A G U 



the decree of a chancellor is a law, I think myfelf permitted 

 to take a long time for coniuicration." His life, though 

 afriduoiiflj- occupied, was j)roloni';ed by his temperance and 

 equanimity ; but in the year 1750 his increaruifj infirmities 

 admonirtied him of the ncccflity of withdrawing from public 

 employments ; and in 1751 he clofcd his life at the advanced 

 nge of 83 years. 



Voltaire calls him the mod learned magiftrate ever pof- 

 feffed by France. Kefides the languages of antiquity, he 

 was acquainted with all the principal modern ones ; and to 

 his knowledge of tiie hillory of all agcrs and nations, he 

 added that of jurifprudence in its moil txtenfive fcnfe. Dur- 

 ing his exclufion from office, he made no attempts for being 

 rellored ; but always manifelled a difpofitien fuperior to the 

 honours which his talents and merit claimed, and a defire to 

 be ufeful rather than to afpire after power and to accumulate 

 wcaltii. Of his frugality, and of the various emoluments 

 annexed to the dignities he pofTefled, the only fruit tliat re- 

 mained was his librar)', in the improvement of which he li- 

 mited himftif to a certain annual expence. In the periods 

 of his retirement, w'hich he called " the ^lirell days of his 

 life," he devoted himfc-lf to the maturity of his plan of le- 

 giflation, to the education of his children, and to a variety 

 of literaiy purl'uits, am.ong which were mathematics and the 

 belles letters ; and thefe, together with agriculture, he 

 deemed his recreations in the intervals of his frverer occu- 

 pations. However, when the public demanded his fervices, 

 he furrendered the fatisfaftions of retirement and the plea- 

 fures of domeftic life. Having in 1694 married Anne le 

 Febure d'OiTneiTon, it was faid on this occafion, that virtue 

 and the graces were now iirft icen in alliance ; but he had the 

 misfortune to lofe her in 1735. His grief correfpo:ided to 

 the afTedtion that fubfillcd between them. Nevcrthelefs he 

 hailened to devote himftU to the functions of his office ; 

 alledging, " that his fervices were due to the public, and it 

 is not jull (faid he) that it (hould fufFcr by my domeilic af- 

 flielicn." We are informed, that he never pafTed a day 

 from his childhood, without reading feme parts of the fcrip- 

 tures ; and he was heard to fay, that this was the balm of 

 his life. Of his works nine volumes 4to. have been pub- 

 lifhed. In thefe, he is faid to have thought like a philofopher, 

 and fpoken as an orator. His eloquence has the force of 

 logic and the order of geometiy, united to the riches of 

 erudition and the charms of perfuafion. His Ityle is chafte 

 and harmonious, but deficient in warmth. When lie once 

 confulted his fatlieriu a difcourfe v.liieh he hadtaken pains to 

 compofe, and which he whhed farther to improve, his father 

 gave liis opinion : " the fault cf your diicourfe is its being 

 too elegant ; it will certainly be lefs fo if you touch it 

 again." Nouv. Dift. Hiflor. Biog. Dift. 



AGUGA, Cape, hcs fouthward of Puira, on the coail 

 of Peru, in South America. S. lat. 60°. W.long. 82 ^ 



AGUIAS, a fmall town of Portugal, in Alantcjo, to 

 the well of Elvas, and to the call of Lilbon. The territory 

 about it produces grain and oranges. W. long. 6° 41'. N. 

 lat. 38= 30' 



AGUGLIA. See Obelisk. 



Aguglia is alfo the name given by the Italian fiihennen 

 to the Acus of Oppian, called in Englifh the GAR-FhSH. 



AGUIGUAN, or tlie ifland ot the Holy Angel, in 

 Ge')\;raphy, one of the I^adrones or Marianne iflands, lies 

 in the Southern Sea, in lat. 14^^ 43'; about 40 miles from 

 Zarpana ; and about a league fouth-v.-elt of Tinian. It is 

 a fmall illand, about nine miles in compafs, mountainous, 

 but pleafant, and formerly well inhabited. 



AGUILA, Ai'GELA, or OuGUELA, a town of Africa, 

 in the kingdom of Fez, fituate on the river Aguila or Er- 

 gucla, and giving name to a diftrict, which is tor the moll 

 part fandy and barren, but in feme places fo well watered 



A G U 



as to afford plenty of dates ; and it is fepnrated from Baiva 

 by a mountain called Meys, which affinds excellent pafture. 



AGUII^AR, a town of Spain, in Navarre, four league* 

 foulh-wcd of Etlella. E.long. 2^30'. N. lat. 42° 35'.' 



AGUILAR tic-l Campo, a" town of Spain, in Old Caf- 

 tile, fituate on the Alhama ; three leagues from Calahoira. 



AGUILLANEUF, or Augiulaseuf, compounded 

 of the French, n, to, rut, inulelo, and fan luiif, i. c. lire ne'-j) 

 year; a form of rejoicing ufcd among the ancient Franks on 

 the firft day of the year. 



Its origin is traced from a druid ceremony : the pricils 

 ufed to go yearly in December, which with them was re- 

 puted a iacred mcnth, to gather mifleto off the oak in 

 great folemnity. The prophets marched in the front, fing- 

 ing liymns in honour of their deities ; after thefe came a 

 herald with a caduceiis in his hand ; thefe were followed by 

 three druids a-breail, bearing the things ncceffary for facri- 

 fice. Laft of all came the chief, or arch-dniid, accompa- 

 nied with the train of people. 



The chief druid climbing the oak, cut off the mislcto - 

 with a golden fickle, and the otlier druids received it in a 

 white cloth. On the firft day of the year it was diilributed 

 amimg the people, after having blefled and confecrated it by 

 cryuig ail giii ran neiif, to proclaim the new year. 



Of later times the name auguillaneuf was alfo given to a 

 fort of begging, prattiled in fome diocefes, for church 

 tapers, on a new j-ear's day, by a troop of young ])eople< 

 of both fexes, having a chief, &c. It was attended with 

 divert ridiculous ceremonies, as dancing in the church, &c. 

 which occafioned the fynods to fupprefs it. 



Aguillas, Cipe, in Geography, lies to the eaft of the 

 Cape of Good Hope. See Cape Needles. 



AGUILLES, or AuGuiLLEs, cotton cloth, manufaC'* 

 turtd at Aleppo. 



AGUILLON, Francis, in5/oera^/n',a jefuitof Bruffels, 

 wasproftJorof philofophy at Doway, and of theology at Ant- 

 werp. He was dillir.guiihed by his knowledge of mathe- 

 matics, and is faid to have firil introduced iludies of this 

 kind into Flanders. He wrote a book of optics, intilled, 

 " Opticorum, lib. vi. Philofophicis juxta ac Mathematieis 

 utiles," which was printed at Antwerp, in 1613, fol. He 

 was employed in finifhing his "Catoptrics and Dioptrics" at 

 the time of his deatli, wliich happened at Antweip, in 

 161 7, in the 50th year of his age. He is alio faid to have 

 written a treatlfe of " Projections of the Sphere." He 

 undcrllood feveial languages ; his judgment was accurate ; 

 his learning extenfive ; and his patience and fortitude under 

 ievere trials were very fignal. Under the paroxyfms of the 

 ailhnia, to which he was fubjeCl, and which were very 

 trying, jull before his death, he repeatedly faid : " Let 

 Gotl's will be done — I fiibmit to it — I am willing to form 

 myfelf abfolutely upon the divine plcafure — I have now th.e 

 torments which I often wilhed for, and defued of God." 

 Gen. Dia. 



Aguillon Pohil, in Geography, a long narrow point, iji a 

 curvihnear form, north-caft of the ille of Rhe, on the coa.'l 

 of France, and about three leagues iiorth-wefl. of Rochelle. 

 To the eaft of Agnillon the bay contratls and teiTninates. 



AGUIRRA, Joseph Saenz I)e, in Biography, alcnrned 

 Benediilme ct the 17th cenluiy, was born in 1630, at I^o- 

 grogno, in Spain, and read kttures in theology at the univerfity 

 of Salamanca, where he took his degree of dottor of divinity. 

 He was alfo cenfor and fecrctary of tl.e fupreme council of 

 inquifition, and was honoured with a cardinal's hat by pope 

 Innocent XI. in 1686. He died at Rome, in 1699. -^1'* 

 life was exemplaiy ; and his writings numerous. He is faid 

 to have retracted the dodlrine of probability, whicli he had 

 maintained, as foon as he found that it was incdnfiltent with 

 the ftrldnefs and purity of the Cbrilliaii morals. His 



publicationsj 



