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ABDICATION. of ruler or sovereign. It is rarely done out of pure preference of a private station, but is gen- erally the result of vexation and disappointment. The general well-being of a State is sometimes served by the abdication of its ruler. Military reverses, popular disaffections, court scandals and other causes often render it imperative. History records many abdications of this char- acter. It was perhaps voluntarily and from being wearied with dominion, that Diocletian, and along with him Maximian, abdicated (305). Christina of Sweden retired from the throne (1654) out of preference for the freedom of private life, but wished still to exercise the rights of a sovereign. Charles V. of Germany laid down the crown (1550) and assumed the humble habit of a monk, because his great schemes had failed. Philip V. of Spain laid down the crown in 1724, but resumed it on the death of his son. Amadeus VIII. of Savoy abdicated (1449) to become a priest. Victor Amadeus II. of Sardinia, who abdicated in 1730, wished to recall the step, but this was not allowed. Louis Bonaparte resigned the crown of Holland in 1810 rather than consent to treat that country as a province of France. Charles Em- manuel II. of Sardinia retired from the throne in 1802, not finding himself able to cope with the French. Victor Emmanuel I. of Sardinia re- signed in 1821 in consequence of a revolutionary movement. William I. of the Netherlands re- signed (1840) in great measure by reason of his mortification at the disastrous results of his policy regarding Belgium. Foreign force com- pelled the abdication of Augustus the Strong of Poland (1706), and later, that of Stanislaus Leszezynski (1735) and of Poniatowski (1795); as well as that of Charles IV. of Spain (1808), and of Napoleon (1814 and 1815). Insurrec- tions have been the most frequent cause of forced abdications. The early history of the Scandi- navian kingdoms abounds in instances. In England, the compulsory abdication of Richard II. (1399) is an early example. More recent times saw Charles X. of France (1830) and Louis Philippe (1848) retire before the storm of revo- lution. The abdication of Ferdinand of Austria (1848) was a consequence of the events of the year of revolutions; that of Charles Albert of Sardinia (1849) of the battle of Novara. Of several cases among German princes, the chief is that of Ludwig of Bavaria (1848). Amadeus, King of Spain, felt himself obliged to give up his crown on February 11, 1873. Prince Alexander of Bulgaria was compelled in 1886 to relinquish his principality, and three years later King Milan I. of Servia, worried by domes- tic troubles and beset by internal dissensions in his kingdom, left the throne to his son Alex- ander I. In some countries, the king can abdi- cate whenever he pleases: but in England, the constitutional relation between the crown and the nation being of the nature of a contract, the king or queen, it is considered, cannot abdi- cate without the consent of Parliament. It is, however, said that the king does abdicate, or, to speak perhaps more correctly, an abdication may be presumed, and acted on by the people, if his conduct politically and overtly is inconsis- tent with, and subversive of, the system of con- stitutional government of which the qualified monarchy of his office forms part. At the con- ference between the two Houses of Parliament previous to the passing of the statute which

settled the crown on William III., it would appear that the word "abdicated" with reference to King James II. was advisedly used instead of "deserted" — the meaning, it is presumed, being that King James had not only deserted his office, but that by his acts and deeds, of which the said desertion formed part, he had, in view of the Constitution, ceased to have right to the throne. From this it may be inferred that abdication was considered to have a twofold political signification, involving maladministration as well as desertion. The Scottish convention, however, more vigorously and distinctly resolved that King James "had forefaulted [forfeited] the crown, and the throne was become vacant."

ABDI-CHIBA, ab'de-che'ba. A governor of Jerusalem in the time of Amenophis IV. (1403- 1385 B.C.). If correctly read, his name probably designates him as a "servant of Hadad," the storm-god; but it possibly was pronounced "Ardu-hipa," and may have been of Mitanian origin (compare Pu-hipa, Tadu-hipa, Gilu-hipa). Among the letters found at El Amarna, the site of Amenophis's capital, Chut-t-Aten, in 1888, Abdi-chiba was the author of at least six (179- 184, edition Winckler) and possibly of two more (185, 186). He is also mentioned in a letter of Shuwardata (165). These letters are written in cuneiform characters and in a Babylonian lan- guage that was no doubt spoken by a part of the population in Syria. Abdi-chiba apparently came from a family that had reigned over Jerusalem before the Egyptian conquest, as he repeatedly reminded Amenophis of the fact that his father and mother had not made him a ruler, but the strong arm of the great king, probably Amenophis III., had given him the territory of his ancestors, who may have been Mitanians or Hittites. As king he seems to have had a certain control over the governors of Palestine. With his neighbors, Shuwardata at Kilti-Keilah and Milkili at Gath, he was often at war. He was accused by them of having plotted with the Khabiri and taken possession of Kilti, while he charged them with the capture of Bit Ninib, a town belonging to the country of Urusalim, and with betraying the land into the hands of the Khabiri. These were, perhaps, the Hebrews in the widest sense, including Israelitish, Edomitish, Moabitish, and Ammonitish clans. The term Abiru probably means simply a "nomad," a "wanderer." Neither the Egyptian resident, nor the king himself, seems to have trusted Abdi-chiba, and the correspondence leaves it doubtful whether the relief he asked for was finally granted. These Amarna letters have been published by Winckler, in Der Thontafelfund von El Amarna (Berlin, 1889-90), and Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, Volume V. (1896). They have also been translated or discussed by Halévy in Journal Asiatique (Paris, 1891), and in Révue Sémitique (Paris, 1893), by Zimmern in Zeitschrift für Assyriologie (Leipzig. 1891, vi: 245-263), by Jastrow in Journal of Biblical Literature (Boston, 1892, 95-124), and Hebraica, ix : 24-46 (Chicago), by Delattre in Révue des questions historiques (Paris, 1896), and by Eduard Meyer in Ægyptiaca (Berlin, 1897).

ABDIEL, .-ib'di-ol (Heb.  'adb, servant +  'el, god). In Paradise Lost, the faithful angel who opposed the revolt in heaven begun by Satan.

ABDO'MEN. The lower cavity of the human