the sovereign power to which he is accredited. On the death of either of the sovereigns between whom he negotiates, his commission lapses, but may be renewed. (For list of Ambassadors see DIPLOMATIC.) Ambulance Association, St. John's; established in 1877, by the Duke of Manchester, and the Chapter of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, for the purpose of disseminating general information as to the preliminary treatment of the sick and injured among all classes of society. The scheme of operations embraces the formation of centres in important towns and districts, and detached classes held in towns or villages. A course of instruction limited to a syllabus drawn up by eminent members of the medical profession, consisting of five lectures, is given to students. Those who pass the examination receive a certificate of proficiency, and after twice undergoing reexamination at intervals of twelve months, receive a medallion. Women who have passed the first examination are allowed to attend a second course on home nursing and hygiene. Upwards of 90,000 certificates have been awarded to persons of both sexes. The work has been extended to the East and West Indies, Canada, China, Australia, New Zealand, and different parts of Europe. Chief Secretary, Major Sir Herbert C. Perrott, Bart. Office, St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell, London, E.C. American Mails. On the 30th November, 1886, the contracts with the three great Liverpool Transatlantic steamship companies for the conveyance of the British mails to America terminated, and the new arrangements which had been made for the continuation of the service came into operation on the following day. The matter attracted a considerable amount of public attention, and the Government was subjected to much criticism. Under the old system, contracts existed between the Cunard, White Star, and Inman Steamship Companies and the Post Office, for the conveyance of the mails to America three times a week, leaving London on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and Queenstown on the following days, which was the final port of call. The charges under the contracts were 4s. per lb. for letters and 4d. per lb. for newspapers. The service does not on the whole appear to have proved very satisfactory. The speed of the ships of the different lines varied very much, and it frequently happened that letters sent by the Inman ships on the Tuesday, the White Star ships on the Thursday, and the Cunard ships on the Saturday, were delivered in New York within from 24 to 36 hours of each other. The Government also considered the charges excessive; and these considerations, in conjunction with others, induced the authorities, as the completion of the contracts approached, to endeavour to make arrangements for a cheaper and more effective service. In their tenders for the new mail contracts the Cunard and White Star Companies demanded the entire conveyance of the regular mails to the United States by their own ships for nearly two years, upon two days of the week, at a reduced charge of 12 per cent. A subsequent offer was made to carry a third mail a week from Liverpool to Boston; but this was, owing to the slow rate of speed of the ships on this line, out of the question. Much correspondence ensued between the Post Office and the Companies, and the agitation respecting the question throughout the country was for a time intense. What the Post Office required of the Companies was a quick service between this country (via Queenstown) and New York, at a reduced charge of 35. per lb. for letters and 3d. per lb. for newspapers. Neither of the parties would, however, give way, and the Government decided eventually to enter into a contract for three months with the Inman and Guion Companies to take the American mails twice a week from Liverpool via Queenstown, and another contract was made with the North German Lloyd's Company for a third weekly service via Southampton. In connection with the two former Companies the mails leave this country on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and in the case of the latter-named Company on Thursdays. Letters for America by the Thursday have to be posted in the north of England, Scotland, and Ireland some hours earlier than formerly, but this is compensated for by the mails reaching New York about twelve hours sooner than they used to by the White Star line. At the end of the three months fresh contracts will be entered into for the American mail service. American Politics. In the United States there are four principal political parties taking part in the struggle for office and power. The Democrats are the dominant party at the present moment, having obtained a substantial majority at the last presidential election in 1884, when General Cleveland defeated his Republican and Temperance opponents, Mr. Blaine and Mr. John P. St. John. In former times the entire South was democratic and had a leaning towards slavery, but that question was closed by the civil war. Now, the Democrats as a body base their chief claims to support on the fact that they are in favour of a tariff for revenue purposes only. The Republican party, on the other hand, have always been in favour of a high protective tariff, and in the manufacturing States even the Democrats agree with the system of protection. There are differences of opinion between these two parties as to the policy of expending large sums of surplus revenue on public works-this course being advocated by the Republicans, wh 1st the Democrats contend that such matters should be undertaken not by the central government but by individual communities. The third set of politicians who have to be taken into account are the Temperance party, who demand the enactment of a law throughout the United States prohibiting the manufacture, importation, or sale of alcoholic liquors. Laws of this kind already exist fn some of the States, and Mr. St. John and his supporters would have them made universal. These temperance voters are an important factor in every election as they are thoroughly in earnest, are rapidly increasing in numbers, and may always be relied upon to "vote solid for their own candidate when they decide to run one, or else for whichever of the other candidates will concede most in the direction of their demands. A fourth party, which has latterly come to the front, is the Labour party, comprising the followers of Mr. Henry George, the advocate of land nationalisation, and lately an unsuccessful candidate for the mayoralty of New York, and the adherents of the organisation known as the Knights of Labour (q.v.), headed by a Mr. Powderley. The main purpose of the labour party is by legislation to restrict the hours of work, and to adjust the rates of wages so as to secure to every one the maximum of remuneration for the minimum of labour. Although it does not seem likely that they will ever succeed in obtaining supreme power, they will form a most important element in future elections. Then there is in the States an Irish population claiming to be 15,000,000 strong. Their one political object is Home Rule for Ireland, and they will cast their vote for whichever candidate for the time being persuades them that he will do most to further that end. The next presidential election will take place in November 1888, when it is probable that the Republican candidate will again be Mr. Blaine, who was defeated at the last election. General Cleveland has given offence to a large section of the Democratic party by his praiseworthy efforts to reform the corrupt system of changing the entire personnel of the civil service with every change of government, and this circumstance renders it doubtful whether he will be again nominated. It is possible that he will be rejected in favour of another prominent Democrat, Governor Hill of New York. Amirante Islands. A group of low, small coral islands, in the Indian Ocean. They are geographically and politically an extension of the Seychelles Islands, forming a part of that dependency of the British/colony of Mauritius. Anarchism. A Socialist heresy which claims a descent, if somewhat remote, from Proudhon, but whose earliest and most prominent exponent in its present form was the late Dr. Bakownine. The Anarchist takes his stand upon the abstract idea of "freedom." The absolute and immediate freedom, intellectual, economical, and political, of every individual and of every group of individuals, is the aim of the Anarchist. While the motto of the Collectivist is the happiness of each through the happiness of all, that of the Anarchist is the happiness of all through the happiness of each. As a natural consequence, the Anarchist objects to all organisation whatever, as such; although not rejecting the historical standpoint in so many words, he practically ignores it, inasmuch as he makes it a point of principle not to employ political action, or in any way utilise the existent State machinery for the furtherance of his ends. The revolution, to the Anarchist, implies not merely a complete (or even, in a sense, sudden), but an abrupt break with civilisation. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, so to say, civilisation is to descend into the abyss, and a new-created world of fullblown anarchy arise. Hence the tendency of Anarchism to the use of terrorist methods. Having cut itself off ab initio from the great modern movement of the Proletariat towards emancipation, which organises for this end, and employs all means of action within reach, be they pacific or violent, as circumstances dictate, it has no other resource left but isolated "outrages on the part of individuals. The Anarchists are at present divided into two sects. The Mutualists, or Individualist Anarchists, a small section who regard the aim of the revolution to be simply the establishment of a more perfect and logical Individualism than that at which the oldfashioned middle-class Radical aims, which they propose to effect, partly, at least, by so-called banks of exchange and manipulation of the currency. This section, which is strongest in America, having, indeed, hardly any adherents in Europe, can scarcely be regarded as having any positive connection with the principles of Socialism, to which it is necessarily antagonistic. Chief organ, Liberty, of Boston, edited by Benjamin Tucker. The Communist Anarchists, who constitute the bulk of the party, both in Europe and America, theoretically stand much nearer the principles of real Socialism; but the exaggeration of the notion of "voluntariness, and hostility to any but directly violent means, render them a disruptive element in Socialist organisations, on the outskirts of which they are continually hanging. Nevertheless there is much that all Socialists would approve in the writings of some of their leading exponents, such as Prince Kropotkin, Dr. Gauthier, and the eminent geographer Elysée Réclus. Since the break-up of the International, in which event the Anarchists were largely instrumental, several Anarchist congresses have been held in various places. Chief organs: Le Révolte, 140, Rue Mouffetard, Paris; Die Freiheit (Joh. Most), New York; The Anarchist, London; Freedom, London, etc. Ancestor Worship. See ANIMISM. Ancient Lights. The right to the enjoyment of ancient lights is one of those known to English law as easements (q.v.)—that is to say, a privilege not directly lucrative which the owner of one of two neighbouring tenements has over the other. It is a negative easement; being the right to continue to receive the light which one has heretofore received through one's windows. It may be acquired either by express grant, which must be by an instrument under seal, or by enjoyment for the space of twenty years, uninterrupted and not permissive. No infringement is deemed an interruption which has not been acquiesced in for one full year after the party interrupted has had notice of the infringement and of the person committing it. The permission alleged by the person who disputes the prescriptive right must have been in writing. The right is only to the quantity of light given or enjoyed, not to any quantity of light. But it is infringed whenever the direct amount of light so given or enjoyed has been perceptibly diminished, and the value of the premises thereby impaired. English law does not recognise any prescriptive right to the enjoyment of a prospect from one's windows. (See" Gale on Easements.") Ancient Monuments Protection Act, 1882. This Act empowers the owner of any of the ancient monuments enumerated in the schedule thereto to constitute by deed the Commissioners of Works and Public Buildings in Great Britain, or the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, guardians thereof. Thereupon either body acquires all powers necessary for the maintenance and preservation of such monument, but without detriment to any estate or interest in it previously enjoyed by the owner. The Commissioners may purchase out of moneys granted for that purpose by Parliament any of the ancient monuments enumerated in the schedule. They may also accept a gift by deed or will of any of these monuments. They are to appoint inspectors whose duty it shall be to report on the condition and best means of preserving any of the scheduled monuments. Any person other than the owner who injures or defaces any such monument is made liable upon summary conviction to a month's imprisonment with hard labour. The schedule contains a list of about seventy ancient monuments or groups of ancient monuments scattered over the three kingdoms, and for the most part of Celtic origin. The list may at any time be enlarged by Order in Council. Anderson, Miss Mary, the talented American actress, made her debut in Macauley's Theatre, Louisville, Kentucky, 1875, as "Juliet." As she evinced evidence of great histrionic ability in the round of parts she subsequently appeared in, her success was quickly insured. Miss Anderson made her first appearance on the London stage (Lyceum, September 1883) as Parthenia, in Ingomar. Later in that year she played Pauline (Lady of Lyons), and Galatea (Pygmalion and Galatea). Miss Anderson's latest leading impersonation was "Rosalind," her rendering of that character being very favourably noticed. He Andrassy, Count Julius, b. at Zemplin, Hungary, 1823, the son of Count Charles, of an illustrious family of Hungary. received the highest education, improved by his travels in Europe. Took an active part in the Hungarian revolution (1848). When the defeat of Austria at Sadowa led the Emperor to concede to Hungarian aspirations, Count Andrassy was made President of the Council and Minister of National Defence in the new Hungarian Parliament. Elected deputy for Pesth (1869), he became Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Austrian empire, and Comptroller of the Household, in succession to Count von Beust (1871), and Chancellor of Austro-Hungary. When the insurrection broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1875, he addressed the well-known "Andrassy note" to the Porte, pointing out the reforms necessary to the safety of the Ottoman empire and the welfare of its Christian subjects. Count Andrassy, at the European Congress at Berlin, as chief plenipotentiary of Austria-Hungary, took a leading and influential part, particularly in sustaining the views and action of the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain. Though supported by the Emperor throughout the party struggle which ensued, in consequence of Austria's preparation for military intervention in Bosnia, Count Andrassy retired from office in October 1879. He has not since taken an active part in public life, though last year he intervened with some effect in the debates on the Bulgarian question, with the view to a forward policy with regard to Russian aggression. He is understood to have exercised his influence, in conjunction with Prince von Bismarck, in the direction of a closer union between Austria and Germany, and the extension of the Austrian dominions in the Balkan peninsula. The Emperor bestowed on him the Order of the Golden Fleece in January 1878. Anegada. A British West Indian island. Area 14 sq. m. Belongs to the presidency of the Virgin Islands, under the federal government of the Leeward Islands (q.v.). Anemometer. See METEOROLOGY. Anglo-Israelism. A theory which attempts to prove the ethnological identity of the English nation with the lost Ten Tribes, and thereby to claim for England the Biblical promises in favour of "Israel." This movement is quite distinct from that entitled "The New and Latter House of Israel." (See JEZREELITES.) Anglo-Jewish Association. See Jews. Angola. Portuguese West Africa, or Lower Guinea. Stated area, 312,509 sq. m.; pop. 2,000,000. Capital St. Paul de Loanda. Divided into the four governments of Angola proper, Ambriz, Benguela, and Mossamedes; porttowns of same names. Climate hot and enervating. Coast-land low and tame, for 30 to 60 miles inland grassy; then country rises, and rich vegetation and forest begin. Products are ground-nuts, baobab-fibre, coffee, cotton, orchilla, caoutchouc, copal, palm-kernels, mandioc, ivory; minerals, iron and copper. Industry very stagnant. Ruled by a GovernorGeneral, governors of provinces, "chefes" of districts, and much corruption exists. Slavetrade nominally abolished, but actually still existing. In spite of 400 years of possession Portuguese influence not felt far from coast, and no roads or civilisation much beyond towns. (Consult Monteiro's "Angola and River Congo," Keith Johnston's "Africa," etc.). Angra Pequena. See LUDERITZLAND. Anguilla-i.e. "little snake," from its long narrow shape. A British West Indian island. Area 35 sq. m., pop. 2,773. Belongs to the presidency of St. Christopher, in the federal government of the Leeward Islands. Is low and flat, deficient in wood and water. Produces salt from a lake, and phosphate of lime; cattle, ponies, and garden stock. Aniline. See WASTE MATERIALS. Animism. The term applied by Dr. E. B. Tylor, author of "Primitive Culture," to express the general theory of spiritual beings. It consists, in brief, in the explanation of all natural phenomena by the medium of spiritual agency. From the earliest times man, in his simplest nature, has personified the forces of nature, and attributed what in these was inexplicable to the power of an indwelling deity. Hence, with the Greeks and other nations of antiquity, as also among less civilised peoples, natural phenomena were worshipped in a concrete form as gods (cf. the Egyptian sun-god, Ra, the Greek Zeus, Sanskrit Dyu, the sky, etc.) In the moral world the mysterious oppositions of good and evil are personified in the system of dualism of the powers of light and darkness under the forms of Ormuzd and Ahriman, the good and evil spirits of Aryan Persia. Animism was, and is still in some countries, closely connected with social and domestic life. Diseases are attributed to the presence of demons in the body of the patient, and the departed are considered to retain their sense of consciousness; hence, in the neolithic and bronze burial mounds the weapons and sometimes the favourite steed of the deceased were interred with him, being supposed to possess a shadowy existence, and to be available for the use of the departed spirit. A similar custom is current among the Eskimos, who bury a favourite dog with a dead child to be its companion. Many other quaint customs, traceable to the same source, might be adduced: as, for example, the "hell shoon" (shoes placed on the feet of the dead) of the German peasants, the money placed in the hand of the corpse at an Irish wake, the cakes and sweat meats laid on the graves at Père La Chaise on the feast of All Souls, and the rite of the suttee, etc. intensity of the animistic idea is evidenced by the vast labour-considering the mechanical appliances at command-expended on the cairns (tombs constructed of stones), dolmens (stone tables constructed of three or four great upright stones with a top stone resting upon them), menhirs (long stones set up singly, common in India and Brittany), and cromlechs (stone circles, as at Stonehenge and Avebury), by these monuments propitiating and doing honour to their The ancestors. Ancestor worship is based upon and grows naturally out of the doctrine of animism. Cf. the lares and penates of the Romans, and the ancestor worship of the Hindus and Chinese. (Consult Sir J. Lubbock's "Prehistoric Times,' and Dr. E. B. Tylor's "Anthropology" and "Primitive Culture.") Annam. An empire in S.E. Asia, now a French protectorate. It formerly included Tonquin, Cochin-China, and Cambodia: total area, 116,660 sq. m.; but the area of Annam as distinct from these provinces is 26,923 sq. m., pop. 6,000,000. Capital Hué, near the coast, also capital of Cochin-China; garrisoned by French troops. The country is mountainous, forested, watered by numerous noble rivers, at the mouths of which are deltas and swamps. Flora and fauna rich and varied. Climate of the lowlands hot and inimical to Europeans. Principal productions are rice, cotton, indigo, tobacco, sugar, silk, bees'-wax, pepper, cardamoms,arecanuts, ornamental woods, ivory, lac, bamboos, etc. Edible birds'-nests and trepang are among exports to China. Gold is washed in the riverbeds, and other metals worked. There is an emperor, with court and dignitaries, but government is really in French hands. Trade is with China and France, a little with Burmah and Siam. Fishing a very important industry. A little silk and cotton manufacture, metal and wood work. The various peoples belong to the Indo-Chinese race, a link between Chinese and Malays. Religion chiefly Buddhism. France appeared in Annam in the eighteenth century; and since 1847 military operations have frequently been undertaken. Cochin-China was annexed to France in 1861, Cambodia made a protectorate 1862; Tonquin annexed and Annam made protectorate in 1884. French authority is still disputed in some parts, and campaigning continues. [Consult Vignon's "Les Colonies Françaises," Reclus' "L'Inde et L'Indo-Chine (Géographie Universelle)," Keane and Temple's Asia," etc.]. Annobon. A lofty, basaltic, and volcanic island in the Gulf of Guinea. It is a Spanish possession, and its climate is salubrious. Anticosti. A large island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence which is under the Government of Newfoundland. It is 125 miles long by 30 wide, and contains between 1,500 and 2,000 sq. m. of area. The coast is rocky, barren, and dangerous. There are lighthouses, fishing and refuge stations, the only organised settlement. The interior is a wilderness of mountain, forest, and swamp, abounding in furred and feathered game. There are tracts adapted for cultivation, and fruit and vegetables raised experimentally seem of first-class quality. Mineral wealth is reported. A private company is at present trying to induce people to settle in the island. a Anti-Cyclones. See METEOROLOGY. Antigua-i.e. "ancient," so called by Columbus. A British West Indian island. Area 108 sq. m., pop. 34,151. With Barbuda forms a presidency of the Leeward Islands. Its capital St. John, pop. nearly 10,000, is the seat of the federal government. English Harbour is naval station, and one of the finest harbours in the West Indies. The island is hilly, attaining 1,200 feet. It is based on igneous rock on the west, calcareous on the east. Though suffering sometimes from drought, it is very fertile. Produces sugar and rum, arrowroot, tobacco, and at one time cotton. Climate healthy.-Government is administered by the Governor of the Leeward Islands, assisted by a local council of twenty-four members (twelve elected). Four delegates are sent to the Federal Council. Antigua was settled by British in 1632; it was seized by the French for a short time in 1666, but has since remained a British colony. Antilles. See WEST INDIES. Antiseptic Treatment is a method employed and directed against the development of fermentative micro-organisms in order to prevent the process of putrefaction in wounds. Formerly this method of treatment involved most cumbrous methods. Now, by the abolition of the carbolic spray and the substitution of simpler dressings for the old carbolised gauze, it is simpler and more efficacious. The spray is still extensively used by some operators, but as a general adjunct to wound treatment it has fallen from the high position it held. Corrosive sublimate has been largely substituted for carbolic acid as an antiseptic agent. The original carbolic gauze has been largely replaced by sal-alembroth wool and gauze, although iodoform wool is still much used. Lemaire was the first to recognise the truth of the germ theory as applied to wounds; but he seems to have worked on no systematic method in his treatment, and it was not until Sir Joseph Lister, who (independently of any knowledge of Lemaire's experiments) had been working with a definite object, and reducing the chaos of antisepticism to scientific order, that antiseptic surgery was brought to the position of a scientific discovery and that high state of perfection which it has now attained. Anti-Socialistic Law. See GERMAN POLITICAL PARTIES. Anti Vaccination. See VACCINATION, ANTI-. Anti-Vivisection. See VIVISECTION, ANTI-. Antwerp Quays. See ENGINEERING. Aquatics. See SPORT. Arbitration and Conciliation, Board of. See MINING. Arbitration, Board of. See TRADES UNION. Arbitration. International. The principle of the substitution of arbitration for war in the settlement of international disputes. At a conference of the friends of peace, held at Brussels in October 1873, the International Arbitration and Peace Association was founded, and has since been energetic in disseminating information on the subject. This body binds itself to no particular scheme for carrying the principle into practice. (See our edition of 1886 for full details of the principal arbitration cases.)— Judicial. By a judicial arbitration is here meant an arbitration which will be enforced by the courts of justice. Such an arbitration may take place either by consent of the parties interested, or in consequence of a reference by order of a court. (1) Arbitration by consent. The parties to a dispute having submitted to an arbitration may agree to make their submission a rule of court. The Court thereupon makes a rule that the award given in the arbitration shall be conclusive. The appointment of the arbitrator thenceforward cannot be revoked without leave of the Court. The Court may command witnesses to attend before the arbitrator. They may be examined on oath, and by giving false evidence make themselves liable to the penalties of perjury. A party not complying with the award commits a contempt of court. An award corruptly made will be set aside by the Court, upon application made within a certain time; otherwise no objection can be made by either party, except in respect of defects apparent on the face of the award itself. (2) Arbitration in consequence of a reference made by the Court. The Court may at any time in the course of an action refer to an arbitrator matters of mere account which cannot conveniently be tried in the ordinary way. In this case the arbitrator is really a judge by delegation. Whenever it is necessary for determining whether any item should be allowed or disallowed, a special case may be stated by the arbitrator for the Court, either at his own discretion or by order of the Court. The reference of certain matters arising in the course of an action by the Court to an official or special referee is not quite the same thing as judicial arbitration. Arc de Triomphe. Occupies the centre of the circular Place de l'Etoile, Paris, from which twelve beautiful boulevards radiate, each in a perfectly straight line. Its erection was ordered by Napoleon the First, after the battle of Austerlitz. The foundation stone was laid August 15th, 1806, and the building was inaugurated July 29th, 1836, under the reign of Louis Philippe. The monument and its surroundings constitute one of the finest sights in Europe. Arc Lamps. See DYNAMO and ELECTRICITY. Arch, Joseph, b. at Barford, Warwickshire, 1826. He was the son of an agricultural labourer, and for many years was a field worker himself. When a young man he attained considerable proficiency in public speaking by preaching from Primitive Methodist platforms. In 1872 he began an agitation in favour of improving the position of the agricultural labourers, which spread over a great part of England, and led to the establishment of the National Agricultural Labourers' Union, of which he was president. At the general election of 1885 he contested, as a Radical, North-West Norfolk, and was returned; but in the July election of 1886 suffered defeat at the hands of the same constituency. During his short parliamentary career, Mr. Arch several times addressed the House; but, though he was respectfully listened to, he somewhat disappointed his admirers. Archbishops, English. See CATHEDRALS. Archdeacons, sometimes contracted to Archdeans, have equivalent yet subordinate jurisdiction to the bishop, whom they assist in all duties not strictly episcopal. They visit the clergy. The Courts of Archdeacons exercise general or limited jurisdictions, in accordance with the terms of their patents or with local custom. Archer, Fred, the famous jockey, was b. Jan. 11th, 1857, at Prestbury, near Cheltenham. His father was a renowned steeplechase rider. Apprenticed to Mr. Matthew Dawson (1868), he rapidly gave indication of his remarkable talent, and in 1870 won the Chesterfield on Athol Daisy. Other successes followed: the Lincoln Handicap on Tomahawk, the Two Thousand with Atlantic (1874). He became the successor to Tom French in the service of Lord Falmouth. So rapidly did his reputation increase, that Archer's name became associated with the principal achievements of the Turf, including five Derby victories (Silvio, Bend Or, Iroquois, Melton, and Ormonde), Oaks four, St. Leger six (in which he rode Silvio), Two Thousand four, One Thousand two, besides many other chief events. During his career he had 8,044 mounts, winning 2,760. In 1883 he married Miss Nellie Dawson (died 1884), daughter of Mr. J. Dawson, the celebrated trainer. On Nov. 7th, 1886, Archer rode the Duchess of Montrose's Thebais, and won the Liverpool Autumn Cup, but almost immediately after was seized with illness, and committed suicide Nov. 8th. Archer was universally respected, and on the occasion of his funeral the high esteem in which he was held was indicated by the tributes of respect sent from all parts of the country. Archery. The first reference we have of bows and arrows is made in Genesis xxi. 20, and mention is also made of them in the books of Samuel. Archery was undoubtedly in high repute with the ancient Persians, and Pyrrhus had 2,000 archers at the battle of Pandosía, near Heraclea, 280 B.C. The early inhabitants of Britain used bows and arrows, and at the battle of Hastings the Saxons realised but too well the dexterity of the Normans with the cross-bow. The long-bow was in general use in England in the time of Edward II., and the victories of Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt are chiefly attributed by old chroniclers to the skill of the English archers. Henry VII. in 1485 instituted the Yeomen of the Guard, then all archers; Charles II. renewed the Finsbury archers in 1682; and as late as 1753 targets for archery practice were set up in Finsbury Fields. The regulation long-bow was six feet long, and the arrow three feet, whilst the usual range varied between three hundred and four hundred yards. The cross-bow was fixed to a stock and discharged with a trigger. The Society of Toxophilites was established by Sir Aston Lever in 1781, and formed a division of the Artillery Company between 1784 and 1803; whilst thirty years later they were privileged with ground in the inner circle of Regent's Park, and there built the Archery Lodge. The invention of firearms has rendered archery next to useless for all practical purposes; but as a pastime it remains much in favour with ladies and gentlemen in the higher walks of life. The famous castle at Raglan, in Monmouthshire, has an excellent shooting ground, and is largely patronised by the clubs of the adjoining counties of Worcester, Gloucester, and Hereford; whilst from north to south and east to west meetings are held during the summer months. Arches, Court of. The ecclesiastical courts of England are of four degrees. First and lowest is the court of the archdeacon, from which an appeal lies to that of the bishop. Second comes the bishop's Consistory Court. The third is the Court of the Metropolitan, whether of Canterbury or of York. The fourth and highest is the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council-the final court of appeal, which represents the Queen in her character of head of the Church of England. The Metropolitan Court of Canterbury is known as the Court of Arches, because it was formerly held in the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow, styled in Latin Sancta Maria de arcubus. The judge of this Court, the deputy of the Archbishop, is called the Dean of the Arches. He receives and determines appeals from all the inferior ecclesiastical courts within the province of Canterbury. He also hears many suits which have never been brought before any inferior court the inferior judge, who should in the ordin: |