S E L 
new and improved edition of it was printed at Leyden, 
under the care of Daniel Heinsius. 
Hitherto Selden had passed his life in the tranquillity of a 
man of letters, engaged in subjects not liable to debate; but 
his next publication, being “ A History of Tythes,” printed 
in 1618, subjected him to much angry opposition, and 
brought upon him, says his biographer, “ a storm from a 
quarter which has always proved dangerous to free en¬ 
quirers.” In the work alluded to, he had considered the 
question of the divine right to that impost, advanced by the 
clergy, and now beginning to be maintained by the English 
church, and though he only treated of it as a matter of his 
history, without arguing for or against the right, yet as the 
sum of his authorities manifestly inclined the balance to the 
negative side of the question, some of the clergy took of¬ 
fence, and made an accusation against him before king 
James, That sovereign sent for Mr. Selden, and gave him 
a lecture on the subject; and being afterwards called before 
the archbishop of Canterbury, and some other members of the 
high commission court, he was induced so to degrade himself, 
as tosign a declaration of his sorrow for what he had done. 
Selden was next to shine in the character of an advo¬ 
cate for constitutional liberty, with which his name is now 
so closely allied. The parliament which James’s neces¬ 
sities had obliged him to convoke in 1621, was soon at issue 
with him on the point of their powers and privileges, all of 
which the king asserted to have been grants from his pre¬ 
decessors and himself, while they maintained them to be an 
inheritance from their ancestors. Selden being resorted to 
by the parliament as the ablest legal antiquarian of his time, 
for information relative to the ancient privileges of that body, 
spoke so freely before them against the practices of the court, 
and was so instrumental in drawing up their spirited protes¬ 
tations, that he was selected as one of the victims to the royal 
resentment, and committed to custody. His imprisonment 
was not rigorous, and he was soon discharged upon his own 
petition. Resuming now his antiquarian studies, he edited, 
in 1723, the historical work of Eadmer, a monk of Canter¬ 
bury, with learned notes relative to. the laws and customs 
established by William the Conqueror. In the following 
year he was elected to the new parliament, as one of the re¬ 
presentatives for Lancaster; but nothing occurred to call 
forth his exertions during that session He was again a 
member in the two first parliaments of king Charles, in the 
second of which he was appointed to support some articles 
of impeachment of the duke of Buckingham. He after¬ 
wards took up the cause of Sir Edward Hampden, who had 
been imprisoned for refusing to contribute to a forced loan; 
and, in 1628, he was the person whom the House of Com¬ 
mons employed to produce matter of record to justify its 
resolutions in favour of the subject’s right to his liberty and 
property. These useful and very honourable labours did not 
so entirely engross his attention, but that he found time, in 
1629, to draw up his learned treatise, entitled “ Marmora 
Arundeliana,” the occasion of which was the importation 
by the earl of Arundel of some very ancient Greek marbles, 
containing inscriptions of great value in the study of history 
and chronology. This was another obligation conferred by 
Selden on the learned world, which was received with due 
■gratitude. 
On the dissolution of the parliament, on account of its 
vigorous proceedings against the measures of the court, Sel¬ 
den was one of the eight members of the House of Commons 
who were thrown into the prison of the Tower, on a charge 
of sedition; but in the beginning of 1634, they were fully 
liberated. During the imprisonment of Selden, his mind 
was not inactive; his studies were turned to Jewish history 
and antiquities, and the first fruits of them were shewn in a 
work, entitled “ De successionibus in bona defuncti ad leges 
Ebraeorum,” which was published in 1631, and reprinted in 
•1636, with the addition of a treatise “ De successione in Pon- 
tificatum Ebraeorum.” Selden had long employed his great 
talents in a work which was intended to assert the maritime 
usurpations of this country, in opposition to the principles 
advanced by Grotius in his work, entitled “ Mare Liberum.” 
Vox.. XXIII. No. 1551. 
DEN. 13 
Selden’s treatise appeared in the year 1635, under the title’of 
“ Mare Clausum seu Dominio Maris.” In this performance, 
the author first attempts to prove, by reasoning and example, 
that the sea is capable of dominion: and then to establish, 
historically, the British right over the circumjacent, or, as 
they have been denominated by others, the narrow seas. 
(See Campbell’s Lives of the Admirals, vols. i. ii.) This 
author, speaking of Mr. Selden and his Mare Clausum, savs 
that “ he has effectually demonstrated, from the princi¬ 
ples of the law of nature and nations, that a dominion over 
the sea may be acquired, and from the most authentic his¬ 
tories, that such a dominion has been claimed and enjoyed 
by several nations, and submitted to by others for their com¬ 
mon benefit: that this was, in fact, the case of the inhabit¬ 
ants of this island, who, at all times, and under every kind of 
government, had claimed, exercised, and constantly enjoyed 
such a dominion, which had been confessed by their neigh¬ 
bours frequently, and in the most solemn manner.” 
Selden’s work was acceptable to all parties, and the king 
in council ordered copies of it to be kept in the council chest, 
the court of exchequer, and the court of admiralty, as faith¬ 
ful and strong evidence to the dominion of the British seas. 
Several following years of Selden’s life seem to have been 
chiefly occupied in Hebrew studies, of which one of the 
principal products appeared in 1640, under the title “ De 
Jure Naturali et Gentium juxta disciplinam Ebraeorum:” 
Lib. septem. This work is a copious digest of Jewish laws 
and institutions, as well from the rabbinical writers, as from 
the writings of the Old Testament, which is generally 
esteemed a valuable repertory of all the matter afforded by 
history or tradition relative to the subject. 
This year, 1640, the long parliament met, and Selden was 
chosen one of the representatives for the university of Oxford. 
His name appears in several committees appointed for the 
correcting of the abuses, and restraining the oppressions of 
the reign, which parliament was, at this period, resolved tQ 
pursue. One of its strong measures, viz., the impeachment 
of lord Strafford, he did not concur in, not considering that 
this measure was warranted by the law of the land. Nor did 
he seem willing to proceed further in the reformation of reli¬ 
gion, than to check the usurpations of ecclesiastical power, 
to which he was a most decided enemy; and he had no 
wish whatever to abrogate the episcopal form of church 
government, which he preferred to the presbyterian. So 
well affected was he, upon the whole, to the existing consti¬ 
tution in church and state, that after the king had withdrawn 
to York, there was a design of appointing him keeper of the 
great seal. When the differences between the king and par¬ 
liament were manifestly tending to an open rupture, Selden 
opposed the attempts of both parties to gain possession of the 
power of the sword, hoping that the strong arm of the law 
might prove sufficient to settle the contest, and when his 
efforts had proved fruitless, he withdrew, as much as he was 
able, from public business. He remained, however, in par¬ 
liament, and was one of the synod which met at Westmin¬ 
ster for the establishment of church government. In 1643, 
he was appointed, by the House of Commons, keeper of the 
records in the Tower; and, in the next year, he subscribed 
the Solemn League and Covenant. It is mentioned, to his 
honour, that he constantly employed his influence, in these 
contentious times, for the service and protection of learning 
and learned men; and the university of Oxford, on different 
occasions, expressed its gratitude for the good offices which 
he performed for it in times of its distress. He likewise be¬ 
friended the sis'er university, in which he was regarded with 
so much veneration, that he was elected to the mastership of 
Trinity-hall, though he thought it right to decline the office. 
His learned labours were still unintermitted, and new works 
were occasionally issuing from his pen, on the subjects of 
Hebrew history and antiquity. Selden died in November 
1654, having completed his seventieth year. His valuable 
library and museum now make part of the Bodleian library. 
After his death, his amanuensis printed a collection of Sel¬ 
den’s sayings, entitled “ Table Talk," which contains much 
curious matter, and became popular. 
E 
“ Selden,' 
