6 1679 by Picard, and continued by him till 1684. It then passed through the hands of various astronomers, till 1760, when the conduct of it was given to Lalande, who, besides other alterations, first introduced the lunar distances, which have been already alluded to. At present the plan is very similar to that of the new Nautical Almanac,' with the addition of very valuable original memoirs which appear yearly. In fact we may say generally, that the original contributions to the various continental almanacs are among their most valuable parts; and, as Professor Airy remarks, 'Reports of the British Association,' &c., p. 128, " In fact nearly all the astronomy of the present century is to be found in these works," that is, in certain periodicals which are mentioned, " or in the Ephemerides' of Berlin, Paris, or Milan." Next to the Nautical Almanac,' the private publication which is most entitled to notice as an astronomical almanac is White's Ephemeris,' a work which is nearly as old as the monopoly previously described. For many years past, this publication has given astronomical data sufficient to enable the seaman to find his latitude and time. The Gentleman's Diary,' commenced in 1741, and the 'Ladies' Diary,' in 1705, have powerfully aided in keeping up a mathematical taste, to a certain extent, throughout the country, by annually proposing problems for competition: several, who have afterwards become celebrated in mathematics, have commenced their career by the solution of these problems. c. 57. to evade the law, that unstamped almanacs were circulated in as large numbers as those which paid the tax. It is stated in the Report of the Commissioners of Excise Inquiry that 200 new almanacs were published as soon as the duty was repealed, of some of which upwards of 250,000 copies were sold, although the old ones not only maintained, but, in some cases, doubled their circulation. The most marked effect of the repeal of the duty is perhaps the improvement in the character of almanacs. ALMONER, once written Aumner and Amner, was an officer in a king's, prince's, prelate's, or other great man's household, whose business it was to distribute alms to the poor. Previous to the dissolution every great monastery in England had its almoner. The almoner of the king of France was styled his grand aumonier, and we find a similar officer at a very early period attached to the household of the popes. The word almoner is a corruption of eleemosynarius, a word which is formed from the Greek eleemosyne (λenμooúvn). The word almonarius is a corruption of eleemosynarius. Fleta,' a law treatise of the time of Edward I., describes the duties of the high almoner as they then stood in England (ii. c. 23). He had to collect the fragments of the royal table, and distribute them daily to the poor; to visit the sick, poor widows, prisoners, and other persons in distress; he reminded the king about the bestowal of his alms, especially on saints'-days, and was careful that the cast-off robes, which were often of high price, should not be bestowed on players, minstrels, or flatterers, but their value given to increase the king's charity. The duty on almanacs was abolished in August, 1834, by 3 & 4 William IV. The stamp was fifteen pence on each almanac. The average number of stamps issued between 1821 and 1830 in- In modern times the office of lord high clusive, was about 499,000 yearly, pro-almoner has been long held by the archducing an average revenue of about bishops of York. There is also a sub31,000l. The largest number of almanacs almoner, an office which is at present stamped in any one year during the above filled by the dean of Chester. The heperiod was 528,254 in 1821, and the reditary grand almoner is the Marquis smallest number was 444,474 in 1830; of Exeter. There is an office approand in 1833, the year before the duty was priated to the business of the almonry in abolished, the amount of duty was only Middle Scotland Yard, Whitehall. Cham26,1647. The tax prevented the free berlayne, in the Present State of Great competition of respectable publishers in Britain,' octavo, London, 1755, gives an Almanacs, and tempted so many persons account of the lord almoner's office as it then stood. "The lord almoner disposes of the king's alms, and for that use receives (besides other monies allowed by the king) all deodands and bona felonum de se to be that way disposed. Moreover, the lord almoner hath the privilege to give the king's dish to whatsoever poor men he pleases; that is, the first dish at dinner which is set upon the king's table, or instead thereof 4d. per diem. Next he distributes to twenty-four poor men, nominated by the parishioners of the parish adjacent to the king's palace of residence, to each of them 4d. in inoney, a twopenny loaf, and a gallon of beer, or, instead thereof, 3d. in money, to be equally divided among them every morning at seven of the clock at the court-gate; and every poor man, before he receives the alms, to repeat the Creed and the Lord's Prayer in the presence of one of the king's chaplains, deputed by the lord almoner to be his sub-almoner; who is also to scatter new-coined twopences in the towns and places where the king passeth through in his progress, to a certain sum by the year. Besides there are many poor pensioners to the king and queen below stairs, that is, such as are put to pension, either because they are so old that they are unfit for service, or else the widows of such of his majesty's household servants that died poor, and were not able to provide for their wives and children in their lifetimes: every one of these hath a competency duly paid them. Under the lord high almoner there are a sub-almoner, a yeoman, and two grooms of the almonry." The lord almoner's annual distribution is now made in the queen's name, on the Thursday before Easter, called Maundy Thursday. There is at Cambridge the lord almoner's professorship of Arabic, founded in 1770. The professor is appointed by the lord almoner, and is paid out of the almonry funds. The grand almoner of the king of France was once the highest ecclesiastical dignitary in that kingdom. To him belonged the distribution of the royal bounty to the poor, the superintendence of all houses in the kingdom for the reception of poor foreigners, and houses of | lepers; the king received the sacrament from his hand; and he said mass before the king in all great ceremonies and solemnities. At the establishment of the imperial household in 1804, Napoleon restored the office of grand almoner of France in the person of Cardinal Fesch: and the office was continued till the exile of Charles X. Ducange, in his Glossary (Eleemosynarii'), gives other meanings of the word alinoner. It was sometimes used for those who distributed the pious bequests of others; sometimes for a person who by testament left alms to the poor; and sometimes for the poor upon whom the alms were bestowed. The eleemosynarii regis, or persons who were supported by the king's bounty, occasionally noticed in the Domesday Survey, were of this last description. Almoner is a name also given in ecclesiastical writers to the deacons of churches. ALMS-HOUSE, an edifice, or collection of tenements, built by a private person, and endowed with a revenue for the maintenance of a certain number of poor, aged, or disabled people. England is the only country which possesses almshouses in abundance, though many such exist in Italy. In England, they appear to have succeeded the incorporated hospitals for the relief of poor and impotent people, which were dissolved by King Henry VIII. The rules for the government of alms-houses are those which the founder has made or empowered others to make. Alms-houses belong to that class of endowments which are comprehended under the name of Charities. AMBASSADOR (directly from the French Ambassadeur), is the term commonly used to designate every kind of diplomatic ininister or agent. The word ambassador is sometimes written with an E, a form which the English always use in the word Embassy. Spelman derives Ambassador from Ambactus, a word used by Cæsar (Gallic War, vi. 15, Ambactos clientesque '). The various forms in which the word Ambassador has been written are collected in Webster's English Dictionary, art. Embassador.' An ara. bassador may be defined to be a person sent by one sovereign power to another to ་ treat upon affairs of state. The necessity of employing such means of communication between independent communities is obvious, and there is hardly an instance of a people in so rude a state of society as to be ignorant of the functions of an ambassador, and of the respect which is due to his office. In modern states however, whatever may be the form of government, ambassadors are generally named by the person who has the supreme executive power. In the United States of North America, the President names an ambassador, but the appointment must be confirmed by the Senate. Sometimes the power of appointing and sending ambassadors has been delegated to a subordinate executive officer, as it was to the viceroy of Naples, the Governor of Milan, and the Spanish Governor-General of the Netherlands. It is exercised by every power which can make war and peace, and accordingly is possessed by the East India Company. Embassies were anciently sent only on particular occasions, with authority to transact some specific business; as, for instance, to negotiate a treaty of peace or alliance, or to complain of wrongs and demand redress. great changes were gradually introduced in the political condition of Europe. The several states which had risen to importance, although independent of one another, were bound together by numerous ties, and with the extension of commerce, the intercourse between them became so great, and their interests so complicated, that it was found expedient for them to keep up a more regular communication; and with this view it became customary for one power to have its ambassador residing constantly at the court or capital city of another. But Among the ordinary functions of an ambassador, the following are the most important:-1st, to conduct negotiations on behalf of his country; the extent of his authority in this respect is marked and limited by the power which he has received from home; he has, however, according to modern usage, no authority to conclude any engagement definitively, the treaty which he has negotiated having no binding power, till it has been formally ratified by his government; 2ndly, to watch over the accomplishment of all existing engagements; and 3rdly, to take care generally that nothing is done within the territories of the state, nor any treaty entered into with other powers, by which the honour or interests of his country can be affected, without informing his government of such measures. An ambassador has also certain duties to perform towards private individuals of his own nation: such as to provide them with passports, where they are required; to present them at court, if they produce the requisite testimonials; to protect them from violence and injustice; and if any manifest wrong has been done, or if justice has been refused them, to exert himself to obtain redress, and to secure for them the full benefit of the laws; and, lastly, to assist them in maintaining their rights in courts of justice, as well by certifying what is the law of his country upon the point in dispute, as by the authentication of private documents, which is usually confined in practice to such as have been previously authenticated at the foreign office of his own government, and thence transmitted to him. It is now the established usage of European countries and of those parts of North America which were colonized by Europeans and have become independent states, to send ambassadors to one another. The sending of an ambassador by any state implies that such state is also willing to receive an ambassador. It is only, however, in time of peace that this interchange of ambassadors regularly takes place. In time of war, a hostile power cannot claim to have its ambassadors received, unless they are provided with a safe-conduct or passport; and the granting of these is merely a matter of discretion. It is, in all cases, requisite that the ambassador should be provided with the proofs of his authority; these are con tained in an instrument, called his Letters of Credence, or Credentials, delivered to him by his own government, and addressed to that of the state to which he is sent. A refusal to receive an ambassa dor properly accredited, if made without sufficient cause, is considered a gross insult to the power that he represents. But if one of several competitors for the sovereign power in any country, or if a province which has revolted and asserts its independence, sends an ambassador to a sovereign state, such state, if it receives the ambassador, thereby recognises the competitor in the one case to be actually the sovereign, and the revolted province, in the other, to be actually independent. Though this may be the general principle, the practice is somewhat different. In such cases, consuls are generally first sent; and when a government has been established for some time de facto, as it is termed, that is, in fact, it is usual with states who have sent consuls to send ministers also in due time, even though the mother country, to which the revolted states belong, may not have recognised their independence. This was done by the British government and others in the case of the South American states, whose independence Spain has not yet recognised. It is said that a government may refuse to receive an ambassador, if he is personally disagreeable to the state, or of a notoriously bad character. But it is now generally the practice, in order to avoid such a refusal, to inform the court beforehand of the person intended to be sent. Every government, it is also said, may make general rules respecting the class of persons whom it chooses to admit as ambassadors; but every state would think itself aggrieved and insulted by the refusal of the ambassador whom it has appointed, except on satisfactory grounds. There is nothing, for instance, in the general law of nations to prevent a man's being accredited by a foreign power to the government of his own country; and in this case he is clothed, as far as his character as an ambassador is concerned, with precisely the same rights as if he was a member of the state by which he is employed. Prince Pozzo di Borgo, a Corsican, was many years Russian ambassador at Paris. But any government may, by a general regulation, refuse to admit, as France and Sweden have in fact done, any of its own subjects as the representative of an independent state. It is the duty of a state, with respect to ambassadors sent to it, to protect them from everything which may in any degree interfere with the due performance of their functions. This duty commences before the ambassador has delivered his credentials, and as soon as his appointment has been notified to the court. The first privilege of an ambassador in the country to which he is sent, is perfect security. This is necessary in order that he may discharge his functions; and the violation of this privilege has always been considered an offence against the law of nations, whether the violation proceeds from the sovereign power itself, or from the unauthorized acts of individuals. The Porte used to violate this privilege, by confining the ministers of any power it went to war with, in the Seven Towers, under the pretence of protecting them from popular outrage. The last minister shut up in the Seven Towers' was M. Ruffin, the envoy of the French republic. Since that time the practice has dropped. The second important privilege of an ambassador is, that no legal process can affect him, in his person or his property; so much of his property, at least, as is connected with his official character, such as his furniture, equipages, &c. (Bynkerschoek, De foro Legatorum.) This privilege is in some degree subsidiary to the former; for it would be of little avail to protect an ambassador from open outrage, if he were liable to be harassed by legal proceedings, which, whether instituted (as it is always possible they might be) without foundation, or well founded, would interfere with the discharge of his public functions. Ambassadors are, therefore, deemed not to be amenable for their conduct before any criminal tribunal of the country they reside in. But ambassadors cannot misconduct themselves with impunity. They are bound to respect the law and customs of the country they are in; and if they commit any offence, the sovereign may complain of it to the government which they represent; or, if the case is of a more serious nature, he may demand that they be recalled, or may even dismiss them peremptorily, and in either case require that they be brought to trial in their own country. And if an ambassador is guilty of an offence which threatens the immediate safety of the state, not even the privilege of personal security will protect him from any degree of force which may be necessary to defeat his ntentions: thus, if he engages in a conspiracy against the government, he may, if the circumstances require it, be put under arrest, in order to be sent home, and if he is found in arms joining in a rebellion, he may be treated as an enemy. The same principle also extends to civil suits, and no claim can be enforced against an ambassador by any compulsory process. and property: it is not only protected from open outrage, but it is likewise exempted from being searched or visited, whether by the police, by revenue officers, or under colour of legal process of any description whatever. This privilege has sometimes been construed to extend so far, as to make the ambassador's residence an asylum to which any offender might flee and be out of the reach of the law; but the government may, in such a case, demand that the offender be given up, and if he is an offender against the state, in case of a refusal on the part of the ambassador, and if the circumstances require it, he may be taken by force. This privilege of asylum, as it is called, was formerly granted in some cities to the whole quarter in which the ambassador resided; such was the case at Madrid, till in the year 1684 it was con fined to the residence itself. Such also was the case at Rome to a much later date; and even at the present day some vestiges of this immunity still remain, but since 1815 it has been confined to cases of correctional police. These privileges are not confined to the ambassador alone, but are extended to all his suite-his companions, as they are sometimes called,—including not only the persons employed by him in diplomatic services, but his wife, chaplain, and household. The law of nations in this respect is fully recognised by the law of England. By the statute of 7 Anne, c. 12, all legal process against the person or goods of an ambassador, or of his domestic, or domestic servants, is declared to be void. The benefit of this Act may be claimed by any one who is actually in the domestic service of the ambassador, whether he is a British subject or a foreigner, provided he is not a merchant or trader within the bankrupt law; and it is not necessary that he should be resident in the ambassador's house. But if he takes a house, and uses it for any other purpose besides that of residenceas if he lets part of it in lodgings, he so far loses his privilege, and his goods are liable to be distrained for parochial rates. Whoever sues out or executes any process contrary to the provisions of the act, is punishable at the discretion of the lord chancellor and the two chief justices, or any two of them, as a violator of the law of nations, and disturber of the public repose; with this exception, how-to ever, that no one can be punished for arresting an ambassador's servant, unless the name of such servant be registered with the secretary of state, and by him transmitted to the sheriffs of London and Middlesex. The third important privilege of an ambassador is, that his residence enjoys a security similar to that of his person There are some other privileges which, though not essential to the character of ambassadors, are yet very generally admitted. Ambassadors are, for instance, in all civilized countries allowed the free exercise of their religion; they are in general exempted from direct taxation; and they are usually allowed to import their goods without paying any customhouse duties: this last privilege, however, being extremely liable to abuse, has sometimes been limited. At Madrid since the year 1814, and at St. Petersburg since 1817, ambassadors are allowed six months to import their goods free of customs, and after that time their exemption ceases. At Berlin they are only allowed import goods until the duties payable amount to a certain sum. If any violence has been offered to an ambassador, or any of his privileges have been infringed, although he may himself, if he chooses, prosecute the offender, it is more usual for him to demand satisfaction of the government, and it is their duty to bring the offender to punishment. |