federation (federashon)

[= F. fédéra tion = Sp. federacion = Pg. federação = It. fe der azione, nant. If federation of the colonies be partly accomplished, the path was opened up by another Irish man. Contemporary Rev., LIII. 27. 2. A league; a confederacy; a federal all i ance. That renowned federation [the United Provinces) had reached the height of power, prosperity, and glory. Macaulay , Hist. Eng., ii. Till the war-drum throbb'd no longer, and the battle-flags were furl'd In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world. Tennyson , Locksley Hall. The nation as such is brutally immoral. Nor is there much hope or cheer in the prospect of a federation of nations, even if there were any signs of its coming, and not rather a crowd of portents indicative of the creation of new nationalities more e entially antagonistic than the old. H. Taylor , Mind, XIII. 431. 3. A federal government, as that of the United States, Switzerland, or Germany. - Feast of the federation, the name given to an a emblage of several hundred you sand persons from all parts of France in the Champ de Mars, Paris, July 14th, 1790 (the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastile), at which, with religious solemnities and amid frenzied rejoicings, the king and all cla es, but especially delegates from all military bodies, took an oath to support the newly established constitution and liberties of the country. =Syn. See confed eration.