50 vols., including poetry (School of the Heart and Abbot of Munchelnaye, and a translation of the Odyssey), criticism, sermons, etc.  In addition to the works above mentioned he wrote Chapters on the Greek Poets (1841), the Queen’s English (1863), and many well-known hymns, and he was the first editor of the Contemporary Review.  He was also an accomplished artist and musician.  His industry was incessant and induced a premature breakdown in health, which terminated in his death in 1871.  He was the friend of most of his eminent contemporaries, and was much beloved for his amiable character.

ALISON, ARCHIBALD (1757-1839).—­Didactic and philosophical writer, was b. in Edinburgh and ed. at Glasgow University and Oxford.  After being presented to various livings in England, A. came to Edinburgh as incumbent of St. Paul’s Episcopal Chapel, where he attained popularity as a preacher of sermons characterised by quiet beauty of thought and grace of composition.  His chief contribution to literature is his Essay on the Nature and Principles of Taste (1790), in which the “association” theory is supported.

ALISON, SIR ARCHIBALD (1792-1867).—­Historian, s. of the above, was b. at Kenley, Shropshire, and after studying under a private tutor, and at Edinburgh University, was, in 1814, called to the Bar, at which he ultimately attained some distinction, becoming in 1834 Sheriff of Lanarkshire, in which capacity he rendered valuable service in times of considerable difficulty.  It was when travelling in France in 1814 that he conceived the idea of his History of Europe, which deals with the period from the outbreak of the French Revolution to the restoration of the Bourbons, and extends, in its original form (1833-42), to 10 vols.  The work is one of vast industry, and gives a useful account of an important epoch, but is extremely diffuse and one-sided, and often prosy.  Disraeli satirises the author in Coningsby as Mr. Wordy, who wrote a history to prove that Providence was on the side of the Tories.  It had, however, an enormous sale.  A continuation of it (1852-59) brought the story down to the accession of Louis Napoleon.  A. was also the author of a life of Marlborough, and of two standard works on the criminal law of Scotland.  In his private and official capacities he was highly respected, and was elected Lord Rector successively of Marischal Coll., Aberdeen, and of Glasgow University.  He was created a baronet by Lord Derby in 1852.

ALLEN, CHARLES GRANT (1848-1899).—­Scientific writer and novelist, b. in Canada, to which his f., a clergyman, had emigrated, and ed. at Birmingham and Oxford.  For a time he was a professor in a college for negroes in Jamaica, but returning to England in 1876 devoted himself to literature.  His first books were on scientific subjects, and include Physiological AEsthetics (1877) and Flowers