# The Nuttall Encyclopædia/S

S
Saadi. See Sádi.
Saale, the name of several German rivers, the most important of which rises in the Fichtelgebirge, near Zell, in Upper Bavaria; flows northward, a course of 226 m., till it joins the Elbe at Barby; has numerous towns on its banks, including Jena, Halle, and Naumburg, to which last it is navigable.
Saarbrück (10), a manufacturing town in Rhenish Prussia, on the French frontier, where the French under Napoleon III. repulsed the Germans, August 2, 1870.
Sabadell (18), a prosperous Spanish town, 14 m. NW. of Barcelona; manufactures cotton and woollen textiles.
Sabæans, a trading people who before the days of Solomon and for long after inhabited South Arabia, on the shores of the Bed Sea, and who worshipped the sun and moon with other kindred deities; also a religious sect on the Lower Euphrates, with Jewish, Moslem, and Christian rites as well as pagan, called Christians of St. John; the term Sabæanism designates the worship of the former.
Sabaoth, name given in the Bible, and particularly in the Epistle of James, to the Divine Being as the Lord of all hosts or kinds of creatures.
Sabathai, Levi, a Jewish impostor, who gave himself out to be the Messiah and persuaded a number of Jews to forsake all and follow him; the sultan of Turkey forced him to confess the imposture, and he turned Mussulman to save his life (1625-1676).
Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, observed by the Jews as a day of “rest” from all work and “holy to the Lord,” as His day, specially in commemoration of His rest from the work of creation, the observance of which by the Christian Church has been transferred to the first of the week in commemoration of Christ's resurrection.
Sabellianism, the doctrine of one Sabellius, who, in the third century, denied that there were three persons in the Godhead, and maintained that there was only one person in three functions, aspects, or manifestations, at least this was the form his doctrine assumed in course of time, which is now called by his name, and is accepted by many in the present day.
Sabianism. See Sabæans.
Sabine, a river of Texas which, rising in the extreme N. of the State, flows SE. and S., forming for 250 m. the boundary between Louisiana and Texas, passes through Sabine Lake into the Gulf of Mexico after a navigable course of 500 in.
Sabine, Sir Edward, a noted physicist, born in Dublin; served in artillery in 1803, maintained his connection with it till his retirement in 1874 as general, but owes his celebrity to his important investigations into the nature of terrestrial magnetism; accompanied as a scientist Boss and Parry in their search for the North-West Passage (1819-20); was President both of the Royal Society from 1861 to 1879 and of the British Association in 1853 (1788-1883).
Sabines, an ancient Italian people of the Aryan stock, near neighbours of ancient Borne, a colony of whom is said to have settled on the Quirinal, and contributed to form the moral part of the Roman people. Numa, the second king of the city, was a Sabine. See Romulus.
Sable Island, a low, sandy, barren island in the Atlantic, 110 m. off the E. coast of Nova Scotia; is extremely dangerous to navigation, and is marked by three lighthouses; is gradually being washed away.
Sabots, a species of wooden shoes extensively worn by the peasants of France, Belgium, &c.; each shoe is hollowed out of a single block of wood (fir, willow, beech, and ash); well adapted for marshy districts.
Sacerdotalism, a tendency to attach undue importance to the order and the ministry of priests, to the limitation of the operation of Divine grace.
Sacheverel, Henry, an English Church clergyman, born at Maryborough, who became notorious in the reign of Queen Anne for his embittered attack (contained in two sermons in 1700) on the Revolution Settlement and the Act of Toleration; public feeling was turning in favour of the Tories, and the impolitic impeachment of Sacheverel by the Whig Government fanned popular feeling to a great height in his favour; was suspended from preaching for three years, at the expiry of which time the Tories, then in power, received him with ostentatious marks of favour; was soon forgotten; was an Oxford graduate, and a friend of Addison; a man of no real ability (1672-1724).
Sachs, Hans, a noted early German poet, born at Nürnberg; the son of a tailor, by trade a shoemaker; learned “the mystery of song” from a weaver; was a contemporary of Luther, who acknowledged his services in the cause of the Reformation; in his seventy-fourth year (1568), on examining his stock for publication, found that he had written 6048 poetical pieces, among them 208 tragedies and comedies, and this besides having all along kept house, like an honest Nürnberg burgher, by assiduous and sufficient shoemaking; a man standing on his own basis; wrote “Narrenschneiden,” a piece in which the doctor cures a bloated and lethargic patient by “cutting out half-a-dozen fools from his interior”; he sunk into oblivion during the 17th century, but his memory was revived by Goethe in the 18th (1494-1576).
Sachs, Julius, a German botanist and professor, born at Breslau; has written several works on botany, and experimented on the physiology of plants; b. 1832.
Sackville, Thomas, Earl of Dorset, poet and statesman, born at Buckhurst; bred for the bar; entered Parliament in 1558; wrote with Thomas Norton a tragedy called “Gorboduc,” contributed to a collection of British legends called the “Mirror of Magistrates” two pieces in noble verse (1536-1608).
Sacrament, a ceremonial observance in the Christian Church divinely instituted as either really or symbolically a means, and in any case a pledge, of grace.
Sacramentarian, a High Churchman who attaches a special sacred virtue to the sacraments of the Church.
Sacramento, largest river of California, rises in the NE. in the Sierra Nevada; follows a south-westerly course, draining the central valley of California; falls into Suisund Bay, on the Pacific coast, after a course of 500 miles, of which 250 are navigable.
Sacramento (29), capital of California, situated at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers, 90 m. NE. of San Francisco; industries embrace flour and planing mills, foundries, potteries, &c.; has an art gallery, court-house, &c.; the tropical climate is tempered at night by cool sea breezes.
Sacred Wars. See Amphictyonic Council.
Sacrifice, anything of value given away to secure the possession of something of still higher value, and which is the greater and more meritorious the costlier the gift.
Sacring-bell, or Sanctus-bell, the bell which rings when the Host is elevated at the celebration of High Mass.
Sacy, Antoine Isaac, Baron Silvestre de, the greatest of modern Orientalists, born at Paris; by twenty-three was a master of classic, Oriental, and modern European languages; was appointed in 1795 professor of Arabic in the School of Oriental Languages, and in 1806 of Persian in the College de France, besides which he held various other appointments; founded the Asiatic Society in 1822; was created a baron by Napoleon Bonaparte, and entered the Chamber of Peers in 1832; published “Biographies of Persian Poets,” a standard Arabic grammar, &c.; his writings gave a stimulus to Oriental research throughout Europe (1758-1838).
Sadda, the name given to a Persian epitome of the Zend-Avesta.
Sadducees, a sect of the Jews of high priestly origin that first came into prominence by their opposition to the Pharisees, being the party in power when Pharisaism arose in protestation against their policy as tending to the secularisation of the Jewish faith, or the prostitution of it to mere secular ends. They represented the Tory or Conservative party among the Jews, as the Pharisees did the High Church party among us. The antagonism which thus arose on political grounds gradually extended to religious matters. In regard to religion they were the old orthodox party, and acknowledged the obligation of only the written law, and refused to accept tradition at the hands of the Scribes. They denied the immortality of the soul, the separate existence of spirits, and this they did on strictly Old Testament grounds, but this not from any real respect for the authority of Scripture, only as in accord with the main article of their creed, which attached importance only to what bears upon this present life, and which in modern times goes under the name of secularism. They were at bottom a purely political party, and they went out of sight and disappeared from Jewish history with the fall of the Jewish State, only the Pharisaic party surviving in witness of what Judaism is.
Sade, Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de, French novelist, who, after fighting in the Seven Years' War, was sentenced to death for odious crimes, effected his escape, but was caught and imprisoned in the Bastille, where he wrote a number of licentious romances; died a lunatic (1740-1814).
Sádi, a celebrated Persian poet, born at Shiraz, of noble lineage, but born poor; bred up in the Moslem faith; made pilgrimages to Mecca no fewer than 15 times; spent years in travel; fell into the hands of the Crusaders; was ransomed by a merchant of Aleppo, who thought him worth ransoming at a cost; retired to a hermitage near Shiraz, where he died and was buried; his works, both in prose and verse, are numerous, but the most celebrated is the “Gulistan” (the rose-gardens), a collection of moral tales interlarded with philosophical reflections and maxims of wisdom, which have made his name famous all over both the East and the West (1184-1291).
Sadler, Sir Ralph, a politician and diplomatist; was employed by Henry VIII. in carrying out the dissolution of the monasteries, and conducted diplomatic negotiations with Scotland; distinguished himself at the battle of Pinkie; enjoyed the favour of Elizabeth; was Queen Mary's keeper in the Castle of Tutbury; was the bearer of the news of Queen Mary's execution to King James (1507-1587).
Sadoleto, Jacopo, cardinal, born in Modena; acted as secretary under Leo X., Clement VII., and Paul III., the latter of whom created him a cardinal in 1536; was a faithful Churchman and an accomplished scholar, and eminent in both capacities (1477-1547).
Sadowa. See Königgrätz.
Safed (17), a town of Palestine, 12 m. N. of Tiberias, occupied principally by Jews attracted thither in part by the expectation that the Messiah, when He appears, will establish His kingdom there; it spreads in horse-shoe fashion round the foot of a hill 2700 ft. high; is a seat of Hebrew learning.
Safety Lamp, name of a variety of lamps for safety in coal-mines against “fire-damp,” a highly explosive mixture of natural gas apt to accumulate in them; the best known being the “Davey Lamp,” invented by Sir Humphrey Davy; the “Geordie,” invented by George Stephenson, both of which, however, have been superseded by the Gray, Muesler, Marsant, and other lamps; all are constructed on the principle discovered by Davy and Stephenson, that a flame enveloped in wire gauze of a certain fineness does not ignite “fire-damp.”
Saffi, or Asfi (9), a decayed seaport of Morocco, on the Mediterranean coast, 120 m. NW. of the city of Morocco; has ruins of a castle of the Sultans and of the old Portuguese fortifications; has still a fair export trade in beans, wool, olive-oil, &c.
Sagar, a low island at the mouth of the Hûgli, a sacred spot and a place of pilgrimage to the Hindus; mostly jungle; sparsely peopled.
Sagas, a collection of epics in prose embodying the myths and legends of the ancient Scandinavians, originally transmitted from mouth to mouth, and that began to assume a literary form about the 12th century.
Sagasta, Praxedes Mateo, Spanish statesmen of liberal sympathies; took part in the insurrections of 1856 and 1866, and was for some time a fugitive in France; entered Prim's Cabinet, supported the elected King Amadeus, and since his abdication has led the Liberal party; has twice been Prime Minister; b. 1827.
Saghalien (12), a long narrow island belonging to Russia, situated close to the E. coast of Siberia, from which it is separated by the so-called Gulf of Tartary; stretches N. from the island of Yezo, a distance of 670 m.; is mountainous and forest-clad in the interior; has excellent coast fisheries, but a cold, damp climate prevents successful agriculture; rich coal-mines exist, and are wrought by 4000 or 5000 convicts. Ceded by Japan to Russia in 1875.
Saguenay, a large and picturesque river of Canada; carries off the surplus waters of Lake St. John, replenished by a number of large streams, and issuing a full-bodied stream, flows SE. through magnificent forest and mountain scenery till it falls into the St. Lawrence, 115 m. below Quebec, after a course of 100 m.; is remarkable for its depth, and is navigable by the largest ships.
Saguntum, a town of ancient Spain, was situated where now stands the town of Murviedro, 18 m. NE. of Valencia; famous in history for its memorable siege by Hannibal in 219 B.C., which led to the Second Punic War.
Sahara, the largest desert region in the world, stretches E. and W. across Northern Africa, from the Atlantic to the valley of the Nile, a distance of 3000 m., and on the N. is limited by the slopes of the Atlas Mountains, and on the S. by the valleys of the Senegal and Niger Rivers. The surface is diversified by long sweeps of undulating sand-dunes, elevated plateaux, hill and mountain ranges (8000 ft. highest) furrowed by dried-up water-courses, and dotted with fertile oases which yield date-palms, oranges, lemons, figs, &c. The most sterile tract is in the W., stretching in a semicircle between Cape Blanco and Fezzan. Rain falls over the greater part at intervals of from two to five years. Temperature will vary from over 100°F. to below freezing-point in 24 hours. There are a number of definite caravan routes connecting Timbuctoo and the Central Soudan with the Niger and coast-lands. Dates and salt are the chief products; the giraffe, wild ass, lion, ostrich, python, &c., are found; it is chiefly inhabited by nomadic and often warlike Moors, Arabs, Berbers, and various negro races. The greater part is within the sphere of French influence. “When the winds waken, and lift and winnow the immensity of sand, the air itself is a dim sand-air, and dim looming through it, the wonderfullest uncertain colonnades of sand-pillars whirl from this side and from that, like so many spinning dervishes, of a hundred feet of stature, and dance their huge Desert waltz there.”
Saharanpur (59), a town in the North-West Provinces of India, 125 m. N. of Delhi, in a district formerly malarious, but now drained and healthy; the population principally Mohammedans, who have recently built in it a handsome mosque.
Sahib (i. e. master), used in India when addressing a European gentleman; Mem Sahib to a lady.
Saigon (16), capital of French Cochin-China, on the river Saigon, one of the delta streams of the Mekhong, 60 m. from the China Sea; is handsomely laid out with boulevards, &c.; has a fine palace, arsenal, botanical and zoological gardens, &c.; Cholon (40), 4 m. SW., forms a busy trading suburb, exporting rice, cotton, salt, hides, &c.
Saint, a name applied to a holy or sacred person, especially one canonised; in the plural it is the name assumed by the Mormons.
St. Albans (13), an old historic city of Hertfordshire, on an eminence by the Ver, a small stream, which separates it from the site of the ancient Verulamium; has a splendid ancient abbey church, rebuilt in 1077; industries include brewing, straw-plaiting, silk-throwing, &c.; scene of two famous battles (1455 and 1461) during the Wars of the Roses.
St. Aloysius, Italian marquis, who renounced his title, became a Jesuit, devoted himself to the care of the plague-stricken in Rome; died of it, and was canonised (1568-1591).
St. Andrews (7), a famous city of Fife, occupies a bold site on St. Andrews Bay, 42 m. NE. of Edinburgh; for long the ecclesiastical metropolis of Scotland, and associated with many stirring events in Scottish history; its many interesting ruins include a 12th-century priory, a cathedral, “robbed” in 1559, a castle or bishop's palace built in the 13th century; has a university (St. Salvator's 1521 and St. Leonard's 1537) the first founded in Scotland, and is still an important educational centre, having several excellent schools (Madras College the chief); since the Reformation its trade has gradually dwindled away; fishing is carried on, but it depends a good deal on its large influx of summer visitors, attracted by the splendid golf links and excellent sea-bathing.
Saint Arnaud, Jacques Leroy de, a noted French marshal, born at Bordeaux; was already a distinguished soldier when he entered actively into the plans of Louis Napoleon to overthrow the Republic; assisted at the coup d'état, and was created a marshal in reward; commanded the French forces at the outbreak of the Crimean War, and took part in the battle of the Alma, but died a few days later (1796-1854).
St. Asaph (2), a pretty little city in Flintshire, 6 m. SE. of Rhyl; its cathedral, the smallest in the kingdom, was rebuilt after 1284, mainly in the Decorated style.
St. Bees (1), a village on the Cumberland coast, 4 m. S. of Whitehaven; has a Church of England Theological College, founded in 1816 by Dr. Law, bishop of Chester; designed for students of limited means; a ruined priory church of Henry I.'s time was renovated for the accommodation of the college.
St. Bernard, the name of two mountain passes in the Alps: 1, Great St. Bernard, in the Pennine Alps, leading from Martigny to Aosta, is 8120 ft. high, near the top of which stands a famous hospice, founded in 962, and kept by Augustinian monks, who, with the aid of dogs called of St. Bernard, do noble service in rescuing perishing travellers from the snow; 2, Little St. Bernard, in the Graian Alps, crosses the mountains which separate the valleys of Aosta and Tarantaise in Savoy. Hannibal is supposed to have crossed the Alps by this pass.
St. Brieuc (16), capital of the dep. of Côtes du Nord, Brittany, on the Gouet, and 2 m. from its mouth; has a 13th-century cathedral, ruins of an interesting tower, lyceum, &c.; at the mouth of the river is the port Le Ligné.
St. Christopher or St. Kitts (30), one of the Leeward Islands, in the West Indies archipelago, 45 m. NW. of Guadeloupe; a narrow mountainous island, 23 m. long; produces sugar, molasses, rum, &c.; capital is Basse-terre (7).
St. Clair, a river of North America, flowing in a broad navigable stream from Lake Huron into Lake St. Clair, which in turn pours its surplus waters by means of the Detroit River into Lake Erie.
St. Cloud (5), a town in the dep. of Seine-et-Oise, France; occupies an elevated site near the Seine, 10 m. W. of Paris; the fine château, built by Louis XIV.'s brother, the Duke of Orleans, was for long the favourite residence of the Emperor Napoleon, since destroyed; a part of the park is occupied by the Sèvres porcelain factory.
St. Cyr (3), a French village, 2 m. W. of Versailles, where Louis XIV., at the request of Madame de Maintenon, founded an institution for the education of girls of noble birth but poor, which was suppressed at the time of the Revolution, and afterwards converted into a military school by Napoleon.
Saint-Cyr, Laurent Gouvion, Marquis de, marshal of France, born at Toul; joined the army in 1792, and in six years had risen to the command of the French forces at Rome; fought with distinction in the German and Italian campaigns, and in the Peninsular War; won his marshal's baton during the Russian campaign of 1812; was captured at the capitulation of Dresden in 1813, much to the regret of Napoleon; created a peer after the Restoration, and was for some time Minister of War; wrote some historical works (1764-1830).
St. Davids (2), an interesting old cathedral town in Pembrokeshire, on the streamlet Alan, and not 2 m. from St. Brides Bay; its cathedral, rebuilt after 1180 in the Transition Norman style, was at one time a famous resort of pilgrims. On the other side of the Alan stand the ruins of Bishop Gower's palace.
St. Denis (48), a town of France, on a canal of the same name, 4 m. N. of Paris, noted for its old abbey church, which from the 7th century became the burying-place of the French monarchs. During the Revolution in 1793 the tombs were ruthlessly desecrated; there is also a school for the daughters of officers of the Legion of Honour, founded by Napoleon; manufactures chemicals, printed calicoes, &c.
St. Elias, Mount, an isolated, inaccessible volcanic mountain in the extreme NW. of Canada, close to the frontier of Alaska, 18,010 ft. high; has never been scaled.
St. Elmo's Fire. See Elmo's Fire, St.
St. Étienne (133), a busy industrial town of France, capital of department of Loire, on the Furens, 36 m. SW. of Lyons; has been called the “Birmingham of France”; is in the centre of a rich coal district, and produces every kind of hardware; the manufacture of ribbons is also an important industry; there is a school of mines.
Saint-Évremond, Charles Marguetel de Saint-Denis, Seigneur de, a celebrated French wit and author; won distinction as a soldier, and rose to be a field-marshal; his turn for satiric writing got him into trouble, and in 1661 he fled to England, where the rest of his life was spent; wrote charming letters to his friend Ninon de l'Enclos; enjoyed the favour of Charles II., and published satires, essays, comedies, &c., which are distinguished by their polished style and genial irony; was buried in Westminster (1613-1703).
St. Gall (230), a NE. canton of Switzerland, on the Austrian frontier; its splendid lake and mountain scenery and mineral springs render many of its towns popular holiday resorts; the embroidery of cottons and other textiles is an important industry. St. Gall (28), the capital, is situated on the Steinach, 53 m. E. of Zurich; is a town of great antiquity, and celebrated in past ages for its monastic schools; its magnificent mediæval cathedral has been restored; the old Benedictine monastery is used now for government purposes, but still contains its famous collection of MSS.; embroidering textiles is the chief industry.
St. Gothard, a noted mountain in the Lepontine Alps, 9850 ft. high, crossed by a pass leading from Lake Lucerne to Lake Maggiore; since 1882 traversed by a railway with a tunnel through from Göschenen to Airolo, a distance of 9¼ m.
St. Helena (4), a precipitous cliff-bound island lying well out in the Atlantic, 1200 m. off the W. coast of Africa; belongs to Britain; celebrated as Napoleon Bonaparte's place of imprisonment from 1815 till his death in 1821. Jamestown (2), the capital, is a second-class coaling station for the navy, and is fortified.
St. Helens (71), a thriving manufacturing town of Lancashire, on Sankey Brook, a feeder of the Mersey, 21 m. W. by S. of Manchester; is the chief centre of the manufacture of crown, plate, and sheet glass.
St. Helier (29), capital of Jersey Island, on St. Aubin Bay, on the S. side; is well fortified by Fort Regent and Elizabeth Castle, on a rocky islet near the shore; has a college, public library, &c.; fishing and shipbuilding are important industries.
St. Ives, 1, a town in Cornwall, 8 m. N. of Penzance, the inhabitants of which are chiefly engaged in the pilchard fisheries. 2, A town in Huntingdonshire, on the Ouse, 5 m. E. of Huntingdon, where Cromwell lived and Theodore Watts the artist was born.
St. James's Palace, an old, brick-built palace in Pall Mall, London, originally a hospital, converted into a manor by Henry VIII., and became eventually a royal residence. It gives name to the British court.
St. John, a river of North America, rises in the highlands of North Maine and crosses the continent in an easterly direction and falls into the Bay of Fundy after a course of 450 m., of which 225 m. are in New Brunswick; is navigable for steamers as far as Fredericton.
St. John (39), embracing the adjacent town of Portland, chief commercial city of New Brunswick, on the estuary of St. John River, 277 m. NW. of Halifax; has an excellent harbour; shipbuilding, fishing, and timber exporting are the chief industries; has a great variety of prosperous manufactures, such as machine and iron works, cotton and woollen factories, &c.; does a good trade with the West Indies.
St. Johns (26), capital of Newfoundland, situated on a splendid harbour on the peninsula or Avalon, in the E. of the island: is the nearest port of America to the continent of Europe; has oil and tan works, &c.
St. Joseph (103), a city of Missouri, on the Missouri River (here spanned by a fine bridge), 110 m. above Kansas City, is an important railway centre; as capital of Buchanan County it possesses a number of State buildings and Roman Catholic colleges; does a large trade in pork-packing, iron goods, &c.
Saint-Just, Louis Florelle de, a prominent French Revolutionist, born at Decize, near Nevers; as a youth got into disgrace with his family and fled to Paris, where, being bitten already by the ideas of Rousseau, he flung himself heart and soul into the revolutionary movement, became the faithful henchman of Robespierre, and finally followed his master to the guillotine, having in his zeal previously declared “for Revolutionists there is no rest but in the tomb”; “he was a youth of slight stature, with mild mellow voice, enthusiast olive-complexioned, and long black hair” (1767-1794).
St. Kilda. See Kilda, St.
St. Lawrence, one of the great rivers of North America; issues in a noble stream from Lake Ontario, and flowing due NE. discharges into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, forming a broad estuary; is 750 m. long and from 1 to 4 m. broad; the scenery in parts is very grand, notably in the expansion—the Lake of the Thousand Isles; is navigable for large steamers as far as Montreal: the Ottawa is its chief tributary; in winter navigation is suspended on account of the ice.
St. Ló (10), a town in Normandy, on a rocky eminence 60 m. SE. of Cherbourg; has textile manufactures; was the birthplace of Leverrier.
St. Louis, 1, One of the great commercial cities (575) of the United States, capital of Missouri State; situated on the Mississippi (here spanned by two fine bridges), 21 m. below its confluence with the Missouri; is a handsomely built city, and equipped with every modern convenience, entirely lit by electric light, &c.; has spacious parks, two universities, public libraries, &c.; is a centre for 18 railroads, which with the great river-way enables it to carry on a vast trade in grain, cotton, wool, furs, live stock, &c.; its tobacco manufacture is the greatest in the world. 2, Also capital (17) of the French colony of Senegal, in West Africa.
St. Lucia (42), a rocky, forest-clad island in the West Indies, the largest of the Windward group; exports sugar, cocoa, logwood, &c.; capital is Castries (8).
St. Malo (12), a strongly fortified seaport of France, on the Brittany coast (department of Ille-et-Vilaine), at the mouth of the Ranee; the old town is built over the Rocher d'Auron, an islet connected with the mainland by a causeway 215 yards long; there is a good harbour, and a considerable amount of shipping is done; potatoes, dairy-produce, and some cereals are exported. It was the birthplace of several distinguished French authors and sailors.
St. Michael's (126), the largest and most fertile of the Azores, 40 m. long by from 5 m. to 10 m. in breadth; is of volcanic origin; yields cereals, oranges, &c.
St. Michael's Mount, an islet, forming a precipitous granite mass, in Mount's Bay, Cornwall, connected with the mainland by a low causeway passable only at low tides; a fine old castle crowns its rocky height, and a small fishing village lies sheltered on the northern side.
St. Michel, Mont, a remarkable islet in St. Michel Bay, SW. corner of Normandy, 18 m. W. of Avranches; is formed of a single cone of granite, 242 ft. high, crowned by a historic Benedictine monastery; on the lower slopes is built a little fortified town; a causeway 1 m. long joins it to the mainland.
St. Nazaire (26), a flourishing seaport of France, on the Loire, 40 m. W. of Nantes, where large sums have been expended in improving its spacious docks to accommodate an increasing shipping-trade; its exports, brandy, coal, wheat, &c., are mainly from Nantes and the interior.
St. Neots (4), an old market-town of Huntingdonshire, on the Ouse, 8 m. SW. of Huntingdon; has an interesting old parish church, a corn exchange, and iron and paper works.
St. Nicholas, the patron saint of boys, who was fabled to bring presents to good children on Christmas eve; was bishop of Myra in the 4th century, and had taken a special interest in the young.
St. Omer (20), a fortified town of France, on the Aa, 26 m. SE. of Calais; has a fine old Gothic cathedral, a ruined Benedictine abbey church, a Catholic college, arsenal, &c.; manufactures embrace light textiles, tobacco pipes, &c.
St. Paul (168), capital of Minnesota State, finely situated on the Mississippi, a little below the mouth of the Minnesota River; in 1849 a village of 500 inhabitants; is now a beautiful and spacious city, equipped with colleges, libraries, government buildings, electric street-railways, &c.; is a centre for 10 railways, and carries on a large trade in distributing groceries and dry goods throughout the State.
St. Paul's School, at West Kensington, London, a famous charity school founded by John Colet (q. v.), dean of St. Paul's, for children of “every nation, country, and class”; originally stood in St. Paul's Churchyard, but was burned out by the Great Fire of 1666; the present building was opened in 1884. The endowment amounts to £10,000 a year, and 1000 boys and 400 girls are provided with education and board. There are a number of Oxford and Cambridge exhibitions.
St. Petersburg (1,036), capital of Russia, an imposing city, occupying a dreary, isolated site at the head of the Gulf of Finland, on the banks and delta islands (100) of the Neva, founded in 1702 by Peter the Great; a large number of bridges span the main stream and its numerous divisions; massive stone quays hold back the waters, but a rise of 12 ft. floods the city (a yearly occurrence in the poorer parts); the river is ice-bound nearly half the year, and is given over to sleighing, &c.; the short summer is hot; covers nearly 48 sq. m.; its palaces and government buildings for number and grandeur are unsurpassed; Neva View is the finest street in Europe; is the centre of Russian political, literary, scientific, and artistic life; has a university, numerous academies, cathedral, technical and training colleges, and libraries (the Imperial Public Library contains 1,200,000 vols.); connected with the Volga basin by a canal, and the centre of four railways, it is the commercial metropolis and chief port of Russia, and carries on half the foreign trade; exports one-fifth of the corn of Russia, besides flax, linseed, leather, petroleum, &c.; imports coal, machinery, &c.; principal manufactures are cotton goods and other textiles, leather, sugar, porcelain goods, &c.
St. Pierre, Henri Bernardin de, French novelist, born at Havre; an engineer by profession, was a disciple of Rousseau both sentimentally and speculatively; his chief work, “Paul and Virginia” (q. v.), shows here as in his other writings, says Professor Saintsbury, “a remarkable faculty of word-painting, and also of influencing the feelings” (1737-1814).
St. Quentin (48), a manufacturing town of France, on the Somme, 95 m. NE. of Paris; manufactures all kinds of cotton and woollen goods, machinery, paper, &c.; has a fine old Gothic church and town-hall; here the French were routed by the Spaniards in 1557, and by the Germans in 1871.
St. Réal, Abbé de, historian, born at Chambéry, where he settled in 1679, and where he died; was historiographer to the Duke of Savoy, and wrote the “History of the Conspiracy of Spain against Venice,” a masterpiece of its kind, and modelled on Sallust (1639-1692).
Saint Saëns, Charles Camille, a French musician, born in Paris; for 19 years organist of the Madeleine; composer of a number of operas (e. g. “Henri VIII.”) indifferently successful, and of much orchestral and chamber music of a masterly kind; is held to be one of the greatest of living pianists and organists; also noted for his musical critiques; b. 1835.
St. Simon, Claude Henri, Comte de, founder of French Socialism, and of a sect called after him St. Simonians, born in Paris, of an old noble family; grand-nephew of the succeeding, but renounced his title and devoted his life and all his means of living to the promotion of his Socialist scheme, reducing himself in the end to utter penury; he made few disciples, though some of them were men of distinction; he is credited by Carlyle with having discovered, “not without amazement, that man is still man, of which forgotten truth,” he bids us remark, “he had made a false application”; that is, we presume, by reorganisation from without instead of regeneration from within; his scheme was a reconstruction of society by the abolition of the hereditary principle, and the vesting of the instruments of production in the State and the administration of these for the welfare of all its members (1760-1825).
St. Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de, French courtier and diplomatist in the reign of Louis XIV.; left “Memoirs” in record of the times he lived in, depicting with remarkable sagacity the manners of the Court and the characters of the courtiers (1676-1755).
St. Simonians. See St. Simon, Comte de.
St. Tammany, an American-Indian chief, popularly canonised as a saint, and adopted as the tutelary genius by a section of the democratic party in the States; his motto was “Unite in peace for happiness; in war for defence.”
St. Thomas, 1, an unhealthy volcanic island (20) in the Gulf of Guinea, belonging to Portugal; produces coffee, cocoa, and some spices; chief town, St. Thomas (3), a port on the NE. 2, One of the Virgin Islands (14), 37 m. E. of Porto Rico; belongs to Denmark; since the abolition of slavery its prosperous sugar trade has entirely departed; capital, St. Thomas (12), is now a coaling-station for steamers.
St. Thomas's, a handsome hospital on the S. side of the Thames, opposite Westminster, founded in 1553, and with an annual revenue of £40,000.
Saint-Victor, Paul de, an ornate French writer, born in Paris; from 1851 was engaged in dramatic and other criticism, and established his reputation as a stylist of unusual brilliance. “When I read Saint-Victor I put on blue spectacles,” said Lamartine; author of several works on historical and æsthetic subjects (e. g. “Anciens et Modernes,” “Hommes et Dieux”) was for a number of years General Inspector of Fine Arts (1827-1881).
St. Vincent (41), one of the Windward Islands, in the West Indies, 105 m. W. of Barbadoes, belongs to Britain; a coaling and cable station; mountainous and volcanic; warm, but healthy climate; exports sugar, rum, spices, &c.; chief town is Kingston (6), a port on the SW. coast.
St. Vincent, Cape, a lofty and rugged headland in the extreme SW. of Portugal, off which have been fought several naval battles, the most memorable being the great victory on February 14, 1797, when Jervis and Nelson annihilated the Franco-Spanish fleet.
St. Vincent, John Jervis, Earl, a noted English admiral, born at Meaford Hill, Staffordshire; ran away to sea when a boy, and by gallantry at Quebec in 1759 and otherwise rose rapidly in the service; commanded the naval attack upon the French West Indies (1793), and four years later, as admiral of the Mediterranean fleet, shared with Nelson the honours of a brilliant victory over the combined fleets of France and Spain off Cape St. Vincent; was created an earl in reward; during 1801-1804 was a successful First Lord of the Admiralty (1734-1823).
Sainte-Beuve, Charles Augustin, the greatest of French literary critics, born at Boulogne-sur-Mer; adopted medicine as a profession in deference to the wishes of his widowed mother, and for some years studied at Paris, but even as a student had begun his career as a literary critic by contributions to the Globe newspaper; in 1827 became acquainted with Victor Hugo, whose commanding influence drew him into the Romantic movement, and determined for him a literary career; a critical work on French poetry in the 16th century (1828), two volumes of mediocre poetry (1829-1830), and a psychological novel, “Volupté” (1834), the fruit of spiritual and mental unrest, preceded his lectures at Lausanne on Port-Royal (1837), which, afterwards elaborated and published, contain some of his finest writings; an appointment in the Mazarin Library, Paris (1840), brought him a modest competence, and allowed him during the next 8 years to contribute without strain or stress to the Revue des Deux Mondes; was elected in 1845 to the Academy; three years later lectured for a session at Liège University; during 1849-1869 he contributed a weekly literary article to the Constitutionnel; these form his famous “Causeries du Lundi” and “Nouveaux Lundis,” which, for variety of human interest, critical insight, and breadth of sympathy, remain unsurpassed; was appointed professor of Latin in the Collège de France (1854), but his unpopularity with the students, owing to his support of Napoleon III., led to his resignation; as a senator in 1865 his popularity revived by his eloquent advocacy of freedom of thought, and on his decease some 10,000 people attended his funeral (1804-1869).
Sainte-Claire Deville, Henri Étienne, a noted French chemist, born in St. Thomas, West Indies; occupied for many years the chair of Chemistry in the Sorbonne, Paris; his important contributions to chemical knowledge include a process for simplifying the extraction of aluminium and platinum (1818-1881).
Saintes (15), an interesting old town in West France, dep. Charente-Inférieure, on the Charente, 28 m. SE. of Rochefort; known in ancient times as Mediolanum; has some splendid Roman remains, a cathedral, &c.; manufactures copper and iron goods, leather, &c.
Saintsbury, George, literary critic, born at Southampton; graduated at Merton College, Oxford; was engaged in scholastic work for a number of years at Manchester, Guernsey, and Elgin; in 1876 settled in London, and made a reputation for vigorous and scholarly criticism, devoting much of his time to French literature; elected to the Chair of English Literature in Edinburgh University, 1895; is the author of a “Short History of French Literature,” a “Short History of English Literature,” besides several volumes of essays, &c.; b. 1845.
Saïs, a city of ancient Egypt, on the delta, on the right bank of the W. branch of the Nile; gave name to two Egyptian dynasties founded by natives of it, was a religious centre, and eventually for a time capital, the temple of which was said to contain a veiled statue which became a subject of legend.
Saivas, in the Hindu religion the worshippers of Siva, one of the two great sections of the Hindus, the worshippers of Vishnu being the other.
Saki, a beer of alcoholic quality made in Japan from rice by fermentation. It is drunk hot at meals, and is in a small way intoxicating.
Sakuntala, in Hindu mythology a benignant female character, made the subject of a famous drama of Kálidása (q. v.), translated in 1789 by Sir William Jones.
Sakyamuni (i. e. the solitary of the Sakyas), the name given to Buddha, one of the tribe of the Sakyas in Northern India.
Sala, George Augustus, a well-known journalist, born in London, of Italian and English parentage; had some training in art before he began writing for Dickens's Household Words, &c.; lived a busy, rambling life; founded and edited Temple Bar; acted as war-correspondent for the Daily Telegraph; author of several popular novels, “Captain Dangerous” and “Quite Alone” among them, and books of travel, “A Trip to Barbary” and “America Revisited” (1828-1895).
Salaam, an Oriental term of salutation meaning “Peace,” especially among the Mohammedans.
Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria, the hero of the third crusade on the Saracen side; a man of noble and chivalrous character; served first as a soldier under Nureddin; rose to be vizier of Egypt, and ultimately sovereign in 1174; distinguished himself by the capture of Damascus, Aleppo, &c., and entering the Holy Land defeated the Christians at Tiberias, thereafter taking Jerusalem and laying siege to Tyre; found in Richard Coeur de Lion a foeman worthy of his steel, concluded a truce in 1192, and died the year after (1137-1193).
Salamanca (22), an interesting old city of Spain, capital of a province of the same name, occupies a hilly site on the Tormes, here spanned by a Roman bridge, 110 m. NW. of Madrid, long famous for its university, which in its heyday (16th century) numbered 8000 students, now fallen to 400; holds within its surrounding walls many fine old cathedrals, colleges, and other buildings; its industries are greatly fallen off, and consist mainly of cloth, linen, leather, and pottery manufacturing; in this neighbourhood Wellington won a great victory over the French on July 22, 1812.
Salamander, an elemental spirit conceived in the Middle Ages as an animal that lived in the fire as its proper element.
Salamis, a mountainous island of Greece, on the NW. coast of Attica, the strait between which and the mainland was the scene of a naval victory over the armament of Xerxes by the combined fleets of Athens, Sparta, and Corinth in 480 B.C.
Saldanha Oliveira e Daun João Carlos, Duke of, Portuguese statesman and soldier, played an honourable and patriotic part in many wars and crises of his country, notably in Brazil in the struggle between Dom Pedro and Dom Miguel, and during his occupancy of the Premiership on three several occasions between 1846-70; proved a mild constitutionalist, and enjoyed the confidence and support of England; was created a duke in 1846 (1790-1876).
Sale, George, Orientalist, born in Kent, and bred for the bar, contributed to the “Universal History” and the “General Dictionary,” but is best known as the translator of the “Korân,” with a preliminary dissertation and notes; he left a body of MSS. behind him (1690-1736).
Sale, Sir Robert Henry, British general; saw a great deal of fighting; was distinguished in the Burmese War of 1824-25, and in the war against Afghanistan in 1834, in both of which he was wounded, and afterwards in the latter country during 1841-42; he was killed at the battle of Mudki fighting against the Sikhs (1782-1865).
Salem, 1, a city (36) and seaport of the United States, founded in 1626 on a peninsula in Massachusetts Bay, 15 m. NE. of Boston; its foreign trade has fallen away, but a good coasting trade is done in ice and coal; manufactures include cottons, jutes, shoes, &c. 2, Capital (5) of Oregon, on the Willamette River, 720 m. N. of San Francisco.
Salerno (22), a city of South Italy, on a gulf of the name, 33 m. SE. of Naples; has some fine Gothic buildings, notably the cathedral of St. Matthew; had a European fame in the Middle Ages for its medical school and university, closed in 1817; cotton-spinning is the chief industry; in the neighbourhood are the ruins of Pæstum and an old Norman castle.
Salette, La, a French village amid Alpine scenery, 28 m. SE. of Grenoble; has become a place of pilgrimage, since the alleged appearance of the Virgin to two peasant children on 19th September 1846.
Salford (198), a suburb of Manchester, with cotton factories and iron-works, and with Manchester forms the second largest city in England.
Salic Law, a law which obtained among the Salian Franks, as also in certain German States, which excluded females from succession to the throne.
Salicylic Acid, produced in commercial quantities from carbolic acid; is a white crystalline powder, soluble in water, odourless, of a sweetish acid taste; largely used as an external antiseptic, and internally in the form of salicylate of sodium as a febrifuge and cure for acute rheumatism.
Salisbury (17), a cathedral city, and capital of Wiltshire, 84 m. WSW. of London; the cathedral, founded in 1225, and frequently added to and restored, is one of the finest specimens of Early English architecture; has a number of other interesting old buildings—churches, almshouses, inns, an endowed school, &c.; agriculture is the staple industry; also called New Sarum, and a mile to the N. is the half-obliterated site of Old Sarum, with many interesting historical associations; while round the neighbourhood sweeps the wide, undulating, pastoral Salisbury Plain, with its Druidical circle of Stonehenge (q. v.).
Salisbury, Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoigne Cecil, Marquis of, statesman, educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford; as Lord Cecil, represented Stamford in Parliament in 1853; was, as Lord Cranborne, Secretary for India in 1866 under Lord Derby; entered the House of Lords as Lord Salisbury in 1867, and distinguished himself as foremost in debate; became Secretary for India under Disraeli in 1874, and Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1881, in which latter year he, on the death of Beaconsfield, became leader of the Conservative party; after this he was three times raised to the Premiership, the last time on Lord Roseberys retirement in 1890, by coalition with the Liberal Unionists (q. v.); was at one time a contributor to the Saturday Review, and is interested in scientific pursuits, chemistry in particular; b. 1830.
Sallust, Roman historian, born at Amiternum, in the territory of the Sabines, and attained the quæstorship and the tribunate, though a plebeian; for a misdemeanour was expelled the Senate; joined Cæsar's party in the Civil War, and became governor of Numidia; enriched himself by extortions, and returned to Rome a rich man, and gave himself to literature; wrote the “Catiline Conspiracy,” and the “War with Jugurtha,” among other works, in a terse and forcible style, and was the precursor of Livy and Tacitus; as a writer he affects the moralist, though he lived in vice (86-35 B.C.).
Salmasius, eminent French scholar, learned in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, and other languages; succeeded Scaliger at Leyden, and associated with Casaubon, Grotius, and other scholars; embraced Protestantism; wrote a number of learned works, but his “Defence of Charles I.” proved a failure, and provoked from Milton a crushing reply; died a disappointed man, though he refused to sell his literary talent for money, when Richelieu tried hard to bribe him (1588-1653).
Salmon, George, mathematician and divine, born in Dublin, and there in 1839 graduated with mathematical honours at Trinity College; became a Fellow, entered the Church, and in 1866 was elected regius professor of Divinity, becoming provost of the college in 1888; has carried on with eminent success his dual studies, mathematics and theology, and has published some notable works in both sciences, e. g. in theology, “Non-Miraculous Christianity,” “Gnosticism and Agnosticism,” a scholarly and popular “Introduction to the New Testament,” and in mathematics “Analytic Geometry,” “The Higher Plane Curves,” &c. b. 1819.
Salomon, Johann Peter, a violinist and composer, born at Bonn; was in his youth attached, to the court of Prince Henry of Prussia, at which time he wrote some operas; came to London, and is remembered for the great stimulus he gave to musical culture, and especially the study of Haydn in England by his Philharmonic Concerts (1790) and production of that great master's symphonies; composed songs, glees, violin pieces, &c.; buried in Westminster Abbey (1745-1815).
Salonica or Saloniki (122), the Thessalonica of the Scriptures, the second port and city of Turkey in Europe; occupies a bold and rocky site at the head of the Gulf of Salonica, 370 m. SW. of Constantinople; is surrounded by walls, is well laid out, drained, &c.; contains many fine old mosques; has an increasing commerce, exporting corn, cotton, opium, wool, &c.; founded in 315 B.C., and has ever since been a place of considerable importance.
Salsette (108), an island N. of Bombay, and connected with it by a causeway, with richly cultivated fields and rock temples among other ruins.
Salt, Sir Titus, English manufacturer, born near Leeds; introduced the manufacture of alpaca, planted his factory at Saltaire, near Leeds, which he made a model village for his workers as a philanthropic employer of labour (1803-1876).
Salt Lake City (53), the capital of Utah, a high-lying city and stronghold of Mormonism, 11 m. from Great Salt Lake; contains the Mormon temple, which it took 40 years to build, and it has besides many fine churches, and the university of Deseret.
Salt Range, a tract of lofty tableland buttressed on either side by mountain ranges 3000 to 5000 ft. high, and stretching across the Punjab E. and W., between Jhelum and Indus Rivers; derives its name from the remarkably rich deposits of rock-salt, which are extensively worked.
Salts, in chemistry an important class of compound substances formed by the union of an acid with a metal or a base, that is, a substance having, like a metal, the power of replacing in part or in whole the hydrogen of the acid employed.
Saltus, Edgar, an interesting American writer, born in New York; a busy writer in fiction, biography (Balzac), and philosophy, e. g. “The Philosophy of Disenchantment” and “The Anatomy of Negation,” studies in a somewhat cheerful pessimism; b. 1858.
Salvador (780), the smallest but the most densely populated of the republics of Central America, about one-sixth the size of England and Wales; has a western foreshore between Guatemala (N.) and Nicaragua (S.), fronting the Pacific for 140 m.; slopes up from rich alluvial coast-lands to high plateaus, which stretch, seamed and broken by rivers and volcanoes, to the Cordillera frontier of Honduras on the E.; soil is extremely fertile and naturally irrigated by numerous streams, and produces in abundance coffee and indigo (chief exports), balsam, tobacco, sugar, cereals, &c.; has a warm, healthy climate. The natives are chiefly Indians of Aztec descent, but speaking Spanish. The government is vested in a president and chamber of deputies. Education is free and compulsory. Broke away from Spanish control in 1821; was a member of the Central American Confederacy, but since 1853 has enjoyed complete independence. Capital, San Salvador (q. v.).
Salvation Army, a modern religious organisation and propaganda, remarkable alike for its novel methods and phenomenal expansion; assumed its present quasi-military form in 1878, but is in reality the outgrowth of a mission founded in London in 1865 by the Rev. William Booth (q. v.), and nobly furthered by his wife. It is in essence a protest against the older conventional methods of propagating the Christian religion, and would seem by its remarkable success to have ministered to some latent and wide-spread need among the poorer classes. In 1895 it numbered 500,000 enrolled soldiers, 25,126 local officers, and 11,740 officers; these are spread over 35 countries. The members assume semi-military attire, march through the streets to the sound of musical instruments, displaying banners; but while these and other sensational devices bring its purposes home to the hearts of the people, its vitality rests upon the real spiritual devotion and self-sacrifice of its members. Various agencies of a more directly philanthropic kind (homes of rest, rescues, workshops, farms, etc.) have become attached to it, and are generously supported by the public. Funds are raised by means of the War Cry and other periodicals.
Salvini, Tommaso, a celebrated Italian tragedian, born, the son of an actor, at Milan; was trained to the stage, and joined Ristori's company; served with distinction in the revolutionary war of 1849, and returning to the stage won for himself a European fame, appearing in France, Spain, United States, England, &c.; achieved his greatest success in “Othello”; retired after 1884, and published “Leaves from My Autobiography”; b. 1830.
Salween, a river of Asia whose source is still uncertain; forms in its lower part the boundary between Siam and British Burma, and falls into the Gulf of Martaban; its upper course traverses the northern Shan district; only 80 m. of it are navigable.
Salzburg (174), a western province and duchy of Austria, borders on Bavaria between the Tyrol and Upper Austria; is woody and mountainous, especially in the S., where fine scenery is formed by the Alps; excellent meadowland favours a prosperous industry in the rearing of cattle and horses. The inhabitants, being Protestants, were severely persecuted by the Church, and 30,000 of them emigrated in 1730, and on the invitation of Frederick William of Prussia settled in Lithuania, that had been desolated by plague. Salzburg (28), the capital, occupies a fine site on the hill-girt banks of the Salzach (crossed by 3 bridges), 80 m. E. by S. of Münich; is a handsome and interesting city, with many fine old buildings, including a cathedral, archbishop's palace, imperial palace, monasteries, &c.; has a theological college, libraries, &c.; birthplace of Mozart; manufactures musical instruments, &c.
Salzkammergut (18), a beautiful mountain district of Austria, between Salzburg (W.) and Styria (E.); salt mines and springs give a rich yield of salt.
Sam Slick. See Slick.
Sam Weller. See Weller.
Samarcand (33), a city of West Turkestan, situated at the western base of the Tian-Shan Mountains, 130 m. SE. of Bokhara. Suffered at the hands of Genghis Khan in the 13th century; was Timur's capital in the 14th century, and has since been held sacred by the Moslems. Captured by the Russians in 1868, who have improved it, and built a handsome suburb on the west. Manufactures silk, cotton, paper, &c.
Samaria, a city of a district of the name between Judea and Galilee in the Holy Land, and which became the capital of the North Kingdom of Israel after the revolt from the Southern; was desolated by the hosts of Assyria in 720 B.C., and repeopled afterwards by Assyrian settlers, who were converted to the Jewish faith, and ministered to by a Jewish priest; when the Jews rebuilt the Temple of Jerusalem, the Samaritans' offer to aid was rejected, and the refusal led to a bitter hostility between the Jews and Samaritans ever after.
Samaritan Pentateuch, a version of the Pentateuch in use among the Samaritans, and alone accepted by them as canonical. It is of value from its independence of other versions.
Samaritans. See Samaria.
Samaveda, the section of the Veda that contains the chants, intended for singers.
Samian Sage, name given to Pythagoras as a native of Samos.
Samnites, a warlike people of ancient Italy in territory SE. of Rome; gave the Romans much trouble till, after two successive wars in 343 and 327 B.C., they were subdued in 290 B.C. A revolt in 90 B.C. led to their extermination as an nation.
Samoa, or Navigators' Islands (36), a group of 14 volcanic islands in the W. Pacific, of which three alone are of any size—Savaii, Upolu, and Tutuila; all are mountainous and richly wooded; climate is moist and warm; copra is the chief export, and cotton, coffee, tobacco, &c., are grown; the natives, a vigorous Polynesian race, have been Christianised; the islands are under the joint suzerainty of Britain, Germany, and the United States; the chief town of the group is Apia (2), at the head of a pretty bay in Upolu; near here R. Louis Stevenson spent the last five years of his life.
Samos, a fertile island in the Ægean Sea, about 30 m. long and 8 wide, separated from the coast of Ionia, three-quarters of a mile wide; had an extensive trade with Egypt and Crete; came through various fortunes under the chief Powers of ancient and mediæval Europe till it became subject to Turkey; had a capital of the same name, which in the fifth century B.C. was one of the finest cities in the world.
Samothrace, a mountainous, bleak island in the Ægean Sea, NW. of the mouth of the Dardanelles; has only one village of 2000 inhabitants; was in ancient times place of Cabiri worship (q. v.).
Samoyedes, a people of the Mongolian race, occupying the N. shores of Russia and Siberia from the White Sea to the Yenisei; live by hunting and fishing, and are idol-worshippers; they are fast disappearing.
Sampson, Dominie, a character in Scott's “Guy Mannering.”
Samson, ranked as judge of Israel, but the story of his life is as of a Jewish hero, distinguished for his feats of strength; employed in the service of his country against the Philistines.
Samson Agonistes, the strong man of a nation or race caught in the net of his and their enemies, and, encompassed by them, wrestling in his soul's agony to free himself from them; the imagery here being suggested by the story of Samson in the hands of the Philistines.
Samuel, a Jewish prophet, born, of the tribe of Levi, about 1155 B.C.; consecrated by his mother from earliest years to the service of the Lord; who became a judge when he was 40, anointed first Saul and then David to be king over the till then disunited tribes of Israel, and thus became the founder of the Jewish monarchy.
Samuel, Books of, two books of the Old Testament, originally one, and divided in the Septuagint into two, entitled respectively the First and Second Books of Kings; the narrative embraces a period of 125 years, and extends from the time of the Judges to the close of the reign of David, including the intermediate judgeship of Samuel and the reign of Saul, with the view of exalting the prophetic office on the one hand and the kingly office on the other.
San Antonio (53), the second city of Texas, of Spanish origin, on a river of the name, 80 m. W. of Austin; has a Catholic college, cathedral, arsenal, &c.; does a good trade in the produce of a fertile neighbourhood, and manufactures flour, leather, beer, &c.
San Diego (16), a thriving port in S. California, situated on a handsome bay of the same name, 124 m. SE. of Los Angeles; wool is the chief export.
San Domingo (25), capital of the Dominican Republic, a fortified port on the S. coast of Hayti; has a 16th-century Gothic cathedral, college, hospital, &c.; founded by Columbus.
San Francisco (342), capital of California, and commercial metropolis of the W. coast of America; occupies the NE. corner of a tongue of land stretching between the Pacific and San Francisco Bay, which, with San Pablo Bay and Suisun Bay—extensions to the N.—forms a handsome land-locked sheet of water 65 m. long, communicating with the ocean by Golden Gate Strait; has practically sprung into existence since the discovery of gold in 1847, and is now a spacious and evenly laid-out city, with every modern convenience—electric light, cable tramways, &c.; many of the dwelling-houses are of wood, but marble and granite give dignity to Government buildings, hotels, theatres, &c.; there is a remarkable number of religious sects; has a fine park, many free schools, a number of colleges, and a university; as the western terminus of the great continental railroads and outlet for the produce of a rich wheat district it has a large shipping trade; important industries are shipbuilding, whale-fishing, sugar-refining, iron-works, &c.
San José (18), a city of California, and capital of Santa Clara county, on the Guadalupe River, 50 m. SE. of San Francisco; has a couple of Catholic colleges, a Methodist university, pretty orchards, &c.; fruit-canning and the manufacture of flour and woollen goods are the chief industries. The name also of small towns in Guatemala, Lower California, and Uruguay.
San José (19), capital of Costa Rica, situated on a fertile and elevated plain between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific; grain, the vine, and many fruits are grown in the neighbourhood; flour-milling and distilling (Government works) are the principal town industries; there is a university.
San Juan (125), a mountainous province of the Argentine Republic, on the Chilian border; is rich in metals, but, save coal, not worked; agriculture is the chief industry. San Juan (12), on a river of the same name, is the capital, lies 98 m. N. of Mendoza; has public baths, a bull-ring, library, &c.; exports cattle and fodder, chiefly to Chile. The name of numerous other towns in different parts of Spanish South America.
San Marino (8), a little republic of Europe which has maintained its independence since the 4th century; comprises a town (same name) and several villages occupying rocky and elevated sites on the eastern slopes of the Apennines; some agriculture and cattle-rearing are done; is under the friendly protection of Italy.
San Remo (12), a town in Northern Italy, on a bay in the Gulf of Genoa, in the Riviera, 26 m. NE. of Nice; is sheltered by a semicircle of hills, and from its mild climate is a favourite winter resort; trades in olive-oil, palms, and lemons.
San Salvador (20), capital of Salvador (q. v.), situated on a fertile and elevated plain at the base of an extinct volcano; has suffered frequently and severely from earthquakes, and after the disaster of 1854 a new town, Nueva San Salvador, was built 12 m. to the SW., only to suffer a similar fate.
San Sebastian (30), a fortified seaport of North Spain, on a small peninsula jutting into the Bay of Biscay, 10 m. from the French frontier; is guarded by a strong citadel, and since its bombardment by Wellington in 1813 has been spaciously rebuilt; has a beautiful foreshore, and is a favourite watering-place; has a fair export trade.
San Stefano, a Turkish village, a few miles W. of Constantinople, where a preliminary treaty was signed between Turkey and Russia after the war of 1877-78.
Sanchez, Thomas, a Spanish casuist, born at Cordova; author of a treatise on the “Sacrament of Marriage,” rendered notorious from the sarcastic treatment it received at the hands of Pascal and Voltaire (1550-1610).
Sancho Panza, the immortal squire of Don Quixote. See Panza, Sancho.
Sanchoniathon, a Phoenician historian of uncertain date; author of a history of Phoenicia, of which only a few fragments remain, and that of a translation into Greek; he is supposed to have lived in the time of Semiramus.
Sancroft, William, an English prelate, born in Suffolk; rose through a succession of preferments to be Archbishop of Canterbury; was with six other bishops committed to the Tower for petitioning against James II.'s second Declaration of Indulgence; refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary, and was driven from his post, after which he retired to his native place (1616-1693).
Sand, George, the assumed name of Aurore Dupin, notable French novelist, born in Paris; married Baron Dudevant, a man of means, but with no literary sympathies; became the mother of two children, and after nine years effected a separation from him (1831) and went to Paris to push her way in literature, and involved herself in some unhappy liaisons, notably with Alfred de Musset (q. v.) and Chopin; after 1848 she experienced a sharp revulsion from this Bohemian life, and her last twenty-five years were spent in the quiet “Châtelaine of Nohant” (inherited) in never-ceasing literary activity, and in entertaining the many eminent littérateurs of all countries who visited her; her voluminous works reflect the strange shifts of her life; “Indiana,” “Lélia,” and other novels reveal the tumult and revolt that mark her early years in Paris; “Consuelo,” “Spiridion,” &c., show her engaged with political, philosophical, and religious speculation; “Elle et Lui” and “Lucrezia Floriani” are the outcome of her relations with Musset and Chopin; the calm of her later years is reflected in “La Petite Fadette,” “François le Champi,” and other charming studies of rustic life; her “Histoire de ma Vie” and posthumous letters also deserve notice; her work is characterised by a richly flowing style, an exuberant imagination, and is throughout full of true colour and vivid emotion (1804-1876).
Sandeau, Léonard Jules, French novelist, born at Aubusson; gave up law for literature; was George Sands first “friend” in Paris, and wrote with her “Rose et Blanche”; contributed to the Revue des Deux Mondes; wrote many novels and plays, and was elected to the Academy (1858), and during his later life held the librarianship at St. Cloud (1811-1883).
Sandemanians. See Glassites.
Sanderson, Burdon, English physiologist; professor of Physiology first at University College, London, and since 1882 at Oxford; is one of the greatest authorities on the subject; b. 1828.
Sanderson, Robert, English prelate, great casuist; became chaplain to Charles I. in 1631, and bishop of Lincoln in 1660 (1587-1663).
Sandhurst or Bendigo (27), a mining city of Victoria, Australia, on Bendigo Creek, 101 m. NW. of Melbourne; came into existence with the “gold rush” of 1851; mines are still of value; a good trade in grain, brewing, iron-founding, &c., is also done.
Sandringham, an estate in Norfolk of over 7000 acres, 7½ m. NE. of Lynn, the property of the Prince of Wales since 1862.
Sandwich (3), one of the old Cinque Ports (q. v.) in Kent, on the Stour, and once on the sea, but now, by the receding of the sea, 2 m. distant; 12 m. E. of Canterbury; an interesting place of many historical associations; has a splendid golf course, which attracts summer visitors.
Sandwich Islands. See Hawaiian Islands.
Sangha, the Buddhist Church, and the third term of the Triratna or Buddhist trinity, the two other being Buddha and Dharma, his law.
Sangraal. See Graal, Holy.
Sanhedrim, a council of the Jews which held its sittings in Jerusalem, and claimed authority and jurisdiction over the whole Jewish people; it was an aristocratic body, and was presided over by the high-priest; its authority was limited from time to time, and it ceased to exist with the fall of Jerusalem; there is no note of its existence prior to the Grecian period of Jewish history.
Sankara, a Hindu teacher of the philosophy or the Vedas, who lived some time between 800 and 200 B.C., and was the author of a number of commentaries on the sacred writings of the Hindus, the teachings of which he contributed to develop.
Sankhya, one of three systems of Hindu philosophy, Yoga and Vedânta being the other two, and the system which is most in affinity with the doctrine of Buddha.
Sannazaro, Jacopo, an Italian poet, enjoyed the favour of King Frederick III. of Naples, and wrote amongst other things a pastoral medley in verse and prose called “Arcadia,” which ranks as an Italian classic (1458-1530).
Sans Souci (i. e. No Bother), “an elegant, commodious little 'country box,' one storey high, on a pleasant hill-top near Potsdam”; the retreat of Frederick the Great after his wars were over, and in part sketched by himself, and where he spent the last 40 years of his life, specially as years advanced; it is 20 m. from Berlin, and the name is Frederick's own invention.
Sansculottes (i. e. fellows without breeches), a name of contempt applied by the aristocratic party in France to the Revolutionists, and at length accepted by the latter as a term of honour, as men who asserted their claim to regard on their naked manhood.
Sansculottism, belief in the rights of man, stript of all the conventional vestures and badges by which alone, and without any other ground of right, one man maintains an ascendency over another.
Sanskrit, the name given to the ancient literary language of the Hindus, still preserved in their literature, belongs to the Aryan family of languages, in their purest form and most perfect development.
Santa-Anna, Antonio de, a noted soldier and President of Mexico, entered the army as a boy, and from the proclamation of the Republic in 1822 till his final exile in 1867 was embroiled in all the wars, intrigues, and revolutions of his country; was four times President, and on the last occasion (1853) was appointed for life, but his habitual harshness alienated the people in two years; fled the country as on many former crises in his life; intrigued against the newly-established empire, but was captured and sentenced to death (1867); allowed to expatriate himself, and died in exile; he was one of the most forceful characters in Mexican history (1795-1876).
Santa Claus, contraction of St. Nicholas (q. v.).
Santa Cruz or Nitendi (5), the largest of the Queen Charlotte or Santa Cruz Islands, in the South Pacific, 100 m. N. of the New Hebrides; on one of the smaller islands Bishop Patteson was brutally murdered by the natives in 1871.
Santa Cruz or St. Croix (20), one of the Virgin Islands; produces sugar, rum, and cotton; ceded by France to Denmark in 1733; a serious nigger revolt took place in 1878; capital is Christianstadt (6).
Santa Cruz or Teneriffe (13), capital and chief seaport of the Canary Islands, situated on the NE. side of Teneriffe; has an excellent and strongly-fortified harbour; is an important coaling port for ocean steamers; cochineal, wine, and garden-produce are the chief exports.
Santa Fé, 1, on the Rio Solado, capital (15) of a rich agricultural province (240) of the Argentine Republic, lying N. of Buenos Ayres. 2, Capital (7) of New Mexico, U.S.; holds an elevated site amid the Rockies; is the centre of a good mining district; has the oldest Spanish cathedral in the United States.
Santals, one of the aboriginal tribes of India, inhabiting a district in the province of Bengal, which stretches southward from the Ganges; they are chiefly hunters, but also agriculturists; dwell by the forest edges, are fond of music, and are sun-worshippers; number considerably over a million.
Santander (42), a flourishing port of North Spain, stands on a fine bay facing the Bay of Biscay, 316 m. N. of Madrid; actively engaged in cigar-making, brewing, cotton-spinning, flour-milling, &c.; exports flour, wine, and cereals; a popular seaside resort.
Santerre, Antoine Joseph, a popular wealthy brewer, born in Paris; assisted at the fall of the Bastille; played a conspicuous part during the Revolution; became commander of the National Guard in 1792; proposed as a relief in famine that every citizen should live two days a week on potatoes, and that every man should hang his dog; conducted King Louis into the judgment, holding him by the arm; with a stamp of his foot ordered him to mount the guillotine; failed in quelling the insurrection in La Vendée, and was recalled; was made brigadier-general by Napoleon as a reward for keeping the peace which he would fain have disturbed on the 18th Brumaire in 1797 (1752-1809).
Santiago (393), capital of Chile, beautifully situated on a wide fertile and elevated plain overhung on the N. and E. by the snow-clad peaks of the Andes, 90 m. SE. of Valparaiso; the Mapocho, a mountain stream, passes through the N. part of the city, is handsomely laid out with spacious plazas, a noble alameda, and well-paved streets; has many fine public buildings, hotels, a cathedral, a university, art, agricultural, and military schools, botanical and zoological gardens, &c.; in the pretty neighbourhood there is a popular racecourse; is an important commercial centre, with a stock exchange, law-courts, and manufactures of cloth, flour, ships' biscuits, beer, ice, &c.
Santiago de Compostella (23), a city of Spain, in Galicia, of which it was formerly the capital, 26 m. NE. of Carril, on the coast; has an interesting old Romanesque cathedral, a noted place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, a university, and several ruined monasteries; manufactures linen, leather, &c.
Santiago de Cuba (71), formerly capital of Cuba, on a beautiful land-locked bay on the S. coast; the harbour is strongly fortified; is the see of an archbishop, and has an old Spanish cathedral, also flourishing sugar-factories, foundries, &c.
Santley, Charles, a well-known baritone singer, born in Liverpool; studied at Milan; made his début in 1857, and ever since has been an accepted favourite with the public both as an oratorio and operatic singer; has published a volume of reminiscences; b. 1834.
Santorin or Thera (17), a volcanic island in the Ægean, one of the Cyclades; is the southmost of the group, and lies 70 m. N. of Crete; the vine grows luxuriantly, and there is a good wine trade; has many interesting prehistoric remains; chief town, Thera or Phera, on the W. coast.
São Francisco, one of the great rivers of Brazil, for the most part navigable; rises in the SW., near the source of the Paraná, and flows N., NE., and SE. till it reaches the S. Atlantic after a course of 1800 m., forming in its lower part the boundary between the maritime provinces Sergipe and Alagoas; higher it divides Bahia and Pernambuco.
São Paulo (35), a manufacturing town of Brazil (minerals, coffee); capital of a productive and healthy State (1,387) of the same name, situated on a plain 310 m. W. by S. from Rio de Janeiro; has pretty suburbs, electric light, &c.; is the chief centre of the Brazilian coffee trade, and has manufactories of cotton, tobacco, spirits, &c.; is the seat of a law-school.
Saône, a tributary of the Rhône; rises among the Faucelles Mountains, in Vosges, and flows SW. and S. to the Rhône at Lyons; length 282 m., of which one-half is navigable.
Saône, Haute- (281), a department in the E. of France, near the Alsace border, between Vosges (N.) and Doubs (S.); forests abound; about one-half is under cultivation, and there are fine cherry orchards; watered by the Saône and its affluents.
Saône-et-Loire (620), an east-midland department of France, bounded SE. and W. by the Saône and Loire; has a fine fertile surface, and is noted for its cattle and abundant output of wine; iron and coal are wrought, and its towns are busy with the manufacture of cotton goods, pottery, machinery, &c.
Sapphire, a precious stone of the corundum class, and differing from the ruby (q. v.) only in colour, which is a blue of various shades; the finest specimens are found in Ceylon; its value depends chiefly on quality, and not so much (like the ruby) on size.
Sappho, a lyric poetess of Greece of the 7th century B.C., and a contemporary of Alcæus; was a woman of strong passions and of questionable morality, but of undoubted genius, her lyrics being among the masterpieces of antiquity, though only two of her odes and some short fragments of others remain; of her history little is known, and what is known is far from reliable.
Saracens, the name given in mediæval times to the Arabs or Mohammedans, and extended to all the non-Christian races with whom the Crusaders or Christian races came to grips.
Saragossa (95), an interesting city of Spain, and capital of Aragon, on the Ebro, which flows through it, 212 m. NE. of Madrid; its history goes back to far Roman times, and includes fierce struggles between Goths, Moors, and Spaniards, and a memorable siege by the French in 1808; being one of the earliest Christian cities of Spain it contains many interesting relics, cathedrals, &c.; there is a university, citadel, archiepiscopal palace, &c.; manufactures embrace cloth, silks, leather, &c.
Sarasate, Martin Meliton, a Spanish violinist, and one of the most finished of the day, a Basque by birth, but educated at Paris; has travelled over the world, winning fame and a fortune; made his first appearance in London in 1874; is composer of some light pieces; b. 1844.
Sarasvati, a Hindu goddess, and ultimately the wife of Brahma and goddess of music and eloquence.
Saratoff (122), a handsome city of Russia, on the Volga, 500 m. SE. of Moscow; has thriving industries in distilling, flour, oil, and tobacco, and trades in corn, salt, textiles, &c.; the government of Saratoff (2,433) is a prosperous agricultural district.
Saratoga Springs (12), one of the best-known watering-places of the United States, in New York State, 38 m. N. of Albany; plentifully supplied with mineral springs; once a village, now growing into a town of hotels, &c.; 12 m. to the E. is the scene of Burgoyne's surrender to Gates, October 17, 1777.
Sara`wak (320), a principality of North-West Borneo, fronting the Chinese Sea on the NW. and contiguous to Dutch Borneo; was granted as an independent Rajahship to Sir James Brooke by the sultan of Borneo in 1841, and governed by him and afterwards by his son, by whom it was put under British protection in 1888; is very fertile, and grows sugar, coco-nuts, rice, sago, rubber, tea, &c.; is rich in minerals, and mining is carried on of antimony, quicksilver, gold, and coal; capital Kuching (25), on the Sarawak River.
Sardanapálus, the last king of Assyria; led a luxurious, effeminate life, but surprised when at his ease by a large army of invaders he suddenly developed into a hero, till hard pressed at length and shut up in Nineveh, and after two years' defence finding resistance hopeless, he reared a funeral pile, and setting fire to it, threw himself upon it and perished in the flames.
Sardinia (682), an island of the Mediterranean, 170 m. long and 75 m. broad, the second largest, Sicily being larger, and to the S. of Corsica; is since 1859 part of the kingdom of Italy; it has a fruitful soil, and presents a diversified surface of hill and valley; the chief export is salt, and there are extensive fisheries; the capital is Cagliari, in the S.; it is rich in mineral resources, but the exploitation of these is in a backward state.
Sardis, capital of ancient Lydia, in Asia Minor, at the foot of Mount Tmolus, celebrated for its wealth, its trade, and luxury, through the market-place of which the river Pactolus flowed with its sands of gold.
Sardou, Victorien, a popular French playwright, born at Paris; gave up medicine for literature, and his first successes were “Monsieur Garat” and “Les Prés Saint-Gervais,” both in 1800; from that date his popularity and wealth began to flow in upon him; his work has been taken up by Sarah Bernhardt, for whom he wrote “Fédora,” “Théodora,” and “La Tosca” (1887); a number of his plays have been translated into English, such as “A Scrap of Paper,” “Diplomacy,” &c.; was elected to the Academy in 1877; his plays are characterised by clever dialogue and stage effects, and an emotionalism rather French than English; b. 1831.
Sarmatians or Sarmats, an ancient race, embracing several warlike nomadic tribes, who spoke the Scythian language, and inhabited the shores of the Black Sea and Eastern Europe as far as the Caucasus; fought with Mithridates against the Romans; were overwhelmed by the Goths in the 4th century A.D., and afterwards gradually absorbed by the Slavs.
Sarpedon, the “Nestor” and king of the Lycians, was son of Zeus and Europa.
Sarpi, Paul, an Italian historian of the monastic order, born at Venice; was a man of wide attainments and liberal views; was the champion of the Republic against the Pope; was summoned to Rome, and on his refusal to obey, excommunicated; his life being in peril he retired into his monastery, and wrote the “History of the Council of Trent,” with which his name has ever since been associated; he was held in high honour by the Venetians, and was honoured at his death by a public funeral (1565-1623).
Sarto, Andreo del (i. e. Andrew, the tailors son), a Florentine artist; painted in oil and fresco numerous works; died of the plague at Florence, his work displays accuracy of drawing and delicacy of feeling (1486-1531).
Sartor Resartus (i. e. the tailor patched), a book written by Carlyle at Craigenputtock (q. v.) in 1831, published piecemeal in Frazer's Magazine in 1833-34, and that first appeared in a book form in America, under Emerson's auspices, in 1836, but not in England till 1838. It professes to be on the philosophy of “clothes” (q. v.), and is divided into three sections, the first in exposition of the philosophy, the second on the life of the philosopher, and the third on the practical bearings of his idea. It is a book in many respects unparalleled in literature, and for spiritual significance and worth the most remarkable that has been written in the century. It was written in the time and for the time by one who understood the time as not another of his contemporaries succeeded in doing, and who interprets it in a light in which every man must read it who would solve its problems to any purpose. Its style is an offence to many, but not to any one who loves wisdom and has faith in God. For it is a brave book, and a reassuring, as well as a wise, the author of it regarding the universe not as a dead thing but a living, and athwart the fire deluges that from time to time sweep it, and seem to threaten with ruin everything in it we hold sacred, descrying nothing more appalling than the phoenix-bird immolating herself in flames that she may the sooner rise renewed out of her ashes and soar aloft with healing in her wings. See Carlyle, Thomas, Exodus from Houndsditch, Natural Supernaturalism, &c.
Saskatchewan, one of the great and navigable rivers of Canada, rises among the Rockies in two great branches, called respectively the North and South Saskatchewan, 770 and 810 m., which flowing generally E., unite, and after a course of 282 m. pass into Lake Winnipeg, whence it issues as the Nelson, and flows 400 m. NE. to Hudson's Bay. The upper branches traverse and give their name to one of the western territories of Canada.
Sassari (32), the second city of Sardinia, in the NW., prettily situated amid olive and orange groves, 12 m. from the Gulf of Asinara; has an old cathedral, castle, and university, and does a good trade in olive-oil, grain, &c.
Satan, an archangel who, according to the Talmud, revolted against the Most High, particularly when required to do homage to Adam, and who for his disobedience was with all his following cast into the abyss of hell. See Devil.
Satanic School, name applied by Southey to a class of writers headed by Byron and Shelley, because, according to him, their productions were “characterised by a Satanic spirit of pride and audacious impiety,” and who, according to Carlyle, wasted their breath in a fierce wrangle with the devil, and had not the courage to fairly face and honestly fight him.
Satellites (lit. attendants), name given to the secondary bodies which revolve round the planets of the solar system, of which the Earth has one, Mars two, Jupiter four, Saturn eight, Uranus four, and Neptune is known to have at least one, as Venus is surmised to have.
Satire, a species of poetry or prose writing in which the vice or folly of the times is held up to ridicule, a species in which Horace and Juvenal excelled among the Romans, and Dryden, Pope, and Swift among us.
Satrap, a governor of a province under the ancient Persian monarchy, with large military and civil powers; when the central authority began to wane, some of them set up as independent rulers.
Saturn, in the Roman mythology a primitive god of agriculture in Italy, often confounded with the Greek Kronos, the father of Zeus, and sovereign of the Golden Age; was represented as an old man bearing a sickle.
Saturn, the planet of the solar system whose orbit is outside that of Jupiter, is 880 millions of miles from the sun, round which it takes 10,759 days or nearly 30 years to revolve, revolving on its own axis in about 10½ hours; its diameter is nine times greater than that of the earth; it is surrounded by bright rings that appear as three, and is accompanied by eight moons; the rings are solid, and are supposed to consist of a continuous belt of moons.
Saturnalia, a festival in ancient Rome in honour of Saturn, in which all classes, free and bond, and young and old, enjoyed and indulged in all kinds of merriment without restraint.
Satyrs, in the Greek mythology semi-animal woodland deities who roamed the hills generally in the train of Dionysus (q. v.), dancing to rustic music; represented with long pointed ears, flat noses, short horns, and a hair-clad man's body, with the legs and hoofs of a goat; they are of lustful nature, and fond of sensual pleasure generally.
Sauerkraut, a favourite article of food in Germany and elsewhere in North Europe; formed of thinly sliced young cabbage laid in layers, with salt and spice-seeds, pressed in casks and allowed to ferment.
Sauerteig (i. e. leaven), an imaginary authority alive to the “celestial infernal” fermentation that goes on in the world, who has an eye specially to the evil elements at work, and to whose opinion Carlyle frequently appeals in his condemnatory verdict on sublunary things.
Saul, a Benjamite, the son of Kish, who fell in with Samuel as he was on the way in search of his father's asses that had gone astray, and from his stature and stately bearing was anointed by him to be first king of Israel; he distinguished himself in the field against the enemies of his people, but fell at the hands of the Philistines after a reign of 40 years, and after several insane attempts on the life of David, who had been elected to succeed him.
Saumarez, James, Baron de, English admiral, born at Guernsey; entered the navy at 13, distinguished himself in the American War, captured a French frigate in 1793, which brought him knighthood; was second in command at the battle of the Nile, and gained a great victory off Cadiz in 1801; was raised to the peerage in 1831 (1757-1836).
Saumur (14), a town of France, in the department of Maine-et-Loire, situated on the Loire and partly on an island in the river, 32 m. SE. of Angers; once famous for its Protestant theological seminary, and till the Edict of Nantes a stronghold of the Huguenots; has interesting churches, a castle (still used as an arsenal), and a noted cavalry school; has trade in grain, dried fruits, rosaries, &c.
Saussure, Horace Benedict de, geologist and physicist, born in Geneva; was the first to ascend Mont Blanc in the interest of science, and was distinguished for his researches in the same interest all over the Alps and on other mountain ranges; he invented or improved several scientific instruments (1740-1799).
Savage, Richard, English poet, with a worthless character, who gained the regard of Johnson; his chief poem, “The Wanderer,” of no poetic merit (1697-1743).
Savannah, a name used chiefly in Florida and neighbouring States to designate the wide treeless plains of these parts; is practically an equivalent for “pampa,” “prairie,” &c.; comes from a Spanish word meaning “a sheet.”
Savannah (54), a city and port of the United States, capital of Chatham County, Georgia, on the Savannah River, 18 m. from its mouth; well equipped with parks, electric light, handsome churches, government buildings, &c., an important naval stores station and second cotton port of the U.S., and has foundries, rice, flour, cotton, and paper-mills, &c.
Save, a tributary of the Danube, rises in the Julian Alps and flows SE. across Southern Austria till it joins the Danube at Belgrade after a course of 556 m., of which 366 are navigable.
Savigny, Karl von, a German jurist, born in Frankfort-on-the-Main, of French parentage; wrote a treatise on the Right of Property, became professor of Roman Law at Berlin; his chief works were the “History of Roman Law in the Middle Ages” and the “History of Roman Law in Modern Times” (1779-1861).
Saville, Sir Henry, a learned scholar, born in Yorkshire; was tutor to Queen Elizabeth and provost of Eton, and founder of the Savilian professorships of Geometry and Astronomy at Oxford (1549-1642).
Savona (24), a seaport of Italy, on the Gulf of Genoa, in the Riviera, 26 m. SW. of Genoa, in the midst of orange groves, &c.; handsomely laid out; has a 16th-century cathedral, castle, palace, picture gallery, &c.; exports pottery and has prosperous iron-works, glass-works, tanneries, &c.
Savonarola, Girolamo, Italian reformer, born at Ferrara of a noble family; was in his youth of a studious ascetic turn, became at 24 a Dominican monk, was fired with a holy zeal for the purity of the Church, and issued forth from his privacy to denounce the vices that everywhere prevailed under her sanction, with threats of divine judgment on her head, so that the impressions his denunciations made were deep and wide-spread; the effect was especially marked in Florence, where for three years the reformer's influence became supreme, till a combination of enemies headed by the Pope succeeded in subverting it to his ejection from the Church, his imprisonment, and final execution, preceded by that of his confederates Fra Domenico and Fra Silvestro; it was as a reformer of the morals of the Church and nowise of its dogmas that Savonarolo presented himself, while the effect of his efforts was limited pretty much to his own day and generation (1452-1498).
Savoy, Duchy of (532), in the SE. of France, on the Italian frontier, comprises the two departments of Haute-Savoie and Savoie; previous to 1860 constituted a province of the kingdom of Sardinia; Lake of Geneva bounds it on the N. and the lofty Graian Alps flank it on the E., forming part of the Alpine highlands; it is charmingly picturesque, with mountain, forest, and river (numerous tributaries of the Rhône); has excellent grazing lands; grows the vine abundantly, besides the usual cereals; the people are industrious and thrifty, but for the most part poor. Aix-les-Bains, Evian, and Challes are popular watering-places. Chambéry was the old capital.
Savoy, House of, an ancient royal house of Europe (represented now by the king of Italy), whose territorial possessions were constituted a county of the empire in the 12th century under the name Savoy; was created a duchy in the 15th century. By the treaty of Utrecht (1713) the island of Sicily was ceded to Savoy and the title of king bestowed upon the duke; in 1720 Victor Amadeus II. was forced to cede Sicily to Austria in exchange for Sardinia, which with Savoy and Piedmont, &c., constituted the kingdom of Sardinia till its dissolution in 1860, when Savoy was ceded to France and the remaining portion merged in the new Italian kingdom under Victor Emmanuel.
Savoy, The, a district of the Strand, London, in which a palace was built in 1245 called of the Savoy, in which John of France was confined after his capture at Poitiers; was burnt at the time of the Wat Tyler insurrection, but rebuilt in 1505 as a hospital; it included a chapel, which was damaged by fire in 1864, but restored by the Queen.
Saxe, Maurice, marshal of France, natural son of Augustus II., king of Poland (q. v.) distinguished himself under various war captains, Marlborough and Prince Eugene in particular, and eventually entered the service of France; commanding in the War of the Austrian Succession he took Prague and Egra, and was made a marshal, and appointed to the command of the army of Flanders, in which he gained victories and captured fortresses, and was thereafter loaded with honours by Louis XV.; was one of the strongest and most dissolute men of his age; died of dropsy, the result of his debaucheries (1698-1750).
Saxe-Coburg, Duke of, second son of the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh; married a daughter of Alexander II., czar of Russia; succeeded to the dukedom in 1893; retains his annuity as an English prince of £10,000; b. 1844.
Saxe-Weimar, Amalia, Duchess of, was of the Guelph family, and married to the duke, and in two years was left a widow and in government of the duchy, attracting to her court all the literary notabilities of the day, Goethe the chief, till in 1775 she resigned her authority to her son, who followed in her footsteps (1739-1807).
Saxo Grammaticus, a Danish chronicler who flourished in the 12th century; wrote “Gesta Danorum,” which brings the history of Denmark down to the year 1158, and is in the later sections of great value.
Saxon Switzerland, name given to a mountainous region in Saxony, SE. of Dresden.
Saxons, a people of the Teutonic stock who settled early on the estuary of the Elbe and the adjoining islands, who in their piratical excursions infested and finally settled in Britain and part of Gaul, and who, under the name of Anglo-Saxons, now hold sovereign sway over large sections of the globe.
Saxony (3,502), a kingdom of Germany, lies within the basin of the Elbe, facing on the E., between Bavaria (S.) and Prussia (N.), the mountainous frontier of Bohemia; a little less in size than Yorkshire, but very densely inhabited; spurs of the Erzgebirge, Fichtelgebirge, and Riesengebirge diversify the surface; is a flourishing mining and manufacturing country; Dresden is the capital, and other important towns are Leipzig, Chemnitz, and Freiburg; the government is vested in the king and two legislative chambers; is represented in the Reichstag and Reichsrath of the empire; by the time of the Thirty Years' War the electorate of Saxony, which in its heyday had stretched to the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Elbe, had sadly dwindled away; it suffered much at the hands of Frederick the Great during the Seven Years' War, and in 1815, having sided with Napoleon, a portion of its territory was, by the Congress of Vienna, ceded to Prussia; was defeated along with Austria in 1866, and thus joined the North German Confederation, to be incorporated afterwards in the new German Empire.
Saxony, Prussian (2,580), a province of Prussia, chiefly comprises that part of Saxony (q. v.) added to Prussia in 1815; situated in the centre of Prussia, N. of the kingdom of Saxony; is watered by the Elbe and its numerous affluents, and diversified by the Harz Mountains and Thuringian Forest; contains some of the finest growing land in Prussia; salt and lignite are valuable products, and copper is also mined; the capital is Magdeburg, and other notable towns are Halle (with its university), Erfurt, &c.
Sayce, Alexander Henry, philologist, born near Bristol; has written works on the monuments of the East, bearing chiefly on Old Testament history; b. 1846.
Scævola, Caius Mucius, a patriotic Roman who, when sentenced to be burnt alive by Lars Porsena the Etrurian, then invading Rome, for attempting to murder him, unflinchingly held his right hand in a burning brazier till it was consumed, as a mark of his contempt for the sentence. Porsena, moved by his courage, both pardoned him, and on hearing that 300 as defiant had sworn his death, made peace with Rome and departed. The name Scævola (i. e. left-handed) was given him from the loss of his right hand on the occasion.
Scafell, a Cumberland mountain on the borders of Westmorland, with two peaks, one 3210 ft., and the other 3161 ft. high, the highest in England.
Scale, Delfa, a prince of Verona, and a general of the Ghibellines in Lombardy, who offered Dante an asylum when expelled from Florence (1291-1329).
Scaliger, Joseph Justus, eminent scholar, son of the following, born at Agen; educated by his father; followed in his father's footsteps, and far surpassed him in scholarship; travelled over Europe, and became a zealous Protestant; accepted the chair of belles lettres in the University of Leyden on condition that he should not be called upon to lecture, and gave himself up to a life of study, especially on matters philological and literary; was a man of universal knowledge, and the creator of modern chronology (1540-1609).
Scaliger, Julius Cæsar, surnamed the Elder, classical scholar, became page to the Emperor Maximilian, and served him in war and peace for 17 years; at 40 quitted the army, and took to study the learned languages among other subjects; wrote a treatise on poetics and a commentary on the physics and metaphysics of Aristotle, and became an authority on the Aristotelian philosophy (1484-1558).
Scanderbeg (i. e. Prince or Bey Alexander), the patriot chief of Albania, and the great hero of Albanian independence, who in the 15th century renounced Islamism for Christianity, and by his military prowess and skill freed Albania from the Turkish yoke; throughout his lifetime maintained its independence, crushing again and again the Turkish armies; was known among the Christians as George Castriot (1403-1468).
Scanderoon or Alexandretta (2), the port of Aleppo, in Turkey in Asia, situated in the Gulf of Scanderoon, in the NE. of the Levant, 77 m. NW. of Aleppo; is itself an insignificant place, but has a large transit trade.
Scandinavia, the ancient name (still used) of the great northern peninsula of Europe, which embraces Norway (q. v.) and Sweden (q. v.); also used in a broader sense to include Denmark and Iceland.
Scarborough (34), a popular seaside town and watering-place on the Yorkshire coast; built on rising ground on the shores of a fine bay; is a place of great antiquity, with interesting ruins; has churches, harbour, piers, and a fine promenade; noted for the manufacture of jet.
Scarpa, Antonio, Italian anatomist, professor at Pavia (1747-1832).
Scarron, Paul, a French humourist, writer of the burlesque, born, of good parentage, in Paris; entered the Church, and was for some years somewhat lax-living abbé of Mans, but stricken with incurable disease settled in Paris, and supported himself by writing; is chiefly remembered for his “Virgile Travesti” and “Le Roman Comique,” which “gave the impulse out of which sprang the masterpieces of Le Sage, Defoe, Fielding, and Smollett”; married in 1652 Françoise d'Aubigné, a girl of fifteen, afterwards the famous Madame de Maintenon (q. v.); was a man who both suffered much and laughed much (1610-1660).
Scattery Island, in the Shannon estuary, 3 m. SW. of Kilrush; an early Christian place of pilgrimage, with ruins and a “round tower”; is fortified and marked by a lighthouse.
Scepticism, primarily doubt respecting, and ultimately disbelief in, the reality of the super-sensible, or the transcendental, or the validity of the evidence on which the belief in it is founded, such as reason or revelation, and in religious matters is tantamount to infidelity more or less sweeping.
Sceptre, the symbol of royal power, power to command and compel, originally a club, the crown being the symbol of dominion.
Schadow, Johannes Gottfried, sculptor, born in Berlin; was trained in Rome under the best masters, returned to Berlin, and became Director of the Academy of Arts; laboured here for 62 years, and produced works which placed him among the first rank of artists; he had two sons, one of whom distinguished himself as a sculptor, and the other as a painter (1764-1850).
Schaff, Philip, a theologian, born in Switzerland; studied in Germany; came recommended by high names to the United States, and became professor first in Pennsylvania, and finally in New York (1819-1893).
Schaffhausen (38), a canton in the extreme N. of Switzerland, surrounded NE. and W. by Baden; the Rhine flanks it on the S.; is hilly, with fertile valleys sloping to the Rhine, and is chiefly given up to agriculture. The capital, Schaffhausen (19), occupies a picturesque site on the Rhine, 31 m. NW. of Constance; has a 12th-century cathedral, an interesting old castle, &c. The famous falls, the finest on the Rhine, are 3 m. below the town.
Schäffle, Dr. Albert, eminent German economist, born in Würtemberg; has written, besides other works, “The Quintessence of Socialism,” an able exposé; b. 1831.
Schall, Johann Adam von, Jesuit missionary to China, born at Cologne; was received with honours at the Imperial Court; obtained permission to preach, and founded churches to the spread of Christianity, a privilege which was revoked by the next emperor; he was subjected to imprisonment, which shortened his life (1591-1669).
Schamyl. See Shamyl.
Scharnhorst, Gerhard von, a Prussian general, distinguished as the organiser of the Prussian army, to the establishment of a national force instead of a mercenary; died of a wound in battle (1756-1813).
Scheele, Carl Wilhelm, Swedish chemist, born in Pomerania, was an apothecary at Upsala and Köping; during his residence at the latter made numerous important discoveries, and published many chemical papers, his chief work “Experiments on Air and Fire” (1742-1786).
Scheffel, Joseph Victor von, German poet, bred to law, but abandoned it for literature; his first and best work “Der Trompeter von Sakkingen,” a charming tale in verse of the Thirty Years' War, succeeded by “Gaudeamus,” a collection of songs and ballads familiar to the German students all over the Fatherland (1826-1886).
Scheffer, Ary, painter, born at Dordrecht, of German and Dutch parentage; settled in Paris; began as a genre-painter; illustrated Dante, Goethe, and Byron, and in the end painted religious subjects; he did excellent portraits also; was of the Romantic school (1795-1858).
Scheherazade, daughter of the grand vizier, who, in the “Arabian Nights,” marries the Sultan and saves her life by entertaining him night after night with her tales.
Scheldt, an important river of Belgium and Holland, rises in the French dep. of Aisne, and flows northwards past Cambrai (its highest navigable point) and Valenciennes, entering Belgium a little S. of Tournay and continuing northward, with Oudenarde, Ghent, and Antwerp on its banks; enters Holland, and at the island of S. Beveland splits into the Wester Scheldt and the Ooster Scheldt, which enter the North Sea, the former at Flushing, the latter at Bergen-op-Zoom; length 267 m., much the greater part being in Belgium.
Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph, German philosopher, born in Würtemberg; studied at Tübingen, where he became acquainted with Hegel; wrote first on theological subjects and then on philosophical; went to Jena and became a disciple and follower of Fichte; gradually abandoned Fichte's position and began to develop ideas of his own, and in conjunction with Hegel edited the Critical Journal of Philosophy; held afterwards a professorship at Münich and a lectureship at Berlin; his philosophy is no finished or completed system, but is essentially a history of the progressive stages through which he himself passed; during the reign of Hegel he kept silence, and only broke it when Hegel was dead; thought to outstrip him by another philosophy, but the attempt has proved fruitless of any important results (1775-1854).
Schemnitz (15), a town of Hungary, noted as a mining centre since Roman times, situated in the midst of a mountainous region, 65 m. N. by W. of Pesth; gold, silver, copper, and lead are largely wrought, chiefly in the interests of the State.
Schenkel, David, German theologian, born in Switzerland, became, after a pastorate at Schaffhausen, professor first at Basel and then at Heidelberg; was a man of liberal principles, and was zealous for the union of the Protestants, Lutheran and Reformed, in one body on a broad basis; is noted as author of a work entitled “Das Characterbild Jesu,” being an attempt to construe the character of Christ on rationalistic lines (1813-1885).
Scherer, Edmond, French critic, born in Paris, spent his early years in England, his mother being English; was for some time devoted to theology and the Church, but changed his views; settled in Paris, and took to journalism and politics, distinguishing himself more especially in literary criticism (1815-1889).
Schiller, Friedrich, German poet and dramatist, born at Marbach on the Neckar, son of an army-surgeon; bred first to law and then to medicine, but took chief interest in philosophy and literature, to the cultivation of which he by-and-by devoted his life; his first work, a play, “The Robbers,” which on its publication in 1782 produced quite a ferment, and was followed in 1783 by two tragedies, “Fresco” and “Kabale und Liebe”; but it was with “Don Carlos” in 1787 his mature authorship began, and this was followed by the “History of the Netherlands” and “History of the Thirty Years' War,” to be succeeded by “Wallenstein” (1799), “Maria Stuart” (1800), “The Maid of Orleans” (1801), “The Bride of Messina” (1803), and “Wilhelm Tell” (1804); he wrote besides a number of ballads and lyrics; in 1794 his friendship with Goethe began, and it was a friendship which was grounded on their common love for art, and lasted with life; he was an earnest man and a serious writer, and much beloved by the great Goethe (1759-1805). See Carlyle's “Life of Schiller,” and his essay on him in his “Miscellanies.”
Schlegel, August Wilhelm von, German man of letters, born at Hanover; studied theology at first, but turned to literature and began with poetry; settled in Jena, and in 1798 became professor of Fine Arts there; was associated in literary work with Madame de Staël for 14 years; delivered “Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature” at Vienna in 1708, and finished with a professorship of Literature at Bonn, having previously distinguished himself by translations into German of Shakespeare, Dante, &c.; he devoted himself to the study of Sanskrit when at Bonn, where he had Heine for pupil (1767-1845).
Schlegel, Friedrich von, German critic and author, born at Hanover, brother of preceding, joined his brother at Jena, and collaborated with him; became a zealous promoter of all the Romantic movements, and sought relief for his yearnings in the bosom of the Catholic Church; wrote lectures, severally published, on the “Philosophy of History,” of “Literature,” of “Life,” and on “Modern History,” and book on Sanskrit and the philosophy of India (1772-1829).
Schleicher, August, German philologist, did eminent service by his studies in the Indo-Germanic languages, and particularly in the Slavonic languages (1821-1868).
Schleiermacher, Friedrich Ernest Daniel, great German theologian, born at Breslau; brought up among the Moravians, his mind revolted against the narrow orthodoxy of their creed, which was confirmed by his study of Plato and the philosophy of the school of Kant, as it for him culminated in Schelling, though the religious feeling he inherited never left him; under these influences he addressed himself to the task of elaborating a theology in which justice should be done to the claims of the intellect and the emotions of the heart, and he began by translating Plato; soon he formed a school, which included among its members men such as Neander and others, distinguished at once for their learning and their piety, and to which all the schools of theology in Germany since have been more or less affiliated; his great merit lay in the importance he attached to the religious consciousness as derived from that of Christ, and the development therefrom in the life and history of the Church of Christ; it was to the religious interest he dedicated his life and consecrated all his learning, which was immense (1768-1834).
Schlemihl, Peter, the name of a man who in Chamisso's tale sold his shadow to the devil, a synonym of one who makes a desperate or silly bargain.
Schliemann, Heinrich, a German explorer, born in Mecklenburg-Schwerin; excavated at his own cost the ruins, among others in Greece, of Hissarlik, in the Troad, believing them to be those of Troy; spent 12 years in this enterprise, collecting the spoils and depositing them in safe keeping in Berlin; died at Naples before his excavations were complete (1822-1890).
Schlossner, Friedrich Christoph, German historian, born in Oldenburg; was studios of the moral factor in history, and gave especial prominence to it (1776-1861).
Schmalkaldic League, a league of the Protestant States of Germany concluded in 1531 at Schmalkalden, Prussia, in defence of their religious and civil liberties against the Emperor Charles V. and the Catholic States.
Schnitzer, Eduard, physician, born in Breslau; went to Turkey, entered the Turkish medical service, adopted the name Emin Pasha, and was appointed by Gordon medical officer of the Equatorial Province of Egypt, and raised to the rank of Pasha; soon after the outbreak of the Mahdist insurrection he was cut off from civilisation, but was discovered by Stanley in 1889 and brought to Zanzibar, after which he was murdered by Arabs (1840-1893).
Scholasticism, the name given to the philosophy that prevailed in Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly in the second half of them, and has been generally characterised as an attempt at conciliation between dogma and thought, between faith and reason, an attempt to form a scientific system on that basis, founded on the pre-supposition that the creed of the Church was absolutely true, and capable of rationalisation.
Scholiasts, name given to a class of grammarians who appended annotations to the margins of the MSS. of the classics.
Scholium, a marginal note explanatory of the text of a classic author.
Scholten, Hendrik, a Dutch theologian of the rationalistic school (1811-1885).
Schomberg, Duke of, French marshal, of German origin and the Protestant persuasion; took service under the Prince of Orange, and fell at the battle of the Boyne (1618-1690).
Schönbrunn, imperial palace near Vienna, built by Maria Theresa in 1744.
Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe, a noted American ethnologist, born in New York State; at 24 was geologist to an exploring expedition undertaken by General Cass to Lake Superior and the Upper Mississippi; married the educated daughter of an Ojibway chief; founded the Historical Society of Michigan and the Algic Society at Detroit; discovered the sources of the Mississippi in 1832; was an active and friendly agent for the Indians, and in 1847 began, under Government authorisation, his great work of gathering together all possible information regarding the Indian tribes of the United States, an invaluable work embodied in six great volumes; author also of many other works treating of Indian life, exploration, etc. (1793-1864).
Schoolmen, teachers of the scholastic philosophy (q. v.).
Schopenhauer, Arthur, a bold metaphysical thinker, born in Danzig, of Dutch descent; was early dissatisfied with life, and conceived pessimistic views of it; in 1814 jotted down in a note-book, “Inward discord is the very bane of human nature so long as a man lives,” and on this fact he brooded for years; at length the problem solved itself, and the solution appears in his great work, “Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung” (“The World as Will and Idea”), which he published in 1718; in it, as in others of his writings, to use the words of the late Professor Wallace of Oxford, Schopenhauer “draws close to the great heart of life, and tries to see clearly what man's existence and hopes and destiny really are, which recognises the peaceful creations of art as the most adequate representation the sense-world can give of the true inward being of all things, and which holds the best life to be that of one who has pierced, through the illusions dividing one conscious individuality from another, into that great heart of eternal rest where we are each members one of another essentially united in the great ocean of Being, in which, and by which, we alone live.” Goethe gives a similar solution in his “Wilhelm Meister”; is usually characterised as a pessimist, and so discarded, but such were all the wise men who have contributed anything to the emancipation of the world, which they never would have attempted but for a like sense of the evil at the root of the world's misery; and as for his philosophy, it is a protest against treating it as a science instead of an art which has to do not merely with the reasoning powers, but with the whole inmost nature of man (1788-1860).
Schouvaloff, Count Peter, a Russian ambassador, born at St. Petersburg; became in 1806 head of the secret police; came to England in 1873 on a secret mission to arrange the marriage of the Emperor Alexander II.'s daughter with the Duke of Edinburgh; was one of Russia's representatives at the Congress of Berlin (1827-1889). His brother, Count Paul, fought in the Crimean War, helped to liberate the Russian serfs, fought in the Russo-Turkish War, and was governor of Warsaw during 1895-1897; b. 1830.
Schreiner, Olive, authoress, daughter of a Lutheran clergyman at Cape Town; achieved a great success by “The Story of an African Farm” in 1883, which was followed in 1890 by “Dreams,” also later “Dream Life and Real Life”; she is opposed to the South African policy of Mr. Rhodes.
Schreiner, Right Hon. W. P., Premier of the Cape Parliament, brother of preceding; bred to the bar, favours arbitration in the South African difficulty, and is a supporter of the Africander Bond in politics.
Schubert, Franz Peter, composer, born, the son of a Moravian schoolmaster, at Vienna; at 11 was one of the leading choristers in the court-chapel, later on became leading violinist in the school band; his talent for composition in all modes soon revealed itself, and by the time he became an assistant in his father's school (1813) his supreme gift of lyric melody showed itself in the song “Erl King,” the “Mass in F,” etc.; his too brief life, spent chiefly in the drudgery of teaching, was harassed by pecuniary embarrassment, embittered by the slow recognition his work won, though he was cheered by the friendly encouragement of Beethoven; his output of work was remarkable for its variety and quantity, embracing some 500 songs, 10 symphonies, 6 masses, operas, sonatas, etc.; his abiding fame rests on his songs, which are infused, as none other are, by an intensity of poetic feeling—“divine fire” Beethoven called it (1797-1828).
Schulze-Delitzsch, Hermann, founder of the system of “people's savings-banks,” born at Delitzsch, and trained to the law; he settled in his native town and give himself to social reform, sat in the National Assembly in Berlin on the Progressionist side, but opposed Lasalle's socialistic programme; his project of “people's savings-banks” was started in 1850, and immediately took root, spreading over the country and into Austria, Italy, Belgium, etc. (1808-1883).
Schumann, Robert, an eminent German composer and musical critic, born at Zwickau, in Saxony; law, philosophy, and travel occupied his early youth, but in 1831 he was allowed to follow his bent for music, and settled to study it at Leipzig; two years later started a musical paper, which for more than 10 years was the vehicle of essays in musical criticism; during these years appeared also his greatest pianoforte works, songs, symphonies, and varied chamber music; “Paradise and the Part” and scenes from “Faust” appeared in 1843; symptoms of cerebral disease which in the end proved fatal, began to manifest themselves, and he withdrew to a quieter life at Dresden, where much of his operatic and other music was written; during 1850-54 he acted as musical director at Düsseldorf, but insanity at length supervened, and after attempting suicide in the Rhine he was placed in an asylum, where he died two years later; his work is full of the fresh colour and variety of Romanticism, his songs being especially beautiful (1810-1856).
Schürer, Emil, biblical scholar, born at Augsburg, professor of Theology at Kiel, author of “History of the Jewish People”; b. 1844.
Schuyler, Philip John, leader in the American War of Independence, born at Albany, of Dutch descent; served in arms under Washington, and health failing for action, became one of Washington's most sagacious advisers (1733-1804).
Schuylkill, a river of Pennsylvania, rises on the N. side of the Blue Mountains and flows SE. 130 m. to its junction with the Delaware River at Philadelphia; is an important waterway for the coal-mining industry of Pennsylvania.
Schwann, Theodor, German physiologist, born at Neuss; made several discoveries in physiology, and established the cell theory (1810-1882).
Schwanthaler, Ludwig, German sculptor, born at Münich, of an old family of sculptors; studied at Rome; has adorned his native city with his works both in bas-reliefs and statues, at once in single figures and in groups; did frescoes and cartoons also (1802-1848).
Schwärmerei (lit. going off in swarms, as bees under their queen), name given to a more or less insane enthusiasm with which a mass of men is affected.
Schwarz, Berthold, an alchemist of the 13th century, born at Fribourg, a monk of the order of Cordeliers; is credited with the discovery of gunpowder when making experiments with nitre.
Schwarz, Christian Friedrich, German missionary in India, born in Brandenburg; laboured 16 years at Trichinopoly, gained the friendship of the Rajah of Tanjore, and settled there in 1778; succeeded also in winning the favour of Hyder Ali of Mysore, and proved himself to be in all senses a minister of the gospel of peace (1726-1798).
Schwarzburg, House of, one of the oldest noble families of Germany; first comes into authentic history in the 12th century with Count Sizzo IV. (the first to take the title of Schwarzburg), and in the 16th century divides into the two existing branches, the Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt—which give their names to two sovereign principalities of Central Germany wedged in between Prussia and the lesser Saxon States, the latter embracing part of the Thuringian Forest; both are prosperous agricultural and mining regions.
Schwarzenburg, Karl Philip, Prince von, Austrian general, born at Vienna, of a noble family there; entered the army and distinguished himself in the wars against the Turks, the French Republic, and Napoleon; fought at Austerlitz and Wagram, negotiated the marriage of Napoleon with Maria Louisa, commanded the Austrian contingent sent to aid France in 1812, but joined the allies against Napoleon at Dresden and Leipzig, and captured Paris in 1814 at the head of the army of the Rhine (1771-1820).
Schwarzwald, the Black Forest in Germany.
Schwegler, Albert, theologian, born at Würtemberg; treated first on theological subjects, then on philosophical; is best known among us by his “History of Philosophy,” translated into English by Dr. Hutcheson Stirling, “written, so to speak, at a single stroke of the pen, as, in the first instance, an article for an encyclopædia,” ... the author being “a remarkably ripe, full man” (1819-1857).
Schweinfurth, Georg August, German traveller in Africa, born at Riga; wrote “The Heart of Africa,” which gives an account of his travels among the mid-African tribes; b. 1836.
Schwenckfeld, Caspar von, a Protestant sectary, born in Lower Silesia, of a noble family; as a student of the Scriptures embraced the Reformation, but differed from Luther on the matter of the dependence of the divine life on external ordinances, insisting, as George Fox afterwards did, on its derivation from within; like Fox he travelled from place to place proclaiming this, and winning not a few disciples, and exposed himself to much persecution at the hands of men of whom better things were to be expected, but he bore it all with a Christ-like meekness; died at Ulm; his writings were treated with the same indignity as himself, and his followers were after his death driven from one place of refuge to another, till the last remnant of them found shelter under the friendly wing of Count Zinzendorf (q. v.) (1490-1561).
Schwerin (34), capital of the grand-duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; has a pretty site on Lake of Schwerin (14 m. by 3), 47 m. SE. of Lübeck; has a 14th-century cathedral, Renaissance castle, arsenal, &c., and manufactures of lacquered ware, machinery, &c.
Schwyz (50), one of the three original cantons of Switzerland, German speaking and Catholic; Lake Zurich forms part of the N. border, and Lake Lucerne part of the S.; Zug with its lake is on the W.; is mountainous, but good pasturage favours cattle-breeding, sheep and goat rearing, &c.; important industries in cotton and silk are carried on; Einsiedeln, with its famous monastery, attracts thousands of pilgrims, and the Rigi is a favourite resort of summer visitors. The capital (7), same name, is prettily situated 26 m. E. of Lucerne.
Science, as it has been said, “has for its province the world of phenomena, and deals exclusively with their relations, consequences, or sequences. It can never tell us what a thing really and intrinsically is, but only why it has become so; it can only, in other words, refer us to one inscrutable as the ground and explanation of another inscrutable.” “A science,” says Schopenhauer, “anybody can learn, one perhaps with more, another with less trouble; but from art each receives only so much as he brings, yet latent within him.... Art has not, like science, to do merely with the reasoning powers, but with the inmost nature of man, where each must count only for what he really is.”
Scilly Islands, a rugged group of islands belonging to Cornwall, 27 m. SW. of Land's End; consists of six larger islands—St. Mary's (1528 acres, pop. 1200), the largest—and some 30 smaller, besides numerous rock clusters, the name Scilly being strictly applicable to a rocky islet in the NW. of the group; climate is damp and mild; the cultivation and export of large quantities of lilies is the principal industry, but generally industries have decayed, lighthouses have reduced greatly the hereditary occupation of pilotage, and emigration goes on; the only town is Hugh Town (with two hotels, banks, pier, &c.), on St. Mary's; there are some interesting ecclesiastical ruins, &c.; since 1834 much has been done to improve the condition of the islanders by the then proprietor Mr. A. J. Smith, and his nephew, T. A. Darien Smith, who succeeded in 1872.
Scioppius, Caspar, a Protestant renegade, born in the Palatinate; turned Catholic on a visit to Rome, and devoted his life to vilify his former co-religionists, and to invoke the Catholic powers to combine to their extermination; he was a man of learning, but of most infirm temper (1576-1649).
Scipio, P. Cornelius, the Elder, surnamed Africanus Major, a celebrated Roman general; was present at the engagement near the Tacinus and at Cannæ; was appointed proconsul of Spain at the age of 24, and made himself master of nearly the whole of it against the Carthaginians; on his return to Rome was made consul; transferred the seat of war against Carthage to Africa, and landed at Utica; met Hannibal on the field of Zama, and totally defeated him, and ended the Second Punic War in 202 B.C. (234-183 B.C.).
Scipio, P. Cornelius, the Younger, surnamed Africanus Minor, adopted by the preceding, the proper name being L. Paullus Æmelius; after distinguishing himself in Spain proceeded to Africa to take part in the Third Punic War; laid siege to Carthage, took it by storm, and levelled it with the ground in 146 B.C.; he was afterwards sent to Spain, where he captured Numantia after a stubborn resistance, to the extension of the sway of Rome; he was an upright and magnanimous man, but his character was not proof against assault; he died by the hand of an assassin.
Scone (pronounced Scoon), a, village in Perthshire, on the left bank of the Tay, 2 m. N. of Perth; once the capital of the Pictish kingdom, and the place of the coronation of the Scottish kings; near it is the seat of the Earl of Mansfield.
Scopas, Greek sculptor, born at Paros, who flourished in 4th century B.C.
Scoresby, William, scientist, born at Whitby; began life as a sailor; visited the Arctic regions twice over, and wrote an account of his explorations; took to the Church, and held several clerical charges, but retired in 1849, and gave himself to scientific researches, both at home and abroad (1787-1857).
Scory, John, a Cambridge Dominican friar in 1530, who became bishop of Rochester in 1551, and later of Chichester; was deprived of his living on Queen Mary's accession; recanted, but fled abroad, whence he issued his “Epistle to the Faytheful in Pryson in England”; returned in Elizabeth's reign, and became bishop of Hereford; d. 1585.
Scot, Reginald, author of a famous work, “The Discoverie of Witchcraft” (1584), remarkable as one of the earliest exposures of the absurdities of witchcraft and kindred superstitions, which provoked King James's foolish defence “Dæmonology”; son of a Kentish baronet; educated at Oxford, and spent a peaceful life gardening and studying; wrote also “The Hoppe Garden” (1538-1599).
Scotland (4,026), the northern portion of the island of Great Britain, separated from England by the Solway, Cheviots, and Tweed, and bounded N. and W. by the Atlantic and E. by the German Ocean; inclusive of 788 islands (600 uninhabited), its area, divided into 33 counties, is slightly more than one-half of England's, but has a coast-line longer by 700 m.; greatest length from Dunnet Head (most northerly point) to Mull of Galloway (most southerly) is 288 m., while the breadth varies from 32 to 175, Buchan Ness being the eastmost point and Ardnamurchan Point the westmost; from rich pastoral uplands in the S.—Cheviots, Moffat Hills, Lowthers, Moorfoots, and Lammermoors—the country slopes down to the wide, fertile lowland plain—growing fine crops of oats barley, wheat, &c.—which stretches, with a varying breadth of from 30 to 60 m., up to the Grampians (highest peak Ben Nevis, 4406 ft.), whence the country sweeps northwards, a wild and beautiful tract of mountain, valley, and moorland, diversified by some of the finest loch and river scenery in the world; the east and west coasts present remarkable contrasts, the latter rugged, irregular, and often precipitous, penetrated by long sea-lochs and fringed with numerous islands, and mild and humid in climate; the former low and regular, with few islands or inlets, and cold, dry, and bracing; of rivers the Tweed, Forth, Tay, Dee, and Clyde are the principal, and the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Hebrides the chief island groups; coal and iron abound in the lowlands, more especially in the plain of the Forth and Clyde, and granite in the Grampians; staple industries are the manufacture of cottons, woollens, linen, jute, machinery, hardware, paper, and shipbuilding, of which Glasgow is the centre and commercial metropolis, while Edinburgh (capital) is the chief seat of law, education, &c.; of cultivated land the percentage varies from 74.8 in Fife to 2.4 in Sutherland, and over all is only 24.2; good roads, canals, extensive railway and telegraph systems knit all parts of the country together; Presbyterianism is the established form of religion, and in 1872 the old parish schools were supplanted by a national system under school-boards similar to England; the lowlanders and highlanders still retain distinctive characteristics of their Teutonic and Celtic progenitors, the latter speaking in many parts of the Highlands their native Gaelic; originally the home of the Picts (q. v.), and by them called Alban or Albyn, the country, already occupied as far as the Forth and Clyde by the Romans, was in the 5th century successfully invaded by the Scots, a Celtic tribe from Ireland; in 843 their king Kenneth was crowned king of Picts and Scots, and by the 10th century the country (known to the Romans as Caledonia) began to be called Scotia or Scotland; government and power gradually centred in the richer lowlands, which, through contact with England, and from the number of English immigrants, became distinctively Anglo-Saxon; since the Union with England (q. v.) the prosperity of Scotland has been of steady and rapid growth, manufactures, commerce, and literature (in all branches) having flourished wonderfully.
Scots, The, a tribe of Celts from Ireland who settled in the W. of North Britain, and who, having gained the ascendency of the Picts in the E., gave to the whole country the name of Scotland.
Scott, David, Scotch painter, born in Edinburgh; he was an artist of great imaginative power, and excelled in the weird; his best picture, exhibited in 1828, was “The Hopes of Early Genius Dispelled by Death,” though his first achievements in art were his illustrations of the “Ancient Mariner”; but his masterpiece is “Vasco da Gama encountering the Spirit of the Cape”; he was a sensitive man, and disappointment hastened his death (1806-1849).
Scott, Sir George Gilbert, English architect, born in Buckinghamshire, son of Scott the commentator; was the builder or restorer of buildings both in England and on the Continent after the Gothic, and wrote several works on architecture.
Scott, Michael, a sage with the reputation of a wizard, who lived about the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries, of whose art as a magician many legends are related.
Scott, Thomas, commentator, born in Lincolnshire; became rector of Aston Sandford, Bucks; was a Calvinist in theology, author of the “Force of Truth” and “Essays on Religion,” the work by which he is best known being his “Commentary on the Bible,” a scholarly exposition (1747-1821).
Scott, Sir Walter, the great romancer, born in Edinburgh, through both father and mother of Scottish Border blood; his father, a lawyer, a man “who passed from the cradle to the grave without making an enemy or losing a friend,” his mother a little kindly woman, full of most vivid memories, awakening an interest in him to which he owed much; was a healthy child, but from teething and other causes lost the use of his right limb when 18 months old, which determined, to a marked extent, the course of his life; spent many of the months of his childhood in the country, where he acquired that affection for all natural objects which never left him, and a kindliness of soul which all the lower animals that approached him were quick to recognise; he was from the first home-bred, and to realise the like around his own person was his fondest dream, and if he failed, as it chanced he did, his vexation was due not to the material loss it involved, but to the blight it shed on his home life and the disaster on his domestic relationships; his school training yielded results of the smallest account to his general education, and a writer of books himself, he owed less to book-knowledge than his own shrewd observation; he proceeded from the school (the High School, it was) at 15 to his father's office and classes at the University, and at both he continued to develop his own bent more than the study of law or learning; at his sixteenth year the bursting of a blood-vessel prostrated him in bed and enforced a period of perfect stillness, but during this time he was able to prosecute sundry quiet studies, and laid up in his memory great stores of knowledge, for his mind was of that healthy quality which assimilated all that was congenial to it and let all that did not concern it slip idly through, achieving thereby his greatest victory, that of becoming an altogether whole man. Professionally he was a lawyer, and a good lawyer, but the duties of his profession were not his chief interest, and though he received at length a sheriffship worth £300 a year, and a clerkship to the court worth £1500, he early turned his mind to seek promotion elsewhere, and chose a literary career. His first literary efforts were translations in verse from the German, but his first great literary success was the publication, in 1802, of “The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border,” and in this he first gave evidence both of the native force and bent of his genius; it gave the keynote of all that subsequently proceeded from his pen. This was followed the same year by “Cadzow Castle,” a poem instinct with military ardour, and this by “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” in 1805; the first poem which gained him popular favour, by “Marmion” in 1808, and by “The Lord of the Isles” in 1814. Much as the rise of Scott's fame was owing to his poetical works, it is on the ground of his prose writings, as the freest and fullest exhibition of his genius, that it is now mainly founded. The period of his productivity in this line extended over 18 years in all, commencing with the year 1814. This was the year of the publication of “Waverley,” which was followed by that of “Guy Mannering,” “The Antiquary,” “Rob Roy,” “Old Mortality,” and “The Heart of Midlothian” in the year 1819, when he was smitten down by an illness, the effects of which was seen in his after-work. “The Bride of Lammermoor,” “Ivanhoe,” “The Monastery,” “The Abbot,” “Kenilworth,” and “The Pirate” belong to the years that succeeded that illness, and all more or less witness to its sorrowful effects, of which last “The Abbot” and “The Monastery” are reckoned the best, as still illustrating the “essential powers” of Scott, to which may be added “Redgauntlet” and “The Fortunes of Nigel,” characterised by Ruskin as “quite noble ones,” together with “Quentin Durward” and “Woodstock,” as “both of high value.” Sir Walter's own life was, in its inner essence, an even-flowing one, for there were in it no crises such as to require a reversal of the poles of it, and a spiritual new birth, with crucifixion of the old nature, and hence it is easily divisible, as it has been divided throughout, into the three natural periods of growth, activity, and death. His active life, which ranges from 1796 to 1826, lay in picturing things and traditions of things as in youth, a 25 years' period of continuous crescent expansiveness, he had learned to view them, and his slow death was the result, not of mere weariness in working, but of the adverse circumstances that thwarted and finally wrecked the one unworthy ambition that had fatally taken possession of his heart. Of Scott Ruskin says, “What good Scott had in him to do, I find no words full enough to express... Scott is beyond comparison the greatest intellectual force manifested in Europe since Shakespeare... All Scott's great writings were the recreations of a mind confirmed in dutiful labour, and rich with organic gathering of boundless resource” (1771-1832).
Scott, William Bell, painter and poet, brother of David Scott, born in Edinburgh; did criticism and wrote on artists; is best known by his autobiography (1811-1890).
Scranton (102), capital of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, on the Lackawanna River, 144 m. NW. of New York; does a large trade in coal, and is the centre of a busy steel, iron, and machinery industry.
Scribe, Eugene, French dramatist, a prolific and a successful, who produced plays for half a century, well adapted for the stage, if otherwise worthless (1791-1861).
Scribes, The (i. e. writers), a non-priestly class among the Jews devoted to the study and exposition of the Law, and who rose to a position of importance and influence in the Jewish community, were known in the days of Christ also by the name of Lawyers, and were addressed as Rabbis; their disciples were taught to regard them, and did regard them with a reverence superior to that paid to father or mother, the spiritual parent being reckoned as much above the natural, as the spirit and its interests are above the flesh and its interests.
Scriblerus, Martinus, the subject of a fictitious memoir published in Pope's works and ascribed to Arbuthnot (q. v.), intended to ridicule the pedantry which affects to know everything, but knows nothing to any purpose.
Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose, New Testament critic, born at Bermondsey, Surrey, educated at Cambridge; head-master of Falmouth School from 1846 to 1856, and after 15 years' rectorship of Gerrans, became vicar of Hendon and prebendary of Exeter; his “Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament” ranks as a standard work; was editor of the Cambridge Paragraph Bible, and one of the New Testament revisers (1813-1891).
Scroggs, Sir William, an infamous Judge of Charles II.'s reign, who became Chief-Justice of the King's Bench in 1678, and whose name is associated with all manner of injustice and legal corruption; was impeached in 1680, and pensioned off by the king; d. 1683.
Scudéry, Madeleine de, French novelist, born at Havre, came to Paris in her youth, and there lived to an extreme old age; was a prominent figure in the social and literary life of the city; collaborated at first with her brother Georges, but subsequently was responsible herself for a set of love romances of an inordinate length, but of great popularity in their day, e. g. “Le Grand Cyrus” and “Clélie,” &c., in which a real gift for sparkling dialogue is swallowed up in a mass of improbable adventures and prudish sentimentalism (1607-1701).
Sculptured Stones, a name specially applied to certain varieties of commemorative monuments (usually rough-hewn slabs or boulders, and in a few cases well-shaped crosses) of early Christian date found in various parts of the British Isles, bearing lettered and symbolic inscriptions of a rude sort and ornamental designs resembling those found on Celtic MSS. of the Gospels; lettered inscriptions are in Latin, Ogam (q. v.), and Scandinavian and Anglican runes, while some are uninscribed; usually found near ancient ecclesiastical sites, and their date is approximately fixed according to the character of the ornamentation; some of these stones date as late as the 11th century; the Scottish stones are remarkable for their elaborate decoration and for certain symbolic characters to which as yet no interpretation has been found.
Scutari (50), a town of Turkey in Asia, on the Bosporus, opposite Constantinople; has several fine mosques, bazaars, &c.; large barracks on the outskirts were used as hospitals by Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War; has large and impressive cemeteries; chief manufactures are of silks, cottons, &c. Also name of a small town (5) in European Turkey, situated at the S. end of Lake Scutari, 18 by 16 m., in North Albania.
Scylla and Charybdis, two rocks opposite each other at a narrow pass of the strait between Italy and Sicily, in the cave of one of which dwelt the former, a fierce monster that barked like a dog, and under the cliff of the other of which dwelt the latter, a monster that sucked up everything that came near it, so that any ship passing between in avoiding the one become a prey to the other.
Scythians, the name of a people of various tribes that occupied the steppes of SE. of Europe and W. of Asia adjoining eastward, were of nomadic habit; kept herds of cattle and horses, and were mostly in a semi-savage state beyond the pale of civilisation; the region they occupied is called Scythia.
Seabury, Samuel, American prelate, born at Groton, Connecticut, graduated at Yale and studied medicine in Edinburgh; entered the Church of England in 1753, and devoted himself at first to missionary work; subsequently held “livings” in Long Island and New York State in 1782; was appointed bishop by the clergy of Connecticut; sought consecration at the hands of the English archbishops who were afraid to grant it, and had to resort to the bishops of the Scotch Episcopal Church for the purpose; did notable work in establishing and consolidating Episcopacy in America (1729-1796).
Sealed Orders, the orders given the commanding officer of a ship or squadron that are sealed up, which he is not allowed to open till he has proceeded a certain length into the high seas; an arrangement in order to ensure secrecy in a time of war.
Sea-Serpent, a marine monster of serpent-like shape whose existence is still a matter of question, although several seemingly authentic accounts have been circulated in attestation. The subject has given rise to much disputation and conjecture on the part of naturalists, but opinion mostly favours the supposition that these gigantic serpent-like appearances are caused by enormous cuttlefish swimming on the surface of the water, with their 20 ft. long tentacles elongated fore and aft. Other fishes which might also be mistaken for the sea-serpent are the barking-shark, tape-fish, marine snake, &c.
Sebastian. St., a Roman soldier at Narbonne, and martyred under Diocletian when it was discovered he was a Christian; is depicted in art bound naked to a tree and pierced with arrows, and sometimes with arrows in his hand offering them to Heaven on his knees, he having been shot first with arrows and then beaten to death.
Sebastiano del Piombo, Italian painter, born at Venice; was an excellent colourist, and collaborated with Michael Angelo (1485-1547).
Sebastopol (34), a fortified seaport of Russia, situated on a splendid natural harbour (4½ m. by ½), on the SW. of the Crimea; during the Crimean War was destroyed and captured by the French and English after a siege lasting from October 9, 1854, to September 18, 1855; has, since 1885, been restored, and is now an important naval station; exports large quantities of grain.
Sebillot, Paul, celebrated French folk-lorist; b. 1843.
Secker, Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, born at Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire; first studied medicine and graduated at Leyden in 1721, but was induced to take orders, and after a year at Oxford was ordained a priest in 1723; held various livings till his appointment to the Primacy in 1758; noted as a wise and kindly ecclesiastic (1693-1768).
Second-Sight, name given to the power of seeing things future or distant; a power superstitiously ascribed to certain people in the Highlands of Scotland.
Secularist, name given to one who, discarding as irrelevant all theories and observances bearing upon the other world and its interests, holds that we ought to confine our attention solely to the immediate problems and duties of this, independently of all presumed dependence on revelation and communications from a higher sphere.
Sedan (20), a town of France, in department of Ardennes, on the Maas, 164 m. NE. of Paris; once a strong fortress, but dismantled in 1875, where in 1870 Napoleon III. and 86,000 men under Marshal Macmahon surrendered to the Germans; noted for its cloth manufactories. Previous to the Edict of Nantes was a celebrated centre of Huguenot industry and theological learning.
Sedgemoor, district in central Somersetshire, 5 m. SE. of Bridgwater, scene of a famous battle between the troops of James II. and those of the Duke of Monmouth on July 6, 1685, in which the latter were completely routed.
Sedgwick, Adam, geologist, born at Dent, Yorkshire; graduated at Cambridge in 1808, became a Fellow in the same year, and in 1818 was elected to the Woodward chair of Geology; co-operated with Murchison in the study of the geological formation of the Alps and the Devonian system of England; strongly conservative in his scientific theories, he stoutly opposed the Darwinian theory of the origin of species; his best work was contributed in papers to the Geological Society of London, of which he was President 1829-1831; published “British Palæozoic Rocks and Fossils” (1785-1873).
Seeley, Sir John Robert, author of “Ecce Homo,” born in London; studied at Cambridge, became professor of History there in 1869 on Kingsley's retirement; his “Ecce Homo” was published in 1865, a piece of perfect literary workmanship, but which in its denial of the self-originated spirit of Christ offended orthodox belief and excited much adverse criticism; wrote in 1882 a work entitled “Natural Religion,” in which he showed the same want of sympathy with supernatural ideas, as also several historical works (1834-1895).
Segovia (14), a quaint old Spanish city, capital of a province (154) of the same name; crowns a rocky height looking down on the river Eresma, 32 m. NW. of Madrid; its importance dates from Roman times; has a great aqueduct, built in Trajan's reign, and a fine Moorish castle and Gothic cathedral; cloth-weaving the only important industry.
Segu (36), a town of West Africa, on the Joliba, 400 m. SW. of Timbuctoo; chiefly occupied by trading Arabs; once the capital of a now decayed native State.
Seine, an important river of France, rises in the tableland of Langres, takes a winding course to the NW., passing many important towns, Troyes, Fontainebleau, Paris, St. Denis, Rouen, &c., and discharges into the English Channel by a broad estuary after a course of 482 m., of which 350 are navigable.
Seine (3,142), the smallest but most populous department of France, entirely surrounded by the department of Seine-et-Oise; Paris and its adjacent villages cover a considerable portion of the area; presents a richly wooded, undulating surface, traversed by the Seine in a NW. direction.
Seine-et-Marne (356), a north-midland department of France lying E. of Seine; the Marne crosses the N. and the Seine the S.; has a fertile soil, which grows in abundance cereals, vegetables, and fruits; many fine woods, including Fontainebleau Forest, diversify its undulating surface. Melun (capital) and Fontainebleau are among its important towns.
Seine-et-Oise (628), a department of NW. France, encloses the department of Seine; grain is grown in well-cultivated plains and the vine on pleasant hill slopes; is intersected by several tributaries of the Seine, and the N. is prettily wooded. Versailles is the capital; Sèvres and St. Cloud are other interesting places.
Seine-Inférieure (839), a maritime department of North-West France, in Normandy, facing the English Channel; is for the most part a fertile plain, watered by the Seine and smaller streams, and diversified by fine woods and the hills of Caux; is a fruit and cider producing district; has flourishing manufactures. Rouen is the capital, and Havre and Dieppe are important trading centres.
Selborne, Roundell Palmer, Earl of, Lord Chancellor, born in Oxfordshire; called to the bar in 1837, and after a brilliant career at Oxford entered Parliament in 1847, and in 1861 became Solicitor-General in Palmerston's ministry, receiving at the same time a knighthood; two years later was advanced to the Attorney-Generalship; in 1872 was elected Lord Chancellor, a position he retained till 1874, and again held from 1880 to 1885; refused to adopt Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule policy for Ireland and joined the Liberal-Unionists, but declined to take office under Lord Salisbury; was raised to an earldom in 1882, received various honorary degrees; greatly interested himself in hymnology, and edited “The Book of Praise”; wrote also several works on Church questions (1812-1895).
Selby (6), a market-town of Yorkshire, on the Ouse, 15 m. S. of York; has a noted cruciform abbey church, founded in the 12th century, and exhibiting various styles of architecture; has some boat-building; manufactures flax, ropes, leather, bricks, &c.
Selden, John, born at Salvington, Sussex; adopted law as a profession, and was trained at Clifford's Inn and the Inner Temple, London; successful as a lawyer, he yet found time for scholarly pursuits, and acquired a great reputation by the publication of various erudite works bearing on old English jurisprudence and antiquities generally; a “History of Tithes” (1618), in which he combats the idea that “tithes” are divinely instituted, got him into trouble with the Church; was imprisoned in 1621 for encouraging Parliament to repudiate James's absolutist claims; from his entrance into Parliament in 1623 continued to play an important part throughout the troublous reign of Charles; sincerely attached to the Parliamentary side, he was one of the framers of the Petition of Right, and suffered imprisonment with Holies and the others; sat in the Long Parliament, but, all through out of sympathy with the extremists, disapproved of the execution of Charles; held various offices, e. g. Keeper of the Rolls and Records in the Tower; continued to write learned and voluminous works on biblical and historical subjects, but is best remembered for his charming 'Table-talk, a book of which Coleridge remarked, “There is more weighty bullion sense in this book than I can find in the same number of pages of any uninspired writer” (1584-1654).
Selene, in the Greek mythology the moon-goddess, the sister of Helios, and designated Phoebe as he was Phoebus; she became by Endymion the mother of 50 daughters.
Self-denying Ordinance, a resolution of the Long Parliament passed in 1644, whereby the members bound themselves not to accept certain executive offices, particularly commands in the army.
Selim I., a warlike sultan of Turkey, who, having dethroned and put to death his father, Bajazet II., entered upon a victorious career of military aggrandisement, overcoming the Persians in 1515, conquering and annexing Egypt, Syria, and the Hejaz in 1517, finally winning for himself the position of Imâm or head of the Mohammedan world; greatly strengthened his country, and strove according to his lights to deal justly with and ameliorate the condition of the peoples whom he conquered (1467-1520).
Seljuks, a Turkish people who in the 10th century, headed by a chief named Seljuk (whence their name), broke away from their allegiance to the khan of Kirghiz, adopted the Mohammedan faith, and subsequently conquered Bokhara, but were driven across the Oxus and settled HI Khorassan; under Toghril Beg, grandson of Seljuk, they in the 11th century won for themselves a wide empire in Asia, including the provinces of Syria and Asia Minor, whose rulers, by their cruel persecution of Christian pilgrims, led to the Crusade movement in Europe. The Seljuks were in part gradually absorbed by the advancing Mongol tribes, while numbers fled westward, where they were at length incorporated in the Ottoman Empire in the 14th century.
Selkirk (6), county town of Selkirkshire, on the Ettrick, 40 m. SE. of Edinburgh; famed at one time for its “Souters”; is a centre of the manufacture of tweeds.
Selkirkshire (27), a south inland county of Scotland; extends S. from the corner of Midlothian to Dumfriesshire, between Peebles (W.) and Roxburgh (E.); the grassy slopes of its hills afford splendid pasturage, and sheep-farming is a flourishing industry; manufactures are mainly confined to Galashiels and Selkirk; is traversed by the Ettrick and the Yarrow, whose romantic valleys are associated with much of the finest ballad literature of Scotland.
Selwyn, George, a noted wit in the social and literary life of London in Horace Walpole's time, born, of good parentage, in Gloucestershire; was expelled from Oxford in 1743 for blasphemy; four years later entered Parliament, and supported the Court party, and received various government favours; his vivacious wit won him ready entrance into the best London and Parisian society; is the chief figure in Jesse's entertaining “George Selwyn and his Contemporaries” (1719-1791).
Selwyn, George Augustus, the first bishop of New Zealand, in which capacity he wrought so zealously, that his diocese, by his extension of Episcopacy, was subdivided into seven; on his return to England he was made bishop of Lichfield (1809-1878).
Semaphore, a name applied to the mechanism employed for telegraphing purposes prior to the discovery of the electric telegraph; invented in 1767 by Richard Edgeworth, but first extensively used by the French in 1794, and afterwards adopted by the Admiralty in England; consisted at first of six shutters set in two rotating circular frames, which, by opening and shutting in various ways, were capable of conveying sixty-three distinct signals; these were raised on the tops of wooden towers erected on hills; later a different form was adopted consisting of a mast and two arms worked by winches. The speed at which messages could be transmitted was very great; thus a message could be sent from London to Portsmouth and an answer be received all within 45 seconds. The railway signal now in use is a form of semaphore.
Semele, in the Greek mythology the daughter of Cadmus and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus, was tempted by Hera to pray Zeus to show himself to her in his glory, who, as pledged to give her all she asked, appeared before her as the god of thunder, and consumed her by the lightning. See Dionysus.
Seminoles, a nomadic tribe of American Indians who from 1832 to 1839 offered a desperate resistance to the Americans before yielding up their territory SE. of the Mississippi (Florida, etc.); finally settled in the Indian Territory, where they now number some 3000, and receive an annuity from the American Government; missionary enterprise among them has been successful in establishing schools and churches.
Semipalatinsk (586), a mountainous province of Asiatic Russia, stretching between Lake Balkash (S.) and Tomsk; encloses stretches of steppe-land on which cattle and horses are reared; some mining of silver, lead, and copper is also done. Semipalatinsk, the capital (18), stands on the Irtish; has two annual fairs, and is an important trading mart.
Semi-Pelagianism. See Pelagius.
Semiramis, legendary queen of Assyria, to whom tradition ascribes the founding of Babylon with its hanging gardens, and is said to have surpassed in valour and glory her husband Ninus, the founder of Nineveh; she seems to have in reality been the Venus or Astarte of the Assyrian mythology. The story goes that when a child she was deserted by her mother and fed by doves.
Semiramis of the North, a name given to Margaret, Queen of Denmark; also to Catharine II. of Russia.
Semiretchinsk (758), a mountainous province of Asiatic Russia, stretches S. of Lake Balkash to East Turkestan and Ferghana on the S.; is traversed E. and W. by the lofty ranges of the Alatau and Tian-Shan Mountains; the vast bulk of the inhabitants are Kirghiz, and engaged in raising horses, camels, and sheep.
Semitic Races, races reputed descendants of Shem, including the Jews, the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the Syrians, the Phoenicians, and the Arabs, and are “all marked,” as the editor has observed elsewhere, “by common features; such appear in their language, their literature, their modes of thinking, social organisation, and religious belief. Their language is poor in inflection, has few or no compound verbs or substantives, has next to no power of expressing abstract ideas, and is of simple primitive structure or syntax. Their literature has neither the breadth nor the flow of that of Greece or Rome, but it is instinct with a passion which often holds of the very depths of being, and appeals to the ends of the earth. In their modes of thinking they are taken up with concrete realities instead of abstractions, and hence they have contributed nothing to science or philosophy, much as they have to faith. Their social order is patriarchal, with a leaning to a despotism, which in certain of them, such as the Jews and Arabs, goes higher and higher till it reaches God; called, therefore, by Jude 'the Only Despot.'”
Semmering, a mountain of Styria, Austria, 60 m. SW. of Vienna, 4577 ft. above sea-level; is crossed by the Vienna and Trieste railway, which passes through 15 tunnels and over 16 viaducts.
Sempach (1), a small Swiss town, 9 m. NW. of Lucerne, on the Lake of Sempach; here on the 9th of July 1386 a body of 1500 Swiss soldiers completely routed the Austrians, 4000 strong, under Leopold, Duke of Austria.
Sen, Chunder. See Chunder Sen.
Sénancour, Étienne Pivert de, French writer, born at Paris; delicate in his youth; was driven by an unsympathetic father to quit his home at 19, and for some time lived at Geneva and Fribourg, where a brief period of happy married life was closed by the death of his young wife; returned to Paris in 1798; supported himself by writing, and latterly by a small Government pension granted by Louis Philippe; is best known as the author of “Obermann,” a work of which Matthew Arnold wrote, “The stir of all the main forces by which modern life is and has been impelled, lives in the letters of Obermann.... To me, indeed, it will always seem that the impressiveness of this production can hardly be rated too high” (1770-1846).
Senate (i. e. “an assembly of elders”), a name first bestowed by the Romans on their supreme legislative and administrative assembly; its formation is traditionally ascribed to Romulus; its powers, at their greatest during the Republic, gradually diminished under the Emperors; in modern times is used to designate the “Upper House” in the legislature of various countries, e. g. France and the United States of America; is also the title of the governing body in many universities.
Seneca, Annæus, rhetorician, born at Cordova; taught rhetoric at Rome, whither he went at the time of Augustus, and where he died A.D. 32.
Seneca, L. Annæus, philosopher, son of the preceding, born at Cordova, and brought to Rome when a child; practised as a pleader at the bar, studied philosophy, and became the tutor of Nero; acquired great riches; was charged with conspiracy by Nero as a pretext, it is believed, to procure his wealth, and ordered to kill himself, which he did by opening his veins till he bled to death, a slow process and an agonising, owing to his age; he was of the Stoic school in philosophy, and wrote a number of treatises bearing chiefly on morals; d. A.D. 65.
Senegal, an important river of West Africa, formed by the junction, at Bafulabé, of two head-streams rising in the highlands of Western Soudan; flows NW., W., and SW., a course of 706 m., and discharges into the Atlantic 10 m. below St. Louis; navigation is somewhat impeded by a sand-bar at its mouth, and by cataracts and rapids in the upper reaches.
Senegal (136), a French colony of West Africa, lying along the banks of the Senegal River. See Senegambia.
Senegambia, a tract of territory lying chiefly within the basins of the rivers Senegal and Gambia, West Africa, stretching from the Atlantic, between Cape Blanco and the mouth of the Gambia, inland to the Niger; embraces the French colony of Senegal, and various ill-defined native States under the suzerainty of France; the interior part is also called the French Soudan; the vast expanse of the contiguous Sahara in the N., and stretches of territory on the S., extending to the Gulf of Guinea, are also within the French sphere of influence, altogether forming an immense territory (1,000), of which St. Louis (q. v.) in Senegambia proper, is considered the capital; ground-nuts, gums, india-rubber, &c., are the chief exports.
Seneschal, an important functionary at the courts of Frankish princes, whose duty it was to superintend household feasts and ceremonies, functions equivalent to those of the English High Steward.
Sennaar (8), capital of a district of the Eastern Soudan, which lies between the Blue and the White Nile, situated on the Blue Nile, 160 m. SE. of Khartoum.
Sennacherib, a king of Assyria, whose reign extended from 702 to 681 B.C., and was distinguished by the projection and execution of extensive public works; he endeavoured to extend his conquests westward, but was baffled in Judea by the miraculous destruction of his army. See 2 Kings xix. 35.
Sens (14), an old cathedral town of France, on the Yonne, 70 m. SE. of Paris; the cathedral is a fine Gothic structure of the 12th century; has also an archbishop's palace, and is still surrounded by massive stone walls; does a good trade in corn, wine, and wool.
Senussi, a Mohammedan brotherhood in the Soudan, founded by Mohammed-es-Senussi from Mostaganem, in Algeria, who flourished between 1830 and 1860. The brotherhood, remarkable for its austere and fanatical zeal, has ramified into many parts of N Africa, and exercises considerable influence, fostering resistance to the encroachments of the invading European powers.
Sepoy, the name given to a native of India employed as a soldier in the British service in India.
September, the ninth month of the year, so called as having been the seventh in the Roman calendar.
September Massacres. An indiscriminate slaughter in Paris which commenced on Sunday afternoon, September 2, 1792, “a black day in the annals of men,” when 30 priests on their way to prison were torn from the carriages that conveyed them, and massacred one after the other, all save Abbé Secard, in the streets by an infuriated mob; and continued thereafter through horror after horror for a hundred hours long, all done in the name of justice and in mock form of law—a true Reign of Terror.
Septuagint, a version, and the oldest of any known to us, of the Hebrew Scriptures in Greek, executed at Alexandria, in Egypt, by different translators at different periods, commencing with 280 B.C.; it is known as the Alexandria version, while the name Septuagint, or LXX., was given to it on the ground of the tradition that it was the work of 70, or rather 72, Jews, who had, it is alleged, been Drought from Palestine for the purpose, and were fabled, according to one tradition, to have executed the whole in as many days, and, according to another, to have each done the whole apart from the rest, with the result that the version of each was found to correspond word for word with that of all the others; it began with the translation of the Pentateuch and was continued from that time till 130 B.C. by the translation of the rest, the whole being in reality the achievement of several independent workmen, who executed their parts, some with greater some with less ability and success; it is often literal to a painful degree, and it swarms with such pronounced Hebraisms, that a pure Greek would often fail to understand it. It was the version current everywhere at the time of the planting of the Christian Church, and the numerous quotations in the New Testament from the Old are, with few exceptions, quotations from it.
Sepulveda, Juan Gines, Spanish historian, born at Pozo-Blanco, near Cordova; in 1536 became historiographer to Charles V. and tutor to the future Philip II.; was subsequently canon of Salamanca; author of several historical works, of which a “History of Charles V.” is the most important, a work characterised by broad humanistic proclivities unusual in his day and country; d. 1574.
Seraglio, in its restricted sense applied in the East to a harem or women's quarters in a royal household; the former residence of the sultan of Turkey, occupies a beautiful site on the E. side of Constantinople, on a projecting piece of land between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmora, enclosing within its 3 m. of wall government buildings, mosques, gardens, &c., chief of which is the harem, which occupies an inner enclosure.
Seraing (34), a manufacturing town of Belgium, on the Meuse, 4 m. SW. of Liège; noted for its extensive machine-shops (locomotives, &c.); established in 1817 by John Cockerill, and now, with forges, coal-mines, &c., giving employment to some 12,000 men.
Serampur (36), a town of modern aspect in India, on the Hooghly, 13 m. N. of Calcutta; originally Danish, was purchased by the British in 1845; manufactures paper and mats, and is associated with the successful missionary enterprise of the Baptists Carey, Marshman, and Ward.
Seraphic Doctor, appellation applied to St. Bonaventura (q. v.); also by Carlyle to the doctors of the modern school of Enlightenment, or march-of-intellect school. See Aufklärung.
Seraphim, angels of the highest order and of etheriel temper, represented as guarding with veiled faces the Divine glory, and considered to have originally denoted the lightning darting out from the black thunder-cloud.
Serapis, an Egyptian divinity of partly Greek derivation and partly Egyptian, and identified with Apis.
Seraskier, a Turkish general, in especial the commander-in-chief or minister of war.
Serbonian Bog, a quagmire in Egypt in which armies were fabled to be swallowed up and lost; applied to any situation in which one is entangled from which extrication is difficult.
Serfs, under the feudal system a class of labourers whose position differed only from that of slaves in being attached to the soil and so protected from being sold from hand to hand like a chattel, although they could be transferred along with the land; liberty could be won by purchase, military service, or by residing a year and a day in a borough; these and economic changes brought about their gradual emancipation in the 15th and 16th centuries; mining serfs, however, existed in Scotland as recently as the 18th century, and in Russia their emancipation only took place in 1861.
Seringapatam (10), a decayed city of S. India, formerly capital of Mysore State, situated on an island in the Kaveri, 10 m. NE. of Mysore city; in the later 18th century was the stronghold of Tippoo Sahib, who was successfully besieged and slain by the British in 1799; has interesting ruins.
Serjeant-at-Arms, an officer attendant on the Speaker of the House of Commons, whose duty it is to preserve order and arrest any offender against the rules of the House.
Serpent, The, is used symbolically to represent veneration from the shedding of its skin, and sometimes eternity, and not unfrequently a guardian spirit; also prudence and cunning, especially as embodied in Satan; is an attribute of several saints as expressive of their power over the evil one.
Serpukoff (21), an ancient and still prosperous town of Russia, on the Nara, 57 m. S. of Moscow; has a cathedral, and manufactures of cottons, woollens, &c.
Serrano y Dominguez, Duke de la Torre, Spanish statesman and marshal; won distinction in the wars against the Carlists, and turning politician, became in 1845 a senator and favourite of Queen Isabella; was prominent during the political unrest and changes of her reign; joined Prim in the revolution of 1868, defeated the queen's troops; became president of the Ministry; commander-in-chief of the army, and in 1869 Regent of Spain, a position he held till Amadeus's succession in 1871; won victories against the Carlists in 1872 and 1874; was again at the head of the executive during the last months of the republic, but retired on the accession of Alfonso XII.; continued in active politics till his death (1810-1885).
Sertorius, Roman statesman and general; joined the democratic party under Marius (q. v.) against Sulla; retired to Spain on the return of Sulla to Rome, where he sought to introduce Roman civilisation; was assassinated 73 B.C.
Servetus, Michael, physician, born at Tudela, in Navarre; had a leaning to theology, and passing into Germany associated with the Reformers; adopted Socinianism, and came under ban of the orthodox, and was burnt alive at Geneva, after a trial of two months, under sanction, it is said, of Calvin (1511-1553).
Servia (2,227), a kingdom of Europe occupying a central position in the Balkan Peninsula between Austria (N.) and Turkey (S. and W.), with Roumania and Bulgaria on the E.; one-third the size of England and Wales; its surface is mountainous and in many parts thickly forested, but wide fertile valleys produce in great abundance wheat, maize, and other cereals, grapes and plums (an important export when dried), while immense herds of swine are reared on the outskirts of the oak-forests; is well watered by the Morava flowing through the centre and by the Save and Danube on the N.; climate varies considerably according to elevation; not much manufacturing is done, but minerals abound and are partially wrought; the Servians are of Slavonic stock, high-spirited and patriotic, clinging tenaciously to old-fashioned methods and ideas; have produced a notable national literature, rich in lyric poetry; a good system of national education exists; belong to the Greek Church; the monarchy is limited and hereditary; government is vested in the King, Senate, and National Assembly; originally emigrants in the 7th century from districts round the Carpathians, the Servians had by the 14th century established a kingdom considerably larger than their present domain; were conquered by the Turks in 1389, and held in subjection till 1815, when a national rising won them Home Rule, but remained tributary to Turkey until 1877, when they proclaimed their independence, which was confirmed by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878.
Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome from 578 to 534 B.C., divided the Roman territory into 30 tribes, and the people into 5 classes, which were further divided into centuries.
Sesostris, a legendary monarch of Egypt, alleged to have achieved universal empire at a very remote antiquity, and to have executed a variety of public works by means of the captives he brought home from his conquests.
Sestertius, a Roman coin either bronze or silver one-fourth of a denarius, originally worth 2½ asses but afterwards 4 asses, up to the time of Augustus was worth fully 2d., and subsequently one-eighth less; Sestertium, a Roman “money of account,” never a coin, equalled 1000 sestertii, and was valued at £8, 15s.
Settle, Elkanah, a playwright who lives in the pages of Dryden's satire “Absalom and Achitophel”; was an Oxford man and littérateur in London; enjoyed a brief season of popularity as author of “Cambyses,” and “The Empress of Morocco”; degenerated into a “city poet and a puppet-show keeper,” and died in the Charterhouse; was the object of Dryden's and Pope's scathing sarcasms (1648-1723).
Setubal (English, St. Ubes) (15), a fortified seaport of Portugal, at the mouth of the Sado, on a bay of the same name, 17 m. SE. of Lisbon; has a good trade in wine, salt, and oranges; in the neighbourhood is a remarkable stalactite cave.
Seven Champions of Christendom, St. George, of England; St. Denis, of France; St. James, of Spain; St. Anthony, of Italy; St. Andrew, of Scotland; St. Patrick, of Ireland; and St. David, of Wales—often alluded to by old writers.
Seven Deadly Sins, Pride, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, and Sloth.
Seven Dolours of the Virgin, the prediction of Simeon (Luke ii. 35); the flight into Egypt; the loss of the child in Jerusalem; the sight of her Son bearing the cross; the sight of Him upon the cross; the descent from the cross; and the entombment—the festival in connection with which is celebrated on the Friday before Palm Sunday.
Seven Sages of Greece, Solon of Athens, his motto “Know thyself”; Chilo of Sparta, his motto “Consider the end”; Thales of Miletus, his motto “Whoso hateth suretyship is sure”; Bias of Priene, his motto “Most men are bad”; Cleobulus of Lindos, his motto “Avoid extremes”; Pittacus of Mitylene, his motto “Seize Time by the forelock”; Periander of Corinth, his motto “Nothing is impossible to industry.”
Seven Sleepers, seven noble youths of Ephesus who, to escape the persecution of Decius, fled into a cave, where they fell asleep and woke up at the end of two centuries.
Seven Wise Masters, the title of a famous cycle of mediæval tales which centre round the story of a young prince who, after baffling all efforts of former tutors, is at last, at the age of 20, instructed in all knowledge by Sindibad, one of the king's wise men, but having cast his horoscope Sindibad perceives the prince will die unless, after presentation at the court, he keeps silence for seven days; one of the king's wives, having in vain attempted to seduce the young man, in baffled rage accuses him to the king with tempting her virtue, and procures his death-sentence; the seven sages delay the execution by beguiling the king with stories till the seven days are passed, when the prince speaks and reveals the plot; an extraordinary number of variants exist in Eastern and Western languages, the earliest written version being an Arabian text of the 10th century: a great mass of literature has grown round the subject, which is one of the most perplexing as well as interesting problems of storiology.
Seven Wonders of the World, the pyramids of Egypt, the hanging gardens of Babylon, the tomb of Mausolus, the temple of Diana at Ephesus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the statue of Jupiter by Phidias at Olympia, and the Pharos at Alexandria.
Seven Years' War, the name given to the third and most terrible struggle between Frederick the Great of Prussia and Maria Theresa, empress of Austria, for, the possession of Silesia, which embroiled almost all Europe in war, and which had far-reaching effects on the destinies of England and France as well as Prussia; began in 1756 by Frederick's successful advance on Dresden, anticipating Maria Theresa's intention of attempting the recovery of Silesia, lost to her in the previous two wars. With Austria were allied France, Sweden, Poland, and Russia, while Prussia was supported till 1761 by England. In 1762 Peter III. of Russia changed sides, and Frederick, sometimes victorious, often defeated, finally emerged successful in 1763, when the war was brought to a close by the Peace of Hubertsburg. Besides demonstrating the strength and genius of Frederick and raising immensely the prestige of Prussia, it enabled England to make complete her predominance in North America and to establish herself securely in India, while at the same time it gave the death-blow to French hopes of a colonial empire.
Severn, the second river of England, rises on the E. side of Plinlimmon, in Montgomeryshire, and flows in a circuitous southerly direction through Montgomeryshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, and Gloucestershire, falling into the Bristol Channel after a course of 210 m.; is navigable to Welshpool (180 m.); chief tributaries are the Terne, Wye, and the Stratford Avon; there is a “bore” perceptible 180 m. from the mouth.
Severus, L. Septimius, Roman emperor, born in Leptis Magna, in Africa; was in command at Pannonia, and elected emperor on the murder of Pertinax, and after conquering his rivals achieved victories in the East, especially against the Parthians, and thereafter subdued a rebellion in Britain, and secured South Britain against invasions from the north by a wall; died at York (146-211).
Sévigné, Madame de, maiden name Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, the most charming of letter-writers, born at Paris; married at 18 the dissolute Marquis de Sévigné, who left her a widow at 25; her beauty and rare charms attracted many suitors, to one and all of whom, however, she turned a deaf ear, devoting herself with touching fidelity to her son and daughter, and finding all her happiness in their affection and in the social intercourse of a wide circle of friends; her fame rests on her letters, written chiefly to her daughter in Provence, which reflect the brightest and purest side of Parisian life, and contain the tender outpourings of her mother's heart in language of unstudied grace (1626-1696).
Seville (144), a celebrated Spanish city and river port on the Guadalquivir, 62 m. NE. of Cadiz; an iron bridge connects it with Triana, a large suburb on the other side of the river; many of the old picturesque Moorish buildings have given place to modern and more commodious structures and broader streets; the great Gothic cathedral (15th century), containing paintings by Murillo, &c., is among the finest in Europe; the Moorish royal palace, the great Roman aqueduct (in use until 1883), the museum, with masterpieces of Murillo, Velasquez, &c., the university, archbishop's palace, Giralda Campanile, and the vast bull-ring, are noteworthy; chief manufactures embrace cigars, machinery, pottery, textiles, &c.; while lead, quicksilver, wines, olive-oil, and fruits are exported; is capital of a province (545).
Sèvres (7), a French town on the Seine, 10½ m. SW. of Paris, celebrated for its fine porcelain ware (especially vases), the manufacture of which was established in 1755; has a school of mosaic work and museums for pottery ware of all ages and countries.
Sèvres, Deux- (354), a department of West France; is watered by two rivers, and in the N. thickly wooded; a varied agriculture, cattle and mule breeding, and cloth manufacture are the principal industries. Niort is the capital.
Seward, Anna, poetess, born at Eyam, Derbyshire, but from the age of seven spent her life at Lichfield, where her father was residentiary canon; was a friend and indefatigable correspondent of Mrs. Piozzi, Dr. Darwin, Southey, Scott, and others; author of “Louisa,” a novel in poetry, “Sonnets” and other poems, which had in their day considerable popularity; her correspondence is collected in 6 vols. (1747-1809).
Seward, William Henry, American statesman, born at Florida, New York State; was called to the bar at Utica in 1822, and soon took rank as one of the finest forensic orators of his country; engaged actively in the politics of his State, of which he was governor in 1838 and 1840; entered the U.S. senate in 1849 as an abolitionist, becoming soon the recognised leader of the Anti-Slavery party; was put forward by the Republican party as a candidate for presidential nomination, but failing in this he zealously supported Lincoln, under whom he served as Secretary of State, conducting with notable success the foreign affairs of the country during the Civil War and up to the accession of President Grant in 1869; spent his closing years in travel and retirement (1801-1872).
Sextant, an instrument used in navigation (sometimes also in land-surveying) for measuring the altitudes of celestial bodies and their angular distances; consists of a graduated brass sector, the sixth part of a circle, and an arrangement of two small mirrors and telescope; invented in 1730 by John Hadley.
Seychelles (16), a group of some 30 islands, largest Mahé (59 sq. m.), situated in the Indian Ocean, 600 m. NE. of Madagascar; taken from the French by Britain in 1798, and now under the governor of Mauritius; are mountainous and mostly surrounded by coral reefs; export fibres, nuts, palm-oil, &c.; Victoria, in Mahé, is the chief town, and an imperial coaling station.
Sforza (i. e. stormer), Italian family celebrated during the 15th and 16th centuries, founded by a military adventurer, a peasant of the name of Muzia Allendolo, and who received the name; they became dukes of Milan, and began by hiring their services in war, in which they were always victorious, to the highest bidder, the first of the number to attain that rank being Francesco Sforza, the son of the founder, in 1450 (1401-1466), the last of the series being François-Marie (1492-1535).
Sgraffito, a decorative wall painting, produced by layers of plaster applied to a moistened surface and afterwards operated on so as to produce a picture.
Shadwell, Thomas, dramatist, who lives as the “MacFlecknoe” of Dryden's “Absalom and Achitophel,” born, of a good family, in Norfolk; studied law and adopted literature, in which he made a successful start with the comedy “The Sullen Lovers” (1668); his numerous plays, chiefly comedies, are of little poetic value, but serve as useful commentaries on the Restoration period; quarrelled with and satirised Dryden in the “Medal of John Bayes,” which drew forth the crushing retort in Dryden's famous satire; succeeded Dryden as poet-laureate in 1688 (1640-1692).
Shafites, a sect of the Sunnites or orthodox Mohammedans, so called from Shafei, a descendant of Mohammed.
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of, a notable politician, prominent in the times of Cromwell and Charles II., born, of good parentage, in Dorsetshire; passed through Oxford and entered Lincoln's Inn; sat in the Short Parliament of 1640; changed from the Royalist to the Parliamentary side during the Civil War, and was a member of Cromwell's Council of State, but latterly attacked the Protector's Government, and was one of the chief promoters of the Restoration; Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1661, and later a member of the “Cabal”; he in 1672 was created an earl and Lord Chancellor, but, hoodwinked by Charles in the secret Treaty of Dover, went over to the Opposition, lost his chancellorship, supported an Anti-Catholic policy, leagued himself with the Country Party, and intrigued with the Prince of Orange; came into power again, after the “Popish Plot,” as the champion of toleration and Protestantism, became President of the Council, and passed the Habeas Corpus Act; his virulent attacks on James and espousal of Monmouth's cause brought about his arrest on a charge of high treason (1681), and although acquitted he deemed it expedient to flee to Holland, where he died; one of the ablest men of his age, but of somewhat inscrutable character, whose shifting policy seems to have been chiefly dominated by a regard for self; is the “Achitophel” of Dryden's great satire (1621-1683).
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of, grandson of the preceding, philosopher, born in London; was an ardent student in his youth, made the grand tour, and entered Parliament in 1694, moving to the Upper House on the death of his father in 1699, where, as a staunch Whig, he gave steady support to William III.; withdrew from politics, never a congenial sphere to him, on the accession of Anne, and followed his bent for literature and philosophy; in 1711 his collected writings appeared under the title “Characteristics,” in which he expounds, in the polite style of the 18th century, with much ingenuity and at times force, a somewhat uncritical optimism, enunciating, among other things, the doubtful maxim that ridicule is the test of truth (1671-1713).
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, seventh Earl of, statesman and philanthropist, born in London; was a distinguished graduate of Oxford, and entered Parliament as a Conservative in 1826, took office under Wellington in 1828, and was a lord of the Admiralty in Peel's ministry of 1834; succeeded to the earldom in 1851; but his name lives by virtue of his noble and lifelong philanthropy, which took shape in numerous Acts of Parliament, such as the Mines and Collieries Act (1842), excluding women and boys under 13 working in mines; the Better Treatment of Lunatics Act (1845), called the Magna Charta of the insane; the Factory Acts (1867); and the Workshop Regulation Act (1878); while outside Parliament he wrought with rare devotion in behalf of countless benevolent and religious schemes of all sorts, notably the Ragged School movement and the better housing of the London poor; received the freedom of Edinburgh and London; was the friend and adviser of the Prince Consort and the Queen (1801-1885).
Shah (Pers. “King”), an abbreviation of Shah-in-Shah (“King of Kings”), the title by which the monarchs of Persia are known; may also be used in Afghanistan and other Asiatic countries, but more generally the less assuming title of Khan is taken.
Shah-Jehan (“King of the World”), fifth of the Mogul emperors of Delhi; succeeded his father in 1627; a man of great administrative ability and a skilled warrior; conquered the Deccan and the kingdom of Golconda, and generally raised the Mogul Empire to its zenith; his court was truly Eastern in its sumptuous magnificence; the “Peacock Throne” alone cost £7,000,000; died in prison, a victim to the perfidy of his usurping son Aurungzebe; d. 1666.
Shakers, a fanatical sect founded by one Ann Lee, so called from their extravagant gestures in worship; they are agamists and communists.
Shakespeare, William, great world-poet and dramatist, born in Stratford-on-Avon, in Warwickshire; his father, John Shakespeare, a respected burgess; his mother, Mary Arden, the daughter of a well-to-do farmer, through whom the family acquired some property; was at school at Stratford, married Anne Hathaway, a yeoman's daughter, at 18, she eight years older, and had by her three daughters; left for London somewhere between 1585 and 1587, in consequence, it is said, of some deer-stealing frolic; took charge of horses at the theatre door, and by-and-by became an actor. His first work, “Venus and Adonis,” appeared in 1593, and “Lucrece” the year after; became connected with different theatres, and a shareholder in certain of them, in some of which he took part as actor, with the result, in a pecuniary point of view, that he bought a house in his native place, extended it afterwards, where he chiefly resided for the ten years preceding his death. Not much more than this is known of the poet's external history, and what there is contributes nothing towards accounting for either him or the genius revealed in his dramas. Of the man, says Carlyle, “the best judgment not of this country, but of Europe at large, is slowly pointing to the conclusion that he is the chief of all poets hitherto—the greatest intellect, in our recorded world, that has left record of himself in the way of literature. On the whole, I know not such a power of vision, such a faculty of thought, if we take all the characters of it, in any other man—such a calmness of depth, placid, joyous strength, all things in that great soul of his so true and clear, as in a tranquil, unfathomable sea.... It is not a transitory glance of insight that will suffice; it is a deliberate illumination of the whole matter; it is a calmly seeing eye—a great intellect, in short.... It is in delineating of men and things, especially of men, that Shakespeare is great.... The thing he looks at reveals not this or that face, but its inmost heart, its generic secret; it dissolves itself as in light before him, so that he discerns the perfect structure of it.... It is a perfectly level mirror we have here; no twisted, poor convex-concave mirror reflecting all objects with its own convexities and concavities, that is to say, withal a man justly related to all things and men, a good man.... And his intellect is an unconscious intellect; there is more virtue in it than he himself is aware of.... His art is not artifice; the noblest worth of it is not there by plan or pre-contrivance. It grows up from the deeps of Nature, through this noble sincere soul, who is a voice of Nature.... It is Nature's highest reward to a true, simple, great soul that he got thus to be part of herself.” Of his works nothing can or need be said here; enough to add, as Carlyle further says, “His works are so many windows through which we see a glimpse of the world that was in him.... Alas! Shakespeare had to write for the Globe Playhouse; his great soul had to crush itself, as it could, into that and no other mould. It was with him, then, as it is with us all. No man works save under conditions. The sculptor cannot set his own free thought before us, but his thought as he could translate into the stone that was given, with the tools that were given. Disjecta membra are all that we find of any poet, or of any man.” Shakespeare's plays, with the order of their publication, are as follows: “Love's Labour's Lost,” 1590; “Comedy of Errors,” 1591; 1, 2, 3 “Henry VI.,” 1590-1592; “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” 1592-1593; “Midsummer-Night's Dream,” 1593-1594; “Richard III.,” 1593; “Romeo and Juliet,” 1591-1596 (?); “Richard II.,” 1594; “King John,” 1595; “Merchant of Venice,” 1596; 1 and 2 “Henry IV.,” 1597-1598; “Henry V.,” 1599; “Taming of the Shrew,” 1597 (?); “Merry Wives of Windsor,” 1598; “Much Ado about Nothing,” 1598; “As You Like It,” 1599; “Twelfth Night,” 1600-1601; “Julius Cæsar,” 1601; “All's Well,” 1601-1602 (?); “Hamlet,” 1602, “Measure for Measure,” 1603; “Troilus and Cressida,” 1603-1607 (?); “Othello,” 1604; “Lear,” 1605; “Macbeth,” 1606; “Antony and Cleopatra,” 1607; “Coriolanus,” 1608; “Timon,” 1608; “Pericles,” 1608; “Cymbeline,” 1609; “Tempest,” 1610; “Winter's Tale,” 1610-1611; “Henry VIII.,” 1612-1613 (1564-1616).
Shakespeare of Divines, an epithet sometimes applied to Jeremy Taylor (q. v.) on account of his poetic style.
Shalott, Lady of, subject of a poem of Tennyson's in love with Lancelot; wove a web which she must not rise from, otherwise a curse would fall on her; saw Lancelot pass one day, entered a boat and glided down to Camelot, but died on the way.
Shamanism, the religion of the native savage races of North Siberia, being a belief in spirits, both good and evil, who can be persuaded to bless or curse by the incantations of a Priest called a Shaman.
Shammai, an eminent Jewish rabbi of the time of Herod, who held the position of supreme judge in the Sanhedrim under the presidency of Hillel (q. v.), and whose narrow, rigid orthodoxy and repressive policy became the leading principles of his school, “the House of Shammai,” which, however, carried the system to a pitch of fanatical zeal not contemplated by its originator.
Shamrock, a small trefoil plant, the national emblem of Ireland; it is matter of dispute whether it is the wood-sorrel, a species of clover, or some other allied trefoil; the lesser yellow trefoil is perhaps the most commonly accepted symbol.
Shamyl, a great Caucasian chief, head of the Lesghians, who combined the functions of priest and warrior; consolidated the Caucasian tribes in their resistance to the Russians, and carried on a successful struggle in his mountain fastnesses for thirty years, till his forces were worn out and himself made captive in 1859; d. 1871.
Shanghai (380), the chief commercial city and port of China, on the Wusung, an affluent of the Yangtse-kiang, 12 m. from the coast, and 160 m. SE. of Nanking; large, densely-peopled suburbs have grown round the closely-packed and walled city, which, with its narrow, unclean streets, presents a slovenly appearance; the French and English occupy the broad-streeted and well-built suburbs in the N.; the low-lying site exposes the city to great heat in the summer, and to frequent epidemics of cholera and fever; an extensive system of canals draws down a great part of the interior produce, and swells the export trade in tea, silk, cotton, rice, sugar, &c.
Shannon, the first river of Ireland, and largest in the British Islands, rises in the Cuilcagh Mountains, Co. Cavan; flows in a south-westerly direction through Loughs Allen, Ree, and Derg, besides forming several lough expansions, to Limerick, whence it turns due W., and opens out on the Atlantic in a wide estuary between Kerry (S.) and Clare (N.); has an entire course of 254 m., and is navigable to Lough Allen, a distance of 213 m.
Shans or Laos, the name of a people, descendants of aborigines of China, forming several large tribes scattered round the frontiers of Burma, Siam, and South China, whose territory, roughly speaking, extends N. as far as the Yunnan Plateau of South China; some are independent, but the bulk of the tribes are subject to Siam, China, and the British in Burma; practise slavery, are Buddhists, somewhat superstitious, indolent, pleasure-loving, and for the most part peaceable and content; chased gold and silver work, rice, cotton, tobacco, &c., are their chief exports.
Sharon, a fertile region in Palestine of the maritime plain between Carmel and Philistia.
Sharp, Abraham, a schoolmaster of Liverpool, and subsequent bookkeeper in London, whose wide knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, &c., attracted Flamsteed (q. v.), by whom he was invited in 1688 to enter the Greenwich Royal Observatory, where he did notable work, improving instruments, and showing great skill as a calculator; published “Geometry Improved,” logarithmic tables, &c. (1651-1742).
Sharp, Becky, an intriguing character in Thackeray's “Vanity Fair,” very clever, but without heart.
Sharp, Granville, a noted abolitionist, born in London; trained for the bar, but accepted a post in the London Ordnance Office, which he held until the outbreak of the American War; was a voluminous writer on philology, law, theology, &c., but mainly devoted himself to the cause of negro emancipation, co-operating with Clarkson in founding the Association for the Abolition of Negro Slavery, and taking an active interest in the new colony for freedom in Sierra Leone; won a famous decision in the law-courts to the effect that whenever a slave set foot on English soil he becomes free; he was also one of the founders of the Bible Society (1734-1813).
Sharp, James, archbishop of St. Andrews, born in Banff Castle; educated at Aberdeen University, visited England, where he formed important friendships, and in 1643 was appointed “regent” or professor of Philosophy at St. Andrews, a post he resigned five years later to become minister of Crail; during the Protectorate he sided with the “Resolutioners” or Moderates, and appeared before Cromwell in London to plead their cause; in 1660 received a commission to go to London to safeguard the interests of the Scottish Church, a trust he shamefully betrayed by intriguing with Charles at Breda, and with Clarendon and the magnates of the English Church to restore Prelacy in Scotland, he himself (by way of reward) being appointed Archbishop of St. Andrews; henceforward he was but a pliant tool in the hands of his English employers, and an object of intense hatred to the Covenanters; in 1668 his life was attempted in Edinburgh by Robert Mitchell, a covenanting preacher, and ultimately on Magus Muir, May 1679, he was mercilessly hacked to pieces by a band of Covenanters headed by Hackston and John Balfour (1618-1679).
Shaster, a book containing the institutes of the Hindu religion or its legal requirements.
Shawnees, a tribe of American Indians located originally in the eastern slopes of the Alleghanies, but now removed to Missouri, Kansas, and the Indian Territory.
Sheba, believed to be a region in South Arabia, along the shore of the Red Sea.
Shechinah, a glory as of the Divine presence over the mercy-seat in the Jewish Tabernacle, and reflected from the winged cherubim which overshadowed it, the reality of which it is the symbol being the Divine presence in man.
Sheepshanks, John, art collector, born at Leeds, son of a manufacturer; presented in 1856 a collection of works by British artists to the nation, now housed in South Kensington (1787-1863).
Sheerness (14), a fortified seaport and important garrison town with important naval dockyards in Kent, occupying the NW. corner of Sheppey Isle, where the Medway joins the Thames, 52 m. E. of London; is divided into Blue-town (within the garrison, and enclosing the 60 acres of docks), Mile-town, Banks-town, and Marina-town (noted for sea-bathing).
Sheffield (324), a city of Yorkshire, and chief centre of the English cutlery trade, built on hilly ground on the Don near its confluence with the Sheaf, whence its name, 41 m. E. of Manchester; is a fine, clean, well-built town, with notable churches, public halls, theatres, &c., and well equipped with libraries, hospitals, parks, colleges (e. g. Firth College), and various societies; does a vast trade in all forms of steel, iron, and brass goods, as well as plated and britannia-metal articles; has of late years greatly developed its manufactures of armour-plate, rails, and other heavier goods; its importance as a centre of cutlery dates from very early times, and the Cutlers' Company was founded in 1624; has been from Saxon times the capital of the manor district of Hallamshire; it is divided into five parliamentary districts, each of which sends a member to Parliament.
Sheffield, John, Duke of Buckinghamshire, son of the Earl of Mulgrave, whose title he succeeded to in 1658; served in the navy during the Dutch wars of Charles II.; held office under James II., and was by William III. created Marquis of Normanby; a staunch Tory in Anne's reign, he was rewarded with a dukedom, lost office through opposing Marlborough, but was reinstated after 1710, and in George I.'s reign worked in the Stuart interest; wrote an “Essay on Poetry,” &c. (1649-1721).
Sheikh, the chief of an Arab tribe; used often as a title of respect, Sheikh-ul-Islam being the ecclesiastical head of Mohammedans in Turkey.
Sheil, Richard Lalor, Irish patriot, born in Tipperary; bred to the bar; gave himself for some time to literature, living by it; joined the Catholic Association; was distinguished for his oratory and his devotion, alongside of O'Connell, to Catholic emancipation; supported the Whig Government, and held office under Melbourne and Lord John Russell (1791-1851).
Shekel, among the ancient Hebrews originally a weight, and eventually the name of a coin of gold or silver, or money of a certain weight, the silver = 5s. per oz., and the gold = £4.
Shelburne, William Petty, Earl of, statesman, born in Dublin; succeeded to his father's title in 1761, a few weeks after his election to the House of Commons; held office in the ministries of Grenville (1763), of Chatham (1766), and of Rockingham (1782); his acceptance of the Premiership in 1782, after Rockingham's death, led to the resignation of Fox and the entry of William Pitt, at the age of 23, into the Cabinet; his short ministry (July 1782 to Feb. 1783) saw the close of the Continental and American wars, and the concession of independence to the colonies, collapsing shortly afterwards before the powerful coalition of Fox and North; in 1784, on his retirement from politics, was created Marquis of Lansdowne; was a Free-Trader, supporter of Catholic emancipation, and otherwise liberal in his views, but rather tactless in steering his way amid the troublous politics of his time (1737-1805).
Sheldonian Theatre, “Senate House” of Oxford; so called from Gilbert Sheldon, archbishop of Canterbury, who built it.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, author of “Frankenstein,” daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft; became the wife of the poet Shelley in 1816 after a two years' illicit relationship; besides “Frankenstein” (1828), wrote several romances, “The Last Man,” “Lodore,” &c., also “Rambles in Germany and Italy”; edited with valuable notes her husband's works (1797-1851).
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, born at Field Place, near Horsham, Sussex, eldest son of Sir Timothy Shelley, a wealthy landed proprietor; was educated at Eton, and in 1810 went to Oxford, where his impatience of control and violent heterodoxy of opinion, characteristic of him throughout, burst forth in a pamphlet “The Necessity of Atheism,” which led to his expulsion in 1811, along with Jefferson Hogg, his subsequent biographer; henceforth led a restless, wandering life; married at 19 Harriet Westbrook, a pretty girl of 16, a school companion of his sister, from whom he was separated within three years; under the influence of William Godwin (q. v.) his revolutionary ideas of politics and society developed apace; engaged in quixotic political enterprises in Dublin, Lynmouth, and elsewhere, and above all put to practical test Godwin's heterodox view on marriage by eloping (1814) to the Continent with his daughter Mary, whom he married two years later after the unhappy suicide of Harriet; in 1816, embittered by lord Eldon's decision that he was unfit to be trusted with the care of Harriet's children, and with consumption threatening, he left England never to return; spent the few remaining years of his life in Italy, chiefly at Lucca, Florence, and Pisa, in friendly relations with Byron, Leigh Hunt, Trelawney, &c.; during this time were written his greatest works, “Prometheus Unbound,” “The Cenci,” his noble lament on Keats, “Adonais,” besides other longer works, and most of his finest lyrics, “Ode to the South Wind,” “The Skylark,” &c.; was drowned while returning in an open sailing-boat from Leghorn to his home on Spezia Bay; “An enthusiast for humanity generally,” says Professor Saintsbury, “and towards individuals a man of infinite generosity and kindliness, he yet did some of the cruellest and some of not the least disgraceful things from mere childish want of realising the pacta conventa of the world;” Shelley is pre-eminently the poet of lyric emotion, the subtle and most musical interpreter of vague spiritual longing and intellectual desire; his poems form together “the most sensitive,” says Stopford Brooke, “the most imaginative, and the most musical, but the least tangible lyrical poetry we possess” (1792-1821).
Shenandoah, a river of Virginia, formed by two head-streams rising in Augusta Co., which unite 85 m. W. of Washington, and flowing NE. through the beautiful “Valley of Virginia,” falls into the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, after a course of 170 m.; also the name of a town (16) in Pennsylvania, 138 m. NW. of Philadelphia; centre of an important coal district.
Shenstone, William, poet, born, the son of a landed proprietor, at Hales-Owen, Shropshire; was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford, and during the years 1737-42 produced three vols. of poetry, the most noted being “The Schoolmistress”; succeeded to his father's estate in 1745, and entered with much enthusiasm and reckless expenditure into landscape-gardening, which won him in his day a wider reputation than his poetry; his “Essays” have considerable critical merit and originality, while his poetry—ballads odes, songs, &c.—has a music and grace despite its conventional diction (1714-1763).
Sheol, the dark underworld or Hades of the Hebrews, inhabited by the shades of the dead.
Shepherd Kings or Hyksos, a tribe of shepherds, alleged to have invaded Lower Egypt 2000 years before Christ, overthrown the reigning dynasty, and maintained their supremacy for 200 years.
Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, name of the hero, a shepherd of the name of Saunders, in a tract written by Hannah More, characterised by homely wisdom and simple piety.
Sheppard, Jack, a notorious criminal, whose audacious robberies and daring escapes from Newgate Prison made him for a time the terror and talk of London; drew some 200,000 people to witness his execution at Tyburn; figures as the hero of a well-known novel by Harrison Ainsworth (1702-1724).
Sheppey, Isle of, an islet in the estuary of the Thames, at the mouth of the Medway, belonging to Kent, from which it is separated by the Swale (spanned by a swing-bridge); great clay cliffs rise on the N., and like the rest of the island, are rich in interesting fossil remains; corn is grown, and large flocks of sheep raised; chief town is Sheerness (q. v.), where the bulk of the people are gathered; is gradually diminishing before the encroaching sea.
Sherborne (4), an interesting old town of Dorsetshire, pleasantly situated on rising ground overlooking the Yeo, 118 m. SW. of London; has one of the finest Perpendicular minsters in South England, ruins of an Elizabethan castle, and King Edward's School, founded in 1550, and ranking among the best of English public schools.
Sherbrooke, Robert Low, Viscount, statesman, born, the son of a rector, at Bingham, Notts; graduated at Oxford; obtained a Fellowship, and in 1836 was called to the bar; six years later emigrated to Australia; made his mark at the Sydney bar, taking at the same time an active part in the politics of the country; returned to England in 1850, and entered Parliament, holding office under Lord Aberdeen (1853) and Lord Palmerston (1855); education became his chief interest for some time, and in 1866 he fiercely opposed the Whig Reform Bill, but subsequently made amends to his party by his powerful support of Gladstone's Irish Church Disestablishment Bill, and was included in the Liberal ministry of 1868 as Chancellor of the Exchequer, a post he held till 1873, when he became Home Secretary; a man of great intellectual force and independency of judgment; created a viscount in 1880; was D.C.L. of Oxford and LL.D. of Edinburgh (1811-1892).
Shere Ali, Ameer of Afghanistan, son and successor of Dost Mohammed, at first favoured by Britain, but at last distrusted and was driven from the throne (1823-1879).
Sheridan, Philip Henry, a distinguished American general, born, of Irish parentage, in Albany, New York; obtained a cadetship at West Point Military Academy, and entered the army as a second-lieutenant in 1853; served in Texas and during the Civil War; won rapid promotion by his great dash and skill as commander of a cavalry regiment; gained wide repute by his daring raids into the S.; cleared the Confederates out of the Shenandoah Valley in 1864, and by his famous ride (October 19, 1864) from Winchester to Cedar Creek snatched victory out of defeat, routing the conjoined forces of Early and Lee; received the thanks of Congress, and was created major-general; took an active part under Grant in compelling the surrender of Lee, and in bringing the war to a close; subsequently during Grant's presidency was promoted to lieutenant-general; visited Europe in 1870 to witness the Franco-German War, and in 1883 succeeded Sherman as general-in-chief of the American army (1831-1888).
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley Butler, dramatist and politician, born in Dublin; educated at Harrow; was already committed to literature when, in 1773, he settled down in London with his gifted young wife, Elizabeth Linley, and scored his first success with the “Rivals” in 1775, following it up with the overrated “Duenna”; aided by his father-in-law became owner of Drury Lane Theatre, which somewhat lagged till the production of his most brilliant satirical comedy, “The School for Scandal” (1777) and the “Critic” set flowing the tide of prosperity; turning his attention next to politics he entered Parliament under Fox's patronage in 1780, and two years later became Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs in Rockingham's ministry; his great speech (1787) impeaching Hastings for his treatment of the Begums placed him in the front rank of orators, but although he sat for 32 years in Parliament, only once again reached the same height of eloquence in a speech (1794) supporting the French Revolution, and generally failed to establish himself as a reliable statesman; meanwhile his theatrical venture had ended disastrously, and other financial troubles thickening around him, he died in poverty, but was accorded a burial in Westminster Abbey (1751-1816).
Sherif or Shereef, a title of dignity among Mohammedans of either sex bestowed upon descendants of the Prophet through his daughters Fatima and Ali; as a distinguishing badge women wear a green veil, and men a green turban.
Sheriff, in England the chief officer of the Crown in every county, appointed annually, and intrusted with the execution of the laws and the maintenance of peace and order, with power to summon the posse commitatus. The office originated in Anglo-Saxon times, when it exercised wide judicial functions which have been gradually curtailed, and such duties as remain—the execution of writs, enforcement of legal decisions, &c., are mostly delegated to an under-sheriff (usually a lawyer) and bound-bailiffs, while the sheriff himself, generally a person of wealth (the office being unsalaried and compulsory, but not necessarily for more than one year) discharges merely honorary duties. In Scotland the sheriff, or sheriff-depute as he is called, is the chief judge of the county, and has under him one or more sheriffs-substitute, upon whom devolves the larger portion of the important and multifarious duties of his office. In America the sheriff is the chief administrative officer of the county, but exercises no judicial functions at all.
Sheriffmuir, a barren spot stretching N. of the Ochils, in Perthshire, 5 m. NE. of Stirling; was the scene of an indecisive conflict between 9000 Jacobites under the Earl of Mar and 3500 Royalists under the Duke of Argyll, November 13, 1715.
Sherlock, Thomas, English prelate, born in London; became bishop in succession of Bangor, Salisbury, and London, declining the Primacy; wrote several theological works, and took up arms against the rationalists of the day, such as Collins and Woolston (1678-1761).
Sherlock Holmes, an amateur detective, a creation of Dr. Conan Doyle.
Sherman, William Tecumseh, a distinguished American general, born, the son of a judge, in Lancaster, Ohio; first saw service as a lieutenant of artillery in the Indian frontier wars in Florida and California; resigned from the army in 1853, and set up as a banker in San Francisco, but at the outbreak of the Civil War accepted a colonelcy in the Federalist ranks; distinguished himself at the battles of Bull Run (1861) and Shiloh (1862); received promotion, and as second in command to Grant rendered valuable service in reducing Vicksburg and Memphis; was present at the victory of Chattanooga, and during 1864 entered into command of the SW.; captured the stronghold of Atlanta, and after a famous march seaward with 65,000 men took Savannah, which he followed up with a series of victories in the Carolinas, receiving, on 26th April 1865, the surrender of General Johnston, which brought the war to a close; was created general and commander-in-chief of the army in 1869, a position he held till 1869; published memoirs of his military life (1820-1891).
Sherwood Forest, once an extensive forest, the scene of Robin Hood's exploits, in Nottinghamshire, stretching some 25 m. between Worksop and Nottingham, but now a hilly, disafforested tract occupied by country houses and private parks, several villages, and the town of Mansfield.
Shetland or Zetland (29), a group of over 100 islands, islets, and skerries, of which 29 are inhabited, forming the northernmost county of Scotland, lying out in the Atlantic, NNE. of the Orkneys; Mainland (378 sq. m.), Fell, and Unst are the largest; the coast-line is boldly precipitous and indented, while the scenery all over the island is very grand; the soil is peaty, ill adapted to cultivation, but there is considerable rearing of stock, and the little shaggy pony is well known; fishing is the chief industry, herring, cod, ling, &c. Lerwick (q. v.) is the capital.
Shibboleth, a word by which the Gileadites distinguished an Ephraimite from his inability to sound the sh in the word, and so discovered whether he was friend or foe; hence it has come to denote a party cry or watchword.
Shields, North, a flourishing seaport of Northumberland, on the Tyne, near the mouth, 8 m. NE. of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and lying within the municipal borough of Tynemouth (47); is of quite modern growth, and of a plain, uninteresting appearance; has a theatre, free library, Mariners' Home, fine park, &c.; the docks cover 79 acres, and a large export trade in coal is carried on.
Shields, South (78), a busy seaport and popular watering-place in Durham, with a frontage of 2 m. on the south bank of the Tyne, 9 m. NE. of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a place of residence from ancient times, with Roman remains, &c.; has a theatre, public library, marine school, two fine parks with central parade, 50 acres of docks, &c.; exports immense quantities of coal and coke.
Shiites, a sect of the Mohammedans, who reject the “Sunna” (q. v.) and championed the claims of Ali Mahommed's cousin and son-in-law to succeed to the Caliphate, and maintain the divine right of his descendants to represent the prophet in the Mohammedan Church. The Persians belong to this sect.
Shikarpur (42), capital of a district (853) in N. Sind, India, situated on rich alluvial ground, 18 m. W. of the Indus, and 330 m. N. of Karachi; since the opening of the Indus Valley Railway it has lost much of its importance as a commercial entrepôt between India and Khorassan; vicinity produces excellent grain crops, and carpets, cottons, &c., are manufactured in the town.
Shiloh, a village 20 m. N. of Jerusalem, sacred as the site of the resting-place of the Tabernacle on the settlement of the Jews in the land of promise. Is a name also of the Messiah.
Shinar, the vast alluvial plain extending along the Tagus and Euphrates, forming the country of Chaldea and Babylonia.
Shintoism, the native religion of Japan; a system of ancestor worship chiefly, combined with which is a religious homage paid to the Mikado.
Ship-Money, a tax levied by Charles I. at the suggestion of Noy, the Attorney-General, who based its imposition on an old war-tax leviable on port-towns to furnish a navy in times of danger, and which Charles imposed in a time of peace without consent of Parliament, and upon inland as well as port-towns, provoking thereby wide-spread dissatisfaction, and Hampden's refusal to pay, which with the trial and decision in favour of Charles contributed to bring about the Civil War, which cost Charles his life; was declared illegal by the Long Parliament in 1640.
Shipton, Mother, a prophetess of English legend, whose preternatural knowledge revealed in her prophecies, published after her death, was ascribed to an alliance with the devil, by whom it was said she became the mother of an ugly impish child.
Shiraz (30), a celebrated city of Persia, occupying a charming site on an elevated plain, 165 m. NE. of Bushire; founded in the 8th century; was for long a centre of Persian culture, and a favourite resort of the royal princes; its beauties are celebrated in the poems of Häfiz and Sádi, natives of the place; has been thrice wrecked by earthquakes, and presents now a somewhat dilapidated appearance.
Shiré, a river of East Africa, flows out of Lake Nyassa, and passes in a southerly course through the Shiré Highlands, a distance of 370 m., till it joins the Zambesi; discovered by Livingstone.
Shirley, James, dramatist, born in London, educated at Oxford and Cambridge; entered the Church, but turning Catholic resigned, and after trying teaching established himself in London as a play-writer; wrote with great facility, producing upwards of thirty plays before the suppression of theatres in 1642; fell back on teaching as a means of livelihood, and with a temporary revival of his plays after the Restoration eked out a scanty income till fear and exposure during the Great Fire brought himself and his wife on the same day to a common grave; of his plays mention may be made of “The Witty Fair One,” “The Wedding,” “The Lady of Pleasure,” “The Traitor,” etc. (1596-1666).
Shishak, the name of several monarchs of Egypt of the twenty-second dynasty, the first of whom united nearly all Egypt under one government, invaded Judea and plundered the Temple of Jerusalem about 962 B.C.
Shittim Wood, a hard, close-grained acacia wood of an orange-brown colour found in the Arabian Desert, and employed in constructing the Jewish Tabernacle.
Shoa (1,500), the southmost division of Abyssinia (q. v.); was an independent country till its conquest by Theodore of Abyssinia in 1855; is traversed by the Blue Nile, and has a mixed population of Gallas and Abyssinians.
Shoddy, a stuff woven of old woollen fabrics teased into fibre and of new wool intermixed.
Shoeburyness, a town in Essex, near Southend, a stretch of moorland utilised by the Government for gunnery practice.
Sholapur (61), chief town in the Presidency of Bombay, in a district (750) of the name, 283 m. E. of Bombay; has cotton and silk manufactures.
Shore, Jane, the celebrated mistress of Edward IV.; was the young wife of a respected London goldsmith till she was taken up by the king, through whom, till the close of the reign, she exercised great power, “never abusing it to any man's hurt, but to many a man's comfort and relief”; was ill-treated and persecuted by Richard III. for political purposes; subsequently lived under the patronage of Lord Hastings, and afterwards of the Marquis of Dorset, surviving till 1527; the story of her life has been made the subject of many ballads, plays, etc.
Shoreditch (120), parliamentary borough of East London; returns two members to Parliament; manufactures furniture, boot and shoes, beer, etc.
Shoreham, New, a seaport 6 m. W. of Brighton; has oyster and other fisheries, and shipbuilding yards.
Shorthouse, Joseph Henry, author of “John Inglesant,” born in Birmingham; wrote also “Sir Percival” and “Little Schoolmaster Mark,” etc.; is remarkable for his refined style of writing, latterly too much so; his first work, “John Inglesant,” published in 1881, is his best; b. 1834.
Shovel, Sir Cloudesley, a celebrated English admiral, born at Clay, in Norfolk; was apprenticed to a cobbler, but ran away to sea, and rose from grade to grade till in 1674 we find him a lieutenant in the Mediterranean fleet; was knighted in 1689 for his gallantry as commander of a ship in the battle of Bantry Bay, and in the following year as rear-admiral was prominent at the engagement off Beachy Head; in 1692 gave heroic assistance to Admiral Russell at La Hogue, and in 1702 to Rooke at Malaga; elevated to the commandership of the English fleets he in 1705 captured Barcelona, but on his way home from an unsuccessful attack upon Toulon was wrecked on the Scilly Isles and drowned (1650-1707).
Shrewsbury (27), county town of Shropshire, situated on a small peninsula formed by a horse-shoe bend of the Severn, 42 m. W. by N. of Birmingham; three fine bridges span the river here, connecting it with several extensive suburbs; a picturesque old place with winding streets and quaint timber dwelling-houses, a Norman castle, abbey church, ruined walls, etc. The public school, founded by Edward VI., ranks amongst the best in England; figures often in history as a place where Parliament met in 1397-98, and in 1403 gave its name to the battle which resulted in the defeat of Hotspur and the Earl of Douglas by Henry IV.; it was taken by the Parliamentarians in 1644; chief industries are glass-painting, malting, and iron-founding.
Shropshire or Salop (236), an agricultural and mining county of England, on the Welsh border, facing Montgomery chiefly, between Cheshire (N.) and Hereford (S.); is divided into two fairly equal portions by the Severn, E. and N. of which is low, level, and fertile, excepting the Wrekin (1320 ft.), while on the SW. it is hilly (Clee Hills, 1805 ft.); Ellesmere is the largest of several lakes; Coalbrookdale is the centre of a rich coal district, and iron and lead are also found. Shrewsbury is the capital; it consists of four Parliamentary divisions.
Shrovetide, confession-time, especially the days immediately before Lent, when, in Catholic times, the people confessed their sins to the parish priest and afterwards gave themselves up to sports, and dined on pancakes, Shrove Tuesday being Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, or the first day of Lent.
Shumla or Shumna (24), a fortified city of Bulgaria, 80 m. SE. of Rustchuk; has an arsenal, barracks, etc., is an important strategical centre between the Lower Danube and the East Balkans.
Shylock, the Jew in Shakespeare's “Merchant of Venice.”
Siam (9,000 of Siamese, Chinese, Shans, and Malays), occupies the central portion of the Indo-Chinese peninsula, wedged in between Annam and Cambodia (E.) and Burma (W.), and extending down into the Malay Peninsula; the wide Gulf of Siam forms the southern boundary; the rich alluvial valleys of the Menam and the Mekhong produce great quantities of rice (chief export), teak-wood, hemp, tobacco, cotton, etc., but of the land surface only about one-twentieth is cultivated, a large portion of the rest lying under forest and jungle; the Siamese are indolent, ignorant, ceremonious, and the trade is mainly in the hands of the Chinese; the mining of gold, tin, and especially rubies and sapphires, is also carried on. Buddhism is the national religion, and elementary education is well advanced; government is vested in a king (at present an enlightened and English-educated monarch) and council of ministers; since Sir J. Bowring's treaty in 1856, opening up the country to European trade and influences, progress has been considerable in roads and railway, electric, telephonic, and postal communication. Bangkok (q. v.) is the capital. In 1893 a large tract of territory NE. of the Mekhong was ceded to France.
Siamese Twins, twins born in Siam, of Chinese parents, whose bodies were united by a fleshy band extended between corresponding breast-bones; were purchased from their mother and exhibited in Europe and America, realised a competency by their exhibitions, married and settled in the States; having lost by the Civil War, they came over to London and exhibited, where they died, one 2½ hours after the other (1811-1874).
Sibbald, Sir Robert, physician and naturalist, born in Edinburgh, of Balgonie, Fife; established a botanic garden in Edinburgh, and was one of the founders of the Royal College of Physicians (16411712).
Siberia (5,000), a vast Russian territory in North Asia (one and a third times the size of Europe), stretching from the Ural Mountains (W.) to the seas of Behring, Okhotsk, and Japan (E.), bounded on the N. by the Arctic Ocean and on the S. by China and the Central Asiatic provinces of Russia; forms in the main an immense plain, sloping from the Altai and other mountain ranges on the S. to the dreary, ice-bound littoral on the N., drained by the northward-flowing Obi, Irtish, Yenesei, Lena, &c., embracing every kind of soil, from the fertile grain-growing plains of the S. and rich grazing steppe-land of the W. to the forest tracts and bogland of the N. and experiencing a variety of climates, but for the most part severely cold; hunting, fishing, and mining are the chief industries, with agriculture and stock-raising in the S. and W. The great Trans-Siberian Railway, in construction since 1891, is opening up the country, which is divided into eight “governments,” the chief towns being Tomsk, Irkutsk, Omsk, and Tobolsk; three-fifths of the population are Russians, chiefly exiles and descendants of exiles. Russian advance in Asia against the Tartars was begun in 1850, and was carried on by warlike Cossack marauders, followed by hunters, droves of escaping serfs, and persecuted religious sects.
Sibyl, name given to a woman, or rather to a number of women, much fabled of in antiquity, regarded by Ruskin as representing the voice of God in nature, and, as such, endowed with visionary prophetic power, or what in the Highlands of Scotland is called “second-sight”; the most famous of the class being the Sibyl of Cumæ, who offered King Tarquin of Rome nine books for sale, which he refused on account of the exorbitant sum asked for them, and again refused after she had burnt three of them, and in the end paid what was originally asked for the three remaining, which he found to contain oracular utterances bearing on the worship of the gods and the policy of Rome. These, after being entrusted to keepers, were afterwards burned, and the contents replaced by a commission appointed to collect them in the countries around, to share the same fate as the original collection. The name is applied in mediæval times to figures representative of the prophets who foretold the coming of Christ; the prophets so represented were reckoned sometimes 10, sometimes 12 in number; they are, says Fairholt, “of tall stature, full of vigour and moral energy; the costume rich but conventional, ornamented with pearls and precious stones.”
Sicilian Vespers, name given to a massacre of the French in Sicily at the hour of vespers on the eve of Easter Monday in 1282, the signal for the commencement being the first stroke of the vesper bell; the massacre included men and women and children to the number of 8000 souls, and was followed by others throughout the island.
Sicily (3,285), the largest island in the Mediterranean, lying off the SW. extremity of Italy, to which it belongs, and from which it is separated by the narrow strait of Messina, 2 m. broad; the three extremities of its triangular configuration form Capes Faro (NE.), Passaro (S.), and Boco (W.); its mountainous interior culminates in the volcanic Etna, and numerous streams rush swiftly down the thickly-wooded valleys; the coast-lands are exceptionally fertile, growing (although agricultural methods are extremely primitive) excellent crops of wheat and barley, as well as an abundance of fruit; sulphur-mining is an important industry, and large quantities of the mineral are exported; enjoys a fine equable climate, but malaria is in parts endemic; the inhabitants are a mixed—Greek, Italian, Arabic, &c.—race, and differ considerably in language and appearance from Italians proper; are ill-governed, and as a consequence discontented and backward, even brigandage not yet being entirely suppressed. Palermo, the largest city, is situated on the precipitous N. coast. As part of the “Kingdom of the Two Sicilies,” comprising Sicily and Naples, it was overrun by Garibaldi in 1860, and in the same year was incorporated with the kingdom of Italy.
Sickingen, Franz von, a German free-lance, a man of a knightly spirit and great prowess; had often a large following, Götz von Berlichingen of the number, and joined the cause of the Reformation; lost his life by a musket-shot when besieged in the castle of Landstuhl; he was a warm friend of Ulrich von Hutten (1481-1523).
Sicyon, a celebrated city of ancient Greece, was situated near the Corinthian Gulf, 7 m. NW. of Corinth; was an important centre of Grecian art, especially of bronze sculptures and painting; in the time of Aratus (251 B.C.) figured as one of the chief cities of the Achæan League; only a few remains now mark its site.
Siddons, Sarah, the greatest tragic actress of England, born at Brecon, the daughter and eldest child of Roger Kemble, manager of an itinerant theatrical company; became early a member of her father's company, and at 19 married an actor named Siddons who belonged to it; her first appearance in Drury Lane as Portia in 1755 was a failure; by 1782 her fame was established, after which she joined her brother, John Kemble, at Covent Garden, and continued to act there till her retirement in 1812; she was distinguished in many parts, and above all Lady Macbeth, in which character she took farewell of the stage; she appeared once again in London after this in 1815, for the benefit of her brother Charles, and again a few nights in Edinburgh in aid of a widowed daughter-in-law (1755-1831).
Sidereal Year, the period during which the earth makes a revolution in its orbit with respect to the stars.
Sidgwick, Henry, writer on ethics, born at Shipton, Yorkshire; professor of Moral Philosophy at Cambridge; “Methods of Ethics,” being a compromise between the intuitionalists and utilitarians, “the Principles of Political Economy,” and the “Elements of Politics”; he holds a high place in all these three studies; b. 1838.
Sidlaw Hills, a range of hills extending from Kinnoul Hill, near Perth, NE. to Brechin, in Forfarshire; most interesting point Dunsinane (1114 ft.).
Sidmouth (4), a pretty little watering-place on the S. Devonshire coast, 14 m. ESE. of Exeter; lies snugly between high cliffs at the mouth of a small stream, the Sid; is an ancient place, and has revived in popularity since the opening of the railway; has a fine promenade 1½ m. long.
Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, statesman, born in London, the son of a physician; studied at Oxford, and was called to the bar, but gave up law for politics, entered Parliament in 1783, and was Speaker from 1789 till 1801, in which year, after the fall of Pitt over Catholic emancipation, he formed a ministry, assuming himself the offices of First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer. This ministry of the “King's Friends” went out of office in 1804, after negotiating the Peace of Amiens (1802), and in subsequent governments of Pitt Sidmouth held various offices, being an unpopular Home Secretary from 1812 to 1821; created viscount in 1805 (1757-1844).
Sidney or Sydney, Algernon, a noted politician and soldier of extreme republican views, second son of Robert, second Earl of Leicester; first came into public notice in 1641-1642 by his gallant conduct as leader of a troop of horse in the Irish Rebellion; came over to England in 1643, joined the Parliamentarians, rose to a colonelcy and command of a regiment in 1645; was subsequently governor of Dublin and of Dover (1647), entered Parliament (1646), and although appointed one of the commissioners to try Charles I., absented himself from the proceedings, but afterwards approved of the execution; withdrew from politics during Cromwell's Protectorate, but on the reinstating of the Long Parliament (1659) became a member of the Council of State; was on a diplomatic mission to Denmark when the Restoration took place, and till his pardon in 1677 led a wandering life on the Continent; intrigued with Louis XIV. against Charles II., assisted William Penn in drawing up the republican constitution of Pennsylvania, was on trumped-up evidence tried for complicity in the Rye House Plot and summarily sentenced to death by Judge Jeffreys, the injustice of his execution being evidenced by the reversal of his attainder in 1689 (1622-1683).
Sidney, Sir Philip, poet, and one of the most attractive figures at Elizabeth's court, born at Penshurst, Kent, the son of Sir Henry Sidney, lord-deputy of Ireland; quitted Oxford in 1572, and in the manner of the time finished his education by a period of Continental travel, from which he returned imbued with the love of Italian literature; took his place at once in the court of Elizabeth, his uncle, the Earl of Leicester, being then high in favour, and received rapid promotion, being sent as ambassador in 1576 to the court of Vienna; nor was his favour with the queen impaired by his bold “Remonstrance” against her marriage with the Duke of Anjou, and in 1583 received a knighthood; two years later, “lest she should lose the jewel of her dominions” the queen forbade him to accompany Drake to the West Indies, and appointed him governor of Flushing, but in the following year he received his death-wound at the battle of Zutphen gallantly leading a troop of Netherlander against the Spaniards; his fame as an author rests securely on his euphuistic prose romance “Arcadia,” his critical treatise “The Defence of Poesy,” and above all on his exquisite sonnet-series “Astrophel and Stella,” in which he sings the story of his hapless love for Penelope Devereux, who married Lord Rich; was the friend of Edmund Spenser, and the centre of an influential literary circle (1554-1586).
Sidon, an ancient Phoenician city on the E. of the Mediterranean, 20 m. N. of Tyre, with an extensive commerce; was famed for its glass and purple dye; also suffered many a reverse of fortune.
Siebengebirge, a range of hills on the right bank of the Rhine, 20 m. above Köln, distinguished by its seven high peaks.
Siegfried, a hero of various Scandinavian and Teutonic legends, and especially of the “Nibelungen Lied” (q. v.), was rendered invulnerable by bathing in the blood of a dragon which he had slain, except at a spot on his body which had been covered by a falling leaf; he wore a cloak which rendered him invisible, and wielded a miraculous sword named Balmung (q. v.).
Siemens, Werner von, a celebrated German electrician and inventor, born at Lenthe, Hanover; served in the Prussian artillery, and rendered valuable services in developing the telegraphic system of Prussia; patented a process for electro-plating in gold and silver, and was the first to employ electricity in exploding submarine mines; retired from the army in 1849, and along with Halske established a business in Berlin for telegraphic and electrical apparatus, which has become notable throughout the world, having branches in several cities; made many contributions to electrical science; was ennobled in 1888 (1816-1892).
Siemens, Sir William (Karl William), younger brother of the preceding, born at Lenthe, Hanover; like his brother took to science, and in 1844 settled in England, naturalising in 1859; was manager of the English branch of the Siemens Brothers firm, and did much to develop electric lighting and traction (Portrush Electric Tramway); his inventive genius was productive of a heat-economising furnace, a water-meter, pyrometer, bathometer, &c.; took an active part in various scientific societies; was President of the British Association (1882), and received a knighthood in 1883 (1823-1883).
Sienna or Siena (28), an interesting old Italian city of much importance during the Middle Ages, in Central Italy, 60 m. S. of Florence, is still surrounded by its ancient wall, and contains several fine Gothic structures, notably its cathedral (13th century) and municipal palace; has a university and institute of fine arts; silk and cloth weaving, and a wine and oil trade are the chief industries.
Sierra, the name given to a range of mountains with a saw-like ridge.
Sierra Leone (75), a British maritime colony since 1787, on the W. coast of Africa, having a foreshore of 180 m. between Rivières du Sud (N.) and Liberia (S.); includes the peninsula of Sierra Leone proper with its densely-wooded Sugar-Loaf Mountain, and a number of coast islands, and stretches back to a highland eastern frontier ill defined; the climate is hot, humid, and unhealthy; has been called “The White Man's Grave”; is fertile, but not well exploited by the indolent negro population, half of whom are descendants from freed slaves; ground-nuts, kola-nuts, ginger, hides, palm-oil, &c., are the principal exports. Freetown (q. v.) is the capital. The executive power is exercised by a governor and council of five.
Sierra Madre, the main cordillera system of Mexico, extending in a northerly direction to Arizona, and forming the western buttress of a fertile plateau stretching eastwards; to the W. the States of Sinaloa and Sonora slope downwards to the sea.
Sierra Morena, a mountain chain in South Spain, forming the watershed between the valleys of the Gaudiana (N.) and Guadalquivir (S.); has valuable deposits of lead, silver, quicksilver, and other metals.
Sierra Nevada, 1, a mountain range in South Spain, 60 m. in length; lies for the most part in Granada, crossing the province E. and W. in bold, rugged lines, and clad on its higher parts with perpetual snow, whence the name; Mulhacen (11,660 ft.) is the highest peak. 2, A mountain system in California, stretching NW. and SE. 450 m., and forming the eastern buttress of the Great Central Valley; highest peak Mount Whitney (14,886 ft.). 3, A lofty mountain group in Colombia, South America, stretching NE. almost to the borders of Venezuela.
Sieyès, Abbé, a conspicuous figure all through the French Revolution, the Consulate, and the Empire, who thought in his simplicity that the salvation of France and the world at large depended on sound political institutions, in the drafting of which he spent his life; was born in Frèjus, of the bourgeois class; represented Paris in the States General; sat in the Centre in the Legislative Assembly; renounced the Christian religion in favour of the Goddess of Reason; projected a constitution which was rejected; supported Napoleon; fled to Belgium on the return of the Bourbons, and returned to France in 1830, by which time he was politically defunct (1748-1836).
Sigismund, emperor of Germany, son of the Emperor Charles IV., was markgrave of Brandenburg, king of Hungary, and palatine of the Rhine; struggled hard to suppress the Hussites; held the Council of Constance, and gave Huss (q. v.) a safe-conduct to his doom; he is the “Super Grammaticam” of Carlyle's “Frederick” (1362-1437).
Sigismund is the name of three kings of Poland, the last of whom died in 1632.
Signorelli, Luca, the precursor of Michael Angelo in Italian art, born at Cortona; studied at Arezzo under Piero della Francesca, and became distinguished for the accurate anatomy of his figures and for the grandeur and originality of design exhibited in his admirable frescoes of religious subjects at Loretto, Orviëto, and elsewhere (1441-1525).
Sigourney, Mrs., American authoress, was a prolific writer; wrote tales, poems, essays, chiefly on moral and religious subjects; was called the American Hemans (1791-1863).
Sigurd. See Siegfried.
Sikhs (lit. disciples), a native religious and military community, scattered, to the number of nearly two millions, over the Punjab, and forming some fifteen States dependent on the Punjab government; founded (1469) by Baber Nanak as a religious monotheistic sect purified from the grosser native superstitions and practices; was organised on a military footing in the 17th century, and in the 18th century acquired a territorial status, ultimately being consolidated in to a powerful military confederacy by Ranjit Singh, who, at the beginning of the 19th century, extended his power over a wider territory. In 1845-46 they crossed their E. boundary, the Sutlej, and invaded English possessions, but were defeated by Gough and Hardinge, and had to cede a considerable portion of their territory; a second war in 1848-49 ended in the annexation of the entire Punjab, since when the Sikhs have been the faithful allies of the English, notably in the Indian Mutiny.
Sikkim (7), a small native State in North-East India, lying on the southern slopes of the Himalayas, between Nepal (W.) and Bhotan (E.); under British protection; the ruling family being Buddhist, and of Tibetan descent.
Silage, the name given to green fodder, vegetables, &c., stored in stacks or pits (or silos) under heavy pressure, the process being known as ensilage. The practice of thus preserving green crops for fodder dates from earliest times, but its general adoption in Britain only began in 1882 since when its spread has been rapid. Originally the process in vogue involved slight fermentation, resulting in “sour silage,” but in 1884 it was found that by delaying the application of pressure for a day or two a rise of temperature took place sufficiently great to destroy the bacteria producing fermentation, the result being “sweet silage.” Both kinds are readily eaten by cattle.
Silence, Worship of, Carlyle's name for the sacred respect for restraint in speech till “thought has silently matured itself, ... to hold one's tongue till some meaning lie behind to set it wagging,” a doctrine which many misunderstand, almost wilfully, it would seem; silence being to him the very womb out of which all great things are born.
Silenus, a satyr who attended Dionysus, being his foster-father and teacher; assisted in the war of the giants, and slew Enceladus; had the gift of vaticination; is represented as mounted on an ass and supported by other satyrs.
Silesia (4,224), a province of South-East Prussia, stretching S. between Russian Poland (E.) and Austria (W. and S.); the Oder flows NW. through the heart of the country, dividing the thickly forested and in parts marshy lands of the N. and E. from the mountainous and extremely fertile W.; rich coal-fields lie to the S., and zinc is also a valuable product; agriculture and the breeding of cattle, horses, and sheep flourish, as also the manufacture of cottons, linens, &c.; Breslau is the capital; for long under the successive dominions of Poland and Bohemia, the Silesian duchies became, in the 18th century, a casus belli between Austria and Prussia, resulting in the Seven Years' War (q. v.) and the ultimate triumph of Frederick the Great of Prussia.
Silesia, Austrian (602), that portion of the original Silesian country preserved to Austria after the unsuccessful struggle with Prussia; forms a duchy and crownland of Austria, and extends SW. from the border of Prussian Silesia; agriculture and mining are the chief industries.
Silhouette, name given to the profile of a portrait filled in with black; a design familiar to the ancients, and in vogue in France during the reign of Louis XV.
Silistria (12), a town of Bulgaria, on the Danube, 70 m. below Rustchuk; occupies a fine strategical position, and is strongly fortified; withstood successfully a 39 days' siege by the Russians during the Crimean War; cloth and leather are the chief manufactures.
Silius Italicus, a Roman poet; was consul in the year of Nero's death, and his chief work an epic “Punica,” relating the events of the Second Punic War, a dull performance.
Silliman, Benjamin, American chemist and geologist, born in North Stratford (now Trumbull), Connecticut; graduated at Yale, and was called to the bar in 1802, but in the same year threw up law for science; became professor of Chemistry at Yale, a position he held for 50 years (till 1853); did much to stimulate the study of chemistry and geology by lectures throughout the States; founded (1818) the American Journal of Science, and was for 28 years its editor; during 1853-55 was lecturer on Geology at Yale; his writings include “Journals of Travels in England, Holland, and Scotland” (1779-1864). Benjamin Silliman, son of preceding, also an active scientist along his father's lines; founded the Yale School of Science, and filled the chairs of Chemistry at Louisville (1849-1854) and at Yale (till 1869); was co-editor of the Journal of Science (1845-85), and wrote various popular text-books of chemistry and physics (1816-1885).
Silloth (3), a watering-place of Cumberland, on the Solway Firth, 20 m. W. of Carlisle; has good docks and an increasing commerce.
Silures, one of the ancient British tribes occupying the SE. of Wales; conjectured to be of Non-Aryan stock, and akin to the Iberians; offered a fierce resistance to the invading Romans.
Silvanus, an Italian divinity, the guardian of trees, fields, and husbandmen; represented as a hale, happy, old man.
Silver Age, the age in the Greek mythology in succession to the Golden; gold being viewed as the reality, and silver the idle reflection. See Ages and Golden Age.
Simeon, St., the aged seer who received the infant Christ in his arms as He was presented to the Lord by His mother in the Temple; usually so represented in Christian art.
Simeon Stylites, famous as one of the Pillar Saints (q. v.).
Simferopol (36), a town in the Crimea, 49 m. NE. of Sebastopol; surrounded by gardens, orchards, and vineyards; exports a great quantity of fruit.
Simla (15, but largely increased in summer), the chief town of a district in the Punjab, and since 1864 the summer hill-quarters of the British Government in India; beautifully situated on the wooded southern slopes of the Himalayas, 7156 ft. above sea-level, and 170 m. N. of Delhi; has a cool and equable climate, and possesses two vice-regal palaces, government buildings, beautiful villas, &c.
Simms, William Gilmore, a prolific American writer, born at Charleston, South Carolina; turned from law to literature; engaged in journalism for some years, and found favour with the public as a writer of poems, novels, biographies, &c., in which he displays a gift for rapid, vivid narrative, and vigour of style; “Southern Passages and Pictures” contains characteristic examples of his poetry, and of his novels “The Yemassee,” “The Partisan,” and “Beauchampe” may be mentioned (1806-1870).
Simon, Jules, French statesman and distinguished writer on social, political, and philosophic subjects, born at Lorient; succeeded Cousin in the chair of Philosophy at the Sorbonne; entered the Chamber of Deputies in 1848; lost his post at the Sorbonne in 1852 for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to Napoleon III.; subsequently became Minister of Education under Thiers (1871-73), a life-senator in 1875, and in 1876 Republican Prime Minister; later more conservative in his attitude, he edited the Echo Universel, and was influential as a member of the Supreme Educational Council, and as permanent secretary of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences; his voluminous works include treatises on “Liberty,” “Natural Religion,” “Education,” “Labour,” &c., and various philosophic and political essays (1814-1896).
Simon, Richard, a celebrated French biblical scholar, born at Dieppe; entered the Congregation of the Oratory in 1659, and became professor of Philosophy at the College of Juilly; was summoned to Paris, and under orders of his superiors spent some time in cataloguing the Oriental MSS. in the library of the Oratory; his free criticisms and love of controversy got him into trouble with the Port-Royalists and the Benedictines, and the heterodoxy of his “Histoire Critique du Vieux Testament” (1678) brought about his withdrawal to Belleville, where he remained as curé till 1682, when he retired to Dieppe to continue his work on Old and New Testament criticism; he ranks as among the first to deal with the scriptural writings as literature, and he anticipated not a few of the later German theories (1638-1712).
Simon Magus, a sorcerer, one who by his profession of magic aggrandised himself at the expense of the people of Samaria, and who, when he saw the miracles wrought by the Apostles, and St. Peter in particular, offered them money to confer the like power on himself; Peter's well-known answer was not without effect on him, but it was only temporary, for he afterwards appeared in Rome and continued to impose upon the people so as to persuade them to believe him as an incarnation of the Most High. Hence Simony, the sin of making gain by the buying or selling of spiritual privileges for one's material profit.
Simonides of Amorgos, a Greek poet who flourished in the 7th century B.C.; dealt in gnome and satire, among the latter on the different classes of women.
Simonides of Ceos, one of the most celebrated lyric poets of Greece; spent most of his life in Athens, employed his poetic powers in celebrating the events and heroes of the Persian wars; gained over Æschylus the prize for an elegy on those who fell at Marathon; composed epigrams over the tombs of the Spartans who fell at Thermopylæ, and in his eightieth year was crowned victor at Athens; shortly after this was invited by Hiero to Syracuse, at whose court he died; his poetry was distinguished at once for sweetness and finish; he was a philosopher as well as a poet (556-467 B.C.).
Simoom or Simoon, a hot, dry wind-storm common to the arid regions of Africa, Arabia, and parts of India; the storm moves in cyclone (circular) form, carrying clouds of dust and sand, and produces on men and animals a suffocating effect.
Simplon, a mountain in the Swiss Alps, in the canton of Valais, traversed by the famous Simplon Pass (6594 ft. high), which stretches 41 m. from Brieg in Valais to Domo d'Ossola in Piedmont, passing over 611 bridges and through many great tunnels, built by Napoleon 1800-6.
Simpson, Sir James Young, physician, born, the son of a baker, at Bathgate, Linlithgowshire; graduated M.D. at Edinburgh in 1832; was assistant to the professor of Pathology and one of the Presidents of the Royal Medical Society before his election to the chair of Midwifery in 1840; as an obstetrician his improvements and writings won him wide repute, which became European on his discovery of chloroform in 1847; was one of the Queen's physicians, and was created a baronet in 1866; published “Obstetric Memoirs,” “Archæological Essays,” &c. (1811-1870).
Simrock, Karl Joseph, German scholar and poet, born at Bonn; studied at Bonn and Berlin, where he became imbued with a love for old German literature, in connection with which he did his best-known work; modernised the “Nibelungen Lied” (1827), and after his withdrawal from the Prussian service gave himself to his favourite study, becoming professor of Old German in 1850, and popularising and stimulating inquiry into the old national writings by volumes of translations, collections of folk-songs, stories, &c.; was also author of several volumes of original poetry (1802-1876).
Sims, George Robert, playwright and novelist, born in London; was for a number of years on the staff of Fun and a contributor to the Referee and Weekly Dispatch, making his mark by his humorous and pathetic Dagonet ballads and stories; has been a busy writer of popular plays (e. g. “The Lights o' London,” “The Romany Rye”) and novels (e. g. “Rogues and Vagabonds,” “Dramas of Life”); contributed noteworthy letters to the Daily News on the condition of the London poor; b. 1847.
Simson, Robert, mathematician, born in Ayrshire; abandoned his intention of entering the Church and devoted himself to the congenial study of mathematics, of which he became professor in the old university at Glasgow (1711), a position he held for 50 years; was the author of the well-known “Elements of Euclid,” but is most celebrated as the first restorer of Euclid's lost treatise on “Porisms” (1687-1768).
Sinai, Mount, one of a range of three mountains on the peninsula between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Akaba, at the head of the Red Sea, and from the summit or slopes of which Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments at the hands of Jehovah.
Sincerity, in Carlyle's ethics the one test of all worth in a human being, that he really with his whole soul means what he is saying and doing, and is courageously ready to front time and eternity on the stake.
Sinclair, name of a Scottish family of Norman origin whose founder obtained from David I. the grant of Roslin, near Edinburgh.
Sinclair, Sir John, philanthropist and statistician, born at Thurso Castle, bred to the bar; succeeding to the family estate devoted himself to his duties as a landed proprietor; sat for different constituencies in Parliament; published in 1784 “History of the Revenue of the British Empire,” and in 1791-99, in 21 vols., “Statistical Account of Scotland” (1754-1835).
Sind, Sindh, or Scinde (2,903), a province of North-West India, in the Presidency of Bombay; extends from Beluchistan and Punjab (N.) to the Indian Ocean and Runn of Cutch (S.); traversed by the Indus, whose delta it includes, and whose broad alluvial valley-tracts yield abundant crops of wheat, barley, hemp, rice, cotton, etc., which are exported, and give employment to the majority of the people; N. and E. are wide stretches of desert-land, and in the S. are the Hala Mountains; was annexed to the British possessions after the victories of Sir Charles Napier in 1843; chief city and port is Kurrachee.
Sindia, the hereditary title of the Mahratta dynasty in Gwalior, Central India, founded in 1738 by Ranojee Sindia, who rose from being slipper-bearer to the position of hereditary prime minister of the Mahrattas; these princes, both singly and in combination with other Mahratta powers, offered determined resistance to the British, but in 1803 the confederated Mahratta power was broken by Sir Arthur Wellesley, and a large portion of their territory passed into British hands. Gwalior having been restored (1805), and retaken in 1844, the Sindia dynasty was reinstated under a more stringent treaty, and Boji Rao Sindia proved faithful during the Mutiny, receiving various marks of good-will from the British; was succeeded by his adopted son, a child of six, in 1886.
Singapore, 1, (185, chiefly Chinese), the most important of the British Straits Settlements (q. v.); consists of the island of Singapore and upwards of 50 islets, off the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula, from which it is separated by a narrow strait (2 to ½ m. broad); is hot, humid, and low-lying, yet healthy, and possessing a fertile soil which grows all kinds of spices, fruits, sugar-cane, coffee, etc.; purchased by the British in 1824. 2, Capital (160) and port, on the Strait of Singapore, close to the equator; the chief emporium of trade with the East Indies and South-Eastern Asia generally; is a picturesque and handsome town, strongly fortified, and an important naval coaling station and depôt, with spacious harbour, docks, etc.
Sinology, the science treating of the language, literature, laws, and history of the Chinese.
Sinon, a wily Greek who beguiled the Trojans and persuaded them to admit the Wooden Horse into the city, to its ruin.
Sinope (8), a seaport of Turkey in Asia, situated on a narrow isthmus connecting with the mainland the rocky headland of Cape Sinope which projects into the Black Sea, 350 m. NE. of Constantinople; possesses two fine harbours, naval arsenal, Byzantine ruins, etc.; an ancient Greek town, the birthplace of Diogenes, and capital of Mithridates; it was captured by the Turks in 1461, who themselves in 1853 suffered a disastrous naval defeat in the Bay of Sinope at the hands of the Russians.
Sion, capital of the Swiss canton of Valais, on the Rhine, 42 m. E. of Lausanne; is a mediæval town, with an old Gothic cathedral, and in the neighbourhood ruined castles.
Siout or Asioot (32), capital of Upper Egypt; commands a fine view near the Nile, 200 m. S. of Cairo; has a few imposing mosques and a government palace; is a caravan station, and noted for its red and black pottery; occupies the site of the ancient city of Lycopolis.
Sioux or Dakota Indians, a North American Indian tribe, once spread over the territory lying between Lake Winnipeg (N.) and the Arkansas River (S.), but now confined chiefly to South Dakota and Nebraska. Failure on the part of the United States Government to observe certain treaty conditions led to a great uprising of the Sioux in 1862, which was only put down at a great cost of blood and treasure; conflicts also took place in 1876 and 1890, the Indians finding in their chief, Sitting Bull, a determined and skilful leader.
Sirdar, a name given to a native chief in India.
Siren, an instrument for measuring the number of aërial vibrations per second, and thereby the pitch of a given note.
Sirens, in the Greek mythology a class of nymphs who were fabled to lure the passing sailor to his ruin by the fascination of their music; Ulysses, when he passed the beach where they were sitting, had his ears stuffed with wax and himself lashed to the mast till he was at a safe distance from the influence of their charm. Orpheus, however, as he passed them in the Argonautic expedition so surpassed their music by his melodious notes, that in very shame they flung themselves into the sea and were changed into boulders.
Sirius or The Dog-Star, the brightest star in the heavens, one of the stars of the Southern constellation of Canis Major; is calculated to have a bulk three times that of the sun, and to give 70 times as much light. See Dog-Days.
Sirkar, a name used in India to designate the government.
Sirocco. See Simoom.
Sismondi, Jean Charles Léonard Simonde de, celebrated Swiss historian, born at Geneva; son of a Protestant clergyman of Italian descent; the family fortune was lost in the troublous days of the French Revolution, and exile in England and Italy followed, but in 1800 Sismondi returned to Geneva, and having received a municipal appointment gave himself to literary pursuits; the works which have established his reputation are his great histories of “The Italian Republics in the Middle Ages,” “European Literature,” and “A. History of the French”; wrote also on political economy (1773-1842).
Sistine Chapel, celebrated chapel of the Vatican at Rome, constructed by order of Pope Sixtus IV., and decorated with frescoes by Michael Angelo, representing a succession of biblical subjects, including among others the “Creation of the World,” the “Creation of Man,” the “Creation of Woman,” the “Temptation of Eve,” the “Deluge,” “Judith and Holophernes,” “David and Goliath,” “The Last Judgment,” &c.
Sistova (12), a town of Bulgaria, on the Danube, 33 m. above Rustchuk; carries on trade in wine, leather, and cereals; was captured by the Russians in 1877.
Sisyphus, a mythical king of Corinth, who for some offence he gave the gods was carried off to the nether world, and there doomed to roll a huge block up a hill, which no sooner reached the top than it bounded back again, making his toil endless.
Sitka or New Archangel (1), capital of Alaska, on the W. coast of Baranof Island, overhung by snowy mountains; has a good harbour; salmon fishing and curing the chief employment of most of the inhabitants, mostly Indians.
Siva or Çiva, the Destroyer in the Hindu trinity, in which Brahma is the Creator and Vishnu the Preserver; Vishnu representing, as it were, death issuing in life, and Siva life issuing in death, the transition point, and Brahma, who, by means of them, “kills that he may make alive.” He is worshipped as “Mahâdêva” or the great god, and his worshippers are called Saivas or Çaivas, as distinct from those of Vishnu, which are called Vaishnavas. The linga (q. v.) is his symbol, in emblem of the creation which follows destruction. See Psalm xc. 3.
Sivaji, the founder of the Mahratta power in India, a bold warrior but an unlettered, of Rajput descent, brought up at Poona; began his career at 19; on his succession assumed the title of rajah in 1664, and was enthroned at Raigpur in 1674, and died sovereign of the whole Deccan (1627-1680).
Six Articles. See Bloody Statute.
Sixtus, the name of five Popes. S. I., St., Pope from 116 to 125; S. II., St., Pope from 257 to 259; S. III., Pope from 432 to 440; S. IV., Pope from 1471 to 1484; S. V., Pope from 1585 to 1590; of whom only two are of any note.
Sixtus IV., born near Savona, the son of a fisherman; became general of the Franciscans; succeeded Paul II. as Pope; was notorious for his nepotism; abetted Pazzi in his conspiracy against the Medici at Florence, but was a good administrator, and a man of liberal views; b. 1414.
Sixtus V., born near Monalto, of poor parents, was of the Franciscan order, and famed as a preacher; was elected successor to Gregory XIII., during whose pontificate he affected infirmity, to reveal himself a vigorous pontiff as soon as he was installed; set himself at once to stamp out disorder, reform the administration, and replenish the exhausted treasury of the Church; he allowed freedom of worship to the Jews, and yet was zealous to put down all heresy in the Christian States of Europe; his services to Rome were not repaid with gratitude, for the citizens destroyed his statue on his death; b. 1521.
Sizar, a poor student at the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, so called from the size or allowance of food they were recipients of out of the college buttery.
Skager-Rack, an arm of the North Sea stretching NE. between Norway and Denmark, and connecting the Cattegat with the North Sea, 140 m. long and 70 broad, the deep water being on the Norwegian coast.
Skald, an old Scandinavian poet, a reciter or singer of poems in praise of the Norse warriors and their deeds.
Skean-dhu, a small dirk which a Highlander wears in his stocking.
Skeat, Walter William, English philologist, born in London; professor of Anglo-Saxon at Cambridge; author of “Etymological Dictionary of the English Language,” and a great authority on Early English literature; the first Director of the Dialect Society, established in 1873; b. 1835.
Skeggs, Miss, a character in the “Vicar of Wakefield,” boastful for her aristocratic connections and delicacy of taste, but vulgar at bottom.
Skelton, John, early English satirist, his chief poetic works being “Why come ye not to Courte,” a satire against Wolsey; the “Book of Colin Clout,” against the corruption of the Church; and the “Book of Phyllyp Sparrow,” the grief of a nun for the death of her sparrow; Erasmus calls him “the glory and light of English letters” (1460?-1528).
Skene, William Forbes, Scottish historian, born in Kincardineshire, bred to law; devoted 40 years of his life to the study of the early, in particular the Celtic, periods of Scottish history, and was from 1881 historiographer for Scotland (1809-1892).
Skerryvore, a rock with a lighthouse, one of an extensive reef 10 m. W. of Tiree, on the west coast of Scotland; the light is a revolving one; is seen at the distance of over 18 nautical miles.
Skiddaw, a mountain in Cumberland, 3054 ft. in height; is some 6 m. from Keswick, whence it is of easy ascent.
Skimpole, Harold, a plausible character in “Bleak House,” who was in the habit of sponging his friends.
Skinner, John, author of “Tullochgorum,” born in Bervie, Aberdeenshire; originally a schoolmaster; became an Episcopal clergyman (1721-1807).
Skipton (10), a market-town in Yorkshire, 26 m. NW. of Leeds; population largely engaged in agriculture; has manufactures of cotton and woollen goods.
Skobeleff, Michael, a Russian general, distinguished himself by his bravery in the Russian service, particularly in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78; was a leader in the Panslavist movement; died suddenly (1841-1882).
Skye (16), next to Lewis the largest of the Hebrides Islands, belongs to the Inner group, and is included in Inverness-shire, from the mainland of which it is separated by the narrow channel Kyle Rhea; has a deeply indented coast-line, and a picturesquely diversified surface of mountain, moor, and loch; the most notable features being the lofty Coolin Hills (highest point 3234 ft.), Loch Coruisk, Glen Sligachan, and the wild columnar height of basalt, the Quiraing; sheep and Highland cattle are raised, and valuable ling, cod, and herring fisheries are carried on in the coastal waters. Portree is the chief town and port, but is little better than a small village.
Slade, Felix, antiquary and art-collector; left his art-collection to the British Museum, and money to found Slade professorships of art at Oxford, Cambridge, and London Universities (1789-1868).
Slave Coast, name given to the Bight of Benin, in West Africa, from Lagos to the Volta River.
Slavonia, a kingdom that at one time included Croatia and that lies between the Drave and the Military Frontier.
Slavs, an important branch of the Aryan race-stock, comprising a number of European peoples chiefly in East Europe, including the Russians, Bulgarians, Servians, Bohemians, Poles, Croatians, Moravians, Silesians, Pomeranians, &c. At the dawn of history we find them already settled in Europe, chiefly in the neighbourhood of the Carpathians, whence they spread N., S., and W., assuming their present position by the 7th century. They are estimated to number now 100,000,000, and the various languages spoken by them are notable, compared with the Teutonic and Celtic tongues, for their rich inflections.
Slawkenbergius, an author quoted and referred to in “Tristram Shandy,” distinguished by the length of his nose, and a great authority on the subject of noses.
Sleeping Beauty, a princess who was by enchantment shut up to sleep 100 years in a castle surrounded by a dense forest, and was delivered from her trance at the end of that term by a prince, to admit whom the forest opened of itself.
Sleipnir, in the Scandinavian mythology the horse of Odin, which had eight legs, as representing the wind with its eight principal “airts.”
Sleswick-Holstein (1,217), a province of North Prussia, stretching up to Denmark, between the North Sea and the Baltic; various canals cross the country, bearing to the coast the export produce—corn and cattle; the land is highly cultivated, and fishing is an important industry on the Baltic coast; Flensburg, the chief seaport, and Sleswick (15), the capital, are both situated on inlets of the Baltic; the latter lies 28 m. NW. of Kiel, consists of a single street 3½ m. long, and possesses a fine Gothic cathedral with a fine altar-piece, &c., the sections representing the history of the Passion of Christ.
Slick, Sam, a clockmaker and pedlar, a character illustrating Yankee peculiarities, and remarkable for his wit, his knowledge of human nature, and his use of “soft sawder,” a creation of Judge Haliburton's (q. v.).
Sligo, 1, a maritime county of North-West Ireland (98), in the province of Connaught; fronts the Atlantic on the N. between Mayo (W.) and Leitrim (E.), Roscommon forming the S. boundary; the land, sloping N. to the coast from the Ox Mountains, is chiefly under grass for cattle pasture, and divided into small holdings; Sligo Bay is a fine sheet of water, and in the S. and E. are the picturesque Loughs Arrow and Gill; the manufacture of coarse woollens and linens and fishing are the principal industries; the Moy, Owenmore, and Garvogue are navigable rivers. 2, At the mouth of the Garvogue stands Sligo (10), the county town, 137 m. NW. of Dublin; has ruins of a 13th-century Dominican abbey, a Roman Catholic cathedral, and exports cattle, corn, butter, &c.
Sloane, Sir Hans, physician and naturalist, born in co. Down, Ireland, of Scotch descent; settled as a physician in London; attained the highest distinction as a professional man; his museum, which was a large one, of natural objects, books, and MSS. became by purchase the property of the nation, and formed the nucleus of the British Museum (1660-1753).
Slöjd (sleight), a system of manual training adopted to develop technical skill originally in the schools of Sweden and Finland; is education of the eye as well as the hand.
Slop, Doctor, a choleric physician in “Tristram Shandy.”
Slough of Despond, a deep bog in the “Pilgrim's Progress,” into which Christian sinks under the weight of his sins and his sense of their guilt.
Slovaks, a Slavonic peasant people numbering some 2,000,000, subject to the crown of Hungary since the 11th century, and occupying the highlands of North-West Hungary; speak a dialect of Czech.
Slovenians, a Slavonic people akin to the Servians and Croatians in Austro-Hungary, dwelling chiefly in Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola.
Sly, Christopher, a drunken sot of a tinker in the “Induction” to “Taming of the Shrew.”
Smart, Christopher, English poet, born in Kent; was a Fellow of Cambridge and a friend of Johnson's; author of the “Song to David,” now famous, much overrated, think some; he was subject to insanity, and it was written during lucid intervals; he was the author of a prose translation of Horace (1722-1771).
Smeaton, John, civil engineer, born near Leeds; began life as a mathematical instrument-maker; made improvements in mill-work, and gained the Copley Medal in 1758; visited the principal engineering works in Holland and Belgium; was entrusted with the rebuilding of Eddystone Lighthouse (q. v.) after it was in 1755 burnt down, which he finished in 1759; did other engineering work in the construction of canals, harbours, and mills, rising to the summit of his profession (1724-1792).
Smectymnuus, a pamphlet written in 1641, the title of which is made up of the initial letters of the names of the authors.
Smelfungus, a name given by Sterne to Smollett as author of volume of “Travels through France and Italy,” for the snarling abuse he heaps on the institutions and customs of the countries he visited; a name Carlyle assumes when he has any seriously severe criticisms to offer on things particularly that have gone or are going to the bad.
Smiles, Samuel, author of “Self-Help,” born in Haddington; was bred to medicine, and professed it for a time, but abandoned it for literary and other work; wrote the “Life of George Stephenson” in 1857, followed by “Self-Help” two years after; b. 1812.
Smith, Adam, political economist, born in Kirkcaldy, Fife; studied at Glasgow and Oxford, went to Edinburgh and became acquainted with David Hume and his confrères; was appointed to the chair of Logic in Glasgow in 1751, and the year after of Moral Philosophy; produced in 1759 his “Theory of Moral Sentiments,” visited Paris with the young Duke of Buccleuch, got acquainted with Quesnay, D'Alembert, and Necker, and returning in 1766, settled in his native place under a pension from the Duke of Buccleuch, where in 1776 he produced his “Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,” a work to which he devoted 10 years of his life, and which has had a world-wide influence, and that has rendered his name world-famous; in 1778 he settled in Edinburgh as Commissioner of Customs for Scotland, and in 1787 was elected Lord Rector of Glasgow University (1723-1790).
Smith, Alexander, poet, born in Kilmarnock; began life as a pattern-designer, contributed to the Glasgow Citizen, wrote a volume of poems, “A Life Drama,” and produced other works in a style characterised as “spasmodic,” and which, according to Tennyson, “showed fancy, but not imagination” (1880-1807).
Smith, George, Assyriologist, born at London; trained as a bank-note engraver, but attracted the attention of Sir Henry Rawlinson by his interest in cuneiform inscriptions, and in 1867 received an appointment in the British Museum; acquired great skill as an interpreter of Assyrian inscriptions, published “Annals of Assurbanipal,” and in 1872 discovered a tablet with the “Chaldean Account of the Deluge”; carried through important expeditions (1871-3-6) in search of antiquities in Nineveh and other parts of Assyria, accounts of which he published; wrote also histories of Babylonia, Assyria, Sennacherib, &c. (1840-1876).
Smith, Goldwin, English man of letters, born in Berks; was at one time intimately associated with Oxford University, went to America and became professor of English History in Cornell University, and since 1871 has settled in Canada, and believes that Canada will be annexed to the United States; has written a number of books and pamphlets, one on the “Relations between England and America” and another on “The Political Destiny of Canada”; he is an ultra-Liberal; b. 1823.
Smith, James and Horace, authors of the famous parodies “The Rejected Addresses,” born at London: James, in business as a solicitor, and Horace, a wealthy stockbroker; both were occasional contributors to the periodical press before the public offer of a prize for the best poetical address to be spoken at the re-opening of Drury Lane Theatre prompted them to issue a series of “Rejected Addresses,” parodying the popular writers of the day—Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, Scott, Byron, &c.; intensely clever, these parodies have never been surpassed in their kind; Horace was also a busy writer of novels now forgotten, and also published two vols. of poetry; James subsequently wrote a number of Charles Mathews' “Entertainments” (James, 1775-1839; Horace, 1779-1849).
Smith, John, Cambridge Platonist, born in Northamptonshire; left “Select Discourses,” giving signs both of spiritual insight and vigour of thinking (1616-1652).
Smith, John, sailor, born in Lincolnshire; had a life of adventure and peril, and became leader of the English colonists of Virginia; established friendly relations with the Indians, returned to this country twice over, and introduced Pocahontas (q. v.) to the Queen; died at Gravesend (1580-1631).
Smith, Sydney, political writer and wit, born at Woodford, Essex, of partly English and partly Huguenot blood; educated at Westminster and Oxford, bred for the Church; after a brief curacy in Wiltshire settled in Edinburgh from 1798 to 1803, where, while officiating as a clergyman, he became one of the famous editors of the Edinburgh Review, and a contributor; settled for a time afterwards in London, where he delivered a series of admirable lectures on ethics, till he was appointed to a small living in Yorkshire, and afterwards to a richer living in Somerset, and finally a canonry in St. Paul's; his writings deal with abuses of the period, and are, except his lectures perhaps, all out of date now (1771-1845).
Smith, Sir William, classical and biblical scholar, born in London; distinguished himself at the university there and took a course of law at Gray's Inn, but followed his bent for scholarship, and in 1840-42 issued his great “Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities,” following it up with the “Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology” and the “Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography”; did eminent service to the cause of education by a series of popular editions of Greek and Latin texts, school grammars, dictionaries, &c.; not less valuable are his “Dictionary of the Bible,” &c.; was editor of the Quarterly Review from 1867, and in 1892 received a knighthood (1813-1893).
Smith, William Robertson, biblical scholar and critic, born at Keig, Aberdeenshire; educated for the Scottish Free Church, became professor of Hebrew in the connection at Aberdeen; was prosecuted for heresy in the matter of the origin of the books of the Old Testament, and finally removed from the chair; became joint-editor of the “Encyclopædia Britannica,” and finally professor of Arabic at Cambridge; he was a man of versatile ability, extensive scholarship, keen critical acumen, and he contributed not a little to vindicate the claims of the scholar in regard to the Bible (1846-1894).
Smith, Sir William Sidney, British admiral, born at Westminster; entered the navy at 12, became a captain after many gallant services at 18, was naval adviser to the king of Sweden and knighted, joined Lord Hood off Toulon and helped to burn the French fleet; was taken prisoner by the French in 1796, and after two years made his escape; forced Napoleon to raise the siege of Acre, and was wounded at Aboukir; was rewarded with a pension of £1000, and raised in the end to the rank of admiral (1764-1840).
Smithfield or Smoothfield, an open space of ground in London, N. of Newgate, long famous for its live-stock markets; in olden times lay outside the city walls, and was used as a place of recreation and of executions; the scene of William Wallace's execution and the death of Wat Tyler; gradually surrounded by the encroaching city, the cattle-market became a nuisance, and was abolished in 1855; is partly laid out as a garden.
Smithsonian Institution, a celebrated American institution “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men,” in Washington; founded and endowed by James Macie Smithson, a natural son of the Duke of Northumberland, a zealous chemist and mineralogist, after having had a paper rejected by the Royal Society, of which he was a Fellow. The building is one of the finest in the capital; is under government control, and the President of the United States is ex officio the head of the institution; encourages scientific research, administers various funds, and directs expeditions for scientific purposes.
Smoky City, Pittsburg, in Pennsylvania, from the effect produced by the bituminous coal used in the manufactories.
Smolensk (34), an ancient town of Russia, and capital of a government (1,412) of the same name, on the Dnieper, 244 m. SW. of Moscow; is surrounded by walls; has a fine cathedral, and is strongly fortified; carries on a good grain trade; here in 1812 Napoleon defeated the Russians under Barclay de Tolly and Bagration on his march to Moscow in August 1812.
Smollett, Tobias George, novelist, born at Dalquhurn, Dumbartonshire, of good family; bred to medicine, but drifted to literature, in prosecution of which he set out to London at the age of 18; his first effort was a failure; he took an appointment as a surgeon's mate on board a war-ship in 1746, which landed him for a time in the West Indies; on his return to England in 1748 achieved his first success in “Roderick Random,” which was followed by “Peregrine Pickle” in 1751, “Count Fathom” in 1755, and “Humphrey Clinker” in 1771, added to which he wrote a “History of England,” and a political lampoon, “The Adventures of an Atom”; his novels have no plot, but “in inventive tale-telling and in cynical characterisation he is not easily equalled” (1721-1771).
Smriti, in the Hindu religion the name given to traditional usage, as opposed to Sruti, or revelation, and from which proceeded, at a later date, the body of laws, such as that of Manu, in which the morality prescribed is, “sound, solid, and practical.”
Smyrna (210), a town of great antiquity, since ancient times the chief port of Asia Minor; is situated amid surrounding hills at the head of the Gulf of Smyrna, an arm of the Ægean Sea; has no imposing structures, and is, especially in the Turkish quarter, ill-drained and crowded; is the seat of the Turkish Governor-General of the province, of archbishops, Roman Catholic, Greek, and Armenian; manufactures embrace carpets, pottery, cottons and woollens; a splendid harbour favours a large import and export trade; for long a possession of Greece and then of Rome, it finally fell into the hands of the Turks in 1424.
Smyrna, Gulf of, an inlet of the Ægean Sea, 40 m. in length by 20 m. in breadth, with an excellent anchorage.
Snake River, chief tributary of the Columbia; rises in Wyoming amid the Rockies; flows S. and NW. through Idaho, forming the Shoshone Falls, rivalling Niagara, which they exceed in height; through Southern Washington it flows W. under the name of the Lewis River or Fork, and discharges into the Columbia after a course of 1050 m.
Snake-stones, stones popularly believed to cure the bites of snakes, probably due to a porosity in their substance drawing off the poison.
Snider, Jacob, American mechanical genius; invented a method of converting muzzle-loading rifles into breech-loading; died unrewarded in 1866.
Snodgrass, Augustus, a member of the Pickwick Club in the “Pickwick Papers.”
Snorri Sturlason, Icelandic historian and poet; published the collection of sagas entitled “Heimskringla,” among which were many songs of his own composition; was a man of position and influence in Iceland, but having provoked the ill-will of Haco was at his instigation assassinated in 1241. See Edda.
Snowdon, a mountain range in Carnarvon, North Wales, extending from the coast to near Conway; it has five distinct summits, of which Moel-y-Wyddfa (the conspicuous peak) is the highest, being 3560 ft.; the easiest ascent is from Llanberis on the N., and is the route usually taken by tourists, for whose behoof there is a house on the summit.
Soane, Sir John, English architect, who left his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields with art collection to the nation at his death in 1837.
Sobieski, surname of the great patriot king of Poland, John III., in the 17th century; born at Olesko, in Galicia; was elected king of Poland in 1674, having, by repeated victories over the Turks and Russians, shown himself the greatest soldier of his country; proved a wise and brave ruler, a true leader of his people, and with unbroken success defied the utmost efforts of the infidel Turks (1624-1696).
Sobraon (4), a town in the Punjab, India, on the Sutlej, in the vicinity of which Sir Henry Gough won the decisive victory over the Sikhs, 10th February 1846.
Socage, name given to a feudal tenure by a certain and determinate service other than knight service.
Social War, name given to an Insurrection of the allied States in Italy against the domination of Rome, and which lasted from 90 to 88 B.C., in consequence of their exclusion from the rights of citizenship and the privileges attached; they formed a league to assert their rights, which ended in defeat.
Socialism, a social system which, in opposition to the competitive system that prevails at present, seeks to reorganise society on the basis, in the main, of a certain secularism in religion, of community of interest, and co-operation in labour for the common good, agreeably to the democratic spirit of the time and the changes required by the rise of individualism and the decay of feudalism.
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, a society founded in 1698 which during the last 200 years has originated and supported a number of agencies, both in this country and abroad, for propagating Christian knowledge; distributed into a number of separate departments.
Society Islands (24), an archipelago in the South Pacific, consisting of 13 principal islands and numerous islets, the chief being Tahiti; they are mountainous, and engirdled by belts of flat land as well as coral reefs; have a fertile soil and luxuriant vegetation, while the climate is healthy though enervating; the inhabitants are intelligent but indolent, and the land is worked by immigrant races.
Society of Jesus, the Jesuit order founded by Ignatius Loyola (q. v.).
Socinians, a sect of the Unitarian body who, in the 16th century, take their name from Faustus Socinus (q. v.), who, besides denying the doctrine of the Trinity, deny the divinity of Christ and the divine inspiration of Scripture; they arose into importance originally in Poland, and in the 17th century spread by degrees in Prussia, the Netherlands, and England.
Socinus, Faustus, a theologian, born in Italy; had for his views to exile himself for years, and was much persecuted for his opinions; in Cracow, where he dwelt for a time, he was by a mob dragged from a sick-bed half-naked along the street, had his house robbed and his papers burned (1530-1601).
Sociology, the science which treats of the nature and the developments of society and of social institutions; a science to which Herbert Spencer, in succession to Comte, has contributed more than any other scientist, deducing, as he does, a series of generalisations by comparison of individual organisms with social.
Socotra (10), an island off the E. coast of Africa, 148 m. NE. of Cape Guardafui, over 70 m. long and 20 m. broad; it is mountainous, surrounded by a margin of plain land from 2 to 4 m. broad; is comparatively barren; is inhabited by Mohammedans, who rear sheep, goats, and cattle; exports aloes, hides, and pearls; the sultan is a feudatory of Britain.
Socrates, Athenian philosopher, pronounced by the Delphic oracle the wisest of men; was the son of Sophroniscus, a statuary, and Phænarete, a midwife; was brought up to his father's profession, in which it would seem he gave promise of success; he lived all his days in Athens, and gathered about him as his pupils all the ingenuous youth of the city; he wrote no book, propounded no system, and founded no school, but was ever abroad in the thoroughfares in all weather talking to whoso would listen, and instilling into all and sundry a love of justice and truth; of quacks and pretenders he was the sworn foe, and he cared not what enmity he provoked if he could persuade one and another to think and do what was right; “he was so pious,” says Xenophon in his “Memorabilia,” “that he did nothing without the sanction of the gods; so just, that he never wronged any one, even in the least degree; so much master of himself, that he never preferred the agreeable to the good; so wise, that in deciding on the better and the worse he never faltered; in short, he was the best and happiest man that could possibly exist;” he failed not to incur enmity, and his enemies persecuted him to death; he was charged with not believing in the State religion, with introducing new gods, and corrupting the youth, convicted by a majority of his judges and condemned to die; thirty days elapsed between the passing of the sentence and its execution, during which period he held converse with his friends and talked of the immortality of the soul; to an offer of escape he turned a deaf ear, drank the hemlock potion prepared for him with perfect composure, and died; “the difference between Socrates and Jesus Christ,” notes Carlyle in his “Journal,” “the great Conscious, the immeasurably great Unconscious; the one cunningly manufactured, the other created, living and life-giving; the epitome this of a grand and fundamental diversity among men; but did any truly great man ever,” he asks, “go through the world without offence, all rounded in, so that the current moral systems could find no fault in him? most likely never” (469-399 B.C.).
Socrates, Apology of, a work of Plato's, being a speech put into the mouth of Socrates before the Areopagus (q. v.) in his defence in answer to the charge brought against him, and which Plato wrote after his death.
Socrates, Church historian of the 4th century, born at Byzantium; bred to the bar; his “Ecclesiastical History” embraces a period from 306 to 439, a work of no great merit.
Sodom and Gomorrah, two ancient cities which, for their wickedness were, as the Bible relates, consumed with fire from heaven; they are supposed to have stood near the S. border of the Dead Sea, though they were not, as was at one time supposed, submerged in the waters of it.
Sofala, a Portuguese maritime district of South-East Africa, stretching from the Zambesi S. to Delagoa Bay, and forming the S. portion of the colony of Mozambique. Sofala (1), chief port on a bay of the same name, is a place of little importance.
Sofia (50), capital since 1878 of Bulgaria; is a fortified town, situated in the broad valley of the Isker, a tributary of the Danube, 75 m. NW. of Philippopolis; has recently largely undergone reconstruction, and with hotels, banks, a government palace, &c., presents a fine modern appearance; has a national university; is an important trade emporium, and is on the Constantinople and Belgrade railway; manufactures cloth, silks, leather, &c., and has long been famed for its hot mineral springs.
Sofronia, a Christian maiden of Jerusalem, who, to avert a general massacre of the Christians by the Mohammedan king, accused herself of the crime for which they were all to suffer, and whose story with the issue is touchingly related in Tasso's “Jerusalem Delivered.”
Soissons (11), a fortified town of North France, dep. Aisne, on the Aisne, 65 m. NE. of Paris; has a 12th-century cathedral and ruins of a famous abbey; chief industries are brewing and the manufacture of various textiles; was a place of much importance in early times, and figures in the wars of Clovis and Pepin, frequently in the Hundred Years' War, and in 1870 was captured by the Germans; is considered the key to Paris from the Netherlands side.
Sokoto (11,000), a native kingdom of West Central Africa, within territories administered now by the British Government; lies between the Soudan (N.) and the river Benuë (S.), the main affluent of the Niger; the dominant people are the Fulahs, exercising sway over various native tribes; is a country capable of much agricultural development, and has large deposits of iron. Wurno (15), the capital, is on the Gandi, 18 m. E. of the town of Sokoto.
Solano, name given to a hot oppressive wind in the Mediterranean.
Solar Cycle, a period of 28 years, within which the first day of the year passes successively through the same sequence of week-days.
Solar Myth, a myth, the subject of which is a deified personification of the sun or phenomena connected with it.
Solar Year, the period of 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes and 52 seconds which the earth takes to complete a revolution of the sun.
Soldan, a corruption of Sultan, and denoting in mediæval romance the Saracen king.
Solecism, the name given to a violation of the syntax or idiom of a language, as well as to an incarnate absurdity of any kind, whether in mind or morals.
Solemn League and Covenant. See Covenant.
Solent, the western portion, Spithead (q. v.) being the eastern, of the strait which separates the Isle of Wight from the mainland of Hants, 17 m. long, with an average breadth of 3 m., but at its W. entrance, opposite Hurst Castle, contracts to ¾ m.
Soleure (86), a canton of North-West Switzerland, between Bern (W. and S.) and Aargau (E); is hilly, but fertile and well cultivated, especially in the valley of the Aar; inhabitants are mainly Catholics and German-speaking. Soleure, the capital (8), situated on the Aar, 18 m. NE. of Berne, has a fine cathedral, and manufactures of cottons, clocks, and cement.
Solfata`ra, a fissure or crevice in the earth which emits sulphurous and other vapours, and in regions where volcanoes have ceased to be active; they are met with in South Italy, the Antilles, Mexico, and Java.
Solferino, a village in North Italy, 20 m. NW. of Mantua, where the Austrians were defeated by the French and Piedmontese in 1859.
Solidarity, community of interest or responsibility; also that community of being which binds humanity into one whole, so that each affects and is affected by all.
Solidus, a Roman gold coin adopted by the Franks, and first coined by them in gold, but subsequently in silver, when it was equivalent to one-twentieth of the libra, or pound; as the “sol” or “sou” it depreciated greatly in value; was minted in copper, and on the introduction of the decimal system its place was taken by a five-centime piece; the “soldo” in Italy, and the Solidus L.S.D. owe their origin to this coin.
Solingen (37), a manufacturing town of Prussia, situated near the Wupper, 13 m. E. of Düsseldorf; has long been famed for its steel and iron works and cutlery manufactures.
Solomon, king of Israel from 1015 to 977 B.C., second son of David and Bathsheba, and David's successor; in high repute far and wide for his love of wisdom and the glory of his reign; he had a truly Oriental passion for magnificence, and the buildings he erected in Jerusalem, including the Temple and a palace on Mount Zion, he raised regardless of an expense which the nation resented after he was gone; the burden of which it would seem had fallen upon them, for when his successor, following in his courses, ascended the throne, ten of the tribes revolted, to the final rupture of the community, and the fall of first the one section and then the other under alien sway.
Solomon of England, an appellation conferred on Henry VII., and also satirically on James I., characterised by Sully as “the wisest fool in Christendom.”
Solomon of France, a title bestowed on Louis IX.
Solomon Islands (167), a large group of islands in the West Pacific, 500 m. E. of New Guinea, the N. islands of which belong to Germany, and the S. to Britain; are volcanic in origin, mountainous, wooded, and thickly populated by Melanesian savages, who are totem worshippers, and still practise cannibalism.
Solomon's Ring, a ring worn by Solomon, in which was a stone from which, according to the Rabbins, he learned whatever he wished to know.
Solon, the great Athenian law-giver, and one of the seven sages of Greece (q. v.), born in Athens, was of royal degree, and kinsman of Pisistratus; began life as a trader, and in that capacity acquired a large experience of the world, and he soon turned his attention to political affairs, and showed such wisdom in the direction of them that he was elected archon in 594 B.C., and in that office was invested with full power to ordain whatever he might deem of advantage for the benefit of the State; he accordingly set about the framing of a constitution in which property, not birth, was made the basis of the organisation, and the title to honour and office in the community; he divided the citizens into four classes, gave additional power to the assemblies of the people, and made the archons and official dignitaries responsible to them in the administration of affairs; when he had finished his work, he ordered the laws he had framed to be engraved on tablets and set up in a public place, then took oath of the people to observe them for ten years, after which he left the country and set out on travel; at the end of the ten years he returned, to find things lapsing into the old disorder, and Pisistratus ready to seize the sovereignty of the State, whereupon he withdrew into private life, and died the subject of a tyrant at the age of eighty (640-559 B.C.).
Solstice, summer and winter, the two recurring periods of the year at which the sun is farthest distant N. or S. from the equator, which mark midsummer and midwinter, the times being the 21st of June and 22nd of December; also applied to the two points in the ecliptic (q. v.), which the sun appears to reach on these two dates.
Solway Firth, an arm of the Irish Sea, and in its upper part forming the estuary of the river Esk, separating Cumberland from the S. of Scotland (Kirkcudbright and Dumfries); stretches inland from Balcarry Point 36 m., and from 2 to 20 m. broad; receives the Annan, Dee, Nith, Eden, and Derwent, and has valuable salmon-fishings; the spring tides ebb and flow with remarkable rapidity, the “bore” often reaching a speed of from 8 to 10 m. an hour; is spanned near Annan by a railway viaduct 1960 yards long.
Solway Moss, a moss, now drained and cultivated, in Cumberland, on the Scottish border, that was the scene of the defeat of the Scotch army in 1542, a disaster which broke the heart of James V.
Solyman II., surnamed The Magnificent, the tenth and greatest of the Ottoman sultans, the son and successor of Selim I.; succeeded his father at 24; set himself at once to reform abuses and place the internal administration on a strict basis, and after making peace with Persia and allaying tumult in Syria, turned his arms westwards, captured Belgrade, and wrested the island of Rhodes from the Knights of St. John; he twice over led his army into Hungary; in connection with the latter invasion laid siege to Vienna, from which he was obliged to retire after the loss of 40,000 men, after which he turned his arms to the east, adding to his territory, and finally to the North of Africa, to the conquest of the greater part of it; he died at Szigeth while opening a new campaign against Hungary; d. 1566.
Soma, the intoxicating juice of a plant offered in libation to a Hindu god, especially to Indra (q. v.), to strengthen him in his war with the demons, and identified with the invigorating and inspiring principle in nature which manifests itself at once in the valour of the soldier and the inspiration of the poet; as a god Soma is the counterpart of Agni (q. v.).
Somai, Brahmo. See Brahmo-Somaj.
Somaliland, a broad plateau of East Africa, bounded by the Gulf of Aden on the N. and the Indian Ocean on the SE.; inhabited by the Somalis, a pastoral people, who rear camels, sheep, and oxen, and are of the Mohammedan faith; are under chiefs, and jealous of strangers.
Somerset House, a handsome Government building in London, with a double frontage on the Strand and the Victoria Embankment, built on the site of the palace of the Protector Somerset, and opened in 1786; accommodates various civil departments of the Government—the Inland Revenue, Audit and Exchequer, Wills and Probate, Registry-General. The east wing is occupied by King's College and School.
Somersetshire (484), a maritime county of England, fronting the Bristol Channel, between Devon (N.) and Gloucester (SW.), with Wilts and Dorset on the E. and S.; diversified by the Mendips (NE.), Quantock Hills, Exmoor (SW.), and other smaller elevations; is yet in the main occupied by wide level plains largely given over to pastoral and dairy farming; watered by the Bristol Avon, the Parret, and other lesser streams; its orchards rank next to those of Devon; is prolific in Roman, Saxon, and ancient British remains; Taunton is the county town, but Bath the largest.
Somerville, Mrs. Mary, a lady skilled in mathematics and physics, born at Jedburgh; was brought up at Burntisland and Edinburgh; contributed to the Transactions of the Royal Society; wrote a book entitled the “Mechanism of the Heavens” on the suggestion of Lord Brougham, as a popularisation of Laplace's “Mechanique Céleste,” which was followed by her “Connection of the Physical Sciences,” “Physical Geography,” and “Molecular and Microscopic Science,” the last published in her ninetieth year; died at Naples (1770-1872).
Somme, 1, a river of North France; rises in the department of Aisne, near St. Quentin, and flows 150 m. SW. and NW. to the English Channel; navigable as far as Abbeville. 2, A department (546) of North France, fronting the English Channel, between Seine-Inférieure (S.) and Pas-de-Calais (N.); one of the most prosperous agricultural and manufacturing districts of France; Amiens (q. v.) is the chief town.
Somnath (7), an ancient maritime town of Oujarat, India, in the SW. of the peninsula of Kathiawar; has interesting memorials of Krishna, who, it is alleged, is hurled in the vicinity; close by is a famous ruined Hindu temple, despoiled in the 11th century of its treasures, sacred idol, and gates; in 1842 Lord Ellenborough brought hack from Afghanistan gates which he thought to be the famous “Gates of Somnath,” but doubt being cast on their authenticity, they were eventually placed in the arsenal of Agra.
Somnath, Idol of, “a mere mass of coarse crockery,” says Jepherson Brick, an imaginary friend of Carlyle's, “not worth five shillings, sat like a great staring god, with two diamonds for eyes, which one day a commander of the Faithful took the liberty to smite once as he rode up with grim battle-axe and heart full of Moslem fire, and which thereupon shivered into a heap of ugly potsherds, yielding from its belly half a waggon-load of gold coins; the gold coins, diamond eyes, and other valuables were carefully picked up by the Faithful; confused jingle of potsherds was left lying; and the idol of Somnath, once showing what it was, had suddenly come to a conclusion.”
Somnus, the god of Sleep, a brother of Death, and a son of Night, represented, he and Death, as two youths sleeping or holding inverted torches in their hands; near the dwelling of Somnus flowed the river of Lethe, which crept along over pebbles, and invited to sleep; he was attended by Morpheus, who inspired pleasing dreams.
Sonata, a musical composition chiefly designed for solo instruments, especially the pianoforte, and consisting generally of three or four contrasted movements—the allegro, adagio, rondo, minuetto or scherzo; reaches its noblest expression in the sonatas of Beethoven.
Sonderbund, the name given to the union of the Catholic cantons (Lucerne, Zug, Freiburg, and Valais) of Switzerland, which led to the civil disturbances of 1845-1846, and the war of 1847.
Sonnet, a form of poetical composition invented in the 13th century, consisting of 14 decasyllabic or hendecasyllabic iambic lines, rhymed according to two well-established schemes which bear the names of their two most famous exponents, Shakespeare and Petrarch. The Shakespearian sonnet consists of three four-lined stanzas of alternate rhymes clinched by a concluding couplet; the Petrarchan of two parts, an octave, the first eight lines rhymed abbaabba, and a sestet, the concluding six lines arranged variously on a three-rhyme scheme.
Sons of the Prophets. See Nebiim.
Sontag, Henrietta, a German singer, born at Coblenz; made her début at 15; had a brilliant career twice over (1806-1854).
Soochoo (500), a large city in China, 50 m. NW. of Shanghai; is intersected by canals, walled all round, and manufactures fine silk.
Sopherim, The, the name by which the Scribes (q. v.) are designated in Jewish literature.
Sophia, Electress of Hanover, youngest daughter of Elizabeth, queen of Bohemia (q. v.), and mother of George I. (1630-1714).
Sophia, St., the personification of the Divine wisdom, to whom, as to a saint, many churches have been dedicated, especially the Church of Constantinople.
Sophie Charlotte, wife of Friedrich I. of Prussia, born in Hanover, daughter of Electress Sophia; famous in her day both as a lady and a queen; was, with her mother, of a philosophic turn; “persuaded,” says Carlyle, “that there was some nobleness for man beyond what the tailor imparts to him, and even very eager to discover it had she known how”; she had the philosopher Leibnitz often with her, “eagerly desirous to draw water from that deep well—a wet rope with cobwebs sticking to it often all she got—endless rope, and the bucket never coming to view” (1668-1705).
Sophists, a sect of thinkers that arose in Greece, and whose radical principle it was that we have only a subjective knowledge of things, and that we have no knowledge at all of objective reality, that things are as they seem to us, and that we have no knowledge of what they are in themselves; “on this field,” says Schwegler, “they disported, enjoying with boyish exuberance the exercise of the power of subjectivity, and destroying, by means of a subjective dialectic, all that had been ever objectively established,” such as “the laws of the State, inherited custom, religious tradition, and popular belief.... They form, in short, the German Aufklärung (q. v.), the Greek Illumination (q. v.). They acknowledged only private judgment and ignored the existence of a judgment that is not private, and has absolute rights irrespective of the sentiments of the individual.”
Sophocles, Athenian tragic poet, born at Colonos, a suburb of Athens; when but 16, such was his musical talent, he was selected to lead the choir that sang the song of triumph over the victory of Salamis; his first appearance as a dramatist was in 488 B.C., when he had Æschylus as his rival and won the prize, though he was seven years afterwards defeated by Euripides, but retrieved the defeat the year following by the production of his “Antigone.” That same year one of the 10 strategi (or generals) and he accompanied Pericles in his war against the aristocrats of Samos. He wrote a number of dramas, over 100 it is alleged, but only 7 survive, and these in probable order are “Ajax,” “Antigone,” “Electra,” “Oedipus Tyrannus,” “Trachineæ,” “Oedipus Coloneus,” and “Philoctetes.” Thus are all his subjects drawn from Greek legend, and they are all alike remarkable for the intense humanity and sublime passion that inspires them and the humane and the high and holy resolves they stir up.
Sorata, a volcanic peak in the Bolivian Andes, 21,470 ft. in height.
Sorbonne, a celebrated college of Paris, taking its name from its founder, Robert of Sorbon, chaplain to Saint Louis in the 13th century; was exclusively devoted to theology, and through the rigour of its discipline and learning of its professors soon exercised a predominant influence on the theological thought of Europe, which it maintained until the new learning of the Renaissance (16th century), together with its own dogmatic conservatism, left it hopelessly stuck in the “Sorbonnian bog” of derelict scholastic theology; became an object of satiric attacks by Boileau, Voltaire, and others, and was suppressed in 1789 at the outburst of the Revolution; was revived by Napoleon in 1808; is at present the seat of the Académie Universitaire de Paris, with faculties of theology, science, and literature.
Sordello, a Provençal poet whom Dante and Virgil met in Purgatory sitting solitary and with a noble haughty mien, but who sprang up at sight of Virgil and embraced him and accompanied him a part of his way; Browning used his name, as the title of a poem showing the conflict a minister experiences in perfecting his craft.
Sorel, Agnes, the mistress of Charles VII. of France, who had a great influence over him; had been maid of honour to the queen (1409-1450).
Sorrow, Sanctuary of, Goethe's name for the fold of Christ, wherein, according to His promise (Matt. v. 4) the “mourners” who might gather together there would find relief and be comforted, the path of sorrow leading up to the “porch” of the sanctuary.
Sorrow, Worship of, Goethe's name for the Christian religion, “our highest religion, for the Son of Man,” Carlyle adds, interpreting this, “there is no noble crown, well worn or even ill worn, but is a crown of thorns.”
Sorrows of the Virgin. See Seven Dolours.
Sorrows of Werther, a work by Goethe and one of his earliest, the production of which constituted a new era in the life of the poet, and marks a new era in the literature of Europe, “as giving expression to a class of feelings deeply important to modern minds, but for which our older poetry offered no exponent, and perhaps could offer none, because they are feelings that arise from Passion incapable of being converted into Action, and belong to an ignorant, uncultivated, and unbelieving age such as ours,” feelings that Byronically, “in dark wayward” mood reflect a mere sense of the miseries of human life.
Sortes Virgilianæ, consulting the pages of Virgil to ascertain one's fortune, by opening the book at random, putting the finger on a passage and taking that for the oracle of fate one is in quest of.
Sostratus, architect of the Pharos of Alexandria, lived in the 3rd century B.C., and was patronised by Ptolemy Philadelphus.
Sothern, Edward Askew, comedian, born in Liverpool; at 23 went on the stage, and for some time was a member of the stock company of the Theatre Royal, Birmingham; afterwards acted in America, and made his mark in Tom Taylor's “Our American Cousin” (1858) in the small part of Lord Dundreary, which he gradually developed into an elaborate and phenomenally successful caricature of an English peer, and in which he appeared thousands of times in America and England; scored a great success also as David Garrick in Robertson's well-known comedy (1826-1881).
Soubise, Duc de, French soldier; served first under Prince Maurice of Orange, and commanded the Huguenots against Louis XIII., but after some successes was compelled to take refuge in England; distinguished himself at the defence of Rochelle, but was defeated again and had to betake himself to England as before, where he died (1589-1641).
Soubise, Prince de, marshal of France; was aide-de-camp to Louis XV. in Flanders, was favoured by Pompadour, held an important command in the Seven Years' War, but was defeated by Frederick the Great at Rossbach (1713-1787).
Soudan or “The Land of the Blacks,” the cradle of the negro race, a vast tract of territory stretching E. and W. across the African continent from the Atlantic (W.) to the Red Sea and Highlands of Abyssinia (E.), between the Sahara (W.) and the Gulf of Guinea and the central equatorial provinces (S.); divided into (a) Upper Soudan, embracing Senegambia, Sierra Leone, Ashanti, Dahomey, Liberia, and west coast-lands; (6) Lower Soudan, including the Fulah States, Massina, Gando, Sokoto, &c.; (c) Egyptian Soudan, which in 1882 was subdivided into (1) West Soudan, including Dar-Fur, Kordofan, Bahr-el-Ghazal, and Dongola; (2) Central Soudan, comprising Khartoum, Sennaar, Berber, Fashoda, and the Equatorial Province, &c.; (3) Eastern Soudan, bordering on the Red Sea, and embracing Taka, Suakim, and Massowah; (4) Harar, stretching E. of Abyssinia. The extension of Egyptian rule into this territory began in 1819 with the capture of Khartoum, which became the base of military operations, ending in the gradual conquest of the surrounding regions in 1874. A serious revolt, fanned by religious fanaticism, broke out in 1882, and headed by the Mahdi (q. v.) and his lieutenant Osman Digna, ended in the utter rout of the Egyptian forces under Hicks Pasha and Baker Pasha; Gordon, after a vain attempt to relieve him, perished in Khartoum; but Stanley was more successful in relieving Emin Bey in the Equatorial Province. Anarchy and despotism ensued until the victorious campaign of Kitchener (q. v.) again restored the lost provinces to Egypt.
Soufflot, French architect of the Pantheon of Paris (1713-1780).
Soul, the name given to the spiritual part of man, the seat of reason (q. v.) and conscience, by which he relates and subordinates himself to the higher spiritual world, inspiring him with a sense of individual responsibility.
Soult, Nicolas-Jean de Dieu, duke of Dalmatia and marshal of France, born at St. Amans-la-Bastide, department of Tarn; enlisted as a private in 1785, and by 1794 was general of a brigade; gallant conduct in Swiss and Italian campaigns under Masséna won him rapid promotion, and in 1804 he was created a marshal; served with the emperor in Germany, and led the deciding charge at Austerlitz, and for his services in connection with the Treaty of Tilsit received the title of Duc de Dalmatia; at the head of the French army in Spain he outmanoeuvred the English in 1808, conquered Portugal, and opposed to Wellington a skill and tenacity not less than his own, but was thwarted in his efforts by the obstinate incompetence of Joseph Bonaparte; turned Royalist after the abdication of Napoleon, but on his return from Elba rallied to the emperor's standard, and fought at Waterloo; was subsequently banished, but restored in 1819; became active in the public service, and was honoured as ambassador in England in 1838; retired in 1845 with the honorary title of “Marshal-General of France” (1769-1851).
Sound, The, a strait, 50 m. long, between Sweden and Denmark, which connects the Cattegat with the Baltic Sea; dues at one time levied on ships passing through the channel were abolished in 1857, and over three millions paid in compensation, Britain contributing one-third and undertaking to superintend the navigation and maintain the lighthouses.
South, Robert, an English divine, born at Hackney; obtained several preferments in the Church, but refused a bishopric; was distinguished for his hostility to the Dissenters, and was never tired of heaping ridicule on them and their principles; wrote a book in defence of the Trinity in a somewhat rationalistic view of it, which involved him in a furious controversy with Dr. Sherlock; was a man of great wit and good sense as well as refinement; his chief writings consist of “Sermons” (1633-1716).
South African Company. See Rhodesia.
South African Republic. See Transvaal.
South Australia (320), second largest of the five colonies of Australia, stretches N. and S. in a broad band, 1850 in. long, through the heart of the continent from the Southern Ocean to the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Arafura Sea, having Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria on the E., and Western Australia on the W.; ten times the size of Great Britain, but the greater portion comprises the Northern Territory, which consists, save a low alluvial coastal strip, of parched and uninhabited tableland. South Australia proper begins about 26° S. latitude, and is traversed southwards by the Finke River as far as Eyre Lake (3706 sq. m.), by the Flinders Range, and the lower Murray River in the E., and diversified here and there by low ranges and Lake Amadeus (NW.), Torrens and Gairdner (S.); the S. coast is penetrated by the great gulfs of Spencer and St. Vincent, round and to the N. and E. of which the bulk of the population is gathered in a region not much larger than Scotland; is the chief wheat-growing colony, and other important industries are mining (chiefly copper), sheep-rearing, and wine-making; chief exports, wool, wheat, and copper; the railway and telegraph systems are well developed, the Overland Telegraph Line (1973 m.) stretching across the continent from Adelaide to Port Darwin being a marvel of engineering enterprise. Adelaide is the capital. The governor is appointed by the crown, and there are a legislative council or upper house, and an assembly or lower house. State education is free. Began to be settled in 1836, and five years later became a Crown colony.
South Sea Bubble, the name given to the disastrous financial project set on foot by Harley (q. v.) to relieve the national debt and restore public credit, which produced an unparalleled rush of speculation, ending in the ruin of thousands of people. Through the efforts of Harley a company of merchants was induced in 1711 to buy up the floating national debt of £10,000,000 on a government guarantee of 6 per cent. interest, and a right to a monopoly of trade in the South Seas. The shares rose by leaps and bounds as tales of the fabulous wealth of the far South Seas circulated, till, in 1720, £200 shares were quoted at £1000; earlier in the same year the company had taken over the entire national debt of upwards of 30 millions. In the craze for speculation which had seized the public hundreds of wild schemes were floated. At length the “Bubble” burst. The chairman and several directors of the company sold out when shares had reached £1000; suspicion followed, confidence vanished, stock fell, and in a few days thousands from end to end of the country were bewailing their ruin. The private estates of the fraudulent directors were confiscated for the relief of the sufferers. To Sir Robert Walpole belongs the credit of extricating the finances of the country from the muddle into which they had fallen.
Southampton (94), an important seaport of South Hampshire, 79 m. SW. of London, situated on a small peninsula at the head of Southampton Water (a fine inlet, 11 m. by 2), between the mouths of the Itchen (E.) and the Test (W.); portions of the old town-walls and four gateways still remain; is the head-quarters of the Ordnance Survey; has splendid docks, and is an important steam-packet station for the West Indies, Brazil, and South Africa; yacht and ship building and engine-making are flourishing industries.
Southcott, Joanna, a prophetess, born in Devon, of humble parents; became a Methodist; suffered under religious mania; gave herself out as the woman referred to in Revelation xii.; imagined herself to be with child, and predicted she would on a certain day give birth to the promised Prince of Peace, for which occasion great preparations were made, but all to no purpose; she died of dropsy two months after the time predicted; she found numbers to believe in her even after her death; she traded in passports to heaven, which she called “seals,” and persuaded numbers to purchase them (1750-1814).
Southern Cross, a constellation of the southern heavens, the five principal stars of which form a rough and somewhat irregular cross, the shape of which is gradually changing; it corresponds in the southern heavens to the Great Bear in the northern.
Southey, Robert, poet-laureate, born, the son of a linen-draper, at Bristol; was expelled from Westminster School for a satirical article in the school magazine directed against flogging; in the following year (1793) entered Balliol College, where he only remained one year, leaving it a Unitarian and a red-hot republican; was for a time enamoured of Coleridge's wild pantisocratic scheme; married (1795) clandestinely Edith Frickes, a penniless girl, sister to Mrs. Coleridge, and in disgrace with his English relatives visited his uncle in Lisbon, where in six months he laid the foundation of his knowledge of Spanish history and literature; the Church and medicine had already, as possible careers, been abandoned, and on his return to England he made a half-hearted effort to take up law; still unsettled he again visited Portugal, and finally was relieved of pecuniary difficulties by the settlement of a pension on him by an old school friend, which he relinquished in 1807 on receiving a pension from Government; meanwhile had settled at Keswick, where he prosecuted with untiring energy the craft of authorship; “Joan of Arc,” “Thalaba,” “Madoc,” and “The Curse of Kehama,” won for him the laureateship in 1813, and in the same year appeared his prose masterpiece “The Life of Nelson”; of numerous other works mention may be made of his Histories of Brazil and the Peninsular War, Lives of Bunyan and Wesley, and “Colloquies on Society”; declined a baronetcy offered by Peel; domestic affliction—the death of children, and the insanity and death of his wife—saddened his later years, which were brightened in the last by his second marriage (1839) with the poetess and his twenty years' friend, Caroline Bowles; as a poet Southey has few readers nowadays; full of miscellaneous interest, vigour of narrative, and spirited rhythm, his poems yet lack the finer spirit of poetry; but in prose he ranks with the masters of English prose style “of a kind at once simple and scholarly” (1774-1843).
Southport (41), a watering-place of Lancashire, situated on the southern shore of the Ribble estuary, 18 m. N. of Liverpool; is a town of quite modern growth and increasing popularity; has a fine sea-shore, esplanade, park, theatre, public library, art gallery, etc.
Southwark (339), or the Borough, a division of London, on the Surrey side of the Thames, opposite the City, and annexed to it in 1827; it sends three members to Parliament, and among its principal buildings are St. Saviour's Church and Guys Hospital.
Southwell, Robert, poet, born in Norfolk; studied at Douay, and became a Jesuit priest; came to England as a missionary, was thrown into prison, tortured ten times by the rack, and at length executed at Tyburn as a traitor for disseminating Catholic doctrine; his poems are religious chiefly, and excellent, and were finally collected under the title “St. Peter's Complaint,” “Mary Magdalen's Tears, and Other Works”; “The Burning Babe” is characterised by Professor Saintsbury as a “splendid poem” (1560-1595).
Souvestre, Émile, French novelist and playwright, born at Morlaix; at 30 he established himself in Paris as a journalist, and became noted as a writer of plays and of charming sketches of Breton life, essays, and fiction; “Les Derniers Bretons” and “Foyer Breton” are considered his best work (1806-1854).
Souza, Madame de (maiden name Adelaide Filleul), French novelist, born in Paris, and educated in a convent, on her leaving which she was married to the Comte de Flahaut, a man much older than herself, and with whom she lived unhappily; fled to Germany and then to England on the outbreak of the Revolution; afterwards returned to Paris, and as the wife of the Marquis de Souza-Botelho presided over one of the most charming of salons, in which the chief attraction was her own bright and gifted personality; her novels, “Eugène de Rothelin,” “Eugénie et Mathilde,” etc., breathe the spirit of the old régime, and are full of natural and vivacious pictures of French life (1761-1836).
Sowerby Bridge (10), manufacturing town in West Riding of Yorkshire, 3 m. SW. of Halifax; cotton-spinning, woollen manufactures, and dyeing are the chief; it was the birthplace of Tillotson.
Soy, a sauce or condiment used in Japan and China; prepared from a bean which is extensively cultivated in those countries.
Soyer, Alexis, a famous cook, born at Meaux; turned aside from a tempting career as a vocalist and took up gastronomy as a profession; during the 1830 Revolution he narrowly escaped with his life to London, which he henceforth made his head-quarters, rising to the position of cook to the Reform Club; rendered important services as a culinary expert in Ireland during the 1847 famine, and at the Crimea (1855); was the author of various highly popular works on the art of cooking, “The Modern Housewife,” “Shilling Cookery Book,” etc. (1809-1858).
Spa (7), a watering-place in Belgium, 20 m. SE. of Liège; a favourite health and fashionable resort on account of its springs and its picturesque surroundings, the number of visitors during the season amounting to 12,000.
Spahi, an Algerine cavalry soldier serving in the French army.
Spain (17,800), a kingdom of South-West Europe, which with Portugal (less than one-fifth the size of Spain) occupies the entire Iberian Peninsula, and is divided from France on the N. by the Pyrenees Mountains, and on the E. and S. is washed by the Mediterranean; the NW. corner fronts the Bay of Biscay (N.) and the Atlantic (W.), while Portugal completes the western boundary; its area, three and one-third times the size of England and Wales, is, along with the Canaries and the Balearic Isles, divided into 49 provinces, although the more familiar names of the 14 old kingdoms, states, and provinces (New and Old Castile, Galicia, Aragon, etc.) are still in use; forms a compact square, with a regular, in parts precipitous, coast-line, which is short compared with its area; is in the main a highland country, a vast plateau (2000 to 3000 ft. high) occupying the centre, buttressed and crossed by ranges (Sierra Nevada in the S., Sierra de Guadarrama, Sierra Morena, etc.), and diversified by the long valleys of the Ebro, Douro, Tagus, Guadalquivir, and other lesser rivers, all of which are rapid, and only a few navigable; climate varies considerably according as one proceeds to the central plains, where extremes of heat and cold are experienced, but over all is the driest in Europe; agriculture, although less than a half of the land is under cultivation, is by far the most important industry, and Valencia and Catalonia the provinces where it is most successfully carried out, wheat and other cereals, the olive and the vine, being the chief products; other important industries are mining, the Peninsula being extremely rich in the useful minerals; Merino sheep farming, anchovy and sardine fisheries, wine-making, and the manufacture of cotton, silk, leather, and paper; chief exports are wine, fruits, mineral ores, oil and cork; Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, and Malaga are the chief towns; the widest variety of character exists among the natives of the various provinces, from the hard-working, thrifty Catalan to the lazy, improvident Murcian, but all possess the southern love “of song, dance, and colour,” and have an inherent grace and dignity of manner; Roman Catholicism is the national religion; and although systems of elementary and secondary schools are in vogue, education over all is in a deplorably backward condition; the Government is a hereditary and constitutional monarchy; the Cortes consists of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies; universal suffrage and trial by jury are recent innovations. The outstanding fact in the history of Spain, after the downfall of the Roman Empire, of which she had long formed a part, is the national struggle with the Moors, who overran the peninsula in the 8th century, firmly established themselves, and were not finally overthrown till Granada, their last possession, was taken in 1492; sixteen years later the country became a united kingdom, and for a brief period, with its vast American colonies and wide European possessions, became in the 16th century the dominant power of Europe; since then she has lagged more and more in the race of nations, and her once vast colonial empire has gradually crumbled away till now, since the unsuccessful war with America in 1898, only an island or two remains to her.
Spalato (15), a historic and flourishing town of Dalmatia, finely situated on a promontory on the E. side of the Adriatic, 160 m. SE. of Fiume; a place of considerable antiquity, and one of the great cities of the Roman world; is chiefly famed for the vast palace built by Diocletian, and which became his residence after his abdication; subsidiary buildings and grounds were enclosed by walls, within which now a considerable part of the town stands; the noblest portions of the palace are still extant; the modern town carries on an active trade in grain, wine, cattle, etc.; is noted for its liqueurs.
Spalding, a market-town in Lincolnshire, 34 m. SE. of Lincoln, in the heart of the Fens; is a very ancient place; has a trade in agricultural produce, and is a railway centre.
Spallanzani, Lazaro, a noted Italian scientist, born at Scandiano, in Modena; held chairs of Philosophy and Greek in the Universities of Reggio and Modena, but more attracted to natural science he in 1768 became professor of Natural History at Pavia; wrote elaborate accounts of expeditions to Sicily and elsewhere; overturned Button's theory of spontaneous generation, and in important works made some valuable contributions to physiological science (1729-1799).
Spandau (45), an important town and fortress of Prussia, in Brandenburg, at the confluence of the Spree and Havel, 8 m. W. by N. of Berlin; fortifications are of the strongest and most modern kind, and in the “Julius Tower” of the powerful citadel the German war-chest of £6,000,000 is preserved; there is an arsenal and large Government cannon-foundries, powder-factories, etc.
Spanheim, Friedrich, a theological professor at Geneva (1631), and afterwards at Leyden (1641); author of the work on “Universal Grace” (1600-1648). His son, Ezechiel Spanheim (1629-1710) became professor of Eloquence in his native town, Geneva, and after acting as tutor to the sons of the Elector Palatine was employed on several important diplomatic missions to Italy, England, and France; meanwhile devoted his leisure to ancient law and numismatics, publishing learned works on these subjects. Friedrich Spanheim, brother of preceding, was a learned Calvinistic professor of Theology at Heidelberg (1685), and afterwards at Leyden (1632-1701).
Spanish Main (i. e. mainland), a name given at one time to the Central American provinces of Spain bordering on the Caribbean Sea, and also to the Caribbean Sea itself.
Sparks, James, president of Harvard University, born in Connecticut; bred a carpenter, took to study, attended Harvard, where he graduated, studied theology, and became Unitarian, becoming a minister in that body, but retired from the ministry and settled in Boston; edited the North American Review; wrote and edited biographies of eminent Americans, and edited the writings of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington (1789-1866).
Sparta or Lacedemon, the capital of ancient Laconia, in the Peloponnesus, on the right bank of the Eurotas, 20 m. from the sea; was 6 m. in circumference, consisted of several distinct quarters, originally separate villages, never united into a regular town; was never surrounded by walls, its walls being the bravery of its citizens; its mythical founder was Lacedemon, who called the city Sparta from the name of his wife; one of its early kings was Menelaus, the husband of Helen; Lycurgus (q. v.) was its law-giver; its policy was aggressive, and its sway gradually extended over the whole Peloponnesus, to the extinction at the end of the Peloponnesian War of the rival power of Athens, which for a time rose to the ascendency, and its unquestioned supremacy thereafter for 30 years, when all Greece was overborne by the Macedonian power.
Spartacus, leader of the revolt of the slaves at Rome, which broke out about 73 B.C.; was a Thracian by birth, a man of powerful physique, in succession a shepherd, a soldier, and a captain of banditti; was in one of his predatory expeditions taken prisoner and sold to a trainer of gladiators, and became one of his slaves; persuaded his fellow-slaves to attempt their freedom, and became their chief and that of other runaways who joined them; for two years they defied and defeated one Roman army after another sent to crush them, and laid Italy waste, till at the end of that time Licinius Crassus, taking up arms in earnest, overpowered them in a decisive battle at the river Silarus, in which Spartacus was slain.
Spasmodic School, name given to a small group of minor poets about the middle of the 19th century, represented by Philips, James Bailey, Sydney Dobell, and Alexander Smith, from their strenuous, overstrained, and unnatural style.
Specific Gravity, the weight of a body compared with another of equal bulk taken as a standard, such as the weight of a cubic inch of water.
Spectrum, the name given to coloured and other rays of pure light separated by refraction in its transmission through a prism, as exhibited on a screen in a darkened chamber.
Spectrum Analysis, name given to the method of determining the composition of a body by means of the spectrum of light which it gives forth or passes through it, founded on the principle that a substance powerfully absorbs exactly the rays it radiates, and every substance has its own absorbing powers; or it may be defined the method of distinguishing different kinds of matter by their properties in relation to light.
Speculative, The, that which we think and which as such goes no deeper than the intellect, which is but the eye of the soul, not the heart of it. See Spiritual, The.
Spedding, James, editor of Bacon, born at Mirehouse, near Keswick, son of a Cumberland squire; scholar and honorary Fellow of Cambridge; became in 1847 Under-Secretary of State with £2000 a year; devoted his life to the study of Bacon, the fruit of which the “Letters and the Life of Francis Bacon, including all his Occasional Works, newly selected and set forth with a Commentary, Biographical and Historical,” in 7 vols.; a truly noble man, and much esteemed by his contemporaries in literature (1808-1881).
Speke, John Banning, African explorer, born in Somersetshire; became a soldier, and served in the Punjab; joined Burton in 1854 in an expedition into Somaliland, and three years after in an attempt to discover the sources of the Nile, and setting out alone discovered Victoria Nyanza, which he maintained was the source of the river, but which Burton questioned; on his return he published in 1863 an account of his discovery, which he was about to defend in the British Association when he was shot by the accidental discharge of his gun while he was out hunting (1827-1864).
Spence, Joseph, a miscellaneous writer, born in Hants; educated at and a Fellow of Oxford; his principal work, “Polymetis; or, an Inquiry into the Agreement between the Works of the Roman Poets and the Remains of Ancient Artists”; his “Anecdotes” are valuable from his acquaintance with the literary class of the time, and have preserved his name (1699-1768).
Spencer, Herbert, systematiser and unifier of scientific knowledge up to date, born at Derby, son of a teacher, who early inoculated him with an interest in natural objects, though he adopted at first the profession of a railway engineer, which in about eight years he abandoned for the work of his life by way of literature, his first effort being a series of “Letters on the Proper Sphere of Government” in the Nonconformist in 1842, and his first work “Social Statics,” published in 1851, followed by “Principles of Psychology” four years after; in 1861 he published a work on “Education,” and his “First Principles” the following year, after which he began to construct his system of “Synthetic Philosophy,” which fills a dozen large volumes, and has established his fame as the foremost scientific philosopher of the time. Following in the lines of Auguste Comte and John Stuart Mill, he takes a wider sweep than either of them, fills the field he occupies with fuller and riper detail, resolves the whole of science into still more ultimate principles, and works the whole up into a more compact and comprehensive system. He is valiant before all for science, and relegates everything and every interest to Agnosticism that cannot give proof of its scientific rights. “What a thing is in itself,” he says, “cannot be known, because to know it we must strip it of all that it becomes, of all that has come to adhere to it.” The ultimate thus arrived at he finds to be, and calls, Energy, and that therefore, he says, we don't and can't know. That a thing is what it becomes seems never to occur to him, and yet only the knowledge of that is the knowledge of the ultimate of being, which is the thing he says we cannot know. To trace life to its roots he goes back to the cell, whereas common-sense would seem to require us, in order to know what the cell is, to inquire at the fruit. This is the doctrine of St. John, “The Word was God.” In addition to agnosticism another doctrine of Spencer's is Evolution, but in maintaining this he fails to see he is arguing for an empty conception barren of all thought, which thought is the alpha and omega of the whole process, and is as much an ultimate as and still more so than the energy in which he absorbs God. Indeed, his philosophy is what is called the Aufklärung (q. v.) in full bloom, and in which he strips us of all our spiritual content or Inhalt, and under which he would lead us out of “Houndsditch” (q. v.), not with, but without, all that properly belongs to us; b. 1820.
Spencer Gulf, a deep inlet on the coast of South Australia, 180 m. by 90 m.
Spener, Philip Jacob, German Protestant theologian, founder of the Pietists (q. v.), born in Alsace, studied in Strasburg; in 1670 held a series of meetings which he called “Collegia Pietatis,” whence the name of his sect; established himself in Dresden and in Berlin, but Halle was the centre of the movement; he was an earnest and universally esteemed man (1636-1705).
Spenser, Edmund, author of the “Faërie Queene,” and one of England's greatest poets; details of his life are scanty and often hypothetical; born at London of poor but well-connected parents; entered Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, as a “sizar” in 1569, and during his seven years' residence there became an excellent scholar; took a master's degree, and formed an important friendship with Gabriel Harvey; three years of unsettled life followed, but were fruitful in the production of the “Shepheards' Calendar” (1579), which at once placed him at the head of the English poets of his day; had already taken his place in the best London literary and political circles as the friend of Sir Philip Sidney and Leicester, and in 1580 was appointed private secretary to Lord Grey, then proceeding to Ireland as the Lord Deputy, and although his master soon returned to England Spencer continued to make his home in Ireland, where he obtained some civil appointments, and in 1591 entered into possession of a considerable portion of the forfeited estates of the Earl of Desmond, adjacent to his house, Kilcolman Castle, co. Cork; seems to have been a pretty stern landlord, and, as expounded in his admirable tract, “A View of the Present State of Ireland,” the advocate of a policy of “suppression and repression”; consequently was little loved by the Irish, and on the outbreak of Tyrone's rebellion in 1598 his house was sacked and burned, and he himself forced to flee to London, where he died a few weeks later “a ruined and heart-broken man”; the rich promise of the “Shepheards' Calendar” had been amply fulfilled in the “Complaints,” “Amoretti,” “Colin Clout's Come Home Again,” the “Epithalamium” the finest bridal song in any language, and above all in the six published books of “The Faërie Queene” (1589 and 1596), in which all his gifts and graces as a poet are at their best; “He may be read,” says Professor Saintsbury, “in childhood, chiefly for his adventure; in later youth, for his display of voluptuous beauty; in manhood, for his historical and ethical weight; in age, for all combined” (1552-1599).
Spermaceti, a white waxy matter obtained in an oily state from the head of the sperm-whale inhabiting the Pacific and Indian Oceans; candles made of it yield a particularly steady and bright light.
Spey, a river in the N. of Scotland which, rising in Badenoch, flows NE. through Inverness, Elgin, and Banffshire, falls into the Moray Firth after a course of 107 miles; the salmon-fisheries are valuable; it is the swiftest of the rivers of Great Britain.
Spezia (20), the chief naval station, “the Portsmouth,” of Italy; occupies a strongly fortified site at the head of a bay on the W. side of Italy, 56 m. SE. of Genoa; here are the naval shipbuilding yards, national arsenal, navy store-houses, besides schools of navigation, manufactures of cables, sail-cloth, &c.
Sphinx, a fabled animal, an invention of the ancient Egyptians, with the body and claws of a lioness, and the head of a woman, or of a ram, or of a goat, all types or representations of the king, effigies of which are frequently placed before temples on each side of the approach; the most famous of the sphinxes was the one which waylaid travellers and tormented them with a riddle, which if they could not answer she devoured them, but which Oedipus answered, whereupon she threw herself into the sea. “Such a sphinx,” as we are told in “Past and Present,” “is this life of ours, to all men and nations. Nature, like the Sphinx, is of womanly celestial loveliness and tenderness, the face and bosom of a goddess, but ending in the claws and the body of a lioness ... is a heavenly bride and conquest to the wise and brave, to them who can discern her behests and do them; a destroying fiend to them who cannot. Answer her riddle—Knowest thou the meaning of to-day?—it is well with thee. Answer it not; the solution for thee is a thing of teeth and claws.”
Spice Islands. See Moluccas.
Spinello, Aretino, a celebrated Italian fresco-painter, born at Arezzo, where, with visits to Florence, his life was chiefly spent; was in his day the rival of Giotto, but few of his frescoes are preserved, and such of his paintings as are to be found in various galleries of Europe are inferior to his frescoes (1330-1410).
Spinola, Ambrosio, Marquis of, great Spanish general under Philip II. of Spain, born at Genoa, with a following of 9000, maintained at his own expense, took Ostend after a resistance of 3 years, in consequence of which feat he was appointed commander-in-chief, in which capacity maintained and again maintained a long struggle with Prince Maurice of Nassau, terminated only with the death of the latter; his services on behalf of Spain, in the interest of which he spent his fortune, were never acknowledged, and he died with poignant grief (1571-1630).
Spinoza, Benedict, great modern philosopher, born in Amsterdam, of Jews of Portuguese extraction in well-to-do circumstances, and had been trained as a scholar; began with the study of the Bible and the Talmud, but soon exchanged the study of theology in these for that of physics and the works of Descartes, in which study he drifted farther and farther from the Jewish creed, and at length openly abandoned it; this exposed him to a persecution which threatened his life, so that he left Amsterdam and finally settled at The Hague, where, absorbed in philosophic study, he lived in seclusion, earning a livelihood by polishing optical glasses, which his friends disposed of for him; his days were short; he suffered from ill-health, and died of consumption when he was only 44; he was a man of tranquil temper, moderate desires, purity of motive, and kindly in heart; his great work, his “Ethica,” was published a year after his death; he had held it back during his lifetime because he foresaw it would procure him the name of atheist, which he shrank from with horror; Spinoza's doctrine is summed up by Dr. Stirling thus, “Whatever is, is; and that is extension and thought. These two are all that is; and besides these there is nought. But these two are one; they are attributes of the single substance (that which, for its existence, stands in need of nothing else), very God, in whom, then, all individual things and all individual ideas (modes of extension those, of thought these) are comprehended and take place”; thus we see Spinoza includes under the term extension all individual objects, and under thought all individual ideas, and these two he includes in God, as He in whom they live and move and have their being,—a great conception and a pregnant, being the speculative ground of the being of all that lives and is; not without good reason does Novalis call him “Der Gott-getrunkene Mensch,” the God-intoxicated man (1632-1677).
Spinozism, the pantheism of Spinoza (q. v.), which regards God as the one self-subsistent substance, and both matter and thought attributes of Him.
Spires or Speyer, an old German town on the left bank of the Rhine, in the Palatinate, 14 m. SW. of Heidelberg, the seat of a bishop and with a cathedral, of its kind one of the finest in Europe, and the remains of the Retscher, or imperial palace, where in 1529 the Diet of the Empire was held at which the Reformers first got the name of Protestants, because of their protestation against the imperial decree issued at Worms prohibiting any further innovations in religion.
Spirit (lit. breath of life), in philosophy and theology is the Divine mind incarnating itself in the life of a man, and breathing in all he thinks and does, and so is as the life-principle of it; employed also to denote any active dominating and pervading principle of life inspired from any quarter whatever and coming to light in the conduct.
Spirit, The Holy, the Divine Spirit manifested in Christ which descended upon His disciples in all its fulness when, shortly after His decease, their eyes were opened to see the meaning of His life and their hearts to feel the power of it.
Spiritual, The, the fruit of the quickening and abiding action of a higher principle at the centre of the being, operating so as to suffuse the whole of it, pervade the whole of it, to its utmost limits, which, seating itself in the heart of the thoughts and affections, works and weaves itself into all the life tissues and becomes part and parcel of the very flesh and blood. No idea, however true, however elevated or elevating one may feel it, is spiritual till it centralises in the heart and affects all the issues thereof.
Spiritualism, a term that has two very different meanings, denoting at one time the doctrine that the only real is the spiritual (q. v.), and at another time a belief in the existence of spirits whom we, by means of certain media, can hold correspondence with, and who, whether we are conscious of it or not, exercise in some cases an influence over human destiny, more particularly of the spirits of dead men with whom in their disembodied state we can by means of certain mediums hold correspondence, and who, from their continued interest in the world, do in that state keep watch and ward over its affairs as well as mingle in them, forming a world of spirits gone from hence, yet more or less active in the sense world.
Spithead, the eastern portion of the strait which separates the Isle of Wight from the Hampshire coast, 14 m. long, with an average breadth of 4 m.; is a sheltered and safe riding for ships, and as such is much used by the British navy; receives its name from a long “spit” of sandbank jutting out from the mainland. See the Solent.
Spitzbergen, the name of an Arctic archipelago lying 400 m. N. of Norway, embracing West Spitzbergen (15,260 sq. m.), North-East Land, Stans Foreland, King Charles land or Wiche Island, Barents Land, Prince Charles Foreland, besides numerous smaller islands; practically lies under great fields of ice, enormous glaciers, and drifts of snow, pierced here and there by mountain peaks, hence the name Spitzbergen; the home of vast flocks of sea-birds, of polar bears, and Arctic foxes, while herds of reindeer are attracted to certain parts by a scanty summer vegetation; there are no permanent inhabitants, but the fiord-cut shores are frequented in summer by Norwegian seal and walrus hunters.
Splügen, an Alpine pass in the Swiss canton of the Grisons; the roadway 24 m. long, opened in 1822, crosses the Rhætian Alps from Chur, the capital of Grisons, to Chiavenna, in Lombardy, and reaches a height of 6595 ft.
Spohr, Ludwig, musical composer and violinist, born in Brunswick; produced both operas and oratorios, “Faust” among the former, the “Last Judgment” and the “Fall of Babylon” among the latter; his violin-playing was admirable, producing from the tones of the instrument the effects of the human voice; wrote a handbook for violinists (1784-1859).
Spoleto (8), an ancient city of Central Italy, built on the rocky slopes of a hill, in the province of Umbria, 75 m. NE. of Rome; is protected by an ancient citadel, and has an interesting old cathedral with frescoes by Lippo Lippi, and an imposing 7th-century aqueduct; was capital of a Lombard duchy, and in 1220 was joined to the Papal States.
Spontini, Gasparo, Italian operatic composer, born at Majolati; settled in Paris in 1803, and a year later made his mark with the little opera “Milton,” and subsequently established his fame with the three grand operas, “La Vestale,” “Ferdinand Cortez,” and “Olympia”; from 1820 to 1842 was stationed at Berlin under court patronage, and in the face of public and press opposition continued to write in a strain of elevated and melodious music various operas, including his greatest work “Agnes von Hohenstaufen” (1774-1851).
Sporades, a group of islands in the Ægean Sea, of which the largest is the Mitylene.
Spottiswoode, John, archbishop of St. Andrews; accompanied James VI. to London, was zealous for the establishment of Episcopacy in Scotland; was archbishop of Glasgow before he was translated to St. Andrews; officiated at coronation of Charles I. at Holyrood in 1633, and was two years after made Chancellor of Scotland; wrote a “History of the Church of Scotland”; was buried in Westminster (1565-1639).
Spottiswoode, William, mathematician and physician, born in London; was Queen's printer, as his father had been before him; published numerous important papers on scientific subjects, his greatest work “The Polarization of Light,” a subject on which he was a great authority (1825-1883).
Spree, a river of Prussia, rises in East Saxony close to the Bohemian border, follows a winding and generally N. and NW. course of 227 m. till its Junction with the Havel at Spandau; chief towns on its banks are Bautzen, Kottbus, Lübben, and Berlin; is connected with the Oder by the Frederick William Canal.
Sprengel, Carl, physician and botanist, born in Pomerania; held professorship in Halle; wrote on the history of both medicine and botany (1766-1833).
Sprenger, Aloys, eminent Orientalist, born in the Tyrol; studied in Vienna; went to India in 1843, where he diligently occupied his mind in study, and on his return in 1857 was appointed professor of Oriental Languages at Bern, from which he was translated to Heidelberg; edited Persian and Arabic works, and wrote the “Life and Doctrine of Mohammed”; b. 1813.
Springfield, 1, capital (34) of Illinois, situated in a flourishing coal district, 185 m. SW. of Chicago; has an arsenal, two colleges, and a handsome marble capitol; coal-mining, foundries, and flour, cotton, and paper mills are the chief industries; the burial-place of Abraham Lincoln. 2, A nicely laid out and flourishing city (62) of Massachusetts, capital of Hampden County, on the Connecticut River (spanned here by five bridges), 99 m. W. by S. of Boston; settled in 1635; has important manufactories of cottons, woollens, paper, and a variety of other articles, besides the United States armoury. 3, Capital (22) of Greene County, Missouri, 232 m. WSW. of St. Louis; has rapidly increasing manufactories of cottons, woollens, machinery, &c.; in the vicinity was fought the battle of Wilson's Creek, 10th August 1861. 4, Capital (38) of Clark County, Ohio, on Lagonda Creek and Mad River, 80 m. NE. of Cincinnati; is an important railway centre, and possesses numerous factories of machinery, bicycles, paper, &c.
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, a great preacher, born at Kelvedon, Essex; had no college training; connected himself with the Baptists; commenced as an evangelist at Cambridge when he was but a boy, and was only 17 when he was appointed to a pastorate; by-and-by on invitation he settled in Southwark, and held meetings which were always requiring larger and larger accommodation; at length in 1861 the Metropolitan Tabernacle, capable of accommodating 6000, was opened, where he drew about him large congregations, and round which he, in course of time, established a number of institutions in the interest at once of humanity and religion; his pulpit addresses were listened to by thousands every Sunday, and were one and all printed the week following, and circulated all over the land and beyond it till they filled volumes; no preacher of the time had such an audience, and none such a wide popularity; he preached the old Puritan gospel, but it was presented in such a form and in such simple, idiomatic phrase, as to commend it as no less a gospel to his own generation: besides his sermons as published, other works were also widely circulated; special mention may be made of “John Ploughman's Talk” (1834-1892).
Spurzheim, Johann Caspar, phrenologist, born in Trèves; went to study medicine at Vienna; attended the lectures of Gall and became a disciple, accompanying him on a lecturing tour through Central Europe, and settling with him in 1807 in Paris; in 1813 he separated from Gall, and went to lecture in England with much acceptance; in 1832 he proceeded to America with the same object, but he had hardly started on his mission when he died at Boston; he wrote numerous works bearing on phrenology, education, &c. (1776-1832).
Sruti, the name given to sacred and revealed tradition, or revelation generally, among the Hindus.
Staal, Jean, a French lady of humble circumstances, of metaphysical turn; skilled in the philosophies of Descartes and Malebranche; was in the Bastille for two years for political offences; was a charming woman, and captivated the Baron de Staal; left Memoirs and Letters (1693-1750).
Stabat Mater, A Latin hymn on the dolours of the Virgin, beginning with these words, and composed in the 13th century by Jacopone da Todi, a Franciscan monk, and set to music by several composers, the most popular being Rossini's.
Stadium, the course on which were celebrated the great games (foot-racing, wrestling, &c.) of ancient Greece, held at Olympia, Athens, and other places; the most famous was that laid out at Olympia; length 600 Greek feet, which was adopted as the Greek standard of measure, and equalled 606½ English feet.
Stadtholder, an anglicised form of the Dutch “stadhouder” (i. e. stead-holder), a title conferred on the governors of provinces in the Low Countries, but chiefly associated with the rulers of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht; in 1544 the title was held by William the Silent, and continued to be the designation of the head of the new republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands until 1802, when William V. was compelled to resign his stadtholdership to France, the country afterwards assuming a monarchical government.
Staël, Madame de, distinguished French lady, born in Paris, daughter of Necker, and only child; a woman of eminent ability, and an admirer of Rousseau; wrote “Letters” on his character and works; married a man ten years older than herself, the Baron de Staël-Holstein, the Swedish ambassador in Paris, where she lived all through the events of the Revolution in sympathy with the royal family; wrote an appeal in defence of the queen, and quitted the city during the Reign of Terror; on her return in 1795 her salon became the centre of the literary and political activity of the time; the ambition of Napoleon excited her distrust, and forced her into opposition so expressed that in 1801 she was ordered to leave Paris within 24 hours, and not to come within 40 leagues of it; in 1802 she was left a widow, and soon after she went first to Weimar, where she met Goethe and Schiller, and then to Berlin; by-and-by she returned to France, but on the publication of her “Corinne,” was ordered out of the country; after this appeared her great epoch-making work on Germany, “L'Allemagne,” which was seized by the French censors; after this she quitted for good the soil of France, to which she had returned; settled in Switzerland, at Coppet, where she died (1766-1817).
Staffa (“pillar Island”), an uninhabited islet of basaltic formation off the W. coast of Scotland, 54 m. W. of Oban; 1½ m. in circumference, and girt with precipitous cliffs, except on the sheltered NE., where there is a shelving shore; is remarkable for its caves, of which Fingal's Cave is the most famous, having an entrance 42 ft. wide and 66 ft. high, and penetrating 227 ft.
Stafford (20), county town of Staffordshire, on the Sow, 29 m. NNW. of Birmingham; has two fine old churches, St. Mary's and St. Chad's, interesting architecturally, King Edward's grammar school, and Stafford Castle finely situated on the outskirts; is an important railway centre, and noted for its boot and shoe manufactures.
Staffordshire (1,083), a midland mining and manufacturing county of England, wedged in on the N. between Cheshire (W.) and Derby (N.), and extending southward to Worcester, with Shropshire on the W., and Leicester and Warwick on the E.; with the exception of the wild and hilly “moorland” in the N. consists of an undulating plain crossed by the Trent, and intersected in all directions by canals and railways; embraces two rich coal-fields, one in the “Black Country” of the S., where rich deposits of iron-stone are also worked, and one in the N., embracing the district of the “Potteries”; famous breweries exist at Burton; Wolverhampton is the largest town.
Stagirite, The, Aristotle (q. v.), so called from his native place Stagira.
Stahl, Friedrich Julius, writer of jurisprudence, born at Münich, of Jewish parents; embraced Christianity; wrote “The Philosophy of Law”; became professor thereof at Berlin; was a staunch Lutheran, and a Conservative in politics (1802-1861).
Stahl, Georg Ernest, a German chemist, born at Anspach; was professor of Medicine at Halle; author of the theory of phlogiston (q. v.) and of animism (q. v.) (1650-1735).
Staines (5), a pretty little town of Middlesex, on the Thames (spanned here by a fine granite bridge), 6 m. SE. of Windsor; St. Mary's church has a tower designed by Inigo Jones; has breweries, mustard-mills, and other factories; in the neighbourhood are Runnymede and Cooper's Hill (q. v.).
Stair, John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of, eldest son of James Dalrymple (1619-1695) of Stair (a distinguished lawyer in his day, who rose to be President of the Court of Session; wrote a well-known work, “Institutes of the Law of Scotland”; as a Protestant supported the Prince of Orange, and by him was raised to the peerage as viscount in 1690); adopted law as a profession, and was called to the bar in 1672; got into trouble with Claverhouse, and was fined and imprisoned, but in 1687 was received into royal favour, became Lord Advocate, a Lord Ordinary in the Court of Session, and subsequently as Secretary of State for Scotland was mainly responsible for the massacre of Glencoe (q. v.); was created an earl in 1703, and later was active in support of the union of the English and Scottish Parliaments (1648-1707).
Stair, John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of, second son of preceding; entered the army at 19, and fought with his regiment, the Cameronians, at Steinkirk; studied law for some time at Leyden, but went back to the army, and by 1701 was a lieutenant-colonel in the Scots Foot Guards, and in 1706 colonel of the Cameronians; fought with distinction under Marlborough at Venlo, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and, as commander of a brigade, at the siege of Lille and at Malplaquet; was active in support of the Hanoverian succession, and subsequently in the reigns of George I. and II. filled important diplomatic and military posts (1673-1747).
Stalactite, a cone of carbonate of lime attached like an icicle to the roof of a cavern, and formed by the dripping of water charged with the carbonate from the rock above; Stalagmite being the name given to the cone formed on the floor by the dripping from a stalactite above.
Stalybridge (44), a manufacturing town of Cheshire and Lancashire, on both banks of the Tame, 7½ m. E. by N. of Manchester; is of modern growth, and noted for its large cotton-yarn and calico factories, iron-foundries and machine-shops.
Stamford (8), an interesting old town, partly in Lincolnshire and partly in Northamptonshire, on the Welland, 12 m. WNW. of Peterborough; was one of the five Danish burghs, and is described in Domesday Book (q. v.); a massacre of Jews occurred here in 1140, and in Plantagenet times it was a place of ecclesiastical, parliamentary, and royal importance; figures in the Wars of the Roses and the Civil War of Charles I.'s time; has three fine Early English churches, a corn exchange, two handsome schools, Browne's Hospital, founded in Richard III.'s reign, and Burghley House, a noble specimen of Renaissance architecture; the Stamford Mercury (1695) is the earliest provincial newspaper; the district is mainly agricultural.
Stamford (16), a town of Connecticut, situated amid surrounding hills in Long Island Sound, 33 m. NE. of New York; is a summer resort, and has iron and bronze foundries, etc.
Stamford Bridge, a village of Yorkshire, on the Derwent, 9¼ m. NE. of York; the scene of Harold's victory over the invading forces of Harold Haarfager on September 25, 1066.
Stamp Act, a measure passed by Grenville's Ministry in 1765 enacting that all legal documents used in the colonies should bear Government stamps. The Americans resisted on the ground that taxation without representation in Parliament was unjust. Riots broke out, and the stamped paper was carefully avoided. In 1766 Pitt championed the cause of the colonists, and largely through his eloquence Government in that year was induced to repeal the Act.
Standing Stones, rude unhewn stones standing singly or in groups in various parts of the world, and erected at remote periods, presumably in memory of some great achievement or misfortune, or as having some monumental reference.
Standish, Miles, one of the Puritan fathers, of Lancashire birth, and a cadet of a family of knightly rank in the county; served in the Netherlands as a soldier, and went to America in the Mayflower in 1620, and was helpful to the colony in its relations both with the Indians and the mother-country; is the hero of a poem of Longfellow's.
Stanfield, Clarkson, English landscape-painter, born in Sunderland, of Irish descent; began as a scene-painter; his first picture, “Market-boats on the Scheldt,” proving a success, he devoted himself to easel-painting, and his principal works were “Wreckers off Fort Rouge,” “A Calm at Sea,” “The Abandoned,” “The Bass Rock”; his frequent visits to the Continent supplied him with fresh subjects; and Ruskin says of one of his pictures, “it shows as much concentrated knowledge of the sea and sky as, diluted, would have lasted any of the old masters for life” (1793-1866).
Stanhope, Lady Hester Lucy, born at Chevening, Kent, the eldest daughter of the third Earl of Stanhope, and niece of William Pitt; a woman of unusual force of character and attractiveness; from 1803 to 1806 was, as the confidant and housekeeper of her uncle William Pitt, a leader of society; retired with a Government pension after Pitt's death, but impelled by her restless nature, led an unsettled life in Southern Europe, and finally settled in Syria in 1814, making her home in the old convent of Mar Elias, near Mount Lebanon, where, cut off from Western civilisation, for 25 years she exercised a remarkable influence over the rude tribes of the district; assumed the dress of a Mohammedan chief, and something of the religion of Islam, and in the end came to look upon herself as a sort of prophetess; interesting accounts of her strange life and character have been published by her English physician, Dr. Madden, and others (1776-1839).
Stanhope, Philip Henry, Earl, historian, born at Walmer, only son of the fourth Earl of Stan hope; graduated at Oxford in 1827, and three years later entered Parliament as a Conservative; held office as Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs in Peel's Ministry of 1834-35, and as Secretary to the Indian Board of Control during 1845-46; succeeded his father in 1855, before which he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Mahon; literature was his chief interest, and as a historian and biographer he has a deservedly high reputation for industry and impartial judgment; a “History of England from 1713 to 1783,” a “History of Spain under Charles II.,” “Historical and Critical Essays,” and Lives of Pitt, Condé, and Belisarius, are his most important works (1805-1875).
Stanislas I., Leczinski, king of Poland, born in Lemberg; afterwards sovereign of the Duchies of Bar and Lorraine; became the father-in-law of Louis XV. (1677-1766).
Stanley. Arthur Penrhyn, widely known as Dean Stanley, having been dean of Westminster, born at Alderley, in Cheshire, son of the rector, who became bishop of Norwich; was educated at Rugby under Dr. Arnold, and afterwards at Balliol College, Oxford; took orders, and was for 12 years tutor in his college; published his “Life of Dr. Arnold” in 1844, his “Sinai and Palestine” in 1855, after a visit to the East; held a professorship of Ecclesiastical History in Oxford for a time, and published lectures on the Eastern Church, the Jewish Church, the Athanasian Creed, and the Church of Scotland; accompanied the Prince of Wales to the East in 1862, and became dean of Westminster next year in succession to Trench; wrote “Historical Monuments of Westminster Abbey” and “Christian Institutions”; he had been married to Lady Augusta Bruce, and her death deeply affected him and accelerated his own; he was buried beside her in Henry VII.'s chapel; he was an amiable man, an interesting writer, and a broad churchman of very pronounced views (1815-1881).
Stanley, Henry Morton, African explorer, born in Denbigh, Wales, in humble circumstances, his parental name being Rowlands, he having assumed the name of Stanley after that of his adopted father, Mr. Stanley, New Orleans; served in the Confederate army; became a newspaper foreign correspondent, to the New York Herald at length; was summoned to go and “find Livingstone”; after many an impediment found Livingstone on 10th November 1871, and after staying with him, and accompanying him in explorations, returned to England in August next year; in 1874 he set out again at the head of an expedition, solved several problems, and returned home; published “Congo and its Free State,” “In Darkest Africa,” &c.; represents Lambeth, North, in Parliament, having been elected in 1895; b. 1840.
Stannary, a general term used to cover the tin mines of a specified district, the miners themselves, and such customs and privileges as appertain to the workers and the mines. In England the term is specially associated with the stannaries of Devon and Cornwall, which by an Act of Edward III. were conferred in perpetuity upon the Prince of Wales as Duke of Cornwall, who holds the title of Lord Warden of the Stannaries. Special Stannary Courts for the administration of justice amongst those connected with the mines are held in the two counties, and are each presided over by a warden and a vice-warden. Up to 1752 representative assemblies of the miners, called Stannary Parliaments, were held. Appeals from the Stannary Courts may be made now to the higher courts of England.
Star-Chamber, a court which originated in the reign of Edward III., and consisted practically of the king's ordinary council, meeting in the Starred Chamber, and dealing with such cases as fell outside the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery; was revived and remodelled by Henry VII., and in an age when the ordinary courts were often intimidated by powerful offenders, rendered excellent service to the cause of justice; was further developed and strengthened during the chancellorship of Wolsey, and in the reign of James I. had acquired jurisdiction as a criminal court over a great variety of misdemeanours—perjury, riots, conspiracy, high-treason, &c. Already tending to an exercise of unconstitutional powers, it in the reign of Charles I. became an instrument of the grossest tyranny, supporting the king in his absolutist claims, and in 1641 was among the first of the many abuses swept away by the Long Parliament.
Stars, The, are mostly suns, but being, the nearest of them, at a distance from us more than 500,000 times our distance from the sun, are of a size we cannot estimate, but are believed to be 300 times larger than the earth; they are of unequal brightness, and are, according to this standard, classified as of the first, second, down to the sixteenth magnitude; those visible to the naked eye include stars from the first to the sixth magnitude, and number 3000, while 20,000,000 are visible by the telescope; of these in the Milky Way (q. v.) alone there are 18,000,000; they are distinguished by their colours as well as their brightness, being white, orange, red, green, and blue according to their temperature and composition; they have from ancient date been grouped into constellations of the northern and the southern hemispheres and of the zodiac (q. v.), the stars in each of which being noted by the Greek letters, as α, β, according to their brightness; they all move more or less, and some go round each other, and are called double according as there are two or more of them so revolving; besides stars singly visible there are others called clusters or nebulæ (q. v.).
Stars and Stripes, the flag of the United States, the stripes representing the original States of the Union, and stars those annexed since.
Staten Island, 1, belonging to New York State (52), and comprising the county of Richmond; is a picturesque island (14 m. long), 5 m. SW. of New York, separated from Long Island by the Narrows and from New Jersey by the Kill van Kull and Staten Island Sound; pretty watering-villages skirt its shores, and Forts Richmond and Wadsworth guard the entrance to the Narrows. 2, A lofty, precipitous, and rugged island, snow-clad most of the year, belonging to Argentina, lying to the SE. of Tierra del Fuego, from which it is separated by Le Maire Strait (40 m.).
States-General, name given to an assembly of the representatives of the three estates of nobles, clergy, and bourgeoisie, or the Tiers État as it was called, in France prior to the Revolution of 1789, and which was first convoked in 1302 by Philip IV.; they dealt chiefly with taxation, and had no legislative power; they were convoked by Louis XIII. in 1614, and dismissed for looking into finance, and not convoked again till the last time in 1789, for the history of which see Carlyle's “French Revolution.”
States-Rights, doctrine of the contention of the Democrats in the United States that the several States of the Union have all the rights, powers, and privileges not expressly made over to the central government, and by extremists even the right of secession.
Stationers' Hall, the hall of the old Company of London Stationers, incorporated in 1557, who enjoyed till the Copyright Act of 1842 the sole right of having registered at their offices every pamphlet, book, and ballad published in the kingdom. Although no longer compulsory, the practice of entering books at Stationers' Hall is still found useful for copyright purposes. The register-rolls of books entered at Stationers' Hall have been carefully preserved, and are of the highest value to the literary historian.
Stations of the Cross, steps in the passage of Jesus from the judgment-hall to Calvary, or representations of these, before each one of which the faithful are required to kneel and offer up a prayer.
Statius, Publius Papinius, a Latin poet, born in Naples; lived at Rome, flourished at court, particularly that of Domitian, whom he flattered, but retired to his native place after defeat in a competition; his chief work is the “Thebaïs,” an epic in 12 books, embodying the legends connected with the war against Thebes; he ranks first among the poets of the silver age; a collection of short pieces of his named “Silvæ” have been often reprinted (61-96).
Staubbach (dust stream), a famous waterfall in Bern, near Lauterbrunnen, 8 m. S. of Interlaken, with a sheer descent of 980 ft.; in the sunlight it has the appearance of a rainbow-hued transparent veil, and before it reaches the ground it is dissipated in silvery spray.
Staunton, Howard, a famous chess-player; was an Oxford man, and led a busy life as a journalist and miscellaneous writer in London; won the chess championship in 1843, and did much to extend the scientific study of the game by various publications, “The Chess-Player's Handbook,” &c.; was also held in high repute as a Shakespearian scholar; published well-annotated editions of Shakespeare's works and a facsimile of the first folio (1810-1874).
Stavanger (24), a flourishing port of Norway, on a fiord on the SW. coast, 100 m. S. of Bergen; is of modern aspect, having been largely rebuilt; has two excellent harbours, a fine 11th-century Gothic cathedral, and is the centre of important coast fisheries.
Stavropol (657), a Russian government on the Caspian Sea, the inhabitants of which are chiefly nomads and breed horses, with a capital of the same name (36) on a hill, a modern town and a prosperous, both in manufacture and trade.
Steel, Sir John, sculptor, born at Aberdeen; studied at Edinburgh and Rome; made his mark in 1832 by a model of a statue, “Alexander and Bucephalus,” and soon took rank with the foremost and busiest sculptors of his day; his works are mostly to be found in Edinburgh, and include the equestrian statue of Wellington, statues of Sir Walter Scott (in the Scott Monument), Professor Wilson, Dr. Chalmers, Allan Ramsay, etc.; the splendid figure of Queen Victoria over the Royal Institution gained him the appointment (1844) of sculptor to Her Majesty in Scotland, and on the unveiling of his fine equestrian statue of Prince Albert in 1876 he was created a knight (1804-1891).
Steele, Sir Richard, a famous English essayist, born, the son of an attorney, in Dublin; educated as a foundationer at the Charterhouse and at Oxford; enamoured of a soldier's life, enlisted (1694) as a cadet in the Life Guards; in the following year received an ensigncy in the Coldstream Guards, and continued in the army till 1706, by which time he had attained the rank of a captain; a good deal of literary work was done during his soldiering, notably “The Christian Hero” and several comedies; appointed Gazetteer (1707), and for some two years was in the private service of the Prince Consort, George of Denmark; began in 1709 to issue the famous tri-weekly paper the Tatler, in which, with little assistance, he played the part of social and literary censor about town, couching his remarks in light and graceful essays, which constituted a fresh departure in literature; largely aided by Addison, his old school companion, he developed this new form of essay in the Spectator and Guardian; sat in Parliament as a zealous Whig, and in George I.'s reign was knighted and received various minor court appointments; continued a busy writer of pamphlets, &c., but withal mismanaged his affairs, and died in Wales, secured from actual penury by the property of his second wife; as a writer shares with Addison the glory of the Queen Anne Essay, which in their hands did much to purify, elevate, and refine the mind and manners of the time (1671-1729).
Steen, Jan, Dutch painter, born in Leyden; was a genre painter of the style of Rembrandt, and his paintings display severity with sympathy and a playful humour; he is said to have led a dissipated life, and to have left his wife and a large family in extreme destitution (1626-1679).
Steevens, George, commentator on Shakespeare, born at Stepney; in 1736 edited 20 of Shakespeare's plays carefully reprinted from the original quartos, and in 1731 his notes with those of Johnson in another edition; a further edition, with a number of gratuitous alterations of the text, was issued by him in 1793, and that was the accepted one till the publication of Knight's in 1838 (1736-1800).
Stein, Baron von, Prussian statesman, born at Nassau; rose rapidly in the service of the State, and became Prussian Prime Minister under William III. in 1807, in which capacity he effected important changes in the constitution of the country to its lasting benefit, till Napoleon procured his dismissal, and he withdrew to Austria, and at length to St. Petersburg, where he was instrumental in turning the general tide against Napoleon (1757-1831).
Stein, Charlotte von, a lady friend of Goethe's, born at Weimar; Goethe's affection for her cooled on his return from Italy to see her so changed; she never forgave him for marrying a woman beneath him; letters by Goethe to her were published in successive editions, but hers to him were destroyed by her (1742-1827).
Steinmetz, Carl Friedrich von, Prussian general, born at Eisenach; distinguished himself in the war of 1813-1814, and inflicted crushing defeats on the Austrians in 1866; fell below his reputation in the Franco-German War, and was deprived of his command after the battle of Gravelotte, but was elected Governor-General of Posen and Silesia (1796-1877).
Steinthal, Heymann, German philologist, born at Gröbzig, in Anhalt; studied at Berlin, where in 1863 he became professor of Comparative Philology, and in 1872 lecturer at the Jewish High School on Old Testament Criticism and Theology; author of various learned and acute works on the science of language; b. 1823.
Stella, the name under which Swift has immortalised Hester Johnson, the story of whose life is inseparably entwined with that of the great Dean; was the daughter of a lady-companion of Lady Gifford, the sister of Sir William Temple, who, it is conjectured, was her father. Swift first met her, a child of seven, when he assumed the duties of amanuensis to Sir William Temple in 1688, and during his subsequent residence with Sir William (1696-1699) stood to her in the progressive relationship of tutor, friend, and lover; but for some unaccountable reason it would seem they never married, although their mutual affection and intimacy endured till her death; to her was addressed, without thought of publication, the immortal “Journal to Stella,” “the most faithful and fascinating diary the world has ever seen,” which throws an invaluable flood of light on the character of Swift, revealing unsuspected tendernesses and affections in the great satirist (1681-1728).
Stencilling, a cheap and simple process of printing on various surfaces letters or designs; the characters are cut out in thin plates of metal or card-board, which are then laid on the surface to be imprinted, and the colour, by means of a brush, rubbed through the cut spaces.
Steno, Nicholas, a noted anatomist, born at Copenhagen, where he studied medicine and kindred sciences with great enthusiasm; became widely known in European medical circles by his important investigations into the natural functions of glands (salivary and parotid), the heart, brain, &c.; in 1667 became physician to the Grand-Duke of Tuscany, residing at Florence, where he renounced Lutheranism for Catholicism; made valuable geological investigations, but finally gave himself up to a religious life; was created a bishop, and in 1677 Vicar-Apostolic of North Germany; chiefly remembered for his contributions to anatomical science (1638-1687).
Stentor, a Grecian herald who accompanied the Greeks in the Trojan War, and whom Homer describes as “the great-hearted, brazen-voiced Stentor, whose shout was as loud as that of fifty other men,” hence the epithet stentorian.
Stephen, king of England from 1135 to 1154, nephew of Henry I., his mother being Adela, daughter of William I.; acquired French possessions through the favour of his uncle and by his marriage; in 1127 swore fealty to his cousin Matilda, daughter of Henry I., as his future sovereign, but on the death of his uncle usurped the throne, an action leading to a violent civil war, which brought the country into a state of anarchy; the Scots invaded on behalf of Matilda, but were beaten back at Northallerton (the Battle of the Standard, 1138); foreign mercenaries introduced by the king only served to embitter the struggle; the clergy, despoiled by the king, turned against him, and in the absence of a strong central authority the barons oppressed the people and fought with one another; “Adulterine Castles” sprang up over the country, and “men said openly that Christ and His saints were asleep”; in 1141 Matilda won the battle of Lincoln and for a few months ruled the country, but “as much too harsh as Stephen was too lenient,” she rapidly became unpopular, and Stephen was soon again in the ascendant; the successes of Henry, son of Matilda, led in 1153 to the treaty of Wallingford, by which it was arranged that Stephen should retain the crown for life, while Henry should be his heir; both joined in suppressing the turbulent barons and the “Adulterine Castles”; more fortunately circumstanced, Stephen had many qualities which might have made him a popular and successful king (1105-1154).
Stephen, the name of nine Popes; S. I., Pope from 253 to 257, signalised by his zeal against the heresies of his time; S. II., Pope from 752 to 757, in whose reign, under favour of Pepin le Bref, began the temporal power of the Popes; S. III., Pope from 768 to 772, sanctioned the worship of saints and images; S. IV., Pope from 816 to 817; S. V., Pope from 885 to 891, distinguished for his charity; S. VI., Pope from 896 to 897, strangled after a reign of 18 months; S. VII., Pope from 829 to 831, entirely under the control of his mistresses; S. VIII., Pope from 939 to 942; S. IX., Pope from 1057 to 1058, vigorously opposed the sale of benefices and the immorality of the clergy.
Stephen, George, archæologist, born in Liverpool; settled in Sweden, and became professor of English in Copenhagen; his great work entitled “Old Northern Runic Monuments of Scandinavia and England”; b. 1813.
Stephen, James, slavery abolitionist, born in Dorsetshire; held a post in the West Indies; wrote “Slavery in the British West Indies,” an able book; had sons more or less distinguished in law and law practice (1759-1832).
Stephen, Leslie, man of letters, born at Kensington, educated at Eton and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, of which he became a Fellow; became editor of the Cornhill and of the first 26 volumes of the “Dictionary of National Biography”; is the author of “Hours in a Library” and “History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century,” books that have produced a deep impression; has also produced several biographies, distinguished at once by accuracy, elegance, and critical acumen; b. 1832.
Stephen, St., protomartyr of the Christian Church, who was (Acts vii.) stoned to death in A.D. 33; his death is a frequent subject of the old painters, the saint himself being less frequently depicted, but when so he is represented usually in a deacon's dress, bearing a stone in one hand and a palm-branch in the other, or both hands full of stones.
Stephens, James, Fenian conspirator, born in Kilkenny; became “Head Centre,” and zealous in the Fenian cause both in Ireland and America; was arrested in Dublin, but escaped; found his way to New York, but was deposed, and has sunk out of sight; b. 1824.
Stephen's, St., the Parliament House of Westminister, distinguished from St. James's, which denotes the Court, as Downing Street does the Government.
Stephenson, George, inventor of the locomotive, born, the son of a poor colliery engineman, at Wylam, near Newcastle; was early set to work, first as a cowherd and then as a turnip-hoer, and by 15 was earning 12s. a week as fireman at Throckley Bridge Colliery, diligently the while acquiring the elements of education; married at 21, and supplemented his wage as brakesman at Killingworth Colliery by mending watches and shoes; in 1815 invented a safety-lamp for miners, which brought him a public testimonial of £1000; while at Killingworth turned his attention to the application of steam to machinery, and thus constructed his first locomotive in 1814 for the colliery tram-road; railway and locomotive construction now became the business of his life; superintended the construction of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (1821-25), the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (1826-29), over which he ran his locomotive the “Rocket” at a maximum rate of 35 m. an hour; in the outburst of railway enterprise which now ensued Stephenson's services were in requisition all over the country; became principal engineer on many of the new railways; bought the country-seat of Tapton, near Chesterfield, to which he retired for much-needed rest; a man of character, gentle and simple in his affections, strong and purposeful in his labours, who, as he himself says, “fought for the locomotive single-handed for nearly 20 years,” and “put up with every rebuff, determined not to be put down” (1781-1848).
Stephenson, Robert, son of preceding, born at Willington Quay, was well educated at Newcastle, and for a session at Edinburgh University; began in 1823 to assist his father, and from 1824 to 1827 fulfilled an engineering engagement in Colombia, South America; rendered valuable service in the construction of the “Rocket,” and as joint-engineer with his father of the London and Birmingham line, was mainly responsible for its construction; turning his attention specially to bridge-building he constructed the Britannia and Conway Tubular bridges, besides many others, including those over the Nile, St. Lawrence, &c.; was returned to the House of Commons in 1847; received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour from the French emperor, and many other distinctions at home and abroad; was buried in Westminster Abbey (1803-1859).
Stepniak, Russian Nihilist and apostle of freedom; exiled himself to England; author of “Underground Russia” (1852-1895).
Steppes, the name given to wide, treeless plains, barren except in spring, of the SE. of Russia and SW. of Siberia.
Stereoscope, a simple optical apparatus which, when two photographs of an object taken from slightly different standpoints (so as to secure the appearance it presents to either eye singly) are placed under its twin magnifying lenses, presents to the eyes of the looker a single picture of the object standing out in natural relief.
Sterling, John, a friend of Carlyle's, born at Kames Castle, Bute, son of Captain Sterling of the Times; studied at Glasgow and Cambridge; a man of brilliant parts and a liberal-minded, but of feeble health; had Julius Hare for tutor at Cambridge, and became Hare's curate at Hurstmonceaux for eight months; wrote for reviews, and projected literary enterprises, but achieved nothing; spent his later days moving from place to place hoping to prolong life; formed an acquaintanceship with Carlyle in 1832; became an intelligent disciple, and believed in him to the last; Hare edited his papers, and wrote his life as a clergyman, and Carlyle, dissatisfied, wrote another on broader lines, and by so doing immortalised his memory (1806-1843).
Stern, Daniel. See Agoult.
Sterne, Laurence, English humourist, born at Clonmel, Ireland, son of Roger Sterne, captain in the army; his mother an Irishwoman; was educated at Halifax and Cambridge, by-and-by took orders, and received livings in Sutton and Shillington, became a prebend at York, and finally got a living at Coxwold; in 1759 appeared the first two volumes of “Tristram Shandy,” and in 1767 the last two; in 1768 his “Sentimental Journey,” and in the interim his “Sermons,” equally characteristic of the man as the two former productions. Stopford Brooke says, “They have no plot, they can scarcely be said to have any story. The story of 'Tristram Shandy' wanders like a man in a labyrinth, and the humour is as labyrinthine as the story. It is carefully invented, and whimsically subtle; and the sentiment is sometimes true, but mostly affected. But a certain unity is given to the book by the admirable consistency of the characters,” his masterpieces, among which is “Uncle Toby”; the author died in London of pulmonary consumption (1713-1763).
Sternhold, Thomas, principal author of the first English metrical version of the Psalms, originally attached to the Prayer-Book as augmented by John Hopkins; continued in general use till Tate and Brady's version of 1696 was substituted in 1717; was a Hampshire man, and held the post of Groom of the Robes to Henry VIII. and Edward VI. (1500-1549).
Steropes, one of the three Cyclops (q. v.).
Stesichorus, a celebrated Greek lyric poet, born in Sicily; contemporary of Sappho, Aleacus, and Pittacus; at his birth it is said a nightingale alighted on his lips and sang a sweet strain (632-652 B.C.).
Stettin (116), capital of Pomerania, and a flourishing river-port on both banks of the Oder, 30 m. from its entrance into the Baltic, and 60 m. NE. of Berlin; lies contiguous to, and is continuous with, the smaller towns of Bredow, Grabow, and Züllchow; principal buildings are the royal palace (16th century), the Gothic church of St. Peter (12th century), and St. James's (14th century); is a busy hive of industry, turning out ships, cement, sugar, spirits, &c., and carrying on a large export and import trade.
Steuben, Baron von, general in the American War of Independence, born in Magdeburg; originally in the Prussian service under Frederick the Great, and had distinguished himself at the siege of Prague and at Rossbach; emigrating to America at the end of the Seven Years' War he offered his services, which were readily welcomed, and contributed to organise and discipline the army, to the success of the revolution (1730-1794).
Stevenson, Robert, an eminent Scottish engineer, born at Glasgow, the son of a West India merchant; adopted the profession of his stepfather Thomas Smith, and in 1796 succeeded him as first engineer to the Board of Northern Lighthouses, a position he held for 47 years, during which he planned and erected as many as 23 lighthouses round the coasts of Scotland, his most noted erection being that on the Bell Rock; introduced the catoptric system of illumination and other improvements; was also much employed as a consulting engineer in connection with bridge, harbour, canal, and railway construction (1772-1850).
Stevenson, Robert Louis Balfour, novelist and essayist, grandson of the preceding, born at Edinburgh, where in 1875 he was called to the bar, after disappointing his father by not following the family vocation of engineering; had already begun to write for the magazines, and soon abandoned law for the profession of letters, in which he rapidly came to the front; in 1878 appeared his first book, “An Inland Voyage,” quickly followed by “Travels with a Donkey,” “Virginibus Puerisque,” “Familiar Studies”; with “Treasure Island” (1883) found a wider public as a writer of adventure and romance, and established himself permanently in the public favour with “Kidnapped” (1886, most popular story), “The Master of Ballantrae,” “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” &c.; his versatility in letters was further revealed in his charming “A Child's Garden of Verse,” “Ballads,” “Memories and Portraits,” and “A Footnote to History” (on Samoan politics); in 1890 failing health induced him to make his home in the island of Samoa, where he died and is buried; “His too short life,” says Professor Saintsbury, “has left a fairly ample store of work, not always quite equal, seldom quite without a flaw, but charming, stimulating, distinguished as few things in this last quarter of a century have been” (1850-1894).
Steward, Lord High, in early times the highest office of state in England, ranking in power next to the sovereign; hereditary during many centuries, the office lapsed in the reign of Henry IV., and since has been revived only on special occasions, e. g. a coronation, a trial of a peer, at the termination of which the office is demitted, the Lord High Steward himself breaking in two his wand of office.
Stewart, Balfour, physicist, born in Edinburgh; after finishing his university curriculum went to Australia and engaged for some time in business; returned to England; became director at Kew Observatory, and professor of Natural Philosophy at Owens College, Manchester; made discoveries in radiant heat, and was one of the founders of spectrum analysis (q. v.); published text-books on physics, in wide repute (1828-1887).
Stewart, Dugald, Scottish philosopher, born in Edinburgh, son of Matthew Stewart; attended the High School and the University; studied one session at Glasgow under Dr. Reid; assisted his father in conducting the mathematical classes in Edinburgh, and succeeded Adam Ferguson in the Moral Philosophy chair in 1785, a post, the active duties of which he discharged with signal success for twenty-five years, lecturing on a wide range of subjects connected with metaphysics and the science of mind; he wrote “Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind,” “Philosophical Essays,” &c.; “His writings,” says Carlyle, who held him in high veneration, “are not a philosophy, but a making ready for one. He does not enter on the field to till it; he only encompasses it with fences, invites cultivators, and drives away intruders; often (fallen on evil days) he is reduced to long arguments with the passers-by to prove that it is a field, that this so highly-prized domain of his is, in truth, soil and substance, not clouds and shadows. It is only to a superficial observer that the import of these discussions can seem trivial; rightly understood, they give sufficient and final answer to Hartley's and Darwin's and all other possible forms of Materialism, the grand Idolatry, as we may rightly call it, by which, in all times, the true Worship, that of the Invisible, has been polluted and withstood” (1753-1858).
Stewart, House of. See Stuart.
Stewart, Matthew, mathematician, born at Rothesay; bred for the Church, was for a time minister of Roseneath, and succeeded Maclaurin as professor of Mathematics in Edinburgh in 1747; was the author of a mathematical treatise or two, and the lifelong friend of Robert Simson (1717-1785).
Steyer (17), a manufacturing town of Upper Austria, at the junction of the Steyer and Enns, 20 m. NE. of St. Valentin; noted for its flourishing iron and steel manufactures, of which it is the chief seat in Austria.
Stheno, one of the three Gorgons (q. v.).
Stieler, a celebrated German cartographer, born at Gotha; his atlases are deservedly held in high esteem for their excellence (1775-1836).
Stier, Rudolf Ewald, German theologian; was a devout student of the Bible as the very Word of God, and is best known as the author of the “Words of the Lord Jesus” (1800-1862).
Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury and favourite of Edward the Confessor, who advanced him to the bishoprics of Elmham and Winchester and to the Primacy in 1052; his appointment was popularly regarded as uncanonical, and neither Harold nor William the Conqueror allowed him to perform the ceremony of coronation; through William's influence was by the Pope deprived of his office and condemned to imprisonment.
Stigmata, impressions of marks corresponding to certain wounds received by Christ at His crucifixion, and which certain of the saints are said to have been supernaturally marked with in memory of His. St. Francis in particular showed such marks.
Stilicho, a Roman general, son of a Vandal captain under the emperor Valens; on the death of Theodosius I., under whom he served, became the ruler of the West, and by his military abilities saved the Western Empire; defeated Alaric the Goth in a decisive battle and compelled him to retire from Italy, as he did another horde of invading barbarians afterwards; aspired to be master of the Roman empires, but was assassinated at Ravenna in 403.
Still, John, bishop of Bath and Wells, born at Grantham; rose in the Church through a succession of preferments: is credited with the authorship of one of the oldest comedies in the English language, “Gammer Gurton's Needle,” turning on the loss and recovery by her of the needle with which she was mending her goodman's breeches (1543-1607).
Stilling, Jung, a German mystic; studied medicine at Strasburg, and when there became acquainted with Goethe, who took a liking for him and remained his warm friend; settled as a physician at Elberfeldt and became professor at Marburg and at Heidelberg; he was distinguished for his skill in operations on the eye, and is said to have restored to sight without fee or reward 3000 poor blind persons; he is best known by his autobiography; Carlyle defines him as the German “Dominie Sampson.”
Stillingfleet, Edward, bishop of Worcester, born in Dorsetshire; was a scholarly man, wrote on apologetics, in defence of the Church of England as a branch of the Church Catholic, in support of the doctrine of the Trinity, and in advocacy of harmony in the Church; was an able controversialist and a generous minded; was a handsome man, and popularly called the “Beauty of holiness” (1635-1699).
Stipple, a mode of engraving by dots instead of lines, each dot when magnified showing a group of small ones.
Stirling, James Hutchison, master in philosophy, born in Glasgow; bred to medicine and practised for a time in South Wales; went to Germany to study the recent developments in philosophy there, on his return to Scotland published, in 1863, his “Secret of Hegel: being the Hegelian System in Origin, Principle, Form, and Matter,” which has proved epoch-making, and has for motto the words of Hegel, “The Hidden Secret of the Universe is powerless to resist the might of thought! It must unclose before it, revealing to sight and bringing to enjoyment its riches and its depths.” It is the work of a master-mind, as every one must feel who tackles to the study of it, and of one who has mastered the subject of it as not another in England, or perhaps even in Germany, has done. The grip he takes of it is marvellous and his exposition trenchant and clear. It was followed in 1881 by his “Text-book to Kant,” an exposition which his “Secret” presupposes, and which he advised the students of it to expect, that they might be able to construe the entire Hegelian system from its root in Kant. It is not to the credit of his country that Dr. Stirling has never been elected to a chair in any of her universities, though it is understood that is due to the unenlightened state of mind of electoral bodies in regard to the Hegelian system and the prejudice against it, particularly among the clergy of the Church. He was, however, elected to be the first Gifford Lecturer in Edinburgh University, and his admirers have had to content themselves with that modicum of acknowledgment at last. He is the author of a critique on Sir William Hamilton's theory of perception, on Huxley's doctrine of protoplasm, and on Darwinianism, besides a translation of Schwegler's “History of Philosophy,” with notes, a highly serviceable work. His answer to Huxley is crushing. He is the avowed enemy of the Aufklärung and of all knowledge that consists of mere Vorstellungen and does not grasp the ideas which they present; b. 1820.
Stirling, William Alexander, Earl of, poet, born at Menstrie, near Alloa; was for a time tutor to the family of Argyll; was the author of sonnets called “Aurora,” some curious tragedies, and an “Elegy on the Death of Prince Henry”; he was held in high honour by James VI. and followed him to London, obtained a grant of Nova Scotia, and made Secretary of State for Scotland; he has been ranked as a poet with Drummond of Hawthornden, who was his friend (1580-1640).
Stirling-Maxwell, See Maxwell, Stirling.
Stirling (17), the county town of Stirlingshire, and one of the most ancient and historically-interesting cities of Scotland; occupies a fine site on the Forth, 36 m. NW. of Edinburgh and 29 m. NE. of Glasgow; most prominent feature is the rocky castle hill, rising at the westward end of the town to a height of 420 feet, and crowned by the ancient castle, a favourite Stuart residence, and associated with many stirring events in Scottish history, and utilised now as a garrison-station; interesting also are “Argyll's Lodging,” Greyfriars Church (Pointed Gothic of the 15th century), the fine statue of Bruce, &c.; has manufactures of tartans, tweeds, carpets, &c., and a trade in agricultural and mining products.
Stirlingshire (126), a midland county of Scotland, stretching E. and W. from Dumbarton (W.) to the Forth (E.); between Lanark (S.) and Perth (N.) it forms the borderland between the Lowlands and the Highlands; Loch Lomond skirts the western border, and on the northern Loch Katrine, stretching into Perthshire; Ben Lomond and lesser heights rise in the NW.; main streams are the Avon, Carron, Bannock, &c.; between Alloa and Stirling stretches the fertile and well-cultivated plain, “The Carse of Stirling”; in the W. lies a portion of the great western coal-field, from which coal and iron-stone are largely extracted; principal towns are Stirling (q. v.), Falkirk, and Kilsyth; interesting remains of Antoninus' Wall, from Forth to Clyde, still exist; within its borders were fought the battles of Bannockburn, Sauchieburn, Stirling Bridge, Falkirk, &c.
Stirrup Cup, a “parting cup” given by the Highlanders to guests when they are leaving and have their feet in the stirrups.
Stobsæus, Joannes, a native of Stobi, in Macedonia; flourished at the end of the 5th and beginning of the 6th century; celebrated as the compiler (about 500 A.D.) of a Greek Anthology, through which many valuable extracts are preserved to us from works which have since his day been lost.
Stock Exchange, a mart for the buying and selling of Government stocks, company shares, and various securities, carried on usually by the members of an associated body of brokers having certain rules and regulations. Such associations exist now in most of the important cities of the United Kingdom and commercial world generally (on the Continent are known as Bourses). The London Stock Exchange, transacting business in handsome buildings in Capel Court, facing the Bank of England, was established in 1801, stock-exchange transactions previous to then being carried on in a loose, ill-regulated fashion by private parties chiefly in and around Change Alley, the scene of the memorable South Sea Bubble (q. v.) speculation. The great development in stock-exchange business in recent times is due chiefly to the sale of foreign and colonial bonds, and the remarkable growth and spread of joint-stock companies since the Joint-Stock Company Act of 1862.
Stockholm (246), capital of Sweden; occupies a charming site on the channel leading out of Lake Mälar into a bay of the Baltic; stands partly on the mainland and partly on nine islands, communication between which is facilitated by handsome bridges and a busy service of boats; its wooded and rocky islands, crowned with handsome buildings, its winding waterways, peninsulas, crowded wharves, and outlook over the isleted lake, combine to make it one of the most picturesque cities of Europe; Town Island, the nucleus of the city, is occupied by the royal palace, House of Nobles, principal wharf, &c., while on Knights' Island stand the Houses of Parliament, law-courts, and other public buildings; Norrmalm, with the Academy of Science, National Museum, Academy of Fine Arts, Hop Garden, &c., is the finest quarter of the city; manufactures embrace sugar, tobacco, silks, linen, cotton, &c., besides which there are flourishing iron-works and a busy export trade in iron and steel, oats, and tar, despite the hindrance caused by the ice during three or four months in winter; founded in 1255 by Birger Jarl.
Stockmar, Baron de, statesman, born at Coburg; bred to medicine, became physician to Leopold I. of Belgium, and at length his adviser; was adviser also of Queen Victoria before her accession; accompanied Prince Albert to Italy before his marriage, and joined him thereafter in England as the trusted friend of both the queen and him; he had two political ideals—a united Germany under Prussia, and unity of purpose between Germany and England (1757-1863).
Stockport (70), a cotton town of East Cheshire; occupies a site on the slopes of a narrow gorge overlooking the confluence of the Thame and Goyt (forming the Mersey), 37 m. E. of Liverpool; a handsome viaduct spans the river; has an old grammar-school, free library, technical school, &c.; during the present century has grown to be a busy centre of cotton manufactures, and has besides flourishing iron and brass foundries, machine-shops, breweries, &c.
Stockton-on-Tees (69), a prosperous manufacturing town and port of Durham, on the Tees, 4 m. from its mouth; an iron bridge spanning the river connects it with Thornaby-on-Tees; has the usual public buildings; steel and iron shipbuilding building, potteries, foundries, machine-shops are flourishing industries; iron and earthenware are the chief exports, and with imports of corn and timber give rise to a busy and increasing shipping, facilitated by the excellent river-way.
Stoics, the disciples of Zeno; derived their name from the stoa or portico in Athens where their master taught and founded the school in 340 B.C. The doctrines of the school were completely antagonistic to those of Epicurus, and among the disciples of it are to be reckoned some of the noblest spirits of the heathen world immediately before and after the advent of Christ. These appear to have been attracted to it by the character of its moral teachings, which were of a high order indeed. The principle of morality was defined to be conformity to reason, and the duty of man to lie in the subdual of all passion and a composed submission to the will of the gods. It came short of Christian morality, as indeed all Greek philosophy did, in not recognising the Divine significance and power of humility, and especially in its failure to see, still more to conform to, the great doctrine of Christ which makes the salvation of a man to depend on the interest he takes in, as well as in the fact of the salvation of, other men. The Stoic was a proud man, and not a humble, and was content if he could only have his own soul for a prey. He did not see—and no heathen ever did—that the salvation of one man is impossible except in the salvation of other men, and that no man can save another unless he descend into that other's case and stand, as it were, in that other's stead. It is the glory of Christ that He was the first to feel Himself, and to reveal to others, the eternal validity and divinity of this truth. The Stoic morality is selfish; the morality of Christ is brotherly.
Stoke-upon-Trent (24), chief seat of the “Potteries,” in Staffordshire, on the Trent and the Trent and Mersey Canal, 15 m. SE. of Crewe; is of modern growth, with free library, infirmary, public baths, statue to Wedgwood, &c., and is busily engaged in the manufacture of all sorts of porcelain ware, earthenware, encaustic tiles, &c., besides which there are flourishing iron-works, machine-shops, coal-mines, &c.
Stokes, Sir George Gabriel, mathematician and physicist, born in Skreen, co. Sligo; he is great in the department of mathematical physics, and has been specially devoted to the study of hydro-dynamics and the theory of light; has opened new fields of investigation, and supplied future experimenters with valuable hints; he was one of the foremost physicists of the day; b. 1819.
Stolberg, Christian, Count, German poet of the Göttingen school, to which Bürger and Voss belonged, born in Hamburg; was with his brother a friend of Goethe's, and held a civil appointment in Holstein (1748-1821).
Stolberg, Friedrich Leopold, Count of, German poet, born in Holstein, brother of preceding; held State appointments in Denmark; joined the Romish Church, and showed a religious and ascetic temper (1750-1819).
Stole, a long scarf worn by bishops and priests in the administration of the sacraments of the Church, and sometimes when preaching, as well as in symbol of authority.
Stone Age, the name given to that period in the history of civilisation when the weapons of war and the chase and the implements of industry were made of stone, prior to employment for these purposes of bronze, characteristic of the age succeeding.
Stone Circles, circles of standing stones (q. v.) found in various parts of Great Britain, North Europe generally, and also, but of more recent origin, in North India; were certainly, in the most of cases, set up to mark the circular boundary of a place of burial; erroneously ascribed to the Druids; from the character of numerous cinerary urns exhumed, seem to have belonged to the bronze age in Great Britain; most interesting are those of Stennis, in Orkney, with a circumference of 340 ft., Avebury, in Wiltshire, and Stonehenge (q. v.).
Stonehaven (4), fishing port and county town of Kincardineshire, situated at the entrance of Carron Water (dividing the town) into South Bay, 16 m. SSW. of Aberdeen; has a small harbour, and is chiefly engaged in herring and haddock fishing.
Stonehenge, the greatest and best preserved of the stone circles (q. v.) of Britain, situated in Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, 7 m. N. of Salisbury; “consists of two concentric circles, enclosing two ellipses”; the diameter of the space enclosed is 100 ft.; the stones are from 13 ft. to 28 ft. high; is generally regarded as an exceptional development of the ordinary stone circle, but the special purpose of its unusual construction is still a matter of uncertainty.
Stonyhurst, a celebrated Roman Catholic college in East Lancashire, 10 m. N. of Blackburn; established in 1794 by certain Jesuit fathers who, after the suppression of their seminary at St. Omer, in France, by the Bourbons, took up their residence at Bruges and then at Liège, but fled thence to England during the Revolution, and accepted the shelter offered them at Stonyhurst by Mr. Weld of Lulworth; there are about 300 students, and upwards of 30 masters; a preparatory school has been established at Hodder, a mile distant; in 1840 was affiliated to the University of London, for the degrees of which its students are chiefly trained; retains in its various institutions many marks of its French origin.
Stool of Repentance, in Scotland in former times an elevated seat in a church on which for offences against morality people did penance and suffered rebuke.
Storm, Theodore Woldsen, German poet and exquisite story-teller, born in Sleswig; was a magistrate and judge in Sleswig-Holstein (1817-1888).
Storm-and-Stress Period, name given in the history of German literature to a period at the close of the 18th century, when the nation began to assert its freedom from artificial literary restraint, a period to which Goethe's “Goetz von Berlichingen” and Schiller's “Robbers” belong, and the spirit of which characterises it; the representatives of the period were called Kraftmänner (Power-men), who “with extreme animation railed against Fate in general, because it enthralled free virtue, and with clenched hands or sounding shields hurled defiance towards the vault of heaven.”
Storms, Cape of, name originally given in 1486 to the Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese navigator Bartholomew Dias.
Stornoway, a fishing-port, the capital of Lewis, and the chief town in the Outer Hebrides, with Stornoway Castle adjoining.
Storthing (i. e. great court), the national Parliament of Norway, composed of two chambers, the Lagthing or Upper Chamber, and the Odelsthing or Lower.
Story, Joseph, American jurist and judge, born in Massachusetts (1779-1845).
Story, William Wetmore, poet and sculptor, son of preceding; b. 1819.
Stothard, Thomas, artistic designer and book illustrator, as well as painter, born in London, son of an innkeeper; illustrated, among other works, “Pilgrim's Progress,” and along with Turner, Rogers' “Italy” (1755-1834).
Stourbridge, manufacturing town in Worcestershire; its staple manufactures are glass and pottery.
Stow, John, English antiquary, born in London; bred a tailor; took to antiquarian pursuits, which he prosecuted with the zeal of a devotee that spared no sacrifice; wrote several works on antiquities, the chief and most valuable being his “Survey of London and Westminster”; he ended his days in poverty (1525-1605).
Stowell, William Scott, eminent English judge, born at Heworth, brother of Lord Eldon; famed for his judicial decisions (1745-1836).
Strabo, ancient geographer, born at Amasia, in Pontus; flourished in the reign of Augustus, and the early part of that of Tiberius; was a learned man, lived some years in Rome, and travelled much in various countries; wrote a history of 43 books, all lost, and a work on geography, in 17 books, which has come down to us entire all to the 7th; the work is in general not descriptive; it comprehends principally important political events in connection with the countries visited, with a notice of their illustrious men, or whatever seemed to him characteristic in them or was of interest to himself; born about 63 B.C.
Straddha, the funeral rites and funeral offerings for the dead among the Hindus.
Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, Earl of, English statesman, born in London, of an old Yorkshire family; studied at Cambridge; after some months' travel on the Continent entered Parliament in 1614, but took no active part in affairs till 1621; he took sides at first with the party for freedom, but in 1622 felt compelled to side with the king, to his elevation of greater and greater influence as his counsellor; his policy, named “Thorough,” was to establish a strong Government with the king at the head, and to put down with a strong hand all opposition to the royal authority; appointed Lord-Deputy in Ireland in 1633, he did all he could to increase the royal resources, and was at length, in 1640, exalted to the Lord-Lieutenancy, being at the same time created Earl of Strafford; he had risen by this time to be the chief adviser of the king, and was held responsible for his arbitrary policy; after the meeting of the Long Parliament he was impeached for high treason; the impeachment seemed likely to fail, when a Bill of Attainder was produced; to this the king refused his assent, but he had to yield to the excitement his refusal produced, and as the result Strafford was beheaded on Tower Hill (1593-1641).
Straits Settlements (507, of which 150 are Chinese), British colony in the East Indies, embracing the British possessions in the Malay Peninsula (on the Strait of Malacca), Singapore, Malacca, Penang, and the Keeling Islands and Christmas Island; were under the jurisdiction of the Governor-General of India till 1867, in which year they passed under the control of the Colonial Office at home.
Stralsund (28), a fortified seaport of North Prussia, on Strela Sound, opposite the island of Rügen, in the Baltic, and 66 m. NW. of Stettin, forms of itself an islet, and is connected with the mainland (Pomerania) by bridges; is a quaint old town, dating back to the 13th century; figures often in the wars of Prussia, and is now a place of considerable commercial importance.
Strangford, Percy C. S. Smythe, Viscount, diplomatist; graduated at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1800; entered the diplomatic service, and in the following year succeeded to the title; was ambassador to Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, and Russia; translated the “Rimas” of Camoëns, and was raised to the peerage (1825) as Baron Penshurst (1780-1855).
Strangford, Percy E. F. W. Smythe, son of preceding, diplomatist and noted philologist, born at St. Petersburg; passed through Harrow and Oxford; entered the diplomatic service; became attaché at Constantinople, and during the Crimean War served as Oriental Secretary, acquiring the while a profound grip of the Eastern Question, and an unrivalled knowledge of European and Asiatic languages—Turkish, Persian, Arabic, Slavonic, Afghan, Basque, &c.; succeeded to the title in 1855, and henceforth resided chiefly in London; was President of the Asiatic Society, and was considered by Freeman “our greatest English philologist”; author of various articles on political, geographical, and philological subjects (1825-1869).
Stranraer (6), a royal burgh and seaport of Wigtownshire, finely situated at the southern extremity of Loch Ryan, 73 m. W. of Dumfries; has an interesting 16th-century castle, and a handsome town-hall and court-house; there is some shipping in agricultural produce, and steamers ply daily between Stranraer and Larne, in Ireland.
Straparola, Giovanni Francesco, author of a famous collection of stories after the style of Boccaccio's “Decameron,” partly borrowed and partly genuine folk-stories, which ranks as an Italian classic, and has been translated into various European languages; flourished in the 16th century.
Strap, Hugh, a simple-hearted friend and adherent of Roderick Random in Smollett's novel of that name.
Strappado, an obsolete military punishment by drawing a culprit to the top of a beam and then letting him drop the length of the rope.
Strasburg (124), capital, since 1871, of Alsace-Lorraine, on the Ill, a few miles above its confluence with the Rhine, 89 m. N. of Basel; a place of great strategical importance, and a fortress of the first class; is a city of Roman origin, and contains a magnificent Gothic cathedral (11th century) with a famous astronomical clock, an imperial palace, university, &c.; manufactures embrace beer, leather, cutlery, jewellery, &c.; there is also a busy transit trade; a free town of the German empire in the 13th century; fell into the hands of the French in 1681, and was captured by the Germans, after a seven weeks' siege, on 28th September 1870, after which it became finally German, as it was originally, by the peace of Frankfort, May 1871.
Stratford (40), manufacturing town in Essex, on the Lee, 4 m. NE. of London.
Stratford de Redcliffe, Sir Stafford Canning, first Viscount, a distinguished ambassador, born in London, son of a well-connected merchant, and cousin to Canning the statesman; passed from Cambridge to the Foreign Office in 1807 as a précis-writer to his cousin; in three years had risen to the post of minister-plenipotentiary at Constantinople, where he speedily gave evidence of his remarkable powers as a diplomatist by arranging unaided the treaty of Bucharest (1814) between Russia and Turkey, and so setting free the Russian army to fall upon Napoleon, then retreating from Moscow; as minister to Switzerland aided the Republic in drawing up its constitution, and in the same year (1815) acted as commissioner at the Congress of Vienna; was subsequently employed in the United States and various European capitals, but his unrivalled knowledge of the Turkish question brought him again, in 1842, to Constantinople as ambassador, where his remarkable power and influence over the Turks won him the title of “Great Elchi”; exerted in vain his diplomatic skill to prevent the rupture between Turkey and Russia, which precipitated the Crimean War; resigned his embassy in 1858; was raised to the peerage in 1852; sat in Parliament for several years previous to 1842, but failed to make his mark as a debater; ranks among the great ambassadors of England (1786-1880).
Stratford-on-Avon (8), a pleasant old market-town of Warwickshire, on the right bank of the Avon, 8 m. SW. of Warwick and 110 m. NW. of London; forever famous as the birth and burial place of Shakespeare, with whom all that is of chief interest in the town is associated, the house he was born in, his old school, Anne Hathaway's cottage on the outskirts, the fine Early English church (14th century), where he lies buried, the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, museum, &c.; is Visited annually by some 20,000 pilgrims; a thriving agricultural centre.
Strathclyde or Northern Cumbria, an ancient kingdom of the Britons, which originated in the 8th century, and comprised the W. side of Scotland between the Solway and the Clyde; Alclyde or Dumbarton was the capital; was permanently annexed to Scotland in 1124 under David I.
Strathfieldsaye, an estate in Hampshire with a fine Queen Anne mansion, 7 m. NE. of Basingstoke, purchased by Parliament for £263,000, and presented to the Duke of Wellington in 1817.
Strathmore (“Great Valley”), the great plain of Scotland stretching for 100 m. (5 to 10 m. broad), in a north-easterly direction from Dumbartonshire to Stonehaven, in Kincardineshire, between the great mountain barrier of the Highlands, the Grampians, and the Southern Lennox, Ochil, and Sidlaw Hills; in a more restricted sense denotes the plain between Perth and Brechin.
Strathpeffer, a watering-place in Ross and Cromarty, 5 m. W. of Dingwall, a great health-resort, and much frequented on account of its mineral waters and bracing air and other attractions.
Strauss, David Friedrich, German theological and biblical critic, born at Ludwigsburg, in Würtemberg; studied in the Theological Institute of Tübingen under Baur, was ordained in 1830, and went in 1834 to Berlin to attend the lectures of Hegel and Schleiermacher, and returning to Tübingen gave lectures on Hegel in 1832, he the while maturing his famous theory which, published in 1835, made his name known over the whole theological world; this was his “Leben Jesu,” the first volume of which appeared that year, in which he maintained that, while the life of Christ had a historical basis, all the supernatural element in it and the accounts of it were simply and purely mythical, and the fruit of the idea of His person as Divine which at the foundation of the Christian religion took possession of the mind of the Church; the book proved epoch-making, and the influence of it, whether as accepted or as rejected, affected, as it still does, the whole theology of the Church; the effect of it was a shock to the whole Christian world, for it seemed as if with the denial of the supernatural the whole Christian system fell to pieces; and its author found the entire Christian world opposed to him, and he was cast out of the service of the Church; this, however, did not daunt his ardour, for he never abandoned the ground he had taken up; his last work was entitled “Der Alte und der Neue Glaube,” in which he openly repudiates the Christian religion, and assigns the sovereign authority in spiritual matters to science and its handmaid art. In a spiritual reference the whole contention of Strauss against Christianity is a tissue of irrelevancies, for the spirit of it, which is its life and essence, is true whatever conclusion critics in their seraphic wisdom may come to regarding the facts (1808-1874).
Strauss, Johann, musical composer, born at Vienna; was a musical conductor and composer, chiefly of waltz music.
Streatham (48), a Surrey suburb of London, 6½ m. SW. of St. Paul's.
Street, George Edmund, architect, born in Essex; was the architect of the New Law Courts in London; had been trained under Gilbert Scott (1824-1881).
Strelitzes, the name given to the life-guards of the czar, which at one time numbered 40,000; became so unruly and dangerous to the State that they were dissolved by Peter the Great, and dispersed in 1705.
Stretton, Hesba, the nom de plume of Sarah Smith, daughter of a Shropshire bookseller, whose semi-religious stories, chiefly for the young, have won wide acceptance in English homes since the publication of “Jessica's First Prayer” in 1867; was a regular contributor to Household Words and All the Year Round during Dickens's editorship; has written upwards of 40 volumes.
Strickland, Agnes, biographer of the queens of England, born at Roydon Hall, near Southwold, Suffolk; had already published poems and some minor works before she conceived the plan of writing a series of biographies of the queens of England; these appeared in 12 vols. during 1840-1848, and such was their popularity that a similar work dealing with the queens of Scotland was immediately undertaken; was aided in these by her sister Elizabeth (1794-1875); was the author of various other works, “Lives of the Seven Bishops,” “Bachelor Kings of England,” &c.; her writings are of no value as history, but are full of entertaining details (1806-1874).
Strindberg, August, the most noted of modern Swedish writers, born at Stockholm; accumulated stores of valuable experience during various early employments, which he utilised in his first successful work, “The Red Room” (1879), a satire on social life in Sweden, “The New Kingdom” (1882), equally bitter in its attack on social conventions, got him into trouble, and since then his life has been spent abroad; “Married Life,” a collection of short stories, brought upon him a charge of “outraging Christianity,” but after trial at Stockholm, in which he eloquently defended himself, he was acquitted; a prolific writer in all kinds of literature, and imbued with modern scientific and socialistic ideas, his writings lack the repose necessary to the highest literary achievement; b. 1849.
Stromboli, one of the Lipari Islands; has an active volcano, the cone 3022 ft., which erupts every five minutes what happens to be little else than steam; it is 12 m. in circuit, and contains about 1000 inhabitants.
Stromkarl, a Norwegian spirit who has 11 different music strains, to 10 of which people may dance, the 11th being his night strain, to the tune of which every one and everything begins to dance.
Stromness, a seaport on the Orkney island of Pomona.
Stroud (10), a busy manufacturing town of Gloucestershire; stands on rising ground overlooking the confluence of the Frome and Slade, which unite to form the Frome or Stroud Water, 10 m. SE. of Gloucester; numerous cloth and dye works are built along the banks of the river; in the town are several woollen factories.
Struck Jury, a jury of men who possess special qualifications to judge of the facts of a case.
Struensee, Danish statesman, bred to medicine; became minister of Charles VII., took advantage of his imbecility and directed the affairs of government, roused the jealousy of the nobles, and he was arrested, tried on false charges, and was beheaded (1737-1776).
Strutt, Joseph, antiquary, born in Essex; wrote the “Regal and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of England,” followed by other works on the manners and customs of the English people, that on their “Sports and Pastimes” the chief (1742-1802).
Strype, John, historian and biographer, born in London; was a voluminous writer, wrote Lives of eminent English Churchmen and upon the English Reformation (1643-1737).
Stuart, Arabella, daughter of the Earl of Lennox, and, as descended from Margaret Tudor, heiress to the English throne in default of James VI. of Scotland and his family, and towards whom James all along cherished a jealous feeling, and who was subjected to persecution at his hands; when she chose to marry contrary to his wish he confined her in the Tower, where she went mad and died.
Stuart Dynasty, a dynasty of Scotch and finally English kings as well, commenced with Robert II., who was the son of Marjory, Robert the Bruce's daughter, who married Walter, the Lord High Steward of Scotland, hence the name, his successors being Robert III., James I., James II., James III., James IV., and James V., Mary Queen of Scots, and James VI. in Scotland, and ended with James II. of England, who was expelled from the throne for an obstinacy of temper which characterised all the members of his house, “an unfortunate dynasty,” too, being appointed at length to rule at a time and over a people that thought kings were born for the country and not the country for kings, a dictum which they stubbornly refused to concede, thinking that the nation existed for them instead of them for the nation. The line became extinct by the death of Cardinal York in 1807, who survived his brother Charles Edward 19 years.
Stuart, Gilbert Charles, American portrait-painter, born at Narragansett, Rhode Island; was taken up by a Scotch painter named Alexander, whom he accompanied to Edinburgh, but was set adrift by the death of his patron, and for some years led a wandering life in America and London till his great gift of portrait-painting was recognised; in 1792 returned to America, and there painted portraits of Washington, Jefferson, and other noted Americans (1756-1828).
Stuart, John, Scottish antiquary; author of “The Sculptured Stones of Scotland,” “The Book of Deer,” and frequent contributor to the Proceedings of the Scottish Society of Antiquaries; held a post in the Register House for 24 years (1813-1877).
Stubbs, C. W., English clergyman, born in Liverpool; has held several incumbencies; is rector at Wavertree, near Liverpool, and takes a great interest in the working-classes and in social subjects; is liberal both in his political and in his theological opinions; has written on questions of the day in a Christian reference; b. 1845.
Stubbs, William, historian, born at Knaresborough; studied at Oxford; became a Fellow of Trinity and of Oriel, professor of Modern History at Oxford, and finally bishop; was author of “Constitutional History of England,” an epoch-making book in three volumes, and editor of a collection of mediæval Chronicles, with valuable prefaces accompanying; his writings are distinguished by their learning and accuracy; b. 1825.
Stuhlweissenburg (25), an old historic Hungarian town, 42 m. SW. of Pesth; was for long the residence of the Hungarian kings, in the cathedral of which they were crowned and buried.
Stukeley, William, antiquary, born at Holbeach, Lincolnshire; graduated in medicine at Cambridge, and practised in London and elsewhere till 1729, when he took holy orders, and, after holding livings at Stamford and Somerby, was presented in 1747 to the rectory of St George the Martyr in London; maintained a lifelong interest in antiquarian research, and published many volumes on British and Roman antiquities, in which he displays unflagging industry and an exuberant fancifulness; “I have used his materials,” says Gibbon, “and rejected most of his fanciful conjectures”; his credulous works on the supposed Druidical remains at Stonehenge and elsewhere gained him the title of the “Arch-Druid” (1687-1765).
Stump Orator, one who is ready to take up any question of the day, usually a political one, and harangue upon it from any platform offhand; the class, the whole merely a talking one, form the subject, in a pretty wide reference, of one of Carlyle's scathing “Latter-Day Pamphlets.”
Sturm, Johann, educational reformer, born In Luxemburg; settled in Paris; established a school there for dialectics and rhetoric for a time, but left it on account of his Protestantism for Strasburg at the invitation of the civic authorities, and became rector of the gymnasium there, which under him acquired such repute that the Emperor Maximilian constituted it a university with him at the head; his adoption of the theological views of Zwingli in opposition to those of Luther made him many enemies, and he was dismissed from office, but was allowed a pension; he was a great student of Cicero; he wrote many works in Latin in a style so pure and elegant that he was named the German Cicero (1507-1589).
Sturm-und-Drang. See Storm-and-Stress.
Sturt, Charles, a noted Australian explorer, and a captain in the army; during 1828-45 was the determined leader of three important exploratory expeditions into Central Australia, the results of which he embodied in two works; became colonial secretary of South Australia, but failing health and eyesight led to his retirement, and he was pensioned by the first Parliament of South Australia; he returned to England totally blind (1795-1869).
Stuttgart (140), capital of Würtemberg, stands amid beautiful vine-clad hills in a district called the “Swabian Paradise,” on an affluent of the Neckar, 127 m. SE. of Frankfort; is a handsome city with several royal palaces, a 16th-century castle, interesting old churches, a royal library (450,000 vols.), a splendid royal park, conservatory of music, picture gallery, and various educational establishments; ranks next to Leipzig as a book mart, and has flourishing manufactures of textiles, beer, pianofortes, chemicals, &c.
Stylites. See Pillar-Saints.
Stymphalian Birds, fabulous birds with brazen claws, wings, and beaks, that used their feathers as arrows, ate human flesh, and infested Arcadia; Hercules startled them with a rattle, and with his arrows either shot them or drove them off.
Styria (1,281), a central duchy of Austria, stretching in a semicircle from Upper Austria and Salzburg on the NW. to Croatia and Slavonia on the SE., and flanked by Hungary on the E.; a mountainous region crossed by various eastern ranges of the Alpine system, and drained by the Drave, Save, Inn, and other rivers; more than half lies under forest; agriculture flourishes, but mineral products, iron, salt, coal, &c., constitute the chief wealth. The principal manufactures are connected therewith; was joined to the Austrian crown in 1192.
Styx, name (from the Greek verb signifying “to abhor”) of the principal river of the nether world, which it flows sluggishly round seven times; is properly the river of death, which all must cross to enter the unseen world, and of which, in the Greek mythology, Charon was the ferryman. In their solemn engagements it was by this river the gods took oath to signify that they would forego their godhood if they swore falsely. The Styx was a branch of the Great Ocean which girds the universe. See Oceanus.
Suakin or Sawakin (11), a seaport under Egyptian control, and since the Mahdi's revolt garrisoned by the English, on the Nubian coast of the Red Sea; stands on a rocky islet, and is connected with El Keff on the mainland by a causeway; is the starting-point of caravans to Berber and Khartoum, and as such has a large transit trade, exporting silver ornaments, ivory, gums, hides, gold, &c.; here African pilgrims to Mecca embark to the number of 6000 or 7000 annually.
Suarez, Francisco, scholastic philosopher, born at Grenada; after joining the Jesuit body became professor of Theology at Coimbra, attempted to reconcile realism with nominalism, and adopted in theology a system called “Congruism,” being a modification of Molinism; wrote a “Defence of the Catholic Faith against the Errors of the Anglican Sect” at the instance of the Pope against the claims of James I. in his oath of allegiance (1548-1617).
Subahdar, a title given to governors of provinces in the times of the Mogul dynasty, now bestowed upon native officers in the Indian army holding rank equivalent to an English captaincy.
Subiaco (7), an ancient and interesting town of Central Italy; occupies a pleasant site amid encircling hills on the Teverone, 32 m. E. by N. of Rome; has a quaint, mediæval appearance, and is overlooked by an old castle, a former residence of the Popes; there are two Benedictine monasteries dating from the 6th century, and in a grotto near St. Benedictine lived, in his youth, a hermit life for three years.
Subjective, The, that, in contrast to objective, which rests on the sole authority of consciousness, and has no higher warrant.
Subjectivism, the doctrine of the pure relativity of knowledge, or that it is purely subjective.
Sublapsarianism, same as infralapsarianism (q. v.).
Sublimation, the vaporisation of a solid body and its resumption thereafter of the solid form.
Sublime Porte, a name given to the Ottoman Government, so called from a lofty gateway leading into the residence of the Vizier.
Substitution, in theology the doctrine that Christ in His obedience and death stood in the place of the sinner, so that His merits on their faith in Him are imputed to them.
Subtle Doctor, name given to Duns Scotus (q. v.) for his hairsplitting acuteness and extreme subtlety of distinction.
Succession Wars, the general title of several European wars which arose in the 18th century consequent on a failure of issue in certain royal lines, most important of which are (1) War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713). The death (1700) of Charles II. of Spain without direct issue caused Louis XIV. of France and the Emperor Leopold I. (the former married to the elder sister of Charles, the latter to the younger sister, and both grandsons of Philip III. of Spain) to put forth claims to the crown, the one on behalf of his grandson, Philip of Anjou, the other for his second son, the Archduke Charles. War broke out on the entry of Philip into Madrid and his assumption of the crown, England and the United Netherlands uniting with the emperor to curb the ambition of Louis. During the long struggle the transcendent military genius of Marlborough asserted itself in the great victories of Blenheim, Ramillies, and Oudenarde, but the lukewarmness of England in the struggle, the political fall of Marlborough, and the Tory vote for peace prevented the allies reaping the full benefit of their successes. The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) left Philip in possession of his Spanish kingdom, but the condition was exacted that the crowns of Spain and France should not be united. The emperor (the Archduke Charles since 1711) attempted to carry on the struggle, but was forced to sign the Treaty of Rastadt (1714), acknowledging Philip king of Spain. Spain, however, ceded her Netherlands Sardinia, &c., to the emperor, while Gibraltar, Minorca, and parts of North America fell to England. (2) War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) followed on the death (1740) of the Emperor Charles VI. without male issue. His daughter, Maria Theresa, entered into possession of Bohemia, Hungary, and the Archduchy of Austria, but was immediately attacked by the Elector Charles Albert of Bavaria and Augustus of Saxony and Poland, both rival claimants for the imperial crown, while Frederick II. of Prussia seized the opportunity of Maria's embarrassment to annex Silesia. France, Spain, and England were drawn into the struggle, the last in support of Maria. Success oscillated from side to side, but the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which brought the war to a close, left Maria pretty well in possession of her inheritance save the loss of Silesia to Frederick.
Suchet, Louis Gabriel, Duc d'Albufera, marshal of France, born in Lyons; distinguished himself in Italy, Egypt, Austria, and Prussia, and became general in command in Aragon, by his success in ruling which last he gained the marshal's baton and a dukedom; he rejoined Napoleon during the Hundred Days; after Waterloo he lost his peerage, but recovered it in 1819 (1770-1826).
Suckling, Sir John, poet, born, of good parentage, at Whitton, Middlesex; quitted Cambridge in 1628 to travel on the Continent, and for a time served in the army of Gustavus Adolphus in Germany; returning to England about 1632 he became a favourite at Court, where he was noted for his wit, prodigality, and verses; supported Charles in the Bishops' Wars against the Scots; sat in the Long Parliament; was involved in a plot to rescue Strafford, and to bring foreign troops to the aid of the king, but discovered, had to flee the country; died, probably by his own hand, in Paris; wrote several forgotten plays, a prose treatise on “Religion by Reason,” and miscellaneous poems, amongst which are his charming songs and ballads, his title to fame (1609-1642).
Sudarium, the handkerchief given by St. Veronica (q. v.) to Christ as He was passing to crucifixion, and on which His face was miraculously impressed as He wiped the sweat off it.
Sudbury (7), a borough of Suffolk, on the Stour, where it crosses the Essex border, 58 m. NE. of London; has three old churches (Perpendicular style), a grammar-school founded in the 15th century, a corn-exchange, &c.; manufactures embrace cocoa-nut matting, silk, &c.
Sudetic Mountains stretch in irregular broken masses and subsidiary chains for 120 m. across South-East Germany, separating Bohemia and Moravia from Saxony and Prussian Silesia, and forming a link between the Carpathians and mountains of Franconia; highest and central position is known as the Riesengebirge (q. v.); Schneekoppe is the culminating point of the range.
Sudras, the fourth and lowest of the Hindu castes (q. v.); are by some alleged to be of the aboriginal race of India who to retain their freedom adopted Brahmanism.
Sue, Marie-Joseph-Eugène, a writer of sensational novels, born at Paris; was for some years an army surgeon, and served in the Spanish campaign of 1823; his father's death (1829) bringing him a handsome fortune, he retired from the army to devote himself to literature; his reputation as a writer rests mainly on his well-known works “The Mysteries of Paris” (1842) and “The Wandering Jew” (1845), which, displaying little skill on the artistic side, yet rivet their readers' attention by a wealth of exciting incident and plot; was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1850, but the coup d'état of 1852 drove him an exile to Annecy, in Savoy, where he died (1804-1859).
Suetonius, Tranquillus, Roman historian; practised as an advocate in Rome in the reign of Trajan; was a friend of the Younger Pliny, became private secretary to Hadrian, but was deprived of this post through an indiscretion; wrote several works, and of those extant the chief is the “Lives of the Twelve Cæsars,” beginning with Julius Cæsar and ending with Domitian, a work which relates a great number of anecdotes illustrating the characters of the emperors; b. A.D. 70.
Suez (13), a town of Egypt, stands at the edge of the desert at the head of a gulf of the same name and at the S. end of the Suez Canal, 75 m. E. of Cairo, with which it is connected by railway; as a trading place, dating back to the times of the Ptolemies, has had a fluctuating prosperity, but since the completion of the canal is growing steadily in importance; is still for the most part an ill-built and ill-kept town; has a large English hospital and ship-stores.
Suez Canal, a great artificial channel cutting the isthmus of Suez, and thus forming a waterway between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea; was planned and undertaken by the French engineer Lesseps, through whose untiring efforts a company was formed and the necessary capital raised; occupied 10 years in the construction (1859-69), and cost some 20 million pounds; from Port Said on the Mediterranean to Suez at the head of the Red Sea the length is about 100 m., a portion of which lies through Lakes Menzaleh, Ballah, Timsah, and the Bitter Lakes; as widened and deepened in 1886 it has a minimum depth of 28 ft., and varies from 150 to 300 ft. in width; traffic is facilitated by electric light during the night, and the passage occupies little more than 24 hours; has been neutralised and exempted from blockade, vessels of all nations in peace or war being free to pass through; now the highway to India and the East, shortening the voyage to India by 7600 m.; three-fourths of the ships passing through are English; an annual toll is drawn of close on three million pounds, the net profit of which falls to be divided amongst the shareholders, of whom since 1875 the British Government has been one of the largest.
Suffolk (371), eastmost county of England, fronts the North Sea between Norfolk (N.) and Essex (S.); is a pleasant undulating county with pretty woods and eastward-flowing streams (Waveney, Aide, Orwell, Stour, &c.); long tracts of heathland skirt the coast; agriculture is still the staple industry, wheat the principal crop; is famed for its antiquities, architecture, historic associations, and long list of worthies. Ipswich is the county town.
Suffren, Bailli de, a celebrated French admiral, who entered the navy a boy of 14 during the wars with England, and rose to be one of his country's greatest naval heroes, especially distinguishing himself as commander of a squadron in the West Indies, proving himself a master of naval tactics in more or less successful engagements with the English; is regarded by Professor Laughton as “the most illustrious officer that has ever held command in the French navy”; sprang from good Provence stock (1729-1788).
Sufism, the doctrine of the Sufis, a sect of Mohammedan mystics; imported into Mohammedanism the idea that the soul is the subject of ecstasies of Divine inspiration in virtue of its direct emanation from the Deity, and this in the teeth of the fundamental article of the Mohammedan creed, which exalts God as a being passing all comprehension and ruling it by a law which is equally mysterious, which we have only to obey; this doctrine is associated with the idea that the body is the soul's prison, and death the return of it to its original home, a doctrine of the dervish fraternity, of which the Madhi is high-priest.
Suger, Abbé, abbot of St. Denis, minister of Louis VI. and Louis VII.; reformed the discipline in his abbey, emancipated the serfs connected with it, maintained the authority of the king against the great vassals; he was regent of the kingdom during the second Crusade, and earned the title of Father of his Country; he wrote a Life of Louis VI. (1082-1152).
Suidas, name of a grammarian and lexicographer of the 10th or 11th century; his “Lexicon” is a kind of encyclopædic work, and is valuable chiefly for the extracts it contains from ancient writers.
Suir, a river of Ireland which rises in Tipperary and joins the Barrow after a course of 100 m.
Sukkur (29), a town on the Indus (here spanned by a fine bridge), 28 m. SE. of Shikarpur; has rail communication with Kurrachee and Afghanistan, and considerable trade in various textiles, opium, saltpetre, sugar, &c.; 1 m. distant is Old Sukkur; the island of Bukkur, in the river-channel and affording support to the bridge, is occupied and fortified by the British.
Suleiman Pasha, a distinguished Turkish general, born in Roumelia; entered the army in 1854, fought in various wars, became director of the Military Academy at Constantinople; distinguished himself in the Servian War of 1876, and was elected governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina; during the Russian-Turkish War made a gallant attempt to clear the enemy from the Shipka Pass, but as commander of the Danube army was defeated near Philippopolis (1878), and subsequently court-martialled and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment, but was pardoned by the sultan (1838-1883).
Suliman or Suleiman Mountains, a bare and rugged range, stretching N. and S. for upwards of 350 m. from the Kyber Pass almost to the Arabian Sea, and forming the boundary between Afghanistan and the Punjab, India.
Suliotes, a Græco-Albanian race who in the 17th century, to escape their Turkish oppressors, fled from their old settlement in Epirus to the mountains of Suli, in South Albania, where they prospered in the following century in independence; driven out by the Turks in 1803, they emigrated to the Ionian Islands; came to the aid of Ali Pasha against the sultan in 1820, but, defeated and scattered, found refuge in Cephalonia, and later gave valuable assistance to the Greeks in their struggle for independence. The treaty of 1829 left their district of Suli in the hands of the Turks, and since then they have dwelt among the Greeks, many of them holding high government rank.
Sulla, Lucius Cornelius, a Roman of patrician birth; leader of the aristocratic party in Rome, and the rival of Marius (q. v.), under whom he got his first lessons in war; rose to distinction in arms afterwards, and during his absence the popular party gained the ascendency, and Marius, who had been banished, was recalled; the blood of his friends had been shed in torrents, and himself proscribed; on the death of Marius he returned with his army, glutted his vengeance by the sacrifice of thousands of the opposite faction, celebrated his victory by a triumph of unprecedented splendour, and caused himself to be proclaimed Dictator 81 B.C.; he ruled with absolute power two years after, and then resigning his dictatorship retired into private life; d. 76 B.C. at the age of 60.
Sullan Proscriptions, sentences of proscription issued by Sulla against Roman citizens in 81 B.C. under his dictatorship.
Sullivan, Sir Arthur Seymour, English composer, born in London; won the Mendelssohn scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, and by means of it completed his musical education at Leipzig; in 1862 composed incidental music for “The Tempest,” well received at the Crystal Palace; since then has been a prolific writer of all kinds of music, ranging from hymns and oratorios to popular songs and comic operas; his oratorios include “The Prodigal Son” (1868), “The Light of the World,” “The Golden Legend,” &c., but it is as a writer of light and tuneful operas (librettos by W. S. Gilbert, q. v.) that he is best known; these began with “Cox and Box” (1866), and include “Trial by Jury,” “The Sorcerer” (1877), “Pinafore,” “Patience” (1881), “Mikado” (1885), &c., in all of which he displays great gifts as a melodist, and wonderful resource in clever piquant orchestration; received the Legion of Honour in 1878, and was knighted in 1883; b. 1842.
Sullivan's Island, a long and narrow island, a favourite sea-bathing resort, on the N. of the entrance to Charleston Harbour, South Carolina, U.S.
Sully, Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of, celebrated minister of Henry IV. of France, born at the Château of Rosny, near Mantes, whence he was known at first as the Baron de Rosny; at first a ward of Henry IV. of Navarre, he joined the Huguenot ranks along with him, and distinguished himself at Coutras and Ivry, and approved of Henry's policy in changing his colours on his accession to the throne, remaining ever after by his side as most trusted adviser, directing the finances of the country with economy, and encouraging the peasantry in the cultivation of the soil; used to say, “Labourage et pasteurage, voilà les deux mamelles dont La France est alimentée, les vraies mines et trésors de Pérou,” “Tillage and cattle-tending are the two paps whence France sucks nourishment; these are the true mines and treasures of Peru;” on the death of the king he retired from court, and occupied his leisure in writing his celebrated “Memoirs,” which, while they show the author to be a great statesman, give no very pleasant idea of his character (1560-1611).
Sully-Prudhomme, French poet, born in Paris; published a volume of poems in 1865 entitled “Stances and Poèmes,” which commanded instant regard, and have been succeeded by others which have deepened the impression, and entitled him to the highest rank as a poet; they give evidence of a serious mind occupied with serious problems; was elected to the Academy in 1881; b. 1839.
Sulpicius Severus, an ecclesiastical historian, born in Aquitaine; wrote a “Historia Sacra,” and a Life of St. Martin (363-406).
Sultan, the title of a Mohammedan sovereign, Sultana being the feminine form.
Sulu Islands (75), an archipelago of 162 islands in Asiatic waters, lying to the NE. of Borneo, and extending to the Philippines; belongs to the Spaniards who, in 1876, subdued the piratical Malay inhabitants; the trade in pearls and edible nests is mainly carried on by Chinese.
Sumatra (3,572, including adjacent islands), after Borneo the largest of the East Indian islands, stretches SE. across the Equator between the Malay Peninsula (from whose SW. coast it is separated by the Strait of Malacca) to Java (Strait of Sunda separating them); has an extreme length of 1115 m., and an area more than three times that of England; is mountainous, volcanic, covered in central parts by virgin forest, abounds in rivers and lakes, and possesses an exceptionally rich flora and peculiar fauna; rainfall is abundant; some gold and coal are worked, but the chief products are rice, sugar, coffee, tobacco, petroleum, pepper, &c.; the island is mainly under Dutch control, but much of the unexplored centre is still in the hands of savage tribes who have waged continual warfare with their European invaders. Padang (150) is the official Dutch capital.
Sumbawa (150), one of the Sunda Islands, lying between Lombok (W.) and Flores (E.); mountainous and dangerously volcanic; yields rice, tobacco, cotton, &c.; is divided among four native rulers under Dutch authority.
Sumner, Charles, American statesman and abolitionist, born in Boston; graduated at Harvard (1830), and was called to the bar in 1834, but found a more congenial sphere in writing and lecturing; during 1837-40 pursued his favourite study of jurisprudence in France, Germany, and England; was brought into public notice by his 4th of July oration (1845) on “The True Grandeur of Nations,” an eloquent condemnation of war; became an uncompromising opponent of the slave-trade; was one of the founders of the Free Soil Party, and in 1851 was elected to the National Senate, a position he held until the close of his life, and where he did much by his eloquent speeches to prepare the way for emancipation, and afterwards to win for the blacks the rights of citizenship (1811-1874).
Sumner, John Bird, archbishop of Canterbury; rose by a succession of preferments to the Primacy, an office which he discharged with discretion and moderation (1780-1862).
Sumptuary Laws, passed in various lands and ages to restrict excess in dress, food, and luxuries generally; are to be found in the codes of Solon, Julius Cæsar, and other ancient rulers; Charles VI. of France restricted dinners to one soup and two other dishes; appear at various times in English statutes down to the 16th century against the use of “costly meats,” furs, silks, &c., by those unable to afford them; were issued by the Scottish Parliament against the extravagance of ladies in the matter of dress to relieve “the puir gentlemen their husbands and fathers”; were repealed in England in the reign of James I.; at no time were they carefully observed.
Sumter, Fort, a fort on a shoal in Charleston harbour, 3½ m. from the town; occupied by Major Anderson with 80 men and 62 guns in the interest of the secession of South Carolina from the Union, and the attack on which by General Beauregard on 12th April 1861 was the commencement of the Civil War; it held out against attack and bombardment till the month of July following.
Sun, The, is a star; is the centre of the solar system, as it is in consequence called, is a globe consisting of a mass of vapour at white heat, and of such enormous size that it is 500 times larger than all the planets of the system put together, or of a bulk one million and a half times greater than the earth, from which it is ninety-two and a half million miles distant; the bright surface of it is called the photosphere, and this brightness is diversified with brighter spots called faculæ, and dark ones called sun-spots, and by watching which latter as they move over the sun's disk we find it takes 25 days to revolve on its axis, and by means of spectrum analysis (q. v.) find it is composed of hydrogen and a number of vaporised metals.
Sunda Islands, a name sometimes applied to the long chain of islands stretching SE. from the Malay Peninsula to North Australia, including Sumatra, Timor, &c., but more correctly designates the islands Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sandalwood Island, &c., which lie between Java and Timor, are under Dutch suzerainty, and produce the usual East Indian products. See various islands named.
Sunderbunds or Sundarbans, a great tract of jungle, swamp, and alluvial plain, forming the lower portion of the Ganges delta; extends from the Hooghly on the W. to the Meghna on the E., a distance of 165 m.; rice is cultivated on the upper part by a sparse population; the lower part forms a dense belt of wild jungle reaching to the sea, and is infested by numerous tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses, pythons, cobras, &c.
Sunderland (142), a flourishing seaport of Durham, situated at the mouth of the Wear, 12 m. SE. of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; embraces some very old parishes, but as a commercial town has entirely developed within the present century, and is of quite modern appearance, with the usual public buildings; owes its prosperity mainly to neighbouring coal-fields, the product of which it exports in great quantities; has four large docks covering 50 acres; also famous iron shipbuilding yards, large iron-works, glass and bottle works, roperies, &c.
Sunderland, Charles Spencer, third Earl, son of succeeding, and son in law of the Duke of Marlborough; was a Secretary of State in Queen Anne's reign during 1706-1710, and in the following reign, as leader of the Whigs, exercised unbounded influence over George I.; narrowly escaped, chiefly through Walpole's help, being found guilty of accepting heavy bribes from the South Sea Company; lost office, and was displaying his father's propensity to underhand scheming by intriguing with the Tories and the Pretender's party when death cut short his career (1675-1722).
Sunderland, Robert Spencer, second Earl of, an English statesman prominent in the reign of Charles II., James II., and William III.; was for some years engaged in embassies abroad before being appointed Secretary of State in 1679; adroit and insinuating, and with great capacity for business, he soon became a leading minister; attached himself to the Duchess of Portsmouth, and in the corrupt politics of the two Stuart kings played his own hand with consummate if unscrupulous skill, standing high in King James's favour as Prime Minister, although he had formerly intrigued in favour of Monmouth; supported the Exclusion Bill, and even then was in secret communication with the Prince of Orange; after the Revolution rose to high office under William; was instrumental in bringing the Whigs into power, and during 1695-1697 was acknowledged head of his Government (1640-1702).
Sunnites, the orthodox Mohammedans, a name given to them because they accept the Sunna, i. e. traditional teaching of the Prophet, as of the same authority as the Korân, in the matter of both faith and morals, agreeably to a fundamental article of Mohammedanism, that not only the rule of life, but the interpretation of it, is of divine dictation.
Sun-Worship, the worship of the sun is conceived of as an impersonation of the deity, that originated among races so far advanced in civilisation as to recognise what they owed to its benignant influence, in particular as tillers of the soil, and, is associated with advance as the worship of Bacchus was, which could not originate prior to cultivation of the vine.
Suonada, the Inland Sea of Japan, separating Kyushu and Shikoku from the Main Island, Honshiu, a fine sheet of water (250 m. by 50), picturesquely studded with islands which, however, render navigation difficult.
Supererogation, Works of, name given in the Roman Catholic theology to works or good deeds performed by saints over and above what is required for their own salvation, and the merit of which is held to be transferable to others in need of indulgence.
Super-Grammaticam (above grammar), name given to Sigismund, emperor of Germany, from his rejoinder to a cardinal who one day on a high occasion mildly corrected a grammatical mistake he had made in a grand oration, “I am King of the Romans, and above grammar.”
Superior, Lake, largest fresh-water lake on the globe, lies between the United States and Canada, the boundary line passing through the centre; area, 31,200 sq. m., almost the size of Ireland; maximum depth, 1008 ft.; St. Mary's River, the only outlet, a short rapid stream, carries the overflow to Lake Huron; receives upwards of 200 rivers, but none of first-class importance, largest is the St. Louis; is dotted with numerous islands; water is singularly clear and pure, and abounds with fish; navigation is hindered in winter by shore-ice, but the lake never freezes over.
Superstition, the fear of that which is not God, as if it were God, or the fear of that which is not the devil, as if it were the devil; or, as it has in more detail been defined by Ruskin, “the fear of a spirit whose passions and acts are those of a man present in some places and not others; kind to one person and unkind to another, pleased or angry, according to the degree of attention you pay him, or the praise you refuse him; hostile generally to human pleasure, but may be bribed by sacrificing part of that pleasure into permitting the rest.”
Supralapsarianism, the doctrine of the extreme Calvinists, that the decree of God as regards the eternal salvation of some and the eternal reprobation of others is unconditional.
Supremacy, Royal, the supremacy of the sovereign in matters ecclesiastical and matters of civil right to the exclusion of matters spiritual and the jurisdiction in the former claimed by the Pope.
Surabaya (127), a seaport on the NE. coast or Java, is the head-quarters of the Dutch military, and exports tropical products; of the population 6000 are European, and 7000 or so Chinese.
Surat (109), a city of India, Bombay Presidency, on the Tapti, 14 m. from its entrance into the Gulf of Bombay; stretches along the S. bank of the river, presenting no architectural features of interest save some Mohammedan, Parsee, and Hindu temples, and an old castle or fortress; chief exports are cotton and grain; the English erected here their first factory on the Indian continent in 1612, and with Portuguese and Dutch traders added, it became one of the principal commercial centres of India; in the 18th century the removal of the English East India Company to Bombay drew off a considerable portion of the trade of Surat, which it has never recovered.
Surinam. See Guiana, Dutch.
Surplice, a linen robe with wide sleeves worn by officiating clergymen and choristers, originating in the rochet or alb of early times.
Surrey (1,731), an inland county, and one of the fairest of England, in the SE. between Kent (E.) and Hampshire (W.), with Sussex on the S., separated from Middlesex on the N. by the Thames; the North Downs traverse the county E. and W., slope gently to the Thames, and precipitously in the S. to the level Weald; generally presents a beautiful prospect of hill and heatherland adorned with splendid woods; the Wey and the Mole are the principal streams; hops are extensively grown round Farnham; largest town is Croydon; the county town, Guildford.
Surrey, Henry Howard, Earl of, poet, son of the Duke of Norfolk; early attached to the court of Henry VIII., he attended his royal master at the “Field of the Cloth of Gold,” and took part in the coronation ceremony of Anne Boleyn (1533); was created a Knight of the Garter in 1542, and two years later led the English army in France with varying success; imprisoned along with his father on a charge of high treason, for which there was no adequate evidence, he was condemned and executed; as one of the early leaders of the poetic renaissance, and introducer of the sonnet and originator of blank verse, he deservedly holds a high place in the history of English literature (1516-1547).
Surya, in the Hindu mythology the sun conceived of as a female deity.
Susa (the Shushan of Daniel, Esther, &c.), an ancient city of Persia, now in ruins, that spread over an area of 3 sq. m., on the Kerkha, 250 m. SE. of Bagdad; was for long the favourite residence of the Persian kings, the ruins of whose famous palace, described in Esther, are still extant.
Susan, St., the patron saint and guardian of innocence and saviour from infamy and reproach. See Susanna.
Susanna, The History of, a story in the Apocrypha, evidently conceived to glorify Daniel as a judge, and which appears to have been originally written by a Jew in Greek. She had been accused of adultery by two of the elders and condemned to death, but was acquitted on Daniel's examination of her accusers to their confusion and condemnation to death in her stead. The story has been allegorised by the Church, and Susanna made to represent the Church, and the two elders her persecutors.
Susquehanna, a river of America, formed by the junction at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, of the North Branch (350 m.) flowing out of Schuyler Lake, central New York, and the West Branch (250 m.) rising in the Alleghany Mountains; flows in a shallow, rapid, unnavigable course S. and SE. through beautiful scenery to Port Deposit, at the N. end of Chesapeake Bay; length, 150 m.
Sussex (550), a S. maritime county of England, fronts the English Channel between Hampshire (W.) and Kent (E.), with Surrey on its northern border; is traversed E. and W. by the South Downs, which afford splendid pasturage for half a million sheep, and terminates in Beachy Head; in the N. lies the wide, fertile, and richly-wooded plain of the Weald; chief rivers are the Arun, Adur, Ouse, and Rother, of no great size; is a fine agricultural county, more than two-thirds of its area being under cultivation; was the scene of Cæsar's landing (55 B.C.), of Ælla's, the leader of the South Saxons (whence the name Sussex), and of William the Conqueror's (1066); throughout the country are interesting antiquities; largest town, Brighton; county town, Lewes.
Sutherland (22), a maritime county of N. Scotland; presents a N. and a W. shore to the Atlantic, between Ross and Cromarty (S.) and Caithness (E.), and faces the North Sea on the SE., whence the land slopes upwards to the great mountain region and wild, precipitous loch-indented coasts of the W. and N.; scarcely 3 per cent, of the area is cultivated, but large numbers of sheep and cattle are raised; the Oykell is the longest (35 m.) of many streams, and Loch Shin the largest of 300 lochs; there are extensive deer forests and grouse moors, while valuable salmon and herring fisheries exist round the coasts; is the most sparsely populated county in Scotland. Dornoch is the county town.
Sutlej, the eastmost of the five rivers of the Punjab; its head-waters flow from two Thibetan lakes at an elevation of 15,200 ft., whence it turns NW. and W. to break through a wild gorge of the Himalayas, thence bends to the SW., forms the eastern boundary of the Punjab, and joins the Indus at Mithankot after a course of 900 m.
Sutras, name given to a collection of aphorisms, summaries of the teachings of the Brahmans, and of rules regulative of ritual or religious observances, and also given to these aphorisms and rules themselves.
Suttee, a Hindu widow who immolates herself on the funeral pile of her husband, a term applied to the practice itself. The practice was of very ancient date, but the custom was proclaimed illegal in 1829 under Lord William Bentinck's administration, and it is now very seldom that a widow seeks to violate the law. In 1823, in Bengal alone, 575 widows gave themselves to be so burned, of whom 109 were above sixty, 226 above forty, 209 above twenty, and 32 under twenty.
Suwarrow or Suvoroff, Russian field-marshal, born at Moscow; entered the army as a private soldier, distinguished himself in the Seven Years' War, and after 20 years' service rose to command; in command of a division he in 1773 routed an army of the Turks beyond the Danube, and in 1783 he reduced a tribe of Tartars under the Russian yoke; his greatest exploit perhaps was his storming of Ismail, which had resisted all attempts to reduce it for seven months, and which he, but with revolting barbarities however, in three days succeeded by an indiscriminate massacre of 40,000 of the inhabitants; his despatch thereafter to Queen Catharine was “Glory to God and the Empress, Ismail is ours!” he after this conducted a cruel campaign in Poland, which ended in its partition, and a campaign in Italy to the disaster of the French and his elevation to the peerage as a prince, with the title of Italinski; he was all along the agent of the ruthless purposes of Potemkin (q. v.) (1730-1800).
Sveaborg, a strong fortress in Finland, protecting Helsingfors, in the Baltic, 3 m. distant from that town, and called the “Gibraltar of the North.”
Svir, a Russian river that flows into Lake Ladoga.
Swabia, an ancient duchy in the SW. of Germany, and most fertile part, so called from the Suevi, who in the 1st century displaced the aboriginal Celts, and which, along with Bavaria, formed the nucleus of the Fatherland; was separated by the Rhine from France and Switzerland, having for capital Augsburg, and being divided now into Würtemberg, Bavaria, Baden, and Lichtenstein.
Swahili (i. e. coast people), a people of mixed Bantu and Arab stock occupying Zanzibar and the adjoining territory from nearly Mombasa to Mozambique; they are an enterprising race, and are dispersed as traders, hunters, carriers, &c., far and wide over Central Africa.
Swale, a river in the North Riding of Yorkshire, uniting, after a course of 60 miles, with the Ure to form the Ouse.
Swammerdam, Jan, a Dutch entomologist, born at Amsterdam, where he settled as a doctor, but turning with enthusiasm to the study of insect life, made important contributions to, and practically laid the foundations of, entomological science (1637-1680).
Swan of Avon, sweet name given by Ben Jonson to Shakespeare.
Swan of Mantua, name given to Virgil, as born at Mantua.
Swansea (90), a flourishing and progressive seaport of Glamorganshire, at the entrance of the Tawe, 45 m. into Swansea Bay; has a splendid harbour, 60 acres of docks, a castle, old grammar-school, &c.; is the chief seat of the copper-smelting and of the tin-plate manufacture of England, and exports the products of these works, as well as coal, zinc, and other minerals, in large quantities.
Swatow (30), a seaport of China, at the mouth of the Han, 225 m. E. of Canton; has large sugar-refineries, factories for bean-cake and grass-cloth; since the policy of “the open door” was adopted in 1867 has had a growing export trade.
Swaziland (64), a small South African native State to the E. of the Transvaal, of which in 1893 it became a dependency, retaining, however, its own laws and native chief; is mountainous, fertile, and rich in minerals; the Swazis are of Zulu stock, jealous of the Boers, and friendly to Britain.
Sweating Sickness, an epidemic of extraordinary malignity which swept over Europe, and especially England, in the 15th and 16th centuries, attacking with equal virulence all classes and all ages, and carrying off enormous numbers of people; was characterised by a sharp sudden seizure, high fever, followed by a foetid perspiration; first appeared in England in 1485, and for the last time in 1551.
Sweating System, a term which began to be used about 1848 to describe an iniquitous system of sub-contracting in the tailoring trade. Orders from master-tailors were undertaken by sub-contractors, who themselves farmed the work out to needy workers, who made the articles in their own crowded and foetid homes, receiving “starvation wages.” The term is now used in reference to all trades in cases where the conditions imposed by masters tend to grind the rate of payment down to a bare living wage and to subject the workers to insanitary surroundings by overcrowding, &c., and to unduly long hours. Kingsley's pamphlet, “Cheap Clothes and Nasty,” and novel, “Alton Locke,” did much to draw public attention to the evil. In 1890 an elaborate report by a committee of the House of Lords was published, and led in the following year to the passing of the Factory and Workshops Act and the Public Health Act, which have greatly mitigated the evil.
Sweden (4,785), a kingdom of Northern Europe, occupying the eastern portion of the great Scandinavian Peninsula, bounded W. by Norway, E. by Russian Finland, Gulf of Bothnia, and the Baltic, and on the N. stretches across the Arctic circle between Norway (NW.) and Russia (NE.), while its southern serrated shores are washed by the Skager-Rack, Cattegat, and Baltic. From the mountain-barrier of Norway the country slopes down in broad terrace-like plains to the sea, intersected by many useful rivers and diversified by numerous lakes, of which Lakes Wenner, Wetter, and Mälar (properly an arm of the sea) are the largest, and lying under forest to the extent of nearly one-half its area; is divided into three great divisions: 1, Norrland in the N., a wide and wild tract of mountainous country, thickly forested, infested by the wolf, bear, and lynx, in summer the home of the wood-cutter, and sparsely inhabited by Lapps. 2, Svealand or Sweden proper occupies the centre, and is the region of the great lakes and of the principal mineral wealth (iron, copper, &c.) of the country. 3, Gothland, the southern portion, embraces the fertile plains sloping to the Cattegat, and is the chief agricultural district, besides possessing iron and coal. Climate is fairly dry, with a warm summer and long cold winter. Agriculture (potatoes, grain, rye, beet), although scarcely 8 per cent. of the land is under cultivation, is the principal industry, and with dairy-farming, stock-raising, &c., gives employment to more than one-half of the people; mining and timber-felling are only less important; chief industries are iron-works, sugar-refineries, cotton-mills, &c.; principal exports timber (much the largest), iron, steel, butter, &c., while textiles and dry-goods are the chiefly needed imports. Transit is greatly facilitated by the numerous canals and by the rivers and lakes. Railways and telegraphs are well developed in proportion to the population. As in Norway, the national religion is Lutheranism; education is free and compulsory. Government is vested in the king, who with the advice of a council controls the executive, and two legislative chambers which have equal powers, but the members of the one are elected for nine years by provincial councils, while those of the other are elected by the suffrages of the people, receive salaries, and sit only for three years. The national debt amounts to 14½ million pounds. In the 14th century the country became an appanage of the Danish crown, and continued as such until freedom was again won in the 16th century by the patriot king, Gustavus Vasa. By the 17th century had extended her rule across the seas into certain portions of the empire, but selling these in the beginning of the 18th century, fell from her rank as a first-rate power. In 1814 Norway was annexed, and the two countries, each enjoying complete autonomy, are now united under one crown.
Swedenborg, Emmanuel, a mystic of the mystics, founder of the “New Church,” born at Stockholm, son of a bishop, a boy of extraordinary gifts and natural seriousness of mind; carefully educated under his father, attended the university of Upsala and took his degree in philosophy in 1709; in eager quest of knowledge visited England, Holland, France, and Germany; on his return, after four years, was at 28 appointed by Charles XII. assessor of the Royal College of Mines; in 1721 went to examine the mines and smelting-works of Europe; from 1716 spent 30 years in the composition and publication of scientific works, when of a sudden he threw himself into theology; in 1743 his period of illumination began, and the publication of voluminous theological treatises; the Swedish clergy interfered a little with the publication of his works, but he kept the friendship of people in power. He was never married, his habits were simple, lived on bread, milk, and vegetables, occupied a house situated in a large garden; visited England several times, but attracted no special attention; died in London of apoplexy in his eighty-fifth year. “He is described, in London, as a man of quiet, clerical habit, not averse to tea and coffee, and kind to children. He wore a sword when in full velvet dress, and whenever he walked out carried a gold-headed cane.” This is Emerson's account in brief of his outer man, but for a glimpse or two of his ways of thinking and his views the reader is referred to Emerson's “Representative Men.” The man was a seer; what he saw only himself could tell, and only those could see, he would say, who had the power of transporting themselves into the same spiritual centre; to him the only real world was the spirit-world and the world of sense only in so far as it reflected to the soul the great invisible (1688-1772).
Swedenborgians, the members of the “New Jerusalem Church,” founded on the teaching of Emmanuel Swedenborg (q. v.) on a belief in direct communion with the world of spirits, and in God as properly incarnate in the divine humanity of Christ.
Swedish Nightingale, name popularly given to Jenny Lind (q. v.).
Swerga or Svarga, the summit of Mount Meru, the Hindu Olympus, the heaven or abode of Indra (q. v.) and of the gods in general.
Swetchine, Madame, a Russian lady, Sophie Soymanof, born at Moscow, who married General Swetchine, and, after turning Catholic, became celebrated in Paris during 1817-51 as the gracious hostess of a salon where much religious and ethical discussion went on; plain and unimposing in appearance, she yet exercised a remarkable fascination over her “coterie” by the elevation of her character and eager spiritual nature (1782-1857).
Swift, Jonathan, born at Dublin, a posthumous son, of well-connected parents; educated at Kilkenny, where he had Congreve for companion, and at Trinity College, Dublin, where he was a somewhat riotous and a by no means studious undergraduate, only receiving his B.A. by “special grace” in 1686; two years later the Revolution drove him to England; became amanuensis to his mother's distinguished relative Sir William Temple, whose service, however, was uncongenial to his proud independent nature, and after taking a Master's degree at Oxford he returned to Dublin, took orders, and was presented to the canonry of Kilroot, near Belfast; the quiet of country life palling upon him, he was glad to resume secretarial service in Temple's household (1696), where during the next three years he remained, mastering the craft of politics, reading enormously, and falling in love with Stella (q. v.); was set adrift by Temple's death in 1699, but shortly afterwards became secretary to Lord Berkeley, one of the Lord-Deputies to Ireland, and was soon settled in the vicarage of Laracor, West Meath; in 1704 appeared anonymously his famous satires, the “Battle of the Books” and the “Tale of a Tub,” masterpieces of English prose; various squibs and pamphlets followed, “On the Inconvenience of Abolishing Christianity,” &c.; but politics more and more engaged his attention; and neglected by the Whigs and hating their war policy, he turned Tory, attacked with deadly effect, during his editorship of the Examiner (1710-11), the war party and its leader Marlborough; crushed Steele's defence in his “Public Spirit of the Whigs,” and after the publication of “The Conduct of the Allies” stood easily the foremost political writer of his time; disappointed of an English bishopric, in 1713 reluctantly accepted the deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin, a position he held until the close of his life; became loved in the country he despised by eloquently voicing the wrongs of Ireland in a series of tracts, “Drapier's Letters,” &c., fruitful of good results; crowned his great reputation by the publication (1726) of his masterpiece “Gulliver's Travels,” the most daring, savage, and amusing satire contained in the world's literature; “Stella's” death and the slow progress of a brain disease, ending in insanity, cast an ever-deepening gloom over his later years (1667-1745).
Swilly, Lough, a narrow inlet of the Atlantic, on the coast of Donegal, North Ireland, running in between Dunaff Head (E.) and Fanad Point (W.), a distance of 25 m.; is from 3 to 4 m. broad; the entrance is fortified.
Swinburne, Algernon Charles, poet and prose writer, born in London, son of Admiral Swinburne; educated at Balliol College, Oxford, went to Florence and spent some time there; his first productions were plays, two of them tragedies, and “Poems and Ballads,” his later “A Song of Italy,” essay on “William Blake,” and “Songs before Sunrise,” instinct with pantheistic and republican ideas, besides “Studies in Song,” “Studies in Prose and Poetry,” &c.; he ranks as the successor of Landor, of whom he is a great admirer, stands high both as a poet and a critic, and is a man of broad and generous sympathies; his admirers regard it as a reproach to his generation that due honour is not paid by it to his genius; b. 1837.
Swindon (32), a town in Wiltshire, 77 m. W. of London; contains the Great Western Company's engineering works, which cover 200 acres, and employ 10,000 hands.
Swinemünde (9), a fortified seaport on the island of Usedom, in the Baltic, near the mouth of the Swine, one of the outlets of the Oder.
Swiss Confederation, a league of the several Swiss cantons to resist an attempt on the part of the Emperor Albrecht to incorporate certain of the free towns into his family possessions.
Swiss Guards. See Gardes Suisses.
Swithin, St., bishop of Winchester from 852 to 862; was buried by his own request in Winchester Churchyard, “where passers-by might tread above his head, and the dews of heaven fall on his grave.” On his canonisation, a century after, the chapter resolved to remove his body to a shrine in the cathedral, but their purpose was hindered on account of a rain which lasted 40 days from the 15th July; hence the popular notion that if it rained that day it would be followed by rain for 40 days after.
Switzerland (2,918), a republic of Central Europe, bounded by Germany (N.), France (W.), Italy (S.), and Austria and Germany (E.); in size is slightly more than one-half of Scotland, of semicircular shape, having the Jura Alps on its French border, and divided from Italy by the great central ranges of the Alpine system, whence radiate the Swiss Alps—Pennine, Lepontine, Bernese, &c.—covering the E. and S., and occupying with intervening valleys two-thirds of the country; the remaining third is occupied by an elevated fertile plain, extending between Lakes of Constance and Geneva (largest of numerous lakes), and studded with picturesque hills; principal rivers are the Upper Rhône, the Aar, Ticino, and Inn; climate varies with the elevation, from the high regions of perpetual snow to warm valleys where ripen the vine, fig, almond, and olive; about one-third of the land surface is under forest, and one quarter arable, the grain grown forming only one-half of what is required; flourishing dairy farms exist, prospered by the fine meadows and mountain pastures which, together with the forests, comprise the country's greatest wealth; minerals are exceedingly scarce, coal being entirely absent. Despite its restricted arable area and lack of minerals the country has attained a high pitch of prosperity through the thrift and energy of its people, who have skilfully utilised the inexhaustible motive-power of innumerable waterfalls and mountain streams to drive great factories of silks, cottons, watches, and jewellery. The beauty of its mountain, lake, and river scenery has long made Switzerland the sanatorium and recreation ground of Europe; more than 500 health resorts exist, and the country has been described as one vast hotel. The Alpine barriers are crossed by splendid roads and railways, the great tunnels through St. Gothard and the Simplon being triumphs of engineering skill and enterprise. In 1848, after the suppression of the Sonderbund (q. v.), the existing league of 22 semi-independent States (constituting since 1798 the Helvetic Republic) formed a closer federal union, and a constitution (amended in 1874) was drawn up conserving as far as possible the distinctive laws of the cantons and local institutions of their communes. The President is elected annually by the Federal Assembly (which consists of two chambers constituting the legislative power), and is assisted in the executive government by a Federal Council of seven members. By an institution known as the “Referendum” all legislative acts passed in the Cantonal or Federal Assemblies may under certain conditions be referred to the mass of the electors, and this is frequently done. The public debt amounts to over two million pounds. The national army is maintained by conscription; 71 per cent. of the people speak German, 22 per cent. French, and 5 per cent. Italian; 59 per cent. are Protestants, and 41 per cent. Catholics. Education is splendidly organised, free, and compulsory; there are five universities, and many fine technical schools.
Sybaris, an ancient city of Magna Græcia, on the Gulf of Tarentum, flourished in the 17th century B.C., but in 510 B.C. was captured and totally obliterated by the rival colonists of Crotona; at the height of its prosperity the luxury and voluptuousness of the inhabitants was such as to become a byword throughout the ancient world, and henceforth a Sybaris city is a city of luxurious indulgence, and Sybarite a devotee of pleasure.
Sybel, Heinrich von, German historian, born at Düsseldorf; was a pupil of Ranke's (q. v.), and became professor of History at Münich and Bonn; he was a Liberal in politics; his great works are a “History of the Period of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1795, and then to 1800,” in five volumes, and the “History of the Founding of the German Empire under William I.,” in five volumes; he has also written a “History of the First Crusade” (1817-1895).
Sycorax, a hag in the “Tempest,” the dam of Caliban.
Sydenham, a district of Kent and suburb of London, to the SE. of which it lies 7 m., includes the Surrey parish of Lambeth, where in 1852-54 the Crystal Palace was erected and still stands, a far-famed sight of London, containing valuable collections illustrative of the arts and sciences, and surrounded by a magnificent park and gardens.
Sydenham, Floyer, Greek scholar; translated some of the Dialogues of Plato into English, and wrote a dissertation on Heraclitus, which failed of being appreciated, and involved in embarrassment, he was thrown into prison because he could not pay a small bill for provisions, and there died; his sad fate led to the foundation of the Literary Fund (1710-1787).
Sydenham, Thomas, the “English Hippocrates,” born in Dorsetshire, educated at Oxford, and a Fellow of All Souls'; practised medicine in London, where, though regarded with disfavour by the faculty, he stood in high regard, and had an extensive practice, from his study of the symptoms of disease, and the respect he paid to the constitution of the patient; he used his own sense and judgment in each case, and his treatment was uniformly successful; he commanded the regard of his contemporaries Locke and Boyle, and his memory was revered by such experts as Boerhaave, Stahl, Pinel, and Haller; he ranks as a great reformer in the healing art (1624-1689).
Sydney (488), the capital of New South Wales, the oldest city in Australia, and one of the first in the world, on the S. shore of the basin of Port Jackson; and the entrance of a magnificent, almost land-locked, harbour for shipping of the largest tonnage; the situation of the city is superb, and it is surrounded by the richest scenery; the shores of the basin are covered with luxuriant vegetation, studded with islands and indented with pretty bays; it is well paved, has broad streets, and some fine buildings, the principal being the university, the two cathedrals, the post-office, and the town hall. It is a commercial rather than a manufacturing city, though its resources for manufacture are considerable, for it is in the centre of a large coal-field, in connection with which manufacturing industries may yet develop.
Sydney, Algernon. See Sidney, Algernon.
Syllogism, an argument consisting of three propositions, of which two are called premises, major and minor, and the one that necessarily follows from them the conclusion.
Sylphs, elemental spirits of the air, as salamanders, are of fire, of light figure with gliding movements and procreative power.
Sylvester, St., the name of three Popes: S. I., Pope from 314 to 335; S. II., Pope from 999 to 1003, alleged, from his recondite knowledge as an alchemist, to have been in league with the devil; and S. III., Anti-Pope from 1041 to 1046.
Sylvester, St., the first Pope of the name, said to have converted Constantine and his mother by restoring a dead ox to life which a magician for a trial of skill killed, but could not restore to life; is usually represented by an ox lying beside him, and sometimes in baptizing Constantine.
Symbolism has been divided into two kinds, symbolism of colour and symbolism of form. Of colours, black typifies grief and death; blue, hope, love of divine works, divine contemplation, piety, sincerity; pale blue, power, Christian prudence, love of good works, serene conscience; gold, glory and power; green, faith, immortality, resurrection, gladness; pale green, baptism; grey, tribulation; purple, justice, royalty; red, martyrdom for faith, charity, divine love; rose-colour, martyrdom; saffron, confessors; scarlet, fervour and glory; silver, chastity and purity; violet, penitence; white, purity, temperance, innocence, chastity, and faith in God. Instances of form: Anchor typifies hope; palm, victory; sword, death or martyrdom; the lamb, Christ; unicorn, purity. Of stones, moreover, the amethyst typifies humility; diamond, invulnerable faith; sardonyx, sincerity; sapphire, hope, &c.
Syme, James, a great surgeon, born in Edinburgh; was demonstrator under Liston; was elected to the chair of Clinical Surgery in 1833; gave up the chair to succeed Liston in London in 1848, but returned a few months after; was re-elected to the chair he had vacated; he was much honoured by his pupils, and by none more than Dr. John Brown, who characterised him as “the best, ablest, and most beneficent of men”; he wrote treatises and papers on surgery (1799-1870).
Symonds, John Addington, English man of letters, born at Bristol; educated at Harrow and Oxford; author of “The Renaissance in Italy,” a work which shows an extensive knowledge of the subject, and is written in a finished but rather flowery style, and a number of other works of a kindred nature showing equal ability and literary skill; his translation of Benvenuto Cellini's autobiography is particularly noteworthy; was consumptive, and spent his later years at Davos, in the Engadine (1840-1893).
Symphlagades, two fabulous floating rocks at the entrance of the Euxine, which, when driven by the winds, crushed every vessel that attempted to pass between them; the ship Argo (q. v.) managed to pass between them, but with the loss of part of her stern, after which they became fixed.
Symphony, an elaborate orchestral composition consisting usually of four contrasted and related movements; began to take distinctive shape in the 17th century, and was for long merely a form of overture to operas, &c., but as its possibilities were perceived was elevated into an independent concert-piece, and as such exercised the genius of Mozart and Haydn, reaching its perfection of form in the symphonies of Beethoven.
Synagogue, a Jewish institution for worship and religious instruction which dates from the period of the Babylonian Captivity, specially to keep alive in the minds of the people a knowledge of the law. The decree ordaining it required the families of a district to meet twice every Sabbath for this purpose, and so religiously did the Jewish people observe it that it continues a characteristic ordinance of Judaism to this day. The study of the law became henceforth their one vocation, and the synagogue was instituted both to instruct them in it and to remind them of the purpose of their separate existence among the nations of the earth. High as the Temple and its service still stood in the esteem of every Jew, from the period of the Captivity it began to be felt of secondary importance to the synagogue and its service. With the erection and extension of the latter the people were being slowly trained into a truer sense of the nature of religious worship, and gradually made to feel that to know the will of God and do it was a more genuine act of homage to Him than the offering of sacrifices upon an altar or the observance of any religious rite. Under such training the issue between the Jew and the Samaritan became of less and less consequence, and he and not the Samaritan was on the pathway which led direct to the final worship of God in spirit and in truth (John iv. 22).
Synagogue, the Great, the name given to a council at Jerusalem, consisting of 120 members, there assembled about the year 410 B.C. to give final form to the service and worship of the Jewish Church. A Jewish tradition says Moses received the law from Sinai; he transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, the elders to the prophets, to the men of the Great Assembly, who added thereto these words: “Be circumspect in judgment, make many disciples, and set a hedge about the law.” To them belong the final settlement and arrangement of the Jewish Scriptures, the introduction of a new alphabet, the regulation of the synagogue worship, and the adoption of sundry liturgical forms, as well as the establishment of the Feast of Purim (q. v.), and probably the “schools” of the Scribes.
Syncretism, name given to an attempted blending of different, more or less antagonist, speculative or religious systems into one, such as Catholic and Protestant or Lutheran and Reformed.
Syndicate, in commercial parlance is a name given to a number of capitalists associated together for the purpose of carrying through some important business scheme, usually having in view the controlling and raising of prices by means of a monopoly or “corner.”
Synergism, the theological doctrine that divine grace requires a correspondent action of the human will to render it effective, a doctrine defended by Melanchthon when he ascribes to the will the “power of seeking grace,” the term “synergy” meaning co-operation.
Synesius, Bishop Ptolemais, born at Cyrene; became a pupil of Hypatia (q. v.) and was to the last a disciple, “a father of the Church without having been her son,” and is styled by Kingsley “the squire bishop,” from his love of the chase; “books and the chase,” on one occasion he writes, “make up my life”; wrote one or two curious books, and several hymns expressive of a longing after divine things (375-414).
Synod, name given to any assembly of bishops in council, and in the Presbyterian Church to an assembly of a district or a general assembly.
Synoptic Gospels, the first three Gospels, so called because they are summaries of the chief events in the story, and all go over the same ground, while the author of the fourth follows lines of his own.
Syra (31), an island of the Cyclades group, in the Ægean Sea, 10 m, by 5 m., with a capital called also Hermoupolis; on the E. coast is the seat of the government of the islands, and the chief port.
Syracuse, 1, one of the great cities of antiquity (19), occupied a wide triangular tableland on the SE. coast of Sicily, 80 m. SW. of Messina, and also the small island Ortygia, lying close to the shore; founded by Corinthian settlers about 733 B.C.; amongst its rulers were the tyrants Dionysius the Elder and Dionysius the Younger (q. v.) and Hiero, the patron of Æschylus, Pindar, &c.; successfully resisted the long siege of the Athenians in 414 B.C., and rose to a great pitch of renown after its struggle with the Carthaginians in 397 B.C., but siding with Hannibal in the Punic Wars, was taken after a two years' siege by the Romans (212 B.C.), in whose hands it slowly declined, and finally was sacked and destroyed by the Saracens in 878 A.D. Only the portion on Ortygia was rebuilt, and this constitutes the modern city, which has interesting relics of its former greatness, but is otherwise a crowded and dirty place, surrounded by walls, and fortified; exports fruit, olive-oil, and wine. 2, A city (108) of New York State, United States, 148 m. W. of Albany, in the beautiful valley of Onondaga; is a spacious and handsomely laid-out city, with university, &c.; has flourishing steel-works, foundries, rolling-mills, &c., and enormous salt manufactures.
Syria (2,000), one of three divisions of Asiatic Turkey, slightly larger than Italy, forms a long strip of mountains and tableland intersected by fertile valleys, lying along the eastern end of the Mediterranean from the Taurus range in the N. to the Egyptian border on the 8., and extending to the Euphrates and Arabian desert The coastal strip and waters fall within the Levant (q. v.). In the S. lies Palestine, embracing Jordan, Dead Sea, Lake of Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), Jerusalem, Gaza, &c.; in the N., between the parallel ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, lies the valley of Coele-Syria, through which flows the Orontes. Important towns are Aleppo, Damascus, Beyrout (chief port), &c.; principal exports are silk, wool, olive-oil, and fruits. Four-fifths of the people are Mohammedans of Aramæan (ancient Syrian) and Arabic stock. Once a portion of the Assyrian empire (q. v.), it became a possession successively of the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Egyptians, and finally fell into the hands of the Ottoman Turks in 1516, under whose rule it now languishes. For further particulars see various names and places mentioned.
Syrianus, a Greek Neoplatonic philosopher of the 5th century; had Proclus (q. v.) for a disciple; left a valuable commentary on the metaphysics of Aristotle.
Syrinx, an Arcadian nymph, who, being pursued by Pan, fled into a river, was metamorphosed into a reed, of which Pan made his flute.
Syrtis, Major and Minor, the ancient names of the Gulfs of Sidra and Cabes on the N. coast of Africa, the former between Tripoli and Barca, the latter between Tunis and Tripoli.
Syrus, Publius, a slave brought to Rome, and on account of his wit manumitted by his master; made his mark by composing memoirs and a collection of pithy sayings that appear to have been used as a school-book; flourished in 45 B.C.
Système de la Nature, a book, the authorship of which is ascribed to Baron Holbach (q. v.), which appeared in 1770, advocating a philosophical materialism and maintaining that nothing exists but matter, and that mind is either naught or only a finer kind of matter; there is nowhere anything, it insists, except matter and motion; it is the farthest step yet taken in the direction of speculative as opposed to political nihilism.
Syzygy, the point on the orbit of a planet, or the moon when it is in conjunction with, or in opposition to, the sun.
Szechuan (71,000), the largest province of China, lies in the W. between Thibet (NW.) and Yunnan (SW.); more than twice the size of Great Britain; a hilly country, rich in coal, iron, &c., and traversed by the Yangtse-kiang and large tributaries; Chingtu is the capital; two towns have been opened to foreign trade, opium, silk, tobacco, musk, white wax, &c., being chief exports.
Szegedin (89), a royal free city of Hungary, situated at the confluence of the Maros and Theiss, 118 m. SE. of Budapest, to which it ranks next in importance as a commercial and manufacturing centre; has been largely rebuilt since the terribly destructive flood of 1879, and presents a handsome modern appearance.