ECKEBT. 626 ECKHEL. held a similar position with the Army of the Potoiuac durii)',' the Peninsula campai<fn. la 1802 he organized the military telograi)h sers-iee in the War Dcparlnient buildings in Washing- ton. At the elose of the war he received the brevet rank of brigadier-general, and from 1864 to 1860 was Assistant Secretary of War. He was superintendent of the eastern division of the Western Union Telegraph Company from 1866 to 1875, and was president of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Comjiany from 1875 to 18S0, and of the American I'nion Telegraph Company from 1880 to 1881. On the consolida- tion of these two corjjorations with the estern Union, in 1881, he was elected vice-president and general manager of the latter, in 1892 became president and manager, and retired early in 1902. ECK'FORD, Hen'RY (1775-1832). An Ameri- can naval architect. He was born in Irvine, Scotland, and when si.xteen years old became a shipwright in the shipyards of his uncle, John Black, at Quebec. In 17!)G he removed to New York and established a shipyard of his own. During the War of 1812 lie constructed a fleet of sliijis of war U]ion Lake Erie in a remarkably sliort jieriod of time. He was the builder of the J'ohcrt FuUon, which made the first success- ful ocean trip ever made by a steamship, from ew York to New Orleans and Havana. In 1820 he was appointed naval constructor in charge of the Brooklyn Navy Y'ard, where he designed and superintended the construction of six ships of war. Leaving the service of the Government, he engaged again in ship-building on his own account, and constructed vessels for several European and South American countries. In 18.31 he built a frigate for the Sultan of Tur- key, and accompanied it to Constantinople, where the Sultan ofTered him the position of chief con- structor in his navy. While engaged (m plans for some new ships, he died at Constantinople in the following j'ear. ECKHARDT, ek'hiivt, or ECKART, The Trusty (Ger. der gctrcue Ecknrt). In German legend, an old man whose doom it is to precede the spectral band of Frau Holle ("Die wilde Jagd"), in their wild ride through the country, and to warn all whom he meets, but especially children, of their approaching danger. He is de- picted with a flowing beard and a white staff, and is familiar through Goethe's poem of the same title. According to another version Eckhardt sits at the entrance to the Vennsherg, to dissuade those who would enter, and often attends the god- dess on her journeys. There are several varia- tions of the legend. ECK'HART, .ToitAXX Geoko voy (1604-1730). A German historian, born at Duingcn. He stud- ied at Leipzig, in 10!M became an assistant to Leibnitz in the latter's historical studies, and in 1706 professor of historj' at Helmstedt. Elevat- ed to the nobility, he was in 1724 appointed librarian at the court of the prince-bishop of Wiirzburg. Among his works are the Corpus llixloricinn Metlii JEvi (1723) and the Cnmmcn- Inrii lie Rebus Franri(e Orientnlii et Fphcopntus Winehurpensis (172fl), long-standing authori- ties on the times of which they treat. ECKHART, or ECKARDT, .Tou. xes (c. 12001327). A noted German mystic, generally called Meister (Master) Eckhart. He was of the Dominican Order, and in 1298 became prior at Erfurt and 'icar of Thnringia. In 1303 he was made provhicial of his Order for Sii.xony, and in 1307 Vicar-General of Bohemia. I'or several years he lectured at Paris. He was distinguished for ])ractical reforms and for his power as a preacher. He systematized and e.iJounde<l the fundamental notions of the Beghanls (see Be- GUixKs) and Brethren of the I'ree Sjiirit. The opponents of ihv. Bcgliards foimd some proposi- tions in Eckhart's works for which lie was called to account by the Ini|uisition at Cologne in 1327. He made a recantation and apjiealed to the Po|>e, by honi some of his jiroposilions were formally condi-nined. Probably before the issuing of tliis condemnation Eckhart died. His works show that he was dee])ly learned in all the philosophy of the time, and a profound thinker. His style is with- out system, brief, mystical, and full of symbolical expressions; but his flunking was clear, ealm, and logical, and he gave the most complete ex- position of what may be called Christian pan- theism. The starting-point of his doctrine is that, apart from God, there is no real lieing. But. in his view, God is the unknown. He con- ceives of the Godhead as without anything that can be aflirmed concerning it. Anything defi- nitely ascribed to it would limit and therefore destroy its infinity. The Godhead is not God as knoHii to us. From it proceeds the triune (Jod, who is known. The essence of the (iodhead is what it is in itself; its nature is that which it becomes as an object for others. It reveals itself in the personal God, the Father. The Son is the word or expression through, and in wliieh the Father becomes self-conscious. The Father eter- nally begets the Son, and the Son's return into the Father in love and mutual will is the Spirit. The Father is not before the Son ; only through the begetting of the Son, only through arrivini^' at self consciousness, does He become the Father. The genesis of the Son from the Father involves . also the production of the world of tilings; for (!od is reason, and in reason is contained the ideal world of creatures. In the Son all things are made in ideal fonn. As all things have arisen from God, so they all tend to return to Him. Repose in Him is the end of all things; and in man, the noblest of creatures, this end is realized. In liiin, specially, there is the power of reaching to the alisohite. the ground both of God and the universe. Tliis i>inver — which Eck- hart called /7ic sporl: — is in truth God working in man. In cognition of God, God and man are one; there is no distinction of knowcr and known. I'nion with God — the birth of the Ron in the soul — is the ultimate cud of activity, and is to be attained by resigning all individuality. When this is reached the soul is one with God; its will is God's; it cannot sin. Yet all this ajiidies only to the 'spark' in the soul, the other [lowers of which may be properly emjiloyed about other things. Thus, the way is left open to adjust the balance between feeling and action, between philosophical theory and practical life. Consult: Pfeiffer, "lleister F.ckart," second vol- ume of Deutsche Miistilccr (Leipzig. 1857), con- taining a rich selection from his writings; 'Mar- tensen, Meister Kclhart (Hamburg. 1842) : Preger, Gcschichte tier deutschcn M;/stik im MiileUilter (Leipzig. 18741 . ECKHEL, ekVl, .To.sEiMi Htl.vrtis (1737-Ofl). An eminent Austrian numismatist, born at En-
