[Stern, Daniel]. See [Agoult].
[Sterne, Laurence], English humourist, born at Clonmel, Ireland, son of Roger Sterne, captain in the army; his mother an Irishwoman; was educated at Halifax and Cambridge, by-and-by took orders, and received livings in Sutton and Shillington, became a prebend at York, and finally got a living at Coxwold; in 1759 appeared the first two volumes of "Tristram Shandy," and in 1767 the last two; in 1768 his "Sentimental Journey," and in the interim his "Sermons," equally characteristic of the man as the two former productions. Stopford Brooke says, "They have no plot, they can scarcely be said to have any story. The story of 'Tristram Shandy' wanders like a man in a labyrinth, and the humour is as labyrinthine as the story. It is carefully invented, and whimsically subtle; and the sentiment is sometimes true, but mostly affected. But a certain unity is given to the book by the admirable consistency of the characters," his masterpieces, among which is "Uncle Toby"; the author died in London of pulmonary consumption (1713-1763).
[Sternhold, Thomas], principal author of the first English metrical version of the Psalms, originally attached to the Prayer-Book as augmented by John Hopkins; continued in general use till Tate and Brady's version of 1696 was substituted in 1717; was a Hampshire man, and held the post of Groom of the Robes to Henry VIII. and Edward VI. (1500-1549).
[Steropes], one of the three [Cyclops] (q. v.).
[Stesichorus], a celebrated Greek lyric poet, born in Sicily; contemporary of Sappho, Aleacus, and Pittacus; at his birth it is said a nightingale alighted on his lips and sang a sweet strain (632-652 B.C.).
[Stettin] (116), capital of Pomerania, and a flourishing river-port on both banks of the Oder, 30 m. from its entrance into the Baltic, and 60 m. NE. of Berlin; lies contiguous to, and is continuous with, the smaller towns of Bredow, Grabow, and Züllchow; principal buildings are the royal palace (16th century), the Gothic church of St. Peter (12th century), and St. James's (14th century); is a busy hive of industry, turning out ships, cement, sugar, spirits, &c., and carrying on a large export and import trade.
[Steuben, Baron von], general in the American War of Independence, born in Magdeburg; originally in the Prussian service under Frederick the Great, and had distinguished himself at the siege of Prague and at Rossbach; emigrating to America at the end of the Seven Years' War he offered his services, which were readily welcomed, and contributed to organise and discipline the army, to the success of the revolution (1730-1794).
[Stevenson, Robert], an eminent Scottish engineer, born at Glasgow, the son of a West India merchant; adopted the profession of his stepfather Thomas Smith, and in 1796 succeeded him as first engineer to the Board of Northern Lighthouses, a position he held for 47 years, during which he planned and erected as many as 23 lighthouses round the coasts of Scotland, his most noted erection being that on the Bell Rock; introduced the catoptric system of illumination and other improvements; was also much employed as a consulting engineer in connection with bridge, harbour, canal, and railway construction (1772-1850).
[Stevenson, Robert Louis Balfour], novelist and essayist, grandson of the preceding, born at Edinburgh, where in 1875 he was called to the bar, after disappointing his father by not following the family vocation of engineering; had already begun to write for the magazines, and soon abandoned law for the profession of letters, in which he rapidly came to the front; in 1878 appeared his first book, "An Inland Voyage," quickly followed by "Travels with a Donkey," "Virginibus Puerisque," "Familiar Studies"; with "Treasure Island" (1883) found a wider public as a writer of adventure and romance, and established himself permanently in the public favour with "Kidnapped" (1886, most popular story), "The Master of Ballantrae," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," &c.; his versatility in letters was further revealed in his charming "A Child's Garden of Verse," "Ballads," "Memories and Portraits," and "A Footnote to History" (on Samoan politics); in 1890 failing health induced him to make his home in the island of Samoa, where he died and is buried; "His too short life," says Professor Saintsbury, "has left a fairly ample store of work, not always quite equal, seldom quite without a flaw, but charming, stimulating, distinguished as few things in this last quarter of a century have been" (1850-1894).
[Steward, Lord High], in early times the highest office of state in England, ranking in power next to the sovereign; hereditary during many centuries, the office lapsed in the reign of Henry IV., and since has been revived only on special occasions, e. g. a coronation, a trial of a peer, at the termination of which the office is demitted, the Lord High Steward himself breaking in two his wand of office.