Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/851

Rh 22,000 volumes, an orphan-asylum, several hospitals, and numerous charitable institutions. Of these last a number owe their existence to the bequests of an Englishman, Richard Covvle, who settled in the town in 1810 and died at Dantzig in 1821. The manufacturing industry is extensive and varied, producing, among the rest, iron goods, iron ships, and machinery, sail-cloth, woollen cloth, leather, paper,, tobacco, starch, vitriol, and vinegar ; and the transit trade has received a considerable increase by the opening of the Overland canal (1846-1861).

1em  ELCHE, a town of Spain, in the province of Alicante, six miles from the sea, on the river Vinalapo. It has three churches, as many monastic buildings, a hospital, barracks, and an old episcopal palace ; but there is nothing of architectural interest except perhaps the portico of Santa Maria. The costume and physiognomy of the inhabitants, the narrow streets and fiat-roofed white-washed houses, and more than all the thousands of palm-trees in its gardens and fields, give the place a strikingly Oriental aspect, and render it unique among the cities of Spain. The cultivation of the palm is indeed the principal occupation ; and though the dates are inferior to those of Barbary, the annual value of the crop is about 14,000. The blanched fronds are also sold in large quantities for the processions of Palm- Sunday ; and after they have received the blessing of the priest, they are regarded throughout Spain as certain defences against lightning.

1em  ELDAD BEN MALCHI, also surnamecl Ha-Dani, Abu- Dani, Daud-Ha-Dani, or the Danite, a Jewish traveller of the 9th century of the Christian era, chiefly interesting on account of the light (or darkness) which his writings throw on the question of the Lost Tribes. The date and place of his birth are not accurately known ; but he was a native either of South Arabia or of Media. About 860 he set out with a companion to visit his Jewish brethren in Africa and Asia. Their vessel was wrecked, and they fell into the hands of cannibals ; but Eldad was saved from the inhuman fate of his comrade, first by his leanness and afterwards by the opportune invasion of a neighbouring tribe. He spent four years with his- new captors, was ransomed by a fellow- countryman, continued his journey as far, according to one interpretation of his story, as China, spent several years at Kairwan in Tunis, and died on a visit to Cordova in Spain. The work which goes under his name is written in Hebrew, and consists of six chapters, probably abbreviated from the original form of the narrative. It was first printed at Constantinople in 1518 ; and the same recension afterwards appeared at Venice in 1540 and 1605, and at Jessnitz in 1722. A Latin version by Genebrard was published at Paris in 1563, under the title of Eldad Danius de Judceis clausis eorumque in ^Ethiopia imperio, and was afterwards incorporated in the translator s Chronographiallebrceorum; a German version appeared at Prague in 1695, and another at Jessnitz in 1723. In 1838 M. Carmoly edited and trans lated a fuller recension which he had found in a MS. from the library of Eliezer Ben Hasan, forwarded to him by Daud Zabach of Morocco. Both forms are printed by Dr Jellinek in his Jkth-Ha-Midrash, vols. ii. and iii., Leipsie, 1853-55. One of the most curious passages in the work is the account of the Levites, who, says the author, were miraculously guided to the land of Havila, and are there protected from their enemies by the mystic river Sabbation, which on the Sabbath is calm and involved in delusive mists, and on the other days of the week runs with a fierce and fordless current.

1em  ELDER, the name of an office both in the Jewish and in the Christian church, Avhich is used in modern times only by Presbyterians. As first applied, among the ancient Jews, for example, it had no doubt a literal fitness, indicating the responsibility and authority that naturally accrue in any community to those advanced in age. As the office gradu ally came to be fixed in its character and limited in the number of its occupants, the name lost something of its literal fitnass, the responsibility and authority becoming attached to it without regard to the age of the occupant. In this respect the kindred terms alderman, senator, &c., have had a similar history. In the Old Testament usage of the word it is impossible to fix any exact point of time at which it passed from its primary or etymological to its secondary or official sense, as the process was a gradual one, and old age continued to be a leading qualification for the office long after it had ceased to be essential. In Exodus iii. 16 elders are mentioned as a recognized official body among the Israelites, and in subsequent notices (Ex. xix. 7 ; Ex. xxiv. 1; Deut. xxxi. 9) they appear as the represen tatives of the whole body of the people. In Numbers xi. 16, 17, seventy elders, to be chosen out of the entire body, were set apart &quot; to bear the burden of the people &quot; along with Moses. It is unnecessary to enter here into any dis cussion of the moot question of the connection of this Mosaic council of seventy with large though undefined legislative and executive powers with the Sanhedrim as it existed at the time of Christ. From the time of the institu, tion of the Mosaic council the elders are mentioned at each successive stage of Jewish history. After the settlement in Canaan they acted as the administrators of the laws in every city (Deut. xix. 11-12 ; xxi. 3-9, 19 ; xxii. 15-21): and references to them are frequent during the period of the judges and the kings, during the captivity, and after the restoration. In the New Testament the word is used to denote both an order of the Jewish economy and an office of the Christian church. Its precise significance in the latter usage is the main subject in the standing contro versy between Episcopalians and Presbyterians, and a state ment of the arguments on either side belongs properly to the articles on Episcopacy and Presbytery respectively. Reference must also be made to the article on Presbytery for a full statement of the qualifications, duties, and powers of elders in a presbyterian church. It may be noted here that while the New Testament word presbyteros denotes, according to the admission of the adherents of all forms of church government, those especially set apart to the pastoral office, whatever else it may be held to include, its English equivalent elder is used as an official designation only in the presbyterian church. According to the presby terian theory of church government there are two classes of elders, teaching elders, or those set apart specially to the pastoral office, and riding elders, who are laymen, chosen generally by the congregation, and set apart by ordination to be associated with the pastor in the oversight and govern ment of the church. When the word is used without any qualification, it is understood to apply to the latter class alone.