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CEBU CECIL 163 CEBfr , or Zebfi. I. An island in the Philip- pine archipelago, between Bohol and Negros, and between lat. 9 35' and 11 N., and Ion. 123 and 123 50' E. It is a narrow strip of land, stretching N. N". E. and S. S. W. ; area, about 2,200 sq. m. It is of uneven surface and stony soil, little suited to agriculture, though there are some valleys of remarkable fertility, yielding cotton, sugar, rice, millet, tobacco, and cacao, the last of which is far superior to that of all the other Philippines. The climate, spite of its excessive heat, which is tempered by al- ternate land and sea breezes, is delightful and very salubrious. Magalhaens discovered the isl- and in 1521, and induced or constrained the people to embrace Christianity; but he was murdered on the adjacent island of Mactan in the same year. In 1565 Legarpi, the first Spanish governor, resorted to coercive meas- ures to reclaim the apostate natives, who after the death of Magalhaens had relapsed into idola- try; but their final and lasting conversion is due to the disinterested zeal and untiring efforts of Urdaneta, a Spanish priest. II. A town on the above island, capital of a province of the same name, comprising the islands of Cebu, Bohol, Mactan, Batayan, Sicijor, and Camotos, situated on the eastern shore of the island of Mactan. The houses are well built of stone, and are in general handsome and spacious. The most noteworthy among the public edi- fices are the cathedral and the episcopal pal- ace, both of elegant exterior; and there are besides a hospital for lepers and some school houses. The inhabitants comprise three races : the pure-blooded natives, mostly of the Bisa- yan race, with a few Tagals, though these are mostly confined to Luzon; Europeans; and mestizos descended from the early Spanish set- tlers and the native women. The mestizos, though extremely industrious, at the head of the commercial interests, and by far the wealthi- est class of the three, are yet constrained to live entirely by themselves ; and one half of the town, which is pretty equally divided by a stream or small river, is exclusively occupied by these half-castes, who are held in utter aver- sion by the pure-blooded races, foreigners as well as natives. Cebti is the seat of a bishop- ric, which has under its jurisdiction 13 of the 35 provinces comprising the Spanish Philip- pines, and of the civil and military authorities of the province. The town carries on a con- siderable trade, chiefly with Manila. CECCO D'ASCOLI, an Italian savant and mar- tyr, whose real name was FRANCESCO (of which Cecco is a diminutive) STABILI, born at Ascoli in 1257, died in Florence, Sept. 16, 1327. He taught astrology, philosophy, and mathemat- ics, and to escape from penalties imposed upon him by the inquisition for his alleged hetero- doxy, he went in December, 1324, to Florence, where however he was handed over to the sec- ular courts as a heretic and sentenced to die at the stake. It has been asserted that he had been for some time physician to Pope John XXII. ; that from having been a friend of Dante he became an adverse critic of his wri- tings and of those of Guido Cavalcante ; and i that the admirers of the illustrious poet joined ! the inquisitors who clamored for his death. But there is no conclusive authority for these and other statements in regard to him, except- ing in respect to the circumstances attending his death. He possessed an extraordinary amount of information for his day, as attested by his principal work, UAcerba, a kind of poetic cyclopasdia, in four parts, devoted to the sciences and to ethics, and finished only to the beginning of the fifth part, which he had re- served for theology. His writings were chiefly founded upon personal observations and experi- ments, and foreshadowed even the principle of the circulation of the blood. The work passed through 20 editions from the time of its first appearance (about 1473) to about 1523, the least imperfect being that of Venice, 1510. CECIL, a N". E. county of Maryland, border- ing on Pennsylvania and Delaware, and situ- ated at the head of Chesapeake bay, which forms its S. W. boundary ; area, about 300 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 25,874, of whom 4,014 were colored. Several bays indent it. Its W. bor- der is washed by the Susquehanna, and Sassa- fras river bounds it on the south. The surface is slightly uneven and the soil fertile. At Port Deposit are immense granite quarries, and the county also contains gneiss, slate, iron, chrome, and sulphate of magnesia. It is intersected by the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore, the Port Deposit branch, and the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central railroads. The chief productions in 1870 were 365,818 bushels of wheat, 683,683 of Indian corn, 305,307 of oats, 110,839 of potatoes, 19,986 tons of hay, 445,- 720 Ibs. of butter, and 14,102 of wool. There were 4,824 horses, 5,797 milch cows, 7,471 other cattle, 4,579 sheep, and 9,716 swine. There were 21 flour mills, 1 / manufactory of cotton goods, 7 of iron, 4 of paper, 2 of sashes, doors, and blinds, 5 saw mills, and 4 manufac- tories of woollen goods. Capital, Elkton. CECIL, Robert, earl of Salisbury, an English statesman, son of Lord Burleigh by Mildred, his second wife, born about the middle of the 16th century, died at Maryborough, May 24, 1612. He was of weakly constitution and deformed in person, but gifted with great acuteness and energy. On his election to par- liament as member for Westminster, his abili- ties attracted the notice of Queen Elizabeth, who attached him to the French mission, and subsequently appointed him assistant secretary of state. The earl of Essex was at this time the queen's favorite. His influence and that of the Cecils, father and son, continually came into collision ; consequently a rivalry sprung up between them, which continued, openly or se- cretly, until Essex perished on the block. In 1590 Secretary Walsingham died. Essex de- manded the office for a nominee of his own, while Burleigh requested it for his son Robert.