now.

ABSOLVE (ab-zolv').

AB'STRACT, a. and n. Ab-stract', v. Ac'CESSORY, n. and adj.

ACHAIAN (ǎ-ka'yăn)," belonging to Achaia, a name anciently applied to Northern Greece.

ADAMS, JOHN, the second President of the United States, was born at Braintree, Mass., October 19, 1735. He was an early and active friend of American independence, and in 1785 was appointed the first minister to England; a post filled by his son, John Quincy Adams, in 1815, and by his grandson, Charles Francis Adams, in 1861. He was an able and eloquent man, intrepid. patriotic, incorruptible, and true; and was one of the committee of five which reported the immortal "Declaration of Independence." He died, on the same day as Jefferson, July 4, 1826. His last words were, "It is the glorious 4th of July! God bless it, God bless you all!" See pp. 97, 193, 407. ADDISON, JOSEPH, the eldest son of a clergyman, was born in 1672 at the rectory of Milston in Wiltshire,

England. He was graduated at Queen's College, Oxford, in 1693. He wrote Latin verses which gained him considerable reputation, which was increased by a poetical Letter to Lord Halifax. But Addison owes his fame chiefly to his contributions to the "Spectator," a daily sheet which was started in 1711 by his schoolfellow, Richard Steele. The passage marked 3, page 47 of this volume, is from one of these charming essays. In 1713 his play of Cato was produced at Drury Lane theatre in London, and was highly successful. Time has somewhat abated its reputation, but it contains many passages that the world will not willingly let die. Addison died in 1719, at the age of forty-eight. As he lay upon his death-bed, "Seo," said he to his son-in-law, "how a Christian can die!" See Johnson's remarks on Addison, p. 424. ADIEU (ă-du'), a greeting at parting: from the French à Dieu, to God. ESCHINES (es'ke-neez), a celebrated orator of antiquity, born at Athens, 327 B. C. He was the rival of De

mosthenes, but the latter nobly gave himself to the service of the people, while Eschines favored the aristocracy.

AGAIN (a-ghen').

ALBERT, PRINCE, consort of Queen Victoria of England, was born Aug. 26, 1819, and died 1862. He was a worthy and noble prince. ALBI-ON, the name by which Great

Britain was known to the Romans. AL-LY' (from the Latin alligo, to unite).

AL'MO-NER, a distributor of alms. ANARCHICAL (ă-nark′ik-al), without rule or order.

ANIMAL CU-LE, the Latin plural of animalcula, an animalcule. Animalcula is also sometimes used as the plural of animalculum. ANOTHER (an-uth'er). ANTIPODES (an-tip'o-deez), a Latin plural noun, having no singular. The irregularly Anglicized word anti-pode is sometimes used for the singular, and Webster authorizes the pronunciation an'li-pōdz for the plural.

ARAB (ǎr'rab or a'răb), relating to Arabia.

ARCHANGEL (ark-).

ARCHITECTURE (är'ki-těkt-yŭr). ARISTOCRAT (a-ris'to-krat or ǎr'is-tokrat).

ARMADA (är-mā'da), a large fleet of armed ships. AUGURY (aw'gu-re). AU-GUST', adj. August, n. AVAUNT (ă-vawnt'), interj., hence ! begone!

A-VER'NUS, a celebrated lake, supposed in ancient mythology to be the entrance to the infernal regions. It is now called Averno, and occupies the crater of an extinct volcano, about nine miles west of Naples near the Mediterranean. AXE or Ax. Webster prefers the last, to make it conform with other monosyllables ending in x. AYE (a), adv., always. BACON, FRANCIS, usually known as

Lord Bacon, was born in London, England, Jan. 22, 1560, and died 1626. He was famous as a scholar, a wit, a lawyer, a judge, a statesman, a politician, but chiefly as a philosopher. With all his great acquirements he was morally weak, being found guilty of having received money for grants of office and privileges under the seal of state.

BANE, to poison: thus used as a verb by Shakespeare (p. 244). BANNOCKBURN, a village in Scotland, twenty-nine miles from Edinburgh, famous for a great battle fought on the 24th of June, 1314, between Edward II. and King Robert Bruce, by which the independence of Scotland was established.

BAN-IAN' or BAN-YAN', the Indian figtree, remarkable for sending down from its branches roots which, striking into the ground become trunks, so that a single tree sometimes occupies a circumference of 1500 feet. Baron (bă-tăng or băton), a mar

shal's staff. BEACON (bē’kn).

BEATTIE, JAMES (beet'y), a Scotch poet and moralist, born 1735, died 1803. He Owes his reputation chiefly to his poem of "The Minstrel," from which see a stanza, p. 64. BEAUMONT, GUSTAVE-AUGUSTE DE, a French writer and politician, was born in the department of Sarthe, France, Dec. 2, 1802. In 1831 he accompanied his friend De Tocqueville to the United States. He is the author of a novel, entitled "Mary, or Slavery in the United States ; also of a life of De Tocqueville, from which the eloquent extract, p. 132, is taken. His wife is a granddaughter of Lafayette.

BOMBAST (bom'băst or bùm'băst),· the weight of authority is in favor of the last mode, but the former is usual in America.

BONAR, HORATIUS, a Scottish theologian and poet. How to Live, p. 98. BON HOMME (bo-no-m), French for good man. John Paul Jones named one of his vessels "Bon Homme Richard," in honor of Dr. Franklin, author of "Poor Richard's Sayings."

BONHOMIE (bo-no-me), good nature, simplicity.

BONNIVARD, FRANCIS DE, born in 1496, was confined in the prison of Chillon on the lake of Geneva, Swit

BROOKE, HENRY, a political and literary writer, was born in Ireland in 1706, and died in Dublin 1783. His principal work is "The Fool of Quality." See extract, page 204. Brooke was the author of Gustavus Vasa" and other plays of more than ordinary merit. He was an ardent friend of popular liberty, and his writings breathie a pure and noble spirit.

He

BROUGHAM, LORD HENRY (broom), was born in Edinburgh, Sept. 1788, and was educated to the bar. entered Parliament in 1810, and distinguished himself in letters as well as in politics. In the early part of his career he was the strenuous foe of slavery, but in 1863 he spoke in opposition to the efforts of the gov

ernment of the United States in annihilating the slaveholders' rebellion. Quotation from p. 410. BRUTUS, LUCIUS JUNIUS, a celebrated character of ancient Rome. Taking the occasion of the outrage of Sextus Tarquin upon Lucretia, he roused the people, banished the king, and established a republic. MARCUS JUNIUS, an illustrious Roman, and one of the conspirators against Cæsar. Defeated at the battle of Philippi, he persuaded Strato, one of his friends, to kill him. See dialogue by Shakespeare, p. 140.

BRYANT, WM. CULLEN, one of the most eminent poets of America, was born at Cummington, Mass., Nov. 3, 1797. He displayed early in life an extraordinary literary taste. Graduating at Williams College in 1812, he commenced the practice of law in 1815. Before he was nineteen appeared his poem of "Thanatopsis," an extraordinary production for one so young, and stamping him as a writer of no ordinary promise. In 1825 he removed to New York,

and the following year became editor of the N. Y. Evening Post, with which journal he has ever since been connected. Several collections of his poems have been published, and they will undoubtedly hold an enduring place in English literature. In his descriptions of natural scenery he shows the power of a great artist, and his writings overflow with the religious fervor and insight which devout communion with God's material works is fitted to augment. His style is elegant and correct without failing in vigor, and his versification is always musical and appropriate. His sympathies and labors have always been on the side of universal freedom. Our Country, p. 111. Not Yet, p. 147. The Poet, p. 313. BUOYANT (bwoy'ant). BURGH'ER (burg'er), an inhabitant of a borough or corporate town. BURGER, GODFREY AUGUSTUS, a celebrated German poet, born near Halberstadt, 1748, died 1794 at Göttingen. He is chiefly celebrated for his ballads, which are bold and spirited. For a translation of one of these, The Brave Man, see p. 382. BURGOYNE, JOHN, a lieut.-general of the British army, in the war of the American Revolution, led the army which was to penetrate from Canada into the revolted provinces. At first successful, he was finally compelled to surrender at Saratoga. He died 1792. See Chatham's remarks, p. 113.

BURKE, EDMUND, a celebrated statesman and writer, was born at Carlow, in Ireland, Jan. 1, 1730. He was educated at Dublin, went to London, and became a contributor to the newspapers and periodical publications. He entered Parliament in 1765, having carefully trained himself for political life. He strenuously opposed the American war, and distinguished himself at the trial of Warren Hastings. He made a large contribution to the parliamentary oratory of his day, and his speeches were remarkable for their richness of language and abundance of imagery. died July 8, 1797. See extracts from, pp. 65, 464; mentioned by Sydney Smith, p. 375.

He

BUTLER, SAMUEL, an English poet and wit, author of "Hudibras," a

satirical poem, was born in Worcestershire 1612, and died 1680. BYRON, GEORGE GORDON, Lord, was born in London, Jan. 22d, 1788. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1805. During his leisure hours he had penned some boyish verses which were published in 1807 under the title of "Hours of Idleness." They were noticed somewhat disdainfully in the Edinburgh Review. Stung to the quick by this article, with the authorship of which Lord Brougham is charged, the young nobleman retorted in a poem, "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," which showed the world that the abused versicles were but the languid recreations of a man in whose hand, when roused to earnest work, the pen became a weapon of tremendous power. Two years of foreign travel led the poet through those scenes which he describes in "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage." Poens and dramas followed, showing wonderful literary fertility, and in 1812 Byron was the acknowledged head of the English literary world. In the latter part of his life he gave himself to the cause of Grecian independence, and died April 19, 1824. While displaying an extraordinary power and splendor of language, some of Byron's longer poems show a depravity unredeemed by wit. They have the same effect by the side of his better effusions, that some rank, offensive weed has in a garden of lilies and roses. The poetical fame of Byron was greater in his lifetime than it can ever be again. With as little power as any great poet ever possessed of delineating the character and passions of other men, Byron was not true to nature unless when he drew his materials from within; but much of his poetry, unreal and fantastic as it is in its representations of human life, has the singular charm which belongs to the selfdrawn image of a nature nobly endowed, but vacillating morally between the extremes of goodness and of evil. Extracts from pp. 42, 58, 60, 64, 124, 236.

CESAR, CA'IUS JU'LIUS, the first Roman emperor, whence future emperors were called Cæsars.

He was one of the greatest men that Rome produced; renowned both for his

military exploits and for his ability as a historian. He fell beneath the daggers of conspirators on the ides of March, 43 B. C., and in the 56th year of his age.

CAIRN (the ai like a in care), a heap of stones to mark a grave, &c. CA'IUS (kā'yus).

CALYP'So, in fabulous history, the queen of the island on which Ulysses suffered shipwreck, and where he was detained by her spells. CAM'O-ENS, DOM LUIS, the Portuguese poet, is supposed to have been born at Lisbon, about the year 1524. He died in 1579. The "Lusiad" is his principal poem; but he left also a great number of sonnets, some of which equal those of Petrarch. Mentioned by Wordsworth, p. 122.

CAMPBELL, THOMAS, one of the greatest lyric poets of the age, was born July 27, 1777, at Glasgow, Scotland, where his father was a merchant. Educated at the university of his native town, Campbell removed to Edinburgh, and in 1799 published his "Pleasures of Hope," which lifted him at once into a great reputation. In 1802, before he had reached his 26th year, he wrote his "Hohenlinden," and "Lochiel's Warning." This last poem was a great favorite with Sir Walter Scott; and Irving speaks of the two poems "as exquisite gems, sufficient of themselves to establish the author's title to the sacred name of poet." His ballad of "Lord Ullin's Daughter" is an extraordinary specimen of scenic power, or picturing in words. Indeed, his genius shines most conspicuously in his lyrics, which are among the noblest in the language. His Gertrude of Wyoming" is a beautiful but not a great poem. Campbell is one of the most correct and elegant of modern writers of verse. His scholarship was extensive; and he was prouder of his Greek than of his poetry. For a number of years (1820-1831) he edited the London New Monthly Magazine. No man was more earnest in his sympathy with all that was generous and noble. Early in life he married his cousin, Miss Sinclair; but the death of one son and the madness of another cast a gloom on his existence. The infirmities of charac