Chapter 24

ED'WIDGE, wife of William Tell.--Rossini, _Guglielmo Tell_ (1829).

EDWIN "the minstrel," a youth living in romantic seclusion, with a great thirst for knowledge. He lived in Gothic days in the north countrie, and fed his flocks on Scotia's mountains.

And yet poor Edwin was no vulgar boy, Deep thought oft seemed to fix his infant eye, Danties he heeded not, nor gaude, nor toy, Save one short pipe of rudest ministrelsy; Silent when glad, affectionate, yet shy ... And now he laughed aloud, yet none knew why. The neighbors stared and sighed, yet blessed the lad;

Some deemed him wonderous wise, and some believed him mad. Beattie, _The Minstrel_, 1. (1773).

EDWIN AND ANGELI'NA. Angelina was the daughter of a wealthy lord, "beside the Tyne." Her hand was sought in marriage by many suitors, amongst whom was Edwin, "who had neither wealth nor power, but he had both wisdom and worth." Angelina loved him, but "trifled with him," and Edwin, in despair, left her and retired from the world. One day, Angelina, in boy's clothes, asked hospitality at a hermit's cell; she was kindly entertained, told her tale, and the hermit proved to be Edwin. From that hour they never parted more.--Goldsmith, _The Hermit._

A correspondent accuses me of having taken this ballad from _The Friar of Orders Gray_ ... but if there is any resemblance between the two, Mr. Percy's ballad is taken from mine. I read my ballad to Mr. Percy, and he told me afterwards that he had taken my plan to form the fragments of Shakespeare into a ballad of his own.--Signed, O. Goldsmith, 1767.

EDWIN AND EMMA. Emma was a rustic beauty of Stanemore, who loved Edwin "the pride of swains;" but Edwin's sister, out of envy, induced his father, "a sordid man," to forbid any intercourse between Edwin and the cottage. Edwin pined away, and being on the point of death, requested he might be allowed to see Emma. She came and said to him, "My Edwin, live for me;" but on her way home she heard the death bell toll. She just contrived to reach her cottage door, cried to her mother, "He's gone!" and fell down dead at her feet.--Mallet, _Edwin and Emma_ (a ballad).

ED'YRN, son of Nudd. He ousted the earl of Yn'iol from his earldom, and tried to to win E'nid, the earl's daughter, but failing in this, became the evil genius of the gentle earl. Ultimately, being sent to the court of King Arthur, he became quite a changed man--from a malicious "sparrow-hawk" he was converted into a courteous gentleman.--Tennyson, _Idylls of the King_ ("Enid").

EFESO (_St_.), a saint honored in Pisa. He was a Roman officer [_Ephesus_] in the service of Diocletian, whose reign was marked by a great persecution of the Christians. This Efeso or Ephesus was appointed to see the decree of the emperor against the obnoxious sect carried out in the island of Sardinia; but being warned in a dream not to persecute the servants of the Lord, both he and his friend Potito embraced Christianity, and received a standard from Michael the archangel himself. On one occasion, being taken captive, St. Efeso was cast into a furnace of fire, but received no injury; whereas those who cast him in were consumed by the flames. Ultimately, both Efeso and Potito suffered martyrdom, and were buried in the island of Sardinia. When, however, that island was conquered by Pisa in the eleventh century, the relics of the two martyrs were carried off and interred in the duomo of Pisa, and the banner of St. Efeso was thenceforth adopted as the national ensign of Pisa.

EGALITÉ (_Philippe_), the duc d'Orléans, father of Louis Philippe, king of France. He himself assumed this "title" when he joined the revolutionary party, whose motto was "Liberty, Fraternity, and Egalité" (born 1747, guillotined 1793).

EGE'US (3 _syl_.), father of Her'mia. He summoned her before The'seus (2 _syl_.), duke of Athens, because she refused to marry Demetrius, to whom he had promised her in marriage; and he requested that she might either be compelled to marry him or else be dealt with "according to law," _i.e._ "either to die the death," or else to "endure the livery of a nun, and live a barren sister all her life." Hermia refused to submit to an "unwished yoke," and fled from Athens with Lysander. Demetrius, seeing that Hermia disliked him but that Hel'ena doted on him, consented to abandon the one and wed the other. When Egëus was informed thereof, he withdrew his summons, and gave his consent to the union of his daughter with Lysander.--Shakespeare, _Midsummer Night's Dream_ (1592).