Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/167

This page needs to be proofread.

CAXIAS CAYENNE 159 CAXIAS, an inland town of Brazil, on the navigable river Itapicuru, in the province and about 300 m. S. S.E. of Maranhao, and 1,230 m. N. of Rio de Janeiro. It is a large town, the centre of an important trade with the interior in cotton, rice, and cattle, which last are raised in large numbers in the surrounding country. CAXIAS, Luis Alvrs de Lima, duke de, a Brazilian soldier and statesman, born in Rio de Janeiro about 1800. He entered the army while a boy, and rapidly rose to the ranks of general and baron, and subsequently to those of marshal, marquis, senator, and aide-de-camp of the emperor. He was twice a minister of war and also president of the council, exerting great political influence as a conservative leader. He defeated Rosas in 1851, and commanded against Lopez, 1866-'9. On account of ill health he was superseded by the count d'Eu after the capture of Asuncion, the emperor con- ferring upon him the title of duke. CAXTON, William, the first English printer, born in Kent about 1412, died in 1491 or 1492. In his 15th or 16th year he was apprenticed to Robert Large, a London mercer, who became lord mayor in 1439. In 1441 Caxton became a freeman of the mercers' company, who ap- pointed him their agent in the Low Countries, where he remained 23 years. In 1464 he was joined with Robert Whitehill in a commission to continue a treaty between Edward IV. of England and Philip, duke of Burgundy, or, if they thought it better, to make a new one. When the English princess Margaret of York married Charles of Burgundy, she took Caxton ito her household. While in her service he ranslated from the French into English Raoul le Fevre's Recueil des histoires de Troye. From the prologues and epilogues of this work appears that he was acquainted with the art of printing, and from the character of his types it is evident that he learned it in the Low Countries. The first three printed works of 3axton were the original of Raoul's " History," the oration of John Russell on Charles, duke of Burgundy, being created a knight of the garter, and the translation of Raoul, the last completed in 1471. There is no certain evi- dence of the exact period of Caxton's return to England ; the usual supposition dates it in 1474 ; it is beyond doubt, however, that in 1477 he had aken up his quarters in the vicinity of West- linster abbey, London. His printing office was in the Almonry, as appears from an old placard preserved at Oxford, which reads as follows: "If it plese any man spirituel or tem- porel to bye ony Pyes of two and thre come- moracious of Salisburi vse enprynted after the forme of this present lettre whiche ben wel and truly correct, late hym come to West- monester in to the Almonesrye at the reed pale, and he shal have them good chepe." Caxton appears to have made use of several dif- ferent sets of letters, the facsimiles of all which are to be found in Dibdin's account of Caxton's works. He had at first two kinds of the sort called secretary; afterward he used three founts of great primer, a rude one employed in 1474, and two improved sets later ; one fount of double pica, which first appears employed in 1490; and one of long primer. All his works were printed in black letter. Some entries in the parish accounts of St. Margaret, Westminster, in the year 1491 or 1492, are the only information we have of the date of his death: "Item; atte bureyng of William Caxton for iiij. torches vj". viij". Item; for the belle at same bureyng, vj d ." The largest collections of books from Caxton's press are those in the British museum, and in the library of Earl Spencer at Althorp. The names of about 64 productions are known. Warton says that by translating a great number of works from the French he did much in his day to enrich English literature. See Lewis's "Life of Caxton" (London, 1737); "The Old Printer and the Modern Press," by Charles Knight (1854 ; new ed., 1861) ; and " Life and Typography of William Caxton," by William Blades (2 vols. 4to, London, 1861). CAYCOS. See CAICOS. CAYENNE, a fortified maritime city, capital of French Guiana, on the W. point of an island of the same name, at the mouth of the Oyak river ; lat. 4 56' N., Ion. 52 20' W. ; pop. estimated at 5,700. Cayenne is a -penal settlement, the seat of a court of assize and an apostolic pre- fecture, and the centre of all the trade of the province. It has two distinct divisions, the old and the new town ; the former, with the gov- ernment house and the Jesuits' college, is ir- regular, and the houses are indifferently built ; while the streets of the latter are well laid out and paved, and kept in good order, and the dwellings neat, solid, and for the most part of pleasing appearance. The old and new towns are separated by the Place d'Armes, a spacious parallelogram fringed with orange trees. There are numerous warehouses, and/ but few public buildings worthy of mention. The port, one of the finest and most commodious on the coast, is protected by a fort commanding the town and several batteries ; but it is too shal- low to receive ships of much draft. It has convenient quays for loading and discharging vessels. The roadstead, though small, is unri- valled for beauty and convenience by any other on the W. shore of the South Atlantic. The island, 32 m. in circumference, is separated from the mainland by a narrow channel ; its surface is interspersed with small villages, in- habited chiefly by negroes (about 2,500). The principal products are sugar, molasses, cotton, coffee, and spices, which, with cacao, indigo, vanilla, and ebony, form the main exports. The climate is extremely unwholesome for Europe- ans, and large numbers of the convicts trans- ported thither have been carried off on many occasions by yellow and other malignant fevers. During the first French revolution the practice began of exiling political. offenders to Cayenne, the convention in 1795 decreeing the deporta- 165 VOL. IV. 11