_garde du corps_. The origin of the guard was this: When St. Louis
entered upon his first crusade, he was twice saved from death by the
valor of a small band of Scotch auxiliaries under the commands of the
earls of March and Dunbar, Walter Stuart, and Sir David Lindsay. In
gratitude thereof, it was resolved that “a standing guard of Scotchmen,
recommended by the king of Scotland, should ever more form the
body-guard of the king of France.” This decree remained in force for
five centuries.--Grant, _The Scottish Cavalier_, xx.
=Scotland.= So called, according to legend, from Scota, daughter of
Pharaoh. What gives this legend especial interest is, that when Edward
I. laid claim to the country as a fief of England, he pleaded that
Brute, the British king, in the days of Eli and Samuel, had conquered
it. The Scotch, in their defence, pleaded their independence in virtue
of descent from Scota, daughter of Pharaoh. This is not fable, but sober
history.--Rymer, _Fœdera_, I. ii. (1703).
=Scotland a Fief of England.= When Edward I. laid claim to Scotland as a
fief of the English crown, his great plea was that it was awarded to
Adelstan, by direct miracle, and, therefore, could never be alienated.
His advocates seriously read from _The Life and Miracles of St. John of
Beverley_, this extract: Adelstan went to drive back the Scotch, who had
crossed the border, and, on reaching the Tyne, St. John of Beverley
appeared to him, and bade him cross the river at daybreak. Adelstan
obeyed, and reduced the whole kingdom to submission. On reaching Dunbar,
in the return march, Adelstan prayed that some sign might be given, to
testify to all ages that God had delivered the kingdom into his hands.
Whereupon he was commanded to strike the basaltic rock with his sword.
This did he, and the blade sank into the rock “as if it had been
butter,” cleaving it asunder for “an ell or more.” As the cleft remains
to the present hour, in testimony of this miracle, why, of course, _cela
va sans dire_.--Rymer, _Fœdera_, I. ii. 771 (1703).
=Scotland’s Scourge=, Edward I. His son, Edward II., buried him in
Westminster Abbey, where his tomb is still to be seen, with the
following inscription:--
Edwardus Longus, Scotorum Malleus, hic est.
(Our Longshanks, “Scotland’s Scourge,” lies here).
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xvii. (1613).
So Longshanks, Scotland’s Scourge, the land laid waste.
Ditto, xxix. (1622).
=Scots= (_scuite_, “a wanderer, a rover”), the inhabitants of the western
coast of Scotland. As this part is very hilly and barren, it is unfit
for tillage; and the inhabitants used to live a roving life on the
produce of the chase, their chief employment being the rearing of
cattle.
_Scots_ (_The Royal_). The hundred cuirassiers, called _hommes des
armes_, which formed the body-guard of the French king, were sent to
Scotland in 1633, by Louis XIII., to attend the coronation of Charles
I., at Edinburgh. On the outbreak of the civil war, eight years
afterwards, these cuirassiers loyally adhered to the crown, and received
the title of “The Royal Scots.” At the downfall of the king, the _hommes
des armes_ returned to France.
=Scott= (_The Southern_). Ariosto is so called by Lord Byron.
First rose
The Tuscan father’s “comedy divine” [_Dantê_];
Then, not unequal to the Florentine,
The southern Scott, the minstrel who called forth
A new creation with his magic line,
And, like the Ariosto of the north [_Sir W. Scott_],
Sang ladye-love and war, romance and knightly worth.
Byron, _Childe Harold_, iv. 40 (1817).
⁂ Dante was born at Florence.
=Scott of Belgium= (_The Walter_), Hendrick Conscience (1812- ).
=Scottish Anacreon= (_The_), Alexander Scot is so called by Pinkerton.
=Scottish Boanerges= (_The_), Robert and James Haldane (nineteenth
century). Robert died 1842, aged 79, and James 1851.
=Scottish Hogarth= (_The_), David Allan (1744-1796).
=Scottish Homer= (_The_), William Wilkie, author of an epic poem in rhyme,
entitled _The Epigoniad_ (1753).
=Scottish Solomon= (_The_), James VI. of Scotland, subsequently called
James I. of England (1566, 1603-1625).
⁂ The French king called him far more aptly, “The Wisest Fool in
Christendom.”
=Scottish Terriers= (_The_), Sir David Wilkie (1785-1841).
=Scottish Theoc´ritos= (_The_), Allan Ramsay (1685-1758).
=Scotus.= There were two schoolmen of this name: (1) John Scotus
_Erigena_, a native of Ireland, who died 886, in the reign of King
Alfred; (2) John Duns Scotus, a Scotchman, who died 1308. Longfellow
confounds these two in his _Golden Legend_ when he attributes the Latin
version of _St. Dionysius_, _the Areopagite_, to the latter schoolman.
And done into Latin by that Scottish beast,
Erigena Johannes.
Longfellow, _The Golden Legend_ (1851).
=Scourers=, a class of dissolute young men, often of the better class, who
infested the streets of London, in the seventeenth century, and thought
it capital fun to break windows, upset sedan-chairs, beat quiet
citizens, and molest young women. These young blades called themselves
at different times, Muns, Hectors, Scourers, Nickers, Hawcabites, and
Mohawks or Mohocks.
=Scourge of Christians= (_The_), Noureddin-Mahmûd, of Damascus
(1116-1174).
=Scourge of God= (_The_), Attila, king of the Huns, called _Flagellum Dei_
(died A.D. 453). Gensĕric, king of the Vandals, called _Virga Dei_ (*,
reigned 429-477).
=Scourge of Princes= (_The_), Pietro Aretino, of Arezzo, a merciless
satirist of kings and princes, but very obscene and licentious. He
called himself “Aretino the Divine” (1492-1557).
Thus Aretin of late got reputation
By scourging kings, as Lucian did of old
By scorning gods.
Lord Brooke, _Inquisition Upon Fame_ (1554-1628).
Suidas called Lucian “The Blasphemer;” and he added that he was torn to
pieces by dogs for his impiety. Some of his works attack the heathen
philosophy and religion. His _Jupiter Convicted_ shows Jupiter to be
powerless, and _Jupiter, the Tragedian_, shows Jupiter and the other
gods to be myths (120-200).
=Scourge of Scotland=, Edward I., _Scotōrum Malleus_ (1239, 1272-1307).
=Scrape-All=, a soapy, psalm-singing hypocrite, who combines with Cheatly
to supply young heirs with cash at most exorbitant usury. (See
CHEATLY.)--Shadwell, _Squire of Alsatia_ (1688).
=Scrape on, Gentlemen.= Hadrian went once to the public baths, and, seeing
an old soldier scraping himself with a potsherd, for want of a
flesh-brush, sent him a sum of money. Next day the bath was crowded with
potsherd scrapers; but the emperor said when he saw them, “Scrape on,
gentlemen, but you will not scrape an acquaintance with me.”
=Scribble=, an attorney’s clerk, who tries to get married to Polly
Honeycombe, a silly, novel-struck girl, but well off. He is happily
foiled in his scheme, and Polly is saved from the consequences of a most
unsuitable match.--G. Colman, the elder, _Polly Honeycombe_ (1760).
=Scrible´rus= (_Cornelius_), father of Martinus. He was noted for his
pedantry, and his odd whims about the education of his son.
_Martīnus Scriblērus_, a man of capacity, who had read everything; but
his judgment was worthless, and his taste perverted.--(?) Arbuthnot,
_Memoirs of the Extraordinary Life, Works, and Discoveries of Martin
Scriblerus_.
⁂ These “memoirs” were intended to be the first instalment[TN-162] of a
general satire on the false taste in literature prevalent in the time of
Pope. The only parts of any moment that were written of this intended
series, were Pope’s _Treatise of the Bathos, or Art of Sinking in
Poetry_, and his _Memoirs of P. P., Clerk of this Parish_ (1727), in
ridicule of Dr. Burnett’s _History of His Own Time_. The _Dunciad_ is,
however, preceded by a _Prolegomena_, ascribed to Martinus Scriblerus,
and contains his notes and illustrations on the poem, thus connecting
this merciless satire with the original design.
=Scriever= (_Jock_), the apprentice of Duncan Macwheeble (bailie at Tully
Veolan to Mr. Cosmo Comyne Bradwardine, baron of Bradwardine and Tully
Veolan).--Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time George II.).
=Scriptores Decem=, a collection of ten ancient chronicles on English
history, in one vol., folio, London, 1652, edited by Roger Twysden and
John Selden. The volume contains: (1) Simeon Dunelmensis [Simeon of
Durham], _Historia_; (2) Johannes Hagustaldensis [John of Hexham],
_Historia Continuata_; (3) Richardus Hagustaldensis [Richard of Hexham],
_De Gestis Regis Stephani_; (4) Ailredus Rievallensis [Ailred of
Rieval], _Historia_ (genealogy of the kings); (5) Radulphus de Diceto
[Ralph of Diceto], _Abbreviationes Chronicorum_ and _Ymagines
Historiarum_; (6) Johannes Brompton, _Chronicon_; (7) Gervasius
Dorobornensis [Gervais of Dover], _Chronica, etc._ (burning and repair
of Dover Church; contentions between the monks of Canterbury and
Archbishop Baldwin; and lives of the archbishops of Canterbury); (8)
Thomas Stubbs (a Dominican), _Chronica Pontificum ecc. Eboraci_ [_i.e._
York]; (9) Guilielmus Thorn Cantuariensis [of Canterbury], _Chronica_;
and (10) Henricus Knighton Leicestrensis [of Leicester], _Chronica_.
(The last three are chronicles of “pontiffs” or archbishops.)
=Scriptores Quinque=, better known as _Scriptores Post Bedam_, published
at Frankfürt, 1601, in one vol., folio, and containing: (1) Willielm
Malmesburiensis, _De Gestis Regum Anglorum_, _Historiæ Novellæ_, and _De
Gestis Pontificum Anglorum_; (2) Henry Huntindoniensis, _Historia_; (3)
Roger Hovedeni [Hoveden], _Annales_; (4) Ethelwerd, _Chronica_; and (5)
Ingulphus Croylandensis [of Croyland], _Historia_.
=Scriptores Tres=, three “hypothetical” writers on ancient history, which
Dr. Bertram professed to have discovered between the years 1747 and
1757. They are called Richardus Corinensis [of Cirencester], _De Situ
Britanniæ_; Gildas Badonĭcus; and Nennius Banchorensis [of
Bangor].--J. E. Mayor, in his preface to _Ricardi de Cirencestria
Speculum Historiale_, has laid bare this literary forgery.
=Scripture.= Parson Adams’s wife said to her husband that in her opinion
“it was blasphemous to talk of Scriptures out of church.”--Fielding,
_Joseph Andrews_.
A great impression in my youth
Was made by Mrs. Adams, where she cries,
“That Scriptures out of church are blasphemous.”
Byron, _Don Juan_, xiii. 96 (1824).
=Scroggen=, a poor hack author, celebrated by Goldsmith in his
_Description of an Author’s Bedchamber_.
=Scroggens=, (_Giles_), a peasant, who courted Molly Bawn, but died just
before the wedding day. Molly cried and cried for him, till she cried
herself fast asleep. Fancying that she saw Giles Scroggens’s ghost
standing at her bedside, she exclaimed in terror, “What do you want?”
“You for to come for to go along with me,” replied the ghost. “I ben’t
dead, you fool!” said Molly; but the ghost rejoined, “Why, that’s no
rule.” Then, clasping her round the waist, he exclaimed, “Come, come
with me, ere morning beam.” “I won’t!” shrieked Molly, and woke to find
“‘twas nothing but a dream.”--_A Comic Ballad._
=Scroggs= (_Sir William_), one of the judges.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of
the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
=Scrooge= (_Ebenezer_), partner, executor, and heir of old Jacob Marley,
stock-broker. When first introduced, he is “a squeezing, grasping,
covetous old hunks, sharp and hard as a flint;” without one particle of
sympathy, loving no one, and by none beloved. One Christmas Day Ebenezer
Scrooge sees three ghosts; The Ghost of Christmas Past; Ghost of
Christmas Present; and the Ghost of Christmas To-come. The first takes
him back to his young life, shows him what Christmas was to him when a
schoolboy, and when he was an apprentice; reminds him of his courting a
young girl, whom he forsook as he grew rich; and shows him that
sweetheart of his young days married to another, and the mother of a
happy family. The second ghost shows him the joyous home of his clerk,
Bob Cratchit, who has nine people to keep on 15_s._ a week, and yet
could find wherewithal to make merry on this day; it also shows him the
family of his nephew, and of others. The third ghost shows him what
would be his lot if he died as he then was, the prey of harpies, the
jest of his friends on ‘Change, the world’s uncared-for waif. These
visions wholly changed his nature, and he becomes benevolent,
charitable, and cheerful, loving all, and by all beloved.--C. Dickens,
_A Christmas Carol_ (in five staves, 1843).
=Scrow=, the clerk of Lawyer Glossin.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time
George II.).
=Scrub=, a man-of-all-work to Lady Bountiful. He describes his duties
thus;
Of a Monday I drive the coach, of a Tuesday I drive the plough, on
Wednesday I follow the hounds, on Thursday I dun the tenants, on
Friday I go to market, on Saturday I draw warrants, and on Sunday I
draw beer.--Geo. Farquhar, _The Beaux’ Stratagem_, iii. 4 (1707).
=Scrubin´da=, the lady who “lived by the scouring of pots in Dyot Street,
Bloomsbury Square.”
Oh, was I a quart, pint, or gill,
To be scrubbed by her delicate hands!...
My parlor that’s next to the sky
I’d quit, her blest mansion to share;
So happy to live and to die
In Dyot Street, Bloomsbury Square.
W. B. Rhodes, _Bombastes Furioso_ (1790).
=Scruple=, the friend of Random. He is too honest for a rogue, and too
conscientious for a rake. At Calais he met Harriet, the elder daughter
of Sir David Dunder, of Dunder Hall, near Dover, and fell in love with
her. Scruple subsequently got invited to Dunder Hall, and was told that
his Harriet was to be married next day to Lord Snolt, a stumpy, “gummy”
fogey of five and forty. Harriet hated the idea, and agreed to elope
with Scruple; but her father discovered by accident the intention, and
intercepted it. However, to prevent scandal, he gave his consent to the
union, and discovered that Scruple, both in family and fortune, was
quite suitable for a son-in-law.--G. Colman, _Ways and Means_ (1788).
=Scu´damour= (_Sir_), the knight beloved by Am´oret (whom Britomart
delivered from Busyrane, the enchanter), and whom she ultimately
married. He is called Scudamour (3 _syl._) from [_e_]_scu d’amour_ (“the
shield of love”), which he carried (bk. iv. 10). This shield was hung by
golden bands in the temple of Venus, and under it was written:
“WHOSOEVER BE THIS SHIELD, FAIRE AMORET BE HIS.” Sir Scudamour,
determined to win the prize, had to fight with twenty combatants,
overthrew them all, and the shield was his. When he saw Amoret in the
company of Britomart, dressed as a knight, he was racked with jealousy,
and went on his wanderings, accompanied by nurse Glaucê for “his
squire;” but somewhat later, seeing Britomart, without her hemlet,[TN-163]
he felt that his jealousy was groundless (bk. iv. 6). His tale is told
by himself (bk. iv. 10).--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iii., iv. (1590-6).
=Sculpture= (_Father of French_), Jean Goujon (1510-1572). G. Pilon is so
called also (1515-1590).
=Scyld=, the king of Denmark preceding Beowulf. The Anglo-Saxon epic poem
called _Beowulf_ (sixth century) begins with the death of Scyld.
At his appointed time, Scyld deceased, very decrepit, and went into
the peace of the Lord. They ... bore him to the sea-shore as he
himself requested.... There on the beach stood the ring-prowed
ship, the vehicle of the noble ... ready to set out. They laid down
the dear prince, the distributer of rings, in the bosom of the
ship, the mighty one beside the mast ... they set up a golden
ensign high overhead ... they gave him to the deep. Sad was their
spirit, mournful their mood.--Kemble, _Beowulf_ (an Anglo-Saxon
poem, 1833).
=Scylla and Charybdis.= The former was a rock, in which dwelt Scylla, a
hideous monster, encompassed with dogs and wolves. The latter was a
whirlpool, into which Charybdis was metamorphosed.--_Classic Fable._
=Scythian= (_That Brave_), Darius, the Persian. According to Herod´otus,
all the south-east of Europe used to be called Scythia, and Xenophon
calls the dwellers south of the Caspian Sea “Scythians,” also. In fact,
by Scythia was meant the south of Russia and west of Asia; hence, the
Hungarians, a Tartar horde, settled on the east coast of the Caspian
Sea, who, in 889, crossed into Europe, are spoken of as “Scythians,” and
Lord Brooke calls the Persians “Scythians.” The reference below is to
the following event in Persian history:--The death of Smerdis was kept
for a time a profound secret, and one of the officers about the court
who resembled him usurped the crown, calling himself brother of the late
monarch. Seven of the high nobles conspired together, and slew the
usurper, but it then became a question to which of the seven the crown
should be offered. They did not toss for it, but they did much the same
thing. They agreed to give the crown to him whose horse neighed first.
Darius’s horse won, and thus Darius became king of the Persian empire.
That brave Scythian,
Who found more sweetness in his horse’s neighing
Than all the Phrygian, Dorian, Lydian playing.
Lord Brooke, (1554-1628).
⁂ Marlowe calls Tamburlaine of Tartary “a Scythian.”
You shall hear the Scythian Tamburlaine
Threatening the world with high astounding terms.
Marlowe, _Tamburlaine_ (prologue, 1587).
=Scythian’s Name= (_The_). Humber or Humbert, king of the Huns, invaded
England during the reign of Locrin, some 1000 years B.C. In his flight,
he was drowned in the river Abus, which has ever since been called the
Humber, after “the Scythian’s name.”--Geoffrey, _British History_, ii. 2
(1142); and Milton’s _History of England_.
Or Humber loud that keeps the Scythian’s name.
Milton, _Vacation Exercise_ (1627).
=Sea-Captain= (_The_), a drama by Lord Lytton (1839). Norman, “the
sea-captain,” was the son of Lady Arundel by her first husband, who was
murdered. He was born three days after his father’s murder, and was
brought up by Onslow, a village priest. At 14 he went to sea, and became
the captain of a man-of-war. Lady Arundel married again, and had another
son named Percy. She wished to ignore Norman, and to settle the title
and estates on Percy, but it was not to be. Norman and Percy both loved
Violet, a ward of Lady Arundel. Violet, however, loved Norman only. A
scheme was laid to murder Norman, but failed; and at the end Norman was
acknowledged by his mother, reconciled to his brother, and married to
the ward.
=Seaforth= (_The earl of_), a royalist, in the service of King Charles
I.--Sir W. Scott, _Legend of Montrose_ (time, Charles I.).
=Seasons= (_The_), a descriptive poem in blank verse, by James Thomson,
“Winter” (1726), “Summer” (1727), “Spring” (1728), “Autumn” (1730).
“Winter” is inscribed to the earl of Wilmington; “Summer” to Mr.
Doddington; “Spring” to the countess of Hertford; and “Autumn” to Mr.
Onslow.
1. In “Winter,” after describing the season, the poet introduces his
episode of a traveller lost in a snowstorm, “the creeping cold lays him
along the snow, a stiffened corse,”[TN-164] of wife, of children, and of
friends unseen. The whole book containing 1069 lines.
2. “Summer” begins with a description of the season, and the rural
pursuits of haymaking and sheep-shearing; passes on to the hot noon,
when “nature pants, and every stream looks languid.” After describing
the tumultuous character of the season in the torrid zone, he returns to
England, and describes a thunder-storm, in which Celădon and Amelia are
overtaken. The thunder growls, the lightnings flash, louder and louder
crashes the aggravated roar, “convulsing heaven and earth.” The maiden,
terrified, clings to her lover for protection. “Fear not, sweet
innocence,” he says. “He who involves yon skies in darkness ever smiles
on thee. ’Tis safety to be near thee, sure, and thus to clasp
protection.” As he speaks the words, a flash of lightning strikes the
maid, and lays her a blackened corpse at the young man’s feet. The poem
concludes with the more peaceful scenery of a summer’s evening, when the
story of Damon and Musidōra is introduced. Damon had long loved the
beautiful Musidora, but met with scant encouragement. One summer’s
evening he accidently[TN-165] came upon her bathing, and the respectful
modesty of his love so won upon the damsel that she wrote upon a tree,
“Damon, the time may come when you need not fly.” The whole book
contains 1804 lines.
3. In “Spring” the poet describes its general features, and its
influence on the vegetable and animal world. He describes a garden with
its harem of flowers, a grove with its orchestry of song-birds making
melody in their love, the rough world of brutes, furious and fierce with
their strong desire, and lastly man tempered by its infusive influence.
The book contains 1173 lines.
4. In “Autumn” we are taken to the harvest-field, where the poet
introduces a story similar to that of Ruth and Boaz. His Ruth he calls
“Lavinia,” and his Boaz “Palēmon.” He then describes partridge and
pheasant shooting, hare and fox hunting, all of which he condemns. After
luxuriating in the orchard and vineyard, he speaks of the emigration of
birds, the falling of the sear and yellow leaf, and concludes with a
eulogy of country life. The whole book contains 1371 lines.
⁂ It is much to be regretted that the poet’s order has not been
preserved. The arrangement of the seasons into Spring, Summer, Autumn,
and Winter, is unnatural, and mars the harmony of the poet’s plan.
=Seatonian Prize.= The Rev. Thomas Seaton, Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge
University, bequeathed the rents of his Kislingbury estate for a yearly
prize of £40 to the best English poem on a sacred subject announced in
January, and sent in on or before September 29 following.
Shall hoary Granta call her sable sons....
Shall these approach the Muse? Ah, no! she flies,
And even spurns the great Seatonian prize.
Byron, _English Bards and Scotch Reviewers_ (1809).
=Sebastes of Mytile´ne= (4 _syl._), the assassin in the “Immortal
Guards.”--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).
=Sebastian=, a young gentleman of Messalinê, brother to Viola. They were
twins, and so much alike that they could not be distinguished except by
their dress. Sebastian and his sister, being shipwrecked, escaped to
Illyria. Here Sebastian was mistaken for his sister (who had assumed
man’s apparel), and was invited by the Countess Olivia to take shelter
in her house from a street broil. Olivia was in love with Viola, and
thinking Sebastian to be the object of her love, married
him.--Shakespeare, _Twelfth Night_ (1614).
_Sebastian_, brother of Alonso, king of Naples, in _The Tempest_ (1609).
_Sebastian_, father of Valentine and Alice.--Beaumont and Fletcher,
_Mons. Thomas_ (1619).
_Sebastian_ (_Don_), king of Portugal, is defeated in battle and taken
prisoner by the Moors (1574). He is saved from death by Dorax, a noble
Portuguese, then a renegade in the court of the emperor of Barbary. The
train being dismissed, Dorax takes off his turban, assumes his
Portuguese dress, and is recognized as Alonzo of Alcazar.--Dryden, _Don
Sebastian_ (1690).
The quarrel and reconcilation[TN-166] of Sebastian and Dorax [_alias
Alonzo of Alcazar_] is a masterly copy from a similar scene between
Brutus and Cassius [_in Shakespeare’s Julius Cæsar_].--R. Chambers,
_English Literature_, i. 380.
_Don Sebastian_, a name of terror to Moorish children.
Nor shall Sebastian’s formidable name
Be longer used to still the crying babe.
Dryden, _Don Sebastian_ (1690).
=Sebastian I. of Brazil=, who fell in the battle of Alcazarquebir in 1578.
The legend is that he is not dead, but is patiently biding the fulness
of time, when he will return, and make Brazil the chief kingdom of the
earth. (See BARBAROSSA.)
=Sebastoc´rator= (_The_), the chief officer of state in the empire of
Greece. Same as Protosebastos.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_
(time, Rufus).
=Sebile= (2 _syl._), la Dame du Lac, in the romance called _Perceforest_.
Her castle was surrounded by a river, on which rested so thick a fog
that no one could see across it. Alexander the Great abode with her a
fortnight to be cured of his wounds, and King Arthur was the result of
this amour (vol. i. 42).
=Secret Hill= (_The_). Ossian said to Oscar, when he resigned to him the
command of the morrow’s battle, “Be thine the secret hill to-night,”
referring to the Gaelic custom of the commander of an army retiring to a
secret hill the night before a battle, to hold communion with the ghosts
of departed heroes.--Ossian, _Cathlin of Clutha_.
=Secret Tribunal= (_The_), the count of the Holy Vehme.--Sir W. Scott,
_Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).
=Sedgwick= (_Doomsday_), William Sedgwick, a fanatical “prophet” in the
Commonwealth, who pretended that it had been revealed to him in a vision
that the day of doom was at hand.
=Sedillo=, the licentiate, with whom Gil Blas took service as a footman.
Sedillo was a gouty old gourmand of 69. Being ill, he sent for Dr.
Sangrado, who took from him six porringers of blood every day, and dosed
him incessantly with warm water, giving him two or three pints at a
time, saying, “a patient cannot be blooded too much; for it is a great
error to suppose that blood is needful for the preservation of life.
Warm water,” he maintained, “drunk in abundance, is the true specific in
all distempers.” When the licentiate died under this treatment, the
doctor insisted it was because his patient had neither lost blood enough
nor drunk enough warm water.--Lesage, _Gil Blas_, ii. 1, 2 (1715).
=Sedley= (_Mr._), a wealthy London stock-broker, brought to ruin by the
fall of the Funds just prior to the battle of Waterloo. The old merchant
then tried to earn a meagre pittance by selling wine, coals, or
lottery-tickets by commission, but his bad wine and cheap coals found
but few customers.
_Mrs. Sedley_, wife of Mr. Sedley. A homely, kind-hearted motherly woman
in her prosperous days, but soured by adversity, and quick to take
offence.
_Amelia Sedley_, daughter of the stock-broker, educated at Miss
Pinkerton’s academy, Chiswick Mall, and engaged to Captain George
Osborne, son of a rich London merchant. After the ruin of old Sedley,
George married Amelia, and was disinherited by his father. He was adored
by his young wife, but fell on the field of Waterloo. Amelia then
returned to her father, and lived in great indigence, but Captain Dobbin
greatly loved her, and did much to relieve her worst wants. Captain
Dobbin rose in his profession to the rank of colonel, and married the
young widow.
_Joseph Sedley_, a collector, of Boggley Wollah; a fat, sensual,
conceited dandy, vain, shy, and vulgar. “His Excellency” fled from
Brussels on the day of the battle between Napoleon and Wellington, and
returned to Calcutta, where he bragged of his brave deeds, and made
appear that he was Wellington’s right hand; so that he obtained the
sobriquet of “Waterloo Sedley.” He again returned to England, and became
the “patron” of Becky Sharp (then Mrs. Rawdon Crawley, but separated
from her husband). But this lady proved a terrible dragon, fleeced him
of all his money, and in six months he died under very suspicious
circumstances.--Thackeray, _Vanity Fair_ (1848).
_Sedley_ (_Sir Charles_), in the court of Charles II.--Sir W. Scott,
_Woodstock_ (time, Commonwealth).
=Seelencooper= (_Captain_), superintendent of the military hospital at
Ryde.--Sir W. Scott, _The Surgeon’s Daughter_ (time, George II.).
=Seer= (_The Poughkeepsie_), Andrew Jackson Davis.
=Seicen´to= (3 _syl._), the sixteenth century of Italian notables, the
period of bad taste and degenerate art. The degraded art is termed
_Seicentista_, and the notables of the period the _Seicentisti_. The
style of writing was inflated and bombastic, and that of art was what is
termed “rococo.” The chief poet was Marini (1569-1615), the chief
painter Caravaggio (1569-1609), the chief sculptor Bernini (1593-1680),
and the chief architect Borromini (1599-1667).
=Sede=, in Voltaire’s tragedy of _Mahomet_, was the character in which
Talma, the great French tragedian, made his _début_ in 1787.
=Seidel-Beckir=, the most famous of all talismanists. He made three of
extraordinary power: viz., a little golden fish, which would fetch from
the sea whatever was desired of it; a poniard, which rendered the
person who bore it invisible, and all others whom he wished to be so;
and a steel ring, which enabled the wearer to read the secrets of
another’s heart.--Comte de Caylus, _Oriental Tales_ (“The Four
Talismans,” 1743).
=Sejanus= (_Ælius_), a minister of Tibērius, and commander of the
Prætorian Guards. His affability made him a great favorite. In order
that he might be the foremost man of Rome, all the children and
grandchildren of the emperor were put to death under sundry pretences.
Drusus, the son of Tiberius, then fell a victim. He next persuaded the
emperor to retire, and Tiberius went to Campania, leaving to Sejānus the
sole management of affairs. He now called himself emperor; but Tiberius,
roused from his lethargy, accused his minister of treason. The senate
condemned him to be strangled, and his remains, being treated with the
grossest insolence, were kicked into the Tiber, A.D. 31. This was the
subject of Ben Jonson’s first historical play, entitled _Sejanus_
(1603).
=Sejjin= or =Sejn=, the record of all evil deeds, whether by men or the
genii, kept by the recording angel. It also means that dungeon beneath
the seventh earth, where Eblis and his companions are confined.
Verily, the register of the deeds of the wicked is surely in
Sejjin.--Sale, _Al Korân_, lxxxiii.
=Selby= (_Captain_), an officer in the guards.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of
the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
=Self-Admiration Society= (_The_). _Poets_: Morris, Rosetti and Swinburne.
_Painters_: Brown, Mudon, Whistler and some others.
=Selim=, son of Abdallah, who was murdered by his brother, Giaffir (pacha
of Aby´dos). After the death of his brother, Giaffir (2 _syl._) took
Selim under his charge and brought him up, but treated him with
considerable cruelty. Giaffir had a daughter named Zuleika (3 _syl._),
with whom Selim fell in love; but Zuleika thought he was her brother. As
soon as Giaffir discovered the attachment of the two cousins for each
other, he informed his daughter that he intended her to marry Osmyn Bey;
but Zuleika eloped with Selim, the pacha pursued them, Selim was shot,
Zuleika killed herself, and Giaffir was left childless and
alone.--Byron, _Bride of Abydos_ (1813).
_Selim_, son of Acbar. Jehanguire was called Selim before his accession
to the throne. He married Nourmahal, the “Light of the Haram,” but a
coolness rose up between them. One night Nourmahal entered the sultan’s
banquet-room as a lute-player, and so charmed young Selim that he
exclaimed, “If Nourmahal had so sung, I could have forgiven her!” It was
enough. Nourmahal threw off her disguise, and became reconciled to her
husband.--T. Moore, _Lalla Rookh_ (“Light of the Haram,” 1817).
_Selim_, son of the Moorish king of Algiers. [Horush] Barbarossa, the
Greek renegade, having made himself master of Algiers, slew the reigning
king, but Selim escaped. After the lapse of seven years, he returned
under the assumed name of Achmet, and headed an uprising of the Moors.
The insurgents succeeded, Barbarossa was slain, the widowed Queen
Zaphīra was restored to her husband’s throne, and Selim, her son,
married Irēnê, daughter of Barbarossa.--J. Brown, _Barbarossa_ (1742 or
1755).
_Selim_, friend of Etan (the supposed son of Zamti, the
mandarin).--Murphy, _The Orphan of China_ (1759).
=Sel´ima=, daughter of Bajazet, sultan of Turkey, in love with Prince
Axalla, but promised by her father in marriage to Omar. When Selima
refused to marry Omar, Bajazet would have slain her; but Tamerlane
commanded both Bajazet and Omar to be seized. So every obstacle was
removed from the union of Selima and Axalla.--N. Rowe, _Tamerlane_
(1702).
_Selima_, one of the six Wise Men from the East, led by the guiding star
to Jesus.--Klopstock, _The Messiah_, v. (1771).
=Se´lith=, one of the two guardian angels of the Virgin Mary, and of John
the Divine.--Klopstock, _The Messiah_, ix. (1771).
=Sellock= (_Cisly_), a servant girl in the service of Lady and Sir
Geoffrey Peveril, of the Peak.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_
(time, Charles II.).
=Selvaggio=, the father of Sir Industry, and the hero of Thomson’s _Castle
of Indolence_.
In Fairy-land there lived a knight of old,
Of feature stern, Selvaggio well y-clept;
A rough, unpolished man, robust and bold,
But wondrous poor. He neither sowed nor reaped;
No stores in summer for cold winter heaped.
In hunting all his days away he wore--
Now scorched by June, now in November steeped,
Now pinched by biting January sore.
He still in woods pursued the libbard and the boar.
Thomson, _Castle of Indolence_, ii. 5 (1745).
=Sem´ele= (3 _syl._), ambitious of enjoying Jupiter in all his glory,
perished from the sublime effulgence of the god. This is substantially
the tale of the second story of T. Moore’s _Loves of the Angels_. Liris
requested her angel lover to come to her in all his angelic brightness;
but was burnt to ashes as she fell into his embrace.
For majesty gives nought to subjects, ...
A royal smile, a guinea’s glorious rays,
Like Semelê, would kill us with its blaze.
Peter Pindar [Dr. Wolcot], _Progress of Admiration_ (1809).
=Semi´da=, the young man, the only son of a widow, raised from the dead by
Jesus, as he was being carried from the walls of Nain. He was deeply in
love with Cidli, the daughter of Jairus.
He was in the bloom of life. His hair hung in curls on his
shoulders, and he appeared as beautiful as David, when, sitting by
the stream of Bethlehem, he was ravished at the voice of
God.--Klopstock, _The Messiah_, iv. (1771).
=Semir´amis=, queen of Assyria, wife of Ninus. She survived her husband,
and reigned. The glory of her reign stands out so prominently that she
quite eclipses all the monarchs of ancient Assyria. After a reign of
forty-two years she resigned the crown to her son, Ninyas, and took her
flight to heaven in the form of a dove. Semiramis was the daughter of
Dercĕto, the fish-goddess, and a Syrian youth, and, being exposed in
infancy, was brought up by doves.
=Semiramis of the North=, Margaret, daughter of Waldemar III. of Denmark.
At the death of her father she succeeded him; by the death of her
husband, Haco VIII., king of Norway, she succeeded to that kingdom also;
and, having conquered Albert of Sweden, she added Sweden to her empire.
Thus was she queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (1353-1412).
_Semirămis of the North_, Catherine of Russia, a powerful and ambitious
sovereign, but in morals a law unto herself (1729-1796).
=Semkail=, the angel of the winds and waves.
I keep the winds in awe with the hand which you see in the air, and
prevent the wind Haidge from coming forth. If I gave it freedom it
would reduce the universe to powder. With my other hand I hinder
the sea from overflowing, without which precaution it would cover
the face of the whole earth.--Comte de Caylus, _Oriental Tales_
(“History of Abdal Motalleb,” 1743).
=Semo= (_Son of_), Cuthullin, general of the Irish tribes.
=Sempro´nius=, one of the “friends” of Timon of Athens, and “the first man
that e’er received a gift from him.” When Timon sent to borrow a sum of
money of “his friend,” he excused himself thus: As Timon did not think
proper to apply to me first, but asked others before he sent to me, I
consider his present application an insult. “Go,” said he to the
servant, “and tell your master:
Who bates mine honor shall not know my coin.”
Shakespeare, _Timon of Athens_, act iii. sc. 3 (1600).
_Sempronius_, a treacherous friend of Cato while in Utĭca. Sempronius
tried to mask his treason by excessive zeal and unmeasured animosity
against Cæsar, with whom he was acting in alliance. He loved Marcia,
Cato’s daughter, but his love was not honorable love; and when he
attempted to carry off the lady by force, he was slain by Juba, the
Numidian prince.--J. Addison, _Cato_ (1713).
I’ll conceal
My thoughts in passion, ’tis the surest way.
I’ll bellow out for Rome, and for my country,
And mouth at Cæsar till I shake the senate.
Your cold hypocrisy’s a stale device,
A worn-out trick.
Act i. 1.
=Sena´nus= (_St._), the saint who fled to the island of Scattery, and
resolved that no woman should ever step upon the isle. An angel led St.
Can´ara to the isle, but Senanus refused to admit her.--T. Moore, _Irish
Melodies_ (“St. Senanus and the Lady,” 1814).
=Sen´eca= (_The Christian_), Bishop Hall, of Norwich (1574-1656).
=Sene´na= (3 _syl._), a Welsh maiden, in love with Car´adoc. She dressed
in boy’s clothes, and, under the assumed name of Mervyn, became the page
of the Princess Goervyl, that she might follow her lover to America,
when Madoc colonized Caer-Madoc. Senena was promised in marriage to
another; but when the wedding day arrived and all was ready, the bride
was nowhere to be found.
... she doffed
Her bridal robes, and clipt her golden locks,
And put on boy’s attire, thro’ wood and wild
To seek her own true love; and over sea,
Forsaking all for him, she followed him.
Southey, _Madoc_, ii. 23 (1805).
=Sennac´herib=, called by the Orientals King Moussal.--D’Herbelot, _Notes
to the Korân_ (seventeenth century).
=Sennamar=, a very skilful architect, who built at Hirah, for
Nôman-al-Aôuar, king of Hirah, a most magnificent palace. In order that
he might not build another equal or superior to it, for some other
monarch, Nôman cast him headlong from the highest tower of the
building.--D’Herbelot, _Bibliothèque Orientale_ (1697).
⁂ A parallel tale is told of Neim´heid (2 _syl._), who employed four
architects to build for him a palace in Ireland, and then, jealous lest
they should build one like it, or superior to it, for another monarch,
he had them all privately put to death.--O’Halloran, _History of
Ireland_.
=Sensitive= (_Lord_), a young nobleman of amorous proclivities, who
marries Sabīna Rosny, a French refugee, in Padua, but leaves her, more
from recklessness than wickedness. He comes to England and pays court to
Lady Ruby, a rich young widow; but Lady Ruby knows of his marriage to
the young French girl, and so hints at it that his lordship, who is no
libertine, and has a great regard for his honor, sees that his marriage
is known, and tells Lady Ruby he will start without delay to Padua, and
bring his young wife home. This, however, was not needful, as Sabina was
at the time the guest of Lady Ruby. She is called forth, and Lord
Sensitive openly avows her to be his wife.--Cumberland, _First Love_
(1796).
=Sentimental Journey= (_The_), by Laurence Sterne (1768). It was intended
to be sentimental sketches of his tour through Italy in 1764, but he
died soon after completing the first part. The tourist lands at Calais,
and the first incident is his interview with a poor monk of St. Francis,
who begged alms for his convent. Sterne refused to give anything, but
his heart smote him for his churlishness to the meek old man. From
Calais he goes to Montriul (Montreuil-sur-Mer) and thence to Nampont,
near Cressy. Here occurred the incident, which is one of the most
touching of all the sentimental sketches, that of “The Dead Ass.” His
next stage was Amiens, and thence to Paris. While looking at the
Bastille, he heard a voice crying, “I can’t get out! I can’t get out!”
He thought it was a child, but it was only a caged starling. This led
him to reflect on the delights of liberty and miseries of captivity.
Giving reins to his fancy, he imaged to himself a prisoner who for
thirty years had been confined in a dungeon, during all which time “he
had seen no sun, no moon, nor had the voice of kinsman breathed through
his lattice.” Carried away by his feelings, he burst into tears, for he
“could not sustain the picture of confinement which his fancy had
drawn.” While at Paris, our tourist visited Versailles, and introduces
an incident which he had witnessed some years previously at Rennes, in
Brittany. It was that of a marquis reclaiming his sword and “patent of
nobility.” Any nobleman in France who engaged in trade, forfeited his
rank; but there was a law in Brittany that a nobleman of reduced
circumstances might deposit his sword temporarily with the local
magistracy, and if better times dawned upon him, he might reclaim it.
Sterne was present at one of these interesting ceremonies. A marquis had
laid down his sword to mend his fortune by trade, and after a successful
career at Martinico for twenty years, returned home, and reclaimed it.
On receiving his deposit from the president, he drew it slowly from the
scabbard, and, observing a spot of rust near the point, dropped a tear
on it. As he wiped the blade lovingly, he remarked, “I shall find some
other way to get it off.” Returning to Paris, our tourist starts for
Italy; but the book ends with his arrival at Moulines (Moulins). Some
half a league from this city he encountered Maria, whose pathetic story
had been told him by Mr. Shandy. She had lost her goat when Sterne saw
her, but had instead a little dog named Silvio, led by a string. She was
sitting under a poplar, playing on a pipe her vespers to the Virgin.
Poor Maria had been crossed in love, or, to speak more strictly, the
curé of Moulines had forbidden her banns, and the maiden lost her
reason. Her story is exquisitely told, and Sterne says, “Could the
traces be ever worn out of her brain, and those of Eliza out of mine,
she should not only eat of my bread and drink of my cup, but Maria
should lie in my bosom, and be unto me as a daughter.”
=Sentinel and St. Paul’s Clock= (_The_). The sentinel condemned to death
by court-martial for falling asleep on his watch, but pardoned because
he affirmed that he heard St. Paul’s clock strike thirteen instead of
twelve, was John Hatfield, who died at the age of 102, June, 1770.
=Sentry= (_Captain_), one of the members of the club under whose auspices
the _Spectator_ was professedly issued.
=September Massacre= (_The_), the slaughter of loyalists confined in the
Abbaye. This massacre took place in Paris between September 2 and 5,
1792, on receipt of the news of the capture of Verdun. The number of
victims was not less than 1200, and some place it as high as 4000.
=September the Third= was Cromwell’s day. On September 3, 1650, he won the
battle of Dunbar. On September 3, 1651, he won the battle of Worcester.
On September 3, 1658, he died.
=Seraphic Doctor= (_The_), St. Bonaventura, placed by Dantê among the
saints of his _Paradiso_ (1221-1274).
=Seraphic Saint= (_The_), St. Francis d’Assisi (1182-1226).
Of all the saints, St. Francis was the most blameless and
gentle.--Dean Milman.
=Seraphina Arthuret= (_Miss_), a papist. Her sister is Miss Angelica
Arthuret.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).
=Sera´pis=, an Egyptian deity symbolizing the Nile, and fertility in
general.
=Seraskier´= (3 _syl._), a name given by the Turks to a general of
division, generally a pacha with two or three tails. (Persian, _seri
asker_, “head of the army.”)
... three thousand Moslems perished here,
And sixteen bayonets pierced the seraskier.
Byron, _Don Juan_, viii. 81 (1824).
=Serb=, a Servian or native of Servia.
=Sereme´nes= (4 _syl._), brother-in-law of King Sardanapālus, to whom he
entrusts his signet-ring to put down the rebellion headed by Arbācês,
the Mede, and Belĕsis, the Chaldēan soothsayer. Seremēnês was slain in a
battle with the insurgents.--Byron, _Sardanapalus_ (1819).
=Sere´na=, allured by the mildness of the weather, went into the fields to
gather wild flowers for a garland, when she was attacked by the Blatant
Beast, who carried her off in its mouth. Her cries attracted to the spot
Sir Calidore, who compelled the beast to drop its prey.--Spenser, _Faëry
Queen_, vi. 3 (1596).
=Sergis= (_Sir_), the attendant on Irēna. He informs Sir Artegal that
Irena is the captive of Grantorto, who has sworn to take her life within
ten days, unless some knight will volunteer to be her champion, and in
single combat prove her innocent of the crime laid to her
charge.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, v. 11 (1596).
=Sergius=, a Nestorian monk, said to be the same as Boheira, who resided
at Bosra, in Syria. This monk, we are told, helped Mahomet in writing
the _Korân_. Some say it was Saïd or Felix Boheira.
Boheira’s name, in the books of Christians, is Sergius.--Masudi,
_History_, 24 (A.D. 956).
=Serimner=, the wild boar whose lard fed the vast multitude in Einheriar,
the hall of Odin. Though fed on daily, the boar never diminished in
size. Odin himself gave his own portion of the lard to his two wolves,
Geri and Freki.--_Scandinavian Mythology._ (See RUSTICUS’S PIG.)
=Seri´na=, daughter of Lord Acasto, plighted to Chamont (the brother of
Monimia, “the orphan”).--Otway, _The Orphan_ (1680).
=Seriswattee=, the Janus of Hindû mythology.
=The Serpent and Satan.= There is an Arabian tradition that the devil
begged all the animals, one after another, to carry him into the garden,
that he might speak to Adam and Eve, but they all refused except the
serpent, who took him between two of its teeth. It was then the most
beautiful of all the animals, and walked upon legs and feet.--Masudi,
_History_, 22 (A.D. 956).
_The Serpent’s Punishment._ The punishment of the serpent for tempting
Eve was this: (1) Michael was commanded to cut off its legs; and (2) the
serpent was doomed to feed on human excrements ever after.
=Serpent d’Isabit=, an enormous monster, whose head rested on the top of
the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, its body filled the whole valley of Luz, St.
Sauveur, and Gèdres, and its tail was coiled in the hollow below the
cirque of Gavarnie. It fed once in three months, and supplied itself by
making a very strong inspiration of its breath, whereupon every living
thing around was drawn into its maw. It was ultimately killed by making
a huge bonfire, and waking it from its torpor, when it became enraged,
and drawing a deep breath, drew the bonfire into its maw, and died in
agony.--Rev. W. Webster, _A Pyrenean Legend_ (1877).
=Served My God.= WOLSEY said, in his fall, “Had I but served my God with
half the zeal I served my king, He would not in mine age have left me
naked to mine enemies.”--Shakespeare, _Henry VIII._ act iii. sc. 2
(1601).
SAMRAH, when he was deposed from the government of Basorah by the Caliph
Moawiyah, said, “If I had served God so well as I have served the
caliph, He would never have condemned me to all eternity.”
ANTONIO PEREZ, the favorite of Philip II. of Spain, said, “Mon zele
etoit si grand vers ces benignes puissances [i.e. _Turin_] qui si j’en
eusse eu autant pour Dieu, je ne doubte point qu’il ne m’eut deja
recompensé de son paradis.”
The earl of GOWRIE, when, in 1854, he was led to execution, said, “If I
had served God as faithfully as I have done the king [_James VI._], I
should not have come to this end.”--Spotswood, _History of the Church of
Scotland_, 332, 333 (1653).
=Sesostris= (_The Modern_), Napoleon Bonaparte (1769, 1804-1815, 1821).
But where is he, the modern, mightier far,
Who, born no king, made monarchs draw his car;
The new Sesostris, whose unharnessed kings,
Freed from the bit, believe themselves with wings,
And spurn the dust o’er which they crawled of late,
Chained to the chariot of the chieftain’s state?
Byron, _Age of Bronze_ (1821).
⁂ “Sesostris,” in Fénelon’s _Télémaque_, is meant for Louis XIV.
=Set´ebos=, a deity of the Patagonians.
His art is of such power,
It would control my dam’s god Setebos.
Shakespeare, _The Tempest_ (1609).
The giants, when they found themselves fettered, roared like bulls,
and cried upon Setebos to help them.--Eden, _History of Travayle_.
=Seth=, a servant of the Jew at Ashby. Reuben is his fellow-servant.--Sir
W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).
=Seth Fairchild.= Young countryman, who is almost persuaded to be in love
with Isabel, the wife of his brother, Albert. Albert is killed--it is
supposed, accidentally--and Isabel, assuming that Seth has murdered him,
and for her sake, promises to keep the deed secret. The horror of the
supposition and her readiness to believe him capable of the crime,
dispels Seth’s unholy illusion and sends him back to his first love, who
has always been his good angel.--Harold Frederic, _Seth’s Brother’s
Wife_ (1887).
=Settle= (_Elkana_), the poet, introduced by Sir W. Scott in _Peveril of
the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
=Seven Champions of Christendom= (_The_): St. George for England; St.
Andrew for Scotland; St. Patrick for Ireland; St. David for Wales; St.
Denis for France; St. James for Spain; and St. Anthony for Italy.
⁂ Richard Johnson wrote _The Famous History of the Seven Champions of
Christendom_ (1617).
=Seven=, Rienzi’s Number.
October 7, Rienzi’s foes yielded to his power.
7 months Rienzi reigned as tribune.
7 years he was absent in exile.
7 weeks of return saw him without an enemy (Oct. 7).
7 was the number of the crowns the Roman convents and the Roman
council awarded him.
=Seven Sleepers= (_The_). The tale of these sleepers is told in divers
manners. The best accounts are those in the _Korân_ xviii., entitled,
“The Cave, Revealed at Mecca;” _The Golden Legends_, by Jacques de
Voragine; the _De Gloria Martyrum_, i. 9, by Gregory of Tours; and the
_Oriental Tales_, by Comte de Caylus (1743).
_Names of the Seven Sleepers._ Gregory of Tours says their names were:
Constantine, Dionysius, John, Maximian, Malchus, Martinian or Marcian,
and Serapĭon. In the _Oriental Tales_ the names given are: Jemlikha,
Mekchilinia, Mechlima, Merlima, Debermouch, Charnouch, and the shepherd
Keschetiouch. Their names are not given in the _Korân_.
_Number of the Sleepers._ Al Seyid, a Jacobite Christian of Najrân, says
the sleepers were only three, with their dog; others maintain that their
number was five, besides the dog; but Al Beidâwi, who is followed by
most authorities, says they were seven, besides the dog.
_Duration of the Sleep._ The _Korân_ says it was “300 years and nine
years over;” the _Oriental Tales_ say the same; but if Gregory of Tours
is followed, the duration of the sleep was barely 230 years.
_The Legend of the Seven Sleepers._ (1) According to Gregory of Tours.
Gregory says they were seven noble youths of Ephesus, who fled in the
Decian persecution to a cave in Mount Celion, the mouth of which was
blocked up by stones. After 230 years they were discovered, and awoke,
but died within a few days, and were taken in a large stone coffin to
Marseilles. Visitors are still shown, in St. Victor’s Church, the stone
coffin.
If there is any truth at all in the legend, it amounts to this: In A.D.
250, some youths (three or seven) suffered martyrdom under the Emperor
Decius, “fell asleep in the Lord,” and were buried in a cave of Mount
Celion. In 479 (the reign of Theodosius) their bodies were discovered,
and, being consecrated as holy relics, were removed to Marseilles.
(2) According to the _Oriental Tales_. Six Grecian youths were slaves in
the palace of Dakiānos (_Decianus_, _Decius_). This Dakianos had risen
from low degrees to kingly honors, and gave himself out to be a god.
Jemlikha was led to doubt the divinity of his master, because he was
unable to keep off a fly which persistently tormented him, and being
roused to reflection, came to the conclusion that there must be a god to
whom both Dakianos and the fly were subject. He communicated his
thoughts to his companions, and they all fled from the Ephesian court
till they met the shepherd Keschetiouch, whom they converted, and who
showed them a cave, which no one but himself knew of. Here they fell
asleep, and Dakianos, having discovered them, commanded the mouth of the
cave to be closed up. Here the sleepers remained 309 years, at the
expiration of which time they all awoke, but died a few hours
afterwards.
_The Dog of the Seven Sleepers._ In the notes of the _Korân_, by Sale,
the dog’s name is Kratim, Kratimer, or Katmir. In the _Oriental Tales_
it is Catnier, which looks like a clerical blunder for Catmer, only it
occurs frequently. It is one of the ten animals admitted into Mahomet’s
paradise. The _Korân_ tells us that the dog followed the seven young men
into the cave, but they tried to drive him away, and even broke three of
its legs with stones, when the dog said to them, “I love those who love
God. Sleep, masters, and I will keep guard.” In the _Oriental Tales_
the dog is made to say, “You go to seek God, but am not I also a child
of God?” Hearing this, the young men were so astounded, they went
immediately, and carried the dog into the cave.
_The Place of Sepulture of the Seven Sleepers._ Gregory of Tours tells
us that the bodies were removed from Mount Celion in a stone coffin to
Marseilles. The _Korân_, with Sale’s notes, informs us they were buried
in the cave, and a chapel was built there to mark the site. (See
SLEEPER.)
_The Seven Sleepers turning on their sides._ William of Malmesbury says
that Edward the Confessor, in his mind’s eye, saw the seven sleepers
turn from their right sides to their left, and (he adds) whenever they
turn on their sides, it indicates great disasters to Christendom.
Woe, woe to England! I have seen a vision:
The seven sleepers in the cave of Ephesus
Have turned from right to left.
Tennyson, _Harold_, i. 1.
=Seven Wise Masters.= Lucien, the son of Dolopathos, was placed under the
charge of Virgil, and was tempted in manhood by his step-mother. He
repelled her advances, and she accused him to the king of taking
liberties with her. By consulting the stars it was discovered that if he
could tide over seven days his life would be spared; so seven wise
masters undertook to tell the king a tale each, in illustration of rash
judgments. When they had all told their tales, the prince related, under
the disguise of a tale, the story of the queen’s wantonness; whereupon
Lucien was restored to favor, and the queen was put to death.--Sandabar,
_Parables_ (contemporary with King Courou).
⁂ John Rolland, of Dalkeith, has rendered this legend into Scotch verse.
There is an Arabic version by Nasr Allah (twelfth century), borrowed
from the Indian by Sandabar. In the Hebrew version by Rabbi Joel (1270),
the legend is called _Kalilah and Dimnah_.
=Seven Wise Men= (_The_).
One of Plutarch’s _brochures_ in the _Moralia_ is entitled “The Banquet
of the Seven Wise Men,” in which Periander is made to give an account of
a contest at Chalcis between Homer and Hesiod, in which the latter wins
the prize, and receives a tripod, on which he caused to be engraved this
inscription:
This Hesiod vows to the Heliconian nine,
In Chalcis won from Homer the divine.
=Seven Wise Men of Greece= (_The_), seven Greeks of the sixth century
B.C., noted for their maxims.
BIAS. His maxim was, “Most men are bad” (“There is none that doeth good,
no, not one,” _Psalm_ xiv. 3): Οἱ πλέιους κακοὶ[TN-167] (fl. B.C. 550).
CHILO. “Consider the end:” Τέλος ὁρᾳν μακροῦ βίου (fl. B.C. 590).
CLEOBŪLOS. “Avoid extremes” (the golden mean): Ἄριστον μέτρον (fl. B.C.
580).
PERIANDER. “Nothing is impossible to industry” (patience and
perseverance overcome mountains): Μελέτη τὸ πᾶν (B.C. 665-585).
PITTĂCOS. “Know thy opportunity” (seize time by the forelock): Καιρὸν
γνῶθι (B.C. 652-569).
SOLON. “Know thyself:” Γνῶθι σεαυτὸν (B.C. 638-558).
THĀLES (2 _syl._). “Suretyship is the forerunner of ruin.” (“He that
hateth suretyship is sure,” _Prov._ xi. 15): Εγγύα, πάρα δ᾽ ἄτη (B.C.
636-546).
First Solon, who made the Athenian laws,
While Chilo, in Sparta, was famed for his saws;
In Milētos did Thalês astronomy teach;
Bias used in Priēnê his morals to preach;
Cleobūlos of Lindos, was handsome and wise;
Mitylēnê, gainst thraldom saw Pittăcos rise;
Periander is said to have gained, thro’ his court,
The title that Myson, the Chenian, ought.
⁂ It is Plato who says that Myson should take the place of Periander as
one of the Seven Wise Men.
=Seven Years.=
Barbarossa changes his position in his sleep every seven years.
Charlemagne starts in his chair from sleep every seven years.
Ogier, the Dane, stamps his iron mace on the floor every seven years.
Olaf Redbeard of Sweden uncloses his eyes every seven years.
=Seven Year’s War= (_The_), the war maintained by Frederick II. of Prussia
against Austria, Russia, and France (1756-1763).
=Seven Against Thebes= (_The_). At the death of Œdĭpus, his two sons,
Eteŏclês and Polynīcês, agreed to reign alternate years, but at the
expiration of the first year Eteoclês refused to resign the crown to his
brother. Whereupon, Polynicês induced six others to join him in
besieging Thebes, but the expedition was a failure. The names of the
seven Grecian chiefs who marched against Thebes were: Adrastos,
Amphiarāos, Kapaneus, Hippomedon (_Argives_), Parthenopæos (_an
Arcadian_), Polynicês (_a Theban_), and Tydeus (_an Æolian_). (See
EPIGONI.)
Æschylos has a tragedy on the subject.
=Severn=, a corruption of Averne, daughter of Astrild. The legend is this:
King Locryn was engaged to Gwendolen, daughter of Corīneus, but seeing
Astrild (daughter of the king of Germany), who came to this island with
Homber, king of Hungary, fell in love with her. While Corineus lived he
durst not offend him, so he married Gwendolen, but kept Astrild as his
mistress, and had by her a daughter (Averne). When Corineus died, he
divorced Gwendolen, and declared Astrild queen, but Gwendolen summoned
her vassals, dethroned Locryn, and caused both Astrild and Averne to be
cast into the river, ever since called Severn fron[TN-168] Averne “the
kinges dohter.”
=Sevier= (_Dr._), New Orleans physician. “His inner heart was all of
flesh, but his demands for the rectitude of mankind pointed out like the
muzzles of cannon through the embrasures of his virtues.” He befriends
the struggling Richlings, setting John upon his feet time and again, and
in his last illness, never leaving him until he goes out and closes the
door upon the dying man, reunited to his wife and child. Dr. Sevier
finds work for the widow, and educates little Alice, named for his own
dead wife.
“And oh! when they two, who have never joined hands on this earth,
go to meet John and Alice,--which GOD grant may be at one and the
same time,--what weeping there will be among GOD’S poor!”--George
W. Cable, _Dr. Sevier_ (1883).
=Sewall= (_Judge_) Colonial judge in Massachusetts. He has left in his
diary a circumstantial account of his courtship of Madam Winthrop, also
a curious “confession” made by him in church of the “Guilt contracted
upon the opening of the late Commission of Oyer and Terminer, at
Salem.”--_Sewall Papers_ (1697).
_Sewall_ (_Rev. Mr._). Boston clergyman, liberal in opinion, and large
of heart. He counsels the Lapham parents in their family perplexities,
and becomes the not-too-willing sponsor of Lemuel Barker, a rustic
aspirant after literary honors.--W. L. Howells, _The Rise of Silas
Lapham_ and _The Minister’s Charge_.
=Sex.= Milton says that spirits can assume either sex at pleasure, and
Michael Psellus asserts that demons can take what sex, shape, and color
they please, and can also contract or dilate their forms at pleasure.
For spirits when they please,
Can either sex assume, or both; so soft
And uncompounded is their essence pure;
Not tied or manacled with joint and limb,
Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones,
Like cumbrous flesh.
_Paradise Lost_, i. 423, etc. (1665).
_Sex._ Cæneus and Tire´sias were at one part of their lives of the male
sex, and at another part of their lives of the female sex. (See these
names.)
Iphis was first a woman, and then a man.--Ovid, _Metamorphoses_, ix. 12;
xiv 699.
=Sextus [Tarquinius].= There are several points of resemblance in the
story of Sextus and that of Paris, son of Priam. (1) Paris was the guest
of Menelāos, when he eloped with his wife, Helen; and Sextus was the
guest of Lucretia when he defiled her. (2) The elopement of Helen was
the cause of a national war between the Greek cities and the allied
cities of Troy; and the defilement of Lucretia was the cause of a
national war between Rome and the allied cities under Por´sena. (3) The
contest between Greece and Troy terminated in the victory of Greece, the
injured party; and the contest between Rome and the supporters of
Tarquin terminated in favor of Rome, the injured party. (4) In the
Trojan war, Paris, the aggressor, showed himself before the Trojan
ranks, and defied the bravest of the Greeks to single combat, but when
Menelaos appeared, he took to flight; and so Sextus rode vauntingly
against the Roman host, but when Herminius appeared, fled to the rear
like a coward. (5) In the Trojan contest, Priam and his sons fell in
battle; and in the battle of Lake Regillus, Tarquin and his sons were
slain.
⁂ Lord Macaulay has taken the “Battle of Lake Regillus” as the subject
of one of his _Lays of Ancient Rome_. Another of his lays, called
“Horatius,” is the attempt of Porsĕna to re-establish Tarquin on the
throne.
=Seyd=, pacha of the Morea, assassinated by Gulnare (2 _syl._), his
favorite concubine. Gulnare was rescued from the burning harem by
Conrad, “the Corsair.” Conrad, in the disguise of a dervise, was
detected and seized in the palace of Seyd, and Gulnare, to effect his
liberation, murdered the pacha.--Byron, _The Corsair_ (1814).
=Seyton= (_Lord_), a supporter of Queen Mary’s cause.
_Catherine Seyton_, daughter of Lord Seyton, a maid of honor in the
Court of Queen Mary. She appears at Kinross village in disguise.
_Henry Seyton_, son of Lord Seyton.--Sir W. Scott, _The Abbot_ (time,
Elizabeth).
=Sforza=, of Lombardy. He with his two brothers (Achilles and Palamēdês)
were in the squadron of adventurers in the allied Christian
army.--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_ (1575).
⁂ The word Sforza means “force,” and, according to tradition, was
derived thus: Giacomuzzo Attendolo, the son of a day laborer, being
desirous of going to the wars, consulted his hatchet, resolving to
enlist if it stuck fast in the tree at which he flung it. He threw it
with such _force_ that the whole blade was completely buried in the
trunk (fifteenth century).
_Sforza_ (_Ludov´ico_), duke of Milan, surnamed “the More,” from _mora_,
“a mulberry” (because he had on his arm a birth-stain of a mulberry
color). Ludovico was dotingly fond of his bride, Marcelia, and his love
was amply returned; but during his absence in the camp, he left
Francesco lord protector, and Francesco assailed the fidelity of the
young duchess. Failing in his villainy, he accused her to the duke of
playing the wanton with him, and the duke, in a fit of jealousy, slew
her. Sforza was afterwards poisoned by Eugenia (sister of Francesco),
whom he had seduced.
_Nina Sforza_, the duke’s daughter.--Massinger, _The Duke of Milan_
(1622).
⁂ This tragedy is obviously an imitation of Shakespeare’s _Othello_
(1611).
=Sganarelle=, the “cocu imaginaire,” of Molière’s comedy (1660). The plot
runs thus: Célie was betrothed to Lélie, but her father, Gorgĭbus,
insisted on her marrying Valère, because he was the richer man. Célie
fainted on hearing this, and dropped her lover’s miniature, which was
picked up by Sganarelle’s wife. Sganarelle, thinking it to be the
portrait of a gallant, took possession of it, and Lélie asked him how he
came by it. Sganarelle said he took it from his wife, and Lélie supposed
that Célie had become the wife of Sganarelle. A series of
misapprehensions arose thence: Célie supposed that Lélie had deserted
her for Madame Sganarelle; Sganarelle supposed that his wife was
unfaithful to him; madame supposed that her husband was an adorer of
Célie; and Lélie supposed that Célie was the wife of Sganarelle. In time
they met together, when Lélie charged Célie with being married to
Sganarelle; both stared, an explanation followed, when a messenger
arrived to say that Valère was married.--Molière, _Le Cocu Imaginaire_.
_Sganarelle_, younger brother of Ariste (2 _syl._); a surly,
domineering, conceited fellow, the dupe of the play. His brother says to
him, “Cette farouche humeur à tous vos procédés inspire un air bizarre,
et, jusques à l’habit, rend tout chez vous barbare.” The father of
Isabelle and Léonor, on his death-bed, committed them to the charge of
Sganarelle and Ariste, who were either to marry them or dispose of them
in marriage. Sganarelle chose Isabelle, but insisted on her dressing in
serge, going to bed early, keeping at home, looking after the house,
mending the linen, knitting socks, and never flirting with any one. The
consequence was, she duped her guardian, and cajoled him into giving his
signature to her marriage with Valère.--Molière, _L’Ecole des Maris_.
_Sganarelle_ (3 _syl._). At about 63 years of age, Sganarelle wished to
marry Dorimène (3 _syl._), daughter of Alcantor, a girl fond of dances,
parties of pleasure, and all the active enjoyments of young life.
Feeling some doubts about the wisdom of this step, he first consults a
friend, who dissuades him, but, seeing the advice is rejected, replies
“Do as you like.” He next consults two philosophers, but they are so
absorbed in their philosophy, that they pay no attention to him. He then
asks the gypsies, who take his money and decamp with a dance. At length,
he overhears Dorimène telling a young lover that she only marries the
old dotard for his money, and that he cannot live above a few months; so
he makes up his mind to decline the marriage. The father of the lady
places the matter in his son’s hands, and the young fire-eater, armed
with two swords, goes at once to the old _fiancé_, and begs him to
choose one. When Sganarelle declines to fight, the young man beats him
soundly, and again bids him choose a sword. After two or three good
beatings, Sganarelle consents to the marriage “forcé.”--Molière, _Le
Mariage Forcé_ (1664).
Molière wrote _Sganarelle ou Le Cocu Imaginaire_ (_q.v._) as a
supplement to this comedy.
⁂ This joke about marrying is borrowed from Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, iii.
35, etc. Panurge asks Trouillogan whether he would advise him to marry.
The sage says “No.” “But I wish to do so,” says the prince. “Then do so,
by all means,” says the sage. “Which, then, would you advise?” asks
Panurge. “Neither,” says Trouillogan. “But,” says Panurge, “that is not
possible.” “Then both,” says the sage. After this, Panurge consults many
others on the subject, and lastly the oracle of the Holy Bottle.
The plot of Molière’s comedy is founded on an adventure recorded of the
count of Grammont (_q.v._). The count had promised marriage to la belle
Hamilton, but deserted her, and tried to get to France. Being overtaken
by the two brothers of the lady, they clapped their hands on their
swords, and demanded if the count had not forgotten something or left
something behind. “True,” said the count; “I have forgotten to marry
your sister;” and returned with the two brothers to repair this
oversight.
_Sganarelle_, father of Lucinde. Anxious about his daughter because she
has lost her vivacity and appetite, he sends for four physicians, who
retire to consult upon the case, but talk only on indifferent topics.
When Sganarelle asks the result of their deliberation, they all differ,
both in regard to the disease, and the remedy to be applied. Lisette
(the lady’s maid) sends for Clitandre, the lover, who comes disguised as
a quack doctor, tells Sganarelle that the young lady’s disease must be
acted on through the imagination, and prescribes a mock marriage.
Sganarelle consents to the experiment, but Clitandre’s assistant being a
notary, the mock marriage proves to be a real one.--Molière, _L’Amour
Médecin_ (1665).
_Sganarelle_, husband of Martine. He is a faggot-maker, and has a
quarrel with his wife, who vows to be even with him for striking her.
Valère and Lucas (two domestics of Géronte) ask her to direct them to
the house of a noted doctor. She sends them to her husband, and tells
them he is so eccentric that he will deny being a doctor, but they must
beat him well. So they find the faggot-maker, whom they beat soundly,
till he consents to follow them. He is introduced to Lucinde, who
pretends to be dumb, but, being a shrewd man, he soon finds out that the
dumbness is only a pretence, and takes with him Léandre as an
apothecary. The two lovers understand each other, and Lucinde is rapidly
cured with “pills matrimoniac.”--Molière, _Le Médecin Malgré Lui_
(1666).
⁂ Sganarelle being asked by the father what he thinks is the matter with
Lucinde, replies, “Entendez-vous le Latin?” “En aucune façon,” says
Géronte. “Vous n’entendez point le Latin?” “Non, monsieur.” “That is a
sad pity,” says Sganarelle, “for the case may be briefly stated thus:
Cabricias arci thuram, catalamus, singulariter, nominativo, hæc
musa, _la muse_, bonus, bona, bonum. Deus sanctus, estne oratio
Latinas? etiam, _oui_, quare? _pourquoi?_ quia substantivo et
adjectivum concordat in generi, numerum, et casus.” “Wonderful
man!” says the father.--Act iii.
_Sganarelle_ (3 _syl._), valet to Don Juan. He remonstrates with his
master on his evil ways, but is forbidden sternly to repeat his
impertinent admonitions. His praise of tobacco, or rather snuff, is
somewhat amusing:
Tabac est la passion des honnêtes gens; et qui vit sans tabac n’est
pas digne de vivre. Non seulement il réjouit et purge les cerveaux
humains, mais encore il instruit les ames à la vertu, et l’on
apprend avec lui à devenir honnête homme ... il inspire des
sentiments d’honneur à tous ceux qui en prennent.--Molière, _Don
Juan_, i. 1 (1665).
=Shaccabac=, in _Blue Beard_. (See SCHACABAC.)
I have seen strange sights. I have seen Wilkinson play “Macbeth;”
Matthews, “Othello;” Wrench, “George Barnwell;” Buckstone, “Iago;”
Rayner, “Penruddock;” Keeley, “Shylock;” Liston, “Romeo” and
“Octavian;” G. F. Cooke, “Mercutio;” John Kemble, “Archer;” Edmund
Kean, clown in a pantomine; and C. Young, “Shaccabac.”--_Record of
a Stage Veteran._
“Macbeth,” “Othello,” “Iago” (in _Othello_), “Shylock” (_Merchant of
Venice_), “Romeo” and “Mercutio” (in _Romeo and Juliet_), all by
Shakespeare: “George Barnwell” (Lillo’s tragedy so called); “Penruddock”
(in _The Wheel of Fortune_), by Cumberland);[TN-169] “Octavian” (in
Colman’s drama so called); “Archer” (in _The Beaux’ Stratagem_, by
Farquhar).
=Shackfords= (_The_). _Lemuel Shackford_, “a hard, avaricious, passionate
man, holding his own way remorselessly.... A prominent character because
of his wealth, endless lawsuits and eccentricity.”
_Richard Shackford_, nephew of _Lemuel_, a frank, whole-souled young
fellow, intent upon his profession, but willing to make everybody else
comfortable as he wins his way up. He is accused, upon circumstantial
evidence, of the murder of his uncle, but is extricated by his own
sagacity, which enables him to fix the crime upon the true assassin.--T.
B. Aldrich, _The Stillwater Tragedy_ (1880).
=Shaddai= (_King_), who made war upon Diabolus for the regaining of
Mansoul.--John Bunyan, _The Holy War_ (1682).
=Shade= (_To fight in the_). Dieneces [_Di.en´.e.seez_], the Spartan,
being told that the army of the Persians was so numerous that their
arrows would shut out the sun, replied, “Thank the gods! we shall then
fight in the shade.”
=Shadow= (_Simon_), one of the recruits of the army of Sir John Falstaff.
“A half-faced fellow,” so thin that Sir John said, “A foeman might as
well level his gun at the edge of a penknife” as at such a
starveling.--Shakespeare, 2 _Henry IV._ act iii. sc. 2 (1598).
=Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego= were cast, by the command of
Nebuchadnezzar, into a fiery furnace, but received no injury, although
the furnace was made so hot that the heat thereof “slew those men” that
took them to the furnace.-_Dan._ iii. 22.
By Nimrod’s order, Abraham was bound and cast into a huge fire at Cûtha;
but he was preserved from injury by the angel Gabriel, and only the
cords which bound him were burnt. Yet so intense was the heat that above
2000 men were consumed thereby.--See _Gospel of Barnabas_, xxviii.; and
Morgan, _Mahometanism Explained_, V. i. 4.
=Shadwell= (_Thomas_), the poet-laureate, was a great drunkard, and was
said to be “round as a butt, and liquored every chink” (1640-1692).
Besides, his [_Shadwell’s_] goodly fabric fills the eye,
And seems designed for thoughtless majesty.
Dryden, _MacFlecknoe_ (1682).
⁂ Shadwell took opium, and died from taking too large a dose. Hence Pope
says:
Benlowes, propitious still to blockheads, bows;
And Shadwell nods the poppy on his brows.
_The Dunciad_, iii. 21, 22 (1728).
Benlowes was a great patron of bad poets, and many have dedicated to him
their lucubrations. Sometimes the name is shifted into “Benevolus.”
=Shaf´alus and Procrus.= So Bottom, the weaver, calls Cephălus and
Procris. (See CEPHALUS.)
_Pyramus._ Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true.
_Thisbe._ As Shafalus to Procrus; I to you.
Shakespeare, _Midsummer Night’s Dream_ (1592).
=Shaftesbury= (_Anthony Ashley Cooper, earl of_), introduced by Sir W.
Scott in _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
=Shafton= (_Ned_), one of the prisoners in Newgate with old Sir Hildebrand
Osbaldistone.--Sir W. Scott, _Rob Roy_ (time, George I.).
_Shafton_ (_Sir Piercie_), called “The knight of Wolverton,” a
fashionable cavaliero, grandson of old Overstitch, the tailor, of
Holderness. Sir Piercie talks in the pedantic style of the Elizabethan
courtiers.--Sir W. Scott, _The Monastery_ (time, Elizabeth).
=Shah= (_The_), a famous diamond, weighing 86 carats. It was given by
Chosroës, of Persia, to the Czar of Russia. (See DIAMONDS.)
=Shakebag= (_Dick_), a highwayman with Captain Colepepper.--Sir W. Scott,
_Fortunes of Nigel_ (time, James I.).
=Shakespeare=, introduced by Sir W. Scott in the ante-rooms of Greenwich
Palace.--Sir W. Scott, _Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).
⁂ In _Woodstock_ there is a conversation about Shakespeare.
_Shakespeare’s Home._ He left London before 1613, and established
himself at Stratford-on-Avon, in Warwickshire, where he was born (1564),
and where he died (1616). In the diary of Mr. Ward, the vicar of
Stratford, is this entry: “Shakspeare, Drayton and Ben Jonson had a
merry meeting, and, it seems, drank too hard, for Shakspeare died of a
fever then contracted.” (Drayton died 1631, and Ben Jonson, 1637.)
Probably Shakespeare died on his birthday, April 23.
_Shakespeare’s Monument_, in Westminster Abbey, designed by Kent, and
executed by Scheemakers, in 1742. The statue to Shakespeare in Drury
Lane Theatre was by the same.
The statue of Shakespeare in the British Museum is by Roubiliac, and was
bequeathed to the nation by Garrick. His best portrait is by Droeshout.
_Shakespeare’s Plays_, quarto editions:
ROMEO AND JULIET: 1597, John Danter; 1599, Thomas Creede for Cuthbert
Burby; 1609, 1637. Supposed to have been written, 1595.
KING RICHARD II.: 1597, Valentine Simmes for Andrew Wise; 1598, 1608
(with an additional scene); 1615, 1634.
KING RICHARD III.: 1597, ditto; 1598, 1602, 1612, 1622.
LOVE’S LABOR’S LOST; 1598, W. W. for Cuthbert Burby. Supposed to have
been written, 1594.
KING HENRY IV. (pt. I): 1598, P. S. for Andrew Wise; 1599, 1604, 1608,
1613. Supposed to have been written, 1597.
KING HENRY IV. (pt. 2): 1600, V. S. for Andrew Wise and William Aspley;
1600. Supposed to have been written, 1598.
KING HENRY V.: 1600, Thomas Creede for Thomas Millington and John Busby;
1602, 1608. Supposed to have been written, 1599.
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: 1600, Thomas Fisher; 1600, James Roberts.
Mentioned by Meres, 1598. Supposed to have been written, 1592.
MERCHANT OF VENICE: 1600, I. R. for Thomas Heyes; 1600, James Roberts;
1637. Mentioned by Meres, 1598.
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING: 1600, V. S. for Andrew Wise and William Aspley.
MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR: 1602, T. C. for Arthur Johnson; 1619. Supposed
to have been written, 1596.
HAMLET: 1603, I. R. for N. L.; 1605, 1611. Supposed to have been
written, 1597.
KING LEAR: 1608, A. for Nathaniel Butter; 1608, B. for ditto. Acted at
Whitehall, 1607. Supposed to have been written, 1605.
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA: 1609, G. Eld for R. Bonian and H. Whalley (with a
preface). Acted at court, 1609. Supposed to have been written, 1602.
OTHELLO: 1622, N. O. for Thomas Walkely. Acted at Harefield, 1602.
The rest of the dramas are:
_All’s Well that Ends Well_, 1598. First title supposed to be
_Love’s Labor’s Won_.
_Antony and Cleopatra_, 1608. No early mention made of this play.
_As You Like It._ Entered at Stationer’s Hall, 1600.
_Comedy of Errors_, 1593. Mentioned by Meres, 1598.
_Coriolanus_, 1610. No early mention made of this play.
_Cymbeline_, 1605. No early mention made of this play.