ALFRED.

entitled Poems and Poetical Fragments. Three years afterwards, the young author was elected a Fellow of Trinity, and in the following year (1835), appeared his most popular work, The School of the Heart, and other Poems, which has been frequently re-issued, especially in America. About the same time, A. was appointed vicar of Wymeswold, Leicestershire, where he remained till 1853, gradually enlarging the circle of his studies, and obtaining fresh honours. In 1841, he published Chapters on the Greek poets, which exhibit both purity of taste and breadth of scholar-institutions, little is known beyond the fact that he ship. He was Hulsean Lecturer in the university of Cambridge, and Examiner of Logic and Natural Philosophy in the university of London from 1841 to 1842. In 1844 appeared the first volume of his magnum opus, the Greek Testament with notes and various readings; the second was published in 1852, and the third and fourth, completing the work, some time after. In 1853, A. was removed to Quebec Street Chapel, London, where he continued until 1857, when upon the death of Dean Lyall, he was appointed by Lord Palmerston to the deanery of Canterbury. Among his latest writings was A plea for the Queen's English, which excited considerable discussion. He also published several vols. of sermons. His Greek Testament occupies the first rank. He died Jan. 12, 1871. See Life, Letters, &c. (1873).

ALFRED, surnamed THE GREAT, was born at Wantage, in Berkshire, in 849. His father was Ethelwolf, son of Egbert, king of the West Saxons; and though the youngest of four sons, he succeeded to the crown, on the death of his brother Ethelred, at the age of 23. He had already given decisive proofs of high ability as a general in repelling the incessant incursions of the Danes, at that time the most terrible warriors in Europe. After he succeeded to the throne, he redoubled his exertions to restore the independence of his country. At first he strove without success, whilst the Danes continued to pour fresh bands upon the coast, and the Anglo-Saxons either bent to the yoke or forsook their homes. In 878, the invaders had completely overrun the whole kingdom of the West Saxons. A., no longer able to collect an effective army, was obliged to seek security in the hills and forests, and for some time found refuge in a cowherd's hut. He still, however, kept up some communication with his friends; and as soon as the people began once more to arm against the Danes, he built a stronghold on an elevation or island (still known as Athelney, i. e., the island of the nobles,' or the 'royal island') amid the marshes of Somersetshire, to which he summoned his faithful followers. From this fortress he made frequent successful sallies against the enemy, and after a comparatively short time, he found himself at the head of a considerable army, with which he totally routed them (878) near Edington, in Wiltshire. After holding out for some time in a stronghold to which they had retreated, the invaders capitulated. A. accepted hostages, and their solemn oath to quit his territory of Wessex, and receive baptism. Their king, Godrun or Guthrun, was baptised, with thirty of his followers, and ever after proved faithful in his allegiance to A.

After this decisive victory, the power of A. steadily increased, both by land and sea-for already he had built England's first fleet-he beat the Danes in numerous battles, and gradually their possessions were confined to the northern and eastern coasts. In 886, A., without any formal installation, became recognised as the sovereign of all England, a title to which he had proved his right by the most indisputable of arguments. During the ensuing years of peace, he rebuilt the cities that had suffered most during the war, particularly London; erected new fortresses, and trained the people to the use of arms;

while at the same time he encouraged husbandry and other useful arts, and founded those wise laws and institutions which contributed so much to the future greatness and welfare of England. The grateful reverence of posterity has, as is usual with mankind, become prodigal in its awards, ascribing to A. the entire credit of having established many beneficial institutions, some of which had already existed among the Anglo-Saxons, but were by him revived, remodelled, and improved. Of his political compiled a code of laws, divided England into counties, hundreds, and tithings, and thoroughly reformed the administration of justice by making these tithings, hundreds, &c., so far as was practically possible, responsible for the offences committed within their jurisdiction. William of Malmesbury, with enthusiastic exaggeration, declared that a purse of money, or a pair of golden bracelets,' might in A.'s day be exposed for weeks in complete safety on the common highways. A. is also said-though erroneously, as is now believed to have been the author of "trial by jury.' In an age of ignorance and barbarism, A. was an accomplished scholar and a zealous patron of learning. No prince of his age did so much for the diffusion of knowledge, and few monarchs at any time have shewn an equal zeal for the instruction of their people. He caused many manuscripts to be translated into Anglo-Saxon from Latin, and himself translated several works, such as Boëthius on the Consolation of Philosophy, the History of Orosius, Bede's Ecclesiastical History, and Selections from the Soliloquies of St. Augustine. Among his original works in the Anglo-Saxon language, are Laus of the West Saxons, Institutes, Chronicles, Meditations, &c. his works strikingly indicate the serious, elevated, and yet practical character of the man. In his translations A. is frequently more than a translator. He adds his own reflections to those of his author; and expands the geographical outlines of Orosius, by a chart of Germany, an account of the Baltic, and the icy regions towards the north pole, which are pretty accurate, considering the means which then existed for acquiring a knowledge of those places. Several works attributed to A. are believed not to be genuine.

All

The peaceful labours of A. were, in 893, interrupted by a fresh invasion of Northmen under Hæsten or Hastings, more formidable than any that had yet been attempted in his reign. The defection of the East Anglians and Northumbrians added to the difficulties with which he had to contend. A., however, was fully prepared, and though, during their protracted stay in his dominions, the invaders overran a large extent of country, and committed considerable depredations, they were beaten in almost every encounter with the English, and finally quelled. A. died on the 27th of October 901, aged 52, leaving his country in the enjoyment of comparative peace and prosperity, the fruit of that wise and energetic rule which has made his memory dear to all generations of Englishmen, as that of their best and greatest king. We cannot perhaps realise the resolute patience of A., in his political and military capacity, for we have but a very imperfect knowledge of the obstacles which stood in his way; but it must excite both our highest wonder and reverence to behold a man pursuing solitarily, in the midst of ferocity, barbarism, and ignorance, and in spite of the perpetual pains with which his body was racked, so many various and noble schemes for the civilization and true glory of his country.-The most authentic and interesting of the original sources of information on the history of A., is the life by Asser, bishop of Sherborne, a

ALGA MARINA-ALGÆ.

book distinguished by extreme simplicity and affection. The best edition is that of Wise (Oxford, 1782). Of the recent Lives, the most complete and careful are that of Dr. Pauli, edited by T. Wright; published by Bentley; and that by Mr. T. Hughes (1869). ALGA MARI'NA. See GRASS WRACK.

A'LGÆ, a natural order of plants, belonging to the class Cryptogamia of Linnæus, and to the Acotyledones of the natural system. It contains a great number of species, about 2000 being known and described, and among these there is a great variety of forms. They grow for the most part in water, some in fresh, and some in salt water, but some also on moist rocks or ground; whilst others are frequently found covering the glass and pots of hothouses. Some species occur even upon diseased animal tissue, as Achlya prolifera upon the gills of fish, whilst Sarcinula ventriculi (q. v.) appears to be formed in the human stomach. They are most numerous in still and stagnant water and in warm climates. Their structure is very various; they are

ALGARDI-ALGEBRA.

CHARACE (q. v.), FUCACEE (q. v.), CERAMIACEE | best sailors and the truest friends in Portugal. The

(q. v.), CONFERVACEÆ (see CONFERVA), and DIATOMACEE (q. V.). The Characea are sometimes separated as a distinct order of higher organisation, whilst the rest are united under the name Algæ. See Kützing's Phycologia Generalis (Leip. 1843), and his Species Algarum (Leip. 1849); Greville's 4. Britannica (Lond. 1830); and Harvey's Manual of British A. (Lond. 1841).

ALGA'RDI, ALESSANDRO, an Italian sculptor (b. at Bologna 1602-d. 1654), ranked next to Lor. Bernini among Italian sculptors of the 17th c., and especially excelled in the representation of nude figures. His works, however, suffered from the faults prevalent in his time, especially from a striving after pathos and picturesque effects, opposed to the true character of sculpture. His most important work is a colossal relievo of Attila in St. Peters, Rome. His statue of the God of Sleep in the Villa Borghese has frequently been mistaken for an antique.

ALGARO'BA. See CAROB.

chief town is Faro (pop. 8500).

A'LGEBRA is a branch of pure mathematics. The name is derived from the Arabs, who call the science Al gebr wal mokúbala-i. e., supplementing and equalising-in reference to the transposition and reduction of the terms of an equation. Among the Italians in early times it was called Arte Maggiore, as having to do with the higher kinds of calculation, and still oftener Regola de la Cosa, because the unknown quantity was denominated cosa, the thing;' hence the name of Cossike Art, given to it by early English writers.

The term Algebraical is generally used somewhat vaguely, to denote any expression or calculation in which signs are used to denote the operations, and letters or other symbols are put instead of numbers. But it is perhaps better to restrict the name A. to the doctrine of Equations (q. v.). Literal arithmetic, then, or multiplying, dividing, &c., with letters instead of Arabic ciphers, is properly only a preparation for A.; while Analysis (q. v.), in the widest sense, would embrace A. as its first part. A. itself is divided into two chief branches. The first treats of equations involving unknown quantities having a determinate value; in the other, called the Diophantine or Indeterminate Analysis, the unknown quantities have no exactly fixed values, but depend in some degree upon assumption.

ALGAROʻTTI, FRANCESCO, COUNT, an Italian author, was born at Venice in 1712, studied in Rome and Bologna, and when 21 years old, published in Paris (1733) a work, entitled Newtonianismo per le Dame (The Newtonian Philosophy adapted to the Ladies), which was the basis of his subsequent reputation. Until 1739, he lived in France. On his The oldest work in the West on A. is that return from a journey to Russia, A. became of Diophantus of Alexandria, in the 4th c. after acquainted with Frederick II. of Prussia, who Christ. It consisted originally of 13 books, and elevated him to the rank of count, and made him, contained arithmetical problems; only six books in 1747, lord chamberlain. He was also patronised are now extant. They are written in Greek, The modern Euroby Augustus III. of Poland, and lived alternately in and evince no little acuteness. Berlin and Dresden until 1754, when he returned to peans got their first acquaintance with A., not Italy. He died March 3, 1764, at Pisa, where, in the directly from the Greeks, but, like most other Campo Santo, Frederick the Great raised a monu- knowledge, through the Arabs, who derived it, again, ment to his memory. In his own time he was recog- from the Hindus. The chief European source was the nised as a good judge of painting and architecture, work of Mohammed Ben Musa, who lived in the and his reputation is confirmed by his work Saggi time of Calif Al Mamun (813-833); it has been sopra le Belle Arti (Essays on the Fine Arts), and by translated into English by Dr. Rosen (Lond. 1831). the paintings he selected for the Dresden Gallery. An Italian merchant, Leonardo Bonaccio, of Pisa, His poetry displays no great genius; but his other travelling in the east about 1200, acquired a knowworks shew that he was an accomplished man; and ledge of the science, and introduced it among his his letters rank with the best in the Italian language. countrymen on his return; he has left a work on A., not yet printed. The first work on A. after the ALGA'RVÉ, the smallest and most southerly of revival of learning is that of the Minorite friar the provinces of Portugal, lies between Andalucia Paciolo or Luca Borgo (Ven. 1494). Scipio Ferreo and the Atlantic Ocean. In ancient times, it was in Bologna, discovered, in 1505, the solution of one much more extensive. It received its name from case of cubic equations. Tartaglia of Brescia (died the Arabs, in whose language A. signifies a land 1557) carried cubic equations still further, and lying to the west.' It was a Moorish province till imparted his discoveries to Cardan of Milan, as a 1253, when Alphonso III. united it to the crown of secret. Cardan extended the discovery himself, and Portugal as a separate kingdom. Its area is esti- published, in 1545, the solution known as Cardan's mated at 2780 square miles, and its population at Rule.' Ludovico Ferrari and Bombelli (1579) gave 177,000. The northern part of the province is occu- the solution of biquadratic equations. A. was first pied by a range of mountains of an average height cultivated in Germany by Christian Rudolf, in a of 4600 feet, which form the continuation of the work printed in 1524; Stifel followed with his ArithSierra Morena of Spain and terminate in Cape metica Integra (Nürnb, 1544). Robert Recorde, in St. Vincent, the south-western extremity of Europe. England, and Pelletier, in France, wrote about 1550. The highest ridges are entirely destitute of vegeta- Vieta, a Frenchman (died 1603), first made the grand tion; and the mountainous tract in general admits step of using letters to denote the known quantities of but little cultivation. From the main ridge, the as well as the unknown. Harriot, in England (1631) country slopes southward in jagged terraces and low and Girard, in Holland (1633), still further improved hills, leaving a level tract of a few miles along the on the advances made by Vieta. The Géométrie coast. The soil of this plain is but indifferently (1637) of Descartes makes an epoch in A.; it is suited for the production of grain, or even of rich in new investigations. Descartes applied A. pasturage; but it produces abundance of the finest to Geometry, and was the first to represent the fruits of the south, even plantains and dates. The nature of curves by means of equations. Fermat wine is also of excellent quality. The African heat also contributed much to the science; and so did of the climate is mitigated by the cool sea-breeze. the Arithmetica Universalis of Newton. To these The only river of importance is the Guadiana, on names may be the frontiers of Spain. The inhabitants employ and Fontaine. themselves chiefly in fishing, in manufacturing salt, in more recent and in cultivating fruit. They are considered the | Abel, Fourier, Peacock, De Morgan, &c.

·

added Maclaurin, Moivre, Taylor, Among the chief promoters of A., times, are Euler, Lagrange, Gauss,

ALGECIRAS-ALGERIA.

Language.-Four languages are spoken in A. The Berber, the Arabic, the Turkish, and the Negro dia lects. The Berber, which is the most ancient of all, has a variety of dialects, and is spoken by all the Kabyle tribes. It possesses no literature written in its own alphabet, Arabic characters alone being used, The Arabic is of course an importation from the East, and has borrowed expressions and idioms from the various native languages with which it came into contact; but its differences are comparatively slight. The Koran is the great bond of union. The Turkish, since the French conquest, has become almost extinct. The Negro dialects are of little consequence.

ALGECIRAS, or ALGEZIRAS, a town in solano. Its mineral wealth is considerable; iron, Spain, in the province of Cadiz, on the Gulf of lead, copper, and manganese are found. The marble Gibraltar. Its harbour is bad, but it possesses a of Numidia was in requisition in ancient times. good dock, and the inhabitants are supplied with Extensive forests of oaks, cedars, pines, and pistachiofine aqueducts. The citadel is in a very dilapi- nut trees cover large portions of the country, and dated condition, and the trade in corn and brandy furnish an abundant supply of timber and resin. The is no longer important. The place, however, cereals and the olive are cultivated in the Tell; and which is pleasantly situated, has a picturesque the oases of Sahara are famed for their dates. The appearance. It was the first town in Spain taken domestic animals of A. are the ox, the sheep, the by the Moors (713), in whose possession it remained goat, and the camel; but the once noble race of for 7 centuries; but in 1344, after a siege of 20 Numidian horses is degenerated. The population is months, it was retaken by the brave Alfonso XI., composed of various elements. Besides Europeans, king of Castile. It is said that crusaders from all there are Kabyles and Arabs, who compose the bulk parts of Europe were present at this siege, which of the people; also Moors, Negroes, and Jews. was the siege of the age, and is spoken of as such. Edward III. of England purposed coming in person to the assistance of the Spanish monarch, whom he greatly admired. Alfonso destroyed the old Moorish town; the modern one was built by Charles III. in 1760. On the 6th of June 1801, between Algeciras and Tarifa, the English admiral Saumarez attacked the combined French and Spanish fleets under Rearadmiral Luinois. He was defeated, but renewed the engagement a few days after, and gained a complete victory. A. is 5 miles from Gibraltar, across the bay or gulf, and 10 round by land. Pop. 11,500. ALGERIA (in French, ALGERIE), a country on the north coast of Africa, which was a subHistory. In the most ancient times we find the ordinate part of the Turkish Empire till 1830, Numidians settled in the eastern part of the regency, and is now a French colony. It lies between 2° 8' and the Moors (or Mauri) in the west. Under the W. long, and 8° 32′ E. 'ong. It is bounded on the Romans, the former was included in the province of north by the Mediterranean, on the east by Tunis, Africa, while the latter was called Mauritania Cæsaron the south by Sahara, and on the west by Marocco. iensis. Like the rest of North Africa, it had then The French have extended their dominions more reached its highest prosperity. It had numerous than 200 miles into the interior, but those of the cities, which were principally Roman colonies. But deys the former rulers of A.-comprehended terri- its conquest by the Vandals, under the famous tories lying nearly twice as far south. The area of Genseric about 440, threw it back into a state of A. is officially placed at about 258,000 square miles. barbarism, from which it only partially recovered The total pop. in 1877 was set down at 2,867,- after the Mohammedan immigrants had estab626, of which 1,316,517 belonged to the civil ter- lished their dominion. About the year 935, the ritory, and 1,551,109 to the military. The chief city, Al-Jezira, i. e., the island, and later Al-Gazie, towns are Algiers, Bona, Constantine, and Tlemzen. i. e., the warlike, now called Algiers, was built by Physically, A. forms a part of the northern border of an Arabian prince, Zeiri, whose successors ruled the the great plateau of North Africa, which here rises land till 1148, after which it was governed by the from the sea in three terraces. The Atlas Mountains Almohades (q. v.) till 1269. It was then split up into run parallel to the coast-line. Behind these, a vast many small territories. In 1492 the Moors and tract of heathy plains, called the Sebkhas, interspersed Jews who had been driven out of Spain, settled in with salt-lakes, stretches southwards, until bounded A., and began to revenge themselves on their perseby a second chain of mountains of various heights; cutors by piracy. Ferdinand, the Spanish monarch, beyond which, again, lies the great desert of Sahara, attacked them on this account, took the city of extending to the banks of the Niger. The plains Algiers in 1509, and erected fortifications on the and valleys which open out towards the sea in the island which forms its harbour. One of the Algerine north of A., such as those round Bona, Algiers, princes, the Emir of Metidja, whose territories were Oran, &c., are extremely fertile, abound in wood and threatened by the Spaniards, now invited to his water, consist mostly of a calcareous soil, and are assistance the Greek renegade, Horuk or Harude well adapted for agriculture. They form the Tell, Barbarossa, who had made himself famous as a which was once one of the granaries of Italy. In Turkish pirate chief. This laid the foundation strong contrast to these are the Sebkhas or lesser of the Turkish dominion; for when Barbarossa deserts, covered with herbs and brushwood, but arrived in 1516, he treacherously turned his corsair almost destitute of fresh water, except where here bands against the emir, whom he murdered, and and there they are interrupted by an oasis. The then made himself Sultan of Algiers. His subse most southern part of the country beyond the Atlas quent successes alarmed the Spaniards, who marched partakes of the nature of the Sahara, but contains an army against him from Oran. Barbarossa was oases covered with palm-trees, and well peopled. defeated in many encounters, and, at last, being This is a part of the 'date-country,' or Blad-el- taken prisoner, was beheaded in 1518. His brother Djerid.' There are no rivers of any importance in was then chosen sultan. He put himself under the the entire colony, nothing beyond mere coast-protection of the Ottoman court, by the help of streams, which rise in the neighbouring Atlas. The a Turkish army drove the Spaniards out of the largest is the Shelif, about 230 miles in length. With respect to the climate, the heat in the Tell is sometimes very great. On the coast it is mitigated by the sea-breeze; and among the high mountains of the interior, the winters are even cold. The average teniperature of Algiers is about 65° F. A. is not unfrequently visited by the simoom, or hot wind, called by the Italians, sirocco, and by the Spaniards

country, and established that system of military
despotism and piracy which lasted till 1830, and
which sunk A. into a state of ruinous degradation.
In 1541, the Emperor Charles V. made
a bold
attempt to crush this nation of corsairs. He landed
in A. with a fleet of 370 ships, and 30,000 men; but
a fearful storm, accompanied by earthquakes and
water-spouts, destroyed the greater portion of the

ALGERIA.

former, and rendered the latter destitute of victuals, | Christendom, venturing even to land on the Italian &c.; so that the expedition proved a failure, and and Spanish coasts. Inland, too, they were conCharles was glad to re-embark, which he managed to do with extreme difficulty.

The history of A., under the Moslems, offers few episodes worthy of notice. The Algerines continued to carry on their piratical war against the powers of

stantly fighting to extend their territories. Before the end of the 16th c., they had subdued the whole country to the verge of Marocco, with the exception of Oran, which belonged to Spain. The Spaniards were invariably unsuccessful in their attempts at

civil functionaries. The internal history of the country henceforth presents nothing but a bloody series of seraglio revolutions, caused by the lawless janissaries, who permitted few of the deys to die a natural death. In the year 1775, Spain undertook her last great expedition against A., with 44 ships of war, 340 transports, and 25,000 soldiers. This, however, was as singularly unfortunate as all her previous ones. Everything went wrong, and the Spaniards had to re-embark as speedily as possible, leaving behind them 1800 wounded, and all their artillery. Thus A. continued to defy the greater Christian powers, and to enforce tribute from the lesser. During the French Revolution, and the time of the Empire, its piracies were much diminished in consequence of the presence of powerful fleets in the Mediterranean Sea; but at the close of the war, they were recommenced as vigorously as ever. This brought down upon the nation of corsairs' the vengeance of the Christian powers. The Americans took the lead, attacked the Algerine fleet off Carthagena, on the 20th June 1815; defeated it, and compelled the dey to acknowledge the inviolability of the American flag. About the same time, the English admiral, Lord Exmouth, extorted from the other states of Barbary the recognition of an international law respecting the treatment of prisoners. A. alone refused to consent to it; and after a delay of six weeks, the English and Dutch fleets, under the command of Lord Exmouth, fiercely bombarded the

reprisals. Emboldened by success, the Algerines | council of state, chosen from the sixty principal pushed their piratical expeditions even beyond the Straits of Gibraltar. In the year 1600, the Turkish janissaries of Algiers obtained from the Constantinopolitan court the right to choose a dey from among themselves, who should share the power with the pacha appointed by the Sultan, and be their commander-in-chief. The result of this divided authority was internal strife and confusion. Nevertheless, the insolence of the Algerines at sea increased. They attacked even the coasts of Provence, compelling Louis XIV. to chastise them thrice; which he did, however, with very little effect. An incident occurred during the first bombardment of Algiers by the French fleet in 1682, which illustrates the reckless ferocity of these corsairs. By way of answer to the cannonading of his enemies, the dey caused the French consul, Vacher, to be shot off from the mouth of a mortar! After the third bombardment in 1687, the dey scornfully inquired of the French how much money the burning of Algiers had cost their master, and on being told, coolly replied that he would have done it himself for half the sum, and spared their king the trouble.' No more decisive result followed the attack of Admiral Blake in 1655, nor of the English and Dutch fleets in 1669 and 1670; yet the English were the first to form treaties with the Algerines. In 1708, the dey, Ibrahim, made himself master of Oran; and his successor, Baba-Ali, succeeded in effecting the virtual emancipation of the country from the dominion of the Porte. He banished the Turkish pacha; craftily capital. The batteries of the pirates were soon persuaded the Sultan of Turkey to leave the power solely in his hands; carried on war, and concluded peace at his own pleasure, and paid no more tribute. A. was now ruled by a military oligarchy, at the head of which stood the dey, and after him the powerful Turkish milita, recruited from Constantinople and Smyrna, because their children by native mothers could not enjoy the same privileges as themselves. Besides these, there was a divan, or

silenced; and in a few hours the half of the city lay in ruins; its naval force and its magazines being all destroyed. The dey, an ignorant and obstinate barbarian, still wished to protract the fight, but his soldiery forced him to yield, and a treaty was concluded (1816), by which all Christian slaves were released without ransom (the number was 1211), and a promise was given that both piracy and Christian slavery should cease for ever. But nothing