Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/744

 732 ESS ESSENES 4 vols., 1861-'3). His wife, ADELE, has writ- ten several works, and assisted her husband in ffistoire des amants celebres de V antiquite. ESS, Heinrich Leander van, a German Koman Catholic theologian, born at Warburg, West- phalia, Feb. 25, 1770, died in Affolterbach, Oct. 13, 1847. He entered the Benedictine order in 1793, and officiated as pastor in a vil- lage from 1799 to 1813, when he became pas- tor and professor of theology at the university of Marburg. Conjointly with his cousin and fellow Benedictine, Karl van Ess (1770-1824), he published a new German translation of the New Testament (Brunswick, 1807; 20th ed., Sulzbach, 1830), which is highly valued. They also published Das Alte Testament (Nurem- berg, 1819), and Die Heilige Schrift Alien und Neuen Testaments (Sulzbach, 1840). Heinrich made himself widely known by his endeavors to promote the reading of the Bible among the Catholics of Germany, for which purpose he prepared Auszuge aus den heiligen Vatern (2d ed., Sulzbach, 1822) ; Pragmatica Doctorum Catholicorum Tridentini circa Vulgatam, a prize essay (Sulzbach, 1816; German transla- tion, Tubingen, 1824) ; Was war die Bibel der ersten Christen? (1816); Gedanken uber Bibel und Bibellesen (1816) ; Die Bibel nicJit ein Buck fur Priester (1818); and Rechtfertigung der gemischten Ehen, a work in defence of marriages between Catholics and Protestants (1821). His views in regard to the general reading of the Bible by the people being dis- approved by the German bishops and by the pope, he resigned his place at Marburg, and devoted himself to defending the position he had taken. After his death his library, com- prising about 20,000 volumes, especially rich in early editions of the Bible, of the fathers, and of early theological writers, was purchased for the Union theological seminary in New York. ESSEG. See ESZEK. ESSEN, a town of Prussia, in the province of the Rhine, near the Ruhr, 18 m. N. E. of Dtis- seldorf; pop. in 1846, 8,009; in 1861, 20,811; in 1871, 51,526. Few German towns have in- creased so rapidly during the last 20 years. Its growth is owing to its flourishing, manu- factures of woollen and linen goods, leather, vitriol, cast-iron and steel articles, gas ap- paratus, and steam engines. It has of late ob- tained a world-wide reputation by the famous cast-steel manufactory of Krupp, the largest in the world, employing about 10,000 persons. It is supplied with water from the Ruhr by an aqueduct 4 m. long. Until the beginning of the present century the abbess of the Benedic- tine nunnery (founded in 873) was the ruler of the town and the adjacent country, holding from about 1275 the rank of a princess of the empire. In 1803 the town was incorporated with Prussia; it was transferred to the grand duchy of Berg in 1808, but was regained by Prussia in 1813. ESSEN, Hans Henrik, count, a Swedish general, born in Kaflas, West Gothland, in 1755, died July 28, 1824. He was educated in the univer- sities of Sweden, and obtained the favor of Gustavus III. by his attainments and graceful and chivalric bearing. He accompanied him iij his travels abroad, and was of great assistance in the campaign of Finland. He attended him to the masked ball where he was murdered by Anckarstroem, Essen having in vain warned him that an attempt was to be made on his life. In 1795, after having accompanied the regent duke of Sodermanland and the young king Gustavus IV. to St. Petersburg, Essen was appointed governor of Stockholm. Subse- quently he became governor general of Swedish Pomerania and of Riigen ; and in 1807, as com- mander-in-chief of the Pomeranian army, he distinguished himself by his defence of Stral- sund, and brought about an honorable truce with France. But the king, dissatisfied with Essen, assumed command of the army, and Es- sen retired from active service until the acces- sion of the duke of Sodermanland as Charles XIII., who created him a count and member of the council, and appointed him ambassador at Paris. In 1814 he marched at the head of the Swedish army against Norway ; and when the two countries were united, he became gov- ernor of Norway, with the title of Norwegian field marshal and chancellor of the university of Christiania. In 1817 he was made governor general of Scania. ESSENCES. See ESSENTIAL OILS. ESSENES, a Jewish sect, not mentioned in the Jewish or Christian Scriptures, and concerning whom the only original sources of information are passages in the works of Josephus and Philo, both of whom lived about the time when the Essenes had reached their highest devel- opment. Philo, a disciple of the Alexandrian school of philosophy, attracted by their mysti- cal and speculative turn, gives the fullest infor- mation concerning their doctrines. Josephus, who lived in Palestine where the community flourished, and according to his own statement was in early life a member of it, treats of them particularly in their outward relations. The Essenes first appear in history in the latter half of the 2d century B. C., as a society of piously disposed men, who in the solitudes on the western side of the Dead sea sought a retreat from the corruptions and conflicts of the world. They lived an austere life, held their property in common, wore a white robe, prayed and meditated continually, made fre- quent ablutions, for the most part renounced marriage, and often practised medicine. They sacrificed no animals, and instead of going themselves to worship in the temple of Jeru- salem, they sent their offerings. Contemning logic, metaphysics, and even physical science, as useless, they gave their attention only to ethics, recognized no other authority than their own sacred books, and taught the equality of men and the entire supremacy of destiny. Their number at the beginning of the Christian era was about 4,000. After the destruction of