The word abbot, or abbat, as it has been | abbots, again, were not mitred, and others scetimes written, comes from abbatis, the genitive of abbas, which is the Greek and Latin form of the Syriac abba, of which the original is the Hebrew ab, father. It is, therefore, merely an epithet of respect and reverence, and appears to have been at first applied to any member of the clerical order, just as the French pere,' and the English father,' which have the same signification, still are in the Roman Catholic church. In the earBest age of monastic institutions, however, the monks were not priests; they were merely holy persons who retired from the world to live in common, and the abbot was that one of their number hom they chose to preside over the association. The general regulations for monasteries, monks, and abbots (Heguza of the Emperor Justinian, in the Xth century, are contained in the Fifth Novel. In regard to general ecclesiastical discipline, all these communies were at this time subject to the bishop of the diocese, and even to the pastor of the parochial district within the bounds of which they were estashed. At length it began to be usual br the abbot, or, as he was called in the breek Church, the Archimandrite (that & the chief monk), or the Hegumenos that is, the leader), to be in orders; and ee the sixth century monks generally have been priests. In point of dignity abbot is considered to stand next to a bshop; but there have been many abbots in different countries who have claimed most an equality in rank with the episcopal order. A minute and learned actant of the different descriptions of coots may be found in Du Cange's Gossary, and in Carpentier's Supplement to that work. In England, according to Coke, there used to be twenty-six abbots Fuller says twenty-seven), and two priors, who were lords of parliament, and sat in the House of Peers. These, somemes designated Sovereigns, or General abots, wore the mitre (though not exstly the same in fashion with that of the shops), carried the crozier (but in their ht hands, while the bishops carried eirs in their left), and assumed the piscopal style of lord. Some croziered

who were mitred were not croziered. Abbots who presided over establishments that had sent out several branches were styled cardinal-abbots. There were likewise in Germany prince-abbots, as well as prince-bishops. In early times we read of field-abbots (in Latin, Abbates Milites), and abbot-counts (Abba-Comites, or Abbi-Comites). These were secular persons, upon whom the prince⚫ had bestowed certain abbeys, for which they were obliged to render military service as for common fiefs. A remnant of this practice appears to have subsisted in our own country long after it had been discontinued on the Continent. Thus, in Scotland, James Stuart, the natural son of James V., more celebrated as the Regent Murray, was, at the time of the Reformation, prior of St. Andrew's, although a secular person. And the secularization of some of the German ecclesiastic dignities has since occasioned something like a renewal of the ancient usage. We have in our day seen a prince of the House of Brunswick (the late Duke of York) at the same time commander-inchief of the British army and Bishop of Osnabrück. The efforts of the abbots to throw off the authority of their diocesans long disturbed the church, and called forth severe denunciations from several of the early councils. Some abbeys, however, obtained special charters, which recognized their independence; a boon which, although acquired at first with the consent of the bishop, was usually defended against his successors with the most jealous punctiliousness. Many of the abbots lived in the enjoyment of great power and state. In ancient times they possessed nearly absolute authority in their monasteries. "Before the time of Charlemagne," says Gibbon, “ the abbots indulged themselves in mutilating their monks, or putting out their eyes; a punishment much less cruel than the tremendous vade in pace (the subterraneous dungeon or sepulchre), which was afterwards invented." The picture which this writer draws of what he calls " the abject slavery of the monastic discipline" is very striking. "The actions of a monk, his words, and even his thoughts, were

of the People. Nor must we forget an other application of the term which wa once famous in our own and other conn

used, of old, to be annually elected from among the burgesses, by the magistrates an Abbé de Liesse (in Latin, Abbas Lætitiæ), that is, an Abbot of Joy, who acted for the year as a sort of master of the revels, presiding over and directing all their public shows. Among the retainers of some great families in England was an officer of a similar description styled the Abbot of Misrule; and in Scot land the Abbot of Unreason was, before the Reformation, a personage who acted a principal part in the diversions of the populace, and one of those whom the zeal of the reforming divines was most eager in proscribing.

determined by an inflexible rule, or a capricious superior: the slightest offences were corrected by disgrace or confinement, extraordinary fasts, or bloody fla-tries. In many of the French towns there gellation; and disobedience, murmur, or delay, were ranked in the catalogue of the most heinous sins." The external pomp and splendour with which an abbot was in many cases surrounded, corresponded to the extensive authority which he enjoyed within his abbey, and throughout his domains. St. Bernard is thought to refer to the celebrated Luger, abbot of St. Denis, in the beginning of the twelfth century, when he speaks, in one of his writings, of having seen an abbot at the head of more than 600 horsemen, who served him as a cortege. "By the pomp which these dignitaries exhibit," adds the saint, "you would take them, not for superiors of monasteries, but for the lords of castles,--not for the directors of consciences, but for the governors of provinces." This illustrates a remark which Gibbon makes in one of his notes:-"1 have somewhere heard or read the frank confession of a Benedictine abbot:-'My vow of poverty has given me 100,000 crowns a year, my vow of obedience has raised me to the rank of a sovereign prince.'" Even in the unreformed parts of the Continent, however, and long before the French Revolution, the powers of the heads of monasteries, as well as those of other ecclesiastical persons, had been reduced to comparatively narrow limits; and the power both of abbots and bishops had been subjected in all material points to the civil authority. The former became merely guardians of the rule of their order, and superintendents of the internal discipline which it prescribed. In France this salutary change was greatly facilitated by the concordat made by Francis I. with Pope Leo X. in 1516, which gave to the king the right of nominating the abbots of nearly every monastery in his dominions. The only exceptions were some of the principal and most ancient houses, which retained the privilege of electing their superiors. The title of abbot has also been borne by the civil authorities in some places, especially among the Genoese, one of whose chief magistrates used to be called the Abbot

ABDICATION (from the Latin abdicatio), in general is the act of renouncing and giving up an office by the voluntary act of the party who holds it. The term is now generally applied to the giving up of the kingly office; and in some countries a king can abdicate, in the proper sense of that term, whenever he pleases. But the King of England cannot abdicate, except with the consent of the two Houses of Parliament, in any constitutional form; for a proper abdication would be a divesting himself of his regal powers by his own will, and such an abdication is inconsistent with the nature of his kingly office. It is, however, established by a precedent that he does abdicate, or an abdication may be presumed, if he does acts which are inconsistent with and subversive of that system of government of which he forms a part. In Blackstone's 'Commentaries, vol. i. pp. 210-212, and iv. p. 78, mention is made of the resolution of both Houses, in 1688, that "King James II. having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of the kingdom, by breaking the original cou tract between king and people; and by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of the kingdom; has abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant." Thus it appears that the Houses

forcibly marrying her, prevent her from being evidence against him, when she was perhaps the only witness to the fact. By 5 & 6 Vict. c. 38, § 11, charges of abduction of women and girls cannot be tried by justices at sessions, but must take place in a superior court.

arose that the freehold of lands could never be in abeyance. Still it was admitted that both the inheritance and the freehold might in some cases be in abeyance. Thus, in the case of glebe lands belonging to parsons, and of lands held by bishops and other corporations sole, it is said that the inheritance must always be in abeyance, as no one can, under any circumstances, be entitled to more than an estate for life in these lands; and during a vacancy of the church, it is said that the freehold is in abeyance, for there is then no parson to have it, and it is said that the freehold cannot be in the patron, who, though he possesses a right to present to the benefice, has no direct interest in the land annexed to it. This subject is further considered under TENURE.

ABEYANCE is a legal term, derived from the French bayer, which, says Richelet, means to "look at anything with mouth wide open." Coke (Co. Litt. 342, b.) explains the term thus, "En abeiance, that is, in expectation, of the French bayer to expect. For when a parson dieth, we say that the freehold is in abeyance, because a successor is in expectation to take it; and here note the necessity of the true interpretation of words. If tenant pur terme d'autre vie dieth, the freehold is said to be in abeyance until the occupant entereth. If a man makes a lease for life, the remainder to the right heirs of J. S., the fee-simple is in abeyance until J. S. dieth. And so in the case of the parson, the fee and right is in abeyance, that is in expectation, in remembrance, entend-hold would, if the deed were allowed to ment or consideration of law, in consideratione sive intelligentia legis; because it is not in any man living; and the right that is in abeyance is said to be in nubibus, in the clouds, and therein hath a qualitie of fame whereof the poet speaketh:

'Ingrediturque solo et caput inter nubila condit.'"

Such is a specimen of the ridiculous absurdity with which Coke seeks to relieve the dryness of legal learning.

The expression that the freehold or the inheritance of an estate is in abeyance means that there is no person in whom the freehold or the inheritance is then vested, and that the ownership of the freehold or of the inheritance is waiting or expecting for an owner who is to be ascertained. This doctrine of the suspense of the freehold or of the inheritance is repugnant to the general principles of the tenure of land in England. By the old law, it was always necessary that some person should be in existence as the representative of the fee or freehold for the discharge of the feudal duties, and to answer the actions which might be brought for the fief; and thus the maxim

But whatever may be the true doctrine of abeyance in the case just mentioned. it is certain that such an abeyance cannot be created by the voluntary acts of parties. Therefore if a man grant land in such a manner that the immediate frre

operate, be in abeyance, it is a rule of law that the deed by which such a grant is made, is void; and if the grant be so framed that the inheritance would be in abeyance, it is a rule of law that the inheritance shall remain in the perso who makes the grant. The object of this rule of law is to prevent the pos sibility of the freehold subsisting for a time without an owner. Also, "When a remainder of inheritance is limited in contingency by way of use or devise, the inheritance in the mean time, if not otherwise disposed of, remains in the grantor and his heirs, or, in the heirs of the testator, until the contingency happens to take it out of them." (Fearne, Contingent Remainders, p. 513, 4th edit.)

Titles of Honour are also sometime said to be in abeyance, which occurs when the persons next in inheritance to the last possessor are several females or co-parceners. In this case the title is not extinct, but is in abeyance; and may be revived at any time by the king. Several instances of the exercise of this preroga tive are on record both in ancient ai modern times. (Coke upon Littleton, 165, a.)