SECT7LAB GAMES 324 SEDGWICK ing reference to this present world, or to things not spiritual or holy; relating to things not primarily or immediately af- fecting the soul; worldly; temporal; as, secular power, secular affairs. In the Roman Catholic Church, not regular, not bound by monastic vows or rules ; not con- fined to a religious house or subject to the rules of a clerical community; as, a secu- lar priest; an ecclesiastic not bound by monastic rules; hence a layman. SECULAR GAMES, a great festival, probably of Etruscan origin, anciently celebrated at Rome to mark the com- mencement of a new sseculum or genera- tion. In 249 B. c. it was decreed that the secular games should be celebrated every hundredth year after that date; but this decree was frequently disregarded, and they were celebrated at very irregular in- tervals. SECULARISM, the name given, about 1846, by George J. Holyoake to an ethical system founded on natural morality. SEDALIA, a city and county-seat of Pettis co., Mo.; on the Missouri Pacific, and the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas rail- roads; 95 miles E. of Kansas City. Here are the Convent of St. Joseph, United States government building, hospital, Convention Hall, street railroad and elec- tric light plants, National and State banks, and daily, weekly, and monthly periodicals. The city has besides large locomotive and car shops, flouring mills, grain elevators, iron foundries, manufac- tories of farming implements, etc. Dur- ing most of the Civil War the city was a United States military post. Pop. (1910) 17,822; (1920) 21,144. SEDAN, a fortified town of France, de- partment of Ardennes, on the Meuse, 10 miles E. S. E. of Mezieres. Sedan has been long celebrated for its woolen manu- factures, consisting principally of fine black cloths and cassimeres. Here, Sept. 1-2, 1870, a battle was fought between the French, under Napoleon III., and the Prussians, under King William and the crown prince, in which the former being defeated, the emperor, while still at the head of an army of more than 100,000 men, surrendered himself and his troops, along with the strong and well-appointed fortress of Sedan to the Prussians. In the World War the Germans occupied Sedan until the closing days of the Meuse- Argonne offensive, when it was occupied by French troops. Pop. about 22,000. SEDAN CHAIR, a portable covered vehicle for carrying a single person, borne on two poles by two men. The name is derived from the town of Sedan, where this species of conveyance is said to have been invented. The Duke of Buckingham used one in the reign of James I., a proceeding which gave gen- eral offense, it being made matter of pub- lic remark that this loyal favorite used his fellow-countryman to do the work of beasts. In September, 1634, Sir Francis Duncombe got a letter patent, granting him the sole right and privilege for 14 years to use and let for hire within Lon- don and Westminster "covered chairs" to prevent the unnecessary use of coaches; according to Evelyn he got the notion from Naples. Sedan chairs were largely used during the greater part of the 18th century, being found very well adapted for transporting persons in full dress to public and private entertainments. SEDATIVE, in medicine a remedy which allays irritability and irritation, and which assuages pain. Sedatives are divided according to the parts on which they act into external or local. SEDDON, RICHARD JOHN, a New Zealand public official, born at Eccleston, England, in 1845. He went to Australia as a mechanical engineer in 1863, and thereafter removed to New Zealand, where he took an active part in politics. He entered the colonial parliament in 1879, and was Minister of Mines from 1891 to 1893. In the latter year he was appointed Premier. He retained that of- fice until his death, in 1906. He was a strong advocate of the policy of state so- cialism. SEDGE (Car ex; natural order, Cy- peracese), an extensive genus of grass- like plants containing thousands of spe- cies, mostly inhabiting the N. and tem- perate parts of the globe. The greater portion of the species are marsh plants. They furnish coarse fodder, which is re- jected by most of the domestic quadru- peds. SEDGEMOOR, a marshy tract in Somersetshire, England, about 5 miles S. E. of Bridgewater. In 1685 it was the scene of the battle in which the Duke of Monmouth was defeated by the troops of James II. SEDGE WARBLER, the Acrocephalus schsenobsenus, a small European singing bird. Its total length is rather less than five inches; tail comparatively short; up- per surface rufous-brown, clouded with a darker shade; breast, belly, and lower tail coverts pale buff. The eggs are five or six in number, pale yellowish-brown. SEDGWICK, ADAM, an English geologist; born in Dent, Yorkshire, Eng- land, in 1785. He was educated at Sed- berg and at Cambridge University and in
