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 ARAGO ARAGON 629 1803. He studied at Loreze, and undertook a course of chemistry at the polytechnic school, which he quitted for the purpose of joining the secret societies. He established the Lorgnette and Figaro newspapers, and was director of the Vaudeville until it was burned down. He has written upward of 100 theatrical pieces, including Les aristocraties, a five-act comedy, produced at the Theatre-Francais. In 1830 he closed his theatre to join in the popular movement, and distributed the theatrical stock of arms to the people during the three days of July. He was among the most prominent to signalize his disapproval of the shortcomings of Louis Philippe's government, which cancelled his theatrical license in 1840. The Reforme, a daily democratic journal, was founded by Etienne Arago. He was one of the prime movers in the revolution of 1848, and placed himself in the direction of the post office, which post he held till the retirement of Gen. Cavaignac. In 1849 he was expelled from France for his participation in revolutionary movements, and went to Belgium, which coun- try he was also obliged to leave in 1851 at the request of Louis Napoleon ; and after wander- ing about in different countries, he settled at Turin. The amnesty of 1859 enabled him to return to Paris. He attracted much public at- tention in 1862 by leaving the soeiete des gens de lettres upon the ground of its being con- trolled by the banker Mires and other schemers. In 1870 he was mayor of Paris from Sept. 5 to Oct. 31, when the invasion of 'the h6tel de ville forced him to retire. Among his later productions are a poem on Spa, the Belgian watering place (Brussels, 1851); a historical novel relating to the Vendean wars, Les Blancs et les Bleu* (2 vols., Paris, 1862) ; and a vin- dication of his course in the February revo- lution, Les pastes en 1848 (1867). V. Em- manuel, an advocate and politician, son of Dominique Francois, born in Paris, Aug. 6, 1812. His name as well as his opinions and tendencies caused him to be retained in several political cases of importance. In 1839 he de- fended Barbes and Martin Bernard. He took an active part in the revolution of 1848. When the abdication of Louis Philippe was announced in the chamber, Arago, who had penetrated thither, rose and loudly proclaimed that royalty was by this act extinct, and that the people objected to a regency. Lamartine and other deputies followed, and a provisional govern- ment was organized on the spot. Lyons being in a turbulent state on account of destitution among the working class, Arago went there as commissary general, with plenary powers, and ordered 500,000 francs to be immediately ap- plied in relief of the distress. This action was subsequently made the subject of furious party invective. He became a member of the legisla- tive assembly for the Pyr6n6es-Orientales, and was envoy in Berlin from May till December, when on Louis Napoleon's election to the presi- dency he resigned, and strenuously opposed him after his return to Paris in the constituent and subsequently in the legislative assembly. After the establishment of the second empire, he devoted himself almost exclusively to the law, acquiring distinction by defending in 1867- the Pole Berezowski, who attempted to mur- der the czar at the time of the. Paris exposi- tion, and in 1868, together with Gambetta and Cr6mieux, the journalist Peyrat, who had started the project of a monument in honor of Baudin. In 1869 he was put forward for the legislative assembly in two departments, but defeated by the government candidates. In 1870 he became a member of the provisional government without portfolio, resisting the ag- gressions of the rioters on Oct. 31. At the age of 20 Emmanuel Arago published a volume of poems, and was for five years afterward en- gaged in theatrical writing. ARAGON, formerly a kingdom, now a royal captaincy general in the northeast of Spain, bounded N. by the Pyrenees, separating it from France, E. by Catalonia, 8. E. by Valencia, S. W. by New Castile, and W. by Old Castile and Navarre ; area, 17,984 sq. m. - pop. in 1867 (estimated), 925,773. The surface is irregular from the numerous spurs of the Pyrenees that cross it, besides which it is separated from the neighboring provinces by ranges of lofty hills, that convert it almost into a basin. The Pyre- nean chain in Aragon reaches a great altitude, some peaks exceeding 11,000 feet. The prov- ince is watered by the Ebro and its tributaries, the Huecha, Jalon, Jiloca, Huerva, Aguas, Mar- tin, Guadalupe, and Nonaspe, on the right, the Gallego, Isuela, and Cinca on the left. A canal commenced in 1528 by Charles V. stopped short of its object, which was to reach the sea at Tortosa, and furnish a maritime outlet for the province. It extends from Tudela, in Navarre, to Sastago. Its average width is 69 feet, its depth 9 feet. It is mostly lined by high, thick walls, and crosses the Jalon river by an aque- duct 4,800 feet in length. The chief produc- tions of Aragon are grain, flax, and hemp of good quality, fruits of various kind, maize, wine, and various dyestuffs. The mineral produc- tions are iron, quicksilver, lead, copper, cobalt, marble, and coal. The mines and quarries are indifferently worked, the chief being one of rock salt near Remolinos. Cattle are not very plentiful, but sheep and swine are bred in con- siderable numbers. The mountains and forests abound in game. Aragon is divided into three provinces, Huesca, Saragossa, and Teruel. The principal city is Saragossa. After the fall of the Roman empire Aragon passed into the hands of the Visigoths. Early in the 8th century it was conquered by the Moors, from whom it was eventually taken by the rulers of Navarre. In 1035 Ramiro I., son of Sancho III. of Na- varre, received it in partition and raised it from a county to a kingdom. The four suc- ceeding kings of the same house enlarged the kingdom, which, after the acquisition of the county of Barcelona, passed from the Navarre