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SAXE

1685

SAXONS

became a lawyer and for seven years practiced in his native county. For six years he owned and edited a newspaper at Burlington. He also served a year as state's attorney and ran for governor on the Democratic ticket in 1859 and 1860. Saxe's poetry was mostly satirical and soon gained great popularity, his ^ first volume going through over 40 editions. Among his verses are The Proud Miss McBride, The Money King and The New Rape of the Lock. Saxe died at Albany, N. Y., March 31, 1887.

Saxe, Maurice, Marshal, a celebrated soldier of the i8th century, was the natural son of Augustus II, Elector of Saxony, and the countess of Konigsmark, and was born at Goslar, Hannover, Oct. 28, 1696. When only 12, he ran away to Flanders, joined the army of Marlborough, and took part in the capture of Lille and the siege of Tournay, With a boyish love of change he joined the Russo-Polish army in 1711 and distinguished himself under his father's own eyes. After fighting against the Turks in Hungary, he in 1726 was chosen Duke of Courland, and for three years stubbornly defended the duchy against both Russians and Poles, At length, forced to give it up, he fought under the Duke of Berwick, and decided the battle of Ettlingen by a desperate charge. On the breaking out of the Austrian War of Succession he was given command of an army to invade Bohemia, stormed Prague, and captured Egar. In 1744 he was made a marshal of France, put in command of the French army in Flanders, and with masterly genius kept a much larger force of the enemjr inactive, at the same time capturing important fortresses. The following year was more glorious still; he defeated the Duke of Cumberland at Fontenoy, thus winning one of the greatest French victories over the English. Next year he won against the allies the brilliant victory of Raucoux, and in 1747 for the third time defeated Cumberland at Laufeldt and forced the allies to agree to the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Saxe died on Nov. 30, 1750. George Sand was Saxe's great-granddaughter. See Carlyle's Frederick the Great.

Saxe = Meiningen ( saks-ml' nmg-en ), a duchy in Thuringia, one of the states of the German empire. The charter of the duchy dates from 1829; its capital is Mein-ingen (population 15,985). The reigning duke is Georg II, son of Duke Bernhard I, who succeeded on the abdication of Duke Bernhard in 1866. The area of the duchy is 953 square miles, with a population, almost entirely Protestant, of 278,792. Like the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, its products are mainly agricultural, the chief crops being rye, oats, wheat, hay and potatoes. It has 150 miles of railways.

Saxe=Weimar (sdks-vi'mdr), a grand-duchy of Thuringia, one of the German

states, whose constitution dates from 1816. Its area (1*397 square miles, with a population of 387,316) consists of three detached districts — Weimar, Eisenach and Neustadt. The capital is Weimar (population 31,117), and the reigning grand-duke is Wilhelm Ernst. The government is an hereditary constitutional monarchy. The chief industry is agriculture, though there are some manufactures, mainly cotton and woolen. Weimar is famous as the home of Goethe, Herder and Schiller, the former lor& participating in the government. Duk~ Charles, about 1800, made Weimar the European Athens of his day.

Sax'horn, a series of brass, wind, musical instruments invented by Antoine or Adolphe Sax, who was born at Dinant, Belgium, in 1814, and settled at Paris in 1842. By means of this and another family of instruments called saxophones he has greatly influenced military music throughout the world. The saxhorn is a conical tube opening out to a wide bell, is sounded through a cupped mouthpiece, and is provided with valves or pistons like a cornet. Saxhorns are made in different sizes, the series having a very wide compass. Their number and variety supply all the different parts required by a brass band, and in many places fDod bands are wholly made up of them, rom the fact that their fingering is all alike a performer having mastered one can by a little practice play as well on any of the others. Their compass, richness and flexibility of tone render them especially fit for military music, and their form makes them easy to play either on the march or on horseback.

Sax'ifrage. A genus of plants found in the north temperate and Arctic regions It includes about 160 species, mostly perennial herbs, natives chiefly of mountainous tracts. Cultivated varieties are grown on rockeries. Some are densely tufted, moss-like plants, which form a flowery turf. The most common varieties in the United States are the early saxifrage found in Virginia, the swamp saxifrage in swamp-lands of Pennsylvania and the Chinese saxifrage, a hanging-basket plant Cultivated varieties grow well in good soil. The seed should be sown as soon as ripe in a cold-frame; or saxifrages may be propagated by division in the spring.

Sax'ons, a Germanic people, whose name is thought to come from an old word meaning knife. A Saxon league was formed in the 36. century of tribes living along the Elbe inlet and on the neighboring islands. The Saxons invaded Roman territory in the reigns of Julian and Valentinian, and about 450 they, with the Angles, established permanent settlements in England (q, v,) and founded the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Before the 5th century they had settled along the French sea-coast from the Elbe to tha