Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/483

This page needs to be proofread.
*
413
*

CEMETERY. 413 CENSER. OLis: Gbavey.ro. For infoniiation concerning buriiil rustoms. see Bt rial. CEMETERY LAWS. Laws which have for their iliief objects the selection, adornment, regu- lation, and protection of suitahle burial-places for the dead. Cemeteries may be so located as to endangi^r health by corrupting air or water, and hem* their location may be controlled either by the courts or by the legislature. In the United .States cemetery associations are fre- quently incorporated under State statutes, and are generally exempted from taxation. The ob- ject of this exem])tion is not only to relieve such associations from the burden of taxation, but to secure burial-grounds from sale for the non-pay- ment of taxes. From similar considerations, a burial-lot cannot be seized or sold for the debts of its owner, and if he executes a mortgage upon it, the transaction is void as against public policy, provided interments have been made therein, (^emetery lots in which burials have not been made, however, may be bought and sold, subject to the rules of the association controlling them. The desecration of cemeteries, as well as the vinlawful interference with those who have vested rights in their use, are severely pun- ishable. Consult Perlev, -l/orhiary ZiOH? (Boston, 1890). C^NACLE, sa'na'kl' (Fr,, dinner-chamlier, from Lat. nnnculum, dining-room, from cena, cesiia, Umb, cp^"", dinner) . A name given to a Pa- risian literary group of varying constituency that began about 182i; to gather around Charles Xo- dier (q.v.) and sought to revive in French litera- ture the old monarchical spirit, the spirit of incdiicval mystery and spiritual submission. Of the First Cenacle, as it is called, the chief mem- bers were Vigny and the Deschamps brothers. These were soon joined by Lamartine, Hugo, and Sainte-Beuve, who describes the group as "royal- ists by birth. Christians by convention and a vague sentimentality." Their organ was La Muse Franfaise. They soon grew iconoclastic toward classicism, and were led by the exigencies of controversy from their monarchical position to a democratic attitude. Lamartine and Hugo had favored the Bourbons. They now turned even from the Orleanists to the Revolution and Xapoleon. Thus the Cfinacle won the alliance of Mussot. Mi'rimi'e. and the elder Dumas, and, after the Revolution of ls>3(». <if (iautier and Gerard de Xerval. But with that year and the triumph of Hugo's Uernani, its reason for ex- istence disappeared, and the spirit of individu- ality inlierent in romanticism soon caused the tV-naclc to dissiilve in fact and as an influence. CE'NA TRIMALCHIONIS, tri-nial'ki-o'nis I Trimalchio's Dinner-Party I . The most impor- tant episode in the f^alirw of Petronius. It is a vivid description of a dinner-party given by Tri- malchio, a former slave, who had become very rich in trade. The lavish feast is described by a certain Kncolpius, one of the guests, and the story is of value for the specimens of colloquial Latin, the xrrmo pleheitis, presen-ed in it. CEN'CHRUS. See Birgra.s.s. CENCI, chen'ch/-, Beatrice (1577-99). An Italian of the Sixteenth Century, the heroine of a celebrated tragedj' in real life. She was the daughter of Francesco Cenci, a wealthy Roman nobleman, head of a family notorious for its crimes and profligacy. It had long been sup- posed that Beatrice was the vietim of her father's brutal passion, and that this was her provoca- tion for the murder of Francesco, a crime in which she was aided by several other members of the family. With her accomplices, .she was executed in 1,5!)!». A famous portrait in the Harberini Palace. Rome, supposed to have been painted by (iuido Reni, caused her to be known as the "beautiful parricide,' One of Shelley's most powerful dramas, Tke Ctnci, is founded upon the traditional story of Beatrice, It is now lx>- lieved, however, owing to the researches of Ber- tolotti, that Francesco was nuicli less of a mon- ster than was suppo.sed, and that Beatrice, even aside from the question of her share in the mur- der, was in character far from innocent; it fur- ther appears, according to Bertolotti, that she was not beautiful, and that the famous painting is not of Beatrice, nor by Guido Reni, Consult Bertolotti, Francesco f'e»ci e la sua famiglia (Florence, 1S70) ; and for the traditional ac- count, !Muratori, .1 jinnH (r//oJio (Milan, 1744-49) . CENCI, The. X powerful poetic tragedv bv Shelley (1810). Though written for the stage, and offered for presentation, the nature of the drama is such as to make its acceptance im- possible. CENEDA, cbft-nii'da. An Italian city. See VlTTORIO. CENIS, scne', MoxT, or Monte Cexisio. A mountain of the Alps, between Savoy and Pied- mont, on the frontier between Italy and France, forming part of the watershed between the val- leys of the Dora Riparia and the Arc (Map: France, 6). The culminating point of the pass over Mont Cenis reaches an elevation of about (1850 feet above the sea. The mountain is com- posed of schist, limestone, and g'psum, and is covered with a rich ^■egetation. The road over the pass, constructed in 1803-10, under Xapo- leon's orders, has a total length of 40 miles, and prior to the construction of the railway tunnel under the Col-de-Frejus, about 14 miles south- west of Mont Cenis, was one of the most patron- ized routes across the Alps, The tunnel, con- structed in 1857-70, is nearly 8 miles long and varies in altitude from .3775 to 424.5 feet. The cost of construction was nearlv 75,000,000 francs (.$14,475,000). See Tinxels.' CENOMA'NIAN ( so called from the ancient Celtic tribe of Cciiomaiii) . The name given by the French to the lower portion of the upper Cretaceous period. It corresponds to the Dakota. epoch of American geologists. CEN'OTAPH (Fr. c.'»o(a/j/ie, Lat. cenotaph- iitm, from (Jk. Kevo-d<j)iov, kenotaphion, empty tomb, from kcvo;, kcnos, empty + roiJof, taphos, tomb). A monument which does not cover the remains of the deceased. Such were originally erected for those whose bones could not be brought home for interment, as for tho.se who died in foreign parts or had perished at sea. CE'NOZOIC (from Gk. Kmv6c, kninos, new -f fu^, co(", life). One of the main divisions or eras of geological time, preceded by the Mesozoic era and followed by the Recent era. The term is used In some aeologists to include the Tertiary and Quaternary periods, while others limit it to the Tertiary alone. CENSER (abbreviation of encensrr. OF. en- cciisi r, from Med. Lat. incensare, to burn incense