BOHOVT. 



EHKENHEKG, CHKISTIAN GODFREY. 



744 



the public and the other to the private life of liU hero. It hu gone 

 through many editions, and lias been also tnnilated into various 

 language*. The style i< remarkably good for the times. 2, ' Annales 

 Begum Franoornm, Pipini, Karolimagni, et Ludovici I'ii, ab anno 741 

 ad annum 829.' 3, 'Epistols),' which are found in Ducbe&ne'n 

 Historic Francorum Scriptoree,' vol. ii. These letters, of which 

 only sixty-two have been preserved, show Eginhardt'a character to 

 great advantage, and afford considerable information on the manners 

 of that period. 4, ' Breviarium Chronologicum ab orbe condito ad 

 ann. D. 829,' which is an abridgment of Bede's Chronicle. There is 

 a notice of Eginhardt by Duoheane, prefixed to his life of Charlemagne, 

 in the collection already mentioned. There U also a life of Eginhardt 

 by M. Teulet, prefixed to his edition, with a translation into French, 

 of the works of Eginhardt, in 2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1840. 



EGMOXT, Count of Lsmoral, Prince of Qavre, a descendant of 

 thoae dukes of Quelders who bad signalised themselves against the 

 bouse of Austria, was born in 1522 in Amsterdam. The fame of his 

 anoettor* is celebrated in the annals of his country, one of whom 

 enjoyed, during the reign, of Maximilian, the supreme magistracy of 

 Holland. 



Egmont's marriage with Sabina, duchess of Bavaria, reflected 

 additional lustre upon his noble birth, and increased his influence by 

 powerful alliances. In the year 1546 Charles V. conferred upon him 

 the order of the Golden Fleece. Under this emperor lie learned the 

 art of war, and, being appointed by Philip II. commander of the 

 cavalry, he gathered his first laurels in the fields of St. Quentin and 

 Gravelingen (1557. 1558). 



The Flemish people, chiefly occupied with commerce, ami indebted 

 for the preservation of their prosperity to these victories, were justly 

 proud of their countryman, whose fame was spread through all 

 Europe. The circumstances of Egmont being the father of a numerous 

 family served also to increase their affection, and they saw with 

 delight the prospect of this illustrious family being perpetuated 

 among them. 



Egmont's demeanour was courteous and noble; his open counte- 

 nance was an index of the singleness of his mind ; his life was one of 

 mercy and philanthropy ; far from being a bigoted Humanist, or a 

 recklers reformer, be elevated himself above the contending parties, 

 and laboured to bring about a peaceful reconciliation. It was only 

 towards the close of his life, when all attempts to distil-in the fury of 

 the Spaniards against bis Protestant countrymen had failed, that he 

 showed hininelf willing to defend them against their oppressors. His 

 motives however do not appear to have been any predilection for the 

 Protestant doctrine, but pure love of justice, peace, and humanity. 



A man possessed of such qualities, and enjoying so much popular 

 influence, naturally awoke suspicion aud jealousy in the hearts of the 

 Spanish despots whenever the interests of the Flemish came into 

 collision with those of the crown. Philip however, in order to conceal 

 bis dark designs against the supposed protectors of the religion of bis 

 rebellious subjects, on visiting Brabant gave to Egmont the govern- 

 ment of Artois and Flanders, and exempted his estates from taxation. 

 But upon his return to Madrid the tyrant changed his plans, and sent 

 his favourite, Alva, to Flanders, with instructions to get rid of Egmont 

 and his friend Count Horn. 



In order to secure them both, Alva invited them to dinner, under 

 the pretence of winning to consult them on public affairs, When 

 they had entered his private room, they were seized, and thrown into 

 prison in Ghent, where they remained during nine months. At the 

 expiration of this time they were curried to Brussels under an escort 

 of ten companies of Spanish soldiers. Hero Alva, invested with the 

 power of captain-general and supreme judge, compelled the criminal 

 court to pronounce Egmont guilty of high treason and rebellion, and 

 to sentence him to be beheaded. Thin sentence was pronounced on 

 the 4th of June 1568, without any substantial evidence, and was 

 supported only by the depositions of his accusers. His estates were 

 also confiscated. During his imprisonment the emperor of Germany, 

 the knights of the Golden Fleece, the electors, the duchess of Parma, 

 and his wife, used every possible exertion to save bis life ; but Philip 

 was immovable. The sentence was executed on the 5th of Juno 1568, 

 and both Egmont and Horn fell by the sword of the executioner on a 

 scaffold erected in one of the principal squares of Brussels. Egmont 

 died with courage, after having written a dignified letter to the king 

 and a tender one to his wife. 



He was but forty-six yean of age. The people, who assembled in 

 crowds to witness this mournful spectacle, were loud in their lamenta- 

 tions ; they rushed towards the scaffold and dipped their handkerchiefs 

 in the blood of the martyrs of Flemish independence. His friend, 

 Count Horn, was executed immediately after him. Kgmont's wife 

 died the 1Mb of June 1508. It is said that the bishop of Ypres, a 

 most pious and upright prelate, who had been deputed by Alva to 

 prepare the two prisoners for their execution, after hearing the con 

 fudnn of K^tmont, was so persuaded of bis innocence that he went 

 to Alva and brgged him on his knees to suspend the execution. Hut 

 Alva, beside* his natural ferocity, lre a mortal enmity to Egmont on 

 account of bis military reputation, and rejected the bishop's inter- 

 eesaion with insolent contempt When Philip II. heard that these 

 two noble lords had been executed he exclaimed, " I have caused these 

 two heads to fall because the heads of such salmons are worth more 



than many thousand frogs." But the perfidy of the monarch proved 

 to be an ill policy. The judicial murder of Egmont and Horn 

 exasperated the people beyond all endurance, and the revolt became 

 general and irrepressible, and the last years of Philip were rendered 

 miserable by the failure of all his efforts to restore his authority in 

 the Netherlands. 



The death of Egmont has supplied to Gothe an admirable subject 

 for one of the best of his historical tragedies, for which Beethoven 

 composed one of his finest overtures and some beautiful melodies to 

 the songs interspersed through the play. 



The latest life of Egmont is that by Clouet, ' ftloge historique du 

 Comto d'Egmout,' Bruxelles, 1825. 



* EHRENBERG, CHRISTIAN GODFREY, the celebrated German 

 naturalist and microscopist, was born on the 19th of April 1795, at 

 Delituch in Prussian Saxony. He received his early education at 

 Schulpforte, and commenced the study of medicine at Leipzig in 1815. 

 In 1817 he was called to Berlin by the law of military service. I I.T.- 

 he became acquainted with the celebrated Hemprich. nnd afterwards 

 accompanied him in bis travels in the Eat At Berlin Khrenberg 

 gave himself up to the ftudy of organic life, and his first essay was ' Ou 

 the Structure and Classification of the Fungi.' This paper appeared 

 in the 'Annalea des Botanique' of Schroader, Sprengel, and Link in 

 the year 1818. He took his degree of Doctor of Medicine the same 

 year, taking as the subject of his inaugural thesis, ' Sylvao Mycologicie 

 Berolinensea.' In this paper he described two hundred and fort , 

 species of cryptogamic plants, sixty-two of which were new. In 1819 

 and 1820 he published other papers on cryptogamic botany, more 

 especially one on the Flora of Uatisbon, in the 10th volume of the 

 ' Memoirs of the Leopoldiue Academy of Naturalists of Berne,' of 

 which academy he had at that time been elected a member. 



In April 1820 he embarked with his friend Hemprich on his travels 

 in Egypt. They first visited Alexandria, aud explored the co:ists of 

 Libya, and in 1S21 visited Middle Egypt, especially the Pyramids. 

 They arrived at Dongola in February 1822, where the govi'iiu.r 

 was so much struck with the genius of M. Ehrenberg that he insisted 

 on his giving him a plan of a fortress. The naturalist pleaded in 

 vain his want of knowledge, and at last gave the plan of the fortress 

 of Kasr-Dongola-el-Gediile, which to this day is the residence of the 

 governor. Under the protection of the governor, the tr.i. 

 penetrated as far as Ambukohl, in Upper Dongola. The travellers 

 after returning to Cairo visited Siuai, the height of which inountniu 

 Khreuberg accurately ascertained by means of the thermometer. 

 Various scientific expeditious were made into Syria and Arabia, aud 

 Ehrenberg returned to Berlin in 1826. He lost however his friend 

 Hemprich, who died of a fever at Massawa, an bland in the Arabian 

 Gulf. Berghaus has given to two groups of islands to the south and 

 north of Dhalak the names of the islands of Hemprich and the islands 

 of Ehreubcrg. 



On bis return Ehrenberg was named one of the professors of the 

 Faculty of Medicine, a position he still occupies. Soon after arranging 

 his materials he commenced publishing his observations upon various 

 departments of natural history. Besides a complete history of 

 his travels he produced many monographs on various branches of 

 natural history. The principal series wan the ' Symbolic Physics; seu 

 Iconea et Descriptions Animaliuui ex Itinere per Africam borealcm 

 et Asiam occideutalem,' &<:., published at Berlin from 1828 to 1832. 

 Another paper should be mentioned, ' On the Acalephoo of the Red 

 Sea,' in which he contributed largely to the existing knowledge of the 

 Mediate. During his travels Ehrenberg made many observations, 

 which have been published, on the useful plants growing in the 

 districts which he visited. 



In 1829 he accepted an invitation to join iu the journey of Alexander 

 von Humboldt into the Ural Mountains, an expedition which was 

 prolonged into the Altai. It was during this journey that Ehi-euberg's 

 attention was more especially directed to the importance of investi- 

 gations with the microscope. This instrument, which was gradually 

 attracting attention, more especially through the important labours of 

 our own countryman, Robert Brown [Bitow.v, KOIIEKT], became iu his 

 bands a mighty instrument of research. It would not be consistent 

 with our present notice to refer to all Ehrenberg's papers on micro- 

 scopic objects. Between sixty and seventy are referred to in Agassis'* 

 4 Bibliography,' and probably as many more are extant They arc. 

 diffused throughout the transactions of the scientific societies and the 

 pages of the scientific journals of Europe. \Vi.> n Khrniiberg com- 

 menced his labours, little had been done towards studying the atructure 

 of or classifying the organic beings whose existence could only be 

 learned by the aid of the microscope. This instrument opened up to 

 his view a new world, and if iu his enthusiasm he too rapidly inter- 

 preted some of tbo phenomena, it should never bo forgotten that 

 Ehrenberg was the first to demonstrate the existence of the largo mass 

 of beings known as microscopic plants and animals. His observations, 

 as far as they bad gone, were published in his great folio work in 

 1838, entitled 'Die Infusionstbierchcu als vollkommeue Organismen 

 an den Grenzen der Sub-Kraft.' This work comprised a general 

 history, with a detailed account, of the structure of several hundred 

 species of organic beings. He regarded these all as animals, and 

 included them all in one group, which ho called Jnfutona. Since the 

 publication of this work it has been shown that a portion of these 



