Arabia Felix, the W. coast of Arabia, contains Yemen and El Hejaz (q. v.), and is subject to Turkey.
Arabian Desert. See Arabia.
Arabian Nights, or the Thousand and One Nights, a collection of tales of various origin and date, traceable in their present form to the middle of the 15th century, and first translated into French by Galland in 1704. The thread on which they are strung is this: A Persian monarch having made a vow that he would marry a fresh bride every night and sacrifice her in the morning, the vizier's daughter obtained permission to be the first bride, and began a story which broke off at an interesting part evening after evening for a thousand and one nights, at the end of which term the king, it is said, released her and spared her life.
Arabs, The, "a noble-gifted people, swift-handed, deep-hearted, something most agile, active, yet most meditative, enthusiastic in their character; a people of wild, strong feelings, and iron restraint over these. In words too, as in action, not a loquacious people, taciturn rather, but eloquent, gifted when they do speak, an earnest, truthful kind of men, of Jewish kindred indeed, but with that deadly terrible earnestness of the Jews they seem to combine something graceful, brilliant, which is not Jewish." Such is Carlyle's opinion of the race from whom Mahomet sprang, as given in his "Heroes."
Arach`ne, a Lydian maiden, who excelled in weaving, and whom Athena changed into a spider because she had proudly challenged her ability to weave as artistic a work; she had failed in the competition, and previously hanged herself in her despair.
Arad (42), a fortified town in Hungary, seat of a bishop, on the right bank of the Maros; manufactures tobacco, trades in cattle and corn.
Araf, the Mohammedan sheol or borderland between heaven and hell for those who are from incapacity either not morally bad or morally good.
Arafat`, a granite hill E. of Mecca, a place of pilgrimage as the spot where Adam received his wife after 200 years separation from her on account of their disobedience to the Lord in deference to the suggestion of Satan.
Ar`ago, François, an eminent physicist and astronomer, born in the S. of France, entered the Polytechnic School of Paris when seventeen, elected a member of the Academy of Sciences at the early age of twenty-three, nominated Director of the Observatory in 1830, was member of the Provisional Government in 1848, refused to take the oath to Louis Napoleon after the coup d'état, would rather resign his post at the Observatory, but was retained, and at his death received a public funeral (1786-1853).
Arago, Jacques, a brother of the preceding, a littérateur and a traveller, author of a "Voyage Round the World" (1790-1855).
Ar`agon (925), a territory in the NE. of Spain, traversed by the Ebro, and divided as you proceed southward into the provinces of Huesca, Saragossa, and Teruel, mountainous in the N.; with beautiful fertile valleys, rather barren, in the S; was a kingdom till 1469.
Araguay, an affluent of the Tocantins, in Brazil, which it joins after a course of 1000 m., augmented by subsidiary streams.
Arakan (671), a strip of land in British Burmah, on the E. of the Bay of Bengal, 400 m. long and from 90 to 15 m. broad, a low, marshy country; produces and exports large quantities of rice, as well as sugar and hemp. The natives belong to the Burman stock, and are of the Buddhist faith, though there is a sprinkling of Mohammedans among them.
Aral, The Sea of, a lake in Turkestan, 265 m. long and 145 broad, larger than the Irish Sea, 150 m. E. of the Caspian; has no outlet, shallow, and is said to be drying up.
Aram, Eugene, an English school-usher of scholarly attainments, convicted of murder years after the act and executed 1759, to whose fate a novel of Bulwer Lytton's and a poem of Hood's have lent a romantic and somewhat fictitious interest.
Aramæa, the territories lying to NE. of Palestine, the inhabitants of which spoke a Semitic dialect called Aramaic, and improperly Chaldee.
Arama`ic, the language of Palestine in the days of Christ, a Semitic dialect that has now almost entirely died out.
Aramæ`ans, a generic name given to the Semitic tribes that dwelt in the NE. of Palestine, also to those that dwelt at the mouths of the Euphrates and the Tigris.
Aran, Val d', a Pyrenean valley, source of the Garonne, and one of the highest of the Pyrenees.
Aran Islands, three islands with antique relics across the mouth of Galway Bay, to which they form a breakwater.
Aranda, Count of, an eminent Spanish statesman, banished the Jesuits, suppressed brigandage, and curtailed the power of the Inquisition, was Prime Minister of Charles IV., and was succeeded by Godoy (1719-1798).
Aranju`ez (8), a town 28 m. SE. of Madrid, long the spring resort of the Spanish Court.
Ar`any, Janos, a popular Hungarian poet of peasant origin, attained to eminence as a man of letters (1819-1882).
Ar`arat, a mountain in Armenia on which Noah's ark is said to have rested, 17,000 ft. high, is within Russian territory, and borders on both Turkey and Persia.
Ara`tus, native of Sicyon, in Greece, promoter of the Achæan League, in which he was thwarted by Philip of Macedon, was poisoned, it is said, by his order (271-213 B.C.); also a Greek poet, author of two didactic poems, born in Cilicia, quoted by St Paul in Acts xvii. 28.
Arauca`nia (88), the country of the Araucos, in Chile, S. of Concepcion and N. of Valdivia, the Araucos being an Indian race long resistant but now subject to Chilian authority, and interesting as the only one that has proved itself able to govern itself and hold its own in the presence of the white man.
Arauca`ria, tall conifer trees, natives of and confined to the southern hemisphere.
Arbe`la, a town near Mosul, where Alexander the Great finally defeated Darius, 331 B.C.
Arbroath (22), a thriving seaport and manufacturing town on the Forfarshire coast, 17 m. N. of Dundee, with the picturesque ruins of an extensive old abbey, of which Cardinal Beaton was the last abbot. It is the "Fairport" of the "Antiquary."
Arbuthnot, John, a physician and eminent literary man of the age of Queen Anne and her two successors, born in Kincardineshire, the friend of Swift and Pope and other lights of the time, much esteemed by them for his wit and kind-heartedness, joint-author with Swift, it is thought, of the "Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus" and the "History of John Bull" (1667-1735).
Ar`cachon (7), a popular watering-place, with a fine beach and a mild climate, favourable for invalids suffering from pulmonary complaints, 34 m. SW. of Bordeaux.
Arca`dia, a mountain-girt pastoral tableland in the heart of the Morea, 50 m. long by 40 broad, conceived by the poets as a land of shepherds and shepherdesses, and rustic simplicity and bliss, and was the seat of the worship of Artemis and Pan.
Arca`dius, the first emperor of the East, born in Spain, a weak, luxurious prince, leaving the government in other hands (377-405).
Arcesila`us, a Greek philosopher, a member of the Platonic School and founder of the New Academy, who held in opposition to the Stoics that perception was not knowledge, denied that we had any accurate criterion of truth, and denounced all dogmatism in opinion.
Archæology, the study or the science of the monuments of antiquity, as distinct from palæontology, which has to do with extinct organisms or fossil remains.
Archangel (19), the oldest seaport of Russia, on the Dvina, near its mouth, on the White Sea, is accessible to navigation from July to October, is connected with the interior by river and canal, and has a large trade in flax, timber, tallow, and tar.
Archangels, of these, according to the Korân, there are four: Gabriel, the angel who reveals; Michael, the angel who fights; Azrael, the angel of death; Azrafil, the angel of the resurrection.
Archela`us, king of Macedonia, and patron of art and literature, with whom Euripides found refuge in his exile, d. 400 B.C.; a general of Mithridates, conquered by Sulla twice over; also the Ethnarch of Judea, son of Herod, deposed by Augustus, died at Vienne.
Archer, James, portrait-painter, born in Edinburgh, 1824.
Archer, Wm., dramatic critic, born in Perth, 1856.
Ar`ches, Court of, an ecclesiastical court of appeal connected with the archbishopric of Canterbury, the judge of which is called the dean.
Ar`chil, a purple dye obtained from lichens.
Archil`ochus, a celebrated lyric poet of Greece; of a satiric and often bitter vein, the inventor of iambic verse (714-676 B.C.).
Archima`go, a sorcerer in Spenser's "Faërie Queene," who in the disguise of a reverend hermit, and by the help of Duessa or Deceit, seduces the Red-Cross Knight from Una or Truth.
Archime`des of Syracuse, the greatest mathematician of antiquity, a man of superlative inventive power, well skilled in all the mechanical arts and sciences of the day. When Syracuse was taken by the Romans, he was unconscious of the fact, and slain, while busy on some problem, by a Roman soldier, notwithstanding the order of the Roman general that his life should be spared. He is credited with the boast: "Give me a fulcrum, and I will move the world." He discovered how to determine the specific weight of bodies while he was taking a bath, and was so excited over the discovery that, it is said, he darted off stark naked on the instant through the streets, shouting "Eureka! Eureka! I have found it! I have found it!" (287-212 B.C.).
Archimed`es screw, in its original form a hollow spiral placed slantingly to raise water by revolving it.
Archipel`ago, originally the Ægean Sea, now the name of any similar sea interspersed with islands, or the group of islands included in it.
Architrave, the lowest part of an entablature, resting immediately on the capital.
Ar`chon, a chief magistrate of Athens, of which there were nine at a time, each over a separate department; the tenure of office was first for life, then for ten years, and finally for one.
Archy`tas of Tarentum, famous as a statesman, a soldier, a geometrician, a philosopher, and a man; a Pythagorean in philosophy, and influential in that capacity over the minds of Plato, his contemporary, and Aristotle; was drowned in the Adriatic Sea, 4th century B.C.; his body lay unburied on the shore till a sailor humanely cast a handful of sand on it, otherwise he would have had to wander on this side the Styx for a hundred years, such the virtue of a little dust, munera pulveris, as Horace calls it.
Arcis`-sur-Aube (3), a town 17 m. N. of Troyes, in France, birthplace of Danton; scene of a defeat of Napoleon, March 1814.
Ar`cot, the name of two districts, N. and S., in the Presidency of Madras; also chief town (11) in the district, 65 m. SW. of Madras; captured by Clive in 1787; once the capital of the Carnatic.
Arctic Ocean, a circular ocean round the N. Pole, its diameter 40°, with low, flat shores, covered with ice-fields, including numerous islands; the Gulf Stream penetrates it, and a current flows out of it into the Atlantic.
Arctu`rus, star of the first magnitude and the chief in the N. constellation Boötes.
Ardèche, an affluent of the Rhône, source in the Cévennes; gives name to a department traversed by the Cévennes Mountains.
Arden, a large forest at one time in England, E. of the Severn.
Arden, Enoch, hero of a poem by Tennyson, who finds, on his return from the sea, after long absence, his wife, who believed him dead, married happily to another; does not disclose himself, and dies broken-hearted.
Ardennes, a forest, a tract of rugged woodland on the confines of France and Belgium; also department of France (325), on the borders of Belgium.
Ar`doch, a place in Perthshire, 7 m. from Crieff, with the remains of a Roman camp, the most complete in Britain.
Arends, Leopold, a Russian of literary ability, inventor of a system of stenography extensively used on the Continent (1817-1882).
Areopagitica, a prose work of Milton's, described by Prof. Saintsbury as "a magnificent search for the Dead Truth."
Areop`agus, the hill of Ares in Athens, which gave name to the celebrated council held there, a tribunal of 31 members, charged with judgment in criminal offences, and whose sentences were uniformly the awards of strictest justice.
Arequi`pa (35), a city in Peru, founded by Pizarro in 1536, in a fruitful valley of the Andes, 8000 ft. above the sea, 30 m. inland; is much subject to earthquakes, and was almost destroyed by one in 1868.
A`rés, the Greek god of war in its sanguinary aspects; was the son of Zeus and Hera; identified by the Romans with Mars, was fond of war for its own sake, and had for sister Eris, the goddess of strife, who used to pander to his passion.
Aretæ`us, a Greek physician of 1st century; wrote a treatise on diseases, their causes, symptoms, and cures, still extant.
Arethu`sa, a celebrated fountain in the island of Ortygia, near Syracuse, transformed from a Nereid pursued thither from Elis, in Greece, by the river-god Alphæus, so that the waters of the river henceforth mingled with those of the fountain.
Areti`no, Pietro, called the "Scourge of Princes," a licentious satirical writer, born at Arezzo, in Tuscany, alternately attached to people and repelled from them by his wit, moved from one centre of attraction to another; settled in Venice, where he died after an uncontrollable fit of laughter which seized him at the story of the adventure of a sister (1492-1557).
Arezzo (44), an ancient Tuscan city, 38 m. SE. of Florence, and eventually subject to it; the birthplace of Mæcenas, Michael Angelo, Petrarch, Guido, and Vasari.
Ar`gali, a sheep of Siberia, as large as a moderately-sized ox, with enormous grooved curving horns, strong-limbed, sure-footed, and swift.
Argan`, the hypochondriac rich patient in Molière's "Le Malade Imaginaire."
Argand, a Swiss physician and chemist, born at Geneva; inventor of the argand lamp, which, as invented by him, introduced a circular wick (1755-1803).
Argelan`der, a distinguished astronomer, born at Memel, professor at Bonn; he fixed the position of 22,000 stars, and recorded observations to prove that the solar system was moving through space (1799-1874).
Ar`gens, Marquis d', a French soldier who turned to letters, author of sceptical writings, of which the best known is entitled "Lettres Juives" (1704-1771).
Argenson, René-Louis, Marquis d', French statesman, who left "Memoirs" of value as affecting the early and middle part of Louis XV.'s reign (1694-1757).
Argentine Republic, or Argentina (4,000), a confederation like that of the United States of 14 states and 9 territories, occupying the eastern slopes of the Andes and the vast level plain extending from them to the Atlantic, bounded on the N. by Bolivia and Paraguay; its area ten times that of Great Britain and Ireland; while the population includes 600,000 foreigners, Italians, French, Spaniards, English, and Germans.
Ar`go, the fifty-oared ship of the Argonauts (q. v.).
Ar`golis, the north-eastern peninsula of the Morea of Greece, and one of the 13 provinces of Greece, is 12 m. long by 5 m. broad.
Ar`gon, a new element lately discovered to exist in a gaseous form in the nitrogen of the air.
Argonautica, the title of a poem on the Argonautic expedition by Apollonius of Rhodes.
Ar`gonauts, the Greek heroes, sailors in the Argo, who, under the command of Jason, sailed for Colchis in quest of the golden fleece, which was guarded by a dragon that never slept, a perilous venture, but it proved successful with the assistance of Medea, the daughter of the king, whom, with the fleece, Jason in the end brought away with him to be his wife.
Argonne`, Forest of, "a long strip of rocky mountain and wild wood" in the NE. of France, within the borders of which the Duke of Brunswick was outwitted by Dumouriez in 1792.
Ar`gos (9), the capital of Argolis, played for long a prominent part in the history of Greece, but paled before the power of Sparta.
Ar`gus, surnamed the "All-seeing," a fabulous creature with a hundred eyes, of which one half was always awake, appointed by Hera to watch over Io, but Hermes killed him after lulling him to sleep by the sound of his flute, whereupon Hera transferred his eyes to the tail of the peacock, her favourite bird. Also the dog of Ulysses, immortalised by Homer; he was the only creature that recognised Ulysses under his rags on his return to Ithaca after twenty years' absence, under such excitement, however, that immediately after he dropped down dead.
Argus, a pheasant, a beautiful Oriental game-bird, so called from the eye-like markings on its plumage.
Argyll (74), a large county in the W. of Scotland, consisting of deeply indented mainland and islands, and abounding in mountains, moorlands, and lochs, with scenery often picturesque as well as wild and savage.
Argyll, a noble family or clan of the name of Campbell, the members of which have held successively the title of Earl, Marquis, and Duke, their first patent of nobility dating from 1445, and their earldom from 1453.
Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquis of, sided with the Covenanters, fought against Montrose, disgusted with the execution of Charles I., crowned Charles II. at Scone, after the Restoration committed to the Tower, was tried and condemned, met death nobly (1598-1661).
Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of, son of the preceding, fought for Charles II., was taken prisoner, released at the Restoration and restored to his estates, proved rebellious at last, and was condemned to death; escaped to Holland, made a descent on Scotland, was captured and executed in 1685.
Argyll, George John Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of, as Marquis of Lorne took a great interest in the movement which led to the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843, a Whig in politics, was a member of the Cabinets of Aberdeen, Palmerston, and Gladstone; of late has shown more Conservative tendencies; takes a deep interest in the scientific theories and questions of the time; wrote, among other works, a book in 1866 entitled "The Reign of Law," in vindication of Theism, and another in the same interest in 1884 entitled "The Unity of Nature"; b. 1824.
Argyll, John Campbell, 2nd Duke of, favoured the Union, was created an English peer, fought under Marlborough, opposed the return of the Stuarts, defeated Mar at Sheriffmuir, ruled Scotland under Walpole (1678-1743).
Ariad`ne, daughter of Minos, king of Crete, gave to Theseus a clue by which to escape out of the labyrinth after he had slain the Minotaur, for which Theseus promised to marry her; took her with him to Naxos and left her there, where, according to one tradition, Artemis killed her, and according to another, Dionysos found her and married her, placing her at her death among the gods, and hanging her wedding wreath as a constellation in the sky.
Arianism, the heresy of Arius (q. v.).
Aria`no (12), a city with a fine cathedral, 1500 ft. above the sea-level, NE. of Naples; has a trade in wine and butter.
Ari`ca, a seaport connected with Tacna, S. of Peru, the chief outlet for the produce of Bolivia; suffers again and again from earthquakes, and was almost destroyed in 1832.
Ariège, a department of France, at the foot of the northern slopes of the Pyrenees; has extensive forests and is rich in minerals.
A`riel, in Shakespeare's "Tempest," a spirit of the air whom Prospero finds imprisoned by Sycorax in the cleft of a pine-tree, and liberates on condition of her serving him for a season, which she willingly engages to do, and does.
Ariel, an idol of the Moabites, an outcast angel.
Aries, the Ram. the first of the signs of the Zodiac, which the sun enters on March 21, though the constellation itself, owing to the precession of the equinoxes, is no longer within the limits of the sign.
Ari`on, a lyrist of Lesbos, lived chiefly at the court of Periander, Corinth; returning in a ship from a musical contest in Sicily laden with prizes, the sailors plotted to kill him, when he begged permission to play one strain on his lute, which being conceded, dolphins crowded round the ship, whereupon he leapt over the bulwarks, was received on the back of one of them, and carried to Corinth, arriving there before the sailors, who, on their landing, were apprehended and punished.
Arios`to, Ludovico, an illustrious Italian poet, born at Reggio, in Lombardy; spent his life chiefly in Ferrara, mostly in poverty; his great work "Orlando Furioso" (q. v.), published the first edition, in 40 cantos, in 1516, and the third in 46 cantos, in 1532; the work is so called from the chief subject of it, the madness of Roland induced by the loss of his lady-love through her marriage to another (1474-1532).
Ariovistus, a German chief, invaded Gaul, and threatened to overrun it, but was forced back over the Rhine by Cæsar.
Aristæ`us, a son of Apollo, the guardian divinity of the vine and olive, of hunters and herdsmen; first taught the management of bees, some of which stung Eurydice to death, whereupon the nymphs, companions of Orpheus, her husband, set upon his bees and destroyed them. In this extremity Aristæus applied to Proteus, who advised him to sacrifice four bullocks to appease the manes of Eurydice; this done, there issued from the carcasses of the victims a swarm of bees, which reconciled him to the loss of the first ones.
Aristar`chus of Samos, a Greek astronomer, who first conceived the idea of the rotundity of the earth and its revolution both on its own axis and round the sun, in promulgating which idea he was accused of impiously disturbing the serenity of the gods (280 B.C.).
Aristarchus of Samothrace, a celebrated Greek grammarian and critic, who devoted his life to the elucidation and correct transmission of the text of the Greek poets, and especially Homer (158-88 B.C.).
Ariste`as, a sort of Wandering Jew of Greek fable, who turns up here and there in Greek tradition, and was thought to be endowed with a soul that could at will leave and enter the body.
Aristi`des, an Athenian general and statesman, surnamed The Just; covered himself with glory at the battle of Marathon; was made archon next year, in the discharge of the duties of which office he received his surname; was banished by ostracism at the instance of his rival, Themistocles; recalled three years after the invasion of Xerxes, was reconciled to Themistocles, fought bravely at Salamis, and distinguished himself at Platæa; managed the finances of the State with such probity that he died poor, was buried at the public charges, and left the State to provide for his children.
Aristion, a philosopher, tyrant of Athens, put to death by order of Sylla, 86 B.C.
Aristip`pus of Cyrene, founder of the Cyrenaic school of philosophy, a disciple of Socrates; in his teaching laid too much emphasis on one principle of Socrates, apart from the rest, in insisting too exclusively upon pleasure as the supreme good and ultimate aim of life.
Aristobu`lus I., son of John Hyrcanus, first of the Asmonæan dynasty in Judea to assume the name of king, which he did from 104-102 B.C., a pronounced Helleniser; A. II., twice carried captive to Rome, assassinated 50 B.C.; A. III., last of Asmonæan dynasty, drowned by Herod in the Jordan, 34 B.C.
Aristode`mus, king of Messenia, carried on for 20 years a war with Sparta, till at length finding resistance hopeless he put an end to his life on the tomb of his daughter, whom he had sacrificed to ensure the fulfilment of an oracle to the advantage of his house; d. 724 B.C. Also a Greek sculptor, 4th century B.C.
Aristom`enes, a mythical king of Messenia, celebrated for his struggle with the Spartans, and his resistance to them on Mount Ira for 11 years, which at length fell to the enemy, while he escaped and was snatched up by the gods; died at Rhodes.
Aristophanes, the great comic dramatist of Athens, lived in the 5th century B.C.; directed the shafts of his wit, which were very keen, against all of whatever rank who sought in any way to alter, and, as it was presumed, amend, the religious, philosophical, social, political, or literary creed and practice of the country, and held up to ridicule such men as Socrates and Euripides, as well as Cleon the tanner; wrote 54 plays, of which 11 have come down to us; of these the "Clouds" aim at Socrates, the "Acharnians" and the "Frogs" at Euripides, and the "Knights" at Cleon; d. 384 B.C.
Ar`istotle, a native of Stagira, in Thrace, and hence named the Stagirite; deprived of his parents while yet a youth; came in his 17th year to Athens, remained in Plato's society there for 20 years; after the death of Plato, at the request of Philip, king of Macedon, who held him in high honour, became the preceptor of Alexander the Great, then only 13 years old; on Alexander's expedition into Asia, returned to Athens and began to teach in the Lyceum, where it was his habit to walk up and down as he taught, from which circumstance his school got the name of Peripatetic; after 13 years he left the city and went to Chalcis, in Euboea, where he died. He was the oracle of the scholastic philosophers and theologians in the Middle Ages; is the author of a great number of writings which covered a vast field of speculation, of which the progress of modern science goes to establish the value; is often referred to as the incarnation of the philosophic spirit (385-322 B.C.).
Aristox`enus of Tarentum, a Greek philosopher, author of the "Elements of Harmony," the only one of his many works extant, and one of the oldest writers on music; contemporary of Aristotle.
A`rius, a presbyter of Alexandria in the 4th century, and founder of Arianism, which denied the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father in the so-called Trinity, a doctrine which hovered for a time between acceptance and rejection throughout the Catholic Church; was condemned first by a local synod which met at Alexandria in 321, and then by a General Council at Nice in 325, which the Emperor Constantine attended in person; the author was banished to Illyricum, his writings burned, and the possession of them voted to be a crime; after three years he was recalled by Constantine, who ordered him to be restored; was about to be readmitted into the Church when he died suddenly, by poison, alleged his friends—by the judgment of God, said his enemies (280-336).
Arizo`na (59), a territory of the United States N. of Mexico and W. of New Mexico, nearly four times as large as Scotland, rich in mines of gold, silver, and copper, fertile in the lowlands; much of the surface a barren plateau 11,000 ft. high, through which the cañon of the Colorado passes. See Cañon.
Ark of the Covenant, a chest of acacia wood overlaid with gold, 2½ cubits long and 1½ in breadth; contained the two tables of stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments, the gold pot with the manna, and Aaron's rod; the lid supported the mercy-seat, with a cherub at each end, and the shekinah radiance between.
Arkans`as (1,128), one of the Southern States of America, N. of Louisiana and W. of the Mississippi, a little larger than England; rich in metals, grows cotton and corn.
Arkwright, Sir Richard, born at Preston, Lancashire; bred to the trade of a barber; took interest in the machinery of cotton-spinning; with the help of a clockmaker, invented the spinning frame; was mobbed for threatening thereby to shorten labour and curtail wages, and had to flee; fell in with Mr. Strutt of Derby, who entered into partnership with him; prospered in business and died worth half a million. "French Revolutions were a-brewing; to resist the same in any way, Imperial Cæsars were impotent without the cotton and cloth of England; and it was this man," says Carlyle, "that had to give to England the power of cotton" (1732-1792).
Arlberg, a mountain mass between the Austrian provinces of Vorarlberg and Tyrol, pierced by a tunnel, one of the three that penetrate the Alps, and nearly four miles in length.
Arles (14), a city, one of the oldest in France, on the Rhône, 46 m. N. of Marseilles, where Constantine built a palace, with ruins of an amphitheatre and other Roman works; the seat of several Church Councils.
Ar`lincourt, Viscount d', a French romancer, born near Versailles (1789-1856).
Ar`lington, Henry Bennet, Earl of, served under Charles I., and accompanied Charles II. in his exile; a prominent member of the famous Cabal; being impeached when in office, lost favour and retired into private life (1618-1685).
Ar`lon (8), a prosperous town in Belgium, capital of Luxemburg.
Arma`da, named the Invincible, an armament fitted out in 1588 by Philip II. of Spain against England, consisting of 130 war-vessels, mounted with 2430 cannon, and manned by 20,000 soldiers; was defeated in the Channel on July 20 by Admiral Howard, seconded by Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher; completely dispersed and shattered by a storm in retreat on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, the English losing only one ship; of the whole fleet only 53 ships found their way back to Spain, and these nearly all hors de combat.
Armageddon, a name given in Apocalypse to the final battlefield between the powers of good and evil, or Christ and Antichrist.
Armagh (143), a county in Ulster, Ireland, 32 m. long by 20 m. broad; and a town (18) in it, 33 m. SW. of Belfast, from the 5th to the 9th century the capital of Ireland, as it is the ecclesiastical still; the chief manufacture linen-weaving.
Armagnac, a district, part of Gascony, in France, now in dep. of Gers, celebrated for its wine and brandy.
Armagnacs, a faction in France in time of Charles VI. at mortal feud with the Bourguignons.
Armato`les, warlike marauding tribes in the mountainous districts of Northern Greece, played a prominent part in the War of Independence in 1820.