Chapter 14

=School for Wives= (_L’école des Femmes_, “training for wives”), a comedy by Molière (1662). Arnolphe has a crotchet about the proper training of girls to make good wives, and tries his scheme upon Agnes, whom he adopts from a peasant’s cottage, and designs in due time to make his wife. He sends her from early childhood to a convent, where difference of sex and the conventions of society are wholly ignored. When removed from the convent she treats men as if they were schoolgirls, kisses them, plays with them, and treats them with girlish familiarity. The consequence is, a young man named Horace falls in love with her and makes her his wife, but Arnolphe loses his pains.

=Schoolmen.= (For a list of the schoolmen of each of the three periods, see _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_, 794.)

=Schoolmistress= (_The_), a poem in Spenserian metre, by Shenstone (1758). The “schoolmistress” was Sarah Lloyd, who taught the poet himself in infancy. She lived in a thatched cottage, before which grew a birch tree, to which allusion is made in the poem.

There dwells, in lowly shed and mean attire, A matron old, whom we schoolmistress name ... And all in sight doth rise a birchen tree.

Stanzas 2, 3.

=Schreckenwald= (_Ital._), steward of Count Albert.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Schwaker= (_Jonas_), jester of Leopold, archduke of Austria.--Sir W. Scott, _The Talisman_ (time, Richard I.).

=Scian Muse= (_The_), Simon´dês, born at Scia, or Cea, now _Zia_, one of the Cyclades.

The Scian and the Teian Muse [_Anacreon_] ... Have found the fame your shores refuse.

Byron, _Don Juan_, iii. (“The Isles of Greece,” 1820).

=Science= (_The prince of_), Tehuhe, “The Aristotle of China” (died A.D. 1200).

=Scio= (now called _Chios_), one of the seven cities which claimed to be the birthplace of Homer. Hence he is sometimes called “Scio’s Blind Old Bard.” The seven cities referred to make an hexameter verse:

Smyrna, Chios, Colophôn, Salamis, Rhodos, Argos, Athenæ; _or_ Smyrna, Chios, Colophôn, Ithacâ, Pylos, Argos, Athenæ.

Antipater Sidonius, _A Greek Epigram_.

=Sciol´to= (3 _syl._), a proud Genoese nobleman, the father of Calista. Calista was the bride of Altamont, a young man proud and fond of her, but it was discovered on the wedding day that she had been seduced by Lothario. This led to a series of calamities: (1) Lothario was killed in a duel by Altamont; (2) a street riot was created, in which Sciolto received his death-wound; and (3) Calista stabbed herself.--N. Rowe, _The Fair Penitent_ (1703).

(In Italian, _Sciolto_ forms but two syllables, but Rowe has made it three in every case.)

=Scipio= “dismissed the Iberian maid” (Milton, _Paradise Regained_, ii.). The poet refers to the tale of Scipio’s restoring a captive princess to her lover, Allucius, and giving to her, as a wedding present, the money of her ransom. (See CONTINENCE.)

During his command in Spain a circumstance occurred which contributed more to his fame and glory than all his military exploits. At the taking of New Carthage, a lady of extraordinary beauty was brought to Scipio, who found himself greatly affected by her charms. Understanding, however, that she was betrothed to a Celtibērian prince named Allucius, he resolved to conquer his rising passion, and sent her to her lover without recompense. A silver shield, on which this interesting event is depicted, was found in the river Rhone by some fishermen in the seventeenth century.--Goldsmith, _History of Rome_, xiv. 3. (Whittaker’s improved edition contains a fac-simile of the shield on p. 215.)

_Scipio_, son of the gypsy woman, Coscolīna, and the soldier, Torribio Scipio. Scipio becomes the secretary of Gil Blas, and settles down with him at “the castle of Lirias.” His character and adventures are very similar to those of Gil Blas himself, but he never rises to the same level. Scipio begins by being a rogue, who pilfered and plundered all who employed him, but in the service of Gil Blas he was a model of fidelity and integrity.--Lesage, _Gil Blas_ (1715).

=Sciro´nian Rocks=, between Meg´ara and Corinth. So called because the bones of Sciron, the robber of Attica, were changed into these rocks when Theseus (2 _syl._) hurled him from a cliff into the sea. It was from these rocks that Ino cast herself into the Corinthian bay.--_Greek Fable._

=Scirum.= The men of Scirum used to shoot against the stars.

Like ... men of wit bereaven, Which howle and shoote against the lights of heaven.

Wm. Browne, Britannia’s Pastorals, iv. (1613).

=Scogan= (_Henry_), M.A., a poet, contemporary with Chaucer. He lived in the reigns of Richard II., Henry IV., and probably Henry V. Among the gentry who had letters of protection to attend Richard II. in his expedition into Ireland, in 1399, is “Henricus Scogan, Armiger.”--Tyrwhitt’s _Chaucer_, v. 15 (1773).

Scogan? What was he? Oh, a fine gentleman and a master of arts Of Henry the Fourth’s time, that made disguises For the king’s sons, and writ in ballad royal Daintily well.

Ben Jonson, _The Fortunate Isles_ (1626).

_Scogan_ (_John_), the favorite jester and buffoon of Edward IV. “Scogan’s jests” were published by Andrew Borde, a physician in the reign of Henry VIII.

The same Sir John [_Falstaff_], the very same. I saw him break Skogan’s head at the court-gate, when he was a crack not thus high.--Shakespeare, 2 _Henry IV._ act iii. sc. 2.

⁂ Shakespeare has confounded Henry Scogan, M.A., the poet, who lived in the reign of Henry IV., with John Scogan, the jester, who lived about a century later, in the reign of Edward IV.; and, of course, Sir John Falstaff, could not have known him when “he was a mere crack.”

=Scogan’s Jest.= Scogan and some companions, being in lack of money, agreed to the following trick: A peasant, driving sheep, was accosted by one of the accomplices, who laid a wager that his sheep were hogs, and agreed to abide by the decision of the first person they met. This, of course, was Scogan, who instantly gave judgment against the herdsman.

A similar joke is related in the _Hitopadesa_, an abridged version of Pilpay’s _Fables_. In this case, the “peasant” is represented by a Brahmin carrying a goat, and the joke was to persuade the Brahmin that he was carrying a dog. “How is this, friend,” says one, “that you, a Brahmin, carry on your back such an unclean animal as a dog?” “It is not a dog,” says the Brahmin, “but a goat;” and trudged on. Presently another made the same remark, and the Brahmin, beginning to doubt, took down the goat to look at it. Convinced that the creature was really a goat, he went on, when presently a third made the same remark. The Brahmin, now fully persuaded that his eyes were befooling him, threw down the goat and went away without it; whereupon the three companions took possession of it and cooked it.

In _Tyll Eulenspiegel_ we have a similar hoax. Eulenspiegel sees a man with a piece of green cloth, which he resolves to obtain. He employs two confederates, both priests. Says Eulenspiegel to the man, “What a famous piece of blue cloth! Where did you get it?” “Blue, you fool! why, it is green.” After a short contention, a bet is made, and the question in dispute is referred to the first comer. This was a confederate, and he at once decided that the cloth was blue. “You are both in the same boat,” says the man, “which I will prove by the priest yonder.” The question being put to the priest, is decided against the man, and the three rogues divide the cloth amongst them.

Another version is in novel 8 of Fortini. The joke was that certain kids he had for sale were capons.--See Dunlop, _History of Fiction_, viii. art. “Ser Giovanni.”

=Scone= [_Skoon_], a palladium stone. It was erected in Icolmkil for the coronation of Fergus Eric, and was called the _Lia-Fail_ of Ireland. Fergus, the son of Fergus Eric, who led the Dalriads to Argyllshire, removed it to Scone; and Edward I. took it to London. It still remains in Westminster Abbey, where it forms the support of Edward the Confessor’s chair, which forms the coronation chair of the British monarchs.

Ni fallat fatum, Scoti, quocunque locatum Invenient lapidem, regnare tenentur ibidem.

Lardner, _History of Scotland_, i. 67 (1832).

Where’er this stone is placed, the fates decree, The Scottish race shall there the sovereigns be.

⁂ Of course, the “Scottish race” is the dynasty of the Stuarts and their successors.

=Scotch Guards=, in the service of the French kings, were called his _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.