ELGIN MARBLES ELIO. 



841 



the style of architecture prevalent in the fourteenth 

 century, when it was rebuilt. It was first founded 

 early in the thirteenth century, on the seat of the 

 diocese of Moray, being translated hither from 

 Spynie, by bishop Andrew ; but in 1390 it was 

 burned down, with the whole city, by an earl of 

 Buchan, termed the Wolf of Badenoch. About the 

 year 1414 it was rebuilt in a style of great magnifi- 

 cence, and from what of it still remains, it must have 

 been a large and splendid edifice in the Gothic style, 

 264 feet in length and thirty-five in breadth, exclusive 

 of the two side aisles, which were each eighteen feet 

 wide. It had five towers, one at each corner of the 

 church, and another in the centre, 198 feet high. 

 The great west door is twenty-four feet high and the 

 same width : the window above this door is twenty- 

 seven feet high and nineteen broad. In the east 

 gable was a row of five windows, each ten feet high 

 and two broad ; above these were five more, each 

 seven feet high ; and over the whole a circular 

 window ten feet diameter. The chapter-house of 

 the cathedral is still entire, a most beautiful apart- 

 ment, being an octagon with seven windows, thirty- 

 foiii feet high in the roof, supported by a single pillar 

 of exquisite workmanship : the diagonal breadth 

 is thirty-seven feet, and fifteen each side, within 

 walls. The whole, when entire, must have formed 

 one of the most superb structures in the kingdom. 



Elgin possesses an excellent academy, at which 

 above 300 scholars attend ; it has also a well-con- 

 ducted hospital for patients, founded by a Mr Grey, 

 and an institution for the education of youth and 

 support of old age, founded by a Mr Anderson, a 

 native of the place, who, a few years ago, bequeathed 

 about .70,000 for that purpose. 



The parish of Elgin extends ten miles in length, 

 by six in breadth, with a fertile soil, and a flattish 

 surface, rising gradually into the Black Hills. On 

 Lady Hill, not far from the town, are the ruins of a 

 royal fortress, which is known to have existed in the 

 reign of William the Lion. Alexander II., in 1234, 

 founded a Dominican priory here, and John Innes, in 

 1 479, another for Observantines. Population of town 

 and parish in 1831, 6,130. 



ELGIN MARBLES, the name given to a splendid 

 collection of basso relievos and fragments of statuary, 

 which were brought from the Parthenon of Athens 

 to England, by Lord Elgin, in 1814. They were 

 afterwards purchased by the British parliament for 

 .35,000, and are now to be seen in the British 

 Museum. The Elgin marbles are some of the 

 finest remains of ancient art, and offer the richest 

 field for study. In the Vatican are casts in plaster 

 of these superb relics. Casts have been made, also, 

 for Wurtemberg, Russia, and other states. The 

 largest part of them (ninety-two pieces) are from the 

 Parthenon of Athens, and were, perhaps, executed 

 from designs by Phidias. Such an important collec- 

 tion of antiques has, of course, drawn forth numerous 

 publications. The learned Visconti wrote a work on 

 the Elgin marbles (London, 1816), and an official 

 report was drawn up from the notes of this accom- 

 plished scholar, which contains the opinions of most 

 of the first sculptors and painters of our age, res- 

 pecting these statues, expressed in the strongest 

 '.crms of admiration. 



ELGINSHIRE. See Moray. 

 EL-HARIB; a territory in the north-west of 

 Africa, to the south of Morocco, to which it is tribu- 

 tary, important as the stopping-place of caravans 

 passing from Timbuctoo, through the desert, to the 

 north-west of Africa. El-Harib is two days' journey 

 west from the territory of El-Drah, and one to the 

 east of the tribe of the Trajacants, and is situated 

 between two chains of mountains, which extend from 



east to west, and separate it, towards the north, 

 from the empire of Morocco. The principal wealth 

 of the inliabitants consists in the great quantity of 

 camels which they breed, and which, in the wet 

 season, produce abundance of milk for their susten- 



2e. The Moors of El-Harib carry goods for the 

 merchants of Tafilet, El-Drah, &c., on their camels, 

 to Timbuctoo and other places. They return with 

 gold and slaves, which they sell in Morocco. The 

 inhabitants of El-Harib consist of eleven tribes of 

 Mohammedans, filthy to excess, and are much 

 oppressed and despised by the wandering Berbers 

 and their other neighbours. 



ELIANUS. See Mliunus. 



ELIAS. See Elijah. 



ELIJAH ; a prophet, who lived in the reign of 

 Ahab, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, king of 

 Judah. The prophet rebuked both these kings for 

 their idolatry, and at last succeeded, by his miracles, 

 in abolishing it. Instead of dying in the common 

 way, he ascended to heaven in a fiery chariot. His 

 successor was Elisha. His history is related in the 

 First and Second Books of Kings. According to 

 some passages of the Scriptures, the Jews expected 

 Elijah to appear before the Messiah, and Christians 

 have maintained that he will appear on earth before 

 the end of the world. Many legends are related of 

 this prophet by Christians and Mohammedans. The 

 curious will find specimens of these in Bayle. 



ELIO, FRANCISCO XAVIER, a Spanish soldier, who, 

 having distinguished himself in the Spanish war 

 against Napoleon, was appointed by the regency to 

 be captain general of the provinces of Rio de la 

 Plata, during the early part of the revolution in 

 South America. He had to contend with Liniers 

 and Artigas particularly; and was attacked and 

 besieged by the latter in Monte Video. The sipge 

 being prosecuted by Rondo with every prospect of 

 success, Elio implored the assistance of the Brazilian 

 government. An auxiliary force of 4000 Portu- 

 guese was preparing to relieve him, when the fear 

 of their approach induced the patriots to close with 

 the propositions for peace made by Elio. This was 

 in 1811 ; but Elio was again besieged the next year. 

 Meanwhile he was succeeded by don Caspar Vigodet, 

 and returned to Europe. Upon the return of Ferdi- 

 nand VII., Elio was one of the first to declare in 

 favour of absolute monarchy, and contributed effica- 

 ciously to the revolution which overthrew the 

 regency and the cortes of Cadiz. He was rewarded 

 witli the appointment of captain-general of the 

 kingdom of Valencia, which he governed with all the 

 extremity of fanatical rigour. A disturbance in the 

 city of Valencia gave him occasion to inflict upon 

 the friends of liberal institutions, indiscriminately, a 

 series of cruelties shocking to humanity. His career 

 of atrocity lasted upwards of a year, when it was 

 cut short by the revival of the constitution of Cadiz, 

 in March, 1820. Elio proclaimed the new order of 

 things, and prepared to submit to it, yet would have 

 been killed by the populace, but for the intercession 

 of the count of Almodavar. He was imprisoned in 

 the citadel, where he remained until May, 1822, 

 without a conclusion of his trial. At that time, he 

 was implicated in a movement of part of the garrison 

 in favour of absolutism. He was immediately 

 brought to trial before a military commission, for this 

 new crime, and unanimously sentenced to the punish- 

 ment of death, which was inflicted September 3, 1822. 

 When the invasion of the French restored Ferdinand 

 to absolute power, the greatest honours were paid to 

 the memory of general Elio. His eldest son received 

 the title of marquis of Fidelity, and his full pay as 

 general was continued to his widow and children. 

 The judges, also, who condemned him to death, were 



