ABBOTT 



ABBREVIATIONS 



LYMAN ABBOTT 



AB'BOTT, LYMAN (1835- ), a distin- 

 guished American clergyman and editor, the 

 successor of Henry' Ward Beecher, both as 

 editor of the Christian Union (now The Out- 

 look) and as pastor of Plymouth Church, 

 Brooklyn. (See 

 BEECHER, HENRY 

 WARD.) II 

 bora in Roxbury, 

 Mass., a suburb 

 of Boston, and 

 was graduated at 

 New York Uni- 

 versity in 1853. 

 His father, Jacob 

 Abbott, who 

 wrote the Rollo 

 Books, and his 

 f a t h er's two 

 brothers were 

 Congrega- 



tional ministers, but young Abbott studied and 

 then practiced law for several years before he 

 felt drawn toward the ministry. After his 

 ordination in 1860 he was pastor in Terre 

 Haute, Ind., for five years; this service was 

 followed by four years at the New England 

 Church in New York City. For twenty years 

 he was then engaged in literary work, during 

 the last years of the period being Beecher's 

 associate as editor of the Christian Union. In 

 1888, the year after Beecher's death, he suc- 

 ceeded him at Plymouth Church and in 1893 

 became editor-in-chief of The Outlook. After 

 1899, when he resigned his pastorate at Plym- 

 outh, he devoted most of his time to writing 

 and editing, in which he has wielded a power- 

 ful influence for good. Among his works are a 

 life of Beecher and many volumes on religious 

 and social topics. His Reminiscences appeared 

 in The Outlook in 1914 and 1915. 



AB'BOTT, SIR JOHN JOSEPH CALDWELL 

 (1821-1893), a Canadian statesman, Sir John A. 

 Macdonald's successor in 1891 as Premier of 

 Canada. He was born at Saint Andrews, Que., 

 and was educated at McGill University, where 

 later he became dean of the faculty of law and 

 one of the governors. His first appearance in 

 public life was in 1857, when he % contested the 

 representation of his native county of Argen- 

 teuil; after an investigation that lasted two 

 years he obtained the seat and was successively 

 reflected till 1874. In 1862, as solicitor-general, 

 he introduced the use of stamps in payment 

 of judicial and registration fees in Lower Can- 

 ada; later he remodeled the jury law, and 



drafted and carried through Parliament an 

 insolvency act which is the basis of Canadian 

 law on this subject today. From 1887 to 1889 

 he was mayor of Montreal and at the .same 

 time a member of the Dominion Senate. In 

 the Cabinet of Sir John Mucdonald he became 

 a member without portfolio, and after Mac- 

 donald's death in 1891 he became Premier. < Md 

 age and the cares of office overburdened him, 

 however, and he resigned December 5, 1892. 

 He died May 24, 1893. 



ABBREVIATIONS, shortened forms of 

 words, used to save time and space. In ancient 

 and medieval times, when manuscripts \\viv 

 copied by hand, such labor-saving devices be- 

 came very common, and after the invention of 

 printing many of them persisted. At present, 

 the abbreviations in general use are numerous. 

 Frequently only the initial letter stands to rep- 

 resent a word, but since this would often give 

 rise to ambiguity, other letters are added. One 

 device in common use is the doubling of a let- 

 ter to designate a plural or a superlative; thus 

 /. means loudly and ff. very loudly; p. means 

 page and pp. pages. Arbitrary symbols are 

 not in reality abbreviations, but are used for 

 the same purpose. The following is a list of 

 contractions in very common use. 



A. Acre. 



A. B. Artium Baccalaureus, Bachelor of Arts. 



Abp. Archbishop. 



ace., a/c or acct. Account. 



A. D. Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord. 



adj. Adjective. 



Adjt. Adjutant. 



ad lib. Ad libitum, at pleasure. 



Adm. Admiral. 



adv. Adverb. 



aet. Aetatis, aged. 



Ala. Alabama. 



Alas. Alaska. 



Alta. Alberta. 



A. M. Ante meridiem, before noon ; Ars Magis- 



ter, Master of Arts, 

 amt. Amount. 

 Anon. Anonymous. 

 Apr. April. 

 Archd. Archdeacon. 

 Ariz. Arizona. 

 Arith. Arithmetic. 

 Ark. Arkansas. 

 Aug. August. 

 Aus. Austria. 

 Ave. Avenue. 

 Avoir. Avoirdupois. 



B. A. Same as A. B. Bachelor of Arts. 

 Bapt. Baptist. 



Bart. Baronet. 



bbl. Barrel. 



B. C. Before Christ*; British Columbia. 



B. D. Baccalaureus Divinitatis, Bachelor of 



Divinity. 

 Belg, Belgium. 



