SEARCH WARKANT. writ. By a gradual relaxation of practice, the use of tile -seanii warrant was early adopted by the common-law courts, and by modern statute's its use has been extended to the search for and seizure of intoxicating liquors, gambling iniple-. ments, counterfeiters' tools, burglars' tools, smug- gled goods, obscene literature, and generally all articles the bare possession of which is made a' crime. The use of the search warratit was before the nineteenth century subject to many grave abuses, not only because of its use as a means of securing evidence of political oll'ense, but as u means of securing evidence of crimes eliielly im- portant because of their semi-political character, as in the case of the use of writs of assistance (W'hich were really forms of search warrants) in the American colonies before the outbreak of the Revolution. The final overthrow of these abuses was brought about in the reign of George III., and it is now established that by the common law a search warrant can be issued only on oath or allirniation showing probable cause. It is re- quired to specify definitely the place in which the search is to be made and the property to be seized. If the officer executing the warrant does not comply with its terms, he is civilly liable for all his acts not authorized by it and may be com- pelled to respond in damages for trespass or as- sault or both, but if strictly obeying the warrant the officer may break outer or inner doors after demand is made for admittance, and his act is justified by his writ whether he succeeds or not in finding that for which lie makes search. The United States Constitution (Fourth Amend- ment) contains a provision prohibiting the op- pressive use of the search warrant: and this pro- vision has been enacted in substantially the same form in all of the State constitutions. This amendment does not operate as a prohibition upon the governments of the several States, but the corresponding provisions of State constitu- tions have received a similar interpretation. See Procedure; Co:^STiTrTioNAL L.w; Cri.mix.l Law ; and consult the authorities there re- ferred to. SEA-ROBIN. A fish of the genus Prionotus. of the gurnard family (Triglidw) , remarkable for their big-headed, ugly form, and scaleless. mottled body, with a great number of appendages, and many 'rags' about the fins. These ugl.v shoi-e fishes represent in a dozen species on the .Ameri- can coasts the gurnards of the Old World, and have similar habits. They are scavengers, and greatly detested by the fishermen, whose hooks they rob of bait, and to whom they are worthless. SEARS, Barxas (1802-80). An American educator and theologian, born at Sandisfiehl, Mass. He graduated at Brown t'niversity in 1S25, studied at the Newton Theological Semi- nary, and in IS.'il became a professor at Madison University. In lS.'i3 he went to Germany, and after pursuing studies at Halle, Leipzig, and Berlin, accepted the professorship of theology at the Xewton Seminary, of which he became presi- dent. In 1848 he was made secretary and execu- tive agent of the Massachusetts Board of Educa- tion. From 18.55 to 1867 he was president of Brown University. Afterwards he acted as gen- eral agent of the Peabody Education Fund for the Southern States. He edited The Christian Review, contributed to the Bibliotheca Sacra, 739 SEASHORE. wrote a Life of Luther (I8oO), and many peda- gogical ami educational treatises. SEARS, Isaac (I7'29-8U). An Americuii patriot, one of the leaders of the Sons of Liberty Ul-v.) in New York, lie was born in Harwich, Mass., but removed to New York City. He com- manded u privateer, and in 1758-(il crui.M'd against the French, but lost bis vessel by ship- wreck. He then engaged in the European and West Indian trade. In the early ilisputes be- tween the colonists and the British Government he allied himself with the more radical element of the Patriot Party in New York, and during the opposition to the Stamp Act (q.v. ), as well as afterward.s. was one of the leaders of the Sons of Lil)erly. He was a mend)er of the Committee of Fifty-One in Xew Wnk in 1774. ami of the Committee of One Hundred in I77J; leil a com- pany of Connecticut light horse into New Y'ork City later in 1775, and destroyed the press of Rivington's Loyalist .cic Yorh (lazeltecr (see KiviMiTOX, James) ; was appointed deputy ad- jutant-general with the rank of lieutenant-colonel by Gen. Charles Lee in 177(i. and was a member of the State .Assembly in 17S.'i. He was commonly known as 'King Sears.' SEARS, Lorenzo (1838—). An American educator. Iiorn at Searsville. Mass. He gradu- ated at Yale in IStil, and at the fJeneral The- ological Seminary, New York, in 1S()4. He was rector of various ])arishes in New England until 1885. when he became professor of rlietoric and English literature at the University of Vermont. In 1890 he accepted a similar position at Brown University. His writings include: The lli.sUrrii of Oratory (18!)6): Principles and Methods of Lilerari/ Criticism (1898); A Historical Intro- duction to the Librart/ of Modern Eloquence (1901 ) ; and American Literature in Its Colonial and National Periods (1902). SEA-SERPENT. An imaginary marine creature supposed to be of snake-like form and nature, an<l of huge size and pelagic habits. Many .so-called 'sea-serpents' have been shown to be fioaling gigantic .seaweeds, or strings of por- poises following one another in Indian file. The ribbon-fish (Regalecus) is perhaps responsible for some; giant squids or chains of ascidians may explain others. The supposition that some of the marine saurians of past ages may survive in the depths of the sea. and occasionally appear at the surface, is not scientifically credible. A discussion of this subject in its various bearings, with illustrations of things seen by mariners, may be found in Wilson. Leisure-Time fitudies (Lon- don, 1878) : and in Oudeman, The (Ireat Sea Ser- pent: An Historical and Critical Treatise (Lon- don. 1S92). SEASHORE. The space of land adjoining the sea and covered at high tide and bare at low tide. By the English conunoii law the seashore belongs to the Crown, subject to the |ud>lic rights of fishing on it, and sailing over it. In the United States the seashore belongs to the States in whose dominion it lies, and a State may make such reasonable regulations as to its use by the public as are not inconsistent with Federal laws. However, the public have the right of fishing on the seashore, and gathering various forms of shell fish thereon, ami this right cannot be interfered with by private owners. Consult: Angell, Treatise of the Right of Property in Tida
