Uberti, Farinata Degli. A noble Florentine, leader of the Ghibelline faction. Dante represents him, in his Inferno, as lying in a fiery tomb not to be closed till the Last Judgment.

Udall, Nicholas. Author of the earliest extant English comedy, Ralph Roister Doisier (1551) (q. v.).

Udolpho, The Mysteries of. See Mysteries of Udolpho.

Ugly Duckling, The. One of Andersen's Fairy Tales, the story of a swan hatched among ducklings and mocked at as an ungainly member of the brood, until finally it becomes apparent that he is a

swan.

Ugoli'no. A Ghibelline (Ugolino della Gherardesca, Count of Pisa) who, about 1270, deserted his party and, with the hope of usurping supreme power in Pisa, formed an alliance with Giovanni Visconti, the head of the Guelphs. The plot failed; Giovanni died, and Ugolino joined the Florentines and forced the Pisans to restore his territories. In 1284 Genoa made war against Pisa, and the Count again treacherously deserted the Pisans, causing their total overthrow. At length a conspiracy was formed against him, and in 1288 he was cast with his two sons and two grandsons into the tower of Gualandi, where they were all starved to death. Dante, in his Inferno, has given the sad tale undying publicity.

Uka'se. In the former Russian Empire an edict either proceeding from the senate or direct from the emperor. Hence, a rigid order or official decree of any kind.

Ulalume. A poem by Edgar Allan Poe (Am. 1847), in memory of his "lost Ulalume."

Ula'nia. In the Charlemagne romances, the queen of Perdu'ta or Islanda. She sent a golden shield to Charlemagne, which he was to give to his bravest paladin, and whoever could win it from him was to claim the hand of Ulania in marriage. See Orlando Furioso, Bk. xv.

Ule'ma. The learned classes in Mohammedan countries, interpreters of the Koran and the law, from whose numbers are chosen the mollahs, imams, muftis, cadis, etc. (ministers of religion, doctors of law, and administrators of justice). Ulema is the plural of ulim, a wise man. The body is under the presidency of the Sheikh-ul-Islam.

Ullin's Daughter, Lord. A ballad by

Campbell (1803). Campbell (1803). The heroine is a young lady who eloped with the chief of Ulva's Isle, and induced a boatman to row them over Lochgyle during a storm. The boat was capsized just as Lord Ullin and his retinue reached the shore. He saw the peril, he cried in agony, "Come back, come back! and I'll forgive your Highland chief"; but it was too late, the "waters wild rolled o'er his child, and he was left lamenting."

Ulri'ca. In Scott's Ivanhoe, daughter of the late thane of Torquilstone; alias Dame Urfried, an old sibyl at Torquilstone Castle.

Ulster. The northernmost province of Ireland, which was forfeited to the Crown in James I's reign in consequence of the rebellions of Tyrconnel and Tyrone, and colonized (1609-1612) by English and Scottish settlers, who were forbidden to sell land to any Irishman. Since then the Ulstermen (ep. Orangemen) have been intensely English and anti-Irish in sentiment and action and have refused on any terms to coalesce with the original inhabitants, who have ever been anti-British.

The long loose overcoat known as an ulster is so called because originally made of Ulster frieze.

The Red, or Bloody, Hand of Ulster. The badge of Ulster, a sinister hand, erect, open, and couped at the wrist, gules. Legend has it that in an ancient expedition to Ireland, it was given out that whoever first touched the shore should possess the territory which he touched; O'Neill, seeing another boat likely to outstrip his own, cut off his left hand and threw it on the coast. From this O'Neill the princes of Ulster were descended, and the motto of the O'Neills is to this day Lamh dearg Eirin, "red hand of Erin."

Ul'tima Thule. See under Thule.

Ultra vires (Law Lat. ultra, beyond, vires, pl. of vis, strength). In excess of the power possessed; transcending authority.

Ultramontane Party. The extreme Popish party in the Church of Rome. Ultramontane opinions or tendencies are those which favor the high "Catholic " party. Ultramontane (beyond the mountains, i. e., the Alps) means Italy or the old Papal States. The term was first used by the French, to distinguish those who look upon the Pope as the fountain of all power in the Church, in contradistinction

to the Gallican school, which maintained. the right of self-government by national churches.

Ulysses. The Roman name of the Greek Odysseus, hero of Homer's Odyssey (q. v.) and a prominent character in the Iliad (q. v.). He is called Ulysses in most English poetry, including translations of Homer. Tennyson has a poem Ulysses (1842), in which the hero in his old age speaks of his still active longing for adventure. Stephen Phillips (Eng. 18681915) made him the subject of a poetic drama Ulysses.

Ulysses is the title of a novel by the Irish James Joyce published in France in 1922, and widely discussed as an outstanding type of modern ultra-realistic fiction.

U'na. The heroine of the first book of Spenser's Faerie Queene, typifying Truth (Una, the One). With the Red Cross Knight as her champion she sets forth to relieve her royal parents who are being besieged by a dragon, but is soon parted from her knight, and is met by a lion, who afterwards attends her. She sleeps in the hut of Superstition, and next morning meets Archimago (Hypocrisy) dressed as her knight. As they journey together Sansloy meets them, exposes Archimago, kills the lion, and carries off Una to a wild forest. She is rescued by fauns and satyrs who attempt to worship her, but, being restrained, pay adoration to her ass; is delivered by Sir Satyrane; is told by Archimago that the Red Cross Knight is dead, but subsequently hears that he is the captive of Orgoglio. She goes to King Arthur for aid, and the King slays Orgoglio and rescues the knight, whom Una takes to the house of Holiness, where he is carefully nursed. He eventually slays the dragon whose destruction was the original quest, and Una then leads him to Eden, where their marriage takes place. She is taken to represent Protestantism and Queen Elizabeth as well as abstract truth and in this connection is strongly contrasted with Duessa (q.v.).

Uncas. "The last of the Mohicans " (q.v.) in Cooper's novel of that title. Cooper has frequently been accused of over-idealizing the American Indian in his portrayal of this noble and valiant young warrior.

Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings. A famous book of folk tales by Joel Chandler Harris (Am. 1880). They

pleasant memories of the discipline of slavery, and who has all the prejudices of caste and pride of family that were the natural results of the system." The characters are animals, chief among them being Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox.

Uncle Sam. See under Sam. Uncle Sam's heel. Florida. Uncle Sam's ice box. Alaska. Uncle Toby. In Sterne's Tristram Shandy (q.v.).

Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly. A novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe (Am. 1851) which did much to arouse anti-slavery sentiment before the Civil War. The chief figure is the faithful old slave, Uncle Tom. Sold by the Shelbys from his old home in Kentucky, where he leaves his wife Chloe, he lives for a time with the easy-going, goodtempered Augustine St. Clare, to whose gentle little daughter Eva he is devotedly attached. In the St. Clare household are also the Yankee old maid, Miss Ophelia, and the immortal Topsy (q.v.), an amusing black limb of mischief." After the death of Little Eva and her father, Uncle Tom is sold to the brutal Simon Legree, by whom he is treated with such harshness that when George Shelby, the son of his former master, finds him, he is dying. Among the slaves represented is Eliza, whose escape from the bloodhounds, with her boy Harry, by crossing the Ohio River on cakes of ice, is a familiar incident. Her husband, George Harmon, follows her along the Underground Rail

way.

Uncommercial Traveller, The. Twentyeight miscellaneous papers published by Dickens in All the Year Round, and reproduced in 1860.

Uncumber, St. See under Saint.

Under the Greenwood Tree. A novel by Thomas Hardy (Eng. 1872) depicting country life. The heroine, Fancy Day, is loved by Farmer Shiner, by the young vicar, Arthur Maybold, and by Dick Dewy. She chooses the latter and all ends happily.

Under Western Eyes. A novel by Joseph Conrad (Eng. 1911) dealing with anarchistic intrigue in Russia. The revolutionary Haldin, having just killed. an official with a bomb, appeals to his fellow student Razumov for help. Razumov is ambitious to enter government service, believes in law and order, and dreads the thought of becoming involved in revolutionary action. Leaving the trusting Haldin asleep in his rooms, he

goes out and denounces him to the police. Later he is sent to Geneva as a government spy and meets Nathalie, Haldin's sister, who, knowing nothing of his defection, receives him into the revolutionary circle there as Haldin's benefactor. Tormented by the love that springs up between himself and Nathalie, Razumov forces himself to confess to a roomful of revolutionists. His ear drums are broken in the commotion, and the following morning he is run over by a tram car.

Underground Railroad, The. A term used in the United States as the embodiment of the various ways by which slaves from the southern states made their escape either to the north or to Canada before slavery was abolished.

Underhill, Updike. Hero of Tyler's Algerine Captive (q.v.).

Undershaft. A manufacturer of munitions in Shaw's Major Barbara (q.v.).

Undine. A fairy romance by De La Motte Fouque (1814). The heroine,

Undine, is a water-sylph, who was in early childhood changed for the young child of a fisherman living on a peninsula near an enchanted forest. One day, Sir Huldbrand took shelter in the fisherman's hut, fell in love with Undine, and married her. Being thus united to a man, the sylph received a soul. Not long after Not long after the wedding, Sir Huldbrand fell in love with Bertalda, the fisherman's real daughter. Undine was spirited away by her angry kinsfolk and the knight married his new love. On the wedding day she called for a drink from the old well and Undine was forced to arise with the waters and bring about the death of her knight.

Undiscovered Country, The. A novel by W. D. Howells (Am. 1880), dealing with spiritualism. Dr. Boynton, a country physician who has become a fanatical devoté of the occult, brings up his highstrung daughter Egeria as a medium. She is torn between filial affection and repulsion at the quackery her duties involve, until finally her health gives way under the strain. Much of the action takes place in a Shaker community.

Unearned increment. Increase in the value of property because of external causes such as public improvements rather than any effort on the part of the owner.

U'nicorn (Lat. unum cornu, one horn). A mythical and heraldic animal, represented by medieval writers as having the legs of a buck, the tail of a lion, the head and body of a horse, and a single hor, white at the base, black in the middle,

and red at the tip, in the middle of its forehead. The body is white, the head red, and eyes blue. The oldest author that describes it is Cte'sias (B. C. 400). The medieval notions concerning it are well summarized in the following extract:

The unicorn has but one horn in the middle of its forehead. It is the only animal that ventures to attack the elephant; and so sharp is the nail of its foot, that with one blow it can rip the belly of that beast. Hunters can catch the unicorn only by placing a young virgin in his haunts. No sooner does he see the damsel, than he runs towards her, and lies down at her feet, and so sufers himself to be captured by the hunters. The unicorn represents Jesus Christ, who took on Him our nature in the virgin's womb, was betrayed to the Jews, and delivered into the hands of Pontius Pilate. Its one horn signifies the Gospel of Truth. Le Bestiaire Dirin de Guillaume,Clerc de Normandie (13th century).

The supporters of the old royal arms of Scotland are two Unicorns. When England (1603) he brought one of the James VI of Scotland came to reign over Unicorns with him, and with it supplanted the Red Dragon which, as representing Wales, was one of the supporters of the English shield, the other being the Lion. Ariosto refers to the arms of Scotland thus:

Yon lion placed two unicorns between
That rampant with a silver sword is seen.
Is for the king of Scotland's banner known.
Hoole's Translation, Bk. iii.

The animosity which existed between the lion and the unicorn referred to by Spenser in his Faërie Queene (II. v) ·

Like as a lyon, whose imperiall powre

-

A prowd rebellious unicorn defyes is allegorical of that which once existed between England and Scotland.

Union. The Union. A short term for the United States of America, and (in England) a familiar euphemism for the workhouse, i.e. the house maintained for the destitute by the Poor Law Union.

The Act of Union. Specifically, the Act of 1706 declaring that on and after May 1st, 1707, England and Scotland should have a united Parliament. The two countries had, of course, been united under one sovereign since 1603. The term is also applied to the Act of 1536 incorporating Wales with England; and to that of 1800, which united the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland on and after January 1st, 1801.

The Union Rose. The combined emblematic rose of the Houses of York and Lancaster, the petals of which are white and red; white representing York, and red representing Lancaster. See under Rose.

Union is strength. The wise saw of Periander, "tyrant ". of Corinth (B. C. 665-585).

Union Jack. The national banner of Great Britain and Ireland. It consists of three united crosses that of St. George for England, the saltire of St. Andrew for Scotland (added by James I), and the cross of St. Patrick for Ireland (added at the Union in 1801).

United Kingdom. The name adopted on January 1st, 1801, when Great Britain and Ireland were united.

Unities, The. The three dramatic unities, viz. the rules governing the socalled "classical" dramas, are founded on Renaissance interpretations of passages in Aristotle's Poetics, and are hence sometimes styled the Aristotelean Unities. They are, that in dramas there should be (1) Unity of Action, (2) Unity of Time, and (3) Unity of Place. Aristotle lays stress on (1), meaning that an organic unity, or a logical connection between the successive incidents, is necessary; but (2) was deduced by Castelvetro, the 16th century Italian scholar and critic, from the passage in the Poetics where Aristotle, in comparing Epic Poetry and Tragedy, says that the former has no limits in time but the latter "endeavors, as far as possible, to confine itself to a single revolution of the sun, or but slightly to exceed this limit.' Having thus arrived at the Unity of Time, (3) the Unity of Place followed almost perforce.

The theory of the Three Unities was formulated in Italy nearly a century before it was taken up in France, where it became, after much argument, the corner-stone of the literary drama. Its first modern offspring was La Sophonisbe (1629) by Mairet, though it was not till Corneille's triumph with Le Cid (1636) that the convention of the Three Unities can be said to have been finally adopted. The principle had little success in England -despite the later championship of Dryden (see his Essay on Dramatic Poesy), Addison (as exemplified in his Cato), and others. Ben Jonson's The Alchemist (1610) is, perhaps, the best example of the small class of English plays in which the Unities of Place and Time have been purposely adhered to. In France, on the other hand, the Three Unities were much more strictly observed, and not until the momentous performance of Victor Hugo's Hernani (q..) did the old classical theories really give way to the modern Romantic movement.

Universal Doctor. See under Doctor.

Unknown. The Great Unknown. Sir Walter Scott. So called (first by his

Upper Ten, The. The aristocracy, the cream of society. Short for the upper ten thousand. The term was first used by N. P. Willis (1806-1867) in speaking of the fashionables of New York, who at that time were not more than ten thousand in number.

Urania. The Muse of Astronomy in Greek mythology, usually represented pointing at a celestial globe with a staff. Milton (Paradise Lost vii. 1-20) makes her the spirit of the loftiest poetry, and calls her "heavenly born" (the name means "the heavenly one") and sister of Wisdom.

Uranus. In Greek mythology the personification of Heaven; son and husband of Ge (the earth), and father of the Titans, the Cyclops, the Furies, etc. He hated his children and confined them in Tartarus; but they broke out (see Titans) and his son Cronus dethroned him. The planet Uranus was discovered in 1781 by Herschell, and named by him Georgium Sidus in honor of George III,

Urdur or Urdhr. The most famous of the three Norns (q. v.) of Scandinavian mythology.

Urfried, Dame. In Scott's Ivanhoe, an old sibyl at Torquilstone Castle; alias Ulrica, daughter of the late thane of Torquilstone.

Urgan. A mortal born and christened, but stolen by the king of the fairies and brought up in elf-land (Scott's Lady of the Lake, iv. 12). It was decreed that if a woman signed his brow thrice with a cross he should recover his mortal form. Alice Brand did this, and the hideous elf became "the fairest knight in all Scotland," in whom she recognized her brother Ethert.

Urganda. A potent fairy in the Amadis of Gaul and other romances of the Carlovingian cycle.

Uriah the Hittite. In the Old Testament, a captain in David's army and the husband of Bathsheba, whom David loved. At David's orders he was sent into the most dangerous part of the battle line where he was killed; and David then took Bathsheba as his wife.

Letter of Uriah (2 Sam. xi. 15). A treacherous letter, importing friendship but in reality a death-warrant. Cp. Bellerophon.

Uriah Heep. See Heep.

U'riel. One of the seven archangels of rabbinical angelology, sent by God to answer the questions of Esdras (2 Esdras, iv.). In Milton's Paradise Lost (iii. 690) he is the "Regent of the Sun," and sharpest-sighted spirit of all in heaven." Longfellow, in the Golden Legend, makes Raphael (q. v.) the angel of the Sun, and Uriel the minister of Mars. The name means "Flame of God," or Angel of Light."

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Urim and Thummim. Two objects of uncertain form and material used in the early forms of ancient Hebrew worship, probably in connection with divination and obtaining oracular answers from Jehovah. They are mentioned in Ex. xxviii. 30; 1 Sam. xxviii. 6; Deut. xxxiii. 8; Ezra ii. 63, etc., but fell out of use in postexilic times, evidently through the Jews developing a higher conception of the Deity.

Ursa Major. The Great Bear, or Charles' Wain, the most conspicuous of the northern constellations. See Callisto. Boswell's father used to call Dr. Johnson Ursa Major.

Ursa Minor. The Little Bear; the northern constellation known as Cynosu'ra or "Dog's tail," from its circular sweep. See Cynosure.

Ursula, St. See under Saint. Ursule Mirouet. A novel by Balzac (Fr. 1841) unique among his novels in that it contains only virtuous women. It concerns the schemes of joint heirs to a

fortune and the social success of the titular heroine, a woman with a beautiful singing voice. It is said that Balzac wrote this novel for his young nieces.

Urvasi. See Puravavas and Urvasi. Useless Parliament. See Parliament. Usher, Fall of the House of. A short story by Edgar Allan Poe in his Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (Am. 1840). The lady Madeline of the house of Usher dies, leaving a single melancholy brother. He is a prey to horrible fears that she has been buried alive, and when she appears in her shroud, he dies of terror.

U'te. Queen of Burgundy, mother of Kriemhild and Gunther in the Nibelungenlied.

Ut'gard (Old Norse, outer ward). The circle of rocks that hemmed in the ocean which was supposed by the ancient Scandinavians to encompass the world, and to be the haunt of the giants.

Utgard-Lok. The Scandinavian demon of the infernal regions, King of the Giants. U'ther. A legendary king, or pendragon (q.v.), of the Britons. By an adulterous amour with Igerna (wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall) he became the father of Arthur, who succeeded him.

U'ti posside'tis (Lat. as you at present possess them). The principle in international law that the belligerents are to retain possession of all the places taken by them before the treaty commenced.

Utilita'rianism. The ethical doctrine that actions are right in proportion to their usefulness or as they tend to promote happiness; the doctrine that the end and criterion of public action is " the greatest happiness of the greatest number."

John Stuart Mill coined the word; but Jeremy Bentham, the official founder of the school, employed the word "Utility" to signify the doctrine which makes the happiness of man," the one and only measure of right and wrong.

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Utopia. Nowhere (Gr. ou, not, topos, a place). The name given by Sir Thomas More to the imaginary island in his political romance of the same name (1516), where everything is perfect the laws, the morals, the politics, etc., and in which the evils of existing laws, etc., are shown by contrast. See Commonwealths, Ideal; and cp. Weissnichtwo.

Rabelais (in Bk. II. ch. xxiv) sends Pantagruel and his companions to Utopia, where they find the citizens of its capital, Amaurot, most hospitable. They reached the island by doubling the Cape of Good Hope, and sailing with a "Tramontane