HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



295 



battle by Ramirus.king of Spain, 844 ; empire of, ended 

 by the taking of Bagdad by the Tartars, 1258. 



Sardinia, conquered by the Spaniards, 1303, in whose 

 possession it continued until 1708, when it was taken by 

 an English ileet and given to the Duke of Savoy, with 

 the title of king. 



Savoy. Part of Gallia, Narbonensis, siibmitted to 

 the Romans, B. C. 118 : the Aleinanni seized it in 395 ; the 

 Franks, 496; it shared the revolutions of Switzerland 

 till 1040, when Conrad, Emperor of Germany, gave it to 

 Hubert with the title of earl; erected into a duchy, 

 1417. 



Sabines, The, were an important tribe of ancient 

 Italy, allied to the Latins, Samnites, etc. Famous in 

 Roman history as the people whose daughters were 

 treacherously seized by the Romans at the Consualia or 

 games in honor of the god Consus. A treaty of peace 

 was concluded with the Sabines, 750 B. C. After fre- 

 quent wars, the Sabines were finally defeated, 449 B. C., 

 by M. Horatius, and were incorporated with Rome in 

 the third century B. C. 



Salic L,aw, The, was the code of the Salian Franks, 

 introduced into France (Gaul) by the Franks. It con- 

 tained four hundred articles, chiefly concerning debt, 

 theft, murder, and battery, the penalty in every case 

 being a tine. The most famous article of the code is 

 Title lxii.6, according to which only males could suc- 

 ceed to the Salic land or lod, i. e. to the lands given for 

 military service. In 1316, at the death of Louis le Hutin, 

 the law was extended to the crown, and continued to be 

 observed to the end of the monarchy. 



San Marino, in Italy, on the coast of the Adriatic 

 Sea, is the oldest republic in the world. It is, next to 

 Monaco, the smallest state in Europe. The exact date 

 of the establishment of this republic is not known, but 

 according to tradition it was in the fourth century, by 

 Marinus, a Dalmatian hermit, and has ever since re- 

 mained independent. It is mountainous and contains 

 four or five villages. The word " liberty " is inscribed 

 on its Capitol. 



St. James's Palace is a large, inelegant brick struc- 

 ture, fronting towards Pall Mall. Originally a hospital 

 dedicated to St. James, it was reconstructed and made 

 a manor by Henry VIII., who also annexed to it a park. 

 Here Queen Mary died, 1558; Charles I. slept here the 

 night before his execution; and here Charles II., the 

 Old Pretender, and George IV. were born. When 

 Whitehall was burned, in 1697, St. James became the 

 regular London residence of the British sovereigns, 

 and it continued to be so till Queen Victoria's time. 

 The Court of St. James is a frequent designation of the 

 British Court. St. James Park lies southward from the 

 Palace, and extends over fifty-eight acres. 



Saxons, The ancient, we're pirates, and inhabited 

 three small islands at the month of the Elbe, and some 

 part of the shores of the Baltic ; were invited to Eng- 

 land, A. D. 449, by the Britons. 



Scotland, anciently Caledonia. History began, B. C. 

 328, when Fergus I. was sent over by the people of Ire- 

 land; accepted the Christian faith about 203; united 

 under one monarchy by Kenneth II. and called Scotland, 

 838 ; divided into baronies, 1032 ; invaded by the King of 

 Norway, near Loch Lomond, 1263 ; on the death of Alex- 

 ander III. was disputed by twelve candidates', who sub- 

 mitted their claims to the arbitration of Edward I. of 

 England, 1285, which gave him an opportunity to con- 

 quer it: recovered by the Scots, 1314; first General 

 Assembly of the church held, December 20, 15CO ; United 

 with England under the reign of James VI. of Scotland 

 and James I. of England. 



Sealing of Writings. First introduced into Eng- 

 land, 1085. 



Sicily. First colonized from Italy, B. C. 1294; 

 usurped by Agathocles, 317; Servile war began and con- 

 tinued three years, 135. 



Slave Trade, Abolition of, in England proposed in 

 Parliament, 1789; abolished, 1807; abolished by France, 

 Spain, and Holland, 1817; treaty concluded between 

 Great Britain and Brazil for the abolition of, 1826. The 

 importation of slaves into the United States prohibited 

 after January 1, 1808; emancipation proclamation is- 

 sued, 1863. 



Smyrna, built by the people of Cumae, B. C. 1050; 

 destroved by an earthquake, 1040 A. D., and again, 

 1688 ; the chief commercial emporium of West Asia. 



South Carolina (Palmetto State). First settlers, 

 English, Ashley river, 1670. Ranks first in phosphates 

 and rice; fifth in cotton; twentieth in population; 

 twenty-eighth in miles of railway ; thirtieth in wealth ; 

 thirty-seventh in square miles. Agriculture is the prin- 



cipal industry, the state producing a larger amount of 

 rice than any other state. "Sea Island Cotton" is f 

 the finest quality , and superior to all other, and is raised 

 on several islands along the coast of this state, and 

 Georgia. Corn, oats, wneat, sweet potatoes, and to- 

 bacco, are extensively raised. The export of rice and 

 cotton is large. But few manufactures are as yet es- 

 tablished in the state, though considerable attention is 

 being given to'them. 



Spain. First civilized by the Phoenicians; conquered 

 by the Romans, B. C. 206; the Goths and Vandals over- 

 turned the Roman power, 409, and continued in posses- 

 sion of the country till it was conquered by the Moors 

 in 712 ; the Moors kept possession till the sma'll kingdoms 

 were swallowed up in Castile and Aragon ; kingdom 

 founded by the union of the two crowns of Castile and 

 Aragon, 1504 ; the king and princes of the House of 

 Bourbon ceded their claims to the throne of Spain in 

 1808; Joseph Bonaparte became king .n the same year; 

 Ferdinand's rule was shortly afterwards re-established, 

 but was marked by serious insurrections ; he was suc- 

 ceeded by his daughter Isabella II., who was forced to 

 abdicate in 1868 ; in 1876 a constitution was proclaimed, 

 providing that the government shall be a constitutional 

 monarchy. War was declared against Spain by the 

 United States in April, 1898. 



Sparta, built by Lacedaemon, B. C. 1490 ; kingdom of 

 commenced under Euristhenes and Procles, B. C. 1102; 

 ephori established at, 760. 



Straits of Babelmandeb, The, the passage from the 

 Persian Gulf into the Red Sea, are called the Gate of 

 Tears by the Arabs. The channel is only about twenty 

 miles wide, is rocky and very dangerous for passage in 

 rough weather. It received its melancholy name from 

 the number of shipwrecks that occurred there. 



Surnames, first used among the nobility, 1200; many 

 of the most common were taken by the Flemings who 

 were naturalized in England about 1435. 



Sweden, anciently Scandinavia, kingdom of, began 

 481 ; united to the crown of Denmark and Norway from 

 1394 to 1525, when Gustavus Vasa expelled the Danes; 

 Christianity introduced there 829; no nobility before 

 1500; popery abolished and the crown declared heredi- 

 tary, 1544 ; the house of Vasa ascended the throne in 

 1523, and gave to Sweden the great Gustavus Adolphus ; 

 it was succeeded by the House of Deux-Ponts, which 

 furnished the famous Charles XII.; in 1810 Marshal 

 Bernadotte of France was chosen Crown Prince and as- 

 cended the throne as Charles John XIV. in 1818 ; the 

 union with Norway took place in 1814. 



Switzerland, inhabited formerly by the Helvetii.who 

 were subdued by Caesar B. C. 67; became part of the 

 kingdom of Burgundy, 888; the confederation was 

 founded January 1 , 1308 ; in 1803 Napoleon I. organized 

 a new confederation composed of 19 cantons ; this con- 

 federation was modified in 1815, the number of cantons 

 being increased to 22 ; a new constitution was adopted 

 in 1848. 



Tarpeian Rock, The, was so called from Tarpeia, 

 daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, governor of the citadel 

 on the Saturnian Hill of Rome. The story is that the 

 Sabines bargained with the Roman maid to open the 

 gates to them for the " ornaments on their arms." As 

 they passe'd through the gates, they threw on her their 

 shields saying, "These are the ornaments we bear on 

 our arms." She was crushed to death, and buried on 

 the Tarpeian Hill. Ever after, traitors were put to 

 death by beinghurled headlong from the hilltop. 



Tarquin. The last king of Rome, expelled B. C. 509. 



Tartary. The first ruler was Genghis Khan, 1206, 

 whose descendants held the empire until 1582, when the 

 Mongols revolted to the Manchew Tartars in China ; the 

 Eluths became a separate state about 1400. 



Taxes. Originated from those levied by Solon at 

 Athens, B. C. MO ; the first paid in money in England 

 were in 1067. 



Tea. First brought into Europe by the Dutch East 

 India Company, early in the seventeenth century; a 

 quantity of it was brought from Holland by Lord Ar- 

 lington and Lord Ossory, 1666 ; from this time it became 

 universal ; taxed in North America, 1770, Americans re- 

 fused to receive it with the duty on, and threw a cargo 

 of it into the sea at Boston, 1773. 



Texas (Lone Star State). First settlement by the 

 Spaniards, at San Antonio, 1692. Admitted to the 

 Union, 1845. Ranks first in cattle and cotton and square 

 miles; second in sugar', sheep, mules, and horses; sixth 

 in miles of railway ; seventh in milch cows ; eighth in 

 rice and hogs; eleventh in population; nineteenth in 



