201 



ANAXIMENES. 



ANGUS MARCIUS. 



802 



map ; and, according to Diogenes, he set up a dial at Lacedsemon, 

 thoueh Pliny attributes this to Anaximenes (' Hist. Nat.' ii. 76), who, 

 he adds, discovered the use of the gnomon ; but this is not consistent 

 with the statement of Herodotus, who attributes the invention of the 

 gnomon to the Babylonians. Piiny also states somewhat obscurely 

 that he discovered the obliquity of the ecliptic. He considered the 

 earth to be spherical and in the centre of the universe; that the 

 moon received her light from the sun ; and that the sun was not less 

 than the earth, and was pure fire. Plutarch states hia opinion of the 

 magnitude of the sun somewhat differently, and by no means intel- 

 ligibly ; and, according to some authorities, Le made the earth a 

 cylinder, with a length three times that of its diameter. Pliny states 

 that he predicted a great earthquake, which happened at Sparta. He 

 briefly recorded his opinions in a small book, which is the oldest 

 prose work on philosophy that is mentioned among the Greeks. 



lie is said to have introduced the use of the word Arche (ipx*)) for 

 the universal principle, which he considered to be infinite, and which 

 it seems he vi:wed as a mixture of various parts, out of which things, 

 as we call them, were formed by the union of similar parts. All 

 things, considered as all, were an eternal unit. The objects of our 

 sensuous perceptions were the product of the moving power that 

 belonged to this unit ; this motion separated like from unlike, and 

 brought like and like together. Thus generation was only a change 

 of relative position among the infinite parts of the eternal unit : 

 generation was no change in the nature of the elements. This view 

 is in accordance with the notions of the other mechanical philosophers, 

 such as Anaxagoras and Empedocles, and opposed to the dynamical 

 school. According to Anaxagoras, warm and cold were first separated ; 

 the cold occupied the centre, and the warm lay all around ; the pro- 

 cess of separation went on till sea and earth were formed, and all the 

 heavenly bodies. 



(Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the Diffusion of Uieftil 

 Knowledge.) 



A NAX'IMENES, the eon of Eurystratus, a native of Miletus. The 

 time of his birth is variously given. According to Apollodorus he 

 was born in the 63rd Olympiad (B.C. 528-525.) 



Annximenes wrote in the Ionic dialect in a simple style, and Theo- 

 phrastus compiled a work on his opinions. This is all that we know 

 of his life. His doctrines are to be collected from writers of various 

 ages, many of whom certainly had very inexact notions of his 

 doctrines, the blame of which may belong both to Anaximenes and 

 themselves. 



The opinions of Anaximenes belong to that branch of the Ionic school, 

 if this term may be u-od, which is called the dynamical, as opposed 

 to the mechanical, to which Anaximander belonged. According to 

 Auaximenes, the primal principle was Aer, of which all things are 

 formed, and into which all things are resolved. 



(Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the Diffusion of Uieful 

 Knowledge.) 



AXCILLON, DAVID, a learned French Protestant clergyman. He 

 was born March 17, 1617, at Metz, where his father was an eminent 

 lawyer. Having attended for some years the Jesuits' College there, 

 he went to Geneva in 1633, to complete his studies in philosophy and 

 theology; and in 1641, was licensed to preach by the synod of 

 Chareuton, and appointed minister of Meaux, the most important of 

 the stations under their jurisdiction then vacant. Here he remained 

 till 1653, having in the meantime married a lady of large fortune. In 

 1653, however, he accepted a call to his native town of Metz; and 

 here he continued to officiate with great reputation till the revocation 

 of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, when he retired to Frankfort. He 

 was soon after chosen minister of the French church at Hanau. He 

 afterwards proceeded to Berlin, where he was received with great 

 favour by the Elector of Brandenburg. Here he continued to reside 

 till hia death, on the 3rd of September, 1692. He was the author of 

 several works, principally in defence of the reformed faith. Perhaps, 

 however, the most favourable impression of his varied learning is to 

 be obtained from the work, entitled ' Melange Critique du Littdrature, 

 recueilli des Conversations de feu M. Ancillon,' published at Basle, in 

 1698, by his son Charles, who was a lawyer of reputation, and a man 

 of some literary distinction. 



ANCILLON, JOHANN PETER FRIEDRICH, was born at Berlin 

 on the 30th of April, 1766. He belonged to the celebrated French 

 family of the Ancillons. His father, Ludwig Friedrich Ancillon, who 

 was himself a man of great talent and knowledge, gave his son an 

 excellent education. Friedrich Ancillon (as he is commonly called) 

 studied theology, and on his return from the university he was 

 appointed teacher at the military academy of Berlin, and preacher at 

 the French church of the same town. He began his literary career 

 by a work entitled ' Melanges de Literature et de Philosophic,' Berlin, 

 1801, 2 vol., 8vo. As the French language was always spoken in the 

 family, Ancillon spoke French with the same eloquence and facility as 

 German. A few years after the publication of hia first work, which 

 was soon followed by others, in which he showed a great knowledge 

 of modern history and of the political relations of Europe, he was 

 elected a member of the Academy of Sciences of Berlin, and was at 

 the same time appointed its historiographer. In 1806 he was appointed 

 instructor of the Crown Prince of Prussia, and was further distinguished 

 by the title of Councillor of State. During (he unfortunate period for 



Prussia which almost immediately followed the battle of Jena, Aucillon 

 did not yield in patriotism to any genuine Prussian, and, with other 

 men of influence, he exerted himself to raise Prussia from its fallen 

 state, and to promote its regeneration. In 1814, when he accompanied 

 the Crown Prince to Paris, he met with the most honourable reception. 

 On his return to Berlin he was appointed actual privy councillor of 

 legation in the ministry for foreign affairs, and became a member of 

 the commission which was appointed to draw up a constitution for 

 the kingdom of Prussia. The labours of this commission however, 

 as well as those of a second commission appointed in 1819, of which 

 Ancillon was likewise a member, were not followed by any results. 

 In the conflict of opinions during that period, in which so many hopes 

 were disappointed, Ancillon was one of the few statesmen who were 

 bold enough to publish their views on constitutional freedom, and he 

 examined the questions relating to it fairly and calmly. In 1825 he 

 was placed at the head of the business department of the foreign 

 office, and in 1831 he was intrusted with the direction of the depart- 

 ment of foreign affairs, and in this exalted position he continued to 

 his death on the 10th of April, 1837. (Biographical Dictionary of the 

 Society for the Diffiision of Useful Knowledge.) 



ANCRE, MARECHALandMARQUISD'. To this high military 

 rank and title was raised a poor and obscure Florentine gentleman of 

 the name of Conciui dei Concini, son of a notary. He came to Paris 

 in the suite of Maria de' Medici, whom Henri IV. of France espoused 

 after he had repudiated Marguerite de Valois. Coucini soon after his 

 arrival married Eleonora Galigai, one of the queen's women of the 

 chamber. Both were ambitious, persevering, aud endowed with those 

 abilities which at that time insured success at court. On Maria de' 

 Medici becoming regent after the assassination of Henri IV., the 

 elevation of Concini was extremely rapid. He was first made equerry 

 to the queen, then master of the horse, and soon after his purchasing 

 the marquisate of Ancre (under which name he is known in history) 

 he was made first gentleman of the king's chamber. The dignity of 

 Mare'chal of France was also conferred on him by the queen-regent. 

 Such sudden elevation and rapid accumulation of immense wealth not 

 only gave rise to suspicions very unfavourable to his character, but 

 excited the jealousy of the court. His insolence to the young king, 

 and his overbearing manner to the nobles, were the cause of that 

 hatred which brought him to a dreadful end. For some time attempts 

 were made, but in vain, to hurl the Italian adventurer from his envied 

 elevation; the princes themselves joined against him without success. 

 However, a young man of the name of Luynes (known afterwards as 

 Due de Luynes), who was in great favour with the young king, per- 

 suaded him to deliver the queen-mother from the power of her 

 favourite ; and urged his insolent bearing to the nobility and his per- 

 nicious influence with so much success, that at last Louis XIII. ordered 

 the mare'chal to be arrested, and even to be put to death if he resisted. 

 Vitry, a captain of the king's guard, was intrusted with this commis- 

 sion, which he executed to its fullest extent. Ancre was shot dead as 

 he was entering the palace of the Louvre. On hearing the shot the 

 king looked out at the window, and expressed his satisfaction, which 

 he testified by raising Vitry to the rank of Mare'chal of France. The 

 body of the murdered man was first secretly buried at St. Germain 

 1'Auxerrois, but was soon after torn from the tomb by the infuriated 

 mob, who dragged it through the streets on hurdles, and then threw 

 it into the highway. Concini's son, sixteen years of age, was obliged 

 to fly to Florence, after having been exposed to all sorts of insults, 

 and deprived of his father's titles and riches. Eleouora soon shared 

 the misfortunes of her husband. She was accused and convicted of 

 sorcery, Judaism, and corruption ; and was executed on the Place-de- 

 Grevo on the 8th of July, 1617. During her trial, and at the moment 

 of her execution, she displayed the greatest firmness of mind, saying, 

 the only sorcery she had used towards the queen " was the power of 

 a strong mind over a weak one." It is said that she was the first 

 instrument of the fortune of Richelieu. 



ANCUS MARCIUS, the fourth king of ancient Rome, belongs to 

 a period when it is difficult to separate history from fable. The reigns 

 of the kings of Rome seem to mark the chief stages of progress in the 

 political constitutions of the state, rather than the succession of indi- 

 vidual monarchs. The names of Romulus, Numa, and Tullus Hostilius 

 are respectively connected with the origin of the three patrician tribes, 

 the Ramnes, the Titles, and the Luceres, and with their settlement 

 upon the several hills called the Palatine, the Quirinal, and the Caelian. 

 Thus, under the first three kings, the patrician part of the Roman 

 constitution had received its full development. To Ancus Marcius 

 tradition assigned the honour of laying the first foundation of the 

 plebes, or commonalty that important element in the state to which 

 Rome, under the commonwealth, owed nearly all her greatness. His 

 predecessor, attentive solely to war, had neglected the religious insti- 

 tutions established by Numa, and for his impiety had been destroyed 

 by a thunderbolt with all his family. Ancus Marcius, whose mother, 

 according to the tradition, was the daughter of Numa, restored the 

 neglected rites, anfl endeavoured in all respects to imitate the pacific 

 policy of his grandfather. But the neighbouring states, mistaking his 

 love of peace for timidity or sloth, provoked him to hostilities by 

 repeated aggressions on the Roman territory. In the successive wars 

 with the Latins, the Veientines, and other states, which ensued, he 

 was invariably successful. Vronj the Latins he took the towns Poli- 



