nus advanced in person to meet his rival, he suffered a signal defeat in the battle of Antioch in 218. Elagabalus ascended the imperial throne without experiencing further opposition either from the senate or the people, and immediately published a declaration, in which he stated his intention of following the example of his great predecessor Augustus in all matters connected with government. How much importance he attached to this public profession of his intended policy, the sequel of his history will show. The folly and extravagance which characterized his reign were only equalled by the disgusting profligacy which he introduced from the East, and by the refinement of cruelty which it was his delight to practise. Mæsa endeavoured in vain to restrain him in his vicious career. With much difficulty she succeeded in persuading him, for the sake of his own safety, to propitiate the enraged populace by elevating his cousin Alexianus, afterwards the Emperor Alexander Severus, to the rank of Cæsar; but after he had yielded to her advice he sought to annul his own act, by attempting the life of Alexianus, in 222. The consequence of this attempt was a revolt of the praetorians, with whom Alexianus was deservedly a favourite; and Elagabalus, with his mother Sœmias, was killed in the tumult. His body was dragged through the streets of the city, and thrown into the Tiber; from which circumstance he was afterwards known by the nickname of Tiberinus.—D. M.
ELBÉE, Gigot d', one of the leaders in the Vendean war, was born at Dresden in 1752. He, however, became a French subject, and served for some time in the army. When the war of La Vendee broke out he put himself, by their own request, at the head of the peasantry of his neighbourhood (Beaupréau), and exhibited a bravery of the most resolute description. He succeeded Cathelineau as general-in-chief, and after leading his army in several encounters was mortally wounded at Chollet. Removed to Noirmontier, he fell into the hands of his enemies, who shot him in the public square.—R. M., A.
ELBEUF, the title of a ducal house in France:—
Charles, created, from marquis, Duke of Elbeuf in 1582, was born in the year 1556. He was of the great Guise family. Though of a weak and indolent character, and more of a glutton than a politician, his high birth caused him to be thought formidable, and in the troubled reign of Henry III. he was imprisoned for many years in the castle of Loches. He died in 1605.
Charles, second duke, son of the preceding, was born in 1596. Engaging with the party opposed to Richelieu, he wrecked his fortunes against the superior genius of the great minister, and was attainted and lost the ducal estates in 1631. He was afterwards, however, made governor of Picardy. He died in 1657.
Emmanuel Maurice, third duke, grandson of the foregoing, was born in 1677. Entering the service of the Emperor of Germany, he received a cavalry command at Naples, Here he married the heiress of the house of Salza. While repairing and embellishing a villa at Portici, obtained through this marriage, he discovered some ancient marbles; further excavations were then made, and resulted in the discovery of the ruins of Herculaneum. Having been restored to his title and estates in 1719, he died without issue in 1763.—T. A.
* ELCHO, Francis Wemyss-Charteris, Lord, was born in the year 1818 at Edinburgh, and is the eldest son of the eighth earl of Wemyss and March. After spending four years at the Edinburgh academy, he removed to Eton, and when he had travelled two years in Germany and Switzerland, he returned to Christ church, Oxford, where he took the degree of B.A. He came into parliament in 1841, on protection interests, as member for East Gloucestershire, but resigned his seat in 1846, when he became a supporter of Sir Robert Peel's free trade policy. In 1847 he was elected M.P. for Haddingtonshire, for which he has sat up to the present time. From 1852-55 he was Scotch lord of the treasury during the earl of Aberdeen's administration, and whilst holding that appointment he brought in a bill and passed it, for registering births, deaths, and marriages in Scotland. In 1855 he was sent to the Paris Exhibition by the Board of Trade, where he was chosen vice-president of the international jury on painting; and for his services in that capacity, he was made a commander of the legion of honour by the emperor. In 1858 he had the honorary degree of LL.D. of the Edinburgh university conferred upon him, for his exertions on behalf of medical reform. His lordship has always taken an active part in all matters relating to the fine arts, and opposed the removal of the National Gallery to Kensington. His lordship will ever be remembered with gratitude by the British nation for the deep interest he has taken in the volunteer rifle movement, which he has endeavoured to make a permanent institution of the country. He energetically promoted the formation of the London Scottish Volunteers, of which corps he was gazetted lieutenant-colonel in February, 1860. He acted as chairman of the committee appointed by the war authorities to inquire into the best kind of uniform to be adopted by volunteers in general; he has promoted the preliminary drill at schools in connection with that movement; and he has been instrumental in forming a rifle association for the awarding of prizes. In 1843 he married Anne Frederica, daughter of the first earl of Lichfield. He is a deputy-lieutenant of Haddingtonshire.—W. H. P. G.
ELDAD the Danite, a Jewish traveller of the ninth century, who set out from some part of Arabia (not particularly described in the account of his journeys), with a view to visiting the dispersed of the ten tribes in Asia and Africa. On his way to Egypt he suffered shipwreck; and while his companion, who was of a different tribe and more savoury to behold, was devoured by the cannibals on whose coast they were driven, a meagre and hungry look saved him, and he was allowed to pursue his journey. Eldad eventually made his way to China; and, returning, traversed Persia, Media, and Babylonia. He appears to have died at Cordova in Spain. The account of his journeys, written in Hebrew, and consisting of six chapters, has been frequently translated.—J. S., G.
ELDON, John Scott, Earl of, a remarkable instance of the power of a well-cultivated intellect, diligently employed, to elevate its possessor from a comparatively humble to an eminently exalted position. John Scott was the son of Mr. Scott, a respectable coal-fitter or factor in Newcastle, where he was born on 4th June, 1751. When of sufficient age, he was about to be bound apprentice, like his father before him, to the staple trade of his native town. This was, however, overruled by a letter from his brother William, then at Oxford, who advised that John might do better by being sent there. Accordingly, on the 15th May, 1766, he was entered a commoner of University college. On the 11th July, 1767, he was elected to a fellowship, and on the 20th February, 1770, he took his bachelor's degree. In 1771 he gained the chancellor's prize for an English prose essay, on "The Advantages and Disadvantages of Foreign Travel;" but an early attachment which he still cherished for Miss Elizabeth Surties, daughter of Aubone Surties, banker, Newcastle, resulted in an elopement with her on the 18th November, 1772, whereby he forfeited his fellowship, and drew upon himself the anger of the young lady's father. A reconciliation was effected; the banker agreed to give his daughter a portion of £1000—Mr. Scott making over an equal amount to his son. It has been affirmed that a partnership with a grocer in Newcastle was seriously contemplated as a means of providing for the young couple, but that his elder brother William again interposed; and it was determined that he should take holy orders, if a living became vacant during the twelve months' grace pending which he was allowed to hold his forfeited fellowship. No such vacancy occurred, and he reluctantly embraced the legal profession. In January, 1773, he entered himself a student of the middle temple. He took the degree of master of arts on the 13th February in the same year. He applied himself vigorously to the study of the law; and it is not too trifling an incident to mention that his habit was to rise at four o'clock, to devote little time to his abstemious meals, and to study till late hours of the night, cooling his head with a wet towel to avert drowsiness. Though his health suffered, he did not relax in his energetic pursuit of that knowledge, without which he told his physician he must starve. He was called to the bar on 9th February, 1776, and joined the northern circuit. He had to bide his time for an opportunity of distinction; and his prospects of success in London were so inauspicious that he had resolved to settle in his native place as a provincial counsel, when the fortunate event which superseded this determination presented itself. He was retained in the cause of Ackroyd v. Smithson (1 Bro. c. c. 503) in July, 1780; and the ability he displayed on this occasion established his reputation as an accomplished lawyer and astute reasoner. His pecuniary resources were so scanty that he had been unable in that same year to go the circuit; but his fortune was thenceforth insured, and increasing prosperity attended him. In 1783 he was called
