E L G 



The cave of Elephanta, like the excavations near 

 F.llora, is the work of a peopl* an . 

 have attained a high sUte of perfection. There. l.iUuir 

 and skill are d in a degree much superior to 



that necessary to construct the pyramid*. The o; 

 hibin the toil of barbarous sln\ CM . the other the genius 

 of a civilized and scientific nation. Asiatic literature 

 hi\i:ig been followed through its thousand streams, at 

 this Moment, the gods of India stand revealed in their 

 \ariou attributes, almost as clearly as the deities of 

 i Koine : yet lias the research failed to deduce 

 e from its parent source, and to reflect much light 

 on the dark page of the history of that splendid ;eia, 

 when Asia eclipsed all nations in works of magni- 

 ficence and art. Egyptian priests are believed to have 

 come from the Nile to the Ganges, and it may be in- 

 firred from tile immovable prejudices and self-suf- 

 ficiency of the Brahmins, not as their preceptors, but 

 rather to be instructed than to instruct. We know 

 I_\|>t to have been the fountain of knowledge for the 

 wc-tern, and India for the eastern regions of the globe; 

 but which of the two nations can boast of priority of 

 claim to the arts and sciences, remains a doubt. We 

 are ignorant of what the learned of Memphis wrote con- 

 cerning India, and the sages of Benares give but ob- 

 scure accounts of Egypt. Indeed, Hindoo testimony, 

 from its preposterous claims to antiquity, is entitled to 

 little belief. We are abundantly warranted in suppo- 

 sing that a connexion subsisted between die ancient ido- 

 latrous nations, and that Egyptians, Indians, Greeks, 

 and Italians emanated from one central point, from 

 thence scattering their different arts and knowledge, 

 along with themselves, over the world. See Asiatic ae- 

 fearches, vol. iv. ; Niebuhr's Travels; and M. Graham's 

 Journal of a Resilience in India, (w. T.) 



ELEPHANTIASIS. See MEDICINE. 



ELEPHAXTOPUS, a genus of plants of the class 

 Syngenesia, and order 1'olygamia Segregata. See 

 EOT v NY, p. 510. 



ELEPHANTUSIA, a genus of plants of the class 

 1'olygamia and order Din-cia. See BOTANY, p. 346. 



1 ,1'SIXE, a genus of plants of the class Triandria, 

 and order Monogynia. See BOTANY, p. 115. 



I.I.KUSINIAN MYSTERIES. See FREE MASONRY 

 and MYSTERIES. 



ELGIN, a royal burgh of Scotland, and the county 

 town of Morayshire, lies upon the banks of the Lossie, 

 about seven miles from where that river falls into the 

 Moray Frith. It is supposed to have derived its name 

 from Hdsy, a Norwegian general, who, in the begin- 

 ning of the 10th century, when Siward, Earl of the 

 ( irknies, spread his conquests over the northern parts 

 of Scotland, is said to have built a town southward of 

 Duffeyrus. This description corresponds with the scite 

 of Elgin ; and the supposition is farther confirmed by 

 the inscription on the common seal of the town, Sigi/lum 

 commune civitatis de IleLi/n. This town consists of 

 one street above a mile in length, intersected by seven 

 smaller streets or lanes ; and the houses which front the 

 principal street are generally of three stories. Near 

 the centre of the town, and in the middle of the street, 

 which here widens very much, are huddled together 

 the town-house, the sheriff-court-house, and the county 

 jail ; and near to these is the parish church, a low ir- 

 regular building, all of which both deform and encum- 

 ber the street. At the west end of the town, on a green 

 mount called Lady Hill, are the ruins of a royal fort. 

 The area within the wall which surrounds the summit 

 of the hill is 85 yards in length by 45 in breadth ; and 

 from the remains of the interior buildings, it would 



E L G 



eetn, that they once formed a square. ThU fort wai 

 destroyed by IJoUert de Bruce, when IIP surprised the s 

 English garrison which then held it, on his unexpected 

 return from the Hebrides. 



'it was at an early period erected into an Ep 

 pal see, and was adorned with the pala. i-sias- 



tics. and the endowments of monks. The chapel of the 

 monastery of the Grey Kriars, is still almost entire, but 

 the monastery itself has been long occupied as the habi- 

 tation of a private family. The Bishop's palace, now the 

 property of the Duke of Gordon, is but a mean build- 

 ing, and can scarcely be distinguished from the ordinary 

 dwellings. The ruins of the cathedral stand at the east 

 end of the town, and display Ixith magnificence and 

 elegance. This pile is in the form of a cross, 264 feet 

 long, and ;<."> broad, of Gothic architecture, and .stands 

 due east and west. It had five towers; two on the 

 corners of the west end, 84 feet high, exclusive of the 

 steeples ; two on the east, CO feet ; and one in the mid- 

 dle, 198 feet. The grand entrance is by the west, 

 through an arched gateway '-' t feet high, and ^4 feit 

 broad at the base. Above this gate was a window in 

 the form of an acute angled ;ux-h, 27 feet high, and ly 

 wide ; and on the east gable was a parallel range of five 

 windows, each ten by two feet ; above these, live more, 

 each seven feet high ; and over all, a circular window 

 about 10 feet in diameter. On both sides of the church, 

 eastward from the transept, were aisles 18 feet broad 

 outside the walls, having each a large window, and 

 above these a range of windows six feet in height. The 

 whole is richly ornamented with caned dc\ ices and 

 embellishments. But the most beautiful part of the 

 building is the chapter-house, which communicates with 

 the choir by a vaulted vestry. It has the form of an 

 octagon :'<4 fiet high, and 27 in its greatest breadth. 

 Its vaulted roof is supported by a clustered pillar 

 nine feet in circumference, from the top of which 

 ribs stretch along the roof to each angle of the octa- 

 gon. Except where it joins the choir, there is a 

 window on each side; and in the north wall are five 

 stalls in niches for the bishop and dignified clergy. 

 The middle stall intended for the bishop or dean is 

 larger, and raised a step higher than the rest This 

 cathedral was built by Bishop Andrew de Moray 

 in 1224. In 1390 it was burnt down, together with 

 the town of Elgin, by Alexander, (son of Hobert II.) 

 called the " Wolf of Badenoch," in resentment against 

 Bishop Barr. It was soon after, however, restored ti 

 its former magnificence, and Bishop Innes laid the foun- 

 dation of the great tower, and made some other addi- 

 tions to the building. In 1506, the great tower fell, 

 and although Bishop Foreman began to rebuild it in 

 the following year, it was not completed till al> 

 years after. The whole cathedral remained entire till 

 1568, when the council at Edinburgh ordered the lead 

 to be taken from the cathedral churches of Aberdeen 

 and Elgin, and sold for the maintenance of the Kegent 

 Murray's soldiers. Being thus uncovered and exposed 

 to the weather, it soon after began to decay, and the 

 great tower fell down in 1711. The remains of a high 

 stone wall still exists, which inclosed the cathedral and 

 burying ground, with houses and small gardens for 

 22 canons and dignitaries of the see. 



Among the buildings of this town, it may be proper 

 to include an intended hospital for the sick poor of the 

 town and county. The funds, now amounting to near- 

 ly .L 10,000, which arc to be appropriated to this pur- 

 pose, were left by Dr Alexander Gray, a native of El- 

 gin, who died some years ago in India. The trustee* 

 have already fixed upon a very elegant plan for the 



