CAMEROON 304 CAMORRA National Convention of 1860, and in 1861 he was appointed Secretary of War by President Lincoln. He advocated the arming of fugitive slaves, and other ex- treme measures. In January, 1862, he resigTied from the Cabinet, and was ap- pointed minister to Russia. He succeed- ed in gaining the support of the Russian government for the Union. In November of the same year he resigned, and lived in retirement till 1866, when he was again elected to the United States Senate. In 1872 he became chairman of the Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs. In 1877 he retired from the Senate in favor of his son, James Donald Cameron. His influ- ence over the Republican party was strong, and his power in the politics of his State practically absolute. He died in Maytown (near Donegal), Pa., June 26, 1889. CAMEROON. See Kamerun. CAMILLA, a famous queen of the Volsci, who opposed ..Eneas on his land- ing in Italy. CAMISARDS, the title given to the Protestant insurgents in the Cevennes, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, from having worn their shirts over their dress by way of disguise, on the occasion of some nocturnal attacks. Their principal leader, Cavalier, suc- ceeded so far as to effect a capitulation in their favor with the French govern- ment. He subsequently entered the English service, and at his death was Governor of Jersey. CAMOENS, LUIS DE (kam'o-ens), a Portuguese poet; born in Lisbon, prob- ably in 1524 or 1525. Disappointed in love, he became a soldier, and served in the fleet which the Portuguese sent against Morocco, losing his right eye in a naval engagement before Ceuta. An affray into which he was drawn was the cause of his embarking in 1553 for In- dia. He landed at Goa, but, being un- favorably impressed with the life led by the ruling Portuguese there, wrote a satire which caused his banishment to Macao (1556). Here, however, he was appointed to an honorable position as ad- ministrator of the property of absentee and deceased Portuguese, and here, too, in what were the quietest and most pros- perous years of his life, he wrote the earlier cantos of his great poem, the "Lusiad." Returning to Goa in 1561, he was shipwrecked and lost all his prop- erty except his precious manuscript. After much misfortune Camoens in 1570 arrived once more in his native land, poor and without influence, as he had left it. The "Lusiad" was now printed at Lisbon (1572), and celebrat- ing as it did the glories of the Portu- guese conquests in India, acquired at once a wide popularity. The king him- self accepted the dedication of the poem, but the only reward Camoens obtained was a pittance insufficient to save him from poverty; and it is said that his faithful Javanese servant had often to beg food for them both in the streets. The "Lusiad" is an epic poem in 10 can- tos. Its subject is the voyage of Vasco da Gama to the East Indies; but many other events in the history of Portugal are also introduced. The other works of Camoens consist of sonnets, songs, epigrams, dramas, etc. He died June 18, 1579. CAMOMILE, or CHAMOMILE, a genus of compositae. The species are an- nual and perennial herbs, all palsearctic. The most important species of the genus is Anthemis nobilis, which has long been known for the medicinal virtues of an in- fusion of its flowers {Flores Anthemidis) as a bitter stomachic and tonic. The plant is chiefly cultivated at Mitcham, Surrey, England, and at Kieritsch and else- where in Saxony. The largest, whitest, and most completely double flowers are most esteemed. The other British species are mere weeds; one of them, called stinking camomile (A. cotula) , is so acrid as to blister the fingers. But the flowers of the Dyer's Camomile (A. tinctoria), a common on the Continent, yield a beautiful dye. Wild camomile (matricaria chamo- milla) is the common camomile of Ger- man writers. A cultivated variety of M. Parthenmm (Feverfew) has also to be distinguished. CAMORRA, a well-organized secret society, once spread throughout all parts of the kingdom of Naples. At one time the Camorristi were all-powerful, levy- ing a kind of blackmail at all markets, fairs, and public gatherings, claiming the right of deciding disputes, hiring themselves out for any criminal service from the passing of contraband goods to assassination. They had central sta- tions in all the large provincial towns, and a regular staff of recruiting officers. At the end of the 19th century the po- litical power gained by the Camorra had become so notorious and scandalous, that the Italian Government found it neces- sary to interfere. This resulted in the complete political defeat of the Camorra. The society thereupon returned to its original character and resumed black- mailing, extortion, robbery, and mur- der. Its activities eventually were sup- pressed, at least to a certain extent, by
