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"Early years of the Prince Consort:" edited by the Hon. Chas. Grey; published 6 July, 1867.

of the capital of Cassivelaunus, taken by Julius Caesar, 54 B. C. It was retaken after much slaughter Another statue by Theed at Balmoral, inaugurated 15

by Boadicea or Bunduica, queen of the Iceni, A. D. 61.

First Battle of St. Albans, when the Lancastrians were
defeated, their leader, Edmund duke of Somerset
slain, and king Henry VI. taken prisoner, by the
duke of York and his partisans, 22 or 23 May, 1455.
Second battle, queen Margaret totally defeated the Yorkists
under the earl of Warwick, and rescued the king,
Shrove Tuesday, 17 Feb. 1461.

St. Albans incorporated by Edward VI. 1553.
Disfranchised for bribery, 17 June, 1852.
St. Alban's Raid, see United States, Oct. 1864.

ALBANY OR ALBAINN, the ancient name of the Scottish Highlands. The brother of Robert III. of Scotland was made duke of Albany in 1398. Frederick, son of George III., was duke of York and Albany. He died 5 Jan. 1827.

ALBERT MEMORIALS. (See under England.) The Prince Consort died on 14 Dec. 1861. deeply lamented by the whole civilised world. His remains were transferred to the mausoleum of Frogmore, 18 Dec. 1862. The sarcophagus is composed of the largest known block of granite without Hlaw. A meeting to organise a method of receiving contributions for a great national memorial was held at the Mansion-house, 14 Jan. 1862; and a large sum was quickly subscribed. 36,000l. had been received on 1 March; 50,2207. on 11 June, 1862; and parliament voted 50,000l., in addition to the 60,000l. received by voluntary contributions, 23 April, 1863.

The nature of the memorial was referred to the queen herself. In a letter to the lord mayor, dated 19 Feb. 1862, sir Charles Grey says, on behalf of her majesty," It would be more in accordance with her own feelings, and she believes with those of the country in general, that the monument should be directly personal to its object. After giving the subject her maturest considera

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tion, her majesty has come to the conclusion, that
nothing would be more appropriate, provided it is on a
scale of sufficient grandeur, than an obelisk to be erected
in Hyde-park on the site of the Great Exhibition of
1851, or on some spot immediately contiguous to it.
Nor would any proposal that could be made be more
gratifying to the queen herself personally, for she can
never forget that the prince himself had highly ap-
proved of the idea of a memorial of this character being
raised on the same spot in remembrance of the Great
Exhibition. In a second letter the queen expressed
her intention of personally contributing towards erect-
ing the memorial, that "it might be recorded in future
ages as raised by the queen and people of a grateful
country to the memory of its benefactor." Shortly
after a committee was appointed to fulfil her majesty's
desire. As a suitable block of granite could not be
obtained, the proposal for an obelisk was given up.
The queen approved of the design of Mr. Gilbert G. Scott
for an Eleanor Cross, with a spire 150 feet high, ac-
companied by statues, &c., 22 April, 1863; work begun,
13 May, 1864.

The sculptors employed were M'Dowell, Foley, Theed,
John Bell, and Armistead: material, Sicilian marble.
(Jan. 1865.)
The memorial, complete, except the statue, by Foley
(delayed through illness), was given up to her majesty
privately, I July, 1872.

Inscription on the "Memorial Cairn" on a high mountain
overlooking Balmoral Palace :-"To the beloved
memory of ALBERT the great and good Prince Consort,
erected by his broken-hearted widow, VICTORIA R., 21
Aug. 1862." Upon another dressed slab, a few inches
below the above, is this quotation :-" He being made
perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time for his
Soul pleased the Lord, therefore hasted he to take him
away from among the wicked."-Wisdom of Solomon,
chap. iv. 13, 14.

A statue of the prince-consort (by Theed) inaugurated at Rosenau, his birth-place, in the presence of the queen and the royal family, 19 Aug. 1865.

Oct. 1867.

Many other memorials of the prince have been set up throughout the empire.

ROYAL ALBERT HALL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES; The
erection of a great building for congresses, concerts,
&c., was proposed by the prince-consort at the close
of the exhibition of 1851, and an estate at Kensington
was purchased; a committee, with the prince of Wales
at the head, to erect the building, was appointed 6
July, 1865; circulars soliciting subscriptions were
issued April, 1866; and the first stone was laid by the
queen, 20 May, 1867.

The building was erected by col. Scott, chiefly after de-
signs by capt. Fowke, and cost about 200,000l. The
organ, by Willis, is said to be the largest in the world.
An experimental concert was given to the workmen
25 Feb., and the hall was opened by the queen 29
March, 1871, when a grand concert was given.
ALBERT BRIDGE, Chelsea, opened 31 Dec. 1872.
ALBERT EMBANKMENT, see Thames, 1869.

ALBERT MEDAL, to be awarded to persons who endanger
their lives by saving others from shipwreck, appointed
by royal warrant, 3 March, 1866. The first was given
to Samuel Popplestone on 14 May, 1866, for saving life
on 23 March previous.

ALBERT MEDAL (Gold), awarded by the Society of Arts to
sir Rowland Hill, 1864; Napoleon III. 1865; Michael
Faraday, 1866; Charles Wheatstone and William
Fothergill Cooke, 1867; Joseph Whitworth, 1868;
Justus Liebig, 1869; Ferdinand de Lesseps, 1870;
Henry Cole, C.B., 1871; Henry Bessemer, 1872.

ALBIGENSES, a name given to various persons who opposed the doctrines and corruptions of the church of Rome, living at Albi, in Languedoc, and at Toulouse in the 12th century. They were persecuted as Manichæans, 1163, and a crusade (proclaimed by pope Innocent III.) against them commenced in 1207. Simon de Montfort commanded 500,000 men and at Bezières, 1209, he and the pope's legate put friends and foes to the sword, saying, "God will find his own!" At Minerba he burnt 150 of the Albigenses alive; and at La Vaur he hanged the governor, and beheaded the chief people, drowning the governor's wife, and murdering other women. He next defeated the count of Toulouse, but was himself killed in 1218. Louis VIII. and IX., kings of France, patronised the crusade; count Raymond was subdued, and abdicated in 1229; and the heretics were given up to the Inquisition. See Waldenses.

ALBION. Britain is so called by Aristotle (died 322 B. C.). Julius Cæsar and others, are said to have given it the name (from albus, white) on account of its chalky cliffs.

ALBUERA OR ALBUHERA, Estremadura, Spain. Here a battle was fought between the French, commanded by marshal Soult, and the British and Anglo-Spanish army, under marshal, afterwards lord Beresford, 16 May, 1811. The allies obtained a brilliant victory. The French loss exceeded 8000 men previously to their retreat; but the allies lost a large number. The chief brunt of the action fell on the British; colonel Inglis, 22 officers, and more than 400 men, out of 570 who had mounted a hill, fell,-out of the 57th regiment alone; the other regiments were scarcely better off, not one-third being left standing; "1500 unwounded men, the remnant of 6000 unconquerable British soldiers, stood triumphant on this fatal hill." Napier.

ALBUFERA (Spain, East Central), a lagoon, near which the French marshal Suchet (afterwards duke of Albufera) defeated the Spaniards under

Blake, 4 Jan. 1812: this led to his capture of Novaliches, and the insurgents under marshal Ser-Valencia on 9 Jan. rano, 27 Sept. 1868. The former was defeated, and, being severely wounded, surrendered 28 Sept. About 600 were killed on both sides.

ALCALA, Spain, near the Roman Complutum. At the university here was printed the Complutensian Polyglott bible, at the expense of cardinal Ximenes, 1502-15.

ALCANTARA, a town on the Tagus, W. Spain. A fine bridge was built here by Trajan about 104. The duke of Alva acquired Portugal for Spain by defeating the Portuguese army here, 24 June, 1580. The Spanish military order of knighthood of Alcantara was established in 1156. The sovereign of Spain has been grand master since 1495.

ALCAZAR-QUIVER, near Fez, N. W. Africa, where the Moors totally defeated the Portuguese, whose gallant king Sebastian was slain, 4 Aug. 1578. The Portuguese disbelieved his death and long expected his return; this led to the appearance of five impostors.

ALCHEMY, the forerunner of chemistry; its chief objects being the discovery of the philosopher's stone (which was to effect the transmutation of metals into gold), an alkahest or universal menstruum, and the elixir of life. The alchemists assert that their founder was Hermes Trismegistus (thrice greatest), an ancient Egyptian king.-Pliny says, the emperor Caligula was the first who prepared natural arsenic, in order to make gold of it, but left it off, because the charge exceeded the profit.

Zosimus wrote on the subject about 410.

The Arabians cultivated alchemy and were followed (in the 13th century) by Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, Aquinas, Raymond Lullius, Basil Valentine (born 1394), Paracelsus (died 1541), and others.

In 1404 the craft of multiplying gold and silver was made felony by 5 Hen. IV. c. 4, which act was repealed in 1689. A licence for practising alchemy with all kinds of metals and minerals was granted to one Richard Carter, 1476. Rymer's Feed.

Dr. Price, of Guildford, in 1782 published an account of his experiments and brought specimens of gold to the king, affirming that they were made by means of a red and white powder. Being a fellow of the Royal Society, he was required, under pain of expulsion, to repeat his experiments before Messrs. Kirwan and Wolfe (some say Higgins); but after much equivocation and delay he took poison and died, Aug. 1783.

ALCOHOL. Pure spirit of wine or hydrated alcohol is said to have been obtained by the distillation of fermented liquors by Abucasis in the 12th century; and the dehydration of this liquor to have been partially effected by Raymond Lullius in the 13th century by carbonate of potassium. Alcohol has never been reduced to the solid state, but becomes viscid at very low temperatures. In 1820, Faraday and Hennell obtained traces of alcohol by passing olefiant gas (bi-carburetted hydrogen) through sulphuric acid; and in 1862 this process was examined and confirmed by Berthelot; see Distillation, Spirits, Brandy, Gin, Rum. About 250 medical men, including the president of the Royal College of Physicians, and many hospital officials, issued a cautionary declaration concerning the use of alcohol in medicine, Dec. 1871.

ALCOLEA (Andalusia, S. Spain). Near the bridge a sharp engagement took place between the royalists under general Pavia Lacy, marquis de

* M. Martin Ziegler patented a method of producing a "vital fluid" by combining nitrogen and carbon in a porous cell containing ammonia, immersed in a vessel filled with molases. The current was to flow through silk threads attached to the vessel; about 1868.

AL-CORAN OR AL-KORAN, see Koran, Mahometanism, &c.

ALDERMAN. The Saxon earldorman was next to the king and frequently a viceroy; but after the settlement of the Danes the title was gradually displaced by that of earl. Aldermen in corporations are next in dignity to the mayor. They were appointed in London (where there are twenty-six) in 1242; and in Dublin (where there are twenty-four) in 1323. Aldermen chosen for life, instead of annually, 17 Rich. II. 1394. Present mode of election established, 11 Geo. I. 1725. Aldermen made justices of the peace, 15 Geo. II. 1741.

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ALDERNEY (English Channel), with Jersey, &c., was acquired by William the Conqueror, 1066. The "Race is celebrated for two fatal occurrences; William of Normandy, son of Henry I. of England, and many young nobles (140 youths of the principal families of France and Britain), were overtaken by a storm, and all lost, 25 Nov. 1120. The British man-of-war Victory, of 100 guns and 1160 men, was wrecked here, 5 Oct. 1744; the admiral, sir John Balchen, and all his crew perished. Through this strait the French escaped after their defeat at La Hogue by admirals Russell and Rooke, 19 May, 1692. The construction of a breakwater, in order to make Alderney a naval station, was begun in 1852, and after having cost 1,337,100%., was suspended by parliament in 1871.

ALDERSHOT CAMP, on a moor near Farnham, about 35 miles from London. In April, 1854, the War office, having obtained a grant of 100,000l., purchased 4000 acres of land for a permanent camp for 20,000 men.

Additional land purchased in 1856.

Barracks since erected for 4000 infantry, 1500 cavalry, and several batteries of artillery. Great improvements in military cookery introduced (see Cookery) under the superintendence of captain John Grant, 1857Visited by the queen, 18, 19 April, 1856.

The troops returned from the Crimea, reviewed by her, 7, 16 July, 1856.

About 15,000 men were stationed here, 1859.

Cost of the camp, said to be 1,291,531l. up to Feb. 1860. An industrial and fine-art exhibition, furnished by officers and men and their wives, opened, 29 June; closed 14 July, 1864.

Camp set up for 40,000 men to execute military manœuvres, Aug. Sept. 1871. Many horses broke away through a fright, 30 Aug. 1871. Review of 14,000, &c. by the queen, 5 July, 1872.

ALDINE PRESS, that of Aldo Manuzio (Aldus Manutius), at Venice, where were printed many of the first editions of the Greek, Latin, and Italian classics, commencing in 1494 with Musæus.

Herodotus ascribes the

ALE, BEER, and Wine are said to have been invented by Bacchus. Ale was known as a beverage at least in 404 B.C. first discovery of the art of brewing barley-wine to Isis, the wife of Osiris, and a beverage of this kind is mentioned by Xenophon, 401 B.C. The Romans and Germans very early learned from the Egyptians the process of preparing a liquor from corn by means of fermentation." Tacitus. Ale-houses are mentioned in the laws of Ina, king of Wessex. Booths were set up in England, 728, when laws were passed for their regulation. None but freemen were allowed to keep ale-houses in London, 13 Edw. I. 1285. They were further subjected to regulation by 5 & 6

Edw. VI. c. 25 (1551). By 1 James I. c. 9 (1603), one full quart of the best, and two quarts of small ale were to be sold for one penny. Excise duty on ale and beer was imposed by the parliament in 1643, and continued by Charles II. (1660); repealed, I Will.IV. c. 51,(1830); see Porter, Wine, Victuallers.

ALEMANNI, or ALL MEN (i.e. men of all nations), hence Allemand, German. A body of Suevi, who took this name, were defeated by Caracalla, 214. After several repulses, they invaded the empire under Aurelian, who subdued them in three battles, 270. They were again vanquished by Julian, 356, 357; by Jovinus, 368. They were defeated and subjugated by Clovis at Tolbiac (or Zulpich), 496.

The Suabians are their descendants.

ALENÇON (N. France) gave title to a count

and duke.

1268-82. Peter, made Count by his father king Louis IX. 1293. Charles I. of Valois, made Count by his brother king Philip the Fair.

1325

Charles II. his son, killed at Crecy.

1346. Charles III. (his son), became a priest. 1361. Peter, his brother.

1404. John (his son), made DUKE in 1414, killed at Agincourt, 1415. ̧

1415. John II. (his son), prisoner in England, 1424-9; intrigued against the French king; died in prison, 1470. 1476. Charles IV. fled after the battle of Pavia in 1525, and died shortly after of chagrin. The duchy was annexed by the crown.

ALEPPO, North Syria, a large town named Beroa by Seleucus Nictator, about 299 B.C. The pachalic of Aleppo is one of the five governments of Syria. It was taken by the Saracens, A.D. 638, who restored its ancient name Haleb or Chaleb; by Saladin, 1193; and sacked by Timour, Nov. 1400. Its depopulation by the plague has been frequent; 60,000 persons were computed to have perished by it in 1797; many in 1827. The cholera raged here in 1832. Aleppo suffered severely from the terrible earthquakes in 1822 and 1830; and has often been the scene of fanatical massacres. On 16 Oct. 1850, the Mahometans attacked the Christians, burning everything. Three churches were destroyed, five others plundered, and thousands of persons slain. The total loss of property amounted to about a million sterling; no interference was attempted by the pacha.

ALESSANDRIA, a city of Piedmont, built in 1168 under the name of Cæsar by the Milanese and Cremonese, to defend the Tanaro against the emperor, and afterwards named after pope Alexander III. It has been frequently besieged and taken. The French took it in 1796, but were driven out by Suwarrow, 21 July, 1799. They recovered it after the battle of Marengo, 14 June, 1800, and held it till 1814, when the strong fortifications erected by Napoleon were destroyed. They have been restored since June, 1856.

ALEUTIAN ISLES, in the North Pacific Ocean, discovered by Behring, 1741, visited by Cook, 1778, and settled by Russians, 1785.

ALEXANDER, ERA OF, dated from the death of Alexander the Great, 12 Nov. 323 B.C. In the computation of this era, the period of the Creation was considered to be 5502 years before the birth of Christ, and, in consequence, the year I A.D. was equal to 5503. This computation continued to the year A.D. 284, which was called 5786. In the next year (A.D. 285), which should have been 5787, ten years were discarded, and the date became 5777. This is still used in the Abyssinian era (which see). The date is reduced to the Christian era by sub

tracting 5502 until the year 5786, and after that time by subtracting 5492.

"ALEXANDRA CASE," see Trials,

1862-64.

ALEXANDRA PARK, Muswell Hill, London, N. purchased by a company, and named after the princess of Wales, was opened with a flower building of 1862 was to be erected here. The work show, 23 July, 1863. A portion of the Exhibition proceeded rapidly in 1864, was suspended in 1865, recommenced in 1866, and completed in 1873. Horse-races first held here

30 June, 1 July 1863 The prospectus of a scheme to organise an institution resembling the South Kensington Museum and the Crystal Palace, by means of a tontine (to cease 30 June, 1886), was issued

22 July 1871

The affairs were to be managed by "The Alexandra Palace and Muswell hill Estate Management Company (limited)." Public lectures on the subject were given

Aug. 1871

The scheme proved unsuccessful; the company's affairs were wound up: 178. 6d. in the pound having been paid The purchase of the land and buildings for the public was proposed by the lord mayor and others

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Feb. 1872

July 1872 The palace was opened with a grand concert, &c. 24 May; destroyed by fire 9 June, 1873 ALEXANDRIA (Egypt), the walls whereof were six miles in circuit, was founded by Alexander the Great, 332 B.C. who was buried here, 322. It became the residence of the Greek sovereigns of Egypt, the Ptolemies, 323; seventeen councils were held here, A.D. 231-633.

Ptolemy Soter erects the Museum, the Serapeum, the Pharos, and other edifices, and begins the library about

B.C. 298

283-222

These works completed by his son P. Philadelphus and his grandson P. Euergetes Alexandria taken by Julius Caesar; when a library is burnt.

B.C.

Which Antony replaces by one brought from Per

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48

36

122

215

297

321

363 365

390 616

Alexandria captured by Chosroes II. of Persia And by Amrou, the general of the caliph Omar,* who ordered the library to be burnt, whereby the baths were supplied with fuel for six months 22 Dec. 640 Recovered by the Greeks; retaken by Amrou. Cairo founded by the Saracens; which tends to the decay of Alexandria

644

969 1365 July, 1798

Alexandria plundered by the Crusaders The French capture Alexandria Battle of Alexandria or Canopus: the British under gen. Ralph Abercromby defeat the French under Menou 21 March 1801

Abercromby dies of his wounds, 28 March; Menou

and 10,000 French surrender it to Hutchinson 2 Sept. 1801 Alexandria taken by the British under Fraser, 20 March; evacuated by them 23 Sept. 1807

By the convention of Alexandria, Egypt was guaran

teed to Mehemet Ali and his successors Railway to Cairo formed

1841 1851

New port, first stone laid by the khedive 15 May 1871

*The saying of Omar-"That if the books agreed with the book of God, they were useless; if they disagreed, they were pernicious"-is denied by Mahometans. It is also attributed to Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria (390), and to cardinal Ximenes (1500).

ALEXANDRIAN CODEX, a MS. of the Septuagint translation of the Bible in Greek, said to have been transcribed by a lady named Thecla, in the 6th century, and to have belonged to the patriarch of Alexandria in 1098. It was presented to Charles I. of England in 1628 by Cyrillus Lascaris, patriarch of Constantinople, and was placed in the British Museum in 1753. It was printed in facsimile, 1786-1821.

ALEXANDRIAN ERA, see Mundane.

ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY. The first school arose soon after the foundation of Alexandria, 332 B.C. It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemies till about 100 B.C. It included Euclid (300), Archimedes (287212), Apollonius (250), Hipparchus (150), and Hero (150). The second school arose about A.D. 140, and lasted till about 400. Its most eminent members were Ptolemy, the author of the Ptolemaic system (150), Diophantus the arithmetician (200), and Pappus the geometer (350).

ALEXANDRINES, verses of twelve syllables, first written by Alexander of Paris, about 1164, and since called after him. The last line of the Spenserian stanza is an Alexandrine. In Pope's Essay on Criticism, this verse is thus happily exemplified:

"A needless Alexandrine ends the song,

That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along."

The longest English poem wholly in Alexandrine verse is Drayton's Polyolbion, published 1612-22.

ALFORD (N. Scotland), BATTLE OF. General Baillie, with a large body of covenanters, was defeated by the marquis of Montrose, 2 July, 1645.

ALGEBRA: Diophantus, said to be the inventor, wrote upon it probably between the 3rd and 5th centuries. It was cultivated in the 9th century by the Arabs, who brought it into Spain; and in Italy by Leonardo Bonaccio of Pisa, in 1220. In 1494 Luca Paciolo published the first printed book on Algebra in Europe. Serret. Some of the algebraic signs were introduced either by Christophe Rudolph (1522-26) or Michael Stifelins of Nuremberg, 1544, and others by Francis Vieta, in 1590, when algebra came into general use. Moreri. Jerome Cardan published his "Ars Magna," containing his rule, 1545. Thos. Harriot's important discoveries appeared in his "Artis Analytica Praxis," 1631. Descartes applied algebra to geometry about 1637. The binomial theorem of Newton, the basis of the doctrine of fluxions, and the new analysis, 1668. Dean Peacock's "Algebra" is a first-class work.

ALGERIA, see Algiers.

ALGESIRAS, or OLD GIBRALTAR (S. Spain). Here the Moors entered Spain in 711, and held it till taken by Alfonso XI. March, 1344.-Two engagements took place here between the English fleet under sir James Saumarez and the United French and Spanish fleets, 6 and 12 July, 1801. In the first the enemy was victorious; but the British honour was redeemed in the latter conflict, the San Antonio, 74 guns, being captured. Two Spanish ships fired on each other by mistake, and took fire; of 2000 men on board, 250 were saved by the English. Alison.

ALGIERS, now ALGERIA, N. W. Africa; part of the ancient Mauretania, which was conquered by the Romans, 46 B.C.; by the Vandals, A.D. 439; recovered for the empire by Belisarius, 534; and

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* He, with his suite, embarked at Oran, and landed at Toulon on 28 Dee, following. He was removed to the castle of Amboise, near Tours, 2 Nov. 1848, and released from his continement by Louis Napoleon, 16 Oct. 1852, after swearing on the Koran never to disturb Africa again; he was to reside henceforward at Broussa, in Asia Minor; but in consequence of the earthquake at that place, 28 Feb. 1855, he removed to Constantinople. In July, 1860, Abd-el-Kader held the citadel of Damascus, and there protected many of the Christians whom he

the Turks.

had rescued from the massacres then in perpetration by French, and Sardinian sovereigns. He visited Paris and He received honours froin the English, London in Aug. 1865. He offered to serve in the French army in July, 1870.

The emperor publishes his letter on the policy of
France in Algeria (20 July)
Nov. 1865
Insurrection; 4000 Arabs defeated by col. Sounis,

2 Feb. 1869 15 Aug. 1870

The crystalline body anthracene was discovered in coal oils by Dumas and Laurent in 1832. See Madder.

ALJUBARROTA, Portugal. Here John I. of Portugal defeated John I. of Castile, and secured his country's independence, 14 Aug. 1385; see

Batalha.

Algeria proclaimed in a state of siege The insurrection ended; state of siege raised, 24 June 1871 ALHAMBRA, a Moorish palace and fortress near Granada, S. Spain, founded by Mohammed I. of Granada about 1253. It was surrendered to the Christians about Nov. 1491. The remains have been described in a magnificent work by Owen Jones and Jules Goury, published 1842-5. A fac-simile of a part of this palace in the Crystal Palace at Syden-ence between caustic and mild alkalies in 1736. ham, was destroyed by the fire, 30 Dec, 1866.-The Panopticon (which see) was opened as a circus, &c., under the name of Alhambra, in March, 1858. The Alhambra Palace Company, incorporated in July 1863, applied for dissolution in Jan. 1865.

ALKALIES (from kali, the Arabic name for the plant from which an alkaline substance was first procured) are ammonia, potash, soda, and lithia. Black discovered the nature of the differ

Ali

The fixed alkalies, potash and soda, decomposed, and the
metals potassium and sodium formed, by Humphry
Davy at the Royal Institution, London, 1807.
Dr. Ure invented an alkalimeter, 1816.

The manufacture of alkalies, very extensive in Lanca-
shire and Cheshire, are based on the decomposition of
common salt (chloride of sodium), by a process in-
vented by a Frenchman named Le Blanc, about 1792.
Mr. Losh obtained crystals of soda from brine about 1814.
Various modifications of these processes are now in

use.

ALI, SECT OF (Shiites, or Fatimites). married Mahomet's daughter Fatima, about 632, and became vizier, 613; and caliph, 655. Ali was called by the prophet, "the lion of God, always victorious;" and the Persians follow the interpre-"Alkali works," are defined as works for the manufacture tation of the Koran according to Ali, while other Mahometans adhere to that of Abubeker and Omar. Ali was assassinated 23 Jan. 661.*

ALIENS or FOREIGNERS, were banished in 1155, being thought too numerous. In 1343 they were excluded from enjoying ecclesiastical benefices. By 2 Rich. II. st. 1, 1378, they were much relieved. When they were to be tried criminally, the juries were to be half foreigners, if they so desired, 1430. They were restrained from exercising any trade or handicraft by retail, 1483, a prohibition which was relaxed in 1663.

Alien priories (cells and estates belonging to foreign per-
sons) suppressed in England, 1414.
The Alien Act passed, Jan. 1793.
Act to register aliens, 1795.

Baron Geramb, a fashionable foreigner, known at court,
ordered out of England, 6 April, 1812.
Bill to abolish naturalisation by the holding of stock in
the banks of Scotland, June, 1820.
New registration act, 7 George IV. 1826. This last act
was repealed and another statute passed, 6 Will. IV.
1836.

The rigour of the alien laws was mitigated by acts passed
in 1844 and 1847.

"Foreigners have reclaimed our marshes, drained our fens, fished our seas, and built our bridges and harbours." Smiles, 1861.

Their status defined by the Naturalisation Act, passed 12 May, 1870.

ALIWAL, a village N. W. India, the site of a battle, 28 Jan. 1846, between the Sikh army under sirdar Runjoor Singh Majeethea, 19,000 strong, supported by 68 pieces of cannon, and the British under sir Harry Smith, 12,000 men with 32 guns. The contest was obstinate, but ended in the defeat of the Sikhs, who lost nearly 6000 killed or drowned.

ALIZARINE, a crystalline body, the colouring principle of madder, discovered in it by Robiquet and Colin in 1831. Schunck showed that all the finest madder colours contained only alazarine combined with alkalies and fatty acids. Graebe

and Liebermann obtained anthracene from alizarine

in 1868, and alizarine from anthracene in 1869.

The first four successors of Mahomet-Abubeker, Omar, Othman, and Ali, his chief agents in establishing his religion and extirpating unbelievers, and whom on that account he styled the "cutting swords of God "—all died violent deaths; and his family was wholly extirpated within thirty years after his own decease.

of alkali, sulphates of soda, sulphate of potash, and in which muriatic gas is evolved.

Mr. Wm. Gossage's process for condensing muriatic acid gas patented in 1836.

In consequence of the injury to vegetation produced by the alkali works in Lancashire and Cheshire, the Alkali Works act "for the more effectual condensation [of 95 per cent.] of muriatic acid gas" (or hydrochloric acid) was passed, 28 July, 1863. It came into operation 1 Jan. 1864, proved successful, and was re-enacted 1868.

ALKMAER, see Bergen.

ALLAHABAD (N. W. Hindostan), the "holy city" of the Indian Mahometans, situated at the junction of the rivers Jumna and Ganges. The province of Allahabad was successively subject to the sovereigns of Delhi and Oude, but in 1801 was partially and in 1803 wholly incorporated with the British possessions. By treaty here, Bengal, &c., was ceded to the English in 1765.-During the Indian mutiny several sepoy regiments rose and massacred their officers, 4 June, 1857; colonel Neil insurrection. In Nov. 1861, lord Canning made marched promptly from Benares and suppressed the this city the capital of the N. W. provinces.

ALLEGIANCE, see Oaths.

ALLEGORY abounds in the Bible and in Homer: see Jacob's blessing upon his sons, Genesis xlix. (1689 B.C.), Psalm lxxx., and all the prophets. Spenser's Faerie Queene (1590) and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (1678) are allegories throughout. The Spectator (1711), by Addison, Steele, and others, abounds in allegories. The allegorical interpretation of the scriptures is said to have begun with Origen in the 3rd century; but see Gal. iv. 24.

ALLIA (Italy), a small river flowing into the Tiber, where Brennus and the Gauls defeated the Romans, 16 July, 390 B.C. The Gauls sacked Rome and committed so much injury that the day was thereafter held to be unlucky (nefas), and no public business was permitted to be done thereon.

ALLIANCE, TREATIES OF, between the high European powers. The following are the principal; dom, &c. see Coalitions, Conventions, Treaties, United King

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