454 
SPA 
king, and tom to pieces before his face. He was, however, 
pardoned, on the intercession of king Sigismund; but was 
again arraigned, in 1592, before a court at which the king 
himself presided, on a charge of having promised the cession 
of Esthonia, in direct contradiction to the instructions which 
he had received, when envoy of Poland. He defended him¬ 
self with great boldness against all his accusers; which so 
incensed the sovereign, that he drew his sword, exclaiming, 
that it was given him by God to punish traitors and breakers 
of their oath. Duke Charles brought forth other accusations 
against him; but the court broke up, after coming to this 
conclusion, that Sparre, and the other senators who had been 
accused with him, were neither condemned nor acquitted. 
Sparre fell again under the duke’s displeasure, on account 
of a celebrated book which he wrote, entitled “ Pro Lege, 
Rege. et Gregewhich seemed to be directed against the 
authority exercised by that prince. Having, however, taken 
an oath of fidelity to the duke, and made a solemn promise 
of obedience in writing, he was restored to his employments; 
and, as chancellor of the kingdom, subscribed, in 1593, the 
reconciliation between him and Sigismund. Notwithstanding 
this, he was afterwards delivered up to the duke, and suffered 
under the hands of the executioner, during the bloody scenes 
that took place at Linkoeping, in 1600; but he maintained 
his innocence to the last, and read a protest against those who 
had doomed him to punishment. He was author of many 
books, besides the one already referred to “Pro Lege,” &c. 
among which are the following: “ Account of the Corona¬ 
tion of king Sigismund at Upsal, February 19, 1594;” 
“ Sententia Ordinum Regni Sueciae in quosdam de Collegio. 
Senatorum,” &c.; “Adversus Insimulationeset Protestationes 
a Regis Sigismundi legato Polono, Oratione prolata, Defen- 
sio.” Gen. Biog. 
SPARRING, among Cock-fighters, is the fighting a cock 
with another to breathe him. In sparring, they put botts on 
their spurs, that they may not hurt one another. Also to 
box with stuffed' gloves on the hands. 
SPARRMANNIA [So named in memory of Anders or 
Andrew Sparrman, a Swede, fellow of theacademy of sciences 
at Stockholm], in Botany, a genus of the class polyandria, 
order monogynia, natural order of columniferae, tiliaceaa, 
(Juss .)—Generic Character. Calyx: perianth four-leaved; 
leaflets lanceolate, entire, reflexed, villose. Corolla: 
petals four, equal, wedged-shaped, entire, flat, twice as 
long as the calyx. Nectaries proper, difform, filiform, 
torulose; shorter than the stamens: swellings inflated, tur¬ 
binate. Stamina: filaments very many; inserted into the 
germ ; filiform: outer like the nectaries, but longer, shorter 
however than the corolla. Anthers ovate-cordate, placed on 
the top of the filaments. Pistil: germ subglobular, five- 
cornered, hispid, superior. Style filiform, straight, hang¬ 
ing down among, and much longer than the stamens. 
Stigma truncate, terminated by elongated papillae. Pericarp: 
capsule five-cornered, five-celled, echinate with straight, 
rigid, hairy bristles, terminated by a pellucid, straight, 
pungent spine, larger and more pungent at the corners. 
Seeds two, oblong, smooth, keeled on one side.— Essential 
Character. Calyx four-leaved. Corolla of four reflexed 
petals. Nectaries several, torulose. Capsule angular, five- 
celled, echinate. 
1. Sparrmannia Africana.—This beautiful shrub grows to 
the height of six feet or more, and is thickly divided into 
alternate branches, finely clothed with large cordate and 
lobed pendulous leaves upon erect footstalks, making a very 
handsome appearance even in foliage, in which state it much 
resembles a Sida; its fine umbels of flowers are produced 
plentifully along the young branches, opposite to the leaves, 
in the same manner as in the common species of Pelargonium, 
which it resembles much in its inflorescence ; the flowers 
nodding before they are expanded, and becoming erect as 
they approach maturity.—This shrub is a native of Africa, 
near the Cape of Good Hope. 
Propagation and Culture. —It may be readily increased 
by cuttings, if treated in the s^rae manner as some of the 
more tender Pelargoniums, 
SPA 
SPA'RROW, s. [ sparwa, Goth., ppeappa, ppeajia, 
Sax.] A small bird. 
Dismay’d not this 
Macbeth and Banquo ? Yes, 
As sparrows, eagles; or the hare, the lion. Shakspeare. 
SPARROW, Passer, in Ornithology, the name of a 
large order of birds. See Passer. 
SPARROW, Common or House, the Fringilla domes- 
tica of Linnaeus; which see.— Sparrow, Hedge, the Moto- 
cilia modu/aris of Linnaeus; which see.— Sparrow, Reed, 
the Emberiza schoeniclus of Linnaeus: see Emberiza.— 
Sparrow, Lesser Reed, Willow Lark, or Sedge-bird, Passer 
arundinaceous minor, the Motacilla salicaria of Linnaeus: 
see Motacilla.—Sparrow, Solitary: see Passer Soli- 
tarius.—Sparrow, Tree, the Fringilla montana of Lin¬ 
naeus: see Fringilla. 
SPA'RROWGRASS, s. [asparagus.] This is usually 
considered as a vulgarism, but Dr. Parr always contended 
for its correctness. 
Your infant pease to sparrowgrass prefer, 
Which to the supper you may best defer. King. 
SPA'RROWHAWK, or Sparhawk, s. [ppeaphapoc. 
Sax.] A small kind of hawk.—He loketh as a spar haute 
with his eyen. Chaucer. 
SPA’RRY, adj. Consisting of spar.—In which manner 
spar is usually found herein, and other minerals; or such as 
are of some observable figure ; of which sort are the sparry 
striae, or icicles called stalactitai. Woodward. 
To SPARSE, v. a. [sparsus, Lat.] To disperse; 
Sometimes written sperse. Obsolete. —Making way 
through spersed ayre. Spenser. —The sparsed aire. 
Fairfax. 
SPA'RSEDLY, adv. Scatteringly; dispersedly. Coles. 
—There are doubtless many such soils sparsedly throughout 
this nation. Evelyn. 
SPARSHOLT, a parish of England in Berkshire; 3 miles 
west of Wantage. Population 422. 
SPARSHOLT, a parish of England, in Soulhamptonshire; 
3| miles north-west of Winchester. Population 317. 
SPARTA, in ancient Geography, a celebrated city of 
Greece, in the Peloponnesus, and the capital of Laconia. It 
was situated at the foot of mouut Thornax, on the banks of 
the Eurotas, and to the west of it. 
According to Strabo, this city was founded by Patrocles ; 
but the most common opinion attributes its origin to Lesles, 
in the year 1516 before Christ. Some maintain that it 
originated at Lacedaemon in the year 400 before Christ. 
However this may be, it was known also by this name. 
However, the appellation of Spartans is applied to the in¬ 
habitants of Sparta and its territory, and that of Lacedae¬ 
monians to the inhabitants of the whole country of La¬ 
conia (see LacedjEmonia.) This country was not equal 
in extent to Athens, containing only 48 stadia; but it 
was adorned in a very eminent degree. At first it had no 
walls, the Spartans confiding in their own valour for its de¬ 
fence. In process of time, however, they constructed walls 
about it, when the ambition of Cassander, and the violent 
assaults of some tyrants, had worn out and almost exhausted 
their fortitude. Pausanias says, that it was fortified on occa¬ 
sion of the wars of Demetrius and Pyrrhus, and he mentions 
in terms of high commendation some pieces of sculpture, for 
which this city was distinguished. Sparta was famous for a 
variety of public institutions, among which were the senate 
of the aged, the senate of the conservators of the laws, the 
senate of the ephori, and that of the magistrates, denomi¬ 
nated Bidiasans. The first of these was the sovereign tri¬ 
bunal of the Lacedaemonians which regulated the affairs of 
the state; the other senators were, properly speaking, archons; 
the ephori were five, and the Bidiaeans of the same number, 
whose province it was to direct and superintend the exercises 
of the youth. The public edifices, temples, statutes, and 
monuments of Sparta, were so numerous and various, that we 
should far exceed our limits in recounting them. It is not 
certain at what time this celebrated place was destroyed ; but 
it 
