Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/542

ILLINOIS RIVER. 468 ILLUMINATI. canal connects it with the south branch of the Chicago River (q.v.), thus alToriliiif; iiiiintcr- ruptcl water conimuiiicntioii lietwoen the (ireat Lakes anj the Mississippi. The chief cities on the river are Ottawa and IVoria. ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY. , Methoilist Episcopal ei)IK'{.'e at lihiuiiiin(.'ton, III. It was founded in 1S50, and eoniprise.s a preparatory .school, a <olle{;c of letters, with four parallel courses. cml)oil_vinjr the elective system, and schools of law, music, and oratory. The de- crees conferred in course are 1{..., B.S., Ph.B., I.L.B., M..., Ph.D.. and (he honorary degrees of D.D. and LL.D. The total nunilH-r of students enrolled in the university in lllOi was 1407. of whom 141 were collegiati' and 478 non-resident students. .At the same time the faculty num- hend .'tti instructors. 'I'lic lihrary contains some 10.000 volumes. The university has an endow- ment of $-200,000, an income "of $30,000, and grounds and buildings valued at $150,000. ILLITERACY (from Lat. illilcrntiix. unedu- cated, from ill-, not + literalus, educated, from litera, littcra, letter). The condition of one who cannot read and write his own language. As used in the Inited States Census, the term in- cludes also those who can read but not write. There are several methods of determining the percentage of illiterates, and unfortunately the arious nations follow dilTerent plans. Some slatisliiians prefer to base their estimates on llie numlier of applicants for marriage licenses who cannot sign their names. Most of the Euro- ]iean countries find the i)ercentage from the cx- aminaticms of the recruits for the army and navy, thus conlining the test to men of a certain age. In the United States the census makes in- quiry of each person, and takes his or her word, there being no test of any sort. In all coun- tries, children under a certain age are not in- cluded, as it is not expected that they should know how to read and write. The age taken naturally afTects the percentage. The United States does not count children under ten ; Italy fixes the age at six. Naturally, the country which best enforces compulsory school attendance vill show the lowest peTcentage. The report of the United States Commissioner of Education for 1000 contains the following table for the diflerent countries: Percent. Hungary 2H.1U Oreece 30.00 Italy a«.30 Russia 01,70 Spain lis.lO Portugal 79.00 .Servltt 80.00 Ilumania 89.00 Percont. Germany O.Il Swltierland 0.30 Scotland 3.B7 Hulland 4.00 France 4.yO England 6.S0 IlelKlum 12.80 Iivlanrt 17.00 Austria 23.80 It is a iratter of regret that the United States cannot stand at the head of this list, but the census gives the percentage as 10.7. thus placing the country between P^ngland and IVlgium. The situation, however, is improving. The census of 1000 says: "Not only has there been an absolute decrease in the number of illiterates since 1880, although a much larger Indian population is comprehended by the figures of the present cen- sus than heretofore, hut the illiterate population now represents less than one-ninth of the entire population considered as compared with a little more than one-sixth in 1880." That nuich re- mains to be done is evident from the fact that 10.9 per cent, of the voters are illiterate. Of the total number of illiterates, 15.5 per cent, could read, but not write. The illiteracy of the whites was 6.2 per cent., as compared with 44.5 per cent, of the negroes. The native whites have a per- centage of 0.2, as against 12.0 per cent, of the foreign-born whites. It may seem curious that whites of native parents show a percentage of 5.7 to l.G for whites born of foreign parents, but the explanation is that a very large proportion of the native born are living in country districts, while whites of foreign parents are largely in the towns and cities and have better school facilities. This fact suggests a comparison of city and coun- try. The rate of illiteracy among white males over twenty-one years of age in cities of 25,000 and over, and for those outside the cities, is shown for various parts of the covmtry by the following table: .Vnrth .tlftntlc illvlslon. South .Atlantic division. Smith Central dlvlelon... .North Central division... Western division In cities of 25.000 and over 6.8% 3.0% S.4% 8.3% 1.7% Out«Ide the cities 7.3'-i 12.8r<> 12.«'i 4.6'/i • B.0% The high average in the Southern States is to be explained by the lack of proper school facili- ties in the rural districts. The illiteracy of the negroes is very large, but is steadily decreasing. The Indians show a percentage of 50.2. Within the various Slates there is also great divergency in the percentages, showing unequal conditions. Taking one State from each division of the country and showing the average illiteracy of the white males of voting age, and also the highest percentage in any county in the State, gives the following: Average outside cities of •Ja.OOO Given county showing highest percentage Massachusetts 0.070 10.6% U.1% 2.6% 3.5% DukeH County Sussex County Cleburne County.... Mills County Missoula County.... 8.87o 16.2% 22.5% 4.1% 8.6% Comparing the se.xes, the males constitute 48.7 per cent, of the illiterates, the females 51.3 per cent. Consult: Census of the United States, 1900, vol. ii.; Annual Reports of the Commis- sioner of Education (Washington) ; Reports of Ministers and Departments of Education of vari- ous European countries. ILLUMINATED DOCTOR, The (Eat. Doc- tor Itlumiiiatus) . A title given to Raymond Lully and to Johann Tauler (qq.v.). ILLtTMINATI (Lat. noin. pi., enlightened). . naine which has been borne by four dilTerent societies. ( 1 ) The earliest was that of the Alnin- brados in Spain, followers of a seductive mysti- cism, curiously compounded of Gnosticism, Lu- thcTanism. and Buddhism. It spread rapidly through Spain about the middle of the sixteenth century, though vigorously combated by the apostle of Andalusia. John of Avila, and by Ignatius Loyola. It was finally suppres.sed by the Inquisition, though it lingered until the mid- dle of the seventeenth century, and had a few scattered followers even at the beginning of the eighteenth. Consult Pelayo, Historia de los