CYNICS. After the Greeks had explored, with unparalleled rapidity, all the regions of philosophy, and sects of the most various kinds had formed themselves, it was not unnatural that a school should arise which condemned speculation, and devoted itself to the moral reformation of society. The Cynics were founded by Antisthenes, a scholar of Socrates, at Athens, about 380 B. C. The character of this philosophy for the most part remained true to the Socratic, particularly in making practical morals its chief, or rather its only object, and in despising all speculation. There were some noble features in the doctrines of the Cynics. They made virtue to consist in self-denial and independence of external circumstances, by which, as they thought, man assimilates himself to God. This simplicity of life, however, was soon carried so far by the Cynics, that it degenerated into carelessness, and even neglect of decency. In their attempts at living conformably to nature, they brought themselves down to the level of savages, and even of brutes. No wonder, then, that the Cynics soon became objects of contempt. The most famous of their number were, besides their founder, the ingenious zealot Diogenes of Sinope, Crates of Thebes, with his wife Hipparchia, and Menippus, who was the last of them. After him, this philosophy merged in the Stoic, a more worthy and honorable sect.-The word cynicism is still used to mark an uncommon contempt or neglect of all external things.

CYNOSURA; a nymph of mount Ida, who educated Jupiter, and was afterwards placed in the constellation of the Little Bear. By this star, the Phoenicians directed their course in their voyages.-Cynosure, in a figurative sense, is hence used as synonymous with pole-star, or guide.

CYNTHIUS; a surname of Apollo, from mount Cynthus, on the island of Delos, at the foot of which he had a temple, and on which he was born. Diana, his sister, is called Cynthia, from the same mountain, because it was also her birthplace.

CYPRESS. The cypress-tree (cupressus sempervirens) is a dark-colored evergreen, a native of the Levant, the leaves of which are extremely small, and entirely cover the slender branches, lying close upon them, so as to give them a somewhat quadrangular shape. In some of the trees, the branches diminish gradually in length, from the bottom to the top, in such a manner as to form a nearly pyramidal shape. In many of the old gardens in

Europe, cypress-trees are still to be found; but their generally sombre and gloomy appearance has caused them, of late years, to be much neglected. They are, however, very valuable, on account of their wood, which is hard, compact and durable, of a pale or reddish color, with deep veins and a pleasant smell. We are informed by Pliny, that the doors of the famous temple of Diana, at Ephesus, were of cypress-wood, and, though 400 years old at the time that he wrote, appeared to be nearly as fresh as when new. Indeed, this wood was so much esteemed by the ancients, that the image of Jupiter, in the capitol, was made of it. The gates of St. Peter's church, at Rome, are stated to have been of cypress, and to have lasted more than 1000 years, from the time of the emperor Constantine until that of pope Eugenius IV, when gates of brass were erected in their stead. As this wood, in addition to its other qualities, takes a fine polish, and is not liable to the attacks of insects, it was formerly_much esteemed for cabinet furniture. By the Greeks, in the time of Thucydides, it was used for the coffins of eminent warriors; and many of the chests which enclose Egyptian mummies are made of it. The latter afford very decisive proof of its almost incorruptible nature. The name of this tree is derived from the island of Cyprus, in the Mediterranean, where it still grows in great luxuriance. Its gloomy hue caused it to be consecrated, by the ancients, to Pluto, and to be used at the funerals of people of eminence. Pliny states that, in his time, it was customary to place branches of cypress-tree before those houses in which any person lay dead. Its perpetual verdure served the poets as the image of eternity, as its dark and silent leaf, unmoved by gentle breezes, is, perhaps, a proper symbol of melancholy. Large collections of cypresses, as they are often seen surrounding Turkish minarets, have a gloomy and interesting appearance. In the western parts of the U. States, upon the Mississippi and other rivers, the cypress constitutes large forests of a most sombre and peculiar character. The dark, dense nature of their foliage, the shade, impenetrable to the sun, which they form, render them the fit abode of wild beasts and reptiles, and almost inaccessible to man. They cover tracts hundreds of miles in extent, and are visited only by the traveller and the wood-cutter.

CYPRIANS; a term used for courtesans, like that of Corinthians (q. v.), because

Venus, the Cyprian goddess, was particularly worshipped on the island of Cy

prus.

CYPRIAN, St., born A. D. 200, at Carthage, was descended from a respectable family, and was a teacher of rhetoric there. In 246, he was converted to Christianity, distributed his property among the poor, and lived in the greatest abstinence. The church, in Carthage, soon chose him presbyter, and, in 248, he was made bishop. He was the light of the clergy, and the comfort of the people. During the persecution under the emperor Decius, he fled, but constantly exhorted his church to continue firm in the Christian faith. In 251, he summoned a council, at Carthage, to decide concerning those who had abandoned their faith during the persecution, but desired to be readmitted through penance. When the persecution of the Christians was renewed, A. D. 257, he was banished to Curubis, 12 leagues from Carthage. Sept. 14, 258, he was beheaded, at Carthage, because, in opposition to the orders of the government, he had preached the gospel in his gardens, near Carthage. Lactantius calls him one of the first eloquent Christian authors. His style, however, retained something of the hardness of his teacher, Tertullian. We have from him an explanation of the Lord's prayer, and 81 letters, affording valuable illustrations of the ecclesiastical history of his time. Baluze published his works complete (Paris, 1726, fol.).

CYPRIS (Cypria); a surname of Venus, from the island of Cyprus, where was her first temple.

CYPRUS; an island in the Mediterranean, between Asia Minor and Syria, famous, in antiquity, for its uncommon fertility and its mild climate. It contains 7264 square miles, and 120,000 inhabitants, of whom 40,000 are Greeks. Cyprus is the native place of the cauliflower. Wine, oil, honey, wool, &c., are still, as formerly, the principal productions. The country is distinguished by remarkable places and mountains; as Paphos, Amathusia, Salamis and Olympus, once adorned with a rich temple of Venus. Venus was particularly venerated here, because, according to tradition, the delightful shores of Cyprus received her when she emerged from the foam of the sea. The oldest history of this island is lost in the darkness of antiquity. When Amasis brought it under the Egyptian yoke, 550 B. C., Ionian and Phoenician colonists had formed several small states in the island. It remained an Egyptian

province till 58 B. C., when it was conquered by the Romans. After the division of the Roman territories, Cyprus continued subject to the Eastern empire, and was ruled by its own governors of royal blood, of whom Comnenus I made himself independent, and his family sat upon the throne till 1191, when Richard of England rewarded the family of Lusignan with the sceptre. After the extinction of the legitimate male line of Lusignan, James, an illegitimate descendant, came to the government. His wife was a Venetian (Catharine Cornaro, q. v.), and, as she had no children at his death, the Venetians took advantage of this circumstance to make themselves masters of the island (1473). They enjoyed the undisturbed possession of it till 1571, when Amurath III, notwithstanding the bravest resistance on the part of Marco Antonio Bragadino, who defended Famagusta 11 months, conquered Cyprus, and joined it to the empire of Turkey. Nicosia, the chief city, is the seat of the Turkish governor, a Greek archbishop and an Armenian bishop. The wines of Cyprus are red when they first come from the press; but after five or six years, they grow pale. Only the Muscatel wine is white at first; and even this, as it grows older, becomes redder, till, after a few years, it attains the thickness of sirup. It is very sweet. The wines of Cyprus are not equally agreeable at all seasons of the year: they are best in spring and summer. Excessive cold injures them, and destroys their flavor and color. They are put up at first in leather bags covered with pitch, whence they acquire a strong pitchy flavor which is several years in escaping. They are brought to the continent in casks, but cannot be kept unless drawn off after some time into bottles. The best is distinguished by the name of Commandery. (See Venus).

CYR, St.; a French village in the department of the Seine-and-Oise, one league west of Versailles (population, 1000), famous for the seminary which Louis XIV founded here, at the persuasion of madame Maintenon, in 1686. Here 250 noble ladies were educated, free of expense, until their 20th year. Forty females of the order of St. Augustine instructed the scholars. Madame Maintenon gave all her attention to this establishment. She is buried at St. Cyr. During the revolution, this institution was overturned, and a military preparatory school was founded by Napoleon, which survived his fall, and educates 300 pupils. Napoleon established la maison impériale d'Écouen, an in

stitution similar to the one at St. Cyr, and placed madame Campan at the head of it.

CYRENAICA (originally a Phoenician colony), once a powerful Greek state in the north of Africa, west of Egypt, comprising five cities (Pentapolis), among which was Cyrene, a Spartan colony, is at present a vast, but unexplored field of antiquities. The ancient site of Cyrene is now called Grenne or Cayron, in the country of Barca, in the dominion of Tripoli. Till the fifth century, Cyrenaica was the seat of the Gnostics. (q. v.) The antiquities there are described by the physician P. Della Cella, in his work Viaggio da Tripoli di Barbarie alle Frontieri Occidentali dell' Egitto, fatto nel 1817 (Genoa, 1819, 8vo.). J. R. Pacho, who has travelled over Africa since 1819, made many observations, likewise, in Cyrenaica, for which he received the geographical prize of 3000 francs, on his return to Paris, in 1826. (Voyage de M. Pacho dans la Cyrenaïque.) Of the famous inscription found among the ruins of Cyrene, and brought to Malta, some account has been given by Gesenius (Halle, 1825, 4to.), and Hamacker, professor at Leyden (Leyden, 1825, 4to.). At present, the country is called, by the Arabians, Djebel Akhdar, or Green Highland. Surrounded by sterile and dry countries, Cyrenaïca itself is very fertile and well watered. Its hills are covered with wood, and exhibit many melancholy traces of former cultivation. In ancient times, the inhabitants suffered much from the attacks of the people of the interior and the Carthaginians. The ruins of Cy-, rene have given rise among the present inhabitants, to a belief in a petrified city. There are at present about 40,000 people in Djebel Akhdar.

CYRENAICS; a philosophical sect, whose founder was Aristippus (q. v.), born in Cyrene, a pupil of Socrates. (See Aristippus.) The most distinguished of his followers were Hegesias, Anniceris, Theodore the Atheist, who, for his denial of the existence of virtue and the Deity, was banished from Athens.

CYRENE. (See Cyrenaica.)

CYRIL. Ecclesiastical history mentions three saints of this name:-1. Cyril of Jerusalem, born there about the year 315, was ordained presbyter in 345, and, after the death of St. Maximus, in 350, became patriarch of Jerusalem. Being a zealous Catholic, he engaged in a warm controversy with Acacius, the Arian bishop of Cæsarea. In addition to their dispute upon doctrinal points, Acacius accused

him of having sold some valuable church ornaments, which he had indeed done, but for the laudable purpose of supporting the needy during a famine. A council assembled at Cæsarea, by Acacius, in 357, deposed Cyril; but the council of Seleucia, in 359, restored him and deposed his persecutor. Acacius, by his artifices, succeeded in depriving him again of his dignity the next year, and, after the emperor Constantius, on his accession to the throne, had once more recalled him, he was a third time deposed by the emperor Valens, after whose death he finally returned to Jerusalem. In 381, the council of Constantinople confirmed him. He died in 386. We have 23 catecheses composed by him, in a clear and simple style, which are esteemed the oldest and best outline of the Christian dogmas (Paris, 1720, folio.)

2. Cyril of Alexandria was educated by his uncle Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria; spent five years in the monasteries of Nitria, where he was instructed by the abbot Serapion. He then went to Alexandria, where his graceful form and pleasing delivery gained him so many adherents, that, after his uncle's death, in 412, he succeeded him in the patriarchal dignity. Full of zeal and ambition, he was not satisfied with ecclesiastical honor alone, but exercised secular dominion also. To punish the Jews, by whom Christian blood had been shed, during an insurrection, he assailed them, at the head of the populace, destroyed their houses and their furniture, and drove them out of the city. Orestes, the prefect of Egypt, who complained of such lawless violence, so inconsistent with the character of a bishop, was soon after attacked in the streets by 500 furious monks, one of whom, having wounded Orestes, was apprehended, condemned to death, and expired under the blows of the lictors. Cyril caused his body to be carried in a solemn procession to the cathedral, gave him the name of Thaumasius, and extolled him as a martyr and a saint. The assassination of Hypatia, the learned daughter of Theon, the mathematician, who had excited the envy of Cyril, by the applause which she had gained by her knowledge of geometry and philosophy, took place at his instigation. In the notorious synod of 403, in concurrence with his uncle, he had planned the condemnation of St. Chrysostom, and it was only after an obstinate resistance, that he was persuaded to submit to the decrees of the Catholic church, in respect to that prelate. Still more fierce were his disputes with Nestorius, the suc

cessor of Chrysostom, who distinguished between the divine and human nature of Christ, acknowledging Mary as the mother of Christ, but refusing to her the appellation of mother of God. Cyril contended long and violently against these doctrines, and appointed pope Celestine umpire, who immediately condemned them. He drew up 12 anathemas, directed against John, patriarch of Antioch, which, in the opinion even of theologians, are not wholly free from heresy, and called upon Nestorius to subscribe them. To settle the dispute between these two prelates, the council of Ephesus was summoned. Both parties appeared with a great number of adherents and servants, between whom innumerable disputes arose. Cyril opened the council before the arrival of the patriarch of Antioch; and, although Nestorius refused to recognise his enemies as judges; although 68 bishops were in his favor, and a magistrate, in the name of the emperor, demanded a delay of four days; yet, in a single day, Nestorius was condemned, deposed, and declared to be a second Judas. Soon after, the patriarch of Antioch arrived, and held a synod of 50 bishops, who, with equal haste, condemned Cyril as guilty of heresy, and declared him a monster born for the ruin of the church. Both parties rushed to arms: the streets of the city, and the cathedral itself, became the theatre of their fury, and were polluted with blood. The emperor Theodosius sent troops to Ephesus, to disperse this pugnacious council. This measure, however, only changed the theatre of the war; for it was continued three years longer, between John of Antioch and Cyril. Soon after, Nestorius, not less violent than Cyril, obtained from the emperor a command for Cyril to appear again before a council at Ephesus. Both parties appeared, with their adherents, in arms. Cyril was maltreated, and even imprisoned. He escaped from his keepers, however, and fled to Alexandria. From that place, he contrived, by distributing bribes, to excite an insurrection in Constantinople, which struck terror into the timid emperor. Negotiations were begun: Cyril was prevailed upon to mitigate his anathema, and, against his will, to acknowledge a twofold nature in Christ. But Nestorius, as he was determined never to renounce his opinions, was compelled to lay down his offices, and to retire to a monastery. He was afterwards banished to Thebais. In 339 or 340, he died. Cyril closed his restless career in 344. His opinions prevailed both in the Eastern and Western

empire, and the church gave him a place among the saints. The best edition of his works, in which there is neither clearness nor accuracy of style, is that of 1638, in folio.-3. St. Cyril, a native of Thessalonica, by way of distinction, was called Constantine, and, at Constantinople, where he studied, received the name of the Philosopher. At the recommendation of St. Ignatius, the emperor Michael III sent him to the Chazars-a people of the stock of the Huns. He converted the khan, after whose example the whole nation were baptized. He then preached the gospel, with Methodicus, to the Bulgarians, and baptized their king Bojaris, A. D. 860. They had the same success in Moravia and Bohemia. Still later, they went to Rome, where they both died. According to Dobrowsky, Cyril died in 868: according to Xav. Richter, he died in 871 or 872. The two apostles were both declared saints. The Greeks and Russians celebrate the festival of St. Cyril on Feb. 14. He was the inventor of the Cyrillian Letters (q. v.), which took their name from him, and is probably the author of the Apologies which bear his name.

CYRILLIAN LETTERS; characters called, in Sclavonic, Czuraliza; one of the modes of writing the Sclavonic_language, of which there are three:-1. Roman or German letters, used by the people of Poland, Bohemia and Lusatia; 2. Cyrillian, so called from their inventor, Cyrillus. They are much used by the Russians. 3. From these Cyrillian characters, probably through the artifices of calligraphy, a peculiar alphabet was formed, which is sometimes used in printed books, but no where in common life.

CYRUS; a celebrated conqueror. The only two original authorities concerning him-Herodotus and Xenophon-differ so greatly, that they cannot be reconciled. According to Herodotus, he was the son of Cambyses, a distinguished Persian, and of Mandane, daughter of the Median king Astyages. He founded the Persian monarchy. (See Assyria.) A short time before his birth, the soothsayers at the court of Astyages divined from a dream of his, that his future grandson was to dethrone him. Upon this, he gave orders that Cyrus should be destroyed immediately after his birth. For this purpose, he was delivered to a herdsman, who, moved with compassion, brought him up, and named him Cyrus. His courage and spirit betrayed his descent to the king. On one occasion, playing with other boys, being chosen king by his companions, he caused