208 S I L 
of which was to deprive Silesia of a number of its industrious 
inhabitants. In 1708, when the Swedes under Charles XII. 
overran Poland, occupied Saxony, and threatened Austria, 
the emperor, to ward off this formidable assailant} consented 
to restore to the Protestants of Silesia the free exercise of their 
worship. On the conquest of Silesia by Prussia, Frederick 
II. put all religious creeds on an equal footing. The pro¬ 
portion of Protestants, long inferior to that of Catholics, has 
of late begun to exceed it. Each counts nearly a million of 
followers; of Jews, the number in Silesia is about 12,000. 
Education was in a very backward state on the acquisi¬ 
tion of this country by Prussia: a number of parish schools 
were founded by the aid of government; but on the eastern 
or Polish side, there still prevails much ignorance. At Bres¬ 
lau there is an university, partly Protestant, partly Catholic. 
In the provincial towns there are six gymnasia or high 
schools, seven Protestant colleges, and four seminaries for 
educating Catholic priests. The common language of the 
country is German, though in the mountainous districts of 
the south, and on the tracks bordering on Poland, the 
ancient dialect of the country, which holds a middle rank 
between the Polish and Bohemian, is still preserved. 
History. —The Aborigines of Silesia appeared to have 
been the tribes called the Quadi and Lygii, who, like their 
brethren in Bohemia, seem to have yielded in the 6th cen¬ 
tury, to a Sclavonic tribe who bore or adopted the name of 
Ziesy. At present the Polish name of this country is Zlesien, 
and for a long time it remained a province of Poland. It 
was afterwards ceded to the sons of Boleslaus, II., the expelled 
king of Poland, in the 11th century; and being thus divided 
and subdivided, was without much difficulty subdued by 
the kings of Bohemia in the 14th century. The inhabitants 
were allowed to retain their laws, usages, and a semblance 
of a representative body; the crown, however, seizing as 
vacant fiefs, the possessions of such of the great families as 
became extinct. Silesia passed with Bohemia to the house 
of Austria, in the early part of the 16th century, and con¬ 
tinued in its undisturbed possession, until the death of the 
emperor Charles VI., in 1740, led to a general attack on do¬ 
minions considered comparatively defenceless when trans¬ 
mitted to a female. Of these assailants the first in the field 
was Frederick II., who revived a long dormant claim to the 
western part of Silesia, viz., the principalities of Leignitz, 
Brieg, and Wohlau, supporting it by an immediate invasion. 
Austria took up arms, and on being attacked on another side 
by Bavaria and France, received the aid of England. The 
result was a military contest, conducted with alternate suc¬ 
cess, but terminated, as far as regarded Silesia, by the 
cession of that country to Prussia. But the proud house of 
Austria had no intention of definitively relinquishing this 
valuable province. It formed in 1756, against Prussia, a 
coalition of France, Russia, Saxony, and Sweden, which 
threatened the entire subversion of that kingdom. From 
that danger Prussia was saved by the talents of its sovereign, 
the aid of England, and a heavy sacrifice of its wealth and 
population. The peace of Hubertsburg in 1763, left Silesia 
conclusively in the hands of Frederick. It was now allowed 
to breathe from its ravages, and enjoyed a peace of 40 years, 
the Prussian government aiding the inhabitants to rebuild 
their villages, and inviting colonists from Germany and Po¬ 
land, to repair the havock of war. In 1807, Silesia was 
overrun by the French, but it was not separated at the peace 
of Tilsit, from the Prussian territory. 
It has been questioned by German writers whether this 
province properly formed a part of the empire, having no 
vote at the diet. It is, however, comprised in the official 
returns of territory and population, made in 1815 by Prussia, 
of her possessions. 
SILESIA, Austrian, that part of Silesia which was re¬ 
tained by Austria in 1742, when the province described in 
the foregoing article was ceded to Prussia. It has an area 
of 1845 square miles, with nearly 350,000 inhabitants. It 
is divided into the circles of Troppau and Teschen, and is 
now completely incorporated with Moravia, being subject 
-SI L 
to the same courts of appeal, and the same military and 
civil administration. It is hilly, and does not produce a 
sufficiency of corn for its population; but it has good pas¬ 
turage, abundance of flax and hemp, and flourishing ma¬ 
nufactures of linen .and woollen. 
SILEX, [Kieselercle, Germ.,] in Mineralogy, a species 
of earth. See Mineralogy. 
SILFIELD, a parish of England, in Norfolk, near Wy- 
mondham. 
SILHET, a extensive district of Bengal, lying between 
the 24th and 26th degrees of northern latitude. It is situated 
on the east side of the Brahmapootra river, and constitutes 
the north-east boundary of Bengal. It is not more than 
350 miles in a direct line from China; but the intervening 
space, with the exception of Cachar, being occupied by 
barren mountains or unhealthy woods and swamps, there is 
no communication between the two countries, nor is it the 
interest of the British that there should be. Silhet is com¬ 
posed either of steep mountains or level plains. The latter 
are, during the rainy season, generally inundated, and pro¬ 
duce prodigious crops of coarse rice; but the price of it is so 
very low, that the revenue of the district is very trifling, 
when compared with others. In consequence of the cheap¬ 
ness of food, the price of labour is extremely small, and the 
current money is cowries, a small shell, about 800 of which 
go to a rupee. Being intersected by several rivers, it also 
abounds with fish; and during the inundation, large boats 
may sail over great part of the country. Besides rice, its 
only exports are lime, ivory, timber, and oranges. Boat¬ 
building was formerly a source of emolument; and the ho¬ 
nourable D. Lindsay, while collector of the district, built a 
ship of 400 tons, which was first floated down the rivers to 
Chittagong, and from thence proceeded to Calcutta; but the 
experiment, was not found to answer, and has not been 
repeated. Elephants are found in the woods, but they are 
not reckoned valuable. The Megnah and Soormah are the 
principal rivers, and Silhet and Azmurgunge the chief towns. 
This district, when called Azmurdun, was first invaded by 
the Mahometans in 1254. Under the Mogul government it 
was one of the frontier military stations dependent on Dacca; 
and as two-fifths of the inhabitants are now Mussulmans, it 
appears they were very successful in making proselytes. It 
is now a separate collectors!)ip. 
SILHET, properly Sirihat, the capital of the above- 
mentioned district, and the residence of the judge, collector, 
&c., who are answerable to the court of circuit of Dacca. 
Lat. 24. 55. N. long. 91. 40. E. 
SILI, in Botany, a name given by the old Greeks to a 
plant called also scseli. 
SILICA. See Mineralogy. 
SILICEOUS, in Mineralogy, denotes composed princi¬ 
pally of silex. 
SILICEOUS SCHISTUS, the hornstone slate of some 
geologists; flinty slate of Jameson; a rock of the nature of 
slate, but-containing a great portion of siliceous earth. See 
Mineralogy. 
SILICIATE, in Mineralogy, a term introduced by pro¬ 
fessor Berzelius, to denote the combination of silex with 
other earths or oxyds, in which the silex is supposed to 
act as an acid. These substances he denominates siliciates. 
SI'LICIOUS, adj. Made of hair.—The silicious and 
hairy vests of the strictest orders of friars, derive their insti¬ 
tution from St. John and Elias. Brown.—[Siliceus or 
silicius , Lat. from silex, a flint.-—Flinty; full of stones. 
-~Silicious earth is often found in a stony form, such as 
flint or quartz; and still more frequently in that of a very 
fine sand, such as that whereof glass is made. Kirwan. 
SILICULA, in Botany, the diminutive of Siliqua, (see 
that article), is a Pouch, or pod of a short, or rounded 
figure, along both the edges of whose partition the seeds 
are inserted; witness the Drain verna, or Whitlow.grass, 
and the Thlaspi Bursapastories. 
SILICULOSA, the first of the two orders of the 15th 
class in the Linnsean system. See Botany. 
SXLFCULOSE, 
