[Sismondi, Jean Charles Léonard Simonde de], celebrated Swiss historian, born at Geneva; son of a Protestant clergyman of Italian descent; the family fortune was lost in the troublous days of the French Revolution, and exile in England and Italy followed, but in 1800 Sismondi returned to Geneva, and having received a municipal appointment gave himself to literary pursuits; the works which have established his reputation are his great histories of "The Italian Republics in the Middle Ages," "European Literature," and "A. History of the French"; wrote also on political economy (1773-1842).
[Sistine Chapel], celebrated chapel of the Vatican at Rome, constructed by order of Pope Sixtus IV., and decorated with frescoes by Michael Angelo, representing a succession of biblical subjects, including among others the "Creation of the World," the "Creation of Man," the "Creation of Woman," the "Temptation of Eve," the "Deluge," "Judith and Holophernes," "David and Goliath," "The Last Judgment," &c.
[Sistova] (12), a town of Bulgaria, on the Danube, 33 m. above Rustchuk; carries on trade in wine, leather, and cereals; was captured by the Russians in 1877.
[Sisyphus], a mythical king of Corinth, who for some offence he gave the gods was carried off to the nether world, and there doomed to roll a huge block up a hill, which no sooner reached the top than it bounded back again, making his toil endless.
[Sitka] or New Archangel (1), capital of Alaska, on the W. coast of Baranof Island, overhung by snowy mountains; has a good harbour; salmon fishing and curing the chief employment of most of the inhabitants, mostly Indians.
[Siva] or Çiva, the Destroyer in the Hindu trinity, in which Brahma is the Creator and Vishnu the Preserver; Vishnu representing, as it were, death issuing in life, and Siva life issuing in death, the transition point, and Brahma, who, by means of them, "kills that he may make alive." He is worshipped as "Mahâdêva" or the great god, and his worshippers are called Saivas or Çaivas, as distinct from those of Vishnu, which are called Vaishnavas. The [linga] (q. v.) is his symbol, in emblem of the creation which follows destruction. See Psalm xc. 3.
[Sivaji], the founder of the Mahratta power in India, a bold warrior but an unlettered, of Rajput descent, brought up at Poona; began his career at 19; on his succession assumed the title of rajah in 1664, and was enthroned at Raigpur in 1674, and died sovereign of the whole Deccan (1627-1680).
[Six Articles]. See [Bloody Statute].
[Sixtus], the name of five Popes. S. I., St., Pope from 116 to 125; S. II., St., Pope from 257 to 259; S. III., Pope from 432 to 440; S. IV., Pope from 1471 to 1484; S. V., Pope from 1585 to 1590; of whom only two are of any note.