Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/476

Rh 456 EPAEPA was published between 1838 and 1841 at Pesth, for the benefit of the sufferers from the floods which devastated that city in 1838. The articles comprised in this work, which extended to five volumes, were contributed by vari ous distinguished literary men, amongst whom Ebtvb s, as having written the longest and most important article, occu pies a conspicuous place. In recognition of his literary merit he was in 1839 elected a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In the year 1840 Eb tvos, having removed from Salyi to Buda, took his seat in the Upper House of the Hungarian Diet, and identified himself with the advanced political movement of that period, aiding his eloquence by his writings. Among the many important works which emanated from his pen at this time, one entitled A Falu Jeyyzoje (The Village Notary), which appeared in 1845, demands especial attention. In this work the author vividly depicts the abuses of the old system of public administration in Hungary by county elections ; and the vigour of the narrative, combined with the humorous and political character of the incidents related, have caused it to be considered as one of the best national tales in the whole circle of European literature. An English transla tion of this romance by Otto Wenckstern, with an introduc tion by F. Pulszky, to whom the original was dedicated, appeared in 1850 ; and there is also an excellent German translation by Count J. Mailath. The Notary was followed in 1847 by an historical romance of the 16th century, Magyarorszdy 1-514 ben, translated afterwards into German under the name of Bauernkricg ; this work struck the key note of that emancipation of the peasantry which was virtually effected in 1848. In fact, the reforms which from time to time were introduced into the Hungarian constitu tion must be in a great measure ascribed to the political and literary labours of Ebtvbs. His work Reform was a collection of articles which he had previously contributed to one of the leading Hungarian newspapers, the Pesti Ilirlap. Upon the formation of the first responsible Hungarian ministry on the 15th March 1848, Baron Eb tvos received the portfolio of minister of public instruction; but on the 28th September he was obliged to relinquish that post, in consequence of the assassination of Lamberg, the Austrian governor of Hungary. He then proceeded to Vienna, and subsequently to Munich, returning to Pesth in 1851. Soon after his return he published an important political treatise, both in Hungarian and German, entitled A XIX. szdzad uralkodo eszmeinek lefolydsa az dlladalomra (The Influence of the Ruling Ideas of the th Century on the State}. By this work, and others of a similar tendency, he was instru mental in preparing the popular mind for those constitu tional changes which were afterwards so beneficially intro duced; and when, in 1867, the second Hungarian ministry was called into existence, Ebtvos was again entrusted with the portfolio of minister of public instruction. Already in the year 1855 he had been elected vice-president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and in 1866 he attained the high honour of president. He died on the 2d February 1871, after a few weeks illness, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. EPAMINONDAS, the most celebrated general of Thebes, born towards the close of the 5th century B.C., was the son of Polymnis, and belonged to a noble family. Brought up in poverty, he was diligent in acquiring the culture of the age, and became skilful in gymnastic exercises and in playing the flute. For his intellectual education he was chiefly indebted to Lysis of Turentum, a Pythagorean exile. According to the account given by Plutarch, he served on the Spartan side at the battle of Mantinea in 385 B.C. along with Pelopidas, who having fallen apparently mortally wounded during the engagement, was protected by Epaminondas at the risk of his life. Some have sup posed this incident to have been the origin of a friendship which is one of the most honourable and enduring in ancient Greek history. Epaminondas was almost past his prime before he took any prominent part in public affairs. He refused at first to co-operate in the revolution of 379 B.C., of which his friend Pelopidas was one of the leaders, owing to Pythagorean scruples as to the possible shedding of innocent blood. But his desire to be freed from the Spartan yoke was as keen as that of any of his fellow citizens, and after the blow was struck he did his utmost to stir up the Theban youth to maintain their independence. In 371 B.C. Epaminondas was one of the chief representa tives of Thebes at the conference at Sparta where the Athenians sought to arrange a peace. He claimed the right to sign the treaty for Boootia, thus asserting the supremacy -of Thebes over the Boeotian cities. The claim was not recognized by the representatives of the other states, and as Epaminondas insisted on it, Thebes was excluded from the treaty altogether. A Spartan invasion of Bceotia under Cleombrotus immediately followed the rupture of negotiations. With an army not one-half the strength of that opposed to it, Epaminondas inflicted a crushing de feat upon the invaders in the celebrated battle of Leuctra (371). He immediately set himself to consolidate the position of Thebes by forming alliances and by weakening Sparta. With the latter object in view, he supported the founding of Megalopolis and the organization of Arcadia as an independent government. In 369 he entered the Peloponnesus, and took another important step towards the weakening of Sparta by establishing the Messenians in their own country, and founding the city of Messene on Mount Ithome. On their return home Epaminondas and Pelopidas were accused of having retained their command beyond the legal period. Though there was no doubt that they had broken the letter of the law, Epaminondas made a spirited defence, which secured the acquittal of both. In the spring of 368 Epaminondas was again in the Peloponnesus, and detached Sicyon and Pellene from the Lacedaemonian alliance. On his return, however, he was repulsed by Chabrias in an attack which he made upon Corinth. Later in the same year he took part in the un successful expedition sent to Thessaly to deliver Pelopidas from Alexander of Pherae, though he did not hold a command, having been degraded owing to an impression that he had not been sufficiently active against Sparta in the previous campaign. In the next year (367) he was sent at the head of an army into Thessaly, and succeeded in freeing Pelopidas without requiring to give battle. Mean while the relation of the Arcadians with Thebes had been growing unfriendly, and all the efforts of Epaminondas could not prevent them from forming an alliance with Athens. Matters were brought to a crisis in 363, when the Theban governor of Tegea arrested the representatives of Arcadia, who had met there to conclude a peace with Elis. Though the prisoners were released in a short time, and an apology made for their arrest, the Arcadians demanded the punishment of the governor. Epaminondas replied that the mistake lay not in the arrest but in the release, and that he would come shortly and reduce the Arcadians to reason. Accordingly in 362 he invaded the Peloponnesus for the fourth time. A pitched battle was fought at Mantinea, in which the Thebans were victorious, but Epaminondas was mortally wounded. He was carried out of the throng, and being told that he would die as soon as the javelin was withdrawn from his wound, he did not allow this, to be done until he had heard that his army was victorious and that his shield was safe. A column was erected over his grave, which was made on the spot where he fell.