individual suffice to explain the different assurance with which general assertions are made in different de partments of knowlege, there is no need to carry the psychological consideration farther back. The effect of such difference in the conditions of experience may, of course, be accumulated in the life of the race, and the accumulation may go far to determine the psychological history of the individual, but the question, as a rational one, must be decided upon analysis of the conditions as they are. (G. c. E.)
AXMINSTER, a market-town of England, in the county
of Devon, 147 miles from London, and 24 from Exeter.
It takes its name from the Kiver Axe, on which it stands.
The ancient abbey-church, or minster, which adorns the
centre of the town, was built by King Athelstan to commemorate a victory over the Danes. The town was
formerly distinguished for its production of the best and
most costly description of carpets; and it still manufactures broad and narrow cloths, cotton, leather, gloves, tapes,
and druggets. Dr Buckland was a native of the town.
Population of the parish in 1871, 2861.
AXUM, an ancient city of Abyssinia, 85 miles N.W. of Antalo, still remarkable for its ruins. It was for a long time the capital of a great Shemitic people, who extended their sway over a large part of Abyssinia ; and the language spoken there at the time of the introduction of Christianity has continued to be the ecclesiastical language ever since. The chronicles of Abyssinia were preserved in the church, and are frequently referred to as the Books of Axum. The most interesting of the monuments still extant are the obelisk and the so-called coronation-room, both constructed of granite, and the latter containing some valuable bilingual inscriptions. In the modern town, which is the capital of the kingdom of Tigré, the weaving of cotton and manufacture of parchment are carried on. (See Salt's Travels, and Schimper in Zeitsch. der Ges. Erdk., Berlin, 1869.)
AYAMONTE, a fortified city of Spain, in the province
of Huelva, on the left bank of the Guadiana, about 2 miles
from its mouth. The harbour is good, but, on account of
a bar at its mouth, it is of difficult entrance. The principal
employment of the inhabitants is afforded by the fisheries,
especially for sardines, tunny, cod, and horse-mackerel;
but this branch of industry has suffered by the extension
of the general coasting traffic. Silk-weaving is carried on.
Ayamonte is said to have had in the 16th century 16,000
inhabitants. Population, 5960.
AYLESBURY, a market-town, parliamentary borough,
and railway junction, in the county of Buckingham, 39
miles N.W. of London. It stands on a gentle eminence in
the centre of a fertile vale, and consists of several streets
and lanes irregularly built, but well paved and lighted.
The county-hall, market-house, and county gaol are hand
some buildings, as is also the parish church, an ancient
structure with a tower rising from the centre. It has a
free grammar-school (1611), several other schools and
charities, a corn-exchange (1865), three banks, a savings
bank, an infirmary (1833), a union workhouse, and places
of public worship for Roman Catholics, Methodists, Baptists,
Independents, &c. It returns two members to parliament.
The assizes and quarter sessions and the elections of mem
bers for the county are held here. The inhabitants are prin
cipally employed in the manufacture of bonelace and straw-
plaiting, besides the rearing of ducks, which are sent in
large quantities to the London market at Christmas. A
branch canal, six miles in length, connects Aylesbury with
the Grand Junction Canal. Population of parliamentary
borough in 1871, 28,760.
AYLESFORD, a village of England, in the county
of Kent, 3| miles from Maidstone, and 32 from London.
It stands at the base of a hill on the right bank of the
Medway, which is here crossed by a stone bridge of six
arches. The church stands on an eminence behind the
village. At a short distance to the W. was a Carmelite
friary, founded in 1240, the remains of which now form a
part of the family mansion of the earl of Aylesford.
The vicinity exhibits several remains of antiquity, among
which is, or rather was, for it is grievously destroyed, a
cromlech called Kit s Coity House, about a mile N.E. from
the village. This is supposed by Mr Fergusson, in accord
ance with tradition, to mark the burial-place of Catigern,
who was slain here in a battle between the Britons and
Saxons in 455 A.D. The tomb of Horsa, who fell in the
same battle, is situated at Horsted, about 2 miles to the N.
Near Aylesford, too, are other remains, known as the Count
less Stones. Population of parish in 1871, 2100.
AYLMER, JOHN, Bishop of London in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth, was born in the year 1521 at Ayltner-
hall, in the parish of Tilney, in the county of Norfolk.
Whilst a boy, he was noticed for his precocity by the
marquis of Dorset, afterwards duke of Suffolk, who sent
him to the university of Cambridge. He afterwards
proceeded to Oxford, where he completed his studies and
took his degree in divinity. He was then made chaplain
to the duke and tutor to his daughter, the accomplished
and unfortunate Lady Jane Grey, whose extraordinary
proficiency in the Greek and Latin languages reflects no
small honour on her preceptor. His first preferment was
to the archdeaconry of Stow, in the diocese of Lincoln,
which gave him a seat in the Convocation held in the first
year of Queen Mary, where he resolutely opposed the
return to Popery, to which the generality of the clergy
were incb ned. He was soon after obliged to fly his
country, and take shelter among the Protestants in
Switzerland. While there he wrote a reply to Knox s
famous Blast against the Monstrous liegiment of Women,
under the title of An Harborowe for Faithfull and Treue
Subjects, &c. On the accession of Queen Elizabeth he
returned to England. In 1562 he obtained the arch
deaconry of Lincoln, and was a member of the famous
synod of that year, which reformed and settled the doctrine
and discipline of the Church of England. In 1576 he was
consecrated bishop of London, and while in that position
made himself notorious by the harsh manner in which he
insisted on the Act of Uniformity. His persecution of the
Puritans, and of any clergymen suspected of Puritanical
leanings, with the extreme measures he used, made him
unpopular even with his own party. He is frequently
assailed in the famous Marprelate Tracts, and is char
acterised as Morrell, the bad shepherd, in Spenser s
Shephearde s Calendar. He seems to have been a man of
harsh and violent temper, coarse, and avaricious, and with
few redeeming qualities. He is said to have been an able
scholar, but he has left nothing which could prove this.
He died in 1594. (Strype, Life and Actions of John
Aylmer, Bishop of London.}
AYR, COUNTY OF, or AYRSHIRE, a Scottish county,
bounded by Wigtownshire and the stewartry of Kirkcud
bright on the S. ; by Kirkcudbright, Dumfries, and Lanark
on the E.; and by Renfrewshire on the N. On the W. it
has a coast line extending to 70 miles on the Irish Sea and
the Firth of Clyde. The county contains 1149 square
miles, or 735,262 acres. The middle part, which is the
broadest, is about 26 miles across. There are six rivers
of some note in Ayrshire Stinchar, Girvan, Doon, Ayr,
Irvine, and Garnock. Of these the Ayr, from which the
county and county town take their name, is the largest.
It rises at Glenbuck, on the border of Lanarkshire, and,
after a course of 33 miles, falls into the Firth of Clyde
at the county town. The scenery along its banks from
Sorn downwards passing Catrine, Ballochmyle, Barskim-
