Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 04.djvu/66

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ESSEN 48 1913 he was a member of the provisional Albanian Government, and in 1914 was appointed Minister of War and of the Interior. He was assassinated in Paris in 1920. ESSEN, a town of Rhenish Prussia, 18 miles N. E. of Diisseldorf, founded in the 9th century, and adorned with a fine church dating from 873. It in- creased with great rapidity, and is celebrated for the steel and iron works of the Krupps, the most extensive in Europe. This great establishment was started in 1827, w'th only two workmen. During the World War Essen was one of the most important of the German cities. At the Krupp works were produced vast quantities of armament and munitions. Attempts, some very successful, were made by Allied aviators to damage and destroy the works. Following peace, the works were devoted to the manufacture of various steel products. In the suburbs are the "colonies" — cottages, churches, schools, stores, libraries, places of amuse- ment, homes for the superannuated and disabled workmen, etc., established by the Krupps for their workmen. Pop. about 400,000. ESSENCE, in philosophy, originally the same as substance. Later, sub- stance came to be used for the undeter- mined substratum of a thing, essence for the qualities expressed in the defini- tion of a thing; or, as Locke put it, "Es- sence may be taken for the very being of a thing, whereby it is what it is." In chemistry, and in popular parlance, essences are solutions of the essential oils in alcohol. The term has, however, received a wider significance, and is ap- plied to any liquid possessing the prop- erties of the substance of which it pro- fesses to be the essence. Thus essences of coffee, beef, and rennet contain in a concentrated form the virtues of coffee, beef, and rennet. ESSENES (es-senz'), or ESSiEANS, a sect among the Jews, the origin of which is unknown, as well as the etymol- ogy of their name. It appears to have sprung up in the course of the century preceding the Christian era, and disap- peared on the dispersion of the Jews after the siege of Jerusalem. They were remarkable for their strictness and ab- stinence, and had a rule of life analogous to that of a monastic order. ESSENTIAL OILS, volatile oils usually drawn from aromatic plants by subject- ing them to distillation with waters, such as the oils of lavender, cloves, pepper- mint, etc. ESSEQUIBO (es-se-ke'bo) , a river of British Guiana, which flows into the At- ESSLINGEN lantic by an estuary 20 miles in width after a course of about 450 miles. The district or division of Essequibo is well cultivated and extremely fertile, produc- ing coffee, cotton, cocoa, and sugar. Pop. 36,000. ESSEX, a maritime county of Eng- land, with an area of 1,530.5 squar.3 miles, and a coast line of 85 miles. The surface of the coast is low and marshy; but from the center to the north is un- dulating and well wooded. There is a considerable amount of good agricultu- ral land, and wheat and barley are largely grown. Stock raising is also im- portant. Its manufactures include chem- icals, railroad machinery, agricultural implements, brewing, fishing, and oyster fishing. Pop. about 1,400,000. ESSEX, ROBERT DEVEREUX, EARL OF, an English soldier; born in 1591. When 11 years old he was re- stored by James I. to the rank and titles held by his father, the 2d earl, and be- came a companion of the young Prince of Wales, and when 15 years of age was married to Frances Howard, daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, from whom he was divorced in 1613. He served in the army of the elector palatine in Holland 1620-1623, was vice-admiral of an un- successful naval expedition against Ca- diz in 1625, and was lieutenant-general of an army sent by King Charles against the Scotch Covenanters in 1639. Espous- ing the cause of the Parliament against the king, he was appointed to the com- mand of the parliamentary army at the beginning of the civil war, was victorious over Charles at Edgehill in 1642, cap- tured Reading in 1643, and relieved Gloucester, but lost the greater part of his army in 1644. He urged the im- peachment of Cromwell before the House of Lords in 1645, and had to resign his commission. An annuity of £10,000 was settled on him for life. He died in 1646. ESSLING, a village in Lower Austria on the Danube, 6 miles below Vienna, near which a battle was fought May 21- 22, 1809, between the French and Aus- trians, in which the former were vic- torious. Marshal Lannes was killed in this battle. Marshal Massena receiving the title of the Prince of Essling. ESSLINGEN, a city of Wiirttemberg, situated on the Neckar, seven miles E. S. E. of Stuttgart. The largest machine shops of Wiirttemberg are located here, employing, before the World War, about 2,200 men. It also manufactures gold and silver ware, cotton goods, and is the center of a region producing the famous Neckar wine. Pop. about 32,000.