We give the name of autocracy (Gr., "sole mastery," "ruling by one's self") to that form of government in which the sovereign unites in himself the legislative and the executive powers of the state, and thus rules uncontrolled. Such a sovereign is therefore called an autocrat. Nearly all eastern governments are of this form. Among European rulers, the emperor of Russia alone bears the title of Autocrat, the name indicating his freedom from constitutional restraint of every kind. Such is the theory or principle of an autocracy, but it should be remembered that even the most rigorous autocrat must in practice have regard to the feelings and opinions of those about him. There are real though not formal checks. In autocratic states, palace or court revolutions are not infrequent. This has been a marked feature of Russian history, especially in the eighteenth century. These revolutions often result in the deposition and assassination of the sovereign. In point of fact, the peculiar feature of an autocracy is the absence of regular and constitutional limits; it is a strong form of "personal rule."

The Girondins, in English "The Girondists," were the pure republican party in the National Assembly and National Convention of the first French Revolution. So called because it consisted mainly of the deputies of the Gironde. This party was distinguished for its oratory, and for a time dominated the assembly; but, horrified at the September massacres, they condemned the Reign of Terror, and tried to bring in more moderate measures. This drew upon them the hatred of the demagogues, and on May 31, 1793, some twenty-nine of the Girondists were arrested at the instigation of Robespierre, and on October 31 twenty of them were guillotined, amongst whom were Brissot, Gensonne,Vergniaud, Ducos and Sillery. Valaze stabbed himself while he stood in the dock.

The Diamond Necklace was presented through Madame de Lamotte by Cardinal de la Rohan, as he supposed, to Marie Antoinette. It was a swindling transaction of the Countess de Lamotte. The Cardinal de Rohan, a profligate churchman, entertained a love passion for the queen, and the Countess de Lamotte induced him to purchase for $425,000, a diamond necklace, made for Madame Dubarry, and present it to the queen. The cardinal handed the necklace to the countess, and when the time of payment arrived Boehmer, the jeweler, sent his bill into the queen, Marie Antoinette denied all knowledge of the matter, and in the trial which ensued it was proved that the countess had sold the necklace to an English jeweler and kept the money. The trial lasted nine months, and created immense scandal.

The Falk Laws, 1873, were so called from Dr. Falk, who insisted on the compulsory education of the clergy of Prussia. The laws are four in number: (1) The first was directed against the abuse of ecclesiastical discipline for political purposes, such as "boycotting," excommunication, and anathemas; (2) the next regulated the effect of secession from the Church on the obligation to meet certain taxes; (3) the third law was directed at the evasions by Roman Catholics of state education incumbent on all Germans; and (4) abolished the legality of papal tribunals, recognizing the judgments of the German ecclesiastical courts as the only authority on Church matters. In 1874 these four laws were supplemented by others to ensure more perfect obedience. Dr. Adalbert Falk was appointed by Prince Bismarck "Minister of Public Worship," 22 January, 1872. In 1872 Prince Bismarck carried through the Prussian Houses a bill to transfer the control of primary education from the Church to the State authorities.

Peine Forte et Dure, the "strong and sore torture," is a species of torture formerly applied by the law of England to those who, on being arraigned for felony, refused to plead, and stood mute, or who were guilty of equivalent contumacy. In the reign of Henry IV. it had become the practice to load the offender with iron weights, and thus press him to death; and till nearly the middle of the eighteenth century pressing to death in this horrible manner was the regular and lawful mode of punishing persons who stood mute on their arraignment for felony. As late as 1741 a person is said to have been pressed to death at the Cambridge assizes, the tying of his thumbs having been first tried without effect. A statute of 1772 virtually abolished the peine forte et dure, by enacting that any person who shall stand mute when arraigned for felony or piracy shall be convicted, and have the same judgment and execution awarded against him as if he had been convicted by verdict or confession. A later statute (1828) made standing mute equal to a plea of " not guilty."

The phrase "freedom of the city" is thus explained. In olden times each trade in a European city formed a close corporation, and no person could carry on business without belonging to the particular guild or association of those in the same trade. As a rule, a man, to become a member of a guild, had to serve seven years as an apprentice, several years as a journeyman and finally he was admitted to the craft, became a master and gained the freedom of his trade. As a special honor, the mayor of the town, with the heads of the guild, would confer the freedom of the city upon a distinguished guest. It was purely an honor. The guild system never was established here as abroad; but as the conferring of the freedom of the city was the highest honor which a city, as a city, could bestow, we have retained the custom of giving that freedom from time to time.

The great result of the Berlin Congress was the Treaty of Berlin (signed July 12, ratified August 3, 1878). Its principal articles constitituted the autonomous principality of Bulgaria and the new province of Eastern Roumelia; ceded certain parts of Armenia to Persia and Russia; secured the independence of Servia, Roumania and Montenegro; transferred Herzegovina and Bosnia to Austrian administration and occupation; retrocession to Russia of Bessarabia, Batoum (made a free port), Kars and Ardahan; Alasgird and Bayazid restored to Turkey, which undertook certain legal and religious reforms in Crete and its other dependencies. Greece also obtained an accesson of territory. The treaties of London and of Paris, when not modified by this treaty, to be maintained. England, by a separate agreement previously made with Turkey, obtained the administration of Cyprus.

The Star-chamber, a tribunal which met in the old council chamber of the palace of Westminster, and is said to have got its name from the roof of that apartment being decorated with gilt stars, or because in it "starres" or Jewish bonds had been kept. It is supposed to have originated in early times out of the exercise of jurisdiction by the king's council, whose powers in this respect had greatly declined when in 1487 Henry VII., anxious to repress the indolence and illegal exertions of powerful landowners, revived and remodelled them, or, according to some investigators, instituted what was practically an entirely new tribunal. The statute conferred on the Chancellor, the Treasurer and the Keeper of the Privy Seal, with the assistance of a bishop and a temporal Lord of the Council, Chief justices, or two other justices in their absence, a jurisdiction to punish, without a jury, the misdemeanors of sheriffs and juries, as well as riots and unlawful assemblies. Henry VIII. added to the other members of the court the President of the Council, and ultimately all the privy-councillors.

The rack, an instrument of torture, used for extracting confessions from actual or suspected criminals, consisted of an oblong frame of wood, with a windlass arrangement at each end, to which the sufferer was bound by cords attached to his arms and legs. The unfortunate being was then stretched or pulled till he made confession, or till his limbs were dislocated. The rack was known to the Romans in Cicero's time, and in the first and second centuries a.d. was applied to the early Christians. According to Coke, it was introduced into England by the Duke of Exeter, Constable of the Tower in 1447, whence it came to be called the " Duke of Exeter's daughter." Its use first became common in the time of Henry VIII., but could only take place by warrant of council, or under the signmanual. Under Elizabeth it was in almost constant use. In 1628, on the murder by Felton of the Duke of Buckingham, it being proposed by Charles I. to put the assassin to the rack, in order that he might discover his accomplices, the judges resisted the proceedings as contrary to the law of England. In various countries of Europe the rack has been much used both by the civil authorities in cases of traitors and conspirators, and by the Inquisition to extort a recantation of heresy.

It is no longer in use in any part of the civilized world.

The commune is the unit or lowest division in the administration of France, corresponding in the rural districts to our township, and in towns to a municipality. The rising of the Commune at Paris in 1871, and which should not be confounded with communism, was a revolutionary assertion of the autonomy of Paris, that is, of the right of self-government through its commune or municipality. The theory of the rising was that every commune should have a real autonomy, the central government being merely a federation of communes. The movement was based on discontent at Paris, where the people found themselves in possession of arms after the siege by the Germans. The rising began on the 18th March, 1871, and was only suppressed ten weeks later after long, bloody fighting between the forces of the Commune and a large army of the central government; 6,500 Communists having fallen during 20-30th May, and 38,578 been taking prisoners.

Wat Tyler's insurrection occurred November 5, 1380. A peasant's revolt, immediately due to the imposition of a poll-tax on all persons above fifteen. Almost the whole of the peasantry of the southern and eastern counties of England rose in arms, murdering and plundering, under the leadership of Wat Tyler, said to have been a soldier in the French wars. On June 12, 1381, they gathered on Blackheath. On June 14, Richard II., then a lad of fifteen, met the Essex contingent at Mile End, and, promising the abolition of villenage, induced them to return home. On June 15, he met the Kentish men at Smithfield, and in the parley Wat Tyler was killed by William Walworth, mayor of London, and others. The peasants were about to avenge his death, when Richard, with great presence of mind, rode forward alone, and induced them to follow him to Islington, when, a body of troops coming to the king's aid, and Richard being profuse of promises, they dispersed.