Part 177 (1/2)
EARTH HOUSES, known also as Yird Houses, Weems and Picts' Houses, underground dwellings in use in Scotland, extant even after the Roman evacuation of Britain. Entrance was effected by a pa.s.sage not much wider than a fox burrow, which sloped downwards 10 or 12 ft. to the floor of the house; the inside was oval in shape, and was walled with overlapping rough stone slabs; the roof frequently reached to within a foot of the earth's surface; they probably served as store-houses, winter-quarters, and as places of refuge in times of war. Similar dwellings are found in Ireland.
EARTHLY PARADISE, poem by William Morris, his greatest effort, considered his masterpiece; consists of 24 tales by 24 travellers in quest of an earthly paradise.
EAST INDIA COMPANY, founded in 1600; erected its first factories on the mainland in 1612 at Surat, but its most profitable trade in these early years was with the Spice Islands, Java, Sumatra, &c.; driven from these islands by the Dutch in 1622, the Company established itself altogether on the mainland; although originally created under royal charter for purely commercial purposes, it in 1689 entered upon a career of territorial acquisition, which culminated in the establishment of British power in India; gradually, as from time to time fresh renewals of its charter were granted, it was stripped of its privileges and monopolies, till in 1858, after the Mutiny, all its powers were vested in the British Crown.
EAST RIVER, the strait which separates Brooklyn and New York cities, lying between Long Island Sound and New York Bay, about 10 m. long; is spanned by a bridge.
EASTBOURNE (35), a fas.h.i.+onable watering-place and health resort on the Suss.e.x coast, between Brighton and Hastings, and 66 m. S. of London; has Roman remains, and is described in ”Domesday Book.”
EASTER, an important festival of the Church commemorating the resurrection of Christ; held on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the calendar which happens on or next after 21st of March, and const.i.tuting the beginning of the ecclesiastical year; the date of it determines the dates of other movable festivals; derives its name from Eastre, a Saxon G.o.ddess, whose festival was celebrated about the same time, and to which many of the Easter customs owe their origin.
EASTERN STATES, the six New England States in N. America--Maine, New Hamps.h.i.+re, Vermont, Ma.s.sachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
EASTLAKE, SIR CHARLES LOCK, artist and author, born at Plymouth; studied painting in London and in Paris; produced the last portrait of Napoleon, which he executed from a series of sketches of the emperor on board the _Bellerophon_ in Plymouth harbour; he travelled in Greece, and from 1816 to 1830 made his home at Rome; ”Christ Weeping over Jerusalem,”
his greatest work, appeared in 1841; was President of the Royal Academy; wrote several works on subjects relating to his art, and translated Goethe's ”Farbenlehre” (1793-1865).
EASTWICK, EDWARD BACKHOUSE, Orientalist and diplomatist, born at Warfield, in Berks.h.i.+re; went to India as a cadet, acquired an extensive knowledge of Indian dialects and Eastern languages, and pa.s.sed an interpreters.h.i.+p examination, gaining the high proficiency reward of 1000 rupees; carried through peace negotiations with China in 1842; invalided home, he became professor of Hindustani at Haileybury College; afterwards studied law and was called to the bar; entered Parliament, and held various political appointments, including a three years' emba.s.sy in Persia; was a fellow of many antiquarian and philological societies; amongst his numerous philological productions and translations his ”Gulistan” and ”Life of Zoroaster” from the Persian are noted (1814-1883).
EAU CREOLE, a liqueur from the distillation of the flowers of the mammee apple with spirits of wine.
EAU-DE-COLOGNE, a perfume originally manufactured at Cologne by distillation from certain essential oils with rectified spirit.
EBAL, MOUNT, a mountain with a level summit, which rises to the height of 3077 ft. on the N. side of the narrow Vale of Shechem, in Palestine, and from the slopes of which the people of Israel responded to the curses which were p.r.o.nounced by the Levites in the valley.
EBERHARD, JOHANN AUGUST, German philosophical writer, born at Halberstadt; professor at Halle; rationalistic in his theology, and opposed to the Kantian metaphysics; was a disciple of Leibnitz; wrote a ”New Apology of Socrates,” in defence of rationalism in theology, as well as a ”Universal History of Philosophy,” and a work on German synonyms (1739-1809).
EBERS, GEORGE MORITZ, German Egyptologist, born at Berlin; discovered an important papyrus; was professor successively at Jena and Leipzig; laid aside by ill-health, betook himself to novel-writing as a pastime; was the author of ”Aarda, a Romance of Ancient Egypt,”
translated by Clara Bell (1837-1898).
EBERT, KARL EGON, a Bohemian poet, born at Prague; his poems, dramatic and lyric, are collected in 7 vols., and enjoy a wide popularity in his country (1801-1882).
EBIONITES, a sect that in the 2nd century sought to combine Judaism and the hopes of Judaism with Christianity, and rejected the authority of St. Paul and of the Pauline writings; they denied the divinity of Christ, and maintained that only the poor as such were the objects of salvation.