AUGUSTINE AUGUSTOWO 113 ties" is remarkable, as illustrating his best style and the finest traits in his chardfcter. The name of Augustine, in the dogmatic history of the church, is best known in connection with the heresy of Pelagius ; but his works which are most widely known are the " Confessions " and " The City of God." In the former, writ- ten just after his conversion, he gives a history of his life up to that time, not so much in its outward circumstance as in its inward expe- rience and change. It has been translated into every Christian tongue, and is classed with the choicest memorials of devotion, both in Catho- lic and Protestant oratories. His treatise on " The City of God " (De Civitate Dei) is the monument of highest genius in the ancient church, and in its kind has never been surpassed. Its immediate purpose was to vindicate the faith of the gospel against the pagans, who had just devastated Rome. The first five books confute the heathen thesis that the worship of the ancient gods is essential to human pros- perity, and that miseries have only come since the decline of this worship. The five following books refute those who maintain that the wor- ship of pagan deities is useful for the spiritual life. The remaining twelve books are employed in setting forth the doctrines of the Christian religion, under the somewhat fanciful form of " two cities," the city of the world and the city of God. The influence of Augustine upon his own age, and upon nil succeeding ages of Christian history, cannot be exaggerated. It is believed that he was at once one of the purest, the wisest, and the holiest of men ; he was equally mild and firm, prudent and fear- less ; at once a philosopher and a mystic, a stu- dent and a ruler. Of his singular humility manifold instances are recorded. His severe self-discipline matches the strictest instances of the hermit life. In his " Retractations," be- gun after the close of his 70th year, he reviews his writings, taking back whatever is doubtful or extravagant, and harmonizing discordant opinions. The aid of a coadjutor relieved Au- gustine in his latter years of a portion of his responsibility ; yet questions of conscience were constantly presented to him. When Genseric and his Vandals showed themselves on the coasts of Africa, the question was put to him if it were lawful for a bishop at such a season to fly and leave his flock. The answer which he made was illustrated by his own course. He calmly waited for the threatened approach, and when the fleet of the foe was in the bay of Hippo, and the army was encamped before the walls, exerted himself only to quiet the fears and sustain the faith of his brethren. He died of fever before the catastrophe. The bishop Possidius, who watched at his bedside, gives an edifying account of his last days, and of the grief of the people at his loss. His relics were transported to Italy, and mostly rest at present in the cathedral of Pavia. Within the present century the bone of his right arm has, with solemn pomp, been returned to the church of Bona in Algeria, which occupies the site of an- cient Hippo. The best edition of Augustine's works is that of the Benedictines, published at Paris and at Antwerp at the close of the 17th century, in 11 vols. folio. An edition in 11 volumes was also published in Paris in 1836-'9. An additional volume of sermons, before un- published, found at Monte Casino and Florence, was published at Paris in 1842. An English translation by various hands has been under- taken at Edinburgh, under the editorship of the Rev. Marcus Dods, the 3d and 4th vol- umes of which appeared in 1872. VI <;i STIMA>s, or Hermits of St. Angnsttoe, a religious order in the Roman Catholic church, which traces its origin to the great bishop of Hippo, and professes to have received its rule from him, although many Catholic writers dis- pute the fact. St. Augustine in the year 388, be- fore his ordination, erected a kind of hermitage on a little farm belonging to himself near Ta- gaste, where with several friends he passed his time in seclusion. After he became a priest at Hippo he established a similar retreat in a gar- den presented to him by the bishop, and dur- ing his episcopate he had his clergy living with him in his house, under a kind of monastic rule. From these circumstances he has been looked upon as the founder and special patron of a certain class of religious communities, and many of their rules have been drawn from his writings. The present order of Hermits of St. Augustine was formed by uniting several socie- ties previously distinct. This was done by Alexander IV. in the year 1256, and a rule was given them attributed to St. Augustine. In 1567 the Augustinians were enrolled among the mendicant orders. In England they were usually called Black Friars, from the color of their habit. There are several distinct branch- es of Augustinians whose rule is more severe than that of the principal body ; they are gov- erned by vicars general, who are subordinate to the general. Rome is the chief seat of the order. The number of convents in 1862 was 271, with about 4,000 members; but since then their number has been greatly reduced by the suppression of monastic orders in Italy. There is a large and beautiful church belonging to the Augustinians, with a convent adjoining, in Philadelphia ; also a college, with a monas- tery and a well cultivated farm adjoining, at Villanova, Delaware county, Pa., about 15 m. from Philadelphia. Angnstlnlan Canons are a separate body of canons regular attached to the Lateran basilica and a few other churches. Several religious orders of females belong also to the Augustinian family. AUCCSTOWO. I. Formerly the X. E. govern- ment of the Russian kingdom of Poland. Its territory now forms the government of Suwal- ki and a part of Lomza. II. A city in the pres- ent government of Suwalki, from which the preceding government received its name, on a tributary of the Karew, near a considerable lake, and 140 m. K E. of Warsaw ; pop. in 1867,
