LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 



187 



Black Republicans. The Republican party of U. S., 



.so rM 1 led when opposing the extension of slavery. 



Blarney Stone. Its supposed virtue when kissed is 

 to impart a smooth and oily tongue. Profusion of com- 

 pliments is called Blarney. This stone is in Blarney 

 Cystic, near Cork, Ireland. 



Bluebeard. A wife-killing tyrant, in a nursery story. 



Blue Laws. Some severe New England statutes were 

 so railed. 



Blue Stocking. A literary society at Venice in 1400, 

 whose members wore blue stockings, is the origin of this 

 name for a female pedant. 



Bohemian. As opposed to Philistine, an artist or 

 literary man living loosely by his wits. 



Bois de Boulogne. A Parisian promenade. 



Border, The. Frontier of England and Scotland. 



Border Minstrel, The. Sir Walter Scott. 



Border States. Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Ken- 

 tucky, Missouri. 



Bourgeoisie. A class of the people of France mostly 

 composed of traders and manufacturers. 



Boulevard. A wide street in Paris, in the place of 

 the ancient ramparts. 



Bourse. Parisian stock exchange. 



Bow Bells. A set of bells in the Church of St. Mary- 

 le-Bow, London. One "born within sound of Bow 

 Bells " is a Cockney. 



Bowery, The. A New York thoroughfare. 



Boycott. To refuse to have anything to do with a 

 person. To let him severely alone. A trying ordeal 

 passed through by Captain Boycott in Ireland in 1881. 

 No one would self to him, buy from him, work for him, 

 or speak to him. 



Brandy Nose. Queen Anne of England. 



Breeches Bible, The. An edition in which "aprons" 

 in Gen. iii. 7 is rendered " breeches." 



Bride of the Sea. Venice. 



Bridge of Sighs. In Venice. Connects Doge's Pal- 

 ace and State Prison. Over this bridge the condemned 

 passed when on their way to be executed. 



British Museum. Library and museum in London. 



Broadway. The principal business street of New 

 York. 



Brook Farm. A Socialistic community to carry out 

 the idea of Fourierism ; was founded at West Roxbury, 

 .Mass., 1841. 



Brother Jonathan. America; an American. Some 

 doubt as to its origin, but it is said to come from 

 Gov. Jonathan Trumbull, of Connecticut, in speaking 

 of whom Washington would say, "We must consult 

 Brother Jonathan. 



Buncombe. Clap-trap speeches, to cajole constitu- 

 ents, more than for immediate ell'ect. Buncombe is in 

 North Carolina. A North Carolina member said a fiery 

 speech was not delivered to the House, but to Bun- 

 combe. 



Bunker Hill Monument. An obelisk of granite 

 marking the site of the battle of Bunker Hill, fought 

 between the British and Americans, June 17, 1775. 



Cachet, Lettres de. (Sealed letters.) Blank war- 

 rants with the seal of the French King already affixed 

 for imprisoning or releasing any person in the Bastile. 



Caledonia. Scotland. 



Calumet. An Indian pipe. In old times a treaty of 

 peace with the red men would be ratified by smoking 

 the calumet. 



Campagna. The plains around the city of Rome. 



Carbonari. A secret political society organized in 

 Italy, isi^i). 



Carmagnole. Song and dance in the French Revolu- 

 tion. 



Cartesian Philosophy. From Descartes, " I think, 

 therefore I exist." 



Castle Garden. At New York City, the landing-place 

 of emigrants. 



Catacombs. Subterranean sepulchers. About three 

 miles from Rome in the Appian Way a vast number of 

 long underground passages about three feet wide and 

 ten feet high. On each side in niches were deposited 

 the bodies of the martyrs and early Christians. These 

 niches were closed with tiles or slabs of marble having 

 proper inscriptions on them. During the persecutions 

 the Christians concealed themselves in these caves. 



Cavalier Servente. The escort of a married woman. 



Cerilia, St. A martyr ; patroness of music. 



Celestial Empire. China, whose first emperors were 

 all divinities. 



Central Park. The great park of New York City ; 

 contains 863 acres 



Champs de Mars. A field in Paris for military 

 maneuvers. 



Champs Klygees. A promenade in Paris. 



Charter Oak. A tree in Hartford, Conn., in which 

 the Colonial Charter was secreted in 1688. It was blown 

 down in 1856. 



Chauvinism. Patriotism of the blatant kind, from 

 Chauvin, one of Scribe's characters. 



Cheapside. A thoroughfare in London. 



Chiltern Hundreds, To Accept the. A member of 

 the English Parliament cannot resign, and cannot hold 

 office during membership. If he wishes to leave, he can 

 vacate his seat by accepting the office of Steward of the 

 Chiltern Hundreds. 



Chiltern Hundreds. A tract in Buckinghamshire 

 and Oxfordshire, England, to which is attached the 

 nominal office of steward under the crown. 



Christ Church. The name of the largest college in 

 the University of Oxford. 



Cid, The. The Spanish hero, Don Roderigo Laynez, 

 Count of Bivar. 



Cincinnati, The. Society of American Revolution- 

 ary officers. 



Citizen King, The. Louis Philippe of -France. 



Cockagne, Land of. An imaginary country of ease 

 and pleasure ; usually applied to London. 



Colossus of Khodes. A brass statue, one of the 

 wonders of the world, which stood astride the entrance 

 to the port ftf Rhodes. 



CoUimbia. Poetical name of the United States. 



Column of Vendome. A stone pillar in Paris 

 erected by Napoleon, commemorating the successes of 

 the French armies. It was thrown down by the Com- 

 munists in 1871. 



Confederate States. The eleven states which se- 

 ceded in 1861, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, 

 Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, 

 Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. 



Congressional Library. At Washington; it is the 

 largest in the United States. 



Consols. English public securities. 



Copperheads. Northern sympathizers with the South 

 in the Civil war. 



Corncrackers, The. Kentuckians. 



Corn Law Khymer, The. Ebenezer Elliott. 



Corso. The chief thoroughfare of Rome. 



Crapaud Johnny. A Frenchman. 



Credit Mobilier. An authorized stock company. 

 The American Credit Mobilier formed for raising money 

 for the Pacific Railroad raised a foul odor in 1873. 



Crocodile Tears. Counterfeit sorrow. A fable says- 

 the crocodile weeps as it eats its victim. 



Cumberland. A United States vessel sunk by the 

 Confederate ram Merrimac in Hampton Roads, March 

 8, 18G2. 



Curfew Bell. At 8 o'clock, the ringing of the curfew 

 bell in old times in England, all lights were extinguished, 

 the fires raked up and covered, and the people of the 

 Kingdom retired to bed. This rule, made by William 

 the Conqueror, lasted for a long time, and even yet there 

 is some sign of its observance in the nine o'clock bell 

 rung in many parts of New England. 



Damocles' Sword. Damocles, having commented 

 upon the happiness which the tyrant Dionysius must 

 enjciv, was invited by him to a feast where, whilst dis- 

 cussing the good things, he looked up and discovered a 

 sword lianging by a -single hair immediately over his 

 head. 



Darby and Joan. The loving couple. 



Darwinian Theory. An explanation of the origin 

 of species in animals, that they come from one or a few 

 original forms, the present differences resulting from 

 development aiul natural selection. 



De Profundis. The 130th Psalm ; part of the burial 

 service. 



Debatable Ground. Land on the western border of 

 Scotland, disputed between England and Scotland. 



Defender of the Faith. Henry VIII. received this 

 title from Pope Leo X., and his successors have borne it 

 ever since. 



Directory, The French. By the Constitution of 

 1705 the executive power was vested in five Directors; 

 it lasted only four years. 



Dixie, The Land of. The Southern States. 



Dizzy. The nickname of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of 

 Beaconsfield. 



Doctors' Commons. The place where the Ecclesi- 

 astical Court sat in London. 



Doctrinaire. A cant term in French politics, given 



