A B B A B B Sir Isaac corrected in the second edition of his Principia an error pointed out by Abauzit. The high estimate Newton entertained of his merits appears from the compliment he paid to Abauzit, when, sending him the Commercium Epistolicum, he said, " You are well worthy to judge between Leibnitz and me." The reputation of Abauzit induced William III. to request him to settle in England, but he did not accept the king s offer, preferring to return to Geneva. There from 1715 he rendered valuable assistance to a society that had been formed for translating the New Testament into French. He declined the offer of the chair of philosophy in the University in 1723, but ac cepted, in 1727, the sinecure office of librarian to the city of his adoption. Here he died at a good old ago, in 1767. Abauzit was a man of great learning and of wonderful versatility. The varied knowledge he possessed was so well digested and arranged in his retentive mind as to be always within his reach for immediate use. Whatever chanced to be discussed, it used to be said of Abauzit, as of Professor Whewell of our own times, that he seemed to have made it a subject of particular study. Rousseau, who was jealously sparing of his praises, addressed to him, in his Nouvelle Heldise, a fine panegyric ; and when a stranger flatteringly told Voltaire he had come to see a great man, the philosopher asked him if he had seen Abauzit. Little remains of the labours of this intellectual giant, his heirs having, it is said, destroyed the papers that came into their possession, because their religious opinions differed from those of Abauzit. A few theological, archaeological, and astronomical articles from his pen appeared in the Journal Helvetique and elsewhere, and he contributed several papers to Rousseau s Dictionary of Music. A work he wrote throwing doubt on the canonical authority of the Apocalypse was answered conclusively, as Abauzit himself allowed by Dr Leonard Twells. He edited, and made valuable additions to Spon s History of Geneva. A collection of his writings was published at Geneva in 1770, and another at London in 1773. Some of them tvere translated into English by Dr Harwood (1770, 1774). Information regarding Abauzit will be found in Senebier s Histoire Litteraire de Geneve, Harwood s Miscellanies, and Orme s Bibliotheca Biblica, 1834. ABB, a town of Yemen in Arabia, situated on a moun tain in the midst of a very fertile country, 73 miles N.E. of Mocha. Lat. 13 58 N., long. 44 15 E. It contains about 800 houses, and is surrounded by a strong wall ; the streets are well paved ; and an aqueduct from a neigh bouring mountain supplies it with water, which is received in a reservoir in front of the principal mosque. The population is about 5000. ABBADIE, JAMES, an eminent Protestant divine, was born at Nay in Bern about 1657. His parents were poor, but through the kindness of discerning friends, he received an excellent education. He prosecuted his studies with such success, that on completing his course at Sedan, though only seventeen yearr of age, he had con ferred on him the degree of doctor in theology. After spending some years in Berlin as minister of a French Protestant church, he accompanied Marshal Schomberg, in 1688, to England, and became minister of the French church in the Savoy, London. His strong attachment to the cause of King William appears in his elaborate defence of the Revolution, as well as in his history of the conspiracy of 1696, the materials of which were furnished, it is said, by the s-jCi-etarics of state. The king promoted him to the deanery of Killaloe in Ireland. He died in London in 1727. AbLar ie was a man of great ability and an eloquent preacher, but is be.st known by his religious treatises, several of woch were translated from the original French into other languages, and had a wide circulation all over Europe. The most important of these are Traite de la Verite de la Religion Ckretienne ; its continuation, Traite de la Divinite de Jesus-Christ ; and L Art de se connatire Soi-mcme. ABBAS I., surnamed THE GREAT, one of the most celebrated of the sovereigns of Persia, was the youngest son of Shah Mohammed Khodabendeh. After heading a successful rebellion against his father, and causing one of his brothers (or, as some say, both) to be assassinated, he obtained possession of the throne at the early age of eighteen (1585). Determined to raiso the fallen fortunes of his country, he first directed his efforts against the predatory Uzbeks, who occupied and harassed Khorasan. After a long and severe struggle, he defeated them in a great battle near Herat (1597), and drove them cut of his dominions. In the wars he carried on with the Turks during nearly the whole of his reign, his successes were numerous, and he acquired or regained a large extent of territory. By the victory he gained at Bassorah (1605), he extended his empire beyond the Euphrates ; A chined I. was forced to cede Shirwan and Kurdistan in 1611 ; the united armies of the Turks and Tartars were completely defeated near Sultanieh in 1618, and Abbas made peace on very favourable terms; and on the Turks renewing the war, Baghdad fell into his hands after a year s siege (1623). In the same year he took the island of Ormuz from the Portuguese, by the assistance of the British. When he died in 1 628, his dominions reached from the Tigris to the Indus. Abbas distinguished himself, not only by his successes in arms, and by the magnificence of his court, but also by his reforms in the administration of his kingdom. He encouraged commerce, and, by constructing highways and building bridges, did much to facilitate it. To foreigners, especially Christians, he showed a spirit of tolerance ; two Englishmen, Sir Anthony and Sir Robert Shirley, were admitted to his confidence, and seem to have had much influence over him. His fame is tarnished, however, by numerous deeds of tyranny and cruelty. His own family, especially, suffered from his fits of jealousy ; his eldest son was slain, and the eyes of his other children were put out, by his orders. ABBAS MIRZA (b. 1785, d. 1833), Prince of Persia, third son of the Shah Feth Ali, was destined by his father to succeed him in the government, because of his mother s connection with the royal tribe of the Khadjars. He led various expeditions against the Russians, but generally without success (1803, 1813, 1826). By a treaty made between Russia and Persia in 1828, the right of Abbas to the succession was recognised. When the Russian deputies were murdered by the Persian populace in 1829, Abbas was sent to St Petersburg, where he received a hearty welcome from the Czar, and made himself a favourite by his courtesy and literary taste. He formed a design against Herat, but died shortly after the siege had been opened by his son, who succeeded Feth Ali as the Shah Mohammed Mirza. He was truthful a rare quality in an Eastern plain in dress and style of living, and fond of literature. ABBASSIDES, the caliphs of Baghdad, the most famous dynasty of the sovereigns of the Mahometan or Saracen empire. They derived their name and descent from Abbas (b. 566, d. 652 A.D.), the uncle and adviser of Mahomet, and succeeded the dynasty of the Ommiads, th( caliphs of Damasciis. Early in the 8th century the family of Abbas had acquired great influence from their near relationship to the Prophet ; and Ibrahim, the fourth in descent from Abbas, supported by the province of Khorasan, obtained several successes over the Ommiad armies, but was captured and put to death by the Caliph
Merwan (747). Ibrahim s brother, Abul-Abbas, whom he
