EAR 



EAR 



EJLB trig. See FORFICULA. 



BAKING, in the sea-language, is that 

 part of the bolt-rope which at the four 

 corners of the sail is left open, in the 

 shape of a ring. The two uppermost 

 parts are put over the ends of the yard 

 arms, and so the sail is made fast to the 

 yard ; and into the lowermost earings, 

 the sheets and tacks are seized or bent 

 at the clew. 



EARL, a British title of nobility, nest 

 below a marquis, and above a viscount. 

 Earls were anciently called comites, be- 

 cause they were wont comitari regem, to 

 wait upon the King for council and ad- 

 vice. The Germans call them graves, as 

 landgrave, margrave, palsgrave, rhein- 

 grave ; the Saxons ealdermen, unless that 

 title might be more properly applied to 

 our dukes ; the Danes, eorlas ; and the 

 English, earls. The title, originally, died 

 with the man. William the Conqueror 

 first made it hereditary, giving it in fee 

 to his nobles, and allotting them for the 

 support of their state the third penny out 

 of the sheriff's court, issuing out of all 

 pleas of the shire whence they had their 

 title. But now the matter is quite other- 

 wise ; for whereas heretofore comes and 

 comitatus were correlatives, and there was 

 no comes or earl, but had a county or 

 shire for his earldom, of latter years the 

 number of earls increasing, and no more 

 counties being left, divers have made 

 choice of some eminent part of a county, 

 as Lindsey, Holland, Cleveland, &c. ; 

 some of a lesser part, as Strafford, &c. ; 

 others have chosen for their title some 

 eminent town, as Marlborough, Exeter, 

 Bristol, &c. ; and some have taken for 

 their title the name of a small village ; 

 their own seat or park, as Godolphin, 

 Clarendon, &c. An earl is created by 

 cincture of sword, mantle of state put 

 upon him by the King himself, a cap and 

 a coronet put upon his head, and a char- 

 ter in his hand. All the earls of Eng- 

 land were formerly denominated from 

 some shire, town, or place, except three; 

 two of whom, viz. Earl Rivers, and 

 Earl Paulet, uke their denomination 

 from illustrious famulies; the third is 

 not only honorary, as all the re^t, but 

 also officiary, as the Earl Marshal of 

 England. 



EAHL Marshal of England, is a great 

 officer, who had anciently several courts 

 under his jurisdiction, as the court of 

 chivalry, and the court of honour. Un- 

 der him is also the herald's office, or 

 college of arms. He hath some pre-emi- 



nence in the court of Marshalsea, where 

 he may sit in judgment against those 

 who offend within the verge of the King's 

 court. This office is of great antiquity 

 in England, and anciently of greater pow- 

 er than now ; and has been for several 

 ages hereditary in the most noble family 

 of Howard. 



EARNEST, a part of the price paid in 

 advance to bind parties to the perform- 

 ance of a verbal agreement. The party 

 is then obliged to abide by his bargain, 

 and is not discharged upon forfeiting 

 his earnest, but may be sued for the 

 whole money stipulated, and damages ; 

 and by the statute of frauds 29, c. 2. 

 c. 3, no contract for sale of goods not 

 to be delivered immediately to the value" 

 of Wl. or more, is valid, unless con- 

 tract is made by the parties, or those 

 lawfully authorised by them, or earnest is 

 given. 



EARTH, the vast mass or planet we 

 inhabit. The scientific and theoretical 

 attempts which have been made to ascer- 

 tain the form and internal composition of 

 the earth have produced less certain re- 

 sults than could be wished. With re- 

 spect to the grand outline we may con- 

 clude, without much danger of error, that 

 it is spherical ; which observation is sup- 

 ported by the appearance of the moon, 

 the nearest body to the earth. We may 

 illustrate this supposition by drawing a 

 true circle, and filling its circumference 

 with a capricious outline, sometimes 

 touching and at others receding from it. 

 The cause of the inequalities, which we 

 denominate mountains and rallies, seems 

 to be the natural consequences of the 

 composition of the earth, the action of the 

 air and water ever changing the posi- 

 tion of the softer materials, and having 

 but little effect on the hardest. Thus, 

 on the borders of the sea large tracts 

 of land are known to crumble into it, 

 and that even mountains are under- 

 mined : Mont Blanc has recently afford- 

 ed a most melancholy proof. Besides the 

 above causes, there are others volcanic, 

 and arising from the earthquakes pro- 

 duced by them. Still greater changes 

 in the surface of the earth have taken 

 place at periods beyond the records of 

 history, except in the single instance of 

 the scriptures and the deluge, which is 

 demonstrated by the discovery of sub- 

 stances evidently peculiar to the sea 

 only, in the highest mountains, where 

 it is impossible to account for their ar- 

 rival, but by supposing that the spots 





