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fortmrly Monging to the Elector of MctiU, but coded in 1814 to 

 Bavaria, by Austria, in exchange for a ]H>rtion of territory now 

 included in the crown land of Salzburg. The principality is now 

 comprised in the Bavarian circle of Lower Franconio, It lies on both 

 ddn of the Main, a few miles above the point where that river begins 

 to form the boundary between Hesse Camel and Hesse Darmstadt. 

 The district* near the river are fertile and abound in beautiful 

 aueuety. The eastern part of the principality ia occupied by part of 

 the Spessart-Wald, which is a small portion of the great Hercynian 

 Forest, described by Julius Cesar and Tacitus : it is however the 

 largest forest now in Germany, though much of its timber has been 

 out down of late yean. This elevated forest ridge reaches its culmi- 

 nating point in the Oeyersberg (1875 feet) ; it is rich in copper, cobalt, 

 arsenic, lead, and iron. The fundamental rocks of thin hilly district 

 are slate and granite. The principality extends a short distance west 

 of the Main to the edge of the Oden-Wald, a region still higher than 

 the Spessart-Wald and forming part of the watershed between the 

 Main and the Nectar. A railway now in course of construction from 

 Frankfort to WUrzburg traverses this principality, passing the town 

 of AschaBenburg ; from Wtirzburg the line is to be continued to 

 Bamberg, where it will join the Royal Bavarian railway. 



Upon an eminence forming the termination of a western declivity 

 of the Spessart chain, and on the right bank of the Main in a delightful 

 situation, stands the town of Atchaffcnbnry, whose municipal existence 

 dates from the 8th century at least It is surrounded by walls on all 

 rides but that towards the river, is irregularly built, anil the streets 

 are mostly narrow, steep, and crooked. The Johannisburg is a hand- 

 tome palace, forming a large and regular square, with towers to each 

 face ; it crowns the highest ground in the town, close upon the banks of 

 the Main. The palace was erected by the elector of Mentz between the 

 years 1605 and 1614. He and his successors used it as their hunting- 

 seat, and it is still an occasional residence of royalty. Attached to it 

 are a library, in which are 24,000 printed volumes and 50 manuscripts, 

 a picture gallery, containing about 750 indifferent paintings, a cabinet 

 of engravings, a collection of ecclesiastical rarities, &c. The immediate 

 vicinity of the palace abounds in picturesque scenery, and an orangery 

 and botanic garden adjoin its beautiful grounds. A Roman villa in 

 imitation of that of Castor and Pollux at Pompeii was built in the 

 park a few yean ago by King Lndwig. The old gothic collegiate 

 church, founded in A.n. 974, and containing several fine tombs and 

 ornaments in bronze the massive buildings of the ancient university 

 the former mansion of the Teutonic order and the town-hall are 

 deserving of inspection. There are also a lyceum, gymnasium, eccle- 

 siastical seminary, an institution for the education of females conducted 

 by the order of nuns called the English sisterhood, and a school of 

 design. Aschaffenburg is celebrated for its manufacture of coloured 

 papers, and carries on a considerable traffic in timber, tobacco, per- 

 fumery, wine, and other articles of luxury. The asylum for the 

 indigent is well organised, and has separate accommodation for the 

 infirm and for orphans, an hospital, house of industry, Ac. Aschaffen- 

 burg contains nearly 900 houses; it has 8 churches and about 8400 

 inhabitants. It lies in 50 1' 29" X. lat, 9" 7' E. long, 25 miles S.R 

 from Frankfort 



HI.USI.KBKS, a circle in the south-eastern part of the 

 Prussian province of Magdeburg, containing 168A square miles and 

 bout 40,000 inhabitants. Its agricultural stock includes hones, 

 cattle, sheep, and goata. Quedlinburg is the capital of the circle. 

 AschenUeben is an uncommonly fertile tract of level country, nd 

 raises large quantities of corn, flax, and rape-seed. Between the years 

 1807 and 1818 it was incorporated with the short-lived kingdom of 

 Wortphalia. 



The town of Aschersleben lies within the circle, close to the 

 confluence of the Winner and Kim-, and on the banks of the Eine, in 

 51' 4' N. lat., 1 1 ' '27' K. loi, K . r dirtant 18 milesRE. from Halberstadt 

 The town i surrounded by walls, with five gates ; and has five Pro- 

 te*Unt church, a Roman Catholic church, a synagogue, two hospitals, 

 gymnasium, and an orphan a-ylnm. The number of it* inhabitants, 

 nearly the whole of whom nre Lutherans, is about 11,500. It !M- 

 rery considerable manufacture* of flannel*, frieze*, linen*, earthenware, 

 ftc. Aschenleben was formerly a Hanse-town. Tin- picturesque 

 ruins of the ancient burgh of Ascania, the ancestral seat of tl< 

 of Anhalt, are in iU neighbourhood. 



A'SWLI (A'tcmktm Pict**m), a frontier town !'!,. ! 

 and capital of the province of Fermo C'l .. right bank 



of the Tronto, just above the confluence of that rivrr with ih. 

 Cwitellano, in 42* 50' N. I . .-., distant . 



from the boundary of the kinp' mil<-< N.\V 



from Tenuno. It i built on a rixinc ground, comn 

 fertile plain, which is inclosed by the Apennines except on the eastern 

 id*, where the river Tronto flows through a valley towards tho 

 Adriatic 8ea, from which Ascoli is distant 17 mile*. The main ridge 

 Of U ApnntaM* rises about 10 mile* westward of Asooli. fon: 

 Ugh summit called Monte delU Sibilta, 7212 feet l.i K h. The valley 

 of the Tronto abounds in vines, olives, and oth.-r fruit trees, and is 

 stoddni with villages and country -sots. The mouth of ih> 

 called Porto d-A*c,li, i, defended by a castle ; and there is at, 



nail veeU A .mull costing trade is carried on. The popu- 

 lation of the town is about 18,000. 



The origin of Asculum has been attributed to the Sabines, who 

 sent a colony north of the Ajwnninos, wlnw dexcendanbi were the 

 I'iceni or Picentes. Asculum was the :-hief town of th. i 

 submitted to the Romans after it* capture by the consul !' 

 Sempronius, B.C. 268. After nearly two centuries of si 



i he people of Asculum joined tho Marsian confederac. 

 began the social war by killing the proconsul Servilius and all the 

 Romans whom they found within tin ir territory. Pompeius Strabo, 

 who was sent to reduce the city, was defeated by the Picentians and 

 driven into Kernium. Even in the second year of the war Pnmpuius 

 was unable to reduce the city until after a long and obstinate 

 siege. The Italian general Judaciliua, a native of Asculum, who had 

 conducted the defence, put an end to his life rather than behold the 

 downfal of his country ; and soon after Asculum was obliged to 

 surrender at discretion. Pompeius treated the inhabitants with the 

 utmost severity. The chief citizens were whipped with roil 

 then put to death : the rest were led prisoners to Rome or M 

 slaves. Their property was confiscated, and the moveables given up to 

 plunder. Asculum was afterwards rwtorad by tin Unmans, who sent 

 a colony there ; and it continued to be the principal town of ricenum. 

 Cicero speaks of it as a municipal town ; and Julius C;esar hastened 

 to seize it after passing the Rubicon. After the fall of the empire, it 

 suffered by the irruptions of tho barbarians; its bishops h" 

 retained from the 5th to the 13th century a sort of ant 

 the town and district, and they continued until the end of the 18th 

 century to be styled Bishop Princes of Ascoli. The town was for 

 some time under the rule of the Malatesti, lords of Rimini. It 

 was afterwards united to the kingdom of Naples by Ladislaus. In 

 1426 Pope Martin V. annexed it to the Papal State, to which it has 

 remained attached ever since. 



Ascoli is one of the best built and most pleasant towns in tho 

 Papal State. Its buildings ore constructed of the stone called 

 travertino, with which the country abounds. There are 

 parochial churches, besides the cathedral, several convents, and a 

 seminary. The churches ore rich in paintings, mostly by native 

 artists ; for Ascoli has been remarkably prolific of painters as well ax 

 sculptors and architects. On the square Del Duomo is a handsome 

 palace, which contains a theatre, a library, and a museum. On the 

 square Del Popolo is the government house, where the Papal gov 

 resides. There are many other palaces l>elonging to the nobility. 

 Among the few remains of antiquity are those of a Roman temple, 

 which has been converted into a church, having ^ ithian 



columns with capitals of beautiful workmanship. Ascoli is sur- 



il by walla and towers, and has a castle. It has been in all 

 ages considered an important place from its strong position, and the 

 rugged character of the neighbouring country. 



'I.I HI SATKIAXO (.).-., ',,,n\ a small town of 



Apulia, in the province of Capitamita, situated on a hill near tho river 

 Carapella, in 41" 9' N. lat., 15 -27' K. long., 10 miles S.E. of Bovino, 

 and 66 miles E.N.K. from Naples, population about 6000. I 

 bishop's see, and gives the title of duke to a Neapolitan family 

 Besides the cathedral, which io a fine edifice, there arc in the t 

 diocesan seminary, an hospital, and several convents. Asculum (the 

 form on an ancient coin struck in the city is Ausculum or Ausi -luinl 

 was one of the principal towns of Dauuia. It in first mentioned in 

 history on the occasion of tho war of 1'yrrhus. who fought a battle 

 against the Romans in its neighbourhood B.C. 269. It became after- 

 wards a Roman colony. Asculum was destroyed by Roger the 

 Norman, but was afterwards restored. In the year 1400 Ascoli 

 suffered almost total destruction from an earthquake. There are 

 considerable remains of the ancient city among the vineyards outside 

 the wall- of the modern town. 



ASKKK<;in;H, a strongly fortified town in the province of 

 C.in<lei.-ih, ami within t he government of the Bombay Presidency, is 

 situated in 21 28' N. lat, 76 28' E. long., distant 20 mil. 

 from lioorbonpore. The fortress crowns the top of a hill T. 

 high, the base of whii-1, most part ]> bo tin' d, pth 



of 80 or 100 feet, leaving only two avenue* of acre.---, both <.f whirh 

 are well fortified. This fortress has the farther advantage of being 

 abundantly supplied with water. Its importance in the eyes 



may be estimated from a name by which it was long distin- 

 guished, the I lleenill. The town WSS founded I'N a wealthy 



HimliHi Zemindar, named Anna, and wu 1 as the capital of 



h when that province wax .-ul,.lu., I by Akbar. It was taken 

 by the English in 1803, re; m.lia on the conclusion of 



peace, and conquered again by tin l'.ni-!ih in 1819. The pettah or 

 suburb of Asecrghur, stands at the base of the hill on which the 

 fortress is erected. It is a large irregular village, with <>nly one good 

 street 



<MiT Prituh Indi.i : Hamilton's Eatt India Gazetteer; Major 

 Rcnneir* Memoir.) 



rrey, a village, and tho scat of a Gilbert Poor-Law 

 Incorporation, in the parish of Ash and hundred of Woking, is 

 situated near the Hampshire border, in 61 14' N. lat, 44' W. long., 

 distant 7 mi! .. from Cuildford, .'S"> mil. * S.W. from London 



by nwi' by tin' l.on.l.in and s,,i,ih Wr-t.-rn i 



' in a rectory 

 . and diocese of Winchester. Ash Gilbert 



