Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/172

 164 CECIL CEDAR The queen, unwilling to offend her favorite, left the appointment open, and Cecil was not installed as principal secretary of state till 1596. While Essex was absent on the second Spanish expedition, Cecil contrived to procure for himself the chancellorship of the duchy of Lancaster, which the earl had requested for a friend. That quarrel was however made up, and Cecil, being sent to France, much against his will, to negotiate a peace between Henry IV. and the Spaniards, deemed it an effectual way of tying his rival's hands to con- fide the secretaryship to him during his own absence. Essex discharged the trust honorably. Cecil's first act on his return was to thwart Essex in his attempt to obtain the deputyship of Ireland for Sir George Carew, an incident which brought about the celebrated quarrel in which Elizabeth boxed her favorite's ears and told him to "go to the devil." Essex's fall was rapid, and Secretary Cecil was soon relieved from his rivalry. He is accused of having in like manner sacrificed Sir Walter Raleigh, while professing to be his friend. On the death of his father he was made pre- mier. Elizabeth placed confidence in his great ability, and he was at all times ready in appear- ance to sacrifice his own views to the "divine judgment of his sovereign." Yet in reality he endeavored with success, both in Elizabeth's reign and that of her successor, to restrain the power of the crown. Having secretly fa- vored the interests of James I., he was re- warded by that sovereign on his accession by being continued in office, and by being created in 1603 baron of Essendine, in 1604 Viscount Cranborne, and in 1605 earl of Salisbury. In 1608 he succeeded Dorset as lord high treasurer, notwithstanding the exertions of his new rival, but former friend, Henry Howard, earl of Northampton, to obtain the office. When the gunpowder plot was found to be no fiction, he entered actively into the detection of the con- spirators. A work of his is extant, entitled " A Treatise against Papists." James had the highest opinion of his sagacity in discovering plots, and called him on that account by the familiar appellation of " my little beagle." He could not be brought, however, to assent to James's project for the incorporation of the two kingdoms. In all other matters the king followed his lead, asking nothing in return but money to carry on his extravagant expendi- ture. Thus the whole cares of the govern- ment were thrown on his shoulders. James had no order in his expenditure. The ordi- nary revenues being insufficient to meet his wants, imposts were laid on articles of com- merce by proclamation. The country denied the constitutionality of this proceeding, bat the court of exchequer decided in favor of the king. Cecil interposed between the king and the peo- ple. He asked, in conference of the two house* of parliament, that an immediate subsidy should be voted to liquidate the royal debt, and that an addition of 200,000 be made to the annual income, to prevent the recurrence of a similar exercise of the king's prerogative. Parliament retorted on the king by a demand for numerous reforms. After protracted conferences, both houses adjourned without granting the required supplies. The failure of his proposition was a source of bitter mortification to the treasurer. His health sank under a complication of disor- ders. Having tried the mineral waters of Bath without benefit, he set out for London, but died on the way. Lord Hailes published " Secret Correspondence of Sir Robert Cecil with James VI. of Scotland " (12mo, 1766). CECIL, William. See BUBLEIGH, LOBD. CECILIA, Saint, a Roman lady of high descent, born about the middle of the 2d or the com- mencement of the 3d century. Compelled by her parents to marry Valerian, a noble youth of Rome, although she had at an early age made a vow to consecrate her life to religion, she was eventually doomed to suffer martyr- dom ; and her husband, her brother-in-law, and another Roman, whom she is believed to have converted, were supposed to have met with the same fate. St. Cecilia is the chosen patroness of musicians, and from her skill in singing is especially regarded as the patroness of sacred music. St. Cecilia's day, Nov. 22, is annually celebrated in England by a musical festival. Several churches were built in her honor at Rome. Beautiful pictures of the saint were executed by Raphael and other celebrated painters, and Pere de Braillon of the Oratoire published in 1668 a work entitled, La se- pulture admirable de Sainte Cecile dan* sort eglise de Rome. CECROPS, first king of Attica, said to have reigned about 1550 B. C., and represented in the ancient legends as the civilizer of that country. He founded Cecropia, which at a later period became the Acropolis of Athens, and several other places ; divided Attica into 12 communities; taught its inhabitants mo- rality and manners, marriage, and the wor- ship of the gods ; abolished bloody sacrifices, and introduced agriculture, navigation, ship building, and the culture of the olive. Ac- cording to some he was of Pelasgian origin, while others say he was the leader of an Egyptian colony from Sais. He reigned 50 years. His merits were commemorated by a monument in the temple of Minerva, in favor of which goddess he is said to have decided a dispute with Neptune concerning the possession of Attica. He was also worshipped in the constellation of Aquarius. In sculpture he was represented as half man half woman, or half man half serpent ; hence he is sometimes styled &0wfa, twofold. CEDAR, the name of several species of ever- green trees of the order coniferce, the principal of which are the cedar of Lebanon (pinus ce- drus, Linn.), the cedar of Goa (cupressu* Lmi- tanica, Linn.), the Indian cedar (pinus deodara, Lambert), the white cedar (cupressus thyoides, Linn.), and the red cedar (juniperm Virginiana,