lightened physician, and has left a work entitled "Dissertatio de Stimulantium Mechanica Operandi ratione."
ABEL, Gaspard, a German preacher, born at Hindenburg, 1676; died at Westdorf, 1763, was a prolific writer in theology and politics, and translated the "Heroides of Ovid."
ABEL, James Frederick, a German philosopher, was born in Wurtemberg, 1751, died 1829; was professor of philosophy at the university of Tübingen, and archbishop of the protestant church of Wurtemburg. His philosophy is borrowed from the doctrines of Kant.
ABEL, Johann Joseph, a historical painter, was born at Aschach in Austria, 1768; died at Vienna, 1818. He was a pupil of Füger, of the Academy of Painters at Vienna, and resided for six years at Rome, to perfect himself in his art. On his return to his own country, he executed a series of historical pictures which form part of the collections of the Imperial Academy, and Belvedere gallery at Vienna.—S.
ABEL, Nicholas Henry, a Swedish mathematician, born in 1802, at Findöe, in Norway. At first he manifested little taste for learning, but, at the age of sixteen, he gave himself up with such ardour and success to the pursuit of mathematical science, as soon drew upon him the attention of the government, which provided him with the means of prosecuting his studies in different universities in Germany, France, and Italy. He went first to Berlin, where he formed an intimacy with Crelle, then engaged upon his Journal of Mathematics. From thence he travelled through southern Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, and finally arrived in Paris, where his works were coldly received by the French Academy, which, however, afterwards, though too late for their author, did them justice by a high tribute of admiration. He returned to his own country in 1827, and died of consumption on the 6th of April, 1829. The most celebrated mathematicians agree in considering Abel as one of those men, whose career, had it been prolonged, would have marked an epoch in the science. His principal works are—"A general method for finding the function of a variable, when a property of that function is expressed by an equation between two variables," a treatise published in the Magazine of Natural Sciences of Christiana, in 1820: "A treatise on the impossibility of resolving the equations of degrees above the fourth;" "An inquiry as to the elliptic functions;" and a "Treatise upon some general properties of a certain kind of transcendant functions;" besides some articles in Crelle's Journal of Mathematics, and Schumacher's Astronomical News.—S.
ABEL, Thomas, a divine of the sixteenth century, who wrote a book against Henry the Eighth's divorce from his queen Catherine, for which, and for his denial of the king's supremacy, he suffered death at Smithfield in 1540. He was associated with Elizabeth Barton, known as the Holy Maid of Kent, in her so-called treason.
ABELA, Giovanni Francesco, a learned archæologist, was born at Malta, 1582; died 1655. He was commandant of the knights of Malta, and author of a curious and now rare work entitled "Malta Illustrata," a Latin translation of which was inserted in the fifteenth volume of the "Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Siciliæ" of Grævius.
ABELARD, Peter, an illustrious mediæval philosopher and divine, the eldest son of a nobleman of Brittany, was born at Palais (or Palet), near Nantes, in 1079, in the reign of Philip I., king of France, and of Hoël IV., duke of Brittany. The name of Abelard is familiar to most readers; but it is only the romance of his biography that is generally known, and even that has seldom, if ever, been accurately traced, and fairly appreciated in reference to the circumstances of the times. Recently, however, his life and writings have obtained, mainly through the labours of his countrymen. Guizot, Cousin, and Remusat, the prominent attention they merit, in connection with the history of philosophy and the progress of modern civilization. Even the boyhood of Abelard gave striking indications of future celebrity. His marvellous genius, his ardour in the pursuit of knowledge, his amiable disposition, his handsome person, beautiful features, and melodious voice, made him an object of general interest. His father encouraged his predilection for a literary career, and spared no expense to procure him the benefit of the most able instructors. About the age of twenty he repaired to Paris, and studied under William of Champeaux, the most celebrated dialectician of the day, whose lectures were attended by crowds of students, not only from all parts of what is now called France, but from Italy, Germany, and Britain. There was then no university, properly so called, in France, but conventual and diocesan schools, conducted respectively under the auspices and inspection of the abbot and bishop. William was at the head of the diocesan school, and archdeacon of Paris. Abelard's attainments, capacity, and eloquence, joined to his polished manners and interesting appearance, soon attracted the esteem and regard of both master and students. His subsequently losing the master's favour, did not, as is usually assumed, arise from mere envy on the part of the archdeacon, or arrogance on the part of Abelard. In those times, contradiction was the usual mode of eliciting truth, and the very essence of the scholastic system was controversy, simulated or in earnest. The spirit of knight-errantry reigned in the schools, and challenges to a public combat were everyday occurrences among gowned dialecticians, as among mailed knights. What deeply offended and alarmed William of Champeaux in regard to Abelard was, not that he formally contested statements delivered from the chair, but that, from unmistakable conviction, he gave utterance to views which the archdeacon, who was an ardent champion of Realism, conscientiously deemed not merely unsound, but heretical. But a few years before, a council of the Gallican church had denounced as a heretic, and driven into exile the famous Roscelinus, for assailing the theory of the Realists, and maintaining the opposite doctrine called Nominalism. Abelard had been, as he himself states, a pupil of Roscelinus, and though he disclaimed that philosopher's extreme views, he cordially agreed with him in rejecting Realists, and in asserting the right and duty of free inquiry. In fact, Abelard, from the earliest age, had manifested that surest token of a philosophic mind—the habit of thinking for one's self, and approving, not what is sanctioned by custom, or believed without examination, but what, after the fullest investigation, is found to be true. The sentiments Abelard was understood to entertain, and to which his youthful fervour and frankness occasionally gave expression, naturally awakened alarm in the sincere and zealous Realist, in proportion to his estimation of Abelard's powers, whom he always spoke of as possessing "a sublime eloquence and a perfect mastery of logical science." After remaining about two years in Paris, Abelard was encouraged to assume the functions of a public teacher of logic and metaphysics, which he did with great and increasing success, first at Melun, and afterwards at Corbeil. After some time, his arduous labours having seriously affected his health, he was induced to travel. It is not certain whether it was during this interval, or before his first journey to Paris, that he had an opportunity of hearing Roscelinus. Returning to Paris, he obtained an opportunity of encountering William of Champeaux in a public disputation, in which, by power of argument, he forced from his old master a modification of his theory—a circumstance which, with several subsequent defeats, destroyed the venerable Realist's scholastic prestige, and gave Abelard undivided sway.
Abelard was a most powerful and instructive speaker. He could bring the most profound truths within the reach of the most ordinary understanding. His delivery was inimitably graceful and impressive; his voice had remarkable sweetness and compass; and his discourses were enlivened with pleasing and instructive anecdotes, and beautified with appropriate quotations from the Latin poets. Urivalled in philosophy, Abelard now resolved to study theology, and repaired to Laon to attend the lectures of the celebrated Anselm, whom he has described as a pious and learned man, and fluent speaker, though to a philosophic mind a very unsatisfactory instructor, confining himself to a statement of traditional interpretations of the sacred text. Abelard soon left him, and, applying himself to a more original and independent study of Scripture, began to deliver, in his own way, theological lectures, which soon attracted crowds of admiring auditors, though they awakened the indignation of the venerable Anselm, who thought Abelard's teaching heretical innovation. Returning to Paris, Abelard commenced a course of theological lectures, which soon made him as renowned in theology, as he had previously been in philosophy. He now entered on the most brilliant period of his career, and attained the very summit of scholastic glory. The students that flocked to his lectures from most parts of Europe amounted to many thousands, and raised him to affluence. Enjoying a popularity amounting almost to adoration, sufficient to turn the head of the most sober-minded mortal; without a rival in the field, and, therefore, without the stimulant of ambition to sustain the energy which had hitherto
