SEC 



where the judges confidcred the caufes that had been liti- 

 gated before them, and came to a refolution what feiitence 

 they were to pafs from the tribunal. It was moft ufually 

 feparated from the tribunal by a veil. 



SECRETARY, an officer, who, by order of his mafter, 

 writes letters, difpatches, and other inilruments, which he 

 renders authentic by his fignature. 



Of thefe there are feveral kinds, as fecretary of ftate, 

 fecretary of war, fecretary of the trealury, fecretary of the 

 admiralty, fecretary of the lord chancellor, &c. 



Secretaries of State, are officers attending the king, 

 for the receipt and difpatch of letters, grants, petitions, 

 and many of the moft important affairs of the kingdom, 

 both foreign and domellic. 



The king's fecretaries were anciently called the ling's 

 thrks and notaries, regi a commentariis. As for the name fe- 

 cretary, it was at firit applied to fuch a?, being always near 

 the king's perfon, received his commands, and were called 

 ckrks of the Jecret ; whence was afterwards formed the word 

 fecretary, regi a fecretis ; and as the great lords began to give 

 their clerks alfo the quality of fecretary, thofe who attended 

 the king were called, by way of diftinftion, fecretaries of the 

 commands, regi a mandatis. This continued till the reign of 

 our Henry VIII. 1559 ; when, at a treaty of peace between 

 the French and Spaniards, the former obferved, that the 

 Spanifli minilUrs, who treated for Philip II. called them- 

 ieUei fecretaries of flat e ; upon which, the Yritnc^ fecreiaires 

 de commandemcnts, out of emulation, aflumed the fame title ; 

 which thence palfed alfo into England. 



Till the reign of king Henry VIII. there was only one 

 fecretary of ftate ; but then, bufincfs increafing, that prince 

 appointed a iecond fecretary ; both were of equal power 

 and authority, and both ftyled principal fecretaries of flate. 

 Before queen Elizabeth's time, the fecretaries did not fit at 

 the council board ; but that princefs admitted them to the 

 place of privy counfellors, which honour they have held 

 ever fince ; and a council is never, or at leaft very feldom, 

 held without one of them. On the union of England and 

 Scotland, queen Anne added a third fecretary, on account 

 of the great increafe of bufincfs, which, as to Britain, was 

 equally and diftinctly managed by all the three, although 

 the lalt was frequently ftyled fecretary of flate for North 

 Britain. We have had alfo a fecretary of ftate for the Ame- 

 rican department. But both thefe offices arc now abolilhed, 

 and there ftill remdn three principal fecretaries, w'z. one of 

 the home department, another of foreign affairs, and the 

 third of the colony and war department, who have under 

 their management and direAion the moll coiifiderable af- 

 fairs of the nation, and are obliged to a conftant attendance 

 on the king ; they receive and difpatch whatever comes to 

 their hands, be it for the crown, the church, the army, pri- 

 vate grants, pardons, difpenfations, &c. as likewife petitions 

 to the fovercien ; which, when read, are returned to the 

 fecretaries for aiifwer ; all which they difpatch according to 

 the king's command and direction. 



Ireland is under the direftion of the chief fecretary to the 

 • lord lieutenant, who has under him a refident under fecre- 

 tary. 



Each of the three principal fecretaries has two under fe- 

 cretaries and one or more chief clerks, befides a number of 

 other clerks and officers, wholly dependmg upon them. 



Our fecretaries of ftate are allowed power to commit per- 

 fons for treifon, and other offences againft the flate, in order 

 to bring tliem to their trial. Some have faid that this power 

 is incident to their office ; and others, that tiiey derive it in 

 virtue of their being named in the commifTions of the peace 

 for every county in England and Wales. 



SEC 



The fecretaries of ftate have the cuftody of that feal, pro- 

 perly called the Jignet, and the direction of the fignet office ; 

 in which t.here are four chief clerks and three deputies em- 

 ployed, who prepare fuch things as are to pafs the fignet, 

 in order to the privy or great feal. All grants, figned by 

 the king, are returned hither, which, tranfcribed, are carried 

 to one of the principal fecretaries of ftate, and fcaled, and 

 then called fignets ; which, being direfted to the lord priry- 

 feal, are his warrant. 



On the fecretaries of ftate is hkewife dependent another 

 office, called the paper-ojice ; in which all public writings, 

 papers, matters of Hate, &c. are preferved. 



All the under fecretaries and clerks are in the choice of 

 the fecretary of ftate, without referve to any perfon ; the 

 under fecretaries receive orders and direftions from tiiem, for 

 writing difpatches, foreigner domeftic, which they give to 

 the chief clerk, who diltributes them to the under clerks. 



The fecretary at war belongs to the war ofHce, and has 

 under him a deputy fecretary, with his private iecretar)', and 

 a number of clerks and other officers. 



Secretary of an Emhaffy, is a perfon attending an ain- 

 baffador, for the writing ol difpatches relating to tiie Ecgo- 

 ciation. 



There is a great difference between the fecretary of the 

 embalTy, and the ambalTador's fecretary ; the bft is a do- 

 meftic, or menial of the ambaffador's ; the firft a fervant, or 

 minifler of the prince. 



SECRETION, in Phyfwlogy, is that vital procefs, in 

 which fome fubftance, cither defigned to anfwer a purpofe 

 in the animal economy, or to be thrown out of the body as 

 ufelefs or injurious, is feparated from the blood by an organ 

 of glandular ftruftuie. It agrees with nutrition, with the 

 exhalations from the fl^in, membranes, adipous and lymphatic 

 cells, in being the feparation of fomething from tlie blood, 

 but it is dittinguifhed from thefe proceffes by the ciicum- 

 ftance of its being performed by glands. Tlic word fccrelion 

 however is often ufed more loolely by medical writers, in 

 application to any living procefs, by which matters arc fepa- 

 rated from the blood. The organic llrudlures, in whicii fe- 

 cretions are carried on, tiie material agents of theie pro- 

 ceffes, and the powers by which they are executed, are con- 

 fidcred under the article Gi.and. 



SECT, Secta, a collective term, comprehending all 

 fuch as follow the dodlrines, or opinions, of fome famous 

 divine, philofopher, &c. For tlie fcriptural meaning of the 

 term fedl, fee HEiiEsy. 



The fefts of philofophers among the ancients, particularly 

 in Greece, were numerous : as tlie Pyrrhonians, Platonifts, 

 Epicureans, Stoics, Peripatetics, Academics, &c. See 

 each under its proper article. 



In later times, the fefts of philofophy have been chiefly 

 reducible to three ; viz. the Cartefians, Peripatetics, and 

 Newtonians. See Caiite.sian, Sec. 



In theology, the fcdts are much more numerous ; yet the 

 ancients had many legions, now extindt ; as Machinecs, 

 Gnoftics, Montanifts, &c. 



The principal now on foot are the Liitlierans, Calvinifts, 

 Anabaptifts, Arians, Socinians, Arminians, and Unitarians. 

 The rife, progreis, and fate, with the dillinguilliing charac- 

 ters and opinions of each, fee under Luthehan, Cai-VI- 

 nist, &c. 



Skot, Ionic. Sec Ionic. 

 Sect, Italic. Sec Italic. 



Sects of Hindoos. It has been long known that the 

 Hindoos arc divided and fubdivided into a number of feds, 

 tribes, or cafts. Under our .irticles Bhachmans, Cast, 

 and Gestoos, wchavc given the fublUiice of wh.it has been 



communicated 



