died in 1719. See a mention of his death, p. 245. Folly of Castle building, 71. Providence Inscrutable, 177. Reflections in Westminster Abbey, 317. AD-O-LES CENCE (from the Latin adolescere, to grow up to), the age between childhood and manhood. ADORATION, homage to God. The root of the word is the Latin os, oris, the mouth, and it implies spoken prayer. ADVANCE Poem by M'Carthy, 179. ADVENTURE in Calabria, 305. Es'CHINES, the great rival of Demosthenes as an orator, was born in Athens, B. C. 389. Being banished to Rhodes, he there set up a school of rhetoric. ES'CHYLUS, one of the most famous tragic writers of Greece, was born at Athens about five hundred years B. C. He has been called the father of the Greek stage. He is said to have died in his sixtieth year of a fracture of his skull, caused by an eagle's letting fall a tortoise on his head. ESOP, a native of Phrygia, a country in the middle of Asia Minor, flourished about 572 B. C. He was a slave and deformed, and composed his celebrated fables for his own amusement. Obtaining his freedom, he made several voyages to Greece, where he lost his life in a quarrel with the people of Delphos. AFFECTATION, a poem, 144. Affectation of Knowledge, 278. AJAX, one of the heroes at the siege of Troy, celebrated by Homer. He was second only to Achilles in bravery. ALBUM, from the Latin albus, white, was a white table or register, whereon the decrees of the Romans were written. It is now used to designate a book for autographs, an artist's sketch-book, &c. ALEXANDER the Great, King of Macedon, and conqueror of Asia, was born B. C. 356, and began to reign in his twentieth He died in his thirty-third year, year. of a fever, brought on by intemperate habits. He was, says Seneca, “a cruel ravager of provinces," and "made his happiness and glory to consist in rendering himself formidable to all mortals." ALEXANDER Se-ve'rus, Emperor of Rome, was born at Acre in Phoenicia, in 205. The chief event of his reign was a great victory over Artaxerxes, King of Persia. He was murdered, with his mother, in a military sedition, 235. See Gibbon's account of him, p. 144. ALEXANDRIA, a seaport, situated on a sandy strip of land, running into the Mediterranean, and the ancient capital of Lower Egypt; founded by Alexander the Great, who peopled it with Greeks, B. C. 332. Here was a famous library, stored with from five hundred thousand to seven hundred thousand volumes; a large number of which were burnt during the siege of the city by Julius Cæsar, B. C. 47. The library was afterwards partly restored, but was finally destroyed by the Saracens, A. D. 642; when, it is said, the numerous volumes supplied fuel during six months for four thousand baths. Opposite to Alexandria was the small isle of Pharos, now joined to the main land by a causeway. Here stood a celebrated lighthouse of white marble, and deemed one of the seven wonders of the world. Its light could be seen at a distance of one hundred miles. From the name of the isle on which it stood, Pharos became a common appellation for all light-houses. The trade of Alexandria was greatly reduced by the discovery of the passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, A. D. 1497; but the town still has a population of about seventeen thousand souls, and a growing trade. There was once a celebrated amphitheatre at Alexandria, where cruel games were exhibited. Gladiatorial Combat with a Tiger, p. 94. ALEXANDRINE. The verse of twelve or thirteen syllables; so called from an ancient French poet, who first used it. ALFRED the Great, born 849, died 901, was the greatest king that England can boast; distinguished for his learning, wisdom, justice, moderation, and piety. Character, by Dickens, 244. ALLEGORY (from the Greek words, allo, another thing, and egoreo, I declare) is in literature a continued metaphor; a metaphor being the representation of one thing by another. Fables are a species of allegory. Some of the parables of the Bible are allegories. Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is one of the most famous of allegories. The Two Palaces, an Allegory, p. 219. ALLSTON, Washington, one of the greatest painters that America has produced, was born at Charleston, S.C., 1779, and died in 1843, at Cambridge, Mass., where he long resided. He was a man of remarkable genius, and while in Europe was the friend of Coleridge and other eminent men. He was a devout Christian. "lis belief," says Mr. Dana," was in a Being as infinitely minute and sympathetic in his providences, as unlimited in his power and knowledge." Mr. Allston showed much ability as a poet and essayist. gave the name, is not now accurately known. Alexander Von Humboldt, who studied the question closely, ascribed the general reception of the name America to its having been introduced into a popular work on geography, published in 1507. Discovery by Columbus, 185, 191. On Taxing the Colonies, 267. Progress of, by Burke, 269. The American Union, 271. AMPHITHEATRE (from the Gr. amphi, about, and theatron, a seeing-place), in antiquity, a spacious edifice of a circular or oval form, having its area encompassed with rows of seats, one above another, aud used for gladiatorial and other shows. See p. 386. AMUSE. This word (says Trench) plainly affirms of itself that amusement must first be earned. It is from a, without, and musis, the Muses, who, it must be remembered, were the patronesses, in old time, not of poetry alone, but of history, geometry, and all other studies as well. What shall we, then, say of those who would fain have their lives to be all "amusement," or who claim it otherwise than as this temporary withdrawal a musis (from the Muses)? The very word condemns them. See Muses. ANALOGY (from the Gr. ana, and logos, according to rule, or proportion), a relation of similarity between different things in certain respects. Adj., analogous. ANECDOTE (from the Gr. a, not, ek, from, and dotos, given; meaning, originally, something not yet given out, or divulged to the world); any little story or incident told or narrated. Anecdotes and Incidents, 278. ANCIENT Mariner. In Coleridge's poem under this title, the mariner is guided to his own country by angelic spirits, who "stood as signals to the land, each one a lovely light," 398. AN'GELO, Michael Buonarotti, the greatest of Italian artists, alike eminent in painting, sculpture and architecture; no bad poet, and a noble-hearted man. Born at Chiusi, in 1474; died at Rome, in 1564. Anecdote of, 278. ANGLE (from the L. angulus, a corner). When one line stands upon another, so as not to lean more to one side than to another, both the angles which it makes with the other are called right angles. All right angles are equal to each other, being all equal to ninety degrees, making the quarter of a circle. ANIMAL CULE, a minute animal, generally one that can be discerned only by aid of the microscope. ANIMALS, on Cruelty to Brute, 195. A. D., or Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord, affixed to dates, signify so many years from the birth of our Saviour. ANON', as an adverb, soon, by and by, ever and anon, now and then. Anon., with a period at the end, is an abbreviation for anonymous. ANONYMOUS (from the Gr. a, not, and onama, a name), without a name; nameless. A book or writing is said to be anonymous when the author's name is suppressed. A C., or Ante Christum, affixed to dates, signify so many years before the birth of Jesus Christ. A. M. These initials may stand for ante meridiem, before noon; artium magister, master of arts; and anno mundi, in the year of the world. ANTQUITY (from the L. antiquus or anticus, ancient, which is from ante, before), the times of old. ANTIPODES (an-tip'o-dēz), from the Greek anti, against, opposed to, and pous, a foot; those people who, living on the other side of the globe, have their feet directly opposite to ours. Do not mispronounce this word, as many do, by making the last five letters of it one syl lable instead of two. APPETITE (from the Latin appeterë, to seek after), though used for desire generally, is oftener applied to the desire of food, hunger. APOLOGUE (from the Gr. apo, from, and logos, a saying), a fable or fiction, of which the obiect is moral. See Fable. Select Apologues, 72. Apologues in Verse, 286. APOS TATIZE (from the Gr. apo, from, and istasthai to stand), to stand away from; to desert or forsake. APOS'TRO-PHE (Gr. apo, from, and strophe, a turning). In rhetoric, a figure of speech by which the orator or writer suddenly breaks off from the previous method of his discourse, and addresses, in the second person, some person or thing, absent or present. For the use of the word in grammar, see p. 49. Satan's Apostrophe to the Sun, 349. APRIL. The fourth month of the year. The name is probably derived from the Lat. aperire, to open; from the opening of the buds, or of the earth in ploughing. AQUEDUCT (Lat. aqua, water, and ductus, a leading). A conduit (kon'dit), or channel, for conveying water from one place to another. AQUA CLAUDIA, a famous aqueduct in Rome, begun by the Emperor Nero in the first century of the Christian era, and finished by Claudius. It conveys water from a distance of thirty-eight miles. For thirty miles it forms a subterranean stream, and for seven miles is supported on arcades (series of arches). Such was the solidity of its construction, that it continues to supply modern Rome with water to this day. See p. 217. ARBITRARY, bound by no rule or law. ARCADIAN, pertaining to Arcadia, a mountainous part of ancient Greece, where the inhabitants led simple pastoral lives, and cultivated music. ARCHIMEDES (Ar-ki-me'des), account of, 275. ARCHITECT (Gr. archi, chief, and tektōn, a worker). A chief workman or builder; ore skilled in designing buildings: thus architecture is the art of building according to certain proportions and rules. A-RENA. A Latin word, originally meaning sand, but applied to that part of the amphitheatre in which the gladiators fought, which was covered with sand, 94. ARION, an ancient Greek bard and performer on the cithern, or gittern, a stringed Instrument similar to the guitar. His life being threatened by pirates at sea, he is fabled to have played on his cithern, and then, with a prayer to the gods, to have leaped into the sea, where a song-loving dolphin received him on his back, and bore him safely to the shore, 295. ARISTAR CHUS, the greatest critic of antiquity. He flourished B. C. 156. His criticisms were so severe that his name has become proverbial, 342. ARISTOTLE, often called the Stagyrite, from Stagira, a town of Macedonia, where he was born, 384 B. C., was a pupil of Plato and a preceptor of Alexander the Great. lle was one of the most influential of the philosophers and writers of ancient Greece, and a good part of his works still exist. His doctrines are sometimes styled the Aristotelian philosophy. He died 323 B. C. See p. 311. ARITHMETIC (Gr. arithmos, number), the science of numbers, 124. ARNDT, from the German of, 360. ARTICULATION explained, 14, 27. ASIDE. In dramatic writing, a character is supposed to utter a remark aside when he does not mean that the other persons of the drama, who may be present, shall hear it. ASININE (as'i-nine), resembling an ass. Ass. The Ass and the Lamb, 67. ASPARAGUS, a Greek word, meaning the first bud or sprout; now applied to a wellknown garden vegetable. ASSIZE (from a Latin word meaning to sit) is the periodical session held by the judges of the superior courts in the counties of England. The plural form, assizes, is popularly used. ASTHMA (Gr. asthmaino, I breathe hard). A disease the leading symptom of which is difficulty of breathing. ASTONISHED (from the L. ad, to, and tono, I thunder) means originally struck with thunder. ASTRONOMY (Gr. astron, a star, and nomos, a law). The science which treats of the celestial bodies. Astronomy and Immortality, 150, 224. ASYLUM (Gr. a, without, sule, plunder). A place to which those who fled were free from harm; a sanctuary. The modern use of the word differs from the ancient. ATHEIST (Gr. a, without, theos, God). One who madly denies the existence of a God. "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." Take away this belief in God wholly from man,-let him have been subjected to none of the influences from society and his fellow-men which the belief' produces,- and "the man will have vanished, and you have instead a creature more subtle than any beast of the field; upon the belly must it go, and dust must it eat all the days of its life." ATHENS, the most celebrated city of Greece, once the great world metropolis of philos ophy and art; mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. It is the capital of the modern kingdom of Greece, 128. ATMOSPHERE (Gr. atmos, vapor, and sphai ros, a sphere). The fluid which surrounds the earth, and consists of air and vapor of water. The air is composed of two gases, oxygen and nitrogen, mixed in the proportion of one of the former to four of the latter. Animals cannot live in nitrogen, nor can flame burn in it, separated from oxygen. See pp. 206, 362, 404. ATONE. To be, or cause to be, at one; to reconcile; to make amends. AUDUBON, John James, a native of Louisiana, and celebrated for his published collection of drawings, under the title of the "Birds of America." He was educated in art at Paris, under the great painter David. Died 1851. Disappearance of Indians, 302. AUGUST. The eighth month of the year; so named from AUGUSTUS Cæsar, the first Roman emperor. He was born B. C. 63. Literature and the arts flourished remarkably under his reign. AURORA, In the ancient Mythology the goddess of the morning. AUTUMN. This word is said to be derived from the Latin auctum, increased, be cause the wealth of man is augmented by the fruits of harvest. Poetry of Autumn, 374. AVALANCHE (from the French avaler, to descend). A mass of snow sliding down a mountain. AVERAGE, a mean number, or quantity. BABEL, or Babylon, an ancient city and province of Asia, on the Euphrates. The city was probably on the site of the famous tower of Babel; and its present ruins consist of fused masses of brick-work, &c. It stood on a large plain; and its walls formed an exact square, each side of which was fifteen miles long. There were one hundred gates, twenty-five in each of the four sides, all of which were of solid brass, as Isaiah bears witness, ch. 45. v. 2. "I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron." Babylon was taken by Cyrus, the Persian monarch, B. C. 538; and the Babylonian empire was destroyed, as the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah had predicted. Cy rus, who was the destined conqueror of Babylon, was foretold by name above one hundred years before he was born. Isaiah 45: 1-4. See pp. 164, 217. BACCHANAL, a drunken reveller; from Bacchus, the deity of wine. BACON, Francis, Lord, was born in London in 1561; died 1626. He was a great philosopher, and the most learned man of | Lines on, by T. Moore, 311. BA'SHAN. In scriptural geography, the BAYONET, so called from having been first BAYS, the plural of bay, the laurel-tree; ap- BEADLE (from the root of to bid), a messen- ger; in England a parish officer, whose BEGUINE. The Beguines were a class of BELVIDERE (from the Lat. bellus, fine, and fit. BENGAL' (the a as in fall) is the most east- BERESINA (Ber-e-ze'na), a river of Russia. The Passage of, by the French, 326. BEAUTIFUL, The, a poem, 261. Ministry of the, 317. BILLETS, pieces of wood, cut with a bill, or BIVOUAC (biv'wak). This word is derived BODLEIAN. The library of Oxford, England, nates over sense. BONAPARTE, Napoleon, was born in Corsica, An Early Riser, 226. Character of, by Lamartine, 393. BONUS, a premium for a privilege. Books. The inner bark of trees was once used for writing on. In England, many hundred years ago, people used to write upon the bark of the beech-tree, which they called boc. We have not changed the word much. See Library. Thoughts on Books, 397. Boox (from the Danish bomme, a drum), to make a noise like the roar of the waves, or a distant gun. BOONS (from the Lat. bonus, or Fr. bon), a gift, a favor. BOULOGNE (Boo-lōn), a seaport of France on the English Channel. BOUQUET (boo-ka), a nosegay. Bow, the curved part of a ship forward. When it has this meaning it is pronounced so as to rhyme with cow. BOWRING, John, his translation of Derzhavin's ode, 153. True Courage, by, 242. BRAHMIN, the highest or priestly class, among the Hindoos. BRAVE MAN, The, translated from the German of Burger, 165. BRAZIER, an artificer in brass. BREWSTER, Sir David, an eminent philosopher of Scotland, b. 1781. He was the inventor of that optical toy, the Kaleidoscope. Barbarism of War, by, 303. BRIDEWELL, a house of correction for disorderly persons; so called from the palace near Bridget's well in London, which was turned into a work-house. BROOKE, Henry, The Lion, &c., by, 139. Extracts from, 178, 205, 257, 338. BUFFON, born 1707, died 1788; a famous naturalist, the eloquence of whose style gave a charm to his scientific works. He was very methodical in his time; but there is not much to praise in his private character. 226. Broy (from bois, the French for wood), a piece of wood floating on the water, to indicate shoals, &c. The adjective buoyant has the same origin. BURGER, Godfrey Augustus, b. 1748, d. 1794: a German poet, celebrated for his spirited ballads. The Brave Man, by, 165. BURKE, Edmund, a writer, orator, and statesman, of great eminence. Born in Ireland, 1780; died 1797. He was one of the greatest masters of English style; an amiable and religious man in private life, and exemplary in his domestic and social duties. See character of, by Hazlitt, and Grattan, 245, 246. Extracts from his Speeches, 146, 268, 269. BURNET, Gilbert, Bishop of Salisbury, was born in Scotland, 1643; d. 1714. He was the author of a History of the Reformation. 226. BURRINGTON, E. II., Lines by, 264. BURTON, W., Learning to Write, 87. BUSHMEN. A name given by the Dutch colonists to some roaming tribes akin to the Hottentots, in the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope. They are of a dark copper complexion, and small in stature. So deep are they sunk in barbarism, as to be unacquainted even with the construction of huts or tents, 119. By and By. The proverb, p. 64, T 2, is directed against the habit of procrastination; of putting off what ought be done at once till "by and by." BYRON, Lord George Gordon, an English nobleman, of great but misapplied talents. He was born in the year 1788, and died in Greece, in 1824. See p. 148. Ambition, by, 100. The Guilty Conscience, 258. A Storm on the Mountains, 333. CABINET, in politics, the governing council of a country; so called from the cabinet or apartment in which the Chief Magistrate transacts public business, and assembles his privy council. In the United States the members of the President's Cabinet are the Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, of War, of the Navy, the Interior, the Postmaster General, and the Attorney General. CADI (in Arabic, a judge). The Turks style their inferior judges Cadi. CALYX, a Greek word, signifying a cup. It is the name given by botanists to the outermost of the enveloping organs of a flower. CALABRIA, the southern part of the kingdom of Naples; traversed throughout by the Apennine Mountains. Adventure in Calabria, 305. CAMERA Obscura, or Dark Chamber, is an optical apparatus, by which the images of external objects are thrown on a white |