Arum 



Aylesbury. 



A Y L 15G A Y L 



beginning of the 16th century, when it was destroyed William of Aylesbury, under the singular tenure, 

 by the 1 urks. that he should find straw for the king's bed-chamber 



by 



The ruins of Axum, of which we have given a 

 short account, upon the authority of Bruce, in the 

 article Abyssinia, have been recently examined with 

 grett attention by Lord Valentia. After much 

 fruitless search, he was unable to find the inscription 

 mentioned by Bruce ; but was so fortunate as to 

 discover a monument, about eight feet high, three 

 and a half broad, and one thick, which contained a 

 long Greek inscription. This monument seems to 

 have been erected about the year 330, by JEizajUM, 

 king of the Axomites, in honour of his two brothers, 

 who subdued the insurgent nation of the Bougaeitje, 

 (perhaps the Bogenses of Edrisi.) This inscription 

 contains an account of the hospitality shewn to the 

 prisoners who were taken, and establishes the fact 

 of Axum having been the capital of a people called 

 the Axomites. 



Lord Valentia measured and carefully examined 

 all the obelisks at Axum. There are seven large 

 ones, ornamented in the same manner as the large 

 and beautiful one mentioned by Bruce, which is still 

 standing, and which is 80 feet high, consisting of a 

 single block of granite. The smallest is 36 feet, but 

 the dimensions of the largest are considerably greater 

 than those of the erect one. 



Not far from the church, in a square inclosure 

 surrounded with pillars, Lord Valentia found a short 

 inscription, in Ethiopic characters, to this effect : 

 " The Aboona David removed and broke to pieces 

 here ; he thought within himself, the Lord was plea- 

 sed that he so should do." This explanation seems 

 to account for the destruction of the temple and obe- 

 lisks. These ancient monuments, originally 55 in 

 number, are said by the priests to have been built 

 by Ethiopus, the father of Abyssinia, about 1540 

 years ago. 



The present town, which contains about 600 houses, 

 stands partly in, and partly at, the mouth of a nook 

 formed by two hills, on the north-west end of an ex- 

 tensive valley, where the soil, which is very produc- 

 tive, is interspersed with small pieces of spar and 

 agates. Several manufactures of coarse cotton-cloth 

 are carried on here ; and excellent parchment is made 

 of goats' skins by the monks. N. Lat. 14 6' 36", 

 E. Long. 38 39'. See Bruce's Travels, vol. iii. 

 p. 128, &c. ; and Lord Valentia's Travels, vol. iii. 

 p. 87, 179. (*) 



AXYRIS, a genus of plants of the class Monce- 

 cia, and order Triandria. See Botany. (u>) 



/ YE AYE, the name given by the inhabitants of 

 Madagascar to a singular species of quadruped like 

 a squirrel, discovered by Sonnerat. See Sonnerat's 

 Voyage to the East Indies, torn. ii. p. 137. (to) 



AYENIA, a genus of plants of the class Pentan- 

 dria, and order Monogynia. See Botany, (w) 



AYESH A , the wife of Mahomet. See Arabia. 



AYLESBURY, an ancient borough of England 

 in Buckinghamshire, is situated on a branch of the 

 Thames, in the pleasant and fertile vale of Ayles- 

 bury. It was formerly a place of considerable 

 strength, and was taken from the Britons by the 

 Saxons under Cuthwolf in 572. It was made a royal 

 manor by William the Conqueror, who granted it to 



rig i 



three times a-year, should the king pass that way so 

 often; and provide his table with two green geese iu 

 summer, and iu winter with three eels. This town 

 is the most considerable in the county ; and, from 

 the irregular formation of its streets and lanes, ex- 

 tends over a great surface of ground. It sends two 

 members to parliament ; and here are held the quar- 

 ter-sessions for the county, and the Lent assizes. 

 It contains 679 houses. The lower classes of the 

 inhabitants are principally employed in lac-making. 

 Population 3186. N. Lat. 51 -19' IN"; W. Long. 

 50' 18". See Britton's Beauties of England and 

 Wales, vol. i. p. 343, &c. (/) 



AYLESFORD, a town of England, in the coun- 

 ty of Kent, lies on the northern bank of the river 

 Medway, and derived its name from a bloody battle 

 which was fought here by the Angles or Saxons 

 under Hengist, and the Britons under Vortimer in 

 455, Aylesford being merely a contraction for Angles 

 ford. In the neighbourhood are shewn the burying 

 places of Horsa the brother of Hengist, and Coti- 

 gern the brother of Vortimer, who fell fighting hand 

 to hand in this engagement. Here is a handsome 

 stone bridge of six arches over the Medway ; a hos- 

 pital for six poor people, each of whom receives ten 

 pounds a year; and the remains of a monastery of 

 Carmelites, now converted into a mansion-house of 

 the Earl of Aylesford. Houses 151, and population 

 91* N. Lat. 51 21' ; E. Long. 28'. See Ha- 

 sted's Hist, of Kent, (p) 



AYLMER, or jEi.mi: , John, bishop of London, 

 was descended from an ancient family, and was born 

 at Aylmer-hall, in the county of Norfolk, in 1521. 

 Being a younger son, and destined for the church, 

 he was educated at Cambridge, under the patronage 

 of the Duke of Suffolk, who, pleased with his appli- 

 cation and early attainments, received him into his 

 family as preceptor to his children. One of these 

 was the amiable but unfortunate Lady Jane Grey, 

 who, under the care of Aylmer, soon became a pro- 

 ficient in classical literature. By his preferment to- 

 the arch-deaconry of Stow, Aylmer had a seat in the 

 convocation held in the first year of Queen Mary, 

 where he resolutely opposed the return to Popery, 

 and zealously maintained the doctrines of the Refor- 

 mation. But the persecutions which followed com- 

 pelled him to quit the kingdom. While abroad, he 

 visited most of the universities on the continent ; and 

 wrote an answer to John Knox's " First Blast 

 against the monstrous Regiment and Empire of Wo- 

 men," which he entitled, " An Haiborowe for faith- 

 ful and trewe subjects against the late bloune Blaste 

 concerning the Government of Women, &c." Re- 

 turning to England, on the accession of Elizabeth, 

 he was presented to the arch-deaconry of Lincoln, 

 and sat in the famous synod which was held in 15(i2, 

 for reforming and settling the di.clriius and disci- 

 pline of the church of England. In 1576, he was 

 raised to the see of London, in which he continued 

 until his death, in 1.39 V, lit the ag* of 73. B'shop 

 Aylmer was a bold and zealous advocate in the cause 

 of the Reformation, and equally an enemy to the 

 Puritans and Papists. He wa6 most assiduous in 



AyUsfordj 



\y! 



