Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/119

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AUGITE AUGSBURG 107 He produced his first play, La eigue, in 1844. His comedy Gabrielle (1849) placed b^m at the head of the so-called common-sense school of dramatists. Many of his subsequent comedies were of a lower tone, hut more brilliant. Among the most successful are : Le gendre de M. Poirier (jointly with M. Sardou, 1855), Le mariage (TOlympe (1855), Lea effrontei (1861), and Maitre Guerin (1864). He suc- ceeded Salvandy as member of the French acad- emy, Jan. 2, 1858. Al'GITK, a mineral species synonymous with pyroxene ; also used by Prof. Dana to designate a section or group of species of the class of anhy- drous silicates. (See PYROXENE.) Al I.LAI/K, a W. county of Ohio ; area, 399 q. m. ; pop. in 1870, 20,041. The Miami canal and the Dayton and Michigan railroad pass through the county. Near the western boun- dary is a reservoir 9 m. long, formed to supply the canal, and occupying the most elevated site between the channel of the Ohio river and Lake Erie. It is drained in part by Auglaize river, a tributary of the Maumee at Defiance. The surface is nearly level, well wooded, and the soil is good. In 1870 the county produced 269,756 bushels of wheat, 13,046 of rye, 245,- 277 of oats, 34,584 of barley, 379,015 of Indian corn, 14,694 tons of hay, 76,650 ibs. of wool, and 246,085 of butter. There were 29,678 sheep and 18,867 hogs. Capital, Wapakoneta. AUGSBURG, a city of Bavaria, situated be- tween the rivers Wertach and Lech, at their confluence, 83 m. N. AT. of Munich ; pop. in 1871, 51,284. It is one of the most ancient German cities. Augustus, having conquered the Vindelicians in 12 B. 0., established there a colony called Augusta Vindelicorum, on a Augsburg. spot, according to some, already inhabited and called Damasia. The Huns destroyed it in the 5th century ; and during the wars between Thassilo, duke of Bavaria, and Charlemagne, it suffered much. In 1276, having become rich by trade and industry, the city bought its freedom from the duke of Swabia. Its prosperity increased continually. It was the principal emporium for the trade between northern Europe, the countries on the Medi- terranean, and the East, previous to the dis- covery of America and the doubling of the Cape of Good Hope. Its merchants, includ- ing the celebrated Fuggers, possessed vessels on all the seas then known. Its greatest prosperity was toward the end of the loth and the first part of the 16th century. The arts had here their focus, and the Holbeins and other names known in the history of Ger- man art belonged to it. After the war against the league of Smalcald the decline of Augsburg began. Here on June 25, 1530, the Protestant princes submitted to Charles V. the confession of their faith, which bears in history the name of the "Confession of Augsburg." In 1555 the religious peace between that emperor and the Protestants was concluded here. At the dissolution of the German empire, Augsburg lost its privileges as a free city, and was incor- porated with Bavaria. It is now the capital of the circle of Swabia and Neuburg, and is the seat of various superior administrative, judicial, and clerical boards. In Augsburg is published the Allgemeine Zeitung, one of the foremost political and literary journals of the world, issued by the great publishing house of Cotta. The city possesses a large public library, which is in- creasing daily. The collection of various manu-