SEN 



tions, and kept himfelf out of fight as much as polTible. 

 Notwithftaiidiiig his prudence, it is faid that the tyrant en- 

 gaged one of his freedmen to poifon him, and that Seneca 

 by good fortune efcaped the fnare. It was not long, how- 

 ever, before an occafion was given to the emperor to gratify 

 Ids hatred againll one, whom he felt as a fecret ceufor of 

 his vices. Under the pretence of Seneca's conneftion with 

 a confpiracy, a miKtary tribune was fent with a band of 

 foldiers to Seneca's houfe, where he was at fupper with his 

 wife Paulina, and two friends. He was, without much 

 ceremony, commanded to put an end to himfelf. The phi- 

 lofopher heard the feiitence with equanimity, and only aflced 

 for time fufficicnt to make his will. This was refufed, and 

 turning to his friends, he faid, tliat fince he was not allowed 

 to Ihew his gratitude to them in any other way, he would 

 leave them the image of his life, as the belt memorial of 

 their friendfliip. He then exhorted them to moderate their 

 grief. He embraced Paulina, and endeavoured to comfort 

 her ; but (he refufed any other confolation than that of 

 dying with him. The death which he chofe was that by 

 opening his veins, and he expired in the year 65, and in the 

 12th year of Nero's reign. The emperor would not fuffer 

 Paulina to die with her hulband ; but file never recovered 

 the lofs of blood which fhe had experienced, before the im- 

 perial decree arrived. 



The charadler of Nero has been greatly extolled by fome 

 writers, and not lefs deprecated by others ; but Tacitus, 

 without pretending to conceal his faults, inclines to a fa- 

 vourable opinion of him ; and it is completely aicerlained, 

 that while Nero followed the precepts of his mailer, he ap- 

 peared a good prince ; and that all virtue was banifiied from 

 the court, when Seneca left it. 



" If," fays one of the philofopher's biographers, " a 

 writer could be eftimated by his works, a purer moraliit 

 could not ealily be found ; for their conllant tenor is that 

 of fohd virtue, tempered with humanity, and exalted by 

 the nobleft principles of theifm. They are indeed marked 

 with the tumid pride inculcated by the Stoical feft, to 

 which he chiefly adhered, though he freely adopted what he 

 found good in others." Of his writings which have come 

 down to us, the greater part are moral, confining of epiftlcs, 

 124 in number, and of diftindl treatifes on Anger, Confola- 

 tion, Providence, &c. There are, moreover, fevcn books 

 on phyfical topics, entitled " Natural Queftions," in which 

 are to be found the rudiments of fome notions regarded as 

 fundamental in modern phyfics. 



A number of tragedies are extant, under the name of 

 Seneca, but they are probably not his ; nor is it at all 

 known to whom they ought to be afcribed. The editions 

 of Seneca's works are very numerous. Of the works, not 

 including the tragedies, the moll efteemed are thofe of 

 Lipfiuj ; the Variorum, 3 vols. ?vo. ; the Leipiic, 2 vols. 

 8vo. ; and the Bipontine. Of the tragedies, are the Va- 

 riorum ; that by Heinfius, with notes by Scaliger ; and the 

 quarto Delphin. 



Seneca, in Geography, a town of America, in the county 

 of Onondago, in New York, laid out in ilreets and fquares, 

 on the north fide of Seneca Falls. The inhabitants have 

 erefted, at a great expence, flour and faw-mills, of the belt 

 kind in this place, and alfo a bridge acrofs Seneca river ; 

 and as the place is central, and acceflible from the eaftern 

 and weitern countries, it promife? a rapid increafe. 



Seneca Creek, a creek in Maryland, which has two 

 branches ; one called Little Seneca. It empties into Po- 

 tomac river, about 19 miles N.W. of the mouth of Rock 

 creek, which feparatcs George-town from Wafiiington 

 city. 



S E N 



Seneca Late, a lake in Ontario county, Nevr York, 

 which is a handfome piece of water, from 35 to 40 miles in 

 length, and about 2 miles wide. At the N.W. corner of 

 the lake ftands the town of Geneva ; and on the E. fide, be- 

 tween it and Cayuga, are the towns of Romulus, Ovid, 

 Hector, and Ulyd'es, in Onondago county, New York. 

 Its outlet is Scayace river, wliich alfo receives the waters of 

 Cayuga lake, 9 miles N.E. from the mouth of Canada Saga, 

 18 miles below Geneva. 



Seneca River, a river in the ftate of New York, which 

 has an eailerly courfc, and receives the waters of Seneca and 

 Cayuga lakes, which lie north and fouth, 10 or 12 miles 

 apart, and empties into the Onondago river, 14 miles below 

 the Falls, at a place called the Three Rivers. The river is 

 boatable from the likes downwards. Witliiu hall a mile of 

 the river is the famous fait lake. 



SENECAI, or Sene^e, Antoixe Baudebox de, in 

 Biography, a French poet, was born at Ma^on in 1 543. 

 He was brought up to the bar, and pleaded for a time, 

 rather in comphance with his father's wifhcs, than from his 

 own inclination. A duel, in wliich he was engaged, obliged 

 him to retire to the court of Savoy, where fie had another 

 quarrel with the brothers of a lady, who attached herfelf to 

 him ; and the coufequences of which caufcd him to with- 

 draw to Madrid. After this he returned to France^ mar- 

 ried, and purchafed the place of firll valct-de-chambrc to 

 Therefa, the wife of Lewis XIV. Lofing that oHice, on 

 the death of the queen, he, with his family, was received 

 into the houfe of the duchefs of Angouleme, where for 

 30 years he enjoyed an honourable retreat. At her death, 

 he fixed his refidence at his native town, where he died in 

 1737, having attained to his 94th year. Scnege devoted 

 himfelf to literature, and many of his compofitions were 

 inferted in the " Mercurcs," and other periodical works of 

 the time. By his poems he has obtained a rank among the 

 fuccefiful votaries of the French mufes. Voltaire deno- 

 minated him " a poet of a Angular imagination," and fays, 

 that his tale of " Kaimac" is a diftinguifiicd performance. 

 He alfo fpeaks in praife of his " Travaux d'ApoUon." 

 His tale, entitled " La Mauiere de Filer le parfait Amour," 

 is much efteemed. He was alfo the author of " Remarques 

 Hilloriques," with obfervations on the Memoirs of Cardinal 

 de Retz. 



SENECAS, or Senekas, in Geography, a tribe of In- 

 dians, being one of the Six nations. They inhabit the 

 territory on Genefiee river, at the Geneflee caftle. This 

 tribe confilts of about 1780 perfons. They hare two towns 

 of 60 or 70 inhabitants each, on French creek, in Pennfyl- 

 yania; and another town on Buffaioe creek, which falls 

 into the eaftern extremity of lake Erie, on the New York 

 Ihore; and two fmall towns on Alleghany river. The 

 Seneka Indians are wonderfully expert in the ufe of bows 

 and blow-guns, with which they fhoot fquirrels in the 

 woods. The blow-gun is a narrow tube, about fix feet 

 long, made of a cane-reed, or fome pithy wood, through 

 which they drive {lender arrows by the force of the breath. 

 The arrow^s are not much thicker than the lower ftring of a 

 violin : they are generally headed with fmall triangular bits 

 of tin ; and round the oppofite ends, for the length of two 

 inches, a quantity of the down of thirties, or fomething very 

 hke it, is bound, fo as to leave the arrows at this part of 

 luch athickiiefs that they may but barely pafs into the tube. 

 The arrows are put in at the end of the tube that is held 

 next to the mouth, the down catches the breath, and with 

 a fmart puff' they will fly to the diftance of 50 yards. 



SENECEY, or Grand Sennecey, a town of France^ 



m the department of the Saone and Loire, and chief place 



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