Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/721

 ARGENTAN ARGENTINE REPUBLIC 685 lection of 150,000 volumes with which he en- dowed its library. IV. Mare Rene, grandson of Ren6 Louis, born in Paris, Sept. 10, 1771, died there, Aug. 2, 1842. He served for a time as adjutant of Gen. Lafayette. In 1609 he be- came prefect of the department of Deux-Nethes (now province of Antwerp, Belgium), but relin- quished his place on account of a disagreement with the ministry, caused by D'Argenson's re- fusal to sequester the property of the mayor of Antwerp. He took an active part in the ex- pulsion of the English from Walcheren. Du- ring the hundred days he was a member of the house of representatives for Belfort, and be- longed to the deputation who besought the allied forces to prevent the return of the Bour- bons. He was reflected as deputy after the second restoration, and distinguished himself by his eloquent denunciation of the massacre of the Protestants in the south of France. In 1830 he reentered the chamber of deputies as member for Strasburg, and created a great sensation by taking his parliamentary oath with the words Je le jure, sauf les progres de la raison publique. In May, 1832, he was one of the opposition members who signed the famous Compte rendu, and in October, 1833, he signed the manifesto of the societe des droita de Vhomme. He was one of the chief leaders of the secret society charfionnerie democra- tique, and was designated as the future dic- tator of France in case of a revolution. ARGENTAN, a town of France, in the depart- ment of Orne, in Normandy, situated on the river Orne, 22 m. N. by W. of Alenc. on ; pop. in 1866, 5,401. It is finely situated on a hill in the midst of fertile plains ; and the ramparts and ditches have been converted into promenades. There are two large Gothic churches and a col- lege. Formerly the town was famous for its laces (point d'Argentan and point d'Alenfori), but the chief industry consists at present in manufacturing gloves, leather, and embroidery, and in exporting cattle and cheese. ARGENTEUIL, a town of France, in the de- partment of Seine-et-Oise, on the Seine, 5 m. N. W. of Paris ; pop. in 1866, 8,176. It carries on an active trade in wine of inferior qual- ity. Among the adjoining country seats is the chateau du Marais, formerly owned by Mirabeau. The town originated from the con- vent or priory of Argenteuil founded in the 7th century, and converted by Charlemagne into a nunnery, of which Helo'ise became ab- bess, after having been educated and taken vows there. Its ruins are still extant. ARGENTEUIL, a "W. county of the province of Quebec, Canada, bounded S. by the Ottawa river ; area, 850 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 12,806. The soil is in many parts of exceptionally good quality. There is a quarry of French buhr- stone in Grenville township. Capital, Lachute. ARGENTEUS CODEX, an old uncial MS. of the four gospels in the Moeso-Gothic dialect, written or stamped in silver letters (except the initials, which are in gold) on violet-colored vellum. It is supposed to have been executed about the 6th century, and is a copy of the version made in the 4th by Ulfilas, the Arian bishop of the Moeso-Goths. This codex was discovered in the library of the Benedictine abbey of Wer- den in 1597, and after changing hands, either honestly or by stealth, several times, came at length into the possession of the library of Upsal for the consideration of about $1,250. Facsimile editions of some portions of it have been published by Knittel, and also by Angelo Mai (1819). Mai also discovered some palimp- sests of this version in the Ambrosian library, which have been published. These more recent discoveries have aided to fill the chasms in the Argenteus Codex, and so to enhance its value to Biblical literature. ARGENTINE REPUBLIC (La Republica Ar- gentina ; formerly more commonly called AR- GENTINE CONFEDERATION), an independent state of South America, between lat. 21 and 41 S., and Ion. 53 and 71 17' W., bounded N. by Bo- livia, E. by Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, and the Atlantic, S. by the Atlantic ocean and Patago- nia, from which it is separated by the Rio Ne- gro, and W. by the Andes, separating it from Chili. The Argentines dispute with Chili the right to the territory S. of the Rio Negro as far as Tierra del Fuego, according to the original division by the government of Spain. The area of the republic, including the undisputed por- tion of the Gran Chaco, is 841,000 sq. m. If to this be added that part of the Chaco from the Bennejo N. to lat. 22, as claimed by the gov- ernment, the area would be about 1,000,000 sq. m. The 14 provinces into which the country is divided, with their area and population, ac- cording to the census of 1869, are as follows : PROVINCES. Area, sq. m. Population. LITTORAL OR EIVEEINE PROVINCES. 70,000 848,866 60,001) 120,198 Entre-Rlos 50,000 115,968 Santa Fe 20,000 75,178 ANDINE PROVINCES. 86,000 79,551 65,000 59,269 La Rio ja 85,000 48,498 83,000 58,007 CENTRAL PROVINCES. 60.000 208,771 20,000 52,761 Santiago del Estero 85,000 182,768 28,000 108,602 NORTHERN PROVINCES. Salta 50,000 85959 80,000 87,857 Total 591,000 1,526,738 These figures show an increase of 146 per cent, as compared with the census of 1836. All the provincial capitals bear the names of their respective provinces except that of Entre- Rios, which is Concepcion (La Concepcion del