Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/412

 404 EDGECOMBE EDGEWORTH DE FIRMONT county buildings, a town hall, a national bank, 8 schools (including a high school), a weekly newspaper, and Baptist, Congregational, and Methodist churches. EDGECOMBE, a N. E. county of North Caro- lina, watered by Tar river, and by Fishing, Sandy, and Contentny creeks ; area, about 600 sq. in. ; pop. in 1870, 22,970 of whom 15,112 were colored. The soil is fertile and sandy. The surface is mostly level, and occupied in part by pine forests, from which quantities of turpentine are obtained. It is traversed by the Wilmington and Weldon railroad and the Tarboro branch. The chief productions in 1870 were 6,102 bushels of wheat, 488,800 of Indian corn, 48,578 of oats, 58,055 of sweet potatoes, 3,059 tons of hay, and 18,361 bales of cotton. There were 1,164 horses, 1,919 mules and asses, 1,403 milch cows, 3,339 other cattle, and 14,214 swine; 3 manufactories of carriages and wagons, 1 of cotton goods, 5 flour mills, and 7 saw mills. Capital, Tarboro. EDGEFIELD, a VV. county of South Carolina, separated from Georgia by the Savannah river, and bounded N. by the Saluda; area, 1,540 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 42,486, of whom 25,417 were colored. It has a fertile soil and a moderately hilly surface. Water power is abundant, and there are numerous mills and factories. The Savannah river is navigable for steamboats to the S. part of the district, and by small boats a still greater distance. It is traversed by the South Carolina, the Charlotte, Colum- bia, and Augusta, and the Greenville and Columbia railroads. The chief productions in 1870 were 43,157 bushels of wheat, 412,259 of Indian corn, 77,370 of oats, 29,896 of sweet potatoes, and 17,553 bales of cotton. There were 3,134 horses, 3,459 mules and asses, 6,596 milch cows, 8,579 other cattle, 6,985 sheep, and 20,352 swine; 3 manufactories of carriages and wagons, 1 of cotton goods, 1 of printing paper, 1 of bricks, and 10 saw mills. Capital, Edgefield Court House. EDGEHILL, a high ridge in Warwickshire, England, 12 m. S. S. E. of Warwick, noted as the scene of the first battle between Charles I. and the parliamentary forces, Oct. 23, 1642. On the side of the hill is cut the colossal figure of a horse, whence a valley below has been named the Vale of Red Horse. EDGEWORTH. I. Richard Lovell, a British inventor and author, born in Bath in 1744, died at Edgeworthstown, county Longford, Ireland, June 13, 1817. He belonged to an ancient Irish family, and was educated at Trinity college, Dublin, and at Oxford. While at the latter university he ran away with a young lady of Oxford, married her, and set- tled near Reading. He had great mechanical ingenuity, and invented various contrivances, particularly a system of telegraphs, and a lo- comotive machine which carried with itself a movable railway. For these he was awarded two medals by the society of arts. In 1771 he went to France, and superintended part of the works undertaken at Lyons to alter the course of the Rhone. In 1782 he took up his residence at Edgeworthstown and devoted himself to the cultivation of his estates. He vas much interested in questions of education, and brought up his eldest son upon the princi- ples inculcated in Rousseau's Smile. He was also interested in political economy, and la- bored for the improvement of the condition of his tenants. He took an active part in public affairs, was a member of the reform convention which assembled at Dublin in 1783, and entered the Irish parliament in 1798. He was opposed to the legislative union of Eng- land and Ireland, and when the Irish parlia- ment gave its assent to that measure, he retired from political life. In 1804 he con- structed for the government a telegraph be- tween Dublin and Galway. He was placed upon commissions to revise the laws relating to education, and to investigate the best means of draining an extensive bog in Ireland. He was married four times, the last time to Honora Sneyd, who is supposed to have been affianced to Major Andre. Besides various parliamen- tary reports, he wrote, either alone or in con- junction with his daughter, among other things, "Professional Education," "Practical Education," and an " Essay on the Construc- tion of Roads and Carriages." See "Memoirs of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Esq., begun by himself and concluded by his daughter" (2 vols. 8vo, London, 1820). II, Maria, an Eng- lish authoress, daughter of the preceding, born at Hare Hatch, near Reading, England, Jan. 1, 1767, died at Edgeworthstown, Ireland (where she had resided since 1782), May 21, 1849. She was educated by her father, and became his assistant both in business affairs and in litera- ry pursuits. The "Early Lessons," "Parent's Assistant," and " Essay on Irish Bulls " were the fruit of their joint labors. The views which she shared with him in regard to education were exemplified in " Harry and Lucy " and "Rosamond," commenced by him and com- pleted by her after his death, and in " Frank," written by herself. The long series of excel- lent novels and tales for which she was cele- brated began with "Castle Rackrent" (1801). Among the most noted of them are " Belinda," " Ennui," " The Absentee," " Patronage," "Harrington," "Helen," and "Ormond." All her writings are characterized by strong good sense, practical judgment, and high moral tone. Sir Walter Scott, whom she preceded as a novelist, was her warm friend and admirer, and she passed a fortnight with him at Abbots- ford in 1823. A complete edition of her works was published in London in 1832, in 18 vols. 12mo, and they still continue to be reprinted. EDGEWORTH DE FIRMONT, Henry Alien, abbe, the last confessor of King Louis XVI. of France, cousin of Maria Edgeworth, born in Edgeworthstown, Ireland, in 1745, died in Mi- tau, Russia, May 22, 1807. His father (Essex Edgeworth of Fairy Mount, whence Firmont)