ADOLPHUS FREDERICK character of an adroit, skilful counsellor, and practised chiefly at the Old Bailey in criminal cases. His forensic reputation was not fully established till 1820, when, on the trial of the " Cato street conspirators," he defended Ar- thur Thistlewood, charged with high treason, with marked ability, though his client was convicted. From that time his practice at the bar was large and lucrative, but his warmth of temper frequently led him into undignified squabbles. Hia reports are referred to as authority. His principal works are : " The History of England from the Accession of George III." (3 vols., 1805, of which a new edi- tion enlarged to 7 vols., but still unfinished, appeared shortly before his death), and " Bio- graphical Memoirs of the French Revolution." See " Recollections of John Adolphus," by his daughter (1871). II. John Leycester, a barrister, son of the preceding, highly distinguished him- self at the university of Oxford, and published in July, 1821, a work which Lockhart says " was read with eager curiosity and delight by the public, with much diversion, besides, by his [Sir W. Scott's] friends, and which Scott himself must have gone through with a very odd mixture of emotions." This book is en- titled "Letters to Richard Heber, Esq., con- taining critical remarks on the series of novels beginning with Waverley, and an at- tempt to ascertain their author." The purpose of this book was to prove, from Scott's ac- knowledged writings, and from other known circumstances connected with his personal his- tory and position, that he and none other could bo the author, sole and unassisted, of the Wa- verley novels. ADOLPHUS FREDERICK, of Holstein-Eutin, king of Sweden, born May 14, 1710, died Feb. 12, 1771. In 1727 he was elected prince-bishop of Lubeck as successor of his father. On the death of his cousin Charles Frederick, duke of Holstein-Gottorp, in 1739, Adolphus Frederick became the administrator of his possessions during the minority of his son, afterward Peter III. of Russia. The king of Sweden, Frederick of the house of Hesse-Cassel, being childless, and the young duke of Holstein- Gottorp having declined to become heir appa- rent at a time when he hoped to succeed to the throne of Russia, it was decided in 1743, by virtue of the treaty of Abo between Russia and Sweden, that Adolphus Frederick should occu- py the position, so that it might be at all events vested in the Holstein family. The grand- mother of Adolphus having been a daughter of Charles XI. of Sweden, this circumstance was also regarded as favorable to his election, which was ratified by the Swedish diet on July 3, 1743. In 1744 he married Louise Ulrike, a sis- ter of Frederick the Great, and he ascended the Swedish throne April 5, 1751, on the death of King Frederick. The aristocracy being favor- able to France, Sweden was dragged into the seven years' war against Prussia ; and the at- tempts of the queen to oppose this policy 10 TOL. I. 10 ADONIS 129 resulted only in bringing the ringleaders against the aristocracy to the scaffold (1756). The council of state sided with the aristocracy against the crown, and it was only after the king's threatening to abdicate that the Swedish diet consented to sustain his rights and protect him against the aggressions of the nobles. He was an upright prince, but by his meekness he encouraged the schemes of France and her al- lies among the nobility. He was succeeded on the throne by his son Gustavus III. ADOLPHUS OF NASSAU, a German sovereign, bora about 1250, fell in battle near Worms, July 2, 1298. He was the. second son of Walram IV., count of Nassau, and was distinguished for valor in the service of Rudolph of Hapsburg. On the death of the latter he was, at the sug- gestion of the archbishop of Mentz, unani- mously elected as his successor (May 10, 1292), in place of Rudolph's son and heir Albert. He was crowned at Aix-la-ChapeUe as king of Germany, June 24, 1292, but not in Rome as emperor. Adolphus disgraced himself by ac- cepting an English subsidy of 100,000 for joining in the war against France, and by back- ing out of the bargain without restoring the money. He further lost caste by his mercenary but fruitless transactions with the landgrave Albrecht of Thuringia for the acquisition of his territory. The archbishop of Mentz, in con- cert with Albert of Austria, caused Adolphns to be arraigned before the college of electoral princes. On his declining to comply with the summons, his deposition was proclaimed, June 23, 1298. But Adolphus appealed to the ar- bitrament of arms. The rivals met, with their respective armies, between the villages of Gdllheim and Rosenthal, near Worms. Adol- phus fell, hit in the face, as was reported at the' time, by the lance of Albert, whose com- panions gave him the death blow. Under Henry VII. his remains were placed beside those of his successor Albert I., in the vault of German sovereigns at Spire. ADONAI, one of the appellations of the Su- preme Being in the Hebrew Scriptures, signi- fying Lord, or my Lord. The Jews, who refrain from uttering the name of Jehovah, pronounce Adonai in its place where it occurs in the Hebrew text, in which they have also substituted the vowels of Adonai for those of the name, thus rendering the right pronun- ciation of the latter doubtful. ADONIA, feasts anciently held in honor of Venus and Adonis. They lasted two days; the first was spent in tears and lamentations, the second in mirth and feasting. The festival typified the dying and resurrection of nature. ADONIS, in Greek mythology, a beautiful youth beloved by Venus. According to the account received from the cyclic poet Panyasis, he was the son of Theias, king of Assyria, and his daughter Smyrna. Venus, discovering the beauty of the child, hid him in a chest, which she intrusted to Proserpine. Hence resulted the dispute between these goddesses as to
