Vickipedia

SOCAGE, or SOCCAGE (originally hlaford-socn, seeking a lord; whence we have also soc, a right, of holding a court), a tenure of lands in England, of which the characteristic feature is, that the service is fixed and determinate in quality, thereby differing both from knight-service and from villeinage. It was originally peculiar to the Anglo-Danish districts of England. At the time when the allodial tenure was converted into immediate dependence on the crown, this tenure seems to have arisen out of the necessity for commendation or seeking a lord. In Domesday, socmen are often mentioned as bound ‘ to seek a lord,’ or free to go with their land where they pleased. The socmen of Stamford are said to be free to seek a lord, being only liable to the king for the toll attached to them as inhabitants of a borough. The obligation of socage in its origin has been compared to the mutual bonds of allegiance of later times so common in the Highlands of Scotland, and known as Bonds of Manrent (see manrent). Three kinds of socage have been enumerated as existing at a later period—viz., free and common socage, socage in ancient tenure, and socage in base tenure. The second and third kind are equivalent to tenure in ancient demesne and copyhold tenure (see DEMESNE, ANCIENT, and copyhold), and the first is what has generally and more properly been denominated socage, where the services were both certain and honorable. Besides fealty, which the socager was bound to do when required, he was obliged to give attendance at the court baron of his lord, if he held one, either for a manor or for a seigniory in gross.

By an act passed during the Commonwealth, and confirmed after the Restoration by 12 Car. II. c. 24, tenure by knight-service was abolished, and all lands except church-lands held in free-alms, were directed to be held in free and common socage, which is now (with that exception) the universal tenure of real property in England and Ireland.

Socage tenures are unknown in Scotland, where, unless at a very early period, they never existed.

RE’BUS, an enigmatical representation of a name or thing by using pictorial devices for letters, syllables, or parts of words. The term probably originates from the device speaking to the beholder non verbus sed rebus. Devices of this kind, allusive to the bearer’s name, were exceedingly common in the middle ages, particularly in England. In many instances, they were used by ecclesiastics and others who had not a right to armorial ensigns. Thus, on the rector’s lodgings at Lincoln College, Oxford, erected in the 15th c., to which Thomas Beckyngton, Bishop of Bath and Wells, liberally contributed, is carved the rebus of that prelate— a becon and tun, with T, the initial letter of his Christian name.

In Westminster Abbey, Abbot Islip’s chapel gives two forms of his rebus—one, a human eye, and a small branch or slip of a tree; the other, a man in the act of falling from a tree, and exclaiming, ‘ I slip ! ‘ Many of the monograms of the artists of the middle ages and early printers were rebuses. That of Ludger you King was the letter L inserted into a ring. A large proportion of the early coats of arms were rebuses on the names of the bearer of them, as, for example, three salmons for the name of Salmon, a lock and heart for that of Lockhart, three skenes or dirks for Skene. Family badges are also frequently of the nature of a rebus, and mottoes, as Ver non semper viret of the Vernons.

REBE’LLION (Lat. rebellio, from bellum, war, a revolt by nations subdued in war), an openly avowed renunciation of the authority of the government to which one owes allegiance, or a levying of war to resist the authority of the government. Unlike insurrection, which may be merely an opposition to a particular law, rebellion involves a design to renounce all subjection to the state. A commission of rebellion is a commission awarded against a person who treats the sovereign’s authority with contempt, by not obeying his proclamation according to his allegiance, and refusing to attend his sovereign when required. It consists of four commissioners, who are ordered to attack the rebel wherever found. In Scotland, by legal fiction, a debtor disobeying a charge on letters of horning to pay or perform in terms of his obligation, was accounted a rebel, as being disobedient to the sovereign’s command contained in the writ. This disobedience was called civil rebellion, and the penal consequences of actual rebellion followed it, until they were abolished by 20 Geo. II. c. 50. By the old form of diligence (which is still competent), it has therefore been said that debtors were imprisoned not for debt but for rebellion. The fiction was discarded in the provisions of the statute 1 and 2 Vict. c. 114, simplifying the form of diligence and the steps by which imprisonment for debt is effected.

The expression ‘The Great Rebellion,’ is generally applied in England to the revolt of the Long Parliament against the authority of Charles I. It began with the votes of the two Houses regarding the militia in 1642, by which they endeavored to seize the military power of the country, and the departure of the king for York, which was immediately followed by the breaking out of hostilities. The civil war was, properly speaking, terminated by the submission of Charles to the Scots, in April 1646; but the period of the rebellion is usually held to include the Commonwealth or Protectorate, and to extend to the restoration of Charles II. in May 1660. The revolts in behalf of the House of Stuart in 1715 and 1745 ire often, particularly in Scotland, spoken of emphatically as ‘The Rebellion.’ The former rising in favor of the Chevalier de St. George, son of James II. of England, called the Old Pretender, was headed by the Earl of Mar, and put down in 1716: the latter was led by Prince Charles Edward, known as the Young Pretender, who, landing in the Hebrides, was joined by the Highland chieftains and numerous followers, and after taking possession of Edinburgh, and marching to Derby, retreated into Scotland, and was defeated with great slaughter by the Duke of Cumberland at Culloden, on the 16th of April 1746.

ANA’TOMY (Gr., a cutting up or dissecting) is the science of the form and structure of organic bodies, and is practically acquired by separation of the parts of a body, so as to show their distinct formation, and their relations with each other. It is generally understood as applied to the human body, while the A. of animals is styled zootomy, and that of plants, phytotomy. The investigation and comparison of the structures of the different kinds of organic bodies is styled comparative A. Theoretical A. is divided into general and special.

general A. gives a description of the elementary tissues of which the systems and organs of the body are composed, as preliminary to an examination of them in their combined state in the various organs : it also investigates their laws of formation and combination, and the changes which they undergo in various stages of life. This branch of study may also be styled Structural or Analytical A., and has been first developed in recent times, especially by Bichat (1801) and Bordeu, who have been followed by J. Müller, Goodsir, Mayer, E, H. Weber, Schwann, Valentin, and many others. In our day, microscopic investigation has been successfully applied to the study of elementary textures. See histology.

special A. (styled Descriptive by the French writers) treats of the several parts and organs of the body in respect to their form, structure, and systematic connection or relation with each other. The arrangement of the several parts and organs in an order deduced from their similarity in structure or use, constitutes systematic A. According to this mode of study, which is essential as an introduction to physiology, A. has been divided, though not with scientific precison, into six branches of study. 1. Osteology, which treats of the bones, including the cartilages of the joints (chondrology).—2. Syndesmology, which describes the ligaments, or bands, that unite the bones of various joints. The bones, with their cartilages and ligaments, form a framework, which supports the external soft parts, and within which the vital organs are suspended and protected from injury; they are also arranged in a mechanical system as instruments of motion.—3. Myology explains the system of the muscles, which, by their contractile power, serve to impart motion to the bones and joints; while, like the bones, they contribute to form the cavities of the body, and to protect the internal organs. Their structure also serves to produce the external shape and symmetry.—4. Angeiology describes the vessels or ducts, with their complex network and ramifications, spreading over most parts of the body, and divided into two great systems : (a), the blood-vessels with the heart, a fleshy organ propelling the blood through the pulsating vessels or arteries, from which it returns to the heart, after circulation through the veins; (b), the lymphatics, by which a certain fluid (lymph) is brought into union with the blood in the organ styled lymphatic glands, and is afterwards passed into the veins.—5 Neurology, or the doctrine of the nerves, describes the nervous system, as divided into, first, the two central masses of the brain and the spinal column; second, the ramifications of nerves running from the brain and spinal column to almost all points of the surface; and lastly, the order of nerves having a peculiar structure, and styled the ganglionic system of nerves.—6. Splanchnology describes the viscera or organs formed by combination of the distinct systems of veins, nerves, lymphatics, &c., and mostly situated in the cavities of the body. These are divided into five groups, viz.: (a), the organs of sensation—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch; (b), of voice and respiration—nostrils, mouth, larynx, trachea, and lungs, with the thyroid gland, the thymus gland, and the diaphragm; (c), digestive organs—the mouth, with its salivary glands, the throat, gullet, the stomach, the intestines, with the liver, spleen, and pancreas; (d), the urinary organs— kidneys, ureter, bladder, and urethra; (e), sexual organs of both sexes.

Special A. may be treated in another mode ; by an arrangement made in accordance with natural divisions, or by imaginary lines dividing the body into several regions—as the head, the trunk, and the extremities. Again, the trunk may be subdivided into neck, thorax, and abdomen ; and in each of the main regions, several subdivisions may be made. This system of arrangement may be styled topographical A., and is also known as surgical A., on account of its importance as the basis of operative surgery. It was the eldest of the Monroes of Edinburgh University who first gave this branch of the study its due prominence. The several parts and organs of the animal body will be found described under their proper heads.

History of A.—It is difficult to determine the date at which this science began to be cultivated, but it is probable that from the earliest times some persons took advantage of favorable circumstances to acquaint themselves with it. The Druids, who were at once the priests, judges, and physicians of the people, demanded from those who came for their advice human victims as sacrifices, and were themselves the executioners ; and it is not unlikely that they availed themselves of these opportunities of acquiring anatomical knowledge. It is probable, says Galen, the Æsculapius, who excelled in the treatment of wounds, dissected animals for the instruction of his pupils. His descendants, that Æsclepiades, cultivated A., or rather zootomy, and founded the three famous schools of Cos, Rhodes, and Cnidos. The rabbins tell us that, although among the Jews the touching of a dead body involved ceremonial uncleanness, they did not entirely neglect A., which they studied from the carefully preserved bones of their ancestors, and the necessary manipulations of embalming. They counted 248 bones, and 365 veins or ligaments, which division, according to the rabbins, has relation to the 248 precepts of the Mosaic Law that command, and the 365 that forbid.

Homer exhibits a certain amount of anatomical knowledge in his description of wounds in the Iliad. Pythagoras first reasoned physiologically from observations made by him when in Egypt, where he witnessed the sacrifices, and also the Egyptian methods of embalming. Alcmeon of Crotona, a disciple of Pythagoras, first dissected animals with the view of obtaining comparative knowledge of human A. Democritus, who frequented the sepulchres, probably with anatomical views, practised zootomy, and was engaged dissecting animals when visited by Hippocrates. Hippocrates II., descended in the eighteenth degree from Æsculapius, and born at Cos in 35 a.m., was the first author who treats A. as a science. He caused a skeleton of brass to be cast, which he consecrated to the Delphian Apollo, with the view of transmitting to posterity proofs of the progress he had made, and of stimulating others to the study of A. Aristotle, who lived 384 b.c., does not appear to have dissected men ; and he states that: the parts of man are unknown to them, or that they possess nothing certain on the subject beyond what they can draw from the probable resemblance of the corresponding parts of other animals. He first gave the name aorta to the great artery.

Diocles (380 b.c.) was the first who treated of the proper manner of conducting anatomical examinations for purposes of demonstration. But no real progress in A. was made, owing to the researches being confined to animals, till the time of Erasistratus, who was born at Ceos about 800 b.c., and who was the first to-dissect human bodies. He obtained from Seleucus Meaner and Antiochus Soter the bodies of criminals, and is said to have dissected some condemned to death while they were still alive. His writings are lost, but fragments are preserved in the writings of Galen. He made many discoveries, among others, of the lacteal vessels. Herophilus, who lived about the same time, was born at Carthage, but carried on his anatomical pursuits principally at Alexandria. He also is said to have dissected living subjects. Parthenius, who lived 200 years b.c., published a book, entitled On the Dissection of the Human Body. In the first c. of the Christian era, the dissection of human subjects was forbidden, under heavy penalties. Rufus the Ephesian, who lived 112 A.D., under the empire of Trajan, taught A. in a more exact manner than had been hitherto done, and devised a more exact anatomical nomenclature. He made use of animals in his demonstrations, and mentions that ‘of old they used for that purpose human bodies.’

Galen (131 a.d.) dissected apes, as being most like human subjects, though he occasionally obtained bodies of children exposed in the fields, or of persons found murdered, which, however, he was obliged to dissect in secret. There was at this time no regularly prepared skeleton, as there was a law at Rome forbidding the use of dead bodies. Galen’s writings show a knowledge of human A. Soranus had extensive knowledge of A., derived from human subjects. Moschion had some anatomical illustrations engraved. Oribasius compiled more than 70 volumes, the 24th and 25th being on A., principally from Galen.

Nemesius, Bishop of Nemesus, a town in Phoenicia, cultivated A. at the end of the 4th c., in which also Meletius lived, who wrote a complete treatise On the Nature and Structure of Man. Theophilus, a monk, published in the 7th c. a good abridgment of the A. of Galen.

A. made small progress among the Arabs, which is accounted for by their religion prohibiting contact with dead bodies. When the great Arabian physician, Rhazes, was about to be operated on for cataract, he discovered that the surgeon was ignorant of the structures of the eye, and refused to submit to the operation. Avicenna (980 a.d.), born in the province of Khorasan, was a good osteologist, and described some structures not alluded to by Galen.

A. was now neglected for a long period, till Frederick II., king of Sicily (1194—1250), made a law forbidding any one to practise surgery without having first acquired some knowledge of A. He founded a chair at the solicitation of Martianus, his chief physician, where the science was demonstrated for five years; students, from all parts crowded to it, and some time after, a similar school was established at Bologna—these two were largely attended, but no very material progress was made in A.

The university of Montpellier was founded by Pope Nicholas IV. in 1284, and the chair of A. was filled by Bernard Gordon, with great distinction for ten years. He published a huge work,, called Lilium Medicinal.

Mundinus, born at Milan, 1815, professed A. there, and is considered the real restorer of A. in Italy. He publicly demonstrated it, and published a work which was the text-book in the academy of Padua two hundred years after its publication. Then came Guy de Chauliac, who first correctly described the humerus. Mathæus of Grado published several anatomical works about 1480. Gabriel de Zerbus, in 1495, published a confused and imperfect, work on A. at Verona. The science continued to be studied by surgeons such as Vigo (1516), Achillinus, and Berenger (Carpi), (1518), who boasted of having dissected at Bologna more than a hundred subjects. Reports were raised that he dissected living Spaniards, and he fled or was exiled to Ferrara.

Andre Lacuna (1535), Charles Etienne, Gonthier (1536), Massa, Driander (1537), Sylvius (1539), Levasseur, and Gesner, were celebrated for A.; but especially Andrew Vesalius, born 1514, who published a great work on A. before he was 28 years of age. He had the misfortune to open the body of a young Spanish nobleman whose heart was found still beating, and was obliged to make an expiatory pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In 1564, the Venetian senate recalled him to succeed, at Padua, the famous Fallopius, who had just died; on his return, he was shipwrecked on the island of Zante, where he was starved to death.

William Horman of Salisbury wrote, in 1530, Anatomia Corporis Humani (A. of Human Body); then came Ingrassias, and others of less note.

Thomas Gemini of London, in 1545, engraved upon copper the anatomical figures of Vesalius, which had appeared in Germany upon wood. Gemini suppressed the name of Vesalius, though using his figures and descriptions. Thomas Vicary, in 1548, is said to be the first who wrote in English on A.; he published The Anglishman’s Treasure, or the True A. of Man’s Body. John Ligæus, in 1555, published an anatomical treatise in Latin hexameters. Franco (1556), Valverda, Columbus, and others, wrote works of great merit on A. In 1561, Gabriel Fallopius professed it with great distinction at Padua, and made many original discoveries.

In the 17th c., progress was rapid : Hervey, in 1619, discovered the circulation of the blood, and the microscope was employed to detect the structure of minute vessels. Aselli, in 1622, discovered and demonstrated the existence of the lymph-vessels; and his conclusions were supported by the investigations of Pecquet, Bartholin, and Olaus Rudbeck. The glandular organs were investigated by Wharton, while Malpighi, Swammerdam, and (in the following c.) the illustrious Ruysch, by the use of injections and the aid of the microscope, gave a new impulse to research in the minute structures. Eminent names in the history of A. are numerous in the 18th c. In Italy, which still retained its former pre-eminence, we find Pacchioni, Valsalva, Morgagni, Santorini, Mascagni, and Cotunni; in France, Winslow, D’Aubenton, Lieutaud, Vicq d’Azyr, and Bichat, the founder of General A; in Germany, the accomplished Haller and Meckel prepared the way for greater achievements in the 19th c.; in Great Britain, Cowper, Cheselden, Hunter, Cruikshank, Monro, and Charles Bell contributed to the progress of the science; while Holland was worthily represented by Boerhaave, Albinus, Camper, Sandifort, and Bonn. On the boundaries of the two centuries, we find the names of Sommering, Loder, Blumenbach, Hildebrand, Reil, Tiedemann, and Seller; nearly all connected with practical medicine, which was benefited by their studies in A.

The necessity of a union of theory and practice has led to that zealous study of pathological A. (the dissection and study of structures as modified by diseases) which has recently prevailed. The origin of this branch of A. maybe traced back to ancient times in Egypt, where post-mortem examinations were sometimes made to discover the seat of disease and cause of death. In the medical writings of the Greeks, some anatomico-pathological observations are found. During the general revival of science in the 16th c., many notices of pathological A. occur. In 1507, Benevieni of Florence wrote the first book on this branch of science; and Bonet, in 1679, published his compilation of numerous observations. Still, these were only fragmentary indications of a possible science, and the facts stated were often very erroneously interpreted. Morgagni (1767), who must be regarded as the true founder of Pathological A., was worthily followed by Lieutaud, Sandifort, Hunter, Baillie, and others. Meckel the Younger, in Germany, in his study of malformations &c., paid little or no attention to practical applications of the science. The recent change of direction given to the study of Pathological A., which is now properly regarded as a means towards practical improvements in medicine, must be ascribed to Bichat and the pupils of Broussais, among whom may be mentioned the names of Laennec, Cruveilhier, Louis, Andral, Lobstein, Lebert, Virchow, Bennett, &c. In London and other large towns there are societies devoted specially to the investigation of pathology.

compaRativE A. has always preceded anthropotomy, or dissection of the human subject, but was first treated systematically as a distinct science by Cuvier and his pupil Meckel the Younger. The system proposed by the latter was, unfortunately, never completed. Blumenbach, Tiedemann, Home, Blainville, Geoffrey St. Hilaire, Carus, Oken, Goethe, the German poet, Richard Owen, John Goodsir, and Huxley, must be named as eminent contributors to this branch of science; while, in late years, zootomy and comparative A. have been studied, with an especial reference to physiology, by Muller, Wagner, Siebold, Bowman, Todd, and Allan Thomson.

A. for artists is studied with reference to the effects produced by internal structure on the external form, and describes the organs, especially the muscles and tendons, not only in a state of rest, but also as modified by passion, action and posture. Consequently observation of the nude living form is required in this branch of study, which has been treated of by Errard and Genga (1691); and in modern times, by Lavater (1790), Camper (1792), Charles Bell (1806), Salvage (1812), Mascagni (1816), Koeck (1822), Gardy (1831) Fischer (1838), Salomon arid Aulich (1841), Berger (1842), Seller and Gunther (1850), &c.

practical A. includes Dissection (q. v.) and the making of Preparations. Preparation consists in dividing parts or organs, so that their respective forms and positions may be clearly shown, Organs or parts thus treated are styled Anatomical Preparations of bones, muscles, vessels, nerves, &c. For example, a bone-preparation is made by clearing away all muscular and other adhesions; the whole structure of the bones, thus prepared and bleached, when connected by wires in its natural order, forms an artificial skeleton.

For preparations of parts containing vessels with minute ramifications, injections are employed. Some colored fluid which has the property of gradually becoming solid, is gently injected into the arteries or other vessels by means of a syringe. Formerly, materials which required a certain degree of warmth to preserve their fluidity were used; but as these were attended with inconvenience, a great improvement was made by Shaw and Weber, who introduced the use of linseed-oil and turpentine, which, when mixed with certain metallic compounds in due proportions, form a fluid which, after a time, becomes solid in ordinary temperatures. Quicksilver and colored limewater are also used, for injection of the finer vessels. Preparations are either dried and varnished or preserved in spirit.

A series of such specimens, arranged in proper order, forms an Anatomical Museum. The valuable collections made by Ruysch, Eau, Loder, Walter, John and William Hunter, Meckel, Sommering, and Dupuytren, are all now public property. There is also a splendid collection in the university of Edinburgh, collected and prepared for the most part by John Goodsir. The College of: Surgeons of Edinburgh also possesses a very valuable museum of pathological preparations. As it is impossible to preserve thus all parts in their integrity for any great length of time, artificial copies in wood, ivory, and wax have been made with great exactitude, especially in Florence; and recently Anzou in Paris has employed papier-mache for the same purpose. But, apart from I dissections and preparations of the natural organs, the most general and available assistance in the study of A. is found in anatomical engravings and plates on wood and copper. This assistance was known in ancient times. Aristotle affixed to his works on A. some anatomical drawings, which have been lost. In the 16th c., the greatest artists—Leonardo da Vinci, Michael Angelo, Raphael, Titian, and Dürer—gave their aid in designing anatomical figures; but few of their works, in this department of art, have been preserved. Lately, lithography has been employed. Among the numerous illustrations of A. which we now possess, the old works by Vasal (1543), Eustachius (1714), Bidloo (1685), Albin (1747), Haller (1743-1756), and Vicq d’Azyr (1786-1790), may be mentioned. The present century has supplied works of first-rate excellence by Caldani (Venice, 1801-1814), Mascagni (Pisa, 1823), Langenbeck (Gottingen, 1826), Bourgery and Jacob (Paris, 1832), and Arnold (Zurich, 1838). For general use, we may commend the plates of Loder (Weimar, 1803), Cloquet (Paris, 1826), Osterreicher (Munich, 1827-1830), Weber, (Düsseldorf, 1830), Bock (Leipsic, 1840), and D’Alton (Leipsic, 1848); in Surgical A., the works by Rosenmuller (Weimar, 1805), Pirogoff (Dorp. 1840), and Gunther (Hamburg, 1844), in Pathological A., Meckel (Leipsic, 1817-1826), Cruveilhier (Paris, 1828-1841), Froriep (Weimar, 1838), Albers (Bonn, 1832), Gluge (Jena, 1843—1850), and Vogel (Leipsic, 1843); in Comparative A., Carus (Leipsic, 1826) and Wagner (Leipsic, 1841). Among English works may be mentioned those by Lizars, Jones, and Richard Quain, in Special A.; by Morton and Maclise, in Surgical A.; and by Baillie and Bright in Pathological A.

POT-WALLERS, or POT-WALLOPERS (from pot, and Old English wall, to boil or bubble), the popular designation of a class of electors forming the constituency of various English boroughs —as Ilchester, Honiton Tregoney, Old Sarum— before the Reform Act of 1832, whose qualification as housekeepers was considered to be established by their boiling a pot within the limits of the borough over a fireplace erected in the open air. The doing so was regarded as evidence that the elector was in circumstances to provide for his own subsistence, and not necessitated to apply for parochial relief.

POLL-ACT, a sanguinary act, passed at Trim in Ireland, by the Junto of the Pale, in 1465, under the Earl of Desmond, deputy. It ordained ‘ that it shall be lawful to all manner of men that find any theeves robbing by day or night, or going or coming/fo rob or steal, or any persons going or coining, having no faithful man of good name and fame in their company in English apparel, that it shall be lawful to take and kill those, and to cut off their heads, without any impeachment, of our sovereign lord the king. And of any head so cut off in the county of Meath, that the cutter and his ayders there to him cause the saed head so cut off to be brought to the portreffe to put it upon a stake or spear, upon the Castle of Trim, and that the saed portreffe shall testify the bringing of the same to him. And that it shall be lawful for the saed bringer of the saed head to distrain and levy by his hand (as his reward) of every man having one ploughland in the barony, two pence; and of every man having half a ploughland, one penny ; and of every man having an house and goods, value forty shillings, one penny; and of every cottier having one house and smoak, one half-penny.’ Much slaughter is said to have been committed under this remarkable act.

VICTORIA I., Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, daughter and only child of Edward, Duke of Kent, 4th son of George III., was born at Kensington Palace, May 24, 1819. Her mother, Victoria Mary Louisa, was 4th daughter of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and sister of Leopold, late king of the Belgians. Her first husband, the Prince of Leiningen, died in 1814; and on the 11th July 1818. she married, at Kew, the Duke of Kent. The duke died January 23, 1820, leaving his widow in charge of an infant daughter only eight months old, who had been baptized with the names of Alexandria Victoria.

The Duchess of Kent fulfilled the important duties which devolved upon her with more than maternal solicitude, and with admirable care and prudence. The infant princess, as she grew up, was taught to seek health by exercise and temperance, to acquire fearlessness even from her amusements, such as riding and sailing, and to practise a wise economy united to a discriminating charity. After a few years, the Duchess of Northumberland was associated with her mother in her nurture and education. The Princess V. became accomplished in music, drawing, and the continental languages; and acquired a knowledge of some of the sciences, particularly botany. Her father having belonged to the Whigs, her political education was naturally derived from the members of that party; and to Viscount Melbourne (q. v.); belongs the credit of having thoroughly instructed her in the principles of the British constitution. She ascended the throne of the United Kingdom 011 the demise of her uncle, William IV. (q. v.), June 20, 1837; her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, becoming king of Hanover, in virtue of the law which excludes females from that throne. By this event, the connection which had lasted for 123 years between the crowns of England and Hanover was terminated. Victoria was proclaimed June, 1837, and crowned at Westminster, June 28,1838. She found on her accession Viscount Melbourne at the head of the government; and during his premiership, and with the cordial assent of her subjects, the young queen was married at St. James’s Palace (February 10, 1840) to Prince Albert (q. v.), Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and second son of the then reigning duke.

Her Majesty has had issue—four sons and five daughters; the Princess Royal, Victoria, born November 21. 1840, married. Jan. 35, 1858, to Frederick William, now Crown Prince of Prussia, and Prince Imperial of Germany; Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, heir-apparent to the throne of the United Kingdom, born Nov. 9, 1841, married, March 10, 1863, Princess Alexandra, eldest daughter of Christian IX., king of Denmark; Princess Alice, born April 25, 1843, married, in 1862, Prince Frederick William of Hesse (died Dec. 14, 1878); Prince Alfred, born August 6. 1844. created Duke of Edinburgh 1866, married, Jan. 23, 1874, Marie, only daughter of the Emperor of Russia; Princess Helena, born May 25, 1840, married in 1866 to Prince Christian of Denmark; Princess Louisa, born March 18, 1848, married in 1871 to the Marquis of Lorne; Prince Arthur, born May 1, 1850, created Duke of Connaught 1874, married in 1879 Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia; Prince Leopold, born April 7, 1853, was created Duke of Albany in 1881, and married to Princess Helena of Waldeck in 1882; Princess Beatrice, born April 14,’1857.

The changes of administration in this reign maybe traced in the articles GREAT BRITAIN, MELBOURNE, PEEL, RUSSELL, derby, aberdeen, palmerston, gladstone, disraeli. The legislative measures of greatest importance were the establishment (1840) of the penny-postage (see post-office); the Amendment of the Poor Laws (q. v.) in Scotland (1845) and Ireland (1847); the Abolition (1846) of the Corn Laws (q. v.), and (1849) of the Navigation Laws,(q. v.); the Irish Encumbered Estates Act, (see TITLE, &c.); the transfer (1858) of the Indian possessions from the East India Company to the crown (see india); the admission (1858) of Jews into the House of Commons; the Reform Act of 1867; Disestablishment of the Irish Church (1869); the Irish Land Acts (1870 and 1881); the Abolition of Purchase in the Army (1871); the Elementary Education Act for England (1870), and the Scotch Education Act (1872). See NATIONAL EDUCATION. Other events which will signalize this period of British history were the formation of the Free Church (q. v.) of Scotland (1843); the discovery of the North-west Passage (q. v.) by Sir Robert M’Clure (1850); the Exhibitions (q. v.) of 1851 and 1862; the discovery of gold in Australia (q. v.) and in British Columbia; the war (1854—1856) with Russia (q. v.)iii defence of Turkey (q. v.), in which the siege of Sebastopol was the chief item; the Indian Mutiny in 1857 (see india); the Volunteer (q. v.) movement (1859); the establishment (1866) of telegraphic communication with America (see TELEGRAPH); the Abyssinian War, 1867(see theodore); the formation of the Dominion of Canada, 1867; the wars with Ashantees (1873), Zulus (1879), and Afghans (1878-80), the rising in the Transvaal; the agitations in connection with the Fenian Society (q. v.), Home Rule (q. v.), and the Land League; the passing of the Land Act (1881); and the war in Egypt (1882).

In 1848, the only disturbance in Britain was a Chartist demonstration (see chartism); while, during V.’s reign, France (q. v.) has been successively a constitutional monarchy, a republic, an empire, and again a republic. The great civil war in the United States of America (q. v.) has resulted in the extinction of slavery; the formation of the kingdom of Italy (q. v.) has been completed by the acquisition of Venetia and Rome; the unification of Germany, begun by the formation of the North German Confederation, as the result of the war between Prussia and Austria in 1866. has been consummated by the events of the Franco-Prussian War (1870—1871); and the ever formidable ‘ Eastern Question,’ raised again in 1876 by the insurrection in Herzegovina led in 1877 to war between Russia and Turkey, and to sweeping changes in the Balkan Peninsula (see turkey).

In 1876, ‘ Empress of India’ was added to the royal titles of Queen V. The premature death of the Prince-Consort (see albert) on December 14, 1861, caused the Queen to seclude herself for several years from public life. Queen V. has published two volumes—The Early Days of His Royal Highness the Prince-Consort; and Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands (1869).

‘In Queen Victoria,’ according to Macaulay, ‘her subjects have found a wiser, gentler, happier Elizabeth.’ No former monarch has so thoroughly comprehended the great truth, that the powers of the crown are held in trust for the people, and are the means, and not the end of government. This enlightened policy has entitled her to the glorious distinction of having been the most constitutional monarch this country has ever seen. Not less important and beneficial has been the example set by her Majesty and her late Consort in the practice of every domestic virtue. Their stainless lives, their unobtrusive piety, and their careful education of the royal children, have borne rich fruit in the stability of the throne, and have obtained for the royal family of England the respect and admiration of the civilized world. See Theodore Martin’s Life of the Prince Consort (vols. i.-iv. 1873-79).

The progress made by the nation in the various elements of civilization, especially in that of material prosperity, has been unparalleled (see great britain); and perhaps during no reign has a greater measure of political contentment been enjoyed.

INDI’CTION, a period or cycle of fifteen years, the origin of which is involved in obscurity. Connecting the original meaning of the word, viz., ‘the imposition of a tax,’ with its signification in chronology, several writers have propounded theories explanatory of its origin, none of which, however, are supported by a tittle of evidence. It began to be used in reckoning time, chiefly by ecclesiastical historians, during the life of Athanasius; it was afterwards adopted by the popes, who still continue to use it, and through whose influence it came to be so generally employed during the middle ages, that the dates of charters and public deeds of this era are expressed in indictions as well as in years of the Christian era. The time from which reckoning by indictions commenced is, according to some, the 15th September 312; according to the Greeks of the Lower Empire, 1st September 312; but when this method was adopted by the popes, it was ordered to be reckoned as commencing 1st January 313. The latter, which is now alone used, is called the Papal Indiction. If we reckon backwards to the commencement of the Christian era, it will be seen that 1 a.d. does not correspond to the 1st, but to the fourth year of an indiction—hence if to any given year of the Christian era 3 be added, and the sum divided by 15, the remainder will give the position of that year in an indiction—e. g., 1880 A.D. was the 8th year of an indiction.

POST-OFFICE, a place for the reception of letters, and the management of the various departments connected with their dispatch and conveyance. The name originated in the posts (from Lat. position, placed, fixed) placed at intervals along the roads of the Roman empire, where couriers were kept in readiness to bear dispatches and intelligence; but the posts of ancient times were never used for the conveyance of private correspondence. The first letter-post seems to have been established in the Hanse Towns in the early part of the 13th century.

A line of letter-posts followed, connecting Austria with Lombardy, in the reign of the Emperor Maximilian, which are said to have been organized by the princes of Thurn and Taxis; and the representatives of the same house established another line of posts from Vienna to Brussels, connecting the most distant parts of the dominions of Charles V. This family continue to the present day to hold certain rights with regard to the German postal system, their posts being entirely distinct from those established by the crown, and sometimes in rivalry to them.

In England, in early times, both public and private letters were sent by messengers, who, in the reign of Henry III., wore the royal livery. They had to provide themselves with horses until the reign of Edward I., when posts were established where horses were to be had for hire. Edward IV-, when engaged in war with Scotland, had dispatches conveyed to his camp with great speed by means of a system of relays of horses, which, however, fell into disuse on the restoration of peace. Camden mentions the office of ‘ Master of the Postes ‘ as existing in 1581, but the duties of that officer were probably connected exclusively with the supply of post-horses. The posts were meant for the conveyance of government dispatches alone, and it was only by degrees that permission was extended to private individuals to make use of them. A foreign post for the conveyance of letters between London and the continent seems to have been established by foreign merchants in the 15th c.; and certain disputes which arose between the Flemings and Italians, regarding the right of appointing a postmaster, and were referred to the privy-council, led to the institution of a ‘ chief-postmaster,’ who should have charge both of the English and the foreign post. Thomas Randolph was the first chief-postmaster of England. The first proper postal communication for private letters in England came into operation 100 years after the institution of the foreign post.

The increased intercourse between the English and Scottish capitals, brought about by King James’s accession, led to a great improvement in the system of horse-posts, but their services were still confined to the conveyance of government dispatches. That king, however, instituted a foreign post for letters going abroad from England, and conferred the office of postmaster of Eng-gland for foreign parts on ‘Mathewe de Quester the elder, and Mathewe de Quester the younger.’ This appointment was considered by Lord Stanhope, the English chief-postmaster, to interfere with his functions, and a dispute and law-plea between the heads of the two establishments was settled in 1632, after Charles I. had become king, by the retirement of Lord Stanhope, and an assignment of their office by the De Questers, under royal sanction’, to William Frizell and Thomas Witherings. In 1635, Witherings was authorized to run a post night and day between London and Edinburgh, ‘to go thither and back again in six days.’ Eight main postal lines throughout England were at the same time instituted, and the post was allowed to carry inland letters. Two years later, a monopoly of letter-carrying was established, which has been preserved in all the subsequent regulations of the post-office. The rates of postage were 2d. for a single letter for a distance less than 80 miles, 4d. up to 140 miles, 6d.. for any longer distance in England, and 8d. to any place in Scotland. An attempt, in 1649, by the Common Council of London to set up a rival post-office for inland letters, was suppressed by the House of Commons. A practice of farming the post-office revenues, which began in 1650, continued, as regards some of the by-posts, till the close of last century.

An important post-office statute was passed under the Protectorate in 1656, and re-enacted by 12 Car. II. c. 35. It ruled that there should be one general post-office and one postmaster-general for England, who was to have the horsing of all through posts and persons riding post. A tariff was established for letters, English, Scotch, Irish, and foreign, and the only non-governmental posts allowed to continue were those of the universities and the Cinque Ports.

In 1685, a penny-post was set up for the conveyance of letters and parcels between different parts of London and its suburbs. It was a private speculation, originating with one Robert Murray, an upholsterer, and assigned by him to Mr. William Docwray. When its success became apparent, it was complained of by the Duke of York, on whom the post-office revenues had been settled, 115 an encroachment on his rights; a decision of the Court of lung’s Bench adjudged it to be a part of the royal establishment, and it was thereupon annexed to the crown. In this way began the London district-post, which was improved and made a twopenny-post in 1801, and continued as a separate establishment from the general post down to 1854.

The first legislative enactment for a Scottish post-office was passed in 1695, prior to which time, the posts out of Edinburgh had been very few and irregular. About 1700, the posts between the capitals were so frequently robbed near the borders, that acts were passed both by the parliament of England and that of Scot-laud, making- robbery of the post punishable with death and confiscation. The post-office of Ireland is of later date than that of Scotland. In the time of Charles L, packets between Dublin and Chester, and between Mil ford-Haven and Waterford, conveyed government dispatches; and after the Restoration, the rate of letter-postage between London and Dublin, was fixed at 6d.

Act 3 Anne, c. 10, repealed the former post-office statutes, and put the establishment on a fresh basis. A general post-office was instituted in London for the whole British dominions, with chief offices in Edinburgh, Dublin, New York, and other places in the American colonies, and one in the Leeward Islands. The whole was placed under the control of an officer appointed under the Great Seal, called the Postmaster-general, who was empowered to appoint deputies for the chief offices. Rates higher than those formerly charged were settled for places in the British dominions, and also for letters to foreign parts. A survey of post-roads was ordered, for the ascertainment of distances. Letters brought from abroad by private ships were ordered to be handed over to the deputy-postmasters of the ports who were to pay the master a penny for each letter. A complete reconstruction of the cross-post system was effected in 1720, by Ralph Alien, postmaster of Bath, to whom the Lords of the Treasury granted a lease of the cross-posts for life : at his death, they came under the control of the postmaster-general. The rates of postage were farther raised by act 1 Geo. III. c. 25, which also gives permission for the establishment of penny-posts in other towns, as in London. The Edinburgh penny-post was instituted in 1766, by one Peter Williamson, a native of Aberdeen, whom the authorities induced to take a pension for the good-will of the concern, and merged it in the general establishment.

Mail-coaches owe their origin to Mr. John Palmer, manager of the Bath and Bristol theaters, who, in 1783, submitted to Mr. Pitt a scheme for the substitution of coaches, protected by armed guards, for the boys on horseback, who till then conveyed the mail. After much opposition from the post-office authorities his plan was adopted, and Mr. Palmer, installed at the post-office as controller-general, succeeded in perfecting his system, greatly increasing the punctuality, speed, and security of the post, and adding largely to the post-office revenue.

In 1837, a plan of post-office reform was suggested by Mr. (afterwards Sir) Rowland Hill, the adoption of which has not only immensely increased the utility of the post-office, but changed its whole administration. Its principal features were the adoption of a uniform and low rate of postage, a charge by weight, and prepayment. The change met with much opposition from the post-office authorities, but was eventually carried by a majority of 100 in the House of Commons, becoming law by 3 and 4 Vict. c. 96. The new system came into full operation on January 10, 1840. Previously to the change, members of parliament had the right of sending their letters free, but this privilege of franking was entirely abolished. A penny was adopted as the uniform rate for every inland letter not above half an ounce. Facilities for prepayment were afforded by the introduction of postage-stamps, and double postage was levied on letters not prepaid. Arrangements were made "for the registration of letters; and the money-order office, by a reduction of the commission charged for orders, became available to an extent which it had never bee;: before. As far back as 1792, a money-order office had been established as a medium for sailors and soldiers to transmit their savings, and its benefit had afterwards been extended to the general public; but the commission charged had been so high, that it was only employed to a very limited extent. The immediate result of the changes introduced in 1840 was an enormous increase in the amount of correspondence, arising in part from the cessation of the illicit traffic in letters, which had so largely prevailed before; but for some years there was a deficit in the post-office revenue. The reduction of postage-rates was, however, a reduction of taxation, and if the Exchequer lost revenue from one source, it gained it in other ways.

With the development of the railway system came the carriage of letters by train instead of by mail-coaches; and one novelty which arose out of this change was the adoption of traveling post-offices, forming part of the mail-train, where letters are arranged during transit, and which sometimes receive and drop the letter-bags while the train is going at full speed. The conveyance of the mails by railroad added greatly to the expenses of the post-office establishment; but, nevertheless, the former gross revenue of the post-office was exceeded in 1851, and the net revenue in 1863. According to the annual report of the postmaster-general for 1880-81, there are 912 head post-offices in the United Kingdom, 13,637 branch offices or receiving-houses, and about 13,160 road or pillar letter-boxes. Above 1176 millions of letters passed through the post-office in 1880-81—more than twice as many as in 1861, and thirteen times as many as in 1839, the last year of the dear postage. In 1880-81, the gross revenue of the post-office, exclusive of that yielded by the telegraphs was £6,733,427; the expenditure, also excluding the telegraphic service, £4,135,659; leaving a surplus of £2,597,768. The number of money orders transmitted within the United Kingdom, in the same year, was 16,329,476; the amount of money transmitted being £24,228,763. This is a decrease on previous years, probably caused by the introduction of postal orders. (See below, under Money Orders.)

The postal service of the three kingdoms is now under the immediate control of the postmaster-general, assisted by the general secretary of the post-office in London. There are also chief officers in Edinburgh and Dublin, with secretarial and other departmental staffs. The postmaster-general is a member of the privy council and sometimes a cabinet minister. He has a salary of £2500, and is the only officer connected with the department who leaves office on a change of government. The secretary is his responsible adviser, and has a salary of £2000. The receiver and accountant-general keeps account of the money received by each department, receiving remittances from branch and provincial offices, and taking charge of the payment of all salaries, pensions, and items of current expenditure.

The surveyors are the connecting link between the metropolitan and provincial offices, each postmaster, with some exceptions, being under the superintendence of the surveyor of his district. In 1881, the staff of officers employed in the post-office, including those engaged in telegraph work, was upwards of 47,000; of this number, about 12,000 were engaged solely in telegraph work, and about 11,000 were employed in Condon alone.

Act 24 Vict. c. 19 instituted a system of savings banks in connection with the post-office. The rate of interest payable to depositors is 2i per cent., calculated on complete pounds and complete months, being a halfpenny per pound month. The number of depositors at the end of 1880 was 2.184,972; the amount of their deposits in the year, £10,219,631; and the number of banks, 6233. A novel extension of this system took place in 1880. Blank forms, with twelve ruled spaces, are now issued to intending depositors, who may secure their penny savings by affixing ordinary postage-stamps to the form. When the twelve spaces are filled, the form is presented at the bank, and credit is given for a shilling.

The Savings-bank Act (1880) permits the investment of small sums in government stocks; in Consols, Reduced, or New 3 per Cents. The sums invested must not be less than £10, and must not exceed £100 in any one year; the total sum for any one investor is limited to £300. The postmaster-general is empowered to insure the lives of applicants for not less than £20 or more than £100, and also to grant immediate or deferred annuities. See post-office insurance.

Halfpenny post-cards were introduced in 1870, and in the first year 75 millions were used. The number in 1880-81 reached 122 millions. The ordinary penny stamp is now a ‘ Postage and Inland Revenue ‘ stamp, and may be used as a receipt stamp.

In 1869 the post-office acquired the existing electric telegraphs. About 30 millions of telegraphic messages were sent in the year ending March 31, 1881. Gross revenue, £1,633,884; working expenses, £1,189,425; net revenue, £444,459.

The home and foreign mail-packet service was, in the 17th and 18th centuries, in the hands of the post-office authorities, but was removed to the Board of Admiralty, under whose control it remained till 1860, when it was again restored to the post-office. Steam-vessels were first used for conveying the mail in 1821; and in 1833, mail-contracts were introduced, the first being with the Mona Steam Company to run steamers from Liverpool to Douglas in the Isle of Man. Of the home mail-packet contracts, the most important are those with the City of Dublin Steam-packet Company for conveying the Irish mails between Holyhead and Kingstown. The principal foreign contracts are for the Indian and Chinese mails, entered into with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam-navigation Company, the mails to North and South America, the West Indies, the Australian colonies, and the Cape.

The post-office statute of Queen Anne contains a prohibition repeated in subsequent acts, for any person employed in the post-office to open or detain a letter, except under a warrant from one of the principal secretaries of state. During last century, such warrants were often granted on very trivial pretences. In 1733, at Bishop Atterbury’s trial, copies of his letters, intercepted at the post-office, were produced in evidence against him; and in 1735, it appeared that an organization existed, at an immense expense, for the examination of home and foreign correspondence. In 1782, the correspondence of Lord Temple, when Lord-lieutenant of Ireland was subjected to a system of post-office espionage. In the beginning of the present century, an improvement took place in this matter, and Lord Spencer introduced the custom, in 1806, of recording the dates of all warrants granted for the opening of letters and the grounds on which they were issued.

Since 1822, the warrants have been preserved at the Home Office; and a House of Commons’ return in 1853 shows that, in the preceding ten years, only six letters were detained and opened —four in cases of felony, and two that they might be properly returned to those who claimed them. One of these cases of interference with the privacy of correspondence occurred in 1844, when Sir James Graham, as Home Secretary, issued a warrant for opening the letters of Mazzini, and caused certain information contained in them to be conveyed to the Austrian Minister, an act which involved the ministry of the day in considerable popular obloquy, and produced a wide-spread, though very groundless, distrust of the security of the ordinary correspondence of the country. See GRAHAM, SIR JAMES.

The following is a summary of the most important regulations of the British post-office, reference being made for the minute details to the British Postal Guide.

Inland Letters.—The rates of postage, prepaid, are1d. for a letter weighing not more than 1 oz.; 1 1/2 d. when the weight is 1 oz. and not above 2 oz.; 2d. 2 oz. and not above 4 oz.; 2 1/2 d. 4 oz. and not above 6 oz.; 3d. 6 oz. and not above 8 oz.; 3 1/2 d. 8 oz. and not above 10 oz.; 4 d. 10 oz. and not above 12 oz. A letter exceeding 12 oz. is charged 1d. per oz.; e.g., for a letter weighing 16 oz. the postage is 16d. A letter posted unpaid is charged double postage. Letters insufficiently stamped are charged double the deficiency on delivery. Redirected letters are charged additional postage at the prepaid rate; and this may either be prepaid, or charged on delivery. Letters for officers, soldiers, or seamen on actual service abroad, are redirected without charge, also with several restrictions, at home. By paying 1/2 d. extra postage, letters may now be posted in the boxes attached to mail trains, in which sorting is performed.

No inland letter can be conveyed by post which is more than one foot six inches in length, nine inches in width, and six inches in depth, unless sent to or from one of the government offices.

Registration.—The registration fee of 2d—in addition to the ordinary postage—prepaid in stamps, secures careful treatment to any letter, newspaper, or book-packet, and renders its transmission more secure, by enabling it to be traced from its receipt to its delivery. Letters may be registered for a fee of 2d. to any place in the British colonies, and for various rates of charge to different foreign countries. Letters containing coin, if not registered, are treated as if they were, and charged on delivery with a registration fee of eightpence; the same fee is charged on letters marked ‘Registered’ and posted in the usual way instead of being-given to a post-office servant. If lost, the contents are only made good to the extent of £2.

Foreign and Colonial Letters-—For the rates payable, reference is made to the British Postal Guide. Prepayment must be wholly in stamps. In some cases, prepayment is optional; in others, compulsory; and to some countries the whole postage cannot be prepaid. A letter posted unpaid or partially paid, directed to go by a route by which prepayment is compulsory, is returned to the writer, unless there be another route to send it by, by which prepayment is not required. Letters, however, for Australia and New Zealand, if prepaid as much as one rate, are forwarded, charged with the deficient postage and an additional rate. Letters for the Cape of Natal posted unpaid (wholly or in part), in addition to the deficient postage are charged 6d. each. Those for St. Helena and British West Indies, not included in the General Postal Union, are charged 1s. each in addition to the deficient postage. No letter for any foreign country may be above two feet in length or one feet in width or depth.

Letters to be sent by private ship must be so marked; their postage varies from 21/2 d. upwards for half an ounce, and prepayment is obligatory in some cases, and in others not.

Letters to passengers on board the American or Mediterranean packets must be registered, and must be addressed to the care of the commander of the packet.

The post-office monopoly is applicable to letters only; and it does not include letters sent specially by private messenger, or letters concerning goods or merchandize sent to be delivered along with the goods which they concern.

Newspapers.—In 1870, the impressed duty stamp was abolished; and now, any newspaper published at intervals not exceeding seven days, and on a sheet or sheets unstitched, and registered at the General Post-office, is transmissible by post within the United Kingdom at a postage of one halfpenny for each transmission. The postage must be prepaid, either by an adhesive stamp or by a stamped wrapper. A packet of newspapers is not chargeable at a higher rate than a book packet—namely, one halfpenny for every 2 oz. or fraction of 2 oz. The cover, if there is one, must be open at both ends, and such that the packet can be easily removed for examination. There must be no writing outside or inside, except the address of the person to whom the newspaper is sent. Registration for inland circulation includes registration for transmission abroad. Newspapers for foreign countries and the colonies are subject to the same general regulations as for inland circulation, except that they may be published at intervals of thirty-one days, and printed on sheets stitched together. They must be posted within eight days from the day of publication.

Parliamentary Proceedings.—The printed proceedings of parliament, with the words ‘Parliamentary Proceedings’ written or printed on the cover, may circulate throughout the United Kingdom at the rate of one halfpenny for every 2 oz. or fraction of 2 oz. Prepayment is optional. Parliamentary notices may be forwarded by post under certain regulations and restrictions, the postage chargeable, and a registration fee of 60!., being payable in stamps.

Book-post.—This branch of the post-office was first established in 1848, and further improved by regulations issued in 1855,1857, and 1870. The postage is now one halfpenny for every 2 oz. or fraction of that weight. A book-packet may contain books, paper, or parchment, whether plain, or written, or printed upon (provided there be nothing of the nature of a letter); maps, prints, &c. (but not in glass frames). Circulars, when wholly or in great part printed or lithographed, may also be sent by book-post, singly or in packets. The postage must be pre-paid by adhesive stamps, or by a stamped wrapper; if not prepaid, the packet is charged double the book-postage; if not sufficiently prepaid, it will be charged double the deficiency. If there is a cover, it must be open at the ends. No book-packet must exceed 5 lbs. in weight; it must not be over 1 foot 6 inches in length by 9 inches in width and 6 inches in depth; nor must it contain anything sealed against inspection. An entry on the first page of the book stating who sends it, or to whom it is given, is allowed. In order to secure the return of book-packets that cannot be delivered it is recommended to have the names and addresses of the senders written or printed outside. No writing in the way of a letter or communication is allowed; if any such communication be found within a packet, the whole will be charged the unpaid letter rate, and forwarded. The book-post has been extended to the colonies and to foreign countries at valuing rates.

Colonial and Foreign Pattern and Sample Post.—This post extends to most colonies and foreign countries, at rates corresponding with those for book-packets. It is restricted to bona-fide trade patterns or samples of merchandise. Goods sent for sale, or in execution of an order (however small the quantity may be), or any articles sent by one private party to another which are not actually patterns or samples, are not admissible. The patterns are to be sent in covers open at the ends or sides; but samples of articles which cannot be placed in open covers, may be inclosed in transparent bags. Such articles as knives, scissors, &c., may be sent to places abroad, except France and the French colonies, provided they are so packed as to do no damage.

Post-cards, bearing a halfpenny impressed stamp, are transmissible within the United Kingdom. On the stamped side, the address alone is to be written. On the other side, any communication may be written or printed. .Reply post-cards, which were introduced in 1882, allow the sender to prepay the reply. Foreign post-cards cost Id. and lid.

The Parcels Post Act, passed in 1882. provides for the carriage of small parcels within the United Kingdom at the following rates: For parcels not exceeding 1 lb.—3d.; 3 lbs.—6d.; 5 lbs. —9d.; 7 lbs.—1s.

Money Orders.—Inland money orders may be obtained at any of the post-offices of the United Kingdom, on payment of the following commission : For sums under 10s.—2d.; for 10s. and under £2—3d.; for £2 and under £3—4d.; for £3 and under £4— 5d.; and so on, up to £9 and under £10—11d.; £10—1s. Money orders may now be issued to the colonies, to most European countries, the United States, Egypt, &c., the commission being about three to four times the above rate. In applying for a money order, the surname and initial, at least, of one Christian name of the sender, and the name of the person to whom payable, must be given; but the designation of a firm will suffice, and the name of the person to whom the order is payable may be withheld, if it is to be paid through a bank.

A money order in the United Kingdom becomes void if not presented for payment before the end of the twelfth calendar month after that in which it was issued. Orders drawn on France or Italy must be paid within three months. The lower rates for inland money orders entail a loss on each transaction. Provision was further made for the issue of ten classes of ‘ postal notes ‘ for small fixed sums, under Mr. Fawcett’s Post-office (Money Orders) Bill of 1880.

Any person with a fixed residence may have a private box at the post-office on paying an appointed fee; but in no other case can a resident have his letters addressed to the post-office. See poste restante.

Letters containing anything liable to injure the contents of the mail-bag are not allowed to be sent by post. This comprehends glass in any form, vessels containing liquids, meat, fruit, explosives, sharp instruments, &c.

Telegrams.—The charge for the transmission of messages by telegraph throughout the United Kingdom is 1s. for the first twenty words, and 3d. for each additional five words, or part of five words. Press telegrams cost 1s. for 100 words by day, and for 75 by night.

The Universal Postal Union-—In October, 1874, a conference at Berne resulted in the establishment of the ‘ General Postal Union,’ embracing the European countries, with Egypt and the United Sates, and resulting in a great simplification of international postal arrangements. This was followed in June 1878 by the treaty of Paris, signed or subsequently adhered to by all the parties to the former treaty, with the addition of British India, the colonies of France, Spain, Holland, and Portugal, various British colonies, Persia, Japan, Liberia, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, &c., the new convention receiving the name of the ‘ Universal Postal Union.’ Under this important treaty, all the consenting nations were declared to be ‘a single postal territory for the reciprocal exchange of correspondence.’ Equal rates, weights, and rules are established, and considerable reductions of postage have followed its adoption. Except in the case of lengthy sea transit, a uniform rate of 25 centimes (2 1/2 d.) is adopted for a letter of 15 grammes (1/2 oz.); of ten centimes (1d.) for post-cards; of five centimes (1d.) for packets of print, &c., of 50 grammes (2 oz.); and of 25 centimes (2 1/2 d.) for registration in Europe, and 50 centimes (5d.) for registration beyond Europe.—See Her Majesty’s Mails, by Lewins; the Postmaster-general’s Annual Reports; Martin’s Statesman’s ‘ Year Book; Life of Sir Rowland Hill; and the History of Penny Postage, by Sir R. Hill and a. B. Hill (1880).

THE’ATER, a place for public representations, chiefly of a dramatic or musical description. Theaters are of very ancient origin. They were found in every Greek city, both at home and in the colonies, and many very interesting specimens of the Greek theaters still exist in very good preservation. These were not built like modem theaters, with tiers of galleries rising one over the other, but were constructed with concentric rows of seats rising in regular succession one behind and above the other like the steps of stairs. These seats were frequently cut in the solid rock; and a place where the natural curve and slope of the ground rendered such excavation easy, was generally chosen. The seats, or audience department, were arranged in a semicircular form. In the center, at the lowest point, stood the orchestra; and the proscenium, or place for the dramatic representation, formed the chord of the semicircular auditorium. Behind this was the scena, closing in the building with a solid wall, generally ornamented with pillars, cornices, &;c. There was no roof, but the audience was probably protected from the sun’s rays by a curtain stretching across the theater. This form of theater was also that adopted by the Romans, who built or excavated large theaters in many of their important towns. The theaters of the Romans differed from their Amphitheaters (q. v.), the former being semicircular, the latter oval, and with seats all round. Of the theaters still remaining, that of Orange, in the south of Prance, is one of the finest. tli6 auditorium being 340 feet in diameter. The illustration (fig. 1) shows the general form of these ancient theaters; and in this case the scena is more elaborate than usual. During the middle ages, theaters were unnecessary, and were never built. The few dramatic performances then in use, which were chiefly of the nature of holy mysteries, were represented in the cathedrals. From the remains still existing, however, there would seem to have been large open-air theaters at an early age in this country. Of these, Piran Round in Cornwall is the best example. It is circular, with raised platforms all round for spectators, after the manner of the Greek theaters.

With the revival of classical literature in the 16th c., the classical drama was also reproduced, and naturally along with it the classical form of theater. The first specimens of what may be called modern theaters (although founded on the old Greek model, according to Vitruvius’s description) were the Theatre Olympico, erected by Palladio in Vicenza; a similar one in Venice, also by Palladio ; and another in Vicenza, by Serlio. In Italy and Spain, open courtyards, with galleries round them, were at first the scenes of dramatic performances. In France and England, where the climate did not so readily admit of open-air representations, the first plays performed were exhibited in tennis or racket courts, in which there were usually galleries at one end; and as this accommodation was found too limited, these were afterwards carried along the sides also. But dramatic literature soon became so important that buildings had to be designed for the express purpose of its representation. Accordingly, in Paris, the theater of the Hotel de Bourgogne was erected in the beginning of the 17th century. It was rebuilt 1645, with tiers of boxes on a square plan. In 1639. the theater of the Palais Royal was erected by Richelieu, and was long considered the best model. The present circular plan of the galleries, with pit sloping backwards, seems to have been first introduced in Venice in 1639; and the horse-shoe form of the boxes was first carried out by Fontana in the Tordinoni Theater at Rome, in 1675. The modern form of the auditorium was thus invented, and gradually improved and perfected, till in about a century similar theaters were erected all over Europe; the Scala Theater at Milan, the largest in Italy, and the great theater at Bordeaux, being built, the former in 1774, and the latter in 1777.

The annexed plan of the Scala Theater at Milan (fig. 2), will show the general disposition of all the parts of the modern theater on the largest scale. Modern theaters are all very similar in their general distribution. They are divided into two distinct departments—viz., the auditorium or audience department, and the stage or scenic department. In the former, the seats are invariably arranged on a sloping ground-floor or ‘ pit;’ and on several tiers of galleries, extending in a semicircular or horse-shoe form round the house. On the ground-floor, the front rows of seats are generally set apart as ‘ dress stalls,’ and the back part only is then called the ‘ pit.’ In opera-houses, the stalls generally occupy the greater portion of the space, and the ‘ pit’ is reduced to a minimum. In dramatic theaters, the tiers of galleries have the floors arranged in stages, rising above one another in such a manner as to enable the spectators all to see over those before them to the front of the stage. In theaters for operatic representation, the galleries have the floors laid level, and are divided all round into private boxes. The top tier is, however, sometimes left partially open, and has the seats on stages. In the larger opera-houses, there are usually retiring-rooms connected with each of the private boxes. There is also a ‘ crush-room,’ or large saloon, in which the audience may promenade between the acts.

In all French theaters and opera-houses, these saloons, or foyers, are very large, and elegantly fitted up. They are almost always over the entrance-hall. In some of the modern French theaters, there are two foyers, one over the other, for the different classes who occupy the dress circle and the upper galleries. The question has often been raised as to the best form for a theater, both for hearing and seeing. It is a most difficult question to decide theoretically as regards hearing, but it is quite clear that the old semicircular plan of the Greeks is as nearly as possible the test for seeing, as it places the seats all round at an equal distance from the center of the proscenium; and therefore we find, in cases where seeing well is all-important, as, for instance, in a lecture theater, this old form is usually adopted. In an oblong-house, on the other hand, the seats at the center of the galleries ire much further removed than those at the sides from the center of the stage, and are thus at a disadvantage as regards hearing; while the side boxes are badly placed for commanding a view of the stage. The entrances and staircases of theaters are not generally so well arranged or so spacious as they should be. In French theaters, this is especially the case. In these, there is often only one narrow wooden stair on each side of the house, leading to all the galleries. Recent accidents by fire, and the risk the audience runs in case of want of proper exits, have drawn attention to this subject, and the legislature will probably determine that there must be a separate, wide, and easy stair to gallery—as, indeed, there usually now is in theaters recently built in this country. For large galleries, these stairs should be least six feet wide; and a strong iron hand-rail down each side the stair would be found useful in case of a panic, to prevent a fatal crush. Besides the main passages for the use of the public, there ought to be private passages and doors leading to every part of the house, so that the manager may pass with ease to any point in the audience where his presence may be required.

The orchestra occupies the space immediately in front of the proscenium, and this space is arranged so as to be capable of being enlarged or contracted as occasion may require. The proscenium is a small portion of the stage which projects a few feet in front of the curtain, so as to enable the actors to stand well forward, that they may be distinctly heard by the audience. The part of the house on either side of the proscenium is that on which there is usually the greatest amount of ornament. The sides and ceiling of the proscenium form, as it were, the frame through which the picture represented on the stage is seen; and as on it every eye must rest, it is made more ornate than the rest of the auditorium. The ceiling, presenting as it does a large broad surface, and being well seen from many parts of the house, also a place well adapted for ornament, and is generally made as handsome as possible. The same remark applies to the fronts of the dress circle and galleries. The stage extends backwards from the proscenium, and ought to be of considerable depth, so as to admit of the scenic effects, dissolving scenes, &c., now so much run upon. The great length of the stage from front to back is one of the most striking differences between the modern and the ancient theater, and arises entirely from the introduction and development of movable scenery—an invention of the architect Baldassare Peruzzi, and first used in Rome before Leo X., in 1508. The floor of the stage is not laid level like the floor of a room, but is sloped upwards from front to back, so as to elevate the performers and scenes at the back, and render them more easily seen. The inclination of the stage is generally about half an inch to every foot. The stage department of a theater not only requires to be very long, but also very lofty above, and deep below the stage, so as to allow the large frames on which the scenes are stretched to be raised or lowered in one piece.

The stage itself is a most complicated piece of mechanism, a considerable part of it being made moveable either in the form of traps, for raising or lowering actors, furniture, &c., or in long-pieces, which slide off to each side from the center, to allow the scenes to rise or descend. There are also bridges, or platforms constructed for raising and lowering through similar openings, some of them the full width of the stage. The traps and bridges are almost all worked by means of balance-weights, and the slides by ropes and windlasses. Besides the large frames above described as containing pictures occupying the full opening of the stage, there are other scenes which are pushed from the sides to the center, each being only one half the width of the opening. These are called flats, and usually slide in grooves above and below. The grooves are arranged in clusters at intervals, having" clear spaces between, called the entrances, through which the actors pass on and off the stage. But in modern French theaters and in the opera-houses—such, for instance, as Covent Garden Theater—these grooves are regarded as an encumbrance to the stage, and are entirely done away with. Their place is occupied by narrow openings or slits in the stage, below which are blocks running on wheels, and containing sockets, into which poles are dropped from above, and to these the flats are attached. Another advantage of this system is, that the gas-wings and ladders may be made movable, and slip backwards and forwards in the same manner as the flats. When occasion requires, the whole stage can thus be entirely cleared.

According to the old plan of fixed grooves, only the center of the stage can ever be cleared without unscrewing all the grooves, and the gas-wings must always remain in the same relative position. Besides the flats, there are also smaller scenes which move in the grooves. These are called wings, and are used to screen the entrance. Corresponding to the wings are similar narrow scenes dropped from above : these are called borders, and are used to hide the gas-battens. These and the scenes which are drawn up, the gas-battens, &c., are all worked by means of ropes from the flies, or galleries running along the sides of the stage at a high level. The ropes from these passing up into the barrel-loft (a, space in the roof filled with large drums and barrels on which the ropes are coiled) and down again to the flies, form a complication which seems to the uninitiated observer an inextricable mass of confusion. While such is the usual arrangement connected with movable scenery, it is to be noted that latterly a very great change has been introduced into the higher class of theaters. This change consists in the dismissal of wings or sliding side portions of scenes with intervening gaps, and substituting for them large pieces of scenery resembling the sides and further end of a room—an arrangement every way more natural. In cases of this improved kind, the actors enter on the stage and depart by doors. In connection with the stage, it is usual to have a large space set apart for containing scenery, called the scene-dock.

This is frequently placed at the back of the stage, and may, on occasion, be cleared out, to give extra depth to the scene. There are also numerous apartments required in connection with the stage for the working of the theater—such as manager’s room; dressing-rooms for the actors and actresses; the ‘green-room,’ in which they assemble when dressed, and wait till they are called; ‘ star-rooms,’ or dressing-rooms for the stars; the wardrobe, in which the costumes are kept; furniture stores, scene stores; ‘ property’-maker’s room; and workshops for the carpenter, gas-man, &c. There must also be a good painting-room, which must necessarily be a large apartment, from the size of the pictures which have to be painted—each being the full size of the opening of the stage. The canvas for these scenes are stretched on frames, which move up and down by means of a winch with balance-weights; and thus the painter stands comfortably on the floor, and moves his picture up or down, so as to get to any part he wishes. An interesting point on the stage is the prompt corner, from which the prompter has command of all the lights of the house, and bells to warn every man of his duty at the proper moment. He has a large brass plate, in which a number of handles are fixed, with an index to each, marking the high, low, &c., of the lights; and as each system of lights has a separate main pipe from the prompt corner, each can be managed independently. The side of the house on which the prompter is seated is called the ‘ prompt side,’ and the other side is called the ‘ O. P.’ or opposite side.

The house, or auditorium department, is generally lighted by means of a large lustre or sun-light in the center of the ceiling, and much of the effect of the building depends on how this is managed. There are also usually smaller lights round one tier of the boxes at least. The proscenium is lighted by a large lustre on each side, and by the foot-lights, which run along the whole of the front of the stage. These are sometimes provided with glasses of different colors, called mediums, which are used for throwing a red, green, or white light on the stage, as may be required. The stage is lighted by rows of gas-burners up each side and across the top at every entrance. The side-lights are called gas-wings, or ladders; and the top ones, gas-battens. Each of these has a main from the prompt corner. They can be pushed in and out, or up and down, like the scenery. There is also provision at each entrance for fixing flexible hose and temporary lights, so as to produce a bright effect wherever required. The mediums for producing colored light in this case are blinds of colored cloth. Another means of producing brilliant effects of light is the lime-light, by which, together with lenses of colored glass, bright lights of any color can be thrown on the stage or scenery when required.

Theaters are usually either very cold or insufferably hot. This arises from want of proper means of heating, and insufficient ventilation. The center lustre is the great cause of ventilation, the draught caused by its heat drawing off the foul air at the ceiling. The suction caused by this withdrawal of air is naturally supplied from the great body of air in the stage. The stage ought, therefore, to be moderately heated by means of hot-water pipes or otherwise, so as to prevent cold draughts. The passages and lobbies round the house should also be heated in the same way, so that any air drawn in to the house may be properly tempered.

An attempt has been made in Paris, of late years, to obviate the great heat and draught caused by the center lustre, by doing away with the lustre, and making the ceiling partly of glass, with powerful lights and reflectors behind the glass in the roof. This mode of lighting is, however, of rather a subdued character for a theater, although very appropriate to such chambers as the House of Commons, where it acts admirably. In Paris, they have also tried to supply fresh air from the gardens outside by means of a large tube, from which numerous small tubes branch. The theater built at Baireuth in 1876 for Wagner, and designed to carry out his views as to dramatic representation, has various devices for heightening the dramatic illusion; the orchestra, for example, being beneath the level of the stage, and wholly invisible to the spectators.

There is a class of theaters in Germany which have a double auditory, one at each end of the stage. One of these auditories is arranged and lighted in the usual manner, and is called the Winter Theater. The other auditory is called the Summer Theater, and is so arranged that performances maybe represented in daylight during the summer season. It is lighted by large windows in the outer wall, which corresponds in form to the interior curves of the galleries, and also by windows in the roof.

The new Grand Opera of Paris, opened in 1875, is admittedly the finest theater in the world; it was built by government at a cost of upwards of 36,000,000 of francs. Its auditorium is, however, seated only for 2200 persons.

The art of dramatic representation has undergone great changes. In ancient Greece, partly from the character of the subjects selected, and partly from the origin of the drama itself, costume and acting were conventional, artificial, and stereotyped. On this point, we quote the words of Witzschel, who has written a Handbook for Students on the Athenian Stage (Eng. transl. by Paul; ed. by T. K. Arnold, Loud. 1850): ‘ There can be no doubt,’ says he, ‘ that the somewhat fantastic costume which was handed down without any change from one generation of actors to another was closely connected with the religious character of their tragic performances. The peculiar fashion and brilliant colors of the tragic wardrobe belonged rather to the Dionysian solemnities than to the stage. That Æschylus, by whom the greater part of it was invented, kept steadily in view the original intention of tragedy, is evident from the notices which we find in ancient writers of his theatrical dresses having been worn in other religious ceremonies and processions. It is only reasonable to suppose that he would have given to the tragic stage a wardrobe of a very different description, had he not been influenced by the conviction, that theatrical performances were in some sort a religious ceremonial. Another proof of the feeling generally entertained on this subject may be found in the ridicule with which Aristophanes overwhelms Euripides for introducing his heroes, not only in pitiable situations, but in dirty, ragged, and beggarly weeds, to the great disgust of all true-hearted Athenians, and the utter annihilation of tragic ideality. In the Acharnenses, the whole of the tragic poet’s squalid wardrobe is held up to public derision.

‘ The tragic costume for male characters of the highest rank consisted of an embroidered tunic with sleeves, which, in the older personages, reached to the feet (chiton poderes), and in the younger to the knees. Over this was thrown a green pall, or long mantle (Gr. surma, Lat. palla), which also reached to the feet, and was richly ornamented with a purple and gold border. Persons of high but not royal rank wore a shorter red mantle, embroidered with gold, which was partially covered by a richly-embroidered, high-fitting scarf. Soothsayers wore over the tunica kind of network, composed of woollen threads. A sort of waistcoat (kolpoma) was also worn over the tunic. This was the costume of powerful and warlike sovereigns, such as Atreus, Agamemnon, &c. Dionysus (Bacchus) appeared in a purple tunic, which hung negligently from an embroidered shoulder-knot, and a thin, transparent, saffron-colored upper robe, with a thyrsus in his hand. Even Hercules himself was not the athletic hero of the old mythology, with a lion’s skin thrown loosely round his muscular limbs, but a solemn, theatrical personage, enveloped in a long mantle. The costume of a queen was a flowing purple robe, with a white scarf; and for mourning, a black robe, and blue or dark yellow shawl. Persons in distress, especially exiles, wore dirty-white, dark-gray, dingy-yellow, or bluish garments. …. To increase their height, the tragic performers wore the cothurnus, a sort of buskin, with high soles and still higher heels, which compelled them to walk with a measured and sounding tread, and a top-knot of hair, or toupet (Gr. ongkos), suitable to the age and condition of the character represented. A corresponding breadth of figure was produced by means of padding and by a sort of glove. Thus equipped, the tragic hero seemed a giant as compared with ordinary mortals. Lastly, they had the mask, a part of the ancient theatrical costume, which seems to us so strange and unnatural. For its meaning and origin, we must go back to the Dionysian festival, at which the excited crowd were wont, in honor of the jolly god, to smear their faces with lees of wine; and at a later period, when, dramatic interludes were attempted, with vermilion, or to cover their cheeks with rude masks of bark.

‘ In the course of time, these primitive inventions were discarded, and their place supplied by linen masks, characteristically painted. For the sake of retaining this uncouth but distinctive appendage of the Dionysian festival, the Greeks were content to forego the delicate expression of feeling and eloquent play of features which are indispensable to a modern actor; but on the other hand, when we remember the enormous size of their theaters, which scarcely permitted the assembled thousands to hear what was said by the actors, still less to distinguish their features, we are forced to acknowledge that the practice of wearing masks was rather an advantage than an inconvenience.’ The above description is, in the main, applicable to the Roman as well as the Greek theaters. The only additional point which it is necessary to notice is that, among the ancients, the acting of plays was not (as it is now) a regular and daily, but only an occasional affair, at festival seasons and the like. With the fall of the Western Empire, the disappearance of classic paganism and classic tastes, and the triumph of the christianized barbarians of the north and east, theatrical performances ceased. But the liking for such things is not artificial; it is natural and irrepressible; and gradually, as the ancient culture resumed something of its former sway, efforts were made, not, indeed, to re-enact the majestic tragedy of Greece (for its language was scarcely known), or the pungent comedy of Rome, but to throw into dramatic form the ‘ mysteries,’ ‘miracles,’ and ‘moralities’ of the Christian religion. The rudeness of these medieval plays may perhaps suggest to us what Greek performances were before the days of Thespis. In fact, they were introduced as a means of edifying, as much as of amusing the ignorant laity, were customarily the work of monks, and were performed on festive occasions in the churches. It does not, however, appear that they were accompanied by any scenic representations. A raised wooden stage like that which forms the front of a traveling show, was all that the untutored taste of the times demanded. Nor are we to suppose for a moment that the slightest attention was paid to propriety of costume or speech. The personages rather than the actions, the ceremony rather than the dialogue, the moral rather than the matter, were the things looked to, and hence no subtle or artistic representation of life and character was possible.

The development of the Modern Drama (q. v.) ultimately re-stored the art of the actor to its ancient dignity and importance; but it was long before those changes took place that gave theatrical performances their modern character. Good acting—that is to say, skilful impersonation of character and varied elocution—became quite common in England after the Restoration, and was not unknown before it; but appropriate costume and scenery were scarcely thought of until the time of Talma (q. v.), towards the close of last century. Since then, the best theaters have displayed a most creditable desire to reproduce, with something like verisimilitude, the outward ‘form and pressure,’ the garb, deportment, and air of the age represented.

The employment of female actors is of French origin, and dates from the first half of the 17th c.; but they were not permitted (without molestation) to tread the English stage till 1661. Before this innovation, female parts were performed by youths; and though it ill consorts with our ideas of adequate representation to conceive the parts of Desdemona, Ophelia, Cordelia, &c., executed by those of another sex, it would appear that several actors obtained a wonderful success in this line.

The title of ‘ His Majesty’s Servants,’ which English actors once bore, originated in the fact that some of them were really members of the royal household. The king and particular nobles kept troops of actors for their own pleasure, whom they sometimes permitted to go about the country and perform. The first prince we read of that gave his ‘ servants ‘ such permission, was Richard, Duke of Gloucester (afterwards Richard III.). In Queen Elizabeth’s time (1571), the Earl of Leicester’s ’servants ‘ were licensed to open the first licensed theater in England, and it is owing to the circumstances of actors having originally formed part of the household of the king that a license from the Lord Chamberlain is still necessary to the opening of a theater.—For an anecdotical and amusing history of the English stage, see Their Majesties’ Servants, by Dr. Doran (1865); see also Button. Cook’s Book of the Play (1876).

ABORIGINES (Lat.), properly the earliest inhabitants of a country. The corresponding term used fey the Greeks was Autochthones. The Roman and Greek historians, however, apply the name to a special people, who, according to tradition, had their original seats in the mountains about Reate, now Rieti; but, being driven out by the Sabines, descended into Latium, and in conjunction with a tribe of Pelasgi, subdued or expelled thence the Siculi, and occupied the country. The A. then disappear as a distinct people, they and their allies the Pelasgi having taken the name of Latini. The non-Pelasgic element of the Roman population is supposed to represent these A., who would thus belong to the Oscans or Ausonians.

CHRISTIANITY. It is proposed in the present article to give a very brief outline of the system of the Christian religion, and of the evidences by which its truth is established. The principal parts, both of the system and evidences of C., will be found noticed under separate heads.

C. comes to us with a claim to be received as of divine origin. It is no product of the human mind, but has for its author the Being whom it sets before us as the object of worship. It is consequently altogether exclusive; it claims to be deemed the only true religion�’ the truth ‘�and admits of no compromise or alliance with any other system.

C. cannot be viewed as distinct from the religion of the Jews and of the patriarchs; it is the same religion accommodated to new circumstances; there has been a change of dispensation only. In studying either the system or the evidences of C., we are compelled continually to revert from the New Testament to the Old, and must in some measure trace the history of the true or revealed religion through the previous and preparatory dispensations.

The whole system of C. may be regarded as having its foundation in the doctrine of the Existence of one God. See god. Next to this maybe placed the doctrine of the Fall (q. v.) of Man. Man is represented as involved in misery by sin (q. v.)�original and actual�and every individual of the human race as incapacitated for the service and fellowship of God, obnoxious to the displeasure of God, and liable to punishment in the future and eternal state of being. See punishment, future. And here we may regard the doctrine of the atonement (q. v.) as next claiming our attention�a doctrine taught in all the sacrifices (see sacrifice) of the patriarchal and Jewish dispensations, as well as by the words of inspired teachers. Man being utterly incapable of effecting his own deliverance from sin and misery, God sent his Son to save sinners, to deliver them from hell, to make them holy, and partakers of the eternal joy and glory of heaven.

By those who regard Christ as a mere creature, atonement or reconciliation with God is made to depend on the repentance of man as its immediate cause; whilst the life and death of Christ are represented as merely an example to us of obedience, virtue, and piety in the most trying circumstances; the doctrines of a propitiatory sacrifice, a substitutionary obedience, and an imputed righteousness, with all that form part of the same system, falling completely and even necessarily to the ground. These doctrines, however, are all consistently maintained in connection with the doctrine of the Trinity and the generally received doctrine as to the person of Christ. See christ and trinity. The very incarnation (q. v.) of the Son of God is regarded as a glorious display of the divine condescension, and a wonderful exaltation of human nature : whilst a personal enjoyment of the highest dignity and bliss of which humanity is capable in favor and fellowship of God for ever, is to be attained by faith in Jesus Christ. See faith and justification.

The indissoluble connection between faith and salvation arises from the divine appointment, but secures a moral harmony, as it provides for bringing into operation�in accordance with the intellectual and moral nature of man�of most powerful and excellent motives for all that is morally good, the partakers of salvation being thus fitted for the fellowship of Him into whose favor they are received; and as it prevents the possibility of any of them taking to themselves, or giving to others, the glory of that salvation which they really owe to Christ, and which they must therefore ascribe to Christ, as God is a God of truth, and truth must reign in the kingdom of heaven.

Salvation is ascribed by all Christians to the grace of God. The mission of Christ was an act of supreme grace; and all must be ascribed to grace for which we are indebted to Christ. The doctrine of grace, however, is a part of the system of C. on which important differences subsist, especially as to the relation of the grace of God to individual men.

Such are tte differences concerning election (q. v.), and concerning the origin of faith, and man’s ability or inability to believe of himself. But by Christians generally, the personal relation of the believer to Christ, and his faith in Christ, are ascribed to the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God, the third person of the God-head, and so to the grace of God. See arminius, calvinism.

Ir. the view of all who hold the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrines concerning the Spirit of God form a very important part of the Christian system. To the agency of this person of the Godhead, besides all that is ascribed to Him concerning the human nature of Christ, we are indebted for all that is spiritually good in man; He, in the economy of grace, being sent by God, on the intercession of Christ, to communicate the blessings purchased by Christ, in his obedience and death. See holy ghost.

Salvation begins on earth; and whenever a man believes in Christ, he is a partaker of it�is in a state of salvation. It forms an essential part of the Calvinistic system, that he who is in a state of salvation always remains so, and that the salvation begun on earth is in every case made perfect in heaven. See persever of saints. Thus salvation is viewed as beginning in regeneration (q. v.), and as carried on in SANCTIFICATION (q. v.), and all its joys as connected with the progress of sanctification. Faith in Jesus Christ cannot be unaccompanied with repentance, and repentance is always renewed when the exercise of faith is renewed. For although all believers are saints or holy, as set apart to God, and in contrast to what they previously were, yet there is none in this life free from temptation and sin; the successful tempter of our first parents, who assailed our Saviour with temptation and was defeated, being still the active enemy of men, against whom believers in Jesus Christ are called to contend, to watch, and to pray. See devil. The sense of responsibility belongs to human nature; and the doctrine of a Judgment (q. v.) to come may be considered as to a certain extent a doctrine of natural religion, as may also that of the Immortality (q. v.) of the Soul; but the clear and.distinct enunciation of these doctrines belongs to the Christian revelation, to which belongs entirely the doctrine of the Resurrection (q. v.) of the Dead.

Of the moral part of C., which has already been referred to, it may be sufficient here to state, that it is as harmonious with the doctrinal as it is inseparable from it; that it is founded upon the attributes of God, and is perfectly illustrated in the character of Jesus Christ; and that it is divisible into two great parts�one, of the love of God, and the other, of the love of man, or of ourselves and our neighbors. See law, moral

The means of grace, or of the attainment of the blessings of salvation, form an important part of the Christian system. Of these the word of god�or divine revelation contained in the Bible (q. v.)�first claims attention, as the means of conversion to Christ, and of edification in Christ, the instrument by which salvation is both begun and carried on in men. The ordinances of God’s worship are among the means of grace. Thus Prayer (q. v.) is one of the chief means of grace. The Sacraments (q. v.) are means of grace, concerning the precise use of which, and their relative importance as compared with the other means, considerable difference of opinion prevails among Christians. The same remark applies also to the combination of Christians into an organized body or community, the Church (q, v.), with its own laws or system of church-government (q. v.) and church-discipline (q. v.).

We have endeavored to sketch the outline of the system of C., as much as possible according to the general belief of Christians, merely indicating the points on which the chief differences of opinion exist. Some of the principal controversies will be found noticed under separate heads.

The truth of C. is established by many different Evidences , distinct and independent, but mutually corroborative. It appeals to reason, and demands to have its claims examined and admitted. Nor is there any faith where there is not a mental conviction arrived at by a process of sound reasoning.

The evidences of C. are very generally divided into two great classes, internal &\^(\ external�the former consisting of those which are found in the nature of the Christian system itself, and in its adaptation to the nature and wants of man; the latter, of those which are derived from other sources. The boundary between the two classes, however, is by no means so distinct in reality as it appears in the definition of the terms. Of the multitude of books which have been written on the subject of the evidences of C., some are devoted mainly to one of these classes, and some to the other; whilst some are occupied with the development of particular evidences or arguments, and some with the refutation of objections, and in particular of what may be called a preliminary objection�that a divine revelation can never be established by sufficient evidence at all. See Revelation.

The evidence of Miracles (q. v.) and the evidence of Prophecy (q. v.), two of the principal branches, of the external evidences of C., will be found noticed in separate articles. Another argument, which has been much elaborated�for example, in Paley’s Evidences�is derived from the character and sufferings of the apostles and other first preachers of C.; their high moral worth, considered along with their great earnestness and devotedness; the absence of all possibility/’ of selfish or base motives; and at the same time, their perfect/opportunity of knowing the truth of the facts which they proclaimed. A subsidiary argument is found in the admission of�tbregreat facts regarding Jesus of Nazareth, by the early opponents of Christianity.

A most important and valuable argument is found in the perfect coherence of all the parts of the Christian system, and in the agreement, as to the religion which they teach, of all the books of Scripture, notwithstanding the widely different dates of their composition, and their very different nature in other respects. See bible. The relation of the Jewish ceremonies to the doctrines of C. supplies another argument of this kind, capable of being developed in a multitude of particulars. The minor coincidences between the different books of Scripture have been pointed out with happy effect in the Horce Paulina of Paley, and in other works. The character of our Saviour supplies an argument of great power : the impossibility of the invention of such a character, and of the history in which it is exhibited, by any effort of human genius, is. also urged as corroborative; and the inconsistency of the morality displayed, with the supposition of imposture, has been dwelt upon with the same view. The excellency, both of the doctrinal and moral part of the system of C., its elevating and purifying tendency, the agreement of its doctrine with the tact of man’s sinfulness and misery, and the suitable provision which it makes for his most deeply felt wants, are principal branches of the internal evidence of its truth. The effects of C., where it has prevailed, supply a confirmatory argument in its favor, which has formed the subject of works of great learning and interest.

CHRISTMAS, the day on which the nativity of the Saviour is observed. The institution of this festival is attributed by the spurious Decretals to Telesphorus, who flourished in the reign of Antoninus Pius (138�161 a.d.), but the first certain traces of it are found about the time of the Emperor Commodus (180�192 A.D.). In the reign of Diocletian (284�305 A.D.), while that Buler was keeping court at Nicomedia, he learned that a multitude of Christians were assembled in the city to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, and having ordered the church-doors to be closed, he set fire to the building, and all the worshipers perished in the names. It does not appear, however, that there was any uniformity in the period of observing the nativity among the early churches; some held the festival in the mouth of May or April, others in January. It is, nevertheless, almost certain that the 25th of December cannot be the nativity of the Saviour, for it is then the height of the rainy season in Judea, and shepherds could hardly be watching their flocks by night in the plains.

C. not only became the parent of many later festivals, such as those of the Virgin, but especially from the 5th to the 8th c., gathered round it, as it were, several other festivals, partly old and partly new, so that what may be termed a Christmas Cycle sprang up, which surpassed all other groups of Christian holidays in the manifold richness of its festal usages, and furthered, more than any other, the completion of the orderly and systematic distribution of church festivals over the whole year. Not casually or arbitrarily was the festival of the Nativity celebrated on the 25th of December.

Among the causes that co-operated in fixing this period as the proper one, perhaps the most powerful was, that almost all the heathen nations regarded the winter-solstice as a most important point of the year, as the beginning of the renewed life and activity of the powers of nature, and of the gods, who were originally merely the symbolical personifications of these. In more northerly countries, this fact must have made itself peculiarly palpable �hence the Celts and Germans, from the oldest times, celebrated the season with the greatest festivities. At the winter-solstice, the Germans held their great Yule-feast (see yule), in commemoration of the return of the fiery sun-wheel; and believed that, during the twelve