is true. (This to the priest who reminded him that he had accused the
Princess Elizabeth of treason to the council, and that he now alleged
her to be innocent.)
[Illustration] Those names preceded by similar pilcrows indicate that
the "dying words" ascribed to them are identical or nearly so. Thus
the [*] before Charlemagne, Columbus, Lady Jane Grey, and Tasso, show
that their words were alike. So with the before Augustus, Demonax, and
Rabelais; the [**] before Louis XVIII. and Vespasian; the [§] before
Cæsar and Masaniello; the [||] before Arria, Hunter, and Louis XIV.;
and the [¶] before Goethe and Talma.
DYS'COLUS, Moroseness personified in _The Purple Island_, by Phineas
Fletcher (1633). "He nothing liked or praised." Fully described in
canto viii. (Greek, _duskolos_, "fretful.")
DYSMAS, DISMAS, OR DEMAS, the penitent thief crucified with our Lord.
The impenitent thief is called Gesmas or Gestas.
Alta petit Dismas, infelix innma Gesmas.
_Part of a Charm_.
To paradise thief Dismas went,
But Gesmas died impenitent.
EADBURGH, daughter of Edward the Elder, king of England, and Eadgifu,
his wife. When three years old, her father placed on the child some
rings and bracelets, and showed her a chalice and a book of the
Gospels, asking which she would have. The child chose the chalice and
book, and Edward was pleased that "the child would be a daughter of
God." She became a nun, and lived and died in Winchester.
EAGLE (_The_), ensign of the Roman legion. Before the Cimbrian war,
the wolf, the horse, and the boar were also borne as ensigns, but
Marius abolished these, and retained the eagle only, hence called
emphatically "The Roman Bird."
_Eagle (The Theban)_, Pindar, a native of Thebes (B.C. 518-442).
EAGLE OF BRITTANY, Bertrand Duguesclin, constable of France
(1320-1380).
EAGLE OF DIVINES, Thomas Aqui'nas (1224-1274).
EAGLE OF MEAUX [_Mo_], Jacques Bénigne Bossuet, bishop of Meaux
(1627-1704).
EAGLE OF THE DOCTORS OF FRANCE, Pierre d'Ailly, a great astrologer,
who maintained that the stars foretold the great flood (1350-1425).
EARNSCLIFFE (_Patrick_), the young laird of Earnscliffe.--Sir W.
Scott, _Black Dwarf_ (time, Anne).
EASTWARD HO! a comedy by Chapman, Marston, and Ben Jonson. For this
drama the three authors were imprisoned "for disrespect to their
sovereign lord, King James I." (1605). (See WESTWARD Ho!).
EASTY (_Mary_), a woman of Salem (Mass), convicted of witchcraft,
sends before her death a petition to the court, asserting her
innocence. Of her accusers she says: "I know, and the Lord, He knows
(as will shortly appear), that they belie me, and so I question not
but they do others. The Lord alone, who is the searcher of all hearts
knows, as I shall answer it at the tribunal seat, that I know not the
least thing of witchcraft. Therefore I cannot, I durst not, belie
my own soul."--Robert Caleb, _More Wonders of the Invisible World_
(1700).
EASY (_Midshipman_), hero of Marryatt's sea-story of same name.
_Easy (Sir Charles)_, a man who hates trouble; "so lazy, even in his
pleasures, that he would rather lose the woman of his pursuit, than
go through any trouble in securing or keeping her." He says he is
resolved in future to "follow no pleasure that rises above the degree
of amusement." "When once a woman comes to reproach me with vows, and
usage, and such stuff, I would as soon hear her talk of bills, bonds,
and ejectments; her passion becomes as troublesome as a law-suit, and
I would as soon converse with my solicitor." (act iii.).
_Lady Easy_, wife of Sir Charles, who dearly loves him, and knows
all his "naughty ways," but never shows the slightest indication of
ill-temper or jealousy. At last she wholly reclaims him.--Colley
Cibber, _The Careless Husband_ (1704).
EATON THEOPHILUS (_Governor_). In his eulogy upon Governor Eaton, Dr.
Cotton Mather lays stress upon the distinction drawn by that eminent
Christian man between stoicism and resignation.
"There is a difference between a sullen silence or a stupid
senselessness under the hand of GOD, and a childlike submission
thereunto."
"In his daily life", we are told, "he was affable, courteous, and
generally pleasant, but grave perpetually, and so courteous and
circumspect in his discourses, and so modest in his expressions, that
it became a proverb for incontestable truth,"--"Governor Eaton said
it."--Cotton Mather, _Magnolia Christi Americana_ (1702).
EBERSON (_Ear_), the young son of William de la Marck, "The Wild Boar
of Ardennes."--Sir W. Scott, _Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).
EBLIS, monarch of the spirits of evil. Once an angel of light, but,
refusing to worship Adam, he lost his high estate. Before his fall he
was called Aza'zel. The _Korân_ says: "When We [_God_] said unto the
angels, 'Worship Adam,' they all worshipped except Eblis, who refused
... and became of the number of unbelievers" (ch. ii.).
EBON SPEAR (_Knight of the_), Britomart, daughter of King Ryence of
Wales.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iii. (1590).
EBRAUC, son of Mempric (son of Guendolen and Madden) mythical king
of England. He built Kaer-brauc [_York_], about the time that David
reigned in Judea.--Geoffrey, _British History_, ii. 7 (1142).
By Ebrauk's powerful hand
York lifts her towers aloft.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, viii. (1612).
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY (_The Father of_), Eusebius of Cæsarea
(264-340).
[Illustration] His _Historia Fcclesiastica_, in ten books, begins
with the birth of Christ and concludes with the defeat of Licinius by
Constantine, A.D. 324.
ECHEPH'RON, an old soldier, who rebuked the advisers of King
Picrochole (3 _syl_.), by relating to them the fable of _The Man and
his Ha'p'orth of Milk_. The fable is as follows:--
A shoemaker brought a ha'poth of milk: with this he was going to make
butter; the butter was to buy a cow; the cow was to have a calf; the
calf was to be changed for a colt; and the man was to become a nabob;
only he cracked his jug, spilt his milk, and went supperless to
bed.--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, i. 33 (1533.)
This fable is told in the _Arabian Nights_ ("The Barber's Fifth
Brother, Alnas-char.") Lafontaine has put it into verse, _Perrette et
le Pot au Lait_. Dodsley has the same, _The Milk-maid and her Pail of
Milk_.
ECHO, in classic poetry, is a female, and in English also; but in
Ossian echo is called "the son of the rock."--_Songs of Selma._
ECK'HART _(The Trusty_), a good servant, who perishes to save his
master's children from the mountain fiends.--Louis Tieck.
(Carlyle has translated this tale into English.)
ECLECTA, the "Elect" personified in _The Purple Island_, by Phineas
Fletcher. She is the daughter of Intellect and Voleta _(free-will)_,
and ultimately becomes the bride of Jesus Christ, "the bridegroom"
(canto xii., 1633).
But let the Kentish lad [_Phineas Fletcher_] ... that sung and crowned
Eclecta's hymen with ten thousand flowers Of choicest praise ... be
the sweet pipe.
Giles Fletcher, _Christ's Triumph, etc_, (1610).
ÉCOLE DES FEMMES, a comedy of Molière, the plot of which is borrowed
from the novelletti of _Ser Giovanni_ (1378.)
ECTOR (_Sir_), lord of many parts of England and Wales, and
foster-father of Prince Arthur. His son Sir Key or Kay, was seneschal
or steward of Arthur when he became king.--Sir T. Malory, _History of
Prince Arthur_, i. 3 (1470.)
[Illustration] Sir Ector and Sir Ector de Maris were two distinct
persons.
ECTOR DE MARIS (_Sir_), brother "of Sir Launcelot" of Benwick, _i.e._
Brittany.
Then Sir Ector threw his shield, his sword, and his helm from him, and
... he fell down in a swoon; and when he awaked, it were hard for any
tongue to tell the doleful complaints [_lamentations_] that he made
for his brother. "Ah, Sir Launcelot" said he "head of all Christian
knights." ... etc.--Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, iii.
176 (1470.)
EDEN (_A Journey to the land of_), Col. William Evelyn Byrd of
Westover Virginia gives this name to a tract of Southern Virginia
surveyed under his direction and visited by him in one of his numerous
expeditions for the good of the young colony.
(Colonel Byrd laid out upon his own ground the cities of Richmond and
Petersburgh, Va.)--William Evelyn Byrd, _Westover MSS._ (1728-39).
_Eden_, in America. A dismal swamp, the climate of which generally
proved fatal to the poor dupes who were induced to settle there
through the swindling transactions of General Scadder and General
Choke. So dismal and dangerous was the place, that even Mark Tapley
was satisfied to have found at last a place where he could "come out
jolly with credit."--C. Dickens, _Martin Chuzzlewit_ (1844).
EDENHALL (_The Luck of_) an old painted goblet, left by the fairies
on St. Cuthbert's Well in the garden of Edenhall. The superstition is
that if ever this goblet is lost or broken, there will be no more
luck in the family. The goblet is in possession of Sir Christopher
Musgrave, bart. Edenhall, Cumberland.
[Illustration] Longfellow has a poem on _The Luck of Edenhall_,
translated from Uhland.
EDGAR (959-775), "king of all the English," was not crowned till he
had reigned thirteen years (A.D. 973). Then the ceremony was performed
at Bath. After this he sailed to Chester, and eight of his vassal
kings came with their fleets to pay him homage, and swear fealty to
him by land and sea. The eight are Kenneth (_king of Scots_), Malcolm
(_of Cumberland_), Maccus (_of the Isles_), and five Welsh princes,
whose names were Dufnal, Siferth, Huwal, Jacob, and Juchil. The eight
kings rowed Edgar in a boat (while he acted as steersman) from Chester
to St. John's, where they offered prayer and then returned.
At Chester, while he, [_Edgar_] lived at more than kingly charge.
Eight tributary kings they rowed him in his barge.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xii. (1613).
_Edgar_, son of Gloucester, and his lawful heir. He was disinherited
by Edmund, natural son of the earl.--Shakespeare, _King Lear_ (1605).
[Illustration] This was one of the characters of Robert Wilks
(1670-1732), and also of Charles Kemble (1774-1854).
_Edgar_, master of Ravenswood, son of Allan of Ravenswood (a decayed
Scotch nobleman). Lucy Ashton, being attacked by a wild bull, is saved
by Edgar, who shoots it; and the two falling in love with each other,
plight their mutual troth, and exchange love-tokens at the "Mermaid's
Fountain." While Edgar is absent in France on State affairs, Sir
William Ashton, being deprived of his office as lord keeper, is
induced to promise his daughter Lucy in marriage to Frank Hayston,
laird of Bucklaw, and they are married; but next morning, Bucklaw is
found wounded and the bride hidden in the chimney-corner insane. Lucy
dies in convulsions, but Bucklaw recovers and goes abroad. Edgar is
lost in the quick-sands at Kelpies Flow, in accordance with an ancient
prophecy. Sir W. Scott, _Bride of Lammermoor_ (time, William III.).
[Illustration] In the opera, Edgar is made to stab himself.
_Edgar_, an attendant on Prince Robert of Scotland.--Sir W. Scott,
_Fair Maid of Perth_ (time Henry IV.).
EDGARDO, master of Ravenswood, in love with Lucia di Lammermoor [_Lucy
Ashton_]. While absent in France on State affairs, the lady is led to
believe him faithless, and consents to marry the laird of Bucklaw; but
she stabs him on the bridal night, goes mad, and dies. Edgardo also
stabs himself. Donizetti, _Lucia di Lammermoor_ (1835).
[Illustration] In the novel called _The Bride of Lammermoor_, by
Sir W. Scott, Edgar is lost in the quicksands at Kelpies Flow, in
accordance with an ancient prophecy.
EDGEWOOD (_L'Abbe_), who attended Louis XVI. to the scaffold, was
called "Mons. de Firmount," a corruption of Fairymount, in Longford
(Ireland), where the Edgeworths had extensive domains.
EDGING (_Mistress_), a prying, mischief making waiting-woman, in _The
Careless Husband_, by Colly Cibber (1704.) EDITH (_Leete_). Name of
the two girls beloved and won by Julian West in his first and second
lives.--Edward Bellamy, _Looking Backward_ (1888).
_Edith_, daughter of Baldwin, the tutor of Rollo and Otto, dukes of
Normandy.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Bloody Brother_ (1639).
_Edith_, the "maid of Lorn" (_Argyllshire_), was on the point of being
married to Lord Ronald, when Robert, Edward, and Isabel Bruce sought
shelter at the castle. Edith's brother recognized Robert Bruce, and
being in the English interest a quarrel ensued. The abbot refused
to marry the bridal pair amidst such discord. Edith fled and in the
character of a page had many adventures, but at the restoration of
peace, after the battle of Bannockburn, was duly married to Lord
Ronald.--Sir W. Scott, _Lord of the Isles_ (1815).
_Edith (the lady)_, mother of Athelstane "the Unready" (thane of
Conningsburgh).--Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).
_Edith_ [GRANGER], daughter of the Hon. Mrs. Skewton, married at the
age of 18 to Colonel Granger of "Ours," who died within two years,
when Edith and her mother lived as adventuresses. Edith became Mr.
Dombey's second wife, but the marriage was altogether an unhappy one,
and she eloped with Mr. Carker to Dijon, where she left him, having
taken this foolish step merely to annoy her husband for the slights to
which he had subjected her. On leaving Carker she went to live with
her cousin Feenix, in the south of England.--C. Dickens, _Dombey and
Son_ (1846).
EDITH PLANTAGENET (_The lady_), called "The Fair Maid of Anjou," a
kinswoman of Richard I., and attendant of Queen Berenga'ria. She
married David, earl of Huntingdon (prince royal of Scotland), and is
introduced by Sir W. Scott in _The Talisman_ (1825).
EDMUND, natural son of the earl of Gloucester. Both Goneril and Regan
(daughters of King Lear) were in love with him. Regan, on the death of
her husband, designed to marry Edmund, but Goneril, out of jealousy,
poisoned her sister Regan.--Shakespeare, _King Lear_ (1605).
_Edmund Andros_. In a letter to English friends (1698) Nathaniel
Byfield writes particulars of the revolt in the New England Colonies
against the royal governor, Sir Edmund Andros.
"We have, also, advice that on Friday last
Sir Edmund Andros did attempt to make an
escape in woman's apparel, and passed two
guards and was stopped at the third, being discovered
by his shoes, not having changed
them." Nathaniel Byfield.--_An Account of the
Late Revolution in New England_ (1689).
_Edmund Dante_ (See MONTE CRISTO).
EDO'NIAN BANE (_The_), priestesses and other ministers of Bacchus,
so called from Edo'nus, a mountain of Thrace, where the rites of the
wine-god were celebrated.
Accept the rites your bounty well may claim,
Nor heed the scoffing of th' Edonian band.
Akinside, _Hymn to the Naiads_ (1767).
EDRIC, a domestic at Hereward's barracks.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert
of Paris_ (time, Rufus).
EDWARD, brother of Hereward the Varangian guard. He was slain in
battle.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus). _Edward
(Sir)._ He commits a murder, and keeps a narrative of the transaction
in an iron chest. Wilford, a young man who acts as his secretary, was
one day caught prying into this chest, and Sir Edward's first impulse
was to kill him; but on second thought he swore the young man to
secrecy, and told him the story of the murder. Wilford, unable to live
under the suspicious eye of Sir Edward, ran away; but was hunted down
by Edward, and accused of robbery. The whole transaction now became
public, and Wilford was acquitted.--G. Colman, _The Iron Chest_
(1796).
[Illustration] This drama is based on Goodwin's novel of _Caleb
Williams_. "Williams" is called _Wilford_ in the drama, and "Falkland"
is called _Sir Edward_.
Sowerby, whose mind was always in a ferment,
was wont to commit the most ridiculous
mistakes. Thus when "Sir Edward" says to
"Wilford," "You may have noticed in my
library a chest," he transposes the words thus:
"You may have noticed in my chest a library,"
and the house was convulsed with laughter.--
Russell, _Representative Actors_ (appendix).
EDWARD II., a tragedy by C. Marlowe (1592), imitated by Shakespeare in
his _Richard II_. (1597). Probably most readers would prefer Marlowe's
noble tragedy to Shakespeare's.
EDWARD IV. of England, introduced by Sir W. Scott in his novel
entitled _Anne_ of _Geierstein_ (1829).
EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE, a tragedy by W. Shirley (1640). The subject
of this drama is the victory of Poitiers.
Yes, Philip lost the battle [_Cressy_] with the odds
Of three to one. In this [_Poitiers_]...
The have our numbers more than twelve times
told,
If we can trust report.
Act iii. 2.
ED'WIDGE, wife of William Tell.--Rossini, _Guglielmo Tell_ (1829).
EDWIN "the minstrel," a youth living in romantic seclusion, with a
great thirst for knowledge. He lived in Gothic days in the north
countrie, and fed his flocks on Scotia's mountains.
And yet poor Edwin was no vulgar boy,
Deep thought oft seemed to fix his infant eye,
Danties he heeded not, nor gaude, nor toy,
Save one short pipe of rudest ministrelsy;
Silent when glad, affectionate, yet shy ...
And now he laughed aloud, yet none knew why.
The neighbors stared and sighed, yet blessed the
lad;
Some deemed him wonderous wise, and some believed
him mad.
Beattie, _The Minstrel_, 1. (1773).
EDWIN AND ANGELI'NA. Angelina was the daughter of a wealthy lord,
"beside the Tyne." Her hand was sought in marriage by many suitors,
amongst whom was Edwin, "who had neither wealth nor power, but he had
both wisdom and worth." Angelina loved him, but "trifled with him,"
and Edwin, in despair, left her and retired from the world. One day,
Angelina, in boy's clothes, asked hospitality at a hermit's cell; she
was kindly entertained, told her tale, and the hermit proved to
be Edwin. From that hour they never parted more.--Goldsmith, _The
Hermit._
A correspondent accuses me of having taken this ballad from _The Friar
of Orders Gray_ ... but if there is any resemblance between the two,
Mr. Percy's ballad is taken from mine. I read my ballad to Mr. Percy,
and he told me afterwards that he had taken my plan to form the
fragments of Shakespeare into a ballad of his own.--Signed, O.
Goldsmith, 1767.
EDWIN AND EMMA. Emma was a rustic beauty of Stanemore, who loved Edwin
"the pride of swains;" but Edwin's sister, out of envy, induced his
father, "a sordid man," to forbid any intercourse between Edwin and
the cottage. Edwin pined away, and being on the point of death,
requested he might be allowed to see Emma. She came and said to him,
"My Edwin, live for me;" but on her way home she heard the death bell
toll. She just contrived to reach her cottage door, cried to her
mother, "He's gone!" and fell down dead at her feet.--Mallet, _Edwin
and Emma_ (a ballad).
ED'YRN, son of Nudd. He ousted the earl of Yn'iol from his earldom,
and tried to to win E'nid, the earl's daughter, but failing in this,
became the evil genius of the gentle earl. Ultimately, being sent
to the court of King Arthur, he became quite a changed man--from
a malicious "sparrow-hawk" he was converted into a courteous
gentleman.--Tennyson, _Idylls of the King_ ("Enid").
EFESO (_St_.), a saint honored in Pisa. He was a Roman officer
[_Ephesus_] in the service of Diocletian, whose reign was marked by
a great persecution of the Christians. This Efeso or Ephesus was
appointed to see the decree of the emperor against the obnoxious sect
carried out in the island of Sardinia; but being warned in a dream not
to persecute the servants of the Lord, both he and his friend Potito
embraced Christianity, and received a standard from Michael the
archangel himself. On one occasion, being taken captive, St. Efeso was
cast into a furnace of fire, but received no injury; whereas those who
cast him in were consumed by the flames. Ultimately, both Efeso and
Potito suffered martyrdom, and were buried in the island of Sardinia.
When, however, that island was conquered by Pisa in the eleventh
century, the relics of the two martyrs were carried off and interred
in the duomo of Pisa, and the banner of St. Efeso was thenceforth
adopted as the national ensign of Pisa.
EGALITÉ (_Philippe_), the duc d'Orléans, father of Louis Philippe,
king of France. He himself assumed this "title" when he joined the
revolutionary party, whose motto was "Liberty, Fraternity, and
Egalité" (born 1747, guillotined 1793).
EGE'US (3 _syl_.), father of Her'mia. He summoned her before The'seus
(2 _syl_.), duke of Athens, because she refused to marry Demetrius, to
whom he had promised her in marriage; and he requested that she might
either be compelled to marry him or else be dealt with "according to
law," _i.e._ "either to die the death," or else to "endure the livery
of a nun, and live a barren sister all her life." Hermia refused to
submit to an "unwished yoke," and fled from Athens with Lysander.
Demetrius, seeing that Hermia disliked him but that Hel'ena doted on
him, consented to abandon the one and wed the other. When Egëus was
informed thereof, he withdrew his summons, and gave his consent to the
union of his daughter with Lysander.--Shakespeare, _Midsummer Night's
Dream_ (1592).
[Illustration] S. Knowles, in _The Wife_, makes the plot turn on a
similar "law of marriage" (1833).
E'GIL, brother of Weland; a great archer. One day, King Nidung
commanded him to shoot at an apple placed on the head of his own son.
Egil selected two arrows, and being asked why he wanted two, replied,
"One to shoot thee with, O tyrant, if I fail."
(This is one of the many stories similar to that of _William Tell,
q.v._) EGILO'NA, the wife of Roderick, last of the Gothic kings of
Spain. She was very beautiful, but cold-hearted, vain, and fond of
pomp. After the fall of Roderick, Egilona married Abdal-Aziz, the
Moorish governor of Spain; and when Abdal-Aziz was killed by the
Moorish rebels, Egilona fell also.
The popular rage
Fell on them both; and they to whom her name
Had been a mark for mockery and reproach,
Shuddered with human horror at her fate.
Southey, _Roderick, etc_., xxii. (1814).
EG'IA, a female Moor, a servant to Amaranta (wife of Bar'tolus, the
covetous lawyer).--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Spanish Curate_ (1622).
EG'LAMOUR (_Sir_) or SIR EGLAMORE of Artoys, a knight of Arthurian
romance. Sir Eglamour and Sir Pleindamour have no French original,
although the names themselves are French.
_Eg'lamour_, the person who aids Silvia, daughter of the duke of
Milan, in her escape.--Shakespeare, _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_
(1594).
EGLANTINE (3 _syl_.). daughter of King Pepin, and bride of her cousin
Valentine (brother of Orson). She soon died.--_Valentine and Orson_
(fifteenth century).
_Eglantine (Madame)_, the prioress; good-natured, wholly ignorant
of the world, vain of her delicacy of manner at table, and fond of
lap-dogs. Her dainty oath was "By Saint Eloy!" She "entuned the
service swetely in her nose," and spoke French "after the scole of
Stratford-atte-Bowe."--Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_ (1388).
EGMONT. Dutch patriot executed by order of Philip II. of
Spain.--Goethe's _Egmont_ (1788).
EGYPT, in Dryden's satire of _Absalom and Achitophel_, means France.
Egypt and Tyrus [_Holland_] intercept your
trade.
Part i. (1681).
EGYPTIAN PRINCESS. Nitetis, the real daughter of Hophra, king of
Egypt, and the assumed daughter of Amases, his successor. She was
sent to Persia, as the bride of Cambyses, the king, but before
their marriage, was falsely accused of infidelity, and committed
suicide.--George Ebers, _An Egyptian Princess_.
EGYPTIAN THIEF (_The_), Thyamis, a native of Memphis. Knowing he must
die, he tried to kill Chariclea, the woman he loved.
Why should I not, had I the heart to do it,
Like to th' Egyptian thief at point of death,
Kill what I love?
Shakespeare, _Twelth Night_, act v. sc. 1 (1614).