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The Nuttall encyclopædia

Chapter 6: C
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A concise single-volume reference that condenses over sixteen thousand terse articles into alphabetically arranged entries across history, biography, geography, literature, philosophy, religion, science, and art. Entries provide brief definitions, dates, population figures where relevant, and notes on significance for people, places, events, institutions, mythologies, and cultural practices. Organized for instant consultation rather than exhaustive treatment, it groups and classifies material to aid quick orientation on unfamiliar topics, from celestial bodies and festivals to schools of thought and fictional characters, serving general readers, students, and professionals who need succinct factual summaries and pointers for further inquiry.


Butt, Clara, operatic singer, born in Sussex; made her début in London at the Albert Hall in the "Golden Legend," and in "Orfeo" at the Lyceum, ever since which appearances she has been much in demand as a singer; b. 1872.


Butt, Isaac, Irish patriot, distinguished for his scholarship at Dublin University; became editor of the Dublin University Magazine; entered Parliament, and at length took the lead of the "Home Rule" party, but could not control it, and retired (1813-1879).


Buttmann, Philipp, a German philologist, born at Frankfort-on-the-Main; professor of Philology in Berlin; best known by his "Greek Grammar" (1764-1829).


Buxton, a high-lying town in Derbyshire, noted for its calcareous and chalybeate springs, and a resort for invalids; is also famous for its rock crystals, stalactite cavern, and fine scenery.


Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell, a philanthropist, born in Essex, a tall man of energetic character; entered life as a brewer, and made his fortune; was conspicuous for his interest in benevolent movements, such as the amelioration of criminal law and the abolition of slavery; represented Weymouth in Parliament from 1818 to 1837; was made a baronet in 1840; he was Wilberforce's successor (1786-1845).


Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell, once governor of S. Australia, grandson of the preceding; educated at Harrow and Cambridge; a Liberal in politics, and member for King's Lynn from 1865 to 1868; a philanthropist and Evangelical Churchman; b. 1837.


Buxtorf, a celebrated Hebraist, born in Westphalia, member of a family of Orientalists; professor of Hebrew for 39 years at Basle; was known by the title, "Master of the Rabbis" (1564-1629).


Byblis, in the Greek mythology a daughter of Miletus, in love with her brother Caunus, whom she pursued into far lands, till, worn out with sorrow, she was changed into a fountain.


Byng, George, Viscount Torrington, admiral, favoured the Prince of Orange, and won the navy over to his interest; commanded the squadron that took Gibraltar in 1704: conquered the Spaniards off Cape Passaro; was made First Lord of the Admiralty in 1727, an office he held till his death (1663-1733).


Byng, John, admiral, fourth son of the preceding; having failed to compel the French to raise the blockade of Minorca, was recalled, in deference to popular clamour, and being tried and condemned as guilty of treason, was shot at Portsmouth, a fate it is now believed he did not deserve, and which he bore like a man and a Christian (1704-1757).


Byrom, John, poet and stenographer, born near Manchester; invented a system of shorthand, now superseded, and which he had the sole right of teaching for 21 years; contributed as "John Shadow" to the Spectator; author of the pastoral, "My Time, O ye Muses, was Happily Spent"; his poetry satirical and genial (1692-1763).


Byron, George Gordon, sixth Lord, an English poet, born in London, son of Captain Byron of the Guards, and Catherine Gordon of Gight, Aberdeenshire; spent his boyhood at Aberdeen under his mother, now a widow, and was educated at Harrow and Cambridge, spending, when at the latter, his vacations in London, where his mother had taken a house; wrote "Hours of Idleness," a poor first attempt, which called forth a severe criticism in the Edinburgh Review, and which he satirised in "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," and soon afterwards left England and spent two years in foreign travel; wrote first part of "Childe Harold," "awoke one morning and found himself famous"; produced the "Giaour," "Bride of Abydos," "Hebrew Melodies," and other work. In his school days he had fallen in love with Mary Chaworth, but she had not returned his affection, and in 1815 he married Miss Millbank, an heiress, who in a year left him never to return, when a storm raised against him on account of his private life drove him from England, and he never came back; on the Continent, moved from place to place, finished "Childe Harold," completed several short poems, and wrote "Don Juan"; threw himself into revolutionary movements in Italy and Greece, risked his all in the emancipation of the latter, and embarking in it, died at Missolonghi in a fit, at the age of 36. His poems, from the character of the passion that breathed in them, made a great impression on his age, but the like interest in them is happily now passing away, if not already past; the earth is looking green again once more, under the breath, it is believed, of a new spring-time, or anyhow, the promise of such. See "Organic Filaments" in "Sartor Resartus" (1788-1824).


Byron, Henry James, dramatist, born in Manchester, wrote "Our Boys" (1834-1884).


Byron, John, naval officer, grandfather of the poet, nicknamed from his misfortunes "Foul-weather Jack"; accompanied Anson in his voyage round the world, but was wrecked in his ship the Wager; suffered almost unexampled hardships, of which he wrote a classical account on his safe return home; he rose to the rank of admiral, and commanded the squadron in the West Indies during the American war; died in England (1723-1786).


Byrsa, a celebrated citadel of Carthage.


Byzantine Art, a decorative style of art patronised by the Romans after the seat of empire was removed to the East; it has been described by Mr. Fairholt as "an engraftment of Oriental elaboration of detail upon classic forms, ending in their debasement."


Byzantine Empire, called also the Eastern, the Lower, or the Greek Empire; dates from 395 A.D., when, by the death of Theodosius, the Roman empire was divided between his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius, the Eastern section falling to the share of the former, who established the seat of his government at Byzantium; the empire included Syria, Asia Minor, Pontus, Egypt in Africa, and Ancient Greece, and it lasted with varied fortune for ten centuries after the accession of Arcadius, till Constantinople was taken by the Turks in 1453.


Byzantium, the ancient name of Constantinople; founded by Greek colonists in 667 B.C.


C


Caaba, an ancient Arab temple, a small square structure in the grand mosque of Mecca, with a mysterious black stone, probably an aerolite, built in it, on which all pilgrims who visit the shrine imprint a kiss; "the Keblah of all Moslem, the eyes of innumerable praying men being turned towards it from all the quarters of the compass five times a day."


Cabal`, a secret intriguing faction in a State, a name applied to a junto of five ministers of Charles II. in power from 1668 to 1673, the initials of whose names go to make up the word; their names were Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington, and Lauderdale; derived from Cabala (q. v.).


Cab`ala, a secret science alleged to have been divinely imparted to Moses and preserved by tradition, by means of which the Rabbis affected to interpret the pretended mystic sense of the words, letters, and very accents of the Hebrew Scriptures, a science which really owes its existence to a dissatisfaction in the rabbinical mind with the traditional literal interpretation, and a sense that there is more in Scripture than meets the ear. The name comes from a Hebrew word suggesting "to receive," and denotes "that which is received" or tradition.


Caballero, Fernan, the nom de plume of Cecilia Boehl, a popular Spanish authoress, born in Switzerland, of German descent; a collector of folk tales; wrote charmingly; told stories of Spanish, particularly Andalusian, peasant life (1797-1877).


Cabanel, Alexandre, a French painter, born at Montpellier (1828-1889).


Cabanis, Pierre Jean George, a celebrated French medical man, born in Cosnac, in the dep. of Charente Inférieure, a pronounced materialist in philosophy, and friend of Mirabeau; attended him in his last illness, and published an account of it; his materialism was of the grossest; treated the soul as a nonentity; and held that the brain secretes thought just as the liver secretes bile (1757-1808).


Cabel, a celebrated painter of the Dutch school, born at Ryswick (1631-1698).


Cabet, Étienne, a French communist, born in Dijon; a leader of the Carbonari; provoked prosecution, and fled to England; wrote a history of the First Revolution, in which he defended the Jacobins; author of the "Voyage en Icarie," in description of a communistic Utopia, which became the text-book of a communistic sect called "Icarians," a body of whom he headed to carry out his schemes in America, first in Texas and then at Nauvoo, but failed; died at St. Louis broken-hearted (1788-1856).


Cabi`ri, certain mysterious demonic beings to whom mystic honours were paid in Lemnos and elsewhere in Greece, in connection with nature-worship, and especially with that of Demeter and Dionysus (q. v.).


Cable, George Washington, a journalist, born at New Orleans, has written interestingly on, and created an interest in, Creole life in America; b. 1844.


Cabot, Giovanni, a Venetian pilot, born at Genoa, settled in Bristol, entered the service of Henry VII., and discovered part of the mainland of N. America, at Labrador, about 1497: d. 1498.


Cabot, Sebastian, son of the preceding, born either in Venice or Bristol; accompanied his father to N. America; sought service as a navigator, first in Spain then in England, but failed; returned to Spain; attempted under Charles V. to plant colonies in Brazil with no success, for which he was imprisoned and banished; was the first to notice the variation of the magnetic needle, and to open up to England trade with Russia (1474-1557).


Cabral, Pedro Alvarez, a Portuguese navigator, sailing for the Indies, drifted on the coast of Brazil, on which he planted the Portuguese flag, 1500, and of which he is accounted by some the discoverer, continued his course, and established a factory at Calicut in 1501 (1460-1526).


Cabre`ra, one of the Balearic Isles, used as a penal settlement by Spain, produces wild olives.


Cabrera, a Spanish general, born at Tortosa, Catalonia, a zealous supporter of the claims of Don Carlos, took up arms in his behalf; died in England; he was an unscrupulous adversary (1810-1877).


Cabul`, or Kabul (50), cap. of a province of the name in Afghanistan, in a mild climate, on an elevated plateau of great fertility, 6000 ft. in height, on the high route between Central Asia and the Punjab, a great highway of trade, and a depôt for European goods.


Caccia, Italian fresco-painter, did altar-pieces; his best work, "Deposition from the Cross," at Novara; d. 1625.


Caceras (350), a Spanish province in the N. of Estremadura; the name also of its capital (14), famous for its bacon and sausages, as the province is for cattle-rearing.


Cachar (313), a great tea-growing district in Assam.


Cache, name given in Canada to a hole in the ground for hiding provisions when they prove cumbersome to carry.


Cachet, Lettre de, a warrant issued in France before the Revolution, under the royal seal, for the arrest and imprisonment of a person, often obtained to gratify private ends; abolished in 1790.


Ca`cus, a mythological brigand of gigantic stature who occupied a cave in Mount Aventine, represented by Virgil as breathing smoke and flames of fire; stole the oxen of Hercules as he was asleep, dragging them to his cave tail foremost to deceive the owner; strangled by Hercules in his rage at the deception quite as much as the theft.


Cadastre, a register of the landed proprietors of a district, and the extent of their estates, with maps illustrative called Cadastral Maps.


Cade, Jack, an Irish adventurer, headed an insurrection in Kent, in 1450, in the reign of Henry VI.; encamped with his following on Blackheath; demanded of the king redress of grievances; was answered by an armed force, which he defeated; entered the city, could not prevent his followers from plundering; the citizens retaliating, he had to flee, but was overtaken and slain.


Cademosto, a Venetian in the service of Portugal, discovered the Cape de Verde Islands in 1457; wrote the first book giving an account of modern voyages, published posthumously (1432-1480).


Cadiz (62), one of the chief commercial ports in Spain, in Andalusia; founded by the Phoenicians about 1100 B.C.; called Gades by the Romans; at the NW. extremity of the Isle of Leon, and separated from the rest of the island by a channel crossed by bridges; it is 7 m. from Xeres and 50 m. from Gibraltar, and carries on a large export trade.


Cad`mus, a semi-mythological personage, founder of Thebes, in Boeotia, to whom is ascribed the introduction of the Greek alphabet from Phoenicia and the invention of writing; in the quest of his sister Europa, was told by the oracle at Delphi to follow a cow and build a city where she lay down; arrived at the spot where the cow lay down, he sent, with a view to its sacrifice, his companions to a well guarded by a dragon, which devoured them; slew the dragon; sowed its teeth, which sprang up into a body of armed men, who speared each other to death, all but five, who, the story goes, became the forefathers of Thebes.


Cadoudal, Georges, a brave man, chief of the Chouans (q. v.), born in Brittany, the son of a farmer; tried hard and took up arms to restore the Bourbons in the teeth of the Republic, but was defeated; refused to serve under Bonaparte, who would fain have enlisted him, having seen in him "a mind cast in the true mould"; came over from London, whither he had retired, on a secret mission from Charles X.; was suspected of evil designs against the person of Bonaparte; arrested, and, after a short trial, condemned and executed, having confessed his intention to overthrow the Republic and establish Louis XVIII. on the throne (1769-1804).


Caduceus, the winged rod of Hermes, entwined with two serpents; originally a simple olive branch; was in the hands of the god possessed of magical virtues; it was the symbol of peace.


Cædmon, an English poet of the 7th century, the fragment of a hymn by whom, preserved by Bede, is the oldest specimen extant of English poetry; wrote a poem on the beginning of things at the call of a voice from heaven, saying as he slept, "Cædmon, come sing me some song"; and thereupon he began to sing, as Stopford Brooke reports, the story of Genesis and Exodus, many other tales in the sacred Scriptures, and the story of Christ and the Apostles, and of heaven and hell to come.


Caen (45), a fine old Norman town, capital of Calvados, about 80 m. SE. of Cherbourg; lace the chief manufacture; the burial-place of William the Conqueror, and the native place of Charlotte Corday; it is a well-built town, and has fine old public buildings, a large library, and a noble collection of pictures.


Caer`leon, a small old town in Monmouthshire, on the Usk, 2½ m. NE. of Newport; celebrated by Tennyson in connection with Arthurian legend; it is a very ancient place, and contains relics of Roman times.


Cæsalpinus, Italian natural philosopher, born at Arezzo; was professor of botany at Pisa; was forerunner of Harvey and Linnæus; discovered sex in plants, and gave hints on their classification (1519-1603).


Cæsar, name of an old Roman family claiming descent from the Trojan Æneas, which the emperors of Rome from Augustus to Nero of right inherited, though the title was applied to succeeding emperors and to the heirs-apparent of the Western and the Eastern Empires; it survives in the titles of the Kaiser of Germany and the Czar of Russia.


Cæsar, Caius Julius, pronounced the greatest man of antiquity, by birth and marriage connected with the democratic party; early provoked the jealousy of Sulla, then dictator, and was by an edict of proscription against him obliged to quit the city; on the death of Sulla returned to Rome; was elected to one civic office after another, and finally to the consulship. United with Pompey and Crassus in the First Triumvirate (60 B.C.); was appointed to the government of Gaul, which he subdued after nine years to the dominion of Rome; his successes awoke the jealousy of Pompey, who had gone over to the aristocratic side, and he was recalled; this roused Cæsar, and crossing the Rubicon with his victorious troops, he soon saw all Italy lying at his feet (49 B.C.); pursued Pompey, who had fled to Greece, and defeated him at Pharsalia (48 B.C.); was thereupon elected dictator and consul for five years, distinguishing himself in Egypt and elsewhere; returned to Rome (47 B.C.); conceived and executed vast schemes for the benefit of the city, and became the idol of its citizens; when he was assassinated on the Ides (the 15th) of March, 44 B.C., in the fifty-sixth year of his age; b.100 B.C.


Cæsarea, a Syrian seaport, 30 m. N. of Joppa, built in honour of Augustus Cæsar by Herod the Great, now in ruins, though a place of note in the days of the Crusades. Also C. Philippi, at the source of the Jordan, whence Christ, on assuring Himself that His disciples were persuaded of His divine sonship, turned to go up to Jerusalem, and so by His sacrifice perfect their faith in Him.


Cagliari (44), the cap of Sardinia, and the chief port, on the S. coast, was a colony of Jews from the time of Tiberius till 1492, whence they were expelled by the Spaniards; lies on the slopes of a hill, the summit of which is 300 ft. high, and is on the site of an ancient Carthaginian town.


Cagliari, Paolo, proper name of Paul Veronese (q. v.).


Cagliostro, Count Alessandro di, assumed name of an arch-impostor, his real name being Giuseppe Balsamo, born in Palermo, of poor parents; early acquired a smattering of chemistry and medicine, by means of which he perpetrated the most audacious frauds, which, when detected in one place were repeated with even more brazen effrontery in another; married a pretty woman named Lorenza Feliciani, who became an accomplice; professed supernatural powers, and wrung large sums from his dupes wherever they went, after which they absconded to Paris and lived in extravagance; here he was thrown into the Bastille for complicity in the Diamond Necklace affair (q. v.); on his wife turning informer, he was consigned to the tender mercies of the Inquisition, and committed to the fortress of San Leone, where he died at 52, his wife having retired into a convent (1743-1795). See Carlyle's "Miscellanies" for an account of his character and career.


Cagnola, Luigi, Marquis of, Italian architect, born at Milan; his greatest work, the "Arco della Pace," of white marble, in his native city, the execution of which occupied him over 30 years (1762-1833).


Cagots, a race in the SW. of France of uncertain origin; treated as outcasts in the Middle Ages, owing, it has been supposed, to some taint of leprosy, from which, it is argued, they were by their manner of life in course of time freed.


Cahors (13), a town in the dep. of Lot, in the S. of France, 71 m. N. of Toulouse, with interesting Roman and other relics of antiquity.


Caiaphas, the High-Priest of the Jews who condemned Christ to death as a violator of the law of Moses.


Caiapos, a wild savage race in the woods of Brazil, hard to persuade to reconcile themselves to a settled life.


Caicos, a group of small islands connected with the Bahamas, but annexed to Jamaica since 1874.


Caille, Louis de la, astronomer, studied at the Cape of Good Hope, registered stars of the Southern Hemisphere, numbering 9000, before unknown; calculated the table of eclipses for 1800 years (1713-1762).


Caillet, a chief of the Jacquerie, a peasant insurrection in France in 1358, taken prisoner and tortured to death.


Cailliaud, French mineralogist, born in Nantes, travelled in Egypt, Nubia, and Ethiopia, collecting minerals and making observations (1787-1869).


Caillié, René, French traveller in Africa, born in Poitou, the first European to penetrate as far as Timbuctoo, in Central Africa, which he did in 1828; the temptation was a prize of 10,000 marks offered by the Geographical Society of Paris, which he received with a pension of 1000 besides (1799-1839).


Cain, according to Genesis, the first-born of Adam and Eve, and therefore of the race, and the murderer of his brother Abel.


Cain, Thomas Henry Hall, eminent novelist, born in Cheshire, of Manx blood; began life as architect and took to journalism; author of a number of novels bearing on Manx life, such as the "Deemster" and the "Manxman"; his most recent novel, the "Christian," his greatest but most ambiguous work, and much challenged in England, though less so in America; it has been translated into most of the languages of Europe, where the verdict is divided; b. 1853.


Ça ira, "It will go on," a popular song in France during the Revolution, said to have been a phrase of Benjamin Franklin's, which he was in the habit of using in answering inquirers about the progress of the American revolution by his friends in France.


Caird, Edward, brother of the following, interpreter of Kant and Hegel; succeeded Jowett as master of Balliol; has written on the "Evolution of Religion," and edited the lectures and sermons of his brother; b. 1825.


Caird, John, an eloquent Scotch preacher, born at Greenock, Principal of Glasgow University, famous for a sermon entitled "The Religion of Common Life" preached before the Queen at Crathie in 1855; made a special study of the philosophy of religion, and wrote eloquently on it, more especially the Christian version of it (1820-1898).


Cairn, a heap of stones often, though not always, loosely thrown together, generally by way of a sepulchral monument, and it would seem sometimes in execration of some foul deed.


Cairnes, John Elliot, a political economist of the school of John Stuart Mill with modifications, born in co. Louth, Ireland; professor successively in Dublin, Galway, and London; author of works on political economy (1823-1875).


Cairngorm, a yellowish-brown variety of rock-crystal, so called from being found, among other places, on one of the Scottish Grampians, in Aberdeenshire, so named.


Cairns, Hugh MacCalmont, Earl, lawyer and politician, born in co. Down, Ireland; called to the English bar; entered Parliament, representing Belfast; became Lord Chancellor under Disraeli's government in 1868, and again in 1874; took an active interest in philanthropic movements (1819-1885).


Cairo (400), cap. of Egypt, and largest city in Africa, on the right bank of the Nile, just above the Delta, 120 m. SE. of Alexandria, covers an extensive area on a broad sandy plain, and presents a strange agglomeration of ancient and modern elements. The modern city is the fourth founded in succession on the same site, and remains of the former cities are included in it, old walls, gateways, narrow streets, and latticed houses, palaces, and 400 mosques. These, though much spoiled by time and tourists, still represent the brightest period of Saracenic art. The most modern part of the city consists of broad boulevards, with European-built villas, hotels, &c., and has all the advantages of modern civic appliances. There is a rich museum, and university with 2000 students. Extensive railway communication and the Nile waterway induce a large transport trade, but there is little industry. The population is mixed; the townsfolk are half Arab, half Egyptian, while Copts, Turks, Jews, Italians, and Greeks are numerous; it is a centre of Mohammedan learning, and since 1882 the centre of British influence in Egypt.


Caithness (37), a level, except in the W. and S., bare, and somewhat barren, county in the NE. of Scotland, 43 m. by 28 m., with a bold and rocky coast; has flagstone quarries; fishing the chief industry, of which Wick is the chief seat; the inhabitants are to a great extent of Scandinavian origin, and English, not Gaelic, is the language spoken.


Cajetan, Cardinal, general of the Dominicans, born in Gaeta; represented the Pope at the Diet of Augsburg, and tried in vain to persuade Luther to recant; wrote a Commentary on the Bible, and on the "Summa Theologiæ" of Aquinas.


Calabar`, a district under British protection on the coast of Upper Guinea, the country flat and the climate unhealthy.


Calabar Bean, seed of an African bean, employed in medicine, known as the Ordeal Bean, as, being poisonous, having been used to test the innocence of people charged with witchcraft.


Calabria (1,500), a fertile prov. embraced in the SW. peninsula of Italy, and traversed by the Apennines, with tunny and anchovy fisheries; yields grains and fruits, and a variety of minerals; is inhabited by a race of somewhat fiery temper; is much subject to earthquakes.


Calais (56), a fortified seaport in France, on the Strait of Dover, where it is 21 m. across; was in possession of the English from 1347 to 1558, and the last town held by them on French soil; is the chief landing-place for travellers from England to the Continent, and has considerable export trade, as well as cotton and tulle manufactures.


Calamy, Edmund, a Presbyterian divine, born in London; favourable to Royalty, but zealously opposed to Episcopacy, against which he vigorously protested with his pen; opposed the execution of Charles I. and the protectorate of Cromwell; made chaplain to Charles II. after the Restoration; refused a bishopric, which he could not, on conscientious grounds, accept (1600-1666).


Calamy, Edmund, a grandson of the preceding, an eminent Nonconformist minister in London, on whom, for the high esteem in which he was held, honorary degrees were conferred by the Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen universities (1671-1732).


Calas, Jean, a tradesman of Toulouse, whose son committed suicide, and who was charged with murdering him to prevent his going over to the Catholic Church; was tried, convicted, and sentenced to torture and death on the wheel (1762); after which his property was confiscated, and his children compelled to embrace the Catholic faith, while the widow escaped into Switzerland. Voltaire, to his immortal honour, took up her case, proved to the satisfaction of the legal authorities in France the innocence of the victims, got the process revised, and Louis XV. to grant a sum of money out of the royal bounty for the benefit of the family.


Calave`ras, an inland county of California, E. of San Francisco, rich in minerals, with copper and gold mines.


Calchas, the soothsayer who accompanied Agamemnon to the siege of Troy; enjoined the sacrifice of Iphigenia to propitiate the gods, foretold the length or the war, and advised the construction of the wooden horses, a device by means of which Troy was surprised and taken.


Calculus, Differential and Integral, in mathematics, is the method by which we discuss the properties of continuously varying quantities. The nature of the method and the necessity for it may be indicated by a simple example; e. g. the motion of a train in a track, or the motion of a planet in its orbit. If we know the successive positions of the moving body at successive short intervals of time, the rules of the differential calculus enable us to calculate the speed, the change of speed, the change of direction of motion (i. e. the curvature of the path), and the effective force acting on the body. Conversely, given the force at every point, and the initial position and velocity, the rules of the integral calculus assist us in calculating the position and velocity of the body at any future time. Expressed somewhat crudely, the differential calculus has to do with the differentials (increments or decrements) of varying quantities; while the integral calculus is a process of summation or integration of these differentials.


Calcutta (900), on the left bank of the Hooghly, the largest and westernmost branch of the Ganges delta, about 80 m. from the sea; is the capital of Bengal and the Indian Empire, and the residence of the Governor-General; the Government buildings, Bishop's College (now an engineering school) High Court, town hall, bank, museum, university, St. Paul's cathedral, and many other English Buildings have earned for it the name "city of palaces"; but the native quarters, though being improved, are still squalid, the houses of mud or bamboo; an esplanade, numerous quays, an excellent water-supply, gas, and tramway services, add to the amenities; there are extensive dockyards, warehouses, iron-works, timber yards, and jute mills; extensive railway and steamboat communications make it the chief emporium of commerce in Asia; ships of 5000 tons enter the docks; founded in 1686, Calcutta was captured by Surajah Dowlah, and the "Black Hole" massacre perpetrated in 1756; became the capital of India in 1772, and has suffered frequently from cyclones; the population are two-thirds Hindus, less than a third Mohammedan, and 4½ per cent. Christian.


Caldecott, Randolph, artist, born in Chester; exercised his art chiefly in book illustrations, which were full of life, and instinct with a kindly, graceful humour; though professionally untrained, his abilities as an artist were promptly and generously recognised by the Academy; he suffered from ill-health, and died in Florida, whither he had gone to recruit (1846-1886).


Calder, Sir Robert, British naval officer; served bravely in several naval engagements; was tried by court-martial, and reprimanded for not following up a victory which he had gained, a sentence which was afterwards found to be unjust; attained afterwards the rank of admiral (1745-1818).


Calderon de la Barca, the great Spanish dramatist, born at Madrid; entered the army, and served in Italy and Flanders, producing the while dramas which were received with great enthusiasm; took holy orders, and became a canon of Toledo, but to the last continued to write poems and plays; he was a dramatist of the first order, and has been ranked by the more competent critics among the foremost of the class in both ancient and modern times (1600-1681).


Calderwood, David, a Scotch ecclesiastic, born at Dalkeith; became minister of Crailing; first imprisoned, and then banished for resisting the attempts of James VI. to establish Episcopacy in Scotland; wrote a book, "Altare Damascenum," in Holland, whither he had retired, being a searching criticism of the claims of the Episcopacy; returned on the death of the king, and wrote a "History of the Kirk" (1575-1650).


Caledonia, the Roman name for Scotland N. of the Wall of Antoninus, since applied poetically to the whole of Scotland.


Caledonian Canal, a canal across the NW. of Scotland, executed by Telford, for the passage of ships between the Atlantic and the North Sea, 60 m. long, 40 m. of which consist of natural lakes; begun 1803, finished 1823; cost £1,300,000; has 28 locks; was constructed for the benefit of coasting vessels to save the risks they encountered in the Pentland Firth.


Calends, the first day of the Roman month, so called as the day on which the feast days and unlucky days of the month were announced.


Cal`gary, the capital of Alberta, in NW. territory of Canada.


Calhoun, John Caldwell, an American statesman, born in S. Carolina, of Irish descent; all through his public life in high civic position; leader of "the States rights" movement, in vindication of the doctrine that the Union was a mere compact, and any State had a right to withdraw from its conditions; and champion of the slave-holding States, regarding slavery as an institution fraught with blessing to all concerned. His chief work is a treatise on the "Nature of Government" (1789-1850).


Caliban, a slave in Shakespeare's "Tempest," of the grossest animality of nature.


Calicut (66), chief town on the Malabar coast, in the Madras Presidency of India, the first port at which Vasco da Gama landed in 1498, whence the cotton cloth first imported from the place got the name "calico."


California (1,208), the most south-westerly State in the American Union; occupies the Pacific seaboard between Oregon and Mexico, and is bounded landward by Nevada and Arizona. It is the second largest State, larger by a quarter than the United Kingdom. In the N. the rainfall is excessive, and winters severe; in the S. there is little rain, and a delightful climate. Wheat is the most important product; the grape and all manner of fruits grow luxuriantly. Mineral wealth is great: it is the foremost State for gold and quicksilver; lead, silver, copper, iron, sulphur, coal, and many other minerals abound. The industries include brandy and sugar manufactures, silk-growing, shipbuilding, and fishing. All products are exported, eastward by the great Central, Union, and Southern Pacific railroads; and seaward, the chief port being San Francisco, the largest city, as Sacramento is the capital of the State. The Yosemite Valley, in the Sierra Nevada, through which falls the Merced River, is the most wonderful gorge in the world. Captured from Mexico in 1847, the discovery of gold next year raised great excitement, and brought thousands of adventurers from all over the world. Constituted a State in 1850, the original lawlessness gradually gave way to regular administration, and progress has since been steady and rapid.


California, Lower (30), an extensive, mountainous, dry, and scarcely habitable peninsula, stretching southward from the State, in Mexican territory; agriculture is carried on in some of the valleys, and pearl and whale fisheries support some coast towns.


Caligula, Roman emperor from A.D. 37 to 41, youngest son of Germanicus and Agrippina, born at Antium; having ingratiated himself with Tiberius, was named his successor; ruled with wisdom and magnanimity at first, while he lived in the unbridled indulgence of every lust, but after an illness due to his dissipation, gave way to the most atrocious acts of cruelty and impiety; would entertain people at a banquet and then throw them into the sea; wished Rome had only one head, that he might shear it off at a blow; had his horse installed as consul in mockery of the office; declared himself a god, and had divine honours paid to him, till a conspiracy was formed against him on his return from an expedition into Gaul, when he was assassinated (12-41).


Caliph, the title adopted by the successors of Mahomet, as supreme in both civil and religious matters. The principal caliphates are: (1) the Caliphate of the East, established by Abubekr at Mecca, transferred to Bagdad by the Abassides (632-1258); (2) the Caliphate of Cordova, established at Cordova by Abderrahman (756-1031); (3) the Caliphate of Egypt, established by the Fatimites (909-1171). It was at Bagdad that Moslem civilisation achieved its final development.