of Canterbury, flourished at the close of the sixth century, was sent, in
596, with forty monks by Pope Gregory I to introduce Christianity into
Saxon England, and was kindly received by Ethelbert, King of Kent, whom he
converted, baptising 10,000 of his subjects in one day. In acknowledgment
of his tact and success Augustine received the archiepiscopal pall from the
Pope, with instructions to establish twelve sees in his province, but he
could not persuade the British bishops in Wales to unite with the new
English Church. He died in 604 or 605. Cf. Sir H. H. Howorth, _St.
Augustine of Canterbury_.
AU'GUSTINS, or AUGUSTINES, members of several monastic fraternities who
follow rules framed by the great St. Augustine, or deduced from his
writings, of which the chief are the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, or
Austin Canons, and the Begging Hermits or Austin Friars. The Austin Canons
were introduced into Britain about 1100, and had about 170 houses in
England and about twenty-five in Scotland. They took the vows of chastity
and poverty, and their habit was a long black cassock with a white rochet
over it, having over that a black cloak and hood. The Austin Friars,
originally hermits, were a much more austere body, went barefooted, and
formed one of the four orders of mendicants. An order of nuns had also the
name of Augustines. Their garments, at first black, were afterwards violet.
AUGUSTO'VO, a town of Poland, formerly in Russia, in the government of
Suwalki, founded in 1557 by Sigismund II. Pop. 11,797. The battle of
Augustovo was fought between the Russians and the Germans between 14th Sept
and 3rd Oct., 1914.
AUGUS'TULUS, Romulus, the last of the Western Roman emperors; reigned for
one year (475-6), when he was overthrown by Odoacer and banished.
AUGUS'TUS, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (originally called Gaius
Octavius), Roman emperor, was the son of Gaius Octavius and Atia, a
daughter of Julia, the sister of Julius Caesar. He was born 63 B.C., and
died A.D. 14. Octavius was at Apollonia, in Epirus, when he received news
of the death of his uncle (44 B.C.), who had previously adopted him as his
son. He returned to Rome to claim Caesar's property and avenge his death,
and now took, according to usage, his uncle's name with the surname
Octavianus. He was aiming secretly at the chief power, but at first he
joined the republican party, and assisted at the defeat of Antony at
Mutina. He got himself chosen consul in 43. Soon after the second
triumvirate was formed between him and Antony and Lepidus, and this was
followed by the conscription and assassination of three hundred Senators
and two thousand knights of the party opposed to the triumvirate. Next year
Octavianus and Antony defeated the republican army under Brutus and Cassius
at Philippi. The victors now divided the Roman world between them,
Octavianus getting the West, Antony the East, and Lepidus Africa. Sextus
Pompeius, who had made himself formidable at sea, had now to be put down;
and Lepidus, who had hitherto retained an appearance of power, was deprived
of all authority (36 B.C.) and retired into private life. Antony and
Octavianus now shared the Empire between them; but while the former, in the
East, gave himself up to a life of luxury, and alienated the Romans by his
alliance with Cleopatra and his adoption of Oriental manners, Octavianus
skilfully cultivated popularity, and soon declared war ostensibly against
the Queen of Egypt. The naval victory of Actium, in which the fleet of
Antony and Cleopatra was defeated, made Octavianus master of the world, 31
B.C. He returned to Rome, 29 B.C., celebrated a splendid triumph, and
caused the temple of Janus to be closed in token of peace being restored.
Gradually all the highest offices of State, civil and religious, were
united in his hands, and the new title of Augustus was also assumed by him,
being formally conferred by the Senate in 27 B.C. Great as was the power
given to him, he exercised it with wise moderation, and kept up the show of
a republican form of government. Under him successful wars were carried on
in Africa and Asia (against the Parthians), in Gaul and Spain, in Pannonia,
Dalmatia, &c.; but the defeat of Varus by the Germans under Arminius with
the loss of three legions, A.D. 9, was a great blow to him in his old age.
Many useful decrees proceeded from him, and various abuses were abolished.
He gave a new form to the Senate, employed himself in improving the morals
of the people, enacted laws for the suppression of luxury, introduced
discipline into the armies, and order into the games of the circus. He
adorned Rome in such a manner that it was said: "He found it of brick, and
left it of marble". The people erected altars to him, and, by a decree of
the Senate, the month Sextilis was called _Augustus_ (our August). He was a
patron of literature; Virgil and Horace were befriended by him, and their
works and those of their contemporaries are the glory of the _Augustan
Age_. His death, which took place at Nola, plunged the Empire into the
greatest grief. He was thrice married, but had no son, and was succeeded by
his stepson Tiberius, whose mother Livia he had married after prevailing on
her husband to divorce her.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. B. Firth, _Augustus Caesar_
(in Heroes of the Nations series); E. S. Shuckburgh, _Augustus_.
AUGUSTUS II (or FREDERICK AUGUSTUS I), Elector of Saxony and King of
Poland, second son of John George III, Elector of Saxony, was born at
Dresden in 1670, died at Warsaw 1733. He succeeded his brother in the
Electorate in 1694, and the Polish throne having become vacant, in 1696, by
the death of John Sobieski, Augustus presented himself as a candidate for
it and was successful. He joined with Peter the Great in the war against
Charles XII of Sweden, invaded Livonia, but was defeated by Charles near
Riga, and at Clissow, between Warsaw and Cracow. In 1704 he was deposed,
and two years later formally resigned the crown to Stanislaus I, now
devoting himself to his Saxon dominions. In 1709, after the defeat of
Charles at Poltava, the Poles recalled Augustus, who united himself anew
with Peter. The two monarchs, in alliance with Denmark, sent troops into
Pomerania, but the Swedish general Steinbock defeated the allies at
Gadebusch, 20th Dec., 1712. The death of Charles XII put an end to the war,
and Augustus concluded a peace with Sweden. A confederation was now formed
in Poland against the Saxon troops, but through the mediation of Peter an
arrangement was concluded by which the Saxon troops were removed from the
kingdom. Augustus now gave himself up to voluptuousness and a life of
pleasure. His Court was one of the most splendid and polished in Europe.
The Poles yielded but too readily to the example of their king, and the
last years of his reign were characterized by boundless luxury and
corruption of manners. His wife left him one son. The Countess of
Koenigsmark bore him the celebrated commander Marshal Saxe (Maurice of
Saxony).
AUGUSTUS III (or FREDERICK AUGUSTUS II), Elector of Saxony and King of
Poland, son of Augustus II, born at Dresden 1696, succeeded his father as
Elector in 1733, and was chosen King of Poland through the influence of
Austria and Russia. He closely followed the example of his father,
distinguishing himself by the splendour of his feasts and the extravagance
of his Court. He preferred Dresden to Warsaw, and through his long absence
from Poland the government sank into entire inactivity. During the first
Silesian war he formed a secret alliance with Austria. The consequence was
that during the second Silesian war Frederick the Great of Prussia pushed
on into Saxony, and occupied the capital, from which Augustus fled. By the
peace of Dresden, 25th Dec., 1745, he was reinstated in the possession of
Saxony. In 1756 he was involved anew in a war against Prussia. When
Frederick declined his proposal of neutrality he left Dresden, and entered
the camp at Pirna, where 17,000 Saxon troops were assembled. Frederick
surrounded the Saxons, who were obliged to surrender, and Augustus fled to
Poland. On the threat of invasion by Russia he returned to Dresden, where
he died in 1763. His son, Frederick Christian, succeeded him as Elector of
Saxony, and Stanislaus Poniatowski as King of Poland.
[Illustration: Razor-bill (_Alca torda_)]
AUK, a name of certain swimming birds, family Alcidae, including the great
auk, the little auk, the puffin, &c. The genus Alca, or auks proper,
contains only two species, the great auk (_Alca impennis_), and the
razor-bill (_Alca torda_). The great auk or gair-fowl, a bird about 3 feet
in length, used to be plentiful in northerly regions, and also visited the
British shores, but has become extinct. Some seventy skins, about as many
eggs, with bones representing perhaps a hundred individuals, are preserved
in various museums. Though the largest species of the family, the wings
were only 6 inches from the carpal joint to the tip, totally useless for
flight, but employed as fins in swimming, especially under water. The tail
was about 3 inches long; the beak was high, short, and compressed; the
head, neck, and upper parts were blackish; a large spot under each eye, and
most of the under parts white. Its legs were placed so far back as to cause
it to sit nearly upright. The razor-bill is about 15 inches in length, and
its wings are sufficiently developed to be used for flight. It is found in
numbers on some parts of the British shores, as the Isle of Man.
AULAP'OLAY, or ALLEPPI, a seaport on the south-west coast of Hindustan,
Travancore, between the sea and a lagoon, with a safe roadstead all the
year round; exports timber, coir, coconuts, &c. Pop. 24,918.
AULD LICHTS. See _Presbyterianism_.
AULIC (Lat. _aula_, a court or hall), an epithet given to a council (the
_Reichshofrath_) in the old German Empire, one of the two supreme courts of
the German Empire, the other being the court of the imperial chamber
(_Reichskammergericht_). It had not only concurrent jurisdiction with the
latter court, but in many cases exclusive jurisdiction, in all feudal
processes, and in criminal affairs, over the immediate feudatories of the
Emperor and in affairs which concerned the imperial Government.
AU'LIS, in ancient Greece, a seaport in Boeotia, on the strait called
Euripus, between Boeotia and Euboea. See _Iphigenia_.
AULLAGAS (ou-lyae'gaes), a salt lake of Bolivia, which receives the surplus
waters of Lake Titicaca through the Rio Desaguadero, and has only one
perceptible insignificant outlet, so that what becomes of its superfluous
water is still a matter of uncertainty.
AULNOY ([=o]-nwae), Countess d', French writer, born 1650, died 1705, was
the author of _Contes des Fees_ (_Fairy Tales_), many of which, such as
_The White Cat_, _The Yellow Dwarf_, &c., have been translated into
English. She also wrote a number of novels, historical memoirs, &c.
AUMALE ([=o]-mael), a small French town, department of Seine Inferieure, 35
miles N.E. of Rouen, which has given titles to several notables in French
history.--Jean d'Arcourt, Eighth Count d'Aumale, fought at Agincourt, and
defeated the English at Gravelle (1423).--Claude II, Duc d'Aumale, one of
the chief instigators of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, was killed
1573.--Charles de Lorraine, Duc d'Aumale, was an ardent partisan of the
League in the politico-religious French wars of the sixteenth
century.--Henri-Eugene-Philippe Louis d'Orleans, Duc d'Aumale, son of Louis
Philippe, king of the French, was born in 1822. In 1847 he succeeded
Marshal Bugeaud as Governor-General of Algeria, where he had distinguished
himself in the war against Abd-el-Kader. After the revolution of 1848 he
retired to England; but he returned to France in 1871, and was elected a
member of the Assembly; became Inspector-General of the army in 1879, and
was expelled along with the other royal princes in 1886, but was allowed to
return. Author of a _History of the House of Conde_, &c. He died in 1897.
AUN'GERVILLE, Richard, known as Richard de Bury (from his birthplace Bury
St. Edmund's), English statesman, bibliographer, and correspondent of
Petrarch, born 1281, died 1345. He entered the order of Benedictine monks,
and became tutor to the Prince of Wales, afterwards Edward III. Promoted to
several offices of dignity, he ultimately became Bishop of Durham, and Lord
Chancellor of England. During his frequent embassies to the Continent he
made the acquaintance of many of the eminent men of the day. He was a
diligent collector of books, and formed a library at Oxford. Author of
_Philobiblon_, printed at Cologne in 1473; _Epistoloe Familiarium_,
including letters to Petrarch, &c.
AURANGABAD', a town of India, in the territory of the Nizam of Hyderabad,
175 miles from Bombay. It contains a ruined palace of Aurangzib and a
mausoleum erected to the memory of his favourite wife. It was formerly a
considerable trading centre, but its commercial importance decreased when
Hyderabad became the capital of the Nizam. Pop. 34,000.
AURANGZIB ('ornament of the throne'), one of the greatest of the Mogul
emperors of Hindustan, born in Oct. 1618 or 1619. When he was nine years
old his weak and unfortunate father, Shah Jehan, succeeded to the throne.
Aurangzib was distinguished, when a youth, for his serious look, his
frequent prayers, his love of solitude, his profound hypocrisy, and his
deep plans. In his twentieth year he raised a body of troops by his address
and good fortune, and obtained the government of the Deccan. He stirred up
dissensions between his brothers, made use of the assistance of one against
the other, and finally shut his father up in his harem, where he kept him
prisoner. He then murdered his relatives one after the other, and in 1659
ascended the throne. Notwithstanding the means by which he had got
possession of power, he governed with much wisdom. Two of his sons, who
endeavoured to form a party in their own favour, he caused to be arrested
and put to death by slow poison. He carried on many wars, conquered
Golconda and Bijapur, and drove out, by degrees, the Mahrattas from their
country. After his death, on 4th March, 1707, the Mogul Empire declined.
AURANTIA'CEAE, the orange tribe, a nat. ord. of plants, polypetalous
dicotyledons, with leaves containing a fragrant essential oil in
transparent dots, and a superior pulpy fruit, originally natives of India;
examples comprise the orange, lemon, lime, citron, and shaddock.
AURAY ([=o]-r[=a]), a seaport of North-West France, department Morbihan,
with a deaf and dumb institute, and within 2 miles of St. Anne of Auray, a
famous place of pilgrimage. Pop. 6653.
AURE'LIAN, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus, Emperor of Rome, of humble origin,
was born about A.D. 212, rose to the highest rank in the army, and on the
death of Claudius II (270) was chosen emperor. He delivered Italy from the
barbarians (Alemanni and Marcomanni), and conquered the famous Zenobia,
Queen of Palmyra. He followed up his victories by the reformation of
abuses, and the restoration throughout the Empire of order and regularity.
He lost his life, A.D. 275, by assassination, when heading an expedition
against the Persians.
AURE'LIUS ANTONI'NUS, Marcus, often called simply MARCUS AURELIUS, Roman
emperor and philosopher, son-in-law, adopted son, and successor of
Antoninus Pius, born A.D. 121, succeeded to the throne 161, died 180. His
name originally was Marcus Annius Verus. He voluntarily shared the
government with Lucius Verus, whom Antoninus Pius had also adopted. Brought
up and instructed by Plutarch's nephew, Sextus, the orator Herodes Atticus,
and L. Volusius Mecianus, the jurist, he had become acquainted with learned
men, and formed a particular love for the Stoic philosophy. A war with
Parthia broke out in the year of his accession, and did not terminate till
166. A confederacy of the northern tribes now threatened Italy, while a
frightful pestilence, brought from the East with the army, raged in Rome
itself. Both emperors set out in person against the rebellious tribes. In
169 Verus died, and the sole command of the war devolved on Marcus
Aurelius, who prosecuted it with the utmost rigour, and nearly exterminated
the Marcomanni. His victory over the Quadi (174) is connected with a famous
legend. Dion Cassius tells us that the twelfth legion of the Roman army was
shut up in a defile, and reduced to great straits for want of water, when a
body of Christians enrolled in the legion prayed for relief. Not only was
rain sent, which enabled the Romans to quench their thirst, but a fierce
storm of hail beat upon the enemy, accompanied by thunder and lightning,
which so terrified them that a complete victory was obtained, and the
legion was ever after called _The Thundering Legion_ (_Legio Fulminatrix_).
After this victory the Marcomanni, the Quadi, as well as the rest of the
barbarians, sued for peace. The sedition of the Syrian governor Avidius
Cassius, with whom Faustina, the empress, was in treasonable communication,
called off the emperor from his conquests, but before he reached Asia the
rebel was assassinated. Aurelius returned to Rome, after visiting Egypt and
Greece, but soon new incursions of the Marcomanni compelled him once more
to take the field. He defeated the enemy several times, but was taken sick
at Sirmium, and died at Vindobona (Vienna) in 180. His only extant work is
the _Meditations_, written in Greek. It has been translated into most
modern languages (into English first by George Long in 1862, and by J.
Jackson in 1906). This may be regarded as a manual of practical morality,
in which wisdom, gentleness, and benevolence are combined in the most
fascinating manner. Many believe it to have been intended for the
instruction of his son Commodus. Aurelius was one of the best emperors Rome
ever saw, although his philosophy and the magnanimity of his character did
not restrain him from the persecution of the Christians, whose religious
doctrines he was led to believe were subversive of good government, and
whom he charged, therefore, with obstinacy, the greatest social crime in
the eyes of Roman authority. Marcus Aurelius was not so much a philosopher
as a seeker after righteousness.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: P. B. Watson, _M. Aurelius
Antoninus_; Sir Samuel Dill, _Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius_;
Translations of the _Meditations_ by G. H. Kendall, and J. Jackson.
AURENGZEBE. See _Aurangzib_.
AURE'OLA, or AU'REOLE, in paintings, an illumination surrounding the whole
figure of a holy person, as Christ, a saint, or a martyr, intended to
represent a luminous cloud or haze emanating from him. It is generally of
an oval shape, or may be nearly or quite circular, and is of similar
character with the nimbus surrounding the heads of sacred personages.
AU'R[)E]US, the first gold coin which was coined at Rome, 207 B.C. Its
value varied at different times, from about 12s. to L1, 4_s_. See
_Numismatics_.
AURICH (ou'r[=e]_h_), a German town, province of Hanover. Pop. 6070.
AU'RICLE. See _Heart_.
AURIC'ULA, a garden flower derived from the yellow _Prim[)u]la
Auric[)u]la_, found native in the Swiss Alps, and sometimes called
bear's-ear from the shape of its leaves. It has for over three centuries
been an object of cultivation by florists, who have succeeded in raising
from seed a great number of beautiful varieties. Its leaves are obovate,
entire or serrated, and fleshy, varying, however, in form in the numerous
varieties. The flowers are borne on an erect umbel and central scape with
involucre. The original colours of the corolla are yellow, purple, and
variegated, and there is a mealy covering on the surface. There are
auricula clubs and societies in the north of England.
AURICULAR CONFESSION. See _Confession_.
AU'RIFABER, the Latinized name of Johann Goldschmidt, one of Luther's
companions, born 1519, became pastor at Erfurt in 1566, died there in 1579.
He collected the unpublished MSS. of Luther, and edited the _Epistolae_ and
the _Table-talk_.
AURIFLAMME. See _Oriflamme_.
AURI'GA, in astronomy, the _Waggoner_, a constellation of the northern
hemisphere, containing Capella, a star of the first magnitude. _Nova
Aurigae,_ a temporary star, appeared in the constellation in 1892.
AURILLAC ([=o]-r[=e]-y[.a]k), a town of France, capital of the department
Cantal, in a valley watered by the Jordanne, about 270 miles S. of Paris;
well built, with wide streets; copper-works, paper-works, manufactures of
lace, tapestry, leather, &c. Pop. 18,036.
AUROCHS ([a:]'roks), a species of wild bull or buffalo, the _urus_ of
Caesar, _bison_ of Pliny, the European bison, _Bos_ or _Bonassus Bison_ of
modern naturalists. The animal was once abundant in Europe, but were it not
for the protection afforded by the late Emperor of Russia to a few herds
which inhabit the forests of Lithuania it would before this have been
extinct.
AURO'RA, an American city, of Kane county, Illinois, on Fox River, 40 miles
W. by S. of Chicago; it has flourishing manufactures, railway-works, and a
considerable trade. Pop. (1920), 36,265.
AURO'RA (Gr. _E[=o]s_), in classical mythology, the goddess of the dawn,
daughter of Hyperion and Theia, and sister of Helios and Sel[=e]n[=e] (Sun
and Moon). She was represented as a charming figure, 'rosy-fingered', clad
in a yellow robe, rising at dawn from the ocean and driving her chariot
through the heavens. Among the mortals whose beauty captivated the goddess,
poets mentioned Orion, Tith[=o]nus, and Ceph[)a]lus.
AURO'RA, one of the New Hebrides Islands, S. Pacific Ocean, about 30 miles
long by 5 wide. It rises to a considerable elevation, and is covered with a
luxuriant vegetation.
[Illustration: Aurora Borealis]