Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, first edition - Volume I, A-B.pdf/20

 ABRASA, inurgery, ulcers, where the kin is o tender and lax as to render them ubject to abraion.  ABRASION, in medicine, the corroding of any part by acrid humours or medicines.  ABRAUM, an obolete name of a certain pecies of clay, called by ome authors Adamic earth, on account of its red colour.  ABRASAX, or, a mytical term found in the ancient theology and philoophy of Bailides's followers.  ABRAX, an antique tone with the word abraxas engraved on it. They are of various izes, and mot of them as old as the third century.  ABREAST, a ea-term. In an attack, puruit, or retreat at ea, the quadrons or diviions of a fleet are often obliged to vary their dipoitions, and at the ame time oberve a proper regularity, by ailing in right or curved lines: when they ail at a proper ditance from each other, and are all equally forward, they are then aid to have formed the line abreast.  ABRENUNCIATION. See.  ABRIDGEMENT, in literature, a term ignifying the reduction of a book into a maller compas.—The art of conveying much entiment in few words, is the happiet talent an author can be poeed of. This talent is peculiarly neceary in the preent tate of literature; for many writers have acquired the dexterity of preading a few triticalcritical [sic] thoughts over everal hundred pages. When an author hits upon a thought that pleaes him, he is apt to dwell upon it, to view it in different lights, to force it in improperly, or upon the lightet relations. Though this may be pleaant to the writer, it tires and vexes the reader. There is another great source of diffuion in compoition. It is a capital object with an author, whatever be the ubject, to give vent to all his bet thoughts. When he finds a proper place for any of them, he is peculiarly happy. But, rather than acrifice a thought he is fond of, he forces it in by way of digreion, or uperfluous illutration. If none of thee expedients anwer his purpoe, he has recoure to the margin, a very convenient apartment for all manner of pedantry and impertinence. There is not an author, however correct, but is more or les faulty in this repect. An abridger, however, is not ubject to thee temptations. The thoughts are not his own; he views them in a cooler and les affectionate manner; he dicovers an impropriety in ome, a vanity in others, and a want of utility in many. His buines, therefore, is to retrench uperfluities, digreions, quotations, pedantry, &c. and to lay before the public only what is really ueful. This is by no means an eay employment: To abridge ome books, requires talents equal, if not uperiour, to thoe of the author. The facts, manner, pirit, and reaoning, must be preerved; nothing eential, either in argument or illutration, ought to be omitted. The difficulty of the tak is the principal reaon why we have o few good abridgements: Wynne's abridgement of Locke's Eay on the Human Undertanding is, perhaps, the only unexceptionable one in our language.

Thee obervations relate olely to uch abridgements as are deigned for the public. But,

When a peron wants to et down the ubtance of any book, a horter and les laborious method may be followed. It would be foreign to our plan to give examples of abridgements for the public: But, as it may be ueful, especially to young people, to know how to abridge books for their own ue, after giving a few directions, we hall exhibit an example or two, to hew with what eae it may be done.

Read the book carefully; endeavour to learn the principal view of the author; attend to the arguments employed: When you have done o, you will generally find, that what the author ues as new or additional arguments, are in reality only collateral ones, or extenions of the principal argument. Take a piece of paper, or a common-place book, put down what the author wants to prove, ubjoin the argument or arguments, and you have the ubtance of the book in a few lines. For example.

In the Eay on Miracles, Mr Hume's deign is to prove, That miracles which have not been the immediate objects of our enes, cannot reaonably be believed upon the tetimony of others.

Now, his argument, (for there happens to be but one), is,

""That experience, which in ome things is variable, in others uniform, is our only guide in reaoning concerning matters of fact. A variable experience gives rise to probability only; an uniform experience amounts to a proof. Our belief of any fact from the tetimony of eye-witnees, is derived from no other principle than our experience in the veracity of human tetimony. If the fact atteted be miraculous, here aries a contet of two oppoite experiences, or proof againt proof. Now, a miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and unalterable experience has etablihed thee laws, the proof againt a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as complete as any argument from experience can poibly be imagined; and if o, it is an undeniable conequence, that it cannot be urmounted by any proof whatever derived from human tetimony.""

In Dr Campbell's Diertation on Miracles, the author's principal aim is to hew the fallacy of Mr Hume's argument; which he has done mot uccesfully by another ingle argument, as follows:

"The evidence ariing from human tetimony is not olely derived from experience: on the contrary, tetimony hath a natural influence on belief antecedent to experience. The early and unlimited aent given to tetimony by children gradually contracts as they advance in life: it is, therefore, more cononant to truth, to ay, that our diffidence in tetimony is the reult of experience, than that our faith in it has this foundation. Besides, the uniformity of experience, in favour of any fact, is not a proof againt its being revered in a particular intance. The evidence ariing from the ingle tetimony of a man of known veracity will go far to <section end="Abridgement" /> etablih