m. S. Cambridge is built on a hill about 800 ft. above sea-level.
There is a public library. Coal, oil, natural gas, clay and iron are
found in the vicinity, and among the city's manufactures are iron,
steel, glass, furniture and pottery. The value of its factory products
in 1905 was $2,440,917. The municipality owns and operates the
water-works. Cambridge was first settled in 1798 by emigrants from the
island of Guernsey (whence the name of the county); was laid out as a
town in 1806; was incorporated as a village in 1837; and was chartered
as a city in 1893.
CAMBRIDGE PLATONISTS, a school of philosophico-religious thinkers which
flourished mainly at Cambridge University in the second half of the 17th
century. The founder was Benjamin Whichcote and the chief members were
Ralph Cudworth, Richard Cumberland, Joseph Glanvill, Henry More and John
Norris (see separate articles). Other less important members were
Nathanael Culverwel (d. 1651?), Theophilus Gale (1628-1678), John
Pordage (1607-1681), George Rust (d. 1670), John Smith (1618-1652) and
John Worthington (1618-1671). They represented liberal thought at the
time and were generally known as Latitudinarians. Their views were due
to a reaction against three main tendencies in contemporary English
thought: the sacerdotalism of Laud and his followers, the obscurantist
sectaries and, most important of all, the doctrines of Hobbes. They
consist chiefly of a reconciliation between reason and religion,
resulting in a generally tolerant spirit. They tend always to mysticism
and the contemplation of things transcendental. In spite of inaccuracy
and the lack of critical capacity in dealing with their authorities both
ancient and modern, the Cambridge Platonists exercised a valuable
influence on English theology and thought in general. Their chief
contributions to thought were Cudworth's theory of the "plastic nature"
of God, More's elaborate mysticism, Norris's appreciation of
Malebranche, Glanvill's conception of scepticism as an aid to Faith,
and, in a less degree, the harmony of Faith and Reason elaborated by
Culverwel. The one doctrine on which they all combined to lay especial
emphasis was the absolute existence of right and wrong quite apart from
the theory of divine authority. Their chief authorities were Plato and
the Neo-platonists (between whom they made no adequate distinction), and
among modern philosophers, Descartes, Malebranche and Boehme. From these
sources they attempted to evolve a philosophy of religion, which would
not only refute the views of Hobbes, but would also free theology
finally from the errors of scholasticism, without plunging it in the
newer dangers of unfettered rationalism (see ETHICS).
See Tulloch, _Rational Theology in England in the 17th Century_;
Hallam, _Literature of Europe_ (chap, on Philosophy from 1650 to
1700); Hunt, _Religious Thought in England_; von Stein, _Sieben Bucher
zur Geschichte des Platonismus_ (1862), and works on individual
philosophers appended to biographies.
CAMBRIDGESHIRE, an eastern county of England, bounded N. by
Lincolnshire, E. by Norfolk and Suffolk, S. by Essex and Hertfordshire,
and W. by Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire and Northamptonshire. The area
is 858.9 sq. m. The greater part of the county falls within the district
of the Fens, and is flat, elevated only a few feet above sea-level, and
intersected with innumerable drainage channels. The physical
characteristics of this district, and the history of its reclamation
from a marshy and in great part uninhabitable condition, fall for
consideration under the heading FENS. Except in the south of the county
the scenery of the flat land is hardly ever varied by rising ground or
wood, and owes the attraction it possesses rather to individuality than
to beauty. At the south-eastern and southern boundaries, and to the west
of Cambridge, bordering the valley of the Cam on the north, the land
rises in gentle undulations; but for the rest, such elevations as the
Gog Magog Hills, S.E. of Cambridge, and the gentle hillock on which the
city of Ely stands, are isolated and conspicuous from afar. The
principal rivers are the Ouse and its tributaries in the south and
centre, and the Nene in the north; the greater part of the waters of
both these rivers within Cambridgeshire flow in artificial channels, of
which those for the Ouse, two great parallel cuts between Earith and
Denver Sluice, in Norfolk, called the Bedford Rivers, form the most
remarkable feature in the drainage of the county. The old main channel
of the Ouse, from Ely downward to Denver (below which are tidal waters),
is filled chiefly by the waters of the Cam or Granta, which joins the
Ouse 3 m. above Ely, the Lark (which with its feeder, the Kennett, forms
the boundary of the county with Suffolk for a considerable distance) and
the Little Ouse, forming part of the boundary with Norfolk.
_Geology_.--By its geological features, Cambridgeshire is divisible into
three well-marked regions; in the south and south-east are the low
uplands formed by the Chalk; north of this, but best developed in the
south-west, is a clay and greensand area; all the remaining portion is
alluvial Fenland. The general strike of the rocks is along a south-west
and north-east line, the dip is south-easterly. The oldest rock is the
Jurassic Oxford Clay, which appears as an irregular strip of elevated
flat ground reaching from Croxton by Conington and Fenny Drayton to
Willingham and Rampton. Eastward and northward it no doubt forms the
floor of the Fen country, and at Thorney and Whittlesea small patches
rise like islands, through the level fen alluvium. The Coralline Oolite,
with the Els worth or St Ives rock at the base, occurs as a small patch,
covered by Greensand, at Upware, whence many fossils have been obtained;
elsewhere its place is taken by the Ampthill Clays, which are passage
beds between the Oxford and Kimmeridge Clays. The latter clay lies in a
narrow strip by Papworth St Agnes, Oakington and Cottenham; a large
irregular outcrop surrounds Haddenham and Ely, and similar occurrences
are at March, Chatteris and Manea. Above the Kimmeridge Clay comes the
Lower Greensand, sandy for the greater part, but here and there
hardened into the condition known as "Carstone," which has been used as
an inferior building-stone. This formation is thickest in the
south-west; it extends from the border by Gamlingay, Cuxton and
Cottenham, and appears again in outliers at Upware, Ely and Haddenham.
The Gault forms a strip of flat ground, 4 to 6 m. wide, running roughly
parallel with the course of the river Cam, from Guilden Morden through
Cambridge to Soham; it is a stiff blue clay 200 ft. thick in the
south-west, but is thinner eastward. At the bottom of the chalk is the
Chalk Marl, 10 to 20 ft. thick, with a glauconitic and phosphatic
nodule-bearing layer at its base, known as the Cambridge Greensand. This
bed has been largely worked for the nodules and for cement; it contains
many fossils derived from the Gault below. Several outliers of Chalk
Marl lie upon the Gault west of the Cam. The Chalk comprises all the
main divisions of the formation, including the Totternhoe stone,
Melbourn rock and Chalk rock. Much glacial boulder clay covers all the
higher ground of the county; it is a stiff brownish clay with many chalk
fragments of travelled rocks. Near Ely there is a remarkable mass of
chalk, evidently transported by ice, resting on and surrounded by
boulder clay. Plateau gravel caps some of the chalk hills, and old river
gravels occur at lower levels with the bones of mammoth, rhinoceros and
other extinct mammals. The low-lying Fen beds are marly silt with
abundant peat beds and buried forests; at the bottom is a gravel layer
of marine origin.
_Industries_.--The climate is as a whole healthy, the fens being so
carefully drained that diseases to which dwellers in marshy districts
are commonly liable are practically eliminated. The land is very
fertile, and although some decrease is generally apparent in the acreage
under grain crops, Cambridgeshire is one of the principal
grain-producing counties in England. Nearly nine-tenths of the total
area is under cultivation, and an unusually small proportion is under
permanent pasture. Wheat is the chief grain crop, but large quantities
of barley and oats are also grown. Among green crops potatoes occupy a
large and increasing area. Dairy-farming is especially practised in the
south-west, where the district of the Cam valley has long been known as
the Dairies; and much butter and cheese are sent to the London markets.
Sheep are pastured extensively on the higher ground, but the number of
these and of cattle for the county as a whole is not large. Beans occupy
a considerable acreage, and fruit-growing and market-gardening are
important in many parts. There is no large manufacturing industry common
to the county in general; among minor trades brewing is carried on at
several places, and brick-making and lime-burning may also be mentioned.
_Communications_.--The principal railway serving the county is the Great
Eastern, of which system numerous branch lines centre chiefly upon
Cambridge, Ely and March. Cambridge is also served by branches of the
Great Northern line from Hitchin, of the London & North-Western from
Bletchley and Bedford, and of the Midland from Kettering. A trunk line
connecting the eastern counties with the north and north-west of England
runs northward from March under the joint working of the Great Northern
and Great Eastern companies. The artificial waterways provide the county
with an extensive system of inland navigation; and a considerable
proportion of the industrial population is employed on these. In this
connexion the building of boats and barges is carried on at several
towns.
_Population and Administration_.--The area of the ancient county is
549,723 acres, with a population in 1891 of 188,961, and in 1901 of
190,682. The ancient county includes the two administrative counties of
Cambridge in the south and the Isle of Ely in the north. The liberty of
the Isle of Ely was formerly of the independent nature of a county
palatine, but ceased to be so under acts of 1836 and 1837. Its area is
238,048 acres, and that of the administrative county of Cambridge
315,171 acres. Cambridgeshire contains seventeen hundreds. The municipal
boroughs are Cambridge, the county town (pop. 38,379), in the
administrative county of Cambridge, and Wisbech (9381) in the Isle of
Ely. The other urban districts are--in the administrative county of
Cambridge, Chesterton (9591), and in the Isle of Ely, Chatteris (4711),
Ely (7713), March (7565) and Whittlesey (3909). Among other considerable
towns Soham (4230) and Littleport (4181), both in the neighbourhood of
Ely, may be mentioned. The town of Newmarket, which, although wholly
within the administrative county of West Suffolk, is mainly in the
ancient county of Cambridgeshire, is famous for its race-meetings. The
county is in the south-eastern circuit, and assizes are held at
Cambridge. Each administrative county has a court of quarter sessions,
and the two are divided into ten petty sessional divisions. The borough
of Cambridge has a separate court of quarter sessions, and this borough
and Wisbech have separate commissions of the peace. The university of
Cambridge exercises disciplinary jurisdiction over its members. There
are 168 entire civil parishes in the two administrative counties.
Cambridgeshire is almost wholly in the diocese of Ely and the
archdeaconries of Ely and Sudbury, but small portions are within the
dioceses of St Albans and Norwich. There are 194 ecclesiastical parishes
or districts wholly or in part within the county. The parliamentary
divisions are three, namely, Northern or Wisbech, Western or Chesterton,
and Eastern or Newmarket, each returning one member. The county also
contains the parliamentary borough of Cambridge, returning one member;
and the university of Cambridge returns two members.
_History_.--The earliest English settlements in what is now
Cambridgeshire were made about the 6th century by bands of Engles, who
pushed their way up the Ouse and the Cam, and established themselves in
the fen-district, where they became known as the Gyrwas, the districts
corresponding to the modern counties of Huntingdonshire and
Cambridgeshire being distinguished as the lands of the North Gyrwas and
the South Gyrwas respectively. At this period the fen-district stretched
southward as far as Cambridge, and the essential unity which it
preserved is illustrated later by its inclusion under one sheriff,
chosen in successive years from Cambridgeshire proper, the Isle of Ely
and Huntingdonshire. In 656 numerous lands in the neighbourhood of
Wisbech were included in the endowment of the abbey of Peterborough, and
in the same century religious houses were established at Ely and
Thorney, both of which, however, were destroyed during the Danish
invasions of the 9th century. After the treaty of Wedmore the district
became part of the Danelaw. On the expulsion of the Danes by Edward in
the 10th century it was included in East Anglia, but in the 11th century
was again overrun by the Danes, who in the course of their devastations
burnt Cambridge. The first mention of the shire in the Saxon Chronicle
records the valiant resistance which it opposed to the invaders in 1010
when the rest of East Anglia had taken ignominious flight. The
shire-system of East Anglia was in all probability not definitely
settled before the Conquest, but during the Danish occupation of the 9th
century the district possessed a certain military and political
organization round Cambridge, its chief town, whence probably originated
the constitution and demarcation of the later shire. At the time of the
Domesday Survey the county was divided as now, except that the Isle of
Ely, which then formed two hundreds having their meeting-place at
Witchford, is now divided into the four hundreds of Ely, Wisbech, North
Witchford and South Witchford, while Cambridge formed a hundred by
itself. The hundred of Flendish was then known as Flamingdike.
Cambridgeshire was formerly included in the diocese of Lincoln, until,
on the erection of Ely to a bishop's see in 1109, almost the whole
county was placed in that diocese. In 1291 the whole county, with the
exception of parishes in the deanery of Fordham and diocese of Norwich,
constituted the archdeaconry of Ely, comprising the deaneries of Ely,
Wisbech, Chesterton, Cambridge, Shingay, Bourn, Barton and Camps. The
Isle of Ely formerly constituted an independent franchise in which the
bishops exercised quasi-palatinate rights, and offences were held to be
committed against the bishop's peace. These privileges were considerably
abridged in the reign of Henry VIII., but the Isle still had separate
civil officers, appointed by the bishop, chief among whom were the
chief justice, chief bailiff, deputy bailiff and two coroners. The
bishop is still _custos rotulorum_ of the Isle. Cambridgeshire has
always been remarkable for its lack of county families, and for the
frequent changes in the ownership of estates. No Englishmen retained
lands of any importance after the Conquest, and at the time of the
Domesday Survey the chief lay proprietors were Alan, earl of Brittany,
whose descendants the Zouches retained estates in the county until the
15th century; Picot the sheriff, whose estates passed to the families of
Peverell and Peche; Aubrey de Vere, whose descendants retained their
estates till the 16th century; and Hardwinus de Scalariis, ancestor of
the Scales of Whaddon.
From the time of Hereward's famous resistance to the Conqueror in the
fen-district, the Isle of Ely was intimately concerned with the great
political struggles of the country. It was defended against Stephen by
Bishop Nigellus of Ely, who fortified Ely and Aldreth, and the latter in
1144 was held for the empress Maud by Geoffrey de Mandeville. During the
struggles between John and his barons, Faukes de Breauté was made
governor of Cambridge Castle, which, however, surrendered to the barons
in the same year. The Isle of Ely was seized by the followers of Simon
de Montfort in 1266, but in 1267 was taken by Prince Edward. At the
Reformation period the county showed much sympathy with the Reformers,
and in 1642 the knights, gentry and commoners of Cambridgeshire
petitioned for the removal of all unwarrantable orders and dignities,
and the banishment of popish clergy. In the civil war of the 17th
century Cambridgeshire was one of the associated counties in which the
king had no visible party, though the university assisted him with
contributions of plate and money.
Cambridgeshire has always been mainly an agricultural county. The
Domesday Survey mentions over ninety mills and numerous valuable
fisheries, especially eel-fisheries, and contains frequent references to
wheat, malt and honey. The county had a flourishing wool-industry in the
14th century, and became noted for its worsted cloths. The Black Death
of 1349 and the ravages committed during the Wars of the Roses were
followed by periods of severe depression, and in 1439 several
Cambridgeshire towns obtained a remission of taxation on the plea of
poverty. In the 16th century barley for malt was grown in large
quantities in the south, and the manufacture of willow-baskets was
carried on in the fen-districts. Saffron was extensively cultivated in
the 18th century, and paper was manufactured near Sturbridge. Sturbridge
fair was at this period reckoned the largest in Europe, the chief
articles of merchandise being wool, hops and leather; and the Newmarket
races and horse-trade were already famous. Large waste areas were
brought under cultivation in the 17th century through the drainage of
the fen-district, which was brought to completion about 1652 through the
labours of Cornelius Vermuyden, a Dutchman. The coprolite industry was
very profitable for a short period from 1850 to 1880, and its decline
was accompanied by a general industrial and agricultural depression.
Cambridgeshire returned three members to parliament in 1290, and in 1295
the county returned two members, the borough of Cambridge two members,
and the city of Ely two members, this being the sole return for Ely. The
university was summoned to return members in 1300 and again in 1603, but
no returns are recorded before 1614, after which it continued to return
two members. Under the Reform Act of 1832 the county returned three
members.
_Antiquities_.--In ecclesiastical architecture Cambridgeshire would be
rich only in the possession of the magnificent cathedral at Ely and the
round church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jesus College and King's College
chapels, and many other examples in Cambridge. But there are many fine
churches elsewhere. At Thorney, a small town in the north of the county,
which owes much in appearance to the 8th duke of Bedford (d. 1872), the
parish church is actually a portion of the church of an abbey said to
date originally from the 7th century, and refounded in 972 by Ethelwold,
bishop of Winchester, as a Benedictine monastery. The church is partly
fine Norman. Another Norman building of special interest is Sturbridge
chapel near Cambridge, which belonged to a lepers' hospital. To this
foundation King John granted a fair, which became, and continued until
the 18th century, one of the most important in England. It is still held
in September. At Swaffham Prior there are remains of two churches in one
churchyard, the tower of one being good Transitional Norman, while that
of the other is Perpendicular, the upper part octagonal. Among many
Early English examples the church of Cherry Hinton near Cambridge may be
mentioned. The churches of Trumpington and Bottisham are fine specimens
of the Decorated style; in the first is a famous brass to Sir Roger de
Trumpington (1289). As Perpendicular examples the tower and spire of St
Mary's, Whittlesey, and the rich wooden roof of Outwell church, may be
selected. Monastic remains are scanty. Excluding the town of Cambridge
there are no domestic buildings, either ancient or modern, of special
note, with the exception of Sawston Hall, in the south of the county, a
quadrangular mansion dated 1557-1584.
AUTHORITIES.--See D. and S. Lysons, _Magna Britannia_, vol. ii. part
i. (London, 1808); C.C. Babington, _Ancient Cambridgeshire_
(Cambridge, 1883); R. Bowes, _Catalogue of Books printed at or
relating to Cambridge_ (Cambridge, 1891 et seq.); E. Conybeare,
_History of Cambridgeshire_ (London, 1897); _Victoria County History,
Cambridgeshire_.
CAMBUSLANG, a town of Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is situated near the
Clyde, 4½ m. S.E. of Glasgow (of which it is a residential suburb) by
the Caledonian railway. Pop. (1891) 8323; (1901) 12,252. Its leading
industries include coal-mining, turkey-red dyeing and brick-making. It
contains one of the largest steel works in the United Kingdom. Among the
chief edifices are a public hall, institute and library. It was the
birthplace of John Claudius London (1783-1843), the landscape gardener
and writer on horticulture, whose _Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum_
still ranks as an authority.
CAMBYSES (Pers. _Kambujiya_), the name borne by the father and the son
of Cyrus the Great. When Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 he was employed
in leading religious ceremonies (_Chronicle of Nabonidus_), and in the
cylinder which contains Cyrus's proclamation to the Babylonians his name
is joined to that of his father in the prayers to Marduk. On a tablet
dated from the first year of Cyrus, Cambyses is called king of Babel.
But his authority seems to have been quite ephemeral; it was only in
530, when Cyrus set out on his last expedition into the East, that he
associated Cambyses on the throne, and numerous Babylonian tablets of
this time are dated from the accession and the first year of Cambyses,
when Cyrus was "king of the countries" (i.e. of the world). After the
death of his father in the spring of 528 Cambyses became sole king. The
tablets dated from his reign in Babylonia go down to the end of his
eighth year, i.e. March 521 B.C.[1] Herodotus (iii. 66), who dates his
reign from the death of Cyrus, gives him seven years five months, i.e.
from 528 to the summer of 521. For these dates cf. Ed. Meyer,
_Forschungen zur alien Geschichte_, ii. 470 ff.
The traditions about Cambyses, preserved by the Greek authors, come from
two different sources. The first, which forms the main part of the
account of Herodotus (iii. 2; 4; 10-37), is of Egyptian origin. Here
Cambyses is made the legitimate son of Cyrus and a daughter of Apries
(Herod, iii. 2, Dinon fr. 11, Polyaen. viii. 29), whose death he avenges
on the successor of the usurper Amasis. (In Herod, iii. 1 and Ctesias
_ap_. Athen. xiii. 560 D, this tradition is corrected by the Persians:
Cambyses wants to marry a daughter of Amasis, who sends him a daughter
of Apries instead of his own daughter, and by her Cambyses is induced to
begin the war.) His great crime is the killing of the Apis, for which he
is punished by madness, in which he commits many other crimes, kills his
brother and his sister, and at last loses his empire and dies from a
wound in the hip, at the same place where he had wounded the sacred
animal. Intermingled are some stories derived from the Greek
mercenaries, especially about their leader Phanes of Halicarnassus, who
betrayed Egypt to the Persians. In the Persian tradition the crime of
Cambyses is the murder of his brother; he is further accused of
drunkenness, in which he commits many crimes, and thus accelerates his
ruin. These traditions are found in different passages of Herodotus, and
in a later form, but with some trustworthy detail about his household,
in the fragments of Ctesias. With the exception of Babylonian dated
tablets and some Egyptian inscriptions, we possess no contemporary
evidence about the reign of Cambyses but the short account of Darius in
the Behistun inscription. It is impossible from these sources to form a
correct picture of Cambyses' character; but it seems certain that he was
a wild despot and that he was led by drunkenness to many atrocious
deeds.
It was quite natural that, after Cyrus had conquered Asia, Cambyses
should undertake the conquest of Egypt, the only remaining independent
state of the Eastern world. Before he set out on his expedition he
killed his brother Bardiya (Smerdis), whom Cyrus had appointed governor
of the eastern provinces. The date is given by Darius, whereas the Greek
authors narrate the murder after the conquest of Egypt. The war took
place in 525, when Amasis had just been succeeded by his son
Psammetichus III. Cambyses had prepared for the march through the desert
by an alliance with Arabian chieftains, who brought a large supply of
water to the stations. King Amasis had hoped that Egypt would be able to
withstand the threatened Persian attack by an alliance with the Greeks.
But this hope failed; the Cyprian towns and the tyrant Polycrates of
Samos, who possessed a large fleet, now preferred to join the Persians,
and the commander of the Greek troops, Phanes of Halicarnassus, went
over to them. In the decisive battle at Pelusium the Egyptians were
beaten, and shortly afterwards Memphis was taken. The captive king
Psammetichus was executed, having attempted a rebellion. The Egyptian
inscriptions show that Cambyses officially adopted the titles and the
costume of the Pharaohs, although we may very well believe that he did
not conceal his contempt for the customs and the religion of the
Egyptians. From Egypt Cambyses attempted the conquest of Ethiopia
(Cush), i.e. the kingdom of Napata and Meroe, the modern Nubia. But his
army was not able to cross the deserts; after heavy losses he was forced
to return. In an inscription from Napata (in the Berlin museum) the
Ethiopian king Nastesen relates that he had beaten the troops of
Kembasuden, i.e. Cambyses, and taken all his ships (H. Schäfer, _Die
Aethiopische Königsinschrift des Berliner Museums_, 1901). Another
expedition against the great oasis failed likewise, and the plan of
attacking Carthage was frustrated by the refusal of the Phoenicians to
operate against their kindred. Meanwhile in Persia a usurper, the Magian
Gaumata, arose in the spring of 522, who pretended to be the murdered
Bardiya (Smerdis). He was acknowledged throughout Asia. Cambyses
attempted to march against him, but, seeing probably that success was
impossible, died by his own hand (March 521). This is the account of
Darius, which certainly must be preferred to the traditions of Herodotus
and Ctesias, which ascribe his death to an accident. According to
Herodotus (iii. 64) he died in the Syrian Ecbatana, i.e. Hamath;
Josephus (_Ant._ xi. 2. 2) names Damascus; Ctesias, Babylon, which is
absolutely impossible.
See A. Lincke, _Kambyses in der Sage, Litteratur und Kunst des
Mittelalters_, in _Aegyptiaca: Festschrift für Georg Ebers_ (Leipzig
1897), pp. 41-61; also PERSIA: _Ancient History._ (Ed. M.)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] On the much discussed tablet, which is said to date from his 11th
year, the writer had at first written "10th year of Cyrus," and then
corrected this date into "1st year of Cambyses"; see Strassmaier,
_Inschriften von Cambyses_, No. 97.
CAMDEN, CHARLES PRATT, 1ST EARL (1714-1794), lord chancellor of England,
was born in Kensington in 1714. He was a descendant of an old Devonshire
family of high standing, the third son of Sir John Pratt, chief-justice
of the king's bench in the reign of George I. He received his early
education at Eton and King's College, Cambridge. In 1734 he became a
fellow of his college, and in the following year obtained his degree of
B.A. Having adopted his father's profession, he had entered the Middle
Temple in 1728, and ten years later he was called to the bar. He
practised at first in the courts of common law, travelling also the
western circuit. For some years his practice was so limited, and he
became so much discouraged, that he seriously thought of turning his
back on the law and entering the church. He listened, however, to the
advice of his friend Sir Robert Henley, a brother barrister, afterwards
known as Lord Chancellor Northington, and persevered, working on and
waiting for success. The first case which brought him prominently into
notice and gave him assurance of ultimate success was the government
prosecution, in 1752, of a bookseller, William Owen, for a libel on the
House of Commons.
His speech for the defence contributed much to the verdict for the
defendant. In 1757, through the influence of William Pitt (afterwards
earl of Chatham), with whom he had formed an intimate friendship while
at Eton, he received the appointment of attorney-general. The same year
he entered the House of Commons as member for the borough of Downton in
Wiltshire. He sat in parliament four years, but did not distinguish
himself as a debater. His professional practice now largely increased.
One of the most noticeable incidents of his tenure of office as
attorney-general was the prosecution of Dr. J. Shebbeare (1709-1788), a
violent party writer of the day, for a libel against the government
contained in his notorious _Letters to the People of England_, which
were published in the years 1756-1758. As a proof of Pratt's moderation
in a period of passionate party warfare and frequent state trials, it is
noted that this was the only official prosecution for libel which he set
on foot. In January 1762 Pratt was raised to the bench as chief-justice
of the common pleas. He was at the same time knighted. Soon after his
elevation the nation was thrown into great excitement about the
prosecution of John Wilkes, and the question involved in it of the
legality of "general warrants." Chief-Justice Pratt pronounced, with
decisive and almost passionate energy, against their legality, thus
giving voice to the strong feeling of the nation and winning for himself
an extraordinary degree of popularity as one of the "maintainers of
English constitutional liberty." Honours fell thick upon him in the form
of addresses from the city of London and many large towns, and of
presentations of freedom from various corporate bodies. In July 1765 he
was raised to the peerage as Baron Camden, of Camden Place, in the
county of Kent; and in the following year he was removed from the court
of common pleas to take his seat as lord chancellor (July 30, 1766).
This seat he retained less than four years; for although he discharged
its duties in so efficient a manner that, with one exception, his
decisions were never reversed on appeal, he took up a position of such
uncompromising hostility to the governments of the day, the Grafton and
North administrations, on the greatest and most exciting matters, the
treatment of the American colonies and the proceedings against John
Wilkes, that the government had no choice but to require of him the
surrender of the great seal. He retired from the court of chancery in
January 1770, but he continued to take a warm interest in the political
affairs and discussions of the time. He continued steadfastly to oppose
the taxation of the American colonists, and signed, in 1778, the protest
of the Lords in favour of an address to the king on the subject of the
manifesto of the commissioners to America. In 1782 he was appointed
president of the council under the Rockingham administration, but
retired in the following year. Within a few months he was reinstated in
this office under the Pitt administration, and held it till his death.
Lord Camden was a strenuous opponent of Fox's India Bill, took an
animated part in the debates on important public matters till within two
years of his death, introduced in 1786 the scheme of a regency on
occasion of the king's insanity, and to the last zealously defended his
early views on the functions of juries, especially of their right to
decide on all questions of libel. He was raised to the dignity of an
earl in May 1786, and was at the same time created Viscount Bayham. Earl
Camden died in London on the 18th of April 1794. His remains were
interred in Seale church in Kent.
CAMDEN, JOHN JEFFREYS PRATT, 2ND EARL and 1ST MARQUESS (1759-1840), only
son of the 1st earl, was born on the 11th of February 1750, and was
educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1780 he was chosen member of
parliament for Bath, and he obtained the lucrative position of teller of
the exchequer, an office which he kept until his death, although after
1812 he refused to receive the large income arising from it. In the
ministry of William Pitt, Pratt was successively a lord of the admiralty
and a lord of the treasury; then, having succeeded his father in the
earldom in 1794, he was appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1795.
Disliked in Ireland as an opponent of Roman Catholic emancipation and as
the exponent of an unpopular policy, Camden's term of office was one of
commotion and alarm, culminating in the rebellion of 1798. Immediately
after the suppression of the rising he resigned, and in 1804 became
secretary for war and the colonies under Pitt, and in 1805 lord
president of the council. He was again lord president from 1807 to 1812,
after which date he remained for some time in the cabinet without
office. In 1812 he was created earl of Brecknock and Marquess Camden. He
died on the 8th of October 1840, and was succeeded by his only son,
George Charles, 2nd marquess (1799-1866). The present marquess is his
descendant. Camden was chancellor of the university of Cambridge and a
knight of the Garter.
CAMDEN, WILLIAM (1551-1623), English antiquary and historian, was born
in London on the 2nd of May 1551. His father, Sampson Camden, a native
of Lichfield, had settled in London, and, as a painter, had become a
member of the company of painter-stainers. His mother, Elizabeth,
belonged to the old Cumberland family of Curwen. Young Camden received
his early education at Christ's Hospital and St Paul's school, and in
1566 went to Magdalen College, Oxford, probably as a servitor or
chorister. Failing to obtain a demyship at Magdalen he removed to
Broadgates Hall, afterwards Pembroke College, and later to Christ
Church, where he was supported by his friend, Dr Thomas Thornton, canon
of Christ Church. As a defender of the established religion he was soon
engaged in controversy, and his failure to secure a fellowship at All
Souls' College is attributed to the hostility of the Roman Catholics. In
1570 he supplicated in vain for the degree of B.A., and although a
renewed application was granted in 1573 it is doubtful if he ever took a
degree; and in 1571 he went to London and devoted himself to antiquarian
studies, for which he had already acquired a taste.
Camden spent some time in travelling in various parts of England
collecting materials for his _Britannia_, a work which was first
published in 1586. Owing to his friendship with Dr Gabriel Goodman, dean
of Westminster, Camden was made second master of Westminster school in
1575; and when Dr Edward Grant resigned the headmastership in 1593 he
was appointed as his successor. The vacations which he enjoyed as a
schoolmaster left him time for study and travel, and during these years
he supervised the publication of three further editions of the
_Britannia_. Although a layman he was granted the prebend of Ilfracombe
in 1589, and in 1597 he resigned his position at Westminster on being
made Clarencieux king-at-arms, an appointment which caused some
ill-feeling, and the York herald, Ralph Brooke, led an attack on the
genealogical accuracy of the _Britannia_, and accused its author of
plagiarism. Camden replied to Brooke in an appendix to the fifth edition
of the _Britannia_, published in 1600, and his reputation came through
the ordeal untarnished. Having brought out an enlarged and improved
edition of the _Britannia_ in 1607, he began to work on a history of the
reign of Queen Elizabeth, to which he had been urged by Lord Burghley in
1597. The first part of this history dealing with the reign down to 1588
was published in 1615 under the title _Annales rerum Anglicarum et
Hibernicarum regnante Elizabetha_. With regard to this work some
controversy at once arose over the author's treatment of Mary, queen of
Scots. It was asserted that Camden altered his original narrative in
order to please James I., and, moreover, that the account which he is
said to have given to his friend, the French historian, Jacques de Thou,
differed substantially from his own. It seems doubtful if there is any
truth in either of these charges. The second part of this work, finished
in 1617, was published, after the author's death, at Leiden in 1625 and
in London in 1627. In 1622 Camden carried out a plan to found a history
lectureship at Oxford. He provided an endowment from some lands at
Bexley, and appointed as the first lecturer, his friend, Degory Wheare.
The present occupant of the position is known as the Camden professor of
ancient history. His concluding years were mainly spent at Chislehurst,
where he had taken up his residence in 1609, and in spite of recurring
illnesses he continued to work at material for the improvement of the
_Britannia_ and kindred subjects. He died at Chislehurst on the 9th of
November 1623, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where a monument now
stands to his memory.
The _Britannia_, the first edition of which is dedicated to Burghley, is
a survey of the British islands written in elegant Latin. It was first
translated into English in 1610, probably under the author's direction,
and other translations have subsequently appeared, the best of which is
an edition edited by Richard Gough and published in three volumes in
1789, and in four volumes in 1806. The _Annales_ has been translated
into French, and English translations appeared in 1635, 1675 and 1688.
The Latin version was published at Leiden in 1639 and 1677, and under
the editorship of T. Hearne at Oxford in 1717. In addition to these
works Camden compiled a Greek grammar, _Institutio Graecae Grammatices
Compendiaria_, which became very popular, and he published an edition of
the writings of Asser, Giraldus Cambrensis, Thomas Walsingham and
others, under the title, _Anglica, Hibernica, Normannica, Cambrica, a
veteribus scripta_, published at Frankfort in 1602, and again in 1603.
He also drew up a list of the epitaphs in Westminster Abbey, which was
issued as _Reges, Reginae, Nobiles et alii in ecclesia collegiata Beati
Petri Westmonasterii sepulti_. This was enlarged and published again in
1603 and 1606. In 1605 he published his _Remains concerning Britain_, a
book of collections from the _Britannia_, which quickly passed through
seven editions; and he wrote an official account of the trial of the
Gunpowder Plot conspirators as _Actio in Henricum Garnetum, Societatis
Jesuiticae in Anglia superiorem et caeteros_.
Camden, who refused a knighthood, was a man of enormous industry, and
possessed a modest and friendly disposition. He had a large number of
influential friends, among whom were Archbishop Ussher, Sir Robert
Cotton, John Selden, the French jurist Brisson, and Isaac Casaubon. His
correspondence was published in London in 1691 by Dr Thomas Smith under
the title, _Vita Gulielmi Camdeni et Illustrium virorum ad G. Camdenum
Epistolae_. This-volume also contains his _Memorabilia de seipso_; his
notes of the reign of James I.; and other interesting matter. In 1838
the Camden Society was founded in his honour, and much valuable work has
been done under its auspices.
CAMDEN, a city and the county-seat of Camden county, New Jersey, U.S.A.,
on the Delaware river, directly opposite Philadelphia, Pa. Pop. (1880)
41,659; (1890) 58,313; (1900) 75,935, of whom 10,097 were foreign-born
and 5576 were negroes; (1910) 94,538. It is a terminus of the Atlantic
City, the West Jersey & Sea Shore, and the Pennsylvania (Amboy division)
railways, and is also served by river and coasting steamboat lines.
Camden is practically a suburb of Philadelphia, with which it is
connected by ferries. It has several pleasant residential sections, and
among its public buildings are the city hall, the Camden county court
house, the post office, the free public library, the Cooper hospital and
the West Jersey homeopathic hospital. The high school has a thoroughly
equipped manual training department. The city owns and operates its
water-works system, and is an important manufacturing and ship-building
centre, among its manufactories being chemical works; asbestos,
wall-paper, oil-cloth and morocco-leather factories; woollen, worsted
and yarn mills; preserving factories; iron and steel mills; boot and
shoe factories; and ship-yards. In 1900 the total value of the city's
manufactured products was $20,451,874 (of which $17,969,954 was the
value of factory products, which in 1905 had increased 86.5% to
$33,587,273), several of the largest items being worsted goods
($2,090,991 in 1900, and $2,528,040 in 1905); leather, tanned, curried
and finished ($1,515,935 in 1900, and $6,364,928 in 1905); oil-cloth
($1,638,556 in 1900); pickles, preserves and sauces ($685,358 in 1900),
and wooden ships and boats ($409,500 in 1900, and $361,089 in 1905, when
the value of the iron and steel ship-building industry was $4,673,504).
The first settlers on the site of Camden came in 1679, but for a century
the settlement consisted of isolated farms and a small group of houses
about the ferry by which travellers from the east crossed to
Philadelphia. The early settlers were largely Quakers. About 1773 Jacob
Cooper laid out a town near the ferry, and gave it the name Camden in
honour of Lord Chancellor Camden, who had been one of the strongest
opponents of the Stamp Act. The settlement, however, was known variously
as "Pluckemin," "The Ferry" and "Cooper's Ferry" until about the time of
the War of 1812. Until 1828 it was administratively a part of the town
of Newton, Gloucester county, but in that year, with more than a
thousand inhabitants, it was chartered as a city under its present name.
During the British occupation of Philadelphia in the War of
Independence, a British force was stationed here, and Camden was the
scene of several skirmishes between the British troops and the New
Jersey irregular militia. Camden was the home of Walt Whitman from 1873
until his death.
CAMDEN, a town and the county-seat of Kershaw county, South Carolina,
U.S.A., near the Wateree river, 33 m. N.E. of Columbia. Pop. (1890)
3533; (1900) 2441; this decrease was due to the separation from Camden
during the decade of its suburb "Kirkwood," re-annexed in 1905; (1910)
3569. It is served by the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard Air Line and
the Southern railways. Camden is situated about 100 ft. above the river,
which is navigable to this point. The town is a winter resort, chiefly
for Northerners. Cotton, grain and rice are produced in the vicinity,
and there are some manufactories, including cotton mills, a cotton-seed
oil mill and planing mills. Camden, first known as Pine Tree Hill, is
one of the oldest interior towns of the state, having been settled in
1758; in 1768 the present name was adopted in honour of Lord Chancellor
Camden. The town was first incorporated in 1791; its present charter
dates from 1890. For a year following the capture of Charleston by the
British in May 1780, during the War of Independence, Camden was the
centre of important military operations. It was occupied by the British
under Cornwallis in June 1780, was well fortified and was garrisoned by
a force under Lord Rawdon. On the 16th of August Gen. Horatio Gates,
with an American force of about 3600, including some Virginia militia
under Charles Porterfield (1750-1780) and Gen. Edward Stevens
(1745-1820), and North Carolina militia under Gen. Richard Caswell
(1729-1789), was defeated here by the British, about 2000 strong, under
Lord Cornwallis, who had joined Rawdon in anticipation of an attack by
Gates. Soon after the engagement began a large part of the Americans,
mostly North Carolina and Virginia militia, fled precipitately, carrying
Gates with them; but Baron De Kalb and the Maryland troops fought
bravely until overwhelmed by numbers, De Kalb himself being mortally
wounded. A monument was erected to his memory in 1825, Lafayette laying
the corner-stone. The British loss in killed, wounded and missing was
324; the American loss was about 800 or 900 killed and 1000 prisoners,
besides arms and baggage. On the 3rd of December Gates was superseded by
Gen. Nathanael Greene, who after Cornwallis had left the Carolinas,
advanced on Camden and arrived in the neighbourhood on the 19th of April
1781. Considering his force (about 1450) insufficient for an attack on
the fortifications, he withdrew a short distance north of Camden to an
advantageous position on Hobkirk's Hill, where on the 25th of April
Rawdon, with a force of only 950, took him somewhat by surprise and
drove him from the field. The casualties on each side were nearly equal:
American 271; British 258. On the 8th of May Rawdon evacuated the town,
after burning most of it. On the 24th of February 1865, during the Civil
War, a part of Gen. W.T. Sherman's army entered Camden and burned
stores of tobacco and cotton, and several buildings. (See AMERICAN WAR
OF INDEPENDENCE.)
See also T.J. Kirkland and R.M. Kennedy, _Historic Camden_ (Columbia,
S.C., 1905).
CAMEL (from the Arabic _Djemal_ or the Heb. _Gamal_), the name of the
single-humped Arabian _Camelus dromedarius_, but also applied to the
two-humped central Asian _C. bactrianus_ and to the extinct relatives of
both. The characteristics of camels and their systematic position are
discussed under the headings TYLOPODA and ARTIODACTYLA. The two living
species are distinguishable at a glance. It may be mentioned that the
Bactrian camel, which is a shorter-legged and more ponderous animal than
the Arabian species, grows an enormously long and thick winter coat,
which is shed in blanket-like masses in spring. The Arabian camel, which
is used not only in the country from which it takes its name, but also
in North Africa and India, and has been introduced into Australia and
North America, is known only as a domesticated animal. On the other
hand, the Bactrian species, which is employed throughout a large tract
of central Asia in the domesticated condition, appears, according to
recent researches, to exist in the wild state in some of the central
Asian deserts. From the examination of specimens collected by Dr Sven
Hedin, Professor W. Leche shows that the wild Bactrian camel differs
from the domesticated breed of central Asia in the following external
characters: the humps are smaller; the long hair does not occupy nearly
so much of the body; the colour is much more rufous; and the ears and
muzzle are shorter. Many important differences are also recorded between
the skulls of the two animals, and it is especially noteworthy that the
last lower molar is smaller in the wild than in the tame race. In
connexion with this point it should be noticed that, unlike what occurs
in the yak, the wild animal is not larger than the tame one, although it
is incorrect to say that the former is decidedly the inferior of the
latter in point of stature. Dr Leche also institutes a comparison
between the skeletons of the wild and the tame Bactrian camel with the
remains of certain fossil Asiatic camels, namely, _Camelus knoblochi_
from Sarepta, Russia, and _C. alutensis_ from the Aluta valley, Rumania.
This comparison leads to the important conclusion that the wild Bactrian
_Camelus bactrianus ferus_ comes much nearer to the fossil species than
it does to the domesticated breed, the resemblance being specially
noticeable in the absolutely and relatively small size of the last
molar. In view of these differences from the domesticated breed, and the
resemblance of the skull or lower jaw to that of the extinct European
species, it becomes practically impossible to regard the wild camels as
the offspring of animals that have escaped from captivity.
On the latter hypothesis it has been generally assumed that the wild
camels are the descendants of droves of the domesticated breed which
escaped when certain central Asian cities were overwhelmed by
sand-storms. This theory, according to Professor Leche, is rendered
improbable by Dr Sven Hedin's observations on the habits and mode of
life of the wild camel. The habitat of the latter extends from the lower
course of the Keria river to the desert at the termination of that
river, and thence to the neighbourhood of the Achik, the ancient bed of
the Tarim river. These animals also occur in the desert district south
of the Tarim; but are most abundant in the deserts and mountains to the
southward of Kuruktagh, where there are a few brackish-water pools, and
are also common in the barren mountains between Kuruktagh and Choetagh.
Large herds have also been observed in the deserts near Altyntagh. The
capacity of camels for travelling long distances without water--owing to
special structural modifications in the stomach--is familiar to all.
That the Arabian species was one of the earliest animals to be
domesticated is evident from the record of Scripture, where six thousand
camels are said to have formed part of the wealth of the patriarch Job.
Camels also formed part of the present which Pharaoh gave to Abraham,
and it was to a company of Ishmaelites travelling from Gilead to Egypt
on camels, laden with spices, much as their Arabian descendants do at
the present day, that Joseph was sold by his brothers.
The hump (or humps) varies in size according to the condition of the
animal, becoming small and flaccid after hard work and poor diet.
During the rutting-season male camels become exceedingly savage and
dangerous, uttering a loud bubbling roar and engaging in fierce contests
with their fellows. The female carries her young for fully eleven
months, and produces only one calf at a time, which she suckles for a
year. Eight days after birth the young Arabian camel stands 3 ft. high,
but does not reach its full growth till its sixteenth or seventeenth
year; it lives from forty to fifty years. The flesh of the young camel
resembles veal, and is a favourite food of the Arabs, while camel's milk
forms an excellent and highly nutritious beverage, although it does not
furnish butter. The long hair is shorn every summer, and woven into a
variety of stuffs used by the Arab for clothing himself and his family,
and covering his tent. It was in raiment of camel's hair that John the
Baptist appeared as a preacher. The hair imported into Europe is chiefly
used in the manufacture of small brushes used by painters, while the
thick hide is formed into a very durable leather. The droppings are used
as fuel, and from the incinerated remains of these sal-ammoniac is
extracted, which was at one time largely exported from Egypt.
The Bactrian camel is, if possible, of still more importance to many of
the central Asian Mongol races, supplying them alike with food and
raiment. It is, however, as "the ship of the desert," without which vast
tracts of the earth's surface could scarcely be explored, that the camel
is specially valuable. In its fourth year its training as a beast of
burden begins, when it is taught to kneel and to rise at a given signal,
and is gradually accustomed to bear increasing loads. These vary in
weight from 500 to 1000 lb., according to the variety of camel employed,
for of the Arabian camel there are almost as many breeds as there are of
the horse. When crossing a desert camels are expected to carry their
loads 25 m. a day for three days without drink, getting a supply of
water, however, on the fourth; but the fleeter breeds will carry their
rider and a bag of water 50 m. a day for five days without drinking.
When too heavily laden the camel refuses to rise, but on the march it is
exceedingly patient under its burden, only yielding beneath it to die.
Relieved from its load it does not, like other animals, seek the shade,
even when that is to be found, but prefers to kneel beside its burden in
the broad glare of the sun, seeming to luxuriate in the burning sand.
When overtaken by a dust-storm it falls on its knees, and stretching its
neck along the sand, closes its nostrils and remains thus motionless
till the atmosphere clears; and in this position it affords some shelter
to its driver, who, wrapping his face in his mantle, crouches behind his
beast.
The food of the camel consists chiefly of the leaves of trees, shrubs
and dry hard vegetables, which it is enabled to tear down and masticate
by means of its powerful front teeth. As regards temperament, if, writes
Sir F. Palgrave, "docile means stupid, well and good; in such a case the
camel is the very model of docility. But if the epithet is intended to
designate an animal that takes an interest in its rider so far as a
beast can, that in some way understands his intentions, or shares them
in a subordinate fashion, that obeys from a sort of submissive or
half-fellow-feeling with his master, like the horse or elephant, then I
say that the camel is by no means docile--very much the contrary. He
takes no heed of his rider, pays no attention whether he be on his back
or not, walks straight on when once set agoing, merely because he is too
stupid to turn aside, and then should some tempting thorn or green
branch allure him out of the path, continues to walk on in the new
direction simply because he is too dull to turn back into the right
road. In a word, he is from first to last an undomesticated and savage
animal rendered serviceable by stupidity alone, without much skill on
his master's part, or any co-operation on his own, save that of an
extreme passiveness. Neither attachment nor even habit impresses him;
never tame, though not wide-awake enough to be exactly wild."
For extinct camels see TYLOPODA. (R. L.*)
The Biblical expression (Matt. xix. 24, &c.), "it is easier for a
camel to go through a needle's eye," &c., is sometimes explained by
saying that the "needle's eye" means the small gate which is opened in
the great gate of a city, when the latter is closed for the night; but
recent criticism (e.g. Post in _Hastings' Dict._, under "Camel")
throws doubt on this explanation, and assumes that the more violent
hyperbole is intended. There is a various reading [Greek: Khamilos]
(cable) for [Greek: Khamaelos] (camel), but Cheyne, in the _Ency.
Biblica_, rejects this (see CABLE).
CAMELFORD, THOMAS PITT, 1ST BARON (1737-1793), English politician and
art patron, was a nephew of the 1st earl of Chatham. He sat in
parliament from 1761 till 1784, siding against his uncle and following
George Grenville, who was also a relative; and in 1784 he was raised to
the peerage. He dabbled in architecture and the arts generally, and was
a prominent figure in the artistic circles of his day. His son THOMAS
PITT, 2nd Baron Camelford (1775-1804), who succeeded him in 1793, had an
adventurous and misspent career in the navy, but is principally
remembered for his death in a duel with Mr Best on the 10th of March
1804, the title becoming extinct.
CAMELLIA, a genus or subgenus of evergreen trees or shrubs belonging to
the natural order Ternstroemiaceae, with thick dark shining leaves and
handsome white or rose-coloured flowers. The name _Camellia_ was given
by Linnaeus in honour of George Joseph Camellus or Kamel, a Moravian
Jesuit who travelled in Asia and wrote an account of the plants of the
Philippine Island, Luzon, which is included in the third volume of John
Ray's _Historia Plantarum_ (1704). Modern botanists are agreed that the
tea-plant, placed by Linnaeus in a separate genus, _Thea_, is too nearly
allied to _Camellia_ to admit of the two being regarded as distinct
genera. _Thea_ and _Camellia_ are therefore now considered to represent
one genus, which has been generally called _Camellia_, but more
correctly _Thea_, as this name was the earlier of the two. Under the
latter view _Camellia_ is regarded as a subgenus or section of _Thea_.
It contains about eight species, natives of India, China and Japan. Most
of the numerous cultivated forms are horticultural products of _C.
japonica_, a native of China and Japan, which was introduced into Europe
by Lord Petre in 1739. The wild plant has red flowers, recalling those
of the wild rose, but most of the cultivated forms are double. In the
variety _anemonaeflora_ nearly all the stamens have become transformed
into small petaloid structures which give the flower the appearance of a
double anemone.
Another species, _C. reticulata_, a native of Hongkong, is also prized
for its handsome flowers, larger than those of _C. japonica_, which are
of a bright rose colour and as known in cultivation semi-double or
double.
Both _C. sasanqua_ and _C. drupifera_, the former inhabiting Japan and
China, the latter Cochin-China and the mountains of India, are
oil-yielding plants. The oil of _C. sasanqua_ (of which sasankwa is the
native Japanese name) has an agreeable odour and is used for many
domestic purposes. It is obtained from the seeds by subjecting them to
pressure sufficient to reduce them to a coarse powder, and then boiling
and again pressing the crushed material. The leaves are also used in the
form of a decoction by the Japanese women for washing their hair; and in
a dried state they are mixed with tea on account of their pleasant
flavour. The oil of _C. drupifera_, which is closely allied to _C.
sasanqua_, is used medicinally in Cochin-China. The flowers of these two
species, unlike those of _C. japonica_ and _C. reticulata_, are
odoriferous.
Camellias, though generally grown in the cool greenhouse, are hardy in
the south of England and the south-west of Scotland and Ireland. They
grow best in a rich compost of sandy peat and loam, and should not be
allowed to get too dry at the roots; a liberal supply of water is
especially necessary during the flowering period. The best
position--when grown out of doors--is one facing north or north-west,
with a wall or hedge behind for protection from cold winds. July is the
best time for planting; care must be taken that the roots are evenly
spread, not matted into a ball.
The plants are propagated by layers or cuttings, and the single-flowered
ones also by seeds. Cuttings are taken in August and placed in sandy
peat or loam in a cold shaded frame. In the following spring those which
have struck are placed in a gentle heat, and in September or October the
rooted plants are potted off. Camellias are also propagated by grafting
or inarching in early spring on stocks of the common variety of _C.
japonica._
The scale insect sometimes attacks the camellia. To remove the white
scale, the plants are washed with a sponge and solution of soft soap as
soon as their growth is completed, and again before the buds begin to
swell. The brown scale may be got rid of by repeated washings with one
of the many insecticides, but it should be applied at a temperature of
90°.
CAMEO, a term of doubtful origin, applied in the first instance to
engraved work executed in relief on hard or precious stones. It is also
applied to imitations of such stones in glass, called "pastes," or on
the shells of molluscous animals. A cameo is therefore the converse of
an intaglio, which consists of an incised or sunk engraving in the same
class of materials. For the history of this branch of art, and for an
account of some of its most remarkable examples, see GEM.
The origin of the word is doubtful and has been a matter of copious
controversy. The _New English Dictionary_ quotes its use in a Sarum
inventory of 1222, _"lapis unus cameu"_ and _"magnus camehu."_ The word
is in current use in the 13th century. Thus Matthew Paris, in his Life
of Abbot Leofric of St Albans, in the _Abbatum S. Albani Vitae,_ says:
_"retentis quibusdam nobilibus lapidibus insculptis, quos camaeos
vulgariter appellamus."_ In variant forms the word has found its way
into most languages, e.g. Latin, _camahutus, camahelus, camaynus_;
Italian, _chammeo, chameo_; French, _camahieu, chemahou, camaut,
camaieu_. The following may be mentioned among the derivations that have
been proposed:--von Hammer: _camaut_, the hump of a camel; Littré and
others: _camateum_, an assumed Low Latin form from [Greek: kamateuein]
and [Greek: kamaton]; Chabouillet and Babelon: [Greek: keimaelia],
treasures, connecting the word in particular with the dispersion of
treasures from Constantinople, in 1204; King: Arabic _camea_, an amulet.
For a bibliography of the question, see Babelon, _Cat. des Camées ...
de la Bibliothèque Nationale_, p. iv.
CAMERA (a Latin adaptation of Gr. [Greek: kamara], an arched chamber),
in law, a word applied at one time to the English judges' chambers in
Serjeants' Inn, as distinct from their bench in Westminster Hall. It was
afterwards applied to the judges' private room behind the court, and,
hence, in the phrase _in camera_, to cases heard in private, i.e. in
chambers. So far as criminal cases are concerned, the courts have no
power to hear them in private, nor have they any power to order adults
(men or women) out of court during the hearing. In civil proceedings at
common law, it may also be laid down that the public cannot be excluded
from the court; in _Malan_ v. _Young_, 1889, 6 T.L.R. 68, Mr Justice
Denman held that he had power to hear the case _in camera_, but he
afterwards stated that there was considerable doubt among the judges as
to the power to hear cases _in camera_, even by consent, and the case
was, by consent of the parties, finally proceeded with before the judge
_as arbitrator_. In the court of chancery it is the practice to hear in
private cases affecting wards of the court and lunatics, family disputes
(by consent), and cases where a public trial would defeat the object of
the action (_Andrew_ v. _Raeburn_, 1874, L.R. 9 Ch. 522). In an action
for infringement of a patent for a chemical process the defendant was
allowed to state a secret process _in camera (Badische Anilin und Soda
Fabrik_ v. _Gillman_, 1883, 24 Ch. D. 156). The Court of Appeal has
decided that it has power to sit in private; in _Mellor_ v. _Thompson_,
1885, 31 Ch. D. 55, it was stated that a public hearing would defeat the
object of the action, and render the respondent's success in the appeal
useless. In matrimonial causes, the divorce court, following the
practice of the ecclesiastical courts under the provisions of the
Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, s. 22, hears suits for nullity of marriage
on physical grounds _in camera_, but not petitions for dissolution of
marriage, which must be heard in open court. It was also decided in
_Druce_ v. _Druce_, 1903, 19 T.L.R. 387, that, in cases for judicial
separation the court has jurisdiction to hear the case _in camera_,
where it is satisfied that justice cannot be done by hearing the case in
public.
CAMERA LUCIDA, an optical instrument invented by Dr William Hyde
Wollaston for drawing in perspective. Closing one eye and looking
vertically downwards with the other through a slip of plain glass, e.g.
a microscope cover-glass, held close to the eye and inclined at an angle
of 45° to the horizon, one can see the images of objects in front,
formed by reflection from the surface of the glass, and at the same
time one can also see through the transparent glass. The virtual images
of the objects appear projected on the surface of a sheet of paper
placed beneath the slip of glass, and their outline can be accurately
traced with a pencil. This is the simplest form of the camera lucida.
The image (see fig. 1) is, however, inverted and perverted, and it is
not very bright owing to the poor reflecting power of unsilvered glass.
The brightness of the image is sometimes increased by silvering the
glass; and on removing a small portion of the silver the observer can
see the image with part of the pupil while he sees the paper through the
unsilvered aperture with the remaining part. This form of the instrument
is often used in conjunction with the microscope, the mirror being
attached to the eye-piece and the tube of the microscope being placed
horizontally.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
About the beginning of the 19th century Dr Wollaston invented a simple
form of the camera lucida which gives bright and erect images. A
four-sided prism of glass is constructed having one angle of 90°, the
opposite angle of 135°, and the two remaining angles each of 67½°. This
is represented in cross-section and in position in fig. 2. When the
pupil of the eye is held half over the edge of the prism a, one sees the
image of the object with one half of the pupil and the paper with the
other half. The image is formed by successive total reflection at the
surfaces b c and a b. In the first place an inverted image (first image)
is formed in the face b c, and then an image of this image is formed in
a b, and it is the outline of this second image seen projected on the
paper that is traced by the pencil. It is desirable for two reasons that
the image should lie in the plane of the paper, and this can be secured
by placing a suitable lens between the object and the prism. If the
image does not lie in the plane of the paper, it is impossible to see it
and the pencil-point clearly at the same time. Moreover, any slight
movement of the head will cause the image to appear to move relatively
to the paper, and will render it difficult to obtain an accurate
drawing.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
Before the application of photography, the camera lucida was of
considerable importance to draughtsmen. The advantages claimed for it
were its cheapness, smallness and portability; that there was no
appreciable distortion, and that its field was much larger than that of
the camera obscura. It was used largely for copying, for reducing or for
enlarging existing drawings. It will readily be understood, for example,
that a copy will be half-size if the distance of the object from the
instrument is double the distance of the instrument from the copy.
(C. J. J.)
CAMERA OBSCURA, an optical apparatus consisting of a darkened chamber
(for which its name is the Latin rendering) at the top of which is
placed a box or lantern containing a convex lens and sloping mirror, or
a prism combining the lens and mirror. If we hold a common reading lens
(a magnifying lens) in front of a lamp or some other bright object and
at some distance from it, and if we hold a sheet of paper vertically at
a suitable distance behind the lens, we see depicted on the paper an
image of the lamp. This image is inverted and perverted. If now we place
a plane mirror (e.g. a lady's hand glass) behind the lens and inclined
at an angle of 45° to the horizon so as to reflect the rays of light
vertically downwards, we can produce on a horizontal sheet of paper an
unperverted image of the bright object (fig. 1), i.e. the image has the
same appearance as the object and is not perverted as when the
reflection of a printed page is viewed in a mirror. This is the
principle of the camera obscura, which was extensively used in
sketching from nature before the introduction of photography, although
it is now scarcely to be seen except as an interesting side-show at
places of popular resort. The image formed on the paper may be traced
out by a pencil, and it will be noticed that in this case the image is
real--not virtual as in the case of the camera lucida. Generally the
mirror and lens are combined into a single piece of worked glass
represented in section in fig. 2. Rays from external objects are first
refracted at the convex surface _a b,_ then totally reflected at the
plane surface _a c,_ and finally refracted at the concave surface _b c_
(fig. 2) so as to form an image on the sheet of paper _d e_. The curved
surfaces take the place of the lens in fig. 1, and the plane surface
performs the function of the mirror. The prism _a b c_ is fixed at the
top of a small tent furnished with opaque curtains so as to prevent the
diffused daylight from overpowering the image on the paper, and in the
darkened tent the images of external objects are seen very distinctly.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
Quite recently, the camera obscura has come into use with submarine
vessels, the _periscope_ being simply a camera obscura under a new name.
(C. J. J.)
_History_.--The invention of this instrument has generally been
ascribed, as in the ninth edition of this work, to the famous Neapolitan
savant of the 16th century, Giovanni Battista della Porta, but as a
matter of fact the principle of the simple camera obscura, or darkened
chamber with a small aperture in a window or shutter, was well known and
in practical use for observing eclipses long before his time. He was
anticipated in the improvements he claimed to have made in it, and all
he seems really to have done was to popularize it. The increasing
importance of the camera obscura as a photographic instrument makes it
desirable to bring together what is known of its early history, which is
far more extensive than is usually recognized. In southern climes, where
during the summer heat it is usual to close the rooms from the glare of
the sunshine outside, we may often see depicted on the walls vivid
inverted images of outside objects formed by the light reflected from
them passing through chinks or small apertures in doors or
window-shutters. From the opening passage of Euclid's _Optics_ (_c._ 300
B.C.), which formed the foundation for some of the earlier middle age
treatises on geometrical perspective, it would appear that the above
phenomena of the simple darkened room were used by him to demonstrate
the rectilinear propagation of light by the passage of sunbeams or the
projection of the images of objects through small openings in windows,
&c. In the book known as Aristotle's _Problems_ (sect. xv. cap. 5) we
find the correlated problem of the image of the sun passing through a
quadrilateral aperture always appearing round, and he further notes the
lunated image of the eclipsed sun projected in the same way through the
interstices of foliage or lattice-work.
There are, however, very few allusions to these phenomena in the later
classical Greek and Roman writers, and we find the first scientific
investigation of them in the great optical treatise of the Arabian
philosopher Alhazen (q.v.), who died at Cairo in A.D. 1038. He seems
to have been well acquainted with the projection of images of objects
through small apertures, and to have been the first to show that the
arrival of the image of an object at the concave surface of the common
nerve--or the retina--corresponds with the passage of light from an
object through an aperture in a darkened place, from which it falls upon
a surface facing the aperture. He also had some knowledge of the
properties of concave and convex lenses and mirrors in forming images.
Some two hundred years later, between A.D. 1266 and 1279, these problems
were taken up by three almost contemporaneous writers on optics, two of
whom, Roger Bacon and John Peckham, were Englishmen, and Vitello or
Witelo, a Pole.
That Roger Bacon was acquainted with the principle of the camera obscura
is shown by his attempt at solving Aristotle's problem stated above, in
the treatise _De Speculis,_ and also from his references to Alhazen's
experiments of the same kind, but although Dr John Freind, in his
_History of Physick,_ has given him the credit of the invention on the
strength of a passage in the _Perspectiva_, there is nothing to show
that he constructed any instrument of the kind. His arrangement of
concave and plane mirrors, by which the realistic images of objects
inside the house or in the street could be rendered visible though
intangible, there alluded to, may apply to a camera on Cardan's
principle or to a method of aerial projection by means of concave
mirrors, which Bacon was quite familiar with, and indeed was known long
before his time. On the strength of similar arrangements of lenses and
mirrors the invention of the camera obscura has also been claimed for
Leonard Digges, the author of _Pantometria_ (1571), who is said to have
constructed a telescope from information given in a book of Bacon's
experiments.
Archbishop Peckham, or Pisanus, in his _Perspectiva Communis_ (1279),
and Vitello, in his _Optics_ (1270), also attempted the solution of
Aristotle's problem, but unsuccessfully. Vitello's work is to a very
great extent based upon Alhazen and some of the earlier writers, and was
first published in 1535. A later edition was published, together with a
translation of Alhazen, by F. Risner in 1572.
The first practical step towards the development of the camera obscura
seems to have been made by the famous painter and architect, Leon
Battista Alberti, in 1437, contemporaneously with the invention of
printing. It is not clear, however, whether his invention was a camera
obscura or a show box, but in a fragment of an anonymous biography of
him, published in Muratori's _Rerum Italicarum Scriptores_ (xxv. 296),
quoted by Vasari, it is stated that he produced wonderfully painted
pictures, which were exhibited by him in some sort of small closed box
through a very small aperture, with great verisimilitude. These
demonstrations were of two kinds, one nocturnal, showing the moon and
bright stars, the other diurnal, for day scenes. This description seems
to refer to an arrangement of a transparent painting illuminated either
from the back or the front and the image projected through a hole on to
a white screen in a darkened room, as described by Porta (_Mag. Nat._
xvii. cap. 7) and figured by A. Kircher (_Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae_),
who notes elsewhere that Porta had taken some arrangement of projecting
images from an Albertus, whom he distinguished from Albertus Magnus, and
who was probably L.B. Alberti, to whom Porta also refers, but not in
this connexion.
G.B.I.T. Libri-Carucci dalla Sommaja (1803-1869), in his account of the
invention of the camera obscura in Italy (_Histoire des sciences
mathématiques en Italic,_ iv. 303), makes no mention of Alberti, but
draws attention to an unpublished MS. of Leonardo da Vinci, which was
first noticed by Venturi in 1797, and has since been published in
facsimile in vol. ii. of J.G.F. Ravaisson-Mollien's reproductions of the
MSS. in the Institut de France at Paris (MS. _D_, fol. 8 _recto_). After
discussing the structure of the eye he gives an experiment in which the
appearance of the reversed images of outside objects on a piece of paper
held in front of a small hole in a darkened room, with their forms and
colours, is quite clearly described and explained with a diagram, as an
illustration of the phenomena of vision. Another similar passage is
quoted by Richter from folio 404b of the reproduction of the _Codice
Atlantico,_ in Milan, published by the Italian government. These are
probably the earliest distinct accounts of the natural phenomena of the
camera obscura, but remained unpublished for some three centuries.
Leonardo also discussed the old Aristotelian problem of the rotundity of
the sun's image after passing through an angular aperture, but not so
successfully as Maurolycus. He has also given methods of measuring the
sun's distance by means of images thrown on screens through small
apertures. He was well acquainted with the use of magnifying glasses and
suggested a kind of telescope for viewing the moon, but does not seem to
have thought of applying a lens to the camera.
The first published account of the simple camera obscura was discovered
by Libri in a translation of the _Architecture_ of Vitruvius, with
commentary by Cesare Caesariano, one of the architects of Milan
cathedral, published at Conio in 1521, shortly after the death of
Leonardo, and some twenty years before Porta was born. He describes an
experiment made by a Benedictine monk and architect, Dom Papnutio or
Panuce, of the same kind as Leonardo's but without the demonstration.
About the same time Francesco Maurolico, or Maurolycus, the eminent
mathematician of Messina, in his _Theoremata de Lumine et Umbra_,
written in 1521, fully investigated the optical problems connected with
vision and the passage of rays of light through small apertures with and
without lenses, and made great advances in this direction over his
predecessors. He was the first correctly to solve Aristotle's problem,
stated above, and to apply it practically to solar observations in a
darkened room (_Cosmographia_, 1535). Erasmus Reinhold has described the
method in his edition of G. Purbach's _Theoricae Novae Planetarum_
(1542), and probably got it from Maurolycus. He says it can also be
applied to terrestrial objects, though he only used it for the sun. His
pupil, Rainer Gemma-Frisius, used it for the observation of the solar
eclipse of January 1544 at Louvain, and fully described the methods he
adopted for making measurements and drawings of the eclipsed sun, in his
_De Radio Astronomico et Geometrico_ (1545). He says they can be used
for observation of the moon and stars and also for longitudes. The same
arrangement was used by Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, by M. Moestlin and his
pupil Kepler--the latter applying it in 1607 to the observation of a
transit of Mercury--also by Johann Fabricius, in 1611, for the first
observations of sun-spots. It is interesting to note this early
employment of the camera obscura in the field of astronomical research,
in which its latest achievements have been of such pre-eminent value.
The addition of optical appliances to the simple dark chamber for the
purpose of seeing what was going on outside, was first described by
Girolamo Cardan in his _De Subtilitate_ (1550), as noted by Libri. The
sun shining, he fixed a round glass speculum (_orbem e vitro_) in a
window-shutter, and then closing it the images of outside objects would
be seen transmitted through the aperture on to the opposite wall, or
better, a white paper screen suitably placed. The account is not very
clear, but seems to imply the use of a concave mirror rather than a
lens, which might be suggested by the word _orbem_. He refers to
Maurolycus' work with concave specula.
We now come to Giovanni Battista della Porta, whose account of the
camera obscura in the first edition of the _Magia Naturalis,_ in four
books (1558, lib. iv. cap. 2), is very similar to Caesariano's--a
darkened room, a pyramidal aperture towards the sun, and a whitened wall
or white paper screens, but no lens. He discloses as a great secret the
use of a concave speculum in front of the aperture, to collect the rays
passing through it, when the images will be seen reversed, but by
prolonging them beyond the centre they would be seen larger and
unreversed. This is much the same as Cardan's method published eight
years earlier, but though more detailed is not very clear. He then notes
the application to portraiture and to painting by laying colours on the
projected images. Nothing is said about the use of a lens or of solar
observations. The second edition, in which he in the same words
discloses the use of a convex lens in the aperture as a secret he had
intended to keep, was not published till 1589, thirty-one years after
the first. In this interval the use of the lens was discovered and
clearly described by Daniello Barbaro, a Venetian noble, patriarch of
Aquileia, in his work _La Pratica della perspettiva_ (p. 192), published
in 1568, or twenty-one years before Porta's mention of it. The lens used
by Barbaro was an ordinary convex or old man's spectacle-glass; concave,
he says, will not do. He shows how the paper must be moved till it is
brought into the focus of the lens, the use of a diaphragm to make the
image clearer, and also the application of the method for drawing in
true perspective. That Barbaro was really the first to apply the lens to
the camera obscura is supported by Marius Bettinus in his _Apiaria_
(1645), and by Kaspar Schott in his _Magia Universalis_ (1657), the
former taunting Porta with the appropriation.
In an Italian translation of Euclid's _Optica_, with commentary,
Egnacio Danti (1573), after discussing the effects of plane, convex and
concave reflectors, fully describes the method of showing reversed
images passing through an aperture in a darkened room, and shows how, by
placing a mirror behind the aperture, unreversed images might be
obtained, both effects being illustrated by diagrams. F. Risner, who
died in 1580, also in his _Opticae_ (1606) very clearly explained the
reversal of the images of the simple camera obscura. He notes the
convenience of the method for solar observations and its previous use by
some of the observers already mentioned, as well as its advantages for
easily and accurately copying on an enlarged or reduced scale,
especially for chorographical or topographical documents. This is
probably the first notice of the application of the camera to
cartography and the reproduction of drawings, which is one of its
principal uses at the present time. In the _Diversarum Speculationum
Mathematicarum el Physicarum_ (1585), by the Venetian Giovanni Battista
Benedetti, there is a letter in which he discusses the simple camera
obscura and mentions the improvement some one had made in it by the use
of a double convex lens in the aperture; he also says that the images
could be made erect by reflection from any plane mirror.
Thus the use of the camera and of the lens with it was well known before
Porta published his second edition of the _Magia Naturalis_ in 1589. In
this the description of the camera obscura is in lib. xvii. cap. 6. The
use of the convex lens, which is given as a great secret, in place of
the concave speculum of the first edition, is not so clearly described
as by Barbaro; the addition of the concave speculum is proposed for
making the images larger and clearer, and also for making them erect,
but no details are given. He describes some entertaining peep-show
arrangements, possibly similar to Alberti's, and indicates how the dark
chamber with a concave speculum can be used for observing eclipses.
There is no mention whatever of a portable box or construction beyond
the darkened room, nor is there in his later work, _De Refractione
Optices Parte_ (1593), in which he discusses the analogy between vision
and the simple dark room with an aperture, but incorrectly. Though
Porta's merits were undoubtedly great, he did not invent or improve the
camera obscura. His only novelty was the use of it as a peep-show; his
descriptions of it are vague, but being published in a book of general
reference, which became popular, he acquired credit for the invention.
The first to take up the camera obscura after Porta was Kepler, who used
it in the old way for solar observations in 1600, and in his _Ad
Vitellionem Paralipomena_ (1604) discusses the early problems of the
passages of light through small apertures, and the rationale of the
simple dark chamber. He was the first to describe an instrument fitted
with a sight and paper screen for observing the diameters of the sun and
moon in a dark room. In his later book, _Dioptrice_ (1611), he fully
discusses refraction and the use of lenses, showing the action of the
double convex lens in the camera obscura, with the principles which
regulate its use and the reason of the reversal of the image. He also
demonstrates how enlarged images can be produced and projected on paper
by using a concave lens at a suitable distance behind the convex, as in
modern telephotographic lenses. He was the first to use the term _camera
obscura_, and in a letter from Sir H. Wotton written to Lord Bacon in
1620 we learn that Kepler had made himself a portable dark tent fitted
with a telescope lens and used for sketching landscapes. Further, he
extended the work of Maurolycus, and demonstrated the exact analogy
between the eye and the camera and the arrangement by which an inverted
image is produced on the retina.
In 1609 the telescope came into use, and the danger of observing the sun
with it was soon discovered. In 1611 Johann Fabricius published his
observations of sun-spots and describes how he and his father fell back
upon the old method of projecting the sun's image in a darkened room,
finding that they could observe the spots just as well as with the
telescope. They do not seem to have used a lens, or thought of using the
telescope for projecting an enlarged imase on Kepler's principle. This
was done in 1612 by Christoph Schemer, who fully described his method
of solar observation in the _Rosa Ursina_ (1630), demonstrating very
clearly and practically the advantages and disadvantages of using the
camera, without a lens, with a single convex lens, and with a telescopic
combination of convex object-glass and concave enlarging lens, the last
arrangement being mounted with an adjustable screen or tablet on an
equatorial stand. Most of the earlier astronomical work was done in a
darkened room, but here we first find the dark chamber constructed of
wooden rods covered with cloth or paper, and used separately to screen
the observing-tablet.
Various writers on optics in the 17th century discussed the principle of
the simple dark chamber alone and with single or compound lenses, among
them Jean Tarde (_Les Astres de Borbon_, 1623); Descartes, the pupil of
Kepler (_Dioptrique_, 1637); Bettinus (_Apiaria_, 1645); A. Kircher
(_Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae_, 1646); J. Hevelius (_Selenographia_,
1647); Schott (_Magia Universalis Naturae et Artis_, 1674); C.F.M.
Deschales (_Cursus, seu Mundus Mathematicus_, 1674); Z. Traber (_Nervus
Opticus_, 1675), but their accounts are generally more interesting
theoretically than as recording progress in the practical use and
development of the instrument.
The earliest mention of the camera obscura in England is probably in
Francis Bacon's _De Augmentis Scientiarum_, but it is only as an
illustration of the projected images showing better on a white screen
than on a black one. Sir H. Wotton's letter of 1620, already noted, was
not published till 1651 (_Reliquiae Wottonianae_, p. 141), but in 1658 a
description of Kepler's portable tent camera for sketching, taken from
it, was published in a work called _Graphice, or the most excellent Art
of Painting_, but no mention is made of Kepler. In W. Oughtred's English
edition (1633) of the _Récréations mathématiques_ (1627) of Jean
Leurechon ("Henry van Etten") there is a quaint description, with
figures, of the simple dark chamber with aperture, and also of a sort of
tent with a lens in it and the projection on an inner wall of the face
of a man standing outside. The English translation of Porta's _Natural
Magick_ was published in 1658.
Robert Boyle seems to have been the first to construct a box camera with
lens for viewing landscapes. It is mentioned in his essay _On the
Systematic or Cosmical Qualities of Things_ (ch. vi.), written about
1570, as having been made several years before and since imitated and
improved. It could be extended or shortened like a telescope. At one end
of it paper was stretched, and at the other a convex lens was fitted in
a hole, the image being viewed through an aperture at the top of the
box. Robert Hooke, who was some time Boyle's assistant, described
(_Phil. Trans._, 1668, 3, p. 741) a camera lucida on the principle of
the magic lantern, in which the images of illuminated and inverted
objects were projected on any desired scale by means of a broad convex
lens through an aperture into a room where they were viewed by the
spectators. If the objects could not be inverted, another lens was used
for erecting the images. From Hooke's _Posthumous Works_ (1705), p. 127,
we find that in one of the Cutlerian lectures on Light delivered in
1680, he illustrated the phenomena of vision by a darkened room, or
perspective box, of a peculiar pattern, the back part, with a concave
white screen at the end of it, being cylindrical and capable of being
moved in and out, while the fore part was conical, a double convex lens
being fixed in a hole in front. The image was viewed through a large
hole in the side. It was between 4 and 5 ft. long.
Johann Zahn, in his _Oculus Artificialis Teledioptricus_ (1685-1686),
described and figured two forms of portable box cameras with lenses. One
was a wooden box with a projecting tube in which a combination of a
concave with a convex lens was fitted, for throwing an enlarged image
upon the focusing screen, which in its proportions and application is
very similar to our modern telephotographic objectives. The image was
first thrown upon an inclined mirror and then reflected upwards to a
paper screen on the top of the box. In an earlier form the image is
thrown upon a vertical thin paper screen and viewed through a hole in
the back of the camera. There is a great deal of practical information
on lenses in connexion with the camera and other optical instruments,
and the book is valuable as a repertory of early practical optics, also
for the numerous references to and extracts from previous writers. An
improved edition was published in 1702.
Most of the writers already noticed worked out the problems connected
with the projection of images in the camera obscura more by actual
practice than by calculation, but William Molyneux, of Dublin, seems to
have been the first to treat them mathematically in his _Dioptrica Nova_
(1692), which was also the first work in English on the subject, and is
otherwise an interesting book. He has fully discussed the optical theory
of the dark chamber, with and without a lens, and its analogy to the
eye, also several optical problems relating to lenses of various forms
and their combinations for telescopic projection, rules for finding
foci, &c. He does not, however, mention the camera obscura as an
instrument in use, but in John Harris's _Lexicon Technicum_ (1704) we
find that the camera obscura with the arrangement called the "scioptric
ball," and known as _scioptricks_, was on sale in London, and after this
must have been in common use as a sketching instrument or as a show.
Sir Isaac Newton, in his _Opticks_ (1704), explains the principle of the
camera obscura with single convex lens and its analogy with vision in
illustration of his seventh axiom, which aptly embodies the correct
solution of Aristotle's old problem. He also made great use of the
simple dark chamber for his optical experiments with prisms, &c. Joseph
Priestley (1772) mentions the application of the solar microscope, both
to the small and portable and the large camera obscura. Many patterns of
these two forms for sketching and for viewing surrounding scenes are
described in W.J.'s Gravesande's _Essai de perspective_ (1711), Robert
Smith's _Compleat System of Optics_ (1738), Joseph Harris's _Treatise on
Optics_ (1775), Charles Hutton's _Philosophical and Mathematical
Dictionary_, and other books on optics and physics of that period. The
camera obscura was first applied to photography (q.v.) probably about
1794, by Thomas Wedgwood. His experiments with Sir Humphrey Davy in
endeavouring to fix the images of natural objects as seen in the camera
were published in 1802 (_Journ. Roy. Inst._). (J. Wa.)
CAMERARIUS, JOACHIM (1500-1574), German classical scholar, was born at
Bamberg on the 12th of April 1500. His family name was Liebhard, but he
was generally called Kammermeister, previous members of his family
having held the office of chamberlain (_camerarius_) to the bishops of
Bamberg. He studied at Leipzig, Erfurt and Wittenberg, where he became
intimate with Melanchthon. For some years he was teacher of history and
Greek at the gymnasium, Nuremberg. In 1530 he was sent as deputy for
Nuremberg to the diet of Augsburg, where he rendered important
assistance to Melanchthon in drawing up the Confession of Augsburg. Five
years later he was commissioned by Duke Ulrich of Württemberg to
reorganize the university of Tübingen; and in 1541 he rendered a similar
service at Leipzig, where the remainder of his life was chiefly spent.
He translated into Latin Herodotus, Demosthenes, Xenophon, Homer,
Theocritus, Sophocles, Lucian, Theodoretus, Nicephorus and other Greek
writers. He published upwards of 150 works, including a _Catalogue of
the Bishops of the Principal Sees_; _Greek Epistles_; _Accounts of his
Journeys_, in Latin verse; a Commentary on Plautus; a treatise on
Numismatics; _Euclid_ in Latin; and the Lives of Helius Eobanus Hessus,
George of Anhalt and Philip Melanchthon. His _Epistolae Familiares_
(published after his death) are a valuable contribution to the history
of his time. He played an important part in the Reformation movement,
and his advice was frequently sought by leading men. In 1535 he entered
into a correspondence with Francis I. as to the possibility of a
reconciliation between the Catholic and Protestant creeds; and in 1568
Maximilian II. sent for him to Vienna to consult him on the same
subject. He died at Leipzig on the 17th of April 1574.
See article by A. Horawitz in _Allgemeine deutsche Biographie_; C.
Bursian, _Die Geschichte der klassischen Philologie in Deutschland_
(1883); J.E. Sandys, _Hist. Class. Schol._ (ed. 1908), ii. 266.
CAMERARIUS, JOACHIM (1534-1598), German botanist and physician, son of
the classical scholar of the same name, was born at Nuremberg on the 6th
of November 1534. After finishing his studies in Germany he visited
Italy, where he graduated as doctor of medicine. On his return he was
invited to reside at the courts of several princes, but preferred to
settle in his native town of Nuremberg, where he had a botanical garden
and formed extensive collections. He wrote a _Hortus Medicus_ (1588) and
several other works. He died at Nuremberg on the 11th of October 1598.
CAMERARIUS, RUDOLF JAKOB (1665-1721), German botanist and physician, was
born at Tübingen on the 12th of February 1665, and became professor of
medicine and director of the botanical gardens at Tübingen in 1687. He
died at Tübingen on the 11th of September 1721. He is chiefly known for
his investigations on the reproductive organs of plants (_De sexu
plantarum epistola_, 1694).
CAMERINO (anc. _Camerinum_), a city and episcopal see (since 465, if not
sooner; Treia is now combined with it) of the Marches, Italy, in the
province of Macerata, 6 m. S. of the railway station of Castelraimondo
(to which there is an electric tramway) which is 24 m. W. of Macerata;
2148 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) of town, 4005; of commune, 12,083.
The cathedral is modern, the older building having fallen in 1799; the
church of S. Venanzio suffered similarly, but preserves a portal of the
15th century. The citadel, perhaps constructed from the plans of
Leonardo da Vinci, dates from 1503. Camerino occupies the site of the
ancient Camerinum, the inhabitants of which (_Camertes Umbri_) became
allies of the Romans in 310 B.C. (at the time of the attack on the
Etruscans in the Ciminian Forest). On the other hand, the [Greek:
Kamertioi] referred to in the history of the year 295 B.C. are probably
the inhabitants of Clusium. Later it appears as a dependent autonomous
community with the _foedus aequum_ (Mommsen, _Röm. Staatsrecht_, iii.
664). Two cohorts of Camertes fought with distinction under Marius
against the Cimbri. It was much affected by the conspiracy of Catiline,
and is frequently mentioned in the Civil Wars; under the empire it was a
_municipium_. It belonged to ancient Umbria, but was on the borders of
Picenum. No ancient buildings are visible, the Roman level lying as much
as 30 ft. below the modern.
See P. Savini, _Storia delta Città di Camerino_ (2nd ed., Camerino,
1895); M. Mariani, _Intorno agli antichi Camerti Umbri_ (Camerino,
1900). (T. As.)
CAMERON, JOHN (1579-1623), Scottish theologian, was born at Glasgow
about 1579, and received his early education in his native city. After
having taught Greek in the university for twelve months, he removed to
Bordeaux, where he was soon appointed a regent in the college of
Bergerac. He did not remain long at Bordeaux, but accepted the offer of
a chair of philosophy at Sedan, where he passed two years. He then
returned to Bordeaux, and in the beginning of 1604 he was nominated one
of the students of divinity who were maintained at the expense of the
church, and who for the period of four years were at liberty to
prosecute their studies in any Protestant seminary. During this period
he acted as tutor to the two sons of Calignon, chancellor of Navarre.
They spent one year at Paris, and two at Geneva, whence they removed to
Heidelberg. In this university, on the 4th of April 1608, he gave a
public proof of his ability by maintaining a series of theses, _De
triplici Dei cum Homine Foedere_, which were printed among his works.
The same year he was recalled to Bordeaux, where he was appointed the
colleague of Dr Primrose; and when Francis Gomarus was removed to
Leiden, Cameron, in 1618, was appointed professor of divinity at Saumur,
the principal seminary of the French Protestants.
In 1620 the progress of the civil troubles in France obliged Cameron to
seek refuge for himself and family in England. For a short time he read
private lectures on divinity in London; and in 1622 the king appointed
him principal of the university of Glasgow in the room of Robert Boyd,
who had been removed from his office in consequence of his adherence to
Presbyterianism. Cameron was prepared to accept Episcopacy, and was
cordially disliked for his adherence to the doctrine of passive
obedience. He resigned his office in less than a year.
He returned to France, and lived at Saumur. After an interval of a year
he was appointed professor of divinity at Montauban. The country was
still torn by civil and religious dissensions; and Cameron excited the
indignation of the more strenuous adherents of his own party. He
withdrew to the neighbouring town of Moissac; but he soon returned to
Montauban, and a few days afterwards he died at the age of about
forty-six. Cameron left by his first wife several children, whose
maintenance was undertaken by the Protestant churches in France. All his
works were published after his death.
His name has a distinct place in the development of Calvinistic theology
in Europe. He and his followers maintained that the will of man is
determined by the practical judgment of the mind; that the cause of
men's doing good or evil proceeds from the knowledge which God infuses
into them; and that God does not move the will physically, but only
morally, by virtue of its dependence on the judgment of the mind. This
peculiar doctrine of grace and free-will was adopted by Amyraut, Cappel,
Bochart, Daillé and others of the more learned among the Reformed
ministers, who dissented from Calvin's. The Cameronites (not to be
confused with the Scottish sect called Cameronians) are moderate
Calvinists, and approach to the opinion of the Arminians. They are also
called Universalists, as holding the universal reference of Christ's
death, and sometimes Amyraldists. The rigid adherents to the synod of
Dort accused them of Pelagianism, and even of Manichaeism, and the
controversy between the parties was carried on with great zeal; yet the
whole question between them was only, whether the will of man is
determined by the immediate action of God upon it, or by the
intervention of a knowledge which God impresses on the mind.
CAMERON, RICHARD (1648?-1680), founder of a Scottish religious sect of
Cameronians, which formed the nucleus of the regiment of this name in
the British army, was born at Falkland in the county of Fife. He was
educated at the village school, and his success was so great that, while
still a youth, he was appointed schoolmaster. In this situation he
became acquainted with some of the more enthusiastic field-preachers.
Persuaded by them he resigned his post and entered the family of Sir
Walter Scott of Harden as chaplain and tutor. Refusing to acknowledge
the Indulgence, he joined the ranks of the non-conforming ministers, and
incited the inhabitants of the southern counties of Scotland to protest
openly against the new edict. So formidable was the agitation that the
government pronounced illegal all armed assemblages for religious
purposes. Cameron took refuge in Holland, where he resided for some
time; but in the autumn of 1679 (probably) he returned to Scotland, and
once more made himself formidable to the government. Shortly after the
defeat of the Covenanters at Bothwell Bridge in that year, Cameron was
slain in a skirmish at the Aird's, or Airs, Moss, fighting bravely at
the head of the few troops which he had been able to collect. His prayer
before going into battle became a tradition--"Lord spare the green and
take the ripe." After the accession of William III. the survivors were
amnestied, and the Cameronian regiment was formed from them.
See Andrew Lang, _History of Scotland_, vol. iii. (1907);
Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopädie_ (1897), s.v. "Cameronianer"; A.
Smellie, _Men of the Covenant_; Herkless, _Richard Cameron_; P.
Walker, _Six Saints of the Covenant._
CAMERON, SIMON (1799-1889), American politician, was born in Lancaster
county, Pennsylvania, on the 8th of March 1799. Left an orphan at the
age of nine, he early entered journalism, and, in banking and railway
enterprises, accumulated a considerable fortune. He became influential
in Pennsylvania politics, and in 1845-1849 served in the United States
Senate, being elected by a combination of Democratic, Whig and
"American" votes to succeed James Buchanan. In 1854, having failed to
secure the nomination for senator from the "Know-Nothing" Party, which
he had recently joined, he became a leader of the "People's Party," as
the Republican Party was at first called in Pennsylvania. In 1857 he
was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican, despite a
Democratic majority in the state legislature, a fact that gave rise to
charges of bribery. His prominence as a candidate first for the
presidential and then for the vice-presidential nomination in the
Republican national convention of 1860 led to his being selected by
President Lincoln as secretary of war. His administration of this office
at a critical time was marked by his accustomed energy, but
unfortunately also by partiality in the letting of government contracts,
which brought about his resignation at Lincoln's request in January 1862
and his subsequent censure by the House of Representatives. Lincoln sent
him as minister to Russia, but he returned in November 1862. He again
served in the Senate (after 1872, being chairman of the committee on
foreign relations) from 1867 until 1877, when he resigned to make room
for his son, whose election he dictated. Cameron was one of the ablest
political organizers the United States has ever known, and his long
undisputed control of Pennsylvania politics was one of the most striking
examples of "boss rule" in American history. The definition of an honest
politician as "one who when he is bought will stay bought" has been
attributed to him. He died on the 26th of June 1889.
His son JAMES DONALD CAMERON (1833- ) was born at Middletown,
Pennsylvania, on the 14th of May 1833, graduated at Princeton in 1852,
became actively interested in his father's banking and railway
enterprises, and from 1863 to 1874 was president of the Northern Central
railway. Trained in the political school of his father, he developed
into an astute politician. From June 1876 to March 1877 he was secretary
of war in President Grant's cabinet. In the Republican national
convention of 1876 he took an influential part in preventing the
nomination of James G. Elaine, and later was one of those who directed
the policy of the Republicans in the struggle for the presidency between
Tilden and Hayes. From 1877 until 1897 he was a member of the United
States Senate, having been elected originally to succeed his father, who
resigned in order to create the vacancy. He was chairman of the
Republican national committee during the campaign of 1880.
CAMERON, VERNEY LOVETT (1844-1894), English traveller in Central Africa,
was born at Radipole, near Weymouth, Dorsetshire, on the 1st of July
1844. He entered the navy in 1857, served in the Abyssinian campaign of
1868, and was employed for a considerable time in the suppression of the
East African slave trade. The experience thus obtained led to his being
selected to command an expedition sent by the Royal Geographical Society
in 1873, to succour Dr. Livingstone. He was also instructed to make
independent explorations, guided by Livingstone's advice. Soon after the
departure of the expedition from Zanzibar, Livingstone's servants were
met bearing the dead body of their master. Cameron's two European
companions turned back, but he continued his march and reached Ujiji, on
Lake Tanganyika, in February 1874, where he found and sent to England
Livingstone's papers. Cameron spent some time determining the true form
of the south part of the lake, and solved the question of its outlet by
the discovery of the Lukuga river. From Tanganyika he struck westward to
Nyangwe, the Arab town on the Lualaba previously visited by Livingstone.
This river Cameron rightly believed to be the main stream of the Congo,
and he endeavoured to procure canoes to follow it down. In this he was
unsuccessful, owing to his refusal to countenance slavery, and he
therefore turned south-west. After tracing the Congo-Zambezi watershed
for hundreds of miles he reached Bihe and finally arrived at the coast
on the 28th of November 1875, being the first European to cress
Equatorial Africa from sea to sea. His travels, which were published in
1877 under the title _Across Africa_, contain valuable suggestions for
the opening up of the continent, including the utilization of the great
lakes as a "Cape to Cairo" connexion. In recognition of his work he was
promoted to the rank of commander, made a Companion of the Bath and
given the gold medal of the Geographical Society. The remainder of
Cameron's life was chiefly devoted to projects for the commercial
development of Africa, and to writing tales for the young. He visited
the Euphrates valley in 1878-1879 in connexion with a proposed railway
to the Persian Gulf, and accompanied Sir Richard Burton in his West
African journey of 1882. At the Gold Coast Cameron surveyed the Tarkwa
region, and he was joint author with Burton of _To the Gold Coast for
Gold_ (1883). He was killed, near Leighton Buzzard, by a fall from
horseback when returning from hunting, on the 24th of March 1894.
A second edition of _Across Africa_, with new matter and corrected
maps, appeared in 1885. A summary of Cameron's great journey, from his
own pen, appears in Dr Robert Brown's _The Story of Africa_, vol. ii.
pp. 266-279 (London, 1893).
CAMERON OF LOCHIEL, SIR EWEN (1629-1719), Scottish Highland chieftain,
was the eldest son of John Cameron and the grandson of Alan Cameron, the
head of the clan Cameron. Having lost his father in infancy he passed
part of his youth with the marquess of Argyll at Inveraray, leaving his
guardian about 1647 to take up his duties as chief of the clan Cameron,
a position in which he succeeded his grandfather. In 1653 Lochiel joined
the earl of Glencairn in his rising on behalf of Charles II., and after
the defeat of this attempt he served the Royalist cause by harassing
General Monk. In 1681 he was knighted by Charles II., and in July 1689
he was with Viscount Dundee at Killiecrankie. He was too old to share
personally in the Jacobite rising of 1715, but his sympathies were with
the Stuarts, and his son led the Camerons at Sheriffmuir. Lochiel, who
died in February 1719, is called by Macaulay the "Ulysses of the
Highlands." He was a man of enormous strength and size, and one who met
him in 1716 says "he wrung some blood from the point of my fingers with
a grasp of his hand." An incident showing his strength and ferocity in
single combat is used by Sir Walter Scott in _The Lady of the Lake_
(canto v.). Lochiel's son and successor, John, who was attainted for
sharing in the rebellion of 1715, died in Flanders in 1748. John's son
Donald, sometimes called "gentle Lochiel," joined Charles Edward, the
Young Pretender, in 1745, was wounded at Culloden, and escaped to
France, dying in the same year as his father. The 79th regiment, or
Cameron Highlanders, was raised from among the members of the clan in
1793 by Sir Alan Cameron (1753-1828).
See _Memoirs of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel_ (Bannatyne Club, 1842).
CAMERONIANS, the name given to that section of the Scottish Covenanters
(q.v.) who followed Richard Cameron (q.v.), and who were chiefly found
among those who signed the Sanquhar Declaration in 1680. Known also as
"Society Men," "Sanquharians" and "Hillmen," they became a separate
church after the religious settlement of 1690, taking the official title
of Reformed Presbyterians in 1743. Societies of Cameronians for the
maintenance of the Presbyterian form of worship were formed about 1681;
their testimony, "The Informatory Vindication," is dated 1687; and they
quickly became the most pronounced and active adherents of the
covenanting faith. Holding fast to the two covenants, the National
Covenant of 1580 and the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643, they wished
to restore the ecclesiastical order which had existed between 1638 and
1649, and were dissatisfied with the moderate character of the religious
settlement of 1690. Refusing to take the oaths of allegiance to an
"uncovenanted" ruler, or to exercise any civil function, they passed
through a period of trial and found some difficulty in maintaining a
regular ministry; but in 1706 they were reinforced by some converts from
the established church. They objected strongly to the proposal for the
union of England and Scotland, and were suspected of abetting a rising
which took place in the west of Scotland in 1706; but there appears to
be no foundation for the statement that they intrigued with the
Jacobites, and they gave no trouble to the government either in 1715 or
in 1745. In 1712 they publicly renewed the covenants at Auchensauch Hill
in Lanarkshire, and in 1743 their first presbytery was constituted at
Braehead, while a presbytery was formed in North America in 1774. In
1863 the Cameronians, or Reformed Presbyterians, decided to inflict no
penalties upon those members who had taken the oaths, or had exercised
civil functions, and consequently a few congregations seceded. In 1876
the general body of the Reformed Presbyterians united with the Free
Church of Scotland, leaving the few seceding congregations as the
representatives of the principles of the Cameronians. In the British
army the first battalion of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) is
directly descended from the "Cameronian guard," which, composed of
Cameronians, was embodied by the convention parliament in 1689, and was
afterwards employed to restore order in the Highlands.
See J.H. Burton, _History of Scotland_, vols. vii. and viii.
(Edinburgh, 1905); and A. Lang, _History of Scotland_, vol. iv.
(Edinburgh, 1907).
CAMEROON[1] (Ger. _Kamerun_), a German protectorate in West Africa,
bounded W. by the Atlantic, N.W. by British Nigeria, N. by Lake Chad, E.
and S. by French Congo, save for a short distance on the south where it
is conterminous with the Spanish Muni river settlement.
[Illustration: CAMEROON]
_Boundaries and Area._--The sea frontier extends from the Rio del Rey,
just where the great bend of the coast-line east to south begins,
forming the Bight of Biafra, to the Campo river, a distance of 200 m.
The north-western boundary, laid down in an agreement between Germany
and Great Britain on the 15th of November 1893, runs from the mouth of
the Rio del Rey to the "rapids" of the Cross river in 8° 48' E. Thence
it is continued in a north-east line towards Yola, as far as the
confines of that town. The boundary is then deflected south so as to
leave Yola in British territory, turning north again to cross the Benue
river at a spot 3 m. west of where the Faro joins the Benue. From this
point the frontier goes north-east to the border of Lake Chad, 35 m.
east of the meridian of the town of Kuka. The southern shores of Lake
Chad for a distance of some 40 m. belong to the protectorate. The south
and east boundaries were laid down by agreements between Germany and
France on the 24th of December 1885, the 15th of March 1894 and the 18th
of April 1908. The south boundary runs in a fairly direct line from the
mouth of the Campo river to the river Dscha (or Ngoko), which it follows
to its confluence with the Sanga. The eastern boundary runs from the
Sanga irregularly north to 10° N., where it approaches the British
frontier at Yola, so that at its narrowest part the protectorate is
little more than 50 m. across. From 10° N. the frontier turns eastwards
to the Logone, thence going north-east to the Shari river, which it
follows to Lake Chad. The protectorate has an area of about 190,000 sq.
m. Estimated population (1908) 3,500,000, of whom 1128 were whites.
_Origin of the Name._--The name Camarões was first given by the
Portuguese discoverers of the 15th and 16th centuries to a large bay or
estuary, lying south-east of a great mountain close to the sea, met with
after passing the Niger delta. This estuary they called the Rio dos
Camarões (the river of Prawns), from the abundance of the crustacea
found therein. The name Camarões was also used to designate the
neighbouring mountains. The English usage until nearly the end of the
19th century was to confine the term "the Cameroons" to the mountain
range, and to speak of the estuary as the Cameroons river. Locally it
was often called "the Bay." On their acquisition of the country in 1884
the Germans extended the use of the name in its Teutonic
form--Kamerun--to the whole protectorate.
_Physical Features._--Cameroon forms the north-west corner of the great
Central African plateau. This becomes evident in its eastern section,
where are wide-spreading plains, which farther west assume an undulating
character, and gradually merge into a picturesque mountain range. This
range, running from north to south, is flanked by a parallel and lower
range in the west, with a wide valley between. In the north-west the
Upper Guinea mountains send their eastern spurs across the boundary, and
from a volcanic rift, which runs south-west to north-east, the Cameroon
peak towers up, its summit 13,370 ft. high. This mountain, whose
south-western base is washed by the Atlantic, is the highest point on
the western side of Africa, and it alone of the great mountains of the
continent lies close to the coast. From any vantage point, but
especially from the sea, it presents a magnificent spectacle, while some
30 m. westward rises Clarence peak, the culminating point of Fernando
Po. With an area, on an isolated base, of 700 to 800 sq. m., Cameroon
mountain has but two distinct peaks, Great Cameroon and Little Cameroon
(5820 ft.), which is from foot to top covered with dense forest. The
native designation of the highest peak is Mongo-ma-Loba, or the Mountain
of Thunder, and the whole upper region is usually called Mongo-mo-Ndemi,
or the Mountain of Greatness. On the principal summit there are a group
of craters. In 1909 the mountain was in eruption and huge streams of
lava were ejected. Inland the Chebchi and Mandara mountains indicate the
direction and extent of the rift.
The mountains of the plateau sweep grandly round to the east on
reaching the eighth degree of N. lat. Here they give rise to a number of
small rivers, which collect in the rift and form the Benue, the great
eastern affluent of the Niger. This part of the protectorate is known as
Adamawa (q.v.). Farther north, beyond the Mandara mountains, the
country, here part of the ancient sultanate of Bornu, slopes to the
shores of Lake Chad, and has a general level of 800 to 1000 ft. The
greater part of Cameroon is thus a mountainous country, with, on the
coast, a strip of low land. In the south this is very narrow; it widens
towards the north savewhere the Cameroon peak reaches to the sea.
At the foot of the Cameroon peak a number of estuaries cut deep bays
which form excellent harbours. The small rivers which empty into them
can be ascended for some miles by steam launches. The principal estuary,
which is over 20 m. wide, is called, as already noted, the Cameroon
river or bay. The term river is more particularly confined to a
ramification of the estuary which receives the waters of the Mungo river
(a considerable stream which flows south from the Cameroon mountains),
the Wuri, a river coming from the north-east, and various smaller
rivers. Under the shadow of Cameroon peak lies the bay of Ambas, with
the islands of Ndami (Ambas) and Mondola. It forms a tolerable harbour,
capable of receiving large vessels.
Traversing the central portion of the country is a large river known in
its upper course as the Lom, and in its lower as the Sanaga, which
enters the ocean just to the south of the Cameroon estuary. Both the Lom
and the Nyong (a more southerly stream) rise in the central plateau,
from which they descend in splendid cascades, breaking through the
parallel coast range in rapids, which indicate the extent of their
navigability. The Lokunja and Kribi are smaller rivers with courses
parallel to and south of the Nyong. In the south-east of the colony the
streams--of which the chief are the Dscha and Bumba--are tributaries of
the Sanga, itself an affluent of the Congo (q.v.). About 100 m. of the
right bank of the Sanga, from the confluence of the Dscha upwards, are
in German territory. In the north the country drains into Lake Chad
through the Logone and Shari (q.v.). Including the headwaters of the
Benue the colony has four distinct river-systems, one connecting with
the Niger, another with the Congo, and a third with Lake Chad, the
fourth being the rivers which run direct to the sea. The Niger and Shari
systems communicate, with, at high water, but one obstruction to
navigation. The connecting link is a marshy lake named Tuburi. From it
issues the Kebbi (Mao Kebi) a tributary of the Benue, and through it
flows a tributary of the Logone, the chief affluent of the Shari. The
one obstruction in the waterway is a fall of 165 ft. in the Kebbi.
_Geology._--The oldest rocks, forming the greater mass of the
hinterland, are gneisses, schists and granites of Archaean age. Along
the Benue river a sandstone (Benue sandstone) forms the banks to 14° E.
Cretaceous rocks occur around the basalt platform of the Cameroon
mountain and generally along the coastal belt. Basalt and tuff, probably
of Tertiary age, form the great mass of the Cameroon mountain, also the
island of Fernando Po. Extensive areas in the interior, more especially
towards Lake Chad, are covered with black earth of alluvial or
lacustrine origin.
_Climate._--The country lies wholly within the tropics and has a
characteristic tropical climate. In the interior four seasons can be
distinguished; a comparatively dry and a wet one alternating. July to
October are the coldest months, and also bring most rain, but there is
hardly a month without rain. On the coast the temperature is high all
the year round, but on the plateau it is cooler. Malarial fever is
frequent, and even the Africans, especially those coming from other
countries, suffer from it. The middle zone of the Cameroon mountain has,
however, a temperate climate and affords excellent sites for sanatoria.
_Flora and Fauna._--The southern part of the low coast is chiefly grass
land, while the river mouths and arms of the bays are lined with
mangroves. The mountainous region is covered with primeval forest, in
which timber and valuable woods for cabinet-making are plentiful. Most
important are the _Elaeis guineensis, Sterculia acuminata_ and the wild
coffee tree. On Cameroon peak the forest ascends to 8000 ft.; above it
is grass land. Towards the east the forest gradually grows thinner,
assumes a park-like appearance, and finally disappears, wide grass
uplands taking its place. The country north of the Benue is rich and
well cultivated. Cotton and rubber are found in considerable quantities,
and fields of maize, corn, rice and sugarcane bear witness to the
fertility of the soil.
Animals are plentiful, including the great pachyderms and carnivora. The
latter prey on the various kinds of antelopes which swarm on the grass
lands. Two kinds of buffaloes are found in the forests, which are the
home of the gorilla and chimpanzee. Large rodents, like the porcupine
and cane rat, are numerous. Of birds there are 316 species, and several
of venomous snakes.
_Inhabitants._--The north of Cameroon is inhabited by Fula (q.v.) and
Hausa (q.v.) and allied tribes, the south by Bantu-speaking races. The
Fula came from the north and north-east, gradually driving the
Bantu-negroes before them. They brought horses and horned cattle,
unknown in these regions until then, and they founded well-organized
states, like that of Adamawa, now divided between Cameroon and the
British protectorate of Nigeria. In the vicinity of the rivers Benue,
Faro and Kebbi, the people, who are good agriculturists, raise cereals
and other crops, while on the plateaus stock-raising forms the chief
pursuit of the inhabitants. In this northern region villages are built
in the Sudanese zeriba style, surrounded with thorn fences; more
important places are enclosed by a well-built wall and strongly
fortified. Of martial disposition, the people often waged war with their
neighbours, and also amongst themselves until the pacification of the
hinterland by Germany at the beginning of the 20th century.
The Bantu-negroes inhabit the country south of about 7° N. Chief among
the tribes are the Dualla (q.v.), the Ba-kwiri (q.v.), the Ba-Long, the
Ba-Farami, the Wuri, the Abo and the Ba-Kundu. They build square houses,
are active traders and are ruled by independent chiefs, having no
political cohesion. Among the Dualla a curious system of drum signals is
noteworthy. In the coast towns are numbers of Krumen, who, however,
rarely settle permanently in the country. The Fula, as also most of the
Hausa, are Moslems, the other tribes are pagans. Missionary societies,
both Protestant and Roman Catholic, are represented in the colony, and
their schools are well attended, as are the schools belonging to the
government. In all the schools German is taught, but pidgin-English is
largely spoken at the coast towns.
_Chief Towns._--Duala, the chief town in the protectorate, is situated
on the Cameroon estuary at the mouth of the Wuri river in 4° 2' N. 9°
42' E. It consists of various trading stations and native towns close to
one another on the south bank of the river and known, before the German
occupation, as Cameroon, Bell town, Akwa town, &c. Hickory, on the north
side of the stream and the starting point of the railway to the
interior, is also part of Duala, which has a total population of 22,000,
including about 170 Europeans. Duala is the headquarters of the
merchants and missionaries. The principal streets are wide and tree
lined, the sanitation is good. The government offices are placed in a
fine park in which are statues of Gustav Nachtigal and others. The port
is provided with a floating dock. The seat of government is Buea, a post
3000 ft. above the sea on the slopes of the Cameroon mountain. Victoria
is a flourishing town in Ambas Bay, founded by the British Baptist
missionaries expelled from Fernando Po in 1858 (see below). Batanga and
Campo are trading stations in the southern portion of the colony. On the
route from Duala to Lake Chad is the large commercial town of Ngaundere,
inhabited chiefly by Hausas and occupied by the Germans in 1901. Another
large town is Garua on the Benue river. Farther north and within 30 m.
of Lake Chad is Dikwa (Dikoa), in Bornu, the town chosen by Rabah (q.v.)
as his capital after his conquest of Bornu. Gulfei on the lower Shari
and Kusseri on the Logone are also towns of some note. Ngoko is a
trading station on the Dscha, in the south-east of the protectorate,
near the confluence of that river with the Sanga.
_Products and Industry._--Cameroon is rich in natural products, one of
the most important being the oil-palm. Cocoa cultivation was introduced
by the Germans and proved remarkably successful. Rubber is collected
from the Landolphia and various species of Ficus. Palm-oil, palm
kernels, cocoa, copal, copra, Calabar beans, kola-nuts and ivory are the
principal exports. There are several kinds of finely-grained wood,
amongst which a very dark ebony is specially remarkable. Cotton, indigo
and various fibres of plants deserve notice. The natives grow several
kinds of bananas, yams and batatas, maize, pea-nuts, sugar-cane, sorghum
and pepper. Minerals have not been found in paying quantities. Iron is
smelted by the natives, who, especially amongst the Hausas, are very
clever smiths, and manufacture fine lances and arrow heads, knives and
swords, and also hoes. Dikwa is the centre of an important trade of
which the chief articles are coffee, sugar, velvet, silk and weapons, as
well as gold and silver objects brought by caravans from Tripoli. The
natives round the Cameroon estuary are clever carvers of wood, and make
highly ornamental figure heads for their canoes, which also sometimes
show very fine workmanship. In the interior the people use the
wild-growing cotton and fibres of plants to manufacture coarse drapery
and plait-work. Plantations founded by German industry are fairly
successful. Large reserves are set apart for the natives by government
when marking off the land granted to plantation companies. The
best-known of these companies, the _Süd-Kamerun,_ holds a concession
over a large tract of country by the Sanga river, exporting its rubber,
ivory and other produce via the Congo. The principal imports are cotton
goods, spirits, building material, firearms, hardware and salt. The
annual value of the external trade in the period 1900-1905 averaged
about £800,000. In 1907 the value of the trade had increased to
£1,700,000. Some 70% of the import and export trade was with Germany,
the remainder being almost entirely with Great Britain. The percentage
of the trade with Germany was increasing, that with Britain decreasing.
_Communications._--There is regular steamship communication with Europe
by German and British boats. On the rivers which run into the Cameroon
estuary small steam launches ply. The protectorate belongs to the Postal
Union, and is connected by cable with the British telegraph station at
Bonny in the Niger delta.
An imperial guarantee of interest was obtained in 1905 for the
construction of a railway from Hickory to Bayong, a place 100 m. to the
north, the district traversed being fertile and populous. From Victoria
a line runs to Soppo (22 m.) near Buea and is continued thence
northward. Another line, sanctioned in 1908, runs S.E. from Duala to the
upper waters of the Nyong. In the neighbourhood of government stations
excellent roads have been built. The chief towns in the coast region are
connected by telegraph and telephone.
_Government Revenue, &c._--The administration is under the direction of
a governor appointed by and responsible to the imperial authorities. The
governor is assisted by a chancellor and other officials and an advisory
council whose members are merchants resident in the protectorate.
Decrees having the force of law are issued by the imperial chancellor on
the advice of the governor. In Adamawa and German Bornu are various
Mahommedan sultanates controlled by residents stationed at Garua and
Kusseri. Revenue is raised chiefly by customs dues on spirits and
tobacco and a general 10% _ad valorem_ duty on most goods. A poll tax is
imposed on the natives. The local revenue (£131,000 in 1905) is
supplemented by an imperial grant, the protectorate in the first
twenty-one years of its existence never having raised sufficient revenue
to meet its expenditure, which in 1905 exceeded £230,000. Order is
maintained by a native force officered by Germans.
_History._--Cameroon and the neighbouring coast were discovered by the
Portuguese navigator, Fernando Po, towards the close of the 15th
century. They were formerly regarded as within the Oil Rivers district,
sometimes spoken of as the Oil Coast. Trading settlements were
established by Europeans as early as the 17th century. The trade was
confined to the coast, the Dualla and other tribes being recognized
intermediaries between the coast "factories" and the tribes in the
interior, whither they allowed no strange trader to proceed. They took a
quantity of goods on trust, visited the tribes in the forest, and
bartered for ivory, rubber and other produce. This method of trade,
called the trust system, worked well, but when the country came under
the administration of Germany, the system broke down, as inland traders
were allowed to visit the coast. Before this happened the "kings" of the
chief trading stations--Akwa and Bell--were wealthy merchant princes.
From the beginning until near the end of the 19th century they were very
largely under British influence. In 1837 the king of Bimbia, a district
on the mainland on the north of the estuary, made over a large part of
the country round the bay to Great Britain. In 1845, at which time there
was a flourishing trade in slaves between Cameroon and America, the
Baptist Missionary Society made its first settlement on the mainland of
Africa, Alfred Saker (1814-1880) obtaining from the Akwa family the site
for a mission station. In 1848 another mission station was established
at Bimbia, the king agreeing to abolish human sacrifices at the funerals
of his great men. Into the Cameroon country Saker and his colleagues
introduced the elements of civilization, and with the help of British
men-of-war the oversea slave trade was finally stopped (_c._ 1875). The
struggles between the Bell (Mbeli) and Akwa families were also largely
composed. In 1858, on the expulsion of the Baptists from Fernando Po
(q.v.), Saker founded at Ambas Bay a colony of the freed negroes who
then left the island, the settlement being known as Victoria. Two years
after this event the first German factory was established in the estuary
by Messrs Woermann of Hamburg. In 1870 the station at Bimbia was given
up by the missionaries, but that at Akwa town continued to flourish, the
Dualla showing themselves eager to acquire education, while Saker
reduced their language to writing. He left Cameroon in 1876, the year
before George Grenfell, afterwards famous for his work on the Congo,
came to the country, where he remained three years. Like the earlier
missionaries he explored the adjacent districts, discovering the Sanaga
in its lower course. Although British influence was powerful and the
British consul for the Oil Rivers during this period exercised
considerable authority over the native chiefs, requests made by them--in
particular by the Dualla chiefs in 1882--for annexation by Great
Britain, were refused or neglected, with the result that when Germany
started on her quest to pick up unappropriated parts of the African
coast she was enabled to secure Cameroon. A treaty with King Bell was
negotiated by Dr Gustav Nachtigal, the signature of the king and the
other chiefs being obtained at midnight on the 15th of July 1884. Five
days later Mr E.H. Hewett, British consul, arrived with a mission to
annex the country to Great Britain.[2] Though too late to secure King
Bell's territory, Mr Hewett concluded treaties with all the neighbouring
chiefs, but the British government decided to recognize the German claim
not only to Bell town, but to the whole Cameroon region. Some of the
tribes, disappointed at not being taken over by Great Britain, refused
to acknowledge German sovereignty. Their villages were bombarded and
they were reduced to submission. The settlement of the English Baptists
at Victoria, Ambas Bay, was at first excluded from the German
protectorate, but in March 1887 an arrangement was made by which, while
the private rights of the missionaries were maintained, the sovereignty
of the settlement passed to Germany. The Baptist Society thereafter made
over its missions, both at Ambas Bay and in the estuary, to the Basel
Society.
The extension of German influence in the interior was gradually
accomplished, though not without considerable bloodshed. That part of
Adamawa recognized as outside the British frontier was occupied in 1901
after somewhat severe fighting. In 1902 the imperial troops first
penetrated into that part of Bornu reserved to Germany by agreements
with Great Britain and France. They found the country in the military
occupation of France. The French officers, who stated that their
presence was due to the measures rendered necessary by the ravages of
Rabah and his sons, withdrew their troops into French territory. The
shores of Lake Chad were first reached by a German military force on the
2nd of May 1902. In 1904 and again in 1905 there were native risings in
various parts of the protectorate. These disturbances were followed,
early in 1906, by the recall of the governor, Herr von Puttkamer, who
was called upon to answer charges of maladministration. He was succeeded
in 1907 by Dr T. Seitz. Collisions on the southern border of the
protectorate between French and German troops led in 1905-1906 to an
accurate survey of the south and east frontier regions and to a new
convention (1908) whereby for the straight lines marking the frontier in
former agreements natural features were largely substituted. Germany
gained a better outlet to the Sanga river.
The ascent of the Cameroon mountain was first attempted by Joseph
Merrick of the Baptist Missionary Society in 1847; but it was not till
1861 that the summit was gained, when the ascent was made by Sir Richard
Burton, Gustav Mann, a noted botanist, and Señor Calvo. The
starting-point was Babundi, a place on the seashore west of the
mountain. From the south-east the summit was reached by Mary Kingsley in
1895.
See Mary H. Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_ (London, 1897); Sir R.
Burton, _Abeokuta and the Cameroons Mountains_ (2 vols., London,
1863); E.B. Underhill, _Alfred Saker ... A Biography_ (London, 1884);
Sir H.H. Johnston, _George Grenfell and the Congo ... and Notes on the
Cameroons ..._ (London, 1908); Max Buchner, _Kamerun Skizzen und
Betrachtungen_ (Leipzig, 1887); S. Passarge, _Adamaua_ (Berlin, 1895);
E. Zintgraph, _Nord-Kamerun_ (Berlin, 1895); F. Hutter, _Wanderungen
und Forschungen im Nord-Hinterland von Kamerun_ (Brunswick, 1902); F.
Bauer, _Die deutsche Niger-Benue-Tsadsee-Expedition_, 1902-1903
(Berlin, 1904); C. René, _Kamerun und die deutsche Tsâdsee Eisenbahn_
(Berlin, 1905); O. Zimmermann, _Durch Busch und Steppe vom Campo bis
zum Schari, 1892-1902_ (Berlin, 1909); also British Foreign Office
Reports. For special study of particular sciences see F. Wohltmann,
_Der Plantagenbau in Kamerun und seine Zukunft_ (Berlin, 1896); F.
Plehn, _Die Kamerunküste, Studien zur Klimatologie, Physiologie und
Pathologie in den Tropen_ (Berlin, 1898); E. Esch, F. Solger, M.
Oppenheim and 0. Jaekel, _Beiträge zur Geologie von Kamerun_
(Stuttgart, 1904). For geology the following works may also be
consulted: Stromer von Reichenbach, _Geologie der deutschen
Schutzgebiete in Afrika_ (Berlin, 1896); A. von Koenen, "Über
Fossilien der unteren Kreide am Ufer des Mungo in Kamerun," _Abh. k.
Wiss._, Göttingen, 1897; E. Cohen, "Lava vom Camerun-Gebirge," _Neues
Jahrb. f. Min._, 1887. (F. R. C.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This English form of the name, adopted in the 10th ed. of the
_Ency. Brit._, from the German, appears preferable both to the
un-English Kamerun and to the older and clumsy "the Cameroons."
[2] On the 26th of July a French gunboat also entered the estuary on
a belated annexation mission.
CAMILING, a town of the province of Tarlac, Luzon, Philippine Islands,
on the Camiling river, about 80 m. N.N.W. of Manila. Pop. (1903) 25,243.
In 1903 after the census had been taken, the adjacent towns of Santa
Ignacia (pop. 1911) and San Clemente (pop. 1822) were annexed to
Camiling. Its products are rice, Indian corn and sugar. Fine timber
grows in the vicinity. The principal language is Ilocano; Pangasinan,
too, is spoken. Being in an isolated position, very difficult of access
during the rainy season, Camiling has always been infested with thieves
and bands of outlaws, who come here for concealment.
CAMILLUS, MARCUS FURIUS, Roman soldier and statesman, of patrician
descent, censor in 403 B.C. He triumphed four times, was five times
dictator, and was honoured with the title of Second Founder of Rome.
When accused of having unfairly distributed the spoil taken at Veii,
which was captured by him after a ten years' siege, he went into
voluntary exile at Ardea. The real cause of complaint against him was no
doubt his patrician haughtiness and his triumphal entry into Rome in a
chariot drawn by white horses. Subsequently the Romans, when besieged in
the Capitol by the Gauls, created him dictator; he completely defeated
the enemy (but see BRENNUS and ROME: _History_, ii., "The Republic") and
drove them from Roman territory. He dissuaded the Romans, disheartened
by the devastation wrought by the Gauls, from migrating to Veii, and
induced them to rebuild the city. He afterwards fought successfully
against the Aequi, Volsci and Etruscans, and repelled a fresh invasion
of the Gauls in 367. Though patrician in sympathy, he saw the necessity
of making concessions to the plebeians and was instrumental in passing
the Licinian laws. He died of the plague in the eighty-first year of his
age (365). The story of Camillus is no doubt largely traditional. To
this element probably belongs the story of the schoolmaster who, when
Camillas was attacking Falerii (q.v.), attempted to betray the town by
bringing into his camp the sons of some of the principal inhabitants of
the place. Camillus, it is said, had him whipped back into the town by
his pupils, and the Faliscans were so affected by this generosity that
they at once surrendered.
See Livy v. 10, vi. 4; Plutarch, _Camillus_. For the Gallic retreat,
see Polybius ii. 18; T. Mommsen, _Römische Forschungen_, ii. pp.
113-152 (1879).
CAMILLUS and CAMILLA, in Roman antiquity, originally terms used for
freeborn children. Later, they were used to denote the attendants on
certain priests and priestesses, especially the flamen dialis and
flaminica and the curiones. It was necessary that they should be
freeborn and the children of parents still alive (Dion. Halic. ii. 21).
The name Camillus has been connected with the Cadmilus or Casmilus of
the Samothracian mysteries, identified with Hermes (see CABEIRI).
CAMISARDS (from _camisade_, obsolete Fr. for "a night attack," from the
Ital. _camiciata_, formed from _camicia_--Fr. _chemise_--a shirt, from
the fact of a shirt being worn over the armour in order to distinguish
friends from foes), the name given to the peasantry of the Cévennes who,
from 1702 to 1705 and for some years afterwards, carried on an organized
military resistance to the _dragonnades_, or conversion by torture,
death and confiscation of property, by which, in the Huguenot districts
of France, the revocation of the edict of Nantes was attempted to be
enforced. The Camisards were also called Barbets ("water-dogs," a term
also applied to the Waldenses), Vagabonds, Assemblers (_assemblée_ was
the name given to the meeting or conventicle of Huguenots), Fanatics and
the Children of God. They belonged to that romance-speaking people of
Gothic descent whose mystic imagination and independent character made
the south of France the most fertile nursing-ground of medieval heresy
(see CATHARS and ALBIGENSES). At the time of the Reformation the same
causes produced like results. Calvin was warmly welcomed when he
preached at Nîmes; Montpellier became the chief centre for the
instruction of the Huguenot youth. It was, however, in the great
triangular plateau of mountain called the Cévennes that, among the small
farmers, the cloth and silk weavers and vine dressers, Protestantism was
most intense and universal. These people were (and still are) very poor,
but intelligent and pious, and of a character at once grave and fervent.
From the lists of Huguenots sent from Languedoc to the galleys (1684 to
1762), we gather that the common type of _physique_ is "belle taille,
cheveux bruns, visage ovale." The chief theatre of the revolt comprised
that region of the Cévennes bounded by the towns of Florac,
Pont-de-Montvert, Alais and Lasalle, thus embracing the southern portion
of the department of Lozère (the Bas-Gévaudan) and the neighbouring
district in the east of the department of Gard.
In order to understand the War of the Cévennes it is necessary to recall
the persecutions which preceded and followed the revocation of the edict
of Nantes. It is also necessary to remember the extraordinary religious
movement which had for a great number of years agitated the Protestants
of France. Faced by the violation of that most solemn of treaties, a
treaty which had been declared perpetual and irrevocable by Henry IV.,
Louis XIII. and even Louis XIV. himself, they could not, in the
enthusiasm of their faith, believe that such a crime would be left
unpunished. But being convinced that no human power could give them
liberty of conscience, they went to the Bible to find when their
deliverance would come. As far back as 1686 Pierre Jurieu published his
work _L'Accomplissement des prophéties_, in which, speaking of the
Apocalypse, he predicted the end of the persecution and the fall of
Babylon--that is to say of Roman Catholicism--for 1689. The Revolution
in England seemed to provide a striking corroboration of his prophecies,
and the apocalyptic enthusiasm took so strong a hold on people's minds
that Bossuet felt compelled to refute Jurieu's arguments in his
_Apocalypse expliquée_, published in 1689. The _Lettres pastorales_ of
Jurieu (Rotterdam, 1686-1687), a series of brief tracts which were
secretly circulated in France, continued to narrate events and
prodigies in which the author saw the intervention of God, and thus
strengthened the courage of his adherents. This religious enthusiasm,
under the influence of Du Serre, was manifested for the first time in
the Dauphiné. Du Serre, who was a pupil of Jurieu, communicated his
mystic faith to young children who were called the "petits prophètes,"
the most famous of whom was a girl named "La belle Isabeau." Brought up
on the study of the prophets and the Apocalypse, these children went
from village to village quoting and requoting the most obscure and
terrible passages from these ancient prophecies (see ANTICHRIST). It is
necessary to remember that at this time the Protestants were without
ministers, all being in exile, and were thus deprived of all real
religious instruction. They listened with enthusiasm to this strange
preaching, and thousands of those who were called New Catholics were
seen to be giving up attendance at Mass. The movement advanced in
Languedoc with such rapidity that at one time there were more than three
hundred children shut up in the prisons of Uzès on the charge of
prophesying, and the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier, which was
entrusted with their examination, went so far in their ignorance as to
pronounce these irresponsible infants guilty of fanaticism. After the
peace of Ryswick, 1697, the fierceness of the persecution was redoubled
in the South. "I will show no mercy to the preachers," wrote the
terrible Baville, the so-called "king of Languedoc," and he kept his
word. The people of the Cévennes were in despair, for their loyalty to
the king had been remarkable. In 1683 on the 6th of September an
assembly composed of fifty pastors, sixty-four noblemen and thirty-four
notables, held at Colognac, had drawn up a statement of its unalterable
loyalty to Louis XIV. It is important to notice that the revolt of the
Cévennes was essentially a popular movement. Among its leaders there was
not a single nobleman, but only men of the people, a baker, a
blacksmith, some ex-soldiers; but by far the most extraordinary
characterisic is the presence, no longer of children, but of men and
women who declared themselves inspired, who fell into religious
ecstasies and roused in their comrades the most heroic bravery in battle
and at the stake.
The assassination of the abbé du Chayla marks the beginning of the war
of the Cévennes. The abbé, a veteran Catholic missionary from Siam, had
been appointed inspector of missions in the Cévennes. There he
introduced the "squeezers" (which resembled the Scottish "boot"), and
his systematic and refined cruelty at last broke the patience of his
victims. His murder, on the 23rd of July 1702, at Pont de Monvert, was
the first blow in the war. It was planned by Esprit Séguier, who at once
began to carry out his idea of a general massacre of the Catholic
priests. He soon fell, and was succeeded by Laporte, an old soldier,
who, as his troop increased, assumed the title of "the Colonel of the
Children of God," and named his camp the "Camp of the Eternal." He used
to lead his followers to the fight, singing Clement Marot's grand
version of the 68th Psalm, "Que Dieu se montre seulement," to the music
of Goudimel. Besides Laporte, the forest-ranger Castanet, the
wool-carders Conderc and Mazel, the soldiers Catinat, Joany and Ravenel
were selected as captains--all men whom the _théomanie_ or prophetic
malady had visited. But the most important figures are those of Roland,
who afterwards issued the following extraordinary despatch to the
inhabitants of St André:--"Nous, comte et seigneur Roland, généralissime
des Protestants de France, nous ordonnons que vous ayez à congédier dans
trois jours tous les prêtres et missionnaires qui sont chez vous, sous
peine d'être brûlés tout vifs, vous et eux" (Court, i.p. 219); and Jean
Cavalier, the baker's boy, who, at the age of seventeen, commanded the
southern army of the Camisards, and who, after defeating successively
the comte de Broglie and three French marshals, Montrevel, Berwick and
Villars, made an honourable peace. (See CAVALIER, JEAN.)
Cavalier for nearly two years continued to direct the war. Regular taxes
were raised, arsenals were formed in the great limestone caves of the
district, the Catholic churches and their decorations were burned and
the clergy driven away. Occasionally routed in regular engagements, the
Camisards, through their desperate valour and the rapidity of their
movements, were constantly successful in skirmishes, night attacks and
ambuscades. A force of 60,000 was now in the field against them; among
others, the Irish Brigade which had just returned from the persecutions
of the Waldenses. The rising was far from being general, and never
extended to more than three or four thousand men, but it was rendered
dangerous by the secret and even in many places the open support of the
people in general. On the other hand their knowledge of a mountainous
country clothed in forests and without roads, gave the insurgents an
enormous advantage over the royal troops. The rebellion was not finally
suppressed until Baville had constructed roads throughout this almost
savage country.
Montrevel adopted a policy of extermination, and 466 villages were
burned in the Upper Cévennes alone, the population being for the most
part put to the sword. Pope Clement XI. assisted in this work by issuing
a bull against the "execrable race of the ancient Albigenses," and
promising remission of sins to the holy militia which was now formed
among the Catholic population, and was called the Florentines, Cadets of
the Cross or White Camisards. Villars, the victor of Hochstädt and
Friedlingen, saw that conciliation was necessary; he took advantage of
the feeling of horror with which the quiet Protestants of Nimes and
other towns now regarded the war, and published an amnesty. In May 1704
a formal meeting between Cavalier and Villars took place at Nimes. The
result of the interview was that a document entitled _Trés humble
requête des réformés du Languedoc au Roi_ was despatched to the court.
The three leading requests for liberty of conscience and the right of
assembly outside walled towns, for the liberation of those sentenced to
prison or the galleys under the revocation, and for the restitution to
the emigrants of their property and civil rights, were all granted,--the
first on condition of no churches being built, and the third on
condition of an oath of allegiance being taken. The greater part of the
Camisard army under Roland, Ravenel and Joany would not accept the terms
which Cavalier had arranged. They insisted that the edict of Nantes must
be restored,--"_point de paix, que nous n'ayons nos temples_." They
continued the war till January 1705, by which time all their leaders
were either killed or dispersed.
In 1709 Mazel and Claris, with the aid of two preaching women, Marie
Desubas and Elizabeth Catalon, made a serious effort to rekindle revolt
in the Vivarais. In 1711 all opposition and all signs of the reformed
religion had disappeared. On the 8th of March 1715, by medals and a
proclamation, Louis XIV. announced the entire extinction of heresy.
What we know of the spiritual manifestations in the Cévennes (which much
resembled those of the Swedish Raestars of Smaland in 1844) is chiefly
derived from _Le Théâtre sacré des Cévennes_, London, 1707, reprinted at
Paris in 1847; _A Cry From the Desert_, &c., by John Lacy, London, 1707;
_La Clef des prophéties de M. Marion_, London, 1707; _Avertissements
prophétiques d'Élie Marion_, &c., London, 1707. About the date of these
publications the three prophets of the Cévennes, Marion, Durand-Fage and
Cavalier (a cousin of the famous Jean Cavalier) were in London and were
objects of lively curiosity. The consistory of the French church in the
Savoy sent a protest to the lord mayor against "cette secte impie et
extravagante" and the matter was tried at the Guildhall. Misson, author
of the _Théâtre sacré_, declared in defence of the accused, that the
same spirit which had caused Balaam's ass to speak could speak through
the mouths of these prophets from the Cévennes. Marion and his two
friends Fatio, a member of the Royal Society of London, and Daudé, a
leading savant, who acted as his secretaries, were condemned to the
pillory and to the stocks. Voltaire relates (_Siécle de Louis XIV._ c.
36) that Marion wished to prove his inspiration by attempting to raise a
dead body (Thomas Ernes) from St Paul's churchyard. He was at last
compelled to leave England.[1]
The inspiration (of which there were four degrees, _avertissement,
souffle, prophetie, dons_) was sometimes communicated by a kiss at the
assembly. The patient, who had gone through several fasts three days in
length, became pale and fell insensible to the ground. Then came violent
agitations of the limbs and head, as Voltaire remarks, "quite according
to the ancient custom of all nations, and the rules of madness
transmitted from age to age." Finally the patient (who might be a little
child, a woman, a half-witted person) began to speak in the good French
of the Huguenot Bible words such as these: "Mes frères, amendez-vous,
faites pénitence, la fin du monde approche; le jugement général sera
dans trois mois; répentez-vous du grand péché que vous avez commis
d'aller à la messe; c'est le Saint-Esprit qui parle par ma bouche"
(Brueys, _Histoire du fanatisme de notre temps_, Utrecht, 1737, vol. i.
p. 153). The discourse might go on for two hours; after which the
patient could only express himself in his native patois,--a Romance
idiom,--and had no recollection of his "ecstasy." All kinds of miracles
attended on the Camisards. Lights in the sky guided them to places of
safety, voices sang encouragement to them, shots and wounds were often
harmless. Those entranced fell from trees without hurting themselves;
they shed tears of blood; and they subsisted without food or speech for
nine days. The supernatural was part of their life. Much literature has
been devoted to the discussion of these marvels. The Catholics Fléchier
(in his _Lettres choisies_) and Brueys consider them the product of
fasting and vanity, nourished on apocalyptic literature. The doctors
Bertrand (_Du magnétisme animal_, Paris, 1826) and Calmeil (_De la
folie_, Paris, 1845) speak of magnetism, hysteria and epilepsy, a
prophetic monomania based on belief in divine possession. The
Protestants especially emphasized the spirituality of the inspiration of
the Camisards; Peyral, _Histoire des pasteurs du désert_, ii. 280,
wrote: "Il fallait à cet effort gigantesque un ressort prodigieux,
l'enthousiasme ordinaire n'y eût pas suffi." Dubois, who has made a
careful study of the problem, says: "L'inspiration cévenole nous
apparait comme un phénomène purement spirituel." Conservative Catholics,
such as Hippolyte Blanc in his book on _L'inspiration des Camisards_
(1859), regard the whole thing as the work of the devil. The publication
of J.F.K. Hecker's work, _Die Volkskrankheiten des Mittelalters_, made
it possible to consider the subject in its true relation. This was
translated into English in 1844 by B.G. Babington as _The Epidemics of
the Middle Ages_.
Although the Camisards were guilty of great cruelties in the prosecution
of the war, there does not seem to be sufficient ground for the charge
made by Marshal de Villars: "Le plupart de leurs chefs ont leurs
demoiselles" (letter of 9th August 1704, in the _War Archives_, vol.
1797). Court replied to these unjust charges: "Their enemies have
accused them of leading a life of licence because there were women in
their camps. These were their wives, their daughters, their mothers, who
were there to prepare their food and to nurse the wounded" (_Histoire_,
vol. i. p. 71).
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The works devoted to the history of the Camisards are
very numerous. Nevertheless there exists no work specifically devoted
to this extremely interesting period in French history, for in none of
the published works has proper use been made of the valuable documents
preserved in the archives of the ministry of war. Among the chief
works are:--Père Louvreleuil (priest, former curé of St. Germain de
Calberte), _Histoire du fanatisme renouvelé où l'on raconte les
sacrilèges, les maladies et les meurtres commis dans les Cévennes_
(Toulouse, 1704); M. de Brueys, _Suite de l'histoire du fanatisme de
notre temps où l'on voit les derniers troubles des Cévennes_ (Paris,
1709); _Lettres choisies de M. Fléchier évêque de Nîmes avec une
relation des fanatiques du Vivarez_ (Paris, 1715); Madame de Merez de
l'Incarnation, _Memoires et journal très fidèle de ce qui s'est passé
le 11 de may 1703 jusqu'au 1 juin 1705 à Nîmes touchant les
phanatiques_, published by E. de Barthélemy (Montpellier, 1874). These
works are written by Catholic writers immediately after the war of the
Cévennes, and, despite their partiality, include some valuable
documents. _Mémoires du marquis de Guiscard_ (Delft, 1705); Maximilien
Misson, _Le Théâtre sacré des Cévennes ou Récit de diverses merveilles
nouvellement opérées dans cette partie de la province de Languedoc_
(London, 1707); Misson, the author of the _Voyages en Italie_, which
met with such a great success, gave prominence to the facts relating
to the inspiration of the Camisards; the _Théâtre_ also contains
important extracts from the works of Benoit, Brueys, Guiscard and
Boyer, and several original letters from Camisards; _Histoire des
Camisards, &c._ (London, 1740), the anonymous work of a distinguished
writer, which was eventually condemned by the parlement of Toulouse
to be torn up and burnt in 1759; Antoine Court, _Histoire des troubles
des Cévennes_ (3 vols., 1760), the best work of this period, compiled
from numerous manuscript references. The war of the Cévennes has been
treated in several English works, e.g. _A Compleat History of the
Cevennes, giving a Particular Account of the Situation, &c._, by a
doctor of civil law (London, 1703). This work includes a dedication to
the queen, an historical account of the people of the Cévennes, the
bull of Pope Clement against the Camisards, and the bishop of Nîmes's
mandate publishing the bull, and a discourse on the obligations of the
English to help the Camisards, and a form of prayer used in the
Camisard assembly, printed in London in 1703 under the title
_Formulaire de prières des Cévennois dans leurs assemblées. The
History of the Rise and Downfal of the Camisards, &c._ (London, 1709),
dealt with the prophets of the Cévennes in London, and is only an
abridged translation of Père Louvreleuil's work. Among modern works
are, Ernest Moret, _Quinze ans du règne de Louis XIV_ (3 vols., 1859),
a work which gives a remarkable history of the war of the Cévennes;
_Les Insurgés protestants sous Louis XIV._, studies and unedited
documents published by G. Frosterus (1868); _Mémoires de Bonbonnoux,_
chief Camisard and pastor of the desert, published by Vielles (1883);
Bonnemère, _Histoire de la guerre des Camisards_ (1859). Two popular
works are--F. Puaux, _Histoire populaire de la guerre des Camisards_
(1875); Anna E. Bray, _The Revolt of the Protestants of the Cévennes
with some Account of the Huguenots of the Seventeenth Century_
(London, 1870). (F. Px.)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] This curious affair provoked a lengthy controversy, which is
described in "La Relation historique de ce qui s'est passe a Londres
au sujet des prophètes camisards" (_Republique des Lettres_, 1708),
in the study of M. Vesson, _Les Prophètes camisards à Londres_
(1893), and also in the book _Les Prophètes cévenols_, ch. iii.
(1861) by Alfred Dubois.
CAMOENS [CAMOES], LUIS VAZ DE (1524-1580), the prince of Portuguese
poets, sprang from an illustrious and wealthy family of Galician origin,
whose seat, called the castle of Camoens, lay near Cape Finisterre. His
ancestor, the poet Vasco Pires de Camoens, followed the party of Peter
the Cruel of Castile against Henry II., and on the defeat of the former
had to take refuge along with other Galician nobles in Portugal, where
he founded the Portuguese family of his name. King Fernando received him
well, and gave him posts of honour and estates, and though the master of
Aviz sequestered some of these and Vasco lost others after the battle of
Aljubarrota, where he fought on the Spanish side, considerable
possessions still remained to him. Antão Vaz, the grandfather of Luis,
married one of the Algarve Gamas, so that Vasco da Gama and Camoens, the
discoverer of the sea route to India and the poet who immortalized the
voyage in his _Lusiads_, were kinsmen. Antão's eldest son Simão Vaz was
born in Coimbra at the close of the 15th century, and married Anna de Sá
e Macedo, who bore him an only son, Luis Vaz de Camoens; thus the poet,
like his father and grandfather, was a _cavalleiro fidalgo_, that is, an
untitled noble.
Four cities dispute the honour of being his birthplace, though Lisbon
has the better title; and there is a like dispute about the year, which,
however, was almost certainly 1524. The poet spent his childhood in
Coimbra, where his father owned a property, and made his first studies
at the college of All Saints, designed for "honourable poor students,"
and there contracted friendships with noblemen like D. Gonçalo da
Silveira and his brother D. Alvaro, who were inmates of the nobles'
college of St Michael. These colleges were offshoots from and attached
to the Augustinian monastery of Santa Cruz, an important religious and
scholastic establishment, where the poet's uncle D. Bento de Camoens, a
virtuous and very learned man, was professed. The Renaissance, though
late in penetrating into Portugal, had by this time definitely
triumphed, and the university of Coimbra, after its reform in 1537 under
the auspices of King John III., boasted the best teachers drawn from
every country, among them George Buchanan. The possession of classical
culture was regarded as the mark of a gentleman; the colleges of Santa
Cruz required conversation within the walls to be in Greek or Latin, and
the university, when it absorbed the colleges, adopted the same rule. In
these surroundings, aided by a retentive memory, Camoens steeped himself
in the literature and mythology of the ancients, as his works show, and
he was thus able in after years to perfect the Portuguese language and
to enrich it with many neologisms of classical origin. It is fortunate,
however, for his country and his fame that he never followed the fashion
of writing in Latin; on the contrary, except for his Spanish poems, he
always employed his native tongue. After completing his grammar and
rhetoric the poet entered on his university course for the degree of
bachelor of arts, which lasted for three years, from 1539 to 1542, and
during this period he met Jorge de Montemayor, the author of _Dianá_,
who was then studying music. He seems to have imbibed much of that
encyclopaedic instruction to which the humanists aspired, for his
writings show a very extensive reading, and his scientific knowledge and
faculty of observation compelled the admiration of the great Humboldt.
The thoroughness of his teaching is apparent when we remember that he
wrote his epic in the fortresses of Africa and Asia, far from books, and
yet gave proof of acquaintance with universal history, geography,
astronomy, Greek and Latin literature, and the modern poetry of Italy
and Spain. Much of the credit for this learning must be attributed to
the encouragement of D. Bento, now prior of Santa Cruz, who became
chancellor of the university the very year when Camoens entered it.
There is a tradition that this uncle destined him for the church and
caused him to study theology. The poet's knowledge of dogma and the
Bible, his friendly intercourse with the Lisbon Dominicans at the end of
his life, and the share he is said to have taken in their disputations,
make the hypothesis a likely one, but he made his own choice and
preferred a lay life. We have very little verse of his Coimbra time, but
it seems that he began in the Italian manner, following the new
classical school of Sá de Miranda (q.v.), and that, though attached to
the popular muse and well acquainted with the national songs and
romances, legends and lore, his poetry in the old style (_medida velha_)
is mostly of later date. An exception may perhaps be found in his _Auto_
after the manner of Gil Vicente (q.v.), _The Amphitryons_, a Portuguese
adaptation from Plautus which was very well received. At the age of
eighteen Camoens left Coimbra, bidding adieu to the old city in verses
breathing the most tender _saudade_. Lisbon, which impressed Cervantes
so much as to draw from him a classic description in the novel _Persiles
y Sigismunda_, made an even greater impression on the youthful Camoens,
and the _Lusiads_ are full of eulogistic epithets on the city and the
Tagus.
Arriving in 1543, it has been conjectured that he became tutor to D.
Antonio de Noronha, son of the great noble D. Francisco de Noronha,
count of Linhares, who had lately returned from a French embassy to his
palace at Xabregas. The poet's birth and talents admitted him to the
society of men like D. Constantine de Braganza, the duke of Aveiro, the
marquis of Cascaes, the count of Redondo, D. Manoel de Portugal and D.
Gonçalo da Silveira, son of the count of Sortelha, who died a Christian
martyr in Monomotapa. At Xabregas Camoens must have met Francisco de
Moraes (q.v.), who had served as secretary to the count of Linhares on
his embassy, and there he probably read the MS. of _Palmeirim_; this
would explain the origin of two of his roundels which are clearly
founded on passages in the romance. Camoens had had a youthful love
affair in Coimbra, but on Good Friday of the year 1544 he experienced
the passion of his life. On that day in some Lisbon church he caught
sight of D. Catherina de Ataide (daughter of D. Antonio de Lima, high
chamberlain to the infant D. Duarte), who had recently become a
lady-in-waiting to the queen. This young girl, the Nathercia of his
after songs, counted then some thirteen years, and was destined to be
his Beatrice. To see more of her, he persuaded the count of Linhares to
introduce him to the court, where his poetical gifts and culture ensured
him a ready welcome, and his fifth idyll, addressed to his patron on
this occasion, paved the way for his entrance. Though inferior to his
later compositions, it excels in harmony any verse previously written in
Portuguese. At first his suit probably met with few difficulties, and if
Catherina's family regarded it seriously, their poverty, combined with
the fact that the poet came of a good stock and had the future in his
hands, may have prevented any real opposition. It was his own imprudence
that marred his fortunes, and his consciousness of this fact gave his
muse that moving expression, truth and _saudade_, which are lacking in
the somewhat artificial productions of the sentimental Petrarch. But
while Camoens gained protectors and admirers, his temperament and
conduct ensured him envious foes, and the secret of his love got out and
became the subject of gossip. All was not smooth with the lady, who
showed herself coy; now yielding to her heart, she was kind; and then
listening to her friends, who would have preferred a better match for
her, she repelled her lover. Jealousy then seized him, and sick of court
life for the moment, he gladly accompanied his patron to the latter's
country house; but once there he recognized that Lisbon was the centre
of attraction for him and that he could not be happy at a distance. His
verses at this time reveal his parlous condition. He oscillates between
joy and depression. He passes from tender regrets to violent outbursts,
which are followed by calm and peace, while expressions of passionate
love alternate with bold desires and lofty ambitions. It is clear that
there was an understanding between him and Catherina and that they
looked forward to a happy ending, and this encouraged him in his weary
waiting and his search for a lucrative post which would enable him to
approach her family and ask for her hand. From this period date the
greater part of his roundels and sonnets, some of the odes and nearly
all the eclogues.
His fifth eclogue shows that he was seriously thinking of his patriotic
poem in 1544; and from the fourth it seems likely that the _Lusiads_
were in course of composition, and that cantos 3 and 4 were practically
completed. He had by now established his fame and was known as the
Lusitanian Virgil, but presently he had a rude awakening from his dreams
of love and glory. He had shown his affection too openly, and some
infraction of court etiquette, about which the queen was strict, caused
the tongue of scandal to wag; perhaps it was an affair with one of
Catherina's brothers, even a duel, that led to the decree which exiled
him from Lisbon.
Camoens's rashness, self-confidence and want of respect for the
authorities all contributed to the penalty, and the composition of the
play _El Rei Seleuco_ would aggravate his offence in the eyes of John
III. Produced in 1545 and derived from Plutarch, the plot was calculated
to draw attention to the relations between the king and his stepmother,
and to recall the action of D. Manoel in robbing his son John III. of
his intended bride. Camoens composed it for a wedding festivity in the
house of Estacio da Fonseca, and some of the verses refer so openly to
his passion, that if, as is likely, he spoke them himself, emphasizing
them with voice and gesture so as to publish his love to the world, this
new boldness, combined with the subject of the piece, must have rendered
his exile a certainty. All we know definitely, however, is that the
court was henceforth closed to him, and in 1546 he had to leave Lisbon,
the abode of his love and the scene of his triumph. Tradition says that
he went to the Ribatejo and spent seven or eight months with his
mother's relatives in or near Santarem, whence he poured out a number of
his finest poems, including his _Elegy of Exile_ and some magnificent
sonnets, which, in vigour of ideas and beauty of expression, exceeded
anything he had hitherto produced. Poets cannot live on bays, however,
and pressed by necessity he determined to become a soldier.
One of his best modern biographers thinks that he petitioned the king
for liberty to commute his penalty into military service in Africa; but
whether this be so, or whether he merely went there to gain his spurs,
certain it is that in the autumn of 1547 he proceeded to Ceuta. For the
next two years, the usual period of service there, he lived the routine
life of a common soldier in this famous trade emporium and outpost-town,
and he lost his right eye in a skirmish with the Moroccans, though some
writers make the incident occur on the voyage across the straits when
his ship was attacked by Sallee rovers. Elegy ii. and a couple of odes
date from his stay in Ceuta. He is full of sadness and almost in
despair, but is saved from suicide by love and memory of the past. He
has intervals of calm and resignation, even of satirical humour, and
these become more frequent as the term of his exile draws near, and in
one of them he wrote his prose letter to a "Lisbon friend." The octaves
on the _Discontent of the World_, which breathe a philosophic equanimity
and lift the reader out of the tumult of daily life, go to show that his
restless heart had found peace at last and that he had accustomed
himself to solitude.
In November 1549 the aged governor of Ceuta, D. Affonso de Noronha, was
summoned to court and created viceroy of India, and Camoens accompanied
him to Lisbon, intending to follow him to the East in the armada which
was due to sail in the spring of 1550. Reaching the capital in December,
the poet almost immediately enlisted, but when the time came for
departure he had changed his mind. His affection for Catherina and
dreams of literary glory detained him, and he lived on in the
expectation of obtaining a post on the strength of his services and
wound. But month after month passed by without result, and in his
disappointment he allied himself with a group of hot-blooded youths,
including the ex-friar Antonio Ribeiro, nicknamed "the Chiado", after
whom the main street of Lisbon takes its name, and endeavoured to forget
his troubles in their society. He took part in their extravagances and
gained the name of "Trinca-fortes" ("Crack-braves") from his bohemian
companions, while there were ladies who mocked at his disfigurement,
dubbing him "devil" and "eyeless face". In the course of his adventures
he had often to draw his sword, either as attacker or attacked, and he
boasted that he had seen the soles of the feet of many but none had seen
his. When the reply to his application came from the palace it was a
negative one, and he had now nothing further to expect. His stock of
money brought from Ceuta was certainly exhausted, and misery stared him
in the face, making him desperate. On the feast of Corpus Christi, the
16th of June 1552, he found two masked friends of his engaged in a
street fight near St Dominic's convent, and joining in the fray he
wounded one Gonçalo Borges, a palace servant, with the result that he
was apprehended and lodged in gaol. This unprovoked attack upon a royal
servant on so holy a day constituted a serious offence and cost him
eight months' imprisonment. In a pathetic sonnet he describes his
terrible experiences, which made such an impression on him that years
afterwards he recurred to them in his great autobiographical Canzon 10.
When Borges' wound was completely healed, the poet's friends intervened
to assist him, and it was arranged that on his formally imploring pardon
Borges should grant it and desist from proceeding with the case. This
was effected on the 13th of February 1553, and on the 7th of March the
king, taking into consideration that Camoens was "a youth and poor and
decided to serve this year in India", confirmed the pardon. He had been
obliged to humble his pride and enlist again, but while he complained of
his troubles he recognized, in his frank, honest way, that his own
mistakes were in part the causes of them.
After bidding good-bye to Catherina for the last time, Camoens set sail
on Palm Sunday, the 24th of March 1553, in the "S. Bento", the flagship
of a fleet of four vessels, under Fernaõ Alvares Cabral. His last words,
he says in a letter, were those of Scipio Africanus, "Ingrata patria,
non possidebis ossa mea".
He relates some of his experiences on board and the events of the voyage
in various sonnets in Elegy iii. and in the _Lusiads_. In those days the
sailors navigated the ships, while the men-at-arms kept the day and
night watches, helped in the cleaning and, in case of necessity, at the
pumps, but the rank of Camoens doubtless saved him from manual work. He
had much time to himself in his six months' voyage and was able to lay
in a store of nautical knowledge, while tempestuous weather off the Cape
of Good Hope led him to conceive the dramatic episode of Adamastor
(_Lusiads_, canto 5). The "S. Bento", the best ship of the fleet,
weathered the Cape safely, and without touching at Mozambique, the
watering-place of ships bound for India, anchored at Goa in September.
It seems probable that the idea of the _Lusiads_ took further shape on
the voyage out, and that Camoens modified his plan; cantos 3 and 4 were
already written, but from an historical he now made it a maritime epic.
The discovery of India became the main theme, while the history of
Portugal was interlaced with it, and the poem ended with the espousals
between Portugal and the ocean, and a prophecy of the future greatness
of the fatherland.
At the time of his arrival Goa boasted 100,000 inhabitants, and with its
magnificent harbour was the commercial capital of the west of India. The
first viceroy had been content with a sea dominion, but the great
Affonso de Albuquerque saw that this was not enough to secure the
supremacy of the Portuguese; recognizing the strategic value of Goa, he
seized it and made it the capital of a land empire, and built fortresses
in every important point through the East. Since his death a succession
of remarkable victories had made the flag of Portugal predominant, but
the enervating climate, the pleasures and the plunder of Asia, began to
tell on the conquerors. Corruption was rife from the governor downwards,
because the ruling ambition was to get rich and return home, and the
hero of one day was a pirate the next. After all, it was only human
nature, for a governorship lasted but three years and Portugal was far
away, so the saying went round--"They are installed the first year, they
rob the second, and then pack up in the third to sail away." Camoens was
well received at first, owing to his talents and bravery, and he found
the life cheap and merry, but having left his country with high ideals,
the injustice and demoralization of manners he found in India soon
disgusted him. He compared Goa to Babylon, and called it "the mother of
villains and the stepmother of honest men."
His first military service in the East took place in November 1553, when
he went with a force led by the viceroy to chastise a petty king on the
Malabar coast. The expedition only lasted two or three months, and after
some trivial combats it returned to Goa. In February of the following
year Camoens accompanied the viceroy's son, D. Fernando de Menezes, who
led an armada to the mouth of the Red Sea and thence up the Arabian
coast to snap up hostile merchantmen and suppress piracy. Next the fleet
went on to Ormuz, as was the custom with these annual cruises, and then
to Bassora, where the poet helped to make some valuable prizes, and
wrote a sonnet--it was ever, with him, "in one hand the sword, in the
other the pen"! Returning to Goa in November he learnt of the deaths of
Prince John, and of his friend and pupil the young D. Antonio de
Noronha, and paid his tribute in a feeling sonnet and eclogue. In
February 1555 he sailed on another pirate hunt and spent six weary
months off Cape Guardafui, varied by a visit to Mombasa and by further
work on his epic, and only got back to Goa in the following September.
His experiences are recorded in the profound and sad 10th Canzon.
Meanwhile Francisco Barreto, an honourable and generous man, had become
governor-general of India in the June of 1555, and, his appointment
being popular, a reign of festivities began in Golden Goa to welcome his
succession, in the course of which Camoens produced his _Filodemo_, a
dramatized novel written in his court days. The same occasion probably
gave birth to the _Disparates na India_ ("Follies of India"), and
certainly to the _Satyra do Torneio_ ("Satire of the Tourney"), which
confirmed the poet's reputation as a sayer of sharp things and gave
considerable umbrage to those whom the cap fitted. However, it was not
the enmities thus aroused but military duty which compelled him to quit
Goa once more in the spring of 1556. He had enlisted in Lisbon for five
years, the usual term, and in compliance with the orders of the governor
he sailed for the Moluccas in April and there fought and versified for
two years, though nearly all is guesswork at this period of his life. He
appears to have spent the time between September 1556 and February 1557
in the island of Ternate, where he wrote Canzon 6, revealing a state of
moral depression similar to that of Canzon 10, and he perhaps visited
Banda and Amboina. In the following year he took part in the military
occupation of Macao, which the emperor of China had presented to the
Portuguese in return for their destruction of a pirate fleet which had
besieged Canton. The poet's five years' term of service was now over,
and he remained at Macao many months waiting for a ship to carry him
back to India. He had made some profit out of the _Mercî de Viagem_,
granted by the governor Barreto to free him from the poverty in which he
habitually lived, and he spent his money royally. At the same time he
continued his epic, working in the grotto which still bears his name.
All seemed to be going smoothly with him until suddenly his fortunes
took a serious turn for the worse. As the result of an intrigue the
captain of the yearly ship from China to India, who acted as governor of
Macao during his stay in port, imprisoned Camoens, and took him on
board with a view of bringing him to trial in India. The ship, however,
was wrecked in October 1559 at the mouth of the Mekong river, and the
poet had to save his life and his _Lusiads_ by swimming to shore, and
though he preserved the six or seven finished cantos of the poem, he
lost everything else. While wandering about on the Cambodian coast
awaiting the monsoon and a vessel to take him to Malacca, he composed
those magnificent stanzas "By the Waters of Babylon," called by Lope de
Vega "the pearl of all poetry," in which he recalls the happy days of
his youth, sighs for Lisbon (Sion) and his love, and mourns his long
exile from home. He got somehow to Malacca, and after a short stay there
reached Goa, still as prisoner, in June 1561. He was straightway lodged
in gaol, where he heard for the first time of the death of Catherina,
and he poured out his grief in the great sonnet, _Alma Minha Gentil_.
The viceroy, D. Constantius de Bragança, had recently returned from
Jafanapatam, bringing as prize a tooth of Buddha, and Camoens approached
him with a splendid epistle in twenty octaves, after the manner of
Horace's ode to Augustus. It failed, however, to hasten the
consideration of his case, but in September the Conde de Redondo, a good
friend, came into office and immediately ordered his release from
prison. His troubles were not yet at an end, however, for one Miguel
Rodriguez Coutinho, a well-known soldier and citizen of Goa who lent
money at usurious rates, thought the opportunity a good one to obtain
repayment of a debt, and had Camoens lodged once more in gaol. As soon
as he came out the poet composed a burlesque roundel satirizing his
persecutor under the nickname of Fios Seccos ("dry threads").
Though very poor he now led an easier, even a pleasant life for a time.
He was able to see his friends D. Vasco de Ataide, D. Francisco de
Almeida, Heitor da Silveira, João Lopes Leitaõ and Francisco de Mello,
all men of family and note. One day he invited them to a banquet, at
which, instead of the usual dishes, each guest was served with a set of
witty verses, and after these had been read out and chaff had gone
round, the food came and they formed a merry party. The poet used his
interest with the viceroy to recommend to him the naturalist Garcia da
Orta, whose _Colloquies_ on the simples and drugs of the East, the first
product of the press in India, appeared in April 1563 with an ode by
Camoens. His life for the next three years is almost a blank, but we
know that he was hard at work finishing his epic, assisted by the advice
of the historian Diogo do Couto, who became its commentator, and further
that the new viceroy, his friend D. Antão de Noronha, nominated him to a
reversion of the factory of Chaul, which, however, never fell into
possession. It is clear from his writings that fourteen years in the
East had told on Camoens. His best friends were dead or scattered, and
he was overwhelmed with _saudade_. His sole ambition was to go home and
print his poem, but he had no money to pay his passage. In September
1567, however, Pedro Barreto was named captain of Mozambique, and
insisted on the poet accompanying him to Sofala, at the same time
lending him two hundred cruzades. It was part of the way home, so
Camoens accepted, but after they reached Mozambique Barreto called in
this money, and his debtor, being unable to pay, was detained there for
two whole years. Here Diogo do Couto found him "so poor that he ate at
the cost of friends, and in order that he might embark for the Kingdom
we friends collected for him the clothes he needed and some gave him to
eat, and that winter he finished perfecting the _Lusiads_ for the press
and wrote much in a book he was making, which he called _Parnaso of Luiz
de Camoes_, a book of much learning, doctrine and philosophy, which was
stolen from him." Thanks to Couto and others, Camoens was able to
liquidate his debt and set sail in November 1569 in the "Santa Clara,"
and he reached Portugal on the 7th of April 1570, after an absence of
seventeen years.
The only wealth he brought with him from India was the MS. of his great
poem, a _"Tesoro del Luso"_ in the words of Cervantes. Moreover, he
returned at an unfortunate moment--one of pest and famine. The great
plague which had killed a quarter, or, as some say, half of the
population of the capital, was declining, but a rigid quarantine
prevailed, and the ship had to lie off Cascaes until the sanitary
authorities allowed her to enter the Tagus. Camoens was welcomed by his
mother, whom he found "very old and very poor"--his father had died at
Goa about 1555--and after a visit to Catherina's tomb, which inspired
the poignant sonnet 337, he set about obtaining the royal licence to
print the _Lusiads_. This was dated the 24th of September 1571 and gave
him a ten years' copyright, and as soon as the book appeared some
friendly and influential hand, perhaps D. Manoel de Portugal, perhaps D.
Francisca de Aragão for whom he had rhymed in the happy days of his
youth, presented the national epic to King Sebastian. Shortly
afterwards, on the 28th of July 1572, the king gave the poet a pension
of fifteen milreis for the term of three years, as a reward for his
services in India and for his poem. It was relatively a considerable
sum, seeing that he had no great military record, and it seems even
generous when we remember that Magellan had only received twelve, and
had left Portugal because King Manoel would not give him a slight
increase. Many functionaries with families had less to live on, and
Camoens's subsistence was secure for the time being, and he could afford
an attendant, so that the legend of the slave Antonio may well be true.
Moreover, he was in the enjoyment of the fame his poem brought him.
Philip II. is said to have read and admired it, and the powerful
minister, Pedro de Alcaçova Carneiro, echoed the general opinion when he
remarked that it had only one defect, in not being short enough to learn
by heart or long enough to have no ending. Tributes came from abroad
too. Tasso wrote and sent Camoens a sonnet in his praise, Fernando de
Herrera celebrated him, and the year 1580 saw the publication of two
Spanish versions, one at Alcalá, the other at Salamanca. His pension
lapsed in 1575, but on the 2nd of August it was renewed for a further
term; owing, however, to a mistake of the treasury officials, Camoens
drew nothing for about a year and a half and fell into dire distress.
This explains the story of Ruy da Camara, who had engaged him to
translate the penitential psalms, and not receiving the version, called
on the poet, who said in excuse that he had no spirit for such work now
that he wanted for everything, and that his slave had asked him for a
penny for fuel and he could not give it.
On the 2nd of June 1578, just before his start for the expedition to
Africa which cost him his life and Portugal her independence, King
Sebastian had renewed the poet's pension for a further period. Though
Camoens had neither the health nor the means to accompany the splendid
train of nobles and courtiers who followed the last crusading monarch to
his doom, he began an epic to celebrate the enterprise, but burnt it
when he heard the news of the battle of Alcacer. Instead, he mourned the
death of his royal benefactor in a magnificent sonnet, and in Elegy x.
reproached the cowardly soldiery who contributed to the rout. On the
31st of January 1580 the cardinal king Henry died, and, foreseeing the
Spanish invasion, Camoens wrote in March to his old friend D. Francisco
de Almeida: "All will see that I so loved my country that I was content
not only to die in her but with her." A great plague had been raging in
Lisbon since the previous year, and the poet, who lay ill in his poor
cottage in the rua de Santa Anna, depressed by the calamities of his
country, fell a victim to it. He was removed to a hospital and there
passed away, unmarried and the last of his line, on the 10th of June
1580. A Carmelite, Frei José Indio, attended him in his last moments and
received the only recognition Camoens could give, his copy of the
_Lusiads_. He wrote afterwards: "What more grievous thing than to see so
great a genius thus unfortunate. I saw him die in a hospital in Lisbon,
without a sheet to cover him, after having triumphed in the East Indies
and sailed 5000 leagues by sea." The house of Vimioso supplied the
winding-sheet, and Camoens was buried with other victims of the plague
in a common grave in the cemetery of Santa Anna. Years later D. Gonçalo
Coutinho erected in the church of that invocation an _in memoriam_ slab
of marble with an inscription, and subsequently epitaphs were added by
other admirers, but the earthquake of 1755 damaged the building, and all
traces of these last acts of homage to genius have disappeared. The
third centenary of the poet's death was made the occasion of a national
apotheosis, and on the 8th of June 1880 some remains, piously believed
to be his, were borne with those of Vasco da Gama to the national
pantheon, the Jeronymos at Belem.
The masterpiece of Camoens, the _Lusiads_, is the _epos_ of discovery.
It is written in hendecasyllabic _ottava rima_, and is divided into ten
cantos containing in all 1102 stanzas. Its argument is briefly as
follows. After an exordium proposing the subject, invoking the Tagus
muses and addressing King Sebastian, Vasco da Gama's ships are shown
sailing up the East African coast on their way to India. At a council of
the gods the fate of the fleet is discussed, and Bacchus promises to
thwart the voyage, while Venus and Mars favour the navigators. They
arrive at Mozambique, where the governor endeavours to destroy them by
stratagem, and, this failing, Bacchus tries other plots against them at
Quiloa and Mombasa which are foiled by Venus. In answer to her appeal,
Jupiter foretells the glorious feats of the Portuguese in the East, and
sends Mercury to direct the voyagers to Melinde, where they are
hospitably received and get a pilot to guide them to India. The local
ruler visits the fleet and asks Gama about his country and its history,
and in response the latter gives an account of the origin of the kingdom
of Portugal, its kings and principal achievements, ending with the
incidents of the voyage out. This recital occupies cantos 3, 4 and 5,
and includes some of the most admired and most powerful episodes in the
poem, e.g. those of Ignez de Castro, King Manoel's dream of the rivers
Ganges and Indus, the speech of the old man of Belem and the apparition
of Adamastor off the Cape of Good Hope. Canto 6 describes the crossing
of the Indian Ocean from Melinde to Calicut and a fresh hostile attempt
on the part of Bacchus. He descends to Neptune's palace, and at a
council of the sea-gods it is resolved to order Aeolus to loose the
winds against the Portuguese, but the tempest is quelled by Venus and
her nymphs in answer to Gama's prayer, and the morning light reveals the
Ghats of India. Just before the storm, occurs the night scene in which
Velloso entertains his shipmates with the story of the Twelve of
England, another of the famous episodes. Canto 7 is taken up with the
arrival at Calicut, a description of the country and the details of
Gama's reception by the raja. The governor of the city visits the fleet
and inquires about the pictures on their banners, whereupon Paulo da
Gama, Vasco's brother, tells him of the deeds of the early Portuguese
kings. Meanwhile Bacchus, not to be baulked, appears to a priest in the
guise of Mahomet, and stirs up the Moslems against the Christian
adventurers, with the result that the raja charges Gama with being a
leader of convicts and pirates. To this the captain makes a spirited
reply and gets his despatch, but he has new snares to avoid and further
difficulties to overcome before he is finally able to set sail on the
return voyage. Pitying their toils, Venus determines to give the
voyagers repose and pleasure on their way home, and directs their course
to an enchanted island, which is described in canto 9, in the longest
and perhaps the most beautiful episode in the poem. On landing they are
received by the goddess and her nymphs, and general joy ensues,
heightened by banquets and amorous play. In a prophetic song, the siren
tells of the exploits of the Portuguese viceroys, governors and captains
in India until the time of D John de Castro, after which Tethys ascends
a mountain with Gama, shows him the spheres after the system of Ptolemy
and the globe of Asia and Africa, and describes the Indian life of St
Thomas the apostle. Finally the navigators quit the island and reach
Lisbon, and an epilogue contains a patriotic exhortation to King
Sebastian and visions of glory, which ended so disastrously at the
battle of Alcacer.
Though the influence of Camoens on Portuguese has been exaggerated, it
was very considerable, and he so far fixed the written language that at
the present day it is commonly and not inaccurately called "the language
of Camoens." The _Lusiads_ is the most successful modern epic cast in
the ancient mould, and it has done much to preserve the corporate life
of the Portuguese people and to keep alive the spirit of nationality in
times of adversity like the "Spanish Captivity" and the Napoleonic
invasion. Even now it forms a powerful bond between the mother-country
and her potentially mighty daughter-nation across the Atlantic, the
United States of Brazil. The men of the Renaissance saw nothing
incongruous in that mixture of paganism and Christianity which is found
in the _Lusiads_ as in Ariosto, though some modern critics, like
Voltaire, consider it a grave artistic defect in the poem. The fact that
the _Lusiads_ is written in a little-known language, and its intensely
national and almost exclusively historical character, undoubtedly
militate against a right estimate of its value, now that Portugal, once
a world power, has long ceased to hold the East in fee or to guide the
destinies of Europe. But though political changes may and do react on
literary appreciations, the _Lusiads_ remains none the less a great
poem, breathing the purest religious fervour, love of country and spirit
of chivalry, with splendid imaginative and descriptive passages full of
the truest and deepest poetry. The structure is Virgilian, but the whole
conception is the author's own, while the style is natural and noble,
the diction nearly always correct and elegant, and the verse, as a rule,
sonorous and full of harmony.
In addition to his epic, Camoens wrote sonnets, canzons, odes, sextines,
eclogues, elegies, octaves, roundels, letters and comedies. The roundels
include _cartas, motes, voltas, cantigas, trovas, pastorals_ and
_endechas_. In the opinion of many competent judges Camoens only attains
his true stature in his lyrics; and a score of his sonnets, two or three
of the canzons, eclogues and elegies, and the Babylonian roundels will
bear comparison with any composition of the same kind that other
literatures can show. Referring to the _Lusiads_, A. von Humboldt calls
Camoens a "great maritime painter," but in his best lyrics he is a
thinker as well as a poet, and when free from the trammels of the epic
and inherited respect for classical traditions, he reveals a personality
so virile and deep, a philosophy so broad and human, a vision so wide,
and a form and style so nearly perfect, as not only to make him the
foremost of Peninsular bards but to entitle him to a place in that small
company of universal poets of the first rank.
The oldest and most authentic portrait of Camoens appeared in 1624 with
his life, by Manoel Severim de Faria. It is a kitcat and shows the poet
in armour wearing a laurel crown; his right hand holds a pen, his left
rests on a copy of the _Lusiads_, while a shield above shows the family
arms, a dragon rising from between rocks. The likeness exhibits a Gothic
or northern type, and the tradition of his red beard and blue eyes
confirms it. Except for an ode, sonnet and elegy, all Camoens's lyrics
were published posthumously.
AUTHORITIES.--The most modern and most critical biographies are those
of Dr Theophilo Braga, _Camões, epoca e Vide_ (Oporto, 1907), and of
Dr Wilhelm Storck, _Luis de Camões Leben_ (Paderborn, 1890), while the
most satisfactory edition of the complete works is due to the Visconde
de Juromenha (6 vols., Lisbon, 1860-1869), though it contains some
spurious matter. While rejecting without good reason many of the
traditions accepted by Juromenha in his life of the poet, Storck
embroiders on his own account, and Braga must be preferred to him. Two
volumes of Innocencio da Silva's _Diccionario Bibliographico
Portuguez_ (14 and 15) are entirely devoted to Camoens and Camoniana,
the second of them dealing fully with the tercentenary celebrations.
Among modern Portuguese studies of the national epic the most
important are perhaps _Camões e a Renascença em Portugal_, by Oliveira
Martins, and _Camões e o Sentimento Nacional_, by Dr T. Braga (Oporto,
1891). The latter volume contains useful information on the various
editions of Camoens, with an account of the texts and remarks on his
plagiarists. Very few poets have been so often translated, and a list
and estimate of the English translations of the _Lusiads_ from the
time of Sir Richard Fanshawe (1655) downwards, will be found in Sir
Richard Burton's _Camoens: His Life and His Lusiads_, which,
notwithstanding some errors, is a most informing book, and the result
of a curious similarity of temperament and experience between master
and disciple. Burton translated the _Lusiads_ (2 vols., London, 1880)
and the _Lyricks_ (sonnets, canzons, odes and sextines; 2 vols.,
London, 1884), and left a version of all the minor works in MS. The
accurate and readable version of the epic by Mr J.J. Aubertin, with
the Portuguese text opposite, has gone through two editions (2nd ed.,
2 vols., London, 1884), and there is a version of seventy of the
sonnets, accompanied by the Portuguese text, by the same author
(London, 1881). (E. Pr.)
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 1 - "Calhoun" to "Camoens"" ***
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