The reader's handbook of famous names in fiction, allusions, references, proverbs, plots, stories, and poems

Preface To The Revised Edition

My father died on March 6, 1897, before he had finished correcting the proofs of the revision of this new edition. He left the work to me, and I should like to be permitted to thank all who helped in this labour of love.

The Librarians at the Nottingham, Lancaster, and Eastbourne Free Libraries must be specially mentioned. Mr. Briscoe, of the Nottingham Free Library, was a personal friend of my father's ; he and his colleagues spared neither time nor trouble in searching out dates for the Bibliography, and in supplying much useful information.

I thank, too, most warmly, the proof-reader, who has shown so much patience, and has helped me in every possible way in what might have been a very hard task ; he made it not only an easy but an exceedingly pleasant one.

To all my father's friends, known and unknown, who have written such kind and encouraging letters, I can only say from the bottom of my heart, " Thanks, and ever thanks."

NELLIE COBHAM HAYMAN.

Preface

The object of this Handbook is to supply readers and speakers with a lucid, but very brief account of such names as are used in allusions and references, whether by poets or prose writers, — to furnish those who consult it with the plot of popular dramas, the story of epic poems, and the outline of well-known tales. Who has not asked what such and such a book is about? and who would not be glad to have his question answered correctly in a few words ? When the title of a play is mentioned, who has not felt a desire to know who was the author of it? — for it seems a universal practice to allude to the title of dramas without stating the author. And when reference is made to some character, who has not wished to know something specific about the person referred to ? The object of this Handbook is to supply these wants. Thus, it gives in a few lines the story of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, of Virgil's sEneid, Lucan's/V/rtrsaliciy and the Thebaid of Statius ; of Dante's Divine Comedy, Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, and Tasso : 's Jertisalem Delivered ; of Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained ; of Thomson's Seasons ; of Ossian's tales, the Nibelungen Lied of the German minnesingers, the Romance of the Rose, the Lusiad of Camoens, the Loves of Theagenes and Charicleia by Heliodorus (fourth century), with the several story poems of Chaucer, Gower, Piers Plowman, Hawes, Spenser, Drayton, Phineas Fletcher, Prior, Goldsmith, Campbell, Southey, Byron, Scott, Moore, Tennyson, Longfellow, and so on. Far from limiting its scope to poets, the Handbook tells, with similar brevity, the stories of our national fairy tales and romances, such novels as those by Charles Dickens, Vanity Fair by Thackeray, the Rasselas of Johnson, Gulliver' s Travels by Swift, the Sentimental fourney by Sterne, Don Quixote and Gil Bias, Telcmachus by Fenelon, and Undine by De la Motte Fouque. Great pains have been taken with the Arthurian stories, whether from sir T. Malory's collection or from the Mabinogion, because Tennyson has brought them to the front in his Idylls of the King ; and the number of dramatic plots sketched out is many hundreds.

Another striking and interesting feature of the book is the revelation of the source from which dramatists and romancers have derived their stories, and the strange repetitions of historic incidents. Compare, for example, the stratagem of the wooden horse by which Troy was taken, with those of Abu Obeidah in the

PREFACE. vii

siege of Arrestan, and that of the capture of Sark from the French, p. 504. Compare, again, Dido's cutting the hide into strips, with the story about the Yakutsks, p. 182; that of Romulus and Remus, with the story of Tyro, p. 930 ; the Shibboleth of Scripture story, with those of the " Sicilian Vespers," and of the Danes on St. Bryce's Day, p. 1003 ; the story of Pisistratos and his two sons, with that of Cosmo de' Medici and his two grandsons, p. 849 ; the death of Marcus Licinius.Crassus, with that of Manlius Nepos Aquilius, p. 434 ; and the famous "Douglas larder," with the larder of Wallace at Ardrossan, p. 297. Witness the numerous tales resembling that of William Tell and the apple, p. 1082 ; of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, p. 843 ; of Llewellyn and his dog Gelert, p. 410 ; of bishop Hatto and the rats, p. 474 ; of Ulysses and Polyphemos, p. 1156; and of lord Lovel's bride, p. 712. Witness, again, the parallelisms of David in his flight from Saul, and that of Mahomet from the Koreishites, p. 1035 ; of Jephthah and his daughter, and the tale of Idomeneus of Crete, or that of Agamemnon and Iphigenia, p. 544 ; of Paris and Sextus, p. 988 ; Salome and Fulvia, p. 955 ; St. Patrick preaching to king O'Neil, and St. Areed before the king of Abyssinia, p. 812 ; of Cleopatra and Sophonisba, with scores of others.

To ensure accuracy, every work alluded to in this large volume has been read personally by the author expressly for this Handbook, and since the compilation was commenced ; for although, at the beginning, a few others were employed for the sake of despatch, the author read over for himself, while the sheets were passing through the press, the works put into their hands. The very minute references to words and phrases, book and chapter, act and scene, often to page and line, will be sufficient guarantee to the reader that this assertion is not overstated.

The work is in a measure novel, and cannot fail to be useful. It is owned that Charles Lamb has told, and told well, the Tales of Shakespeare ; but Charles Lamb has occupied more pages with each tale than the Handbook has lines. It is also true that an " Argument " is generally attached to each book of an epic story ; but the reading of these rhapsodies is like reading an indexfew have patience to wade through them, and fewer still obtain therefrom any clear idea of the spirit of the actors, or the progress of the story. Brevity has been the aim of this Handbook, but clearness has not been sacrificed to terseness ; and it has been borne in mind throughout that it is not enough to state a fact, — it must be stated attractively, and the character described must be drawn characteristically, if the reader is to appreciate it, and feel an interest in what he reads.

The unnamed book given as an authority for the various Arthurian names (see Arthur, Galahad, Gawain, Lancelot, Modred, and others) is Malory's Morte d' Arthur (for which see p. 729). In most cases where it is quoted from, the title of the book is omitted, and only the part and chapter are given.

Those verses introduced but not signed, or signed with initials only, are by the author of the Handbook. They are the Stornello Verses, p. 1048 ; the aspen tree (an epigram), p. 1130; Nones and Ides, p. 759; the Seven Wise Men,

▼Hi PREFACE.

p. 987 ; the Seven Wonders of the World, p. 987 ; and the following translations : Lucan's " Serpents," p. 835 ; " Veni Wakefield peramaenum," p. 414 ; specimen of Tyrtseos, p. 1154; "Vos non vobis," p. 1183; " Roi d'Yvetot," p. 1236; " Non amo te," p. 1237 ; Marot's epigram, p. 629 ; epigram on a violin, p. 1177 ; epigram on the Fair Rosamond, p. 932 ; the Heidelberg tun, p. 1145 » "Roger Bontemps," p. 926 ; " Le bon roi Dagobert," p. 745 ; " Pauvre Jacques," p. 816 ; Virgil's epitaph, p. 1178 ; M Cunctis mare," p. 966 ; " Ni fallat fatum," p. 971 ; St. Elmo, p. 949 ; Baviad, etc., pp. 97, 652 j several oracular responses (see Equivokes, p. 327 ; Wooden Walls, p. 1227 ; etc.) ; and many others. The chief object of this paragraph is to prevent any useless search after these trifles.

It would be most unjust to conclude this preface without publicly acknowledging the great obligation which the author owes to the printer's reader while the sheets were passing through the press. He seems to have entered into the very spirit of the book j his judgment has been sound, his queries have been intelligent, his suggestions invaluable, and even some of the articles were supplied by him.

£. C BREWER.

THE READER'S HANDBOOK

^ indicates a parallel or similar tale, and has been adopted so that those -who -wish to find such duplicatet may do so -with the least possible trouble. Foreign books which have been naturalized (with their English translations) have been introduced in the ttxt.

AARON, a Moor, beloved by Tam'- ora, queen of the Goths, in the tragedy of Titus Andron'icus, published amongst the plays of Shakespeare (1593).

("The classic name is Androntcus, but the character of this play is purely fictitious.)

Aaron {St), a British martyr of the City of Legions (Newport, in South Wales). He was torn limb from limb by order of Maximia'nus Hercu'lius, general, in Britain, of the army of Diocle'tian. Two churches were founded in the City of Legions, one in honour of St. Aaron, and one in honour of his fellow-martyr St. Julius. Newport was called Caerleon by the British.

. . . two others . . . sealed their doctrine with their

blood ; St. Julius, and with him St. Aaron, have their room At Carleon, suffering death by Diocletian's doom.

Aaz'iz (3 syl. ), so the queen of Sheba or Saba is sometimes called ; but in the Koran she is called Balkis (ch. xxvii.).

Abad'don, an angel of the bottomless pit (Rev. ix. n). The word is derived from the Hebrew, abad, "lost," and means the lost one. There are two other angels introduced by Klopstock in The Messiah with similar names, which must not be confounded with the angel referred to in Rev. ; one is Obaddon, the angel of death, and the other Abbad'ona, the repentant devil. (See Abbadona.)

Ab'aris, to whom Apollo gave a golden arrow, on which to ride through the air. (See Dictionary of Phrase and Fable p. 2.)

Abbad'ona, once the friend of Ab'- diel, was drawn into the rebellion of Satan half unwillingly. In hell he constantly bewailed his fall, and reproved Satan for his pride and blasphemy. He openly declared to the internals that he would take no part or lot in Satan's scheme for the death of the Messiah ; and during the crucifixion he lingered about the cross with repentance, hope, and fear. His ultimate fate we are not told, but when Satan and Adramelech were driven back to hell, Obaddon, the angel of death, says —

" For thee, Abbadona, I have no orders. How long thou art permitted to remain on earth I know not, nor whether thou wilt be allowed to see the resurrection of the Lord of glory . . . but be not deceived, thou canst not view Him with the joy of the redeemed." "Yet let me see Him, let me see Him I "—Klopstock: The Messiah, xiii.

Abberville (Lord), a young nobleman, 23 years of age, who has for travelling tutor a Welshman of 65, called Dr. Druid, an antiquary, wholly ignorant of his real duties as a guide of youth. The young man runs wantonly wild, squanders his money, and gives loose rein to his passions almost to the verge of ruin, but he is arrested and reclaimed by his honest Scotch bailiff or financier, and the vigilance of his father's executor, Mr. Mortimer. This " fashionable lover " promises marriage to a vulgar, malicious city minx named Lucinda Bridgemore, but is saved from this pitfall also. — Cumberland: The Fashionable Lover (1780).

Abbot (The), the second of three novels on the Reformation. The first, called The Monastery, is by far the worst ; and the third, called Kenilworth,

ABBOTSFORD CLUa

ABENSBERG.

is the best. The Abbot, Father Ambrose (q.v.), plays a very subordinate part, the hero being Roland Graeme. The tale is this : Roland, a very young child, was nearly drowned by trying to save a toyboat, but he was drawn from the river by Wolf, a dog of Lady Avenel's ; and as Lady Avenel had no family, she brought up Roland as a sort of page. The indulgence shown by his kind patroness drew upon him the jealous displeasure of the rest of the household ; and ultimately the spirit became so bitter that Lady Avenel, when he was between 17 and 18, dismissed him from her service. Roland, going he knew not whither, encountered Sir Halbert Glendinning, the husband of the Lady of Avenel, who took him into his service, and sent him to the regent Murray, who sent him to Lochleven, as the page of Mary queen of Scotland, who. had been dethroned and sent to Lochleven as a state prisoner. He was there above a year, when Mary made her escape, was overtaken by the Reform party, and fled to England.

• . • Roland Graeme is discovered to be the son of Julian Avenel and Catherine Graeme. He married Catherine Seyton, a daughter of Lord Seyton, and was heir to the barony of Avenel. Mary of Scotland is excellently portrayed in this novel, and Queen Elizabeth in Kenilworth.

Abbotsford Club, limited to 50 members. It was founded in 1835, for the publication (in quarto) of works pertaining to Scotch history, antiquities, and literature in general. It published upwards of 30 volumes. Extinct.

Abdal-azis, the Moorish governor of Spain after the overthrow of king Roderick. When the Moor assumed regal state and affected Gothic sovereignty, his subjects were so offended that they revolted and murdered him. He married Egilona, formerly the wife of Roderick. — Southey : Roderick, etc., xxii. (1814).

Ab'dalaz'iz {Omar ben), a caliph raised to " Mahomet's bosom " in reward of his great abstinence and self-denial. — Herbelot, 690.

He was by no means scrupulous ; nor did he think with the caliph Omar ben Abdalaziz that it was necessary to make a hell of this world to enjoy paradise in the next.— IV. Rcckford : Vathek (1786).

Adbal'dar, one of the magicians in the Domdaniel caverns, " under the roots of the ocean." These spirits were destined to be destroyed by one of the race of Hodei'rah (3 syl.), so they persecuted the race even to death. Only one survived, named Thalaba, and Abdaldar was appointed by lot to find him out and kill him. He discovered the stripling in an Arab's tent, and while in prayer was about to stab him to the heart, when the angel of death breathed on the would-be murderer, and he fell dead with the dagger in his hand. Thalaba drew from the magician's finger a ring which gave him command over the spirits. — Southey: Thalaba the Destroyer, ii., iii. (1797).

Abdal'la, one of sir Brian de Bois

Gilbert's slaves. — Sir W. Scott : Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).

Abdallah, brother and predecessor of Giaf'fer (2 syl.), pacha of Aby'dos. He was murdered by the pacha. — Byron. Bride of Abydos.

Abdallah. el Hadgi, Saladin's envoy.— Sir W. Scott: The Talisman (time, Richard I.).

Abdals or Santons, a class of religionists who pretend to be inspired with the most ravishing raptures of divine love. Regarded with great veneration by the vulgar. — Olearius, ?. 971.

Abde'rian Laughter, scoffing laughter, so called from Abdera, the birthplace of Democ'ritus, the scoffing or laughing philosopher.

Ab'diel, the faithful seraph who withstood Satan when urged to revolt.

. the seraph Abdiel, faithful found fai

Among the faithless ; faithful only he Among innumerable false ; unmoved. Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified, His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal. Milton: Paradise Lost, v. 896, etc (1665).

Abel Sbufflebottom, the name assumed by Robert Southey in some amatory poems published in 1799.

Abellino, the hero of " Monk " Lewis's story, called the Bravo of Venice. He appears sometimes as a beggar, and sometimes as a bandit. Abellino falls in love with the niece of the doge of Venice, and marries her.

Abensberg (Count), the father of thirty-two children. When Henirich II. made his progress through Germany, and other courtiers presented their offerings, the count brought forward his thirty-two children, " as the most valuable offering he could make to his king and country."

^ Cornelia, the daughter of Scipio Africanus, b credited with similar sentiment. When a Campanlan lady boasted in her presence of her magnificent jewels, Cornelia sent for her two sons, and slid. " These arc my jewels."

ABERDEExM PHILOSOPHICAL. 3 ABSALOM AND ACH1TOPHEL.

Aberdeen Philosophical Society, instituted 1840.

Abes'sa, the impersonation of abbeys and convents in Spenser's Faerie Queene, i. 3. She is the paramour of Kirkrapine, who used to rob churches and poor-boxes, and bring his plunder to Abessa, daughter of Corceca {blindness of heart).

Abif (Hiram), one of the three grand-masters of Freemasonry. The other two were Solomon and Hiram of Tyre. Hiram, like Pharaoh, is a dynastic name, and means noble ; and ab of Abif means " father ; " ab-i means " my father " (see 1 Kings vii. 13 ; 2 Chron. ii. 12-14).

Abney, called Young Abney, the friend of colonel Albert Lee, a royalist. — Sir W. Scott : Woodstock (time, the Commonwealth).

Abou Hassan, a young merchant of Bagdad, and hero of the tale called ' ' The Sleeper Awakened," in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments. While Abou Hassan is asleep he is conveyed to the palace of Haroun-al-Raschid, and the attendants are ordered to do everything they can to make him fancy himself the caliph. He subsequently becomes the caliph's chief favourite.

\ Shakespeare, in the induction of Taming of the Shrew, befools ' ' Christopher Sly " in a similar way, but Sly thinks it was "nothing but a dream."

^[ Philippe le Bon, duke of Burgundy, on his marriage with Eleonora, tried the same trick. — Burton : Anatomy of Melancholy, ii. 2, 4.

Abra, the most beloved of Solomon's concubines.

Fruits their odour lost and meats their taste. If gentle Abra had not decked the feast ; Dishonoured did the sparkling goblet stand, Unless received from gentle Abra's hand ; . . . Nor could my soul approve the music's tone Till all was hushed, and Abra sang alone.

M. Prior : Solomon (1664-1721). • ■ Solomon had above 1000 concubines, from among

the Moabites, Ammonites, Sidonians, and Hittites.

The mother of Rehoboam, his successor, was Naamah,

an A mmonitess (1 Kings xiv. 20, 21).

Ab'radas, the great Macedonian pirate.

Abradas, the great Macedonian pirat, thought every one had a letter of mart that bare sayles in the ocean.— Greene : Penelope's IVeb (1601).

Abraham, calling his wife "sister" {Gen. xii. 11). The special correspondent of the Slanda>d, writing from Afghanistan (March 12, 1888), says, " If a Mahometan's scruples are overcome to such an extent that he will permit a Christian physician to treat his wife, he will call her his "sister."

Abraham's Offering- (Gen. xxii.). Abraham at the command of God laid his only son Isaac upon an altar to sacrifice him to Jehovah, when his hand was stayed and a ram substituted for Isaac.

*[[ So Agamemnon at Aulis was about to offer up his daughter Iphigeni'a at the command of Artemis (Diana), when Artemis carried her off in a cloud and substituted a stag instead.

V This ram was one of the 10 animals taken to heaven, according to Mahomet's teaching.

Abroc'omas, the lover of An'thia in the Greek romance of Ephesi' aca, by Xenophon of Ephesus (not the historian).

Absalom. The general idea is that Absalom, fleeing through a wood, was caught by the hair of bis head on the bough of a tree, and thus met his death ; but the Bible says (2 Sam. xviii. 9), "Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth." Apparently his chin was caught by a branch of the oak, and the mule ran off. There is nothing said about his hair getting entangled in the oak. Yet every one knows the doggerel —

Oh Absalom, oh Absalom, my son, my son, Hadst thou but worn a periwig, thou hadst not been undone !

DazncTs Lament for his Son Absalom.

Ab'salom, in Dryden's Absalom and Achifophel, is meant for the duke of Monmouth, natural son of Charles II. (David). Like Absalom, the duke was handsome ; like Absalom, he was loved and rebellious; and, like Absalom, his rebellion ended in his death (1649-1 85).

Absalom and Achifophel, the

best political satire in the language, by Drvden, in about 1000 lines of heroic verse, in rhymes. The general scheme is to show the rebellious character of the puritans, who insisted on the exclusion of the duke of York from the succession, on account of his being a pronounced catholic, and the determination of the king to resist this interference with his royal prerogative, even at the cost of a civil war.

The great difficulty was where to find a substitute. Charles II. had no legal male offspring, and, though he had several natural sons, the duke of Monmouu? was

ABSOLON.

ACCIDENTE !

the onjy one who was the idol of the

f)eople. So the earl of Shaftesbury Achitophel), an out-and-out protestant, used every effort to induce Monmouth (Absalom) to compel the king (David) to set aside the duke of York. Shaftesbury says, ' ' Once get the person of the king into your hands, and you may compel him to yield to the people's wishes. " Monmouth is over-persuaded to take up the cause "of the redress of grievances," and soon has a large following, amongst whom is Thomas Thynne(Issachar), a very wealthy man, who supplies the duke with ready money. When the rebellion grew formidable, the king called his councillors to meet him at Oxford, and told them he was resolved to defend his prerogatives by force of arms, and thus the poem ends. •.*A reply in verse, entitled Azaria andHushai (q.v.), was written by Samuel Pordage.

Mr. Tate has written a seeond part, which not only destroys the unity of the poem, Dut is of very small merit.

V The poem begins with a statement that Charles II. {David) had many natural sons, but only Monmouth (Absalom) had any chance of being his successor. He then remarks that no sort of government would satisfy puritans. They had tried several, but all had failed to please them. On the puritans' side was the earl of Shaftesbury (Achitophel), Titus Oates (Corah), and many others. On th« king's side advocates of the " right divine." were the archbishop of Canterbury IZadoc), the bishop of London (Sagan), the bishop of kochester and dean of Westminster, the earl of Mulgrave (Abdiel), Sir George Savile (Jotham), Hyde (Hashai), Sir Edward Seymour (Aniiel), and many more. Charles II. is called David; London, Jerusalem; catholics, Jebusites ; puritans, Jews. France is called Egypt; its king, Pharaoh ; and Holland is called Tyre.

Ab'solon, a priggish parish clerk in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. His hair was curled, his shoes slashed, his hose red. He could let blood, cut hair, and shave, could dance, and play either on the ribible or the gittern. This gay spark paid his addresses to Mistress Alison, the young wife of John, a wealthy aged carpenter ; but Alison herself loved a poor scholar named Nicholas, a lodger in the house.— The Miller's Tale (1388).

Absolute (Sir Anthony), a testy, but warm-hearted old gentleman, who imagines that he possesses a most angelic temper; and when he quarrels with his son, the captain, fancies it is the son who is but of temper, and not himself. Smollett's "Matthew Bramble" evidently suggested this character. William Dowton (1764-1851) was the best actor of this part.

Captain Absolute, son of sir Anthony, in love with Lydia Languish, the heiress, to whom he is known only as ensign Beverley. Bob Acres, his neighbour, is hi3 rival, and sends a challenge to the unknown ensign ; but when he finds that ensign Beverley is captain Absolute, he declines to fight, and resigns all further claim to the lady's hand. — Sheridan: The Rivals (1775).

When you saw Jack Palmers it 'captain Absolute,' you thought you could trace his promotion to some lady of quality, who fancied the handsome fellow in his top-knot, and had bought him a commission.— Charles Lamb.

Abu'dah, in the Tales of the Genii, by H. Ridley, is a wealthy merchant of Bagdad, who goes in quest of the talisman of Oroma'nes, which he is driven to seek by a little old hag, who haunts him every night and makes his life wretched. He finds at last that the talisman which is to free him of this hag [conscience] is to "fear God and keep His commandments."

Abu'dah,, in the drama called The Siege of Damascus, by John Hughes (1720), is the next in command to Caled in the Arabian army set down before Damascus. Though undoubtedly brave, he prefers peace to war ; and when, at the death of Caled, he succeeds to the chief command, he makes peace with the Syrians on honourable terms.

Abydos (Bride of). (See Bride.)

Acade'mus, an Attic hero, whose garden was selected by Plato for the place of his lectures. Hence his disciples were called the "Academic sect."

The green retreats of Academus. Akenside : Pleasures of Imagination

Aca'dia (i.e. Nova Scotia), so called by the French from the river Shubenacadie. In 1621 Acadia was given to sir William Alexander, and its name changed ; and in 1755 the old French settlers were driven into exile by George II. Longfellow has made this the subject of a poem in hexameter verse, called Evan 1 geline (4 syl.).

Acas'to (Lord), father of Seri'no, Casta'lio, and Polydore ; and guardian of Monimia " the orphan." He lived to see the death of his sons and his ward. Polydore ran on his brother's sword, Castalio stabbed himself, and Monimia took poison. — Otway : The Orphan (1680).

Accidente ! (3 syl.), a curse and oath used in France occasionally.

Accidente I ce qui veut dire en bon frangs is : Puise-tu, mourir d'accident, sans confession, daj me.— Mons, About: Tolla (a tale).

ACESTES.

ACOE.

Aces'tes (3 syl.). In a trial of skill Acestes, the Sicilian, discharged his arrow with such force that it took fire from the friction of the air. — Virgil : sEneid, v.

Like Acestes' shaft of old, The swift thought kindles as it flies.

Longfellow : To a Child.

Achates \_A-ka'-leze\, called by Virgil ' ' fidus Achates." The name has become a synonym for a bosom friend, a crony, but is generally used laughingly.

He, like Achates, faithful to the tomb.

Byron : Don yuan, 1. 159.

Aclier'ia, the fox, went partnership with a bear in a bowl of milk. Before the bear arrived, the fox skimmed off the cream and drank the milk ; then, filling the bowl with mud, replaced the cream atop. Says the fox, " Here is the bowl ; one shall have the cream, and the other all the rest : choose, friend, which you like." The bear told the fox to take the cream, and thus bruin had only the mud. — A Basque Tale.

^f A similar tale occurs in Campbell's Popular Tales of the West Highlands (iii. 98), called "The Keg of Butter." The wolf chooses the bottom when ' ' oats " were the object of choice, and the top when " potatoes" were the sowing.

IF Rabelais tells the same tale about a farmer and the devil. Each was to have on alternate years what grew under and over the soil. The farmer sowed turnips and carrots when the undersoil produce came to his lot, and barley or wheat when his turn was the over-soil produce.

Ac'heron, the " River of Grief," and one of the five rivers of hell ; hell itself. (Greek, uxo? peta, " I flow with grief.")

Sad Acheron of sorrow, black and deep.

Milton: Paradise Lost, it. 578 (1665).

Achilles (3 syl.), the hero of the allied Greek army in the siege of Troy, and king of the Myr'midons. (See Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, p. 10.)

The English Achilles, John Talbot, first earl of Shrewsbury (1373-1453).

The duke of Wellington is so called sometimes, and is represented by a statue of Achilles of gigantic size in Hyde Park, London, close to Apsley House (1769-1852).

The Achilles of Germany, Albert, elector of Brandenburg (14 14-1486).

Achilles of Rome, Sicin'ius Denta'tus (put to death B.C. 450).

Achilles' Heel, the vulnerable part. It is said that when Thetis dipped her son in the river Styx to make him invulnerable, she held him by the heel, and the part covered by her hand was the only part not washed by the water. This is a post-Homeric story.

[Hanover] is the Achilles' heel to invulnerable England.— Carlyle.

(Sometimes Ireland is called the Achilles' heel of England. )

IT Similarly, the only vulnerable part of Orlando was the sole of his foot, and hence when Bernardo del Carpio assailed him at Roncesvall^s, and found that he could not wound him, he lifted him up in his arms and squeezed him to death, as Hercul&s did Antae'os.

Achilles' Spear. (See Spear of ... )

Acliit'ophel, " Him who drew Achit'- ophel," Dry den, author of the famous political satire of Absalom and Achitophel. "David" is Charles II.; his rebellious son "Absalom" is the king's natural son by Lucy Waters, the handsome but rebellious James duke of Monmouth ; and ' ' Achitophel " is the earl of Shaftesbury, "for close designs and crooked counsels fit" (1621-1683).