in Newport, in which he acquired eminence. The era of the revolution found him an ardent sympathizer with the colonies in their struggle with the mother country, and in May, 1776, he entered active political life by taking his seat in the memorable congress of that year as one of the delegates from Rhode Island. With his colleague, Stephen Hopkins, he set his name to the declaration of independence, the incidents connected with which event he was accustomed in his latter years to relate with great vivacity. He remained in congress until 1786, with the exception of the years 1780 and 1782, and on all occasions proved himself an active and useful member, and, notwithstanding a natural diffidence which it required strong efforts to overcome, a ready debater. As a member of the marine committee, and subsequently of the board of admiralty, he exercised considerable influence during his whole term of service, and the plan of fire ships to be fitted out at Newport has been attributed to him. In April, 1786, he was elected by congress commissioner of the continental loan office for the state of Rhode Island, and in 1790 was appointed by President Washington collector of Newport, an office which he held until his death, notwithstanding his frequent and frank avowals of political principles directly opposed to those of several administrations. He retained full possession of his mental faculties until the close of his long life, and was highly esteemed in his native place, not less for his social qualities and intellectual abilities than as a relic of the revolutionary era. An interesting biography of him by his grandson, Professor Edward T. Channing, is published in Sparks's "American Biography," vol. vi.

ELLESMERE, FRANCIS EGERTON, earl of, an English nobleman, born in London, Jan. 1, 1800, died there, Feb. 18, 1857. He was the 2d son of the 1st duke of Sutherland, and until the death of his father was known as Lord Francis Leveson-Gower. He was educated at Eton, and at Christchurch, Oxford, where he was graduated in 1821. In the succeeding year he entered parliament as a liberal conservative and a supporter of Canning, and became one of the earliest and most earnest advocates of free trade. He also supported the project for establishing the university of London, and on one occasion carried a motion through the house of commons for the endowment of the Roman Catholic clergy of Ireland. Between 1827 and 1830 he held various political offices; but in the latter year he retired from parliament. In 1833, upon the decease of his father, he came into possession of the immense estates of the late duke of Bridgewater, and of the picture gallery, valued at £150,000, which had been bequeathed to the duke of Sutherland, with reversion to his 2d son; on which occasion he assumed the name of Egerton in the place of his patronymic of Leveson-Gower. In 1835 he was elected member of parliament for South Lancashire, and continued to represent that constituency until 1846, when he was

raised to the peerage as earl of Ellesmere, after which he retired from active political life. While a student at the university he printed a volume of poems for private circulation; but his first public appearance as an author was in 1824, when he published a translation of "Faust," with versions of popular lyrics from the works of Goethe, Schiller, and other German poets. He subsequently produced "Mediterranean Sketches" (London, 1843), containing the "Pilgrimage,' a poem which records the author's tour in Palestine; "The two Sieges of Vienna by the Turks" (1847); "Guide to Northern Archæology" (1848); and a number of poems and plays printed for private circulation. The "Pilgrimage," after having been withheld from general circulation for many years, was republished in 1856 with a number of additional poems. In 1853 Lord Ellesmere visited the United States as British commissioner to the American exhibition of industry in New York, returning to England the same year.

ELLET, WILLIAM HENRY, an American chemist, born in New York about 1804, died in that city, Jan. 26, 1859. He was graduated at Columbia college in 1824. While pursuing his medical studies he gained a gold medal for a dissertation on the compounds of cyanogen. In 1832 he was elected professor of experimental chemistry in Columbia college, a position which he resigned in 1835 to become professor of chemistry, mineralogy, and geology in the South Carolina college. In 1848 he returned to New York, where he resided until his death. The legislature of South Carolina presented him with a service of silver plate for the discovery of a new and cheap method of preparing gun cotton. During the last 5 years of his life he was consulting chemist of the Manhattan gas company of New York.-ELIZABETH FRIES LUMMIS, wife of the preceding, an American authoress, born at Sodus Point, on Lake Ontario, N. Y. She is the daughter of Dr. William N. Lummis, a physician of some eminence, and at an early age was married to Professor Ellet, whom she accompanied to South Carolina, and with whom she returned to New York in 1848. In 1835 she produced a volume of poems, beside which she published while in South Carolina "Scenes in the Life of Joanna of Sicily" (12mo., 1840), "Characters of Schiller" (1841), and "Country Rambles," and contributed articles to several quarterly reviews on French and Italian poetry and literature. In 1848 she published, in 3 vols. 12mo., the "Women of the American Revolution," one of her most popular works, and the materials for which were derived from original sources. Subsequently appeared her "Evenings at Woodlawn," "Family Pictures from the Bible" (1849), "Domestic History of the American Revolution" (1850), "Watching Spirits" (1851), "Pioneer Women of the West" (1852), "Novellettes of the Musicians" (1852), and "Summer Rambles in the West" (1853). She also edited "The Practical Housekeeper." She is now engaged

upon a dictionary of female painters and sculptors, in which sketches are given of the women artists of all ages and countries.

ELLICOTT, ANDREW, an American astronomer and civil engineer, born in Bucks co., Penn., Jan. 24, 1754, died at West Point, N. Y., Aug. 28, 1820. His father, having united with a brother in the purchase of a large tract of wild land on the Patapsco river in 1770, left Bucks co. in 1774, and became a founder of what is now the town of Ellicott's Mills in Maryland, where the younger days of Mr. Ellicott were devoted to the study of the sciences and practical mechanics. Though belonging to the society of Friends, Mr. Ellicott commanded a battalion of Maryland militia in the revolution. His scientific attainments early attracted public attention, and from the revolution to the day of his death he was employed in the fulfilment of trusts conferred by the general or state governments. He enjoyed the friendship and confidence of Washington and his successors during life, and maintained the most intimate relations with Franklin and Rittenhouse, of whom his papers contain many interesting memorials. At various times he was appointed commissioner for marking parts of the boundaries of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York. About 1785 he removed to Baltimore, and represented that city in the state legislature. In 1789 he was appointed by President Washington to survey the land lying between Pennslvania and Lake Erie, and during that year he made the first accurate measurement of the Niagara river from lake to lake, with the height of the falls and the fall of the rapids. In 1790 he was employed by the government to survey and lay out the federal metropolis. In 1792 he was made surveyor-general of the United States, and in 1795 he superintended the construction of Fort Erie at Presque Isle (now Erie, Penn.), and was employed in laying out the towns of Erie, Warren, and Franklin. In 1796 he was appointed by President Washington commissioner on behalf of the United States under the treaty of San Lorenzo el Real, to determine the southern boundary separating the United States territory from the Spanish possessions. The results of this service, embracing a period of nearly 5 years, appear in his "Journal," published in 4to., with 6 maps (Philadelphia, 1803). Upon the completion of this service he was appointed by Gov. McKean of Pennsylvania secretary of the state land office, the duties of which he performed to the year 1808, and in 1812 he received the post of professor of mathematics at West Point. In 1817, by order of the government, he proceeded to Montreal to make astronomical observations for carrying into effect some of the articles of the treaty of Ghent. He continued to fill the professorship of mathematics and civil engineering to the time of his death. Mr. Ellicott was an active member and useful officer of the American philosophical society, and maintained correspondence with the learned societies of Europe; but with the exception of his "Jour

nal," contributions to philosophical societies, and a few other writings, his works are yet in manuscript.-JOSEPH, brother of the preceding, born in Pennsylvania, died in Batavia, N. Y., in 1826. In 1790 he assisted his brother Andrew in laying out the city of Washington, and in 1791 was appointed to run the boundary line between Georgia and the Creek Indians; and for a long period, embracing the most active portion of his life, he was engaged in the service of the Holland land company. He was a good mathematician, a scientific surveyor, and an able financier, led a life of great usefulness and enterprise, and was identified with the great public improvements of the state of New York. ELLICOTT'S MILLS, a post village and township of Howard and Baltimore cos., Md., on the Patapsco river, 10 m. from the city of Baltimore; pop. in 1850, 1,059. It was first settled in 1774 by the brothers Andrew and John Ellicott, whose large flouring mills here at one time held precedence in extent and perfection over all similar manufactories in the country. For many years the whole of Ellicott's Mills, and extended tracts of country on the river, above and below, were kept with studied exclusiveness within the family. In 1859 not one of the name is residing within the limits of the settlement. The water power is excellent, and numerous cotton and other factories are propelled by it. The Baltimore and Ohio railroad passes through the village. It is the seat of St. Charles's (R. C.) college.

ELLIOTSON, JOHN, an English physician and physiologist, born in London in the latter part of the last century. He received his medical education at the university of Edinburgh and at Cambridge, and subsequently attended the medical and surgical practice of St. Thomas's and Guy's hospitals in London, of the latter of which institutions he was in 1822 elected physician. Subsequently he became lecturer on the practice of medicine in St. Thomas's hospital, and in 1831 was appointed professor of the principles and practice of medicine and of clinical medicine in University college, London, in connection with which 3 years later he succeeded in establishing a hospital, when he resigned his professorship at St. Thomas's. As a lecturer he obtained great popularity, not less from his genial manner than from his thorough mastery of his subject. His use of prussic acid in certain complaints, and of other new remedies, however, met with much opposition; and in attempting to reform the old routine of the hospitals, he incurred the hostility of many of the profession. He was the founder and subsequently the president of the phrenological society, and the president of the royal medical and chirurgical society. In 1837 the attention of Dr. Elliotson was drawn to the phenomena of animal magnetism, and to the reputed removal or alleviation of difficult diseases through its agency. Having satisfied himself that much of what he had read and heard upon the subject was founded on fact, he commenced a series of experiments which were

attended by eminent scientific men from all parts of the kingdom, including a number of the medical faculty, and the striking results obtained from which convinced him that animal magnetism or mesmerism afforded a certain remedy for several diseases previously believed to be incurable, and was also the most powerful agent for allaying the pain attending surgical operations. His efforts gained many converts to mesmerism from the educated classes, whose zeal in his behalf was equalled by the violence of the opposition which assailed him. The unwillingness of his medical colleagues and of the council of the university to allow the mesmeric cure to be applied to the hospital patients induced him, in December, 1838, to sever his connection with University college, an event which made a considerable stir in the scientific world, and since that time he has been an indefatigable advocate of the curative agency of animal magnetism. In 1849 he was instrumental in establishing a mesmeric hospital, in which many remarkable cures have been effected. A mesmeric journal, called the "Zoist," was also established by him. Dr. Elliotson's principal contributions to medical science are: "Lectures on Diseases of the Heart" (London, 1830), which were delivered before the royal college of physicians in 1829; a translation of Blumenbach's "Physiology" (1817-56), the notes to which are more voluminous than the text; the "Principles and Practice of Medicine" (London, 1840), a valuable work, which has been translated into various European languages; "Surgical Operations in the Mesmeric State without Pain" (London, 1843), &c.

ELLIOTT, CHARLES, D.D., an American Methodist divine, born in Killybegs, Donegal, Ireland, May 16, 1792. In his youth he became a member of the Wesleyan Methodist society, soon after began a course of study preparatory for the ministry, and in his 24th year applied to the Dublin university for admission, but was refused because he could not conscientiously submit to the established test. Having obtained, however, with the aid of classical scholars, what was equivalent to a university course, he emigrated to America, and proceeded to Ohio, where he was received into the travelling connection of the Ohio conference in 1818. For the first 4 years he travelled over extensive circuits, and cheerfully submitted to all the privations of pioneer life. In 1822 he was appointed superintendent of the mission among the Wyandot Indians at Upper Sandusky, was subsequently for 5 years presiding elder of the Ohio district, and was then elected profes sor of languages in Madison college, Uniontown, Penn., where he remained 4 years. In 1831 he was stationed in Pittsburg, and was subsequently presiding elder of that district. While serving in this capacity he was chosen editor of the "Pittsburg Conference Journal," and was afterward transferred to the editorship of the "Western Christian Advocate," at Cincinnati, where he remained until 1848. He again entered the regular work of the clergy, but in the general

conference of 1852 he was reelected editor of the "Western Advocate," which office he filled for another term of 4 years, making in all about 15 years of editorial service. He has also written a "Treatise on Baptism" (1834); "Life of Bishop Roberts;" "Delineation of Roman Catholicism" (2 vols. 8vo., New York, 1851); and History of the Great Secession from the Methodist Episcopal Church” (8vo., Cincinnati, 1855). Dr. Elliott is now president of the Iowa Wesleyan university, and is preparing a work on "Political Romanism."

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ELLIOTT, CHARLES WYLLYS, an American author, born in Guilford, Conn., May 27, 1817. He is the 5th generation in lineal descent from Eliot the "Indian Apostle." After some years spent in mercantile life in the city of New York, he in 1838-'9 studied horticulture and landscape gardening with A. J. Downing at Newburg, and from 1840 to 1848 practised those pursuits at Cincinnati. Since 1850 he has resided in New York. He was one of the founders and first trustees of the "Children's Aid Society" in 1853. In 1857 he was appointed one of the commissioners for laying out the central park in the city of New York. Mr. Elliott has published the following works: "Mysteries, or Glimpses of the Supernatural" (1 vol. 12mo., New York, 1852), an attempt to refute spiritualism; "St. Domingo, its Revolution and its Hero, Toussaint Louverture" (1 vol. 12mo., New York, 1855); "The New England History, from the Discovery of the Continent by the Northmen, A. D. 986, to 1776" (2 vols. 8vo., New York, 1857).

ELLIOTT, CHARLES LORING, an American painter, born in Scipio, N. Y., in 1812. His father, an architect by profession, removed to Syracuse in the childhood of his son, and placed him in the store of a country merchant. The occupation was altogether distasteful to young Elliott, who devoted all his leisure time to his favorite pursuits of drawing and painting, with the expectation of one day becoming a painter. His father, seeing that he was unfitted for a mercantile life, allowed him to study drawing and architecture, though chiefly with the view of making a practical architect of him. Elliott, soon tiring of this occupation, went to New York and became a pupil of Trumbull, and subsequently of Quidor, a painter of fancy pieces, with whom he remained long enough to acquire a knowledge of the technicalities of his art. His chief employment for some time was copying prints in oils, and he afterward attempted portraits, though with no great success. of his youthful productions, however, evinced talent, and some oil paintings by him representing scenes from Irving's and Paulding's works attracted considerable attention. After about a year's residence in New York he returned to the western part of the state, where he practised his profession, more particularly portrait painting, for about 10 years. Returning to New York at the end of that period, he established himself there as a portrait painter, and has since

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been a resident of that city or its immediate neighborhood. His works consist almost exclusively of portraits, many of which are of eminent American citizens, and are remarkable for the fidelity of the likeness and their vigorous coloring. Since 1846 Mr. Elliott has been a member of the national academy of design. ELLIOTT, EBENEZER, an English poet, born at Masborough, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, March 17, 1781, died near Barnsley, Dec. 1, 1849. His father, who was employed in a foundery near Masborough, was a dissenter of what was called the Berean sect, an occasional preacher, and a forcible political speaker of the ultra radical type. Young Elliott received the education usually afforded to boys of his condition, but at school was noted for little else than dulness and laziness. He was unable to master the rudiments of grammar or arithmetic, and often gratified an instinctive love for nature and solitude by stolen rambles in the meadows and woodlands. His father, hearing of these vagabond habits, set him to work in the foundery. He was beginning to fall into dissipated habits when the perusal of a treatise on botany, which accident put into his hands, revived his love of nature, and he became an industrious collector of botanical specimens. He also procured access to a small library of the old divines and poets, and in his 17th year produced his first published poem, "The Vernal Walk," a crude imitation of Thomson. It was followed by "Night," "Wharncliffe," and others. The author's powers increased with each new work, and he had the good fortune to attract the notice of Southey, to whose kind offices he was accustomed to refer with affection and gratitude. He had meanwhile worked steadily at the foundery, which his father had purchased on credit, and having married set up in the iron business on his own account. At 30 years of age he became an earnest advocate of the laboring classes. The corn laws in particular struck him as unjust, and upon his subsequent failure in business he attributed his misfortunes to their influence. In 1821 he made another venture as an iron merchant in Sheffield, with a borrowed capital of £100, and was soon embarked in a lucrative business. He now commenced his wellknown "Corn Law Rhymes," which were written with the sole purpose of procuring the repeal of the obnoxious laws. At first published in a local paper and afterward collected in a single volume, these poems brought Elliott into notice. The "Ranter," which succeeded, was a long poem in a similar vein. In 1829 appeared his "Village Patriarch," exceeding in length any of his previous productions, and the best of his larger pieces. In 1833 he commenced a complete edition of his works, which appeared during the next 2 years, and for the first time made generally known many of the author's poems not of an exclusively political character. Several other editions appeared in the course of his life, and to the last he continued to write verses, chiefly for the periodical press, and not unfrequently

spoke in public in support of his peculiar views. The commercial panic of 1837 entailed serious pecuniary losses upon him, but by careful inanagement he was enabled in 1841 to retire from business with a competency and settle at a villa near Barnsley, where he passed the last years of his life in pleasant seclusion. Since his death 2 volumes of his literary remains have appeared under the title of "More Prose and Verse by the Corn Law Rhymer."

ELLIOTT, JESSE DUNCAN, & commodore in the U. S. navy, born in Maryland in 1782, died in Philadelphia, Dec. 18, 1845. He entered the service as a midshipman in April, 1806, and was promoted to a lieutenancy in April, 1810. In 1812 he was attached to the command of Commodore Isaac Chauncey at Sackett's Harbor, and was sent by him to the upper lakes to purchase vessels, and make other preparations for the creation of a naval force in those waters. While at Black Rock, engaged in this service, 2 British brigs, the Detroit and Caledonia, anchored, Oct. 7, 1812, near the opposite shore under the guns of Fort Erie. Elliott conceived the idea of capturing them. Fortunately the first party of seamen intended for the lake service arrived from the seaboard on that very night, and Gen. Smythe, the commanding military officer on the frontier, not only promptly complied with the requisition for arms for this service, but furnished a detachment of 50 soldiers for the purpose. A boat expedition was organized under Elliott's command, and the vessels were boarded and carried with but slight loss a little after midnight, Oct. 8. The Detroit mounted 6 guns, with a crew of 56; the Caledonia mounted 2 guns, and had a smaller complement. About 40 American prisoners were found on board these vessels. The Caledonia was safely brought over to the American side, but the Detroit was compelled to drop down the river, passing the British batteries under a heavy fire, and anchoring within reach of their guns. In the end this vessel was burned by the Americans, most of her stores having first been removed. For this exploit Elliott was voted a sword by congress. In July, 1813, he was promoted to the rank of master commandant, and appointed to the Niagara, a brig of 20 guns, on Lake Erie. In Perry's memorable engagement with the British squadron, Sept. 10, 1813, Elliott was second in command, and a gold medal was voted him by congress for his conduct on the occasion. After the battle of Lake Erie, Elliott returned to Lake Ontario, where he was actively employed until Nov. 1813, when he was appointed to the command of the Ontario sloop of war, which had just been built at Baltimore. This vessel was one of the squadron of Commodore Decatur employed against Algiers in 1815, and assisted in the capture of an Algerine frigate off Cape de Gatt. In March, 1818, he was promoted to the rank of captain, and subsequently had the command of squadrons on the coast of Brazil, in the West Indies, and in the Mediterranean, and of the navy yards at Boston and Philadelphia. His conduct while

in command of the Mediterranean squadron did not meet the approval of the executive, and resulted in his trial by court martial in June, 1840, and suspension from duty for 4 years. In Oct. 1843, the period of his suspension which then remained was remitted by the president. Commodore Elliott's name was much before the public for many years, as his conduct in the battle of Lake Erie unfortunately became the subject of a controversy which lasted until his death.

ELLIOTT, STEPHEN, an American naturalist, born in Beaufort, S. C., Nov. 11, 1771, died in Charleston, March 28, 1830. He was graduated at Yale college in 1791, and 2 years later was elected a member of the legislature of South Carolina, a position which he retained until the establishment of the "Bank of the State" in 1812, of which he was chosen the president. He retained this office till his death. His leisure hours were devoted to literary and scientific pursuits, and he cultivated the study of botany with enthusiasm. In 1813 he was instrumental in founding the literary and philosophical societies of South Carolina, of each of which he was the president. He lectured gratuitously on his favorite science, and was for some time chief editor of the "Southern Review," to which he contributed a number of articles. In 1825 he aided in establishing the medical college of the state, and was elected one of the faculty, and professor of natural history and botany. He is the author of the "Botany of South Carolina and Georgia" (2 vols. 8vo., Charleston, 1821-24), in the preparation of which he was assisted by Dr. James McBride, and left a number of works in manuscript. His acquaintance with general literature was extensive, and he was thoroughly read in the scientific works of the modern French school. His collection in the several departments of natural history was at the time of his death one of the most extensive in the country. The degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by Yale and Harvard colleges.-STEPHEN, D.D., son of the preceding, bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church for the diocese of Georgia, born at Beaufort, S. C., in 1806. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1824, and was ordained a deacon in 1835, and a priest in 1836, soon after which he became professor of sacred literature in the South Carolina college. In 1840 he was elected bishop of Georgia, and in Feb. 1841, was consecrated. ELLIOTT, WILLIAM, an American author and politician, born in Beaufort, S. C., April 27, 1788. He was entered in Harvard college at the age of 18, but ill health compelled him to return home before the completion of his academical career. For many years he devoted himself to the management of his estates, and served with credit in both branches of the state legislature. During the nullification crisis in South Carolina in 1832 he held the office of senator in the state legislature, but resigned upon being instructed by his constituents to vote to nullify the tariff law. He has since participated less frequently in public affairs, his letters against secession signed

"Agricola," and published in 1851, being among his latest expressions of opinion on political subjects. He has contributed largely to the periodical press of the South. His published works consist of an "Address before the St. Paul's Agricultural Society" (Charleston, 1850), and "Carolina Sports by Land and Water" (1856). He is also the author of "Fiesco," a tragedy printed for the author in 1850, and of a number of occasional poems of merit, few of which, however, have been published.

ELLIPSE, one of the conic sections, a figure bounded by a curve line produced by cutting through a cone with a plane, or by letting the shadow of a circle fall on a plane. The discussion of this curve began with Plato, 430-347 B. C., and was continued with great zeal for about 2 centuries. No important advance in the knowledge of the ellipse was then made for about 1700 years, when the research into its properties was renewed and still continues. The ellipticity of the planetary orbits is one of the immortal discoveries of Kepler. The knowledge of this curve is essential in the mathematical investigation of many physical problems. One of the most important properties of the curve line bounding an ellipse is that every point in this line is at such distances from 2 points in the figure called the foci, that the sum of the 2 distances is always equal to the longest diameter of the ellipse. An ellipse may therefore be drawn by driving 2 pins in a board, to mark the foci, putting a loose loop of inelastic thread over the pins, and then drawing the curve with a pencil placed inside the loop and stretched out as far as the loop will allow. A second important property of the curve is that lines from any point of it drawn to the foci make equal angles with the curve. Hence light emanating from one focus would be reflected by the curve to the other focus. If the other focus were at an immeasurable distance, the curve would be a parabola, and the light would proceed out in parallel lines; or light coming from an inverse distance would be reflected into the focus. Hence the parabola gives the proper form for a telescopic mirror. These are the most important of the simpler properties of the ellipse; the higher and equally important properties are scarcely capable of expression without the use of mathematical forms. When an ellipse, instead of being traced on a plane surface, is traced on the surface of a sphere, it is called a spherical ellipse.

ELLIS, a N. co. of Texas, drained by Trinity river, which forms its E. boundary; area, 1,000 sq. m.; pop. in 1858, 8,212, of whom 723 were slaves. The surface is occupied by prairies and tracts of hard timber. The prairies are very fertile, and produce maize and cotton. In 1850 there were raised here 28,744 bushels of Indian corn, 2,617 of potatoes, 17,220 lbs. of butter and cheese, 287 of rice, and 200 of tobacco. Value of real estate in 1858, $545,600. Capital, Waxahachie. Formed in 1849.

ELLIS, GEORGE EDWARD, an American clergyman, pastor of the Harvard church, Charles