78 



.SAIMA 



SAINT 



The South Sea proa, the Chinese junlc, and other 

 local rigs have many peculiarities in their sails. 

 Naval rigs are illustrated at NAVY. See also 



-Dahabeeah. 



the articles SlUl'iirii.iuxc; and YACHT; and for 

 Sailing or Navigation, see CREAT CIRCLE SAILING, 



LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE, MERIDIAN, SEXTANT, 

 STEERING, &c. 



Siiiniii. LAKE. Sen FINLAND. 

 Sainfoin, or SAINTFOIN (Onobrychis sativa), 

 a plant of the natural order Leguniinosa;, sub-order 



Papilionaceie, of a 

 genus nearly allied 

 to Hedysarum (see 

 FRENCH HONEY- 

 SUCKLE), but hav- 

 ing one-Heeded 

 pods, which are 

 marked with 

 wrinkles or pits, 

 and are more or 

 less prickly toothed 

 at the margin. It 

 is a spreading per- 

 ennial, almut two 

 or three feet high, 

 with leaves of nine 

 to fifteen xinooth 

 acute leaflets, and 

 spikes of beautiful 

 flesh-coloured 

 flowers, striated 

 with rose-red, on 

 long stalks. It is 

 a native of the con- 

 tinent of K u rope 

 and of tlic -until of 

 England, and is 

 much cultivated as 

 a fodder-plant in dry, and particularly in calcare- 

 ous soils, to which it is admirably adapted. Its 

 cultivation wax introduced into England in 1651 ; 

 and before the introduction of turnip-husband ry 

 the sheep-farmers of the chalk districts depended 

 almost entirely upon it, as they still do to a large 

 degree. It is, however, a very local crop, 1- 

 scarcely cultivated on any but the most calcareous 

 soils, where scarcely anything else is equal to it, 

 although it has 1>een found to succeed well on any 

 soil sufficiently dry. There is no more nutritious 

 fodder than sainfoin, whether for sheep, oxen, or 

 horse*. Even the dry stem* of a crop which has 

 produced seed are readilv consumed by cattle, if 

 cut into small pieces. Sainfoin is a deep-rooted 

 plant and sometimes endures for ten, or even 



Sainfoin ( Onobrydtii tatira). 



(Stabler and HchrOUr, Bat Forage 



Plant*.) 



fifteen years on the same land more generally 

 only for four to seven years ; and in the eastern 

 counties of England it is often sown instead of 

 clover on light ami somewhat calcareous sands and 

 sandy loams, and tlie ground is ploughed a^'ain in 

 two or three yearn. The name tttin-foin probably 

 means ' wholesome hay ' ( from Lat. satin*), and not, 

 as is often assumed, a shortened form for taint foin. 

 ('holy hay'). 



Saint, a name applied in the New Testament 

 to the members of the Christian community 

 generally, but restricted by ecclesiastical usage 

 from very early times to those who have been 

 specially remarkable for their personal virtues and 

 tln'ir eminent services to the cause of religion. 

 In the ages of persecution the <|iiality which most 

 of all challenged the admiration and reverence of 

 the faithful was naturally constancy in the profes- 

 sion and the defence of the Christian faith ; and 

 the honours of the martyrs, even l>efore the age of 

 persecution had passed, wereextendcd to confessors, 

 and eventually to all who died in the odour of 

 sanctity, and esi>ecially to those who also obtained 

 the reputation of performing miracles. In general, 

 however, the saints of the Catholic Church are 

 distributed into several classes, chiefly in relation 

 to tlie special character of the ecclesiastical offices 

 appropriated to their honour. Thus we lind 

 enumerated (1) Apostles and Evangelists; (2) 

 Martyrs; (3) Confessors, a name applied primi- 

 tively to those who had courageously undergone 

 imprisonment or pains for the faith without gain- 

 ing the final crown of martyrdom, but in later 

 times understood of all who, not being martyrs, 

 were eminent for sanctity of life; (4) Doctors or 

 sainte eminent for sacred learning; (5) Virgins; 

 (6) Matrons and Widows. Anciently the title of 

 Saint was bestowed upon an individual by the 

 members of the particular Christian community to 

 which he belonged, or to which his merits were 

 most familiar. In the earliest times, however, the 

 letters of St Cyprian show that caution was 

 observed by the bishops to guard against the re- 

 cognition of undeserving persons. It was not, 

 however, tijl the 12th century that the pope re- 

 scued to himself the exclusive right to add to 

 the roll of sainte, or that a regular form of pro- 

 cedure was established in the Roman courts for 

 the purpose of testing and of solemnly pronounc- 

 ing upon the title of ]rsons, who had died with 

 a reputation for sanctity, to the public cultvs 

 of the church. A saint, according to the received 

 interpretation, is one who has exercised the three 

 theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, and 

 the cardinal virtues, prudence, justice, fortitude, 

 in a heroic degree, and has persevered in this 

 exercise until death. Sanctity may exist without 

 miracles, as, according to the commonly alleged 

 instance, there is no record of John the Itaptist. 

 having wrought miracles ; and, on the other hand, 

 miracles may l>e performed by heretics or sinneis. 

 Nevertheless, by the existing discipline of the 

 Roman Church, before a decree of Canonisation 

 (q.v.) can be obtained, the rule requires evidence of 

 such miracles as an expected fruit of heroic faith 

 and as a confirmatory sign of sanctity after proof 

 has liecn given of the heroic virtues. 



It is difficult to estimate with anytliini; approach- 

 ing to exactness the numlier, of saints who have 

 received cultus as such in the various churches of 

 Christendom from the earliest times. Of many 

 almost all record has perished, except their names 

 commemorated in some ancient calendar or pre- 

 served in the dedication of some church or sacred 

 locality. The fullest list is that to be found in the 

 index or general table in the sixty-first volume 

 of the colossal work of the Itollandists (see ACTA 

 SANCTORUM). From these tables it appears that 



