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ABERSYCHAN. C 5). There are numerous collieries and iron foundries. Pop., 1891, 15,300; 1901, 17,800.

AB'ERT, (1788-1863). An American military engineer. He was born in Shepherdstown, Virginia, and graduated at West Point in 1811, but resigned from the army and practiced law in Washington. He served as a private in the battle of Bladensburg, August 24, 1814. Later in the same year he joined the corps of engineers, and in 1838 had become colonel in command of the topographical bureau. He was retired in 1861. Colonel Abert exercised an important influence in the development of the earlier engineering works of the Government.

AB'ERTIL'LERY. A town in Monmouthshire, England, four and one-half miles northwest of Pontypool. Population, chiefly engaged in coal-mining, 1891, 10,850; 1901, 22,000.

ABERYSTWITH, ilb'er-ist'with. A favorite watering-place and summer resort in Cardigan- shire, Vales, on Cardigan Bay, about 50 miles north-northeast of Swansea (Map: Wales, H 4). On a hill above the town stand the ruins of an old castle erected by Gilbert de Strong- bow. Adjoining it is the Universitv College of Wales, established in 1872. Pop., in' 1891, 6700; 1901, 8000.

ABERYSTWITH, See.

ABES'SA. A damsel in' Spenser's Faerie Queene, (I. iii.), who personified abbeys and convents. When Una, in search of the Red Cross Knight, called out to her, Abessa, frightened at the lion, ran into the house of Blind Superstition and closed the door, which the lion broke open. The meaning is, that when Truth came, the abbeys and convents were alarmed and barred her out, but Henry VIII. (the lion) broke in the door.

ABEY'ANCE (O. F. abeiance. from a, Lat. ad, at + O. F. beer, Fr. bayer, middle Lat. badare, to gape, to expect). A legal term importing that the title to real or personal property, a dignity or office is not vested in any one, but is in expectation or suspended until the true owner appears or the right thereto is determined. Strictly speaking, there could be no abeyance of a freehold at com- mon law. In legal contemplation, there must always be some one in whom is vested a present estate or interest in the hind. This, however, did not apply to future estates which might be in abeyance. Thus, when one man holds land for life, with remainder to the heir of another, the latter being alive, the remainder is in abeyance, since the heirs of that other remain undetermined while he is alive. Titles of power are said to be in abeyance when it is uncertain who shall enjoy them. Thus, under the English law. when a nobleman leaving a title descendible to his heirs general dies, leaving daughters and no male issue, the king, by his prerogative, may grant the title to any one of the daughters. Until the king exercises his prerogative, the title, which is thus suspended, is said to be in abeyance. See the authorities referred to under the article on.

AB'GAR. A common name or title of several kings of Edessa in northwestern Mesopotamia. One of them is known from an alleged correspondence with Christ. The account given by Eusebius {Ecclesiastical History, xiii., i.) states that he sent a letter to Christ requesting him to come to Mesopotamia and heal him. To this Christ made a reply that although unable himself to come, he would, after his ascension, send a disciple. Both of these letters Eusebius claims to have found in the archives of Edessa and believes to be genuine. Other versions add that Christ sent to the king a portrait, now displayed at both Rome and Genoa. Consult: R. A. Lipsius, Die Edessenische Abgar Sage (Brunswick, 1880).

ABHOR'RERS. In English history, the name given to the Tory element that expressed abhorrence of the petitions presented to Charles II. for the reassembling of Parliament (1680), and that upheld the King in his efforts to control public opinion. Their opponents were called Petitioners. Consult: A List of Abhorrers, etc. (London, 1682; A. A. Cooper, First Earl of Shaftesbury, About Abhorrers and Addressers (London. 1682).

ABI'ATHAR (Heb. father of plenty). The hiiih priest whose father, Ahimelech (I. Sam- uel xxii : 20), was slain at the command of Saul for having received and helped the fugitive D.avid (I.Samuel xxii : 9-10). The statement (II. Samuel viii : 17: also I. Chronicles xviii : 16, where for Ahimelech we must read Ahimelech) that Ahimelech was the son of Abiathar must be inverted in accordance with I. Samuel xxii : 20. Abiathar also was a strong adherent of David, and showed his friendship especially during Ab- salom's rebellion (II. Samuel xv:20). Later on, Abiathar favored Adonijah (I. Chronicles 1:7). and for this Solomon deprived him of his priesthood and banished him to Anathoth (I. Kings ii : 26-33). With his deposition, the di- rect high priest by line of Eleazar comes to an end, and the place is taken by Zadok and his descendants (1. Kings ii : 35. See Ezekiel xl : 40; xliii : 10; xliv : 15). See.

A'BIB. The older biblical name for the first month of the Jewish ecclesiastical, and the sev- enth of the civil, year. In this month the feast of Passover is celebrated (Exodus xiii : 4; xxxiv : 18). In the later books of the Bible rep- resenting the period when the Babylonian names, together with the Babylonian calendar, were adopted by the Hebrews ( Nehemiah ii : 1 ; Esther iii : 7 ), the month is called Nisan, and this name is used at the present time in the official calendar of the Jewish Church.

ABICH, Ji'biK. Wilhelm Hermann. (1806-86). A German geologist and traveler. He was born in Berlin. He studied at the university there, in 1842 became professor of mineralogy in Dorpat, and in 1853 member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He explored the Caucasus, Russian Armenia, northern Persia and Daghestan, and published several books on the geology and mineralogy of those regions, among which may be mentioned: Ueber die Natronseen auf der Araxesebene (1846 and 1849); Sur la structure et la géologie du Daghestan (1862).

ABIES, ii'hi-ez. See.

ABIGAIL ( Heb., my father is joy, or father of joy). The wife of King David, famed for her beauty and discretion. Abigail was (riginall.v the wife of Xabal. and gave food to David iluring his flight from Saul, after her husband had refused to do so. "About ten days later" Nabal died, and David took Abigail to wife (I. Samuel xxv:2-42). The Amalekites