EAR 



EAR 



EAB. w/-. See FORFICUEA. 



EARING, in the sea language, is that 

 part of the bolt-rope, which, at the four 

 corners of the sail, is left open, in the 

 shape of a ring. The two uppermost 

 parts are put over the, ends of the yard 

 arms, and so the sail is made fast to the 

 yard ; and into the lowermost earings, 

 the sheets and tacks are seized or bent 

 at the clew. 



EARL, a British title of nobility, next 

 below a marquis, and above a viscount. 

 Earls were anciently called comites, be- 

 cause they were wont comitari regem> to 

 wait upon the King for council and ad- 

 vice. The Germans call them graves, as 

 landgrave, margrave, palsgrave, rhein- 

 g-rave ; the Saxons ealdermen, unless -that 

 title might be more properly applied to 

 our dukes ; the Danes, eorlas ; and the 

 English, earls. The title, originally, died 

 with the man. William the Conqueror 

 first made it hereditary, giving it in fee 

 to his nobles, and allotting them for the 

 support of their state the third penny out 

 of the sheriff's court, issuing out of all 

 pleas of the shire whence they had their 

 title. But now the matter is quite other- 

 wise ; for whereas heretofore comes and 

 comitatus were correlatives, and there was 

 no comes or earl but had a county or 

 shire for his earldom, of latter years the 

 number of earls increasing, and no more 

 counties being left, divers hare made 

 choice of some eminent part of a county, 

 as Lindsey, Holland, Cleveland, Sec; 

 some of a lesser part, as Strafford, &c. ; 

 others have chosen for their title some 

 eminent town, as Marlborough, Exeter, 

 Bristol, &c.; and some have taken for 

 their title the name of a small village ; 

 their own seat or park, as Godolphin, 

 Clarendon, &c. An earl is created by 

 cincture of sword, mantle of state put 

 upon him by the King himself, a cap and 

 a coronet put upon his head, and a char- 

 ter in his hand. All the earls of Eng- 

 land were formerly denominated from 

 some shire, town, or place, except three ; 

 two of whom, viz. Earl Rivers and 

 Earl Paulet, take their denomination 

 from illustrious families ; the third is 

 not only honorary, as all the rest, but 

 also officiary, as the Earl Marshal of 

 England. 



EARL Marshal of England, is a great 

 officer, who had anciently several courts 

 under his jurisdiction, as the court of 

 chivalry, and the court of honour. Un- 

 der him is also the herald's office, or 

 college of arms. He hath some pre-emi- 



nence in the court of Marshalsea, \vh 

 he may sit in judgment against th 

 who offend within the verge of the Kin 

 court. This office is of great antiqu 

 in England, and anciently of greater po 

 er than now ; and has been for seve 

 ages hereditary in the most noble fam 

 of Howard. 



EARNEST, a part of the price paid 

 advance to bind parties to the perfor 

 ance of a verbal agreement. The party 

 is then obliged to abide by his bargain 

 and is not discharged upon forfeiti 

 his earnest, but may be sued for 

 whole money stipulated, and damages 

 and by the statute of frauds 29, c. 2. 

 c. 3, no contract for sale of goods 

 to be delivered immediately to the v 

 of 10/. or more, is valid, unless 

 tract is made by the parties, or th 

 lawfully authorised by them, or earnest 

 given. 



EARTH, the vast mass or planet we 

 inhabit. The scientific and theoretical 

 attempts which have been made to ascer- 

 tain the form and internal composition of 

 the earth, have produced less certain re- 

 sults than could be wished. With re 

 spect to the grand outline we may 

 elude, without much danger of error, t 

 it is spherical ; which observation is su m 

 ported by the appearance of the moon, 

 the nearest body to the earth. We may 

 illustrate this supposition by drawing a 

 true circle, and filling its circumference 

 with a capricious outline, sometimes 

 touching and at others receding from it. 

 The cause of the inequalities, which 

 denominate mountains and vallies, see 

 to be the natural consequences of 

 composition of the earth, the action oft 

 air and water ever changing the p 

 tion of the softer materials, and havi 

 but little effect on the hardest. Th 

 on the borders of the sea, large t 

 of land are known to crumble into 

 and that even mountains are und 

 mined : Mont Blanc has recently affo 

 ed a most melancholy proof. Besides th 

 above causes, there are others vole 

 and arising from the earthquakes p 

 duced by them. Still greater chan 

 in the surface of the earth have take 

 place at periods beyond the records 

 history > except in the single instance 

 the scriptures and the deluge, which 

 demonstrated by the discovery of su 

 stances, evidently peculiar to the 

 only, in the highest mountains, whe 

 it is impossible to account for their 

 rival, but by supposing that the 



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