SOUTHAMPTONSHIRE SOVEREIGN. 



327 



hiresque county have been the means of making 

 Southampton a place of fashionable resort during 

 the bathing season. Baths are here provided for 

 the recreation of the healthy and the benefit of the 

 invalid visitors. A considerable trade is carried on 

 in this port with Russia, Portugal, Sweden, and 

 different parts of the Baltic, and with Guernsey, 

 Jersey, &c. The chief articles of import are wines, 

 fruits, iron, hemp, pitch, tar, and timber. There 

 is also a trade with Newcastle for coals, and with 

 Wales for iron and slatts. Wool shipped from any 

 other port to the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, 

 must be relanded here or pay the duty at the cus- 

 tom-house, according to an act passed in the reign 

 of Edward III. The first indications of the pro- 

 gress of Southampton, as a commercial town, are 

 mentioned in history during the reign of Henry III. 

 at which period the Lord Mayor of London was 

 appointed to receive the customs of the port. The 

 harbour, which is spacious, affords accommodation 

 for ships at all times to ride at anchor in perfect 

 security. During the busy season of the year at 

 Southampton, steam-packets are constantly com- 

 municating with Havre, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle 

 of Wight, Portsmouth, and other places ; and com- 

 mon sailing vessels are leaving daily for destinations 

 in all parts of the country. Population in 1831, 

 19,324 ; in 1841, 27,744. 



SOUTHAMPTONSHIRE. See Hampshire. 



SOUTHERN LIGHTS, OR AURORA AUS- 

 TRALIS. See Aurora Borealis. 



SOUTHCOTT, JOHANNA ; a singular fanatic, 

 whose extravagant pretensions attracted a numerous 

 band of converts in London and its vicinity, said to 

 have, at one period, amounted to upwards of a hun- 

 dred thousand. She was born in the west of Eng- 

 land, about the year 1750, of parents in very hum- 

 ble life, and, being carried away by a heated ima- 

 gination, gave herself out as the woman spoken of 

 in the book of Revelations. In this capacity, 

 although in the highest degree illiterate, she scrib- 

 bled much unintelligible nonsense, and for a while, 

 carried on a lucrative trade in the sale of seals, 

 which were, under certain conditions, to secure 

 the salvation of the purchasers. A disorder sub- 

 sequently giving her the outward appearance of 

 pregnancy, after she had passed her grand climac- 

 teric, she announced herself as the mother of the 

 promised Shiloh, whose speedy advent she predicted. 

 The faith of her followers, among whom were seve- 

 ral clergymen of the established church, rose to 

 enthusiasm. A cradle of the most expensive ma- 

 terials, and highly decorated, was prepared by her 

 expectant votaries at a fashionable upholsterer's, and 

 every preparation made for the reception of the mi- 

 raculous babe that superstition and credulity could 

 induce. About the close of the year 1814, however, 

 the prophetess began to have her misgivings during 

 some comparatively lucid intervals, in which she 

 declared, that " if she was deceived, she had, at all 

 events, been the sport of some spirit, either good 

 or evil," and, Dec. 27 in that year, death put an 

 end to both her hopes and fears. With her follow- 

 ers, however, it was otherwise ; and though for a 

 time confounded by her decease, which they could 

 scarcely believe to be real, her speedy resurrection 

 was confidently anticipated. In this persuasion 

 many lived and died ; nor is her sect yet extinct ; 

 but, within a short period, several families of her 

 disciples were living together in the neighbourhood 

 of Chatham, in Kent, remarkable for the length of 

 their beards, and the general singularity of their 



appearance. The body of Johanna underwent an 

 anatomical investigation after her death, when the 

 extraordinary appearance of her shape was accoun- 

 ted for upon medical principles, and her remains 

 were conveyed for interment, under a fictitious 

 name, to the burying ground attached to the chapel 

 in St John's Wood. 



SOUTHERN, THOMAS, a dramatic poet, was 

 born at Dublin, in 1660, and educated there at 

 Trinity College. In 1678, he went to London with 

 the view of making the law his profession, and en- 

 tered himself of the Middle Temple, but soon aban- 

 doned the study, and dedicated his time to the cul- 

 J tivation of his muse. His first dramatic effort was 

 | a tragedy entitled the Persian Prince, or the Loyal 

 brother, founded on the story of Shah Thamas. It 

 was first performed in 1682, and, besides raising the 

 author's reputation, procured him the favour of the 

 duke of York, to whom he had paid his court in it. 

 On the accession of Jame to the throne, Southern 

 went into the army, and rose to the command of a 

 company, in which he served during Monmouth's 

 rebellion. Another of his tragedies, the Spartan 

 Dame, written in 1687, was acted in 1721. From 

 this period he continued to produce occasionally 

 ! comedies as well as tragedies ; in the former style 

 of composition, however, he was far from being suc- 

 cessful ; but two of his tragedies yet keep posses- 

 sion of the stage. These are his Oronooko, founded, 

 it is said, on a true story, which forms the ground 

 work of one of Mrs Behn's novels ; and Innocent- 

 Adultery, which, under its modern name, Isabella, 

 or the Fatal Marriage, is one of the most pathetic 

 dramas in the language. The latter part of his days 

 was passed in ease and affluence. His death took 

 place in 1746, when he had attained the advanced 

 age of eighty- six. His works have gone through 

 several editions. 



SOUTHWARK. See London. 

 SOUZA BOTELHO, JOSEPH MARIA, baron de, 

 a Portuguese nobleman, distinguished as a diploma- 

 tist and man of letters, born at Oporto, in 1758, 

 studied at Coimbra, entered the army, and served 

 from 1778 to 1791. He was successively Portu- 

 guese ambassador at Stockholm, Copenhagen, and 

 Paris, till 1805, and spent the rest of his days in 

 literary retirement. His leisure was devoted to the 

 preparation of an edition of the Lusiad of Camoens, 

 with a memoir. This magnificent work, printed by 

 Didot at Paris, in folio, with engravings by Gerard, 

 appeared in 1817. In 1824, he published a trans- 

 lation, in his native language, of the Lettres Por- 

 \ tugaises, with the French on the opposite pages, 

 and prefatory observations. His death took place 

 in 1825. After the death of his first wife, he mar- 

 ried, at Paris, in 1802, the countess de Flahault, 

 widow of the count de Flahault, guillotined in 

 1792. This lady is well known in the literary 

 world as the authoress of Emilie et Alphonse ; 

 Adele de Scnanges ; diaries et Marie ; and other 

 popular works of fiction. 



SOVEREIGN, in politics ; a word of various 

 meanings. In the widest sense, it denotes that po- 

 1 litical person, or body of persons, from whom all 

 i legal power is considered to emanate. Thus, where 

 the monarch is regarded as the original fountain of 

 all legal power, he is called the sovereign : in an 

 aristocracy, such as that of Venice was, the body of 

 the nobles is the sovereign ; and in a democratic 

 republic, like that of the United States of America, 

 the people themselves, as the source of power, are 

 the sovereign. The historic. il origin of sovereignty 



