A L M 



A L M 



Jilmt arc oT divers kinds. 



Alms, pafchal, ekcmofyn^ pafchahs, wer« tliofe diftributed 

 at the folemiiity of Eailt;r, attended, in fomc places, with 

 other afts of humility, as wafliing of feet, &:c. 



Alms, rcafonahle, eleemf.fyna mlionaHs, a certain portion 

 of the cffeds of perfons dying intellatc, fet apart for the ufe 

 of the church and the poor. 



Ax.i'M of plough-tiinih, eleemofyra carucariim, or tlifemnj'yna 

 pro mains, was a tax anciently paid for the benefit ot the 

 poor, at the rate of a penny for each plough-land. 



Alms of the king, denote xvhat was othei-wife called Pcter- 

 tcncc, 



Thcfe were fomctimcs alfo called alms of St. Peter. 



Alms arc divided by Mahometans into 'ooluntary ixA. 

 legal. 



Alms, -voluntary, are thofe left to ever)' man's difcretion, 

 to give more or lefs, as he fees fit. 



The voluntary alms arc properly denominated by the 

 Arabs faclalat, bccaufe they are.a proof of a man's Jinccr'ity 

 in the worfliip of God. 



No religious t'yftem is more frequent or%vann in its exhor- 

 tations to alms-giving than the Mahometan. The Koran 

 reprefents alms as a necfffary means to make prayer be 

 heard ; for which reafon the Caliph Omar Ebn Abd'alaziz 

 iifed to fay, " that prayer carries us half way to God, fall- 

 ing brings us to the door of his palace, and alms procure 

 for us admilfion." The Mahometans ellcem alms-deeds to 

 be highly meritorious, and many of them have been illuf- 

 ^rious examples of it. Hafan, the fon of Ali, and grand- 

 fon of Mahomet, in particular, is related to have thrice in 

 ■his hfe divided his fubllance equally between himfelf and 

 the poor, and twice to have given away uU he had ; and the 

 generdity are fo addicted to the doing of good, that they 

 extend their charity even to brutes. Alms, according to 

 the prefcription of the Mahometan law, are to be given of 

 five things, vi-z. cattle, ;'. c. camels, kine, and (heep ; money ; 

 corn ; fruits, ;'. e. dates and raillns ; and wares fold. Of each 

 of thefe a certain portion is to be given in alms ; and that 

 portion was ulually one part in 40, or 2| per cent, of the 

 value. But no alms are due for them, unlefs they amount 

 to a certain quantity or number, nor till they have been 

 in poffeffion 1 1 months ; nor are alms due for cattle era- 

 ployed in tilling the ground, or in carrying of burthens. 

 However, at the end of the feaft of Ramadan, every Mof- 

 lem is obliged to give in alms, for himfelf and every one of 

 his family, a meafure of wheat, barley, dates, raifins, rice, 

 or other provifions commonly eaten. 



Alms, Ic^al, are thofe of indifpenfable obligation, as being 

 commanded by the law, which direfts and determines both 

 the portion to be given, and the kind of tilings of which it 

 is to be given. 



The legal alms are properly called by the Mahometans 

 xacat, either on account of their increafmg a man's ftore, or 

 of their purifying the remaining part of his fubllance. 



Some writers have given thefc the denomination of tithes, 

 but improperly ; fince, in fome cafes, they fall (hort, and in 

 others exceed the proportion of a tenth. Thefe legal alms 

 were firll collefted by Mahomet himfelf, and employed, as 

 he thought fit, in relieving his poor relations and followers, 

 but chiefly in maintaining thofe who ferved in his wars, and 

 fought, as he termed it, in the way of God. His fucceifors 

 continued to do the fame, till, in procefs of time, other 

 taxes and tributes being impofed for the fupport of the go- 

 Tcrnment, they feem to have been weary of atling as almon- 

 ers to their fubjefts, and to have left the payment of them 

 to their own confciences. In the Mahometan rules and prac- 

 iice with regard to alms, we may difcovcr obvious traces of 



the refembla-nce of their fyftem to that of the Jews. Sale"** 

 Koran, preface, p. no. 



Alms, charier of, charta chemofynana, that whereby <t 

 thing is given to the church. 



Alms, aiimone, among the French, is alfo ufed for a 

 compulfoi7 payment, impoled by way of punifliment, to be 

 converted to pious or charitable ufes. 



In all adjudications to the king's right, there is an alms 

 refervcd. This amounts to what among us is ufually called 

 forfeiture to the poor. 



ALMS-io.v, or chfl, a fmall cheft, or coffer, wherein an- 

 ciently the alms were collected, both at church and at private 

 houfes. This is alfo in common ufe in feveral places. 



The alms-chell, in churches, is a ftrong box, with a hole 

 in the upper part, having three keys, one to be kept by the 

 parfon, or curate, the other two by the church-\\ ardens. 



The erefting of luch alms-cheft in every church was intro- 

 ducid by an act in 27 Hen. VIII.-; and it is enjoined by the 

 Book of Canons, as alfo the manner of dillributing what is 

 thus collected among the poor of the parifli. 



ALMSFEOH, or Almesfeoh, among our Saxon an- 

 ceftors, alms-money ; that is, Peter-pewck, anciently paid 

 in England on the firil of Atigull^ called alfo romefoeh^ 

 romefcol, and heart h-pemng, 



ALMSHADEN, in Geography, a town of Arabia, 80 

 miles north-eail of Hagiaz. 



ALMS-HOUSi', a petty holpital ; or an edifice built 

 by a perfon in a private capp.city, and endowed with a reve- 

 nue, for the maintenance of a certain number of poor, aged, 

 or difabled people. 



ALMSTAD, in Geography, a town of Siveden, in the 

 province of Smaland, three miles from the Baltic, and four 

 eali from Chrillianlladt. 



ALMUCANTARS, or Almicantars, formed of the 

 Arabic almocantharat, in Aftrimomy, are circles parallel to the 

 horizon, imagined to pafs through all the degrees of the 

 meridian. 



As the meridians pafs through the feveral degrees of the 

 equator, the almucantars pafs through thofe of the meridian 

 of any place, and they are the fame with regard to the azi- 

 muths and horizon, that the parallels are with regard to the 

 meridians and horizon. 



They ferve to fhew the height of the fun and ftars ; and 

 are defcribcd on many quadrants, &c. being alfo called pa- 

 rallels of altitude. 



Almucantars ^/7^ an inflrument ufually made of peaiy 

 tree or box, having an arch of fifteen degrees ; formerly ufed 

 to take obfervations of the fun, about the time of its rifing 

 and fetting, in order to find the amphtude, and confequently 

 the variation of the compafs. 



ALMUCIUM, orALMUTiuM, \n M'lddk-Age Writers^ 

 denotes a kind of cover of the head, part of it pendant over 

 the neck and (boulders, worn chiefly by the ancient canons 

 and monks. 



The word is alfo written almucia, aumucia, almucella, ar- 

 miitia, and amcc'ia. 



The almuciiira appears to have been much the fame with 

 what is otherwife denominated caput'ium. The almucium, 

 though proper only to religious, was fometimes alfo affumed 

 by laymen, princes, and even women of quality. 



The part which covered the head was of a fquare form, 

 making, as it were, four horns, as may be feen from the an- 

 cient pictures of canons. Hence appears the origin of the 

 fquare caps, bonnets, &c. ftill retained in cathedrals anduni- 

 verfities, which are no other than the upper part of the almu- 

 cium, without the lower. 



Almucia is alfo ufed, in fome y^/iaV/i/ Writers, for the 

 3 furs 



