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harrassed by the English fleet on their approach anil suffered con-siderable loss; however, they continued to advance till they cameopposite to Calais ; where the Duke de Medina, having orderedthem to cast anchor, sent information to the Duke of Parma of hisarrival, and intreated him to hasten the embarkation of his forces.Farnese accordingly began to put his troops on board ; but at thesame time informed Medina, that, the vessels w hiih he had pre-pared were proper only for transporting the troops, but were ut-terly unlit for lighting ; and for this reason, till the armada werebrought still nearer, and the coast cleared of the Dutch shipswhich had blocked up Nieuport and Dunkirk, he could not stir,without exposing his army to certain ruin, the consequence ofwhich would probably be the entire loss of the Netherlands . Incompliance with this request, the armada was ordered to advance;and it had arrived w ithin sight of Dunkirk, between the English fleeton the one hand, and the Dutch on the other, when a sudden calmput a stop to all its motions. In this becalmed situation the threefleets remained for one whole day. About the middle of the nighta breeze sprung up ; and Lord Howard had recourse to an expe-dient which had been happily devised on the day before. Havingfilled eight ships with pitch, sulphur, and other combustible ma-terials, he set lire to them, and sent them before the wind againstthe different divisions of the Spanish fleet. AY hen the Spaniardsbeheld these ships in flames approaching towards them, it broughtto their remembrance the havock which had been made by thefire-ships employed against the Duke of Parma ’s bridge at (liesiege of Antwerp . The darkness of the night increased the terrorw ith which their imaginations were overwhelmed, and the panicflew from one end of the fleet to the other. Each crew, anxious onlyfor their ow n preservation, thought of nothing but how to escapethe present danger. Some of them took time to weigh-their an-chors, but others cut their cables, and suffered their ships to drivewith blind precipitation, without considering whether they did notthereby expose themselves to a greater danger than that whichthey were so solicitous to avoid. In this confusion the ships ranfoul of one another: the shock was dreadful, and several of themreceived so much damage as to be rendered unfit for future use.When das-light returned, Lord Howard had the satisfaction toperceive that his stratagem had fully produced the desired effect.The enemy were still in extreme disorder, and their ships widelyseparated and dispersed. His fleet had lately received a greataugmentation by the ships fitted out by the nobility and gentry,and by those under Lord Seymour, who had left Justin de Nassau,as alone sufficient to guard the coast of Flanders . Being bravelyseconded by Sir Francis Drake and all the other officers, lie madehaste to improve the advantage which was now presented to him,and attacked the enemy in different quarters at the same time,with the utmost impetuosity and ardour. The engagement beganat four in the morning, gpd lasted till six at night. The Spani-ards displayed in every rencounter the most intrepid bravery; but,from the causes already’ mentioned, they did very little executionagainst the English , while many of their own ships were greatlydamaged, and twelve of the largest were cither run aground, orsunk, or compelled to surrender. It was now evident that thepurpose of the armada was utterly frustrated. They therefore be-took them elves to flight, and were pursued by the English , whotook several ships. A violent tempest then assailed the armadaafter it had passed the Orkneys , and most of the vessels that hadescaped from the battle, were driven on the western isles of Scot-land, or on the coa c t of Ireland , where they were miserablywrecked. Sueli was the termination of this desperate attemptagainst the liberties of our country.

ARM A Darf., to give arms, in some ancient charters, signifiesto dub, or make a knight.

Arma'D Eton ere, to lay down arms, was a punishment ancientlyenjomed when a man had committed an offence.

ARMADILLA, in the Spanish American navy, denotes asquadron of men of war, to the number of six or eight, from 24 to50 pieces of c; n ion, which the king maintains, to prevent foreignersfrom trading with the Spaniards and the Indians, both in time ofwar and peace.

ARMADILLO, in zoology’. See Dasypus.

ARMAGH, a county of Ireland , separated from Down, onthe E. by the river Newry . It is in length 32 miles, in breadth17; and is divided into five baronies, containing about 170,020acres.

Armagh, a town of Ireland , which gives name to the county,about 03 miles N. of Dublin . It is the see of the primate of allIreland, and is said to have been founded by St. Patrick in thefifth century.

ARM AGNAC, a late province of Guienne, Audi was the capi-tal town. It is now in the department of Gers.

ARMA Libera, [Lat. free arms,] in ancient law, a sword andlance given to a servant, when he was made free.

AUMAMAR, a town of Portugal , in Beira.

ARMAMAXI, [from anna, Lot. arms, and Gr. a car-

riage,] in antiquity, Scythian char.ots variously adorned withcrowns, shields, &c. carried in procession.

ARMAMENT, aforce equipped for war; generally used of anaval force: also a storehouse for arms.

ARMATUKA, in the ancient military art, a kind of exercise,performed with missive weapons, as dart 5 ,, spears, arrows, and thelike. Lsed personally, it was an appellation given to the soldierswho were light armed; as well as those in the emperor’s retinue.

ARM ED, in heraldry, is used when the horns, feet, beak, ortalons of any beast or bird of prey, are of a different colour fromthe rest of tiie body. I Ic bears a cock or a falcon armed, or, &c.

Armed, in sea language. A cross bar-shot is said to be armed,when some rope yarn or the like is rolled about the end of theiron bar, which rims through the shot.

Armed Ship, a vessel occasionally taken into the service of thegovernment in time of war, and employed to guard some particu-lar coast, or attend on a fleet. She is therefore armed and equippedin all respects like a ship of w ar, and commanded by an officer ofthe navy, who lias the rank of a master and commander.

ARMENIA, a country of Asia, anciently divided into ArmeniaMajor and Minor. The origin of the name is not determined.The Greeks suppose it to he so called from one Armenus, whoattended Jason in the Argonautic expedition, and afterwardssettled in this country. Others, transforming Armenia into Ara-mia, derive its name from Aram the son of Shem, or from one ofthe kings of Armenia bearing that name. Bochart imagines it tobe a contraction or compound of Aar, a Hebrew word signifyinga “mountain,” and Mini signifying “ metal,” and which was thename of a province of Armenia mentioned by the prophet Jere-miah .

Armenia Major, according to Strabo , was bounded on the S.by mount Taurus, which separated it from Mesopotamia ; on theE. by the two Medias; on the N. by Iberia and Albania ; and onthe W. by’Armenia Minor. The most considerable cities wereArlaxata, Tigranoceita, and Thedosiopolis.

Armenia Minor was bounded on the E. by the Euphrates ;on the S. by mount Taurus, which separates it from Cilicia ; onthe W. and" N. by a long chain of mountains called in differentplaces Mons Scordisus, Amanus, and Antitaunis, by which it wasseparated from Cappadocia . This country is still divided intoMajor anil Minor, or the Greater and I.ess Armenia. GreaterArmenia comprehends w hat is now called Turcomania. The chieftowns in Armenia belonging to Turkey are, Arzum the capital,near the springs of the Euphrates , Kara, Bayazid, near mountArarat: Balia, and Van or YVan, on the lake Van . That part ofArmenia subject to Persia is chiefly contained in the province ofAran, in which are several line towns ; as, Erivan or Rivan, thecapital of the whole ; Ganjals, one of the finest cities in Persia , inthe N. of the province, near the Kur; Kapan, on the S. side,near the Aras; besides Nakchivan, Aslabad Julsa, Ordabad , Bay-lakan or Pilkan, on the Aras ; Berdah and Shilkah on the Kur.The country in general is full of mountains and valleys, lakes andrivers; particularly the country about the three churches, nearErivan , is admirably line, being full of rivulets, which render itextremely fruitful, producing great quantities of all sorts of grain, rice,cotton, flax, melons, and grapes : in short, there is nothing wantingbut olives; which is by some thought to prove that the ark couliinot rest on mount Ararat , because the dove brought an olive-branch in her mouth, and this tree never leaves a place where itonce grew-. It seems, however, to have been otherwise anciently :for Strabo tells us, that the olive grew in Gogarene, a province ofArmenia . They get oil to burn from the ricimis, and use linseedoil in the kitchen. The water-melons are as cool as ice in thehottest day, and melt in the mouth; the best are produced in thesalt lands, near the three c hurches and the river Aras . After rain,the sea salt lies in crystals upon the fields, and even crackles under