assisted in various other public and useful undertakings. He wrote the lives of the Scottish saints, which are now lost, and a history of Scotland from the origin of the nation down to his own time, which is preserved among the Fairfax MSS. in the Bodleian library. The death of this liberal and patriotic prelate, which took place 25th October, 1514, in his 83d year, is said to have been caused by grief at the death of his sovereign and the greater part of his nobles in the battle of Flodden.—J. T.
ELPHINSTONE, George Keith. See Keith.
ELRINGTON, Thomas, D.D., was born near Dublin in 1760. To his widowed mother, a woman of great worth, sense, and education, he was indebted for instruction in his earlier years, and his affection and respect for her induced him to forego the passion of his youth—a life at sea. At fourteen he entered Trinity college, Dublin, where he soon highly distinguished himself, especially in natural philosophy; in which when little more than sixteen he obtained an "optime," a mark of such high merit that it has, we believe, been only three times conferred in the college. When only twenty years of age he sat for a fellowship, which he obtained with no less distinction. In 1792 Dr. Elrington engaged in a controversy arising out of a charge of Dr. Troy, the eminent Roman catholic archbishop of Dublin, which he carried on at intervals till 1804 with great vigour and ability. In 1795 he became a senior fellow and obtained the chair of mathematics; and about the same time he published a series of lectures on miracles, which were not as extensively known as they deserved to be. The chair of natural philosophy being vacant in 1799, Eirington was promoted to it after a severe contest. For a time his connection with the university was severed by his acceptance of the living of Ardtrea, and he devoted himself to the zealous support of the Irish clergy, whose temporalities were then assailed. From his pastoral duties he was recalled in 1811 to fill the highest place in the university, being elected provost in the room of Dr. Hall, a post which at the period required a man of great judgment and firmness, to check and regulate a strong spirit of political excess and insubordination then prevalent amongst the students. Notwithstanding a violent opposition he repressed this spirit, and maintained the loyalty and discipline of the university. In 1820 Dr. Elrington was promoted to the see of Limerick, and two years after was translated to that of Ferns, and died of paralysis at Liverpool on the 12th of July, 1835. As a bishop he was strict in his discipline, yet munificent, hospitable, and kind, and was respected and esteemed by all.—J. F. W.
ELSASSER, Friedrich August, a Prussian landscape painter, was born at Berlin in 1810; died at Rome in 1845. His laborious and exemplary career makes one all the more regret his early death. Of his works, the most remarkable are—the "Campo Santo of Pisa by moonlight;" a "View of the city of Palermo;" and the "Grotto of the Syrens" at Tivoli. He was member of the Berlin Academy, and was in receipt of a pension from the king of Prussia, who had also decorated Elsasser with the order of the red eagle.—R. M
ELSHEIMER. See Elzheimer.
* ELSHOLTZ, Franz von, a German comic dramatist and miscellaneous writer, was born at Berlin, October 1, 1791. He served against Napoleon, travelled for several years in England, Holland, and Italy, and was appointed managing director of the Gotha theatre, and afterwards representative of the duke of Saxe Gotha at Munich. In 1851 he retired from public life to his villa near Tegernsee. His comedies, though not of lasting merit, are distinguished by sprightliness, and highly successful.—K. E.
ELSHOLZ, Johann Sigismund, a German medical man and botanist, was born at Frankfort-on-the-Oder in 1623, and died on 28th February, 1688. His early studies were prosecuted at Frankfort. He afterwards repaired to the universities of Wittemberg and Königsberg, with the view of carrying on his scientific studies. Subsequently he visited Holland, France, and Italy, and took the degree of doctor of medicine at Padua. On his return to Germany in 1656, he became physician and botanist to Frederick William, elector of Brandenburg, and was chosen director of the Berlin botanic garden. He published an account of the plants in the Brandenburg gardens; also a work on applied horticulture, as well as dissertations on dietetics, phosphorus, and other medical and chemical subjects.—J. H. B.
ELSNER, Jacob, D.D., was born in 1692 at Saalfeld in Prussia. He successively filled the offices of conrector at Königsberg from 1715 to 1720, of professor of theology in the gymnasium at Lingen from 1720 to 1722, and of rector of the Joachimstall gymnasium at Berlin from 1722 to 1730. In 1730 he was appointed first reformed court preacher at Berlin, and was dignified with the post of consistorialrath. He died on the 8th of October, 1750. His works are chiefly philological. His "Observ. Sacræ in Novi Fœderis Libros" brings much classical learning to bear on the illustration of the sacred page, and the same may be said of his "Comment. in Evan. Matt, et Marci," but he wants penetration.—W. L. A.
* ELSNER, Johann Gottfried, a noted German agriculturist, especially famous for his efforts to improve the system of sheep-farming, was born at Göttesberg in Silesia in 1784, and studied at various universities. With a view to noting agricultural improvements, he has travelled in most of the countries of Europe, and has given his observations to the public in several works, which have obtained a large circulation in Germany. Those upon sheep-farming are especially valuable.—J. S., G.
ELSNER, Joseph, a musician, was born at Grodgrau in Silesia on the 1st of June, 1769; he died most probably at Warsaw. His father, a carpenter by trade, was an ingenious mechanic, who, being fond of music, spent his leisure in making a pianoforte, and some other musical instruments. Young Elsner's disposition for the art was early awakened by his watching these fabrications, but received little encouragement. He was sent in 1781 to the Latin school at Breslau, preparatory to his entering on the study of medicine; and his musical talent might have been suppressed, but that he was admitted as a singer in the Dominican church of that city, where he soon found opportunity to prove it. He obtained an engagement as violinist at the theatre, where he won the good opinion of Förster, the music director, who gave him lessons in harmony, the only instruction to qualify him for composition that he ever received. He immediately began to write, trifles at first, but soon more ambitiously; and his love for the pursuit so grew with its practice, that when he went to Vienna to complete his clinical course, he neglected his study which was to qualify him for a profession, and finally abandoned it in favour of music. His merit quickly gained acknowledgment, and in 1791 he went to Brünn in Moravia, to fulfil an engagement as violinist. He wrote there very extensively, and gained such repute by one composition in particular, that he was offered the appointment of kapellmeister at Lemberg, which he eagerly accepted. There he remained from 1792 till 1799, during which time he produced several operas. He then went in the same capacity to Warsaw, and there entered upon an active career of composition, and obtained great distinction by writing operas in the Polish language. He made a short visit to Paris, where he wrote one of the many odes in honour of Napoleon. In 1815 Elsner established a society in Warsaw for the advancement of music throughout Poland, in the management of which he was much assisted by Countess Zamoiska. In 1820 he relinquished his appointment at the theatre, but did not remit his exertions for the promotion of his art, busying himself in the organization of the conservatory at Warsaw, which was founded upon his former society, and which was opened under his directorship in 1821. His efficient services in the conduct of this institution were rewarded, in 1825, by his being decorated with the order of St. Stanislaus. His music is of the light Italian character, which accounts for its rapid and ephemeral popularity. It fulfilled an important purpose in stimulating a taste for the art in the country where most of it was produced, and where he is greatly esteemed both for his zeal and talent.—G. A. M.
ELSTOB, Elizabeth, sister of William Elstob, was born in 1683, and died in 1756. She was a very learned woman, and perhaps the only one of her sex who has ever figured as a Saxon scholar. She accompanied her brother's edition of the Saxon homily on St. Gregory's day with an English translation, and in various other ways shared his learned labours. Dr. Hickes encouraged her to undertake a Saxon Homilarium, with an English translation, notes, &c. Some of the homilies were printed, but the failure of her resources prevented the completion of her design. After the death of her brother, with whom she had lived, Mrs. Elstob was forced to resort to the keeping of a small school. Queen Caroline, however, shortly after this granted her a pension, and her latter years were spent comfortably in the family of the duchess dowager of Portland.—R. M., A.
ELSTOB, William, an English divine and celebrated Saxon scholar, was born in 1673, and died in 1714. He was educated
