ADAM. 



29 



paganism, and to introduce among them the ordi- 

 nances of the church of Rome. Discouraged by the 

 fruitlessness of his pious zeal, he left Prague, 988, 

 and lived in convents at Montecasino and Rome, until 

 the Bohemians, in 993, recalled him. But after two 

 years, he again left them, disgusted with their bar- 

 barous manners. He returned to Rome, and soon 

 followed the emperor Otho III. to Germany; on 

 which journey he baptized, at Gran, St Stephen, who 

 subsequently became king of Hungary. After a visit 

 to the monasteries of Tours and Fleury, he proceeded 

 to Gnesen, to meet Boleslaus, duke of Poland ; and 

 being informed that the Bohemians did not wish to 

 see him again, he resolved to convert the pagans of 

 Prussia. But he lost his life in the attempt, being 

 murdered by a peasant, April 23, 997, near what is 

 now Fischhausen. His body was bought by Boles- 

 laus, for its weight in gold, and became famous for 

 its miraculous power. Its influence was greater than 

 that of the saint himself. The Bohemians, who 

 before had refused to receive the ordinances of the 

 church, now suffered them to be introduced into 

 Prague, on the sole condition, that these miraculous 

 bones should be transferred to their city. 



ADAM (Hebrew, formed of earth), the father of the 

 human race, was, according to Genesis, made of clay, 

 on the sixth day of the creation. God finished the 

 work of creation by forming man according to his 

 own image, making him master of all created things. 

 He gave him Eve for his companion (in Hebrew, 

 Heva, the mother of the living), formed of his flesh, 

 that the earth might be peopled by their union. The 

 garden of Eden, diversified with fruitful trees, was 

 their abode, in which they found every thing to satisfy 

 their wants, and to afford them pleasure. But in the 

 centre stood the tree of the knowledge of good and 

 evil ; and of this their Creator had forbidden them 

 to eat. Eve was beguiled by the serpent to take of 

 this fruit, and to eat of it with her husband. This 

 crime destroyed their felicity. The appearance of 

 things was suddenly changed before their eyes. They 

 perceived their nakedness, and endeavoured to con- 

 ceal it. In vain did A. seek to hide himself from 

 the sight of God ; in vain did he throw the blame of 

 his transgression upon Eve ; a curse followed them 

 and the whole creation. Driven from the state of 

 innocence, in which he was born, A. saw himself 

 condemned to earn his bread by the sweat of his 

 brow. All the evils of life and the terrors of death 

 came upon him. He had three sons, Cain, Abel, 

 and Seth, and died at the age of 930 years. The 

 history of A. is found, with little variation, in the 

 traditions of nearly all ancient nations who seem 

 to have derived their information from a common 

 source. 



ADAM (of Bremen), canon of the cathedral of Bre- 

 men, lived towards the" end of the llth century. He 

 wrote an Ecclesiastical History in four books, which 

 treats of the propagation of the Christian faith in the 

 north, and which was published at Copenhagen, 1579, 

 4to, and Helmstadt, 1G70, 8vo. Also " Chronogra- 

 phia Scandinavise," published in 1615, 8vo. 



ADAM. Three brothers of this name were sculp- 

 tors. The eldest, Lambert Sigisbert, born in 1700, 

 at Nancy, where his father was also a sculptor, went, 

 at the age of 18, to Metz, and thence to Paris. After 

 four years' study in this city, he received the first prize 

 from the academy, and soon afterwards went as a royal 

 pensioner to Rome, where he passed 10 years. The 

 cardinal of Polignac commissioned him to supply the 

 parts wanting in the 12 marble statues, found in the 

 palace of Marius, and known by the name of the 

 family of Lycomedes, which task A. executed with 

 great skill. When the erection of the large monu- 

 tntnc at Rome, known by the name of the fountain 



of Trevt, was contemplated, A. was one of the 16 

 statuaries appointed to furnish designs. That which 

 he offered was accepted, but the jealousy of the Ita- 

 lian artists opposed its execution, and in 1733, A. 

 returned to France. In 1737, he was chosen mem- 

 ber of the academy, and afterwards professor. The 

 statue of Neptune calming the waves, with a Triton 

 at his feet, is a fine specimen of his skill. Besides 

 various other works, he now finished the group of 

 Neptune and Ampliitrite, to adorn the basin of Nep- 

 tune at Versailles. A. was skilful in working mar- 

 ble ; his anatomy is correct and his drapery good ; 

 but he was led astray by the bad taste of his time, 

 which confounded the provinces of painting and 

 sculpture. He died in 1759. His brother, Nicholas 

 Sebastian, born at Nancy in 1705, studied the same 

 art, under the care of his father, and in the academy 

 of Paris. At the age of 18, he was employed in a 

 castle near Montpellier, and went, after 18 months, 

 to Rome, in 1726. After two years, he gained the 

 prize offered by the academy of San Luca, worked in 

 connexion with his brother, spent nine years abroad, 

 and was finally admitted into the academy of Paris. 

 His Prometheus lacerated by the vulture was exhi- 

 bited as a specimen of his powers, but not finished 

 until some time after the exhibition. His master- 

 piece is the tomb of the queen of Poland, wife of 

 Stanislaus. In regard to his merits, what has been 

 said of his brother holds true of him. He died in 

 1778. The third brother, Francis Gaspard, born at 

 Nancy in 1710, was also a pupil of his father. In 

 1728, he joined his brothers in Rome, and improved 

 greatly in their company. He then returned to 

 Paris, gained the first prize of the academy, and in 

 1742, visited Rome again, where he completed his 

 studies. He then went to Berlin, instead of his bro- 

 ther Nicholas Sebastian, whom Frederic II. had in- 

 vited thither. He laboured there several years, and 

 died at Paris in 1759. 



ADAM, Alexander, an eminent grammarian and 

 writer on Roman antiquities, was born in Morayshire, 

 1741, of humble parents, who, however, contrived to 

 give him a good education. He removed to Edin- 

 burgh, in 1758, where, after undergoing great hard- 

 ships in prosecuting his studies, he oecame, in 1761, 

 assistant master or the high school of Edinburgh, 

 and in 1771, head master ot the same. In 1772, he 

 published his Latin Grammar, under the title of 

 " The Principles of Latin and English Grammar." 

 It possesses considerable merit, ana is well adapted 

 for teaching the grammars of both languages at the 

 same time. He also compiled " Roman Antiquities," 

 1791, 8vo ; " Summary of Geography and History," 

 1794, 8vo ; " Classical Biography ;" and an abridged 

 dictionary, entitled " Lexicon Linguae Latinae Com- 

 pendiarium," 8vo, all of which are popular in schools. 

 He was a liberal in politics ; and at the commence- 

 ment of the first French revolution, became obnoxi- 

 ous for the sympathy he evinced in Gallic freedom. 

 The weight of his character, however, bore him up 

 against the political prejudices with which he had 

 to contend. He died of apoplexy, in 1809, and was 

 honoured with a public funeral. The principal fea- 

 tures of his character were, unshaken independence 

 and integrity, ardour in the cause of public liberty, 

 purity of manners and singleness of heart, and great 

 power of application to study. 



ADAM, Melchior, a German biographer of the 17th 

 century, was a native of Silesia, Between 1615 and 

 1620, he published four vols. of " Lives of Illustrious 

 Men." These were afterwards printed in one vol. 

 folio, at Frankfort ; and though not ably written, 

 have been mtch used by subsequent collectors. 



ADAM, Nicholas, a French grammarian, who pub- 

 lished various popular elementary works on gram- 



