their dissolution unavoidable, were induced to resign their houses to the king, who by that means became invested with the abbey lands: these were afterwards granted to different persons, whose descendants enjoy them at this day; they were then valued at 2,853,000l. per annum, an immense sum in those days. Though the suppression of these houses, considered in a religious and political light, was a great benefit to the nation, yet it must be owned that, at the time they flourished, they were not entirely useless. Abbeys were then the repositories as well as the seminaries of learning: many valuable books and national records have been preserved in their libraries, the only places wherein they could have been safely lodged in those turbulent times. Indeed, the historians of this country are chiefly beholden to the monks for the knowledge they have of former national events. Thus Providence overruled even the institutions of superstition for good. See MONASTERY.

ABBOT, originally the name of every aged monk; but, after the eighth century, it denotes the chief or head of a monastery. Since the second council of Nice, (787,) abbots have always been priests, and have enjoyed the power of conferring the lower orders of priesthood; but in essential points of jurisdiction, they were everywhere subject to the diocesan bishop till the eleventh century, when, in consequence of the wealth of their monasteries, they were raised to the titles and privileges of bishops, held a rank next to that of bishop, and had a vote in the ecclesiastical councils. Equal rights and privileges appertained to the abbesses as the superiors of the nunneries, except that they have seldom been allowed to vote in synods. As the result of the favour, or the wants of kings, and other causes, many of the most considerable convents came, in the ninth and tenth centuries, into the hands of secular masters, and their spiritual supervision was devolved on inferior abbots, deans, or priors. To the princes and princesses of royal families, abbeys were presented to defray the expenses of their table, while the richest were retained by the kings themselves. Nunneries were sometimes assigned to men, and monasteries to females. In the tenth century, the convents under royal patronage were frequently given in reward for the services of the crown vassals in war; the abbots thus became a kind of military clergy, whose superiors bore, in the camp, the name of field-abbots. In consequence of a reform commenced at Cluny, new monasteries arose without abbots, over which the abbot of reformed Benedictines at that place appointed priors or pro-abbates, or even co-abbates, who remained dependent on him. Besides the Benedictines, only the grey monks of Vallombrosa, the Cistercians, Bernardines, Trappists, Grand Montani, Præmonstratenses, and some bodies of regular

choristers, denominate their superiors abbots. Besides the female branches of these orders, the nuns of Fontrevaud, and the female secular choristers, have abbesses. These have always remained under the jurisdiction of their diocesan bishop; but the abbots of many other convents shook off the authority of the bishops, and acknowledged no master but the pope. The mitred abbots enjoyed the right, frequently conferred on the Benedictines in the middle ages by the papal legate, of adopting the episcopal title and insignia. Only a few, however, possessed the episcopal power with dioceses of their own, of whom there was not one in France. Before the period of secularization, there were in Germany, but in Germany only, princely abbots and princely abbesses. These abbeys were secularized in 1803, and became principalities. By rule, the choice of abbots belongs to the chapters of their convents. In the independent abbeys, this is followed by the papal confirmation; in the dependent, by the episcopal; yet, for a long time, many abbeys in Italy have been conferred by the pope, and in France by the king, notwithstanding the concordat of 1516. The secular clergy, who enjoy these benefices without observing the rules of the order, are termed secular abbots; on the other hand, their vicars in the convents themselves, like all abbots of the monkish order, are called regular abbots. Younger sons of distinguished families have often entered the ranks of the secular clergy, in order to become secular abbots, and to receive the income of an abbey without being restricted by monastic rules. As such expectants were called in France abbés, this became a general appellation for young secular clergy who were out of office. (See ABBE'.) Since the Revolution, which changed the abbeys into national property, and took from those expectants the objects of their exertions, this class has diminished in France, but it is yet numerous in Italy, where young scholars are called abbots, merely from having undergone the tonsure, though not in orders. Napoleon led a whole army of Italian abbots to Corsica, where they lived on reduced incomes till the restoration again scattered them over Italy.

At the time of the Reformation, several abbeys and convents were retained for the benefit of the clergy, and the support of unmarried females. Some Protestant clergymen, therefore, still bear the name of abbot, with which dignity the right of sitting in the Diet of the states is united; as for example, in the Wurtemburg Assembly. There are also Protestant ladies who are called abbesses. In Lower Saxony, indeed, this dignity was abolished at the time of the confiscation of the cloisters, &c., under the French Westphalian government; but in some countries, as in the kingdom of Hanover, it has been restored.

In the Greek church, the superiors of a

1

convent are called Hegoumeni, and the abbotsgeneral, Archimandrites.

ABDIAS, a reputed disciple of Christ in Babylon, to whom is ascribed a book purporting to contain the lives of the Apostles, but which is full of fabulous stories utterly unworthy of credit.

ABELIANS, ABELITES, ABELONIANS, a sect which arose about the year 360, near Hippo, in Africa, and borrowed their name from Abel, the son of Adam, because as they supposed, he died unmarried and without children. Though they did not abstain from matrimony, yet they had no carnal knowledge of their wives, that they might not be instrumental in propagating original sin. That their numbers might be kept up, they adopted the children of others, on whom they settled their property, on condition that they would adhere to the principles of the sect. It does not appear to have continued long in existence, but it has recently been revived among the Shakers of America.

ABGARUS, or AGBARUS, a king of Edessa in Mesopotamia, who, according to Eusebius, wrote a letter to our Saviour, and received an answer from him, both of which are preserved by that historian, and may be seen also in Lardner's works, and Jones on the Canon. Though their genuineness has been advocated by Cave, Grabe, and others, they are generally considered to be spurious. The pretended epistle of Christ, is by no means worthy of him, and appears to be a mere piece of patchwork, taken from several passages of the Gospels. Nor is it likely that any thing written by the Saviour's own hand, could have remained unknown to the rest of the world till the time of Eusebius. The royal epistle too, is not in the style of an oriental prince.

ABJURATION, OATH OF, an oath by which an obligation was come under not to acknowledge any right in the Pretender to the throne of England. It is also used to signify an oath, ordained by the 25th of Charles II., abjuring particular doctrines of the church of Rome.

ABLUTION, a ceremony in use among the ancients, and still practised in several parts of the world. It consisted in washing the body, which was always done before sacrificing, or even entering their houses. Ablutions appear to be as old as any ceremonies, and external worship itself. Moses enjoined them, the heathens adopted them, and Mahomet and his followers have continued them. The Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Jews, all had them. The ancient Christians had their ablutions before communion, which the Romish church still retain before their mass, and sometimes after. The Syrians, Copts, &c., have their solemn washings on Good Friday: the Turks also have their ablutions, their Ghasl, their Wodou, &c.

ABRAHAMITES.-I. A sect of heretics, so called from their founder, who, towards the end of the eighth century, revived at Antioch his native place, that of the Paulicians, and corrupted a great part of the Syrians; but Cyriacus, the bishop of the Syrian church, powerfully opposed him, and soon put an end to his party.

II. An order of monks in the ninth century, who were exterminated by Theophilus for the idolatrous practices in which they indulged.

III. A modern sect which sprang up in Bohemia about the middle of the last century. They take the name, because they profess to be of the same religion that Abraham was before he was circumcised. They reject this rite, though some of them are circumcised, having formerly been Jews: the rest have either been Catholics or Protestants. They believe in one God, the immortality of the soul, and future rewards and punishments; but they deny the divine legation of Moses, and only receive the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. They reject the doctrine of original sin, the Trinity, and other peculiar doctrines of revelation. To avoid persecution, they at first attended worship in the churches; but on the publication of the edict of Joseph II., establishing entire toleration throughout his dominions, they avowed their sentiments, and presented a petition to the emperor, who declared that he would not violate their consciences; but false to his promise, he only allowed them till the 24th of March, 1783, to incorporate themselves with one of the religions tolerated in the empire, and threatened them with banishment if they did not comply. Proving obstinate, the imperial menace was carried into execution; and they were transported to Transylvania and the Bannat of Temeswar. There are still in Bohemia, numbers between whom and the Abrahamites some connexion has been traced; but they are not molested by the government. They are known by the name of Deists and Nihilists, because they believe in nothing.—Gregoire's Histoire des Sectes, b. ix. ch. xi.

ABRASAX STONES, gems found in great abundance in Spain, which represent a human body, with the head of a cock and the feet of a reptile. They have often the inscription Abrasax or Abraxas in Greek characters, which is supposed, however, to be of Persian or Egyptian origin. According to Bellerman, they belonged to the religious sect of the Basilidians, and were used, partly as means for teaching secret doctrines, partly as symbols, and partly as amulets or talismans. name is also given to those stones which bear the emblems of Sabæism. Dr. Neander, of Berlin, has written an interesting dissertation on the subject.

The

ABSOLUTION Signifies acquittal. It is taken, also, for that act whereby the priest declares

the third century. They are supposed to have borrowed part of their opinions from the Gnostics and Manichæans, because they opposed marriage, condemned the use of flesh meat, and placed the Holy Ghost in the class of created beings.

ABUNA, (our father,) the title of the Patriarch of Abyssinia, who is generally taken from among the Coptic priests, as the Abyssinians and Copts keep up a communication with each other at Cairo. He has under him the Kamosats, or the chief priests of the secular clergy, the learned theologians and monks.

ABYSSINIAN CHURCH. See CHURCH, ABYS

SINIAN.

ACACIANS, a set of heretics in the fourth century; so named from Acacius, bishop of Cæsarea, who denied the Son to be of the same substance with the Father, though some of them allowed that he was of a similar substance. Also the name of another sect, named after Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, in the fifth century, who favoured the opinions of Eutychus. See EUTYCHIANS.

ACADEMICS, a denomination given to the cultivators of a species of philosophy originally derived from Socrates, and afterwards illustrated and enforced by Plato. The contradictory systems which had been successively urged upon the world were become so numerous, that from a view of the variety | and uncertainty of human opinions, many were led to conclude that truth lay beyond the reach of our comprehension. The consequence of this conclusion was absolute scepticism: hence the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, the preferableness of virtue to vice, were all held as uncertain. This sect, with that of the Epicureans, were the two chief that were in vogue at the time of Christ's appearance, and were embraced and supported by persons of high rank and wealth. A consideration of the principles of these two sects [see EPICUREANS] will lead us to form an idea of the deplorable state of the world at the time of Christ's birth; and the necessity there was of some divine teacher to convey to the mind true and certain principles of religion and wisdom. Jesus Christ, therefore, is with great propriety called the Day-Spring from on high, the Sun of Righteousness, that arose upon a benighted world to dispel the clouds of ignorance and error, and discover to lost man the path of happiness and heaven. But, as we do not mean to enlarge much upon these and some other sects, which belong rather to philosophy than theology, we shall refer the reader to Buddeus's Introduction to the History of Philosophy; Stanley's Lives; Brucker's History of Philosophy; or (which is more modern) Enfield's Abridgment.

ACADEMY, a place in which the sciences are taught, and in a more restricted theolo

gical sense, a house or establishment in which young men are trained for the ministry. The name is derived from the Athenian academy belonging to a certain Academus, which was a famous school for gymnastic exercises, and a place where Plato taught. The first institution of antiquity which merits the name, was that of Alexandria. Attracted by the generosity of the Ptolemies, a numerous association of scholars was collected in that city, who were to have laboured for the perfection and extension of human knowledge, but soon fell into idleness or the exercise of grammatical subtleties. From Alexandria it is supposed the Jews borrowed the custom of founding academies, which were established after the close of the first century, in the cities on the Euphrates, Sora, Neharda, and Punebedita. They had also a famous school at Tiberias, which flourished for several centuries. From them the Nestorians learned in the sixth century to value science, and imparted the same spirit to the Arabs, whose caliphs, Almansor, Harun-al-Rashid, and Almamum, founded a number of academies, which were extended from Cordova, in Spain, to Bockara in the East, with the greatest success. At the court too of Charlemagne we find an academy founded by the emperor, at the suggestion of his instructor, Alcuin, of which he was himself a member. This useful institution was broken up after the death of Alcuin, and no academies, properly so called, are found till the time of the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, when several Greek scholars were compelled to flee to Italy. Lorenzo de Medici then founded, at Florence, the first Grecian academy, under the care of Argyropylus, Theodore Gaza, and Chalcondylas. Cosmo afterwards established the Platonic academy, the object of which was the study of the writings of Plato, and the restoration of his philosophy. This gave place to others of various names, which with numbers of more recent origin, still exist.

The term, in its theological acceptation, is now almost exclusively applied to those collegiate seminaries in which candidates for the work of the ministry among Dissenters are conducted through the requisite preparatory courses of instruction; an account of which is contained in the following article.

ACADEMIES, DISSENTING.-The origin of these institutions is to be traced to the ejection of many of the most learned ministers of the Church of England, by the Act of Uniformity, the introduction of certain oaths as prerequisites to admission into the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the necessity of making provision for the due instruction of such as should be called to labour in future among the nonconformist portion of the community. The edict that deprived those divines of their livings, could not des