Chapter 23

DYSMAS, DISMAS, OR DEMAS, the penitent thief crucified with our Lord. The impenitent thief is called Gesmas or Gestas.

Alta petit Dismas, infelix innma Gesmas.

_Part of a Charm_.

To paradise thief Dismas went, But Gesmas died impenitent.

EADBURGH, daughter of Edward the Elder, king of England, and Eadgifu, his wife. When three years old, her father placed on the child some rings and bracelets, and showed her a chalice and a book of the Gospels, asking which she would have. The child chose the chalice and book, and Edward was pleased that "the child would be a daughter of God." She became a nun, and lived and died in Winchester.

EAGLE (_The_), ensign of the Roman legion. Before the Cimbrian war, the wolf, the horse, and the boar were also borne as ensigns, but Marius abolished these, and retained the eagle only, hence called emphatically "The Roman Bird."

_Eagle (The Theban)_, Pindar, a native of Thebes (B.C. 518-442).

EAGLE OF BRITTANY, Bertrand Duguesclin, constable of France (1320-1380).

EAGLE OF DIVINES, Thomas Aqui'nas (1224-1274).

EAGLE OF MEAUX [_Mo_], Jacques Bénigne Bossuet, bishop of Meaux (1627-1704).

EAGLE OF THE DOCTORS OF FRANCE, Pierre d'Ailly, a great astrologer, who maintained that the stars foretold the great flood (1350-1425).

EARNSCLIFFE (_Patrick_), the young laird of Earnscliffe.--Sir W. Scott, _Black Dwarf_ (time, Anne).

EASTWARD HO! a comedy by Chapman, Marston, and Ben Jonson. For this drama the three authors were imprisoned "for disrespect to their sovereign lord, King James I." (1605). (See WESTWARD Ho!).

EASTY (_Mary_), a woman of Salem (Mass), convicted of witchcraft, sends before her death a petition to the court, asserting her innocence. Of her accusers she says: "I know, and the Lord, He knows (as will shortly appear), that they belie me, and so I question not but they do others. The Lord alone, who is the searcher of all hearts knows, as I shall answer it at the tribunal seat, that I know not the least thing of witchcraft. Therefore I cannot, I durst not, belie my own soul."--Robert Caleb, _More Wonders of the Invisible World_ (1700).

EASY (_Midshipman_), hero of Marryatt's sea-story of same name.

_Easy (Sir Charles)_, a man who hates trouble; "so lazy, even in his pleasures, that he would rather lose the woman of his pursuit, than go through any trouble in securing or keeping her." He says he is resolved in future to "follow no pleasure that rises above the degree of amusement." "When once a woman comes to reproach me with vows, and usage, and such stuff, I would as soon hear her talk of bills, bonds, and ejectments; her passion becomes as troublesome as a law-suit, and I would as soon converse with my solicitor." (act iii.).

_Lady Easy_, wife of Sir Charles, who dearly loves him, and knows all his "naughty ways," but never shows the slightest indication of ill-temper or jealousy. At last she wholly reclaims him.--Colley Cibber, _The Careless Husband_ (1704).

EATON THEOPHILUS (_Governor_). In his eulogy upon Governor Eaton, Dr. Cotton Mather lays stress upon the distinction drawn by that eminent Christian man between stoicism and resignation.

"There is a difference between a sullen silence or a stupid senselessness under the hand of GOD, and a childlike submission thereunto."

"In his daily life", we are told, "he was affable, courteous, and generally pleasant, but grave perpetually, and so courteous and circumspect in his discourses, and so modest in his expressions, that it became a proverb for incontestable truth,"--"Governor Eaton said it."--Cotton Mather, _Magnolia Christi Americana_ (1702).

EBERSON (_Ear_), the young son of William de la Marck, "The Wild Boar of Ardennes."--Sir W. Scott, _Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).

EBLIS, monarch of the spirits of evil. Once an angel of light, but, refusing to worship Adam, he lost his high estate. Before his fall he was called Aza'zel. The _Korân_ says: "When We [_God_] said unto the angels, 'Worship Adam,' they all worshipped except Eblis, who refused ... and became of the number of unbelievers" (ch. ii.).

EBON SPEAR (_Knight of the_), Britomart, daughter of King Ryence of Wales.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iii. (1590).

EBRAUC, son of Mempric (son of Guendolen and Madden) mythical king of England. He built Kaer-brauc [_York_], about the time that David reigned in Judea.--Geoffrey, _British History_, ii. 7 (1142).

By Ebrauk's powerful hand York lifts her towers aloft.

Drayton, _Polyolbion_, viii. (1612).

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY (_The Father of_), Eusebius of Cæsarea (264-340).