possesses a most angelic temper and when he quarrels with his son, the captain, fancies it is the son who is out of sorts, and not himself.

Captain Absolute. The clever and gallant son of Sir Anthony, in love with Lydia Languish, the heiress, to whom he is known only as Ensign Beverley. Bob Acres, his neighbor, is his rival, and sends a challenge to the unknown ensign; but when he finds that Ensign Beverley is Captain Absolute, he declines to fight, and resigns all further claim to the lady's hand.

Absyr'tus. In Greek mythology, the young brother of Medea (q.v.) whose body she cut in pieces and scattered along her way to delay her father Etes in his pursuit of her when she escaped from Colchis with Jason.

Abt Vogler. A dramatic monologue by Robert Browning in his volume Dramatis Persona (1864). The speaker is Abt Vogler, "after he has been extemporizing upon the musical instrument of his invention.'

Abu'dah. In the Tales of the Genii (1764) by H. Ridley, a wealthy merchant of Bagdad, who goes in quest of the talisman of Oromaʼnes, which he is driven to seek by a little old hag, who haunts him every night and makes his life wretched. He finds at last that the talisman which is to free him of this hag (conscience) is to "fear God and keep His commandments."

Abydos, Bride of. See Bride of Abydos. Academy. The Greek school of philosophy founded by Plato, so called from a garden planted by Academus where Plato taught his followers.

The French Academy (Académie française) was formally established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, its principal function being:

To labor with all the care and diligence possible, to give exact rules to our language, to render it capable of treating the arts and sciences.

Its forty members, "the Forty Immortals," are supposed to be the most distinguished living men of letters.

The English Royal Academy of Arts was founded in 1768 by George III for the establishment of an art school and the holding of annual exhibitions of works by living artists. The Royal Spanish Academy was founded at Madrid in 1713 for purposes similar to those of the French Academy. The American Academy of

Arts and Letters was founded in 1904 with a like purpose. Its membership is limited to fifty. There is also a Royal Academy

of Science at Berlin (founded 1700), at Stockholm (the Royal Swedish Academy, founded 1739), and at Copenhagen. (founded 1742). The Imperial Academy of Sciences at Petrograd was established by Catherine I in 1725.

Academy Figures. Drawings in black and white chalk, on tinted paper, usually about half life-size and from the nude.

An Academy headache. A headache as a result of attending art exhibitions. The phrase was popularized in 1885 with reference to the Royal Academy Exhibit.

Aca'dia. The old name for Nova Scotia, so called by the French from the river Shubenacadie. In 1621 Acadia was given to the Englishman, Sir William Alexander, and its name changed; and in 1755 the old French settlers were driven into exile by George II. Longfellow has made this the subject of a poem in hexameter verse, called Evan'geline (q.v.).

Ace. In cards or dice, a single spot. During the World War an ace came to mean a daring aviator; in the French army any aviator who brought down five German planes within the French lines and was in consequence officially noted, was called an ace, and the term was informally adopted in other air forces.

So

Acel'dama. A battle-field, a place where much blood has been shed. called from the field purchased by the priests with the blood-money thrown down by Judas, and appropriated as a cemetery for strangers (Matt. xxvii. 8; Acts i. 19).

Aces'tes. In a trial of skill described in Virgil's Eneid, Acestes, the Sicilian, discharged his arrow with such force that it took fire from the friction of the air.

Acha'tes. A fidus Achates. A faithful companion, a bosom friend. Achates in Virgil's Eneid is the chosen companion of the hero in adventures of all kinds.

Ac'heron. A Greek word meaning" the River of Sorrows"; the river of the infernal regions into which Phlegethon and Cocytus flow: also, the lower world (Hades) itself. See Styx.

They pass the bitter waves of Acheron
Where many souls sit wailing woefully.

Spenser: Faerie Queene, I. v, 33.

Food for Acheron. A dead body. Achilles. In Greek legend, the son of Peleus and Thetis, king of the Myr'midons and hero of the Iliad (q.v.). He is represented as being brave and relentless; but, at the opening of the poem, in consequence of a quarrel between him and Agamemnon, commander-in-chief of the

allied Greeks, he refused to fight. The Trojans prevailed, and Achilles sent Patroc'lus to oppose them. Patroc'lus fell; and Achilles, rushing into the battle, killed Hector (q.v.). He himself, according to later poems, was slain at the Scaean gate, before Troy was taken, by an arrow in his heel. The tale is that his mother, Thetis, had dipped him in the river Styx to make him invulnerable. The water washed every part, except the heel by which his mother held him. It was on this vulnerable point the hero was slain; and the sinew of the heel is called, in consequence, tendo Achillis, or the Achilles tendon.

The heel of Achilles. The vulnerable or weak point in a man's character or in a nation.

Achilles' spear. See Pelian spear.

Achilles of England. (1) John Talbot, first Earl of Shrewsbury (1373-1453); (2) the Duke of Wellington (1769-1852). Of Germany. Albert, elector of Brandenburg (1414-1486).

Of Lombardy. Brother of Sforza and Palamedes in Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered. This was not a complimentary title, but a proper name.

Of Rome. Lucius Sicin'ius Dentatus, the Roman tribune; also called the Second Achilles. Put to death B. C. 450.

Of the West. Roland the Paladin.

Acid Test. A test, or trial, that will finally decide the value, worth, or reliability of anything, just as the application of acid is a certain test of gold. It is a phrase often used of measures to be taken during political, social, economic, or other crises.

A'cis. In Greek mythology, a Sicilian shepherd, loved by the nymph Galate'a. The monster Polypheme, a Cyclops, was his rival, and crushed him under a huge rock. The blood of Acis was changed into a river of the same name at the foot of Mount Etna.

Achit'ophel. In the Old Testament, David's traitorous counsellor, who deserted to Absalom. (2 Sam. xv.) The Achitophel of Dryden's satire (see Absalom and Achitophel) was the Earl of Shaftesbury.

Of these [the rebel the false Achitophel was first;
A name to all succeeding ages curst;
For close designs and crooked counsels fit;
Sagacious, bold, and turbulent of wit;
Restless, unfix'd in principles and place;
In power unpleased, impatient in disgrace.

I. 150.

Acras'ia. In Book II of Spenser's Faerie Queene (1590), Intemperance personified. Spenser says she is an enchant

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ress living in the "Bower of Bliss," in Wandering Island." She had the power of transforming her lovers into monstrous shapes; but Sir Guyon (Temperance), having caught her in a net and bound her, broke down her bower and burnt it to ashes.

Acre. O. E. œcer, is akin to the Lat. ager and Ger. acker (a field). God's Acre, a cemetery or churchyard. Longfellow calls this an ancient Saxon phrase," but as a matter of fact it is a modern borrowing from Germany.

66

Three acres and a cow. A small plot for gardening or farming; a phrase used by British radicals in the political campaign of 1885.

Acres, Bob. In Sheridan's comedy The Rivals (1775) (q.v.), a country gentleman, the rival of Ensign Beverley, alias Captain Absolute, for the hand and heart of Lydia Languish, the heiress. He tries to ape the man of fashion, gets himself up as a loud swell, and uses sentimental oaths," i.e. oaths bearing on the subject. Thus if duels are spoken of he says, ods triggers and flints; if ladies, ods blushes and blooms. Bob Acres is a great blusterer, but when put to the push" his courage always oozed out of his fingers' ends." Hence a "regular Bob Acres " is a coward.

Acris'ius. In Greek mythology, the father of Dan'aë. An oracle declared that Danaë would give birth to a son who would kill him, so Acrisius kept his daughter shut up in a brazen tower. Here she became the mother of Per'seus, by Jupiter in the form of a shower of gold. The King of Argos now ordered his daughter and her infant to be put into a chest, and cast adrift on the sea, but they were rescued by Dictys, a fisherman. When grown to manhood, Perseus accidentally struck the foot of Acrisius with a quoit, and the blow caused his death. This tale is told by William Morris in The Earthly Paradise: April.

Across lots. By a short cut. The threat of the Mormon leader, Brigham Young, "We'll send them [the Gentiles] across lots" gave the phrase a new and obvious significance.

Act of Faith. See Auto da Fe.

Act of God. A term denoting" Damnum fatale," such as loss by lightning, shipwreck, fire, etc.; loss arising from fatality, and not from one's own fault, theft, and

so on.

Actæ'on. In Grecian mythology a huntsman who, having surprised Diana bathing, was changed by her into a stag

and torn to pieces by his own hounds. A stag being a horned animal, he became a representative of men whose wives are unfaithful.

Ac'tian Games. The games celebrated at Actium in honor of Apollo. They were reinstituted by Augustus to celebrate his naval victory over Antony, 31 B. C., and were held every five years.

Acts and Monuments. A history of Christian saints by John Fox, better known as "The Book of Martyrs," published in 1563.

Acunha, Teresa d'. The Spanish maid of the Countess of Glenallan in Scott's novel, The Antiquary, of whom it is said, "If ever there was a fiend on earth in human form, that woman was ane." .

Ad lib'itum (Lat.). To choice, pleasure, without restraint.

Ad rem (Lat.). To the point in hand; to the purpose.

Ad valorem (Lat.). According to the price charged. A commercial term used in imposing customs duties according to the value of the goods imported. Thus, if teas pay duty ad valorem, the high priced tea will pay more duty per pound than the lower priced tea.

A'dah. In Byron's Cain, a Mystery (q.v.), the wife of Cain. After Cain has been conducted by Lucifer through the realms of space, he is restored to the home of his wife and child, where all is gentleness and love. Adah is also the name of Cain's wife in Rabbinical tradition.

Adam. In Shakespeare's As You Like It, a faithful retainer in the family of Sir Rowland de Boys. At the age of four score, he voluntarily accompanied his young master Orlando into exile, and offered to give him his little savings. He has given birth to the phrase a faithful Adam" with reference to a man-servant.

God sent Gabriel, Michael, and Israfel one after the other to fetch seven handfuls of earth from different depths and of different colors for the creation of Adam 'thereby accounting for the varying colors of mankind) but they returned empty-handed because Earth foresaw that the creature to be made from her would rebel against God and draw down his curse on her, whereupon Azrael was sent. He executed the commission, and for that reason was appointed to separate the souls from the bodies and hence became the Angel of Death. The earth he had taken was carried into Arabia to a place between Mecca and Tayef, where it was kneaded by the angels, fashioned into human form by God, and left to

The new Adam,

The second Adam. etc. Jesus Christ is so called.

Adam's ale. Water; because the first man had nothing else to drink. In Scotland sometimes called Adam's Wine.

Adam's apple. The protuberance in the forepart of the throat, the anterior extremity of the thyroid cartilage of the larynx; so called from the superstition that a piece of the forbidden fruit stuck in Adam's throat.

Adam's Diary. A humorous book by Mark Twain; also Eve's Diary.

Adam's needle. Gen. iii. 7, tells us that Adam and Eve "sewed fig leaves together "; needles were (presumably) not then obtainable, but certain plants furnish needle-like spines, and to some of these the name has been given. The chief is the Yucca, a native of Mexico and Central America.

Adam's Peak. A mountain in Ceylon where, according to Mohammedan legend, Adam bewailed his expulsion from Paradise, standing on one foot for two hundred years to expiate his crime; Gabriel then took him to Mount Arafath, where he found Eve.

Adam's profession. Gardening or agriculture is sometimes SO called - for obvious reasons.

Adam Bede. A novel by George Eliot (1859). The young carpenter, Adam Bede, is in love with Hetty Sorrel, a pretty superficial little creature who lives with her uncle, Martin Poyser, and her aunt, the keen, pungent-tongued, amusing Mrs. Poyser, on a farm belonging to Squire Donnithorne. Shortly before her prospective marriage with Adam, Hetty disappears and is found later under accusation of having murdered her child. She had been seduced by the handsome and impulsive Arthur Donnithorne, heir of

the old Squire, who had left her to join his regiment. Hetty is sullen under trial, even when sentenced to death, but later breaks down and confesses to the largesouled young Methodist preacher, Dinah Morris, a niece of Mrs. Poyser's who has been tireless in her efforts to be of some help. At the last minute the death sentence is changed to life transportation through the intervention of the repentant Arthur. Adam and Dinah, who have been thrown together closely by the turn of events, now discover their mutual love and are finally married. The character of Adam Bede was drawn from George Eliot's father, Robert Evans, who was, like Adam, a carpenter and a man of the highest integrity.

Adam Bell. Hero of a ballad of that name included in Percy's Reliques (I. ii. 1), a wild, north-country outlaw, noted, like Robin Hood, for his skill in archery. His place of residence was Englewood Forest, near Carlisle; and his two comrades were Clym of the Clough (Clement of the Cliff) and William of Cloudesly. William was married, but the other two were not. When William was captured at Carlisle and was led to execution, Adam and Clym rescued him, and all three went to London to crave pardon of the King, which, at the Queen's intercession, was granted them. They then showed the King specimens of their skill in archery, and the King was so well pleased that he made William a "gentleman of fe," and the two others yeomen of the bed-chamber.

Adam Blair, a Story of Scottish Life. A novel by J. G. Lockhart (1822), the story of a Scotch minister who fell from grace, but after a season of penitence was restored to his pastorate.

Adam Moss. In Allen's Cardinal (q.v.).

Kentucky

Adamas'tor. The spirit of the stormy Cape (Good Hope), described by Camoëns in the Lusiad as a hideous phantom that appears to Vasco da Gama and prophesies disaster to all seeking to make the voyage to India.

Ad'amites. The name given to various heretical sects who supposed themselves to attain to primitive innocence by rejecting marriage and clothing. There was such a sect in North Africa in the 2nd century; the Abelites were similar; the heresy reappeared in Savoy in the 14th century, and spread over Bohemia and Moravia in the 15th and 16th. One Picard, of Bohemia, was leader in 1400,

and styled himself "Adam, son of God." There are references to the sect in James Shirley's comedy Hyde Park (II. iv) (1632), and in The Guardian, No. 134 (1713).

Adams, Alice. See Alice Adams.

Adams, Franklin Pierce (F. P. A.). (1881- ). American columnist, associated with the New York Evening Mail, the New York Tribune and finally the New York World.

Adams, Henry. See Henry Adams.

Adams, Parson. A leading character in Fielding's Joseph Andrews (1742), often taken as the type of the simple-minded, hard-working, and learned country curate who is totally ignorant of "the ways of the world."

As he never had any intention to deceive, so he never suspected such a design in others. He was generous, friendly, and brave to an excess; but simplicity was his characteristic; he did, no more than Mr. Colley Cibber, apprehend any such passions as malice and envy to exist in mankind. Joseph Andrews, ch. i.

He was drawn from Fielding's friend, the Rev. William Young, who edited Ainsworth's Latin Dictionary (1752). Scott calls him one of the richest productions of the muse of fiction."

Addison, Joseph (1672–1719). English essayist, famous for his contributions to the Tatler and Spectator. See those entries; also Roger de Coverley. Addison produced one play, entitled Cato.

Ad'dison of the North. A sobriquet of Henry Mackenzie (1745-1831), author of the Man of Feeling.

Addisonian Termination. The name given by Bishop Hurd to the construction which closes a sentence with a preposition, such as "which the prophet took a distinct view of." Named, of course, from Joseph Addison, who frequently employed it.

Addled Parliament. See Parliaments. Ade, George (1866- ). American humorist, author of Artie, "Pink" Marsh, Fables in Slang, etc.

Adme'tus. In Greek mythology, a king of Thessaly, husband of Alcestis, who consented to die in his stead. (See Alcestis.) Apollo, being condemned by Jupiter to serve a mortal for twelve months for slaying a Cyclops, once entered the service of Admetus. James Russell Lowell (1819-1892) has a poem on the subject, called The Shepherd of King Admetus.

Admirable. The Admirable. Abraham ben Meir ben Ezra, a celebrated Spanish Jew (about 1090-1168) was so called. He was noted as a mathematician, philologist, poet, astronomer, and commentator on the

Bible. Browning has a poem entitled Rabbi ben Ezra (q.v.).

The Admirable Crichton. James Crichton (1560-1585?), Scottish traveller, scholar, and swordsman. So called by Sir Thomas Urquhart. (See also next item for Barrie's play by this name.)

Admirable Doctor. See under Doctor. Admirable Crichton, The. A dramatic fantasy by J. M. Barrie (1902). The Earl of Loam, his family and one or two friends are wrecked on a desert island, where the butler, the "Admirable Crichton" proves himself a man of infinite resource and power, far superior to the rest of the party. He is obeyed and idolized and is about to marry Lady Mary, the once haughty daughter of the Earl, but the boom of a cannon announces the arrival of a ship and the old social order reasserts itself. Barrie took the name of his play but nothing else from the original Admirable Crichton (see above).

Admiral. English admirals used to be of three classes, according to the color of their flag. Admiral of the Red used to hold the center in an engagement, Admi; al of the White the van, Admiral of the Blue, the rear. The distinction was abolished in 1864; now all admirals carry the white flag. It has, however, given rise to a number of humorous allusions.

Admiral of the Blue. (1) A butcher who dresses in blue to conceal blood-stains; (2) A tapster from his blue apron.

Admiral of the Red. A punning term applied to a wine-bibber whose face and nose are very red.

Admiral of the Red, White and Blue. A beadle; hall-porter; etc. From their gorgeous uniforms.

Admiral of the White. (1) A coward; (2) A fainting person.

Adona'is. The poetical name given by Shelley to Keats in his elegy on the death of the latter (1821), probably in allusion to the mourning for Adonis. Adonais is considered one of the greatest elegies in the English language.

Adonbeck al Hakim. A doctor in Scott's Talisman who is really Saladin in disguise

Ado'nis. In Greek mythology, a beautiful youth, beloved by Venus and Proser'pina, who quarrelled about the possession of him. Jupiter, to settle the dispute, decided that the boy should spend six months with Venus in the upper world, and six with Proserpina in the lower. Adonis was gored to death by a wild boar in a hunt.

Shakespeare has a long poem called Venus and Adonis. Shelley calls his elegy on the poet Keats Adona'is, under the idea that the untimely death of Keats. resembled that of Adonis. The word Adonis is used, often ironically, for any beautiful young_man. In one famous instance Leigh Hunt was sent to prison for libelling George IV when Regent, and calling him a corpulent Adonis of 50."

An Adonis' Garden. A worthless toy; a very perishable good. The allusion is to the baskets or pots of earth used at the annual festival of Adonis, in which quickgrowing plants were sown, tended for eight days, allowed to wither, and then thrown into the sea or river with images of the dead Adonis.

Adosinda. In Southey's epic poem Roderick, the Last of the Goths (1814), the daughter of the Gothic governor of Auria in Spain. After the slaughter of her parents, husband and child by the Moors, she vowed to live only for vengeance. She murdered the Moorish captain to whom she had been handed over; and in the great battle, when the Moors were overthrown, she it was who gave the word of attack, "Victory and Vengeance!"

Adram'elech. One of the fallen angels. Milton makes him overthrown by U'riel and Raphael (Paradise Lost, vi. 365). Klopstock introduces him into The Messiah, and represents him as surpassing Satan in malice and guile, ambition and mischief. He is made to hate every one, even Satan, of whose rank he is jealous.

Adraste'. The hero of Molière's comedy Le Sicilien ou L'Amour Peintre (1667), a French gentleman who enveigles a Greek slave named Isidore from her master Don Pedre. He is introduced as a portrait-painter, and thus imparts to Isidore his love.

Adrastus. (1) A mythical Greek king of Argos, leader of the expedition of the "Seven Against Thebes." See under Thebes.

(2) In Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered (Bk. xx), an Indian prince who aided the King of Egypt against the Crusaders. He was slain by Rinaldo.

Adrian, Dr. Adrian Van Welche in Couperus' Small Souls (q.v.) and its sequels.

Adrian'a. In Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors (q.v.), a wealthy Ephesian lady, who marries Antiph'olus, twin-brother of Antipholus of Syracuse.

Adria'no de Armado, Don. See under Armado.