Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/460

 452 EGINHARD EGMONT propitious seasons it reaches several pounds' weight. It is a favorite article of food in India and other hot countries, and is much used in the United States. It is generally served up in India with sugar and wine, and is ^sed by the French and Italians in stews and soups. Another smaller species is S. omgerum, having a white fruit of the size and appear- ance of a fowl's egg, chiefly cultivated as an ornamental curiosity, and sometimes reared in pots to secure the ripening, as a long season seems requisite at the north. The seeds of the egg plant should be sown on a slight hot-bed in March or early in April, and the plants should be transplanted in the latter part of May, or in June, in rich, warm ground, 2 ft. apart every way. The soil should be frequent- ly loosened with the hoe, and drawn up around the stems. Among the Chinese, 8. ^Eihiopi- tum, having similar fruit, furnishes an orna- mental dish on great occasions. EGLNHARD, or Einhard, the secretary, confi- dential adviser, and biographer of Charlemagne, born in Austrasia, died at Seligenstadt about 844. He was a pupil of Alcuin, who intro- duced him at court. He retired after his pat- ron's death to a country residence near Miihl- heira, in the Odenwald, where he devoted him- self to literary pursuits. After the death of his wife, who according to a romantic tradition was a daughter of Charlemagne, he built a convent at Seligenstadt, in the present grand duchy of Hesse, and entered it as a monk. The sarcophagus in which he and his wife were buried is still shown at the castle of Erbach, and the counts of Erbach claim to be his lineal descendants. The Vita Oaroli Magni, by Egin- hard, is one of the best biographical works of the middle ages. It has been republished by Ideler (Hamburg, 1839), and also in the sec- ond volume of Pertz's Monumenta Germanics Historica. Eginhard's Annales Regum Fran- corum, and a collection of his letters, are like- wise of value to the historian. EGLANTINE, an old English name for the sweet brier (rosa rubiginosa, Linn.), which grows plentifully in rich pastures and neglected fields. In deep soils and under favorable cir- cumstances it is not uncommon for the old roots to send up vigorous shoots or suckers 8 or 10 ft. high, which are covered with harsh, crooked prickles. The flowers, which are for the most part borne upon the lower branches, are of a beautiful light rosy color, and full of fragrance. But the chief perfume of the plant is in the foliage, its leaves being beset with russet-colored glands, which on being slightly bruised emit a peculiar scent. The eglantine succeeds well in the garden, if ample room and a deep soil are allowed it, and in such cases it has been known to produce occasionally double flowers. It grows readily from the seeds, and sown in rows the plants have been clipped into shape to form low and ornamental hedge di- visions.^ The species best known in the United States is supposed to be an adventitious one from Europe, and was introduced with a co- species, also fragrant (R. micraniha, Smith), having smaller flowers and a different-shaped Eglantine (Eosa rubiginosa). fruit or seed vessel. Both have extended scarcely beyond the seacoast of New England. EGMONT, or Egmond, Lamoral, count of, a sol- dier and statesman of the Netherlands, born in the castle of La Hamaide, Hainaut, in 1522, be- headed in Brussels, June 5, 1568. He inherited from his mother the title of prince of Gavre and from his father that of count of Egmont, and preferred to be known by the latter. While a boy he was a page at the court of the emperor Charles V. In his 19th year he com- manded a troop of horse in the expedition against Algiers. In 1545 he married Sabina of Bavaria, sister of the elector palatine. The next year he was invested with the order of the golden fleece. In 1554 he was placed at the head of the embassy sent to England to solicit the hand of Queen Mary for Philip II. of Spain. He commanded the cavalry of the Spanish army in 1557 on the invasion of France. St. Quentin having been invested, Egmont made a brilliant charge upon the French, who came up to its relief under Mont- morency, and defeated them. In 1558 the French under Marshal de Therrnes invaded West Flanders, and laid waste the country. Egmont intercepted them at Gravelines on their march homeward with their booty, cut their army in pieces, and took the marshal prisoner. These victories added greatly to his reputation, and he was appointed by Philip II. stadtholder of Flanders and Artois. In this position he favored somewhat the party who were dissatisfied with the king's administration, being swayed alternately by sympathy with the popular movement and by his loyalty to the throne and devotion to the Roman Catholic church. When Margaret of Parma was ap^ pointed regent of the Netherlands in 1559,