576 A L I A L I which is accompanied by political and other rights, privileges, and obligations, may now, under the act of 1870, be obtained by applying to the Home Secretary and producing evidence of having resided for not less than five years in the United Kingdom, or of having been in the service of the crown for net less than five years, and of intention to reside in the United Kingdom or serve under the crown. Such a certificate may be granted by the Secretary of State to one naturalised previously to the passing of the act, or to a British subject as to whose nationality a doubt exists, or to a statutory alien, i.e., one who has become an alien by declaration in pursuance of the act 1870. The laws of a British colony with regard to naturalisation have effect only within the limits of that colony. Naturalisation is also effected by the operation of the law upon the* acts of individuals, as a woman by marriage acquires the nationality of her husband. The naturalisation of a father carries with it that of his children in minority ; and Foelix holds that that of a widow has the same effect upon her minor children. (See Foelix, Traite de Droit Internal. Priv., 1. i. t. 2, s. 2 ; Savigny, Priv. Internal. Laiv, translated by Guthrie, pp. 26, 31, 32; Phillimore s Internal. Law, vol. i. ; Bar, Das Internal. Privat und Strafrecht, 30; Gand, Code des Etr angers ; Hansard on Aliens; Heffter, Europ. Volkerrecht, 59 sqq. ; Sir A. E. Cockburn on Nationality, Lond. 1869; Cutler on Naturalisation, Lond. 1871). In the United States an alien desiring to be naturalised must declare on oath his intention to become a citizen of the United States ; two years afterwards must declare on oath his intention to support the constitution of the United States and renounce allegiance to every foreign power, including that of which he was before a subject ; must prove residence in the United States for five years, and in the state Avhere his application is made for one year, as a good citizen ; and must renounce any title of nobility. In France an alien desiring naturalisation must obtain per mission to establish his domicile in France ; three years after (in special cases one year) he is entitled to apply for naturalisation, which involves the renunciation of any existing allegiance. (See further, ALLEGIANCE ; LAW OF NATIONS). ALIGARH, a district of British India, in the Meerut division, and under the jurisdiction of the Lieutenant- Governor of the North- West Provinces, lies between lat. 27 29 and 28 10 30" N., and between long. 77 32 30" and 78 42 30" E. It contains an area of 1954 square miles, of which upwards of two-thirds, or 884,060 acres, are under cultivation. Population in 1865 returned at 925,538 souls, and by the census of 1872 ascertained to be 1,073,108. Aligarh is bounded on the N. by the Bulandshahr district and a portion of Budaon ; on the E. by Etah district; on the S. by Mathura district; and on the W. by Gurgaon and Mathura districts. The district is nearly a level plain, but with a slight elevation in the centre, between the two great rivers, the Ganges and Jamna. The only other important river is the Kail NacH, which traverses the entire length of the district from north-west to south-east. The civil station and principal town is Koel, situated a .short distance to the south of Ah garh Fort. The chief products are wheat, barley, joar, bajra, pulses, oil-seeds, gram, and indigo. There are no manufactures. In 1870-71 the total net revenue of the district was returned at 233,709, and the expenditure at 45,488 ; the land revenue in the same year amounted to 19t!,655, or 84 per cent, of the total net revenue. Nine towns are returned as containing a population of upwards of 5000 souls, as follows : Koel, the civil station and principal city, population within muni cipal limits, 55,228; Hatras, population, 33,100; Atrauli, popula tion within municipal limits, 15,895; Sikandra Rao, population within municipal limits, 11,988 ; Jalali, population, 7516 ; Mursan, population, 6113; Tapal, population, 6031; Bijaigarh, population, 5779 ; and Hardeoganj, population, 5202. There are five municipal towns in the district, the revenue raised being derived from octroi duties. The following was the municipal revenue and its incidence per head in 1871-72 :--Koel (Aligarh), municipal revenue, 5467 ; incidence, Is. llfd. per head of the municipal population. Hatras, municipal revenue, 5221, 16s. ; incidence per head, 3s. lifd. Sik andra Kao, municipal income, 505, 12s. ; incidence, lOd. per head. Atrauli, municipal income, 709 ; incidence, lOfd. per head. Hardeoganj, municipal income, 462, 18s. ; incidence, Is. 9^d. per head. In 1871-72, the district contained 370 schools, attended by a total of 7939 pupils, of whom 6766 were Hindus and 1173 Mahometans. For the protection of person and property, a regular police force is maintained, consisting of 1056 men of all grades, equal to one man to every 1 85 square mile of area, or one to every 1 1 6 of the population. The Village Watch or rural police numbered 2000 in 1871, equal to one man to every 67 square miles, or one to every 536 inhabitants. FOKT, in the district of the same name, is situated on the Grand Trunk Road, in lat. 27 56 N., and long. 78 8 E. The fort consists of a regular poly gon, surrounded by a very broad and deep ditch. It was captured from the Marhattds under the leadership of Perron, a French officer, by Lord Lake s army, in September 1803, since which time it has been much strengthened and im proved. In the rebellion of 1857 the troops stationed at Aligarh mutinied, but abstained from murdering their officers, who, with the other residents and ladies and children, succeeded in reaching Hatras. ALIMENT, in the Laiv of Scotland, is the sum paid or allowance given in respect of the reciprocal obligation of parents and children, husband and wife, grandparents and grandchildren, to contribute to each other s maintenance. The term is also used in regard to a similar obligation of other parties, as of creditors to imprisoned debtors, the payments by parishes to paupers, &c. Alimentary funds, whether of the kind above mentioned, or set apart as such by the deed of a testator, are intended for the mere support of the recipient, and are not attachable by creditors. ALIMONY is, in English Law, the allowance for main tenance to which a wife is entitled out of her husband s estate on a decree, obtained at the wife s instance, for judicial separation or for the dissolution of the marriage. It is settled by the judge of the Divorce Court on a con sideration of all the circumstances of the case. ALISON, REV. ARCHIBALD, an author of great reputa tion in his own day, was born on the 13th November 1757 at Edinburgh, of which his father was for a time lord provost. After studying at the university of Glasgow and at Balliol college, Oxford, he took orders in the Church of England, and was appointed in 1778 to the curacy of Brancepeth, near Durham. In 1780 he married Dorothea, youngest daughter of Professor Gregory of Edinburgh. The next twenty years of his life were spent in Shropshire, where he held in succession the livings of High Ercall, Pioddington, and Kenley. In 1800 he removed to Edin burgh, having been appointed senior incumbent of St Paul s chapel in the Cowgate. For thirty-four years he filled this position with great acceptance, his preaching attracting so many hearers that a new and larger church was built for him. His last years were spent at Colinton, near Edinburgh, where he died on the 17th May 1839. Mr Alison published, besides a Life of Lord Woodhouselee, a volume of sermons, which passed through several editions, and a work entitled Essays on the Nature and Principles of Taste, which received a very laudatory criticism from Lord Jeffrey in the Edinburgh Review for May 1811. His theory of the beautiful, which is based on the principle of association, is incomplete and unsatisfactory, and his work is now only of historical importance. Two sons of Mr Alison attained distinction. The elder, Dr Wil liam Pulteney Alison, born in 1790, was from 1820 until within a few years of bis death, in 1859, a pro
minent member of the medical faculty in the university
