ALLOW. Considering then youth, Chaucer. Frankeleines Prologue, v. i. p. 446. For loue nothing ne praiseth the Id. Romaunt of the Rose, fol. 140, c. 3. For selde it is, that loue alloweth The gentill man withouten good, Though his condicion be good. Gower. Con. A. book iv. Some that purpose to mende, and woulde fayne haue some tyme lefte them lenger to bestow somewhat better, may peraduenture be lothe to die also by & by,-yet will I not saye, but that suche kynd of lotheness to dye, maye be before God allowable. Sir Thos. More's Works, p. 1250. c. 1. by lord lokep to have a lowance for hus bestes, And of pe monye pow haddist þr mýd. Vision of Piers Plouhman, p. 161. When his maister is from home in a straunge countrey [he, the faithfull stewarde], will see well to his housholde, of whiche he is made ouerseer and deputye, not to vse hymself as a lorde or a tyranne ouer it, but out of the treasours of his lorde to bryng foorth paie vnto euerie bodye, his due allowaunce, as much as conuenient is, and at suche tymes as is requisite. Udal. S. Luk. chap. xii. So ar his errors manifold, that many words dothe use, With humble secret playnt, fewe words of hotte effect, Honor thy lord; alowance vaine of voyd desert neglect. With thys he dothe defende the slye assaulte Surrey. Wyatt. Wee doo woorshippe God, and the Father of our Lorde Jesus Christe: and doo allowe al thinges whiche haue benne written either in the lawe, or in the prophetes, or in the apostles workes. Jewel's Defence of the Apologie. This is, in summe, what I would have ye wey : And thinke it good for me, for them, for you, And for our countrey, mother of us all : And if ye lyke it, and allowe it well, Then for their guydinge and their governaunce, As ye thinke meete to be both knowne and kept. Yet bear me, Samson; not that I endeavour Milton's Samson Agon. Lots, as to their nature, use, and allowableness, in matters of recreation, are indeed impugned by some, though better defended by others. South's Sermons. I should allowably enough discharge my part in this treatise, if I should not do any more than give you reasonable inducements to entertain high expectations of the fruits, that may be gathered from natural philosophy, if it be industriously and skilfully cultivated. Boyle's Exper. Phil. The ruin'd spendthrift, now no longer proud, It is no uncommon thing for some who excel in one thing, to imagine they may excel in every thing; and, not content with that share of merit which every one allows them, are still catching at that which doth not belong to them. Mason, on Self-knowledge. ALLOY, in Chemistry, the combination or amalgamation of various metals into one mass, such as brass, bronze, type metal, &c. The alloy of gold is valued by carats; that of silver by pennyweights: but when the word is used as a verb, it is generally applied to the action of mixing a more valuable metal with one of less estimation, and so deteriorating its value, as silver with tin, or gold with copper. ALLSPICE, in Botany. See MYRTUS. ALLSTADT, or ALSTADT, an ancient town and bailiwic of Germany, in the circle of Upper Saxony, in the principality of Eisenach, 26 miles N. of Weimar, and 28 N. N. E. of Erfurt. The Emperor Otho had a palace in this town, and held a diet here in 974. Ad: ludo. To play, or sport upon. ALLUDE', T. ALLU'SIVE, at, to intimate, to refer to. Applied to playful or sportive hints and intimations; and then generally; to hint As for the grace of the Latin toungue I thinke vnpossible to bee liuely expressed, as this autour doeth it in the Latin by reason of soondrie allusions, diuerse prouerbes, many figures, & exornacions rhetoricall. Udal. Preface to S. Luke. He plac'd in the convex of every one of those vast capacious spheres some living creatures to glorify his name, among whom there is in every of them one supereminent, like man upon earth, to be lord paramount of all the rest. To this haply may allude the old opinion, that there is a peculiar intelligence which guides and governs every orb in heaven. Howell's Letters. The rest were all Milton's Paradise Lost, book x. The Jewish nation, that rejected and crucified him, within the compass of one generation were, according to his prediction, destroyed by the Romans, and preyed upon by those eagles (Matt. xxiv. 28.), by which, allusively, are noted the Roman armies, whose ensign was the eagle. Hammond. The great art of a writer shows itself in the choice of pleasing allusions, which are generally to be taken from the great or beautiful works of art or nature. Spectator. No 421. The foundation of all parables is some analogy or similitude between the tropical or allusive part of the parable, and the thing couched under it. South's Sermons. There may, according to the multifarious allusiveness of the prophetical style, another notable meaning be also intimated. More's Seven Churches. The people of the country, alluding to the whiteness of its [Butermer lake] foam, call it sour-milk force. Gilpin's Tour to the Lakes of Cumberland, &c. To resume a former allusion, the running horse, when fattened, will still be fit for very useful purposes, though unqualified for a Goldsmith. On Polite Learning. courser. ALLUMEE (allumé, French), in Heraldry, denotes the eyes of an animal when they are represented light, or sparkling, and of a different colour from the animal itself, as when they are red, and the animal proper. Also applied to the flame of a torch, when illumined, and the handle itself is of the colour of nature. ALLUMINOR (allumer, French), a person formerly ALLUMINOR. of Gloucester, and in Lidgate. Allure, then, may mean to show, open, or point out the way (subaced to the gratification of any desire); to lead or draw on the way; to attract, to tempt, to entice. Vpe pe alurs of pe castles pe laydes þanne stode, Such ioy had she, for to take hede The Story of Thebes, by John Lidgate, part ii. p. 382, c. 2. In my mynde both his reasons & solucyons are so chyldysh and vnsauerye, so vnlerned and bare, so ful of fautes and phatasyes, that I rather pytie the manes depe ignoraunce & blindnesse the I feare that he by his vayne probacions shuld allure any man to consent vnto hym. A Boke made by Johan Fryth. What shoulde I speake of the other lesse euils, that he alewred and alected her with, as the pleasure of the eye in the beboldynge of that frute, wyth likorous desyre of the delicious taste. Sir Thomas More's Works, f. 1274, c. 1. Hir birning beawtie dois embrayis Banks of Helicone, Sibbald, v. iii. p. 189. Why did not entier loue towardes God allure you hither before as wel as ye feare & drede of punisemente dooeth violetly hale you hither now at this presente. Your myndes and hertes are as yet nothyng chaunged at al. Udal. S. Luke, chap. iii. And ouer and besydes al this, those persones who laied their battrey against the trueth euangelicall to cast it down and to destruie it, not onely had diuerse and soondry kindes of terrours wherwt euen verai manly stomakes also might haue bene quailled, but also they had diuerse and soondrie alluremetes, wherewith an herte, though it wer right continent, might be corrupted. Id. Preface to S. Luke. The faire Serena (so his lady hight), Her wavering lust after her wand'ring sight, Study such kisses as would melt a man, Beaumont and Fletcher's Woman's Prize, act i. To satisfy the sharp desire I had Milton's Par. Lost, book ix. Thus then, whereas by temptation here is meant any occasion alluring or provoking to sin, or withdrawing from duty, with a violence, all things considered, exceeding our strength to resist or avoid. God may be said to bring them into it, whom in justice he permits to be exposed thereto. Barrow, on the Lord's Prayer. Among the Athenians, the Areopagites expressly forbade all allurements of eloquence. Hume's Essays. ALLUSH, or ALUSH, in Scripture Geography, a station of the Israelites in Idumea, between Dophkah and Rephidim. Num. xxxiii. 13, 14. St. Jerome and Eusebius fix it in the neighbourhood of Petra, the capital of Arabia Petræa; Ptolemy and others, among the cities of Idumea, in the third Palestine. ALLUVIAL LIMESTONE, or ALLUVIAL ROCKS, in Mineralogy, calcareous substances washed away from rocks or chalky cliffs near the sea, or great waters, and deposited on neighbouring lands or coasts. This limestone is used as a manure, and is sometimes called magnesia limestone, from the quantity of magnesia it generally contains. ALLURE ALLU'VION, n. Ad: luo, lutum. To wash to. The washing away. Particularly applied to the washing up of sand or earth, so as to form a new soil. And likewyse vnto ye towne of Paperethus there came a goulphe of the sea (and yett wythoute annye earthquake and ouerflowynge) that dydde beate downe one parte of the walle, togider wyth the palais and many othere howses. Of the whyche alluuyons and ouerflowynges, the earthquakes (as I thynke) were the cause. For on that syde, where it moste troubledde and quaked, yt chasedde and repulsed the sea from it, whyche retournynge agayne wyth greate force and violence, caused the alluuyions and ouerflowyngs. Thucidides, by Thos. Nicolls. Lon. 1550, f. 92, c. 2. Slow rivers, by insensible alluvions, take in and let out the waters that feed them, yet are they said to have the same beds. Howell's Letters. If the alluvion or dereliction be sudden and considerable, in this case it belongs to the king; for, as the king is lord of the sea, and so owner of the soil while it is covered with water, it is but reasonable he should have the soil, when the water has left it dry. Blackstone's Commentaries. ALLU ΓΙΟΥ, ALLUVION, in Civil Law, is a right of property in lands left by the sea, or on the banks of rivers, or to islands arising out of them. According to Bracton (1. ii. c. 2.), if an island arise in the middle of a river, it belongs in common to the owners of land situated on each side of the river; but if it arise nearer to one side than the other, it belongs to the proprietor of the nearest lands. In cases of land gradually left by the stream of a river, as alluvion is defined to be, a latent, imperceptible accretion," it becomes the property of the owner of the lands adjoining; but if a sudden change of the course of a river destroy a man's land, and leave other land in other parts of its course, he that loses his former right by dereliction, shall obtain this newly-created property. Imperceptible additions to land by the shrinking back of the waters of the sea, become, in like manner, the property of the nearest land-owner; but if the alluvion, or dereliction, be considerable, it belongs to the king; as do all islands Amonges the which points yspoken was Chaucer. The Knightes Tale, v. i. p. 117. SIL. If this man Ben Jonson's Sejanus, act i. sc. 2. The church and commonwealth, humane and divine laws, have conspired to avoid hereditary diseases, forbidding such marriages as are any whit allyed. Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. In the presence and approbation also of other princes, states, alliants, deputies with full power and authority, we do promise and vow for our selves of each party, alliants, electors, princes, and states, by all the real words of truth and fidelity. alliance. Accord of Ulm. Relique Wottoniana. Pope's Essay on Man. Epist. iii. And every pang that folly pays to pride. Goldsmith's Deserted Village. By this extraordinary and unexpected success of his ally [Gustavus], Charles failed of the purpose for which he framed the Hume's History of England. ALMAGEST (from the Arabic particle al, and μηγιστη), its Greek title being Συνταξις Μηγίστη, the Greatest Collection; the name of a celebrated work on Geometry and Astronomy, compiled by Ptolemy, and comprising the earliest account we now possess of the observations and problems of the ancients in and upon these sciences. It is divided into thirteen books, and contains an account of the planetary motions, a catalogue of the fixed stars, and the records of numerous eclipses. The Arabians found this work at Alexandria after the capture of the city, and, by order of the Caliph Almammon, it was translated into Arabic about GEST. ALMANAC. the year 827. The first Latin version appeared in the ALMAyear 1230, at the desire of the Emperor Frederic; but the Greek text was not known in Europe until the commencement of the fifteenth century, after the taking of Constantinople, whence it was brought hither by George, a monk of Trebizond, who also translated it into Latin. Ricciolus published, in 1651, a book of Astronomy, entitled, in imitation of Ptolemy, the New Almagest. This treatise contains the ancient and modern discoveries in the sciences; and a Botanical Almagest was published by Plukenet, under the title of Almagestum Botanicum, in the year 1696. ALMAGRA, in Mineralogy, an ochre called sil atticum by the ancients. It is of a fine deep red colour, with a tint of purple; heavy, dense, yet friable, and with a rough dusty-like surface. It is much used by painters. In medicine it is an astringent; that of the best quality is found in Spain, and especially in Andalusia. ALMAGRO, or ALMAGRE, a town of La Mancha, in Spain, which contains a mineral spring. Population about 3,000. ALMAGUER, a pleasant, though small city of South America, in the kingdom of Quito, province of Popayan. It stands on the summit of a mountain, and commands a pleasing prospect. It was built in the year 1543, for the sake of the gold mines in the neighbourhood. ALMANAC, a table, or calendar, in which are set down and marked the several feasts and fasts of the church; those that commemorate political events; the common ecclesiastical notes; the rising and setting of the sun, the course and phases of the moon and of other celestial bodies, for every month and day of the year. The etymology of the word has been differently given; some have derived it from the Arabic particle al, and manach, to count; others from al and pavaкos, the course of the months. Golius is of another opinion; he says, that throughout the East, it is the custom for subjects, at the beginning of the year, to make presents to their princes; and among the rest, the astrologers present them with their ephemerides for the ensuing year, whence those ephemerides are called almanha; viz. handsels, or new-year's gifts. Others again, as Verstegan, write the word almonat, making it of German origin. Our ancestors, this author observes, were in the practice of carving the courses of the moon for the year upon a square piece of wood, which they called almonaght, signifying, in old English or Saxon, all-moon-heed. Whether any one of these may be considered as a direct derivation of the word almanac, it is very difficult to decide; with respect to the notion of Golius, we have had an opportunity of consulting Murza Ja à far, a gentleman belonging to the court of the prince of Persia, a native of that country, of great intelligence and veracity: he assures us, that though the custom be as Golius describes, neither the Persians nor the Arabians have any such word as almanha. The same gentleman has favoured us with an inspection and explanation of a Persian almanac. The first page contains a list of fortunate days for certain purposes; as, for example, to buy, to sell, to take medicine, to marry, to go a journey, &c. &c.; then follows predictions of events, as earthquakes, storms, political affairs, &c. after the manner of Moore's ALMA- Almanac, except being apparently more concise, occuNAC. pying only one small page. Then begins the general calendar, which is arranged much after the manner of our almanacs, except that each month is not made to occupy exactly a page, but runs on from the beginning to the end, without any regard to the place where the month may terminate. In this calendar part, the days of the month and those of the week are arranged, as we have said above, from the top of the page downwards; in the second column is given the time of the rising and setting of the sun; and in the seven following columns, the distance of the sun from the six principal planets, according to the Persian system of astronomy, viz. the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. In the next page, the days of the month are repeated, with successive columns of the distance of the moon from the other planets, another column shows the time of the moon's being in the zenith and nadir, or rather the time of its coming upon the meridian, both above and below the horizon; and the last, or righthand column, registers the several feasts and other remarkable events connected with the Mahomedan religion. The two last pages contain a scheme of the configuration of the planets and the prediction of eclipses with respect to the latter, however, we do not imagine there can be much accuracy, as the Persians still make all their computations with reference to the Ptolemaic system. In Europe, and more particularly in England, we have almanacs of various descriptions, some in pamphlets, others in sheets; some annual, and others perpetual. The essential parts of our almanacs are the calendar of months, weeks, and days; the motion, changes, and phases of the moon; and to these are commonly added various matters, astronomical, astrological, chronological, meteorological, and even political, rural, and medical; and two almanacs in particular, the Lady's and Gentleman's Diary, have a portion appropriated to poetry and mathematics. The astronomical part relates to the prediction of eclipses, solar ingresses, aspects and configurations of the heavenly bodies; the time of new and full moon; the time of high tide; the equation of time, &c. &c.; and the astrological, which is, however, confined to one or two only of these publications (and ought to be rejected from every one), containing prognostications of the weather, and of political and domestic events, &c. In France, no predictions relating to civil affairs, either of the state or of private persons, are allowed; an edict to this effect having been promulgated by Henry III. so early as the year 1579. The following is a list of the most popular book almanacs of the present time:-1. The Lady's Diary, commenced in 1705; 2. The Gentleman's Diary, commenced in 1741; 3. Moore's Almanac; 4. Partridge's Almanac; 5. Poor Robin's Almanac, commenced in 1652; 6. Season on the Seasons, commenced in 1735; 7. White's Ephemeris, or Celestial Atlas; 8. Goldsmith's Almanac; 9. Rider's Pocket Almanac. The influence of the Lady's and Gentleman's Diary on the mathematical sciences of this country is very remarkable; it is generally allowed by foreign authors, that there is in this country a far greater portion of the population acquainted with mathematical science, to a certain extent, than in any other part of Europe; and there is no doubt that this circumstance is to be ALMA principally attributed to the two publications above NAC. mentioned; the proposing of questions from the most easy to the most difficult, one year, to be answered in the following; and the chance of having the solutions printed and published under the names of their respective authors, is well calculated to excite emulation in the breast of any young man who has imbibed a love for mathematical pursuits; he begins by sending the solution of some of the easiest questions, and proceeds till he is at length qualified to answer most, or all those that are proposed; his attention is drawn to the subject, and, from an amateur, he becomes a proficient. Many of the most distinguished English mathematicians of the last century, and whose works are an honour to their country, began their pursuits with the Lady's Diary; of these we may mention, in particular, Simpson, Emerson, Landen, and Wildbore; and many mathematicians of the present day might be added to the above list. The almanac annexed to the Book of Common Prayer is part of the law of England, of which the courts must take notice in the returns of writs, &c. This may be considered as a sort of perpetual almanac ; but it begins now to stand in need of some revision, being founded upon the Gregorian calendar, according to which, the length of the year is accounted 365 days 5 h. 49' 12", whereas its actual length is 365 days 5h. 48′ 451"; it will, therefore, necessarily become erroneous after a great number of years has elapsed; and the error, as we have said above, begins already to have a sensible effect. Nautical Almanac.-Beside the almanacs of which we have before spoken, another highly important work of this kind is published annually, but two or three years in advance, under the direction of the commissioners of longitude, bearing the title of the Nautical Almanac, in which (beside most things essential to general use, that are to be found in any other almanac) are contained many interesting particulars; more especially the distances of the moon from the sun, and from certain fixed stars for every three hours of apparent time, adapted to the meridian of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. By comparing these with the distances carefully observed at sea, the navigator may, with comparative ease and certainty, infer his longitude to a degree of accuracy unattainable in any other way, and which may be considered sufficiently near for most nautical purposes. The publication of this work is principally intended to facilitate the use of Mayer's Lunar Tables, by superseding the necessity of intricate calculations in determining the longitude at sea. It commenced with the year 1767, and has been continued annually ever since, greatly contributing to the improvement of astronomy and navigation. In this work the sun's longitude, and every thing relating to it, have been, till lately, always computed by means of Mayer's Tables, printed in 1770, under the inspection of Dr. Maskelyne, the late astronomer royal, to whose exertions and strong solicitations the Nautical Almanac owes its origin; and both the sun's place and that of the moon are inserted in the same work since the year 1791; these having been principally computed from Mayer's Tables, and those of Mason published in 1780: but now the valuable Tables of Delambre, as improved by Professor Vince, are also employed, MA MAN ZA. In the Almanac for 1803, the latitudes, as well as AC. the longitudes, of the stars, are corrected, and the moon's distance from them computed by means of Taylor's large and valuable Tables of Logarithmic Sines, Tangents, &c., to every second of the quadrant. Since 1780, the calculations of the places of the planets have been made from Lalande's Tables, contained in the second edition of his Astronomy, and those of the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites, from the same time to 1795, from Wargentine's Tables, annexed to those of Lalande's (with the exception of the second satellite,) which were computed by new Tables of Wargentine, inserted in the Nautical Almanac for 1779; but from 1793 to the present time, the eclipses have been computed to mean time, from Delambre's New Tables, annexed to the third edition of Lalande's Astronomy. At intervals, since the commencement of this important publication, many valuable papers have been added, which have directly or indirectly a reference to the general object of the work; of these we may mention, in particular, the rule laid down by Brinkley, for clearing the lunar distance, which was published in that for 1819. For many years this important work maintained a character for remarkable accuracy and perfection, viz. from the period of its first publication to the death of its celebrated institutor and conductor, our late worthy astronomer royal; but since that event, numerous inaccuracies have been discovered in its pages, which, if continued, would have rendered the work not merely useless, but highly injurious to the interests it was proposed to promote. The subject, however, became in the last sessions of parliament, a matter of discussion; the board of longitude has been remodelled, and the direction of this valuable publication is now to be put under the immediate inspection of a secretary to be appointed by that board, to whom an ample salary will be given; and it is much to be desired that no political or other interest will be employed in placing any person in that situation, who is not fully competent to the important charge that is to be confided to him; but this observation is not made without some cause for apprehension. The Connaissance des Tems, is the French national almanac, published with the same views as our Nautical Almanac, and nearly upon the same plan; but it commenced much earlier, its first publication being in the year 1698: since this date its form and manner have at times received slight alterations; and it has been, in one or two instances, discontinued for short interervals; it has, however, now for many years, been published with great regularity, and in a manner highly creditable to the scientific character of the Bureau de Longitude. Beside the calendar part of this publication, we find in it many valuable and highly interesting communications on various mathematical subjects, which may be had either jointly with, or separate from, the calendar itself. A very particular and minute history of this work is given in the volume for 1808. ALMANDIN. See ALABANDIN. ALMANZA, a town of New Castile, Spain, in the district of Villena; 15 miles from that town, and 54 from Valencia. It is now only remarkable for the victory which the French, under the duke of Berwick, VOL. XVII. ZA. gained over the allies here on the 25th of April, 1707. ALMANIts present population amounts to about 6000 persons. ALMARIA, or ARMARIA, in Ancient English Records, denote the monuments or archives of a church or library. ALME, a small river of Westphalia, in Germany, which runs into the Lippe. There are also two small towns of this name, in Westphalia, called Upper and Lower Alme. ALME, in Egyptian and Eastern Customs, girls brought up to the profession of dancing and singing for the public amusement, in feasts and other assemblies. They are expected to be well-versed in the poetry of their country, though many of their songs are impromptu, and they thus resemble the Improvisatori of Italy. In Hindostan the custom of training various classes of these females is of very remote antiquity. They are of considerable importance in the amusements of the Turkish harem, and teach the women all the new songs and dances. In the latter the indecorum and indecency of their gestures have been an universal subject of disgust and censure with travellers; though in this meretricious profession there are many gradations of rank, from the more select, and comparatively decorous attendants on the entertainments of the great, to those who parade the streets and public places of resort in Grand Cairo. Sometimes they attend and fill up the ceremonies of a funeral, and are frequently employed in the religious rites of the cast. Their dancing and singing is accompanied by the castanet or the cymbal, which instruments they play on themselves; and in this, as well as other traits of their profession, they may not unaptly be compared to the Bacchantes of the ancients. ALMEIDA, a strong fortress of Portugal, in the province of Beira, on the Spanish frontier, containing about 2,500 inhabitants. It has been subject to several obstinate sieges. The French took possession of it, through the treachery of a Portuguese officer, in the year 1810; but Lord Wellington retook it, for its rightful owners, the year following. It is 113 miles from Lisbon. ALMELOO, a town or lordship of Holland, in the province of Overyssel, belonging to the count of Richteren. The town of Almeloo manufactures excellent linen, and contains about 2,500 inhabitants. It ALMENE, in Commerce, an Indian weight of about two pounds, principally used in the weighing of saffron. ALMERIA, a sea-port town of Spain, in the province of Granada, 54 miles from that town. is the see of a bishop, who is suffragan of Granada; and has a strong castle, and very commodious harbour. There is a small town of this name in Mexico, 50 miles from Vera Cruz. ALMERICIANS, in Ecclesiastical History, a shortlived sect of the thirteenth century, who are stated to have insisted that the power of each of the persons of the Holy Trinity commenced at certain periods of time. Thus the power of the Father was said to be confined to the Mosaic dispensation, that of the Son reached to the beginning of the thirteenth century, and the reign of the Holy Ghost then commencing, all the ceremonies of external worship were to be discontinued. Their morals are said to have been very defective. MOSHEIM, vol. iii. 2x ALMERI CIANS. |