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ALCO- kaara, to read; whence Al-Koran signifies the readRAN. ing, or that which ought to be read; and this appellation is bestowed not only on the entire volume, but also on each chapter, or section. It is called, besides, AlMoshaf, the volume, and Al-Kitab, the book.

Division of the Alcoran.

Copies.

During the life of Mahomet, the Koran existed only in loose sheets, which were first collected into a volume by his successor Abubeker, committing the transcript to the custody of Haphsa, one of the prophet's widows, from which, in the thirteenth year of the Hegira,Othman, Abubeker's successor, had a number of copies taken, ordering the suppression of every other as spurious. The principal differences in the copies at present in circulation relate to the points, which have been added since the time of Mahomet, and his immediate successors, for the purpose of fixing the genuine reading.

The general divisions of the Koran are into 114 suras, or sowars, answering to our term chapters, which are of very unequal length, and are distinguished in the manuscript copies, not by being numbered in the ordinary manner, but by particular titles, taken either from the subject treated, the person mentioned, or the first important word that occurs in the section; precisely in the same manner in which the Jews have named their Sedarim. Some of the chapters have more than one distinguishing title, which, it is supposed, has been occasioned by the variety of the copies. Another notation arises from the circumstance of some of the sections having been revealed at Mecca, others at Medina, and several of them partly at both places. Each sura is subdivided into verses, called in Arabic ayat, signs or wonders; unequal also in length, and many of them having particular titles, similar to the larger portions of the volume. The Koran is besides divided, in another form, into sixty equal parts, denominated ahzab, each of which is subdivided into four equal parts. The most usual division, however, is, into thirty parts, ajza, subdivided as before. These sections are intended to facilitate the reading of the book in the royal temples, and in the chapels adjoining the cemeteries of emperors and distinguished persons. Thirty readers belong to each chapel, each of whom reads his allotted portion, so that the whole is read over every day. At the head of every chapter, except the ninth, a solemn form, called the Bismillah," in the name of the most merciful God," is written, which, indeed, is prefixed to most of the Mahometan books and writings, as a testimony of their religion. There is a difference of opinion as to the origin of this form. It is probable that Mahomet took the hint from the practice of the Persian magi, who began their books with these words, Benam Yezdan bakshaishgherdada," in the name of the most merciful just God." Twenty-nine of the chapters begin with certain letters of the alphabet, some with a single letter, others more, which are considered as characteristic marks of the Koran, and believed to conceal some deep mysteries which Heaven imparted to none but the prophet himself. There are abrogated passages classed under three divisions; the first, where both the letter and the sense are abrogated; the second, where this is the case with the letter only; the third, where the sense, and not the letter is abrogated.

There are seven principal copies of the Koran; two published at Medina, a third at Mecca, a fourth at Cufa, a fifth at Bassorah, a sixth in Syria, and a seventh, which is the vulgate edition. The following are the most

beautiful manuscript copies found in Europe. One, sup- ALCOposed to have been used by Solyman the Great, in the RAN. Museum Kircherianum, at Rome; one in the library of Christian of Sweden; one in the Imperial library at Vienna; one, with a commentary, by Abi Saidi Rades, obtained among the spoils at the defeat of the Turks, in 1683, by George, elector of Saxony. The first edition Editions. of the whole, in Arabic, was published at Venice, in 1530, by Paganinus of Brescia, which was burnt by order of the pope. Afterwards, in 1684, it was printed at Hamburgh. In 1698, the original, with a Latin version, and a partial confutation, was published at Padua, by Father Lewis Maracci, by desire of Pope Innocent XI. An edition of the Arabic, with Scholia, was printed in folio, at Petersburgh, by the Empress Catharine, with a studious imitation of a manuscript character, in order to meet the prejudices of her Mahometan subjects. The first Latin version by a Christian was in 1143, when an Englishman, with the aid of Hermannus Dalmata, performed the task. In 1550, it was published by Bibliande, and, about the close of the fifteenth century, was translated into the Arragonian language, by Johannes Andreas, a convert from the Mahometan faith. Reineccius published an edition of Maracci's translation, with notes, at Leipsic, in 1721. Sale's well-known translation was published in London, in 1734; a German translation, by Boysen, at Halle, in 1773, and a French one, by Savary, at Paris, 1782.

It is most solemnly believed by the Mahometans, Alleged t that the Koran was not indited by Mahomet, who was be inspir unlearned, but was sent by God, through the instru mentality of the angel Gabriel, in small portions, or verses, which occupied three years in the communication. By this statement, they attempt to obviate any objections arising out of the confusion visible throughout the volume, and the contradictions that occur; asserting that several doctrines and precepts previously received by the prophet, were, in the course of this time, altered and abrogated. This representation has appeared to pious Christian minds not only absurd, but the worst explanation of the fact that is possible, charging upon the Deity the errors which could only be committed by weak or wicked men.

By the orthodox Mahometans, or Sonnites, the Koran Different is held to be uncreated and eternal, remaining, as they opinions say, in the very essence of God, written from everlasting on a large table, called the preserved table, in which also all the divine decrees are recorded. They affirm, that a copy was taken on paper, from this table, in one volume, and was sent down, by the ministry of Gabriel, to the lowest heaven, in the month of Ramadan, in the night of power, whence it was communicated to Mahomet, who, once every year, and in the last year of his life twice, enjoyed the privilege of seeing this blessed volume, bound in silk, and adorned with gold and jewels of paradise. Some Mahometan sects, however, do not admit the Koran to be uncreated, and accuse the maintainers of this doctrine of infidelity, as asserting two eternal beings. This was particularly the case with the sect called Motazalites, and the followers of Isa Ebn Sobeh Abu Musa, surnamed Al-Mozdar.

The avowed object of the Koran was to unite the Views professors of three different religions, at that period pre- Mahom valent in Arabia, in the worship of one God; namely, idolaters, Jews, and Christians. That there is but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet, is the ever-reiterated

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theme of the soi-disant sacred Koran, and this docZORAN. trine is enforced by the most awful threatenings. The unity of God is, therefore, the chief thing which Mahomet represented himself as sent to establish. inculcated by him as a fundamental and essential doctrine, that there never was, nor ever can be, more than one true orthodox religion; and that, whenever this became in any essential degree corrupted, the Divine Being commissioned distinguished persons to effect a reformation; of whom Moses and Jesus were the most eminent among the rest of the prophets, till the appearance of Mahomet, after whom no other is to be expected. A considerable part of the Koran is occupied in details of the punishments inflicted by God on those e Bible. who rejected his messengers, several of which are taken from the Old and New Testaments, others from the apocryphal books and traditions of Jews and Christians, which are introduced into the Koran to contradict the testimony of the Scriptures; the Jews and Christians being charged with having corrupted them. The rest of the work is occupied in prescribing laws, in admonitions to the practice of moral and divine virtues, to the worship of the Supreme Being, and submission to his will. Besides these, there are a number of occasional passages relating to particular emergencies; for, by the convenient pretension of receiving this revelation piecemeal, Mahomet was enabled to obviate any unexpected difficulty. It was sufficient for his purpose to assert a new revelation, and his followers were contented.

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With regard to that most prominent feature of the Koran, and which its admirers have ever represented as its grand excellence, the inculcation of the worship of the one God, as a being of infinite perfection and glory, it might easily be shown, that whatever accurate descriptions are given of his attributes, they were borrowed from the Christian Scriptures: nor can it be imagined that they should be primarily communicated to the pretended prophet of Arabia, amidst such a mass of contradiction and absurdity. As to other representations, such especially as relate to paradise, nothing can be more completely in contrast than the Holy Scriptures and the Mahometan Bible. The former exhibits to the view of mortals a scene replenished with felicity, but felicity of the purest kind, such as sanctified spirits may be expected to relish, and such as a holy God might be believed to communicate; whereas the paradise of the Koran is neither moral nor rational. It is neither more nor less than an abode of selfishness and sensuality-degrading, instead of elevating to the pure and Infinite Spirit, and mean and sordid in all its arrangements.

The Koran, thus ill sustaining its own claims to inspiration, studiously acknowledges the missions both of Moses and Christ, though it charges their disciples with corrupting the Scriptures of each dispensation. Jesus is allowed to be the true Messias, and a worker of miracles, but his crucifixion is denied, the traitor Judas, it is asserted, being changed into his likeness and put to death in his stead. Every circumstance, indeed, connected with the histories of the Holy Scripture, is either distorted or blended with the fictions of Rabbinical tradition, or with spurious gospels. Its doctrinal principles are borrowed frequently from the Arianism of the Arabian Christians, and the notions of the Persian magi.

The style of the Koran is elegant and pure. It is

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written principally in the dialect of the tribe of Koreish, who are confessedly the most refined of the Arabians. CORAN. It is still the standard of the language, though there is some intermixture of other dialects. It abounds in Elegance of its diction. figures and florid expressions, and contains many evident imitations of the manner of the prophets. Though written in prose, yet each sentence commonly concludes in rhyme, which occasions many repetitions, and some interruptions of the sense. The orthodox disciples of Islamism conceive, as the book itself affirms, that it is inimitable by any human pen, and is regarded as a continued miracle, greater than even that of raising the dead. Mahomet appealed to this as a confirmation of his mission, giving a public challenge to the most eloquent men in Arabia to produce any thing that could be brought into comparison with it. Notwithstanding this boasted superiority, Hamzah Benhamed wrote a book against the Koran with equal elegance of diction; and Moselema another, which was considered as so decidedly surpassing it that it gave occasion to a great defection among the Mussulmans. "It is probable," says Mr. Sale," the harmony of expression which the Arabians find in the Koran might contribute not a little to make them relish the doctrine therein taught, and give an efficacy to arguments, which, had they been nakedly proposed without this rhetorical dress, might not have so easily prevailed. Very extraordinary effects are related of the power of words well chosen and artfully placed, which are no less powerful either to ravish or amaze than music itself; wherefore as much has been ascribed by the best orators to this part of rhetoric as to any other. He must have a very bad ear who is not uncommonly moved with the very cadence of a well-turned sentence; and Mohammed seems not to have been ignorant of the enthusiastic operation of rhetoric on the minds of men; for which reason he has not only employed his utmost skill in these pretended revelations to preserve that dignity and sublimity of style, which might seem not unworthy of the majesty of that Being whom he gave out to be the author of them, and to imitate the prophetic manner of the Old Testament; but he has not neglected even the other arts of oratory, wherein he succeeded so well, and so strangely captivated the minds of his audience, that several of his opponents thought it the effect of witchcraft and enchantment, as he sometimes complains."-Prelim. Disc.

reading it.

The followers of the prophet dare not so much as Superstitouch the venerated Koran without being first washed tions reor legally purified; and, lest they should do this inad- specting vertently, they write on the cover or label, "Let none touch it but they who are clean." They read it with great reverence, and never hold it below their girdles. They swear by it; consult it on all important occasions; carry it with them to war; write sentences of it on their banners; adorn it with gold and precious stones; and, if possible, prevent its ever being in the possession of persons of a different persuasion, though they have it translated into the Persian, Javan, Malayan, and other languages; but, out of respect to the original Arabic, these versions are generally interlineary.

The opening of the Koran is somewhat solemn and imposing." In the name of the most merciful God! Praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures; the most merciful; the King of the day of judgment. Thee do we worship, and of thee do we beg assistance. Direct us in the right way; in the way of those to whom thou

ALCOVE.

ALCO hast been gracious; not of those against whom thou RAN. art incensed, nor of those who go astray." This is the first chapter, and is entitled, "The preface, or introduction, revealed at Mecca." In Arabic it is called "Al Fâtibat," and is esteemed the quintessence of the whole Koran, the Mahometans often repeating it in their devotions, both public and private, as Christians Specimens. do the Lord's prayer. One or two other specimens will serve to convey to the reader some general idea of this volume. 66 Now hath God in truth verified unto his apostle the vision (or dream which Mahomet had at Medina), wherein he said, ye shall surely enter the holy temple of Mecca, if God please, in full security; having your heads shaved and your hair cut; ye shall not fear; for God knoweth that which ye know not; and he hath appointed you, besides this, a speedy victory. It is he who hath sent his apostle with the direction, and the religion of truth; that he may exalt the same above every religion; and God is a sufficient witness hereof. Mohammed is the apostle of God, and those who are with him are fierce against the unbelievers, but compassionate towards one another. Thou mayest see them bowing down prostrate, seeking a recompense from God and his good will. Their signs are in their faces, being marks of frequent prostration. This is their description in the Pentateuch, and their description in the Gospel: they are as seed which putteth forth its stalk and strengtheneth it, and swelleth in the ear and riseth upon its stem, giving delight unto the sower. Such are the Moslems described to be, that the infidels may swell with indignation at them. God hath promised unto such of them as believe, and do good works, pardon and a great reward."—Ch. xlviii.

Ch. xlviii.

The following is one of the smaller sections (ch. lxxii) entire,

"Intitled, the Genii; revealed at Mecca. "In the name of the Most Merciful God,

Say, It hath been revealed unto me, that a company of genii attentively heard me reading the Koran, and said, verily we have heard an admirable discourse, which directeth unto the right institution; wherefore we believe therein, and we will by no means associate any other with our Lord. He (may the majesty of our Lord be exalted!) hath taken no wife, nor hath he begotten any issue; yet the foolish among us have spoken that which is extremely false of God: but we verily thought that neither man nor genius would by any means have uttered a lie concerning God. And there are certain men who fly for refuge unto certain of the genii; but they increase their folly and transgression; and they also thought as ye thought, that God would not raise any one to life. And we formerly

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attempted to pry into what was transacting in heaven; ALCO but we found the same filled with a strong guard of RAN angels, and with flaming darts; and we sat on some of the seats thereof, to hear the discourse of its inhabitants: but whoever listeneth now, findeth a flame laid in ambush for him, to guard the celestial confines. And we know not whether evil be hereby intended against those who are on the earth, or whether their There are some Lord intendeth to direct them aright. among us who are upright; and there are some among us who are otherwise. We are of different ways. And we verily thought that we could by no means frustrate God in the earth; neither could we escape him by flight: wherefore, when we had heard the direction contained in the Koran, we believed therein. And whoever believeth in his Lord, need not fear any diminution of his reward, nor any injustice. There are some Moslems among us; and there are others of us who swerve from righteousness. And whoso embraceth Islam, they earnestly seck true direction: but those who swerve from righteousness shall be fuel for hell. If they tread in the way of truth, we will surely water them with abundant rain, that we may prove them thereby; but whoso turneth aside from the admonition of his Lord, him will he send into a severe torment. Verily the places of worship are set apart unto God; wherefore invoke not any other therein together with God. When the servant of God stood up to invoke him, it wanted little but that the genii had pressed on him in crowds, to hear him rehearse the Koran. Say, verily I call upon my Lord only, and I associate no other God with him. Say, verily I am not able, of myself, to procure you either hurt or a right institution. Say, verily none can protect me against God; neither shall I find any refuge besides him. I can do no more than publish what hath been revealed unto me from God, and his messages. And whosoever shall be disobedient unto God and his apostle, for him is the fire of hell prepared; they shall Until they see the vengeance remain therein for ever. with which they are threatened, they will not cease their opposition; but then shall they know who were the weaker in a protector, and the fewer in number. Say, I know not whether the punishment with which ye are threatened be nigh, or whether my Lord will appoint for it a distant term. He knoweth the secrets of futurity; and he doth not communicate his secrets unto any, except an apostle in whom he is well pleased: and he causeth a guard of angels to march before him and behind him, that he may know that they have compreexecuted the commission of their Lord: he hendeth whatever is with them, and counteth all things by number."

ALCORANISTS, in Mahometan Theology, a term that has been applied to a set of devotees to the letter of the Alcoran, similar to the scribes and textuaries among the Jews; as also to all believers in the inspiration of that book.

ALCOVE'. In the Spanish, Alcova, or Alcoba; and this from the Arabic Alcobba. An apartment arched or vaulted, by which the bed is surrounded. Menage. Applied to any shady recess.

The king [James II.] brought over with him from Whitehall a great many peers and privy counsellors. And of these eighteen

were let into the bed-chamber; but they stood at the furthest end
of the room.
The ladies stood within the alcove.
Burnet's Own Time.
Great Villers lies-alas, how chang'd from him,
That life of pleasure, and that soul of whim!
Gallant and gay, in Cliveden's proud alcove,
The bower of wanton Shrewsbury and love.

Pope's Epistle to Allen, Lord Bathurst.

On mossy banks, beneath the citron grove,
The youthful wand'rers found a wild alcove.

Falconer's Shipwreck. ALCOVE, in Architecture, is more generally applied

ALDAY.

ALCOVE. to a recess in a chamber, from which it is separated by means of columns, arches, or a ballustrade; and is generally elevated a few steps above the other part of the room. In the alcove of state rooms, the bed of state was usually placed, and sometimes seats for company. Many vestiges of this mode of building are found in the palace of the Alhambra, in Spain, in which country it still obtains. It is probable that the Spaniards introduced alcoves into Germany and France, and that they themselves adopted the fashion from their Moorish conquerors. It is now almost entirely disused in other European countries.

ALCOY, a considerable manufacturing town of Spain, in the province of Valencia, about 19 miles from Alicant, on a river of the same name. The population, according to a late estimation, amounts to about 9,887

inhabitants.

ALCUDIA DE CASTEL, a town of Spain, in the province of Valencia, containing about 2,000 inhabitants. Here is an ancient parochial church, and a convent of religious, of the Franciscan order.

ALCUDIA, a small city of Majorca, nearly opposite to Minorca. It was formerly a place of considerable consequence; but it is now much reduced. In the neighbourhood they fish for coral.

ALCYON, or ALCYONIUM, in Ancient Ornithology, a name by which the Ispida, or king-fisher, was designated. The classic poets feigned that the Alcyon, building its nest on the sea, made the waters calm in all the neighbourhood. See HALCYON.

nymphalis.

ALCYONE, in Astronomy, the star of the greatest lustre in the Pleiades; it is in our catalogues marked y. ALCYONE, in Entomology, a species of the papilio ALCYONIA, in Ancient Geography, a lake in Corinth, a third of a furlong in circumference, visited by Pausanias, of which he relates that no one had ever succeeded in determining its depth. Nero made a fruitless attempt of this kind with ropes joined together, to the length of several furlongs. The historian was informed, that though the surface of the water was always tranquil, yet any one attempting to swim in it was quickly drawn under. Through this lake Bacchus is said to have descended to the infernal regions to bring up his mother Semele.-PAUS. lib. ii.

c. 37.

ALCYONIUM, in Zoology, a term given by Linnæus NIUM to a species of zoophytes. This animal grows like a plant; the stem is fleshy, fixed, gelatinous, and coriaceous, set round with polype, bearing stellate cells. Gmelin mentions twenty-eight species.

ALCYONIUM MARE, in Ancient Geography, a bay about 25 miles long, at the extremity of the Corinthian gulph. On the north it had the coast of Boeotia, on the south that of Megaris, and a small part of Corinth. STRABO, lib. viii. & ix.

ALDAN, a considerable river of Siberia, having its source on the Chinese frontier. It passes, after several meanderings, through the province of Yakutzk; and sables of the finest quality are obtained in its neighbourhood.

AL'DAY. All day.

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ALDBOROUGH, or ALDBURG (the Isurium Brigantium of the Romans), a very ancient town in the west riding of Yorkshire, about a mile and a half to the east of Boroughbridge, and 208 distant from London. It was once a British city, but was enlarged and strengthened by the Romans, who appear to have built the walls, the ruins of which are still found to be from four to five yards thick, upon a foundation of large pebble stones. These walls formed a complete square, and included at least sixty acres of land, now, for the most part, laid out in fields. Few places have afforded a greater variety of Roman antiquities. Here have been discovered the fragments of aqueducts cut in great stones, and covered with tiles; a vault, which it is thought led to the river Ouse, near whose banks the present town is seated, and supposed to have been a dormitory; vast quantities of Roman coins, mostly of brass, from the reign of Augustus to Constantine; together with several signets, urns, and other utensils of red earth, wrought with a variety of figures, knots, and flowers. Some beautiful Mosaic pavement, consisting of small stones, of about a quarter of an inch square, with a border nearly four times that size, were discovered in 1770; and in the year 1808, a great number of urns, containing calcined bones, with a lachrymatory, a fibula vestaria, and eighteen human skeletons. These remains, which, there is little doubt, in a high degree of preservation; and a thin stratum had been in the ground upwards of 1,400 years, were all of black earth which surrounded them, affords a strong presumption that the bodies of those whose ashes were contained in the urns, had been burned on the place where they were deposited. On the south side of the town are the reliques of a Roman encampment, containing about two acres of ground. The Roman Isurium was, in all probability, built about the year 80; after Julius Agricola had completed the reduction of the Brigantines, one of the most powerful of all the British tribes, and possessing the entire districts, now forming the counties of York, Lancaster, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Durham. Before the foundation of Eboracum, now the city of York, it appears to have been the principal city of the district. Some have supposed that it was burnt by the Danes; others that it was more gradually destroyed, and afterwards rebuilt by the Saxons, who gave it the name of Aldburgh, or the Old Town. Aldborough at present contains about 760 inhabitants. It is a corporate borough, returning two members to parliament; and all the inhabitants who pay taxes, enjoy the elective franchise; but the duke of Newcastle holds the principal burgage property. The church is supposed to have been built out There is also a small townof the ruins of Isurium. ship of the name of Aldborough, in the North Riding of

Yorkshire.

Suffolk, in the hundred of Plomesgate, 94 miles from ALDBOROUGH, a sea-port and market town of

London, on the river Ald, whence its name is derived. Two centuries ago, Aldborough was a place of considerable importance; but latterly the sea has encroached so seriously on its site, that one whole street which ran parallel with the other two, of which the

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ALDER.

ALDBO- town is composed, was swallowed up during the last
century; and the market-place and cross
were de-
stroyed by the same means. A plan of this town,
published in the year 1559, represents the church
as standing upwards of ten times its present distance
from the shore. The harbour is defended by a mar-
tello tower and some pieces of artillery; and to the
southward of the quay are conveniences for drying
fish; this town having been long famous for the cure
of sprats, in the manner of red herrings. The inha-
bitants export some corn, and carry on a trade in coals
with Newcastle upon Tyne. Aldborough has lately
been resorted to as a bathing-place, and several hand-
some seats adorn the neighbourhood.

ALDEBARAN, or PALILICUM, in Astronomy, the
Arabian term for a star of the first magnitude, in the
middle of the eye of Taurus, and from its situation
called the Bull's eye.

ALDENAHR, a bailiwick and town on the river
Ahr, in the Prussian grand duchy of the Lower Rhine,
20 miles S. from Cologne, and 30 N. W. of Coblentz.
It is the chief town of a canton. E. lon. 6°, 50'.
N. lat. 50°, 35'.

ALDENHOVEN, a town and bailiwick in the grand
duchy of the Lower Rhine, containing a population of
about 1,100 inhabitants. It is three miles from Juliers.
AL'DER, or Aller, or Alder, Alle, All. Tyr-
AL'LER.
whit (after Junius) calls it the ge-
nitive case plural, Of all. It was used much in com-
position. Aller best; best of all. Aller last; last of
all. Aller first; first of all. Aller most; most of all.
Or, wholly best; wholly last, &c.

Grete townes in Engelond he amendede y nowe,
And London aller most for per to hys herte drowe.
R. Gloucester, p. 44.
In pe alder next pat pe bataile was of Leaus,
De gynnyng of heruest, as pe story scheawes,
Com Symon to feld.
R. Brunne, v. i. p. 221.
Sex and twenty baners of Inglond alder best,
Of armes pat knewe pe maners, to werre were alle prest.
Id. v. ii. p. 271.

And which of you that bereth him best of alle,
That is to sayn, that telleth in this cas,
Tales of best sentence and most solas,
Shal have a souper at youre aller cost.

Chaucer. The Prologue, v. i. p. 33.

Wel coude he rede a lesson or a storie,
But alderbest he sang an offertorie.
Id. v. i. p. 29.
Alderfirst thou shalt considre that in thilke thing that thou pur-
posest, and upon what thing that thou wolt have conseil, that veray
trouthe be said and conserved. Id. The Tale of Melibeus, v. ii. p. 91.
And alderlast of euerichone
Was painted Pouert all alone,
That not a peny had in hold,
Althoug she her clothes sold.

Id. The Romaunt of the Rose, f. 118, c. 3.
Ensample why, see now these great clerkes,
That erren aldermost ayen a law,
And ben conuerted from his wicked werkes
Throgh grace of God, yt lest he to withdraw.

Id. First Booke of Troilus, f. 157, c. 2.
Thon y'art alderfarest, bearing ye fair world in thy thoght: formedest
this world to thy likenes semblable, of yt fair world in thy thought.
Id. Third Booke of Boecius, f. 226, c. 1.

QUEEN. Great king of England, and my gracious lord,
The mutuall conference that my minde hath had,
By day, by night; waking, and in my dreames,
In courtly company, or at my beades,

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The which Symōde be haued hym so well after, that he was ad-
mytted for an alderman; but in short processe after, he demeanyed
hym so ille and so cotraryouslye vnto the weale and good ordre of
ye citie, that he was dyscharged of his aldermanshyp, and dyscharged
from all rule and counceyll of the cytie.
Fabian, p. 331.

Everich, for the wisdom that he can
Was shapelich for to ben an alderman.

Chaucer. The Prologue, v. i. p. 16.

In a seculer common wealthe he is called to be a maior, that before vsed bymself stoutely in the wardenship: and agayne he is promoted from being maior to be judge, or the alderman, because he behaued hymselfe well in his mayoraltye. Udal. Paul to Timothie, cap. iii.

By the lawes of King Ina, 100 yeares before Alfred, as they are Scots, there is mention made of shyres and of the shyreman or extant in the Saxon tongue, and by the lawes of Rennethus, king of elderman, whom we nowe call shireeue or sheriffe.

Stow's Chronicle.

O happy art! and wise epitome
Of bearing arms! most civil soldiery!
Thou canst draw forth the forces, and fight dry
The battles of thy aldermanity;

Without the hazard of a drop of blood.

Ben Jonson. Satire on the Artillery-yard. Underwood's. No lxiii. Then followed Sancho upon his asse, leading Rozinante by the bridle; and last of all came the curate and barbor upon their mighty mules, and with their faces covered; all in a grave posture, and with an alderman-like pace, and travelling no faster then the slow steps of the heavie oxen permitted them.

Shelton's Trans. of Don Quixote. Ed. 1652. These [lord Bacon, the earl of Strafford, archbishop Laud], and many more, under different princes, and in different kingdoms, were disgraced, or banished, or suffered death, merely in envy to their virtues and superior genius, which emboldened them in great exigencies and distresses of state (wanting a reasonable infusion of this aldermanly discretion;) to attempt the service of their prince and country out of their common forms. Swift's Essay on the Fates of Clergymen. The new machine, and it became a chair. The lumber stood Pond'rous and fix'd by its own massy weight. But elbows still were wanting: these, some say, An alderman of Cripplegate contrived.

Cowper's Task, book i. ALDERMAN, or ELDERMAN, in Ancient Customs, appears to have been a title of various offices of Saxon and British polity. It was the second rank of Saxon and synonymous with our earl, or count, though not nobility (atheling being the first, and thane the lowest), always an hereditary title.

"The alderman of the county," says Spelman of the Ancient Government of England, "whom confusedly they call an earl, was in parallel equal with the bishop, and therefore both their estimations valued alike in the

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