Or they [Adam and Eve] led the vine
To wed her clm; she, spous'd, about him twines
Her marriageable arms, and with her brings
Her dower, the adopted clusters, to adorn
His barren leaves.

Milton's Paradise Lost, b. v. Denis the sonne of Hamon tooke armes and drave Camasennus, with his wife Rhea, out of his father's kingdome, yet notwithstanding be retained with him their sonne Osiris and adopted him for his owne, but imposed an other name upon him, that is to say, Hamon Jupiter, and gave him all the kingdome of Egypt. Stow's Chronicle.

Tythe is not simply a Levitical duty, but respectively; not the natural child of Moses's law, but the adoptive. Spelman's Larger Work of Tythes.

There are some opinions, which when they began to be publicly received, began to be accounted prime traditions, and so became such, not by a native title, but by adoption.

Taylor on the Liberty of Prophesying.

Our language hath grown from time to time to be copious, and still grows more rich, by adopting, or naturalizing rather, the choicest foreign words of other nations.

'Tis man, said he, who weak by nature, At first creeps, like his fellow-creature, Upon all-four; as years accrue, With sturdy steps he walks on two; In age, at length, grows weak and sick,

For his third leg adopts a stick.

Howell's Letters.

Prior's Two Riddles.

ADOPTION, the act by which a person takes a stranger under his protection, constituting him one of his own family, and appointing him the heir of his possessions. This practice evidently originated in nature, and is nothing more than an indication of that strong propensity which is implanted in man to diffuse his influence, and to gratify his affections. If the parental disposition have no proper object on which to exercise its energies, averse to remain inactive, it will bestow itself in another way, and seek some legitimate substitute. Hence, in every age and country, adoption has, in some form or other, prevailed.

The practice of adoption seems to have existed among the ancient patriarchs of the Jewish nation, and their successors the Israelites. Calmet, indeed, argues that Jacob's adoption of his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, as recorded in the forty-eighth chapter of the book of Genesis, ought to be regarded rather as a kind of substitution, by which he intended that they each of them should be entitled to his lot in Israel, because he did not bestow upon their father Joseph any inheritance but it is essentially the same act, though somewhat different in its application. Among the Israelites a surviving brother was under an obligation to marry the widow of his deceased relation, in case of his dying without issue; and the children of this marriage were to be regarded as belonging to the departed brother, and to take his name. It appears, from the historical

VOL. XVII.

records of the Pentateuch, that the daughter of Pharaoh ADOPT. adopted Moses (Exod. ii. 10.), and that afterwards Mordecai adopted Esther. (Esther ii. 7, 15.) Similar customs prevailed throughout the eastern world. In the Gentoo laws, and the Institutes of Menu, the following regulations are found :-" He who is desirous to adopt a child must inform the magistrate, and shall perform the jugg [sacrifice], and shall give gold and rice to the father of the child whom he would adopt." "A woman may not adopt a son child without her "He who has no son, or grandson, husband's order." or grandson's son, or brother's son, shall adopt a son; but while he has one, he shall not adopt a second." “He whom his father, or mother with her husband's assent, gives to another as his son, provided the donee have no issue, if the boy be of the same class, and affectionately disposed, is a son given by water; i. e. the gift being conferred by the pouring of water. He who has no son, may appoint his daughter to raise up a son to him, by saying, the male child, who shall be born from her in wedlock, shall be mine, for the purpose of performing my funeral obsequies. The son of a man is even as himself; and, as a son such is a daughter thus appointed. The son of a daughter, appointed as just mentioned, shall inherit the whole estate of her father, who leaves no son. Between the sons of a son and of a daughter, thus appointed, there is no difference in law."

Among the Greeks, adoption was called orns, filiation, and children were divided chiefly into three classes, termed Tvno, lawfully begotten; Noo, born of harlots; and Oɛroì, adopted. Persons who had no lawful issue, were allowed to adopt whom they pleased, whether their own natural sons, or (by consent of their But such as were parents) the sons of other men. not, kúpioι εavτāv, their own masters, were excepted; such were slaves, women, madmen; and all such as were under twenty-one years of age: for these not being capable of making wills, or managing their own estates, were not allowed to adopt heirs to them. Foreigners being excluded from the inheritance of estates at Athens, if any such were adopted, he was made free of the city. The adoption being made, the adopted person had his name enrolled in the tribe and ward of his new father; this was not done at the same time in which the children begotten of themselves were registered, but on the festival called Oapya, in the month Thorgelion. The Lacedemonians were very cautious and wary in this affair; and, for the prevention of rash and inconsiderate adoptions, had a law that they should be confirmed in the presence of their kings. Adopted children were called waïdes deroi, or iconroi, and were invested in all the privileges and rights, and obliged to perform all the duties belonging to such as were begotten, of their fathers: and being thus provided for in another family, they ceased to have any claim of inheritance or kindred in the family which they had left, unless they first renounced their adoption, which the laws of Solon allowed thera not to do, except they had first begotten children to bear the name of the person who had adopted them; thus providing against the ruin of families, which would have been extinguished by the desertion of those who were adopted to preserve them. If the adopted persons died without children, the inheritance could not be alienated from the family into which they were adopted, but

ADOPT. returned to the relations of the persons who had adopted them. The Athenians are by some thought to have forbidden any man to marry, after he had adopted a son, without leave from the magistrate. And there is an instance in Tzetzes's Chiliads, of one Leogoras, who being ill used by Andocides the orator, who was his adopted son, desired leave to marry. However, it is certain some men married after they had adopted sons; and if they begot legitimate children, their estates were equally shared between those begotten and those adopted.-Potter's Archæologia Græca.

An adopted son could not adopt another; so that if he had no legitimate son, his possessions received by adoption must revert to the heirs of the adopting father, for there could not be two adopted sons at the same time. The adopted sons of a family, and those who were born afterwards, should there be any, were co-heirs of the estate; but no adoption could be valid, if a man had legitimate sons born at the time. An eunuch could not adopt a child; and the person adopted was required to be eighteen years younger than the person who adopted him.

Two forms of adoption were practised by the Romans: the one called adoptio, which was transacted before the prætor, the other termed adrogatio, performed, during the commonwealth, at an assembly of the people, and subsequently by a rescript of the emperor. In the former case, the natural father presenting himself to the magistrate, stated that he emancipated his son, relinquished all further authority over him, and agreed that he should pass into the family of the person who was desirous of adopting him: in the latter instance, the individual or the persons to be adopted being already free, it only remained that the names and distinctions should be altered, so that the adopted party assumed the name, and surname of the adopter. When Augustus adopted the two sons of Agrippa and Julia, he required the father to make over to him his right to the children by a kind of legal sale, and gave them his name in return. The senate decreed, in the reign of Nero, that fraudulent adoptions should be null and void; so that no honours could succeed to the adopted persons, nor could they be entitled to the whole of an inheritance, of which they might otherwise have become possessed. The Romans borrowed the custom of adoption from the Greeks, and it was practised among them with much greater frequency than among the latter people.

Adoption having been practised on various occasions, and by different modes, among different nations, several terms, expressive of these peculiarities, are found in their history. Adoption by arms, among the ancient Germans, was the term applied to the presentation of arms to any person by a prince, in consideration of distinguished merit: and it involved the obligation to defend and protect the father from all injuries and affronts. From this practice originated the ceremony of dubbing knights. The arms thus assigned were termed adoptive arms, and are distinguished from arms of alliance. Adoption by baptism, signifies the affinity acquired in the ceremony of baptism by god-fathers and god-children. It was first introduced into the Greek church, and was afterwards used by the ancient Franks. Adoption by matrimony, is the appropriating the children of a former marriage, and admitting them into the family upon an equality with those

of the present marriage. Adoption by testament, con- ADO! sists in making a person heir by will, upon the condition of his assuming the name, arms, and other distinctions of the deceased adopter.

The law of Mahomet prescribes a very curious ceremony in adoption. The person adopted is required to pass through the shirt of the adopter; and hence the phrase to draw another through one's shirt, is among them expressive of adoption. An adopted son is called Akietogli, that is, the son of another life.-D'Herbelot, Bibl. Orient. p. 47. Calmet remarks, that something of the same kind prevailed among the Hebrews, and refers to the history of Elijah casting his mantle over Elisha, his disciple and successor, when he ascended in a fiery chariot to heaven; and to that of Moses, who dressed Eleazar in Aaron's sacred garments, when that high-priest was about to be gathered to his fathers; intimating by this act that Eleazar succeeded to the functions of the priesthood, and was, in a manner, adopted to exercise that dignity. God assured Shebna, the captain of the temple, that he would deprive him of his honourable station, and substitute Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, in his room. "And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand." Is. xxii. 21. The expressions used by St. Paul, in various passages of the New Testament, are considered as illustrative of the same subject.-Rom. xiii. 14; Gal. iii. 27; Eph. iv. 24; Col. iii. 10; and by St. John. Comp. John i. 12; 1 John iii. 2.

This ceremony is frequently performed in the different parts of the east, merely by the adopting person exchanging girdles with the person adopted, who succeeds to all the privileges and possessions of a son. In order to prevent their estates falling into the hands of the grand seignior, when there is no probability of their having children of their own, it is not uncommon for the Turks to choose a child of either sex, and perhaps from among the lowest classes of the people, and take it with its parents before the cadi, where they make a solemn declaration that they receive the child for their heir. The parents renounce all claim to it in future, and a writing is drawn up and properly witnessed; so that a child thus adopted cannot by any means afterwards be disinherited..

ADOPTION, in a theological sense, signifies an act of divine goodness, by which we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God. Transgressors are said to be adopted into the family of heaven by the propitiation of our Saviour, and the impartation of his merit: so that for his sake they are regarded as spiritual children. It also includes God's acknowledgment of his people at the last day; as when the Apostle speaks of "the manifestation of the sons of God" at that period. Rom. viii. 19. For the Romans first adopted the child in private; and, as has been stated, by purchase; but when that child arrived at the age of puberty, he was carried to the Forum, and the adoption became a public and recognized act, sanctioned by all the legal and binding forms of the age. Thus God's children are now supposed to be adopted really; but in the day of general judgment they shall be openly recognized or manifested; the adoption shall be complete in all its advantages, as well as in all its forms. There is, however, a difference between civil and spiritual adoption, as the latter has been

ADORE

DOPT. designated. The former provided for the relief of those who had no children of their own; but this reason does not exist in spiritual adoption, to which the Almighty was under no conceivable obligation, since he had created innumerable beings, and all the intelligent ranks of creation may be considered as his children. The occasion of one person adopting another, amongst men, is their possession, or supposed possession, of certain qualities or excellencies which attract the adopter's regard; but the introduction of mankind into the family of heaven must be considered as resulting from no such existing merit. In the case of civil adoption, though there is an alteration of the name and external distinctions of the person chosen, it implies no necessary change of disposition, principle, or character; but the reverse is true of spiritual adoption, in which the adopted person is assimilated to the Being whose name he is permitted to assume.

The evidences of adoption are stated by divines as comprising the renunciation of all former sources of dependence and hope, combined with that implicit submission to the will of the adopter, which arises out of the parental character, as well as the supreme authority of God. Adoption is evinced also by a newly cherished and ardent affection to him who has conferred this honour, which it is obvious cannot be always secured in the case of civil adoption. It is displayed further by an obedient spirit, by a filial feeling pervading all our devotional intercourse with heaven, and by a patient expectance and humble anticipation of the final and everlasting inheritance.

ADORE', v. ADORABLE,

ADOR'ANT,

ADORATION,

ADORE'MENT, ADOR'ER.

Ad: oro, os oris, the mouth; (oro ab ore factum proprie significat ore precor. Vossius.)

To speak to, in prayer, supplication, with reverence, with awe, with love; and consequently, to pray to, to supplicate, to worship, to reverence, to love.

With that my fader vincust stert on fate,
And to the goddis carpis to be our bute,
The haly sterne adorit he rycht thare,
Now, now, quod he, I tary no langare,
I follow, and quhidder ze gide me sall I wend.

Douglas, book ii. p. 62. Æneid.

My father vanquist, then beheld the skies,
Spake to the gods, and tholy sterre adored :
Now, now, quod he, no longer 1 abide :
Felow I shall where ye me guide at hand.

*Surrey, Ib.

The good old man with suppliant hands implor'd
The gods protection, and their star adored :
Now, now, said he, my son, no more delay,
I yield, I follow where heav'n shews the way.

Dryden, Ib. And miche more excecrable is it to serue or worship the [images]

or kissing.

with any reuerent behauiour ether by adoracion prostracion knelyng The Exposicion of Daniel by George Joye, fol. S5. col. 2. Votum in ye scriptures hath not one only sygnyfycacyon, but many. Some where it is a knowledgyng of gods benefyghtes, some where a faythe in bys promyses, some wher an adoracyon, a worshypp. Bale's Apology, fol. 52. col. 1.

The said Sir John Bushe, did not onely attribute to him wordly honours, but diuyne names, inuentyng flatteryng wordes, and vnused termes, and to a mortall man not conuenient, for as oft as he spake vato the king in his throne, he cast bis handes abrode, as he had adoured and worshipped God, besechyng his excelse, high, and adorant maiestie, that he woulde witsafe to graunt him this or that. Grafton, repr. 1809, vol. i. p. 465.

Gray's Ode on a distant Prospect of Eton College. James made his publick entry into Dublin, amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants. He was met at the castle-gate by a procession of popish bishops and priests in their pontificals, bearing the host, which he publickly adored. Smollett's England,

That the more immediate objects of popular adoration amongst the heathens were deified human beings, is a fact attested by all antiquity, whether Pagan, Jewish, or Christian. Farmer on Miracles.

ADORATION, in a Theological sense, is, strictly speaking, an act of worship, due to God only; but offered also to idols and to mortal men by the servility of their fellow-creatures. The derivation of the term plainly indicates the action in which it primarily consisted; namely, in applying the hand to the mouth to kiss it, in token of extraordinary respect to any person or object. In the ancient book of Job it is said, “If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my mouth hath kissed my hand, this also were iniquity." (Chap. xxxi. 26, 27.) Minutius Felix states, "that as Cacilius passed before the statue of Serapis he kissed his hand, as is the custom of superstitious people." (In Oct.) And Jerome mentions that those who adore used to kiss their hands and to bow ter of general notoriety that the word 'kissing' is the down their heads. (Cont. Rufin. 16. 1.) It is a matusual idiom of the Hebrew language to signify adoration.

Although it cannot be imagined that one attitude or mode of indicating reverence is, in itself considered, more acceptable to the Supreme Being than another, inasmuch as his omniscient inspection primarily regards the affections of the worshipper: yet there is an evident decorum and respect implied in one posture more than in others, varying in different countries and at different periods according to the general opinion and established usages of society-but with which sentiments of devo

ADORE. tion are inseparably connected. Upon the principle that one mode of address to a superior is deemed respectful, and another the reverse, and consequently the attitudes and motions of the body are believed to be expressive of certain corresponding emotions in the mind, and that religion cannot be totally separated from its forms, the genuine worshipper of God will be solicitous about his external appearance in his presence; nor have the votaries of superstition and idolatry been indifferent to this view of the subject. These sentiments and forms of address have by a very natural association been transferred to the intercourse of ordinary life, and have been made to denote either a proper or an extravagant and impious degree of veneration.

With regard to the different MODES of Adoration, reference has already been made to the kissing of the hand. This is one of the principal tokens of respect in the east, and was, as appears from Herodotus, probably of Persian origin.

Travellers mention a large tree at Surat which is held in great veneration. There hangs a bell aloft, which the persons who come out to pay their devotions, first of all ring, as if to call the idol to hear them; then they commence their adoration by extending both hands downwards as much as possible, joining them together in a praying posture; then, lifting them up again by little and little, they bring them to their mouths as if to kiss them; and lastly, extend them so joined together as high as they can over their heads, which gesticulation is used only to idols and sacred things.-De la Valle.

The Romans, having their head covered, applied the right hand to the lips, the forefinger resting on the thumb, which was erect, and thus bowing the head, the worshippers turned themselves round from left to right. To this mode of kissing, the term osculum labratum' was applied, for they did not dare to touch the images of the gods themselves with their profane lips. Saturn and Hercules were adored with the head bare: and hence the worship of the latter received the epithet of 'institutum peregrinum' and ' ritus Græcanius, as differing from the ordinary method of the Romans, who usually concealed the person with a veil, and drew their garments up to their ears.

Kissing the feet, is also a mode of worship or adoration, adopted particularly in modern times among the papists, who express in this manner their reverence of the pope of Rome. It seems to have been derived from the imperial court; but at what precise period it was introduced, cannot now be determined. The eighth century is the generally assigned period, but some have found examples of it, as they believe, in the third. Dioclesian is said to have had gems fastened to his shoes, that divine honours might be more willingly paid him, by kissing his feet. Hence the popes fastened crucifixes to their slippers, that the adoration intended for the pope's person might be supposed to be transferred to Christ. Princes have sometimes practised this singular homage; and Gregory XIII. claimed it as a duty. It was rendered in the ancient church to bishops, the people kissing their feet and exclaiming poсkvw σe,-I adore thee.'

6

At the adoration of the cross on Good Friday the Roman catholics walk barefooted. In the east it is a sign of the greatest respect to take off the shoes and approach to render homage barefooted. The Maho

metans always observe this practice when they enter ADOR their mosques. Mr. Wilkins mentions, upon his expressing a wish to enter the inner hall of the college of Seiks, at Patna, he was informed it was a place of worship, and it was necessary for him to take off his shoes: and a very credible traveller reports that there are seen as many slippers and sandals at the doors of an Indian pagoda, as there are hats hanging up in our churches.

Kissing the ground, was an ancient mode of adoration which usually accompanied the act of prostration. Whenever the Persians met, if the parties were upon an equality, or nearly so, they kissed each other; but if the difference were considerable, the inferior prostrated himself and worshipped the other. The kings of Persia never admitted any one into their presence without this ceremony; and if the individual were a vanquished prince, he was required to kiss the prints of the horseshoe of his conqueror, repeating these stanzas :— "The mark that the foot of your horse has left upon the dust, serves me now for a crown.

"The ring, which I wear as the badge of my slavery, is become my richest ornament.

"While I have the happiness to kiss the dust of your feet, I shall think that fortune favours me with her tenderest caresses, and her sweetest kisses." The above instance of extreme servility is cited by d'Herbelot.

Apollonius relates that a golden statue of the king of Babylon was exposed to all who entered the city, and that they could not be admitted within the gates, until they had fallen down and worshipped it: a homage which Conon refused to Artaxerxes, and Callisthenes to Alexander the Great.

Standing was sometimes an attitude of adoration; the body being inclined forward and the eyes cast down to the earth. The hands also probably rested on the knees. In the first book of Kings and in the eighth chapter, it is recorded that Solomon "stood before the altar of the Lord, in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven." The priests also were accustomed to stand in the service of the temple. This was a posture practised both by the Greeks and Romans.

Sitting, with the under part of the thighs resting on the heels was an ancient eastern practice, which servants still do when in attendance upon their masters. Most, if not all, the Egyptian figures of worshippers in their sacred edifices are represented in this attitude, and it is often alluded to in the scriptures. Thus David "sat before" God on one of the most important occasions of worship. 1 Chron. xvii. 16.

Kneeling was extremely common, and seems very naturally to import a person's endeavouring to lessen his own self-importance in the presence of a superior.

The worshippers in eastern nations generally turn their faces toward the sun or to the east.

"Pre

Mr. Ward, one of the Baptist missionaries at Serampore, in a work on the History and Literature of the Hindoos, has given the following curious account of the modes of adoration, which they call POOJA. viously to entering on this act of idolatry," says he, "the person bathes: returning home he washes his feet, spreads a blanket or some other proper thing to sit upon, and then sits down before the idol, having the articles necessary for worship before him: a kosha or metal bason, and a koshee, or smaller one; a small

ADORE.

wooden stand, a metal plate, an iron stand to hold five lamps, a censer, a brass stand with a small shell placed on it, a metal plate on which to place flowers, a metal bowl into which the water and flowers are thrown after they have been presented to the idol, a metal jug for holding water, a metal plate to be used as a bell; a shell, or sacred conch, which sounds like a horn; with a number of dishes, cups, and other utensils for holding rice, paint, incense, betel, water, milk, butter, curds, sweatmeats, flowers, clarified butter, &c. Having all these articles ready, the worshipper takes water from the kosha with the koshee, and, letting it fall into his hand, drinks it; he then takes a drop more, and then a drop more, repeating incantations. After this, with the finger and thumb of his right hand, he touches his mouth, nose, eyes, ears, navel, breast, shoulders, and the crown of his head, repeating certain forms. He then washes his hands, makes a number of motions with his fingers, and strikes the earth with his left heel three times, repeating incantations. When this is done, he flirts the first finger and thumb of his right hand, waving his hand toward the ten divisions of the earth; closes his eyes, and repeats incantations to purify his mind, his body, the place where he sits, as well as the offerings about to be presented (which it is supposed may have become unclean by having been seen or touched by a cat, a dog, a shackal, a shoodru, or a Mussulman). Next, he takes a flower, which he lays on his left hand, and putting his right hand upon it, revolves in his mind the form of the god he is worshipping. He then lays the flower on his head, and joining his hands together, closes his eyes, thinks upon the form of the god, that he has a nose, eyes, four arms, four heads, &c. and then recites the outward forms of worship in his mind. He now presents the offerings: first, a square piece of gold or silver, as a seal for the god, inviting him to come and sit down, or visit him; and then, asking the god if he be happy, repeats for him, "very happy." After this, he presents water to wash the feet; takes up water with the koshee, and pours it into the metal bowl; and presents at once rice, a vilwu leaf, eight blades of doorva grass, paint, and water, with incantations. He then presents water to wash the mouth, curds, sugar, honey; then water to wash the mouth again, and water to bathe in, with prayers; then cloth, jewels, gold, silver, ornaments, bedsteads, curtains, a bed, pillow, cloth, printed cloth; clothes for men, women, or children; shoes, brass drinking cups, candlesticks, and whatever would be proper presents to the bramhuns. After this, paint, either red or white, is presented on a flower; then eight or ten flowers; leaves of the vilwu tree; a necklace of flowers; incense of three kinds, and a lighted lamp, with incantations. After the bloody sacrifices, the offerings are presented, comprising rice, split-peas, different kinds of peas, shaddocks, pomegranates, pineapples, netted custard-apples, another species of custard-apples, bread-fruit or jakus, mangoes, watermelons, cucumbers, plantains, oranges, ginger, cocoanuts, almonds, raisins, guavas, dates, jambus, jujubes, wood-apples, melons, sugar-canes, radishes, sweetpotatoes, kesooru, water, milk, curds, cream, butter,

事

It must not be supposed that all these articles are presented daily by the Hindoos. This account describes what is performed at festivals. In the daily worship, flowers, leaves, sacred grass, a little rice, &c. are presented.

ADORN.

sour-milk, clarified butter, sugar, sugar-candy, &c. &c. ADORE. After presenting the offerings, the person repeats the name of a god for some time, and then prostrates himself (the spectators doing the same); putting the cloth round his neck and joining his hands, he offers praise to the god and prostrates himself again. The dinner follows, consisting of fried greens, and several other dishes made up of kidney-beans, varttakee, cocoanuts, &c. fried together; split-peas, and several kinds of fried herbs or fruits; four kinds of fish; boiled and fried goat's flesh, venison, and turtle; different fruits prepared with treacle; rice and milk boiled with sugar; things prepared with pounded rice; cards, sweetmeats, &c. The fish, flesh, fried greens, and every thing of this kind, is eaten with boiled rice. A dish called kecooree, consisting of rice, split-peas, clarified butter, turmeric and spices, boiled together, is also presented; and then water to drink. With every article of food a separate prayer is offered. Water is next presented to wash the mouth, and a straw to pick the teeth, with prayers; then the burnt offering is made, and a present of money given. At last the person prostrates himself before the object of worship, and then retires to feast on the offerings with other bramhuns. This is a detail of the form of worship on a large scale, at which time it occupies the officiating bramhun two hours." Vol. ii. p. 64, et seq. 8vo.

The OBJECTS of adoration have been greatly diversified. We have before remarked that the Supreme Being is the only proper object of worship, but that man has most shamefully prostituted himself to others— to fellow men and to idols. Adoration of the latter was often performed by placing crowns or garlands on the statues of the gods. It was common to lie down in the temples, as if to receive responses from their gods during their sleep; and the sick, in particular, practised this ceremony in the temple of Esculapius. The Romish church offers an adoration to martyrs, images, crucifixes, relics, the virgin, and the host; towhich protestants strongly object. The Phoenicians (the first navigators) adored the winds, on account of the terrible effects produced by them; a practice adopted by most other nations. The Persians paid adoration to the sun and fire; some say also to the elements. The Greeks and Romans adored fire, under the name of Vesta. Pliny mentions the adoration of lightning by gently clapping the hands. The Egyptians adored animals, plants, and fishes; the Arabs, stones; the Scythians, swords; the Chinese, the statues of their ancestors. The Hindoos have not only an amazing variety of gods, but they worship human beings, beasts, birds, trees, rivers, fish, books, and stones. See " Ward's View of the History, Literature, and Religion of the Hindoos," passim.

ADORN', . ADORN', n. ADORN'ING, adj. ADORNMENT.

Ad: orno. Orno, Vossius derives from the Gr. Noa, time; the time of spring, the seasonable time, of youth, of maturity, of beauty; and consequently that which beautifies. Wiclif uses the simple word ourn.

To deck, dress, apparel, gaily, handsomely; so as to display to the best advantage; to decorate, to embellish..

Of which ther be not withoutforth curious ournyng of heer, either doyng aboute of gold, either ournyng of clothing, but thilke that is the hid man of herte in uncorrupcioun, and of mylde spirit whiche is.