26 



ACUOPOLIS ACTA SANCTORUM. 



At its foot Is a fountain, tlu % ancient Pyrene. The 

 slwpe of tin- A. i- tluit of a truncated cone. This 

 little fortress lias been several times taken and re- 

 taken in the war between the Creeks and Turks. 

 The view from the top is one of the most charming 

 in die world. It is thus described in the " Journal 

 of Dr hieber," before whom no Christian traveller, 

 in modem times, liad probably visited it, as the Turks 

 ilid not allow Christians to ascend it while it was in 

 their hands: " The view from this spot amply re- 

 warded me for my trouble. To the north lay the 

 hijh and snowy summits of Helicon and Parnassus, 

 H> 'locribed by Strabo, extending far under the clear 

 blue of a southern sky. On the west was seen the 

 bay of Crissa, mount Cithaeron, and the promontory 

 of (Mm i.e. On the east the Saronic gulf washes the 

 Islands of Salamis and .K-ina. To the north-east 

 lay the shore of Attica. There we could see Pen- 

 telicus, Hymettus, and Laurion, and even down to 

 the cape of Suniura. The day was very clear, so Uiat 

 I could discern the acropolis of Athens. To the 

 south I could see far into the territory of Argolis. To 

 the west Achaia and Sicyonia lay in sight. The view 

 comprehended the scenes of the best displays of Gre- 

 cian art, science, and valour." 



ACROPOLIS (Greek) ; the highest part or citadel of 

 a city, particularly that of Athens, where the treasury 

 and public records were kept. It is situated on a 

 rock, and has often been the subject of contest in the 

 late war between the Greeks and the Turks. 



ACROSTIC (Greek) ; a poem, of which the first, and 

 sometimes the final letters of the lines or verses form 

 some particular word or words. The middle letters, 

 also, are sometimes used for the same purpose. An 

 example of the three kinds united may be seen in the 

 following Latin hexameters : 



I nter cuncta micans I gniti sidera coel I, 

 K xpvllit tenebraa E toto Phoebus ut orb E; 

 S i<- coxas removet IESVS caliginis umbra S 

 V irificansque MIUU! V ero pnecordia mot U 

 S olezn justitiae S esc probat ease beati S 



The French abbes and nobles, before the revolution, 

 often exercised their ingenuity in the composition of 

 these poetical trifles. 



ACT, in law ; an instrument in writing for declar- 

 ing or justifying the truth of any thing. In this sense, 

 records, decrees, sentences, reports, certificates, &c., 

 are called act*. The French lawyers distinguished 

 between, 1, private records (actes sous seing prive), 

 which must be acknowledged by the parties, in order 

 to have legal force ; 2, public documents (actes au- 

 thentiquea), which have legal force, without being 

 acknowledged by the parties, as long as they are not 

 proved spurious ; and, 3, executive acts (actes execu- 

 toires), which, until their genuineness is called in 

 question (inscription a faux), are also binding without 

 acknowledgment by the parties subject to their oper- 

 ation. Of this kind are the records of the public no- 

 taries (actes notaries), and all the official documents 

 of the French courts of justice. In England and the 

 United States, act implies decree ; hence, an act of 

 parliament is a decree of parliament, confirmed by 

 the king, a statute. (See Great Britain.) At the 

 close ofeach annual session, the decrees or acts of 

 parliament are collected into one body, which forms 

 the statute of that session, the several decrees of 

 which are contained in separate chapters. They are 

 quoted according to the year of the king's reign, and 

 according to the chapter ; e. g. the act of habeas cor- 

 pus is the second diapter of the statute of the year 

 1680, the 31st year of the reign of Charles II., and 

 is quoted, 31, Ch. II., c 2. In America, there is no 

 uniform mode of quoting statutes : each separate act 

 is deemed a distinct statute. Generally, the acts are 



cited by their date and year ; and, if more particula- 

 rity is necessary, by the chapter, when the statute? 

 are diviilt <l into chapters. Acts in Germany are the 

 records and documents of any transaction, especially 

 of a lawsuit. The whole pnx-css, in that country, is 

 CUlied OO in writing. Nothing is received as evi- 

 dence, unless laid before the court on paper. When 

 a criminal process begins, the prisoner is brought be- 

 fore a judge or assistant and a writer. The judge 

 questions: the question is written on the left side of 

 a folio sheet; on the right side the answer of the 

 prisoner is set down. The same takes place with 

 every witness. The reader can imagine to wliat an 

 immense bulk these acts often increase in the course 

 of a single process. If there are witnesses in other 

 places, an order to examine them IN sent, and the 

 papers containing the minutes of their testimony 

 transmitted to the place of trial. The examining 

 judge is called the judge of inquisition (iinjuisidniis- 

 richter). At the close of each stage of the examina- 

 tion, the prisoner subscribes the minutes made during 

 that time with the words, " read in my hearing, ap- 

 proved and signed." He also signs his name, as do 

 likewise the judge and the writer. When the acts 

 are completed (closed), they are delivered to the court, 

 who appoint another judge to report on them and 

 move for judgment, while another still acts as coun- 

 sel for the prisoner. Afterwards, the whole court I'M 

 plena decides. In fact, in Germany, the whole course 

 of administration is conducted in writing. In Saxony, 

 such acts are almost endless. In Prussia, also, they 

 are very numerous. All acts are preserved in ar- 

 chives. After sentence passed in one court, the whole 

 pile of acts is sent to a court of appeal. 



ACT, in the universities, signifies a thesis main- 

 tained in public by a candidate for a degree. 



ACTA ERUDITORUM ; the first literary journal that 

 appeared in Germany. It enjoyed a long existence 

 and great popularity. The example set by the Jour- 

 nal des Savans, and by the Diornale de' Litterati; 

 but, especially the increasing spirit of enterprise and 

 activity among the German booksellers, induced Otto 

 Mencke, professor at Leipsic, to lay the foundation 

 of this periodical publication, in 1680. Having formed 

 the necessary connexions, on his travels through Hol- 

 land and England, and being assisted by the most 

 eminent German scholars, he commenced the journal 

 in 1682, which increased in popularity from year to 

 year. Among the contributors were Carpzov, Leib- 

 nitz, Thomasius, c. Its object was, to give a faithful 

 and particular account of books ; ana it was con- 

 ducted on the same plan, even after a better taste in 

 composition and greater independence were intro- 

 duced into literary discussions in the French journals 

 published in Holland. The German journal began, 

 however, to decline gradually in value, and in the 

 number of its subscribers, particularly after 1 754 ; and 

 the irregularity of its appearance became at length 

 so great, that the last volume, for 1776, was pub- 

 lished in 1782, exactly a century from the time when 

 the journal was commenced. The whole consists of 

 117 volumes in 4to, including the supplementary vo- 

 lumes and indices. Leibnitz, in this journal, first 

 gave to the world his notions respecting the differen- 

 tial calculus. 



ACTA SANCTORUM; a name sometimes applied to 

 all collections of accounts of ancient martyrs and 

 saints, both of the Greek and Roman churches. It 

 is used more particularly as the title of a voluminous 

 work, comprising all those accounts, which was com- 

 menced at the instigation of the Jesuits, in 1643, by 

 John Holland, a Jesuit of Antwerp, and after his 

 death continued by other divines of the same order, 

 known by the name of the Bollandists, (q. v.) to the 

 year 1794, but not yet finished, (Antwerp, Brussels) 



