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AUF`RECHT, THEODOR, eminent Sanskrit scholar, born in Silesia; was
professor of Sanskrit in Edinburgh University; returning to Germany,
became professor at Bonn; _b_. 1822.


AUFKLAeRUNG, THE, or Illuminationism, a movement, conspicuously of
the present time, the members of which pique themselves on ability to
disperse the darkness of the world, if they could only persuade men to
forego reason, and accept sense, common-sense, as the only test of truth,
and who profess to settle all questions of reason, that is, of faith, by
appeal to private judgment and majorities, or as Dr. Stirling defines it,
"that stripping of us naked of all things in heaven and upon earth, at
the hands of the modern party of unbelief, and under the guidance of
so-called rationalism."


AUGE`AS, a legendary king of Elis, in Greece, and one of the
Argonauts; had a stable with 3000 oxen, that had not been cleaned out for
30 years, but was cleansed by Hercules turning the rivers Peneus and
Alpheus through it; the act a symbol of the worthless lumber a reformer
must sweep away before his work can begin, the work of reformation
proper.


AUGER, a French litterateur, born at Paris, renowned as a critic
(1772-1829).


AU`GEREAU, PIERRE FRANCOIS CHARLES, marshal of France and duke of
Castiglione, born at Paris; distinguished in the campaigns of the
Republic and Napoleon; executed the _coup d'etat_ of the 4th Sept. 1797;
his services were rejected by Napoleon on his return from Elba, on
account of his having supported the Bourbons during his absence. He was
simply a soldier, rude and rough-mannered, and with no great brains for
anything else but military discipline (1757-1816).


AU`GIER, EMILE, able French dramatist, produced brilliant comedies
for the French stage through a period of 40 years, all distinctly on the
side of virtue. His only rivals were Dumas _fils_ and M. Sardou
(1820-1889).


AUGS`BURG (75), a busy manufacturing and trading town on the Lech,
in Bavaria, once a city of great importance, where in 1531 the
Protestants presented their Confession to Charles V., and where the peace
of Augsburg was signed in 1555, ensuring religious freedom.


AUGSBURG CONFESSION, a document drawn up by Melanchthon in name of
the Lutheran reformers, headed by the Elector of Saxony in statement of
their own doctrines, and of the doctrines of the Church of Rome, against
which they protested.


AUGURS, a college of priests in Rome appointed to forecast the
future by the behaviour or flight of birds kept for the purpose, and
which were sometimes carried about in a coop to consult on emergencies.


AUGUST, originally called Sextilis, as the sixth month of the Roman
year, which began in March, and named August in honour of Augustus, as
being the month identified with remarkable events in his career.


AUGUSTA (33), a prosperous town in Georgia, U.S., on the Savannah,
231 m. from its mouth; also a town (10) the capital of Maine, U.S.


AUGUSTAN AGE, the time in the history of a nation when its
literature is at its best.


AUGUSTI, a German rationalist theologian of note, born near Gotha
(1771-1841).


AUGUSTIN, or AUSTIN, ST., the apostle of England, sent thither
with a few monks by Pope Gregory in 596 to convert the country to
Christianity; began his labours in Kent; founded the see, or rather
archbishopric, of Canterbury; _d_. 605.


AU`GUSTINE, ST., the bishop of Hippo and the greatest of the Latin
Fathers of the Church; a native of Tagaste, in Numidia; son of a pagan
father and a Christian mother, St. Monica; after a youth of dissipation,
was converted to Christ by a text of St. Paul (Rom. xiii. 13, 14), which
his eyes first lit upon, as on suggestion of a friend he took up the
epistle to read it in answer to an appeal he had made to him to explain a
voice that was ever whispering in his ears, "Take and read"; became
bishop in 396, devoted himself to pastoral duties, and took an active
part in the Church controversies of his age, opposing especially the
Manichaeans, the Donatists, and the Pelagians; his principal works are his
"Confessions," his "City of God," and his treatises on Grace and
Free-Will. It is safe to say, no Churchman has ever exercised such
influence as he has done in moulding the creed as well as directing the
destiny of the Christian Church. He was especially imbued with the
theology of St. Paul (354-430).


AUGUSTINIANS, (_a_) Canons, called also Black Cenobites, under a
less severe discipline than monks, had 200 houses in England and Wales at
the Reformation; (_b_) Friars, mendicant, a portion of them barefooted;
(_c_) Nuns, nurses of the sick.


AUGUSTUS, called at first CAIUS OCTAVIUS, ultimately CAIUS
JULIUS CAESAR OCTAVIANUS, the first of the Roman Emperors or Caesars,
grand-nephew of Julius Caesar, and his heir; joined the Republican party
at Caesar's death, became consul, formed one of a triumvirate with Antony
and Lepidus; along with Antony overthrew the Republican party under
Brutus and Cassius at Philippi; defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium,
and became master of the Roman world; was voted the title of "Augustus"
by the Senate in 27 B.C.; proved a wise and beneficent ruler, and
patronised the arts and letters, his reign forming a distinguished epoch
in the history of the ancient literature of Rome (63 B.C.-A.D. 14).


AUGUSTUS, the name of several princes of Saxony and Poland in the
16th and 17th centuries.


AUGUSTUS I., Elector of Saxony, a Lutheran prince, whose reign was
peaceful comparatively, and he was himself both a good man and a good
ruler, a monarch surnamed the "pious" and the "Justinian of Saxony"
(1526-1586).


AUGUSTUS II., Elector of Saxony and King of Poland; forced himself
on Poland; had twice to retire, but was reinstated; is known to history
as "The Strong"; "attained the maximum," says Carlyle, "in several
things,--of physical strength, could break horse-shoes, nay, half-crowns
with finger and thumb; of sumptuosity, no man of his means so regardless
of expense; and of bastards, three hundred and fifty-four of them
(Marshal Saxe one of the lot); baked the biggest bannock on record, a
cake with 5000 eggs and a tun of butter." He was, like many a monarch of
the like loose character, a patron of the fine arts, and founded the
Dresden Picture Gallery (1670-1733).


AUGUSTUS III., son of the preceding; beat Stanislaus Leszcynski in
the struggle for the crown of Poland; proved an incompetent king
(1696-1763).


AULIC COUNCIL, supreme council in the old German Empire, from which
there was no appeal, of date from 1495 to 1654; it had no constitution,
dealt with judicial matters, and lived and died with the emperor.


AULIS, a port in Boeotia, where the fleet of the Greeks assembled
before taking sail for Troy, and where Iphigeneia, to procure a
favourable wind, was sacrificed by her father Agamemnon, an event
commemorated in the "Iphigeneia in Aulis" of Euripides.


AUMALE, DUC D', one of the chiefs of the League, became governor of
Paris, which he held against Henry IV., leagued with the Spaniards, was
convicted of treason, and having escaped, was burned in effigy; died an
exile at Brussels (1556-1631).


AUMALE, DUC D', fourth son of Louis Philippe, distinguished himself
in Algiers, and was governor of Algeria, which he resigned when his
father abdicated; lived in England for twenty years after, acknowledged
the Republic, and left his estate and valuables to the French nation
(1822-1897).


AUNGERVILLE, RICHARD, or RICHARD DE BURY, tutor to Edward III.,
bishop of Durham, sent on embassies to various courts, was a lover and
collector of books, and left a curious work called "Philobiblon"
(1281-1345).


AUNOY, COMTESSE D', a French authoress, known and appreciated for
her fairy tales (1650-1705).


AURELIA`NUS, LUCIUS DOMITIUS, powerful in physique, and an able
Roman emperor; son of a peasant of Pannonia; distinguished as a skilful
and successful general; was elected emperor, 270; drove the barbarians
out of Italy; vanquished Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, carrying her captive
to Rome; subdued a usurper in Gaul, and while on his way to crush a
rebellion in Persia was assassinated by his troops (212-275).


AURE`LIUS, MARCUS. See ANTONI`NUS.


AURE`LIUS, VICTOR SEXTUS, a Roman consul and a Latin historian of
the 4th century.


AUREOLA, a wreath of light represented as encircling the brows of
the saints and martyrs.


AURILLAC (14), capital of the dep. of Cantal, on the Jourdanne,
affluent of the Dordogne, built round the famous abbey of St. Geraud, now
in ruins.


AU`ROCHS, a German wild ox, now extinct.


AURO`RA, the Roman goddess of the dawn, charged with opening for the
sun the gates of the East; had a star on her forehead, and rode in a rosy
chariot drawn by four white horses. See EOS.


AURORA (19), a city in Illinois, U.S., 35 m. SW. of Chicago, said
to have been the first town to light the streets with electricity.


AURORA BOREALIS, or Northern Lights, understood to be an electric
discharge through the atmosphere connected with magnetic disturbance.


AURUN`GABAD` (50), a city in Hyderabad, in the Nizam's dominions;
once the capital, now much decayed, with the ruins of a palace of
Aurungzebe.


AU`RUNGZEBE, Mogul emperor of Hindustan, third son of Shah Jehan;
ascended the throne by the deposition of his father, the murder of two
brothers and of the son of one of these; he governed with skill and
courage; extended his empire by subduing Golconda, the Carnatic, and
Bengal, and though fanatical and intolerant, was a patron of letters; his
rule was far-shining, but the empire was rotten at the core, and when he
died it crumbled to pieces in the hands of his sons, among whom he
beforehand divided it (1615-1707).


AUSCULTATION, discerning by the sound whether there is or is not
disease in the interior organs of the body.


AUSCULTATOR, name in "Sartor Resartus," the hero as a man qualified
for a profession, but as yet only expectant of employment in it.


AUSONIA, an ancient name of Italy.


AUSONIUS, DECIMUS MAGNUS, a Roman poet, a native of Gaul, born in
Bordeaux; tutor to the Emperor Gratian, who, on coming to the throne,
made him prefect of Latium and of Gaul, and consul of Rome. He was a good
versifier and stylist, but no poet (300-394).


AUSTEN, JANE, a gifted English novelist, daughter of a clergyman in
N. Hampshire; member of a quiet family circle, occupied herself in
writing without eye to publication, and only in mature womanhood thought
of writing for the press. Her first novel, "Sense and Sensibility," was
published in 1811, and was followed by "Pride and Prejudice," her
masterpiece, "Persuasion," and others, her interest being throughout in
ordinary quiet cultured life, and the delineation of it, which she
achieved in an inimitably charming manner. "She showed once for all,"
says Professor Saintsbury, "the capabilities of the very commonest and
most ordinary life, if sufficiently observed and selected, and combined
with due art, to furnish forth prose fiction not merely that would pass,
but that should be of the absolutely first quality as literature. She is
the mother of the English 19th-century novel, as Scott is the father of
it" (1775-1816).


AUS`TERLITZ (3), a town in Moravia, near Bruenn, where Napoleon
defeated the emperors of Russia and of Austria, at "the battle of the
three emperors," Dec. 2, 1805; one of Napoleon's most brilliant
victories, and thought so by himself.


AUSTIN (14), the capital of Texas, on the Colorado River, named
after Stephen Austin, who was chiefly instrumental in annexing Texas to
the States.


AUSTIN, ALFRED, poet-laureate in succession to Tennyson, born near
Leeds, bred for the bar, but devoted to literature as journalist, writer,
and poet; has written "The Golden Age, a Satire," "Savonarola," "English
Lyrics," and several works in prose; _b_. 1835.


AUSTIN, JOHN, a distinguished English jurist, professor of
Jurisprudence in London University; mastered the science of law by the
study of it in Germany, but being too profound in his philosophy, was
unsuccessful as professor; his great work, "The Province of Jurisprudence
Determined," and his Lectures, were published by his widow after his
death (1790-1859).


AUSTIN, MRS. J., (_nee_ Sarah Taylor), wife of the preceding,
executed translations from the German, "Falk's Characteristics of Goethe"
for one; was, like her husband, of the utilitarian school; was introduced
to Carlyle when he first went up to London; he wrote to his wife of her,
"If I 'swear eternal friendship' with any woman here, it will be with
her" (1793-1867)


AUSTIN FRIARS. See AUGUSTINIANS.


AUSTRALASIA (i. e. Southern Asia), a name given to Australia, New
Zealand, and the islands adjoining.


AUSTRALIA, a continent entirely within the Southern Hemisphere,
about one-fourth smaller than Europe, its utmost length from E. to W.
being 2400 m., and breadth 1971; the coast has singularly few inlets,
though many and spacious harbours, only one great gulf, Carpentaria, on
the N., and one bight, the Great Australian Bight, on the S.; the
interior consists of a low desert plateau, depressed in the centre,
bordered with ranges of various elevation, between which and the sea is a
varying breadth of coast-land; the chief mountain range is in the E., and
extends more or less parallel all the way with the E. coast; the rivers
are few, and either in flood or dried up, for the climate is very
parching, only one river, the Murray, 2345 m. long, of any consequence,
while the lakes, which are numerous, are shallow and nearly all salt; the
flora is peculiar, the eucalyptus and the acacia the most characteristic,
grains, fruits, and edible roots being all imported; the fauna is no less
peculiar, including, in the absence of many animals of other countries,
the kangaroo, the dingo, and the duck-bill, the useful animals being
likewise all imported; of birds, the cassowary and the emu, and smaller
ones of great beauty, but songless; minerals abound, both the precious
and the useful; the natives are disappearing, the colonists in 1904
numbering close upon 4,000,000; and the territory divided into Victoria,
New South Wales, Queensland, S. Australia, and W. Australia, which with
Tasmania federated in 1900 and became the Commonwealth.


AUSTRASIA, or the East Kingdom, a kingdom on the E. of the
possessions of the Franks in Gaul, that existed from 511 to 843, capital
of which was Metz; it was celebrated for its rivalry with the kingdom of
Neustria, or the Western Kingdom.


AUSTRIA, or AUSTRO-HUNGARY, is a country of every variety of
surface and scenery; is inhabited by peoples of different races and
nationalities, speaking different languages, as many as 20, and composed
of 50 different states, 5 of them kingdoms; occupies the centre of
Europe, yet has free communication with the seas on all sides of it; is
the third country for size in it; is divided by the Leitha, a tributary
of the Danube, into Cis-Leithan on the W. and Trans-Leithan on the E.;
has next to no coast-line; its chief seaport, Trieste; is watered by
rivers, the Danube in chief, all of which have their mouths in other
countries; has three zones of climate with corresponding zones of
vegetation; is rich in minerals; is largely pastoral and agricultural,
manufacturing chiefly in the W.; the capital Vienna, and the population
over 40,000,000.


AUSTRIAN LIP, a thick under-lip characteristic of the House of
Hapsburg.


AUTEUIL, a village in the dep. of the Seine, now included in Paris.


AUTHORISED VERSION OF THE BIBLE was executed between the years 1604
and 1610 at the instance of James I., so that it is not undeservedly
called King James's Bible, and was the work of 47 men selected with
marked fairness and discretion, divided into three groups of two sections
each, who held their sittings for three years severally at Westminster,
Cambridge, and Oxford, the whole being thereafter revised by a committee
of six, who met for nine months in Stationers' Hall, London, and received
thirty pounds each, the rest being done for nothing. The result was a
translation that at length superseded every other, and that has since
woven itself into the affectionate regard of the whole English-speaking
people. The men who executed it evidently felt something of the
inspiration that breathes in the original, and they have produced a
version that will remain to all time a monument of the simplicity,
dignity, grace, and melody of the English language; its very style has
had a nobly educative effect on the national literature, and has
contributed more than anything else to prevent it from degenerating into
the merely frivolous and formal.


AUTOCHTHONS, Greek for aborigines.


AUTO-DA-FE, or Act of Faith, a ceremony held by the court of the
Inquisition in Spain, preliminary to the execution of a heretic, in which
the condemned, dressed in a hideously fantastic robe, called the San
Benito, and a pointed cap, walked in a procession of monks, followed by
carts containing coffins with malefactors' bones, to hear a sermon on the
true faith, prior to being burned alive; the most famous auto-da-fe took
place in Madrid in 1680.


AUTOL`YCUS, in the Greek mythology a son of HERMES (q. v.),
and maternal grandfather of Ulysses by his daughter Anticlea; famed for
his cunning and robberies; synonym for thief.


AUTOM`EDON, the charioteer of Achilles.


AUTONOMY (i. e. Self-law), in the Kantian metaphysics denotes the
sovereign right of the pure reason to be a law to itself.


AUTRAN`, JOSEPH, a French poet and dramatist, born at Marseilles; he
was of the school of Lamartine, and attained distinction by the
production of the tragedy "La Fille d'Eschyle" (1813-1877).


AUTUN` (15), an ancient city in the dep. of Saone-et-Loire, on the
Arroux, 28 m. NW. from Chalons, where Talleyrand was bishop, with a fine
cathedral and rich in antiquities; manufactures serges, carpets, velvet,
&c.


AUVERGNE`, an ancient province of France, united to the crown under
Louis XIII. in 1610, embracing the deps. of Puy-de-Dome, Cantal, and part
of Haute-Loire, the highlands of which separate the basin of the Loire
from that of the Garonne, and contain a hardy and industrious race of
people descended from the original inhabitants of Gaul; they speak a
strange dialect, and supply all the water-carriers and street-sweepers of
Paris.


AUXERRE` (15), an ancient city, capital of the dep. of Yonne, 90 m.
SE. of Paris; has a fine cathedral in the Flamboyant style; drives a
large trade in wine.


AVA, capital of the Burmese empire from 1364 to 1740 and from 1822
to 1835; now in ruins from an earthquake in 1839.


AV`ALON, in the Celtic mythology an island of faerie in the region
where the sun sinks to rest at eventide, and the final home of the heroes
of chivalry when their day's work was ended on earth.


AVARS, a tribe of Huns who, driven from their home in the Altai Mts.
by the Chinese, invaded the E. of Europe about 553, and committed ravages
in it for about three centuries, till they were subdued by Charlemagne,
and all but exterminated in 827.


AVATAR`, or Descent, the incarnation and incarnated manifestation of
a Hindu deity, a theory both characteristic of Vishnuism and marking a
new epoch in the religious development of India.


AVE MARIA, an invocation to the Virgin, so called as forming the
first two words of the salutation of the angel in Luke i. 28.


AVEBURY, or ABERY, a village in Wiltshire, 6 m. W. of
Marlborough, in the middle of a so-called Druidical structure consisting
of 100 monoliths, surmised to have been erected and arranged in memory of
some great victory.


AVELLI`NO (26), chief town in a province of the name in Campania, 59
m. E. of Naples, famous for its trade in hazel-nuts and chestnuts;
manufactures woollens, paper, macaroni, &c.; has been subject to
earthquakes.


AVENTINE HILL, one of the seven hills of Rome, the mount to which
the plebs sullenly retired on their refusal to submit to the patrician
oligarchy, and from which they were enticed back by Menenius Agrippa by
the well-known fable of the members of the body and the stomach.


AVENTI`NUS, a Bavarian historian, author of the "Chronicon Bavariae"
(Annals of Bavaria), a valuable record of the early history of Germany
(1477-1534).


AVENZO`AR, an Arabian physician, the teacher of Averroes
(1073-1103).


AVERNUS, a deep lake in Italy, near Naples, 11/2 m. in circumference,
occupying the crater of an extinct volcano, at one time surrounded by a
dark wood, and conceived, from its gloomy appearance, as well as from the
mephitic vapours it exhaled, to be the entrance to the infernal world,
and identified with it.


AVER`ROES, an Arabian physician and philosopher, a Moor by birth and
a native of Cordova; devoted himself to the study and the exposition of
Aristotle, earning for himself the title of the "Commentator," though he
appears to have coupled with the philosophy of Aristotle the Oriental
pantheistic doctrine of emanations (1126-1198).


AVERSA (24), an Italian town 8 m. from Naples, amid vineyards and
orange groves; much resorted to by the Neapolitans.


AVEYRON`, a mountainous dep. in the S. of France, with excellent
pastures, where the Roquefort cheese is produced.


AVICEN`NA, an illustrious Arabian physician, surnamed the prince of
physicians, a man of immense learning and extensive practice in his art;
of authority in philosophy as well as in medicine, his philosophy being
of the school of Aristotle with a mixture of Neoplatonism, his "Canon of
Medicine," being the supreme in medical science for centuries (980-1037).


AVIE`NUS, RUFUS FESTUS, a geographer and Latin poet, or versifier
rather, of the 4th century.


AVIGN`ON (37), capital of the dep. of Vaucluse, France; an ancient
city beautifully situated on the left bank of the Rhone, near the
confluence of the Durance, of various fortune from its foundation by the
Phocaeans in 539 B.C.; was the seat of the Papacy from 1305 to 1377,
purchased by Pope Clement VI. at that period, and belonged to the Papacy
from that time till 1797, when it was appropriated to France; it contains
a number of interesting buildings, and carries on a large trade in wine,
oil, and fruits; grows and manufactures silk in large quantities.


A`VILA (10), a town in Spain, in a province of the name, in S. of
Old Castile, 3000 ft. above the sea-level, with a Gothic cathedral and a
Moorish castle; birthplace of St. Theresa.


AVILA, JUAN D', a Spanish priest, surnamed the Apostle of Andalusia,
for his zeal in planting the Gospel in its mountains; _d_. 1569.


AVILA Y ZINUGA, a soldier, diplomatist, and historian under Charles
V.


AVLO`NA (6), or VALONA, a port of Albania, on an inlet of the
Adriatic.


AV`OLA (12), a seaport on the E. coast of Sicily, ruined by an
earthquake in 1693, rebuilt since; place of export of the Hybla honey.


A`VON, the name of several English rivers, such as Shakespeare's in
Warwickshire, of Salisbury in Wiltshire, and of Bristol, rising in
Wiltshire.


AVRANCHES` (7), a town in dep. of Manche, Normandy; the place, the
spot marked by a stone, where Henry II. received absolution for the
murder of Thomas a Becket; lace-making the staple industry, and trade in
agricultural products.


AWE, LOCH, in the centre of Argyllshire, overshadowed by mountains,
25 m. in length, the second in size of Scottish lakes, studded with
islands, one with the ruin of a castle; the scenery gloomily picturesque;
its surface is 100 ft. above the sea-level.


AXEL, archbishop of Lund; born in Zealand; a Danish patriot with
Norse blood; subdued tribes of Wends, and compelled them to adopt
Christianity.


AXHOLME, ISLE OF, a tract of land in NW. Lincolnshire, 17 m. long
and 5 m. broad; once a forest, then a marsh; drained in 1632, and now
fertile, producing hemp, flax, rape, &c.


AXIM, a trading settlement on the Gold Coast, Africa, belonging to
Britain; belonged to Holland till 1871.


AX`OLOTL, a batrachian, numerous in Mexico and the Western States,
believed to be in its preliminary or tadpole state of existence.


AX`UM, capital of an Ethiopian kingdom in Abyssinia, now in ruins,
where Christianity was introduced in the 4th century, and which as the
outpost of Christendom fell early before the Mohammedan power.


AYACU`CHO, a thriving town in Peru, founded by Pizarro in 1539,
where the Peruvians and Colombians achieved their independence of Spain
in 1824, and ended the rule of Spain in the S. American continent.


AYA`LA, PEDRO LOPEZ D', a Spanish soldier, statesman, and
diplomatist, born in Murcia; wrote a "History of the Kings of Castile,"
which was more than a chronicle of wars, being also a review of them; and
a book of poems entitled the "Rhymes of the Court" (1332-1407).


AYE-AYE, a lemur found in the woods of Madagascar.


AYESHA, the daughter of Abubekr, and favourite wife of Mahomet, whom
he married soon after the death of Kadijah; as much devoted to Mahomet as
he was to her, for he died in her arms. "A woman who distinguished
herself by all manner of qualities among the Moslems," who is styled by
them the "Mother of the Faithful" (see KADIJAH). She was, it is
said, the only wife of Mahomet that remained a virgin. On Mahomet's death
she opposed the accession of Ali, who defeated her and took her prisoner,
but released her on condition that she should not again interfere in
State matters (610-677).


AYLES`BURY (9), a borough and market-town in Buckinghamshire, 40 m.
NW. of London, in an agricultural district; supplies the London market
with ducks.


AYLMER, JOHN, tutor to Lady Jane Grey, bishop of London, a highly
arbitrary man, and a friend to neither Papist nor Puritan; he is
satirised by Spenser in the "Shepherd's Calendar" (1521-1594).


AYLOFFE, SIR JOSEPH, English antiquary, born in Sussex (1708-1781).


AYMA`RAS, the chief native race of Peru and Bolivia, from which it
would appear sprang the Quinchuas, the dominant people of Peru at the
time of the Spanish conquest; attained a high degree of civilisation, and
number to-day 500,000.


AYMON, THE COUNT OF DORDOGNE, the father of four sons, Renaud,
Guiscard, Alard, and Richard, renowned in the legends of chivalry, and
particularly as paladins of Charlemagne.


AY`MAR-VER`NAY, a peasant of Dauphine, who in the 17th century
professed to discover springs and treasures hid in the earth by means of
a divining rod.


AYR (23), the county town of Ayrshire, at the mouth of a river of
the same name, a clean, ancient town, its charter, granted by William the
Lion, dating from 1200; well built, with elegant villas in the suburbs, a
good harbour and docks for shipping; famous in early Scottish history,
and doubly so among Scottish towns as the birthplace near it of Robert
Burns.


AYR`ER, JACOB, a German dramatist in the 16th century, of the style
of HANS SACHS (q. v.).


AYRSHIRE (226), a large and wealthy county in the W. of Scotland,
bordered on the W. by the Firth of Clyde, agricultural and pastoral, with
a large coal-field and thriving manufactures; its divisions, Carrick, to
the S. of the Doon; Kyle, between the Doon and the Irvine, and
Cunningham, on the N.; concerning which there is an old rhyme: "Kyle for
a man, Carrick for a coo, Cunningham for butter and cheese, Galloway for
'oo."


AYTON, SIR ROBERT, a poet of considerable merit, a native of Fife,
born at Kinaldie, who made his fortune by a Latin panegyric to King James
I. on his accession; was on friendly terms with the eminent literary men
of his time, Ben Jonson in particular; his poems are written in pure and
even elegant English, some in Latin, and have only recently been
collected together (1571-1638).


AYTOUN, WILLIAM EDMONDSTOUNE, poet and critic, a native of
Edinburgh, professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in Edinburgh
University, author of the "Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers"; he was also
editor, along with Sir Theodore Martin, of the "Gaultier Ballads," an
admirable collection of light verse (1813-1865).


AZEGLIO, MARCHESE D', an Italian patriot and statesman, native of
Turin; wounded at Vicenza in 1848, fighting for Italian independence;
entered the Piedmontese Parliament, was Victor Emanuel's right-hand man,
retired in favour of Cavour; he was not altogether engrossed with
politics, being an amateur in art (1798-1866).


AZERBIJAN (2,000), prov. of Armenian Persia, S. of the river Aras,
with fertile plains, cattle-breeding, and rich in minerals.


AZORES, i. e. Hawk Islands (250), a group of nine volcanic islands
in the Atlantic, 800 m. W. of Portugal, and forming a province of it; are
in general mountainous; covered with orange groves, of which the chief
are St. Michael's and Fayal; and 900 m. W. of it, in the latitude of
Lisbon; the climate is mild, and good for pulmonary complaints; they were
known to the Carthaginian mariners, but fell out of the map of Europe
till rediscovered in 1431.


AZOV, SEA OF, an opening from the Black Sea, very shallow, and
gradually silting up with mud from the Don.


AZ`RAEL, the angel of death according to Rabbinical tradition.


AZ`TECS, a civilised race of small stature, of reddish-brown skin,
lean, and broad featured, which occupied the Mexican plateau for some
centuries before the Spaniards visited it, and were overthrown by the
Spaniards in 1520.


AZUNI, DOMINICO ALBERTO, an Italian jurist, born in Sardinia;
president of the Court of Appeal at Genoa; made a special study of
maritime law; author of "Droit Maritime de l'Europe" (1729-1827).


AZYMITES, the name given to a party in the Church who insisted that
only unleavened bread should be used in the Eucharist, and the
controversy hinged on the question whether the Lord's Supper was
instituted before the Passover season was finished, or after, as in the
former case the bread must have been unleavened, and in the latter
leavened.

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