pure or noble—he rose in a marvellously short time to the top of his profession. It was fortunate both for Sydenham himself and for the brave London citizenry that the greatest physician of his day should also have had the most extensive practice. Sydenham, who enjoyed the friendship of Locke, Boyle, and indeed of all the best and greatest men of his time, but of whose personal character and habits it seems strange we should know almost nothing save what is to be gathered (not uncertainly however) from his works, lived through the dismal period of the Restoration, and saw, just before he departed, the liberties of England secured by the ever-memorable transactions of 1688. For many years he had been a great sufferer from the gout, and he died at his house in Pall Mall on the 22nd December, 1689. He was buried in the aisle of St. James' church, Westminster, where the following inscription may be read:—"Prope hunc locum sepultus est Thomas Sydenham, medicus in omne ævum nobilis; natus erat a.d. 1624: vixit annos 65." Locke, in the preface to his Essay, calls him "one of the master builders at this time in the commonwealth of learning," and ranks him with "Boyle, Huygens, and the incomparable Newton." Nor can there be any doubt that this conjunction of names points directly to the peculiar, and so far as physicians are concerned, the incomparable, excellence of Sydenham as a man of science. It is his immortal merit that he saw through the quackery of his profession, and left the popular theories to the College of Physicians, while he set himself, as a true disciple of the new philosophy, to the patient observation and interpretation of facts. The two principles according to which he fashioned his practice were, first, that the vis medicatrix, the recuperative energy which belongs to every organized being, ought not to be interfered with; and secondly, that symptoms are a language which must be learned and understood before you can possibly know what they say or mean—principles in strict accordance with the Baconian method, and which are day by day working out the deliverance of medicine from the monstrous and merciless quackery that has long ago tortured mankind. The following, which are the opening sentences of the preface to his first work, "Observationes Medicæ circa morborum acutorum Historiam et Curationem," 1666, show us the noble spirit in which he addressed himself to the duties of his high calling:—"He who sets himself to the work of curing men will do well to ponder again and again these four things—1st, That he must himself some day render an account to the Supreme Judge of the lives of the sick committed to his care; 2nd, That whatsoever of art or of science he has by the divine blessing attained to, is to be directed in the main to the glory of God in the highest, and to the welfare of the human race; for it were an unworthy thing that their celestial gifts should be made to serve avarice or ambition. Moreover, 3rd, That he has taken upon himself the charge of no ignoble or contemptible creature; for that we may estimate the worth of the human race, the only begotten Son of God became man, and thus enriched by his own dignity our nature he assumed. Finally, That he is himself not exempted from the common lot, but is subject to the same laws of mortality, and is obnoxious and open to the same calamities and sorrows as others, so that being himself a fellow-sufferer, he may the more diligently and with a more tender affection succour those who are sick." Sydenham's writings, which are little more than a collection of tracts and letters, embrace a great variety of subjects. They are all well worthy of being carefully studied, but the best are perhaps those which treat of acute diseases; of the small-pox and other eruptive fevers; of the epidemic diseases of London from 1675 to 1680; and of the gout. His delineations of diseases have never been, and probably never will be, surpassed. The best Latin edition of these valuable works is the "Opera Medica," Geneva, 2 vols. 4to, 1716; and the best edition of Swan's translation is that by Dr. Wallis, in 2 vols. 8vo, 1789.
SYLBURG, Friedrich, a distinguished German humanist, was born at Wetter, near Marburg, in 1536, of humble parents. After completing his studies at Jena under Laurentius Rhodomannus, he travelled, and successively became rector of the schools at Lich, near Giessen, and at Neuhaus, near Worms. He, however, to borrow the words of Hallam, relinquished this employment for that of superintendent of classical editions in the press of Wechel at Frankfort, and afterwards in that of Commelin at Heidelberg. He was author of an excellent Greek grammar, entitled "Institutiones Linguæ Græcæ," Frankfort, 1580; and of a number of most accurate critical editions, for instance, of Pausanias, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and the Etymologicum Magnum. His edition of Aristotle is still considered one of the best complete editions. He was also a prominent contributor to the Greek Thesaurus of Stephens, and we therefore cannot wonder that his death, which took place at Heidelberg, 16th February, 1596, was deeply lamented by Casaubon and De Thou.—(See Life, by J. G. Jung, Perleberg, 1745.)—K. E.
SYLLA, Lucius C. See Sulla.
SYLVERIUS became bishop of Rome in 535. In his time Belisarius defeated the Goths and took possession of Rome. His deposal was cunningly effected by Vigilius, a deacon of Rome, who represented to the court of Constantinople that he favoured the Goths. Hence he was seized by Justinian's order and banished to Patara, 537, where he died soon after.—S. D.
SYLVESTER I., Bishop of Rome, 314, is said to have converted to Christianity the Emperor Constantine. Some deputies of his were present at the synod of Aries, 314, at which the Donatists were condemned. At the council of Nice Sylvester was not present, but sent two deputies. By the decree of this council he was made primate over the sees of the provinces called Suburbicariæ. Sylvester died 31st December, 335. His alleged epistles and decretals are apocryphal.—S. D.
SYLVESTER II., Pope, was called Gerbert before his elevation to the papal see. He was a native of Auvergne, of very humble origin, but devoted himself to study in early life. From France he went to Spain to pursue science, studied at Barcelona, and heard the Arab doctors at Seville and Cordova. He came back from Spain the most scientific man in the Latin church. He next travelled through Italy, Germany, and France. In 968 he was made abbot of Bobbio, but he left that place to become secretary to Adalberon, archbishop of Rheims. He taught the archiepiscopal school of Rheims. In 991 he became archbishop of Rheims, but he was excommunicated by John XV. He soon after became imperial tutor, and was appointed archbishop of Ravenna. On the death of Gregory V. Otho III. procured the elevation of his beloved teacher to the papal chair, in 999, and from personal attachment presented eight districts or counties to St. Peter, as if they were his own. Sylvester died in 1003. His favourite sciences were philosophy and mathematics, in which he attained to great eminence. He made several discoveries in them, wrote upon them, and encouraged others both by example and precept to cultivate them. His influence upon the French, Germans, and Italians was beneficial in his own time and in the succeeding century; for he stimulated many to the zealous pursuit of medicine, mathematics, philosophy, and other branches of knowledge. In consequence of the ignorance and superstition of the times, the monks ascribed his knowledge to magic and intercourse with the devil. His printed works consist of letters for the most part. His mathematical and astronomical writings were not published.—(See the Bibliotheca Patrum, vol. xvii.)—S. D.
SYLVESTER III., Anti-pope (John, Bishop of Sabina), was elevated to the papal chair by the Romans when they expelled Benedict IX. from it, in 1044. After three months Benedict recovered his power, and Sylvester was obliged to flee.—S. D.
SYLVESTER, Joshua, "the silver-tongued," was an English poet who flourished in the reign of James I. He was born about 1563, and though he received no university education, he made himself master of several modern European languages. In 1597 he was recommended by the unfortunate earl of Essex to the company of merchant adventurers at Stade, from whom Sylvester sought the appointment of secretary. His translation of Du Bartas' Divine Weekes, a very popular book in its day, greatly extended his fame. He was appointed court poet to Henry, prince of Wales, on whose death he wrote an affected poetical lament entitled "Lachrymæ Lachrymarum, or teares distilled," which reached a third edition. Scarcely less acceptable to King James were the poet's rhymes against tobacco. His majesty's Counterblast to Tobacco has been printed, together with Sylvester's "Tobacco Battered and the Pipes Shattered," &c. Though a puritan, verses to his honour by Ben Jonson and by Drayton are extant, as well as by B. Hall and John Vicars, whose lines appear under the engraved portrait of the poet in the folio edition of his Du Bartas, 1641. Many of his smaller poems will be found reprinted in Sir E. Brydges' Restituta. He died at Middleburg in Holland in 1618.—R. H.
SYLVESTER, Matthew, an English divine, studied at Cambridge, and was incumbent of Gunnerby, Lincolnshire, but
