Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama Part 147

=Semir'amis=, queen of a.s.syria, wife of Ninus. She survived her husband, and reigned. The glory of her reign stands out so prominently that she quite eclipses all the monarchs of ancient a.s.syria. After a reign of forty-two years she resigned the crown to her son, Ninyas, and took her flight to heaven in the form of a dove. Semiramis was the daughter of Derceto, the fish-G.o.ddess, and a Syrian youth, and, being exposed in infancy, was brought up by doves.

=Semiramis of the North=, Margaret, daughter of Waldemar III. of Denmark.

At the death of her father she succeeded him; by the death of her husband, Haco VIII., king of Norway, she succeeded to that kingdom also; and, having conquered Albert of Sweden, she added Sweden to her empire.

Thus was she queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (1353-1412).

_Semiramis of the North_, Catherine of Russia, a powerful and ambitious sovereign, but in morals a law unto herself (1729-1796).

=Semkail=, the angel of the winds and waves.

I keep the winds in awe with the hand which you see in the air, and prevent the wind Haidge from coming forth. If I gave it freedom it would reduce the universe to powder. With my other hand I hinder the sea from overflowing, without which precaution it would cover the face of the whole earth.--Comte de Caylus, _Oriental Tales_ ("History of Abdal Motalleb," 1743).

=Semo= (_Son of_), Cuthullin, general of the Irish tribes.

=Sempro'nius=, one of the "friends" of Timon of Athens, and "the first man that e'er received a gift from him." When Timon sent to borrow a sum of money of "his friend," he excused himself thus: As Timon did not think proper to apply to me first, but asked others before he sent to me, I consider his present application an insult. "Go," said he to the servant, "and tell your master:

Who bates mine honor shall not know my coin."

Shakespeare, _Timon of Athens_, act iii. sc. 3 (1600).

_Semp.r.o.nius_, a treacherous friend of Cato while in Utica. Semp.r.o.nius tried to mask his treason by excessive zeal and unmeasured animosity against Caesar, with whom he was acting in alliance. He loved Marcia, Cato's daughter, but his love was not honorable love; and when he attempted to carry off the lady by force, he was slain by Juba, the Numidian prince.--J. Addison, _Cato_ (1713).

I'll conceal My thoughts in pa.s.sion, 'tis the surest way.

I'll bellow out for Rome, and for my country, And mouth at Caesar till I shake the senate.

Your cold hypocrisy's a stale device, A worn-out trick.

Act i. 1.

=Sena'nus= (_St._), the saint who fled to the island of Scattery, and resolved that no woman should ever step upon the isle. An angel led St.

Can'ara to the isle, but Sena.n.u.s refused to admit her.--T. Moore, _Irish Melodies_ ("St. Sena.n.u.s and the Lady," 1814).

=Sen'eca= (_The Christian_), Bishop Hall, of Norwich (1574-1656).

=Sene'na= (3 _syl._), a Welsh maiden, in love with Car'adoc. She dressed in boy's clothes, and, under the a.s.sumed name of Mervyn, became the page of the Princess Goervyl, that she might follow her lover to America, when Madoc colonized Caer-Madoc. Senena was promised in marriage to another; but when the wedding day arrived and all was ready, the bride was nowhere to be found.

... she doffed Her bridal robes, and clipt her golden locks, And put on boy's attire, thro' wood and wild To seek her own true love; and over sea, Forsaking all for him, she followed him.

Southey, _Madoc_, ii. 23 (1805).

=Sennac'herib=, called by the Orientals King Moussal.--D'Herbelot, _Notes to the Koran_ (seventeenth century).

=Sennamar=, a very skilful architect, who built at Hirah, for Noman-al-Aouar, king of Hirah, a most magnificent palace. In order that he might not build another equal or superior to it, for some other monarch, Noman cast him headlong from the highest tower of the building.--D'Herbelot, _Bibliotheque Orientale_ (1697).

? A parallel tale is told of Neim'heid (2 _syl._), who employed four architects to build for him a palace in Ireland, and then, jealous lest they should build one like it, or superior to it, for another monarch, he had them all privately put to death.--O'Halloran, _History of Ireland_.

=Sensitive= (_Lord_), a young n.o.bleman of amorous proclivities, who marries Sabina Rosny, a French refugee, in Padua, but leaves her, more from recklessness than wickedness. He comes to England and pays court to Lady Ruby, a rich young widow; but Lady Ruby knows of his marriage to the young French girl, and so hints at it that his lords.h.i.+p, who is no libertine, and has a great regard for his honor, sees that his marriage is known, and tells Lady Ruby he will start without delay to Padua, and bring his young wife home. This, however, was not needful, as Sabina was at the time the guest of Lady Ruby. She is called forth, and Lord Sensitive openly avows her to be his wife.--c.u.mberland, _First Love_ (1796).

=Sentimental Journey= (_The_), by Laurence Sterne (1768). It was intended to be sentimental sketches of his tour through Italy in 1764, but he died soon after completing the first part. The tourist lands at Calais, and the first incident is his interview with a poor monk of St. Francis, who begged alms for his convent. Sterne refused to give anything, but his heart smote him for his churlishness to the meek old man. From Calais he goes to Montriul (Montreuil-sur-Mer) and thence to Nampont, near Cressy. Here occurred the incident, which is one of the most touching of all the sentimental sketches, that of "The Dead a.s.s." His next stage was Amiens, and thence to Paris. While looking at the Bastille, he heard a voice crying, "I can't get out! I can't get out!"

He thought it was a child, but it was only a caged starling. This led him to reflect on the delights of liberty and miseries of captivity.

Giving reins to his fancy, he imaged to himself a prisoner who for thirty years had been confined in a dungeon, during all which time "he had seen no sun, no moon, nor had the voice of kinsman breathed through his lattice." Carried away by his feelings, he burst into tears, for he "could not sustain the picture of confinement which his fancy had drawn." While at Paris, our tourist visited Versailles, and introduces an incident which he had witnessed some years previously at Rennes, in Brittany. It was that of a marquis reclaiming his sword and "patent of n.o.bility." Any n.o.bleman in France who engaged in trade, forfeited his rank; but there was a law in Brittany that a n.o.bleman of reduced circ.u.mstances might deposit his sword temporarily with the local magistracy, and if better times dawned upon him, he might reclaim it.

Sterne was present at one of these interesting ceremonies. A marquis had laid down his sword to mend his fortune by trade, and after a successful career at Martinico for twenty years, returned home, and reclaimed it.

On receiving his deposit from the president, he drew it slowly from the scabbard, and, observing a spot of rust near the point, dropped a tear on it. As he wiped the blade lovingly, he remarked, "I shall find some other way to get it off." Returning to Paris, our tourist starts for Italy; but the book ends with his arrival at Moulines (Moulins). Some half a league from this city he encountered Maria, whose pathetic story had been told him by Mr. Shandy. She had lost her goat when Sterne saw her, but had instead a little dog named Silvio, led by a string. She was sitting under a poplar, playing on a pipe her vespers to the Virgin.

Poor Maria had been crossed in love, or, to speak more strictly, the cure of Moulines had forbidden her banns, and the maiden lost her reason. Her story is exquisitely told, and Sterne says, "Could the traces be ever worn out of her brain, and those of Eliza out of mine, she should not only eat of my bread and drink of my cup, but Maria should lie in my bosom, and be unto me as a daughter."

=Sentinel and St. Paul's Clock= (_The_). The sentinel condemned to death by court-martial for falling asleep on his watch, but pardoned because he affirmed that he heard St. Paul's clock strike thirteen instead of twelve, was John Hatfield, who died at the age of 102, June, 1770.

=Sentry= (_Captain_), one of the members of the club under whose auspices the _Spectator_ was professedly issued.

=September Ma.s.sacre= (_The_), the slaughter of loyalists confined in the Abbaye. This ma.s.sacre took place in Paris between September 2 and 5, 1792, on receipt of the news of the capture of Verdun. The number of victims was not less than 1200, and some place it as high as 4000.

=September the Third= was Cromwell's day. On September 3, 1650, he won the battle of Dunbar. On September 3, 1651, he won the battle of Worcester.

On September 3, 1658, he died.

=Seraphic Doctor= (_The_), St. Bonaventura, placed by Dante among the saints of his _Paradiso_ (1221-1274).

=Seraphic Saint= (_The_), St. Francis d'a.s.sisi (1182-1226).

Of all the saints, St. Francis was the most blameless and gentle.--Dean Milman.

=Seraphina Arthuret= (_Miss_), a papist. Her sister is Miss Angelica Arthuret.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).

=Sera'pis=, an Egyptian deity symbolizing the Nile, and fertility in general.

=Seraskier'= (3 _syl._), a name given by the Turks to a general of division, generally a pacha with two or three tails. (Persian, _seri asker_, "head of the army.")

... three thousand Moslems perished here, And sixteen bayonets pierced the seraskier.

Byron, _Don Juan_, viii. 81 (1824).