Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/461

Rh I D A I L 425 of numerous miracles -which he performed. Aidan died on the 31st August 651. AIDE-DE-CAMP, a confidential officer attached to the &quot; personal &quot; or private staff of a general. In the field he is the bearer of his chief s written or verbal orders, and when employed as the general s mouthpiece, must be implicitly obeyed. In garrison and quarters his duties are more of a social character he superintends the general s household, writes and answers invitations, &c. To increase their state, colonial governors and the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland have aides-de-camp with functions analogous to those of equerries to royalty. Officers above the rank of captain are seldom taken as aides, and none of less than two years service. The sovereign, as head of the army, may have an indefinite number of aides-de-camp. In 1874 there were thirty-three military aides-de-camp ; of these, twelve, taken from the militia, were honorary, the remainder, from the regular army and marines, were chosen for distinguished war services. The appointment carries with it promotion to the army rank of &quot;full&quot; colonel. The Queen has also at present (1874) eleven naval aides-de-camp, in compliment to the sister service ; but the appointment is more especially of a military character. An admiral s aide-de-camp is his flag-lieutenant. AIDIN, or GUZEL-HISSAK, a town of Turkey in Asia, in the pashalic of Anatolia, about 70 miles S.E. of Smyrna. It is beautifully situated near the river Meander, and is the residence of a pasha. Since 1866 it has been connected with Smyrna and Ephesus by rail. On a neigh bouring height are to be seen the ruins of the ancient Tralles. Aidin is a place of very extensive trade, and is celebrated for its figs, which are grown in great abundance in the beautiful orchards between the town and the river, and form an important article of export. The streets of the town, overshadowed by trees, and having numerous well-frequented bazaars, present a very picturesque appear ance. Among the inhabitants are considerable numbers of Greeks, Armenians, and Jews; and there are several churches and synagogues in addition to the fine Turkish mosques. Population, 30,000. AIDS (Auxilia), a pecuniary tribute under the feudal system, paid by a vassal to his lord on particular occasions ; originally a voluntary grant which in process of time became exigible as a right. The aids of this kind were chiefly three, viz. : 1st, When the lord made his eldest son a knight ; 2d, To provide a dower when he gave his eldest daughter in marriage; 3d, To ransom the person of the lord when taken prisoner. The amount of the first two was definitely fixed by 3 Ed. I., c. 36, but that of the last was of course uncertain. The right of levying aids was abolished by 12 Car. II., c. 24. AIKIN, JoHN,M.D. (1747-1 822), was born at Kibworth- Harcourt, received his elementary education at the dissent ing academy of Warrington, where his father was tutor, and prosecuted his medical studies in the university of Edinburgh, and in London under the celebrated Dr William Hunter. He commenced his professional career as a surgeon at Chester; but being unsuccessful, he removed to Warring- ton. Finally, he went to Leyden, took the degree of M.D. in that university (1780), and attempted to establish him self as a physician in London. His success in this new field does not seem to have been considerable; chiefly, no doubt, because he concerned himself more with the advocacy of liberty of conscience than with his professional duties. He therefore began at an early period to devote himself to literary pursuits. Dr Aikin s reputation chiefly rests on his endeavour to popularise scientific inquiries. In conjunction with his sister, Mrs Barbauld, he com menced the publication of a series of volumes on this principle, entitled Evenings at Home (6 vols., 1792-5), a popular and interesting work, chiefly commendable for the purity of the principles it inculcates, and the pleasing views it gives of human nature. It has been translated into almost every European language. His love of nature, and his power in delineating its features, are well illustrated in The Natural History of tJie Year, as well as in his mis cellaneous Essays. In 1798 Dr Aikin retired from pro fessional life, and devoted himself with great industry to literary undertakings of numerous and varied kinds, among which his valuable Biographical Dictionary (10 vols. 1799-1815) holds a conspicuous place. Besides these, he published Biog. Memoirs of Medicine (1780); Lives of John Selden and Archbishop Usher ; Memoirs of Huet, Bishop of Avranches ; Geographical Delineations of All Nations, &c. He edited the Monthly Magazine from 1796 to 1807, and. started the Athenaeum in 1807. The latter was discon tinued, however, in 1809. AIKIN, LUCY, daughter of the preceding, a well-known, historical writer, w r as born at Warrington on 6th Nov. 1781. After rendering valuable assistance to her father in several of his later works, she commenced her own career as an authoress by the publication of several books for the young, the most important of which were the Adventures of Rolando, a translation, and Lorimer, a tale. In 1818 she published her Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth, the first and best of the series of historical works on which her reputation rests. It was very popular, and passed through several editions. The Memoirs of the Court of King James I. (1822) was highly commended in the Edinburgh Revieiv, which pronounced it &quot;a work very nearly as entertaining as a novel, and far more instruc tive than most histories.&quot; Her Memoirs of the Court of Charles I. (1833) showed a falling off; and her latest work, the Life of Addison (1843), was declared disappointing by Macaulay in the Edinburgh Review, vol. Ixxviii. Miss Aikin died at Hampstead, where she had resided for forty years, on the 29th Jan. 1864. A Life by P. H. le Breton appeared in a volume entitled Memoirs, Miscellanies, and Letters of Lucy Aikin (Lond. 1864). AIKMAN, WILLIAM, a celebrated portrait-painter, born at Cairney, Forfarshire, on the 24th Oct. 1682. He was intended by his father for the bar, but followed his natural bent by becoming a pupil under Sir John Medina, the leading painter of the day in Scotland. In 1707 he went to Italy, resided in Rome for three years, after wards travelled to Constantinople and Smyrna, and in 1712 returned home. In Edinburgh, where he practised as a portrait-painter for some years, he enjoyed the patron age of the Duke of Argyll; and on his removal to London in 1723 he soon obtained many important commissions. Perhaps his most successful work was the portrait of the poet Gay. He also painted portraits of himself, Fletcher of Saltoun, William Carstairs, and Thomson the poet. The likenesses were generally truthful, and the style was modelled very closely upon that of Sir Godfrey Kneller. Aikman held a good position in literary society ; and coiinted among his personal friends Swift, Pope, Thomson, Allan Ramsay, Somerville, and Mallet. He died in June 1731, leaving unfinished a large picture of the royal family. AILRED, EALRED, ETHELREDUS, ALUREDUS, an Eng lish ecclesiastic and historian, born at Hexham in 1109. He was educated at the Scotch court with Henry the son of King David. The king is said to have offered him a. bishopric, which he refused, preferring to become a monk in the Cistercian abbey of Rievaulx, Yorkshire. In 1146 he was chosen abbot, and he held that position till his death in 1 1 66, the accounts which state that he was trans ferred to Revesby in Lincolnshire being probably founded on a confusion of names. Leland says that he had seen his tomb at Rievaulx adorned with gold and silver ornaments. I. - 54