There is little doubt that Cadmus was originally a Boeotian, that is, a Greek hero. In later times the story of a Phoenician immigrant of that name became current, to whom was ascribed the introduction of the alphabet, the invention of agriculture and working in bronze and of civilization generally. But the name itself is Greek rather than Phoenician; and the fact that Hermes was worshipped in Samothrace under the name of Cadmus or Cadmilus seems to show that the Theban Cadmus was originally an ancestral Theban hero corresponding to the Samothracian. The name may mean "order," and be used to characterize one who introduces order and civilization.
The exhaustive article by O. Crusius in W.H. Roscher'sLexikon der Mythologiecontains a list of modern authorities on the subject of Cadmus; see also O. Gruppe,De Cadmi Fabula(1891).
CADMUS OF MILETUS,according to some ancient authorities the oldest of the logographi (q.v.). Modern scholars, who accept this view, assign him to about 550B.C.; others regard him as purely mythical. A confused notice in Suidas mentions three persons of the name: the first, the inventor of the alphabet; the second, the son of Pandion, "according to some" the first prose writer, a little later than Orpheus, author of a history of theFoundation of Miletusand of Ionia generally, in four books; the third, the son of Archelaus, of later date, author of a history of Attica in fourteen books, and of some poems of an erotic character. As Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Judicium de Thucydide, c. 23) distinctly states that the work current in his time under the name of Cadmus was a forgery, it is most probable that the two first are identical with the Phoenician Cadmus, who, as the reputed inventor of letters, was subsequently transformed into the Milesian and the author of an historical work. In this connexion it should be observed that the old Milesian nobles traced their descent back to the Phoenician or one of his companions. The text of the notice of the third Cadmus of Miletus in Suidas is unsatisfactory; and it is uncertain whether he is to be explained in the same way, or whether he was an historical personage, of whom all further record is lost.
See C.W. Müller,Frag. Hist. Graec, ii. 2-4; and O. Crusius in Roscher'sLexikon der Mythologie(article "Kadmos," 90, 91).
CADOGAN, WILLIAM CADOGAN,1st Earl(1675-1726), British soldier, was the son of Henry Cadogan, a Dublin barrister, and grandson of Major William Cadogan (1601-1661), governor of Trim. The family has been credited with a descent from Cadwgan, the old Welsh prince. Cadogan began his military career as a cornet of horse under William III. at the Boyne, and, with the regiment now known as the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers, made the campaigns in the Low Countries. In the course of these years he attracted the notice of Marlborough. In 1701 Cadogan was employed by him as a staff officer in the complicated task of concentrating the grand army formed by contingents frommultitudinous states, and Marlborough soon made the young officer his confidential staff officer and right-hand man. His services in the campaign of 1701 were rewarded with the colonelcy of the famous "Cadogan's Horse" (now the 5th Dragoon Guards). As quartermaster-general, it fell to his lot to organize the celebrated march of the allies to the Danube, which, as well as the return march with its heavy convoys, he managed with consummate skill. At the Schellenberg he was wounded and his horse shot under him, and at Blenheim he acted as Marlborough's chief of staff. Soon afterwards he was promoted brigadier-general, and in 1705 he led "Cadogan's Horse" at the forcing of the Brabant lines between Wange and Elissem, capturing four standards. He was present at Ramillies, and immediately afterwards was sent to take Antwerp, which he did without difficulty. Becoming major-general in 1706, he continued to perform the numerous duties of chief staff officer, quartermaster-general and colonel of cavalry, besides which he was throughout constantly employed in delicate diplomatic missions. In the course of the campaign of 1707, when leading a foraging expedition, he fell into the hands of the enemy but was soon exchanged. In 1708 he commanded the advanced guard of the army in the operations which culminated in the victory of Oudenarde, and in the same year he was with Webb at the action of Wynendael. On the 1st of January 1709 he was made lieutenant-general. At the siege of Menin in this year occurred an incident which well illustrates his qualifications as a staff officer and diplomatist. Marlborough, riding with his staff close to the French, suddenly dropped his glove and told Cadogan to pick it up. This seemingly insolent command was carried out at once, and when Marlborough on the return to camp explained that he wished a battery to be erected on the spot, Cadogan informed him that he had already given orders to that effect. He was present at Malplaquet, and after the battle was sent off to form the siege of Mons, at which he was dangerously wounded. At the end of the year he received the appointment of lieutenant of the Tower, but he continued with the army in Flanders to the end of the war. His loyalty to the fallen Marlborough cost him, in 1712, his rank, positions and emoluments under the crown. George I. on his accession, however, reinstated Cadogan, and, amongst other appointments, made him lieutenant of the ordnance. In 1715, as British plenipotentiary, he signed the third Barrier Treaty between Great Britain, Holland and the emperor. His last campaign was the Jacobite insurrection of 1715-1716. At first as Argyle's subordinate (see Coxe,Memoirs of Marlborough, cap. cxiv.), and later as commander-in-chief, General Cadogan by his firm, energetic and skilful handling of his task restored quiet and order in Scotland. Up to the death of Marlborough he was continually employed in diplomatic posts of special trust, and in 1718 he was made Earl Cadogan, Viscount Caversham and Baron Cadogan of Oakley. In 1722 he succeeded his old chief as head of the army and master-general of the ordnance, becoming at the same time colonel of the 1st or Grenadier Guards. He sat in five successive parliaments as member for Woodstock. He died at Kensington in 1726, leaving two daughters, one of whom married the second duke of Richmond and the other the second son of William earl of Portland.
Readers ofEsmondwill have formed a very unfavourable estimate of Cadogan, and it should be remembered that Thackeray's hero was the friend and supporter of the opposition and General Webb. As a soldier, Cadogan was one of the best staff officers in the annals of the British army, and in command of detachments, and also as a commander-in-chief, he showed himself to be an able, careful and withal dashing leader.
He was succeeded, by special remainder, in the barony by his brother, General Charles Cadogan (1691-1776), who married the daughter of Sir Hans Sloane, thus beginning the association of the family with Chelsea, and died in 1776, being succeeded in turn by his son Charles Sloane (1728-1807), who in the year 1800 was created Viscount Chelsea and Earl Cadogan. His descendant George Henry, 5th Earl Cadogan (b. 1840), was lord privy seal from 1886 to 1892, and lord-lieutenant of Ireland from 1895 to 1902.
CADOUDAL, GEORGES(1771-1804), leader of theChouansduring the French Revolution, was born in 1771 near Auray. He had received a fair education, and when the Revolution broke out he remained true to his royalist and Catholic teaching. From 1793 he organized a rebellion in the Morbihan against the revolutionary government. It was quickly suppressed and he thereupon joined the army of the revolted Vendeans, taking part in the battles of Le Mans and of Savenay in December 1793. Returning to Morbihan, he was arrested, and imprisoned at Brest. He succeeded, however, in escaping, and began again the struggle against the Revolution. In spite of the defeat of his party, and of the fact that he was forced several times to take refuge in England, Cadoudal did not cease both to wage war and to conspire in favour of the royalist pretenders. He refused to come to any understanding with the government, although offers were made to him by Bonaparte, who admired his skill and his obstinate energy. From 1800 it was impossible for Cadoudal to continue to wage open war, so he took altogether to plotting. He was indirectly concerned in the attempt made by Saint Régent in the rue Sainte Nicaise on the life of the First Consul, in December 1800, and fled to England again. In 1803 he returned to France to undertake a new attempt against Bonaparte. Though watched for by the police, he succeeded in eluding them for six months, but was at length arrested. Found guilty and condemned to death, he refused to ask for pardon and was executed in Paris on the 10th of June 1804, along with eleven of his companions. He is often called simply Georges.
SeeProcès de Georges, Moreau et Pichegru(Paris, 1804, 8 vols. 8vo); theMémoiresof Bourrienne, of Hyde de Neuville and of Rohu; Lenotre,Tournebut(on the arrest); Lejean,Biographie bretonne; and the bibliography to the articleVendée.
CADRE(Fr. for a frame, from the Lat.quadrum, a square), a framework or skeleton, particularly the permanent establishment of a military corps, regiment, &c. which can be expanded on emergency.
CADUCEUS(the Lat. adaptation of the Doric Gr.καρύκειον, Atticκηρύκειον, a herald's wand), the staff used by the messengers of the gods, and especially by Hermes as conductor of the souls of the dead to the world below. The caduceus of Hermes, which was given him by Apollo in exchange for the lyre, was a magic wand which exercised influence over the living and the dead, bestowed wealth and prosperity and turned everything it touched into gold. In its oldest form it was a rod ending in two prongs twined into a knot (probably an olive branch with two shoots, adorned with ribbons or garlands), for which, later, two serpents, with heads meeting at the top, were substituted. The mythologists explained this by the story of Hermes finding two serpents thus knotted together while fighting; he separated them with his wand, which, crowned by the serpents, became the symbol of the settlement of quarrels (Thucydides i. 53; Macrobius,Sat.i. 19; Hyginus,Poet. Astron.ii. 7). A pair of wings was sometimes attached to the top of the staff, in token of the speed of Hermes as a messenger. In historical times the caduceus was the attribute of Hermes as the god of commerce and peace, and among the Greeks it was the distinctive mark of heralds and ambassadors, whose persons it rendered inviolable. The caduceus itself was not used by the Romans, but the derivativecaduceatoroccurs in the sense of a peace commissioner.
See L. Preller, "Der Hermesstab" inPhilologus, i. (1846); O.A. Hoffmann,Hermes und Kerykeion(1890), who argues that Hermes is a male lunar divinity and his staff the special attribute of Aphrodite-Astarte.
CADUCOUS(Lat.caducus), a botanical term for "falling early," as the sepals of a poppy, before the petals expand.
CAECILIA.This name was given by Linnaeus to the blind, or nearly blind, worm-like Batrachians which were formerly associated with the snakes and are now classed as an order under the names ofApoda, PeromelaorGymnophiona. The type of the genusCaeciliaisCaecilia tentaculata, a moderately slender species, not unlike a huge earth-worm, growing to 2 ft. in length with a diameter of three-quarters of an inch. It is one of the largest species of the order. Other species of the same genus are very slender in form, as for instanceCaecilia gracilis,which with a length of 2¼ ft. has a diameter of only a quarter of an inch. One of the most remarkable characters of the genusCaecilia, which it shares with about two-thirds of the known genera of the order, is the presence of thin, cycloid, imbricate scales imbedded in the skin, a character only to be detected by raising the epidermis near the dermal folds, which more or less completely encircle the body. This feature, unique among living Batrachians, is probably directly inherited from the scalyStegocephalia, a view which is further strengthened by the similarity of structure of these scales in both groups, which the histological investigations of H. Credner have revealed. The skull is well ossified and contains a greater number of bones than occur in any other living Batrachian. There is therefore strong reason for tracing the Caecilians directly from the Stegocephalia, as was the view of T.H. Huxley and of R. Wiedersheim, since supported by H. Gadow and by J.S. Kingsley. E.D. Cope had advocated the abolition of the order Apoda and the incorporation of the Caecilians among the Urodela or Caudata in the vicinity of the Amphiumidae, of which he regarded them as further degraded descendants; and this opinion, which was supported by very feeble and partly erroneous arguments, has unfortunately received the support of the two great authorities, P. and F. Sarasin, to whom we are indebted for our first information on the breeding habits and development of these Batrachians.
The knowledge of species of Caecilians has made rapid progress, and we are now acquainted with about fifty, which are referred to twenty-one genera. The principal characters on which these genera are founded reside in the presence or absence of scales, the presence or absence of eyes, the presence of one or of two series of teeth in the lower jaw, the structure of the tentacle (representing the so-called "balancers" of Urodele larvae) on the side of the snout, and the presence or absence of a vacuity between the parietal and squamosal bones of the skull. Of these twenty-one genera six are peculiar to tropical Africa, one to the Seychelles, four to south-eastern Asia, eight to Central and South America, one occurs in both continental Africa and the Seychelles, and one is common to Africa and South America.
These Batrachians are found in damp situations, usually in soft mud. The complete development ofIchthyophis glutinosushas been observed in Ceylon by P. and F. Sarasin. The eggs, forming a rosary-like string, are very large, and deposited in a burrow near the water. The female protects them by coiling herself round the egg-mass, which the young do not leave till after the loss of the very large external gills (one on each side); they then lead an aquatic life, and are provided with an opening, or spiraculum, on each side of the neck. In these larvae the head is fish-like, provided with much-developed labial lobes, with the eyes much more distinct than in the perfect animal; the tail, which is quite rudimentary in all Caecilians, is very distinct, strongly compressed, and bordered above and beneath by a dermal fold.
InHypogeophis, a Caecilian from the Seychelles studied by A. Brauer, the development resembles that ofIchthyophis, but there is no aquatic larval stage. The young leaves the egg in the perfect condition, and at once leads a terrestrial life like its parents. In accordance with this abbreviated development, the caudal membranous crest does not exist, and the branchial aperture closes as soon as the external gills disappear.
In the South AmericanTyphlonectes, and in theDermophisfrom the Island of St Thomé, West Africa, the young are brought forth alive, in the former as larvae with external gills, and in the latter in the perfect air-breathing condition.
References.—R. Wiedersheim,Anatomie der Gymnophionen(Jena, 1879), 4to; G.A. Boulenger, "Synopsis of the Genera and Species,"P.Z.S., 1895, p. 401; R. Greeff, "Über Siphonops thomensis,"Sizb. Ges. Naturw.(Marburg, 1884), p. 15; P. and F. Sarasin,Naturwissenschaftliche Forschungen auf Ceylon, ii. (Wiesbaden, 1887-1890), 4to; A. Brauer, "Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Entwicklungsgeschichte und der Anatomie der Gymnophionen,"Zool. Jahrb. Ana.x., 1897, p. 389, xii., 1898, p. 477, and xvii., 1904, Suppl. p. 381; E.A. Göldi, "Entwicklung von Siphonops annulatus,"Zool. Jahrb. Syst.xii., 1899, p. 170; J.S. Kingsley, "The systematic Position of the Caecilians,"Tufts Coll. Stud.vii., 1902, p. 323.
(G. A. B.)
CAECILIA, VIA,an ancient highroad of Italy, which diverged from the Via Salaria at the 35th m. from Rome, and ran by Amiternum to the Adriatic coast, passing probably by Hadria. A branch ran to Interamna Praetuttiorum (Teramo) and thence probably to the sea at Castrum Novum (Giulianova), a distance of about 151 m. from Rome. It was probably constructed by L. Caecilius Metellus Diadematus (consul in 117B.C.).
See C. Hülsen inNotizie degli Scavi(1896), 87 seq. N. Persichetti inRömische Mitteilungen(1898), 193 seq.; (1902), 277 seq.
CAECILIUS,of Calacte (Καλὴ Ἀκτή) in Sicily, Greek rhetorician, flourished at Rome during the reign of Augustus. Originally called Archagathus, he took the name of Caecilius from his patron, one of the Metelli. According to Suidas, he was by birth a Jew. Next to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, he was the most important critic and rhetorician of the Augustan age. Only fragments are extant of his numerous and important works, among which may be mentioned:On the Style of the Ten Orators(including their lives and a critical examination of their works), the basis of the pseudo-Plutarchian treatise of the same name, in which Caecilius is frequently referred to;On the Sublime, attacked by (?) Longinus in his essay on the same subject (see L. Martens,De LibelloΠερὶ ὕψους, 1877);History of the Servile Wars, or slave risings in Sicily, the local interest of which would naturally appeal to the author;On RhetoricandRhetorical Figures; anAlphabetical Selection of Phrases, intended to serve as a guide to the acquirement of a pure Attic style—the first example of an Atticist lexicon, mentioned by Suidas in the preface to his lexicon as one of his authorities;Against the Phrygians, probably an attack on the florid style of the Asiatic school of rhetoric.
The fragments have been collected and edited by T. Burckhardt (1863), and E. Ofenloch (1907); some in C.W. Müller,Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, iii.; C. Bursian'sJahresbericht ... der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, xxiii. (1896), contains full notices of recent works on Caecilius, by C. Hammer; F. Blass,Griechische Beredsamkeit von Alexander bis auf Augustus(1865), treats of Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Caecilius together; see also J. Brzoska in Pauly-Wissowa,Realencyclopädie(1897).
CAECILIUS STATIUS,orStatius Caecilius, Roman comic poet, contemporary and intimate friend of Ennius, died in 168 (or 166)B.C.He was born in the territory of the Insubrian Gauls, and was probably taken as a prisoner to Rome (c. 200), during the great Gallic war. Originally a slave, he assumed the name of Caecilius from his patron, probably one of the Metelli. He supported himself by adapting Greek plays for the Roman stage from the new comedy writers, especially Menander. If the statement in the life of Terence by Suetonius is correct and the reading sound, Caecilius's judgment was so esteemed that he was ordered to hear Terence'sAndria(exhibited 166B.C.) read and to pronounce an opinion upon it. After several failures Caecilius gained a high reputation. Volcacius Sedigitus, the dramatic critic, places him first amongst the comic poets; Varro credits him with pathos and skill in the construction of his plots; Horace (Epistles, ii. 1. 59) contrasts his dignity with the art of Terence. Quintilian (Inst. Orat., x. 1. 99) speaks somewhat disparagingly of him, and Cicero, although he admits with some hesitation that Caecilius may have been the chief of the comic poets (De Optimo Genere Oratorum, 1), considers him inferior to Terence in style and Latinity (Ad Att.vii. 3), as was only natural, considering his foreign extraction. The fact that his plays could be referred to by name alone without any indication of the author (Cicero,De Finibus, ii. 7) is sufficient proof of their widespread popularity. Caecilius holds a place between Plautus and Terence in his treatment of the Greek originals; he did not, like Plautus, confound things Greek and Roman, nor, like Terence, eliminate everything that could not be romanized.
The fragments of his plays are chiefly preserved in Aulus Gellius, who cites several passages from thePlocium(necklace) together with the original Greek of Menander. The translation which is diffuse and by no means close, fails to reproduce the spirit of the original. Fragments in Ribbeck,Scaenicae Romanorum Poesis Fragmenta(1898); see also W.S. Teuffel,Caecilius Statius, &c. (1858); Mommsen,Hist. of Rome(Eng. tr.), bk. iii. ch. 14; F. Skutsch in Pauly-Wissowa,Realencyclopädie(1897).
CAECĪNA,the name of a distinguished Etruscan family of Volaterrae. Graves have been discovered belonging to the family, whose name is still preserved in the river and hamlet of Cecina.
Aulus Caecina, son of Aulus Caecina who was defended by Cicero (69B.C.) in a speech still extant, took the side of Pompey in the civil wars, and published a violent tirade against Caesar, for which he was banished. He recanted in a work calledQuerelae, and by the intercession of his friends, above all, of Cicero, obtained pardon from Caesar. Caecina was regarded as an important authority on the Etruscan system of divination (Etrusca Disciplina), which he endeavoured to place on a scientific footing by harmonizing its theories with the doctrines of the Stoics. Considerable fragments of his work (dealing with lightning) are to be found in Seneca (Naturales Quaestiones, ii. 31-49). Caecina was on intimate terms with Cicero, who speaks of him as a gifted and eloquent man and was no doubt considerably indebted to him in his own treatiseDe Divinatione. Some of their correspondence is preserved in Cicero's letters (Ad Fam.vi. 5-8; see also ix. and xiii. 66).
Aulus Caecina Alienus, Roman general, was quaestor of Baetica in Spain (A.D.68). On the death of Nero, he attached himself to Galba, who appointed him to the command of a legion in upper Germany. Having been prosecuted for embezzling public money, Caecina went over to Vitellius, who sent him with a large army into Italy. Caecina crossed the Alps, but was defeated near Cremona by Suetonius Paulinus, the chief general of Otho. Subsequently, in conjunction with Fabius Valens, Caecina defeated Otho at the decisive battle of Bedriacum (Betriacum). The incapacity of Vitellius tempted Vespasian to take up arms against him. Caecina, who had been entrusted with the repression of the revolt, turned traitor, and tried to persuade his army to go over to Vespasian, but was thrown into chains by the soldiers. After the overthrow of Vitellius, he was released, and taken into favour by the new emperor. But he could not remain loyal to any one. In 79 he was implicated in a conspiracy against Vespasian, and was put to death by order of Titus. Caecina is described by Tacitus as a man of handsome presence and boundless ambition, a gifted orator and a great favourite with the soldiers.
Tacitus,Histories, i. 53, 61, 67-70, ii. 20-25, 41-44, iii. 13; Dio Cassius lxv. 10-14, lxvi. 16; Plutarch,Otho, 7; Suetonius,Titus, 6; Zonaras xi. 17.
CÆDMON,the earliest English Christian poet. His story, and even his very name, are known to us only from Bæda (Hist. Eccl.iv. 24). He was, according to Bæda (seeBede), a herdsman, who received a divine call to poetry by means of a dream. One night, having quitted a festive company because, from want of skill, he could not comply with the demand made of each guest in turn to sing to the harp, he sought his bed and fell asleep. He dreamed that there appeared to him a stranger, who addressed him by his name, and commanded him to sing of "the beginning of created things." He pleaded inability, but the stranger insisted, and he was compelled to obey. He found himself uttering "verses which he had never heard." Of Cædmon's song Bæda gives a prose paraphrase, which may be literally rendered as follows:—"Now must we praise the author of the heavenly kingdom, the Creator's power and counsel, the deeds of the Father of glory: how He, the eternal God, was the author of all marvels—He, who first gave to the sons of men the heaven for a roof, and then, Almighty Guardian of mankind, created the earth." Bæda explains that his version represents the sense only, not the arrangement of the words, because no poetry, however excellent, can be rendered into another language, without the loss of its beauty of expression. When Cædmon awoke he remembered the verses that he had sung and added to them others. He related his dream to the farm bailiff under whom he worked, and was conducted by him to the neighbouring monastery at Streanæshalch (now called Whitby). The abbess Hild and her monks recognized that the illiterate herdsman had received a gift from heaven, and, in order to test his powers, proposed to him that he should try to render into verse a portion of sacred history which they explained to him. On the following morning he returned having fulfilled his task. At the request of the abbess he became an inmate of the monastery. Throughout the remainder of his life his more learned brethren from time to time expounded to him the events of Scripture history and the doctrines of the faith, and all that he heard from them he reproduced in beautiful poetry. "He sang of the creation of the world, of the origin of mankind and of all the history of Genesis, of the exodus of Israel from Egypt and their entrance into the Promised Land, of many other incidents of Scripture history, of the Lord's incarnation, passion, resurrection and ascension, of the coming of the Holy Ghost and the teaching of the apostles. He also made many songs of the terrors of the coming judgment, of the horrors of hell and the sweetness of heaven; and of the mercies and the judgments of God." All his poetry was on sacred themes, and its unvarying aim was to turn men from sin to righteousness and the love of God. Although many amongst the Angles had, following his example, essayed to compose religious poetry, none of them, in Bæda's opinion, had approached the excellence of Cædmon's songs.
Bæda's account of Cædmon's deathbed has often been quoted, and is of singular beauty. It is commonly stated that he died in 680, in the same year as the abbess Hild, but for this there is no authority. All that we know of his date is that his dream took place during the period (658-680) in which Hild was abbess of Streanæshalch, and that he must have died some considerable time before Bæda finished his history in 731.
The hymn said to have been composed by Cædmon in his dream is extant in its original language. A copy of it, in the poet's own Northumbrian dialect, and in a handwriting of the 8th century, appears on a blank page of the Moore MS. of Bæda's History; and five other Latin MSS. of Bæda have the poem (but transliterated into a more southern dialect) as a marginal note. In the old English version of Bæda, ascribed to King Alfred, and certainly made by his command if not by himself, it is given in the text. Probably the Latin MS. used by the translator was one that contained this addition. It was formerly maintained by some scholars that the extant Old English verses are not Bæda's original, but a mere retranslation from his Latin prose version. The argument was that they correspond too closely with the Latin; Bæda's words, "hic est sensus, non autem ordo ipse verborum," being taken to mean that he had given, not a literal translation, but only a free paraphrase. But the form of the sentences in Bæda's prose shows a close adherence to the parallelistic structure of Old English verse, and the alliterating words in the poem are in nearly every case the most obvious and almost the inevitable equivalents of those used by Bæda. The sentence quoted above[1]can therefore have been meant only as an apology for the absence of those poetic graces that necessarily disappear in translations into another tongue. Even on the assumption that the existing verses are a retranslation, it would still be certain that they differ very slightly from what the original must have been. It is of course possible to hold that the story of the dream is pure fiction, and that the lines which Bæda translated were not Cædmon's at all. But there is really nothing to justify this extreme of scepticism. As the hymn is said to have been Cædmon's first essay in verse, its lack of poetic merit is rather an argument for its genuineness than against it. Whether Bæda's narrative be historical or not—and it involves nothing either miraculous or essentially improbable—there is no reason to doubt that the nine lines of the Moore MS. are Cædmon's composition.
This poor fragment is all that can with confidence be affirmed to remain of the voluminous works of the man whom Bæda regarded as the greatest of vernacular religious poets. It is true that for two centuries and a half a considerable body of verse has been currently known by his name; but among modern scholars the use of the customary designation is merely a matter of convenience, and does not imply any belief in the correctness of the attribution. The so-called Cædmon poems are containedin a MS. written aboutA.D.1000, which was given in 1651 by Archbishop Ussher to the famous scholar Francis Junius, and is now in the Bodleian library. They consist of paraphrases of parts of Genesis, Exodus and Daniel, and three separate poems the first on the lamentations of the fallen angels, the second on the "Harrowing of Hell," the resurrection, ascension and second coming of Christ, and the third (a mere fragment) on the temptation. The subjects correspond so well with those of Cædmon's poetry as described by Bæda that it is not surprising that Junius, in his edition, published in 1655, unhesitatingly attributed the poems to him. The ascription was rejected in 1684 by G. Hickes, whose chief argument, based on the character of the language, is now known to be fallacious, as most of the poetry that has come down to us in the West Saxon dialect is certainly of Northumbrian origin. Since, however, we learn from Bæda that already in his time Cædmon had had many imitators, the abstract probability is rather unfavourable than otherwise to the assumption that a collection of poems contained in a late 10th century MS. contains any of his work. Modern criticism has shown conclusively that the poetry of the "Cædmon MS." cannot be all by one author. Some portions of it are plainly the work of a scholar who wrote with his Latin Bible before him. It is possible that some of the rest may be the composition of the Northumbrian herdsman; but in the absence of any authenticated example of the poet's work to serve as a basis of comparison, the internal evidence can afford no ground for an affirmative conclusion. On the other hand, the mere unlikeness of any particular passage to the nine lines of theHymnis obviously no reason for denying that it may have been by the same author.
TheGenesiscontains a long passage (ii. 235-851) on the fall of the angels and the temptation of our first parents, which differs markedly in style and metre from the rest. This passage, which begins in the middle of a sentence (two leaves of the MS. having been lost) is one of the finest in all Old English poetry. In 1877 Professor E. Sievers argued, on linguistic grounds, that it was a translation, with some original insertions, from a lost poem in Old Saxon, probably by the author of theHeliand. Sievers's conclusions were brilliantly confirmed in 1894 by the discovery in the Vatican library of a MS. containing 62 lines of theHeliandand three fragments of an old Saxon poem on the story of Genesis. The first of these fragments includes the original of 28 lines of the interpolated passage of the Old EnglishGenesis. The Old Saxon Biblical poetry belongs to the middle of the 9th century; the Old English translation of a portion of it is consequently later than this.
As theGenesisbegins with a line identical in meaning, though not in wording, with the opening of Cædmon'sHymn, we may perhaps infer that the writer knew and used Cædmon's genuine poems. Some of the more poetical passages may possibly echo Cædmon's expressions; but when, after treating of the creation of the angels and the revolt of Lucifer, the paraphrast comes to the Biblical part of the story, he follows the sacred text with servile fidelity, omitting no detail, however prosaic. The ages of the antediluvian patriarchs, for instance, are accurately rendered into verse. In all probability theGenesisis of Northumbrian origin. The names assigned to the wives of Noah and his three sons (Phercoba, Olla, Olliua, Olliuani[2]) have been traced to an Irish source, and this fact seems to point to the influence of the Irish missionaries in Northumbria.
TheExodusis a fine poem, strangely unlike anything else in Old English literature. It is full of martial spirit, yet makes no use of the phrases of the heathen epic, which Cynewulf and other Christian poets were accustomed to borrow freely, often with little appropriateness. The condensation of the style and the peculiar vocabulary make theExodussomewhat obscure in many places. It is probably of southern origin, and can hardly be supposed to be even an imitation of Cædmon.
TheDanielis often unjustly depreciated. It is not a great poem but the narration is lucid and interesting. The author has borrowed some 70 lines from the beginning of a poetical rendering of the Prayer of Azarias and the Song of the Three Children, of which there is a copy in the Exeter Book. The borrowed portion ends with verse 3 of the canticle, the remainder of which follows in a version for the most part independent, though containing here and there a line fromAzarias. Except in inserting the prayer and theBenedicite, the paraphrast draws only from the canonical part of the book of Daniel. The poem is obviously the work of a scholar, though the Bible is the only source used.
The three other poems, designated as "Book II" in the Junius MS., are characterized by considerable imaginative power and vigour of expression, but they show an absence of literary culture and are somewhat rambling, full of repetitions and generally lacking in finish. They abound in passages of fervid religious exhortation. On the whole, both their merits and their defects are such as we should expect to find in the work of the poet celebrated by Bæda, and it seems possible, though hardly more than possible, that we have in these pieces a comparatively little altered specimen of Cædmon's compositions.
Of poems not included in the Junius MS., theDream of the Rood(seeCynewulf) is the only one that has with any plausibility been ascribed to Cædmon. It was affirmed by Professor G. Stephens that the Ruthwell Cross, on which a portion of the poem is inscribed in runes, bore on its top-stone the name "Cadmon";[3]but, according to Professor W. Vietor, the traces of runes that are still visible exclude all possibility of this reading. The poem is certainly Northumbrian and earlier than the date of Cynewulf. It would be impossible to prove that Cædmon was not the author, though the production of such a work by the herdsman of Streanæshalch would certainly deserve to rank among the miracles of genius.
Certain similarities between passages inParadise Lostand parts of the translation from Old Saxon interpolated in the Old EnglishGenesishave given occasion to the suggestion that some scholar may have talked to Milton about the poetry published by Junius in 1655, and that the poet may thus have gained some hints which he used in his great work. The parallels, however, though very interesting, are only such as might be expected to occur between two poets of kindred genius working on what was essentially the same body of traditional material.
The name Cædmon (in the MSS. of the Old English version of Bæda writtenCedmon, Ceadmann) is not explicable by means of Old English; the statement that it means "boatman" is founded on the corrupt glossliburnam, ced, wherecedis an editorial misreading forceol. It is most probably the BritishCadman, intermediate between the Old CelticCatumanusand the modern WelshCadfan. Possibly the poet may have been of British descent, though the inference is not certain, as British names may sometimes have been given to English children. The name Caedwalla or Ceadwalla was borne by a British king mentioned by Bæda and by a king of the West Saxons. The initial elementCaed—orCead(probably adopted from British names in which it representscatu, war) appears combined with an Old English terminal element in the nameCaedbaed(cp., however, the Irish name Cathbad), and hypocoristic forms of names containing it were borne by the English saints Ceadda (commonly known as St Chad) and his brother Cedd, called Ceadwealla in one MS. of theOld English Martyrology. A Cadmon witnesses a Buckinghamshire charter of aboutA.D.948.
The older editions of the so-called "Cædmon's Paraphrase" by F. Junius (1655); B. Thorpe (1832), with an English translation; K.W. Bouterwek (1851-1854); C.W.M. Grein in hisBibliothek der angelsächsischen Poesie(1857) are superseded, so far as the text is concerned, by R. Wülker's re-edition of Grein'sBibliothek, Bd. ii. (1895). This work contains also the texts of theHymnand theDream of the Rood. The pictorial illustrations of the Junius MS. were published in 1833 by Sir H. Ellis.
(H. Br.)
[1]It is a significant fact that the Alfredian version, instead of translating this sentence, introduces the verses with the words, "This is the order of the words."[2]The invention of these names was perhaps suggested byPericope Oollae et Oolibae, which may have been a current title for the 23rd chapter of Ezekiel.[3]Stephens read the inscription on the top-stone asCadmon mae fauaepo, which he rendered "Cadmon made me." But these words are mere jargon, not belonging to any known or possible Old English dialect.
[1]It is a significant fact that the Alfredian version, instead of translating this sentence, introduces the verses with the words, "This is the order of the words."
[2]The invention of these names was perhaps suggested byPericope Oollae et Oolibae, which may have been a current title for the 23rd chapter of Ezekiel.
[3]Stephens read the inscription on the top-stone asCadmon mae fauaepo, which he rendered "Cadmon made me." But these words are mere jargon, not belonging to any known or possible Old English dialect.
CAELIA,the name of two ancient cities in Italy, (1) In Apulia (mod.Ceglie di Bari) on the Via Traiana, 5 m. S. of Barium. Coins found here bearing the inscriptionΚαιλίνωνprove that it was once an independent town. Discoveries of ruins and tombs have also been made. (2) In Calabria (mod.Ceglie Messapica) 25 m. W. of Brundusium, and 991 ft. above sea-level. It was in early times a place of some importance, as is indicated by the remains of a prehistoricenceinteand by the discovery of several Messapian inscriptions.
See Ch. Hülsen in Pauly-Wissowa,Realencyclopadie, iii. 1252.
CAEN,a city of north-western France, capital of the department of Calvados, 7½ m. from the English Channel and 149 m. W.N.W. of Paris on the Western railway to Cherbourg. Pop. (1906) 36,247. It is situated in the valley and on the left bank of the Orne, the right bank of which is occupied by the suburb of Vaucelles with the station of the Western railway. To the south-west of Caen, the Orne is joined by the Odon, arms of which water the "Prairie," a fine plain on which a well-known race-course is laid out. Its wide streets, of which the most important is the rue St Jean, shady boulevards, and public gardens enhance the attraction which the town derives from an abundance of fine churches and old houses. Hardly any remains of its once extensive ramparts and towers are now to be seen; but the castle, founded by William the Conqueror and completed by Henry I., is still employed as barracks, though in a greatly altered condition. St Pierre, the most beautiful church in Caen, stands at the northern extremity of the rue St Jean, in the centre of the town. In the main, its architecture is Gothic, but the choir and the apsidal chapels, with their elaborate interior and exterior decoration, are of Renaissance workmanship. The graceful tower, which rises beside the southern portal to a height of 255 ft., belongs to the early 14th century. The church of St Étienne, or l'Abbaye-aux-Hommes, in the west of the town, is an important specimen of Romanesque architecture, dating from about 1070, when it was founded by William the Conqueror. It is unfortunately hemmed in by other buildings, so that a comprehensive view of it is not to be obtained. The whole building, and especially the west façade, which is flanked by two towers with lofty spires, is characterized by its simplicity. The choir, which is one of the earliest examples of the Norman Gothic style, dates from the early 13th century. In 1562 the Protestants did great damage to the building, which was skilfully restored in the early 17th century. A marble slab marks the former resting-place of William the Conqueror. The abbey-buildings were rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries, and now shelter the lycée. Matilda, wife of the Conqueror, was the foundress of the church of La Trinité or l'Abbaye-aux-Dames, which is of the same date as St Étienne. Two square unfinished towers flank the western entrance, and another rises above the transept. Queen Matilda is interred in the choir, and a fine crypt beneath it contains the remains of former abbesses. The buildings of the nunnery, reconstructed in the early 18th century, now serve as a hospital. Other interesting old churches are those of St Sauveur, St Michel de Vaucelles, St Jean, St Gilles, Notre-Dame de la Gloriette, St Étienne le Vieux and St Nicolas, the last two now secularized. Caen possesses many old timber houses and stone mansions, in one of which, the hôtel d'Ecoville (c. 1530), the exchange and the tribunal of commerce are established. The hôtel de Than, also of the 16th century, is remarkable for its graceful dormer-windows. The Maison des Gens d'Armes (15th century), in the eastern outskirts of the town, has a massive tower adorned with medallions and surmounted by two figures of armed men. The monuments at Caen include one to the natives of Calvados killed in 1870 and 1871 and one to the lawyer J.C.F. Demolombe, together with statues of Louis XIV, Élie de Beaumont, Pierre Simon, marquis de Laplace, D.F.E. Auber and François de Malherbe, the two last natives of the town. Caen is the seat of a court of appeal, of a court of assizes and of a prefect. It is the centre of an academy and has a university with faculties of law, science and letters and a preparatory school of medicine and pharmacy; there are also a lycée, training colleges, schools of art and music, and two large hospitals. The other chief public institutions are tribunals of first instance and commerce, an exchange, a chamber of commerce and a branch of the Bank of France. The hôtel-de-ville contains the library, with more than 100,000 volumes and the art museum with a fine collection of paintings. The town is the seat of several learned societies including the Société des Antiquaires, which has a rich museum of antiquities. Caen, despite a diversity of manufactures, is commercial rather than industrial. Its trade is due to its position in the agricultural and horse-breeding district known as the "Campagne de Caen" and to its proximity to the iron mines of the Orne valley, and to manufacturing towns such as Falaise, Le Mans, &c. In the south-east of the town there is a floating basin lined with quays and connected with the Orne and with the canal which debouches into the sea at Ouistreham 9 m. to the N.N.E. The port, which also includes a portion of the river-bed, communicates with Havre and Newhaven by a regular line of steamers; it has a considerable fishing population. In 1905 the number of vessels entered was 563 with a tonnage of 190,190. English coal is foremost among the imports, which also include timber and grain, while iron ore, Caen stone[1], butter and eggs and fruit are among the exports. Important horse and cattle fairs are held in the town. The industries of Caen include timber-sawing, metal-founding and machine-construction, cloth-weaving, lace-making, the manufacture of leather and gloves, and of oil from the colza grown in the district, furniture and other wooden goods and chemical products.
Though Caen is not a town of great antiquity, the date of its foundation is unknown. It existed as early as the 9th century, and when, in 912, Neustria was ceded to the Normans by Charles the Simple, it was a large and important place. Under the dukes of Normandy, and particularly under William the Conqueror, it rapidly increased. It became the capital of lower Normandy, and in 1346 was besieged and taken by Edward III. of England. It was again taken by the English in 1417, and was retained by them till 1450, when it capitulated to the French. The university was founded in 1436 by Henry VI. of England. During the Wars of Religion, Caen embraced the reform; in the succeeding century its prosperity was shattered by the revocation of the edict of Nantes (1685). In 1793 the city was the focus of the Girondist movement against the Convention.
See G. Mancel et C. Woinez,Hist. de la ville de Caen et de ses progrès(Caen, 1836); B. Pent,Hist. de la ville de Caen, ses origines(Caen, 1866); E. de R. de Beaurepaire,Caen illustré: son histoire, ses monuments(Caen, 1896).