HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



235 



ASPASIA of Miletus, B. C 432 ?, mis- 

 tress of Pericles, the Athenian law not permit- 

 ing a citizen to marry a foreigner ; Socrates 

 called himself one of her disciples. 



ASTOR, John Jacob, 1763-1848, Am. mer- 

 chant, native of Germany ; settled in New 

 York city and entered the fur trade, establish- 

 ing trading posts in the northwest as far as 

 the Pacific and founding Astoria in 1811 ; he 

 made extensive investments in real estate, and 

 when he died his property was estimated at 

 twenty millions. 



ATTILA (the Scourge of God), . . . .-453, 

 king of the Huns. 



AUBER, Daniel Francois Esprit, 1784-1871, 

 Fr. composer. 



AUDUBON, John James, 1780-1851, Am. 

 ornithologist ; spent many years in studying 

 and illustrating from life the birds of America. 



AUERBACH, Berthold, 1812-82, Ger. Jewish 

 author and poet. 



AUGUSTINE, Saint, 354-430, Latin father 

 of the Church and founder of Roman Catholic 

 theology. 



AUGUSTUS C.F.SAR, B. C. 63-A. D. 14, first 

 emperor of Rome. 



AURELIUS ANTONINUS, Marcus (Marcus 

 Aurelius), 121-80, Rom. emperor and philoso- 

 pher. 



AUSTEN, Jane, 1775-1817, Eng. author. 



AVICENXA, 980-1037, Arabian physician. 



BABER, Mohammed, 1483 ?-l 530, founder of 

 the Mogul empire in India. 



BACH, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750, Ger. 

 composer and director ; founder of modern 

 music. 



BACON, Francis, Baron Verulam, Viscount 

 St. Albans (Lord Bacon), 1561-1626, Eng. 

 statesman, jurist, and philosopher, and father 

 of experimental philosophy ; from him dates 

 the origin of all industrial science. Son 

 of Sir Nicholas Bacon, keeper of the 

 great seal under Elizabeth ;" studied at Trinity 

 College, and at 15 began to oppose the phi- 

 losophy of Aristotle ; called to the bar, and 

 made queen's counsel at 28 ; solicitor-general, 

 1607 ; judge of the marshal's court, 1611 ; 

 attorney-general, 1613 ; lord keeper, 1617 ; 

 lord high chancellor, 1619 ; charged with 

 bribery and corruption in Parliament, 1621, 

 he pleaded guilty (some say to save the king), 

 and was sentenced to pay a. fine of 40,000, 

 ind to be imprisoned during the royal pleas- 

 ure ; he regained his liberty after two days' 

 imprisonment, his fine, too, being remitted by 

 King James, who also allowed him a pension ; 

 he spent the rest of his life in retirement, 

 diligently pursuing the study of literature and 

 science. 



BAFFIN, William, 1580-1622, Eng. naviga- 

 tor. 



BAILLY, Jean Sylvain, 1736-93, Fr. astron- 

 omer and philosopher ; first president of the 

 States-General ; executed by the Jacobins. 



BAKER, Sir Samuel White, 1821- 



Eng. explorer and author ; in 1847 he estab- 

 lished a sanitarium and prosperous agricul- 

 tural settlement in the mountains of Ceylon, 

 6.200 feet above the sea level ; in 1861-4 ex- 

 plored the region lying around the sources of 

 the White Nile ; discovered and named Lake 

 Albert Nyanza, and f c und the exit of the Nile ; 

 in 1869 another expedition was made to the 

 great African lakes. 



BALBOA, Vasco Nunez de, 1475 7-1517, Sp. 

 discoverer ; discovered the Pacific Ocean, 

 1513 ; the jealousy of his superior officers 

 caused his conviction and execution on a 

 charge of treason. 



BALFE, Michael William, 1808-70, Ir. com- 

 poser ; " Bohemian Girl." 



BALIOL, John de, 1259 ?-1314, king of 

 Scotland ; rival of Bruce. - 



BALLOU, Hosea, 1771-1852, Am. theologian ; 

 founder of Universalist denomination. 



BALMACEDA, Jose Manuel, 1840-91, presu 

 dent of Chile. 



BALZAC, HononS de, 1799-1850, Fr. novel- 

 ist. 



BANCRO'FT, George, 1800-91, Am. historian 

 and diplomat ; his ' ' History of the United 

 States" has been translated into all the prin- 

 cipal languages of Europe. 



BARBAROSSA, Hadher, 1476 ?-1546, Corsair 

 king of Algiers. 



BARBAULD, Anna Letitia, 1743-1825, Eng. 

 authoress. 



BARCLAY DE TOLLY, Michael, Prince, 1755- 

 1818, Russian field-marshal. 



BARHAM, Richard Harris, 1788-1845, Eng. 

 divine and humorist ; " Ingoldsby Legends." 



BARMECIDES, Persian family, noted for 

 tragic fate. 



BARNEVELDT, Johan van' Olden, 1549-1619, 

 Dutch statesman. 



BARRAS, Paul Francois Jean Nicola, Count 

 de, 1755-1829, Fr. statesman. 



BARRETT. Lawrence (real name, Branni- 

 gan), 1838-9?, Am. actor. 



BARTHELEMY SAINT-HILAIRE, Jules, 1805- 

 . . . . , Fr. statesman and writer. 



BAXTER, Richard, 1615-91, Eng. Dis. 

 minister and writer. 



BAYLE, Pierre, 1647-1706, Fr. philosopher 

 and critic. 



BAZAINE, Francois Achille, 1811-88, Fr. 

 general ; in the Franco-German war he sur- 

 rendered the fortress of Metz, with 173,000 

 men, 6,000 officers, 50 generals and 3 mar- 



