S E D 
SEDLEV (Sit Charles), a dramatic writer, born in 1639. 
He was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, and after 
leaving the university, he passed his time in retirement till 
the restoration. On that event he came to court, and was 
one of the licentious circle round Charles II. His first essays 
in writing were some amatory poems, chiefly distinguished 
by their voluptuous cast. At this period of his life he was 
guilty of some public indecency, on account of which he 
'was fined 500/. Sir Charles’s fortune being impaired by 
this course of life, he got into the House of Commons, and 
he sat in three parliaments during that reign, in which he 
was frequently speaker. In the following reign, he took a 
patriotic part, which would have been highly to his credit, 
if private pique had not been the principal motive of his 
conduct. It appears, notwithstanding the laxity of his own 
morals, that he was much offended with James II. for taking 
his daughter for a mistress, in which quality she was raised 
to the title of countess of Dorchester, an elevation that, as 
her father indignantly said, only rendered her infamy the 
more conspicuous. Sir Charles joined the Earl of Dorset in 
a steady opposition to the design of keeping up a standing 
army after Monmouth’s rebellion, and he concurred in all 
the measures which produced the revolution. For the latter 
he gave the humourous reason, that as the king had made 
his daughter a countess, he would in return do all in his 
power to make his majesty’s daughter a queen. 
Sedley long continued to be regarded as a fine gentleman, 
a lively companion, and a judge and patron of poetry, in 
which last capacity he was instrumental in bringing Charles 
Montague, afterwards Earl of Halifax, into notice. He is 
supposed to have lived beyond his eightieth year. His 
works, in two vols. 8vo., consist of poems, speeches in par¬ 
liament, and a number of dramatic pieces, none of which are 
retained on the stage. Biog. Brit. 
SEDLITZ, a village of the north-west of Bohemia; 17 
miles west of Leutmeritz, well known for its mineral waters. 
SEDLITZ, or Great Sedlitz, a village of Germany, 
in Saxony; 2 miles south-west of Pima. Here is a palace, 
with elegant gardens and water-works, erected by the elector 
Augustus III., but now neglected. 
SEDLNITZ, a small town of the Austrian states, in Mo¬ 
ravia, circle of Prerau, with 1500 inhabitants. 
SEDR, or Sedre, the high priest of the sect of Ali, 
among the Persians. 
The sedr is appointed by the emperor of Persia, who usu¬ 
ally confers the dignity on his nearest relation. 
The jurisdiction of the sedr extends overall effects destined 
for pious purposes, over all mosques, hospitals, colleges, se¬ 
pulchres and monasteries. He disposes of all ecclesiastical 
employments, and nominates all the superiors of religious 
houses. His decisions, in matters of religion, are received 
as so many infallible oracles; he judges of all criminal mat¬ 
ters, in his own house, without appeal; and is, without con¬ 
tradiction, the second person in the empire. 
The sedr, however, has not any indelible character, but 
frequently quits his post for another purely secular one. His 
authority is balanced by that of the mudsitchid, or first 
theologue of the empire. 
SEDRE PASSAGE, a narrow channel of the Eastern 
seas, on the north coast of Sumatra, between Pulo Nancy 
and King’s point. 
To SEDU'CE, v. a. [ scduco , Lat., scduire, Fr.] To 
draw aside from the right; to tempt; to corrupt. 
’Tis meet 
That noble minds keep ever with their likes; 
For who so firm that cannot be seduc'd. Shakspeare. 
Me the gold of France did not seduce. 
Although I did admit it as a motive. 
The sooner to effect what I intended. Shakspeare . 
SEDU'CEMENT, s. Practice of seduction; art or means 
used in order to seduce. 
Her Hero’s dangers touch’d the pitying power, 
The nymph’s seducements, and the magic bower. Pope. 
S £ D 907 
SEDU'CER, s. One who draws aside from the right; 
a tempter; a corrupter, generally of women.—Grant it me, 
O king; otherwise a seducer flourishes, and a poor maid is 
undone. Shakspeare. —There is a teaching by restraining 
seducers, and so removing the hindrances of knowledge. 
South. 
The soft seducer, with enticing looks, 
The bellowing rivals to the fight provokes. Dryden. 
He whose firm faith no reason could remove, 
Will melt before that soft seducer, love. Dryden. 
SEDU'CIBLE, adj. Corruptible; capable of being 
drawn aside from the right.—We owe much of our errour to 
the power which our affections have over our so easy sedu¬ 
cible understandings. Glanville. 
SEDU'CTION, s. [ seduction, Fr., seductus, Lat. The 
act of seducing.—Helen ascribes her seduction to Venus, 
and mentions nothing of Paris. Pope. —A woman who is 
above flattery, and despises all praise, but that which flows 
from the approbation of her own heart, is, morally speaking, 
out of reach of seduction. Richardson. 
SEDUCTION, Point, a cape on the west coast of 
North America, which separates two arms in the north part 
of Lynn canal. Lat. 59. 2. N. long. 224. 48. E. 
SEDU'CTIVE, adj. Apt to seduce; apt to mislead. 
Sheridan. —You ask me if I know such a word as seductive. 
It is used perpetually in conversation, and I feel a consci¬ 
ousness of having met it often in elegant writing. Seward's 
Lett. 
SEDU'LITY, s. [scdulitas, Lat.] Diligent assiduity ; 
laboriousness; industry; application; intenseness of 
endeavour.—Man oftentimes pursues, with great sedulity and 
earnestness, that which cannot stand him in any stead for 
vital purpose. Hooker. 
SEDULIUS (Caius Caelius, or Caecilius), a priest and 
oet, who flourished about the year 430. He is known only 
y his writings, of which the principal is a Latin poem in 
heroic verse, entitled “ Paschale Carmen,” in five books, 
the first of which relates to the histories recorded in the Old 
Testament, and the last four to the life and miracles of Christ. 
This work is chiefly esteemed for its subject, though the 
style is flowing, and, for the age in which it was written, 
is tolerably pure. It has been printed several times, and is 
contained in Mattaire’s “ Corpus Poetarum.” 
SE'DULOUS, adj. [scdulios, Lat.] Assiduous; in¬ 
dustrious ; laborious; diligent; painful. 
Not sedulous by nature to indite 
Wars, hitherto the only argument 
Heroick deem’d. Milton. 
SE'DULOUSLY, adv. Assiduously; laboriously. 
All things by experience 
Are most improv’d ; then sedulously think 
To meliorate thy stock, no way or rule 
Be unessay’d. Philips. 
SE'DULOUSNESS, s. Assiduity; assiduousness; in¬ 
dustry ; diligence.—By their sedulousness and their erudition 
they discovered difficulties. Boyle. 
SEDUM [of Pliny ; a sedendo in rupibu.s, from its sit¬ 
ting or growing close to rocks], in Botany, a genus of the 
class decandria, order pentagynia, natural order of succu- 
lentse; sempervivre (Juss.) —Generic Character. Calyx; 
perianth five-cleft, acute, erect, permanent. Corolla:, pe¬ 
tals five, lanceolate, acuminate, flat, spreading. Nectaries 
five: each a very small emarginate scale: inserted into each 
germ at the base on the outside. Stamina: filaments ten, 
awl-shaped, length of the corolla. Anthers roundish. Pistil: 
germs five, oblong, ending in more slender styles. Stigmas 
obtuse. Pericarp: capsules five, spreading, acuminate, com¬ 
pressed, emarginate towards the base, opening on the inside 
longitudinally by a suture. Seeds numerous, very small_ 
Essential Character. Calyx five-cleft. Corolla five-pe- 
talled. Scales nectariferous, five, at the base of the germ. 
Capsule five. 
I.—With 
