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A. This letter of ours corresponds to the first symbol in
the Phoenician alphabet and in almost all its descendants. In
Phoenician, a, like the symbols for e and for o, did not
represent a vowel, but a breathing; the vowels originally were
not represented by any symbol. When the alphabet was adopted by
the Greeks it was not very well fitted to represent the sounds
of their language. The breathings which were not required in
Greek were accordingly employed to represent some of the vowel
sounds, other vowels, like i and u, being represented by
an adaptation of the symbols for the semi-vowels y and w.
The Phoenician name, which must have corresponded closely to
the Hebrew Aleph, was taken over by the Greeks in the form
Alpha (alpsa). The earliest authority for this, as for the
names of the other Greek letters, is the grammatical drama
(grammatike Ieoria) of Callias, an earlier contemporary of
Euripides, from whose works four trimeters, containing the names
of all the Greek letters, are preserved in Athenaeus x. 453 d.
The form of the letter has varied considerably. In the
earliest of the Phoenician, Aramaic and Greek inscriptions
(the oldest Phoenician dating about 1000 B.C., the oldest
Aramaic from the 8th, and the oldest Greek from the 8th
or 7th century B.C.) A rests upon its side thus--@. In
the Greek alphabet of later times it generally resembles
the modern capital letter, but many local varieties can be
distinguished by the shortening of one leg, or by the angle
at which the cross line is set-- @, &c. From the Greeks of
the west the alphabet was borrowed by the Romans and from them
has passed to the other nations of western Europe. In the
earliest Latin inscriptions, such as the inscription found
in the excavation of the Roman Forum in 1899, or that on a
golden fibula found at Praeneste in 1886 (see ALPHABET).
Fine letters are still identical in form with those of the
western Greeks. Latin develops early various forms, which
are comparatively rare in Greek, as @, or unknown, as
@. Except possibly Faliscan, the other dialects of Italy
did not borrow their alphabet directly from the western Greeks
as the Romans did, but received it at second hand through the
Etruscans. In Oscan, where the writing of early inscriptions
is no less careful than in Latin, the A takes the form
@, to which the nearest parallels are found in north Greece
(Boeotia, Locris and Thessaly, and there only sporadically) .
In Greek the symbol was used for both the long and the short
sound, as in English father (a) and German Ratte
a; English, except in dialects, has no sound corresponding
precisely to the Greek short a, which, so far as can be
ascertained, was a mid-back-wide sound, according to the
terminology of H. Sweet (Primer of Phonetics, p. 107).
Throughout the history of Greek the short sound remained practically
unchanged. On the other hand, the long sound of a in the
Attic and Ionic dialects passed into an open e-sound, which
in the Ionic alphabet was represented by the same symbol as
the original e-sound (see ALPHABET: Greek). The vowel
sounds vary from language to language, and the a symbol has,
in consequence, to represent in many cases sounds which are
not identical with the Greek a whether long or short, and
also to represent several different vowel sounds in the same
language. Thus the New English Dictionary distinguishes about
twelve separate vowel sounds, which are represented by a in
English. In general it may be said that the chief changes
which affect the a-sound in different languages arise from
(1) rounding, (2) fronting, i.e. changing from a sound
produced far back in the mouth to a sound produced farther
forward. The rounding is often produced by combination with
rounded consonants (as in English was, wall, &c.), the
rounding of the preceding consonant being continued into
the formation of the vowel sound. Rounding has also been
produced by a following l-sound, as in the English fall,
small, bald, &c. (see Sweet's History of English Sounds,
2nd ed., sec. sec. 906, 784). The effect of fronting is seen in
the Ionic and Attic dialects of Greek, where the original
name of the Medes, Madoi, with a in the first syllable
(which survives in Cyprian Greek as Madoi), is changed
into Medoi (Medoi), with an open e-sound instead
of the earlier a. In the later history of Greek this
sound is steadily narrowed till it becomes identical with
i (as in English seed). The first part of the process
has been almost repeated by literary English, a (ah)
passing into e (eh), though in present-day pronunciation
the sound has developed further into a diphthongal ei
except before r, as in hare (Sweet, op. cit. sec. 783).
In English a represents unaccented forms of several
words, e.g. an (one), of, have, he, and or various
prefixes the history of which is given in detail in the New
English Dictionary (Oxford, 1888), vol. i. p. 4. (P. GI.)
As a symbol the letter is used in various connexions
and for various technical purposes, e.g. for a note in
music, for the first of the seven dominical letters (this
use is derived from its being the first of the litterae
nundinales at Rome), and generally as a sign of priority.
In Logic, the letter A is used as a symbol for the universal
affirmative proposition in the general form ``all x is y.''
The letters I, E and O are used respectively for the particular
affirmative ``some x is y,'' the universal negative ``no x
is y,'' and the particular negative ``some x is not y.''
The use of these letters is generally derived from the vowels
of the two Latin verbs AffIrmo (or AIo), ``I assert,'' and
nEgO, ``I deny.'' The use of the symbols dates from the 13th
century, though some authorities trace their origin to the Greek
logicians. A is also used largely in abbreviations (q.v.).
In Shipping, A1 is a symbol used to dennote quality of
construction and material. In the various shipping registers
ships are classed and given a rating after an official
examination, and assigned a classification mark, which
appears in addition to other particulars in those registers
after the name of the ship. See SHIPBUILDING. It is
popularly used to indicate the highest degree of excellence.
AA, the name of a large number of small European rivers.
The word is derived from the Old German aha, cognate to
the Latin aqua, water (cf. Ger.-ach; Scand. a, aa,
pronounced o). The following are the more important
streams of this name:--Two rivers in the west of Russia, both
falling into the Gulf of Riga, near Riga, which is situated
between them; a river in the north of France, falling into
the sea below Gravelines, and navigable as far as St Omer;
and a river of Switzerland, in the cantons of Lucerne and
Aargau, which carries the waters of Lakes Baldegger and
Hallwiler into the Aar. In Germany there are the Westphalian
Aa, rising in the Teutoburger Wald, and joining the Werre at
Herford, the Munster Aa, a tributary of the Ems, and others.
AAGESEN, ANDREW (1826-1879), Danish jurist, was educated
for the law at Kristianshavn and Copenhagen, and interrupted
his studies in 1848 to take part in the first Schleswig war,
in which he served as the leader of a reserve battalion. In
1855 he became professor of jurisprudence at the university of
Copenhagen. In 1870 he was appointed a member of the commission
for drawing up a maritime and commercial code, and the navigation
law of 1882 is mainly his work. In 1879 he was elected a member
of the Landsthing; but it is as a teacher at the university
that he won his reputation. Among his numerous juridical
works may be mentioned: Bidrag til Laeren om Overdragelse
af Ejendomsret, Bemaerkinger om Rettigheder over Ting
(Copenhagen, 1866, 1871-1872); Fortegnelse over Retssamlinger,
Retslitteratur i Danmark, Norge, Sverige (Copenhagen,
1876). Aagesen was Hall's successor as lecturer on Roman law
at the university, and in this department his researches were
epoch-making. All his pupils were profoundly impressed by
his exhaustive examination of the sources, his energetic
demonstration of his subject and his stringent search after
truth. His noble, imposing, and yet most amiable personality
won for him, moreover, universal affection and respect.
See C. F. Bricka, Dansk. Brog. Lex. vol. i. (Copenhagen, 1887); Szmlade
Skrifter, edited by F. C. Bornemann (Copenhagen, 1863). (R. N. B.)
AAL, also known as A'L, ACH, or AICH, the Hindustani
names for the Morinda tinctoria and Morinda citrifalia,
plants extensively cultivated in India on account of the
reddish dye-stuff which their roots contain. The name
is also applied to the dye, but the common trade name
is Suranji. Its properties are due to the presence
of a glucoside known as Morindin, which is compounded
from glucose and probably a trioxy-methyl-anthraquinone.
AALBORG, a city and seaport of Denmark, the seat of a bishop,
and chief town of the amt (county) of its name, on the south
bank of the Limfjord, which connects the North Sea and the
Cattegat. Pop. (1901) 31,457. The situation is typical of
the north of Jutland. To the west the Linifjord broadens
into an irregular lake, with low, marshy shores and many
islands. North-west is the Store Vildmose, a swamp where the
mirage is seen in summer. South-east lies the similar Lille
Vildmose. A railway connects Aalborg with Hjorring,
Frederikshavn and Skagen to the north, and with Aarhus and
the lines from Germany to the south. The harbour is good
and safe, though difficult of access. Aalborg is a growing
industrial and commercial centre, exporting grain and
fish. An old castle and some picturesque houses of the
17th century remain. The Budolphi church dates mostly from
the middle of the 18th century, while the Frue church was
partially burnt in 1894, but the foundation of both is of
the 14th century or earlier. There are also an ancient
hospital and a museum of art and antiquities. On the north
side of the fjord is Norre Sundby, connected with Aalborg
by a pontoon and also by an iron railway bridge, one of the
finest engineering works in the kingdom. Aabborgt received
town privileges in 1342 and the bishopric dates from 1554.
AALEN, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Wurttemberg,
pleasantly situated on the Kocher, at the foot of the Swabian
Alps, about 50 m. E. of Stuttgart, and with direct railway
communication with Ulm and Cannstatt. Pop. 10,000. Woollen
and linen goods are manufactured, and there are ribbon
looms and tanneries in the town, and large iron works in the
neighbourhood. There are several schools and churches, and a
statue of the poet Christian Schubart. Aalen was a free imperial
city from 1360 to 1802, when it was annexed to Wurttemberg.
AALESUND, a seaport of Norway, in Romsdal amt (county), 145
m. N. by E. from Bergen. Pop. (1900) 11,672. It occupies
two of the outer islands of the west coast, Aspo and
Norvo, which enclose the picturesque harbour. Founded
in 1824, it is the principal shipping-place of Sondmore
district, and one of the chief stations of the herring
fishery. Aalesund is adjacent to the Jorund and Geiranger
fjords, frequented by tourists. From Oje at the head of
Jorund a driving-route strikes south to the Nordfjord, and
from Merck on Geiranger another strikes inland to Otta, on
the railway to Liilehammer and Christiania. Aalesund is a
port of call for steamers between Bergen, Hull, Newcastle
and Hamburg, and Trondhjem. A little to the south of the
town are the ruins of the reputed castle of Rollo, the
founder, in the 9th century, of the dynasty of the dukes of
Normandy. On the 23rd of January 1904, Aalesund was the
scene of one of the most terrible of the many conflagrations
to which Norwegian towns, built largely of wood, have been
subject. Practically the whole town was destroyed, a gale aiding
the flames, and the population had to leave the place in the
night at the notice of a few minutes. Hardly any lives were
lost, but the sufferings of the people were so terrible that
assistance was sent from all parts of the kingdom, and by the
German government, while the British government also offered it.
AALI, MEHEMET, Pasha (1815-1871), Turkish statesman, was born
at Constantinople in 1815, the son of a government official.
Entering the diplomatic service of his country soon after reaching
manhood, he became successively secretary of the Embassy in
Vienna, minister in London, and foreign minister under Reshid
Pasha. In 1852 he was promoted to the post of grand vizier,
but after a short time retired into private life. During the
Crimean War he was recalled in order to take the portfolio
of foreign affairs for a second time under Reshid Pasha,
and in this capacity took part in 1855 in the conference of
Vienna. Again becoming in that year grand vizier, an office
he filled no less than five times, he represented Turkey
at the congress of Paris in 1856. In 1867 he was appointed
regent of Turkey during the sultan's visit to the Paris
Exhibition. Aali Pasha was one of the most zealous advocates
of the introduction of Western reforms under the sultans Abdul
Mejid and Abdul Aziz. A scholar and a linguist, he was a
match for the diplomats of the Christian powers, against whom
he successfully defended the interests of his country. He
died at Erenkeni in Asia Minor on the 6th of September 1871.
AAR, or AARE, the most considerable river which both
rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total
length (including all bends) from its source to its junction
with the Rhine is about 181 m., during which distance it
descends 5135 ft., while its drainage area is 6804 sq.
m. It rises in the great Aar glaciers, in the canton of
Bern, and W. of the Grimsel Pass. It runs E. to the Grimsel
Hospice, and then N.W. through the Hasli valley, forming on the
way the magnificent waterfall of the Handegg (151 ft.), past
Guttannen, and pierces the limestone barrier of the Kirchet
by a grand gorge, before reaching Meiringen, situated in a
plain. A little beyond, near Brienz, the river expands
into the lake of Brienz, where it becomes navigable. Near
the west end of that lake it receives its first important
affluent, the Lutschine (left), and then runs across the
swampy plain of the Bodoli, between Interlaken (left) and
Unterseen (right), before again expanding in order to form
the Lake of Thun. Near the west end of that lake it receives
on the left the Kander, which has just before been joined
by the Simme; on flowing out of the lake it passes Thun, and
then circles the lofty bluff on which the town of Bern is
built. It soon changes its north-westerly for a due westerly
direction, but after receiving the Saane or Sarine (left)
turns N. till near Aarberg its stream is diverted W. by the
Hagneck Canal into the Lake of Bienne, from the upper end of
which it issues through the Nidau Canal and then runs E. to
Buren. Henceforth its course is N.E. for a long distance,
past Soleure (below which the Grosse Emme flows in on the
right), Aarburg (where it is joined by the Wigger, right),
Olten, Aarau, near which is the junction with the Suhr on the
right, and Wildegg, where the Hallwiler Aa falls in on the
right. A short way beyond, below Brugg, it receives first the
Reuss (right), and very shortly afterwards the Limmat or Linth
(right). It now turns due N., and soon becomes itself an
affluent of the Rhine (left), which it surpasses in volume
when they unite at Coblenz, opposite Waldshut. (W. A. B. C.)
AARAU, the capital of the Swiss canton of Aargau. In 1900
it had 7831 inhabitants, mostly German-speaking, and mainly
Protestants. It is situated in the valley of the Aar, on the
right bank of that river, and at the southern foot of the range
of the Jura. It is about 50 m. by rail N.E. of Bern, and 31
m. N.W. of Zurich. It is a well-built modern town, with
no remarkable features about it. In the Industrial Museum
there is (besides collections of various kinds) some good
painted glass of the 16th century, taken from the neighbouring
Benedictine monastery of Muri (founded 1027, suppressed
1841---the monks are now quartered at Gries, near Botzen, in
Tirol). The cantonal library contains many works relating to
Swiss history and many MSS. coming from the suppressed Argovian
monasteries. There are many industries in the town, especially
silk-ribbon weaving, foundries, and factories for the manufacture
of cutlery and scientific instruments. The popular novelist
and historian, Heinrich Zschokke (1771-1848), spent most of
his life here, and a bronze statue has been erected to his
memory. Aarau is an important military centre. The slopes
of the Jura are covered with vineyards. Aarau, an ancient
fortress, was taken by the Bernese in 1415, and in 1798 became
for a time the capital of the Helvetic republic. Eight miles
by rail N.E. are the famous sulphur baths of Schinznach,
just above which is the ruined castle of Habsburg, the
original home of that great historical house. (W. A. B. C.)
AARD-VARK (meaning ``earth pig''), the Iyutch name for
the mammals of genus Orycteropus, confined to Africa (see
EDEN-TATAI. Several species have been named. Among them
is the typical form, O. capensis, or Cape ant-bear from
South Africa, and the northern aard-vark (O. aethiopicus)
of north-eastern Africa, extending into Egypt. In form
these animals are somewhat pig-like; the body is stout,
with arched back; the limbs are short and stout, armed with
strong, blunt claws; the ears disproportionately long; and
the tail very thick at the base and tapering gradually. The
greatly elongated head is set on a short thick neck, and at
the extremity of the snout is a disk in which the nostrils
open. The mouth is small and tubular, furnished with a long
extensile tongue. The measurements of a female taken in the
flesh, were head and body 4 ft., tail 17 1/2 in.; but a large
individual measured 6 ft. 8 in. over all. In colour the
Cape aard-vark is pale sandy or yellow, the hair being scanty
and allowing the skin to show; the northern aard-vark has
a still thinner coat, and is further distinguished by the
shorter tail and longer head and ears. These animals are of
nocturnal and burrowing habits, and generally to be found near
ant-hills. The strong claws make a hole in the side of the
ant-hill, and the insects are collected on the extensile
tongue. Aard-varks are hunted for their skins; but the
flesh is valued for food, and often salted and smoked.
AARD-WOLF (earth-wolf), a South and East African carnivorous
mammal (Proteles cristatus), in general appearance like a
small striped hyena, but with a more pointed muzzle, sharpe
ears, and a long erectile mane down the middle line of the
neck and back. It is of nocturnal and burrowing habits, and
feeds on decomposed animal substances, larvae and termites.
AARGAU (Fr. Argovie), one of the more northerly Swiss
cantons, comprising the lower course of the river Aar (q.v.),
whence its name. Its total area is 541.9 sq. m., of which
517.9 sq. m. are classed as ``productive'' (forests covering
172 sq. m. and vineyards 8.2 sq. m.). It is one of the least
mountainous Swiss cantons, forming part of a great table-land,
to the north of the Alps and the east of the Jura, above which
rise low hills. The surface of the country is beautifully
diversified, undulating tracts and well-wooded hills alternating
with fertile valleys watered mainly by the Aar and its
tributaries. It contains the famous hot sulphur springs of
Baden (q.v.) and Schinznach, while at Rheinfelden there are
very extensive saline springs. Just below Brugg the Reuss
and the Limmat join the Aar, while around Brugg are the ruined
castle of Habsburg, the old convent of Konigsfelden (with
fine painted medieval glass) and the remains of the Roman
settlement of Vindonissa [Windisch]. The total population
in 1900 was 206,498, almost exclusively German-speaking, but
numbering 114,176 Protestants to 91,039 Romanists and 990
Jews. The capital of the canton is Aarau (q.v.), while
other important towns are Baden (q.v.), Zofingen (4591
inhabitants), Reinach (3668 inhabitants), Rheinfelden (3349
inhabitants), Wohlen (3274 inhabitants), and Lenzburg (2588
inhabitants). Aargau is an industrious and prosperous canton,
straw-plaiting, tobacco-growing, silk-ribbon weaving, and
salmon-fishing in the Rhine being among the chief industries.
As this region was, up to 1415, the centre of the Habsburg
power, we find here many historical old castles (e.g.
Habsburg, Lenzburg, Wildegg), and former monasteries (e.g.
Wettingen, Muri), founded by that family, but suppressed in
1841, this act of violence being one of the main causes
of the civil war called the ``Sonderbund War,'' in 1847 in
Switzerland. The cantonal constitution dates mainly from
1885, but since 1904 the election of the executive council
of five members is made by a direct vote of the people. The
legislature consists of members elected in the proportion of
one to every 1100 inhabitants. The ``obligatory referendum''
exists in the case of all laws, while 5000 citizens have the
right of ``initiative'' in proposing bills or alterations
in the cantonal constitution. The canton sends 10 members
to the federal Nationalrat, being one for every 20,000,
while the two Standerate are (since 1904) elected by
a direct vote of the people. The canton is divided into
eleven administrative districts, and contains 241 communes.
1415 the Aargau region was taken from the Habsburgs by the Swiss
Confederates. Bern kept the south-west portion (Zofingen,
Aarburg, Aarau, Lenzburg, and Brugg), but some districts,
named the Freie Amter or ``free bailiwicks'' (Mellingen,
Muri, Villmergen, and Bremgarten), with the county of Baden,
were ruled as ``subject lands'' by all or certain of the
Confederates. In 1798 the Bernese bit became the canton of
Aargau of the Helvetic Republic, the remainder forming the
canton of Baden. In 1803, the two halves (plus the Frick
glen, ceded in 1802 by Austria to the Helvetic Republic)
were united under the name of Kanton Aargau, which was then
admitted a full member of the reconstituted Confederation.
See also Argovia (published by the Cantonal Historical
Society), Aarau, from 1860; F. X. Bronner, Der Kanton Aargau,
2 vols., St Gall and Bern, 1844; H. Lehmann, Die argauische
Strohindustrie, Aarau, 1896; W. Merz, Die mittelalt.
Burganlagen und Wehrbauten d. Kant. Argau (fine illustrated
work on castles), Aarau, 2 vols., 1904--1906; W. Merz and
F. E. Welti, Die Rechtsquellen d. Kant. Argau, 3 vols.,
Aarau, 1898--1905; J. Muller, Der Aargau, 2 vols., Zurich,
1870; E. L. Rochholz, Aargauer Weisthumer, Atarau, 1877; E.
Zschokke, Geschichte des Aargaus, Aarau, 1903. (W. A. B. C.)
AARHUS, a seaport and bishop's see of Denmark, on the
east coast of Jutland, of which it is the principal port;
the second largest town in the kingdom, and capital of
the amt (county) of Aarhus. Pop. (1901) 51,814. The
district is low-lying, fertile and well wooded. The town
is the junction of railways from all parts of the country.
The harbour is good and safe, and agricultural produce is
exported, while coal and iron are among the chief imports.
The cathedral of the 13th century (extensively restored) is
the largest church in Denmark. There is a museum of art and
antiquities. To the south-west (13 m. by rail), a picturesque
region extends west from the railway junction of Skanderborg,
including several lakes, through which flows the Gudenaa,
the largest river in Jutland, and rising ground exceeding
500 ft. in the Himmelbjerg. The railway traverses this
pleasant district of moorland and wood to Silkeborg, a modern
town having one of the most attractive situations in the
kingdom. The bishopric of Aarhus dates at least from 951.
AARON, the traditional founder and head of the Jewish
priesthood, who, in company with Moses, led the Israelites
out of Egypt (see EXODUS; MOSES) . The greater part of
his life-history is preserved in late Biblical narratives,
which carry back existing conditions and beliefs to the
time of the Exodus, and find a precedent for contemporary
hierarchical institutions in the events of that period.
Although Aaron was said to have been sent by Yahweh (Jehovah)
to meet Moses at the ``mount of God'' (Horeb, Ex.iv.27),he
plays only a secondary part in the incidents at Pharaoh's
court. After the ``exodus'' from Egypt a striking account
is given of the vision of the God of Israel vouchsafed to
him and to his sons Nadab and Abihu on the same holy mount
(Ex. xxiv. 1 seq. 9-11), and together with Hur he was at the
side of Moses when the latter, by means of his wonder-working
rod, enabled Joshua to defeat the Amalekites (xvii. 8-16).
Hur and Aaron were left in charge of the Israelites when
Moses and Joshua ascended the mount to receive the Tables of
the Law (xxiv. 12-15), and when the people, in dismay at the
prolonged absence of their leader, demanded a god, it was at
the instigation of Aaron that the golden calf was made (see
CALF, GOLDEN). This was regarded as an act of apostasy
which, according to one tradition, led to the consecration
of the Levites, and almost cost Aaron his life (cp. Deut.
ix. 20). The incident paves the way for the account of the
preparation of the new tables of stone which contain a series
of laws quite distinct from the Decalogue (q.v.) (Ex. xxxiii.
seq.). Kadesh, and not Sinai or Horeb, appears to have been
originally the scene of these incidents (Deut. xxxiii. 8
seq. compared with Ex. xxxii. 26 sqq.), and it was for some
obscure offence at this place that both Aaron and Moses were
prohibited from entering the Promised Land (Num. xx.). In
what way they had not ``sanctified'' (an allusion in the
Hebrew to Kadesh ``holy'') Yahweh is quite uncertain, and
it would appear that it was for a similar offence that the
sons of Aaron mentioned above also met their death (Lev. x. 3;
cp. Num. xx. 12, Deut. xxxii. 51). Aaron is said to have
died at Moserah (Deut. x. 6), or at Mt. Hor; the latter is
an unidentified site on the border of Edom (Num. xx. 23,
xxxiii. 37; for Moserah see ib. 30-31), and consequently
not in the neighbourhood of Petra, which has been the
traditional scene from the time of Josephus (Ant. iv. 4. 7).
Several difficulties in the present Biblical text appear to
have arisen from the attempt of later tradition to find a
place for Aaron in certain incidents. In the account of the
contention between Moses and his sister Miriam (Num. xii.),
Aaron occupies only a secondary position, and it is very doubtful
whether he was originally mentioned in the older surviving
narratives. It is at least remarkable that he is only thrice
mentioned in Deuteronomy (ix. 20, x. 6, xxxii. 50). The
post-exilic narratives give him a greater share in the plagues of
Egypt, represent him as high-priest, and confirm his position
by the miraculous budding of his rod alone of all the rods of
the other tribes (Num. xvii.; for parallels see Gray comm.
ad loc., p. 217). The latter story illustrates the growth
of the older exodus-tradition along with the development of
priestly ritual: the old account of Korah's revolt against the
authority of Moses has been expanded, and now describes (a)
the divine prerogatives of the Levites in general, and (b)
the confirmation of the superior privileges of the Aaronites
against the rest of the Levites, a development which can
scarcely be earlier than the time of Ezekiel (xliv. 15 seq.).
Aaron's son Eleazar was buried in an Ephraimite locality
known after the grandson as the ``hill of Phinehas'' (Josh.
xxiv. 33). Little historical information has been preserved of
either. The name Phinehas (apparently of Egyptian origin)
is better known as that of a son of Eli, a member of the
priesthood of Shiloh, and Eleazar is only another form of
Eliezer the son of Moses, to whose kin Eli is said to have
belonged. The close relation between Aaronite and Levitical
names and those of clans related to Moses is very noteworthy,
and it is a curious coincidence that the name of Aaron's
sister Miriam appears in a genealogy of Caleb (1 Chron. iv.
17) with Jether (cp. JETHRO) and Heber (cp. KENITES). In
view of the confusion of the traditions and the difficulty of
interpreting the details sketched above, the recovery of the
historical Aaron is a work of peculiar intricacy. He may
well have been the traditional head of the priesthood, and
R. H. Kennett has argued in favour of the view that he was
the founder of the cult at Bethel (Journ. of Theol. Stud.,
1905, pp. 161 sqq.), corresponding to the Mosaite founder
of Dan (q.v.). This throws no light upon the name, which
still remains quite obscure: and unless Aaron (Aharon) is
based upon Aron, ``ark'' (Redslob, R. P. A. Dozy, J. P.
N. Land), names associated with Moses and Aaron, which are,
apparently, of South Palestinian (or North-Arabian) origin.
For the literature and a general account of the Jewish
priesthood, see the articles LEVTTES and PRIEST. . (S. A. C.)
AARON'S ROD, the popular name given to various tall flowering
plants (``hag taper,', ``golden rod,'' &c.). In architecture
the term is given to an ornamental rod with sprouting leaves,
or sometimes with a serpent entwined round it (from the
Biblical references in Exodus vii. 10 and Numbers xvii. 8).
AARSSENS, or AARSSEN, FRANCIS VAN (1572-1641), a
celebrated diplomatist and statesman of the United Provinces.
His talents commended him to the notice of Advocate Johan
van Oldenbarneveldt, who sent him, at the age of 26 years,
as a diplomatic agent of the states-general to the court of
France. He took a considerable part in the negotiations of
the twelve years' truce in 1606. His conduct of affairs having
displeased the French king, he was recalled from his post by
Oldenbarneveldt in 1616. Such was the hatred he henceforth
conceived against his former benefactor, that he did his
very utmost to effect his ruin. He was one of the packed
court of judges who in 1619 condemned the aged statesman to
death. For his share in this judicial murder a deep stain
rests on the memory of Aarssens. He afterwards became the
confidential counsellor of Maurice, prince of Orange, and
afterwards of Frederick Henry, prince of Orange, in their
conduct of the foreign affairs of the republic. He was sent
on special embassies to Venice, Germany and England, and
displayed so much diplomatic skill and finesse that Richelieu
ranked him among the three greatest politicians of his time.
AASEN, IVAR (1813-1896), Norwegian philologist and
lexicographer, was born at Aasen i Orsten, in Sondmore,
Norway, on the. 5th of August 1813. His father, a small
peasant-farmer named Ivar Jonsson, died in 1826. He was
brought up to farmwork, but he assiduously cultivated all
his leisure in reading, and when he was eighteen he opened an
elementary school in his native parish. In 1833 he entered
the household of H. C. Thoresen the husband of the eminent
writer Magdalene Thoresen, in Hero, and here he picked up
the elements of Latin. Gradually, and by dint of infinite
patience and concentration, the young peasant became master
of many languages, and began the scientific study of their
structure. About 1841 he had freed himself from all the
burden of manual labour, and could occupy his thoughts with
the dialect of his native district, the Sondmore; his
first publication was a small collection of folk-songs in
the Sondmore language (1843) . His remarkable abilities now
attracted general attention, and he was helped to continue his
studies undisturbed. His Grammar ofthe Norwegian Dialects
(1848) was the result of much labour, and of journeys taken
to every part of the country. Aasen's famous Dictionary
of the Norwegian Dialects appeared in its original form in
1850, and from this publication dates all the wide cultivation
of the popular language in Norwegian, since Aasen really did
no less than construct, out of the different materials at his
disposal, a popular language or definite folke-maal for
Norway. With certain modifications, the most important of which
were introduced later by Aasen himself, this artificial language
is that which has been adopted ever since by those who write in
dialect, and which later enthusiasts have once more endeavoured
to foist upon Norway as her official language in the place of
Dano-Norwegian. Aasen composed poems and plays in the composite
dialect to show how it should be used; one of these dramas,
The Heir (1855), was frequently acted, and may be considered
as the pioneer of all the abundant dialect-literature of the
last half-century, from Vinje down to Garborg. Aasen continued
to enlarge and improve his grammars and his dictionary. He
lived very quietly in lodgings in Christiania, surrounded by
his books and shrinking from publicity, but his name grew into
wide political favour as his ideas about the language of the
peasants became more and more the watch-word of the popular
party. Quite early in his career, 1842, he had begun to
receive a stipend to enable him to give his entire attention
to his philological investigations; and the Storthing--.
conscious of the national importance of his woth---treated hm
in this respect with more and more generosity as he advanced in
years. He continued his investigations to the last, but it
may be said that, after the 1873 edition of his Dictionary,
he added but little to his stores. Ivar Aasen holds perhaps
an isolated place in literary history as the one man who has
invented, or at least selected and constructed, a language
which has pleased so many thousands of his countrymen that
they have accepted it for their schools, their sermons
and their songs. He died in Christiania on the 23rd of
September 1896, and was buried with Public honours. (E. G.)
AB, the fifth month of the ecclesiastical and the
eleventh of the civil year of the Jews. It approximately
Corresponds to the period of the 15th of July to the 15th of
August. The word is of Babylonian origin, adopted by the
Jews with other calendar names after the Babylonian exile.
Tradition ascribes the death of Aaron to the first day of Ab.
On the ninth is kept the Fast of Ab, or the Black Fast, to
bewail the destruction of the first temple by Nebuchadrezzar
(586 B.C.) and of the second by Titus (A.D. 70).
ABA. (1) A form of altazimuth instrument, invented by, and Cabled
after, Antoine d'Abbadie; (2) a rough homespun manufactured in
Bulgariai (3) a long coarse shirt worn by the Bedouin Arabs.
ABABDA (the Gebadei of Pliny, probably the Troglodytes of
classical writers), a nomad tribe of African ``Arabs,, of Hamitic
origin. They extend from the Nile at Assuan to the Red Sea,
and reach northward to the Kena-Kosseir road, thus occupying
the southern border of Egypt east of the Nile. They call
themselves ``sons of the Jinns.'' With some of the clans of
the Bisharin (q.v.) and possibly the Hadendoa (q.v.) they
represent the Blemmyes of classic geographers, and their location
to-day is almost identical with that assigned them in Roman
times. They were constantly at war with the Romans, who at
last subsidized them. In the middle ages they were known as
Beja (q.v.), and convoyed pilgrims from the Nile valley to
Aidhab, the port of embarkation for Jedda. From time immemorial
they have acted as guides to caravans through the Nubian
desert and up the Nile valley as far as Sennar. To-day many of
them are employed in the telegraph service across the Arabian
desert. They intermarried with the Nuba, and settled in small
Colonies at Shendi and elsewhere long before the Egyptian
invasion (A.D. 1820-1822). They are still great trade
carriers, and visit very distant districts. The Ababda of
Egypt, numbering some 30,000, are governed by an hereditary
``chief.'' Although nominally a vassal of the Khedive he pays no
tribute. Indeed he is paid a subsidy, a portion of the
road-dues, in return for his safeguarding travellers from Bedouin
robbers. The sub-sheikhs are directly responsible to him.
The Ababda of Nubia, reported by Joseph von Russegger, who
visited the country in 1836, to number some 40,000, have since
diminished, having probably amalgamated with the Bisharin,
their hereditary enemies when they were themselves a powerful
nation. The Ababda generally speak Arabic (mingled with
Barabra [Nubian] words), the result of their long-continued
contact with Egypt; but the southern and south-eastern portion
of the tribe in many cases still retain their Beja dialect,
ToBedawiet. Those of Kosseir will not speak this before
strangers, as they believe that to reveal the mysterious
dialect would bring ruin on them. Those nearest the Nile
have much fellah blood in them. As a tribe they claim an Arab
origin, apparently through their sheikhs. They have adopted
the dress and habits of the fellahin, unlike their kinsmen
the Bisharin and Hadendoa, who go practically naked. They
are neither so fierce nor of so fine a physique as these
latter. They are lithe and well built, but small: the average
height is little more than 5 ft., except in the sheikh clan,
who are obviously of Arab origin. Their complexion is more
red than black, their features angular, noses straight and hair
luxuriant. They bear the character of being treacherous and
faithless, being bound by no oath, but they appear to be honest
in money matters and hospitable, and, however poor, never
beg. Formerly very poor, the Ababda became wealthy after
the British occupation of Egypt. The chief settlements are in
Nubia, where they live in villages and employ themselves in
agriculture. Others of them fish in the Red Sea and then
hawk the salt fish in the interior. Others are pedlars,
while charcoal burning, wood-gathering and trading in gums
and drugs, especially in senna leaves, occupy many. Unlike
the true Arab, the Ababda do not live in tents, but build
huts with hurdles and mats, or live in natural caves, as
did their ancestors in classic times. They have few horses,
using the camel as beast of burden or their ``mount'' in
war. They live chiefly on milk and durra, the latter
eaten either raw or roasted. They are very superstitious,
believing, for example, that evil would overtake a family
if a girl member should, after her marriage, ever set eyes
on her mother: hence the Ababda husband has to make his
home far from his wife's village. In the Mahdist troubles
(1882-1898) many ``friendlies'' were recruited from the tribe.
For their earlier history see BEJA; see also BISHARIN,
HADENDOA, KABBABish; and the following authorities:---Sir
F. R. Wingate, Mahdism and the Egyptian Sudan (Lond.
1891); Giuseppe Sergi, Africa: Antropologia della Stirpe
Camitica (Turin, 1897); A. H. Keane, Ethnology of Egyptian
Sudan (Lond. 1884); Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, edited by
Count Gleichen (Lond. 1905); Joseph von Russegger, Die
Reisen in Afrika (Stuttgart, 1841-1850). (T. A. J.)
ABACA, or ABAKA, a native name for the plant Musa textilis,
which produces the fibre called Manila Hemp (q.v.). .
ABACUS (Gr. abax, a slab Fr. abaque, tailloir), in
architecture, the upper member of the capital of a column.
Its chief function is to provide a larger supporting surface
for the architrave or arch it has to carry. In the Greek Doric
order the abacus is a plain square slab. In the Roman and
Renaissance Doric orders it is crowned by a moulding. In the
Archaic-Greek Ionic order, owing to the greater width of the
capital, the abacus is rectangular in plan, and consists of a
carved ovolo moulding. In later examples the abacus is square,
except where there are angle volutes, when it is slightly
curved over the same. In the Roman and Renaissance Ionic
capital, the abacus is square with a fillet On the top of an
ogee moulding, but curved over angle volutes. In the Greek
Corinthian order the abacus is moulded, its sides are concave
and its angles canted (except in one or two exceptional Greek
capitals, where it is brought to a sharp angle); and the same
shape is adopted in the Roman and Renaissance Corinthian and
Composite capitals, in some cases with the ovolo moulding
carved. In Romanesque architecture the abacus is square with
the lower edge splayed off and moulded or carved, and the
same was retained in France during the medieval period; but
in England,in Early English work, a circular deeply moulded
abacus was introduced, which in the 14th and 15th centuries
was transformed into an octagonal one. The diminutive of
Abacus, ABACISCUS, is applied in architecture to the chequers
or squares of a tessellated pavement . ``Abacus'' is also the
name of an instrument employed by the ancients for arithmetical
calculations; pebbles, hits of bone or coins being used as
counters. Fig. 1 shows a Roman abacus taken from an ancient
monument. It contains seven long and seven shorter rods
or bars, the former having four perforated beads running
on them and the latter one. The bar marked 1 indicates
units, X tens, and so on up to millions. The beads on the
shorter bars denote fives,--five units, five tens, &c. The
rod O and corresponding short rod are for marking ounces;
and the short quarter rods for fractions of an ounce.
The Swan-Pan of the Chinese (fig. 2) closely resembles
the Roman abacus in its construction and use. Computations
are made with it by means of balls of bone or ivory running
on slender bamboo rods, similar to the simpler board,
fitted up with beads strung on wires, which is employed in
teaching the rudiments of arithmetic in English schools.
FIG. 2.--Chinese Swan-Pan. The name of ``abacus'' is also
given, in logic, to an instrument, often called the ``logical
machine,'' analogous to the mathematical abacus. It is
constructed to show all the possible combinations of a set of
logical terms with their negatives, and, further, the way in which
these combinations are affected by the addition of attributes
or other limiting words, i.e. to simplify mechanically the
solution of logical problems. These instruments are all more
or less elaborate developments of the ``logical slate,'' on
which were written in vertical columns all the combinations
of symbols or letters which could be made logically out of a
definite number of terms. These were compared with any given
premises, and those which were incompatible were crossed
off. In the abacus the combinations are inscribed each on a
single slip of wood or similar substance, which is moved by a
key; incompatible combinations can thus be mechanically removed
at will, in accordance with any given series of premises.
The principal examples of such machines are those of W. S.
Jevons (Element. Lessons in Logic, C. xxiii.), John Venn
(see his Symbolic Logic, 2nd ed., 1894, p. 135), and Allan
Marquand (see American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1885, pp.
303-7, and Johns Hopkins University Studies in Logic, 1883).
ABADDON, a Hebrew word meaning ``destruction.'' In poetry
it comes to mean ``place of destruction,'' and so the
underworld or Sheol (cf. Job xxvi. 6; Prov. xv. 11). In Rev.
ix. 11 Abaddon ((Abaddon) is used of hell personified,
the prince of the underworld. The term is here explained
as Apollyon (q.v.), the ``destroyer.', W. Baudissin
(Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklo padie) notes that Hades and
Abaddon in Rabbinic writings are employed as personal names,
just as shemayya in Dan. iv. 23, shamayim (``heaven''),
and makom (``place'') among the Rabbins, are used of God.
ABADEH, a small walled town of Persia, in the province of
Fars, situated at an elevation of 6200 ft. in a fertile
plain on the high road between Isfahan and Shiraz, 140 m.
from the former and 170 m. from the latter place. Pop.
4000. It is the chief place of the Abadeh-Iklid district,
which has 30 villages; it has telegraph and post offices,
and is famed for its carved wood-work, small boxes, trays,
sherbet spoons, &c., made of the wood of pear and box trees.
ABAE (rabai), a town in the N.E. corner of Phocis, in
Greece, famous in early times for its oracle of Apollo,
one of those consulted by Croesus (Herod. i. 46). It was
rich in treasures (Herod. viii. 33), but was sacked by the
Persians, and the temple remained in a ruined state. The
oracle was, however, still consulted, e.g. by the Thebans
before Leuctra (Paus. iv. 32. 5). The temple seems to have
been burnt again during the Sacred War, and was in a very
dilapidated state when seen by Pausanias (x. 35), though
some restoration, as well as the building of a new temple,
was undertaken by Hadrian. The sanctity of the shrine
ensured certain privileges to the people of Abac (Bull.
Corresp. Hell. vi. 171), and these were confirmed by the
Romans. The polygonal wabs of the acropolis may still be
seen in a fair state of preservation on a circular hill
standing about 500 ft. above the little plain of Exarcho;
one gateway remains, and there are also traces of town walls
below. The temple site was on a low spur of the hill, below the
town. An early terrace wall supports a precinct in which are
a stoa and some remains of temples; these were excavated by the
British School at Athens in 1894, but very little was found.
See also W. M. Leake, Travels in Northern Greece, ii. p. 163i Journal
of Hellenic Studies, xvi. pp. 291-312 (V. W. Yorke). . (E. GR.)
ABAKANSK, a fortified town of Siberia, in the Russian
government of Yeniseisk, on the river Yenisei, 144 m. S.S.W.
of Krasnoyarsk, in lat. 54 deg. 20' N., long. 91 deg. 40' E. This is
considered the mildest and most salubrious place in Siberia, and
is remarkable for certain tumuli (of the Li Kitai) and statues
of men from seven to nine feet high, covered with hieroglyphics.
Peter the Great had a fort built here in 1707. Pop. 2000.
ABALONE, the Spanish name used in California for various
species of the shell-fish of the Haliotidae family, with a
richly coloured shell yielding mother-of-pearl. This sort
of Haliotis is also commonly called ``ear-shell,'' and in
Guernsey ``ormer'' (Fr. ormier, for oreille de mer).
The abalone shell is found especially at Santa Barbara and
other places on the southern Californian coast, and when
polished makes a beautiful ornament. The mollusc itself is
often eaten, and dried for consumption in China and Japan.
ABANA (or AMANAH, classical Chrysorrhoas) and PHARPAR,
the ``rivers of Damascus'' (2 Kings v. 12), now generally
identified with the Barada (i.e. ``cold'') and the A`waj
(i.e. ``crooked'') respectively, though if the reference
to Damascus be limited to the city, as in the Arabic
version of the Old Testament, Pharpar would be the modern
Taura. Both streams run from west to east across the plain of
Damascus, which owes to them much of its fertility, and lose
themselves in marshes, or lakes, as they are called, on the
borders of the great Arabian desert. John M'Gregor, who gives
an interesting description of them in his Rob Roy on the
Jordan, affirmed that as a work of hydraulic engineering,
the system and construction of the canals, by which the Abana
and Pharpar were used for irrigation, might be considered as
one of the most complete and extensive in the world. As the
Barada escapes from the mountains through a narrow gorge,
its waters spread out fan-like, in canals or ``rivers'', the
name of one of which, Nahr Banias, retains a trace of Abana.
ABANCOURT, CHARLES XAVIER JOSEPH DE FRANQUE VILLE D',
(1758-1792), French statesman, and nephew of Calonne. He was
Louis XVI.'s last minister of war (July 1792), and organized
the defence of the Tuileries for the 10th of August. Commanded
by the Legislative Assembly to send away the Swiss guards, he
refused, and was arrested for treason to the nation and sent
to Orleans to be tried. At the end of August the Assembly
ordered Abancourt and the other prisoners at Orleans to
be transferred to Paris with an escort commanded by Claude
Fournier, ``the American.'' At Versailles they learned of the
massacres at Paris, and Abancourt and his fellow-prisoners
were murdered in cold blood on the 8th of September 1792.
Fournier was unjustly charged with complicity in the crime.
ABANDONMENT (Fr. abandonnement, from abandonner, to
abandon, relinquish; abandonner was originally equivalent
to mettrea bandon, to leave to the jurisdiction, i.e. of
another, bandon being from Low Latin bandum, bannum, order,
decree, ``ban''), in law, the relinquishment of an interest,
claim, privilege or possession. Its signification varies
according to the branch of the law in which it is employed,
but the more important uses of the word are summarized below.
ABANDONMENT OF AN ACTION is the discontinuance of proceedings
commenced in the High Court of Justice either because the
plaintiff is convinced that he will not succeed in his action
or for other reasons. Previous to the Judicature Act of 1875,
considerable latitude was allowed as to the time when a suitor
might abandon his action, and yet preserve his right to bring
another action on the same suit (see NONSUIT); but since 1875
this right has been considerably curtailed, and a plaintiff who
has deilvered his reply (see PLEADING), and afterwards wishes
to abandon his action, can generally obtain leave so to do only
on condition of bringing no further proceedings in the matter.
ABANDONMENT IN MARINE INSURANCE is the surrender of the ship
or goods insured to the insurers, in the case of a constructive
total loss of the thing insured. For the requisites and
effects of abandonment in this sense See INSURANCE, MARINE.
ABANDONMENT OF WIFE AND CHILDREN is dealt with under
DESERTION, and the abandonment or exposure of a
young child under the age of two, which is an indictable
misdemeanour, is dealt with under CHILDREN, CRUELTY TO.
ABANDONMENT OF DOMICILE is the ceasing to reside permanently
in a former domicile coupled with the intention of choosing a new
domicile. The presumptions which will guide the court in deciding
whether a former domicile has been abandoned or not must be
inferred from the facts of each individual case. See DOMICILE.
ABANDONMENT OF AN EASEMENT is the relinquishment of some
accommodation or right in another's land, such as right of
way, free access of light and air, &c. See EASEMENT.
ABANDONMENT OF RAILWAYS has a legal signification in England
recognized by statute, by authority of which the Board of
Trade may, under certain circumstances, grant a warrant to a
railway authorizing the abandonment of its line or part of it.
ABANO, PIETRO D, (1250-1316), known also as PETRUS DE
APONO or APONENSIS, Italian physician and philosopher,
was born at the Italian town from which he takes his name
in 1250, or, according to others, in 1246. After studying
medicine and philosophy at Paris he settled at Padua, where
he speedily gained a great reputation as a physician, and
availed himself of it to gratify his avarice by refusing
to visit patients except for an exorbitant fee. Perhaps
this, as well as his meddling with astrology, caused him to
be charged with practising magic, the particular accusations
being that he brought back into his purse, by the aid of the
devil, all the money he paid away, and that he possessed the
philosopher's stone. He was twice brought to trial by the
Inquisition; on the first occasion he was acquitted, and he
died (1316) before the second trial was completed. He was
found guilty, however, and his body was ordered to be exhumed
and burned; but a friend had secretly removed it, and the
Inquisition had, therefore, to content itself with the public
proclamation of its sentence and the burning of Abano in
effigy. In his writings he expounds and advocates the medical
and philosophical systems of Averroes and other Arabian
writers. His best known works are the Conciliator differentiarum
quae inter philosophos et medicos versantur (Mantua, 1472;
V.enice, 1476), and De venenis eorumque remediis (1472),
of which a French translation was published at Lyons in 1593.
ABANO BAGNI, a town of Venetia, Italy, in the province of
Padua, on the E. slope of the Monti Euganei; it is 6 m. S.W.
by rail from Padua. Pop. (1901) 4556. Its hot springs and
mud baths are much resorted to, and were known to the Ronlans
as Aponi fons or Aquae Patavinae. Some remains of the
ancient baths have been discovered (S. Mandruzzato, Trattato
dei Bagni d' Abano, Padua, 1789). An oracle of Geryon lay
near, and the so-called sortes Praenestinae (C.I.L. i.,
Berlin, 1863; 1438-1454), small bronze cylinders inscribed, and
used as oracles, were perhaps found here in the 16th century.
ABARIS, a Scythian or Hyperborean, priest and prophet
of Apollo, who is said to have visited Greece about 770
B.C., or two or three centuries later. According to
the legend, he travelled throughout the country, living
without food and riding on a golden arrow, the gift of
the god; he healed the sick, foretold the future, worked
miracles, and delivered Sparta from a plague (Herod. iv. 36;
Iamblichus, De Fit. Pythag. xix. 28). Suidas credits him
with several works: Scythian oracles, the visit of Apollo to
the Hyperboreans, expiatory formulas and a prose theogony.
ABATED, an ancient technical term applied in masonry and
metal work to those portions which are sunk beneath the
surface, as in inscriptions where the ground is sunk round
the letters so as to leave the letters or ornament in relief.
ABATEMENT (derived through the French abattre, from the
Late Latin battere, to beat), a beating down or diminishing or
doing away with; a term used especially in various legal phrases.
ABATEMENT OF A NUISANCE is the remedy allowed by law to
a person or public authority injured by a public nuisance
of destroying or removing it, provided no breach of the
peace is committed in doing so. In the case of private
nuisances abatement is also allowed provided there be no
breach of the peace, and no damage be occasioned beyond
what the removal of the nuisance requires. (See NUISANCE.)
ABATEMENT OF FREEHOLD takes place where, after the death of
the person last seised, a stranger enters upon lands before
the entry of the heir or devisee, and keeps the latter out of
possession. It differs from intrusion, which is a similar
entry by a stranger on the death of a tenant for life, to
the prejudice of the reversioner, or remainder man; and from
disseisin, which is the forcible or fraudulent expulsion
of a person seised of the freehold. (See FREEHOLD.)
ABATEMENT OE DEBTS AND LEGACIES. When the equitable assets
(see ASSETS) of a deceased person are not sufficient to
satisfy fully all the creditors, their debts must abate
proportionately, and they must accept a dividend. Also, in
the case of legacies when the funds or assets out of which
they are payable are not sufficient to pay them in full, the
legacies abate in proportion, unless there is a priority given
specially to any particular legacy (see LEGACY). Annuities
are also subject to the same rule as general legacies.
ABATEMENT IN PLEADING, or plea in abatement, was the
defeating or quashing of a particular action by some matter of
fact, such as a defect in form or the personal incompetency
of the parties suing, pleaded by the defendant. It did not
involve the merits of the cause, but left the right of action
subsisting. In criminal proceedings a plea in abatement was at
one time a common practice in answer to an indictment, and was
set up for the purpose of defeating the indictment as framed,
by alleging misnomer or other misdescription of the defendant.
Its effect for this purpose was nullified by the Criminal Law
Act 1826, which required the court to amend according to the
truth, and the Criminal Procedure Act 1851, which rendered
description of the defendant unnecessary. All pleas in abatement
are now abolished (R.S.G. Order 21, r. 20). See PLEADING.
ABATEMENT IN LITIGATION. In civil proceedings, no action
abates by reason of the marriage, death or bankruptcy of any
of the parties, if the cause of action survives or continues,
and does not become defective by the assignment, creation or
devolution of any estate or title pendente lite (R.S.C. Order
17, r. 1). Criminal proceedings do not abate on the death of
the prosecutor, being in theory instituted by the crown, but
the crown itself may bring about their termination without any
decision on the merits and without the assent of the prosecutor.
ABATEMENT OF FALSE LIGHTS. By the Merchant Shipping Act
1854, the general lighthouse authority (see LIGHTHOUSE) has
power to order the extinguishment or screening of any light
which may be mistaken for a light proceeding from a lighthouse.
ABATEMENT IN COMMERCE is a deduction sometimes made at a
custom-house from the fixed duties on certain kinds of goods, on
account of damage or loss sustained in warehouses. The rate and
conditions of such deductions are regulated, in England, by the
Customs Consolidation Act 1853. (See also DRAWBACK; REBATE.)
ABATEMENT IN HERALDRY is a badge in coat-armour, indicating some
kind of degradation or dishonour. It is called also rebatement.
ABATI, or DELL' ABBATO, NICCOLO (1512--1571), a celebrated
fresco-painter of Modena, whose best works are there and at
Bologna. He accompanied Primaticcio to France, and assisted
in decorating the palace at Fontainebleau (1552--1571). His
pictures exhibit a combination of skill in drawing, grace
and natural colouring. Some of his easel pieces in oil are
in different collections; one of the finest, in the Dresden
Gallery, represents the martyrdom of St Peter and St Paul.
ABATIS,ABATTIS or ABBATTIS (a French word meaning
a heap of material thrown), a term in field fortification
for an obstacle formed of the branches of trees laid
in a row, with the tops directed towards the enemy and
interlaced or tied with wire. The abatis is used alone or
in combination with wire-entanglements and other obstacles.
ABATTOIR (from abattre, to strike down), a French word often
employed in English as an equivalent of ``slaughter-house''
(q.v.), the place where animals intended for food are killed.
ABAUZIT, FIRMIN (1679-1767), a learned Frenchman, was born of
Protestant parents at Uzes, in Languedoc. His father died when
he was but two years of age; and when, on the revocation of the
edict of Nantes in 1685, the authorities took steps to have him
educated in the Roman Catholic faith, his mother contrived his
escape. For two years his brother and he lived as fugitives in
the mountains of the Cevennes, but they at last reached Geneva,
where their mother afterwards joined them on escaping from
the imprisonment in which she was held from the time of their
flight. Abauzit at an early age acquired great proficiency in
languages, physics and theology. In 1698 he went to Holland,
and there became acquainted with Pierre Bayle, P. Jurieu and J.
Basnage. Proceeding to England, he was introduced to Sir Isaac
Newton, who found in him one of the earliest defenders of his
discoveries. Sir Isaac corrected in the second edition of
his Principia an error pointed out by Abauzit, and, when
sending him the Commercium Epistolicum, said, ``You are
well worthy to judge between Leibnitz and me.'' The reputation
of Abauzit induced William III. to request him to settle in
England, but he did not accept the king's offer, preferring
to return to Geneva. There from 1715 he rendered valuable
assistance to a society that had been formed for translating
the New Testament into French. He declined the offer of
the chair of philosophy in the university in 1723, but
accepted, in 1727, the sinecure office of librarian to the
city of his adoption. Here he died at a good old age, in
1767. Abauzit was a man of great learning and of wonderful
versatility. Whatever chanced to be discussed,it used to be
said of Abauzit, as of Professor W. Whewell of more modern
times, that he seemed to have made it a subject of particular
study. Rousseau, who was jealously sparing of his praises,
addressed to him, in his Nouvelle Heloise, a fine panegyric;
and when a stranger flatteringly told Voltaire he had come
to see a great man, the philosopher asked him if he had seen
Abauzit. Little remains of the labours of this intellectual
giant, his heirs having, it is said, destroyed the papers
that came into their possession, because their own religious
opinions were different. A few theological, archaeological
abd astronomical articles from his pen appeared in the
Journal Helvetique and elsewhere, and he contributed
several papers to Rousseau's Dictionnaire de musique
(1767). He wrote a work throwing doubt on the canonical
authority of the Apocalypse, which called forth a reply
from Dr Leonard Twells. He also edited and made valuable
additions to J. Spon's Histoire de la republique de Geneve.
A collection of his writings was published at Geneva in
1770 (OEuvres de feu M. Abauzit), and another at London
in 1773 (OEuvres diverses de M. Abauzit). Some of them
were translated into English by Dr Edward Harwood (1774).
Information regarding Abauzit will be found in J.
Senebier's HIstoire Litteraire de Geneve, Harwood's
Miscellanies, and W. Orme's Bibliotheca Biblica (1824).
'ABAYE, the name of a Babylonian 'amora (q.v.),
born in the middle of the 3rd century. He died in 339.
'ABBA 'ARIKA, the name of thc Babylonian 'amora (q.v.) of
the 3rd century, who established at Sura the systematic study
of the Rabbinic traditions which, using the Mishnah as text, led
to the compilation of the Talmud. He is commonly known as Rab.
ABBADIDES, a Mahommedan dynasty which arose in Spain on the
downfall of the western caliphate. It lasted from about 1023
till 1091, but during the short period of its existence was
singularly active and typical of its time. The founder of
the house was Abd-ul-Qasim Mahommed, the cadi of Seville in
1023. He was the chief of an Arab family settled in the city
from the first days of the conquest. The Beni-abbad were not
of ancient descent, though the poets, whom they paid largely,
made an illustrious pedigree for them when they had become
powerful. They were, however, very rich. Abd-ul-Qasim gained
the confidence of the townsmen by organizing a successful
resistance to the Berber soldiers of fortune who were grasping
at the fragments of the caliphate. At first he professed to
rule only with the advice of a council formed of the nobles,
but when his power became established he dispensed with this
show of republican government, and then gave himself the
appearance of a legitimate title by protecting an impostor
who professed to be the caliph Hisham II. When Abd-ul-Qasim
died in 1042 he had created a state which, though weak in
itself, was strong as compared to the little powers about
it. He had made his family the recognized leaders of the
Mahommedans of Arab and native Spanish descent against
the Berber element, whose chief was the king of Granada.
Abbad, surnamed El Motaddid, his son and successor, is
one of the most remarkable figures in Spanish Mahommedan
history. He had a striking resemblance to the Italian princes
of the later middle ages and the early renaissance, of the
stamp of Fiiipo Maria Visconti. El Motaddid was a poet and
a lover of letters, who was also a poisoner, a drinker of
wine, a sceptic and treacherous to the utmost degree. Though
he waged war all through his reign he very rarely appeared in
the field, but directed the generals, whom he never trusted,
from his ``lair'' in the fortified palace, the Alcazar of
Seville. He killed with his own hand one of his sons who had
rebelled against him. On one occasion he trapped a number
of his enemies, the Berber chiefs of the Ronda, into visiting
him, and got rid of them by smothering them in the hot room
of a bath. It was his taste to preserve the skulls of the
enemies he had killed--those of the meaner men to be used as
flower-pots, while those of the princes were kept in special
chests. His reign until his death on the 28th of February
1069 was mainly spent in extending his power at the expense
of his smaller neighbours, and in conflicts with his chief
rival the king of Granada. These incessant wars weakened the
Mahommedans, to the great advantage of the rising power of
the Christian kings of Leon and Castile, but they gave the
kingdom of Seville a certain superiority over the other little
states. After 1063 he was assailed by Fernando El Magno of
Castile and Leon, who marched to the gates of Seville, and
forced him to pay tribute. His son, Mahommed Abd-ul-Qasim
Abenebet---who reigned by the title of El Motamid--was the
third and last of the Abbadides, He was a no less remarkable
person than his father and much more amiable. Like him he was
a poet, and a favourer of poets. El Motamid went, however,
considerably further in patronage of literature than his father,
for he chose as his favourite and prime minister the poet Ibn
Ammar. In the end the vanity and featherheadedness of Ibn
Ammar drove his master to kill him. El Motamid was even
more influenced by his favourite wife, Romaica, than by his
vizir. He had met her paddling in the Guadalquivir, purchased
her from her master, and made her his wife. The caprices
of Romaica, and the lavish extravagance of Motamid in his
efforts to please her, form the subject of many stories.
In politics he carried on the feuds of his family with the
Berbers, and in his efforts to extend his dominions could be
as faithless as his father. His wars and his extravagance
exhausted his treasury, and he oppressed his subjects by
taxes. In 1080 he brought down upon himself the vengeance of
Alphonso VI. of Castile by a typical piece of flighty oriental
barbarity. He had endeavoured to pay part of his tribute to the
Christian king with false money. The fraud was detected by a
Jew, who was one of the envoys of Alphonso. El Motamid, in
a moment of folly and rage, crucified the Jew and imprisoned
the Christian members of the mission. Alphonso retaliated
by a destructive raid. When Alphonso took Toledo in 1085,
El Motamid called in Yusef ibn Tashfin, the Almoravide (see
SPAIN, History, and ALMORAVIDES). During the six years
which preceded his deposition in 1091, El Motamid behaved
with valour on the field, but with much meanness and political
folly. He endeavoured to curry favour with Yusef by betraying
the other Mahommedan princes to him, and intrigued to secure
the alliance of Alphonso against the Almoravide. It was
probably during this period that he surrendered his beautiful
daughter Zaida to the Christian king, who made her his
concubine, and is said by some authorities to have married
her after she bore him a son, Sancho. The vacillations and
submissions of El Motamid did not save him from the fate
which overtook his fellow-princes. Their scepticism and
extortion had tired their subjects, and the mullahs gave Yusef
a ``fetva'' authorzing him to remove them in the interest of
religion. In 1091 the Almoravides stormed Seville. El
Motamid, who had fought bravely, was weak enough to order his
sons to surrender the fortresses they still held, in order
to save his own life. He died in prison in Africa in 1095.
AUTHORITIES.--Dozy, Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne,
Leiden, 1861; and Historia Abbadidarum (Scriptorum
Arabum loci de Abbadidio), Leiden, 1846. (D. II.)
ABBADIE, ANTOINE THOMSON D', (1810-1897), and ARNAUD MICHEL
D', (1815-1893), two brothers notable for their travels in
Abyssinia during the first half of the 19th century. They
were both born in Dublin, of a French father and an Irish
mother, Antoine in 1810 and Arnaud in 1815. The parents
removed to France in 1818, and there the brothers received
a careful scientific education. In 1835 the French Academy
sent Antoine on a scientific mission to Brazil, the results
being published at a later date (1873) under the title of
Observations relatives a! la physique du globe faites au
Bresil et en Ethiopie. The younger Abbadie spent some
time in Algeria before, in 1837, the two brothers started for
Abyssinia, landing at Massawa in February 1838. They visited
various parts of Abyssinia, including the then little-known
districts of Ennarea and Kaffa, sometimes together and
sometimes separately. They met with many difficulties and
many adventures, and became involved in political intrigues,
Antoine especially exercising such influence as he possessed
in favour of France and the Roman Catholic missionaries. After
collecting much valuable information concerning the geography,
geology, archaeology and natural history of Abyssinia, the
brothers returned to France in 1848 and began to prepare their
materials for publication. The younger brother, Arnaud, paid
another visit to Abyssinia in 1853. The more distinguished
brother, Antoine, became involved in various controversies
relating both to his geographical results and his political
intrigues. He was especially attacked by C. T. Beke, who
impugned his veracity, especially with reference to the journey to
Kana. But time and the investigations of subsequent explorers
have shown that Abbadie was quite trustworthy as to his facts,
though wrong in his contention--hotly contested by Beke--that
the Blue Nile was the main stream. The topographical results
of his explorations were published in Paris in 1860-1873 in
Geodesie d'Ethiopie, full of the most valuable information and
illustrated by ten maps. Of the Geographie de l'Ethiopie
(Paris, 1890) only one volume has been published. In Un
Catalogue raisonne de manuscrits ethiopiens (Paris, 1859)
is a description of 234 Ethiopian manuscripts collected by
Antoine. He also compiled various vocabularies, including
a Dictionnaire de la langue amarinna (Paris, 1881), and
prepared an edition of the Shepherd of Hermas, with the
Latin version, in 1860. He published numerous papers dealing
with the geography of Abyssinia, Ethiopian coins and ancient
inscriptions. Under the title of Reconnaissances magnetiques
he published in 1890 an account of the magnetic observations
made by him in the course of several journeys to the Red
Sea and the Levant. The general account of the travels of
the two brothers was published by Arnaud in 1868 under the
title of Douze ans dans la Haute Ethiopie. Both brothers
received the grand medal of the Paris Geographical Society in
1850. Antoine was a knight of the Legion of Honour and a
member of the Academy of Sciences. He died in 1897, and
bequeathed an estate in the Pyrenees, yielding 40,000 francs
a year, to the Academy of Sciences, on condition of its
producing within fifty years a catalogue of half-a-million
stars. His brother Arnaud died in 1893. (J. S. K.)
ABBADIE, JAKOB (1654?-1727), Swiss Protestant divine,
was born at Nay in Bern. He studied at Sedan, Saumur and
Puylaurens, with such success that he received the degree of
doctor in theology at the age of seventeen. After spending
some years in Berlin as minister of a French Protestant church,
where he had great success as a preacher, he accompanied
Marshal Schomberg, in 1688, to England, and next year became
minister of the French church in the Savoy, London. His
strong attachment to the cause of King William appears in
his elaborate defence of the Revolution (Defense de la
nation britannique, 1692) as well as in his history of the
conspiracy of 1696 (Histoire de la grande conspiration
d'Angleterre). The king promoted him to the deanery of Killaloe
in Ireland. He died in London in 1727. Abbadie was a man
of great ability and an eloquent preacher, but is best known
by his religious treatises, several of which were translated
from the original French into other languages and had a wide
circulation throughout Europe. The most important of these are
Traite de la verite de la religion chretienne (1684); its
continuation, Traite de la divinite de Jesus-Christ
(1689); and L'Art de se connaitre soi-meme (1692).
'ABBAHU, the name of a Palestinian 'amora (q.v.)
who flourished c. 279-320. 'Abbahu encouraged the
study of Greek by Jews. He was famous as a collector of
traditional lore, and is very often cited in the Talmud.
ABBA MARI (in full, Abba Mari ben Moses benJoseph), French
rabbi, was born at Lunel, near Montpellier, towards the end of
the 13th century. He is also known as Yarhi from his birthplace
(Heb. Yerah, i.e. moon, lune), and he further took the
name Astruc, Don Astruc or En Astruc of Lunel. The descendant
of men learned in rabbinic lore, Abba Mari devoted himself
to the study of theology and philosophy, and made himself
acquainted with the writing of Moses Maimonides and Nachmanides
as well as with the Talmud. In Montpellier, where he lived
from 1303 to 1306, he was much distressed by the prevalence
of Aristotelian rationalism, which, through the medium of
the works of Maimonides, threatened the authority of the Old
Testament, obedience to the law, and the belief in miracles and
revelation. He, therefore, in a series of letters (afterwards
collected under the title Minhat Kenaot, i.e. ``Jealousy
Offering'') called upon the famous rabbi Solomon ben Adret
of Barcelona to come to the aid of orthodoxy. Ben Adret,
with the approval of other prominent Spanish rabbis, sent a
letter to the community at Montpellier proposing to forbid the
study of philosophy to those who were less than thirty years
of age, and, in spite of keen opposition from the liberal
section, a decree in this sense was issued by ben Adret in
1305. The result was a great schism among the Jews of Spain
and southern France, and a new impulse was given to the study
of philosophy by the unauthorized interference of the Spanish
rabbis. On the expulsion of the Jews from France by Philip
IV. in 1306, Abba Mari settled at Perpignan, where he
published the letters connected with the controversy. His
subsequent history is unknown. Beside the letters, he was
the author of liturgical poetry and works on civil law.
AUTHORITIES.--Edition of the Minhat Kenaot by M. L.
Bislichis (Pressburg, 1838); E. Renan, Les rabbins francais,
pp. 647 foll.; Perles, Salomo ben Abrahann ben Adereth,
pp. 15-54; Jewish Encyclopaedia, s.v. ``Abba Mari.''
ABBAS I. (1813-1854), pasha of Egypt, was a son of Tusun
Pasha and grandson of Mehemet Ali, founder of the reigning
dynasty. As a young man he fought in Syria under Ibrahim Pasha
(q.v.), his real or supposed uncle. The death of Ibrahim
in November 1848 made Abbas regent of Egypt, and in August
following, on the death of Mehemet Alh--who had been deposed
in July 1848 on account of mental weakness,--Abbas succeeded
to the pashalik. He has been generally described as a mere
voluptuary, but Nubar Pasha spoke of him as a true Turkish
gentleman of the old school. He was without question a
reactionary, morose and taciturn, and spent nearly all his
time shut up in his palace. He undid, as far as lay in his
power, the works of his grandfather, good and bad. Among
other things he abolished trade monopolies, closed factories
and schools, and reduced the strength of the army to 9000
men. He was inaccessible to adventurers bent on plundering
Egypt, but at the instance of the British government
allowed the construction of a railway from Alexandria to
Cairo. In July 1854 he was murdered in Benha Palace by two
of his slaves, and was succeeded by his uncle, Said Pasha.
ABBAS II. (1874-- ), khedive of Egypt. Abbas Hilmi Pasha,
great-great-grandson of Mehemet Ali, born on the 14th of
July 1874, succeeded his father, Tewfik Pasha, as khedive
of Egypt on the 8th of January 1892. When a boy he visited
England, and he had an English tutor for some time in
Cairo. He then went to school in Lausanne, and from there
passed on to the Theresianum in Vienna. In addition to
Turkish, his mother tongue, he acquired fluency in Arabic,
and a good conversational knowledge of English, French and
German. He was still at college in Vienna when the sudden
death of his father raised him to the Khedivate; and he was
barely of age according to Turkish law, which fixes majority
at eighteen in cases of succession to the throne. For
some time he did not co-operate very cordially with Great
Britain. He was young and eager to exercise his new
power. His throne and life had not been saved for him by the
British, as was the case with his father. He was surrounded
by intriguers who were playing a game of their own, and for
some time he appeared almost disposed to be as reactionary
as his great-uncle Abbas I. But in process of time he learnt
to understand the importance of British counsels. He paid
a second visit to England in 1900, during which he frankly
acknowledged the great good the British had done in Egypt,
and declared himself ready to follow their advice and to
co-operate with the British officials administering Egyptian
affairs. The establishment of a sound system of native
justice, the great remission of taxation, the reconquest
of the Sudan, the inauguration of the stupendous irrigation
works at Assuan, the increase of cheap, sound education,
each received his approval and all the assistance he could
give. He displayed more interest in agriculture than in
statecraft, and his farm of cattle and horses at Koubah,
near Cairo, would have done credit to any agricultural
show in England; at Montaza, near Alexandria, he created
a similar establishment. He married the Princess Ikbal
Hanem and had several children. Mahommed Abdul Mouneim,
the heir-apparent, was born on the 20th of February 1899.
ABBAS I. (e. 1557-1628 or 1629), shah of Persia, called
the Great, was the son of shah Mahommed (d. 1586) . In the
midst of general anarchy in Persia, he was proclaimed ruler of
Khorasan, and obtained possession of the Persian throne in
1586. Determined to raise the fallen fortunes of his country,
he first directed his efforts against the predatory Uzbegs,
who occupied and harassed Khorasan. After a long and severe
struggle, he regained Meshed, defeated them in a great battle
near Herat in 1597, and drove them out of his dominions. In
the wars he carried on with the Turks during nearly the whole
of his reign, his successes were numerous, and he acquired,
or regained, a large extent of territory. By the victory he
gained at Bassora in 1605 he extended his empire beyond the
Euphrates; sultan Ahmed I. was forced to cede Shirvan and
Kurdistan in 1611; the united armies of the Turks and Tatars
were completely defeated near Sultanieh in 1618, and Abbas
made peace on very favourable terms; and on the Turks renewing
the war, Bagdad fell into his hands after a year's siege in
1623. In 1622 he took the island of Ormuz from the Portuguese,
by the assistance of the British, and much of its trade was
diverted to the town of Bander-Abbasi, which was named after the
shah. When he died, his dominions reached from the Tigris
to the Indus. Abbas distinguished himself, not only by his
successes in arms, and by the magnificence of his court and
of the buildings which he erected, but also by his reforms in
the administration of his kingdom. He encouraged commerce,
and, by constructing highways and building bridges, did much
to facilitate it. To foreigners, especially Christians, he
showed a spirit of tolerance; two Englishmen, Sir Anthony
and Sir Robert Shirley, or Sherley, were admitted to his
confidence. His fame is tarnished, however, by numerous deeds
of tyranny and cruelty. His own family, especially, suffered
from his fits of jealousy; his eldest son was slain, and
the eyes of his other children were put out, by his orders.
See The Three Brothers, or Travels of Sir Anthony, Sir
Robert Sherley, &c. (London, 1823); Sir C. R. Markham,
General Sketch of the History of Persia (London, 1874).
ABBASIDS, the name generally given to the caliphs of Bagdad,
the second of the two great dynasties of the Mahommedan
empire. The Abbasid caliphs officially based their claim
to the throne on their descent from Abbas (A.D. 566-652),
the eldest uncle of Mahomet, in virtue of which descent they
regarded themselves as the rightful heirs of the Prophet as
opposed to the Omayyads, the descendants of Omayya. Throughout
the second period of the Omayyads, representatives of this
family were among their most dangerous opponents, partly by
the skill with which they undermined the reputation of the
reigning princes by accusations against their orthodoxy,
their moral character and their administration in general,
and partly by their cunning manipulation of internecine
jealousies among the Arabic and non-Arabic subjects of the
empire. In the reign of Merwan II. this opposition culminated
in the rebellion of Ibrahim the Imam, the fourth in descent
from Abbas, who, supported hy the province of Khorasan, achieved
considerable successes, but was captured (A.D. 747) and died
in prison (as some hold, assassinated). The quarrel was taken
up by his brother Abdallah, known by the name of Abu'l-Abbas
as-Saffah, who after a decisive victory on the Greater Zab
(750) finally crushed the Omayyads and was proclaimed caliph.
The history of the new dynasty is marked by perpetual
strife and the development of luxury and the liberal arts,
in place of the old-fashioned austerity of thought and
manners. Mansur, the second of the house, who transferred
the seat of government to Bagdad, fought successfully against
the peoples of Asia Minor, and the reigns of Harun al-Rashid
(786--809) and Mamun (813-833) were periods of extraordinary
splendour. But the empire as a whole stagnated and then decayed
rapidly. Independent monarchs established themselves in
Africa and Khorasan (Spain had remained Omayyad throughout),
and in the north-west the Greeks successfully encroached.
The ruin of the dynasty came, however, from those Turkish
slaves who were constituted as a royal bodyguard by Moqtasim
(833-842). Their power steadily grew until Radi (934-941) was
constrained to hand over most of the royal functions to Mahommed
b. Raik. Province after province renounced the authority
of the caliphs, who were merely lay figures, and finally
Hulagu, the Mongol chief, burned Bagdad (Feb. 28th, 1258).
The Abbasids still maintained a feeble show of authority,
confined to religious matters, in Egypt under the Mamelukes,
but the dynasty finally disappeared with Motawakkil III., who
was carried away as a prisoner to Constantinople by Selim I.
See CALIPHATE (Sections B, 14 and C), where a
detailed account of the dynasty will be found.
ABBAS MIRZA (c. 1783-1833), prince of Persia, was a
younger son of the shah, Feth Ali, but on account of his
mother's royal birth was destined by his father to succeed
him. Entrusted with the government of a part of Persia, he
sought to rule it in European fashion, and employed officers
to reorganize his army. He was soon at war with Russia, and
his aid was eagerly solicited by both England and Napoleon,
anxious to checkmate one another in the East. Preferring
the friendship of France, Abbas continued the war against
Russia, but his new ally could give him very little assistance,
and in 1814 Persia was compelled to make a disadvantageous
peace. He gained some successes during a war between Turkey
and Persia which broke out in 1821, but cholera attacked his
army, and a treaty was signed in 1823. His second war with
Russia, which began in 1825, was attended with the same want of
success as the former one, and Persia was forced to cede some
territory. When peace was made in 1828 Abbas then sought
to restore order in the province of Khorasan, which was
nominally under Persian supremacy, and while engaged in the
task died at Meshed in 1833. In 1834 his eldest son, Mahommed
Mirza, succeeded Feth Ali as shah. Abbas was an intelligent
prince, possessed some literary taste, and it noteworthy
on account of the comparative simplicity of his life.
ABBAS-TUMAN, a spa in Russian Transcaucasia, government of
Tiflis, 50 m. S.W. of the Borzhom railway station and 65
m. E. of Batum, very picturesquely situated in a cauldron-shaped
valley. It has hot sulphur baths (93 1/2 deg. -118 1/2 deg.
Fahr.) and an astronomical observatory (4240 ft.).
ABBAZIA, a popular summer and winter resort of Austria, in
Istria, 56 m. S.E. of Trieste by rail. Pop. (1900) 2343. It
is situated on the Gulf of Quarnero in a sheltered position at
the foot of the Monte Maggiore (4580 ft.), and is surrounded
by beautiiul woods of laurel. The average temperature is 50 deg.
Fahr. in winter, and 77 deg. Fahr. in summer. The old abbey,
San Giacomo della Priluca, from which the place derives its
name, has been converted into a villa. Abbazia is frequented
annually by about 16,000 visitors. The whole sea-coast to
the north and south of Abbazia is rocky and picturesque,
and contains several smaller winter-resorts. The largest
of them is Lovrana (pop. 513), situated 5 m. to the south.
ABBESS (Lat. abbatissa, fem. form of abbas, abbot),
the female superior of an abbey or convent of nuns. The
mode of election, position, rights and authority of an abbess
correspond generally with those of an abbot (q.v.). The
office is elective, the choice being by the secret votes of the
sisters from their own body. The abbess is solemnly admitted
to her office by episcopal benediction, together with the
conferring of a staff and pectoral cross, and holds for life,
though liable to be deprived for misconduct. The council of
Trent fixed the qualifying age at forty, with eight years of
profession. Abbesses have a right to demand absolute obedience
of their nuns, over whom they exercise discipline, extending
even to the power of expulsion, subject, however, to the
bishop. As a female an abbess is incapable of performing the
spiritual functions of the priesthood belonging to an abbot.
She cannot ordain, confer the veil, nor excommunicate. In
England abbesses attended ecclesiastical councils, e.g. that
of Becanfield in 694, where they signed before the presbyters.
By Celtic usage abbesses presided over joint-houses of monks and
nuns. This custom accompanied Celtic monastic missions to France
and Spain, and even to Rome itself. At a later period, A.D.
1115, Robert, the founder of Fontevraud, committed the government
of the whole order, men as well as women, to a female superior.
In the German Evangelical church the title of abbess (Aebtissin)
has in some cases--e.g. Itzehoe--survived to designate the
heads of abbeys which since the Reformation have continued as
Stifte, i.e. collegiate foundations, which provide a home
and an income for unmarried ladies, generally of noble birth,
called canonesses (Kanonissinen) or more usually Stiftsdamen.
This office of abbess is of considerable social dignity, and
is sometimes filled by princesses of the reigning houses.
ABBEVILLE, a town of northern France, capital of an
arrondissement in the department of Somme, on the Somme, 12
m. from its mouth in the English Channel, and 28 m. N,W. of
Amiens on the Northern railway. Pop. (1901) 18,519; (1906)
18,971. It lies in a pleasant and fertile valley, and is
built partly on an island and partly on both sides of the
river, which is canalized from this point to the estuary. The
streets are narrow, and the houses are mostly picturesque old
structures, built of wood, with many quaint gables and dark
archways. The most remarkable building is the church of St
Vulfran, erected in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. The
original design was not completed. The nave has only two bays
and the choir is insignificant. The facade is a magnificent
specimen of the flamboyant Gothic style, flanked by two Gothic
towers. Abbeville has several other old churches and an
hotel-de-ville, with a belfry of the 13th century. Among
the numerous old houses, that known as the Maison de Francois
Ie, which is the most remarkable, dates from the 16th century.
There is a statue of Admiral Courbet (d. 1885) in the chief
square. The public institutions include tribunals of first instance
and of commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators, and a communal
college. Abbeville is an important industrial centre; in addition
to its old-established manufacture of cloth, hemp-spinning,
sugar-making, ship-building and locksmiths' work are carried on;
there is active commerce in grain, but the port has little trade.
Abbeville, the chief town of the district of Ponthieu, first
appears in history during the 9th century. At that time
belonging to the abbey of St Riquier, it was afterwards
governed by the counts of Ponthieu. Together with that county,
it came into the possession of the Alencon and other French
families, and afterwards into that of the house of Castillo,
from whom by marriage it fell in 1272 to Edward I., king of
England. French and English were its masters by turns till
1435 when, by the treaty of Arras, it was ceded to the duke of
Burgundy. In 1477 it was annexed by Louis XI., king of France,
and was held by two illegitimate branches of the royal family in
the 16th and 17th centuries, being in 1696 reunited to the crown.
ABBEY, EDWIN AUSTIN (1852- ), American painter, was born at
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 1st of April 1852. He left
the schools of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts at the
age of nineteen to enter the art department of the publishing
house of Harper & Brothers in New York, where, in company
with such men as Howard Pyle, Charles Stanley Reinhart, Joseph
Pennell and Alfred Parsons, he became very successful as an
illustrator. In 1878 he was sent by the Harpers to England
to gather material for illustrations of the poems of Robert
Herrick. These, published in 1882, attracted much attention,
and were followed by illustrations for Goldsmith's She
Stoops to Conquer (1887), for a volume of Old Songs
(1889), and for the comedies (and a few of the tragedies) of
Shakespeare. His water-colours and pastels were no less
successful than the earlier illustrations in pen and ink.
Abbey now became closely identified with the art life of
England, and was elected to the Royal Institute of Painters
in Water-Colours in 1883. Among his water-colours are ``The
Evil Eye'' (1877); ``The Rose in October'' (1879); ``An Old
Song'' (1886); ``The Visitors'' (1890), and ``The Jongleur''
(1892). Possibly his best known pastels are ``Beatrice,''
``Phyllis,'' and ``Two Noble Kinsmen.'' In 1890 he made his
first appearance with an oil painting, ``A May Day Morn,'' at
the Royal Academy in London. He exhibited ``Richard duke of
Gloucester and the Lady Anne'' at the Royal Academy in 1896,
and in that year was elected A.R.A., becoming a full R.A. in
1898. Apart from his other paintings, special mention must
be made of the large frescoes entitled ``The Quest of the Holy
Grail,'' in the Boston Public Library, on which he was occupied
for some years; and in 1901 he was commissioned by King Edward
VII. to paint a picture of the coronation, containing many
portraits elaborately grouped. The dramatic subjects, and the
brilliant colouring of his on pictures, gave them pronounced
individuality among the works of contemporary painters.
Abbey became a member not only of the Royal Academy, but also
of the National Academy of Design of New York, and honorary
member of the Royal Bavarian Society, the Societe Nationale
des Beaux Arts (Paris), the American Water-Colour Society,
etc. He received first class gold medals at the International
Art Exhibition of Vienna in 1898, at Philadelphia in 1898,
at the Paris Exhibitions of 1889 and 1900, and at Berlin in
1903; and was made a chevalier of the French Legion of Honour.
ABBEY (Lat. abbatia; from Syr. abba, father), a
monastery, or conventual establishment, under the government
of an ABBOT or an ABBESS. A priory only differed from
an abbey in that the superior bore the name of prior instead
of abbot. This was the case in all the English conventual
cathedrals, e.g. Canterbury, Ely, Norwich, &c., where the
archbishop or bishop occupied the abbot's place, the superior
of the monastery being termed prior. Other priories were
originally offshoots from the larger abbeys, to the abbots
of which they continued subordinate; but in later times the
actual distinction between abbeys and priories was lost.
The earliest Christian monastic communities (see MONASTICISM)
with which we are acquainted consisted of groups of cells or
huts collected about a common centre, which was usually the abode
of some anchorite celebrated for superior holiness or singular
asceticism, but without any attempt at orderly arrangement.
The formation of such communities in the East does not date
from the introduction of Christianity. The example had been
already set by the Essenes in Judea and the Therapeutae in Egypt.
In the earliest age of Christian monasticism the ascetics
were accustomed to live singly, independent of one another,
at no great distance from some village, supporting themselves
by the labour of their own hands, and distributing the
surplus after the supply of their own scanty wants to the
poor. Increasing religious fervour, aided by persecution,
drove them farther and farther away from the abodes of men
into mountain solitudes or lonely deserts. The deserts
of Egypt swarmed with the ``cells'' or huts of these
anchorites. Anthony, who had retired to the Egyptian Thebaid
during the persecution of Maximin, A.D. 312, was the most
celebrated among them for his austerities, his sanctity, and
his power as an exorcist. His fame collected round him a
host of followers, emulous of his sanctity. The deeper he
withdrew into the wilderness, the more numerous his disciples
became. They refused to be separated from him, and built
their ceils round that of their spiritual father. Thus arose
the first monastic community, consisting of anchorites living
each in his own little dwelling, united together under one
superior. Anthony, as Neander remarks (Church History,
vol. iii. p. 316, Clark's trans.), ``without any conscious
design of his own, had become the founder of a new mode
of living in common, Coenobitism.'' By degrees order was
introduced in the groups of huts. They were arranged in
lines like the tents in an encampment, or the houses in a
street. From this arrangement these lines of single cells
came to be known as Laurae, Laurai, "streets" or "lanes."
The real founder of coenobian koinos, common, and bios,
life) monasteries in the modern sense was Pachomius, an Egyptian
of the beginning of the 4th century. The first community
established by him was at Tabennae, an island of the Nile in Upper
Egypt. Eight others were founded in his lifetime, numbering 3000
monks. Within fifty years from his death his societies could
reckon 50,000 members. These coenobia resembled vilIages,
peopled by a hard-working religious community, ail of one
sex. The buildings were detached, small and of the humblest
character. Each cell or hut, according to Sozomen (H.R. iii.
14), contained three monks. They took their chief meal in a
common refectory at 3 P.M., up to which hour they usually
fasted. They ate in silence, with hoods so drawn over their
faces that they could see nothing but what was on the table
before them. The monks spent all the time, not devoted to
religious services or study, in manual labour. Palladius,
who visited the Egyptian monasteries about the close of the
4th century, found among the 300 members of the coenobium of
Panopolis, under the Pachomian rule, 15 tailors, 7 smiths, 4
carpenters, 12 cameldrivers and 15 tanners. Each separate
community had its own oeconomus or steward, who was subject
to a chief oeconomus stationed at the head establishment.
All the produce of the monks' labour was committed to him, and
by him shipped to Alexandria. The money raised by the sale
was expended in the purchase of stores for the support of the
communities, and what was over was devoted to charity. Twice
in the year the superiors of the several coenobia met at
the chief monastery, under the presidency of an archimandrite
(``the chief of the fold,'' from miandra, a fold), and at
the last meeting gave in reports of their administration for the
year. The coenobia of Syria belonged to the Pachomian
institution. We learn many details concerning those in the
vicinity of Antioch from Chrysostom's writings. The monks
lived in separate huts, kalbbia, forming a religious hamlet
on the mountain side. They were subject to an abbot, and
observed a common rule. (They had no refectory, but ate their
common meal, of bread and water only, when the day's labour
was over, reclining on strewn grass, sometimes out of doors,)
Four times in the day they joined in prayers and psalms.
Santa Laura, Mount Athos.
The necessity for defence from hostile attacks, economy of
space and convenience of access from one part of the community
to another, by degrees dictated a more compact and orderly
arrangement of the buildings of a monastic coenobium. Large
piles of building were erected, with strong outside walls,
capable of resisting the assaults of an enemy, within which
all the necessary edifices were ranged round one or more
open courts, usually surrounded with cloisters. The usual
Eastern arrangement is exemplified in the plan of the convent
of Santa Laura, Mount Athos (Laura, the designation of a
monastery generally, being converted into a female saint).
This monastery, like the oriental monasteries generally, is
surrounded by a strong and lofty blank stone wall, enclosing
an area of between 3 and 4 acres. The longer side extends to
a length of about 500 feet. There is only one main entrance,
on the north side (A), defended by three separate iron
doors. Near the entrance is a large tower (M), a constant
feature in the monasteries of the Levant. There is a small
postern gate at L. The enceinte comprises two large open
courts, surrounded with buildings connected with cloister
galleries of wood or stone. The outer court, which is much the
larger, contains the granaries and storehouses (K), and the
kitchen (H) and other offices connected with the refectory
(G). Immediately adjacent to the gateway is a two-storied
guest-house, opening from a cloister (C). The inner court is
surrounded by a cloister (EE), from which open the monks' cells
(II). In the centre of this court stands the catholicon
or conventual church, a square building with an apse of
the cruciform domical Byzantine type, approached by a domed
narthex. In front of the church stands a marble fountain
(F), covered by a dome supported on columns. Opening from
the western side of the cloister, but actually standing in
the outer court, is the refectory (G), a large cruciform
building, about 100 feet each way, decorated within with
frescoes of saints. At the upper end is a semicircular
recess, recalling the triclinium of the Lateran Palace
A. Gateway.
B. Chapels.
C. Guest-house.
D. Church.
E. Cloister.
F. Fountain.
G. Refectory.
H. Kitchen.
I. Cells.
K. Storehouses.
L. Postern gate.
M. Tower.
FIG. 1.---Monastery of Santa Laura, Mount Athos (Lenoir).
at Rome, in which is placed the seat of the hegumenos or
abbot. This apartment is chiefly used as a hall of meeting, the
oriental monks usually taking their meals in their separate cells.
Vatopede
St Laura is exceeded in magnitude by the convent of Vatopede
also on Mount Athos. This enormous establishment covers at
least 4 acres of ground, and contains so many separate buildings
within its massive walls that it resembles a fortified town. It
lodges above 300 monks, and the establishment of the hegumenos is
described as resembling the court of a petty sovereign prince.
The immense refectory, of the same cruciform shape as that of
St Laura, will accommodate 500 guests at its 24 marble tables.
The annexed plan of a Coptic monastery, from Lenoir,
shows a church of three aisles, with cellular apses, and
two ranges of cells on either side of an oblong gallery.
Benedictine.
Monasticism in the West owes its extension and development
to Benedict of Nursia (born A.D. 480). His rule was
diffused with miraculous rapidity from the parent foundation
on Monte Cassino through the whole of western Europe, and
every country witnessed the erection of monasteries far
exceeding anything that had yet been seen in spaciousness and
splendour. Few great towns in Italy were without their
Benedictine convent, and they quickly rose in all the great
centres of population in England, France and Spain. The number
of these monasteries founded between A.D. 520 and 700 is
amazing. Before the Council of Constance, A.D. 1415, no
fewer than 15,070 abbeys had been established of this order
alone. The buildings of a Benedictine abbey were uniformly
arranged ofter one plan, modified where necessary (as at
Durham and Worcester, where the monasteries stand close to the
steep bank of a river) to accommodate the arrangement to local
circumstances. We have no existing examples of the earlier
monasteries of the Benedictine order. They have all yielded
to the ravages of time and the violence of man. But we
have fortunately preserved to us an elaborate plan of the
great Swiss monastery of St Gall, erected about A.D. 820,
which puts us in possession of the whole arrangements of a
monastery of the first class towards the early part of the 9th
century. This curious and interesting plan has been made
the subject of a memoir both by Keller (Zurich, 1844) and by
Professor Robert Willis (Arch. Journal, 1848, vol. v. pp.
86-117. To the latter we are indebted for the substance of
the following description, as well as for the plan, reduced
from his elucidated transcript of the original preserved
FIG. 2.---Plan of Coptic Monastery.
A. Narthex. B. Church.
C. Corridor, with cells on each side.
D. Staircase.
in the archives of the convent. The general apperance
of the convent is that of a town of isolated houses with
streets running between them. It is evidently planned in
compliance with the Benedictine rule, which enjoined that,
if possible, the monastery should contain within itself
every necessary of life, as well as the buildings more
intimately connected with the religious and social life of its
inmates. It should comprise a mill, a bakehouse, stables
and cow-houses, together with accommodation for carrying
on all necessary mechanical arts within the walls, so as to
obviate the necessity of the monks going outside its limits.
The general distribution of the buildings may be thus
described:-The church, with its cloister to the south, occupies
the centre of a quadrangular area, about 430 feet square. The
buildings, as in all great monasteries, are distributed into
groups. The church forms the nucleus, as the centre of the
religious life of the community. In closest connexion with
the church is the group of buildings appropriated to the
monastic line and its daily requirements---the refectory for
eating, the dormitory for sleeping, the common room for social
intercourse, the chapter-house for religious and disciplinary
conference. These essential elements of monastic life
are ranged about a cloister court, surrounded by a covered
arcade, affording communication sheltered ftom the elements
between the various buildings. The infirmary for sick monks,
with the physician's house and physic garden, lies to the
east. In the same group with the infirmary is the school for
the novices. The outer school, with its headmaster's house
against the opposite wall of the church, stands outside the
convent enclosure, in close proximity to the abbot's house,
that he might have a constant eye over them. The buildings
devoted to hospitality are divided into three groups,--one
for the reception of distinguished guests, another for monks
visiting the monastery, a third for poor travellers and
pilgrims. The first and third are placed to the right and
left of the common entrance of the monastery,---the hospitium
for distinguished guests being placed on the north side of the
church, not far from the abbot's house; that for the poor
on the south side next to the farm buildings. The monks are
lodged in a guest-house built against the north wall of the
church. The group of buildings connected with the material
wants of the establishment is placed to the south and west
of the church, and is distinctly separated from the monastic
buildings. The kitchen, buttery and offices are reached by a
passage from the west end of the refectory, and are connected
with the bakehouse and brewhouse, which are placed still farther
away. The whole of the southern and western sides is devoted to
workshops, stables and farm-buildings. The buildings, with some
exceptions, seem to have been of one story only, and all but
the church were probably erected of wood. The whole includes
thirty-three separate blocks. The church (D) is cruciform,
with a nave of nine bays, and a semicircular apse at either
extremity. That to the west is surrounded by a semicircular
colonnade, leaving an open ``paradise'' (E) between it and
the wall of the church. The whole area is divided by screens
into various chapels. The high altar (A) stands immediately
to the east of the transept, or ritual choir; the altar
of St Paul (B) in the eastern, and that of St Peter (C) in
the western apse. A cylindrical campanile stands detached
from the church on either side of the western apse (FF).
The ``cloister court', (G) on the south side of the nave of the
FIG. 3.--Ground-plan of St
CHURCH. U. House for blood-letting.
A. High altar. V. School.
B. Altar of St Paul. W. Schoolmaster's lodgings.
C. Altar of St Peter. X1X1. Guest-house for those
D. Nave. of superior rank
E. Paradise. X2X2. Guest-house for the poor.
FF. Towers. Y. Guest-chamber for strange monks.
MONASTIC BUILDINGS
G. Cloister. MENIAL DEPARTMENT.
H. Calefactory, with Z. Factory.
dormitory over. a. Threshing-floor
I. Necessary. b. Workshops.
J. Abbot's house. c, c. Mills.
K. Refectory. d. Kiln.
L. Kitchen. e. Stables.
M. Bakehouse and brewhouse. f Cow-sheds.
N. Cellar. g. Goat-sheds.
O. Parlour. (over. h. Pig-sties. i. Sheep-folds.
P1. Scriptorium with library k, k, k. Servants' and workmen's
P2. Sacristy and vestry. sleeping-chambers.
Q. House of Novices--1.chapel; l. Gardener's house
2. refectory; 3. calefactory; m,m. Hen and duck house.
4. dormitory; 5. master's room n. Poultry-keeper's house.
6. chambers. o. Garden.
R. Infirmary--1--6 as above in q. Bakehouse for sacramental
the house of novices.
S. Doctor's house. s, s, s. Kitchens.
T. Physic garden. t, t, t. Baths.
church has on its east side the ``pisalis'' or ``calefactory',
(H), the common sitting-room of the brethren, warmed by
flues beneath the floor. On this side in later monasteries
we invariably find the chapterhouse, the absence of
which in this plan is somewhat surprising. It appears,
however, from the inscriptions on the plan itself, that the
north walk of the cloisters served for the purposes of a
chapter-house, and was fitted up with benches on the long
sides. Above the calefactory is the ``dormitory'' opening
into the south transept of the church, to enable the monks
to attend the nocturnal services with readiness. A passage
at the other end leads to the ``necessarium'' (I), a portion
of the monastic buildings always planned with extreme
care. The southern side is occupied by the ``refectory''
(K), from the west end of which by a vestibule the kitchen
(L) is reached. This is separated from the main buildings
of the monastery, and is connected by a long passage with
a building containing the bake house and brewhouse (M), and
the sleeping-rooms of the servants. The upper story of the
refectory is the ``vestiarium,'' where the ordinary clothes of
the brethren were kept. On the western side of the cloister
is another two story building (N). The cellar is below,
and the larder and store-room above. Between this building
and the church, opening by one door into the cloisters, and
by another to the outer part of the monastery area, is the
``parlour'' for interviews with visitors from the external
world (O). On the eastern side of the north transept is the
``scriptorium'' or writing-room (P1), with the library above.
To the east of the church stands a group of buildings comprising
two miniature conventual establishments, each complete in
itself. Each has a covered cloister surrounded by the usual
buildings, i.e. refectory, dormitory, &c., and a church or
chapel on one side, placed back to back. A detached building
belonging to each contains a bath and a kitchen. One of these
diminutive convents is appropriated to the ``oblati'' or novices
(Q), the other to the sick monks as an ``imfirmary'' (R).
The ``residence of the physicians'' (S) stands contiguous to the
infirmary, and the physic garden (T) at the north-east corner of
the monastery. Besides other rooms, it contains a drug store,
and a chamber for those who are dangerously ill. The ``house
for bloodletting and purging'' adjoins it on the west (U).
The ``outer school,'' to the north of the convent area, contains
a large schoolroom divided across the middle by a screen or
partition, and surrounded by fourteen little rooms, termed
the dwellings of the scholars. The head-master's house (W)
is opposite, built against the side wall of the church. The
two ``hospitia'' or `' guest-houses'' for the entertainment
of strangers of different degrees (X1 X2) comprise a large
common chamber or refectory in the centre, surrounded by
sleeping-apartments. Each is provided with its own brewhouse
and bakehouse, and that for travellers of a superior order has
a kitchen and storeroom, with bedrooms for their servants and
stables for their horses. There is also an ``hospitium'' for
strange monks, abutting on the north wall of the church (Y).
Beyond the cloister, at the extreme verge of the convent
area to the south, stands the `factory'' (Z), containing
workshops for shoemakers, saddlers (or shoemakers, sellarii),
cutlers and grinders, trencher-makers, tanners, curriers,
fullers, smiths and goldsmiths, with their dwellings in the
rear. On this side we also find the farmbuildings, the large
granary and threshing-floor (a), mills (c), malthouse
(d). Facing the west are the stables (e), ox-sheds
(f), goatstables (gl, piggeries (h), sheep-folds (i),
together with the servants' and labourers' quarters (k).
At the south-east corner we find the hen and duck house, and
poultry-yard (m), and the dwelling of the keeper (n).
Hard by is the kitchen garden (o), the beds bearing the
names of the vegetables growing in them, onions, garlic,
celery, lettuces, poppy, carrots, cabbages, &c., eighteen in
all. In the same way the physic garden presents the names
of the medicinal herbs, and the cemetery (p) those of
the trees, apple, pear, plum, quince, &c., planted there.
Canterbury Cathedral.
A curious bird's-eye view of Canterbury Cathedral and its
annexed conventual buildings, taken about 1165, is preserved
in the Great Psalter in the library of Trinity College,
Cambridge. As elucidated by Professor Willis,1 it exhibits
the plan of a great Benedictine monastery in the 12th century,
and enables us to compare it with that of the 9th as seen at St
Gall. We see in both the same general principles of arrangement,
which indeed belong to all Benedictine monasteries, enabling
us to determine with precision the disposition of the various
buildings, when little more than fragments of the walls
exist. From some local reasons, however, the cloister and
monastic buildings are placed on the north, instead, as is far
more commonly the case, on the south of the church. There is
also a separate chapter-house, which is wanting at St Gall.
The buildings at Canterbury, as at St Gall, form separate
groups. The church forms the nucleus. In immediate contact
with this, on the north side, lie the cloister and the
group of buildings devoted to the monastic life. Outside of
these, to the west and east, are the ``halls and chambers
devoted to the exercise of hospitality, with which every
monastery was provided, for the purpose of receiving as
guests persons who visited it, whether clergy or laity,
travellers, pilgrims or paupers.'' To the north a large
open court divides the monastic from the menial buildings,
intentionally placed as remote as possible from the conventual
buildings proper, the stables, granaries, barn, bakehouse,
brewhouse, laundries, &c., inhabited by the lay servants of the
establishment. At the greatest possible distance from the
church, beyond the precinct of the convent, is the eleemosynary
department. The almonry for the relief of the poor,
with a great hall annexed, forms the paupers' hospitium.
The most important group of buildings is naturally that devoted
to monastic life. This includes two Cloisters, the great
cloister surrounded by the buildings essentially connected with
the daily life of the monks,---the church to the south, the
refectory or frater-house here as always on the side opposite
to the church, and farthest removed from it, that no sound or
smell of eating might penetrate its sacred precincts, to the
east the dormitory, raised on a vaulted undercroft, and the
chapter-house adjacent, and the lodgings of the cellarer to the
west. To this officer was committed the provision of the
monks' daily food, as well as that of the guests. He was,
therefore, appropriately lodged in the immediate vicinity of
the refectory and kitchen, and close to the guest-hall. A
passage under the dormitory leads eastwards to the smaller
or infirmary cloister, appropriated to the sick and infirm
monks. Eastward of this cloister extend the hall and chapel of
the infirmary, resembling in form and arrangement the nave and
chancel of an aisled church. Beneath the dormitory, looking
out into the green court or herbarium, lies the ``pisalis''
or ``calefactory,'' the common room of the monks. At its
north-east corner access was given from the dormitory to the
necessarium, a portentous edifice in the form of a Norman
hall, 145 ft. long by 25 broad, containing fifty-five seats. It
was, in common with all such offices in ancient monasteries,
constructed with the most careful regard to cleanliness and
health, a stream of water running through it from end to
end. A second smaller dormitory runs from east to west for
the accommodation of the conventual officers, who were bound
to sleep in the dormitory. Close to the refectory, but outside
the cloisters, are the domestic offices connected with it:
to the north, the kitchen, 47 ft. square, surmounted by a
lofty pyramidal roof, and the kitchen court; to the west, the
butteries, pantries, &c. The infirmary had a small kitchen of its
own. Opposite the refectory door in the cloister are two
lavatories, an invariable adjunct to a monastic dining-hall,
at which the monks washed before and after taking food.
The buildings devoted to hospitality were divided into three
groups. The prior's group ``entered at the south-east angle
of the green court, placed near the most sacred part of the
cathedral, as befitting the distinguished ecclesiastics or
nobility who were assigned to him.'' The cellarer's buildings
were near the west end of the nave, in which ordinary visitors
of the middle class were hospitably entertained. The inferior
pilgrims and paupers were relegated to the north hall or almonry,
just within the gate, as far as possible from the other two.
Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Abbey is another example of a great Benedictine
abbey, identical in its general arrangements, so far as they
can be traced, with those described above. The cloister and
, monastic buildings lie to the south side of the church.
Parallel to the nave, on the south side of the cloister,
was the refectory, with its lavatory at the door. On the
eastern side we find the remains of the dormitory, raised
on a vaulted substructure and communicating with the south
transept. The chapter-house opens out of the same alley of the
cloister. The small cloister lles to the south-east of
the larger cloister, and still farther to the east we have
the remains of the infirmary with the table hall, the
refectory of those who were able to leave their chambers. The
abbot's house formed a small courtyard at the west entrance,
close to the inner gateway. Considerable portions of this
remain, including the abbot's parlour. celebrated as ``the
Jerusalem Chamber,'' his hall, now used for the Westminster
King's Scholars, and the kitchen and butteries beyond.
York.
St Mary's Abbey, York, of which the ground-plan is annexed,
exhibits the usual Benedictine arrangements. The precincts
are surrounded by a strong fortified wall on three sides,
the river Ouse being sufficient protection on the fourth
side. The entrance was by a strong gateway (U) to the
north. Close to the entrance was a chapel, where is now
the church of St Olaf (W), in which the new-comers paid
their devotions immediately on their arrival. Near the
gate to the south was the guest-hall or hospitium (T).
The buildings are completely ruined, but enough remains to
enable us to identify the grand cruciform church (A), the
cloister-court with the chapterhouse (B), the refectory (I),
the kitchen-court with its offices (K, O, O) and the other
principal apartments. The infirmary has perished completely.
Some Benedictine houses display exceptional arrangements,
dependent upon local circumstances, e.g. the dormitory of
Worcester runs from east to west, from the west walk of the
cloister, and that of Durham is built over the west, instead of
FIG. 4
St Mary's Abbey, York (Benedictine).--Churton's Monnastic Ruins.
A. Church. O. Offices.
B. Chapter-house. P. Cellars.
C. Vestibule to ditto. Q. Uncertain.
E. Library or scriptorium. R. Passage to abbot's house.
F. Calefactory. S. Passage to common house.
G. Necessary. T. Hospitium.
H. Parlour. U. Great gate.
I. Refectory. V. Porter's lodge.
K. Great kitchen and court. W. Church of St Olaf.
L. Cellarer's office. X. Tower.
M. Cellars. Y. Entrance from Bootham.
N. Passage to cloister.
as usual, over the east walk; but, as a general rule, the arrangements
deduced from the examples described may be regarded as invariable.
The history of monasticism is one of alternate periods of
decay and revival. With growth in popular esteem came increase
in material wealth, leading to luxury and worldliness. The
first religious ardour cooled, the strictness of the rule was
relaxed, until by the 10th century the decay of discipline
was so complete in France that the monks are said to have
been frequently unacquainted with the rule of St Benedict,
and even ignorant that they were bound by any rule at
all. The reformation of abuses generally took the form of
the establishment of new monastic orders, with new and more
stringent rules, requiring a modification of the architectural
arrangements. One of the earliest of these reformed orders
was the Cluniac. This order took its name from,the little
village of Cluny, 12 miles N.W. of Macon, near which, about
A.D. 909, a reformed Benedictine abbey was founded by William,
duke of Aquitaine and count of Auvergne, under Berno, abbot of
Beaume. He was succeeded by Odo, who is often regarded as
the founder of the order. The fame of Cluny spread far and
wide. Its rigid rule was adopted by a vast number of the
old Benedictine abbeys, who placed themselves in affiliation
to the mother society, while new foundations sprang up in
large numbers, all owing allegiance to the ``archabbot,''
established at Cluny. By the end of the 12th century the
number of monasteries affiliated to Cluny in the various
countries of western Europe amounted to 2000. The monastic
establishment of Cluny was one of the most extensive
and magnificent in France. We may form some idea of its
enormous dimensions from the fact recorded, that when, A.D.
1245, Pope Innocent IV., accompanied by twelve cardinals,
FIG. 5--Abbey of Cluny, from
A. Gateway. F. Tomb of St Hugh. M. Bakehouse.
B. Narthex. G. Nave. N. Abbey buildings.
C. Choir. H. Cloister. O. Garden.
D. High-altar. K. Abbot's house. P. Refectory.
E. Retro-altar. L. Guest-house.
a patriarch, three archbishops, the two generals of the
Carthusians and Cistercians, the king (St Louis), and three
of his sons, the queen mother, Baldwin, count of Flanders
and emperor of Constantinople, the duke of Burgundy, and
six lords, visited the abbey, the whole party, with their
attendants, were lodged withn the monastery without disarranging
the monks, 400 in number. Nearly the whole of the abbey
buildings, including the magnificent church, were swept away
at the close of the 18th century. When the annexed ground-plan
was taken, shortly before its destruction, nearly all the
monastery, with the exception of the church, had been rebuilt.
The church, the ground-plan of which bears a remarkable
resemblance to that of Lincoln Cathedral, was of vast
dimensions. It was 656 ft. high. The nave (G) had double
vaulted aisles on either side. Like Lincoln, it had an
eastern as well as a western transept, each furnished with
apsidal chapels to the east. The western transept was 213
ft. long, and the eastern 123 ft. The choir terminated in
a semicircular apse (F), surrounded by five chapels, also
semicircular. The western entrance was approached by an
ante-church, or narthex (B), itself an aisled church of
no mean dimensions, flanked by two towers, rising from a
stately flight of steps bearing a large stone cross. To the
south of the church lay the cloister-court (H), of immense
size, placed much farther to the west than is usually the
case. On the south side of the cloister stood the refectory
(P), an immense building, 100 ft. long and 60 ft. wide,
accommodating six longitudinal and three transverse rows of
tables. It was adorned with the portraits of the chief
benefactors of the abbey, and with Scriptural subjects. The
end wall displayed the Last Judgment. We are unhappily unable
to identify any other of the principal buildings (N). The
abbot's residence (K), still partly standing, adjoined the
entrance-gate. The guest-house (L) was close by. The bakehouse
(M), also remaining, is a detached building of immense size.
English Cluniac
The first English house of the Cluniac order was that of
Lewes, founded by the earl of Warren, c. A.D. 1077. Of
this only a few fragments of the domestic buildings exist.
The best preserved Cluniac houses in England are Castle Acre,
Norfolk, and Wenlock, Shropshire. Ground-plans of both are
given in Britton's Architectural Antiquities. They show
several departures from the Benedictine arrangement. In
each the prior's house is remarkably perfect. All Cluniac
houses in England were French colonies, governed by priors
of that nation. They did not secure their independence nor
become ``abbeys'' till the reign of Henry VI. The Cluniac
revival, with all its brilliancy, was but short-lived.
The celebrity of this, as of other orders, worked its moral
ruin. With their growth in wealth and dignity the Cluniac
foundations became as worldly in life and as relaxed in
discipline as their predecessors, and a fresh reform was needed.
Cistercian
The next great monastic revival, the Cistercian, arising in
the last years of the 11th century, had a wider diffusion,
and a longer and more honourable existence. Owing its real
origin, as a distinct foundation of reformed Benedictines, in
the year 1098, to Stephen Harding (a native of Dorsetshire,
educated in the monastery of Sherborne), and deriving its
name from Citeaux (Cistercium), a desolate and almost
inaccessible forest solitude, on the borders of Champagne and
Burgundy, the rapid growth and wide celebrity of the order
are undoubtedly to be attributed to the enthusiastic piety
of St Bernard, abbot of the first of the monastic colonies,
subsequently sent forth in such quick succession by the
first Cistercian houses, the far-famed abbey of Clairvaux
(de Clara Valle), A.D. 1116. The rigid self-abnegation,
which was the ruling principle of this reformed congregation
of the Benedictine order, extended itself to the churches and
other buildings erected by them. The characteristic of the
Cistercian abbeys was the extremest simplicity and a studied
plainness. Only one tower--a central one --was permitted, and
that was to be very low. Unnecessary pinnacles and turrets
were prohibited. The triforium was omitted. The windows
were to be plain and undivided, and it was forbidden to
decorate them with stained glass. All needless ornament was
proscribed. The crosses must be of wood; the candlesticks of
iron. The renunciation of the world was to be evidenced
in all that met the eye. The same spirit manifested itself
in the choice of the sites of their monasteries. The more
dismal, the more savage, the more hopeless a spot appeared,
the more did it please their rigid mood. But they came
not merely as ascetics, but as improvers. The Cistercian
monasteries are, as a rule, found placed in deep well-watered
valleys. They always stand on the border of a stream; not
rarely, as at Fountains, the buildings extend over it. These
valleys, now so rich and productive, wore a very different
aspect when the brethren first chose them as the place of their
retirement. Wide swamps, deep morasses, tangled thickets,
wild impassable forests, were their prevailing features. The
``bright valley,'' Clara Vallis of St Bernard, was known
as the ``valley of Wormwood,'' infamous as a den of robbers.
``It was a savage dreary solitude, so utterly barren that
at first Bernard and his companions were reduced to live on
beech leaves.''-(Milman's Lat. Christ. vol. iii. p. 335.)
Clairvaux
All Cistercian monasteries, unless the circumstances of the
locality forbade it, were arranged according to one plan. The
general arrangement and distribution of the various
buildings, which went to make up one of these vast
establishments, may be gathered from that of St Bernard's own
abbey of Clairvaux, which is here given. It will be observed
that the abbey precincts are surrounded by a strong wall,
furnished at intervals with watch-towers and other defensive
works. The wall is nearly encircled by a stream of water,
artificially diverted from the small rivulets which flow
through the precincts, furnishing the establishment with
an abundant supply in every part, for the litigation of
the gardens and orchards, the sanitary requirements of the
brotherhood and for the use of the offices and workshops.
The precincts are divided across the centre by a wall,
running from N. to S., into an outer and inner ward,--the
former containing the menial, the latter the monastic
buildings. The precincts are entered by a gateway (P), at
the extreme western extremity, giving admission to the lower
ward. Here the barns, granaries, stables, shambles, workshops
and workmen,s lodgings were placed, without any regard to
symmetry, convenience being the only consideration. Advancing
eastwards, we have before us the wall separating the
FIG. 6.--.Clairvaux, No. 1 (Cistercian), General
A. Cloisters. I. Wine-press and O. Public presse.
B. Ovens, and corn hay-chamber P. Gateway.
oil-mills K. Parlour R. Remains of old monastery
C. St Bernard's cell. L. Workshops and.
D. Chief entrance. workmen's lodgings S. Oratory.
E. Tanks for fish. V. Tile-works.
F. Guest-house. M. Slaughter-house. X. Tile-kiln.
G. Abbot's house. N. Barns and stables. V. Water-courses.
H. Stables.
outer and inner ward, and the gatehouse (D) affording communication
between the two. On passing through the gateway, the outer
court of the inner ward was entered, with the western facade
of the monastic church in front. Immediately on the right
of entrance was the abbot's house (G), in close proximity to
the guest-house (F). On the other side of the court were the
stables, for the accommodation of the horses of the guests
and their attendants (H). The church occupied a central
position. To the south was the great cloister (A),
surrounded by the chief monastic buildings, and farther to
the east the smaller cloister, opening out of which were
the infirmary, novices' lodgings and quarters for the aged
monks. Still farther to the east, divided from the monastic
buildings by a wall, were the vegetable gardens and orchards,
and tank for fish. The large fish-ponds, an indispensable
adjunct to any ecclesiastical foundation, on the formation
of which the monks lavished extreme care and pains, and
which often remain as almost the only visible traces of these
vast establishments, were placed outside the abbey walls.
Plan No. 2 furninshes the ichnography of the distinctly
monastic buildings on a larger scale. The usually unvarying
arrangement of the Cistercian houses allows us to accept
this as a type of the monasteries of this order. The church
(A) is the chief feature. It consists of a vast nave of
eleven bays, entered by a narthex, with a transept and short
apsidal choir. (It may be remarked that the eastern limb in
all unaltered Cistercian churches is remarkably short, and
usually square.) To the east of each limb of the transept
are two square chapels, divided according to Cistercian
rule by solid walls. Nine radiating chapels, similarly
divided, surround the apse. The stalls of the monks,
forming the ritual choir, occupy the four eastern bays of the
nave. There was a second range of stalls in the extreme
western bays of the nave for the fratres conversi, or lay
brothers. To the south of the church, so as to secure as
much sun as possible, the cloister was invariably placed,
except when local reasons forbade it. Round the cloister
(B) were ranged the buildings connected with the monks' daily
life. The chapter-house (C) always opened out of the east
walk of the cloister in a line with the south transept.
FIG. 7.--Clairvaux, No. 2 (Cistercian), Monastic
A. Church. L. Lodgings of novices. S. Cellars and storehouses.
B. Cloister.
C. Chapter-house. M. Old guest-house. T. Water-course.
D. Monks' parlour. N. Old abbot's lodgings. U. Saw-mill and oil mill
E. Calefactory.
F. Kitchen and court. O. Cloister of V. Currier's shop.
G. Refectory. supernumerary monks.
H. Cemetery. X. Sacristy.
I. Little cloister. P. Abbot's hall. Y. Little library.
K. Infirmary. Q. Cell of St Bernard. Z. Undercroft of dormitory.
R. Stables.
In Cistercian houses this was quadrangular, and was divided
by pillars and arches into two or three aisles. Between
it and the transept we find the sacristy (X), and a small
book-room (Y) armariolum, where the brothers deposited the
volumes borrowed from the library. On the other side of the
chapter-house, to the south, is a passage (D) communicating
with the courts and buildings beyond. This was sometimes
known as the parlour, colloquii locus, the monks having the
privilege of conversation here. Here also, when iscipline
became relaxed, traders, who had the liberty of admission,
were allowed to display their goods. Beyond this we often
find the calefactorium or day-room--an apartment warmed
by flues beneath the pavement, where the brethren, half
frozen during the night offices, betook themselves after
the conclusion of lauds, to gain a little warmth, grease
their sandals and get themselves ready for the work of the
day. In the plan before us this apartment (E) opens from the
south cloister walk, adjoining the refectory. The place usually
assigned to it is occupied by the vaulted substructure of the
dormitory (Z). The dormitory, as a rule, was placed on the
east side of the cloister, running over the calethetory and
chapter-house, and joined the south transept, where a flight
of steps admitted the brethren into the church for nocturnal
services. Opening out of the dormitory was always the
necessarium, planned with the greatest regard to health and
cleanliness, a water-course invariably running from end to
end. The refectory opens out of the south cloister at G.
The position of the refectory is usually a marked point of
difference between Benedictine and Cistercian abbeys. In the
former, as at Canterbury, the refectory ran east and west
parallel to the nave of the church, on the side of the cloister
farthest removed from it. In the Cistercian monasturies, to
keep the noise and smell of dinner still farther away from
the sacred building, the refectory was built north and south,
at right angles to the axis of the church. It was often
divided, sometimes into two, sometimes, as here, into three
aisles. Outside the refectory door, in the cloister,
was the lavatory, where the monks washed their hands at
dinner-time. The buildings belonging to the material life of
the monks lay near the refectory, as far as possible from the
church, to the S.W. With a distinct entrance from the outer
court was the kitchen court (F), with its buttery, scullery
and larder, and the important adjunct of a stream of running
water. Farther to the west, projecting beyond the line of
the west front of the church, were vast vaulted apartments
(SS), serving as cellars and storehouses, above which was
the dormitory of the conversi. Detached from these, and
separated entirely from the monastic buildings, were various
workshops, which convenience repuired to be banished to
the outer precincts, a saw-mill and oil-mill (UU) turned
by water, and a currier's shop (V), where the sandals
and leathern girdles of the monks were made and repaired.
Returning to the cloister, a vaulted passage admitted to the small
cloister (l), opening from the north side of which were eight
small cells, assigned to the scribes employed in copying works
for the library, which was placed in the upper story, accessible
by a turret staircase. To the south of the small cloister
a long hall will be noticed. This was a lecture-hall, or
rather a hall for the religious disputations customary among the
Cistercians. From this cloister opened the infirmary (K),
with its hall, chapel, cells, blood-letting house and other
dependencies. At the eastern verge of the vast group of buildings
we find the novices' lodgings (L), with a third cloister
near the novices' quarters and the original guest-house (M).
Detached from the great mass of the monastic edifices was the
original abbot's house (N), with its dining-hall (P). Closely
adjoining to this, so that the eye of the father of the whole
establishment should be constantly over those who stood the
most in need of his watchful care,--those who were training
for the monastic life, and those who had worn themselves
out in its duties,--was a fourth cloister (O), with annexed
buildings, devoted to the aged and infirm members of the
establishment. The cemetery, the last resting-place of the
brethren, lay to the north side of the nave of the church (H).
It will be seen from the above account that the arrangement of
a Cistercian monastery was in accordance with a clearly defined
system, and admirably adapted to its purpose. The base court
nearest to the outer wall contained the buildings belonging to
the functions of the body as agriculturists and employers of
labour. Advancing into the inner court, the buildings`devoted
to hospitality are found close to the entrance; while those
connected with the supply of the material wants of the brethren,
--the kitchen, cellars, &c.,--form a court of themselves
outside the cloister and quite detached from the church.
The church refectory, dormitory and other buildings belonging
to the professional life of the brethren surround the great
cloister. The small cloister beyond, with its scribes' cells,
library, hall for disputations, &c., is the centre of the
literary life of the community. The requirements of sickness
and old age are carefully provided for in the infirmary
cloister and that for the aged and infirm members of the
establishment. The same group contains the quarters of the novices.
This stereotyped arrangement is further shown by the
illustration of the mother establishment of Citeaux.
Citeaux.
A cross (A), planted on the high road, directs travellers to
the gate of the monastery. reached by an avenue of trees. On
one side of the gate-house (B) is a long building (C), probably
the almonry, with a dormitory above for the lower class of
guests. On the other side is a chapel (D). As soon as the
porter heard a stranger knock at the gate, he rose, saying,
Deo gratias, the opportunity for the exercise of hospitality
being regarded as a cause for thankfulness. On opening the
door he welcomed the new arrival with a blessing --Benedicite.
He fell on his knees before him, and then went to inform the
abbot. However important the abbot's occupations might
be, he at once hastened to receive him whom heaven had
sent. He also threw himself at his guest's feet, and
conducted him to the chapel (D) purposely built close to the
gate. After a short prayer, the abbot committed the guest
to the care of the brother hospitaller, whose duty it was
to provide for his wants and conduct the beast on which he
might be riding to the stable (F), built adjacent to the inner
gatehouse (E). This inner gate conducted into the base court
(T), round which were placed the barns, stables, cow-sheds, &c.
On the eastern side stood the dormitory of the lay brothers,
fratres conversi (G), detached from the cloister, with
cellars and storehouses below. At H, also outside the monastic
buildings proper, was the abbot's house, and annexed to it the
guest-house. For these buildings there was a separate door
of entrance into the church (S). The large cloister, with its
surrounding arcades, is seen at V. On the south end projects
the refectory (K), with its kitchen at I, accessible from
the base court. The long gabled building on the east side of
the cloister contained on the ground floor the chapter-house
and calefactory, with the monks' dormitory above (M),
communicating with the south transept of the church. At L
was the staircase to the dormitory. The small cloister is at
W, where were the carols or cells of the scribes, with the
library (P) over, reached by a turret staircase. At R we see
a portion of the infirmary. The whole precinct is surrounded
by a strong buttressed wall (XXX), pierced with arches,
FIG. 8.---Bird's-eye view of
A. Cross. H. Abbot's house. R. Infirmary.
B. Gate-house. I. Kitchen. S. Door to the church
C. Almonry. K. Refectory. for the lay brothers.
D. Chapel. L. Staircase to dormitory.
E. Inner gate-house. T. Base court.
F. Stable. M. Dormitory. V. Great cloister.
G. Dormitory of lay N. Church. W. Small cloister.
brethren. P. Library. X. Boundary wall.
through which streams of water are introduced. It will
be noticed that the choir of the church is short, and has
a square end instead of the usual apse. The tower, in
accordance with the Cistercian rule, is very low. The windows
throughout accord with the studied simplicity of the order.
Kirkstall Abbey.
The English Cistercian houses, of which there are such extensive
and beautiful remains at Fountains, Rievaulx, Kirkstall,
Tintern, Netley, &c., were mainly arranged after the same
plan, with slight local variations. As an example, we give
the groundplan of Kirkstall Abbey. which is one of the best
preserved. The church here is of the Cistercian type, with
a short chancel of two squares, and transepts with three
eastward chapels to each, divided by solid walls (2 2 2).
The whole is of the most studied plainness. The windows
are unornamented, and the nave has no triforium. The
cloister to the south (4) occupies the whole length of the
nave. On the east side stands the two-aisled chapter-house
(5), between which and the south transept is a small
sacristy (3), and on the other side two small apartments,
one of which was probably the parlour (6). Beyond this
stretches southward the calefactory or day-room of the monks
(14). Above this whole range of building runs the monks'
dormitory, opening by stairs into the south transept of the
church. At the other end were the necessaries. On thc south
side of the cloister we have the remains of the old refectory
(11), running, as in Benedictine houses, from east to west,
and the new refectory (12), which, with the increase of the
inmates of the house, superseded it, stretching, as is usual
in Cistercian houses, from north to south. Adjacent to this
apartment are the remains of the kitchen, pantry and buttery.
The arches of the lavatory are to be seen near the refectory
entrance. The western side of the cloister is, as usual,
occupied by vaulted cellars, supporting on the upper story
the dormitory of the lay brothers (8). Extending from the
FIG. 9 Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire
1. Church. 10. Common room.
2. Chapels. 11. Old refectory.
3. Sacristy. 12. New refectory.
4. Cloister. 13. Kitchen court.
5. Chapter-house. 14. Calefactory or day-room.
6. Parlour. 15. Kitchen and offices.
7. Punishment cell (?). 16-19. Uncertain; perhaps offices
8. Cellars, with dormitories for connected with the infirmary.
conversi over.
9. Guest-house. 20. Infirmary or abbot's house.
south-east angle of the main group of buildings are the
walls and foundations of a secondary group of considerable
extent. These have been identified either with the hospitium
or with the abbot's house, but they occupy the position in
which the infirmary is more usually found. The hall was
a very spacious apartment, measuring 83 ft. in length by
48 ft. 9 in. in breadth, and was divided by two rows of
columns. The fish-ponds lay between the monastery and
the river to the south. The abbey mill was situated
about 80 yards to the north-west. The millpool may be
distinctly traced, together with the gowt or mill stream.
Fountains Abbey.
Fountains Abbey, first founded A.D. 1132, is one of the
largest and best preserved Cistercian houses in England.
But the earlier buildings received considerable additions
and alterations in the later period of the order, causing
deviations from the strict Cistercian type. The church
stands a short distance to the north of the river Skell, the
buildings of the abbey stretching down to and even across the
stream. We have the cloister (H) to the south, with the
three-aisled chapter-house (I) and calefactory (L) opening from
its eastern walk, and the refectory (S), with the kitchen (Q)
and buttery (T) attached, at right angles to its southern walk.
FIG. 10.--Ground-plan of Fountains Abbey,
A. Nave of the church. N. Cellar. Z. Gate-house.
B. Transept. O. Brewhouse. ABBOT'S HOUSE.
C. Chapels. P. Prisons. 1. Passage
D. Tower. Q. Kitchen. 2. Great hall.
E. Sacristy. R. Offices. 3. Refectory.
F. Choir. S. Refectory. 4. Refectory.
G. Chapel of nine alters. T. Buttery. 5. Storehouse.
H. Cloister. U. Cellars and storehouses. 6. Chapel.
I. Chapter-house. V. Necessary. 7. Kitchen.
K. Base court. W. Infirmary (?). 8. Ashpit.
L. Calefactory. X. Guest-houses. 9. Yard.
M. Water-course. Y. Mill bridge. 10. Kitchen tank.
Parallel with the western walk is an immense vaulted substructure
(U), incorrectly styled the cloisters, serving as cellars and
store-rooms, and supporting the dormitory of the conversi
above. This building extended across the river. At its S.W.
corner were the necessaries (V), also built, as usual, above
the swiftly flowing stream. The monks' dormitory was in its
usual position above the chapter-house, to the south of the
transept. As peculiarities of arrangement may be noticed
the position of the kitchen (Q), between the refectory and
calefactory, and of the infirmary (W) (unless there is some
error in its designation) above the river to the west, adjoining
the guest-houses (XX). We may also call attention to the
greatly lengthened choir, commenced by Abbot John of York,
1203-1211, and carried on by his successor, terminating, like
Durham Cathedral, in an eastern transept, the work of Abbot
John of Kent, 1220-1247, and to the tower (D), added not long
before the dissolution by Abbot Huby, 1494-1526, in a very
unusual position at the northern end of the north transept.
The abbot's house, the largest and most remarkable example of
this class of buildings in the kingdom, stands south to the
east of the church and cloister, from which it is divided by
the kitchen court (R), surrounded by the ordinary domestic
offices. A considerable portion of this house was erected on
arches over the Skell. The size and character of this house,
probably, at the time of its erection, the most spacious
house of a subject in the kingdom, not a castle, bespeaks
the wide departure of the Cistercian order from the stern
simplicity of the original foundation. The hall (2) was one
of the most spacious and magnificent apartments in medieval
times, measuring 170 ft. by 70 ft. Like the hall in the
castle at Winchester, and Westminster Hall, as originally
built, it was divided by 18 pillars and arches, with 3
aisles. Among other apartments, for the designation of which
we must refer to the ground-plan, was a domestic oratory or
chapel, 46 1/2 ft. by 23 ft. and a kitchen (7), 50 ft. by 38
ft. The whole arrangements and character of the building
bespeak the rich and powerful feudal lord, not the humble
father of a body of hard-working brethren, bound by vows to a
life of poverty and self-denying toil. In the words of Dean
Milman, ``the superior, once a man bowed to the earth with
humility, care-worn, pale, emaciated, with a coarse habit
bound with a cord, with naked feet, had become an abbot
on his curvetting palfrey, in rich attire, with his silver
cross before him, travelling to take his place amid the
lordliest of the realm.'' --(Lat. Christ. vol. iii. p. 330.)
Austin Canons.
The buildings of the Austin canons or Black canons (so
called from the colour of their habit) present few distinctive
peculiarities. This order had its first seat in England at
Colchester, where a house for Austin canons was founded about
A.D. 1105, and it very soon spread widely. As an order
of regular clergy, holding a middle position between monks
and secular canons, almost resembling a community of parish
priests living under rule, they adopted naves of great length
to accommodate large congregations. The choir is usually
long, and is sometimes, as at Llanthony and Christ Church
(Twynham), shut off from the aisles, or, as at Bolton, Kirkham,
&c., is destitute of aisles altogether. The nave in the northern
houses, not unfrequently, had only a north aisle, as at Bolton,
Brinkburn and Lanercost. The arrangement of the monastic
buildings followed the ordinary type. The prior's lodge was
almost invariably attached to the S.W. angle of the nave.
Bristol Cathedral.
The annexed plan of the Abbey of St Augustine's at Bristol,
now the cathedral church of that city, shows the arrangement
of the buildings, which departs very little from the
ordinary Benedictine type. The Austin canons' house at
Thornton, in Lincolnshire, is remarkable for the size
and magnificence of its gate-house, the upper floors of
which formed the guest-house of the establishment, and for
possessing an octagonal chapter-house of Decorated date.
Premonstratensians.
The Premonstratensian regular canons, or White canons, had
as many as 35 houses in England, of which the most perfect
remaining are those of Easby. Yorkshire, and Bayham, Kent.
The head house of the order in England was Welbeck. This order
was a reformed branch of the Austin canons, founded, A.D.
1119, by Norbert (born at Xanten, on the Lower Rhine, c.
1080) at Premontre, a secluded marshy valley in the forest
of Coucy in the diocese of Laon. The order spread widely.
Even in the founder's lifetime it possessed houses in Syria and
Palestine. It long maintained its rigid austerity, till in
the course of years wealth impaired its discipline, and its
members sank into indolence and luxury. The Premonstratensians
were brought to England shortly after A.D. 1140, and were
first settled at Newhouse, in Lincolnshire, near the Humber.
The ground-plan of Easby Abbey, owing to its situation on the
edge of the steeply sloping banks of a river, is singularly
irregular. The cloister is duly placed on the south side of the
church, and the chief buildings occupy their usual positions
round it. But the cloister garth, as at Chichester, is not
rectangular, and all the surrounding buildings are thus made
to sprawl in a very awkward fashion. The church follows
the plan adopted by the Austin canons in their northern
abbeys, and has only one aisle to the nave--that to the
north; while the choir is long, narrow and aisleless. Each
transept has an aisle to the east, forming three chapels.
The church at Bayham was destitute of aisles either to nave or
choir. The latter terminated in a three-sided apse. This church
is remarkable for its exceeding narrowness in proportion to its
length. Extending in longitudinal dimensions 257 ft., it is
FIG. 11.--St Augustine's Abbey, Bristol (Bristol
A. Church. H. Kitchen. S. Friars' lodging.
B. Great cloister. I. Kitchen court. T. King's hall.
C. Little cloister. K. Cellars. V. Guest-house.
D. Chapter-house. L. Abbot's hall. W. Abbey gateway.
E. Calefactory. P. Abbot's gateway. X. Barns, stables, &c
F. Refectory. R. Infirmary. Y. Lavatory.
G. Parlour.
not more than 25 ft. broad. Stern Premonstratensian canons
wanted no congregations, and cared for no possessions;
therefore they built their church like a long room.
Carthusians.
The Carthusian order, on its establishment by St Bruno,
about A.D. 1084, developed a greatly modified form and
arrangement of a monastic institution. The principle of this
order, which combined the coenobitic with the solitary life,
demanded the erection of buildings on a novel plan. This
plan, which was first adopted by St Bruno and his twelve
companions at the original institution at Chartreux, near
Grenoble, was maintained in all the Carthusian establishments
throughout Europe, even after the ascetic severity of the order
had been to some extent relaxed, and the primitive simplicity
of their buildings had been exchanged for the magnificence
of decoration which characterizes such foundations as the
Certosas of Pavia and Florence. According to the rule of
St Bruno, all the members of a Carthusian brotherhood lived
in the most absolute solitude and silence. Each occupied a
small detached cottage, standing by itself in a small garden
surrounded by high walls and connected by a common corridor or
cloister. In these cottages or cells a Carthusian monk
passed his time in the strictest asceticism, only leaving
his solitary dwelling to attend the services of the Church,
except on certain days when the brotherhood assembled in the
refectory. The peculiarity of the arrangements of a Carthusian
monastery, or charter-house, as it was called in England,
from a corruption of the French chartreux, is exhibited
in the plan of that of Clermont, from Viollet-le-Duc.
Clermont.
The whole establishment is surrounded hy a wall, furnished
at intervals with watch towers (R) . The enclosure is divided
into two courts, of which the eastern court, surrounded by a
cloister, from from which the cottages of the monks (I) open,
is musch the larger. The two courts are divided by the main
buildings of the monastery, including the church, the sanctuary
(A), divided from B, the monks' choir, by a screen with two
altars, the smaller cloister to the south (S) surrounded by
the chapter-house (E), the refectory (X)---these buildings
occupying their normal position--and the chapel of Pontgibaud
(K). The kitchen with its offices (V) lies behind the
relectory, accessible ftom the outer court without entering the
cloister. To the north of the church, beyond the sacristy
(L), and the side chapels (M), we find the cell of the sub-prior
(a), with its garden. The lodgings of the prior (G) occupy
the centre of the outer court, immediately in front of the
west door of the church, and face the gateway of the convent
(O). A small raised court with a fountain (C) is before
it. This outer court also contains the guest-chambers (P),
the stables and lodgings of the lay brothers (N), the barns
and granaries (Q), the dovecot (H) and the bakehouse (T).
At Z is the prison. In this outer court, in all the earlier
foundations, as at Witham, there was a smaller church in
addition to the larger church of the monks.) The outer and
inner courts are connected by a long passage (F), wide enough
to admit a cart laden with wood to supply the cells of the
brethren with fuel. The number of cells surrounding the great
A. Church.
B. Monks' choir.
C. Prior's garden.
D. Great cloister.
E. Chapter-house.
F. Passage.
G. Prior's lodgings.
H. Dovecot.
I. Cells.
K. Chapel of Pontgibaud.
L. Sacristy.
M. Chapel.
N. Stables.
O. Gateway.
P. Guest-chambers.
Q. Barns and granaries.
R. Watch-tower.
S. Little cloister.
T. Bakehouse.
V. Kitchen.
X. Refectory.
Y. Cemetery.
Z. Prison.
a. Cell of subprior
b. Garden of do.
FIG. 12.--Carthusian monastery of Clermont.
cloister is 18. They are all arranged on a uniform plan.
Each little dwelling contains three rooms: a sitting-room
(C), warmed by a stove in winter; a sleeping-room (D),
furnished with a bed, a table, a bench, and a bookcase; and
a closet (E). Between the cell and the cloister gallery (A)
is a passage or corridor (B), cutting off the inmate of the
cell from all sound or movement which might interrupt his
meditations. The superior had free access to this corridor, and
through open niches was able to inspect the garden without being
seen. At I is the hatch or turn-table, in which the daily
allowance of food was deposited by a brother appointed for that
purpose, affording no view either inwards or outwards. H is the
garden, cultivated by the occupant of the cell. At K is the
wood-house. F is a covered walk, with the necessary at the end.
The above arrangements are found with scarcely any variation
in all the charter-houses of western Europe. The Yorkshire
Charter-house of Mount Grace, founded by Thomas Holland, the
young duke of Surrey, nephew of Richard II. and marshal of
England, during the revival of the popularity of the order,
about A.D. 1397, is the most perfect and best preserved English
example. It is characterized by all the simplicity of the
order. The church is a modest building, long, narrow and
aisleless. Within the wall of enclosure are two courts.
The smaller of the two, the south, presents the usual
arrangement of church, refectory, &c., opening out of a
cloister. The buildings are plain and solid. The northern
court contains the cells, 14 in number. It is surrotmded by a
double stone wall, the two walls being about 30 ft. or 40 ft.
apart. Between these, each in its own garden, stand the cells;
low-built two-storied cottages, of two or three rooms on the
ground-floor, lighted by a larger and a smaller window to the
side, and provided with a doorway to the court, and one at the
back, opposite to one in the outer wall, through which the
monk may have conveyed the sweepings of his cell and the refuse
of his garden to the ``eremus'' beyond. By the side of the
door to the court is a little hatch through which the daily
pittance of food was supplied, so contrived by turning at an
angle in the wall that no one could either look in or look
out. A very perfect example of this hatch---an arrangement
belonging to all Carthusian houses--exists at Miraflores, near
Burgos, which remains nearly as it was completed in 1480.
A. Cloister gallery.
B. Corridor.
C. Living-room.
D. Sleeping-room.
E. Closets.
F. Covered walk.
G. Necessary.
H. Garden.
I. Hatch.
K. Wood-house.
FIG. 13--Carthusian cell, Clermont.
There were only nine Carthusian houses in England. The
earliest was that at Witham in Somersetshire, founded
by Henry II., by whom the order was first brought into
England. The wealthiest and most magnificent was that of
Sheen or Richmond in Surrey, founded by Henry V. about A.D.
1414. The, dimensions of the buildings at Sheen are stated
to have been remarkably large. The great court measured
300 ft. by 250 ft.; the cloisters were a square of 500 ft.;
the hall was 110 ft. in length by 60 ft. in breadth. The
most celebrated historically is the Charter house of London,
founded by Sir Walter Manny A.D. 1371, the name of which
is preserved by the famous public school established on the
site by Thomas Sutton A.D. 1611, now removed to Godalming.
Mendicant Friars.
An article on monastic arrangements would be incomplete without
some account of the convents of the Mendicant or Preaching
Friars, including the Black Friars or Dominicans, the Grey
or Franciscans, the White or Carmelites, the Eremite or
Austin, Friars. These orders arose at the beginning of the
13th century, when the Benedictines, together with their
various reformed branches, had terminated their active
mission, and Christian Europe was ready for a new religious
revival. Planting themselves, as a rule, in large towns,
and by preference in the poorest and most densely populated
districts, the Preaching Friars were obliged to adapt their
buildings to the requirements of the site. Regularity of
arrangement, therefore, was not possible, even if they had
studied it. Their churches, built for the reception of
large congregations of hearers rather than worshippers, form
a class by themselves, totally unlike those of the elder
orders in ground-plan and character. They were usually long
parallelograms unbroken by transepts. The nave very usually
consisted of two equal bodies, one containing the stalls
of the brotherhood, the other left entirely free for the
congregation. The constructional choir is often wanting,
the whole church forming one uninterrupted structure, with
a continuous range of windows. The east end was usually
square, but the Friars Church at Winchelsea had a polygonal
apse. We not unfrequently find a single transept, sometimes of
great size, rivalling or exceeding the nave. This arrangement
is frequent in Ireland, where the numerous small friaries
afford admirable exemplifications of these peculiarities of
ground-plan. The friars' churches were at first destitute of
towers; but in the 14th and 15th centuries, tall, slender towers
were commonly inserted between the nave and the choir. The
Grey Friars at Lynn, where the tower is hexagonal, is a good
example. The arrangement of the monastic buildings is equally
peculiar and characteristic. We miss entirely the regularity
of the buildings of the earlier orders. At the Jacobins at
Paris, a cloister lay to the north of the long narrow church
of two parallel aisles, while the refectory--a room of immense
length, quite detached from the cloister--stretched across
the area before the west front of the church. At Toulouse the
nave also has two parallel aisles, but the choir is apsidal,
with radiating chapel. The refectory stretches northwards at
right angles to the cloister, which lies to the north of the
church, having the chapter-house and sacristy on the east.
Norwich. Gloucester.
As examples of English friaries, the Dominican house at
Norwich, and those of the Dominicans and Franciscans at
Gloucester, may be mentioned. The church of the Black
Friars of Norwich departs from the original type in the
nave (now St Andrew's Hall), in having regular aisles. In
this it resembles the earlier examples of the Grey Friars at
Reading. The choir is long and aisleless; an hexagonal tower
between the two, like that existing at Lynn, has perished. Thc
cloister and monastic buildings remain tolerably perfect to the
north. The Dominican convent at Gloucester still exhibits the
cloister-court, on the north side of which is the desecrated
church. The refectory is on the west side and on the south
the dormitory of the 13th century. This is a remarkably good
example. There were 18 cells or cubicles on each side, divided
by partitions, the bases of which remain. On the east side
was the prior's house, a building of later date. At the Grey
or Franciscan Friars, the church followed the ordinary type in
having two equal bodies, each gabled, with a continuous range of
windows. There was a slender tower between the nave and the choir.
Hulne.
Of the convents of the Carmelite or White Friars we have a
good example in the Abbey of Hulne, near Alnwick, the first
of the order in England, founded A.D. 1240. The church
is a narrow oblong, destitute of aisles, 123 ft. long by
only 26 ft. wide. The cloisters are to the south, with
the chapter-house, &c., to the east, with the dormitory
over. The prior's lodge is placed to the west of the
cloister. The guest-houses adjoin the entrance gateway, to
which a chapel was annexed on the south side of the conventual
area. The nave of the church of the Austin Friars or Eremites
in London is still standing. It is of Decorated date, and
has wide centre and side aisles, divided by a very light and
graceful arcade. Some fragments of the south walk of the
cloister of the Grey Friars remained among the buildings of
Christ's Hospital (the Blue-Coat School), while they were still
standing. Of the Black Friars all has perished but the
name. Taken as a whole, the remains of the establishments of
the friars afford little warrant for the bitter invective of
the Benedictine of St Alban's, Matthew Paris:---``The friars
who have been founded hardly 40 years have built residences
as the palaces of kings. These are they who, enlarging day
by day their sumptuous edifices, encircling them with lofty
walls, lay up in them their incalculable treasures, imprudently
transgressing the bounds of poverty and violating the very
fundamental rules of their profession.'' Allowance must here be
made for jealousy of a rival order just rising in popularity.
Cells.
Every large monastery had depending upon it one or more smaller
establishments known as cells. These cells were monastic
colonies, sent forth by the parent house, and planted on some
outlying estate. As an example, we may refer to the small
religious house of St Mary Magdalene's, a cell of the great
Benedictine house of St Mary's, York, in the valley of the
Witham, to the south-east of the city of Lincoln. This consists
of one long narrow range of building, of which the eastern part
formed the chapel and the western contained the apartments of
the handful of monks of which it was the home. To the east
may be traced the site of the abbey mill, with its dam and
mill-lead. These cells, when belonging to a Cluniac house,
were called Obedientiae. The plan given by Viollet-le-Duc
of the Priory of St Jean des Bons Hommes, a Cluniac cell,
situated between the town of Avallon and the village of
Savigny, shows that these diminutive establishments comprised
every essential feature of a monastery,---chapel, cloister,
chapter-room, refectory, dormitory, all grouped according to the
recognized arrangement. These Cluniac obedientiae differed
from the ordinary Benedictine cells in being also places of
punishment, to which monks who had been guilty of any grave
infringement of the rules were relegated as to a kind of
penitentiary. Here they were placed under the authority of a
prior, and were condemned to severe manual labour, fulfilling
the duties usually executed by the lay brothers, who acted as
farmservants. The outlying farming establishments belonging to
the monastic foundations were known as villae or granges.
They gave employment to a body of conversi and labourers
under the management of a monk, who bore the title of Brother
Hospitaller ---the granges, like their parent institutions,
affording shelter and hospitality to belated travellers.
AUTHORITIES.--Dugdale, Monasticon; Lenoir,
Architecture monastique (1852--1856); Veollet-le-Duc,
Dictionnaire raisonnee de l'architecture francaise;
Springer, Klosterleben und Klosterkunst (1886); Kraus,
Geschichte der christlichen Kunst (1896). (E. V.)
ABBON OF FLEURY, or ABBO FLORIACENSIS (c. 945-1004), a
learned Frenchman, born near Orleans about 945. He distinguished
himself in the schools of Paris and Reims, and was especially
proficient in science as known in his time. He spent two
years in England, assisting Archbishop Oswald of York in
restoring the monastic system, and was abbot of Romsey. After
his return to France he was made abbot of Fleury on the Loire
(988). He was twice sent to Rome by King Robert the Pious
(986, 996), and on each occasion succeeded in warding off a
threatened papal interdict. He was killed at La Reole in
1004, in endeavouring to quell a monkish revolt. He wrote an
Epitomie de vitis Romanorum pontificum, besides controversial
treatises, letters, &c. (see Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol.
139). His life, written by his disciple Aimoin of Fleury, in
which much of Abbon's correspondence was reproduced, is of great
importance as a source for the reign of Robert II., especially
with reference to the papacy (cf. Migne, op. cit. vol. 139).
See Ch. Pfister, Etudes sur le regne de Robert le Pieux (1885);
Cuissard-Gaucheron, ``L'Ecole de Fleury-sur-Loire a la fin du 10
siecle,'' in Memoires de la societe de l'Orleanais, xiv.
(Orleans, 1875); A. Molinier, Sources de l'histoire de France.
ABBOT, EZRA (1819--1884), American biblical scholar, was
born at Jackson, Waldo county, Maine, on the 28th of April
1819. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1840; and in
1847, at the request of Prof. Andrews Norton, went to
Cambridge, where he was principal of a public school until
1856. He was assistant librarian of Harvard University from
1856 to 1872, and planned and perfected an alphabetical card
catalogue, combining many of the advantages of the ordinary
dictionary catalogues with the grouping of the minor topics
under more general heads, which is characteristic of a systematic
catalogue. From 1872 until his death he was Bussey Professor
of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation in the Harvard
Divinity School. His studies were chiefly in Oriental languages
and the textual criticism of the New Testament, thoygh his
work as a bibliographer showed such results as the exhaustive
list of writings (5300 in all) on the doctrine of the future
life, appended to W. R. Alger's History of the Doctrine of
a Future Life, as it has prevailed in all Nations and Ages
(1862), and published separately in 1864. His publications,
though always of the most thorough and scholarly character,
were to a large extent dispersed in the pages of reviews,
dictionaries, concordances, texts edited by others, Unitarian
controversial treatises, &c.; but he took a more conspicuous
and more personal part in the preparation (with the Baptist
scholar, Horatio B. Hackett) of the enlarged American edition
of Dr (afterwards Sir) William Smith's Dictionary of the
Bible (1867-1870), to which he contributed more than 400
articles besides greatly improving the bibliographical
completeness of the work; was an efficient member of the
American revision committee employed in connexion with the
Revised Version (1881-1885) of the King James Bible; and aided
in the preparation of Caspar Rene Gregory's Prolegomena to
the revised Greek New Testament of Tischendorf. His principal
single production, representing his scholarly method and
conservative conclusions, was The Authorship af the Fourth
Gospel: External Evidences (1880; second edition, by J. H.
Thayer, with other essays, 1889), originally a lecture, and
in spite of the compression due to its form, up to that time
probably the ablest defence, based on external evidence,
of the Johannine authorship, and certainly the completest
treatment of the relation of Justin Martyr to this gospel.
Abbot, though a layman, received the degree of S. T. D. from
Harvard in 1872, and that of D.D. from Edinburgh in 1884. . He
died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the 21st of March 1884.
See S. J. Barrows, Ezra Abbot (Cambridge, Mass., 1884).
ABBOT, GEORGE (1562-1633), English divine, archbishop of
Canterbury, was born on the 19th of October 1562, at Guildford in
Surrey, where his father was a cloth-worker. He studied, and
then taught, at Balliol College, Oxford, was chosen master of
University College in 1597, and appointed dean of Winchester in
1600. He was three times vice-chancellor of the university,
and took a leading part in preparing the authorized version
of the New Testament. In 1608 he went to Scotland with the
earl of Dunbar to arrange for a union between the churches
of England and Scotland. He so pleased the king (James
I.) in this affair that he was made bishop of Lichfield and
Coventry in 1609, was translated to the see of London a month
afterwards, and in less than a year was raised to that of
Canterbury. His puritan instincts frequently led him not
only into harsh treatment of Roman Catholics, but also into
courageous resistance to the royal will, e.g. when he
opposed the scandalous divorce suit of the Lady Frances Howard
against the earl of Essex, and again in 1618 when, at Croydon,
he forbade the reading of the declaration permitting Sunday
sports. He was naturally, therefore, a promoter of the match
between the elector palatine and the Princess Elizabeth,
and a firm opponent of the projected marriage of the prince
of Wales with the infanta of Spain. This policy brought
upon him the hatred of Laud (with whom he had previously
come into collision at Oxford) and the court, though the
king himself never forsook him. In 1622, while hunting in
Lord Zouch's park at Bramshill, Hampshire, a bolt from his
cross-bow aimed at a deer happened to strike one of the
keepers, who died within an hour, and Abbot was so greatly
distressed by the event that he fell into a state of settled
melancholy. His enemies maintained that the fatal issue of
this accident disqualified him for his office, and argued
that, though the homicide was involuntary, the sport of
hunting which had led to it was one in which no clerical
person could lawfully indulge. The king had to refer the
matter to a commission of ten, though he said that ``an angel
might have miscarried after this sort.'' The commission was
equally divided, and the king gave a casting vote in the
archbishop's favour, though signing also a formal pardon or
dispensation. After this the archbishop seldom appeared
at the council, chiefly on account of his infirmities. He
attended the king constantly, however, in his last illness,
and performed the ceremony of the coronation of Charles I.
His refusal to license the assize sermon preached by Dr Robert
Sibthorp at Northampton on the 22nd of February 1626-1627, in
which cheerful obedience was urged to the king's demand for a
general loan, and the duty proclaimed of absolute non-resistance
even to the most arbitrary royal commands, led Charles to
deprive him of his functions as primate, putting them in
commission. The need of summoning parliament, however,
soon brought about a nominal restoration of the archbishop's
powers. His presence being unwelcome at court, he lived
from that time in retirement, leaving Laud and his party in
undisputed ascendancy. He died at Croydon on the 5th of August
1633, and was buried at Guildford, his native place, where
he had endowed a hospital with lands to the value of L. 300 a
year. Abbot was a conscientious prelate, though narrow in view
and often harsh towards both separatists and Romanists. He
wrote a large number of works, the most interesting being his
discursive Exposition on the Prophet Jonah (1600), which was
reprinted in 1845. His Geography, or a Brief Description
of the Whole World (1599), passed through numerous editions.
The best account of him is in S. R. Gardiner's History of England.
ABBOT, GEORGE (1603-1648), English writer, known as ``The
Puritan,'' has been oddly and persistently mistaken for
others. He has been described as a clergyman, which he never
was, and as son of Sir Morris (or Maurice) Abbot, and his
writings accordingly entered in the bibliographical authorities
as by the nephew of the archbishop of Canterbury. One of the
sons of Sir Morris Abbot was, indeed, named George, and he
was a man of mark, but the more famous George Abbot was of a
different family altogether. He was son or grandson (it is
not clear which) of Sir Thomas Abbot, knight of Easington,
East Yorkshire, having been born there in 1603--1604,
his mother (or grandmother) being of the ancient house of
Pickering. Of his early life and training nothing is
known. He married a daughter of Colonel Purefoy of Caldecote,
Warwickshire, and as his monument, which may still be seen
in the church there, tells, he bravely held the manor house
against Princes Rupert and Maurice during the civil war. As
a layman, and nevertheless a theologian and scholar of rare
ripeness and critical ability, he holds an almost unique
place in the literature of the period. The terseness of his
Whole Booke of Job Paraphrased, or made easy for any to
understand (1640, 4to), contrasts favourably with the usual
prolixity of the Puritan expositors and commentators. His
Vindiciae Sabbathi (1641, 8vo) had a profound and lasting
influence in the long Sabbatarian controversy. His Brief
Notes upon the Whole Book of Psalms (1651, 4to), as its date
shows, was posthumous. He died on the 2nd of February 1648.
AUTHORITIES--MS.collections at Abbeyville for history of all
of the name of Abbot, by J. T. Abbot, Esq., F.S.A., Darlington;
Dugdale's Antiquities of Warwickshire, 1730 p. 1099; Wood's
Athenae (Bliss), ii.141, 594; Cox's Literature of the Sabbath.
ABBOT, ROBERT (1588?-1662?), English Puritan divine. Noted
as this worthy was in his own time, and representative in
various ways, he has often since been confounded with others,
e.g. Robert Abbot, bishop of Salisbury. He is also wrongly
described as a relative of Archbishop Abbot, from whom he
acknowledges very gratefully, in the first of his epistles
dedicatory of A Hand of Fellowship to Helpe Keepe out Sinne
and Antichrist (1623, 4to), that he had ``received all'' his
``worldly maintenance,'' as well as ``best earthly countenance',
and ``fatherly incouragements.', The worldly maintenance
was the presentation in 1616 to the vicarage of Cranbrook in
Kent. He had received his education at Cambridge, where he
proceeded M.A., and was afterwards incorporated at Oxford. In
1639, in the epistle to the reader of his most noticeable book
historically, his Triall of our Church-Forsakers, he tells
us, ``I have lived now, by God's gratious dispensation, above
fifty years, and in the place of my allotment two and twenty
full.'' The former date carries us back to 1588-1589, or
perhaps 1587-1588 ---the ``Armada'' year---as his birth-time;
the latter to 1616-1617 (ut supra). In his Bee Thankfull
London and her Sisters (1626), he describes himself as
formerly ``assistant to a reverend divine . . . now with
God,'' and the name on the margin is ``Master Haiward of Wool
Church (Dorset).'' This was doubtless previous to his going to
Cranbrook. Very remarkable and effective was Abbot's
ministry at Cranbrook, where his parishioners were as his
own ``sons and daughters'' to him. Yet, Puritan though he
was, he was extremely and often unfairly antagonistic to
Nonconformists. He remained at Cranbrook until 1643, when,
Parliament deciding against pluralities of ecclesiastical
offices, he chose the very inferior living of Southwick,
Hants, as between the one and the other. He afterwards
succeeded the ``extruded'' Udall of St Austin's, London,
where according to the Warning-piece he was still pastor in
1657. He disappears silently between 1657-1658 and 1662.
Robert Abbot's books are conspicuous amongst the productions
of his time by their terseness and variety. In addition to
those mentioned above he wrote Milk for Babes, or a Mother's
Catechism for her Children (1646), and A Christian Family
builded by God, or Directions for Governors of Families (1653).
AUTHORITIES.--.Brook's Puritans, iii. 182, 3; Walker's
Sufferings, ii. 183; Wood's Athenae (Bliss), i. 323;
Palmer's Nonconf. Mem. ii. 218, which confuses him most
oddly of all with one of the ejected ministers of 1662.
ABBOT, WILLIAM (1798--1843), English actor, was born in
Chelsea, and made his first appearance on the stage at Bath
in 1806, and his first London appearance in 1808. At Covent
Garden in 1813, in light comedy and melodrama, he made his
first decided success. He Was Pylades to Macready's Orestes
in Ambrose Philips's Distressed Mother when Macready made
his first appearance at that theatre (1816). He created the
parts of Appius Claudius in Sheridan Knowles's Virginius
(1820) and of Modus in his Hunchback (1832). In 1827 he
organized the company, including Macready and Miss Smithson,
which acted Shakespeare in Paris. On his return to London
he played Romeo to Fanny Kemble's Juliet (1830). Two of
Abbot's melodramas, The Youthful Days of Frederick the Great
(1817) and Swedish Patriotism (1819), were produced at
Covent Garden. He died in poverty at Baltimore, Maryland.
ABBOT (from the Hebrew ab, a father, through the Syriac
abba, Lat. abbas, gen. abbatis, O.E. abbad, fr. late
Lat. form abbad-em changed in 13th century under influence
of the Lat. form to abbat, used abternatively till the end
of the 17th century; Ger. Abt; Fr. abbe), the head and
chief governor of a community of monks, called also in the
East hegumenos or archimandrite. The title had its origin
in the monasteries of Syria, whence it spread through the
East, and soon became accepted generally in all languages as
the designation of the head of a monastery. At first it was
employed as a respectful title for any monk, as we learn from St
Jerome, who denounced the custom on the ground that Christ had
said, ``Call no man father on earth'' (in Epist. ad Gal.
iv. 6, in Matt. xxiii. 9), but it was soon restricted to the
superior. The name ``abbot,'' though general in the West,
was never universal. Among the Dominicans, Carmelites,
Augustinians, &c., the superior was called Praepositus,
``provost,'' and Prior; among the Franciscans, Custos,
``guardian''; and by the monks of Camaldoi, Major.
In Egypt, the first home of monasticism, the jurisdiction
of the abbot, or archimandrite, was but loosely defined.
Sometimes he ruled over only one community, sometimes over
several, each of which had its own abbot as well. Cassian
speaks of an abbot of the Thebaid who had 500 monks under
him, a number exceeded in other cases. By the rule of St
Benedict, which, until the reform of Cluny, was the norm
in the West, the abbot has jurisdiction over only one
community. The rule, as was inevitable, was subject to
frequent violations; but it was not until the foundation of
the Cluniac Order that the idea of a supreme abbot, exercising
jurisdiction over all the houses of an order, was definitely
recognized. New styles were devised to express this new
relation; thus the abbot of Monte Cassino was called abbas
abbatum, while the chiefs of other orders had the tities
abbas generails, or magister or minister generalis.
Monks, as a rule, were laymen, nor at the outset was the abbot
any exception. All orders of clergy, therefore, even the
``doorkeeper,', took precedence of him. For the reception
of the sacraments, and for other religious offices, the
abbot and his monks were commanded to attend the nearest
church (Nocellae, 133, c. ii.). This rule naturally proved
inconvenient when a monastery was situated in a desert or at
a distance from a city, and necessity compelled the ordination
of abbots. This innovation was not introduced without a
struggle, ecclesiastical dignity being regarded as inconsistent
with the higher spiritual life, but, before the close of
the 5th century, at least in the East, abbots seem almost
universally to have become deacons, if not presbyters. The
change spread more slowly in the West, where the office of
abbot was commonly filled by laymen till the end of the 7th
century, and partially so up to the 11th. Ecclesiastical
councils were, however, attended by abbots. Thus at that
held at Constantinople, A.D. 448, for the condemnation of
Eutyches, 23 archimandrites or abbots sign, with 30 bishops,
and, c A.D. 690, Archbishop Theodore promulgated a
canon, inhibiting bishops from compelling abbots to attend
councils. Examples are not uncommon in Spain and in England
in Saxon times. Abbots were permitted by the second council
of Nicaea, A.D. 787, to ordain their monks to the inferior
orders. This rule was adopted in the West, and the strong
prejudice against clerical monks having gradually broken down,
eventually monks, almost without exception, took holy orders.
Abbots were originally subject to episcopal jurisdiction, and
continued generally so, in fact, in the West till the 11th
century. The Code of Justinian (lib. i. tit. iii. de Ep. leg.
xl.) expressly subordinates the abbot to episcopal oversight.
The first case recorded of the partial exemption of an abbot
from episcopal control is that of Faustus, abbot of Lerins,
at the council of Arles, A.D. 456; but the exorbitant claims
and exactions of bishops, to which this repugnance to episcopal
control is to be traced, far more than to the arrogance of
abbots, rendered it increasingly frequent, and, in the 6th
century, the practice of exempting religious houses partly or
altogether from episcopal control, and making them responsible
to the pope alone, received an impulse from Gregory the
Great. These exceptions, introduced with a good object, had
grown into a widespread evil by the 12th century, virtually
creating an imperium in imperio, and depriving the bishop
of all authority over the chief centres of influence in his
diocese. In the 12th century the abbots of Fulda claimed
precedence of the archbishop of Cologne. Abbots more and
more assumed almost episcopal state, and in defiance of the
prohibition of early councils and the protests of St Bernard and
others, adopted the episcopal insignia of mitre, ring, gloves and
sandals. It has been maintained that the right to wear mitres
was sometimes granted by the popes to abbots before the 11th
century, but the documents on which this claim is based are
not genuine (J. Braun, Liturgische Gewandung, p. 453). The
first undoubted instance is the bull by which Alexander II.
in 1063 granted the use of the mitre to Egelsinus, abbot of
the monastery of St Augustine at Canterbury (see MITRE). The
mitred abbots in England were those of Abingdon, St Alban's,
Bardney, Battle, Bury St Edmund's, St Augustine's Canterbury,
Colchester, Croyland, Evesham, Glastonbury, Gloucester,
St Benet's Hulme, Hyde, Malmesbury, Peterborough, Ramsey,
Reading, Selby, Shrewsbury, Tavistock, Thorney, Westminster,
Winchcombe, St Mary's York. Of these the precedence was
originally yielded to the abbot of Glastonbury, until in
A.D. 1154 Adrian IV. (Nicholas Breakspear) granted it to the
abbot of St Alban's, in which monastery he had been brought
up. Next after the abbot of St Alban's ranked the abbot of
Westminster. To distinguish abbots from bishops, it was ordained
that their mitre should be made of less costly materials,
and should not be ornamented with gold, a rule which was soon
entirely disregarded, and that the crook of their pastoral
staff should turn inwards instead of outwards, indicating
that their jurisdiction was limited to their own house.
The adoption of episcopal insignia by abbots was followed
by an encroachment on episcopal functions, which had to be
specially but ineffectually guarded against by the Lateran
council, A.D. 1123. In the East, abbots, if in priests'
orders, with the consent of the bishop, were, as we have
seen, permitted by the second Nicene council, A.D. 787,
to confer the tonsure and admit to the order of reader; but
gradually abbots, in the West also, advanced higher claims,
until we find them in A.D. 1489 permitted by Innocent
IV. to confer both the subdiaconate and diaconate. Of
course, they always and everywhere had the power of admitting
their own monks and vesting them with the religious habit.
When a vacancy occurred, the bishop of the diocese chose
the abbot out of the monks of the convent, but the right
of election was transferred by jurisdiction to the monks
themselves, reserving to the bishop the confirmation of the
election and the benediction of the new abbot. In abbeys
exempt from episcopal jurisdiction, the confirmation and
benediction had to be conferred by the pope in person, the house
being taxed with the expenses of the new abbot's journey to
Rome. By the rule of St Benedict, the consent of the laity
was in some undefined way required; but this seems never
to have been practically enforced. It was necessary that
an abbot should be at least 25 years of age, of legitimate
birth, a monk of the house, unless it furnished no suitable
candidate, when a liberty was allowed of electing from another
convent, well instructed himself, and able to instruct others,
one also who had learned how to command by having practised
obedience. In some exceptional cases an abbot was allowed
to name his own successor. Cassian speaks of an abbot in
Egypt doing this; and in later times we have another example
in the case of St Bruno. Popes and sovereigns gradually
encroached on the rights of the monks, until in Italy the
pope had usurped the nomination of all abbots, and the king in
France, with the exception of Cluny, Premontre and other
houses, chiefs of their order. The election was for life,
unless the abbot was canonically deprived by the chiefs of
his order, or when he was directly subject to them, by the
pope or the bishop. The ceremony of the formal admission of
a Benedictine abbot in medieval times is thus prescribed by
the consuetudinary of Abingdon. The newly elected abbot was
to put off his shoes at the door of the church, and proceed
barefoot to meet the members of the house advancing in a
procession. After proceeding up the nave, he was to kneel
and pray at the topmost step of the entrance of the choir,
into which he was to be introduced by the bishop or his
commissary, and placed in his stall. The monks, then kneeling,
gave him the kiss of peace on the hand, and rising, on the
mouth, the abbot holding his staff of office. He then put
on his shoes in the vestry, and a chapter was held, and
the bishop or his commissary preached a suitable sermon.
The power of the abbot was paternal but absolute, limited,
however, by the canons of the church, and, until the general
establishment of exemptions, by episcopal control. As a
rule, however, implicit obedience was enforced; to act
without his orders was culpable; while it was a sacred duty
to execute his orders, however unreasonable, until they were
withdrawn. Examples among the Egyptian monks of this blind
submission to the commands of the superiors, exalted into
a virtue by those who regarded the entire crushing of the
individual will as the highest excellence, are detailed by
Cassian and others,--- e.g. a monk watering a dry stick,
day after day, for months, or endeavouring to remove a huge
rock immensely exceeding his powers. St Jerome, indeed, lays
down, as the principle of the compact between the abbot and his
monks, that they should obey their superiors in all things,
and perform whatever they commanded (Ep. 2, ad Eustoch. de
custod. virgin.). So despotic did the tyranny become in the
West, that in the time of Charlemagne it was necessary to
restrain abbots by legal enactments from mutilating their
monks and putting out their eyes; while the rule of St
Columban ordained 100 lashes as the punishment for very slight
offences. An abbot also had the power of excommunicating
refractory nuns, which he might use if desired by their abbess.
The abbot was treated with the utmost submission and reverence
by the brethren of his house. When he appeared either in
church or chapter all present rose and bowed. His letters
were received kneeling, like those of the pope and the
king. If he gave a command, the monk receiving it was also to
kneel. No monk might sit in his presence, or leave it without his
permission. The highest place was naturally assigned to him,
both in church and at table. In the East he was commanded to
eat with the other monks. In the West the rule of St Benedict
appointed him a separate table, at which he might entertain
guests and strangers. This permission opening the door to
luxurious living, the council of Aix, A.D. 817, decreed that
the abbot should dine in the refectory, and be content with
the ordinary fare of the monks, unless he had to entertain a
guest. These ordinances proved, however, generally ineffectual
to secure strictness of diet, and contemporaneous literature
abounds with satirical remarks and complaints concerning the
inordinate extravagance of the tables of the abbots. When the
abbot condescended to dine in the refectory, his chaplains waited
upon him with the dishes, a servant, if necessary, assisting
them. At St Alban's the abbot took the lord's seat, in the
centre of the high table, and was served on silver plate, and
sumptuously entertained noblemen, ambassadors and strangers of
quality. When abbots dined in their own private hall, the rule
of St Benedict charged them to invite their monks to their table,
provided there was room, on which occasions the guests were
to abstain from quarrels, slanderous talk and idle gossiping.
The ordinary attire of the abbot was according to rule to be
the same as that of the monks. But by the 10th century the
rule was commonly set aside, and we find frequent complaints of
abbots dressing in silk, and adopting sumptuous attire. They
sometimes even laid aside the monastic habit altogether, and
assumed a secular dress.1 This was a necessary consequence of
their following the chase, which was quite usual, and indeed at
that time only natural. With the increase of wealth and power,
abbots had lost much of their special religious character, and
become great lords, chiefly distinguished from lay lords by
celibacy. Thus we hear of abbots going out to sport, with
their men carrying bows and arrows; keeping horses, dogs and
huntsmen; and special mention is made of an abbot of Leicester,
c. 1360, who was the most skilled of all the nobility in
harehunting. In magnificence of equipage and retinue the
abbots vied with the first nobles of the realm. They rode
on mules with gilded bridles, rich saddles and housings,
carrying hawks on their wrist, followed by an immense train of
attendants. The bells of the churches were rung as they
passed. They associated on equal terms with laymen of the
highest distinction, and shared all their pleasures and
pursuits. This rank and power was, however, often used most
beneficially. For instance, we read of Whiting, the last
abbot of Glastonbury, judicially murdered by Henry VIII.,
that his house was a kind of well-ordered court, where as
many as 300 sons of noblemen and gentlemen, who had been sent
to him for virtuous education, had been brought up, besides
others of a meaner rank, whom he fitted for the universities.
His table, attendance and officers were an honour to the
nation. He would entertain as many as 500 persons of rank at
one time, besides relieving the poor of the vicinity twice a
week. He had his country houses and fisheries, and when
he travelled to attend parliament his retinue amounted to
upwards of 100 persons. The abbots of Cluny and Vendome
were, by virtue of their office, cardinals of the Roman church.
In process of time the title abbot was improperly transferred
to clerics who had no connexion with the monastic system,
as to the principal of a body of parochial clergy; and
under the Carolingians to the chief chaplain of the king,
Abbas Curiae, or military chaplain of the emperor, Abbas
Castrensis. It even came to be adopted by purely secular
officials. Thus the chief magistrate of the republic at Genoa
was called Abbas Populi. Du Cange, in his glossary, also gives
us Abbas Campanilis, Clocherii, Palatii, Scholaris, &c.
Lay abbots (M. Lat. defensores, abbacomites, abbates laici,
abbates milites, abbates saeculares or irreligiosi,
abbatiarii, or sometimes simply abbates) were the outcome
of the growth of the feudal system from the 8th century
onwards. The practice of commendation, by which---to meet
a contemporary emergency--the revenues of the community were
handed over to a lay lord, in return for his protection,
early suggested to the emperors and kings the expedient of
rewarding their warriors with rich abbeys held in commendam.
During the Carolingian epoch the custom grew up of granting
these as regular heritable fiefs or benefices, and by the 10th
century, before the great Cluniac reform, the system was firmly
established. Even the abbey of St Denis was held in commendam
by Hugh Capet. The example of the kings was followed by the
feudal nobles, sometimes by making a temporary concession
permanent, sometimes without any form of commendation
whatever. In England the abuse was rife in the 8th
century, as may be gathered from the acts of the council of
Cloveshoe. These lay abbacies were not merely a question of
overlordship, but implied the concentration in lay hands
of all the rights, immunities and jurisdiction of the
foundations, i.e. the more or less complete secularization of
1 Walworth, the fourth abbot of St Alban's, c. 930, is
charged by Matthew Paris with adopting the attire of a sportsman.
spiritual institutions. The lay abbot took his recognized
rank in the feudal hierarchy, and was free to dispose of
his fief as in the case of any other. The enfeoffment of
abbeys differed in form and degree. Sometimes the monks were
directly subject to the lay abbot; sometimes he appointed a
substitute to perform the spirtual functions, known usually
as dean (decanus), but also as abbot (abbas legitimas,
monasticus, regularis). When the great reform of the 11th
century had put an end to the direct jurisdiction of the lay
abbots, the honorary title of abbot continued to be held by
certain of the great feudal famines, as late as the 13th century
and later, the actual head of the community retaining that of
dean. The connexion of the lesser lay abbots with the
abbeys, especially in the south of France, lasted longer;
and certain feudal families retained the title of abbes
chevaliers (abbates milltes) for centuries, together with
certain rights over the abbey lands or revenues. The abuse was
not confined to the West. John, patriarch of Antioch, at the
beginning of the 12th Century, informs us that in his time most
monasteries had been handed over to laymen, bencficiarii,
for life, or for part of their lives, by the emperors.
In conventual cathedrals, where the bishop occupied the
place of the abbot, the functions usually devolving on
the superior of the monastery were performed by a prior.
The title abbe (Ital. abbate), as commonly used in the
Catholic church on the European continent, is the equivalent
of the English ``Father,'' being loosely applied to all who
have received the tonsure. This use of the title is said to
have originated in the right conceded to the king of France,
by the concordat between Pope Leo X. and Francis I. (1516),
to appoint abbes commendataires to most of the abbeys in
France. The expectation of obtaining these sinecures drew
young men towards the church in considerable numbers, and
the class of abbes so formed ---abbes de cour they were
sometimes called, and sometimes (ironically) abbes de sainte
esperance, abbes of St Hope---came to hold a recognized
position. The connexion many of them had with the church
was of the slenderest kind, consisting mainly in adopting
the name of abbe, after a remarkably moderate course of
theological study, practising celibacy and wearing a distinctive
dress--a short dark-violet coat with narrow collar. Being
men of presumed learning and undoubted leisure, many of the
class found admission to the houses of the French nobility
as tutors or advisers. Nearly every great family had its
abbe. The class did not survive the Revolution; but the
courtesy title of abbe, having long lost all connexion in
people's minds with any special ecclesiastical function, remained
as a convenient general term applicable to any clergyman.
In the German Evangelical church the title of abbot (Abt) is
sometimes bestowed, like abbe, as an honorary distinction,
and sometimes survives to designate the heads of monasteries
converted at the Reformation into collegiate foundations. Of
these the most noteworthy is the abbey of Lokkum in Hanover,
founded as a Cistercian house in 1163 by Count Wilbrand of
Hallermund, and reformed in 1593. The abbot of Lokkum, who
still carries a pastoral staff, takes precedence of all the
clergy of Hanover, and is ex officio a member of the consistory
of the kingdom. The governing body of the abbey consists of
abbot, prior and the ``convent'' of canons (Stiftsherren).
See Joseph Bingham, Origines ecclesiasticae (1840); Du
Cange, Glossarium med. et inf. Lat. (ed. 1883); J. Craigie
Robertson, Hist. of the Christian Church (1858-1873); Edmond
Martene, De antiquis ecclesiae ritibus (Venice, 1783); C.
F. R. de Montalembert, Les moines d'occident depuis S. Benoit
jusqu'a S. Bernard (1860--1877); Achille Luchaire, Manuel
des institutions francaises (Par. 1892). (E.V.; W.A.P.)
1 The Architectural History of the Conventual Buildings of
the Monastery of Christ Church in Canterbury. By the Rev. Robert
Willis. Printed for the Kent Archaeological Society, 1869.
ABBOTSFORD, formerly the residence of Sir Walter Scott,
situated on the S. bank of the Tweed, about 3 m. W. of Melrose,
Roxburghshire, Scotland, and nearly 1 m. from Abbotsford Ferry
station on the North British railway, connecting Selkirk and
Galashiels. The nucleus of the estate was a small farm of 100
acres, called Cartleyhole, nicknamed Clarty (i.e. muddy)
Hole, and bought by Scott on the lapse of his lease (1811)
of the neighbouring house of Ashestiel. It was added to
from time to time, the last and principal acquisition being
that of Toftfield (afterwards named Huntlyburn), purchased in
1817. The new house was then begun and completed in 1824.
The general ground-plan is a parallelogram, with irregular
outlines, one side overlooking the Tweed; and the style is
mainly the Scottish Baronial. Into various parts of the fabric
were built relics and curiosities from historical structures,
such as the doorway of the old Tolbooth in Edinburgh. Scott
had only enjoyed his residence one year when (1825) he met
with that reverse of fortune which involved the estate in
debt. In 1830 the library and museum were presented to him
as a free gift by the creditors. The property was wholly
disencumbered in 1847 by Robert Cadell, the publisher, who
cancelled the bond upon it in exchange for the family's share
in the copyright of Sir Walter's works. Scott's only son Walter
did not live to enjoy the property, having died on his way
from India in 1847. Among subsequent possessors were Scott's
son-in-law, J. G. Lockhart, J. R. Hope Scott, Q.C., and his
daughter (Scott's great-granddaughter), the Hon. Mrs Maxwell
Scott. Abbotsford gave its name to the ``Abbotsford Club,''
a successor of the Bannatyne and Maitland clubs, founded
by W. B. D. D. Turnbull in 1834 in Scott's honour, for
printing and publishing historical works connected with his
writings. Its publications extended from 1835 to 1864.
See Lockhart, Life of Scott; Washington Irving, Abbotsford
and Newstead Abbey; W. S. Crockett, The Scott Country.
ABBOTT, EDWIN ARROTT (1838- ), English schoolmaster and
theologian, was born on the 20th of December 1838. He
was educated at the City of London school and at St John's
College, Cambridge, where he took the highest honours in the
classical, mathematical and theological triposes, and became
fellow of his college. In 1862 he took orders. After holding
masterships at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and at
Clifton College, he succeeded G. F. Mortimer as headmaster
of the City of London school in 1865 at the early age of
twenty-six. He was Hulsean lecturer in 1876. He retired
in 1889, and devoted himself to literary and theological
pursuits. Dr Abbott's liberal inclinations in theology
were prominent both in his educational views and in his
books. His Shakespearian Grammar (1870) is a permanent
contribution to English philology. In 1885 he published a
life of Francis Bacon. His theological writings include three
anonymously published religious romances--Philochristus
(1878), Onesimus (1882), Sitanus (1906). More weighty
contributions are the anonymous theological discussion The
Kernel and the Husk (1886), Philomythus (1891), his book
on Cardinal Newman as an Anglican (1892), and his article
``The Gospels'' in the ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, embodying a critical view which caused considerable
stir in the English theological world; he also wrote St
Thomas of Canterbury, his Death and Miracles (1898),
Johannine Vocabulary (1905), Johannine Grammar (1906).
His brother, Evelyn Abbott (1843-1901), was a well-known tutor of
Balliol, Oxford, and author of a scholarly History of Greece.
ABBOTT, EMMA (1849-1891), American singer, was born at
Chicago and studied in Milan and Paris. She had a fine soprano
voice, and appeared first in opera in London under Colonel
Mapleson's direction at Covent Garden, also singing at important
concerts. She organized an opera company known by her name,
and toured extensively in the United States, where she had
a great reputation. In 1873 she married E. J. Wethereil.
She died at Salt Lake City on the 5th of January 1891.
ABBOTT, JACOB (1803-1879), American writer of books for the
young, was born at Hallowell, Maine, on the 14th of November
1803. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1820; studied at
Andover Theological Seminary in 1821, 1822, and 1824; was
tutor in 1824-1825, and from 1825 to 1829 was professor of
mathematics and natural philosophy in Amherst College; was
licensed to preach by the Hampshire Association in 1826;
founded the Mount Vernon School for young ladies in Boston in
1829, and was principal of it in 1829--1833; was pastor of
Eliot Congregational Church (which he founded), at Roxbury,
Mass., in 1834-1835; and was, with his brothers, a founder,
and in 1843--1851 a principal of Abbott's Institute, and in
1845--1848 of the Mount Vernon School for boys, in New York
City. He was a prolific author, writing juvenile stories,
brief histories and biographies, and religious books for
the general reader, and a few works in popular science.
He died on the 31st of October 1879 at Farmington, Maine,
where he had spent part of his time since 1839, and where
his brother Samuel Phillips Abbott founded in 1844 the Abbott
School, popularly cailed ``Little Blue.'' Jacob Abbott's
``Rollo Books''-Rollo at Work, Rollo at Play, Rollo in
Europe, &c. (28 vols.)---are the best known of his writings,
having as their chief characters a representative boy and his
associates. In them Abbott did for one or two generations
of young American readers a service not unlike that performed
earlier, in England and America, by the authors of Evenings at
Home, Sandford and Merton, and the Parent's Assistant. Of
his other writings (he produced more than two hundred volumes
in all), the best are the Franconia Stories (10 vols.),
twenty-two volumes of biographical histories in a series of
thirty-two volumes (with his brother John S. C. Abbott), and
the Young Christian,---all of which had enormous circulations.
His sons, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott (1830-1890), Austin Abbott
(1831-1896), both eminent lawyers, Lyman Abbott (q.v.), and
Edward Abbott (1841-1908), a clergyman, were also well-known
authors. See his Young Christian, Memorial Edition, with
a Sketch of the Author by one of his sons, i.e. Edward
Abbott (New York, 1882), with a bibliography of his works.
ABBOTT, JOHN STEVENS CABOT (1805-1877), American writer,
was born in Brunswick, Maine, on the 18th of September
1805. He was a brother of Jacob Abbott, and was associated
with him in the management of Abbott's Institute, New York
City, and in the preparation of his series of brief historical
biographies. He is best known, however, as the author of
a partisan and unscholarly, but widely popular and very
readable History of Napoleon Bonaparte (1855), in which
the various elements and episodes in Napoleon's career are
treated with some skill in arrangement, but with unfailing
adulation. Dr Abbott graduated at Bowdoin College in 1825,
prepared for the ministry at Andover Theological Seminary,
and between 1830 and 1844, when he retired from the ministry,
preached successively at Worcester, Roxbury and Nantucket,
Massachusetts. He died at Fair Haven, Connecticut, on the 17th
of June 1877. He was a voluminous writer of books on Christian
ethics, and of histories, which now seem unscholarly and
untrustworthy, but were valuable in their time in cultivating
a popular interest in history. In general, except that
he did not write juvenile fiction, his work in subject and
style closely resembles that of his brother, Jacob Abbott.
ABBOTT, LYMAN (1835- ), American divine and author, was
born at Roxbury, Massachusetts, on the 18th of December 1835,
the son of Jacob Abbott. He graduated at the University
of New York in 1853, studied law, and was admitted to the
bar in 1856; but soon abandoned the legal profession, and,
after studying theology with his uncle, J. S. C. Abbott,
was ordained a minister of the Congregational Church in
1860. He was pastor of a church in Terre Haute, Indiana, in
1860-1865, and of the New England Church in New York City in
1865--1869. From 1865 to 1868 he was secretary of the American
Union (Freedman's) Commission. In 1869 he resigned his pastorate
to devote himself to literature. He was an associate editor of
Harper's Magazine, was editor of the Illustrated Christian
Weekly, and was co-editor (1876-1881) of The Christian
Union with Henry Ward Beecher, whom he succeeded in 1888 as
pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. From this pastorate he
resigned ten years later. From 1881 he was editor-in-chief
of The Christian Union, renamed The Outlook in 1893; this
periodical reflected his efforts toward social reform, and, in
theology, a liberality, humanitarian and nearly unitarian.
The latter characteristics marked his published works also.
His works include Jesus of Nazareth (1869); Illustrated
Commentary on the New Testament (4 vols., 1875); A Study
in Human Nature (1885); Life of Christ (1894); Evolution
of Christianity (Lowell Lectures, 1896); The Theology of
an Evolutionist (1897); Christianity and Social Problems
(1897); Life and Letters of Paul, (1898); The Life that
Really is (1899); Problems of Life (1900); The Rights
of Man (1901); Henry Ward Beecher (1903); The Christian
Ministry (1905); The Personality of God (1905); Industrial
Problems (1905); and Christ's Secret of Happiness (1907).
He edited Sermons of Henry Ward Beecher (2 vols., 1868).
ABBOTTADAD, a town of British India, 4120 ft. above
sealevel, 63 m. from Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the
Hazara district in the N.W. Frontier Province, called after
its founder, Sir James Abbott, who settled this wild district
after the annexation of the Punjab. It is an important
military cantonment and sanatorium, being the headquarters of
a brigade in the second division of the northern army corps.
In 1901 the population of the town and cantonment was 7764.
ABBREVIATION (Lat. brevis, short), strictly a shortening;
more particularly, an ``abbreviation'' is a letter or group
of letters, taken from a word or words, and employed to
represent them for the sake of brevity. Abbreviations, both
of single words and of phrases, having a meaning more or
less fixed and recognized, are common in ancient writings
and inscriptions (see PALAEOGRAPHY and DIPLOMATIC), and
very many are in use at the present time. A distinction is
to be observed between abbreviations and the contractions
that are frequently to be met with in old manuscripts, and
even in early printed books, whereby letters are dropped
out here and there, or particular collocations of letters
represented by somewhat arbitrary symbols. The commonest
form of abbreviation is the substitution for a word of its
initial letter; but, with a view to prevent ambiguity, one
or more of the other letters are frequently added. Letters
are often doubled to indicate a plural or a superlative.
I. CLASSICAL ABBREVIATIONS.---The following list
contains a selection from the abbreviations that occur
in the writings and inscriptions of the Romans:--
A.
A. Absolvo, Aedilis, Aes, Ager, Ago, Aio, Amicus, Annus, Antiquo,
Auctor, Auditor, Augustus, Aulus, Aurum, Aut.
A.A. Aes alienum, Ante audita, Apud agrum, Aurum argentum.
AA. Augusti. AAA. Augusti tres.
A.A.A.F.F. Auro argento acre flando feriundo.1
A.A.V. Alter ambove.
A.C. Acta causa, Alins civis.
A.D. Ante diem; e.g. A.D.V. Ante diem quintum.
A.D.A. Ad dandos agros.
AEO. Aedes, Aedilis, Aedilitas.
AEM. and AIM. Aemilius, Aemilia.
AER. Aerarium. AER.P. Aere publico.
A.F. Acture fide, Auli filius.
AG. Ager, Ago, Agrippa.
A.G. Ammo grato, Aulus Gellius.
A.L.AE. and A.L.E. Arbitrium litis aestimandae.
A.M. and A.MILL. Ad milliarium.
AN. Aniensis, Annus, Ante.
ANN. Annales, Anni, Annona.
ANT. Ante, Antonius.
A.O. Alii omnes, Amico optimo.
AP. Atppius, Apud.
A.P. Ad pedes, Aedilitia potestate.
A.P.F. Auro (or argento) publico feriundo.
A.P.M. Amico posuit monumentum, Annorum plus minus.
A.P.R.C. Anno post Romam conditam.
ARG. Argentum.
AR.V.V.D.D.Aram votam volens dedicavit, Arma votiva dono dedit.
AT A tergo. Also A TE. and A TER.
A.T.M.D.O. Aio te mihi dare oportere.
AV. Augur, Augustus, Aurelius.
A.V. Annos vixit.
A.V.C. Ab urbe condita.
AVG. Augur, Augustus.
AVGG. Augusti (generally of two). AVGGG. Augusti tres.
AVT.PR.R. Auctoritas provinciae Romanorum.
B.
B. Balbius, Balbus, Beatus, Bene, Beneficiarius, Beneficium,
Bonus, Brutus, Bustum.
B.for V. Berna Bivus, Bixit.
B.A. Bixit anos, Bonis auguriis, Bonus amabilis.
BB.or B.B. Bene bene, i.e. optime, Optimus.
B.D. Bonae deae, Bonum datum.
B.DD. Bonis deabus.
B.D.S.M. Bene de se merenti.
B.F. Bona femina, Bona fides, Bona fortuna, Bonum factum.
B.F. Bona femina, Bona filia.
B.H. Bona hereditaria, Bonorum heres.
B.I. Bonum judicium. B.I.I. Boni judicis judicium.
B.M. Beatae memoriae, Bene merenti.
B.N. Bona nostra, Bonum nomen.
BN.H.I. Bona hic invenies.
B.P. Bona paterna, Bonorum potestas, Bonum publicum.
B.Q. Bene quiescat, Bona quaesita.
B.RP.N. Boho reipublicae natus.
BRT. Britannicus.
B.T. Bonorum tutor, Brevi tempore.
B.V. Bene vale, Bene vixit, Bonus vir.
B.V.V. Balnea vina Venus.
BX. Bixit, for vixit.
C.
C. Caesar, Cains, Caput, Causa, Censor, Civis, Conors, Colonia,
Comitialis (dies), Condemno, Consul, Cum, Curo, Custos.
C. Caia, Centuria, Cum, the prefix Con.
C.B. Civis bonus, Commune bonum, Conjugi benemerenti, Cui bono.
C.C. Calumniae causa, Causa cognita, Conjugi carissimae, Consilium
cepit, Curiae consulto.
C.C.C. Calumniae cavendae causa.
C.C.F. Caesar (or Caius) curavit faciendum, Cains Caii filius.
CC.VV. Clarissimi viri.
C.D. Caesaris decreto, Cains Decius, Comitialibus diebus.
CES. Censor, Censores. CESS. Censores.
C.F. Causa fiduciae, Conjugi fecit, Curavit faciendum.
C.H. Custos heredum, Custos hortorum.
C.I. Caius Julius, Consul jussit, Curavit judex. .
CL. Clarissimus, Claudius, Clodius, Colonia.
CL.V. Clarissimus vir, Clypeum vovit.
C.M. Caius Marius, Causa mortis.
CN. Cnaeus.
COH. Coheres, Conors.
COL. Collega, Collegium, Colonia, Columna.
COLL. Collega, Coloni, Coloniae.
COM. Comes, Comitium, Comparatum.
CON. Conjux, Consensus, Consiliarius, Consul, Consularis.
COR. Cornelia (tribus), Cornelius, Corona, Corpus.
COS. Consiliarius, Consul, Consulares. COSS. Consules.
C.P. Carissimus or Clarissimus puer, Civis publicus, Curavit
ponendum.
C.R. Cains Rufus, Civis Romanus, Curavit reficiendum.
CS. Caesar, Communis, Consul.
C.V. Clarissimus or Consularis vir.
CVR. Cura, Curator, Curavit, Curia.
D.
D. Dat, Dedit, &c., De, Decimus, Decius, Decretum, Decurio,
Deus, Dicit, &c., Dies, Divus, Dominus, Domus, Donum.
D.C. Decurio coloniae, Diebus comitialibus, Divus Caesar.
D.D. Dea Dia, Decurionum decreto, Dedicavit, Deo dedit, Dono dedit.
D.D.D. Datum decreto decurionum, Dono dedit dedicavit.
D.E.R. De ea re.
DES. Designatus.
D.I. Dedit imperator, Diis immortalibus, Diis inferis.
D.l.M. Deo invicto Mithrae, Diis inferis Manibus.
D.M. Deo Magno, Dignus memoria, Diis Manibus, Dolo malo.
D.O.M. Deo Optimo Maximo.
D.P.S. Dedit proprio sumptu, Deo perpetuo sacrum, De pecunia
sua.
E.
E. Ejus, Eques, Erexft, Ergo, Est, Et, Etiam, Ex.
EG. Aeger, Egit, Egregius.
E.M. Egregiae memoriae, Ejusmodi, Erexit monumentum.
EQ.M. Equitum magister.
E.R.A. Ea res agitur.
F.
F. Fabius, Facere, Fecit, &c., Familia, Fastus (dies), Felix,
Femina, Fides, Filius, Flamen, Fortuna, Frater, Fuit, Functus.
F.C. Faciendum curavit, Fidei commissume, Fiduciae causa.
F.D. Fidem dedit, Flamen Dialis, Fraude donavit.
F.F.F. Ferro flamma fame, Fortior fortuna fato.
FL. Filius, Flamen, Flaminius, Flavius.
F.L. Favete linguis, Fecit libens, Felix liber.
FR. Forum, Fronte, Frumentarius.
F.R. Forum Romanum.
G.
G. Gaius (=Caius), Gallia, Gaudium, Gellius, Gemma, Gens,
Gesta, Gratia.
G.F. Gemma fidelis (applied to a legion). So G.P.F. Gemma
pia fidelis.
GL. Gloria.
GN. Genius, Gens, Genus, Gnaeus (=Cnaeus).
G.P.R. Genro populi Romani.
H.
H. Habet, Heres, Hic, Homo, Honor, Hora.
HER. Heres, Herennius. HER. and HERC. Hercules.
H.L. Hac lege, Hoc loco, Honesto loco.
H.M. Hoc monumentum, Honesta mulier, Hora mala.
H.S.E. Hic sepultus est, Hic situs est.
H.V. Haec urbs, Hic vivit, Honeste vixit, Honestus vir.
I.
I. Immortalis, Imperator, In, Infra, Inter, Invictus, Ipse, Isis,
Judex, Julius, Junius, Jupiter, Justus.
IA. Jam, Intra.
I.C. Julius Caesar, Juris Consultum, Jus civile.
ID. Idem, Idus, Interdum.
l.D. Inferis diis, Jovi dedicatnm, Jus dicendum, Jussu Dei.
I.D.M. Jovi deo magno.
I.F. In foro, In fronte.
I.H. Jacet hic, In honestatem, Justus homo.
IM. Imago, Immortalis, Immunis, Impensa.
IMP. Imperator, Imperium.
I.O.M. Jovi optimo maximo.
I.P. In publico, Intra provinciam, Justa persona.
I.S.V.P. Impensa sua vivus posuit.
K.
K. Kaeso, Caia, Calumnia, Caput, Carus, Castra.
K., KAL. and KL. Kalendae.
L.
L. Laelius, Legio, Lex, Libens, Liber, Libra, Locus, Lollius,
Lucius, Ludus.
LB. Libens, Liberi, Libertus.
L.D.D.D. Locus datus decreto decurionum.
LEG. Legatus, Legio.
LIB. Liber, Liberalitas, Libertas, Libertus, Librarius.
LL. Leges, Libentissime, Liberti.
L.M. Libens merito, Locus monumenti.
L.S. Laribus sacrum, Libens solvit, Locus sacer.
LVD. Ludus.
LV.P.F. Ludos publicos fecit.
M.
M. Magister, Magistratus, Magnus, Manes, Marcus, Marins,
Marti, Mater, Memoria, Mensis, Miles, Monumentum, Mortuus,
Mucius, Mulier.
M'. Manius.
M.D. Magno Deo, Manibus diis, Matri deum, Merenti dedit.
MES. Mensis. MESS. Menses.
M.F. Mala fides, Marci filius, Monumentum fecit.
M.I. Matri Idaeae, Matii Isidi, Maximo Jovi.
MNT. and MON. Moneta.
M.P. Male positus, Monumentum posuit.
M.S. Manibus sacrum, Memoriae sacrum, Manu scriptum.
MVN. Municeps, or municipium; so also MN., MV. and MVNIC.
M.V.S. Marti ultori sacrum, Merito votum solvit.
N.
N. Natio, Natus, Nefastus (dies), Nepos, Neptunus, Nero,
Nomen, Non, Nonae, Noster, Novus, Numen, Numerius,
Numerus, Nummus.
NEP. Nepos, Neptunus.
N.F.C. Nostrae fidei commissum.
N.L. Non licet, Non liquet, Non longe.
N.M.V. Nobilis memoriae vir.
NN. Nostri. NN., NNO. and NNR. Nostrorum.
NOB. Nobilis. NOB., NOBR. and NOV. Novembris.
N.P. Nefastus primo (i.e. priore parto diei), Non potest.
O.
O. Ob, Officium, Omnis, Oportet, Optimus, Opus, Ossa.
OB. Obiit, Obiter, Orbis.
O.C.S. Ob cives servatos.
O.H.F. Omnibus honoribus functus.
O.H.S.S. Ossa hic sita sunt.
OR. Hora, Ordo, Ornamentum.
O.T.B.Q. Ossa tua bene quiescant.
P.
P. Pars, Passus, Pater, Patronus, Pax, Perpetuus, Pes, Pius,
Plebs, Pondo, Populus, Post, Posuit, Praeses, Praetor,
Primus, Pro, Provincia, Publicus, Publius, Puer.
P.C. Pactum conventum, Patres conscripti, Pecunia constituta,
Ponendum curavit, Post consulatum, Potestate censoria.
P.F. Pia fidelis, Pius felix, Promissa fides, Publii filius.
P.M. Piae memoriae, Pius minus, Pontifex maximus.
P.P. Pater patratus, Pater patriae, Pecunia publica, Praepositus,
Primipilus, Propraetor.
PR. Praeses, Praetor, Pridie, Princeps.
P.R. Permissu reipublicae, Populus Romanus.
P.R.C. Post Romam conditam.
PR.PR. Praefectus praetorii, Propraetor.
P.S. Pecunia sua, Plebiscitum, Proprio sumptu, Publicae saluti.
P.V. Pia victrix, praefectus urbi, Praestantissimus vir.
Q.
Q. Quaestor, Quando, Quantus, Que, Qui, Quinquennalis,
Quintus, Quirites.
Q.D.R. Qua de re.
Q.I.S.S. Quae infra scripta sunt; so Q.S.S.S. Quae supra, &c.
QQ. Quaecunque, Quinquennalis, Quoque.
Q.R. Quaestor reipublicae.
R.
R. Recte, Res, Respublica, Retro, Rex, Ripa, Roma, Romanus,
Rufus, Rursus.
R.C. Romana civitas, Romanus civis.
RESP. and RP. Respublica.
RET.P. and RP. Retro pedes.
S.
S. Sacrum, Scriptus, Semis, Senatus, Sepultus, Servius,
Servus, Sextus, Sibi, Sine, Situs, Solus, Solvit, Sub, Suus.
SAC. Sacerdos, Sacrificium, Sacrum.
S.C. Senatus consultum.
S.D. Sacrum diis, Salutem dicit, Senatus decreto, Sententiam
S.D.M. Sacrum diis Manibus, Sine dolo malo.
SER. Servius, Servus.
S.E.T.L. Sit ei terra levis.
SN. Senatus, Sententia, Sine.
S.P. Sacerdos perpetua, Sine pecunia, Sua pecunia.
S.P.Q.R. Senatus populusque Romanus.
S.S. Sanctissimus senatus, Supra scripture.
S.V.B.E.E.Q.V. Si vales bene est, ego quidem valeo.
T.
T. Terminus, Testamentum, Titus, Tribunus, Tu, Turma, Tutor.
TB., TI. and TIB. Tiberius.
TB., TR. and TRB. Tribunus.
T.F. Testamentum fecit, Titi filius, Titulum fecit, Titus Flavius.
TM. Terminus, Testamentum, Thermae.
T.P. Terminum posuit, Tribunicia potestate, Tribunus plebis.
TVL. Tullius, Tunus.
V.
V. Urbs, Usus, Uxor, Vale, Verba, Vestalis, Vester, Vir, Vivus,
Vixit, Volo, Votum.
VA. Veterano assignatus, Vixit annos.
V.C. Vale conjux, Vir clarissimus, Vir consularis.
V.E. Verum etiam, Vir egregius, Visum est.
V.F. Usus fructus, Verba fecit, Vivus fecit.
V.P. Urbis praefectus, Vir perfectissimus, Vivus posuit.
V.R. Urbs Roma, Uti rogas, Votum reddidit.
II. MEDIEVAL ABBREVIATIONS.--Of the different kinds of
abbreviations in use in the middle ages, the following are
examples:--
A.M. Ave Maria.
B.P. Beatus Paulus, Beatus Petrus. .
CC. Carissimus (atso plur. Carissimi), Clarissimus, Circum.
D. Deus, Dominicus, Dux.
D.N.PP. Dominus hoster Papa.
U.F. Felicissimus, Fratres, Pandectae (prob. for Gr. II).
I.C. or I.X. Jesus Christus.
I.D.N. In Dei nomine.
KK. Karissimus (or-mi).
MM. Magistri, Martyres, Matrimonium, Meritissimus.
O.S.B. Ordinis Sancti Benedicti.
PP. Papa, Patres, Piissimus.
R.F. Rex Francorum.
R.P.D. Reverendissimus Pater Dominus.
S.C.M. Sacra Caesarea Majestas.
S.M.E. Sancta Mater Ecclesia.
S.M.M. Sancta Mater Maria.
S.R.I. Sanctum Romanum Imperium.
S.V. Sanctitas Vestra, Sancta Virgo.
V. Venerabilis, Venerandus. .
V.R.P. Vestra Reverendissima Paternitas.
III. ABBREVIATIONS NOW IN USE.--The import of these
will often be readily understood from the connexion in which
they occur. There is no occasion to explain here the common
abbreviations used for Christian names, books of Scripture,
months of the year, points of the compass, grammatical and
mathematical terms, or familiar titles, like ``Mr,'' &c.
The ordinary abbreviations, now or recently in use, may
be conveniently classified under the following headings:-
I. ABBREVIATED TITLES AND DESIGNATIONS.
A.A. Associate of Arts.
A.B. Able-bodied seaman; (in America) Bachelor of Arts.
A.D.C. Aide-de-Camp.
A.M. (Artium Magister), Master of Arts.
A.R.A. Associate of the Royal Academy.
A.R.I.B.A. Associate of the Royal Institution of British Architects.
A.R.S.A. Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy.
B.A. Bachelor of Arts.
Bart. Baronet.
B.C.L. Bachelor of Civil Law.
B.D. Bachelor of Divinty.
B.LL. Bachelor of Laws.
B.Sc. Bachelor of Science.
C. Chairman.
C.A. Chartered Accountant.
C.B. Companion of the Bath.
C.E. Civil Engineer.
C.I.E. Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire.
C.M. (Chirurgiae Magister), Master in Surgery.
C.M.G. Companion of St Michael and St George.
C.S.I. Companion of the Star of India.
D.C.L. Doctor of Civil Law.
D.D. Doctor of Divinity.
D.Lit. or Litt. D. Doctor of Literature.
D.M. Doctor of Medicine (Oxford).
D.Sc. Doctor of Science.
D.S.O. Distinguished Service Order.
Ebor. (Eboracensis) of York.2
F.C.S. Fellow of the Chemical Society.
F.D. (Fidei Defensor), Defender of the Faith.
F.F.P.S. Fellow of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons (Glasgow)
F.G.S. Fellow of the Geological Society.
F.K.Q.C.P.I. Fellow of King and Queen's College of Physicians
in Ireland.
F.L.S. Fellow of the Linnaean Society.
F.M. Field Marshal.
F.P.S. Fellow of the Philological Society.
F.R.A.S. Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
F.R C.P. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.
F.R.C.P.E. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
F.R.C.S. Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.
F.R.G.S. Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
F.R.H.S. Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society.
F.R.Hist.Soc. Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
F.R.I.B.A. Fellow of the Royal Institution of British Architects.
F.R.S. Fellow of the Royal Society.
F.R.S.E. Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
F.R.S.L. Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
F.S.A. Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.
F.S.S. Fellow of the Statistical Society.
F.Z.S. Fellow of the Zoological Society.
G.C.B. Knight Grand Cross of the Bath.
G.C.H. Knight Grand Cross of Hanover.
G.C.I.E. Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian
Empire.
G.C.M.G. Knight Grand Cross of St Michael and St George.
G.C.S.I. Knight Grand Commander of the Star of india.
G.C.V.O. Knight Grand Commander of the Victorian Order.
H.H. His or Her Highness.
H.I.H. His or Her Imperial Highness.
H.I.M. His or Her Imperial Majesty.
H.M. His or Her Majesty.
H.R.H. His or Her Royal Highness.
H.S.H. His or Her Serene Highness.
J. Judge.
J.C.D. (Juris Canonici Doctor, or Juris Civilis Doctor),
Doctor of Canon or Civil Law.
J.D. (Juris utriusque Doctor), Doctor of Civil and Canon Law.
J.P. Justice of the Peace.
K.C. King's Counsel.
K.C.B. Knight Commander of the Bath.
K.C.I.E. Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire.
K.C.M.G. Knight Commander of St Michael and St George.
K.C.S.I. Knight Commander of the Star of India.
K.C.V.O. Knight Commander of the Victorian Order.
K.G. Knight of the Garter.
K.P. Knight of St Patrick.
K.T. Knight of the Thistle.
L.A.H. Licentiate of the Apothecaries' Hall.
L.C.C. London County Council, or Councillor.
L.C.J. Lord Chief Justice
L.J. Lord Justice.
L.L.A. Lady Literate in Arts.
LL.B. (Legum Baccalaureus), Bachelor of Laws.
LL.D. (Legum Doctor), Doctor of Laws.
LL.M. (Legum Magister), Master of Laws.
L.R.C.P. Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians.
L.R.C.S. Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons.
L.S.A. Licentiate of the Apothecaries' Society.
M.A. Master of Arts.
M.B. (Medicinae Baccalaureus), Bachelor of Medicine
M.C. Member of Congress.
M.D. (Medicinae Doctor), Doctor of Medicine.
M.Inst.C.E. Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers.
M.P. Member of Parliament.
M.R. Master of the Rolls.
M.R.C.P. Member of the Royal College of Physicians.
M.R.C.S. Member of the Royal College of Surgeons.
M.R.I.A. Member of the Royal Irish Academy.
Mus.B. Bachelor of Music.
Mus.D. Doctor of Music.
M.V.O. Member of the Victorian Order.
N.P. Notary Public.
O.M. Order of Merit.
P.C. Privy Councillor.
Ph.D. (Philosophiae Doctor), Doctor of Philosophy.
P.P. Parish Priest.
P.R.A. President of the Royal Academy.
R. (Rex, Regina), King, Queen.
R. & I. Rex et Imperator.
R.A. Royal Academician, Royal Artillery.
R.A.M. Royal Academy of Music.
R.E. Royal Engineers.
Reg. Prof. Regius Professor.
R.M. Royal Marines, Resident Magistrate.
R.N. Royal Navy.
S. or St. Saint.
S.S.C. Solicitor before the Supreme Courts of Scotland.
S.T.P. (Sacrosanctae Theologiae Professor), Professor of Sacred
Theology.
V.C. Vice-Chancellor, Victoria Cross.
V.G. Vicar-General.
V.S. Veterinary Surgeon.
W.S. Writer to the Signet [in Scotland]. Equivalent to Attorney
2. ABBREVIATIONS DENOTING MONIES, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES.
ac. acre. lb. or lb. (libra), pound (weight).
bar. barrel. m. or mi. mile, minute.
bus. bushel. m. minim.
c. cent. mo. month.
c. (or cub.) ft. &c. cubic foot,&c. na. nail.
cwt. hundredweight. oz. ounce.
d. (denarius), penny. pk. peck.
deg. degree. po. pole.
dr. drachm or dram. pt. pint.
dwt. pennyweight. q. (quadrans), farthing.
f. franc. qr. quarter.
fl. florin. qt. quart.
ft. foot. ro. rood.
fur. furlong. Rs.4 rupees.
gal. gallon. s. or / (solidus), shilling.
gr. grain. s. or sec. second.
h. or hr. hour. sc. or scr. scruple.
hhd. hogshead. sq. ft. &c, square foot, &c.
in. inch. st. stone.
kilo. kilometre. yd. yard.
L.,3 L. ,2 or l. (libra), pound (money).
3. MISCELLANEOUS ABBREVIATIONS.
A. Accepted.
A.C. (Ante Christum), Before Christ.
acc., a/c. or acct. Account.
A.D. (Anno Domini), In the year of our Lord.
A.E.I.O.U. Austriae est imperare orbi universo,5 or
Alles Erdreich Ist Oesterreich Unterthan.
Aet. or Aetat. (Aetatis, [anno]), In the year of his age.
A.H. (Anno Hegirae), In the year of the Hegira (the Mohammedan
era).
A.M. (Anno Mundi), In the year of the world.
A.M. (Ante meridiem), Forenoon.
Anon. Anonymous.
A.U.C. (Anno urbis conditae), In the year from the building
of the city (i.e. Rome).
A.V. Authorized version of the Bible.
b. born.
B.V.M. The Blessed Virgin Mary.
B.C. Before Christ.
c. circa, about.
C. or Cap. (Caput), Chapter.
C. Centigrade (or Celsius's) Thermometer.
cent.6 (Centnim), A hundred, frequently L. 100.
Cf. or cp. (Confer), Compare.
Ch. or Chap. Chapter.
C.M.S. Church Missionary Society.
Co. Company, County.
C.O.D. Cash on Delivery.
Cr. Creditor.
curt. Current, the present month.
d. died.
D.G. (Dei gratia), By the grace of God.
Do. Ditto, the same.
D.O.M. (Deo Optimo Maximo), To God the Best and Greatest.
Dr. Debtor.
D.V. (Deo volente), God willing.
E.& O.E. Errors and omissions excepted.
e.g. (Exempti gratia), For example.
etc. or &c. (Et caetera), And the rest; and so forth.
Ex. Example.
F. or Fahr. Fahrenheit's Thermometer.
fec. (Fecit), He made (or did) it.
fl. Flourished.
Fo. or Fol. Folio.
f.o.b. Free on board.
G.P.O. General Post Office.
H.M.S. His Majesty's Ship, or Service.
Ib. or Ibid. (Ibidem), In the same place.
Id. (Idem), The same.
ie. (Id est), That is.
I.H.S. A symbol for ``Jesus,', derived from the first three letters
of the Greek (I E S); the correct origin was lost
sight of, and the Romanized letters were then interpreted
erroneously as standing for Jesus, Hominum Salvator,
the Latin ``h'' and Greek long ``e'' being confused.
I.M.D.G. (In majorem Dei gloriam), To the greater glory of God.
Inf. (Infra), Below.
Inst. Instant, the present month.
I.O.U. I owe you.
i.q. (Idem quod), The same as.
k.t.l. (gr kai ta loipa) Et caetera, and the rest.
L. or Lib. (Liber), Book.
Lat. Latitude.
l.c. (Loco citato), In the place cited.
Lon. or Long. Longitude.
L.S. (Locus sigilli), The place of the seal.
Mem. (Memento), Remember, Memorandum.
MS. Manuscript. MSS. Manuscripts.
N.B. (Nota bene), Mark well; take notice.
N.B. North Britain (i.e. Scotland).
N.D. No date.
nem. con. (Nemine contradicente), No one contradicting.
No. (Numero), Number.
N.S. New Style.
N.T. New Testament.
ob. (Obiit), Died.
Obs. Obsolete.
O.H.M.S. On His Majesty's Service.
O.S. Old Style.
O.S.B. Ordo Sancti Benedicti (Benedictines).
O.T. Old Testament.
P. Page. Pp. Pages.
@ (Per), For; e.g. @ lb., For one pound.
Pinx. (Pinxit), He painted it.
P.M. (Post Meridiem), Afternoon.
P.O. Post Office, Postal Order.
P.O.O. Post Office Order.
P.P.C. (Pour prendre conge), To take leave.
P.R. Prize-ring.
prox. (Proximo [mense]), Next month.
P.S. Postscript.
Pt. Part.
p.t. or pro tem. (Pro tempore), For the time.
P.T.O. Please turn over.
Q., Qu., or Qy. Query; Question.
q.d. (Quasi dicat), As if he should say: as much as to say.
Q.E.D. (Quod erot demonstrandum), Which was to be demonstrated.
Q.E.F. (Quod erat faciendum), Which was to be done.
q.s. or quant. suff. (Quantum sufficit), As much as is
sufficient.
q.v. (Quod vide), Which see.
R. or @. (Recipe), Take.
sqrt. (=r. for radix), The sign of the square root.
R.I.P. (Requiescat in pace!), May he rest in peace!
R.S.V.P. (i Respondes s'il vous plait), please reply.
sc. (Scilicet), Namely; that is to say.
Sc. or Sculp. (Sculpsit), He engraved it.
S.D.U.K. Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
seq. or sq., seqq. or sqq. (Sequens, sequenitia), The following.
S.J. Society of Jesus.
sp. (Sine prole), Without offspring.
S.P.C.K. Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge
S.P.G. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.
S.T.D. }
S.T.B. }Doctor, Bachelor, Licentiate of Theology.
S.T.L. }
Sup. (Supra), Above.
s.v. (Sub voce), Under the word (or heading).
T.C.D. Trinity College, Dublin.
ult. (Ultimo [mense]), Last month.
U.S. United States.
U.S.A. United States of America.
v. (versus), Against.
v. or vid: (Vide), See.
viz. (Videlicet), Namely.
Xmas. Christmas. This X is a Greek letter, corresponding to Ch.
See also Graevius's Thesaurus Antiquitatum (1694, sqq.);
Nicolai's Tractatus de Sigils Veterum; Mommsen's Corpus
Inscriptionum Latinarum (1863, sqq.); Natalis de Wailly's
Paleographie (Paris, 1838); Alph. Chassant's Paleographie
(1854), and Dictionnaire des Abreviations (3rd ed.
1866); Campelli, Duzionario di Abbreviature (1899).
1 Describing the function of the triumviri monetales.
2 An archbishop or bishop, in writing his signature, substitutes
for his surname the name of his see; thus the prelates of
Canterbury, York, Oxford, London, &c., subscribe themselves
with their initials (Christian names only), followed by
Cantuar., Ebor., Oxon., Londin. (sometimes London.), &c.
3 Characters, not properly abbreviations, are used in the same
way; e.g. `` deg. '' for ``degrees, minutes, seconds'' (circular
measure); @, @, @ for ``ounces, drachms, scruples.'' @ is
probably to be traced to the written form of the z in ``oz.''
4 These forms (as well as $, the symbol for the
American dollar) are placed before the amounts.
5It is given to Austria to rule the whole earth.
The device of Austria, first adopted by Frederick III.
6``Per cent.'' is often signified by %, a form traceable to "100."
ABBREVIATORS, a body of writers in the papal chancery,
whose business was to sketch out and prepare in due form the
pope's bulls, briefs and consistorial decrees before these are
written out in extenso by the scriptores. They are first
mentioned in Extravagantes of John XXII. and of Benedict
XII. Their number was fixed at seventy-two by Sixtus IV.
From the time of Benedict XII. (1334-1342) they were classed
as de Parco majori or Praesidentiae majoris, and de
Parco minnori. The name was derived from a space in the
chancery, surrounded by a grating, in which the officials sat,
which is called higher or lower (major or minor) according to
the proximity of the seats to that of the vice-chancellor.
After the protonotaries left the sketching of the minutes
to the abbreviators, those de Parco majori, who ranked as
prelates, were the most important officers of the apostolic
chancery. By Martin V. their signature was made essential to
the validity of the acts of the chancery; and they obtained in
course of time many important privileges. They were suppressed
in 1908 by Pius X. and their duties were transferred to the
protonotarii apostolici participantes. (See CURIA ROMANA.)
ABDALLATIF, or ABD-UL-LATIF (1162-1231), a celebrated
physician and traveller, and one of the most voluminous writers
of the East, was born at Bagdad in 1162. An interesting
memoir of Abdallatif, written by himself, has been preserved
with additions by Ibn-Abu-Osaiba (Ibn abi Usaibia), a
contemporary. From that work we learn that the higher education
of the youth of Bagdad consisted principally in a minute and
careful study of the rules and principles of grammar, and in
their committing to memory the whole of the Koran, a treatise
or two on philology and jurisprudence, and the choicest Arabian
poetry. After attaining to great proficiency in that kind of
learning, Abdallatif applied himself to natural philosophy and
medicine. To enjoythe society of the learned, he went first
to Mosul (1189), and afterwards to Damascus. With letters of
recommendation from Saladin's vizier, he visited Egypt, where
the wish he had long cherished to converse with Maimonides,
``the Eagle of the Doctors,'' was gratified. He afterwards
formed one of the circle of learned men whom Saladin gathered
around him at Jerusalem. He taught medicine and philosophy at
Cairo and at Damascus for a number of years, and afterwards,
for a shorter period, at Aleppo. His love of travel led him
in his old age to visit different parts of Armenia and Asia
Minor, and he was setting out on a pilgrimage to Mecca when
he died at Bagdad in 1231. Abdallatif was undoubtedly a
man of great knowledge and of an inquisitive and penetrating
mind. Of the numerous works--mostly on medicine---which
Osaiba ascribes to bim, one only, his graphic and detailed
Account of Egypt (in two parts), appears to be known in
Europe. The manuscript, discovered by Edward Pococke the
Orientalist, and preserved in the Bodleian Library, contains
a vivid description of a famine caused, during the author's
residence in Egypt, by the Nile failing to overflow its banks.
It was translated into Latin by Professor White of Oxford in
1800, and into French, with valuable notes, by De Sacy in 1810.
ABD-AR-RAHMAN, the name borne by five princes of the Omayyad dynasty,
amirs and caliphs of Cordova, two of them being rulers of great capacity.
ABD-AR-RAHMAN I. (756-788) was the founder of the branch of
the family which ruled for nearly three centuries in Mahommedan
Spain. When the Omayyads were overthrown in the East by the
Abbasids he was a young man of about twenty years of age.
together with his brother Yahya, he took refuge with Bedouin
tribes in the desert. The Abbasids hunted their enemies
down without mercy. Their soldiers overtook the brothers;
Yahya was slain, and Abd-ar-rahman saved himself by fleeing
first to Syria and thence to northern Africa, the common
refuge of all who endeavoured to get beyond the reach of the
Abbasids. In the general confusion of the caliphate produced
by the change of dynasty, Africa had fallen into the hands
of local rulers, formerly amirs or lieutenants of the Omayyad
caliphs, but now aiming at independence. After a time
Abd-ar-rahman found that his life was threatened, and he
fled farther west, taking refuge among the Berber tribes of
Mauritania. In the midst of all his perils, which read like
stories from the Arabian Nights, Abd-ar-rahman had been
encouraged by reliance on a prophecy of his great-uncle Maslama
that he would restore the fortune of the family. He was
followed in all his wanderings by a few faithful clients of the
Omayyads. In 755 he was in hiding near Ceuta, and thence
he sent an agent over to Spain to ask for the support of
other clients of the family, descendants of the conquerors of
Spain, who were numerous in the province of Elvira, the modern
Granada. The country was in a state of confusion under the
weak rule of the amir Yusef, a mere puppet in the hands of a
faction, and was torn by tribal dissensions among the Arabs
and by race conflicts between the Arabs and Berbers. It
offered Abd-ar-rahman the opportunity he had falled to find in
Africa. On the invitation of his partisans he landed at
Almunecar, to the east of Malaga, in September 755. For a
time he was compelled to submit to be guided by his supporters,
who were aware of the risks of their venture. Yusef opened
negotiations, and offered to give Abdar-rahman one of his
daughters in marriage and a grant of land. This was far less
than the prince meant to obtain, but he would probably have
been forced to accept the offer for want of a better if the
insolence of one of Yusef's messengers, a Spanish renegade,
had not outraged a chief partisan of the Omayyad cause. He
taunted this gentleman, Obeidullah by name, with being unable
to write good Arabic. Under this provocation Obeidullah drew
the sword. In the course of 756 a campaign was fought in
the valley of the Guadalquivir, which ended, on the 16th of
May, in the defeat of Yusef outside Cordova. Abdar-rahman's
army was so ill provided that he mounted almost the only good
war-horse in it; he had no banner, and one was improvised by
unwinding a green turban and binding it round the head of a
spear. The turban and the spear became the banner of the Spanish
Omayyads. The long reign of Abd-arrahman I. was spent in a
struggle to reduce his anarchical Arab and Berber subjects to
order. They had never meant to give themselves a master, and
they chafed under his hand, which grew continually heavier.
The details of these conflicts belong to the general history of
Spain. It is, however, part of the personal history of
Abd-ar-rahman that when in 763 he was compelled to fight at the
very gate of his capital with rebels acting on behalf of the
Abbasids, and had won a signal victory, he cut off the heads
of the leaders, filled them with salt and camphor and sent
them as a defiance to the eastern caliph. His last years were
spent amid a succession of palace conspiracies, repressed with
cruelty. Abd-ar-rahman grew embittered and ferocious. He was
a fine example of an oriental founder of a dynasty, and did his
work so well that the Omayyads lasted in Spain for two centuries
and a half.
ABD-AR-RAHMAN II. (822-852) was one of the weaker of
the Spanish Omayyads. He was a prince with a taste for
music and literature, whose reign was a time of confusion.
It is chiefly memorable for having included the story of
the ``Martyrs of Cordova,'' one of the most remarkable
passages in the religious history of the middle ages.
ABD-AR-RAHMAN III. (912-961) was the greatest and the most
successful of the princes of his dynasty in Spain (for the
general history of his reign see SPAIN, History). He
ascended the throne when he was barely twenty-two and reigned
for half a century. His life was so completely identified
with the government of the state that he offers less material
for biography than his ancestor Abd-ar-rahman I. Yet it
supplies some passages which show the real character of an
oriental dynasty even at its best. Abd-ar-rahman III. was
the grandson of his predecessor, Abdallah, one of the weakest
and worst of the Spanish Omayyads. His father, Mahommed,
was murdered by a brother Motarrif by order of Abdallah The
old sultan was so far influenced by humanity and remorse
that he treated his grandson kindly. Abd-ar-rahman III.
came to the throne when the country was exhausted by more
than a generation of tribal conflict among the Arabs, and
of strife between them and the Mahommedans of native Spanish
descent. Spaniards who were openly or secretly Christians
had acted with the renegades. These elements, which formed
the bulk of the population, were not averse from supporting
a strong ruler who would protect them against the Arab
aristocracy. These restless nobles were the most serious
of Abd-ar-rahman's enemies. Next to them came the Fatimites
of Egypt and northern Africa, who claimed the caliphate,
and who aimed at extending their rule over the Mahommedan
world, at least in the west. Abd-ar-rahman subdued the nobles
by means of a mercenary army, which included Christians.
He repelled the Fatimites, partly by supporting their
enemies in Africa, and partly by claiming the caliphate for
himself. His ancestors in Spain had been content the the
title of sultan. The caliphate was thought only to belong
to the prince who ruled over the sacred cities of Mecca and
Medina. But the force of this tradition had been so far
weakened that Abd-ar-rahman could proclaim himself caliph on
the 16th of January 929, and the assumption of the title gave
him increased prestige with his subjects, both in Spain and
Africa. His worst enemies were always his fellow Mahommedans.
After he was defeated by the Christians at Alhandega
in 939 through the treason of the Arab nobles in his
army (see SPAIN, History) he never again took the
field. He is accused of having sunk in his later years
into the self-indulgent habits of the harem. When the
undoubted prosperity of his dominions is quoted as an
example of successful Mahommedan rule, it is well to remember
that he administered well not by means of but in spite of
Mahommedans. The high praise given to his administration may
even excite some doubts as to its real excellence. We are
told that a third of his revenue sufficed for the ordinary
expenses of government, a third was hoarded and a third spent on
buildings. A very large proportion of the surplus must
have been wasted on the palace-town of Zahra, built three
miles to the north of Cordova, and named after a favourite
concubine. Ten thousand workmen are said to have been employed
for twenty-five years on this wonder, of which no trace now
remains. The great monument of early Arabic architecture in
Spain, the mosque of Cordoya, was built by his predecessors,
not by him. It is said that his harem included six thousand
women. Abd-ar-rahman was tolerant, but it is highly probable
that he was very indifferent in religion, and it is certain
that he was a thorough despot. One of the most authentic
sayings attributed to him is his criticism of Otto I. of
Germany, recorded by Otto's ambassador, Johann, abbot of
Gorze, who has left in his Vita an incomplete account
of his embassy (in Pertz, Mon. Germ. Scriptores, iv.
355-377). He blamed the king of Germany for trusting his nobles,
which he said could only increase their pride and leaning to
rebellion. His confession that he had known only twenty happy
days in his long reign is perhaps a moral tale, to be classed
with the ``omnia fui, et nil expedit'' of Septimius Severus.
In the agony of the Omayyad dynasty in Spain, two princes
of the house were proclaimed caliphs for a very short time,
Abd-ar-rahman IV. Mortada (1017), and Abd-ar-rahman V. Mostadir
(1023-1024). Both were the mere puppets of factions, who
deserted them at once. Abd-ar-rahman IV. was murdered
in the year in which he was proclaimed, at Guadiz, when
fleeing from a battle in which he had been deserted by his
supporters. Abd-ar-rahman V. was proclaimed caliph in
December 1023 at Cordova, and murdered in January 1024 by a
mob of unemployed workmen, headed by one of his own cousins.
The history of the Omayyads in Spain is the subject of the Histoire
des Musulmans d'Espagne, by R. Dozy (Leiden, 1861). (D. H.)
ABD-EL-AZIZ IV. (1880- ), sultan of Morocco, son of Sultan
Mulai el Hasan III. by a Circassian wife. He was fourteen
years of age on his father's death in 1894. By the wise action
of Si Ahmad bin Musa, the chamberlain of El Hasan, Abd-el
Aziz's accession to the sultanate was ensured with but little
fighting. Si Ahmad became regent and for six years showed
himself a capable ruler. On his death in 1900 the regency
ended, and Abd-el-Aziz took the reins of government into his own
hands, with an Arab from the south, El Menebhi, for his chief
adviser. Urged by his Circassian mother, the sultan sought
advice and counsel from Europe and endeavoured to act up to
it. But disinterested advice was difficult to obtain, and
in spite of the unquestionable desire of the young ruler to
do the best for the country, wild extravagance both in action
and expenditure resulted, leaving the sultan with depleted
exchequer and the confidence of his people impaired. His
intimacy with foreigners and his imitation of their ways were
sufficient to rouse fanaticism and create dissatisfaction.
His attempt to reorganize the finances by the systematic levy
of taxes was hailed with delight, but the government was not
strong enough to carry the measures through, and the money
which should have been used to pay the taxes was employed
to purchase firearms. Thus the benign intentions of Mulai
Abdel-Aziz were interpreted as weakness, and Europeans were
accused of having spoiled the sultan and of being desirous of
spoiling the country. When British engineers were employed
to survey the route for a railway between Mequinez and
Fez, this was reported as indicating an absolute sale of the
country. The fanaticism of the people was aroused, and a
revolt broke out near the Algerian frontier. Such was the
condition of things when the news of the Anglo-French Agreement
of 1904 came as a blow to Abd-el-Aziz, who had relied on
England for support and protection against the inroads of
France. On the advice of Germany he proposed the assembly of
an international conference at Algeciras in 1906 to consult
upon methods of reform, the sultan's desire being to ensure
a condition of affairs which would leave foreigners with no
excuse for interference in the control of the country, and
would promote its welfare, which Abd-el-Aziz had earnestly
desired from his accession to power. The sultan gave his
adherence to the Act of the Algeciras Conference, but the
state of anarachy into which Morocco fell during the latter
half of 1906 and the beginning of 1907 showed that the young
ruler lacked strength sufficient to make his will respected
by his turbulent subjects. In May 1907 the southern tribes
invited Mulai Hafid, an elder brother of Abd-el-Aziz, and
viceroy at Marrakesh, to become sultan, and in the following
August Hafid was proclaimed sovereign there with all the usual
formalities. In the meantime the murder of Europeans
at Casablanca had led to the occupation of that port by
France. In September Abd-el-Aziz arrived at Rabat from Fez
and endeavoured to secure the support of the European powers
against his brother. From France he accepted the grand cordon
of the Legion of Honour, and was later enabled to negotiate a
loan. His leaning to Christians aroused further opposition
to his rule, and in January 1908 he was declared deposed by
the ulema of Fez, who offered the throne to Hafid. After
months of inactivity Abd-el-Aziz made an effort to restore
his authority, and quitting Rabat in July he marched on
Marrakesh. His force, largely owing to treachery, was
completely overthrown (August 19th) when near that city,
and Abd-el-Aziz fled to Settat within the French lines
round Casablanca. In November he came to terms with his
brother, and thereafter took up his residence in Tangier
as a pensioner of the new sultan. He declared himself more
than reconciled to the loss of the throne, and as looking
forward to a quiet peaceful life. (See MOROCCO, History.)
ABD-EL-KADER (c. 1807-1883), amir of Mascara, the great
opponent of the conquest of Algeria by France, was born near
Mascara in 1807 or 1808. His family were sherifs or descendants
of Mahomet, and his father, Mahi-ed-Din, was celebrated
throughout North Africa for his piety and charity. Abd-el
Kader received the best education attainable by a Mussulman
of princely rank, especially in theology and philosophy, in
horsemanship and in other manly exercises. While still a
youth he was taken by his father on the pilgrimage to Mecca
and Medina and to the tomb of Sidi Abd-el-Kader El Jalili at
Bagdad--events which stimulated his natural tendency to religious
enthusiasm. While in Egypt in 1827, Abd-el-Kader is stated
to have been impressed, by the reforms then being carried out
by Mehemet Ali with the value of European civilization, and
the knowledge he then gained affected his career. Mahi-ed-Din
and his son returned to Mascara shortly before the French
occupation of Algiers (July 1830) destroyed the government
of the Dey. Coming forward as the champion of Islam against
the infidels, Abd-el-Kader was proclaimed amir at Mascara in
1832. He prosecuted the war against France vigorously and
in a short time had rallied to his standard all the tribes
of western Algeria. The story of his fifteen years' struggle
against the French is given under ALGERIA. To the beginning
of 1842 the contest went in favour of the amir; thereafter
he found in Marshal Bugeaud an opponent who proved, in the
end, his master. Throughout this period Abd-el-Kader showed
himself a born leader of men, a great soldier, a capable
administrator, a persuasive orator, a chivalrous opponent.
His fervent faith in the doctrines of Islam was unquestioned,
and his ultimate failure was due in considerable measure
to the refusal of the Kabyles, Berber mountain tribes whose
Mahommedanism is somewhat loosely held, to make common cause
with the Arabs against the French. On the 21st of December
1847, the amir gave himself up to General Lamoriciere at Sidi
Brahim. On the 23rd, his submission was formally made to the
duc d'Aumale, then governor of Algeria. In violation of the
promise that he would be allowed to go to Alexandria or St Jean
d'Acre, on the faith of which he surrendered, Abd-el-Kader and
his family were detained in France, first at Toulon, then at
Pau, being in November 1848 transferred to the chateau of
Amboise. There Abd-el-Kader remained until October 1852, when
he was released by Napoleon III. on taking an oath never again
to disturb Algeria. The amir then took up his residence in
Brusa, removing in 1855 to Damascus. In July 1860, when the
Moslems of that city, taking advantage of disturbances among
the Druses of Lebanon, attacked the Christian quarter and
killed over 3000 persons, Abd-el-Kader helped to repress the
outbreak and saved large numbers of Christians. For this
action the French government, which granted the amir a pension
of L. 4000, bestowed on him the grand cross of the Legion of
Honour. In 1865, he visited Paris and London, and was again in
Paris at the exposition of 1867. In 1871, when the Algerians
again rose in revolt, Abd-el-Kader wrote to them counselling
submission to France. After his surrender in 1847 he devoted
himself anew to theology and philosophy, and composed a
philosophical treatise, of which a French translation was
published in 1858 under the title of Rappel a l'intelligent.
Avis a l'indifferent. He also wrote a book on the Arab
horse. He died at Damascus on the 26th of May 1883.
See Commdt. J. Pichon, Abd el Kader, 1807--1883
(Paris [1899]): Alex. Bellemare, Abd-el-Kader: sa
vie politique et militaire (Paris, 1863); Col. C. H.
Churchill, The Life of Abdel Kader (London, 1867).
ABDERA, an ancient seaport town on the south coast of Spain,
between Malaca and New Carthage, in the district inhabited by the
Bastuli. It was founded by the Carthaginians as a trading
station, and after a period of decline became under the Romans
one of the more important towns in the province of Hispania
Baetica. It was situated on a hill above the modern Adra
(q.v.). Of its coins the most ancient bear the Phoenician
inscription abdrt with the head of Heracles (Melkarth) and
a tunny-fish; those of Tiberius (who seems to have made the
place a colony) show the chief temple of the town with two
tunny-fish erect in the form of columns. For inscriptions
relating to the Roman municipality see C.I.L. ii. 267.
ABDERA, a town on the coast of Thrace near the mouth of the
Nestos, and almost opposite Thasos. Its mythical foundation
was attributed to Heracles, its historical to a colony from
Clazomenae in the 7th century B.C. But its prosperity
dates from 544 B.C., when the majority of the people of
Teos migrated to Abdera after the Ionian revolt to escape
the Persian yoke (Herod. i. 168); the chief coin type, a
gryphon, is identical with that of Teos; the coinage is
noted for the beauty and variety of its reverse types. The
town seems to have declined in importance after the middle
of the 4th century. The air of Abdera was proverbial as
causing stupidity; but among its citizens was the philosopher
Democritus. The ruins of the town may still be seen on
Cape Balastra; they cover seven small hills, and extend
from an eastern to a western harbour; on the S.W. hills
are the remains of the medieval settlement of Polystylon.
Mittheil. d. deutsch. Inst. Athens, xii. (1887),
p. 161 (Regel); Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscriptions,
xxxix. 211; K. F. Hermann, Ges. Abh. 90-111, 370 in.
ABDICATION (Lat. abdicatio, disowning, renouncing,
from ab, from, and dicare, to declare, to proclaim as
not belonging to one), the act whereby a person in office
renounces and gives up the same before the expiry of the time
for which it is held. In Roman law, the term is especially
applied to the disowning of a member of a family, as the
disinheriting of a son, but the word is seldom used except
in the sense of surrendering the supreme power in a state.
Despotic sovereigns are at liberty to divest themselves of
their powers at any time, but it is otherwise with a limited
monarchy. The throne of Great Britain cannot be lawfully
abdicated unless with the consent of the two Houses of
Parliament. When James II., after throwing the great
seal into the Thames, fled to France in 1688, he did not
formally resign the crown, and the question was discussed
in parliament whether he had forfeited the throne or had
abdicated. The latter designation was agreed on, for in a
full assembly of the Lords and Commons, met in convention,
it was resolved, in spite of James's protest, ``that King
James II. having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of
the kingdom, by breaking the original contract between king
and people, and, by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked
persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having
withdrawn himself out of this kingdom, has abdicated the
government, and that the throne is thereby vacant.'' The
Scottish parliament pronounced a decree of forfeiture and
deposition. Among the most memorable abdications of
antiquity may be mentioned that of Sulla the dictator, 79
B.C., and that of the Emperor Diocletian, A.D. 305. The
following is a list of the more important abdications of later
A.D.
Benedict IX., pope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1048
Stephen II. of Hungary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131
Albert (the Bear) of Brandenburg . . . . . . . . . . 1169
Ladislaus III. of Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1206
Celestine V., pope . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dec. 13, 1294
John Baliol of Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1296
John Cantacuzene, emperor of the East . . . . . . . 1355
Richard II. of England . . . . . . . . . . Sept. 29, 1399
John XXIII., pope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1415
Eric VII; of Denmark and XIII. of Sweden . . . . . . 1439
Murad II., Ottoman Sultan . . . . . . . . .1444 and 1445
Charles V., emperor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1556
Christina of Sweden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1654
John Casimir of Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1618
James II. of England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1688
Frederick Augustus of Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . 1704
Philip V. of Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1724
Victor Amadeus II. of Sardinia . . . . . . . . . . . 1730
Ahmed III., Sultan of Turkey . . . . . . . . . . . . 1730
Charles of Naples (on accession to throne of Spain). 1759
Stanislaus II. of Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1795
Charles Emanuel IV. of Sardinia . . . . . . June 4, 1802
Charles IV. of Spain . . . . . . . . . . . .Mar. 19, 1808
Joseph Bonaparte of Naples . . . . . . . . . June 6, 1808
Gustavus IV. of Sweden . . . . . . . . . . .Mar. 29, 1809
Louis Bonaparte of Holland . . . . . . . . . July 2, 1810
Napoleon I., French Emperor. . . . . . . . .April 4, 1814, and June 22, 1815
Victor Emanuel of Sardinia . . . . . . . . .Mar. 13, 1821
Charles X. of France . . . . . . . . . . . . Aug. 2, 1830
Pedro of Brazil 1 . . . . . . . . . . . .April 7, 1831
Miguel of Portgual . . . . . . . . . . . . . May 26, 1834
William I. of Holland . . . . . . . . . . . Oct. 7, 1840
Louis Philippe, king of the French . . . . .Feb. 24, 1848
Louis Charles of Bavaria . . . . . . . . . .Mar. 21, 1848
Ferdinand of Austria . . . . . . . . . . . . Dec. 2, 1848
Charles Albert of Sardinia . . . . . . . . .Mar. 23, 1849
Leopold II. of Tuscany . . . . . . . . . . .July 21, 1859
Isabella II. of Spain . . . . . . . . . . . June 25, 1870
Amadeus I. of Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . Feb. 11, 1873
Alexander of Bulgaria . . . . . . . . . . . Sept. 7, 1886
Milan of Servia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mar. 6, 1889
1 Pedro had succeeded to the throne of Portugal in
1826, but abdicated it at once in favour of his daughter.
ABDOMEN (a Latin word, either from abdere, to hide,
or from a form adipomen, from adeps, fat), the belly,
the region of the body containing most of the digestive
organs. (See for anatomical details the articles ALIMENTARY
CANAL, and ANATOMY, Superficial and Artistic.)
ABDOMINAL SURGERY.---The diseases affecting this region
are dealt with generally in the article DIGESTIVE ORGANS,
and under their own names (e.g. APPENDICITIS). The term
``abdominal surgery'' covers generally the operations which
involve opening the abdominal cavity, and in modern times this
field of work has been greatly extended. In this Encyclopaedia
the surgery of each abdominal organ is dealt with, for the
most part, in connexion with the anatomical description of
that organ (see STOMACH, KIDNEY, LIVER, &c.); but here the
general principles of abdominal surgery may be discussed.
Exploratory Laparotomy.---In many cases of serious intra-abdominal
disease it is impossible for the surgeon to say exactly
what is wrong without making an incision and introducing his
finger, or, if need be, his hand among the intestines. With
due care this is not a perilous or serious procedure, and the
great advantage appertaining to it is daily being more fully
recognized. It was Dr Oliver Wendell Holmes, the American
physiologist and poet, who remarked that one cannot say of
what wood a table is made without lifting up the cloth; so
also it is often impossible to say what is wrong inside the
abdomen without making an opening into it. When an opening
is made in such circumstances---provided only it is done soon
enough--the successful treatment of the case often becomes a
simple matter. An exploratory operation, therefore, should
be promptly resorted to as a means of diagnosis, and not left
as a last resource till the outlook is well-nigh hopeless.
It is probable that if the question were put to any experienced
hospital surgeon if he had often had cause to regret having
advised recourse to an exploratory operation on the abdomen,
his answer would be in the negative, but that, on the other
hand, he had not infrequently had cause to regret that he
had not resorted to it, post-mortem examination having
shown that if only he had insisted on an exploratioui being
made, some band, some adhesion, some tumour, some abscess
might have been satisfactorily dealt with, which, left
unsuspected in the dark cavity, was accountable for the
death. A physician by himself is helpless in these cases.
Much of the rapid advance which has of late been made in
the results of abdominal surgery is due to the improved
relationship which exists between the public and the surgical
profession. In former days it was not infrequently said, ``If
a surgeon is called in he is sure to operate.'' Not only have
the public said this, but even physicians have been known to
suggest it, and have indeed used the equivocal expression,
the ``apotheosis of surgery,'' in connexion with the operative
treatment of a serious abdominal lesion. But fortunately
the public have found out that the surgeon, being an honest
man, does not advise operation unless he believes that it is
necessary or, at any rate, highly advisable. And this happy
discovery has led to much more confidence being placed in his
decision. It has truly been said that a surgeon is a physician
who can operate, and the public have begun to realize the fact
that it is useless to try to relieve an acute abdominal lesion
by diet or drugs. Not many years ago cases of acute, obscure
or chronic affections of the abdomen which were admitted into
hospital were sent as a matter of course into the medical
wards, and after the effect of drugs had been tried with
expectancy and failure, the services of a surgeon were called
in. In acute cases this delay spoilt all surgical chances, and
the idea was more widely spread that surgery, after all, was
a poor handmaid to medicine. But now things are different.
Acute or obscure abdominal cases are promptly relegated to
the surgical wards; the surgeon is at once sent for, and if
operation is thought desirable it is performed without any
delay. The public have found that the surgeon is not a reckless
operator, but a man who can take a broad view of a case in all
its bearings. And so it has come about that the results of
operations upon the interior of the abdomen have been improving
day by day. And doubtless they will continue to improve.
A great impetus was given to the surgery of wounded, mortified
or diseased pieces of intestine by the introduction from
Chicago of an ingenious contrivance named, after the inventor,
Murphy's button. This consists of a short nickel-plated
tube in two pieces, which are rapidly secured in the divided
ends of the bowel, and in such a manner that when the
pieces are subsequently ``married'' the adjusted ends of
the bowel are securely fixed together and the canal rendered
practicable. In the course of time the button loosens itself
into the interior of the bowel and comes away with the alvine
evacuation. In many other cases the use of the button has
proved convenient and successful, as in the establishment of
a permanent communication between the stomach and the small
intestine when the ordinary gateway between these parts of
the alimentary canal is obstructed by an irremovable malignant
growth; between two parts of the small intestine so that
some obstruction may be passed; betw:en smal' and large
intestine. The operative procedure goes by the name of
short-circuiting; it enables the contents of the bowel to get
beyond an obstruction. In this way also a permanent working
communication can be set up between the gallbladder, or a
dilated bile-duct, and the neighbouring small intestine---the
last-named operation bears the precise but very clumsy name
of choledocoduodenostomy. By the use of Murphy's ingenious
apparatus the communication of two parts can be secured in
the shortest possible space of time, and this, in many of
the cases in which it is resorted to, is of the greatest
importance. But there is this against the method---that
sometimes ulceration occurs around the rim of the metal button,
whilst at others the loosened metal causes annoyance in its
passage along the alimentary canal. Some surgeons therefore
prefer to use a bobbin of decalcified bone or similar soft
material, while others rely upon direct suturing of the
parts. The last-named method is gradually increasing in
popularity, and of course, when time and circumstances permit,
it is the ideal method of treatment. The cause of death
in the case of intestinal obstruction is usually due to the
blood being poisoned by the absorption of the products of
decomposition of the fluid contents of the bowel above the
obstruction. It is now the custom, therefore, for the surgeon to
complete his operation for the relief of obstruction by drawing
out a loop of the distended bowel, incising and evacuating
it, and then carefully suturing and returning it. The surgeon
who first recognized the lethal effect of the absorption of
this stagnant fluid---or, at any rate, who first suggested the
proper method of treating it---was Lawson Tait of Birmingham,
who on the occurrence of grave symptoms after operating on
the abdomen gave small, repeated doses of Epsom salts to wash
away the harmful liquids of the bowel and to enable it at the
same time to empty itself of the gas, which, by distending the
intestines, was interfering with respiration and circulation.
Amongst still more recent improvements in abdominal surgery
may be mentioned the placing of the patient in the sitting
position as soon as practicable after the operation, and
the slow administration of a hot saline solution into the
lower bowel, or, in the more desperate cases, of injecting
pints of this ``normal saline'' fluid into the loose
tissue of the armpit. Hot water thus administered or
injected is quickly taken into the blood, increasing its
volume, diluting its impurities and quenching the great
thirst which is so marked a symptom in this condition.
Gunshot wounds of the Abdomen.---If a revolver bullet passes
through the abdomen, the coils of intestine are likely to be
traversed by it in several places. If the bullet be small and,
by chance, surgically clean, it is possible that the openings
may tightly close up behind it so that no leakage takes place
into the general peritoneal cavity. If increasing collapse
suggests that serious bleeding is occurring within the abdomen,
the cavity is opened forthwith and a thorough exploration
made. When it is uncettain lf the bowel has been traversed
or not, it is well to wait before opening the abdomen, due
preparation being made for performing that operation on the
first appearance of symptoms indicative of perforation having
occurred. Small perforating wounds of the bowel are treated
by such suturing as the circumstances may suggest, the interior
of the abdominal cavity being rendered as free from septic
micro-organisms as possible. It is by the malign influence of
such germs that a fatal issue is determined in the case of an
abdominal wound, whether inflicted by firearms or by a pointed
weapon. If aseptic procedure can be promptly resorted
to and thoroughly carried out, abdominal wounds do well,
but these essentials cannot be obtained upon the field of
battle. When after an action wounded men come pouring into
the field-hospital, the many cannot be kept waiting whilst
preparations are being made for the thorough carrying out
of a prolonged aseptic abdominal operation upon a solitary
case. Experience in the South African war of 1899-1902 showed
that Mauser bullets could pierce coils of intestine and leave
the soldiers in such a condition that, if treated by mere
``expectancy,'' more than 50% recovered, whereas if operations
were resorted to, fatal septic peritonitis was likely to ensue.
In the close proximity of the fight, where time, assistants,
pure water, towels, lotions and other necessaries for carrying
out a thoroughly aseptic operation cannot be forthcoming,
gunshot wounds of the abdomen had best not be interfered with.
Stabs of the abdomen are serious if they have penetrated the
abdominal wall, as, at the time of injury, septic germs may
have been introduced, or the bowel may have been wounded. In
either case a fatal inflammation of the peritoneum may be set
up. It is inadvisable to probe a wound in order to find out
if the belly-cavity has been penetrated, as the probe itself
might carry inwards septic germs. In case of doubt it is
better to enlarge the wound in order to determine its depth,
and to disinfect and close it if it be non-penetrating. If,
however, the bellycavity has been opened, the neighbouring
pieces of bowel should be examined, cleansed and, if need be,
sutured. Should there have been an escape of the contents of
the bowel the ``toilet of the peritoneum'' would be duly made,
and a drainage-tube would be left in. If the stab had injured
a large blood-vessel either of the abdominal cavity, or of the
hiver or of some other organ, the bleeding would be arrested
by ligature or suture, and the extravasated blood sponged
out. Before the days of antiseptic surgery, and of exploratory
abdominal operations, these cases were generally allowed
to drift to almost certain death, unrecognized and almost
untreated: at the present time a large number of them are saved.
Intussusception.---This is a terribly fatal disease of
infants and children, in which a piece of bowel slips into,
and is gripped by, the piece next below it. Formerly it was
generally the custom to endeavour to reduce the invagination
by passing air or water up the rectum under pressure--a
speculative method of treatment which sometimes ended in a
fatal rupture of the distended bowel, and often---one might
almost say generally--failed to do what was expected of
it. The teaching of modern surgery is that a small incision
into the abdomen and a prompt withdrawal of the invaginated
piece of bowel can be trusted to do all that, and more than,
infection can effect, without blindly risking a rupture of the
bowel. It is certain that when the surgeon is unable to
unravel the bowel with his fingers gently applied to the parts
themselves, no speculative distension of the bowel could
have been effective. But the outlook in these distressing
cases, even when the operation is promptly resorted to, is
extremely grave, because of the intensity of the shock which
the intussusception and resulting strangulation entail.
Still, every operation gives them by far the best chance.
Cancer of the Intestine.---With the introduction of aseptic
methods of operating, it has been found that the surgeon can
reach the bowel through the peritoneum easily and safely.
With the peritoneum opened, moreover, he can explore the
diseased bowel and deal with it as circumstances suggest.
If the cancerous mass is fairly movable the affected piece
of bowel is excised and the cut ends are spliced together,
and the continuity of the alimentary canal is permanently
re-established. Thus in the case of cancer of the large
intestine which is not too far advanced, the surgeon expects
to be able not only to relieve the obstruction of the bowel,
but actually to cure the patient of his disease. When the
lowest part of the bowel was found to be occupied by a cancerous
obstruction, the surgeon used formerly to secure an easy escape
for the contents of the bowel by making an opening into the
colon in the left loin. But in recent years this operation of
lumbar colotomy has been almost entirely replaced by opening
the colon in the left groin. This operation of iniguinal
colotomy is usually divided into two stages: a loop of the
large intestine is first drawn out through the abdominal
wound and secured by stitches, and a few days afterwards,
when it is firmly glued in place by adhesive inflammation,
it is cut across, so that subsequently the motions can no
longer find their way into the bowel below the artificial
anus. If at the first stage of the operation symptoms of
obstruction are urgent, one of the ingenious glass tubes
with a rubber conduit, which Mr F. T. Paul has invented,
may be forthwith introduced into the distended bowel, so
that the contents may be allowed to escape without fear of
soiling the peritoneum or even the surface-wound. (E. O.*)
ABDUCTION (Lat. abductio, abducere, to lead away), a
law term denoting the forcible or fraudulent removal of a
person, limited by custom to the case where a woman is the
victim. In the case of men or children, it has been usual
to substitute the term kidnapping (q.v.). The old English
laws against abduction, generally contemplating its object
as the possession of an heiress and her fortune, have been
repealed by the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which
makes it felony for any one from motives of lucre to take
away or detain against her will with intent to marry or
carnally know her, &c., any woman of any age who has any
interest in any real or personal estate, or is an heiress
presumptive, or co-heiress, or presumptive next of kin to
any one having such an interest; or for any one to cause
such a woman to be married or carnally known by any other
person; or for any one with such intent to allure, take
away, or detain any such woman under the age of twenty-one,
out of the possession and against the will of her parents or
guardians. By s. 54, forcible taking away or detention
against her will of any woman of any age with like intent is
felony. The same act makes abduction without eyen any such
intent a misdemeanour, where an unmarried girl under the
age of sixteen is unlawfully taken out of the possession and
against the will of her parents or guardians. In such a case
the girl's consent is immaterial, nor is it a defence that the
person charged reasonably believed that the girl was sixteen or
over. The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 made still more
stringent provisions with reference to abduction by making
the procuration or attempted procuration of any virtuous
female under the age of twenty-one years a misdemeanour, as
well as the abduction of any girl under eighteen years of
age with the intent that she shall be carnally known, or the
detaining of any female against her will on any premises,
with intent to have, or that another person may have, carnal
knowledge of her. In Scotland, where there is no statutory
adjustment, abduction is similarly dealt with by practice.
ABD-UL-AZIZ (1830-1876), sultan of Turkey, son of Sultan
Mahmud II., was born on the 9th of February 1830, and
succeeded his brother Abd-ul-Mejid in 1861. His personal
interference in government affairs was not very marked, and
extended to little more than taking astute advantage of the
constant issue of State loans during his reign to acquire
wealth, which was squandered in building useless palaces
and in other futile ways: he is even said to have profited,
by means of ``bear'' sales, from the default on the Turkish
debt in 1875 and the consequent fall in prices. Another
source of revenue was afforded by Ismail Pasha, the khedive
of Egypt, who paid heavily in bakshish for the firman of
1866, by which the succession to the khedivate was made
hereditary from father to son in direct line and in order
of primogeniture, as well as for the subsequent firmans of
1867, 1869 and 1872 extending the khedive's prerogatives. It
is, however, only fair to add that the sultan was doubtless
influenced by the desire to bring about a similar change
in the succession to the Ottoman throne and to ensure the
succession after him of his eldest son, Yussuf Izz-ed-din.
Abd-ul-Aziz visited Europe in 1867, being the first Ottoman
sultan to do so, and was made a Knight of the Garter by Queen
Victoria. In 1869 he received the visits of the emperor of
Austria, the Empress Eugenie and other foreign princes, on their
way to the opening of the Suez Canal, and King Edward VII.,
while prince of Wales, twice visited Gonstantinople during his
reign. The mis-government and financial straits of the
country brought on the outbreak of Mussulman discontent and
fanaticism which eventually culminated in the murder of two
consuls at Salonica and in the ``Bulgarian atrocities,'' and
cost Abd-ul-Aziz his throne. His deposition on the 30th of
May 1876 was hailed with joy throughout Turkey; a fortnight
later he was found dead in the palace where he was confined,
and trustworthy medical evidence attributed his death to
suicide. Six children survived him: Prince Yussuf Izz-ed-din,
born 1857; Princess Salina, wife of Kurd Ismall Pasha;
Princess Nazime, wife of Khalid Pasha; Prince Abd-ul-Mejid,
born 1869; Prince Self-ed-din, born 1876; Princess Emine,
wife of Mahommed Bey; Prince Shefket, born 1872, died 1899.
ABD-UL-HAMID I.,(1725-1789), sultan of Turkey, son of Ahmed
III., succeeded his brother Mustafa III. in 1773. Long
confinement in the palace aloof from state affairs had left
him pious, God-fearing and pacific in disposition. At his
accession the financial straits of the treasury were such that
the usual donative could not be given to the janissaries. War
was, however, forced on him, and less than a year after his
accession the complete defeat of the Turks at Kozluja led
to the treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji ( 21st July 1774), the most
disastrous, especially in its after effects, that Turkey
has ever been obliged to conclude. (See TURKEY.) Slight
successes in Syria and the Morea against rebellious outbreaks
there could not compensate for the loss of the Crimea, which
Russia soon showed that she meant to absorb entirely. In
1787 war was again declared against Russia, joined in the
following year by Austria, Joseph II. being entirely won over to
Catherine, whom he accompanied in her triumohal progress in the
Crimea. Turkey held her own against the Austrians, but in
1788 Ochakov fell to the Russians. Four months later, on
the 7th of April 1789, the sultan died, aged sixty-four.
ABD-UL-HAMID II. (1842- ), sultan of Turkey, son of Sultan
Abd-ul-Mejid, was born on the 21st of September 1842, and
succeeded to the throne on the deposition of his brother Murad
V., on the 31st of August 1876. He accompanied his uncle
Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz on his visit to England and France in
1867. At his accession spectators were struck by the fearless
manner in which he rode, practically unattended, on his way
to be girt with the sword of Eyub. He was supposed to be of
liberal principles, and the more conservative of his subjects
were for some years after his accession inclined to regard him
with suspicion as a too ardent reformer. But the circumstances
of the country at his accession were ill adapted for liberal
developments. Default in the public funds and an empty
treasury, the insurrection in Bosnia and the Herzegovina, the
war with Servia and Montenegro, the feeling aroused throughout
Europe by the methods adopted in stamping out the Bulgarian
rebellion, all combined to prove to the new sultan that he
could expect little aid from the Powers. But, still clinging
to the groundless belief, for which British statesmen had, of
late at least, afforded Turkey no justification, that Great
Britain at all events would support him, he obstinately refused
to give ear to the pressing requests of the Powers that the
necessary reforms should be instituted. The international
Conference which met at Constantinople towards the end of
1876 was, indeed, startled by the salvo of guns heralding
the promulgation of a constitution, but the demands of the
Conference were rejected, in spite of the solemn warnings
addressed to the sultan by the Powers; Midhat Pasha, the
author of the constitution, was exiled; and soon afterwards
his work was suspended, though figuring to this day on the
Statute-Book. Early in 1877 the disastrous war with Russia
followed. The hard terms, embodied in the treaty of San
Stefano, to which Abd-ul-Hamid was forced to consent, were
to some extent amended at Berlin, thanks in the main to
British diplomacy (see EUROPE, History); but by this
time the sultan had lost all confidence in England, and
thought that he discerned in Germany, whose supremacy was
evidenced in his eyes by her capital being selected as the
meeting-place of the Congress, the future friend of Turkey.
He hastened to employ Germans for the reorganization of his
finances and his army, and set to work in the determination to
maintain his empire in spite of the difficulties surrounding
him, to resist the encroachments of foreigners, and to take
gradually the reins of absolute power into his own hands,
being animated by a profound distrust, not unmerited, of his
ministers. Financial embarrassments forced him to consent to
a foreign control over the Debt, and the decree of December
1881, whereby many of the revenues of the empire were handed
over to the Public Debt Administration for the benefit of the
bondholders, was a sacrifice of principle to which he could
only have consented with the greatest reluctance. Trouble in
Egypt, where a discredited khedive had to be deposed, trouble
on the Greek frontier and in Montenegro, where the Powers were
determined that the decisions of the Berlin Congress should
be carried into effect, were more or less satisfactorily got
over. In his attitude towards Arabi, the would-be saviour of
Egypt, Abd-ul-Hamid showed less than his usual astuteness, and
the resulting consolidation of England's hold over the country
contributed still further to his estrangement from Turkey's old
ally. The union in 1885 of Bulgaria with Eastern Rumelia, the
severance of which had been the great triumph of the Berlin
Congress, was another blow. Few people south of the Balkans
dreamed that Bulgaria could be anything but a Russian province,
and apprehension was entertained of the results of the union
until it was seen that Russia really and entirely disapproved of
it. Then the best was made of it, and for some years the sultan
preserved towards Bulgaria an attitude skilfully calculated
so as to avoid running counter either to Russian or to German
wishes. Germany's friendship was not entirely disinterested,
and had to be fostered with a railway or loan concession from
time to time, until in 1899 the great object aimed at, the
Bagdad railway, was conceded. Meanwhile, aided by docile
instruments, the sultan had succeeded in reducing his ministers
to the position of secretaries, and in concentrating the
mhole administration of the country into his own hands at
Yildiz. But internal dissension was not thereby lessened.
Crete was constantly in turmoil, the Greeks were dissatisfied,
and from about 1890 the Armenians began a violent agitation
with a view to obtaining the reforms promised them at
Berlin. Minor troubles had occurred in 1892 and 1893 at
Marsovan and Tokat. In 1894 a more serious rebellion in
the mountainous region of Sassun was ruthlessly stamped
out; the Powers insistently demanded reforms, the eventual
grant of which in the autumn of 1895 was the signal for a
series of massacres, brought on in part by the injudicious
and threatening acts of the victims, and extending over many
months and throughout Asia Minor, as well as in the capital
itself. The reforms became more or less a dead letter.
Crete indeed profited by the grant of extended privileges,
but these did not satisfy its turbulent population, and early
in 1897 a Greek expedition salled to unite the island to
Greece. War followed, in which Turkey was easily successful
and gained a small rectification of frontier; then .a few
months later Crete was taken over ``en depot'' by the Four
Powers---Germany and Austria not participating,---and Prince
George of Greece was appointed their mandatory. In the next year
the sultan received the visit of the German emperor and empress.
Abd-ul-Hamid had always resisted the pressure of the European
Powers to the last moment, in order to seem to yield only
to overwhelming force, while posing as the champion of Islam
against aggressive Christendom. The Panislamic propaganda
was encouraged; the privileges of foreigners in the Ottoman
Empire-often an obstacle to government--were curtailed; the
new railway to the Holy Places was pressed on, and emissaries
were sent to distant countries preaching Islam and the
caliph's supremacy. This appeal to Moslem sentiment was,
however, powerless against the disaffection due to perennial
misgovernment. In Mesopotamia and Yemen disturbance was
endemic; nearer home, a semblance of loyalty was maintained
in the army and among the Mussulman population by a system
of delation and espionage, and by wholesale arrests; while,
obsessed by terror of assassination, the sultan withdrew
himself into fortified seclusion in the palace of Yildiz.
The national humiliation of the situation in Macedonia
(q.v.), together with the resentment in the army against
the palace spies and informers, at last brought matters to a
crisis. The remarkable revolution associated with the names
of Niazi Bey and Enver Bey, the young Turk leaders, and
the Committee of Union and Progress is described elsewhere
(see TURKEY: History); here it must suffice to say that
Abd-ul-Hamid, on learning of the threat of the Salonica troops
to march on Constantinople (July 23), at once capitulated.
On the 24th an irade announced the restoration of the
suspended constitution of 1875; next day, further irades
abolished espionage and the censorship, and ordered the
release of political prisoners. On the 10th of December
the sultan opened the Turkish parliament with a speech
from the throne in which he said that the first parliament
had been ``temporarily dissolved until the education of
the people had been brought to a sufficiently high level
by the extension of instruction throughout the empire.''
The correct attitude of the sultan did not save him from
the suspicion of intriguing with the powerful reactionary
elements in the state, a suspicion confirmed by his attitude
towards the counter-revolution of the 13th of April, when
an insurrection of the soldiers and the Moslem populace of
the capital overthrew the committee and the ministry. The
comittee, restored by the Salonica troops, now decided on
Abdul-Hamid's deposition, and on the 27th of April his brother
Reshid Effendi was proclaimed sultan as Mahommed V. The
ex-sultan was conveyed into dignified captivity at Salonica.
ABD-UL-MEJID (1823-.1861), sultan of Turkey, was born on
the 23rd of April 1823, and succeeded his father Mahmud II.
on the 2nd of July 1839. Mahmud appears to have been unable
to effect the reforms he desired in the mode of educating
his children, so that his son received no better education
than that given, according to use and wont, to Turkish
princes in the harem. When Abd-ul-Mejid succeeded to the
throne, the affairs of Turkey were in an extremely critical
state. At the very time his father died, the news was on
its way to Constantinople that the Turkish army had been
signally defeated at Nezib by that of the rebel Egyptian
viceroy, Mehemet Ali; and the Turkish fleet was at the same
time on its way to Alexandria, where it was handed over by its
commander, Ahmed Pasha, to the same enemy, on the pretext
that the young sultan's advisers were sold to Russia. But
through the intervention of the European Powers Mehemet Ali
was obliged to come to terms, and the Ottoman empire was saved.
(See MEHEMET ALI.) In compliance with his father's express
instructions, Abd-ul-Mejid set at once about carrying out
the reforms to which Mahmud had devoted himself. In November
1839 was proclaimed an edict, known as the Hatt-i-sherif of
Dulhane, consolidating and enforcing these reforms, which
was supplemented at the close of the Crimean war by a similar
statute issued in February 1856. By these enactments it was
provided that all classes of the sultan's subjects should
have security for their lives and property; that taxes should
be fairly imposed and justice impartially administered; and
that all should have full religious liberty and equal civil
rights. The scheme met with keen opposition from the Mussulman
governing classes and the ulema, or privileged religious
teachers, and was but partially put in force, especially in
the remoter parts of the empire; and more than one conspiracy
was formed against the sultan's life on account of it. Of
the other measures of reform promoted by Abd-ul-Mejid the more
important were---the reorganization of the army (1843-1844),
the institution of a council of public instruction (1846),
the abolition of an odious and unfairly imposed capitation
tax, the repression of slave trading, and various provisions
for the better administration of the public service and for
the advancement of commerce. For the public history of his
times--the disturbances and insurrections in different parts of
his dominions throughout his reign, and the great war successfully
carried on against Russia by Turkey, and by England, France and
Sardinia, in the interest of Turkey(1853-1856)-- see TURKEY,
and CRIMEAN WAR. When Kossuth and others sought refuge in
Turkey, after the failure of the Hungarian rising in 1849,
the sultan was called on by Austria and Russia to surrender
them, but boldly and determinedly refused. It is to his
credit, too, that he would not allow the conspirators against
his own life to be put to death. He bore the character of
being a kind and honourable man, if somewhat weak and easily
led. Against this, however, must be set down his excessive
extravagance, especially towards the end of his life. He
died on the 25th of June 1861, and was succeeded by his
brother, Abd-ul-Aziz, as the oldest survivor of the family of
Osman. He left several sons, of whom two, Murad V. and
Abd-ul-Hamid II., eventually succeeded to the throne. In his
reign was begun the reckless system of foreign loans, carried
to excess in the ensuing reign, and culminating in default,
which led to the alienation of European sympathy from Turkey
and, indirectly, to the dethronement and death of Abd-ul-Aziz.
ABDUR RAHMAN KHAN, amir of Afghanistan (c. 1844-1901),
was the son of Afzul Khan, who was the eldest son of Dost
Mahomed Khan, the famous amir, by whose success in war the
Barakzai family established their dynasty in the rulership of
Afghanistan. Before his death at Herat, 9th June 1863, Dost
Mahomed had nominated as his successor Shere Ali, his third
son, passing over the two elder brothers, Afzul Khan and Azim
Khan; and at first the new amir was quietly recognized. But
after a few months Afzul Khan raised an insurrection in the
northern province, between the Hindu Kush mountains and the
Oxus, where he had been governing when his father died; and
then began a fierce contest for power among the sons of Dost
Mahomed, which lasted for nearly five years. In this war,
which resembles in character, and in its striking vicissitudes,
the English War of the Roses at the end of the 15th century,
Abdur Rahman soon became distinguished for ability and daring
energy. Although his father, Afzul Khan, who had none of
these qualities, came to terms with the Amir Shere Ali, the
son's behaviour in the northern province soon excited the
amir's suspicion, and Abdur Rahman: when he was summoned to
Kabul, fled across the Oxus into Bokhara. Shere Ali threw
Afzul Khan into prison, and a serious revolt followed in
south &fghanistan; but the amir had scarcely suppressed it by
winning a desperate battle, when Abdur Rahman's reapearance
in the north was a signal for a mutiny of the troops
stationed in those parts and a gathering of armed bands to his
standard. After some delay and desultory fighting, he and
his uncle, Azim Khan, occupied Kabul (March 1866). The amir
Shere All marched up against them from Kandahar; but in the
battle that ensued at Sheikhabad on 10th May he was deserted
by a large body of his troops, and after his signal defeat
Abdur Rahman released his father, Afzul Elian, from prison
in Ghazni, and installed him upon the throne as amir of
Afghanistan. Notwithstanding the new amir's incapacity, and
some jealousy between the real leaders, Abdur Rahman and his
uncle, they again routed Shere All's forces, and occupied
Kandahar in 1867; and when at the end of that year Afzul Khan
died, Azim Khan succeeded to the rulership, with Abdur Rahman
as his governor in the northern province. But towards the end
of 1868 Shere Ali's return, and a general rising in his favour,
resulting in their defeat at Tinah Khan on the 3rd of January
1869, forced them both to seek refuge in Persia, whence Abdur
Rahman proceeded afterwards to place himself under Russian
protection at Samarkand. Azim died in Persia in October 1869.
This brief account of the conspicuous part taken by Abdur
Rahman in an eventful war, at the beginning of which he was
not more than twenty years old, has been given to show the
rough school that brought out his qualities of resource and
fortitude, and the political capacity needed for rulership in
Afghanistan. He lived in exile for eleven years, until on the
death, in 1879, of Shere Ali, who had retired from Kabul when the
British armies entered Afghanistan, the Russian governorgeneral
at Tashkent sent for Abdur Rahman, and pressed him to try his
fortunes once more across the Oxus. In March 1880 a report
reached India that he was in northern Afghanistan; and the
governor-general, Lord Lytton, opened communications with him
to the effect that the British government were prepared to
withdraw their troops, and to recognize Abdur Rahman as amir of
Afghanistan, with the exception of Kandahar and some districts
adjacent. After some negotiations, an interview took place
between him and Mr (afterwards Sir) Lepel Griffin, the
diplomatic representative at Kabub of the Indian government,
who described Abdur Rahman as a man of middle height, with
an exceedingly intelligent face and frank and courteous
manners, shrewd and able in conversation on the business in
hand. At the durbar on the 22nd of July 1880, Abbdur Rahman
was officially recognized as amir, granted assistance in
arms and money, and promised, in case of unprovoked foreign
aggression, such further aid as might be necessary to repel
it, provided that he followed British advice in regard to
his external relations. The evacuation of Afghanistan was
settled on the terms proposed, and in 1881 the British troops
also made over Kandahar to the new amir; but Ayub Khan,
one of Shere Ali's sons, marched upon that city from Herat,
defeated Abdur Rahman's troops, and occupied the place in
July. This serious reverse roused the amir, who had not
at first displayed much activity. He led a force from
Kabul, met Ayub's army close to Kandahar, and the complete
victory which he there won forced Ayub Khan to fly into
Persia. From that time Abdur Rahman was fairly seated on the
throne at Kabul, and in the course of the next few years he
consolidated his dominion over all Afghanistan, suppressing
insurrections by a sharp and relentless use of his despotic
authority. Against the severity of his measures the powerful
Ghilzai tribe revolted, and were crushed by the end of 1887.
In that year Ayub Khan made a,fruitless inroad from Persia;
and in 1888 the amir's cousin, Ishak Khan, rebelled against
him in the north; but these two enterprises came to nothing.
In 1885, at the moment when (see AFGHANISTAN) the amir
was in conference with the British viceroy, Lord Dufferin,
in India, the news came of a collision between Russian
and Afghan troops at Panjdeh, over a disputed point in the
demarcation of the north-western frontier of Afghanistan.
Abdur Rahman's attitude at this critical juncture is a good
example of his political sagacity. To one who had been a man
of war from his youth up, who had won and lost many fights,
the rout of a detachment and the forcible seizure of some
debateable frontier lands was an untoward incident; but it
was no sufficent reason for calling upon the British, although
they had guaranteed his territory's integrity, to vindicate
his rights by hostilities which would certainly bring upon
him a Russian invasion from the north, and would compel his
British allies to throw an army into Afghanistan from the
south-east. His interest lay in keeping powerful neighbours,
whether friends or foes, outside his kingdom. He knew this
to be the only policy that would be supported by the Afghan
nation; and although for some time a rupture with Russia seemed
imminent, while the Indian government made ready for that
contingency, the amir's reserved and circumspect tone in the
consultations with him helped to turn the balance between
peace and war, and substantially conduced towards a pacific
solution. Abdur Rahman left on those who met him in India
the impression of a clear-headed man.of action, with great
self-reliance and hardihood, not without indications of the
implacable severity that too often marked his administration.
His investment with the insignia of the highest grade of the
Order of the Star of India appeared to give him much pleasure.
From the end of 1888 the amir passed eighteen months in
his northern provinces bordering upon the Oxus, where
he was engaged in pacifying the country that had been
disturbed by revolts, and in punishing with a heavy hand
all who were known or suspected to have taken any part in
rebellion. Shortly afterwards (1892) he succeeded in
finally beating down the resistance of the Hazara tribe, who
vainly attempted to defend their immemorial independence,
within their highlands, of the central authority at Kabul.
In 1893 Sir Henry Durand was deputed to Kabul by the government
of India for the purpose of settling an exchange of territory
required bu the demarcation of the boundary between north-eastern
Afghanistan and the Russian possessions, and in order to discuss
with the amir other pending questions. The amir showed his
usual ability in diplomatic argument, his tenacity where his
own views or claims were in debate, with a sure underlying
insight into the real situation. The territorial exchanges
were amicably agreed upon; the relations between the Indian and
Afghan governments, as previously arranged, were confirmed; and
an understanding was reached upon the important and difficult
subject of the border line of Afghanistan on the east, towards
India. In 1895 the amir found himself unable, by reason of
ill-health, to accept an invitation from Queen Victoria to visit
England; hut his second son Nasrullah Khan went in his stead.
Abdur Rahman died on the 1st of October 1901, being succeeded
by his son Habibullah. He had defeated all enterprises by
rivals against his throne; he had broken down the power of
local chiefs, and tamed the refractory tribes; so that his
orders were irresistible throughout the whole dominion.
His government was a military despotism resting upon a
well-appointed army; it was administered through officials
absolutely subservient to an inflexible will and controlled
by a widespread system of espionage; while the exercise
of his personal authority was too often stained by acts of
unnecessary cruelty. He held open courts for the receipt
of petitioners and the dispensation of justice; and in the
disposal of business he was indefatigable. He succeeded in
imposing an organized government upon the fiercest and most
unruly population in Asia; he availed himself of European
inventions for strengthening his armament, while he sternly
set his face against all innovations which, like railways
and telegraphs, might give Europeans a foothold within his
country. His adventurous life, his forcible character,
the position of his state as a barrier between the Indian
and the Russian empires, and the skill with which he held
the balance in dealing with them, combined to make him a
prominent figure in contemporary Asiatic politics and will
mark his reign as an epoch in the history of Afghanistan.
The amir received an annual subsidy from the British
government of 18-1/2 lakhs of rupees. He was allowed to
import munitions of War. In 1896 he adopted the title of
Tia-ul-hlillat-ud Din (Light of the nation and religion);
and his zeal for the cause of Islam induced him to publish
treatises on Jehad. His eldest son Habibullah Khan, with
his brother Nasrullah Khan, was born at Samarkand. His
youngest son, Mahomed Omar Jan, was born in 1889 of an Afghan
mother, connected by descent with the Barakzai family.
See also S. Wheeler, F.R.G.S., The Amir Abdur Rahman (London,
1895); The Life of Abdur Rahman, Amir of Afghanistan, G.C.B.,
G.C.S.L, edited by Mir Munshi, Sultan Mahommed Khan (2 vols.,
London, 1900); At the Court of the Amir, by J. A. Grey (1895).
(A. C. L.)
ABECEDARIANS, a nickname given to certain extreme
Anabaptists (q.v.), who regarded the teaching of the Holy
Spirit as all that was necessary, and so despised all human
learning and even the power of reading the written word.
A BECKETT, GILBERT ARBOTT (1811-1856), English writer, was
born in north London on the 9th of January 1811. He belonged
to a family claiming descent from the father of St Thomas
Becket. His elder brother, Sir William a Beckett (1806-1869),
became chief justice of Victoria (Australia). Gilbert Abbott
a Beckett was educated at Westminster school, and was called
to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1841. He edited Figaro in
London, and was one of the original staff of Punch and
a contributor all his life. He was an active journalist on
The Times and The Morning Herald, contributed a series
of light articles to The Illustrated London News, conducted
in 1846 The Almanack of the Month and found time to produce
some fifty or sixty plays, among them dramatized versions of
Dickens's shorter stories in collaboration with Mark Lemon.
As poor-law commissioner he presented a valuable report to the
home secretary regarding scandals in connexion with the Andover
Union, and in 1849 he became a metropolitan pouce magistrate.
He died at Boulogne on the 30th of August 1856 of typhus fever.
His eldest son GILBERT ARTHUR A BECKETT (1837-1891) was born
at Hammersmith on the 7th of April 1837. He went up to Christ
Church, Oxford, as a Westminster scholar in 1855, graduating in
1860. He was entered at Lincoln's Inn, but gave his attention
chiefly to the drama, producing Diamonds and Hearts at
the Haymarket in 1867, which was followed by other light
comedies. His pieces include numerous burlesques and
pantomimes, the libretti of Savonarola (Hamburg, 1884) and
of The Canterbury Pilgrims (Drury Lane, 1884) for the music
of Dr (afterwards Sir) C. V. Stanford. The Happy Land (Court
Theatre, 1873), a political burlesque of W. S. Gilbert's Wicked
World, was written in collaboration with F. L. Tomline.
For the last ten years of his life he was on the regular staff
of Punch. His health was seriously affected in 1889 by the
death of his only son, and he died on the 15th of October 1891.
A younger son, ARTHUR WILLIAM A BECKETT (1844--1909), a
well-known journalist and man of letters, was also on the
staff of Punch from 1874 to 1902, and gave an account of his
father and his own reminiscences in The A Becketts of Punch
(1903). He died in London on the 14th of January 1909.
See also M. H. Spielmann, The History of Punch (1895).
ABEDNEGO, the name given in Babylon to Azariah, one of
the companions of Daniel (Dan. i. 7, &c.). It is probably a
corruption, perhaps deliberate, of Abednebo, ``servant of
Nebo,'' though G. Hoffmann thinks that the original form was
Abednergo, for Abednergal, ``servant of the god Nergal.'' C.
H. Toy compares Barnebo, ``son of Nebo''; of which he regards
Barnabas as a slightly disguised form (Jewish Encyclopaedia).
ABEKEN, HEINRICH (1809-1872), German theologian and
Prussian official, was born at Berlin on the 8th of August
1809. He studied theology at Berlin and in 1834 became
chaplain to the Prussian embassy in Rome. In 1841 he visited
England, being commissioned by King Frederick William IV.
to make arrangements for the establishment of the Protestant
bishopric of Jerusalem. In 1848 he received an appointment
in the Prussian ministry for foreign affairs, and in 1853
was promoted to be privy councillor of legation (Geheimer
Legationsrath). He was much employed by Bismarck in the
writing of official despatches, and stood high in the favour
of King William, whom he often accompanied on his journeys
as representative of the foreign office. He was present with
the king during the campaigns of 1866 and 1870-71. In 1851 he
published anonymously Babylon unnd Jerusalem, a slashing
criticism of the views of the Countess von Hahn-Hahn (q.v.).
See Heinrich Abeken, ein schlichtes Leben in bewegter Zeit
(Berlin, 1898), by his widow. This is valuable by reason
of the letters written from the Prussian headquarters.
ABEL (Hebrew for breath), the second son of Adam, slain
by Cain, his elder brother (Gen. iv. 1-16). The narrative
in Genesis which tells us that ``the Lord had respect unto
Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering
he had not respect,'' is supplemented by the statement of the
New Testament, that ``by faith Abel offered unto God a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain'' (Heb. xi. 4), and that Cain
slew Abel ``because his own works were evil and his brother's
righteous'' (1 John iii. 12). See further under CAIN. The
name has been identified with the Assyrian ablu, ``son,'' but
this is far from certain. It more probably means ``herdsman''
(cf. the name Jabal), and a distinction is drawn between the
pastoral Abel and the agriculturist Cain. If Cain is the eponym
of the Kenites it is quite possible that Abel was originally
a South Judaean demigod or hero; on this, see Winckler,
Gesch. Israels, ii. p. 189; E. Meyer, Israelitein, p.
395. A sect of Abelitae, who seem to have lived in North
Africa, is mentioned by Augustine (De Haeresibus, lxxxvi.).
ABEL, SIR FREDERICK AUGUSTUS, BART. (1827-1902), English
chemist, was born in London on the 17th of July 1827. After
studying chemistry for six years under A. W. von Hofmann at the
Royal College of Chemistry (established in London in 1845), he
became professor of chemistry at the Royal Military Academy in
1851, and three years later was appointed chemist to the War
Department and chemical referee to the government. During
his tenure of this office, which lasted until 1888, he carried
out a large amount of work in connexion with the chemistry of
explosives. One of the most important of his investigations
had to do with the manufacture of guncotton, and he developed
a process, consisting essentially of reducing the nitrated
cotton to fine pulp, which enabled it to be prepared with
practically no danger and at the same time yielded the
product in a form that increased its usefulness. This work
to an important extent prepared the way for the ``smokeless
powders'' which came into general use towards the end of the
19th century; cordite, the particular form adopted by the
British government in 1891, was invented jointly by him and
Professor James Dewar. Our knowledge of the explosion of
ordinary black powder was also greatly added to by him, and
in conjunction with Sir Andrew Noble he carried out one of
the most complete inquiries on record into its behaviour when
fired. The invention of the apparatus, legalized in 1879, for
the determination of the flash-point of petroleum, was another
piece of work which fell to him by virtue of his official
position. His first instrument, the open-test apparatus, was
prescribed by the act of 1868, but, being found to possess
certain defects, it was superseded in 1879 by the Abel close-test
instrument (see PETROLEUM). In electricity Abel studied
the construction of electrical fuses and other applications
of electricity to warlike purposes, and his work on problems
of steel manufacture won him in 1897 the Bessemer medal of the
Iron and Steel Institute, of which from 1891 to 1893 he was
president. He was president of the Institution of Electrical
Engineers (then the Society of Telegraph Engineers) in
1877. He became a member of the Royal Society in 1860,
and received a royal medal in 1887. He took an important
part in the work of the Inventions Exhibition (London) in
1885, and in 1887 became organizing secretary and first
director of the Imperial Institute, a position he held till
his death, which occurred in London on the 6th of September
1902. He was knighted in 1891, and created a baronet in 1893.
Among his books were--Handbook of Chemistry (with C. L.
Bloxam), Modern History of Gunpowder (1866), Gun-cotton
(1866), On Explosive Agents (1872), Researches in
Explosives (1875), and Electricity applied to Explosive
Purposes (1884). He also wrote several important articles
in the ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
ABEL, KARL FRIEDRICH (1725-1787), German musician, was
born in Kothen in 1725, and died on the 20th of June 1787 in
London. He was a great player on the viola da gamba,
and composed much music of importance in its day for that
instrument. He studied under Johann Sebastian Bach at
the Leipzig Thomasschule; played for ten years (1748-1758)
under A. Hasse in the band formed at Dresden by the elector
of Saxony; and then, going to England, became (in 1759)
chamber-musician to Queen Charlotte. He gave a concert
of his own compositions in London, performing on various
instruments, one of which, the pentachord, was newly
invented. In 1762 Johann Christian Bach, the eleventh son
of Sebastian, came to London, and the friendship between
him and Abel led, in 1764 or 1765, to the establishment of
the famous concerts subsequently known as the Bach and Abel
concerts. For ten years these were organized by Mrs Comelys,
whose enterprises were then the height of fashion. In 1775
the concerts became independent of her, and were continued
by Abel unsuccessfully for a year after Bach's death in
1782. At them the works of Haydn were first produced in
England. After the failure of his concert undertakings
Abel still remained in great request as a player on various
instruments new and old, but he took to drink and thereby
hastened his death. He was a man of striking presence, of whom
several fine portraits, including two by Gainsborough, exist.
ABEL, NIELS HENRIK (1802-1829), Norwegian mathematician,
was born at Findoe on the 25th of August 1802. In 1815 he
entered the cathedral school at Christiania, and three years
later he gave proof of his mathematical genius by his brilliant
solutions of the original problems proposed by B. Holmboe.
About this time, his father, a poor Protestant minister,
died, and the family was left in straitened circumstances;
but a small pension from the state allowed Abel to enter
Christiania University in 1821. His first notable work was a
proof of the impossibility of solving the quintic equation by
radicals. This investigation was first published in 1824
and in abstruse and difficult form, and afterwards (1826)
more elaborately in the first volume of Crelle's Journal.
Further state aid enabled him to visit Germany and France in
1825, and having visited the astronomer Heinrich Schumacher
(178-1850) at Hamburg, he spent six months in Berlin, where
he became intimate with August Leopold Crelle, who was then
about to publish his mathematical journal. This project
was warmly encouraged by Abel, who contributed much to the
success of the venture. From Berlin he passed to Freiberg,
and here he made his brilliant researches in the theory of
functions, elliptic, hyperelliotic and a new class known as
Abelians being particularly studied. In 1826 he moved to
Paris, and during a ten months' stay he met the leading
mathematicians of France; but he was little appreciated, for
his work was scarcely known, and his modesty restrained him
from proclaiming his researches. Pecuniary embarrassments,
from which he had never been free, finally compelled him
to abandon his tour, and on his return to Norway he taught
for some time at Christiania. In 1829 Crelle obtained a
post for him at Berlin, but the offer did not reach Norway
until after his death near Arendal on the 6th of April.
The early death of this talented mathematician, of whom
Legendre said ``quelle tete celle du jeune Norvegien!'',
cut short a career of extraordinary brilliance and promise.
Under Abel's guidance, the prevailing obscurities of analysis
began to be cleared, new fields were entered upon and the
study of functions so advanced as to provide mathematicians
with numerous ramifications along which progress could be
made. His works, the greater part of which originally
appeared in Crelle's Journal, were edited by Holmbor and
published in 1839 by the Swedish government, and a more
complete edition by L. Sylow and S. Lie was published in 1881.
For further details of his mathematical investigations see the
articles GROUPS, THEORY OF, and FUNCTIONS OF COMPLEX VARIABLES.
See C. A. Bjerknes, Niels Henrik Abel: Tableau de sa
vie et son action scientifique (Paris, 1885); Lucas
de Peslouan, Niels Henrik Abel (Paris, 1906).
ABEL (better ABELL), THOMAS (d. 1540), an English priest
who was martyred during the reign of Henry VIII. The place
and date of his birth are unknown. He was educated at Oxford
and entered the service of Queen Catherine some time before
1528, when he was sent by her to the emperor Charles V. on a
mission relating to the proposed divorce. On his return he
was presented by Catherine to the living of Bradwell, in Essex,
and remained to the last a staunch supporter of the unfortunate
queen. In 1533, he published his Invicta Veritas (with
the fictitious pressmark of Luneberge, to avoid suspicion),
which contained an answer to the numerous tracts supporting
Henry's ecclesiastical claims. After an imprisonment of more
than six years, Abel was sentenced to death for denying the
royal supremacy in the church, and was executed at Smithfield
on the 30th of July 1540. There is still to be seen on the
wall of his prison in the Tower the symbol of a bell with
an A upon it and the name Thomas above, winch he carved
during his confinement. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII.
See J. Gillow's Bibl. Dictionary of Eng. Catholics, vol. i.;
Calendar of State Papers of Henry VIII., vols. iv.-vii. passim.
ABELARD, PETER (1079-1142), scholastic philosopher, was born
at Pallet (Palais), not far from Nantes, in 1079. He was the
eldest son of a noble Breton house. The name Abaelardus
(also written Abailardus, Abaielardus, and in many other
ways) is said to be a corruption of Habelardus, substituted
by himself for a nickname Bajolardus given to him when a
student. As a boy, he showed an extraordinary quickness of
apprehension, and, choosing a learned life instead of the
knightly career natural to a youth of his birth, early became
an adept in the art of dialectic, under which name philosophy,
meaning at that time chiefly the logic of Aristotle transmitted
through Latin channels, was the great subject of liberal
study in the episcopal schools. Roscellinus, the famous
canon of Compiegne, is mentioned by himself as his teacher;
but whether he heard this champion of extreme Nominalism in
early youth, when he wandered about from school to school
for instruction and exercise, or some years later, after he
had already begun to teach for himself, remains uncertain.
His wanderings finally brought him to Paris, still under
the age of twenty. There, in the great cathedral school of
Notre-Dame, he sat for a while under the teaching of William
of Champeaux, the disciple of St Anselm and most advanced of
Realists, but, presently stepping forward, he overcame the
master in discussion, and thus began a long duel that issued
in the downfall of the philosophic theory of Realism, till
then dominant in the early Middle Age. First, in the teeth
of opposition from the metropolitan teacher, while yet only
twenty-two, he proceeded to set up a school of hs own at
Melun, whence, for more direct competition, he removed to
Corbeil, nearer Paris. The success of his teaching was
signal, though for a time he had to quit the field, the
strain proving too great for his physical strength. On his
return, after 1108, he found William lecturing no longer at
Notre-Dame, but in a monastic retreat outside the city, and
there battle was again joined between them. Forcing upon
the Realist a material change of doctrine, he was once more
victorious, and thenceforth he stood supreme. His discomfited
rival still had power to keep him from lecturing in Paris, hut
soon failed in this last effort also. From Melun, where he
had resumed teaching, Abelard passed to the capital, and set
up his school on the heights of St Genevieve, looking over
Notre-Dame. From his success in dialectic, he next turned to
theology and attended the lectures of Anselm at Laon. His triumph
over the theologian was complete; the pupil was able to give
lectures, without previous training or special study, which
were acknowledged superior to those of the master. Abelard
was now at the height of hs fame. He stepped into the chair at
Notre-Dame, being also nominated canon, about the year 1115.
Few teachers ever held such sway as Abelard now did for a
time. Distinguished in figure and manners, he was seen
surrounded by crowds--it is said thousands of students,
drawn from all countries by the fame of hs teaching, in which
acuteness of thought was relieved by simplicity and grace of
exposition. Enriched by the offerings of his pupils, and
feasted with universal admiration, he came, as he says,
to think himself the only philosopher standing in the
world. But a change in his fortunes was at hand. In his
devotion to science, he had hitherto lived a very regular
life, varied only by the excitement of conflict: now, at
the height of his fame, other passions began to stir within
him. There lived at that time, within the precincts of
Notre-Dame, under the care of her uncle, the canon Fulbert, a
young girl named Heloise, of noble extraction, and born about
1101. Fair, but still more remarkable for her knowledge,
which extended beyond Latin, it is said, to Greek and Hebrew,
she awoke a feeling of love in the breast of Abelard; and
with intent to win her, he sought and gained a footing in
Fulbert's house as a regular inmate. Becoming also tutor to
the maiden, he used the unlimited power which he thus obtained
over her for the purpose of seduction, though not without
cherishing a real affection which she returned in unparalleled
devotion. Their relation interfering with his public work, and
being, moreover, ostentatiously sung by himself, soon became
known to all the world except the too-confiding Fulbert; and,
when at last it could not escape even his vision, they were
separated only to meet in secret. Thereupon Heloise found
herself pregnant, and was carried off by her lover to Brittany,
where she gave birth to a son. To appease her furious uncle,
Abelard now proposed a marriage, under the condition that it
should be kept secret, in order not to mar his prospects of
advancement in the church; but of marriage, whether public
or secret, Heloise would hear nothing. She appealed to him
not to sacrifice for her the independence of his life, nor
did she finally yield to the arrangement without the darkest
forebodings, only too soon to be reallzed. The secret of
the marriage was not kept by Fulbert; and when Heloise, true
to her singular purpose, boldly denied it, life was made so
unsupportable to her that she sought refuge in the convent of
Argenteuil. Immediately Fulbert, believing that her husband,
who aided in the flight, designed to be rid of her, coinceived
a dire revenge. He and some others broke into Abelard's
chamber by night, and perpetrated on him the most brutal
mutilation. Thus cast down from his pinnacle of greatness
into an abyss of shame and misery, there was left to the
brilliant master only the life of a monk. The priesthood
and ecclesiastical office were canonically closed to him.
Heloise, not yet twenty, consummated her work of self-sacrifice
at the call of his jealous love, and took the veil.
It was in the abbey of St Denis that Abelard, now aged
forty, sought to bury himself with his woes out of sight.
Finding, however, in the cloister neither calm nor solitude,
and having gradually turned again to study, he yielded after
a year to urgent entreaties from without and within, and
went forth to reopen his school at the priory of Maisonceile
(1120). His lectures, now framed in a devotional spirit, were
heard again by crowds of students, and all his old influence
seemed to have returned; but old enmities were revived
also, against which he was no longer able as before to make
head. No sooner had he put in writing his theological
lectures (apparently the Introductio and Theolo giam
that has come down to us), than his adversaries fell foul of
his rationalistic interpretation of the Trinitarian dogma.
Charging him with the heresy of Sabellius in a provincial
synod held at Soissons in 1121, they procured by irregular
practices a condemnation of his teaching, whereby he was made
to throw his book into the flames and then was shut up in
the convent of St Medard at Soissons. After the other, it
was the bitterest possible experience that could befall him,
nor, in the state of mental desolation into which it plunged
him, could he find any comfort from being soon again set free.
The life in his own monastery proved no more congenial than
formerly. For this Abelard himself was partly responsible.
He took a sort of malicious pleasure in irritating the monks.
Quasijocando, he cited Bede to prove that Dionysius the
Areopagite had been bishop of Corinth, while they relied upon
the statement of the abbot Hilduin that he had been bishop of
Athens. When this historical heresy led to the inevitable
persecution, Abelard wrote a letter to the abbot Adam in
which he preferred to the authority of Bede that of Eusebius'
Historia Ecelesiastica and St Jerome, according to whom
Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, was distinct from Dionysius
the Areopagite, bishop of Athens and founder of the abbey,
though, in deference to Bede, he suggested that the Areopagite
might also have beeit bishop of Corinth. Life in the
monastery was intolerable for such a troublesome spirit, and
Abelard, who had once attempted to escape the persecution
he had called forth by flight to a monastery at Provins,
was finally allowed to withdraw. In a desert place near
Nogent-sur-Seine, he built himself a cabin of stubble and
reeds, and turned hermit. But there fortune came back to him
with a new surprise. His retreat becoming known, students
flocked from Paris, and covered the wilderness around him
with their tents and huts. When he began to teach again he
found consolation, and in gratitude he consecrated the new
oratory they built for him by the name of the Paraclete.
Upon the return of new dangers, or at least of fears, Abelard
left the Paraclete to make trial of another refuge, accepting
an invitation to preside over the abbey of St Gildas-de-Rhuys,
on the far-off shore of Lower Brittany. It proved a wretched
exchange. The region was inhospitable, the domain a prey to
lawless exaction, the house itself savage and disorderly.
Yet for nearly ten years he continued to struggle with fate
before he fled from his charge, yielding in the end only under
peru of violent death. The misery of those years was not,
however, unrelieved; for he had been able, on the breaking
up of Heloise's convent at Argenteuil, to establish her as
head of a new religious house at the deserted Paraclete, and
in the capacity of spiritual director he often was called to
revisit the spot thus made doubly dear to him. All this time
Heloise had lived amid universal esteem for her knowledge and
character, uttering no word under the doom that had fallen upon
her youth; hut now, at last, the occasion came for expressing
all the pent-up emotions of her soul. Living on for some time
apart (we do not know exactly where), after his flight from St
Gildas, Abelard wrote, among other things, his famous Historia
Calamitatum, and thus moved her to peu her first Letter,
which remains an unsurpassed utterance of human passion and
womanly devotion; the first being followed by the two other
Letters, in which she finally accepted the part of resignation
which, now as a brother to a sister, Abelard commended to
her. He not long after was seen once more upon the field
of his early triumphs lecturing on Mount St Genevieve in
1136 (when he was heard by John of Salisbury), but it was
only for a brief space: no new triumph, but a last great
trial, awaited him in the few years to come of his chequered
life. As far back as the Paraclete days, he had counted
as chief among his foes Bernard of Clairvaux, in whom was
incarnated the principle of fervent and unhesitating faith,
from which rational inquiry like his was sheer revolt, and
now this uncompromising spirit was moving, at the instance of
others, to crush the growing evil in the person of the boldest
offender. After preliminary negotiations, in which Bernard
was roused by Abelard's steadfastness to put forth all his
strength, a council met at Sens (1141), before which Abelard,
formally arraigned upon a number of heretical charges, was
prepared to plead his cause. When, however, Bernard, not without
foregone terror in the prospect of meeting the redoubtable
dialectician, had opened the case, suddenlly Abelard appealed to
Rome. The stroke availed him nothing; for Bernard, who had
power, notwithstanding, to get a condemnation passed at the
council, did not rest a moment till a second condemnation was
procured at Rome in the following year. Meanwhile, on his way
thither to urge his plea in person, Abelard had broken down
at the abbey of Cluny, and there, an utterly fallen man, with
spirit of the humblest, and only not bereft of his intellectual
force, he lingered but a few months before the approach of
death. Removed by friendly hands, for the relief of his
sufferings, to the priory of St Marcel, near Chalon-sur-Saone,
he died on the 21st of April 1142. First buried at St Marcel,
his remains soon after were carried off in secrecy to the
Paraclete, and given over to the loving care of Heloise, who
in time came herself to rest beside them (1164). The bones
of the pair were shifted more than once afterwards, but they
were marvellously preserved even through the vicissitudes
of the French Revolution, and now they lie united in the
well-known tomb in the cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise at Paris.
Great as was the influence exerted by Abelard on the minds of
his contemporaries and the course of medieval thought, he has
been little known in modern times but for his connexion with
Heloise. Indeed, it was not till the 19th century, when Cousin
in 1836 issued the collection entitled Ouvrages inedits
d'Abelard, that his philosophical performance could be judged
at first hand; of his strictly philosophical works only one,
the ethical treatise Scito te ipsum, having been published
earlier, namely, in 1721. Cousin's collection, besides giving
extracts from the theological work Sic et Non (an assemblage
of opposite opinions on doctrinal points, culled from the
Fathers as a basis for discussion, the main interest in which
lles in the fact that there is no attempt to reconcile the
different opinions), includes the Dialectica, commentaries
on logical works of Aristotle, Porphyry and Boothius, and a
fragment, De Generibus et Speciebus. The last-named
work, and also the psychological treatise De Inteilectibus,
published apart by Cousin (in Fragmens Philosophiques,
vol. ii.), are now considered upon internal evidence not to
be hy Abelard himself, but only to have sprung out of his
school. A genuine work, the Glossulae super Porphyrium,
from which Charles de Remusat, in his classical monograph
Abelard (1845), has given extracts, remains in manuscript.
The general importance of Abelard lles in his having fixed
more decisively than any one before him the scholastic manner
of philosophizing, with its object of giving a formally
rational expression to the received ecclesiastical doctrine
. However his own particular interpretations may have been
condemned, they were conceived in essentially the same spirit
as the general scheme of thought afterwards elaborated in
the 13th century with approval from the heads of the church.
Through him was prepared in the Middle Age the ascendancy
of the philosophical authority of Aristotle, which became
firmly established in the half-century after his death, when
first the completed Organon, and gradually ail the other
works of the Greek thinker, came to be known in the schools:
before his time it was rather upon the authority of Plato
that the prevailing Realism sought to lean. As regards his
so-called Conceptualism and his attitude to the question of
Universals, see SCHOLASTICISM. Outside of his dialectic,
it was in ethics that Abelard showed greatest activity of
philosophical thought; laying very particular stress upon
the subjective intention as determining, if not the moral
character, at least the moral value, of human action. His
thought in this direction, wherein he anticipated something
of modern speculation, is the more remarkable because his
scholastic successors accomplished least in the field of
morals, hardly venturing to bring the principles and rules of
conduct under pure philosophical discussion, even after the
great ethical inquiries of AAstotle became fully known to them.
BIBLIOGRAPHY --Abelard's own works remain the best sources
for his life, especially his Historia Culamitatum, an
autobiography, and the correspondence with Heloise. The
literature on Abelard is extensive, but consists principally
of monographs on different aspects of his philosophy.
Charles de Remusat's Abelard (2 vols., 1845) remains an
authority; it must be distinguished from his drama Abelard
(1877), which is an attempt to give a picture of medieval
life. McCabe's life of Abelard is written closely from
the sources. eee also the valuable analysis by Nitsch
in the article ``Abalard'' There is a comprehensive
bibliograohy in U. Chevalier, Repertoire des sources
hist. du moyen age, s. ``Abailard.'' (G. C. R.; J. T. S.*)
ABELIN, JOHANN PHILIPP, an early 16th-century German
chronicler, was born, probably, at Strasburg, and died there
between the years 1634 and 1637. He wrote numerous histories
over the pseudonyms of Philipp Arlanibaus, Abeleus and Johann
Eudwighottfaed or Gotofredus, his earliest works of importance
being his history of the German wars of Gustavus Adolphus,
entitled Arma Suecica (pub. 1631-1634, in 12 parts), and the
Inventarium Sueciae (1632)---both compilations from existing
records. His best known work is the Theatrum Europaeum, a
series of chronicles of the chief events in the history of the
world down to 1619. He was himself responsible for the first two
volumes. It was continued by various writers and grew to
twenty-one volumes (Frankf. 1633-1738). The chief interest
of the work is, however, its illustration by the beautiful
copperplate engravings of Matthaus Meriah (1593-1650). Abelin
also wrote a history of the antipodes, Historia Antipodum
(posthumously pub. Frankf. 1655), and a history of India.
See G. Droysen, Arlanibaeus, Godofredus, Abelinus (Berlin,
1864); and notice in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographic.
ABENCERRAGES, a family or faction that is said to have held a
prominent position in the Moorish kingdom of Granada in the 15th
century. The name appears to have been derived from the Yussuf
ben-Serragh, the head of the tribe in the time of Mahommed
VII., who did that sovereign good service in his struggles
to retain the crown of which he was three times deprived.
Nothing is known of the family with certainty; but the name
is familiar from the interesting romance of Gines Perez de
Hita, Guerras civiles de Granada, which celebrates the feuds
of the Abencerrages and the rival family of the Zegris, and
the cruel treatment to which the former were subjected. J.
P. de Florian's Gonsalve de Cordoue and Chateaubriand's Le
dernier des Abencerrages are imitations of Perez de Hita's
work. The hall of the Abencerrages in the Alhambra takes its
name from being the reputed scene of the massacre of the family.
ABENDANA, the name of two Jewish theologians. (1) JACOB
(1630-i695), rabbi (Hakham) of the Spanish Jews in London
from 1680. Like his brother Isaac, Jacob Abendana had
a circle of Christian friends, and his reputation led to
the appreciation of Jewish scholarship by modern Christian
theologians. (2) ISAAC (c. 1650-1710), his brother,
taught Hebrew at Cambridge and afterwards at Oxford. He
compiled a Jewish Calendar and wrote Discourses on the
Ecclesiastical and Civil Polity of the Jews (1706).
ABENEZRA (IBN EZRA), or, to give him his full name,
ABRAHAM BEN MEIR IBN Ezra (1092 or 1093-1167), one of the
most distinguished Jewish men of letters and writers of the
Middle Ages. He was born at Toledo, left his native land of
Spain before 1140 and led until his death a life of restless
wandering, which took him to North Africa, Egypt, Italy (Rome,
Lucca, Mantua,Verona), Southern France(Narbonne, Beziers),
Northern France (Dreux), England (London), and back again to
the South of France. At several of the above-named places he
remained for some time and developed a rich literary activity.
In his native land he had already gained the reputation of a
distinguished poet and thinker; but, apart from his poems, his
works, which were all in the Hebrew language, were written
in the second period of his life. With these works, which
cover in the first instance the field of Hebrew philology and
Biblical exegesis, he fulfilled the great mission of making
accessible to the Jews of Christian Europe the treasures of
knowledge enshrined in the works written in Arabic which he
had brought with him from Spain. His grammatical writings,
among which Moznayim (``the Scales,'' written in 1140)
and Zahot (``Correctness,'' written in 1141) are the most
valuable, were the first expositions of Hebrew grammar in the
Hebrew language, in which the system of Hayyuj and his school
prevailed. He also translated into Hebrew the two writings
of Hayyuj in which the foundations of the system were laid
down. Of greater original value than the grammatical works of
Ibn Ezra are his commentaries on most of the books of the Bible,
of which, however, a part has been lost. His reputation as an
intelligent and acute expounder of the Bible was founded on his
commentary on the Pentateuch, of which the great popularity is
evidenced by the numerous commentaries which were written upon
it. In the editions of this commentary (ed. princ. Naples
1488) the commentary on the book of Exodus is replaced by a
second, more complete commentary of Ibn Ezra, while the
first and shorter commentary on Exodus was not printed until
1840. The great editions of the Hebrew Bible with rabbinical
commentaries contained also commentaries of Ibn Ezra's on the
following books of the Bible: Isaiah, Minor Prophets, Psalms,
Job, Pentateuch, Daniel; the commentaries on Proverbs, Ezra
and Nehemiah which bear his name are really those of Moses
Kimhi. Ibn Ezra wrote a second commentary on Genesis as he
had done on Exodus, but this was never finished. There are
second commentaries also by him on the Song of Songs, Esther and
Daniel. The importance of the exegesis of Ibn Ezra consists
in the fact that it aims at arriving at the simple sense of
the text, the so-called ``Pesohat,'' on solid grammatical
principles. It is in this that, although he takes a great
part of his exegetical material from his predecessors, the
originality of his mind is everywhere apparent, an originality
which displays itself also in the witty and lively language of his
commentaries. To judge by certain signs, of which Spinoza
in his Tractatus Theologico Politicus makes use, Ibn
Ezra belongs to the earliest pioneers of the criticism of the
Pentateuch. His commentaries, and especially some of the longer
excursuses, contain numerous contributions to the philosophy of
religion. One writing in particular, which belongs to this
province (Vosod Mera), on the division and the reasons
for the Biblical commandments, he wrote in 1158 for a London
friend, Joseph b. Jacob. In his philosophical thought
neo-platonic ideas prevail; and astrology also had a place
in his view of the world. He also wrote various works on
mathematical and astronomical subjects. Ibn Ezra died on the
28th of January 1167, the place of his death being unknown.
Among the literature on Ibn Ezra may be especially mentioned:
M. Friedlander, Essays on the Writings of Ibn Ezra
(London, 1877); W. Bacher, Abraham Ibn Ezra als Grammatiker
(Strasburg, 1882); M. Steinschneider, Abraham Ibn Ezra, in
the Zeitschrift fur Mathematik und Physik, Band xxv.,
Supplement; D. Rosin, Die Religions philosophie Abraham
Ibn Ezra's in vols. xiii. and xliii. of the Monatschrift
fur Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums; his Diwan
was edited by T. Egers (Berlin, 1886): a collection of his
poems, Reime und Gedichte, with translation and commentary,
were published by D. Rosin in several annual reports of the
Jewish theological Seminary at Breslau (1885--1894). (W. BA.)
ABENSBERG, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Bavaria, on the
Abens, a tributary of the Danube, 18 m. S.W. of Regensburg,
with which it is connected by rail. Pop. 2202. It has a small
spa, and its sulphur baths are resorted to for the cure of
rheumatism and gout. The town is the Castra Abusina of the
Romans, and Roman remains exist in the neighbourhood. Here,
on the 20th of April 1809, Napoleon gained a signal victory
over the Austrians under the Archduke Louis and Genegal Hiller.
ABEOKUTA, a town of British West Africa in the Egba
division of the Yoruba country, S. Nigeria Protectorate. It
is situated in 7 deg. 8' N., 3 deg. 25' E., on the Ogun river, 64
m. N. of Lagos by railway, or 81 m. by water. Population,
approximately 60,000. Abeokuta lies in a beautiful and fertile
country, the surface of which is broken by masses of grey
granite. It is spread over an extensive area, being surrounded
by mud walls 18 miles in extent. Abeokuta, under the reforming
zeal of its native rulers, was largely transformed during
the early years of the 20th century. Law courts, government
offices, prisons and a substantial bridge were built, good roads
made, and a large staff of sanitary inspectors appointed.
The streets are generally narrow and the houses built of
mud. There are numerous markets in which a considerable
trade is done in native products and articles of European
manufacture. Palm-oil, timber, rubber, yams and shea-butter
are the chief articles of trade. An official newspaper is
published in the Yoruba and English languages. Abeokuta is
the headquarters of the Yoruba branch of the Church Missionary
Societyi and British and American, missionaries have met
with some success in their civilizing work. In their schools
about 2000 children are educated. The completion in 1899
of a railway from Lagos helped not only to develop trade
but to strengthen generally the influence of the white man.
Abeokuta (a word meaning ``under the rocks,''), dating
from 1825, owes its origin to the incessant inroads of the
slavehunters from Dahomey and Ibadan, which compelled the
village populations scattered over the open country to take
refuge in this rocky stronghold against the common enemy.
Here they constituted themselves a free confederacy of many
distinct tribal groups, each preserving the traditional customs,
religious rites and even the very names of their original
villages. Yet this apparently incoherent aggregate held
its ground successfully against the powerful armies often
sent against the place both by the king of Dahomey from the
west, and by the people of Ibadan from the north-east.
The district of Egba, of which Abeokuta is the capital, has
an estimated area of 3000 sq. m. and a population of some
350,000. It is officially known as the Abeokuta province
of the Southern Nigeria protectorate. It contains luxuriant
forests of palmtrees, which constitute the chief wealth of the
people. Cotton is indigenous and is grown for export.
The Egbas are enthusiastic farmers and have largely adopted
European methods of cultivation. They are very tenacious
of their independence, but accepted without opposition the
establishment of a British protectorate, which, while putting
a stop to inter-tribal warfare, slave-raiding and human
sacrifices, and exercising control over the working of the
laws, left to the people executive and fiscal autonomy. The
administration is in the hands of a council of chiefs which
exercises legislative, executive and, to some extent, judicial
functions. The president of this council, or ruling chief
---chosen from among the members of the two recognized
reigning families--is called the alake, a word meaning
``Lord of Ake,'' Ake being the name of the principal quarter
of Abeokuta, after the ancient capital of the Egbas. The
alake exercises little authority apart from his councili
the form of government being largely democratic. Revenue
is chiefly derived from tolls or import duties. A visit
of the alake to England in 1904 evoked considerable public
interest. The chief was a man of great intelligence, eager
to study western civilization, and an ardent agriculturist.
See the publications of the Church Missionary Society
dealing mith the Voruba Mission; Col. A. B. Ellis's The
Yoruba-speaking Peoples (London, 1894); and an article on
Abeokuta by Sir Wm. Macgregor, sometime governor of Lagos, in
the African Society's Journal, No. xii. (London, July 1904).
ABERAVON, a contributory parliamentary and municipal borough
of Glamorganshire, Wales, on the right bank of the Avon, near
its mouth in Swansea Bay, 11 m. E.S.E. of Swansea and 170 m.
from London by rail. Pop. (1901) 7553. It has a station on the
Rhondda and Swansea Bay railway and is also on the main South
Wales line of the Great Western, whose station, however, is at
fort Talbot, half a mile distant, on the eastern side of the
Avon. The valley of the Avon, which is only some three miles
long, has been from about 1840 a place of much metallurgical
activity. There are tinplate and engineering works within
the borough. At Cwmavon, 1 1/2 m. to the north-east, are
large copper-smelting works established in 1838, acquired
two years later by the governor and Company of the Copper
Miners of England, but now worked by the Rio Tinto Copper
Company. There are also iron, steel and tinplate works
both at Cwmavon and at Port Talbot, which, when it consisted
only of docks, was appropriately known as Aberavon Port.
The town derives its name from the river Avon (corrupted from
Avan), which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. On
the Norman conquest at Glamorgan, Caradoc, the eldest son of
the defeated prince, Lestyn ab Gwrgan, continued to hold this
lordship, and for the defence of thc passage of the river
built here a castle whose foundations are still traceable in
a field near the churchyard. His descendants (who from the
13th century onwards styled themselves De Avan or D'Avene)
established, under line protection of the castle, a chartered
town, which in 1372 received a further charter from Edward
Le Despenser, into whose family the lordship had come on an
exchange of lands. In modern times these charters were not
acted upon, the town being deemed a borough by prescription,
but in 1861 it was incorporated under the Municipal
Corporations Act. Since 1832 it has belonged to the Swansea
parliamentary district of boroughs, uniting with Kenfig,
Loughor, Neath and Swansea to return one member; but in 1885
the older portion of Swansea was given a separate member.
ABERCARN, an urban district in the southern parliamentary
division of Monmouthshire, England, 10 m. N.W. of Newport
by the Great Western railway. Pop. (1901) 12,607. There are
collieries, ironworks and tinplate works in the district;
the town, which lies in the middle portion of the Ebbw
valley, being situated on the south-eastern flank of the
great mining region of Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire.
ABERCORN, JAMES HAMILTON, 1ST EARL OF (c. 1575-1618),
was the eldest son of Claud Hamilton, Lord Paisley (4th son of
James, 2nd earl of Arran, and duke of Chatelherault), and of
Margaret, daughter of George, 6th Lord Seton. He was made
sheriff of Linlithgow in 1600, received large grants of
lands in Scotland and Ireland, was created in 1603 baron of
Abercorn, and on the 10th of July 1606 was rewarded for his
services in the matter of the union by being made earl of
Abercorn, and Baron Hamilton, Mount Castle and Kilpatrick.
He married Marion, daughter of Thomas, 5th Lord Boyd, and left
five sons, of whom the eldest, baron of Strabane, succeeded
him as 2nd earl of Abercorn. He died on the 23rd of March
1618. The title of Abercorn, held by the head of the Hamilton
family, became a marquessate in 1790, and a dukedom in 1868,
the 2nd duke of Abercorn (b. 1838) being a prominent Unionist
politician and chairman of the British South Africa Company.
ABERCROMRIE, JOHN (1780-1844), Scottish physician, was the son
of the Rev. George Abercrombie of Aberdeen, where he was born
on the 10th of October 1780. He was educated at the university
of Edinburgh, and after graduating as M.D. in 1803 he settled
down to practise in that city, where he soon attained a leading
position. From 1816 he published various papers in the
Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, which formed the basis
of his Pathological and Practical Researches on Diseases
of the Brain and Spinal Cord, and of his Researches on the
Diseases of the Intestinal Canal, Liver and other Viscera
of the Abdomen, both published in 1828. He also found time
for philosophical speculations, and in 1830 he published his
Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers of Man and
the Investigation of Truth, which was followed in 1833 by a
sequel, The Philosophy of the Moral Feelings. Both works,
though showing little originality of thought, achieved wide
popularity. He died at Edinburgh on the 14th of November 1844.
ABERCROMBY, DAVID, a 17th-century Scottish physician who
was sufficiently noteworthy a generation after the probable
date of his death to have his Nova Medicinae Praxis
reprinted at Paris in 1740. During his lifetime his Tuta
ac efficax luis venereae saepe absque mercurio ac semper
absque salivatione mercuriali curando methodus (1684) was
translated into French, Dutch and German. Two other works
by him were De Pulsus Variatione (London, 1685), and Ars
explorandi medicas facultates plantarum ex solo sapore
(London, 1685--1688); His Opuscula were collected in 1687.
These professional writings gave him a place and memorial
in A. von Haller's Bibliotheca Medicinae Pract. (4 vols.
8vo, 1779, tom. iii. p. 619); but he claims notice rather by
his remarkable controversial books in theology and philosophy
than by his medical writings. Bred up at Douai as a Jesuit,
he abjured popery, and published Protestancy proved Safer
than Popery' (London, 1686). But the most noticeable of
his productions is A Discourse of Wit (London, 1685), which
contains some of the most characteristic and most definitely-put
metaphysical opinions of the Scottish philosophy of common
sense. It was followed by Academia Scientiarum (1687),
and by A Moral Treatise of the Power. of Interest (1690),
dedicated to Robert Boyle. A Short Account of Scots Divines,
by him, was printed at Edinburgh in 1833, edited by James
Maidment. The exact date of his death is unknown, but
according to Haller he was alive early in the 18th century.
ABERCROMBY, PATRICK (1656-c.1716), Scottish physician
and antiquarian, was the third son of Alexander Abercromby
of Fetterneir in Aberdeenshire, and brother of Francis
Abercromby, who was created Lord Glasford by James II. He
was born at Forfar in 1656 apparently of a Roman Catholic
family. Intending to become a doctor of medicine he entered
the university of St Andrews, where he took his degree of M.D.
in 1685, but apparently he spent most of his youthful years
abroad. It has been stated that he attended the university of
Paris. The Discourse of Wit (1685), sometimes assigned to
him, belongs to Dr David Abercromby (q.v.). On his return to
Scotland, he is found practising as a physician in Edinburgh,
where, besides his professional duties, he gave himself with
characteristic zeal to the study of antiquities. He was
appointed physician to James II. in 1685, but the revolution
deprived him of the post. Living during the agitations for
the union of England and Scotland, he took part in the war
of pamphlets inaugurated and sustained by prominent men on
both sides of the Border, and he crossed swords with no less
redoubtable a foe than Daniel Defoe in his Advantages of the
Act of Security compared with those of the intended Union
(Edinburgh, 1707), and A Vindication of the Same against Mr
De Foe (ibid.). A minor literary work of Abercromby's was
a translation of Jean de Beaugue's Histoire de la guerre
d'Ecosse (1556) which appeared in 1707. But the work with
which his name is permanently associated is his Martial
Atchievements of the Scots Nation, issued in two large folios,
vol. i. 1711, vol. ii. 1716. In the title-page and preface
to vol. i. he disclaims the ambition of being an historian,
but in vol. ii., in title-page and preface alike, he is no
longer a simple biographer, but an historian. Even though,
read in the light of later researches, much of the first volume
must necessarily be relegated to the region of the mythical,
none the less was the historian a laborious and accomplished
reader and investigator of all available authorities, as well
manuscript as printed; while the roll of names of those who
aided him includes every man of note in Scotland at the time,
from Sir Thomas Craig and Sir George Mackenzie to Alexander
Nisbet and Thomas Ruddiman. The date of Abercromby's death is
uncertain. It has been variously assigned to 1715, 1716,
1720, and 1726, and it is usually added that he left a widow
in great poverty. The Memoirs of the Abercrombys, commonly
attributed to him, do not appear to have been published.
See Robert Chambers, Eminent Scotsmen, s.v.; William Anderson,
Scottish Nation, s.v.; Alexander Chalmers, Biog. Dict.,
s.v.; George Chalmers, Life of Ruddiman; William Lee, Defoe.
ABERCROMBY, SIR RALPH (1734-1801), British lieutenant-general,
was the eldest son of George Abercromby of Tillibody,
Clackmannanshire, and was born in October 1734. Educated
at Rugby and Edinburgh University, in 1754 he was sent to
Leipzig to study civil law, with a view to his proceeding
to the Scotch bar. On returning from the continent he
expressed a strong preference for the military profession,
and a cornet's commission was accordingly obtained for him
(March 1756) in the 3rd Dragoon Guards. He served with his
regiment in the Seven Years' war, and the opportunity thus
afforded him of studying the methods of the great Frederick
moulded his military character and formed his tactical
ideas. He rose through the intermediate grades to the rank of
lieutenant-colonel of the regiment (1773) and brevet colonel
in 1780, and in 1781 he became colonel of the King's Irish
infantry. When that regiment was disbanded in 1783 he retired upon
half-pay. That up to this time he had scarcely been engaged
in active service was owing mainly to his disapproval of the
policy of the government, and especially to his sympathies with
the American colonists in their struggles for independence;
and his retirement is no doubt to be ascribed to similar
feelings. On leaving the army he for a time took up political
life as member of Parliament for Clackmannanshire. This,
however, proved uncongenial, and, retiring in favour of his
brother, he settled at Edinburgh and devoted himself to the
education of his children. But on France declaring war against
England in 1793, he hastened to resume his professional duties;
and, being esteemed one of the ablest and most intrepid
officers in the whole British forces, he was appointed to the
command of a brigade under the duke of York, for service in
Holland. He commanded the advanced guard in the action at Le
Cateau, and was wounded at Nijmwegen. The duty fell to him of
protecting the British army in its disastrous retreat out of
Holland, in the winter of 1794-1795. In 1795 he received the
honour of a knighthood of the Bath, in acknowledgment of his
services. The same year he was appointed to succeed Sir Charles
Grey, as commander-in-chief of the British forces in the West
Indies. In 1796 Grenada was suddenly attacked and taken by a
detachment of the army under his orders. He afterwards obtained
possession of the settlements of Demerara and Essequibo, in
South America, and of the islands of St Lucia, St Vincent and
Trinidad. He returned in 1797 to Europe, and, in reward for
his important services, was appointed colonel of the regiment
of Scots Greys, entrusted with the governments of the Isle of
Wight, Fort-George and Fort-Augustus, and raised to the rank of
lieutenant-general. He held, in 1797-1798, the chief command
of the forces in Ireland. There he laboured to maintain the
discipline of the army, to suppress the rising rebellion,
and to protect the people from military oppression, with a
care worthy alike of a great general and an enlightened and
beneficent statesman. When he was appointed to the command
in Ireland, an invasion of that country by the French was
confidently anticipated by the English government. He used
his utmost efforts to restore the discipline of an army that
was utterly disorganized; and, as a first step, he anxiously
endeavoured to protect the people by re-establishing the
supremacy of the civil power, and not allowing the military
to be called out, except when it was indispensably necessary
for the enforcement of the law and the maintenance of
order. Finding that he received no adequate support from the
head of the Irish government, and that all his efforts were
opposed and thwarted by those who presided in the councils
of Ireland, he resigned the command. His departure from
Ireland was deeply lamented by the reflecting portion of the
people, and was speedily followed by those disastrous results
which he had anticipated, and which he so ardently desired
and had so wisely endeavoured to prevent. After holding for
a short period the office of commander-in-chief in Scotland,
Sir Ralph, when the enterprise against Holland was resolved
upon in 1799, was again called to command under the duke of
York. The campaign of 1799 ended in disaster, but friend and
foe alike confessed that the most decisive victory could not
have more conspicuously proved the talents of this distinguished
officer. His country applauded the choice when, in 1801, he
was sent with an army to dispossess the French of Egypt. His
experience in Holland and the West Indies particularly fitted
him for this new command, as was proved by his carrying his
army in health, in spirits and with the requisite supplies,
in spite of very great difficulties, to the destined scene of
action. The debarkation of the troops at Aboukir, in
the face of strenuous opposition, is justly ranked among
the most daring and brilliant exploits of the English
army. A battle in the neighbourhood of Alexandria (March
21, 1801) was the sequel of this successful landing, and it
was Abercromby's fate to fall in the moment of victory. He
was struck by a spent ball, which could not be extracted,
and died seven days after the battle. His old friend and
commander the duke of York paid a just tribute to the great
soldier's memory in general orders: ``His steady observance
of discipline, his ever-watchful attention to the health
and wants of his troops, the persevering and unconquerable
spirit which marked his military career, the splendour of
his actions in the field and the heroism of his death, are
worthy the imitation of all who desire, like him, a life of
heroism and a death of glory.'' By a vote of the House of
Commons, a monument was erected in his honour in St Paul's
cathedral. His widow was created Baroness Abercromby of
Tullibody and Aboukir Bay, and a pension of L. 2000 a year
was settled on her and her two successors in the title.
A memoir of the later years of his life (1793-1801) by his
third son, James (who was Speaker of the House of Commons,
1835-1839, and became Lord Dunfermline), was published in
1861. For a shorter account of Sir Ralph Abercromby see
Wilkinson, Twelve British Soldiers (London, 1899).
ABERDARE, HENRY AUSTIN BRUCE, 1ST BARON (1815-1895), English
statesman, was born at Duffryn, Aberdare, Glamorganshire, on
the 16th of April 1815, the son of John Bruce, a Glamorganshire
landowner. John Bruce's original family name was Knight,
but on coming of age in 1805 he assumed the name of Bruce,
his mother, through whom he inherited the Duffryn estate,
having been the daughter of William Bruce, high sheriff of
Glamorganshire. Henry Austin Bruce was educated at Swansea
grammar school, and in 1837 was called to the bar. Shortly
after he had begun to practise, the discovery of coal beneath
the Duffryn and other Aberdare Valley estates brought the
family great wealth. From 1847 to 1852 he was stipendiary
magistrate for Merthyr Tydvil and Aberdare, resigning the
position in the latter year, when he entered parliament
as Liberal member for Merthyr Tydvil. In 1862 he became
under-secretary for the home department, and in 1869, after
losing his seat at Merthyr Tydvil, but being re-elected
for Renfrewshire, he was made home secretary by W. E.
Gladstone. His tenure of this office was conspicuous for a
reform of the licensing laws, and he was responsible for the
Licensing Act of 1872, which constituted the magistrates the
licensing authority, increased the penalties for misconduct in
public-houses and shortened the number of hours for the sale of
drink. In 1873 he relinquished the home secretaryship, at
Gladstone's request, to become lord president of the council,
and was almost simultaneously raised to the peerage as Baron
Aberdare. The defeat of the Liberal government in the following
year terminated Lord Aberdare's official political life, and
he subsequently devoted himself to social, educational and
economic questions. In 1876 he was elected F.R.S.; from 1878
to 1892 he was president of the Royal Historical Society;
and in 1881 he became president of the Royal Geographical
Society. In 1882 he began a connexion with West Africa which
lasted the rest of his life, by accepting the chairmanship
of the National African Company, formed by Sir George Taubman
Goldie, which in 1886 received a charter under the title of the
Royal Niger Company and in 1899 was taken over by the British
government, its territories being constituted the protectorate of
Nigeria. West African affairs, however, by no means exhausted
Lord Aberdare's energies, and it was principally through his
efforts that a charter was in 1894 obtained for the university
of Wales at Cardiff. Lord Aberdare, who in 1885 was made a
G.C.B., presided over several Royal Commissions at different
times. He died in London on the 25th of February 1895.
His second wite was the daughter of Sir William Napier, the
historian of the Peninsular war, whose Life he edited.
ABERDARE, a market town of Glamorganshire, Wales, situated (as
the name implies) at the confluence of the Dar and Cynon, the
latter being a tributary of the Tain. Pop. of urban district
(1901), 43,365. It is 4 m. S.W. of Merthyr Tydvil, 24 from
Cardiff and 160 from London by rail. It has a station on the
Pontypool and Swansea section of the Great Western railway,
and is also served by the Llwydcoed and Abernant stations
which are on a branch line to Merthyr. The Tain Vale line
(opened 1846) has a terminus in the town. The Glamorgan canal
has also a branch (made in 1811) running from Abercynon to
Aberdare. From being, at the beginning of the 19th century,
a mere village in an agricultural district, the place grew
rapidly in population owing to the abundance of its coal and
iron ore, and the population of the whole parish (which was only
1486 in 1801) increased tenfold during the first half of the
century. Ironworks were established at Llwydcoed and Abernant
in 1799 and 1800 respectively, followed by others at Gadlys
and Aberaman in 1827 and 1847. These have not been worked
since about 1875, and the only metal industries remaining
in the town are an iron foundry or two and a small tinplate
works at Gadlys (established in 1868). Previous to 1836,
most of the coal worked in the parish was consumed locally,
chiefly in the ironworks, but in that year the working of
steam coal for export was begun, pits were sunk in rapid
succession, and the coal trade, which at least since 1875
has been the chief support of the town, soon reached huge
dimensions. There are also several brickworks and breweries.
During the latter half Of the 19th century, considerable
public improvements were effected in the town, making it,
despite its neighbouring collieries, an agreeable place of
residence. Its institutions included a post-graduate
theological college (opened in connexion with the Church
of England in 1892, until 1907, when it was removed to
Llandaff). There is a public park of fifty acres with two small
lakes. Aberdare, with the ecclesiastical parishes of St
Fagan's (Trecynon) and Aberaman carved out of the ancient
parish, has some twelve Anglican churches, one Roman Catholic
church (built in 1866 in Monk Street near the site of a
cell attached to Penrhys Abbey) and over fifty Noncoformist
chapels. The services in the majority of the chapels are in
Welsh. The whole parish falls within the parliamentary borough
of Merthyr Tydvil. The urban district includes what were
once the separate villages of Aberaman, Abernant, Cwmbach,
Cwmaman, Cwmdare, Llwydcoed and Trecynon. There are several
cairns and the remains of a circular British encampment on
the mountain between Aberdare and Merthyr. Hirwaun moor,
4 m. to the N.W. of Aberdare, was according to tradition
the scene of a battle at which Rhys ap Jewdwr, prince of
Dyfed, was defeated by the ailied forces of the Norman Robert
Fitzhamon and Iestyn ab Gwrgan, the last prince of Glamorgan.
ABERDEEN, GEORGE GORDON, 1ST EARL OF (1637-1720), lord
chancellor of Scotland, son of Sir John Gordon, 1st baronet
of Haddo, Aberdeenshire, executed by the Presbyterians in
1644, was born on the 3rd of October 1637. He graduated
M.A., and was chosen professor at King's College, Aberdeen, in
1658. Subsequently he travelled and studied civil law abroad.
At the Restoration the sequestration of his father's lands was
annulled, and in 1665 he succeeded by the death of his elder
brother to the baronetcy and estates. He returned home in
1667, was admitted advocate in 1668 and gained a high legal
reputation. He represented Aberdeenshire in the Scottish
parliament of 1669 and in the following assemblies, during his
first session strongly opposing the projected union of the two
legislatures. In November 1678 he was made a privy councillor
for Scotland, and in 1680 was raised to the bench as Lord
Haddo. He was a leading member of the duke of York's
administration, was created a lord of session in June and
in November 1681 president of the court. The same year
he is reported as moving in the council for the torture of
witnesses.1 In 1682 he was made lord chancellor of Scotland,
and was created, on the 13th of November, earl of Aberdeen,
Viscount Formartine, and Lord Haddo, Methllck, Tarves and
Kellie, in the Scottish peerage, being appointed also sheriff
principal of Aberdeenshire and Midlothian. Burnet reflects
unfavourably upon him, calls him ``a proud and covetous man,''
and declares ``the new chancellor exceeded all that had gone
before him.''2 He executed the laws enforcing religious
conformity with severity, and filled the parish churches, but
resisted the excessive measures of tyranny prescribed by the
English government; and in consequence of an intrigue of the
duke of Queensberry and Lord Perth, who gained the duchess of
Portsmouth with a present of L. 27,000, he was dismissed in 1684.
After his fall he was subjected to various petty prosecutions
by his victorious rivals with the view of discovering some
act of maladministration on which to found a charge against
him, but the investigations only served to strengthen his
credit. He took an active part in parliament in 1685 and
1686, but remained a non-juror during the whole of William's
reign, being frequently fined for his non-attendance, and
took the oaths for the first time after Anne's accession, on
the 11th of May 1703. In the great affair of the Union in
1707, while protesting against the completion of the treaty
till the act declaring the Scots aliens should be repealed,
he refused to support the opposition to the measure itself
and refrained from attending parliament when the treaty was
settled. He died on the 20th of April 1720, after having
amassed a large fortune. He is described by John Mackay as
``very knowing in the laws and constitution of his country and
is belleved to be the solidest statesman in Scotland, a fine
orator, speaks slow but sure.'' His person was said to be
deformed, and his ``want of mine or deportment'' was alleged
as a disqualification for the office of lord chancellor. He
married Anne, daughter and sole heiress of George Lockhart of
Torbrecks, by whom he had six children, his only surviving
son, William, succeeding him as 2nd earl of Aberdeen.
See Letters to George, earl of Aberdeen (with memoir: Spalding
Club, 1851); Hist. Account of the Senators of-the College
of Justice, by G. Brunton and D. Haig (1832), p. 408; G.
Crawfurd's Lives of the Officers of State (1726), p. 226;
Memoirs of Affairs in Scotland, by Sir G. Mackenzie (1821),
p. 148; Sir J. Lauder's (Lord Fountainhall) Journals (Scottish
Hist. Society, vol. xxxvi., 1900); J. Mackay's Memoirs
(1733), p. 215; A. Lang's Hist. of Scotland, iii. 369, 376.
(P. C. Y.)
1 Sir J. Lauder's Hist. Notices (Bannatyne Club, 1848), p. 297.
2 Hist. of his own Times, i. 523.
ABERDEEN, GEORGE HAMILTON GORDON, 4TH EARL OF (1784-1860),
English statesman, was the eldest son of George Gordon, Lord
Haddo, by his wife Charlotte, daughter of William Baird of
Newbyth, Haddingtonshire, and grandson of George, 3rd earl of
Aberdeen. Born in Edinburgh on the 28th of January 1784,
he lost his father in 1791 and his mother in 1795; and as
his grandfather regarded him with indifference, he went to
reside with Henry Dundas, afterwards Viscount Melville. At
the age of fourteen he was permitted by Scotch law to name
his own curators, or guardians, and selecting William Pitt
and Dundas for this office he spent much of his time at their
houses, thus meeting many of the leading politicians of the
day. He was educated at Harrow, and St John's College, Cambridge,
where he graduated as a nobleman in 1804. Before this time,
however, he had become earl of Aberdeen on his grandfather's
death in 1801, and had travelled over a large part of the
continent of Europe, meeting on his journeys Napoleon Bonaparte
and other persons of distinction. He also spent some time in
Greece, and on his return to England founded the Athenian
Society, membership of which was confined to those who had
travelled in that country. Moreover, he wrote an article in
the Edinburgh Review of July 1805 criticizing Sir William
Gill's Topography of Troy, and these circumstances led Lord
Byron to refer to him in Eniglish Bardo and Scotch Reviewers
as ``the travell'd thane, Athenian Aberdeen.'' Having attained
his majority in 1805, he married on the 28th of July Catherine
Elizabeth Hamilton, daughter of John James, 1st marquess of
Abercorn. In December 1806 he was elected a representative
peer for Scotland, and took his seat as a Tory in the House of
Lords, but for some years he took only a slight part in public
business. However, by his birth, his abilities and his
connexions alike he was marked out for a high position, and
after the death of his wife in February 1812 he was appointed
ambassador extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at
Vienna, where he signed the treaty of Toplitz between Great
Britain and Austria in October 1813; and accompanying the
emperor Francis I. through the subsequent campaign against
France, he was present at the battle of Leipzig. He was
one of the British representatives at the congress of
Chatillon in February 1814, and in the same capacity was
present during the negotiations which led to the treaty of
Paris in the following May. Returning home he was created
a peer of the United Kingdom as Viscount Gordon of Aberdeen
(1814), and made a member of the privy council. On the 15th
of Juby 1815 he married Harriet, daughter of the Hon. John
Douglas, and widow of James, Viscount Hamilton, and thus
became doubly connected with the family of the marquess of
Abercorn. During the ensuing thirteen years Aberdeen took a
less prominent part in public affairs, although he succeeded
in passing the Entail (Scotland) Act of 1825. He kept in
touch, however, with foreign politics, and having refused to
join the ministry of George Canning in 1827, became a member
of the cabinet of the duke of Wellington as chancellor of the
duchy of Lancaster in January 1828. In the following June he
was transferred to the office of secretary of state for foreign
affairs, and having acquitted himself with credit with regard
to the war between Russia and Turkey, and to affairs in Greece,
Portugal and France, he resigned with Wellington in November
1830, and shared his leader's attitude towards the Reform
Bill of 1832. As a Scotsman, Aberdeen was interested in the
ecclesiastical controversy which culminated in the disruption of
1843. In 1840 he introduced a bill to settle the vexed question
of patronage; but disliked by a majority in the general assembly
of the Scotch church, and unsupported by the government, it
failed to become law, and some opprobrium was cast upon its
author. In 1843 he brought forward a similar measure ``to
remove doubts respecting the admission of ministers to
benefices.'' This Admission to Benefices Act, as it was called,
passed into law, but did not reconcile the opposing parties.
During the short administration of Sir Robert Peel in 1834
and 1835, Aberdeen had filled the office of secretary for
the colonies, and in September 1841 he took office again
under Peel, on this occasion as foreign secretary; the
five years during which he held this position were the most
fruitful and successful of his public life. He owed his
success to the confidence placed in him by Queen Victoria,
to his wide knowledge of European politics, to his intimate
friendship with Guizot, and not least to his own conciliatory
disposition. Largely owing to his efforts, causes of quarrel
between Great Britain and France in Tahiti, over the marriage
of Isabella II. of Spain, and in other directions, were
removed. More important still were his services in settling
the question of the boundary between the United States and
British North America at a time when a single injudicious
word would probably have provoked a war. In 1845 he supported
Peel when in a divided cabinet he proposed to suspend the duty
on foreign corn, and left office with that minister in July
1846. After Peel's death in 1850 he became the recognized
leader of the Peelites, although since his resignation his
share in public business had been confined to a few speeches
on foreign affairs. His dislike of the Ecclesiastical Titles
Assumption Bill, the rejection of which he failed to secure in
1851, prevented him from joining the government of Lord John
Russell, or from forming an administration himself in this
year. In December 1852, however, be became first lord of
the treasury and head of a coalition ministry of Whigs and
Peelites. Although united on free trade and in general
on questions of domestic reform, a cabinet which contained
Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell, in addition to
Aberdeen, was certain to differ on questions of foreign
policy. The strong and masterful character of these and
other colleagues made the task of the prime minister one
of unusual difficulty, a fact which was recognized by
contemporaries. Charles Greville in his Memoirs says,
``In the present cabinet are five or six first-rate men of
equal, or nearly equal, pretensions, none of them likely to
acknowledge the superiority or defer to the opinions of any
other, and every one of these five or six considering himself
abler and more important than their premier''; and Sir James
Graham wrote, ``It is a powerful team, but it will require good
driving.'' The first year of office passed off successfully,
and it was owing to the steady support of the prime minister
that Gladstone's great budget of 1853 was accepted by the
cabinet. This was followed by the outbreak of the dispute
between France and Turkey over the guardianship of the
holy places at Jerusalem, which, after the original cause
of quarrel had been forgotten, developed into the Crimean
war. The tortuous negotiations which preceded the struggle
need not be discussed here, but in defence of Aberdeen
it may be said that he hoped and strove for peace to the
last. Rightly or wrongly, however, he held that Russell was
indispensable to the cabinet, and that a resignation would
precipitate war. His outlook, usually so clear, was blurred
by these considerations, and he lacked the strength to force
the suggestions which he made in the autumn of 1853 upon his
imperious colleagues. Palmerston, supported by Russell and
well served by Lord Stratford de Redcllffe, British ambassador
at Constantinople, favoured a more aggressive policy, and
Aberdeen, unable to control Palmerston, and unwilling to let
Russell go, cannot be exonerated from blame. When the war
began he wished to prosecute it vigorously; but the stories
of misery and mismanagement from the seat of war deprived
the ministry of public favour. Russell resigned; and on
the 29th of January 1855 a motion by J. A. Roebuck, for the
appointment of a select committee to enquire into the conduct
of the War, was carried in the House of Commons by a large
majority. Treating this as a vote of want of confidence
Aberdeen at once resigned office, and the queen bestowed
upon him the order of the Garter. He smoothed the way for
Palmerston to succeed him, and while the earl of Clarendon
remained at the foreign office he aided him with advice and
was consulted on matters of moment. He died in London on the
14th of December 1860, and was buried in the family vault at
Stanmore. By his first wife he had one son and three
daughters, all of whom predeceased their father. By his second
wife, who died in August 1833, he left four sons and one
daughter. His eldest son, George John James, succeeded as 5th
earl; his second son was General Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon,
K.C.B.; his third son was the Reverend Douglas Hamilton-Gordon;
and his youngest son Arthur Hamilton, after holding various
high offices under the crown, was created Baron Stanmore in
1893. Among the public offices held by the earl were those of
lord-lieutenant of Aberdeenshire, president of the society of
Antiquaries from 1812 to 1846 and fellow of the Royal Society.
Aberdeen was a distinguished scholar with a retentive memory
and a wide knowledge of literature and art. His private life
was exemplary, and he impressed his contemporaries with the
loftiness of his character. His manner was reserved, and
as a speaker he was weighty rather than eloquent. In public
life he was remarkable for his generosity to his political
opponents, and for his sense of justice and honesty. He
did not, however, possess the qualities which impress the
populace, and he lacked the strength which is one of the
essential gifts of a statesman. His character is perhaps best
described by a writer who says ``his strength was not equal
to his goodness.'' His foreign policy was essentially one of
peace and non-intervention, and in pursuing it he was accused
of favouring the despotisms of Europe. Aberdeen was a model
landlord. By draining the land, by planting millions of trees
and by erecting numerous buildings, he greatly improved the
condition of his Aberdeenshire estates, and studied continually
the welfare of his dependants. A bust of him by Matthew Noble
is in Westminster Abbey, and his portrait was painted by Sir
Thomas Lawrence. He wrote An Inquiry into the Principles
of Beauty in Grecian Architecture (London, 1822), and the
Correspondence of the Earl of Aberdeen has been printed
privately under the direction of his son, Lord Stanmore.
The 6th earl, George (1841-1870), son of the 5th earl,
was drowned at sea, and was succeeded by his brother
John Campbell Gordon, 7th earl of Aberdeen, (b. 1847), a
prominent Liberal politician, who was lord-lieutenant of
Ireland in 1886, governor-general of Canada 1893--1898,
and again the lord-lieutenant of Ireland when Sir Henry
Campbell-Bannerman formed his ministry at the close of 1905.
See Lord Stanmore, The Earl of Aberdeen (London, 1893); C.
C. F. Greville, Memoirs, edited by H. Reeve (London, 1888);
Spencer Walpole, History of England (London, 1878-1886),
and Life of Lord John Russell (London, 1889); A. W.
Kinglake, Invasion of the Crimea (London, 1877-1888);
Sir T. Martin, Life of the Prince Consort (London,
1875-1880); J. Morley, Life of Gladstone (London, 1903).
(A. W. H. deg. )
ABERDEEN, a royal burgh, city and county of a city,
capital of Aberdeenshire, and chief seaport in the north of
Scotland. It is the fourth Scottish town in population,
industry and wealth, and stands on a bay of the North
Sea, between the mouths of the Don and Dee, 130 1/2 m. N.
E. of Edinburgh by the North British railway. Though Old
Aberdeen, extending from the city suburbs to the southern
banks of the Dob, has a separate charter, privileges and
history, the distinction between it and New Aberdeen can no
longer be said to exist; and for parliamentary, municipal
and other purposes, the two towns now form practically one
community. Aberdeen's popular name of the ``Granite City,'
is justified by the fact that the bulk of the town fs built
of granite, but to appreciate its more poetical designation
of the ``Silver City by the Sea,'' it should be seen after
a heavy rainfall when its stately structures and countless
houses gleam pure and white under the brilliant sunshine.
The area of the city extends to 6602 acres, the burghs of
Old Aberdeen and Woodside, and the district of Torry (for
parliamentary purposes in the constituency of Kincardineshire)
to the south of the Dee, having been incorporated in 1891.
The city comprises eleven wards and eighteen ecclesiastical
parishes, and is under the jurisdiction of a council with
lord provost, bailies, treasurer and dean of guild. The
corporation owns the water (derived from the Dee at a spot 21
m. W.S.W. of the city) and gas supplles, electric lighting and
tramways. Since 1885 the city has returned two members to
Parliament. Aberdeen is served by the Caledonian, Great North
of Scotland and North British railways (occupying a commodious
joint railway station), and there is regular communication by
sea with London and the chief ports on the eastern coast of
Great Britain and the northern shores of the Continent. The mean
temperature of the city for the year is 45.8 deg. F., for summer
56 deg. F., and for winter 37.3 deg. F. The average yearly rainfall
is 30.57 inches. The city is one of the healthiest in Scotland.
Streets and Buildings.--Roughly, the extended city runs
north and south. From the new bridge of Don to the ``auld
brig'' of Dee there is tramway communication via King
Street, Union Street and Holburn Road--a distance of over five
miles. Union Street is one of the most imposing thoroughfares
in the British Isles. From Castle Street it runs W. S. W.
for nearly a mile, is 70 ft. wide, and contains the principal
shops and most of the modern public buildings, all of granite.
Part of the street crosses the Denburn ravine (utilized for
the line of the Great North of Scotland railway) by a fine
granite arch of 132 ft. span, portions of the older town
still fringing the gorge, fifty feet below the level of Union
Street. Amongst the more conspicuous secular buildings in the
street may be mentioned the Town and County Bank, the Music
Hall, with sitting accommodation for 2000 persons, the Trinity
Hall of the incorporated trades (originating in various years
between 1398 and 1527, and having charitable funds for poor
members, widows and orphans), containing some portraits
by George Jamesone, a noteworthy set of carved oak chairs,
dating from 1574, and the shields of the crafts with quaint
inscriptions; the office of the Aberdeen Free Press, one of
the most influential papers in the north of Scotland; the Palace
Hotel; the office of the Nnrthern Assurance Company, and the
Nutional Bank of Scotland. In Castle Street, a continuation
eastwards of Union Street, are situated the Municipnl and
County Buildings, one of the most splendid granite edifices
in Scotland, in the Franco-Scottish Gothic style, built in
1867-1878. They are of four stories and contain the great
hall with an open timber ceiling and oak-panelled walls; the
Sheriff Court House; the Town Hall, with excellent portraits
of Prince Albert (Prince Consort), the 4th earl of Aberdeen,
the various lord provosts and other distinguished citizens.
In the vestibule of the entrance corridor stands a suit of
black armour believed to have been worn by Provost Sir Robert
Davidson, who feh in the battle of Harlaw, near Inverurie, in
1411. From the south-western corner a grand tower rises to
a height of 210 ft., commanding a fine view of the city and
surrounding country. Adjoining the municipal buildings is
the North of Scotland Bank, of Greek design, with a portico
of Corinthian columns, the capitals of which are exquisitely
carved. On the opposite side of the street is the fine
building of the Union Bank. At the upper end of Castle Street
stands the Salvation Army Citadel, an effective castellated
mansion, the most imposing ``barracks'' possessed anywhere
by this organization. In front of it is the Market Cross,
a beautiful, open-arched, hexagonal structure, 21 ft. in
diameter and 18 ft. high. The original was designed in 1682
by Jnhn Montgomery, a native architect, but in 1842 it was
removed hither from its old site and rebuilt in a better
style. On the entablature surmounting the Ionic columns are
panels containing medallions of Scots sovereigns from James
I. to James VII. From the centre rises a shaft, 12 1/2 ft.
high, with a Corinthian capital on which is the royal,unicorn
rampant. On an eminence east of Castle Street are the military
barracks. In Market Street are the Mechanics' Institution,
founded in 1824, with a good library; the Post and Telegraph
offices; and the Market, where provisions of all kinds and
general wares are sold. The Fish Market, on the Albert Basin,
is a busy scene in the early morning. The Art Gallery and
Museum at Schoolhill, built in the Italian Renaissance style
of red and brown granite, contains an excellent Collection of
pictures, the Macdonald Hall of portraits of contemporary
artists by themselves being of altogether exceptional
interest and unique of its kind in Great Britain. The public
llbrary, magnificently housed, contains more than 60,000
volumes. The theatre in Guild Street is the chief seat of
dramatic, as the Palace Theatre in Bridge Place is of variety
entertainment. The new buildings of Marischal College fronting
Broad Street, opened by King Edward VII. in 1906, form one
of the most splendid examples of modern architecture in Great
Britain; the architect, Alexander Marshall Mackenzie, a native
of Aberdeen, having adapted his material, white granite, to
the design of a noble building with the originality of genius.
Churches.---Like most Scottish towns, Aberdeen is well
equipped with churches, most of them of good design, but
few of special interest. The East and West churches of St
Nicholas, their kirkyard separated from Union Street by an Ionic
facade, 147 1/2 ft. long, built in 1830, form one continuous
building, 220ft. in length, including the Drum Aisle (the
ancient burial-place of the Irvines of Drum) and the Colllson
Aisle, which divide them and which formed the transept of the
12th-century church of St Nicholas. The West Church was built in
1775, in the Italian style, the East originally in 1834 in the
Gothic. In 1874 a fire destroyed the East Church and the
old central tower with its fine peal of nine bells, one of
which, Laurence or ``Lowrie,'' was 4 ft. in diameter at the
mouth, 3 1/2 ft. high and very thick. The church was rebuilt
and a massive granite tower erected over the intervening
aisles at the cost of the municipality, a new peal of 36
bells, cast in Holland, being installed to commemorate the
Victorian jubilee of 1887. The Roman Catholic Cathedral in
Huntly Street, a Gothic building, was erected in 1859. The
see of Aberdeen was first founded at Mortlach in Banffshire
by Malcolm II. in 1004 to celebrate his victory there over
the Danes, but in 1137 David I. transferred the bishopric
to Old Aberdeen, and twenty years later the cathedral of
St Machar, situated a few hundred yards from the Don, was
begun. Save during the episcopate of William Elphinstone
(1484-1511), the building progressed slowly. Gavin Dunbar,
who followed him in 1518, was enabled to complete the
structure by adding the two western spires and the southern
transept. The church suffered severely at the Reformation,
but is still used as the parish church. It now consists of the
nave and side aisles. It is chiefly built of outlayer granite,
and, though the plainest cathedral in Scotland, its stately
simplicity and severe symmetry lend it unique distinction.
On the flat panelled ceiling of the nave are the heraldic
shields of the princes, noblemen and bishops who shared in its
erection, and the great west window contains modern painted
glass of excellent colour and design. The cemeteries are St
Peter's in Old Aberdeen, Trinity near the links, Nellfield
at the junction of Great Western and Holburn Roads, and
Allenvale, very tastefully laid out, adjoining Duthie Park.
Education.---Aberdeen University consists of King's College
in Old Aberdeen, founded by Bishop Elphinstone in 1494,
and Marischal College, in Broad Street, founded in 1593 by
George Keith, 5th earl Marischal, which were incorporated in
1860. Arts and divinity are taught at King's, law, medicine
and science at Marischal. The number of students exceeds 800
yearly. The buildings of both colleges are the glories of
Aberdeen. King's forms a quadrangle with interior court, two
sides of which have been rebuilt, and a library wing has been
added. The Crown Tower and the Chapel, the oldest parts, date from
1500. The former is surmounted by a structure about 40 ft.
high, consisting of a six-sided lantern and royal crown, both
sculptured, and resting on the intersections of two arched
ornamental slips rising from the four corners of the top of the
tower. The choir of the chapel still contains the original
oak canopied stalls, miserere seats and lofty open screens in
the French flamboyant style, and of unique beauty of design and
execution. Their preservation was due to the enlightened
energy of the principal at the time of the Reformation, who
armed his folk to save the building from the barons of the
Mearns after they had robbed St Machar's of its bells and
lead. Marischal College is a stately modern building, having
been rebuilt in 1836-1841, and greatly extended several years
later at a cost of L. 100,000. The additions to the buildings
opened by King Edward VII. in 1906 have been already mentioned.
The beautiful Mitchell Tower is so named from the benefactor (Dr
Charles Mitchell) who provided the splendid graduation hall.
The opening of this tower in 1895 signalized the commemoration
of the four hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the
university. The University Library comprises nearly 100,000
books. A Botanic Garden was presented to the university in
1899. Aberdeen and Glasgow Universities combine to return
one member to Parliament. The United Free Church Divinity
Hall in Alford Place, in the Tudor Gothic style, dates from
1850. The Grammar School, founded in 1263, was removed in
1861-1863 from its old quarters in Schoolhill to a large new
building, in the Scots Baronial style, off Skene Street.
Robert Gordon's College in Schoolhill was founded in 1729
by Robert Gordon of Straloch and further endowed in 1816 by
Alexander Simpson of Collyhill. Originally devoted (as Gordon's
Hospital) to the instruction and maintenance of the sons of poor
burgesses of guild and trade in the city, it was reorganized
in 1881 as a day and night school for secondary and technical
education, and has since been unusually successful. Besides
a High School for Girls and numerous board schools, there are
many private higher-class schools. Under the Endowments Act
1882 an educational trust was constituted which possesses a
capital of L. 155,000. At Blairs, in Kincardineshire, five
miles S.W. of Aberdeen, is St Mary's Roman Catholic College
for the training of young men intended for the priesthood.
Charities.---The Royal Infimary, in Woolmanhill, established
in 1740, rebuilt in the Grecian style in 1833-1840, and
largely extended after 1887 as a memorial of Queen Victoria's
jubilee; the Royal Asylum, opened in 1800; the Female Orphan
Asylum, in Albyn Place, founded in 1840; the Blind Asylum,
in Huntly Street, established in 1843; the Royal Hospital
for Sick Children; the Maternity Hospital, founded in 1823;
the City Hospital for Infectious Diseases; the Deaf and Dumb
Institution; Mitchell's Hospital in Old Aberdeen; the East
and West Poorhouses, with lunatic wards; and hospitals devoted
to specialized diseases, are amongst the most notable of
the charitable institutions. There are, besides, industrial
schools for boys and girls and for Roman Catholic children, a
Female School of Industry, the Seabank Rescue Home, Nazareth
House and Orphanage, St Martha's Home for Girls, St Margaret's
Convalescent Home and Sisterhood, House of Bethany, the
Convent of the Sacred Heart and the Educational Trust School.
Parks and Open Spaces.---Duthie Park, of 50 acres, the gift
of Miss Elizabeth Crombie Duthie of Ruthrieston, occupies an
excellent site on the north bank of the Dee. Victoria Park
(13 acres) and its extension Westburn Park (13 acres) are
situated in the north-western area; farther north lies Stewart
Park (11 acres), called after Sir D. Stewart, lord provost in
1893. The capacious links bordering the sea between the
mouths of the two rivers are largely resorted to for open-air
recreation; there is here a rifle range where a ``wapinschaw,''
or shooting tournament, is held annually. Part is laid out
as an 18-hole golf course; a section is reserved for cricket
and football; a portion has been railed off for a race-course,
and a bathing-station has been erected. Union Terrace
Gardens are a popular rendezvous in the heart of the city.
Statues.---In Union Terrace Gardens stands a colossal statue
in bronze of Sir William Wallace, by W. G. Stevenson, R.S.A.
(1888). In the same gardens are a bronze statue of Burns
and Baron Marochetti's seated figure of Prince Albert. In
front of Gordon's College is the bronze statue, by T. S.
Burnett, A.R.S.A., of General Gordon (1888). At the east
end of Union Street is the bronze statue of Queen Victoria,
erected in 1893 by the royal tradesmen of the city. Near the
Cross stands the granite statue of the 5th duke of Gordon (d.
1836). Here may also be mentioned the obelisk of Peterhead
granite, 70 ft. high, erected in the square of Marischal
College to the memory of Sir James M`Grigor (1778-1851), the
military surgeon and director-general of the Army Medical
Department, who was thrice elected lord rector of the College.
Bridges.--The Dee is crossed by four bridges,--the old
bridge, the Wellington suspension bridge, the railway bridge,
and Victoria Bridge, opposite Market Street. The first, till
1832 the only access to the city from the south, consists of
seven semicircular ribbed arches, is about 30 ft. high, and
was built early in the 16th century by Bishops Elphinstone and
Dunbar. It was nearly all rebuilt in 1718--1723, and in
1842 was widened from 14 1/2 to 26 ft. The bridge of Don has
five granite arches, each 75 ft. in span, and was built in
1827--1832. A little to the west is the Auld Brig o'
Balgownie, a picturesque single arch spanning the deep
black stream, said to have been built by King Robert I.,
and celebrated by Byron in the tenth canto of Don Juan.
Harbour.--A defective harbour, with a shallow sand and gravel
bar at its entrance. long retarded the trade of Aberdeen, but
under various acts since 1773 it was greatly deepened. The
north pier, built partly by Smeaton in 1775-1781, and partly
by Telford in 1810-1815, extends nearly 3000 ft. into the North
Sea. It increases the depth of water on the bar from a few
feet to 22 or 24 ft. at spring tides and to 17 or 18 ft. at
neap. A wet dock, of 29 acres, and with 6000 ft. of quay,
was completed in 1848 and called Victoria Dock in honour
of the queen's visit to the city in that year. Adjoining
it is the Upper Dock. By the Harbour Act of 1868, the Dee
near the harbour was diverted from the south at a cost of
L. 80,000, and 90 acres of new ground (in addition to 25 acres
formerly made up) were provided on the north side of the
river for the Albert Basin (with a graving dock), quays and
warehouses. A breakwater of concrete, 1050 ft. long, was
constructed on the south side of the stream as a protection
against south-easterly gales. On Girdleness, the southern
point of the bay, a lighthouse was built in 1833. Near the
harbour mouth are three batteries mounting nineteen guns.
Industry.---Owing to the variety and importance of its chief
industries Aberdeen is one of the most prosperous cities in
Scotland. Very durable grey granite has been quarried near
Aberdeen for more than 300 years, and blocked and dressed
paving ``setts,'' kerb and building stones, and monumental
and other ornamental work of granite have long been exported
from the district to all parts of the world. This, though
once the predominant industry, has been surpassed by the
deep-sea fisheries, which derived a great impetus from
beam-trawling, introduced in 1882, and steam line fishing
in 1889, and threaten to rival if not to eclipse those of
Grimsby. Fish trains are despatched to London daily. Most
of the leading industries date from the 18th century, amongst
them woollens (1703), linen (1749) and cotton (1779). These
give employment to several thousands of operatives. The
paper-making industry is one of the most famous and oldest in
the city, paper having been first made in Aberdeen in 1694.
Flax-spinning and jute and combmaking factories are also very
flourishing, and there are successful foundries and engineering
works. There are large distilleries and breweries, and
chemical works employing many hands. In the days of wooden
ships ship-building was a flourishing industry, the town being
noted for its fast clippers, many of which established records
in the ``tea races.'' The introduction of trawllng revived
this to some extent, and despite the distance of the city
from the iron fields there is a fair yearly output of iron
vessels. Of later origin are the jam, pickle and potted
meat factories, hundreds of acres having been laid down in
strawberries and other fruits within a few miles of the city.
History.--Aberdeen was an important place as far back as the
12th century. William the Lion had a residence in the city, to
which he gave a charter in 1179 confirming the corporate rights
granted by David I. The city received other royal charters
later. It was burned by the English king, Edward III., in
1336, but it was soon rebuilt and extended, and called New
Aberdeen. The burgh records are the oldest in Scotland.
They begin in 1398 and with one brief break are complete to
the present day. For many centuries the city was subject to
attacks by the neighbouring barons, and was strongly fortified,
but the gates were all removed by 1770. In 1497 a blockhouse
was built at the harbour mouth as a protection against the
English. During the struggles between the Royalists and
Covenanters the city was impartially plundered by both
sides. In 1715 the Earl Marischal proclaimed the Old
Pretender at Aberdeen, and in 1745 the duke of Cumberland
resided for a short time in the city before attacking
the Young Pretender. The motto on the city arms is ``Bon
Accord,'' which formed the watchword of the Aberdonians
while aiding Robert Bruce in his battles with the English.
Population.---In 1396 the population was about 3000. By 1801 it had
become 26,992; in 1841 it was 63,262; (1891) 121,623; (1901) 153,503.
AUTHORITIES.--The charters of the burgh; extracts from
the council register down to 1625, and selections from the
letters. guildry and treasurer's accounts, forming 3 vols.
of the Spalding Club; Cosmo Innes, Registrum Episcopatus
Aberdonensis, Spalding Club; Walter Thore, The History
of Aberdeen (1811); Robert Wilson, Historical Account and
Delineation of Aberdeen (1822); William Kennedy, The Annals
of Aberdeen (1818); Orem, Descripjion of the Chanonry,
Cathedral and King's College of Old Aberdeen, 1724-1725
(1830); Sir Andrew Leith Hay of Rannes, The Castellated
Architecture of Aberdeen; Giles, Specimens of old
Castellated Houses of Aberdeen (1838); James Bryce, Lives
of Eminent Men of Aberdeen (1841); J. Gordon, Description
of Both Towns of Aberdeen (Spalding Club, 1842); Joseph
Robertson, The Book of Bon-Accord (Aberdeen, 1839); W.
Robbie, Aberdeen: its Traditions and History (Aberdeen,
1893); C. G. Burr and A. M. Munro, Old Landmarks of Aberdeen
(Aberdeen, 1886); A. M. Munro, Memorials of the Aldermen,
Provosts and Lord Provosts of Aberdeen (Aberdeen, 1897);
P. J. Anderson, Charters, &c., illustrating the History
of Records of Marischal College (New Spalding 1890);
Selections from the Records of Marischal College (New
Spalding Club, 1889, 1898..1899); J. Cooper, Chartulary of
the Church of St Nicholas (New Spalding Club, 1888, 1892);
G. Cadenhead, Sketch of the Territorial History of the
Burgh of Aberdeen (Aberdeen, 1876); W. Cadenhead, Guide to
the City of Aberdeen (Aberdeen, 1897); A. Smith, History
and Antiquities of New and Old Aberdeen (Aberdeen, 1882).
ABERDEEN, a city and the county-seat of Brown county, South
Dakota, U.S.A., about 125 m. N.E. of Pierre. Pop. (1890)
3182; (1900) 4087, of whom 889 were foreign born; (1905) 5841;
(1910) 10,753. Aberdeen is served by the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St Paul, the Great Northern, the Minneapolis and St
Louis, and the Chicago and North Western railways. It is
the financial and trade centre for the northern part of the
state, a fine agricultural region, and in 1908 had five banks
and a number of wholesale houses. The city is the seat of the
Northern Normal and Industrial School, a state institution,
and has a Carnegie Library; the principal buildings are the
court house and the government buildings. Artesian wells
furnish good water-power, and artesian-well supplies, grain
pitchers, brooms, chemicals and flour are manufactured. The
municipality owns and operates the water-works. Aberdeen
was settled in 1880, and was chartered as a city in 1883.
ABERDEENSHIRE, a north-eastern county of Scotland, bounded
N. and E. by the North Sea, S. by Kincardine, Forfar and
Perth, and W. by Inverness and Banff. It has a coast-line
of 65 m., and is the sixth Scottish county in area, occupying
1261,887 acres or 1971 sq. m. The county is generally
hilly, and from the south-west, near the centre of Scotland,
the Grampians send out various branches, mostly to the
north-east. The shire is popularly divided into five
districts. Of these the first is Mar, mostly between the
Dee and Don, which nearly covers the southern half of the
county and contains the city of Aberdeen. It is mountainous,
especially Braemar (q.v.), which contains the greatest
mass of elevated land in the British Isles. The soil on the
Dee is sandy, and on the Don loamy. The second district,
Formartine, between the lower Don and Ythan, has a sandy
coast, which is succeeded inland by a clayey, fertile, tilled
tract, and then by low hills, moors, mosses and tilled land.
Buchan, the third district, lies north of the Ythan, and,
comprising the north-east of the county, is next in size to
Mar, parts of the coast being bold and rocky, the interior bare,
low, flat, undulating and in places peaty. On the coast, 6
m. S. of Peterhead, are the Bullers of Buchan--a basin in
which the sea, entering by a natural arch, boils up violently
in stormy weather. Buchan Ness is the most easterly point of
Scotland. The fourth district, Garioch, in the centre of the
shire, is a beautiful, undulating, loamy, fertile valley.
formerly called the granary of Aberdeen. Strathbogie, the
fifth district, occupying a considerable area south of the
Deveron, mostly consists of hills, moors and mosses. The
mountains are the most striking of the physical features of the
county. Ben Macdhui (4296 ft.), a magnificent mass, the
second highest mountain in Great Britain, Braeriach (4248),
Cairntoul (4241), Ben-na-bhuaird (3924), Ben Avon (3843),
``dark'' Lochnagar (3786), the subject of a well-known song by
Byron, Cairn Eas (3556), Sgarsoch (3402), Culardoch (2953),
are the principal heights in the division of Mar. Farther
north rise the Buck of Cabrach (2368) on the Banffshire border,
Tap o' Noth (1830), Bennachie (1698), a beautiful peak which
from its central position is a landmark visible from many
different parts of the county, and which is celebrated in John
Imlah's song, ``O gin I were where Gadie rins,'' and Foudland
(1529). The chief rivers are the Dee, 90 m. long; the Iyon,
82 m.; the Ythan, 37 m., with mussel-beds at its mouth; the
Ugie, 20 m., and the Deveron, 62 m., partly on the boundary of
Banffshire. The rivers abound with salmon and trout, and the
pearl mussel occurs in the Ythan and Don. A valuable pearl
in the Scottish crown is said to be from the Ythan. Loch
Muick, the largest of the few lakes in the county, 1310 ft.
above the sea, 2 1/2 m. long and 1/3 to 1/2 m. broad, lies some
8 1/2 m. S.W. of Ballater, and has Altnagiuthasach, a royal
shooting-box, near its south-western end. Loch Strathbeg, 6
m. S.E. of Fraserburgh, is only separated from the sea by
a narrow strip of land. There are noted chalybeate springs
at Peterhead, Fraserburgh, and Pannanich near Ballater.
Geology.---The greater part of the county is composed of
crystalline schists belonging to the metamorphic rocks of
the Eastern Highlands. In the upper parts of the valleys
of the Dee and the Don they form well-marked groups, of
which the most characteristic are (1) the black schists and
phyllites, with calcflintas, and a thin band of tremolite
limestone, (2) the main or Blair Atholl limestone, (3) the
quartzite. These divisions are folded on highly inclined or
vertical axes trending north-east and south-west, and hence
the same zones are repeated over a considerable area. The
quartzite is generally regarded as the highest member of the
series. Excellent sections showing the component strata
occur in Glen Clunie and its tributary valleys above Braemar.
Eastwards down the Dee and the Don and northwards across the
plain of Buchan towards Rattray Head and Fraserburgh there
is a development of biotite gneiss, partly of sedimentary
and perhaps partly of igneous origin. A belt of slate which
has been quarried for roofing purposes runs along the west
border of the county from Turriff by Auchterless and the
Foudland Hills towards the Tap o' Noth near Gartly. The
metamorphic rocks have been invaded by igneous materials, some
before, and by far the larger series after the folding of the
strata. The basic types of the former are represented by
the sills of epidiorite and hornblende gneiss in Glen Muick
and Glen Callater, which have been permeated by granite and
pegmatite in veins and lenticles, often foliated. The later
granites subsequent to the plication of the schists have a
wide distribution on the Ben Macdhui and Ben Avon range, and
on Lochnagar; they stretch eastwards from Ballater by Tarland
to Aberdeen and north to Bennachie. Isolated masses appear
at Peterhead and at Strichen. Though consisting mainly of
biotite granite, these later intrusions pass by intermediate
stages into diorite, as in the area between Balmoral and the
head-waters of the Gairn. The granites have been extensively
quarried at Rubislaw, Peterhead and Kemnay. Serpentine and
troctolite, the precise age of which is uncertain, occur at
the Black Dog rock north of Aberdeen, at Belhelvie and near Old
Meldrum. Where the schists of sedimentary origin have been
pierced by these igneous intrusions, they are charged with
contact minerals such as sillimanite, cordierite, kyanite and
andalusite. Cordierite-bearing rocks occur near Ellon, at the
foot of Bennachie, and on the top of the Buck of Cahrach. A
banded and mottled calc-silicate hornfels occurring with the
limestone at Iyerry Falls, W. N.W. of Braemar, has yielded
malacolite, wollastonite, brown idocrase, garnet, sphene and
hornblende. A larger list of minerals has been obtained
from an exposure of limestone and associated beds in Glen
Gairn, about four miles above the point where that river
joins the Dee. Narrow belts of Old Red Sandstone, resting
unconformably on the old platform of slates and schists, have
been traced from the north coast at Peterhead by Turriff to
Fyvie, and also from Huntly by Gartly to Kildrummy Castle.
The strata consist mainly of conglomerates and sandstones,
which, at Gartly and at Rhyme, are associated with lenticular
bands of andesite indicating contemporaneous volcanic
action. Small outliers of conglomerate and sandstone of this
age have recently been found in the course of excavations in
Aberdeen. The glacial deposits, especially in the belt
bordering the coast between Aberdeen and Peterhead, furnish
important evidence. The ice moved eastwards off the high
ground at the head of the Dee and the Don, while the mass
spreading outwards from the Moray Firth invaded the low
plateau of Buchan; but at a certain stage there was a marked
defection northwards parallel with the coast, as proved by
the deposit of red clay north of Aberdeen. At a later date
the local glaciers laid down materials on top of the red
clay. The committee appointed by the British Association
(Report for 1897, p. 333) proved that the Greensand, which
has yielded a large suite of Cretaceous fossils at Moreseat,
in the parish of Cruden, occurs in glacial drift, resting
probably on granite. The strata from which the Moreseat
fossils were derived are not now found in place in that part
of Scotland, but Mr Jukes Brown considers that the horizon
of the fossils is that of the lower Greensand of the Isle of
Wight or the Aptien stage of France. Chalk flints are widely
distributed in the drift between Fyvie and the east coast of
Buchan. At Plaidy a patch of clay with Liassic fossils
occurs. At several localities between Logie Coldstone and Dinnet
a deposit of diatomite (Kieselguhr) occurs beneath the peat.
Flora and Fauna.---The tops of the highest mountains have an
arctic flora. At the royal lodge on Loch Muick, 1350 ft. above
the sea, grow larches, vegetables, currants, laurels, roses,
&c. Some ash-trees, four or five feet in girth, are growing
at 1300 ft. above the sea. T rees, especially Scotch fir and
larch, grow well, and Braemar is rich in natural timber, said
to surpass any in the north of Europe. Stumps of Scotch fir
and oak found in peat are sometimes far larger than any now
growing. The mole is found at 1800 ft. above the sea, and the
squirrel at 1400. Grouse, partridges and hares are plentiful,
and rabbits are often too numerous. Red deer abound in
Braemar, the deer forest being the most extensive in Scotland.
Climate and Agriculture.---The climate, except in the
mountainous districts, is comparatively mild, owing to
the proximity of much of the shire to the sea. The mean
annual temperature at Braemar is 43.6 deg. F., and at Aberdeen
45.8 deg. . The mean yearly rainfall varies from about 30 to 37
in. The summer climate of the upper Dee and Don valleys is
the driest and most bracing in the British Isles, and grain
is cultivated up to 1600 ft. above the sea, or 400 to 500
ft. higher than elsewhere in North Britain. Poor, gravelly,
clayey and peaty solis prevail, but tile-draining, bones and
guano, and the best methods of modern tillage, have greatly
increased the produce. Indeed, in no part of Scotland has
a more productive soil been made out of such unpromising
material. Farm-houses and steadings have much improved, and
the best agricultural implements and machines are in general
use. About two-thirds of the population depend entirely
on agriculture . Farms are small compared with those in
the south-eastern counties. Oats are the predominant crop,
wheat has practically gone out of cultivation, but barley
has largely increased. The most distinctive industry is
cattle-feeding. A great number of the home-bred crosses
are fattened for the London and local markets, and Irish
animals are imported on an extensive scale for the same
purpose, while an exceedingly heavy business in dead meat
for London and the south is done all over the county.
Sheep, horses and pigs are also raised in large numbers.
Fisheries.---A large fishing population in villages along
the coast engage in the white and herring fishery, which is the
next most important industry to agriculture, its development
having been due almost exclusively to the introduction of steam
trawlers. The total value of the annual catch, of which
between a half and a third consists of herrings, amounts to
L. 1,000,000. Haddocks are salted and rock-dried (speldings)
or smoked (finnans). The ports and creeks are divided
into the fishery rllstricts of Peterhead, Fraserburgh and
Aberdeen, the last of which includes also three Kincardineshire
ports. The herring season for Aberdeen, Peterhead and
Fraserburgh is from June to September, at which time
the ports are crowded with boats from other Scottish
districts. There are valuable salmon-fishings--rod, net
and stake-net--on the Dee, Don, Ythan and Ugie. The average
annual despatch of salmon from Aberdeenshire is about 400 tons.
Other Industries.--Manufactures are mainly prosecuted in or
near the city of Aberdeen, but throughout the rural districts
there is much milling of corn, brick and tile making, smith-work,
brewing and distilling, cart and farm-implement making,
casting and drying of peat, and timber-felling, especially
on Deeside and Donside, for pit-props, railway sleepers,
laths and barrel staves. There are a number of paper-making
establishments, most of them on the Don near Aberdeen.
The chief source of mineral wealth is the noted durable
granite, which is quarried at Aberdeen, Kemnay, Peterhead and
elsewhere. An acre of land on being reclaimed has yielded L. 40 to
L. 50 worth of causewaying stones. Sandstone and other rocks
are also quarried at different parts. The imports are mostly
coal, lime, timber, iron, slate, raw materials for the textile
manufactures, wheat, cattle-feeding stuffs, bones, guano, sugar,
alcoholic liquors, fruits. The exports are granite (roughdressed
and polished), flax, woollen and cotton goods, paper, combs,
preserved provisions, oats, barley, live and dead cattle.
Communications.---From the south Aberdeen city is approached
by the Caledonian (via Perth, Forfar and Stonehaven), and the
North British (via Dundee, Montrose and Stonehaven) railways,
and the shire is also served by the Great North of Scotland
railway, whose main line runs via Kintore and Huntly to Keith and
Elgin. There are branch lines from various points opening up
the more populous districts, as from Aberdeen to Ballater by
Deeside, from Aberdeen to Fraserburgh (with a branch at Maud
for Peterhead and at Ellon for Cruden Bay and Boddam), from
Kintore to Alford, and from Inverurie to Old Meldrum and also to
Macduff. By sea there is regular communication with London,
Leith, Inverness, Wick, the Orkneys and Shetlands, Iceland and the
continent. The highest of the macadamized roads crossing the
eastern Grampians rises to a point 2200 ft. above sea-level.
Population and Government.---In 1801 the population numbered
284,036 and in 1901 it was 304,439 (of whom 159,603 were
females), or 154 persons to the sq. m. In 1901 there were 8
persons who spoke Gaelic only, and 1333 who spoke Gaelic and
English. The chief towns are Aberdeen (pop. in 1901, 153,503),
Bucksburn (2231), Fraserburgh (9105), Huntly (4136), Inverurie
(3624), Peterhead (11,794), Turriff (2273). The Supreme Court
of Justiciary sits in Aberdeen to try cases from the counties of
Aberdeen, Banff and Kincardine. The three counties are under
a sheriff, and there are two sheriffs-substitute resident in
Aberdeen, who sit also at Fraserburgh, Huntly, Peterhead and
Turriff. The sheriff courts are held in Aberdeen and
Peterhead. The county sends two members to parliament
--one for East Aberdeenshire and the other for West
Aberdeenshire. The county town, Aberdeen (q.v.), returns two
members. Peterhead, Inverurie and Kintore belong to the Elgin
group of parliamentary burghs, the other constituents being
Banff, Cullen and Elgin. The county is under school-board
jurisdiction, and there are also several voluntary schools.
There are higher-class schools in Aberdeen, and secondary
schools at Huntly, Peterhead and Fraserburgh, and many of
the other schools in the county earn grants for secondary
education. The County Secondary Education Committee dispense
a large sum, partly granted by the education department and
partly contributed by local authorities from the ``residue''
grant, and support, besides the schools mentioned, local
clases and lectures in agriculture, fishery and other technical
subjects, in addition to subsidizing the agricultural department
of the university of Aberdeen. The higher branches of
education have always been thoroughly taught in the schools
throughout the shire, and pupils have long been in the
habit of going directly from the schools to the university.
The native Scots are long-headed, shrewd, careful, canny,
active, persistent, but reserved and blunt, and without
demonstrative enthusiasm. They have a physiognomy distinct
from the rest of the Scottish people, and have a quick,
sharp, rather angry accent. The local Scots dialect is
broad, and rich in diminutives, and is noted for the use
of e for o or u, f for wh, d for th, &c.
So recently as 1830 Gaelic was the fireside language of
almost every family in Braemar, but now it is little used.
History.---The country now forming the shires of Aberdeen
and Banff was originally peopled by northern Picts, whom
Ptolemy called Taixall, the territory being named Taixalon.
Their town of Devana, once supposed to be the modern Aberdeen,
has been identified by Prof. John Stuart with a site in the
parish of Peterculter, where there are remains of an ancient
camp at Normandykes, and by Dr W. F. Skene with a station
on Loch Davan, west of Aboyne. So-called Roman camps have
also been discovered on the upper Ythan and Deveron, but
evidence of effective Roman occupation is still to seek.
Traces of the native inhabitants, however, are much less
equivocal. Weems or earth-houses are fairly common in the
west. Relics of crannogs or lake-dwellings exist at Loch
Ceander, or Kinnord, 5 m. north-east of Ballater, at Loch
Goul in the parish of New Machar and elsewhere. Duns or forts
occur on hills at Dunecht, where the dun encloses an area
of two acres, Bnrra near Old Meldrum, Tap o' Noth, Dunnideer
near Insch and other places. Monoliths, standing stones and
``Druidical'' circles of the pagan period abound, and there are
many examples of the sculptured stones of the early Christian
epoch. Efforts to convert the Picts were begun by Teman
in the 5th century, aad continued by Columba (who founded
a monastery at Old Deer), Drostan, Maluog and Machar, but
it was long before they showed lasting results. Indeed,
dissensions within the Columban church and the expulsion
of the clergy from Pictland by the Pictish king Nectan in
the 8th century undid most of the progress that had been
made. The Vikings and Danes periodically raided the coast,
but whhen (1040) Macbeth ascended the throne of Scotland the
Northmen, under the guidance of Thorfinn, refrained from further
trouble in the north-east. Macbeth was afterwards slain at
Lumphanan (1057), a cairn on Perkhill marking the spot. The
influence of the Norman conquest of England was felt even in
Aberdeenshire. Along with numerous Anglo-Saxon exiles, there
also settled in the country Flemings who introduced various
industries, Saxons who brought farming, and Scandinavians
who taught nautical skill. The Celts revolted more than
once, but Malcolm Canmore and his successors crushed them
and confiscated their lands. In the reign of Alexander
I. (d. 1124) mention is first made of Aberdeen (originally
called Abordon and, in the Norse sagas, Apardion), which
received its charter from William the Lion in 1179, by which
date its burgesses had alfeady combined with those of Banff,
Elgin, Inverness and other trans-Grampian communities to form
a free Hanse, under which they enjoyed exceptional trading
privileges. By this time, too, the Church had been organized,
the bishopric of Aberdeen having been established in 1150.
In the 12th and 13th centuries some of the great Aberdeenshire
famines arose, including the earl of Mar (c. 1122), the
Leslies, Freskins (ancestors of the dukes of Sutherland),
Durwards, Bysets, Comyns and Cheynes, and it is significant
that in most cases their founders were immigrants. The
Celtic thanes and their retainers slowly fused with the
settlers. They declined to take advantage of the disturbed
condition of the country during the wars of the Scots
independence, and made common cause with the bulk of the
nation. Though John Comyn (d. 1300?), one of the competitors
for the throne, had considerable interests in the shire, his
claim received locally little support. In 1296 Edward I. made
a triumphal march to the north to terrorize the more turbulent
nobles. Next year Wilham Wallace surprised the English garrison
in Aberdeen, but failed to capture the castle. In 1303 Edward
again visited the county, halting at the Castle of Kildrummy,
then in the possession of Robert Bruce, who shortly afterwards
became the acknowledged leader of the Scots and made Aberdeen
his headquarters for several months. Despite the seizure of
Kildrummy Castle by the English in 1306, Bruce's prospects
brightened from 1308, when he defeated John Comyn, earl of
Buchan (d. 1313?), at Inverurie. For a hundred years after
Robert Bruce's death (1329) there was intermittent anarchy
in the shire. Aberdeen itself was burned by the English in
1336, and the re-settlement of the districts of Buchan and
Strathbogie occasioned constant quarrels On the part of the
dispossessed. Moreover, the crown had embroiled itself
with some of the Highland chieftains, whose independence it
sought to abolish. This policy culminated in the invasion of
Aberdeenshire by Donald, lord of the Isles, who was, however,
defeated at Harlaw, near Inverurie, by the earl of Mar in
1411. In the 15th century two other leading county families
appeared, Sir Alexander Forbes being created Lord Eorbes
about 1442, and Sir Alexander Seton Lord Gordon in 1437 and
earl of Huntly in 1445. Bitter feuds raged between these
families for a long period, but the Gordons reached the
height of their power in the first half of the 16th century,
when their domains, already vast, were enhanced by the
acquisition, through marriage, of the earldom of Sutherland
(1514). Meanwhile commerce with the Low Countries, Poland
and the Baltic had grown apace, Campvere, near Flushing in
Holland, becoming the emporium of the Scottish traders, while
education was fostered by the foundation of King's College
at Aberdeen in 1497 (Marischal College followed a century
later). At the Reformation so little intuition had the
clergy of the drift of opinion that at the very time that
religious structures were being despoiled in the south, the
building and decoration of churches went on in the shire.
The change was acquiesced in without much tumult, though
rioting took place in Aberdeen and St Machar's cathedral in
the city suffered damage. The 4th earl of Huntly offered
some resistance, on behalf of the Catholics, to the influence
of Lord James Stuart, afterwards the Regent Murray, but
was defeated and killed at Corrichie on the hill of Fare in
1562. As years passed it was apparent that Presbyterianism
was less generally acceptable than Episcopacy, of which system
Aberdeenshire remained for generations the stronghold in
Scotland. Another crisis in ecclesiastical affairs arose in
1638, when the National Covenant was ordered to be subscribed,
a demand so grudgingly responded to that the marquis of
Montrose visited the shire in the following year to enforce
acceptance. The Cavaliers, not being disposed to yield,
dispersed an armed gathering of Covenanters in the affair
called the Trot of Turriff (1639), in which the first blood
of the civil war was shed. The Covenanters obtained the upper
hand in a few weeks, when Montrose appeared at the bridge
of Dee and compelled the surrender of Aberdeen, which had no
choice but to cast in its lot with the victors. Montrose,
however, soon changed sides, and after defeating the Covenanters
under Lord Balfour of Burleigh (1644), delivered the city to
rapine. He worsted the Covenanters again after a stiff
fight on the 2nd of July 1645, at Alford, a village in the
beautiful Howe of Alford. Peace was temporarily restored
on the ``engagement', of the Scots commissioners to assist
Charles I. On his return from Holland in 1650 Charles II.
was welcomed in Aberdeen, but in little more than a year
General Monk entered the city at the head of the Cromwellian
regiments. The English garrison remained till 1659, and
next year the Restoration was effusively hailed, and prelacy
was once more in the ascendant. Most of the Presbyterians
conformed, but the Quakers, more numerous in the shire
and the adjoining county of Kincardine than anywhere else
in Scotland, were systematically persecuted. After the
Revolution (1688) episcopacy passed under a cloud, but the
clergy, yielding to force majeure, gradually accepted the
inevitable, hoping, as long as Queen Anne lived, that prelacy
might yet be recognized as the national form of Church
government. Her death dissipated these dreams, and as George
I., her successor, was antipathetic to the clergy, it happened
that Jacobitism and episcopalianism came to be regarded in the
shire as identical, though in point of fact the non-jurors as
a body never countenanced rebellion. The earl of Mar raised
the standard of revolt in Braemar (6th of September 1715); a
fortnight later James was proclaimed at Aberdeen cross; the
Pretender landed at Peterhead on the 22nd of December, and
in February 1716 he was back again in France. The collapse
of the first rising ruined many of the lairds, and when the
second rebellion occurred thirty years afterwards the county
in the main was apathetic, though the insurgents held Aberdeen
for five months, and Lord Lewis Gordon won a trifling victory
for Prince Charles Edward at Inverurie (23rd of December
1745). The duke of Cumberland relieved Aberdeen at the end
of February 1746, and in April the Young Pretender was a
fugitive. Thereafter the people devoted themselves to
agriculture, industry and commerce, which developed by leaps
and bounds, and, along with equally remarkable progress in
education, transformed the aspect of the shire and made the
community as a whole one of the most prosperous in Scotland.
See W. Watt, History of Aberdeen and Banff (Edinburgh,
1900); Collections for a History of the Shires of Aberdeen
and Banff. (edited by Dr Joseph Robertson, Spalding Club); Sir
A. Leith-Hay, Castles of Aberdeenshire (Aberdeen, 188R);
J; Davidson, Inverurie and the Earldom of the Garioch
(Edinburgh, 1878); Pratt, Buchan (rev. by) R. Anderson),
(Aberdeen, 1900); A. I. M'Connochie, Deeside (Aberdeen, 1895).
ABERDOUR, a village of Fifeshire, Scotland. Pleasantly
situated on the shore of the Firth of Forth, 17 1/2 m. N.W.
of Edinburgh by the North British railway and 7 m. N.W. of
Leith by steamer, it is much resorted to for its excellent
sea-bathing. There are ruins of a castle and an old decayed
church, which contains some fine Norman work. About 3
m. S.W. is Donibristle House, the seat of the earl of Murray
(Moray), and the scene of the murder (Feb. 7, 1592) of James,
2nd (Stuart) earl of Murray. The island of Inchcolm, or
Island of Columba, 1/4 m. from the shore, is in the parish of
Aberdour. As its name implies, its associations date back
to the time of Columba. The primitive stone-roofed oratory
is supposed to have been a hermit's ceil. The Augustinian
monastery was founded in 1123 by Alexander I. The buildings
are well preserved, consisting of a low square tower, church,
cloisters, refectory and small chapterhouse. The island
of Columba was occasionally plundered by English and other
rovers, but in the 16th century it became the property of
Sir James Stuart, whose grandson became 2nd earl of Murray
by virtue of his marriage to the elder daughter of the 1st
earl. From it comes the earl's title of Lord St Colme (1611).
ABERDOVEY (Aberdyfi: the Dyfi is the county frontier), a
seaside village of Merionethshire, North Wales, on the Cambrian
railway. Pop. (1901) 1466. It lies in the midst of beautiful
scenery, 4 m. from Towyn, on the N. bank of the Dyfi estuary,
commanding views of Snowdon, Cader Idris, Arran Mawddy and
Plynllmmon. The Dyfi, here a mile broad, is crossed by a
ferry to Borth sands, whence a road leads to Aberystwyth.
The submerged ``bells of Aberdovey'' (since Seithennin ``the
drunkard'' caused the formation of Cardigan Bay) are famous
in a Welsh song. Aberdovey is a health and bathing resort.
ABERFOYLE, a village and parish of Perthshire, Scotland, 34 1/4
m. N. by W. of Glasgow by the North British railway. Pop.
of parish (1901) 1052. The village is situated at the base of
Craigmore (1271 ft. high) and on the Laggan, a head-water of the
Forth. Since 1885, when the duke of Montrose constructed a
road over the eastern shoulder of Craigmore to join the older
road at tho entrance of the Trossachs pass, Aberfoyle has become
the alternauve route to the Trossachs and Loch Katrine. Loch
Ard, about 2 m. W. of LIberfoyle, lies 105 ft. above the
sea. It is 3 m. long (including the narrows at the east end)
and 1 m. broad. Towards the west end is Eilean Gorm (the
green isle), and near the north-western shore are the falls of
Ledard. Two m. N.W. is Loch Chon, a90 ft. above the sea,
1 1/4 m. long, and about 1/2 m. broad. It drains by the Avon
Dhu to Loch Ard, which is drained in turn by the Laggan. The
slate quarries on Craigmore are the Only industry in Aberfoyle.
ABERGAVENNY, a market town and municipal borough in the
northern parliamentary division of Monmouthshire, England, 14
m. W. of Monmouth on the Great Western and the London and
North-Western railways. Pop. (1901) 7795. It is situated
at the junction of a small stream cailed the Gavenny with the
river Usk; and the site, almost surrounded by lofty hills,
is very beautiful. The town was formerly walled, and has the
remains of a castle built soon after the conquest, frequently
the scene of border strife. The church of St Mary belonged
originally to a Benedictine monastery founded early in the 12th
century. The existing building, however, is Decorated and
Perpendicular, and contains a fine series of memorials of dates
from the 13th to the 17th century. There is a free grammar
school, which till 1857 had a fellowship at Jesus College,
Oxford. Breweries, ironworks, quarries, brick fields and
collieries in the neihbourhood are among the principal industrial
establishments. Abergavenny was incorporated in 1899, and is
governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 825 acres.
This was the Roman Gobannium, a small fort guarding the
road along the valley of the Usk and ensuring quiet among
the hill tribes. There is practically no trace of this
fort. Abergavenny (Bergavenny) grew up under the protection
of the lords of Abergavenny, whose title dated from William
I. Owing to its situation, the town was frequently embroiled
in the border warfare of the 12th and 13th centuries, and
Giraldus Cambrensis relates how in 1173 the castle was seized
by the Welsh. Hamelyn de Baalun, first lord of Abergavenny,
founded the Benedictine priory, which was subsequently
endowed by William de Braose with a tenth of the profits
of the castle and town. At the dissolution of the priory
part of this endowment went towards the foundation of a
free grammar school, the site itself passing to the Gunter
family. During the Civil War prior to the siege of Ragban
Castle in 1645, Charles I. visited Abergavenny, and presided
in person over the trial of Sir Trevor Williams and other
parliamentarians. In 1639 Abergavenny received a charter
of incorporation under the title of bailiff and burgesses.
A charter with extended privileges was drafted in 1657, but
appears never to have been enrolled or to have come into effect.
OV1ng to the refusal of the chief officers of the corporation
to take the oath of allegiance to William III. in 1688, the
charter was annullod, and the town subseunentlv declined in
prosperity. The act of 27 Henry VIII., which provided that
llonmouth, as county town, should return one burgess to
parliament, further stated that other ancient Monmouthshire
boroughs were to contribute towards the payment of the
member. In consequence of this clause Abergavenny on various
occasions shared in the election, the last instance being in
1685. Reference to a market at Abergavenny is found in a charter
granted to the prior by William de Braose (d. r211). The right
to hold two weekly markets and three yearly fairs, as hitherto
held, was confirmed in 1657. Abergavenny was celebrated for
the production of Welsh flannel, and also for the manufacture,
whilst the fashion prevailed, of periwigs of goats, hair.
The title of Baron Abergavenny, in the Neville family, dates
from Edward Neville (d. 1476), who was the youngest son of
the 1st earl of Westmoreland by Joan Beaufort, daughter of
John of Gaunt. He married the heiress of Richard, earl of
Worcester, whose father had inherited the castle and estate of
Abergavenny, and was summoned in 1392 to parliament as Lord
Bergavenny. Edward Neville was summoned to parliament with
this title in 1450. His direct male descendants ended in 1387
in Henry Neville, but a cousin, Edward Neville (d. 1622), was
confirmed in the barony in 1604. From him it has descended
continuously, the title being increased to an earldom in
1784; and in 1876 William Nevill (sic) 5th earl (b. 1826),
an indefatigable and powerful supporter of the conseruative
party, was created 1st marquess of Abergavenny. (See NEVILLE.)
ABERIGH-MACKAY, GEORGE ROBERT (1848-1881), Anglo-Indian
writer, son of a Bengal chaplain, was born on the 25th
of July 1848, and was educated at Magdalen College School
and Cambridge University. Entering the Indian education
department in 1870, he became professor of English literature
in Delhi College in 1873, tutor to the raja of Rutlam
1876, and principal of the Rajkumar College at Indore in
1877. He is best known for his book Twenty-one Days in India
(1878--1879), a satire upon Anglo-Indian society and modes of
thought. This book gave promise of a successful literary
Career, but the author died at the age of thirty-three.
ABERNETHY, JOHN (1680-1740), Irish Presbyterian divine,
was born at Coleraine, county Londonderry, where his father
was Nonconformist minister, on the 19th of October 1680. In
his thirteenth year he entered the university of Glasgow, and
on concluding his course thore went on to Edinburgh, where
his intellectual and social attainments gained him a ready
entrance into the most cultured circles. Returning home he
received licence to preach from his Presbytery before he was
twenty-one. In 1701 he was urgently invited to accept charge
of an important congregation in Antrim; and after an interval
of two years, mostly spent in further study in Dublin, he
was ordained there on the 8th of August 1703. Here he did
notable work, both as a debater in the synods and assemblies
of his church and as an evangelist. In 1712 he lost his wife
(Susannah Jordan), and the loss desolated his life for many
years. In 1717 he was invited to the congregation of Usher's
Quay, Dublin, and contemporaneously to what was called the
Old Congregation of Belfast. The synod assigned him to
Dublin. After careful consideration he declined to accede,
and remained at Antrim. This refusal was regarded then as
ecclesisstical high-treason; and a controversy of the most
intense and disproportionate character followed, Abernethy
standing firm for religious freedom and repudiating the
sacerdotal assumptions of all ecclesiastical courts. The
controversy and quarrel bears the name of the two camps in the
conflict, the ``Subscribers'' and the ``Non-subscribers.''
Out-and-out evangelical as (John Abernethy was, there can
be no question that he and his associates sowed the seeds
of that after-struggle (1821--1840) in which, under the
leadership of Dr Henry Cooke, the Arian and Socinian elements
of the Irish Presbyterian Church were thrown out. Much of
what he contended for, and which the ``Subscribers'' opposed
bitterly, has been silently granted in the lapse of time.
In 1726 the ``Non-subscribers,'' spite of an almost wofully
pathetic pleading against separation by Abernethy, were cut
off, with due ban and solemnity, from the Irish Presbyterian
Church. In 1730, although a ``Non-subscriber,'' he was
invited to Wood Street, Dublin, whither he removed. In
1731 came on the greatest controversy in which Abernethy
engaged, viz. in relation to the Test Act nominally, but
practically on the entire question of tests and disabilities.
His stand was ``against all laws that, upon account of mere
differences of religious opinions and forms of worship,
excluded men of integrity and ability from serving their
country.'' He was nearly a century in advance of his age.
He had to reason with those who denied that a Roman Catholic
or Dissenter could be a ``man of integrity and ability.''
His Tracts---afterwards collected--did fresh service,
generations later, and his name is honoured by all who love
freedom of conscience and opinion. He died in December 1740.
See Dr Duchal's Life, prefixed to Sermons (1762): Diary in
MS., 6 vols. 4to; Reid's Presbyterian Church in Ireland, iii. 234.
ABERNETHY, JOHN (1764-1831), English surgeon, grandson of
John Abernethy (see above), was born in London on the 3rd of
April 1764. His father was a London merchant. Educated at
Wolverhampton grammar school, he was apprenticed in 1779 to
Sir Charles Blicke (1745-1815), surgeon to St Bartholomew's
Hospital, London. He attended the anatomical lectures of
Sir William Blizard (1743-1835) at the London Hospital,
and was early employed to assist as ``demonstrator'';
he also attended Percival Pott's surgical lectures at St
Bartholomew's Hospital, as well as the lectures of John
Hunter. On Pott's resignation of the office of surgeon of St
Bartholomew's, Sir Charles Blicke, who was assistant-surgeon,
succeeded him, and Abernethy was elected assistant-surgeon in
1787. In this capacity he began to give lectures at his
house in Bartholomew Close, which were so well attended
that the governors of the hospital built a regular theatre
(1790-1791), and Abernethy thus became the founder of the
distinguished school of St Bartholomew's. He held the office
of assistant-surgeon of the hospital for the long period of
twenty-eight years, till, in 1815, he was elected principal
surgeon. He had before that time been appointed lecturer in
anatomy to the Royal College of Surgeons (1814). Abernethy
was not a great operator, though his name is associated with
the treatment of aneurism by ligature of the external iliac
artery. His Surgical Observations on the Constitutional
Origin and Treatment of Local Diseases (1809)--known as ``My
Book,'' from the great frequency with which he referred his
patients to it, and to page 72 of it in particular, under that
name--was one of the earliest popular works on medical science,
He taught that local diseases were frequently the results
of disordered states of the digestive organs, and were to be
treated by purging and attention to diet. As a lecturer he was
exceedingly attractive, and his success in teaching was largely
attributable to the persuasiveness with which he enunciated his
views. It has been said, however, that the influence he exerted
on those who attended his lectures was not beneficial in this
respect, that his opinions were delivered so dogmatically,
and all who differed from him were disparaged and denounced
so contemptuously, as to repress instead of stimulating
inquiry. The celebrity he attained in his practice was due
not only to his great professional skill, but also in part
to the singularity of his manners. He used great plainness
of speech in his intercourse with his patients, treating them
often brusquely and sometimes even rudely. In the circle of
his family and friends he was courteous and affectionate; and
in all his dealings he was strictly just and honourable. He
resigned his position at St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1827,
and died at his residence at Enfield on the 20th of April 1831.
A collected edition of his works was published in 1830. A biography,
Memoirs of John Abernethy, by George Macilwain, appeared in 1853.
ABERRATION (Lat. ab, from or away, errare, to wander),
a deviation or wandering, especially used in the figurative
sense: as in ethics, a deviation from the truth; in pathology,
a mental derangement; in zoology and botany, abnormal
development or structure. In optics, the word has two special
applications: (1) Aberration of Light, and (2) Aberration
in Optical Systems. These subjects receive treatment below.
I. ABERIIATION OF LIGHT This astronomical phenomenon may
be defined as an apparent motion of the heavenly bodies; the
stars describing annually orbits more or less elliptical,
according to the latitude of the star; consequently at
any moment the star appears to be displaced from its true
position. This apparent motion is due to the finite velocity
of light, and the progressive motion of the observer with the
earth, as it performs its yearly course about the sun. It
may be familiarized by the following illustrations. Alexis
Claude Clairaut gave this figure: Imagine rain to be falling
vertically, and a person carrying a thin perpendicular tube
to be standing on the ground. If the bearer be stationary,
rain-drops will traverse the tube without touching its sides;
if, however, the person be walking, the tube must be inchued
at an angle varying as his velocity in order that the rain
may traverse the tube centrally. (J. J. L. de Lalande gave
the illustration of a roofed carriage with an open front: if
the carriage be stationary, no rain enters; if, however, it be
moying, rain enters at the front. The ``umbrella', analogy
is possibly the best known figure. When stationary, the most
efficient position in which to hold an umbrella is obviously
vertical; when walking, the umbrella must be held more and
more inclined from the vertical as the walker quickens his
pace. Another familiar figure, pointed Out by P. L. M. de
Maupertuis, is that a sportsman, when aiming at a bird on the
wing, sights his gun some distance ahead of the bird, the
distance being proportional to the velocity of the bird.
The mechanical idea, named the parallelogram of velocities,
permits a ready and easy graphical representation of these
facts. Reverting to the analogy of Clairaut, let AB (fig.
1) represent the velocity of the rain, and AC the relative
velocity of the person bearing the tube. The diagonal AD
of the parallelogram, of which AB and AC are adjacent sides,
will represent, both in direction and magnitude, the motion
of the rain as apparent to the observer. Hence for the
rain to centrally traverse the tube, this must be inclined
at an angle BAD to the vertical; this angle is conveniently
termed the aberration: due to these two motions. The
umbrella analogy is similarly explained; the most efficient
position heing when the stick points along the resultant AD.
The discovery of the aberration of light in 1725, due to James
Bradley, is one of the most important in the whole domain of
astronomy. That it wus unexpected there can be no doubt;
and it was only by extraordinary perseverance and perspicuity
that Bradley was able to explain it in 1727. Its origin is
seated in attempts made to free from doubt the prevailing
discordances as to whether the stars possessed appreciable
parallaxes. The Copernican theory of the solar system--that
the earth revolved annually about the sun--had received
confirmation by the observations of Galileo and Tycho
Brahe, and the mathematical investigations of Kepler and
Newton. As early as 1573, Thomas Digges had suggested that
this theory should necessitate a parallactic shifting of
the stars, and, consequently, if such stellar parallaxes
existed, then the Copernican theory would receive additional
confirmation. Many observers claimed to have determined such
parallaxes, but Tycho Brahe and G. B. Riccioll concluded
that they existed only in the minds of the observers, and
were due to instrumental and personal errors. In 1680 Jean
Picard, in his Voyage d'Uranibourg, stated, as a result
of ten years' observations, that Polaris, or the Pole
Star, exhibited variations in its position amounting to 40"
annually; some astronomers endeavoured to explain this by
parallax, but these attempts were futile, for the motion
was at variance with that which parallax would occasion. J.
Flamsteed, from measurements made in 1689 and succeeding
years with his mural quadrant, similarly concluded that the
declination of the Pole Star was 40" less in July than in
September. R. Hooke, in 1674, pubilshed his observations of
g Draconis, a star of the second magnitude which passes
practically overhead in the latitude of London, and whose
observations are therefore singularly free from the complex
corrections due to astronomical refraction, and concluded
that this star was 23" more northerly in July than in October.
When James Bradley and Samuel Moineux entered this sphere of
astronomical research in 1725, there consequently prevailed
much uncertainty as to whether stellar parallaxes had been
observed or not; and it was with the intention of definitely
answering this question that these astronomers erected a large
telescope at the house of the latter at Kew. They determined
to reinvestigate the motion of g Draconis; the telescope,
constructed by George Graham (1675-1751), a celebrated
instrument-maker, was affixed to a vertical chimneystack,
in such manner as to permit a small oscillation of the
eyepiece, the amount of which, i.e. the deviation from the
vertical, was regulated and measured by the introduction
of a screw and a plumb-line. The instrument was set up
in November 1725, and observations on g Draconis were
made on the 3rd, 5th, 11th, and 12th of December. There
was apparently no shifting of the star, which was therefore
thought to be at its most southerly point. On the 17th of
December, however, Bradley observed that the star was moving
southwards, a motion further shown by observations on the
20th. These results were unexpected, and, in fact, inexplicable
by existing theories; and an examination of the telescope
showed that the observed anomalies were not due to instrumental
errors. The observations were continued, and the star was
seen to continue its southerly course until March, when it
took up a position some 20" more southerly than its December
position. After March it began to pass northwards, a motion
quite apuarent by the middle of April; in June it passed
at the same distance from the zenith as it did in December;
and in September it passed through its most northerly
position, the extreme range from north to south, i.e. the
angle between the March and September positions, being 40".
This motion is evidently not due to parallax, for, in this
case, the maximum range should be between the June and
December positions; neither was it due to observatiooal
errors. Bradley and Molyneux discussed several hypotheses in
the hope of fixing the solution. One hypothesis was: while
g Draconis was stationary, the plumb-line, from which
the angular measurements were made, varied; this would follow
if the axis of the earth varied. The oscillation of the
earth's axis may arise in two distinct ways; distinguished
as ``nutation of the axis'' and ``variation of latitude.''
Nutation, the only form of oscillation imagined by Bradley,
postulates that while the earth's axis is fixed with respect
to the earth, i.e. the north and south poles occupy permanent
geographical positions, yet the axis is not directed towards
a fixed point in the heavens; variation of latitude, however,
is associated with the shifting of the axis within the earth,
i.e. the geographical position of the north pole varies.
Nutation of the axis would determine a similar apparent
motion for all stars: thus, all stars having the same polar
distance as g Draconis should exhibit the same apparent
motion after or before this star by a constant interval.
Many stars satisfy the condition of equality of polar distance
with that of g Draconis, but few were bright enough to
be observed in Molyneux's telescope. One such star, however,
with a right ascension nearly equal to that of g Draconis,
but in thc opposite sense, was selected and kept under
observation. This star was seen to possess an apparent
motion similar to that which would be a consequence of the
nutation of the earth's axis; but since its declination
varied only one half as much as in the case of g Draconis,
it was obvious that nutation did not supply the requisite
solution. The question as to whether the motion was due to
an irregular distribution of the earth's atmosphere, thus
involving abnormal variations in the refractive index, was
also investigated; here, again, negative results were obtained.
Bradley had already perceived, in the case of the two stars
previously scrutinized, that the apparent difference of
declination from the maximum positions was nearly proportional
to the sun's distance from the equinoctial points; and he
reallzed the necessity for more observations before any
generalization could be attempted. For this purpose he
repaired to the Rectory, Wanstead, then the residence of Mrs
Pound, the widow of his uncle James Pound, with whom he had
made many observations of the heavenly bodies. Here he had set
up, on the 19th of August 1727, a more convenient telescope
than that at Kew, its range extending over 6 1/4 deg. on each
side of the zenith, thus covering a far larger area of the
sky. Two hundred stars in the British Catalogue of
Flamsteed traversed its field of view; and, of these, about
fifty were kept under close observation. His conclusions
may be thus summatized: (1) only stars near the solstitial
colure had their maximum north and south positions when the
sun was near the equinoxes, (2) each star was at its maximum
positions when it passed the zenith at six o'clock morning
and evening (this he afterwards showed to be inaccurate, and
found the greatest change in declination to be proportional
to the latitude of the star), (3) the apparent motions of
all stars at about the same time was in the same direction.
A re-examination of his previously considered hypotheses as
to the cause of these phenomena was fruitless; the true theory
was ultimately discovered by a pure accident, comparable in
simplicity and importance with the association of a falling
apple with the discovery of the principle of universal
gravitation. Sailing on the river Thames, Bradley repeatedly
observed the shifting of a vane on the mast as the boat altered
its courser and, having been assured that the motion of the
vane meant that the boat, and not the wind, had altered its
direction, he realized that the position taken up by the vane
was determined by the motion of the boat and the direction of the
wind. The application of this observation to the phenomenon
which had so long perplexed him was not difficult, and, in
1727, he published his theory of the aberration of light--a
corner-stone of the edifice of astronomical science. Let
S (fig. 2) be a star and the observer be carried along the
line AB; let SB be perpendicular to AB. If the observer be
stationary at B, the star will appear in the direction BS;
if, however, he traverses the distance BA in the same time
as light passes from the star to his eye, the star will E
appear in the direction AS. Since, however, the observer is
not conscious of his own translatory motion with the earth
in its orbit, the star appears to have a displacement which
is at all times parallel to the motion of the observer. To
generalize this, let S (fig. 3) be the sun, ABCD the earth's
orbit, and s the true position of a star. When the earth
is at A, in consequence of aberration, the star is displaced
to a point a, its displacement sa being parallel to the
earth's motion at A; when the earth is at B, the star appears
at b; and so on throughout an orbital revolution of the
earth. Every star, therefore, describes an apparent orbit,
which, if the line joining the sun and the star be perpendicular
to the plane ABCD, will be exactly similar to that of the
earth, i.e. almost a circle. As the star decreases in
latitude, this circle will be viewed more and more obliquely,
becoming a flatter and flatter ellipse until, with zero
latitude, it degenerates into a straight line (fig. 4).
The major axis of any such aberrational ellipse is always parallel
to AC, i.e. the ecliptic, and since it is equal to the ratio
of the velocity of light to the velocity of the earth, it is
necessarily constant. This constant length subtends an angle
of about 40" at the earth; the ``constant of aberration'' is
half this angle. The generally accepted value is 20.445", due
to Struve; the last two figures are uncertain, and all that can
be definitely affirmed is that the value lies between 20.43" and
20.48". The minor axis, on the other hand, is not constant,
but, as we have already seen, depends on the latitude, being
the product of the major axis into the sine of the latitude.
Assured that his explanation was true, Bradley corrected his
observations for aberration, but he found that there still
remained a residuum which was evidently not a parallax, for
it did not exhibit an annual cycle. He reverted to his early
idea of a nutation of the earth's axis, and was rewarded by the
discovery that the earth did possess such an osculation (see
ASTRONOMY). Bradley recognized the fact that the experimental
determination of the aberration constant gave the ratio of the
velocities of light and of the earth; hence, if the velocity
of the earth be known, the velocity of light is determined.
In recent years much attention has been given to the nature
of the propagation of light from the heavenly bodies to the
earth, the argument generally being centred about the relative
effect of the motion of the aether on the velocity of light.
This subject is discussed in the articles AETHER and LIGHT.
REFERENCES.--A detailed account of Bradley's work is
given in S. Rigaud, Memoirs of Bradley (1832), and in
Charles Hutton, Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary
(1795); a particularly clear and lucid account is given
in H. H. Turner, Astronomical Discovery (1904). The
subject receives treatment in all astronomical works.
II. ABERRIATION IN OPTICAL SYSTEMS Aberration in optical
systems, i.e. in lenses or mirrors or a series of them,
may be defined as the non-concurrence of rays from the
points of an object after transmission through the system;
it happens generally that an image formed by such a system
is irregular, and consequently the correction of optical
systems for aberration is of fundamental importance to the
instruunent-maker. Reference should he made to the articles
REFLEXION, REFRACTION and CAUSTIC for the general characters
of reflected and refracted rays (the article LENS considers
in detail the properties of this instrument, and should also
be consulted); in this article will be discussed the nature,
varieties and modes of aberrations mainly from the practical
point of view, i.e. that of the optical-instrument maker.
Aberrations may be divided in two classes: chromatic (Gr.
oroma, colour) aberrations, caused by the composite
nature of the light generally applied (e.g. white light),
which is dispersed by refraction, and monochromatic (Gr.
monos, one) aberrations produced without dispersion.
Consequently the monochromatic class includes the aberrations
at reflecting surfaces of any coloured light, and at refracting
surfaces of monochromatic or light of single wave length.
(a) Monochromatic Aberration. The elementary theory of optical
systems leads to the theorem; Rays of light proceeding from
any ``object point,' unite in an ``image point''; and therefore
an ``object space'' is reproduced in an ``image space.'' The
introduction of simple auxiliary terms, due to C. F. Gauss
(Dioptrische Untersuchungen, Gottingen, 1841), named the
focal lengths and focal planes, permits the determination
of the image of any object for any system (see LENS). The
Gaussian theory, however, is only true so long as the angles
made by all rays with the optical axis (the symmetrical axis
of the system) are infinitely small, i.e. with infinitesimal
objects, images and lenses; in practice these conditions are
not realized, and the images projected by uncorrected systems
are, in general, ill defined and often completely blurred,
if the aperture or field of view exceeds certain limits.
The investigations of James Clerk Maxwell (Phil.Mag., 1856;
Quart. Journ. Math., 1858, and Ernst Abbe1) showed that
the properties of these reproductions, i.e. the relative
position .and magnitude of the images, are not special
properties of optical systems, but necessary consequences of
the supposition (in Abbe) of the reproduction of all points
of a space in image points (Maxwell assumes a less general
hypothesis), and are independent of the manner in which the
reproduction is effected. These authors proved, however, that
no optical system can justify these suppositions, since they
are contradictory to the fundamental laws of reflexion and
refraction. Consequently the Gaussian theory only supplies
a convenient method of approximating to reality; and no
constructor would attempt to realize this unattainable ideal.
All that at present can be attempted is, to reproduce a single
plane in another plane; but even this has not been altogether
satisfactorily accomplished, aberrations always occur, and
it is improbable that these will ever be entirely corrected.
This, and related general questions, have been treated--besides
the above-mentioned authors--by M. Thiesen (Berlin.
Akad. Sitzber., 1890, xxxv. 799; Berlin.Phys.Ges.
Verb., 1892) and H. Bruns (Leipzig. Math. Phys.
Ber., 1895, xxi. 325) by means of Sir W. R. Hamilton's
``characteristic function'' (Irish Acad. Trans., ``Theory
of Systems of Rays,,' 1828, et seq.). Reference may also
be made to the treatise of Czapski-Eppenstein, pp. 155-161.
A review of the simplest cases of aberration will now be
given. (1) Aberration of axial points (Spherical aberration
in the restricted sense). If S (fig.5) be any optical
system, rays proceeding from an axis point O under an angle
u1 will unite in the axis point O'1; and those under an
angle u2 in the axis point O'2. If there be refraction
at a collective spherical surface, or through a thin positive
lens, O'2 will lie in front of O'1 so long as the angle
u2 is greater than u1 (``under correction''); and
conversely with a dispersive surface or lenses (``over
correction''). The caustic, in the first case, resembles
the sign > (greater than); in the second K (less than). If
the angle u1 be very small, O'1 is the Gaussian image;
and O'1 O'2 is termed the ``longitudinal aberration,''
and O'1R the ``lateral aberration'' of the pencils with
aperture u2. If the pencil with the angle u2 be that
of the maximum aberration of all the pencils transmitted,
then in a plane perpendicular to the axis at O'1 there is
a circular ``disk of confusion'' of radius O'1R, and in a
parallel plane at O'2 another one of radius O'2R2; between
these two is situated the ``disk of least confusion.''
The largest opening of the pencils, which take part in the
reproduction of O, i.e. the angle u, is generally determined
by the margin of one of the lenses or by a hole in a thin
plate placed between, before, or behind the lenses of the
system. This hole is termed the ``stop'' or ``diaphragm'';
Abbe used the term ``aperture stop'' for both the hole and
the limiting margin of the lens. The component S1 of the
system, situated between the aperture stop and the object
O, projects an image of the diaphragm, termed by Abbe the
``entrance pupil''; the ``exit pupil'' is the image formed
by the component S2, which is placed behind the aperture
stop. All rays which issue from O and pass through the aperture
stop also pass through the entrance and exit pupils, since these
are images of the aperture stop. Since the maximum aperture
of the pencils issuing from O is the angle u subtended by the
entrance pupil at this point, the magnitude of the aberration
will be determined by the position and diameter of the entrance
pupil. If the system be entirely behind the aperture stop,
then this is itself the entrance pupil (``front stop'');
if entirely in front, it is the exit pupil (``back stop'').
If the object point be infinitely distant, all rays received
by the first member of the system are parallel, and their
intersections, after traversing the system, vary according
to their ``perpendicular height of incidence,'' i.e. their
distance from the axis. This distance replaces the angle
u in the preceding considerations; and the aperture, i.e.
the radius of the entrance pupil, is its maximum value.
(2) Aberration of elements, i.e. smallest objects at right
angles to the axis.--If rays issuing from O (fig. 5) be
concurrent, it does not follow that points in a portion
of a plane perpendicular at O to the axis will be also
concurrent, even if the part of the plane be very small.
With a considerable aperture, the neighbouring point N will
be reproduced, but attended by aberrations comparable in
magnitude to ON. These aberrations are avoided if, according to
Abbe, the ``sine condition,'' sin u'1/sin u1=sin u'2jsin
u2, holds for all rays reproducing the point O. If the
object point O be infinitely distant, u1 and u2 are
to be replaced by pi and h2, the perpendicular heights of
incidence; the ``sine condition', then becomes sin u,1jh1
sin u'2/h2. A system fulfilling this condition and free
from spherical aberration is called ``aplanatic'' (Greek
a-, privative, plann, a wandering). This word was
first used by Robert Blair (d. 1828), professor of practical
astronomy at Edinburgh University, to characterize a superior
achromatism, and, subsequently, by many writers to denote
freedom from spherical aberration. Both the aberration of axis
points, and the deviation from the sine condition, rapidly
increase in most (uncorrected) systems with the aperture.
(3) Aberration of lateral object points (points beyond the
axis) with narrow pencils. Astigmatism.---A point O (fig.
6) at a finite distance from the, axis (or with an infinitely
distant object, a point which subtends a finite angle at the
system) is, in general, even then not sharply reproduced, if
the pencil of rays issuing from it and traversing the system
is made infinitely narrow by reducing the aperture stop; such
a pencil consists of the rays which can pass from the object
point through the now infinitely small entrance pupil. It
is seen (ignoring exceptional cases) that the pencil does
not meet he refracting or reflecting surface at right angles;
therefore it is astigmatic (Gr. a-, privative, stigmia, a
point). Naming the central ray passing through the entrance
pupil the ``axis of the pencil,' or ``principal ray,'' we
can say: the rays of the pencil intersect, not in one point,
but in two focal lines, which we can assume to be at right
angles to the principal ray; of these, one lies in the plane
containing the principal ray and the axis of the system,
i.e. in the ``first principal section'' or ``meridional
section,', and the other at right angles to it, i.e. in the
second principal section or sagittal section. We receive,
therefore, in no single intercepting plane behind the system,
as, for example, a focussing screen, an image of the object
point; on the other hand, in each of two planes lines O' and
O" are separately formed (in neighbouring planes ellipses are
formed), and in a plane between O' and O" a circle of least
confusion. The interval O'O", termed the astigmatic difference,
increases, in general, with the angle W made by the principal
ray OP with the axis of the system, i.e. with the field of
view. Two ``astigmatic image surfaces'' correspond to one
object plane; and these are in contact at the axis point; on
the one lie the focal lines of the first kind, on the other
those of the second. Systems in which the two astigmatic
surfaces coincide are termed anastigmatic or stigmatic.
Sir Isaac Newron was probably the discoverer of astigmation;
the position of the astigmatic image lines was determined by
Thomas Young (A Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy,
1807); and the theory has been recently developed by A.
Gullstrand (Skand. Arch. f. physiol., 1890, 2, p. 269;
Allgemeine Theorie der monochromat. Aberrationen, etc.,
Upsala, 1900; Arch. f. Ophth., 1901, 53, pp. 2, 185). A
bibliography by P. Culmann is given in M. von Rohr's Die
Bilderzeugung in opitschen Instrumenten (Berlin, 1904).
(4) Aberration of lateral object points with broad pencils.
Coma. ---By opening the stop wider, similar deviations arise
for lateral points as have been already discussed for axial
points; but in this case they are much more complicated.
The course of the rays in the meridional section is no longer
symmetrical to the principal ray of the pencil; and on an
intercepting plane there appears, instead of a luminous
point, a patch of light, not symmetrical about a point, and
often exhibiting a resemblance to a comet having its tail
directed towards or away from the axis. From this appearance
it takes its name. The unsymmetrical form of the meridional
pencil--formerly the only one considered--is coma in the
narrower sense only; other errors of coma have been treated by
A. Konig and M. von Rohr (op. cit.), and more recently by
A. Gullstrand (op. cit.; Ann. d. Phys., 1905, 18, p. 941).
(5) Curvature of the field of the image.---If the above errors
be eliminated, the two astigmatic surfaces united, and a sharp
image obtained with a wide aperture--there remains the necessity
to correct the curvature of the image surface, especially when
the image is to be received upon a plane surface, e.g. in
photography. In most cases the surface is concave towards the system.
(6) Distortion of the image.--If now the image be sufficiently
sharp, inasmuch as the rays proceeding from every object point
meet in an image point of satisfactory exactitude, it may happen
that the image is distorted, i.e. not sufficiently like the
object. This error consists in the different parts of the
object being reproduced with different magnifications; for
instance, the inner parts may differ in greater magnification
than the outer (``barrel-shaped distortion''), or conversely
(``cushion-shaped distortion'') (see fig. 7). Systems free
of this aberration are called ``orthoscopic'' (orthos ,
right, skopein to look). This aberration is quite distinct
from that of the sharpness of reproduction; in unsharp,
reproduction, the question of distortion arises if only parts of
the object can be recognized in the figure. If, in an unsharp
image, a patch of light corresponds to an object point, the
``centre of gravity'' of the patch may be regarded as the image
point, this being the point where the plane receiving the
image, e.g. a focussing screen, intersects the ray passing
through the middle of the stop. This assumption is justified
if a poor image on the focussing screen remains stationary
when the aperture is diminished; in practice, this generally
occurs. This ray, named by Abbe a ``principal ray'' (not to be
confused with the ``principal rays'' of the Gaussian theory),
passes through the centre of the enttance pupil before the first
refraction, and the centre of the exit pupil after the last
refraction. From this it follows that correctness of drawing
depends solely upon the principal rays; and is independent
of the sharpness or curvature of the image field. Referring
to fig. 8, we have O'Q'/OQ = a' tan w'/a tan w = 1/N,
where N is the ``scale'' or magnification of the image. For
N to be constant for all values of w, a' tan w'/a tan
w must also be constant. If the ratio a'/a be sufficiently
constant, as is often the case, the above relation reduces
to the ``condition of Airy,'' i.e. tan w'/ tan w= a
constant. This simple relation (see Camb. Phil. Trans.,
1830, 3, p. 1) is fulfilled in all systems which are symmetrical
with respect to their diaphragm (briefly named ``symmetrical
or holosymmetrical objectives''), or which consist of two like,
but different-sized, components, placed from the diaphragm
in the ratio of their size, and presenting the same curvature
to it (hemisymmetrical objectives); in these systems tan
w' / tan w = 1. The constancy of a'/a necessary for
this relation to hold was pointed out by R. H. Bow (Brit.
Journ. Photog., 1861), and Thomas Sutton (Photographic
Notes, 1862); it has been treated by O. Lummer and by M. von
Rohr (Zeit. f. Instrumentenk., 1897, 17, and 1898, 18, p. 4).
It requires the middle of the aperture stop to be reproduced in
the centres of the entrance and exit pupils without spherical
aberration. M. von Rohr showed that for systems fulfilling
neither the Airy nor the Bow-Sutton condition, the ratio a'
tan w'/a tan w will be constant for one distance of the
object. This combined condition is exactly fulfilled
by holosymmetrical objectives reproducing with the scale
1, and by hemisymmetrical, if the scale of reproduction
be equal to the ratio of the sizes of the two components.
Analytic Treatment of Aberrations.---The preceding review
of the several errors of reproduction belongs to the ``Abbe
theory of aberrations,'' in which definite aberrations are
discussed separately; it is well suited to practical needs, for
in the construction of an optical instrument certain errors are
sought to be eliminated, the selection of which is justified by
experience. In the mathematical sense, however, this selection
is arbitrary; the reproduction of a finite object with a finite
aperture entails, in all probability, an infinite number of
aberrations. This number is only finite if the object and
aperture are assumed to be ``infinitely small of a certain
order''; and with each order of infinite smallness, i.e. with
each degree of approximation to reality (to finite objects and
apertures), a certain number of aberrations is associated. This
connexion is only supplied by theories which treat aberrations
generally and analytically by means of indefinite series.
A ray proceeding from an object point O (fig. 9) can be defined
by the co-ordinates (x, e). Of this point O in an object
plane I, at right angles to the axis, and two other co-ordinates
(x, y), the point in which the ray intersects the entrance
pupil, i.e. the plane II. Similarly the corresponding image
ray may be defined by the points (x', e'), and (x',
y'), in the planes I' and II'. The origins of these four
plane co-ordinate systems may be collinear with the axis
of the optical system; and the corresponding axes may be
parallel. Each of the four co-ordinates x', e', x', y'
are functions of x, e, x, y; and if it be assumed that the
field of view and the aperture be infinitely small, then x,
e, x, y are of the same order of infinitesimals; consequently
by expanding x', e', x', y' in ascending powers of x,
e, x, y, series are obtained in which it is only necessary
to consider the lowest powers. It is readily seen that if the
optical system be symmetrical, the orqins of the co-ordinate
systems collinear with the optical axis and the corresponding
axes parallel, then by changing the signs of x, e, x,
y, the values x', e', x', y' must likewise change their
sign, but retain their arithmetical values; this means that the
series are restricted to odd powers of the unmarked variables.
The nature of the reproduction consists in the rays proceeding
from a point O being united in another point O'; in general,
this will not be the case, for x', e' vary if x, e be
constant, but x, y variable. It may be assumed that the
planes I' and II' are drawn where the images of the planes
I and II are formed by rays near the axis by the ordinary
Gaussian rules; and by an extension of these rules, not,
however, corresponding to reality, the Gauss image point
O'0, with co-ordinates x'0, e'0, of the point O at
some distance from the axis could be constructed. Writing
Dx'=x'-x'0 and De'=e'-e'0, then Dx' and
De' are the aberrations belonging to x, e and x, y,
and are functions of these magnitudes which, when expanded in
series, contain only odd powers, for the same reasons as given
above. On account of the aberrations of all rays which
pass through O, a patch of light, depending in size on
the lowest powers of x, e, x, y which the aberrations
contain, will be formed in the plane I'. These degrees,
named by (J. Petzval (Bericht uber die Ergebnisse einiger
dioptrischer Untersuchnungen, Buda Pesth, 1843; Akad.
Sitzber., Wien, 1857, vols. xxiv. xxvi.) ``the numerical
orders of the image,'' are consequently only odd powers; the
condition for the formation of an image of the mth order
is that in the series for Dx' and De' the coefficients
of the powers of the 3rd, 5th . . . (m-2)th degrees must
vanish. The images of the Gauss theory being of the third
order, the next problem is to obtain an image of 5th order,
or to make the coefficients of the powers of 3rd degree
zero. This necessitates the satisfying of five equations;
in other words, there are five alterations of the 3rd order,
the vanishing of which produces an image of the 5th order.
The expression for these coefficients in terms of the constants
of the optical system, i.e. the radii, thicknesses, refractive
indices and distances between the lenses, was solved by L.
Seidel (Astr. Nach., 1856, p. 289); in 1840, J. Petzval
constructed his portrait objective, unexcelled even at the present
day, from similar calculations, which have never been published
(see M. von Rohr, Theorie und Geschichte des photographischen
Objectivs, Berlin, 1899, p. 248). The theory was elaborated
by S. Finterswalder (Munchen. Acad. Abhandl., 1891,
17, p. 519), who also published a posthumous paper of Seidel
containing a short view of his work (Munchen. Akad.
Sitrber., 1898, 28, p. 395); a simpler form was given by A.
Kerber (Beitrage zur Dioptrik, Leipzig, 1895-6-7-8-9). A.
Konig and M. von Rohr (see M. von Rohr, Die Bilderzeugung
in optischen Instrumenten, pp. 317-323) have represented
Kerber's method, and have deduced the Seidel formulae from
geometrical considerations based on the Abbe method, and have
interpreted the analytical results geometrically (pp. 212-316).
The aberrations can also be expressed by means of the
"characteristic function'' of the system and its differential
coefficients, instead of by the radii, &c., of the lenses;
these formulae are not immediately applicable, but give,
however, the relation between the number of aberrations and the
order. Sir William Rowan Hamilton (British Assoc. Report,
1833, p. 360) thus derived the aberrations of the third order;
and in later times the method was pursued by Clerk Maxwell
(Proc. London Math. Soc., 1874--1875; (see also the treatises
of R. S. Heath and L. A. Herman), M. Thiesen (Berlin. Akad.
Sitzber., 1890, 35, p. 804), H. Bruns (Leipzig. Math.
Phys. Ber., 1895, 21, p. 410), and particularly successfully
by K. Schwartzschild (Gottingen. Akad. Abhandl., 1905,
4, No. 1), who thus discovered the aberrations of the 5th
order (of which there are nine), and possibly the shortest
proof of the practical (Seidel) formulae. A. Gullstrand (vide
supra, and Ann. d. Phys., 1905, 18, p. 941) founded his
theory of aberrations on the differential geometry of surfaces.
The aberrations of the third order are: (1) aberration of the
axis point; (2) aberration of points whose distance from the
axis is very small, less than of the third order---the deviation
from the sine condition and coma here fall together in one class;
(3) astigmatism; (4) curvature of the field; (5) distortion.
(1) Aberration of the third order of axis points is dealt with
in all text-books on optics. It is important for telescope
objectives, since their apertures are so small as to permit
higher orders to be neglected. For a single lens of very
small thickness and given power, the aberration depends upon
the ratio of the radii r:r', and is a minimum (but never
zero) for a certain value of this ratio; it varies inversely
with the refractive index (the power of the lens remaining
constant). The total aberration of two or more very thin lenses
in contact, being the sum of the individual aberrations, can be
zero. This is also possible if the lenses have the same algebraic
sign. Of thin positive lenses with n=1.5, four are necessary
to correct spherical aberration of the third order. These
systems, however, are not of great practical importance. In
most cases, two thin lenses are combined, one of which has
just so strong a positive aberration (``under-correction,''
vide supra) as the other a negative; the first must be a
positive lens and the second a negative lens; the powers,
however: may differ, so that the desired effect of the lens is
maintained. It is generally an advantage to secure a great
refractive effect by several weaker than by one high-power
lens. By one, and likewise by several, and even by an
infinite number of thin lenses in contact, no more than two
axis points can be reproduced without aberration of the third
order. Freedom from aberration for two axis points, one of which
is infinitely distant, is known as ``Herschel's condition.''
All these rules are valid, inasmuch as the thicknesses and
distances of the lenses are not to be taken into account.
(2) The condition for freedom from coma in the third order
is also of importance for telescope objectives; it is
known as ``Fraunhofer's condition.'' (4) After eliminating
the aberration On the axis, coma and astigmatism, the
relation for the flatness of the field in the third order is
expressed by the ``Petzval equation,'' S1/r(n'-n) =
0, where r is the radius of a refracting surface, n
and n' the refractive indices of the neighbouring media,
and S the sign of summation for all refracting surfaces.
Practical Elimination of Aberrations.---The existence of
an optical system, which reproduces absolutely a finite plane
on another with pencils of finite aperture, is doubtful; but
practical systems solve this problem with an accuracy which
mostly suffices for the special purpose of each species of
instrument. The problem of finding a system which reproduces
a given object upon a given plane with given magnification
(in so far as aberrations must be taken into account) could
be dealt with by means of the approximation theory; in most
cases, however, the analytical difficulties are too groat.
Solutions, however, have been obtained in special cases (see
A. Konig in M. von Rohr's Die Bilderzeugung, p. 373; K.
Schwarzschild, Gottingen. Akad. Abhandl., 1905, 4, Nos.
2 and 3). At the present time constructors almost always employ
the inverse method: they compose a system from certain, often
quite personal experiences, and test, by the trigonometrical
calculation of the paths of several rays, whether the system
gives the desired reproduction (examples are given in A.
Gleichen, Lehrbuch der geometrischen Optik, Leipzig and Berlin,
1902). The radii, thicknesses and distances are continually
altered until the errors of the image become sufficiently
small. By this method only certain errors of reproduction are
investigated, especially individual members, or all, of those named
above. The analytical approximation theory is often employed
provisionally, since its accuracy does not generally suffice.
In order to render spherical aberration and the deviation from
the sine condition small throughout the whole aperture, there
is given to a ray with a finite angle of aperture u* (width
infinitely distant objects: with a finite height of incidence
h*) the same distance of intersection, and the same sine
ratio as to one neighbouring the axis (u* or h* may not be
much smaller than the largest aperture U or H to be used in the
system). The rays with an angle of aperture smaller than
u* would not have the same distance of intersection and
the same sine ratio; these deviations are called ``zones,''
and the constructor endeavours to reduce these to a minimum.
The same holds for the errors depending upon the angle of
the field of view, w: astigmatism, curvature of field
and distortion are eliminated for a definite value, w*,
``zones of astigmatism, curvature of field and distortion,'
attend smaller values of w. The practical optician names
such systems: ``corrected for the angle of aperture u*
(the height of incidence h*) or the angle of field of
view w*.'' Spherical aberration and changes of the sine
ratios are often represented graphically as functions of the
aperture, in the same way as the deviations of two astigmatic
image surfaces of the image plane of the axis point are
represented as functions of the angles of the field of view.
The final form of a practical system consequently rests
on compromise; enlargement of the aperture results in
a diminution of the available field of view, and vice
versa. The following may be regarded as typical:--(1)
Largest aperture; necessary corrections are--for the axis
point, and sine condition; errors of the field of view are
almost disregarded; example-- high-power microscope objectives.
(2) Largest field of view; necessary corrections are--for
astigmatism, curvature of field and distortion; errors of
the aperture only slightly regarded; examples--photographic
widest angle objectives and oculars. Between these extreme
examples stands the ordinary photographic objective: the
portrait objective is corrected more with regard to aperture;
objectives for groups more with regard to the field of
view. (3) Telescope objectives have usually not very large
apertures, and small fields of view; they should, however,
possess zones as small as possible, and be built in the simplest
manner. They are the best for analytical computation.
(b) Chromatic or Colour Aberration. In optical systems
composed of lenses, the position, magnitude and errors
of the image depend upon the refractive indices of the
glass employed (see LENS, and above, ``Monochromatic
Aberration''). Since the index of refraction varies with
the colour or wave length of the light (see DISPERSION),
it follows that a system of lenses (uncorrected) projects
images of different colours in somewhat different places
and sizes and with different aberrations; i.e. there are
``chromatic differences'' of the distances of intersection,
of magnifications, and of monochromatic aberrations. If
mixed light be employed (e.g. white light) all these images
are formed; and since they are ail ultimately intercepted
by a plane (the retina of the eye, a focussing screen of a
camera, &c.), they cause a confusion, named chromatic
aberration; for instance, instead of a white margin on a dark
background, there is perceived a coloured margin, or narrow
spectrum. The absence of this error is termed achromatism,
and an optical system so corrected is termed achromatic.
A system is said to be ``chromatically under-corrected''
when it shows the same kind of chromatic error as a thin
positive lens, otherwise it is said to be ``over-corrected.''
If, in the first place, monochromatic aberrations be neglected
---in other words, the Gaussian theory be accepted---then
every reproduction is determined by the positions of the focal
planes, and the magnitude of the focal lengths, or if the focal
lengths, as ordinarily happens, be equal, by three constants of
reproduction. These constants are determined by the data
of the system (radii, thicknesses, distances, indices, &c.,
of the lenses); therefore their dependence on the refractive
index, and consequently on the colour, are calculable (the
formulae are given in Czapski-Eppenstein, Grundzuge der
Theorie der optischen Instrumente (1903, p. 166). The
refractive indices for different wave lengths must be known
for each kind of glass made use of. In this manner the
conditions are maintained that any one constant of reproduction
is equal for two different colours, i.e. this constant is
achromatized. For example, it is possible, with one thick
lens in air, to achromatize the position of a focal plane of
the magnitude of the focal length. If all three constants
of reproduction be achromatized, then the Gaussian image for
all distances of objects is the same for the two colours,
and the system is said to be in ``stable achromatism.''
In practice it is more advantageous (after Abbe) to determine
the chromatic aberration (for instance, that of the distance
of intersection) for a fixed position of the object, and
express it by a sum in which each component conlins the amount
due to each refracting surface (see Czapski-Eppenstein, op.
cit. p. 170; A. Konig in M. v. Rohr's collection, Die
Bilderzeugung, p. 340). In a plane containing the image point
of one colour, another colour produces a disk of confusion;
this is similar to the confusion caused by two ``zones'' in
spherical aberration. For infinitely distant objects the
radius Of the chromatic disk of confusion is proportional to
the linear aperture, and independent of the focal length (vide
supra, ``Monochromatic Aberration of the Axis Point''); and
since this disk becomes the less harmful with au increasing
image of a given object, or with increasing focal length,
it follows that the deterioration of the image is propor-,
tional to the ratio of the aperture to the focal length,
i.e. the ``relative aperture.'' (This explains the gigantic
focal lengths in vogue before the discovery of achromatism.)
Examples.--(a) In a very thin lens, in air, only one constant
of reproduction is to be observed, since the focal length and
the distance of the focal point are equal. If the refractive
index for one colour be n, and for another n+dn, and the
powers, or reciprocals of the focal lengths, be f and f + d
f, then (1) df/f = dn/(n-1) = 1/n; dn is called
the dispersion, and n the dispersive power of the glass.
(b) Two thin lenses in contact: let f1 and f2 be
the powers corresponding to the lenses of refractive indices
n1 and n2 and radii r'1, r"1, and r'2,
r"2 respectively; let f denote the total power, and d
f, dn1, dn2 the changes of f, n1, and n2
with the colour. Then the following relations hold:--
(2) f = f1-f2== (n1 - 1)(1/r'1-1/r''1) +(n2-1)(1/
r'2 - 1/r''2) = (n1 - 1)k1 + (n2 - 1)k2; and
(3) df = k1dn1 + k2dn2.
For achromatism df = 0, hence, from (3),
(4) k1/k2 = -dn2 / dn1, or f1/f2 = -n1/
n2. Therefore f1 and f2 must have different algebraic
signs, or the system must be composed of a collective and a
dispersive lens. Consequently the powers of the two must be
different (in order that f be not zero (equation 2)), and
the dispersive powers must also be different (according to 4).
Newton failed to perceive the existence of media of
different dispersive powers required by achromatism;
consequently he constructed large reflectors instead of
refractors. James Gregory and Leonhard Euler arrived at the
correct view from a false conception of the achromatism of
the eye; this was determined by Chester More Hall in 1728,
Klingenstierna in 1754 and by Dollond in 1757, who constructed
the celebrated achromatic telescopes. (See TELESCOPE.)
Glass with weaker dispersive power (greater v) is named
``crown glass''; that with greater dispersive power, ``flint
glass.'' For the construction of an achromatic collective lens
(f positive) it follows, by means of equation (4), that a
collective lens I. of crown glass and a dispersive lens II. of
flint glass must be chosen; the latter, although the weaker,
corrects the other chromatically by its greater dispersive
power. For an achromatic dispersive lens the converse must be
adopted. This is, at the present day, the ordinary type,
e.g., of telescope objective (fig. 10); the values of
the four radii must satisfy the equations (2) and (4). Two
other conditions may also be postulated: one is always the
elimination of the aberration on the axis; the second either
the ``Herschel'' or ``Fraunhofer Condition,'' the latter being
the best vide supra, ``Monochromatic Aberration''). In
practice, however, it is often more useful to avoid the second
condition by making the lenses have contact, i.e. equal
radii. According to P. Rudolph (Eder's Jahrb. f. Photog.,
1891, 5, p. 225; 1893, 7, p. 221), cemented objectives of
thin lenses permit the elimination of spherical aberration
on the axis, if, as above, the collective lens has a smaller
refractive index; on the other hand, they permit the elimination
of astigmatism and curvature of the field, if the collective
lens has a greater refractive index (this follows from the
Petzval equation; see L. Seidel, Astr. Nachr., 1856, p.
289). Should the cemented system be positive, then the more
powerful lens must be positive; and, according to (4), to the
greater power belongs the weaker dispersive power (greater
v), that is to say, clown glass; consequently the crown
glass must have the greater refractive index for astigmatic
and plane images. In all earlidr kinds of glass, however,
the dispersive power increased with the refractive index;
that is, v decreased as n increased; but some of the
Jena glasses by E. Abbe and O. Schott were crown glasses of
high refractive index, and achromatic systems from such crown
glasses, with flint glasses of lower refractive index, are
called the ``new achromats,'' and were employed by P. Rudolph
in the first ``anastigmats'' (photographic objectives).
Instead of making df vanish, a certain value can be assigned
to it which will produce, by the addition of the two lenses,
any desired chromatic deviation, e.g. sufficient to eliminate
one present in other parts of the system. If the lenses I.
and II. be cemented and have the same refractive index for one
colour, then its effect for that one colour is that of a lens
of one piece; by such decomposition of a lens it can be made
chromatic or achromatic at will, without altering its spherical
effect. If its chromatic effect (df/f) be greater than
that of the same lens, this being made of the more dispersive
of the two glasses employed, it is termed ``hyper-chromatic.''
For two thin lenses separated by a distance D the condition
for achromatism is D = v1f1+v2f2; if v1=v2
(e.g. if the lenses be made of the same glass), this reduces
to D= 1/2 (f1+f2), known as the ``condition for oculars.''
If a constant of reproduction, for instance the focal length,
be made equal for two colours, then it is not the same for
other colours, if two different glasses are employed. For
example, the condition for achromatism (4) for two thin lenses
in contact is fulfilled in only one part of the spectrum, since
dn2/dn1 varies within the spectrum. This fact was first
ascertained by J. Fraunhofer, who defined the colours by means
of the dark lines in the solar spectrum; and showed that the
ratio of the dispersion of two glasses varied about 20% from the
red to the violet (the variation for glass and water is about
50%). If, therefore, for two colours, a and b, fa =
fb = f, then for a third colour, c, the focal length is
different, viz. if c lie between a and b, then fc<
f, and vice versa; these algebraic results follow from
the fact that towards the red the dispersion of the positive
crown glass preponderates, towards the violet that of the
negative flint. These chromatic errors of systems, which
are achromatic for two colours, are called the ``secondary
spectrum,'' and depend upon the aperture and focal length
in the same manner as the primary chromatid errors do.
In fig. 11, taken from M. von Rohr,s Theoric und Geschichte des
photographischen Objectivs, the abscissae are focal lengths, and the
ordinates wave-lengths; of the latter the Fraunhofer lines used are--
A' C D Green Hg. F G' Violet Hg.
767.7 656.3 589.3 546.1 486.2 454.1 405.1 mm,
and the focal lengths are made equal for the lines C and F.
In the neighbourhood of 550 mm the tangent to the curve
is parallel to the axis of wave-lengths; and the focal
length varies lea