381^
ERNEST— ESCOSURA.
1826 he came to England to intro- duce his invention of a "flame engine," but owing to the cipcum- stiuioes imder which it was tried, it proved unsuccessful. Soon after- wards he resigned his commission in the Swedish navy, and devoted himself, in England, to mechanical inventions, including that of the steam boiler, on the principle of artificial draught. Tlus principle was applied in the "Novelty," a locomotive engine, which he con- structed to compete for a prize offered in 1829 by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway for the lightest and fastest locomotive en- gine. The "Novelty" failed, by an accident, to meet the conditions of the prize, which was awarded to George Stephenson. In 1839 he went to New York, where he was, in 1841, employed to construct the war steamer Princeton, the first ever built in which the propelling machinery was below the water line, and out of the reach of shot. To the London Exhibition of 1851 he sent several inventions, for which he received prizes. In 1852 he built the Ericsson, a steamer of 2,000 tons, fitted with caloric en- gines, which he had previously in- vented while in England, in 1833. Although the experiment was satis- factory in several respects, the engines did not develop sufficient power to g^ve a requisite rate of speed, and he thereupon turned his attention to the manufacture of stationary caloric engines, for pur- poses in which no great amount of power was required. He will be best known in connection with the "monitors" (so called from the name of the first one) — iron ships with revolving iron turrets for the guns. The Monitor, a small vessel built by him in 100 days, proved more than a match for the Confede- rate iron-clad Merrimack, which had just before (in March, 1862) easily destroyed the two finest frigates in the United States navy. Of late years he has been trying to perfect
the solar engine. He still residea in New York.
ERNEST II. (Duke op Saxe-
COBUBO A.ND GK>THA). AuGUSTUS-
Ebnbst Chables John Leopold Alexandeb Edwabd, who reigns as Ernest II., was born June 21, 1818, succeeded his father Jan. 29, 1844, and married the Princess Alexan- drina, daughter of the late Grand Duke Leopold of Baden, brother of the late Prince Consort, May 3, 1842. In 1863 his name was put forward as a candidate for the vacant crown of Greece, but for state reasons he declined it. Duke Ernest, who has laboured to promote German unity, gave the stimuliis to those liberal movements which induced the Emperor of Austria to make concessions to his subjects. He is an accomplished musician, and has composed several operas which have been produced in Ger« many with success.
ESCOSURA, Don Patbicio de LA, politician and author, born at Madrid, Nov. 5, 1807, passed his early years in Portugal, his father serving in the army of Castafios. Having studied at Yalladolid, he returned in 1820 to Madrid, and studied under Lista. In 1824, in consequence of his connection with the secret society of the " Numan- tinos," he retired to Paris, studied mathematics under Lacroix, and afterwards repaired to London. On his return to Spain in 1826, he entered a regiment of artillery, and was promoted in 1829 to the rank of officer. During this period he de- voted himself to literary pursuits and politics. In 1834 he was exiled as a Carlist to Olivera ; in 1835 he was appointed aide-de-camp and secretuy to Gen. Cordova, upon whose retirement in 1836 he obtained his discharge. Upon the accession of Gen. Espartero to power, Esco- sura was again exiled, and retired to France. Returning to Madrid in 1843, he was appointed a Secre- tary of State, and held office under the Narvaez ministry, retiring tern-
