A-LA-MI-RE ALAY. 



79 



by Trissino ; Opere Toscane, a didactic poem ; La 

 Coltivazione, to which lie is mostly indebted for his 

 fame ; Girone il Cortese, a heroic poem, in 24 can- 

 tos, from an old French poem of the same name ; 

 La Avarchide, an epic, in which he describes, in a 

 few happy imitations of Homer, the siege of the city 

 of Bourses (Avaricum,) likewise in 24 cantos; Flora, 

 a comedy in versi sdruccioii (see Rhyme) ; and a 

 number of epigrams. The writings of A. are recom- 

 mended by ease, perspicuity, and purity of style, but 

 often want strength and poetic elevation. 



A-LA-MI-RE, in music; an Italian method to de- 

 termine the key of A, by its dominant, and subdomi- 

 nant A E D. In the Guidoniari scale of music, a- 

 la-mi-re is the octave above a-re, or A in the first 

 space in the base. 



ALA^I, or ALLEN, William, was born in Lancashire, 

 In 1532?. Being warmly attached to the Roman ca- 

 tholic religion, he left England on the accession of 

 Elizabeth ; and, though he soon after returned, he 

 Jived in the greatest privacy, and finally fled to 

 Flanders. He was, both during this concealment in 

 England and his residence abroad, actively engaged 

 in writing and distributing polemical tracts, ami was 

 one of the ablest advocates of Rome. He asserted 

 the necessity of deposing Elizabeth, maintained that 

 heresy absolved subjects from their allegiance, and 

 recommended the invasion of England by the 

 Spaniards. For these services he was created a car- 

 dinal, and continued to reside at Rome till his death, 

 in 1594. 



ALAND ; a cluster of islands in the gulf of Both- 

 nia; 59 47' to 60 32' N. lat, and 18 47' to 21 

 37' E. long. They contain 13,340 inhabitants, of 

 whom more than 9000 belong to the principal island 

 of the same name, which is forty miles long, and 

 thirty broad. Above eighty of these islands and 

 rocks are inhabited. They contain some good har- 

 bours. In 1809, this cluster of islands, together with 

 Finland, was made over by Sweden to Russia. The 

 government founded a city there, and fortified some 

 spots. The ground is so stony, and the soil so thin, 

 that the crops sometimes wither in hot summers. 

 Several circumstances conspire to make the Aland 

 isles the principal rendezvous of the Russian fleets, 

 which ride there secure in fortified harbours. These 

 circumstances are, the early breaking of the ice in 

 spring ; the lateness of the period till which the har- 

 bours and roadsteads remain open and free from ice, 

 on account of the strong currents which cross there 

 from the gulfs of Bothnia and Finland ; the facility 

 of observing the ships entering lake Maler, and of 

 watching the Swedisli coasting trade along the right 

 coast of the gulf of Bothnia, as well as of protecting 

 the Russian coasting trade on the left shore of the 

 same gulf. 



ALANI, or ALANS; one of the warlike tribes 

 which migrated from Asia westward at the time of 

 the decline of the Roman empire. They appear to 

 have lived near mount Caucasus. A part of the 

 tribe (about 375 A. D.) was conquered by the Huns ; 

 another part turned their steps towards the west, 

 probably drove the Vandals and Suevi from their 

 abodes, and passed with them over the Rhine into 

 France and Spain (about 407). The Visigoths 

 drove them from hence or reduced them to sunjec- 

 tion, and, since 412, they are lost among the Van- 

 dals, (q. v.) 



ALARIC, king of the Visigoths ; the least barl)ar- 

 ous of all the conquerors who ravaged the Roman 

 empire. History first mentions him about A. D. 

 395, when the Goths were united with the armies of 

 Theodosius the Great, in order to repel the Huns, 

 who menaced the western empire. This alliance 

 disclosed to A. the weakness of the Roman empire, 



and inspired him with the resolution of attacking it 

 himself. The dissensions between the two sons and 

 successors of Theodosius, Arcadius, and Honorius, 

 and their ministers, Rufinus and Stilicho, facilitated 

 the execution of his purpose ; and, though the brave 

 Stilicho was successful in averting his first attack, in 

 the years 400403, by routing him on the Adda 

 and at Verona, yet A. found in 404, an opportunity 

 of returning to Italy witli his army. By the media- 

 tion of Stilicho, he concluded a compact with Hono- 

 rius, conformably to which he was to advance to 

 Epirus, and from thence to attack Arcadius, in con- 

 junction with the troops of Stilicho. This war did not 

 take place ; but A. demanded an indemnification for 

 having undertaken the expedition, and Honorius, at 

 the advice of Stilicho, promised him 4000 pounds of 

 gold (see Stilicho) ; but, after the execution of the 

 latter, he tailed to fulfill his promise. A. advanced 

 with an army to Italy, and invested Rome ; but was 

 persuaded to spare the city on receiving a ransom of 

 5000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of silver, 4000 

 silk garments, bOOO pieces of fine scarlet cloth, and 

 3000 pounds of pepper. Negotiations took place 

 between Honorius, in Ravenna, and A., with a view 

 of putting an end to the war ; but the parties could 

 not agree, and A. besieged Rome a second time. By 

 cutting off the supplies of the city, he soon compelled 

 a capitulation, by virtue of which the senate declar- 

 ed the prefect of the city, Attains, emperor instead 

 of Honorius. But Attains evinced so little pru- 

 dence, that A. obliged him publicly to resign the 

 empty dignity. Negotiations again took place with 

 Honorius, but were as unsuccessful as the former, 

 and A. besieged Rome for the third time. The Goths 

 penetrated into the city in 410, sacked it, burned a 

 part of it, and destroyed a great quantity of ancient 

 works of art. But the moderation of A. is praised, 

 because he gave orders to spare the churches, and 

 those who had fled to them for shelter. The once 

 proud mistress of the world now experienced a severe 

 retribution for the sufferings which she had caused to 

 so many cities, countries, and nations in the days of 

 her former splendour and power. The treasures 

 collected during a thousand years, from all quarters, 

 became the prey of barbarians. A. left Rome after 

 a residence of six days, with the view of reducing 

 Sicily and Africa. He had already laid waste 

 Campania, Apulia, and Calabria, when death over- 

 took him at Cosenza, a Calabrian town, A. D. 410. 

 He was buried in the channel of the Busento, that 

 his remains might not be found by the Romans ; and 

 the captives employed in the work were murdered. 

 Rome and Italy celebrated public festivals on the 

 occasion ; Sicily and Africa saw themselves freed 

 from imminent danger ; and the world enjoyed a 

 moment of peace. But the march of desolation was 

 soon renewed ; the barbarians had learned the way 

 to Rome ; A. had taught them the weakness of the 

 former queen of the world. 



ALATAMAHA, or ALTAMAHA ; the largest river of 

 the state of Georgia, formed by the junction of the 

 Oakmulgee and Oconee, both of which rise in the 

 spurs of the Alleghany mountains. After the junc- 

 tion, the A. becomes a large river, flowing with a 

 gentle current, through forests and plains, 120 

 miles, and runs into St Simon's sound by several 

 mouths, sixty miles S.W. of Savannah. Its average 

 breadth is about 600 yards, its depth eight feet, and 

 the bar at the mouth of the river has fourteen feet 

 of water at low tide. Large steam-boats have 

 ascended the Oconee branch to Milledgeville, and 

 the Oakmulgee to Macon, about 300 miles from the 

 ocean by the windings of the rivers. 



ALAY, or Triumph ; the name of a ceremony 

 practised by the Turks at the commencement of war. 



