344 
SOM 
parishes of England, in Lincolnshire; about 10 miles north¬ 
east of Louth. Population of the first 623, of the latter 
290. 
SOMEREN, an inland town of the Netherlands, in North 
Brabant, with 2500 inhabitants; 12 miles east-south-east of 
Eindhoven. 
SOMERFORD, a village of England, in Staffordshire, 
situated on the Penk. 
SOMERFORD, Great and Little, two adjoining 
parishes of England, in Wiltshire, about 4 miles south-east of 
Malmsbury. 
SOMERFORD BOOTH, a hamlet of England in Che¬ 
shire, near Congleton. 
SOMERFORD KEYNES, a parish of England, in Wilt¬ 
shire ; 5J miles west-by-north of Crickdale. 
SOMERIDER, a cape on the north-west part of the is¬ 
land of Minorca, in the Mediterranean. 
SOMERLEYTON, a parish of England, in Suffolk; 41- 
miles north-west of Lowestoft. 
■ SOMERS (John, Lord), a distinguished lawyer and 
statesman, born at Worcester, in 1652, was the son of a re¬ 
spectable attorney of that city. He received his early edu¬ 
cation at the public school of his native city; and, at a pro¬ 
per age, he was entered a gentleman-commoner of Trinity 
College, Oxford. He quitted the university without a de¬ 
gree, but he had attained a good taste for polite literature, 
and being destined by his father for the legal profession, he 
spent some time as a clerk to Sir Francis Winnington, an 
eminent lawyer, after which he removed to the Middle Tem¬ 
ple. When called to the bar, he displayed those talents 
which ensured his arriving at professional distinction : at the 
same time, though extremely diligent in his legal studies, he 
did not abandon his classical pursuits, but translated the 
history of the life of Alcibiades, and Ovid’s Epistle of 
Ariadne to Theseus. 
He was an ardent friend of liberty, and in the latter part 
of the reign of Charles II., he wrote some political tracts; 
which, though they appeared without his name, were ascer¬ 
tained to be from his pen. 
A piece entitled “ The Security of Englishmen’s Lives; 
or the Trust, Power and Duty of the Grand Juries of 
England, explained according to the Fundamentals of the 
English Government,” was attributed to him by Mr. Wal¬ 
pole, and is thought to be the same with one alluded to by 
Bishop Burnet, written in consequence of the grand juries’ 
return of ignoramus to the bill against Lord Shaftesbury. 
He was moreover the reputed author of “ A brief History of 
the Succession of the Crown of England, collected out of 
the Records,” the object of which was to prove the right 
of parliament to regulate the descent of the crown, with the 
view of supporting the intended exclusion of the Duke of 
York, on account of his religion. In 1681 he took part in 
publishing “ A just and modest Vindication of the Pro¬ 
ceedings of the two last Parliaments,” originally written by 
Algernon Sidney, but new-modelled by him. He was 
counsel, in 1683, for the Sheriffs of London, and for other 
persons who were prosecuted for a riot in the city at the 
Election of Sheriffs. After the accession of James II., he 
continued the firm opposer of the arbitrary measures of the 
court, and obtained great credit as one of the counsel for 
the seven bishops. He most heartily concurred in the event 
of the revolution, and was one of the confidential advisers 
of the measure for bringing over the Prince of Orange. He 
sat as representative of his native city in the convention- 
parliament, and was appointed one of the managers for the 
House of Commons, in the conference held with the Lords 
concerning the word abdicate, and his acute and sensible 
observations on the subject were greatly admired. In 1689 
he was knighted, and made Solicitor-General, and while he 
held that high post, delivered a spirited and seasonable speech 
in favour of the act of convention for recognising William 
and Mary, the legality of which had been called in question 
by a member of the House of Commons. In 1692, the 
office of Attorney-General was conferred upon him, and in 
the following year that of Lord-Keeper of the great Seal. 
S 0 M 
When advanced to the bench; his behaviour was that of art 
able and upright Magistrate, whose love of justice was tem¬ 
pered with singular mildness and condescension. At the 
same time he was in the highest credit with the sovereign, 
and he made use of his influence to serve persons of merit. 
He was a patron to Mr. Addison, and obtained for him an 
allowance to enable him to make that tour in Italy, of which 
he has printed an account. In 1695 he was advanced to 
the Lord Chancellorship of England, and was raised to the 
peerage by the title of Lord Somers, Baron Evesham. At 
the same time he obtained certain grants from the crown, a 
circumstance which has drawn upon him some censure; 
though, without this addition, his advancement to the peerage 
would have been a punishment instead of reward, inasmuch 
as it would have been impossible for him to have maintained 
his rank in the peerage. 
. Lord Somers was now regarded as the head of the Whigs, 
and it was his aim to moderate the heat and jealousy of that 
party, and conciliate to it both the king and nation; hence 
it has been averred that he was too compliant in some points 
to the royal pleasure; which, however, did not prevent his 
being made a sacrifice when the Tories came into power. 
His acquiescence in the first partition treaty in 1699, with 
other ministerial measures, produced great complaints against 
him in parliament, and an address was moved in the House 
of Commons, praying the king that Lord Somers might for 
ever be removed from his Majesty’s presence and council. 
This motion was, however, defeated by a large majority; 
but the king, soon after, to quiet the discontents, desired 
him voluntarily to resign his seals. This he refused; and 
he was accordingly dismissed from his office. In 1701 the 
House of Commons sent up to the Lords an impeachment 
of Lord Somers, which, however, was dismissed by the peers, 
and the prosecution was not resumed. Very shortly after 
this the king died, and the new reign not being favourable 
to the principles of Lord Somers, he spent his time in literary 
retirement, and during this period of leisure he was elected 
president of the Royal Society. He was not, however, in¬ 
attentive to public concerns, and vigorously opposed the 
bill brought into parliament by the high church party, to 
prevent occasional conformity. In 1706 he drew up a plan 
for effecting an union between England and Scotland, which 
was so much approved, that Queen Anne nominated him 
one of the managers for carrying that measure into execu¬ 
tion. He is also said to have had a considerable share in the 
bill of regency, by which the Protestant succession to the 
crown was extended and secured. Upon a change of mi¬ 
nistry in 1708, Lord Somers was nominated to the post of 
president of the council, from which he was dismissed in 
1710; and though he continued for some time to take an 
active part in the business of the House of Peers, it was not 
very long before a decline in the state of his health and fa¬ 
culties rendered him unfit for public business. He died in 
1716, at the age of 64. The memory of Lord Somers is 
still held in high veneration by the friends of constitutional 
liberty; to the establishment of which, by means of the re¬ 
volution and Protestant succession, no individual contributed 
more than he. His abilities were very considerable, his 
manners highly ingratiating, and, notwithstanding the oppo¬ 
sition which he had occasionally to encounter, few statesmen 
have passed through life with a purer character. He made a 
large collection of scarce and curious pamphlets, of which 
there has been published a selection in four parts, each con¬ 
sisting of four volumes 4-to. His collection of original 
papers and letters was unfortunately destroyed by a fire, 
which happened in the chambers of the Hon. Charles Yorke, 
on the 27th of Jan. 1752. Biog. Brit. 
SOMERS, a township of the United States, in Tolland 
county, Connecticut; 24 miles east-north of Hartford. Po¬ 
pulation 1210. 
SOMERS, formerly Stephenstown, a post township of 
the United States, in West Chester county, New York. It 
has a pleasant village, with some trade. 
SOMERSALL, Herbert, a parish of England in Der¬ 
byshire ; 3J miles east-by-north of Uttoxeter. 
* SO’MERSAULT, 
