AUGUSTUS III, Frederic, elector of Saxony and king of Poland, son of Augustus II, born at Dresden, 1696, succeeded his father as elector, in 1733. Towards the end of this year, Louis XV endeavored to replace Stanislaus Lesczinsky, whose daughter he had married, on the throne of Poland; but France was too far distant to send troops enough to Poland to support him. A part of the Polish nobility separated from the diet, and, supported by a Russian army, chose A. king; and, in 1736, he was first generally recognised as such by the congress assembled at Warsaw to conclude a peace. Although without the great and amiable qualities of his father, in other respects he closely followed his example, distinguishing himself by the splendor of his feasts and the extravagance of his court. He squandered immense sums on pictures and musicians. Hunting was his passion. The cares of government he gave up to his favorite and prime minis ter, count Brühl (q. v.), who was artful enough to persuade a monarch, weak, but proud and jealous of his dignity, that he alone exercised the supreme power. His system of politics consisted in entire dependence upon Russia. He preferred Dresden to Warsaw, and, through his long absence from Poland, the government sunk into entire inactivity. Never were the annual diets more turbulent, and never were they so inefficient from the unbending obstinacy of the members, who continually opposed each other, under the most trivial pretexts. A. was satisfied if he could remain in his beloved Saxony, and thus the great kingdom of Poland was almost entirely without a government for 30 years. In the midst of this confusion, the Poles appeared to be satisfied and happy; but, when Frederic II had conquered Silesia, A., disturbed by the rapidly-increasing power of Prussia, united himself with the queen of Hungary, by the treaties of Dec. 1742, May 13, 1744, and by that of Leipsic, May 18, 1745. He pledged himself, by means of the money which England and Holland were to pay him, to furnish her with 30,000 auxiliary troops, which he sent into Silesia, where they were united with the Austrian army, but were entirely defeated at Hohenfriedberg, June 4, 1745. Frederic now attacked Saxony itself, and prince Leopold of Dessau defeated the Saxon army once more, Dec. 15, 1745, at Kesselsdorf, under the walls of Dresden. A. deserted his capital, and preserved his pictures and porcelain, but lost the ar

chives of the state, which fell into the hands of the victors. By the peace of Dresden, Dec. 25, 1745, he was reinstated in the possession of Saxony, in the next year. In 1756, he saw himself involved anew in a war against Prussia. When Frederic declined his proposal of neutrality, he left Dresden, Sept. 10, and entered the camp at Pirna, where 17,000 Saxon troops were assembled. Frederic surrounded the Saxons, who were obliged to surrender, October 14. A. fled to Königstein, and afterwards to Poland. His authority in this country had always been inconsiderable, and, after the loss of Saxony, became still more insignificant. The ascension of Catharine to the Russian throne was a new source of disquietude to him, for the great empress sought, in every way, to deprive the Saxon princes, who were allies of France, of the Polish throne. The peace of Hubertsburg, therefore, was hardly concluded, when A. returned from Warsaw to Dresden, where he was seized, Oct. 5, 1763, with a fit of the gout, which attacked his stomach, and put an end to his life. He had, like his father, before his ascension to the Polish throne (1712), embraced the Catholic religion at Bologna. His son Frederic Christian succeeded him as elector of Saxony, and Stanislaus Poniatowsky as king of Poland.

AULIC (from the Latin aula, used for court); an epithet given to a council in the ci-devant German empire, the Reichshofrath. The aulic council was one of the two supreme courts of the German empire, which first received a distinct form, after the estates had obliged the emperor, in 1495, to establish the court of the imperial chamber (das Reichs-Kammergericht). After the erection of this court, the emperor still had, as before, officers who decided all disputes brought to him from his hereditary dominions, and from the empire at large. He, of course, would not allow the estates the same influence, in the appointment of these officers, which they exercised in the appointment of the members of the other court above-mentioned. But, as his officers composing the aulic council took cognizance of judicial processes, the estates frequently complained of it, after 1502. They were not able, however, to attain any thing, except more precision in its organization, in 1559 and 1654. In the peace of Westphalia, it was acknowledged as a supreme court of the empire, equal to the court of the imperial chamber. It consisted of a president, a vice-president, and 18 counsellors, a part of whom, at least, were to

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be taken, not from Austria, but the other states of the empire. Six were to be Protestants: all were appointed and paid by the emperor. If the Protestant counsellors were unanimous, the votes of the rest could not prevail against them. The counsellors were divided into a bench of counts and lords, and a bench of learned men (Gelehrte), with no distinction, except that the latter, who generally were raised to the rank of nobles, had a higher salary. The vice-chancellor of the empire, also, appointed, by the archbishop, elector of Mayence, had a seat in the aulic council, and a vote after the president. This court had not only concurrent jurisdiction with the court of the imperial chamber, 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. The right of appeal, possessed by the estates, existed also in regard to the judicial decisions of the aulic court. With the death of an emperor this court ceased, and the next emperor established a new one. In the mean time, the regents of the empire constituted vice-aulic councils, which ceased again with the beginning of the new imperial government. The archives of this court, which were separated from those of the Austrian house as late as 1740, are in Vienna. Justice was, perhaps, never more slowly administered than by the two imperial courts. An epigram of the mathematician Kästner ascribes divine power to these bodies, because they gave immortality to legal processes; and a German expression, still in use, to shove any thing on the long bench, meaning, to delay something indefinitely, is said to be derived from the protracted processes of these courts. But the rota at Rome, and some other courts, have, perhaps, equally good claims to this divine power.

AULIS, in ancient geography; a seaport in Boeotia, on the strait called Euripus, between Boeotia and Euboea. Agamemnon (q. v.) assembled here the Greek fleet intended to sail against Troy. (See, also, Iphigenia.)

AUNOY (Marie Catherine Jumelle de Berneville), countess of, born 1650, and died 1705, was the author of Contes des Fées (Fairy Tales), which, in their day, met with great success in France. Her style was easy and agreeable, but verbose. Her tales are often founded on fact. The critic cannot pardon the insipid gallantry of many of her heroes. But that was the fashion of the time. She was fond of de

veloping her plots philosophically. Her husband was accused of treason by three of his tenants, was imprisoned, and subjected to a severe examination, and in danger of being condemned to death, when a mortal disease seized upon one of his accusers, who, to obtain absolution, confessed the falsehood of the whole accusation.

AURELIAN, an emperor of Rome, distinguished for his military abilities and stern severity of character, was the son of a peasant of Illyricum. He gradually rose, under Valerian II, to the highest honors in his profession, and even to the consulate; which good fortune was further favored by a wealthy marriage. Claudius II, on his death-bed, recommended A. to the choice of the troops of Illyricum, who readily acceded to his wishes. He delivered Italy from the barbarians, reduced Tetricus, who had been unwillingly made to assume the purple in Gaul, and conquered the famous Zenobia, queen of Palmyra. Owing to the ungenerous excuse of the queen, that she had waged war by the advice of her ministers, her secretary, the celebrated Longinus, was put to death by the victor; but, after having graced his triumphal entry, Zenobia herself was presented with a villa on the Tiber, and allowed to spend the remainder of her days as a Roman matron. A. followed up his victories by the reformation of abuses, and the restoration throughout the empire of order and regularity, but tarnished his good intentions by the general severity of his measures, and the sacrifice of the senatorian order to his slightest suspicions. He had planned a great expedition against Persia, and was waiting in Thrace for an opportunity to cross the straits, when he lost his life, A. D. 275, by assassination, the result of a conspiracy excited by a secretary whom he intended to call to account for peculation. A. was a wise, able and active prince, and very useful in the declining state of the empire; but the austerity of his character caused him to be very little regretted. It is said that he meditated a severe persecution of the Christians, when he was so suddenly cut off, after a distinguished and eventful reign of only five years.

AURENG-ZEBE (ornament of the throne), born Oct. 20, 1619, received this title from his grandfather, Jehan-Guyr, who at that time was sovereign of Hindostan. When he was nine years old, his weak and unfortunate father, Shah Jehan, succeeded to the throne. Aureng-Zebe was distinguished, when a youth, for his serious

look, his frequent prayers, his love of solitude, his profound hypocrisy, and his deep plans. He caused himself to be received among the fakirs, wore their habit, and wished to visit the tomb of the great prophet at Medina. But in his 20th year, he laid aside the Koran, which he had hitherto carried in his bosom, raised a body of troops by his address and good fortune, and obtained the government of the Deccan. Here, wishing to give the fakirs a proof of his love and friendship, he invited them to a feast, and compelled them, notwithstanding their resistance, to put on new and decent clothing. He burnt the old clothes, and found therein a quantity of gold and silver pieces, which did him good service when he came to carry on war with his brother. 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 of Hindostan, and took the name of Aalem Guyr. Notwithstanding the means by which he had got possession of power, he governed with much wisdom, consulted the welfare of his people, watched over the preservation of justice, and the purity of manners, and sought to confirm his own power. Two of his sons, who endeavored to form a party in their own favor, he caused to be arrested and put to death by slow poison. He carried on many wars, conquered Golconda and Visiapour, and drove out, by degrees, the Mahrattas from their country. Aurungabad, once his residence, now desolate, Seely has described in his Wonders of Elora (London, 1824). After his death, the Mogul empire declined, wars immediately broke out between his sons, and several conquered provinces sought to make themselves independent.

AUREUS, or AUREUS NUMMUS; the first gold coin which was coined in Rome, 546 A. U., in the second Punic war. It weighed two denarii and one quinarius, and was worth 25 denarii, or 100 sesterces (Suet. Oth. 4; Tacit. Hist. i. 24). In later times, it was called solidus, but had diminished in value. At first, 40 aurei were made out of a pound; under Nero, 45; under Constantine, 72. It was about as much as a ducat.

AURICULAR CONFESSION. (See Confession.)

AURIGA, in astronomy; the Wagoner (vioxos); a constellation of the northern hemisphere, containing 66 stars, according to the British catalogue.

AURORA (Greek, s); daughter of Hyperion and Thia, and sister of Sol and Luna. She was one of the ancient goddesses of the race of the Titans, but retained her rank among the later race of gods. To the Titan Astræus, son of Crius, she bore the Winds, Zephyrus, Boreas, and Notus, the Morning-star, and the Constellations. She rises from the ocean, drawn by the celestial horses Lampus and Phaeton, and, with rosy fingers, raises the veil of night, shedding light upon the world, until she flies from the splendor of day. Among the mortals whose beauty captivated the goddess, poets mention Orion, Tithonus and Cephalus.

AURORA AUSTRALIS. (See Aurora Borealis.)

AURORA BOREALIS (French, aurore boréale; German, Nordlicht); northern light. We often see in the north, near the horizon, usually a short time after sunset, a dark segment of a circle, surrounded by a brilliant arch of white or fiery light; and this arch is often separated into several concentric arches, leaving the dark segment visible between them. From these arches, and from the dark segment itself, in high latitudes, columns of light, of the most variegated and beautiful colors, shoot up towards the zenith, and, sometimes, masses like sheaves of light are scattered in all directions. The appearance is then splendid; and its increasing beauty is announced by a general undulation of the masses of light. A kind of fiery coronet is afterwards formed about the zenith, by the meeting of all the columns of light, resembling the knob of a tent. At this moment, the spectacle is magnificent, both for the multiplicity and beauty of the columns which the aurora presents. (Compare Maupertuis De la Figure de la Terre, Paris, 1738.) The light, after this, grows fainter and more tranquil. This faintness and tranquillity, however, are only temporary, for the phenomena are soon repeated in all their beauty-the oscillation of the columns of light, the formation of the corona, and the like, though with a thousand variations. At length, the motion wholly ceases, the light is collected about the northern horizon, the dark segment vanishes, and nothing is left but a strong brightness in the north, which is lost in the dawning day. These brilliant appearances are also attended, in high latitudes, with loud noises, described as resembling the hissing and crackling of fire-works. This appearance has received the name of northern light, because, on account of our position on the

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earth, we see it only about the north pole. A similar appearance, aurora australis, was seen about the south pole, in 1773, by Cook's sailors, between 58° and 60° S. lat., and later travellers have observed the same. These phenomena ought, therefore, properly to be called polar lights.Philosophers are of different opinions as to the cause of the aurora. It is, however, satisfactorily ascertained to be within the region of our atmosphere. Hell ascribed it to the reflection of the sun and moon by the clouds of snow and needles of ice, which are constantly floating in the atmosphere of the frigid zones. Mairan supposed it to proceed from the atmosphere of the sun. Bailly ascribed it to magnetism, and its remarkable influence on the needle has been generally observed. Franklin attributed it to electricity. Biot, who was sent to the Shetland islands, in 1817, by the French academy of sciences, to determine the length of the pendulum vibrating seconds, had an opportunity, Aug. 27 of the same year, of observing the aurora borealis, in all its splendor, at the island of Unst. On this occasion, he ascribed to the phenomenon a volcanic origin, and his reasoning is given at length in the Journal des Savans for 1820. His description of this wonderful phenomenon is to be found in Biot's Précis Élémentaire de Physique, 3d ed., Paris, 1824, vol. ii. p. 99, et seq. An ingenious hint of Kästner, advanced in the sixth edition of Gren's Physik (Physics), Halle, 1820, is deserving of attention. He considers polar lights as the electricity of the earth rising periodically to the poles. The latest observations on this appearance were communicated by Richardson and Hood, in the appendix to Franklin's Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in 1819, &c. London, 1823, 1824.

AUSONIUS, Decius Magnus, the most celebrated Roman poet of the 4th century, was born at Burdigala (Bordeaux), about the year 310. He studied under several distinguished masters, and became, at last, professor of rhetoric in his native city, whence his fame extended through the whole empire. Valentinian intrusted to him the education of his son Gratian, and appointed him afterwards questor and pretorian prefect. After Gratian had ascended the throne, he showed himself not less grateful to his preceptor. About the year 370, he appointed him consul in Gaul. After the death of Gratian, A. lived upon an estate at Bordeaux, devoted to literary pursuits, and died about 394.-As

Valentinian was of the Christian religion, it is probable that A. was also; and many of his writings confirm this conjecture. Critics are not unanimous on the subject of his poetical merits. He is, undeniably, learned and ingenious, but his style and versification have the blemishes of the age, and his Latin is impure. His epigrams, idyls, eclogues, letters in verse, &c., are extant. The most valuable editions are, Bordeaux, 1575-80, 2 vols., 4to., by Souchay; Paris, 1730-34, Jaubert; Paris, 1760-70, 4 vols., 12mo.

AUSPICES. (See Augur.)

AUSTERLITZ, a town with 2000 inhabitants, in the dominions of the prince of Kaunitz-Rittberg, in the circle of Brünn, in Moravia, 10 miles east of Brünn, on the highway which leads by Göding to Hungary, is famous for the battle of the 2d of December, 1805, and the armistice of the 6th of the same month. These events were turning points in the destiny of Europe and the elevation of Napoleon. Their immediate consequence was the peace of Presburg; but the most important result was the subjection of Germany and the humiliation of Prussia; for the victory at A. not only frustrated Pitt's great plan of reducing the power of France, by the allied arms of Britain, Russia and Austria, to the bounds, which, 10 years after, the peace at Paris assigned to it, but also established, with the assistance of French diplomacy, Napoleon's continental and federative system. Napoleon, after the capitulation of Mack, in Ulm, Oct. 19, unchecked at Lambach and Mariazell by the Austrians under Meerveldt, and at Dürnstein, Nov. 11 (where Mortier suffered loss), by the Russians under Koutousoff, occupied Vienna, 13th Nov., and immediately took possession of the bridge over the Danube, leading to Moravia, while prince Auersberg, who should have burnt it, allowed himself to be deluded by a pretended negotiation for peace. Marshal Lannes, therefore, on the 15th, came up with the Russian army under Koutousoff, who, to preserve himself, resolved to sacrifice the rear-guard of 6000 men, whom prince Bagration commanded. This intrepid general, however, notwithstanding he was attacked by 30,000 French at Hollabrunn, on the 16th, and at Guntersdorf, on the 17th, forced his way, with the remains of his troops, to the main army, on the 19th. Here the emperor Alexander had arrived, on the 18th, from Berlin, and on the same day the second Russian army, under Buxhöwden, had united with that

of Koutousoff. November 24, the Russian guards, 10,000 strong, also arrived, and it was resolved, at the head-quarters of the two emperors, Alexander and Francis, at Olmütz (the troops being then in want of provisions), to march, Nov. 27, from the advantageous station of Olschan (8 miles from A.), in five parallel columns, against Brünn, where Napoleon had already taken up his head-quarters on the 20th, and offer him battle. But the Russians lost many days by repeated changes in their plans of attack, and Napoleon deceived them by negotiations (in which prince Dolgorucki made very high demands), also by retiring, as if he wished to avoid an attack, and, to conceal his force, contracted his troops into a narrow space. He thereby gained time, till the arrival of the corps under Bernadotte, and two divisions of Davoust's, Dec. 1st, when he prepared his army, which rested on Brünn, for battle, and assured his troops of the victory of the following day, being the anniversary of his coronation. The French army, in a position unknown to Koutousoff, was about 80,000 strong. The army of the allies numbered about 84,000 foot and 16,000 horse, among which were 20,000 Austrian troops. On the morning of the 2d, about 7 o'clock, the battle began, according to a plan prepared by the Austrian general Weyrotter. Buxhöwden, who commanded the left wing of the Russian army, was stationed beside the 1st column, led by lieutenant-general Docktoroff, which, together with the 2d, under general Langeron, and the 3d, under general Przybyszewsky, was to surround the right wing of the French under Soult. The village of Delnitz was taken after an obstinate engagement; but, deluded by the enemy's retreat, Buxhöwden pressed forward, with the 1st column, too far to the left, and fell into a narrow defile, which two divisions of Davoust had occupied in the night. About the same time, the 2d and 3d columns, in order to attack the right wing also in front, had left the heights of Pratz, which overlooked the field of battle. These were immediately occupied by Soult, and maintained, after a fight of two hours, by the aid of a part of the centre, under Bernadotte, against the efforts of Koutousoff. This decided the victory; for the Russian left wing, which was before engaged with Davoust, and, after Soult's change of position, with the French reserve also, was cut off from the centre, and attacked both in flank and rear. Thus the 2d and 3d columns fell into

disorder. Lannes immediately pressed forward with the left wing, and the French centre, under Bernadotte, supported by a well-directed fire, broke the centre of the allies (where the Austrians, mostly newly-enlisted troops, stood under the command of Koutousoff), and pushed it upon the right wing of the Russians under Bagration and prince Liechtenstein, so that the Russian reserve came too soon into the engagement. Still it made, for a long time, a gallant resistance under the grand prince Constantine and the prince Dolgorucki. After this body was thrown into disorder by the French left wing under Lannes, and the last attack of the Russian guards frustrated by the French guards and the cavalry, which Murat commanded, the allied army retreated, under cover of Bagration and Kienmayr, about 1 o'clock, in good order, to A., and, at 4 o'clock, passed over the March. The issue of this battle was singular. The French troops of the right wing, with their rear resting on A., attacked the remainder of the left wing of the allies, and, in the end, marched down from the same heights, from which, in the morning, the allies had descended to attack them. Consequently, the Russian left wing suffered the most, as it had to force its way over the frozen ponds at Kobelnitz and Satschau, and over a narrow dike. According to the French account, several thousand of the allied troops were drowned in these ponds, when Napoleon ordered the ice to be broken with shot. At this crisis, lieutenant-general Przybyszewsky, with 113 officers and 6000 men, was forced to lay down his arms. According to Koutousoff's report, the Russians lost 12,000 men. The French made their own loss about 4500 men, but the number of prisoners taken on the 2d and 3d, about 20,000 men, and that of the cannons taken, which, for the most part, were stuck fast in the inorasses, rather more than 150. The Austrians lost 5922 in killed, wounded and prisoners.-The battle, it is said, would have been won by the Russians, if they had fought either before the 1st of December, and consequently before Bernadotte and Davoust had reënforced the French army, or after the 15th; for an army of 80,000 men was approaching, from the Hungarian frontier, towards Vienna and the Danube, led by the archdukes Charles and John, who had joined their forces near Windisch-Feistritz, in Styria, Nov. 27, while Massena remained at his post on the Isonzo. Troops were