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N. of Cambridge . It is a county of itself, including the territoryaround; and has a judge who determines all causes civil aud cri-minal within its limits. '

Ely, Isle of, a fenny district in Cambridgeshire , near Bed-ford Level, which comprehends the town and diocese of Ely, andis partly overflowed by water in winter. Immense numbers ofwild fowls are taken in it.

ELYhIAiS, in ancient geography, the capital of Elam, orPersia . '

ELYMUS, Lyme-Grass, a genus of the digvnia order, and tri-andria class of plauts ; natural order, Gramina. The calyx is la-teral, bivalved, aggregate, and multitlorous. It has eleven spe-cies.

ELYOT, Sir Thomas , a gentleman eminent for learning inthe 16th century, who was educated at Oxford, travelled into fo-reign countries. Henry VUL. conferred the honour of knighthoodon him, and employed him in several embassies ; particularly in1532, to Rome , about the divorce of queen Catharine, and after-wards to Charles V , about \530. He wrote, “ 'The Castle ofHealth,” “ The Governor,” “ Banquet of Sapience,” “ Of theEducation of Children,” “ De Rebus p.temorabiiibus Anglia 1 ,”and other books ; and was highly esteemed by all his learned con-temporaries.

ELY.S1AN FIELDS. See the next article.

ELYSIUM, in the ancient mythology, was repre-

sented as a place m the inferi or lower world, furnished with fields,meads, agreeable woods, groves, shades, rivers, &e. whither thesouls of good people were supposed to go after Hits life. Or-pheus , Hercules, and /Eneas, were said to have descended intoElysium in their life-time, and to have returned again: (Virg. lib.vi. ver. 638, &c.) Tibullus (lib. i. eleg. 3,) gives us fine descrip-tions of the Eiysian fields. Virgil assigns Elysium to patriots whodied for their country, to those of pure lives, to truly inspiredpoets, to the inventors of arts, and to all who have done good tomankind. Some authors take the fable of Elysium to have beenborrowed from the Phoenicians ; and suppose the name Elysiumformed from the Phqtnician afire, or xSx alnts, or dSn ulus, torejoice, or to be in joy ; the letter a being only changed into e.Others derive the word from the Greek >0u), solvo, I let loose ordisengage; because here men’s souls are freed or disincumberedfrom the fetters of the body.

ELZEVIRS, Lewis, Bonaventure, Abraham, Lewis,and Daniel, five celebrated printers at Amsterdam and Leyden,who greatly adorned the republic of letters by many beautiful edi-tions of (lie best authors of antiquity. They fell somewhat belowdie Stephenses in point of learning, as well as in their editions ofGreek and Hebrew authors ; hut as to the choice of good books,they seem to have equalled, and in the neatness and elegance oftheir small characters, greatly to have excelled them. Their Vir-gil , Terence, and Greek Testament, have been reckoned theirmaster-pieces; and are indeed so very fine, that they justlv gainedthem the reputation of being the best printers in Europe . The firstLewis Elzevir began to be famous at Leyden in 1595, and was re-markable for being the first who observed the distinction betweenthe v consonant and u vowel, which had been recommended byRamus and other writers long before, but never regarded. Da-niel died in 1680 or lGS l ; aiid though he left children who car-ried on tiie business, is esteemed the last of his family who ex-celled in it. The Elzevirs have printed several catalogues of theireditions ; but the last, published by Daniel, is considerably en-arged, and abounds with new books. It was printed in 12mo, atA "r\j r fv!’ in 1G74 * and divided into 7 volume*.

EMANCIPATION, in the Roman law, the setting free ason from the subjection of his father; so that whatever moveableshe acquires belong in property to him, and not to his father, asbetore emancipation. Emancipation puts the sou in a capacity ofmanaging his own affairs, and of marrying without his father’s con-sent, though a minor. There were two kinds of emancipation, viz.

_1. Emancipation , Express, where the father declared beforea judge, that he emancipated his son.

”■ Emancipation, 1 acit , by (lie son’s being promoted tosome dignity, by his coming of age, or by his marrying, in all whichcases he became his own master of course.

LMARGIN ATEI), among, botanists, an appellation given tosueh leaves as iiavea little indenting on their summits; when this

VOL. II.—NO. 73.

indenting is terminated on each side by obtuse points, they aresaid to be obtusely emarginated ; whereas when these points areacute, they are called acutely emarginated.

EMBALMING is the opening of a dead body, taking out of theintestines, and filling of the place with odoriferous and desiccativedrugs and spices, to prevent its putrefying. The Egyptians ex-celled all other nations in the art of preserving bodies from cor-ruption ; for some, that they have embalmed upwards of 2000years ago, remain whole to this day, and are oiten brought intoother countries as greA curiosities. Their manner of embalmingwas thus: they' scooped the brains with an iron scoop out at thenostrils, and tlirew in medicaments to fill up the vacuum : they alsotook out the entrails, and having filled the body yvith myrrh, cas-sia, and other spices, except frankincense, proper to dry up thehumours, they pickled it in nitre, where it lay soaking for 70days. The body was then wrapped up in bandages of fine linenand gums, to make it stick like glue ; and so was delivered to thekindred of the deceased, entire in all its features, the very hairsof the eye-lids being preserved. They used to keep the bodiesof their ancestors, thus embalmed, in little houses magnificentlyadorned, and took great pleasure in beholding them, alive as itwere, without any change in their size, features, or complexion.The Egyptians also embalmed birds, &c. The prices for em-balming were different; tbe highest was a talent, the next 29laiine, and so decreasing to a very' small matter ; but they whohad not wherewithal to answer this expence, contented themselveswith infusing, by means of a syringe, through the fundament, acertain liquor extracted from the cedar; and leaving it there,wrapped up the body in salt of nitre: the oil thus preyed uponthe intestines, so that when they' took it out, the intestines cameaway with it, dried, and not in the least putrefied : the body be-ing enclosed in nitre, grew dry, and nothing remained besides theskin glued upon the bones. The method of embalming used bythe modern Egyptians, according to Maillet, is to wash the bodyseveral times with rose water, which he elsewhere observes, is morefragrant in that country than with us; they afterwards perfume itwith incense, aloes, and other odours, of which they are by nomeans sparing; and then they bury the body in a winding sheet,made partly of silk and partly of cotton, and moistened, as is sup-posed, with some sweet scented water or liquid perfume, thoughMaillet uses only the term moistened ; this they cover with ano-ther cloth of unmixed cotton, to which they add one of the richestsuits of clothes of the deceased. The expence, he says, on theseoccasions, is very great, though nothing like what the genuineembalming cost in former times.

EMBARCADERO, in commerce, a Spanish term, much usedalong the coasts of America , particularly those on the South Sea ;signifying a place which serves some other city farther withinland, as a port, for embarking and disembarking commodities.Thus Calamo is the embarcadero of Lima, the capital of Peru ;and Arica the embarcadero of Potosi.

EA1 BA11GO, in commerce, an arrest on ships or merchandise,by public authority ; or a prohibition, of state, commonly onforeign ships, in time of war, to prevent their going out of port,sometimes to prevent their coming in, and sometimes both for alimited time. The king may lay embargoes on ships, or employthose of his subjects, in time of danger, for the service and defenceof the nation : but they must not he for the private advantage ofa particular trader or company; and therefore a warrant to slay asingle ship is no legal embargo, No inference can be made fromembargoes which are only in time of war, and are a prohibition byadvice of council, and not at prosecution of parries. If goods beladen on board, and after an embargo or restraint from the princeor state comes forth, and then the master of line ship breaks ground,or endeavours to sail, if any damage accrues, he must be respon-sible for thp same; the reason is, because his freight is due, andmust be paid, even though the goods be seized as contraband.

EMBASSADOR, or AMBASSADOR, a public minister sentfrom one sovereign prince, as a representative of his person, toanother. *

EMBDEN, a county of Germany, in the late circle of West-phalia, called also East Friesland , containing several towns andvillages.

Embdf.n, a strong city, the capital of the above county, !?3miles N. E. of Groningen ,

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