A L D 



A 1. D 



carlJom?. TMs, howjvor, was ow!n;r lo the incrcufinj power \lni;cd to t!i? frown of Enj^land Ijv ti:c fivH princ-' of r'.e 



of luc ariilocracy, and to the prjifigiuus wjuUli and iullu- Mormaii line, are govcriRd by tlicir own iawa, v.!i:ch arc 



cnee of a few great f-imilics, lutlicr tlr.r.i to any formal for tlic niofl part the ducal ciiUoins of Noniiandy, cc.l1cc>td 



change in the-coiiilitution. HL'nry'a Hill. vol. iii. j). 342. in thcbnok in'.ithd, " lo Grand CuuHinniir." The kin';'8 



It mull be obfcrvcd, however, tiuvt among our Saxon writ, or proctfs from the courts of UVIlininller, is tiure 



anccftors, there were fev,.ral niagiilrates who bore the title of no force ; but his cumminion is not bound by common 



of alderman. Among them there were ahUrmanniu totiiis ac\s of our pHiliumcnt,;, unlefs particulaily natncd. All 



ylii^Tie, alLnnatmtis i\^if, cotmtatiii, civitaits, biirgi, caJIcU'i, caufes are originally determined by tlieir own officers, the 



kiimlredifive "WLipcnUi-liij, ij iiovaii <lic';moimn, bailiffs and jurats of the iflands j but an ap;;eal lies fniii 



According to SpeUnan, tlw aUamaimiis lolhis yln^/la, them to the king in council, in the lail rcfort. Dlackll. 



feenis to have been the fame officer who was afterwards llylcd Com. vol. i. p. 107. N. lat. 49° 50'. W. long. 2" i;'. 

 crbil^ilis j:ijliti(:riii.' yh^/lit, or c\i\d jaiiici: of England; the Ai.dkrnky Cattlk, a breed of cattle, probably firft 



ahhmjn/ius n/.s fecms to have been an occafional magiilrate, imported from the ifland of the fame name, in general fire 



anfweving to our-jufticc of aiiivse ; and the hIcLtiiuwiius comi- boned, but fmall and ill-made, and cf a light red or yellowilh 



taius, a magiilvate who held a middle rank between what colour. Cows of this breed are moll hcquentlv met wi'Ii 



was aftciwiuds called the esrl, aiid the flierlff; he fat at the about the feats of tlie opulent, probably from their mi'.k, 



trial of caufes with the bilhop ; the latter proceeding ac- though fmalltr in quantity, being more rich in qnality than 



cording to eccleliailical law, and the former declaring and that of moll other kinds, ar.d yielding a largci- portion of 



expounding the common law of the land. cream and butter from the fame mcafurc, which is of a 



Aldkrman, in the Englilh Polity, an affociatc to the beautiful yellow colour, and line flavour. They are much 



mayor, or civil magillrate, of a city or town, for the better 

 adminiftration of his ofTlee. 



The aldermen are an order of magiftrates, in our cities, 

 and moll of the municipal or incorporate towns, wlio form 

 a kind of council, and regulate things relating to the policy 

 of the place. — They fometimcs alfo take cognizance ot civil 

 and criminal mattei-s ; but that very rarely, and only in cer- 

 tain cafes. Their number is not limited ; but in fome places 

 is more, in fomelefa, from fix to twenty-fix. Out of thefe 



inehned to fatten, and their beef has a fine grain and is well 

 tailed, but rather moie yellow or high coloured than tlvat 

 of iome more jjcrfedl breeds. The author of the treatife 

 on llve-iloek remajks, that they are a breed of cattle too 

 delicate and tender to lie much attended to by the J'iritilh 

 farmer, and not capable of bearing the cold of this ifiand, 

 cfpecially the more northern parts of it, without being 

 greatly injurc^l by it. See Cattl!-. 



AL.DliSCllS, in Anc'unt Geo^^raphy, a river which, ac- 



5\re annually ekdlcd the mayors, or chief magiftrates of cording to the peripius of Dionyfius I'eriegetcs, difcharged 

 places ; who, at the expiration of their mayoraily, return jtfclf into the Euxine lea. 



Al.DlIAFERA, in the Arabian y^;-««j)m^, denotes a 

 fixed ftar of the third magnitude, in the Lion's mane. 



again into the body of the aldermen, whole delegates they 

 were befoi-e. The twenty-fix aldermen of London prefide 

 over the 26 wards of the city. When one of them d:es or 

 refigns, the wardmote chuf; a fucceffor, w'lo is admitted, 

 and fwoni into oillce, by the lord-mayor and e-ourt of alder- 

 men. All the aldermen are juiliics of the peace, by a char- 

 ter of 15 Geo. II. I'he aldermen of London, &c. are ex- 



ALDIiEJ>M, or Adslm, S:., in Biography, an emi- 

 nent fchohr and promoter of literature in the feventh cen- 

 tuiy, and the nephew or near relation of Ina, king of the 

 Well Saxons, was born at Caer-Bladon, now called 

 Maltiiihury in Wiltlliire ; and edueated under Maildulphus, 



«mpted from ferving inferior offices ; nor ihall they be put an Irilli Scot, at the place of his nativity, as well as in 



vipon affizes, or ferve on juries, fo long as they continue lo 

 be aldermen. 2 Cro. 5S5. See Court. 



Formerly tliere v.-ere alio aldermen of the merchants, of 

 liofpitals, of liimdreds, &c. See Senator. 



ALDERNEY, in Geography, a fmall ifland in the Eng- 



France and Italy under Theodore, archbifhop of Canter- 

 bury, and under Adrian, the moft learned profelTor of the 

 fciences, who had ever been in England, or under Albin, 

 the pupil of Adrian. After the death of Maildulphus, 

 who luid inftitb'.ted a ichool at Malnillinrv, Aldhelm fuc- 



lifli channel, belonging to Great Britain, about four miles ceeded him, and built a (lately monallcry, of which he 



in length from call to weft, fepasated froin Cape la Hogue, 

 on the coaft of France, by a narro^v ftrait, called the •' Race 

 of Alderney," and dlftant from it about three and an liiJf 

 leagues. This ftrait is very dangerous in iloriKy weather, 

 more efpecially when two currents meet ; otlierwife it has 

 fufEcient depth of water for the largeft (hips, fo that through 

 this ftrait the French fleet made their cfcape after their de- 

 feat at la Hogue, in 1692. To the well-north-wclt, are the 

 dangerous rocks called the " Callcets," and the rocks called 

 ♦' Barroches," are clofe to the weft end of Alderney. On 

 the eaft, for a mile, are feveral rocks, and a bank of land at 

 the dillance of a league ; eaft of this is the Race, and round 

 the rocks on the well is the paflage to Jerfey Illand. Al- 

 derney, called by the French Aurigny or Ornay, is a healthy 

 ifland, fruitful in corn and pafture, and remarkable for a fine 

 breed of cows. The inhabitants live together, for greater 

 fecurity, in a town of the lame name ; confilling of about 

 200 houfes, and their number is about 1000. The har- 

 bour, called Crabby, lies on the fouth fide at fome dif- 



himfelf was the firll abbot. When the kingdom of the 

 Weft Saxons was divided, upon the deeeafe of Hedda the 

 bi(hop, into two dioceies, w'z. Wincheller and Shirebm'n, 

 Aldhelm was promoted by Ina to the latter, which compre- 

 hended Dorlellhire, Wiltftiire, Devonlhire, and Cornwall. 

 At Rome, whither he went to be conlecrated by pope 

 Sergius I., he is faid to have reproved the holy father for 

 his incontinence ; but Bale reproaches hiin with not hav- 

 ing difcharged his confcienceon this occaflon. The monkilli 

 authors have recorded fome extraordinary inilances of 

 his charity and felf-denial ; they have afcribtd feveral mi- 

 racles to him ; and they report, that by his prayers he 

 lengthened a beam in the church, which the builder had 

 cut too fhort, and that he hung his garments to dry in the 

 rays of the fun, which fupernaturally fupported them. 

 It is of much greater importance, however, to contemplate 

 his literary eharafter and writings. It is evident, fays Dr. 

 Henry, from his works, which are ftill extant, that he haii 

 read the moft celebrated authors of Greece and Rome, and 



tance, and is only fit for fmall vcflels. Alderney, as well that he was no contemptible writer in the languages, in 

 as the iflands of Jerfey, Gueriifey, Sark, and their appen- which thefe authors wrote. In the different feminarics, 

 dages, were parcels of the duthy of Normandv, and though where he was educated, he had acquired a VC17 uncommon 



4 E.3 U.k 



