of rivalry in the American colonies and in India. On the part of the confederacy of Austria, Russia and France the feeling that led to the war was European jealousy of the growing power of Prussia, whose prestige had been greatly raised by the genius of Frederick. On the outbreak of the war he made himself master of Saxony by the defeat of the Austrians at Lobositz (October, 1756), temporarily invaded Bohemia, and again inflicted defeat upon the Austrians (at Prague, May, 1757), followed by victories later in the year over the French and Austrians at Rossbach and over the Austrians alone at Leuthen (December, 1757). Through varying fortune Frederick's military genius enabled him in the two ensuing years to wrest victories from the Russians at Zorndorf and from the French at Minden, though his capital was taken by the Russians and was subjected to three days' plunder. In 1761 the English, owing to the death of George II, withdrew their subsidies to Prussia; but Frederick's straits were somewhat relieved in the following year, when Elizabeth of Russia died and Peter III, her successor, in his few months' reign made peace with Prussia. Sweden and France fell away from the alliance, and at Hubertusburg, Austria, too weak to carry on the war alone, made peace with Prussia, Feb. 15, 1763, and Silesia was confirmed as a possession of Frederick.
Aside from European complications, there was at this time, between England and France, cause enough for war in the friction between the two nations, owing to their rivalries in India and in North America and to the desire of both to settle who should be master of these vast domains. France had colonized Canada and Louisiana, while England had established colonies along that part of the Atlantic coast which separated the French settlements. To connect the latter and to exclude England from the great fur-trade of the interior, France erected military posts from Niagara River to the mouth of the Mississippi. This was naturally resented by England and her colonies, and precipitated a conflict in the Ohio Valley and on the St. Lawrence, which had its fateful issue in the conquest of Quebec and the surrender of Canada to Britain. In India English prowess met with like good fortune. The East India Company had founded settlements for trade, which gave promise of extending to an empire; but France, jealous of her hereditary rival, endeavored to snatch the prize. Dupleix, the French governor of Pondicherry, captured Madras, and by intriguing with the native princes attempted to make French power supreme over the country. In this ambitious scheme he was checkmated by Lord Clive, who from a clerkship in the East India Company rose to be one of the greatest of English generals and the savior of India. Clive captured Arcot, and in 1757, when the sovereignty of Bengal was in peril, he won a great victory over the native insurgents at Plassey, which made Bengal a British province, saved the English residents from massacre, and, in spite of the atrocity of the Black Hole at Calcutta, laid the foundations of British rule in India. The war, which raised Prussia to the front rank among European powers and developed England's colonial empire, was marked by naval victories which fell to the English, as the affairs at Louisbourg, Lagos and Quiberon Bay. Consult Carlyle's Frederick the Great; lives of William Pitt, General Wolfe and Lord Clive; and Parkman's Montcalm and Wolfe. See French and Indian War.
Severn (sĕv′ẽrn), the second largest river of England, rises in Wales and after 210 miles falls into Bristol Channel. It is navigable for 180 miles; a canal has helped navigation from Gloucester, and is now being extended to Worcester. Below Gloucester the swiftly flowing tide produces a bore or wave five or six feet high. The Severn is a beautiful as well as an important river.
Severus (sē̇-vē′rŭs), Alexander, a Roman emperor, was born about 205 A. D. He was the adopted son of Emperor Heliogabalus, who, in his jealousy of the young man's popularity, vainly tried to kill him. Severus became emperor in 222. His first nine years were peaceful, but in 231 he began a war with the Persians, in which he was successful. In 235 he began a campaign against the Germans on the Rhine, in which he lost his life, not at the hands of the enemy, but at those of his own soldiers.
Severus, L. Septimius, a Roman emperor and a vigorous and courageous soldier, was born in Africa in 146 A. D. At the time of the murder of Pertinax (193) he was in command of an army in Pannonia and Illyria. At once proclaimed emperor, he marched on Rome, which was held by Julianus, who had obtained the throne by bribery. Julianus and the murderers of Pertinax were punished, one rival, Clodius Albinus, won by the gift of the title of Cæsar, the soldiers flattered by a rich largess, and a second rival conquered at Issus. A glorious campaign in the east and the three years' siege and capture of Byzantium were followed by a hard struggle with the jealous Clodius, whom he defeated near Lyons in 197. After the usual games to the citizens of Rome and largesses to the troops, he marched on the Parthians and took and plundered their capital. By 202 he was again in Rome, pleasing the people with shows of unheard-of magnificence and showering gold upon citizens and officers. In 208 he marched at the head of a large army to put down a rebellion in Britain, and repaired Hadrian's wall, which is often
