works appeared in three volumes, 8vo. (London, 1725). His Miscellaneous Works, with a life by W. Gray (one volume, 8vo.), appeared at Oxford (1829). The work by which sir Philip Sidney is principally known is his Arcadia, which is one of the earliest specimens of the grave or heroic romance. It is a mixture of prose and verse, the latter exhibiting various attempts to naturalize the measures of Roman poetry.—See the Life of Sidney by sir Fulk Greville, and Zouch's Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Sir P. Sidney (1808).

restoration took place. Conscious of the offence he had given the royal party, he refused to return, and remained an exile for seventeen years; and, although occasionally assisted by his family, he found it difficult to support himself in conformity to his birth and rank. At length, in 1677, the influence of his father obtained leave for him to return, with a pardon for all offences. At the time of his return, parliament was urging the king to a war with France; and it was feared by the opposition that Charles II would agree to it until he obtained the supplies, and would then squander them on his pleasures, or devote them to arbitrary purposes. The English patriots were therefore opposed to this war, and some of the leaders intrigued with the French ambassador, Barillon, to defeat the measure. (See Russel, Lord William.) It even appears, according to the Barillon papers, as given by sir John Dalrymple, that the name of Sidney was among those who received pecuniary aid from France. The testimony thus afforded against a man of high character, and whose sacrifices to principle were notorious, has led to the suspicion of fabrication and interpolation. The death of his father, soon after his return, led him openly to join in the opposition, and he consorted much with the duke of Monmouth and others who held views kindred or similar to his own. In the Rye-house plot he is named as one of a council of six, who were to organize an insurrection in conjunction with the Scottish malcontents. It was, however, for his supposed share in the subordinate conspiracy for assassinating the king, that he was arrested, with lord William Russel and others. After the sacrifice of the latter, he was tried, as the next most obnoxious person, for high treason, before the hardened tool, chiefjustice Jeffreys, Nov. 21, 1683. There was no direct evidence against him, except that of the disgrace to nobility, lord Howard, while the law for high treason required two witnesses. To help this defect, the attorney-general had recourse to the expedient of producing passages from some discourses on government, found in manuscript in his closet, which maintained the lawfulness of resisting tyrants, and the preference of a free to an arbitrary government. Although there was no proof that these papers were in his own hand-writing, in defiance both of law and common sense, they were deemed equivalent to a second witness; and, in spite of his spirited defence, he was declared guil

SIDNEY, Algernon, a celebrated English republican and martyr to liberty, was the second son of the earl of Leicester, by the daughter of the earl of Northumberland. He was born, according to some accounts, in 1617, and to others, in 1622, and educated under the inspection of his father, whom he accompanied in his embassies to Denmark and France. He was also early trained to a military life, and served with some distinction under his brother, lord Lisle, during the Irish rebellion. In 1643, both brothers returned to England, and joined the parliament. In 1645, Algernon was promoted by Fairfax to the colonelcy of a regiment of horse, and, after being present in several actions, was intrusted with the government of Chichester. He was then stationed in Ireland (1646), but soon after returned to England, where he was thanked by parliament for his services, and made governor of Dover. When the high court of justice was formed for the trial of the king (see Charles I), he was nominated a member, but was neither present when sentence was pronounced, nor signed the warrant for the execution. It appears, however, that he vindicated that measure, which has led to a supposition that, in withholding his signature, he only yielded to the influence of his father. A politician so inimical to the encroachments of authority was not likely to acquiesce in a usurpation; and he warmly opposed the designs of Cromwell. During the government both of the protector and his son Richard, he lived in retirement at Penshurst, where he is supposed to have composed his celebrated Discourses on Government. When the return of the long parliament gave expectations of the establishment of a republic, he assumed a public character, and was nominated one of the council of state. He was soon after appointed a commissioner to mediate a peace between Denmark and Sweden, and while engaged in this embassy, the

ty. After his conviction, he sent, by his relation, the marquis of Halifax, a paper to be laid before the king, requesting his review of the whole matter; but it served only to delay his execution about a week. Hume acknowledges the illegality of his condemnation, for which he observes, "the jury were very blamable," but remarks, that an interference by the king might be regarded as an act of heroic generosity, but could never be deemed an Indispensable duty." Sidney was executed on Tower hill, Dec. 7, 1678, when he delivered the sheriff a paper, alleging the injustice of his condemnation, and concluding with a prayer for "the good old cause." He suffered with all the firmness and constancy belonging to his character. One of the first acts of the revolution was to reverse his attainder; and the name of Algernon Sidney has since been held in great honor by the majority of those who maintain the fundamental principles of free government. Burnet speaks of him as of extraordinary courage, steady, even to obstinacy, impatient of contradiction, and a decided enemy to monarchy and church government. His Discourses on Government were first printed in 1698, and reprinted in 1704 and 1751 in folio, and in 1772 in quarto, at the expense of Thomas Hollis, esquire, with the trial and letters prefixed. They contain much historical information, and are composed with clearness, acuteness and force.

SIDON. (See Phoenicia.)

SIEBENBÜRGEN. (See Transylvania.) SIEBENGEBIRGE (German, Seven Mountains); a group on the right bank of the Rhine, near the town of Konigswinter, not far from Bonn, consisting of basalt, granite, porphyry and sandstone. Seven mountains tower above the rest of the group, of which the Drachenfels, close to the Rhine, and presenting a splendid view from the river, is the most beautiful, and the Löwenberg, 1896 feet high, the highest. All of them contain ruins of ancient castles.

SIEGE. The taking of a fortified place may be attempted, L. by surprise (coup de main), in case the defenders should be off their guard, or treachery should enable the assailants to enter the fortress by means of secret or unguarded passages; 2. by a sudden onset (une affaire brusquée), usually connected with an assault and scaling of the walls (escalade), if the place should not be strongly garrisoned, or not in a proper state of defence-or if the assailants have no time to lose, or are

possessed of strength and means suffi for carrying their point of late years. method of attack has been strongly ommended, especially if it can be onded by an efficacious and skilful us artillery: 3. by blockade out of gun(see Blockade: 4. by a siege, proper called. The fortress is first blockades as to cut off all intercourse from with it is then important to examine the n of the fortification, to discover the stret of the garrison, as well as the mears defence, and, if possible, the weakest je of the place, in order to mark out a pr plan of attack: after this, the can together with the necessary amm tion and implements for the pioneers. brought forward; and the other reque (fascines, gabions, &c.) are prepared kept in readiness. The engineer vs directs the operations must accura calculate his time, the resistance to be pected, as well as the means at his is posal, and form his plan of attack acecra ingly. If any detached works are situ before the fortress, their capture becc necessary to admit the opening of trenches, at the distance of 500paces from the covered way. After t!" are properly marked out (tracées), sever columns of pioneers, furnished with fi cines and instruments for digging, al defended by regular troops, advar (commonly by night) towards the fortres as far as the spot designated for t trenches, and there immediately enga in opening a trench. Each laborer placri his fascine before him, throws the ground over it, and thus a kind of breastwork formed, constituting the first para. (q. v.), where the forces directed against the fortress may be collected. The be sieged, by sallies and counter operations of every kind, strive to drive off the laborers and to destroy their work, while, on the other hand, the besiegers make efforts to establish themselves more an! more securely, to raise batteries, and then, by means of trenches, dug for this purpose, and new parallels which more and more closely encircle the fortress, to approach the moat, while the artillery is kept constantly playing from the batteries on the garrison as well as the works and guns of the besieged. With this the bombardment from the mortar-batteries is usually combined (see Battery), for the purpose of dislodging the garrison from their works, of dismantling the works themselves, and of destroying buildings, magazines, &c. From the last parallel, which approaches very near the moat of

he fortress, the besiegers prepare to ross the moat, and labor to make reaches. (q. v.) Here likewise mining perations (see Mine) are carried on, henever they are found advisable. The noat is crossed in saps (q. v.), or covered assages of a similar kind, and, should it filled with water, on rafts, bridges, &c. When at last the breaches are practicaple, the works of the strong-hold as much s possible demolished, the garrison and their artillery impaired, then follows the storming or scaling of the walls.-To raise the siege of a fortress, is to compel the enemy to retire from the place. They may be forced to this by inundations, if the situation of the place admits of them; by want of provisions, if the surrounding Country has been desolated, or the convoys intended for them be captured; or, finally, by assault. If it is impossible to drive away the enemy, a temporary interruption of the siege is attempted, in order to introduce provisions or fresh troops into the fortress. This is generally done by a sudden attack on the lines of the besiegers, and forcing a way through them, with the cooperation of the besieged.

SIENITE; one of the primitive rocks, differing from granite chiefly in the substitution of hornblende for mica; but feldspar forms its most abundant ingredient, and is often red. When the quartz and hornblende are fine-grained, and the feldspar in distinctly imbedded crystals of considerable dimensions, the rock is called porphyritic sienite, or sienite-porphyny. Sienite is sometimes unstratified, though more commonly manifesting a tendency to the columnar structure. It embraces no foreign beds. It occurs in unconformable and overlying stratification, over granite, gneiss, mica-slate and elay-slate. It is equally prolific in metals as porphyry. In the island of Cyprus, it affords much copper. Many of the important silver and gold mines in Hungary are situated in sienite. In the forest of Thuringia, it affords iron. It abounds in Upper Egypt, at the city of Syene, in the Thebaid, at the cataracts of the Nile, whence it derives its name. The Romans brought it thence to Rome, for architectural purposes and for statuary.

SIENNA, or SIENA; an ancient city of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Sienna. Being built on three eminences, the streets are extremely uneven, winding and narrow, so that the chief part of the town is impassable for carriages. The only handsome public square is that in which is the town-house, and which con

tains a beautiful fountain. The esplanade is a fine shady avenue leading to the citadel, the ramparts of which, planted with trees, and laid out in the form of terraces, afford several interesting points of view. The cathedral of Sienna is a magnificent marble structure in the Gothic style, built in the thirteenth century, by Giovanni Pisani, and accounted inferior to none in Italy, except St. Peter's at Rome. The town-house is a large building, also in the Gothic style, and surrounded with porticoes. Adjoining is the theatre, rebuilt since 1750. There are in Sienna several family mansions, or palaces, but none of remarkable architecture. The manufactures of Sienna comprise woollen, leather, paper and hats, but all on a small scale. This town is the seat of a university. Sienna lays claim to great antiquity, but it was long a petty place. Its prosperity was greatest during the middle ages, when it enjoyed an extensive commerce, and is said to have had a population of 150,000. It long maintained itself as an independent republic; but, intestine divisions favoring the designs of foreign powers, it became successively subject to French and Spanish invaders. Population, 24,000; lon. 11° 10′ 15′′ E.; lat. 43° 22′ N.

SIERRA (Spanish), SERRA (Portuguese); a chain of mountains.

SIERRA LEONE; a country of Western Africa, on the Atlantic, distinguished for the colony formed there by the British nation, rather from motives of philanthropy than from those of commercial advantage. It is traversed by a consid erable river, called the Mitomba or Sierra Leone. The name is derived from a ridge of mountains, which rises near the southern bank of the river. This country equals, in fertility and populousness, any other in this part of Africa. It consists generally of one vast, almost impenetrable forest, only particular spots of which have been cleared and cultivated. Rice is raised wherever the ground is sufficiently watered for its production, and forms the constant food of the rich; but the poor content themselves with millet, yams and plantains. There is great abundance of the most delicate fruits. Elephants' teeth and civet are brought to the coast. The woods and mountains are infested with wild animals, particularly lions, from the multitude of which the country appears to have derived its name. There are swarms of insects, flies, mosquitoes, and particularly ants, the white species of which commit extraordinary devastation. The serpent species are also very

numerous. The rivers, besides yielding an ample supply of fish for food, contain large alligators, and the manata or seacow. The natives of this country are not of so deep black a complexion as those of cape Verd, nor have they the flat nose of the negro race to such a degree. The character of the different tribes varies greatly. The Portuguese were the first who discovered and formed settlements on the river Sierra Leone. Towards the close of the eighteenth century, the British began to turn their views towards Sierra Leone, with a view to colonization, for the more effectual abolition of the slavetrade, by raising up an African colony, whither the slaves might be sent as freemen. Lord Mansfield having decided, in 1772, that a slave who sets foot in Britain becomes free, a number of blacks in England left their masters, and were wandering about in a desolate condition. Granville Sharp (q. v.) formed the plan of transporting them to Africa; and, the aid of the government having been obtained, they were landed (1787) upon a district purchased from the king of Sierra Leone. These negroes and the white females sent with them were mostly of indifferent characters, and a severe mortality ensued among them. In 1792, about 1200 negroes, who had been seduced from their masters in the United States during the revolutionary war, were also landed at Sierra Leone; and several years later the colony was increased by 550 Maroons (q. v.) from Nova Scotia. Little progress, however, had been made in the objects for which the colony was formed, and, in 1807, it was surrendered into the bands of the crown. At that period Great Britain received permission from several powers to treat as pirates such of their subjects as should be found engaged in the slave-trade north of the line; and the liberated negroes seized by her cruisers were placed at Sierra Leone. For the first six months they receive a daily allowance from the government, after which lands are assigned them, and they are left to support themselves. The number thus liberated has been about 20,000; and although their wild and improvident habits have thrown many difficulties in the way of the benevolent exertions of the British authorities, recent accounts give decided proofs of great improvements in the spirit and condition of the colonists. Freetown, the principal place of the colony, has an excellent harbor on the river Sierra Leone, about six miles from the sea (lat. 8° 32′ N.), and

upwards of 6000 inhabitants. Regent's town, six miles south of Freetown, founded in 1816, has a population of 1300; and in the vicinity are several villages, with the more distant stations of Waterloo, Wellington and Hastings. Bathurst, on the Gambia, is a settlement also connected with this colony.

SIERRA MORENA. (See Morena, &erra.)

SIERRA NEVADA (Spanish, Stoney Range); a chain of mountains in Spain, the most elevated range in the peninsula, which derives its name from the perpetual snow that covers its loftiest summits. It extends through Granada and Andalus from west to east, and terminates on the shores of the Mediterranean, in severa promontories, of which that of Gibraltar is the most remarkable. The highest peak is Cumbre de Mulahacen, when has an elevation of nearly 14,000 feet The principal river which descends from. the Sierra Nevada is the Xenil. (See Granada.)

SIESTA (Spanish, for noon); the heat of the noon; whence it came to signy the rest or nap taken after dinner during the season of heat.

SIEYES, Emanuel Joseph, count de. born May 3, 1748, at Fréjus, was virargeneral of the bishop of Chartres, when. in 1789, he was appointed deputy of the third estate of Paris in the estates-generu He was indebted for this appointment ta his celebrated pamphlet Qu'est-ce que in tiers Etat ? which gained him great faver among the people. He contributed mei to the union of the three estates, and first proposed to declare the chamber of depu ties of the third estate a national asser bly-a measure which decided the revol tion. He insisted on the removal of the troops, and advocated the celebrated ost in the tennis-court at Versailles. It was he, too, who opposed with so t" warmth, August 10, the abolition of tor tithes, and who uttered the famous ment, "You wish to be free; but y « know not how to be just." He opposer the sanctioning of the royal veto, whari was contended for by Mirabeau, and sug gested the idea of dividing France nia departments, cantons and municipauties (communes)—a measure which contributed not a little to give stability to the revula tion. He was very active in committees, labored to frame a constitution, but raren spoke in public; for, in 1789, he had declared himself unskilled in extempore de bate, and determined not to appear in tribune. Mirabeau then declared,

full assembly, that the silence of Sièyes was a public calamity. In 1790, he proposed a law to the assembly for punishing offences of the press. At the same time, he proposed the admission of juries on trials for these offences. In 1791, Sièyes was made a member of the directory of the department of Paris, and, about the same time, refused the bishopric of the capital, which he was solicited to take by the electoral assembly. Amid the zeal for republicanism which then prevailed, he declared himself, in the Moniteur, decidedly favorable to monarchy. "I prefer monarchy," said he, "not because I am fond of ancient usages; not from any superstitious love of royalty; I prefer it because to me it seems evident, that the citizens have more real freedom in a monarchy than in a republic. But the best state is that in which all may quietly enjoy the greatest freedom possible." When he was made a member of the convention, he shunned distinction, in order to escape the storms which he saw were coming. At the time of the trial of Louis XVI, he was true to this system, and, on the occasion of the vote which decided the fate of that prince, "Yes," "No," and "Death," were the only words which were heard from his mouth. He had before maintained, without effect, that it was not proper for the assembly to unite the judicial with the legislative power. He remained comparatively in the back ground till 1795. Then he ascended the tribune, and expressed his abhorrence of the crimes of Robespierre, whom he had not dared to resist. He soon after became a member of the committee of public safety, was sent to Holland to conclude a treaty there with the new republic, and, on his return, had an important influence on the treaties with Prussia and Spain. In 1798, he went as ambassador to Berlin, and remained there till 1799, when he was made a member of the directory, in the place of Rewbel. The revolution of the 18th Brumaire was contrived by Sièyes, in conjunction with Bonaparte; and, in consequence of this, he was appointed consul provisorily, with Napoleon and Roger Ducos. On the introduction of the new constitution, he was made a member of the senate, and received the estate of Crosne; but as he did not take actual possession of it, he received an indemnification. After the restoration, he went back to the capital. On the return of Napoleon from Elba, Sièyes was made a member of the chamber of peers; but, in 1816, by the royal decree against the regicides,

he was banished from France. Since that time, he has resided in Brussels.,

SIGEUM; a celebrated cape on the coast of Asia, with a town of the same name, not far from Troy, near which the Greeks encamped during the Trojan war. Here Achilles drew his fleet on shore, and here he was buried with his friends Patroclus and Antilochus. Large mounds of earth are still to be seen here, which have been taken for their tombs. A remarkable inscription has been found upon a block of marble at Sigæum, of which a part, written in the Æolic dialect, is thought to be prior to the time of the poet Simonides. The people in the neighborhood considered this monument as a sort of palladium; and the sick laid or seated themselves upon it, so as almost to obliterate the inscription. However, it has been copied entire, and was carried to England by lord Elgin.

SIGHT. (See Eye, and Optics.)

SIGNALS; certain notices used to communicate intelligence to distant objects. At sea, they are made by firing artillery, displaying flags and pendants, lanterns, or fire-works, as rockets and false fires; and these are combined by multiplication and repetition; by which combination of preconcerted signals, the admiral conveys orders to his fleet, every squadron, every division, and ship, of which, has its particular signal. Every ship to which a signal is made, immediately answers it by hoisting some particular flag, to show that she has received and understands the order thereby conveyed. All signals at sea may be reduced to three different kinds, viz. those which are made by the sound of particular instruments, as the trumpet, horn, or fife, to which may be added striking the bell, or beating the drum; those which are made by displaying pendants, ensigns, and flags of different colors, or by lowering or altering the position of sails; and, lastly, those which are executed by rockets of different kinds, by firing cannon or small arms, by artificial fire-works, or by lanterns. All signals, to be effectual, must be simple, and composed in such a manner as to express the same signification, at whatever mast-head or yard-arm they may be displayed. They should be issued without precipitation, exposed in a conspicuous place, so as to be seen at a distance, and sufficient time should be allowed to observe and obey them. Signals are very numerous and important, and are all communicated in the instructions sent to the commander of every ship of the fleet or squadron, before their put