Messrs. Taylor and Waters, and in this capacity produced, in 1817, Don Giovanni for the first time in England, and afterwards the other operas of Mozart. He is a fellow of the Royal Society, and also of the Society of Antiquaries. In 1823 he commenced the publication of the "Harmonicon," a monthly musical periodical, in conjunction with Mr. Clowes, the printer, which was continued for eleven years. The work was at first designed as a medium for introducing the printing of music in type, several pages of which were included in every number; but this element, as being antagonistic to the music trade, was always an embarrassment to, and in the end caused the discontinuance of, the publication. The writing in this journal was far in advance of any criticism upon music that had appeared in England up to that time; but it was marked by the spirit of acerbity towards rising English composers that has since characterized its author as a reviewer in the several periodicals upon which he has been engaged. The "Harmonicon" had doubtless a beneficial influence on the progress of the art, appearing as it did at a time when that art was at its lowest among us; but the editor lost the better part of his power in disregarding that the nursling artists of the period of regeneration required encouragement no less than instruction.—G. A., M.
AYSCOUGH, George Edward, editor of "The works of George Lord Lyttleton, formerly printed separately and now first collected, together with some other pieces never before printed," was a lieutenant in the first regiment of Foot Guards, and led a profligate life. The date of his birth is not mentioned, but he had George III. and the Duke of York as his godfathers. In 1776 he published "Semiramis," a tragedy acted at Drury Lane with an epilogue by the elder Sheridan; and in 1778 "Letters from an officer in the Guards to his friend in England, containing some account of France and England." Died October 1779.
AYSCOUGH, James, a London optician of the early part of the last century, author of "A short account of the nature and use of spectacles, in which is recommended a kind of glass for spectacles, preferable to any hitherto made use of for that purpose," 1750. Several editions were printed under various titles.
AYSCOUGH, Samuel, a laborious bibliographer and cataloguer of books, was born at Nottingham in 1745. His father had squandered his means in wild projects, and Samuel was obliged to work in early life as a miller. By aid of an old schoolfellow he removed to London, and was engaged by Mr. Rivington the bookseller, after which he entered the British Museum, as an assistant to the principal librarian. In 1785, after many years of subordinate duty, he was officially appointed "assistant librarian," and, about the same time, took holy orders, and became assistant curate of St. Giles'-in-the-Fields. For fifteen years he preached the annual Fairchild lecture at Shoreditch church before the Royal Society. A year before his death, he obtained the living of Cudham in Kent, and performed duty there, although still residing in the British Museum, where he died, October, 1804. Ayscough's labours, although confined to the department of catalogues, were extremely multifarious, and eminently useful. Among his works were:—1. "A Catalogue of the Manuscripts preserved in the British Museum hitherto undescribed, consisting of five thousand volumes, including the collection of Sir Hans Sloane, Bart., the Rev. Thomas Birch, D.D., and about five hundred volumes bequeathed, presented, or purchased at various times." 2. "Remarks on the Letters of an American Farmer, or a Selection of the Errors of Mr. J. H. W. Johns." 3. "A General Index to the Annual Register from 1758 to 1780, both inclusive." The third edition, published in 1799, extends the Index from 1781 to 1792. 4. "A General Index to the Monthly Review, from its commencement to the end of the seventeenth volume." 5. "A General Index to the first fifty-six volumes of the Gentleman's Magazine." 6. "An Index to the remarkable passages and words made use of by Shakspeare." 7. "A General Index to the first twenty volumes of the British Critic." 8. The catalogue of the printed books in the British Museum was prepared by Dr. Maty, Mr. Harper, and Samuel Ayscough. 9. "Catalogue of the ancient Rolls and Charters of the British Museum," unpublished. Ayscough also prepared indices for many particular works, and from this branch of labour alone, received the sum of £1,300. He was a man of very extensive acquirements, rather blunt in manner, but remarkable for the benevolence of his disposition, and much respected by his colleagues, who placed a monumental inscription on his tomb in St. George's, Bloomsbury.—P. E. D.
AYSCU, Edward, author of "A Historie contayning the Warres, Treaties, Marriages, and other occurrents between England and Scotland, from King William the Conqueror until the Happy Union of them both in our gratious King James; with a brief declaration of the first inhabitants of this island, and what severall nations have sithence settled themselves therein, one after another," London, 4to, 1607. All known of him, is that he resided at Cotham in Lincolnshire.
AYSCUE, AYSCOUGH, ASCOUGH, or ASKEW, Sir George, an English admiral in the service of the Commonwealth, and afterwards in that of Charles II., born at South Kelsey, Lincolnshire, son of William Ayscue, one of the gentlemen of the privy chamber to Charles I., and brother of Sir Edward Ayscue, who was one of the parliamentary commissioners appointed to remain with the Scottish army. George Ayscue entered the navy early in life, and received knighthood from Charles I. In 1648, when a number of ships quitted the service of the parliament, and declared in favour of the Prince of Wales, Ayscue did not join the revolters, but brought his ship the Lion into the Thames. He was then appointed to the command of a squadron; and in March, 1649, an order was passed for him to command "as Admiral of the Irish Seas;" in which capacity he conveyed Cromwell's army to Ireland, and gave such satisfaction in his command, that the parliament continued him in the office, paid his arrears, and presented him with £100. In 1651, Ayscue went to the West Indies, and performed signal service, by securing Barbadoes and other islands to the side of the parliament. On his return he was employed in the naval wars with the Dutch, but, from some misunderstanding, was either superseded or laid down his commission, receiving, however, a grant of £300, and an estate in Ireland. In 1658 he went, at Cromwell's desire, to Sweden, and was honourably received by King Charles Gustavus. At the Restoration, he was admitted into the royal service; and in 1664, held a command under the duke of York. The following year he was rear-admiral of the blue under the earl of Sandwich, and led the attack on the Dutch fleet on the 3d June. In the action of the 1st June, 1666, he served under Monk in the attack on Van Tromp, and on June 3d, ran his ship, the Royal Prince, on the Galloper sand, and was compelled to surrender to Admiral Swers. He was sent to Holland, and shut up in the fortress of Lævestein, but the date of his return to England appears to be uncertain, nor is it known where or when he died. Most probably he did return, and lived in retirement, or held commands in ships not employed in active service. He appears to have been a good officer of average ability and unquestioned courage.—P. E. D.
AYSSON, Diego Ximenes, a Spanish poet of the latter part of the sixteenth century, author of "Los famosos y eroycos hechos del Cavallero," &c., Antwerp, 1668.
AYTA or AYTTA, Ulric-Viger van Zuichm, a jurist and statesman of the Spanish Netherlands, born 1507; died 1577; employed by Charles V. in several negotiations. In Italy and Germany he came in contact with most of the celebrated men of his time; but after the death of his wife, entered the church, and in 1556 was appointed to the rich abbey of St. Bavon, and became a councillor of the States of Holland. At Zuichom he founded an hospital, and at Louvain endowed the college of Viglius. He left the following works:—"Institutiones D. Justiniani in Græcam Linguam per Theophilum Antecessorem olim traductæ, ac nunc primum in lucem restitutæ curâ ac studio Viglii Zuichemi Frisii," Louvain, 1534, being the Greek version of the Institutes which he had discovered during his residence at Padua, and considered a standard edition; "Justificatio rationum ob quas regina Hungariæ Belgii gubernatrix, contra ducem Cliviæ arma sumpsit," Antwerp, 1543; two "Commentaries;" and "Epistolæ politicæ et historicæ ad Joach. Hopperum," Louvain. 1661.
AYTON, Sir Robert, was born in 1570 at Kinaldie in Fifeshire, on an estate which had belonged to his family for several generations. From St. Andrews, where he took the degree of M.A., he went to France, and, according to Dempster, highly distinguished himself in that country as a linguist and poet. He proved himself also a good courtier by his poem on the accession of James I. to the throne of England; a piece of ingenious bombast which was all the more refreshing and delectable to the monarch, that the burden of it was his prodigious erudition, and not the mightiness of his state. Ayton was
