very conflicting (compare 1 Kings xv. 2 and 2 Chron. xi.20
with 2 Chron. xiii.2). The Chronicler tells us that he has
drawn his facts from the Midrash (commentary) of the prophet
Iddo This is perhaps sufficient to explain the character of
the narrative. (2) The second son of Samuel (1 Sam. viii.
2; 1 Chron. vi. 28 [13j). He and his brother Joel judged at
Beersheba. Their misconduct was made by the elders of
Israel a pretext for demanding a king (1 Sam. viii. 4).
(3) A son of Jeroboam I., king of Israel; he died young
(1 Kings xiv. 1 ff., 17). (4) Head of the eighth order of
priests (1 Chron. xxiv. 10), the order to which Zacharias,
the father of John the Baptist, belonged (Luke i. 5).
The alternative form Abijam is probably a
mistake, though it is upheld by M. Jastrow.
ABILA, (1) a city of ancient Syria, the capital of the
tetrarchy of Abilene, a territory whose extent it is impossible
to define. It is generally called Abila of Lysanias, to
distinguish it from (2) below. Abila was an important town on
the imperial highway from Damascus to Heliopolis (Baalbek).
The site is indicated by ruins of a temple, aqueducts, &c.,
and inscriptions on the banks of the river Barada at Suk
Wadi Barada, a village called by early Arab geographers
Abil-es-Suk, between Baalbek and Damascus. Though the names
Abel and Abila differ in derivation and in meaning, their
similarity has given rise to the tradition that this was the
place of Abel's burial. According to Josephus, Abilene was a
separate Iturean kingdom till A.D. 37, when it was granted
by C to Agrippa I.; in 52 Claudius granted it to Agrippa II.
(See also LYSANIAS.) (2) A city in Perea, now Abil-ez-Zeit.
ABILDGAARD, NIKOLAJ ABRAHAM (1744-1809), called ``the
Father of Danish Painting,'' was born at Copenhagen, the
son of Soren Abildgaard, an antiquarian draughtsman of
repute. He formed his style on that of Claude and of Nicolas
Poussin, and was a cold theorist, inspired not by nature but by
art. As a technical painter he attained remarkable success,
his tone being very harmonious and even, but the effect, to a
foreigner's eye, is rarely interesting. His works are scarcely
known out of Copenhagen, where he won an immense fame in his
own generation. He was the founder of the Danish school of
painting, and the master of Thorwaldsen and Eckersherg.
ABIMELECH (Hebrew for ``father of [or is] the king'').
(1) A king of Gerar in South Palestine with whom Isaac, in
the Bible, had relations. The patriarch, during his sojourn
there, alleged that his wife Rebekah was his sister, but the
king doubting this remonstrated with him and pointed out how
easily adultery might have been unintentionally committed (Gen.
xxvi.). Abimelech is called ``king of the Philistines,'' but
the title is clearly an anachronism. A very similar story
is told of Abraham and Sarah (ch. xx.), but here Abimelech
takes Sarah to wife, although he is warned by a divine vision
before the crime is actually committed. The incident is
fuller and shows a great advance in bdeas of morality. Of
a more primitive character, however, is another parallel
story of Abraham at the court of Pharaoh, king of Egypt (xii.
10-20), where Sarah his wife is taken into the royal household,
and the plagues sent by Yahweh lead to the discovery of the
truth. Further incidents in Isaac's life at Gerar are narrated
in Gen. xxvi. (cp. xxi. 22-34, time of Abraham), notably a
covenant with Abimelech at Beer-sheba (whence the name is
explained ``well of the oath''); (see ABRAHAM.) By a pure
error, or perhaps through a confusion in the traditions, Achish
the Philistine (of Gath, 1 Sam. xxi., xxvii.), to whom David
fled, is called Abimelech in the superscription to Psalm xxxiv.
(2) A son of Jerubbaal or Gideon (q.v.), by his Shechemite
concubine (Judges viii. 31, ix.). On the death of Gideon,
Abimelech set himself to assert the authority which his
father had earned, and through the influence of his mother's
clan won over the citizens of Shechem. Furnished with money
from the treasury of the temple of Baal-berith, he hired a
band of followers and slew seventy (cp. 2 Kings x. 7) of his
brethren at Ophrah, his father's home. This is one of the
earliest recorded instances of a practice common enough on
the accession of Oriental despots. Abimelech thus became
king, and extended his authority Over central Palestine.
But his success was short-lived, and the subsequent discord
between Abimelech and the Shechemites was regarded as a just
reward for his atrocious massacre. Jotham, the only one who
is said to have escaped, boldly appeared on Mount Gerizim
and denounced the ingratitude of the townsmen towards the
legitimate sons of the man who had saved them from Midian.
``Jotham's fable'' of the trees who desired a king may be
foreign to the context; it is a piece of popular lore, and
cannot be pressed too far: the nobler trees have no wish to
rule over others, only the bramble is self-confident. The
``fable'' appears to be antagonistic to ideas of monarchy.
The origin of the conflicts which subsequently arose is not
clear. Gaal, a new-comer, took the opportunity at the time
of the vintage, when there was a festival in tho temple, to
head a revolt and seized Shechem. Abimelech, warned by his
deputy Zebul, left his residence at Arumah and approached the
city. In a fine bit of realism we are told how Gaal observed
the approaching foe and was told by Zebul, ``You see the
shadow of the hills as men,'' and as they drew nearer Zebul's
ironical remark became a taunt, ``Where is now thy mouth?
is not this the people thou didst despise? go now and fight
them!'' This revolt, which Abimelech successfully quelled,
appears to be only an isolated episode. Another account
tells of marauding bands of Shechemites which disturbed the
district. The king disposed his men (the whole chapter is
specially interesting for the full details it gives of the
nature of ancient military operations), and after totally
destroying Shechem, proceeded against Thebez, which had also
revolted. Here, while storming the citadel, he was struck on
the head by a fragment of a millstone thrown from the wall by a
woman. To avoid the disgrace of perishing by a woman's hand,
he begged his armour-bearer to run him through the body, but
his memory was not saved from the ignominy he dreaded (2 Sam.
xi. 21). It is usual to regard Abimelech's reign as the first
attempt to establish a monarchy in Israel, but the story is
mainly that of the rivalries of a half-developed petty state,
and of the ingratitude of a community towards the descendants
of its deliverer. (See, further, JEWS, JUDGES.) (S. A. C.)
ABINGDON, a market town and municipal borough in the
Abingdon parliamentary division of Berkshire, England, 6
m. S. of Oxford, the terminus of a branch of the Great
Western railway from Radley. Pop. (1901) 6480. It lies
in the fiat valley of the Thames, on the west (right) bank,
where the small river Ock flows in from the Vale of White
Horse. The church of St Helen stands near the river, and
its fine Early English tower with Perpendicular spire is the
principal object in the pleasant views of the town from the
river. The body of the church, which has five aisles, is
principally Perpendicular. The smaller church of St Nicholas
is Perpendicular in appearance, though parts of the fabric are
older. Of a Benedictine abbey there remain a beautiful
Perpendicular gateway, and ruins of buildings called the prior's
house, mainly Early English, and the guest house, with other
fragments. The picturesque narrow-arched bridge over the Thames
near St Helen's church dates originally from 1416. There may
be mentioned further the old buildings of the grammar school,
founded in 1563, and of the charity called Christ's Hospital
(1583); while the town-hall in the marketplace, dating from
1677, is attributed to Inigo Jones. The grammar school now
occupies modern buildings, and ranks among the lesser public
schools of England, having scholarships at Pembroke College,
Oxford. St Peter's College, Radley, 2 m. from Abingdon, is
one of the principal modern public schools. It was opened in
1847. The buildings he close to the Thames, and the school is
famous for rowing, sending an eight to the regatta at Henley each
year. Abingdon has manufactures of clothing and carpets and
a large agricultural trade. The borough is under a mayor,
four aldermen and twelve councillors. Area, 730 acres.
Abingdon (Abbedun, Abendun) was famous for its abbey, which
was of great wealth and importance, and is believed to have
been founded in A.D. 675 by Cissa, one of the subreguli of
Centwin. Abundant charters from early Saxon monarchs are
extant confirming laws and privileges to the abbey, and the
earliest of these, from King Ceadwalla, was granted before
A.D. 688. in the reign of Alfred the abbey was destroyed
by the Danes, but it was restored by Edred, and an imposing
list of possessions in the Domesday survey evidences recovered
prosperity. William the Conqueror in 1084 celebrated Easter at
Abingdon, and left his son, afterwards Henry I., to be educated
at the abbey. After the dissolution in 1538 the town sank
into decay, and in 1555, on a representation of its pitiable
condition, Queen Mary granted a charter establishing a mayor,
two bailiffs, twelve chief burgesses, and sixteen secondary
burgesses, the mayor to be clerk of the market, coroner and
a Justice of the peace. The council was empowered to elect
one burgess to parliament, and this right continued until the
Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885. A town clerk and other
officers were also appointed, and the town boundaries described
in great detail. Later charters from Elizabeth, James I.,
James II., George Il. and George III. made no considerable
change. James II. changed the style of the corporation to
that of a mayor, twelve aldermen and twelve burgesses. The
abbot seems to have held a market from very early times, and
charters for the holding of markets and fairs mere granted by
various sovereigns from Edward I. to George II. In the 13th
and 14th centuries Abingdon was a flourishing agricultural
centre with an extensive trade in wool, and a famous weaving
and clothing manufacture. The latter industry declined
before the reign of Queen Mary, but has since been revived.
The present Christ's Hospital originally belonged to
the Gild of the Holy Cross, on the dissolution of which
Edward VI. founded the hospital under its present name.
See Victoria County History, Berkshire; Joseph
Stevenson, Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon, A.D.
201--1189 (Rolls Series, 2 vols., London, 1858).
ABINGER, JAMES SCARLETT, 1ST BARON (1769-1844), English
judge, was born on the 13th of December 1760 in Jamaica, where
his father, Robert Scarlett, had property. In the summer of
1785 he was sent to England to complete his education, and
went to Trinity College, Cambridge, taking his B.A. degree in
1789. Having entered the Inner Temple he was called to the
bar in 1791, and joined the northern circuit and the Lancashire
sessions. Though he had no professional connexions, by steady
application he gradually obtained a large practice, ultimately
confining himself to the Court of King's Bench and the northern
circuit. He took silk in 1816, and from this time till the
close of 1834 he was the most successful lawyer at the bar;
he was particularly effective before a jury, and his income
reached the high-water mark of L. 18,500, a large sum for that
period. He began life as a Whig, and first entered parliament in
