Charles Marguetel de Saint-Denis, seigneur de Saint-Evremond

CHARLES DE MARGUETEL DE SAINT-DENIS, SEIGNEUR DE SAINT-EVREMOND (1610-1703), was born at SaintDenis-le-Guast, near Coutances, the seat of his family in Normandy, on the 1st of April 1610. He was a pupil of the Jesuits at the College de Clermont (now Louis-le-Grand), Paris; then a student at Caen. For a time he studied law at the College d'Harcourt. He soon, however, took to arms, and in 1629 went with Marshal Bassompierre to Italy. He served through great part of the Thirty Years' War, distinguishing himself at the siege of Landrecies (1637), when he was made captain. During his campaigns he studied the works of Montaigne and the Spanish and Italian languages. In 1639 he met Gassendi in Paris, and became one of his disciples. He was present at Rocroy, at Nordlingen, and at Lerida. For a time he was personally attached to Conde, but offended him by a satirical remark and was deprived of his command in the prince's guards in 1648. During the Fronde, Saint-Evremond was a steady royalist. The duke of Candale (of whom he has left a very severe portrait) gave him a command in Guienne, and Saint-Evremond, who had reached the grade of marechal de camp, is said to have saved 50,000 livres in less than three years. He was one of the numerous victims involved in the fall of Fouquet. His letter to Marshal Crequi on the peace of the Pyrenees, which is said to have been discovered by Colbert's agents at the seizure of Fouquet's papers, seems a very inadequate cause for his disgrace. SaintEvremond fled to Holland and to England, where he was kindly received by Charles II. and was pensioned. After James II.'s flight to France Saint-Evremond was invited to return, but he declined. Hortense Mancini, the most attractive of Mazarin's attractive group of nieces, came to England in 1670, and set up a salon for love-making, gambling and witty conversation, and here Saint-Evremond was for many years at home. He died on the 29th of September 1703 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where his monument still is in Poet's Corner close to that of Prior.

Saint-Evremond never authorized the printing of any of his works during his lifetime, though Barbin in 1668 published an unauthorized collection. But he empowered Des Maizeaux to publish his works after his death, and they were published in London (2 vols.; 1705), and often reprinted. His masterpiece in irony is the so-called Conversation du marechal d'Hocquincourt avec le pere Canaye (the latter a Jesuit and Saint-Evremond's master at school), which has been frequently classed with the Lettres provinciales. His CEuvres mêlées, edited from the MSS. by Silvestre and Des Maizeaux, were printed by Jacob Tonson (London, 5705, 2 vols.; 2nd ed., 3 vols., 1709), with a notice by Des Maizeaux. His correspondence with Ninon de Lenclos, whose fast friend he was, was published in 1752; La Comedie des academistes, written in 1643, was printed in 1650. Modern editions of his works are by Hippeau (Paris, 1852), C. Giraud (Paris, 1865), and a selection (1881) with a notice by M. de Lescure.

ST Florentin, a town of north-central France, in the department of Yonne, 37 m. S.E. of Sens on the Paris-Lyon-Mediterranee railway. Pop. (1906) 2303. It stands on a hill on the right bank of the Armance, half a mile from its confluence with the Armangon and the canal of Burgundy. In the highest part of the town stands the church, begun in the latter half of the 15th century, and though retaining the Gothic form, with great flying buttresses, is mainly in the Renaissance style. It is approached through a narrow alley up a steep flight of steps, and contains a fine Holy Sepulchre in bas-relief and a choirscreen and stained glass of admirable Renaissance workmanship. The nave, left incomplete, was restored and finished between 1857 and 1862. The market-gardens of St Florentin produce large quantities of asparagus. The town stands on the site of the Roman military post Castrodunum, the scene of the martyrdom in the 3rd century of Saints Florentin and Hilaire, round whose tomb it grew up. The abbey established here in the 9th century afterwards became a priory of the abbey of St Germain at Auxerre. The town and its territory belonged, under the Merovingians, to Burgundy, and in later times to the counts of Champagne, from whom it passed to the kings of France. Louis XV. raised it from the rank of viscounty to that of county and bestowed it on Louis Phelypeaux, afterwards Duc de la Vrilliere.

ST Flour, a town of south-central France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Cantal, situated at a height of 2900 ft. on a basaltic plateau overlooking the Lander, a tributary of the Truyere, 47 m. E.N.E. of Aurillac by rail. Pop. (1906) 4090. The streets are dark and narrow, but the town has spacious promenades established in the 18th century. St Flour grew up round the tomb of St Florus, the apostle of Auvergne, who died there in the 4th century. The abbey founded there about the beginning of the 11th century became in 1317 an episcopal chapter, and the town is still the seat of a bishopric. The cathedral (1396-1466) is the principal building. The manufacture of coarse woollen fabrics, of earthenware and candles is carried on. A few miles S.E. of the town the gorge of the Truyere is spanned by the fine railway viaduct of Garabit over boo yds. long and at a height of 400 ft. above the river.

ST Gall (Ger. St Gallen), one of the cantons of northeast Switzerland, on the border of the Austrian province of the Vorarlberg and of the independent principality of Liechtenstein. It entirely surrounds the canton of Appenzell, which, like a great part of this canton, formerly belonged to the abbots of St Gall, while the "enclave" of Horn is in the canton of Thurgau.

Its area is 779.3 sq. m., of which 710.1 sq. m. are reckoned "productive," forests covering 157.1 sq. m. and vineyards 1 8 sq. m., while of the remainder 2.8 sq. m. are occupied by glaciers. The altitude above the sea-level varies from 1306 ft. (the lake of Constance) to 10,667 ft. (the Ringelspitz). The canton includes portions of the lake of Constance (212 sq. m.), of the Walensee (rather over 7 sq. m.), and of the lake of Zurich (4 sq. m.), and several small lakes wholly within its limits. Hilly in its N. region, the height gradually increases towards the S. border, while to its S. W. and E. extend considerable alluvial plains on the banks of the Linth and of the Rhine. The two rivers just named form in part its frontiers, the principal stream within the canton being the Thur (as regards its upper course), with the middle reach of its principal affluent, the Sitter, both forming part of the Rhine basin. It has ports on the lake of Constance (Rorschach) and of Zurich (Rapperswil), as well as Weesen and Walenstadt on the Walensee, while the watering place of Ragatz is supplied with hot mineral waters from Pfafers. The main railway lines from Zurich past Sargans for Coire, and from Sargans past Altstatten and Rorschach for Constance, skirt its borders, while the capital is on the direct railway line from Zurich past Wil to Rorschach, and communicates by rail with Appenzell and with Frauenfeld. In 1900 the population of the canton was 250,285, of whom 243,358 were German-speaking, 5300 Italian-speaking and 710 French-speaking, while there were 150,412 "Catholics" (whether Roman or "Old"), 99,114 Protestants and 556 Jews (mostly in the town of St Gall). Its capital is St Gall, the other most populous places being Tablat (pop. 12,590), Rorschach (9140), Altstatten (8724), Straubenzell (8090), Gossau (6055) and Wattwil (4971). In the southern and more Alpine portion of the canton the inhabitants mainly follow pastoral pursuits. In 1896 the number of "alps" or mountain pastures in the canton amounted to 304, capable of supporting 21,744 cows, and of an estimated total value of nearly 14 million francs. In the central and northern regions agriculture is generally combined with manufactures.

The canton is one of the most industrial in Switzerland. Cottonspinning is widely spread, though cloth-weaving has declined. But the characteristic industry is the manufacture, mostly by machines, of muslin, embroidery and lace. It is reckoned that the value of the embroideries and lace exported from the canton amounts to about one-seventh of the total value of the exports from Switzerland. The canton is divided into fifteen administrative districts, which comprise ninety-three communes.

The existing constitution dates from 1890. The legislature or Grossrat is elected by the communes, each commune of 150o inhabitants or less having a right to one member, and as many more as the divisor I Soo, or fraction over 750, justifies. Members hold office for three years. For the election of the seven members of the executive or Regierungsrat, who also hold office for three years, all the communes form a single electoral circle. The two members of the federal St y nderat are named by the legislature, while the thirteen members of the federal Nationalrat are chosen by a popular vote. The right of "facultative referendum" or of "initiative" as to legislative projects belongs to any 4000 citizens, but in case of the revision of the cantonal constitution 10,000 must sign the demand. The canton of St Gall was formed in 1803 and was augmented by many districts that had belonged since 1798 to the canton Linth or Glarus - the upper Toggenburg, Sargans (held since 1483 by the Swiss), Gaster and Uznach (belonging since 1438 to Schwyz and Glarus), Gams (since 1497 the property of the same two members), Werdenberg (owned by Glarus since 1517), Sax (bought by Zurich in 1615), and Rapperswil (since 1712 under the protection of Zurich, Bern and Glarus).

Authorities.-I. von Arx, Geschichte d. Kant. St Gall (3 vols., 1810-1813); G. J. Baumgartner, Geschichte d. schweiz. Freistaates u. Kant. St Gall (3 vols., Zurich and Stuttgart, 1868-1890); H. Fehr, Staat u. Kirche in St Gall (1899); W. GOtzinger, Die romanischen Namen d. Kant. St Gall (1891); O. Henne am Rhyn, Geschichte d. Kant. St Gall von 1861 (1896); Der Kanton St Gall, 1803-1903 (1903) J. Kuoni, Sagen des Kantons St Gallen (St Gall, 1903); St Gallische Geschichtsquellen, edited by G. Meyer von Kronau; Mitteilungen z. vaterlc ndischen Geschichte (publ. by the Cantonal Hist. Soc., from 1861); Th. Schlatter, Romanische Volksnamen and Verwandtes (St Gall, 1903); T. Schneider, Die Alpwirtschaft im Kanton St Gall (Soleure, 1896); A. Steinmann, Die ostschweizerische Stickerei-Industrie (Zurich, 1905); Urkundenbuch d. Abtei St Gall, edited by H. Wartmann; H. Wartmann, "Die geschichtliche Entwickelung d. Stadt St Gall bis 1454" (article in vol. xvi., 1868, of the Archiv f. Schweizer Geschichte), and Franz Weidmann, Geschichte d. Stifts u. Landschaft St Gall (1834). (W. A. B. C.) ST Gall, capital of the Swiss canton of that name, is situated in the upland valley of the Steinach, 2195 ft. above the sea-level. It is by rail 9 m. S.W. of Rorschach, its port on the lake of Constance, and 53 m. E. of Zurich. The older or central portion of the town retains the air of a small rural capital, but the newer quarters present the aspect of a modern commercial centre. At either extremity considerable suburbs merge in the neighbouring towns of Tablat and of Straubenzell. Its chief building is the abbey church of the celebrated old monastery. This has been a cathedral church since 1846. In its present form it was constructed in 1756-1765. The famous library is housed in the former palace of the abbot, and is one of the most renowned in Europe by reason of its rich treasures of early MSS. and printed books. Other portions of the monastic buildings are used as the offices of the cantonal authorities, and contain the extensive archives both of this monastery and of that of Pfafers. The ancient churches of St Magnus (Old Catholics) and of St Lawrence (Protestant) were restored in the 19th century. The town library, which is rich in Reformation and post-Reformation MSS. and books, is in the buildings of the cantonal school. The museum contains antiquarian, historical and natural history collections, while the new museum of industrial art has an extensive collection of embroideries of all ages and dates. There are a number of fine modern buildings, such as the Bourse. The town is the centre of the Swiss muslin, embroidery and lace trade. About Io,000 persons were in 1900 occupied in and near the town with the embroidery industry, and about 49,000 in the canton. Cold and fogs prevail in winter (though the town is protected against the north wind), but the heat in summer is rarely intense. In 1900 the population was 33,116 (having just doubled since 1870), of whom almost all were German-speaking, while the Protestants numbered 17,572, the Catholics (Roman or "Old") 15,006 and the Jews 419.

The town of St Gall owes its origin to St Gall, an Irish hermit, who in 614, built his cell in the thick forest which then covered the site of the future monastery, and lived there, with a few companions, till his death in 640. Many pilgrims later found their way to his cell, and about the middle of the 8th century the collection of hermits' dwellings was transformed into a regularly organized Benedictine monastery. For the next three centuries this was one of the chief seats of learning and education in Europe. About 954 the monastery and its buildings were surrounded by walls as a protection against the Saracens, and this was the origin of the town. The temporal powers of the abbots vastly increased, while in the 13th century the town: obtained divers privileges from the emperor and from the abbot, who about 1205 became a prince of the Empire. In 1311 St Gall became a free imperial city, and about 1353 the gilds, headed by that of the cloth-weavers,, obtained the control of the civic government, while in 1415 it bought its liberty from the German king Sigismund. This growing independence did not please the abbot, who struggled long against it and his rebellious subjects in Appenzell, which formed the central portion of his dominions. After the victory of the Appenzellers at the battle of the Stoss (1405) they became (1411) "allies" of the Swiss, confederation, as did the town of St Gall a few months later, this connexion becoming an "everlasting" alliance in 1454, while in 1457 the town was finally freed from the abbot. The abbot, too, became (in 1451) the ally of Zurich, Lucerne, Schwyz. and Glarus. In 1468 he bought the county of the Toggenburg from the representatives of its counts, a family which had died out in 1436, and in 1487 built a monastery above Rorschach as a place of refuge against the turbulent citizens, who, however, destroyed it in 1489. The Swiss intervened to protect the abbot, who (1490) concluded an alliance with them which reduced his, position almost to that of a "subject district." The townsmen adopted the Reformation in 1524, and this new cause of difference further envenomed their relations with the abbots. Both abbot: and town were admitted regularly to the Swiss diet, occupying a higher position than the rest of the "allies" save Bienne, which was on the same footing. But neither succeeded in its attempts to be received a full member of the Confederation, the abbot being too much like a petty monarch and at the same time a kind of "subject" already, while the town could not help much in the way of soldiers. In 1798 and finally in 1805 the abbey was secularized, while out of its dominions (save the Upper Toggenburg, but with the Altst: tten district, held since 1490 by the Swiss) and those of the town the canton Santis was formed, with St Gall as capital. (W. A. B. C.)

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