empties itself into the sea near the Etang de Vendres, to the E. of Narbonne, running nearly parallel with the great canal of Languedoc. Its whole course is from 130 to 140 miles. The waters of the Aude are very turbid; and the deposits at its mouth have caused a considerable variation in the line of the coast. It had formerly two branches by which it flowed into the sea; but the canal Robine d'Aude, or Robine de Narbonne, has taken the place of one of these. This passes between the Etangs of Sigean and Gruissan, and then through the Etang de Sigean to the sea. Boats are very seldom seen on this river, except quite in the lower part of its course. It has no tributary of any consequence; the Orbieu, the principal, which falls into it on the right bank above twenty miles from its mouth, is forty to forty-five miles in length. The basin of the Aude is inclosed by Mont Espinouse and the Black Mountains, which are part of the chain of the Cevennes, and by the eastern extremity of the Pyrenees. (Malte-Brun; Encyclopédie Méthodique, &c.)

The Aude was known to the Romans by the name of Atax. They gave this name to the channel which passes by Narbonne to the sea. That part of this channel which passes through the Etang de Sigean was deepened, and faced and paved with stone, by the Romans.

AUDE, a department in France, taking its name from the river Aude, which flows through it. It is bounded on the N. by the departments of Herault and Tarn, on the N.W. by that of Haute Garonne (Upper Garonne), on the W. and S.W. by that of Arriège, and on the S. by that of Pyrénées Orientales. The east side is washed by the Mediterranean Sea. Its greatest length is in a direction nearly E. and W., and is about seventy-six miles; and its greatest breadth is about fifty-seven miles. The superficial content is about 2437 square miles; and the population 266,000, giving about 109 inhabitants to every square mile.

This department consists of the basin of the Aude, and the slopes of the mountains by which it is bounded. The N. and S. are consequently the parts of greatest elevation; the former from the commencement of the Black Mountains, and the latter from the rise of the Pyrenees. The centre is traversed by the Aude, whose course has been already described; and also by the canal of Languedoc, which, entering the department on the N.W., proceeds in a direction about E. by S., till it almost joins the Aude near Carcassone, and then runs parallel to the course of the river for many miles, until, again turning a little to the north of E., the canal quits this department for that of Herault, and the river pursues its course towards the sea.

The mountainous districts are dry and unfruitful, yet the agricultural produce of the department is more than sufficient for the wants of the inhabitants. The vine is cultivated to a considerable extent; the figs are excellent; and an herb, called sallicou or salicot, which grows here, is gathered, dried, and sent to other departments, or to Italy, to be used in the manufacture of glass. Honey, known by the designation of Narbonne honey,' forms an article of considerable commercial importance. The mineral wealth of the department is not great; though silver, copper, lead, and iron are procured, as well as marble in great variety, gypsum, and some coal; and there are salt-works near the Etang (or Pool) of Sigean, one of the lagoons which line the French part of the Mediterranean coast. At Bize is a cavern, in which human bones are said to have been found along with those of the stag, camel, roebuck, antelope, and bear.

The inhabitants carry or considerable manufactures, which are promoted by the advantage of inland navigation through the canal of Languedoc. Woollen cloth may be regarded as the staple manufacture. It is carried on at Carcassonne and Castelnaudary, both of which towns are on the canal, and at Limoux. Wax, oil, brandy, leather, and glass, are among the productions of the industry of this department. The iron-works also are of some importance. The little town of St. Colomb sur l'Hers (with a population of about 1000) is noted for its turnery and toys.

vince of Languedoc, is under the jurisdiction of the Cour Royale (Assize Court) of Montpelier. It sends four deputies to the Chamber. It forms the diocese of Carcassonne, the bishop of which is a suffragan of the Archbishop of Toulouse and Narbonne. (Malte-Brun; Balbi; Dictionnaire Universel de la France.)

AUDEBERT, JEAN BAPTISTE, was born in 1759, at Rochefort, in France. His father was a dealer in provisions for the supply of the shipping. Young Audebert, when seventeen years of age, went to Paris to study the arts of design and painting. He soon excelled as a miniature-painter, and supported himself honourably by his labours in this way. Fortunately, in 1789, M. Gigot d'Orcy, receiver-general of taxes, who was distinguished by his taste for natur. history, to the promotion of which he gave the most mun: ont encouragement and assistance, having had an opportunity of judging of the talents of Audebert, employed him to paint the most rare objects in his magnificent collection, and afterwards sent him to England and Holland, whence he brought back a great many drawings, which were used in Olivier's Histoire des Insectes. These occupations gave a bias to Audebert in favour of natural history, which soon amounted to an ardent passion. No longer content to give expression to the ideas of others, he undertook various important works. The first of these was Histoire Naturelle des Singes, des Makis, et des Galeopithèques, one vol. large folio, with sixty-two plates, the figures coloured, Paris, 1800. The appearance of this work caused a great sensation among naturalists, for Audebert united in his own person the characters of painter, engraver, and author. Having carefully investigated the different modes of engraving, and the trials which had previously been made to colour the engravings of objects of natural history, he improved upon these so much, that he may be said to have invented a new mode, and to have carried it to the highest degree of perfection. This improvement consisted in putting all the colours on one plate at once, instead of using as many plates as there were colours: he made a further improvement by using oil instead of water colours. He also succeeded in printing with gold, the colours of which he varied in such a manner as to imitate the most brilliant hues of the originals. In his Histoire des Colibris, des Oiseaux-Mouches, des Jacamars et des Promerops, 1 vol. large folio, Paris, the expression and position of the birds are so perfect as to make them appear animated; and the descriptions, of which he is likewise the writer, are worthy of such a work. Two hundred copies only were printed in folio, in which the name at the foot of each figure is printed in gold; one hundred copies in large quarto; and only fifteen copies in folio, of which the whole text is printed in gold.

Scarcely were these works commenced before Audebert began to plan others-the history of Birds, of the Mammifera, and lastly that of Man. He had thus chalked out for himself work enough to occupy a long life; but in 1800 death carried him off in the forty-second year of his age. At the time that death interrupted his career, he had begun the Histoire des Grimpereaux et des Oiseaux de Paradis, &c., 1 vol. The publisher, M. Desray, who was in possession of his materials and the processes which he had discovered and employed, completed these two works in as perfect a manner as those which had been finished by the author himself. The text was edited by M. Vieillot, a naturalist, and friend of Audebert. These two works are united under the common title of Oiseaux Dorés ou à reflets métalliques, 2 vols. in large folio and large quarto, Paris, 1802. Upon the same plan, and by the adoption of the same processes, M. Vieillot has published l'Histoire des Oiseaux de l'Amérique Septentrionale. The Birds of Africa (Les Oiseaux d'Afrique) of Le Vaillant are indebted for their excellence to Audebert, who superintended the printing of the plates as far as the 13th part. Other branches of natural history, and especially botany, were enriched by the discoveries of Audebert, as may be seen in the splendid works Le Jardin de Malmaison, by Ventenat, and the Liliacées of Redouté.

This department, which coincides with part of the pro

and even wrote comedies. We are not aware that any of these have been published, but his other works will always ensure him a high and lasting place among the promoters of the science of natural history. (Biog. Universelle.)

AUDIANS. [HERETICS.] AUDITOR, an officer or agent of the king, or of a private individual or corporation, who examines periodically the accounts of under-officers, tenants, stewards, or bailiffs, and reports the state of their accounts to his principal. Auditors of the Imprest.-Antient officers of the exchequer, abolished in 1785.

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Auditors of Public Accounts, or, more strictly, Commissioners for auditing the Public Accounts,' are public officers originally established by the 25 Geo. III. c. 52, in place of the patentees of the office of auditors of the imprest (Lord Sondes and Lord Cardiff), whose patents were vacated with compensation by that act, and their functions and powers transferred to the commissioners above mentioned. The King is authorized by the stat. 46 Geo. III. c. 141, to appoint ten of these commissioners, who hold their offices during good behaviour, with salaries of 1500l. per annum to the chairman, and 12007. per annum to the other commissioners. They are incapacitated from sitting in parliament, and are sworn to execute the duties of their office faithfully and impartially. There is a provision in the statute, that no vacancy which may arise by death or otherwise in the number of commissioners after the first appointment shall | be filled up without the express authority of parliament, until the number is reduced to five, in which case the King may, from time to time, appoint new commissioners, so as to keep their numbers always to six. Two of the number are, by the 1 & 2 Geo. IV. c. 121, s. 17, empowered to examine parties on oath, and do all acts concerning the audit of public accounts.

By the 46 Geo. III. c. 141, sec. 8, all public accountants are to transmit to the commissioners within three months after 31st December, or within three months of such day as the lords of the treasury shall order (see 2 & 3 Will. IV. c. 104), accounts duly attested, in manner pointed out by the act, of all sums received and paid by them for the public service within the preceding year, together with proper vouchers for such receipts and payments, and a schedule of the same; which schedule is to be compared with the vouchers by an officer in the Audit-office. The commissioners may call on all public accountants, whenever they think fit, to account to them for the receipt, expenditure, or issue of all moneys or stores intrusted to them, and on failure they are to certify the defaulters' names to the remembrancer of the exchequer, and the attorney-general of England or Ireland, and lord-advocate of Scotland, in order that proceedings may be taken to compel them to account, unless, on the defaulter's application, the lords of the treasury think it proper to stay the proceedings for a reasonable time. By the stat. 1 & 2 Geo. IV. c. 121, it is enacted, that at the four quarter-days, the 5th day of January, 5th day of April, 5th day of July, and the 10th day of October, general imprest certificates shall be made out at the exchequer, specifying all moneys and exchequer bills issued at the receipt of the exchequer within the preceding quarter, and these certificates are transmitted to the commissioners of audit within thirty days after each quarter-day; and by the 10th section of 46 Geo. III. c. 141, the paymaster of the forces, the treasurers of the navy and ordnance, and all other public officers, who issue to any persons money for public services by way of imprest or on account, are required within three months after the 31st December in every year (or at shorter periods if ordered by the lords of the treasury, see 1 & 2 Geo. IV. c. 121, sec. 6) to transmit to the commissioners of audit a certificate of such moneys, with the names of the persons to whom paid, and the commissioners are forthwith to take them into consideration. By the above-mentioned statute, 1 & 2 Geo. IV. c. 121, various regulations have been made respecting the mode of conducting the business of the commissioners of audit, by which the antient and inconvenient system of keeping the public accounts has been superseded. The whole of the arrangements in the Audit-office are now subjected to the control of the lords of the treasury, who are authorized to make such orders and regulations for conducting the business of the office as they may think expedient, and best calculated to ensure the efficient discharge of the duties of the commissioners and other officers. By the 2 Will. IV. c. 26, the above commissioners are authorized to audit the accounts of receipt and expenditure of the colonial revenues; and the 2 and 3 Will. IV. c. 99, transfers the powers and functions of the commissioners of public accounts in Ireland to the commissioners for auditing the public accounts of Great Britain.

No. 146.

AUDRAN, GERARD. This eminent engraver w born at Lyons, A.D. 1640. He learned the principles of design and engraving from his father, who was also an artist. At an early age he went to Paris, where his talents soon obtained notice, and procured him eventually the patronage of Le Brun, the king's painter, who employed him to engrave the Battle of Constantine, and the Triumph of that emperor. He went subsequently to Rome, where he resided three years, and improved himself in design in the school of Carlo Maratti. Among many fine plates which he executed at this period, a portrait of Pope Clement IX. excited particular admiration; and M. Colbert, a great patron of the arts, conceived so high an opinion of Audran's talents, that he persuaded Louis XIV. to recall him to France. On his return he was appointed engraver to the king, and in the year 1681 was nominated councillor of the Royal Academy. He died at Paris, A.D. 1703, aged sixty-three. Gerard Audran was unquestionably one of the greatest historical engravers that has ever existed. By some judges, and those not inadequate ones, the very first place has been assigned to him. His reputation perhaps rests chiefly on the celebrated series of plates after Le Brun's Battles of Alexander, respecting which the painter himself confessed that his expectations had been surpassed. It is indeed impossible to contemplate without the highest admiration the skill, intelligence, and extraordinary facility exhibited by his burin throughout those immense and intricate compositions. Although completely a master of the mechanical execution of his art, he attached little importance to that clear and methodical arrangement of lines which forms the chief point of ambition with many other engravers. style is composed of a bold mixture of free hatchings and dots, placed together apparently without order, but rendering, with admirable effect, not merely the contours, but the mind and feeling of the painter; and his style is so entirely free from manner, that on looking at his prints we lose sight of the engraver, and are reminded only of the master whom he is transcribing. To feel the truth of this remark, it is only necessary to glance at the above-mentioned Battles of Alexander, after Le Brun; the Preservation of the young Pyrrhus, after Nicholas Poussin; the Plague, after Mignard; and the Martyrdom of St. Laurence, after Le Sueur; in which works the respective style of each painter is rendered with the most distinct yet delicate discrimination. Audran owed his extraordinary excellence not only to his consummate skill in design, but in a great measure to his frequent habit of painting from nature; and several subjects which he engraved from his own designs attest the extent and versatility of his powers.

His

Gerard

The works of Gerard Audran may be classified under four heads, exclusive of his portraits:

1. His slight prints or etchings, to which little or nothing was done with the graver. Among these may be enumerated the Deluge, from Le Fage; the Passage through the Red Sea, from the same; the Combat of Joshua against the Amalekites, from the same; the Empire of Flora, from Poussin; the Preservation of Pyrrhus, from the same; a Ceiling, from Le Brun, representing the Seasons, in five plates, and dedicated to Louis XIV.

2. Those which are more finished, but in a rough, bold manner. For example: Paul and Barnabas at Lystra, from the tapestries in the Vatican, after Raffaelle; Coriolanus appeased by his Family, from Poussin; Time supporting Truth, from the same; the ceiling of the Chapel de Saulx, representing the accomplishment of the old law by the new one, engraved in 1681, from Le Brun, in six large plates which join together-a work distinguished by great spirit, character, expression, and beautiful drawing; the Death of St. Francis, from Annibale Caracci.

3. Those in his most finished manner, as the Battles of Alexander, from Le Brun: namely, the Passage of the Granicus; the Battle of Arbela; Porus brought to Alexander. To this set are added two more large prints as follow:Alexander entering the Tent of Darius, and the Triumphal Entry of Alexander into Babylon: those impressions are most esteemed which have the name of Goyton, printer, marked on them. The Plague, from Peter Mignard; the Baptism of the Pharisees, from N. Poussin; the Martyrdom of St. Laurence, from Eustace le Sueur; the Martyrdom of St. Agnes, from Domenichino.

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4. Such as he did with the graver only these are few, and perhaps unequal in merit to the preceding. We need only mention Eneas saving his father Anchises from the

plunder of Troy, after Dominichino; a small folio frontispiece to the effigies of the popes and cardinals, published at Rome, from Cyro Ferri.

A few only of his works are here enumerated. This catalogue is from Strutt's Biog. Dict. of Engravers.

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AUERSTADT, a village of about 500 inhabitants, in the Prussian circle of Merseburg (about eight leagues to the north-east of Erfurt), which owes its celebrity to the defeat of the main body of the Prussian army by a division of the French army under Marshal Davoust, on the 14th of October, 1806. For this brilliant achievement Davoust received the title of Duke of Auerstädt from Napoleon. On the same day Napoleon defeated Prince Hohenlohe at Jena; the two battles have usually gone under the name of the Battle of Jena,' as part of the same field, though they were quite distinct, and indeed some leagues from each other. AUGE'R, ATHANA'SE, was born at Paris in 1734. Having entered the clerical profession, and taken orders, he applied himself indefatigably to the study of the Greek and Roman writers, especially the orators. He was appointed professor of rhetoric in the college of Rouen. The bishop of Lescar having become acquainted with him, made him his grand vicar, and used to call him jestingly his vicar in partibus Atheniensium, alluding to his Greek erudition, and his passion for that language. Auger's first publication was a translation of Demosthenes and Æschines, 5 vols. 8vo. 1777. This was the first French translation of all the works of those two great orators, and Auger enriched | it with treatises on the judiciary system and the laws of the Athenians, and on the constitution of their republic. He now settled at Paris, where he lived in modest seclusion upon a small income, entirely devoted to his favourite studies. After the publication of his translation he was elected a member of the Academy of Inscriptions. His next works were a translation of Isocrates, 3 vols. 8vo., 1783, and one of Lysias, 8vo., same year. He applied with equal zeal to the study of the great Roman orator, and translated the whole of his Orations, of which he published selections. He wrote at the same time a work on the constitution of Rome: De la Constitution de Rome sous les Rois, et au tems de la Republique, which was published after his death as an introduction to the whole of Cicero's Orations, 10 vols. 8vo. 1792-4. The essay on the Roman constitution fills the first volume, and as an abridgment it may even now be consulted with profit, although it has been in some measure superseded by Niebuhr's more elaborate and more profound work on the history of Rome. Auger's object was to develope the system and the working of the Roman political institutions in their three essential parts-the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary. The second volume is a continuation of the first, being engrossed by a life of Cicero, chiefly relating to his public character, and his connexion with the state and vicissitudes of the Roman republic at the epoch preceding its fall. The study of Cicero and of Roman history occupied, in great measure, the last thirty years of Auger's life. He however published, in the mean time, selections from the works of the two Greek fathers, Chrysostom and Basil: Homelies, Discours, et Lettres choisies de St. Jean Chrysostome, 4 vols. 8vo. 1785; and Homelies et Lettres choisies de St. Basile le Grand, 8vo. 1788.

The first symptoms of the French revolution found Auger deeply engaged in his meditations on the Greek and Roman republics. He felt naturally favourable to the general principles of constitutional liberty which were then promulgated in France, and he wrote several pamphlets in favour of them. One subject, which more than others seemed to have attracted his attention at the time, was that of a new system of public education. In his Projet d'Education Publique, précédé de quelques Reflexions sur l Assemblée Nationale, 8vo. 1789, he traced the outlines of two distinct plans: one for learned or classical education, and another for the education of those who, not being able or not wishing to study Latin and Greek, might yet be desirous of being instructed in the literature of their own country, and of studying rhetoric, philosophy, and jurisprudence, in their native language. In a subsequent little work, Catechisme du Citoyen Français, 16mo. 1791, he reverted to the subject of education, observing, that his former plan being intended for the higher and the middle classes, there still remained a much more numerous class, including the humbler ranks of the towns people and the rural population, for whom he had sketched out the present catechism. 'It may have been

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deemed advantageous, he observes, under the former system of government, to keep this vast multitude in ignorance but such a state of ignorance becomes dangerous now. This class, with the knowledge of its strength, ought also to acquire the knowledge of how to use that strength without abusing it—it ought to be told its duties as well as its rights-it ought to become instructed, orderly, and moral.' In his catechism he clearly defines the rights and the duties of individuals under a system of well-understood liberty; and he draws the line between liberty and the abuse of it-between equality before the law, and social inequality, which is inherent in the nature of men. That line, however, was soon after obliterated, and the consequences were fatal to France and to Europe; but the good Auger was spared the grief of seeing the catastrophe: he died in February, 1792, regretted by all who knew him. Herault de Sechelles, who afterwards figured as a member of the Convention, and who had studied Greek under Auger, com posed his funeral eulogy. Auger was a man of great learning, with the simplicity of a child. His last work, a treatise on Greek tragedy, was published a few days after his death.

AUGEREAU, PIERRE FRANCOIS CHARLES Duke of Castiglione and Marshal of France, was born of humble parents (his father was said to be a fruiterer) in Paris on the 11th of November, 1757. He first enlisted in the French carabineers, and from thence entered the Neapolitan service. He obtained his discharge in 1787, but continued to reside at Naples, where he gave lessons as a fencing-master. When the French were exiled from Italy in 1792, Augereau volunteered into the revolutionary armies of his country, and joined that which was intended to repel the Spaniards. As all the officers had emigrated Augereau rose rapidly, and became in a short time Ad jutant-General. It may be observed, that Dugoumier appointed to command the army of the Pyrenees, pro ceeded from the capital to his head-quarters on foot, so that the want of birth or wealth was no obstacle to Augereau. During 1794 he distinguished himself by the capture of an important foundry, and by extricating a division which, under another officer, had fallen into a dangerous position. Augereau received two wounds on this occasion. Soon after the army was divided, and Augereau was put in command of one division. He was then removed to a more important scene of warfare in Italy, and became one of the chief instruments in executing the first bold manœuvres of Bonaparte. It was under Augereau that the French carried the passes of Millesimo, in the spring of 1796; at Dego he again rendered eminent service; and again, Augereau's brigade, with himself at its head, rushed upon the bridge of Lodi, and finally carried it in the teeth of the enemy's batteries. He was foremost in the advance into the Venetian territories; and being dispatched to repel the hostilities of the Papal troops, he took Bologna. At Lugo, unfortunately, he was driven by the desperate resistance of the inhabitants to those excesses that rendered the name of Frenchmen execrable in Italy. He gave up the village to plunder and massacre.

The field of battle was Augereau's proper sphere; away from it, he descended into the rank of common men; and yet it was not merely as a subordinate general, or as an executor of his commands, that he rendered good service to Bonaparte. Ardent as this young commander was, he felt that the French had advanced too far, and that it was prudent for the present to retire before the fresh army under Wurmser, which Austria was pouring into Italy. Augereau combated the idea of retreat with all his energy; he represented the spirit of the army as invincible, and he at last decided Bonaparte to attack, instead of retiring. The consequence was the battle and victory of Castiglione, of the glory of which Augereau reaped the greater part. It also procured him the title which he afterwards enjoyed as Grandee of the French empire.

The most brilliant action of this campaign, so rich in feats of heroism and generalship, was the battle of Arcole, which took place in the middle of November. The object was to pass a bridge, defended not only by batteries of cannon, as that of Lodi had been, but also by overhanging walls and houses, from which the enemy sent a shower of fatal musquetry. The French had been several times repulsed, when Augereau, seizing a standard, bore it upon the bridge, followed by a column, which nevertheless was un able to advance against the grape-shot and musquetry. He