A B A 



ABATIS, or Abbatis, in irritcn of ik B.ir'nuroui 

 jl^t, denotes an orTi vr of tho Ibhlcs, who had the care 

 aiid dilhihution of ' '.lt. The name is derived 



from BuLin, which .. .1 ancient mcsfurc of corn. 



Dii-Cangc. 



Abati5, or A-iiAT!?, frf^m t!'f French, -ato.'r?, to///// 

 J :■■:, i'l :' a heap of large trees 



(' . . ; or with boughs to 



I .1 cutr.uchmcnts, to cover 



t. .:troad,^, i:c. bee Line. 



AiJA'l''.)N, a llructuie erected at Riiodos, a^ a tcncc 

 to tlic trophy of Artcniifia, (['.icen of Hahcarnaffiis, Coos, 

 &c. in memory of her victory ever the Rhodians, or rather 

 for conceding tlie dhgi-acc of the Rhodians from the pubhc 

 eye, as tiie eiracing, or Jellropng the trophy is, -i their 

 cllimalion, a point of religion. 



ABATOR, in Z,<ia'. ticeABATF. 



ABATOS, in jincienl Geography, an ifland in the kke 

 Moeris, famous for its papyrus, and for being the burial- 

 place of Ofiris. 



ABAV'I, Abavo, or Abavum; a large tree in Ethio- 

 pia, wliieli Ijcars a fruit hke a gourd. See Ada n son i a. 



ABAUZIT, Firmin, in Biography, was born at Ufez, 

 in Languedoc, on the nth of November, in 1679. As 

 his parents were protellants, he was obliged to leave France 

 by the revocation of the edift of Nantes, and to wander 

 among tlie mountains of Cevennes, till at length he found 

 an afvlum in Geneva. His mother, who had fuffered much, 

 expended the wreck of her fortune in his education. His 

 chief attention was direftcd to the ftudy of mathematics and 

 natural hiftorj-, wh.ilil he made a confiderable progrefs in every 

 department of literature. In 1698 ho vifitcd Holland, and 

 became acquainted with Bayle, Jurieu, and the Bafnages. 

 He afterwards came to England, and converfed with St. 

 Evremor.d and Sir Ifaac Newton. " You," fays Sir Ifaac, 

 in an epiilolary correfpondence, " are a very fit perfon to 

 " judge between Leibnitz and me." King William, to 

 whom he became known, attempted, by a libei-al offer, to 

 detain him in England ; but he chofe to return to Geneva ; 

 where, in i?!^, he entered into the fociety formed for tranf- 

 lating the NewTeftamcnt into the Frenchlanguage ; and where, 

 in 1723, the univerfity ofTcred him the chair of philoibphy, 

 whichhe refufed on account of the weaknefs ofhiscouftitution, 

 andofhis talents. In I727he was prefented with thefreedomoi 

 the city, and appointed to the office of its librarian. There are 

 few perfons, whofe mental endowments, natui-al and acquired, 

 and whofe moral and Chriftian virtues merit higher eftima- 

 tion than thofe of jibauzit. Of his mathematical and phi- 

 lofophical knowledge he gave ample evidence in his defence 

 of Newton againft father Callel, and in his difcovery of an 

 error in the Principia, which the author correfted in a fecond 

 edition of that admii-able work ; a work which at the time 

 of its firft publication few were able to underftand. He 

 was alfo an excellent linguift, geographer, and hiftorian, and 

 intimately converfant with medals and ancient MSS. Such 

 were not only the extent and accuracy of his knowledge, 

 but the tenacioufnefs of his memor)', that he could readily 

 avail himfclf of the knowledge he had acquired. To this 

 purpofe it is mentioned, that when RouITeau pubhfhed his 

 Di&onary of Mufic, he found xhzt^ylbauzit, who had not 

 direfted his attention to the mufic of the ancients for thirty 

 years, could give him a clear and fatisfaftory account of the 

 fubjeft which he himfclf had invelligated with fo much 

 labour. To this circumflance it was probably owing, that 

 the only panegyric which Roufleau ever wrote upon a living 

 perfon, and one of the fineft of his eloges, was addreffed to 

 Abau%it, Voltaire is alfg faid to have paid him a very high 



ABB 



and delicate compliment. A ftranger having told the poet 

 of Fcrney, tliat he was come to Geneva to iee a great man, 

 Voltaire alk.d him, \Vhetlier he h.id fcen ytlauzi: >. We may 

 naturally imagine, that the elKem a;:d attachment of theie- 

 fcepticai philofophcrs would not be diminilhsd by tiie libe- 

 rality of his theological f.iitiments. On a lubject that has 

 been much controverted, yibauzit is faid to have adopted 

 and promoted tlie Arinn doclrine. He aUo employed him- 

 fclf in difcovering eiTora in the various tranflations of the 

 Bible ; and conceiving mathematical demonflration to be ne- 

 ccllai-y in matters of teftimony, he was led to divtil the 

 Scrij)ture3 of feveral miracles. But whatever may have 

 been ills occafional doubts, and the refuh of his inquiiies on 

 particular topics, he was, ai a valuable biographer deli- 

 neates his charader, " religious by principle, and a Cliriftian 

 upon coi'.iclion. He defended reUgion to the time of his 

 death, and employed fome of his lall days in eftabliftiing its 

 evidence. Pious witliout hypocrlfy, virtuous without auf- 

 terity ; he loved mankind ; he fought to be ufeful to 

 tliein ; and he never blamed others for thinking differ- 

 ently from himfclf. His love of fimplicity appeared in all 

 his aclions ; he fhunned ceremony, and retired from flattery. 

 His converfotion, always heard with eagernefs, was deli- 

 vered without oftentatidn. Even the exterior of his houfe, 

 and of iiis perfon, difcovered an unaffected diilike of parade 

 and luxury. Always himfelf, he was always the modeft, 

 the wife Abauzlu" This valuable man died, lamented by 

 the repubhc, and regretted by the learned, on the 20th of 

 iMarch, 1767, at the advanced age of 87 years. He pub- 

 liflied, in 1730, a much improved edition of Spon's Hif- 

 tory and State of Geneva. As a citizen, he was aftive in 

 the dilTenfions of 173-1- ; and though he was attached to the 

 ariftocratic paitv, he poiTefied a great degree of repubhcan 

 zeal. The wiitings he left behind him were chiefly theo- 

 logical. Of thefe the principal was, " An Effay upon the 

 Apocalypfe," written to fliew that its canonical authority 

 is doubtful, and to apply the predictions to the deftruc- 

 tion of Jerufalem. This work was tranllated by Dr. 

 Twells, aTid refuted fo much to the fatisfaftion of the 

 author, that he flopped an impreffion of it, which had been 

 intended. It was, however, afterwards introduced by the 

 Dutch editors into their edition of his works, which alfo 

 comprehends " Refleftions on the Eucharift ;" " oh Idola- 

 try ;" on " the Myfteries of Religion ;" " Paraphrafes and 

 Explanations of fundry Parts of Scripture ;" fevei'al critical 

 and antiquarian pieces, and various letters. An edition, 

 without the Effay on the Apocalypfe, was printed at Ge- 

 neva, in 8vo. in 1770. Gen. Biog. by Dr. Aikin and En- 

 field. Biog. Diet. 



ABAY, in Geography, a name given to the Nile, in 

 the territory of Gojam ; which Come derive from jib, fa- 

 ther, under which appellation this river, or perhaps the 

 fpirit refiding in it, is an objeA of worlhip ; but Mr. Bruce 

 (Travels, vol. iii. p. 655.) fays, that Abay in the Am- 

 haric language fignifies, " the river that fuddenly fwells, or 

 overflows periodically with rain." 



ABB, among Cluthkri, denotes the yam of a weaver's 

 waip, whence the wool of which it is made is caOed Mb- 

 •uiool. 



ABBA, in jincitnt Geography, a town of Africa, near 

 Carthage. 



ABBA, in the Syriac and Chaldee languages, literally 

 fignifie? z father ; and figuratively a fuperior, reputed as a 

 father in refpeft of age, dignity, or afFedtion. This appella- 

 tion was not allowed to be ufed by flaves, when addreffing 

 the head of a family, and this circumflance adds pecuhar force 

 to the expreflion of the apoftle, Rom. viii. 15. It may alfo 

 if h« 



