ASTIJRIA ASYLUM. 



315 



try and astronomy) 3d ed., Berlin, 1803, 2 vols. : J 

 together witli this work, we may mention Burjas' 

 Manual of Astronomy, Berlin, 1794, 5 vols., which 

 requires, however, more extensive knowledge. Ex- 

 cellent, though very condensed, is Bohnenberger's 

 Astronomy, Tubingen, 1811. Piazzi's Italian Ma- 

 nual of Astronomy is a good work. Among the 

 English treatises are Woodhouse's Elementary Trea- 

 tise on Astronomy, 1823, and Ferguson's Lectures on 

 Astronomy, a popular work ; also Vince's Complete 

 System of Astronomy, 3 vols. 4to, with additions, 

 1814. To astronomers, practical and theoretical, 

 Bessel's Observations at the Observatory of Konigs- 

 berg, which have appeared in folio since 1813, are 

 indispensable. Notices of astronomical tables may 

 be found in the larger astronomical treatises men- 

 tioned. With respect to astronomical periodicals, 

 Zach's Monatl. Correspondent zur BefSrderung der 

 Erd- und Himmels-Kunde, with which is connected 

 Lindenau's and Bohnenberger's Astronom. Zeitschr., 

 is continued under the title Correspondence Astrono- 

 miqite, Geograp/itftee, &c. du baron de Zach. Schu- 

 macher has also published, in Copenhagen, since 

 1822, Astronomische Nafhrichten. The latest obser- 

 vations may be also found in the Paris Connaissance 

 des Terns, and in the Berlin Astronomisches Jahrluch, 

 which has been published for more than fifty years. 

 The history of astronomy may be found at large in 

 Montucla's already mentioned Histoire des Mathema- 

 titjues, 4 vols. 4to ; in Delambre's Histoire de V Astro- 

 nomic Ancienne, celle du Moyen Age et Moderne, 

 Paris, 1817, 5 vols. 4to ; and in Bailly's Histoire de 

 f Astronomic, of which the first volume appeared in 

 1771, containing the history of ancient astronomy, 

 and the 3 other volumes, 1779 and 1782, containing 

 the history of modem astronomy, followed, in 1787, 

 by his Traite de F 'Astronomic Indienne, which work, 

 however, as we have already remarked, must be used 

 with precaution, on account of the inclination of the 

 author to adopt theories on insufficient grounds. 



ASTURIA, or the ASTURIAS ; a Spanish principality, 

 of about 3670 square miles, with 305,000 inhabitants. 

 It is bounded by Biscay on the east, Galicia on the 

 west, Castile and Old Leon on the south, and the sea 

 on the north. To this mountainous country of the 

 north of Spain the Moor never penetrated with suc- 

 cess. There the Goth retreated, in the 8th century, 

 before the sword of the Saracen. Each Asturian, 

 therefore, thinks himself a free hidalgo. The inha- 

 ' bitant of A. lives more upon maize, chestnuts, fruits, 

 hazelnuts, game, fish, honey, and beans, than upon 

 wheat or similar grain. The pasture and cattle are 

 excellent. Oil and salt are wanting entirely. The 

 Asturian is less industrious than the Galician, and 

 less sociable than the Biscayan. The mountains are 

 not capable of supporting all the inhabitants, and 

 therefore the free Asturian goes into the service of 

 other Spaniards, who are, in his eyes, much less 

 noble than himself, and becomes a coachman or 

 footman. A. formerly enjoyed many privileges, not 

 belonging to the Castiliau provinces, in respect to its 

 interior administration, and in regard to imposts. 

 These were abolished at the time of the revolution, 

 but, since 1823, the old state of things has been, in 

 a groat measure, restored. The capital, Oviedo 

 (6000 inhabitants), has a university. In Gilion, a 

 sea-port (3200 inhabitants), is flie institute Asturiano, 

 for the cultivation of mathematics, mineralogy, and 

 navigation. The hereditary prince of Spain has 

 borne, since 1388, the title of prince of A., or de las 

 Asturias, according to the obsolete division into A. 

 de Oviedo and A. de Santillana, the two chief cities 

 of this country. 



ASTYAGES ; son of Cyaxares, the last king of the 

 Medes. Herodotus relates, he dreamed, that from 



the womb of his daughter Mandane, married to Cam- 

 byses, king of Persia, there sprang up a vine which 

 spread over all Asia ; and she being with child, he 

 resolved to kill the infant as soon as it was born. 

 The child was Cyrus. Harpagus, being commission- 

 ed to destroy it, preserved its life. Astyages, learn- 

 ing long after what Harpagus had done, caused him 

 to eat his own son. Harpagus, in revenge, called in 

 Cyrus, who dethroned his grandfather, after his vic- 

 tory at Pasargarda, in which the Persians defeated 

 the Medes, and put an end to their monarchy. See 

 Cyrus. 



ASUNCION, or NUESTRA SENORA DE LA ASUNCION (in 

 English, Assumption) ; the chief city of Paraguay, 

 eighteen miles from the first mouth of the Pilcomayo, 

 built in 1538, and, in 1547, erected into a bishopric. 

 The streets are ill-made and crooked. The popula- 

 tion consisted, formerly, of about 2000 Spanish colo- 

 nists, and several thousand mestizoes and Indians. 

 The climate is temperate, and the adjacent country 

 rich and fertile : throughout the year, many of the 

 trees are either in foliage or loaded with fruits. The 

 trading boats from Buenos Ayres to A. take two or 

 three months to ascend the Plata, owing to the force 

 of the descending current. A. has become more 

 known, of late, as the capital of Paraguay, and the 

 residence of the dictator, doctor Francia. (See Fran 

 da and Paraguay.) The latest information which 

 we have of that part of the world is to be found in 

 the Historischer Versuch uber die Revolution von 

 Paraguay, &c. von J. R. Rengger und M. Long- 

 champ, Stuttgart, 1827 (Historical Essay on the 

 Revolution of Paraguay, &c., by J. R. Rengger and 

 M. Longchamp). 



ASYLUM ; a place to which persons flee for protec 

 lion. Among the ancients, temples, statues of the 

 gods, and altars afforded such a refuge, and it was 

 deemed an act of impiety to remove forcibly one who 

 had fled to them for protection. The abuses of these 

 institutions sometimes led men to forget their sacred 

 character, as the Lacedaemonians did in the case oi 

 Pausanias, whom they starved in the temple of Mi- 

 nerva. People who had tied to asylums were often 

 starved to death by their pursuers, or the places of 

 refuge were set on fire. All temples and sacred 

 places, however, were not asylums, but only those 

 particularly consecrated for this purpose. The em- 

 peror Tiberius abolished them all, except the temples 

 of Juno and ^sculapius. These institutions passed 

 over to the Christian world. Under Constantine the 

 Great, all Christian churches were asylums for those 

 who were pursued by the officers of justice or the 

 violence of their enemies. The younger Theodosius 

 extended the privilege, in 431, to all courts, gar- 

 dens, walks, and houses belonging to the church. 

 The Franks confirmed the privilege, and, in 681, 

 the synod of Toledo extended the limits of asylums 

 to thirty paces from every church. This ecclesiasti- 

 cal privilege has since prevailed in all Catholic 

 countries. It remained inviolate, at least in Italy, 

 while the papal government retained its indepen- 

 dence. It was a strong armour of defence against 

 the wild spirit of the middle ages, and was not with- 

 out good consequences at a time when force often 

 prevailed over justice. It also changed civil punish* 

 ments into ecclesiastical, limited the power of sove- 

 reigns, and extended the influence of the church. 

 For this reason, and because justice is now much 

 better administered, asylums have been abolished in 

 most modern countries. It is generally known, and 

 as generally regretted, that the late pope Leo X., 

 on ms accession to the apostolical see, re-established 

 the asylums, which had been abolished by his prede- 

 cessor, Pius VIT. ; the chief consequence of which 

 lias been to afford the robbers in the papal dominions 



