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 and Their Pedigrees_. After
assisting Sir W.W. Hunter in his _Gazeteer of India_, he turned his
attention to fiction, and between 1884 and 1899 produced about 30 novels,
among which _The Woman Who Did_ (1895), promulgating certain startling
views on marriage and kindred questions, created some sensation. Another
work, _The Evolution of the Idea of God_, propounding a theory of
religion on heterodox lines, has the disadvantage of endeavouring to
explain everything by one theory. His scientific works also included
_Colour Sense_, _Evolutionist at Large_, _Colin Clout's Calendar_, and
the _Story of the Plants_, and among his novels may be added _Babylon_,
_In all Shades_, _Philistia_ (1884), _The Devil's Die_, and _The British
Barbarians_ (1896).

ALLINGHAM, WILLIAM (1824-1889).--Poet, the _s._ of a banker of English
descent, was _b._ at Ballyshannon, entered the customs service,