ELIZ'ABETHAN ARCHITECTURE, a style of architecture which prevailed in
England during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. It succeeded to the
Tudor style, properly so called, with which it is sometimes confounded. The
Elizabethan is a mixture of inferior Gothic and debased Italian, producing
a singular heterogeneousness in detail, with, however, wonderful
picturesqueness in general effect, and domestic accommodation more in
accordance with the wants of an advancing civilization than was afforded by
the styles which preceded it. The chief characteristics of Elizabethan
architecture are: windows of great size both in the plane of the wall and
deeply embayed, ceilings very richly decorated in relief, galleries of
great length, very tall and highly-decorated chimneys, as well as a profuse
use of ornamental strapwork in the parapets, window-heads, &c. The
Elizabethan style is the last stage of the Tudor or Perpendicular, and from
its corresponding in point of period with the Renaissance of the Continent
has sometimes been called the English Renaissance. The epithet Jacobean has
sometimes been given to the very latest stage of the Elizabethan, differing
from the Elizabethan proper in showing a greater admixture of debased
Italian forms. The princely houses which arose during the reign of
Elizabeth are numerous, and many even yet remain to attest the splendour of
the time. Of these may be mentioned Burghley House, Hardwick Hall, and
Bramhall Hall.--Cf. Gotch and Brown, _Architecture of the Renaissance in
England_.
ELIZABETH FARNESE (f[.a]r-n[=a]'z[=a]), Queen of Spain, daughter of Edward
II, Prince of Parma, born 1692, died in 1776. On becoming the second wife
of Philip V she surprised those who had counselled the marriage by assuming
the practical headship of the kingdom, and her ambition and that of her
minister Alberoni disturbed the whole of Europe. Carlyle calls her a
"termagant tenacious woman".
ELIZABETHGRAD, a town of the Ukraine, on the Ingul, with an imperial
palace, a theatre, manufactures of soap and candles, and several great
fairs. Pop. 75,800.
ELIZABETH ISLANDS, a group of sixteen American islands south of Cape Cod,
with a permanent population of about 150.
ELIZABETH OF VALOIS, or ISABELLA, Queen of Spain, was born in 1545, died in
1568. She was the daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.
By the Treaty of Cateau-Cambr['e]sis she was destined to be the wife of the
Infante, Don Carlos, but his father, Philip II, being left a widower,
became fascinated and married her himself. The stories of a romantic
relationship existing between Elizabeth and Don Carlos are entirely
groundless, but have furnished tragic subjects to Otway, Campistron,
Ch['e]nier, Schiller, and Alfieri.
ELIZABETH PETROVNA, Empress of Russia, daughter of Peter the Great and
Catherine, born in 1709 or 1710, died in 1762. She ascended the throne on
7th Dec., 1741, as the result of a conspiracy, in which Ivan VI, a minor,
was deposed. Elizabeth is said to have rivalled her mother in beauty, and
to have surpassed her in her love of pleasure, and her government was
largely conducted by favourites. She was a patron of literature, founded
the University of Moscow, and corresponded with Voltaire. A war with
Sweden, in 1743, was advantageously concluded by the peace of [oA]bo. In
1748 she sent an army to assist Maria Theresa in the War of the Succession,
and joined in the Seven Years' War against Prussia. She died before this
war was concluded.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Nisbet Bain. _The Daughter of Peter the
Great_; A. S. Rappoport, _The Fair Ladies of the Winter Palace_.
ELIZABETHPOL, a town of Russia, in the Caucasus, capital of the government
of same name, covering a great space of ground from the gardens and open
areas it contains, but very unhealthy. Pop. 18,505.--The government has an
area of 17,000 sq. miles, a pop. of 636,310. It is partly mountainous,
partly steppes, and produces grain, cotton, tobacco, and wine.
ELIZABETH STUART, Queen of Bohemia, daughter of James I of England and VI
of Scotland, born in Falkland Palace, Fifeshire, 1596, died on 13th Feb.,
1662. Her marriage with the Palatine Frederick was celebrated at Whitehall
in 1613. Her husband, then at the head of the Protestant interest in
Germany, accepted in 1619 the Crown of Bohemia offered to him by the
revolted Protestants of that country. After his defeat, however, by the
imperalists at the battle of Prague in 1620, he and his wife were obliged
to flee, first to Breslau and Berlin, and then to the Hague. Elizabeth
returned to England at the Restoration with her nephew Charles II, but
mingled very little in society. Elizabeth had thirteen children, of whom
Charles Louis, the eldest surviving, was reinstated in the Palatinate by
the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. By her daughters, Elizabeth Charlotte and
Sophia, she was the ancestress of Louis Philippe and of George I, and her
sons, Rupert and Maurice, became famous Cavalier leaders.
[Illustration: Elk (_Alces Machlis_)]
ELK, MOOSE, or MOOSE DEER (_Alces Machlis_), the largest of the deer
family, a native of Northern Europe, Asia, and America. The American form
(to which the name moose is usually given) is sometimes separated from the
European as _Alces americ[=a]nus_, but most naturalists find no specific
difference between them. The elk or moose has a short compact body,
standing about 6 feet in height at the shoulders, a thick neck, large
clumsy head, and horns which flatten out almost from the base into a broad
palmate form with numerous snags. In colour the elk is greyish brown, the
limbs, sides of head, and coarse mane being, however, of a lighter hue. Its
flesh resembles beef rather than venison. For the most part elks are
inoffensive, and so exceedingly wary that they are approached only with
difficulty. In America the Indians and half-breeds are the most skilful
moose-hunters. By trampling down a restricted area of ground (moose-yard)
and browsing on the edge of this, the moose is able to protect itself
efficiently against the attacks of wolves. The moose has a wide range in
Canada, extending from the Arctic Ocean and British Columbia to New
Brunswick and Nova Scotia; and it is found also in Maine. It feeds largely
on the shoots of trees or shrubs, such as the willow and maple, and on
bark, &c. In Sweden its destruction is illegal, and in Norway there are
many restrictions upon the hunting of it.
[Illustration: Antlers and Skull of Irish Elk]
ELK, IRISH (_Megac[)e]ros hibern[)i]cus_, or _Cervus giganteus_), a large
deer found in the Pleistocene strata, and distinguished by its enormous
antlers, the tips of which are sometimes 11 feet apart. Though a true deer,
its antlers differ from those of living species in that the beam is
flattened into a palm. To sustain the great weight, unusually large and
strong limbs and neck vertebrae were required. Its remains are found not
only in Ireland but in Scotland and England, and on the Continent, where
they occur in bogs, lacustrine deposits, brick-clay, and ossiferous caves.
EL KHARGEH. See _Khargeh_.
ELK'HART, a town of Indiana, United States, on Elkhart River, with railroad
works and paper-mills. Pop. 19,282.
ELL (Lat. _ulna_, Gr. _[=o]len[=e]_, forearm), an old measure whereby
cloths, stuffs, &c., are sometimes measured. The ell English is 5 quarters
(45 inches), the ell Flemish 3 quarters (27 inches). In Scotland an ell
contained 37.2 inches English.
ELL'AND, a town of England, W. Riding of Yorkshire, between Halifax and
Huddersfield, with an old church and town-hall, manufactures of cottons and
woollens, and quarries. It gives its name to a parliamentary division. Pop.
10,676.
ELLENBOROUGH, Edward Law, Lord, English lawyer, Lord Chief Justice of the
King's Bench, born in 1750 at Great Salkeld, Cumberland, died in 1818. He
was educated at the Charterhouse and at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and called
to the Bar in 1780. Not long afterwards he took silk, and at the trial of
Warren Hastings, in 1785, acted as leading counsel. The defence did not
come on until the fifth year of the trial, but after eight years Hastings
was acquitted and Law's success assured. In 1801 he was made
Attorney-General, and in 1802 became Lord Chief Justice of the King's
Bench, and was created baron. He held the office of Chief Justice for
fifteen years, resigning in 1818.
ELLENBOROUGH, Edward Law, first Earl of, son of Lord Chief Justice
Ellenborough (see above), born in 1790, died in 1871. He was educated at
Eton and St. John's College, Cambridge, and in 1818, having succeeded his
father as second baron, he entered the House of Lords. In 1818 he took
office as Lord Privy Seal, and was President of the Board of Control from
1828-30, and again in 1834. In 1841 he accepted the governor-generalship of
India, and arrived in Calcutta in 1842, in time to bring the Afghan War to
a successful issue. The annexation of Seinde in 1843 was followed by the
conquest of Gwalior, but the conduct of the Governor-General gave
dissatisfaction at home, and he was recalled early in 1844. On his return,
however, he was defended by Wellington, and received the thanks of
Parliament, an earldom, and the Grand Cross of the Bath. He then held the
post of First Lord of the Admiralty (1845-6), and was President of the
Board of Control from Feb. to June, 1858. His dispatch censuring the policy
of Lord Canning as Governor-General of India led to his resignation, and he
never resumed office.
ELL'ICE ISLANDS, or LAGOON ISLANDS, a group of coral islands annexed to
Britain in 1892, lying north of Fiji, and extending for 360 miles
north-west to south-east. The islands were discovered by Maurelle in 1781.
The inhabitants are of Samoan race and language, have long been Christians,
and support themselves chiefly by the coco-nut. Pop. 3084.
ELLICHPUR (el-ich-p[:o]r'), a town of India, in Ellichpur district, Berar,
once a large and prosperous town. There is a military cantonment within two
miles. Pop. 27,500.
EL'LICOTT, Right Rev. Charles John, English divine, born 1819, died in
1905. Educated at Cambridge, he was professor of divinity in King's
College, London, Hulsean lecturer and Hulsean professor of divinity at
Cambridge, and Dean of Exeter, and in 1863 was appointed Bishop of
Gloucester and Bristol. He was for eleven years chairman of the scholars
engaged on the revision of the New Testament translation, and published
commentaries on the Old and the New Testaments, as well as sermons,
addresses, and lectures.
ELLIOTT, Ebenezer, English poet, known as the 'Corn-law Rhymer', born in
1781 near Rotherham, Yorkshire, died in 1849. At the age of seventeen he
published his first poem, _The Vernal Walk_, which was soon followed by
others. In 1829 _The Village Patriarch_, the best of Elliott's longer
pieces, was published. From 1831 to 1837 he carried on business as an iron
merchant in Sheffield. His _Corn-law Rhymes_, periodically contributed to a
local paper devoted to the repeal of these laws, attracted attention, and
were afterwards collected and published with a longer poem entitled _The
Ranter_. Commercial losses compelled him in 1837 to contract his business,
and in 1841 he retired from it altogether. In 1850 two posthumous volumes
appeared, entitled _More Prose and Verse by the Corn-law Rhymer_.
[Illustration: Ellipse]
ELLIPSE', one of the conic sections. The curve generated by a point which
moves so that its distance from a fixed point bears a constant ratio (less
than unity) to its distance from a fixed straight line. Kepler discovered
that the paths described by the planets in their revolutions round the sun
are ellipses, the sun being placed in one of the foci. To describe an
ellipse: At a given distance on the surface on which the ellipse is to be
described fix two pins, A and B, and pass a looped string round them. Keep
the string stretched by a pencil, C, and move the pencil round, keeping the
string at the same tension, then the ellipse EGFH will be described. A and
B are the _foci_, D the centre, EF the major axis, GH the minor axis, and
the fraction DA/DE the _eccentricity_ of the ellipse. A line drawn from any
point in the curve perpendicularly to the axis is an ordinate to the axis.
Any straight line drawn through the centre and terminated both ways by the
curve is called a diameter.
_Ellipsoid_, a surface bearing the same sort of relation to a spherical
surface as an ellipse bears to a circle. The name is also given to the
solid bounded by such a surface.