ELRINGTON ELY. 



463 



which he defended in a well-written pamphlet. 

 He acted the principal parts, and was equally ap- 

 plauded in Macbeth and Macheath. In 1805 he 

 published " The Venetian Outlaw, a Drama in 

 three acts," which he had himself adapted from the 

 French " Abellino, le grand Bandit." On the 

 re-opening of Drury Lane Theatre, Elliston again 

 formed part of that company: on the first night he 

 delivered Lord Byron's opening address, and per- 

 sonated the character of Hamlet. When the 

 theatre was let out on a lease in 1819, he became 

 the lessee, at a yearly rent of 10,200; and so 

 continued until declared a bankrupt, in 1826. 

 After some speculations in the Olympic theatre, he 

 again undertook the superintendence of the circus, 

 and occasionally performed upon its boards, in 

 Cumberland's Jew, Dr Pangloss, and some smaller 

 parts. His death was occasioned by apoplexy, on 

 Friday, the 7th of July, 1831. Elliston is immor- 

 talized by the subtlist of dramatic critics, Charles 

 Lamb, who has two papers upon him in his own 

 exquisite style. Other distinguished critics speak 

 highly of him. " Mr Ellistor," says Leigh Hunt, 

 " was the best comedian, in the highest sense of 

 the word, that we have seen. Others equalled him 

 in some particular points; Lewis surpassed him in 

 airiness ; but there was no gentleman comedian 

 who comprised so many qualities of his art as he 

 did, or who could diverge so well into those parts 

 of tragedy which find a connecting link with the 

 graver powers of the comedian in their gracefulness 

 and humanity. He was the best Wildair, the best 

 Archer, the best Aranza; and carrying the serious- 

 ness of Aranza a little further, or making him a 

 trayic gentleman instead of a comic, he became the 

 best Mortimer, and even the best Macbeth, of any 

 performer who excelled in comedy." 



ELRINGTON, THOMAS, D.D., lord bishop of 

 Leighlin and Ferns, M.R.I. A., &c. &c. Mr El- 

 rington obtained a scholarship in the university of 

 Dublin in 1778 ; and in 1781 was elected Fellow. 

 In 1794 he became the first Donnelan lecturer, 

 elected on the foundation of Mrs Anne Donnelan, 

 of the parish of St George, Hanover Square, in 

 the county of Middlesex, spinster. The subject 

 of his lectures was, " The proof of Christianity 

 derived from the miracles recorded in the New 

 Testament." These lectures were printed in 

 Dublin, in 8vo. 1796, together with the Act Ser- 

 mon, which he preached Nov. 15, 1795, for the 

 degree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1795 he was 

 chosen professor of mathematics ; and on the 25th 

 of Dec. 1806, he was presented to the rectory of 

 Ardtrea, in the county of Tyrone, and diocese of 

 Armagh. In 1811, he was appointed provost of 

 Trinity college ; a situation which he filled for se- 

 veral years with the highest credit to himself, and 

 advantage to those whose interest and welfare it 

 was his happy lot to promote. In the year 1820, 

 he was consecrated bishop of Limerick ; and he 

 was translated, in 1822, to the see of Leighlin and 

 Ferns. Dr Elrington published an edition of Eu- 

 clid, enlarged by notes, which is now the text book 

 in the Dublin university, and throughout Ireland. 

 He also presented the literary world with a valu- 

 able edition of Juvenal, illustrated by notes criti- 

 cal and explanatory. His polemical publications 

 were, <c Reflections on the Appointment of Dr 

 Milner as the political agent of the Roman Catho- 

 lic Clergy of Ireland," 1809, 8vo. ; " The Clergy 

 of the Church of England truly ordained," 1809, 

 Bvo. ; and some other pamphlets. Dr Elrington 



died at Liverpool, on his way from Dublin to Lon- 

 don, in July, 1835. 



ELSTOW; a parish and village in the county 

 of Bedford. The village, which is a mile and a 

 quarter from the town of Bedford, is only remark- 

 able as the birth-place of John Bunyan, born here 

 in 1628. Numerous engravings have been made 

 of the house of his nativity. Population of parish 

 in 1841,562. 



ELVAS; a city of Portugal, in the province of 

 Alemtejo. Though ranked the second city of the 

 Alemtejo, it is decidedly the best fortified and the 

 strongest, the defensive works being a chef d'ceuvre 

 of the Conde La Lippe Schomberg, and a perfect 

 model of their kind. Fort La Lippe, situated on 

 a steep hill at the back of the city, is impregnable 

 except to famine ; and fort St Lucia in the front, 

 connected with the redoubts on either side, is of 

 sufficient importance to cause much trouble to a 

 besieging force. There are three gates to the city ; 

 the Porta d'Esquina on the north ; the Porta 

 d'Oliven9a in the centre, and the Porta de San 

 Vicente on the south ; all strongly fortified, with 

 ravelins, cavaliers, and counter-guards, forming a 

 curve bent outward. The only gate by which 

 strangers are allowed to enter is the Oliven9a, be- 

 cause they are thus forced to pass one-half of the 

 works, and are exposed to the observation of a 

 long chain of sentinels. From this gate several 

 long and narrow streets diverge into different parts 

 of the city. 



The walk round the ramparts is extremely fine, 

 affording an uninterrupted view of the country for 

 several leagues around. Here may be seen the 

 plain and unpretending slabs laid over the remains 

 of two of our gallant countrymen, brigadier-gene- 

 ral Houghton and colonel Oliver ; the one fell at 

 Badajoz, the other at Albuera; both which fields 

 are overlooked from the rampart where they repose. 

 The inscriptions are in English and Portuguese, 

 and are simple and unpretending. 



ELY, ISLE OF; a large district in Cambridgeshire, 

 consisting of a great part of the county, surrounded 

 by large fens, which were formerly overflowed with 

 water. It extends from the bridge at Tyd, on the 

 north, to Upmere on the south, about twenty-eight 

 miles in length ; and from Abbots on the east, to 

 the river Nene, near Peterborough, on the west, 

 about twenty-five miles in breadth. It is bounded 

 on the north by Lincolnshire, on the west by Nor- 

 thamptonshire and Huntingdonshire, and on the 

 east by Norfolk and part of Suffolk. 



The city of Ely is situated on the banks of the 

 river Ouse, about the centre of the county of Cam- 

 bridge, sixty-seven miles N. by E. from London, 

 sixteen N.N.E. from Cambridge, and thirteen N. 

 W. from Newmarket. Population in 1841, 6825, 

 The venerable Bede derives its name from the vast 

 quantities of eels taken in the low fen grounds pre- 

 vious to and in his time, when they were not em- 

 banked or drained. The town consists principally 

 of one long street, from which other smaller ones 

 branch ; nearly in the centre is a tolerably spacious 

 market place. The shire hall, or court house, is a 

 convenient building, having a centre and two wings; 

 the former contains apartments for holding the 

 courts while the north wing is appropriated to 

 the purposes of an infirmary, and the south is a 

 chapel : a house of correction is behind the court 

 house, and the common gaol is on one side of it. 

 The district around Ely is strictly agricultural, and 

 the manufactures of the city are neither various 



