Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/642

Rh 616 S E B S E C very sanguine temperament, took place at Rome in 1547. Sebastiano directed that his burial, in the church of S. Maria del Popolo, should be conducted without ceremony of priests, friars, or lights, and that the cost thus saved should go to the poor ; in this he was obeyed. Numerous pupils sought training from Sebastiano del Piombo ; but, owing to his dilatory and self-indulgent habits, they learned little from him, with the exception of Tommaso Laureti. Sebas- tiano, conscious of his deficiency in the higher sphere of invention, made himself especially celebrated as a portrait painter : the like- ness of Andrea Doria, in the Doria Palace, Rome, is one of the most renowned. In the London National Gallery are two fine specimens : one canvas represents the friar himself, along with Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici ; the other, a portrait of a lady in the character of St Agatha, used to be identified with one of Sebastiano's prime works, the likeness of Julia Gonzaga (painted for her lover, the aforenamed cardinal), but this assumption is now discredited. There were also portraits of Marcantonio Colonna, Vittoria Colonna, Ferdinand marquis of Pcscara, Popes Adrian VI., Clement VII. (Studj Gallery, Naples), and Paul III., Sanmicheli, Anton Fran- cesco degli Albizzi, and Pietro Aretino. One likeness of the last- named sitter is in Arezzo and another in the Berlin gallery. SEBASTOPOL, or SEVASTOPOL, the chief naval station of Russia on the Black Sea, is situated in the south-west of the Crimea, in 44 37' N lat. and 33 31' E. long., 935 miles from Moscow, with which it is connected by rail via Kharkoff. The estuary, which is one of the best roadsteads in Europe and could shelter the combined fleets of Europe, is a deep and thoroughly sheltered indentation among chalky cliffs, running east and west for nearly 3f miles, with a width of three-quarters of a mile, narrowing to 930 yards at the entrance, where it is protected by two small promontories. It has a depth of from 6 to 10 fathoms, with a good bottom, and large ships can anchor at a cable's length from the shore. The main inlet has also four smaller indentations, Quarantine Bay at its entrance, Yuzhnaya (Southern) Bay, which penetrates more than a mile to the south, with a depth of from 4 to 9 fathoms, Dockyard Bay, and Artillery Bay. A small river, the Tchornaya, enters the head of the inlet. The main part of the town, with an elevation ranging from 30 to 190 feet, stands on the southern shore of the chief inlet, between Yuzhnaya and Artillery Bays. To the east are situated the barracks, hospitals, and storehouses ; a few buildings on the other shore of the chief bay constitute the "northern side." Before the Crimean War of 1853-56 Sebastopol was a well-built city, beautified by gardens, and had 43,000 inhabitants ; but at the end of the siege it had not more than fourteen buildings which had not been badly injured. After the war many privileges were granted by the Govern- ment in order to attract population and trade to the town ; but both increased slowly, and at the end of seven years its population numbered only 5750. The railway line connecting Sebastopol with Moscow gave some animation to trade, and it was thought at the time that Sebastopol, although precluded by the treaty of Paris from reacquiring its military importance, might yet become a commercial city. In November 1870, during the Franco-German War, the Russian Government publicly threw off the obligation of those clauses of the treaty of Paris which related to the Bkck Sea fleet and fortresses, and it was decided again to make Sebastopol a naval arsenal. In 1882 Sebastopol had a population of 26,150 inhabitants, largely military. The town has been rebuilt on a new plan, and a fine church occupies a prominent site. There are now two lyceums and a zoological marine station. Although belonging to the government of Taurida, Sebas- topol and its environs are under a separate military governor. The peninsula between the Bay of Sebastopol and the Black Sea became known in the 7th century as the Heracleotic Chersonese (see vol. vi. p. 587). In the 5th century B.C. a Greek colony was founded here and remained independent for three centuries, when it became part of the kingdom of the Bosphorus, and subsequently tributary to Rome. Under the Byzantine emperors Chersoncsus was an administrative centre to their possessions in Taurida. Ac- cording to the Russian annals, Vladimir, prince of Kieff, conquered Chersonesus (Korsuft) before being baptized there, and restored it to the Greeks on marrying the princess Anna. Subsequently the Slavonians were cut off from relations with Taurida by the Mongols, and only made occasional raids, such as that of the Lithuanian prince Olgerd. In the 16th century a new influx of colonixcrs, the Tatars, occupied Chersonesus and founded a settlement named Akhtiar. This village, after the Russian conquest in 1783, was selected for the chief naval station of the empire in the Black S.-a and received its present name ("The August City"). In 1826 strong fortifications were begun, and in 1853 it was a formidable fortress. In September 1854, after having defeated the Russians in the battle of the Alma, the Anglo-French laid siege to the southern portion of the town, and on 17th October began a heavy bombardment Sebastopol, which was nearly quite open from the land, was strengthened oy earthworks thrown up under the fire of the besiegers, and sustained a memorable eleven months' siege. On 8th September 1855 it was evacuated by the Russians, who retired to the north side. The fortifications were blown up by the allies, and by the Paris treaty the Russians were bound not to restore them. SEBENICO (Sibenik), a town of Austrian Dalmatia, on the coast of the Adriatic, about half-way between Zara and Spalato, is situated on an irregular basin at the mouth of the Kerka, connected with the sea by a winding channel 3 miles long. The channel is defended by a fort designed by Sanmicheli, and the town itself, picturesquely situated on the abrupt slope of a rocky hill, is guarded by three old castles, now dismantled. There is also a wall on the landward side. Sebenico is the seat of a bishop, and its Italian Gothic cathedral, dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, is considered the finest church in Dalmatia. Its excellent harbour and its situation at the entrance of the Kerka valley combine to make Sebenico the entrepdt of a considerable trade. Fishing is carried on exten- sively. The population of the commune in 1880 was 18,104, of the town proper about 8000. SECCHI, ANGELO (1818-1878), Italian astronomer, was born on 29th June 1818 at Reggio in Lombardy, and entered the Society of Jesus at an early age. In 1849 he was appointed director of the observatory of the Collegio Romano, which was rebuilt in 1853 ; there he devoted himself with great perseverance to researches in physical astronomy and meteorology till his death at Rome on 26th February 1878. The results of Secchi's observations are contained in a great number of papers and memoirs. From about 1864 he oceu]>i'-.l himself almost exclusively with spectrum analysis, both of stars (Catalogo delle Stclle di cui si i determinato lo Spettro Luminoso, Paris, 1867, 8vo ; " Sugli Spettri Prismatici delle Stelle Fisse," two parts, 1868, in the Atti della Soc. Ital) and of the sun (Li Soldi, Paris, 1870, 8vo ; 2d ed. 1877). Though his publications always bear witness of his indefatigable zeal and energy, they are often uncritical and wanting in accuracy. SECKENDORF, VEIT LUDWIG VON (1626-1692), a German statesman and scholar of the 17th century, was the most distinguished member of an ancient and wide- spread German noble family, which took its name from the village Seckendorf between Nuremberg and Langen- zenn, and is said to have been ennobled by the emperor Otho I. in 950, though it traces its own genealogy no further back than 1262. The family was divided into eleven distinct lines, but at present only three are pre- served, widely distributed throughout Prussia, Wiirtem- berg, and Bavaria. 1 Veit Ludwig von Seckendorf, son of Joachim Ludwig, of the Gudentine line, was born at Herzogenaurach (near Erlangen) in Upper Franconia, 20th December 1626. His youth fell in the midst of the Thirty Years' War, in which his father was actively 1 Amongst the Seckendorfs less known to fame than Veit Ludwig are his nephew, Friedrich Heinrich (1673-1763), soldier and diplo- matist ; Leo (1773-1809), poet, literary man, and soldier ; the brothers Christian Adolf (1767-1833) and Gustav Anton ("Patrik Peale") (1775-1823), both literary men of some note.