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At`tock (4), a town and fortress in the Punjab, on the Indus where the Kabul joins it—a river beyond which no Hindu must pass; it was built by Akbar in 1581.

Attorney-General, the name given the first law officer and legal adviser of the Crown in England and Ireland.

Attwood, George, a mathematician, invented a machine for illustrating the law of uniformly accelerated motion, as in falling bodies (1745-1807).

Attwood, Thomas, an eminent English musician and composer, wrote a few anthems (1767-1836).

A`tys, a beautiful Phrygian youth, beloved by Cybele, who turned him into a pine, after she had, by her apparition at his marriage to forbid the banns, driven him mad.

Aube (255), a dep. in France, formed of Champagne and a small part of Burgundy, with Troyes for capital.

Au`ber, a popular French composer of operas, born at Caen; his operas included "La Muette de Portici," "Le Domino Noir," "Fra Diavolo," &c. (1782-1871).

Au`bert, The Abbé, a French fabulist, born at Paris (1731-1814).

Aub`rey, John, an eminent antiquary, a friend of Anthony Wood's; inherited estates in Wilts, Hereford, and Wales, all of which he lost by lawsuits and bad management; was intimate with all the literary men of the day; left a vast number of MSS.; published one work, "Miscellanies," being a collection of popular superstitions; preserved a good deal of the gossip of the period (1624-1697).

Aub`riot, a French statesman, born at Dijon, provost of Paris under Charles V.: built the famous Bastille; was imprisoned in it for heresy, but released by a mob; died at Dijon, 1382.

Aubry de Montdidier, French knight murdered by Robert Macaire (q. v.), the sole witness of the crime and the avenger of it being his dog.

Aubusson, a French town on the Creuse, manufactures carpets and tapestry.

Aubusson, Pierre d', grand-master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, of French descent, who in 1480 gallantly defended Rhodes when besieged by Mahomet II., and drove the assailants back, amounting to no fewer than 100,000 men (1423-1503).

Auch (12), capital of the dep. of Gers, France, 14 m. W. of Toulouse, with a splendid cathedral perched on a hill, and accessible only by a flight of 200 steps; has a trade in wine and brandy.

Auchinleck, a village 15 m. E. of Ayr, with the mansion of the Boswell family.

Auchterar`der, a village in Perthshire, where the forcing of a presentee by a patron on an unwilling congregation awoke a large section in the Established Church to a sense of the wrong, and the assertion of the rights of the people and led to the disruption of the community, and the creation of the Free Church in 1843.

Auck`land (60), the largest town in New Zealand, in the N. island, with an excellent harbour in the Gulf of Hauraki, and the capital of a district of the name, 400 m. long, and 200 m. broad, with a fertile soil and a fine climate, rich in natural products of all kinds; was the capital of New Zealand till the seat of government was transferred to Wellington.

Auckland, Bishop (11), a town on the Wear, 10 m. SW. of Durham and in the county of Durham, with the palace of the bishop.

Auckland, George Eden, Lord, son of the following, a Whig in politics, First Lord of the Admiralty, Governor-General of India; gave name to Auckland; returned afterwards to his post in the Admiralty (1784-1849).

Auckland, William Eden, Lord, diplomatist, and an authority on criminal law (1744-1814).

Auckland Islands, a group of small islands 180 m. S. of New Zealand, with some good harbours, and rich in vegetation.

Aude (317), a maritime dep. in the S. of France, being a portion of Languedoc; yields cereals, wine, &c., and is rich in minerals.

Audebert, Jean Baptiste, a French artist and naturalist; devoted himself to the illustration in coloured plates of objects of natural history, such especially as monkeys and humming-birds, all exquisitely done (1759-1800).

Audhumbla, the cow, in the Norse mythology, that nourished Hymir, and lived herself by licking the hoar-frost off the rocks.

Audley, Sir Thomas, Lord, born in Essex, son of a yeoman; became Speaker of the House of Commons and Lord Chancellor of England; the selfish, unscrupulous tool of Henry VIII. (1488-1554).

Au`douin, Jean Victor, an eminent French entomologist; was employed by the French Government to inquire into and report on the diseases of the silkworm, and the insects that destroy the vines (1797-1841).

Audran, Gerard, an engraver, the most eminent of a family of artists, born at Lyons; engraved the works of Lebrun, Mignard, and Poussin; he did some fine illustrations of the battles of Alexander the Great (1640-1703).

Au`dubon, John James, a celebrated American ornithologist of French Huguenot origin; author of two great works, the "Birds of America" and the "Quadrupeds of America," drawn and illustrated by himself, the former characterised by Cuvier as "the most magnificent monument that Art up to that time had raised to Nature" (1780-1851).

Au`enbrugger, an Austrian physician, discoverer of the method of investigating diseases of the chest by percussion (1722-1809).

Au`erbach, Bertholo, a German poet and novelist of Jewish birth, born in the Black Forest; his novels, which have been widely translated, are in the main of a somewhat philosophical bent, he having been early led to the study of Spinoza, and having begun his literary career as editor of his works; his "Village Tales of the Black Forest" were widely popular (1812-1882).

Au`ersperg, Count von, an Austrian lyrical and satirical poet, of liberal politics, and a pronounced enemy of the absolutist party headed by Metternich (1806-1876).

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.

Aufklärung, 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 littérateur, born at Paris, renowned as a critic (1772-1829).

Au`gereau, Pierre François Charles, marshal of France and duke of Castiglione, born at Paris; distinguished in the campaigns of the Republic and Napoleon; executed the coup d'état 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, Émile, 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 Manichæans, 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 Cæsar Octavianus, the first of the Roman Emperors or Cæsars, grand-nephew of Julius Cæsar, and his heir; joined the Republican party at Cæsar'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 Brünn, 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., (née 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-fé, 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-fé 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 Saône-et-Loire, on the Arroux, 28 m. NW. from Châlons, 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-Dôme, 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 faërie 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 Bavariæ" (Annals of Bavaria), a valuable record of the early history of Germany (1477-1534).

Avenzo`ar, an Arabian physician, the teacher of Averroës (1073-1103).

Avernus, a deep lake in Italy, near Naples, 1½ 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`roës, 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 Rhône, near the confluence of the Durance, of various fortune from its foundation by the Phocæans 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 à 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 Dauphiné, 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.