Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/269

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AUBIGNÉ.
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AUBURN.

present at the siege of Orleans, where his father was killed. His guardian sent him to Geneva to escape persecution. He studied under Beza, but in 1567 enlisted under Condé, and later served Henry of Navarre as soldier, and sometimes over-candid counselor. After Henry's assassination Aubigné fell into disfavor, and in 1620 sought refuge at Geneva, whence he superintended the fortifications of Bern and Basel. In spite of his storm-tossed life, he had found time to produce much of value to literature and to contemporary history. His Histoire universelle, 1550-1601, published at Amsterdam (1616-20), was officially burned in France, as was also his autobiographical Histoire secrète, on its appearance in 1721. These are very valuable, but bitterly satirical, as is his controversial Confession catholique du Sieur de Sancy and Les aventures du baron de Fæneste (1617), one of the earliest realistic novels of the Seventeenth Century. His greatest work, begun while recovering from a wound (1577), is a group of satirical poems, Les tragiques (1616), which are sombre and unexcelled descriptions of the horrors of religious warfare. They are divided into "The Miseries," "The Princes," "The Gilded Chamber" (i.e. the courts), "The Fires," "The Swords," "The Vengeances," and "The Judgment," where the Huguenot, oppressed on earth, cites his persecutor before the bar of God at the Resurrection. The 9000 verses are a strange mingling of beauty and chaos, often reckless, sometimes obscure, but with passages of a fierce inspiration, a brilliant imaginative enthusiasm, that have earned deserved immortality, both for their own sake, as the noble utterance of an offended conscience, and as a true expression of the faith, courage, restless searching of spirit, presumption, and pride, that characterized the movement in which he bore a brave part. He is a striking figure, writing with the style of Rabelais and the spirit of Henri Estienne (see Stephanus) in the days of Malherbe and Richelieu, without elegance, clearness, precision, or composition, but with the energy born of the Renaissance and the Reformation. An almost universal scholar in the learning of his time, Aubigné was never a pedant. For that he was too sincere, intense, earnest; and, even in bitterness, he strove to be just. Thus his History presents the mind of his epoch, even when it distorts its facts. His complete Works have been edited by R=eaume and Caussade (6 vols., 1873-93), the Tragiques by Lalanne (1857) and Reade (1872); Histoire universelle, by Ruble (1886-97). Consult: Morillot, Discours sur la vie et les œuvres d'Agrippa d'Aubigné (Paris, 1885); Sails, Agrippa d'Aubigné (Heidelberg, 1885), and a Life in French by G. Guizot, Agrippa d'Aubigné (Paris, 1890); also Körting, Geschichte des französischen Romans im XVII. Jahrhundert (Oppeln, 1891).


AUBIGNÉ, Merle d'. See Merle D'Aubigné.


AUBIN, 6'baN'. A town of France in the Department of Aveyron, on the Orleans Railway (Map: France, J 7). There are extensive coal mines in the vicinity, as well as iron and other mines. The town contains an old church, dating from the Twelfth Century, and a ruined castle. Population (1896) of commune, 9781.


AUBREY, nliri, John (1626-97). An English antiquary. He was a diligent collector of old documents, and left some valuable works of his own. He published only one book, called Miscellanies (1696), but several of his works were afterwards edited and published by others. Among these were Natural History and Antiquities of Surrey (1719),and Letters written by Eminent Persons of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (1813). The latter gives much biographical matter concerning English poets. See his biography, by J. Britton (London, 1845), and the essay of Professor Masson in The British Quarterly Review, Vol. XXIV. (London, 1857).


AUBRIOT, 6'bre'u', Hugues (died 1382). A mayor of Paris. He was born at Dijon; was appointed treasurer under Charles V. and afterwards became mayor and governor of Paris (1364), in which capacity he organized several of the greatest public works of the city. He laid the corner-stone of the Bastile, built Le Petit Châtelet, the Pont Saint Michel, and several quays along the Seine, and completed the fortifications begun by Etienne Marcel. After the death of Charles V. he was accused of heresy and sentenced to perpetual captivity in the Bastile, but was liberated by the Mailletons soon afterwards. His statue adorns the façade of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris.


AUBRY, o'bre', Charles Marie Barbe Antoine (1803-83). A French jurist, born at Zabern. Alsace. He was professor and assistant judge of the tribunal at Strassburg in 1870, and councilor of the Court of Cassation in Paris from 1872 to 1878. He became a commander of the Legion of Honor in 1878. He was one of the best French writers on jurisprudence, and was widely known also by his articles on legislation and a translation of Goethe's Faust. His principal work is the Cours de droit civil français, d'après la méthode de Laeharial (8 vols., Paris, 1869-76).


AUBRY DE MONTDIDIER, o'brj' dt- moN'-de'dya'. A French knight who lived during the reign of Charles V., and, according to tradition, was assassinated in the forest of Bondy by his comrade, Richard de Macaire, in 1371. The latter was suspected of the crime because the dog belonging to the deceased Aubry invariably displayed toward him the most unappeasable enmity. Macaire was, therefore, required by the King to fight with the animal in a judicial combat, which was fatal to the murderer. This tale was afterwards, under the titles of "Aubry's Dog." "The Wood of Bondy," "The Dog of Montargis," frequently acted, the dog always gaining the greatest share of applause. It was called The Dog of Montargis, because Charles VIII. had the fight between the dog and Macaire depicted over a mantel in his château of Montargis. As late as 1816 a melodrama based on the legend found great favor on the European stage. After being performed with success at Vienna and Berlin, it was to be played at the Weimar theatre of which Goethe was the manager; but the poet resigned his office before the dog made his début.


AUBURN, aTiOm. A village in Lee County, Ala., about 50 miles east by north of Montgomery, the State capital; on the Western Railway of Alabama (Map: Alabama, D 3). It is the seat of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, opened in 1872. Population, in 1890, 1440; in 1900, 1447.


AUBURN. A city and the county-seat of De Kalb County, Ind., 22 miles north by east