The chief of the Ulema of Constantinople.
Shiah.
One of the two great Mohammedan sects. It rejects the Sunni, or body of tradition, accepting the Koran only.
Shimonoseki, Treaty of.
A treaty, closing the Chino-Japanese War, signed April 10, 1895. China agreed to cede to Japan Formosa, the Pescadores and the Liao-Tung Peninsula, including Port Arthur, and to pay an indemnity of 200 million taels. However, Russia, France and Germany intervened and forced Japan to surrender the Liao-Tung peninsula, receiving as compensation an additional 30 million taels.
Shinto.
The ancient and also the State religion of Japan. It is in its origin a form of ancestor and hero worship, but has been much corrupted by the interweaving of many of the grosser Buddhistic superstitions.
Ship-money.
A tax imposed by Charles I in 1634, first on the maritime counties, but later on the whole kingdom, ostensibly to protect the country from the incursions of the Algerine pirates and from Dutch aggression, but in reality to provide himself with funds without having recourse to Parliament. It was in resisting the payment of this tax that Hampden first became prominent. The House of Commons declared it illegal in 1641, and at the same time impeached the six judges who had pronounced in favour of the right of the Crown to impose it.