Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/817

ARTHUR ARTICHOKE 781 prudent to allow it to form its own opening for evacuation. ARTHUR, a hero of British mythology, be- lieved by many to have been identical with an actual sovereign in England in the 6th century. Nennius, the most ancient Cymric poetry, the Triads, and the Welsh bards Llywarch, Hen, and Taliesin, mention Arthur, a chief of the Brit- ons, fighting against the Saxons under Cerdic. Based upon their statements, many attempts have been made to prove the actual existence of a great sovereign corresponding with the Arthur of romance. It seems probable that a prince called Arthur ruled in Britain about 525, fought many battles with the Saxons, was killed by his nephew, and buried at Glas- tonbury, where his tomb is said to have been found in the reign of Henry II. But late au- thorities (among them George W. Cox, who makes a searching inquiry into the story) may be said to have proved that the Arthur of ro- mance is a purely mythical personage. Mr. Cox points out the resemblance between the legends of Arthur and the myths of other ancient nations, and by the aid of etymology shows that many of these were merely al- legories derived from natural phenomena. The Arthur of the famous legend was the son of Uther Pendragon and Igerne of Cornwall, whom Uther, by the enchantments of the sage Merlin, was enabled to visit in the guise of her husband Gorlois. His high descent was con- cealed, and he was brought up by a faithful knight, who treated him as his own son until after the death of Uther, when Arthur, going with his foster brother to London, gave evi- dence there of his royal birth by drawing from the stone in which it was imbedded a sword with this inscription: "Whoso pulleth this sword out of this stone ... is rightwise born king of all England." He was crowned, and after reigning for several years he married Gui- nevere, "the fairest woman in the land." With her, as a part of her dower, he acquired the enchanted round table which had once be- longed to his father Uther. About this he formed the famous circle of knights of the round table, and with these began the brilliant court, the wonderful series of exploits at home and abroad, and the countless adventures of various heroes, celebrated in the legends pre- served in the Chronicles of Geoffrey of Mon- mouth and elsewhere. The story of Arthur ends with the wound given him by his false nephew Modred, at a battle near Salisbury; after which the king was borne away by the fairies to be cured by them in the valley of Av- alon, whence, said the legend, he should some time come again to lead the British Celts against the Saxons. The legends of Arthur and his knights have been the subject of num- berless poems in almost every modern lan- guage. Tennyson, more than all others, has added by his "Idyl's of the King," "Morte d' Arthur," and other poems, to the beauty of the legends as we know them. For discussions as to the actual existence of Arthur, see, for sup- port of the theory, " England under the Anglo- Saxon Kings," translated from the German of Dr. J. M. Lappenberg by B. Thorpe (London, new ed., 1857) ; for the opposite view, the in- troduction to Cox's " Popular Romances of the Middle Ages " (London, 1871) ; for history of the old romances treating of Arthur, the ap- pendix to the "History of the Anglo-Saxons," by Sharon Turner (London", 7th ed., 1852); for a good rendering of the legends themselves, the work of Cox, just cited. ARTHUR, Timothy Shay, an American author, born near Newburgh, Orange county, N. Y., in 1809. He was about eight years old when his parents removed to Baltimore. He was apprenticed to a trade, was for several years a clerk, and in 1833 visited the west as agent of a banking company. Upon his return to Balti- more he became connected with a newspaper, and began to publish a series of short novels. Since 1841 he has resided in Philadelphia, and for many years edited and published a weekly journal and a monthly magazine. His productions are numerous, consisting chiefly of works of fiction of a domestic character, writ- ten with a moral aim, several of them relating especially to the subject of temperance. ARTHUR, William, an Irish Wesleyan clergy- man and author, born in the county of Antrim in 1819. After a thorough classical training and special studies in Italian literature, he en- tered the Wesleyan theological institution near London, and upon graduating was appointed missionary to India ; but after three years of successful labor, being threatened with total blindness, he was obliged to return to England. Subsequently he was appointed secretary of the missionary society of the Wesleyan church, and soon afterward was elected president of the British conference. In 1867 he was chosen principal of the Wesleyan college, Belfast, Ire- land. In 1870 he was recalled to England, and made honorary secretary of the missionary soci- ety of the Wesleyan church. Apart from many valuable contributions to educational and mis- sionary literature, Mr. Arthur is best known by the following works: "Personal Reminis- cences of a Mission to the Mysore," "The Successful Merchant a Memoir," " The Tongue of Fire," and "State in Transition." ARTICHOKE, an edible plant of the genus cynara, order composite, resembling a large thistle, known in the south of Europe as early as 1548. C. scolymus and its variety C. hor- tensis are the green and globe artichokes of the garden. The portion eaten is the under side of the head before the flower opens. Tho whole head is removed and boiled, the leaves laid aside, and the bottom eaten, dipped in but- ter with a little pepper and salt. A sauce made of butter and spices is frequently used. The French sometimes gather the heads when not larger round than a dollar, and eat the lower end of the leaves raw, dipping them in oil, pepper,, and vinegar. The globe variety is