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about to suffer by the laws of his country, and of a man calledupon to renounce his religion. The soldier hazards his life in themost honourable of all causes, and cannot betray his trust, or playthe coward, without incurring a high degree of moral turpitude.But the soldier needs hardly be excepted as by the very profes-sion in which he is engaged, while he fights for his country, he isnecessarily obliged to defend himself against every individual ofthe enemy who attacks him. The criminal under sentence ofdeath cannot, without adding to his guilt, resist the execution ofthat sentence; for the power of inflicting punishment is essentialto society, and society is the ordinance of God . The man who iscalled upon to renounce his religion ought to submit to the cruellestdeath rather than comply with that request, since religion is hisonly security for future and permanent happiness. But even inthis case, Christianity allows the persecuted to fly from persecu-tion if it be possible, fn every other situation, that which is ab-solutely necessary to the preservation of life is undoubtedly law-ful. Hence, a person sinking in water is never thought guilty ofany crime, though he drag his neighbour after him by his endea-vours to save himself; and a man in danger of perishing by ship-wreck may drive another from a plank which cannot carry themboth, for since one of two lives must be lost, no law, human, ordivine, calls upon either of them to prefer his neighbour’s life tobis own. But though the rights of self-defence authorise us to re-pel every attack made upon our life, and in cases of extremity tosave ourselves at the expence of the life of our innocent neighbour,it is not so evident that, rather than give to an unjust demand afew shillings or pounds, we may lawfully deprive a fellow-creatureof life. A few pounds lost may be easily regained ; but life cannever be restored.

Self-Examination, a duty much insisted on by divines, byWay of preparation to repentance. St. Ignatius reduces it to fivepoints ; viz. 1. A returning thanks to God for his benefits. 2. Abeginning of grace and light, to know and distinguish our sins. 3.A running over all our actions, occupations, thoughts, and words,*° learn what has been offensive to God . 4. A begging of pardon,and conceiving a sincere sorrow for having displeased him. 5.Making a firm resolution not to offend him any more; and takingNecessary precautions to preserve ourselves from it.

Self-Knowledge, the knowledge of one’s own character, abi-i' es > opinions, virtues, and vices. This has always been consi-Nered as a difficult, though important, acquisition, it is difficult,“ecause it is disagreeable to investigate our errors, our faults, andVlc es; because we are apt to be partial to ourselves, even whenWe have done wrong; and because time and habitual attention arere fluisite to enable us to discover our real character.

Self-Love, is that instinctive principle which impels every^"'Dal, rational and irrational, to preserve its life, and promote its, w n happiness. It is very generally confounded with selfishness;j u * the one propensily is quite distinct from the other. Every

a n loves himself ; but every man is not selfish. The selfish man» nt all immediate advantages, regardless of the consequencesis il ^' s conduct may have upon his neighbour. This principleSeln P aren t °f every vice and crime, that disgrace human nature,him ° Ve on, y pr°mpis him who is actuated by it to procure tohis S ■ greatest possible sum of happiness during the whole ofCom XlS,e,lce ' Self-love, as distinguished from selfishness, alwaysSgj^f^hendsthe whole of a man’s existence, and in that extendedhis 5* phrase, every man is a self-lover ; for, with eternity inhum- leW ’ '!' s surely not possible lor the most disinterested of the3nd 311 ri ! ce . not t° prefer himself to all other men, if their futuretli ey ever as ting interest conkl come into competition. But thisg a j,j ’J ever can do; for in the pursuit of a prize which is to beri Va j I . onl y by sobriety, righteousness, and piety, there can be nothe success of one being no injury to another.

SEr f T^ KDER - See Suicide.

°n tli» i/**GNSKO, an ostrog or hamlet of Russia, in Tobolsk ,

SET ? 60 nliles N - N * W - of Turuchansk.

■ the e|p , ENS LAD, a town in the circle of the Lower Rhine, inJ-at,'4g C M eil tz, t28 miles E. of Mentz. Lon. 8. 32. E.

1113 orcie^^^f' M ,ik -Paiislky; in botany, a genus of the digy-fatje. p r ’ ? nc * pentandria class of plants; natural order, Umbel-•Niddle- i, ? va *> ; oblong, compressed, plane, and striated in thebine spe c jJ s Vt * ucrum reflexed ; petals cordate, equal. There are

Voi “ tv.— ko. 194.

) SEL1VREA, SELIVR1 A, or SELIMBRIA, a town of Eu-ropean Turkey, in Romania , on the N. coast of the sea of Mar-mora, 35 miles W. of Constantinople .

SELKIRK, Alexander, whose adventures gave rise to awell-known historical romance, was born at Largo, in Fife, in1676, and was bred a seaman. He was a good navigator, and-made several voyages to the South Sea, in one of which, having aquarrel with his commander, he was put a-shore on the island ofJuan Fernandez, with a few necessaries, a fowling-piece, gunpow-der, and shot. Here he lived alone near three years, and wasthen taken off by captain Woods Rogers. During the time of hisremaining on the island he had nearly forgotten his native lan-guage. From his narrative Defoe took the idea of writing an ex-tensive work, the romance of Robinson Crusoe , and very disho-nestly defrauded the original proprietor of his share of the profits.Of the time, or place, or manner, of this extraordinary man’sdeath we have received no account; but in 1792 the chest andmusket which Selkirk had with him on the island were in the pos-session of his grand-nephew, John Selkirk, weaver in Largo.

Selkirk, the capital of Selkirkshire, 30 miles S. E. of Edin-burgh , and 30 S.W. of Berwick. Lon. 2. 46. W. Lat. 55. 26. N.

Selkirk, or Selkirkshire, called also the Sheriffdom ofEtterick Forest, a county of Scotland , extending about 24miles in length from E. to VV. and from 8 to 15 in breadth from S.to N. It is bounded on the N. by Peebles-shire ; E. by Ber-wickshire ; S. E. and S. by Roxburghshire; S. \V. by Dumfries-shire ; and W. by Peebles-shire.

SELLAY, an island of Scotland, one of the small Hebrides , in.the parish of Harris, two miles N. of Parbay.

SELLES.a town of France , in the department of the Loire andCher, and province of Blaisois, 12 miles S. E. of Blois .

SELSEA, a small town of England, on the S. coast of Sussex ;.eight miles S. of Chichester . Lon. 0. 50. W. Lat. 50. 41. N.

SELTZ, a town of France , in the department of the Lower'Rhine, and province of Alsace ; 18 miles S. of Landau, and 22|*N. N. E. of Strasburg . Lon. 8. 12. E. Lat. 48. 53. N.

SELTZER, Lower, a town of Germany , in the Lower Rhine,.21 miles N. of Mentz, and 30 E. ofCoblentz.

Seltzer Water, a mineral-water which springs up at LowerSeltzer. It is a very useful medicinal water. It is imported instone-bottles, closely corked, and sealed with the episcopal cross;each vessel containing about two pints and a half English measure.It is somewhat pungent, and has a mildly saline and alkaline taste.This water may safely be administered in a variety of disorders,especially in slow hectic fevers, accompanied with a profuse per-spiration during the night; ill all cutaneous eruptions; foulness ofthe stomach, heart-burn, and affections of the alimentary canal, in.general; farther, in nephritic disorders, hypochondriasis, indiges-tion, and many other complaints. Seltzer water may, in almostevery case, be taken copiously ; the only precaution required, isthat of preserving the bowtls in a regular state ; the usual dosebeing from a half to a whole pint; on account of its gratetul taste,and exhilarating properties, it forms a principal refreshment at thetables of the luxurious in Holland, and Germany .

Seltzer Water, Artificial, may be prepared by adding to*each gallon of the lightest and softest water one scruple of magne-sia, two drachms (or half that quantity in a state of dry powder) ofsoda, and four scruples of common salt; then saturating the wholewith fixed air. This factitious mineral-fluid is more pleasant tothe taste than the natural water; and Sir John Pringle observes,that it may be made to resemble the genuine Pyrmont water, both -in properties and taste : by adding eight or ten drops of the mu-riated tincture of iron, to one pint of such preparation.

SEMECARPUS, in botany, a genus of the trigynia order and.pentandria class of plants. Calyx inferior, five-clelt; corolla,five-petaled ; nut, kidney-form, inserted into a large, fleshy, flat-tened, receptacle. There is but one species, viz. S. anacardimn,marking nut-tree. It is a native of ah the mountainous parts ofIndia , flowering in July and August.

SEMELE, in the mythology, the daughter of Cadmus by Har-monic, the daughter of Mars and Venus. She was beloved byJupiter, and had received his visits. Juno, becoming jealous,visited her in the form of her nurse Berr.e, and advised her to askJupiter next time he should visit her, to honour her by coming inall his glory, as he visited Jnno. Semele , having obtained his pro-mise of whatever she should ask, confirmed by Styx, made her

7 B request,