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ETON COLLEGE

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EUBCEA

Eton College, a famous English school, situated in Eton, on the Thames, 22 miles from London. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI. The governing body is nominated by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Several scholarships at King's College, Cambridge, are filled every year by Eton scholars. The students number nearly 900. Bolingbroke, Canning, Chatham, Fielding, Fox, Hallam, Gray, Shelley, Wellington and Gladstone are on the list of its scholars. The buildings, of brick and stone, date from 1440 to 1889. The Gothic chapel is especially beautiful. The "montem," a procession of the students, which took place three times a year to Salt Hill, was one of the features of the school until 1846, when it was stopped. The boys marched to the hill, led by a captain, and spent the day, partaking of breakfast and dinner on the hill. They were visited by crowds of spectators, from whom they collected toll, called "salt," which amounted often to $5,000. See Maxwell Lyte's History of Eton College.

Etruria (e-trod'rt-a} a division of ancient Italy, west of the Tiber and the Apennines and including the valley of the Arno. At one time it included also the valley of the Po and a region south of the Tiber. Modern Tuscany and some neighboring countries (part of Umbria) cover about the same region. Etruria proper was a union of 12 cities or can tons, each of which was independent. Veii, ii miles from Rome and her rival for four centuries, covering 16 square miles and destroyed by Camillus in 396 B. C.; Caere, where is the tomb of the Tarquins, now the village of Cervetri; Cortona, perched upon a rock, the most ancient site in Italy; Tarquinii, 60 miles from Rome, now partly occupied by the town Corneto; Clusium; Perusia, now Perugia; and Volsinii, a once powerful city and one of the last to yield to Rome, are among the names of Etruscan cities that have come down to us. Etruria is represented as a powerful and wealthy state before Rome was founded. According to tradition, the Etruscan era commenced in 1044 B. C., nearly three centuries before that of Rome. With the beginning of history we find the Etruscans a great naval power, ruling over northern and central Italy, Rome itself being included in its dominion and governed by Etruscan kings. The great sewer, the Cloaca Maxima, the Capitoline temple and the Servian wall are remains of Etruscan rule in Rome. Many of the state ceremonies of Rome were of Etruscan origin; also the circus, the combats of the gladiators, the horse races and the triumphal processions. The arrangement of the houses, the building of aqueducts and sewers and the position of woman in the family can all be traced to the Etruscans. For a century after the

overthrow of the Etruscan kings in Rome, Veii kept up a varying struggle. In 538 B. C. the Etruscans, with the Carthaginians, sent a formidable fleet to expel the Greek <• colonists from Corsica. They attacked the Greek colony of Cumae in 525 B. C. and again in 474 B. C., when their naval power was shattered in a great battle, the first event of Etruscan history of which we possess a record of the time. In 476 B. C. the Etruscans were the greatest military power in Italy, but soon after that time they began rapidly to decline. The Sam-nites, Greeks, Gauls and Romans hastened the downfall of Etruria, In 280 B. C. the Romans reached Volaterraa, the northern stronghold of the Etruscans, and the long struggle of five centuries came to an end. The Etruscan cities kept their wealth and power as partly independent allies of Rome for a time. They gradually, however, became Roman cities, adopting Roman customs, and were finally admitted to the Roman empire in 89 B. C., while the great Etruscan families held leading positions in Romeo

The people of Etruria were called Etrusci by the Romans and Tyrrheni by the Greeks. They were a short, sturdy race, with large heads, thick arms, high color and black hair; a people so unlike the other Europeans, that Seneca said: "Asia claims the Etruscans as her own." Their origin is, however, unknown. From their monuments we learn that they had an extensive literature, composed of histories, poems and dramas; but their books have perished, and our only means of learning anything of their language is from inscriptions, of which there have been about 5,000 discovered. They excelled in medicine, astronomy, mining, metal-working and the building of roads and tunnels. The bronze statues of Etruria were famous; they filled the temples of Rome, and it is said that the city of Volsinii alone had 2,000 of them. The Chimaera, in the museum at Florence, and the wolf in the capitol at Rome and a magnificent lamp at Cortona are still preserved. The painted vases found in Etruscan tombs are probably of Greek workmanship. The tombs of the Etruscans were of two kinds, the stone-pyramid, with rooms, and the chamber cut in the rock. They were furnished, as their houses were, having chairs and vases, mirrors, pottery and jewelry, and the walls were decorated with scenes from their daily life or from the underworld. See Cities and Cemeteries of Etrnria, by Dennis.

Euboea (ti-be'd) is a long and narrow island on the eastern coast of Greece, separated from the mainland by a narrow channel. The island is fertile; indeed in the Greek its name signifies rich in cattle. Cattle, wool, hides, cheese, oil, milk and honey are the chief products. The island