S E R 



S E R 



»5<)0 he publirtied a work in favour of Henry IV., who 

 4iad fuccecded to the crown, entitled " Vindicix fecundum 

 iibertatcm Ecclefia: Galhcanx, et Defenfio Regii Status 

 Gallo-Franeonim fub Henri(?o IV. Rege." In 1598, *i"ing 

 joined in a commifTion for the reformation of the univerfity 

 ■of Paris, he delivered " a remonllrance" on the fubjecl, which 

 ■was printed. To liisn alfo is attributed a work in favour 

 of the republic O'f Venice in the affairs of the Intcrdift. 

 In the reign of Lewis XIII., at a bed of jultice holden in 

 1620, he made flroiig and animated remonflranccs in favour 

 of the right of parliament to regiiter royal edifts. On an- 

 other fimilar occafion, for the purpofe of compelling the 

 regillry of fome financial ediils, as he was firmly but re- 

 fpedtfully making frefli remonllrances to his majelty, he fud- 

 denly fell and expired at the king's feet, a memorable death, 

 and fuch, fays his biographer, as may in a meafure entitle 

 him to be enrolled among the martyrs to liberty. The pri- 

 vate charafter of this excellent magillrate was worthy his 

 high public reputation, and few men of his time Itood in 

 more general reputation. 



SERVING, encirchng a rope with line or fpun-yarn, 

 &c. to preferve it from the wet getting to it ; alfo to pre- 

 vent its being chafed. Rigging, Plate ^-Jig- 48. 

 Serving the Rigging. See Mallet. 

 SEKVlSG-AItj/let, a cylindrical piece of wood with a 

 handle in the middle. It is ufed for fervi:ig rope, and has 

 a groove along the furface, oppofite to the handle, which 

 fits the convexity of the rope to be ferved. Rigging, 

 Plate I. Jig. 49, a fliort board with fcores in it, is ufed for 

 laying on Imall fervice. 



SERVISTAN, in Geography, a town of Perfia, in the 

 province of Farfiftan ; 25 miles S.E. of Schiras. 



SERVITES, an order of religious, fo denominated from 

 their vowing a peculiar attachment to the fervice of the 

 Virgin. 



The order was founded by feven Florentine merchants, 

 who, about the year 1233, began to live in community 

 on mount Senar, two leagues from Florence. In 1239, 

 they received from the bifiiop the rule of St. Auguffine, 

 with a black habit, in lieu of a grey one, which they had 

 worn before. In 1251, Bonfiho Monaldi, one of the fuven, 

 from being fimple prior of mount Senar, was named 

 general. 



This order was approved of by the council of Lateran, 

 and again by cardinal Raynerius, legate of pope In- 

 nocent IV., who put it under the protection of the holy 

 fee. The fuccccding popes have granted it a great many 

 favours. It is become famous in Italy, by the hillory of 

 the council of Trent, of F. Paolo, a Venetian, who was a 

 rehgious Servite. M. Hcrmant gives this order the name 

 of the Annunciate, doubtlefs from this millake, that in 

 fome cities of Italy they are called religious of the Annunciate, 

 becaufe in thofc cities their ciuirch is dedicated under that 

 name. F. Archang. Giani derives the name Servitcs, fer- 

 vants of the holy Virgin, from hence ; that when they ap- 

 peared for ttte firll time in tlie black iiabit given them by 

 the bifhop, the fuckling children, as they fay, cried out. 

 Behold the fervanls of the Virgin. There arc alfo nuns of 

 this order. 



SERVITIA, Per Qu^. See Pi:n Qv.v.. 

 SERVlTllS Aequictanilis, a writ judicial that lies for a 

 man dillrained for fervices to one, when he owes and per- 

 forms them to anotiier, for the acquittal of fuch fervices. 

 Skuvitiis ConfuetuJinibus. See CoNSUETt'DINlBUS. 

 SERVITOR, in the univerfity of Oxford, a feholar or 

 ftudent, who attends and waits on another for his main- 

 tenance there. 



Servitors of Sills, denote fuch fervants or mefTcngeCI 

 of the marflial of the king's bench, as were fent abroad 

 with bills or writs, to fummon men to that court. They 

 are now commonly called tip-Jlaves. 



SERVITUDE, the condition of a fervant, or rather 

 flave. Under the declenfion of the Roman empire, a new 

 kii'.d of fervitude was introduced, diff^erent from that of the 

 ancient Romans : it confiHed in leaving the lands of fub- 

 jugated nations to the firit owners, upon condition of certain 

 rents, and fervile offices, to be paid in acknowledgment. 

 Hence the names o( fervi cenjiti, afcriptitii, and addiBi glebe ; 

 fome of whicli were taxable at the reafonable difcretion of 

 the lord ; others at a certain rate agreed on ; and others 

 were maiiimortable, who, having no legitimate children, 

 could not make a will to above the value of five-pence, the 

 lord being heir of all the reft ; .ind others were prohibited 

 marrying, or going to live out of the lordfhip. Moft of 

 which fervices iUU fubfift in one province or other of 

 France ; though they are all abolidied in England. Such, 

 however, was the original of our tenures, &c. See Slave. 

 SERVIUS, Maurus-Honouatus, in Biography, a 

 grammarian and critic, who flourilhed in the reigns of 

 Arcadius and Honorius, is principally known by his Com- 

 mentaries on Virgil, which, however, are confidered rather 

 as a coUeftion of ancient remarks and criticifms on that 

 poet than as made by himfelf. They contain n\any valuable 

 notices of the geography and arts of antiquity. The Com- 

 mentaries of Servius were firft printed feparately at Venice 

 in 1471, and have frequently been reprinted fince. In 

 1532 tiiey were annexed to Stephens's Virgil, but they are 

 mod correftly given in Burman's edition in 1756. A traft 

 on profody by this author, entitled " Centimetrum," is 

 printed in the coUeftions of the ancient grammarians. Ser- 

 vius is mentioned with refpeft and honour by Macrobius, 

 who makes him one of the fpeakers in his Saturnalia. 

 Gen. Biog. 



Servius, Sulpicius Rufus, an eminent Roman jurift 

 and Itatefman, was defcended from the illuftrious patrician 

 family of Sulpicii. He was contemporary with Cicero, 

 and born probably about a century before the birth of 

 Chrift. He cultivated polite literature from a very early 

 period, efpecially philofophy and poetry, and wrote fome 

 pieces in tiie latter clafs, which were marked with the licen- 

 tioufnefs of the time. He bore arms in the Marfic war ; 

 but finding himfelf better pleafed with the arts of peace, he 

 appeared a pleader at the bar in the 25th year of his age. 

 The profefiions of advocate and lawyer were then fo dillinft, 

 that the former were accullomed to confult jurifts upon all 

 difficult points. Servius having once applied for that pur- 

 pofe to Quint us Mucins, a very eminent lawyer, the latter 

 perceiving that Servius did not comprehend his explanations, 

 alked him if it were not a fliame that he, a patrician and 

 pleader, fliould be ignorant of the law upon which he was 

 frequently called to fpeak. Tins reproof is faid to have 

 had fuch an eff"cft upon liim, that Servius quitted the bar, 

 and gave all his attention to legal ftudics ; and fuch was 

 his fuccefs, that Cicero faid of him, " If all, in every age, 

 who in this city have acquired a knowledge of the law, were 

 brouglit tBgether, they would not be to be compared with 

 Servius Sulpicius ;" and he fartlier adds, that " he was 

 not lefs the oracle of julHce than of the law : he always 

 referred to principles of equity and obvious interpretation 

 what he deduced from tlie civil code, and was lefs defirous 

 of finding grounds for anions than of fettling difputes." 

 There was a great intimacy formed between thefe two 

 perfonages, and there arc feveral letters extant from Cicero 

 to Sulpitius, and two from Sulpituis to Cicero, of which 



one 



