562 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



After Jefferson's death, the University be- 

 came heavily indebted, until the state legisla- 

 lature freed its annual appropriation from all 

 incumbrances. A medical school was added 

 in 1827, which has since been enlarged by 

 schools of medical jurisprudence, of surgery, 

 and anatomy. In 1851 the Law School was 

 created, followed in 1856, by the two schools of 

 language and of history, the last of which was 

 endowed with $50,000 by W. W. Corcoran. 

 A school of technology was added in 1867, 

 followed in 1870 by the establishment of 'a 

 school of agriculture, on Samuel Miller's en- 

 dowment of $100,000. An astronomical ob- 

 servatory was given by Leander J. McCormick 

 in 1882. Connected with it was Professor 

 Sylvester, the famous mathematician. During 

 the war, instruction in the University was sus- 

 pended. In October, 1895, the Rotunda and 

 Annex built by Jefferson were destroyed by fire, 

 including many books and works of art. Since 

 that time sufficient funds have been raised 

 among the alumni to restore these buildings, 

 and to erect a public hall, physical and chemi- 

 cal laboratories, costing in all, $250,000. The 

 Rotunda, henceforth, is to be used for library 

 purposes only. 



Westminster Palace was erected in 1840 

 on the site of the old houses of Parliament, 

 which were destroyed by fire in 1834. it is 

 900 feet long by 300 feet wide, is built of 

 limestone from the Yorkshire quarries, and 

 cost about $8,000,000. The palace contains 

 the House of Lords and the House of Com- 

 mons, which are separated by an octagonal 

 hall with a diameter of 70 feet. The House 

 of Lords is 100 feet long, 45 feet wide, and 45 

 feet high. The room is profusely decorated, 

 and in niches between the windows are statues 

 of barons who signed the Magna Charta 

 eighteen in number. The gorgeous gilt and 

 canopied throne which is occupied by the 

 Queen when she opens Parliament is in this 

 room, as is also the wool-sack a large, square 

 bag of wool covered with red cloth of the 

 Chancellor of Great Britain. The House of 

 Commons is not as handsome as the House of 

 Lords in the matter of decorations, and is not 

 so long, but is the same height and width. 

 The palace also contains a number of other 

 rooms, among which are the Queen's robing 

 room, the guard room, the libraries, commit- 

 tee rooms, etc. In the center of the edifice, 

 above what is known as the Octagon Hall, is a 

 tower 300 feet high. At the southwest corner 

 is the Victoria tower, 346 feet high. At the 

 northwest corner is the clock tower, which is 

 surmounted by a belfry spire 320 feet high. 

 In this tower is a cloek with four faces, each 

 30 feet in diameter, and the hours are struck 



on a bell called "Big Ben," which weighs 

 nine tons. At the southwestern extremity of 

 the building is the state entrance of the Queen, 

 which communicates directly with what are 

 known as the royal apartments. The entrance 

 to the Octagon Hall is by a passage known as 

 Saint Stephen's Hall, which communicates 

 also with Westminster Hall, a much older 

 building, on the north. 



West Point Academy. Each Congres- 

 sional District and Territory, also the District 

 of Columbia, is entitled to have one cadet at 

 the United States Military Academy at West 

 Point, the cadet to be named by the represent- 

 ative in Congress. There are also ten ap- 

 pointments at large, specially conferred by the 

 President of the United States. The number 

 of students is thus limited to 344. The coui-se 

 of instruction, which is quite thorough, re- 

 quires four years, and is largely mathematical 

 and professional. The discipline is very strict 

 even more so than in the army and the 

 enforcement of penalties for offenses is inflexi- 

 ble rather than severe. Academic duties be- 

 gin September 1st and continue until June 1st. 

 From the middle of June to the end of August 

 cadets live in camps, engaged only in military 

 duties, and receiving practical military instruc- 

 tion. Cadets are allowed but one leave of 

 absence during the four years' course, and this 

 is granted at the expiration of the second year. 

 The pay of a cadet is $540 a year. CTpon 

 graduation, cadets are commissioned as second 

 lieutenants in the United States Army. 



Music. The cradle of music was Egypt. 

 The Hebrews took with them to Palestine the 

 songs they had learned there, and many of 

 the hymns of the early Christian Church were 

 necessarily old Temple melodies. Ambrose, 

 Archbishop of Milan _(374), and after him 

 Pope Gregory the Great" (590), were the fathers 

 of music in the Western Church. Harmonies 

 were introduced in the ninth century: the 

 present musical notation was invented by Guido 

 Aretino (d. 1055) ; counterpoint was perfected 

 by the Belgian Josquin Despres (d. 1521), and 

 the Italian Palestrina (1555) ; and Italian 

 opera was founded in 1600. The influence of 

 the Italian school spread all over Europe ; but 

 in the sixteenth century England had a na- 

 tional school of her own, comprising such 

 names as Tallis, Farrant, and Orlando Gib- 

 bons. Among the great composers of the 

 seventeenth century were Monteverde in Italy, 

 Lully in France, and Purcell in England. In 

 the eighteenth century music made enormous 

 advances, especially in Germany. Church 

 music attained to its highest development 

 under Bach, the oratorio under Handel (1685- 

 1759), the opera under Mozart and Gluck, 



