Israel, this tribe produced more of the rulers than any other. Joshua, Deborah, Abdon, and Samuel, among the judges, and Jeroboam, Nadab, and several other kings of Israel were of this tribe; agreeably to Jacob's prophecy, Gen. xlviii. 19.

EPHRATAH, or Dunker's Town, a small town of the United States, in Pennsylvania, the principal settlement of the religious sect, called Dunkers or Tunkers. It lies twelve miles north of Lancaster, and sixty west of Philadelphia.

EPHRATHITES, a name synonymous with Ephraimites, and frequently applied to persons of that tribe (see Judg. xii. 5., 1 Sam. i. 1.) as well as to the natives of Bethlehem-Ephratah. EPHREM (St.), an ancient Christian writer, in the fourth century, deacon of Edessa, was born at Nisibe, in Syria, hence styled Syrus. He was greatly esteemed by St. Basil, and St. Gregory of Nice. He wrote against the opinions of Sabellius, Arius, Apollinarius, the Manichees, &c.; and acquired such reputation, by his piety and his works, that he was called the doctor and prophet of the Syrians. He died in 378. The best editions of his works are, that of Oxford, in 1708, in folio, and that of Rome, from 1732 to 1736, in Syriac, Greek, and Latin, 6 vols. folio.

EPHREMI CODEX, in biblical literature, is a manuscript of the New Testament, written on vellum, and supposed to be of high antiquity. It is Codex Regius 1905,' noted in the catalogue of MSS. in the royal library in Paris IX., and in all the four parts of Wetstein's Greek Testament by the letter C. It is particularly described by Griesbach in his Symbolæ, p. iii. -liv. The first part of it contains several Greek works of Ephrem the Syrian, written over some more ancient writings, which had been erased, though the traces are still visible, and in most places legible. These more ancient writings were the whole Greek Bible. The New Testament has many chasms, which are specified by Wetstein. Besides these chasms, it is in many places illegible. Wetstein contends that this MS. was written before the year 542, though his arguments are not wholly decisive. Its readings, like those of all other very ancient MSS., are in favor of the Latin; but no proof can be given that this has been corrupted from the Latin version. It has been altered by a critical collector, who, according to Griesbach, must have lived many years after the time in which the MS. was written, and has probably erased many of the ancient readings. Kuster was the first who procured extracts from it, and he inserted them in his edition of Mill's Greek Testament. Wetstein has repeatedly collated it with very great accuracy; and the numerous readings, which he has quoted from it, greatly enhance the value of his edition. A fac-simile of the characters of this MS., which is written without accents, is given by Montfaucon in his Palæographia Græca. It has many marginal notes, written in uncial letters without accents. In this MS. the disputed, or rather spurious verse, John v. 4, is written, not in the text, but as a marginal scholion. Wetstein supposed, that this was one of the MSS. which were collated at Alexandria in 616 with

the new Syriac version; but, though this does ot appear to have been the case, it is certainly as ancient as the seventh century. Wetstein argues, from a marginal note to Heb. viii. 7, that it was written before the institution of the feast of the purification of the virgin Mary, that is, before the year 542. March's Michaelis, vols. ii. and iii.

EPHRON, in ancient geography, a place of Palestine, in the tribe of Judah, about fifteen miles from Jerusalem, according to Eusebius and Jerome. Also, a mountain of Palestine, on the confines of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, according to the book of Joshua. And, a large and strong town of Judea, in the half-tribe of Manasseh, on the other side of Jordan, overagainst Scythopolis. It was situated near the torrent of Jabok. This town was taken and sacked by Judas Maccabæus, and razed to its foundations.

EPHYDOR, in antiquity, an officer in the Athenian courts of justice, who provided the plaintiff and defendant with equal water hourglasses. When the glass was run out, they were not permitted to speak any farther; and, therefore, whilst the laws quoted by them were reciting, or if any other business intervened, the glasses were stopped.

EPHYRA, in ancient geography, a town of Greece, in Thesprotia, a province of Epirus; mentioned by Velleius, Paterculus, and Strabo; the latter of whom says, that it was afterwards called Cichyrus. Also, a town of Greece, in the Pelasgiotide, a country of Thessaly. This town was also called Cranon. Steph. Byz. Also a town of the Peloponnesus, in Arcadia. Steph. Byz. Also, a town of the Peloponnesus, in the territory of Elis, situated on the river Selleis. This place was famous for the deadly poisons which it produced.

EPIACUM, in ancient geography, a town of Albion, in the country of the Brigantes, according to Ptolemy. Camden places it at Elchester, on the river Derwent; Horsley at Hexham, in Northumberland; and Baxter supposes it was originally written Pepiacum, and places it at Papcastle, in Cumberland.

ÉPIBATÆ, επßaraι among the Greeks, ma rines, or soldiers, who served on board the ships of war. They were armed in the same manner as the land forces, only that more of them wore heavy armour.

EPIBATERION, from eßave, to go abroad, a poetical composition, in use among the Greeks. When any person of condition returned home, after a long absence, he called together his friends, and rehearsed a copy of verses, wherein he returned solemn thanks to the gods for his happy return; and ended with an address by way of compliment to his fellow citizens.

ÉPIBATERIUM, in botany, a genus of the hexandria order and monocia class of plants: CAL. a double perianth, the outward one with six leaves, very small; the inner one three times larger than the former, with three egg-shaped leaves: COR. six petals, smaller than the interior calyx and roundish: STAM. Six capillary filaments, crooked, and as long as the petals: ANTH. roundish. Species one only; a native of the P、

lynesian Isles: PERICARP. three roundish, monospermous plums: SEED a kidney-shaped compressed nut, somewhat furrowed.

EPIC, adj. Lat. epicus; TOÇ. Narrative; comprising narrations, not acted, but rehearsed. It is usually supposed to be heroic, or to contain one great action achieved by a hero.

Holmes, whose name shall live in epic song, While music numbers, or while verse has feet.

Dryden. The epic poem is more for the manners, and the tragedy for the passions.

Id. From morality they formed that kind of poem and fable which we call epic. Broome.

EPIC, OF HEROIC, POEм, a poem expressed in narration, formed upon a story partly real and partly feigned; representing, in a sublime style, some signal and fortunate action, distinguished by a variety of great events, to form the morals, and affect the mind with the love of heroic virtue. We may distinguish three parts of the definition, namely, the matter, the form, and the end. The matter includes the action of the fable, under which are ranged the incidents, episodes, characters, morals, and machinery. The form comprehends the way or manner of the narration, whether by the poet himself, or by any persons introduced, whose discourses are related to this branch likewise belong the moving of the passions, the descriptions, discourses, sentiments, thoughts, style, and versification; and besides these, the similes, tropes, figures, and, in short, all the ornaments and decorations of the poem. The end is to improve our morals and increase our virtue. See POETRY.

EPICEDION, from επ upon, and endog, funeral, in Greek and Latin poetry, a poetical composition, on the death of a person. At the obsequies of any man of figure, there were three kinds of discourses usually made; that rehearsed at his bustum, or funeral pile, was called nenia; that engraved on his tomb, epitaph; and that spoken in the ceremony of his funeral, epicedion. We have two beautiful epicedions in Virgil, that of Euryalus and that of Pallas.

You from above shall hear each day
One dirge dispatched unto your clay;
These, your own anthems, shall become

Your lasting epicedium. Sandys's Paraphrase. EPICHARMUS, an ancient poet and philosopher, born in Sicily, and a disciple of Pythagoras. He is said to have introduced comedy at Syracuse in the reign of Hiero. Horace commends Plautus for imitating this poet, in following the intrigue so closely as not to give the readers or spectators time to trouble themselves with doubts concerning the discovery. He wrote likewise treatises concerning philosophy and medicine. None of his entire works have been preserved, but some of his apophthegms have come down to us and deserve remembrance; such are the following: To die is an evil; but to be dead is no evil.' Every man's natural disposition is his good or evil dæmon.' 'He who is naturally inclined to good is noble, though his mother was an Ethiopian.' 'Be sober in

thought, be slow in belief; these are the sinews of wisdom.' 'The gods set up their favors at a price, and industry is the purchaser.' 'Live so as to be prepared either for a long life or a short one." He died aged seventy, according to Laertius, who has preserved four verses inscribed on his statue.

EPICHIREMA, Eжixeiрeμa, in logic, an argumentation, consisting of four or more propositions, some of which are proofs of others. The oration of Cicero for Milo may be thus reduced to the epichirema :-Those who way-lay a man to kill him, it is lawful for him to kill, as is allowed by the laws of nature and nations, and by the practice of the best men; but Clodius way-laid Milo with that view, as appears from his forming an ambuscade before his countryhouse, and from his provision of weapons, soldiers, &c.' Therefore it was lawful for Milo to kill Clodius.

EPICHIROTONIA, among the Athenians. It was ordained by Solon, that once every year the laws should be carefully revised and examined; and, if any of them were found unsuitable to the present state of affairs, they should be repealed. This was called εTIXEоTоvia Twv vouw, from the manner of giving their suffrages by holding up their hands.

EPIC ENE, in grammar, a term applied to nouns, which, under the same gender and termination, mark indifferently the male and female species. Such in Latin is aquila, vespertilio, &c., which signify equally a male or female eagle or bat. Grammarians distinguish between epicone and common. A noun is said to be common of two kinds, when it may be joined either with a masculine or a feminine article; and epicone, when it is always joined to one of the two articles, and yet signifies both genders.

EPICRISIS, ETIKρiσig, in rhetoric, a clear and brief declaration of the speaker's judgment concerning the subject in hand. Thus, ego sic statuo, in optimo imperatore quatuor has res inesse oportere, &c.' Voss. Rhet. lib. vi. p. 495.

EPICTETUS, a celebrated Stoic philosopher, born at Hierapolis in Phrygia, in the first century, was the slave of Epaphroditus, a freed man and one of Nero's guard. Domitian banishing all philosophers from Rome, about A. D. 94, Epictetus retired to Nicopolis in Epirus, where he died in a very advanced age; and, after his death, the earthen lamp he had used sold for 3000 drachmas. He was a man of great modesty; and used to say, 'That there was no need to adorn a man's house with rich hangings or paintings, since the most graceful furniture is temperance and modesty, which are lasting ornaments, and will never be the worse for wear.' Of all the ancient philosophers, he seems to have made the nearest approaches to true morality, and to have had the most just ideas of God and providence. He always possessed a cool and serene mind, unruffled by passion; and used to say, that the whole of moral philosophy was included in these words, support and abstain. One day his master Epaphroditus strove in a frolic to wrench his leg; when Epictetus said, with a smile, free from any emotion, 'If you go on, you will certainly break my leg :' the former

redoubling his effort, and striking it with all his strength, at last broke the bone; when Epictetus only added, Did not I tell you, Sir, that you would break my leg?' No man was more expert at reducing the rigor of the maxims of the Stoics into practice. He conformed himself strictly, both in his discourse and behaviour, to the manners of Socrates and Zeno. He waged continual war with fancy and fortune; and it is an excellence peculiar to him, that he admitted all the severity of the Stoics without their sourness, and reformed Stoicism as well as professed it. Besides vindicating the immortality of the soul as strenuously as Socrates, he declared openly against suicide, the lawfulness of which was maintained by the rest of the sect. Arrian, his disciple, wrote a long account of his life and death, which is lost; and preserved four books of his discourses and his Enchiridion, of which there have been several editions in Greek and Latin; and, in 1758, a translation of them into English was published by the learned and ingenious Miss Carter.

EPICURE, n. s. Lat. epicureus. A folEPICUREAN, adj. (lower of Epicurus; a man EPICURISM, given to luxury epicuEPICURIZE, V. N. rean is luxurious: epicurism, bellyism, gross pleasure: to epicurise is to feed like an epicure.

There is not half so much epicurism in any of their most studied luxuries, as a bleeding fame at their Government of the Tongue.

mercy. While I could see thee full of eager pain, My greedy eyes epicurized on thine. Flatman. In my opinion, the body natural may be compared to the body politic; and, if this be so, how can the epicurean's opinion be true, that the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms? Swift.

EPICUREAN PHILOSOPHY. The doctrine, or system of philosophy maintained by Epicurus and his followers, is thus stated in the comprehensive and elaborate detail of Brucker in his History of Philosophy, as translated and abridged by Dr. Enfield and consists of three parts, Philosophy in general, Physics, and Ethics. Philosophy is the exercise of reason in the pursuit and attainment of a happy life; whence it follows, that those studies, which conduce neither to the acquisition nor the enjoyment of happiness, are

to be dismissed as of no value. The end of all speculation ought to be, to enable men to judge with certainty what is to be chosen, and what to be avoided, to preserve themselves free from pain, and to secure health of body, and tranquillity of mind. Accordingly the young should apply to the study of it without delay, nor should the old be ever weary in the pursuit of it. As nothing ought to be dearer to a philosopher than truth, he should prosecute it by the most direct means, devising no fictions himself, nor suffering himself to be imposed upon by the fictions of others, neither poets, orators, nor logicians; making no other use of the rules of rhetoric or grammar, than to enable him to speak or write with accuracy and perspicuity, and always preferring a plain and simple to an ornamented style. A wise man will embrace such tenets, and only such, as are built upon experience, or upon certain and indisputable axioms. Philosophy consists of two parts:physics, which respect the contemplation of nature; and ethics, which are employed in the regulation of manners, Of these, the latter is the most important; the knowledge of nature being only necessary as a means of promoting the happiness of life. Philosophers have added a third part, dialectics; which ought to be rejected, as only productive of thorny disputes, idle quibbles, and fruitless cavilling. In order to facilitate the pursuit of knowledge, a few plain maxims and rules may be useful. Truth is of two kinds; that which respects real existence, and that which consists in a perfect agreement between the conception of the mind and the nature of things. In order to judge rightly concerning truth, it is necessary to use some criterion, or instrument of judging. This criterion will vary according to the nature of the object which the mind contemplates. In judging of natural and moral objects the three instruments employed are sense, preconception, and passion. The maxims, or canons, pertaining to sense, are four: first, that the senses can never be deceived, and consequently, that every perception of an image, or appearance, is true; that is, that the perception or simple apprehension, and its efficient cause, the species or image flowing from the object, really agree. Secondly, opinion or judgment s consequent upon perception, and admits of truth or falsehood. Perceptions or sensations, are the effect of real external phenomena; but, when the mind judges concerning these appearances, the opinion may be either right or wrong. Thirdly, every opinion is to be admitted as true, which is attested, or not contradicted, by the evidence of the senses, after a careful and deliberate examination of every circumstance which can be supposed to affect the question. Fourthly, an opinion contradicted, or not attested by the evidence of the senses, is false. Thus the opinion of a Plenum must be false, because it contradicts the evidence of the senses, which attest that there is such a thing as motion. Concerning the second instrument of judgment, viz. poλŋfic, or preconception, four canons may be laid down. First, that all preconceptions are derived from the senses, either by immediate impression, as of an individual man; by enlargement or diminu

century. Sennert, however, confounded the corpuscles of the more ancient philosophers with the atoms of Democritus and Epicurus, and held that each element has primary particles peculiar to itself. The same doctrine was taught, with some inconsiderable variations, by Chrysostom Magnenus, professor of medicine in the university of Pavia, who, in the year 1646, published A Treatise on the Life and Philosophy of Democritus. His system was rendered obscure by an attempt to unite the incompatible dogmas of Epicurus and Aristotle. The ablest and most successful attempt towards the revival of the physical and moral philosophy of Epicurus was made by Peter Gassendi, who, besides a variety of other learned treatises, wrote a life of Epicurus, in which he undertakes to rescue that philosopher from the load of calumny under which his memory had lain for many ages, as well as to give a fair and impartial representation of his doctrine. The most celebrated followers of Gassendi were Francis Bernier, a physician of Montpelier, who wrote an Abridgement of Gassendi's Philosophy, Par. 1678, and Walter Charlton, an Englishman, who wrote a treatise, entitled Physiologia Epicuro-Gassendo Charletoniana, London, 1654, in which he attempts to establish natural science upon atomic principles. Indeed, the doctrine of atoms and a vacuum has been embraced by the most eminent philosophers. Huygens applies it to explain the cause of gravitation, and Newton admits it into his theory of natural philosophy. Diogenes Laertius, 1. x. Lucretius de Rerum Naturá. Stanley's Hist. Phil. part xiii. Gassendus de Vitá et Moribus Epicuri. (Brucker's Hist. Phil. by Enfield).

EPICY'CLE, n. s. Eπí and kúkλoç, a circle. A circle whose centre is in the circumference of a greater. See below.

In regard of the epicycle, or lesser orb, wherein it

moveth, the motion of the moon is various and unequal. Browne.

Gird the sphere

With centric and eccentric, scribbled o'er ;
Cycle and epicycle, orb in orb.

Milton's Paradise Lost.

EPICYCLE. See ASTRONOMY. EPICYCLE, a circle on a circle, in the ancient system of astronomy, was a subordinate orbit, or circle, which moved on the circumference of a larger one, which latter was called the deferent. By means of this epicycle, one motion, apparently irregular, was resolved into two that were circular and uniform; and, when the observed motion was so irregular and complicated as not to be represented by one epicycle, the method was to add others, till a nearer approximation was obtained. This system owed its origin to a prejudice that seems to have been extremely ancient, in favor of uniform and circular motion; and the problem that chiefly occupied the astronomers in those times, was to assign the proper proportion of the deferent and epicycle which should approximate nearest to the actual observations. The representation made by this concentric theory of the solar inequalities in longitu.de, was as follows:

Let C be the centre both of the earth and of the circle FB D, and let HGk be a smaller circle, called an epicycle, whose centre B moves uniformly in the circumference F BD from west to east, or in consequentia, while the sun moves also uniformly, and with the same velocity, in the circumference of the epicycle, in antecedentia in the upper part, but in consequentia in the lower. If the point G of the epicycle, called the apogee, as being most distant from the earth, be supposed, at the beginning of the anomalistical revolution, to be placed in the point A of OF produced; and if when it comes to G the arch GH be taken similar to FB, the point H will be the place of the sun when the centre of the epicycle has moved from F to B. If then in OF, to which BH is parallel, we take OE= BH, and on E, as a centre, with the distance EA=CF, describe the circle AHP, the sun

would be seen from E to move in this circle

equably; for the angle AEH is equal to the angle FCB; but seen from C, the centre of the earth, he will appear to move in it inequably, for the angle ACH in the first semicircle of anomaly, that is, in the passage of the sun from A to P, is always less than AEH or FCB: and his true place H will be less advanced in longitude than his mean B. When, again, the centre of the epicycle, or the mean place of the sun, having described a semicircle of the epicycle, will be found in P, the perigee of the orbit AH P, and his mean and true places B and H, will be seen from C to coincide as they did in A, the apogee; but in the sun's passage from P to A, that is, in the second semicircle of anomaly, his true place H, as seen from C, will be always more advanced in longitude than his mean place B; for in this semicircle the angle PCH is always greater than PEH in DCB. The angle EHC, or BCH, which is the difference between the mean and true places of the sun, is called the equation of the orbit, as being that quantity which, added to the true motion Å CH of the planet in its orbit AHP, in the first semicircle of anomaly, and subtracted from it in the opposite semicircle, will render it equal to the mean motion A EH or FCB; and it is evident that the equation, or difference, will be greatest in N or M, where the centre B of the epicycle is 90° distant from either apsis. Any lines drawn from E, the centre of the orbit AHP, to the true place of the sun in H, and from C the centre of