IRUS IS^EUS. 



153 



the more that part is disposed to be acted upon. It 

 is on this account that the activity of all animals, 

 while in perfect health, is much livelier in the morn- 

 ing than at any other part of the day; for during the 

 night, the irritability of the whole frame, and espe- 

 cially that of the muscles destined for labour, viz., 

 the muscles for voluntary action, is reaccumulated. 

 The same law explains why digestion goes on more 

 rapidly the first hour after food is swallowed than at 

 any other time; and it also accounts for the great 

 danger that accrues to a famished person upon first 

 taking in food. 



In German philosophy, irritability, sensibility, and 

 reproductivity constitute the whole of organic life. 

 Since the time of Schelling, irritability is much con- 

 sidered in the mental philosophy of that country. 

 The French, treating the subject merely with refer- 

 ence to physiology, generally use, at present, the 

 word contractility instead of irritability. 



IRUS; a mendicant of Ithaca, employed by the 

 suitors of Penelope in subordinate offices. On 

 Ulysses' return, when he approached his mansion 

 in the Iiabit of a beggar, in order to surprise those 

 uninvited guests, Irus attempted to prevent his 

 entering, and challenged Ulysses to a contest, in 

 which Irus was beaten. 



IRVINE, a royal burgh and sea-port in Ayrshire, 

 situated on the left bank of a small river of the same 

 name, the estuary of which forms its harbour; distant 

 from Ayr, eleven miles, N.; from Edinburgh, sixty 

 seven; and from Glasgow, twenty-five, S.S.W. Ir- 

 vine consists principally of one broad street running 

 parallel with the river, and contains an elegant 

 church surmounted by a lofty spire, a handsome 

 town-house in the centre of the town, and at its 

 northern extremity a commodious academy, where 

 Greek, Latin, French, the mathematics, and various 

 other branches of useful knowledge are taught. 

 Here also are established branches of banks ; and a 

 weekly market is held, which is well attended and 

 plentifully supplied with provisions. Irvine was 

 erected into a royal burgh long before the reign of 

 Alexander II., who confirmed its ancient charter. 

 An ample revenue arises from the landed possessions 

 of the burgh and customs of its port, which is com- 

 modious, and at spring-tides has about twelve feet 

 water on the bar. The principal article of export is 

 coal, shipped in vessels built and fitted out here, for 

 which purposes there is a yard for ship-building, and 

 a rope-walk, affording employment to a number of 

 the inhabitants, while many others are occupied in a 

 considerable manufacture of leather and cotton. The 

 imports consist clu'efly of iron, timber, hemp, flax, 

 and grain, and formerly a great number of boats were 

 employed in the herring fishery, but it has been long 

 on the decline. The parish of Irvine is five miles in 

 length by two in breadth, and the soil in some parts 

 is abundantly productive, though the surface on the 

 banks of the river is flat and sandy. The living is 

 in the presbytery of Irvine (of which it is the seat) 

 and synod of Glasgow and Ayr; patron, the Earl of 

 Eglinton, to whom belongs the remains of an old 

 castle in the neighbourhood, said to have ben built 

 on the site of an ancient nunnery. Irvine is the 

 birth-place of two distinguished authors, Mr James 

 Montgomery, the poet, and Mr John Gait, the 

 novelist. It was also the temporary residence of 

 Robert Burns, in his early youth, who, it will be 

 remembered, endeavoured to establish himself here 

 in business as a flax-dresser, until his shop was unfor- 

 tunately burned. Population of burgh and parish in 

 1831, 5,200. 



IS; the Turkish corruption of the Greek m, prefixed 

 to many geographical names; as Ismyr, from u-, tpuevav 

 (Smyrna), Isnik (Nice), Ismid (Mcoraedia). 



ISAAC; the son of Abraham, remarkable for his 

 birth, which was long promised to his parents, and 

 took place when they were far advanced in age, and 

 for his having early been destined to perish as a 

 victim on the altar. (See Abraham.} He escaped 

 death by a miracle, and resembled his father in faith 

 and steadfastness in the worship of the true God in 

 the midst of heathens, but not in activity and magna- 

 nimity. In him the patriarchal character shone 

 milder and softer than in Abraham, but purer and 

 nobler than in his son Jacob. Accustomed to a 

 tranquil life, by the practice of agriculture, which 

 he carried farther than Abraham, and leading a more 

 settled life than his predecessors, yielding and patient 

 in difficulties, he appeared in his family a tender 

 father, but prematurely aged, weak, and easy to be 

 imposed upon, who preferred the quiet, crafty Jacob 

 to the ruder but more honest Esau. 



ISABELLA OF CASTILE, the celebrated queen of 

 Spain, daughter of John II., was born in 1451, and 

 married, in 14C9, Ferdinand V., king of Arragon. 

 After the death of her brother, Henry IV., in 1474, 

 she ascended the throne of Castile, to the exclusion 

 of her elder sister, Joanna, who had the rightful 

 claim to the crown. During the lifetime of her 

 brother, Isabella had gained the favour of the estates 

 of the kingdom to such a degree that the majority, on 

 his death, declared for her. From the others, the 

 victorious arms of her husband extorted acquiescence, 

 in the battle of Toro, in 1476. After the kingdoms 

 of Arragon and Castile were thus united, Ferdinand 

 and Isabella assumed the royal title of Spain. With 

 the graces and charms of her sex, Isabella united the 

 courage of a hero, and the sagacity of a statesman 

 and legislator. She was always present at the trans- 

 action of state affairs, and her name was placed be- 

 side that of her husband in public ordinances. The 

 conquest of Grenada, after which the Moors were en- 

 tirely expelled from Spain, and the discovery of 

 America, were, in a great degree, her work. In all 

 her undertakings, the wise cardinal Ximenes was her 

 assistant. She has been accused .of 'severity, pride, 

 and unbounded ambition ; but these faults sometimes 

 promoted the welfare of the kingdom, as well as her 

 virtues and talents. A spirit like hers was necessary 

 to humble the haughtiness of the nobles without ex- 

 citing their hostility, to conquer Grenada without 

 letting loose the hordes of Africa on Europe, and to 

 restrain the vices of her subjects, who had become 

 corrupt by reason of the bad administration of the 

 laws. By the introduction of a strict ceremonial, 

 which subsists till the present day at the Spanish 

 court, she succeeded in checking the haughtiness of 

 the numerous nobles about the person of the king, 

 and in depriving them of their pernicious influence 

 over him. Private warfare, which had formerly pre- 

 vailed to the destruction of public tranquillity, she 

 checked, and introduced a vigorous administration of 

 justice. In 1492, pope Alexander VI. confirmed to 

 the royal pair the title of Catholic king, already con- 

 ferred on them by Innocent VIII. The zeal for the 

 Roman Catholic religion, which procured them this 

 title, gave rise to the inquisition (see Inquisition), 

 which was introduced into Spain in 1480, at the sug- 

 gestion of their confessor, Torquemada. Isabella died 

 in 1504, having extorted from her husband (of whom 

 she was very jealous), an oath that he would never 

 marry again. See Ferdinand F., Ximenet, and 

 Columbus. 



ISABELLA ; wife of Edward II. of England. 

 See Edward II. 



IS^EUS, an Athenian orator, born at Chalcis in 

 Euboea, lived in the first half of the fourth century 

 before Christ, till after 357. Lysias and Isocrates 

 were his teachers. Wholly unconnected with public 



