Research Results For 'Note'

CORPORATION AND TEST ACTS

The Corporation and Test Acts were two acts of note in English history. The Corporation Act, passed in 1661, prevented any person from being legally elected to any office belonging to the government of any city or corporation in England, unless he had, within the twelve months preceding, received the sacrament of the Lord's supper according to the rites of the Church of England. The Test Act, passed in 1673, required all officers, civil and military, to take the oaths, and subscribe a declaration against transubstantiation in the courts of King's Bench or Chancery, within six months after their admission; and also within the same time to receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper according to the usage of the Church of England, in some public church. The Corporation Act was principally directed against Protestant Nonconformists; the Test Act against Roman Catholics. In the year 1828 they were both repealed.
Research Corporation and Test Acts

DISPENSARY

A dispensary was formerly, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, a charitable institution for the free supply of medicine to the poor. Each institution had one or more physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries, who attended at stated times in order to prescribe for the sick, and, if necessary, to visit them at their own habitations. A note from a subscriber or governor was usually required by would-be patients. Provident dispensaries were similar institutions in which a small fee is exacted.
Research Dispensary

DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES

The dissolution of the monasteries in England was carried out by Henry VIII between 1535 and 1539. This was an attack on Church property for three reasons. First, the monks were the main supporters of the Papal authority in England, and they were members of orders which were spread over Europe. It had proved possible to separate the English bishops and clergy from allegiance to the Pope; this was not possible with the monastic orders, which were international, not insular, institutions. The second reason was the wealth of the monasteries, which was the result of the pious bequest of many centuries. The cry against monastic wealth had been raised many times previously in English history, particularly by John Wycliffe and others from the time of Edward III and Richard II. The courtiers of Henry VIII and the rising middle class were greedy for land, and Henry VIII saw that by ministering to their greed he could make his new nobility and their new property a firm support of his Reformation. The third reason for ending the monasteries was
the reason given to Parliament: that the monks had outlived their day of usefulness and were abandoned to idleness and vice. There were over 600 religious houses in England, and no doubt there was some truth in this charge. Zealous churchmen had long known that all was not well with these ancient institutions. In Henry VII's reign the Oxford Reformers had rebuked monkish follies, and Cardinal Morton had noted the 'incurable uselessness' of many of the smaller houses where the monks were idle and ignorant. Cardinal Wolsey had obtained a Papal Bull to visit the monasteries, and had begun to suppress some, intending to use their revenues for the benefit of education and the New Learning and to found new bishoprics. One of them, St. Frideswide's Priory at Oxford, he converted into Cardinal College (later Christ Church).

In 1535 Henry VIII made Thomas Cromwell his Vicar-General, 'with power to visit any monastery in England'. The character of Cromwell was sufficient guarantee that the visitation would not be conducted fairly. He knew what was expected of him; he was to be 'The Hammer of the Monks'. His agents hurried through England, visited some of the monasteries, and drew up an evil report. This report unfortunately no longer exists. Our only information is derived from Cromwell's note-books and from the letters of his agents, from which we may gather something of their methods. For example, Dr. Layton, vicar of Harrow-on-the-Hill, dashed through southern England from Gloucestershire to Rent between August and October 1535. He condemned monasteries wholesale, on insufficient evidence, although at the same time he did not scruple to accept bribes from some, or to help himself to plate and jewels from others.

However, Parliament was satisfied, and the country squires, anxious for the 'goods of the Church', shouted ' Down with them!' The Act dissolving 276 of the lesser monasteries of England in 1536 was the last important Act of the Reformation Parliament. In dissolving the smaller monasteries first, Henry VIII had cautiously tested his power. But his violent measures had by 1536 caused grave discontent, especially in the west and north, and in Parliament itself. His wholesale destruction of the smaller monasteries was followed by two popular uprisings. The first occurred in Lincolnshire, where the rebels were crushed by a military force under the Duke of Suffolk. The second rising, in Yorkshire in 1536, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, was much more serious. The following year the famous shrine of Becket at Canterbury was attacked. Thomas Becket was declared in April 1538 'a false saint and a traitor to the Supreme Head of the Church'; his bones were burnt; his shrine pillaged and its offerings confiscated.

Then Henry VIII was ready to turn his attention to the greater monasteries, although Parliament had saved them earlier because of their good conduct. Cromwell and his agents in 1539 began a persecution of the abbots: many were induced to surrender their abbeys to the king; others could only be reduced by methods of terror. The Abbots of Reading and Colchester were tried for treason; the Abbot of Glastonbury for felony. All three were executed. The odious methods of Cromwell are well shown in some notes left in his own handwriting: 'To see that the evidence be well sorted and the indictments well drawn against the said abbots. The Abbot of Reading to be sent down to be tried and executed at Reading with his accomplices. The Abbot of Glaston to be tried at Glaston, and also executed there with his accomplices.' The last Abbot of Glastonbury, a pious, venerable man beloved in the countryside, was executed with two of his brethren on Glastonbury Tor, after a mock trial in November 1539. These ferocities had the desired effect: many less brave spirits gave in, and soon there were no monasteries left. The dissolution of 616 religious houses was the greatest revolution in the ownership of land in England since the Norman Conquest. The monastic income has been variously estimated at between one-fifth and one-third of the total rental of England.

This newly acquired wealth the king might have used in developing public works, such as education. Some of it was spent in re-building the Navy; but the king's own greed and the greed of courtiers swallowed most of the spoil. A thousand newly enriched families became the nobility on which Henry in future relied for support. The 'Abbey' where the descendants or successors of these Tudor families now live is a name to be found in many an English village. But sad indeed was the fate of the original buildings. Some, like the great church at Tewkesbury, have been preserved in the form of parish churches; others have been partly preserved to form cathedrals. But the greater number were ruthlessly destroyed by their new possessors, their roofs despoiled for the valuable lead, their walls made quarries for new buildings, their treasures scattered, and their ruins left desolate. Whatever defence may be made for the suppression of the monastic orders, no excuse can be offered for this orgy of destruction, which deprived England of some of her noblest monuments.
It is probable that at least 15000 persons were cast adrift. These people went to swell the already large number of the unemployed, for whom Tudor statesmanship could find no better relief than the savage punishments inflicted on thieves and vagabonds. Some of the monks were given benefices or pensioned by the Government, but the pensions were not always paid; the occupants of the lesser houses fared worse than those of the greater. The hospitality which the monks had always given to the poor was now removed. There was nothing to take its place, and many monks and nuns joined the ranks of those who had formerly subsisted on their charity. Many gaps were left in national life, for the abbeys, said Aske 'were one of the beauties of this realm to all men and strangers passing through the same; all gentlemen much succoured in their needs with money, and in nunneries their daughters brought up in virtue. And such abbeys as were near the danger of seabanks were great maintainers of sea-walls and dykes, builders of bridges and highways, and such other things for the commonwealth.'
Research Dissolution of the Monasteries

HEPBURN VS. GRISWOLD

Hepburn vs Griswold was one of the 'legal-tender cases' in the US Supreme Court, decided 1864. In 1860 Mrs. Hepburn promised to pay Griswold on February 20th, 1862, $11,250, legal tender at that time (1860) being gold and silver only. In 1862, during the American Civil War, the United States issued $150,000,000 of its own notes to be received as lawful money in payment of public and private debts within the United States. Mrs. Hepburn's note being overdue, suit was brought by Griswold in the Court of Chancery of Kentucky in 1864. Mrs. Hepburn tendered United States notes in payment, which were refused, though the court declared the debt absolved. The Court of Appeals reversed this judgment, and, it being brought to the US Supreme Court, that body confirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, on the ground that the Act of 1862 was not intended to impair contracts made prior to its passage. This decision was reversed in Knox vs Lee and Julliard vs Greenman.
Research Hepburn Vs. Griswold

SKETCH

Sketch is a term used in art for a rapidly executed drawing serving as a study for a finished picture or as a note to aid the memory.
Research Sketch

WACKY RACES

The Wacky Races was an American animated cartoon television show for children, produced from 1968 to 1970 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The show was inspired by films such as 'Monte Carol or Bust' and featured a bizarre collection of racers with their equally bizarre vehicles enduring races across country, rather than on a racing track. Perhaps most famous of the characters were the fiendish 'Dick Dastardly' - voice provided by Dave Willock - and his sidekick, 'Muttley' - voice provided by Don Messick - who went on to appear in their own cartoon shows. Other characters of note included the glamorous 'Penelope Pitstop' with her voice provided by Janet Waldo, who drove a pink-coloured sports-car come mobile beauty salon, and seven-dwarves inspired 1920s Chicago gangsters 'The Ant Hill Mob' whose voices were provided by Mel Blanc, driving their classic 1920's car.
Research Wacky Races

CUCKOO

The Cuckoo (Cuculus) is a scansorial or climbing bird, the type of the family Cuculidae, now almost extinct in Britain. The note from which it derives its name is a love-call used only in the mating season. The greater number of species belonging to the genus are confined to hot countries, more especially India and Africa, though some are summer visitants of colder climates. In America no true cuckoos are found, the genus Coccyzus, to which the so-called American Cuckoo belongs, differing very essentially from them in its habits. The species best known in Europe, the Cuculus canorus, is a bird about the size of a small pigeon, though the length of the tail gives it at a little distance a strong resemblance to a hawk.

The adult bird is ashy-grey in colour, with a white breast barred across with narrow lines of grayish black; tail spotted and barred with white; bill black, touched at the gape with yellow; eyes and feet yellow. It appears in England about the middle of April, and in May begins to deposit its eggs in the nests of other species, giving the preference to those of the hedge-sparrow, meadow-pipit, or pied wagtail. The young Cuckoo ejects from the nest its young companions, and monopolizes the attentions of its foster-parents, which feed it for about five weeks after it is fledged. The young birds do not leave the country until the end of August or even September; but the adult birds commence their flight southward in July or at latest early in August. Their food consists largely of caterpillars (especially hairy ones), Cuckoos are one of only three species of birds that eat Cinnabar Moth caterpillars, with cockchafers, moths, dragon-flies, and other insects.

The female Cuckoo lays six or eight eggs, and each is placed in a different nest, by means of the bird's bill, as has been ascertained, being first deposited on the ground. Different strains of Cuckoo utilise different species of bird, each strain concentrating only on one species, and laying an egg which is identical in appearance to the eggs of the host species. Thus, one British strain of Cuckoo targets the nest of Reed Warblers only, and lays an egg identical in appearnce to that laid by the Reed Warbler, and it is possibly this factor which enables the Cuckoo chick to remain being cared for by its adoptive parents, even though the chick may grow many times larger than its parents.
Research Cuckoo

GOATSUCKER

Goatsucker is a name common to the birds of the genus Caprimulgus, as also to all belonging to the same family - the Caprimulgidae, given originally from the erroneous opinion that they suck goats. The European goatsucker (Caprimulgus europceus) feeds upon nocturnal insects, as moths, gnats, beetles, etc, which it catches on the wing, flying with its mouth open. Its mouth is comparatively large, and lined on the inside with a glutinous substance to prevent the escape of those insects which fly into it. Like all birds which catch flies when on the wing, the gape is surrounded by stiff bristles. When perched, it usually sits lengthwise on a bare twig, with its head lower than its tail, and in this attitude utters a jarring note, whence one of its common names - nightjar, or nightchurr. It has a light, soft plumage, minutely mottled with gray and brown, and is about 10 inches in length. The American chuckwill's widow, whip-poor-will, and night-hawk belong to the same family.
Research Goatsucker

GREENSHANK

The greenshank (Totanus glottis) is a species of sand-piper often called the whistling snipe from the shrill note it utters when first disturbed. It breeds commonly in the Hebrides and sometimes in northern Scotland and is a visitor to the coasts and marshes of Britain.
Research Greenshank

HUMMING-BIRD

Humming-bird is the popular name for the Trochilidae family of minute and beautiful birds, so called from the sound of their wings in flight. The beak is slender, generally long, sometimes straight and sometimes curved. The tongue is long and filiform. They feed by hovering by a plant and use their tongue to catch insects.

In size humming-birds vary from that of a wren to that of a humble-bee. They never light to take food, but feed while on the wing, hovering before a flower, supported by a rapid vibratory movement of the wings which produces the humming noise. These beautiful birds are peculiar to America, and almost exclusively tropical. One species, the ruby-throated humming-bird (Trochilus colubris) is pretty common in the north-east of the United States. The only note of the humming-bird is a single chirp, not louder than that of a cricket. It is very fearless and irascible, two males scarcely ever meeting without a contest. Among the more remarkable of these birds is the tufted-necked humming-bird (Ornismya ornata) of Guiana and Northern Brazil. In this species the crest, outer tail-feathers, and neck-plumea are reddish chestnut, the latter tipped with green, the throat and upper part of the breast are emerald green, the back bronze green.
Research Humming-bird

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