Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/78

Rh by Yonne, S. by Cote-d Or, and E. by Haute-Marne. It con sists of a portion of Champagne and Vallage, with a small part of Burgundy, and has an area of 2317 square miles. Its general inclination from S.E. to N.W. presents little variety of surface, the only elevations being a double line of hills along the course of the Seine, never exceeding 1 1 50 feet in height. The department belongs to the Seine basin, and is watered by that river and its tributaries, the Ource, the Sarce, the Melda, and the Aube, &c. The climate is comparatively mild, but damp. Heavy rains fall at the beginning of winter. In the N. and N.W. the soil is dry and sterile ; but the S. and E. districts are very fertile, particularly the valleys, which are admirably adapted for the cultivation of the vine. About two-thirds of the surface consists of arable land, and tho agricultural con dition of the country is improving. The principal produc tions are wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, and wine, of which last about one-half is exported. In minerals Aube is one of the poorest departments in France ; a few iron mines have been worked, but with insignificant results. Chalk and clay are abundant ; and there are also quarries of marble, lithographic stone, and building stone. The principal manufacture is hosiery; but the department also produces glass, earthenware, paper, sugar, and ropes, and has a large number of distilleries, tile-works, and dye-works, and an oil factory. Among the celebrated men connected with Aube are Villehardouin, Pope Urban IV., Mignard, Danton, Beugnot, and Ulbach. The capital is Troyes, and the arrondissementa are Troyes, Arcis-sur-Aube, Nogent-sur- Seine, Bar-sur-Aube, and Bar-sur-Seine. Population in 1872, 255,687.

 AUBENAS, a town of France, department of Ardeche, near the river of that name, 14 miles S.W. of Privas. It is beautifully situated on the slope of a hill, but its streets generally are crooked and narrow. It is surrounded by a ruinous wall flanked with towers, and has an old Gothic castle, now occupied by the municipal authorities. As the centre of the silk trade of the surrounding district, it is a place of considerable traffic, and there is besides a large local manufacture of silk and woollen goods. Population. 7694.

 AUBER, DANIEL FRANCOIS ESPRIT, musical composer, the chief representative of the French school, was the son of a Paris printseller. He was born at Caen, in Normandy, on the 29th January 1782, while his mother was on a visit to that town. Destined by his father to the pursuits of trade, he was allowed, nevertheless, to indulge his fondness for music, and learnt to play at an early age on several instruments, his first teacher being the Tyrolean composer, Ladurner. Sent at the age of twenty to London to com plete his business training, he returned after the rupture of the peace of Amiens. He had already attempted musical composition, and at this period produced several concertos pour basse, in the manner of the violoncellist, Lamare, in whose name they were published. The praise given to his concerto for the violin, which was played at the Conservatoire by Mazas, encouraged him to -undertake the resetting of the old comic opera, Julie. Conscious by this time of the need of regular study of his chosen art, he placed himself under the severe training of Cherubini, by which the special qualities of tho young composer were admirably developed. In 1813 he made his debut in an opera in one act, the Sejour Militaire, the unfavourable reception of which put an end for some years to his attempts as composer. But the failure in business and death of his father, in 1819, compelled him once more to turn to music, and to make that which had been his pastime the serious employment of his life. He produced another opera, the Testament et les Billets-doux, which was no better received than the former. But he persevered, and the next year was rewarded by the complete success of his Bergere Chdtelaine, an opera in three acts. This was the first in a long series of brilliant successes, terminat ing only in the eighty-sixth year of his age. In 1822 began his long association with M. Scribe, who shared with him, as librettist, the success and growing popiilarity of his compositions. The opera of Leicester, in which they first worked together (1823), is remarkable also as showing the first evidences of the influence of Rossini on Auber s style. This style was, however, distinctly original, and was easily recognisable. A phrase of Auber, said his friend Theodore Gautier, is not the phrase of any one else. His characteristics are lightness and facility, sparkling vivacity, grace and elegance, clear and piquant melodiousness, these marking him out as a true son of France, and making him her darling singer. Depth of thought, elevation of sentiment, intensity of passion, inspiration which grasps the sublime and the infinite these are not in Auber. Devoted by preference to the comic opera, as the most fitting field for his talents, he ventured on more than one occasion to pass into the field of grand opera, and in his La Muette de Portici, familiarly known as Masaniello, he achieved his greatest musical triumph. Produced at Paris in 1828, it rapidly became a European favourite, and its overture, songs, and choruses were everywhere heard. The duet, Amour sacre de la patrie was welcomed like a new Marseillaise; sung by Nourrit at Brussels in 1830, it became the signal for the revolution which broke out there. Among his other works, about fifty in all, the more important are Fra Diavolo (1830), Lestocq (1834), L Ambassadrice (1836), Le Domino Noir (1837), Le Lac des fees (1839), Les Diamants de la Couronne (1841), ITaydee (1847), Marco Spada (1853), and La Fiancee du roi de Garbe (1864). Official and other dignities testi fied the public appreciation of Auber s works. In 1829 he was elected member of the Institute, in 1830 he was named director of the court concerts, and in 1842 he succeeded Cherubim as director of the Conservatoire. He was also a member of tho Legion of Honour from 1825, and attained the rank of commander in 1847. One of Auber s latest compositions was a march, written for the opening of the International Exhibition in London in 1862. His fascinat ing manners, his witty sayings, and his ever ready kindness and beneficence won for him a secure place in the respect and love of his fellow-citizens. He remained in his old home during the German siege of Paris, 1870-71, but the miseries of the Communist war which followed sickened his heart, and he at last refused to touch his beloved instru ment, or to take food. He died May 13, 1871. (W.L.R.C.)

 AUBIN, a town of France, in the department of Aveyron and arrondissement of Villefranche, principally remarkable for its extensive uiines of coal, sulphur, and alum. It also carries on an active trade in sheep, iron goods, &c, A church of the 12th century, with some remarkable sculpture, and the ruins of the castle of the counts of Rouergue, are still in existence. Population, 8863. The name Aubin, or St Aubin, is one of the most fre quent in France, being borne by upwards of fifty villages from the Pyrenees to Jersey.

 AUBURN, the capital of Cayuga county, in the state of New York, on the railway between Albany and Buffalo, 174 miles W. of the former. The irregularity of the surface on which the city is built has prevented the com plete carrying out of the rectangular arrangement of streets, which is so much in favour in the United States, but the thoroughfares are wide and lined with trees, and the houses for the most part well built. The principal public buildings are in Genesee Street. The most remark able of the institutions is the state prison, founded in 1816, which is conducted on the &quot;silent system,&quot; and usually con tains upwards of 1000 prisoners, who are employed each in 