Lord Eldon’s wife, his dear “Bessy,” his love for whom is a beautiful feature in his life, died before him, on the 28th of June 1831. By nature she was of simple character, and by habits acquired during the early portion of her husband’s career almost a recluse. Two of their sons reached maturity—John, who died in 1805, and William Henry John, who died unmarried in 1832. Lord Eldon himself survived almost all his immediate relations. His brother William died in 1836. He himself died in London on the 13th of January 1838, leaving behind him two daughters, Lady Frances Bankes and Lady Elizabeth Repton, and a grandson John (1805-1854), who succeeded him as second earl, the title subsequently passing to the latter’s son John (b. 1846).
Lord Eldon was no legislator—his one aim in politics was to keep in office, and maintain things as he found them; and almost the only laws he helped to pass were laws for popular coercion. For nearly forty years he fought against every improvement in law, or in the constitution—calling God to witness, on the smallest proposal of reform, that he foresaw from it the downfall of his country. Without any political principles, properly so called, and without interest in or knowledge of foreign affairs, he maintained himself and his party in power for an unprecedented period by his great tact, and in virtue of his two great political properties—of zeal against every species of reform, and zeal against the Roman Catholics. To pass from his political to his judicial character is to shift to ground on which his greatness is universally acknowledged. His judgments, which have received as much praise for their accuracy as abuse for their clumsiness and uncouthness, fill a small library. But though intimately acquainted with every nook and cranny of the English law, he never carried his studies into foreign fields, from which to enrich our legal literature; and it must be added that against the excellence of his judgments, in too many cases, must be set off the hardships, worse than injustice, that arose from his protracted delays in pronouncing them. A consummate judge and the narrowest of politicians, he was doubt on the bench, and promptness itself in the political arena. For literature, as for art, he had no feeling. What intervals of leisure he enjoyed from the cares of office he filled up with newspapers and the gossip of old cronies. Nor were his intimate associates men of refinement and taste; they were rather good fellows who quietly enjoyed a good bottle and a joke; he uniformly avoided encounters of wit with his equals. He is said to have been parsimonious, and certainly he was quicker to receive than to reciprocate hospitalities; but his mean establishment and mode of life are explained by the retired habits of his wife, and her dislike of company. His manners were very winning and courtly, and in the circle of his immediate relatives he is said to have always been lovable and beloved.
“In his person,” says Lord Campbell, “Lord Eldon was about the middle size, his figure light and athletic, his features regular and handsome, his eye bright and full, his smile remarkably benevolent, and his whole appearance prepossessing. The advance of years rather increased than detracted from these personal advantages. As he sat on the judgment-seat, ‘the deep thought betrayed in his furrowed brow—the large eyebrows, overhanging eyes that seemed to regard more what was taking place within than around him—his calmness, that would have assumed a character of sternness but for its perfect placidity—his dignity, repose and venerable age, tended at once to win confidence and to inspire respect’ (Townsend). He had a voice both sweet and deep-toned, and its effect was not injured by his Northumbrian burr, which, though strong, was entirely free from harshness and vulgarity.”
Authorities.—Horace Twiss, Life of Lord Chancellor Eldon (1844); W.E. Surtees, Sketch of the Lives of Lords Stowell and Eldon (1846); Lord Campbell, Lives of the Chancellors; W.C. Townsend, Lives of Twelve Eminent Judges (1846); Greville Memoirs.
EL DORADO (Span. “the gilded one”), a name applied, first, to the king or chief priest of a South American tribe who was said to cover himself with gold dust at a yearly religious festival held near Santa Fé de Bogotá; next, to a legendary city called Manoa or Omoa; and lastly, to a mythical country in which gold and precious stones were found in fabulous abundance. The legend, which has never been traced to its ultimate source, had many variants, especially as regards the situation attributed to Manoa. It induced many Spanish explorers to lead expeditions in search of treasure, but all failed. Among the most famous were the expedition undertaken by Diego de Ordaz, whose lieutenant Martinez claimed to have been rescued from shipwreck, conveyed inland, and entertained at Omoa by “El Dorado” himself (1531); and the journeys of Orellana (1540-1541), who passed down the Rio Napo to the valley of the Amazon; that of Philip von Hutten (1541-1545), who led an exploring party from Coro on the coast of Caracas; and of Gonzalo Ximenes de Quesada (1569), who started from Santa Fé de Bogotá. Sir Walter Raleigh, who resumed the search in 1595, described Manoa as a city on Lake Parimá in Guiana. This lake was marked on English and other maps until its existence was disproved by A. von Humboldt (1769-1859). Meanwhile the name of El Dorado came to be used metaphorically of any place where wealth could be rapidly acquired. It was given to a county in California, and to towns and cities in various states. In literature frequent allusion is made to the legend, perhaps the best-known references being those in Milton’s Paradise Lost (vi. 411) and Voltaire’s Candide (chs. 18, 19).
See A.F.A. Bandelier, The Gilded Man, El Dorado (New York, 1893).
ELDUAYEN, JOSÉ DE, 1st Marquis del Pazo de la Merced (1823-1898), Spanish politician, was born in Madrid on the 22nd of June 1823. He was educated in the capital, took the degree of civil engineer, and as such directed important works in Asturias and Galicia, entered the Cortes in 1856 as deputy for Vigo, and sat in all the parliaments until 1867 as member of the Union Liberal with Marshal O’Donnell. He attacked the Miraflores cabinet in 1864, and became under-secretary of the home office when Canovas was minister in 1865. He was made a councillor of state in 1866, and in 1868 assisted the other members of the Union Liberal in preparing the revolution. In the Cortes of 1872 he took much part in financial debates. He accepted office as member of the last Sagasta cabinet under King Amadeus. On the proclamation of the republic Elduayen very earnestly co-operated in the Alphonsist conspiracy, and endeavoured to induce the military and politicians to work together. He went abroad to meet and accompany the prince after the pronunciamiento of Marshal Campos, landed with him at Valencia, was made governor of Madrid, a marquis, grand cross of Charles III., and minister for the colonies in 1878. He accepted the portfolio of foreign affairs in the Canovas cabinet from 1883 to 1885, and was made a life senator. He always prided himself on having been one of the five members of the Cortes of 1870 who voted for Alphonso XII. when that parliament elected Amadeus of Savoy. He died at Madrid on the 24th of June 1898.