STANDARDS. See Banners, Flags, &c. The practice in the army of using the cross on standards and shields arose in the miraculous appearance of a cross to Constantine, previously to his battle with Maxentius: this fact rests on the authority of Eusebius, who states that he had received it from the emperor himself, A.D. 312. For the celebrated French standard, see Lily. STANDARD OF MAHOMET: on this ensign no infidel dare look. It was carried in procession about 1768, when several hundred Christians who ignorantly looked upon it were massacred by the Turkish populace. The IMPERIAL STANDARD was first hoisted on the Tower of London, and on Bedford Tower, Dublin, and displayed by the Foot Guards, on the union of the kingdoms, January 1, 1801. STAR-CHAMBER, COURT of. So called haply from its roof being garnished with stars.-Coke. This court of justice, so tremendous in the Tudor and part of the Stuart reigns, was called Star-chamber, not from the stars on its roof (which were obliterated even before the reign of queen Elizabeth), but from the Starra, or Jewish covenants, deposited there by order of Richard I. No Star was allowed to be valid except found in those repositories, and here they remained till the banishment of the Jews by Edward I. The court was instituted 2 Henry VII. 1487, for trials by a committee of the privy council. In Charles I.'s reign, it exercised its power, independent of any law, upon several bold innovators in liberty, who only gloried in their sufferings, and contributed to render government odious and contemptible.-Goldsmith. It was abolished 16 Charles I, 1641. There were from 26 to 42 judges, the lord chancellor having the casting voice.-Gibbon. STARS. They were classed into constellations, it is supposed, about 1200 B.C. Hicetas, of Syracuse, taught that the sun and the stars were motionless, and that the earth moved round them (this is mentioned by Cicero, and probably gave the first hint of this system to Copernicus), about 344 B.C. Job, Hesiod, and Homer, mention several of the constellations. The Royal Library at Paris contains a Chinese chart of the heavens, made about 600 B.C., in which 1460 stars are correctly inserted. The aberration of the stars discovered by Dr. Bradley, 1727. See Astronomy and Solar System.

STARCHING OF LINEN. Starch is a sediment produced at the bottom of vessels wherein wheat has been steeped in water; is soft and friable, easily broken into powder, and is used to stiffen and clear linen, with blue; its powder is employed to powder the hair. The art of starching linen was brought into England by Mrs. Dinghein, a Flemish woman, I Mary, 1553.-Stowe.

STATES-GENERAL OF FRANCE. An ancient assembly of France. Previously to the Revolution it had not met since A.D. 1614. The states consisted of three orders, the nobility, clergy, and commons. They were convened by Louis XVI., and assembled at Versailles, May 5, 1789. Here a contest arose, whether the three orders should make three distinct houses, or but one assembly. The commons insisted upon the latter, and, assuming the title of the National Assembly, declared that they were competent to proceed to business, without the concurrence of the two other orders, if they refused to join them. The nobility and clergy found it expedient to concede the point, and they all met in one hall. See National Assembly. STATIONERS. Books and paper were formerly sold only at stalls, hence the dealers were called stationers. The company of stationers of London is of great antiquity, and existed long before printing was invented; yet it was not incorporated until 3 Philip and Mary, 1555. Their old dwelling was in Paternoster-row.-Mortimer. STATUES. See Moulds, Sculpture, &c. Phidias, whose statue of Jupiter passed for one of the wonders of the world, was the greatest statuary among the ancients, 440 B.C. He had previously made a statue of Minerva at the request of Pericles, which was placed in the Parthenon. It was made with ivory and gold, and measured 39 feet in height. Acilius raised a golden statue to his father, the first that appeared in Italy. Lysippus invented the art of taking likenesses in plaster moulds, from which he afterwards cast models in wax, 326 B.C. Michael Angelo was the greatest artist among the moderns. The first equestrian statue erected in Great Britain was that of Charles I. in 1678*. Among the public statues erected in the London squares and other public places, are the following:

* This statue is of brass, cast by Le Sueur, in 1633, at the expense of the Howard-Arundel family. During the civil war, the Parliament sold it to John River, a brazier, in Holborn, with strict orders

1717

. 1845 1834

William III., St. James's-square
William IV., city, completed
York, duke of, Waterloo-place

-Statutes

Cumberland, duke of, Cavendish-square 1770 Elizabeth, St. Dunstan's, Fleet-street .1586 Fox, Charles James, Bloomsbury-square 1816 STATUTES. The following are among the most celebrated early statutes:of Clarendon, to restrain the power of the clergy, enacted 10 Henry II., 1164. Statutes of Marlborough, 1267. The statute of Gloucester, the earliest statute of which any record exists, 6 Edward I., 1277. Statute of Mortmain, 1279. Quo Warranto, October 1280. Of Winchester, October 1284. Statute forbidding the levying of taxes without the consent of parliament, 1297. Of Præmunire, 1306. The first printed bear date 1483, and are in English. The STATUTES of the REALM, from the original records and MSS., were compiled under commissioners, appointed in 1801 the first volume, from 20 Henry III., appeared 1811; the second volume in 1816. STEAM ENGINE. This is the most important prime mover that the ingenuity of man has yet devised. The first idea of it was suggested by the marquis of Worcester in his Century of Inventions, as "a way to drive up water by fire," A.D. 1663. It does not, however, appear that the noble inventor could ever interest the public in favour of this great discovery.

to break it to pieces; but he concealed it under ground till the Restoration, when it was erected in 1678, on a pedestal executed by Grinlins Gibbons, and ornamented with the royal arms, trophies, &c-Leigh. The first equestrian statue of bronze, founded at one cast, was that of Louis XIV. of France, a D. 1699; it was elevated about 1724.

STEAM VESSELS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

STEAM VESSELS BELONGING TO THE BRITISH EMPIRE AT THE FOLLOWING PERIODS:

STEEL-YARD.

A most ancient instrument, the same that is translated balance in the Pentateuch. The Statera Romana, or Roman steel-yard, is mentioned in 315 B.C. STEEL-YARD COMPANY. A company of London merchants had the Steel-yard assigned to them by Henry III., A.D. 1232. They were all Flemings and Germans, and the only exporters, for many years after, of the staple commodities of England. -Anderson. STENOGRAPHY. The art of writing in short-hand is said to have been practised by most of the ancient nations. It is said to have followed from the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians. It is also attributed to the poet Ennius, improved upon by Tyro, Cicero's freed-man, and still more by Seneca. The Ars Scribendi Characteris, printed about A.D. 1412, is the oldest system extant. Peter Bales, the famous penman, published on stenography in 1590. There are now numerous systems of it, many of them of easy acquirement and great simplicity.

STEREOMETRY. The instrument by which is compassed the art of taking the contents of vessels of liquids by gauging, invented about A.D. 1350.-Anderson. STEREOTYPE. See Printing. It is said that stereotyping was known in 1711; but this is doubted. It is said to have been suggested by Wm. Ged of Edinburgh, 1735.-Nichols. This species of printing is ascribed by others to Mr. Tilloch, 1779. The invention of it is also attributed to Francis Ambrose Didot, of Paris, about that year. Ferguson. But stereotype printing was in use, in Holland, in the last century; and a quarto Bible and Dutch folio Bible were printed there.Phillips. Stereotyping was introduced into London, by Wilson, in 1804.-Idem. STIRRUPS were unknown to the ancients. Gracchus fitted the highways with stones to enable the horsemen to mount. Stirrups were used in the fifth century. STOCKHOLM. See Sweden. PEACE of STOCKHOLM, between the king of Great Britain and the queen of Sweden, by which the former acquired the duchies of Bremen and Verden as elector of Brunswick, November 20, 1719. TREATY of STOCKHOLM, between Sweden and Russia, March 24, 1724. TREATY of STOCKHOLM, between England and Sweden, March 3, 1813.

STOCKINGS. Those of silk were first worn by Henry II. of France, 1547. In 1560, queen Elizabeth was presented with a pair of black knit silk stockings, by her silkwoman Mrs. Montague, and she never wore cloth ones any more.-Howell. He adds, " Henry VIII. wore ordinarily cloth hose, except there came from Spain, by great chance, a pair of silk stockings; for Spain very early abounded with silk." Edward VI. was presented with a pair of Spanish silk stockings by his merchant, sir Thomas Gresham; and the present was then much taken notice of.-Idem. Others relate that William Rider, a London apprentice, seeing at the house of an Italian merchant, a pair of knit worsted stockings from Mantua, ingeniously made a pair like them, which he presented to the earl of Pembroke, the first of the kind made in England, 1564.-Stowe.

STOCKING FRAME. The art of weaving stockings in a frame was invented in England by the Rev. Mr. Lee, of Cambridge, in 1589, twenty-five years after we had first learned to knit them with wires or needles. Silk stockings were first worn at the courts of France and England about the same time. They afterwards became a very considerable article of commerce to both countries.-Stowe; Anderson. STOCKS. The public funding system originated in Venice, and was introduced into Florence in 1340. The English funding system may be said to have had its rise in

1694. The Act to prevent stock-jobbing passed March 1734. The foundation of the Stock Exchange, in Capel-court, was laid in May 1800. The memorable Stock Exchange hoax, for which Cochrane Johnstone, and others, were convicted, and lord Cochrane was afterwards expelled the house of commons, Feb. 22, 1814. Stockexchange coffee-house destroyed by fire, Feb. 11, 1816. The number of stockholders in 1840 amounted to 337,481. By a return of the average price of the public funds by the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt, it appears that Consols averaged in the year

STOICS. Disciples of Zeno, the cynic philosopher; they obtained the name of stoics because they listened to his instructions and harangues in a porch or portico at Athens, called in Greek Stoa. Zeno taught that man's supreme happiness consisted in living according and agreeable to nature and reason, and that God was the soul of the world. The Pharisees affected the same stiffness, patience, apathy, austerity, and insensibility, which this sect is famous for.-Stanley.

STONE. The operation of extracting stone from the bladder was first performed by Ammonius of Alexandria, about A.D. 240.-Nouv. Dict. Cutting for the stone was first performed on a criminal, at Paris, in 1474, with success.-Lenglet. A remedy discovered by Mrs. Stevens, for which she was rewarded by government, 1739. See Lithotomy.

STONE. Stone buildings were introduced into England, A.D. 670. A stone bridge was built at Bow in 1087, and is accounted the first; but a bridge exists at Crowland, which is said to have been built in 860. See Bridges. The first stone building in Ireland was a castle, 1161. See Building. Stone china-ware was made by Wedgwood in 1762. Artificial stone for statues was manufactured by a Neapolitan, and introduced into England, 1776. Stone paper was made in 1796. STONEHENGE. Among the most celebrated monuments of British antiquity. Said to have been erected on the counsel of Merlin by Aurelius Ambrosius, in memory of 460 Britons who were murdered by Hengist, the Saxon, A.D. 475.-Geoffrey of Monmouth. Erected as a sepulchral monument of Ambrosius, A.D. 500.-Polydore Vergil. An ancient temple of the Britons, in which the Druids officiated.-Dr. Stukeley. The Britons had annual meetings at Abury and Stonehenge, where laws were made, and justice administered, and heinous crimes punished, by burning alive in wicker-baskets.

STORMS. The following are among the best authenticated and most memorable. In London a storm raged which destroyed 1500 houses, A.D. 944. One in several

parts of England, the sky being very dark, the wind coming from the S.W.; many churches were destroyed; and in London 500 houses fell, October 5, 1091. One on the coast of Calais, when Hugh de Beauvais, and several thousand foreigners, on their voyage to assist king John against the barons, perished, 1215.-Holinshed. It thundered 15 days successively, with tem

pests of rain and wind, A.D. 1233.
A storm, with violent lightnings; one flash
passed through a chamber where Edward J.
and his queen were conversing, did them no
damage, but killed two of their attendants;
1285.-Hoveden.

A violent storm of hail near Chartres, in
France, which fell on the army of Edward
III., then on its march. The hail was so
large that the army and horses suffered very
much, and Edward was obliged to conclude
a peace, 1339.-Matt. Paris.
When Richard I.'s queen came from Bohemia,
on her setting foot on shore an awful storm
arose, and her ship and a number of others
were dashed to pieces in the harbour, Jan.
1382.-Holinshed.

Richard's second queen also brought a storm with her to the English coasts, in which the king's baggage was lost, and many ships cast away, 1389.-Idem.

A hurricane throughout Europe, which did very considerable damage; more remarked in England, happening Sept. 3, 1658, the day that Cromwell died.-Mortimer.

A storm on the eastern coasts of England; 200 colliers and coasters lost, with most of their crews, 1696.

The storm called the "Great Storm," one of the most terrible that ever raged in Eng land. The devastation on land was immense; and in the harbours, and on the coasts, the loss in shipping and in lives was still greater, Nov. 26, 1703*.

A snow-storm in Sweden, when 7000 Swedes,

* The loss sustained in London alone was calculated at 2,000,000. sterling. The number of persons drowned in the floods of the Severn and Thames, and lost on the coast of Holland, and in ships

STORMS, continued.

it is said, perished upon the mountains, in
their march to attack Drontheim, A.D 1719.
One in India, when many hundreds of ves-
sels were cast away, a fleet of Indiamen
greatly damaged, and some ships lost, and
30,000 persons perished, Oct. 11, 1737.
A dreadful hurricane at the Havannah; many
public edifices and 4048 houses were de-
stroyed, and 1000 inhabitants perished,
Oct. 25, 1768.-Annual Register.
An awful storm in the north of England, in
which many vessels were destroyed, and 4
Dublin packets foundered, Oct. 29, 1775.
At Surat, in the East Indies; destroyed 7000 of
the inhabitants, April 22, 1782.
One hundred and thirty-one villages and farms
laid waste in France, 1785.

One general throughout Great Britain: se-
veral hundred sail of shipping destroyed or
damaged, Oct. 6, 1794.

One which did vast damage in London, and
throughout almost the whole of England,
Nov. 8, 1800.

A tremendous storm throughout Great Britain
and Ireland, by which immense damage
was done, and many ships wrecked, Dec.
16-17, 1814.

An awful gale, by which a great number of
vessels were lost, and much damage was
done to the shipping in general on the Eng-
lish coasts, Aug. 31, 1816.

A dreadful hurricane, which ravaged the Lee
ward Islands, from 20th to 22d Sept. 1819.
At the Island of St. Thomas alone, 104 ves-
sels were lost.

to Cornwall, in which great numbers of vessels were lost, Nov. 1821.

In Ireland, particularly in the vicinity of Dublin, when many houses were thrown down, and vast numbers unroofed, Dec. 12, 1822.

Awful storm on the coast of England; many vessels lost, and 13 driven ashore and wrecked in Plymouth alone, Jan. 12-13,

1828.

At Gibraltar, where more than a hundred vessels were destroyed, Feb. 18, 1828. Dreadful storm at the Cape of Good Hope, where immense property was lost, July 16, 1831.

A hurricane visited London and its neighbourhood, which did great damage to the buildings, but without the destruction of human life, though many serious accidents occurred, Oct. 28, 1838.

Awful hurricane on the western coast of England, and in Ireland. The storm raged through Cheshire, Staffordshire, and Warwickshire; 20 persons were killed in Liverpool, by the falling of buildings, and 100 were drowned in the neighbourhood; the coast and harbours were covered with wrecks; the value of two of the vessels lost being nearly half a million sterling. In Limerick, Galway, Athlone, and other places, more than 200 houses were blown down, and as many more were burnt, the wind spreading the fires. Dublin suffered dreadfully; London and its neighbourhood scarcely sustained any damage, Jan. 6-7, 1839.

A great storm along the coast from Durham STOVES. The ancients used stoves which concealed the fire, as the German stoves yet do. They lighted the fire also in a large tube in the middle of the room, the roof being open. Apartments were warmed too by portable braziers. See Chimneys. STRAND, LONDON. Houses first built upon it about A.D. 1353, at which period it was the court end of the town, or formed the communication between the two cities of London and Westminster, being then open to the Thames and the fields. Somerset and other palaces were erected in 1549.-Stowe. The Strand bridge was commenced Oct. 11, 1811.-See Waterloo Bridge. The Strand improvements were commenced in 1829.

STRASBURG. The attempt at insurrection in the city of Strasburg, by Louis-Napoleon Buonaparte, a nephew of the deceased emperor, aided by two officers and some privates, which was instantly suppressed by the arrest of the parties. The prince was afterwards shipped off to America by the French government, Oct. 29, 1836. This enthusiast made another attempt, by a descent at Boulogne, Aug. 6, 1840. See France. STRATHMORE, COUNTESS OF. Miss Bowes of Durham, the then richest heiress in Europe, whose fortune was 1,040,0007., with vast additions on her mother's death, and immense estates on the demise of her uncle, married the earl of Strathmore, Feb. 25, 1766. Having, after the earl's death, married Mr. Stoney, she was forcibly carried off by him and other armed men, Nov. 10, 1786. She was brought up to the King's Bench by habeas corpus and released, and he committed to prison, Nov. 23. She recovered her estates, which she had assigned to her husband under the influence of terror, in May, 1788.

blown from their anchors and never heard of afterwards, is thought to have been 8000. Twelve men-of-war, with more than 1800 men on board, were lost within sight of their own shore. Trees were torn up by the roots, 17,000 of them in Kent alone. The Eddystone light-house was destroyed, and in it the ingenious contriver of it, Winstanley, and the persons who were with him. The bishop of Bath and Wells and his lady were killed in bed in their palace in Somersetshire. Multitudes of cattle were also lost; in one level 15,000 sheep were drowned.