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AUSCULTATION—AUSTEN. 
  
  
  
  
and not a temporal one ; and that, for affection’s sake, 
and with a view to promote the interests of the true 
faith—Déra was liberal in his religious opinions, and 
had written a book to prove that Mohammed and 
Brahma agreed in all essential points—he would 
support his pretensions to the throne. Mirad 
believed him, and the forces of the two were joined. 
Meanwhile, Dara having overcome Shujd’s army, 
directed his forces against his other two brothers; 
but A.’s plausibility prevailed over Dara’s generals, 
who deserted, and Dara had to seek safety in flight. 
By this time, however, Shah-Jehan had somewhat 
recovered. A. professed the utmost loyalty, but 
secretly gave his son instructions to take possession 
of Shah-Jehan’s palace, which was done, and the 
aged monarch was made prisoner. A. next seized 
and confined his too confiding brother, Marad; and 
after a struggle of two or three years’ duration, 
Déra and Shuja also fell into his power, and all 
three were put to death. The sceptre was now firmly 
within the grasp of Aurungzebe. He professed not 
to care for the imperial insignia, but was ultimately 
induced to receive them on August 2, 1678. He, at 
the same time, assumed the presumptuous title of 
Alemgir, ¢ Conqueror of the World.” He also took 
the title of Mohi-eddin, ¢ the Reviver of Religion.” In 
the seventh year of A.’s reign, his father died, at a 
good old age; but there are suspicions, nevertheless, 
that his death was hastened by slow poison, admini- 
stered by command of his son. 
A.’s long reign of half a century was distinguished 
by great outward prosperity, but the empire was 
diseased at its heart. Kverywhere there was dis- 
trust ; A., who had established his empire by fraud, 
was naturally enough distrusted by all. He lacked 
confidence in his statesmen, who, in their turn, dis- 
trusted him and one another. His sons imitated 
him in his disobedience to his father, and the Hin- 
dus, whom he treated with great harshness, excited 
the Mahrattas against him in the south. Still his 
great abilities sufficed during his reign not only to 
preserve his empire intact, but even to enlarge it 
considerably. Discord between the monarchs of 
Bijapur and Golconda, which was mainly due to 
his policy when acting as governor of the Deccan, 
enabled him to add these two kingdoms to his 
empire. But the seeds of decay which had been 
sown in his reign bore ample fruit in the reign of 
his son. The decadence of the Mogul empire dates 
from A.’s death, which took place at Ahmednuggur, 
on the 21st February 1707, in the eighty-ninth year 
of his age, and fiftieth of his reign. The latter years 
of Als life were passed in misery. The memory of 
his own crimes weighed heavy on his soul. He lived 
in constant dread that he himself would receive of 
the measure which he had meted out to others. His 
court was remarkable among Oriental courts for its 
economy and freedom from ostentation. A.’s charac- 
ter was not without its good features, as instanced 
by the fact, that in the third year of his reign, when 
there was a great famine in the land, he gave unre- 
servedly the funds of his treasury, which had been 
greatly augmented by his frugality, to procure food 
for his people. 
AUSCULTA'TION (Lat. ausculto, to listen), a 
mode of detecting diseases, especially those of the 
heart and lungs, by listening to the sounds produced 
in the cavity of the chest. This is done either by 
the unassisted ear (/mmediate A.), or by the aid of a 
simple sound-conveying instrument, the stethoscope 
(q.v.) (Mediale A.). By care and attention, the 
normal sounds produced by respiration and the 
beating of the heart may be distinguished from the 
several abnormal sounds indicating disease. A. is 
classed among the most important of discoveries 
in modern medical science. Its details ate ably 
36 
  
explained by the discoverer, Latnnec. See PEr- 
CUSSION. 
ATUSO'NIUS, Drcrus MaceNus, the most conspi- 
cuous Roman poet in the 4th c. after Christ, was 
born at Burdegala (Bordeaux), about 309 A.D. 
Scaliger asserts that his father, Julius A., was the 
favourite physician of the Emperor Valentinian, but 
the assertion has no historic basis, so far as we know. 
He was, however, a man of considerable importance, 
having been at one time honorary prefect of Illyri- 
cum, and he appears to have taken care that the 
young A. should receive an excellent education. 
Many amiable female relatives fostered, and prob- 
ably flattered the talents of the boy. After finish- 
ing his curriculum at Toulouse, he returned to 
Bordeaux, where, after practising for a short time 
at the bar, he turned his attention to literature, and 
soon distinguished himself as a professor of oratory. 
Some years later, he was appointed by Valentinian 
tutor to his son Gratian; afterwards queestor, and, 
by Gratian, prefect of Latium, and subsequently 
consul of Gaul (379 A.D.). On the death of Gratian, 
A. retired from public life to his estate at Bordeaux, 
where he occupied himself with literature and rural 
pursuits until the time of his death (392 A.».). The 
question whether or not A. was a ¢ Christian,” has 
occasioned much controversy, and remains yet 
unsettled. His works include translations of Greek 
eclogues, a collection of 150 epigrams, epistles in 
verse and prose, 20 so-called idyls and other de- 
scriptive pieces, which, though admired in their day, 
are generally worthless, and bear all the marks of 
the corrupted taste prevalent in literature during 
his time. But though destitute of every true poetic 
quality, A. occasionally displays a certain neatness 
and grace of expression, which shew that, in a 
better era, he might have proved a greater poet. 
Besides these, he also wrote a panegyric on the 
Emperor Gratian, full of bombastic phrases and 
fulsome adulation. Editions of his writings have 
been given by Scaliger (Leyden, 1575), Tollius 
(Amsterdam, 1669—1671), and Souchay (Paris, 1730). 
AUSTEN, JANE, a novelist of deservedly high 
reputation. Her father was rector of Steventon, 
Hampshire, at which place his daughter was born, 
December 16, 1775. Mr Austen, who was himself 
a gentleman of some literary attainments, bestowed 
on his daughter an education superior to that 
usually given to young ladies in her sphere of life 
in the end of last century. Jane was distinguished 
alike by good sense, sweetness of disposition, and 
personal attractions. Her novels, which are rather 
limited in subject, are remarkable for the truth- 
fulness with which they portray the everyday life 
of the middle classes of England in her time, and 
for their delicate, yet withal distinct discrimination 
of the various shades and peculiarities of character. 
Sir Walter Scott said of her: ¢That young lady 
had a talent for describing the involvements, 
feelings, and characters of ordinary life which is 
to me the most wonderful I have ever met with. 
The big bow-wow I can do myself like any one 
going; but the exquisite touch, which renders 
common-place things and characters interesting from 
the truth of the description and the sentiment, is 
denied to me.’ Miss A.’s first four novels—~Sense 
and, Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Partk, 
and Hmma—were published anonymously between 
1811 and 1816. Northranger Abbey and Persuasion 
followed, with her name on the title-page, in 1818, 
after her death, which took place at Winchester, 
July 24, 1817. 
AUSTEN, Wirriam, an English metal-worker 
and designer of the 15th c., celebrated as the 
constructer of the famous tomb of Richard de 
561