Abbuttals

See Abuttals. ABDICATION. A simple renunciation of an office; generally understood of a supreme office. James II. of England, Charles V. of Germany, and Christina, Queen of Sweden, are said to have abdicated. When James II. of England left the kingdom, the Commons voted that he had abdicated the government, and that thereby the throne had become vacant. The House of Lords preferred the word deserted: but the Commons thought it not comprehensive enough, for then the king might have the liberty of returning. It was also declared that abdication meant more than desertion and amounted to a forfeiture by acts and deeds. In England, the constitutional relation between the crown and the nation is in the nature of a contract, and the king cannot abdicate without the consent of parliament. The House of Lords finally assented to the word abdicate.