A B ASCI A ABBOT. 



c..vcml vv iili da . I, on which the mathciiiancians drew 

 their mathematical .figures, as tlie pupils of the Ijm- 

 r.iMerian schools do at present. It also signified an 

 instrument tor facilitating arillnnrtical operations, 

 which wus with tin- ancients, very necessary, as their 

 way of writing numlx-p. rendered any calculation 

 very ilittioili. Tin- instrument consisted id' a num- 

 ber of parallel chonls or wires, upon wliidi l>all> or 

 beads were stnnij;, each \\in- Ivciiijj appropriated to 

 units, tens, hundreds, or thousands. Thus the year 

 of the Christian rni ISli? would he represented: 



Various other instruments for facilitating arithmetical 

 calculations have been invented, the most recent as 

 well as the most ingenious of which is that by Mr 

 Babbnge, which is scarcely yet completed. .Accounts 

 of these will be found under the proper head of Arith- 

 metic. Abacus, in architecture, Vitruvius tells us, was 

 originally intended to represent a square tile laid 

 over an urn, or rather over a basket. The form of 

 the abacus is not the same in all the orders of Greek 

 architecture. Modern architects have given differ- 

 ent significations to the word alums. See Architec- 

 ture. 



ARASCIA, or ABCASSIA, the northern district of 

 Georgia, in Asia, situated on the coast of the Black 

 Sea. 



ABATIS, (Fr.) trees cut down and laid with their 

 branches turned towards the enemy, in such a way 

 as to form a defence for troops stationed behind them. 



ABAUZIT, Finnan, was born in Languedoc, 1679. 

 In consequence of the revocation of the edict of 

 Nantes, his mother, who was a Protestant, took re- 

 fuge with her son in Geneva. He engaged with 

 such eagerness in his studies, that he made great 

 proficiency in languages, theology, antiquities, and 

 the exact sciences. At the age of nineteen, he 

 travelled into Holland, where he became acquainted 

 with Bayle and Basnage. Thence he passed into 

 England, where he was favourably noticed by New- 

 ton, and invited to remain by king William on very 

 advantageous conditions. He determined, however, 

 to return to Geneva, and, devoting himself to study, 

 he rendered important assistance to a society' en- 

 gaged in translating the New Testament into 

 French. In 1727, he was appointed public librarian 

 in Geneva, and was presented with the freedom of 

 the city. He died in 1767. Abauzit was a profound 

 scholar, a true philosopher, and a sincere Christian. 

 His conversation was unostentatious, but instructive 

 and animated. He was simple in his manners, in- 

 dependent and decided in his opinions, but a friend 

 to universal toleration. He defended the Principia, 

 and even detected an error in that work, when very 

 few men could understand it. Newton declared him 

 " a fit man to judge between Leibnitz and himself." 

 Rousseau decribes him as the "wise and modest 

 Abauzit ;" and Voltaire pronounced him " a great 

 man." His knowledge was extensive in the whole 

 circle of antiquities, in ancient history, geography, 

 and chronology. In theology his researches were 

 deep, and his moderation enabled him to avoid the 

 violence of theological parties. His works are 

 chiefly on theological subjects. An Essay on the 

 Apocalypse, Reflections on the Eucharist and on 

 the .Mysteries of Religion, are his principal writings. 

 ABBADIE, James, an eminent French protestant 

 divine. He accompanied King William III. into 

 England, and was first minister of a French church 



in London, and afierwanls Dean of Killaloe in Ire- 

 land. He died in 17^7, leaving a political tract in 

 deft nee of the revolution, and some theological 

 works. 



ABKK, before the first French revolution, was the 

 title of all those Frenchmen who devoted themselves 

 to di\ inity, or had at least pursued a course of study 

 in a theological seminary, in the hope that the king 

 would confer on them a real abbey ; that is, a cer- 

 tain part of the revenues of a monastery. Oniaincd 

 clergymen were those only who devoted themselves 

 entirely to the performance of clerical duty : the 

 others were engaged in every kind of lilerarv. occu- 

 pation. There were so many of them, poor and ruth, 

 men of quality and men of low birth, that they 

 formed a particular class in society, and exerted an 

 important influence on its diaracter. They were 

 seen every where; at court, in the halls of 

 justice, in the theatre, in the coflee-hinises. In al- 

 most every wealthy family there was an abbe, occu- 

 pying the post of familiar friend and spiritual adviser, 

 and not seldom that of the gallant of the lady They 

 corresponded, in a certain degree, to the philosophers 

 who lived in the houses of the wealthy Romans 

 in the time of the emperors. A round toupet, a 

 short, black, brown, or violet coat, completed the. 

 appearance of an abbe. 



ABBES coMMANDATAiaES. The king of France 

 had formerly the right of appointing abbots over 

 two hundred and twenty-five monasteries. These 

 abbots enjoyed a third part of the revenues of the 

 monastery, but had no authority over it, the charge 

 of superintendence being committed to a jrrii-nr 

 claustral. According to rule, every abbot ought to re- 

 ceive ordination in the course of a year, but the pope 

 dispensed with the rule, and the abW spent his in- 

 come (from 1200 to 150,000 French livres, about 

 50 to 6000) wherever he pleased. This shocking 

 abuse excited the indignation of the people, and was 

 one of the causes of the revolution. The lower sine- 

 cures of this kind, the abbayes des savans, were 

 used as pensions for learned men ; the richer to pro- 

 vide for the younger sons of the nobility. 



ABBEVILLE, a town of France, situated on the river 

 Somme, 120 miles N. N. W. from Paris. Its popu- 

 lation exceeds 20,000, and its manufactures are chief- 

 ly woollens of a fine quality. 



ABBOT, (Heb. abbas, father) was originally the 

 name of every aged monk ; but since the 8th cen- 

 tury, it denotes the head of a monastery. The 

 Abbot requires unconditional obedience from his 

 monks, and his office is to supervise the whole 

 brotherhood, to enforce the observance of the rules 

 of the order, and manage the property of the con- 

 vent. Since the 6th century, abbots have always 

 been priests; and, since the second council of Nice, 

 in 787, have enjoyed the power of conferring the 

 lower orders of priesthood ; but, in the essential 

 points of jurisdiction, were every where subject to 

 the diocesan bishop, till the llth century, and inde- 

 pendent of each other. The consequence of the ab- 

 bots grew with the wealth of their monasteries ; 

 several, especially in those countries where the dif 

 fusion of Christianity proceeded from the monastic 

 estabUshments, received episcopal titles and privi- 

 leges ; all held a rank next to that of bishop, and 

 had a vote in the ecclesiastical councils. Equal 

 privileges and rights appertained to the abbesses as 

 the superiors of the nunneries, except that they have 

 seldom been allowed to vote in synods ; and the 

 power of ordaining, the administration of the sacra- 

 ments, and other sacerdotal offices, were expressly 

 forbidden them, in the 9th century. About, this 

 time, by the favour or from the wants of the kings, 

 abbeys frequently came into the hands of the laity, 



