Army commanded by the prince. Under their new general, the Brandenburg regiments forming the III corps proved themselves collectively the best in the whole German army, with the possible exception of the Prussian guards, and, if Prince Frederick Charles is entitled to the chief credit in training the III corps, Alvensleben had contributed in almost equal degree to the efficiency of the Guard infantry, while his actual leadership of the III corps in the battles of 1870 and 1871 showed him afresh as a fighting general of the very first rank. The battle of Spicheren, on the 6th of August, was initiated and practically directed throughout by him, and in the confusion which followed this victory, for which the superior commanders were not prepared, Alvensleben showed his energy and determination by resuming the advance on his own responsibility. This led to the great battles of the 14th, 16th and 18th of August around Metz, and again the III corps was destined, under its resolute leader, to win the chief credit. Crossing the Moselle the instant that he received permission from his army commander to do so, Alvensleben struck the flank of Bazaine’s whole army (August 16th) in movement westward from Metz. The III corps attacked at once, and for many hours bore the whole brunt of the battle at Vionville. By the most resolute leading, and at the cost of very heavy losses, Alvensleben held the whole French army at bay while other corps of the I and II German Armies gradually closed up. In the battle of Gravelotte, on the 18th, the corps took little part. Its work was done, and it remained with the II Army before Metz until the surrender of Bazaine’s army. Prince Frederick Charles then moved south-west to co-operate with the grand-duke of Mecklenburg on the Loire. At the battle of Beaune-la-Rolande, the corps, with its comrades of Vionville, the X corps under General v. Voigts-Rhetz, won new laurels, and it participated in the advance on Le Mans and the battle at that place on the 12th of January 1871. At the close of the war Alvensleben received the oak-leaves of the order pour le mérite, the first class of the Iron Cross and a grant of 100,000 thalers. He became full general of infantry in 1873 and retired immediately afterwards. In 1889 the emperor William II. ordered that the 52nd infantry regiment (one of the distinguished regiments of Vionville) should thereafter bear Alvensleben’s name, and in 1892, on the anniversary of the battle of Le Mans, the old general received the order of the Black Eagle. He died on the 28th of March 1892 at Berlin.
His brother, Gustav von Alvensleben (1803–1881), Prussian general of infantry, was born at Eichenbarleben on the 30th of September 1803, entered the Guard infantry in 1821, and took part as a general staff officer in the suppression of the Baden insurrection of 1849. He became a major-general in 1858, aide-de-camp to the king in 1861, and lieutenant-general in 1863, and in the campaign of 1866 performed valuable military and political services. He was promoted general of infantry in 1868. In the war of 1870 he commanded the IV army corps, which took a conspicuous part in the action of Beaumont and afterwards served in the siege of Paris. He received the Iron Cross, the order pour le mérite, and a money grant, as a reward for his services, and retired in 1872. He died at Gernrode in the Harz on the 30th of June 1881.
Another brother, Albrecht, Count von Alvensleben (1794–1858), was a distinguished Prussian statesman.
ALVEOLATE (from Lat. alveolus), honeycombed, a word used technically in biology, &c., to mean pitted like a honeycomb.
ALVERSTONE, RICHARD EVERARD WEBSTER, 1st Baron (1842–), lord chief justice of England, was born on the 22nd of December 1842, being the second son of Thomas Webster, Q.C. He was educated at King’s College and Charterhouse schools, and Trinity College, Cambridge; was called to the bar in 1868, and became Q.C. only ten years afterwards. His practice was chiefly in commercial, railway and patent cases until (June 1885) he was appointed attorney-general in the Conservative Government in the exceptional circumstances of never having been solicitor-general, and not at the time occupying a seat in parliament. He was elected for Launceston in the following month, and in November exchanged this seat for the Isle of Wight, which he continued to represent until his elevation to the House of Lords. Except under the brief Gladstone administration of 1886, and the Gladstone-Rosebery cabinet of 1892–1895, Sir Richard Webster was attorney-general from 1885 to 1900. In 1890 he was leading counsel for The Times in the Parnell inquiry; in 1893 he represented Great Britain in the Bering Sea arbitration; in 1898 he discharged the same function in the matter of the boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela; and in 1903 was one of the members of the Alaska Boundary Commission. He was well known as an athlete in his earlier years, having represented his university as a runner, and his interest in cricket and foot-racing was kept up in later life. In the House of Commons, and outside it, he was throughout his political career prominently associated with church work; and his speeches were distinguished for gravity and earnestness. In 1900 he succeeded Sir Nathaniel Lindley as Master of the Rolls, being raised to the peerage as Baron Alverstone, and in October of the same year he was elevated to the office of lord chief justice upon the death of Lord Russell of Killowen.
ALWAR, or Ulwar, a native state of India in the Rajputana agency. It is bounded on the E. by the state of Bharatpur and the British district of Gurgaon, on the N. by Gurgaon district and the state of Patiala, on the W. by the states of Nabha and Jaipur, and on the S. by the state of Jaipur. Its configuration is irregular, the greatest length from north to south being about 80 m., and breadth from east to west about 60 m., with a total area of 3141 sq. m. The eastern portion of the state is open and highly cultivated; the western is diversified by hills and peaks, which form a continuation of the Aravalli range, from 12 to 20 m. in breadth. These hills run in rocky and precipitous parallel ridges, in some places upwards of 2200 ft. in height. The Sabhi river flows through the north-western part of the state, the only other stream of importance being the Ruparel, which rises in the Alwar hills, and flows through the state into the Bharatpur territory. The population in 1901 was 828,487, showing an increase of 8% during the decade. When compared with a heavy decrease elsewhere throughout Rajputana, this increase may be attributed to the successful administration of famine relief, under British officials. The revenue is £185,000. The maharaja Jai Singh, who succeeded in 1892 at the age of ten, was educated at the Mayo college, where he excelled both in sports and in knowledge of English. He came of age in 1903, when he was invested by the viceroy with full ruling powers. Alwar was the first native state to accept a currency struck at the Calcutta mint, of the same weight and assay as the imperial rupee, with the head of the British sovereign on the obverse. Imperial service troops are maintained, consisting of both cavalry and infantry, with transport. The state is traversed by the Delhi branch of the Rajputana railway. A settlement of the land revenue has been carried out by an English civilian.
The state was founded by Pratap Singh (1740–1791), a Rajput of ancient lineage, and increased by his adopted son Bakhtawar Singh. The latter joined the British against the Mahrattas, and in 1803, after the battle of Laswari (Nov. 1), signed a treaty of offensive and defensive alliance with the British government. In 1811, owing to his armed intervention in Jaipur, a fresh engagement was made, prohibiting him from political intercourse with other states without British consent. In 1857 the raja Binni Singh sent a force of Mussulmans and Rajputs to relieve the British garrison in Agra; the Mussulmans, however, deserted, and the rest were defeated by the mutineers.
The City of Alwar has a railway station on the Rajputana line, 98 m. from Delhi; pop. (1901) 56,771, showing a steady increase. It stands in a valley overhung by a fortress 1000 ft. above. It is surrounded by a rampart and moat, with five gates, and contains fine palaces, temples and tombs. The water-supply is brought from a lake 9 m. distant. It has a high school, affiliated to the Allahabad university; and a school for the sons of nobles, founded to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The Lady Dufferin hospital is under the charge of an English lady doctor, with two female assistants.
