Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 8, DIA-England

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E M A 675
Elpisan
pope, from whom he obtained a bull for that purpose ; and
by his exertions was King’s College undertaken and com¬
pleted. Having bequeathed a large sum of money for
its support, he terminated his mortal career in 1514. Al¬
though he had attained the age of about eighty-three,
his constitutional vigour was very little impaired, and all
the faculties of his mind were in full force; but the ca¬
lamity which the nation sustained at Floddon-field had
broken his heart. He wrote a history of his native coun-
try, which is among the manuscripts of Sir Thomas Fair¬
fax, in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
ELPISAN, a town of Asiatic Turkey, in the province
of Diarbekir, situated on the river Euphrates, two miles
north-west of Kerkisieh.
ELSFLETH, a town in the duchy of Oldenburg, in Ger¬
many, at the conflux of the Hunte and the Weser. It con¬
tains 192 houses, and 1562 inhabitants. The vessels which
frequent this port anchor lower in the river, near Brake.
Long. 8. 21. 5. E. Lat. 53. 14. 50. N. It is the capital of a
bailiwick, with six parishes, 1135 houses, and 7510 inha¬
bitants.
ELSINEUR, a city of Denmark, in the island Zealand.
It was formerly a Hanse town, and is now the second city
in Denmark proper. It is strongly fortified, and has a
castle, Cronburg, designed to command the entrance of
the Baltic Sea by the Sound; but in the English attacks
on Copenhagen it was found of no avail. The passage of
ships, who pay a toll, makes the town active and prosper¬
ous. It contains 552 houses and 5000 inhabitants, besides
the garrison. The environs are pleasant and fruitful, and
the castle, with Hamlet’s' Garden, as it is called, is visit¬
ed by most English travellers who arrive at Elsineur. It
is in long. 12. 35. 19. E. and lat. 56. 1. 40. N.
ELSNAPPEN, a small seaport of Sweden, in West-
manland. It is on the side of the Baltic, and is capable
of admitting ships of wrar. Thirty-twm miles east-north¬
east of Nykioping.
ELTHAM, a market-town of the county of Kent, in
the hundred of Blackheath, eight miles from London.
The market is held on Monday. It is remarkable for the
manor-house called King John’s Palace, formerly a royal
residence; and for a modern building on Shooter’s Hill,
erected by Commodore James, to celebrate his capture of
a similar fortress called Savendroog, belonging to Angria,
a pirate on the coast of Bombay, in India. The population
amounted in 1801 to 1627, in 1811 to 1813, in 1821 to
1883, and in 1831 to 2129.
ELTMANN, a bailiwick of the circle of the Low'er
Maine, in the kingdom of Bavaria, extending over forty-
four square miles. It contains, besides the capital, thir¬
teen villages and 3039 inhabitants. The capital, of the
same name, is situated on the river Zeil, and contains 1010
inhabitants.
ELYAS, a town of Portugal, in the province of Alem-
tejo. It is well fortified, and may be considered as one
of the keys of the kingdom to the south, on the side of
Spain; and it is one of the fortresses opposed to the city
of Badajos.
ELY, a city of Cambridgeshire, the chief place of a di¬
vision of that county distinguished as the Isle of Ely, hav¬
ing a distinct jurisdiction, the chief justice and other ma¬
gistrates of which are nominated by the bishop. The city,
though elevated somewdiat above the surrounding country,
is considered as unhealthy, from the marshy soil which
surrounds it. It is not a well-built place, and consists
chiefly of one street. The cathedral is an object of attrac¬
tion as the work of several ages, displaying a mixture of
the Anglo-Norman and English styles of architecture. It
is upwards of 400 feet in length, and has a tower at the
west end 270 feet in height. There are, besides, two pa¬
rish churches. The bishopric is one of the most valuable Elysium
in England, both on account of its income and its patron- H .
age. It is the only city which sends no members to the
House of Commons. The land around it is highly fertile ;
much of it is appropriated by market-gardeners, and sup¬
plies the neighbourhood as far as Cambridge with culinary
vegetables. The market is held on Saturday. It is sixty-
six miles from London, and fourteen from Cambridge.
The population amounted in 1801 to 3713, in 1811 to
4249, in 1821 to 5079, and in 1831 to 6189.
ELYSIUM, the place which, according to the ancient
poets, the souls of the blessed inhabited. By Homer it
was placed in the vicinity of Oceanus, and on the extreme
confines of the earth. Here Nature produced her most
delicious fruits without assistance from the hand of man.
No winter storm ever obscured the brilliancy of the atmo¬
sphere ; but cooling zephyrs refreshed the air, and wafted
on their wings the most delightful perfumes. Such was
the abode destined by Jupiter for his son-in-law Menelaus.
It is curious to observe the various changes of position in
respect to these Elysian Fields, as a more intimate ac¬
quaintance with the geography of different countries suc¬
cessively dispelled the erroneous impressions made by the
foolish statements of travellers. The Greeks in the earlier
ages placed them in the district of Thesprotia, where they
also found the Acheron, Cocytus, and Avernus; and it was
to this elysium that Homer tells us Mercury conducted
the souls of the suitors of Penelope, after they had been
killed by Ulysses. But they afterwards transported the
Elysian Fields and Avernus to the vicinity of Baia in
Campania.
Largior hie campos aether et lumine vestit
Purpureo; solemque suum, sua sidera norunt.
And it was not till later times that they thought of fixing
these imaginary abodes at the extremity of Iberia, where
they found the Lethe, “ that slow and silent stream, the
river of oblivion,” which is now called Guadalete, as well
as another of the same name in Lusitania.
ELZEVIRS, celebrated printers at Amsterdam and
Leyden, who greatly adorned the republic of letters with
many beautiful editions of the best authors of antiquity.
They were five in number, namely, Louis, Bonaventure,
Abraham, Lewis, and Daniel. Louis began to be famous
at Leyden in 1595, and was remarkable for being the first
who observed the distinction between the v consonant
and u vowel, which had been recommended by Ramus
and other writers long before, but never regarded. Da¬
niel died in 1680 or 1681 ; and though he left children
who carried on the business, he nevertheless passes for
the last of his family who excelled in printing.
EMANATION, the act of flowing or proceeding from
some source or origin. Such is the emanation of light
from the sun ; that of effluvia from odorous or fragrant bo¬
dies ; of wisdom from God, and so on. The word is form¬
ed of the Latin e, out of, and manare, to flow or stream.
Emanation is also used to signify that which proceeds, as
well as the act of proceeding. The power given to a judge
is an emanation from the royal authority; the reasonable
soul is an emanation from the divinity.
EMANCIPATION, in the Roman law, the setting free
of a son from the subjection of a father; so that whatever
moveables he acquires belong in property to him, and not
to his father, as before emancipation.
By emancipation the son was put in a capacity of ma¬
naging his own affairs, and of marrying without his father's
consent, although a minor. Emancipation differed from
manumission, as the latter was the act of a master in fa¬
vour of a slave, whereas the former was that of a father in
favour of his son.