PAGE 5000 horsemen, and slain after a desperate resistance, Hosein himself being the last to fall. 199. Fort St. David. -Near Gudalur, a short distance south of Pondicherry. It was once the British headquarters on the Coromandel Coast. 201. Captain Bobadil.-A character in one of Ben Jonson's plays (Every Man in his own Humour), who was at once a braggart and a coward. 202. (1) Lochiel's Warning.-The 'wizard' in this poem is supposed to have the gift of second sight, that is to say, the unenviable power of seeing remote and future things (generally calamitous occurrences) as if they were actually happening before one's eyes. (2) Lochiel.—Cameron of Lochiel (or Loch Eil, a deep inlet on the west coast of Scotland) was one of the most powerful of the Highland chieftains who joined Prince Charles Edward—the 'Young Pretender '-in the rising of 1745. (3) Culloden.—The battle of Culloden, which ruined the cause of the Pretender, was fought on a moor near Inverness on the 16th of April 1746. The Royalist army was commanded by the cruel Duke of Cumberland. The defeated Highlanders fled to the glens and caves of their mountain fastnesses. (4) Albin (or Albyn).—A poetical name for the Highlands of Scotland. 204. (1) Tartan array.―The tartan is the woollen stuff in checks of various colours of which the Highland plaids are made. Each clan has a particular tartan of its own. (2) The fugitive king. — After the battle of Culloden the Pretender was hunted from place to place, and after enduring incredible hardships in the wildest parts of Scotland, and narrowly escaping capture on more occasions than one, succeeded in making his way to the friendly coast of France. 205. The Seven Years' War.--In this war, which began in 1756, Prussia, under the leadership of Frederic the Great, held her ground against France, Austria, Russia, and Saxony; while England conquered France in India, in North America, in Northern Germany, and on the sea. 206. (1) Chesterfield.—The Earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773), a dis tinguished politician and diplomatist, was renowned in his own day for his polished manners and brilliant wit. His Letters to his Son, written for the improvement of his mind and manners, are well known. (2) The Duke of Newcastle (1691-1768).—An ambitious but utterly incapable statesman. In spite of his incapacity he was PAGE Secretary of State for thirty years, and head of the Government for eight. (3) Walpole. - Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745) was Prime Minister from 1715 to 1717, and again from 1721 to 1742. His home administration was wise and statesmanlike, and his foreign policy was essentially one of peace. His desire for peace brought him at last into collision with the instincts of the nation, and in 1739 he was forced, much against his will, into a war with Spain. During this war, which was feebly conducted, his opponents— the 'Patriots' as they called themselves—gained ground rapidly, and in 1742 Walpole was forced to resign. (4) Henry Pelham.-Brother of the Duke of Newcastle. The two brothers, of whom Henry was by far the abler man, were at the head of the 'Broad-bottom Ministry' (a ministry which united all parties and had no opposition to contend against) from 1743 to 1754, when Henry died. It was owing to the influence of the Pelhams that Pitt gained admittance into the Cabinet (1746). (5) Horace Walpole (1717-1797).-Third son of Sir Robert Walpole. He entered Parliament in 1741, but took no interest in politics, the decoration of Strawberry Hill, his famous house near Twickenham, being the chief business of his life. Macaulay has said of him, that 'whatever was little seemed to him great, and whatever was great seemed to him little. Serious business was a trifle to him, and trifles were his serious business.' His wellknown Letters contain interesting pictures of the society of his day. 208. Wilkes (1727-1797).-A clever but unprincipled profligate, who by denouncing the ministry, and even libelling the king (in a paper called The North Briton), succeeded in drawing down upon himself a certain amount of unwise persecution, and so got to be regarded as the champion of public liberty and became the darling of the mob. 209. Byng.-Admiral Byng (1704-1757) failed to relieve Minorca in 1756. The general indignation was so great, that the ministry, fearing lest it should be driven from office, made a scapegoat of Byng, who was tried by court-martial, condemned, and shot. 210. Somers.-A celebrated statesman in the reigns of William III. and Anne. The legislative union of England and Scotland (1707) was brought about by his wisdom and firmness. 212. (1) St. Stephen's.-St. Stephen's Chapel in Westminster (which had been built by King Stephen and rebuilt by Edward III.) was converted into a Parliament House in the reign of Edward VI., and was used as such up to the date of its destruction by fire (1834). PAGE (2) Speech at the Guildhall, Bristol.-Burke was elected for Bristol in 1774, but his advocacy of the claims of the Roman Catholics and of the opening up of the trade of Ireland alienated from him the sympathies of the electors, and he lost his seat in 1780. 217. The American love of freedom. -The speech from which this extract is taken was delivered by Burke, March 22, 1775, 'on moving his resolutions for conciliation with the Colonies.' The War of Independence broke out in the same year. 221. (1) Blackstone's Commentaries. The first volume of Sir William Black stone's (1722-1780) celebrated Commentaries on the Laws of England appeared in 1765, and the remaining three volumes between that date and 1769. (2) General Gage. An English general who was made governor of Massachusetts in 1774. He enforced the decrees of Parliament with inflexible rigour, and so widened the gulf of separation between the Colonies and the Mother Country. 222. Kurdistan.-A mountainous region in Western Asia, which is bounded on the north by Armenia, and on the south by the river Tigris. The greater part of it is in Asiatic Turkey, but a portion of it is in Persia. It will be seen, from the mention of Algiers and the Crimea, that the dominions of the Sultan were far more extensive when Burke spoke than they are now. 223. (1) Brusa (or Broussa). A town in the north-west of Asia Minor, a few miles from the Sea of Marmora. Smyrna is an important seaport on the west coast of Asia Minor. (2) Toronto. On the shores of Lake Ontario. important town in the province of Ontario. The most 224. Nepigon.-A lake in Canada, which lies about 50 miles north of the middle of Lake Superior. The surrounding district is very wild and barren. 228. (1) Chicago.—A large and rapidly growing city in Illinois (one of the United States), on the shores of Lake Michigan. A terrible fire occurred in 1871, in which 18,000 houses were burned down, but the city was entirely rebuilt within two years. Its population now exceeds half a million. (2) Detroit. The chief city of Michigan, and one of the oldest cities in the United States. It is built along the banks of the Detroit river, which connects Lakes Erie and St Clair. 229. Amicus Curiæ (literally a friend of the court).-One who, during the progress of a case, offers a suggestion or reference to the judge who tries it. The amicus curice is usually a counsel not engaged in the case. PAGE 235. Rousseau, A celebrated French author whose writings did much to prepare the way for the French Revolution. He was born at Geneva in 1712, and died near Paris in 1778, after a singularly unhappy and unfortunate life. 236. The forced Recruit.-The Congress of Vienna (1814-15) handed over Lombardy and Venetia to Austria. The Austrian rule was detested by the Italians, and a gallant but unsuccessful attempt was made to expel the intruders in 1848-49. In 1859, Napoleon III., in alliance with Victor Emmanuel, king of Sardinia (and afterwards of United Italy), declared war against Austria, and gained the battles of Magenta and Solferino. The hastily-concluded peace of Villafranca deprived the Austrians of the greater part of Lombardy, and Venetia was ceded by them in October 1866. 237. (1) The assault of Badajoz.—Badajoz, a Spanish town on the banks of the Guadiana, about five miles from the Portuguese frontier, and a place of great importance in war, was thrice besieged by Wellington, and on the third occasion was stormed, after a siege of twenty days, on the night of April 6, 1812. Wellington's army was so deficient in engineers and engineering tools, that he was compelled to resort to the almost desperate expedient of a general assault. (2) Phillipon.-A French general, who conducted the defence of Badajoz with remarkable courage and skill. 238. Ciudad Rodrigo.-A fortified town in the south of the Province of Salamanca, a few miles from the Portuguese frontier, which had been stormed by Wellington on the 19th of January 1812, after a siege of eleven days. As soon as the fortress had been captured and the town entered, the troops threw off the restraints of discipline and committed frightful excesses. 239. The Rivillas.—A small stream which flows into the Guadiana just above the town of Badajoz. On a piece of high ground between the mouth of the Rivillas (left bank) and the Guadiana stands the castle. 240. Men of Albuera.-The battle of Albuera (1811). had been won, when apparently lost, by the astonishing courage of the British infantry. 247. San Christoval.—An isolated fort on the right bank of the Guadiana (Badajoz being on the left bank), nearly opposite the mouth of the Rivillas. 249. (1) A long succession of victories.-The battles of Vimiero (1808), Corunna and Talavera (1809), Busaco (1810), Barrosa, Fuentes d'Onoro and Albuera (1811), the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, and the battle of Salamanca (1812), the PAGE battles of Vittoria (1813), of the Pyrenees, Orthez, and Toulouse (1814), and of Quatre Bras and Waterloo (1815). (2) Titans.-The Titans of Greek mythology were a race of giants (children of Heaven and Earth) who waged war for ten years against Zeus, but were at last overthrown and hurled down into a dungeon below Tartarus. 252. Barnet.-A town in the south of Hertfordshire, about eleven miles to the north of London. 256. (1) Aceldama.—The field of blood. See Acts i. 18, 19. (2) Springfield.-A city of Massachusetts, distant about 100 miles from Boston. It contains the Armoury of the United States. (3) Miserere.-Have mercy. The 57th, one of the seven penitential Psalms, takes its name from this its opening word. The name is applied both to the Psalm itself and to the music to which it has been set. (4) Cimbric forest.-The Cimbri were a people that anciently inhabited the extreme north of Germany, on the borders of the Ocean. (5) The Tartar Gong.-The gong-a Malay instrument of music, or at any rate of noise-plays, or did play, a prominent part in Chinese warfare. The reigning dynasty in China is of Tartar origin. 257. (1) The Florentine.-The city of Florence was notorious in the Middle Ages for its faction fights and civil wars. (2) Aztec priests.-The Aztecs were the dominant tribe in Mexico at the time when it was discovered and conquered by the Spaniards. 258. The Mennonite settlers.-The Mennonites (followers of Mennon, an Anabaptist of the sixteenth century) are a sect of Christians whose principles resemble those of our Quakers. They are found, in scattered communities, in Holland, Germany, Russia, and other continental countries, and are everywhere noted for their industry, prosperity, and the purity of their lives. 267. Qualify. To modify or moderate; restrain. Shakespeare not unfrequently uses the word in this sense. E.g. 'I do not seek to quench your love's hot fire, But qualify the fire's extreme rage.' 268. (1) Remorse. — Relenting. Nowadays we use the word to signify the shame and anguish which come after a guilty act. Shakespeare and his contemporaries use it in a wider sense, which almost gives it the force of compassion. |