Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/51

ADA ADA´MUS EVESHAMENSIS or ADAM OF EVESHAM, an ecclesiastic of the twelfth century, one of the messengers who brought the pall to Thomas A'Becket in 1162. He was abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Evesham. Died in 1191.  ADA´MUS GODDAMUS or GODHAM, probably a native of Ireland, author of a commentary on Peter Lombard, and of several treatises of scholastic theology. He was a Minorite or Franciscan, and an Oxford doctor of divinity.  ADA´MUS MARISCUS or DE MARISCO, lived in the thirteenth century, and was a distinguished teacher in the Franciscan monastery at Oxford. He was celebrated for his theological learning, being called by his contemporaries "Doctor Illustratus." Roger Bacon makes honourable mention of "Friar Adam de Marisco," in his "Opus Majus."  ADA´MUS MUREMUTHENSIS or ADAM DE MURIMUTH, an English historian, who wrote a Latin chronicle of the events of his own time, extending from 1303 to 1337. The chronicle has been continued to 1380; but it is almost certain that Murimuth's death took place before that year, and that the continuation is the work of some anonymous writer.  ADANSON,, a French naturalist (but of Scotch extraction), was born at Aix in Provence on the 7th April, 1727. He was educated at Paris, and enjoyed the benefit of studying under Reamur and Bernard de Jussieu. He exhibited a great love for natural history. In the year 1748, when only twenty-one years of age, he embarked for Senegal, with the view of examining the productions of that part of Africa. He spent five years in the colony, and made extensive collections of animals and plants. He also devoted attention to the meteorology of the country, and to the languages of the natives. He returned to Paris in 1753, and four years afterwards published his "Histoire Naturelle du Senegal, avec la relation abregée d'un voyage fait en ce pays, en 1749-1753." This work has been translated into English and German. He devoted much attention to the classification of plants, and he propounded a system which, in many respects, is in accordance with the natural system of the present day. His work entitled "Families des Plantes," containing his views of classification, was published in Paris, in two volumes, in 1763. In it he displays much knowledge of the philosophy of botany, but he unfortunately adopted a nomenclature which was not received by the botanical world. During the French Revolution, he suffered great troubles and privations, and seems to have been reduced to a state of penury. He died on 6th August, 1806, in the eightieth year of his age. He appears to have been a man of liberal and philanthropic sentiments, and to have nobly advocated the liberation of the slave. The name of Adansonia digitata, in honour of him, is given to a famous tree of tropical Africa. The tree is known as the Baobab-tree, or Ethiopian Sour-gourd, or Monkey-bread, and is remarkable for the size of its trunk, which attains a diameter of thirty feet.—J. H. B.  ADASHEV,, minister of the czar Ivan IV., at a remarkable period of Russian history. In 1547 a terrible conflagration destroyed the greater part of Moscow, along with 1700 of its inhabitants. The population suffered great misery, and, exasperated by the neglect of the young czar Ivan IV., rose in revolt. The sovereign, afraid of his rebel subjects, and moved by an appeal made by a priest named Sylvester, was roused to action, and appointed Sylvester, along with his chamberlain Adashev, to manage the affairs of the state. Under them great reforms were wrought, and vast advances made by the country in intelligence and commerce, as well as in military glory. Adashev occupied the most prominent position; but gradually he began to decline in favour, and in 1561 died in a prison at Dorpat, into which he had been thrown on an accusation of causing by sorcery the death of the czaritza Anastasia. After his death the czar became noted for his cruelty, and gained for himself the title of Ivan the Terrible.—J. B.  ADASHEV,, son of the preceding, distinguished in various military expeditions during his father's administration, especially in that against the Crim Tartars. He was put to death by Ivan soon after his father's decease.  ADDA,, distinguished as a poet, painter, and soldier. He executed the picture of John the Baptist, which forms an altar-piece in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. <section end="51H" /> <section begin="51I" />ADDINGTON,, an English physician of some reputation, author of several medical works, and father of Lord Sidmouth, was born about 1718. He was honoured with the intimate friendship of Lord Chatham, and, when examined before the House of Lords respecting the malady of George III., gave an opinion which was afterwards gratifying to that sovereign, and, at the time, useful to the ministry of Pitt. Both circumstances had subsequently an influence on Lord Sidmouth's success in life. Died in 1790.—E. M. <section end="51I" /> <section begin="51J" />ADDINGTON,, Lord Viscount Sidmouth, son of Dr. Anthony Addington, was born in 1755. After qualifying himself for the medical profession, he soon quitted it to devote himself to a political career, for which he had always cherished a strong predilection. Entering parliament in 1782, he showed himself an ardent and valuable adherent of his early friend Pitt. When, in 1792, the motion of Mr. Wilberforce on the slave trade came before the house, Pitt and Addington took different sides, the former eloquently pleading for its immediate, the latter desiring its gradual abolition. Mr. Addington was raised in 1789 to the dignity of speaker of the House of Commons, which he retained till March, 1801, when he became premier. In this capacity he displayed great power in making dry administrative subjects attractive, by a lucid and polished eloquence. He zealously promoted the peace of Amiens, but some clauses in the treaty exposed him to the violent attacks of the opposition, now comprehending some of his previous supporters. When hostilities were resumed, he was the foremost in urging the vigorous prosecution of the war. Towards the end of 1803, he called the nation to arms, and put the coasts in a state of defence. But he wanted the requisite energy to command public confidence at such a crisis. The nation, therefore, demanded a change of ministry, and Pitt was again invited to take the reins of government. Addington resigned the seals in May, 1804. The king, with whom he was a special favourite, raised him to the peerage, under the title of Viscount Sidmouth, and made him a privy councillor. After Pitt's death, Sidmouth, with Fox and Grenville, formed a new ministry in January, 1806, which was dismissed by the king a few months afterwards on the death of Fox. When Lord Liverpool became premier, on the assassination of the unfortunate Percival, Sidmouth again entered the cabinet as home secretary; but in 1822, on the death of the Marquis of Londonderry (Castlereagh), he retired, and was succeeded by Peel. He died at the age of eighty-nine, on the 15th February, 1844.—(Life of Lord Sidmouth by Dean Pellew, 3 vols. 8vo.)—E. M. <section end="51J" /> <section begin="51K" />ADDINGTON,, D.D., successively minister of the dissenting congregation at Market Harborough, tutor at the theological seminary at Mile-End, London (from 1783 to 1788), and minister of the congregation in Miles' Lane (from 1788 to 1796), was born in 1729, and died in February, 1796, in his sixty-seventh year. His works are a "Life of the Apostle Paul," a "Defence of Infant Baptism," a "Dissertation on the Religious Knowledge of the ancient Jews and Patriarchs," and some minor publications.—W. L. A. <section end="51K" /> <section begin="51Zcontin" />ADDISON,, poet, statesman, moralist, and a consummate master of the English language, was the eldest son of Dr. Lancelot Addison, by Jane his wife, and was born at Milston, Wiltshire, May 1, 1672. Like Sir Isaac Newton, and many other illustrious men, he was a weakly child, and baptized on the day of his birth, under the impression that he could not long survive. His first teacher was the Rev. Mr. Naish, at Amesbury school. Thence he removed to Sarum school, under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Taylor. He was prepared for the university at the great school of the Charterhouse in London, where Richard Steele was his companion, and where the foundation of their friendship was laid. In 1687 he was entered at Queen's college, Oxford. His classical attainments, refined taste, and gentle character, soon made him favourably known in the university. Some of his verses fell into the hands of Dr. Lancaster, then dean of Magdalen college. He was consequently chosen a member of that house, where he took the degree of bachelor and master of arts.

Already esteemed for his skill in Latin versification, at the age of twenty-two he addressed an English poem to Dryden, containing some pleasing compliments on that poet's translations from Virgil, Ovid, Juvenal, and Persius; and he afterwards assisted Dryden in the composition of his works. At this time he was strongly importuned by his father to enter holy orders, and among his friends we find "Mr. Henry Sacheverell," afterwards so celebrated as a party controversialist. In 1695 he wrote a poem on King William, addressed to Sir John Somers, then lord <section end="51Zcontin" />