regions of the globe, from its having been less explored; and consequently afferding a more fertile and extensive source of novelty for the gratification of curiosity and adventure. It was said of old, and the saying holds good at the present day, ‘Africa semper aliquid novi offert;' and this very circumstance is a sufficient spur to a daring and inquisitive mind. Great as the progress has been in our day in the development of geographical information relative to this great continent, consequent on the exertions and zeal of Hornemann, Park, Oudney, Denham, Clapperton, Laing, and many other travelers, not forgetting the last, and by no means the least, the modest, unpretending, and straightforward Lander, much still remains to be done to complete the geography even of Northern Africa; and as to the southern part of this continent, it continues to exhibit almost a blank on our maps."

Afflatus. Lat. "Inspiration." "The divine afflatus failing him, he ascended from poetry to politics."

Afflavit Deus, et dissipantur! Lat.-"GOD sent forth his breath, and they are [were] at once dispersed." N.B. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a medal was struck, bearing the above inscription, for the purpose of recording the dispersion and destruction of the Spanish Armada. The same quotation is sometimes used to express the divine interference in overthrowing a hostile army by disease, or otherwise in defeating their designs. "ELIZABETH of England had warmly espoused the cause of the revolted Netherlands, and her admiral, Sir Francis Drake, had taken some of the Spanish settlements in America. To avenge these injuries, the Invincible Armada of 150 ships of war, 27,000 men, and 3000 pieces of cannon, was equipped by Philip for the invasion of England. The English fleet of 108 ships attacked them in the night, and burnt and destroyed a great part of the squadron. A storm, which drove them on the rocks and sands of Zealand, completed their discomfiture, and only 50 shattered vessels, with 6000 men, returned to Spain, 1588."-Tytler's General History.

Aga. Turkish and Persian.-Equivalent to "gentleman" in English, and used when the person addressed is not noble, neither khan, bey, nor meerza [which see], neither in the civil nor military service of the court. -Age, libertate Decembri,

Lat. HORACE.

Quando ita majores voluerunt, utere. "Well, then, since our ancestors would have it so, take the liberty, make use of the customary liberty, of the month of December."

"Come, let us, like our jovial sires of old,

With gambols and mince-pies our Christmas hold."

N.B. The reference in the above passage is to the festival of the SATURNALIA, [which see].

Agent de change. Fr.-"A stockbroker."

Αγευστοί καλλιστου και γονιμωτατου λογων νάματος, την ελευθεριαν λεγω, ουδεν ότι μη κολακες εκβαίνομεν μεγαλοφυεις. Gr. LONGINUS. “Never tasting of that most fair and genial fountain of all eloquence, I speak of liberty, we can become no other than splendid sycophants." "HORACE lived in a servile age; and though he cheated himself with an imaginary independence, his life was servile, his tongue was servile. Nobly and well is it said by LONGINUS, Ayεvoro, &c."

Agiotage. Fr.-"Gambling in commercial shares, stocks, and government securities."

Αγωνίαι, δοξαι, φιλοτιμίαι, νομοι,

Απαντα ταυτ' επίθετα τη φυσει κακα.

Gr. MENANDer.—

"Our contentions, disputes, our opinions, our feelings of ambition, ambitious promptings, our laws, are all evils, which we ourselves have superadded to Nature."

Αἱ δ' ελπιδες βοσκουσι φυγάδας, ὡς λογος
Καλως βλέπουσιν όμμασι, μελλουσιν δε.

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Gr. EURIPIDES.
'Exiles, the proverb says, subsist on hope,
Delusive hope still points to distant good,
To good, that mocks approach."

Ai ricchi non mancano parenti. Ital. prov.-"The rich have never relations to seek, to hunt after." Land was never lost for want of an heir.

Aide toi, et le ciel t'aidera. Fr. LA FONTAINE. "Help thyself, and Heaven will help thee." Depend rather on your own exertions than your prayers. The allusion is to the wagoner in Æsop, who, when his wagon was overturned in a ditch, prayed stoutly for the aid of Hercules. Aide-de-camp. Fr.-"An officer who attends a general to carry

orders."

AudwÇ TOV KahλOVÇ kaι apeτns toλis. Gr. DEMADES.-"Modesty is the citadel of beauty and virtue."

Αιει κολοιος προς κολοιον ίζανει. Gr. prov. A jackdaw always gets alongside of another jackdaw." Birds of a feather flock together.

Αιει μεν κακοδαιμονα αναγκα τον κακον, αιτε εχοι ύλαν [κακως τε γαρ αυτα XpeεTai] αITε σTaviso. Gr. ARCHYTAS [a philosopher of the Pythagorean school].-"The bad man must needs be at all times miserable, whether he have, or whether he want, the materials of external fortune; for if he have them, he will employ them ill.”

Alev apioτevei. Gr.—“ Always, ever, to excel, in any manner; to be of surpassing excellence."

Αιων δ' ασφαλης

"For not the brave, or wise, or great,
E'er yet had happiness complete:
Nor PELEUS, grandson of the sky,
Nor CADMUS, 'scaped the shafts of Spain,
Though favored by the powers on high
With every bliss that man could gain."

From the above lines we learn that Happiness is not complete in any state, position of life. See "Nihil est ab omni, &c.”

Air de fête. Fr.-" A festive or joyous appearance."

Air distingué. Fr.-"A distinguished appearance, the appearance

of a person of distinction."

Air distrait. Fr.-"An absent look, a look expressive of abstraction, or expressive of absence of mind."

Air noble. Fr.-"A noble, distinguished, patrician air [a distinguished position in society]."

Al amico cura gli il fico, al inimico il persico. Ital. prov.— "Pull a fig for your friend, and a peach for your enemy."

Al canto si conosce l'uccello;

Ed al parlar, il cervello.

Ital. prov.

"We know a bird by its song, and the man by his words, speech [whether he be a wise man or a fool]."

Al confessor, medico, ed avocato, non side tener il vero celato. Ital. prov.-"Hide nothing from thy minister, physician, and lawyer."

Al finir del gioco, si vede che ha guadagnato. Ital. prov."At the end of the game one may see who hath won."

Al fresco. Ital.-"In the open air."

Al molino, ed alla sposa

Sempre manca qualche cosa.

"An al fresco ball.”

Ital. prov.

"A mill and a woman are always in want of something:" the former from the complexity of its machinery, and the latter from the influences of her caprice.

Al pobre no es provechoso,

Acompañarse con el poderoso. Span. prov.

"The poor man gains naught by allying himself with, by forming an alliance with, a powerful man.' See "Nunquam est fidelis, &c."

Al Rey, en viendolo; a DIOS, en oyendolo. Span. prov."External homage is due to the king upon seeing him; and to God [that is, the host, preceded by its never-failing appendage, the bell] the very moment you hear him." GOD and the king are so coupled in the language of Spain, that the same title of MAJESTY is applied to both; you hear, from the pulpit, the duties that men owe to BOTH MAJESTIES; and a foreigner is often surprised at the hopes expressed by the people that HIS MAJESTY will be pleased to grant them life and health for some years more. Alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur. Lat. VIRGIL. -"Privets, prime-prints, though white, are suffered to lie untouched, while hyacinths, though black, of a dark hue, are speedily gathered." 'Snow is white, and lies in the dike,

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And every man lets it lie:

Pepper is black, and hath a good smack,

And every man doth it buy."

Albumen, and, Alburnum. Lat.-"On the contact of corrosive sublimate with any vegetable juice containing albumen, a new combination, a tertium quid, results:" that is to say, a third something results. Struck out by the collision [knocking together] of two opposite forces or principles. N.B. "Albumen," in animal and in vegetable substances, is the main element of physical vitality, and consequently of fermentation and putrefaction. Every tiro [novice, beginner of any particular study] who walks an hospital knows that "albumen" [the white of an egg] is the simplest antidote [counter-poison, thing given to counteract poison] to corrosive sub

limate; and, in like manner, when a solution of sublimate is applied to timber, it at once penetrates the "alburnum" [outer wood, sappy part of trees on the outside next the bark, subject to rot and be worm-eaten], and then flies to the heart-wood, combining with the "albumen," whether in an active or a dormant [sleeping, inactive] state, and killing it.

Alcinoö poma dare. Lat. prov.-"To give tree-fruit [such as apples, pears, oranges, &c.] to ALCINOUS." To carry coals to Newcastle. ALCINOUS was king of the island Corcyra [now Corfu], much commended for his strict justice by the poet ORPHEUS. His orchard was so famed for choice fruit of all kinds, that it gave occasion to the above proverb.

Alea sequa vorax species certissima furti

Non contenta bonis, animum quoque perfida mergit;
Furca, furax-infamis, iners, furiosa, ruina.

"Gaming, that direst felon of the breast,

Lat. PETRONIUS.

Steals more than fortune from its wretched thrall,
Spreads o'er the soul the inert devouring pest,

And gnaws, and rots, and taints, and ruins all."

Aleator quantum in arte melior tanto est nequior. Lat. PUBLIUS SYRUS. "The gambler, dice-player, gamester, is more wicked according as he is a greater proficient in his art." His demerits keep pace with his acquirements.

Alere flammam. Lat.-"To feed, cherish, nourish, the flame, ardor, love [of learning]." N.B. A motto sometimes printed on the title-pages of literary works.

Alia res sceptrum, alia plectrum. Lat. prov.-"A scepter is one thing, a quill [with which to play upon the strings of musical instruments] another." A scepter is one thing, a ladle another.

[Alia] tentanda via est. Lat. Altered from VIRGIL.- "Another way must be tried." We must diversify our means, change our plans if need be, to attain our end. The original passage runs thus:-Tentanda via est, qua me quoque possim,

Tollere humo.

"I too [I, the poet VIRGIL] must attempt a way, must strike out into a path, method, by which I may raise myself from the ground, by which may rise into celebrity [as other poets have done], by which I may soar aloft."

Alias. Lat. "Otherwise, at another time." A law term used when one changes his name, or assumes a different one; as, Jackson alias Johnson. The plural is aliases, "different names.' An alias is also a name given to a second writ issuing from the courts of Westminster, after a first writ has been sued out without effect.

Alibi. Lat. "Elsewhere, in another place." A law term used when one, charged with an offense, alleges that he was elsewhere when it was committed.

-Aliena negotia centum

Lat. HORACE.—

Per caput, et circa saliunt latus. "A hundred affairs of other people leap through my head and around my side," that is, "beset me on every side." Compare the form which the

same idea would assume in our vulgar idiom, "I am over head and ears in the affairs of others." The above quotation may be applied to the situation of a Minister of state.

"A hundred men's affairs confound

My senses, and besiege me round."

Aliena negotia curo, excussus propriis. Lat. HORACE.—“I attend to other men's business, having none of my own to occupy me." PUBLIUS SYRUS.—The quotation is used to mark an idle obtruder.

Aliena nobis, nostra plus aliis placent. Lat. PUBLIUS SYRUS."The things which belong to others please us more, and that which is our own is more pleasing to others." This maxim is applicable in a variety of cases.

Aliena optimum frui insania. Lat.-"It is of the highest advantage to be able to derive instruction from the madness of another." It is true practical wisdom to make the faults of others serve as so many beacons to warn us from the rocks and shoals on which they have been wrecked.

Alieni appetens, sui profusus. Lat. SALLUST.—“Coveting the property of others, and lavish or profuse in the expenditure of his own." This, which was the historian's description of Catiline [a conspirator of Rome], has since been justly applied to other political adventurers.

Alieno in loco haud stabile regnum est. Lat. SENECA.-"The sovereignty which is held over strange or remote territories is precarious."

Alii sementem faciunt, alii metentem. Lat. prov.-"Some do the sowing, and others the reaping or mowing." One beats the bush, and another catcheth the bird. The Italian proverb is-I picciol cani trovano, ma i grandi hanno la lepre. "The little dogs find, hunt out, but the great ones seize the hare."

Aliis, quia defit quod amant, aegre'st: tibi, quia superest dolet. Lat. TERENCE.-"Some persons grieve, take it to heart, because they cannot have what they love: you, on the contrary, complain, because you have too much."

Alio sub sole. Lat.-"Under another sun;" in another climate, region. "Those who have seen earth and ocean alio sub sole, know how much larger an element color is in the landscape there than in middle or northern Europe. Nature in those countries has a brighter complexion, though men and women have not."

Aliorum medicus ipse ulceribus scates. Lat. prov." Though the physician of others, yet thou thyself art full of sores." Physician, heal thyself.

Aliquando praestat morte jungi, quam vita distrahi. Lat. VALERIUS MAXIMUS. "It is sometimes, under certain circumstances, better to be joined, united, in death, than to be separated in or during life."

-Aliquis de gente hircosa centurionum

Dicat: 'Quod sapio, satis est mihi; non ego curo
Esse quod Arcesilas, aerumnosique Solones.'

Lat. PERSIUS.