ABDUCTION 



S 



ABERCROMBIE 



ABDUCTION, abduc' shun, a legal term ap- 

 plied to the forcible removal of a woman in 

 order to secure her fortune or her person, or 

 to compel her to comply with certain demands. 

 In law it is regarded as distinct from like 

 removal of a child of either sex, which is called 

 kidnapping. Abduction constitutes a criminal 

 offense and is severely punished upon convic- 

 tion. The penalty is most severe in England 

 and Canada, where the laws prescribe a mini- 

 mum penalty of five years' imprisonment, with 

 a maximum sentence of penal servitude for life. 

 In the United States the punishment varies 

 according to the laws of the state in which the 

 offense occurs, usually consisting of a fine and 

 imprisonment from one to five years. 



ABD-UL-HAMID II, ahbd ul hah meed' , 

 1918), thirty-fourth sultan of the Turkish 

 Empire, the man whose harsh treatment of 

 Christians called forth from Gladstone the 

 famous epithet, "Unspeakable Turk." He was 

 the son of Sul- 

 t a n A b d - u 1 - 

 Medjid, and 

 succeeded to the 

 throne on the 

 deposition of his 

 elder brother, 

 Sultan Murad 

 V. in 1876. Tur- 

 key at that 

 time was in a 

 disturbed con- 

 dition, but 

 neither then nor 

 did Abd- 

 ul-Hamid take 

 any serious steps toward reform. The Russo- 

 Turkish War (which see) came as a climax to 

 the disturbances in Turkey, and the empire 

 would have been completely overthrown except 

 for the interference of the European powers. 

 Turkey, however, lost Bulgaria, Bosnia and 

 Herzegovina, Montenegro, Roumania and 

 Serbia, together comprising more than one- 

 half of its European possessions. 



For the next thirty years Sultan Abd-ul- 

 Hamid was a sorry figure. His empire suf- 

 fered from all sorts of internal disorders. He 

 frequently promised reforms, usually at the 

 demand of one or other of the European pow- 

 ers, but seldom fulfilled promises. Finally in 

 1908 he was compelled by the revolutionary 

 party of Young Turks to grant a constitution. 

 In 1909 he was deposed and was succeeded by 

 his younger brother, who ascended the throne 



ABD-UL-HAMID 



For thirty-three years one 

 of the very few absolute mon- 

 archs in the world. 



with the title of Mehmet V. After three years' 

 banishment, Abd-ul-Hamid was taken hack to 

 Constantinople in 1912 and there kept in close 

 confinement. See YOINC TIKKS. 



ABECKET, THOMAS. See BECKET, THOMAS 

 A. 



A'BEL, the second son of Adam and Eve 

 (Gen. IV, 2). He was a shepherd and. accord- 

 ing to the Biblical story, offered sacrifices "of 

 the firstlings of his flock and of the fat there- 

 of" in such a spirit that they were regarded 

 with greater favor by the Lord than were 

 Cain's offerings of the fruits of the ground. 

 The latter, enraged at this, slew his brother. 

 See CAIN, for the story of the first murder. 



ABELARD, PIERRE, ab' elard, peair', (1079- 

 1142), a French philosopher and theologian, 

 famous in his own time as one of the boldest 

 and most original thinkers of his day, but 

 remembered in the centuries since his own 

 chiefly for his association with Heloi'se. He 

 was born at a village in Brittany, went to Paris 

 as a student at the age of twenty, and there 

 established himself as a philosophical lecturer 

 in 1113. His reputation became very great, for 

 he could conquer in debate the most eloquent 

 masters; and students came to him from 

 Rome, from England, and from Germany. 



Chosen by Canon Fulbert as teacher to his 

 niece, the beautiful and accomplished Heloi'se, 

 Abelard promptly fell in love with his pupil. 

 When the affair reached the ears of Fulbert, 

 the couple fled. The two were married with 

 the uncle's consent, and Abelard returned to 

 Paris, but Heloi'se denied the marriage that 

 she might not interfere with his advancement 

 in the Church, and the union was annulled by 

 Fulbert. Abelard thereupon became a monk 

 and Heloi'se a nun, but the former continued 

 his philosophical and theological lectures. The 

 Church authorities condemned his teachings as 

 heretical, however, and he withdrew to Nogent- 

 sur-Seine, where he built an oratory which he 

 called the Paraclete. Until his death he kept 

 up his correspondence with Heloi'se, who sur- 

 vived him twenty-two years, and her Letters 

 to him take rank in literature with the most 

 masterly expressions of love and devotion. 

 Their bodies were laid side by side at the 

 Paraclete, but in 1817 they were transferred to 

 Paris. 



ABERCROM'BIE, JAMES (1706-1781), a sol- 

 dier who commanded the British forces in 

 America at the beginning of the French and 

 Indian War. He attacked Ticonderoga on 

 July 8, 1758, but was defeated with heavy loss. 



