all ages and nations, commenced in 1775. and was completed in seven volumes in 1790. A supplementary volume appeared in 1793. Saxius died in 1806.
SAXO, surnamed Grammaticus on account of his learning, was a native of Zealand in Denmark, and flourished during the reigns of Valdemar the Great and his son Canute VI., 1157-1202. He was provost of the cathedral church of Roskilde, then the capital of the Danish kingdom. It was the celebrated Absalom, archbishop of Lund, one of the most remarkable men of his time, and to whom Saxo was secretary or amanuensis, who engaged the latter to write his great work, and who furnished him with various aids for that undertaking. The other events of Saxo's life, like the precise date of his birth, are obscure and uncertain. His death, however, took place in 1204, after he had spent twenty years in the composition, in Latin, of his "History of Denmark" from the earliest ages to his own time. The character of Saxo's work is too well known to require any lengthened description here. It is a grand storehouse of the numerous and romantic legends that form the early history of the old Scandinavian north, and on which, in the very nature of things, but little reliance can be placed. The last seven books of his treatise, nevertheless, from the time of Harold Gormson, may in general be considered an authentic narrative of events. Saxo's style is wonderful, considering the period when he lived. Its picturesque and lively character elicited the warm commendation of Erasmus, and has often since interested and attracted readers.—J. J.
SAY, Jean Baptiste, was born at Lyons on 5th January, 1767, and was for a time engaged in commerce. To this perhaps we must in some measure attribute the practical tendency of his writings. The outbreak of the Revolution attracted him to Paris, where he entered on a literary career. Mirabeau, half of whose talent consisted in turning the talent of others to account, sought the co-operation of Say in his literary enterprises. Clavière a Genevese, the friend of Mirabeau and the enemy of Necker, was, during the hottest of the revolutionary period, a tolerably conspicuous figure. He was twice minister of finance, and when the Girondists fell, he killed himself in prison to escape the guillotine. When minister, Clavière had Say for secretary. Say was subsequently associated as publicist with Ginguené and Chamfort. Through the events of the 18th Brumaire, that is, the 9th November, 1799, the existing constitution was overthrown and a new one created. A so-called tribunate was formed, consisting of a hundred members, each of whom received a salary of fifteen thousand francs a year. Say was appointed a member, but Bonaparte contrived to get speedily rid of him, and of all who showed an independent spirit. Say did not again seek any political employment. He was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences in 1814. The subjects to which he chiefly devoted himself were statistics and political economy. He was equally popular as lecturer and as writer. His "Treatise on Political Economy" was published in 1803, and has been frequently reprinted. His "Lectures on Practical Political Economy" appeared in 1829, and this work has likewise gone through several editions. Adam Smith continues to be, as a political economist, unapproached, alike from his robust good sense, his philosophical breadth, his genuine sympathies, and his admirable style. He might be almost said to found a science by the immense and fruitful originality which he brought into it, though the science had risen long before. As Adam Smith was the greatest, so Say may be regarded as the most attractive and intelligible of political economists. Say was an illustrator and elucidator rather than a discoverer. Indeed, Say is acknowledged to have done little more than clothe in language of singular elegance and incomparable clearness Smith's ideas, modifying them to suit French tastes and supposed French necessities. Say wrote a book on England, and another on French canals. In the fullness of his celebrity and of his influence. Say died on the 16th November, 1832. A writer of note, Charles Comte, who had been persecuted for his political opinions, married Say's daughter. Comte published in 1836 a fourth edition of Say's "Catechism of Political Economy," and immediately after, Say's "Miscellanies and Correspondence." Political economy has made no essential progress in France since Say's death, though Bastiat and others have been active in the direction of free trade. Say was succeeded in his professorship by Jerome Adolphus Blanqui, who besides writing perhaps the most complete and elaborate history of political economy, produced also a biography of Say. We may further refer to Mr. M'Culloch's Literature of Political Economy, and to the large French Dictionary of Political Economy, edited by Coquelin and Guillaumin. It is a striking fact that though political economy in England has never been put into a popular shape except by compilers, its ripest results are accepted by the bulk of the nation, while in France, even the eminently popular genius of Say did not succeed in extending the empire of political economy much beyond the narrow circle of the schools.—W. M—l.
SAY, William, mezzotinto engraver, was born near Norwich in 1768, and was a pupil of James Ward, R.A., at that time an engraver. Mr. Say was one of the first, if not actually the first, to use steel plates for mezzotints. His plates are numerous, and some of large size. They include historical and genre pictures, such as Hilton's Raising of Lazarus, and Eastlake's Brigands; landscapes, including some in Turner's River Scenery; a great many portraits; and a few of the works of the old masters. His prints are unequal, but the best show a good deal of vigour and artistic feeling. He died August 24, 1834.—J. T—e.
SCÆVOLA, Publius Mucius, a distinguished jurist and orator; tribunus plebis in 141 b.c.; prætor, 136; consul, 133; and pontifex maximus, 131. He was consul during the disturbances in which T. Gracchus perished. Scævola is cited in the Digest.
SCÆVOLA, Quintus Mucius, commonly called the Augur, consul along with L. C. Metellus 117 b.c., and famous as one of the teachers of Cicero, in whose treatises De Oratore, Amicitia, and Republica he is one of the interlocutors. Scævola was a distinguished jurist.
SCÆVOLA, Quintus Mucius, commonly called the Pontifex, an orator and jurist, colleague of L. Crassus in the office of tribunus plebis, 106 b.c.; ædile, 104; and consul, 95. As proconsul of Asia he gained great reputation for wisdom and integrity, and was made pontifex maximus. Proscribed in the consulship of the younger Marius, he was murdered in the temple of Vesta 82 b.c. He completed, in eighteen books, a great work, mentioned by Gellius, and cited in the Digest, which was the first attempt to systematize the Jus Civile.
SCALA, Della, or Scaligero, a historic house of Verona, which, from ranking amongst the nobility, rose to the lordship of its native city and of a considerable circumjacent territory. The following list, compiled in accordance with that given by Tiraboschi in his Storia della Letteratura Italiana, shows the succession of sovereign lords in this family.—Mastino della Scala, of the Ghibelline party dominant in Verona, was elected podestá (chief magistrate) for a term of years, about 1260. This dignity was afterwards secured to him for life, and he enjoyed it until 1277, when he was murdered on account of a private grudge.—Alberto, brother of Mastino, was chosen by the popular voice as his successor, and was subsequently called to the lordship of Vicenza, Feltre, and Belluno, by the citizens of those towns. He died in 1301, and was succeeded by Bartolommeo, eldest son of Alberto; died 7th March, 1304, and was succeeded by Alboino, brother of Bartolommeo, who first associated with himself in the government his younger and more enterprising brother, Can Francesco, and after a while ceded to him the entire sovereignty. Alboino died in 1311.—Can Francesco, commonly called Can Grande (the great), born about 1290, inherited and enlarged the Veronese domain, until it included little less than the entire territory subsequently called Venetian. Victorious adversary of the marquis of Este, honoured adherent and imperial vicar of Henry of Luxembourg, acknowledged head of the Lombard Ghibellines, warrior and politician—Can Grande occupies yet another position in the annals of his era as the magnificent entertainer of men eminent in letters, in art, or in arms; and, himself being in his degree a poet, especially as the host of Dante Alighieri in his exile. Can Grande died of fever in 1329, and was succeeded by Alberto and Mastino, nephews of Can Grande, under whose united sway the dominion of Verona was extended over various additional cities. Mastino, a brave soldier, but haughty and cruel, died in 1351; Alberto in 1352; and were succeeded by Can Grande II., son of Mastino, a vicious and cruel man, who was killed by his brother. Can Signore, in 1359, and was succeeded by Can Signore and Paolo Alboino, brothers of Can Grande II. Their joint rule was terminated by Can Signore imprisoning Paolo Alboino, whom he ultimately put to death, himself dying in the same year, 1375. His successors were Bartolommeo II. and Antonio, illegitimate sons of Can Signore. Antonio murdered Bartolommeo in
