Adultery is the voluntary sexual intercourse of a married person with any other than the offender's husband or wife; when committed between two married persons, the offence is called double, and when between a married and single person, single adultery. The Mosaic, Greek, and early Roman law only recognized the offence when a married woman was the offender. By the Jewish law it was punished with death. In Greece the laws against it were severe. By the laws of Draco and Solon adulterers, when caught in the act, were at the mercy of the injured party. In early Rome the punishment was left to the discretion of the husband and parents of the adulteress. The punishment assigned by the LexJulia, under Augustus, was banishment or a heavy tine. Under Constantius and Constans, adulterers were burned or sewed in sacks and thrown into the sea; under Justinian the wife was to be scourged, lose her dower, and be shut up in a monastery; at the expiration of two years the husband might take her again; if he refused she was shaven and made a nun for life. By the ancient laws of France this crime was punishable with death. In Spain personal mutilation was frequently the punishment adopted. In several European countries adultery was regarded as a criminal offence, but in none did the punishment exceed imprisonment for a short period, accompanied by a fine. In England formerly it was punishable with fine and imprisonment, and in Scotland it was frequently made a capital offence. In the United States the punishment of adultery has varied materially at different times. It has, however, very seldom been punished criminally in the States. Research Adultery
An almanac is a calendar, in which are set down the rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon, the most remarkable positions and phenomena of the heavenly bodies, for every month and day of the year; also the several fasts and feasts to be observed in the church and state, etc, and often much miscellaneous information likely to be useful to the public.
The term is of Arabic origin, but the Arabs were not the first to use almanacs, which indeed existed from remote ages. In England they are known from the fourteenth century, there being several English almanacs of this century existing in manuscript form. They became generally used in Europe within a short time after the invention of printing; and they were very early remarkable, as some are still, for the mixture of truth and falsehood which they contained. Their effects in France were found so mischievous, from the pretended prophecies which they published, that an edict was promulgated by Henry III in 1579 forbidding any predictions to be inserted in them relating to civil affairs, whether those of the state or of private persons.
In the reign of James I of England letters-patent were granted to the two universities and the Stationers' Company for an exclusive right of printing almanacs, but in 1775 this monopoly was abolished. During the English Civil War, and thence onward, English almanacs were conspicuous for the unblushing boldness of their astrological predictions, and their determined perpetuation of popular errors. The most famous English almanac was Poor Robin's Almanac, which was published from 1663 to 1775.
Gradually, however, a better taste began to prevail, and in 1828 the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, by publishing the British Almanac, had the merit of taking the lead in the production of an unexceptionable almanac in Great Britain. The example thus set has been almost universally adopted. The circulation of almanacs continued to be much cramped by the very heavy duty of one shilling and threepence per copy until 1834, when this duty was abolished. About 200 new almanacs were started immediately on the repeal.
Almanacs, from their periodical character, and the frequency with which they are referred to, are now more and more used as vehicles for conveying statistical and other useful information, some being intended for the inhabitants of a particular country or district, others for a particular class or party. Some of the almanacs that are regularly published every year are extremely useful, and before the Internet and improved communications were almost indispensable to men engaged in official, mercantile, literary, and professional business. Such in Great Britain were Thorn's Official Directory of the United Kingdom, the British Almanac, Oliver and Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, and Whitaker's Almanac, now so well known.
In the United States was published The American Almanac, a useful compilation. The Almanach de Gotha, which first appeared at Gotha in 1764, contained in small bulk a wonderful quantity of information regarding the reigning families and governments, the finances, commerce, population, etc, of the different states throughout the world. It was published both in a French and in a German edition. Almanacs that pretend to foretell the weather and occurrences of various kinds are still popular in Britain, France, and elsewhere.
The Nautical Almanack was an important work published annually by the British government, two or three years in advance, in which was contained much useful astronomical matter, more especially the distances of the moon from the sun, and from certain fixed stars, for every three hours of apparent time, adapted to the meridian of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. By comparing these with the distances carefully observed at sea the mariner could with comparative ease, infer his longitude to a degree of accuracy unattainable in the past by any other way, and sufficient in the past for most nautical purposes. This almanac was commenced in 1767 by Dr. Maskelyne, astronomer royal. The French Connaissance des Temps was published with the same views as the English Nautical Almanac, and nearly on the same plan. It commenced in 1679. Of a similar character was the Astronomisches Jahrbuch formerly published at Berlin. Research Almanac
A bastard is a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate child. By the former civil and canon laws, and by the law of Scotland (as well as of some of the United States), a bastard became legitimate by the intermarriage of the parents at any future time. But by the former laws of England a child, to be legitimate, must at least be born after the lawful marriage; it did not require that the child should be begotten in wedlock, but it was indispensable that it should be born after marriage, no matter how short the time, the law presuming it to be the child of the husband. The only incapacity of a bastard in former law was that he cannot be heir or next of kin to any one save his own issue. In England the maintenance of a bastard in the first instance formerly devolved on the mother, while in Scotland it was a joint burden upon both parents. The mother was entitled to the custody of the child in preference to the father. By the 1980's the law had evolved and illegitimacy was irrelevant. Research Bastard
A bible Society is a society formed for the distribution of the Bible or portions of it in various languages, either gratuitously or at a low rate. A clergyman of Wales, whom the want of a Welsh Bible led to London, occasioned the establishment of the British and Foreign Bible Society, on March the 7th, 1804.
A great number of similar institutions were soon formed in all parts of Great Britain, and afterwards on the Continent of Europe, in Asia and in America, and connected with the British as a parent or kindred society.
The proceeding's of the British and Foreign Bible Society gave rise to several controversies, one of which related to the neglecting to give the Prayer-book with the Bible. Another controversy related to the circulation of the Apocrypha along with the canonical books.
The Edinburgh Bible Society established in 1809, and up to 1826 connected with the British and Foreig'a Bible Society, seceded on the occasion of the controversy regarding the circulation of the Apocrypha, and up to 1860 existed as a separate society. In 1861 this society was united with the National, the Glasgow, and other Bible societies, into a whole called the National Bible Society of Scotland, having its headquarters in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The Hibernian Bible Society, which has its headquarters in Dublin, was established in 1806, to encourage a wider circulation of the Bible in Ireland. In Germany the principal Bible society was the Prussian, established at Berlin in 1814 and having many auxiliaries. France has two principal Bible Societies, whose headquarters are at Paris, the one instituted in 1818, the other in 1833. Switzerland possesses various Bible societies, chief among which are those of Basel founded in 1804, Bern, Lausanne, and Geneva. In the Netherlands there has existed since 1815 a fraternal union of different sects for the distribution of Bibles. The Swedish Bible Society was instituted in 1808, and the Norwegian Bible Society in 1816. The first Russian Society in St Petersburg printed the Bible in thirty-one languages and dialects spoken in the Russian dominions, and auxiliary societies were formed at Irkutsk, Tobolsk, among the Kirghises, Georgians, and Cossacks of the Don; but they were all suppressed by an imperial ukase in 1826. In 1831 a new Bible Society was instituted at St. Petersburg - namely, the Russian Evangelical Bible Society. In the United States of America the great American Bible Society was formed in 1816. Research Bible Society
The blind are those who want, or are deficient in, the sense of sight. Blindness may vary in degree from the slightest impairment of vision to total loss of sight; it may also be temporary or permanent. It is caused by defect, disease, or injury to the eye, to the optic nerve, or to that part of the brain connected with it. Old age is sometimes accompanied with blindness, occasioned by the drying up of the humours of the eye, or by the opacity of the cornea, the crystalline lens, etc. The blind are often distinguished for a remarkable mental activity, and a wonderful development of the intellectual powers. Their touch and hearing, particularly, become very acute.
As early as 1260 an asylum for the blind (L'hospice des Quinze-Vingts) was founded in Paris by St Louis for the relief of the Crusaders who lost their sight in Egypt and Syria; but the first institution for the instruction of the blind was the idea of Valentin Hauy, brother of the celebrated mineralogist. In 1784 he opened an institution in which the blind were instructed not only in appropriate mechanical employments, as spinning, knitting, making ropes or fringes, and working in paste-board, but also in music, in reading, writing, ciphering, geography, and the sciences. For instruction in reading he procured raised letters of metal; for writing he used particular writing-cases, in which a frame, with wires to separate the lines, could be fastened upon the paper; for ciphering there were movable figures of metal, and ciphering-boards in which the figures could be fixed; for teaching geographymaps were prepared upon which mountains, rivers, cities, and the boundaries of countries were indicated to the sense of touch in various ways, etc.
Similar institutions were soon afterwards founded in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dresden, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Vienna, and in many towns of the United States. By 1900 there were comparatively few large cities that did not possess a school or institution of some kind for the blind.
At the start of the 20th century the attitude towards the blind was rather patronising, and one source may be quoted as saying 'the occupations in which the blind are found capable of engaging are such as the making of baskets and other kinds of wicker-work, brushmaking, rope and twine making, the making of mats and matting, knitting, netting, fancy work of various kinds, cutting fire-wood, the sewing of sacks and bags; the carving of articles in wood, etc'. However, it was also recognised that more skilled tasks could also be performed by blind persons, and the same source notes that 'Piano-tuning is also successfully carried on by some, and the cleaning of clocks and watches has even been occasionally practised by them'.
Around 1900 an impetus was given, in Britain, to the higher education of the blind by the formation of the British and Foreign Blind Association, the establishment of a college for the Blind Sons of Gentlemen at Worcester, and the Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for the Blind, Upper Norwood.
Various systems were devised for the purpose of teaching the blind to read, some of which consisted in the use of the ordinary Roman alphabet, with more or less modification, and some of which employ types quite arbitrary in form. In all systems the characters rise above the surface of the paper so as to be felt by the fingers. The type adopted by Hauy was the script or italic form of the Roman letter. This was introduced into England by Sir C. Lowther, who printed the Gospel of St. Matthew in 1832 with type obtained from Paris. Before this Gall of Edinburgh made use of an embossed alphabet based on the ordinary Roman small letters, in which all curves were replaced by angular lines, and in 1834 he published the Gospel of St John in this character. Subsequently he introduced various improvements, and in particular the letters were produced with serrated surfaces, thus giving greater distinctness. Alston of Glasgow, Howe of Boston, and others also used the Roman form; but the former (who was the first to print the whole Bible, in 1840) adopted the Roman capitals, while the latter adopted the small letters, printing in this type the Bible and many other books. Of alphabets deviating entirely or nearly so from the Roman letter, one consists of a stenographic shorthand invented by Lucas of Bristol; another was a phonetic shorthand devised by Frere of London. In Dr. Moon's alphabet some of the characters are Roman, others are based on or suggested by the Roman characters. The Braille system, widely adopted by the laye 20th century, is one in which the letters are formed by a combination of dots. Dr. Moon's system from its simplicity and the size of its characters is in very general use in books for the blind. There are also systems by which the blind are enabled to write, and the writing may be either in relief so as to be read by the blind, or in characters that may be read by those who see. Research Blind
Bonanza, from the Spanish meaning 'fair weather' or 'a favouring wind', was a term first applied in the United States to an abundance of precious metal or rich ore in a mine. The term became applied to a run of good luck or great prosperity generally. Research Bonanza
The Buckshot War was an event which occurred in 1838 in Philadelphia where control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives depended upon the choice of a United States Senator. In the election, the Democratic party candidates for the Legislature were elected by small majorities; but their Congressional candidate was defeated. Thereupon the Democratic judges cast out 5000 Whig votes, claiming fraud. The Whig judges then issued certificates of election to both their Congressional and Legislative candidates, and these returns were accepted by the Whig Secretary of State. At the opening of the Legislature at Harrisburg on December the 4th 1838, armed partisans were present. The Whig Senate adjourned because of the mob, and in the House tow warring bodies assembled. The Whig Governor called on the militia, and tried, without effect, to obtain Federal aid. The Democratic House was finally recognised on December the 25th. Research Buckshot War
Buggy was a name given to several species of carriages or gigs: in England, a buggy was a light one-horse two-wheeled vehicle without a hood; in the United States, a buggy was a light one-horse four-wheeled vehicle, with or without a hood or top; in India, a buggy was a gig with a large hood to screen those who travelled in it from the sun's rays. Research Buggy
The Cane Ridge Revival was a religious revival that occurred in 1799 and 1800 in the USA, and was the first famous religious revival in the United States after the 'Great Awakening', along the western frontier, particularly in Kentucky. It was begun by the inspired preaching of two brothers from Ohio, who addressed a camp meeting on the Red River, and made numerous enthusiastic converts. At the Cane Ridge camp meeting of 1800, the religious enthusiasm was intense. Converts were made by hundreds. Research Cane Ridge Revival
The census is a questionnaire issued every ten years in Britain which gathers detailed figures concerning the population, classified according to sex, age, occupation, size of families and geographical distribution.
The Roman census was a registered statement of the particulars of a person's property for taxation purposes; an enumeration and register of the Roman citizens and their property. The Roman census was introduced by King Servius Tullius in 577 BC.
The first census of Great Britain was taken in 1801, and a census has been taken every ten years since that date. The first census that was attempted in Ireland was that of 1811, but the census of that country taken in 1831 is regarded as the first on which reliance can be placed. The first census of the entire British empire was not taken until 1871. The first authentic census in France appears to have been that of 1700; since 1822 it has been taken every five years. The first census in Russia was taken by order of Peter the Great in 1723, and it was decreed that it should be repeated every twenty years. It now takes place more frequently. In Prussia the practice of taking a census of the population dates from the time of Frederick the Great. The first census of the new German Empire was taken in 1871, since when there has been a census every five years. In the United States of America, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Holland, Belgium, and Portugal, a census is taken every ten years. The facts brought out by the census differ in different countries. Research Census
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Adultery
