was again made prince and was soon succeeded by his son, Michael. His rule was able, and in 1867 the last Turkish garrison was withdrawn. A year later he was assassinated. His cousin, Milan (1868-89), took part in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-8, whereby Servia gained her independence, and was crowned king as Milan I in 1882. In 1889 he gave up the throne to his son, Alexander, then 13 years old. On June 11, 1903, King Alexander and Queen Draga were assassinated, and Peter Karageorgevitch succeeded to the throne on June 25th. Consult Laveleye's Balkan Peninsula, and see Peter I of Servia.
Sesostris (sē̇-sŏs′trĭs), the Greek name of a celebrated Egyptian king. According to the Greek accounts, Sesostris at the head of a large army invaded Libya, Arabia, Asia, Europe, Thrace and Scythia, leaving a colony at Colchis on his way home. In the south he conquered Ethiopia, and by means of his fleet on the Red Sea got possession of the neighboring islands and widened his dominions to India itself. Captives in great numbers were put to work on temples, canals and mounds. Sesostris is said to have gone blind after a reign of 33 years, and to have taken his own life. Just who this great conqueror was is a puzzle. The most reasonable explanation is that his doings are the confused exploits of Sethos I and Rameses II.
Se′ton, Ernest Thompson, lecturer, illustrator and author, was born in South Shields, England, in 1860; but spent his boyhood and youth (from 1866) in Canada and on the western plains. He was educated in Toronto, Canada, and London, England. In 1891 he became naturalist to the government of Manitoba; and wrote not only serious works upon the Birds of Manitoba and the Mammals of Manitoba, but clever and attractive tales for magazines, which purported to be based on actual observation of the ways of animal life. Mr. Seton contributed a number of illustrations to The Century Dictionary. He is the author and illustrator of Art Anatomy of Animals; Wild Animals I have Known; The Trail of the Sandhill Stag; The Biography of a Grizzly; Lobo, Rag and Vixen; Lives of the Hunted; Pictures of Wild Animals; Two Little Savages; and Krag and Johnny Bear.
Set′ter, a breed of dog employed in shooting birds. There are three varieties — the English, the Gordon and the Irish setter. Dogs had been trained from the 16th century to scent game, but it was not until the beginning of the 19th century that a record of a distinct breed of setter was begun. The English setter generally is white with red markings or with black spots. The Gordon setter was bred by the duke of Gordon in 1800, by crossing the existing setter with the collie. This setter should be a rich and glossy black, marked with tan on the face, chest and legs. The origin of the Irish setter with its deep chestnut-red color is unknown. See Dog.
Sev′en Sleep′ers, the heroes of a celebrated tale. During the flight of the Christians from the persecution under Decius seven Christians of Ephesus took refuge in a cave near the city, where they were discovered by their pursuers, who walled the entrance to starve them to death. Instead they fell into a sleep which lasted from 250 or 251 to the reign of Theodosius (447). They imagined that their sleep had been but for a night. One of the seven went secretly into the city to buy food, and was thunderstuck to see the cross on churches and other buildings. Offering a coin of Decius at a bakery he was arrested, his startling story not being believed till he guided the citizens to the cave where he had left his comrades. The emperor heard enough from their lips to make him believe in the life beyond the grave, whereupon they sank again to sleep till the resurrection. The Roman church holds their festival on June 27. The story was adopted by Mohammed. A like story is told in Germany. See Rydberg's Teutonic Mythology.
Seven Wise Men, Greek sages, whose lives were embodied in certain maxims. Their names and characteristic sayings are as follows: Solon of Athens — “Nothing in excess”; Thales of Miletus — “Suretyship brings ruin”; Pittacus of Mitylene — “Know thine opportunity”; Bias of Priene in Ionia — “Too many workers spoil the work”; Chilon of Sparta — “Know thyself”; Cleobulus, tyrant of Lindus in Rhodes — “Moderation is the chief good”; and Periander, tyrant of Corinth — “Forethought in all things.”
Seven Won′ders of the World were in early times reckoned to be the Pyramids of Egypt, the Hanging (that is, terraced) Gardens of Semiramis at Babylon, the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, the Statue of Jupiter at Athens by Pheidias, the Mausoleum, the Colossus at Rhodes and the Pharos (or lighthouse) at Alexandria.
Seven Years' War (1756-63). A struggle in Europe, which had far-reaching results, between Prussia under Frederick the Great and a confederacy of European powers, consisting mainly of Austria under Empress Maria Theresa, Russia, Saxony, Sweden and France. The immediate object of the war was to enable Austria to regain possession of Silesia, duchies which had in 1740 been seized by Frederick, and this precipitated a strife known as the Seven Years' War or the third Silesian War. With Prussia was allied England under George II, who sought thus to secure his Hanoverian possessions against France, and between which and the English there had been a growing ill-feeling in consequence
