Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/855

CINCINNATI. rsi CINCINNATI. cinnati," in Historic Tuiciis of the Western Ulalis (Xcw York, 1901). CINCINNATI, Society of the. An lieredi- taiy ]iatiiiitic society, organized on May 13. 17S3. liy the American and foreign ollicers of the Continental Army, assembled in their can- tonment on the Hudson Kiver, near Fishkill, N. Y. The original meeting was held in the Yerplanek House, then the headquarters ot Baron Steuben, where the objects of the society were thus formulated: "To perpetuate as well the remembrance of this vast event [the War of the Kevolution] as the mutual friendships which have been formed under the pressure of common danger, and in man' instances cemented by the blood of the parties, the ollicers of the .mpriean Army do hereby, in the most solemn manner, associate, constitute, and combine them- selves into one society of friends, to endure as long as they shall endure, or any of their closest male posterity, and in failure thereof, the col- lateral branches wlio may be deemed worthy of becoming its supporters and members." And as the officers of the Kevolution were now returning to their farms, which they had left to fight the battles of the Republic, they named their society the Society of the Cincinnati, after their Roman prototype. Lucius Quinctius Ciucinnatus. The emblem chosen was an eagle, on which appears as the principal figure Cincinnatus receiving a sword and other military insignia presented by three Senators, while in the background his wife is standing at the door of their cottage, near which are a plow and other instruments of husbandry. Surrounding this is the motto. Omnia Relinquit ticriarc /{cmpubliram : on the reverse is shown a sun rising, a city with open gates, and vessels entering the port, and Fame is represented as crowning Cincinnatus with a wreath bearing the inscription, ^'ir- tutis Pramium : while below are hands joined supporting a heart with the motto. Esto Per- lielua — the whole suspended from a light-blue ribbon edged with white, suggesting the union of France and America. ^Membership was accorded to all Continental officers who had served with honor and resigned after throe years' service, or who b.ad been lion- orably discharged for disability, and in turn to the eldest male posterity of such officers. In failure of direct male descent, the honor passed to male descendants through intervening female descendants, and in failure of all direct descent, the collateral descendants who should be judged worthy of becoming members. The society was or<ranized into thirteen State societies. The first general meeting was held in Philadelphia, on -May 7, 1784, at which delegates from the origi- nal States were present, and an amended consti- tution was adopted, under which a society was authorized and organized in Franc-e. Although General AYashington was the first president of the society and held office until his death, the society was immediately and continuously un- l>opular throughout the country. Many persons claimed that it was the beginning of an hereditary aristocracy, and others discerned the formation of an armed league to seize all the niilitjirj- and civil offices in the new Republic. Even so conserva- tive a statesman as Benjamin Franklin ques- tioned the society's influence; while .John Adams, Samuel Adams, and Thomas .TefTerson were avowediv hostile toward it. The Massachusetts Legislature declared the society to be "dangerous to the peace, liberty, and safety of the Union;" and -Edanuis Burke, an Irishman who was a judge of the Supreme Court in Soith Carolina, I'ublished a pamphlet under the pseudonym of "Cassius,' which attained a wide circulation, and in which he endeavored to show tluit the society was subversive of nearly every principle of hu- man rights for which the War of the Revolution was fought. The fact that many members of the French nobility, who had served with the Americans, including the Marquis de Lafayette, were members of the society, gave some reason for the po])ular impression against the Cincin- nati ; and opposition did not cea.se until after the 'critical period' of American history had jiassed and the Union was firmly established. One of the most interesting results of the feeling against the society was the founding of Tam- many Hall (q.v. ) in New York, on the alleged basis of "pure democracy.' The State Societies of Georgia, Xorth Carolina, Yirginia, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire soon ceased to exist, and although a tem))orary interest in the society was revived by the visit of Lafayette to the United States in" 1824, still it was not until 1893 that Connecticut, as the first of the revived State societies, was admitted into the general society, and one by one the other State societies were restored, until, at the triennial Convention held in 1902, Georgia, the last of the original thirteen, was provision- ally readmitted. The State societies meet an- nually, and the general society once in every three years. The Presidents-General have been: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, 0. Cctesworth Pinckney, Thomas Pinckney, Aaron Ogden, ^lorgan Lewis. William Popham, H. A. S. Dearborn, Hamilton Fish. William Wayne, and Winslow T'arren. Many of the State societies, such as Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Y'ork, and North Carolina, have published State books, in which is given a history of the society. CINCINNATI, UxiA-EBsiTT or. An educa- tional institution situated in Cincinnati, Ohio. The university was founded on bequests made by Charles Mcilicken in 1858, and by grants made subsequently by the city of Cincinnati. By Mr. Mcilicken's will somewhat over $1,000,- 000 was given the city to foimd a. college ; but the State of Louisiana, in which was situated real estate amounting to nearly one-half of the entire bequest, refused to recognize the validity of the will, and the income from the remainder of the estate was insufficient for the desired pur- pose. The matter, therefore, lapsed until 1870, v.hen an act of the Legislature made it possible to unite the McMicken Fund with the other edu- cational trusts in Cincinnati — notably the Cin- cinnati College, the Woodward High School, and the Mechanics' Institute. Instruction was first given in 1873. and in 1874 the Academic De- partment of the imiversitv was organized. In 1S9G the Medical College" of Ohio,' founded in 1819, was conveyed to the city, to be reorganized as the Medical Department of the university. In the same year the nnivcrsitv organized a law department, and in 1807 this department was consolidated with the Law School of the Cin- cinnati College, founded in 1833. At present the departments of the university include: The .cadeniic Department, the Graduate Depart- ment, the Summer School, the College of Engi-