ABR ANTES ABSENTEE. 



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Hungary, Transylvania, and Sclavonia, whore they 

 were compelled to embrace the Roman catholic 

 faith, and the men to join the frontier militia. 

 Many of them adhered firmly to their religious 

 [rinciples. 



ABKANTES ; a city of 3,500 inhabitants, on the 

 right bank of the Tagus, in the province of Estrema- 

 dura, in Portugal. It is considered as of great 

 military importance, on account of its situation on a 

 number of steep hills, forming a defile ; by reason, 

 likewise, of its old castle, converted into a citadel ; 

 and of the river, which is navigable as far as thi- 

 place. The Portuguese, in this fortress, braved the 

 Spaniards, as early as 1762. In 1808, the army 

 under Junot arrived at A., after a dangerous and 

 tedious march along the banks of the Tagus, through 

 the woody, mountainous, and barren Beira. Junot 

 ordered the castle, as well as the city, which he 

 found ungarrisoned, to be placed in a state of de- 

 fence ; and, in spite of die great fatigue of his 

 troops, hastened to Lisbon, then occupied by 15,000 

 Portuguese soldiers, and inhabited by 350,000 souls. 

 The quickness of his march, and the daring courage 

 with which he took possession of this capital, at the 

 head of only 1500 grenadiers, induced Napoleon to 

 make him duke of Abrantes. At a later period, 

 however, he committed gross mistakes. At the ca- 



ilulation of Cintra, A. was surrendered to the 

 nglish, who made it still stronger. It was, how- 

 ever, of no importance during the remainder of the 

 war, except to Massena, who reconnoitred it at the 

 time when he sat down before the strong position of 

 the duke of Wellington, between Santarem and 

 Peniche. 



ABRAXAS STONES, or ABRASAX STONES, are very 

 numerous, and represent the human body, with the 

 head of a cock, and the feet of a reptile. The in- 

 scription Abraxas or Abrasax is often found on them, 

 in Greek cliaracters, which betray, however, a foreign 

 origin. Bellermann, in his Essay on the Gems of 

 the Ancients, bearing the Image of Abraxas, Berlin, 

 1817, declares only tliose having the above inscrip- 

 tions to be genuine. The gems which Iiave been 

 imported into Europe from Egypt and Asia, and 

 are also found in Spain in great abundance, be- 

 longed, according to his opinion, to the religious sect 

 of the Basilidians, and were used partly as means to 

 teach secret doctrines, partly as symbols, partly as 

 amulets or talismans. Grotefend derives the name 

 from the Persian language ; Bellermann thinks it 

 to be a composition ofthe Egyptian words Abac and 

 Seta 1 , and renders it " the holy word of Mess," which 

 reminds us of the Tetragrammaton of the Jews. 

 Different explanations have been proposed by others. 

 The ancients attempted to give meaning to the word 

 by considering the letters as Greek numerals, which 

 make together 3G5. The name of Abraxas stone is, 

 in modern times, applied to a variety of gems that 

 exhibit enigmatical compositions, strange words in 

 foreign cliaracters, as Ablanathanalba, &c., and even 

 to those which liear the emblems of Sebaism, the 

 sun and moon, with other symbols, which want, how- 

 ever, the characteristic type of the Basilidians. 

 These are more properly called Abraxoids. The 

 Basilidian names, seen on many stones of this class, 

 are explained by Bellermann, by the aid of the 

 Temetic languages. The interesting disquisition on 

 this subject by Neander, professor at the university 

 of Berlin, deserves to be carefully compared with 

 the opinions advanced by Bellermann. 



ABRUZZO, the northern extremity of the kingdom 

 of Naples, is bounded on the north and west by the 

 states of the church, on the east by the Adriatic, on 

 the south by Puglia and Terra di Lavoro. It con- 

 tains 628,600 inhabitants, and is divided into A. ul - 



terior, which comprises the north-western, and A. 

 citerior, which comprises the south-eastern part. 

 The highest part of the chain of the Apennines 

 crosses this mountainous country. In A. ulterior, 

 especially, it is very lofty, with steep clifls, and 

 throws extraordinary obstacles in the way of inter- 

 nal communication. The rivers which rise in A., 

 the Trento, Trontino, etc., generally flow hi a di- 

 rect course into the Adriatic sea, and have (the 

 Pescaro and Tangro excepted) the character of tor 

 rents. They are often suddenly swollen by the 

 rains, especially in the spring, and then sweep 

 away the bridges and all means of communication. 

 The climate of A. is severe. The summits of the 

 mountains are covered with snow from October to 

 April. Thick woods crown the eminences; the 

 valleys only are productive ; and even they (as the 

 inhabitants are mostly shepherds) afford but a very 

 scanty supply of grain. Almond, walnut, and other 

 trait-trees thrive everywhere; olives, in the low- 

 er regions, near the sea. The finest herds of all 

 kinds of cattle feed on the heights and in the val- 

 leys, and constitute the only article of export. The 

 most important cities are Aquilla, Pescara, (both 

 fortresses,) and Sulmona. The importance of A. 

 consists, principally, in its military sites. Project- 

 ing like a bastion 60 geographical miles, far into 

 the territory of the church, it becomes especially 

 important from the circumstance, that but one mili- 

 tary road, and that an extremely difficult one to an 

 army, leads into the kingdom ; therefore, had the 

 Neapolitans a warlike spirit, the possession of A., 

 whenever attacked, would not be obtained without 

 a great sacrifice. But when a people is destitute 

 of courage and energy, when the soldiers, sunk hi 

 cowardly apathy, run away at the mere idea of 

 a battle, the most favourable ground is of no 

 advantage. This is the reason that A. is of so 

 little use for a defensive war, and that Naples has 

 been the prey, sometimes of the Austrians, at other 

 times of the French or the Spaniards. The inhab- 

 itants of A. are generally banditti, who render the 

 frontiers of Naples and of the territories of the 

 church extremely insecure. These banditti consist 

 of the peasants living in the mountains, who possess 

 property and families, but, in addition to then* agri- 

 cultural concerns, make a trade of robbery. Urged 

 by rapacity and poverty to murder and plunder, they 

 unite, and fall upon the traveller, and not unfre- 

 quently upon the inhabitants and houses of the 

 plains. 



ABSALOM, (in Danish, Axel,*) bishop of Roeskilde 

 or Rotheschild, and archbishop of Denmark from 

 1158 to 1201 ; renowned as a clergyman, states- 

 man, general, and navigator. From his early 

 youth, he was a friend and counsellor of king Wal- 

 demar I., whose ability in peace and war procured 

 him the surname of Great. He was active, humane, 

 and learned ; set an example of industry to the 

 monks, and improved the condition of the church in 

 Denmark. In his youth, he studied at Paris. Un- 

 der his direction, Saxo wrote the valuable Danish 

 Chronicle. A. never abused his power, or the fa- 

 vour of the king ; so tliat Waldemar ever remained 

 his friend. He liad the honour of being the founder 

 of the chief city of Denmark, Copenhagen. He 

 built the castle, called after him, Axelburg, and the 

 city, Axelstadt. This castle, enlarged and im- 

 proved, served the kings of Denmark afterwards for 

 their residence, till the 18th century. A. died, 

 A. D. 1201, in the 73d year of his age. His grave 

 is still seen in Soroe, then a convent in Zealand. 



ABSENTEE ; a word in modern times particularly 

 applied to those land-owners and churchmen of Ire- 

 land who reside in England, or in foreign countries. 



