effluvia of putrid substances infect the air. Here the yellow fever of the West Indies, and the cholera morbus of the East Indies, sweep away many strangers, and especially young Europeans. The calms, under the line, which frequently continue for a long time, are a natural obstacle, which renders a voyage from Callao to Acapulco more difficult, and often longer, than one from Callao to Cadiz. Steam-boats would be of great advantage in this quarter. In order to take advantage of the trade-winds, it is especially necessary to keep at a distance from the line. This, however, is impracticable on a coasting voyage from Acapulco to Callao. The exports hitherto from Acapulco have been mostly silver, indigo, cochineal, Spanish cloth, and some peltry, which comes from California and the northern part of Mexico. The imports consist of all the valuable productions of Asia.

ACARNANIA, now called Il Carnia and Il Despotato; an ancient country of Epirus, divided from Ætolia by the Achelous.

ACATHOLICI are, in general, those who do not belong to the Catholic church. In certain Catholic countries, Protestants are distinguished by this name, which is considered less odious.

ACBAR. (See Akbar.)

ACCELERATION. (See Mechanics.) ACCENT; the law which regulates the rising and falling of sounds or tones. Music and language, which are subject to this law, both originate in the feelings; and, although they at last separate from each other, and music remains the language of the heart, while speech, or language, properly so called, becomes the language of the mind, yet the latter does not entirely cease to speak to the heart; and music and language thus retain certain qualities in common; these are partly internal and partly external. Both are adapted to the expression of emotions; and thence arise the movements, sometimes slow and sometimes quick, which we perceive in them. They thus become subject to quantity or time; and we distinguish sounds, with reference to quantity, into long and short. In order to express an emotion distinctly and plainly, there must be a suitable arrangement of the organs for the sounds intended to be produced; for, in a series of sounds measured by the relation of time, and regulated also by relation to some fundamental tone, there will be found a certain connexion and association, which

represent the emotions in their variou relations and gradations; it is this also, which distinguishes correctly what is of primary importance from what is secondary, renders the unimportant subordinate to the important, and gives proper weight to that which is significant. A succession of tones thus becomes a musical composition, which comprehends in itself a definite meaning or sense; and, to express this, particular regard must be had to the signification and importance of single tones in connexion. The stress, which is laid on the tones, according to the gradations of meaning, constitutes what we call accent. We distinguish the acute, or rising accent, the grave, or falling, and the circumflex. The circumflex accent falls on those syllables or tones which are long in themselves; the grave properly denotes merely the absence of any stress; and thus we have only the acute left, to give a designation to tones. The reasons for designating a tone by accent, and dwelling on it longer than its established quantity requires, are either mechanical, rhythmical, or emphatical. We divide accent into grammatical and rhetorical, or the accent of words and of sentences, which last is called emphasis. The former rests on physical or mechanical causes; the latter has for its object the relations of ideas. The laws which govern both are briefly the following: A syllable or tone of the natural length receives the grammatical or verbal accent; but there are two causes, which distinguish some syllables of a word from the rest-their mechanical formation and their signification. In the word strengthen, for instance, mechanical causes compel the voice to dwell longer on the first syllable than on the second, and hence a greater stress is laid on that syllable. Rhetorical accent, or emphasis, is designed to give to a sentence distinctness and clearness. In a sentence, therefore, the stress is laid on the most important word, and in a word, on the most important syllable. Without attaching itself, in language, to the quantity of a word, or, in music, to a certain part of a bar, the accentual force dwells on the important part; and, in order that this force may be rendered still more distinguishable, it hastens over those parts, which, though otherwise important, the context renders comparatively unimportant. It follows, from what has been said, that the accent of words and the accent of sentences, or emphasis, may be united or separated at pleasure. It may now be asked,

whether emphasis destroys verbal accent and quantity; and whether, for this reason, euphony does not suffer from emphasis. In answering this question (in which lies the secret of prosody in general, and the difference between the modern and ancient), four points come under consideration: 1. If the accent coincides with a syllable which is long from mechanical causes, it elevates the syllable, and imparts stress to its prosodial length. 2. The accent does not render an invariably long syllable short, but deprives it, if it immediately follows the accented syllable, of a portion of its length. The quantity, therefore, if it does not coincide with the accent, may be somewhat weakened by it. 3. Although the accent cannot render an invariably long syllable short, it can change the relative quantity of common syllables. 4. The accent can never fall on syllables invariably short. These are the rules which are of the greatest importance, not only to the versifier, but also to the declaimer, and to the actor, so far as he is a declaimer.

The grammatical and rhetorical nomenclature of the English language is very defective and unsettled; and hence has arisen a great degree of confusion among all our writers on the subject of accent and quantity in English. We have perverted the true meaning of long and short, as applied to syllables or vowels; and, by our peculiar application of those terms, we have made ourselves quite unintelligible to foreign nations, who still use them according to their signification in the ancient languages, from which they are derived. An English writer of some celebrity (Foster, on Accent and Quantity), whose own work, however, is not free from obscurity, observes, that he has found the word accent used by the same writer in four different senses-sometimes expressing elevation, sometimes prolongation of sound, sometimes a stress of voice compounded of the other two, and sometimes the artificial accentual mark. For a long series of years, however, accent, as Johnson has remarked, in English prosody, has been the same thing with quantity; and another English writer of celebrity, bishop Horsley, observes, that it is a peculiarity of the English language that quantity and accent always go together, the longest syllable, in almost every word, being that on which the accent falls. In other languages, as Mitford justly remarks (Essay on the Harmony of Language), generally, the vowel character, representing indifferently a long or a short

27

sound, still represents the same sound, long or short. A contrary method is peculiar to English orthography. With us, the same vowel sound, long and short, is rarely represented by the same character; but, on the contrary, according to the general rules of our orthography, each character represents the long sound of one vowel and the short sound of another. This is eminently observable, as Dr. Johnson has remarked, in the letter i, which likewise happens in other letters, that the short sound is not the long sound contracted, but a sound wholly different. In addition to the difficulties arising from an imperfect nomenclature, as above remarked, there is an intrinsic difficulty in the extreme delicacy of the distinctions of tone, pitch and inflections in language, and the want of an established notation, corresponding to that which we have in music; and, we may add, in the words of Hermann (De Emendanda Ratione Græc. Gram.), "Quam pauci vero sunt, qui vel aliqua polleant aurium subtilitate ut vocum discrimina celeriter notare apteque exprimere possint!"-The Chinese are said to have but 330 spoken words; but these, being multiplied by the different accents or tones which affect the vowels, furnish a language tolerably copious.

ACCEPTANCE. (Law.) An acceptance is an engagement to pay a bill of exchange according to the tenor of the acceptance, and a general acceptance is an engagement to pay according to the tenor of the bill. What constitutes an acceptance is, in many cases, a nice question of law; but the general mode is for the acceptor to write his name on some conspicuous part of the bill, accompanied by the word accepted. In France, Spain, and the other countries of Europe, where oral evidence in matters of contract is not admitted to the same extent as in England, a verbal acceptance of a bill of exchange is not valid.

ACCESSARY, or ACCESSORY; a person guilty of an offence by connivance or participation, either before or after the act committed, as by command, advice, or concealment, &c. In high treason, all who participate are regarded as principals. Abettors and accomplices also come, in some measure, under this name, though the former not strictly under the legal definition of accessaries. An abettor is one who procures another to commit an offence, and in many, indeed in almost all cases, is now considered as much a principal as the actual offender. An accomplice is one of many persons

28

equally concerned in a felony. The name is generally applied to those who are admitted to give evidence against their fellow-criminals, for the furtherance of jus

tice.

ACCLAMATION (acclamatio); in Roman antiquity, a shouting of certain words by way of praise or dispraise. In ages when people were more accustomed to give full utterance to their feelings, acclamations were very common, wherevera mass of people was influenced by one common feeling. We find, therefore, acclamations in theatres, senates, ecclesiastical meetings, elections, at nuptials, triumphs, &c. The senate of Rome burst into contumelious acclamations after the death of Domitian and Commodus. The theatrical acclamations were connected with music. Nero, who was as fond of music as of blood, ordered 5000 soldiers to chant acclamations when he played in the theatre, and the spectators were obliged to join them. In the corrupt period of the Roman empire, the children and favorites of the emperors were received with loud acclamations, as the French emperor was greeted with Vive l'empereur! and the French king is with Vive le roi! The Turks have a custom somewhat similar, at the sight of their emperor and grand viziers. The form among the Jews was Hosanna! The Greek emperors were received with Ayadŋ tuxn! (good luck), or other exclamations. Before a regular system of voting is adopted, we find its place supplied, among all nations, by acclamations. So Tacitus informs us that the Germans showed their approbation of a measure by clashing their shields and swords. The bishops, in the early times of Christianity, were long elected by acclamation. In the course of time, acclamations were admitted into the churches, and the people expressed their approbation of a favorite preacher by exclaiming, Orthodox! Third apostle! &c. They seem to have been sometimes used as late as the age of St. Bernard. The first German emperors were elected by acclamation at a meeting of the people in the open air; and the Indians, in North America, show their approbation or disapprobation of proposed public measures by acclamations.

ACCOLADE, a word derived from barbarous Latin, is composed of ad, to, and collum, neck, meaning, originally, an embrace. It signifies an ancient ceremony used in conferring knighthood. Antiquaries are not agreed wherein the accolade consisted. Some think it signifies

the embrace or kiss, given by the person who conferred the honor of knighthood. It is more probable that it consisted in an imitation of a blow on the neck, or on the cheek, signifying that this should be the last blow which the new-made knight should endure. The ceremony of striking the candidate with the naked sword, which afterwards took the place of the blow with the hand, had the same meaning. The Roman master also gave a blow to his slave, at the time of his emancipation, which, therefore, was called manumission; and in those parts of Germany where the ancient corporations of mechanics still continue, the apprentice receives a blow from the oldest journeyman, when his apprenticeship is at an end. The blow or stroke was in use among all Christian nations of the middle ages in conferring knighthood. (See Chivalry.)

ACCOMMODATION; properly, the adaptation of one thing to another; in philosophy, the application of one thing by analogy to another. It is also used in theology; thus, a prophecy of Scripture is said to be fulfilled improperly, or by way of accommodation when an event happens to any place or people similar to that predicted of another. Some theologians also say that Christ said many things to his disciples by way of accommodation, viz. entering into their views, and telling them only what they were capable of understanding. Others think this theory inconsistent with the purity of Christ. A., in law, is used for an amicable agreement or composition between two contending parties. These accommodations are frequently effected by means of compromise and arbitration.

ACCOMPANIMENT, in music, (French, accompagnement; Italian, accompagnamento,) is that part of music which serves for the support of the principal melody (solo or obligato part). This can be executed either by many instruments, by a few, or even by a single one. We have, therefore, pieces of music with an accompaniment for several, or only for a single instrument. The principles on which the effect of the accompaniment rests are so little settled, that its composition is perhaps more difficult than even that of the melody, or principal part. Frequently, the same musical thought, according to the character of the accompaniment, produces a good or bad effect, without our being able to give a satisfactory reason for the difference. Hitherto, the Italians have been most distinguished for

expressive accompaniments contained in a few notes, but productive of great effect. In this respect, the Italian music generally surpasses the German and French, as it never weakens the effect of the principal part by means of the accompaniment. The French are far behind both the other nations, in respect to this part of composition, as they frequently estimate the effect by the quantity of notes. The accompaniment requires of the performer the most scrupulous study, and of the composer the greatest care and delicacy. The accompaniment of various solo instruments, e. g. the violin, flute, piano, &c. is extremely difficult, and to give it full effect requires great knowledge and skill. The Italian composers accordingly consider a piano accompaniment for a full orchestra, especially in the recitativo, (q. v.) as a great problem, which they have labored zealously to solve. As the object of every musical accompaniment is to give effect to the principal part, the accompanier should always aim to support, and by no means to overpower and oppress it. Of all composers, Mozart, even in respect to the accompaniments, claims the first place for the simplicity and beauty with which he amalgamates the leading and accompanying parts, through his unrivalled knowledge and excellent management of the parts for every individual instrument.

ACCORD. (Mus.) (See Concord.) ACCORD; in common law, an agreement, between two or more persons, to give and accept satisfaction for an offence or trespass committed, which becomes a bar to a suit.

ACCOUCHEMENT (French); the delivery of a woman in child-bed.

ACCUM, Frederic, a German, from the Prussian province of Westphalia, went to London in the year 1803, where he delivered a course of lectures on chemistry and experimental physics, the basis of which was the discoveries of Priestley and other English chemists. He formed a connexion with Rudolf Ackermann, a German artist in London, to promote the general use of gas for lighting cities, and his work "On Gas Lights" was mainly instrumental in producing the extensive use of gas-lights in London, and all the great cities of England. He subsequently published a manual of practical hemistry, which is in high estimation in England. He was suspected of having purloined from the "Royal Institution," the library and reading-room of which were, in part, committed to his care,

29

plates and treatises; and the accusation of the overseer of this institution bore hard upon him in a court of justice; still nothing could be legally proved against him. For several years, A. has lived in Berlin, where he has received an appointment.

ACCUMULATION. (See Capital.)

ACCUSATION (from the Latin ad, to, and causari, to plead); an assertion, imputing to some person a crime, or a fault : in law, a formal declaration, charging some person with an act punishable by a judicial sentence. In Rome, where there was no calumniator publicus, no attorneygeneral, every one was permitted to prosecute crimes of a public nature. Therefore accusations very often took place against innocent persons, on which account it was not considered at all disreputable to be accused. Cato is said to have been accused 42 times, and as often absolved. Also in Prussia and Austria there exists, according to the codes of these countries, no public accuser. The courts accuse, try and sentence upon information received from the police, to which private individuals apply. This is called the process by inquisition, in contradistinction to process by accusation or appeal. In the common law of Germany, the process of appeal, in which the person injured appears as the accusing party, is not general, yet not abolished. (See Criminal process.) For accusation in England and France, see Jury. At Athens, if an accuser had not the fifth part of the votes on his side, he was obliged to pay a fine of a thousand drachmas. Æschines, who accused Ctesiphon, was condemned to pay this fine. At Rome, a false accuser was branded with the letter K on his forehead, (used for C, i. e. Calumniator.) The accuser was also watched to prevent his corrupting the judges or the witnesses. The Spanish inquisition forces the suspected person to accuse himself of the crime objected to him. In France, peers are to be accused of crimes only before the chamber of peers, and the chamber of deputies alone has the right to accuse ministers, as such, before the peers. Accusing, in these cases, is called impeaching. In the United States, any officer of government, the president not excepted, is impeachable, and the constitution provides the accuser and the judges. In no monarchy can the king be brought to trial for a crime, though, in some cases, his conduct may be such as to amount to a virtual abdication of the throne. Blackstone says, “When king

30

James II invaded the fundamental constitution of the realm, the convention declared an abdication, whereby the throne was rendered vacant, which induced a new settlement of the crown. And so far as this precedent leads, and no farther, we may now be allowed to lay down the law of redress against public oppression." ACELDAMA (Heb., a field of blood); the field purchased by the Jewish rulers with the 30 pieces of silver which Judas returned to them in despair, after betraying Christ. This field they appropriated as a burial-place for strangers. The place is still shown to travellers. It is small, and covered with an arched roof. The bodies deposited in it are, it is said, consumed in three or four days, or even less time. ACEPHALI (headless); several sects of schismatics in the Christian church, who rebelled against their Christian head, or refused to acknowledge any; for example, the monophysite monks and priests in Egypt, who did not acknowledge the patriarch, Peter Mongus, because he had not, at the adoption of the Henoticon, in 483, expressly condemned the council of Chalcedon. They were divided into three parties, but were soon lost among the other monophysites. The Flagellants (q. v.) were also Acephali, because, as a sect, they acknowledged no head. This term is also applied to certain nations represented, by ancient naturalists, as formed without heads, their eyes, mouths, &c. being placed in their breasts, shoulders, &c.

ACERBI, Giuseppe, was born at CastelGoffredo, in the territory of Mantua. He spent a portion of his youth in Mantua, and there acquired a knowledge of English. On the invasion of Lombardy, by the French, in 1798, he accompanied Bellotti from Brescia to Germany; thence he went to Denmark and Sweden, and lastly to Finland, in 1799. In Tornea, he met colonel Skiöldebrand, a good landscape painter, and with him planned a voyage to the North Cape. He was the first Italian that ever penetrated so far. On his return, he visited England, where he published a lively description of these travels, in a work in 3 volumes, in 1802. In his account of Lapland, A. has made good use of the exact information of the Swedish missionary, Canut Leem. The book was translated in Paris, under the eyes of the author, by M. Petit Radel. For 6 years, A. published, in Milan, the journal Biblioteca Italiana, the spirited criticisms of which have given an impulse to the literary character of Italy. He has

actively opposed the pretensions of the Accademia della Crusca, and the arrogant pretensions of the Florentine dialect. For several years past, spirited sketches of the latest Italian literature by A. have appeared, and have received universal approbation. His appointment as consulgeneral of Austria in Egypt, 1826, compelled him to resign the Biblioteca Italiana to other hands.

ACERRA; an altar set up by the Romans, near the bed of a person deceased, on which his friends daily offered incense till his burial.

ACETIC ACID; the acid which, in a more diluted state, is called vinegar.

ACHEANS are properly the inhabitants of the district Achaia, in the Peloponnesus; but this name is very frequently, especially in Homer, given to all the Grecians. Achæus, a son of Xuthus and Creusa, went to Thessaly with a number of followers, but was soon driven out, and compelled to withdraw to the Peloponnesus, where he settled in Sparta and Argos, the inhabitants of which were called Achæans. Of the Grecian nations en gaged in the siege of Troy, the Achæans were the most numerous and powerful After the conquest of this city, being overcome by the Dorians, they retired to Ionia, on the northern coast of the Peloponnesus, gave to the country the name of Achaia, and founded a republic, which was subsequently famous for the Achæan league. This league was at first formed by a few cities, for the maintenance of their security and independence; but afterwards included all the other cities of Achaia, together with Athens, Megara, &c. Sparta, however, did not join the confederacy. After the destruction of Corinth, B. C. 146, the states composing this league were made a Roman prov ince, under the name of Achaia. (See Greece.)

ACHEUS, in ancient history,—1. A king of Lydia, deposed and hanged for extor tion. Ovid. 2. The founder of the Achæar state in the Peloponnesus, son of Xuthus king of Thessaly. 3. A tragic poet of Eretria, who lived some time after Soph ocles. 4. Another poet of Syracuse. 5 A cousin-german to Seleucus Ceraunus and Antiochus the Great, kings of Syria, who enjoyed, for many years, the dominions he had usurped from Antiochus; but at last was betrayed by a Cretan to the last-mentioned king, and, his limbs being cut off, his body was sewed in the skin of an ass and gibbeted.

ACHAIA; properly, a narrow district of