Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/27

 ABBAS PASHA ABBEOKUTA missed honorably. He was amiable and chival- rous. He was nominated by his father heir to the throne, excluding his elder brother; but the father survived both. ABBAS PASHA, viceroy of Egypt, grandson of Mehemet Ali, and nephew of Ibrahim Pasha, born in 1813, died July 12, 1854. He took an active part in the Syrian wars of his grandfather, but without distinguishing him- self. After the brief reign of Ibrahim Pasha, Mehemet All's eldest son, Abbas ascended the viceregal throne, as hereditary successor, in 1848. He undid in many respects the work of Mehemet Ali, dismissed his European offi- cials, and manifested an arbitrary, capricious, and cruel disposition. He succeeded, how- ever, in disarming his adversaries at Constan- tinople, who endeavored to cripple him and reduce Egypt to a more inferior condition. In the Crimean war he aided the sultan. His death was sudden, and probably violent. ABBASSIDES, caliphs of Bagdad, the third Mo- hammedan dynasty, founded by Abul Abbas as-Saffeh (the Bloody), who claimed the caliph- ate as lineal descendant of Mohammed's uncle Abbas, whence the name. He was proclaim- ed by his adherents at Cufah in 749, and after- ward defeated and put to death the last Ommi- yade caliph, Merwan II., all but two of whose family were treacherously slaughtered. He died in 754, and his descendants to the num- ber of 36 reigned till 1258, when the last, Mostasem, was expelled from the throne by Hulaku Khan. The line includes the illustrious names of Al-Mansour, Haroun al-Eashid, and Al-Mamoun; but from the 10th century they had sunk to the position of mere spiritual chiefs of Islam, all political power being wield- ed by the emir el-omra, or commander-in- chief. After their deposition at Bagdad, Ahmed, a member of the family, fled to Egypt, where he was recognized as caliph, and his descen- dants nominally reigned there, under the pro- tection of the Mamelukes, till 1517, when Egypt was conquered by the Turks. Motawakkel, the last caliph, was carried to Constantinople, but allowed to return to Cairo, where he died in 1538. ABBATIJCCI. I. Jaeqnes Pierre, a French general, born in Corsica in 1726, died in 1812. He was a rival and political opponent of Paoli, but submitted to his control in the war with the Genoese. After the French conquest, which he resisted at first, he accepted a com- mission in the royal army, and was subse- quently appointed to protect Corsica against the attempts of Paoli and the English. After the capture of Toulon he resigned and re- turned to France, where he was made general of division. He remained there till 1796, when, the English leaving Corsica, he went home. II. Charles, son of the preceding, born in 1771, died Dec. 3, 1796. He served in the early part of the revolution as artillery of- ficer on the Rhine, and in 1794 was Pichegru's adjutant. He was made general of brigade for bravery in 1796, and afterward general of division for defeating the corps of the prince of Cond6. He died from a wound received in an engagement with the Austrians at Hiinin- gen, where Moreau caused a monument to be erected to his memory. III. Jaeqnes Pierre Charles, a diplomatist, nephew of the pre- ceding, born in Corsica, Dec. 22, 1791, died Nov. 11, 1857. Under the restoration he was a law officer in Corsica. After the revolution of 1830 he was appointed presiding judge at Orleans, and from 1839 was its representative in the chamber of deputies. He was a leader of the opposition to Guizot's ministry, and af- terward of the reform banquets. After 1848 he was conspicuous in the national assembly by his opposition to the social-democratic movement. He subsequently became a zeal- ous supporter of Louis Napoleon, and after the coup d'etat was appointed by him minister of justice and keeper of the seals, Jan. 22, 1852. His sons, CHAELES (born March 25, 1816), AN- TOINE DOMINIQUE, and SEVERIN, all figured un- der the second empire as active Bonapartists, the last chiefly as representative from Corsica. ABBf), the French word for abbot. Before the revolution of 1789, any Frenchman who chose to devote himself to divinity, or even to finish a brief course of study in a theological seminary, became an abbe, waiting hopefully for the king to confer on him the benefice of an abbey that is, a certain portion of the rev- enues of a monastery. In the mean time he engaged in any and every kind of literary labor, exerted an important influence upon society, and was to be met with everywhere at the court of the monarch, the public tribunals, the salon of the fashionable lady, the opera, the playhouse, and the cafe. An abbe" was to be found in almost every wealthy family, either as the friend of the house or the private tutor of the children. There were many good and noble abbe's, who acquired distinction as theo- logians, poets, and savants ; but as a class they subjected themselves to popular suspicion and literary satire ; and with the revolution they disappeared, though the title is still sometimes used as a phrase of politeness. ABBES COM- MENDATAIEES was the title of the 225 abbots appointed by the king of France. Each re- ceived one third of the revenues of a monas- tery, but he could not interfere with the prieur claustral, who had exclusive control. The abbayes des savants were less important sine- cures, applied as pensions for scholars and un- titled scions of aristocracy. ABBEOKUTA, or Abeakntah, an independent city of central Africa, in the Egba district of Yoruba, with a small territory containing several minor towns, on the Ogoon, which separates it on the W. from Dahomey, about 50 m. N. of Lagos, and 110 m. E. S. E. of Abomey ; pop. of the city estimated by Major Burton in 1861 at 150,000, and of the whole state at 200,000. The city stands on a granite formation 567 feet above the sea level, and is