xliv. 1, the opening words of the eulogy of the Fathers: "Let me now

praise favoured men," i.e. men in whom God's grace was shown. The Hebrew phrase is "men of grace," as in v. 10. The Greek text of v. 1, "famous men," seems to be nothing but a loose paraphrase, suggested by v. 2, "The Lord manifested in them great glory."

In character and contents Ecclesiasticus resembles the book of Proverbs. It consists mainly of maxims which may be described in turn as moral, utilitarian and secular. Occasionally the author attacks prevalent religious opinions, e.g. the denial of free-will (xv. 11-20), or the assertion of God's indifference towards men's actions (xxxv. 12-19). Occasionally, again, Ben Sira touches the highest themes, and speaks of the nature of God: "He is All" (xliii. 27); "He is One from everlasting" (xlii. 21, Heb. text); "The mercy of the Lord is upon all flesh" (xviii. 13). Though the book is imitative and secondary in character it contains several passages of force and beauty, e.g. ch. ii. (how to fear the Lord); xv. 11-20 (on free-will); xxiv. 1-22 (the song of wisdom); xlii. 15-25 (praise of the works of the Lord); xliv. 1-15 (the well-known praise of famous men). Many detached sayings scattered throughout the book show a depth of insight, or a practical shrewdness, or again a power of concise speech, which stamps them on the memory. A few examples out of many may be cited. "Call no man blessed before his death" (xi. 28); "He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled" (xiii. 1); "He hath not given any man licence to sin" (xv. 20); "Man cherisheth anger against man; and doth he seek healing from the Lord?" (xxviii. 3); "Mercy is seasonable ... as clouds of rain" (xxxv. 20); "All things are double one against another: and he hath made nothing imperfect" (xlii. 24, the motto of Butler's _Analogy_); "Work your work before the time cometh, and in his time he will give you your reward" (li. 30). In spite, however, of the words just quoted it cannot be said that Ben Sira preaches a hopeful religion. Though he prays, "Renew thy signs, and repeat thy wonders ... Fill Sion with thy majesty and thy Temple with thy glory" (xxxvi. 6, 14 [19], Heb. text), he does not look for a Messiah. Of the resurrection of the dead or of the immortality of the soul there is no word, not even in xli. 1-4, where the author exhorts men not to fear death. Like the Psalmist (Ps. lxxxviii. 10, 11) he asks, "Who shall give praise to the Most High in the grave?" In his maxims of life he shows a somewhat frigid and narrow mind. He is a pessimist as regards women; "From a woman was the beginning of sin; and because of her we all die" (xxv. 24). He does not believe in home-spun wisdom; "How shall he become wise that holdeth the plough?" (xxxviii. 25). Artificers are not expected to pray like the wise man; "In the handywork of their craft is their prayer" (v. 34). Merchants are expected to cheat; "Sin will thrust itself in between buying and selling" (xxvii. 2).

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The literature of Ecclesiaticus has grown very considerably since the discovery of the first Hebrew fragment in 1896. A useful summary of it is found at the end of Israel Levi's article, "Sirach," in the _Jewish Encyclopedia_. Eberhard Nestle's article in Hastings's _Dictionary of the Bible_ is important for its bibliographical information as well as in other respects. A complete edition of the Hebrew fragments in collotype facsimile was published jointly by the Oxford and Cambridge Presses in 1901. J.H.A. Hart's edition of cod. 248 throws much light on some of the problems of this book. It contains a fresh collation of all the chief authorities (Heb., Syr., Syr.-Hex., Lat. and Gr.) for the text, together with a complete textual commentary.

The account given in the _Synopsis_ attributed to Athanasius (Migne, _P.G._, iv. 375-384) has an interest of its own. The beginning is given in the Authorized Version as "A prologue made by an uncertain author." (W. E. B.)

ECGBERT, or ECGBERHT (d. 839), king of the West Saxons, succeeded to the throne in 802 on the death of Beorhtric. It is said that at an earlier period in his life he had been driven out for three years by Offa and Beorhtric. The accession of Ecgbert seems to have brought about an invasion by AEthelmund, earl of the Hwicce, who was defeated by Weoxtan, earl of Wiltshire. In 815 Ecgbert ravaged the whole of the territories of the West Welsh, which probably at this time did not include much more than Cornwall. The next important occurrence in the reign was the defeat of Beornwulf of Mercia at a place called Ellandun in 825. After this victory Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Essex submitted to Wessex; while the East Anglians, who slew Beornwulf shortly afterwards, acknowledged Ecgbert as overlord. In 829 the king conquered Mercia, and Northumbria accepted him as overlord. In 830 he led a successful expedition against the Welsh. In 836 he was defeated by the Danes, but in 838 he won a battle against them and their allies the West Welsh at Hingston Down in Cornwall. Ecgbert died in 839, after a reign of thirty-seven years, and was succeeded by his son AEthelwulf. A somewhat difficult question has arisen as to the parentage of Ecgbert. Under the year 825 the Chronicle states that in his eastern conquests Ecgbert recovered what had been the rightful property of his kin. The father of Ecgbert was called Ealhmund, and we find an Ealhmund, king in Kent, mentioned in a charter dated 784, who is identified with Ecgbert's father in a late addition to the Chronicle under the date 784. It is possible, however, that the Chronicle in 825 refers to some claim through Ine of Wessex from whose brother Ingeld Ecgbert was descended.

See _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, edited by Earle and Plummer (Oxford, 1899); W. de G. Birch, _Cartularium Saxonicum_ (London, 1885-1893). Also a paper by Sir H.H. Howorth in _Numismatic Chronicle_, third series, vol. xx. pp. 66-87 (reprinted separately, London, 1900), where attention is called to the peculiar dating of several of Ecgbert's charters, and the view is put forward that he remained abroad considerably later than the date given by the Chronicle for his accession. On the other hand a charter in Birch, _Cart. Sax._, purporting to date from 799, contains the curious statement that peace was made between Coenwulf and Ecgbert in that year.

ECGBERT, or ECGBERHT (d. 766), archbishop of York, was made bishop of that see in 734 by Ceolwulf, king of Northumbria, succeeding Wilfrid II. on the latter's resignation. The pall was sent him in 735 and he became the first northern archbishop after Paulinus. He was the brother of Eadberht, who ruled Northumbria 737-758. He was the recipient of the famous letter of Bede, dealing with the evils arising from spurious monasteries. Ecgberht himself wrote a _Dialogus Ecclesiasticae Institutionis_, a _Penitentiale_ and a _Pontificale_. He was a correspondent of St Boniface, who asks him to support his censure of AEthelbald of Mercia.

See Bede, _Continuatio_, sub. ann. 732, 735, 766, and _Epistola ad Ecgberctum_ (Plummer, Oxford, 1896); _Chronicle_, sub ann. 734, 735, 738, 766 (Earle and Plummer, Oxford, 1899); Haddan and Stubbs, _Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents_ (Oxford, 1869-1878), iii. 403-431; _Proceedings of Surtees Society_ (Durham, 1853).

ECGFRITH (d. 685), king of Northumbria, succeeded his father Oswio in 671. He was married to AEthelthryth, daughter of Anna of East Anglia, who, however, took the veil shortly after Ecgfrith's accession, a step which possibly led to his long quarrel with Wilfrid archbishop of York. Ecgfrith married a second wife, Eormenburg, before 678, the year in which he expelled Wilfrid from his kingdom. Early in his reign he defeated the Picts who had risen in revolt. Between 671 and 675 Ecgfrith defeated Wulfhere of Mercia and seized Lindsey. In 679, however, he was defeated by AEthelred of Mercia, who had married his sister Osthryth, on the river Trent. Ecgfrith's brother AElfwine was killed in the battle, and the province of Lindsey was given up when peace was restored at the intervention of Theodore of Canterbury. In 684 Ecgfrith sent an expedition to Ireland under his general Berht, which seems to have been unsuccessful. In 685, against the advice of Cuthbert, he led a force against the Picts under his cousin Burde, son of Bile, was lured by a feigned flight into their mountain fastnesses, and slain at Nechtanesmere (now Dunnichen) in Forfarshire. Bede dates the beginning of the decline of Northumbria from his death. He was succeeded by his brother Aldfrith.

See Eddius, _Vita Wilfridi_ (Raine, _Historians of Church of York_, Rolls, Series, London, 1879-1894), 19, 20, 24, 34, 39, 44; Bede, _Hist. Eccl._ (Plummer, Oxford, 1896), iii. 24, iv. 5, 12, 13, 18, 19, 21, 26.

ECGONINE, in chemistry, C9H15NO3, a cycloheptane derivative with a nitrogen bridge. It is obtained by hydrolysing cocaine with acids or alkalis, and crystallizes with one molecule of water, the crystals melting at 198 deg. to 199 deg. C. It is laevo-rotatory, and on warming with alkalis gives iso-ecgonine, which is dextro-rotatory. It is a tertiary base, and has also the properties of an acid and an alcohol. When boiled with caustic baryta it gives methylamine. It is the carboxylic acid corresponding to tropine, for it yields the same products on oxidation, and by treatment with phosphorus pentachloride is converted into anhydroecgonine, C9H13NO2, which, when heated to 280 deg. C. with hydrochloric acid, splits out carbon dioxide and yields tropidine, C8H13N. Anhydroecgonine melts at 235 deg. C., and has an acid and a basic character. It is an unsaturated compound, and on oxidation with potassium permanganate gives succinic acid. It is apparently a tropidine monocarboxylic acid, for on exhaustive methylation it yields cycloheptatriene-1.3.5-carboxylic acid-7. Sodium in amyl alcohol solution reduces it to hydroecgonidine C9H15NO2, while moderate oxidation by potassium permanganate converts it into _norecgonine_. The presence of the heptamethylene ring in these compounds is shown by the production of suberone by the exhaustive methylation, &c., of hydroecgonidine ethyl ester (see POLYMETHYLENES and TROPINE). The above compounds may be represented as:

CH2--CH----CH COOH CH2--CH----CH COOH CH2--CH------CH COOH | | | | | | | | | | N CH3 CH OH | N CH3 CH | N CH3 CH2 | | | | | || | | | CH2--CH----CH2 CH2--CH----CH CH2--CH------CH2 Ecgonine Anhydroecgonine Hydroecgonine

ECHEGARAY Y EIZAGUIRRE, JOSE (1833- ), Spanish mathematician, statesman and dramatist, was born at Madrid in March 1833, and was educated at the grammar school of Murcia, whence he proceeded to the Escuela de Caminos at the capital. His exemplary diligence and unusual mathematical capacity were soon noticed. In 1853 he passed out at the head of the list of engineers, and, after a brief practical experience at Almeria and Granada, was appointed professor of pure and applied mathematics in the school where he had lately been a pupil. His _Problemas de geometria analitica_ (1865) and _Teorias modernas de la fisica unidad de las fuerzas materiales_ (1867) are said to be esteemed by competent judges. He became a member of the Society of Political Economy, helped to found _La Revista_, and took a prominent part in propagating Free Trade doctrines in the press and on the platform. He was clearly marked out for office, and when the popular movement of 1868 overthrew the monarchy, he resigned his post for a place in the revolutionary cabinet. Between 1867 and 1874 he acted as minister of education and of finance; upon the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty he withdrew from politics, and won a new reputation as a dramatist.

As early as 1867 he wrote _La Hija natural_, which was rejected, and remained unknown till 1877, when it appeared with the title of _Para tal culpa tal pena_. Another play, _La Ultima Noche_, also written in 1867, was produced in 1875; but in the latter year Echegaray was already accepted as the successful author of _El Libro talonario_, played at the Teatro de Apolo on the 18th of February 1874, under the transparent pseudonym of Jorge Hayaseca. Later in the same year Echegaray won a popular triumph with _La Esposa del vengador_, in which the good and bad qualities--the clever stagecraft and unbridled extravagance--of his later work are clearly noticeable. From 1874 onwards he wrote, with varying success, a prodigious number of plays. Among the most favourable specimens of his talent may be mentioned _En el puno de la espada_ (1875); _O locura o santidad_ (1877), which has been translated into Swedish and Italian; _En el seno de la muerte_ (1879), of which there exists an admirable German version by Fastenrath. _El gran Galeoto_ (1881), perhaps the best of Echegaray's plays in conception and execution, has been translated into several languages, and still holds the stage. The humorous proverb, _?Piensa mal y acertaras?_ exemplifies the author's limitations, but the attempt is interesting as an instance of ambitious versatility. His susceptibility to new ideas is illustrated in such pieces as _Mariana_ (1892), _Mancha que limpia_ (1895), _El Hijo de Don Juan_ (1892), and _El Loco Dios_ (1900): these indicate a close study of Ibsen, and _El Loco Dios_ more especially might be taken for an unintentional parody of Ibsen's symbolism.

Echegaray succeeded to the literary inheritance of Lopez de Ayala and of Tamayo y Baus; and though he possesses neither the poetic imagination of the first nor the instinctive tact of the second, it is impossible to deny that he has reached a larger audience than either. Not merely in Spain, but in every land where Spanish is spoken, and in cities as remote from Madrid as Munich and Stockholm, he has met with an appreciation incomparably beyond that accorded to any other Spanish dramatist of recent years. But it would be more than usually rash to prophesy that this exceptional popularity will endure. There have been signs of a reaction in Spain itself, and Echegaray's return to politics in 1905 was significant enough. He applies his mathematics to the drama; no writer excels him in artful construction, in the arrangement of dramatic scenes, in mere theatrical technique, in the focusing of attention on his chief personages. These are valuable gifts in their way, and Echegaray has, moreover, a powerful, gloomy imagination, which is momentarily impressive. In the drawing of character, in the invention of felicitous phrase, in the contrivance of verbal music, he is deficient. He alternates between the use of verse and prose; and his hesitancy in choosing a medium of expression is amply justified, for the writer's prose is not more distinguished than his verse. These serious shortcomings may explain the diminution of his vogue in Spain; they will certainly tell against him in the estimate of posterity. (J. F.-K.)

ECHELON (Fr. from _echelle_, ladder), in military tactics, a formation of troops in which each body of troops is retired on, but not behind, the flank of the next in front, the position of the whole thus resembling the steps of a staircase. To form echelon from line, the parts of the line move off, each direct to its front, in succession, so that when the formation is completed the rightmost body, for example, is farthest advanced, the one originally next on its left is to the left rear, a third is to the left rear of the second, and so on. The word is also used more loosely to express successive lines, irrespective of distances and relative positions, e.g. the "second echelon of ammunition supply," which is fully a day's march behind the first.

ECHIDNA, or PORCUPINE ANT-EATER (_Echidna aculeata_), one of the few species of Monotremata, the lowest subclass of Mammalia, forming the family Echidnidae. It is a native of Australia, where it chiefly abounds in New South Wales, inhabiting rocky and mountainous districts, where it burrows among the loose sand, or hides itself in crevices of rocks. In size and appearance it bears a considerable resemblance to the hedgehog, its upper surface being covered over with strong spines directed backwards, and on the back inwards, so as to cross each other on the middle line. The spines in the neighbourhood of the tail form a tuft sufficient to hide that almost rudimentary organ. The head is produced into a long tubular snout, covered with skin for the greater part of its length. The opening of the mouth is small, and from it the echidna puts forth its long slender tongue, lubricated with a viscous secretion, by means of which it seizes the ants and other insects on which it feeds. It has no teeth. Its legs are short and strong, and form, with its broad feet and large solid nails, powerful burrowing organs. In common with the other monotremes, the male echidna has its heel provided with a sharp hollow spur, connected with a secreting gland, and with muscles capable of pressing the secretion from the gland into the spur. It is a nocturnal or crepuscular animal, generally sleeping during the day, but showing considerable activity by night. When attacked it seeks to escape either by rolling itself into a ball, its erect spines proving a formidable barrier to its capture, or by burrowing into the sand, which its powerful limbs enable it to do with great celerity. "The only mode of carrying the creature," writes G. Bennett (_Gatherings of a Naturalist in Australasia_), "is by one of the hind legs; its powerful resistance and the sharpness of the spines will soon oblige the captor, attempting to seize it by any other part of the body, to relinquish his hold." In a younger stage of their development, however, the young are carried in a temporary abdominal pouch, to which they are transferred after hatching, and into which open the mammary glands. The echidnas are exceedingly restless in confinement, and constantly endeavour by burrowing to effect their escape. From the quantity of sand and mud always found in the alimentary canal of these animals, it is supposed that these ingredients must be necessary to the proper digestion of their insect food.

There are two varieties of this species, the Port Moresby echidna and the hairy echidna. The last-mentioned is found in south-eastern New Guinea, Australia and Tasmania. In all the spines are mixed with hair; in the Tasmanian race they are nearly hidden by the long harsh fur. Of the three-clawed echidnas (_Proechidna_) confined to New Guinea there are two species, Bruijn's echidna (_P. bruijnii_), discovered in 1877 in the mountains on the north-east coast at an elevation of 3500 ft., and the black-spined echidna (_P. nigroaculeata_) of larger size--the type specimen measuring 31 in., as against 24 in.--with shorter claws.