the first meeting exchanges were permitted for good cause. The most important part of the court of directors, however, was the secret committee. To this, composed of the chairman, deputy chairman, and the senior director, were referred all communications of a confidential and delicate nature between the board of control (the chief power) and the court. The despatches of the board as to political matters were transmitted through the hands of the secret committee, and might be sent on by them without being submitted to the court. The members of this committee were sworn to secrecy, and had no secretary. The directors had a salary of £500, and the chairman £1,000. The chief privilege of directorship, however, was that of making appointments; the directors filled all vacancies, not only in the English branch of the company's service, but also in all the subordinate functions in India. They were thus enabled to provide for friends and relatives. The board of control, the governing power in the company, consisted at first of 6 members, but afterward the sovereign had the privilege of appointing what appeared to be a suitable number, of whom the lord president of the council, the lord privy seal, the first lord of the treasury, the two principal secretaries of state, and the chancellor of the exchequer, must form part. The president of the board received a salary of £3,500; two secretaries, who must be members of parliament, received £1,500 each. There were a number of assistant secretaries, writers, &c. The expenses of the board were limited to £26,000 per annum, paid by the East India company. The powers of the board gradually grew, until long before its abolition in 1858 it had become a court from whose decisions there was no appeal.-The total expense of the company's military force in the East Indies in 1856 was £10,229,584. The estimated receipts of the home treasury for the year ending April 30, 1858, amounted to £11,649,387 (including the balance from the old account), and the disbursements to £8,930,330, leaving an estimated balance in favor on April 30, 1858, of £2,719,057. The debts of the Indian government in England on May 1, 1857, amounted to £9,377,401, and the credits to £5,488,467, leaving a surplus of debts of £3,888,934. The establishment of the company in England entailed a yearly charge of £133,622 for 525 employees, and the amount of new or increased salaries created or granted between May 1, 1856, and May 1, 1857, was £6,467.-The recent disturbed state of the British possessions in the East in 1857-'8 called public attention more forcibly than at any previous period to the management of Indian affairs by the company; and after much discussion on the subject in parliament and in the press, an act "for the better government of India" was passed, Aug. 2, 1858, by which "all the territories heretofore under the government of the East India company are vested in the British queen, and all its powers are to be exercised in her name, one of the principal secretaries of

state to have all the powers hitherto exercised by the company or by the board of control. The military and naval forces of the East India company are to be deemed the forces of the queen, and all persons holding any office, employment, or commission in India are transferred to the service of the crown. All functions and powers of the courts of directors and proprietors are to cease, together with the salaries paid, and the board of control is likewise abolished." This act, however, although depriving the East India company of all its power and importance, does not abolish it, and provides for the manner in which the directors shall hereafter be appointed; but its functions are now almost exclusively confined to the administration of the stock and the distribution of the fixed interest or dividends upon the old share capital of the proprietary body of the company.

EAST INDIES, a vague geographical term applied to southern Asia east of the Indus, and to the adjacent islands. The name India is unknown to the people of the countries so designated, and was derived by the languages of modern Europe from the Greeks, who probably borrowed it from the Persians; and it is doubtless a modification of the Sanscrit Sindhu, the appellation of the Indus and of the people on its banks. It was unknown to the earlier Greeks, and is mentioned neither by Homer, Pindar, nor the great dramatists. The later Greeks used it to signify an indefinite extent of country lying beyond the Indus, of which they had a very imperfect knowledge. The modern Earopeans applied it in much the same way until after the discovery of America. Columbus supposed that he had reached India by sailing westward, and the lands discovered by him and the other Spanish navigators in the western hemisphere were for a time collectively known as India. The king of Spain assumed the title of king of the Indies, and the council for the colonies was styled the supreme council of the Indies. When the mistake was discovered, the distinctive term West Indies was applied to America, and that of East Indies to Asiatic India. In process of time the term West Indies became restricted to the islands lying between North and South America, and the term India to the two peninsulas of Hindostan and Further India, or India beyond the Ganges. The latter country is also called Chin-India or Indo-China, and in its most restricted sense the term India now includes only Hindostan. The term East Indies, as vaguely and popularly used, comprises Hindostan, Burmah, Siam, Laos, Anam, Malacca, Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, the Sunda and Banda islands, the Moluccas, the Philippines, and the rest of that vast archipelago, and is sometimes extended even to China and Japan.

EAST RIVER, a strait about 18 miles long, and between New York and Brooklyn about

of a mile wide, connecting New York bay with Long Island sound. It leaves the sound at a point called Throg's neck, where there is a lighthouse with a fixed light, and where the

strong fortress of Fort Schuyler defends the E. approach to New York; and it enters the bay to the S. E. of Manhattan island, between the metropolis and Brooklyn. It also communicates with the Hudson by a narrow channel called the Harlem river, which forms the N. boundary of Manhattan island. It has a rapid current caused by the tide from the Atlantic, which, gathering force as it flows W. into the narrowest part of the sound, reaches its greatest height in the East river, arrives at New York of an hour earlier than that which rises in the bay, and drives upward along the E. shore of the Hudson many miles in advance of the tide on the W. shore. The East river is navigable by vessels of the largest size, and is crossed by numerous steam ferries. It contains several islands, and has a pass called Hellgate, 7 m. from New York bay, the navigation of which is attended with considerable danger. Some of the most serious obstructions have recently been removed by a new method of blasting, which consists of simply exploding the powder on the rock by means of an electric spark, the superincumbent mass of water acting with a resisting force powerful enough to break the rock without the necessity of boring.

EASTBURN, JAMES WALLIS, an American author, born in England in 1797, died on the passage from New York to Santa Cruz, Dec. 2, 1819. He was graduated at Columbia college, New York, and subsequently studied theol ogy under Bishop Griswold at Bristol, R. I., with a view of taking orders in the Protestant Episcopal church. While thus employed, with occasional assistance from Robert C. Sands, a former college associate, he undertook a new metrical version of the Psalms, which he did not live to complete. At the suggestion of Eastburn the two friends commenced, in Nov. 1817, and finished before the succeeding summer, "Yamoyden," a romantic poem founded on the history of King Philip, the sachem of the Pequots. With many marks of youth and inexpe rience, it has merits of a high order, and for a joint production of juvenile authors may be considered a remarkable performance. He also wrote several fugitive poems, some of which are very gracefully versified. In 1818 Mr. East burn was ordained, and left New York to take charge of a parish in Accomac, Va. Failing health interfered with the discharge of his duties, and he sailed from New York for Santa Cruz to try the effects of a change of climate, but died a few days after embarking.

EASTBURN, MANTON, D.D., an American clergyman, brother of the preceding, bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church in Massachusetts, born in England, Feb. 9, 1801. His parents came to the United States when he was a boy, and settling in New York, he was educated in that eity, and was graduated at Columbia college in 1817. After suitable preparation, he was ordained in May, 1822, was assistant minister of Christ church, New York, for a few years, became rector of the church of the Ascension in 1827,

and gathered under his ministry a large and influential congregation. He was consecrated assistant bishop of Massachusetts in Trinity church, Boston, Dec. 29, 1842, and on Bishop Griswold's death, Feb. 15, 1843, became bishop of the diocese. Dr. Eastburn was appointed lecturer on poetry in Columbia college, but declined the appointment; in 1825 he delivered 4 lectures on Hebrew, Latin, Italian, and English poetry before the New York Athenæum; in 1829 he contributed a portion of a volume of "Essays and Dissertations on Biblical Literature;" in 1833 published his "Lectures on the Epistles to the Philippians," a volume which met with considerable favor; and in 1837 he delivered the oration at the semi-centennial anniversary of the incorporation of Columbia college. He has edited Thornton's "Family Prayers."

EASTER, the festival of the resurrection of our Lord, or the Christian passover. The English name Easter and the German Ostern have been supposed by some writers to be derived from the name of the feast of the Teutonic goddess Ostera (the goddess of spring), which was celebrated by the ancient Saxons in the spring, and for which the early missionaries substituted the Christian festival. According to Adelung, both the English and the German words are derived from the old Saxon word oster, osten, which signifies rising, because nature arises anew in the spring. According to the Mosaic law, the passover among the Jews was celebrated on the 14th day of the month Abib, afterward called Nisan, that is, within a day or two before or after the vernal equinox. The early Christians differed in regard to the time of celebrating Easter. The churches in the West, taught, as they declared, by St. Philip and St. Paul, observed the nearest Sunday to the full moon of Nisan, without taking account of the day on which the passover was celebrated. The Asiatic churches, on the other hand, in accordance as they said with the tradition derived from St. John, followed the Jewish calendar, and adopting the 14th of Nisan as the day of the crucifixion, celebrated the festival of Easter on the 3d day following, whatever day of the week that might be. From this circumstance they were called Quartodecimans. The dispute on this point in process of time became serious, and neither side was able to convince or convert the other. The venerable Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, went to Rome, A. D. 158, and had a conference with Anicetus on this subject. Forty years later, Victor, bishop of Rome, was appealed to, and was very peremptory in requiring the Asiatic bishops to conform to the rule of the western church. This they refused to do, and Polycrates of Ephesus, in behalf of his brother bishops, sent Victor word that they had resolved to maintain the custom which they had received from their fathers. Victor then went so far as to break off communion with the eastern churches, for which he was rebuked by St. Irenæus of Lyons. After this the contending

parties agreed to maintain their respective customs and practices on this subject, without censuring one another. Saving occasional disputes, matters continued in this state until the time of Constantine, who had the subject brought before the council of Nice (A. D. 325). The question was fully discussed, and finally settled for the whole church by adopting the rule which makes Easter day to be always the first Sunday after the full moon which happens upon or next after March 21; and if the full moon happen on a Sunday, Easter day is the Sunday after. By this arrangement Easter may come as early as March 22, or as late as April 25.-This sacred festival has been termed the queen of festivals; it has been observed from the very beginning, and it is celebrated in every part of the Christian world with great solemnity and devotion. The primitive Christians very early on the morning of Easter saluted each other with the words: "Christ is risen;" to which the response was made: "Christ is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." The Greek church still retains this custom. In nearly all Christian countries the recurrence of Easter has been celebrated with various ceremonies, popular sports, and superstitions. Among the best known is the English custom of making presents of colored eggs, called pasche or paste eggs, which were often elaborately ornamented; and in a royal roll of the time of Edward I., preserved in the tower, appears an entry of 18d. for 400 eggs to be used for this purpose. Colored eggs were used by children at Easter in a sort of game which consists in testing the strength of the egg shells, and this practice is retained in many places in England and the United States. In some parts of Ireland the legend is current that the sun dances in the sky on Easter Sunday morning. This was once a prevailing superstition in England also, which Sir Thomas Browne, the author of "Inquiry into Vulgar Errors," thought it not superfluous to declare unfounded. The game of ball was a favorite Easter sport, in which municipal corporations formerly engaged with due parade and dignity; and at Bury St. Edmund's within a few years the game was kept up with great spirit by 12 old women. In the northern counties of England on Easter Sunday the men parade the streets and claim the privilege of lifting every woman 3 times from the ground, receiving in payment a kiss or a silver sixpence. The same is done by the women to the men on the next day. In a part of Oxfordshire, after evening service on Easter Sunday, men and women used, as late as 1822, to throw great quantities of apples into the churchyard, and those who had been married during the year threw 3 times as many as the rest; after which all went to the minister's house and feasted on bread, cheese, and ale. A less innocent custom once prevailed in France of stoning Jews at this season; and Dulaure in his "History of Paris" tells us that Aimeric, viscount de Rochechouard, having visited Toulouse

PIRE.

EASTLAKE, SIR CHARLES LOCK, an English painter, born in Plymouth in 1793, studied under Fuseli at the royal academy, London, of which institution he was made president in 1850, after having given evidences of proficiency in his art by a great variety of pictures, of which his "Christ weeping over Jerusalem," his "Escape of Francesco di Carrara," and his "Pilgrims arriving in sight of Rome," are the best. He visited France, Italy, and Greece, and then settling for some time in Rome, found many op portunities for painting pictures illustrative of Italian life. Among his early paintings is an interesting portrait of Napoleon I., as he appeared on board the Bellerophon, and the most famous of his poetical pictures is an illustration of a passage in Byron's "Dream." In 1850 he was knighted, and in 1855 appointed director of the national gallery, with a salary of £1,000. He has translated Goethe's Farbenlehre into English, and written much on art. He married Miss Elizabeth Rigby, author of "Letters from the Shores of the Baltic" (1841), “Livonian Tales” (1846), and other writings.

EASTMAN, CHARLES GAMAGE, an American poet and journalist, born in Fryeburg, Me., June 1, 1816, removed at an early age with his parents to Barnard, Vt., in 1829 commenced his preparatory studies at the academy in Royalton, Vt., continued them at Windsor, and finished them at Burlington, in 1837. He was principal editor of the Burlington "Sentinel " in 1835-'6; commenced the "Lamoille River Express" newspaper at Johnson, Vt., in the spring of 1838; established the "Spirit of the Age" at Woodstock, Vt., in 1840; and purchased the "Vermont Patriot" and removed to Montpelier in 1846. He was postmaster at Woodstock and Montpelier for several years, senator for Washington county in 1851-2, district delegate to the democratic national convention in 1852, candidate for elector and delegate at large to the national convention in 1856, and candidate for congress in 1858. He published a volume of poems in 1848, which was well received by the public. He has been until of late years a liberal contributor of poetry to reviews and magazines, and his poems pronounced at Dartmouth, university of Vermont, and other colleges, have gained a high reputation. He resides at Montpelier, and continues to be editor and proprietor of the "Vermont Patriot."

EASTMAN, MARY HENDERSON, an American authoress, born in Warrenton, Fauquier co., Va., about 1817. She was married in 1835 to Capt. Seth Eastman, of the U. S. army, with whom she resided for many years at Fort Snelling, Min., and at other frontier stations. She has published "Dacotah, or Life and Legends of the Sioux" (New York, 1849); "Romance of Indian Life" (Philadelphia, 1852); "American Aboriginal Portfolio" (1853); and "Chicora and other Regions of the Conquered" (1854). In 1852 Mrs. Eastman published "Aunt Phillis's Cabin," intended as a reply to Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and which reached a sale of 18,000 copies in a few weeks. She is also the author of "Tales of Fashionable Life," and of many tales and sketches for "Arthur's Home Magazine," and other periodicals.

EASTÓN, a borough and the capital of Northampton co., Penn., on the right bank of the Delaware river, between the mouths of Lehigh river and Bushkiln creek, 56 m. N. from Philadelphia; pop. in 1859, about 10,000, exclusive of the adjoining borough of South Easton and village of Glendon, on the opposite bank of the Lehigh, containing not less than 3,000 inhabitants. Excepting the eastern part of the town, the site is hilly, but the plot is nevertheless very regular, and the streets are wide and at right angles. The town has a public square, is lighted with gas, and supplied with water from a spring at a distance of one mile, and from the river. The height of reservoirs on the surrounding hills is so great that in a large portion of the town fires are extinguished without the aid of engines. The Delaware is spanned by 2 bridges, one of them a handsome railroad bridge of wood about to be replaced by iron, and the other a fine wooden bridge 570 feet long, erected at a cost of $80,000. Bushkiln is spanned by 3 long and substantial stone bridges and one of wood, and the Lehigh by 2 fine wooden bridges. Beside an extensive high school, an academy, and 2 other schools, situated on a tract of land set apart perpetually for educational purposes, Easton contains several other academies, &c., and a public library of 4,000 vols. It is also the seat of Lafayette college founded in 1832 with its normal school, having in 1858 6 professors, 100 students, and a library of 4,500 vols. There are 2 banks with an aggregate capital of $500,000; 5 weekly and 2 daily newspaper offices; 11 churches (1 Baptist, 1 Dutch Reformed, 1 Episcopal, 1 German Reformed, 2 Lutheran, 1 Methodist, 2 Presbyterian, 1 Roman Catholic, 1 Universalist), and 2 Jewish synagogues. A handsome cemetery of 40 acres was commenced in 1849 on picturesque and broken ground overhanging the Bushkiln creek, in which is erected a monument over the remains of George Taylor, one of the signers of the declaration of independence, who lived and died in Easton, There is also a farmers' and mechanics' institute, incorporated in 1856, whose buildings and grounds, erected and prepared at considerable expense, cover 30 acres, where fairs are annually

held. Being the outlet of a rich agricultural country, Easton has always manufactured, and formerly exported, a large amount of agricultural products, which at this time are more generally absorbed by home consumption. As late as 1851, however, it exported over 110,000 barrels of flour, 50,000 barrels of corn meal, and 14,000 barrels of whiskey. In 1850 there were in the town, and within a few miles circuit, 18 grist mills, 6 saw mills, 1 planing mill, 3 oil mills, 3 tanneries, 5 founderies, 2 large blast furnaces, 1 wire factory, 7 distilleries, 2 cotton factories, and 2 rifle factories. The surrounding country contains inexhaustible deposits of the best iron ore, which is largely manufactured here; and within 12 miles are found large deposits of the best zinc ore, which is manufactured near the mines. In the immediate vicinity of Easton are 3 large blast furnaces, which manufacture about 30,000 tons of pig iron annually. Easton is at the terminus of the celebrated Lehigh valley, which is the route through which the Lehigh canal and Lehigh valley railroad penetrate the great anthracite coal formation. The avenues from Easton to market are the Delaware river, Delaware canal, Belvidere Delaware railroad, and Lehigh valley and north Pennsylvania railroads to Philadelphia, and the Morris canal and central railroad of New Jersey to New York. By the Warren railroad and the Delaware and Lackawanna railroad it has unbroken communication with the railroads of New York and with the lakes. The borough was laid out in 1738 and incorporated in 1789. The Six Nations and 7 other Indian tribes met here in council in 1758 with the governors of Pennsylvania and New Jersey and Sir William Johnston. Gen. Washington made it in the revolution a place of deposit for numbers of British prisoners; and in 1779 Gen. Sullivan made it the rendezvous of a body of troops previous to his campaign against the Indians.

EASTPORT, a township of Washington co., Me., situated upon the boundary line between that state and the province of New Brunswick; pop. in 1858, 4,650. Its area is little more than 3 sq. m., comprising Moose island and several smaller islands in Passamaquoddy bay. It was incorporated in 1798. The village is compactly built on the S. E. shore of Moose island, and communicates with the mainland by a covered bridge 1,200 feet long to Perry, and by ferries to Lubec and other places. It has a spacious harbor, in which the tides rise over 25 feet, and which is never blocked up by ice. In the season of navigation steamers run daily up the river St. Croix to St. Andrew's and Calais, and semi-weekly to Boston, Portland, and St. John, N. B. It contains 7 churches, 6 large school houses, a bank, a railway for repairing vessels, gas works, a weekly newspaper office, and a public library. The trade with the neighboring British provinces is large, ship-building is an important branch of industry, and lumber is exported in considerable quantities. It is also the centre of an extensive fishing business; at

times 200 or 300 boats may be seen employed in fishing within sight of the town, and large quantities of herrings are taken in weirs about the shores of the bay. Easton is the port of entry for the extensive collection district of Passamaquoddy. A fine brick and stone custom house was built by the federal government in 1850 at an expense of $36,500. The ship. ping of the district amounted, on June 30, 1858, to 17,490 tons registered, and 7,736 tons enrolled and licensed. On July 11, 1814, the place was captured by a British force under the command of Lieut. Col. Pilkington and Capt. Sir Thomas Hardy. It was claimed as included in the original limits of the province of New Brunswick, and the British commissioners at Ghent refused to agree to the surrender of the islands in Passamaquoddy bay. The matter was referred to another commission, and on June 30, 1818, the place was surrendered to the United States. During the 4 years of military occupation it was governed by martial law. Fort Sullivan, which stands on a hill in the midst of the village, is now without a garrison. EATON, a central co. of Mich., intersected by Grand river; area, 576 sq. m.; pop. in 1850, 7,058. The surface is undulating; the northern and middle parts are occupied by dense forests, and in the south are plains over which are scattered oak trees. The soil is generally a deep calcareous and sandy loam, suitable for grain, potatoes, maple sugar, and pasturage. The productions in 1850 were 50,860 bushels of wheat, 73,212 of Indian corn, 44,290 of oats, 7,207 tons of hay, 23,769 lbs. of wool, and 210,167 of maple sugar. There were 2 churches, 1 newspaper office, and 2,192 pupils attending public schools. Capital, Charlotte.

EATON, a post village of Washington township, and capital of Preble co., Ohio; pop. in 1853, about 1,600. It is situated on a fine mill stream called Seven Mile creek, in the centre of a rich agricultural country, 46 m. from Cincin nati, with which city it has communication by means of the Eaton and Hamilton railroad. About one mile W. from Eaton is the site of Fort St. Clair, which was built during the winter of 1791-22. General Harrison, then an ensign, commanded the guard during its erection. The village was laid out in 1806.

EATON, HORACE, governor of Vermont, born in Barnard, Windsor co., Vt., June 22, 1804, died in Middlebury, Vt., July 4, 1855. He was graduated at Middlebury college in 1825, received the degree of M.D. in 1828, and practised medicine at Enosburg, Vt., from 1828 to 1848, when he accepted the professorship of chemistry and natural history in Middlebury college, performing its duties until the autumn of 1854, when he resigned by reason of ill health. He was repeatedly a member of the state legislature, was lieutenant-governor of Vermont in 1843, and twice reëlected, and was governor of Vermont from 1846 to 1848. From 1845 to 1850 he was state superintendent of common schools. He was a member of the constitu

tional convention in 1843. He published several literary and political addresses, and educational reports.

EATON, WILLIAM, an American soldier, born in Woodstock, Conn., Feb. 23, 1764, died in Brimfield, Mass., June 1, 1811. At 16 years of age he eloped from home, and enlisted in the American revolutionary army, from which he was discharged in 1783. In 1790 he was graduated at Dartmouth college, and two years later received a captain's commission in the U. S. army. After remaining several years in the service, he was appointed, in the summer of 1797, American consul at Tunis, but did not depart for that place until Dec. 1798. He arrived at the scene of his new duties in March, 1799, and for several years was engaged in a series of negotiations and altercations with the bey, having reference to the annual payment of tribute money. In this difficult posi tion he acted with a boldness and tact which secured to the commerce of his country an immunity from the attacks of Tunisian cruisers. Upon the commencement of hostilities between the United States and Tripoli in 1801, Eaton conceived the idea of inducing Hamet Caramelli, the rightful bey of Tripoli, who had been deposed by his brother, to organize a land force for the purpose of cooperating with the American fleet in its attack upon the city. Finding the American naval officers averse to this project, he resigned his consulship, and in 1803 returned to the United States. He was unable to procure there the means to prosecute his scheme successfully, but received the appointment of navy agent of the United States for the Barbary states. Although very slight powers were attached to this office, he accompanied the American fleet to the Mediterranean in the summer of 1804. Learning that Hamet Caramelli, after a series of reverses in an attempt to recover his throne, had taken refuge in Egypt, he sought him out, and in the early part of 1805 assisted him in assembling a force of about 500 men, four-fifths of whom were Arabs, the remainder being Christian adventurers, principally Greeks, with 9 Americans. Having secured the cooperation of the American fleet, the little army, under the command of Eaton, took up its march across the Libyan desert for Derne, the capital of the richest province of Tripoli, a distance of about 600 miles. On several occasions the mutinous disposition of the Arab sheiks, and the irresolution of Hamet, imperilled the safety of the handful of Christians belonging to the expedition; but the energy and courage of Eaton triumphed over all obstacles, and the forces were brought in safety to Bombs, on the coast, where the American ships Argus and Hornet were in waiting. On April 25 Eaton encamped before Derne, and on the 27th, with the assistance of the ships of war, attacked and carried the city after a furious assault, in which he was wounded. A few days later an army of several thousand Tripolitans, despatched by the reigning bey, approached