verse, called Bostan (the Orchard), containing a collection of histories, fables and moral instructions; 4. and, lastly, a collection of moral sentences, also in verse, under the title of Pendnahmeh, or Molamaat. The complete works of Sadi have been published in Persian at Calcutta, in two large quarto volumes. Gentius has also published Gulistan, the finest of his poems, in Persian and Latin; and Dumoulin the same poem in Persian and English (Calcutta, 1823). Doctor Bernard Dorn has translated Three Pleasure-Walks from Saadi's Garden of Roses (Hamburg, 1827). The Pendnahmeh has been published separately in the East Indies and England, in the Persian and English languages. There are also translations of many of his lyric poems, by Ouseley and others; and the Bostan and Gulistan have been translated into a variety of languages. (See Persian Literature.) Franklin and Morier, in their travels, have described his monument, which is situated about nine miles to the north-east of Shiraz.

SAFE-CONDUCT; a security granted by the sovereign authority, or persons delegated by it, to strangers, or other persons, to enable them to repair to, and return from a certain place undisturbed. In most of these cases, passports have now taken the place of special safe-conducts. Sometimes the safe-conduct is given to persons accused, to secure them against harm, when summoned to an examination. Thus the emperor Sigismund gave a safe-conduct to Huss, when he was cited to appear before the council at Constance (in this case, however, the safe-conduct was violated, and Huss was burnt, because the clergy persuaded the emperor that he need not keep his word towards a heretic); and Charles V gave a safe-conduct to Luther, to induce him to appear in Worms. Judges sometimes give safe-conducts to delinquents, to enable them to act in their affairs. In Germany, a safe-conduct is sometimes granted, to give a person accused an opportunity to defend himself without experiencing the usual disadvantages of a prosecution; and a safe-conduct is granted in criminal cases, " until something penal is proved against the accused;" e. g. if the accused thinks he can make out an alibi, or that the act with which he is charged is not punishable, &c.

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SAFETY-LAMP. (See Damps.) SAFFRON. The true saffron (crocus sativus) is a low, ornamental plant, with grass-like leaves, and large lily-shaped flowers, inhabiting the European continent, and frequently cultivated for the

sake of the yellow stigmas, which were formerly much employed in medicine, domestic economy and the arts: now they are used by painters and dyers; also in cookery and confectionary. The bulbs are planted in rows six inches apart, and three from bulb to bulb, in a well pulverized soil, not poor, nor a very stiff clay, and in the month of July. The flowers are collected in September, and the yellow stigmas, and part of the style, are picked out and dried on a kiln, between layers of paper, and under the pressure of a thick board, to form the mass into cakes. Two pounds of dried cake is the average crop of an acre, after the first planting, and twenty-four pounds for the two next years. After the third crop, the roots are taken up, divided, and transplanted. Other species of crocus are often cultivated in gardens, on account of the brilliancy of their flowers, and the early season at which they flower. The term saffron is often applied to the carthamus tinctorius, a large thistle-like plant, with orange-colored flowers, belonging to the family composita. The root is perennial, but the stem herbaceous. It is said to have been originally brought from the East, but is now naturalized in many parts of Europe, and is, besides, extensively cultivated. The flowers are used by the Chinese, to communicate some of the fine rose, scarlet, purple, and violet colors to their silks; for this purpose the flowers are thrown into an infusion of some alkali, and left to macerate; the colors are afterwards drawn out by the addition of lemon juice in various proportions, or of any other vegetable acid. Great quantities of these flowers are annually imported into Britain, for dyeing and painting. In Spain, they are used to color soups, olives, and other dishes. The Jews in Poland are remarkably fond of it, and mix it with their bread and most of their viands. In Germany, it is cultivated in a light soil, well pulverized, and is sown in rows about eighteen inches apart, and afterwards thinned, so as to leave three or four inches between the plants. In September the plants begin to flower, and the field is then gone over once a week for six or seven weeks, to gather the expanded florets, which are dried in a kiln, in the same manner as true saffron. The carthamus is sometimes used for culinary purposes, under the impression that it is the true saffron, but, if in too great quantities, communicates a purgative quality.

SAGA. (See Scandinavian Literature.)
SAGAMORE. (See Sachem.)

SAGE (salvia). This genus differs from

the majority of labiate plants in having but two stamens, instead of four. More than two hundred species are known which are herbaceous or shrubby, with opposite leaves, and flowers al opposite, or, more frequently, verticillate, forming spikes at the extremities of the stems and branches. The garden sage (S. officinalis) was formerly in great repute as a sudorific, aromatic, astringent, and antiseptic. It possesses stimulant properties in a high degree, is tonic and stomachic; the odor is strong, aromatic, and agreeable; the taste bitter, pungent, and somewhat resembling camphor, which substance, indeed, is contained in the plant. The leaves are often employed in seasoning dishes, especially in the south of Europe. The Chinese esteem this plant very highly, and use it as a tonic for strengthening the stomach, often giving it the preference to their own tea. We have several native species of salvia in the middle and more southern parts of the United States. Some of those species which inhabit the mountains of South America are very ornamental plants, remarkable for their long scarlet flowers.

SAGHALIEN; a large island, or peninsula, on the eastern coast of Asia; lon. 142° to 145° east; lat. 45° to 54° north. The northern part belongs to the Chinese, the southern to the Japanese empire. It is uncertain whether it is connected with the continent by a low and narrow neck of land, or is entirely separated from it. It is inhabited by a few barbarous tribes.

SAGO PALM (sagus Rumphii); a low species of palm, found wild in the East Indies. The trunk is upright, and is crowned at the summit with a tuft of pinnated leaves, composed of very numercus, long, narrow, pointed, smooth leaflets. The fruit is about as large as a pullet's egg, covered with shining scales, and is edible. The trunk contains a farinaceous pith, which is a very wholesome aliment: sago is made from it, as from that of most other palms. For this purpose, the pith is taken out, bruised in a mortar, and put into a cloth or strainer: it is then held over a trough, and, water being poured in, the pith is washed through the cloth into the trough below: the water being then drawn off, the sago is taken out and dried for use or transportation. It is highly esteemed as an article of food. The preparation of sago, under different forms, constitutes a principal source of employment to the inhabitants of many parts of the coast of Malabar, and of several of the East India islands. Sago is granulated in a manner

somewhat similar to that adopted in the preparation of tapioca (see Manioc), and in this state enters into commerce.

SAGUENAY; a river of Canada, which flows into the St. Lawrence in lat. 48° N., lon. 69° 40′ W. Its course is south-east. At its mouth it is about a mile wide, but higher up it has two or three times that breadth, and is deep enough for the largest ships. Its length is about 350 miles, and the tide flows up about 70 miles. Its current is remarkably rapid. The harbor of Tadousac, at its mouth, is sufficient to contain twenty-five ships of the line, affords good anchorage, and is well pro

tected.

SAGUNTUM; a celebrated city in Hispania Tarraconensis, near the river Turius (Murviedro). It was in alliance with Rome, and therefore attacked by Hannibal, 219 years B. C., and conquered after an obstinate siege; upon which the second Punic war commenced. The city of Murviedro (Muri veteres) now stands upon the same spot. In the war between Spain and France, the army of Valencia, under Blake, was defeated here by Suchet, October 25, 1811; in consequence of which the fort of Saguntum capitulated.

SAHARA, ZAARA, or the GREAT DESERT; an immense tract of territory situated between the states of Barbary and the countries watered by the Niger, between lat. 16° and 30° N., and lon. 29° E. and 16° W.; superficial area, 1,800,000 square miles. In its greatest length, it extends nearly across Africa, from the Atlantic to the Nile, 45 degrees of longitude, or about 3000 miles; its breadth is about 15 degrees, or 1000 miles. But the name is usually limited to the main body of the desert, which lies to the west of Fezzan and Cassina, extending through about 30 degrees of longitude. It is the largest desert on the globe. A great part of the surface consists of a dead level. In some parts it is covered with small sharp stones; in some places the surface is diversified by ravines, rocks, and eminences covered with shrubs; other parts are composed of moving sand, which, when blown by the wind, sometimes produces the most terrible effects, and whole caravans have been found buried beneath it. This vast tract is occasionally diversified by oases (q. v.), in which a supply of water affords support to a certain number of inhabitants, or, in some, merely furnishes springs, for the refreshment of travellers. These places are inhabited by nomadic Arabs. Lions, panthers, enormous serpents, ostriches and gazelles are found here. This desert is

traversed, for purposes of commerce, by means of the camel, by caravans sometimes consisting of 2000 persons. (See Africa.) These caravans convey from Northern Africa salt, cloths, and various kinds of European goods, receiving in return gold, ivory, and slaves. The coast of Sahara, extending along the desert, is, for the most part, rocky, dangerous, and destitute of harbors. Denham, Clapperton (q. v.), and Caillié (q. v.) are among the latest travellers who have crossed this desert.

SAIGON; a city of Cochin-China, on the Dongnay, 56 miles from its mouth, in lat. 10° 50′ N., lon. 106° 42′ E., with a population of 150,000 souls, of whom 10,000 are Chinese. The largest vessels can ascend the river to Saigon, which has a safe and convenient harbor. The streets are regular, but filthy, and the houses are generally low, of wood, and thatched with straw. The citadel, which contains the royal palace and barracks, is situated on an elevation sixty feet above the river, and is strongly fortified. Mr. White, who visited it in 1819, saw 250 pieces of cannon here. There are also an extensive naval arsenal, a cannon foundery, with a great number of temples, several pagodas, and a Christian church in Saigon. Previously to 1800, the commerce was monopolized by the Portuguese; but other European nations, the Chinese, and Americans, have since engaged in it. Rice, betel nut, sugar, pepper, cinnamon, silk, cotton, ivory, gold, and silver, are the chief articles of export. (See Cochin-China.)

SAIL. (See Ship.)

SAILING. (See Navigation.)

SAINT. Names of persons and places beginning with this prefix, and not given here, will be found under the head of the word following it.

SAINTS (from the Latin sanctus, holy), in its widest sense, is used by Catholics and Protestants to signify the pious, who in this world strictly obey the commands of God, or enjoy, in the eternal world, that bliss which is the reward of such a life on earth. In a narrower and more usual sense, the word saint signifies certain individuals, whose lives were deemed so eminently pious, that the Greek and Roman Catholic churches have authorized the rendering of public worship to them these two churches, however, by no means acknowledge, in all cases, the same saints. The doctrine of saints, and the ideas and usages which grew out of it; their worship and invocation; the power which they are considered to possess of

interceding for men with God, and of working miracles; their peculiar patronage of particular individuals, &c.,-form one of the main points of difference between the Protestants and the adherents of the above-mentioned churches. The Dictionnaire de Théologie (Toulouse, 1817), a work exhibiting the Catholic faith, and defending it against Protestantism, speaks in the following manner of saints, in the narrower sense of the word : "The name of saint is given to a person who is not only much attached to the worship of the true God, but who is exempt from every considerable vice, and who practises the Christian virtues in an exalted degree; and as the bliss of heaven is the certain reward of such a life, we often understand by saints those who enjoy eternal felicity. When the church is convinced that an individual has led such a holy and pure life, when God has deigned to attest it by miracles, it places him among the number of the saints by a decree of canonization, and authorizes the faithful to render him public worship. (See Canonization.) The church, however, does not intend to intimate thereby that such an individual has been exempt from every weakness of humanity, and that he has never sinned: human frailty does not admit of this perfection." The article from which this definition is taken treats the worship and invocation of saints, and their intercession, as something essential to the Catholic faith; while there are other Catholic writers who explicitly say, that the church has made the worship of saints, not a matter of doctrine, but simply of discipline, as the Catholic writer of the article Heilige, in the German Conversations-Lexicon. Without further statement of the views of Catholic writers, among whom, as may be imagined, a great many shades of opinion prevail on this subject, from the enormous absurdity-by no means unfrequently maintained-that saints are persons who have led a life so much more virtuous than was necessary to obtain happiness in another state, that this surplus of virtue is made operative by their intercession for the salvation of others, down to the view of the German writer just mentioned, we refer the reader to the decree of the council of Trent, as the acknowledged orthodox basis of the veneration of saints, images, relics, &c. It is explicitly stated there, that Jesus Christ is the only Redeemer and Savior; but that it is "good and useful suppliantly to invoke saints, and to resort to their prayers and assist

ance;" that they pray for men; that their bodies are to be venerated by the faithful; and that the images of Christ, of the Virgin Mother of God, and of other saints, are to be also venerated; "not that it is believed that any divinity or power resides in them, on account of which they are to be worshipped, or that any benefit is to be sought from them, or any confidence placed in images, as was done formerly by the Gentiles, who fixed their hope in idols; but that we honor the subjects represented, when we kiss their images, or uncover our heads before them," &c. This is accompanied with the usual anathema against all who teach or profess contrary doctrines. But so much depends upon the true understanding of the decrees on these points, and so easy is it to put various interpretations on human language, that we shall give that part of the decree of the twenty-fifth session of the council of Trent, which relates to the subject of this article, in the original.* The

* “Mandat saneta Synodus omnibus Episcopis, et cæteris docendi munus curamque sustinentibus, ut juxta Catholicæ et Apostolicæ Ecclesiæ usum a primævis Christianæ religionis temporibus receptum, sanctorumque Patrum consensionem, et sacrorum Conciliorum decreta, in primis de Sanctorum intercessione, invocatione, Reliquiarum horore, et legitimo imaginum usu, fideles diligenter nstruant, docentes eos, Sanctos, una cum Christo egnantes, orationes suas pro hominibus Deo of ferre; bonum atque utile esse suppliciter eos invocare; et ob beneficia impetranda a Deo per Filium ejus Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum, qui solus noster Redemptor et Salvator est, ad eorum orationes, opem, auxiliumque confugere illos vero, qui negant Sanctos, æterna felicitate in coelo fruentes, invocandos esse; aut qui asserunt, vel illos pro hominibus non orare; vel eorum, ut pro nobis etiam singulis orent, invocationem esse idololatriam, vel pugnare cum verbo Dei, adversarique honori unius mediatoris Dei et hominum Jesu Christi; vel stultum esse in cœlo regnantibus voce vel mente supplicare, impie sentire. Sanctorum quoque martyrum, et aliorum cum Christo viventium sancta corpora, quæ viva membra fuerunt Christi, et templum Spiritus sancti, ab ipso ad æternam vitam suscitanda et glorificanda, a fidelibus veneranda esse, per quæ multa beneficia a Deo hominibus præstantur: ita at affirmantes, Sanctorum Reliquiis venerationem atque honorem non deberi, vel eas, aliaque sacra monumenta a fidelibus inutiliter honorari, atque eorum opis impetrandæ causa Sanctorum memorias frustra frequentari, omnino damnandos esse, prout jampridem eos damnavit, et nunc etiam damnat Ecclesia. Imagines porro Christi, Deiparæ Virginis et aliorum Sanctorum in templis præsertim habendas, et retinendas; eisque debitum honorem et venerationem impertiendam; non quod credatur inesse aliqua in iis divinitas, vel virtus, propter quam sint colenda; vel quod ab eis sit aliquid petendum; vel quod fiducia in imaginibus sit figenda, veluti olim fiebat a Gentibus, quæ in idolis spem suam collocabant; sed quoniam ho

Catholic theology has two different words for the veneration of saints, and that of God and the Mediator, the foriner being called dulia, the latter latria; and the church must watch that the former does not degenerate into the latter. How much the worship of saints, and the great variety of human characters which thus became objects of veneration, contributed to the diffusion of Christianity in the middle ages; how it brought Christianity into connexion with the fine arts, by affording the most copious store of religious subjects to the genius of artists; and how the worship of the Virgin Mary became a very active element in the religion of the middle ages, as it still is a prominent feature in the Roman Catholic faith-would be highly interesting to consider; but our limits will not allow it. The Catholics regard their notions on the subject of saints as supported by different parts of the Bible, e. g. Timothy ii, 12, various passages in the Apocalypse, Jeremiah xv, 1 and 5, Luke xvi, 9, and the writings of many of the third century (1 de Orat., n. 11, and sevearly fathers, as Origen, who wrote in the eral other places of the same character): for the invocation of the saints, they refer chiefly to Genesis xlviii, 16, John xii, 26, xvii, 20, and many passages in early Christian writers. The Protestants object to the whole doctrine, and allege that even Christ himself said, "There is none good but one, that is God;" that not only is the idea of saints, as intercessors, no where contained in the Bible, but that it originated centuries after the establishment of Christianity; that it is against the chief doctrine of Christianity, which declares all men to be sinners, and to be saved only by Christ; that it is impious to imagine God like an earthly king, who is influenced by the suggestions of those around him; that Christ's mediation is founded either on an atonement, which is the more general opinion, or on his bringing the gospel to men; and that it now so considered, never existed, but can be clearly proved that many saints, were the offspring of ignorance, mistaking, e. g. a Greek word in a church inscription for the name of the saint to whom the church was dedicated, and that others were of a very equivocal characnos qui eis exhibetur, refertur ad prototypa, quæ illæ repræsentant: ita ut per imagines, quas osculamur, et coram quibus caput aperimus et procumbimus, Christum adoremus, et Sanctos, quorum illæ similitudinem gerunt, veneremur, id quod Conciliorum, præsertim vero secundæ Nicænæ Synodi, decretis contra imaginum oppugnatores est sancitum."

ters; that fraud evidently sometimes had part in the creation of saints; and that a doctrine, which has led, for centuries, and so universally, to such gross superstitions, as Catholics themselves admit, have often arisen from the doctrine of saints, notwithstanding these superstitions are not supported by the council of Trent, must be highly dangerous; for the essential question with regard to every law and doctrine, is not For what was it intended? but How does it operate? If Protestants do not see that the Bible contains any divine command which could fairly lead to the invocation of saints, and to the supposition of their intercession for men with God, still less do they find any ground for the veneration of relics.-The doctrine of saints seems to us to have essentially originated from the virtues displayed by the martyrs. Heroism in suffering always remained the most common ground of saintship, as, in fact, is natural, since the great Prototype of Christianity became such by his sufferings. When the gospel had filled the hearts of believers with the hope of an eternal life of felicity, death soon came to be considered as affording occasion for joy rather than sorrow to the friends of the departed. Cyprian (q. v.) pronounces this opinion distinctly in his De Mortalitate. The anniversaries of the death of friends were celebrated by partaking of the Lord's supper, and by a gift laid on the altar, in return for which the prayer for the soul of the deceased was introduced into the prayers which preceded the communion. If this was the case with all, it was naturally still more so with the martyrs whose death was their glory. Hence the anniversaries of their suffering were called the dies natales, natalitia martyrum, yevedia Twv paprvowv. We find in Eusebius (lib. iv, 15) the report of the martyrdom of bishop Polycarp, by the community of Smyrna. They say there, in answer to the reproaches of the heathens, "They (the heathen) do not know that we can never forsake that Christ, who has suffered for all the saved, nor can worship any one besides. Him

*Doctor Reichlin Meldegg, Catholic professor ordinarius of ecclesiastical history, and temporary dean of the theological faculty at Freiburg, says, in his Proposals for Reformations in the German Catholic Church, "The old Roman breviary, crammed with fictitious or much colored anecdotes of saints, with repetitions that weary, with passages of indecorous import, &c., requires a thorough revision." In another passage he says, "Some masses are founded on stories not suffi eiently proved, or palpable fictions, as the mass of the lancea Christi, the inventio crucis, &c."

we worship, as the Son of God; but the martyrs we love, as they deserve, on account of their unparalleled love of their King and Lord," &c. They continue: "We took up his bones, which are more precious than gold and jewels, and laid them down in the proper place; and God will grant, that we may assemble there in joy and gladness, and celebrate the festival of his martyrdom, in memory of the departed champions, and to exercise and prepare those who are still awaiting the struggle." In this passage we see, already, the beginning of the veneration of relics. By degrees, the veneration of martyrs and the estimation of their relics increased; and, according to the unanimous testimony of the most distinguished fathers of the church of the fourth and fifth centuries, they were even then invoked as intercessors at the throne of God. In ages when information is transmitted chiefly by tradition, facts easily become exaggerated, without intentional violation of the truth; and soon many miracles were reported to have been wrought by their relics or intercession. At the same time, it is undeniable, that, with the diffusion of Christianity, when danger was no longer connected with its profession, and many persons came over to this religion who had but an imperfect knowledge of it, and had not abandoned entirely their former superstitions, pagan notions often became blended with the new religion; and, as many statues of pagan deities were changed into those of martyrs and other persons distinguished for piety, so some hymns, originally addressed to these deities, were now sometimes addressed to departed Christians, who had been eminent for piety; and the special protection of certain persons or things, as ships, churches, &c., was attributed to them as intercessors with God. When monarchs became Christians, and the persecution of believers ceased, so that instances of martyrdom were no longer found, the retiring from the world to the seclusion of a convent, or other great sacrifices made from religious motives, often led to investing the deceased with the character of intercessors with God. A pious bishop, who had devoted his whole life to the welfare of his flock, was looked upon as retaining his care for it in the regions of eternal bliss; so that, by degrees, many saints arose; and it naturally happened that this honor was sometimes paid to unworthy persons, and sometimes actual fraud was committed to obtain it. It was not uncommon for a person to be