Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/838

SEISL. 760 SEIGNIOBY. tilt' Leipzig Conservatory uud upon graduation be- came cliorusniaster at tlio 'ienna Opera. Hans Kiililer introduced him to Wagner, wlio engaged liini to assist in preparing tlie Nibelung Trilogy, upon whieli work lie was engaged until 1879. L pon Wagner's reeoniniendation Angelo Neu- mann engaged liim as conduetor for llic itiner- ant series of Wagner operas (187!)-8;i). In 1885 Scidl accepted an engagement in New York as conductor of the German opera. There he soon developed the concert orches- tra popularly known as the Seidl Orchestra. In 1892 tlie German opera was temporarily discontinued, but he again served as con- ductor during the New York seasons of 1895- 96 and in 1897. In addition he was the con- ductor of the Dulliarmoiiic Society and of the .Sunday niglit concerts. In 1897 he was engaged as one' of the conductors at Covent Garden, Lon- don. By tliis time his reputation was such that his services were in demand in several of the leading musical centres of the world. In 1886 and 1897 he was one of the conductors at the Bayreuth Festival. He died in New Y'ork. SEIDL, GAiiHiEL (1848—). A German archi- tect, born in ilunich, where he studied at the Academy under Neureuther, and after 1876 be- came faoralily known through the erection of several buildings in the style of the German Renaissance, marked by refined elaboration of interior details. Besides the private residences of Lenbach and F. A. Kaulbach, he built Saint Ann's Church, the Kiinstlerhaus and the new part of the National Museum. SEIDL, Jon ANN Gabriel (1804-75). An Austrian poet, born in Vienna. He studied law and was called in 1840 to Vienna as custodian of the cabinet of coins and antiques in the Museum. He devoted his leisure to literature and became especially well known for his lyric and dialect poetry. His publications in this department in- clude Diclitidifjen (182(!-28), Gedichte in nieder- osterreichischer Muiiddrt (1844, 4 eds.), Bifolien (1855, 5 eds.), and yatnr nnd Herz (18.59, 3 eds.). Seidl is the author of the Austrian na- tional liyuin (1854) set to Haydn's music. SEIDLITZ (sed'lits) PO'WDERS (named from the town of tSeidlits or Sedlitz, in Bohemian Austria). Powders composed of 1'20 grains of tartrate of soda and potash and 40 grains of bi- carbonate of soda reduced to powder, mixed, and inehh^ed in a blue paper, and 35 grains of pow- dered tartaric acid in a white paper. The con- tents of the blue paper are dissolved in halt a tumbler of water, and those of the white in a half tumbler of water, and the two iire poured together. The mixture should be taken while the effervescence from the liberation of the car- bonic acid is still going on. These powders act as an agreeable and mild cooling aperient. SEIGNIORAGE (ML. senioraticii m, lordship, dominion, from Lat. senior, elder, lord, comp. of sencx, old; connected with Gk. ims, henos, Skt. Sana, Lith. senas, Olr. sen, Goth, sineigs, old). The excess of the nominal value of a coin over its bullion value at the moment of coining. Such excess may represent only the cost of coinage, for which the term brassage, used by French writers, has been proposed, but not generall.v adopted, or it may represent a profit to the State. Where free coinage exists any mint charge or seigniorage will act as a check upon the readiness with which private persons bring bullion to the mint for coinage. On the other hand, such a seigniorage offers an inducement to the State to coin money freely. If it yields to the temptation it may gain an immediate advantage, but not without jeoparding the se- curity of its currency and running the risk of depreciating the value of its issues. Monetary legislation authorizing underweight coins usu- ally limits the amount of such issues. SEIGNIORY (ML. senioria, from Lat. senior, elder, lord). The domain of a seignior or feudal lord, and. in the strict sense, the ultimate unit in the feudal sj'stem. It was a local fragment of sovereignty annexed to property in land. The beginnings of the seigniory are to be found in the late Roman Empire in the autliorit,y {patrocini- um) which the great provincial magnates {po- fcnles) exercised over the common people, es- pecially the tillers of the soil. Among the Ger- man tribes which overthrew the West Roman fjinpire the germs of similar relations existed. The German noble had rights of protection (w'hich implied control) over free followers, servants, and tenants who voluntarily 'commend- ed' them.selves to him and became his 'men.' In the Prankish Empire these Roman and German institutions were fused into the 'seniorate,' and the powers of the 'senior' were enlarged and consolidated by the development of the 'immuni- t.v.' Immunity, another institution which dates from the late Roman Empire, and which origi- nally meant exemption from taxes and the baser services, was ultimately granted in the Carolin- gian period to all who held ro.val land as a 'benefice' or fief, and it came to include much of the power of local government. The grant of immunit,v excluded the regular officers of the Empire (the counts) from entry {introitus) into the immune district; it devolved upon the sei- gnior the right and dutv of raising and leading the armed forces of the district, of preserving the peace, and collecting fines from those who liroke it; and it gave him jurisdiction in all 'minor cases' {criiisce minores) over his followers, serv- ants, and tenants. In criminal cases and in cases involving status the county court was still ex. elusively competent; but when one of the sei- gnior's men yas charged with a criminal offense it was customary to appeal first of all to the seignior, and if the complainant was satisfied by the seignior the case went no further. Thus there was developed in the seigniory a seigniorial or manorial court, in which the seignior's arlro- catus {vorit) or bailiflf presided and in which (usuallv) judgments were approved by the ten- ants. After the overthrow of the Frankish Em- pire the seigniors became pett,v monarchs of their seigniories, exerci.sing nearly all the powers of the State. In the open country the free and previously independent inhabitants of the sei- gniory were forced into subjection, and for the most part reduced to serfdom. In the towns, •on the contrary, the authority of the seigniors was gradually extinguished and all the towns- men became free. Toward the close of the Middle Ages, in conse- quence of the increase of roval power, the au- thority of the seigniors was gradually restricted. The military and taxing powers of the Crown were exercised directl,v within the seigniories. The rights which the seigniors retained were eco-