either toothed or entire, and the five-parted flowers have delicate white petals and are solitary, or more usually in racemes, succeeded by fruits like tiny purplish apples or pears. The species are generally small shrubs, but the A. canadensis and A. botryapium, the shadbushes and juneberries of the eastern United States, occasionally arrive at the dignity of small trees, with hard brown wood. These are the first shrubs to bloom in the East (while the shad are running), and cover themselves with feathery elongated tassels of fugacious petals, while the leaves are still folded. The haw-like fruits, of somewhat insipid flavor, seldom reach maturity, as they should in June, for then the birds are too fond of them to wait for their ripening. This circumstance militates against the proposed cultivation of the juneberry.

A. alnifolia is the well-known service-berry of western America, frequently mentioned by explorers of the Rocky Mountain region. The purple, rich, although insipidly sweet, berries are about the size of a pea, with a large mucilaginous seeds. They form a favorite food of the aborigines, who cook them or dry them, and add them to dried meat, to flavor pemmican. They grow upon bushes 2 to 12 feet high, with glabrous thick alder-like leaves, nearly orbicular and coarsely toothed. wood itself is very hard and tough and is used by the Indians for arrows and pipe-stems.

The

The fruit of the white beam-tree (Sorbus aria) is also called service-berry. See also AMELANCHIER.

SERVICE MEN OF THE SPANISHAMERICAN WAR, an association organized at Lexington, Ky., 5 Nov. 1898. The founders of the society made choice of the designation "service men" as equally distinctive of the men who waited in vain for orders to go to the front, and the more favored ones who lived through the exciting scenes of actual conflict. In the list of charter members are to be found the names of many of the most prominent officers in the army during the war with Spain. They represent all sections of the United States and all shades of political belief, and constitute a guarantee of the permanence of the organization.

SERVICE-TREE, a round-headed, slowgrowing European tree (Sorbus domestica) of the Rosacea, attaining a height of perhaps 60 feet. When without flowers or fruit, it is easily confounded with the ash, having pinnate leaves; but the glutinous winter buds help to identify it. The small whitish flowers are numerous, and gathered in panicles at the end of the branches, being succeeded by small rounded or pear-shaped fruit, which is only edible when in a state of incipient decay, being astringent while unripe. The wood is hard, solid and fine-grained, and takes a high polish. It is much in demand for fine cabinet making, for turning and especially for the screws of wine presses; and is very dear. The servicetree is occasionally cultivated.

SERVISS, Garrett Putnam, American author and journalist: b. Sharon Springs, N. Y., 24 March 1851. He was graduated from Cornell University in 1872, and from Columbia Law School in 1874. He was editorial writer on the New York Sun until 1892, and has since lectured upon history and astronomy. Among his

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published works are Astronomy with an Opera Glass' (1888); The Conquest of Mars' (1898); Other Worlds' (1902); The Moon' (1907); Astronomy with the Naked Eye' (1908); Curiosities of the Sky) (1902); Round the Year with the Stars' (1910); 'The Moon Maiden' (1915).

SERVITES. See ORDERS, RELIGIOUS.

SERVITUDE, the state or condition of a serf, slave or bondman; state of voluntary or involuntary subjection to a master or employer; service; slavery; bondage; position in life of a servant; hence, a state or condition of slavish or helpless dependence; as, marriage with rich and ugly old women is splendid servitude. In civil law, the right to the use of a thing, without property in the same, for all or for some particular purposes. It consists either in the right to do some act, as to gather fruit from the estate, or to prevent the owner of the property from doing certain acts, as building walls beyond a certain height, blocking up a window,

etc.

SERVIUS, Honoratus Maurus, Roman grammarian. He lived at Rome toward the 4th century A.D., and wrote a commentary on the Grammar of Donatus; some lesser grammatical brochures; and a commentary on the poems of Virgil which an unknown author enlarged and enriched with notes of an antiquarian, historical and mythological character. Consult Thilo and Hagen, Servii Honorati Opera' (1878).

SERVIUS TULLIUS, sèr'vi-us tŭl'i-ŭs, sixth king of Rome: d. 534 B.C. He was the son of a slave, but traditions of his descent vary, some declaring his mother to have been an ordinary slave, and others stating her to have been a noble captive of Tarquin. He was given to the queen Tanaquil, and educated in the palace of the monarch, where he became so great a favorite as to receive the daughter of Tarquin in marriage. On the death of Tarquin in 578 B.C., Servius, who was immensely popular with both populace and soldiery, was raised to the throne. His reign is singularly free from wars, Livy mentioning but one, and that against the Veii, brought to a speedy termination. His greatness lay in the establishment of civil rights and institutions. He established the census, extended and beautified the city, taking within its limits the hills Quirinalis, Viminalis and Esquilinus, and building around the city a stone wall which bore his name. He greatly improved the condition of the common people, thereby gaining the enmity of the patricians, whose long-accustomed privileges were thus encroached upon, and in 534 Servius was killed as the result of a patrician conspiracy. Another tradition makes him the victim of an ambitious daughter, Tullia, who caused the death of her husband, sister and father in order to pave her way to the throne as the wife of Tarquin, son of the former king. Consult Niebuhr, Roman History and Critical Examinations of the History of Tarquin and Servius. See also ROME, HISTORY OF.

SERVUS SERVORUM DEI (servant of the servants of God), a title which the popes give themselves. It was used by the Roman pontiffs at an early period, although Paulus

Diaconus states that Gregory the Great (590604) was the first to adopt it.

SESAME, a rough-hairy, gummy annual plant (Sesamum indicum) about two feet high, with petiolate, ovate-lanceolate leaves, opposite below and alternate above, slightly toothed, and mucilaginous. The flowers are solitary in the axils, pale or rose-colored, five-parted, with irregular-lipped corolla, having the tube curved downward and dilated above the oblique base. Sesame has been known from ancient times, originating in the East, where it is cultivated for the sake of its black or white seeds. It is easily grown, does not object to poor soil and has even been introduced to gardens in America, for the sake of the leaves, which in infusion are employed as a demulcent medicine for infantile dysentery. The plant has run wild in the Southern States.

The seeds are very tiny, but are sweet and oleaginous, and are much used for food by Oriental peoples, and are imported into Europe for crushing. They will yield half of their weight in oil, which is yellow, limpid, inodorous and keeps for years without becoming rancid. It is of great economic value, second only to cocoanut oil in the variety of its uses, and can be employed instead of olive oil in very many ways, as for culinary purposes, food, medicine (having a laxative effect), cosmetic, illumination, lubrication, soap-making, etc. It is also employed as an adulterant for olive-oil, but is itselflulterated with peanut-oil. It is known as bene or benne and as gingil-oil. The cake left after the oil has been expressed forms a food for the poorer classes, and is a good food for cattle.

SESAMOID BONES, certain rounded bodies, at first cartilaginous and then bony, found in the tendons of muscles. They derive their name from their resemblance to sesame. The patella or knee-cap is a sesamoid bone. Another is developed in the upper joint of the thumb, and at the corresponding joint of the great toe, these increasing the leverage of the short flexor muscles of the thumb and great toe respectively. In the great majority of mammals sesamoid bones are much more numerous than in man.

SESHA, sa'sha, an imaginary serpent which, when coiled up, is the Hindu emblem for immortality. It is represented in Hindu mythology as having 1,000 heads, on one of which the world rests, and Vishnu reclines on this immense reptile in the primæval waters.

SESOSTRIS, sě-sos'tris, the name given by Greek writers to a king of Egypt, about whose identity there is much controversy, while it seems certain that the achievements attributed by the Greeks to Sesostris were the deeds of a number of Egyptian rulers. By many Sesostris is believed to be identical with Rameses II, the son of Seti (the Sethos of Manetho), and the third king of the 19th dynasty. The name of Sesostris is explained as a corruption of Sestesura, the popular appellation of this Rameses, or of Sethosis (written by Pliny Sesothis), meaning son of Sethos, by which name the same monarch is designated in Manetho. Others think that the Greek Sesotris may be a corruption of Secortesen or some similar form, which is the name of one king of the 3d dynasty and three others of the 12th. The Sesortesen of

the 3d dynasty is called Sesostris by Aristotle. The identification of Sesostris with Rameses II has the support of Champollion, Salvolini and others, but is combated by Bunsen on the ground that some of the most striking achievements attributed by Herodotus and Diodorus to Sesostris do not belong to that Rameses. Such are the victorious expeditions into Nubia and Thrace, the immense development under him of the Egyptian navy, the division of the land and its subjection to heavy burdens. But it is generally admitted, as before stated, that the exploits of various monarchs were united by the Greeks in their accounts of the reign of Sesostris, which contain a number of fables in addition, so that it is needless to seek for complete correspondence between these accounts and the monumental records of any single reign. Many of the most remarkable deeds of Sesostris may be assigned with great probability to Rameses III, the founder of the 20th dynasty and the restorer of the power and glory of Egypt. He triumphed over the confederations formed against him by various Libyan tribes; annihilated by a great victory gained in northern Syria a league of Hittites, Philistines and other Canaanitish peoples, and of tribes inhabiting the isles of the Mediterranean, in which sea he maintained a large fleet to support his operations on land. Consult Bridge, E. A. T. W., A History of Egypt (New York 1902); Sethe, Sesostris) (Leipzig 1900).

SESSIONS, Court of. See COURT.

SESSUMS, Davis, American Protestant Episcopal bishop: b. Houston, Tex., 7 July 1858. He was educated at the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn., took orders in 1882, and became rector of Grace Church, Galveston, Tex. He was assistant and rector of Calvary Church, Memphis, Tenn., in 1883-87; rector at Christ Church, New Orleans, La., in 1887-91, and in the latter year was consecrated bishop of Louisiana.

SESTERTIUS, an ancient Roman silver coin worth 21⁄2 asses (hence the name sesquitertius, the third a half). The sestertius was the fourth part of a denarius, and when in later times the weight of the ass was reduced, and 16 asses were reckoned to a denarius, the sestertius still retained the same proportion to the latter coin, and thus became equal to four asses. The value of the sestertius, therefore, varied with that of the denarius. About the close of the republic, when the denarius is calculated to have been worth about 17 cents, the sestertius would be worth 5 cents. The sestertius was the unit most commonly employed by the Romans in reckoning large sums of money. For sums below 1,000,000 sestertia, the ordinary cardinal numerals were used with sestertii or sestertia, as the case might be; but if the sum amounted to 1,000,000 or more a numeral in ies, after which centena millia (100,000) had, to be understood, was connected with sestertium (for example, quadragies sestertium is 4,000,000 of sestertii, that is, quadragies centena millia sestertiorum nummorum). Sometimes the numeral adverb was used alone, and decies ei dedit signifies decies sestertium, that is, decies centena millia sestertiorum, or 1,000,000. The sestertius was often expressed by the symbol HS, which is

explained as a corruption either of IIS, that is, II, the numeral two, and S for semis, half of LLS, or libra libra semis, and as having been originally equivalent to libra or pound.

SESTINI, sas-tē’nē, Domenico, Italian numismatist: b. Florence, 1750; d. there, 1832. He was educated at the school of San Marco. In 1774 he left his native city and went to Sicily, where he received from Prince Biscari the commission to arrange his museum at Catania, and from this time he applied himself exclusively to numismatic studies. He published numerous books, chief among which was his 'Systema Geographicum Numismatum' in 13 folio vol

umes.

SESTO, sas'to, Cesare da (CESARE DA MILANO), Italian painter: b. Sesto, near Milan, about 1480; d. Milan, about 1524. He was probably a pupil, certainly an imitator, of Leonardo, and a picture of his in the Prado, Madrid, is put down by Madrazo as a copy of that master's Virgin and Child.' 'La Vierge aux Balances' in the Louvre and a 'Holy Family' in the collection of Lord Monson, formerly thought to be by da Vinci, are now attributed to Cesare. He was on friendly terms with Raphael at Rome, and reproduced some of the qualities of that master's style. The mingled influence of da Vinci and Raphael is apparent in his Adoration of the Kings' at the Naples Museum. Other pictures of his are 'Baptism of Christ,' Scotti Gallery, Milan; Madonna with St. John,' Melzi Collection, Milan; and a Madonna' in the Brera.

SETCHELL, William Albert, American botanist: b. Norwich, Conn., 15 April 1864. He was graduated at Yale University in 1887 and took his Ph.D. at Harvard University in 1890. He was instructor in biology at Yale in 1891-95 and instructor in botany at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass., in 189095. Since 1895 he has been professor of botany at the University of California. Author of 'Laboratory Practice for Beginners in Botany) (1897).

SETHITES, a sect in the 2d century that worshipped Seth, the son of Adam, as the son of God, and maintained that he had reappeared on earth in the person of Jesus Christ.

He

SETHOS I, se'thos, or SETI, se'ti, Egyptian king, the second Pharaoh of the 19th dynasty; which lasted from 1462 to 1288 B.C. was one of the shepherd race or Hyksos in the eastern part of the Delta. Distinguished for magnificence, he built the temples of Osiris at Abydos, and the hall of columns at Karnak. He established by arms the power of Egypt over a large part of western Asia.

SETON, se'ton, Eliza Ann Bayley, American philanthropist, founder of the order of Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul in the United States: b. New York, 28 Aug. 1774; d. Emmittsburg, Md., 4 Jan. 1821. She was married to William Seton about 1794 and after his death in 1804 she was received into the Roman Catholic Church the next year, and on 22 June 1809 established at Emmittsburg, Md., a community called by her Saint Joseph's Sisterhood. In 1810 the rules of the French sisters were adopted, with modifications suited to American conditions. The society grew and prospered, and in 1850 a union with the Paris society was

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effected. In 1846 the New York community became independent of the original American organization. For statistics, consult the article on the society. Consult de Barbary, Vie' (1868); O'Gorman, A History of the Catholic Church in the United States) (1895).

SETON, Ernest Thompson, American author, for some time known as SETON-THOMPSON b. South Shields, Durham, England, 14 Aug. 1860. After a brief course at the Royal Academy, London, he spent three years in zoological study on the Assiniboine in Manitoba, published works on the 'Birds of Manitoba' and Mammals of Manitoba,' was made government naturalist of the province and executed for the 'Century Dictionary) more than 1,000 drawings of animals and birds. In 1890 he became a pupil of Mosler in Paris, whither he returned in 1894 to study with Ferrier, Bougereau and Gérôme. He exhibited at the Salon several drawings and paintings of wolves, his particular subjects. Among his much-read books are 'Wild Animals I Have Known' (1898); 'The Trail of the Sandhill Stag) (1899); The Biography of a Grizzly) (1900); Lives of the Hunted' (1901); Two Little Savages' (1903); 'Woodmyth and Fable' (1904); Animal Heroes (1905); 'Life Histories of Northern Animals' (1909); Rolf in the Woods' (1911); 'Arctic Prairies' (1911); Book of Woodcraft' (1911); Wild Animals at Home' (1913); Wild Animals' Ways' (1916); Woodcraft Boys' (1917); (Sign Talk) (1918). In 1902 he founded the Woodcraft League which was the precursor and in many respects the father of all the present scouting organizations. It is now confined chiefly to America but is of great and growing extent.

SETON, Robert, American Roman Catholic archbishop: b. New York, 28 Aug. 1839, a member and later head of the ancient Scottish family of Setons of Parbroath. He was graduated from the Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome in 1867, and having previously been raised to the rank of private chamberlain to Pope Pius IX, was the same year made prothonotary apostolic, later becoming dean of all the monsignori in the United States. He was rector of Saint Joseph's Church, Jersey City, N. J., from 1876-1902, in the latter year leaving for Rome. He was a lecturer at the Catholic University in Washington and at Seton Hall College, New Jersey, and in 1903 was created archbishop of Heliopolis. Under the pen-name of "Fyvie" he was for some time Rome correspondent for the New York Times. He is the author of 'Memoir, Letters and Journal of Elizabeth Seton' (1869); Roman Essays' (1882); The Dignity of Labor' 1893); 'An Old Family) (1899).

SETON, a skein of silk, cotton, etc., passed under the true skin and the cellular tissue beneath, in order to maintain an artificial issue. The name, which is derived from the Latin sæta, a bristle, stiff coarse hair, because hair was originally used for the purpose, is also given to the issue itself. To insert a seton the surgeon takes a fold of the skin between his fingers and makes an incision at the base either with a knife or with a seton needle. In the former case the seton must be inserted by means of a probe, but when a seton-needle is used that instrument carries the seton along with it. When the seton is inserted the wound

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is not very tightly bandaged and allowed to remain untouched until suppuration has set in, usually the third or fourth day. After that the wound is dressed with fresh linen regularly once or twice a day, and when the seton has became hard and stiff a new one is inserted by attaching one end of the new one to one end of the old, and then extracting the latter, so that the fresh one is dragged into its place.

SETON HALL COLLEGE, in South Orange, N. J., founded in 1856 by James Roosevelt Bayley (q.v.), then bishop of Newark. It was originally in Madison, N. J., but was removed to South Orange in 1860. In 1861 it was incorporated by the legislature of New Jersey. It was named in memory of Ann Elizabeth Seton (q.v.). The first president was Bernard J. McQuaid, later bishop of Rochester, and the second Michael A. Corrigan (q.v.), afterward archbishop of New York. In 1865 the college building was enlarged, and on 27 Jan. 1866 the beautiful marble edifice was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt and ready for Occupancy in 1867. The college grounds contain 75 acres and the number of buildings is nine. The government is vested in a board of 13 trustees, of which the bishop of Newark is a member and president ex-officio. There are two courses of study, the classical and scientific. The classical course leads to the degree of bachelor of arts; the scientific course to bachelor of science. The courses of study are registered by the board of regents of the University of New York State, hence the students graduating may have entrance to the professional schools of New York. A high school, preparatory for the college, is maintained in connection with the college. Courses of lectures on literary and scientific subjects are established for the pupils, and the public is admitted free of charge. The library, which is in a building of its own, contains approximately 40,000 volumes. The college offers three full scholarships in the classical course, granted to worthy applicants by a competitive examination; they entitle the holders to board and tuition until graduated, and there is a fund to assist worthy students. The annual income is over $90,000. The faculty numbers 20 instructors and the average annual attendance of students reaches nearly 300.

SETTER, a breed of dogs, named from their former habit of crouching or "setting," on observing the game which they are trained to hunt. In modern days, however, these dogs remain erect on coming up with the quarry, and point their nose at it as does the pointer. For the "points" of the various kinds of American setters, see DOG.

SETTIGNANO, sāt-tēn-yä'no, Desiderio da. See DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO.

SETTLEMENTS, Social. See SOCIAL AND UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENTS.

SEVEN, a number regarded by many nations as especially sacred, mystical and symbolical. In the Bible the work of creation having been completed in six days, the Creator rested on the seventh. The three Regalim or pilgrim festival of the Hebrews (the Passover, the Festival of Weeks and the Feast of the Tabernacles) lasted each seven days, and between Passover and the Festival of Weeks was an interval of seven weeks. Egypt's seven years of plenty are succeeded by seven years of dearth; for seven days the waters of Egypt were turned into blood. The seventh year was a sabbatical year and the year following seven weeks of years was the year of jubilee. The golden candlestick in Solomon's temple had seven lamps. In the New Testament occur many groups of seven, as, the seven churches of Asia, seven stars, seven trumpets, seven spirits, the seven horns and seven eyes of the lamb; all these in the Apocalypse. Among the Greeks the number seven was sacred to Apollo and to Dionysos; and it held a conspicuous place in the teaching of Pythagoras, who gave it many distinctive appellations. The sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church are seven, and also the orders of the ministry in the same church, namely, four minor and three major or sacred orders. Various reasons have been given for the peculiar regard had for this number, such as that seven is a symbol of completeness, being compounded of three and four, perfect numbers, they being representable in space by the triangle and the square.

SEVEN CHAMPIONS OF CHRISTENDOM, The, a romance of chivalry, by Richard Johnson, entered on the 'Stationers' Register> in 1596. A second part appeared in 1608 and a third in 1616. In it are recounted the exploits of Saint George of England, Saint Denis of France, Saint James of Spain, Saint Anthony of Italy, Saint Andrew of Scotland, Saint Patrick of Ireland and Saint David of Wales.

SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA, The, a collective name applied to the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea (Rev. i, 11).

SEVEN CITIES, The, a name applied to Egypt, Jerusalem, Babylon, Athens, Rome, Constantinople and either London or Paris. They are often grouped under this title, as embodying wealth, antiquity, greatness and magnifi

cence.

SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES, a series of battles which began 25 June 1862 by the advance of a part of General McClellan's army, with a view to securing a more advantageous position for a general advance upon Richmond. McClellan's army, numbering 92,500 men, was within a few miles of the city, which was defended by General Lee with an army, including Jackson's command, of 80,762 men. The advance brought on the battle of Oak Grove (q.v.), in which the loss was moderate and with no particular advantage to either side. On the next day McClellan was thrown upon the defensive by the approach of "Stonewall" Jackson toward his right flank beyond the Chickahominy and by Lee's movement upon it. Lee threw the three strong divisions of A. P. Hill, Longstreet and D. H. Hill across the Chickahominy to co-operate with Jackson, but,

without waiting for him to get up, attacked General McCall's division of Pennsylvania Reserves at Mechanicville and Beaver Dam Creek, and was finally repulsed with great loss. On the 27th McCall was withdrawn, Jackson made conection with Lee and the combined Confederate forces attacked Fitz-John Porter's corps and McCall's division, later reinforced by Slocum's division, at Gaines' Mill (q.v.), the result being a bad defeat for the Union forces, Lee's losses, however, in killed and wounded, being about double that of Porter. Porter retreated across the Chickahominy and McClellan started on his retreat or change of base to James River. Lee pursued, and on the 29th fought the two battles of Peach Orchard and Savage Station (qq.v.), both of which were drawn battles, although in both cases the Union troops withdrew from the field to continue the retreat which they had successfully covered. On the 30th, part of the Union army and nearly all Lee's army fought the bloody battle of Glendale (q.v.), the Union army holding the ground until after dark, covering the passage of the trains and defeating all of Lee's persistent efforts to break and destroy it. The last of the seven days' battles was fought at Malvern Hill (q.v.) 1 July, resulting in a bloody repulse for Lee, and that night the Army of the Potomac withdrew to Harrison's Landing on James River. "General Lee's plans in the Seven Days' fight," says General Longstreet, "were excellent, but were poorly executed." In an official report General Lee says: "Under ordinary circumstances the Federal army should have been destroyed." That it was not destroyed is due to the skill of McClellan in conducting the retreat, but more to the fighting quality of his subordinate officers and their men. The Union loss (25 June to 1 July) was 1,734 killed, 8,062 wounded and 6,053 captured or missing. The Confederate loss was 3,478 killed, 16,261 wounded and 875 captured or missing. See PENINSULA CAMPAIGN OF 1862.

SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST: Wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and the fear of the Lord. They are enumerated in Isaiah xi, 2, as rendered in the Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate and their versions: in the Douai English version the passage reads: "The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him; the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord will fill him." With this the Authorized Version agrees save that after "knowledge," this only follows "and of the fear of the Lord"; and the Hebrew, too, has nothing answering to "piety."

SEVEN-HILLED CITY, a name applied

to Rome.

SEVEN HUNTERS, The. See FLANNAN ISLANDS.

SEVEN LAMPS OF ARCHITECTURE, The, a treatise on architecture by John Ruskin, published in 1847. In this book architecture is regarded as the revealing medium or lamp, through which flame a people's passions and which embodies their life, history and religious faith, in temple, palace and home. The first lamp is "Sacrifice," next comes the "Lamp of Truth," the third and fourth lamps are those of "Power" and "Beauty." The fifth is the

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"Lamp of Life," and the last two lamps are those of "Memory" and "Obedience." Ruskin affirms that "the architecture of a nation is great only when it is universal and established in its language, and when provincial differences in style are nothing more than so many dialects."

SEVEN PINES, Battle of. See FAIR OAKS, BATTLE OF.

SEVEN SAGES. See Seven WISE MEN.

SEVEN SEAS, The, by Rudyard Kipling, a collection of verse containing several of the author's most vigorous and characteristic poems, was originally published as a separate volume in November 1896. It has also been included, under the same name as a subtitle, in a larger and more comprehensive collection, entitled 'Verses. While The Seven Seas' is not limited in range, containing, as it does, poems on many themes-virile songs in stirring rhythms, such as The Last Chantey,' striking character portraits like that of the grim old shipowner of The Mary Gloster and of the dour Scots engineer of McAndrew's Hymn' and 'The Last Rhyme of True Thomas' and other lyrics and ballads of a high order still, the dominant note, sounded especially in A Song of the English,' is a fervent, almost religious belief in Britain's world supremacy-what Paul Elmer More calls the poet's "earnest conviction that the English race, the Sons of the Blood,' are destined to sweep over the earth and fulfill the law of order and civilization." It was this note that caused the poet to be hailed the unofficial laureate of the British Empire. Kipling's frequent use of colloquialisms and slang, however appropriate when his speakers are such careless folk as soldiers and sailors, have led some critics to disparage his claims to the laurel. Yet his eager revelation of the charm and beauty inherent in "things as they are," is precisely what endears him the most. As Charles Eliot Norton says: "The poet finds to-day as entertaining as any day that ever dawned, and man's life as interesting and as romantic as it ever was in old times. It is enough now gratefully to recognize that he continues the succession of royal English poets, and to pay him the homage which is his due.»

ARTHUR GUITERMAN. SEVEN SLEEPERS, a Christian legend dating from the times of persecution under the empire. According to the story, in the reign of Emperor Decius, when the Christians were persecuted, it is said that seven noble youths of Ephesus concealed themselves in a neighboring cavern, the entrance of which was closed by order of the emperor. The persecuted youths immediately fell into a deep slumber, from which they were accidentally awakened in the reign of Theodosius II, after the lapse of about two centuries. Pressed with hunger after their long fast, they sent one of their number to the city to purchase bread. He was astonished to see crosses erected all over the city and his own antiquated dress and obsolete language confounded the baker, to whom he offered an old medal in payment for bread. Suspected of having found a secret treasure, he was carried before the judge, to whom he related his miraculous story. The bishop of Ephesus, the magistrates and the emperor him