A I, A 



pntrona^e he enjoyed, to L'avc tlic coiintiy and to retire to 

 Vlp.ndei<!, in i^6>?. Such was the leimtation wliith he had 



f allied by his learning and laboui-s, that on his fetllenient at 

 . Icchlin he opened a divinity lecture, which was received 

 with great apjilaufe ; at Doiiay, h.c waa honoured wiih the 

 dejrrec of doClor of divinity ; and he was advanced to the 

 diuingiiifhed prcfcnnciit of canon of Cainbray, and after- 

 wards to that of Ri\eims. I-Tavin<; ellabliihed a fcminary at 

 Douay for tlie education of Engliih feholars, he transferred 

 it to Rheims ; he ])rocured others to be elhihhihed tor the 

 fame pni-pofe at Rome and in Spain ; and he perie\Tred in 

 writing a variety of trails in defence ot tlie doctrines and 

 practices of the catholics, which were conveyed to England, 

 and which were prohibited, by royal proclamation, to be 

 fold or read. Dr. Allen was now conhdered :J:i an avowed 

 .enemy, not only to the protellant religion bnt to the Kng- 

 lifti government ; correfpondence with him was regarded 

 as a treafonable ofience ; and Thomas Alfitld, a jefuit, was 

 tried and executed in 1585, for bringing fome of his trai- 

 terous books into his majeltv's dominions. Amongft other 

 exceptionable and otrenfive padages contained in his writings, 

 and particularly in his " Defence of the twelve Martyrs in 

 one year," which tend to difTolve all focial obligations, he 

 euprefsly alTerts, " that parents who become heretics, lofe 

 the fuperiority and dominion they ha\-e bv the law of 

 nature over their own children. Therefore, let no man 

 marvel, that in cafe of herefy, the fovereign lofeth the fu- 

 periority over his people and kingdom." But Allen was 

 !iot fatisfied with avowing his hollility to the religion and 

 government of England by his writings, he proceeded, 

 under the inftlgation and with the adviee of his friend, Ro- 

 bert Parfons, tlie jefuit, to unite with fome fugitive Englilh 

 noblemen, who relided in Flanders, in perfuading Philip II. 

 of Spain to invade England. At the fame time he wrote a 

 vindication of the bafe conduct of Sir William Stanley and 

 the forces under his command, who garrifoned Daventer, in 

 furrendering it to the Spaniards. In recompence of this 

 treafonable practice, he was created cardinal in 1587, and 

 appointed by the king of Spain, to an abbey of great value 

 in the kingdom of Naples, with affurances of greater pre- 

 ferment, which were duly fulfilled. Thus encouraged, he 

 was active in forwarding the deiigns of the Spanifh amiada, 

 in 15S8 ; and for this purpofe he either himfelf wrote, or 

 concurred with Parfons and other jefuits, in writing a book, 

 ef which many thoufand copies were printed at Antwerp, 

 and which were intended for difperiion in England, upon 

 the landing of the Spaniards. This book confifted of two 

 jiarts ; the firft was intitled " A declaration of the fentence 

 of Sixtus V." in which it is maintained, that by virtue of 

 the pope's bull, queen Elizabeth was accurfed and deprived 

 of her crown, which was transferred to the king of Spain ; 

 and the fecond part was " An admonition to the nobility and 

 people of England," pronouncing Elizabeth a fchifmatic 

 and heretic, a pretended queen, and ufurper, who had com- 

 mitted aftions which rendered her incapable of reigning, 

 and even unworthy of life ; and declaring all her fubjctts 

 abfolvcd from their oath of fidelity. When the enterprife 

 failed, moll of thefe books were deftroyed ; but fome of 

 them were preferved, and their contents are faid to have 

 been univerfally diiliked by all fober catholics as well as 

 proteftants. The earl of Arundel, who had been three 

 years in prifon under a charge of high treafon, was tried 

 and found guilty by his peers, and his chief crime was his 

 correfpondence with cardinal Allen. Allen, however, was 

 promoted by the king of Spain to the archbilhopric of 

 Mechlin ; but continued to refide at Rome, where he lived 



ALA 



in great fplendour, and employed his interell in fervlng hi8 

 fugitive countrvmen ai;d the catholic faith. Towards the 

 clofe of his life he is faid to have repented of the meafures 

 wiiicii lie had been inijrumental in promoting againil his 

 country, and to have dlfapproved the diipolltion and conduct 

 of the jefuits with whom he had afted. This change of 

 fentiment is inferred from a letter, dated in 1593, and found 

 among the papers of lord Burleigh, in which he profefTes 

 affection to his native country, folieitude fur its welfare, and 

 a dtfire of effecting a reconciliation bttwcn tlie proteftants 

 and catholics. It is further alledgcd, that he wilhed on his 

 death-bed to have an interview with the Englifh iludents at 

 P.ome, but was prevented by the attending jtfuit. He 

 died in 1594, not without fufpicion of being poifoned by 

 the jefuits, ard was buried with great pomp, in the chapel 

 or the Englifli college at Rome, where a monument was 

 erected to his memory, with a Latin infcription in the higheil 

 flyle of panegyric. 



As a zealous catholic, Allen might unqueftionably allcdge 

 the obligations devolved upon him by the conviftion of his 

 mind ; but how far the plea of confcience will juilify the 

 avowal of fentinients, and the encouragement of practices, 

 incompatible with the fundamencal principles of perfonaland 

 focial virtue, wc mull leave for thofe who undertake tlie 

 vindication of his charafler to determine. As an Englifli 

 fubjedl, he was undoubtedly a traitor and rebel ; and no 

 cafuiiliy can juflify his attempts to overturn the government 

 of a country, deferted by himfelf, but approved by a ma- 

 jority of its inhabitants. As a writer he may be juilly cou- 

 fidcredas one of the ableft advocates of the Romilli church, 

 at the period in which he lived. His works, bef.des thule 

 already mentioned, are, " A defence of the lawful power 

 and authority of the priefthood to remit fins," to which are 

 annexed two other trafts, wi. " The people's duty in con- 

 fefTmg," and " An explanation of the doctrine of the Ca- 

 tholic church, with refpect to indulgences ;" printed at 

 Louvain in 1567, 8vo ; " of Sacraments in general, of the 

 Eucharifl, of the facrifice of the mafs ; three books, ad- 

 drefied to pope Gregory XIII." printed at Antwerp in 

 1576; " Of the worlhip due to faints, and their relies;" 

 " A true, fincerc, and modcll defence of Chriitian Catholics, 

 that fuffercd for their faith at home and abroad, &c." 

 printed in 1583, which was an anfwer to a book written by 

 lord Burleigh, and elleemed the befl of the cardinal's 

 writings ; fo that the learned Edmund Bolton fays of it, 

 " a princely, grave, and flouriihing piece of natural and 

 exquifite Enghlh is Cardinal Alan's Apology. Biog. 

 Brit. 



Alan, in Geography, a town and province of Tiukeftaia 

 in Perfia. 



Alan, or Camfl, a river of England, rifes north of 

 Camelford, and runs into the fca two miles below PadlloWj 

 in Cornwall. 



Alan Bay, lies on the wcfl fide of Corfica, in the Me- 

 diterranean. 



ALANA, in jlnacnt Geography, a town of Ethiopia in 

 Egypt, according to Pliny. 



ALANCH, in Geography, a town of France, in the de- 

 partment of the Mouths of the Rhone, two leagues north- 

 caft of Maifeilles, and four fouth of Aix. 



ALAND, an ifland in the Baltic, at the entrance of the 

 Gulf of Bothnia, fituate between the province of Upland 

 in Sweden and Finland, gives name to a duller of iflands, and 

 is about /{O miles in length, and from 12 to 16 in breadth. 

 It contains about 15 villages, and 9000 inhabitants, who 

 fpeak the Swedifh language ; but are included under the 



government 



