OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Cape Coast

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​CAPE COAST, a port on the Gold Coast, British West Africa, in 5° 5′ N., 1° 13′ W., about 80 m. W. of Accra. Pop. (1901) 28,948, mostly Fantis. There are about 100 Europeans and a colony of Krumen. The town is built on a low bank of gneiss and micaceous slate which runs out into the sea and affords some protection at the landing-place against the violence of the surf. (This bank was the Cabo Corso of the Portuguese, whence the English corruption of Cape Coast.) The castle faces the sea and is of considerable size and has a somewhat imposing appearance. Next to the castle, used as quarters for military officers and as a prison, the principal buildings are the residence of the district commissioner, the churches and schools of various denominations, the government schools and the colonial hospital. Many of the wealthy natives live in brick-built residences. The streets are hilly, and the town is surrounded on the east and north by high ground, whilst on the west is a lagoon. Fort Victoria lies west of the town, and Fort William (used as a lighthouse) on the east.
The first European settlement on the spot was that of the Portuguese in 1610. In 1652 the Swedes established themselves here and built the castle, which they named Carolusburg. In 1659 the Dutch obtained possession, but the castle was seized in 1664 by the English under Captain (afterwards Admiral Sir) Robert Holmes, and it has not since been captured in spite of an attack by De Ruyter in 1665, a French attack in 1757, and various assaults by the native tribes. Next to Elmina it was considered the strongest fort on the Guinea Coast. Up to 1876 the town was the capital of the British settlements on the coast, the administration being then removed to Accra. It is still one of the chief ports of the Gold Coast Colony, and from it starts the direct road to Kumasi. In 1905 it was granted municipal government. In the courtyard of the castle are buried George Maclean (governor of the colony 1830–1843) and his wife (Laetitia Elizabeth Landon). The graves are marked by two stones bearing respectively the initials “L. E. L.” and “G. M.” The land on the east side of the town is studded with disused gold-diggers’ pits. The natives are divided into seven clans called companies, each under the rule of recognized captains and possessing distinct customs and fetish.
See A. Ffoulkes, “The Company System in Cape Coast Castle,” in Jnl. African Soc. vol. vii., 1908; and Gold Coast.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Capefigue, Jean-Baptiste Honoré Raymond

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​CAPEFIGUE, JEAN-BAPTISTE HONORÉ RAYMOND (1801–1872), French historian and biographer, was born at Marseilles in 1801. At the age of twenty he went to Paris to study law; but he soon deserted law for journalism. He became editor of the Quotidienne, and was afterwards connected, either as editor or leading contributor, with the Temps, the Messager des Chambres, the Révolution de 1848 and other papers. During the ascendancy of the Bourbons he held a post in the foreign office, to which is due the royalism of some of his newspaper articles. Indeed all Capefigue’s works receive their colour from his legitimist politics; he preaches divine right and non-resistance, and finds polite words even for the profligacy of Louis XV. and the worthlessness of his mistresses. He wrote biographies of Catherine and Marie de’ Medici, Anne and Maria Theresa of Austria, Catherine II. of Russia, Elizabeth of England, Diana of Poitiers and Agnes Sorel—for he delighted in passing from “queens of the right hand” to “queens of the left.” His historical works, besides histories of the Jews from the fall of the Maccabees to the author’s time, of the first four centuries of the Christian church, and of European diplomatists, extend over the whole range of French history. He died at Paris in December 1872.
The general catalogue of printed books for the Bibliothèque Nationale contains no fewer than seventy-seven works (145 volumes) published by Capefigue during forty years. Of these only the Histoire de Philippe-Auguste (4 vols., 1829) and the Histoire de la réforme, de la ligue et du règne de Henri IV (8 vols., 1834–1835) perhaps deserve still to be remembered. For Capefigue’s style bears evident marks of haste, and although he had access to an exceptionally large number of sources of information, including the state papers, neither his accuracy nor his judgment was to be trusted.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Canzone

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​CANZONE, a form of verse which has reached us from Italian literature, where from the earliest times it has been assiduously cultivated. The word is derived from the Provençal cansò, a song, but it was in Italian first that the form became a literary one, and was dedicated to the highest uses of poetry. The canzone-strophe consists of two parts, the opening one being distinguished by Dante as the fronte, the closing one as the sirma. These parts are connected by rhyme, it being usual to make the rhyme of the last line of the fronte identical with that of the first line of the sirma. In other respects the canzone has great liberty, as regards number and length of lines, arrangement of rhymes and conduct of structure. An examination of the best Italian models, however, shows that the tendency of the canzone-strophe is to possess 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 or 16 verses, and that of these the strophe of 14 verses is so far the most frequent that it may almost be taken as the type. In this form it resembles an irregular sonnet. The Vita Nuova contains many examples of the canzone, and these are accompanied by so many explanations of their form as to lead us to believe that the canzone was originally invented or adopted by Dante. The following is the proemio or fronte of one of the most celebrated canzoni in the Vita Nuova (which may be studied in English in Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s translation):—
* Donna pietosa e di novella etate,
* Adorna assai di gentilezza umane,
* Era là ov’ io chiamava spesso Morte.
* Veggendo gli occhi miei pien di pietate,
* Ed ascoltando le parole vane,
* Si mosse con paura a pianger forte;
* Ed altro donne, che si furo accorte
* Di me per quella che meco piangia,
* Fecer lei partir via
* Ed apprissârsi per farmi sentire.
* Quel dicea: ‘Non dormire’;
* E qual dicea: ‘Perchè sì te sconforte?’
* Allor lasciai la nuova fantasia,
* Chiamando il nome della donna mia.”
The Canzoniere of Petrarch is of great authority as to the form of this species of verse. In England the canzone was introduced at the end of the sixteenth century by William Drummond of Hawthornden, who has left some very beautiful examples. In German poetry it was cultivated by A. W. von Schlegel and other poets of the Romantic period. It is doubtful, however, whether it is in agreement with the genius of any language but Italian, and whether the genuine “Canzone toscana” is a form which can be reproduced elsewhere than in Italy. (E. G.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Cape May

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​CAPE MAY, a city and watering-place of Cape May county, New Jersey, U.S.A., on the Atlantic coast, 2 m. E.N.E. of Cape May, the S. extremity of the state, and about 80 m. S. by E. of Philadelphia. Pop. (1890) 2136; (1900) 2257; (1905) 3006; (1910) 2471. Cape May is served by the Maryland, Delaware & Virginia (by ferry to Lewes, Delaware), the West Jersey & Seashore (Pennsylvania system), and the Atlantic City (Reading system) railways, and, during the summer season, by steamboat to Philadelphia. The principal part of the city is on a peninsula (formerly Cape Island) between the ocean and Cold Spring inlet, which has been dredged and is protected by jetties to make a suitable harbour. The further improvement of the inlet and the harbour was authorized by Congress in 1907. On the ocean side, along a hard sand beach 5 m. long, is the Esplanade. There are numerous hotels and handsome cottages for summer visitors, who come especially from Philadelphia, from New York, from the South and from the West. Cape May offers good bathing, yachting and fishing, with driving and hunting in the wooded country inland from the coast. At Cape May Point is the Cape May lighthouse, 145 ft. high, built in 1800 and rebuilt in 1859. In the city are canneries of vegetables and fruit, glass-works and a gold-beating establishment. Fish and oysters are exported. Cape May was named by Cornelis Jacobsen Mey, director of the Prince Hendrick (Delaware) river for the West India Company of ​Holland, who took possession of the river in 1623, and planted the short-lived colony of Fort Nassau 4 m. below Philadelphia, near the present Gloucester City, N.J. Cape May was settled about 1699,—a previous attempt to settle here made by Samuel Blommaert in 1631 was unsuccessful. It was an important whaling port early in the 18th century, and became prominent as a watering-place late in that century. It was incorporated as the borough of Cape Island in 1848, and chartered as the city of Cape Island in 1851; in 1869 the name was changed to Cape May.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Alin, Oscar Josef

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​ALIN, OSCAR JOSEF (1846–1900), Swedish historian and politician, was born at Falun on the 22nd of December 1846. In 1872 he became docent, and in 1882 professor of political economy at Upsala, of which university he was afterwards rector. In September 1888 he was elected a member of the first chamber of the Riksdag, where he attached himself to the conservative protectionist party, over which, from the first, he exercised great authority. But it is as a historian that Alin is most remarkable. Among his numerous works the following are especially worthy of note: Bidrag till svenska rådets historia under medeltiden (Upsala, 1872); Sveriges Historia, 1511–1611 (Stockholm, 1878); Bidrag till svenska statsrickets historia (Stockholm, 1884–1887); Den svensk-norsk Unionen (Stockholm, 1889–1891), the best book on the Norwego-Swedish Union question from the Swedish point of view; Fjerde Artiklen af Fredstraktaten i Kiel (Stockholm, 1899); Carl Johan och Sveriges yttre politik, 1810–1815 (Stockholm, 1899); Carl XIV. och Rikets Ständer, 1840–1841 (Stockholm, 1893). He also edited Svenska Riksdagsakter, 1521–1554 (Stockholm, 1887), in conjunction with E. Hildebrand, and Sveriges Grundlagar (Stockholm, 1892). He died at Upsala on the 31st of December 1900.
Obituary notice in Sv. Hist. Tidssk. (1901).  (R. N. B.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Aliwal

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​ALIWAL, a village of British India, in the Ludhiana district of the Punjab, situated on the left bank of the Sutlej, and famous as the scene of one of the great battles of the 1st Sikh War. Late in January 1846 it was held by Ranjur Singh, who had crossed the river in force and threatened Ludhiana. On the 28th Sir Harry Smith, with a view to clearing the left or British bank, attacked him, and after a desperate struggle thrice pierced the Sikh troops with his cavalry, and pushed them into the river, where large numbers perished, leaving 67 guns to the victors. The consequence of the victory was the submission of the whole territory east of the Sutlej to the British.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Alipur

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​ALIPUR, a suburb of Calcutta, containing Belvedere House, the official residence of the lieutenant-governor of Bengal, and a number of handsome mansions. It lies within the limits of the south suburban municipality, and is a cantonment of native troops. On the Calcutta maidan, opposite Alipur Bridge, stood two trees under which duels were fought. It was here that the meeting in 1780 between Warren Hastings and Sir Philip Francis took place.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Alismaceae

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The leaves show a great variety in shape, often
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Alirajpur

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​ALIRAJPUR, a native state of India, under the Bhopawar agency in central India. It lies in Malwa, near the frontier of Bombay. It has an area of 836 sq. m.; and a population (1901) of 50,185. The country is hilly, and many of the inhabitants are aboriginal Bhils. It has from time to time been under British administration. The chief, whose title is Rana, is a Rahtor Rajput. He has an estimated revenue of £8700, and pays a tribute of £700. The Victoria bridge at Alirajpur was built to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of 1897.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Alkahest

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​ALKAHEST (a pseudo-Arabic word believed to have been invented by Paracelsus), a liquid, much sought after by the alchemists, having the power of dissolving gold and every other substance, which it was supposed would possess invaluable medicinal qualities.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Aliquot

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​ALIQUOT (a Lat. word meaning “some,” “so many”), a term generally occurring in the phrase “aliquot part,” and meaning that one quantity is exactly divisible into another; thus 3 is an aliquot part of 6.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Aliwal North

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​ALIWAL NORTH, a town of South Africa, on the south bank of the Orange River, 4300 ft. above the sea, and 282 m. by rail N.W. by N. of the port of East London. Pop. (1904) 5566, of whom 1758 were whites. The town, a trading and agricultural centre for the N.E. part of the Cape and the neighbouring regions of Basutoland and Orange Free State, presents a pleasing appearance. It contains many fine stone buildings. The streets are lined with trees, and water from the neighbouring sulphur springs flows along them in open channels. The river, here the boundary between the Cape province and Orange Free State, is crossed by a stone bridge 860 ft. long. The sulphur springs, 1 m. from the town, which yield over 500,000 gallons daily, are resorted to for the cure of rheumatism and skin diseases. By reason of its dry and bracing climate, Aliwal North is also a favourite residence of sufferers from chest complaints. In the neighbourhood are stone quarries. Aliwal North is the capital of a division of the province of the same name, with an area of 1330 sq. m. and a pop. (1904) of 14,857, of whom 40% are whites.
Aliwal North was so called to distinguish it from Aliwal South, now Mossel Bay, the seaport of the pastoral Grasveld district, on the west side of Mossel Bay. Both places were named in honour of Sir Harry Smith, governor of Cape Colony 1847–1852, Aliwal (see above) being the village in the Punjab where in 1846 he gained a great victory over the Sikhs. Crossing the Orange River at this spot in September 1848, Sir Harry noted that it was “a beautiful site for a town,” and in the May following the town was founded. In the early months of the Boer War of 1899–1902 Aliwal North was held by the Boers. It was reoccupied by the British in March 1900.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Boss

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​BOSS. (1) (From the O. Eng. boce, a swelling, cf. Ital. bozza, and Fr. bosse, possibly connected with the O. Ger. bōzan, to beat), a round protuberance; the projecting centre or “umbo” of a buckler; in geology a projection of rock through strata of another species; in architecture, the projecting keystone of the ribs of a vault which masks their junction; the term is also applied to similar projecting blocks at every intersection. The boss was often richly carved, generally with conventional foliage but sometimes with angels, animals or grotesque figures. The boss was also employed in the flat timber ceilings of the 15th century, where it formed the junction of cross-ribs. (2) (From the Dutch baas, a word used by the Dutch settlers in New York for “master,” and so generally used by the Kaffirs in South Africa; connected with the Ger. Base, cousin, meaning a “chief kinsman,” the head of a household or family), a colloquial term, first used in America, for an employer, a foreman, and generally any one who gives orders, especially in American political slang for the manager of a party organization.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bossi, Giuseppe

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​BOSSI, GIUSEPPE (1777–1816), Italian painter and writer on art, was born at the village of Busto Arsizio, near Milan. He was educated at the college of Monza; and his early fondness for drawing was fostered by the director of the college, who supplied him with prints after the works of Agostino Caracci for copies. He then studied at the academy of Brera at Milan, and about 1795 went to Rome, where he formed an intimate friendship with Canova. On his return to Milan he became assistant secretary, and then secretary, of the Academy of Fine Arts. He rendered important service in the organization of this new institution. In 1804, in conjunction with Oriani, he drew up the rules of the three academies of art of Bologna, Venice and Milan, and soon after was rewarded with the decoration of the Iron Crown. On the occasion of the visit of Napoleon I. to Milan in 1805, Bossi exhibited a drawing of the Last Judgment of Michelangelo, and pictures representing Aurora and Night, Oedipus and Creon, and the Italian Parnassus. By command of Prince Eugene, viceroy of Italy, Bossi undertook to make a copy of the Last Supper of Leonardo, then almost obliterated, for the purpose of getting it rendered in mosaic. The drawing was made from the remains of the original with the aid of copies and the best prints. The mosaic was executed by Raffaelli, and was placed in the imperial gallery of Vienna. Bossi made another copy in oil, which was placed in the museum of Brera. This museum owed to him a fine collection of casts of great works of sculpture acquired at Paris, Rome and Florence. Bossi devoted a large part of his life to the study of the works of Leonardo; and his last work was a series of drawings in monochrome representing incidents in the life of that great master. He left unfinished a large cartoon in black chalk of the Dead Christ in the bosom of Mary, with John and the Magdalene. In 1810 he published a special work in large quarto, entitled Del Cenacolo di Leonardo da Vinci, which had the merit of greatly interesting Goethe. His other works are Delle Opinioni di Leonardo intorno alla simmetria de’ corpi umani (1811), and Del Tipo dell’ arte della pittura (1816). Bossi died at Milan on the 15th of December 1816. A monument by Canova was erected to his memory in the Ambrosian library, and a bust was placed in the Brera.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Boston, Thomas

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​BOSTON, THOMAS (1676–1732), Scottish divine, was born at Duns on the 17th of March 1676. His father, John Boston, and his mother, Alison Trotter, were both Covenanters. He was educated at Edinburgh, and licensed in 1697 by the presbytery of Chirnside. In 1699 he became minister of the small parish of Simprin, where there were in all “not more than 90 examinable persons.” In 1704 he found, while visiting a member of his flock, a book which had been brought into Scotland by a commonwealth soldier. This was the famous Marrow of Modern Divinity, by Edward Fisher, a compendium of the opinions of leading Reformation divines on the doctrine of grace and the offer of the Gospel. Its object was to demonstrate the unconditional freeness of the Gospel. It cleared away such conditions as repentance, or some degree of outward or inward reformation, and argued that where Christ is heartily received, full repentance and a new life follow. On Boston’s recommendation, Hog of Carnock reprinted The Marrow in 1718; and Boston also published an edition with notes of his own. The book, being attacked from the standpoint of high Calvinism, became the standard of a far-reaching movement in Scottish Presbyterianism. The “Marrow men” were marked by the zeal of their service and the effect of their preaching. As they remained Calvinists they could not preach a universal atonement; they were in fact extreme particular redemptionists. In 1707 Boston was translated to Ettrick. He distinguished himself by being the only member of the assembly who entered a protest against what he deemed the inadequate sentence passed on John Simson, professor of divinity at Glasgow, who was accused of heterodox teaching on the Incarnation. He died on the 20th of May 1732. His books, The Fourfold State, The Crook in the Lot, and his Body of Divinity and Miscellanies, long exercised a powerful influence over the Scottish peasantry.
His Memoirs were published in 1776 (ed. G. D. Low, 1908). An edition of his works in 12 volumes appeared in 1849. (D. Mn.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bossu, René le

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​BOSSU, RENÉ LE (1631–1680), French critic, was born in Paris on the 16th of March 1631. He studied at Nanterre, and in 1649 became one of the regular canons of Sainte-Geneviève. He wrote Parallèle des principes de la physique d’Aristote et de celle de René Descartes (1674), and a Traité du poème épique, highly praised by Boileau, the leading doctrine of which was that the subject should be chosen before the characters, and that the action should be arranged without reference to the personages who are to figure in the scene. He died on the 14th of March 1680.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bostanai

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​BOSTANAI, the name of the first exilarch under Mahommedan rule, in the middle of the 7th century. The exilarchs had their seat in Persia, and were practically the secular heads of the Jewish community in the Orient.