Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/52

 ASTOLPHUS ASTORIA lished " Remarks on the Duty and Profession of a Soldier" (1794); "Description and His- torical Account of the Places near the Theatre of War in the Low Countries " (1794) ; " Ast- ley System of Equestrian Education" (1801). ASTOLPHCS, or Astulplms, called by the Ger- mans Aistulf, king of the Lombards in northern Italy, succeeded his brother Rachis in 749, and died in 756. After having seized the exar- chate of Ravenna, he threatened Rome. Pope Stephen II. fled to France and demanded aid from King Pepin, who crossed the Alps in 754 with an army, defeated Astolphus, and be- sieged Pavia. The Lombard obtained peace on condition of surrendering Ravenna and all his other conquests ; but on Pepin's withdrawal he burst forth again, laid siege to Rome, and ravaged all the surrounding country. The pope again supplicated Pepin, who crossed the Alps and shut Astolphus up in Pavia. Astol- phus was preparing for a new war, but fell from his horse while hunting, and died three days afterward without leaving male heirs. ASTOR, John Jwob, a merchant of the city of New York, born at Walldorf. near Heidelberg, July 17, 1763, died in New York, March 29, 1848. lie was the youngest of the four sons of a peasant, and his boyhood was passed in work upon his father's farm. Two of his brothers hud left their home, one of them to establish himself as a maker of musical instru- ments in London, and the other to settle in America. At the age of 16 Astor accepted an invitation from the former to join him in his business, and he, walking to the coast of Hol- land, embarked for London in a Dutch smack. In London he worked industriously till 1783, when, a few months after the recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, he sailed for Baltimore, taking with him a few hundred dollars' worth of musical instruments to dispose of on commis- sion. On the voyage he made acquaintance with a furrier, in accordance with whose sug- gestions he exchanged his musical instruments in New York for furs, with which he hastened back to London, where he disposed of them to great advantage. He soon returned to New York and established himself there in the fur trade, prospering so fast that in a few years he was able to send his furs to Europe and the East in his own ships, which brought back cargoes of foreign produce to be disposed of in New York. At the beginning of the century he was worth $250,000, and he now began to revolve colossal schemes of supplying with furs all the markets of the world, and of planting towns and spreading civilization in the wilds of the western continent. It was his aim to organize the fur trade from the lakes to the Pacific by establishing numerous trading posts, making a central depot at the mouth of the Columbia river, and then, by obtaining one of the Sandwich islands as a station, to supply the Chinese and Indian markets with furs sent directly from the Pacific coast. In prosecuting this gigantic scheme it is said that he expected only outlay during the first 10 years, and un- profitable returns during the second 10, but af- ter that a net annual result of about $1,000,000. The settlement of Astoria was founded in 1811, but the scheme was never fully carried out. Astor early began to make investments in real estate in New York, and in the rapid growth of the city the value of some portions of his property nearly centupled. He erected many handsome private and public buildings. His fortune has been estimated at $20,000,000. During his whole career he hardly made a mis- step through defect of his own judgment, and his memory retained for years the minutest details. He lived during nearly a quarter of a century in retirement, in the society of his family and of eminent practical and literary men, his mind retaining its vigor after his bodily strength had become greatly enfeebled. He gave many liberal donations during his life- time, and his will contained numerous charita- ble provisions. One of these was $50,000 for the benefit of the poor of Walldorf, his native village. Among his most useful bequests was that of $400,000 to found the Astor library in the city of New York, the fruit of a long cherished purpose, and of much consultation in the latter part of his life. (See ASTOK LIBRARY.) ASTORGA (anc. Asturica Augusta), a city of Spain, in the province and 30 m. by rail W. S. W. of Leon, is situated on an elevated plain 2 m. from the river Tuerto ; pop. 5,000. It is surrounded by ruined walls, and has an ancient Gothic cathedral with a high altar of great beauty, an old castle, and some Roman remains. Napoleon made Astorga his headquarters dur- ing the pursuit of Sir John Moore, at the be- ginning of 1809. In 1810 it was taken after an obstinate defence by Junot, and in 1812 retaken by the Spaniards. ASTORGA, Emmannde d', a Sicilian musical composer, born at Palermo, Dec. 11, 1681, died in Bohemia, Aug. 21, 1736. ,111s father, a Sicilian of rank, in command of a band of mer- cenary troops, resisted the union of Sicily with Spain ; but his soldiers betrayed him, and he was executed in the presence of his wife and son. The former immediately died of grief, and Emmanuele was for a time almost idiotic and helpless. Recovering, he entered a con- vent at Astorga, from which town he took his surname. Here he speedily developed a re- markable musical talent, and in 1 704 became a court musician and composer at Parma. Soon afterward he attached himself to the suite of the emperor Leopold, and after his death in 1705 travelled extensively, but at last entered a convent in Bohemia, where he spent the re- mainder of his life. His principal work is his Stabat Mater, of which the original MS. is pre- served in the library of Oxford. ASTORIA, a town of Clatsop county, Oregon, near the mouth of the Columbia river; pop. in 1870, 039. It was for a long time the depot of the fur trade for all the country west of tho