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SCHLOSSEE, F. C. 



SHAW, LEMUEL. 



rally considered inimical to the highest moral 

 and intellectual development, there is as little 

 cause to blush for the progress of the nation 



since the commencement of the present century 

 as can be found in the history of any nation of 

 Europe for the same period. 



S 



SCHLOSSER, FRIEDRICH CHRISTOPHE, a Ger- 

 man historian, born in Jever, Nov. 17, 1776, died 

 in Heidelberg, Sept. 23, 1861. He was educat- 

 ed at Gottingen, and after completing his uni- 

 versity course, was for some years a private tu- 

 tor. In 1808 he became associate rector of the 

 school at Jever, but retained the position only a 

 year, removing in 1.809 to Frankfort-am-Main, 

 that he might enjoy greater facilities for his 

 historical studies. In 1812 he accepted a pro- 

 fessorship in the New Lyceum at Frankfort, 

 in 1814 was appointed city librarian, and in 

 1817 professor of history at Heidelberg. This 

 professorship he retained till his death. His 

 greatest and most widely known work was 

 " History of the Eighteenth Century, and of 

 the Nineteenth to the Overthrow of the 

 French Empire," 8 vols., published at Heidel- 

 berg in 8 vols., (1823-46,) and translated by D. 

 Davison and republished in England in 8 vols., 

 (1843-52.) His other principal works were : 

 " Lives of Beza and Peter Martyr," Heidelberg, 

 1809 ; " History of the Iconoclastic Cfesars of 

 the Eastern Empire," Frankfort, 1812 ; " Gen- 

 eral View of the History of the Ancient "World, 

 and its Civilization," 3 vols., Frankfort, 1826-34; 

 " The History of the "World, in Consecutive 

 Narration," 9 vols., 1817-24. 



SCRIBE, EUGENE, a French dramatic writer, 

 born at Paris, Dec. 24, 1791, died in the same 

 city Feb. 20, 1861, of apoplexy. He was ori- 

 ginally intended for the legal profession, but 

 his guardian, the advocate Bennet, found his 

 dramatic tastes so strong that he advised him 

 to abandon the bar for the stage. His first 

 drama, produced in 1811, and in which he was 

 aided by his schoolfellow, De la Vigue, was 

 highly successful, and his whole career as a 

 dramatic writer has been crowned by equal 

 success. He was the author of an immense 

 number of dramas of very unequal merit, but 

 ah 1 exhibiting a correct conception and great 

 power of vigorous delineation of the life of the 

 lower and middle classes. A selection of his 

 dramas (translated) in seven -volumes, was pub- 

 lished in England in 1845, and many of them 

 have been reproduced on the American as well 

 as the English stage. " Fra Diavolo," " Robert 

 le Diable," "Les Diamans de la Couronne," 

 " The Finest Day of rny Life," &c., are among 

 those which will be most readily recognized. 



SEWELL'S POINT is the projection of land 

 on the right shore, where the Elizabeth River 

 turns from a north to an easterly course, be- 

 coming then what is called Hampton Roads. It 

 is on this river that Norfolk in Virginia is situ- 

 ated. The point was fortified immediately after 

 the secession of Virginia. The battery placed 

 here by her troops was the exterior of the line 



of batteries intended to guard the Elizabeth 

 River, through which Norfolk is approached. 

 This line of batteries consisted of seven, the 

 heaviest of which was at Craney Island, mount- 

 ing about thirty guns. Two batteries further 

 inland mounted about twelve and fifteen guns 

 respectively. The other batteries mounted from 

 seven to ten guns. The battery at Sewell's 

 Point commanded the vessels blockading James 

 River, and if the guns were sufficiently heavy 

 and effective, it could cause them to remove. 

 A party being observed perfecting the earth- 

 works, the gunboat Star opened fire upon them 

 with two ten-inch guns and shell. Subsequent- 

 ly the Freeborn, Capt. "Ward, arrived, and, tak- 

 ing a position near the shore, drove the defenders 

 out of the works, and disabled the battery. 



The Star was struck by five shots of small 

 calibre, all of which took effect. One ball, a 

 six-pounder, penetrated the hull on the lar- 

 board bow, a few inches above the water line. 

 Two of her crew were injured, and one of them, 

 a boy, seriously. This was the first skirmish 

 between the floating batteries of the North and 

 land batteries of the South. On the other side, 

 Vice-President Stephens, in an address at At- 

 lanta, Ga., on the 23d of May, spoke of the 

 affair as resulting in " the vessel being re- 

 pulsed and disabled." 



SHAW, LEMUEL, LL. D., late Chief-Justice 

 of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, born 

 at Barnstable, Mass., January, 1781, died at 

 Boston, Mass., March 30, 1861. He was a 

 graduate of Harvard College, and the following 

 year was assistant teacher in one of the Bos- 

 ton public schools, and assistant editor of the 

 " Boston Gazette." He studied law with David 

 Everett, Esq., and was admitted to the bar in 

 New Hampshire, Sept. 1804, and two months 

 after, commenced practice in Boston, remaining 

 in practice until his appointment as Chief-Jus- 

 tice. In 1816 he was elected a member of the 

 Massachusetts House of Representatives, in 

 which he was continued by reelection for seven 

 years, and was subsequently for four years a 

 member of the Senate. In 1820 he was a 

 member of the Convention for revising the 

 Constitution. In Sept. 1830 he was appointed 

 Chief-Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, 

 which office he held thirty years. He was an 

 overseer of Harvard College about fifteen years, 

 and thirty years in the Corporation. While in 

 the Legislature he drew up an elaborate report 

 concerning the lands of the United States, ad- 

 vocating their distribution to the old as well as 

 to the new States, for the purposes of educa- 

 tion. He was considered an able jurist, and his 

 legal opinions were regarded as possessing great 

 weight. 



