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list contains many of the abbreviations most frequently met with:

Roman Abbreviations on Coins, &c. A. U. C. or AB. U. C. ab urbe condita, from the foundation of the city: C. centum: CIO or Cx, 1000: 55, 5000: CCC, 100,000: C. ML. centum millia: COS. consul: COSS. consules: C.R. civis Romanus: D. O. diis optimis vel deo optimo: I. H. S. Jesus hominum Salvator: IMP. imperator: K. kalenda: M. S. manu scriptum: NON. APR. nonis Aprilis: PON. M. pontifex maximus: PRID. KAL. pridie kalendas: QUIR. quirites: RESP. respublica: S. C. senatus consultum: S. P. Q. R. senatus populusque Romanus: VL. videlicet.

Abbreviations in common use.-A. B. or B. A. bachelor of arts: Abp. archbishop: A. C. ante Christum : A. D. anno Domini, in the year of our Lord: Admr. administrator: Ala. Alabama: A. M. ante meridiem, forenoon; also, anno mundi, in the year of the world; and artium magister, master of arts: Ark. T. Arkansas territory: B. C. before Christ: B. D. bachelor of divinity: B. M. bachelor of medicine: Bp. bishop: B. V. blessed Virgin: C. or Chap. chapter: C. or cent. a hundred: C. B. companion of the Bath: C.C. Caius college: C.P.S. keeper of the privy seal: C. S. keeper of the seal: Ct. Connecticut: Ct. count: Cwt. hundred weight: D. C. District of Columbia: D. D. doctor of divinity: Del. Delaware: D. F. defender of the faith: D. G. Dei gratia: D. T. doctor of theology: Dwt. pennyweight: E. G. exempli gratia: Ex. example: Exr. executor: F. A. S. fellow of the antiquarian society: F. L. S. fellow of the Linnaan society: F. R. S. and A. S. fellow and associate of the royal society: F. S. A. fellow of the society of arts: Gal. gallon: G. C. B. knight grand cross of the Bath: Geo. Georgia: G. R. Georgius rex, king George: H. or hr. hours: Hhd. hogshead: H. M. S. his majesty's ship Ib. or ibid. ibidem, in the same place: I. e. id est, that is: + I. H. S. Jesus hominum Salvator: I. H. S. in hac cruce salus: Ill. Illinois: In. Indiana: Incog. incognito, unknown: Inst. instant, or of this month: J. U. D. juris utriusque doctor: K. B. knight of the Bath: K. C. B. knight commander of the Bath : Ky. Kentucky: Kil. kilderkin: Kt. knight: L. or lib. libra, pound; and also, liber, book: La. Louisiana: L.D. lady day: Ldp. lordship: Lea, leagues: Lieut. lieutenant : L. L. D. legum doctor, doctor of laws: L.S. locus sigilli, the place

of the seal: M. A. master of arts: Mass. Massachusetts: M. C. member of congress: M. D. doctor of medicine: Md.Maryland: Me. Maine: Messrs. messieurs, gentlemen: Mic. T. Michigan territory: Mis. Mississippi: Mo. Missouri: M. P. member of parliament: MS. manuscript: MSS. manuscripts: N. B. nota bene, take notice: N. C. North Carolina: Nem. con. or Nem. diss. nemine contradicente, or nemine dissentiente, unanimously: N. H. New Hampshire: N. J. New Jersey: N. S. new style: N. Y. New York: Obt. obedient: Oh. Ohio: O. S. old style : Oxon. Oxford: Oz. ounces: Pa. Pennsylvania: Parl. parliament: Part. participle: Per cent. per centum, by the hundred: Pl.plural: P. M. post meridiem: P. S. postscriptum: Q. question: Q. E. D. quod erat demonstrandum: Q. E. F. quod erat faciendum: Q. S. quantum sufficit: Q.V. quod vide: Rev. reverend: R. I. Rhode Island: R. N. royal navy: Rt. Hon. right honorable: Rt. Wpful. right worshipful: S. south: S. or St. saint: S. or Sec. seconds: S. C. South Carolina: Sec. secretary: Sh. shillings: ss. scilicet: St. street: Ten. Tennessee: Ult. ultimo, last: U. S. United States: Va. Virginia: Viz. videlicet: Vt. Vermont: W. or Wk. week: Xmas. Christmas: Xn. Christian: Xper. Christopher: Ye. the: Ym. them: Y". then: Y'. your, and year: Y. this: Y. that.

ABBREVIATORI. Officers in the court of Rome, appointed to assist the vice chancellor in drawing up the pope's briefs, and reducing petitions, when granted by the pope, into proper form, to be converted into bulls. The 12 first have the dress and rank of prelates; 22 others belong to the lower clergy; the rest are laymen. The salary of an A. of the first rank in the last century was 2000 scudi.

ABBT, Thomas, a philosophical writer, born Nov. 25th, 1738, at Ulm in Suabia, early manifested distinguished talents, and taste for the sciences. In 1756, he entered the university of Halle, where he applied himself to metaphysics and mathematics, quitting theology, to which he had at first devoted himself. In 1760, he was invited to join the university of Frankfort, on the Oder, as professor extraordinary. Here he wrote, amidst the tumult of war, his treatise on Death for one's Country. In the following year, after he had accepted an appointment as professor of mathematics, at Rinteln, he lived six months at Berlin, where he became intimate with both the Eulers, Mendelsohn and Nicolai, and took an

active part in the letters on literature, (Literaturbriefen.) He died in 1766, in the prime of life, at the residence of one of the minor German princes, his intimate friend and protector. A.'s writings exhibit acuteness, imagination, and spirit, and abound with practical philosophy, particularly his treatise on "Merit." He certainly would have ranked among the most distinguished writers, if he had lived till his mind was fully matured. Young as he was, he deserves to be numbered among the writers, who, in the time of Lessing, labored with united zeal to raise and refine German literature.

ABDERA, a city on the Thracian coast, which is said to have been founded by Hercules. Though it boasted of being the native place of Democritus and Protagoras, yet it was regarded among the ancients as notorious for stupidity. Wieland has portrayed it as such, in an amusing manner, in his Abderites.

ABDICATION, properly speaking, is only a voluntary resignation of a dignity, particularly the supreme. Of royal abdications, the most famous are those of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, in 305; of the emperor Charles V., in 1556; of the queen Christina of Sweden, in 1654. They have been the most frequent in Spain: Charles I., in 1556; Philip V., in 1724; Charles IV., in 1808: next in Savoy and Sardinia: Amadeus I., in 1440; Victor Amadeus II., in 1730: but only a few individuals have remained faithful to their resolutions; e. g. Diocletian, Charles V., and Victor Emanuel, king of Sardinia, who abdicated in favor of his brother Felix, in 1821. (See Piedmont, revolution of.) Victor Amadeus, of Sardinia, attempting to resume the government by force, was imprisoned by his son, Charles Emanuel III. Involuntary resignations are also called abdications; e. g. Napoleon's abdication at Fontainebleau. The right of a prince to resign the crown cannot be disputed; but the resignation, as some say, can affect only his personal right to the crown, and cannot prejudice his descendants; still less force upon the state another constitution, or another family. The abdication of Charles IV. of Spain, according to them, could only take effect in favor of the legitimate successor, but could not entitle a foreign sovereign to establish a new dynasty. The abdicated prince is sometimes allowed exterior marks of homage, the title of majesty, &c.; but sovereign powers he can no longer exercise. Out of his own country, he enjoys not the honors of a monarch, nor,

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in general, jurisdiction over his suite. If he, in whose favor the abdication was made, dies, or declines the offered dignity, the right of the abdicated prince is revested. Thus Philip V. of Spain resumed the throne upon the death of his son Louis, which took place half a year after he had resigned in his favor. But queen Christina of Sweden made a similar attempt in vain. Voluntary abdications, as they are called, are often involuntary, and the effects of court intrigue.

ABDOMEN, in anatomical language, the belly. Abdominal muscles, the muscles of the belly.

ABEL, the second son of Adamn, a twin brother of Cain. The latter was a tiller of the ground, A. a shepherd. Both brought their offerings before the Lord; Cain, the first fruits of the ground; A., the firstlings of his flock. God accepted the offering of A.; the offering of Cain he rejected. The latter, instigated by envy, murdered his brother in the field. Thus the first murder on earth was committed. The opinion of several Christian fathers, that A. died unmarried, has given rise to the sect of Abelites or Abelonites, (q. v.) The church considers the offering of A. as the pattern of a pure and holy offering, pleasing to God, and Christ himself calls him the just.

ABELARD, Peter, originally Abailard, a monk of the order of St. Benedict, equally famous for his learning and for his unfortunate love of Héloise, was born in 1079, near Nantes, in the little village of Palais, which was the property of his father Berenger. His inclination led him to the study of the sciences; and, in order to devote himself fully to philosophy, he ceded to his brothers his rights of primogeniture and his estates. He studied poetry, rhetoric, philosophy, jurisprudence, and theology, the Greek, Hebrew, and Latin languages, and soon became familiar with them; but scholastic philosophy chiefly engaged his attention. Though Bretagne then possessed many distinguished scholars, A. soon acquired all they could teach. He went therefore to Paris, the university of which attracted students from all parts of Europe. liam de Champeaux was the most skilful disputant of his time. A. made so good use of his instructions, that he was often victorious over his master, in contests of wit and logical acumen. The friendship of Champeaux was soon succeeded by enmity, in which his other scholars took part, and A., who had not yet completed his 22d year, escaped the consequences of their ill-will, by fixing himself at Melun,

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where he was soon followed by a multitude of young men, who were induced, by his reputation, to leave the schools of Paris, in order to attend his lectures. Envy pursued him here, and he left Melun for Corbeil, where he was no less admired and persecuted. In compliance with the advice of his physicians, he soon after remitted his labors, for the purpose of restoring his disordered health by a journey to his native place. After two years, he returned with renovated strength to Paris, became reconciled to his former teacher, and opened a school of rhetoric, the fame of which soon deprived all the others of their pupils. He lectured on rhetoric, philosophy, and theology, and educated many distinguished scholars, among whom were the future pope, Cœlestin II., Peter of Lombardy, bishop of Paris, Berengar, bishop of Poitiers, and St. Bernard. At this time, there resided at Paris a young lady, by name Louisa or Hélöise, niece to Fulbert, a canon of that city, then of the age of 17 years. Few ladies surpassed her in beauty, none equalled her in genius and knowledge. A., though already of the age of 39 years, became inspired with such violent love for Heloise as to forget his duty, his lectures, and his fame. Héloise was no less susceptible. Under the pretext of finishing her education, A. obtained Fulbert's permission to visit her, and finally became a resident in the house of the canon. The lovers lived several months in the utmost happiness, occupied more with their love than with their studies. But the verses in which A. celebrated his passion were circulated in Paris, and finally reached the eyes of Fulbert. He separated the lovers, but too late; Héloise was already pregnant. A. fled with her to Bretagne, where she was delivered of a son, who died, however, early. He now resolved to marry her secretly. F. was obliged to give his consent, and Héloise, who, from a false delicacy, preferred to be his mistress rather than his wife, and had formerly written to him that she would not deprive the world of so great a man by domestic cares, at last consented. The marriage was performed, and, in order to keep it secret, Héloise remained with her uncle, whilst A. retained his former lodgings, and continued his lectures. They saw each other but seldom; Fulbert, however, thought the reputation of his niece would be injured by this secret union, and made it known; but Héloise, valuing A.'s fame higher than her own good name, denied her marriage with an oath.

Fulbert manifested his anger by ill treatment; to deliver her from which, A. carried her away a second time, and placed her in the convent of Argenteuil. Fulbert erroneously believed it was intended to force her to take the veil, and, under the influence of rage, he subjected A. to an ignominious mutilation. A. became, in consequence, a monk in the abbey of St. Denis, and Héloise took the veil at Argenteuil. After time had somewhat moderated his grief, he resumed his lectures, and incurred new persecutions; his enemies accused him of heresy at the council of Soissons, 1122, on account of his Essay on the Trinity. They succeeded in having it declared heretical, and A. was condemned to burn it with his own hands. Continued persecutions obliged him at last to leave the abbey of St. Denis, and to retire to a place near Nogent-sur-Seine, where he built an oratory, which he dedicated to the Holy Ghost, and called it Paraclete. Being subsequently appointed abbot of St. Gildas de Ruys, he invited Héloise and her religious sisterhood to reside at his chapel Paraclete, and received them there. The lovers saw each other here again for the first time after a separation of 11 years. A. lived afterwards at St. Gildas, which afforded him but a gloomy residence, troubled by unsuccessful attempts to reform the monastery, and struggling always with his love for Héloise, and the hatred of the monks, who even threatened his life. St. Bernard, who had long refused to proceed against a man whom he esteemed, finally yielded to the repeated remonstrances of his friends, laid the doctrines of A. before the council of Sens, in 1140, had them condemned by the pope, and obtained an order for his imprisonment. A. appealed to the pope, published his defence, and went to Rome. Passing through Cluny, he visited Peter the Venerable, who was abbot there. This humane and enlightened divine effected a reconciliation between him and his enemies; but A. resolved to end his days in retirement. The severe penances which he imposed upon himself, together with the grief which never left his heart, gradually consumed his strength, and he died, a pattern of monastic discipline, in 1142, at the abbey of St. Marcel, near Châlonssur-Saône, at the age of 63 years. Héloise begged his body, and had him buried in the Paraclete, with the view of reposing in death by his side. In 1800, the ashes of both were carried to the museum

of French monuments at Paris, and, in Nov. 1817, were deposited under a chapel, within the precincts of the church of Monamy. A. was distinguished as a grammarian, orator, logician, poet, musician, philosopher, theologian, and mathematician; but he has left nothing to justify the reputation which he enjoyed among his contemporaries. He excelled in the art of disputation. His doctrines were often reprehensible, and his behavior censurable. His love and his misfortunes have secured his name from oblivion; and the man, whom his own century admired as a profound divine, is now celebrated as the martyr of love. The letters of A. and Héloise have been often published, in the original and in translations. ABELITES, Abelians, or Abelonians. St. Augustine gives this name to a Christian sect, which probably sprang from the Gnostics. They abstained from matrimony, to avoid propagating original sin, but adopted the children of others, and brought them up in their own principles. This society existed, towards the end of the 4th century, among the people who dwelt near Hippo, in the northern part of Africa, and borrowed their name from Abel, the son of Adam, because he died unmarried and without children. They have found followers in the Shakers, (q. v.) ABENSBERG, district and town in the circle of Regen, and kingdom of Bavaria, 83 miles from Ratisbon, on the Abens, has 230 houses, and 1080 inhabitants. It is the birth-place of the Bavarian historian, John Thurmaier, who called himself, from his native place, Aventinus, lived from 1466 to 1534, and left seven books of Bavarian annals. Here Napoleon, April 20, 1809, obtained a victory over an Austrian army, under the archduke Louis and general Hiller, (see Eckmühl,) who retired, with the loss of 12 cannons and 13000 men taken prisoners, to Landshut. This battle became important from its consequences-the taking of Landshut, on the 21st, the battle of Eckmühl, on the 22d, and the taking of Ratisbon, on the 23d of April.

ABERCROMBY, Sir Ralph, a distinguished British general officer, was born in 1738, at Tillibodie in Clackmannanshire. His first commission was that of cornet in the 3d regiment of dragoon guards, in 1756; and he gradually passed through all the ranks of the service, until he became a major-general, in 1787. On the commencement of the war with France, he was employed in Flanders and Holland, with the local rank of lieu

tenant-general, and, in that critical service, displayed equal skill and humanity. In 1795, he received the order of the Bath, and was appointed commander-inchief of the forces in the West Indies. In this expedition he captured the islands of Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Trinidad, with the settlements of Deme rara and Essequibo. On his return, he was appointed commander-in-chief in Ireland; but, for reasons very honorable to himself, was quickly removed to the correspondent command in Scotland. In the attempt upon Holland, in 1799, sir Ralph had the sole command on the first landing, and both his troops and himself greatly distinguished themselves. His royal highness the duke of York subsequently arrived, under whom sir Ralph acted. The final failure of the expedition is well known. The next and concluding service of this able and meritorious officer was in the expedition to Egypt, of which he was commander-in-chief. He landed, after a severe contest, at Aboukir, Mar. 8, 1801; and on the 21st of the same month was fought the battle of Alexandria, in which sir Ralph was unhorsed and wounded in two places; notwithstanding which he disarmed his antagonist, and gave the sword to sir Sidney Smith. The general kept the field during the day, and was then conveyed on board the admiral's ship, where he survived about a week. His body was conveyed to Malta, and interred beneath the castle of St. Elmo, and a monument was voted to him, by parliament, in St. Paul's cathedral. His widow was also created baroness Abercromby, with remainder to the issue male of her late husband; and a pension of 2000l. a year was granted in support of the dignity. Sir Ralph A. left four sons, George, a barrister at law; John, a major-general; James and Alexander.

ABERDEEN; the principal city in the north of Scotland; lat. 57° 9′ N. lon. 2° 8/ W. It is divided into Old and New A. The old town was of some importance as early as 893. The population of O. and N. A. is supposed to be about 40,000. A. has two colleges, King's and Marischal's, which, though quite distinct, are considered as forming one university, called the U. of king Charles. There are about 150 students in each of these colleges. The cotton manufactories in the vicinity of A. employ nearly 1000 persons. Vessels to the burthen of about 40,000 tons belong to the port, which is extensively engaged in the whale and

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other fisheries. About 2000 barrels of salmon are exported annually.

ABERDEEN, George Gordon, earl of, also viscount Formatine, one of the 16 Scottish peers, who have seats in the house of lords, was sent as ambassador to Vienna, for the purpose of concluding an alliance between England and Austria, which he signed Oct. 3, 1813, at Teplitz. He negotiated, also, the alliance of king Murat, of Naples, with Austria, in 1813; but endeavored in vain to reconcile those courts in 1815. Lord A., as an admirer of Grecian art, instituted, in 1804, the Athenian Society, each member of which must have visited Athens.

ABERLI, John Lewis, a landscape painter, famous for his Views of Switzerland; born in 1723, at Winterthur. He relinquished the manner of his teacher, Meyer, an indifferent artist, went to Berne, received better instruction from John Grimm, and at first painted portraits. But his inclination for landscape painting gained the ascendency. He went, in 1759, with his pupil Zingg, to Paris, and returned, esteemed and admired, to Berne, where he died in 1786. His manner has been very often imitated, yet his sketches have always maintained the reputation of being the best in their kind.

ABERRATION of light. We see an object because the rays of light proceeding from it strike our eyes, and we see the place of the object in the direction in which they proceed. Let us now imagine the earth, in its circuit round the sun, just arrived opposite to a fixed star, which sends off rays perpendicularly to the direction of the earth's motion. The eye of the spectator meets the ray, and as he perceives not his own motion, he supposes the light to be moving in an opposite direction; as, when we sail in a boat, the trees on the shore appear to pass along by us. Thus the eye misses the perpendicular ray, but meets an oblique one, and thence receives the impression of the light in the direction which results from this compound motion, namely, in the diagonal of a parallelogram, the sides of which represent the real motion of the light, and the apparent one, (i. e. the motion of the earth,) which take place at the same time. The spectator sees the star in its true place only when he is either approaching it, or receding from it, in a straight line. When moving in any other direction, the star appears a little in advance of its true position in the same direction (the maximum is 20-25"); and we call by the name of aberration

of light these apparent changes in the situation of the heavenly bodies, occsioned by the motion of the earth. We easily see that these changes are common to all the heavenly bodies, and are only more striking in the case of the fixed stars. They afford an additional proof of the motion of the earth. In consequence of this aberration, the fixed stars appear, during the revolution of the earth about the sun, according as they are situated, either in the plane of the ecliptic, or in its poles, or somewhere between them, in the first case to deviate in a straight line to the right or left of their true place, in the second to describe a circle, in the third an ellipse about that point, which further observation determines to be their real situation. This discovery we owe to Bradley, (q. v.) For the aberration of light, see the elementary works on astronomy, the dictionaries of natural philosophy by Gehler, Fischer, &c. There is a very good account of it in Biot's Traité Élémentaire d'Astronomie Physique, Paris, 1811, 2d Treatise, vol. 3, page 120, et seq. Tables of aberration, accompanied with explanations, are to be found in the baron von Zach's works, Tabula speciales Aberrationis et Nutationis, etc., Gotha, 1806,

and in the same author's Nouvelles Tables d'Abérration et de Nutation pour 1404 Etoiles, avec une Table générale d'Aberration pour les Planètes et les Comètes, Marseilles, 1812, and Supplément, 1813.

ABILDGAARD, Nicolai Abraham, historical painter to the king of Denmark, and knight of the order of Danebrog. He was born at Copenhagen, in 1744, and died there in 1809, director and professor of the academy of fine arts. He was undoubtedly the greatest genius, in painting, that Denmark ever possessed. All his works display profound study, richness of imagination, and remarkable power of expression. Five years' residence in Italy completed the education which he had received in the academy of arts at Copenhagen, yet his works never lost the character of originality. The creations of his productive imagination were sometimes of a gloomy, and always of a grand and solemn character. Modern painting can hardly show a finer coloring. A considerable number of the large pictures in the apartments of the royal palace at Christiansburg, burnt down in 1794, were by A. A. has painted four pictures, representing, with much force of allegorical expression, the most striking periods of European history. But few of his works in the palace were saved