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 £WALD

672

EWING

(^Evreux, 1840): Duchesne. Fasles episcopaux, II. 224-29; Le BRASSEnR. //i«/oi>e du comic d' Evrcux {PBris. 1722); Fossey, Monographic de la caihidrale d'Evreux (Evreux. 1897); Lan- GLOis. Histoire de la congregation de la Providence d'Evreux tEvreux. laOl); Chevalier. Topo-Bibh. 1066-1068.

Georges Goyau.

Ewald (or Hewald), Saints, Martyrs in Old Saxony about G95. They were two priests and natives of Northninljria, England. Both bore the same name, but were distingui.shed as Ewald the Black ani.i Ewalii the Fair, from the ditference in the colour of their hair and complexions. According to the example of many at that time, they spent several years as students in the schools of Ireland. Ewald the Black was the more learned of the two, but both were ecjually renowned for holiness of life. They were apparently acquainted with St. Willibrord, the Apostle of Friesland, and were animated with his zeal for the conversion of the Ger- mans. Indeed, by some they have been actually luuiibered among the eleven companions of that saint, but it is more probable they did not set out from Eng- land till after St. Willibrord's departure. They entered upon their mission about 690. The scene of their labours was the coimtry of the ancient Saxons, now part of Westphalia, and covered by the dioceses of Miinster, Osnabriick, and Paderborn. At first the Ewalds took up their abode in the house of the stew- ard of a certain Saxon earl or ealdorman (satrapa). Bede remarks that " the old Saxons have no king, but they are governed by several ealdormen [satrapas] who during war cast lots for leadership, but who in time of peace are equal in power" (Hist. Eccl., V, 10). The steward entertained his two guests for several days, and promisetl to conduct them to the chieftain, as they affirmed they had a message of considerable import- ance to deliver to him.

Meanwhile, the Ewalds omitted nothing of their religious exercises. They prayed often, recited the canonical hours, and celebrated Mass, for they carried with them all that was necessary for the Holy Sacri- fice. The pagan Saxons, understanding from these things that they had Christian priests and mission- aries in their midst, began to suspect that their aim was to convert their over-lord, and thus destroy their temples and their religion. Inflamed with jealousy and anger, they resolved that the Ewalds should die. Ewald the Fair they quickly despatched with the sword, but Ewald the Black they subjected to torture, because he was the spokesman and showed greater boldness. He was torn limb from limb, after which the two liodies were cast into the Rhine. This is undiTstixid to have happened on 3 October ata place called A|iU'rl)eck, where a chapel still stands.

When the ealdorman heard of what had been done he was exceedingly angry, and took vengeance by ordering the murderers to be put to death and their village to be destroyed by fire. Meanwhile the mar- tyred bodies were miraculously carried against the stream up the Rhine, for the space of forty miles, to the place in which the companions of the Ewalds were residing. .\s they floated along, a heavenly light, like a column of fire, was seen to shine above them. Even the murtU^rers are said to have witnessed the miracu- lous brightness. Moreover, one of the martyrs ap- peared in vision to the monk Tilmon (a companion of the Ewalds), am! told him where the bodies would be found: " that the spot would be there where he .should see a pillar of light retiching from earth to heaven". Tilmon arose antl found the Ijodies, and interreii tliem with the honours due to martyrs. From that time onwards, the memory of the Ewalds was annually celclirated in tho.se parts. A spring of w:iler is said to have gushed forth in the place of the martyrdom.

IVpin, Duke of Austrasia, having heard of the won- ders that had occurred, cau.sed the bodies to be trans- lated to Cologne, where they were solemnly enshrined in the collegiate church of St. Cunibert. The heads of

the martyrs were bestowed on Frederick, Bishop of Miinster, by Archbishop Anno of Cologne, at the open- ing of the shrine in 1074. These relics were probably destroyed by the Anabaptists in 1534. When St. Norbert visited Cologne, in 1121, he obtained two small vessels containing the relics of several saints, and among them were bones of the sainted Ewalds. These were deposited either at Fremont re, or at Flo- rennes, a Premonstratensian monastery in the province of Namur. The two Ewalds are honoured as patrons in Westphalia, and are mentioned in the Roman Martyrology on 3 October. Their feast is celebrated in the dioceses of Cologne and Miinster.

Bede. Hisloria Eccl., V, 10; Ada SS.. 11 Oct.; Butler, Lives of the Stiinls, Oct. 3; Dalgairns. Aposllrs of Europe (London, 1876), II. 11; (Tractarian) Lives of English Sainls, St. Willi- brord (London, 1844), 39.

CoLUMBA Edmonds.

Ewing, Thomas, jurist and statesman, b. in West Lib- erty, Virginia (now West Virginia), U. S. A., 28 Decem- ber, 1789; d. at Lancaster, Ohio, 20 October, 1871. His father, George Ewing of New Jersey, who had served as an officer in the Continental Army after the Revolu- tion, settled in the Northwest Territory, in the Muskin- gum Valley, and then, in 1798, in what is now Ames Township, At hens County, Ohio. Here, amid the priva- tions of pioneer life, Ewing was taught to read by his elder sister, Sarah, and by extraordinary efforts ac- quired a fair elementary education. At the age of nineteen he left home and worketl in the Kanawha salt establishments, pursuing his studies at night by the light of the furnace fires. He remained there until he had earned sufficient to enable him to enter the Ohio University at Athens, where, in 1815, he received the degree of A.B., the first degree conferred by any college in the western country. Ewing then studied law at Lancaster, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in 1816. He entered into a partnership with his pre- ceptor, in the firm of Beecher & Ewing, and then, after Mr. Beecher's death, with his own son Philemon, in the firm of Ewing & Son. He achieved high promi- nence as a lawyer and won notable success at the state and national bar.

In March, 1831, Ewing entered public life as a mem- ber from Ohio of the United States Senate, and be- came prominent therein, with Webster and Clay, in resistance of tlie acts of President Jackson and in sup- port of Whig measures. He upheld the protective tariff system of Clay, and presented one of the first of the memorials for the abolition of slavery.

In March, 1837, on the expiration of his term, he resumed the practice of the law. Upon the election of President Harrison, he was appointed Secretary of the Treasury in March, 1841. He prepared the second bill for the re-charter of the Bank of the United States, and, on its veto by Tyler, he resigned from the cabinet, in September, 1841. In March, 1849, he was ap- pointed by President Taylor secretary of tlie then recently created Department of the Interior. He organized the department, and in his report to congress urged the construction of a railroail to the Pacific. On the death of Taylor in 1850, Ewing resigned from the cabinet and was appointed senator from Ohio to fill an unexpired term. On the expiration of his term in March, 1851, he returned to the practice of the law. In 1860 Ewing was appointed by the Governor of Ohio a member of the famous Peace Conference, and he was prominent in the efforts to avert the secession of the Southern States. During the war he unreserv- edly s\ipported the government, and his judgment on matters of state was frequently sought by Mr. Lincoln. When the capture of Mason and Slidell brought Eng- land and the United States to the verge of hostilities, Ewing sent Mr. Lincoln the famous telegram that was decisive of the whole trouble: "There can be no con- traband of war between neutral points." It was his advice that finally prevailed and secured the freeing of