The Nuttall encyclopædia : being a concise and comprehensive dictionary of…
introduction of its woollen manufacture to the settlement in it of
10703 words | Chapter 31
Flemings in the reign of Richard III.
KENIA, MOUNT, a mountain in British East Africa, 10° S. of the
Equator, 18,000 ft. above the sea-level, and one of the highest on the
continent.
KENILWORTH (4), a Warwickshire market-town, 5 m. N. of Warwick;
noted for its castle, where, as described by Scott in his novel of the
name, Leicester sumptuously entertained Elizabeth in 1575; has some
tanworks, tanning being the chief industry.
KENNAQUHAIR (i. e. know-not-where), an imaginary locality in
Scott's "Monastery." See WEISSNICHTWO.
KENNEDY, BENJAMIN HALL, head-master of Shrewsbury, son of a
schoolmaster, born at Birmingham; after a brilliant career at Cambridge
became, in 1828, Fellow of St. John's, in 1830 assistant-master at
Harrow, and in 1830 was appointed to Shrewsbury, where he proved one of
the greatest of schoolmasters (1804-1889).
KENNICOTT, BENJAMIN, English Hebraist, born at Totnes, Devonshire,
educated at Oxford; became Fellow of Exeter, Radcliffe librarian, and in
1770 canon of Christ Church; from 1753 he organised and took part in an
extensive collation of Hebrew texts, issuing in 1776-80 the "Hebrew Old
Testament, with Various Readings" (1718-1783).
KENSAL GREEN, a cemetery in the NW. of London; celebrated as the
burial-place of many eminent men, Thackeray in chief.
KENSINGTON (166), a West London parish, in which stand the Palace
(Queen Victoria's birthplace), the Albert Memorial and Hall, South
Kensington Museum, the Royal College of Music, the Imperial Institute,
and many other institutions: contains also Holland House, and has long
been the place of residence of notably artistic and literary men.
KENT (1,142), English maritime county in the extreme SE.; lies
between the Thames estuary and the Strait of Dover, with Surrey and
Sussex on the W.; it is hilly, with marshes in the SE. and on the Thames
shore; is watered by the Medway, Stour, and Darent; has beautiful
scenery, rich pasturage, and fine agricultural land, largely under hops
and market-gardens; a large part of London is in Kent; Maidstone (32) is
the county town; Rochester (26) and Canterbury (23) are cathedral cities;
Woolwich (99), Gravesend (35), and Dover (33) are seaports, and Margate
and Ramsgate watering-places.
KENTIGERN, ST., or ST. MUNGO, the Apostle of Cumbria, born at
Culross, the natural son of a princess named Thenew; entered the
monastery there, where he had been trained from a boy, and founded a
monastery near Glasgow and another in Wales; was distinguished for his
missionary labours; was buried at Glasgow Cathedral (518-603).
KENTISH FIRE, vehement and prolonged derisive cheering, so called
from indulgence in it in Kent at meetings to oppose the Catholic
Emancipation Bill of 1829.
KENTUCKY (1,859), an American State in the S. of the Ohio basin,
with the Virginias on its E. and Tennessee on its S. border and the
Mississippi River on the W.; is watered by the Licking and Kentucky
Rivers that cross the State from the Cumberland Mountains in the SE. to
the Ohio, and the Tennessee River traverses the western corner; the
climate is mild and healthy; much of the soil is extremely fertile,
giving hemp and the largest tobacco crops in the Union; there are dense
forests of virgin ash, walnut, and oak over two-thirds of the State, and
on its pasturage the finest stock and horses are bred; coal is found in
both the E. and the W., and iron is plentiful; the chief industries are
whisky distilling, iron smelting and working; admitted to the Union in
1792, Kentucky was a slave-holding State, but did not secede in the Civil
War; the capital is Frankfort (8), the largest city Louisville (160); the
State University is at Lexington (29).
KEPLER, JOHN, illustrious astronomer, born at Weil der Stadt,
Würtemberg, born in poverty; studied at Tübingen chiefly mathematics and
astronomy, became lecturer on these subjects at Grätz; joined Tycho Brahé
at Prague as assistant, who obtained a pension of £18 for him from the
Austrian government, which was never paid; removed to Lintz, where Sir
Henry Wotton saw him living in a _camera obscura_ tent doing ingenious
things, photographing the heavens, "inventing toys, writing almanacs, and
being ill off for cash ... an ingenious person, if there ever was one
among Adam's posterity ... busy discovering the system of the
world--grandest conquest ever made, or to be made," adds Carlyle, "by the
sons of Adam"; he was long occupied in studying the "'motions of the
star' Mars, with calculations repeated seventy times, and with the
discovery of the planetary laws of the Universe"; these last are called
from his discovery of them Kepler's Laws; the first, that the planets
move on elliptic orbits, the sun in one of the foci; the second, that, in
describing its orbit, the radius vector of a planet traverses equal areas
in equal times; and the third, that the square of the time of the
revolution of a planet is proportional to the cube of its mean distance
from the sun; poverty pursued Kepler all his days, and he died of fever
at Ratisbon (1571-1630).
KEPLER'S LAWS. See KEPLER, JOHN.
KEPPEL, AUGUSTUS, VISCOUNT, son of the Earl of Albemarle; entered
the navy, and was in several engagements between 1757 and 1778; when
encountering the French off Ushant he quarrelled with his
second-in-command and let them escape; was court-martialled, but
acquitted; he was afterwards First Lord of the Admiralty (1725-1786).
KER, DR. JOHN, minister and professor, was horn in Peeblesshire,
brought up in Edinburgh; studied there and in Halle, was chosen to fill
the chair of Practical Training in the U.P. Theological College in 1876;
published some "Sermons," and "The Psalms in History and Biography"
(1819-1886).
KERATIN, a substance forming the chief constituent in the hair,
nails, and horn of animals.
KERGUELEN'S LAND, an island with rugged coasts, 85 m. long by 70
wide, of volcanic origin, in the Antarctic Ocean; so called after its
discoverer in 1772, changed to Desolation Island in 1776 by Captain Cook;
belongs to France.
KERMAN (300), an eastern province of Persia, the N. and the NE. of
it a desolate salt waste, and with a chief town (30) of the name in the
middle of it, once a great emporium of trade; manufactures carpets.
KERNER, ANDREAS, a lyric poet of the Swabian school, born in
Würtemberg; studied and wrote on animal magnetism and spiritualism
(1786-1862).
KEROSENE, a refined petroleum used as oil for lamps.
KERRY (179), maritime county in the SW. of Ireland, between the
Shannon and Kenmare Rivers, with Limerick and Cork on the E.; has a
rugged, indented coast, Dingle Bay running far inland; is mountainous,
having Mount Brandon, the Macgillicuddy, and Dunkerron ranges, and
contains the picturesque Lakes of Killarney; there is little industry or
agriculture, but dairy-farming, slate-quarrying, and fishing are
prosecuted; iron, copper, and lead abound, but are not wrought; the
population is Roman Catholic; county town, Tralee (9).
KERTCH (30), a seaport of the Crimea, on the eastern shore; had a
large export trade, which suffered during the Crimea War, but has revived
since.
KESWICK (4), a Cumberland market-town and tourist centre and capital
of the Lake District, on the Derwent, 20 m. SW. of Carlisle; manufactures
woollens, hardware, and lead-pencils; is the seat of an annual religious
convention which gives its name to a phase of Evangelicalism.
KET, ROBERT, a tanner in Norfolk, leader of an insurrection in the
country in 1549, was after seizing Norwich driven out by the Earl of
Warwick, captured, and hanged.
KETTERING (20), market-town in Northamptonshire; manufactures boots
and shoes, stays, brushes, &c.
KEW (2), a village on the Thames, in Surrey, 6 m. W. of Hyde Park,
where are the Royal Botanic Gardens, a national institution since 1840,
and an observatory.
KEY, FRANCIS SCOTT, author of "The Star-spangled Banner," born in
Maryland, U.S.; wrote the words that have immortalised him when he saw
the national flag floating over the ramparts of Baltimore in 1814
(1780-1857).
KEY WEST (10), a seaport, health resort, and naval station on a
coral island 60 m. SW. of Caple Sable, Florida; it has a good harbour and
strong fort; was the basis of operations in the Spanish-American War,
1898; exports salt, turtles, and fruit, and manufactures cigars.
KEYNE, ST., a pious virgin, lived in Cornwall about 490, and left
her name to a church and to a well whose waters are said to give the
upper hand to whichever of a bridal pair first drinks of them after the
wedding.
KEYS, HOUSE OF, the third estate in the Isle of Man, consisting of
24 members chosen by themselves, when a vacancy occurs, by presenting to
the Governor "two of the oldest and worthiest men in the isle" for his
selection.
KEYS, POWER OF THE, power claimed, according to Matt. xvi. 19, by
the authorities of the Church to admit or exclude from church membership,
a power the Roman Catholics allege conferred at first on St. Peter and
afterwards on his successors in office.
KHAMSIN (fifty), a hot sand wind which blows in Egypt from the
desert for fifty days, chiefly before and after the month of May.
KHAN, the title of a Tartar sovereign or prince; also an Eastern inn
or caravansary.
KHANDESH, a district of Bombay in the valley of the Tapti; a great
cotton-growing centre; Dhulia, the capital.
KHARKOFF (194), important town in Little Russia, 350 m. NE. of
Odessa; has immense horse and wool fairs, and manufactures sugar, soap,
felt, and iron; it is a Greek bishopric, a university seat, and has
various schools of learning.
KHARTOUM (60), a caravan depôt in the Soudan, just above the
confluence of the Blue and White Niles, 1100 m. S. of Cairo; was an
active slave-trade centre, and commercially important; was captured by
the Mahdists in 1885, when General Gordon fell; retaken by Lord Kitchener
in 1898; lately has been superseded by Omdurman on the opposite bank of
the Nile.
KHATMANDU (50), the capital of Nepal, India, at the confluence of
the Baghmati and Vishnumati Rivers, 60 m. N. of the British frontier; is
the centre of a considerable trade.
KHEDIVE, the official title of the Viceroy of Egypt since 1867, the
first to hold it being Ismail, the son of IBRAHIM PASHA (q. v.),
by grant of the Sultan, his suzerain.
KHERSON (62), on the Dnieper, 19 m. from the sea and 60 m. E. of
Odessa; capital of the Russian government of Kherson; has been surpassed
in importance by Odessa; its trade is in timber, and industries are
soap-making, brewing, and wool-cleansing.
KHINGANS, THE, a range of volcanic mountains on the E. of the desert
of Gobi.
KHIVA (500), a Turkestan province or khanate in Central Asia, S. of
the Sea of Aral; is under Russian protection since 1873; a sandy desert
with many oases, and in some parts well irrigated from the Oxus; it
produces wheat, rice, cotton, and fruit; climate subject to extremes.
KHIVA, the capital (20), on a canal connected with the Amu, some
distance from the left bank of the Oxus, and 300 m. NW. of Merv, is a
town of earth huts; it was at one time one of the chief slave-markets in
Asia till the traffic was put a stop to by Russia.
KHORASSAN, the largest province of Persia; is on the Afghan border,
mountainous, and fertile only in the N. among the valleys of the Elburz
range; grain, tobacco, and medicinal plants are grown; gold and silver,
turquoises, and other gems found. The capital is Meshed (50), a sacred
Moslem city, with carpet, jewellery, and silk manufactures.
KHYBER PASS, a narrow defile 33 m. long, in one place only 10 ft.
wide, through not lofty but precipitous mountains; lies to the NW. of
Peshawur, and is the chief route between the Punjab and Afghanistan; was
the scene of a British catastrophe in the war of 1839-42, but has been
repeatedly forced since, and since 1879 has been under British control.
KIAKHTA (9), a Russian town in Transbaikalia, Siberia, on the
borders of China; an emporium of trade between China and Russia.
KIAO-CHAU, a province of Shantung, China; occupied by Germany in
1897, and ceded to her on a 99 years' lease by China in 1898; extends to
about 160 m. along the coast, and about 20 m. inland.
KIDD, WILLIAM, a noted pirate, born of Covenanting parents at
Greenock; went to sea early, and served in privateering expeditions with
distinction; appointed to the command of a privateer about 1696, and
commissioned to suppress the pirates of the Indian Ocean, he went to
Madagascar, and there started piracy himself; entering Boston harbour in
1700 he was arrested, sent to London, tried on a charge of piracy and
murder, and executed in 1701.
KIDDERMINSTER (26), in the N. of Worcester, 18 m. SW. of Birmingham;
has been since 1735 noted for its carpets; manufactures also silk, paper,
and leather; was the scene of Richard Baxter's labours as vicar, and the
birthplace of Sir Rowland Hill.
KIEFF (184), on the Dnieper, 300 m. N. of Odessa, is a holy city,
the capital of the province of Kieff, strongly fortified, and one of the
oldest towns in Russia, where Christianity was proclaimed the religion of
the country in 988; has St. Vladimir's University, theological schools,
and Petchersk monastery; a pilgrim resort; industries unimportant,
include tanning and candle-making; trade chiefly in the hands of the
Jews.
KIEL (69), on the Baltic, 60 m. N. of Hamburg, is the capital of
Schleswig-Holstein, a German naval station and important seaport, with
shipments of coal, flour, and dairy produce; has shipbuilding and brewing
industries, a university and library, and is the eastern terminus of the
Baltic Ship Canal, opened 1895.
KIEPERT, HEINRICH, distinguished German cartographer, born at
Berlin; was professor of Geography there; his chief works an "Atlas of
Asia Minor," and his "Atlas Antiquus"; _b_. 1818.
KIERKEGAARD, SÖREN AABY, philosophical and religious thinker, born
at Copenhagen; lived a quiet, industrious, literary life, and exerted a
chief influence on 19th-century Dano-Norwegian literature; his greatest
works are "Either-Or," and "Stadia on Life's Way" (1813-1855).
KIESELGHUR, powder used for polishing and in the manufacture of
dynamite, formed from shells of microscopic organisms.
KILDA, ST., a lonely island in the Atlantic, 60 m. W. of Harris, 3
m. long by 2 broad, with a precipitous coast and a few poor inhabitants,
who live by fishing and fowling.
KILDARE (70), inland Irish county, in Leinster, in the upper basins
of the Liffey and Barrow, W. of Dublin and Wicklow; is level and fertile,
with the great Bog of Allen in the N., and in the centre the Curragh, a
grassy plain; agriculture is carried on in the river basins; the county
town is Naas (4); other towns Maynooth, with the Roman Catholic
theological college, and Kildare.
KILIAN, ST., the first apostle of the Franks, an Irish monk; deputed
by the Pope in 686.
KILIMA-NJARO, a volcanic mountain group, 19,000 ft. high, on the
northern border of German East Africa, 170 m. from the coast, with two
peaks, Kibo and Kimawenzi; in 1894 an Austrian communistic settlement was
established on the slopes.
KILKENNY (87), inland Irish county in Leinster, surrounded by
Waterford, Tipperary, Queen's County, Carlow, and Wexford, watered by the
Barrow, Suir, and Nore; extremely fertile in the S. and E., producing
fine corn, hay, and green crops; is moorland, and devoted to
cattle-rearing in the N., where also anthracite coal is abundant.
Kilkenny (11), the county town, is noted for a fine black marble quarried
near it.
KILLARNEY (5), market-town and tourist centre, in co. Kerry,
Ireland, on the shores of the lake, 15 m. SE. of Tralee; has a Roman
Catholic cathedral and some arbutus-carving industry.
KILLARNEY, THE LAKES OF, three beautiful lakes at the northern foot
of the Macgillicuddy Reeks, in the basin of the Leane, much resorted to
by tourists.
KILLIECRANKIE, PASS OF, 15 m. NW. of Dunkeld, in Perthshire, where
General Mackay was defeated by Claverhouse, who fell, in 1689; is
traversed by a road and a railway.
KILMAINHAM (5), a suburb of Dublin, with a royal hospital for
disabled soldiers and a jail; the treaty of Kilmainham was an agreement
said to have been made in 1882 between Gladstone and Parnell, who was
then confined in Kilmainham jail, affecting Irish government and policy.
KILMARNOCK (28), on the Irvine, 20 m. SW. of Glasgow, largest town
in Ayrshire; is an important railway centre, has extensive engineer
works, carpet factories, and breweries; is in the middle of a rich coal
and iron district, and has a great annual cheese and dairy produce show.
KIMBERLEY (29), 500 m. NE. of Cape Town; is capital of Griqualand
West, and chief inland town in South Africa, in a dry but healthy
situation; exists in virtue of diamond mines in the vicinity, the richest
in the world. Also the name of a district in the N. of West Australia, a
district of rising prosperity.
KIMBERLEY, EARL OF, English Liberal statesman, son of Baron
Wodehouse; succeeded to the title 1846; was twice over Under-Secretary
for Foreign Affairs, and Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland 1864-66; in 1866
created Earl of Kimberley, he was in succession Lord Privy Seal, Colonial
Secretary, Secretary for India, and Foreign Secretary; _b_. 1826.
KIMCHI, DAVID, a Jewish rabbi, born at Narbonne; wrote a Hebrew
grammar and lexicon, which forms the basis of all subsequent ones, also
commentaries on most books of the Old Testament (1160-1235).
KINCARDINESHIRE (35), east coast Scottish county, lying between
Aberdeen and Forfar, faces the North Sea, with precipitous cliffs; has
much fertile soil under corn, green crops, and small fruit, also pasture
and grazing land where cattle are reared; the fishing is important, and
there are some coarse linen factories; chief towns, Stonehaven (5) and
Bervie (1).
KINDERGARTEN, schools conducted according to Froebel's system for
the development of the power of observation and the memory of young
children.
KINEMATICS, the science of pure motion under the categories of space
and time, irrespective of consideration of the forces determining it and
the mass of the body moved.
KINEMATOGRAPH, a photographic apparatus by which an impression is
taken of closely consecutive stages in the development of a scene.
KINETICS, the science of the action of forces causing motion; both
this law and the two preceding are derived from a Greek word signifying
"to move."
KING, WILLIAM RUFUS, American statesman and diplomatist, born in
North Carolina; was a member of Congress and the Senate, and
Vice-President of the Republic, represented the United States both at St.
James's and in France (1755-1827).
KING NIBELUNG, king of the NIBELUNGEN (q. v.), who left his
two sons an inexhaustible hoard of wealth, so large that 12 waggons in 12
days at the rate of 3 journeys a day could not carry it off.
KING OF THE ROMANS, a title assumed by the Emperor Henry II., and
afterwards conferred on the eldest son of the emperor of Germany.
KINGLAKE, ALEXANDER WILLIAM, historian, born near Taunton; bred for
the bar, gave up the legal profession, in which he had a lucrative
practice, for literature; is the author of two works, "Eothen" and the
"History of the War in the Crimea," in 8 vols., the former a brilliantly
written book of travels in the East, published in 1844, the latter a
minute record of the war, of which the last vol. was published in 1890,
pronounced by Prof. Saintsbury, in a literary point of view, to be "an
imposing failure" (1809-1891).
KINGMAKER, THE, a title popularly given to Richard Nevil, Earl of
Warwick, who was instrumental in raising Edward IV. to the throne of
England by dethroning Henry VI., and afterwards in restoring Henry by the
defeat of Edward.
KINGS, THE BOOK OF, two books of the Old Testament, originally one,
but divided in the Septuagint into two, containing the history of the
Jewish kingdom under the kings from its establishment under David to its
fall, and covering a period from 1015 B.C. to 560 B.C., during which
time the kingdom fell into two, that of Israel and that of Judah, the
captivity of the former, occurring 130 years before that of the latter;
the author, who is unknown, wrote the history at the time of the
captivity, and his object is didactic of the effect on the history of a
nation of its apostasy from faith in its God, not, however, without a
promise of restoration in the case of repentance.
KING'S COLLEGE, London, a Church of England institution, with
faculties of Theology, Arts, Science, and Medicine, Evening Class, Civil
Service and Art departments, a preparatory School and a Ladies'
department; it grants the title of associate.
KING'S COUNSEL or QUEEN'S COUNSEL are those barristers in
England and Ireland who, having been successful in their profession have
received the letters-patent conferring that title and right of precedence
in all courts; the appointment is honorary and for life, but in acting
against the Crown a Q.C. must obtain leave by special license, which is
always granted.
KING'S COUNTY (66), an inland Irish county on the left bank of the
Shannon, between Tipperary and West Meath; is mostly flat, a quarter of
it bogland and a quarter under crops; the chief towns are Tullamore (5),
the county town, on the Grand Canal, and Birr or Parsonstown (4), where
Lord Rosse's great telescope is.
KINGSLEY, CHARLES, canon of Westminster and chaplain to the Queen,
born at Holne Vicarage, near Dartmoor; studied at Cambridge; became
rector of Eversley, in Hampshire, in 1844; was the author in 1848 of a
drama, entitled "The Saint's Tragedy," with St. Elizabeth of Hungary for
heroine, which was followed successively by "Alton Locke" (1849), and
"Yeast" (1851), chiefly in a Socialistic interest; "Hypatia," a brilliant
book in the interest of early Christianity in Alexandria and "Westward
Ho!" a narrative of the rivalry of England with Spain in the days of
Elizabeth, and besides other works, including "Two Years Ago," "Water
Babies," and "Hereward the Wake," he was the author of the popular
ballads of "The Three Fishers," "The Starlings," and "The Sands of Dee";
his writings had a great influence on his contemporaries, particularly on
young men; Professor Saintsbury writes an appreciative estimate of
Kingsley (1819-1875).
KINGSLEY, HENRY, younger brother of the preceding; after a brief
experience of life in Australia he returned home to start on the career
of letters in rivalry with his brother, and distinguished himself by
exhibitions of similar literary ability, as a novelist especially, as
well as kindred sympathies; his principal novels were "Geoffrey Hamlyn,"
one of the best novels on Australian life; "Ravenshoe," his masterpiece,
and "The Hillyars and the Burtons" (1830-1876).
KINGSTON, 1, capital (13) of Frontenac County, Ontario, on the NE.
shore of the Lake, 150 m. E. of Toronto, an important commercial town
with shipbuilding and engineering works; is the seat of Queen's
University, military and medical colleges, and an observatory. 2, Capital
(47) of Jamaica, on a great bay on the S. coast, on the edge of a
sugar-growing district; exports sugar, tobacco, and dye-woods, and
imports cotton, flour, and rice. 3, a town (21) on the Hudson, N.Y., has
great blue stone-flag quarries, and cement-works, breweries, and
tanneries.
KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES (27), in Surrey, 10 m. SW. of London, has a
fine church and other buildings, and malting industry.
KINGSTON, W. H. G., popular boys' story-writer, born in London,
spent his youth in Oporto, was interested in philosophic schemes, and
helped to arrange the Anglo-Portuguese commercial treaty; he wrote 120
tales, of which the "Three Midshipmen" series is the best, and died at
Willesden (1814-1880).
KINGSTOWN, seaport of Dublin, 7 m. SE.; was till 1817 but a fishing
village; has a harbour designed by Rennie, which cost £525,000; was
originally Dunleary, and changed into Kingstown on George IV.'s visit in
1821.
KINKEL, JOHANN GOTTFRIED, German poet and writer on æsthetics, born
near Bonn; studied for the Church, but became lecturer on Art in Bonn,
1846; two years later he was imprisoned for revolutionary proceedings;
escaped in 1850 to England, and became professor at Zurich in 1866; wrote
"Otto der Schütz," an epic, and "Nimrod," a drama (1815-1882).
KINROSS (7), small Scottish county lying between Perth and Fife,
round Loch Leven, is agricultural and grazing, with some hills of no
great height, and coal mines; the co. town, KINROSS (2), is on the
W. shore of Loch Leven; manufactures tartan.
KINSALE (5), a once important seaport in co. Cork, at the mouth of
the Bandon, 13 m. S. of Cork; has lost its trade, and is now a summer
resort and fishing station; King James II. landed here in 1689, and
re-embarked in 1690.
KINTYRE, a long narrow isthmus on the W. coast of Scotland, between
the Atlantic and the Firth of Clyde, is chiefly hill and grass country;
but at Campbeltown are great distilleries; at Machrihanish Bay, on the W.
coast, are fine golfing links.
KIPCHAKS, a nomadic Turkish race who settled on the south-eastern
steppes of Russia about the 11th century, and whose descendants still
occupy the district.
KIPLING, RUDYARD, story-teller and poet, born in Bombay, and
educated in England; went out to India as a journalist; his stories
respect Anglo-Indian, and especially military, life in India, and his
"Soldiers Three," with the rest that followed, such as "Wee Willie
Winkie," gained for him an immediate and wide reputation; as a poet, his
most successful effort is his "Barrack-Room Ballads," instinct with a
martial spirit, in 1864; he is a writer of conspicuous realistic power;
he deems it the mission of civilisation to drill the savage races in
humanity; _b_. 1865.
KIRBY, WILLIAM, entomologist, born in Suffolk; distinguished as the
author of "Monographia Apium Angliæ," and "Introduction to Entomology";
was rector of Barham, Suffolk, for 68 years (1759-1850).
KIRGHIZ, a nomadic Turkish people occupying the Kirghiz steppes, an
immense tract E. of the Ural River and the Caspian Sea, numbering 2½
millions, adventurous, witty, and free-spirited; refuse to settle; retain
ancient customs and characteristics, and are Moslems only in name.
KIRK SESSION, an ecclesiastical court in Scotland, composed of the
minister and elders of a parish, subject to the Presbytery of the
district.
KIRKCALDY (27), a manufacturing and seaport town in Fifeshire,
extending 4 m. along the north shore of the Forth, known as the "lang
toon." It was the birthplace of Adam Smith, and one of the scenes of the
schoolmastership period of Thomas Carlyle's life; manufactures textile
fabrics and floorcloth; is a busy town.
KIRKCUDBRIGHT (40), a Scottish county on the Solway shore between
Wigtown and Dumfries, watered by the rivers Nith, Dee, and Cree; has
Mount Merrick on the NW. border, and Loch Dee in the middle; one-third of
its area cultivated, the rest chiefly hill pasturage. County town
KIRKCUDBRIGHT (3), on the Dee, 6 m. from the Solway; held St.
Cuthbert's church.
KIRKDALE CAVE, a cave in the vale of Pickering, Yorkshire,
discovered by Buckland to contain the remains of a number of extinct
species of mammals.
KIRKE'S LAMBS, the soldiers of Colonel Kirke, an officer of the
English army in James the Second's time, distinguished for their acts of
cruelty inflicted on the Monmouth party.
KIRKINTILLOCH (10), a town on the Forth and Clyde Canal, 7 m. N. of
Glasgow, manufactures chemicals, has calico works, and mines of coal and
iron.
KIRKWALL (4), capital of Orkney, in the E. of Mainland, 35 m. NE. of
Thurso; has a fine cathedral named St. Magnus, and some shipping trade;
it was in mediæval times subject to Norway, and was the residence of the
jarls.
KIRRIEMUIR (4), a small Forfarshire town, 5 m. NW. of Forfar, native
place of J. M. Barrie, and the "Thrums" of his books; manufactures brown
linens.
KIRSCHWASSER (cherry water), a liqueur formed from ripe cherries
with the stones pounded in it after fermentation and then distilled.
KISFALUDY, KAROLY, Hungarian dramatist, brother of the following,
was founder of the national drama, and with his brother ranks high in the
literature of the country (1788-1830).
KISFALUDY, SANDOR, a Hungarian lyric poet, "Himfy's Loves" his chief
work, was less distinguished as a dramatist (1772-1844).
KISSINGEN (4), Bavarian watering-place on the Saale, 65 m. E. of
Frankfort-on-the-Main, visited for its saline springs by 14,000 people
annually; its waters are used both internally and externally, and are
good for dyspepsia, gout, and skin-diseases.
KITCAT CLUB, founded in 1688 ostensibly to encourage literature and
art, and named after Christopher Catt, in whose premises it met; became
ultimately a Whig society to promote the Hanoverian succession;
Marlborough, Walpole, Congreve, Addison, and Steele were among the
thirty-nine members.
KITCHENER OF KHARTOUM, HORATIO HERBERT, LORD, son of Col. Kitchener;
joined the Royal Engineers, and was first engaged in survey work in
Palestine and Cyprus; became a major of cavalry in the Egyptian army
1882, served in the 1884 expedition, was governor of Suakim 1886, and
after leading the Egyptian troops at Handub 1888 was made aide-de-camp to
the Queen, C.B., and adjutant-general in the Egyptian army; he was
appointed Sirdar, commander-in-chief of that army, in 1892, organised and
led the expedition of 1898 which overthrew the Khalifa at Omdurman, and
for which he was awarded a peerage and received many honours, the freedom
of the cities of London and Edinburgh, &c.; a gift of £30,000 was voted
by the Government in 1899; _b_. 1850.
KIZIL (red river), the ancient Halys, the largest river in Asia
Minor, which flows into the Black Sea 40 m. E. of Sinope after a course
of 450 m.
KLAPKA, a Hungarian patriot, distinguished in arms against the
Austrians during the revolution, and for his heroic defence of Komorn in
the end (1820-1892).
KLAPROTH, JULIUS VON, Orientalist and philologist; was an
accomplished Chinese scholar; explored Siberia and Caucasia (1783-1835).
KLAUS, PETER, the German prototype of Rip Van Winkle, a goat-herd
who slept for the same number of years and at the end had similar
experiences.
KLAUSTHAL (9), in Hanover, 25 m. NE. of Göttingen, is the chief
mining town of the northern Hartz Mountains, and the seat of the German
mining administration, surrounded by silver, copper, lead, and zinc
mines.
KLÉBER, JEAN BAPTISTE, French general, born at Strasburg; originally
an architect, served with distinction in the Revolutionary army,
accompanied Bonaparte to Egypt, and was left by him in command, where,
after a bold attempt to regain lost ground and while in the act of
concluding a treaty with the Turks, he was assassinated by an Arab
fanatic (1753-1800).
KLEIST, HEINRICH VON, German dramatist and poet, born at
Frankfort-on-the-Oder; entered the army, but afterwards devoted himself
to literature; slow recognition and other trials preyed on his mind, and
he shot himself near Potsdam (1777-1811).
KLONDIKE, a small section of Yukon, a territory in the extreme NW.
of N. America, and a present-day centre of pilgrimage by gold-seekers
since the recent discovery of the gold-fields there.
KLOPSTOCK, FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB, German poet, born at Quedlinburg;
distinguished as the author of an epic poem entitled the "Messiah," which
is his chief work, his treatment of which invested him with a certain
sense of sanctity, and the publication of which did much to quicken and
elevate the literary life of Germany (1724-1803).
KNARESBOROUGH (5), Yorkshire market-town, 14 m. W. of York;
manufactures woollen rugs, grinds flour, and trades in corn.
KNELLER, SIR GODFREY, portrait-painter, born at Lübeck; studied
under Rembrandt and at Italy, came to England in 1674, and was appointed
court painter to Charles II., James II., William III., and George I.;
practised his art till he was seventy, and made a large fortune
(1646-1723).
KNICKERBOCKER, the imaginary author of the fictitious "History of
New York," by Washington Irving.
KNIGHT, CHARLES, London publisher and editor, publisher for the
Useful Knowledge Society, of "Library of Entertaining Knowledge," of the
"Penny Magazine," and the "Penny Cyclopædia," &c., as well as a
"Pictorial Shakespeare," edited by himself (1791-1873).
KNIGHTHOOD, a distinction granted to commoners, ranking next to
baronet, now bestowed by the crown; formerly knighthood was a military
order, any member of which might create new knights; it was originally
the highest rank of CHIVALRY (q. v.); it was an order of many
subdivisions developed during the crusades, and in full flower before the
Norman conquest of England.
KNIGHTS OF LABOUR, an American labour organisation, founded in 1869,
resembling a union of all trades, male and female; in 1886 had 730,000
members, which have since disagreed and fallen off.
KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE, King Arthur's knights, so called from
the round table at which they sat, so that when seated there might seem
no precedency, numbered popularly at twelve, though reckoned by some at
forty.
KNIGHTS OF THE SHIRE, English gentry representing a middle class
between the barons and the peasants, acting as members of Parliament for
the county they belonged to.
KNOWLES, SHERIDAN, dramatist, born at Cork; was connected with the
stage first as actor and then as an author of plays, which include
"Virginius," "The Hunchback," and "The Wife"; latterly he gave up the
stage, and took to preaching in connection with the Baptist body
(1784-1862).
KNOW-NOTHINGS, a party in the United States that sprung up in 1853
and restricted the right of American citizenship to those who were born
in America or of an American parentage, so called because to those
inquisitive about their secret organisation they uniformly answered "I
know nothing."
KNOX, JOHN, the great Scottish Reformer, born at Giffordgate,
Haddington, in 1505; studied at Glasgow University; took priest's orders;
officiated as a priest, and did tutoring from 1530 to 1540; came under
the influence of George Wishart, and avowed the Reformed faith; took
refuge from persecution in St. Andrews Castle in 1547; was there summoned
to lead on the movement; on the surrender of the castle was taken
prisoner, and made a slave in a French galley for 19 months; liberated in
1549 at the intercession of Edward VI., came and assisted the Protestant
cause in England; was offered preferments in the Church, but declined
them; fled in 1553 to France, from the persecution of Bloody Mary;
ministered at Frankfort and Geneva to the English refugees; returned to
Scotland in 1555, but having married, went back next year to Geneva; was
in absence, in 1557, condemned to be burned; published in 1558 his "First
Blast against the Monstrous Regiment of Women"; returned to Scotland for
good in 1559, and became minister in Edinburgh; saw in 1560 the
jurisdiction of the Pope abolished in Scotland; had successive interviews
with Queen Mary after her arrival at Leith in 1561; was tried for
high-treason before the Privy Council, but acquitted in 1563; began his
"History of the Reformation in Scotland" in 1566; preached in 1567 at
James VI.'s coronation in Stirling; was in 1571 struck by apoplexy; died
in Edinburgh on the 24th November 1572, aged 67, the Regent Morton
pronouncing an _éloge_ at his grave, "There lies one who never feared the
face of man." Knox is pronounced by Carlyle to have been the one
Scotchman to whom, "of all others, his country and the world owe a debt";
"In the history of Scotland," he says, "I can find properly but one
epoch; we may say it contains nothing of world interest at all but this
Reformation by Knox.... It is as yet a country without a soul ... the
people now begin to _live_ ... Scottish literature and thought, Scottish
industry, James Watt, David Hume, Walter Scott (little as he dreamt of
debt in that quarter), and Robert Burns, I find Knox and the Reformation
acting on the heart's core of every one of these persons and phenomena; I
find that without the Reformation they would not have been; or," he adds,
"the Puritanism of England and of New England either"; and he sums up his
message thus: "Let men know that they are men, created by God,
responsible to God; who work in any meanest moment of time what will last
through eternity. This great message," he adds, "Knox delivered with a
man's voice and strength, and found a people to believe him."
KOBDO, a town in Mongolia, the entrepôt of Russian dealers in
connection with the Altai mines.
KOCH, ROBERT, an eminent bacteriologist, born at Klansthal, in
Hanover; famous for his researches in bacteriology; discovered sundry
bacilli, among others the cholera bacillus and the phthisis bacillus, and
a specific against it; _b_. 1843.
KOCK, CHARLES PAUL DE, popular French novelist and dramatist, born
near Paris, and educated for a mercantile career, but turned to writing
and produced a series of works, not of first merit, but illustrating
contemporary French middle-class life (1794-1871).
KOHELETH (the preacher, originally gatherer), the Hebrew name for
the book of Ecclesiastes, and a personification of wisdom.
KOLA, a small town, the most northerly in Russia, on a peninsula of
the same name, with a capacious harbour.
KOLIN, a Bohemian town on the Elbe, 40 m. SE. of Prague, where
Frederick the Great was defeated by Marshal Daun in 1757.
KÖLLIKER, an eminent embryologist, born at Zurich; professor of
Anatomy at Würzburg; _b_. 1817.
KÖLN, the German name for COLOGNE (q. v.).
KÖNIG, FRIEDRICH, German mechanician, born in Eisleben; bred a
printer, and invented the steam-press, or printing by machinery
(1774-1833).
KÖNIGGRÄTZ (16), a Bohemian town 60 m. E. of Prague; was the scene
of a terrible battle called Sa'dowa, in Austria, where the Germans
defeated the Austrians in 1866.
KÖNIGSBERG (161), the capital of E. Prussia, on the Pregel, with
several manufactures and an extensive trade; has a famous university, and
is the birthplace of Kant, where also he lived and died.
KORÂN (i. e. book to be read), the Bible of the Mohammedans,
accepted among them as "the standard of all law and all practice; thing
to be gone upon in speculation and life; it is read through in the
mosques daily, and some of their doctors have read it 70,000 times, and
hard reading it is"; it contains the teaching of Mahomet, collected by
his disciples after his death, and arranged the longest chapters first
and the shortest, which were the earliest, last; a confused book.
KORDOFAN (280), an Egyptian Soudanese province on the W. bank of the
Nile; an undulating dry country, furnishing crops of millet, and
exporting gums, hides, and ivory; was lost in the Mahdist revolt of 1883,
but recovered by Lord Kitchener's expedition in 1898; El Obeid (30), the
capital is 230 m. SW. of Khartoum.
KOREISH, the chief tribe among the Arabs in Mahomet's time, and to
which his family belonged.
KÖRNER, KARL THEODOR, a German soldier poet, often called the German
Tyrtæus, born in Dresden; famous for his patriotic songs and their
influence on German patriots; fell in a skirmish with the French at
Mecklenburg (1791-1813).
KOSCIUSKO, THADDEUS, Polish general and patriot, born in Lithuania,
of noble parentage, bred to arms; first saw service in the American War
on the side of the colonists, and returning to Poland, twice over did
valiant service against Russia, but at length he was taken prisoner at
the battle of Maciejowice in 1794; he was subsequently set at liberty by
the Emperor Paul, when he removed to America, but soon returned to settle
in Switzerland, where he died by a fall of his horse over a precipice; he
was buried at Cracow beside John Sobieski (1746-1817).
KOSSUTH, LOUIS, Hungarian patriot, born near Zemplen; studied for
his father's profession, the law, but giving that up for politics, became
editor of several Liberal papers in succession; elected member of the
Diet at Pesth in 1847, he next year demanded autonomy for Hungary, and
set himself to drive out the Hapsburgs and establish a republic; he
raised a large army and large funds, but Russia aided Austria, and the
struggle, though hopeful at first, proved in vain, defeated at Temesvar
and escaping to Turkey, he came to England in 1851, was enthusiastically
received, and lived there for many years; ultimately he resided in Turin,
studied science, and died there (1802 or 1806-1894).
KOTZEBUE, German dramatist, born at Weimar; went to St. Petersburg,
obtained favour at court and a government appointment; was banished to
Siberia, but regained the favour of Paul, and was recalled; on Paul's
death he returned to Germany, but went back to Russia from fear of
Napoleon, whom he had violently attacked; he had a facile pen, and wrote
no fewer than 200 dramatic pieces; his strictures on the German
university students greatly exasperated them, and one of them attacked
him in his house at Mannheim and stabbed him to death (1761-1819).
KOUMISS, an intoxicating beverage among the Kalmucks, made by
fermentation from mare's milk.
KOVALEVSKY, ALEXANDER, Russian embryologist, professor at St.
Petersburg; studied and wrote on the Ascidians; _b_. 1840.
KRAKATAO, a volcanic island in the narrow Strait of Sunda, between
Java and Sumatra; was the scene of a terrific eruption in 1883, causing a
tidal wave that swept round the globe, and raising quantities of dust
that made the sunsets in Britain even more than usually red for three
years.
KRAKEN, a huge fabulous sea-monster, reported as at one time seen in
the Norwegian seas; it would rise to the surface, and as it plunged down
drag ships and every floating or swimming thing along with it.
KRAPOTKIN, PRINCE PETER, a Russian Nihilist, born in Moscow; became
a member of the INTERNATIONAL (q. v.); was arrested in Russia
and imprisoned, but escaped, as also in France, but released, and settled
in England; has written extensively on Socialistic subjects; _b_. 1842.
KRAUSE, KARL CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH, German philosopher, born at
Eisenberg; studied under Fichte and Schelling, and was himself lecturer
successively in Jena, Dresden, Berlin, Göttingen, and Münich, where he
died; of the school of Kant, his work has suffered through the pedantry
of his style; he wrote "The Ideal of Humanity," and many philosophical
treatises (1781-1832).
KREFELD (105), in Rhenish Prussia, 12 m. NW. of Düsseldorf;
important manufacturing town; noted for its silk and velvet factories
founded by Protestant refugees; has also machinery and chemical works.
KREMLIN, gigantic pile of buildings in Moscow of all styles of
architecture;, including palaces, cathedrals, museums, government
offices; founded by Ivan III. in 1485.
KREUZER, a German coin, worth one-third or one-fifth of an English
penny.
KRIEGSSPIEL, a military game played on large-scale maps with metal
blocks for troops, and designed to represent as fully as possible the
conditions of warfare; was invented by a Prussian lieutenant in 1824.
KRILOF, IVAN ANDREEVICH, the great Russian fabulist, born at Moscow,
son of a soldier; began his literary career writing dramas and editing
magazines; was some time secretary to the governor of Livonia, and for
years lived an idle roving life; at 40 his fables in the Moscow
_Spectator_ brought him fame in 1805; next year he was appointed to a
Government post at St. Petersburg, and in 1821 to a post in the Imperial
Public Library; he was an eccentric, much-loved man, and the humour and
sympathy of his writings have won for him the title of the La Fontaine of
Russia (1768-1844).
KRISHNA (i. e. the swarthy one), the man-god, or god-man, viewed
as the 8th and final incarnation or avatar of VISHNU (q. v.), in
whose manifestation the latter first reveals himself as supreme divinity,
being, as the Theosophist might say, his Mahatma. See THEOSOPHY.
KRÜDENER, MADAME DE, novelist, born at Riga; authoress of an
autobiographical novel entitled "Valérie"; lived partly at St. Petersburg
and partly at Paris; was a mystic religious enthusiast and political
prophetess (1764-1824).
KRÜGER, S. J. PAUL, President of the Transvaal Republic, born at
Rastenburg; became member of the Executive Council in 1872; in 1882 was
chosen President, and has been three times elected to the same office
since; a man of sturdy, stubborn principles, a champion of the rights of
the Boers, and a cunning diplomatist; _b_. 1825.
KRUMMACHER, FREDERICK, German theologian, author of "Elijah the
Tisbite," a popular work; was an opponent of the Rationalists
(1796-1868).
KRUPP, ALFRED, metal and steel founder, born at Essen, where through
his father he became the proprietor of a small foundry which grew in his
hands into such dimensions as to surpass every other establishment of the
kind in the world; the BESSEMER (q. v.) process was early
introduced here in the manufacture of steel, which Krupp was the first to
employ in the manufacture of guns; the works cover an immense area, and
employ 20,000 people, and supply artillery to every Government of Europe
(1810-1887).
KUBERA or KUVERA, the Hindu Plutus, or god of riches,
represented as deformed and mounted on a car drawn by hobgoblins.
KUBLAI KHAN was a great Mongol emperor of the 13th century; built up
an empire which included all the continent of Asia (except India, Arabia,
and Asia Minor) and Russia, the most extensive that ever existed; he was
an enlightened prince, adopted Chinese civilisation, promoted learning,
and established Buddhism throughout his domains.
KUENEN, ABRAHAM, a Dutch Biblical critic, born at Haarlem; studied
at Leyden, and became professor there; distinguished for his researches
on the lines of the so-called higher criticism bearing upon the literary
history of the books of the Old Testament, beginning with that of the
Pentateuch (1828-1891).
KUEN-LUN, N. of Thibet, a great snow-clad mountain range, 18,000 to
25,000 ft. high; stretches for 700 m., with a breadth of 100 m. It was
explored by General Prjevalski, a Russian, 1876-88.
KULM, a Bohemian village on the left bank of the Elbe, 50 m. NW. of
Prague, where the French under Vandamme surrendered to the Russians and
Prussians in 1813.
KUNERSDORF, a village near Frankfort-on-Oder, where Frederick the
Great was defeated by Russians and Austrians in 1759.
KURDISTAN (2,250), a stretch of plateau and mountain land in
Turkish, Persian, and Russian Trans-Caucasian territory, consisting of
grassy plains and lofty ranges through which rivers like the Zabs,
Batman-su, and Euphrates force their way; is inhabited by a partly nomad,
partly agricultural people of ancient stock, who export wool, gum, and
hides; the Kurds retain their old customs and organisation, are subject
to their own chiefs, impatient of the rule of the Porte and the Shah;
predatory by instinct, but brave and chivalrous; they are Moslems and
Nestorians.
KURILE ISLANDS, a chain of 26 islands, being a continuation of the
peninsula of Kamchatka, enclosing the sea of Okhotsk; very sparsely
inhabited.
KURRACHEE (105), the chief port of the Punjab; situated on the delta
of the Indus, with an extensive harbour and trade.
KURTZ, HEINRICH, German theologian, professor at Dorpat; author,
among other works, of a "Handbook of Church History"; _b_. 1809.
KURUMAN, in Bechuanaland, 140 m. NW. of Kimberley; is the place
where Livingstone and Moffat laboured.
KYD, THOMAS, Elizabethan dramatist, born in London, and trained a
scrivener, but won fame as a writer of tragedies, of which the best was
"The Spanish Tragedy" (1557-1595).
KYOTO (298), from 784 to 1868 the capital of Japan, on the Kamo
River, inland, 190 m. W. of Yedo; is still the centre of Japanese
Buddhism, and is noted for its pottery, bronze-work, crapes, and velvets.
KYRIE ELEISON, means "Lord have mercy upon us," and with CHRISTE
ELEISON, "Christ have mercy upon us," occurs in all Greek liturgies,
in the Roman Mass, and in the English Prayer Book, where it forms the
"lesser litany."
KYRLE, JOHN, philanthropist, born in Gloucestershire; celebrated by
Pope as the "Man of Ross," from the name of the place in Herefordshire
where he lived; was distinguished for his benefactions; has given name to
a society founded, among other things, for the betterment of the homes of
the people (1637-1724).
L
LAB`ARUM, the standard, surmounted by the monogram of Christ, which
was borne before the Emperor Constantine after his conversion to
Christianity, and in symbol of the vision of the cross in the sky which
led to it. It was a lance with a cross-bar at its extremity and a crown
on top, and the monogram consisted of the Greek letter for Ch and R.
LABÉ, LOUISE, poetess, surnamed "La belle Cordière" as the wife of a
rope-maker, born in Lyons; wrote in prose "Dialogue d'Amour et de Folie,"
and elegies and sonnets, with "a singular approach to the ring of
Shakespeare's" (1526-1566).
LABICHE, EUGENE, a French dramatist, born at Paris; his dramas give
evidence of a genius of inexhaustible fertility of invention, wit, and
humour; his best-known play "Le Voyage de M. Perrichon," 1860
(1815-1888).
LABLACHE, a celebrated operatic deep bass singer, born in Naples, of
French origin; he created quite a _furore_ wherever he went; was teacher
of singing to Queen Victoria (1794-1858).
LABOULAYE, RENÉ DE, a French jurist, born in Paris; was a Moderate
in politics; wrote on French law, and was the author of some tales of a
humorous turn, such as "Paris in America" (1811-1883).
LABOURDONNAIS, MARÉ DE, French naval officer, born at St. Malo,
Governor of the Isle of France; distinguished himself against the English
in India; was accused of dishonourable conduct, and committed to the
Bastille, but after a time found guiltless and liberated (1699-1753).
LABRADOR (6), the great peninsula in the E. of Canada, washed by
Hudson's Bay, the Greenland Sea, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence; is a high
tableland, with many lakes and rivers, and forests of birch and fir. The
climate is much too severe for agriculture. Summer is very short, and
plagued with mosquitoes. The rivers abound in salmon; the fox, marten,
otter, and other animals are trapped for their fur; iron and labradorite
are plentiful. The population is largely Eskimo, christianised by the
Moravians. The name Labrador specially belongs to the region along the
eastern coast, between Capes St. Louis and Chudleigh, presenting a barren
front to the sea, precipitous, much indented, and fringed with rocky
islands. This region is governed by Newfoundland; its chief industry is
cod and herring fishing.
LA BRUYÈRE, JEAN DE, a celebrated French moralist, born at Paris;
was tutor to the Duke of Bourbon, the grandson of the great Condé, and
spent a great part of his life in Paris in connection with the Condé
family; his most celebrated work is "Les Caractères de Théophrastus"
(1687), which abounds in wise maxims and reflections on life, but gave
offence to contemporaries by the personal satires in it under disguised
names; he ranks high as a writer no less than as a moralist; his style is
"a model of ease, grace, and fluency, without weakness in his characters;
a book," adds Professor Saintsbury, "most interesting to read, and
especially to Englishmen" (1645-1696).
LABUAN (6), a small island, distant 6 m. from the W. coast of North
Borneo, ceded to Britain in 1846, and administered by the British North
Borneo Company; has rich coal-beds; its town, Victoria, is a market for
Borneo and the Sulu Archipelago, and exports sago, camphor, and pearls;
the population is chiefly Malay and Chinese.
LABYRINTH, a name given to sundry structures composed of winding passages
so intricate as to render it difficult to find the way out, and sometimes
in. Of these structures the most remarkable were those of Egypt and of
Crete. The Egyptian to the E. of Lake Moeris, consisted of an endless
number of dark chambers, connected by a maze of passages into which it
was difficult to find entrance; and the Cretan, built by Dædalus, at the
instance of Minos, to imprison the Minotaur, out of which one who entered
could not find his way out again unless by means of a skein of thread. It
was by means of this, provided him by ARIADNE, PERSEUS (q. v.) found his
way out after slaying the MINOTAUR (q. v.).
LAC, a term employed in India for a hundred thousand, a crore
amounting to 100 lacs, usually of money.
LACCADIVES, THE, or THE HUNDRED THOUSAND ISLES (14), a
group of low-lying coral islands 200 m. W. of the Malabar coast of India,
mostly barren, and yielding chiefly cocoa-nuts; the population being
Hindus professing Mohammedanism and poorly off.
LACÉPÈDE, COMTE DE, French naturalist, born at Agen; was entrusted
by Buffon to complete his Natural History on his death; wrote on his own
account also the natural histories of reptiles, of fishes, and of man
(1756-1825).
LACHAISE, FRANÇOIS DE, a French Jesuit, an extremely politic member
of the fraternity in the reign of Louis XIV.; had a country house E. of
Paris, the garden of which is now the cemetery Père la Chaise
(1624-1709).
LACHESIS, the one of the three Fates that spun the thread of life
and apportioned the destinies of man. See PARCÆ.
LACHMANN, KARL, a German philologist and classical scholar, born at
Brunswick, professor at Berlin; besides sundry of the Latin classics, in
particular Lucretius, he edited the Nibelungen Lied, and the Greek New
Testament, as well as contributed important critical essays on the
composition of the "Iliad," which he regarded as a collection of lays
from various independent sources (1783-1851). See ILIAD.
LACHRYMA CHRISTI, a sweet wine of a red or amber colour, produced
from grapes grown on Mount Vesuvius.
LACONIA, ancient name for Sparta, the inhabitants of which were
noted for the brevity of their speech.
LACORDAIRE, JEAN BAPTISTE HENRY, a celebrated French preacher, and
one of the most brilliant orators of the century; bred for the bar; held
sceptical opinions at first, but came under the influence of religion;
took orders as a priest and became associated with Montalembert and
Lamennais as joint-editor of the _Avenir_, a journal which advocated
views at once Ultramontane and radical, but which, being condemned by the
Pope, was discontinued; after this he took to preaching, and immense
crowds gathered to hear his conferences, as they were called, in the
church of Notre Dame, where, to the astonishment of all, he appeared in
the pulpit in guise of a Dominican monk with the tonsure; he was
afterwards elected member of the Constitutent Assembly, where he sat in
his monk's attire, but he soon retired; he ended his days as head of the
Military College of Sorrèze (1802-1861).
LACRATELLE, French historian, born at Metz; began life as a
journalist; became professor of History in Paris University; wrote a
history of the 18th century and of the French Revolution, showing very
great accuracy of detail, if little historical insight (1766-1855).
LA CROSSE, the national game of Canada, of Indian derivation; is
played twelve a side, each armed with a long-handled racquet or crosse,
the object of the game being to drive an india-rubber ball through the
opponents' goal.
LACTANTIUS, a Christian apologist of the early part of the 14th
century, who, from his eloquent advocacy of the Christian faith, was
styled the Christian Cicero; he was a pagan born, and by profession a
rhetorician.
LADISLAUS, the name of seven kings of Hungary, of which the first
(1077-1095) received canonisation for his zeal on behalf of Christianity.
LADOGA, a lake as large as Wales and the largest in Europe, in the
NW. of Russia, not far from St. Petersburg; it is the centre of an
extensive lake and river system, receiving the Volkhov, Syas, and Svir,
and drained into the Gulf of Finland by the Neva; but so dangerous is
navigation, owing to sunken rocks and shoals and to the storms that
prevail during the open months, that the extensive shipping is carried
round the S. shores by the Ladoga and the canals.
LADRONES or MARIANA ISLANDS (10), a well-watered,
thickly-wooded group in the North Pacific, 1400 m. E. of the Philippines
and belonging to Spain; produce cotton, indigo, and sugar, but the trade
is of little worth; the only town is San Ignazio de Agaña, on the largest
island, Guam.
LADY CHAPEL, a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary attached to a
church.
LADY DAY, the festival of the annunciation of the Virgin Mary, March
25; a quarter-day in England and Ireland.
LADY OF ENGLAND, title of Matilda, daughter of Henry I. and wife of
Geoffrey Plantagenet, conferred on her by a council held at Westminster,
1141.
LADY OF SHALOTT, a maiden of great beauty, the subject of a poem by
Tennyson, in love with Lancelot, who died because her love was not
returned.
LADY OF THE LAKE, the name given to Vivien, the mistress of Merlin,
who dwelt in an imaginary lake, surrounded by a court of knights and
damsels; also to Helen Douglas, a heroine of Scott's, who lived with her
father near Loch Katrine.
LA FAYETTE, MADAME DE, novelist, born in Paris; is credited with
being the originator of the class of fiction in which character and its
analysis are held of chief account; she was the daughter of the governor
of Havre, and contracted a Platonic affection for La Rochefoucauld in his
old age, and was besides on intimate terms with Madame Sévigné and the
most eminent literary men of the time; her "Princess de Clèves" is a
classic work, and the merit of it is enhanced by the reflection that it
preceded by nearly half a century the works both of Le Sage and Defoe
(1634-1693).
LA FAYETTE, MARQUIS DE, born in the castle of Chavagnac; went to
America in 1777, took an active and self-sacrificing part in the War of
Independence; was honourably distinguished at the battle of Brandywine;
sailed for France, brought over auxiliaries; he commanded Washington's
vanguard in 1782; returned to Paris, and was made commander-in-chief of
the National Guard in 1789; would have achieved the Revolution with the
minimum of violence and set up a republic on the model of the Washington
one; was obliged to escape from France during the Reign of Terror; was
imprisoned five years at Olmütz, but was liberated when Napoleon appeared
on the scene; as a consistent republican showed no favour to Napoleon;
took part in the Revolution of 1830, became again commander-in-chief of
the National Guard and a supporter of Louis Philippe, the citizen king;
characterised by Carlyle as "a constitutional pedant; clear, thin,
inflexible, as water turned to thin ice" (1757-1834).
LAFITTE, JACQUES, French banker and financier; played a conspicuous
part in the Revolution of 1830, and by his influence as a liberal
politician with the French people secured the elevation of Louis Philippe
to the throne; in the calamities attendant on this Revolution his house
became insolvent, but he was found, after paying all demands, to be worth
in francs nearly seven millions (1767-1844).
LAFONTAINE, JEAN DE, celebrated French author, born at
Château-Thierry, in Champagne; a man of indolent, gay, and dissipated
habits, but of resplendent genius, known to all the world for his
inimitable "Tales" and "Fables," and who was the peer of all the
distinguished literary notabilities of his time; the former, published in
1665, too often transgress the bounds of morality, but are distinguished
by exquisite grace of expression and sparkling wit; the latter, published
in 1668, have an irresistible charm which no reader can withstand; he was
the author also of the "Amours of Cupid and Psyche"; he was the friend of
Boileau, Molière, and Racine, and in his later years a confirmed Parisian
(1621-1695).
LA FORCE, DUC DE, maréchal of France under Henry IV., and one of the
most distinguished; escaped when an infant the massacre of St.
Bartholomew (1558-1652).
LAGOS (40), a large and thriving commercial town in a colony (100)
of the name subject to Britain, on the Guinea Coast of Africa.
LAGRANGE, JOSEPH LOUIS, COMTE, famous mathematician, born at Turin
of French parentage; had gained at the age of twenty a European
reputation by his abstruse algebraical investigations; appointed director
of Berlin Academy in 1766, he pursued his researches there for twenty-one
years; in 1787 he removed to Paris, where be received a pension from the
Court of 6000 francs, and remained till his death; universally respected,
he was unscathed by the Revolution; appointed to several offices, he
received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour from Napoleon, who made
him a count (1736-1813).
LA HARPE, JEAN FRANÇOIS DE, French littérateur and critic, born in
Paris; wrote dramas and éloges, but his best-known work is his "Cours de
Littérature" in 12 vols., of little account except for its criticism of
French literature, in which he showed not a little pedantry and
ill-temper as well as acuteness; he was zealous for the Revolution at
first, but drew back when extreme measures were adopted and became a warm
royalist, for which he was sentenced to deportation, but left at liberty
(1739-1803).
LA HOGUE, a cape with a roadstead on NE. of France, where a French
fleet sent by Louis XIV. to invade England on behalf of James II. was
destroyed in 1692.
LAHORE (177), an ancient walled city on the Ravi, a tributary of the
Indus, 1000 m. NW. of Calcutta, is the capital of the Punjab, and an
important railway centre; it has many fine buildings, both English and
native, including a university and a medical school, but the situation is
unhealthy; half the population are Mussulmans; the trade is
inconsiderable; the district of Lahore (1,075) one of the most important
in the province, is well irrigated by the Bári Doab Canal, and produces
fine crops of cereals, pulse, and cotton.
LAIDLAW, WILLIAM, Sir Walter Scott's factor at Abbotsford, born in
Selkirkshire; having failed in farming, entered Scott's service in 1817
and remained his trusted and faithful friend, advising him in his schemes
of improvement and acting latterly as his amanuensis till his death in
1832; thereafter he was factor in Ross-shire, where he died; he had some
poetic gift of his own, and contributed to the third volume of the
"Minstrelsy" (1780-1845).
LAING, DAVID, a learned antiquary, profound in his knowledge of
Scottish ecclesiastical and literary history, born, the son of
bookseller, at Edinburgh, followed for thirty years his father's trade;
was appointed to the charge of the Signet Library in 1837; was secretary
to the Bannatyne Club, and in 1864 received the degree of LL.D. from
Edinburgh University; he contributed many valuable papers to the
_Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, collected and
edited much of the ancient poetry of Scotland, and acquired a private
library of manuscripts and volumes of great value (1799-1878).
LAING, MALCOLM, Scottish historian, born in Orkney; passed through
Edinburgh University to the Scottish bar, to which he was called in 1785,
but proved an unsuccessful advocate; turning to literature, he edited
"Ossian," and wrote a "History of Scotland from James VI. to Anne"
(1800), in a subsequent edition of which he inserted the well-known
attack on Mary Stuart (1762-1818).
LAÏS, the name of two Greek courtesans celebrated for their beauty,
the one a native of Corinth, who lived at the time of the Peloponnesian
War, and the other belonging to Sicily, and who, having visited Thessaly,
was stoned to death by the women of the country out of jealousy.
LAISSEZ-FAIRE (lit. let things alone and take their course), the
name given to the let-alone system of political economy, in opposition to
State interference, or State regulation, in private industrial
enterprise.
LAKE DISTRICT, a district in Cumberland and Westmorland, 20 m. long
by 25 m. broad, abounding in lakes, environed with scenery of rare
beauty, and much frequented by tourists.
LAKE DWELLINGS, primitive settlements, the remains of which have
been found in many parts of Europe, but chiefly in Switzerland, the N. of
Italy, and in Scotland and Ireland. They were constructed in various
ways. In the Swiss lakes piles, consisting of unbarked tree trunks, were
driven in a short distance from the shore, and strengthened more or less
by cross beams; extensive platforms laid on these held small villages of
rectangular wooden huts, thatched with straw and reeds. These were
sometimes approachable only in canoes, more often connected with the
shore by a narrow bridge, in which case cattle were kept in sheds on the
platforms. In Scotland and Ireland the erection was rather an artificial
island laid down in 10 or 12 ft. of water with brushwood, logs, and
stones, much smaller in size, and holding but one hut. The Swiss
dwellings, the chief of which are at Meilen, on Lake Zurich, date from
very early times, some say 2000 years before Christ, and contain remains
of the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, weapons, instruments, pottery, linen
cloth, and the like. The relic of latest date is a Roman coin of A.D.
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