are widely distributed, about 20 of them being native to North America. Many of the climbing species are cultivated to cover walls, arbors, etc. The flowers are often very showy and of numerous shades.
Clémenceau (klắ′män′sō′), George B. E., a French statesman and senator and premier of France and minister of the interior, under the presidency of Armand Fallieres. A clever debater and born orator, as well as an able journalist in his day, M. Clémenceau is one of the most picturesque figures in modern politics. A native of Brittany (he was born in 1841 in the department of La Vendée), he early studied and for a time practised medicine in Montmartre, and then travelled abroad, paying a brief visit the while to the United States. In 1869 he returned to France, and two years later was elected to the National Assembly, later on becoming a member of the Chamber of Deputies and leader of the Extreme Left. Though holding radical views, he has usually acted with moderation and good sense, though he was compelled successively to oppose Gambetta, Jules Ferry and the Boulangists. For a number of years he devoted himself to journalism, editing for a time not only his radical journal, La Justice, but contributing many notable articles to L'Aurore, among them several defending Dreyfus, besides writing fiction and social studies and taking active part in politics and the questions of the day. Chief among the controversies of the time is the part played by M. Clémenceau in defining the relation of Radicals to Socialists, in reply to M. Jaures, the Socialist leader. Among his published works are Les Massacres d'Arménie (1896), Les Phis Forts (1898) and La Mele Sociale (1895).
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| SAMUEL L. CLEMENS |
Clemens (klĕm′enz), Samuel Langhorne (Mark Twain), was born at Florida, Mo., Nov. 30, 1835. He was first a printer, and afterward a pilot on the Mississippi River. One of the commonest sounds heard on a Mississippi steamboat in shallow water is the call of the man sounding the depth of the water — “Mark Twain,” meaning mark two fathoms; and when Clemens wanted a pseudonym, he took this familiar call. After spending some time in the silver mines of Nevada, he became a journalist in San Francisco. He became widely known as a humorist through his first book, Innocents Abroad which he brought out in 1869. Tom Sawyer, perhaps his most popular work, was published in 1876. Other of his works are A Tramp Abroad (1880); The Prince and the Pauper (1882); Life on the Mississippi (1883); Huckelberry Finn (1885); Pudd'n-head Wilson (1895); Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894); Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (1896); Following the Equator (1897); The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg (1900); Christian Science (1903); How to Tell a Story (1904); and Editorial Wild Oats (1905).
Through the failure, in 1894, of the publishing house of Charles L. Webster & Co., of which he was the founder, Mr. Clemens was left deeply in debt. To retrieve his fortune he entered upon a lecturing tour, which extended around the world and furnished material for Following the Equator. On the completion of this tour he resided for a time in Vienna. He returned to America in 1900, and actively resumed literary work. In 1907 he visited England, where he was most heartily received, and was honored with the degree of D.C.L. from the University of Oxford. Mark Twain's humor is simple and direct, never strained, and has been described as “a sort of good-natured satire in which the reader may see his own absurdities reflected.” He died April 21, 1910.
Clement (klĕm′ent), the name of 17 popes.
Clement XIV was born in 1705, near Rimini, Italy. He studied and taught philosophy and theology, was a friend of Benedict XIV, became cardinal under Clement XIII, and was elevated to the papal chair on May 19, 1769. In 1773 he issued his famous brief, suppressing the Society of the Jesuits. He was remarkable for his high character and learning as well as for his liberal ideas. He died on Sept. 22, 1774.
Clementi (klắ-mĕn′tḗ), Muzio (1752-1832), an Italian composer and pianist. The work by which he is best known is his Gradus ad Parnassum, a series of 100 piano-studies. Though his contemporary, Mozart, spoke of him with a sneer, he was highly esteemed by Beethoven for the virile and artistic traits developed in his sonatas.
Cleopatra (klē′ṓ-pā′trắ), daughter of the Egyptian king Ptolemy Auletes, was born in 69 B. C. Her father wished her to reign jointly with her brother, who was also, according to the Egyptian custom, to be her husband; but the boy's guardian drove her from the throne. She was just about to return from Syria, backed by an army, when Cæsar reached Egypt in pursuit of Pompey. Her charms won the great soldier to her cause, who placed her again on her throne, this time with a still younger brother as colleague and husband, of whom she quickly rid herself by poison. Soon after she followed her conquering lover to Rome
