Page:Imperialdictiona03eadi Brandeis Vol3b.pdf/204

SEB army in Spain in 1809, and whether in command of a brigade or otherwise, distinguished himself in the chief battles of the Peninsular war, signally at Albuera; at Ciudad Rodrigo he was severely wounded. A colonel in June, 1814, he was appointed military secretary to the prince of Orange, and commanded the 52d light infantry at the battle of Waterloo. He has been lieutenant-general of Upper Canada, commander of the forces in Canada, and governor-general of British North America, from which post he retired in September, 1839, when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Seaton. From April, 1843, to May, 1849, he was lord high commissioner of the Ionian Islands, and in 1855 he was appointed to command the troops in Ireland. A general in June, 1854, he was created in 1860 a field-marshal, after sixty-six years of service. He died 17th April, 1863.—F. E.  SEBASTIAN DEL PIOMBO. See.  SEBASTIAN, King of Portugal, the grandson of John III., and the posthumous son of the Infante Prince John by Joanna, daughter of Charles V. of Spain, was born at Lisbon, July 24, 1554, and succeeded to the throne on the death of his grandfather in 1557. The regency devolved on Catherine, widow of John III., but afterwards passed into the hands of his brother, the Cardinal Henry, by whom the education of the young king was intrusted to the jesuits. On assuming the government, however, Sebastian showed himself bent on recovering the ancient possessions of Portugal, and was with difficulty dissuaded from going to India with the intention of restoring order and strengthening the Portuguese power in that country. He declined a proposal from his uncle, Philip II. of Spain, to join him in a war against the Moors in 1571; but in 1574 he made an expedition into Africa with a small body of troops, which effected nothing important. The internal discords of the empire of Morocco afforded an opportunity for further intervention. The sultan of Fez and Morocco, Muley Abdallah, was succeeded by his son Muley Mohammed, whereas, according to the Moorish law of succession, his brothers should have succeeded in the order of seniority. One of the late sultan's brothers was killed, but the second, Abdul-Málik, succeeded in driving the usurper from his capital. Mohammed solicited the aid of Philip II. of Spain, who, however, refused, and endeavoured to dissuade his nephew from taking any part in the quarrel. He even formed an alliance with Abdul-Málik. Sebastian, however, sailed from Lisbon in June, 1579, with an army of sixteen thousand men, accompanied by the flower of the young Portuguese nobility, relying on the promises of Mohammed, that he would be supported by the great bulk of the army of Morocco. These expectations, however, were disappointed, and Sebastian was urged to fortify himself in some town on the sea-coast; but impatient to engage the enemy, he pressed forward, and the opposing forces met near Alcazar-quivir on the 4th August. Abdul-Málik was then suffering from a mortal disease, of which he died during the battle. Sebastian displayed a high degree of courage and military skill, but his army was entirely routed, and he himself, compelled to flee with only three attendants, was killed by some stragglers of the opposite party. Mohammed was drowned in attempting to escape, so that all the three kings engaged in that battle perished. By the death of Sebastian, without issue, the crown devolved on his great uncle, the Cardinal Henry, on whose decease the crowns of Spain and Portugal were united in Philip II.—F. M. W.  SEBASTIANI,, Count, a distinguished French general, was a native of Corsica, and was born in 1776. He was educated by his uncle, a priest, who intended him for his own profession, but in 1792 the revolutionary and warlike fervour of the nation induced the youth to adopt a military life. His first campaign was with the army of Italy in 1796, when he attracted the notice of Bonaparte, who made him a chef-debataillon after the battle of Arcola. In 1799 he was appointed to a regiment by Moreau, as a reward for his gallantry at Verona. On the 18th Brumaire he gave his assistance in carrying out the coup d'êtat, and thus secured the permanent favour of Bonaparte. In 1802 Colonel Sebastiani was sent by him on a mission to Egypt, evidently to prepare for another expedition to that country, on the first convenient opportunity. He minutely examined the fortifications of Alexandria, and all the neighbouring ports, visited Cairo, traversed Upper Egypt as far as the Cataracts, and returned by St. Jean D'Acre and the Ionian islands to France. The long and elaborate report which he prepared on his return was published in the Moniteur; and attracted a great deal of attention. In 1805 Sebastiani was advanced to the rank of general. By a skilful stratagem, tarnished, however, by a gross breach of faith, he obtained possession of the Austrian capital, an exploit which contributed greatly to the success of the campaign. He was severely wounded at Austerlitz, and was raised to the command of a division for his conduct. In the following year he was sent ambassador to Constantinople, for the purpose of bringing about a rupture between the Turks and Russians, in which he was completely successful. He personally superintended the preparations for the defence of Constantinople, when threatened by a British fleet under Sir John Duckworth, and by his energy and dexterity contributed greatly to the failure of the expedition. He was rewarded for his services by Napoleon with a grant of forty thousand francs a year, out of the revenues of Hanover. In 1809 Sebastiani was appointed to a command in Spain, and defeated the Spaniards with great slaughter at Ciudad Real (March 27), at Almonacid (August 11), and at Santa Cruz, and several other places. He distinguished himself greatly at the battle of Oçana (November 3), in which the Spaniards were totally defeated, and by a dexterous movement cut off six thousand men, and compelled them to surrender. In 1810 he forced the pass of Villa Nuova in the Sierra Morena, took possession of the provinces of Jaen and Granada, and stormed Malaga after a brave but ineffectual resistance on the part of the inhabitants. He took part in the Russian campaign in 1812—was defeated at Inkowa (August 8), and at Wincowa (October 18), and was present at the battles of Smolensko and at Moskwa. In 1813 he took part in the great battles of Katzbach and Leipsic, in which the French were defeated, and in that of Hanau, in which they were successful. In the campaign of 1814 he commanded the fifth corps, and was ordered to defend the left bank of the Rhine at Cologne, but was obliged to fall back into Champagne. He fought with conspicuous courage at Arcis-sur-Aube and at St. Dizier, in the last desperate effort made by Napoleon to arrest the march of the allies to Paris. On the return of the Bourbons, he retired for a short time into England, though he was not included in the list of the proscribed. In 1819 he was chosen a member of the chamber of deputies, and became one of the leaders of the opposition. After the revolution of 1830, he was for a few months minister of marine, and was then appointed minister for foreign affairs, an appointment which he held until 1832. In the following year he was for a short time reinstated in this post. He was next appointed ambassador to Naples, and then to London, from 1835 to 1840; and after forty-eight years of service received the baton of a marshal. His health soon after compelled him to retire from public life; and his closing years were darkened by the unfortunate fate of his daughter, the Duchess de Praslin, who was murdered by her husband in 1847. He died suddenly on the 20th of July, 1851. General Sebastiani was remarkable for his energy, dexterity, and courage; but Napoleon considered his talents to be diplomatic rather than military.—J. T.  SEBONDE or SABUNDE,, a learned Spanish physician and divine, a native of Barcelona, flourished about 1436, and is said to have been professor of philosophy, medicine, and theology at Toulouse. His principal work is entitled "Liber Creaturarum;" the second edition bears date, 1496, Strasburg. The same work appeared under the title of "Theologia Naturalis," and a book substantially the same is entitled "Viola Animæ, per modum dialogi de Hominis Naturâ." The work was translated into French by Montaigne.—F. M. W.  * SECHTER,, a musician, was born at Friedberg in Bohemia, October 11, 1788. He was intended for a school teacher, but followed his natural inclination for music in spite of difficulties. He received his first musical instruction in 1799, which rather stimulated than satisfied his desire, so he went to Vienna in 1804, where Kozeluch gave him some pianoforte lessons. He was appointed music-master of the institution for the blind in that city, in 1811. Subsequently, through the interest of the Abbe Stadler, he was permitted to play as supernumerary organist in the imperial chapel; and in 1824, through the exertions of the same friend, he was promoted to the chief place in this establishment. His organ playing is much esteemed, and he is greatly respected as a teacher of composition. He has written very voluminously for the church and for the chamber, but has printed only a small portion of his extensive works.—G. A. M.  SECKENDORF,, an eminent German protestant statesman, jurist, and historian, was born at 