Canto v.

=Spiri´to=, the Holy Ghost as the friend of man, personified in canto ix. of _The Purple Island_, by Phineas Fletcher (1633). He was married to Urania, and their offspring are: Knowledge, Contemplation, Care, Humility, Obedience, Faith or Fido, Penitence, Elpi´nus or Hope, and Love, the foster-son of Gratitude. (Latin, _spirĭtus_, “spirit.”)

=Spitfire= (_Will_), or WILL SPITTAL, serving-boy of Roger Wildrake, the dissipated royalist.--Sir W. Scott, _Woodstock_ (time, Commonwealth).

=Spontaneous Combustion.= There are above thirty cases on record of death by spontaneous combustion, the most famous being that of the Countess Cornelia di Baudi Cesenatê, which was most minutely investigated, in 1731, by Guiseppê Bianchini, a prebendary of Verona.

The next most noted instance occurred at Rheims, in 1725, and is authenticated by no less an authority than Mon. Le Cat, the celebrated physician.

Messrs. Foderé and Mere investigated the subject of spontaneous combustion, and gave it as their fixed opinion that instances of death from such a cause cannot be doubted.

In vol. vi. of the _Philosophical Transactions_, and in the _English Medical Jurisprudence_, the subject is carefully investigated, and several examples are cited in confirmation of the fact.

Joseph Battaglia, a surgeon of Ponte Bosio, gives in detail the case of Don G. Maria Bertholi, a priest of Mount Valerius. While reading his breviary the body of this priest burst into flames in several parts, as the arms, back and head. The sleeves of his shirt, a handkerchief and his skull-cap were all more or less consumed. He survived the injury four days. (This seems to me more like an electrical attack than an instance of spontaneous combustion.)

=Spontoon=, the old confidential servant of Colonel Talbot.--Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).

=Spoons= (_Gossip_). It was customary at one time for sponsors at christenings to give gilt spoons as an offering to their godchild. These spoons had on the handle the figure of one of the apostles or evangelists, and hence were called “Apostle spoons.” The wealthy would give the twelve apostles, those of less opulence the four evangelists, and others again a single spoon. When Henry VIII. asks Cranmer to be godfather to “a fair young maid,” Cranmer replies, “How may I deserve such honor, that am a poor and humble subject?” The king rejoins, “Come, come, my lord, you’d spare your spoons.”--Shakespeare, _Henry VIII._ act v. sc. 2 (1601).

=Sporus.= Under this name Pope satirized Lord John Hervey, generally called “Lord Fanny” from his effeminate habits and appearance. He was “half wit, half fool, half man, half beau.” Lord John Hervey was vice-chamberlain in 1736, and lord privy seal in 1740.

That thing of silk, Sporus, that mere white curd of asses’ milk; Satire or sense, alas! can Sporus feel, Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel? A. Pope, _Prologue to the Satires_ (1734).

⁂ This Lord John Hervey married the beautiful Molly Lapel; hence Pope says:

So perfect a beau and a belle As when Hervey, the handsome, was wedded To the beautiful Molly Lapel.

=S.P.Q.R.=, the Romans. The letters are the initials of _Senatus Populus-Que Romanus_.

New blood must be pumped into the veins and arteries of the S.P.Q.R.--G.A. Sala (_Belgravia_, April, 1871).

=Spotswood= (_Lady_). A singular letter to this lady (widow of Governor Spotswood of Virginia) is preserved in the family. It was written by Rev. John Thompson, rector of St. Mark’s Church, Culpepper County, Virginia, and contains an elaborate and apparently dispassionate argument for marrying a clergyman. The only outbreak of loverly feeling is in the expressed hope that if he should convince her reason, she will “keep him no longer in suspense and misery, but consummate his happiness” (1742).

=Sprackling= (_Joseph_), a money-lender and a self-made man.

_Thomas Sprackling_, his brother and equal in roguery.--Wybert Reeve, _Parted_.

=Spregner= (_Louis_), Annette Veilchen’s bachelor.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Sprightly= (_Miss Kitty_), the ward of Sir Gilbert Pumpkin of Strawberry Hall. Miss Kitty is a great heiress, but stage-struck, and when Captain Charles Stanley is introduced she falls in love with him, first as a “play-actor,” and then in reality.--I. Jackman, _All the World’s a Stage_.

=Spring= (_A Sacred_). The ancient Sabines, in times of great national danger, vowed to the gods “a sacred spring” (_ver sacrum_), if they would remove the danger. That is, all the children born during the next spring were “held sacred,” and at the age of twenty were compelled to leave their country and seek for themselves a new home.

=Spring-Heel Jack.= The marquis of Waterford, in the early part of the nineteenth century, used to amuse himself by springing on travellers unawares, to terrify them; and from time to time others have followed his silly example. Even so late as 1877-8, an officer in her majesty’s service caused much excitement in the garrisons stationed at Aldershot, Colchester, and elsewhere by his “spring-heel” pranks. In Colchester and its neighborhood the tales told of this adventurer caused quite a little panic, and many nervous people were afraid to venture out after sunset, for fear of being “sprung” upon. I myself investigated some of the cases reported to me, but found them for the most part Fakenham ghost tales.

=Springer= (_The_). Ludwig Margrave, of Thuringia, was so called, because he escaped from Giebichenstein, in the eleventh century, by leaping over the river Saale.

=Sprowles= (_The_). New England village _parvenus_.

_Hezekiah Sprowle_, esquire and colonel is “a retired India merchant,” _i.e._, he used to deal in West India rum, molasses, etc. His wife was an heiress, and helps him push their way up the social ladder.

_Miss Matilda Sprowle_, just out of school. “There’s one piece o’goods,” said the colonel to his wife, “that we han’t disposed of, nor got a customer for yet. That’s Matildy. I don’t mean to set _her_ up at vaandoo, I guess she can have her pick of a dozen.”--Oliver Wendell Holmes, _Elsie Venner_ (1861).

=Spruce, M.C.= (_Captain_), in _Lend Me Five Shillings_, by J. M. Morton (1764-1838).

=Spruch-Sprecher= (_The_) or “sayer of sayings” to the archduke of Austria.--Sir W. Scott, _The Talisman_ (time, Richard I.).

=Spuma´dor=, Prince Arthur’s horse. So called from the foam of its mouth, which indicated its fiery temper.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, ii. (1590).

⁂ In the _Mabinogion_, his favorite mare is called Llamrei (“the curveter”).

=Spurs= (_The Battle of_), the battle of Guinnegate, in 1513, between Henry VIII. and the duc de Longueville. So called because the French used their spurs in flight more than their swords in fight. (See SPURS OF GOLD, etc.)

=Squab= (_The Poet_). Dryden was so called by Lord Rochester.

=Square= (_Mr._), a “philosopher,” in Fielding’s novel called _The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling_ (1749).

=Squeers= (_Mr. Wackford_), of Dotheboy’s Hall, Yorkshire, a vulgar, conceited, ignorant schoolmaster, overbearing, grasping, and mean. He steals the boys’ pocket money, clothes his son in their best suits, half starves them, and teaches them next to nothing. Ultimately, he is transported for purloining a deed.

_Mrs. Squeers_, wife of Mr. Wackford, a raw-boned, harsh, heartless virago, without one spark of womanly feeling for the boys put under her charge.

_Miss Fanny Squeers_, daughter of the schoolmaster, “not tall like her mother, but short like her father. From the former she inherited a voice of hoarse quality, and from the latter a remarkable expression of the right eye.” Miss Fanny falls in love with Nicholas Nickleby, but hates him and spites him because he is insensible of the soft impeachment.

_Master Wackford Squeers_, son of the schoolmaster, a spoilt boy, who was dressed in the best clothes of the scholars. He was over-bearing, self-willed, and passionate.--C. Dickens, _Nicholas Nickleby_ (1838).

The person who suggested the character of Squeers was a Mr. Shaw, of Bowes. He married a Miss Laidman. The satire ruined the school, and was the death both of Mr. and Mrs. Shaw.--_Notes and Queries_, October 25, 1873.

=Squeeze= (_Miss_), a pawnbroker’s daughter. Her father had early taught her that money is the “one thing needful,” and at death left her a moderate competence. She was so fully convinced of the value of money that she would never part with a farthing without an equivalent, and refused several offers, because she felt persuaded her suitors sought her money and not herself. Now she is old and ill-natured, marked with the small-pox, and neglected by every one.--Goldsmith, _A Citizen of the World_, xxviii. (1759).

=Squint= (_Lawyer_), the great politician of society. He makes speeches for members of parliament, writes addresses, gives the history of every new play, and finds “seasonable thought” upon every possible subject.--Goldsmith, _A Citizen of the World_, xxix. (1759).

=Squint-Eyed.= [Guercīno] Gian-Francesco Barbieri, the painter (1590-1666).

=Squintum= (_Dr._), George Whitefield is so called by Foote in his farce entitled _The Minor_ (1614-1770).

_Squintum_ (_Dr._). The Rev. Edward Irving, who had an obliquity of the eyes, was so called by Theodore Hook (1792-1834).

=Squire of Dames= (_The_), a young knight, in love with Col´umbell, who appointed him a year’s service before she would consent to become his bride. The “squire” was to travel for twelve months, to rescue distressed ladies, and bring pledges of his exploits to Columbell. At the end of the year he placed 300 pledges in her hands, but instead of rewarding him by becoming his bride, she set him another task, viz., to travel about the world on foot, and not present himself again till he could bring her pledges from 300 damsels that they would live in chastity all their life. The squire told Columbell that in three years he had found only three persons who would take the pledge, and only one of these, he said (a rustic cottager) took it from a “principle of virtue;” the other two (a nun and a courtezan) promised to do so, but did not voluntarily join the “virgin martyrs.” This “Squire of Dames” turned out to be Britomart.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iii. 7 (1590).

⁂ This story is imitated from “The Host’s Tale,” in _Orlando Furioso_, xxviii.

=Squires= (_Milton_), servant in the Fairchild family, boorish, vindictive hind who murders one brother and tries to fasten the deed upon another.--Harold Frederic, _Seth’s Brother’s Wife_ (1886).

=Squirt=, the apothecary’s boy in Garth’s _Dispensary_; hence any apprentice lad or errand boy.

Here sauntering ’prentices o’er Otway weep. O’er Congreve smile, or over D’Urfey sleep, Pleased sempstresses the Lock’s famed Rape unfold, And Squirts read Garth till Apozems grow cold. J. Gay, _Trivia_ (1712).

(Pope wrote _The Rape of the Lock_, 1712.)

=Squod= (_Phil_), a grotesque little fellow, faithfully attached to Mr. George, the son of Mrs. Rouncewell (housekeeper at Chesney Wold). George had rescued the little street arab from the gutter, and the boy lived at George’s “Shooting Gallery” in Leicester Square (London). Phil was remarkable for limping along sideways, as if “tacking.”--C. Dickens, _Bleak House_ (1852).

=Stael= (_Madame de_), called by Heine [_Hi.ne_] “a whirlwind in petticoats,” and a “sultana of mind.”

=Stagg= (_Benjamin_), the proprietor of the cellar in the Barbican where the secret society of “Prentice Knights” used to convene. He was a blind man, who fawned on Mr. Sim Tappertit, “the ’prentices glory” and captain of the “’Prentice Knights.” But there was a disparity between his words and sentiments, if we may judge from this specimen: “Good-night, most noble captain! farewell, brave general! bye-bye illustrious commander! a conceited, bragging, empty-headed, duck-legged idiot!” Benjamin Stagg was shot by the soldiery in the Gordon riots.--C. Dickens, _Barnaby Rudge_ (1841).

=Staggchase= (_Mrs. Frederick_), descendant of an old Boston family, and one of the cleverest women in her set.--Arlo Bates, _The Philistines_ (1888).

=Stagirite= (3 _syl._). Aristotle is called the Stagirite, because he was born at Stagīra, in Macedon. Almost all our English poets call the word Stagĭrite: as Pope, Thomson, Swift, Byron, Wordsworth, B. Browning, etc. The Greek would be Stag´īrite.

Thick like a glory round the Stagyrite, Your rivals throng, the Sages. R. Browning, _Paracelsus_, i.

All the wisdom of the Stagirite. Wordsworth.

Plato, the Stagyrite, and Tully joined. Thomson.

As if the Stagirite o’erlooked the line. Pope.

Is rightly censured by the Stagirite, Who says his numbers do not fadge aright. Swift, _To Dr. Sheridan_ (1718).

=Stammerer= (_The_). Louis II. of France, _le Bégué_ (846, 877-879).

Michael II., Emperor of the East (*, 820-829).

Notker or Notger, of St. Gall (830-912).

=Stanchells=, head jailer at the Glasgow tolbooth.--Sir W. Scott, _Rob Roy_ (time, George I.).

=Standard.= A substantial building for water supplies, as the Water Standard of Cornhill, the Standard in Cheap, opposite Honey Lane, “which John Wells, grocer, caused to be made [? _rebuilt_] in his mayoralty, 1430.”--Stow, _Survey_ (“Cheapside”).

_The Cheapside Standard._ This Standard was in existence in the reign of Edward I. In the reign of Edward III. two fishmongers were beheaded at the Cheapside Standard, for aiding in a riot. Henry IV. caused “the blank charter of Richard II.” to be burnt at this place.

_The Standard, Cornhill._ This was a conduit with four spouts, made by Peter Morris, a German, in 1582, and supplied with Thames water, conveyed by leaden pipes over the steeple of St. Magnus’s Church. It stood at the east end of Cornhill, at its junction with Gracechurch Street, Bishopsgate Street, and Leadenhall Street. The water ceased to run between 1598 and 1603, but the Standard itself remained long after. Distances from London were measured from this spot.

In the year 1775, there stood upon the borders of Epping Forest, at a distance of about twelve miles from London, measuring from the Standard in Cornhill, or rather from the spot on which the Standard used to be, a house of public entertainment, called the Maypole.--Dickens, _Barnaby Rudge_, i. (1841).

_Standard_ (_The Battle of the_), the battle of Luton Moor, near Northallerton, between the English and the Scotch, in 1138. So called from the “standard,” which was raised on a wagon, and placed in the centre of the English army. The pole displayed the standards of St. Cuthbert of Durham, St. Peter of York, St. John of Beverley, and St. Wilfred of Ripon, surmounted by a little silver casket, containing a consecrated wafer.--Hailes, _Annals of Scotland_, i. 85 (1779).

The Battle of the Standard, was so called from the banner of St. Cuthbert, which was thought always to secure success. It came forth at the battle of Nevil’s Cross, and was again victorious. It was preserved with great reverence till the Reformation, when, in 1549, Catharine Whittingham (a French lady), wife of the dean of Durham, burnt it out of zeal against popery.--Miss Yonge, _Cameos of English History_, 126-8 (1868).

=Standing= (_To die_). Vespasian said, “An emperor of Rome ought to die standing.” Louis XVIII. of France, said, “A king of France ought to die standing.” This notion is not confined to crowned heads.

=Standish= (_Miles_), the puritan captain, was short of stature, strongly built, broad in the shoulders, deep-chested, and with sinews like iron. His wife, Rose, was the first to die “of all who came in the _Mayflower_.” Being desirous to marry Priscilla, “the beautiful puritan,” he sent young Alden to plead his cause; but the maiden answered archly, “Why don’t you speak for yourself, John?” Soon after this, Standish was supposed to have been killed, and John Alden did speak for himself, and prevailed.--Longfellow, _Courtship of Miles Standish_ (1858).

_Standish_ (_Mrs. Justice_), a brother magistrate with Bailie Trumbull.--Sir W. Scott, _Rob Roy_ (time, George I.).

=Stanley=, in the earl of Sussex’s train.--Sir W. Scott, _Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).

_Stanley_ (_Captain Charles_), introduced by his friend, Captain Stukely, to the family at Strawberry Hall. Here he meets Miss Kitty Sprightly, an heiress, who has a theatrical twist. The captain makes love to her under the mask of acting, induces her to run off with him and get married, then, returning to the hall, introduces her as his wife. All the family fancy he is only “acting,” but discover too late that their “play” is a life-long reality.--I. Jackman, _All the World’s a Stage_.

=Stanley Crest= (_The_). On a chapeau gu. an eagle feeding on an infant in its nest. The legend is that Sir Thomas de Lathom, having no male issue, was walking with his wife one day, and heard the cries of an infant in an eagle’s nest. They looked on the child as a gift from God, and adopted it, and it became the founder of the Stanley race (time, Edward III.).

=Stannard= (_Major_). Sturdy, blunt, unaffected soldier, a terror to evil-doers, and the strong-tower of persecuted innocence. His wife is a lovely woman, worthy of the gallant warrior.--Charles King, _Marion’s Faith_, and _The Colonel’s Daughter_ (1886), (1888).

=Stantons= (_The_), John Stanton, intelligent young carpenter, engaged to Melissa Blake, once a teacher, now a copyist of legal papers.

_Orin Stanton_, half-brother to John. A sculptor; “one of the artists who would never be able to separate his idea of the nurse from that of the serving-maid. He viewed art from the strictly utilitarian standpoint which considers it a means toward the payment of butcher and baker and candlestick-maker.”--Arlo Bates, _The Philistines_ (1888).

=Staples= (_Lawrence_), head jailer at Kenilworth Castle.--Sir W. Scott, _Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).

=Starch= (_Dr._), the tutor of Blushington.--W. T. Moncrieff, _The Bashful Man_.

=Starchat´erus=, of Sweden, a giant in stature and strength, whose life was protracted to thrice the ordinary term. When he felt himself growing old, he hung a bag of gold round his neck, and told Olo he might take the bag of gold if he would cut off his head, and he did so. He hated luxury in every form, and said a man was a fool who went and dined out for the sake of better fare. One day, Helgo, king of Norway, asked him to be his champion in a contest which was to be decided by himself alone against nine adversaries. Starchaterus selected for the site of combat the top of a mountain covered with snow, and, throwing off his clothes, waited for the nine adversaries. When asked if he would fight with them one by one or all together, he replied, “When dogs bark at me, I drive them all off at once.”--Joannes Magnus, _Gothorum Suevorumque Historia_ (1554).

=Stareleigh= (_Justice_), a stout, pudgy little judge, very deaf, and very irascible, who, in the absence of the chief justice, sat in judgment on the trial of “Bardell v. Pickwick.”--C. Dickens, _The Pickwick Papers_ (1836).

=Starno=, king of Lochlin. Having been conquered by Fingal and generously set at liberty, he promised Fingal his daughter, Agandecca, in marriage, but meant to deal treacherously by him and kill him. Fingal accepted the invitation of Starno, and spent three days in boar-hunts. He was then warned by Agandecca to beware of her father, who had set an ambuscade to waylay him. Fingal, being forewarned, fell on the ambush and slew every man. When Starno heard thereof, he slew his daughter, whereupon Fingal and his followers took to arms, and Starno either “fled or died.” Swaran succeeded his father, Starno.---Ossian, _Fingal_, iii.; see also _Cath-Loda_.

=Starvation Dundas=, Henry Dundas, the first Lord Melville. So called because he introduced the word _starvation_ into the language (1775).

=Starveling= (_Robin_), the tailor. He was cast for the part of “Thisbe’s mother,” in the drama played before Duke Theseus (2 _syl._) on “his wedding day at night.” Starveling has nothing to say in the drama.--Shakespeare, _Midsummer Night’s Dream_ (1592).

=Stati´ra=, the heroine of La Calprenède’s romance of _Cassandra_. Statīra is the daughter of Darīus, and is represented as the “most perfect of the works of creation.” Oroondatês is in love with her, and ultimately marries her.

_Statira_, daughter of Dari´us, and wife of Alexander. Young, beautiful, womanly, of strong affection, noble bearing, mild yet haughty, yielding yet brave. Her love for Alexander was unbounded. When her royal husband took Roxāna into favor, the proud spirit of the princess was indignant, but Alexander, by his love, won her back again. Statira was murdered by Roxana, the Bactrian, called the “Rival Queen.”--N. Lee, _Alexander The Great_ (1678).

=Staunton= (_The Rev. Mr._), rector of Willingham, and father of George Staunton.

_George Staunton_, son of the Rev. Mr. Staunton. He appears first as “Geordie Robertson,” a felon; and in the Porteous mob he assumes the guise of “Madge Wildfire.” George Staunton is the seducer of Effie Deans. Ultimately he comes to the title of baronet, marries Effie, and is shot by a gypsy boy called “The Whistler,” who proves to be his own natural son.

_Lady Staunton_, Effie Deans, after her marriage with Sir George. On the death of her husband, she retires to a convent on the Continent.--Sir W. Scott, _Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).

=Steadfast=, a friend of the Duberly family.--Colman, _The Heir-at-Law_ (1797).

=Steel Castle=, a strong ward, belonging to the Yellow Dwarf. Here he confined All-Fair when she refused to marry him according to her promise.--Comtesse D’Aunoy, _Fairy Tales_ (“The Yellow Dwarf,” 1682).

=Steenson= (_Willie_), or “Wandering Willie,” the blind fiddler.

_Steenie Steenson_, the piper, in Wandering Willie’s tale.

_Maggie Steenson_, or “Epps Anslie,” the wife of Wandering Willie.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).

=Steerforth=, the young man who led little Em’ly astray. When tired of his toy, he proposed to her to marry his valet. Steerforth, being shipwrecked off the coast of Yarmouth, Ham Peggotty tried to rescue him, but both were drowned.--C. Dickens, _David Copperfield_ (1849).

=Steinbach= (_Erwin von_), designed Strasbourg Cathedral; begun 1015, and finished 1439.

A great master of his craft, Erwin von Steinbach. Longfellow, _Golden Legend_ (1851).

=Steinernherz von Blutsacker= (_Francis_), the scharf-gerichter, or executioner.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Steinfeldt= (_The old baroness of_), introduced in Donnerhugel’s narrative.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Steinfort= (_The baron_), brother of the Countess Wintersen. He falls in love with Mrs. Haller, but, being informed of the relationship between Mrs. Haller and “the stranger,” exerts himself to bring about a reconciliation.--Benj. Thompson, _The Stranger_ (1797).

=Stella.= The Lady Penelopê Devereux, the object of Sir Philip Sidney’s affection. She married Lord Rich, and was a widow in Sidney’s life-time. Spenser says, in his _Astrophel_, when Astrophel (_Sir Philip_) died, Stella died of grief, and the “two lovers” were converted into one flower, called “Starlight,” which is first red, and, as it fades, turns blue. Some call it _penthea_, but henceforth (he says) it shall be called “Astrophel.” It is a pure fiction that Stella died from grief at the death of Sidney, for she afterwards married Charles Blount, created by James I. earl of Devonshire. The poet himself must have forgotten his own lines:

No less praiseworthy Stella do I read, Tho’ nought my praises of her needed are, Whom verse of noblest shepherd lately dead [1586] Hath praised and raised above each other star. Spenser, _Colin Clout’s Come Home Again_ (1591).

_Stella._ Miss Hester Johnson was so called by Swift, to whom she was privately married in 1706. Hester is first changed into the Greek _aster_, and “aster” in Latin, like _stella_, means “a star.” Stella lived with Mrs. Dingley, on Ormond Quay, Dublin.

Poor Stella must pack off to town ... To Liffy’s stinking tide at Dublin ... To be directed there by Dingley ... And now arrives the dismal day, She must return to Ormond Quay. Swift, _To Stella at Wood Park_ (1723).

=Steno= (_Michel_), one of the chiefs of the tribunal of Forty. Steno insults some of the ladies assembled at a civic banquet given by Marino Faliero, the doge of Venice, and is turned out of the house. In revenge, he fastens on the doge’s chair some scurrilous lines against the young dogaressa, whose extreme modesty and innocence ought to have protected her from such insolence. The doge refers the matter to “the Forty,” who sentence Steno to two month’s imprisonment. This punishment, in the opinion of the doge, is wholly inadequate to the offence, and Marino Faliero joins a conspiracy to abolish the council altogether.--Byron, _Marino Faliero, the Doge of Venice_ (1819).

=Stentor=, a Grecian herald in the Trojan war. Homer says he was “great-hearted, brazen-voiced, and could shout as loud as fifty men.”

He began to roar for help with the lungs of a Stentor.--Smollett.

=Steph´ano=, earl of Carnūti, the leader of 400 men in the allied Christian army. He was noted for his military prowess and wise counsel.--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_, i. (1575).

_Stephano_, a drunken butler.--Shakespeare, _The Tempest_ (1609).

_Stephano_, servant to Portia.--Shakespeare, _Merchant of Venice_ (1598).

=Stephen=, one of the attendants of Sir Reginald Front de Bœuf (a follower of Prince John).--Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).

_Stephen_ (_Count_), nephew of the count of Crèvecœur.--Sir W. Scott, _Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).

_Stephen_ (_Master_), a conceited puppy, who thinks all inferiors are to be snubbed and bullied, and all those weaker and more cowardly than himself are to be kicked and beaten. He is especially struck with Captain Bobadil, and tries to imitate his “dainty oaths.” Master Stephen has no notion of honesty and high-mindedness; thus he steals Downright’s cloak, which had been accidently dropped, declares he bought it, and then that he found it. Being convicted of falsehood, he resigns all claim to it, saying, in a huff, “There, take your cloak; I’ll none on’t.” This small-minded youth is young Kno’well’s cousin.--Ben Jonson, _Every Man in his Humor_ (1598).

=Stephen Steelheart=, the nickname of Stephen Wetheral.--Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).

=Stephen of Amboise=, leader of 5000 foot soldiers from Blois and Tours in the allied Christian army of Godfrey of Bouillon. Impetuous in attack, but deficient in steady resistance. He was shot by Clorinda with an arrow (bk. xi.).--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_ (1575).

=Sterling= (_Mr._), a vulgar, rich City merchant, who wishes to see his two daughters married to titles. Lord Ogleby calls him “a very abstract of ’Change;” and he himself says, “What signifies birth, education, titles, and so forth? Money, I say--money’s the stuff that makes a man great in this country.”

_Miss Sterling_, whose Christian name is Elizabeth or Betty; a spiteful, jealous, purse-proud damsel, engaged to Sir John Melvil. Sir John, seeing small prospect of happiness with such a tartar, proposed marriage to the younger sister; and Miss Sterling being left out in the cold, exclaimed, “Oh, that some other person, an earl or duke for instance, would propose to me, that I might be revenged on the monsters!”

_Miss Fanny Sterling_, an amiable, sweet-smiling, soft-speaking beauty, clandestinely married to Lovewell.--Colman and Garrick, _The Clandestine Marriage_ (1766).

=Sterry=, a fanatical preacher, admired by Hugh Peters.--S. Butler, _Hudibras_ (1663-78).

=Stevens=, a messenger of the earl of Sussex at Say’s Court.--Sir W. Scott, _Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).

=Stewart= (_Colonel_), governor of the castle of Doune.--Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).

_Stewart_ (_Prince Charles Edward_), surnamed “The Chevalier” by his friends, and “The Pretender” by his foes. Sir W. Scott introduces him in _Waverley_, and again in _Redgauntlet_, where he appears disguised as “Father Buonaventura.” (Now generally spelt Stuart.)

_Stewart_ (_Walking_), John Stewart, the English traveller, who travelled on foot through Hindûstan, Persia, Nubia, Abyssinia, the Arabian Desert, Europe and the United States (died 1822).

A most interesting man,... eloquent in conversation, contemplative ... and crazy beyond all reach of helebore, ... yet sublime and divinely benignant in his visionariness. This man, as a pedestrian traveller, had seen more of the earth’s surface ... than any man before or since.--De Quincey.

⁂ Walking Stewart must not be confounded with John M’Douall Stuart, the Australian explorer (1818-1866).

=Steyne= (_Marquis of_), earl of Gaunt and of Gaunt Castle, a viscount, baron, knight of the Garter and of numerous other orders, colonel, trustee of the British Museum, elder brother of the Trinity House, governor of White Friars, etc., had honors and titles enough to make him a great man, but his life was not a highly moral one, and his conduct with Becky Sharp, when she was the wife of Colonel Rawdon Crawley, gave rise to a great scandal. His lordship floated through the ill report, but Mrs. Rawdon was obliged to live abroad.--W. M. Thackeray, _Vanity Fair_ (1848).

=Stick to it, says Baigent.= Baigent was the principal witness of the Claimant in the great Tichborne trial, and his advice to his _protégé_ was, “Stick to it” (1872).

=Stiggins=, a hypocritical, drunken Methodist “shepherd” (minister), thought by Mrs. Weller to be a saint. His time was spent for the most part in drinking pineapple rum at the Marquis of Granby tavern.--C. Dickens, _The Pickwick Papers_ (1836).

=Still= (_Cornelius, the_), Cornelius Tacitus. (Latin, _tacĭtus_, “still.”)

Cornelius, the Stylle, in his firste book of his yerely exploictes, called in Latine, _Annales_.--_Fardle of Facions_, iii. 3 (1555).

=Stimulants used by Public Characters.=

BONAPARTE, snuff.

BRAHAM, bottled porter.

BULL (_Rev. William_), the nonconformist, was an inveterate smoker.

BYRON, gin-and-water.

CATLEY (_Miss_), linseed tea and madeira.

COOKE (_G. F._), everything drinkable.

DISRAELI (Lord Beaconsfield), champagne jelly.

EMERY, cold brandy-and-water.

ERSKINE (_Lord_), opium in large doses.

Gladstone (_W. E._), an egg beaten up in sherry.

HENDERSON, gum arabic and sherry.

HOBBES, only cold water.

INCLEDON, madeira.

JORDAN (_Mrs._), calves’-foot jelly dissolved in warm sherry.

KEAN (_Edmund_), beef-tea, cold brandy.

KEMBLE (_John_), opium.

LEWIS, mulled wine and oysters.

NEWTON smoked incessantly.

OXBERRY, strong tea.

POPE, strong coffee.

SCHILLER required to sit over a table deeply impregnated with the smell of apples. He stimulated his brain with coffee and champagne.

SIDDONS (_Mrs._), porter, not “stout.”

SMITH (_William_), drank strong coffee.

WEDDERBURNE (the first Lord Ashburton) used to place a blister on his chest when he had to make a great speech.--Dr. Paris, _Pharmacologia_ (1819).

WOOD (_Mrs._), drank draught porter.

=Stinkomalee.= So Theodore Hook called the London University. The word was suggested by “Trincomalee” (in Ceylon), a name before the public at the time. Hook hated the “University,” because it admitted students of all denominations.

Only look at Stinkomalee and King’s College. Activity, union, craft, indomitable perseverance on the one side; indolence, indecision, internal distrust, and jealousies, calf-like simplicity, and cowardice intolerable on the other.--Wilson, _Noctes Ambrosianæ_ (1822-36).

=Stitch= (_Tom_), a young tailor, a great favorite with the ladies.--_The Merry History of Tom Stitch_ (seventeenth century).

=Stockwell= (_Mr._), a City merchant, who promised to give his daughter, Nancy, in marriage, to the son of Sir Harry Harlowe of Dorsetshire.

_Mrs. Stockwell_, the merchant’s wife, who always veers round to the last speaker, and can be persuaded to anything for the time being.

_Nancy Stockwell_, daughter of the merchant, in love with Belford, but promised in marriage to Sir Harry Harlowe’s son. It so happens that Sir Harry’s son has privately married another lady, and Nancy falls to the man of her choice.--Garrick, _Neck or Nothing_ (1766).

=Stolen Kisses=, a drama by Paul Meritt, in three acts (1877). Felix Freemantle, under the pseudonym of Mr. Joy, falls in love with Cherry, daughter of Tom Spirit, once valet to Mr. Freemantle (who had come to the title of Viscount Trangmar). When Tom Spirit ascertained that “Felix Joy” was the son of the viscount, he forbade all further intercourse, unless Felix produced his father’s consent to the marriage. The next part of the plot pertains to the brother of Tom Spirit, who had assumed the name of Walter Temple, and, as a stock-broker, had become very wealthy. In his prosperity, Walter scornfully ignored his brother, Tom, and his ambition was to marry his daughter, Jenny, to the son of Viscount Trangmar, who owed him money. Thus, the two cousins, Cherry and Jenny, came into collision; but at the end Jenny married Fred Gay, a medical student, Cherry married Felix, the two brothers were reconciled, and Tom released his old master, Viscount Trangmar, by destroying the bond which Walter held and gave him.

=Stonehenge.= Aurelius Ambrosius asked Merlin what memento he could raise to commemorate his victory over Vortigern; and Merlin advised him to remove “The Giant’s Dance” from Mount Killaraus, in Ireland, to Salisbury Plain. So Aurelius placed a fleet and 15,000 men under the charge of Uther, the pendragon, and Merlin, for the purpose. Gilloman, king of Ireland, who opposed the invaders, was routed, and then Merlin, “by his art,” shipped the stones, and set them up on the plain “in the same manner as they stood on Killaraus.”--Geoffrey, _British History_, viii. 11-12 (1142).

How Merlin, by his skill and magic’s wondrous might, From Ireland hither brought the Sonendge in a night. Drayton, _Polyolbion_, iv. (1612).

Stonehenge, once thought a temple, you have found A throne, where kings, our earthly gods, were crowned. Dryden, _Epistles_, ii.

_Stonehenge a Trophy._ It is said, in the Welsh triads, that this circle of stones was erected by the Britons to commemorate the “treachery of the Long Knives,” _i.e._, a conference to which the chief of the British warriors were invited by Hengist, at Ambresbury. Beside each chief a Saxon was seated, armed with a long knife, and at a given signal each Saxon slew his Briton. As many as 460 British nobles thus fell, but Eidiol, earl of Gloucester, after slaying seventy Saxons (some say 660), made his escape.--_Welsh Triads._

Stonehenge was erected by Merlin, at the command of Ambrosius, in memory of the plot of the “Long-Knives,” when 300 British chiefs were treacherously massacred by Vortigern. He built it on the site of a former circle. It deviates from older bardic circles, as may be seen by comparing it with Avebury, Stanton-Drew, Keswick, etc. It is called “The Work of Ambrosius.”--_Cambrian Biography_, art. “Merddin.”

⁂ MONT DIEU, a solitary mound close to Dumfermline, owes its origin, according to story, to some unfortunate monks, who, by way of penance, carried the sand in baskets, from the sea-shore at Inverness.

At Linton is a fine conical hill, attributed to two sisters (nuns), who were compelled to pass the whole of the sand through a sieve, by way of penance, to obtain pardon for some crime committed by their brother.

The Gog Magog Hills, near Cambridge, are ascribed to his Satanic majesty.

=Stonewall Jackson=, Thomas Jonathan Jackson, general in the Southern army, in the great civil war of the United States. General Bee suggested the name in the battle of Bull Run (1861). “There is Jackson,” said he to his men, “standing like a stone wall” (1824-1863).

=Storm-and-Stress Period.= The last quarter of the eighteenth century was called in Germany the _Sturm-und-Drang Zeit_, because every one seemed in a fever to shake off the shackles of government, custom, prestige, and religion. The poets raved in volcanic rant or moonshine sentimentality; marriage was disregarded; law, both civil and divine, was pooh-poohed. Goethe’s _Man with the Iron Hand_ and _Sorrows of Werther_, Schiller’s _Robbers_, Klinger’s tragedies, Lessing’s criticisms, the mania for Shakespeare and Ossian, revolutionized the literature; and the cry went forth for untrammelled freedom, which was nicknamed “Nature.” As well go unclad, and call it nature.

=Storms= (_Cape of_). The Cape of Good Hope was called by Bartholomew Diaz _Cabo Tormentoso_ in 1486; but King John II. of Portugal gave it its present more auspicious name.

=S.T.P.=, the initials of Sanctæ Theologiæ Professor: Professor of Sacred Theology. The same as D.D., Divinitatis Doctor: Doctor of Divinity.

=Stradiva´rius= (_Antonius_), born at Cremo´na, in Italy (1670-1728). He was a pupil of Andreas Amāti. The Amati family, with Stradivarius and his pupil, Guarnerius (all of Cremona), were the most noted violin-makers that ever lived, insomuch that the word “Cremona” is synonymous for a first-rate violin.

The instrument on which he played Was in Cremona’s workshop made ... The maker from whose hands it came Had written his unrivalled name-- “Antonius Stradivarius.” Longfellow, _The Wayside Inn_ (prelude, 1863).

=Strafford=, an historical tragedy by R. Browning (1836). This drama contains portraits of Charles I., the earl of Strafford, Hampden, John Pym, Sir Harry Vane, etc., both truthful and graphic. The subject of the drama is the attainder and execution of Thomas Wentworth, earl of Strafford.

=Straitlace= (_Dame Philippa_), the maiden aunt of Blushington. She is very much surprised to find her nephew entertaining dinner company, and still more so that he is about to take a young wife to keep house for him instead of herself.--W. T. Moncrieff, _The Bashful Man_.

=Stral´enheim= (_Count of_), a kinsman of Werner, who hunted him from place to place, with a view of cutting him off, because he stood between him and the inheritance of Siegendorf. This mean, plausible, overreaching nobleman was by accident lodged under the same roof with Werner, while on his was to Siegendorf. Here Werner robbed him of a rouleau of gold, and next night Ulric (Werner’s son) murdered him.

_Ida Stralenheim_, one of the characters in Byron’s drama, _Werner_ (1822). She was the daughter of Count Stralenheim, and was betrothed to Ulric, for whom she had a deep affection, but when she learned from the lips of Ulric himself that he was the murderer of her father she fell senseless at his feet, and revived only to learn that he had fled the country, and that she had lost him forever.

=Stranger= (_The_), the Count Waldbourg. He married Adelaide at the age of 16; she had two children by him, and then eloped. The count, deserted by his young wife, lived a roving life, known only as “The Stranger;” and his wife, repenting of her folly, under the assumed name of Mrs. Haller, entered the service of the Countess Wintersen, whose affection she secured. In three years’ time, “the stranger” came by accident into the same neighborhood, and a reconciliation took place.

Kotzebue’s _Menschenhasz und Rene_ (1787). English adaptation: _The Stranger_ (1808).

=Strangford= (_Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, viscount_), in 1803, published a translation of the poems of Camoens, the great Portuguese poet.

Hibernian Strangford ... Thinkst thou to gain thy verse a higher place. By dressing Camoens in a suit of lace?... Cease to deceive; thy pilfered harp restore, Nor teach the Lusian bard to copy Moore. Byron, _English Bards and Scotch Reviewers_ (1809).

=Strap= (_Hugh_), a simple, generous, and disinterested adherent of Roderick Random. His generosity and fidelity, however, meet with but a base return from the heartless libertine.--T. Smollett, _Roderick Random_ (1748).

We believe there are few readers who are not disgusted with the miserable reward assigned to Strap in the closing chapter of the novel. Five hundred pounds (scarce the value of the goods he had presented to his master) and the hand of a reclaimed street-walker, even when added to a Highland farm, seem but a poor recompense for his faithful and disinterested attachment.--Sir W. Scott.

=Strasbourg Cathedral=, designed by Erwin von Steinbach (1015-1439).

=Strauchan= (_Old_), the squire of Sir Kenneth.--Sir W. Scott, _The Talisman_ (time, Richard I.).

=Straw.= _A little straw shows which way the wind blows._

You know or don’t know, that great Bacon saith, Fling up a straw, ’twill show the way the wind blows. Byron, _Don Juan_, xiv. 8 (1824).

=Streets of London= (_The_), a drama by Dion Boucicault (1862), adapted from the French play _Les Pauvres des Paris_.

=Stre´mon=, a soldier, famous for his singing.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Mad Lover_ (1617).

=Strephon=, the shepherd in Sir Philip Sidney’s _Arcadia_, who makes love to the beautiful Uranĭa (1580). It is a stock name for a lover, Chloê being usually the corresponding lady.

Captain O’Flarty was one of my dying Strephons at Scarborough. I have a very grate regard for him, and must make him a little miserable with my happiness.--Garrick, _The Irish Widow_, i. 3 (1757).

The servant of your Strephon ... is my lord and master.--Garrick, _Miss in Her Teens_ (1753).

=Stretton= (_Hesba_), the pseudonym of Miss Smith, daughter of a bookseller and printer in Wellington, Salop, authoress of several well-known religious novels.

=Strickalthrow= (_Merciful_), in Cromwell’s troop.--Sir W. Scott, _Woodstock_ (time, Commonwealth).

=Strictland= (_Mr._), the “suspicious husband,” who suspects Clarinda, a young lady visitor, of corrupting his wife; suspects Jacintha, his ward, of lightness; and suspects his wife of infidelity; but all his suspicions being proved groundless, he promises reform.

_Mrs. Strictland_, wife of Mr. Strictland, a model of discretion and good nature. She not only gives no cause of jealousy to her husband, but never even resents his suspicions or returns ill temper in the same coin.--Dr. Hoadly, _The Suspicious Husband_ (1747).

=Strike, Dakyns! the Devil’s in the Hempe=, the motto of the Dakynses. The reference is to an enemy of the king, who had taken refuge in a pile of hemp. Dakyns, having nosed the traitor, was exhorted to strike him with his battle-axe, and kill him, which he did. Hence the crest of the family--a dexter arm ... holding a battle-axe.

=Strong= (_Dr._), a benevolent old schoolmaster, to whom David Copperfield was sent whilst living with Mr. Wickfield. The old doctor doted on his young wife, Annie, and supported her scapegrace cousin, Jack Maldon.--C. Dickens, _David Copperfield_ (1849).

=Strong Men and Women.=

Antæos, Atlas, Dorsănês, the Indian Herculês, Guy, earl of Warwick, Herculês, Macĕris, son of Amon, Rustam, the Persian Herculês, Samson, Starchatĕrus, the Swede (first Christian century).

BROWN (_Miss Phœbe_), about five feet, six inches in height, well proportioned, round-faced and ruddy. She could carry fourteen score, and could lift a hundredweight with each hand at the same time. She was fond of poetry and music, and her chief food was milk.--W. Hutton.

MILO, of Crotōna, could carry on his shoulders a four-year-old bullock, and kill it with a single blow of his fist. On one occasion, the pillar which supported the roof of a house gave way, and Milo held up the whole weight of the building with his hands.

POLYD´AMAS, the athlete. He killed a lion with a blow of his fist, and could stop a chariot in full career with one hand.

TOPHAM (_Thomas_) of London (1710-1749). He could lift three hogsheads, or 1836 lbs.; could heave a horse over a turnpike gate; and could lift two hundredweight with his little finger.

=Strongback=, one of the seven attendants of Fortunio. He could never be overweighted, and could fell a forest in a few hours without fatigue.--Comtesse D’Aunoy, _Fairy Tales_ (“Fortunio,” 1682).

The brothers Grimm have introduced the tale of “Fortunio” in their _Goblins_.

=Strongbow=, Gilbert de Clare, who succeeded to the title of his brother, the earl of Hertford, in 1138, and was created earl of Pembroke (died 1149).

Henry II. called him a “false” or “pseudo-earl.”

_Strongbow_ (Richard of Strigal) was Richard de Clare, earl of Pembroke, son of Gilbert de Clare. He succeeded Dermot, king of Leinster, hiss father-in-law, in 1170, and died 1176.

The earl of Strigale then, our Strongbow, first that won Wild Ireland with the sword. Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xviii. (1613).

=Struldbrugs=, the inhabitants of Luggnagg, who never die.

He had reached that period of life ... which ... entitles a man to admission into the ancient order of Struldbrugs.--Swift, _Gulliver’s Travels_ “Laputa,” (1726).

=Strutt= (_Lord_), the king of Spain; originally Charles II. (who died without issue), but also applied to his successor, Philippe, duc d’Anson, called “Philip, Lord Strutt.”

I need not tell you of the great quarrels that happened in our neighborhood since the death of the late Lord Strutt; how the parson [_Cardinal Portocarero_] ... got him to settle his estate upon his cousin, Philip Baboon [_Bourbon_], to the great disappointment of his cousin, Squire South [_Charles of Austria_].--Dr. Arbuthnot, _History of John Bull_, i (1712).

=Stryver= (_Bully_), of the King’s Bench Bar, counsel for the defence in Darnay’s trial.

He was stout, loud, red, bluff, and free from any drawback of delicacy; had a pushing way of shouldering himself (morally and physically) into companies and conversations, that argued well for his shouldering his way on in life.--C. Dickens, _A Tale of Two Cities_, ii. 24 (1859).

=Stuart Ill-Fated= (_The House of_), as that of Œdĭpos.

JAMES I. of Scotland, poet, murdered by conspirators at Perth, in the forty-fourth year of his age (1393, 1424-1437).

JAMES II., his son, killed at the siege of Roxburgh, aged 30 (1430, 1437-1460).

JAMES III., his son, was stabbed in his flight from Bannockburn by a pretended priest, aged 36 (1452, 1460-1488).

(His brother, the earl of Mar, was imprisoned in 1477, and died in durance, 1480.)

JAMES IV., his son, the “Chivalrous Madman,” was defeated and slain at Flodden, aged 41 (1472, 1488-1513).

JAMES V., his son, was defeated at Solway Moss, November 25, and died of grief, December 14, aged 30 (1512, 1513-1542).

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, daughter of James V., was beheaded, aged 44 years, 63 days (1542, 1542-1587, Old Style).

(Her husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was murdered (1541-1566). Her niece, Arabella Stuart, died insane in the Tower, 1575-1615.)

CHARLES I., her grandson, was beheaded, aged 48 years, 69 days (1600, 1625-1649).

CHARLES II., his son, was in exile from 1645 to 1661, and in 1665 occurred the Great Fire of London, in 1666 the Great Plague; died aged 54 years, 253 days (1630, 1661-1685).

(His natural son, the Duke of Monmouth, defeated at Sedgemoor, July 5, 1685, was executed as a traitor, July 15, aged 36.)

James II., brother of Charles, and son of Charles I., was obliged to abdicate to save his life, and died in exile (1633, reigned 1685-1688, died a pensioner of Louis XIV., 1701).

JAMES FRANCIS EDWARD “the Luckless,” his son, called the “Old Pretender,” was a mere cipher. His son, Charles, came to England to proclaim him king, but was defeated at Culloden, leaving 3000 dead on the field (1688-1765).

CHARLES EDWARD, the “Young Pretender,” was son of the “Old Pretender.” After the defeat of his adherents at Culloden he fled to France, was banished from that kingdom, and died at Rome (1720-1788).

HENRY BENEDICT, Cardinal York, the last of the race, was a pensioner of George III.

=Stuart of Italy= (_The Mary_), Jane I. of Naples (1327, 1343-1382).

Jane married her cousin, Andrè of Hungary, who was assassinated two years after his marriage, when the widow married the assassin. So Mary Stuart married her cousin, Lord Darnley, 1565, who was murdered, 1567, and the widow married Bothwell, the assassin.

Jane fled to Provence, 1347, and was strangled in 1382. So Mary Stuart fled to England in 1568, and was put to death, 1587 (Old Style).

Jane, like Mary, was remarkable for her great beauty, her brilliant court, her voluptuousness, and the men of genius she drew around her; and, like Mary, she was also noted for her deplorable administration.

⁂ La Harpe wrote a tragedy called _Jeanne de Naples_ (1765). Schiller made an adaptation of it (1821).

=Stuarts’ Fatal Number= (_The_). This number is 88.

James III. was killed in flight near Bannockburn, 1488.

Mary Stuart was beheaded, 1588 (New Style).

James II. of England was dethroned, 1688.

Charles Edward died, 1788.

⁂ James Stuart, the “Old Pretender,” was born, 1688, the very year that his father abdicated.

James Stuart, the famous architect, died, 1788.

(Some affirm that Robert II., the first Stuart king, died 1388, the year of the great battle of Otterbum; but the death of this king is more usually fixed in the spring of 1390.)

=Stuart= (_Jack_), frank, brave, unintellectual lover of Constance Varley, and one of the travelling-party in the Holy Land. Through a fatal combination of misunderstandings, the man she has loved for years leaves her without uttering the words that burned upon his tongue, and the lonely-hearted girl turns for comfort to the assured, patient affection of the honest fellow who makes no secret of his devotion. Constance Varley marries Jack Stuart.--Julia Constance Fletcher, _Mirage_ (1878).

=Stubble= (_Reuben_), bailiff to Farmer Cornflower, rough in manner, severe in discipline, a stickler for duty, “a plain, upright, and downright man,” true to his master and to himself.--C. Dibdin, _The Farmer’s Wife_ (1780).

=Stubbs=, the beadle at Willingham. The Rev. Mr. Staunton was the rector.--Sir W. Scott, _Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).

_Stubbs_ (_Miss Sissly or Cecilia_), daughter of Squire Stubbs, one of Waverley’s neighbors.--Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).

=Stuffy= (_Matthew_), an applicant to Velinspeck, a country manager, for a situation as prompter, for which he says he is peculiarly qualified by that affection of the eyes vulgarly called a squint, which enables him to keep one eye on the performance and the other on the book at the same time.--Charles Mathews, _At Home_ (1818).

Stuffy is one of the richest bits of humor we ever witnessed. His endless eulogies upon the state of things in the immortal Garrick’s time are highly ludicrous.--_Contemporary Paper._

=Stuke´ly= (2 _syl._), a detestable man. “’Twould be as easy to make him honest as brave” (act i. 2). He pretends to be the friend of Beverley, but cheats him. He aspires to the hand of Miss Beverley, who is in love with Lewson.--Edward Moore, _The Gamester_ (1753).

_Stukeley_ (_Will_), the companion of Little John. In the morris-dance on May-day, Little John used to occupy the right hand side of Robin Hood, and Will Stukely the left. (See STUTLY.)

_Stukely_ (_Captain Harry_), nephew of Sir Gilbert Pumpkin of Strawberry Hall.--I. Jackman, _All the World’s a Stage_.

=Stupid Boy= (_The_), St. Thomas Aquinas; also called at school “The Dumb Ox” (1224-1274).

=Sturgeon= (_Major_), J.P., “the fishmonger from Brentford,” who turned volunteer. This bragging major makes love to Mrs. Jerry Sneak.--S. Foote, _The Mayor of Garratt_ (1763).

We had some desperate duty, Sir Jacob ... such marchings and counter-marchings, from Brentford to Ealing, from Ealing to Acton, from Acton to Uxbridge. Why, there was our last expedition to Hounslow; that day’s work carried off Major Molossas.... But to proceed. On we marched, the men all in high spirits, to attack the gibbet where Gardel is hanging; but, turning down a narrow lane to the left, as it might be about there, in order to possess a pigstye, that we might take the gallows in flank and secure a retreat, who should come by but a drove of fat oxen for Smithfield. The drums beat in front, the dogs barked in the rear, the oxen set up a gallop; on they came, thundering upon us, broke through our ranks in an instant, and threw the whole corps into confusion.--Act i. 1.

=Sturmthal= (_Melchoir_), the banneret of Berne, one of the Swiss deputies.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Stutly= (_Will_), sometimes called _Will Stukely_, a companion of Little John. In the morris-dance on May-day, Little John occupied the right hand side of Robin Hood, and Will Stutly the left. His rescue from the sheriff of [Notts.] by Robin Hood forms the subject of one of the Robin Hood Ballads.

When Robin Hood in the greenwood lived, Under the greenwood tree, Tidings there came to him with speed, Tidings for certaintie, That Will Stutley surprisëd was, And eke in prison lay; Three varlets that the sheriff hired, Did likely him betray. _Robin Hood’s Rescuing Will Stutly_, iv. 15.

=Stuyvesant= (_Peter_).

“If, from all I have said, thou dost not gather, worthy reader, that Peter Stuyvesant was a tough, sturdy, valiant, weather-beaten, mettlesome, obstinate, leather-sided, lion-hearted, generous-spirited old governor, either I have written to but little purpose, or thou art very dull at drawing conclusions.”--Diedrich Knickerbocker (Washington Irving), _A History of New York_ (1809).

=Styles= (_Tom_ or _John_), or _Tom o’ Styles_, a phrase name at one time used by lawyers in actions of ejectment. Jack Noakes and Tom Styles used to act in law the part that N or M acts in the church. The legal fiction has been abolished.

I have no connection with the company further than giving them, for a certain fee and reward, my poor opinion as a medical man, precisely as I may give it to Jack Noakes or Tom Styles.--Dickens.

⁂ Tom Styles, Jack Noakes, John Doe, and Richard Roe, are all Mrs. Harrises of the legal profession, _nomina et præterea nihil_.

=Subtle=, the “alchemist,” an artful quack, who pretends to be on the eve of discovering the philosopher’s stone. Sir Epicure Mammon, a rich knight, is his principal dupe, but by no means his only one.--Ben Jonson, _The Alchemist_ (1610).

_Subtle_, an Englishman settled in Paris. He earns a living by the follies of his countrymen who visit the gay capital.

_Mrs. Subtle_, wife of Mr. Subtle, and a help-meet for him.--Foote, _The Englishman in Paris_ (1753).

=Subtle Doctor= (_The_), Duns Scotus, famous for his metaphysical speculations in theology (1265-1308).

=Subvolvans=, inhabitants of the moon, in everlasting strife with the Privolvans. The former live under ground in cavities, “eight miles deep and eighty round;” the latter on “the upper ground.” Every summer the under-ground lunatics come to the surface to attack the “grounders,” but at the approach of winter slink back again into their holes.--S. Butler, _The Elephant in the Moon_ (1754).

=Such Things Are=, a comedy by Mrs. Inchbald (1786). The scene lies in India, and the object of the play is to represent the tyranny of the old _régime_, and the good influence of the British element, represented by Haswell, the royal physician. The main feature is an introduction to the dungeons, and the infamous neglect of the prisoners, amongst whom is Arabella, the sultan’s beloved English wife, whom he has been searching for unsuccessfully for fifteen years. Haswell receives the royal signet, and is entrusted with unlimited power by the sultan.

=Suckfist= (_Lord_), defendant in the great Pantagruelian lawsuit, known as “Lord Busqueue _v._ Lord Suckfist,” in which the plaintiff and defendant pleaded in person. After hearing the case, the bench declared, “We have not understood one single circumstance of the matter on either side.” But Pantagruel gave judgment, and as both plaintiff and defendant left the court fully persuaded that the verdict was in his own favor, they were both highly satisfied, “a thing without parallel in the annals of the law.”--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, ii. 11-13 (1533).

=Suddlechop= (_Benjamin_), “the most renowned barber in all Fleet Street.” A thin, half-starved creature.

_Dame Ursula Suddlechop_, the barber’s wife. “She could contrive interviews for lovers, and relieve frail fair ones of the burden of a guilty passion.” She had been a pupil of Mrs. Turner, and learnt of her the secret of making yellow starch, and two or three other prescriptions more lucrative still. The dame was scarcely 40 years of age, of full form and comely features, with a joyous, good-humored expression.

Dame Ursula had acquaintances ... among the quality, and maintained her intercourse ... partly by driving a trade in perfumes, essences, pomades, head-gears from France, not to mention drugs of various descriptions, chiefly for the use of ladies, and partly by other services, more or less connected with the esoteric branches of her profession.--Sir W. Scott, _Fortunes of Nigel_, viii. (time, James I.).

=Suds= (_Mrs._), any washerwoman or laundress.

=Suicides from Books.=

CLEOM´BROTOS, the Academic philosopher, killed himself after reading Plato’s _Phædon_, that he might enjoy the happiness of the future life, so enchantingly described.

FRÄULEIN VON LASSBERG drowned herself in spleen, after reading Goethe’s _Sorrows of Werther_.

=Sulin-Sifad´da=, one of the two steeds of Cuthullin, general of the Irish tribes. The name of the other was Dusronnal.

Before the right side of the car is seen the snorting horse; the high-maned, broad-breasted, proud, wide-leaping, strong steed of the hill. Loud and resounding is his hoof; the spreading of his mane above is like a stream of smoke on a ridge of rocks. Bright are the sides of his steed. His name is Sulin-Sifadda.--Ossian, _Fingal_, i.

Dusronnal snorted over the bodies of heroes. Sifadda bathed his hoof in blood.--Ditto.

=Sulky= (_Mr._), executor of Mr. Warren, and partner in Dornton’s bank. With a sulky, grumpy exterior, he has a kind heart, and is strictly honest. When Dornton is brought to the brink of ruin by his son’s extravagance, Sulky comes nobly forward to the rescue. (See SILKY.)--T. Holcroft, _The Road to Ruin_ (1792).

And oh! for monopoly. What a blest day, When the lank and the silk shall, in fond combination (Like Sulky and Silky, that pair in the play). Cry out with one voice for “high rents” and “starvation!” T. Moore, _Ode to the Goddess Ceres_ (1806).

=Sullen= (_Squire_), son of Lady Bountiful by her first husband. He married the sister of Sir Charles Freeman, but after fourteen months, their tempers and dispositions were found so incompatible that they mutually agreed to a divorce.

He says little, thinks less, and does nothing at all. Faith! but he’s a man of great estate, and values nobody.--Act i. 1.

Parson Trulliber, Sir Wilful Witwould, Sir Francis Wronghead, Squire Western, Squire Sullen--such were the people who composed the main strength of the tory party for sixty years after the Revolution.--Lord Macaulay.

⁂ “Parson Trulliber,” in _Joseph Andrews_ (by Fielding); “Sir Wilful Witwould,” in _The Way of the World_ (Congreve); “Sir Francis Wronghead,” in _The Provoked Husband_ (by Cibber); “Squire Western,” in _Tom Jones_ (by Fielding).

_Mrs. Sullen_, sister of Sir Charles Freeman, and wife of Squire Sullen. They had been married fourteen months, when they agreed mutually to a separation, for in no one single point was there any compatibility between them. The squire was sullen, the lady sprightly; he could not drink tea with her, and she could not drink ale with him; he hated ombre and picquet, she hated cock-fighting and racing; he would not dance, and she would not hunt. Mrs. Sullen liked Archer, friend of Thomas Viscount Aimwell, both fortune-hunters; and Squire Sullen, when he separated from his wife, was obliged to resign the £20,000, which he received with her as a dowry.--George Farquhar, _The Beaux’ Stratagem_ (1707).

=Sul-Malla=, daughter of Conmor, king of Inis-Huna and his wife, Clun-galo. Disguised as a warrior, Sul-Malla follows Cathmor to the war; but Cathmor, walking his round, discovers Sul-Malla asleep, falls in love with her, but exclaims, “This is no time for love.” He strikes his shield to rouse the host to battle, and is slain by Fingal. The sequel of Sul-Malla is not given.

Clun-galo came. She missed the maid. “Where art thou, beam of light? Hunters from the mossy rock, saw you the blue-eyed fair? Are her steps on grassy Lumon, near the bed of roses? Ah, me! I beheld her bow in the hall. Where art thou, beam of light?”--Ossian, _Temora_, vi. (Set to music by Sir H. Bishop.)

=Summerson= (_Esther_). (See ESTHER HAWDON.)

=Summons to Death.=

JACQUES MOLAY, grand-master of the Knights Templars, as he was led to the stake, summoned the Pope (Clement V.) within forty days, and the king (Philippe IV.) within forty weeks to appear before the throne of God to answer for his murder. They both died within the stated time.

MONTREAL D’ALBANO, called “Fra Moriale,” knight of St. John of Jerusalem, and captain of the Grand Company in the fourteenth century, when sentenced to death by Rienzi, summoned him to follow within the month. Rienzi was within the month killed by the fickle mob.

PETER and JOHN DE CARVAJAL, being condemned to death on circumstantial evidence alone, appealed, but without success, to Ferdinand IV. of Spain. On their way to execution, they declared their innocence, and summoned the king to appear before God within thirty days. Ferdinand was quite well on the thirtieth day, but was found dead in his bed next morning.

GEORGE WISHART, a Scotch reformer, was condemned to the stake by Cardinal Beaton. While the fire was blazing about him, the martyr exclaimed in a loud voice, “He who from yon high place beholdeth me with such pride, shall be brought low, even to the ground, before the trees which have supplied these faggots have shed their leaves.” It was March when these words were uttered, and the cardinal died in June.

=Sun= (_The_). The device of Edward III., was the sun bursting through a cloud. Hence Edward III. is called “our half-faced sun.”--Shakespeare, _2 Henry VI._ act iv. sc. 1 (1592).

=Sun-Steeds.= Brontê (“thunder”) and Amethēa (“no loiterer”), Æthon (“fiery red”) and Pyroïs (“fire”); Lampos (“shining like a lamp”), used only at noon; Philogēa (“effulgence”), used only in the westering course.

⁂ Phaĕton (“the shining one”) and Abraxas (the Greek numeral for 365) were the horses of Aurora, or the morning sun.

=Sun´ith=, one of the six Wise Men of the East led by the guiding star to Jesus. He had three holy daughters.--Klopstock, _The Messiah_, v. (1771).

=Sunshine of St. Eulalie´= (3 _syl._), Evangeline.

Sunshine of St. Eulălie was she called, for that was the sunshine Which, as the farmers believed, would load their orchards with apples. Longfellow, _Evangeline_, i. 1 (1849).

=Super Grammat´icam=, Sigismund, emperor of Germany (1366, 1411-1437).

At the council of Constance, held 1414, Sigismund used the word _schisma_ as a noun of the feminine gender (_illa nefanda schisma_). A prig of a cardinal corrected him, saying “‘Schisma,’ your highness, is neuter gender;” when the kaiser turned on him with ineffable scorn, and said, “I am king of the Romans, and what is grammar to me?” [_Ego sum rex Romanus et super grammaticam._]--Carlyle, _Frederick the Great_ (1858).

=Superstitions about Animals.=

ANT. When ants are unusually busy, foul weather is at hand.

Ants never sleep.--Emerson, _Nature_, iv.

Ants lay up food for winter use.--_Prov._ vi. 6-8; xxx. 25.

Ants’ eggs are an antidote to love.

ASS. The mark running down the back of an ass, and cut at right angles over the shoulders, is the cross of Christ impressed on the animal because Christ rode on an ass in His triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

Three hairs taken from the “cross” of an ass will cure the whooping-cough, but the ass from which the hairs are plucked will die.

The ass is deaf to music, and hence Apollo gave Midas the ears of an ass, because he preferred the piping of Pan to the music of Apollo’s lute.

BARNACLE. A barnacle broken off a ship turns into a Solan goose.

Like your Scotch barnacle, now a block, Instantly a worm, and presently a great goose. Marston, _The Malecontent_ (1604).

BASILISK. The basilisk can kill at a distance by the “poison” of its glance.

There’s not a glance of thine But, like a basilisk, comes winged with death. Lee, _Alexander the Great_, v. 1 (1678).

BEAR. The cub of a bear is licked into shape and life by its dam.

So watchful Bruin forms with plastic care Each growing lump and brings it to a bear. Pope, _The Dunciad_, i. 101 (1728).

BEAVER. When a beaver is hunted, it bites off the part which the hunters seek, and then, standing upright, shows the hunters it is useless to continue the pursuit. [Æsop tells a similar story of a civet-cat.]--Eugenius Philalethes, _Brief Natural History_, 89.

BEE. If bees swarm on a rotten tree, a death in the family will occur within the twelvemonth.

Swarmed on a rotten stick the bees I spied, Which erst I saw when Goody Dobson dyed. Gay, _Pastoral_, v. (1714).

Bees will never thrive if you quarrel with them or about them.

If a member of the family dies and the bees are not put into mourning, they will forsake their hive.

It is unlucky for a stray swarm of bees to alight on your premises.

BEETLES. Beetles are both deaf and blind.

CAT. When cats wash their ears more than usual, rain is at hand.

When the cat washes her face over her ears, wee shall have great shore of raine.--Melton, _Astrologastor_, 45.

The sneezing of a cat indicates good luck to a bride.

Crastina nupturæ lux est prosperrima sponsæ: Felix fele bonum sternuit omen amor. Robert Keuchen, _Crepundia_, 413.

If a cat sneezes thrice, a cold will run through the family.

Satan’s favorite form is that of a black cat, and hence is it the familiar of witches.

A cat has nine lives.

_Tybalt._ What wouldst thou have with me?

_Mer._ Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives.--Shakespeare, _Romeo and Juliet_, act iii. sc. 1 (1595).

CHAMELEONS live on air only.

I saw him eat the air for food. Lloyd, _The Chameleon_.

COW. If a milkmaid neglects to wash her hands after milking, her cows will go dry.

Curst cows have curt horns. _Curst_ means “angry, fierce.”

God sends a curst cow short horns.--Shakespeare, _Much Ado About Nothing_, act ii. sc. 1 (1600).

CRICKET. Crickets bring good luck to a house. To kill crickets is unlucky. If crickets forsake a house, a death in the family will soon follow.

It is a signe of death to some in a house, if the crickets on a sudden forsake the chimney.--Melton, _Astrologastor_, 45.

CROCODILES moan and sigh, like persons in distress, to allure travellers and make them their prey.

As the mournful crocodile With sorrow snares relentless passengers. Shakespeare, _2 Henry VI._ act iii. sc. 1 (1591).

Crocodiles weep over the prey which they devour.

The crocodile will weep over a man’s head when he [_it_] hath devoured the body, and then he will eat up the head too.--Bullokar, _English Expositor_ (1616).

Paul Lucas tells us that the hummingbird and lapwing enter fearlessly the crocodile’s mouth, and the creature never injures them, because they pick its teeth.--_Voyage fait en_ 1714.

CROW. If a crow croaks an odd number of times, look out for foul weather; if an even number, it will be fine.

[_The superstitious_] listen in the morning whether the crow crieth even or odd, and by that token presage the weather.--Dr. Hall, _Characters of Vertues and Vices_, 87.

If a crow flies over a house and croaks thrice, it is a bad omen.--Ramesey, _Elminthologia_, 271 (1668).

If a crow flutters about a window and caws, it forbodes a death.

Night crowes screech aloud, Fluttering ’bout casements of departing soules. Marston, _Antonio and Mellida_, ii. (1602).

Several crows fluttered about the head of Cicero on the day that he was murdered by Popilius Lænas ... one of them even made its way into his chamber, and pulled away the bedclothes.--Macaulay, _History of St. Kilda_, 176.

If crows flock together early in the morning, and gape at the sun, the weather will be hot and dry; but if they stalk at nightfall into water, and croak, rain is at hand.--Willsford, _Nature’s Secrets_, 133.

When crows forsake a wood in a flock, it forebodes a famine.--_Supplement to the Athenian Oracle_, 476.

DEATH-WATCH. The clicking or tapping of the beetle called a death-watch is an omen of death to some one in the house.

Chamber-maids christen this worm a “Death-watch,” Because, like a watch, it always cries “click;” Then woe be to those in the house that are sick, For sure as a gun they will give up the ghost ... But a kettle of scalding hot water injected Infallibly cures the timber infected; The omen is broken, the danger is over, The maggot will die, and the sick will recover. Swift, _Wood an Insect_ (1725).

DOG. If dogs howl by night near a house, it presages the death of a sick inmate.

If doggs howle in the night neer an house where somebody is sick, ’tis a signe of death.--Dr. N. Home, _Dæmonologie_, 60.

When dogs wallow in the dust, expect foul weather: “Canis in pulvere volutans....”

Præscia ventorum, se volvit odora canum vis; Numina difflatur pulveris instar homo. Robert Keuchen, _Crepundia_, 211.

ECHINUS. An echīnus, fastening itself on a ship’s keel, will arrest its motion like an anchor.--Pliny, _Natural History_, xxxii. 1.

EGG. The tenth egg is always the largest.

Decumana ova dicuntur, quia ovum decimum majus nascitur.--Festus.

ELEPHANT. Elephants celebrate religious rites.--Pliny, _Natural History_, viii. 1.

Elephants have no knees.--Eugenius Philalethes, _Brief Natural History_, 89.

The elephant hath joints, but none for courtesy; his legs are for necessity, not for flexure.--Shakespeare, _Troilus and Cressida_, act iii. sc. 3 (1602).

FISH. If you count the number of fish you have caught, you will catch no more that day.

FROG. To meet a frog is lucky, indicating that the person is about to receive money.

Some man hadde levyr to mete a frogge on the way than a knight ... for than they say and ’leve that they shal have golde.--_Dives and Pauper_ (first precepte, xlvi. 1493).

When frogs croak more than usual, it is a sign of bad weather.

GUINEA-PIG. A guinea-pig has no ears.

HADDOCK. The black spot on each side of a haddock, near the gills, is the impression of St. Peter’s finger and thumb, when he took the tribute money from the fish’s mouth.

The haddock has spots on either side, which are the marks of St. Peter’s fingers when he catched that fish for the tribute.--Metellus, _Dialogues, etc._, 57 (1693).

HAIR. If a dog bites you, any evil consequences may be prevented by applying three of the dog’s hairs to the wound.

Take the hair, it is well written, Of the dog by which you’re bitten; Work off one wine by his brother, And one labor by another. Athenæus (ascribed to Aristophanês).

HARE. It is unlucky if a hare runs across a road in front of a traveller. The Roman augurs considered this an ill omen.

If an hare cross their way, they suspect they shall be rob’d, or come to some mischance.--Ramesay, _Elminthologia_, 271 (1668).

It was believed at one time that hares changed their sex every year.

HEDGEHOG. Hedgehogs foresee a coming storm.--Bodenham, _Garden of the Muses_, 153 (1600).

Hedgehogs fasten on the dugs of cows, and drain off the milk.

HORSE. If a person suffering from whooping-cough asks advice of a man riding on a piebald horse, the malady will be cured by doing what the man tells him to do.

JACKAL. The jackal is the lion’s provider. It hunts with the lion, and provides it with food by starting prey, as dogs start game.

LADY-BUG. It is unlucky to kill a lady-bug.

LION. The lion will not injure a royal prince.

Fetch the Numidian lion I brought over; If she be sprung from royal blood, the lion Will do her reverence, else he will tear her. Beaumont and Fletcher, The Mad Lover (1617).

The lion will not touch the true prince.--Shakespeare, _1 Henry IV._