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p. Rrti.), tl'.f fpithct /llrntcKus, given to Jupiter, whol'c 

 pricll was Clcon, who, after bi-in;^ the loader of a gang of 

 r.ihhcrs, rccti\cd lignal favoiii-s from Antony, and in the 

 Aclian wardtferted hint and went over lo Caifar. The people 

 were called Atieilfni, and inhabited the countiy that lies be 

 twccn Ancyni of Phrvgia and the river Rhyndactis. Ceilaruis. 



ABRIDGING, in yll^rbra, is the redncing a compound 

 quantity, or eqi'ation, to its ;'^o'v I'nr.plc tiPRESSioN. 



To aoriilge the equation 

 K J — iix * + nix —iiL—O 

 -i +nc 

 -c +ii: 

 All the known quantities -fl-i-f of the fccond term arc 

 fuppofed equal to onefmgleleltcr — n.- ■A\ the known quan'.ities 

 -\-,il/+tn--i-k of the third term, equal to another letter +/ .• 

 and all the known quantities —flic of the fourth term, equal 

 to a fingle letter ~q. By which means we have x^—>txx-\- 

 fx — q=o, ini1<.ad of the equation propofed. 



An equation thus abridged, is called a formula. 



This is done either to fave room, or the trouble of writing 

 a number of fymbols, or to fmiplify the expreffion for reliev- 

 ing the atterition and memory, or rendering the formula more 

 eafy and general. 



ABRIDGMEKT, in LUcrature, a fummar)' or con- 

 traction of a difcourfe ; wherein the lefs material thmgs 

 being more bnefly infiftcd on, the whole is brought into a 

 leder compafs. The Abbe Gualtier has publiflied an ela- 

 borate work in 2 vols. 4to. intitled, A Method of making 

 Abridgments. 



Abridgments of books are numerous. They are ufually 

 faid to have had their rife in the times of ignorance ; to have 

 been one of the firll fruits of that barbarifm which enfued on 

 the decline of the Roman empire ; and to have been unknown 

 in thofe happy days, when letters flouridted among the Greeks 

 and Romans : yet we have fome traces of them in thofe tim.es. 

 Lord Bolingbroke, fpcaking of thofe who are employed in this 

 way, fays, that " they do neither honour to themfelves, nor 

 good to mankind ; for furely the abridger is in a foj-m below 

 the tranflator; and the book, at lead the liiilory, that wants 

 to be abridged, docs not deferve to be read. They have 

 done, anciently, a great deal of hurt, by fubftituting many 

 a bad book inllead of a good one ; and by giving occafion 

 to men, who contented themfelves with extracts and abiidg- 

 iTients, to negle£l, and, through their neglecl, to lofe, the 

 invaluable onginals." See Epitome. Notwithftanding 

 this refleftion, abridgments are in many cafes necelTary and 

 ufcful ; though it is a difficult tailc, and it requires peculiar 

 talents to peribrm the office of an abridger well; to preferi-e 

 the original author's fafts, reafoning, manner, and fpirit, 

 and to omit nothing that is efTential either in argument or 

 illullration, ajid at the fame time to retrench v.hat is redun- 

 dant, to rcltrain needlcfs amplification, and to avoid irrela- 

 tive or ufelefs digreffions, are objects of unqueftionable im- 

 portance. When thcfe objetls are duly regarded, abridg- 

 ments cannot fail to make knowledge of various kinds more 

 cafy of acccfs and of attainment, and by reducing the ex- 

 pence and labour of acquiring it, to extend its dlffuiion and 

 prevalence. To readers of various clafTes and defcriptions, 

 compendioits epitomes of voluminous works will be accepta- 

 ble and ufeful. The prafticc of abridging books that are 

 read, or the leisures of public profeiTors in the various de- 

 partments of fcience, is a method of iludy, which has been 

 recommended by thote who have experienced its utility, and 

 which has contributed in no fmall degree to afiiil both the 

 judgment and the memory. Thofe who have accuftomed 

 themfelves to this pradice have alfo acjiuircd a facility of 

 compofition, of which they have availed themfelves on van- 



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ous occafions; whatever may have been the employment of 

 profeflion to which they have been devoted W'n Ihall here 

 fubjoin two exceOent Ipecimens of that kind of abridgment 

 which we have recommended. 



In the EfTay on Miracles, Mr. Hume's defign is to prove, 

 that miracles which have not been the. immediate pbjefts of 

 our fenfes, cannot reafonably be believed upon the teltimony 

 of others. His argument is, 



" That experience, which in fome things is variable, in 

 " otliers uniform, is our only guide in reafoning concerning ■ 

 " matters of faft. Variable experience gives rile to proba- 

 " bilitv only ; an uniform experience amounts to proof. 

 " Our belief of any faft from the teftiir.ony of eye-w itneffLs 

 " is derived from no other principle than our experience of 

 " the veracity of human teltimony. If the fadt attefted be 

 " miraculous, here arifes^ contell of two oppofite experiences, 

 " or proof againft proof. Now a miracle is a violation of 

 " the laws of nature; and as a fiiTn and unalterable ex- 

 " perience has eftabliflied thefe laws, the proof againft a mi- 

 " racle, from the vei/ nature of the fad, is as coinplete as 

 " any argument from experience can poffibly be imagined ; 

 " and if fo, it is an undeniable confequence, that it cannot 

 " be furmounted by any proof whatever derived from human 

 " teftimony." 



In Dr. Campbell's DifTertation on Miracles, the author's 

 principal aim is to fliew the fallacy of Mr. Hume's argu- 

 ment ; which he has moft fuccefsfuHy done, by another fingle 

 argument, in the following manner : 



" The evidence arifing from human teftimony is not fohly 

 " derived froin experience ; on the contrarj^, teltimony hath 

 " a natural influence on belief antecedent to experience. 

 " The early and unlimited aflent given to teflimony by chil- 

 " dren gradually contracts as they advance in life: it if, 

 " therefore, more confonant to tmth to fay, that our Ji^i- 

 " (fi'iice in teftiinony is the refult of experience, than that cur 

 " fait/i in it has this foundation. Befides, the uniformity 

 " of experience in favour of any fad, is not a proof againil 

 " its being reverfed in a particular inftance. The evidence 

 " arifing from the fingle teftimon)' of a man of known 

 " veracity, will go farther to eflablifh a belief in its being 

 " adually reverfed. If his teflimony be. confirmed by a few 

 " others of the faine charader we cannot withhold our affent 

 " to the truth of it. Now, though the operations of na- 

 " ture are governed by uniform laws, and though we have not 

 " the teftiinony of our fenfes in favour of any vioLitkn o( 

 " them; ftill, if in particular inftances we have the tefti- 

 " mony of thov.fands of our fellow-creatures, and thofe 

 " too men of ftrid integrity, fwayed by no motives of am- 

 " bition or intereft, and governed by the principles of com.- 

 " mon fenfe, that they Were adually witnefTes of thefe vio- 

 " lations, the conilitution of our nature obliges us to be- 

 " lieve them." 



Thefe two examples contain the fubftancc of about 400 

 pages. 



For alrhlgments of the common law and the ilatutes, fee 

 Digest, Lav/, and Statutes. 



Abridgment, in Latv, is particularly ufed for the fhort- 

 ening a count or declaration, by fubtrading fome of the 

 fubitance of it. 



A man is faid to abridge his plaint in afiife, or a woman 

 her demand in an adion of dower, when, having put any 

 lands therein which are not in the tenure of the tenant or 

 defendant ; and non-tenure, or the like, is pleaded to that land 

 in the abatement of the writ; they are brought to abridge, 

 i. e. to defift from and leave that parcel out of the demand ; 

 and pray th;U the tenant m:!y an'.'wer to the reft, to wliich 

 he has not yet pleaded any thng. — Tnou^h the demandant 



hai 



