Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1: A Revised American Edition of the Reader's HandbookBrewer, Ebenezer Cobham
General
Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1: A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook
Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham
Allusions; Fiction -- Dictionaries; Literature -- Dictionaries
Not that Adam that kept the paradise, but that Adam that keeps the
prison.--Shakespeare, _Comedy of Errors_, act iv. sc. 3 (1593).
_Adam_, a faithful retainer in the family of sir Eowland de Boys. At
the age of fourscore, he voluntarily accompanied his young master
Orlando into exile, and offered to give him his little savings.
He has given birth to the phrase, "A Faithful Adam" [_or
man-servant_].--Shakespeare, _As You Like It_ (1598).
ADAM BELL, a northern outlaw, noted for his archery. The name, like
those of Clym of the Clough, William of Cloudesly, Robin Hood, and
Little John, is synonymous with a good archer.
ADAMASTOR, the Spirit of the Cape, a hideous phantom, of unearthly
pallor; "erect his hair uprose of withered red, his lips were black,
his teeth blue and disjointed, his beard haggard, his face scarred by
lightning, his eyes shot livid fire, his voice roared." The sailors
trembled at sight of him, and the fiend demanded how they dared to
trespass "where never hero braved his rage before?" He then told them
"that every year the shipwrecked should be made to deplore their
foolhardiness."--Camöens, _The Lusiad_, v. (1569).
ADAM'IDA, a planet on which reside the unborn spirits of saints,
martyrs, and believers. U'riel, the angel of the sun, was ordered
at the crucifixion to interpose this planet between the sun and the
earth, so as to produce a total eclipse.
Adamida, in obedience to the divine command, flew amidst overwhelming
storms, rushing clouds, falling mountains, and swelling seas. Uriel
stood on the pole of the star, but so lost in deep contemplation on
Golgotha, that he heard not the wild uproar. On coming to the region
of the sun, Adamida slackened her course, and advancing before the
sun, covered its face and intercepted all its rays.--Klopstock, _The
Messiah_, viii. (1771).
ADAMS _(John)_, one of the mutineers of the _Bounty_ (1790), who
settled in Tahiti. In 1814 he was discovered as the patriarch of a
colony, brought up with a high sense of religion and strict regard to
morals. In 1839 the colony was voluntarily placed under the protection
of the British Government.
_Adams (Parson)_, the beau-ideal of a simple-minded, benevolent, but
eccentric country clergyman, of unswerving integrity, solid learning,
and genuine piety; bold as a lion in the cause of truth, but modest as
a girl in all personal matters; wholly ignorant of the world, being
"_in_ it but not _of_ of it."--Fielding, _Joseph Andrews_ (1742).
His learning, his simplicity, his evangelical purity of mind are so
admirably mingled with pedantry, absence of mind, and the habit of
athletic ... exercise ... that he may be safely termed one of the
richest productions of the muse of fiction. Like Don Quixote, parson
Adams is beaten a little too much and too often, but the cudgel
lights upon his shoulders ... without the slightest stain to his
reputation.--Sir W. Scott.
AD'DISON OF THE NORTH, Henry Mackenzie, author of _The Man of Feeling_
(1745-1831).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account