128 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



to the proposer of an Impracticable compromise meas- 

 ure. 



Doe, John. The fictitious plaintiff in ejectment 

 suits, the defendant being Richard Roe. 



Doomsday Book. Compiled by order of William 

 the Conqueror. It contained a survey and an estimate 

 of value of all the lands in England. 



Doiinybrook Fair. A once celebrated annual fair 

 near Dublin. 



Douay Bible, The. The English Bible authorized by 

 the Roman Catholic Church; first published at Douay, 

 France. 



Downing Street. The official residence of the Eng- 

 lish Pri me Minister since the time of Sir Robert Wai pole 

 is in Downing Street, London. 



Drury Lane Theater. In London; was opened in 

 1688. 



Dying: Gladiator. An ancient statue in the Capitol 

 at Rome. 



Eastern States, The. Maine, New Hampshire, Ver- 

 mont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. 



Kcce Homo. A painting by Correggio representing 

 the Saviour crowned with thorns. 



Ecole Polytechnique. A 1'arisian school, the grad- 

 uates of which are given places in the public service. 



El Dorado. A fabulous region in South America, 

 surpassing ail other countries in the production of 

 gems and precious metals. A name for any wealthy 

 country. 



Elephant, Seeing the. Seeing the world. 



Elgin Marbles. A collection of Greek sculptures 

 made by Lord Elgin. Now in the British Museum. 



I :-<!! rhi I , The. A royal residence built by Philip II. ; 

 it is the largest structure in Spain, and one of the most 

 splendid buildings in Europe. It is 22 miles from Mad- 

 rid and contains a palace, a church, a monastery, free 

 schools, a>id a mausoleum. 



Eternal City, The. Rome. 



Eureka. (I have found it.) Exclamation of Archi- 

 medes when he discovered the method of proving that 

 the sum of the, squares of the sides of a right-angled 

 triangle equaled the square of the hypotenuse. 



Evangelists, Symbols of the. Matthew has a scroll 

 before him and holds a pen ; Mark sits writing, with a 

 winged lion by his side; Luke has a pen and a scroll, 

 near him is an ox ; John is a young man, behind whom 

 is an eagle. 



Exclusion, Bill of. A bill which passed the English 

 House of Commons in 1679,- proposing to exclude the 

 D"uke of York from the throne because he was a Roman 

 Catholic. 



Expounder of the Constitution, The. Daniel 

 Webster. 



Fabian Policy. Delaying ; dilatory. From Quintus 

 Fabius Maximus, the Roman General who successfully 

 opposed Hannibal, the Carthaginian, by avoiding a battle 

 and continually harassing him. 



Fabius, The American. George Washington. 



Fall-mount Park. In Philadelphia, where the Cen- 

 tennial Exhibition of 1876 was held; contains nearly 

 3,000 acres. 



Faineants, Les Kois. (Do-nothing Kings.) The last 

 twelve Kings of the Merovingian Dynasty were so 

 called. For about 100 years previous to 720, when Pepin 

 dethroned Childeric III., they were mere puppets, and 

 the supreme authority was exercised by the mayors of 

 the palace. 



Falernian. A celebrated ancient Italian wine grown 

 at Falernum. 



Faneuil Hall. In Boston, built 1742 ; called the 

 "Cradle. of Liberty," for there the Revolutionary pa- 

 triots were wont to assemble. 



Farmer George. George III. of England ; so called 

 from his love of agriculture. 



Fata Morgana. A mirage in the Straits of Messina. 



Father of his Country. George Washington. 



Fathers of the Latin Church. St. Ambrose of 

 Milan, St. Augustine, St. Bernard, St. Hilary, St. Jerome, 

 Lactantius. 



Faubourg St. Antoine. The part of Paris where 

 the workinginen live. 



Faubourg St. Germain. Aristocratic part of Paris. 



Fenians. A society of Irisiimen formed in the United 

 States in 1865 to free Ireland. 



Field of the Cloth of Gold. Plain in France where 

 Francis I. and Henry VIII. met on a mutual visit. It is 

 historical on account of the gorgeous display, both par- 

 ties being most extravagant in their outfit. 



Fifth Avenue. A celebrated residence street in New 

 York. 



Fighting Joe. The American General Joseph Hooker. 



First Gentleman in Europe. George IV. of Eng- 

 land. 



Five Points. A once notorious locality in New York. 



Flagellants. Religious fanatics of the thirteenth 

 century who went about naked and scourging them- 

 selves. 



Fleet, The. A London prison taken down in 1845. 



Flowery Kingdom, The. China. 



Flying Dutchman. A specter ship cruising about 

 the Cape of Good Hope. Forebodes trouble to whoever 

 sees it. 



Forte. Strong point. 



Fort Sumter. In the harbor of Charleston, S. (.'. 

 Here were heard the first sounds of the cannons' thun 

 der in the late Civil War. 



Fourierism. Charles Fourier, a French visionary, 

 proposed a system of communism in which the world 

 should be divided into ' phalansteries" of four hundred 

 families who were to live and work in common. 



Freshman. A student in his first year at college. 



Funk, Peter. A mock auction ; a person employed 

 to act as an apparent purchaser and bid up articles'for 

 sale. 



Gadshill. Near Rochester, in Kent, England. I'lai < 

 where Falstaff met so many men in buckram. Charles 

 Dickens' residence was at Gadshill. 



Genre Painting. Represents ordinary domestic and 

 rural scenes. 



George, St., and the Dragon. St. George, the 

 patron saint of England, is said to have slain in Libya a 

 hideous dragon whose daily food was a virgin. 



Gerrymander. The geographical apportionment of 

 districts to give preponderance to one political party. 

 Started in Massachusetts, and named from its Governor. 

 Elbridge Gerry. Example, a shoestring district in Mis- 

 souri. 



Ghetto. The quarter in Rome to which the Jews were 

 formerly restricted. 



Ghibelline. One of a faction in Italy in the thir- 

 teenth century, which favored the German Emperors, 

 in opposition to the Guelphs, adherents of the Pone. 



Girondists; The Gironde. Moderate "Constitu- 

 tional " Republican party in the French Revolution in 

 1798. 



Glencoe. A pass in Argyleshire, Scotland. Here, 

 February 13, I(i91, were massacred thirty-eight of the 

 McDonalds by one hundred and twenty soldiers under 

 Capt. Campbell. 



Gobelins. A tapestry and carpet manufactory at 

 Paris, founded by Gobelin, a dyer, about 370 years ago. 



Godiva, Lady.' Wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. who 

 offered to remit certain exactions to his tenants if she 

 would ride naked through the streets of Coventry. She 

 did so, all the people closing their doors and keeping 

 within except one, "Peeping Tom," who was struck 

 blind for peeping at her. 



Golconda. The neighborhood of some rich diamond 

 mines in India. 



Gold Fever. 1849; peopled California. 



Golden Age. A period of innocence and prosperity. 

 Nearly always refers t<> some past age. 



Golden Gate. The entrance to the harbor of San 

 Francisco. 



Golden Horn. The estuary of the Bosphorus, upon 

 whose banks Constantinople is built. 



Gordian Knot. A difficulty : an obstacle. Oordios, 

 King of Phrygia. consecrated to Jupiter a wagon, the 

 beam and yoke of which were tied together by such an 

 intricate k'not that no one could unravel it. An oracle 

 having foretold that he who could untie this knot would 

 be master of Asia, Alexander cut it asunder with his 

 sword. 



Gordon Riots, The. In 1780. in London, the bill 

 passed by the House of Commons for the relief <>r the 

 Roman Catholics caused so much ill feeling that Lord 

 George Gordon, a fanatic, incited the mob to try to 

 force its repeal. Dickens in his Barnaliy Rmlge i;i\e- a 

 vivid description of these riots. 



Gotham. A name sometimes applied to New Yort 

 City. 



Gotham, The Wise Men of. Noted for their folly. 

 Gotham was an English village. 



Great Commoner, The. William Pitt. 



Great Duke, The. Wellington. 



Great Eastern. The largest vessel ever launched 

 She was built to carry 1.000 passengers and 5,000 tons ot 



