Part 31

EAST, one of the four cardinal points, being the point in the heavens where the sun is seen to rise at the equinox, or the corresponding point on the earth; that point of the horizon lying on the right hand when one's face is turned towards the north pole. By _the East_, in an indefinite sense, is often meant Syria, Arabia, Persia, India, and the eastern part of the world generally.

EASTBOURNE, a municipal borough and flourishing watering-place of England, county of Sussex, on the English Channel, near Beachy Head; also a parliamentary division of Sussex. The town is handsomely built, having fine parades and well-planted walks and drives. Pop. 52,544.

EAST CAPE, the most easterly point of Asia, projecting into Behring's Strait nearly opposite Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska.

EASTER, the festival commemorating the resurrection of Christ, observed in the Roman Catholic, the Greek, Anglican, Lutheran, and other branches of the Christian Church. By the first Christians it was considered to continue the feast of the _passover_, at which the paschal lamb, a type of Christ, was sacrificed. Hence its name in Greek (_pascha_), French (_p[^a]ques_), and other Romance languages is taken from the Hebrew _pesach_, passover. The English name, according to the Venerable Bede, comes from the Anglo-Saxon _Eostre_ (from Teutonic _Austr[=o]_), a goddess of light or spring, whose festival was celebrated in April. There was long a dispute in the Christian Church as to the proper time for holding Easter, the Christians of the East celebrating it on the same day as that on which the Jewish passover fell, that is, the 14th of Nisan (hence they were called _quarto decimani_), while the majority of the Church celebrated it on the Sunday next after this day. The controversy was decided by the Council of Nice (Nicaea) in 325, which settled that it was to be reckoned as at present, namely, that Easter is the first Sunday after the full moon which happens upon or next after the 21st of March; and if the full moon happens on a Sunday, Easter-day is the Sunday after, but, properly speaking, for the 'full moon' in the above the 'fourteenth day of the moon' should be substituted.--Cf. Sir J. G. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_.

EASTER DUES, or OFFERINGS, in the Church of England, certain dues paid to the parochial clergy by the parishioners at Easter as a compensation for the tithe for personal labour.

EASTER EGGS. The egg was anciently a symbol of the mother goddess and of birth: the sun emerged from the cosmic egg. The Saxon goddess Easter was a life-giver. On Easter Day, the day of Christ's resurrection, eggs (Pasche eggs) were dyed in symbolic colours, and boiled hard to be rolled or used in egg-breaking contests. The Jews have eggs at the Passover Feast.

EASTER ISLAND, or RAPANUI (discovered by the Dutch Admiral Roggeven, on Easter, 6th April, 1722), an island, 12 miles long, in the South Pacific Ocean, long. 109deg 17' W., lat. 27deg 6' S., and utilized for grazing sheep and cattle. It now belongs to Chile, from which it is 2000 miles distant. Pop. 250 in 1916. The Routledge Expedition reported, in 1919, that the inhabitants are of mixed Polynesian and Melanesian origin. Their ancient bird-cult shows very close resemblances to that of the Solomon Islands. Numerous gigantic stone images of a soft 'volcanic ash' were being worshipped when the island was first visited by Europeans in the eighteenth century. Some still lie partly constructed in a crater quarry. These images date back a few centuries, and resemble those made until recently in wood on this island and elsewhere in Oceania, and bear symbols used on these and in tattooing. Local legends of the earliest settlements from distant islands and of local tribal wars still survive. The present inhabitants are undoubtedly descendants of the image-makers and worshippers. Cf. K. Routledge, _The Mystery of Easter Island_.

EASTERN BENGAL AND ASSAM, a province of India, under a Lieutenant-Governor, formed in 1905 by disjoining from Bengal the three divisions of Chittagong, Dacca, and Rajshahi (with the exception of Darjeeling) and uniting Assam with them, as also the state of Cooch Behar. It was formed in order to provide for the better government both of the area belonging to it and of that of Bengal, which was regarded as having become rather unwieldy, its population being still 54 millions. On 1st April, 1912, however, Assam was separated from Eastern Bengal and reconstituted. Its area is about 53,000 sq. miles, and the pop. nearly 6,750,000.

EASTERN CHURCHES, a collective term for the Greek, Armenian, Coptic, Abyssinian, Syrian, and other kindred Churches, as distinguished from the Latin, or Western Church.

EASTERN QUESTION, THE, an international political problem which occupied the attention of European statesmen during the last two centuries, and even since 1453, when the Turks established their empire and gained sway over the Balkans. It deals with the relations of the Balkan nationalities, Turkey, and the Great Powers to each other. Russia, Germany, Austria, Greece, France, Italy, and Great Britain were all interested in the Near East and in the Eastern Question ever since the Treaty of Kutshuk-Kainardji in 1774. The Levantine commerce and the Mediterranean ports were, and still are, of vital importance not only to Russia, but also to the Balkan States and to the neighbouring European powers. The occupation of Egypt by Great Britain, the Russo-Turkish War of 1878, the proclamation of Bulgaria's independence, the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria in 1908, all contributed to the complication of the Eastern Question. This complication was further increased by Italy's occupation of Tripoli in 1911, by the Balkan Wars (1912-3), and by the construction of the Bagdad Railway with the aid of German capital. It is no exaggeration to say that the Eastern Question was one of the causes which led to the outbreak of the European War of 1914. The Peace Treaties of Versailles, S[`e]vres, and St. Germain have not yet settled the Eastern Question, and the peace in the Near East is still a problem which occupies the attention of European diplomatists.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. A. Phillips, _Modern Europe_; R. W. Seton Watson, _The Rise of Nationality in the Balkans_.

EASTERN RUMELIA. See _Bulgaria_.

EASTER TERM, one of the four regular terms of the courts of common law in England, beginning on the 19th April, and continuing till the middle or end of May.--In Oxford University, a term beginning 13th April, ending 27th May; in Cambridge, beginning 18th April, and ending 24th June.

[Illustration: Silver Rupee of East India Company, 1675]

EAST INDIA COMPANY, a great English company, originally simply a trading association, which played an important part in the history of Hindustan. It was formed in 1599 in London, with a subscribed capital of about L30,000, for the purpose of trade with the East Indies. A charter was granted to it by Queen Elizabeth on 31st December, 1600, for fifteen years, renewable for a similar period. In this charter the Company is styled, "The Governor and Company of the Merchants of London trading into the East Indies". The first voyages resulted in large profits. In 1609 the charter was renewed by James I, and made perpetual, reserving power to the Crown to recall it at three years' notice. Additional power was granted to the Company of seizing and confiscating ships and goods of contraband traders, either in the British dominions or in any of the places where they were authorized to trade. Among the motives which had induced the Company to press for this renewal of their charter was the necessity they had experienced from the jealousy of the Dutch and Portuguese to send out vessels fitted not only for trade, but for defence and indeed attack. Accordingly Captain Best, who commanded the eighth expedition, attacked four Portuguese war galleons, convoying 200 sail of merchantmen, off Surat, and gained a complete victory, which so impressed the Great Mogul that he immediately made a treaty with Captain Best, giving the English full liberty to trade in his dominions. This treaty was concluded on 6th Feb., 1613. It was followed at once by a resolution of the Company to trade on a joint-stock. L429,000 was raised as capital, and apportioned in fitting out four voyages for 1613, 1614, 1615, 1617. In 1617 and 1618 the Company was so enlarged as to include 954 proprietors, while a new joint-stock of L1,600,000 was subscribed. In 1619 a treaty was made with the Dutch, by which the two companies were to work in harmony for twenty years; but in 1629 the Dutch massacred the leading members of the English factory at Amboyna. In the feeble reigns of James and Charles I, however, the outrage remained unredressed, and the English Company, ill supported by the Crown, was often reduced to great straits. Their trade, impeded by the Dutch, became unprofitable, and, to add to their difficulties, Charles I in 1635 gave a licence to a rival company. At length, under Cromwell, the Company received a new charter. A territorial footing had been acquired in Madras in 1640, to which settlement was given the control of all the factories in Bengal and the Coromandel coast, the Supreme Council in India still remaining at Surat. A new charter, granted by Charles II in 1660, enlarged the powers of the Company, giving it political and judicial authority in the factories and colonies established by it, with the right to appoint governors. On the Revolution of 1688 the Company was involved in new difficulties, and in 1692 the Commons presented an address to the Crown praying for their dissolution. At this time, by an accidental failure to pay a tax upon their stock, the Company formally forfeited their charter, and were compelled to accept its renewal with the important proviso of a reservation to the Crown of the right to alter or modify its conditions. The maximum stock to be held by any individual was fixed at L10,000, every L1000 of which was to give a vote, while the right of membership was thrown open to all British subjects. The Scottish Parliament also sanctioned a company, but a war with Spain and the bitter opposition of the English Parliament made difficulties under which this company succumbed. Meantime the misconduct of the English company had so strengthened its enemies that, in spite of all its opposition, a resolution in favour of the formation of a new company passed the House of Commons on 4th May, 1698, and this company was actually constituted by Act 9 William III cap. xliv. This Act provided for the extinction of the old company, but an amalgamation was eventually arranged in 1708. The possessions of the old company at the time of amalgamation, upon which the valuation of L330,000 was placed in 1700, included a large number of places in India, a footing having been by this time acquired in each of the three presidencies, besides possessions in Persia, Cochin-China, and Sumatra. The dividends of the Company rose rapidly after the amalgamation, and finally settled at 8 per cent; and it procured without difficulty, at various periods, a prolongation of its exclusive privileges until 1780, still with three years' notice. In the meantime the French possessions had, as well as the English, been growing in power and importance in the East, and on the outbreak of the war of the Austrian Succession in 1741 commenced those struggles (Clive being the first great English leader) by which a mercantile company was led on to establish British supremacy over nearly the whole of India. In 1766 the right of the Company to acquire territorial possessions formed a subject of parliamentary inquiry; and the question of the political rights of the Company being thus opened up, the ministry began to act on their view of it by sending out a Crown plenipotentiary to India. A regulating Act was passed in 1773 remodelling the powers of the Company, and placing it completely under the control of Parliament, providing for the establishment by the Crown of courts of judicature in India. The charter, which expired in 1780, was renewed till 1791. The Renewal Act provided that the Company, which was already bound to submit to the Government all dispatches received from India, should submit for approval all dispatches proposed to be transmitted thither. In 1784 another Act established a board, afterwards known as the Board of Control, to superintend, direct, and control all acts, operations, and concerns relating to the civil and military government or revenues of India. The board was to consist of a principal Secretary of State, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and four Privy Councillors nominated by the Crown. The directors of the Company were bound to submit all their papers except those referring to commercial matters to this board, and obey its instructions. From this time the political power of the Company was little more than nominal. While the right of nominating the servants of the Company was still left to the directors, the absolute right of recall was vested in the Crown. A subsequent Declaratory Bill regulated the power of the Board of Control to send out troops at the expense of the Company. In 1813 the charter was renewed on condition that the right of exclusive trade should be restricted to China, while the India trade should be thrown open to all British subjects. A Church establishment for India was also provided by this Act. The appointment of governors-general, governors, and commanders-in-chief was no longer to be valid without the direct sanction of the Crown. The renewal of the Company's charter in 1834 took place amid continued opposition to their mercantile, and even to their legislative privileges. It continued them in all their possessions except the Island of St. Helena, put an end to the exclusive right of trade with China, and enacted that the Company should with all convenient speed close their commercial business, and make sale of all their property not retained for Government purposes; all their other property was to be held in trust for the Crown, which was to take over their debts and guarantee their dividend out of the revenues of India. The stock was valued at L6,000,000, which was to bear interest at 10 per cent, and be redeemable after 30th April, 1874, on payment of L12,000,000. The Company was now fairly in liquidation, and on the outbreak of the mutiny of 1857 it was felt indispensable to vest the government of India directly in the Crown, and this was accordingly done in 1858. Henceforth the Company existed only for the purpose of receiving payment of its capital, and of the dividends due upon capital until its repayment.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Bruce, _Annals of the East India Company_; Sir W. W. Hunter, _History of British India_; W. Cunningham, _Growth of English Industry and Trade in Modern Times_; J. Macpherson, _The History and Management of the East India Company_; W. Foster and F. C. Danvers, _Letters received by the East India Company from its Servants in the East_ (6 vols.).

EAST INDIES, the name loosely applied to Hindustan, the Indo-Chinese peninsula, and a portion of the Eastern Archipelago, but excluding the Philippine Islands, New Guinea, and Australia.

EASTLAKE, Sir Charles Lock, English painter, president of the Royal Academy, born at Plymouth 17th Nov., 1793, died at Pisa 23rd Dec., 1865. He studied at the Royal Academy, London, and at Paris. In 1817 he visited Italy and Greece, and painted besides other pictures his _Pilgrims arriving in Sight of Rome_. In 1830 he was elected member of the Royal Academy, and in 1850 became its president, receiving at the same time the honour of knighthood. From 1843 to 1847 he was keeper of the National Gallery, of which he was afterwards director for about ten years. Sir Charles is also known as a writer on art by his _Materials for a History of Oil-painting_. Among his most noteworthy pictures are: _Lord Byron's Dream_ (in the Tate Gallery), _Greek Fugitives_, _Escape of the Carrara Family_, _Christ blessing Little Children_, _Christ lamenting over Jerusalem_.

EAST LONDON, a seaport on the east coast of Cape Province, at the mouth of the Buffalo River, now an important outlet for the produce of this region, connected by railway with Cape Town. Pop. 20,867.

EAST MAIN, a considerable river of Canada, having a westward course to James Bay, the southern extension of Hudson Bay, and forming the boundary between Quebec province and Ungava territory.

EASTON, a city of Pennsylvania, United States, at the junction of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers, 75 miles S.W. of New York. It contains iron-foundries, tanneries, and breweries. Pop. 32,000.

EAST RIVER, a strait in New York State, separating New York from Brooklyn and connecting Long Island Sound with New York Bay, about 20 miles long. The Brooklyn Bridge, and the Williamsburg, Queensboro, and Manhattan Bridges now cross the river.

EAST ST. LOUIS, a town of the United States, in Illinois, on the east bank of the Mississippi, opposite St. Louis, and connected with it by a great steel arch bridge and another bridge, carrying numerous lines of railway. Pop. 58,547.

EASTWOOD, a town of England, in Notts, on the Derbyshire border, with coal-mines, 8-1/2 miles W.N.W. of Nottingham. Pop. 4692.

EAU ([=o]), a French word signifying _water_, and used in English with some other words for several spirituous waters, particularly perfumes, as _eau de Cologne_, and _eau de Luce_.--_Eau de Cologne_ is a fragrant water, made originally and in most perfection in Cologne by a manufacturer named Farina, by whose successors the only genuine water is said still to be manufactured. It consists of spirits of wine flavoured by different essential oils blended so as to yield a fine fragrant scent. It was invented in Northern Italy by one of the Farina family, who afterwards settled in Cologne.--_Eau Cr['e]ole_, a highly esteemed liqueur made in Martinique by distilling the flowers of the mammee apple with spirit of wine.--_Eau de Luce_ ('water of Luce'), so called from the name of its inventor, is made by dissolving white soap in spirit of wine, and adding oil of amber and sal ammoniac. It is a milky fluid, antispasmodic and stimulant.--_Eau de Vie_ ('water of life'), a term used by the French for the coarser kinds of brandy, _cognac_ being the name of the best.

EAU CLAIRE ([=o] kl[=a]r), a city of Wisconsin, United States, at the junction of the Eau Claire and Chippewa Rivers, a great lumbering centre. In 1910 Eau Claire adopted the commission form of government, being the first city in the state to do so. Pop. 18,310.

EAUX-BONNES ([=o]-bon), a watering-place, France, department of Basses Pyr['e]n['e]es, about 25 miles south of Pau. The hot sulphur springs are said to have great efficacy in affections of the chest. Pop. 622.--Near it is _Eaux Chaudes_, also with warm springs.

E'BAL, a mountain of Western Palestine about half-way between Jerusalem and Nazareth, on the north side of a narrow valley, on the south side of which and directly opposite stands Mt. Gerizim with Nablous almost between. Here the Israelites set up an altar on their entrance into the Holy Land and had the law solemnly read to them by Joshua (_Jos._ viii 30-35). At the east end of the valley are Jacob's Well and Joseph's Tomb.

EBBSFLEET, a hamlet in the Isle of Thanet, county Kent, memorable as the place where the first Anglo-Saxon invaders landed.

EBBW-VALE, a town of England, in Monmouthshire, with ironworks, steelworks, and collieries. Pop. 30,540.

EBENA'CEAE, a nat. ord. of gamopetalous Dicotyledons, consisting of trees and shrubs, of which the wood is very hard, and frequently of very dark colour in the centre, as ebony. The leaves are alternate, and generally coriaceous and shining; calyx gamosepalous and persistent, with three or six equal divisions; corolla with imbricated divisions. The fruit is a globular berry containing a small number of compressed seeds. The principal genus is Diosp[)y]ros, which yields ebony and iron-wood.

EBERS ([=a]'b[.e]rz), Georg Moritz, German Egyptologist and novelist, born 1st March, 1837, at Berlin, died in 1898. He studied at G[:o]ttingen, and afterwards at Berlin, where he devoted himself to Egyptology. In 1870 he was made professor at the University of Leipzig, but he had to resign in 1889. In 1869 and 1870 he travelled extensively in Egypt and Nubia. Two years later he again visited Egypt, where he discovered the medical papyrus, known as the _Papyrus Ebers_. His most important works have been translated into English, such as _Egypt, Descriptive, Historical, and Picturesque_; and the novels _An Egyptian Princess_, _Uarda_, _Homo Sum_, _The Emperor_, _The Sisters_, all dealing with old Egyptian life; _The Burgomaster's Wife_, and _Only a Word_.

EBERSWALDE ([=a]'berz-v[.a]l-de), a town in Prussia, in the province of Brandenburg, on the Finow Canal, 27 miles north-east of Berlin. It has a school of forestry, piscicultural establishment, botanic gardens, well-frequented mineral springs, and industrial works of various kinds. Pop. 26,064.

* * * * *

CHANGES MADE AGAINST PRINTED ORIGINAL

Page 8. Term "- b_2c_1": '- b_1c_2' in original.

Page 25. "Francois Didot, born in 1689": '1869' in original.

Page 112. "In the German army": 'Germany army' in original.