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SICKLES. 138 SIDDONS. tomey for the District of Columbia, for adultery with "his wife, but was acquitted after a sensa- tional trial lasting twenty days. At the out- break of the Civil War he raised the Excelsior (Xew York) Brigade, becoming colonel of one of its regiments, the Seventieth New York Volun- teers. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers in September, ISbl, and major-gen- eral in November, 1802. He commanded a bri- gade in McClellan's Peninsular campaign and at Antictam. commanded a division at Fredericks- burg, and was in command of the Third Arnu' Corps at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. On the second day of the battle of Gettysburg his corps sustained the brunt of the Confederate at- tack upon the Peach Orchard, on the Federal left, and Sickles himself lost a leg. (See Get- tysburg. Battle of.) He continued in the service, however; was commander of the Depart- ment of the Carolinas in 1806-67, was brevetted brigadier-general and major-general in the Regu- lar Army for services at Fredericksburg and Get- tysburg respectively, served for a time as colonel of the Forty-second Infantry, and on April 14, 1869, was retired with the full rank of major- general. In 1867 he was sent on a secret diplo- matic mission to South America. He was Minis- ter to Spain from 186'J until 1873, and presented the demands of the Cniteil States for reparation for the execution of the captain and crew of the Viiginius (see V'lBulxius ilASSACBE). He was sherirt' of New York County in 1890. was again elected to Congress as a Democrat in 1892. and for several years was president of the New- York State Board of Civil Service Commissioners. SICYOW, sis'i-on (Lat., from Gk. Zikvuv, Sikyon, ^emuv, Selijdn ) . The principal city of a small but fertile State of ancient Greece. Sicyonia, situated in the north of the Pelopon- nesus, having the Corinthian Gulf for its northern boundary, with Achaia on the west, Phlius on the south, and Corinth on the east. Between the rivers Asopus and Helisson, on a triangular plateau, was situated Sicyon. about two miles south of the Corinthian Gulf, and ten north- west of Corinth. Its position was one of great strength. The earlier city seems to have been situated at the foot of the plateau, to which it was removed by Demetrius Poliorcetes in B.C. 303. The early history of Sicyon is involved in myths, but even in the legends a connection with Argos appears, particularly in the story of Adras- tus. At the time of the Dorian invasion it was occupied, but tradition said in a peaceable fash- ion, and the original population formed a fourth tribe along with the three Dorian tribes. The rule of the Dorian nobles was overthrown by Andreas, or Orthagoras, a member of a non- Dorian family, who about B.C. 665 made himself tyrant — a position held by his house for about one hundred years. Under Clisthenes, early in the sixth century, the State seems to have reached a high degree of prosperity and warlike fame, especially through its part in the Sacred War and establishment of the Pythian games. In later history Sicyon regularly appears as a dependency of Sparta, until the rise of Thebes. After its rebuilding by Demetrius it again fell under the rule of tyrants, but was finally freed and brought into the Achaean League (b.c. 251) by Aratus. After the destruction of Corinth by the Romans, the Sicyonians for a time had charge of the Isthmian games. In later times it seems to liave been an insignilieant place. On its site is the modern village Vasiliko. There are still considerable remains of tlie Roman jjeriod, and also a Greek tlieatre, which has been exca- vated bj- the American School at Athens. The ancient city was famous from early times for its bronze-casting, and especially for its painting. SIDA (Neo-Lat., from Gk, atSr), side, pome- granate, water-lily). A large widely distributed genus of annual and perennial herbs and shrubs of the natural order Jlalvace;^, mostly natives of warm climates, and generally rich in mucilage. Some of the species have strong pliable fibres, which are employed for cordage and for textile purposes. One of the most valuable of these is (S'if/a rhoinbifoUn, a perennial tropical shrub also found in Australia and the United States. It is also said to be cultivated as a forage plant. Sida lilicefoUu — better known as Ahutilon aviccnnce — is an annual long cultivated in China, for its fibre, which is used like that of hemp. In parts of the United States it is a common weed known as velvetleaf. SIDDHAKTHA, sid-harfha (Skt., he who has attained bis aim). An epithet frequently a|iplied to Gautama Buddha (q.v.). SID'DONS, Mrs. Sarah (1755-1831). A cele- brated English actress. She was the daughter of Roger Kemble (q.v.) and was born at Brecon, in Wales. As a mere child she showed the family genius for the stage, and during her youth she played as a member of her father's company in the provincial towns. She married William Siddons, an actor, in 1773. Shortly afterwards she attracted such great attention that Garrick heard her praises in London and offered her an engagement at the Drury Lane Theatre, where. December 29, 1775, she made her first appearance, acting Portia in The ilcr- chant of Venice. Her beauty and fine person pleased the audien<?e, but as an actress she made no great impression. At the end of the season she was not reengaged. She returned to Lon- don in 1782 to enjoy a career of triumph as in- disputably the greatest actress of her time, hav- ing spent the intervening years on the stages of provincial cities. As Isabella in The Fatal Mar- riafip. she reappeared at Drury Lane on October 10. 1782. In 1784 her popularity was tempo- rarily nliscurcd by a calumny which charged her with pecuniary meanness toward certain of her fellow performers; but with this trivial excep- tion her efforts were one long series of suc- cesses till on June 29, 1812. in her great char- acter of Lady Macbeth, she took her leave of the public. Belvidera, Queen Katharine. Volumnia in Coriolanus, which she played with her brother, .lohn Philip Kemble (q.v.) , were but a few of the many parts in which she captivated her audiences. Jlrs. Siddons is said to have been strictly a stage genius; elsewhere she seems to have been a woman of no extraordinary intelligence. She carried her tragedy manners with her to the drawing-room or the dinner-table. Scott has re- corded the amusement with which at Abbotsford he heard her stately blank verse to the servant : "I asked for water, boy! you've brought me beer;" and Sydney Smith used to say it was never without a certain awe that he saw her "stab the potatoes." In the practice of her art, however, it was this concentrated power of personal presence