CECIL CEDAR 



115 



heated councils of the earl of Essex. This great min- 

 ister died in the bosom of his family, and in the pos- 

 session of all his honours, in 1598, being then in his 

 77th year. He left behind him the character of the 

 ablest minister of an able reign. How far the emer- 

 gencies of the period ought to excuse a portion of 

 nis dark and crooked policy, it may be difficult to 

 determine j but it is easy to decide, that almost 

 every school of politicians, under similar circumstan- 

 ces, have countenanced similar laxity under the plea 

 of expediency. The private character of Burleigh 

 was highly regarded ; for, although he failed not to 

 improve his opportunities as a courtier, he always ex- 

 hibited a probity which conciliated esteem. He pos- 

 sessed, in a high degree, the solid learning, gravity, 

 and decorum, which, in that age, usually accompa- 

 nied elevated station. In his mode of living, he was 

 noble and splendid, but, at the same time, economi- 

 cal, and attentive to the formation of a competent 

 fortune for his family. His early occupation as a 

 statesman precluded much attention to literature ; 

 but he is mentioned as the author of a few Latin ver- 

 ses, and of some historical tracts. A great number 

 of his letters on business are still extant. 



CECIL; ROBERT, earl of Salisbury, second son of 

 lord Burleigh, was born, according to some accounts, 

 about the year 1550 ; but his birth may, with more 

 probability, be placed thirteen years later. He was 

 deformed, and of a weak constitution ; on which ac- 

 count he was educated at home, till his removal to 

 the university of Cambridge. Having received the 

 honour of knighthood, he went to France as assistant 

 to the English ambassador, the earl of Derby, and, 

 in 1596, was appointed one of the secretaries of 

 state. On the death of Sir Francis Walsingham, he 

 succeeded him as principal secretary, and continued 

 to be a confidential minister of queen Elizabeth to 

 the end of her reign. Having secretly supported 

 the interests of James I., previous to his accession 

 to the crown, and taken measures to facilitate tliat 

 event, he was continued in office under the new so- 

 vereign, and raised to the peerage. In 1603, he 

 was created a baron ; in 1604, viscount Cranbourn ; 

 and in 1605, earl of Salisbury. The same year he 

 was chosen chancellor of the university of Cambridge, 

 and made a knight of the garter. He was the po- 

 litical rather than the personal favourite of the king, 

 whom he served with zeal and fidelity ; and, as he 

 was certainly the ablest, so he was, perhaps, the 

 most honest, minister who presided over the affairs 

 of state during that reign. In 1608, on the decease 

 of the lord high treasurer, the earl of Dorset, that 

 office was bestowed on lord Salisbury, who held it 

 till his death in 1612. This event took place at 

 Marlborough, as he was returning to London from 

 Bath, whitner he had gone in a very debilitated state 

 of health, to use the mineral waters. An interest- 

 ing account of this journey, and of the last hours of 

 this eminent statesman, drawn up by one of his do- 

 mestics, may be found in Peck's Desiderata Curiosa. 

 Lord Salisbury was the author of a Treatise against 

 Papists ; and of Notes on Dee's Discourse on the 

 Reformation of the Calendar ; and some of his let- 

 ters, despatches, and speeches in parliament, have 

 been published. 



CECILIA. There are several saints of this name 

 in the Catholic church. The most celebrated, who 

 has been falsely regarded as the inventress of the 

 organ, and who is the patron saint of music, is said 

 to have suffered martyrdom, A. D. 220. Her pagan 



arents, says the legend, betrothed her, contrary to 

 er wishes, to Valerian, a young pagan. But she 

 had internally vowed to the Lord a perpetual vir- 

 ginity; and, whilst the instruments sounded, she 

 sang in her heart to the Lord (cantantibus organis, 



ilia in corde suo soli Domino cantabat, dicent, &c.) ; 

 that is, she prayed O Lord, allow my heart and my 

 body to remain unpolluted. As soon as the bride- 

 groom appeared, she forbade his approach, assuring 

 him that an angel of the Lord protected her inno- 

 cence. The unbelieving Valerian wished to con- 

 vince himself of this assertion ; she referred him to 

 the bishop Urban, who was concealed among the 

 tombs of the martyrs, and who instructed him in the 

 Christian religion, and baptized him. When he re- 

 turned to the bride, he saw the protecting angel, 

 who presented them both with crowns of heavenly 

 roses and lilies. Valerian now induced his brother 

 Tubirtus to embrace the Christian faith. The Ro- 

 man prefect Almachius caused both brothers to be 

 beheaded, as zealous professors of Christianity. Life 

 was to be given to Cecilia if she would sacrifice to 

 the heathen gods ; but she remained firm in her be- 

 lief. Upon this, the tyrant caused her to be shut up 

 in a bath of boiling water, in which she was found, 

 the day after, unhurt. The executioner was then 

 directed to behead her ; he inflicted three blows, but 

 was not able to separate the head from the body. 

 She lived for three days, exhorting the faithful and 

 giving alms to the poor. As early as the 5th cen- 

 tury, we find a church in Rome dedicated to her. 

 Pope Paschalis, who was very anxious to gather re- 

 lics, endeavoured to discover her body. She appeared 

 to him, as he relates in his letters, while he was 

 sleeping, and pointed out the place of her sepulchre. 

 Paschalis caused the body to be disinterred in 821, 

 and placed it in the church which he rebuilt, where 

 her monument is still to be seen. How Cecilia came 

 to be the patron-saint of music is not agreed. The 

 various opinions, however, seem to be united in this 

 point, that it was either through a misunderstanding, 

 or through an allegorical interpretation of the words 

 above cited from her legend. Her worship, in this 

 character, is very ancient. Among the poets, Chau- 

 cer, Dryden in his Alexander's Feast, and Pope, have 

 sung her praises. Raphael, Domenichino, Dolce, 

 and Mignard, have represented her in celebrated 

 paintings. In the picture of Raphael, she appears 

 as the personification of heavenly devotion. This is, 

 indeed, a heavenly picture. 



CECROPS, the founder of Athens, arrived there 

 about 1550 B. C., from Sais, at the mouth of the 

 Nile (this emigration, however, has been questioned 

 by some late writers, e. g. Ottfried Muller), taught 

 the savage inhabitants religion and morals, made 

 them acquainted with the advantages of social life, 

 laid the foundation of the future city of Athens (Cc- 

 cropia), and built eleven other places, whose inhabit- 

 ants he instructed in agriculture. He also planted 

 the olive, and consecrated it to Minerva, the patron 

 goddess of Athens. He then introduced into his 

 adopted country the art of ship-building, and thus 

 laid the foundation of its commerce. He died after 

 a reign of fifty years. His monument was erected 

 in the temple of Minerva ; but, to preserve his me- 

 mory always fresh in their minds, the people conse- 

 crated to him the constellation of Aquarius. (See 

 Attica.) The researches which are making among 

 the records of Egyptian history, since the key to 

 their mysterious language has been discovered by the 

 skilfully directed efforts of Young, De Sacy, Soega, 

 Champollion, and others, will undoubtedly throw 

 great light on the progress of civilization from Egypt 

 to Greece, described in the half mythological, lialf 

 historical tales of the latter country. 



CECROPIA. See Athens. 



CEDAR ; a name given to several species of juni- 

 per, to a species of pine, the cedar of Lebanon, and 

 to the cupressus thuyoides. It is an evergreen, and 

 of great durability. The most celebrated kind is the 

 H8 



