Chapter Snobs to Sologne of S by Brewer's Readers Handbook

This episode may have been suggested by a well-known incident in ecclesiastical history. At Merum, a city of Phrygia, Amachius the governor of the province ordered the temple to be opened, and the idols to be cleansed. Three Christians, inflamed with Christian zeal, went by night and broke all the images. The governor, unable to discover the culprits, commanded all the Christians of Merum to be put to death; but the three who had been guilty of the act confessed their offence, and were executed.—Socrates: Ecclesiastical History, iii. 15 (A. D.439). (See Sophronia, p. 1030)

Softer Adams of your Academe, schoolgirls.—Tennyson: The Princess, ii.

Soham, a monster with the head of a horse, four eyes, and the body of a fiery dragon. (See Ouranabad, p. 790.)

Soho (London). The tradition is that this square was so called from the watch-word of the duke of Monmouth at the battle of Sedgemoor, in 1685. The reverse of this may possibly be true, viz. that the duke selected the watchword from the name of the locality in which he lived; but the name of the place certainly existed in 1632, if not earlier.

Sohrab and Rustum, a Persian tale, in blank verse, by Matthew Arnold. Sohrab was a natural son of Rustum. He became a soldier, and carried dismay into the Persian army. Rustum, the boldest of the Persians, encountered him, not knowing who he was, and slew him. As he was dying, Rustum discovered he was his son, and buried him at Seistan. (See Rustam, p. 942.)

Soi-même. St. Soi-même, the “natural man,” in opposition to the “spiritual man.” In almost all religious acts and feelings, a thread of self may be detected, and many things are done ostensibly for God, but in reality for St. Soi-même.

They attended the church service not altogether without regard to St Soi-même.—Asylum Christi, ii.

Soldan (The), Philip II. of Spain, whose wife was Adicia (or papal bigotry). Prince Arthur sent the soldan a challenge for wrongs done to Samient, a female ambassador (deputies of the states of Holland). On receiving this challenge, the soldan “swore and banned most blasphemously,” and mounting “his chariot high” (the high ships of the Armada), drawn by horses fed on carrion (the Inquisitors), went forth to meet the prince, whom he expected to tear to pieces with his chariot scythes, or trample down beneath his horses’ hoofs. Not being able to get at the soldan from the great height of the chariot, the prince uncovered his shield, and held it up to view. Instantly the soldan’s horses were so terrified that they fled, regardless of the whip and reins, overthrew the chariot, and left the soldan on the ground, “torn to rags, amongst his own iron hooks and grapples keen.”—Spenser: Faërie Queene, v. 8 (1596).

The overthrow of the soldan by supernatural means, and not by combat, refers to the destruction of the Armada by tempest, according to the legend of the medals, Flavit Fehovah, et dissipati sunt (“ He blew with His blast, and they were scattered”).

Soldier’s Daughter (The), a comedy by A. Cherry (1804). Mrs. Cheerly, the daughter of colonel Woodley, after a marriage of three years, is left a widow, young, rich, gay, and engaging. She comes to London, and Frank Heart-all, a generous-minded young merchant, sees her at the opera, falls in love with her, and follows her to her lodging. Here he meets with the Malfort family, reduced to abject poverty by speculation, and relieves them. Ferret, the villain of the piece, spreads a report that Frank gave the money as hush- money, because he had base designs on Mrs. Malfort; but Frank’s character is cleared, and he leads to the altar the blooming young widow, while the return of Malfort’s father places his son again in prosperous circumstances.

Soldier’s Tear (The), a song by Thomas Haynes Bayly (1844).

Soldiers’ Friend (The), Frederick duke of York, second son of George III., and commander of the British forces in the Low Countries during the French Revolution (1763–1827).