in Fabulous History, a celebrated river of hell, round which it flows nine times. The gods held the waters of the Styx in such veneration, that to swear by them was reckoned an oath altogether inviolable. If any of the gods had perjured themselves, Jupiter obliged them to drink the waters of the Styx, which lollled them for one whole year into a senseless stupidity, for the nine following years they were deprived of the ambrosia and the nectar of the gods, and after the expiration of the years of their punishment, they were restored to the assembly of the deities, and to all their original privileges. It is said that this veneration was shown to the Styx, because it received its name from the nymph Styx, who with her three daughters assisted Jupiter in his war against the Titans.

Styx was a river which it was necessary for departed shades to pass before they could enter the infernal regions; and it was the office of Charon to ferry them over in a boat which was kept for that purpose. The ghosts of those who had not been honoured with the rites of sepulture were obliged to wander an hundred years before Charon could admit them into his boat to convey them before the judges of Hades. What could have given rise to this fable of Charon and his boat, it is not very material to inquire. Mythological writers have said, that the Greeks learned it from the Egyptians, which is indeed probable enough; that the Egyptians framed both this, and some other fables relating to the dead, from certain customs peculiar to their country; that in particular there was, not far from Memphis, a famous burying-place, to which the dead bodies were conveyed in a boat across the lake Acherusia; and that Charon was a boatman who had long officiated in that service. The learned Dr Blackwell says, in his life of Homer, that, in the old Egyptian language, Charon signifies "ferryman."

SABIA, a circle of Germany, bounded on the north by the circle of Franconia and that of the Lower Rhine; on the west by the circle of the Lower Rhine and Alsace; on the south by Switzerland; and on the east by the circle of Bavaria. Of all the circles of the empire, Sabia is the most divided; it contains four ecclesiastic and thirteen lay principalities, nineteen independent prelacies and abbeys, twenty-six cardinals and lordships, and thirty-one free cities. The prime directors of the circle, as they are termed, were formerly the bishop of Constance and the duke of Wurtemberg. But this circle has suffered similar changes with neighbouring states.

The mixture of the various forms of government and religious sects; the oppression exercised by the great on the poor; the game constantly played by the emperor, who possesses many pieces of detached country in Sabia, which depend not on the circle, and can, in consequence of his privileges as archduke of Austria, extend his possessions in it by various ways; are circumstances (says Baron Riesbeck) which give the cultivation of the country, and the character of the inhabitants, a most extraordinary cast. In several of the post towns where you stop, you see the highest degree of cultivation in the midst of the most savage wilderness; a great degree of knowledge and polish of manners, mixed with the grossest ignorance and superstition; traces of liberty, under the deepest oppression; national pride, together with the contempt and neglect of the native country; in short, all the social qualities in striking contrast and opposition to each other. Those parts of Sabia which belong to the great potentates, such as Wurtemberg, Austria, and Baden, are certainly the most improved. The whole of Sabia may comprehend about nine hundred German square miles, and two millions of people. More than half of these are subjects of the three above-mentioned princes, though they are not proprietors of near one half of the lands.

SAURES, Francis, a Jesuit, was born in Granada in Spain, in January 1548. He was a professor of theology at Alcala, Salamanca, Rome, and Coimbra in Portugal. He died at Lisbon in 1617 with the greatest resignation; "I never thought (said he) that it was so easy to die." His memory was astonishing, he could repeat the whole of his voluminous works by heart. His writings fill 23 folio volumes, and are mostly on theological and moral subjects. His Treatise of Laws has been reprinted in this country. His Defence of the Catholic Faith against the Errors of England was written at the request of Pope Paul V. This book was publicly burnt at London by order of James I. When Suares heard it, he is said to have exclaimed, "O that I too could seal with my blood the truths which I have defended with my pen."

SABAH, the general name of the viceroyships, or greater governments, into which the Mogul empire was divided, consisting of several provinces. The jurisdiction of a subahdar, the same as subaship, subaedar, or nizamut.

SABADAR, the viceroy, lord-lieutenant, or governor, holding a subah; the same as nabob or nizam. Also the black commander of a company of sepoys.

SABALTERN, a subordinate officer, or one who discharges his post under the command and subject to the direction of another; such are lieutenants, sublieutenants, cornets, and ensigns, who serve under the captain.