Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/918

* ELGIN MAKBLES. 796 ELIAS. Athene Xike, and iiuincious frajjnients and in- scriptions, had been prepared lor shipping. The war with France dehiyed the sliipnient, and though the lirst boxes reached England after a short time, it was ISl'i before the last con- si^^nnient arrived. Strange as it now seems, the Elgin Jlarbles were at first received coldly and even with severely hostile criticism. The Society of Dilettanti. Payne Knight at the head, decried them as nu'rely arcliitcctnral pieces, the worlc of draughtsmen scarcely worthy of the name of artists, and it was not till snch recognizetl au- thorities as Visconti and Canova had pointed out their historical and artistic value, that in ISIU a committee of the House of t'ommons was ap- pointed to consider their purchase by the Gov- ernment. Lord Elgin had already spent £51,t)00, besides the loss of inti'rcst, which he estimated at £23,240. The hearing proved the legality of his title, and the testimony of many artists eon- firmed the favorable judgments of the foreign critics, so that the couunittee reported to the House on June 7, ISlti, in favor of their pur- chase for £35,000. The attacks against ]x)rd Elgin were by no means confined to the criticism of his marbles. His act was denounced violently as vandalism of the most flagrant kind, and the wrath of Lord Byron found expression in 'Childe Harold's' lament over " Hie walls defaced, the moldering shrines removed by British hands." There can be no doubt that in the re- moval of some of the metopes Elgin's workmen had wrought eonsideral)le damage to what still remained of the Parthenon, after the explosion of 1US7; but a large part of the sculptures were not in place, and those that had not fallen were a mark for the wantcm dcstructiveness of the Turkish garrison. The accounts of contemporary travelers, and the present condition of wh:it was left behind, show very plainly what would have been the fate of these masterpieces had they not been rescued. The Turks had already used many fragments in the walls of the Acro])olis and of private houses, and a considerable mass of marble had only recently been burned to furnish lime for mortar. Consult: Michaelis, Dcr I'arthenon (Leipzig. 1871) ; id.. Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, trans, by Fenncll (Cambridge, 1882) ; Anrient Marbles in the British Museum, vols, vi.-ix. (London, 1830-39; 1842) ; A. H. Smith, Vatalixjue of Sculpture in the Depart ment of Greek and Iioman Antiiiuilics (London, 1892). For the sul)jects of these sculp- tures, see Parthenon ; for their place in the history of Greek art, see Greek Art. ELGINSHIRE, el'gm-shir. Morayshire, or .MriiBAYsiiiKE. A maritime county in the north- eastern part of Scotland, on the Jloray Firth (ilaj): Scotland, K 2). .rea. 47(> scpiai'e miles. In the south the high and rugged Monadhliadh Mountains of Invcrness-shire divide the basins of the Spey and Finclliorn. The soil is very fertile in the north and the county is noted for its ad- vanced state of agriculture. Tt has profitable salmon fisheries. Its jirineipal in<lustry is the manufacture of whiskv. Chief town. Elgin. Population, in 1801, 27,'7(iO; in 1S.5L 39,000; in 1901, 44,800. EL-HASA, fl-hii'zii, A tributary State of Turkey, included in the Turkish "Vilayet of Basra, on the eastern coast of .rabia (Map: Turkey in Asia, R 10). Hs-surface is generally flat and sandy, with here and there an oasis. The inhabitants, who number about 150,000, are chiefly engaged in raising camels and in cultivating dates. Capital, El-llofuf (q.v.). The territory has been a dependency of the Ottoman Empire since 1819. EL-HOFUF, cl-hi-fiJof, or HOFHUF. The capital of El-Hasa, Arabia, near the Persian (iilf (Map: Turkey in Asia. K 10). It has an estimated population of over 42.000. EXI (Ileb. 'lUl. elevation). A priest, and, according to the biblical account, also one of the judges of the llelircw confederacy. He was of tile family of Ithamar, the youngest son of Aaron (cf. L Chron. xxiv. 3 with 11. Sam. viii. 17 and 1. Kings ii. 27). and ajiparently the hrst high priest in that branch of Aaron's family, the office having previously belonged to the family of Aaron's son Eleazar (cf. .Judges xx. 28). Eli was also judge over Israel for forty years (I. Sam. iv. 18, the Septuagint has "twenty years'). The l)oy Samuel was brought up in the temple under his care (1. Sam. ii. 11, 21). Eli's two sons, llophni and Phiiiehas, were guilty of serious misconduct (1. Sam. ii. 12-17, 22), for which Eli reproved but did not punish them (I. Sam. ii. 23-25). For this neglect Valiweh censured him, telling him, lirst through 'a man of God' (I. Sam. ii. 27-30) and then through the youthful Samuel (1. Sam. iii. 11-lS), that his house should be |>uiiished for its wicked- ness. This promise was executed in the battle of Ebenczer (1. Sam. iv. 1. 1011). when llophni and Phinehas were slain and the ark of God taken by the Philistines. When Eli. then ninety- eight years old. heard the news, he fell backward from his seat and died ( 1. Sam. iv. 15, 18). The priesthood finally passed out of the house of Ithamar in the days of Solomon (I. Kings ii. •11). E'LIA. See La.mii, Ciiahles. ELIA, Rabw. See W'il.na, Rabbi Elia. ELI'AS, AfocAi.vi'SE OF. See ApocRrPHA, section Old Testament. ELIAS, a-le'as, DoMiNdO (180.5-67). A Peru- vian statesman. He was born at lea, Peru, and was educated at the College of Madrid and in France, Returning to Peru in 1825, he became an enthu- siastic supporter of liberal and progressive prin- ciples. One of his most noteworthy achievements was the introduction of the planting of cotton on a large scale into (he new republic. The culti- vation of the vine and the introduction of Chinese labor were also due to him. He estab- lished at Lima the College of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and several other educational insti- tutions, and afterwards played a conspicuous ])ai't as a soldier and legislator. He became President of Peru in 1858. ELIAS, Ney (1844-97). An English explorer and diplomat, born at Widmore (Kent). In 1805 he became a fellow of the Royal (Geographi- cal Society, in 18(i(i went to Shanghai. China, as the employee of a inercantile firm, and in lSti8 set out upon an expedition for the examination of the new and (dd courses of the Iloangho. In 1872 he undertook a dillicnlt journey of 4800 miles across the Gobi Desert to Nizhni-Novgorod. The results of this expedition were described by him in a paper written for the Royal (ieographi- cal Society from which he received a gold medal.