Acton, John Emerich Edward Dalberg, first Baron Acton, born 1834, died 1902, was son of Richard Acton (seventh baronet) and the daughter of the Duc de Dalberg, afterwards wife of Earl Granville, Mr. Gladstone's colleague. As a Roman Catholic he was educated at Oscott, and afterwards on the Continent, partly under Döllinger, and acquired a special taste for and profound knowledge of history. He conducted the Home and Foreign Review from 1862 to 1864, and, in doing so, showed himself a strong opponent of ultramontane pretensions. He next edited the North British Review, which under him was rather overweighted with learning, and soon came to an end. In 1869 he was raised to the peerage. He strongly opposed the papal-infallibility movement, and took the side of Mr. Gladstone in his attacks on Vaticanism. In 1895 he accepted the professorship of modern history at Cambridge, delivered lectures, and planned and undertook the editorship of the great work on modern history, The Cambridge Modern History, comprising a series of contributions by various scholars, and issued by the university press. Except essays, letters, or articles for periodicals, he himself wrote little. Since his death have been published: Lectures in Modern History (1906); The History of Freedom and other Essays (1907); Lectures on the French Revolution (1910). His library of 60,000 volumes he left to Mr. (now Lord) Morley, who handed it over to the University of Cambridge.
Actor, one who represents some part or character on the stage. Actresses were unknown to the Greeks and Romans in the earliest times, men or boys always performing the female parts. They appeared under the Roman empire, however. Charles II first encouraged the public appearance of actresses in England; in Shakespeare's time there were none. See Drama.—Bibliography: C. F. Armstrong, Century of Great Actors; H. Simpson, Century of Great Actresses.
Acts of the Apostles, fifth of the books of the New Testament, written in Greek and assigned to the author of the gospel of St. Luke. Its date is probably A.D. 63 or 64. It embraces a period of about thirty years, beginning immediately after the resurrection, and extending to the second year of the imprisonment of St. Paul in Rome. Very little information is given regarding any of the apostles, excepting St. Peter and St. Paul, and the accounts of them are far from being complete. It describes the gathering of the infant Church; the fulfilment of the promise of Christ to his apostles in the descent of the Holy Ghost; the choice of Matthias in the place of Judas, the betrayer; the testimony of the apostles to the resurrection of Jesus in their discourses; their preaching in Jerusalem and in Judea, and afterwards to the Gentiles; the conversion of Paul, his preaching in Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy, his miracles and labours.—Bibliography: R. T. Knowling, The Expositor's Greek Testament; J. Moffatt, The Historical New Testament; J. M. Wilson, Origin and Aim of the Acts of the Apostles.
Ac′tuary, an accountant whose business is to make the necessary computations in regard to a basis for life assurance, annuities, reversions, &c.
Acu′leus, in botany, a prickle, or sharp-pointed process of the epidermis, as distinguished from a thorn or spine, which is of a woody nature.
Acupress′ure, a means of arresting bleeding from a cut artery introduced by Sir James Simpson in 1859, and consisting in compressing the artery above the orifice, that is, on the side nearest the heart, with the middle of a needle (Lat. acus, a needle) introduced through the tissues.
Acupunc′ture, a surgical operation, consisting in the insertion of needles into certain parts of the body for alleviating pain, or for the cure of different species of rheumatism, neuralgia, eye diseases, &c. It is easily performed, gives little pain, causes neither bleeding nor inflammation, and seems at times of surprising efficacy.
Adagio (It. a˙-dä′jō), a musical term, expressing a slow time, slower than andante and less so than largo, lento, and grave.
Adâl′, a country in Africa, east of Abyssinia and north-westward of Tajurrah Bay, inhabited by a dark-brown race of the same name, a tribe of the Danakils, Mahommedans in religion; towns Aussa and Tajurrah. Part of the coast here is held by the French.