SEA 



the ftrufture of the gormen, and fituation of the em- 

 bryo. 



SEAGAN, in Geography, a town of Perfia, is the pro- 

 vince of Irak J 30 miles E.N.E of Hirabad. 



SEAGRIM, the common name fometimes given to a 

 troublefome field weed. See Ragwort. 



SEAH, in Jeiu'ifh Antiquity, a meafure of capacity con- 

 taining fix cabs. See Cab and Measures. 



SEA-HORSE Island, in Geography, an ifland in Hud- 

 fon's bay. N. lat. 62°. W. long. 92° 50'. 



Sea-horse Point, a cape on the eaft of a peninfula in 

 Hudfon's bay. N. lat. 64°. W. long. 82° lo'. 



SEAKONNET Rocks, rocks on the coall of Rhode 

 ifland, in the entrance of Naraganfett bay. 



SEAL, SiGiLLUM, a puncheon, or piece of metal, or 

 other matter, ufually either round or oval, on which are en- 

 graven the arms, device, &c. of fome prince, Hate, com- 

 munity, magiftrate, or private perfon, often with a legend 

 or infcriplion ; the impreflion of which in wax lerves to 

 joiake afts, inftruments, &c. authentic. 



The king's great feal is that by which all patents, com- 

 mifiions, warrants, Sec. coming from the king are fealed : 

 this confifts of two imprefiions, one being the feal itfelf, 

 with the effigies of the king (lamped upon it ; the other has 

 an impreflion of the king's arms in the figure of a target, for 

 matters of fmaller moment, as certificates, &c. that are 

 ufually pleaded fui pede Jigilli. 



The keeping of this feal is in the hands of the lord high 

 chancellor, who is hence alfo denominated lord keeper. 



The office of lord chancellor, or lord keeper, whofe 

 authority by 5 Eliz. c. 18. is declared to be exaftly the 

 fame, is with us at this day created by the mere delivery 

 of the king's great feal into his cuftody, without writ or 

 patent. 



The king's privy-feal is a feal ufually firft fet to grants 

 that are to pafs the great feal. See Patents. 



The ufe of feals is very ancient, an inltance of which 

 occurs in Daniel, chap. vi. 17. But feals are ftill older 

 than this ; for Jezebel, in I Kings, chap. xxi. feals the 

 orders {he fent for Naboth's death with the king's ring. 

 See alfo Jerem. xxxii. 10, &c. 



In effedt, as the ancient feals were all engraven on the 

 collets, ftones, &c. of rings, and as the original ufe of 

 rings, it is aflerted, was only to be in readinefs for the fcal- 

 ing of a£ls, inltrumcnts, &c. feals Ihould feem to be as 

 ancient as rings themfclvee. 



Thefe fealing rings, called annuli fignatorii, Jigillaret, ciro- 

 graphi or cerographi, it is faid by ancient authors, were firft 

 invented by the Lacedaemonians, who, not content to (hut 

 their chcfts, armories, &c. with keys, added feals to them ; 

 and to this end, at firft they made ufe of worm-eaten wood, 

 the imprelTions of which they took on wax, or foft earth ; 

 but they at length found the art of engraving figures, or 

 rings, the imprcffions of which they took in the fame man- 

 ner. This, however, muft be granted, that even in Mofes's 

 time, the art of engraving, not only on metals, but alfo on 

 precious ftones, was known. 



Indeed, it does not appear that the ring had any other 

 lie among the primitive Jews btfides ornament: but at 

 length it was ufcd to feal inftruments, contraAs, diplomas, 

 letters, &c. inltances of which we have in the firft book of 

 Kings, xxi. 8. Efther, viii. 10. Xcnophon, Helltn. lib. i. 

 Quint. Curt. lib. vi. Juft. lib. xliii. cap. iii. where we learn, 

 the keeping of the emperor's feal was become a particular 

 office. Lucian adds, that Alexander gave his feal to Pcr- 

 diccas, thereby appointing him his fucce(ror. 



Pliny obfcrves, that in his time there were no feal» ufcd 



SEA 



any where but in the Roman empire. At Rome, he itlls 

 us, they were become of abfolute rccefhty, infomuch that 

 a teftament was null without the tcftator'« feal, and the feals 

 of feven witnefl'es ; but it docs not appear that the Romans 

 had any fuch things as public feals ; nor that their edicts 

 and contrafts were fealed, not even in the times of the em- 

 perors. 



In France the cuftom anciently was, inftead of figning 

 their inftruments, &c. only to feal them ; as appears from 

 an infinity of ancient charters, which are not figiicd at all ; 

 the reafon of which was, that in thofe days very few people 

 were able to write ; fcarccly any body, indeed, could read 

 and write but clerks ; and the cuftom continued when learn- 

 ing made its way among them, though the reafon for doing 

 it had ceafed. 



In England, the firft fealed charter we find extant is that 

 of Edward the Confe(ror, upon his founding of Weftminfter 

 Abbey ; yet we read of feals in the MS. hiltory of kmg 

 Offa. 



And fir Edward Coke relies on an inftance of king Ed- 

 wyn's making ufe of a feal about an hundred years before 

 the Conqueft ; though fome have doubted the authenticity 

 of this charter, becaufe it is certain that fealing was not 

 then in common ufe. 



Before the time of William the Conqueror, the Englifti 

 did not feal with wax, but only made a golden crofs on the 

 parchment, and fometimes an impreflion on a piece of lead, 

 which hung to the grant with a filken ftring, av.d was deemed 

 an abundant authorizing of the grant itfelf, without either 

 figning or witnelfes. 



This praflice of afiBxing the fign of the crofs proceeded 

 from their inability to write ; which is honcftlv avowed by 

 Caedwalla, a Saxon king, at the end of one of his charters : 

 " propria manu pro igr.orantia literarum fignum fanfti 

 crucis cxprefTi et fubfcnpfi." 



The fame circumftance is related concerning the emperor 

 Juftin in the Eaft, and Theodoric, king of the Goths, in 

 Italy. 



The colour of the wax with which William's grants were 

 fealed, was ufually green, to fignify tiiat the ad continued 

 for ever fre(h, and of force. The ufual impreflion on all 

 laymen's feals, till the year 1218, was a man on horfcback, 

 with a fword in his hand ; afterwards, they began to engrave 

 their coats of arms on their feals ; only the arclibiftiops 

 and bifliops, by a decree of cardinal Otto, who was legate 

 herein 1237, were to bear in their ieals their title, office, 

 dignity, and even their proper names. 



Du Chefne obferves, that none below the dignity of a 

 knight had any right to a pendant feal, called aulhen- 

 ticum. 



The emperors long fealed all their afts of importance 

 with a golden feal ; and the golden bull of Charles IV. for 

 the eleftion of an emperor, takes its name from the gold feal 

 hanging to it, wliich is called lull. 



The pope has two kinds of feals, the firft ufcd in apofto- 

 lical briefs, and private letters, &c. called \.\\c fjlerman i ring. 

 This is a very large ring, on which is rcprcfcntcd St. Peter 

 drawing his net full of fifties. 



The other is ufed in bulls, reprefcnting St. Peter's head 

 on the right, that of St. Paul on the left, with a crofs be 

 tween the two ; on the revcrfe arc lonietimes the pope's name 

 and arms. 



The imprcflions of the firft feal are taken in red wax ; but 

 thofe of the fecond, always in lead. 



Thcod. Hopink, a German lawyer, ii.is furnifticd the 



world with a learned and curious work on the fubica of 



feals, printed in [642, at Nuremberg, in quarto, under the 



* title, 



