in Architecture, a large room at the entrance of a fine house and palace. Vitruvius mentions three kinds of halls; the tetrastyle, with four columns supporting the platford or ceiling; the Corinthian, with columns all round let into the wall, and vaulted over; and the Egyptian, which had a peristyle of insulated Corinthian columns, bearing a second order with a ceiling.

The hall is properly the finest as well as first member of an apartment: and in the houses of ministers of state, magistrates, &c., is the place where they dispatch business, and give audience. In very magnificent buildings, where the hall is larger and loftier than ordinary, and placed in the middle of the house, it is called a saloon.

The length of a hall should be at least twice and a quarter its breadth; and in great buildings, three times its breadth. As to the height of halls, it may be two-thirds of the breadth; and, if made with an arched ceiling, it will be much handomer, and less liable to accidents by fire. In this case, its height is found by dividing its breadth into five parts, five of which will be the height from the floor to the under side of the key of the arch.

Hall is also particularly used for a court of justice; or an edifice wherein there is one or more tribunals.

In Westminster-hall are held the great courts of England, viz. the king's bench, chancery, common pleas, and exchequer. In adjoining apartments is likewise held the high court of parliament.

Westminster-hall was the royal palace or place of residence of our ancient kings; who ordinarily held their parliaments, and courts of judicature, in their dwelling-houses (as is still done by the kings of Spain), and frequently sat in person in the courts of judicature as they still do in parliament. A great part of this palace was burnt under Henry VIII.: what remains is still re-

a term of rejoicing, sometimes sung Hallelujah or rehearsed at the end of verses on such occasions.

The word is Hebrew; or rather, it is two Hebrew words joined together: one of them הַלְלוּיָהוּ, and the other יֵהוָה; an abridgment of the name of God, יֵהוָה Jehovah. The first signifies landaute, "praise ye;" and the other, Dominum, "the Lord."

St Jerome first introduced the word hallelujah into the church service: for a considerable time it was only used once a-year in the Latin church, viz. at Easter; but in the Greek church it was much more frequent. St Jerome mentions its being sung at the interments of the dead, which still continues to be done in that church, as also on some occasions in the time of Lent.

In the time of Gregory the Great, it was appointed to be sung all the year round in the Latin church, which raised some complaints against that pope; as giving too much into the Greek way, and introducing the ceremonies of the church of Constantinople into that of Rome. But he excused himself by alleging, that this had been the ancient usage of Rome; and that it had been brought from Constantinople at the time when the word hallelujah was first introduced under Pope Damascus.