380 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



Sam'bo. This term and the name CufTey used to 

 designate the negro race. Both used by Mrs. Stowe in 

 her stories. 



Sainian Letter. The. The letter Y used by Pytha- 

 goras as an emblem of the paths of virtue and of vice. 



Samiari Sage. Pythagoras, said to have been born 



:ilOS. 



Bl Mipxcn. Dominie. See Dominie Sampson. 



Samson Agorii-trx. The principal eharaeter in Mil- 

 ton's sacred drama. "Samson Ago:. ' Sam>on 

 the Combatant." Samson blind and bound triumphs 

 over his enemies. As in the Bible story, he gr. 



ipporting pillars and perishes in the general ruin. 



Sanclio Pan/a. The es<mire and counterpart of l>on 

 Quixote in Cervantes' famous novel. He has mueh 

 shrewdness in practical matters and a store of proverbial 

 wisdom. He rode upon an ass which he dearly loved, 

 and was noted for his proverbs. 



Sandals of Theramenes. N\ hich would fit any foot. 

 Theramenes, one of the Athenian oligarchy, was nick- 

 named "the trimmer " from the name of a sandal or boot 

 which might be worn on either foot, because no depend- 

 ence could be placed on him. The proverb, " He walks in 

 the sandals of Theramenes" is applied to those who speak 

 fairly but do the things that promise to profit themselves. 



Sand ford and Mer'ton. Harry Sandford and Tom- 

 my Merton, the two heroes of Thomas Day's once popu- 

 lar tale for the young, the "History of Sandford and 

 Merton" (1783-1789). ' 



San-erit. The ancient language of India, now ex- 

 tinct, from which most of the languages there spoken 

 are derived. It belongs to the Aryan or Indo-European 

 group of tongues. It was declared by Sir William Jones 

 to be more perfect than the Greek, more copious than 

 the Latin, and more refined than either. The earliest 

 existing work is the "Vedas." These, and the "Pu- 

 ranas," are religious writings: but there are also Epic 

 poems, dramas, and philosophical composition. 



Santa Clans. In fable he was first known as patron 

 saint of children. The vigil of his feast is still held in 

 some places, but for the most part his name is now asso- 

 ciated with Christmas-tide. The old custom used to be 

 for someone, on December 5th, to assume the costume 

 of a bishop and distribute small gifts to "eood children." 

 (See St. Nicholas.) 



Santiago. The war cry of Spain; adopted because 

 St. James (Sant lago) rendered, according to tradition, 

 signal service to a Christian king of Spain in a battle 

 against the Moors. 



Sa'tan. One of the names of the Devil, and that by 

 which in the Bible, in poetry, and in popular legends, 

 he is often designated. Those mediaeval writers who 

 reckoned nine kinds of demons, placed Satan at the head 

 of the fifth rank, which consisted of cozeners, as magi- 

 cians and witches. Milton represents him as the mon- 

 arch of hell. His chief lords are Beelzebub, Moloch, 

 Chemos, Thammuz, Dagon, Rimmon, and Belial. His 

 standard-bearer, Azaz'el. 



Sat'yrane. Faerie Queene, Spenser. A noble 

 knight who delivered Una from the fauns and satyrs. 

 The meaning seems to be that Truth, driven from the 

 towns and cities, took refuge in caves and dens, where 

 for a time it lay concealed. At length Sir Satyrane 

 (Luther) rescues Una from bondage: but no sooner is 

 this the case than she falls in with Archima'go, to show 

 how very difficult it was at the Reformation to separate 

 Truth from Error. 



Saun'ders, Clerk. The hero of a well-known Scot- 

 tish ballad. 



Saun'ders, Richard. A feigned name under which 

 Dr. Franklin, in 1732, commenced the publication of an 

 almanac, commonly called "Poor Richard's Almanac," 

 of which the distinguishing feature was a series of max- 

 ims of prudence and industry in the form of proverbs. 



Saw'ney. A sportive designation applied by the 

 English to the Scotch. It is a corruption of "Sandie," 

 the Scottish abbreviation of "Alexander." 



Saw'yer, Hob. Pickwick Papers, Dickens. A 

 drinking young doctor who tries to establish a practice 

 at Bristol, but without success. Sam Weller calls him 

 "Mr. Sawbones." 



Scalds, or Skalds. Court poets and chroniclers of 

 the ancient Scandinavians. They resided at court, were 

 attached to the royal suite, and attended the king in all 

 his wars. These bards celebrated in song the gods, 

 the kings of Norway, and national heroes. Few com- 

 plete Skaldic poems have survived, but a multitude of 

 fragments exist. 



Scarlet Letter, The. Title of a romance by Nathan- 

 iel Hawthorne. The heroine, Hester Prynne, was con- 

 demned to wear conspicuously the letter "A" in scar- 

 let, token of her sin as mother of her child, Pearl, whose 

 father was not known. She was first exposed in dis- 



grace on a raised scaffold, then served a term in prison. 

 and afterward gained a moderate support for herself 

 and child by embroidering. She refused to reveal the 

 name of the father, although she might then be allow,,! 

 to lay aside the letter. He was always near, held an 

 important position, and lived a life of wearing remorse. 

 After his death Hester Prynne took her child to another 

 country, but returned to spend her old age in seclusion 

 and comfort in the same place that had witnessed her 

 punishment. She always bore herself proudly but not 

 defiantly and brought to herself such love and 

 that the scarlet letter became a badge of honor. Roirei 

 Chillingworth, Hester's husband, appeared as a learned 

 foreign physician, visited her in prison but promised not 

 to reveal his relation to her and devoted his life to learn- 

 ing her secret. The characters in the story are intense 

 and the analysis of motives subtle. 



Schah'riah. Arabian Nights. The Sultan of Persia. 

 ii was a despotism and his decrees absolute. 



Schehe'razude. Arabian Nights. The fabled re- 

 later of the stories in these "Entertainments." Among 

 other decrees the sultan had decided upon a new wife 

 for every day. Tradition or fable tells that Schehera- 

 /ade, wishing to free Persia of this disgrace, requested 

 to be made the sultan's wife. She was young and beauti- 

 ful, of great courage and ready wit, had an excellent 

 memory, knew history, was poet, musician, and dancer. 

 Scheherazade obtained permission for her younger sister, 

 Dinarzade, to sleep in the same chamber, and instructed 

 her to say, "Sister, relate to me one of those stories." 

 Scheherazade then told the sultan (under pretense of 

 speaking to her sister) a story, but always contrived 

 to break off before the story was finished. The sultan, 

 in order to hear the end of the story, spared her life till 

 the next night. This went on for a thousand and one 

 nights, when the sultan's resentment was worn out, and 

 his admiration of his sultana was so great that he re- 

 voked his decree. 



Schle'mil, Peter. The title of a little work by Cham- 

 isso (1781-1838), and the name of its hero, a man who 

 sells his shadow to an old man in gray (the Devil) who 

 meets him just after he has been disappointed in an ap- 

 plication for assistance to a nobleman. The name has 

 become a by-word for any poor, silly, and unfortunate 

 fellow. 



Scourge of God. Attila, King of the Huns. A. P. 

 Stanley says the term was first applied to Attila in the 

 Hungarian Chronicles. It is found in a legend belonging 

 to the Eighth or Ninth Century. 



Scrooge, Ebenezer. Christmas Carol, Dickens. 

 The prominent character, made partner, executor, and 

 heir of old Jacob Marley, stock-broker. When first in- 

 troduced, he is a grasping, covetous old man, loving no 

 one and by none beloved. One Christmas, Ebenezer 

 Scrooge sees three ghosts : The Ghost of Christmas Past; 

 the Ghost of Christmas Present; and the Ghost of Christ- 

 mas To-come. The first takes him back to his young 

 life, shows him what Christmas was to him when a school- 

 boy, and when he was an apprentice. The second ghost 

 shows him the joyous home of his clerk, Bob Cratchit, 

 who has nine people to feed on what seems a pittance, 

 and yet could find wherewithal to make merry on this 

 day; it also shows him the family of his nephew, and 

 others. The third ghost shows him what would be his 

 lot if he died as he then was, the prey of harpies, the jest 

 of his friends on 'Change. These visions wholly change 

 his nature, and he becomes benevolent, charitable, and 

 cheerful, and makes Christmas a happy day for many 

 within his reach. 



Sed'ley, Mr. Vanity Fair, Thackeray. A 

 wealthy London stock-broker, brought to ruin in the 

 money market just prior to the battle of Waterloo. The 

 old merchant tried to earn a living by selling wine, coals, 

 or lottery-tickets by commission, but his bad wine and 

 cheap coals found but few customers. Mrs. Sedley, wife 

 of Mr. Sedley, a homely, kind-hearted woman, soured 

 by adversity, and quick to take offense. Amelia Sedley, 

 daughter of the stock-broker, educated at Miss Pinker- 

 ton's academy, and engaged to Captain George Osborne, 

 son of a rich London merchant. After the ruin of Mr. 

 Sedley George marries Amelia, and old Osborne disin- 

 herits, him. George is killed in the Battle of Waterloo. 

 Amelia is reduced to great poverty, but is befriended by 

 Captain Dobbin, and after many years of patience and 

 great devotion she consents to marry him. Joseph Sed- 

 ley. vain, shy, and vulgar. He told of his brave deeds, 

 and made it appear that he was Wellington's right hand; 

 so that he obtained the sobriquet of " Waterloo Sedley." 

 He became the "patron" 9f Becky Sharp, who fleeced 

 him of all his money, and in six months he died under 

 suspicious circumstances. Interest in the novel is cen- 

 tered on Amelia, an impersonation of virtue without 

 intellect as contrasted with Becky Sharp, who is an imr 



