I S A 



nntiiralifts to the beautiful pale-brown voluta, fo much 

 eftcemed in the Dutch cabinets. 



Isabella, in Geography, a fmall ifland iienr the coaft of 

 Brafil ; z^ miles S.W. from the mouth of the river St. 

 Francifco. — ^Alfo, a town on the north coall cf the ifland 

 Hifpaiiiola, built by Chriftopher Columbus in the year 

 1493. N. lat. 19- '55'. W. long. 71 o'. Ifabella Point 

 forms the N.E. fide of the bay of the fame name. Here 

 Columbus formed the firll Spanifh fettlement, naming it 

 after his patronefs queen Ifabella. He was driven hither by 

 a temped in the night. 



Isabella, St., a town of Brafil, in the government of 

 St. Salvador, near tlie coaft. S. lat. ii" 10'. 



ISACHNE, in Botany, from i.-o-, equal, and aj;-.r, a 

 hujk. Brown. Prodr. Nov. Roll. v. i. 196. Clafs and 

 order, Triandria Digynia. Nat. Ord. Gramlna. 



EfT. Ch. Calyx of two equal, membranous, obtufe valves, 

 two-flowered. Florets equal, bivalve, of a paper-like tex- 

 ture; the outer male, inner female. Two fcales beneath the 

 germen. Stigmas feathery. Seed enclofed in the hardened 

 calyx. Broiun. 



A genus of fmooth gratfes, growing in watery places. 

 Leaves flat, their flieaths bearded at the top. Flcwtrs pa- 

 nicled. —They have great affinity to Paiiuum, and the afpedt 

 of P. coloratum- It appears by Hermann s herbarium that 

 his Mineritana, Fl. Zeyl. 24, is of this genus. 



The only New Holland fpecies given by Mr. Brown is 

 I. aujiralis. " Panicle lanceolate, Cm.ple. Branches and 

 flower-rtalks zig-zag. Stem ereft." Native of Port Jack- 

 fon. New South Wales. 



ISjEUS, in Biography, an orator of Chalcis, in Eubaa, 

 who flouriihed about the end of the Peloponnefian war, the 

 fourth century before the Chriftian era. When he came to 

 Athens, he put himfelf under the inftruclions of the orator 

 X.yfias, from whom he obtained the fame purity, accuracy, 

 copcifenefs and perfpicuity of (lyle, which diftinguift^ed his 

 mailer, with more force and vigour. He was celebrated for 

 .popular eloquence, and had the honour of being the inftruftor 

 of Demofthenes. It ha^been faid that he was diffipated in 

 early life, but that as he attained to years of maturity, he 

 became illullrious by the praftice of the oppofite virtues. 

 He lived to the time of king Philip. He was author of 

 fixty-fonr orations, of which ten only are now remaining, 

 vhich are to be found among the Oratores veteres Grxci. 

 Thefe have been tranflatcd by fir William Jones, and were 

 given to the world in 1779. There was another Greek ora- 

 tor of this name, who came to Rome in the firft century of 

 the Chriftian era, and who is mentioned with great applaufe 

 by Pliny the younger, who obferves that he always fpoke ex- 

 tempore, and wrote with elegance, unlaboured eafe, and 

 great correftnefs. 



IS.-\GO, in Geography, a country of Africa, N.W. of 

 Benin. 



ISAGON, in Geometry, is fometimcs uled for a figure 

 confiding of equal angles. 



IS.AIAH, or the Prophecy of Ifa'iah, a canonical book of 

 the Old Tellament. Ifaiah is tiie firft of the four greater 

 prophets ; the other three being .(ercmiah, Ezekiel, and 

 Daniel. Tins prophet was of royal blood, his father Amos 

 being brother, as fome have faid, to Azariah, or Uzziah, 

 king of Judah. 



'I'he Cril appointment of Ifaiah to the exercife of the 

 prophetical office is fuppofed "o have taken place in the laft 

 year of Uzziah's reign, or 75S B C, at which time he is 

 iuppofed to have been about 35 years of age; and if he 

 ^ivcd to the reign of ManaiTch B.C. 696, by whofe order, 



I S A 



according to a tradition of the Jews, he was fawn afundcr, 

 the duration of his office muft have extended to 61 or 62 

 years. But this Jewifli tradition is uncertain ; and one of 

 their principal rabbins (Aben Ezra, Com. in If i. I.) feems 

 rather to think that he died before Hezekiah, which opinion 

 is received as the moft probable. It is certain, however, that 

 he lived at leaft to the i J'h or i6th year of Hezekiah ; and 

 this makes the leaft pciiiDle term of the duration of his pro- 

 phetical office, about 47 or 48 years ; fo that he prophefied in 

 thereignsof Uzziah, Jotham,Ahaz, and Hezekiah. The time 

 of the delivery of fome of the prophecies is either exprefsly 

 marked in, or eafily deducible from, the hiftory to which 

 they relate ; that of a few others may, with fome probabi- 

 lity, be inferred from expreffions, defcriptions, and circum- 

 itances interwoven in the predictions themfelves. The pro- 

 phecy contained in the firll chapter ftands fingle and uncon- 

 nefted ; and contains a fcvere remonftrance againft the cor- 

 ruptions pre\"ailing among the Jews of that time ; powerful 

 exhortations to repentance ; grievous thi-eatenings to the im- 

 penitent ; and gracious promifes of better times, when the 

 nation ftirll have been reformed by the juft judgments of 

 God. The expreffion is upon the whole clear; the con- 

 nection of the feveral parts eafy ; and in regard to the images, 

 fentiments, and ftyle, it gives a beautiful example of the 

 prophet's elegant manner of writing ; though perhaps it may 

 not be equal in thefe refpefts to many of the following pro- 

 phecies. The prophecy contained in the fecond, third, and 

 fourth chapters, makes one continued difcourfe. The firft. 

 five verfes of the fecond chapter foretel the kingdom of the 

 Meffiah, the converfion of the Gentiles, and their admiffioa 

 into it. From the 6th verle to the end of the 2d chapter, 

 is foretold the paniffiment of tb.e unbelieving Jews for their 

 idolatrous praftices, their felf-confidence and diftrull of God's 

 proteftion ; and moreover the deftruction of idolatry, in 

 confequence of the eftabhfliment of Meffiah's kingdom. 

 The whole third chapter, with the firft verfe of the fourth, 

 is a prophecy of the calamities of the Babylonian invafion 

 and captivity ; with a particular amplification of the diftrefs 

 of the proud and luxurious daughter of Sion. Chapter iv. 

 2 — 6, promifes to the remnant, which ftiall have efcaped this 

 fevere purgation, a future reiloration to the favour and 

 proteition of God. The prophecy was probably delivered 

 in the time of Jotham, or perhaps in that of Uzziah. The 

 5th chapter is unconnected with that which precedes, and 

 with that which follows it ; and the fubjeft of it, like that of 

 the firll chapter, is a general reproof of the Jews for their 

 wickednefs ; but it exceeds that chapter in force, in feverity, 

 in variety, and in elegance ; and it adds a more exprefs de- 

 claration of vengeance, by the Babylonian invafion. The 

 vifion in the 6th chapter fcems to contain a folemn defignation 

 of Ifaiah to the prophetical office, and it is therefore thought 

 by moft interpreters to be the firft in order of his prophecies. 

 Bifliop Lowth, however, conjeftures that this may not be 

 the cafe ; becaufe Ifaiah is faid to have propheiied ia the 

 time of Uzziah; but as Ifaiah's prophecies are not placed 

 in exaift order of time, the 2d, 3d, 4th, and 5th chapters 

 fcem to be antecedent to the ill chapter, and to fuit the 

 time of Uzziah, or the former part of Jothani's reign, 

 w-hereas the i ft chapter can hardly be earUer than the lail 

 years of Jotham. Accordingly this might be a new defig- 

 nation, to introduce more lolemnly a genend declaration of 

 the whole courfe of God's difpcnlations in regard to his peo- 

 ple, and the fates of the nation ; whicli are even now ftill 

 depending, and will not be fully accomphflied till the final 

 reftoration of Ifrael. The 7th chapter begins with an 

 hiftorical account of the occafioii of this prophecy; and 



theii 



