ETANIA ETHEREGE. 



101 



The Tagus divides it into two nearly equal parts. 

 The northern part is mountainous. It contains some 

 mineral springs. Earthquakes are more frequent 

 here than in any other part of Portugal. The soil in 

 general is fertile, but in the south sandy. Agricul- 

 ture is so neglected, that the production hardly 

 suffices for the consumption. Cattle abound in the 

 mountains, fish in the rivers, and metals in the earth; 

 but industry is wanting. The population is about 

 700,500, and is less active than that of the northern 

 prov inces. 



ETANIA, in the Basque language, signifies dwel- 

 ling, and is the origin of the terminations of Lusi- 

 tania, Aquitania, &c. 



ETCHING ; one species of engraving on copper, 

 the lines being corroded in with aqua tortis, instead 

 of being cut with a graver, which, for many pur- 

 poses, is superior to engraving ; but there are others 

 in which the subjects must be graved, not etched. In 

 general, in engravings on copper executed in the 

 stroke manner, etching and graving are combined ; 

 the plate is begun by etching, and finished with the 

 graver. Landscapes, architecture, and machinery 

 receive most assistance from etching ; in portraits 

 and historical designs, the draperies and darker 

 parts of skin are first etched, and afterwards finished 

 with the graver. For an account of the process of 

 etching, see Engraving. 



ETEOCLES and POLYNICES; sons of CEdipus 

 and Jocasta. After their father's banishment, A. C. 

 1230, they agreed to rule in Thebes, each a year 

 alternately. , Eteocles violated this compact, and 

 Polynices fled to implore the assistance of Adrastus, 

 king of Argos, who marched against Thebes, with 

 Polynices and six other Grecian princes. The city 

 made an obstinate defence. The two brothers fell by 

 each other's hand; and Creon, their uncle, ascended 

 the throne of Thebes. He prohibited the interment 

 of Polynices, under penalty of death ; but Antigone, 

 sister of the deceased, yielding to the voice of nature, 

 resolved to perform this last rite for her deceased 

 brother. She was discovered, and buried alive by 

 the order of Creon. This act of cruelty recoiled on 

 himself ; for his son, Haemon, who was in love with 

 her, killed himself on her grave. See Thebes. 



ETHELBERT, king of Kent, succeeded his father, 

 Hermenric, about 560, and soon reduced all the 

 states, except Northumberland, to the condition of 

 his dependants. In his reign Christianity was first 

 introduced into England. Ethelbert married Bertha, 

 the daughter of Caribert, king of Paris, and a Chris- 

 tian princess, who, stipulating for the free exercise 

 of her religion, brought over with her a French 

 bishop. Her conduct was so exemplary as to pre- 

 possess the king and his court in favour of the Chris- 

 tian religion. In consequence, pope Gregory the 

 Great sent a mission of forty monks, headed by 

 Augustin, to preach the gospel in the island. They 

 were well received, and numbers were converted ; 

 and the king himself, at length, submitted to be 

 baptized. Civilization and knowledge followed Chris- 

 tianity, and Ethelbert enacted a body of laws, which 

 was the first written code promulgated by the northern 

 conquerors. He died in 616, and was succeeded by 

 his son Edbald. 



ETHELBERT, king of England, son of Ethelwolf, 

 succeeded to the government of the eastern side of 

 the kingdom in 857, and in 860, on the death of his 

 brother Ethelbald, became sole king. His reign was 

 much disturbed by the inroads of the Danes, whom 

 he repulsed with vigour, but without success, as, 

 whenever they were driven from one part of the 

 country, they ravaged another. He died in 866. 



ETHELRED I., king of England, son of Ethel- 

 wolf, succeeded his brother Ethelbert in 866. The 



Danes became so formidable, in his reign, as to 

 threaten the conquest of the whole kingdom. Assisted 

 by his brother Alfred, Ethelred drove them from the 

 centre of Mercia, where they had penetrated; but, 

 the Mercians refusing to act with him, he was obliged 

 to trust to the West Saxons alone, his hereditary sub- 

 jects. After various successes, the invaders conti- 

 nually increasing in numbers, Ethelred died, in 

 consequence of a wound received in an action with 

 them, in 871. 



ETHELRED II., king of England, son of Edgar, 

 succeeded his brother, Edward the Martyr, in 978, 

 and, for his want of vigour and capacity, was sur- 

 named the Unready. During his reign, the Danes, 

 who had for some time ceased their inroads, renewed 

 them with great fury. After having repeatedly 

 obtained their departure by presents of money, he 

 effected, in 1002, a massacre of all the Danes in 

 England Such revenge only rendered his enemies 

 more violent ; and, in 1003, Sweyn and his Danes 

 carried fire and sword through the country. They 

 were again bribed to depart ; but, upon a new inva- 

 sion, Sweyn obliged the nobles to swear allegiance 

 to him as king of England ; while Ethelred, hi 1013, 

 fled to Normandy with his family. On the death of 

 Sweyn, he was invited to resume the government. 

 He died at London in 1016. 



ETHELWOLF, king of England, succeeded his 

 father, Egbert, in 838, and, soon after his accession, 

 associated his son Athelstan with him, giving him 

 the sovereignty over Essex, Kent, and Sussex. In 

 851, the Danes poured into the country in such num- 

 bers, that they threatened to subdue it ; and, though 

 opposed with great vigour by Athelstan and others, 

 they fixed their winter quarters in England, and next 

 year burnt Canterbury and London. During these 

 troubles, Ethelwolf made a pilgrimage to Rome, with 

 his son Alfred, where he staid a year, and, on his re- 

 turn, found Athelstan dead, and succeeded by his 

 next son, Ethelbald, who had entered into a conspi- 

 racy with some nobles, to prevent his father from 

 again ascending his throne. To avoid a civil war, 

 the king gave up the western division of the king- 

 dom to his son, and soon after, summoning the states 

 of the whole kingdom, solemnly conferred upon the 

 clergy the tithes of all the produce of the lands. 

 He survived this grant about two years, dying in 857. 



ETHER; a very volatile fluid, produced by the 

 distillation of alcohol with an acid. The ethers are 

 a very important class of compounds, differing in 

 their qualities according as they are produced by the 

 different acids ; but they also agree in the possession 

 of certain general properties. They are highly vola- 

 tile, odorous, pungent, and inflammable ; miscible 

 with water, and capable of combining with alcohol 

 in every proportion. They receive their names from 

 the acids by whose action on alcohol they are pro- 

 duced ; as sulphuric ether, nitric ether, muriatic 

 ether, &c. (for a particular account of which, see the 

 respective articles under these denominations). 



ETHER, in philosophy. See JSthcr. 



ETHEREGE, SIR GEORGE, one of the wits of 

 Charles the lid's, day, chiefly known as a writer 

 of comedy, was born about 1636. He is supposed 

 to have been for some time at Cambridge, then to 

 have travelled, and, on his return, to have been 

 entered at one of the inns of court. He appears, 

 however, to have paid little attention to any- 

 thing but gay pursuits. In 1664, he presented to 

 the town his first comedy, entitled the Comical Re- 

 venge, or Love in a Tub ; which, although written 

 with a very incongruous mixture of prose and verse, 

 as suited the taste of the times, was well received. 

 The author was immediately enrolled among the 

 courtly wits of the day, and, in 1668, brougbt out his 



