Stepniak, Russian Nihilist and apostle of freedom; exiled himself to England; author of "Underground Russia" (1852-1895).

Steppes, the name given to wide, treeless plains, barren except in spring, of the SE. of Russia and SW. of Siberia.

Stereoscope, a simple optical apparatus which, when two photographs of an object taken from slightly different standpoints (so as to secure the appearance it presents to either eye singly) are placed under its twin magnifying lenses, presents to the eyes of the looker a single picture of the object standing out in natural relief.

Sterling, John, a friend of Carlyle's, born at Kames Castle, Bute, son of Captain Sterling of the Times; studied at Glasgow and Cambridge; a man of brilliant parts and a liberal-minded, but of feeble health; had Julius Hare for tutor at Cambridge, and became Hare's curate at Hurstmonceaux for eight months; wrote for reviews, and projected literary enterprises, but achieved nothing; spent his later days moving from place to place hoping to prolong life; formed an acquaintanceship with Carlyle in 1832; became an intelligent disciple, and believed in him to the last; Hare edited his papers, and wrote his life as a clergyman, and Carlyle, dissatisfied, wrote another on broader lines, and by so doing immortalised his memory (1806-1843).

Stern, Daniel. See Agoult.

Sterne, Laurence, English humourist, born at Clonmel, Ireland, son of Roger Sterne, captain in the army; his mother an Irishwoman; was educated at Halifax and Cambridge, by-and-by took orders, and received livings in Sutton and Shillington, became a prebend at York, and finally got a living at Coxwold; in 1759 appeared the first two volumes of "Tristram Shandy," and in 1767 the last two; in 1768 his "Sentimental Journey," and in the interim his "Sermons," equally characteristic of the man as the two former productions. Stopford Brooke says, "They have no plot, they can scarcely be said to have any story. The story of 'Tristram Shandy' wanders like a man in a labyrinth, and the humour is as labyrinthine as the story. It is carefully invented, and whimsically subtle; and the sentiment is sometimes true, but mostly affected. But a certain unity is given to the book by the admirable consistency of the characters," his masterpieces, among which is "Uncle Toby"; the author died in London of pulmonary consumption (1713-1763).

Sternhold, Thomas, principal author of the first English metrical version of the Psalms, originally attached to the Prayer-Book as augmented by John Hopkins; continued in general use till Tate and Brady's version of 1696 was substituted in 1717; was a Hampshire man, and held the post of Groom of the Robes to Henry VIII. and Edward VI. (1500-1549).

Steropes, one of the three Cyclops (q. v.).

Stesichorus, a celebrated Greek lyric poet, born in Sicily; contemporary of Sappho, Aleacus, and Pittacus; at his birth it is said a nightingale alighted on his lips and sang a sweet strain (632-652 B.C.).

Stettin (116), capital of Pomerania, and a flourishing river-port on both banks of the Oder, 30 m. from its entrance into the Baltic, and 60 m. NE. of Berlin; lies contiguous to, and is continuous with, the smaller towns of Bredow, Grabow, and Züllchow; principal buildings are the royal palace (16th century), the Gothic church of St. Peter (12th century), and St. James's (14th century); is a busy hive of industry, turning out ships, cement, sugar, spirits, &c., and carrying on a large export and import trade.

Steuben, Baron von, general in the American War of Independence, born in Magdeburg; originally in the Prussian service under Frederick the Great, and had distinguished himself at the siege of Prague and at Rossbach; emigrating to America at the end of the Seven Years' War he offered his services, which were readily welcomed, and contributed to organise and discipline the army, to the success of the revolution (1730-1794).

Stevenson, Robert, an eminent Scottish engineer, born at Glasgow, the son of a West India merchant; adopted the profession of his stepfather Thomas Smith, and in 1796 succeeded him as first engineer to the Board of Northern Lighthouses, a position he held for 47 years, during which he planned and erected as many as 23 lighthouses round the coasts of Scotland, his most noted erection being that on the Bell Rock; introduced the catoptric system of illumination and other improvements; was also much employed as a consulting engineer in connection with bridge, harbour, canal, and railway construction (1772-1850).

Stevenson, Robert Louis Balfour, novelist and essayist, grandson of the preceding, born at Edinburgh, where in 1875 he was called to the bar, after disappointing his father by not following the family vocation of engineering; had already begun to write for the magazines, and soon abandoned law for the profession of letters, in which he rapidly came to the front; in 1878 appeared his first book, "An Inland Voyage," quickly followed by "Travels with a Donkey," "Virginibus Puerisque," "Familiar Studies"; with "Treasure Island" (1883) found a wider public as a writer of adventure and romance, and established himself permanently in the public favour with "Kidnapped" (1886, most popular story), "The Master of Ballantrae," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," &c.; his versatility in letters was further revealed in his charming "A Child's Garden of Verse," "Ballads," "Memories and Portraits," and "A Footnote to History" (on Samoan politics); in 1890 failing health induced him to make his home in the island of Samoa, where he died and is buried; "His too short life," says Professor Saintsbury, "has left a fairly ample store of work, not always quite equal, seldom quite without a flaw, but charming, stimulating, distinguished as few things in this last quarter of a century have been" (1850-1894).

Steward, Lord High, in early times the highest office of state in England, ranking in power next to the sovereign; hereditary during many centuries, the office lapsed in the reign of Henry IV., and since has been revived only on special occasions, e. g. a coronation, a trial of a peer, at the termination of which the office is demitted, the Lord High Steward himself breaking in two his wand of office.

Stewart, Balfour, physicist, born in Edinburgh; after finishing his university curriculum went to Australia and engaged for some time in business; returned to England; became director at Kew Observatory, and professor of Natural Philosophy at Owens College, Manchester; made discoveries in radiant heat, and was one of the founders of spectrum analysis (q. v.); published text-books on physics, in wide repute (1828-1887).

Stewart, Dugald, Scottish philosopher, born in Edinburgh, son of Matthew Stewart; attended the High School and the University; studied one session at Glasgow under Dr. Reid; assisted his father in conducting the mathematical classes in Edinburgh, and succeeded Adam Ferguson in the Moral Philosophy chair in 1785, a post, the active duties of which he discharged with signal success for twenty-five years, lecturing on a wide range of subjects connected with metaphysics and the science of mind; he wrote "Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind," "Philosophical Essays," &c.; "His writings," says Carlyle, who held him in high veneration, "are not a philosophy, but a making ready for one. He does not enter on the field to till it; he only encompasses it with fences, invites cultivators, and drives away intruders; often (fallen on evil days) he is reduced to long arguments with the passers-by to prove that it is a field, that this so highly-prized domain of his is, in truth, soil and substance, not clouds and shadows. It is only to a superficial observer that the import of these discussions can seem trivial; rightly understood, they give sufficient and final answer to Hartley's and Darwin's and all other possible forms of Materialism, the grand Idolatry, as we may rightly call it, by which, in all times, the true Worship, that of the Invisible, has been polluted and withstood" (1753-1858).

Stewart, House of. See Stuart.

Stewart, Matthew, mathematician, born at Rothesay; bred for the Church, was for a time minister of Roseneath, and succeeded Maclaurin as professor of Mathematics in Edinburgh in 1747; was the author of a mathematical treatise or two, and the lifelong friend of Robert Simson (1717-1785).

Steyer (17), a manufacturing town of Upper Austria, at the junction of the Steyer and Enns, 20 m. NE. of St. Valentin; noted for its flourishing iron and steel manufactures, of which it is the chief seat in Austria.

Stheno, one of the three Gorgons (q. v.).

Stieler, a celebrated German cartographer, born at Gotha; his atlases are deservedly held in high esteem for their excellence (1775-1836).

Stier, Rudolf Ewald, German theologian; was a devout student of the Bible as the very Word of God, and is best known as the author of the "Words of the Lord Jesus" (1800-1862).

Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury and favourite of Edward the Confessor, who advanced him to the bishoprics of Elmham and Winchester and to the Primacy in 1052; his appointment was popularly regarded as uncanonical, and neither Harold nor William the Conqueror allowed him to perform the ceremony of coronation; through William's influence was by the Pope deprived of his office and condemned to imprisonment.

Stigmata, impressions of marks corresponding to certain wounds received by Christ at His crucifixion, and which certain of the saints are said to have been supernaturally marked with in memory of His. St. Francis in particular showed such marks.

Stilicho, a Roman general, son of a Vandal captain under the emperor Valens; on the death of Theodosius I., under whom he served, became the ruler of the West, and by his military abilities saved the Western Empire; defeated Alaric the Goth in a decisive battle and compelled him to retire from Italy, as he did another horde of invading barbarians afterwards; aspired to be master of the Roman empires, but was assassinated at Ravenna in 403.

Still, John, bishop of Bath and Wells, born at Grantham; rose in the Church through a succession of preferments: is credited with the authorship of one of the oldest comedies in the English language, "Gammer Gurton's Needle," turning on the loss and recovery by her of the needle with which she was mending her goodman's breeches (1543-1607).

Stilling, Jung, a German mystic; studied medicine at Strasburg, and when there became acquainted with Goethe, who took a liking for him and remained his warm friend; settled as a physician at Elberfeldt and became professor at Marburg and at Heidelberg; he was distinguished for his skill in operations on the eye, and is said to have restored to sight without fee or reward 3000 poor blind persons; he is best known by his autobiography; Carlyle defines him as the German "Dominie Sampson."

Stillingfleet, Edward, bishop of Worcester, born in Dorsetshire; was a scholarly man, wrote on apologetics, in defence of the Church of England as a branch of the Church Catholic, in support of the doctrine of the Trinity, and in advocacy of harmony in the Church; was an able controversialist and a generous minded; was a handsome man, and popularly called the "Beauty of holiness" (1635-1699).

Stipple, a mode of engraving by dots instead of lines, each dot when magnified showing a group of small ones.

Stirling, James Hutchison, master in philosophy, born in Glasgow; bred to medicine and practised for a time in South Wales; went to Germany to study the recent developments in philosophy there, on his return to Scotland published, in 1863, his "Secret of Hegel: being the Hegelian System in Origin, Principle, Form, and Matter," which has proved epoch-making, and has for motto the words of Hegel, "The Hidden Secret of the Universe is powerless to resist the might of thought! It must unclose before it, revealing to sight and bringing to enjoyment its riches and its depths." It is the work of a master-mind, as every one must feel who tackles to the study of it, and of one who has mastered the subject of it as not another in England, or perhaps even in Germany, has done. The grip he takes of it is marvellous and his exposition trenchant and clear. It was followed in 1881 by his "Text-book to Kant," an exposition which his "Secret" presupposes, and which he advised the students of it to expect, that they might be able to construe the entire Hegelian system from its root in Kant. It is not to the credit of his country that Dr. Stirling has never been elected to a chair in any of her universities, though it is understood that is due to the unenlightened state of mind of electoral bodies in regard to the Hegelian system and the prejudice against it, particularly among the clergy of the Church. He was, however, elected to be the first Gifford Lecturer in Edinburgh University, and his admirers have had to content themselves with that modicum of acknowledgment at last. He is the author of a critique on Sir William Hamilton's theory of perception, on Huxley's doctrine of protoplasm, and on Darwinianism, besides a translation of Schwegler's "History of Philosophy," with notes, a highly serviceable work. His answer to Huxley is crushing. He is the avowed enemy of the Aufklärung and of all knowledge that consists of mere Vorstellungen and does not grasp the ideas which they present; b. 1820.

Stirling, William Alexander, Earl of, poet, born at Menstrie, near Alloa; was for a time tutor to the family of Argyll; was the author of sonnets called "Aurora," some curious tragedies, and an "Elegy on the Death of Prince Henry"; he was held in high honour by James VI. and followed him to London, obtained a grant of Nova Scotia, and made Secretary of State for Scotland; he has been ranked as a poet with Drummond of Hawthornden, who was his friend (1580-1640).

Stirling-Maxwell, See Maxwell, Stirling.

Stirling (17), the county town of Stirlingshire, and one of the most ancient and historically-interesting cities of Scotland; occupies a fine site on the Forth, 36 m. NW. of Edinburgh and 29 m. NE. of Glasgow; most prominent feature is the rocky castle hill, rising at the westward end of the town to a height of 420 feet, and crowned by the ancient castle, a favourite Stuart residence, and associated with many stirring events in Scottish history, and utilised now as a garrison-station; interesting also are "Argyll's Lodging," Greyfriars Church (Pointed Gothic of the 15th century), the fine statue of Bruce, &c.; has manufactures of tartans, tweeds, carpets, &c., and a trade in agricultural and mining products.

Stirlingshire (126), a midland county of Scotland, stretching E. and W. from Dumbarton (W.) to the Forth (E.); between Lanark (S.) and Perth (N.) it forms the borderland between the Lowlands and the Highlands; Loch Lomond skirts the western border, and on the northern Loch Katrine, stretching into Perthshire; Ben Lomond and lesser heights rise in the NW.; main streams are the Avon, Carron, Bannock, &c.; between Alloa and Stirling stretches the fertile and well-cultivated plain, "The Carse of Stirling"; in the W. lies a portion of the great western coal-field, from which coal and iron-stone are largely extracted; principal towns are Stirling (q. v.), Falkirk, and Kilsyth; interesting remains of Antoninus' Wall, from Forth to Clyde, still exist; within its borders were fought the battles of Bannockburn, Sauchieburn, Stirling Bridge, Falkirk, &c.

Stirrup Cup, a "parting cup" given by the Highlanders to guests when they are leaving and have their feet in the stirrups.

Stobsæus, Joannes, a native of Stobi, in Macedonia; flourished at the end of the 5th and beginning of the 6th century; celebrated as the compiler (about 500 A.D.) of a Greek Anthology, through which many valuable extracts are preserved to us from works which have since his day been lost.

Stock Exchange, a mart for the buying and selling of Government stocks, company shares, and various securities, carried on usually by the members of an associated body of brokers having certain rules and regulations. Such associations exist now in most of the important cities of the United Kingdom and commercial world generally (on the Continent are known as Bourses). The London Stock Exchange, transacting business in handsome buildings in Capel Court, facing the Bank of England, was established in 1801, stock-exchange transactions previous to then being carried on in a loose, ill-regulated fashion by private parties chiefly in and around Change Alley, the scene of the memorable South Sea Bubble (q. v.) speculation. The great development in stock-exchange business in recent times is due chiefly to the sale of foreign and colonial bonds, and the remarkable growth and spread of joint-stock companies since the Joint-Stock Company Act of 1862.

Stockholm (246), capital of Sweden; occupies a charming site on the channel leading out of Lake Mälar into a bay of the Baltic; stands partly on the mainland and partly on nine islands, communication between which is facilitated by handsome bridges and a busy service of boats; its wooded and rocky islands, crowned with handsome buildings, its winding waterways, peninsulas, crowded wharves, and outlook over the isleted lake, combine to make it one of the most picturesque cities of Europe; Town Island, the nucleus of the city, is occupied by the royal palace, House of Nobles, principal wharf, &c., while on Knights' Island stand the Houses of Parliament, law-courts, and other public buildings; Norrmalm, with the Academy of Science, National Museum, Academy of Fine Arts, Hop Garden, &c., is the finest quarter of the city; manufactures embrace sugar, tobacco, silks, linen, cotton, &c., besides which there are flourishing iron-works and a busy export trade in iron and steel, oats, and tar, despite the hindrance caused by the ice during three or four months in winter; founded in 1255 by Birger Jarl.

Stockmar, Baron de, statesman, born at Coburg; bred to medicine, became physician to Leopold I. of Belgium, and at length his adviser; was adviser also of Queen Victoria before her accession; accompanied Prince Albert to Italy before his marriage, and joined him thereafter in England as the trusted friend of both the queen and him; he had two political ideals—a united Germany under Prussia, and unity of purpose between Germany and England (1757-1863).

Stockport (70), a cotton town of East Cheshire; occupies a site on the slopes of a narrow gorge overlooking the confluence of the Thame and Goyt (forming the Mersey), 37 m. E. of Liverpool; a handsome viaduct spans the river; has an old grammar-school, free library, technical school, &c.; during the present century has grown to be a busy centre of cotton manufactures, and has besides flourishing iron and brass foundries, machine-shops, breweries, &c.

Stockton-on-Tees (69), a prosperous manufacturing town and port of Durham, on the Tees, 4 m. from its mouth; an iron bridge spanning the river connects it with Thornaby-on-Tees; has the usual public buildings; steel and iron shipbuilding building, potteries, foundries, machine-shops are flourishing industries; iron and earthenware are the chief exports, and with imports of corn and timber give rise to a busy and increasing shipping, facilitated by the excellent river-way.

Stoics, the disciples of Zeno; derived their name from the stoa or portico in Athens where their master taught and founded the school in 340 B.C. The doctrines of the school were completely antagonistic to those of Epicurus, and among the disciples of it are to be reckoned some of the noblest spirits of the heathen world immediately before and after the advent of Christ. These appear to have been attracted to it by the character of its moral teachings, which were of a high order indeed. The principle of morality was defined to be conformity to reason, and the duty of man to lie in the subdual of all passion and a composed submission to the will of the gods. It came short of Christian morality, as indeed all Greek philosophy did, in not recognising the Divine significance and power of humility, and especially in its failure to see, still more to conform to, the great doctrine of Christ which makes the salvation of a man to depend on the interest he takes in, as well as in the fact of the salvation of, other men. The Stoic was a proud man, and not a humble, and was content if he could only have his own soul for a prey. He did not see—and no heathen ever did—that the salvation of one man is impossible except in the salvation of other men, and that no man can save another unless he descend into that other's case and stand, as it were, in that other's stead. It is the glory of Christ that He was the first to feel Himself, and to reveal to others, the eternal validity and divinity of this truth. The Stoic morality is selfish; the morality of Christ is brotherly.

Stoke-upon-Trent (24), chief seat of the "Potteries," in Staffordshire, on the Trent and the Trent and Mersey Canal, 15 m. SE. of Crewe; is of modern growth, with free library, infirmary, public baths, statue to Wedgwood, &c., and is busily engaged in the manufacture of all sorts of porcelain ware, earthenware, encaustic tiles, &c., besides which there are flourishing iron-works, machine-shops, coal-mines, &c.

Stokes, Sir George Gabriel, mathematician and physicist, born in Skreen, co. Sligo; he is great in the department of mathematical physics, and has been specially devoted to the study of hydro-dynamics and the theory of light; has opened new fields of investigation, and supplied future experimenters with valuable hints; he was one of the foremost physicists of the day; b. 1819.

Stolberg, Christian, Count, German poet of the Göttingen school, to which Bürger and Voss belonged, born in Hamburg; was with his brother a friend of Goethe's, and held a civil appointment in Holstein (1748-1821).

Stolberg, Friedrich Leopold, Count of, German poet, born in Holstein, brother of preceding; held State appointments in Denmark; joined the Romish Church, and showed a religious and ascetic temper (1750-1819).

Stole, a long scarf worn by bishops and priests in the administration of the sacraments of the Church, and sometimes when preaching, as well as in symbol of authority.

Stone Age, the name given to that period in the history of civilisation when the weapons of war and the chase and the implements of industry were made of stone, prior to employment for these purposes of bronze, characteristic of the age succeeding.

Stone Circles, circles of standing stones (q. v.) found in various parts of Great Britain, North Europe generally, and also, but of more recent origin, in North India; were certainly, in the most of cases, set up to mark the circular boundary of a place of burial; erroneously ascribed to the Druids; from the character of numerous cinerary urns exhumed, seem to have belonged to the bronze age in Great Britain; most interesting are those of Stennis, in Orkney, with a circumference of 340 ft., Avebury, in Wiltshire, and Stonehenge (q. v.).

Stonehaven (4), fishing port and county town of Kincardineshire, situated at the entrance of Carron Water (dividing the town) into South Bay, 16 m. SSW. of Aberdeen; has a small harbour, and is chiefly engaged in herring and haddock fishing.

Stonehenge, the greatest and best preserved of the stone circles (q. v.) of Britain, situated in Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, 7 m. N. of Salisbury; "consists of two concentric circles, enclosing two ellipses"; the diameter of the space enclosed is 100 ft.; the stones are from 13 ft. to 28 ft. high; is generally regarded as an exceptional development of the ordinary stone circle, but the special purpose of its unusual construction is still a matter of uncertainty.

Stonyhurst, a celebrated Roman Catholic college in East Lancashire, 10 m. N. of Blackburn; established in 1794 by certain Jesuit fathers who, after the suppression of their seminary at St. Omer, in France, by the Bourbons, took up their residence at Bruges and then at Liège, but fled thence to England during the Revolution, and accepted the shelter offered them at Stonyhurst by Mr. Weld of Lulworth; there are about 300 students, and upwards of 30 masters; a preparatory school has been established at Hodder, a mile distant; in 1840 was affiliated to the University of London, for the degrees of which its students are chiefly trained; retains in its various institutions many marks of its French origin.

Stool of Repentance, in Scotland in former times an elevated seat in a church on which for offences against morality people did penance and suffered rebuke.

Storm, Theodore Woldsen, German poet and exquisite story-teller, born in Sleswig; was a magistrate and judge in Sleswig-Holstein (1817-1888).

Storm-and-Stress Period, name given in the history of German literature to a period at the close of the 18th century, when the nation began to assert its freedom from artificial literary restraint, a period to which Goethe's "Goetz von Berlichingen" and Schiller's "Robbers" belong, and the spirit of which characterises it; the representatives of the period were called Kraftmänner (Power-men), who "with extreme animation railed against Fate in general, because it enthralled free virtue, and with clenched hands or sounding shields hurled defiance towards the vault of heaven."

Storms, Cape of, name originally given in 1486 to the Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese navigator Bartholomew Dias.

Stornoway, a fishing-port, the capital of Lewis, and the chief town in the Outer Hebrides, with Stornoway Castle adjoining.

Storthing (i. e. great court), the national Parliament of Norway, composed of two chambers, the Lagthing or Upper Chamber, and the Odelsthing or Lower.

Story, Joseph, American jurist and judge, born in Massachusetts (1779-1845).

Story, William Wetmore, poet and sculptor, son of preceding; b. 1819.

Stothard, Thomas, artistic designer and book illustrator, as well as painter, born in London, son of an innkeeper; illustrated, among other works, "Pilgrim's Progress," and along with Turner, Rogers' "Italy" (1755-1834).

Stourbridge, manufacturing town in Worcestershire; its staple manufactures are glass and pottery.

Stow, John, English antiquary, born in London; bred a tailor; took to antiquarian pursuits, which he prosecuted with the zeal of a devotee that spared no sacrifice; wrote several works on antiquities, the chief and most valuable being his "Survey of London and Westminster"; he ended his days in poverty (1525-1605).

Stowell, William Scott, eminent English judge, born at Heworth, brother of Lord Eldon; famed for his judicial decisions (1745-1836).

Strabo, ancient geographer, born at Amasia, in Pontus; flourished in the reign of Augustus, and the early part of that of Tiberius; was a learned man, lived some years in Rome, and travelled much in various countries; wrote a history of 43 books, all lost, and a work on geography, in 17 books, which has come down to us entire all to the 7th; the work is in general not descriptive; it comprehends principally important political events in connection with the countries visited, with a notice of their illustrious men, or whatever seemed to him characteristic in them or was of interest to himself; born about 63 B.C.

Straddha, the funeral rites and funeral offerings for the dead among the Hindus.

Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, Earl of, English statesman, born in London, of an old Yorkshire family; studied at Cambridge; after some months' travel on the Continent entered Parliament in 1614, but took no active part in affairs till 1621; he took sides at first with the party for freedom, but in 1622 felt compelled to side with the king, to his elevation of greater and greater influence as his counsellor; his policy, named "Thorough," was to establish a strong Government with the king at the head, and to put down with a strong hand all opposition to the royal authority; appointed Lord-Deputy in Ireland in 1633, he did all he could to increase the royal resources, and was at length, in 1640, exalted to the Lord-Lieutenancy, being at the same time created Earl of Strafford; he had risen by this time to be the chief adviser of the king, and was held responsible for his arbitrary policy; after the meeting of the Long Parliament he was impeached for high treason; the impeachment seemed likely to fail, when a Bill of Attainder was produced; to this the king refused his assent, but he had to yield to the excitement his refusal produced, and as the result Strafford was beheaded on Tower Hill (1593-1641).

Straits Settlements (507, of which 150 are Chinese), British colony in the East Indies, embracing the British possessions in the Malay Peninsula (on the Strait of Malacca), Singapore, Malacca, Penang, and the Keeling Islands and Christmas Island; were under the jurisdiction of the Governor-General of India till 1867, in which year they passed under the control of the Colonial Office at home.

Stralsund (28), a fortified seaport of North Prussia, on Strela Sound, opposite the island of Rügen, in the Baltic, and 66 m. NW. of Stettin, forms of itself an islet, and is connected with the mainland (Pomerania) by bridges; is a quaint old town, dating back to the 13th century; figures often in the wars of Prussia, and is now a place of considerable commercial importance.

Strangford, Percy C. S. Smythe, Viscount, diplomatist; graduated at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1800; entered the diplomatic service, and in the following year succeeded to the title; was ambassador to Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, and Russia; translated the "Rimas" of Camoëns, and was raised to the peerage (1825) as Baron Penshurst (1780-1855).

Strangford, Percy E. F. W. Smythe, son of preceding, diplomatist and noted philologist, born at St. Petersburg; passed through Harrow and Oxford; entered the diplomatic service; became attaché at Constantinople, and during the Crimean War served as Oriental Secretary, acquiring the while a profound grip of the Eastern Question, and an unrivalled knowledge of European and Asiatic languages—Turkish, Persian, Arabic, Slavonic, Afghan, Basque, &c.; succeeded to the title in 1855, and henceforth resided chiefly in London; was President of the Asiatic Society, and was considered by Freeman "our greatest English philologist"; author of various articles on political, geographical, and philological subjects (1825-1869).

Stranraer (6), a royal burgh and seaport of Wigtownshire, finely situated at the southern extremity of Loch Ryan, 73 m. W. of Dumfries; has an interesting 16th-century castle, and a handsome town-hall and court-house; there is some shipping in agricultural produce, and steamers ply daily between Stranraer and Larne, in Ireland.

Straparola, Giovanni Francesco, author of a famous collection of stories after the style of Boccaccio's "Decameron," partly borrowed and partly genuine folk-stories, which ranks as an Italian classic, and has been translated into various European languages; flourished in the 16th century.

Strap, Hugh, a simple-hearted friend and adherent of Roderick Random in Smollett's novel of that name.

Strappado, an obsolete military punishment by drawing a culprit to the top of a beam and then letting him drop the length of the rope.

Strasburg (124), capital, since 1871, of Alsace-Lorraine, on the Ill, a few miles above its confluence with the Rhine, 89 m. N. of Basel; a place of great strategical importance, and a fortress of the first class; is a city of Roman origin, and contains a magnificent Gothic cathedral (11th century) with a famous astronomical clock, an imperial palace, university, &c.; manufactures embrace beer, leather, cutlery, jewellery, &c.; there is also a busy transit trade; a free town of the German empire in the 13th century; fell into the hands of the French in 1681, and was captured by the Germans, after a seven weeks' siege, on 28th September 1870, after which it became finally German, as it was originally, by the peace of Frankfort, May 1871.

Stratford (40), manufacturing town in Essex, on the Lee, 4 m. NE. of London.

Stratford de Redcliffe, Sir Stafford Canning, first Viscount, a distinguished ambassador, born in London, son of a well-connected merchant, and cousin to Canning the statesman; passed from Cambridge to the Foreign Office in 1807 as a précis-writer to his cousin; in three years had risen to the post of minister-plenipotentiary at Constantinople, where he speedily gave evidence of his remarkable powers as a diplomatist by arranging unaided the treaty of Bucharest (1814) between Russia and Turkey, and so setting free the Russian army to fall upon Napoleon, then retreating from Moscow; as minister to Switzerland aided the Republic in drawing up its constitution, and in the same year (1815) acted as commissioner at the Congress of Vienna; was subsequently employed in the United States and various European capitals, but his unrivalled knowledge of the Turkish question brought him again, in 1842, to Constantinople as ambassador, where his remarkable power and influence over the Turks won him the title of "Great Elchi"; exerted in vain his diplomatic skill to prevent the rupture between Turkey and Russia, which precipitated the Crimean War; resigned his embassy in 1858; was raised to the peerage in 1852; sat in Parliament for several years previous to 1842, but failed to make his mark as a debater; ranks among the great ambassadors of England (1786-1880).

Stratford-on-Avon (8), a pleasant old market-town of Warwickshire, on the right bank of the Avon, 8 m. SW. of Warwick and 110 m. NW. of London; forever famous as the birth and burial place of Shakespeare, with whom all that is of chief interest in the town is associated, the house he was born in, his old school, Anne Hathaway's cottage on the outskirts, the fine Early English church (14th century), where he lies buried, the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, museum, &c.; is Visited annually by some 20,000 pilgrims; a thriving agricultural centre.

Strathclyde or Northern Cumbria, an ancient kingdom of the Britons, which originated in the 8th century, and comprised the W. side of Scotland between the Solway and the Clyde; Alclyde or Dumbarton was the capital; was permanently annexed to Scotland in 1124 under David I.

Strathfieldsaye, an estate in Hampshire with a fine Queen Anne mansion, 7 m. NE. of Basingstoke, purchased by Parliament for £263,000, and presented to the Duke of Wellington in 1817.

Strathmore ("Great Valley"), the great plain of Scotland stretching for 100 m. (5 to 10 m. broad), in a north-easterly direction from Dumbartonshire to Stonehaven, in Kincardineshire, between the great mountain barrier of the Highlands, the Grampians, and the Southern Lennox, Ochil, and Sidlaw Hills; in a more restricted sense denotes the plain between Perth and Brechin.

Strathpeffer, a watering-place in Ross and Cromarty, 5 m. W. of Dingwall, a great health-resort, and much frequented on account of its mineral waters and bracing air and other attractions.

Strauss, David Friedrich, German theological and biblical critic, born at Ludwigsburg, in Würtemberg; studied in the Theological Institute of Tübingen under Baur, was ordained in 1830, and went in 1834 to Berlin to attend the lectures of Hegel and Schleiermacher, and returning to Tübingen gave lectures on Hegel in 1832, he the while maturing his famous theory which, published in 1835, made his name known over the whole theological world; this was his "Leben Jesu," the first volume of which appeared that year, in which he maintained that, while the life of Christ had a historical basis, all the supernatural element in it and the accounts of it were simply and purely mythical, and the fruit of the idea of His person as Divine which at the foundation of the Christian religion took possession of the mind of the Church; the book proved epoch-making, and the influence of it, whether as accepted or as rejected, affected, as it still does, the whole theology of the Church; the effect of it was a shock to the whole Christian world, for it seemed as if with the denial of the supernatural the whole Christian system fell to pieces; and its author found the entire Christian world opposed to him, and he was cast out of the service of the Church; this, however, did not daunt his ardour, for he never abandoned the ground he had taken up; his last work was entitled "Der Alte und der Neue Glaube," in which he openly repudiates the Christian religion, and assigns the sovereign authority in spiritual matters to science and its handmaid art. In a spiritual reference the whole contention of Strauss against Christianity is a tissue of irrelevancies, for the spirit of it, which is its life and essence, is true whatever conclusion critics in their seraphic wisdom may come to regarding the facts (1808-1874).