ELIGIUS. See Eloi.
ELIO, Francisco Xavier, a Spanish general, born 4th March, 1769, at Pampelona, where his father was commandant. He entered the army at an early age, and, after having served in Africa, was sent in 1805 to Buenos Ayres, where he succeeded in compelling the British troops to retreat. Recalled in 1808 by a false despatch, purporting to emanate from the junta of Cadiz, Elio was for about two months in command of a division under General Blake, but was sent back as commander-in-chief to the province of Rio de la Plata in 1811. Here he had to struggle with a revolution already far advanced; he was besieged in Monte Video by General Rondeau, and in return he bombarded Buenos Ayres with terrible effect. The result was a treaty of peace, but within a month Elio was again besieged in Monte Video, whence he was released by General Vigodet. In 1812 he returned to Spain, and was intrusted with the command of the army of the island of Leon, near Cadiz, and afterwards with that of the army destined for Catalonia and Valencia, and fought with distinction against the French army. In the campaign of 1813, in conjunction with the English, he succeeded in driving from the frontier the army of Sachet, already beaten at Castalla and Ordal. On the restoration of Ferdinand VII., he became as active in his cause as he had been on the side of the cortes, and it was mainly in dependence on his support that the king ventured to violate the compact under which he had been restored. His administration in Valencia, of which province he was appointed captain-general, was vigorous, and many important local improvements were promoted by him. But his unflinching severity against the members of the revolutionary party, and his repression of all liberty of thought—proscribing even the works of Hume and Gibbon—weighed heavily on the people, and a conspiracy was formed in 1819 to assassinate him, and proclaim the constitution. The sanguinary punishment of this plot was disastrous to the fame of Elio; and when the insurrection of 1820 broke out, though he hastened to proclaim the constitution, he was seized at Valencia and forced to take refuge in the citadel. Though a court-martial refused to condemn him, he was not set at liberty, and on the 30th May, 1822, a body of artillery in the citadel mutinied, and proclaimed Elio their leader, though he had, it is said, concealed himself to escape the dangerous pre-eminence which they intended for him. The fury of the soldiers and of the populace was irrepressible; Elio was tried by court-martial, and suffered death by the garotte, September 7th, 1822, on the public promenade with which he himself had adorned the city of Valencia. His judges were excepted from the amnesty declared after the counter-revolution of 1823, and those who could be reached suffered death. Ferdinand VII. continued to the widow and children of Elio his pay as a general, and created his eldest son Marquis de la Fealtad.—F. M. W
ELIOT. See Elyot.
ELIOT, John, who has gained for himself the honourable designation of "the apostle of the Indians," was born in 1604 in England, but the particular place is unknown. He was educated at Cambridge, and distinguished himself both in classics and theology. Having embraced the religious principles of the puritans, he was compelled, along with many others, by the arbitrary measures of Charles I., to emigrate, and he arrived at Boston, New England, in 1631. He was soon after settled as pastor of a congregation at Roxbury, in the neighbourhood of Boston. Having acquired a knowledge of the Indian language, he went in October, 1646, along with a few friends, to a place some miles distant from his home, where he met a company of Indians by appointment, and delivered to them a discourse in which were comprehended the most important articles of natural and revealed religion. At that time, and on several other occasions when Mr. Eliot visited the Indians, they listened with much attention, and were apparently deeply affected by his statements. Encouraged by these auspicious circumstances, he applied to the general court of Massachusetts, and obtained a grant of land on which the Indians might build a town where they might live together, cultivate the arts of civilized life, and enjoy the benefits of religious instruction. In a short time several Indian towns arose; and in 1674 there were no fewer than fourteen of these settlements, to all of which Mr. Eliot extended his labours. He retained the pastoral charge of the congregation at Roxbury; but he made frequent journeys through Massachusetts, in the course of which he subjected himself to extraordinary toil and danger. Many of the chiefs were opposed to christianity, and the missionary was in consequence often in imminent peril; and as his way frequently lay through forests and swamps, he suffered much from fatigue and exposure. "I have not been dry, night nor day, from Tuesday to Saturday," says he in one of his letters, "but have travelled from place to place in that condition; and at night I pull off my boots, and wring my stockings, and put them on again, and so continue." In 1660 the Indians at Natick were formed into a church, and had the Lord's supper administered to them. Shortly after this Mr. Eliot published a translation of the New Testament—a work on which he had been long engaged; and about three years afterwards, there was printed a translation by him of the Old Testament. It is interesting to notice that this was the first bible printed in America. Mr. Eliot instituted schools, and trained schoolmasters for the Indian settlements; and besides translating several works on practical religion—for example, Baxter's Call to the Unconverted, and Shepard's Sound Believer—he prepared primers, catechisms, and a grammar. At the end of the Indian grammar he wrote, "Prayers and pains through faith in Jesus Christ will do anything." He died in 1690, in the eighty-sixth year of his age, closing a long life laboriously spent in the propagation of christianity, with these memorable words—"Welcome Joy." He was a man of earnest piety, humility, disinterestedness, and zeal.—J. B. J.
ELIOT, Sir John, one of the most eminent English statesmen in the reign of Charles I., was born 20th April, 1590. He was descended from an ancient Devonshire family which settled at St. Germains in Cornwall early in the sixteenth century. He entered Exeter college, Oxford, in 1607, and continued there about three years. After leaving the university he went to one of the inns of court, with the view of obtaining some acquaintance with the common law of England, which was at that time considered a necessary accomplishment of a member of parliament. He then completed his education by a visit to the continent, where he became acquainted with young George Villiers, afterwards the notorious duke of Buckingham. It was no doubt in consequence of the intimacy which thus sprung up between them, that when Villiers was promoted to the office of lord high-admiral, Eliot was made vice-admiral of Devonshire, and soon after received the honour of knighthood. Towards the close of 1623 Sir John Eliot was returned member of parliament for the borough of Newport in Cornwall. He at once took a prominent part in the discussions of the parliament, and was received as a leader of the popular party. His ardent disposition, powerful eloquence, and close attention to business, soon rendered him one of the most formidable opponents of the court, and drew down upon him the indignation of the king and his unworthy favourite. Shortly after the death of James, a new parliament was summoned to meet in June, 1625, and Eliot was again returned for Newport. The commons insisted on redress of their grievances before granting supplies. They were therefore dissolved, and money was raised by other expedients. A new parliament was summoned in 1626, to which Eliot was returned by the county of Cornwall. A violent struggle immediately took place between the commons and the young king, and Sir John was once more found in the front ranks of the opposition. Buckingham was impeached mainly at his instigation, and he denounced the obnoxious favourite in a speech remarkable both for its daring invective and its powerful declamation. He had likened the duke to Sejanus, and the king, burning with rage, exclaimed—"He must, intend me for Tiberius;" and committed the plain-spoken patriot a close prisoner to the Tower; but he was obliged, in the course of a week, to sign a warrant for his release. The parliament was soon after dissolved; and money was raised by a general forced loan. Like his friend Hampden, Eliot refused to lend a farthing, and was in consequence committed to prison. Charles was compelled to summon a new parliament, and Sir John, with the other patriots who had refused to comply with the illegal demands of the king, was set at liberty, and was again triumphantly returned for Cornwall. The parliament met in 1628, and prevailed on Charles, after many delays and equivocations, to give, in return for five subsidies, his assent to the famous Petition of Right. But after the parliament was prorogued, the king, in shameless violation of his solemn engagement, continued to raise tonnage and poundage, and in various other ways to infringe upon the rights of the people. When the parliament again met in 1629, the commons took into serious consideration these
