Mahomet. A man of strong character and determined spirit, he at first waged war against the pretensions of his nephew; but on being taken prisoner, either yielding to the ascendancy of that extraordinary impostor, or per

came one of his most devoted partisans, and saved Mahomet's life at the battle of Henain. This chieftain was held in exceeding respect by the Caliphs Omar and Othman, who always alighted to salute him. He died in the 32nd year of the Hegira; and as his grandson Abul Abbas became Caliph one hundred years after his death, he may be regarded as the progenitor of the Abbasside dynasty.-D'Herbelot.

made handsome offers to Abauzit to settle in England, but filial affection opposed his acceptance of them, and he returned to Geneva, where, in 1726, he was made public librarian. The literary labours of Abauzit, in number and importance, are not on a par with his high reputa-|ceiving the advantages of compliance, he betion, which seems to have been founded on his known great acquirements, universal information, great accuracy, and modest and amiable character, rather than on his actual productions. He published an improved edition of Spon's History of Geneva, with dissertation and notes; but his writings are chiefly theological. One of the most celebrated is "An Essay on the Apocalypse," which throws doubt on the canonical authority of that book. This essay was answered, in London, by Dr Twells, to whom the author sent it; and that so much to his satisfaction, that he stopped an intended impression, although this essay is included by the Dutch editors in their collection of his works. Abauzit has been highly eulogised both by Voltaire and Rousseau, being the subject of the only panegyric which the latter ever wrote on a living person. In his religious opinions, this learned man leaned towards Socinianism, or the modern Unitarian doctrine; but he was not distinguished as a partisan. He died, universally lamented, at the advanced age of 87 years. Hist. of Geneva. Un. Biog.

ABBADIE (JAMES) a celebrated Protestant divine, born at Hay in Berne, in 1654, or as one authority asserts, in 1658. He studied at Sedan, and obtained the degree of doctor of divinity; but the wretched policy of Louis XIV towards his Protestant subjects obliged him to repair to Holland, and subsequently to Berlin, where he became pastor of the French church, established under the patronage of the elector of Brandenburgh. After the death of this prince, Abbadie returned to Holland with Marshal Schomberg, and accompanying that nobleman in the train of King William to England, was present when he fell at the battle of the Boyne. Rendered thus by connexion a zealous partisan of the English revolution, he wrote warmly in defence of it, in answer to Bayle; and after being for some time pastor of the French church in the Savoy, was promoted to the deanery of Killaloe, a preferment which has not been deemed equal to his theological pretensions. He died in London, in 1727, much esteemed as a man, and admired as a writer and preacher. His works are of course chiefly theological, of which the most celebrated, the "Traité de la Vérité de la Religion Chrétienne," bears a high character, and has been translated into English. His "Defense de la Nation Britannique" has already been noticed; and he is also author of another, at present very scarce, work, entitled Histoire de la Conspiration derniere de l'Angleterre," which was written by command of William III, and contains all the particulars of the assassination plot. All the writings of this active and zealous, yet occasionally fanciful, divine, are in the French language; but several of them have been translated.-Niceron. Biog. Brit.

ABBAS, son of Abdal Mothleb, and uncle of

ABBAS (EBN ABBAS ABDALLA) son of the above, and cousin german to Mahomet, was the most considerable of the doctors called "Sahabah," or companions of the prophet. He is author of a commentary on the Koran.— Ibid.

ABBAS (HALI, or ALI EBNOL ABBAS) a Persian physician and follower of Zoroaster, of the 10th century. He wrote a book on physic, entitled "Almaleci," or Royal Work, which was translated into Latin by Stephen of Antioch in 1127.-Friend's Hist. Med.

ABBAS I (SHAH) the Great. This celebrated Persian sovereign was born about the year 1558, and ascended the throne on the murder of his brother Ismael, in 1585. The character of Abbas was sanguinary, but politic and determined. When he assumed the sovereignty, Persia was divided into satrapcies or governments, the kahns or heads of which were nearly independent. Added to this source of weakness, a body of soldiery existed, similar to the Prætorian guards of Rome and the Janizaries of Turkey-a description of troops always dangerous to the throne they are nominally raised to protect. These, as well as the leading families, were of the race of Kurchi, or Turkmans, whose interests being the same, they formed a party for mutual support, which materially weakened the royal authority. Abbas commenced his reign with a determination to crush this source of weakness, and pursued his object with great ability, but at the same time with all the perfidy and cruelty which have ever characterised Eastern political expediency. In other respects, the life of Abbas was very warlike, and he enlarged his dominions by successful expeditions on every side. It was he who first removed the seat of government to Ispahan. One of the most remarkable exploits of Shah Abbas was the taking of Ormuz, in the Persian gulf, from the Portuguese: in this enterprise he was assisted by an English fleet, to which the place surrendered in 1622. The result of this exploit was a commercial treaty between Abbas and the English, that was very advantageous to the latter. A few years after this transaction, Shah Abbas died, at the advanced age of seventy, and was succeeded by his grandson Shah Sephi. In his family he displayed the same jealous rigour as elsewhere: having three sons by as many wives, the two youngest were deprived of sight, and he put

ABBE (LOUISA L') wife of a ropemaker of Lyons in the sixteenth century, celebrated for her personal attractions and poetical talent. She was usually denominated "La Belle Cordonniere ;" she was the author of several light poems.-Nouv. Dict. Hist.

the eldest to death, in consequence of a con- have been relieved several years afterwards by spiracy in his favour, which the dutiful prince a compassionate lady to whom she sang her had himself assisted to put down. This murder misfortunes. The romantic nature of these in produced a great tumult among the people; cidents has rendered the loves of Giaffer and and even the Shah, who excused himself on Abassa celebrated throughout the East; and the score of self-preservation, affected or felt certain amatory poetry exists in the Arabic langreat remorse, and never would wear the in-guage, which is said to have been composed by signia of royalty afterwards. It was the son the latter, and addressed to Giaffer.-D'Herof this prince who succeeded him. Notwith-belot. standing the public and domestic rigour of Abbas, he was much esteemed by his subjects, and his memory is held by the Persians in great veneration. This is often the case in despotic governments, where cruelty and tyranny only extend to individuals or a small circle round the court, while the general policy is popular and beneficial. By putting down the independent kahns, the people were benefitted, as also by the alliance of their sovereign with European rulers, in furtherance of commercial intercourse. Abbas also patronized a rigid administration of justice between man and man, and adorned his dominions with many magnificent and useful works. As an eastern sovereign, politician, and conqueror, he may therefore merit the name of Great, which has been bestowed upon him. Craft and cruelty have not unfrequently distinguished the dominating sovereigns of Europe, but in Asia they form no small share of the art of government. Shah Abbas was a man of low stature, with a keen aspect, small and grey eyes, a high hooked nose, a pointed beardless chin, and thick mustachoes-a characteristic physiognomy.-Mod. Un. Hist.

ABBO (CERNUUS) a monk of St. Germaindes-Pres, and author, among other things, of "A poetical relation of the Siege of Paris by the Normans and Danes, towards the end of the Ninth Century." Abbo was an eye witness of the events which he describes, a fact that renders his work curious as a narrative, although the poetry is miserable. It is contained in the collection of Duchesne, as well as in the "Nouvelles Annales de Paris," by Duplessis. It has been translated from the original Latin into French.-Vossius. Cave.

a

ABBO (FLORIACENCIS) or Abbot of Fleuri, Benedictine monk of the tenth century, highly celebrated for his learning. Abbo resided for some time in England, and became a great favourite with King Ethelred. He was subsequently employed by King Robert of France, to negotiate with Pope Gregory V, who had laid France under an interdict; and he was killed on his return, in 1004, in a fray originating in an attempt to restore the discipline of a monastery. He wrote an epitome of the lives of the Popes, a life of St Edmund the Martyr, and various ecclesiastical epistles.--Cave.

ABBAS II (SHAH) great grandson of the above, succeeded his father Shah Sephi when only thirteen years of age. This prince has been made known to Europe by Tavernier and other travellers, who, in consequence of his taste for the arts, found access to him. He ABBOT (GEORGE) archbishop of Canterwas humane for an eastern sovereign, and was bury in the reign of James I and Charles I, thought to possess capacity, although obscured was born at Guildford in Surrey, in October, by his attachment to wine and women. His 1562. He was the second son of Maurice reign was signalized by nothing memorable; but | Abbot, a clothworker, who, having suffered a reply of his, when solicited to propagate persecution for his religious opinions under the Islamism by compulsion, deserves recording. "The Almighty alone," said Abbas, is Lord of men's minds; and for my own part, instead of meddling with private opinion, I feel it my duty to administer justice impartially." This was the observation of a Mahometan prince not many years before Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes.-Mod. Un. Hist.

reign of Mary, naturally instilled into his children that aversion to popery by which the archbishop was all his life distinguished. The latter having passed through Guildford school, became a student at Baliol college, Oxford, and after a rapid attainment of academical honours, was elected master of University college, and three times vice-chancellor of the University; having in the mean time received the preferment of dean of Winchester. His early advancement has been attributed to his anticatholic zeal, which was a recommendation in the reign of Elizabeth; but his reputation for learning doubtless much assisted his promotion, as he was second in the list of the eight learned men of Oxford to whom the charge of trans

ABBASSA, sister of the Caliph Haroun Al Raschid, who was betrothed by her brother to his celebrated vizier Giaffer, the Barmecide, but under a strict injunction that the marriage should never be consummated. The mutual affection of the lovers soon led to a neglect of this mandate, and a son was born, whom his parents contrived to forward to Mecca, but not with so much secresy as to escape detection.lating the historical parts of the New Testament The death of the unfortunate Giaffer and several of his kindred, was immediately pronounced by the irascible caliph, who also turned his sister, in a state of destitution, from the palace. The unhappy princess is said to have wandered about reciting her own story in verse, and to

was intrusted. At Oxford, Dr Abbot displayed great zeal against the Arminian doctrines, and there commenced the hostility between him and Laud, by which their more public life was subsequently distinguished. A new path to ecclesiastical honours was soon after opened to Ab

marriage of the Princess Elizabeth with the Elector Palatine; an union which subsequently led to the Hanoverian succession. In the year 1621, an accident happened which occasioned him much trouble and vexation. His constitution requiring much exercise, he occasionally followed the diversion of hunting; and unfortunately discharging an arrow from a cross-bow at a deer, in Lord Zouch's park in Leicestershire, the archbishop shot an attendant gamekeeper, who died of the wound. A very odious portion of theological rancour was displayed on this occasion, every attempt being made to misrepresent the affair to the king; who however sensibly maintained, that an angel might have miscarried in this sort." A formal commission of inquiry was, notwithstanding, instituted; when it was determined that there had been an irregularity, and that it must be obviated, both by a pardon from the king and by a dispensation to reinstate Abbot in his metropolitan authority. Even after this purgation, so much scruple was felt by certain candidates for consecration, that they obtained the king's permission to receive it from the hands of sundry bishops, in lieu of the archbishop. In fact, Laud and the Arminian party sought to connect the misfortune of the archbishop with certain Jewish and Papistical theories relative to homicide or chance-medley by the priesthood, in order, if possible, to set him on the shelf. The zeal and courage of the primate were not however abated by this circumstance, as he strenu ously opposed the projected match between Prince Charles and the Infanta of Spain, as unfavourable to the Protestant interest; which conduct did not injure him with James, whom he frequently attended during his last illness, being present when he expired. Under the next reign, the current of court favour changed to the ecclesiastical party to which Archbishop Abbot was directly opposed, and means were soon found to bring him into difficulties. A sermon was preached by a Dr Sibthorpe, the purport of which was to justify a loan that Charles demanded. The archbishop honour

bot, who accompanied the Earl of Dunbar to Scotland, in order to effect a union between the churches of England and Scotland, the great wish of James. The success of this commission brought him into great favour with the king; and although, generally speaking, of an unbending character, he at this time stooped to the usage of the court, and fed James with extravagant adulation. The sapient monarch was "zealous as David; learned and wise; the Solomon of the age; religious as Josias; careful of spreading Christ's gospel as Constantine the Great; just as Moses; undefiled in all his ways as a Jehosophat or Hezekias; full of clemency as another Theodosius," &c. &c. In some other respects, Abbot also showed a more slavish spirit at this time than he afterwards displayed: for instance, when asked whether a Protestant king might assist the subjects of a neighbour labouring under tyranny and oppression, he replied "No: for even tyranny is God's authority." James did not absolutely yield to this reasoning, which was given in reference to the propriety of his interfering as a mediator between the United Provinces and Spain; but the succeeding preferments of Abbot showed that it did not altogether displease him. In rapid succession, he became bishop, first of Lichfield and Coventry, then of London; and in about two years afterwards, archbishop of Canterbury, to the discomfiture of many rivals of the party opposed to him. As primate, Archbishop Abbot showed the rigid Calvinism of his opinions with too much of the tyrannical religious principle and bigotted | spirit of the age, especially in asserting the full prerogative of his office, in the court of high commission, against the salutary restrictions which the chief justice, Sir Edward Coke, attempted to put on its oppressive jurisdiction. His Calvinistic zeal also led him to attempt to persuade the king to remonstrate with the statesgeneral against the choice of the Arminian Vorstius for the professor's chair at Leyden. In other respects too he interfered with the religious parties in Holland, which induced the remonstrants to send over the celebrated Gro-ably and conscientiously refused to obey the tius to vindicate their conduct and tenets. Such was the prejudice of the archbishop, that he found nothing extraordinary in Grotius, whom he regarded, independently of his Latin eloquence, as a " simple fellow." In the affair of the Lady Frances Howard, so infamously divorced from the Earl of Essex to gratify James's minion Somerset, Archbishop Abbot, in a court of delegates consisting of bishops and civilians, resolutely voted against the divorce, and wrote a vindication of his conduct for so doing; which, although answered by James himself, produced no alteration in his conduct. From this time, it is thought that the king's favour abated towards the archbishop, notwithstanding it was he who had just then introduced to James his future powerful favourite, Buckingham. The latter however, so far from serving his early patron, subsequently became one of his most formidable opponents. The zeal of Archbishop Abbot for the Protestant interest induced him to forward with all his might the

king's command to license the printing of this sermon, which however received the sanction of the Bishop of London. For this refusal, the archbishop was suspended; but it was soon found necessary to recal him. No way daunted, he displayed the same firmness when the Petition of Right was under consideration; he gave it his decided support; and when Dr Mainwaring was brought to the bar of the house of lords, for maintaining, in two sermons, the right of the king to impose taxes without the consent of parliament, he officially reprimanded him, and declared his abhorrence of the doctrine. With similar determination, he acted contrary to various instructions which, through the influence of Laud, were sent to the bishops of the province; and, in short, persisted in the line that he deemed his duty until his death, which took place at his palace at Croydon, in 1633. From the foregoing sketch, it is obvious that, with certain defects, originating in the bigotry and intolerance of the times

Archbishop Abbot was a firm and conscien- | plausible preacher; Robert, the greater schotious character. It may he observed, with- lar: George, the abler statesman; Robert, the out partiality to either opinion, that his Calvin- deeper divine.-Fuller's Worthies. Biog. Brit. istic tendencies were by no means remarkable; ABBOT (MAURICE) youngest brother of for it is obvious that the first hue produced by the archbishop, was brought up to trade, the Reformation was of that complexion; and, and became an eminent merchant, and one of that during the reign of Elizabeth, and a part the first directors of the East India Company, of that of James, many of the prelacy favoured in which capacity he displayed considerable that more rigid view of the articles; a fact which talent. He was also one of the farmers of the accounts for the ardent predilection of the bulk customs, and a member of the council for of the people, as displayed in the ensuing civil settling the colony of Virginia. He served the contests. In private life, Archbishop Abbot city as sheriff, alderman, mayor, and represupported the character of an upright and wor- sentative in Parliament; and died in 1640.thy man; and several instances of his liberality Biog. Br. and munificence still exist, particularly an hos- ABBT (THOMAS) a German writer, was pital at Guildford, on which he expended con- born at Ulm in Swabia, in the year 1738. siderable sums during his life time. As a ge- This extraordinary young man, when at the neral politician, the wisdom of his counsels, as age of thirteen, wrote an ingenious treatise, opposed to the headstrong measures of Laud, entitled Historia Vitæ Magistra," and studied subsequently so fatal to the king and nation, is at the University of Halle, where he applied exceedingly obvious, and possibly forms the himself chiefly to history and mathematics. best reply to a recent weak attempt to depress From Halle, in 1760, he removed to the univerthe one and exalt the other. His works are, sity of Frankfort on the Oder, and in conse"Six Latin Lectures on Divinity, at Oxford," quence of being appointed extraordinary pro1598, 4to.; " Exposition of the Prophet Jo-fessor of philosophy, relinquished the study of nah," 4to. 1600; "A Erief Description of divinity, for which he had been originally eduthe whole World," 12mo. 1634; Treatise cated. At this place, the very centre of war, on the Perpetual Visibility and Succession of he wrote his treatise "On Dying for our the True Church," 4to. 1624; "A Narrative Country." The year following he repaired to of the True Cause of his Disgrace and Seques- Berlin, where he formed an intimacy with the tration at Court," written in 1627. This is Eulers, Nicolai, and Mendelsohn, and accepted printed in Rushworth's collection, as is his the situation of professor of mathematics at "History of the Massacre in the Valteline," in Rintelen in Westphalia. At this place he the third volume of Fox's Book of Martyrs. A wrote his treatise On Merit," to which he few other pieces, besides letters and speeches, owed his chief celebrity. This work procured are also to be found in various collections. him the friendship and patronage of the Prince Biog. Brit. of Schaumbourgh Lippe, and a lucrative and honourable employment, which unfortunately he did not long enjoy, as he died at the age of twenty-eight. He was splendidly interred by his liberal patron, who wrote himself the inscription on his tomb. The works of Abbt abound in thought, fancy, and spirit; and it is believed that, had he lived, he would have become a leading German writer. His friend Nicolai published his works in six volumes, after his death.-Appd. to Life of Mendelsohn.

ABBOT (ROBERT) elder brother of the archbishop, shared in his good fortune. He was matriculated at the same college, and pursued the same course of education as his brother; and his talents as a popular preacher early produced him the living of Bingham in Nottinghamshire. He was also appointed one of the chaplains in ordinary to King James, who added a commentary of his own to his book "De Antichristo.' In 1609, he was elected master of Baliol College, Oxford; which was favourably distinguished by his exertions. Like the archbishop, Dr Robert Abbot was a most zealous opponent of Popery; and in a sermon before the University of Oxford, at which Dr Laud was present, alluded with extreme keenness to the secret methods by which certain persons were attempting to undermine the Reformation; an allusion so personal to Laud, that he was under some doubt whether he ought not to openly resent it. Dr Robert Abbot died in the year 1617, being one of the five bishops who succeeded to the see of Salisbury in the course of six years. He wrote several commentaries on the Scriptures, which are not published; among others, a Latin commentary on the whole Epistle to the Romans, which remains in manuscript in the Bodleian Library. The published works of this prelate are almost altogether controversial. Comparing the two brothers, Fuller observes, that George was the more

ABDALONYMUS, a descendant of the kings of Sidon, reduced to the condition of a husbandman at the time of the capture of that city by Alexander, who promoted him to the throne of his ancestors. A philosophical reply of this prince to his benefactor, has done much more to render him celebrated than his elevation. When Alexander asked him how he had borne his adversity, Abdalonymus answered, "Would to Heaven that I may bear my prosperity so well! I then had no cares, as my own hands supplied me with all that I wanted." This instance of equanimity and moderation increased the bounty of the conqueror, who added other provinces to his government.Quintus Curtius.

ABDAS, a Christian oishop of Persia in the reign of Theodosius the younger, who, inflamed by absurd and intemperate zeal, destroyed the altar which the Persians dedicated to their re presentative of deity, Fire. This act of frenzy produced his own destruction and a massacre

of the Christians, as also a long and bloody | son of Berenger, an individual of noble family, war between the Persians and Theodosius the Younger. Bayle observes, that it is too common, in alluding to this Persian persecution, which lasted thirty years, to omit all advertence to the cause of it.-Bayle. Mosheim.

ABDERAME, or ABDERAHMAN, a governor of Spain for Ischam, Caliph of the Saracens in the eighth century, who endeavoured to ex-pily, at that dark period, when genius and tend the conquest of that people over France as well as Spain. He succeeded so far as to penetrate into the heart of the former country, and took Bourdeaux and other towns; but after several victories, was killed in battle and his army routed by Charles Martel in 732. This seasonable victory, as Gibbon well ob-nalists. On leaving this master, according to serves, probably produced a great alteration in the history of Europe, and more especially in that of France and Great Britain. Bayle.