| H. M. S. | His Majesty’s Ship, or Service. |
| ibid. | ibidem, in the same place. |
| i. e. | Id est, that is. |
| I. H. S. | Jesus hominum Salvator, Jesus the Saviour of men. |
| Incog. | Incognito, unknown. |
| Inst. | Instante mense, in the current month. |
| J. P. | Justice of the Peace. |
| Jr. | Junior. |
| K. C. | King’s counsel. |
| K. C. B. | Knight Commander of the Bath. |
| K. C. M. G. | Knight Commander of St. Michael and St. George. |
| £ | Libra, pound (British money). |
| lb. | Pound weight. |
| Litt. D. | Doctor of Letters. |
| LL. B. | Bachelor of Laws. |
| LL. D. | Doctor of Laws. |
| M. | Monsieur. |
| MM. | Messieurs. |
| M. B. | Bachelor of Medicine. |
| M. C. | Member of Congress. |
| M. D. | Doctor of Medicine. |
| M. E. | Mining, or Mechanical, Engineer. |
| Mlle. | Mademoiselle. |
| Mme. | Madame. |
| M. P. | Member of Parliament. |
| MS. | Manuscript; plural, MSS. |
| N. B. | Nota bene, mark well. |
| Nem. con. | Nemine contradicente, no one opposing. |
| Ob. | Obiit, died. |
| Oxon. | Oxoniensis, of Oxford. |
| p. | Piano, softly. |
| Ph. B. | Bachelor of Philosophy. |
| Ph. D. | Doctor of Philosophy. |
| P. M. | Post Meridiem, afternoon. |
| pp. | Pianissimo, very softly. |
| P. P. C. | Pour prendre congé, to take leave. |
| p. | Page; plural pp. |
| pro tem. | Pro tempore, for the time. |
| prox. | Proximo mense, in the next month. |
| P. S. | Post scriptum, postscript. |
| Q. E. D. | Quod erat demonstrandum, which was to be proved. |
| Q. E. P. | Quod erat factendum, which was to be done. |
| q. v. | Quod vide, which see. |
| R. A. | Royal Academician. |
| R. I. P. | Requiescat in Pace, may he rest in peace. |
| R. M. | Royal Marines. |
| R. N. | Royal Navy. |
| R. S. V. P. | Répondez s’il vous plait, please reply. |
| R. V. | Revised Version. |
| S. | South, shilling, or saint. |
| S. P. Q. R. | Senatus populusque Romanus, the Senate and Roman People. |
| sq. | Sequens, the following; plural sqq. |
| Sr. | Senior. |
| S. S. | Steamship. |
| ult. | Ultimo mense, last month. |
| U. S. | United States; U. S. A. |
| U. S. N. | United States Navy. |
| V. C. | Victoria Cross. |
| v. or vs. | Versus, against. |
Abd-el-Kader (äbd′el-kä′dĭr) (born 1806, died 1883), was emir or prince of the Arab tribes in Algeria. He is famous for his stubborn resistance to the French, who, in 1830, had driven out the Turks, the former rulers of the country. For eighteen years he fought with bravery and high generalship against the larger forces of the French. Five successive generals were sent against him, some of the tribes were bribed to desert, and the Moors were made to attack him. Yet he utterly defeated the French twice, and kept up a successful resistance till 1848, when he was defeated, and soon after captured and imprisoned for four years at Paris. In 1860 Abd-el-Kader was in Damascus, and, at great risk to himself, aided the Christians during the Mohammedan riots. In the later years of his life he was a pensioner of the French government.
Abdul-Hamid II (äb′dŏŏl-hä′mīd), Sultan of Turkey and tributary states, from 1876 to 1909, was the second son of Sultan Abdul-Medjid, of the House of Othman. He was born Sept. 22, 1842, and succeeded to the throne on the deposition of his elder brother, Murad V, on Aug. 31, 1876. He was a Turk and Mussulman of the old school and consequently showed little inclination towards reform within the Ottoman Empire, which was stipulated by the Treaty of Berlin, in 1878, following on the war with Russia of the previous year, which proved disastrous to the Porte. In later years he lived under the dread of assassination and showed distrust even of his own ministers. He looked askant at England’s operations in Egypt, and was believed to have secretly stimulated the rebellion of Arabi Pasha in 1882.
The same malign influence was also known to be at work in Armenia, where the Christian world was horrified at the atrocities committed there by the Turkish soldiery. Resistance to the outrage and rapine there has been greatly handicapped by jealousies among the European Powers.
In 1908, following a revolt led by the Young Turks’ party and involving the army, Abdul was forced to grant a Constitution, and an assembly, but in April 1909, a revolt against the new order was instigated by the Sultan. This was quickly put down. Abdul Hamid was dethroned and his brother Reshed Effendi was placed on the throne as Mehmed V. The change was attended with massacres at Adana and other places.
A′bel, the second son of Adam, was a shepherd and offered a sacrifice of the “firstlings of his flock.” His offering was preferred to that of his brother Cain, who in anger killed him. This violent death gave him the title of the “first martyr.”
Ab′elard (ăb′e-lard) Pierre, a brilliant French scholar, was born in Brittany in 1079. Moved by a thirst for knowledge he gave his family inheritance up to his brothers and went to Paris, where he devoted himself to study. His fearless independence intellectually, and his success in public debates, led him to establish a school of his own, which became so famous that other teachers were almost deserted. He fell in love with Héloïse, a beautiful and accomplished girl, one of his pupils. As marriage would interfere with his rising in the church, Abelard and Héloïse were secretly united. Their union soon became known, and they separated, Abelard becoming a monk and Héloïse a nun. Devoting himself to theology he was tried and convicted of heresy, and driven to found a hermitage, which he called the Paraclete. He gave up this
