Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/80

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AIK
58
AIM

tired to Hamburg, where he died in 1800, when on the point of accepting an invitation from Bonaparte to return to France.

AIKEN, James, son of Henry Aiken, sheriff and commissary of Orkney, was born at Kirkwall in 1613, studied literature and philosophy at Edinburgh, and divinity at Oxford, and in 1638 became chaplain to the marquis of Hamilton. After enduring, for many years, privations and perils at home and abroad, for his devotedness to the exiled house of Stuart, he was in 1677 made bishop of Moray, and in 1680 translated to the see of Galloway. Died at Edinburgh of apoplexy in 1687.—E. M.

AIKIN, Anna Laetitia. See Barbauld.

AIKIN, Edmund, son of Dr. Aikin, was an ingenious and accomplished architect, author of numerous dissertations on architectural subjects. He was born at Warrington in 1780; died 1820.

AIKIN, John, M.D., was born at Kebworth, Leicestershire, in 1747. He received an excellent classical education in a dissenting academy at Warrington, of which his father, John Aikin, D.D., was classical tutor. With a view to the medical profession, he was trained, for several years, under a surgeon-apothecary at Uppingham. Having attended medical classes in Edinburgh for two winters, he continued from 1766 till 1770, first in Manchester and afterwards in London, to study various departments of medical science, devoting, however, a considerable portion of his time and attention to poetry and polite literature. In 1770 he established himself as a medical practitioner at Chester, but soon afterwards settled in the same capacity at Warrington. Among the friends he acquired at Chester and Warrington were Pennant, Priestley, Roscoe, and Howard, the well-known philanthropist. In 1771 he published, besides several professional productions, "Essays on Song-writing;" and, in 1774, a translation of Tacitus' "Life of Agricola," and of his treatise "On the Manners of the Germans." In 1775 appeared his essay entitled "A Specimen of the Medical Biography of Great Britain," and a few years afterwards, the first and only volume of a projected work under the title of "Biographical Memoirs of Medicine in Great Britain, from the Revival of Literature to the time of Harvey." In 1784 he took the degree of M.D. at Leyden, and the same year removed to Yarmouth. In 1792 he left Yarmouth, and settled in London, on finding that his sympathy with the earlier phases of the French Revolution, and his avowed sentiments regarding the civil rights of dissenters, had induced a large and influential portion of the inhabitants of Yarmouth and its vicinity to withdraw from him their countenance and professional support. Between 1792 and 1796 appeared the well-known and still deservedly popular "Evenings at Home," the joint production of himself and his accomplished and amiable sister, Mrs. Barbauld; and, soon afterwards, his excellent "Letters from a Father to his Son, on Various Topics relative to Literature and the Conduct of Life." From 1796 to 1806 he was editor of the "Monthly Magazine." In 1799 he published the first volume of his "General Biography," the tenth and last volume of which did not appear till 1815. In this work, Dr. Enfield and a few other able writers were his coadjutors to the extent of about one-half of the publication. Dr. Aiken was so voluminous a writer, that our space precludes a complete list of his valuable publications. He was long editor of Dodsley's "Annual Register." Besides his "Lives of John Selden and Archbishop Usher," and his "View of the Character and Public Services of the late John Howard;" his "Annals of the Reign of George III.," and his "Select works of British Poets," are highly valued. Died of apoplexy in 1822. An interesting memoir of Dr. Aikin has been written by his accomplished daughter, Lucy Aikin, 1823, 2 vols.—E. M.

AIKMAN, William, a Scottish portrait painter of considerable eminence, was born in Aberdeenshire in 1682. He studied for the bar, but an early enthusiasm for the fine arts led him to renounce his prospects in the legal career, and follow painting as a profession. After cultivating the theory and practice of the art under Sir J. Medina, then in Scotland, he disposed of his patrimony in Forfarshire, and went abroad for professional improvement. He spent five years mostly in Italy, visited the Levant and other parts, and, returning to Scotland in 1712, resided there till 1723, when he removed to London. There, through the patronage of the duke of Argyle, he soon attained great success in his profession. When Thomson arrived in London, friendless and unknown, Aikman, appreciating his merit, had the privilege of opening to him the way to competence and fame. He was a very accomplished and amiable man, and lived on terms of cordial intimacy with many of the most illustrious persons of the age. Died in London in 1731.—E. M.

AILBE, a bishop of Emly in Ireland, who was born in 360, is said to have been consecrated at Rome, and returned to Ireland in 412, where he converted and baptized great numbers of the heathen people. There is an old life of this bishop, preserved by Colgan, in which it is stated that Ailbe is called a disciple of St. Patrick, and is supposed to have received holy orders at his hands. According to Usher, he died in 527. If this be correct, he must have lived to the extreme old age of 167; but in all probability, either the recorded date of his birth or of his death is inaccurate,—(Ware.)—J. F. W.

AILERAN, surnamed "the Wise," and also designated by the Latin and Irish writers by the names of Aireran and Ercran, a celebrated Irish writer of the seventh century, and regent of the great school of Clonard in Meath. He was a contemporary of St. Fechin, whose life he is said to have written, as also those of St. Patrick and St. Brigid. His most celebrated work is "An Allegorical Exposition of the Genealogy of Christ," first published in 1667. His death is recorded in the "Annals of Ulster," as having occurred in the year 665.—J. F. W.

AILLAUD, Pierre Toussaint, a French ecclesiastic, professor and librarian at Montauban, and a poet of some distinction; born at Montpelier in 1759. His poetic works are voluminous, and mostly epic. Died at Montauban in 1826.

AILLY, Pierre d', a celebrated French prelate, metaphysician, and divine, author of numerous works, mostly theological, was born at Campiègne in Picardy, in 1350. An eloquent preacher, an acute and ardent asserter of the philosophical theory of the Nominalists, and an intrepid champion of the liberties of the Gallican church in opposition to ultramontane views of papal supremacy, D'Ailly was one of the most remarkable men of one of the most interesting periods in mediæval history. In 1384 he became grandmaitre of the college of Navarre, Paris, where his lectures in philosophy and divinity were attended by crowds of admiring students, including Clemangis and the still more famous John Gerson. In 1389 he became chancellor of the university of Paris; in 1398 he was raised to the see of Cambray; and in 1411 he was made a cardinal by Pope John XXIII., and appointed his legate in Germany. His indefatigable exertions greatly contributed to put an end to the scandalous schism in the church occasioned by the existence of two rival popes; and he zealously strove to promote such an ecclesiastical reformation as would have consisted in the removal of flagrant abuses, and the restoration of ancient discipline. With all his attainments and admirable qualities, he was not uninfluenced by the lingering darkness of the times. He fully believed in astrology, and he considered the capital punishment of what he deemed heresy, a Christian duty. At the council of Constance, where he presided during the third session, he was accessory to the death of John Huss. Agreeably to the mediæval usage of conferring on celebrated philosophers and divines a distinctive appellation, he was surnamed the "Hammer of Heretics, and the Eagle of the Doctors of France." Died about 1425.—E. M.

AILRED, called also ETHALRED or EALRED, abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Rievaulx in Yorkshire, in the twelfth century, and author of numerous works, historical and theological, was born about 1109, probably in Scotland. He was at least educated in that country, along with Prince Henry, son of King David. The most important of his historical writings were printed in 1652. These have been overrated as sources of authentic history. Some of his theological works were printed at Douay in 1631, and afterwards republished in the "Bibliotheca Cisterciensis."—E. M.

AIMERIC DE PEGUILAIN, a troubadour, author of more than fifty poems still extant, though mostly in MS., was born at Toulouse about 1175. He travelled over the south of France, Italy, and Spain, and was treated with great distinction at the most brilliant courts of the age.

AIMERICH, Father Mathew, a Spanish jesuit, author of numerous treatises, partly theological and partly literary, was born at Bordil in 1715, and, on the expulsion of the jesuits from Spain, fixed his residence at Ferrara, where he died in 1799.

AIMERY or AMAURY DE LUSIGNAN lived in the twelfth century. In 1194 he obtained the kingdom of Cyprus on the death of his brother Guy, and, in 1197, that of Jerusalem, through his wife Isabella, daughter of Aimery I. In alliance with the German crusaders, he was distinguished in the war