Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/92

SHEFFIELD. 68 SHEIL. hall; corn exchange; the market-hall, or Nor- folk market, etc. There are extensive botanic gardens, and a line cemetery about a mile from the town ; numerous educational establish- ments, such as the free grannnar school, the collegiate school, the Wesley College, a Lan- casterian and many national schools, free writ- ing-schools, .school of art, free library, besides denominational schools. Saint George's Museum, founded by Ruskin, the Slappie Art Gallery, and a mechanics' institution, established in 1832. The mechanics' library (18-28) is now merged into the free library, and there is also the Sheffield Library. The Albert Hall, erected in 1873, is a commo- dious building, which seats 3000 people. The municipality was the first in England to op- erate its tramways; it also owns its electric lighting and power plant and markets, pro- vides artisans' dwellings, baths, free libraries, and recreation grounds, and supports technical education. As far back as the time of Chaucer, Sheffield was noted for the manufacture of cut- lery; an endless variety of articles of every de- scription is produced. Knives, silver and plated articles, wliite-metal goods, coach-springs, spades, spindles, hammers, files, saws, boilers, stoves, grates, buttons, and bicycles are among the leading articles. After 1871 the introduction of the manufacture of armor-plates, railway springs, tires, and rails gave a remarkable im- petus to the growth of the town. Although a very ancient town, its history is comparatively uneventful. It received a charter from Edward 1. JNIary, Queen of Scots, spent twelve years of her captivity in the castle. During the Civil War the town was seized by the Parliamentarians, abandoned to the Earl of Newcastle, recaptured, and the castle demolished in 1644. In 1893 Shef- field was constituted a city. Five members are returned to Parliament. Population, in 1891, 324,200; in 1901, 380,700. Consult Gatty, .SVief- field. Past and Present (London, 1873). SHEFFIELD, .JoHr«^, Duke of Buckingham and Nnrniniiliy (1649-1721). See Buckingham AXD NORJtANHY. SHEFFIELD, Joseph E.arle (1793-1882). An American merchant, born at Southport, Conn. At the age of fifteen he entered commercial life at Newbern, N. C, and afterwards removed to Mobile, Ala., where he amassed great wealth and became one of the largest cotton shippers in the country. He returned to Connecticut in 1835, and became largely interested in the promotion and construction of new railroads. For many years he was jjresident of the New Haven and Northampton Railroad, and he was one of the organizers of the New York, New Haven and Hartford line. Through his efforts and by means of his munificence the ^ientific depart- ment of Yale was reorganized and established on its own foundation as a separate school of the university under the name of the Sheffield Scien- tific School, to which he gave more than $1,000,- 000. SHEFFIELD PLATE. See Plate, Shef- FTELU. SHEFTCHEN'KO, Taras Grigortevitch (1814-61). The greatest poet of Little Russia. He w'as born in serfdom in the Goveniment of Kiev. He was, upon his own urgent request, ap- prenticed to a house decorator, whom he accom- panied to Saint Petersburg in 1833. Some young writers took a great interest in him and helped him in his struggle for an education. He became the pupil and comrade of Bryuloff at the Acad- emy of Design, from which he graduated in 1843. In 1840 he published a collection of poems under the title of Kohziir. Sikita Eaijday and Uuy- damaki followed in Russian. In 1843-47 he wrote Xaymitchka ("The Hired Girl"), Nevolnik ("Prisoner"), lean. Huss, etc., which made liiin famous. In 1846 he became instructor in drawing at the University of Kiev, but a year later was arrested for political reasons and sent to Oren- burg as a private soldier. Pardoned after ten years, he was permitted to settle in the capital in 1858. He always used the vocabulary of his people, without the literary artificialities so com- mon among his colleagues, and his poems, even more than those of Kolstoff (q.v. ), are an ar- tistic embodiment of popular songs. His com- plete works were published at Prague in 1870, in two volumes, with numerous biographical notices, one being contributed by Turgeniefi'. Consult: Obrist, T. 0. Szewczenko (Czernowitz, 1870) ; Westminster Review, July, 1880. SHE (or SHIH) HWANG-TI, sheliwiing'- te' (B.C. 259-210). The name by which Prince Ching (or Cheng), the putative son of Chwang Siang Wang, ruler of the feudal State of Ts'in, is known in Chinese history. In B.C. 246, when only thirteen, he succeeded to the throne of Ts'in, then all but paramount, and re- mained for several years under the tutelage of a wily adventurer named Lii Puh-wei, regarded by Chinese critics and historians as his father. Under his advice the subjugation of the feudal princes, who still remained faithful to the House of Chow, was continued with vi.n;cr, and suc- ceeded so well tha,t in b.c. 221, the 26th year of his reign, the ruler declared himself the sole master of China, assuming the title Shih Hwang-ti, or 'First Emperor,' with whom everything should begin and from whom everytliiug should date. The feudal system was abolished, the whole country as it exi.sted then was divided into 36 provinces, and Hien-yang, near the present Si- ngan-fu, in Shensi. became his capital. He or- dained, under penalty of branding and four years' service on the Great Wall, that all books except tho.se on agriculture, medicine, and divination should be delivered up to be burned. Four hundred and sixty scholars, who protested, w'ere buried alive. The Emperor constructed roads and canals, erected many fine buildings, and, to protect the country from the inroa:!s of the Huns and other barbarians, he constructed the Chinese Wall (q.v.). SHEIK, or SHEIKH, shak or shek (Ar. shaikli. old man). A title of respect among Mohammedans. It is applied to the chief of a Bedouin tribe, the head man of a village {Sheikh- ul-balad) , or one of the higher order of religious preachers ; also, in general, to men fifty years of age or older. The Sheikh ul-IsJam is the Grand Mufti or head of the Mohammedan Church in the Turkish Empire. See Mufti. SHEIL, shel, Richard Lalor (1791-1.851). An Irish orator and dramatist. He was born near Waterford ; graduated at Trinity College, Dublin ; studied law and was called to the bar in