few months, was compelled to fly. Sevajee Madhoo, the posthumous son of Narrain Row, was appointed Paishwa, and Ballajee Pundit, better known as Nana Furnavese, was elected dewan, or minister. The British, on the condition of his ceding to them certain territories, came to the assistance of Ragoba, which occasioned a war between them and the Mahrattas. This war, twice interrupted by treaties which were not completed, continued till 1782, when the treaty of Salbbye was concluded, by which Madhajee Sindia was confirmed in all his possessions, the places taken from him by the British were restored, and he was recognised by them as an independent prince. Madhajee Sindia had now time and opportunity to prosecute his plans of aggrandisement. In 1785 he again appeared at Delhi, and by the murder of two of the imperial ministers once more got the emperor into his power; he also conquered Agra and Alyghur, and obtained possession of nearly the whole of the Doab. About this time he engaged in his service a Frenchman, De Boigue, who became of the most essential service to him; for by his assistance he formed an army consisting of troops regularly disciplined, he fought pitched battles, besieged fortresses previously deemed impregnable, gradually subjected raja after raja to contribution, and added district after district to his possessions, till he became master of nearly all the territory south-west from the banks of the Ganges to the Nerbudda. The battle of Meerta, gained by De Boigne in 1790 over the collected forces of Joudpoor, had made Sindia master of that principality as well as of the weaker state of Odeypoor; to these conquests was added soon after that of Jypoor, which was followed in 1792 by the defeat of the troops of Junkajee Holkar, when four corps of regular infantry belonging to Holkar's army, which were commanded by a French officer. were almost utterly destroyed. Sindia himself had returned to Poona in 1791, where he died in 1794.

Madhajee Sindia's life was one of incessant activity; he was engaged in a series of contests in which he displayed great talent and untiring energy, and by which his power and possessions were gradually extended, consolidated, and confirmed. His habits throughout the whole of his career were those of a plain soldier; he was never seduced by luxury, and he despised the trappings of state. Though occasionally guilty of violence and oppression, his life was for the most part unstained by cruelty; his disposition was mild, and he was desirous of improving the countries which he conquered. Towards the British and those states which were unconnected with the Mahratta government he conducted himself as an independent prince, but in matters relating to the Paishwa he paid the most scrupulous attention to all the forms of humility, of which (as related by Sir John Malcolm) he made a curious display when Sevajee Madhoo Row, at the termination of his minority in 1791, entered upon the duties of his office, and Sindia came to Poona to pay his respects to him. Madhajee Sindia had no sons. His brother Tukajee had three, of whom the youngest, Anund Row, became the favourite of his uncle, who adopted Dowlut Row Sindia, the son of Anund Row, as his heir. DOWLUT ROW SINDIA, at the death of his grand-uncle, was only thirteen years of age. He was opposed by the widows of Madhajee, who set up another prince in opposition to him, and he was not established in his power till after several battles had been fought. He married, soon after his accession, the daughter of Sirjee Row Gatkia, an artful and wicked man, who became his minister, to whom is doubtless to be ascribed much of the rapacity and cruelty which marked the early part of Dowlut Row's reign. The seizure and imprisonment of Nana Furnavese, the murder of several Erahmins, the plundering of Poona and the neighbouring places under pretence of paying the expenses of his marriage, and the aiding of Casee Row Holkar in the murder of his brother Mulhar Row, are among his early atrocities; in addition to which it should be mentioned, that when Sirjee Row Gatkia defeated Jeswunt Row Holkar in 1801, he plundered the city of Indore, set fire to the best houses, and murdered many of the inhabitants; in 1802 however Holkar defeated Sindia, and reestablished himself in Malwa, But the interference of the British at length put a stop to his career of spoliation and bloodshed. The Paishwa Bajerow, having been defeated by Jeswunt Row Holkar in 1802, fled to Bassein, and placed himself under the protection of the British, by a treaty, the chief conditions of which were, that he should cede to them the island of Salsette, and they should restore him to the office of Paishwa.

After many fruitless negociations with Sindia and the Raja of Berar, the British resident left the court of Sindia, August 3, 1803, and war was commenced on the 8th by an attack on the fortress of Ahmednuggur by Major-General Wellesley, which he soon took, and followed up on the 25th of September 1803, by the battle of Assaye, when he gained a complete victory over the confederated forces of Sindia and the Raja of Berar, which were under the command of the French general Péron, and greatly more numerous than his own. In Hindustan Proper, General Lake, on the 29th of August 1803, defeated Sindia's forces in the Doab, took the strong fort of Alyghur, and afterwards the cities of Delhi and Agra. In the short period of five months was included a series of the most brilliant and decisive victories; the battles of Delhi and Laswaree, of Assaye and Arghaum, the reduction of the strong forts of Ahmednuggur, Alyghur, Agra, Gwalior, Asserghur, and Cuttack, besides a number of inferior conquests. The two Mahratta chiefs were compelled to sue for peace

separately. Sindia's brigades, which had been trained under De Boigne and Péron, and which amounted to at least 40,000 well-disciplined infantry, were destroyed; 500 guns, cast in the foundries which Madhajee had established, were taken; and by the treaty of December 1803 he was compelled to cede to the British the Upper Doab, Delhi, Agra, Saharunpoor, Meerut, Alyghur, Etawah, Cuttack, Balasore, the fort and territory of Baroach, &c., amounting altogether to more than 50,000 square miles. By a treaty of defensive alliance, February 27, 1804, he engaged to receive a British auxiliary force in those dominions which he was suffered to retain, which were still large, and which were considerably increased, after the subjugation of Holkar, by the territory of Gohud and the strong fort of Gwalior, which were given up to him by the treaty of Muttra, November 23, 1805, one of the conditions of which treaty was, that his father-in-law Sirjee Row Gatkia should be for ever excluded from his councils. Dowlut Row Sindia, though he retained for a considerable time no friendly feeling towards his British allies, by whom he had been so severely humbled, never again ventured into a direct contest with them; and after he was freed from the influence of his father-in-law, he became by degrees better disposed towards them; so that in the war of 1818, by which the Mahratta power was entirely destroyed, he prudently kept aloof, though the Paishwa urgently called upon him for his assistance. The consequence was that he retained his territories, and continued on friendly terms with the British till his death, which took place March 21, 1827. He left an army of about 14,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry, and 250 pieces of ordnance, with territories worth about 1,250,000l. per annum. (Malcolm, Political History of India; Malcolm, Central India; Mill, British India.)

SINGLETON, HENRY, was born in London, 1766. His father died while he was an infant, and he was brought up by an uncle, William Singleton, a miniature-painter, who gave him instruction in drawing: the etchings of Mortimer also were favourite studies with him. At the age of eighteen he obtained the first silver medal for drawing in the Royal Academy; and in 1788 he obtained the gold medal for the best historical painting: the subject was Dryden's 'Ode on Alexander's Feast,'

Singleton painted portrait and history. The first remarkable picture which he produced was a large portrait piece of all the Academicians assembled in the Council Chamber; this picture was painted in 1793. Singleton was for more than half a century a constant exhibitor in the Royal Academy, and he exhibited many attractive pictures, both portraits and historical pieces, but it was not until 1807 that he put down his name as a candidate for the honours of the academy; he was however passed over, and he did not make a second attempt.

Singleton was versatile and ready in invention, though his style of drawing was uniform; and both his pictures and his designs are very numerous; he was much employed by publishers. West has been heard to say-"Propose to Singleton a subject, and it will be on canvas in five or six hours." The range of his works is very great, and comprises figure-pieces of almost every class; many of them have been engraved, and some on a large scale. Among his best works are Christ entering Jerusalem; Christ healing the Blind; John Baptizing; Coriolanus and his Mother; and Hannibal swearing enmity to the Romans; the Storming of Seringapatam; the Death of Tippoo Saib; and the Surrender of Tippoo's Sons; of all of which there are engravings of a large size. In his later years he was almost wholly employed upon an extensive series of illustrations from Shakspere, which are his principal works: the series includes several designs from each play, and many of them appear to be taken from the favourite dramatic representations of Shakspere which in Singleton's time were so abundant. He died on the 15th of September, 1839.

SIRI, VITTORIO, born at Parma in 1608, became a priest, and afterwards went to Paris, where he found favour with Louis XIV., who appointed him his almoner and historiographer. Siri wrote a journal in Italian, entitled 'Mercurio Politico,' which he continued for many years, and as Louis acted for a long period the principal part on the political stage of Europe, he was flattered at having by him a writer who contributed to spread his fame in a foreign language. Siri however was not a fulsome flatterer, and although he often praised Louis, he did not always spare his ministers and other powerful men of that and the preceding reign; and this freedom passed unheeded chiefly from the circumstance of his writing in a language foreign to France, and which was not understood by the people in general Besides the 'Mercurio Politico,' the collection of which consists of fifteen thick volumes, Siri wrote another journal, entitled 'Memorie Recondite,' which fills eight volumes. Le Clerc (Bibliothèque Choisie,' vol. iv., p. 138) observes that both these works contain a vast number of valuable authentic documents. The general style of the writer is however prolix and heavy. Siri died at Paris in 1685. (Cor niani, Secoli della Letteratura Italiana.)

SIRI'CIUS, a native of Rome, succeeded Damasus I., as bishop of that city, A.D. 384, under the reign of Valentinian II. We have several letters by him written to various churches on matters both of dogma and of discipline. Some of them are in condemnation of the Priscillianists, Donatists, and other heretics; one is directed to Anycius, bishop of Thessalonica, on matters of jurisdiction; another to

limerius, bishop of Tarracona, which is one of the oldest instances of a bishop of Rome sending mandates to other churches to be received as ecclesiastical laws. Siricius is also one of the first bishops of Rome who wrote concerning the celibacy of the clergy. He directed that a priest who married a second wife after the death of the first should be expelled from his office. (Platina, 'Lives of the Popes;' Dupin, Nouvelle Bibliothèque, Vie de Sirice.) The council of Nica had already decreed that all clerks who had been married before they took orders should be allowed to retain their wives according to the ancient tradition of the church, but that priests and deacons should not marry after their ordination. Siricius died in 398. SIRMOND, JACQUES, was born at Riom, in France, October 22, 1559. Having completed his studies at the Jesuits' college at Billom, the first which that society had in France, he adopted the rule of St. Ignatius, and prepared himself, by a diligent study of the ancient languages, for fulfilling the duties of a teacher. When he had finished his noviciate, his superiors required him to proceed to Paris as professor of rhetoric, in which city he remained till 1590, when he repaired to Rome, on the invitation of the Père Aquaviva, General of the Society of Jesuits, who chose Sirmond as his secretary. In this employment he continued sixteen years, during which he examined diligently the manuscripts in the Vatican library, as well as the inscriptions and other remains of antiquity, of which Rome possessed such an abundant supply.

In 1608 the Père Sirmond returned to Paris, and soon afterwards commenced a visitation of the libraries and archives of the convents, and was thereby enabled to save from destruction a great number of documents of the highest value for the history of the middle ages. Sirmond's first publication was the 'Opuscules' of Geoffroi, abbé de Vendôme, in 1610; from which time he continued to add to his reputation by other publications almost every year. Pope Urban VII. invited him to return to Rome, but Louis XIII. retained him in France, and in 1637 made him his confessor. Having left the court on the death of Louis XIII., in 1643, he recommenced his literary labours, which had been somewhat interrupted by attention to the duties of his late dignified office, and continued with unabated ardour to occupy himself in the same way till his death, October 7, 1651, when he was 92 years of age.

Sirmond's 'Ouvrages' were collected and published in 1696, in 5 vols. folio. The first three volumes contain the 'Opuscules' of those Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers which had been published by Sirmond, with prefaces and notes; the fourth volume contains his Dissertations; and the fifth volume contains the works of Théodore Studite. This edition of Sirmond's Works is by the Père la Baume, and is preceded by a Life of Sirmond by the editor, his Funeral Oration by Henri de Valois, and a list of Sirmond's Works in manuscript as well as printed. In this edition are included the Works of Enodius bishop of Pavia, of Sidonius Apollinaris, of Eugenius bishop of Toledo, the Chronicles of Idatius and Marcellinus, the Collections of Anastasius the Librarian, the Capitularies of Charles-le-Chauve and his successors, the works of St. Avit, of Théodulphe bishop of Orleans, &c. Father Sirmond published other ecclesiastical writers besides those included in the above edition, among which are 'L'Histoire de Reims,' by Flodoard, the 'Lettres de Pierre de Celles,' the 'Euvres' of Radbert, of Theodoret, of Hincmar archbishop of Reims, &c. Sirmond published also a Collection of the Councils of France, Concilia Antiqua Galliæ,' Paris, 1629, folio.

SISIN'NIUS, a Syrian by birth, succeeded John VII. as bishop of Rome, A.D. 707, and died twenty days after his election. He was succeeded by Constantine.

SISMONDI, JEAN CHARLES LEONARD SIMONDE DE, was the son of a Protestant minister of the canton of Geneva; he belonged to an ancient family of Tuscan origin, which has become extinct by his death. His ancestors, who were attached to the Ghibelline party, were expelled from Pisa in the 14th century, and took refuge in France, where they remained till the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, when they settled at Geneva. Sismondi was born at Geneva on the 9th of May, 1773. He was first placed at the College of Geneva, where he acquired a sound knowledge of classical literature. From the college he was removed to the Auditoire, where he was enabled to pursue a more extended course of study. His education being completed, he was compelled by the change of fortune which befel his family, owing to the events of the French revolution, to enter as clerk in the counting-house of the firm of Eynard and Co. at Lyon. Filial obedience induced him to undertake a duty to which he was unfitted by his previous habits, and which the highly cultivated disposition of his mind rendered scarcely supportable. The moral training, however, which he underwent in mastering the difficulties of his new situation, and in the regular discharge of its duties, produced an effect which, in after life, he acknowledged to have been eminently beneficial; to it he was also accustomed to ascribe his taste for the science of political economy, which predominates in his historical writings. The revolutionary troubles, which overtook the city of Lyon in 1792, compelled Sismondi to return to Geneva: this city, however, having become annexed to the French republic, proved no asylum from political persecution; his father and himself, though they had carefully abstained from interference in public affairs, were imprisoned; but, as no charge could be brought against them, they were soon after

liberated. In February 1793, he accompanied his family to England, where they intended to settle; but the dilapidated state of his father's fortune rendered their residence in London one of privations to which they had not been accustomed, and, after a year's residence in different parts of England, they returned to their native city. This sojourn in England Sismondi turned to profitable account; besides acquiring a sound knowledge of the language, and studying the English constitution, he examined our commercial and agricultural system, and was thus enabled, when in after-life he published his peculiar views on political economy, to speak from actual knowledge of the merits and defects of the internal policy of England. His return to Geneva afforded him the painful opportunity of studying the science of politics in a far ruder school; it was his lot to behold the peaceful commonwealth where his fathers had enjoyed liberty of conscience and freedom of speech, suffering under the despotism of what was, by courtesy, termed a popular rule. The frenzy of revo lutionary feeling had spread over the city of Geneva, and had converted its quiet money-making citizens into turbulent and suspicious demagogues. In the hope of finding a more quiet abode, and in order to afford a shelter to a friend, M. Caila, who had been proscribed by the revolutionists, the family of Sismondi removed to Châtelaine. The capture of their unfortunate friend, and his immediate execution in their presence, rendered their residence at Châtelaine as distasteful as it was dangerous. Having sold the estate they possessed there, they determined upon emigrating to the country of their ancestors, and arrived at Florence in October 1795. They invested the produce of the estate which they had sold in purchasing a small farm at Valchiusa, near Pescia, a spot selected by the young Sismondi. Here he divided his time between the active superintendence of his farm and the preparation of a work which he had projected during his travels, 'Recherches sur les Constitutions des Peuples Libres.' These researches were the groundwork of his subsequent historical writings; and though the 'Researches' themselves were never completed, the ideas which were adopted in them were reproduced in their leading principles in his 'Etudes sur les Constitutions des Peuples libres' published in 1836.

In 1801 appeared at Geneva the first published work of Sismondi, which he had written during the latter part of his stay in Italy; it was entitled, "Tableau de l'Agriculture Toscane. To his study of this subject may perhaps be attributed the prominence which, in his writings on political economy, he gives to agriculture. Eminently practical in its details, this interesting treatise discards even the appearance of theory, and contents itself with portraying in true but lively colours the actual state of the country and the manner of life of its inhabitants. The year previous to the publication of this work, Sismondi and his parents had again returned to Geneva, where they lived on the remnant of a once large property, which his father had sacrificed to his confidence in the financial measures of Necker. [NECKER, JAMES.] He published, in 1803, his essay on political economy, with the title De la Richesse Commerciale, ou Principes d'Economie Politique appliquée à la Législation du Commerce.' This work he afterwards entirely remodelled, and, in 1819, published it under the title Nouveaux Principes d'Economie Politique.' The views of Adam Smith are almost implicitly followed in this treatise, and, as they happened to coincide with the popular notions on the subject, they brought the writer into repute. The vacant chair of political economy in the university of Wilna was soon after offered to him by Count Plattner, who came purposely to Geneva to urge in person his proposal. Though the offer was advantageous in a pecuniary point of view, and the acceptance of it on that account urged upon him by his parents, it was declined by him from his dislike to teaching. It was at this period that Sismondi began to apply himself in earnest to historical investigations, and, by the advice of his mother, a woman of cultivated mind and sound understanding, to devote himself chiefly to the study of history.

His residence at Geneva, though it was enlivened by his enjoying the intimacy of several literary persons, such as Benjamin Constant and Madame De Stäel, could not deliver him from the desponding feelings which are so common to the young author, and, at the suggestion of his excellent mother, he was induced, in 1805, to accompany Madame De Stäel in a tour through Italy. Sympathy of literary tastes had produced the sincerest friendship between these two distinguished writers; the influence of the scenes they visited together in that classical country, and the poetic charm cast upon them by the conversation of the authoress of Corinne,' [STÄEL, ANNE GERMAINE DE), fixed the determination of Sismondi to consecrate the past glories of the land of his ancestors in the page of history. The first-fruits of his historical studies appeared in the first two volumes of his Républiques Italiennes,' which were published at Zürich, in 1807. His publisher, Gesner, is stated to have dealt hardly with him, and the publication of the subsequent volumes, the last of which appeared in 1818, was transferred to Treuttel and Würtz. A new and more complete edition, in sixteen volumes, appeared during the years 1825 and 1826, both at Paris and Brussels. In the composition of this his first and most important historical work, Sismondi has been blamed for not having made a sufficient use of public archives and private collections; he is, however, acknowledged to have carefully consulted every printed book from which he could derive information. It is to this

conscientious examination of authorities, and the absence of political prejudices, that the value of the 'Républiques Italiennes,' as a faithful historical record, is chiefly due. The style is pleasing and attractive, but, though a good French scholar, he never hesitates to use an unauthorised or even ungrammatical phrase in order to convey his meaning with greater precision. The part of the work, which is generally considered to be most defective, is that which treats of the development of the republican constitutions and the modifications which they afterwards experienced; for the full accomplishment of this portion of his task, Sismondi is said not to have possessed sufficient legal knowledge. While engaged in writing this history he was likewise employed as a contributor to the 'Biographie Universelle,' which was publishing in Paris under the editorship of Michaud. The biographies which he contributed to this valuable work were those of the principal historical personages of Italy, for the composition of which the researches he was then making in Italian history eminently fitted him. Sismondi was accustomed regularly to read the manuscript pages of his history to his mother, and, with the humility of filial obedience, to lend an attentive ear to the corrections she suggested. To her pious care he has gratefully acknowledged himself not a little indebted for the eminence he attained as an author; in his desponding moments she was ever a present comforter, and the rough path to literary fame was smoothed by her counsels and cheered by her example. In 1811 he delivered at Geneva a course of lectures upon the Literature of the South of Europe, which were printed at Paris in 1813, and a third edition, in four volumes, was published in 1829. It comprises an introductory history of the decline of the Latin language and the formation of the languages of Southern Europe, and presents us with a history of Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese literature to the end of the eighteenth century. The portion of this work which treats of the literature of Spain and Portugal is the most imperfect, as the information which it contains is derived from secondary sources. This work has been translated into English by Mr. Thomas Roscoe, and forms two volumes of Bohn's Standard Library.

In 1813 Sismondi visited Paris, which at that time presented an interesting study for a political observer; he there formed an acquaint ance with an illustrious brother historian, M. Guizot, who, when, in 1819, he became minister of public instruction, made him the offer of a valuable professorship at Paris, which however he declined. During the Hundred Days a series of letters, which he published in the 'Moniteur,' on the French Constitution, attracted the attention of Napoleon I., who requested an interview with the author. The interesting details of this interview were immediately after reported by Sismondi to his mother, and an abridgment of them may be seen in the Quarterly Review' (vol. 72, p. 318-321).

In 1819 Sismondi began his longest, and, as it is by some considered, his best work, 'L'Histoire des Français,' which occupied him till the close of his life. It was not at first the intention of the author to bring down this history to a later period than the Edict of Nantes, which terminates the twenty-first volume; he was induced to continue it, on a more abridged scale, to the period of the Revolution, but he carried it no further than the year 1750. His principal motives for undertaking this important work were, the connection of French history with Italian, and the fact that French literature possessed no history of the kind which could be looked upon as a work of authority. To these motives may be added the great interest which Sismondi evinced in the affairs of a country which he had adopted as his own. He has not, however, allowed his bias in favour of France and the French to interfere with the investigation of truth and the declaration of it. So little indeed did he seek to gratify in it the national vanity, that he has not hesitated to expose the weak foundation on which had rested undisturbed for centuries many traditional incidents in the history of France, which, as they responded to the popular feeling, had been fondly cherished in the memory of the people.

The history is divided into eleven periods: the first three treat of the early races of French kings, the Merovingian, Carlovingian, and early Capetian races, to the accession of Louis IX.; the fourth brings it down to the death of Charles IV., 1328; the fifth, from the accession of Philip le Valois to Charles V., 1422; the sixth, from 1422 to 1515; the seventh, and most interesting, presents us with the reign of Francis I., and is a beautiful specimen of historical portraiture, in which the colours, though lively and pleasing, are never exaggerated; the eighth embraces the period of the religious wars of France, which are treated of with an impartiality scarcely to be looked for in a Genevan Protestant; the ninth is the reign of that favourite of French kings, the first of the Bourbons, and here, more perhaps than in any other part of his writings, may be seen the honest spirit by which he was actuated; indeed in his endeavour to be impartial, he has perhaps sometimes been unnecessarily severe on the character of Henri IV. The last three periods embrace the history of France under the Bourbons to the latter period of the reign of Louis XV.

In the year 1830 Sismondi published, in 'Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia,' an abridgment, in English, of his 'Républiques Italiennes;' a French edition of this work appeared in Paris in 1832, under the title Histoire de la Renaissance de la Liberté en Italie.'

The last and least known of his historical works is entitled 'Histoire de la Chute de l'Empire Romain et du Déclin de la Civilisation.'

The other writings of Sismondi are, 1, ‘Julie Sevère,' an historical novel in imitation of Sir Walter Scott, in which he describes the condition of Gaul at the time that Rome was a prey to the barbarians; it was published at Paris in 1822: 2, Études sur les Sciences Sociales,' published at Paris in 1836; this work contains a collection of articles which he had previously contributed to various periodicals: 3, 'De la Vie et des Écrits de Th. Mallet,' 8vo, 1807.

The above is a brief account of the writings of Sismondi; but it would be doing injustice to his memory to omit some of the details of his private life and character which have been recorded by his biographers. Surrounded by a circle of all that was most distinguished in literature, he was conspicuous among them for the amiability of his disposition and the devotedness of his friendship. Though he never reached a state of affluence, he was liberal in contributing to the necessities of the poor, and he is said to have spent considerable sums in the furtherance of causes which had political freedom for their object. Fond of society, he never allowed his inclination to enjoy it to trespass upon the time he had marked out for study, usually nine or ten hours a day. The time he allotted to this object was never broken in upon, except to assist a friend or to alleviate misfortune. As a public character he displayed considerable firmness in the maintenance of his political opinions, and he was careless of the unpopularity which this conduct often entailed upon him.

About the year 1840 he felt the first symptoms of the cruel malady to which he fell a victim, which was a cancer in the stomach. A short journey which he made to England appears to have aggravated his disease; but his sufferings, though intense, scarcely interrupted his application to study, and he may almost be said to have died with the pen in hand. Indeed three days before his death, which occurred on the 25th of June, 1842, he was occupied in correcting the last proof sheets of his Histoire des Français.'

Sismondi married, in 1819, Miss Allen, sister to the late Mr. Allen of Cressilly, member of parliament for Pembrokeshire, and to the second wife of Sir James Mackintosh.

SIXTUS I. is recorded as bishop of Rome after Alexander I., about the beginning of the second century of our era, but the precise epoch is not ascertained, and nothing more is known of him.

SIXTUS II. succeeded Stephen I., A.D. 257. He is said to have been by birth an Athenian, and a philosopher of the Academy until he became a convert to Christianity. He suffered martyrdom in the persecution of the Christians under the Emperor Valerianus, in 258.

SIXTUS III. succeeded Celestine I., in 432. He endeavoured, though with little success, to settle the dispute between Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, and John, bishop of Antioch, concerning the Nestorians. Several of his letters are contained in Constant's collection. He died in 440.

SIXTUS IV. (Cardinal Francesco della Rovere), a Franciscan monk, succeeded Paul II. in 1471. He greatly enriched his nephews, or sons, according to some, one of whom was afterwards pope under the name of Julius II. He seized Città di Castello from its lord, Niccoló Vitelli, and took Forli, Imola, and other places. He afterwards supported the conspiracy of the Pazzi against Lorenzo de' Medici, and his nephew Cardinal Riario was present in the church when Giuliano, Lorenzo's brother, was assassinated. The conspiracy however failed of its principal objects, for Lorenzo was saved, and the conspirators were put to death, including Salviati, archbishop of Pisa, who was one of the leaders. Riario was saved by Lorenzo's interposi tion, and merely confined for a time. Sixtus, on hearing the news, excommunicated Lorenzo, and all the magistrates of Florence and their abettors, for having hung the archbishop. The clergy of Florence took the part of Lorenzo, and being assembled in convocation or synod held for the occasion, they signed an act of accusation grounded upon depositions and statements of facts proving Sixtus to have been accessory to the conspiracy and the murder of Giuliano. This curious document, the original of which, in the hand-writing of Gentile d'Urbino, bishop of Arezzo, exists in the archives of Florence, is given by Fabroni and Roscoe in their respective biographies of Lorenzo. The expressions used by the clergy of Florence, in speaking of the head of the church, are stronger than any of those used half a century later by Luther and the other reformers. Another document, drawn up by Bartolomeo Scala, chancellor of the republic of Florence, corroborates the statements in the Florentine synod, by giving an histo rical memorial of all the proceedings of that celebrated conspiracy. Pope Sixtus induced Ferdinand, king of Naples, to join his troops to the papal forces against Florence, but the Florentines braved the storm, until Lorenzo took the bold resolution of proceeding to Naples alone, to plead the cause of his country before King Ferdinand, in which he succeeded. Sixtus, being forsaken by his ally, and alarmed at the same time at the progress of the Turks, who had landed at Otranto, was fain to agree to a reconciliation with the Florentines. In 1482 Sixtus entered into another intrigue with the Venetians, for the purpose of depriving Duke Ercole of Este of his dominion of Ferrara, which he wished to bestow upon Count Girolamo Riario, another of his nephews. This led to a war, in which the king of Naples and the Florentines supported the Duke of Ferrara against the pope and the Venetians. The emperor however interposed, threatening to call

corrupt taste which they introduced, and the fatal decline of the language under their influence; but Skarga is, on the contrary, the great example of excellence in prose in the period to which he belonged. His work, entitled 'Zywoty Swiety ch' (Lives of the Saints), is regarded as a model of style; it has run through more than twenty editions, and is as popular a book in Poland as Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs' used to be in England. The last edition of his 'Sermons,' in 6 volumes 8vo, was issued by Bobrowicz at Leipzig in 1843. A complete translation of them into Latin by Pieniazek was published at Cracow in 1691. That Skarga was not very scrupulous as to accuracy in respect of facts is shown by a passage in one of these sermons relating to England, in which he states that the Puritans (Puritanowie), who he says out-numbered the Calvinists, did not hold the resurrection of the dead or the immortality of the soul. A long list of works from his pen is given by Niesiecki in the Herbarz Polski,' of which three are in Latin and the rest in Polish. SKELTON, JOHN, an English poet of an ancient Cumberland family, was born somewhere about 1460, but whether in Cumberland or Norfolk is not certain, though the latter county seems the more probable. Very few particulars of his life are known. The first mention of him is in the preface to Caxton's translation of the Eneid,' printed in 1490, where he is said to have been lately created poet-laureate in the "Unyversite of Oxenforde." This honour was a degree in grammar conferred by universities, and not, as is now the case, an office in the gift of the crown. (Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry,' in the account of Skelton; and Malone, 'Life of Dryden,' i. 83.) Skelton was ordained deacon in 1498, by the Bishop of London, and priest the following year. (Regis. Savage. Epis. London.,' quoted by Bishop Kennet in his collections; Lansdowne MSS.) He was afterwards admitted to an ad eundem degree at Cambridge (where he appears to have been at one time a student, as in his Alma parens,' he styles himself "quondam Alumnus" of Cambridge), and allowed to wear the dress ('habitus') given him by the king. This we must suppose to have been some badge of royal favour bestowed on him by Henry VII., to whose son the Duke of York, afterwards Henry VIII., he was tutor, being esteemed so great a classical scholar as to obtain from Erasmus the praise of being "Britannicarum Literarum Decus et Lumen." ('Epistle to Henry VIII.,' prefixed to his 'Epigrams,' 294, 4to, Basil., 1518.) In 1504 we find from his own statement in his poems that he was rector of Diss in Norfolk and curate of Trompington in Cambridgeshire. In the reign of Henry VIII., if not during the lifetime of his predecessor, he was appointed orator regius, as he styles himself in the title to several of his poems, being, according to Warton, a graduated rhetorician employed in the service of the king, though whether with any salary does not appear; in one place he is called Reginæ Orator (Poems'), in a passage referring probably to the battle of Guinegate, 1513. Skelton became noted for his coarse but bold invective against Cardinal Wolsey and the clergy in general, but according to tradition, not easily traceable to its source, his own conduct as a priest was far from being creditable. He was esteemed, observes Wood (Athenæ Oxon.'), in his parish and the diocese more fit for the stage than the pew or pulpit; he is said to have been suspended by the Bishop of Norwich, having been guilty of "certain crimes, as most poets are." (Wood, 'Ibid.) But there is really no authority whatever for these aspersions on Skelton's private or priestly character. He is accused by Fuller of having kept a concubine; but it is affirmed that he was really married (Delafield, Anecdotes of celebrated Jesters,' &c., manuscript Bodl., quoted by Bliss, Ath. Oxon.'), though he was afraid to publicly own Lis marriage; a piece of cowardliness for which he is said to have expressed remorse on his death-bed. There appears to be reason to believe that Skelton had in fact some of the free notions respecting the marriage of the clergy and some other subjects entertained by the Reformers. The severe attack upon Wolsey in the poem, Why come ye not to Court?' drew upon him the resentment of that great ecclesiastic, who ordered him to be arrested. Skelton took sanctuary at Westminster, under the protection of Abbot Islip, to whom, in 1512, he dedicated the 'Præconium Henrici Septimi.' He died in this retreat, June 21, 1529, and was interred in the churchyard, with the inscription, "J. Skeltonius Vates Pierius hic situs est. Animam egit 21 Junii, An. Dom. MDXXIX."

Skelton was much thought of in his day. We have already quoted the praise bestowed on him by Erasmus; and "of the like opinion," says Wood, 66 were many of his time. Yet the generality saw that his witty discourses were biting, his laughter opprobrious and scornful, and his jokes commonly sharp and reflecting." Among the nobility his patron was Algernon Percy, fifth earl of Northumberland, and he has written a long elegy on the death of that nobleman's father.

Skelton attempted several kinds of poetry, but the larger and better part of it is of a humorous or satirical character; about all of which there is a heartiness, and a sense of enjoyment that are as evidently natural as they are pleasant. In his lightest and briefest snatches of mirthful rhymes, as well as in his longer pieces, there is nothing of formality apparent; every part overflows with an artless freedom and gaiety. His serious poetry, on the other hand, is elaborate, and stately, and dull. Not so dull however as has been represented; but certainly not of a kind to be read for the pleasure it affords. He is wanting in elevation of sentiment, and in pathos. Passages of a

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rugged grandeur often occur, but nowhere any which affect the feelings or arouse the passions. His directly religious poems are few; but they are not wanting in a religious sobriety and even solemnity of tone. His elegies are more forced and less impressive. The chief of his poems are his drama or morality of Magnificence,' another called the Bouge of Court,' the 'Crowne of Lawrell,' 'Why come ye not to Court?' a satire against Wolsey; the 'Boke of Colin Clout,' Ware the Hawk,' The Tunning (or brewing) of Elinor Rumming,' 'Phillip Sparrow,' ("an exquisite and original poem," as Coleridge very truly calls it), &c. In other poems Henry VIII.'s foreign enemies, particularly the Scotch, are the victims of most bitter attacks. According to Caxton in the passage quoted above, Skelton translated the Epistles of Cicero, Diodorus Siculus, and various Latin writers. The structure of his verse is irregular and sometimes tuneless; but there occur passages of rare beauty and harmony. His Latin compositions are written with considerable elegance. Skelton appears to have been one of the earliest authors in this country who addressed themselves to the nation at large, rather than to the nobility or to any particular class. Hence perhaps the often grotesque combination in his works of classical allusions and phraseology, and of doggrel for the unlettered multitude. And hence too he has claims on our regard other than as a poet. The nature of his writings led him to treat of popular manners, of which he has left us some lively pictures sketched with the free hand of an original and a keen observer, and which are especially valuable as belonging to a period midway between Chaucer and Shakspere. A bold, popular satirist, he was thoroughly imbued with the prejudices of his time; and if he does not go beyond his term, he clearly reflects it. Such a writer must not be overlooked by one who would judge of that age; but he also deserves regard for the share which he had in imparting fixedness to our language, which at the close of the 15th century was in an exceedingly unsettled state.

The Poetical Works of Skelton should be read in the admirable edition of the Rev. Alexander Dyce (2 vols. 8vo, 1843), who for the first time brought the whole of them together, and illustrated them with a body of valuable notes, and also an outline of the life of Skelton separating from it as far as practicable the calumnies with which it had come to be overlaid.

SKINNER, STEPHEN, M.D., a skilful physician and a very learned philologist, was born in 1623 in London or the neighbourhood. He studied in the University of Oxford, where he was a commoner of Christ Church; but the Civil War coming on, he left Oxford without taking a degree, and travelled abroad, occasionally remaining some time at the foreign universities. In 1646 he returned to Oxford, and took the usual academical degrees; after which he again went abroad, living in France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands; frequenting the courts of princes and the halls of the universities, being highly esteemed both for his learning and his general deportment. He took the degree of M.D. at Heidelberg, and afterwards at Oxford, in 1656. He then settled at Lincoln, where he engaged in the practice of medicine with great success; but his career was short. In the beginning of autumn in 1667, febrile complaints were very prevalent in Lincolnshire, and he, among others, was fatally attacked. He died on the 5th of September in that year, at the age of forty-four, to the great regret of his friends, to whom the innocence of his life and the cheerfulness of his disposition had endeared him.

His early decease was a great loss also to the world, for he was applying his vast stores of philological knowledge to the illustration of his native language; and had made no inconsiderable progress in a work which was designed to serve as an etymological dictionary of the language. This manuscript came after his death into the hands of Thomas Henshaw, Esq., of Kensington, who had a disposition to the same kind of studies, and who made additions to it. He also superintended the publication of it, which was effected in 1671, in a folio volume, under the title of Etymologicon Linguæ Anglicana.' Dr. Skinner's work has the great disadvantage of having been left unfinished by the author, who, it may be presumed, would have struck out, as well as added, as his knowledge advanced and the general principles of philology became more distinctly perceived by him, which would probably have been the case had he proceeded in his work. As it is, it is to be regarded rather as containing anecdotes of the language than as a systematic body of English etymologies; but it contains numerous valuable suggestions, and many later English etymologists have made use of his labours. The etymological part of Dr. Johnson's Dictionary is mainly derived from Skinner and Junius.

SKOVORODÂ (known in the Ukraine under the name of Gregory Sawicz, or Gregory the son of Sava) was born about 1730, of poor parents, in a village near Kiew, where his father was subdeacon or parish clerk. He was admitted at the age of twelve years into the ecclesiastical academy of Kiew, in the capacity of a servant, but was soon allowed to attend the lectures there, in consideration of the talent which he showed. After obtaining the reputation of being the best classical scholar of the place, and in vain soliciting permission to go abroad, he set out on foot, without the knowledge of his superiors, for Pesth, where he commenced the study of the German language, and in six months was able to profit by the lectures. His account of these lectures however shows them to have been very inefficient, and moreover the fame of Wolf was then at its height and attracting