ALLEN 



204 



ALLENTOWN 



Faerie Queene, Swift's Tale of a Tub, and 

 many other examples. 



ALLEN, CHARLES GRANT BLAIRFINDIE (1848- 

 1899), a Canadian novelist and writer on 

 science, usually known as GRANT ALLEN. He 

 was bora at Kingston, Ont., attended various 

 schools in Canada, the United States and Eng- 

 land, and was graduated from Merton College, 

 Oxford, in 1871. He became a popular writer 

 on scientific subjects, particularly on the theory 

 of evolution; his books include The Color 

 Sense, The Evolutionist at Large, Flowers and 

 Their Pedigrees and Physiological Aesthetics, 

 the latter possibly his best work. He also 

 wrote about thirty novels and a series of his- 

 torical guide books to European cities. 



ALLEN, ETHAN (1737-1789), an American 

 soldier of Revolutionary fame, the hero of the 

 capture of Fort Ticonderoga. He was born 

 in Litchfield, Conn., but removed to Benning- 

 ton, Vt., a few years before the outbreak of 

 the Revolution. He first came into promi- 

 nence as the leader of the "Green Mountain 

 Boys," a band of troops organized to expel 

 from the "New Hampshire Grants," now Ver- 

 mont, a number of settlers from New York. 

 For this act the governor of New York offered 

 a reward of S750 for the arrest of Allen. Soon 

 after the Battle of Lexington, Allen and his 

 Green Mountain Boys started for Fort Ticon- 

 deroga, and on May 10, 1775, made a dramatic 

 seizure of that stronghold, Allen ordering the 

 British commander to surrender "in the name 

 of the great Jehovah and the Continental 

 Congress." 



After this Allen went to Philadelphia, where 

 he received the thanks of Congress for his 

 services. He was sent on a secret mission to 

 Canada to learn the views of the Canadians 

 as to rebellion, and accompanied Montgom- 

 ery's expedition. In an adventure at Montreal 

 he was captured and sent to England, but 

 was returned to this country, where he was 

 confined in prison-ships. On obtaining his 

 freedom Allen was appointed lieutenant colonel 

 of the Vermont militia and was sent as an agent 

 to Congress to secure the admission of Ver- 

 mont to the Confederation. Congress hesi- 

 tated, and the British commanders endeavored 

 to persuade Allen to restore the authority of 

 the Crown. He was accused of treason, but it 

 is believed that he desired only to advance the 

 cause of the colonies. After the Revolution 

 Allen lived in retirement and wrote a book 

 on natural religion, entitled Reason the Only 

 Oracle oj Man. 



JAMES LANE ALLEN 



ALLEN, JAMES LANE (1849- ), an Amer- 

 ican novelist whose works show not only a 

 most artistic style, but a deep interest and 

 knowledge of human nature. He was born 

 near Lexington, Ky., was graduated at Transyl- 

 vania University, 

 and after teach- 

 ing at Kentucky 

 University be- 

 came a professor 

 of Latin and 

 higher English 

 at Bethany Col- 

 lege, W. Va. By 

 1886 he had be- 

 come so well 

 known through 

 his contributions 

 to magazines that 

 he was enabled 

 to move to New 

 York and devote all his time to writing. 

 Among his works are The Choir Invisible, a 

 tale of Kentucky in frontier days, dealing not 

 with adventures, however, but with the inner 

 life of its characters; The Reign oj Law, a 

 story of a young man's loss of religious faith 

 and his recovery of it through the woman he 

 loves; A Kentucky Cardinal, in which the 

 beautiful cardinal bird plays a part in the 

 lives of two young people. The Doctor's 

 Christmas Eve, and The Heroine in Bronze, 

 The White Cowl and Sister Dolorosa are per- 

 haps his best short stories. 



ALLENTOWN, PA., an industrial city, known 

 for its manufacture of silk and furniture. It 

 is the county seat of Lehigh County, and is 

 situated in the eastern part of the state about 

 midway between the northern and southern 

 state lines, and on the Lehigh River and 

 Lehigh Canal. Philadelphia is fifty-six miles 

 southeast, Easton is eighteen miles east and 

 north, and New York City is ninety-two miles 

 northeast. The city is served by the Lehigh 

 Valley, Central Railroad of New Jersey and 

 Philadelphia & Reading railways; three trolley 

 lines communicate with other cities and extend 

 as far as Philadelphia. The population, largely 

 of German descent, increased from 51,913 in 

 1910 to 61,901 in 1915. The area is nearly six 

 square miles. 



Allentown is located on a plateau which 

 slopes toward the Lehigh, Little Lehigh and 

 Jordan rivers. Beside City Park, Dorney Park 

 and Center Square, which has a soldiers' and a 

 sailors' monument, there are nine well-equipped 



