ENGLISH. 101 ENGLISH LANGUAGE. phia bar in 1842. Two years afterwards he em barked in journalism in New York, and in 1843 established Tlie Aristidean. Alter 1859 he prac- ticed medicine at Newark, N. J. He was a mem- ber of the New Jersey Legislature in 1863-64, and represented his district for two terms ( 1891- 95) in the United States House of Representatives. Jle also gave much attention to literature, aside from being a magazine editor and journalist. The following are the principal titles of his works, chiefly novels and poems: Zephaniah Doolittle (1838); Walter Woolfe (1842): lS' t ',: or, The Power of the '8. F.' (1847), a semi-political novel; Poems (1855); Ambrose Fecit: or, The Peer and the Painter (1809) ; American Ballads (1882); Boy's Book of Battle Lyrics (1885); Jacob Schuyler's Millions (188G); Select Poems (1894), edited by his daughter; and Fairy Stories and Wonder Tales (1897). He is prob- ably most popularly known by the song "Ben Bolt," published in Willis's New York Mirror in 1843, and never highly ranked by him among his poems. As set to music by Nelson Kneass, this became widely popular in both England and America, and after a temporary obscurement was later revived through its introduction by Du Maurier into the novel Trilby (1894). "The Gal- lows Goers," treating of capital punishment, also had wide circulation. English received the de- gree of LL.D. from the College of William and Mary (Virginia) in 187G. ENGLISH, William Hayden (1822-96). An American politician. He was born at Lexington, Ind. : studied law, and in 1843 was chosen clerk of the Indiana House of Representatives. He was secretary of the State Constitutional Convention which framed the Constitution of 1850, and in the following year was made Speaker of the House under the new Constitution. From 1853 until 1861, when he retired from active political life, he was a Democratic member of the Federal House of Representatives. His chief title to distinction was his unanimous nomination for the Vice-Presidency of the United States by the Democratic National Convention, in 1880. on the ticket with Gen. Winfield S. Hancock. In 1853- 61 he was a regent of the Smithsonian Institu- tion, and at one time he was president of the Indiana Historical Society. He published The Conquest of the Country Xorthitcst of the River Ohio. 1778-8S, and Life of George Rogers Clark (2 vols., 1890) — a somewhat uncritical work which, however, contains a mass of valu- able material. Consult Keyser. The Life of Wil- liam H. English, the Democratic Candidate for Vice-President of the United States (Philadel- phia, 1880). ENGLISH CHANNEL (Fr. La Manche, the sleeve). A reach of the North Atlantic Ocean separating England from France, and commonly called The Channel, the most important marine thoroughfare in the world (Map: Europe, C 3). It is connected with the North Sea by the Strait of Dover. 20 miles wide at its narrowest point. From this strait it extends west-southwest foi'280 miles, and joins the Atlantic Ocean at the Chops, between the Scilly Tsles and L T shant Isle, where the breadth is 100 miles. The average breadth is 70 miles: the greatest breadth is 140 miles — from Sidmouth to Saint-Malo. The average depth of the eastern half reaches about 200 feet : at the Strait of Dover the depth varies from to 120 feet, while in the western half the depth avera about 300 feel, and in places even exceeds 500 feet. A coarse gravel covers the bottom. The Channel occupies about 30,000 square miles, and contains the Seilly Isles. Channel [slands, Isle of Wight, L'shant Isle, and many islets and rocks, especially off the coast of I hit I any. The Seine is the largest river which Hows into it. Pilchard, mackerel, and other fish, as well as oysters, abound. The English coasi line, extending from Dover to Land's End, is 390 miles long, and tie- French, extending from Calais to Ushant, 570 miles. The chief English seaports on the Chan- nel are Falmouth, Plymouth, Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton, Folkestone, and Dover; the chief French ports are Cherbourg, Havre, Dieppe, Boulogne, and Calais. High tides, with a rise of from 37 to 42 feet, prevail on the south shore. The phenomenon of double high water is seen between Poole and Southampton, the tide coming in first by the Solent, and again by Spit- head three hours later. The sea is generally rough and unpleasant for travel, owing to the contrary currents. The Oeeanus Britannicus of the Romans, the Channel has been the scene of many important historical events, including the destruction of the Spanish Armada, the battle of La Hogue, the fight between the Kearsarge and the Alabama, etc. ENGLISH CONSTITUTION. See Parlia- ment. ENGLISH DIALECTS. See English Lan- guage; Scottish Language and Literature. EN'GLISHERY, or ENGLESCHERIE. The fact of being an Englishman, and not a Dane. The term refers to the curious exemption of a community in which an Englishman was found secretly slain, from the burden of making satis- faction for the murder. This ancient principle of the liability of the family, or mark, for the deeds of violence of its members is said by early English writers to have been introduced into England by Canute, the Dane (A.n. 1015). Prob- ably it had long existed, and had become nearly obsolete by his time, but was revived by him as a measure for the protection of his own fol- lowers from native violence. The community indicted of the crime might make a 'presentment of Englishery' — that is. might set up a formal plea that the victim of the crime was an English- man: which being established to the satisfaction of the court, the matter was left to the local law and the community was discharged of its indict- ment. The practice was maintained for many years after the reason for it had passed away, and it was not till the twenty-first year of Ed- ward III. (1348) that presentment of Englishery was abolished by act of Parliament. Consult Stephen. History of Hie Criminal Law of Eng- land (London, 1883). ENGLISH HARBOR. An important har- bor on the southern coast of Antigua. West Indies (Map: West Indies, R 6). It is the site of a British naval station. ENGLISH LANGUAGE. The chief medium of communication in the British Empire and the United States. It is the language used originally by the Teutonic tribes that invaded the island of Britain during the latter half of the fifth cen- tury. It belongs historically to the western branch of the Teutonic languages (q.v.) and to
