Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/463

Rh A I N A I R 427 Williams, in one of his fiery tractates, reproaches Ainsworth as &quot; living upon ninepence a week and some boiled roots.&quot; When the Brownists erected a church in Amsterdam, Francis Johnson was chosen for their pastor, and Henry Ainsworth for their doctor or teacher. In 1596 these two divines drew up a confession of their faith (in Latin), which was reprinted in 1598, and dedicated to the various universities of Europe (including St Andrews, Scotland). The separations and controversies which ensued at Amsterdam and at Leyden belong to church history. Of Aiusworth it may be said, that while he never put himself forward or sought notoriety, he was beyond comparison the most steadfast and most resolute and most cultured champion of those principles of civil and religious freedom represented by the now large and influential body of Non conformists in Britain and America called Independents or Congregationalists. The personal squabbles and temporary animosities have long passed away; and it is recognised that in Henry Ainsworth Nonconformity had a man of saintly worth, of intellectual power, and of uncompromising intrepidity. Amid the strifes and clamours of controversy he pursued steadfastly his rabbinical studies. The com bination was so unique that Moreri and Zedler, like others, made two Henry Ainsworths one Dr Henry Ainsworth, a learned biblical commentator; the other H. Ainsworth, an arch-heretic, and &quot; the ringleader of the Separatists at Amsterdam.&quot; Kindred mistakes are found regarding his writings in Hornbeck s Summa Controversiarum, and more recent bibliographical authorities. In 1608 our Ainsworth defended the Separation against Richard Bernard and William Crashaw (father of the poet). But his ablest and most arduous minor work in controversy was his crushing reply to the notorious Smyth, entitled A Defence of the Holy Scriptures, Worship, and Ministry, used in the Chris tian Church separated from Antichrist, against the Chal lenges, Cavils, and Contradictions of M. Smyth (1609). His memory abides through his rabbinical learning. The ripe fruit of many years diligence appeared in his Notes on Genesis, 1616; Exodus, 1617; Leviticus, 1618; Num bers, 1619; Deuteronomy, 1619; Psalms, 1612, 2d edition 1617; Song of Solomon, 1623. These were collected in folio in 1627, and again in 1639, and later in various forms. From the outset the Annotations have taken a commanding place, especially among Continental scholars, as witness Clement, Dornius, Voght, Lilienthal, and Simon, the last urging Catholics to study and value them. Perhaps nothing more clearly shows even his home repute than the praiseworthy zeal with which Vice-Chancellor Dr John Worthington endeavoured to recover certain posthumous MSS. of Ainsworth. These, it is to be feared, have irrecoverably disappeared. Moreri mentions a cur rent report that the famous Lightfoot &quot; pillaged the best of his observations&quot; from Ainsworth. A comparison of the Exercitations with the Annotations shows, however, that the two scholars worked independently. Moreri s groundless remark has been transmuted into an imputation as ground less that Lightfoot had got into his possession the MSS. of Ainsworth. The character and learning of the great rab- binist ought to have silenced such an unworthy suspicion. There is nothing more striking in the career of Ains worth than the reported manner of his death, which took place at Amsterdam in 1622-3. It is stated that, having found a diamond of great value, he advertised it; and when the owner, who was a Jew, came to demand it, he offered the finder any gratuity he sought. Ainsworth, though poor, requested only of the Jew that he would procure him a conference with some of his rabbis upon the prophecies of the Old Testament relating to the Messiah, which the Jew promised; but not having interest to obtain such a con ference, it is thought that he contrived to get Ainsworth poisoned (Neal, Puritans, ii. 47). Another account says that he attended the conference, and so confounded the Jews that, from spite and malice, they in this manner put a period to his life (Brook, Puritans, ii. 302). There ia an air of improbability about the narrative; but it is cer tain he was dead in 1623, for in that year was published his Seasonable Discourse, or a Censure upon a Dialogue of the Anabaptists, in which the editor speaks of him as a departed worthy. For a pretty complete list of his writ ings, lesser and larger, see Chalmers, Brook, and Hanbury. Many are now extremely rare and high-priced. (See Wor- thington s Diary [Chetham Society], by Crossley, i. 263-6; Hanbury s Memorials, s.v. ; Works of Robinson, iii., Appendix, and supra.} (A. B. G.) AINSWORTH, ROBERT (1660-1743), author of a well- known Latin dictionary, was born at Woodvale, near Man chester. After teaching for some time in Bolton, he removed to London, where he conducted a boarding-school, first at Bethnal Green, and then at Hackney. At a com paratively early period of his life he had realised a com petency, and was able to retire. Proposals for the pre paration of a Latin dictionary were made to him in 1714, but the work was not published till 1736. It was long extensively used in schools, and often reprinted, the later editions being revised and enlarged by other hands. Ains- worth s Dictionary was, however, radically imperfect, con taining a mere register of words, with no scientific classification or complete and exact definition of their various meanings, and necessarily wanting the results of modern philological research. Later works have now entirely superseded it. AINTAB, a large garrison town on the northern frontier of Syria, 65 miles N.N.E. of Aleppo, in 36 58 N. lat., 37 13 E. long. It has a considerable trade, chiefly in hides and leather, and cotton of coarse quality is grown in the district. Population, about 20,000. AIR was the name formerly given to all gaseous sub stances. The gas now known as oxygen, for instance, was named by Priestley dephlogisticated air, in contradistinc tion to nitrogen or azote, which was phlogisticated air. So hydrogen gas was known to the early chemists as inflam mable air, carbonic acid gas ^s, fixed air, &c. The name is now ordinarily restricted to what is more accurately called atmospheric air the air we breathe the invisible elastic fluid which surrounds the earth, extending to an unknown height. The properties of this fluid will be fully considered under such headings as ATMOSPHERE, BARO METER, CHEMISTRY, VENTILATION, &c, Reference may be made here to the mechanical use of air as a moving power, or rather as a means for transferring power, just as it is transferred by a train of wheelwork. Compressed air can be employed in this way with great advantage in mines, tunnels, and other confined situations, where the discharge of steam would be attended with inconvenience. The work is really done in these cases by a steam-engine or other prime mover in compressing the air. In the con struction of the Mont Cenis tunnel the air was first com pressed by water-power, and then carried through pipes into the heart of the mountain to work the boring machines. This use of compressed air in such situations is also of indirect advantage in serving not only to ventilate the place in which it is worked, but also to cool it; for it must be remembered that air falls in temperature during expansion, and therefore, as its temperature in the machines was only that of the atmosphere, it must, on being discharged from them, fall far below that temperature. This fall is so great that one of the most serious practical difficulties in working machines by compressed air has been found to be the forma tion of ice in the pipes by the freezing of the moisture in the air, which frequently chokes them entirely up.