SETI. 5 SETON. SETT, sa't* (Gk. HiSuc, SctJws, Egypt. Setoy). The name of two Egyptian kinj;s of the Xine- teenth Dynasty. — Seti I., the second King olthi-i dynasty, was the son and successor of Rameses 1. (q.v.), and reigned for some 10 years from about B.C. 1350. In the first jear of his reign he made an effort to recover some of the Syrian pos- sessions of Egypt which had been lost during the internal dissensions which marked the close of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Clearing the way by de- feating the Bedouin tribes of the Sinaitic penin- sula, he niarelied through the country as far as the northern border of Palestine, ravaging and plundering as he went. Here, however, lie came in contact with the Hittite forces, and, though he claims a victory, his progress seems to have been effectually checked. On liis return to Egypt he proceeded in triumph up the Nile, and later caused his exploits to be represented in sculpture on the walls of the grejit temple of Karnak. He also caused lists of the countries and cities which he claimed to have conquered to be "in- scribed upon his buildings and momnnents in Egypt and Xubia. Later in his reign Seti suc- cessfully defended his western frontier against the Libj-ans. Among the many buildings erected by this monarcli during his brief reign the most important are the Memnonium (q.v.) at Abydos, the memorial temple at Kurnah (q.v.). and the great hypostyle hall at Karnak (q.v.), which was completed by his son Rameses II. Seti's magnificent tomb in the Valley of the Kings, near Thebes, was discovered in 1817 by Belzoni, and is commonly called 'Belzoni's tomb.' It is nearly .■350 feet long and consists of a number of halls, corridors, and chambers hewn out of the solid rock. The mummv of the King was found in 1881 at Deir-el-Ba'hri.— Seti II., the son of Me- neptah (q.v.), was the fourth and last King of the Xineteentli Dynasty. He Iniilt a small temple St Karnak and caused his name to be inscribed upon the monuments of his predecessors in many parts of Egypt, but little is known of his reign. The celebrated Orbiney Papyrus, containing the ■well-known Tah of the Tiro Brothers (see Egypt ) , has a note stating that the manuscript was a copy prepared for the use of this prince. His mummy was found in ISns in the tomb of Amenophis II. Consult: Ve(iemam, AeftuptiseJie Oeschichte (Gotha, 1884-88); Budge, A History of Egypt (New York, 1002) ; IMiiller, Die alten Aerji/pter als Krieger tind Eroberer in Asien (Leipzig, 100.3). SETO, sa'tfi. A small village on the island of Hondo, Japan, situated about 1.5 miles from Nagoya. It is noted for its manufactures of porcelain, which are among the finest produced in Japan, and are known, like all similar .Japa- nese pottery, as S^o ware. There are also a number of famous potteries in the vicinity. SET-OFF. A claim which is due from a plaintilT to a defendant in an action, and which .the latter is allowed to interpose as total or partial defense to the plaintiff's de- mands, and which may result in a judgment in favor of the defendant. The doctrine originated in equity practice and was not known to the common-law courts until the statute of 2 Geo. II., ch, 22, which provided that a defendant might reduce or defeat a plaintiff's demands by proving a just claim in his favor against the latter. The provisions of the above statute have been substantially followed in most of the United States, The hiw autliorizing a set-off to be pleaded is permissive and not mandatory, and it is, there- fore, optional with a defendant as to whether he will exercise the right or reserve his claim for a separate action, A setoff is only per- mitted in actions arising out of contracts, and is limited to liquidated demands, or those which can l)c reduced to a certain amount merely by computation. Therefore a claim in tort, as for malicious prosecution, cannot be a set-off in an action, as it is necessarily unliquidated, and the amount of damages must i"est in the discretion of the jury. At common Uiw a set-olf must be based ujjon a distinct claim. In most jurisdic- tions the claims must be mutual in order to al- low a set-off, that is, they must be confined solely to the original parties to the action. However, in some States a claim existing in favor of de- fendant and another against the plaintiff may be a set-off against the latter's claims to the ex- tent of defendant's interest, but an affirmative judgment cannot be obtained. The facts constituting defendant's claim to a set-oft' must be specially pleaded with as much clearness as if they were the basis of an inde- pendent action. The jurisdiction of a court of equity to grant a set-oft" is independent of statutes. Consult: Waterman, Laio of liecoup- ment, Het-off, and Counter-claim (Xew York, 1872) : Barbour, Law of Set-off (Albany, 1841). See Pr,E,DiNG. SE'TON, Elizabeth Ann (1774-1821). The fovnuler of the Sisters of Charity in the United States. She was the daughter of Richard Bay- ley, and was born in New York City. She mar- ried illiam Seton (1704), accompanied him to Italy in 1803, and on his death at Pisa returned to New York and became a Roman Catliolic in 1805. In 1800 with three others she established at Emmitsburg, Md., the first house of what afterwards grew to a widespread community. (See Brothers and Sisters of Charity.) She was elected the first superior of the Order and held that oflice until her death at Emmits- burg. Consult her autobiogra|)hy (Elizabeth- town, X". J., 1817) : lier Life bv C. I. White (Xew York, 1853; 7th ed.. Baltimore, 1872) ; and her memoirs, letters, and papers, edited liv ilgr. R. Seton (Xew York, 1869). SETON, Ernest Thompson (1800—). An American author and illustrator, born at Shields, England. He was educated at Toronto Collegi- ate Institute, and at the Royal Academy, Lon- don, England, and in 1801 served as naturalist to the Government of Manitoba. He became widely known through his cleverly written mag- azine stories about animals, based, according to his assertions, upon natural history as observed by himself, or obtained from what he considered trustworthy sources. This natural history, ex- pressed or implied, has been sharply criticised by such veteran naturalists as John Burroughs (q.v.), and by experienced woodsmen, who say that Seton ascribes to animals mental and moral characteristics that are not evinced in real life, and that to this extent his stories are mislead- ing. On the other hand, it may be said that they have served to stimulate interest in natural his- tory, and to arouse sympathy for, and a desire to protect, the creatures of the woods and fields.
