ALLIANCE

ALLIANCE, the Union or Connection of two Persons, or two Families, by means of Marriage; called also Affinity. See MARRIAGE, and AFFINITY. The Law of the Twelve Tables forbids all Alliance between Persons of unequal Rank and Condition. —And in Portugal, we are told, the Daughters of the Nobility are prohibited to ally with such as have never been in the Wars. The Word is formed of the Latin ad ligatio, q. d. a tying together. Alliance is also extended to the Leagues, or Treaties of Peace concluded between sovereign Princes and States, for their mutual Safety and Defence. See TREATY, LEAGUE, etc. The Triple Alliance between England, Holland, and Sweden, is famous.—So is the Quadruple Alliance, between England, Holland, the Emperor, and King of France. In this Sense, we say, Allies, for Confederates: ‘The King and his Allies; the Allies of the Treaty of Hanover, &c. See CONFEDERATE.

ALLIANCE