Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/723

Rh S E T S E V 697 settled upon the Princess Sophia, electress and duchess dowager of Hanover, granddaughter of James L, and the heirs of her body, being Protestants. The Act contained in addition some important constitutional provisions. Those which are still law are as follows : (1) that whoso- ever shall hereafter come to the possession of this crown shall join in communion with the Church of England as by law established; (2) that in case the crown of this realm shall hereafter come to any person not being a native of this kingdom of England, this nation be not obliged to engage in any war for the defence of any dominions or territories which do not belong to the crown of England without the consent of parliament ; (3) that after the limitation shall take effect no person born out of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, or Ireland, or the dominions thereunto belonging, although he be naturalized or made a denizen (except such as are born of English parents), shall be capable to be of the privy council or a member of either House of Parliament, or enjoy any office or place of trust, either civil or military, or to have any grant of lands, tenements, or hereditaments from the crown to himself, or to any other or others in trust for him j 1 (4) that after the limitation shall take effect judges' commissions be made guamdiu se bene gesserinl^ and their salaries ascertained and established, but upon the address of both Houses of Parliament it may be lawful to remove them ; (5) that no pardon under the great seal of England be pleadable to an impeachment by the Commons in parlia- ment. The importance of the Act of Settlement appears from the fact that in all the Regency Acts it is specially mentioned as one of those Acts which the regent may not assent to repeal (see REGENT). To maintain or affirm the right of any person to the crown, contrary to the provisions of the Act of Settlement, is treason by 6th Anne, c. 7. SETTLEMENT OF THE POOR. See POOR LAWS. SETUBAL, called by the English St Ubes, a port and commercial town in the province of Estremadura, Portugal, nearly 20 miles south-east of Lisbon, lining for about three-quarters of a mile the north shore of a harbour of the same name, 3 leagues long by half a league broad and inferior only to that of Lisbon, at the end of a fertile valley of 6 miles long from Palmella, where the Sabo river discharges into the Bay of Setubal, and on the Portuguese railway (Lisbon-Barreiro-Setubal). It is overtopped on the west by the great red treeless range of Arrabida. In the sandhills of a low-lying promontory in the bay, over against Setubal, are the ruins of " Troia," uncovered in part by heavy rains in 1814, and again in 1850 by an antiquarian society. These ruins of " Troia," among which have been brought to view a beautiful Roman house and some 1600 Roman coins, refer, beyond almost all dispute, to Cetobriga, which flourished 300-400 A.D. In the neighbourhood, on a mountain 1700 feet high, is the cloister Arrabida, with stalactite cavern, whither pious pilgrimages are made. There are five forts for the defence of the harbour, and that of St Philip, built by Philip III., commands the town. Setubal is an emporium of the Portuguese salt trade carried on principally with Scandinavian ports, the salt being deemed the finest for curing meat and fish. By reason of this advantage and the excellence of its oranges, the best in Portugal, and of its Muscatel grapes, it has much commercial importance, and is the fourth city in the king- dom. It also manufactures leather and does a considerable fishing trade. There are five churches, several convents, a theatre, a monument of the poet Bocage, who was born here, 1 This clause is virtually repealed by the Naturalization Act, 1870 (33 & 34 Viet. c. 14, 7), as to persons obtaining a certificate of naturalization. 2 Their commissions had previously been made durante bene placito. and an arsenal. Among its other public buildings are the Stapal, the Bomfin, which has a handsome fountain, the Fonte Nova, and the Annunciata. Setubal suffered severely, along with Lisbon, from the earthquake of 1755. The population was 14,798 in 1878. SEVENOAKS, a market town of Kent, England, situated on high ground about a mile from the railway station, 25 miles south-east of London by the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, and 20 by the South-Eastern Railway. It consists principally of two streets which converge at the south end, near which is the church of St Nicholas, of the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, restored in 1878, and con- taining monuments of the Amherst family and a tablet to William Lambarde, the " Perambulator" of Kent (d. 1601), removed from the old parish church of Greenwich when that was demolished. At the grammar school founded in 1418 by Sir William Sevenoke, lord mayor of London, George Grote received his education. There is also a school founded by Lady Margaret Boswell, wife of Sir William Boswell, ambassador to Charles I. at The Hague, and alms- houses founded by Sir William Sevenoke in connexion with his school. The Walthamstow Hall for 100 children, daughters of Christian missionaries, erected at a cost of 22,000, was opened in 1882. Close to Sevenoaks is Knole Park, one of the finest old residences in England, which in the time of King John was possessed by the earl of Pembroke, and after passing to various owners was bought by Arch- bishop Bourchier (d. 1486), who rebuilt the house. He left the property to the see of Canterbury, and about the time of the dissolution it was given up by Cranmer to Henry VIII. By Elizabeth it was conferred first on the earl of Leicester and afterwards on Thomas Sackville, earl of Dorset, by whom it was in great part rebuilt and fitted up in regard to decoration and furniture very much as it at .present exists. In the time of Elizabeth county assizes were held in the town. Of late years Sevenoaks has very much increased by the addition of villa residences for persons having their business in London. The popu- lation of the urban sanitary district (area 2028 acres) in 1871 was 4118, and in 1881 it was 6296. SEVEN SLEEPERS OF EPHESUS, THE, according to the most common form of an old legend of Syrian origin, first referred to in Western literature by Gregory of Tours (De Glor. Mart., c. 95), were seven Christian youths of Ephesus, who, to escape the rage of Decius, lived for some time in concealment in a cave. The enemy at last, however, discovered their hiding place, and caused great stones to be rolled to its mouth that they might die of hunger. The martyrs fell asleep in a mutual embrace. The occurrence had long been forgotten, when it fell out, in the thirtieth year of Theodosius II., 196 years afterwards, that a certain inhabitant of Ephesus, seeking shelter for his cattle, rediscovered the cave on Mount Ccelian, and, letting in the light, awoke the inmates, who sent one of their number down to buy food. Cautiously approaching the city, the lad was greatly astonished to find the cross displayed over the gates, and on entering to hear the name of Christ openly pronounced. By tendering coin of the time of Decius at a baker's shop he roused suspicion, and in his confusion being unable to explain how he had come by the money he was taken before the authorities as a dishonest finder of hidden treasure. He was easily able to confirm the strange story he now had to tell by actually leading his accusers to the cavern where his six companions were found, youthful and rosy and beaming with a holy radiance. Theodosius, hearing what had happened, hastened to the spot in time to hear from their lips that God had wrought this wonder to confirm his faith in the resurrection of the dead. This message once delivered, they again fell asleep. XXI. 88