JAMES, an eminent Protestant divine, born at Nay in Berne in 1657; first educated there under the famous John la Placette, and afterwards at the university of Sedan, from whence he went into Holland and Germany, and was minister in the French church of Berlin. He left that place in 1690; came into England; was some time minister in the French church in the Savoy, London; and was made dean of Killalo in Ireland. He was strongly attached to the cause of King William, as appears in his elaborate defence of the Revolution, and his History of the Assassins. The materials for the last were furnished by the secretaries of state. He had great natural abilities, which he improved by useful learning. His best known and ablest works are, Traité de la Divinité de Jésus-Christ, and Traité de la Religion Chrétienne. He died in London in 1727, after his return from a tour in Holland.

ABBAS-BEN-ABDUL-MOTALLEB, Mahomet's uncle, opposed his nephew with all his power, regarding him as an impostor and traitor to his country; but in the second year of the Hegira, being overcome and made a prisoner at the battle of Beder in 623, when a great ransom was demanded for him, he represented to Mahomet that his paying it would reduce him to beggary, which would bring dishonour on the family. Mahomet, who knew that he had concealed large sums of money, said to him, "Where are the purses of gold that you gave your mother to keep when you left Mecca?" Abbas, who thought this transaction secret, was much surprised; and conceiving that his nephew was really a prophet, embraced his religion. He became one of his principal captains, and saved his life when in imminent danger at the battle of Honain, against the Thakesites, soon after the reduction of Mecca. But besides being a great commander, Abbas was one of the first doctors of Islamism. He is said to have read lectures on every chapter of the Koran, as his nephew pretended to receive them from heaven. He died in 652, and his memory is held in the highest veneration among the Mussulmans to this day.