102 



ETHIOPIANS ETRURIA. 



next piece, entitled She Would if She Could, which 

 was very coarse and licentious. In 1676, he pro- 

 duced his third and last comedy, entitled The Man of 

 i he Mcxle, or Sir Fopling Flutter; at which time he 

 was, as the dedication implies, in the service of Mary 

 of Modena, the second duchess of York. This perform- 

 ance was still more applauded than the preceding, and 

 the Sir Fopling was. for a long time, deemed the ideal 

 of the superlative beau or coxcomb of the age, as 

 Dorimnnt was intended to represent its rakish fine 

 gentleman, or Rochester. Etherege's plays are little 

 more tlian lively conversation pieces, with a great 

 paucity of genuine humour or felicitous plot, and 

 have long been placed on the manager's shelf. His 

 future career was very much in character. Having 

 injured his constitution and fortune, he sought to 

 marry a rich elderly widow, who made his acquire- 

 ment of the honour of knighthood the condition of 

 her acceptance. This, on the accession of James 

 II., he attained, and was appointed envoy to Ratis- 

 bon, whence he wrote two very pleasant letters to 

 the duke of Buckingham, which are printed in the 

 Biographia Britannica. On the revolution, he is said 

 to have joined his former master in France. He was 

 courtly and companionable, sprightly and generous, 

 but deemed a little too much of his own Sir Fopling. 

 Besides his plays, he wrote much light and easy 

 poetry, such as songs, lampoons, panegyrics, &c., 

 which are not without the merit usually belonging 

 to " the mob of gentlemen who write with ease." 



ETHIOPIANS, an indefinite term in ancient 

 times, was used to signify all people of a dark or 

 black skin, as well in Asia as Africa. Homer, who 

 calls them the blameless, therefore places the Ethio- 

 pians both in the east and the west. Afterwards, 

 the inhabitants of Abyssinia were called by this 

 name, Abyssinia being denominated Ethiopia. The 

 Ethiopian women, who are frequently sold as slaves 

 in Constantinople, are celebrated for their fine forms. 

 See Negroes. 



ETHIOPS MINERAL. See Mercury. 



ETHNOGRAPHY (from the Greek W, nation, 

 and yjp, I write) ; a term used by the Germans 

 and French to signify the description of nations. It 

 describes the customs, religion, &c., in fact, every- 

 thing which is characteristic of a nation. The 

 importance of this department of knowledge, and 

 the progress which has been made in it since travel- 

 ling has so much increased, and the prejudice of 

 travellers so much diminished, is evident. Ethno- 

 graphical; belonging to the science just described, 

 and also the history of nations. A history, for 

 example, is either chronological, when events are 

 recounted in the order of time, or ethnographical, 

 when the history of an individual people is given by 

 itself. See History. 



ETIENNE ; famous printers of this name. See 

 Stephens, 



ETIQUETTE (French ; a ticket) ; primarily an 

 account of ceremonies ; hence, in present usage, 

 forms of ceremony or decorum ; the forms which are 

 observed towards particular persons in particular 

 places, especially in courts and on public occasions. 

 From the original sense of the word, it may be in- 

 ferred, that it was formerly the custom to deliver 

 cards containing orders for regulating the ceremonies 

 on public occasions. Those countries in which eti- 

 quette among the higher orders has been most rigidly 

 enforced, have rarely been free and prosperous ; and 

 this artificial splendour, and external honour paid to 

 the great, have, in general, been more anxiously 

 exacted by them in proportion as real respect was 

 wanting. When the Roman emperors surrounded 

 themselves with imposing ceremonies, they had long 

 ceased to be the masters of the world ; and the impe- 



rial court at Byzantium was never more observant of 

 trifling and empty forms, than when the provinces 

 were in insurrection, and the barbarians swarmed 

 under the walls of the capital. Philip the Good, duke 

 of Burgundy, whose vanity prompted him to put 

 limself on a level with his sovereign, is the father, 

 as it were, of the modern system of etiquette, which 

 las been introduced since his time, with more or less 

 strictness, into many courts of Europe. To make 

 iiimself equal, in the eyes of the world, to the first 

 prince in Christendom, he surrounded himself with 

 i multitude of retainers and courtiers, and prescribed 

 to them an etiquette so formal and minute, that the 

 Spanish court alone (so lively and gay in the time 

 of the Moors) surpasses it in strictness. At the pre- 

 sent day, the great diffusion of knowledge and edu- 

 cation, by which all classes are brought into closet 

 contact; the general democratic tendency of the 

 age; the free and active intercourse between na- 

 tions' all have contributed much to diminish the 

 trictness of etiquette. Probably, no nation has 

 carried etiquette to a greater degree of nicety and 

 absurd formality than the Chinese. 



ETOLIA. See JEtolia. 



ETON ; a village in England, in Bucks, separated 

 from Windsor by the river Thames, over which is a 

 bridge ; twenty-two miles N. W. London ; popula- 

 tion in 1831, 3232. It is celebrated for its royal 

 college, which was founded in the nineteenth year of 

 Henry VI., in 1440, and contains seventy king's 

 scholars, from 300 to 350 independent scholars, ten 

 choristers, besides inferior officers, &c,, of the col- 

 lege. The late provost of the college, Dr Goodall, 

 commenced a portrait gallery, consisting of noble- 

 men and distinguished individuals which have been 

 educated at this school. This collection is already 

 enriched by portraits, painted by some of the best 

 modern artists. The college library is large. The 

 revenue of the college amounts to about .5000 a- 

 year. Porson, and other distinguished men, were 

 educated at this institution. Gray's ode to Eton 

 college is probably fresh in the minds of our read- 

 ers. 



The Eton Montem is one of the many old and 

 curious customs in England. It takes place on 

 Whit-Tuesday every third year. The scholars of the 

 college march in procession to Salt-hill, where their 

 captain, the best scholar, recites a passage from some 

 ancient author. The young gentlemen, called salt- 

 bearers, and arrayed in fency dresses, then disp erse 

 in various directions, to collect money from all pas- 

 sengers, not allowing any one to pass without gi'v- 

 ing something. The money thus collected, which 

 usually amounts to several hundred pounds, is given 

 to the captain, to enable him to take up his residence 

 at one of the universities. The royal family and a 

 splendid company generally attend the ceremony. 



ETRURIA. This beautiful region, bounded west 

 by the Mediterranean, east by the Apennines, norih 

 by the river Magra, and south by the Tiber, is the 

 country of the ingenious Etruscans, who have, arisen 

 from beneath the ruins of the remotest antiquity ii< 

 the history of modern art, and in the archaeological 

 investigations of our time. The chief river of tlie 

 country was the Arnus (Arno). This country, whir' 

 corresponds nearly with the present Tuscany, wa- 

 very early a confederation, under the rulers of the 

 twelve principal cities, each of which formed a 

 republic by itself. They were, Pisse (Pisa), Pistor ia, 

 (Pistoja), Florentia, Faesulae, Volaterrae (f'olterra), 

 Volsinii (Bolsena), Clusium (Chiusi), Arretium (Ar- 

 rezzo), Cortona, Perusia (Perugia), Falerii (Falari), 

 and the rich city of Veji. The chiefs of these 

 republics were styled lucumones, who were also the 

 priests and generals, and held their meetings in tlt 



