Page:Imperialdictiona02eadi Brandeis.pdf/326

EVA returned home, re-entered the university, and studied so industriously that in five months he took his philosophical, and the following summer his theological examination, and in the autumn became alumnus of Walkendorph's college, where he remained five years on a salary. But the salary being too small to maintain a wife upon, the young girl for whom he had suffered so much, perhaps tired of waiting, married another; and the blow was so great to him that he abandoned his intention of a clerical life, and threw himself upon literature, which was his truest vocation; for now, having "learned by suffering," he was ready "to teach by song." His disappointment, "his first love," as he himself says, "which cost him more than his life," tended to foster the temperament which is peculiarly that of the poet; but unhappily, like many another poet, Evald sought diversion for his sorrows in an irregular and exciting life, which often brought him into difficult and humiliating circumstances. The first work of Evald which attracted attention was "The Temple of Fortune," one of that class of compositions which Addison, Dr. Johnson, and others, brought into repute in the Vision of Mirza, &c. His lyric, however, on the death of Frederick V., which holds its place in Danish poetry to this day, opened a glimpse into the higher poetical regions of his soul. Acquaintance too with Klopstock, who was then in Denmark, and whose Messiah had affected his maturer mind as Robinson Crusoe had affected that of his boyhood, induced him to select a biblical subject for his muse; and in 1769 he produced his "Adam and Eve," the greatest poem at that time in the Danish language: but it was only slowly acknowledged to be such. Neither was the reception of his "Ralf Krager"—the first original tragedy of his country, and published the following year—more warmly received, nor could even Klopstock convince the dull Danes that a great poet was amongst them. In 1773 he entered upon a grand field of poetry, that of the northern mythology, and produced his "Balder's Death." This noble tragedy, however, was eagerly read, and brought out with acclamation; but it produced no further pecuniary benefit to the poet than sixty rix-dollars from the Danish Patriotic Society. In 1778 he published his opera of the "Fisherman"—a work of great beauty, life, and passion, containing many exquisite lyrics, one of which—"King Christian stood by the lofty mast"—has become the national anthem of Denmark. He had now been for some years a martyr to rheumatism, and was indeed at this time wholly confined by this painful disease to his bed or easy chair. The remainder of his life, in fact, was incessant suffering, whilst at the same time he was harassed by poverty and the unkindness of his mother, who now, by her second marriage, had become possessed of property. Thus, without public support, forsaken by his nearest relations, and left to the pity and aid of strangers, it is no wonder that he often fell into the deepest abyss of melancholy, from which nothing but his poetical labours and his deep sense of religion, spite of his weaknesses and aberrations, could save him. The only time of sunshine in Evald's latter years, was between 1773 and 1775, when he lived at Rungsted, in the house of a master fisherman, Jacobson, from whose amiable family he received the kindest attention, and whose daughter, Anne Hedevig, would have married him had not his mother interfered, and at once removed him to the neighbourhood of Kronborg, where his life was miserable. It was under the happier circumstances of Rungsted that many of his most beautiful poems were written. In 1777 he returned to Copenhagen, where, though deserted by his family, a few bright gleams of affection gathered around his bed of suffering. He lodged with a good, kind, motherly woman, Madame Schou, in whose house he ended his days, and she did all that lay in her power to cheer his heart and assuage his bodily suffering. As his fame increased, his friends and admirers amongst the great increased also, and many persons visited him. He had now also a small government pension of one hundred rix-dollars, and the new edition of his works, commencing in 1779, promised to add considerably to his income. But he was provided for elsewhere; and on 17th March, 1779, he died at the age of thirty-seven, with his favourite poem, the Messiah, under his pillow. No sooner, however, was he dead than the public opened its eyes, and saw that a great man was gone from amongst them. He was followed by hundreds to the grave, and his "Opera of the Fisherman," with a prologue by Abramson, was performed the same day, from the receipts of which good Madame Schou was presented with one hundred ducats. A simple tombstone erected by his friends points out where lie the remains of the greatest lyric poet of Denmark. There are several editions of his works, the last and best in eight vols., edited by F. L. Liebenberg in 1850-55.—M. H.  EVALD,, a Danish lieutenant-general, born 30th March, 1744, at Cassel, of a burgher family. He had a military bent from his childhood, and in his sixteenth year entered as a volunteer in a Hessian regiment. He soon distinguished himself, and rose from the ranks. In 1776 he went with the English to America as captain of a jager company of Hessians, and served in that country till the close of the American war, when the English general offered him an English company, which he declined. In 1788 he entered into the Danish service as lieutenant-colonel of a jager corps, garrisoned in Schleswig, where the landgrave, Carl of Hesse, was statholder. In 1801 he was placed in charge of Hamburg, and so won the esteem of the inhabitants that he was offered the post of governor of the town, which he refused. In 1803 he defended the frontiers of Holstein, when the French possessed Hanover; and in 1806 against the Swedes and Prussians. The following year, when the English made an attack on Copenhagen, Evald, having placed himself at the head of two infantry regiments which he had organized for this service, was afterwards made governor of Kiel. In 1809 he commanded the Danish corps which supported the French against the Prussian adventurer. Major Schill, and in connection with a Dutch corps stormed Stralsund on the 31st of May. The humanity shown by him, and the good conduct of his troops, called forth the gratitude of the inhabitants, and the king advanced him to the rank of lieutenant-general. But he did not long enjoy the honour; sickness compelled him in 1813 to give up his command, and on the 25th July, the same year, he died on his estate near Kiel. He is the author of some military works.—M. H.  EVANS,, or , a famous astrologer who lived in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. He was a native of Wales, and having been educated at Oxford, entered the church, but was soon obliged to leave his cure on account of his disgraceful behaviour. He then went up to London, where he practised the trade of a magician and astrologer.—R. M., A.  EVANS,, D.D., son of the Rev. Hugh Evans, was born at Bristol about the year 1737. In 1767 he became colleague to his father, as pastor of the church at Broadmead, Bristol, and in 1770 formed the Bristol Education Society, for furnishing dissenting congregations with able and evangelical ministers, as well as for training missionaries. From this time till his death in 1791 he discharged the duties of his office with great honour and acceptance. He is the author of two or three volumes, and of several sermons.—J. A., L.  EVANS,, a remarkable Welsh preacher, was born in Cardiganshire in 1766, and died at Swansea in 1838. He resided chiefly in North Wales, but visited all parts of the principality, stirring the hearts of the people, and producing mighty results. For vigorous thought, rich imagination, and picturesque language, he had few equals, and his memory is cherished in that country with warm affection.—J. A., L.  EVANS,, G.C.B., is a native of the county of Kerry, where he was born in 1787. He entered the army in 1807, and having served for about three years in India in the operations against the Pindarries, and shared in the capture of the Mauritius, joined in 1810 the army of Lord Wellington in Spain, where he was present at the battles of Vittoria, the Pyrenees, and Toulouse. In 1814-15, he was actively engaged in North America, and took an active part in the battle of Bladensburgh and the operations at Washington and Baltimore. He returned to England early in 1815, and took part in the action at Quatre Bras and in the battle of Waterloo, and was employed on the staff of the duke of Wellington during the occupation of Paris. From the close of the war he had no active employment until 1835, when he volunteered to undertake the command of the British legion sent to Spain to aid the queen against Don Carlos, and returned to England early in 1837. He had already been returned to parliament in 1831, in the liberal or radical interest, as member for Rye, and in May, 1833, was elected for Westminster, which he has since continued to represent, with the exception of the parliament of 1841-47. He attained the rank of a field-officer in 1846, and on the outbreak of the Russian war in 1854, was appointed to the command of the second division. He distinguished himself 