Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

468

AUGUSTIN-AUGUSTINE.

and such was his success with his subjects, that he is said to have baptized 10,000 in one day. This success may be attributed to his reputation of miraculous power in the restoration of sight and life, more probably than to any other cause. He has the merit of allowing no coercive measures to be used in the propagation of the gospel. Elated by the rapid progress he had made, A. became ambitious of possessing the supreme authority over the English churches as archbishop of Canterbury, and received the archiepiscopal pall from the pope, with instructions to establish 12 sees in his province. The British bishops in Wales, successors of the British converts of the second century, had never submitted to the jurisdiction of the church of Rome, and A. endeavored to persuade them to unite with the new English church. They asserted their independence, and 1200 Welsh monks were soon after put to the sword, as is thought, at the instigation of A. He died in 604, or 608, or 614, and his relics have been carefully preserved in the cathedral of Canterbury.

a son.

AUGUSTINE, Saint, one of the most renowned fathers of the Christian church, born at Tagaste, a small city in Africa, Nov. 13, 354, during the reign of the emperor Constantine, has related his life in the work to which he gave the title of Confessions. His parents sent him to Carthage to complete his education, but he disappointed their expectations by his neglect of serious study and his devotion to pleasure. In his 16th year, he became very fond of women. For 15 years, he was connected with one, by whom he had He left her only when he changed his whole course of life. A book of Cicero's, called Hortensius, which has not come down to our times, led him to the study of philosophy; and, when he found this did not satisfy his feelings, he went over to the sect of the Manichæans. He was one of their disciples for nine years; but, after having obtained a correct knowledge of their doctrines, he left them, and departed from Africa to Rome, and thence to Milan, where he announced himself as a teacher of rhetoric. Saint Ambrose was bishop of this city, and his discourses converted A. to the orthodox faith. The reading of Paul's Epistles wrought an entire change in his life and character. The Catholic church has a feast (May 3) in commemoration of this event. He retired into solitude, wrote there many books, and prepared himself for baptism, which he received in the 33d year of his

life, together with his son Adeodatus, from the hands of Ambrose. He returned to Africa, sold his estate, and gave the proceeds to the poor, retaining only enough to support him in a moderate manner. As he was once present in the church at Hippo, the bishop, who was a very old man, signified a desire to consecrate a priest to assist and succeed him. At the desire of the people, A. entered upon the holy office, preached with extraordinary success, and, in 395, became bishop of Hippo. He entered into a warm controversy with Pelagius (see Pelagians) concerning the doctrines of free will, of grace and of predestination, and wrote a book concerning them. A. maintained that men were justified merely through grace, and not through good works. (See Grace.) He died, Aug. 28, 403, while Hippo was besieged by the Vandals. There have been fathers of the church more learned, masters of a better language and a purer taste; but none have ever more powerfully touched the human heart, and warmed it towards religion. Painters have therefore given him for a symbol a flaming heart. Augustus Neander published, in Berlin, 1823, Sancti Augustini Confessionum Libri XIII. A. left a monument of his zeal for the monastic life by founding some monasteries for monks and nuns in Africa, which were shortly after destroyed by the Vandals. This order was governed by strict rules, but was very different from the one called, after him, Augustine. The different branches of the Augustine order were first established in the 11th and 12th centuries, and their rules were the work of the popes and priors. They did not constitute a regular order, however, till 1256, and, in 1567, were made the fourth in rank among the mendicant orders, coming after the Dominicans, Franciscans and Carmelites. They wear black cowls. Before the reformation, they had about 2000 convents, containing 30,000 monks, and also 300 nunneries. After the reformation brought about by Luther, a brother of their order, they were separated into many considerable brotherhoods, among which the barefooted monks, in Italy, Spain and France, were the most numerous. At the beginning of the 18th century, the order numbered 42 provinces. The number of convents of this order is now smaller. They are to be found in Italy, Spain, Portugal, in the Austrian states, and in America. In 1817, Augustine nuns of the congregation of Our Lady appeared again in Paris.

Their number is 32; they support themselves by their industry, educate 200 poor children, and possess no landed property. AUGUSTINE, St.; a city and sea-port in East Florida. (See Saint Augustine.) AUGUSTULUS (Romulus Momyllus, surnamed Augustulus); son of Orestes, a general of the Roman emperor Julius Nepos. Orestes deposed the emperor, and placed his son upon the throne, in 475. In the following year, Odoacer, a commander of the German forces in the Roman service, revolted, put Orestes to death, obliged A. to resign, and thus put an end to the Roman empire in the West. During the 20 years of the Roman empire which succeeded the murder of Valentinian III, no less than nine emperors are mentioned.

AUGUSTUS (Caius Julius Cæsar Octavius); originally called Caius Octavius; son of Caius Octavius and Accia, a daughter of Julia, the sister of Julius Cæsar. The Octavian family originated at Velletri, in the country of the Volscians. The branch to which Octavius belonged was rich and distinguished. His father had risen to the rank of senator, and had gone to Macedonia, after being chosen prætor, where he was very distinguished as a civil and military officer. Octavius was born during the consulate of Cicero, 65 B. C. He lost his father when young, but was very carefully brought up at Rome by his mother, and L. M. Philippus, the second husband of Accia. His talents gained him the regard of his great uncle, Julius Cæsar, who declared himself willing to adopt him for his son, in case he himself should remain without children. Octavius was at Apollonia, in Epirus, where he was studying eloquence, under the renowned orator Apollodorus, when he received the news of the tragical death of his uncle, and of his having adopted him as his son. Notwithstanding the anxiety of his friends, he went over to Italy, in order, if circumstances should favor him, to satisfy the hopes which he had entertained from being adopted by Julius Cæsar. When he landed at Brundusium, deputies from the veterans collected there came to him. Conducted in triumph to the city, and saluted as the heir and avenger of Cæsar, he made his adoption publicly known, and took the name of his uncle, adding to it that of Octavianus. He placed himself, then only 19 years old, at the head of the veterans, possessed himself of all the public money in Brundusium, and advanced through Campania to Rome. Here there were 40

VOL. I.

two parties, that of the republicans, who had killed Cæsar, and that of Antony and Lepidus, who, under the pretence of avenging him, strove to establish their own authority. The latter party became victorious, and the consul, Antony, exercised almost unlimited power. Octavius addressed himself first to Cicero, who had retired to his villa at Cumæ, being desirous to gain this great orator, always beloved by the people, and whom Antony hated and feared. From thence he went to Rome, where the greatest part of the magistrates, soldiers and citizens came to meet him, Antony, alone, paying no attention to his return. After Octavius had caused his adoption to be confirmed in the most solemn manner, he went to Antony, begged his friendship, and demanded of him the inheritance left him by Cæsar, in order to pay the legacies mentioned in his will. Antony, at first, haughtily refused to acknowledge his claims, but afterwards changed his demeanor, when he found the influence of Octavius continually increasing, and his own proportionably diminishing. There could be no lasting union between two equally ambitious rivals. Their hearts cherished reciprocal hatred and jealousy ; and their enmity was so little a secret, that Octavius was accused of having wished to get Antony murdered. How the latter went to Cisalpinę Gaul, besieged Mutina, and was declared an enemy to his country while absent from Rome how Octavius, who had obtained the most powerful party in the senate, accompanied the consul sent against Antony, and, after the death of the consul, took the chief command; how he, afterwards, when Antony, together with Lepidus, entered Italy at the head of a powerful army, united with him; how a triumvirate was formed by the three generals; and how, after dreadful scenes of blood, in Rome and the rest of Italy, they defeated the republican army under Brutus and Cassius, in Macedonia;-all this is contained in the article on Antony. Antony honored the memory of Brutus, but Octavius insulted his corpse. After his return to Rome, he satisfied the avarice of his soldiers by the division of the conquered lands. This division caused great disturbances. In the midst of the stormy scenes which convulsed Italy, he was obliged to contend with Fulvia, whose daughter, Clodia, he had rejected, and with Lucius, the brotherin-law of Antony. After several battles, Lucius threw himself into the city of Perusia, where he was soon after obliged

[blocks in formation]

to surrender. The city was given up to be plundered, and 300 senators were condemned to death, as a propitiatory sacrifice to the manes of the deified Cæsar. After the return of Antony, an end was put to the proscriptions. Octavius allowed such of the proscribed persons as had escaped death by flight, and whom he no longer feared, to return. There were still some disturbances in Gaul, and the naval war with Sextus Pompeius continued for several years. After his return from Gaul, Octavius married the famous Livia, the wife of Claudius Nero, whom he compelled to resign her, after he himself had divorced his third wife, Scribonia. Lepidus, who had hitherto retained an appearance of power, was now deprived of his authority, and died, as a private man, 13 B. C. Antony and Octavius now divided the empire. But, while the former, in the East, gave himself up to a life of luxury, the young Octavius pursued his plan of making himself sole master of the world. He especially strove to obtain the love of the people. He showed mildness and magnanimity, without the appearance of striving after the highest power, and declared himself ready to lay down his power when Antony should return from the war against the Parthians. He appeared rather to permit than to wish himself to be appointed perpetual tribune --an office which gave him supreme power. The more he advanced in the affections of the people, the more openly did he declare himself against Antony. By making public a will, wherein his rival appointed his sons by Cleopatra his heirs, he stirred up the ill-will of the Romans against him. Availing himself of this feeling, Octavius declared war against the queen of Egypt, and led a considerable force, both by sea and land, to the Ambracian gulf, where Agrippa (q. v.) gained the naval victory of Actium (q. v.), which made Octavius master of the world, B. C. 31. He pursued his rival to Egypt, and ended the war, after he had rejected the proposal of Antony to decide their differences by a personal combat. Cleopatra and Antony killed themselves. Octavius caused them to be splendidly buried. A son of Antony and Fulvia was sacrificed, to ensure his safety. Cæsarion, a son of Cæsar and Cleopatra, shared the same fate. All the other relations of Antony remained uninjured, and Octavius, on the whole, used his power with moderation. He spent two years in the East, in order to arrange the

affairs of Egypt, Greece, Syria, Asia Minor and the islands. On his return to Rome, he celebrated a triumph for three days in succession. Freed from his rivals and enemies, and master of the world, he was undecided concerning the way in which he should exercise his power in future. Agrippa, whose victory had given him universal dominion, counselled him to renounce his authority. Maecenas opposed this; and Octavius followed his advice, or rather his own inclinations. In order to make the people willing to look upon him as an unlimited monarch, he abolished the laws of the triumvirate, beautified the city, and exerted himself in correcting the abuses which had prevailed during the civil war. At the end of his seventh consulship, he entered the senate-house, and declared his resolution to lay down his power. The senate, astonished at his moderation, besought. him to retain it. He yielded to their pressing entreaties, and continued to govern through them. He now obtained the surname of Augustus, which marked the dignity of his person and rank, and united, by degrees, in himself, the offices of imperator, or commander-in-chief by sea and land, with power to make war and peace; of proconsul over all the provinces, of perpetual tribune of the people, which rendered his person inviolable, and gave him the power of interrupting public proceedings; and, in fine, of censor, and pontifex maximus, or controller of all religious matters. The laws themselves were subject to him, and the observance of them depended upon his will. To these dignities we must add the title of father of his country. Great as was the power given to him, he exercised it with wise modera'tion. It was the spirit of his policy to retain old names and forms, and he steadfastly refused to assume the title of dictator, which Sylla and Cæsar had made odious.-A. conducted many wars in Africa, Asia, and particularly in Gaul and Spain, where he triumphed over the Cantabrians after a severe struggle. His arms subjected Aquitania, Pannonia, Dalmatia and Illyria, and held the Dacians, Numidians and Ethiopians in check. He concluded a treaty with the Parthians, by which they gave up Armenia, and restored the eagles taken from Crassus and Antony. At the foot of the Alps he erected monuments of his triumphs over the mountaineers, the proud remains of which are yet to be seen at Susa and Aosta. After he had established peace throughout the empire, he closed (for the

third time since the foundation of Rome) the temple of Janus, B. C. 10. But this peace was interrupted, A. D. 9, by the defeat of Varus, who lost three legions in an engagement with the Germans, under Arminius, and killed himself in despair. The information of this misfortune greatly agitated A. He let his beard and hair grow, and often cried out, in the deepest grief, "O Varus, restore me my legions!" Meanwhile the Germans were held in check by Tiberius. During the peace, A. had issued many useful decrees, and abolished abuses in the government. He gave a new form to the senate, employed himself in improving the manners of the people, particularly by promoting marriage, 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 truly said, "He found it of brick, and left it of marble." He also made journeys, as Velleius says, every where, to increase the blessings of peace: he went to Sicily and Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Gaul, &c. in several places he founded cities and colonies. The people erected altars to him, and, by a decree of the senate, the month Sextilis was called August. Two conspiracies, which threatened his life, miscarried. Cæpio, Murena and Egnatius were punished with death: Cinna was more fortunate, receiving pardon from the emperor. This magnanimity increased the love of the Romans, and diminished the number of the disaffected; so that the master of Rome would have had nothing to wish for, if his family had been as obedient as the world. The debauchery of his daughter Julia gave him great pain; and he showed himself more severe against those who destroyed the honor of his family, than against those who threatened his life. History says, that, in his old age, he was ruled by Livia, the only person, perhaps, whom he truly loved. He had no sons, and lost by death his sister's son, Marcellus, and his daughter's sons, Caius and Lucius, whom he had appointed his successors. Also, Drusus, his son-in-law, whom he loved, died early; and Tiberius, the brother of the latter, whom he hated, on account of his bad qualities, alone survived. These numerous calamities, together with his continually-increasing infirmities, gave him a strong desire of repose. He undertook a journey to Campania, from whose purer air he hoped for relief; but disease fixed upon him, and he died, at Nola (August 19, A. D. 14), in the 76th year of his age,

and 45th of his reign. When he felt his death approaching, he is said to have called for a mirror, arranged his hair, and demanded of the by-standers, "Have I played my part well?" and, an answer being returned in the affirmative, "Then," added he, using the form of the players, "farewell, and applaud" (valete, et plaudite). If this last passage in the life of A. is true, it is certainly indicative of his character, his policy, and even of his fortune. It is certain, that his conduct was always measured and determined beforehand, and that he had a great power of remaining cool and unmoved amid the cares and agitations of government. Studiously concealing his own plans, he made use of the passions, as well as the talents, of others, to further them. He conquered Brutus by means of Antony, and Antony by means of Agrippa. He several times changed his party, but never his purposes, and knew how to cause power to be offered, and pressed upon him, while it was, in fact, the object of all his exertions. It cannot be denied that he used his power with wisdom, and became the benefactor of his country, which he had previously plunged into the horrors of civil war. His taste and active mind led him to favor and protect the learned; and he even exercised the art of the poet himself; so that he was not unworthy of giving his name to an age distinguished for intellectual creations. His death plunged the empire into the greatest grief. He was numbered among the gods, and temples and altars were erected to him.

AUGUSTUS II, Frederic, elector of Saxony and king of Poland, second son of John George III, elector of Saxony, born at Dresden, in 1670, was remarkable for his bodily strength and activity. To his residence in France he owed that taste for luxury and the fine arts, which afterwards made the Saxon court inferior in splendor to none in Europe, except that of Louis XIV. In 1691, he visited Vienna, where he contracted a friendship with the archduke Joseph, afterwards Joseph I. By the death of his elder brother, John George IV, in 1694, he became elector. The Polish throne having became vacant, in 1696, by the death of John Sobiesky, A. presented himself as a candidate for it. The abbé de Polignac, the French ambassador at Warsaw, supported the pretensions of the prince of Conti, whom the Polish nobility preferred; but A. had an army on the frontiers, obtained votes by bribery, and publicly embraced the Catholic religion. June 27th, 1697, the election took place. A. strengthened his party by

[blocks in formation]

marching 10,000 Saxons into Poland. Bribery and intimidation obtained him the victory. After he had ascended the throne, a treaty was concluded between Denmark, Poland and the czar Peter I, against Charles XII of Sweden, in which the object was the conquest of Livonia. (See Oliva.) But Charles, having defeated the Danes under the walls of Copenhagen, and the Russians at Narva, was now ready to advance into Poland, and A. was obliged to provide for the defence of his own dominions. Thus commenced the celebrated northern war, which lasted twenty years, in which A., with his faithful Saxons, had to withstand the opposition of the Poles, as well as the valor of the Swedes. Charles declared him a usurper, and thus separated the cause of the republic from that of the king, who obtained but little assistance from the Poles. The Swedes advanced to Clissow, between Warsaw and CraCow. A. had 24,000 men, Charles only half the number; but the Poles gave way in the beginning of the engagement, and Charles gained a complete victory, July 20, 1702. May 1, 1703, the Saxon army was defeated again at Pultusk. The diet assembled at Warsaw declared A., Feb. 14, 1704, incapable of wearing the crown of Poland, and Stanislaus Lesczinsky, waywode of Posen, was chosen king, July 12, 1704. Charles, victorious on every side, advanced into Saxony, and A. found himself obliged to conclude a secret peace, at Altranstädt (q. v.), Sept. 24, 1706. Meanwhile the Russians, ignorant of these transactions, obliged A. to attack the Swedish general Mardefeld. He gained a signal victory at Kalisch, and entered Warsaw in triumph, at the time that the proposals of Charles were brought to him. However much he might desire to take advantage of his good fortune, it was too late. Saxony lay at the mercy of the Swedes. He signed the treaty, and, December 18, 1706, visited Charles in his camp at Altranstädt. To complete his mortification, Charles compelled him to send to Stanislaus the jewels and archives of the crown, with a letter of congratulation. He returned to Dresden, where he soon after received an unexpected visit from Charles. Count Flemming, his first minister, advised him to make himself master of the person of his dreaded enemy; but he rejected the unjust proposal. He now devoted himself to the domestic affairs of Saxony. His love of splendor had involved him in many expenses, by which the finances of his

kingdom were disordered. In 1708, he served, under an assumed name, in a campaign against the French, in the Netherlands. In 1709, after the defeat of Charles at Pultawa, the Poles recalled A., who united himself anew with Peter. These two monarchs, in alliance with Denmark, sent troops into Pomerania. Notwithstanding the exhausted state of Sweden, the Swedish general Steinbock gained a splendid victory over the allies at Gadebusch, Dec. 20, 1712, which compelled them to raise the siege of Wismar and Stralsund. Charles XII, having afterwards returned from his residence in Turkey, and made known his determination to prosecute the war with vigor, an alliance, at the head of which was A., was formed against him; but his death put an end to the war, and A. concluded a peace with Sweden. A confederation was now formed in Poland against the Saxon troops, at the head of which was a nobleman, named Ledekuski. The Saxons were attacked on all sides, and were obliged to surrender. At length, through the mediation of Peter, an arrangement was concluded at Warsaw, 1716, between A. and the republic. The Saxon troops were removed from the kingdom, and A., says a celebrated historian, renouncing the idea of subduing it by force, sought to attain his end by other means. He gave himself wholly 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. read with astonishment, even at this day, the descriptions of the entertainments given by him. It is related that he gave a regiment of dragoons to king Frederic William of Prussia for 12 porcelain vases. He was not disliked by his subjects, and filled with dignity his station among the European powers. In his character generous ideas were united with despotic feelings, a taste for pleasure with the cares of ambition, and the restlessness of a warlike spirit with the effeminacy of a luxurious life. Death surprised him in the midst of his pleasures and projects. On his journey to Warsaw to attend the diet, a small wound in his knee becoming inflamed, he died, Feb. 1, 1733, and was buried in CraCOW. His wife, Christine Eberhardine, left him one son. By his mistresses he had many children. The countess of Königsmark bore him the celebrated Maurice of Saxony. (See Cosel, countess of.)

We

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »