SOLUTION. (See Cohesion.)

SOLYMAN II (called the Lawgiver by his own subjects, and the Magnificent by the Christians) was the only son of Selim I, whom he succeeded in 1520. Three days previous to the death of his father, and at the same time when Charles V was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle, he was proclaimed sultan. He had not been educated in the usual manner of the Ottoman princes, but, on the contrary, had been initiated in all the secrets of state policy. His love of justice appeared at the very commencement of his reign, when he returned the property which his father had taken from individuals. He restored the authority of the courts of justice, which had been entirely destroyed, and selected governors and other officers from persons who possessed property and were honest. "I intend," said he, "that they should resemble the rivers which fertilize the countries through which they flow, not the streams which break down all they meet." Gazeli Beg, the governor of Syria, had at first declared against Solyman, and involved a part of Egypt in his revolt; but he was overcome by the generals of Solyman, who also destroyed the Mamelukes in Egypt, and concluded an armistice with Persia. Having thus secured himself from disturbance on the side of Syria and Egypt, he besieged and took Belgrade in 1521. In 1522, he resolved to besiege the island of Rhodes, which had been in the possession of the knights of St. John for 212 years. He wrote a haughty letter to the knights, in which he called on them to surrender, unless they wished to be put to the sword. The siege of Rhodes cost him many men; but, at length, the town, being reduced to extremity, was forced to surrender, Dec. 26, 1522. The conqueror now turned his arms against Hungary, where he gained the battle of Mohatz, in 1526. He afterwards took Buda (1529), advanced to Vienna, and, in twenty days, made as many assaults upon this city, but was finally forced to raise the siege, with the loss of 80,000 men. In 1534, he marched towards the East, took possession of Tauria, but was defeated by Shah-Thamas; and, in 1565, his army met with the same fate before Malta as formerly before Vienna. In 1566, he took possession of the island of Scio, and ended his life, Aug. 30 of the same year, at the siege of Sigeth, in Hungary, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and four days before the taking

ous arms made him equally dreaded in Europe and in Asia. His empire extended from Algiers to the Euphrates, and from the extremity of the Black sea to the farthest limits of Greece and Epirus. His abilities were equally great for the conduct of affairs in peace and in war. As a general, he possessed a wonderful activity: his word was held sacred: he was a firm friend to justice, although his love for the sultana Roxalana, and her persuasions, prevailed upon him to put to death all his children by another sultana, to secure the succession to Selim her son. His cruelty tarnished his fame. After the siege of Mohatz, by his orders, 1500 of the most distinguished prisoners were placed in a circle, and beheaded, in presence of the victorious army. Solyman thought nothing impossible to be done which he commanded. When one of his generals sent him word that his orders to build a bridge over the Drave could not be executed, Solyman sent him a linen cord, with this answer: "The sultan, thy master, commands thee, without consideration of the difficulties, to complete the bridge over the Drave: if thou doest it not, on his arrival, he will have thee strangled with this cord, which announces to thee his supreme will." Solyman used his unlimited power to establish order and security in his dominions. He divided them into districts, of which each was compelled to furnish a certain number of soldiers. The produce of a certain division of country in every province was reserved for the support of the troops; and he provided for every thing connected with military discipline, and the equipment of soldiers, with the greatest care. He introduced a system for the regulation of the finances in his empire; and, that the taxes might not be too oppressive, he was very exact in his expenses. He was the greatest of all the Ottoman emperors, and extended his power widely, by force of arms, in Asia and Europe. Under his government the Turks attained their highest glory; but this was gradually lost under his successors, who seldom appeared at the head of their armies. He was in the highest degree ambitious, active, and fond of power; and every year of his reign was distinguished by some great enterprise. A faithful observer of his religion, he was less vicious, and much better educated, than his predecessor. He loved mathematics, and particularly the study of history. He wanted but few qualities to make him a great prince, but

many to make him a good one. Those who reckon the emperors of Turkey from the conquest of Constantinople, call him Solyman I

SOMERS, lord John, a distinguished lawyer and statesman, was the son of an attorney at Worcester, where he was born in 1652. He was entered a gentleman commoner at Trinity college, Oxford, and, being destined for the legal profession, passed some time as clerk to a barrister, and, when called to the bar himself, evinced talents of a high order. His principles led him to oppose the measures of Charles II; and, on the accession of James II, he continued a firm opposer of the court, and acquired great credit as one of the council for the seven bishops. He heartily concurred in the revolution, and sat, as one of the representatives for Worcester, in the convention parliament, summoned by the prince of Orange, and was one of the managers appointed by the commons to confer with the lords on the word abdicate. In 1689, he was knighted, and made solicitor-general; in 1692, attorney-general, and lord-keeper of the great seal the following year, in which capacity he displayed equal ability, integrity and gentleness. He was one of the first patrons of Addison, for whom he procured an allowance, to enable him to make the tour of Italy. In 1695, he was made lord high chancellor of England, and was raised to the peerage by the title of lord Somers, baron Evesham. Being now regarded as the head of the whigs, he made great exertions to moderate the zeal of that party. After the death of William, lord Somers spent his time in literary retirement, and was chosen president of the royal society. In 1706, he drew up a plan for effecting a union between England and Scotland, which was so much approved, that queen Anne appointed him one of the commissioners to carry it into execution. Upon a change of ministry, in 1708, he was nominated president of the council, but was again dismissed in 1710, and, in April, 1716, was carried off by an apoplectic fit, at the age of sixty-four. He was a patron of men of letters, and one of those who redeemed Milton's Paradise Lost from the obscurity in which party prejudice had involved it. Besides the many speeches and political tracts attributed to him, he translated some of Ovid's Epistles, and Plutarch's Life of Alcibiades. He also made a collection of scarce tracts, of hich there has been published a selec>n. in four parts, each consisting of four

volumes (4to.; new edition, 1809-1812, 12 vols., 4to., edited by sir Walter Scott) His collection of original papers and letters was destroyed by a fire at Lincoln's Inn.

SOMERS' ISLANDS. (See Bermudas Islands.)

Somerset, EARL OF.
SOMERSET, DUKE OF.

(See Overbury.) (See Seymour.) SOMERVILE, William, a minor poet, was born in Warwickshire, in 1692, and educated at Oxford. He early cultivated his talent for poetry, and inherited a considerable paternal estate, on which he chiefly lived, mingling an ardent attachment to the sports of the field with the studies of a man of letters. He was courteous, hospitable, convivial; but carelessness in pecuniary matters, by involving him in embarrassments, preyed on his mind, and produced habits which shortened his life. He died in 1742. As a poet, Somervile is chiefly known by his Chase, a poem in blank verse, which maintains a respectable rank in the didactic and descriptive class. Another piece, connected with the same subject, is entitled Field Sports. His Hobbinol, or Rural Games, is a kind of mock heroic. His other pieces are not fitted to increase his reputation. (See Johnson's Lives of the Poets.)

SOMME. (See Department.)

SOMNAMBULISM designates the wellknown phenomena of sleep-walking. It is also used for a certain state of a person under the influence of animal magnetism. (q. v.) The phenomena of sleepwalking are very singular, the person affected performing many voluntary actions, implying a certain degree of perception of the presence of external objects. This affection is commonly considered as an imperfect degree of sleep. "In the case of the somnambuli," says Dugald Stewart, "the mind retains its power over the limbs, but possesses no influence over its own thoughts, and scarcely any over the body, excepting those particular members of it which are employed in walking." Sleep-walking is not unfrequently connected with the changes of the moon; when people will rise, walk about, do certain things, and go to bed again. The placing of a wet cloth by the side of the bed of such a person, so as to wake him immediately when he steps on it, is reeommended as a means of curing this habit. The subject is very obscure, the cases not having been philosophically studied to a sufficient extent. As to somnambulism in animal magnetism, the vo

taries of this science believe that the brain -the peculiar seat of the higher faculties rests during somnambulism, but that the vital power of the nervous system of the abdomen is heightened so much, that it can supply, in a degree, the place of the brain, and afford the means of perception. Hence a letter placed on the stomach of a person in the state of somnambulism can be read by him! We must refer the reader to the works mentioned in the article Magnetism, Animal, viz. those of Wolfarth, Kieser, &c.

SOMNUS (Latin, sleep), or HYPNOS (úvos); in ancient mythology, the god of sleep, son of Nox (Night), and twin brother of Mors (Death). He dwelt at the western extremity of the world, where the imagi1 nation of early poets placed all awful beings. The Orphic hymn (84) calls Lethe (Oblivion) his sister. His power is great, and both mortals and gods are subject to him. Some of the later poets describe him as a handsome youth, some as a dull and lazy god, whose dark abode no ray of Phoebus enters. (Ovid.) He is sometimes represented with a wreath of poppies; sometimes with a horn, in which he carries dreams. According to some poets, he produces sleep by the motion of his wings; according to others, he sprinkles drops of Lethe on the eyes of mortals. Ovid gives him a thousand children, but mentions only Morpheus, Icelos, Phobetor and Phantasos. (See Morpheus.)

SON (in the Tartar languages, river); a syllable which appears in many geographical names, as Karason (black river), Akson (white river).

SONATA (Sonata, or suonata, Italian, from sonare, to sound) is a simple piece of instrumental music, intended to express various feelings in different passages, according to the character of the instrument used. It was originally designed for one instrument only, principally for the violin; afterwards for the piano almost exclusively. Subsequently, sonatas were composed, in which the piano or harpsichord is accompanied by other instruments; for instance, the violin or flute, horn, clarionet. But these latter were also called trios. The union, however, is not pleasing, as the tone of the harpsichord is too weak, and the pianoforte does not harmonize well with any other instrument. The expression of the sonata is to be determined by the character of the instrument a circumstance which modern composers have not sufficiently observed. In sonatas for several instruments, the principal instrument is either

only assisted (as is the case, for instance, with many sonatas for the pianoforte accompanied by the violoncello), or the instruments alternate, so as to make the sonata a dialogue of instruments. Formerly the sonata usually began with a lively passage, followed by an andante or adagio; then came a minuet with a trio (afterwards a scherzo); and lastly a rondo or presto: instead of the second, third or last division, variations are also made use of. The old arrangement, however, is no longer adhered to, and sonatas are now written in two, three, or four divisions. But still it is a complete musical piece, in which the passages are connected by a common character. An easy or short sonata is called sonatina. The most distinguished composers of sonatas Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Clementi, Cramer, Hummel, Weber, Moscheles, Kalkbrenner, Field.

are

SONNET (Italian sonetto); a species of poetic composition, consisting of fourteen lines of equal length-the most ancient form of Italian poetry. It was used at an earlier period among the Provençals (q. v.); and, in the thirteenth century, count Thibaut de Champagne mentions it as a species of poetry universally used and known. A Provençal sonnet, written in 1321, and entirely conformable to the rules for this species of poem, in which William de Almarichi congratulates king Robert of Naples, is to be found in Nostradamus, from whom Crescembeni borrowed it in his Storia della volgar Poesia (t. i.). In Italy, the sonnet was naturalized about the middle of the thirteenth century, when Italian poetry became imbued with the spirit of the Provençal. Fra Guittone, of Arezzo (died 1295), the first Italian poet of note, was also the first who gave to the sonnet, at least in Italy, that regular form which Petrarca (died 1374) carried to perfection, and made a model. In France, the sonnet was not cultivated after the extinction of the Provençal poetry, until the sixteenth century; but the bouts rimés (q. v.) reduced it to a mere play on words. In Germany, it first came into use in the first half of the seventeenth century. It has been of late much cultivated there, but is not adapted for the language, on account of its poverty in rhymes. In fact, the strict rules of the rhyme often compel the poet to accommodate the ideas to the expression, even in languages which, like the Italian, have a great number of rhymes for almost every final syllable; and in German, in which many final syllables have very few

rhymes, there are many words which almost always are made to rhyme with certain others; so that the occurrence of one of them in a sonnet inevitably suggests to the reader what words are to follow.so as to destroy the great pleasure of rhyme. A sonnet may produce a good effect when the subject is well chosen, and naturally accommodates itself to the divisions of the poem; but it requires much skill to make it pleasing; and Petrarca himself sometimes becomes tame, from the constraints to which he is subjected. Göthe wrote but few; and their subject is the difficulties of the form, and the pleasure of overcoming them. The sonnet is often attempted by persons who find it easier to furnish rhymes than ideas; and the number of insipid sonnets in Italian and Spanish is immense. In English, also, there is an abundance of them-The sonnet properly consists of fourteen iambic verses of eleven syllables, and is divided into two chief parts: the first consists of two divisions, each of four lines (quadernario, quadrain); the second of two divisions of three lines each (terzina), The quadrains have two rhymes, each of which is repeated four times, and, according to the Italian usage, either so that the first, fourth, fifth and eighth verses rhyme, and, again, the verses between them the second, third, sixth, seventh (rima chiusa); or, which is rarer, the rhymes alternate (rima alternata); or, what is still rarer, the first quadrain is written in the first way, and the second in the second. In the two terzine there are either, three rhymes, each twice repeated, or two rhymes, thrice repeated, in all positions. The Italians, who use hardly any form for lyrical poetry but the sonnet and canzone, have invented varieties of it, such as the Anacreontic sonnets, with lines of eight syllables, and those with a coda. The sonnet generally contains one principal idea, pursued through the various antitheses of the different strophes, and adorned with the charm of rhyme.

SONNITES. (See Sunnites.)

SONORA; one of the states of the Mexican confederacy (see Mexico), lying on the Pacific ocean, on which it has a seacoast of 900 miles, with several good ports. It is generally hilly, a large portion of it lying on the table land. It abounds in mineral wealth: gold is found in washings and mines, and the silver mines are rich and numerous. The soil is also fertile. The capital of the state is Arispe, with a population of 7600 souls. Cinaloa (9500), Sonora (6400), and Culia

can (10,800), are among the principal towns.

SONTAG, Henrietta, a very distinguished singer of our time, was born in 1808, at Coblentz Her parents were players. When five years old, she appeared on the stage at the Frankfort theatre. In Prague she received instruction at the excellent conservatory. (q. v.) For some time she held an appointment in the Italian opera at Vienna. In 1824, with her mother and her younger sister, she performed in Berlin, where she became a great favorite. In 1826, she went to Paris, where she attracted equal admiration, and be came, in 1827. a performer at the Italian opera. In 1825, she visited London. She has lately left the stage, and married a count. Purity, clearness, agreeableness and flexibility are united, in an uncom mon degree, in her voice. Her expres sion is masterly; her person and her acting fine; her manners accomplished; ber reputation unstained, and her disposition benevolent. These qualities combined to make her one of the most popular singers who ever appeared in Europe. She excels in the sentimental, the humorous and the graceful, and in Italian songs. Her chief parts were Agathe, in Der Freischutz; Donna Anna, in Mozart's Don Juan; Euryanthe, in the Princess of Navarre; Helene, in Donna del Lago; Cinderella: Rosina, in Rossini's Barber of Seville; Caroline, in Matrimonio Segreto ; &c.

SOODRAS. (See Hindoos.)

SOOT. (See Lap-Black, and Manure.) SOPHI; a professor of Sufism. (q. v.) SOPHIA, CHURCH OF ST. The foundation of this magnificent temple in Constantinople was laid in the sixth century, in the reign of Justinian; and the work was completed by Anthemius Tralles, the most celebrated architect of his age, with the aid of Isidorus of Miletus. Anthemius was the first who undertook to erect a dome on four arcades: he chose for this purpose the form of a Greek cross. Twenty years after its dedication, in 558, the dome was shattered by an earthquake. Another Isidorus, nephew of the former, restored it, but raised it twenty feet higher than before, giving it an elliptical instead of a spherical form. The curvature of the dome is so slight, that the depth is equal to only one sixth of the diameter, which is 115 feet; the crescent, which has supplanted the cross on the centre, however, is 180 feet from the ground. This flattened form of the dome has a fine effect; and if the architect attempted to imitate the arch of the heavens, Dalaway

pronounces the attempt more happily accomplished in the mosque of St. Sophia than in St. Peter's at Rome. The ceiling of the dome over the twenty-four windows is ornamented with mosaic work, in the form of small cubes, of a vitreous substance, which Vitruvius calls smaltum. Besides containing four colossal figures, which represent seraphim, the ceiling is gilt all over, but defaced by time. The arrangement of the capitals is not conformable to rule; they belong to no particular style, and have no entablature. With the principal dome are connected two half domes and six smaller ones, which add to the general effect. The form of the building is a Greek cross, inscribed in a quadrangle; but the interior area from east to west forms an ellipse. The mass of the edifice is of brick, but it is overlaid with marble: the floor is of mosaic work, composed of porphyry and verd antique. The great pillars, which support the dome, consist of square blocks of stone, bound with hoops of iron. The gallery round about is formed by sixtyseven columns, eight of which are porphyry (from Aurelian's temple of the sun, at Rome). Eight others, of green jasper, were taken from the temple of Diana, at Ephesus. The vestibule has nine bronze doors, ornamented with bassorelievos. The interior of the mosque is 243 feet in width, from north to south, and 269 in length, from east to west. The exterior of St. Sophia has many defects and incongruous additions; among others, four minarets, made since it became the chief mosque of the Turks (1453), have given it the appearance of an irregular mass.-See Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (ch. 40 and 68). Grelot, Voyage de Constantinople (with engravings); Banduris, Imper. Orient. (Paris, 1711, 2 vols., folio); and Mouradgea d'Ohsson's Tableau Général de l'Empire Ottoman contain representations of it.

SOPHISM; a fallacy in reasoning. (See Sophists.) Sophisms are usually divided by logicians into those in the words (in dictione), and those in the matter (extra dictionem). Whately divides them into those in which the conclusion does not follow from the premises, and in which the reasoning is, therefore, false, or logical fallacies; and those in which the conclusion does follow from the premises, or material fallacies. For the various kinds of sophisms-petitio principii, ignoratio elenchi, paralogism, &c.-we must refer the reader to treatises on logic.

SOPHISTS. This name of a peculiar

class of teachers of eloquence, philosophy and politics, which flourished in Greece in the fifth century before the Christian era, signifies properly wise men (ropos, wise), and was assumed by them out of learned pride. But as the later sophists strangely perverted the science which they taught, made themselves ridiculous by their arrogance, and drew upon themselves the hatred and contempt of reasonable men, by the pernicious and corrupt principles which they advocated with the utmost shamelessness, the title became a term of reproach, and was applied to men who seek to confound the understanding by vain subtleties and false axioms, to shake the force of the pure precepts of religion and morals. We find the names of a considerable number of sophists, mentioned in Grecian history, differing not less in the kind and degree of their knowledge than in the places of their birth. The most celebrated are Gorgias of Leontium, in Sicily, Protagoras of Abdera, Hippias of Elis, Prodicus of Cos, Thrasymachus of Chalcedon, in Asia Minor. All these were contemporary with Pericles and Socrates, and resembled each other in being teachers of natural philosophy, geometry and arithmetic, astronomy, music, theology, morals, logic and eloquence. This variety of subjects, which they taught among a people of the highest refinement, proves that they had cultivated their powers to a certain degree; and, in fact, they rendered important services to learning, as they were the first cultivators of rhetoric as well as of grammar and morals. They taught all these sciences in attractive language, both orally and in writing, and were every where received with admiration. Besides, they often distinguished themselves in the service of their country. At least, it is certain that Gorgias, Prodicus and Hippias were employed in difficult negotiations. But brilliant as the sophists appear when viewed as men acquainted with all the learning of their age, and successfully extending its limits, it is not to be denied, that, when viewed on the dark side, they are deserving of abhorrence. The unblushing effrontery with which they set themselves up for the sole possessors of all wisdom, human and divine, shows them to have been impostors or conceited pretenders. In the next place, they abused knowledge to gratify the basest of passions avarice; and, finally, they preached irreligion and immorality, and attacked whatever was held dear and sacred by the people. They denied the existence of the gods,