Eloi was bishop of Noyon in the reign of Dagobert, and a noted craftsman in gold and silver. (Query, "Seint Eloy" for Seinte Loy?)

Ther was also a nonne, a prioresse, That of hire smiling was full simp' and coy, Hire greatest othe was but by Seint Eloy!

Chaucer, Canterbury Tales (1388).

ELOPS. There was a fish so-called, but Milton uses the word (Paradise Lost, x. 525) for the dumb serpent or serpent which gives no warning of its approach by hissing or otherwise. (Greek, ellops, "mute or dumb.")

ELOQUENCE (The Four Monarchs of): (1) Demonsthenes, the Greek orator (B.C. 385-322); (2) Cicero, the Roman orator (B.C. 106-43); (3) Burke, the English orator (1730-1797); (4) Webster, the American orator (1782-1852).

ELOQUENT (That old Man), Isocrates, the Greek orator. When he heard that the battle of Chaeronea was lost, and that Greece was no longer free, he died of grief.

That dishonest victory At Chaeronea, fatal to liberty, Killed with report that Old Man Eloquent.

Milton, Sonnet ix.

In the United States the term was freely applied to John Quincy Adams, in the latter years of his life.

ELOQUENT DOCTOR (The), Peter Aurelolus, archbishop of Aix (fourteenth century).

ELPINUS, Hope personified. He was "clad in sky-like blue" and the motto of his shield was "I hold by being held." He went attended by Pollicita (promise). Fully described in canto ix. (Greek, elpis, "hope.")—Phineas Fletcher, The Purple Island (1633).

ELSA. German maiden, accused of having killed her little brother. At her trial a knight appears, drawn by a swan, champions her and vanquishes her accuser. Elsa weds him (Lohengrin) promising never to ask of his country or family. She breaks the vow; the swan appears and bears him away from her.—Lohengrin Opera, by Richard Wagner.

ELSHENDER THE RECLUSE, called "the Canny Elshie" or the "Wise Wight of Mucklestane Moor." This is "the black dwarf," or Sir Edward Mauley, the hero of the novel.—Sir W. Scott, The Black Dwarf (time Anne).

ELSIE, the daughter of Gottlieb, a cottage farmer of Bavaria. Prince Henry of Hoheneck, being struck with leprosy, was told he would never be cured till a maiden chaste and spotless offered to give her life in sacrifice for him. Elsie volunteered to die for the prince, and he accompanied her to Salerno; but either the exercise, the excitement, or some charm, no matter what, had quite cured the prince, and when he entered the cathedral with Elsie, it was to make her Lady Alicia, his bride.—Hartmann von der Aue, Poor Henry (twelfth century); Longfellow, Golden Legend.

Alcestis, daughter of Pelias and wife of Admetos died instead of her husband, but was brought back by Hercules from the shades below, and restored to her husband.

Elsie (Venner), a girl marked before her birth as one apart from her kind. Her mother, treading upon a rattle-snake near her door, leaves the imprint of the loathsome thing upon the child. She is a "splendid scowling beauty" with glittering black eyes. When angry, they are narrowed and gleam like diamonds, and "charm" after an unhuman fashion. She bit her cousin when a child, and the wound had to be cauterized. She is wild almost to savagery and she falls in love with her tutor savagely for awhile, afterward loves him hopelessly. She dies of a strange decline, and the ugly mark about her throat that obliges her always to wear a necklace has faded out.—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Elsie Venner (1861).

ELSMERE (Robert), hero of religious novel of same name, by Mrs. Humphrey Ward.

ELSPETH (Auld), the old servant of Dandie Dinmont, the store-farmer of Charlie's Hope.—Sir W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time George II.).

Elspeth (Old) of the Craigburnfoot, the mother of Saunders Muckelbacket (the old fisherman at Musselcrag), and formerly servant to the countess of Glenallan.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time George III.).

ELVINO, a wealthy farmer in love with Amina the somnambulist. Amina being found in the bedroom of Conte Rodolfo the day before her wedding, induces Elvino to break off the match and promise marriage to Lisa; but as the truth of the matter breaks upon him, and he is convinced of Amina's innocence, he turns over Lisa to Alessio, her paramour, and marries Amina, his first and only love.—Bellini's opera, La Sonnambula (1831).

ELVIRA, sister of Don Duart, and niece of the governor of Lisbon. She marries Coldio, the coxcomb son of Don Antonio.—C. Cibber, Love Makes a Man.

Elvira, the young wife of Gomez, a rich old banker. She carries on a liaison with Colonel Lorenzo, by the aid of her father-confessor Dominick, but is always checkmated, and it turns out that Lorenzo is her brother.—Dryden, The Spanish Fryar (1680).

Elvira, a noble lady who gives up everything to become the mistress of Pizarro. She tries to soften his rude and cruel nature, and to lead him into more generous ways. Her love being changed to hate, she engages Rollo to slay Pizarro in his tent; but the noble Peruvian spares his enemy, and makes him a friend. Ultimately, Pizarro is slain in fight with Alonzo, and Elvira retires to a convent.—Sheridan, Pizarro (altered from Kotzebue, 1799).

Elvira (Donna), a lady deceived by Don Giovanni, who basely deluded her into an amour with his valet Leporello.—Mozart's opera, Don Giovanni (1787).

Elvira "the puritan," daughter of Lord Walton, betrothed to Arturo (Lord Arthur Talbot), a calvalier. On the day of espousals the young man aids Enrichetta (Henrietta, widow of Charles I.) to escape, and Elvira, thinking he had eloped with a rival, temporarily loses her reason. Cromwell's soldiers arrest Arturo for treason, but he is subsequently pardoned, and marries Elvira.—Bellini's opera, I Puritani (1834).

Elvira, a lady in love with Ernani the robber-captain and head of a league against Don Carlos (afterwards Charles V. of Spain). Ernani was just on the point of marrying Elvira, when he was summoned to death by Gomez de Silva, and stabbed himself.—Verdi, Ernani (an opera, 1841).

Elvira, betrothed to Alfonso (son of the Duke d'Arcos). No sooner is the marriage completed than she learns that Alfonso has seduced Fenella, a dumb girl, sister of Masaniello the fisherman. Masaniello, to revenge his wrongs, heads an insurrection, and Alfonso with Elvira run for safety to the fisherman's hut, where they find Fenella, who promises to protect them. Masaniello, being made chief magistrate of Portici, is killed by the mob; Fenella throws herself into the crater of Vesuvius; and Alfonso is left to live in peace with Elvira.—Auber, Masaniello (1831).

ELVIRE (2 syl.), the wife of Don Juan, whom he abandons. She enters a convent, and tries to reclaim her profligate husband, but without success.—Moliere, Don Juan (1665).

ELY (Bishop of), introduced by Sir W. Scott in the Talisman (time, Richard I.).

EMATHIAN CONQUEROR (The Great), Alexander the Great. Emathia is Macedonia and Thessaly. Emathion, a son of Titan and Aurora, reigned in Macedonia. Pliny tells us that Alexander, when he besieged Thebes, spared the house in which Pindar the poet was born, out of reverence to his great abilities.

EMBLA, the woman Eve of Scandinavian mythology. Eve or Embla was made of elm, but Ask or Adam was made of ash.

EMELIE or EMELYE, sister-in-law of Duke Theseus (2 syl.), beloved by both Palamon and Arcite (2 syl.), but the former had her to wife.

Emelie that fairer was to scene Than is the lilie on hire stalke grene, And fresscher than the May with floures newe.

Chaucer, Canterbury Tales ("The Knight's Tale," 1388).

EMERALDER, an Irishman, one of the Emerald Isle.

EMERITA (St.), who, when her brother abdicated the British crown, accompanied him to Switzerland, and shared with him there a martyr's death.

Emerita the next, King Lucius' sister dear, Who in Helvetia with her martyr brother died.

Drayton, Polyolbion, xxiv. (1622).

EMILE (2 syl.), the chief character of a philosophical romance on education by Jean Jacques Rousseau (1762). Emile is the author's ideal of a young man perfectly educated, every bias but that of nature having been carefully withheld.

N.B.—Emile is the French form of Emilius.

His body is inured to fatigue, as Rousseau advises in his Emilius.—Continuation of The Arabian Nights, iv. 69.

EMILIA, wife of Iago, the ancient of Othello in the Venetian army. She is induced by Iago to purloin a certain handkerchief given by Othello to Desdemona. Iago then prevails on Othello to ask his wife to show him the handkerchief, but she cannot find it, and Iago tells the Moor she has given it to Cassio as a love-token. At the death of Desdemona, Emilia (who till then never suspected the real state of the case) reveals the truth of the matter, and Iago rushes on her and kills her.—Shakespeare, Othello (1611).

The virtue of Emilia is such as we often find, worn loosely, but not cast off; easy to commit small crimes, but quickened and alarmed at atrocious villainies.—Dr. Johnson.

Emilia, the lady who attended on Queen Hermione in prison.—Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale (1604).

Emilia, the lady-love of Peregrine Pickle, in Smollett's novel called The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751).

Emilia Galotti. Beautiful daughter of Odoardo, an Italian noble. She is affianced to Count Appiani, and beloved by the Prince Guastalla, who causes her lover's death on their wedding-day. To save her from the prince, Odoardo stabs Emilia.—G.E. Lessing, Emilia Galotti.

EMILY, the fiancee of Colonel Tamper. Duty called away the colonel to Havana, and on his return he pretended to have lost one eye and one leg in the war, in order to see if Emily would love him still. Emily was greatly shocked, and Mr. Prattle the medical practitioner was sent for. Amongst other gossip, Mr. Prattle told his patient he had seen the colonel who looked remarkably well, and most certainly was maimed neither in his legs nor in his eyes. Emily now saw through the trick, and resolved to turn the tables on the colonel. For this end she induced Mdlle. Florival to appear en militaire, under the assumed name of Captain Johnson, and to make desperate love to her. When the colonel had been thoroughly roasted and was about to quit the house forever, his friend Major Belford entered and recognized Mdlle. as his fiancee; the trick was discovered, and all ended happily.—G. Colman, sen., The Deuce is in Him (1762).

EMIR OR AMEER, a title given to lieutenants of provinces and other officers of the sultan, and occasionally assumed by the sultan himself. The sultan is not unfrequently call "The Great Ameer," and the Ottoman empire is sometimes spoken of as "the country of the Great Ameer." What Matthew Paris and other monks call "ammirals" is the same word. Milton speaks of the "mast of some tall ammiral" (Paradise Lost, i. 294).

The difference between xariff or sariff and amir is this: the former is given to the blood successors of Mahomet, and the latter to those who maintain his religious faith.—Selden, Titles of Honor, vi. 73-4 (1672).

EM'LY (Little), daughter of Tom, the brother-in-law of Dan'el Peggotty, a Yarmouth fisherman, by whom the orphan child was brought up. While engaged to Ham Peggotty (Dan'el's nephew) little Em'ly runs away with Steerforth, a handsome but unprincipled gentleman. Being subsequently reclaimed, she emigrates to Australia with Dan'el Peggotty and old Mrs. Gummidge.—C. Dickens, David Copperfield (1849).

EMMA "the Saxon" or Emma Plantagenet, the beautiful, gentle, and loving wife of David, king of North Wales (twelfth century).—Southey, Madoc (1805).

EMMONS (David), slow, gentle fellow who never "comes to the point" in his courtship, but visits the "girl" for forty years, and gasps out in dying, "I allers—meant to—have—asked—you to marry me."—Mary E. Wilkins, Two Old Lovers (1887).

EMPEDOCLES, one of Pythagoras's scholars, who threw himself secretly into the crater at Etna, that people might suppose the gods had carried him to heaven; but alas! one of his iron pattens was cast out with the lava, and recognized.

He to be deemed A god, leaped fondly into Etna flames, Empedocles.

Milton, Paradise Lost, iii. 469, etc. (1665).

EMPEROR OF BELIEVERS (The), Omar I., father-in-law of Mahomet (581-644).

EMPEROR OF THE MOUNTAINS, (The) Peter the Calabrian, a famous robber-chief (1812).

EMPEROR FOR MY PEOPLE. Hadrian used to say, "I am emperor not for myself but for my people" (76, 117-138).

EMPSON (Master), flageolot player to Charles II.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (1823).

Enanthe (3 syl.), daughter of Seleucus, and mistress of Prince Demetrius (son of King Antigonus) She appears under the name of Celia.—Beaumont and Eletcher, The Humorous Lieutenant (1647).

ENCELADOS (Latin, Enceladus), the most powerful of all the giants who conspired against Jupiter. He was struck with a thunder-bolt, and covered with the heap of earth now called Mount Etna. The smoke of the volcano is the breath of the buried giant; and when he shifts his side it is an earthquake.

Fama est, Enceladi semiustum fulmine corpus Urgeri mole hac, ingentemque insuper Aetnam Impositam, ruptis flammam expirare caminis; Et, fessum quoties mutet latus, intremere omnem Murmure Trinacriam, et coelum subtexere fumo.

Virgil, Aeneid, iii. 578-582.

Where the burning cinders, blown From the lips of the overthrown Enceladus, fill the air.

Longfellow, Enceladus.

EN'CRATES (3 syl.), Temperance personified, the husband of Agnei'a (wifely chastity). When his wife's sister Parthen'ia (maidenly chastity) was wounded in the battle of Mansoul, by False Delight, he and his wife ran to her assistance, and soon routed the foes who were hounding her. Continence (her lover) went also, and poured a balm into her wounds, which healed them. Greek, egkrates, "continent, temperate."

So have I often seen a purple flower, Fainting thro' heat, hang down her drooping head; But, soon refreshed with a welcome shower, Begins again her lively beauties spread, And with new pride her silken leaves display.

Phineas Fletcher, The Purple Island, xi. (1633).

ENDELL (Martha), a poor fallen girl, to whom Emily goes when Steerforth deserts her. She emigrates with Dan'el Pegot'ty, and marries a young farmer in Australia.—C. Dickens, David Copperfield (1849).

ENDIGA, in Charles XII., by J.R. Planche (1826).

ENDLESS, the rascally lawyer in No Song No Supper, by P. Hoare (1754-1834).

ENDYM'ION, a noted astronomer who, from Mount Latmus, in Caria, discovered the course of the moon. Hence it is fabled that the moon sleeps with Endymion. Strictly speaking, Endymion is the setting sun.

So, Latmus by the wise Endymion is renowned; That hill on whose high top he was the first that found Pale Phoebe's wandering course; so skillful in her sphere, As some stick not to say that he enjoyed her there.

Drayton, Polyolbion, vi. (1612).

To sleep like Endymion, to sleep long and soundly. Endymion requested of Jove permission to sleep as long as felt inclined. Hence the proverb, Endymionis somnum dormire. Jean Ogier de Gombaud wrote in French a romance or prose poem called Endymion (1624), and one of the best paintings of A.L. Girodet is "Endymion." Cowley, referring to Gombaud's romance, says:

While there is a people or a sun, Endymion's story with the moon shall run.

John Keats, in 1818, published his Endymion (a poetic romance), and the criticism of the Quarterly Review was falsely said to have caused his death.

Endymion. So Wm. Browne calls Sir Walter Raleigh, who was for a time in disgrace with Queen Elizabeth, whom he calls "Cynthia."

The first note that I heard I soon was wonne To think the sighes of fair Endymion, The subject of whose mournful heavy lay, Was his declining with faire Cynthia.

Brittannia's Pastorals, iv. (1613).

ENFANTS DE DIEU, the Camisards.

The royal troops outnumbered the Enfants de Dieu, and a not inglorious flight took place.—Ed. Gilliat, Asylum Christi, iii.

ENFIELD (Mrs.), the keeper of a house of intrigue, or "gentleman's magazine" of frail beauties.—Holcroft, The Deserted Daughter (1785).

ENGADDI (Theodorick, hermit of), an enthusiast. He was Aberick of Mortemar, an exiled noble.—Sir W. Scott, The Talisman (time, Richard I.).

Engaddi, one of the towns of Judah, forty miles from Jerusalem, famous for its palm trees.

Anchorites beneath Engaddi's palms, Pacing the Dead Sea beach.

Longfellow, Sand of the Desert

ENGELBRECHT, one of the Varangian guards.—Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).

ENGELRED, 'squire of Sir Reginald Front de Boeuf (follower of Prince John of Anjou, the brother of Richard I.).—Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).

ENGUERRAUD, brother of the Marquis of Montserrat, a crusader.—Sir W. Scott, The Talisman (time, Richard L).

ENID, the personification of spotless purity. She was the daughter of Yniol, and wife of Geraint. The tale of Geraint and Enid allegorizes the contagion of distrust and jealousy, commencing with Guinevere's infidelity, and spreading downward among the Arthurian knights. In order to save Enid from this taint, Sir Geraint removed from the court to Devon; but overhearing part of a sentence uttered by Enid, he fancied that she was unfaithful, and treated her for a time with great harshness. In an illness, Enid nursed Geraint with such wifely devotion that he felt convinced of his error. A perfect reconciliation took place, and they "crowned a happy life with a fair death".—Tennyson, Idylls of the King ("Geraint and Enid.").

ENNIUS (The English), Layamon, who wrote a translation in Saxon of The Brut of Wace (thirteenth century).

Ennius (The French), Jehan de Meung, who wrote a continuation of Layamon's romance (1260-1320).

Guillaume de Lorris, author of the Romance of the Rose, is also called "The French Ennius," and with better title (1235-1265).

Ennius (The Spanish), Juan de Mena of Cordova (1412-1456).

ENRIQUE (2 syl.), brother-in-law of Chrysalde (2 syl.). He married secretly Chrysalde's sister Angelique, by whom he had a daughter, Agnes, who was left in charge of a peasant while Enrique was absent in America. Having made his fortune in the New World, Enrique returned and found Agnes in love with Horace, the son of his friend Oronte (2 syl.). Their union, after the usual quota of misunderstanding and cross purposes, was accomplished to the delight of all parties.—Moliere, L'Ecole des Femmes (1662).

ENTELECHY, the kingdom of Queen Quintessence. Pantagruel and his companions went to this kingdom in search of the "holy bottle."—Rabelais, Pantagruel, v. 19 (1545).

This kingdom of "speculative science" gave the hint to Swift for his island of Laputa.

EPHESIAN, a toper, a dissolute sot, a jovial companion. When Page (2 Henry IV. act ii. sc. 2) tells Prince Henry that a company of men were about to sup with Falstaff, in Eastcheap, and calls them "Ephesians," he probably meant soldiers called fethas ("foot-soldiers"), and hence topers. Malone suggests that the word is a pun on pheese ("to chastise or pay one tit for tat"), and means "quarrelsome fellows."

EPHESIAN POET (The), Hipponax, born at Ephesus (sixth century B.C.).

EPIC POETRY (The Father of), Homer (about 950 B.C.).

EPICENE (3 syl.), or The Silent Woman, one of the three great comedies of Ben Jonson (1609).

The other two are Volpone (2 syl., 1605), and The Alchemist (1610).

EPICURUS. The aimee de coeur of this philosopher was Leontium. (See LOVERS).

EPICURUS OF CHINA, Tao-tse, who commenced the search for "the elixir of perpetual youth and health" (B.C. 540).

Thomas Moore has a prose romance entitled The Epicure'an. Lucretius the Roman poet, in his De Rerum Natura, is an exponent of the Epicurean doctrines.

EPIDAURUS (That God in), Aescula'pius, son of Apollo, who was worshipped in Epidaurus, a city of Peloponne'sus. Being sent for to Rome during a plague, he assumed the form of a serpent.—Livy, Nat. Hist., xi.; Ovid, Metaph., xv.

Never since of serpent kind Lovelier, not those that in Illyria changed Hermione and Cadmus, or the god In Epidaurus.

Milton, Paradise Lost, ix. 507 (1665).

(Cadmus and his wife Harmonia [Hermoine] left Thebes and migrated into Illyria, where they were changed into serpents because they happened to kill one belonging to Mars.)

EPHIAL'TES (4 syl.), one of the giants who made war upon the gods. He was deprived of his left eye by Apollo, and of his right eye by Hercules.

EPIG'ONI, seven youthful warriors, sons of the seven chiefs who laid siege to Thebes. All the seven chiefs (except Adrastos) perished in the siege; but the seven sons, ten years later, took the city and razed it to the ground. The chiefs and sons were: (1) Adrastos, whose son was Aegi'aleus (4 syl.); (2) Polynikes, whose son was Thersan'der; (3) Amphiar'aos (5 syl.), whose son was Alkmaeon (the chief); (4) Ty'deus (2 syl.), whose son was Diome'des; (5) Kap'aneus (3 syl.), whose son was Sthen'elos; (6) Parthenopae'os, whose son was Promachos; (7) Mekis'theus (3 syl.), whose son was Eury'alos.

AEschylos has a tragedy on The Seven Chiefs against Thebes. There are also two epics, one The Thebaid of Statius, and The Epigoni sometimes attributed to Homer and sometimes to one of the Cyclic poets of Greece.

EPIGON'IAD (The), called "the Scotch Iliad," by William Wilkie (1721-1772). This is the tale of the Epig'oni or seven sons of the seven chieftains who laid siege to Thebes. The tale is this: When Oe'dipos abdicated, his two sons agreed to reign alternate years; but at the expiration of the first year, the elder son (Eteocles) refused to give up the throne. Whereupon the younger brother (Polynikes) interested six Grecian chiefs to espouse his cause, and the allied armies laid siege to Thebes, without success. Subsequently, the seven sons of the old chiefs went against the city to avenge the death of their fathers, who had fallen in the former siege. They succeeded in taking the city, and in placing Thersander on the throne. The names of the seven sons are Thersander, AEgi'aleus, Alkmaeon, Diomedes, Sthen'elos, Pro'machos, and Euryalos.

EPIMEN'IDES (5 syl.) of Crete, sometimes reckoned one of the "seven wise men of Greece" in the place of Periander. He slept for fifty-seven years in a cave, and, on waking, found everything so changed that he could recognize nothing. Epimenides lived 289 years, and was adored by the Cretans as one of their "Curetes" or priests of Jove. He was contemporary with Solon.

(Goethe has a poem called Des Epimenides Erwachen.—See Heinrich's Epimenides.)

Epimenides's Drug. A nymph who loved Epimenides gave him a draught in a bull's horn, one single drop of which would not only cure any ailment, but would serve for a hearty meal.

Le Nouveau Epimenede is a man who lives in a dream in a kind of "Castle of Spain," where he deems himself a king, and does not wish to be disillusioned. The song is by Jacinthe Leclere, one of the members of the "Societe de Momus," of Paris.

EPINOGRIS (Sir), son of the king of Northumberland. He loved an earl's daughter, but slew the earl in a knightly combat. Next day, a knight challenged him to fight, and the lady was to be the prize of the victor. Sir Epinogris, being overthrown, lost the lady; but when Sir Palomides heard the tale, he promised to recover her. Accordingly, he challenged the victorious knight, who turned out to be his brother. The point of dispute was then amicably arranged by giving up the lady to Sir Epinogris.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, ii. 169 (1470).

EPPIE, one of the servants of the Rev. Josiah Cargill. In the same novel is Eppie Anderson, one of the servants at the Mowbray Arms, Old St. Ronan's, held by Meg Dods.—Sir W. Scott, St. Bonarts Well (time, George III.).

EPPS, cook of Saunders Fairford, a lawyer.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.). EQUITY (Father of), Heneage Finch, earl of Nottingham (1621-1682). In Absalom and Achitophel (by Dryden and Tate) he is called "Amri."

Sincere was Amri, and not only knew, But Israel's sanctions into practice drew; Our laws, that did a boundless ocean seem, Were coasted all, and fathomed all by him ... To whom the double blessing doth belong, With Moses' inspiration, Aaron's tongue.

Absalom and Achitophel, ii. (1682).

EQUIVOKES.

1. HENRY IV. was told that "he should not die but in Jerusalem," which he supposed meant the Holy Land; but he died in the Jerusalem Chamber, London, which is the chapter-house of Westminster Abbey.

2. POPE SYLVESTER was also told that he should die at Jerusalem, and he died while saying mass in a church so called at Rome.

3. CAMBYSES, son of Cyrus, was told that he should die in Ecbat'ana, which he supposed meant the capital of Media. Being wounded accidentally in Syria, he asked the name of the place; and being told it was Ecbatana, "Here, then, I am destined to end my life."

4. A Messenian seer, being sent to consult the Delphic oracle respecting the issue of the Messenian war, then raging, received for reply:

When the goat stoops to drink of the Neda, O, seer, From Messenia flee, for its ruin is near!

In order to avert this calamity, all goats were diligently chased from the banks of the Neda. One day, Theoclos observed a fig tree growing on the river-side, and its branches dipped into the stream. The interpretation of the oracle flashed across his mind, for he remembered that goat and fig tree, in the Messenian dialect were the same word.

The pun would be clearer to an English reader if "a stork" were substituted for the goat: "When a stork stoops to drink of the Neda;" and the "stalk" of the fig tree dipping into the stream.

5. When the allied Greeks demanded of the Delphic oracle what would be the issue of the battle of Salamis, they received for answer:

Seed-time and harvest, weeping sires shall tell How thousands fought at Salamis and fell;

but whether the oracle referred to the Greeks or Persians who were to fall by "thousands," was not stated.

6. When CROESUS demanded what would be the issue of the battle against the Persians, headed by Cyrus, the answer was, he "should behold a mighty empire overthrown;" but whether that empire was his own, or that of Cyrus, only the actual issue of the fight could determine.

7. Similarly, when PHILIP of Macedon sent to Delphi to inquire if his Persian expedition would prove successful, he received for reply, "The ready victim crowned for sacrifice stands before the altar." Philip took it for granted that the "ready victim" was the king of Persia, but it was himself.

8. TARQUIN sent to Delphi to learn the fate of his struggle with the Romans for the recovery of his throne, and was told, "Tarquin will never fall till a dog speaks with the voice of a man." The "dog" was Junius Brutus, who was called a dog by way of contempt.

9. When the oracle was asked who would succeed Tarquin, it replied, "He who shall first kiss his mother." Whereupon Junius Brutus fell to the earth, and exclaimed, "Thus, then, I kiss thee, O mother earth!"

10. Jourdain, the wizard, told the duke of Somerset, if he wished to live, to "avoid where castles mounted stand." The duke died in an ale-house called the Castle, in St. Alban's.—Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI. act v. sc. 2.

11. A wizard told King Edward IV. that "after him should reign one the first letter of whose name should be G." The king thought the person meant was his brother George, but the duke of Gloucester was the person pointed at.—Holinshed, Chronicles; Shakespeare, Richard III. act i. sc. I.

ERAC'LIUS (The emperor) condemned a knight to death on the supposition of murder; but the man supposed to be murdered making his appearance, the condemned man was taken back, under the expectation that he would be instantly acquitted. But no, Eraclius ordered all three to be put to death: the knight, because the emperor had ordered it; the man who brought him back, because he had not carried out the emperor's order; and the man supposed to be murdered, because he was virtually the cause of death to the other two.

This tale is told in the Gesta Romanorum, and Chaucer has put it into the mouth of his Sumpnor. It is also told by Seneca, in his De Ira; but he ascribes it to Cornelius Piso, and not to Eraclius.

ERASTE (2 syl.), hero of Les Facheux by Moliere. He is in love with Orphiso (2 syl.), whose tutor is Damis (1661).

ER'CELDOUN (Thomas of), also called "Thomas the Rhymer," introduced by Sir W. Scott in his novel called Castle Dangerous (time, Henry I.).

It is said that Thomas of Erceldoun is not dead, but that he is sleeping beneath the Eildon Hills, in Scotland. One day, he met with a lady of elfin race beneath the Eildon tree, and she led him to an under-ground region, where he remained for seven years. He then revisited the earth, but bound himself to return when summoned. One day, when he was making merry with his friends, he was told that a hart and hind were parading the street; and he knew it was his summons, so he immediately went to the Eildon tree, and has never since been heard of.—Sir W. Scott, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.

This tale is substantially the same in the German one of Tannhaeuser (q.v.).

ERECK, a knight of the Round Table. He marries the beautiful Enite (2 syl.), daughter of a poor knight, and falls into a state of idleness and effeminacy, till Enite rouses him to action. He then goes forth on an expedition of adventures, and after combating with brigands, giants, and dwarfs, returns to the court of King Arthur, where he remains till the death of his father. He then enters on his inheritance, and lives peaceably the rest of his life.—Hartmann von der Aue, Ereck (thirteenth century).

EREEN'IA (3 syl.), a glendoveer' or good spirit, the beloved son of Cas'yapa (3 syl.), father of the immortals. Ereenia took pity on Kail'yal (2 syl.), daughter of Ladur'lad, and carried her to his Bower of Bliss in paradise (canto vii.). Here Kailyal could not stay, because she was still a living daughter of earth. On her return to earth, she was chosen for the bride of Jagannaut, and Ar'valan came to dishonor her; but she set fire to the pagoda, and Ereenia came to her rescue. Ereenia was set upon by the witch Lor'rimite (3 syl.), and carried to the submerged city of Baly, whence he was delivered by Ladurlad. The glendoveer now craved Seeva for vengeance, but the god sent him to Yamen (i.e. Pluto), and Yamen said the measure of iniquity was now full, so Arvalan and his father Kehama were both made inmates of the city of everlasting woe; while Ereenia carried Kailyal, who had quaffed the waters of immortality, to his Bower of Bliss, to dwell with him in everlasting joy.—Southey, Curse of Kehoma (1809).

ERET'RIAN BULL (The). Menede'mos of Eretria, in Eubae'a, was called "Bull" from the bull-like breadth and gravity of his face. He founded the Eretrian school (fourth century B.C.).

ERIC, "Windy-cap," king of Sweden. He could make the wind blow from any quarter by simply turning his cap. Hence arose the expression, "a capful of wind."

ERIC GRAY. A young man whose religious principles will not let him marry the girl he loves because she has not "joined the church." His old love tells the story after his funeral.

"And all my heart went forward, past the shadows and the cross, Even to that home where perfect love hath never thorn nor loss; Where neither do they marry, nor in marriage are given, But are like unto the angels in GOD'S house, which is Heaven."

Margaret E. Sangster, Eric's Funeral (1882).

ERICHTHO [Erik'.tho], the famous Thessaliaii witch consulted by Pompey.—Lucan, Pharsalia, vi.

ERICKSON (Sweyn), a fisherman at Jarlshof.—Sir W. Scott, The Pirate (time, William III.).

ERIC'THO, the witch in John Marston's tragedy called The Wonder of Women or Sophonisba (160)5.

ERIG'ENA (John Scotus), called "Scotus the Wise." He must not be confounded with Duns Scotus, "the Subtle Doctor," who lived some four centuries later. Erigena died in 875, and Duns Scotus in 1308.

ERIG'ONE (4 syl.), the constellation Virgo. She was the daughter of Icarios, an Athenian, who was murdered by some drunken peasants. Erigone discovered the dead body by the aid of her father's dog Moera, who became the star called Canis.

... "that virgin, frail Erigone, Who by compassion got preeminence."

Lord Brooke, Of Nobility.

ERILL'YAB (3 syl.), the widowed and deposed Queen of the Hoamen (2 syl.), an Indian tribe settled on a south branch of the Missouri. Her husband was King Tepol'loni, and her son Amal'ahta. Madoc when he reached America, espoused her cause, and succeeded in restoring her to her throne and empire.—Southey, Madoc (1805).

ERIPHY'LE (4 syl.), the wife of Amphiara'os. Being bribed by a golden necklace, she betrayed to Polyni-ces where her husband had concealed himself that he might not go to the seige of Thebes, where he knew that he should be killed. Congreve calls the word Eriph'yle.

When Eriphyle broke her plighted faith, And for a bribe procured her husband's death.

Ovid, Art of Love, iii.

ERISICH'THON (should be Erysichthon), a Thessaliad, whose appetite was insatiable. Having spent all his estate in the purchase of food, nothing was left but his daughter Metra, and her he sold to buy food for his voracious appetite; but Metra had the power of transforming herself into any shape she chose, so as often as as her father sold her, she changed her form and returned to him. After a time, Erisichthon was reduced to feed upon himself.—Ovid, Metaph, viii. 2 (740 to end).

Drayton says when the Wyre saw her goodly oak trees sold for firewood, she bethought her of Erisichthon's end, who, "when nor sea, nor land, sufficient were," ate his own flesh.—Polyolbion, vii.

So Erisicthon, once fired (as men say), With hungry rage, fed never, ever feeding; Ten thousand dishes severed every day, Yet in ten thousand thousand dishes needing. In vain his daughter hundred shapes assumed; A whole camp's meat he in his gorge inhumed; And all consumed, his hunger yet was unconsumed.

Phineas Fletcher, The Purple Island (1633).

ERLAND, father of Norna "of the Fitful Head."—Sir W. Scott, The Pirate (time, William III.).

ERL-KING, a spirit of mischief, which haunts the Black Forest of Thuringia.

Goethe has a ballad called the Erl-koenig, and Herder has translated the Danish ballad of Sir Olaf and the Erl-King's Daughter.

In Goethe's ballad, a father, riding home through the night and storm with a child in his arms is pursued by the Erl-king, who entices the child with promises of fairy-gifts, and finally kills it.

ERMANGARDE OF BALDRINGHAM (The Lady), aunt of the Lady Eveline Berenger "the betrothed."—Sir W. Scott, The Betrothed (time, Henry II.).

ER'MELINE (Dame), the wife of Reynard, in the beast-epic called Reynard the Fox (1498).

ERMIN'IA, the heroine of Jerusalem Delivered. She fell in love with Tancred, and when the Christian army beseiged Jerusalem, arrayed herself in Clorinda's armor to go to him. After certain adventures, she found him wounded, and nursed him tenderly; but the poet has not told us what was the ultimate lot of this fair Syrian.—Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered (1575).

ERNA'NI, the robber-captain, duke of Segor'bia and Cardo'na, lord of Aragon, and count of Ernani. He is in love with Elvi'ra, the betrothed of Don Ruy Gomez de Silva, an old Spanish grandee, whom she detests. Charles V. falls in love with her, and Ruy Gomez joins Ernani in a league against their common rival. During this league Ernani gives Ruy Gomez a horn, saying, "Sound but this horn, and at that moment Ernani will cease to live." Just as he is about to espouse Elvira, the horn is sounded, and Ernani stabs himself.—Verdi, Ernani (an opera, 1841).

ERNEST (Duke), son-in-law of Kaiser Konrad II. He murders his feudal lord, and goes on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to expiate his crime. The poem so called is a mixture of Homeric legends, Oriental myths, and pilgrims' tales. We have pygmies and cyclopses, genii and enchanters, fairies and dwarfs, monks and devotees. After a world of hair-breadth escapes, the duke reaches the Holy Sepulchre, pays his vows, returns to Germany, and is pardoned.—Henry Von Veldig (minnesinger), Duke Ernest (twelfth century).

ERNEST DE FRIDBERG, "the prisoner of the State." He was imprisoned in the dungeon of the Giant's Mount fortress for fifteen years on a false charge of treason. Ul'rica (his natural daughter by the countess Marie), dressed in the clothes of Herman, the deaf and dumb jailor-boy, gets access to the dungeon and contrives his escape; but he is retaken, and led back to the dungeon. Being subsequently set at liberty, he marries the countess Marie (the mother of Ulrica).—E. Stirling, The Prisoner of State (1847.)

EROS, the manumitted slave of Antony the triumvir. Antony made Eros swear that he would kill him if commanded by him so to do. When in Egypt, Antony after the battle of Actium, fearing lest he should fall into the hands of Octavius Caesar, ordered Eros to keep his promise. Eros drew his sword, but thrust it into his own side, and fell dead at the feet of Antony. "O noble Eros," cried Antony, "I thank thee for teaching me how to die!"—Plutarch.

Eros is introduced in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, and in Dryden's All for Love or the World Well Lost.

(Eros is the Greek name of Cupid, and hence amorous poetry is called Erotic.)

EROS'TRATOS (in Latin EROSTRATUS), the incendiary who set fire to the temple of Diana of Ephesus, that his name might be perpetuated. An edict was published, prohibiting any mention of the name, but the edict was wholly ineffective.

Charles V., wishing to be shown over the Pantheon [All Saints] of Rome, was taken to the top by a Roman knight. At parting, the knight told the emperor that he felt an almost irresistible desire to push his majesty down from the top of the building, "in order to immortalize his name." Unlike Erostratos, the name of this knight has not transpired. ERO'TA, a very beautiful but most imperious princess, passionately beloved by Philander, Prince of Cyprus.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Laws of Candy (1647).

ERRA-PATER, an almanac, an almanac-maker, an astrologer. Samuel Butler calls Lilly, the almanac-maker, an Erra-Pater, which we are told was the name of a famous Jewish astrologer.

His only Bible was an Erra-Pater.

Phin. Fletcher, The Purple Island, vii. (1633).

"What's here? Erra-Pater or a bearded sibyl" [the person was Foresight].

Congreve, Love for Love, iv. (1695).

ERRAGON, king of Lora (in Scandinavia). Aldo, a Caledonian chief, offered him his services, and obtained several important victories; but Lorma, the king's wife, falling in love with him, the guilty pair escaped to Morven. Erragon invaded the country, and slew Aldo in single combat, but was himself slain in battle by Gaul, son of Morni. As for Lorma, she died of grief.—Ossian, The Battle of Lora.

ERRANT DAMSEL (The), Una.—Spenser, Faery Queen, iii. 1 (1590).

ERRIMA, Greek maiden chidden by her mother for dreaming of Sappho, and Lesbian dances and Delphian lyre, and commanded to

"rend thy scrolls and keep thee to thy spinning."

She answers that talk of matron dignities and household tasks wearies her:

"I would renounce them all for Sappho's bay: Forego them all for room to chant out free The silent rhythms I hum within my heart, And so for ever leave my weary spinning!"

Margaret J. Preston, Old Song and New. (1870).

ERROL (Cedric). Bright American boy, living with his widowed mother, whose grandfather, Lord Fauntleroy, sends for and adopts him. The boy's sweetness of manners and nobility of nature conquer the old man's prejudices, and win him to sympathy and co-operation in his schemes for making the world better.—Frances Hodgson Burnett, Little Lord Fauntleroy (1889).

ERROL (Gilbert, earl of), lord high constable of Scotland.—Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).

ERROR, a monster who lived in a den in "Wandering Wood," and with, whom the Red Cross Knight had his first adventure. She had a brood of 1000 young ones of sundry shape, and these cubs crept into their mother's mouth when alarmed, as young kangaroos creep into their mother's pouch. The knight was nearly killed by the stench which issued from the foul fiend, but he succeeded in "rafting" her head off, whereupon the brood lapped up the blood, and burst with satiety.

Half like a serpent horribly displayed, But th' other half did woman's shape retain. And as she lay upon the dirty ground, Her huge long tail her den all overspread, Yet was in knots and many boughts [folds] up-wound, Pointed with mortal sting.

Spenser, Faery Queen, i. 1 (1590).

ERROR OF ARTISTS, (See ANACHRONISMS).

ANGELO (Michel), in his great picture of the "Last Judgment" has introduced Charon's bark.

BREUGHEL, the Dutch painter, in a picture of the "Wise Men of the East" making their offerings to the infant Jesus, has represented one of them dressed in a large white surplice, booted and spurred, offering the model of a Dutch seventy-four to the infant.

ETTY has placed by the bedside of Holofernes a helmet of the period of the seventeenth century.

MAZZOCHI (Paulo), in his "Symbolical Painting of the Four Elements," represents the sea by fishes, the earth by moles, fire by a salamander, and air by a camel! Evidently he mistook the chameleon (which traditionally lives on air) for a camel.

TINTORET, in a picture which represents the "Israelites Gathering Manna in the Wilderness," has armed the men with guns.

VERONESE (Paul), in his "Marriage Feast of Cana of Galilee," has introduced among the guests several Benedictines.

WEST, president of the Royal Academy, has represented Paris the Phrygian in Roman costume.

WESTMINSTER HALL is full of absurdities. Witness the following as specimens:—

Sir Cloudesley Shovel is dressed in a Roman cuirass and sandals, but on his head is a full-bottomed wig of the eighteenth century.

The Duke of Buckingham is arrayed in the costume of a Roman emperor, and his duchess in the court dress of George I. period.

ERRORS OF AUTHORS, (See ANACHRONISMS.)

AKENSIDE. He views the Ganges from Alpine heights.—Pleasures of Imagination.

ALLISON (Sir Archibald), says: "Sir Peregine Pickle was one of the pall-bearers of the Duke of Wellington."—Life of Lord Castlereagh.

In his History of Europe, the phrase droit de timbre ("stamp duty") he translates "timber duties."

ARTICLES OF WAR FOR THE ARMY. It is ordered "that every recruit shall have the 40th and 46th of the articles read to him." (art. iii.).

The 40th article relates wholly to the misconduct of chaplains, and has no sort of concern with recruits. Probably the 41st is meant, which is about mutiny and insubordination.

BROWNE (William) Apelles' Curtain. W. Browne says:

If ... I set my pencil to Appelles table [painting] Or dare to draw his curtain.

Britannia's Pastorals, ii. 2.

This curtain was not drawn by Apelles, but by Parrhasius, who lived a full century before Apelles. The contest was between Zeuxis and Parrhasius. The former exhibited a bunch of grapes which deceived the birds, and the latter a curtain which deceived the competitor.

BRUYSSEL (E. von) says: "According to Homer, Achilles had a vulnerable heel." It is a vulgar error to attribute this myth to Homer. The blind old bard nowhere says a word about it. The story of dipping Achilles in the river Styx is altogether post-Homeric.

BYRON. Xerxes' Ships. Byron says that Xerxes looked on his "ships by thousands" off the coast of Sal'amis. The entire number of sails were 1200; of these 400 were wrecked before the battle off the coast of Sepias, so that even supposing the whole of the rest were engaged, the number could not exceed 800.—Isles of Greece.

The Isle Teos. In the same poem he refers to "Teos" as one of the isles of Greece, but Teos is a maritime town on the coast of Ionia, in Asia Minor.

CERVANTES. Dorothea's Father. Dorothea represents herself as Queen of Micomicon, because both her father and mother were dead, but Don Quixote speaks of him to her as alive.—Pt. I. iv. 8.

Mambrino's Helmet. In pt. I. iii. 8 we are told that the galley-slaves set free by Don Quixote assaulted him with stones, and "snatching the basin from his head, broke it to pieces." In bk. iv. 15 we find this basin quite whole and sound, the subject of a judicial inquiry, the question being whether it was a helmet or a barber's basin. Sancho (ch. 11) says, he "picked it up, bruised and battered, intending to get it mended;" but he says, "I broke it to pieces," or, according to one translator, "broke it into a thousand pieces." In bk. iv. 8 we are told that Don Quixote "came from his chamber armed cap-a-pie, with the barber's basin on his head."

Sancho's Ass. We are told (pt. I. iii. 9) that Gines de Passamonte "stole Sancho's ass." Sancho laments the loss with true pathos, and the knight condoles with him. But soon afterwards Cervantes says: "He [Sancho] jogged on leisurely upon his ass after his master."

Sancho's Great-coat. Sancho Panza, we are told, left his wallet behind in the Crescent Moon tavern, where he was tossed in a blanket, and put the provisions left by the priests in his great-coat (ch. 5). The galley-slaves robbed him of "his great-coat, leaving only his doublet" (ch. 8), but in the next chapter (9) we find "the victuals had not been touched," though the rascals "searched diligently for booty." Now, if the food was in the great-coat, and the great-coat was stolen, how is it that the victuals remained in Sancho's possession untouched?

Sancho's Wallet. We are told that Sancho left his wallet by mistake at the tavern where he was blanket-tossed (ch. 5), but in ch. 9, when he found the portmanteau, "he crammed the gold and linen into his wallet."—Pt. I. iii.

To make these oversights more striking, the author says, when Sancho found the portmanteau, "he entirely forgot the loss of his wallet, his great-coat, and of his faithful companion and servant Dapple" (the ass).

Supper. Cervantes makes the party at the Crescent tavern eat two suppers in one evening. In ch. 5 the curate orders in supper, and "after supper" they read the story of Fatal Curiosity. In ch. 12 we are told "the cloth was laid [again] for supper," and the company sat down to it, quite forgetting that they had already supped.—Pt. I. iv.

CHAMBERS'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA states that "the fame of Beaumarchais rests on his two operas, Le Barbier de Seville (1755) and Le Mariage de Figaro." Every one knows that Mozart composed the opera of Figaro (1786), and that Casti wrote the libretto. The opera of Le Barbier de Seville, or rather Il Barbiere di Siviglia, was composed by Rossini, in 1816. What Beaumarchais wrote was two comedies, one in four acts and the other in five acts.—Art. "Beaumarchais."

CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL. We are told, in a paper entitled "Coincidences," that Thursday has proved a fatal day with the Tudors, for on that day died Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. If this had been the case it would, indeed, have been startling; but what are the facts? Henry VIII. died on Friday, January 28, 1547, and Elizabeth died on Monday, March 24, 1603.—Rymer, Foedera, xv.

In the same paper we are told with equal inaccuracy that Saturday has been fatal to the present dynasty, "for William IV. and every one of the Georges died on a Saturday." What, however, says history proper? William IV. died on Tuesday, June 20, 1837; George I. died Wednesday, June 11, 1727; George III. died Monday, January 29, 1820; George IV. died Sunday, June 26, 1830; and only George II. died on a Saturday, "the day [so] fatal to the present dynasty."

CHAUCER says: The throstle-cock sings so sweet a tone that Tubal himself, the first musican, could not equal it.—The Court of Love. Of course he means Jubal.

CIBBER (Colley), in his Love Makes a Man, i., makes Carlos the student say, "For the cure of herds [Virgil's] bucolicks are a master-piece; but when his art describes the commonwealth of bees ... I'm ravished." He means Georgics. The Bucolics are eclogues, and never touch upon either of these subjects. The diseases and cures of cattle are in Georgic iii., and the habits, etc., of bees, Georgic iv.

CID (The). When Alfonso succeeded his brother Sancho and banished the Cid, Rodrigo is made to say:

Prithee say where were these gallants (Bold enough when far from blows)? Where were they when I, unaided, Rescued thee from thirteen foes?

The historic fact is, not that Rodrigo rescued Alfonso from thirteen foes, but that the Cid rescued Sancho from thirteen of Alfonso's foes. Eleven he slew, and two he put to flight.—The Cid, xvi. 78.

COLMAN. Job Thornberry says to Peregrine, who offers to assist him in his difficulties, "Desist, young man, in time." But Peregrine was at least 45 years old when so addressed. He was 15 when Job first knew him, and had been absent thirty years in Calcutta. Job Thornberry himself was not above five or six years older.

COWPER calls the rose "the glory of April and May," but June is the great rose month. In the south of England they begin to bloom in the latter half of May, and go on to the middle of July. April roses would be horticultural curiosities.

CRITICS at fault. The licentiate tells Don Quixote that some critics found fault with him for defective memory, and instanced it in this; "We are told that Sancho's ass is stolen, but the author has forgotten to mention who the thief was." This is not the case, as we are distinctly informed that it was stolen by Gines de Passamonte, one of the galley slaves.—Don Quixote, II. i. 3.

DICKENS, in Edwin Drood, puts "rooks and rooks' nests" (instead of daws) "in the tower of Cloisterham."

In Nicholas Nickleby he presents Mr. Squeers as setting his boys "to hoe turnips" in midwinter.

In The Tale of Two Cities, iii. 4, he says: "The name of the strong man of Old Scripture descended to the chief functionary who worked the guillotine." But the name of this functionary was Sanson, not Samson.

GALEN says that man has seven bones in the sternum (instead of three); and Sylvius, in reply to Vesalius, contends that "in days of yore the robust chests of heroes had more bones than men now have."

GREENE (Robert) speaks of Delphos as an island; But Delphos, or rather Delphi, was a city of Phocis, and no island. "Six noblemen were sent to the isle of Delphos."—Donastus and Faunia. Probably he confounded the city of Delphi with the isle of Delos.

HALLIWELL, in his Archaic Dictionary, says: "Crouchmas means Christmas," and adds that Tusser is his authority. But this is altogether a mistake. Tusser, in his "May Remembrances," says: "From bull cow fast, till Crouchmas be past," i.e. St. Helen's Day. Tusser evidently means from May 3 (the invention of the Cross) to August 18 (St. Helen's Day or the Cross-mas), not Christmas.

HIGGONS (Bevil) says:

The Cyprian queen, drawn by Apelles hand. Of perfect beauty did the pattern stand! But then bright nymphs from every part of Greece Did all contribute to adorn the piece.

To Sir Godfrey Kneller (1780).

Tradition says that Apelles model was either Phyrne, or Campaspe, afterwards his wife. Campbell has borrowed these lines, but ascribes the painting to Protog'enes the Rhodian.

When first the Rhodian's mimic art arrayed The queen of Beauty in her Cyprian shade, The happy master mingled in the piece Each look that charmed him in the fair of Greece.

Pleasures of Hope, ii.

JOHNSON (Dr.) makes Addison speak of Steele as "Little Dicky" whereas the person so called by Addison was not Richard Steele, but a dwarfish actor who played "Gomez" in Dryden's Spanish Fryar.

LONDON NEWSPAPER (A), one of the leading journals of the day, has spoken three times within two years of "passing under the Caudine Forks," evidently supposing them to be a "yoke" instead of a valley or mountain pass.

LONGFELLOW calls Erig'ena a Scotchman, whereas the very word means an Irishman.

Done into Latin by that Scottish beast. Erigena Johannes.

Golden Legend.

"Without doubt, the poet mistook John Duns [Scottus], who died in 1308, for John Scottus [Erigena], who died in 875. Erigena translated into Latin, St. Dionysius. He was latitudinarian in his views, and anything but 'a Scottish beast or Calvinist.'"

The Two Angels. Longfellow crowns the death-angel with amaranth, with which Milton says, "the spirits elect bind their resplendent locks;" and his angel of life he crowns with asphodels, the flowers of Pluto or the grave.

MELVILLE (Whyte) makes a very prominent part of his story called Holmby House turn on the death of a favorite hawk named Diamond, which Mary Cave tossed off, and saw "fall lifeless at the king's feet" (ch. xxix.). In ch. xlvi. this very hawk is represented to be alive; "proud, beautiful, and cruel, like a Venus Victrix it perched on her mistress's wrist, unhooded."

MILTON. "Colkitto or Macdonnel or Galasp." In this line of Sonnet XI, Milton seems to speak of three different persons, but in reality they are one and the same; i.e., Macdonnel, son of Colkittoch, son of Gillespie (Galasp). Colkittoch means left-handed.

In Comus (ver. 880) he makes the siren Ligea sleek her hair with a golden comb, as if she were a Scandinavian mermaid.

MOORE (Thom.) says:

The sunflower turns on her god, when he sets, The same look which she turned when he rose.

Irish Melodies, ii. ("Believe Me, if all those Endearing Young Charms").

The sunflower does not turn either to the rising or setting sun. It receives its name solely because it resembles a picture sun. It is not a turn-sun or heliotrope at all.

MORRIS (W.), in his Atalanta's Race, renders the Greek word Saophron "safron," and says:

She the saffron gown will never wear, And in no flower-strewn couch shall she be laid;

i.e. she will never be a bride. Nonnius (bk. xii.) tells us that virtuous women wore a girdled gown called Saophron ("chaste"), to indicate their purity and to prevent indecorous liberties. The gown was not yellow at all, but it was girded with a girdle.

MURPHY, in the Grecian Daughter, says (act i. 1):

Have you forgot the elder Dionysius, Surnamed the Tyrant?... Evander came from Greece, And sent the tyrant to his humble rank, Once more reduced to roam for vile subsistence, A wandering sophist thro' the realms of Greece.

It was not Dionysius the Elder, but Dionysius the Younger, who was the "wandering sophist;" and it was not Evander, but Timoleon, who dethroned him. The elder Dionysius was not dethroned at all, nor even reduced "to humble rank." He reigned thirty-eight years without interruption, and died a king, in the plentitude of his glory, at the age of 63.

In the same play (act iv. 1) Euphrasia says to Dionysius the Younger:

Think of thy father's fate at Corinth, Dionysius.

It was not the father, but the son, (Dionysius the Younger) who lived in exile at Corinth.

In the same play he makes Timo'leon victorious over the Syracusans (that is historically correct); and he makes Euphrasia stab Dionysius the Younger, whereas he retreated to Corinth, and spent his time in debauchery, but supported himself by keeping a school. Of his death nothing is known, but certainly he was not stabbed to death by Euphrasia.—See Plutarch.

RYMER, in his Foedera, ascribes to Henry I. (who died in 1135) a preaching expedition for the restoration of Rochester Church, injured by fire in 1177 (vol. I i. 9).

In the previous page Rymer ascribes to Henry I. a deed of gift from "Henry, king of England and lord of Ireland;" but every one knows that Ireland was conquered by Henry II., and the deed referred to was the act of Henry III.

On p. 71 of the same vol. Odo is made, in 1298, to swear "in no wise to confederate with Richard I."; whereas Richard I. died in 1199.

SABINE MAID (The). G. Gilfillan, in his introductory essay to Longfellow, says: "His ornaments, unlike those of the Sabine maid, have not crushed him." Tarpeia, who opened the gates of Rome to the Sabines, and was crushed to death by their shields, was not a Sabine maid, but a Roman.

SCOTT (Sir Walter). In the Heart of Midlothian we read;:

She [Effie Deans] amused herself with visiting the dairy ... and was so near discovering herself to Mary Hetly by betraying her aquaintance with the celebrated receipt for Dunlop cheese, that she compared herself to Bedredeen Hassan, whom the vizier his father in-law discovered by his superlative skill in composing cream-tarts with pepper in them.

In these few lines are several gross errors: (1) cream-tarts should be cheese-cakes; (2) the charge was "that he made cheese-cakes without putting pepper in them," and not that he made "cream-tarts with pepper;" (3) it was not the vizier, his father-in-law and uncle, but his mother, the widow of Nouredeen, who made the discovery, and why? for the best of all reasons—because she herself had taught her son the receipt. The party were at Damascus at the time.—Arabian Nights ("Nouredeen Ali," etc.). (See page 389, "Thackeray.")

"What!" said Bedredeen, "was everything in my house to be broken and destroyed ... only because I did not put pepper in a cheese-cake!"

Arabian Nights ("Nouredeen Ali," etc.).

Again, Sir Walter Scott speaks of "the philosopher who appealed from Philip inflamed with wine to Philip in his hours of sobriety" (Antiquary, x.). This "philosopher" was a poor old woman.

SHAKESPEARE. Althaea and the Fire-brand. Shakespeare says, (Henry IV. act ii. sc. 2) that "Althaea dreamt that she was delivered of a fire-brand." It was not Althaea, but Hecuba, who dreamed, a little before Paris was born, that her offspring was a brand that consumed the kingdom. The tale of Althaea is, that the Fates laid a log of wood on a fire, and told her that her son would live till that log was consumed; whereupon she snatched up the log and kept it from the fire, till one day her son Melea'ger offended her, when she flung the log on the fire, and her son died, as the Fates predicted.

Bohemia's Coast. In the Winter's Tale the vessel bearing the infant Perdita is "driven by storm on the coast of Bohemia;" but Bohemia has no seaboard at all.

In Coriolanus, Shakespeare makes Volumnia the mother, and Virgilia the wife, of Coriolanus; but his wife was Volumnia, and his mother Veturia.

Delphi an Island. In the same drama (act iii. sc. 1) Delphi is spoken of as an island; but Delphi is a city of Phocis, containing a temple to Apollo. It is no island at all.

Duncan's Murder. Macbeth did not murder Duncan in the castle of Inverness, as stated in the play, but at "the smith's house," near Elgin (1039).

Elsinore. Shakespeare speaks of the beetling cliff of Elsinore, whereas Elsinore has no cliffs at all.

What if it [the ghost] tempt you toward the flood. Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles o'er its base into the sea?

Hamlet, act i. sc. 4.

The Ghost, in Hamlet, is evidently a Roman Catholic; he talks of purgatory, absolution, and other Catholic dogmas; but the Danes at the time were pagans.

St. Louis. Shakespeare, in Henry V. act i. sc. 2, calls Louis X. "St. Louis," but "St. Louis" was Louis IX. It was Louis IX. whose "grandmother was Isabel," issue of Charles de Lorraine, the last of the Carlovingians. Louis X. was the son of Philippe IV. (le Bel) and grandson of Philippe III. and "Isabel of Aragon," not Isabel, "heir of Capet of the line of Charles the duke of Lorain."

Macbeth was no tyrant, as Shakespeare makes him out to be, but a firm and equitable prince, whose title to the throne was better than that of Duncan.

Again, Macbeth was not slain by Macduff at Dunsin'ane, but made his escape from the battle, and was slain in 1056, at Lumphanan.—Lardner, Cabinet Cyc., 17-19.

In The Winter's Tale, act v. sc. 2, one of the gentlemen refers to Julio Romano, the Italian artist and architect (1492-1546), certainly some 1800 years or more before Romano was born.

In Twelfth Night, the Illyrian clown speaks of St. Bennet's Church, London. "The triplex, sir, is a good tripping measure, or the bells of St. Bennet's sure may put you in mind: one, two, three" (act v. sc. 1); as if the duke was a Londoner.

SPENSER. Bacchus or Saturn? In the Faery Queen, iii. 11, Britomart saw in the castle of Bu'sirane (3 syl.), a picture descriptive of the love of Saturn, who had changed himself into a centaur out of love for Erig'one. It was not Saturn, but Bacchus who loved Erig'one, and he was not tranformed into a centaur, but to a horse.

Beone or Oenone? In bk. vi. 9 (Faery Queen) the lady-love of Paris is called Benone, which ought to be Oenone. The poet says that Paris was "by Plexippus' brook" when the golden apple was brought to him; but no such brook is mentioned by any classic author.

Critias and Socrates. In bk. ii. 7 (Faery Queen) Spenser says: "The wise Socrates ... poured out his life ... to the dear Critias; his dearest bel-amie." It was not Socrates, but Theram'enes, one of the thirty tyrants, who in quaffing the poison-cup, said smiling, "This I drink to the health of fair Critias."—Cicero, Tusculan Questions.

Critias or Crito? In Faery Queen, iv. (introduction), Spenser says that Socrates often discoursed of love to his friend Critias; but it was Crito, or rather Criton that the poet means.

Cyprus and Paphos. Spenser makes Sir Scudamore speak of a temple of Venus, far more beautiful than "that in Paphos, or that in Cyprus;" but Paphos was merely a town in the island of Cyprus, and the "two" are but one and the same temple.—Faery Queen, iv. 10.

Hippomanes. Spenser says the golden apples of Mammon's garden were better than Those with which the Eubaean young man won Swift Atalanta. Faery Queen, ii. 7.

The young man was Hippom'anes. He was not a "Eubaean," but a native of Onchestos, in Boeo'tia.

TENNYSON, in the Last Tournament, says (ver. I), Dagonet was knighted in mockery by Sir Gaw'ain; but in the History of Prince Arthur we are distinctly told that King Arthur knighted him with his own hand (pt. ii. 91).

In Gareth and Lynette the same poet says that Grareth was the son of Lot and Bellicent; but we are told a score times and more in the History of Prince Arthur, that he was the son of Margawse (Arthur's sister and Lot's wife, pt. i. 36).

King Lot ... wedded Margawse; Nentres ... wedded Elain.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, i. 2, 35, 36.

In the same Idyll Tennyson has changed Liones to Lyonors; but, according to the collection of romances edited by Sir T. Malory, these were quite different persons. Liones, daughter of Sir Persaunt, and sister of Linet of Castle Perilous, married Sir Gareth (pt. i. 153); but Lyonors was the daughter of Earl Sanam, and was the unwedded mother of Sir Borre by King Arthur (pt. i. 15).

Again, Tennyson makes Gareth marry Lynette, and leaves the true heroine, Lyonors, in the cold; but the History makes Grareth marry Liones (Lyonors), and Gaheris his brother marries Linet.

Thus endeth the history of Sir Gareth, that wedded Dame Liones of the Castle Perilous; and also of Sir Gaheris, who wedded her sister Dame Linet.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur (end of pt. i.).

Again, in Gareth and Lynette, by erroneously beginning day with sunrise instead of the previous eve, Tennyson reverses the order of the knights, and makes the fresh green morn represent the decline of day, or, as he calls it, "Hesperus" or "Evening Star;" and the blue star of evening he makes "Phosphorus" or the "Morning Star."

Once more, in Gareth and Lynette, the poet-laureate makes the combat between Gareth and Death finished at a single blow, but in the History, Gareth fights from dawn to dewy eve.

Thus they fought [from sunrise] till it was past noon, and would not stint, till, at last both lacked wind, and then stood they wagging, staggering, panting, blowing, and bleeding ... and when they had rested them awhile, they went to battle again, trasing, rasing, and foyning, as two boars ... Thus they endured till evening-song time.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, i. 136.

In the Last Tournament, Tennyson makes Sir Tristram stabbed to death, by Sir Mark in Tintag'il Castle, Cornwall, while toying with his aunt, Isolt the Fair, but in the History he was in bed in Brittany, severely wounded, and dies of a shock, because his wife tells him the ship in which he expected his aunt to come was sailing into port with a black sail instead of a white one.

The poet-laureate has deviated so often from the collection of tales edited by Sir Thomas Malory, that it would occupy too much space to point out his deviations even in the briefest manner.

THACKERAY, in Vanity Fair, has taken from Sir Walter Scott his allusion to Bedredeen, and not from the Arabian Nights. He has, therefore, fallen into the same error, and added two more. He says: "I ought to have remembered the pepper which the Princess of Persia puts into the cream-tarts in India, sir" (ch. iii.). The charge was that Bedredeen made his cheese-cakes without putting pepper into them. But Thackeray has committed in this allusion other blunders. It was not a "princess" at all, but Bedredeen Hassan, who for the nonce had become a confectioner. He learned the art of making cheese-cakes from his mother (a widow). Again, it was not a "princess of Persia," for Bedredeen's mother was the widow of the vizier of Balsora, at that time quite independent of Persia.

VICTOR HUGO, in Les Travailleurs de la Mer, renders "the Frith of Forth" by the phrase Premier des quatre, mistaking "Frith" for first, and "Forth" for fourth or four.

In his Marie Tudor he refers to the History and Annals of Henry VII. par Franc Baronum, "meaning" Historia, etc.

Henrici Septimi, per Franciscum Baconum.

VIEGIL has placed AEneas in a harbor which did not exist at the time. "Portusque require Velinos" (AEneid, vi. 366). It was Curius Dentatus who cut a gorge through the rocks to let the waters of the Velinus into the Nar. Before this was done, the Velinus was merely a number of stagnant lakes, and the blunder is about the same as if a modern poet were to make Columbus pass through the Suez Canal.

In AEneid, in. 171 Virgil makes AEneas speak of "Ausonia;" but as Italy was so called from Auson, son of Ulysses and Calypso, of course AEneas could not have known the name.

Again, in AEneid ix. 571, he represents Chorinseus as slain by Asy'las; but in bk. xii. 298 he is alive again. Thus:

Chorinaeum sternit Asylas

Bk. ix. 571.

Then:

Obvius ambustum torrem Chorinseus ab ara Corripit, et venienti Ebuso plagamque ferenti Occupat os flammis, etc.

Bk. xii. 298, etc.

Again in bk. ix. Numa is slain by Nisus, (ver. 554); but in bk. x. 562 Numa is alive, and AEneas kills him.

Once more, in bk. x. AEneas slays Camertes (ver. 562); but in bk. xii. 224 Jaturna, the sister of Turnus, assumes his shape. But if he was dead, no one would have been deluded into supposing the figure to be the living man.

Of course, every intelligent reader will be able to add to this list; but no more space can be allowed for the subject in this dictionary.

ER'RUA ("the mad-cap"), a young man whose wit defeated the strength of the giant Tartaro (a sort of one-eyed Polypheme). Thus the first competition was in throwing a stone. The giant threw his stone, but Errua threw a bird, which the giant supposed to be a stone, and as it flew out of sight, Errua won the wager. The next wager was a bar of iron. After the giant had thrown, Errua said, "From here to Salamanca;" whereupon the giant bade him not to throw, lest the bar of iron should kill his father and mother, who lived there; so the giant lost the second wager. The third was to pull a tree up by the roots; and the giant gave in because Errua had run a cord around a host of trees, and said, "You pull up one, but I pull up all these." The next exploit was at bed-time; Errua was to sleep in a certain bed; but he placed a dead man in the bed, while he himself got under it. At midnight Tartaro took his club and belabored the dead body most unmercifully. When Errua stood before Tartaro next morning, the giant was dumbfounded. He asked Errua how he had slept. "Excellently well," said Errua, "but somewhat troubled by fleas." Other trials were made, but always in favor of Errua. At length a race was proposed, and Errua sewed into a bag the bowels of a pig. When he started, he cut the bag, strewing the bowels on the road. When Tartaro was told that his rival had done this to make himself more fleet, he cut his belly, and of course killed himself.—Rev. W. Webster, Basque Legends (1877).

ERS'KINE (The. Rev. Dr.), minister of Grayfriar's Church, Edinburgh.—Sir W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time, George II.).

ER'TANAX, a fish common in the Euphrates. The bones of this fish impart courage and strength.

A fish ... haunteth the flood of Eufrates ... it is called an ertanax, and his bones be of such a manner of kind that whoso handleth them he shall have so much courage that he shall never be weary, and he shall not think on joy nor sorrow that he hath had, but only on the thing he beholdeth before him.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, iii. 84, (1470).

ERUDITE (Most). Marcus Terentius Varro is called "the most erudite of the Romans" (B.C. 116-27).

ER'YTHRE, modesty personified, the virgin page of Parthen'ia or maiden of chastity, in The Purple Island, by Phineas Fletcher (1633). Fully described in canto x. (Greek, cruthros, "red," from eruthriao, "to blush.")

ERYSICHTHON [Erri. sik'. thon], a grandson of Neptune, who was punished by Ceres with insatiable hunger, for cutting down some trees in a grove sacred to that goddess. (See ERISICHTHON.)

ES'CALUS, an ancient, kind-hearted lord in the deputation of the duke of Vienna.—Shakespeare, Measure for Measure (1603).

Es'calus, Prince of Vero'na.—Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1598).

ES'CANES (3 syl.), one of the lords of Tyre.—Shakespeare, Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1608).

ESCOBAR (Mons. L') the French, name for a fox, so called from M. Escobar the probabilist, whence also the verb escobarder, "to play the fox," "to play fast and loose."

The French have a capital name for the fox, namely, M. L'Escobar, which may be translated the "shuffler," or more freely, "sly boots."—The Daily News, March 25, 1878.

ESCOTILLO (i.e. little Michael Scott), considered by the common people as a magician, because he possessed more knowledge of natural and experimental philosophy than his contemporaries.

ES'DALE (Mr.), a surgeon at Madras.—Sir W. Scott, The Surgeon's Daughter (time, George II.).

ES'INGS, the king of Kent. So called from Eisc, the father of Hengist, as the Tuscans receive their name from Tuscus, the Romans from Romulus, the Cecrop'idae from Cecrops, the Britons from Brutus, and so on.—Ethelwerd, Chron., ii.

ESMERALDA, a beautiful gypsy-girl, who, with tambourine and goat, dances in the place before Notre Dame de Paris, and is looked on as a witch. Quasimodo conceals her for a time in the church, but after various adventures she is gibbeted.—Victor Hugo, Notre Dame de Paris.

Esmeralda; humbly-born heroine of Frances Hodgson Burnett's work of same name. The story has been dramatized and played with great effect.

ESMOND (Henry), a chivalrous cavalier in the reign of Queen Anne; the hero of Thackeray's novel called Henry Esmond (1852).

ESPLAN'DIAN, son of Am'adis and Oria'na. Montalvo has made him the subject of a fifth book to the four original books of Amadis of Gaul (1460).

The description of the most furious battles, carried on with all the bloody-mindedness of an Esplandian or a Bobadil [Ben Jonson, Every Man in his Humor].—Encyc. Brit., Art. "Romance."

ESPRIEL'LA (Manuel Alvarez), the apocryphal name of Robert Southey. The poet-laureate pretends that certain "letters from England," written by this Spaniard, were translated by him from the original Spanish (three vols., 1807).

ESSEX (The earl of), a tragedy by Henry Jones (1745.) Lord Burleigh and Sir Walter Raleigh entertained a mortal hatred of the earl of Essex, and accused him to the queen of treason. Elizabeth disbelieved the charge; but at this juncture the earl left Ireland, whither the queen had sent him, and presented himself before her. She was very angry, and struck him, and Essex rushed into open rebellion, was taken, and condemned to death. The queen had given him a ring before the trial, telling him whatever petition he asked should be granted, if he sent to her this ring. When the time of execution drew nigh, the queen sent the countess of Nottingham to the Tower, to ask Essex if he had any plea to make. The earl entreated her to present the ring to her majesty, and petition her to spare the life of his friend Southampton. The countess purposely neglected this charge, and Essex was executed. The queen, it is true, sent a reprieve, but Lord Burleigh took care it should arrive too late. The poet says that Essex had recently married the countess of Rutland, that both the queen and the countess of Nottingham were jealous, and that this jealousy was the chief cause of the earl's death.

The Abbe Boyer, La Calprenede, and Th. Corneille have tragedies on the some subject.

Essex (The earl of), lord high constable of England, introduced by Sir W. Scott in his novel called Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).

ESTEL'LA, a haughty beauty, adopted by Miss Havisham. She was affianced by her wish to Pip, but married Bentley Drummle.—C. Dickens, Great Expectations (1860).

ESTHER, housekeeper to Muhldenau, minister of Mariendorpt. She loves Hans, a servant to the minister, but Hans is shy, and Esther has to teach him how to woo and win her. Esther and Hans are similar to Helen and Modus, only in lower social grade.—S. Knowles, The Maid of Mariendorpt (1838).

ESTHER HAWDON, better known through the tale as Esther Summerson, natural daughter of Captain Hawdon and Lady Dedlock (before her marriage with Sir Leicester Dedlock). Esther is a most lovable, gentle creature, called by those who know and love her, "Dame Durden" or "Dame Trot." She is the heroine of the tale, and a ward in Chancery. Eventually she marries Allan Woodcourt, a surgeon.—C. Dickens, Bleak House (1852).

ESTHER Bush: Wife of the squatter Ishmael Bush. Loud-voiced, sharp of temper and hard of hand, yet loyal in her way to husband and children.—James Fennimore Cooper, The Prairie, (1827).

Esther (Queen), Indian monarch who, during the Wyoming massacre, dashes out the brains of sixteen prisoners with her own hands, as a sacrifice to the manes of her son. Queen Esther's Rock is still shown to travelers.—Ann Sophia Stevens, Mary Derwent (1845).

ESTIFA'NIA, an intriguing woman, servant of donna Margaritta, the Spanish heiress. She palms herself off on Don Michael Perez (the copper captain) as an heiress, and the mistress of Margaritta's mansion. The captain marries her, and finds out that all her swans are only geese.—Beaumont and Fletcher, Rule a Wife and Have a Wife (1640).

EST-IL-POSSSIBLE? A nickname given to George of Denmark (Queen Anne's husband), because his general remark to the most startling announcement was, Est-il possible? With this exclamation he exhausted the vials of his wrath. It was James II. who gave him the sobriquet.

EST'MERE (2 syl.), king of England. He went with his younger brother Adler to the court of King Adlands, to crave his daughter in marriage; but King Adlands replied that Bremor, the sowdan, or sultan of Spain, had forestalled him. However, the lady, being consulted, gave her voice in favor of the king of England. While Estmere and his brother went to make preparations for the wedding, the "sowdan" arrived, and demanded the lady to wife. A messenger was immediately despatched to inform Estmere, and the two brothers returned, disguised as a harper and his boy. They gained entrance into the palace, and Adler sang, saying, "O ladye, this is thy owne true love; no harper, but a king;" and then drawing his sword he slew the "sowdan," Estmere at the same time chasing from the hall the "kempery men." Being now master of the position, Estmere took "the ladye faire," made her his wife, and brought her home to England.—Percy, Reliques, 1. i. 5.

ESTRILDIS OR ELSTRED, daughter of the Emperor of Germany. She was taken captive in war by Locrin (king of Britain), by whom she became the mother of Sabrin or Sabre. Gwendolen, the wife of Locrin, feeling insulted by this liaison, slew her husband, and had Estrildis and her daughter thrown into a river, since called the Sabri'na or Severn.—Geoffrey, British History, ii. 2, etc.

ESTWICKE (John), hero of Charles Egbert Craddock's book, Where the Battle was Fought (1884). His real name was John Fortescue.

ETE'OCLES AND POLYNI'CES, the two sons Oe'dipos. After the expulsion of their father, these two young princes agreed to reign alternate years in Thebes. Eteocles, being the elder, took the first turn, but at the close of the year refused to resign the sceptre to his brother; whereupon Polynices, aided by six other chiefs, laid seige to the city. The two brothers met in combat, and each was slain by the other's hand.

A similar fratricidal struggle is told of Don Pedro of Castile and his half-brother Don Henry. When Don Pedro had estranged the Castilians by his cruelty, Don Henry invaded Castile with a body of French auxiliaries, and took his brother prisoner. Don Henry visited him in prison, and the two brothers fell on each other like lions. Henry wounded Pedro in the face, but fell over a bench, when Pedro seized him. At that moment a Frenchman seized Pedro by the leg, tossed him over, and Henry slew him.—Menard, History of Du Gueselin.

ETHAN (Allen). He gives under his own hand the history of the capture of Ticonderoga, May 10, 1775, and corroborates the popular story that he demanded the surrender of the fortress, "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!" Allen's Narrative of Captivity (1779).

ETH'ELBERT, king of Kent, and the first of the Anglo-Saxon kings who was a Christian. He persuaded Gregory to send over Augustine to convert the English to "the true faith" (596), and built St. Paul's, London.—Ethelwerd's Chronicle, ii.

Good Ethelbert of Kent, first christened English king. To preach the faith of Christ was first did hither bring Wise Au'gustine the monk, from holy Gregory sent... That mighty fane to Paul in London did erect.

Drayton, Polyolbion, xi. (1613).

ETH'ERINGTON (The late earl of) father of Tyrrel and Bulmer.

The titular earl of Etherington, his successor to the title and estates.

Marie de Martigny (La comtesse), wife of the titular earl of Etherington.—Sir W. Scott, St. Ronan's Well (time, George III.).

ETHIOPIANS, the same as Abassinians. The Arabians call these people El-habasen or Al-habasen, whence our Abassins, but they call themselves Ithiopians or Ethiopians.—Seldon, Titles of Honor, vi. 64.

Where the Abassin kings their issue guard, Mount Amara.

Milton, Paradise Lost, iv. 280 (1665).

ETHIOP'S QUEEN, referred to by Milton in his Il Penseroso, was Cassiope'a, wife of Ce'pheus (2 syl.) king of Ethiopia. Boasting that she was fairer than the sea-nymphs, she offended the Nereids, who complained to Neptune. Old father Earth-Shaker sent a huge sea-monster to ravage her kingdom for her insolence. At death Cassiopea was made a constellation of thirteen stars.

... that starred Ethiop queen that strove To set her beauty's praise above The sea-nymphs, and their powers offended.

Milton, Il Penseroso, 19 (1638).

ETHNIC PLOT. The "Popish Plot" is so called in Dryden's satire of Absalom and Achitophel. As Dryden calls the royalists "Jews," and calls Charles II. "David, king of the Jews," the papists were "Gentiles" (or Ethnoi), whence the "Ethnic Plot" means the plot of the Ethnoi against the people of God.—Pt. i. (1681).

ETIQUETTE (Madame), the Duchesse de Noailles, grand mistress of the ceremonies in the court of Marie Antoinette; so called from her rigid enforcement of all the formalities and ceremonies of the ancien regime.

ETNA. Zens buried under this mountain Enkel'ados, one of the hundred-handed giants.

The whole land weighed him down, as Etna does The giant of mythology.

Tennyson, The Golden Supper.

ETTEILLA, the pseudonym of Alliette (spelt backwards), a perruquier and diviner of the eighteenth century. He became a professed cabalist, and was visited in his studio in the Hotel de Crillon (Rue de la Verrerie) by all those who desired to unroll the Book of Fate. In 1783 he published Maniere de se Recreer avec le Jeu de Cartes nommees Tarots. In the British Museum are some divination cards published in Paris in the first half of the nineteenth century, called Grand Etteilla and Petit Etteilla, each pack being accompanied with a book of explication and instruction.

ETTERCAP, an ill-tempered person, who mars sociability. The ettercap is the poison-spider, and should be spelt "Attercop." (The Anglo-Saxon, atter-cop, poison-spider.)

O sirs, was sic difference seen As 'twix wee Will and Tam, The ane's a perfect ettercap, The ither's just a lamb. W. Miller, Nursery Songs.

ETTRICK SHEPHERD (The), James Hogg, the Scotch Poet., who was born in the forest of Ettrick, in Selkirkshire, and was in early life a shepherd (1772-1835).

ETTY'S NINE PICTURES, "the Combat," the three "Judith" pictures, "Benaiah," "Ulysses and the Syrens," and the three pictures of "Joan of Arc."

"My aim," says Etty, "in all my great pictures has been to paint some great moral on the heart. 'The Combat' represents the beauty of mercy; the three 'Judith' pictures, patriotism [1, self-devotion to God; 2, self-devotion to man; 3, self-devotion to country;] 'Benaiah, David's chief captain,' represents valor; 'Ulysses and the Syrens,' sensual delights or the wages of sin is death; and the three pictures of 'Joan of Arc' depict religion, loyalty and patriotism. In all, nine in number, as it was my desire to paint three."—William Etty, of York (1787-1849).

ET'ZEL or EZZEL (i.e. Attila), king of the Huns, in the songs of the German minnesingers. A ruler over three kingdoms and thirty principalities. His second wife was Kriemhild, the widow of Siegfried. In pt ii. of the Niebelungen Lied, he sees his sons and liegemen struck down without making the least effort to save them, and is as unlike the Attila of history as a "hector" is to the noble Trojan "the protector of mankind."

EU'CHARIS, one of the nymphs of Calypso, with whom Telemachos was deeply smitten. Mentor, knowing his love was sensual love, hurried him away from the island. He afterwards fell in love with Anti'ope, and Mentor approved his choice.—Fenelon, Telemaque, vii. (1700).