Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/623

Rh A L L A L L 585 11 Pericles,&quot; and &quot; Henry VIII.,&quot; as appears from his inventory of his own theatrical wardrobe. Among the intimate friends of both were Ben Jonson, Michael Dray- ton, and other members of the goodly company of poets and dramatists whose genius shed a lustre on their day. Shakespeare had not finally betaken himself to the retire ment of Stratford -on -Avon until seven years after Alleyn took up his abode at Dulwich. In the face of all these facts, it can hardly be said the local tradition is groundless, though no direct proof has yet been brought to bear on the point. Alleyn s first wife died in the summer of 1623. In December of the same year he married Constance Donne, who survived him. This lady was a daughter of Dr Donne, dean of St Paul s. Her maiden name was mis quoted by an early biographer. This mistake gave rise to the further error which attributes to Alleyn a third wife. He died in November 1626, in the sixty- first year of his age. His gravestone at Dulwich fixes the date of his death on 21st November, but there are grounds for the belief that the true date is the 25th of the same month. Besides dispensing bounties within the bounds of his college, Alleyn provided, by an after-thought, some years later than his deed of foundation, for certain extensions of the benefits of his endowment. But successive actions at law, carried on at various periods, resulted in the ruling that it was not within the competence of the founder to divert any portion of the revenues of his foundation to the use of others than the members thereof, as specified in the letters patent. Chief among the good intents on the part of the founder that were thus frustrated was his scheme for embracing in the school work within the college as many outsiders as would bring the total number to eighty boys, inclusive of the twelve foundationers. But as this was not within the bond, his successors in the administration of the trust, for more than two centuries after his death, declined the work. In the latter part of that period, decay, and not development, fixed on the time-honoured memorial of Alleyn s high but thwarted purposes the stigma of a public scandal. Then came, in 1842, a grudging and partial, rather than a full and loyal, concession towards the realisation of the founder s aims. Finally, however, an Act of Parliament, in 1857, ex tinguished the stagnant and unprogressive corporation. Alleyn s College of God s Gift at Dulwich entered thence forward on that prosperous career which already links its name with the front rank of institutions doing good ser vice in the educational work of the day. (j. GO.) ALLIANCE, a league between independent states for the purpose of combined action, defensive or offensive, or both a subject which falls to be treated under the heading LAW OF NATIONS. The alliances of greatest historical importance are the Triple Alliance (1688) of Great Britain, Sweden, and the Netherlands against France ; the Grand Alliance (1689) of the Emperor Leopold I. and Holland, subsequently joined by England, Spain, and Saxony, against Louis XIV.; the Quadruple Alliance (1718) of Great Britain, France, Austria, and Holland, against Spain ; the Holy Alliance (1815) of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, for the maintenance of peace and the establishment of the existing dynasties; and the alliance (1854) of Great Britain, France, and Turkey, against Russia. ALLIER, a department in the centre of France, so called from the river of the same name ; bounded on the N. by the department of Cher and Nievre, on the E. by those of Saone-et-Loire and Loire, on the S. by that of Puys de Dome, and on the W. by those of Creuse and Cher ; extending at the widest points 82 miles from E. to W., and 55 from N. to S. ; and containing an area of 2821 square miles. Its surface is in general undulating, rising to considerable elevations among the mountains of Forez on the south-east, and among those of Auvergne towards the west. The river Allier flows northward between these ranges, receiving the Andelot, the Sioule, and the Bioudre, all from the left ; east of the Allier is. the Bebre, which joins the Loire within the limits of the department ; and on the west the Cher, with its tributary the Aumance. The soil is for the most part fertile, espe cially in the valleys of the Allier, the Sioule, and the Bebre, yielding wheat, oats, barley, rye, fruits, and potatoes, in quantities exceeding what is required for home consump tion, as well as some red and white wines. Good timber is grown, and cattle, sheep, goats, and horses are reared in large numbers; but agriculture is on the whole in a back ward condition, owing to the inhabitants aversion to change. The mineral wealth of the department is very considerable, including iron, coal, antimony, marble, and manganese the coal mines of Commentry being among the most important. The chief manufactures are of cutlery, earthenware, glass, cloth, leather, and paper. The climate is healthy, but is liable to sudden variations of tempera ture. The mineral waters at Vichy, Neris, and Bourbon 1 Archambault, in the department, are in much repute, Allier comprehends the greater portion of the old province of Bourbonnais, and is at present divided into four arron- dissements Moulins, Gannat, La Palisse, and Montlueon, which are subdivided into 28 cantons and 317 communes. Moulins is the capital, and the seat of a bishop whose diocese is co-extensive with the department. The other important towns are La Palisse, Gusset, Vichy, Gannat, Saint Pourcain, Montlucon, and Commentry. Population in 1871, 390,812; of whom 196,831 were males, and 193,981 females. Of the total population, 223,374 could neither read nor write, and 36,786 could read but could not write. ALLIEE, the ancient El aver, a river of France, which rises in the department of Lozere, among the Margeride mountains, a few miles east of the town of Mencle, and, after traversing Haute Loire, Puys de Dome, and Allier, forms the boundary between Cher and Nievre, until it falls into the Loire four miles west of Nevers. Its length ia 200 miles, for a considerable portion of which it is navi gable, and its chief tributaries are the Dore and the Sioule. ALLIGATOR, (probably derived from the Spanish el lagarto, the lizard), an animal so closely allied to the crocodile that some naturalists have classed them together as forming one genus. It differs from the true crocodile principally in having the head broader and shorter, and the snout more obtuse ; in having a large canine tooth of the under jaw received, not into an external furrow, but into a pit formed for it within the upper one ; in wanting a jagged fringe which appears on the hind legs and feet of the crocodile; and in having the toes of the hind feet webbed not more than half-way to the tips. The principal species, all found in America only, are the common alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis or Crocodilus Lucius), occurring- in the southern United States ; the caiman or cayman (A. palpebrosxs), in Surinam and Guiana ; and the spec tacled alligator or jacare (A. sdcrops), principally in Brazil. The names alligator and crocodile are often con founded in popular speech ; and the structure and habits of the two animals are so similar that both may be con veniently considered under the heading CROCODILE. ALLITERATION. As Milton defined rhyme to be &quot; the jingling sound of like endings,&quot; so alliteration is the jingle of like beginnings. All language has a tendency to jingle in both ways, ev^n in prose. Thus in prose we speak of &quot; near and dear,&quot; &quot; high and dry,&quot; &quot; health and wealth.&quot; But the initial form of jingle is much more common &quot; safe and sound,&quot; &quot; thick and thin,&quot; &quot; weal or I - 74