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    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911)",
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    "chunk_id": "1911:kervyn de lettenhove:cce4b81804ba",
    "title": "KERVYN DE LETTENHOVE",
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    "verified_text": "kervyn de lettenhove, constantine bruno, baron, (1817-1891), belgian historian, was born at saint-michel-les-bruges in 1817. he was a member of the catholic constitutional party and sat in the chamber as member for eecloo. in 1870 he was appointed a member of the cabinet of anethan as minister of the interior. but his official career was short. the cabinet appointed as governor of lille one decker, who had been entangled in the financial speculations of langand-dumonceau by which the whole clerical party had been discredited, and which provoked riots. the cabinet was forced to resign, and kervyn de lettenhove devoted himself entirely to literature and history. he had already become known as the author of a book on froissart (brussels, 1855), which was crowned by the french academy. he edited a series of chronicles--_chroniques relatives a l'histoire de la belgique sous la domination des ducs de bourgogne_ (brussels, 1870-1873), and _relations politiques des pays bas et de l'angleterre sous le regne de philippe ii._ (brussels, 1882-1892). he wrote a history of _les hugenots et les gueux_ (bruges, 1883-1885) in the spirit of a violent roman catholic partisan, but with much industry and learning. he died at saint-michel-les-bruges in 1891. see _notices biographiques et bibliographiques de l'academie de belgique_ for 1887. keshub chunder sen (keshava chandra sena) (1838-1884), indian religious reformer, was born of a high-caste family at calcutta in 1838. he was educated at one of the calcutta colleges, where he became proficient in english literature and history. for a short time he was a clerk in the bank of bengal, but resigned his post to devote himself exclusively to literature and philosophy. at that time sir william hamilton, hugh blair, victor cousin, j. h. newman and r. w. emerson were among his favourite authors. their works made the deepest impression on him, for, as he expressed it, \"philosophy first taught me insight and reflection, and turned my eyes inward from the things of the external world, so that i began to reflect on my position, character and destiny.\" like many other educated hindus, keshub chunder sen had gradually dissociated himself from the popular forms of the native religion, without abandoning what he believed to be its spirit. as early as 1857 he joined the brahma samaj, a religious association aiming at the reformation of hinduism. keshub chunder sen threw himself with enthusiasm into the work of this society and in 1862 himself undertook the ministry of one of its branches. in the same year he helped to found the albert college and started the _indian mirror_, a weekly journal in which social and moral subjects were discussed. in 1863 he wrote _the brahma samaj vindicated_. he also travelled about the country lecturing and preaching. the steady development of his reforming zeal led to a split in the society, which broke into two sections, chunder sen putting himself at the head of the reform movement, which took the name \"brahma samaj of india,\" and tried to propagate its doctrines by missionary enterprise. its tenets at this time were the following: (1) the wide universe is the temple of god. (2) wisdom is the pure land of pilgrimage. (3) truth is the everlasting scripture. (4) faith is the root of all religions. (5) love is the true spiritual culture. (6) the destruction of selfishness is the true asceticism. in 1866 he delivered an address on \"jesus christ, europe and asia,\" which led to the false impression that he was about to embrace christianity. this helped to call attention to him in europe, and in 1870 he paid a visit to england. the hindu preacher was warmly welcomed by almost all denominations, particularly by the unitarians, with whose creed the new brahma samaj had most in common, and it was the committee of the british and foreign unitarian association that organized the welcome soiree at hanover square rooms on the 12th of april. ministers of ten different denominations were on the platform, and among those who officially bade him welcome were lord lawrence and dean stanley. he remained for six months in england, visiting most of the chief towns. his eloquence, delivery and command of the language won universal admiration. his own impression of england was somewhat disappointing. christianity in england appeared to him too sectarian and narrow, too \"muscular and hard,\" and christian life in england more materialistic and outward than spiritual and inward. \"i came here an indian, i go back a confirmed indian; i came here a theist, i go back a confirmed theist. i have learnt to love my own country more and more.\" these words spoken at the farewell soiree may furnish the key to the change in him which so greatly puzzled many of his english friends. he developed a tendency towards mysticism and a greater leaning to the spiritual teaching of the indian philosophies, as well as a somewhat despotic attitude towards the samaj. he gave his child daughter in marriage to the raja of kuch behar; he revived the performance of mystical plays, and himself took part in one. these changes alienated many followers, who deserted his standard and founded the sadharana (general) brahma samaj (1878). chunder sen did what he could to reinvigorate his own section by a new infusion of christian ideas and phrases, e.g. \"the new dispensation,\" \"the holy spirit.\" he also instituted a sacramental meal of rice and water. two lectures delivered between 1881 and 1883 throw a good deal of light on his latest doctrines. they were \"the marvellous mystery, the trinity,\" and \"asia's message to europe.\" this latter is an eloquent plea against the europeanizing of asia, as well as a protest against western sectarianism. during the intervals of his last illness he wrote _the new samhita, or the sacred laws of the aryans of the new dispensation_. he died in january 1884, leaving many bitter enemies and many warm friends. see the article brahma samaj; also p. mozoomdar, _life and teachings of keshub chunder sen_ (1888). kesmark (ger. kasmark), a town of hungary, in the county of szepes, 240 m. n.e. of budapest by rail. pop. (1900), 5560. it is situated on the poprad, at an altitude of 1950 ft., and is surrounded on all sides by mountains. among its buildings are the roman catholic parish church, a gothic edifice of the 15th century with fine carved altars; a wooden protestant church of the 17th century; and an old town-hall. about 12 m. w. of kesmark lies the famous watering-place tatrafured (ger. schmecks), at the foot of the schlagendorfer peak in the tatra mountains. kesmark is one of the oldest and most important saxon settlements in the north of hungary, and became a royal free town at the end of the 13th century, in 1440 it became the seat of the counts of szepes (ger., _zips_), and in 1464 it was granted new privileges by king matthias corvinus. during the 16th century, together with the other saxon towns in the szepes county, it began to lose both its political and commercial importance. it remained a royal free town until 1876. kestrel (fr. _cresserelle_ or _crecerelle_, o. fr. _quercerelle_ and _quercelle_, in burgundy _cristel_), the english name[1] for one of the smaller falcons. this bird, though in the form of its bill and length of its wings one of the true falcons, and by many ornithologists placed among them under its linnaean name of _falco tinnunculus_, is by others referred to a distinct genus _tinnunculus_ as _t. alaudarius_--the last being an epithet wholly inappropriate. we have here a case in which the propriety of the custom which requires the establishment of a genus on structural characters may seem open to question. the differences of structure which separate _tinnunculus_ from _falco_ are of the slightest, and, if insisted upon, must lead to including in the former birds which obviously differ from kestrels in all but a few characters arbitrarily chosen; and yet, if structural characters be set aside, the kestrels form an assemblage readily distinguishable by several peculiarities from all other _falconidae_, and an assemblage separable from the true falcons of the genus _falco_, with its subsidiary groups _aesalon_, _hypotriorchis_, and the rest (see falcon). scarcely any one outside the walls of an ornithological museum or library would doubt for a moment whether any bird shown to him was a kestrel or not; and gurney has stated his belief (_ibis_, 1881, p. 277) that the aggregation of species placed by bowdler sharpe (_cat. birds brit. mus._ i. 423-448) under the generic designation of _cerchneis_ (which should properly be _tinnunculus_) includes \"three natural groups sufficiently distinct to be treated as at least separate subgenera, bearing the name of _dissodectes_, _tinnunculus_ and _erythropus_.\" of these the first and last are not kestrels, but are perhaps rather related to the hobbies (_hypotriorchis_). the ordinary kestrel of europe, _falco tinnunculus_ or _tinnunculus alaudarius_, is by far the commonest bird of prey in the british islands. it is almost entirely a summer migrant, coming from the south in early spring and departing in autumn, though examples (which are nearly always found to be birds of the year) occasionally occur in winter, some arriving on the eastern coast in autumn. it is most often observed while hanging in the air for a minute or two in the same spot, by means of short and rapid beats of its wings, as, with head pointing to windward and expanded tail, it is looking out for prey--which consists chiefly of mice, but it will at times take a small bird, and the remains of frogs, insects and even earthworms have been found in its crop. it generally breeds in the deserted nest of a crow or pie, but frequently in rocks, ruins, or even in hollow trees--laying four or five eggs, mottled all over with dark brownish-red, sometimes tinged with orange and at other times with purple. though it may occasionally snatch up a young partridge or pheasant, the kestrel is the most harmless bird of prey, if it be not, from its destruction of mice and cockchafers, a beneficial species. its range extends over nearly the whole of europe from 68° n. lat., and the greater part of asia--though the form which inhabits japan and is abundant in north-eastern china has been by some writers deemed distinct and called _t. japonicus_--it is also found over a great part of africa, being, however, unknown beyond guinea on the west and mombasa on the east coast (_ibis_, 1881, p. 457). the southern countries of europe have also another and smaller species of kestrel, _t. tinnunculoides_ (the _t. cenchris_ and _t. naumanni_ of some writers), which is widely spread in africa and asia, though specimens from india and china are distinguished as _t. pekinensis_. three other species are found in africa--_t. rupicola_, _t. rupicoloides_ and _t. alopex_--the first a common bird in the cape, while the others occur in the interior. some of the islands of the ethiopian region have peculiar species of kestrel, as the _t. newtoni_ of madagascar, _t. punctatus_ of mauritius and _t. gracilis_ of the seychelles; while, on the opposite side, the kestrel of the cape verde islands has been separated as _t. neglectus_. the _t. sparverius_, commonly known in canada and the united states as the \"sparrow-hawk,\" is a beautiful little bird. various attempts have been made to recognize several species, more or less in accordance with locality, but the majority of ornithologists seem unable to accept the distinctions which have been elaborated chiefly by bowdler sharpe in his _catalogue_ and r. ridgway (_north american birds_, iii. 150-175), the former of whom recognizes six species, while the latter admits but three--_t. sparverius_, _t. leucophrys_ and _t. sparverioides_--with five geographical races of the first, viz. the typical _t. sparverius_ from the continent of north america except the coast of the gulf of mexico; _t. australis_ from the continent of south america except the north atlantic and caribbean coasts; _t. isabellinus_, inhabiting continental america from florida to fr. guiana; _t. dominicensis_ from the lesser antilles as far northwards as st thomas; and lastly _t. cinnamominus_ from chile and western brazil. _t. leucophrys_ is said to be from haiti and cuba; and _t. sparverioides_ peculiar to cuba only. this last has been generally allowed to be a good species, though dr gundlach, the best authority on the birds of that island, in his _contribucion a la ornitologia cubana_ (1876), will not allow its validity. more recently it was found (ibis, 1881, pp. 547-564) that _t. australis_ and _t. cinnamominus_ cannot be separated, that ridgway's _t. leucophrys_ should properly be called _t. dominicensis_, and his _t. dominicensis t. antillarum_; while ridgway has recorded the supposed occurrence of _t. sparverioides_ in florida. of other kestrels _t. moluccensis_ is widely spread throughout the islands of the malay archipelago, while _t. cenchroides_ seems to inhabit the whole of australia, and has occurred in tasmania (_proc. roy. soc. tasmania_, 1875, pp. 7, 8). no kestrel is found in new zealand, but an approach to the form is made by the very peculiar _hieracidea_ (or _harpe_) _novae-zelandiae_ (of which a second race or species has been described, _h. brunnea_ or _h. ferox_), the \"sparrow-hawk,\" \"quail-hawk\" and \"bush-hawk\" of the colonists--a bird of much higher courage than any kestrel, and perhaps exhibiting the more generalized and ancestral type from which both kestrels and falcons may have descended. (a. n.) footnote: [1] other english names are windhover and standgale (the last often corrupted into stonegale and stannell).",
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