ence of the earls of Arundel and Pembroke, but he did not receive a free discharge until 1634. Parliament subsequently voted £5000 to each of these gentlemen, as compensation for the losses they had sustained by this illegal imprisonment. In 1635 Selden published at the request of the king his celebrated treatise entitled "Mare Clausum," which he had written a good many years before in answer to Grotius' Mare Liberum. During the next four years Selden seems to have been occupied with literary and forensic employments. His treatise, "De Jure Naturali et Gentium, juxta disciplinam Ebræorum," was published in 1640. In the same year he was unanimously chosen to represent the university of Oxford in the Long parliament; but he was less violent than formerly in his opposition to the crown, probably dissatisfied with some of the extreme measures of the opposite party. He voted against the attainder of Strafford, and also resisted the exclusion of the bishops from parliament. He was always in favour of a moderate course, and while he opposed the king's "commission of array" as illegal, he resisted with equal firmness the ordinance of the parliament for the militia, which he declared to be "without shadow of law or pretence of precedent." In 1643 he was nominated one of the lay members of the famous assembly of divines at Westminster, and seems at times to have perplexed his ecclesiastical antagonists by his Hebrew lore. In the same year he was appointed by the house of commons keeper of the records in the Tower. In 1644 he declined the office of master of Trinity hall, Cambridge. In 1647 he was appointed one of the parliamentary visitors of Oxford university. Although Selden subscribed the solemn league and covenant, he was not prepared to go all lengths with his party, and when the civil war broke out he seems to have withdrawn almost entirely from the arena of political strife. He spent the closing years of his life in the house of the dowager duchess of Kent, with whom he lived as legal adviser, and to whom it was alleged that he had been married. He died on the 30th November, 1654, in the seventieth year of his age, and was buried in the Temple church, where a monument has been erected to his memory. Selden left a large fortune. His valuable collection of books was deposited by his executors in the Bodleian library. He was the author of a great number of treatises besides those mentioned above. His best known work is his "Table Talk," published after his death by his amanuensis, Richard Milward. Coleridge says, "There is more weighty bullion sense in this book than I can find in the same number of pages of any uninspired writer." Selden was held in the highest estimation by his contemporaries. Clarendon, Baxter, Whitelocke, and others, all bear testimony to the excellence of his character, and the extent of his learning. Clarendon says, "Mr. Selden was a person whom no character can flatter, or transmit in any expressions equal to his merit and virtue."—J. T.
SELEUCUS I., the founder of the Grecian dynasty of the kings of Syria, was the son of Antiochus, a Macedonian noble. At an early age he was intrusted with a command in the Macedonian cavalry under Alexander the Great, whom he accompanied throughout his eastern campaigns. He took a prominent part in the Indian expedition of Alexander, and subsequently, by the king's desire, married Apame, the daughter of Spitamenes, the Bactrian satrap, at Susa. In 321 b.c. he obtained the important satrapy of Babylonia, from which, however, he was driven by Antigonus in 316. Seleucus upon this fled into Egypt, and joined the coalition formed by Plotemy Cassander and Lysimachus against Antigonus. In 312 he finally recovered possession of Babylon, and the era of the Seleucidæ is dated from this year. During the next ten years he appears to have subdued all Asia eastwards as far as the Indus, and he even carried his arms southwards to the vicinity of the Ganges. He, however, at length concluded a treaty with the great Indian potentate Sandracottus, termed by Hindoo writers Chandra-gupta, in which he renounced all claim on the provinces beyond the Indus, in consideration of a yearly present of five hundred elephants. In 302 he joined a new league formed against Antigonus, and took a leading part in the battle of Ipsus, where the latter was defeated and slain. Soon afterwards, however, being reconciled to Demetrius the son of Antigonus, he married his daughter Stratonice. In 293 he associated with himself his son Antiochus in the regal dignity. His vast dominions, which now embraced the greater part of Asia Minor to the west, he subdivided into seventy-two satrapies. In 286, having quarreled with his father-in-law, Demetrius, he defeated and captured him in Cilicia, but treated him with kindness and generosity. In 281 a war ensued between Seleucus and his former ally Lysimachus, who then governed Macedonia, Thrace, and part of Asia Minor. Lysimachus, who had been the aggressor, was defeated and slain. In the following year Seleucus, now more than seventy years of age, having crossed over into Thrace, was treacherously murdered by Ptolemy Ceraunus, the son of Ptolemy I. of Egypt. Antiochus I. succeeded to his father's throne. Seleucus was one of the most enlightened among the successors of Alexander, and did much to extend Hellenic civilization throughout Asia.—G.
SELIM I., Emperor of the Turks, was born in 1467. Being governor of Trebizonde, he revolted against his father, and marched to Constantinople, but was defeated. Yet with the help of the janissaries he dethroned his father, Bajazet II., April 25, 1512, and was proclaimed. May 23. He then marched against his elder brother, Ahmed, whom he defeated and put to death. Another brother and five nephews shared the same fate. Indeed, every one who displeased the tyrant, or fell under his suspicions, was put to the sword. Having invaded the dominions of the shah of Persia, he defeated him and took Tabriz in 1514. He also annihilated Kansu, sultan of Egypt, near Aleppo; as well as his successor, Tuman Bey, in Egypt near Cairo. Thus he made himself master of Syria and Egypt. He also subjugated Mecca. He built an arsenal in Pera, laid the foundation of a maritime power, and controlled with a high hand the haughty Mamelukes. After making preparations for the subjugation of all Persia, he died, 22d September, 1520, on the way between Constantinople and Adrianople. Though Selim was a cruel tyrant and bloody governor, he was a vigorous sovereign, who made great additions to the Turkish empire. He was a distinguished general, prudent and cautious, not without some good qualities. He also befriended poets and learned men.—S. D.
SELIM II., Emperor of the Turks, son of Solyman II., was born in 1522, and succeeded his father in 1566. He was the first sultan who ceased to go forth at the head of his soldiers, and left the management of the army to his grand vizier, as well as the affairs of the empire generally. In 1568 he concluded an eight years' truce with Hungary, and the next year entered into a similar engagement with Persia. In 1568-70 a formidable rebellion was suppressed in Yemen. Tunis and la Goleta were taken from the Spaniards. In 1571 Cyprus was wrested from the Venetians, after a vigorous resistance. But the very same year his admiral, Ali, was defeated in the great naval fight of Lepanto, where the Turkish navy was almost annihilated. The christian powers of Europe should have followed up this victory. Had they done so, the Venetians would not have been forced to make peace with the Turks on very disadvantageous terms in 1574. The power of the empire continued to grow under the administration of his viziers, and its prosperity advanced; while the sultan himself never troubled himself about state affairs, but was almost always in a state of intoxication. He died December 12, 1574.—S. D.
SELIM III., Emperor of the Turks, was born 23d December, 1761, and was the son of Mustapha III. His brother, Abd-ul-Hamid, succeeded the father in 1774; while Selim lived in the seraglio, where he studied the Koran along with the history of the Turkish empire. At an early age he appears to have been inspired with the desire of becoming a reformer of the state. With that view he entered into negotiations and correspondence with celebrated statesmen, such as the French ambassador and others. After his brother's death in 1789, he ascended the throne, at a time when the Porte was engaged in an unfortunate war with Austria and Russia. As soon as peace was concluded with the latter of these, the rebellion of Passwan-Oglu broke out, which was not settled till 1803. Selim united with Russia and England against the French republic, after Bonaparte had taken possession of Egypt. When peace was concluded with France, 1802, he began to carry out his reforms in the administration of the state and the organization of the army. These, however, were unpopular, and led to insurrections. Selim's troubles thickened. The insurrection in Servia, and a new war with Russia and Britain, added to his cares. At length the janissaries and others rose up against him, the populace were excited, and all demanded his deposal. In May, 1807, he was dethroned accordingly, and his nephew elevated to the throne. Selim was banished to the seraglio, where he employed himself usefully. In 1808 Bairaktar, pasha of Rutschuk, marched with an army to Constantinople with the view of restoring Selim to the throne. Selim was barbarously murdered by Mustapha IV.,
