ABE 



A B K 



^hi-g,iv;;u:y ^^icmi to have been the Gilbiiiilum of An- 

 toninus, and UsK his Burniim. At the diilance of a 

 few nules from this town ^re the ruins of Llantony Abbey, 

 htuate in one of the deepeit receffcs of the black mountains, 

 founded on the fite of a chapel, fuppoi'ed to be the reii- 

 dence of St. David, the tutelary faint of Wales. It wa? 

 rebuilt, and the monallcry formed for Auguftine monks by 

 Sir William de I>acy, in l io8. 



ABERNETHY, a town in Strathern, a diftria of 

 Perthlhire, in Scotland. It is fituated on the river Tay, 

 and faid to have been the relidence of the Pictilh kings, and 

 the fee of an archbilhop, fmce transferred to St. Andrews. 

 It is now much decayed. 



Abernethy, John, in Biography, an eminent prelby- 

 terian divine, was born at Coleraine,in Londonderry, on the 

 19th of October 1680. His father was adilTenting minitler 

 in that town. After continuing under the care of liis parents 

 for nine years, he was feparated from them by a concurrence 

 of circumllances, which in the event proved favourable. His 

 father had buiinefs in London, and his mother removed to 

 Deny. Their fon accompanied a relation to Scotland, 

 who removed thither to avoid the troubles occailoned by the 

 infurreftion in Ireland ; and he thus efcaped the danger at- 

 tending the fiege of Derry, in which Mrs. Abernethy loll 

 all her other children. At the early age of thirteen he was 

 fent to the college at Glalgow, where he remained till he 

 had taken the degree of Mailer of Arts. In conformity to 

 the advice of his friends, he dechned the profeffion of phy- 

 fic, to which his views were at firil: diretled, and devoted 

 himfelf to the iludy of divinity imder ProfelTor Campbell at 

 Edinburgh. Such was his fuccefs in the profecution of this 

 objeft, that he was licenfed to preach by the Prefbyteiy of 

 Route before he was twenty-one years of age. In 1703, 

 after having been for fome years at Dublin with a view to 

 farther improvement, he was ordained at Antrim ; where 

 his public performances were much admired, and where his 

 sreneral conduit and diftinguifhed attainments recommended 

 him to the efteem of all who knew him. Y\.t was much re- 

 fpefted not only by his brethren in the miniftry, but by 

 many of the laity, who were pleafed with the vivacity of 

 his difpoiition, and the urbanity of his manners. His ta- 

 lents and virtues gave him a conliderable afcendancy in the 

 Synod, fo that he had a large ihare in the management of 

 public affairs. As a fpeaker, he was confidered as their 

 chief ornament ; and he maintained his charafter in thefe re- 

 fpefts, and his intereft in their efteem, to the laft, even 

 when a change of his religious fentiments had excited the 

 oppofition of many violent antagonifts. In 17 16 he at- 

 tempted to remove the prejudices of the native Irifh in the 

 neighbourhood of Antrim, who were of the popilh perfua- 

 iion, and to engage them to embrace tlie proteftant religion. 

 His labours in this laudable delign were not without fuccefs. 

 Several of them were induced to renounce popery, and con- 

 tinued firm in their attachment to proteftant principles ; 

 though others, to his great dlfcouragement, reverted to their 

 former perfuafion. In the following year he received two 

 invitations, one from Dublin, and another from Belfaft ; and 

 the Synod, whofe authority was very great, advifed his re- 

 moval to Dublin. Such, however, was his attachment to 

 his congregation at Antrim, that he determined to continue 

 there, at the riik of incurring the difpleafure of the Synod. 

 The interference of this aflembly was repugnant to thofe fenti- 

 ments of religious freedom which Mr. Abernethy had been 

 led to entertain, by the exercife of his own vigorous faculties, 

 and by an attention to the Bangorian coniroverfy, which 

 prevailed in England about this time. Many other minifters 

 in the north of Ireland formed more enlarged ideas of chrif. 



Vol. I. 



tian liberty and charity than thiy hjd been aociiftomcd fo 

 do, by means of the writings of Dr. Hoadly and his .ilfo- 

 ciates. With a view to the improvement of ufeful know- 

 ledge, they inftitulcd a fjciety, wiiofc jirou (led aim was to 

 bring things to the tell of reafon and rcri[)ture. Tliis laud- 

 able delign was probably fuggetled by Mr. Abernethy 

 However he was very aiftive in promoting it. As the gen- 

 tlemen who concurred in this feheme met at Belfaft, the 

 fociety derived its appellation fro:n the place in which they 

 aftembled. In the progrefs of this buljnefs, an.l in confe- 

 quence of the debates and dinenlions that :.ere occalioned 

 by it, fevcral perfons withdrew from the fociety ; and ihofe 

 who adiiercd to it were diilinguiihed by the title of non-fub- 

 fcribers. Their avowed principles were thefe : — " Eirft, 

 " That our l^ord Jefus Chrift hath in the New Teftament 

 " deteniiiued and fixed the terms of communion in his 

 " church : that all ehriitians who comply with thefe have 

 " a right to communion ; and that no man, or fel of men, 

 " have power to add any other terms to thofe fettled in the 

 " gofpel. Secondly, That it is not neceftary as an evidence 

 " of loundnefs in tlie faith, that candidates for the minilhy 

 " Ihould lubfcribe the Weftminllcr Confeffion, or any uniii- 

 " fpired form of articles, or confelFion of faith, as the term 

 " Upon which they fliall be admitted ; and that no churcli 

 " has a right to impofe fuch a fubfcription upon tiiem. 

 " Thirdly, That to call upon men to make declarations 

 " concerning their faith, upon the penalty of cutting them 

 " oft" from communion, if they ihould refufc it, and tliis 

 " merely upon fufpicion and jealoufies, while the perfons 

 " req\ured to purge themfelves by fuch declarations, can- 

 " not be fairly convlfted upon evidence of any error or lie- 

 " rely, is to exercife an exorbitant and arbitrary power, and 

 " is reallv an inquiiition." Mr. Abernethy was juftlv con- 

 lidered as the head of the non-fnbfcribers, and he became 

 of courfe a principal objedl of reproach and perlecution. In 

 an early period of this controverfy, ws. in 1719, he pub- 

 liftied a fennon from Romans, xiv. 5. in which he exjjlaincd 

 the rights of private judgment, and the foundations of chrif- 

 tian liberty. He afterwards publilhed a Imall piece, in- 

 titled, " Seafonable Advice to the contending Parties in 

 the North," which was accompanied with a Preface byr, 

 the Reverend Meftrs. Weld, Boyle, and Ciiappin, of Dublin. 

 The defign of this publication was to prove, that there 

 ought to be no breach of communion among the Proteftant 

 Diffenters on account of their different fentiments and prac- 

 tices concerning fubfcription to the Wellminfter Confefilon 

 The Synod, however, determined, in [726, that the non- 

 fuljfcribers fhould no longer be of their body, and revived, 

 with additional force, the aft of 1705, requiring the can- 

 didates for the minilli-y to fubfcribe the Weftminfter Con^ 

 feflion. From that time the excluded members formed them- 

 felves into a feparate Prelhytery, and prepared to encounter 

 many difficulties and harddiips. Mr. Abernethy found that 

 his jullly acquired reputation, which he had uniformly main- 

 tained by a moft exemplary life, v/as no fecuiity to him 

 againll thefe evils. Some of his congregation deferted him, 

 and under the influence of the Synod foniied themfelves into 

 a diftinft fociety ; and though moft of his old friends ad- 

 hered to him, he thought it moft advifeable to accept an in- 

 vitation which he received from the congregation of Wood- 

 ftreet, in Dublin ; and accordingly he removed thither in 

 1730. At Dublin he profecuted his ftudies with renewed 

 diligence ; and deviated from a praftice which he had pur ■ 

 fued in the north, by writing his fermons at full length, and 

 conftantly uftng his notes in the pulpit. The diflenlers in 

 Ireland being at this time deftrous of emancipating them- 

 felves from the incapacities devolved upon them by the Telt 



E Adt, 



