Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/572

Rh 552 E S S E S S thought in the adjoining countries. All this influence had greatly modified the opinions of the Jews. Nations cannot altogether select the medium in which they live, nor resist its influence, however vigorously they cling to an hereditary faith. Whatever they may have acquired in their inter course with Persia must have already passed into Jewish thought generally, and probably had no special connexion with the origin of the Essenes ; but may we not assume with Zeller some direct and express influence of the Neo-Pytha- goreans as that which gave Essenism its distinctive cha racter? As Joseplius himself says, the Essenes live the same kind of life as the Pythagoreans. The Essenes cer tainly did realize the Pythagorean ideal. In beliefs, insti tutions, and tendencies we are struck by their close resem blance. It is not impossible they were directly connected. Still the second century before Christ is too early a date to look for such a strong manifestation of Neo-Pytha- goreauism on Jewish soil. Besides AVB have all the data for explaining the origin of the Essenes without supposing any direct influence of the Neo-Pythagorean school. Greek culture was widely diffused among the Jews ; the Greek philosophy was accessible to their scholars; Jewish thought could not but obey the impulse of the dominant civiliza tion, and could not avoid more or less completely moving in parallel directions. So much must be conceded as to the medium in which the thoughtful Jewish intellect lived. On the other hand, like causes produce like results in all countries. Certain conditions of civilization have favoured the formation of secret societies, with analogous institutions, in all ages. Accordingly, while we cannot fail to perceive a general affinity to Greek and Oriental thought in the tenets and institutions of the Essenes, we see still more clearly the proverbial intensity of the Jews, seeking in an organized seclusion from the world that satisfaction which they could not find in a disturbed and decaying national life. The Jewish people were unhappily hastening to the final catastrophe ; misrule, corruption, and fanaticism were everywhere gathering head ; good men despaired of con trolling such a headlong and turbulent movement ; what could they do but withdraw from it, and cultivate a purer life under such conditions as secured or admitted it, in the exclusive society of men like-minded with themselves 1 The original sources of our knowledge of the Essenes have been mentioned at the beginning of this paper ; the best modern dis cussions of them are to be found in such works as Zeller s Philo sophic der Gricchen, vol. iii. ; Ewald, GcsckiclUc d. V. Israel, iii. 419-428 ; Reuss, La, thcologie chretienne au siccle apostolique, i. 122-131 ; Keim, Lif&amp;lt;^ of Jesus oj Nazara, vol. i. ; Canon Lightfoot on the Colossians. (T. K. ) Plate VI. ESSEX, the tenth in size of the English counties, is situated on the S.E. coast, and is consequently bounded on the E. and S.E, by the North Sea. On the S. it is separated from Kent by the river Thames, on the W. from Middlesex and Hertfordshire by the Lea and the Stort, and on the N.E. from Suffolk by the Stour, while on the N. it is conterminous with Cambridgeshire. Essex contains 1,055,133 acres, or 1648 square miles. The population in 1851 was 369,318; in 1861, 404,834 ; and in 1871, 406,436 (233,903 males and 232,533 females). The increase is found to be almost entirely in the south-western corner of the county contiguous to the metropolis, the parish of West Ham. which by the last census contained 62,919 inhabitants, being now estimated to have about 110,000. The coast has an exceedingly irregular outline, and, .short as it is, it is deeply indented by estuaries of no lass than three rivers the Stour at Harwich, the Blackwater and Colne at Maldon, and the Thames ; and as may be suggested by this fact, the seaboard entirely lacks the bold and rugged beauty of the shores of the west of England. The rivers, with the exception of the Thames, are insignificant ; and so far as they are navigable they are useful chiefly for the transport of agri cultural produce. Harwich is the only considerable har bour, but Wivenhoe, on the Colne, is celebrated for its yacht-building. The sea has within, historic times en croached upon the land ; and near Walton, on the Naze, ruins of buildings have been discerned at low water on a shoal known as the West Rocks, five miles out. On the cliffs of Walton are to be found interesting geological remains. In the parish of Dagenham there is a large tract at a lower level than the river, protected by an extensive dyke, which was restored in 1723 at an expense of nearly 42,500. The Crouch, the Blackwater, and the Colne all supply favourite beds for oyster layers; and lawsuits to determine the right of dredging in these rivers have been pending for years. Barking sends out a large fleet of fishing smacks in the pursuit of turbot, soles, cod, &c. Geologically the county rests almost entirely upon the London clay, which has been frequently pierced and found to be of great thickness. At Larnarsh, during the con struction of the Stour Valley Railway, parts of a fossil elephant were discovered in a gravel stratum 14 feet below the surface. The soil of the southern and eastern portions is mostly of a rich alluvial character, with occasional traces of gravel; the Roothings in the centre are clay; but the northern district is sound loam, becoming lighter as it approaches Cambridgeshire. The landscape varies in like degree, the flat, uninteresting, but fertile grazing grounds near the coast and rivers providing a strong contrast to the undulating and .frequently hilly neighbourhoods of Dan- bury, Baddow, Wickham, Weald, Laindon Hills, Havering, Warley, and Hedingham. The roads of this county could hardly be surpassed ; with a clay soil foundation, they have for generations been re paired with flints picked by women and children from the surface of the fields, an industry which will die out under the new Education Acts. Gravel is difficult of access, and some of the inland towns are purchasing granite for their streets ; near Good Easter and Chigual, not ten miles from Chelmsford, the road surveyors are driven to the expedient of collecting pebbles from the brooks. With the exception of chalk for lime (mainly obtained at Ballingdon in the north and Grays in the south), septaria for making cement, and clay for bricks, the underground riches of the county are meagre, and it is to agriculture that we must look for the internal resources of Essex. For the large quantity and the fine quality of both its wheat and its barley Essex has long been famous. Essex wheat is one of the standard quotations of the London markets, and thousands of quarters are exported to the north of England, as well as to France, for seed purposes ; the Essex Rough Chaff, the Nursery, the Golden Drop, and the Taunton Dean, all flourish in perfection. What the barley lacks in delicacy of appearance and in fineness of skin, it makes up for in weight and size of berry, and in its kindly nature in malting. Beans are a prolific crop in most parts of the country, and pease, both for harvesting and for picking green for the London market, produce abundantly. The enormous importations from Russia and Sweden have caused farmers to neglect the cultivation of oats, and to turn their attention to the growth of the more lucrative barley ; and the acreage of mangel-wurtzel and of kohl rabi is gradually increasing, to the diminution of the more precarious turnip crop. The system of agriculture has undergone changes so great that the men of two generations ago could scarcely now recognize the face of the country, nor comprehend the routine of the farm. The extrava gantly high and wide fences and the cramped little fields have given way to a more intelligent scheme ; the anti quated four-course shift is seldom heard of except in cove-