AULIC AtWENG-ZEBE. 



tlie Saxon army once more, Dec. 15, 1745, at Kes- 

 selsdorf, under tin- walls of Dresden. A. deserted his 

 capital, and preserved hll pictures and porcelain, but 

 loH the archives of tlie state, which tell into the 

 luiuN Di the victors. By the peace of Dresden, 

 Dec. 25, 1745, he was reinstated in tlie povscv<ioii 

 of Saxony, in the next year. Jn 1750, lie saw him- 

 self involved anew in u war against Prussia. When 

 Frederic declined his pruj>osal of neutrality, he left 

 l>resden, Sept. 10, aiul entered the camp at Pirna, 

 where 17,000 Saxon troops were assembled. Fred- 

 eric surrounded the Saxons, who were obliged to 

 surrender, October 14. A. fled to Konigst.ien, and 

 afterwards to Poland. His authority in this country 

 had always been inconsiderable, and after the loss of 

 S.ixony, became still more insignificant. The ascen- 

 sion of Catharine to the Russian throne was a new 

 source of disquietude to him, for the great empress 

 sought, in every way, to deprive the Saxon princes, 

 who were allies of France, of the Polish throne. The 

 peace of Hubertsberg, therefore, was hardly conclud- 

 ed, when A. returned from Warsaw to Dresden, 

 where he was seized, Oct. 5, 1763, with a fit of the 

 gout, which attacked his stomach, and put an end to 

 his life. He had, like his father, before his ascen- 

 sion to the Polish throne (1712), embraced the Cath- 

 olic religion at Bologna. His son Frederic Christian 

 succeeded him as elector of Saxony, and Stanislaus 

 Poniatowsky as king of Poland. 



AULIC (from the Latin aula, used for court) ; an 

 epithet given to a council in the ci-devant German 

 empire, the ReicAthofrath. The aulic council was 

 one of the two supreme courts of the German em- 

 pire, which first received a distinct form, after the 

 estates liad obliged the emperor, in 1495 to establish 

 the court of the imperial chamber (das Reichs-Kam- 

 mergericht). After the erection of this court, the 

 emperor still had, as before, officers who decided 

 all disputes brought to him from his hereditary do- 

 minions, and from the empire at large. He, of 

 course, would not allow the estates the same influ- 

 ence, in the appointment of these officers, which they 

 exercised in the appointment of the members of the 

 other court above-mentioned. But as his officers 

 composing the aulic council took cognizance of judi- 

 cial processes, the estates frequently complained of 

 it, after 1502. They were not able, however, to at- 

 tain any thing, except more precision in its organ- 

 ization, in 1559 and 1054. In the peace, of West- 

 phalia, it was acknowledged as a supreme court of 

 the empire, equal to the court of the imperial cham- 

 ber. It consisted of a president, a vice-president, 

 and eighteen counsellors, a part of whom, at least, 

 were to be taken, not from Austria, but the other 

 states of the empire. Six were to be Protestants : 

 all were appointed and paid by the emperor. If the 

 Protestant counsellors were unanimous, the votes of 

 the rest could not prevail against them. The coun- 

 sellors were divided into a bench of counts and lords, 

 and a bench of learned men (Gelehrte), with no dis- 

 tinction, except that the latter, who generally were 

 raised to the rank of nobles, had a higher salary. 

 The vice-chancellor of the empire, also, appointed 

 by the arch-bishop elector of Mayence, had a seat in 

 the aulic council, and a vote after the president. This 

 court had not only concurrent jurisdiction with 

 the court of the imperial chamber, but, in many 

 cases, exclusive jurisdiction ; in all feudal processes, 

 and in criminal aflairs, over the immediate feudato- 

 ries of the emperor, and in aflairs which concerned 

 the imperial government. The right of appeal, pos- 

 sessed by the estates, existed also in regard to the 

 judicial decisions of the aulic court. With the death 

 of an emperor this court ceased, and the next em- 

 peror established a new one. In the meantime, the 



regents of the empire constituted vice-anlic councils, 

 which ceased again with the beginning of the ne\v 

 imperial government. The- archives of this court, 

 which were separated from those of the Austrian 

 house as late as 17-lti, are in Vienna. Justice was, 

 perhaps, never more slowly adminKti n d ihan by the. 

 two imperial courts. An epigram of the mathemati- 

 cian Kaslner ascribes divine power to these bodies, 

 because they gave immortality to legal processes ; 

 and a German expression, still in use, to shove any 

 thing on the long bench, meaning, to delay something 

 indefinitely, is said to be derived from the protracted 

 processes of these courts. But the rota nt Rome, 

 and some other courts, have, perhaps, equally good 

 claims to this divine power. 



AULIS, in ancient geography ; a sea-port in Boeo- 

 tia, on the strait called Euripus, between Boeotia 

 and Euboea. Agamemnon (<(. v.) assembled here 

 the Greek fleet intended to sail against Troy. See, 

 also, Iphigenia. 



AUNOY (Marie Catherine Jumelle de Berneville), 

 countess of, born 1650, and died 1705, was the author 

 of Contes des Fees (Fairy Tales), which, in their day, 

 met with great success in France. Her style was 

 easy and agreeable, but verbose. Her tales are often 

 founded on fact. The critic cannot pardon the in- 

 sipid gallantry of many of her heroes. But that was 

 the fashion of the time. She was fond of developing 

 her plots philosophically. Her husband was accused 

 of treason by three of his tenants, was imprisoned, 

 and subjected to a severe examination, and in danger 

 of being condemned to death, when a mortal disease 

 seized upon one of his accusers, who, to obtain abso- 

 lution, confessed the falsehood of the whole accusa- 

 tion. 



AURKLIAN, an emperor of Rome, distinguished for 

 his military abilities and stern severity of character, 

 was the son of a peasant of Illyricum. He gradually 

 rose, under Valerian II., to the highest honours in 

 his profession, and even to the consulate ; which 

 good fortune was further favoured by a wealthy mar- 

 riage. Claudius II., on his death-bed, recommended 

 A. to the choice of the troops of Illyricum, who rea- 

 dily acceded to his wishes. He delivered Italy from 

 the barbarians, reduced Tetricus, who had been un- 

 willingly made to assume the purple in Gaul, and 

 conquered the famous Zenobia, queen of Palmyra. 

 Owing to the ungenerous excuse of the queen, that 

 she had waged war by the advice of her ministers, 

 her secretary, the celebrated Longinus, was put to 

 death by the victor; but, after having graced his 

 triumphal entry, Zenobia herself was presented with 

 a villa on the Tiber, and allowed to spend the re- 

 mainder of her days as a Roman matron. A. fol- 

 lowed up his victories by the reformation of abuses, 

 and the restoration throughout the empire of order 

 and regularity, but tarnished his good intentions by 

 the general severity of his measures, and the sacrifice 

 of the senatorian order to his slightest suspicions. 

 He had planned a great expedition against Persia, 

 and was waiting in Thrace for an opportunity to 

 cross the straits, when he lost his life, A. D. 125, by 

 assassination, the result of a conspiracy excited by a 

 secretary whom he intended to call to account for 

 peculation. A. was a wise, able, and active prince, 

 and very useful in the declining state of the empire ; 

 but the austerity of his character caused him to be 

 very little regretted. It is said that he meditated a 

 severe persecution of the Christians, when he was so 

 suddenly cut off, after a distinguished and eventful 

 reign of only five years. 



AURENTG-ZEBE (ornament of the throne), born Oct. 

 20, 1619, received this title from his grandfather, 

 Jehan-Guyr, who at that time was sovereign of Hin- 

 doitan. What he was nine years old, his weak and 



