must not be confounded with another Abydenus, quoted by Suidas, and who was a disciple and contemporary of Aristotle.
ABIHU, the son of Aaron, high-priest of the Jews. As a punishment of his impiety, he was destroyed by fire, along with his brother Nadab, 1490 b.c.
ABILDGAARD, Nicholas Abraham, historical painter to the king of Denmark, born at Copenhagen in 1744; died in 1809. He was a professor in the academy of fine arts at Copenhagen, and director of that institution; and is considered the greatest painter Denmark ever produced. He was not less distinguished as an instructor than as an artist, having trained both painters and sculptors who alike do honour to their master and their native country. The greatest of his pupils was the celebrated Thorwaldsen. His admirers have named Abildgaard the "Raphael of the North," on account of the perfection of his colouring. Unfortunately for the interests of art, the finest works of this master were lost in the destruction by fire of the palace of Christiansburg in 1794. His writings on the subject of art are much and justly esteemed.—S.
ABILDGAARD, Peter Christian, a Danish physician and naturalist, born at Copenhagen about 1740; died in 1808. He has written several works on medicine, mineralogy, and zoology, and described the famous "Megatherium" simultaneously with Cuvier. He was secretary to the academy of sciences in Copenhagen, one of the founders of its Society of Natural History, and the first who established a school of veterinary medicine in his native country.—S.
ABILLON, Andreas d', grand-vicar of the bishop of Amiens, flourished about the middle of the seventeenth century, and wrote some metaphysical and polemical works, such as a "Nouveau Cours de Philosophie," in four vols.
ABI´MELECH (Father of the king), a name which appears to have been common to all the Philistine kings of Gerar, and indeed to have been in general use amongst the ancient sovereigns of the East. The first of whom the Bible makes mention, was a contemporary of Abraham and Sarah; the second, of Isaac and Rebekah; and the third was the son of Gideon, and succeeded him as judge in Israel.—S.
ABINGER. See Scarlett, James.
ABINGTON, Frances, the celebrated actress, was born either in 1731 or 1738. Her father, whose name was Barton, is said to have been a common soldier. In very early life she earned a livelihood by running on errands. She made her first appearance on the stage in 1775, at the Haymarket, then under the management of Theophilus Cibber. Next year she acted at Bath and Richmond; and, after a short engagement at Drury Lane, went to Dublin, where, as "Kitty" in High Life below Stairs, she met with decided success. In 1765 she returned to England, and was warmly welcomed by Garrick, and no less warmly by the crowded audiences of Drury Lane. She rapidly rose to the first rank as a comic actress. In 1782 she quarrelled with the management of Drury Lane and went over to Covent Garden. She died in 1815.
ABINGTON or HABINGTON, Thomas, an English antiquary, and son of Queen Elizabeth's treasurer, was born at Thorpe, Surrey, in 1560; died in 1647. Having been accused, with his brother Edward, of aiding Babington in his attempt to restore Mary Queen of Scots to liberty, he was for six years confined in the Tower of London. On recovering his freedom, he retired to Hindlip in Worcestershire, where he gave asylum to the two jesuits, Garnet and Oldcorn, engaged in the famous Gunpowder Plot. He was immediately seized, tried, and condemned to death; but through the influence of his brother-in-law, Lord Monteagle, the capital punishment was commuted to that of exile from London. He had some hand in a history of Edward IV., published by his son after his death, and he translated the works of the historian Gildas.—S.
ABINGTON or HABINGTON, William, an English poet, eldest son of the preceding, was born at Hindlip in Worcestershire in 1605. He was educated in the Jesuits' college at St. Omer's, and afterwards at Paris. On his return to England he declined active employment, and devoted his attention to scholarly and poetical pursuits. He married a daughter of the first Lord Powis, a lady to whom, under the name of Castara, the first and happiest efforts of his muse were consecrated. A volume of these love effusions was published in 1635, with the title of "Castara;" they exhibit a lively fancy, and are singularly free both from the affectation of the metaphysical, and from the grossness of the amatory, poets of his time. Habington is the author of a tragi-comedy called "The Queen of Arragon," printed in 1640, and reprinted by Dodsley in his collection of Old Plays. He also wrote "Observations upon History," 1641; and a "History of Edward IV." Wood asserts that this latter work was written and published at the express desire of Charles I. Habington died in 1645.
ABISBAL, Enrique O'Donnell, Count of, a Spanish general, born in Andalusia in the year 1770. He was descended from the Irish family of O'Donnells, who had settled in Spain after the defeat of the earl of Tyrone, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Several members of that family have occupied a conspicuous place in the history of Spain. Abisbal is specially known in the annals of the war of resistance to Napoleon's invasion. He held various positions of trust, but his character seems to have commanded little esteem. He died of a broken heart, after the execution of his son Leopold in 1834.—J. B.
ABLA´BIUS, a Greek poet, of whose writings a few fragments are preserved in the "Anthologia Græca," flourished about the end of the fourth century.
ABLURIIS or ABLUVIIS, Ganfredus d', a French Dominican, who was general-inquisitor at Carcassone about 1300, and died about 1319. He was brought into notoriety at the death of Pope Benedict XI.
ABNER, the son of Ner, was the general of Saul, first king of Israel, but forsook his service for that of his rival, David. He was murdered by Joab, 1068 b.c.
ABNER, a Jewish rabbi, was born at Burgos in Spain about 1270; died 1346. He practised medicine in his native-city; and having been converted to Christianity, wrote a refutation of the work of Quinchi entitled "Milchamoth Hasem."
ABNEY, Sir Thomas, was the son of James Abney, Esq., of Willersley in Derbyshire, where he was born in January, 1639. Educated at Loughborough, under the care of his aunt, Lady Bromley, he came, whilst yet a youth, to London, where he entered into business, and ultimately realised a large fortune. Though a dissenter, he was raised to the highest civic honours, having been elected sheriff of London in 1693, alderman of Vintry ward in 1694, and lord mayor in 1700, some years before his time. He was knighted by William III. in 1694, and, during his mayoralty, he so exerted himself in the cause of that sovereign and the protestant succession, that a person of distinction complimented him by saying, "You have done more service to the king, than if you had raised him a million of money." Sir Thomas was member for the city of London in the parliament which passed the bill securing the throne to the house of Brunswick, and materially contributed to the success of that measure. He was twice married; first to a daughter of the well-known Joseph Caryl, and on her decease, to Mary, daughter of John Gunston, Esq., of Stoke Newington. Dr. Isaac Watts lived in his family as friend and private chaplain for thirty years. Sir Thomas lived to be father of the city of London, and died at the age of eighty-three, on February 6, 1722. Part of his property at Stoke Newington has been converted into a cemetery, which is called after him.—W. L. A.
ABOACEN, ALBOACEN, ALBOHAZEN, or ALBUASSIN, an Arabian astronomer of distinguished merit and services. When King Alphonso of Castile undertook to revive the study of astronomy in the West, he sought the aid of Arabians. His early assistants were Aben Musa and Mohammed of Seville; Joseph Aben Ali, and J. Abuena of Cordova; Aben Ragel and Alcabitius of Toledo. The choice of Alphonso was not a happy one. We know nothing of these persons, except that they were utterly under the bondage of astrology, and, what was worse, of ridiculous hypotheses concerning the motions of the fixed stars, which quite disfigured the first edition of their tables. Alphonso was rescued from the dominion of these men by the sagacity and vigour of Aboacen, who showed up the absurdity of their fancies in a work expressly on the motions of the fixed stars. The king, convinced by this remarkable treatise (translated into Spanish by Rabbi Juda), caused the tables to be recast: so that for those famous Alphonsine tables, the world is in the main indebted to Aboacen.—J. P. N.
ABONDIO, Alessandro, a historical and portrait painter of Florence, was a pupil of Michel Angelo. He was also a modeler, and his portraits in wax were highly valued. He went to Germany, where he worked until his death, which occurred at Prague during the last years of the 16th century.
