STRATFORD
1836
STRAUSS
versity was founded in 1621, and became famous, especially in medicine and the study of the languages, but was broken up during the French Revolution. In 1819 it was established again by the union of two academies, founded in 1803 and 1808. In 1872 it was reorganized as a German university, with new buildings, laboratories, a library of over 700,000 volumes, in place of the old one of 200,000 volumes which was entirely destroyed in the siege of 1870, a faculty of 151, and an attendance of 1,418 students in philosophy, jurisprudence, theology and medicine. As Strassburg stands near the borders of France, Germany and Switzerland, it has a large trade and a great variety of manufactures, including tanneries, foundries, chemical and locomotive works, piano and tobacco factories and many jewelry establishments.
Strassburg was colonized by the Romans during the reign of Augustus, and Julian here won a victory over the Alernanni in 357 A. D. It became a free town of the Holy Roman empire in the i3th century. In 1681 it was seized by the French and confirmed to them by the treaty of Rys-wick. In 1870, after a siege of seven weeks, Strassburg surrendered to the Germans on Sept. 28. Population 167,678.
Strat'ford, Can., county-seat of Perth County, Ont., has a population of 9,959, and is a railway and industrial center of growing importance, surrounded by rich farming-land.
Stratford=on=Avon, a town in Warwickshire, England, 22 miles southeast of Birmingham, celebrated as the birthplace of Shakespeare. It stands on Avon River. "Shakespeare's house," where the poet was born, is on Henley Street, and belongs to the government, having been bought for $15,000 and restored. The old guild-hall was restored in 1892, and is occupied by the grammar-school of King Edward VI, where Shakespeare was educated. The old church, with Shakespeare's and Anne Hathaway's grave, also contains an American stained-glass window representing the "Seven Ages." The Shakespeare fountain was presented by George W. Childs, an American, in 1887; and Shakespeare Memorial Theater was built in 1877-9. Anne Hathaway's cottage, near by, also belongs to the nation. Stratford-on-Avon is an important agricultural center, but its prosperity depends largely on the visitors, who number 20,000 or more every year. Population 8,318. See Sketch-Book by Irving; Our Old Home by Hawthorne; Stratford-on-Avon by Lee.
Stratford de Red'cliffe (Sir Stratford Canning), an English diplomatist, was born at London, Nov. 4, 1786. He in 1812 negotiated the treaty between Russia and Turkey, which released the Russian army of the Danube in time to attack Napoleon
on his retreat from Moscow. He was minister to the United States during 1819-23. In 1825 he was again sent to Constantinople; again, in 1831, on a mission to draw the boundaries of the new kingdom of Greece; and once more, from 1842 to 1858, he was ambassador at Constantinople. Here his influence was so great as to gain him the name of The Great Elchi. He induced the sultan to begin a series of reforms, which improved the condition of the native Christians, and made every effort to prevent the Crimean War. He retired from public service at its close and died on Aug. 14, 1880. See Life by Stanley Lane-Poole.
Strathco'na and Mount Royal, Lord, formerly known as Sir Donald A, Smith, high commissioner for Canada at London, was born in Scotland in 1820. He early in life entered the service of the Hudson Bay Company, and was the last resident-governor of that fur-trading corporation. For a time he represented Selkirk, Manitoba, in the Dominion Parliament and was a director of the Canadian Pacific Railroad Company. In the Boer War he raised the Strathcona Horse for service in South Africa, equipping 500 men at his own expense. He was known for his active philanthropy. He died in London Jan. 21, 1914.
Straus (strous), Oscar Solomon, an American merchant and diplomat, was born at Otterberg, Bavaria, in 1850. In 1854 his family emigrated to the United States. Lazarus Straus, the father, and Oscar made wholesale importations of pottery and glassware. Mr. Straus was educated at Columbia University. In 1887 he became minister to Turkey; returned home in 1889; and was re-appointed in 1897. Since 1902 he has been a member of the Court of Arbitration at The Hague. In 1907 he was appointed secretary of Commerce and Labor. He is the author of The Origin of the Republican Form of Government in the United States; Roger Williams the Pioneer of Religious Liberty; The Development of Religious Liberty in the United States; and Reform in the Consular Service.
Strauss, David Friedrich, a German writer, was born at Wurttemberg, Jan. 27, 1808. He began life as a country pastor, but after a year became professor in a seminary, and then went to Berlin for study. While teaching and lecturing at Tubingen, he published his Life of Jesus (1835), which aroused great excitement throughout Germany and resulted in his dismissal from his position. His next publications were defenses of his work, which were followed by his second great work: Christian Doctrine of Belief. He published lives of Schubart and Ulrich von Hiitten, brilliant lectures on Voltaire and a new Life of Jesus (1864). The Christ of Faith
