a county of England, bounded on the north by the Stour, which separates it from Suffolk and Cambridgeshire; on the east, by the German sea; on the west, by Hertfordshire and Middlesex; and on the south by the river Thames. It extends 46 miles in length from E. to W. and about 42 in breadth from N. to S. and 200 in circuit. This county is in the diocese of London, and gives title of Earl to the family of Capel. It is divided into 19 hundreds, and contains 27 market-towns, 415 parishes, 125 vicarages, and 1100 villages, with about 34,800 houses, and 208,800 inhabitants. It sends eight members to parliament; namely, two for the county, and two for Colchester, Harwich, and Malden. The air in the inland parts is healthy; but in the marshes near the sea it produces ague, particularly in the part called the Hundreds. However, the fertility of the unwholesome part is very great, and even the higher grounds of this county are very fruitful. About Saffron Walden, the earth, after bearing saffron three years, it is said, will produce good barley for 18 years successively without any manure. Its produce, which is very plentiful, consists of corn, most excellent saffron, cattle, fowl, fish, and particularly oysters. The chief manufactures of this county are cloth, stuffs, and particularly baize. The principal rivers, besides the Thames, are the Stour, which falls into the German sea at Harwich; the Lea, its western boundary, falls into the Thames below Stratford; the Blackwater runs thro' the heart of the county, and falling by Chelmsford is joined by the Chalmer, and from thence runs into the German sea; the Coln runs by Halsted to Colchester, and so into the sea. The Roding which rises northwards, near Dunmow, runs into the Thames near Barking. All these rivers abound in most sorts of fish.