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SONNINI DE MANONCOURT, CHARLES. 



SOPHOCLES. 



596 



Commentary 'De Quatuor Linguis,' 12mo, London, 1650, showing the 

 relation of the German with the Saxon language. In 1652 he added a 

 most valuable Glossary to Sir Roger Twysdtn's ' Decem Scriptores.' 

 He was now. urged by his friends to make a Saxou Dictionary, but 

 as this was a work which required time and great labour, it was neces- 

 sary that he should have sufficient means of support while engaged 

 upon it. Sir Henry Spelman had founded at Cambridge a lecture for 

 ' promoting the Saxon tongue, either by reading it publicly or by the 

 editing of Saxon Manuscripts; ' and this lecture being vacant in 1657, 

 Archbishop Usher recommended Somner to the then patron Roger 

 Spelman, grandson of the founder. Accordingly Somner had the 

 salary, and went on with the work, which was published at Oxford, in 

 folio, in 1659. 



A short time before the Restoration, Somner was imprisoned in the 

 castle of Deal for endeavouring to procure signatures to a petition for 

 a free parliament. In 1660 he was made master of St. John's Hospital, 

 in the suburbs of Canterbury, and about the same time auditor of 

 Christ Church. In this year he published in quarto his ' Treatise on 

 Gavelkind,' his last publication. He died March 30th, 1669. He left 

 behind him various manuscript collections, and two or three treatises, 

 one of which, ' Of the Roman Ports and Forts in Kent,' was published 

 at Oxford, 8vo, 1693, by Brome. Another, 'De Portu Iccio,' translated 

 into Latin by Mr. (afterwards bishop) Gibson, was published at Oxford, 

 8vo, 1694. To the former of these a Life of Somuer is prefixed by 

 "White Kennet, afterwards bishop of Peterborough. 



Somner was buried in the north aisle of St. Margaret's Church, 

 Canterbury, where there is an inscription to his memory. His books 

 and manuscripts were purchased by the dean and chapter of Canter- 

 bury, and they are still in the Cathedral library ; a catalogue of them 

 is appended to Kennet's Life of Somner. Somner gave great assistance 

 to Dodsworth, in the first volume of the ' Monasticon Anglicanum.' 

 Among his friends and correspondents were the Archbishops Laud 

 and Usher, Sir Robert Cotton, Sir Symonds D'Ewes, Sir "William 

 Dugdale, Burton the antiquary, Sir John Marsham, and Elias Ashmole. 



SONNINI DE MANONCOURT, CHARLES NICOLAS SIGIS- 

 BERT, was born at Luneville, February 1, 1751. He was the son of 

 Nicholas Souniui, seigneur of the fief of Manoncourt in Vermois, and 

 councillor of Stanislaus, king of Poland. He was educated at the 

 Jesuit University of Pont-a-Housson, and made rapid progress in his 

 studies. At an early age he became acquainted with Buffon and 

 Nollet, who encouraged his taste for natural history. Having a wish 

 to travel, he obtained a commission in the marine engineer service, 

 and in 1772 was sent to Cayenne in consequence. Here he showed 

 . great energy and courage in exploring the country and dislodging from 

 their strongholds the savages with whom the colony was molested, 

 aud succeeded, at considerable personal risk, in making a passage by 

 water from Cayenne to the mountain La Gabrielle, the accomplish- 

 ment of which had been much desired by the colonists, but abandoned 

 by reason of the natural difficulties of the route. He was, in conse- 

 quence of this enterprise, promoted to the rank of lieutenant on his 

 return to France. In 1775, after a visit to the western coast of 

 Africa, he resumed his post as an engineer at Cayenne, and spent two 

 years in researches in natural history. Returning to France, in conse- 

 quence of ill health, he passed the winter of 1776 with Buffon, 

 assisting him in his labours, till he joined the African expedition of 

 Baron de Tott, in 1777. After remaining some time in Egypt, and 

 exploring the country, he travelled in Greece, the Archipelago, and 

 Asia Minor. He returned to France in 1780, and employed himself 

 in the improvement of agriculture, introducing several valuable exotic 

 vegetables into his country. At the beginning of the Revolution he 

 was appointed one of the administrators of the de'partement de la 

 Meurthe ; but being deprived of this office by St. Just, and reduced to 

 poverty, on account of his noble birth, he employed himself in 

 arranging and publishing the materials collected in his travels. He 

 was afterwards placed at the head of the college of Vienne, in the 

 de"p"artement de I'lsere ; but failing in his projects of reform there, 

 gave up this situation after holding it two years, and returned to his 

 literary labours. In 1810 he went to Moldavia, and, while traversing 

 that country, caught a fever, from which he never recovered. He died 

 at Paris, May 29, 1812. His principal works are, 'Voyage dans la 

 Haute et Basse Egypt,' Paris, 8vo, 1799; 'Voyage en Grece et en 

 Turquie,' Paris, 8vo, 1801. 



Buffon's 'Histoire Naturelle,' Paris, 1799-1808, to which he contri- 

 buted 13 vols. of fishes and 1 voL of cetacea, and, jointly with M. 

 Latreille, 4 vgls. of reptiles ; and the ' Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire 

 Naturelle,' 8vo, 1803-4, were edited by him : in the latter he wrote the 

 articles ' Man,' 'Quadrupeds,' 'Birds,' and 'Cetacea.' 



Sonnini deserves great praise for his labours as a naturalist. Like 

 other great travellers, though eager and enthusiastic, he was somewhat 

 inconstant in the direction of his energies, as we may infer from the 

 events of his life, not less than from the remarks of his French 

 biographer. In his | Travels in the East' he treats of the natural 

 and artificial productions of each country, and gives also archaeological 

 and topographical notices not remarkable for their research or 

 originality. 



(Biographic Universelk, by the author of his 'Eloge Historique,' 

 where is a list of his other publications.) 



SOPHIA, PRINCESS OF RUSSIA. [PETER L] 



SO'PHOCLES, son of Sophilus, was born in the Attic demus or 

 village of Colonus, and, according to the most authentic accounts, in 

 the year B.C. 495, fifteen years before the battle of Salamis, when 

 .iEschylus was thirty years old. He appears to have received as good 

 an education as could be had at the time. In music he was instructed 

 by Lamprus, and in this art, as well as in gymnastic exercises, he 

 gained laurels even when a youth. At the age of fifteen, when the 

 Greeks had defeated the Persians in the battle of Salamis (B.C. 480), 

 Sophocles, on account of his beauty, was selected by those who had 

 the management of the solemnities which followed the victory, as 

 leader of the chorus which danced around the trophies in Salamis and 

 sang the hymn of victory. (Atheu., L, p. 20.) The anonymous Greek 

 biographer of Sophocles states that ^Eschylus was his master in 

 tragedy, but such a relation between the two poets is improbable, and 

 is contradicted by a passage in Athenscus (i., p. 22), where Sophocles 

 says of ^Eschylus, that he followed the rules of his art without 

 knowing them. It is a favourite practice with ancient historians and 

 grammarians to describe the relation of two persons who lived at the 

 same time and practised the same art, as that of master and pupil, 

 when there is no evidence of such fact, except-tbat one was younger 

 than the other. The first time that Sophocles produced a tragedy on 

 the Attic stage was in the year B.C. 468, and the piece was probably 

 the ' Triptolemus,' which is now lost. (Euseb., ' Chron.,' p. 167 ; Pliu., 

 ' Hist. Nat.,' xviii. 12.) jEachylus was at this time the great dramatist 

 of the Attic stage, but his young rival, who ventured to contend with 

 him for the prize, won the victory, which was attended by the following 

 memorable circumstance. On the day when the drama was acted, 

 Cimon had just returned from the island of Scyrus, bringing with 

 him the remains of Theseus, who was believed to have been murdered 

 and buried in that island. When Cimon, with his nine colleagues, 

 entered the theatre to offer the customary libations to Dionysus, he 

 was detained by the chief archon Aphepsion, whose duty it was to 

 preside at the dramatic performances and to nominate the judges. 

 Aphepsion appointed no judges, but called upon Cimon and his 

 colleagues to determine the prize. Cimon, recognising the great 

 genius that the tragedy displayed, gave the prize to Sophocles. (Plut., 

 'Cim.,' 8.) 



From this time twenty-eight years of his life passed without any 

 memorable event being recorded, though Sophocles must have been 

 extremely active in the exercise of his art, for during this period he is 

 said to have composed thirty-one dramas, not including the ' Trip- 

 tolemus.' (Aristoph. Byz., ' Argum. ad Antig.') 



In the year B.C. 440 he brought out the ' Antigone,' his thirty-second 

 drama ; and he gained the prize. The Athenians, who perceived in 

 this play the wisdom of a statesman and general, appointed him one 

 of the commanders to conduct the war against the aristocrats of Samos, 

 who, after being expelled from the island by the Athenians, had 

 returned from Ansea in Caria (whence the Greek biographer calls it 

 the war of Anaea), and endeavoured to induce the Samians to revolt 

 against Athens. In this campaign Sophocles was the colleague of 

 Pericles. No military feat is recorded of him, and it is only stated 

 that he availed himself of the opportunity to enrich himself. In 

 Samos he is said to have made the acquaintance of Herodotus, for 

 whom he wrote a poem. (Plut., 'An Seni sit gerenda resp.,' 3.) 

 Whether Sophocles, after this expedition, which ended in B.C. 439, 

 took any further part in public affairs,' is not certain. His life seems 

 to have passed in the glorious career of a successful dramatist, and 

 has left no traces in history ; we only hear that several kings invited 

 him to their courts, but that he preferred staying at home. He was 

 married twice. His first wife was Nicostrate of Athens, by whom he 

 had a son, lophon ; his second wife was Theoris of Sicyou, by whom 

 he had a son called Aristou. Ariston again had a son called Sophocles, 

 who is generally distinguished from his grandfather by the epithet 

 'the Younger.' Sophocles was very partial to. this grandson, and it 

 was believed that during his lifetime he intended to transfer to him a 

 cousiderable part of his property. lophon, fearing lest his inheritance 

 should be diminished, brought a charge of mental incapacity against 

 his father before the members of his phratria, aud proposed that he 

 should not be allowed to have any control over his property. Sophocles 

 is said to have made no reply to this charge, but with a strong convic- 

 tion of the excellence of the 'OZdipus in Colouus/ which he had just 

 composed, to have only read to his phratores, who had to examine 

 him, the parcel os of this play. The consequence was that he was 

 allowed to retain the management of his property. 



Sophocles died in the year B.C. 406, at the very advanced age of 

 ninety. The accounts of the cause of his death are not consistent. 

 Some state that he was choked by a grape, which stuck in his throat; 

 others, that in the loud reading of the ' Antigone ' he exerted himself 

 so much that at last his voice failed him and he expired ; and others 

 again, that he died of joy at the announcement of a victory gained by 

 one of his dramas. He was buried in the tomb of his fathers near 

 Decelea. 



As regards the private life of Sophocles we know nothing, except 

 that he was addicted to sexual pleasures (Athen., xii., p. 510) ; but the 

 anecdotes in Athenams (xiii., p. 603, &c.) seem to belong to that sort 

 of scandal from which no great man can escape. 



Sophocles is said to have written 130 dramas, but Aristophanes of 

 Byzantium declared seventeen of them spurious, which would leave 



