the same name, close by the margin of the sea in the island of Ortygia, near Syracuse. According to Ovid, the river-god Alpheus became enamored of her while bathing in his stream in Arcadia. Diana, however, took pity on her, and changed her into a well, which flowed under the Adriatic to Ortygia. But Alpheus still pursued her, and, passing by the same under-ground channel from Greece to Sicily, re-appeared in the fountain, and mingled his waters with those of the nymph. [Written also, poetically, Arethuse.]

That renowned flood, so often sung, Divine Alpheus, who, by secret sluice, Stole under seas to meet his Arethuse.

Milton.

Aretino, The Only (a-ra-te'no). [It. L'Unico Aretino.] An honorary appellation given by his admirers to Bernardo Accolti, an Italian poet of the sixteenth century, celebrated for his wonderful powers of improvisation. The designation seems to have been intended to express his superiority to his uncle, Francesco Accolti (d. 1483), surnamed Aretinus, who was also a poet, and to Pietro Aretino, a distinguished contemporary satirist. Argalia (ar-gå-le'ȧ). A brother to Angelica, in Bojardo's romantic poem, the "Orlando Innamorato.' He is celebrated as the possessor of an enchanted lance which threw whomsoever it touched. Ferraù eventually killed him, and Astolfo obtained the lance.

Ar'ga-lus. An unfortunate lover in Sir Philip Sidney's "Arcadia." See PARTHENIA.

Argan (ar'gon', 62). The hero of Molière's comedy, "Le Malade Imaginaire," an hypochondriac patient, whose love of medicine is accompanied by a spirit of parsimony which leads him to take every mode that may diminish the expense of his supposed indisposition.

Argan... is discovered taxing his apothecary's bill, at once delighting his ear with the flowery language of the Pharmacopoeia, and gratifying his frugal disposition by clipping off some items and reducing others, and arriving at the double conclusion, first, that, if

his apothecary does not become more reasonable, he cannot afford to be a sick man any longer; and, secondly, that, as he has swallowed fewer drugs by one third this month than he had done the last, it was no wonder he was not so well. [He] is at last persuaded that the surest and cheapest way of securing himself against the variety of maladies by which he is beset, will be to become a doctor in his own proper person. He modestly represents his want of preliminary study, and of the necessary knowledge even of the Latin language; but he is assured that by merely putting on the robe and cap of a physician he will find himself endowed with all the knowledge necessary for exercising the profession. This leads to the interlude which concludes the piece, being the mock ceremonial of receiving a physician into the Esculapian college, couched in macaronic Latinity."

Sir W. Scott.

Argante (ar gŏnt', 62). A character in Molière's comedy, "Les Fourberies de Scapin." Ar-gan'te. A terrible giantess in Spenser's "Faëry Queen;' a very monster and miracle of licentiousness. Argantes (ar-gån/tess). The bravest of the infidel heroes in Tasso's epic poem, "Jerusalem Delivered."

Bonaparte, in these disjointed yet significant threats, stood before the deputies like the Argantes of Italy's heroic poet, and gave them the choice of peace and war with the air of a superior being, capable at once to dictate their fate. Sir W. Scott.

Ar-gier'. An old form of Algiers, found in Shakespeare's "Tempest." Ar'go. [Gr. 'Apyú, from άpyóc, swift.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A fifty-oared ship in which Jason and his companions made their voyage to Colchis in search of the golden fleece. See ARGONAUTS.

guarded by a sleepless and terrible dragon.

A body of Bastille heroes, tolerably complete, did get together; comparable to the Argonauts; hoping to endure like them. Carlyle. Ar'gus. [Gr. "Apyoç.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A fabulous being of enormous strength, who had a hundred eyes, of which only two were asleep at once, whence he was named Panoptes, or the All-seeing. Juno appointed him to watch over Io (see Io), but Mercury killed him, and Juno transferred his eyes to the tail of the peacock, her favorite bird.

Spangled with eyes more numerous than those

Of Argus, and more wakeful than to drowse, Charmed with Arcadian pipe, the pastoral reed

Of Hermes, or his opiate rod.

Milton.

A'ri-ad'ne (9). [Gr. 'Apiádvn.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A daughter of Minos, king of Crete, who, from the love she bore to Theseus, gave him a clew of thread, which guided him out of the Cretan labyrinth. Theseus in return promised to marry her, and she accordingly left the island with him, but was slain by Diana in Naxos. According to another tradition, she was married to Bacchus, who, after her death, gave her a place among the gods, and placed her wedding crown as a constellation in the sky. A'ri-el (9). 1. In the demonology of the Cabala, a water-spirit; in the fables of the Middle Ages, a spirit of the air, the guardian angel of innocence; in Shakespeare's "Tempest," an airy and tricksy spirit, represented as having been a servant to Sycorax, a foul witch, by whom, for some acts of disobedience, he was imprisoned within the rift of a cloven pine-tree, where he remained for twelve years, until released by Prospero. In gratitude for his deliverance, he became the willing messenger of Prospero, assuming any shape, or rendering himself invisible, in order to execute the commands of his master.

On the hearth the lighted logs are glowing,
And, like Ariel in the cloven pine-tree,

For its freedom

Groans and sighs the air imprisoned in them.

Longfellow.

66

2. The name of a sylph in Pope's Rape of the Lock."

"Pope's fairy region, compared with Shakespeare's, was what a drawingroom is to the universe. To give, therefore, to the sprite of the Rape of the Lock' the name of the spirit in the 'Tempest' was a bold christening. Prospero's Ariel could have puffed him out like a taper. Or he would have snuffed him up as an essence, by way of jest, and found him flat. But, tested by less potent senses, the sylph species is an exquisite creation. He is an abstract of the spirit of fine life; a suggester of fashions; an inspirer of airs; would be cut to pieces rather than see his will contradicted; takes his station with dignity on a picture-cord; and is so nice an adjuster of claims that he ranks hearts with necklaces... The punishments inflicted on him when disobedient have a like fitness. He is to be kept hovering over the fumes of the chocolate; to be transfixed with pins, clogged with pomatums, and wedged in the eyes of bodkins." Leigh Hunt. Ariodantes (It. pron. å-re-o-dån/tess). The lover of Ginevra, in Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso."

A-ri'on. [Gr. 'Apiwv.] (Gr. & Rom.

Myth.) An ancient Greek bard and musician of the isle of Lesbos. On his return to Corinth from Italy, on one occasion, the mariners formed a plot to murder him for his riches; but being forewarned of their intention, he played upon his lute, and, by the charms of his music, brought a num ber of dolphins around the vessel, when he threw himself into the sea, and was carried on the back of one of them to the promontory of Tænarus in the Peloponnesus. Ar/is-tæ'us. [Gr. 'Apiorałoç.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) An ancient Greek divinity, worshiped as the protector of vine and olive plantations, and of hunters and herdsmen. He was also thought to have instructed men in the management of bees. According to the common tradition, he was a son of Apollo and the water-nymph Cyrene.

In such a palace Aristous found
Cyrene, when he bore the plaintive tale
Of his lost bees to her maternal ear.
Cowper (on the Ice-palace of Anne of Russia.)

A-ris'te-ặs. [Gr. 'Apioréas.] (Gr. &
Rom. Myth.) A fabulous being, who

has been styled the "Wandering Jew" of popular tradition in ancient Greece. He appears first as a teacher of Homer, and re-appears in different ages and places in very different characters. Herodotus and Suidas assert that he was a magician, whose soul could leave and re-enter its body at pleasure.

See

Aristophanes, The Modern. MODERN ARISTOPHANES. Arlecchino (ar-lek-ke'no, 102). See HARLEQUIN.

Armada, The Invincible. (Eng. & Sp. Hist.) A famous naval armament, or expedition, sent by Philip II. of Spain against England, in the year 1588.

It consisted of 130 vessels, 2430 great guns, 4575 quintals of powder, nearly 20,000 soldiers, above 8000 sailors, and more than 2000 volunteers. It arrived in the Channel on the 19th of July, and was defeated the next day by Admiral Howard, who was seconded by Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher. Eight fireships having been sent into the Spanish fleet, they bore off in great disorder. Profiting by the panic, the English fell upon them, and captured or destroyed a number of their ships, and Admiral Howard maintained a running fight from the 21st of July to the 27th, with such effect, that the Spanish commander, despairing of success, resolved to return home, and, as escape through the English Channel was prevented by contrary winds, he undertook to sail around the Orkneys; but the vessels which still remained to him were dispersed by storms, or shipwrecked among the rocks and shallows, on different parts of the Scottish and Irish coast, and upwards of 5000 men were drowned, killed, or taken prisoners. Of the whole Armada, 53 ships only returned to Spain, and these in a wretched condition. The English lost but one ship. Armado. See DON ADRIANO DE ARMADO.

Armed Soldier of Democracy. A name given to Napoleon Bonaparte. Armida (ar-me'da, 64). One of the most prominent female characters

in Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered." The story of Armida is founded upon a tradition related by Pierre Delancre. The poet tells us, that, when the Crusaders arrived at the Holy City, Satan held a council to devise some means of disturbing the plans of the Christian warriors, and Armida, a very beautiful sorceress, was employed to seduce Rinaldo and other Crusaders. Rinaldo was conducted by Armida to a remote island, where, in her splendid palace, surrounded by delightful gardens and pleasuregrounds, he utterly forgot his vows and the great object to which he had devoted his life. To liberate him from his voluptuous bondage, two messengers from the Christian army, Carlo and Ubaldo, came to the island, bringing a talisman so powerful that the witchery of Armida was destroyed. Rinaldo escaped, but was followed by the sorceress, who, in battle, incited several warriors to attack the hero, and at last herself rushed into the fight. She was defeated by Rinaldo, who then confessed his love to her, persuaded her to become a Christian, and vowed to be her faithful knight. The story of Armida has been made the subject of an opera by both Gluck and Rossini.

'T was but a doubt; but ne'er magician's wand

Wrought change with all Armida's fairy art Like what this light touch left on Juan's heart. Byron.

The stage (even as it then was), after the recluseness and austerity of a college life, must have appeared like Armida's enchanted palHazlitt.

ace.

The grand mansions you arrive at in this waste, howling solitude prove sometimes essentially robber-towers; and there may be Armida palaces and divine-looking Armidas, where your ultimate fate is still worse.

Carlyle.

Arnolphe (arʼnolf”). A selfish, and morose cynic in Molière's "L'École des Femmes," whose pretended hatred of the world springs from an absorbing regard to his own gratification. Ar'oun-dight (-dit). The sword of Lancelot of the Lake.

It is the sword of a good knight,
Though homespun was his mail;
What matter if it be not named
Joyeuse, Colada, Durindale,

Excalibar, or Aroundight? Longfellow.

Ar-sin'o-e. A prude in Molière's comedy, "Le Misanthrope." Ar'te-gal. 1. A mythic king of Britain mentioned in the Chronicle of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and in Milton's History of Britain. See ELIDURE. 2. [Written also Artegall, Ar

thegal, and Artegale.] A character in Spenser's Faery Queen," representative of Justice, and also of the poet's friend and patron, Lord Grey. His main object to rescue Irena from the tyranny of Grantorto; but, like a chivalrous knight-errant, he is ready to turn aside and subdue the spirit of mischief and violence wherever it may be encountered.

Every obligation, according to the maxim of the Civil Law, is made void in the same manner in which it is rendered binding; as Arthegal, the emblematic champion of Justice in Spenser's allegory, decrees as law, that what the sea has brought the sea may Sir W. Scott.

resume.

Ar'te-mis.

[Gr. "Αρτεμις.] (Gr. Myth.) One of the great divinities of the ancient Greeks; the same as Diana. See DIANA.

Artful Dodger. A sobriquet of one

of the characters in Dickens's "Oliver Twist." He is a young thief, and an adept in villainy. Arthur. See KING ARTHUR. Ar'un-del. The steed of Bevis of Southampton. See BEVIS OF SOUTHAMPTON, SIR.

Ar-vir'a-gus. A son of Cymbeline, in Shakespeare's play of this name, passing under the assumed name of Cadwal, and supposed to be a son of Belarius. See BELARIUS. As-cal'a-phus. [Gr. Ασκάλαφος.] (Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A son of Acheron, who, having declared that Proserpine whom Pluto had given permission to return to earth, provided she had not eaten any thing while in the under-world had tasted of a pomegranate, was turned by Ceres into an owl, for his mischief-making. As-ca'ni-us. [Gr. 'Aokúvios.]_(Gr. & Rom. Myth.) A son of Æneas and Creusa. He accompanied his father to Italy, succeeded him in the kingdom of Latinus, and built the city of Alba Longa. [Called also Iulus.] See ENEAS.

The former belong to that class who, like the young Ascanius, are ever beating about in quest of a tawny lion, though they are much more successful in now and then starting a great bore. Sir W. Scott.

As'ca-part. The name of a giant whom Bevis of Southampton con

He was a man whose huge stature, thews, sinews, and bulk in proportion, would have enabled him to enact Colbrand, Ascapart, or any other giant of romance, without raising himself nearer to heaven even by the altitude of a chopin. Sir W. Scott.

As-cr’ặn Sage. [Lat. Ascrus se nex.] A name given by Virgil, in his sixth Eclogue, to Hesiod, who was born in the eighth century, B. C. at Ascra, a village of Boeotia, in Greece.

Asgard (is'gard). [Old Norse, yard, or abode, of the Asir, or gods.] (Scand. Myth.) A celestial city or territory, the dwelling of the gods, situated in the center of the universe, and accessible only by the bridge Bifröst (the rainbow). Here each of the principal deities had a residence apart from the rest. [Written also A sa gard.] Ash'ford, Isaac. A peasant in Crabbe's "Parish Register," de

scribed as

"A wise good man, contented to be poor."

Ash'ta-roth. (Myth.) The name given in the Bible to Astarte, an ancient Syrian deity, who was adored as the goddess of the moon; hence Jeremiah calls her "the queen of heaven." Solomon built her a temple on the Mount of Olives (2 Kings xxiii. 13), but her chief temples were at Tyre and Sidon. Her worship, according to ancient accounts, was of a licentious character. See ASTARTE. [Written also Astaroth and Astoreth.]

Moonèd Ashtaroth,

Ash'ton, Sir William. The Lord Keeper of Scotland; a prominent character in Scott's "Bride of Lammermoor."

Asir ('ser). (Scand. Myth.)

The

most powerful, though not the oldest, of the deities: usually reckoned as twelve gods and twelve goddesses. The gods are — - Odin, Thor, Baldur, Niord, Frey, Tyr, Bragi, Heimdall, Vidar, Vali, Ullur, and Forseti; the best-known of the goddesses - Frigga, Freyja, Iduna, and Saga. [Written also Aser, Asar, and Esir.] Aş'mo-dai. The same as Asmodeus. See ASMODEUS and BELIAL. Aş/mo-de'us. [Heb. Ashmedai, the destroyer.] In the Jewish demonology, an evil spirit, the demon of vanity, or dress, called in the Talmud" king of the devils," whence some assume him to be identical with Beelzebub, and others with Azrael. In modern times, he has been jocularly spoken of as the destroying demon of matrimonial happiness.

In the Apocryphal book of Tobit, he is represented as loving Sara, the

darkness of the night, the interiors are made visible. The scholar beholds, as at noonday, the inside of all the houses, as one might view the inside of a pie from which the crust had been removed.

"It is impossible to conceive a being more fitted to comment upon the vices, and to ridicule the follies, of humanity, than an esprit follet like Asmodeus [in Le Diable Boiteux '], who is as much a decided creation of genius, in his way, as Ariel or Caliban. Without possessing the darker powers and propensities of a fallen angel, he presides over the vices and follies, rather than the crimes, of mankind; is malicious rather than malignant; and his delight is to gibe, and to scoff, and to tease, rather than to torture; - one of Satan's lightinfantry, in short, whose business is to goad, perplex, and disturb the ordinary train of society, rather than to break in upon and overthrow it. This character is maintained in all Asmodeus says and does, with so much spirit, wit, acuteness, and playful malice, that we never forget the fiend, even in those moments when he is very near becoming amiable as well as entertaining." Sir W. Scott.

Could the reader take an Asmodeus-flight, and, waving open all roofs and privacies, look down from the roof of Notre-Dame, what a Paris were it! Carlyle.

death of seven husbands, who married her in succession, on the bridal night. Tobias, instructed by Raphael, burns on "the ashes of perfume" the heart and liver of the fish which he caught in the Tigris; "the which smell when the evil spirit had smelled, he fled into the utmost parts of Egypt, and the angel bound him." Those demonographers of the Middle Ages who reckoned nine kinds of evil spirits, placed Asmodeus at the head of the fourth rank, which consisted of malicious, revenging devils. According to other authorities, he is the lieutenant of Amaimon. Wierus, in his description of the infernal court, makes him superintendent of gambling-houses. Le Sage has made him the companion of Don Cleofas, in "Le Diable Boiteux," or "The Devil on Two Sticks," in which occurs the celebrated adventure known as Asmodeus's flight. By direction of the demon, Don Cleofas takes hold of Asmodeus's cloak, and is immediately borne through the air like an arrow,and perched upon the steeple of St. Salvador. rived at this spot, the demon stretches out his right arm, and at once, by his diabolical power, the roofs of the houses are taken off, and, notwithstanding the

Ar

Myth.) A son of Oceanus and Tethys, changed into a river for rebelling against Jupiter.

As-pā'si-a (as-pā/zhl-ȧ). A female character in Beaumont and Fletcher's play, "The Maid's Tragedy."

"Her sorrows are so deep, so pure, so unmerited; she sustains the breach of plighted faith in Amyntor, and the taunts of vicious women, with so much resignation, so little of that termagant resentment these poets are apt to infuse into their heroines; the poetry of her speeches is so exquisitely imaginative, that, of those dramatic persons who are not prominent in the development of a story, scarce any, even in Shakespeare, are more interesting." Hallam. Assassination Plot. (Eng. Hist.) The name given to a conspiracy formed in 1696, by the Earl of Aylesbury and others, to assassinate King William III., near Richmond, as he returned from the chase. It was discovered Feb. 15, the day before that fixed upon for the execution of the plot.