Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/762

Rh 726 V A E V A tion took place in 1841 ; and his father, who was minister at Bathgate, and other two ministers being deposed not Ion&quot; 1 afterwards for similar opinions, the four met at Kil- maraock in May 1843, and, on the basis of certain doctrinal principles, formed themselves into an association under the name of the Evangelical Union, &quot; for the purpose of countenancing, counselling, and otherwise aiding one another, and also for the purpose of training up spiritual and devoted young men to carry forward the work and pleasure of the Lord. &quot; The doctrinal views of the new denomination gradually assumed a more decidedly anti- Calvinistic form, and they began also to find many sym pathizers among the Congregationalists of Scotland. Nine students were expelled from the Congregational Academy for holding &quot; Morisonian &quot; doctrines, and in 1845 eight churches were disjoined from the Congregational Union of Scotland and formed a connexion with the Evangelical Union. In 1858 the Evangelical Union issued a new doctrinal statement superseding that of 1843. The Union exercises no jurisdiction over the individual churches con nected with it, anJ. in this respect it adheres to the Inde pendent or Congregational form of church government ; but while the affairs of those of its congregations which originally belonged to the Independent denomination are nunaged by meetings of all the communicants, those con gregations which originally were Presbyterian vest their government in a body of elders. The churches connected with the Evangelical Union number nearly 90, only a few of which are in England. Its ministers are eligible for Congregational churches in England, and for some time negotiations have been in progress for an amalgamation of the denomination with the Congregational Union of Scot land. See Evangelical Union Annual, and History of the Evangelical Union, by F. Ferguson, D.D. (Glasgow, 1876). EVANS, SIB DE LACY (1787-1870), a distinguished British soldier, son of John Evans of Milltown, Limerick, Ireland, was born in 1787. He was educated at Woolwich Academy, and entered the army in 1807 as ensign in the 22d regiment of foot. His regiment was immediately after wards gazetted for India, and during his stay of three years in that country he served with distinction in various actions, In 1812, as lieutenant of the 3d Dragoons, he joined the Peninsular army of Wellington; and in the Portuguese and Spanish campaigns of 1812, 1813, and 1814 he acquired a high reputation both for military skill and for personal bravery. He was rapidly promoted by merit, and in 1814 received the rank of lieutenant- colonel. The same year, in command of the 5th West India Regiment, he was sent to take part in the war against the United States, where he specially distinguished himself at the capture of Washington, and shared in the attack on Baltimore and the operations before New Orleans. He returned to England in the spring of 1815 in time to accompany the expedition of Wellington to Flanders, and was assistant quartermaster-general at Quatre Bras and Waterloo. As a member of the staff of the duke of Wellington he accompanied the English army to Paris, and remained there during the occupation of the city by the allies. In 1831 Evans entered the House of Commons as Liberal member for Rye ; but in the election of 1832 he was an unsuccessful candidate both for that borough and for Westminster. For the latter constituency he was, however, returned in 1833, and, with the exception of the parliament of 1841-46, continued to represent it till 1865, when he retired from political life. His parlia mentary duties did not, however, interfere with his career as a soldier. In 1835 he was sent in command of 10,000 men (the &quot;Spanish Legion&quot;) to aid the queen of Spain against Don Carlos. He remained two years, and gained several brilliant though bloody victories j and on his return in 1839 he was, in recognition of his achievements, created Knight Commander of the Bath. In 1846 he attained the rank of major-general ; and in 1854, on the breaking out of the Russian war, he was appointed to the command of the second division of the army of the East. At the battle of the Alma his quick comprehension of the features of the combat largely contributed at various critical periods to the victory. On the 26th October, by the skilful manner in which he handled his troops, he brilliantly defeated, at a nominal loss, a large division of Russian forces which had attacked his position on Mount Inkerman. Illness and fatigue compelled him a few days after this to leave the command of his division in the hands of General Penne- father ; but he rose from his sick-bed on the day of the battle of Inkerman, November 5, and declining to take the supreme command of his division from General Pennefather, he generously aided him in his long protracted strugglr by his countenance and advice. On the return of Evans to England in the following February invalided, he received for his services in the Crimea the thanks of the House of Commons, and the same year he was made Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, and the university of Oxford conferred on him the degree of D.C.L. In 1856 he received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, and in 1861 he was gazetted general. He died 9th January 1870. EVANS, OLIVER (1755-1819), an American mechani cian, was born at Newport, Delaware, in 1755. He was at an early age apprenticed to a wheelwright, and at the age of twenty-two he invented a machine for making card- teeth in lieu of the old method of making them by hand. In 1780 he became partner with his brothers, who were practical millers ; and two years later he completed an in vention which totally changed the structure of flour mills. About the same time he discovered the application of steam to land carriages, and in 1786 he endeavoured to obtain patents for the two inventions from the State of Pennsyl vania. A patent for the former was granted in 1787, but the latter request was considered too absurd to merit con sideration. It was granted, however, in 1797 by the State of Maryland. About this time he sent drawings and speci fications of his plans to England, but they were received there with the same incredulity as in America. Meantime he made use of theengine he had invented the first constructed on the high-pressure principle for his flour mill; and in 1 803 he constructed a steam dredging machine, which also propelled itself on land. Evans used all his means in experi ments on his invention ; and though he did not live to see its full application, he was confident that its results would be as great as they have actually turned out to be. In 1819 a fire broke out in his factory at Pittsburg, and its con sequences were so disastrous to his immediate hopes that he did not long survive its occurrence, dying April 21, 1819. EVANSON, EDWARD (1731-1805), a theological writer whose views gave rise to much controversy, was born at Warrington, in Lancashire, April 21, 1731. At the age of seven he was placed under the care of an uncle, vicar of Mitcham, in Surrey. At fourteen he entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1749. In 1753 he took his degree of M. A.; and, after being ordained, he officiated for several years as curate at Mitcham. In 1768 he became vicar of South Mimms near Barnet; and in November 1769 he was presented to the rectory of Tewkes- bury, with which he also held the vicarage of Longdon. In the course of his studies and inquiries after truth he dis covered what he thought important variance between the teaching of the Church of England and that of the Bible, and he did not conceal his convictions. He allowed him self in reading the service to alter or omit phrases which seemed to him untrue, and in reading the Scriptures to