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The Sta

Tybault's Prognostications

Of Moore's, at one period, upwards of 500,000 copies were annually sold. tioners' company claimed the exclusive right of publishing, until 1790, in virtue of letters patent from James I., granting the privilege to this company, and the two universities. The stamp duty on almanacks was abolished in August, 1834. ALMANZA, BATTLE OF, between the confederate forces uuder the earl of Galway, and the French and Spanish commanded by the duke of Berwick (the illegitimate son of James II.), when most of the English were killed or made prisoners of war, having been abandoned by the Portuguese at the first charge, April 14, 1707. ALMEIDA, BATTLE OF, between the British and Anglo-Spanish army, commanded by lord Wellington, and the French army under Massena, who was defeated with considerable loss, August 5, 1811. Wellington compelled Massena to evacuate Portugal, and to retreat rapidly before him; but the route of the French was tracked by the most horrid desolation.

ALMONER. The precise date of this office is not certain; but we read of a lord almoner in various reigns, and in various countries. The rank was anciently allotted to a dignified clergyman, who had the privilege of giving the first dish from the royal table to the poor; or instead thereof, an alms in money. By the ancient canons, all monasteries were to spend at least a tenth part of their income in alms to the poor. By an ancient canon all bishops were required to keep almoners. The grand almoner of France (le grand aumonier) was the highest ecclesiastical dignity in that kingdom before the revolution, 1789.

ALNEY, BATTLE OF, or rather single combat, between Edmund Ironside and Canute the Great, in sight of their armies; the latter was wounded, when he proposed a division of the kingdom, the south part falling to Edmund, A. D. 1016; but this prince having been murdered at Oxford, shortly after the treaty, according to some, by the treachery of Ædric Streon, Canute was left in the peaceable possession of the whole kingdom in 1017.-Goldsmith.

ALPHABET. Athotes, son of Menes, was the author of hieroglyphics, and wrote thus the history of the Egyptians, 2122 B. C.-Blair. But Josephus affirms that he had seen inscriptions by Seth, the son of Adam; though this is doubted, and deemed a mistake, or fabulous. The first letter of the Phoenician and Hebrew alphabet was aleph, called by the Greeks alpha, and abbreviated by the moderns to A. The Hebrew is supposed to be derived from the Phoenician. Cadmus, the founder of Cadmea, 1493 B. c., brought the Phoenician letters (fifteen in number) into Greece; they were the following :

A, B, г, A, I, K, A, M, N, O, п, Р, Σ, T, Y. These letters were originally either Hebrew, Phoenician, or Assyrian characters, and changed gradually in form till they became the ground of the Roman letters, now used all over Europe. Palamedes of Argos invented the double characters, e, X, 4, Z, about 1224 B. C.; and Simonides added Z, Y, H, î, about 489 B. C.- -Arundelian Marbles. When the E was introduced is not precisely known. The Greek alphabet consisted of sixteen letters till 399 B. c., when the Ionic, of 24 characters, was introduced. The small letters are of late invention, for the convenience of writing. The alphabets of the different nations contain the following number of letters :

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26 German
Sclavonic
Russian
Latin

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41 Arabic
22 Persian

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Spanish ALPHONSINE TABLES: Celebrated astronomical tables, composed by command, and under the direction of, Alphonsus X. of Castile, surnamed the Wise. This learned prince is said to have expended upwards of 400,000 crowns in completing the work, whose value was enhanced by a preface, written by his own hand he commenced his reign in 1252.

ALT-RANSTADT, PEACE OF. This celebrated treaty of peace between Charles XII. of Sweden, and Frederick Augustus of Poland, was signed September 24, 1706. Frederick Augustus, who was deposed in 1704, was afterwards restored to his throne. ALTARS, were first raised to Jupiter, in Greece, by Cecrops, who also instituted and regulated marriages, 1556 B. C. He introduced among the Greeks the worship of those deities which were held in adoration in Egypt.-Herodotus. Christian altars in churches were instituted by pope Sixtus I. in 135; and they were first consecrated by pope Sylvester. The first Christian altar in Britain was in 634.-Stowe. The Church of England, and all the reformed churches, discontinue the name, and have abolished the doctrine that supported their use.

ALUM, is said to have been first discovered at Rocha, in Syria, about A. D. 1300; it was found in Tuscany, in 1460; was brought to perfection in England, in 1608: was discovered in Ireland in 1757; and in Anglesey, in 1790. Alum is a salt used as a mordant in tanning; it is used also to harden tallow, and to whiten bread. It may be made of pure clay exposed to vapours of sulphuric acid, and sulphate of potash added to the ley; but it is usually obtained by means of ore called alum slate. AMAZONIA, discovered by Francisco Orellana, in 1580. Coming from Peru, Orellana sailed down the river Amazon to the Atlantic, and observing companies of women in arms on its banks, he called the country Amazonia, and gave the name of Amazon to the river, which had previously been called Maranon. AMAZONS. Their origin is fabulous. They are said to have been the descendants of Scythians inhabiting Cappadocia, where their husbands having made incursions, were all slain, being surprised in ambuscades by their enemies. Their widows, reflecting on the alarms or sorrows they underwent on account of the fate of their husbands, resolved to form a female state, and having firmly established themselves, they decreed that matrimony was a shameful servitude; but, to perpetuate their race, they, at stated times, admitted the embraces of their male neighbours.-Quintus Curtius. They were conquered by Theseus, about 1231 B. c. The Amazons were constantly employed in wars; and that they might throw the javelin with more force, their right breasts were burned off, whence their name from the Greek, non and mamma. Their queen, Thalestris, visited Alexander the Great, while he was pursuing his conquests in Asia, and cohabited with him, in the hope of having issue by so illustrious a warrior; three hundred females were in her train.-Herodotus.

AMBASSADORS, accredited agents and representatives from one court to another, are referred to early ages, and to almost all nations. In most countries they have great and peculiar privileges; and in England, among others, they and their servants are secured against arrest. The Portuguese ambassador was imprisoned for debt, in 1653; and the Russian, by a lace-merchant, in 1709, when a law, the statute of 8 Anne, passed for their protection. Two men were convicted of arresting the servant of an ambassador. They were sentenced to be conducted to the house of the ambassador, with a label on their breasts, to ask his pardon, and then one of them to be imprisoned three months and the other fined, May 12, 1780.-Phillips. AMBASSADORS, INTERCHANGE OF. England has about thirty ambassadors, envoys, or other high diplomatic residents at foreign courts, exclusively of inferior agents; and the ambassadors and other high agents from abroad exceed that number in London. Among recent memorable instances of interchange may be recorded, that the first ambassador from the United States of America to England was John Adams, presented to the king, June 2, 1785; and the first from Great Britain to America, was Mr. Hammond, in 1791.

AMBER. Of great repute in the world from the earliest time; esteemed as a medicine before the Christian era: Theophrastus wrote upon it, 300 B.c. Upwards of 150 tons of amber have been found in one year on the sands of the shore near Pillau.Phillips. Much diversity of opinion still prevails among naturalists and chemists, respecting the origin of amber, some referring it to the vegetable, others to the mineral, and some to the animal kingdom; its natural history and its chemical analysis affording something in favour of each opinion.

AMBOYNA. Memorable massacre of the English factors at this settlement by the Dutch they were cruelly tortured and put to death on an accusation of a conspiracy to expel the Dutch from the island, where the two nations resided and jointly shared

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in the pepper trade of Java, February 17, 1623. Amboyna was seized by the English, February 16, 1796, but was restored by the treaty of Amiens in 1802. It was again seized by the British, Feb. 17, 1810; and was restored at the peace of 1814. AMEN. This word is as old as the Hebrew itself. In that language it means true, faithful, certain. Employed in devotions, at the end of a prayer, it implies, so be it; at the termination of a creed, so it is. It has been generally used, both in the Jewish and Christian churches, at the conclusion of prayer. AMENDE HONORABLE, originated in France in the ninth century. It was first an infamous punishment inflicted on traitors and sacrilegious persons: the offender was delivered into the hands of the hangman; his shirt was stripped off, a rope put about his neck, and a taper in his hand; he was then led into court, and was obliged to pray pardon of God, the king, and the country. Death or banishment sometimes followed. Amende honorable is now a term used for making recantation in open court, or in the presence of the injured party.

AMERCEMENT, IN LAW. A fine assessed for an offence done, or pecuniary punishment at the mercy of the court. By magna charta a freeman cannot be amerced for a small fault, but in proportion to the offence he has committed, 9 Henry III. 1224. AMERICA: See United States. Discovered by Christopher Colombo, a Genoese, better known as Christopher Columbus, A.D. 1492, on the 11th of October, on which day he came in sight of St. Salvador. See Bahama Islands. This great navigator found the continent of America in 1497, and the eastern coasts were found by Amerigo Vespucci (Americus Vespucius) in 1498; and from this latter discoverer the whole of America is named.

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The memorable American Stamp Act
passed
March 22, 1763
The obnoxious duty on tea, paper,
painted glass, &c.
June, 1767
The populace destroy the tea from ships
newly arrived from England, at Bos-
ton, and become boldly discon-
tented
Nov. 1773
The Boston Port Bill, by which that
port was to be shut up until satis-
faction should be made to the East
India Company for the tea destroyed,
passed
March 25, 1774
The first general congress met at Phila-
delphia
Sept. 5, 1774
The revolution commenced; first action
between the Americans and king's
troops see (Lexington) April 19
The colonies agree on articles of confede-
ration and perpetual union, May 20, 1775
Gen. George Washington appointed com-
mander-in-chief of the American ar-

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1775

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1633

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1759

1763

And by England, in provisional articles
of peace, signed at Paris Nov. 30, 1782
Definitive treaty signed at Paris, Sept. 3, 1783
And ratified by congress
Jan. 4, 1784
John Adams was received as ambassador
from America by George III. June 2, 1785
And Mr. Hammond was first ambassador
from Great Britain to the United
States, in

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1791

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1763

[For other occurrences, see United States.]

AMERICA, SOUTH.

The Spaniards, as being the first discoverers of this vast portion of the Western world, had the largest and richest share of it. When they landed in Peru, A.D. 1530, they found it governed by sovereigns called Incas, who were revered by their subjects as divinities, but they were soon subdued by their invaders under the command of Francis Pizarro. The cruelties practised by the new adventurers wherever they appeared, will be a reproach to Spain for ever. Spanish America has successfully asserted its freedom within the present century: it first declared its independence in 1810; and the provinces assembled, and proclaimed the sovereignty of the people in July, 1814; since when, although the wars of rival and contending chiefs have been afflicting the country, it has released itself from the yoke of Spain for ever. Its independence was recognised by England, in sending consuls to the several new states, Oct. 30, 1823, et seq.; and by France, Sept. 30, 1830. See Brazil, Columbia, Lima, Peru, &c.

AMETHYSTS. When this stone was first prized is not known; it was the ninth in place upon the breastplate of the Jewish high priests, and the name Issachar was engraved upon it. It is of a rich violet colour, and according to Plutarch, takes its name from its colour, resembling wine mixed with water. One worth 200 rix-dollars having been rendered colourless, equalled a diamond in lustre valued at 18,000 gold crowns. De Boot Hist. Gemmarum. Amethysts were discovered at Kerry, in Ireland, in 1755.-Burns.

AMIENS, PEACE OF, between Great Britain, Holland, France and Spain; the preliminary articles, fifteen in number, were signed by lord Hawkesbury and M. Otto, on the part of England and France, Oct. 1, 1801; and the definitive treaty was subscribed on March 27, 1802, by the marquis Cornwallis for England, Joseph Bonaparte for France, Azara for Spain, and Schimmelpenninck for Holland. AMMONITES. Descended from Ammon, the son of Lot; they invaded the land of Canaan and made the Israelites tributaries, but they were defeated by Jephthah, 1188 B.C. They again invaded Canaan in the reign of Saul with an intention to put out the right eye of all those they subdued, but Saul overthrew them, 1093 B.C. They were afterwards many times vanquished; and Antiochus the Great took Rab boath their capital, and destroyed all the walls, 198 B.C.-Josephus. AMNESTY. The word as well as the practice was introduced into Greece by Thrasybulus, the Athenian general and patriot, who commenced the expulsion of the thirty tyrants with the assistance of only thirty of his friends: having succeeded, the only reward he would accept was a crown made with two branches of olive. 409 B.C.-Hume's Essays.

AMPHICTYONIC COUNCIL: Established at Thermopyla by Amphictyon, for the management of all affairs relative to Greece. This celebrated council, which was composed of the wisest and most virtuous men of some cities of Greece, consisted of twelve delegates, 1498 B.C. Other cities in process of time sent also some of their citizens to the council of the Amphictyons, and in the age of Antoninus Pius, they were increased to the number of thirty.-Suidas.

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AMPHION. British frigate, of 38 guns, blown up while riding at anchor in Plymouth Sound, and the whole of her crew then on board, consisting of more than two hundred and fifty persons, officers and men, perished, Sept. 22, 1796.-Butler. AMPHITHEATRES. They may be said to be the invention of Julius Cæsar and Curio the latter was the celebrated orator, who called the former in full senate "Omnium mulierum virum, et omnium virorum mulierem." In the Roman amphitheatres, which were vast round and oval buildings, the people assembled to see the combats of gladiators, of wild beasts, and other exhibitions; they were generally built of wood, but Statilius Taurus made one of stone, under Augustus Cæsar. The amphitheatre of Vespasian was built A.D. 79; and is said to have been a regular fortress in 1312. The amphitheatre of Verona was next in size, and then that of Nismes.

* Las Casas, in describing the barbarity of the Spaniards while pursuing their conquests, records many instances of it that fill the mind with horror. In Jamaica, he says, they hanged the unresisting natives by thirteen at a time, in honour of the thirteen apostles! and he has beheld them throw the Indian infants to their dogs for food! "I have heard them," says Las Casas, "borrow the limb of a human being to feed their dogs, and have seen them the next day return a quarter of another victim to the lender!"

AMPHITRITE, THE SHIP. This vessel, conveying convicts to New South Wales, and having on board 103 female convicts, with twelve children, and a crew of sixteen men, was driven on the Boulogne sands, in a heavy gale. Those on board might probably have been saved before the return of the tide, but, apparently through the captain's doubt as to his authority to allow the convicts to escape to the shore, and the uncompromising dignity of a lady passenger, all, except three of the crew, were drowned, Aug. 30, 1833.

AMSTERDAM. This noble city was the castle of Amstel in A.D. 1100; and its building, as a city, was commenced about 1203. Its famous exchange was built in 1634; and the stadthouse, one of the noblest palaces in the world, in 1648; this latter cost three millions of guilders, a prodigious sum at that time. It is built upon

13,659 piles, and the magnificence of the structure is, for its size, both in external and internal grandeur, perhaps without a parallel in Europe. Amsterdam surrendered to the king of Prussia, when that prince invaded Holland in favor of the stadtholder, in 1787. The French were admitted without resistance, Jan. 18, 1795. The ancient government was restored in November, 1813. See Holland. AMULETS, OR CHARMS. All nations have been fond of amulets. The Egyptians had a great variety; so had the Jews, Chaldeans, and Persians. Among the Greeks, they were much used in exciting or conquering the passion of love. They were also in estimation among the Romans.-Pliny. Ovid. Among the Christians of early ages, amulets were made of the wood of the true cross, about A.D. 328. They have been sanctioned by religion and astrology, and even in modern times by medical and other sciences-witness the anodyne necklace, &c. The pope and Catholic clergy make and sell amulets and charms even to this day.-Ashe. ANABAPTISTS. This sect arose about A.D. 1525, and was known in England before 1549. John of Leyden, Muncer, Storck, and other German enthusiasts, about the time of the reformation, spread its doctrines. The anabaptists of Munster (who are, of course, properly distinguished from the existing mild sect of this name in England) taught that infant baptism was a contrivance of the devil, that there is no original sin, that men have a free will in spiritual things, and other doctrines still more wild and absurd. Munster they called Mount Zion, and one Mathias, a baker, was declared to be the king of Zion. Their enthusiasm led them to the maddest practices, and they, at length, rose in arms under pretence of gospel liberty. Munster was taken about fifteen months afterwards, and they were all put to death. The anabaptists of England differ from other Protestants in little more than the not baptizing children, as appears by a confession of faith, published by the representatives of above one hundred of their congregations, in 1689.

ANACREONTIC VERSE. Commonly of the jovial or Bacchanalian strain, named after Anacreon, of Teos, the Greek lyric poet, about 510 B.C. The odes of Anacreon are much prized; their author lived in a constant round of drunkenness and debauchery, and was choked by a grape stone in his eighty-fifth year.-Stanley's Lives of the Poets.

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ANAGRAM, a transposition of the letters of a name or sentence; as from Mary, the name of the Virgin, is made army. On the question put by Pilate to our Saviour, Quid est veritas ?" we have this admirable anagram, "Est vir qui adest." The French are said to have introduced the art, as now practised, in the reign of Charles IX., about the year 1560.-Henault.

ANATHEMAS. The word had four significations among the Jews: the anathema, or curse, was the devoting some person or thing to destruction. We have a remarkable instance of it in the city of Jericho (see Joshua vi. 17). Anathemas were used by the primitive churches, A.D. 387. Such ecclesiastical denunciations caused great terror in England up to the close of Elizabeth's reign.-Rapin. The church anathema, or curse, with excommunication, and other severities of the Romish religion, are still practised in catholic countries to this day.-Ashe.

ANATOMY. The structure of the human body was made part of the philosophical investigations of Plato and Xenophon; and it became a branch of medical art under Hippocrates, about 420 B.c. But Erasistratus and Herophilus may be regarded as being the fathers of anatomy: they were the first to dissect the human form, as anatomical research had been confined to brutes only: it is mentioned that they practised upon the bodies of living criminals, about 300 and 293 B.C. In England,

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