S I T 



S I V 



SITTENSEN, a town of Germany, in the duchy of 

 Verden ; 18 miles N.E. of Rottenburjr. 



SITTER, a river of Switzerland, which rifes in the 

 canton of Appenzell, and joins the Thur, 9 miles W. of 

 St. Gal. 



SITTICHENBACH, a town of Saxony ; 6 miles 

 N.W. of Querfurt. 



SITTICOTE, a town of Hindooltan, in Dowlatabad ; 

 p miles S. of Renapiir. 



SITTINGBOURNE, a poll and fair-town in a parifh 

 of the fame name, hundred of Milton, and county of Kent, 

 England, is fituated on the high road from London to Can- 

 terbury, at the d\ltance of 40 miles S.E. from the metro- 

 polis, and 13 miles N.E. by E. from Maidftone. This 

 place IS of confiderable antiquity, and derives its name, by 

 corruption, from the Saxon word " Saedingburna," which 

 fignilies the village by the bourne or (tream. Henry V. 

 was entertained here, on his triumphant return from France, 

 by John Northwood, efq. of Northwood, in a llyle of 

 magnificence belittmg the royal dignity. Queen Elizabeth 

 incorporated this town by charter, and conferred upon it 

 the privileges of a weekly market and fairs, firil in the i6th 

 year of her reign, and again in her 41ft year. By the latter 

 deed, the corporation was conftituted by the ftyle of the 

 mayor and jurats, and was inverted with the right of fending 

 two members to parliament. Thefe privileges, however, 

 never feem to have been exercifed ; and even the market was 

 dropped in a few years ; but the fairs are ftill kept on Whit- 

 monday and the two following days, and on the loth of 

 October and the four following days. 



Sittingbourne chiefly forms one wide (Ireet on the high 

 road, which here defcends towards the eait. The principal 

 lupport of its inhabitants arifes from the cuftom of tra- 

 vellers who pafs through it. The inns are numerous, and 

 fome of them equal in magnificence to any provincial inn in 

 the kingdom. The church is a fpacious Itrufture, divided 

 into a nave and two aides, a chancel, two chapels, and a 

 tower, which rifes at the well end. The whole has been re- 

 built, with the exception of the tower, fince the year 1762, 

 when it was deltroyed by fire. By that cataltrophe, mod 

 of the monuments peri (lied ; and fuch of them as were pre- 

 fervcd, were fo capricioufly removed, that few of them 

 cover the remains of the perfons they were intended to com- 

 memorate. The moft curious monument remaining is one 

 in the north, or Bayford chapel, which confilts of a table- 

 flab of Betherfden marble, placed under an obtufely pointed 

 arch, ornamented with quatrefoil compartments, difplaying 

 heads, fliields, fleur-de-lis, &c. and having, in the receis 

 behind it, the emaciated figure of a female in a winding- 

 Iheet. 



Sittingbourne parifli is of fmall extent, and contains, ac- 

 cording to the parliamentary returns of 181 1, 239 houfes, 

 and 1362 inliabitants. Lewis Theobald, wlio pubhflied 

 two editions of Shakfpeare's plays, with notes, in 1733 and 

 1740, was a native of this parifti. 



At Bayford, to the north of Sittingbourne, are fome 

 remains of an ancient intrcnchment, laid to have been formed 

 by king Alfred, when he came hither to repel the incurfions 

 of the Danes, in the year 893. This place was afterwards 

 the fcite of a callle, which, in the time of Edward 1., was 

 the baronial feat of Robert de Nottingham, as appears from 

 various deeds dill extant, bearing date " Apud cartcllum 

 fuum de Bayford apud Goodnellon." Hafted's Hillory of 

 Kent, vol. vi. 8vo. edit. 1 79S. Beauties of England and 

 Wales, vol. vii. by E. W. Brayley, 1806. 



SITTUKERA, a town ot Hindooilan, in the foubah 

 of Moultan ; 15 miles fram Shawanaz. 



Vol. XXXIIL 



SITUA, in Ancient Geography, a ton's of Aiia^ in 



Paphlagonia. 



SITUS, in Geometry and /llgebra, denotes the fitiution 

 of lines, furfaces, &c. 



Wolfius gives us fome things in geometry, which are not 

 deduced from the common analyfis ; particularly, matters 

 depending on the fitus of lines and figures. M. Leibnitz 

 has even invented a particular kind of analyfis thereon, called 

 calculus Jitus. 



SITZENBERG, in Geography, a town of Auftria ; 

 10 miles W.S. W. of Tuhn. 



SITZKOI, a town of Ruflia, in the government of 

 Olnnetz ; 12 miles E.S.E. of Ladeinoepole. 



SIVA, in Ancient Geography, a town of Cappadocia, in 

 the prefecture of Cilicia. Ptolemy. 



Siva, in Hindoo Mythology, is a perfonification of one of 

 the three great powers of the deity. Siva is ufually deemed 

 the third perfon in the Hindoo triad, and to reprefent the 

 dejlrudive energy. A detailed account of this important 

 perfonagc would extend itfelf to a hiftory of the whole 

 Hindoo Pantheon ; for he appears in fuch a variety of 

 forms, and on fo many occafions, that fcarcely a ftcp can 

 be taken in any department whatever of eaitern fcience, art, 

 or fubjeft of literature, without encountering Siva in fome 

 of his varied characters. Under the articles Saiva and 

 Vaishnava we have itated, that the whole race of Hindoos 

 are divided into thofe two claflTes, denoting the worlhip of 

 Siva, or of Viflinu ; Brahma, the firrt or creative power, 

 having no worfhippers, or temples. Of this curious fatt, 

 fee under Saraswati, the name of his confort. Thefe 

 two comprehenfive claffes are alfo called Saiva-bakht, and 

 Vifhnu-bakht. See Sects of Hindoos. 



As the deJlruSfve energy of the deity, Siva is moft ufually 

 feen ; but deftruftion being ufed in the (enfe of renovation, 

 the character of Siva is that of the renovator, or rccreator ; 

 ad'ociating hfm in character with Brahma, the producing or 

 creative power. See Vedanta. 



We will try to exhibit, at one view, the variety of rela- 

 tions in which this and the other two members of the Hindoo 

 triad appear ; whether they be introduced mythologically, 

 metaphyfically, or philofophically. All three are fymbols 

 of the fun, as he is typical of that great light, as the theo- 

 logians exprefs it, " whence all proceeded, and to which all 

 mull return." See O'.m. 



Brahma Power 'Creation IMatterjThe paft lEarth. 

 Viduiu |Wifdom!Prerervation'Space The prefent| Water. 

 Siva ]Jiilliee |Deftrudion |Time JThe future I Fire. 



But thefe characters, or attributes, are not exclufively 

 applicable to the three poweri, as indicated above. They 

 coalelce and participate, more or lefs, in fcveral. An at- 

 tempt has been made to fhew in what degree, more parti- 

 cularly, they reprefent their material forms of earth, water, 

 and fire : thus, 



Brahma and Siva are Fire 



Viflinu and Brahma are Earth, in which Siva 



n which Vilhnul f"^" "°' P"- 

 -L p:.._ ' ticipatc, or 



Siva and Viflinu arc Water, in which Brahma } . P , , 



I but remotely. 



As well as aflSiiities, thefe powers have oppofing pro- 

 perties ; contclls of perlons, in mythological language, and 

 in that of the myftics, attractions, and love. 



The conttll': of tliele powers, or perlons, thcu" quarrels 

 and reconciliations, yield fine occafions for poetical cxu- 

 berance. The prcfervativc and regenerative powers, being 

 in conllant adion, au feigned to have dcfccnded on earth 

 innumerable times, in divers places, for the inftruCtion and 

 benefit, including the falutary pumlhnient, of mankind. 



L The 



