Carlyle, and
other men of letters. He contributed to _Blackwood's Magazine_, and was
editor of the _Dumfries Herald_ (1835-63). His chief poem is _The Captive
of Fez_ (1830); and in prose he wrote _Religious Characteristics_, and
_The Old Bachelor in the Old Scottish Village_ (1848), all of which were
received with favour. Carlyle said that in his poetry he found everywhere
"a healthy breath as of mountain breezes."

AKENSIDE, MARK (1721-1770).--Poet, _s._ of a butcher at
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, gave early indications of talent, and was sent to
the University of Edinburgh with the view of becoming a dissenting
minister. While there, however, he changed his mind and studied for the
medical profession. Thereafter he went to Leyden, where he took his
degree of M.D. in 1744. While there he wrote his principal poem, _The
Pleasures of the Imagination_, which was well received, and was
subsequently translated into more than one foreign language. After trying
Northampton, he settled as a physician in London; but was for long
largely dependent for his livelihood on a Mr. Dyson. His talents brought
him a good deal of consideration in society, but the solemn and pompous
manner which he affected laid him open to some ridicule, and he is said
to have been satirised by Smollett (_q.v._) in his _Peregrine Pickle_. He
endeavoured to reconstruct his poem, but the result was a failure. His
collected poems were _pub._ 1772. His works, however, are now little
read. Mr. Gosse has described him as "a sort of frozen Keats."

ALCOTT, LOUISA M. (1832-1888).--Writer of juvenile and other tales,
_dau._ of Amos Bronson Alcott, an educational and social theorist,
lecturer, and author, was _b._ in Pennsylvania. During the American civil
war she served as a nurse, and afterwards attained celebrity as a writer
of books for young people, of which the best is _Little Women_ (1868).
Others are _Little Men_ and _Jo's Boys_. She also wrote novels, including
_Moods_ and _Work_.

ALCUIN or EALHWINE (735-804).--Theologian and general writer, was _b._
and _ed._ at York. He wrote in prose and verse, his subjects embracing
educational, theological, and historical matters. Returning from Rome, to
which he had been sent to procure the _pallium_ for a friend, he met
Charlemagne at Parma, and made upon him so favourable an impression that
he was asked to enter his service as preceptor in the sciences to himself
and his family. His numerous treatises, which inc