A B G 



recTttas jactnt, among tlie Romans, and xXtipoj ct^umon;, or 

 lix\imm, among the Greeks; i. e. hareililiis fpcrata or ex- 

 pedata, or rather novum dominium e.\-pc-j/ans. As civilians 

 fay lands and goods jaccnl: fo common lawyers fay, that 

 things in lil-^.' condition are in nheyancc. 



It is a maxim in law, tliat of eveiy land, either there is a 

 fee fimple in fomebody, or it is in abeyance. If a church 

 become vacant by the death of a parfon, the freehold is faid 

 to be in abeyance, till a new parfon be iadufted, for the pa- 

 tron has not the fee, but only the right of prefenting to it, 

 the freehold itfclf being in t!ie incumbent thus prefentedj 

 and therefore till fuch prefcntation, in nobody. 



ABGARUS, \n Eiogrnpliy, a name given to feveral of the 

 kings of Edefla; one of whom is faid to have been conlempo- 

 rai7 with Chrift ; who, hearing of his miracles, and labouring 

 under a grievous diilemper, incurable by human Hcill, ap- 

 plied to him, by letter, for rehef. It is alfo faid, that our 

 Savioin- returned him a written anfwer, promiling to fend 

 one of his difciples to cure him, and that Thaddeus was 

 commiffioned for that purpofe. Eufebius (Eccl. Hill. lib. i. 

 cap. 13.) relates this lloiy, and fays, that the evidence of 

 it exiftcd in the records of the city of Edeifa. ^I'garus's 

 letter, which was fent to our Saviour at Jerufalem by the 

 courier Ananias, is as follows : 



" Abgarus, toparch (or prince) of EdelTa, to Jefus the 

 *' good Saviour, who has appeared at Jerufalem, fendeth 

 " greeting : I have heard of thee, and of thy cures, per- 

 " formed without herbs or other medicines. For it is re- 

 " ported that thou makeil the blind to fee, and the lame to 

 ♦' walk ; that thou cleanfeft lepers, and cafteft out unclean 

 •' fpirits and daemons, and healeft thofe v\-ho are tormented 

 " with difeafes of a long Handing, a.!d raifeft the dead. 

 ** Having heard of all thefe things congeming thee, I con* 

 " eluded in my mind one of thefe two things: — either that 

 " thou art God come down from heaven to do thefe things, 

 *' or elfe thou art the Son of God, and fo performeft 

 «' them. Wherefore I now write unto thee, intreating thee 

 «• to come to me, and to heal my diftempcr. Moreover, I 

 " heai- that the Jews murmur againft thee, and plot to do 

 *' thee mifchief. I have a city, fmaU indeed, but neat, 

 •' which may fuffice for us both." The following is our 

 Lord's anfwer, returned by the fame courier : " Abgarus, 

 •' thou art happy, forafmuch as thou haft believed in me, 

 ♦' though thou haft not feen me." John, xx. 29. " For it is 

 " written concerning me, that they who have feen me 

 " (hould not beheve in me, that they who have not feen me 

 " might believe and live. As for what thou haft written to 

 •' me, defiring me to come to thee, it is neceffary that all 

 " thofe things, for which I am fent, fliould be fulfilled by 

 " me, and that after fulfilling them, I Ihould be received up 

 " to him that fent me. When, therefore, I (hall be re- 

 " ccived up, I will fend to thee one of my difciples, that he 

 •' may heal thy diftemper, and give hfe to thee, and to 

 " thofe Avho are with thee." To thefe epiftles are fubjoined 

 many particulars recited by Eufebius : After the afcenfion 

 of Chrift, Thomas, one of the apoftles, he fays, moved by 

 a divine impulfe, fent Thaddeus, one of Chrift's 70 difciples, 

 to Edefia to be a preacher and an evangelift of Chrift's doc- 

 trine, by whom all things promifed by our Saviour were 

 fiJfiUed. This was done, A. D. 43. The authenticity of 

 thefe letters, and of the hiftory to which they relate, has 

 been allowed by Parker, Cave, Grabe, Wake, Tillemont, 

 Addifon, and others ; but rejefted as falfe and fabulous by 

 the Bafnages, Spanheim, Le Clerc, Fabricius, Dupin, Jones, 

 Lardner, &c. The two laft writers have produced reafons 

 to prove the whole ftory to be fiftitious, which are un- 

 anfwerable. Allowing that the particulars recited by Eu- 

 febius, who flourifhed at the beginning of the 4th century, 

 Vol. I. 



A B I 



or before, were recorded in the archives of Edefla, it doei 

 not appear that Eufebiiis was ever at this city and took the 

 account from the arcliivcs himfclf. Befides, it is remark- 

 able, that this ftoiy is not mentioned by any writer before 

 Eufebius; that it is not much taken notice of by fuccceding 

 writers ; that the whole affair was unknown to Chrift's apol- 

 tles, and to the chriftians their contemporaries, as is mani- 

 feft from the early difputcs about the method of receiving 

 Gentile converts into the church; which this ftor)-, had it 

 been true, muft have entirely decided. As to the letters, 

 no doubt can be made of their fpnrioufnefs, fmce, if Clirift 

 had w ritten a letter to Abgarus, it would have been a part 

 of fnered feriplure, and placed at the head of all the books 

 of the New Teftament. Dr. Lardner has alfo pointed out 

 feveral pafTages, both in the cpiille to Abgarus, and in the 

 hiftor)-, which arc hable to exception. Not to add, that it 

 was the opinion of many of the moft learned and ancient 

 clniftians, that our Lord never wrote any thing. See Jones's 

 Canon of the New Teft. vol. ii. p. I. and Lardner's Works, 

 vol. vii. p. 222. 231. 



ABGILLUS, John, fumnmed Prcjler John, was fon to 

 a king of the Frifcii, and from the aufterity of his life ob- 

 tained the name of PrcJlcr, or prieft. He attended Charle- 

 magne in his expedition to the Holy Land ; but inftead of 

 returning with that monarch to Europe, it is pretended that 

 he gained mighty conquefts, and founded the empire of the 

 Abyffines, called from his name the empire of Prefter John. 

 He is faid to have written the hiftoiy of Charlemagne's 

 journey into the Holy Land, and of his own into the Indies; 

 but they are more probably trifling romances, written in the 

 ages of ignorance. 



ABHEL, in Botany, a name given by" fome to favin, an 

 ever-green garden-lhiub, well known in phyCc in many in- 

 tentions. 



ABHER, in Geography, a town of the Perfian Irak, or 

 ancient Parthia, in Afia, delightfully fituated, and adorned 

 with fine gardens and elegant public buildings. It is about 

 26 miles S. E. from Sultania. 



ABHORRERS, in EngJifi Hijlory, a denomination 

 given to a party about tlie year 1680, formed in oppofition 

 to thofe called Petitioners. In order to reftrain the prevail* 

 ing praiElice of petitioning againft grievances, the church 

 and court jorly framed addreffes, containing the higheft ex- 

 preflions of regard to the king, the moft entire acquiefccnce 

 in his wifdom, the moft dutiful fiibniiftion to liis prerogative, 

 and the deepeft abhorrence of thofe who endeavoured to en- 

 croach upon it by prefcribing to him any time for affemblirg 

 the parhament. Thus the nation came to be diftinguiihcd 

 into petitioners and abhorrers. But thefe appellations were 

 foon forgotten, though, when the pai-hament afiembled, great 

 num.bers of the irMomrj', fays Hume, (Hift. vol. viii.p. 130.) 

 from all parts of England, were feized by order of the com- 

 mons and committed to cuftody. 



ABI, in Biography, a learned rabbi of Alexandria, who 

 wrote a treatife on the intelligences which move tjie heavens, 

 and on the influence of the planets. He flourifhed in Egypt 

 about the year 1 150. 



ABIAD, in Geography, a town of Africa, on the bor- 

 ders of Abex, fituated on a high mountain, and remarkable 

 for its trade in ebony and aromatic plants. 



Abiad, or luhiie river, flows into the Nile, and is fup- 

 pofed, by fome, to be the Nile itfelf. 



ABIAGRASSO, a fmall town of Italy, featcd on a 

 canal, in the duchy of Milan. E. long. 9° 24'. N. lat. 

 45° 20'. 



ABIANS, in Ancient Hijlory, a people of Thrace, or, as 

 others fay, of Scythia, who derived their name from the ne- 

 gative paitiek B, and ^>6,-, lij'e, probably bccaufc U»ty had no 



F fctdcd 



