Much discussion has been had upon the effect of sales by auction, in an economical point of view; as, whether they give a facility to the introduction of foreign manufactures, to the discouragement and depression of the domestic, with which they come into competition; and whether they have a favorable or unfavorable influence upon the course of production and consumption, considered as a part of the general system of business and economy, independently of their effect in respect to the introduction of foreign fabrics, or products. No general answer can be made to these questions, since it must, in each case, depend, in some degree, upon the manner in which the auctions are conducted. But, supposing them to be conducted with perfect fairness and honesty, it must then depend upon the condition of the industry of the community. The German fairs have an effect similar to that of auction sales. An extensive fair, or sale by auction, by showing, and, in effect, exaggerating the surplus or deficiency of articles, aggravates the stagnation in one case, and enhances the prices in the other. All such fluctuations tend to check and destroy the production that is carried on upon a small scale. Those who carry it on upon the largest scale, whether domestic or foreign, will drive out the smaller ones, since they will, as has been invariably proved, push on their business, in spite of the sacrifices which they may be obliged to make, and they gain an impetus which is not easily checked. Whether auctions are injurious or not, in either respect, will depend, therefore, upon the scale on which they are conducted, and the extent of different systems or processes of production, which are thus brought into competition. Where there is a competition, they undoubtedly tend to make it more close and direct, and if one of the rivals has any advantage at the time being, he is likely to destroy the other; or, if there be no other advantage on either side, the party willing and able to make the greatest sacrifices will eventually keep possession of the market.

AUDE, department of; a French department in the former province of Languedoc. (See Department.)

AUDEBERT, Jean Baptiste, united, in a high degree, the talents of an engraver with the knowledge of natural history. He was born at Rochefort in 1759, went, at the age of 18, to Paris, to learn drawing and painting, and made himself a skilful miniature painter. In 1789, he became

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acquainted with Gigot d'Orcy, a great lover and promoter of natural history, who possessed a vast collection, the rarest specimens of which he employed A. to paint, and afterwards sent him to England and Holland, whence he brought back a number of designs, which have been used in Olivier's History of Insects. occupation awakened in him a taste for natural history. He now undertook some works which laid the foundation of his fame. The first was, Histoire Naturelle des Singes, des Makis et des Galéopithéques (Paris, 1800, folio), in which he shows himself an able draughtsman, engraver and writer. With regard to coloring, so essential in natural history, he brought it to a greater perfection than it had ever before attained. Not satisfied with laying different colors on the same plate, so as to produce a kind of painting, he went farther, and, instead of water-colors, used the more durable oil-colors. He carried his art to still greater perfection by using gold in his impressions, the color of which he changed in different ways, in order to imitate the splendor of his patterns. Natural history was greatly benefited by his work, the splendor of which was astonishing. His Histoire des Colibris, des OiseauxMouches, des Jacamars et des Promerops (Paris, 1802, folio), is esteemed the most complete work that has appeared in this department. Fifteen copies were struck off with golden letters. Scarcely was this work begun, when A. formed new plans, for the execution of which the longest life would hardly have been sufficient. He died in 1800, when he had scarcely begun the Histoire des Grimpereaux et des Oiseaux de Paradis. Both works were excellently finished by Desray, who was in possession of the materials, and the process for carrying on the work. A. rendered much assistance in the publication of Levaillant's African Birds. conducted the impressions of the plates as far as the thirteenth number.

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AUDIENCE is used to signify the ceremonies, practised in courts, at the admission of ambassadors and public ministers to a hearing. It is also the name of courts of justice or tribunals which were established by the Spaniards in America, and formed upon the model of the court of chancery in Spain. It is also the name of one of the ecclesiastical courts in England, which is held wherever the archbishop calls up a cause to be argued before himself.

AUDITOR, in the language of the ancient law; an officer of the courts, whose duty

it was to interrogate the parties. In a narrower sense, an officer who overlooks accounts. The auditeur du châtelet, in France, was a member of that court of justice for the city of Paris. (See Chátelet.) This court decided in causes of small importance (where the amount in dispute did not exceed 50 francs.) In the 11 high offices of accounts (chambres des comptes) of France, the members were divided into conseillers-maîtres and conseillers-auditeurs, as the German colleges (departments of government) are into counsellors and assistants. A similar division in the courts of justice was introduced by Napoleon, viz., that of conseilleurs and juge-auditeurs, which distinction still exists. In England, this term is applied to those who examine accounts. The chief accountant's office is called office for auditing the public accounts. The members of the Spanish courts of justice are generally called oydores. This appellation also obtains among the papal officers. The 12 counsellors of the renowned rota Romana (q. v.) are called auditores sacri palatii apostolici, or auditores rota. In the papal college of finance, the camera apostolica, at the head of which is the cardinale camerlingo, there is an auditor camera, who exercises the power of the college in causes of minor importance.

AUERBACH, Henry; born in 1482, at a place of the same name in Bavaria; the builder of the Auerbach-court and cellar at Leipsic, mentioned in Göthe's Faust. His real name was Stromer, but, according to the fashion of his time, he took the name of the place where he was born. The building was erected in 1530, and tradition reports that, five years after, doctor Faust was seen riding out of it on a baryel of wine. This tale Göthe has made use of in his famous poem. The building was known also at the Leipsic fairs as one of the most frequented places for the exhibition of merchandise.

AUERSTEDT, battle at, Oct. 14, 1806. (See Jena.)

AUGEAN CODEX (Codex Augiensis); a Greek and Latin MS. of the Epistles of St. Paul, supposed by Michaelis to have been written in the ninth century, and so called from Augia Major, the name of a monastery at Rheinau, to which it belonged. After passing through several hands, it came, in 1718, to doctor Bentley, who purchased it for 250 Dutch florins, and it is now in the library of Trinity college, Cambridge. This MS. (noted F. in the second part of Wetstein's New Test.) is written in uncial letters, and without

accents; not continua serie, as is common with the more ancient copies, but with intervals between the words, and a dot at the end of each. The Greek text is written in capitals, the Latin in Anglo-Saxon letters; whence it is tolerably clear that it must have been written in the west of Europe, where that formation of the Latin letters, usually called Anglo-Saxon, was in general use between the 7th and 12th centuries. The manuscript is defective from the beginning to Romans iii. 8, and the Epistle to the Hebrews is only found in the Latin version.

AUGEAS, in fabulous history; a king of Elis, famed for his stable, which contained 3000 oxen, and had not been cleaned for 30 years. Hercules was desired to clear away the filth in one day, and A. promised, if he performed it, to give him a tenth part of the cattle. This task Hercules is said to have executed by turning the river Alpheus, or, as some say, the Peneus, through the stable, which immediately carried away the dung and filth. A. not only refused to perform his engagement, pretending that Hercules had used artifice, and experienced no labor or trouble, but banished his own son, Phyleus, from his kingdom, for supporting the claims of the hero. Upon this, a war commenced, and Hercules conquered Elis, put A. to death, and gave his kingdom to Phyleus. A. has been called the son of Sol, because Elis signifies the sun. After his death, he received the honors usually paid to heroes.

AUGER, Athanase, born at Paris, Dec. 12, 1734, a great linguist, was a clergyman, and professor of rhetoric in the college of St. Rouen. The bishop de Noé : made him his chief vicar, and called him, in jest, his grand vicaire in partibus Atheniensium, on account of the zeal with which the abbé pursued the study of Grecian antiquities. Learning proved its worth in his character and life. He lived in a simple style in the midst of Paris, retired, and free from anxiety, or wish to attain a higher station. He divided a moderate income with his needy family. It was said of him that he had never spoken ill of any one, and no one had spoken ill of him. As a member of the academy of inscriptions, he remained true to his principles of honest candor, and was no less beloved than respected by the whole society. The breaking out of the revolution aroused the sympathies of a man who lived, by his daily studies, in Greece and Rome. He hoped for the abolition of crying ab ises, and for the

introduction of true freedom. This expectation appears in several of his writings. He died before the occurrence of any events which could have shaken his faith, Feb. 7, 1792. His writings, partly translations from the ancient languages, and partly political, were published from his papers, at Paris, in 30 vols. Among his political works, the most distinguished are Projet d'Education publique précédé de quelques Reflexions sur l'Assemblée Nationale, 1789; and De la Constitution des Romains sous les Rois et au Temps de la République, 1792, the product of 30 years' abor, which first appeared after his death, with the rest of his posthumous works. AUGEREAU, Pierre François Charles, duke of Castiglione, marshal of France; son of a fruit merchant; born at Paris, 1757; served as a carabinier in the French army; went from thence into the Neapolitan service, established himself at Naples, in 1787, as a fencing-master, and was banished thence, in 1792, with the rest of his countrymen. He served, afterwards, as a volunteer in the army of Italy, in which his talents and courage soon gained him promotion. He distinguished himself, in 1794, as general of brigade in the army of the Pyrenees, and, in 1796, as general of division in the army of Italy. He took the pass of Millesimo; made himself master, April 16, of the intrenched camp of the Piedmontese at Ceva, after wards of that at Casale; threw himself on the bridge of Lodi, and carried it with the enemy's intrenchments. June 16, he passed the Po, and made prisoners the papal troops, together with the cardinal legate and the general's staff. Aug. 1, he came to the assistance of Masséna; maintained, during a whole day, a most obstinate struggle against a superior number of troops, and took the village of Castiglione, from which he derived his ducal title. Aug. 25, he passed over the Adige, and drove back the enemy as far as Roveredo. In the battle of Arcole, when the French columns wavered, A. seized a standard, rushed upon the enemy, and gained the victory. The directory bestowed this standard on him Jan. 27, 1797. Aug. 9, he was named commander of the 17th military division (division of Paris), in place of general Hatry. He was the instrument of the violent proceedings of the 18th of Fructidor, and was saluted, by the decimated legislative body, as the savior of his country. In 1799, he was chosen a member of the council of five hundred, und, therefore, resigned his command. He then obtained from the consul, Bon

aparte, the command of the army in Holland. He led the French and Batavian army on the Lower Rhine to the support of Moreau, passed the river at Frankfort, and fought with the imperial general, with various success, until the battle of Hohenlinden ended the campaign. In October of 1801, being superseded by general Victor, he remained without employment till 1803, when he was appointed to lead the army, collected at Bayonne, against Portugal. When this enterprise failed, he went back to Paris, and, May 19, 1804. was named marshal of the empire, and grand officer of the legion of honor. In July of this year, the king of Spain seu him the order of Charles III. At the end of 1805, he was at the head of a corps of the great army in Germany, formed of troops collected under his command at Brest. He contributed to the successes which gave birth to the peace of Presburg, and, in March 1806, had possession of Wetzlar and the country around, until, in the autumn of this year, a new war called him to Prussia. The wounds which he received in the battle of Eylau (q. v.) compelled him to return to France. Early in 1811, Napoleon gave him the command of a corps in the army of Spain. Afterwards he returned from thence, and remained without any employment until July, 1813, when he led the army in Bavaria against Saxony, where he took part in the battle of Leipsic. At the entrance of the allies into France, his duty was to cover Lyons. Louis XVIII named him a peer. After the fall of Napoleon, A. used reproachful language respecting him in a proclamation to his army. Napoleon, therefore, on his landing in 1815, declared him a traitor. A., however, expressed himself in his favor, but took no active part in the new order of things. After the return of the king, he took his place again in the chamber of peers, sat among Ney's judges, was for a while unoccupied, and died, June 11, 1816, at his estate La Houssaye, of the dropsy.

AUGIAS. (See Augeas.)

AUGITE (pyroxene); the name of a species in mineralogy, interesting on account of its wide distribution and the numerous varieties of form and color under which it appears. When crystallized, it assumes the form of short, slightly rhombic prisms, with their lateral edges replac ed, and terminated at one or both extrein ities by numerous planes; and, wher massive, is generally capable of mechanical division, in lines parallel to the sides

of an oblique rhombic prism of 87° 5' and 92°5', its primitive form. Its specific gravity is from 3,23 to 3,34; lustre vitreous; and hardness sufficient to scratch glass. Different names have been applied to some of its most remarkable varieties; as, diopside, to greenish-white, transparent crystals; sahlite, when it is in imperfectly prismatic and foliated masses; and coccolite, when in small, slightly-cohering grains. This species occurs abundantly in black crystals in basalt and lava, and enters into the regular composition of many rocks, besides being found in veins in primitive rocks. It is composed essentially of silex, lime and magnesia, to which oxyde of iron is sometimes added; and is one of those few mineral substances, whose composition may be imitated by the artificial mixture of its constituents, and subjecting them to fusion. Its native crystals, likewise, when fused, and suffered to cool slowly, reassume their original shape and color. A transparent green variety, found at Zillerthal, in the Tyrol, is used in jewelry.

AUGSBURG, the capital city in the Bavarian circle of Upper Danube, formerly a free city of the empire, lies between the Wertach and Lech, and is the residence of a bishop. It has 3690 houses, and 29,000 inhabitants, of whom 12,000 are Protestants. Lon. 10° 55′ E.; lat. 48° 22 N.; 35 miles N. W. of Munich. The curiosities are the bishop's palace, where the confession of Augsburg was signed in 1530; the city-house, with the golden hall, esteemed the finest in Germany; the Fuggerei (106 small houses, built by two brothers, by the name of Fugger, for the residence of the poor inhabitants of the city, a monument of the benevolence of those immensely rich citizens); the cathedral church, and the gallery of paintings of the German schools, &c. The city has considerable carrying trade and dealings in bills of exchange, important commercial transactions, with Vienna and Italy, and is likewise a mart for the wines of southern Germany and Italy. Whether A. bore the name of Damasia before the entrance of the Romans into the country is uncertain, but it is well settled that the emperor Augustus, about 12 B. C., after conquering the Vindelici, placed a Colony there, which must be considered as the origin of the present A. After the livision of the empire of the Franks, A. came under the dominion of the duke of Suabia, and, becoming rich by its commerce, finally purchased its freedom of the duke, which was afterwards confirm

ed by the emperor. The city now reach ed the summit of its prosperity, and was together with Nuremberg, a great mart for the commerce between the north and south of Europe, until, towards the end of the 15th century, the discoveries of the Portuguese and Spaniards gave a new direction to the whole commerce of the world. In 1368, in consequence of the opposition of the lower classes of citizens, the aristocratic government was abolished, and a democratic form substituted, which continued till 160 years later, when the nobles, with the assistance of the emperor, Charles V, again obtained the supremacy. A. is still one of the principal manufacturing places in Germany.

AUGSBURG CONFESSION, presented by the Protestants, at the diet of Augsburg, 1530, to the emperor and the diet, and, being signed by the Protestant states, was adopted as their creed. Luther made the original draught at the command of John, elector of Saxony, at Torgau, in 17 articles; but, as its style appeared to be too violent, it was altered by Melancthon, at the command of the elector, and in compliance with the wishes of the body of Protestant princes and theologians. Thus changed, it was presented and read in the diet, June 25. The original is to be found in the imperial Austrian archives, and the edition of the Augsburg confession, at Wittemberg, 1531, was printed from this. Afterwards, Melancthon arbitrarily altered some of the articles, and a new edition, with his changes, appeared in 1540. There now arose a division between those who held the original and those who held the, altered Augsburg confession. The former is received by the Lutherans, the latter by the German Reformed, who thereby secured to themselves, at the religious peace of 1555, the privileges extended only to the adherents of the Augsburg confession, and kindred sects.

AUGSBURG GAZETTE. (See Allgemeine Zeitung.)

AUGURS; certain priests among the Romans, who, from the flight and the cries of birds, from lightning, &c., predicted future events, and announced the will of the gods. They were consulted respecting both public and private concerns, and their respectability, as well as their influence in the state, was very great. By merely pronouncing the words Alio die (another day), they could di solve the assembly of the people, and annul all the decrees which had been passed at the meeting. Their answers, as well as the signs by which they governed themselvcs,

were called auguries. Public auguries were, 1, appearances in the heavens, as thunder and lightning. The augur remarked the place where the flash of lightning originated; and where it disappeared. He stood on an elevated place arx, templum), where he had a full view of all around him. After the sacrifices had been made, and solemn prayers offered, he took his station, his face towards the east, his head covered, and pointing with his staff (lituus) to that portion of the heavens within the limits of which he proposed to make his observations. On the left were the propitious, on the right the unpropitious omens. 2. The cries and the flight of birds. Predictions founded on the observation of birds were properly called auspices, and were very common even among the Greeks, who took them from the Chaldeans. They afterwards became so important, that, among the Romans, nothing of consequence in peace or in war was undertaken without consulting birds, whose continual flight was supposed to give them universal knowledge. They were propitious or unpropitious, either from their species or from the circumstances in which they appeared. The birds of a prophetic character were divided into two principal classes-those whose flight and those whose cry was indicative of future events. In the latter class were included the raven, the crow, the night-owl, the cock; in the former were the eagle, the crow, the raven, the kite and the vulture. The two last were always unpropitious; the eagle, on the contrary, was propitious when he flew from left to right; the crow and the raven were propitious on the left and unpropitious on the right. 3. The willingness or unwillingness of chickens to eat was also ominous. The former was interpreted as a good omen, the latter as a bad one. Chickens were made use of particularly in war; therefore a pontifex, some augurs and haruspices (see Arusper), together with a pullarius with a hen-coop, were attached to the a my. Besides these three principal classes, certain omens were drawn from quadrupeds; e. g., if a beast crossed one's path, or was seen in an unusual place, and from many occurrences more or less uncommon, e. g., sudden melancholy, sneezing, spilling the salt on the table, &c. The augurs explained such signs, and taught how the gods were to be appeased. The right of taking the auspices, that is, the right to inquire of the gods, by certain signs, how the war would terminate, belonged only

to the commander-in-chief. The inferior officers fought only under his auspices; that is, the declaration which he issued was binding upon them, and the fortunate or the unfortunate issue of the war was attributed to him alone.

AUGUST; the name of the eighth month from January, inclusive, and the sixth of the Roman year, which began with March. It was called Sextilis, till the emperor Augustus, in consideration of the many instances of good fortune which had happened to him in this month, affixed to it his own name.

AUGUSTA; the name of a very great number of ancient places; as, Augusta Treverorum, now Treves; Augusta Ausciorum, now Auch; Augusta Taurinorum, now Turin; Augusta Suessonum, now Soissons, &c. Augusta also is the name of many modern places and rivers in South America.

AUGUSTA ; a post-town of Maine, on the river Kennebec, 56 miles N. N. E. Portland, 168 N. E. Boston; population, in 1810, 1805; in 1820, 2457. It is a pleas ant and flourishing town, and has, by an act of the state legislature, been constitut. ed the seat of the state government after January 1, 1832 Here is an elegant bridge across the Kennebec, consisting of two arches, each 180 feet long. The river is navigable to A. for vessels of 100 tons.

AUGUSTA; a city of Georgia, opposite to Hamburg, in South Carolina, with which it is connected by a bridge; 87 miles E. N. E. Milledgeville, 123 N. N. W. Savannah, 138 W. N. W. Charleston; lon. 80c 46′ W.; lat. 33° 33′ N; population, in 1810, 2476; and in 1827, about 5000. It is situated on an elevated plain. The streets are wide, intersecting each other at right angles, and are ornamented with trees. The houses are mostly of brick, and many of them are spacious and elegant. Among the public buildings are a city-hall, an academy, a court-house, a theatre, an hospital, two markets and six houses of public worship. A. is favorably situated for trade, and has a very flourishing commerce. More than 100,000 bags of cotton are annually deposited here, and hence conveyed down the river to Savannah and Charleston, for northern and European markets.

AUGUSTIN, OF AUSTIN, Saint, called the apostle of the English, flourished at the close of the sixth century. He was sent, with 40 monks, by Gregory, to introduce Christianity into the Saxon kingdoms He was kindly received by Ethelbert king of Kent. whom he soon converted;