hand of his conqueror, who, with great tenderness, bestows it. He is represented as bringing into the field no fewer than two million two hundred thousand troops. Such forces met not, nor so wide a camp, When Agrican, with all his northern powers, Besieged Albracca, as romancers tell. Milton. A de Ague-cheek, Sir Andrew. lightful simpleton in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." See SLENDER. "To this straight-haired country squire, life consists only in eating and drinking; eating beef, he himself fears, has done harm to his wit; in fact, he is stupid even to silliness, totally deprived of all fashion, and thus of all self-love or self-conceit." Gervinus, Trans. I suppose I must say of Jeffrey as Sir Andrew Ague-cheek saith: " An I had known he was so cunning of fence, I had seen him damned ere I had fought him." Byron. A-has'u-e'rus (-hazh'oo-e'rus, 10). See JEW, THE WANDERING. Ahmed, Prince. See PRINCE AH MED. Ah'ri-mặn, or Ah'ri-ma'neṣ. [Per., from Sansk. ari, foe.] (Myth.) A deity of the ancient Persians, being a personification of the principle of evil. To his agency were ascribed all the evils existing in the world. Ormuzd, or Oromasdes, the principle of good, is eternal, but Ahriman is created, and will one day perish. See ORMUZD. I recognize the evil spirit, Sir, and do honor to Ahrimanes in taking off my hat to this young man. Thackeray. Ai'denn. An Anglicized and disguised spelling of the Arabic form of the word Eden; used as a synonym for the celestial paradise. Tell this soul, with sorrow laden, if, within the distant Aidenn, It shall clasp a sainted maiden, whom the angels name Lenore. Poe. Aimwell. A gentleman of broken fortunes, master to Archer, in Farquhar's comedy, "The Beaux' Stratagem." Ã'jăx. [Gr. Alas.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) 1. A son of Telamon, king of Salamis. Next to Achilles, he was the most distinguished, the bravest, and the most beautiful, of all the Greeks before Troy. Accounts differ as to the cause and manner of his death. A tradition mentioned by Pausanias states, that from his blood. there sprang up a purple flower, which bore the letters ai on its leaves, which were at once the initials of his name and a sigh. Gad! she shoots her glances as sharply from behind the old pile yonder, as Teucer from behind Ajax Telamon's shield. Sir W. Scott. 2. A son of Oïleus, king of the Locrians. He was one of the great heroes among the Greeks in the Trojan war, but inferior to the son of Telamon, whence he is called the lesser Ajax. His shafts, like those of the lesser Ajax, were discharged more readily that the archer was inaccessible to criticism, personally speaking, as the Grecian archer under his brother's sevenfold shield. Sir W. Scott. A-lad'din. A character in the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments," who becomes possessed of a wonderful lamp, and an equally wonderful ring, on rubbing which two frightful genii appear, who are respectively the slave of the lamp and the slave of the ring, and who execute the bidding of any one who may have these talismans in his keeping. By means of the lamp and ring, Aladdin is enabled to marry a daughter of the sultan of China, and builds in a single night a magnificent palace containing a large hall with four-and-twenty windows in it decorated with jewels of every description and of untold value, one window only being excepted, which is left quite plain that the sultan may have the glory of finishing the apartment. But all the treasures of his empire and all the skill of his jewelers and goldsmiths are not sufficient to ornament even one side of the window; whereupon Aladdin, after having the materials which have been used removed and returned to the sultan, directs the genie to complete the window, which is immediately done. At length, a malignant magician fraudulently obtains the miraculous lamp, during the temporary absence of the owner, and instantaneously transports the palace to Africa. But the ring still remains to Aladdin, and enables him to pursue and circumvent the thief, and to recover the lamp and restore the palace to its former situation. The ephemeral kingdom of Westphalia, the appanage of Jerome Bonaparte, composed out of the spoils of these principalities, vanished into air, like the palace of Aladdin, in the Arabian tale. Sir W. Scott. Ah! who shall lift that wand of magic power, The unfinished window in Aladdin's tower Unfinished must remain. Longfellow. Alaric Cottin (å/lå-rêk' kot'tǎn'). A nickname given by Voltaire to Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, who was distinguished for his military genius, and was also known as dabbler in literature, and a writer of bad French verses. The first name refers to the famous Visigothic king and warrior, while the second probably refers to the Abbé Cotin, a mediocre poet of the seventeenth century, who was severely satirized by Boileau, Molière, and other writers of his time. See TRISSOTIN. A-las'năm. The hero of a story in the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments "entitled "The History of Prince Zeyn Alasnam and the Sultan of the Genii," which relates how he came into the possession of immense wealth, including eight statues of solid gold; how he was led to seek for a ninth statue more precious still, to place on an empty pedestal; and how he found it at last in the person of the most beautiful and purest woman in the world, who became his wife. In this brilliant comedy [Congreve's "Love for Love"], there is plenty of bright and sparkling characters, rich as wit and imagination can make them; but there is wanting one pure and perfect model of simple nature, and that one, wherever it is to be found, is, like Alasnam's lady, worth them all. Sir W. Scott. Å-lastor. [Gr. ’AláoTop, from a privative, and λaveiv, to forget.] In classical mythology, a surname of Zeus or Jupiter; also, in general, a punitive deity, a house-demon, the never-forgetting, revengeful spirit, who, in consequence of some crime perpetrated, persecutes a family from generation to generation. Plutarch relates that Cicero, in his hatred of Augustus, meditated killing himself by the fireside of this prince in order to become his Alastor. In the Zoroastrian system, Alastor is called the Executioner or Tormentor. Origen says he is the same as Azazel. Others confound him with the Exterminating Angel. By Wierus and other mediæval demonographers, Alastor is described as a devil in the infernal court, and the chief executive officer in great undertakings. Shelley, in his poem entitled "Alastor," makes him the "Spirit of Solitude." Alba-ny. or the Scottish HighAl-ba'ni-, A name given to Scotland, lands, in the old romances and histories. It is said to have been derived from a certain fabulous Albanact, who received this portion of the island of Albion, or Britain, from his father Brutus. See ALBYN. Alba-ny Regency. A name popularly given in the United States to a junto of astute Democratic politicians, having their head-quarters at Albany, who controlled the action of the Democratic party for many years, and hence had great weight in national politics. The effort to elect William H. Crawford president, instead of John Quincy Adams, was their first great struggle. Al'bi-on. An ancient name of Britain, said to have been given to it on account of the lofty white cliffs (Lat. albus, white) on the southern coast. Others trace the word to the Celtic alb, alp, high. In the fabulous history of England, it is related that the first inhabitants were subdued by Albion, a giant and a son of Neptune, who called the island after his own name, and ruled it forty-four years. Another legend derives the name from a certain Albina, the eldest of fifty daughters of "a strange Dioclesian king of Syria," who, having murdered their husbands on their marriage-night, one only excepted, whom his wife's loyalty saved, were by him, at the suit of his wife, their sister, not put to death, but turned out to sea in a ship unmanned, and who, as the tale goes, were driven on this island, where they had issue by the inhabitants, -none but devils, as some write, or, as others assert, a lawless crew, without head or governor. Milton characterizes these stories as "too absurd and too unconscionably gross for credence; but he remarks, "Sure enough we are that Britain hath been anciently termed Albion, both by the Greeks and Romans." Not yet enslaved, not wholly vile, Al'bi-on, New. Coleridge. A name formerly given to an extensive tract of land on the north-west coast of North America. It was originally applied by Sir Francis Drake, in 1578, to the whole of what was then called California; but it was afterward confined to that part of the coast which extends from 43° to 48° N. lat., and is now included within the State of Oregon and Washington Territory. Al Borak (ål bor/ak). [Ar., the lightning.] An imaginary animal of wonderful form and qualities, on which Mohammed pretended to have performed a nocturnal journey from the temple of Mecca to Jerusalem, and thence to the seventh heaven, under the conduct of the angel Gabriel. This marvelous steed was a female, of a milk-white color, and of incredible swiftness. At every step, she took a leap as far as the longest sight could reach. She had a human face, but the cheeks of a horse; her eyes were as jacinths, and radiant as stars. She had eagle's wings, all glittering with rays of light; and her whole form was resplendent with gems and precious stones. Albracca (ål-bråk/ka, 102). A castle of Cathay to which Angelica, in Bojardo's Orlando Innamorato," retires in grief at being scorned and shunned by Rinaldo, with whom she is deeply in love. Here she is besieged by Agricane, king of Tartary, who resolves to win her, notwithstanding her rejection of his suit. Ål'byn (ǎl'bin). The ancient Celtic name of Scotland, and, until Cæsar's time, the appellation of the whole island of Great Britain. It is said to be derived from the Celtic alp or alb, meaning high, and inn, an island. The Scottish Celts denominate themselves Gael Albinn, or Albinnich, in distinction from the Irish, whom they call Gael Eirinnich; and the Irish themselves call the Scottish Gael Albannaich, while their writers, so late as the twelfth century, call the country of the Scottish Gael Alban. [Written also Albin and Albinn.] The Celtic people of Erin and Albyn had, in short, a style of poetry properly called national, though Macpherson was rather an excellent poet than a faithful editor and translator. Sir W. Scott. The pure Culdees Campbell. But woe to his kindred and woe to his cause, When Albin her claymore indignantly draws. Campbell. Alceste (al'sest'). The hero of Molière's comedy, "Le Misanthrope." "Alceste is an upright and manly character, but rude, and impatient even of the ordinary civilities of life, and the harmless hypocrisies of complaisance, by which the ugliness of human nature is in some degree disguised." Sir W. Scott. "Molière exhibited, in his' Misanthrope,' a pure and noble mind which had been sorely vexed by the sight of perfidy and malevolence disguised under the forms of politeness. He adopts a standard of good and evil directly opposed to that of the society which surrounded him. Courtesy seems to him a vice, and those stern virtues which are neglected by the fops and coquettes of Paris become too exclusively the objects of his veneration. He is often to blame, he is often ridiculous, but he is always a good man." Macaulay. Al-ces'tis, or Al-ces'te. [Gr. "AλkŋOTIS, or 'AλKÉOTN.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A daughter of Pelias, and the wife of Admetus. To save her husband's life, she died in his stead, but was brought back to the upper world by Hercules. Methought I saw my late espoused saint Brought to me like Alcestis from the grave, Al-cin'o-us. [Gr. 'A2kivooç.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A king of Drepane, or, as some say, of Phæacia, who entertained the Argonauts on their return from Colchis, and Ulysses when he was shipwrecked. Al'ci-phron. [Gr. 'Aλkippwv, from λký, strength, spirit, and opηv, heart, breast.] 1. A freethinking interlocutor in Bishop Berkeley's work of the same name,— otherwise called the "Minute Philosopher," a work "written with an intention to expose the weakness of infidelity." 2. The hero of Thomas Moore's romance, "The Epicurean," and also the title of a poem by the same author. We long to see one good solid rock or tree, on which to fasten our attention; but there is none. Like Alciphron we swing in air and darkness, and know not whither the wind blows us. Putnam's Mag. Alc-me'na. [Gr. 'Aλkμývn.] (Gr. Rom. Myth.) The wife of Amphitryon, and the mother of Hercules by Jupiter, who visited her in the disguise of her husband. See AMPHIT RYON. Alcofribas Nasier (ål'ko'fre/ba' nå'se-a', 44). An anagrammatic pseudonym of François Rabelais (14831553), the celebrated French ro mancer. Al-cy'o-ne. [Gr. 'Aλkvóvη.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A daughter of Æolus, and the wife of Ceyx. On hearing of her husband's death by shipwreck, she threw herself into the sea, and was changed by the gods into a kingfisher. [Written also Halcyone.] Al'da (ål'da), or Al-da-bella (ål-dåbel'lå, 102). The name given to the wife of Orlando, and sister of Oliver, in the romantic poems of Italy. Al'di-bo-ron/te-phos/co-phor'ni-o. 1. A character in Henry Carey's play of "Chrononhotonthologos." I felt as if my understanding were no longer my own, but was alternately under the dominion of Aldiborontephoscophornio, and that of his facetious friend Rigdum Funnidos. Sir W. Scott. 2. A nickname given by Sir Walter Scott to his school-mate, printer, partner, and confidential friend, James Ballantyne, on account of his solemn and rather pompous manner. See RIGDUM FUNNIDOS. Ål'din-gar, Sir. A character in an ancient legend, and the title of a celebrated ballad, preserved in Percy's "Reliques," which relates how the honor of Queen Elianor, wife of Henry Plantagenet, impeached by Sir Aldingar, her steward, was submitted to the chance of a duel, and how an angel, in the form of a little child, appeared as her champion, and established her innocence. A-lec'to. [Gr. 'Aληктw.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) One of the three Furies. Alexander of the North. An epithet conferred upon Charles XII. of Sweden (1682-1718), whose military genius and success bore some resemblance to those of the Macedonian conqueror. A-lex'is. A youth of great beauty, of whom the shepherd Corydon, in Virgil's second Eclogue, was enamored. Alfadur (ål'få'door). [That is, AllFather.] (Scand. Myth.) A name given to the Supreme Being, the uncreated, eternal, and omnipresent Deity, whose nature and attributes were unknown. The name was also used as a title of Odin. See ODIN. Allen-&-Dale. The hero of an old ballad which relates how his marriage to his true love who was on the point of being forcibly wedded to an old knight-was brought about by Robin Hood. Allen-a-Dale is described as "a brave young man," gayly dressed, who "did frisk it over the plain, And chanted a roundelay." Where is Allen-a-Dale, to chronicle me in a ballad, or if it were but a lay? Sir W. Scott. Alliance, Grand. See GRAND ALLIANCE; and for HOLY ALLIANCE, QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE, TRIPLE ALLIANCE, see the respective adjectives HOLY, QUADRUPLE, &c. All-the-Talents Administration. An administration formed by Lord Grenville on the death of Mr. Pitt (June 23, 1806). The friends of this ministry gave it the appellation of Lord Grenville, First Lord of the Treasury. Earl Fitzwilliam, Lord President. Viscount Sidmouth (Henry Addington), Privy Seal. Rt. Hon. Charles James Fox, Foreign Seal. Earl Spencer, Home Secretary. Mr. Sheridan, Treasurer of the Navy. Lord Ellenborough (Lord Chief Justice) had a seat in the Cabinet. Allworthy, Mr. A character in Fielding's novel of "Tom Jones," distinguished for his worth and benevolence. This character was drawn for Fielding's private friend, Ralph Allen, of whom Pope said, "Let humble Allen, with an awkward shame, Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame." The sturdy rectitude, the large charity, the good nature, the modesty, the independent spirit, the ardent philanthropy, the unaffected indifference to money and to fame, make up a character, which, while it has nothing unnatural, seems to us to approach nearer to perfection than any of the Grandisons and Allworthys of fiction. Macaulay. Al-main'. [Low Lat. Alemannia, Fr. Allemagne, Sp. Alemania; from Alemanni, the collective name of several ancient German tribes in the vicinity of the Lower and Middle Main; from Celt. allman, a stranger, foreigner, from all, another, man, place.] An old English name for Germany. I have seen Almain's proud champions in Dryden's tragedy of "The Conquest of Granada." After all, I say with Almanzor,→ Almighty Dollar. A personification of the supposed object of American idolatry, intended as a satire upon the prevailing passion for gain. The expression originated with Washington Irving. 66 The Almighty Dollar, that great object of universal devotion throughout our land, seems to have no genuine devotees in these peculiar villages. W. Irving, The Creole Village. Alp. The hero of Byron's Siege of Corinth." Alph. A river mentioned by Coleridge in his poem entitled "Kubla Khan,” composed during a dream, immediately after a perusal of Purchas's "Pilgrimage," " and written down from memory. This name is not found in Purchas, but was invented by Coleridge, and was probably suggested by the Alpheus of classical mythology. "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree, Alquife (ål-ke/få). A personage who figures in almost all the books of the lineage of Amadis as a potent wizard. . con Then thou hadst not, as now,. verted, in thy vain imagination, honest Griffiths, citizen and broker, ... into some... sage Alquife, the mystical and magical protector of thy peerless destiny. Sir W. Scott. (al-sa/shĭ-). A popular name formerly given to Whitefriars, a precinct in London, without the Temple, and west of Blackfriars. It was for a long time an asylum or sanctuary for insolvent debtors and persons who had offended against the laws. The scene of Shadwell's |