22 
ESS 
bred up in the inftitutions of their fe6b: they defpifed 
riches, and had all things in common, and never changed 
their clothes till they were entirely worn out. When 
initiated, they were ftriitly bound not to communicate 
the myfteries of their fedt to others ; and if any of their 
members were found guilty of enormous crimes, they 
were expelled. Pliny fays, that they dwelt on the weft 
fide'of the lake Afphaltites ; and that they were a foli- 
tary kind, of men, living without women or money, and 
feeding upon the fruit of the palm-tree. 
ESSENEU'X, a town of the Netherlands, in the duchy 
of Limburg, fituated on the Ourt : nine miles fouth-eaft 
of Liege. 
ESSE'NIUS (Andrew), a learned Dutch divine in 
the feventeenth century, born at Bommel, in 1618. 
His claflical education he received at Utrecht. Having 
gone through the regular courfes of philolophy, mathe¬ 
matics, and theology, he was, in 1641, appointed to the 
church of Nederlangbroeck, in the vicinity of Utrecht. 
He was afterwards cliofen pallor of the principal church 
at Utrecht in 1651, and profelforof theology at that uni- 
verfity, in connexion with Walter de Bruyn. He died in 
1677. He was the author of numerous productions, chiefly 
written in the Latin language ; .among which are, 1. 
The Triumph of the Crofs, or a Defente of the Catholic 
Faith aguinft the Socinians, and in particular agaiufl: Crel- 
lius, 1649. 2. A Syftent of Divinity, 1659, in two vo¬ 
lumes. 3. A View of Theological Controverfies, i66r, 
frequently reprinted. 4. An Abridgment of Dogmatic 
Theology, 1669. 5. An Apology for the Englilh Non- 
conformift Minifters, &c. 
ESSEN'TIAL, adj. \_ejjentialis, Lat.] Neceffary to the 
conftitution.or exiftence of any thing.—From that ori¬ 
ginal of doing good, that is 'cjfential to the infinite being 
of our Creator, we have an excellent copy tranfcribed. 
Spratt. 
And if each fyflem in gradation roll. 
Alike ejjlntial to th’ amazing whole, 
The lead confufion but in one, not all 
That■ fyflem only, b.ut the whole nmft fall. Pope. 
Important in the highefl degree ; principal.—Judgment’s 
more ejfential to a general than courage. Denham .— 
Pure ;• highly rectified ; fubtilely elaborated ; extracted 
fo as to'contain all the virtue's of its elemental parts con¬ 
tracted into a narrow compafs.—The juice of the feed is 
an cffehtiat oil or balm, designed by nature to preferve the 
feed from corruption. Arbtithnot. 
ESSEN'TIAL, f. Exiftence^ being: 
His utmoft ire to the height enrag’d, 
Will either quite confume us-, or reduce 
To nothing this ejjential. Milton. 
Nature ; find or conftittient principles..—The plague of 
tin has even altered hiS nature, and eaten into his very 
ejj'entials. South .—The chief point; that- which is in any 
refpedt of great importance. 
ESSEN'TlALLY, a&v [ cjfcntialiter , Lat.] By the 
conftitution of nature ; really ; according to the true ftate 
of tilings. — Body and fpirit are effentially divided, though 
not locally diftant. Glanville .—All fin ejfcntiai'y is, and 
muft be, mortal. Sozith ,—Knowledge is that which, next 
to virtue, truly and ejjenlialiy raifes one man above ano¬ 
ther. Addijon. 
ESSEN'TIAL CHARACTER,/, in botany, a Angle 
or peculiar natural mark, diftinguilhing one^genus from 
all others in the fame natural order. Innumerable in- 
ftances occur in Linnseus’sSyftema Vegetabilium. 
ESSEQJJI'BO, a flourilhing fettlement of the Dutch 
in South. America, and country of Guiana, on-the river 
Eflequibo. Its productions are fugar, coffee, and cotton. It 
was taken by the Englilh in the time of the American war, 
and-reftored at the peace * It was again taken by the Eng¬ 
lilh in April, 1796, and reflored at the peace of Amiens; 
but it was again taken by the Englilh in September 1803. 
KSSEQLI'BO, a river of South. America, in the 
ESS 
country of Guiana, which runs into the Atlantic, three 
leagues wide at its mouth. Lat. 6. 45. N. Ion. 45. e. 
W. Ferro. 
ES'SERA, a river of Spain, which runs into the Cin- 
ca, in Aragon. 
ES'SERA, f. [from mu’ forah, Arab, a humour.] 
The medical term for the nettle-rath. 
ES'SERUM, a town of Denmark, in the ifland of 
Zealand : fix miles weft of Helfingoer. 
ES'SEX, a maritime county of England, bounded on 
the north by Cambridgefliire and Suffolk ; on the eaft by 
the fea ; on the fouth by the county of Kent, from which 
it is feparated by the river Thames; - and on the weft by 
Hertfordfhire and Middlefex. It is fituated on the eaftern 
fide of the ifland ; and gives the title of earl to the Ca- 
pel family. During the heptarchy, it was comprifed in 
the kingdom of the Eaft Saxons; it now belongs to the 
province of Canterbury, and diocefe of London, and is 
included in the home circuit. Its figure is irregularly 
quadrangular; its maritime fide in particular being va- 
rioufly indented and uneven. From eaft to weft it is for¬ 
ty-fix miles long, and from north to fouth forty-two miles 
broad, and 200 in circuit; containing 1390 fquare miles, 
or SS9,6oo fquare acres ; divided into nineteen hundreds, 
including 415 parifties, 175 vicarages, near 1100 villages, 
and twenty-feven market towns, viz. Colchefter, which 
fends two members to parliament; Harwich, which gives 
the title of baron to the family of Hill, and fends two mem¬ 
bers to parliament : Malden, which fends two members 
to parliament, and gives the title of vifeount to the Ca- 
pel family ; Rochford, which gives the title of earl to 
the family of Nalfau de Zuleftein ; Walden, which gives- 
the title of baton to the family of Griffin ; alfo Chelmf- 
ford, where the county bufinefs is tranfaffted, Manning- 
tree, Witham, Epping, Barking, Rnmford, Billericay, 
Harlow, Dunmow, Waltham Abbey, Bradfield, Brain¬ 
tree, Brentwood, Rayleigh, Ongar, Coggelhall, Dedham, 
Greys, Halftead, Hatfield, Horndon, and Thaxfted. It 
fends eight members to parliament, fix as above men¬ 
tioned, and two for the county. 
Eftex is the mod fouthern of the three counties on the 
eaftern coaft, which together form a continued tradt of 
vaft extent, undiftinguifhed by any confiderable emi¬ 
nence or ridge, but in general fufficiently elevated to be 
dry and arable, and rich in the various products of agri¬ 
culture. The road from London to Norwich by New¬ 
market, which palfes along tire wefiern fides of Eftex and 
Suffolk to the middle of Norfolk, a diftance of 108 miles, 
is more level and unvaried in its furface than any tract of 
ground of equal length in the kingdom. Eftex .poffeffes, 
however, a variety of foil and face of country. Its fouth- 
weftern part is chiefly occupied by Epping-foreft and its 
feveral branches. A rivulet, the Roddon, running pa¬ 
rallel to the Lea, greatly fertilizes this part of the coun¬ 
ty. Northwards'the country becotv.es more open and un¬ 
even. Saffron Walden, in this part, by its name, fliows 
the product for which it is famous. Saffron, which was 
formerly cultivated in various parts of the kingdom, is 
now grown almoft folely between this place and Cam¬ 
bridge, in a circuit of about ten miles. A rich light toil 
and dry country is peculiarly adapted to this plant. The 
Englilh faffron has always been in high eftimation. 
The centre of Eftex is in general a fine corn country, 
varied with gentle inequalities of furface, and- fprinkled 
with woods. Towards the fea-coaft it gradually declines 
into rnarlhy grounds,' broken by arms of the fea into 
illands, and frequently inundated. The fine pufturage_ 
which thefe tradts (commonly called the Hundreds of 
Eljfex) afford, fear cel y cempenfates for-'their unwhole- 
fomenefs, which i.s in a manner proverbial. The banks 
of the Thames, from the entrance of the Lea to the fea, 
are a fimilnr trait of marfhes. The farms in thefe parts 
are very large, and the farmers rich, and induftrious to 
improve their grounds by manuring with chalk, brought 
by fea from Kent. Numbers of calves are brought from 
