with vigour, but in the mean time the death of Yezid happening, the army was withdrawn, and Abdalla was left in peaceable possession of the caliphate.

He was recognized in all the provinces of the empire, except Syria and Palestine; and enjoyed his dignity nine years, till the seventy-second year of his age, and seventy-third of the Hegira; for he was the first person born at Medina after Mahomet's arrival there. At this juncture, the caliph Abdalmelik, who had first defeated and slain Musab the brother of Abdalla, sent his general, Hegiage, to besiege Mecca. Abdalla defended himself for the space of seven months, with the greatest resolution, though deserted by his two sons. His courage was sustained by his mother, a woman of ninety, named Asema, grandaughter to the caliph Abubeker; who supported his spirits by her exhortations, and brought refreshments with her own hand to him and his soldiers at the breach. At length, finding he could hold out no longer, he took leave of his mother, swallowed a cordial draught with musk, and sallied out on the enemy. He killed many of them with his own hand; but being at last obliged to retreat, he took his stand on a spot in Mecca where he could be attacked only in front, and still defended himself. The assailants threw tiles and stones at him; and when he felt the blood trickle down his face and beard, he is said to have recited this verse from an Arabian poet," The blood of our wounds falls not upon our heels, but our feet." The blows were repeated till he fell dead under them, when his head was cut off, and sent to Abdalmelik.

Abdalla is in great reputation among the Arabian writers for courage, but is noted as excessively avaricious; so that he has given rise to a kind of proverb, "That there was never a brave man who was not liberal, till Abdalla the son of Zobeir." He was in much esteem for piety, and is recorded to have been so intent on prayer, that a pigeon once alighted on his head while he was thus employed, and sat long without his perceiving it. D'Herbelot, Biblioth. Orient. Marigny, Hist. des Arabes.—A.

ABDALLA-EBN-ALI, an eminent captain of the Saracens, was uncle of the two first caliphs of the Abassides, and was very instrumental in raising that family to the throne. He was the general of his nephew Abul-Abbas-al-Jaffah, and gained for him a great battle against the caliph Merwan. After the death of that prince he caused his nephew to be proclaimed caliph, and was made by him governor of Syria. Here he used the most treacherous arts to get into his

possession the chiefs of the house of Ommijah, whom he massacred in a very inhuman manner. The cruelties he inflicted upon the unfortunate partisans of this family are scarcely surpassed by any thing recorded in history, and render the memory of Abdallah detestable. They caused the surname of Al Jaffah, or Shedder of Blood, to be given to his nephew, though he is not accused of sharing in them. During the reign of this caliph, Abdallah possessed great authority; but at his death he could not fubmit to become a subject of his second nephew, Abu Giaffer Almanzor, but caused himself to be proclaimed at Damascus, alleging that the caliphate was not hereditary, but elective. He raised a strong army, and marched against his nephew; but he was met and totally defeated by the general Abu Moslem, and obliged to fly for refuge to Bosra. Here he concealed himself several months; but his retreat being at length discovered, he was enticed by his nephew, with the same arts he had himself used against the Ommijans, to venture himself at court, where he was at first graciously received. A house was built for him, the foundations of which are said to have consisted of salt. These suddenly giving way on the affusion of water, he, with many friends, was crushed to death under the ruins. This happened, A. D. 754. D'Herbelot, Bibl. Marigny, Hist. des Arabes. -A.

ABDALMELIC, son of Merwan, and tenth caliph, was raised to the throne at his father's death, being about 40 years of age, A. D. 684, Hegir. 65. It is said that he received the news of his elevation when sitting with the Koran in his lap, and that he cried, folding it up, "Divine book, I must now take leave of thee!"

As Abdalla-ebn-Zobeir held Mecca against him, he with great policy substituted the religious pilgrimage to Jerusalem in place of that to Mecca, causing a relic, called Jacob's stone, to be set up for veneration in the mosque of Jerusalem. The great business of his reign was to re duce the rebels who possessed part of the empire, in which he completely succeeded by means of his generals, so as to become the most potent of the caliphs who had hitherto reigned. Under him, likewise, some nations of the Indies were conquered, and the Mahometan arms first penctrated into Spain. Yet his own personal qualities were not worthy of such success. He was treacherous and cruel; and so avaricious, that he obtained the name of Rash-al-hegiarat, or sweat of a stone. Amru the son of Said, governor of Damascus, having revolted against him, supported by a strong party, the caliph agreed to an accommodation, and seemed reconciled to him.

founder of a monarchy which lasted near 200 year. Mod. Univers. Hist.-A.

Soon after, however, sending for him to his palace on some pretence, he put him into fetters, bitterly upbraided him, and struck out two of his teeth. Being then summoned to the mosque, he gave orders to his brother to put Amru to death. The remonstrances of the unfortunate Amru had such an effect on the brother of Abdalmelic, that he was unable to execute the command. On which, the caliph, with his own hands, and in a butcherly manner, killed Amru; but the cruel action threw him into such a fit of trembling, that he fell down upon the body.

When the head of Musab, the brother of Abdalla, after his defeat, was brought to Abdal melic, an old officer present made an observation which strongly characterises those times. "I have seen, said he, the head of Hossein brought to Obeidollah, that of Obeidollah to Almoktar, that of Almoktar to Musab, and now Musab's is brought to you." This remark struck the caliph so deeply, that he left the castle where he was, and ordered it to be demolished. The success of his general in taking Mecca, with the death of his rival Abdalla, is mentioned under the latter person's life. Various rebellions took place after this, which gave rise to many vicissitudes of fortune, but in the end were all terminated by the valour of the caliph's general, Hegiage, who is said to have behaved with great cruelty towards the vanquished.

Abdalmelic died about the 21st year of his reign, and 60th of his age, A. D. 705, Hegir. 86. He left 16 sons, four of whom reigned after him in succession. This caliph was so great an enemy to the house of Ali, that he could not endure the praises that the poet Ferozdac had in several places of his works lavished on them. He is commended for moderation towards the Christians, whom he left in possession of a church at Damascus, which they would not give up at his demand. He is asserted to have been the first who coined Arabic money. D'Herbelot, Bibl. Marigny, Hist. des Arabes.-A.

ABDALRAHMAN I. surnamed the Just, was son of Moawijah, and grandson of the caliph Hesham, of the family of the Ommiades. After the ruin of his family in Asia, he came into Spain, in his 28th year, about A. D. 756, invited by the Saracens, who had revolted against their king, Joseph. Abdalrahman gained several battles against Joseph, who in the last was slain. He was then recognized throughout the weft as legitimate caliph, conquered with great bloodshed Castile, Arragon, Navarre, and Portugal, and took the title of king of Cordova. At this city he built the great mosque; and died in 790 after a reign of 32 years. He was the

ABDALRAHMAN, called by French historians ABDERAME, was captain-general and governor of Spain under the caliph Hesham, in the eighth century. Eudes, duke of Aquitain, being exposed to an attack from the French on one side, and apprehensive of a fresh irruption of the Saracens on the other, entered into an alliance with Munuza or Muniz a celebrated Saracen leader, and induced him to revolt against the caliph and his governor. Abdalrahman, however, defeated and pursued him, and forced him to put an end to his life. He then assembled a powerful army, which he led into France, and advancing to Arles, defeated a large body of troops which opposed him. He next pushed into Gascony, crossed the Garonne and Dordogne, and routed Eudes who ventured with a new army to engage hin. Still following the duke of Aquitain, he marched through Perigord, Saintonge, and Poitou, every where committing dreadful ravages, and putting all to fire and sword. Having reached Tours, he was met by Charles Martel, who had been reinforced by a body of Germans and Gepida; and, after skirmishes for six successive days, a general action ensued on the seventh, in which the Saracen army was almost cut in pieces, and Abdalrahman himself fell in the field of battle. great event, which first broke the Saracen power, and taught the Europeans that they were not invincible, is placed by most writers in the year 732, Hegir. 114.

This

Some authors place this expedition some years earlier, and represent the irruption of the Saracens as a consequence of aid requested of them by Eudes, who had before been vanquished by Charles Martel. Mod. Univers. Hist.

- A.

ABDAS, a Persian bishop, who flourished. about the middle of the fifth century, in the reign of Theodosius the younger, only deserves mention as a memorable example of the folly of attempting to support any cause by persecution. In his intemperate zeal for the Christian religion, he destroyed a pagan temple, in which the Persians performed, according to the institutions of Zoroaster, the worship of fire. The king of Persia, on receiving the complaint of the injured Magi, ordered Abdas to rebuild the temple, at the same time threatening, in case of refusal, to pull down all the Christian temples. The bigoted priest refused to obey the king's equitable command: upon which a dreadful persecution of the Christians ensued, which lasted thirty years, accompanied by a war be

tween the Greek empire and the Persians. Abdas paid the penalty of his violence and obstinacy; for he lost his life in this persecution. If bigotry could instigate a Christian bishop, living under a pagan prince, to commit such an outrage, who can be surprised at the mischiefs which the same spirit has produced, when it has acted under the protection and authority of the civil power? Theodoret's Eccles. Hist. lib. v. c. 39. Socrat. Eccl. Hist. lib. vii. c. 18. Bayle. -E.

ABDIAS, of Babylon, is the fabulous author of an apocryphal work, entitled "Historia Certaminis Apostolici" [An History of the Contest of the Apostles]. He pretends that he had seen Christ, and was one of the seventy disciples, and that he accompanied the apostles, Simeon and Jude, into Persia: nevertheless he cites a passage from Hegesippus, who lived in the time of Justin Martyr. The work was unknown to the ancient Christian fathers, and was first brought to light by Wolfang Lazius, who found the manuscript in a cavern of Carinthia, and published it, in folio, at Basil in 1551. Lazius finds so strong a resemblance between the former part of this book and the Acts of the Apostles, that, he thinks, either Luke borrowed from Abdias, or Abdias from Luke. The book was reprinted in 8vo, with notes, by Faber, at Paris in 1556, and 1571, and, in 12mo, at Cologne in 1569: it may also be seen, illustrated with notes, in Fabricius's "Codex Apocryphalis Novi Testamenti." Part 11. p. 388, &c. Cave, Hist. Litt. Voss. Hist. Græc. lib. 11. c. 9. Bayle. Moreri.-E.

ABDOLMUMEN, or ABDALMON, is said to have been the son of a potter, but a youth of a bold and enterprising genius. About the year 1115, Abdallah, a Berber of mount Atlas and a famous preacher, setting himself at the head of a revolt against Abraham, or Brahem, the last of the Almoravide kings of Africa, expelled him from the throne; and, by the assistance of Abdolmumen, who was then general, obliged him to leave Oran, where he had taken shelter. The unhappy prince threw himself down a pre. cipice in his flight, and his head was sent by Abdolmumen to Abdallah, who himself died soon after, having founded the new dynasty of the Almohedes. On this event, Abdolmumen was proclaimed king by that party, and took the name of Emir Al Mumenin (chief of the true believers) added to his own; which has been corrupted into Miramamoulin, and used to distinguish the Mahometan kings of this dynasty. Abdolmumen, marching to Morocco, took it by assault, and strangled with his own hands

Isaac, the infant son of Braham, who had been proclaimed his successor. He employed, however, a merciful fraud in order to evade the oath he had taken of passing Morocco through a sieve; causing some bricks taken from the houses to be powdered and sifted. He actually demolished, indeed, the great mosque, palace, and other public buildings, in order to obliterate the memory of the former dynasty, their founders; but he erected more sumptuous ones in their stead. He likewise pursued with unrelenting rigour all the remains of the Almoravide race, and their partisans, so that the first years of his reign were filled with blood. The change in the government caused many of the governors of provinces and towns to declare themselves independent, which greatly altered the state of that part of Africa. Abdolmumen, however, acted with so much vigour, that he pushed his conquests on all sides, till he had reduced the Numidians and Galatians on the west, and the kingdoms of Tunis, Tremecen, and the greatest part of Mauritania and Tingitana. He likewise sent assistance to the Moorish princes in Spain, and made conquests in that country and Portugal. He expelled the Christians from the principal city they held in Africa, and from others on the coast. This warlike prince, who disguised his mean origin by a pretended descent from the family of Mahomet, died in 1156, and was succeeded by his son Joseph. Mod. Univers. Hist.-A.

ABDOLONYMUS. After Alexander the Great had subdued Sidon, he gave permission to Hephæstion to bestow its crown on whom he pleased. Hephæstion offered it to two brothers with whom he lodged, but they declined it, alleging that according to their laws it could only be worn by one of the blood royal. Being desired to point out such a person, they named one Abdolonymus, who, notwithstanding his birth, had fallen into so mean a condi. tion, that he supported himself by the culture of a kitchen garden. Hephæstion directed the bro thers to carry him the crown and royal robes. They obeyed, and found him weeding in his garden; and having caused him to wash, they invested him with the ensigns of royalty, and conducted him to Alexander. This prince, who discerned in him an aspect not unworthy of his origin, turning to those about him, said, “I wish to know how he bore his poverty.' "Would to heaven (replied Abdolonymus) I may as well bear my prosperity! these hands have ministered to all my necessities; and as I: possessed nothing, I wanted nothing." Alexander was so well pleased with this reply, that

he confirmed the nomination of Hephaestion, and gave the new king the palace and private estate of Strato his predecessor, and even aug mented his dominions from the neighbouring country.

Thus Q. Curtius tells the story, and is followed by Justin; but Diodorus, who calls this person Ballonimus, says he was made king of Tyre; and Plutarch removes the scene to Paphos, and names him Alonymus. Probably some truth is contained in the narration, though Curtius, after his manner, seems to have adorned it with fictitious circumstances.-A.

ABEILLE, GASPARD, a French poet and dramatic writer, was born at Riez in Provence in 1648. He came very young to Paris, and distinguished himself by his pleasantry and social talents. Marshal Luxemburgh was attached to him, and took him as a companion in his campaigns; and he was likewise patronised by the prince of Conti and duke de Vendome. Á very ugly wrinkled countenance, susceptible of a variety of comic expressions, gave a zest to his bons-mots and stories, and made him a great inspirer of mirth. He embraced the ecclesiastical profession, and had the priory of Notre Dame de la Merci, but this was no restraint upon his facetiousness, which, however, is said not to have paffed the bounds of decency. He chiefly addicted himself to poetry, and wrote a number of odes, epistles, and tragedies, together with one comedy and two operas. None of these acquired any great reputation; for though his sentiments were not without clevation, his style was mean and languid. He had, however, interest enough to obtain a seat in the French academy, in 1704, where some of his odes were publicly recited. He died in 1718.

A brother of the preceding, named Scipio, was a surgeon by profession, and wrote an esteemed work "On the Bones," and a treatise entitled the "Army Surgeon." He was likewise a composer of verses. Moreri. Nouv. Dict. Hist.-A.

ABEL, the second son of Adam and Eve, concerning whom it is recorded in the book of Genesis that he offered the firstlings of his flock to the Lord, at the same time that his elder brother Cain was making an offering from the fruits of the earth; and that the latter, displeased at the superior favour shown to Abel, "rose up against him and slew him." A much admired and beautiful poem, entitled "The Death of Abel," has been written in German by Gesner, and has been translated into various languages. Genesis, ch. iv.-E.

ABEL, FREDERICK GOTTFRIED, M. D.

VOL. I.

assessor of the college of physicians, and member of the literary society at Halberstadt, son of Caspar Abel, the historian, and master of St. John's school in that city, was born on the 8th of July 1714. After a classical education at Halberstadt and Wolfenbuttle he entered himself at the former place as a student of theology, in 1731, under Mosheim; and a year after, removed to Halle, where he attended the lectures of Wolf and Baumgarten, and often preached himself with much applause. Though he had a great chance of succeeding to the rectorship of St. John's school in his native place, he in a few years gave up theological pursuits altogether, applied to medicine at Halle, and in 1744 was admitted to the degree of doctor at Konigsberg in Prussia. On his return to Halberstadt, he practised as a physician for above half a century, and died on the 23d of November, 1794. In the early part of his life he had made a poetical translation of Juvenal into German, which, by the advice of his friend Gleim, he retouched a few years before his death, and published in 1788. He intended to correct and publish Ovid's Remedium Amoris, which he had also translated in his youth, and to attempt Persius; but age and other occupations prevented him from accomplishing this design. Abel married in 1744, and left three daughters, and two sons, one of whom, John Abel, physician at Dusseldorf, has distinguished himself as a writer. Schrichtegroll's Necrology.-J.

ABEL, king of Denmark, was second surviving son of Valdemar II. His father created him duke of Sleswick and South Jutland, and, at his death in 1240, left him independent master of those provinces. Abel had married the daughter of Adolphus, duke of Holstein, though the enemy of his family; and on the accession of his elder brother Eric V. he soon was involved in disputes with him, which terminated in open war. Eric over-ran Holstein, which Abel recovered; and after various alternate fuccesses, peace was made, and Abel was left independent duke of Sleswick, but was obliged to pay homage for South Jutland. Some time afterwards, Eric making a visit to his brother Abel, the latter laid a plan for murdering him, in consequence of which, Eric was carried on board a boat, killed, and thrown overboard. Notwithstanding this detestable act, which was soon suspected, though not fairly proved, the assembled states of Denmark elected Abel king, in 1250, by which means his hereditary possessions were again united to the crown. Abel took pains to exculpate himself from the charge of fratricide;

D

but his guilt hung heavy on his conscience, especially when he found by Eric's will, that he had intended to resign the crown to him, and had expressed the greatest affection for all his brothers. The hatred his crime inspired caused his eldest son Valdemar to be seized by the bishop of Cologne, as he passed through his territories, and detained four years in prison. Abel's reign was fhort; for an insurrection of the inhabitants of Embden and other places between Sleswick and Holstein being raised on account of a new tax, the king marched against the insurgents, and after a bloody battle, in which he exhibited. great bravery, was slain, in 1252. Mod. Univers. Hist.-A.

ABEL, CHARLES FREDERIC, an eminent musical composer and performer, was a native ́of Germany, and a disciple of Sebastian Bach. During nearly ten years he was in the band of the electoral king of Poland at Dresden; but the calamities of war having reduced that court to a close economy, he left Dresden in 1758 with only three dollars in his pocket, and proceeded to the next little German capital, where his talents procured a temporary supply of his wants. In this manner he travelled on, and at length, in 1759, made his way to England, where he soon obtained notice and reward. He was first patroni ed by the duke of York; and on the formation of the queen's band he was appointed chamber-musician to her majesty, with a salary of 200l. per annum. In 1763, in conjunction with Bach, he established a weekly concert by subscription, which was well supported; and he had as many private pupils as he chose to teach. Abel performed on several instruments; but that to which he chiefly attached himself was the viol da gamba, an instrument growing out of fashion, and now very little used. His hand was that of a perfect master. The character of his composition and performance cannot be better given than in the words of Dr. Burney. "His compositions were easy and elegantly simple, for he used to say, I do not chuse to be always struggling with difficulties, and playing with all my might. I make my pieces difficult whenever I please, according to my disposition, and that of my audience.' Yet in nothing was he so superior to himself, and to other musicians, as in writing and playing an adagio; in which the most pleasing, yet learned modulation; the richest harmony; and the most elegant and polished melody, were all expressed with such feeling, taste, and science, that no musical production or performance with which I was then acquainted, seemed to approach nearer perfection. The

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knowledge Abel had acquired in Germany in every part of musical science, rendered him the umpire in all musical controversies, and caused him to be consulted in all difficult points. His concertos and other pieces were very popular, and were frequently played on public occasions. The taste and science of Abel were rather greater than his invention, so that some of his later productions, compared with those of younger composers, appeared somewhat languid and monotonous. Yet he preserved a high repu tation in the profession till his death."

Abel was a man who well knew the world, and kept on tolerable terms with society, though a natural irascibility, and disposition to say strong things, sometimes rendered him overbearing and insolent in company. His greatest failing was a love of the bottle, in which he indulged to a degree that probably shortened his life; though once, it is said, his breaking through the rules of his physician, and desperately swallowing a large portion of claret, when labouring under a spitting of blood, unexpectedly put an end to the complaint. He died in London, June 20, 1787. Burney's Hist. of Music, vol. iv. Morning Post for June 22, 1787.-A.

ABELARD, PETER, the son of Berenger, of noble descent, was born at Palais, near Nantes in Bretagne, in the year 1079. Endowed by nature with a vigorous and active mind, it was the lot of Abelard to appear at a period, when genius and industry were wasted upon trifles, and when eminence in the art of disputation was the surest road to preferment. The useful study of nature was then unknown; education was almost entirely occupied in logic, metaphysics, and polemic theology; and abstruse and subtle questions, merely speculative, and often merely verbal, employed the leisure and ingenuity of the learned. In these circumstances Abelard, whose life by his father's appointment and his own inclination was devoted to letters, had no other field for the exercise of his talents than the scholastic philosophy. In order to fit him for the career to which he was destined, after the usual grammatical preparation, he was early placed under the tuition of Rosceline, an eminent metaphysician, the founder of the sect of the Nominalists. Under this able instructor, before the age of sixteen, he furnished himself with a large store of scholastic knowledge, and acquired a subtlety of thought, and fluency of speech, which afterwards gave him great advantage in his scholastic contests.

Ardent in the pursuit of fame, Abelard now took leave of Rosceline, and visited the schools