E L C 



408 



ELD 



The free navigation of the river, however, is gr, 

 injured by an excessive number of tolls and restrictions, 

 iinpi>ed by the sovereigns of the dilli-rcnt tern: 

 through which it flows. Merchandise sent (nun Pirna, 

 in Saxony, was obliged to pay :/J toll- In-fore it reach- 

 ed Hamburg, and at Mwoeborg all vessels not uiuKr 



sian produce, were 



compelled to unload, and ship their floods in Prussian 

 vessels, of which SCO were employed by Magdeburg 

 alone. Each prince too insi-ls on payment in the enin 

 of his territory, and the officers, when certificates 

 f payment arc granted, orentuii.it a great distance 

 from the water side. Were these inconveniences re- 

 moved, a voyage on the Elbe would be both expedi- 

 tion* and agreeable, as the passage boats arc so con- 

 structed, that travellers, on taking beds with them, may 

 regularly .-lecp onboard, and i.-c.ipc the risk of bad 

 inns. 



In the year 17.96', there were no fewer than 4(iO ves- 

 sels employed in the navigation of the Kibe, from 

 Hamburg to Magdeburg. See BOIIF.MIA for a particu- 

 lar account of the progress of the Elbe through that 

 kingdom; also HAMBURG andMAGDEBURo. See also Od- 

 dy's European Commerce, and Catteau's Voyage en Alk- 

 ww r >\. i. Paris, 1810. (r) 



1 .1.15 ING, a town of Prussia, in the circle of Marien- 

 burg. ,1 in a fertile district on the river Elbing, 



t!ie Frisclie Haff. This town appears to have been 

 founded by a colony from Lubeck in 1239, and till the 

 end of the iGth century was included in the Hanseatic 

 League. The demolition of the fortifications, at the 

 n of the town to Prussia by Poland in 1770, has 

 enriched the town with a grand place. Since the year 

 177~, Elbing has risen in importance as a commercial 

 town. On an island formed by the river Elbing and a 

 moat, a custom-house and excellent warehouses have 

 been erected, those for corn holding no less than 30,000 

 lasts. About the end of the year 180!>, the shipping 

 consisted of 71 10 tons, besides 50 coasters, and \!.~> light- 

 ers, which are employed in conveying cargoes to Pil- 

 lau, 50 miles distant ; as shins of 1 00 tons only can 

 eome up to Elbing. Catteau, in his Tableau de la Mer 

 Ballitfue, states the number of vessels that arrived an- 

 nually at Elbing to be between 300 and 400, the same 

 number clearing out annually. 



The exports and imports of Elbing are nearly the 

 same 'as those of Konigsberg, and consisted of iron, 

 iron stone, alum, lead, Bra/il wood, coffee, oranges and 

 citrons, indigo, vitriol, rice, tobacco, sugar, soda, and 

 French wines. This trade, however, lias suffered great- 

 ly during the late disastrous wars, but now that peace 

 is established, it may soon be expected to recover its 

 former importance. 



A number of vessels are built at Elbing; and there 

 are manufactories of soap, tobacco, wood-ashes, starch, 

 sailcloth and cordage, besides a sugar-house, and a saw 

 mill. 



The library of the college contains some curiosities ; 

 and in the environs of the town, viz. at ( !i i/hals, Thiini- 

 berg, Haff, and Vogelsang, there are some very pictu- 

 resque views. Population in I S02, 19,^'(>. East lon- 

 gitude l<) '.!', and north latitude ', by trigo- 

 nometrical observations. See Oddy's Eumix-an ( 'um- 

 mercc ; and Catteau's Tableau tfe id Mcr liailiiiue, vol. 

 ii. p. 303. (n>) 



ELCHE, tlie I/lici of the Romans, is a town of 

 Spam in the province of Valencia, situated in a pliin 

 almost entirely covered with palms. It c nt.iins H 

 good streets, several spacious squares, some splendid 



Laws. 



house*, and six fount ;' which is of marble in EMenHoU, 



llu- shape of a tomb, and discharge* excellent water by Election 

 JO pipes. At tin- end of a beautiful bridge, without s 

 an\ water under it, i> a circular marble fountain which 

 discharges the water by eight pipes ; but the water of 

 id tlie other four fountain* i* brackish. There- 

 are three parish churches in the town, nil hospital with 

 JO bed*, two convents of monks, and one of mm*. 

 The church of St Maria has a marble portal, anil, 

 according to I.aborde, is a " : assemblage of 



plain, twisted, and spiral fluted columns." On the road 

 t'roni Orihucl.i, on the left as we approach tlie town. 

 there is a large and handsome square building, which 

 is used as barracks for the troops. The Ducal Palace, 

 standing on the bank of a deep ravine, bears marks of 

 a high antiquity. 



I'.lche carries on a great trade in dates and pal HIM, 

 with which tlie surrounding country is covered. There 

 are several tanneries and a soap manufactory in the 

 town. 



The town is the residence of a vicar-general of the 

 Bishop of Oriliuela, and is governed by an alcalde 

 m.ij'ir, four regidors, and some deputies of the commons. 



The town is remarkably gloomy, and has no kind of 

 amusement, society being very rare. The inhabitants, 

 and particularly the husbandmen, are rich. Don George 

 Juan, one of the most celebrated of the Spanish mithii 

 maticians, was born at J'.lclie. Population 2700 houses, 

 15,000 inhabitants, of whom there are MO families of 

 labourers, and several noble families. See Labordc's 

 I'i.i" of Spain, and Towns-end's Travels, vol. iii. 



EI.DEN HOLE. See DKHBVMIIIIE. 



ELECTION LAWS, in Scotish jurisprudence, are 

 those regulations and enactments, wliich have been 

 made with the view of preserving the purity of parlia- 

 mentary representation. We shall have occasion to en- 

 ter into a more general discussion of this subject in a 

 future article ; at present we shall merely give a 

 short summary of tlie rules applicable to elections in 

 Scotland. 



Anciently the parliament of Scotland consisted of 

 the clergy and barons ; which last title comprehended 

 every man who held immediately of tlie king, how- 

 ever small his property. The obligation of attendance 

 on parliament was felt as a burthen by the lesser ba- 

 rons in those times ; and certain exemptions were 

 sanctioned by the act 1427, c. 101, and subsequently 

 by that of 1587, c. 114. But, at a later period, the 

 feelings of proprietors changed with the spirit of the 

 times, and political rights came to be considered aa a 

 valuable privilege, rather than as an oppressive hard- 

 ship. Hence it became necessary to fix, with more 

 precision, the nature and extent of the elector's title. 

 15y the acts 1661, c. 35, and 1681, c. 21, it was pro- 

 vided, that an elector should have, in property or su- 

 pcriority, a forty-shilling land of old extent, held of the 

 king or prince ; or when the old extent did not ap- 

 pear, that the lands should be liable in public burthens 

 for L. 400 of valued rent. By the latter ofthe.se enact- 

 ments, a regular roll of the freeholders is directed to be 

 made up, and annually revised at the Michaelmas head 

 courts in the different "counties. By the act His.'), c. 2. 

 the clergy were finally deprived of the privilege of sit- 

 ting in parliament. By the union of the two king- 

 doms (1st of May l~07) the Scotish Parliament was 

 absorbed in the Parliament of (i real Britain ; the Scot- 

 i.liiiity, instead of their hereditary -eats, wire now 

 represented by 1 'o of their number, and the pro- 

 portion of the representation in the House of Com- 



