A syllogism is a typical form of deductive reasoning in which, certain propositions having been laid down, something different may be deduced from them. For example, given that 'all men are mortal' and that 'Socrates is a man' it may be deduced that 'Socrates is mortal'. Every syllogism contains two premises and a conclusion: the major term is the predicate, the minor the subject , of the conclusion. There are four modes: A (universal affirmative: all men are mortal); E (universal negative: no men are immortal); I (particular affirmative: some men are clever); O (particular negative: some men are not clever). There are also four kinds of figures, depending upon the relation of the middle term to the major and minor. Research Syllogism
Carneades was an ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of the third or new academy. He is supposed to have been born in 213 BC and died in 129 BC. Carneades held that although man has no infallible criterion of truth, yet we infer appearances of truth, which, as far as the conduct of life goes, are a sufficient guide. Carneades, along with Diogenes and Critolaus, went as an envoy from the Athenians to Rome to beg the mitigation of a fine, and so captivated the Roman people by his eloquence, delivering the one day a harangue in praise of justice, and on the next proving it to be an odious institution, that Cato, alarmed at the effect of such clever sophistry, persuaded the senate to send the philosophers back without delay. Research Carneades
Catharine Grace Gore was an English novelist. She was born in 1799 and died in 1861. In 1823 she was married to Charles Arthur Gore of the 1st Life Guards, and shortly afterwards appeared her first novel, Theresa Marchmont, or the Maid of Honour. She wrote altogether from 60 to 70 novels, clever pictures of fashionable life, among the best of which are Preferment; the Courtier of the days of Charles II; Cecil, or the Adventures of a Coxcomb; The Hamiltons; The Banker's Wife; Pin Money; Peers and Parvenues; and Temptation and Atonement. She was also the author of a tragedy, LordDacre of the South; and a successful comedy, A Quid pro Quo. Research Catharine Gore
Charles Churchill was an English poet and satirist. He was born in 1731 and died in 1764. He was educated at Westminster School, but did not have a university education, owing perhaps to an early and imprudent marriage. Being admitted to holy orders he became curate for his father at Rainham, Essex, and on the death of his father he obtained his curacy of St John's, Westminster but owing to his love of gaiety he was soon overwhelmed with debt, and had to compound with his creditors.
In 1761 he published anonymously a poem called The Rosciad, a cleversatire on the chief actors of the day. Its success was increased by the vehemence with which the players replied to it, and Charles Churchill seized the opportunity of giving the town a new satire, The Apology. A course of dissipation and intemperance followed, and throwing aside all regard for his profession, Charles Churchill became a complete man about town and a professional satirist. His other productions include The Ghost, in which Dr. Johnson is satirized; The Prophecy of Famine, directed against the Scotch; an Epistle to Hogarth, the Conference, the Duellist, the Candidate, and the Journey. Research Charles Churchill
Charles Riviere Dufresny was a French comic poet. He was born in 1648 and died in 1724. He was clever and versatile, and had great skill as a landscapegardener and an architectural designer. Among his dramatic pieces may be mentioned L'Esprit de Contradiction; Le Mariage Fait et Rompu; and Le Double Veuvage. Research Charles Dufresny
Cornstalk was an American Indian chief who led a clever and spirited attack upon General Lewis at Point Pleasant, near the mouth of the Great Kanawha in 1774. Each side lost about seventy-five killed and one hundred and forty wounded. Research Cornstalk
El Hariri, (real name AbuMohammedElKasemBenAli), was an Arabic scholar and poet, who lived chiefly at Bassorah in the time of the Abbasside caliphs. He was born in 1054 and died in 1121 or 1123. He is best known by his Mekammat, a collection of tales narrated as incidents in the life of the hero Abu Zeid, a clever impostor who adopts every career in life, and succeeds in all to admiration. Research El Hariri
Emile Gaboriau was a French writer of detective stories. He was born in 1835 at Saujon and died in 1873. After contributing to the smaller Parisian journals short sketches published under the titles Ruses d'Amour, Les Comediennes Adorees, etc., he achieved a considerable success by his novel Dossier No. 113 (published in 1866). He continued to work tinsvein in a series of clever stories dealing with crime and its detection Among his other stories are 'Monsieur Lecoq', 'The Slaves of Paris', and 'Other People's Money'. Research Emile Gaboriau
Guillaume Dubois French cardinal. He was born in 1656 at Brives-la-Gaillarde and died in 1723.The son of an apothecary, when he was only thirteen he took the tonsure, being known as the 'Little Abbe.' In 1687 he became tutor to the Duke of Chartres, afterwards Duke of Orleans and regent,, and in 1701 Chartres, then Duke of Orleans, made him his secretary, and when he became regent of France in 1715 made him his chief minister. Dubois maintained his influence by pandering to the vices of his pupil. He became privy-councillor and overseer of the duke's household, and minister for foreign affairs under the regency.
As the best means of thwarting the schemes of Philip V of Spain and his supporters in France in 1716, Guillaume Dubois, on November the 28th, signed a defensive alliance between France and England. Accepted by Holland on January the 4th 1717, this was known as the Triple Alliance. Guillaume Dubois then supported England in opposing the Spanish attempt to conquer Sardinia and Sicily, and in demanding the dismissal of Giclio Alberoni, which he effected, after a short war with Spain, in December 1720.
The archbishopric of Cambrai having become vacant, Guillaume Dubois ventured to request it of the regent, although he was not even a priest. The regent was astonished at his boldness; but he obtained the post, having in one morning received all the clerical orders, and, a few days after, the archbishopric. By his consummate address he obtained a cardinal's hat, and in 1721 was appointed prime-minister.
Guillaume Dubois was an avaricious, lying, licentious creature, yet clever and industrious, and able to make himself very agreeable where it suited his interest. Research Guillaume Dubois
Henry St John Bolingbroke (ViscountBolingbroke) was an English statesman and political writer. He was born in 1678 at Battersea, London and died in 1751. Educated at Eton and at Oxford, where he had a reputation both for ability and libertinism. In 1700 he married a considerable heiress, the daughter of Sir Henry Winchcomb, but they speedily separated. In 1701 he obtained a seat in the House of Commons, attaching himself to Harley and the Tories. He at once gained influence and became secretary of war in 1706, though he retired with the ministry in 1708. He continued, however, to maintain a constant intercourse with the queen, who preferred him to her other counsellors, and on the overthrow of the Whig ministry in 1710, after the Sacheverell episode, he became one of the secretaries of state. In 1712 he was called to the House of Lords by the title of ViscountBolingbroke, and in 1713, against much popular opposition, concluded the Peace of Utrecht. At this period the Tory leaders were intriguing to counteract the inevitable accession of power which the Whigs would receive under the House of Hanover; but shortly after the conclusion of the peace a contention fatal to the party broke out between the lord high-treasurer (Harley, Earl of Oxford) and Bolingbroke.
Queen Anne, provoked by Oxford, dismissed him, and made Bolingbroke prime-minister, but died herself four days later. The Whig dukes at once assumed the power and proclaimed the elector king. Bolingbroke, dismissed by King George while yet in Germany, fled to France in March, 1715, to escape the inevitable impeachment by which, in the autumn of that year, he was deprived of his peerage and banished.
James III., the Pretender, invited him to Lorraine and made him his secretary of state, but dismissed him in 1716 on a suspicion of treachery. He remained for some years longer in France, where (his first wife having died) he married the Marquise de Villette, niece of Madame de Maintenon, occupying himself with various studies. In 1723 he was permitted to return to England, living at first retired in the country in correspondence with Jonathan Swift and Pope. He then joined the opposition to the Walpole ministry, which he attacked during eight years in the Craftsman and in pamphlets with such vigour and skill that in 1735 a return to France became prudent, if not necessary.
In 1742, on the fall of Walpole, he came back in the expectation that his allies would admit him to some share of power; but, being disappointed in this respect, he withdrew entirely from politics and spent the last nine years of his life quietly at Battersea, dying in 1751. He wrote an excellent and forcible style, his chief works being A Dissertation upon Parties; Letters on the Spirit of Patriotism, on the Idea of a Patriot King, and on the State of Parties at the Accession of George I; Letters on the Study of History (containing attacks on Christianity), and other works. Pope was indebted to him for suggestions for his Essay on Man. He was clever and versatile, but reportedly unscrupulous and insincere. Research Henry Bolingbroke
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Syllogism
