804 



EDWY -EFFENDI. 



This eminent man gave, to the last moment, an ad- 

 mirable example ot Christian patience, resignation, 

 and hope. He left five daughters and three sons. 

 One of his sons was president of the college at Sche- 

 nectady, New York, having been, like his father, a 

 tutor in the institution in 'which lie was educated ; 

 subsequently dismissed from a parish under his care 

 on account of his religious opinions, settled again in 

 a retired situation, elected to the presidentship of a 

 college, and called to leave this world shortly after 

 his inauguration, and nearly at the same age with his 

 father. The physical constitution of Edwards (the 

 father) was extremely delicate ; but his mind was 

 so active and well disciplined, that he was able to 

 produce, besides the works already mentioned, a very 

 large numl>er of tracts and sermons. Various nar- 

 ratives of his life, and editions of his works, have 

 been printed in Great Britain and the United States. 

 The latest is in ten octavo volumes, published in 

 1830, at New York, and edited from original mate- 

 rials, by Sereno E. Dwight. The first volume is 

 nearly occupied by the memoir of his life, compris- 

 ing his resolutions, diary, and a part of his corres- 

 pondence. The description, which he has furnished, 

 of his own mind, temperament, theological senti- 

 ments, and literary projects, deserves particularly 

 to be consulted. He wrote with perspicuity, though 

 not with elegance, and generally in a rugged and 

 negligent style. 



EDWY, king of England, son of Edmund I., suc- 

 ceeded his uncle Edred in 955. Taking part with 

 the secular clergy against the monks , he incurred the 

 confirmed enmity of the latter. Having called 

 Dunstan to account for his share in the administra- 

 tion in the preceding reign, the latter refused to at- 

 tend the summons, and was in consequence banished. 

 His party was, however, so strong, that a rebellion 

 was excited, and Edwy driven from the throne, to 

 make way for his brother Edgar. That his intrigue 

 or marriage with Elgiva, may have given a pretence 

 for his deposition ana excommunication is very pro- 

 bable, but there is reason to believe, from his youth 

 and other circumstances, that the story of the fate of 

 Elgiva, as related by Carte and Hume, is materially 

 incorrect. Edwy died in 959. 



EEL ; a fish well known from its peculiar form 

 and savoury flesh. Many varieties of eels are de- 

 scribed by naturalists, some tenants of fresh-water 

 streams, others inhabiting the sea. The latter ac- 

 quire a vast size, and numerous instances are on re- 

 cord of their having attacked and overpowered boys 

 and even men, while bathing. Gifted with prodigi- 

 ous strength and agility, and capable of inflicting 

 severe wounds with its powerful jaws, the sea eel, or 

 conger, must prove a most dangerous assailant, when 

 encountered in its native element. Fresh water eels, 

 inhabiting running streams with gravelly bottoms, 

 are said to be uniformly white upon the belly, and 

 infinitely more delicate than those of muddy waters, 

 which are always yellow, and possess a peculiar 

 smell and flavour, very disagreeable. In the choice 

 of its food, the eel is far from cleanly, feeding indis- 

 criminately upon all kinds of small fish, and decayed 

 animal matter ; in consequence of which, many per- 

 sons refuse to eat them. In the seas of India, there 

 are large species caught, varied with the most beau- 

 tiful colours, resembling serpents ; and one in parti- 

 cular, has so much the aspect of one of these reptiles, 

 as to bear the name of snake eel. The flesh of eels 

 is sapid and nourishing, but owing to its fatness, of- 

 fensive to weak stomachs. Oif is procured from 

 sea eels, which is remarkably clear, and burns very 

 brightly. A curious opinion prevails as to the pro- 

 perties of eel-skins in preventing the cramp, so dan- 

 gerous to bathers. Boys are frequently seen with 



one fastened round the ankle for the purpose oi' 

 averting the attack of this dangerous spasm while in 

 the water. It is needless to observe, that the vir- 

 tues ascribed to it are very apocryphal. The 

 Romans are said to have fed eels upon human flesh ; 

 and one of the most cruel of the emperors caused his 

 slaves to be thrown alive into the fish-ponds for dis- 

 obedience. A similar tale is related of Vedius Pol- 

 lio. Murana was the term used to express the male 

 eel, and myrus the female. The common eel be 

 longs to the subgenus murtena of Lacepofe, ;md 

 may be distinguished thus: dorsal fin commencing 

 very much in the rear of the pectorals ; lower jaw 

 shorter; colour, olive-green above, silvery or yel- 

 lowish beneath. In the sea eels, or congers, the 

 dorsal commences near the pectorals, or over them, 

 and the superior jaw is always longest. The conger 

 of our seas attains the length of five or six feet, and 

 the thickness of a man's leg. A prejudice exists 

 in America against the flesn, which in Europe is 

 salted in large quantities. Some kinds of eels occur, 

 in which there are no perceptible fins whatever. 

 Few animals are more tenacious of life ; they con- 

 tinue to move for a long while when deprived of the 

 head and skin, preserving the muscular irritability 

 for many hours after death. Great quantities of 

 river eels are consumed for food among the lower 

 classes, and the numbers taken during a night, in a 

 trap, contrived for the purpose, and sunk upon the 

 bottom, is frequently enormous, amounting to several 

 hundreds. A barrel or box is used, having an aper- 

 ture cut in the top, to which is attached a stocking 

 or tube of coarse cloth, which hangs down in the in- 

 terior; the fish enter with ease from without, but 

 find it impossible to return. At daylight the trap 

 is raised to the surface, and the captives secured. In 

 England, a kind of trident is used, called an eel- 

 spear. A fisherman wades to the shallows, and. 

 striking his spear in the mud in every direction 

 around him, the eels, reposing on the bottom, are 

 caught between the prongs, and shaken into a bas- 

 ket. The respiration of most subgenera of the 

 eel family is conducted through lateral openings at 

 the gills, as in other fishes ; but in some a different 

 arrangement is observed. For instance, in the 

 sphagebranchit* , the apertures are approximated 

 under the throat, and in the synbranchus, the external 

 orifice of the gills is a single hole under the throat. 

 A great variety is observable in the form of the air 

 bladder of these fishes, which is wanting only in a 

 few species. Want of scales is usually mentioned as 

 a characteristic of the iamily, but nevertheless inac- 

 curately. Scales do exist; but they are very min- 

 ute, and so imbedded in the skin, as to be impercept- 

 able in the recent animal, though sufficiently evident 

 in the dried skin. Some marvellous accounts are on 

 record of the migrations of eels from one river to 

 another, over intervening portions of dry land. It 

 is sufficiently well known, tliat such journeys are 

 taken by these fish, and mostly over very small 

 portions of soil, covered with damp grass. Authors 

 relate stories, also, of eels having been rained 

 down from the clouds, which phenomenon is ac- 

 counted for in the same manner as the raining of 

 frogs, small fishes, &c., frequently mentioned as as- 

 tonishing matters by the ancient writers. Eels are 

 viviparous, and quite productive. 



EFFENDI ; a corruption of the Greek word alhr- 

 rns, which signifies lord, or master, in the modern 

 dialect, and is pronounced apthendis, or aphendis. 

 It is a term of modern use in the Turkish language, 

 and has been substituted for the Tartar word che- 

 lebi (noble), now applied to persons of inferior 

 rank. Effimdiis particularly applied to the civil, as 

 ago. is to the military officers of the sultan; and 



