Chapter ADAM to Adolpha of A by Brewer's Readers Handbook

ADAM to Adolpha

ADAM. In Greek this word is compounded of the four initial letters of the cardinal quarters:

Arktos,	arktoV	north.
Dusis,	dusiV	west.
Anatole,	anatolh	east.
Mesembria,	meshmbria	south.

The Hebrew word ADM forms the anagram of A[dam], D[avid], M[essiah].

Adam, how made. God created the body of Adam of Salzal, i.e. dry, unbaked clay, and left it forty nights without a soul. The clay was collected by Azarael from the four quarters of the earth, and God, to show His approval of Azarael’s choice, constituted him the angel of death.—Rabadan.

Adam, Eve, and the Serpent. After the fall Adam was placed on mount Vassem in the east; Eve was banished to Djidda (now Gedda, on the Arabian coast); and the Serpent was exiled to the coast of Eblehh.

After the lapse of 100 years Adam rejoined Eve on mount Arafaith [place of remembrance], near Mecca.—D’Ohsson.

Death of Adam. Adam died on Friday, April 7, at the age of 930 years. Michael swathed his body, and Gabriel discharged the funeral rites. The body was buried at Ghar’ul-Kenz [the grotto of treasure], which overlooks Mecca.

His descendants at death amounted to 40,000 souls.—D’Ohsson.

When Noah entered the ark (the same writer says) he took the body of Adam in a coffin with him, and, when he left the ark, restored it to the place he had taken it from.

Adam, a bailiff, a jailor.

Not that Adam that kept the paradise, but that Adam that keeps the prison.—Shakespeare: Comedy of Errors, act iv. sc. 3(1593).

Adam, a faithful retainer in the family of sir Rowland de Boys. At the age of four score, he voluntarily accompanied his young master Orlando into exile, and offered to give him his little savings. He has given birth to the phrase, “A faithful Adam” [or man-servant].—Shakespeare: As You Like It (1598).

Adam Bede. (See BEDE.)

Adam Bell, a northern outlaw, noted for his archery. The name, like those of Clym of the Clough, William of Cloudesley, Robin Hood, and Little John, is synonymous with a good archer.

Adamas or Adamant, the mineral called corundum, and sometimes the diamond, one of the hardest substances known.

Albrecht was as firm as Adamas.—Schmidt: German History (translated).

Adamastor, the Spirit of the Cape, (See SPIRIT…)—Camoens: The Lusiad, v. (1569).

Adamida, a planet, on w hich reside the unborn spirits of saints, martyrs, and believers. Uriel, the angel of the sun, was ordered at the crucifixion to interpose this planet between the sun and the earth, so as to produce a total eclipse.

Adamida, in obedience to the divine command, flew amidst overwhelming storms, rushing clouds, falling mountains, and swelling seas. Uriel stood on the pole of the star, but so lost in deep contemplation on Golgotha, that he heard not the wild uproar. On coming to the region of the sun, Adamida slackened her course, and advancing before the sun, covered its face and intercepted all its rays.—Klopstock: The Messiah, viii. (1771).