Sedley, Mr.—Vanity Fair, Thackeray. A wealthy London stockbroker, brought to ruin in the money market just prior to the battle of Waterloo.
Selith.—One of the two guardian angels of the Virgin Mary and St. John the divine, in Klopstock’s Messiah.
Sempronius (sem-prō´ni-us).—In Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, a flatterer of Timon, who excuses himself from lending Timon money on the ground that others had been asked first.
Senena.—Madoc, Southey. A Welsh maiden in love with Caradoc. Under the assumed name of Mervyn she became the page of the Princess Goervyl, that she might follow her lover to America, where Madoc colonized Caer-Madoc. Senena was promised in marriage to another; but when the wedding day arrived the bride was nowhere to be found.
Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy.—By Laurence Sterne, published in 1768. Sterne describes this work as follows: “It is a subject which works well, and suits the frame of mind in which I have been for some time past. I told you my design in it was to teach us to love the world and our fellow creatures better than we do—so it runs most upon these gentler passions and affections which add so much to it.”
Serena (sā-rā´nä).—Faërie Queene, Spenser. Allured into the fields by the mildness of the weather, to gather wild flowers for a garland, she was attacked by the Blatant Beast, which carried her off in its mouth. Her cries attracted to the spot Sir Calidore, who compelled the beast to drop its prey.
Sesame.—In Arabian tales given as the talismanic word which would open or shut the door leading into the cave of the forty thieves. In order to open it, the words to be uttered were, “Open, Sesame!” and in order to close it, “Shut, Sesame!” Sesame is a plant yielding grain which is sometimes used for food, and from which an oil is expressed. When Cassim forgot the word, he substituted “Barley,” but without effect. Sesame has come into general use in connection with any word or act which will open the way for accomplishment of the thing desired.
Seven Lamps of Architecture, The.—A treatise on architecture by Ruskin, published in 1849. The “seven lamps” are those of Sacrifice, Truth, Power, Beauty, Life, Memory, and Obedience. They are symbolic rules for the guidance of the student.
Sganarelle (sgä-nä-rel´).—The hero of Molière’s comedy La Mariage Force. He is represented as a humorist of about fifty-three, who, having a mind to marry a fashionable young woman, but feeling a doubt, consults his friends upon this momentous question. Receiving no satisfactory counsel, and not much pleased with the proceedings of his bride elect, he at last determines to give up his engagement, but is cudgeled into compliance by the brother of his intended.
Shallow.—A braggart and absurd country justice in Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor, and in the second part of King Henry IV.