or SEVSK, a town of European Russia, capital of a circle, in the government of Orel, and 73 miles S.W. of that town, on the Seva and the Lake Maritza. It has a rich convent, numerous churches, an ecclesiastical seminary, manufactories of pottery and of verdigris, dye-works, and some trade in corn. Pop. 5768. SIEYÈS, Emmanuel Joseph, Count, better known as the Abbé Sieyès, was born at Fréjus, on the 3d of May 1748. He was educated for the ecclesiastical profession at the University of Paris, where his mind became early imbued with the various schemes of social and political reform then afloat in society. He consequently entertained very liberal views on a great variety of social problems which were then agitating the public mind. This did not impede, however, his upward progress as a churchman. Having first held some subordinate positions, he was subsequently appointed, in the year 1784, canon of the Cathedral of Chartres. From this position he rose rapidly to be vice-general and chancellor of the diocese. He took an active share in the assemblies of the clergy, and spared no pains in disseminating those views which resulted in the Revolution of 1789. Compelled to assemble the States-General, the question occurred to the government as to what manner that body should be convened. Whether by classes, as hitherto, or by individuals? Sieyès at once rushed into print, and by his Essai sur les Privileges, 1788, attained to a very wide notoriety. Partially satisfied with the amount of success which had attended this pamphlet, he resolved to publish another brochure. The second, and by far the most remarkable, pamphlet, had for its title Qu'est ce que le Tiers État? 1789. The doctrines which the adventurous Abbé set forth were, that the Tiers État was really the nation, and yet it had possessed hitherto no adequate recognition in the state. Such a recognition the Abbé humbly thought it required; nay, demanded. Hence the appearance of his pamphlet. This bold ecclesiastic resolved to write a third pamphlet, the same year. This one had for its title Moyens d'Exécution dont les Representans de la France pourront disposer, 1789. He gave all these publications to the French people from behind a very thin gauze of anonymity. When the rude eyes of the Parisians were turned with impatient curiosity to discover who was the good author who had made bold to speak a word in behalf of the Tiers État, the thin curtain speedily disseminated like a fog-cloud before the sun. The thin Abbé was descried in the back-ground making his obeisance of affected humility before the French people. The States-General being convoked, Sieyès was chosen deputy for Paris. A majority of the noblesse and clergy refused to unite with the Tiers État, when Sieyès, after incredible speechifying, succeeded in inducing the people to form themselves into an independent body, under the name of the Assemblée Nationale, June 16, 1789. He it was, also, who proposed the oath taken by all the members at the Jeu de Paume—"Never to separate, but to assemble wherever circumstances required, until the perfect establishment of the constitution." Despite the vehement opposition of Mirabeau, "Mahomet," for so Sieyès was dubbed by the great orator, carried his proposal by an immense majority. Sieyès's vanity was puffed up to an incredible height. The Assembly rose up to receive him, and the meek Abbé was cheered vociferously. On the 23d of June the king declared the proceedings of the Assembly null and void, and ordered them to disperse. "Disperse! we are the same to-day we were yesterday; let us deliberate;" said the fearless Sieyès. The Assembly listened to his words, and the Revolution was the result. It was at Sieyès's instigation the ancient provinces of France were abolished, and the realm was divided into 80 departments. The Abbé's seat was by no means secure, however. When the awe created by the sharp, logical vehemence of his appeals had passed away, there were more than one in the National Assembly prepared to challenge his opinion. His despotic will could brook no contradiction, and he sank into sullen silence, from which even the taunts of Mirabeau could not arouse him. He broke silence once on the question of tithes, and the determined vehemence of his manner was evidently increased by his long quiet. This speech well-nigh cost him his popularity. Its concluding words will long be remembered. He had accused the Assembly of enriching the wealthy proprietors of land by the gratuitous addition of one-tenth of its value, and added, "they wish to be free, and know not how to be just." In his further altercation with the Assembly, Mirabeau remarked to him, "You have unloosed the bull, and you complain that it goes near." In the new Legislative Assembly he was chosen member for Paris, but cautiously declined the honour of being made constitutional bishop. He was deputy for the department of La Sarthe in 1792, but preserved a sullen silence throughout the greater part of their deliberations. Different accounts are given of his conduct on the verdict which sentenced the king to death. The most authentic is that given by Carlyle, among others, in his French Revolution (vol. I., p. 113, of 1856). "Then see," says the imaginative historian, "the figure of shrill Sieyès ascend; hardly pausing, passing merely, the figure says, La mort, sans phrase, 'death without phrases,'" flinging a sarcasm at Robespierre and company, who had wearied the Assembly by their long-winded addresses. During the succeeding period of the Reign of Terror, the cautious Abbé prudently retired to the country, where he contrived to "live," as he wittily phrased it, during that stormy time.

In 1797 he had his hand shattered by a pistol-ball fired at him by the Abbé Poule. He told his servants afterwards, "if Mons. Poule should return, inform him that I am not at home." In 1798 this constitution-builder was sent to Berlin, on a fruitless mission, by the French Government, and on his return to Paris was made member of the Directory. Shortly after he effected the closing of the notorious Jacobin Club, which sealed the unpopularity of the author of Tiers État. Tired of declamation, what we want, he said, is a "head and a sword." Sieyès got both, sooner, perhaps, than he expected, in Napoleon Bonaparte. The little Corsican looked quite through Abbé Sieyès at the first glance. They feared and hated each other heartily, yet each was meanwhile necessary to the other. On the 9th November 1799, both were chosen Consuls along with Ducus. Sieyès was again busy with his visionary, logical theories of the constitution, when Napoleon watched his opportunity and extinguished this luminary for ever. Sieyès retired in disgust, on a rich allowance of 600,000 francs, and the estate of Crosne, which he subsequently exchanged for a magnificent hotel in Paris, and the valuable lands of Faisandier. He received the title of Count from Napoleon, and at the Restoration he was exiled. Returning again to Paris in 1830, he lived in obscurity till the 20th of June 1836, when he died. The chief works of this architect of constitutions are, Preliminaires de la Constitution, 1789; Observations sommaires sur les biens Ecclesiastiques, 1789; Reconnaissance et Exposition raisonnée des droits de l'homme et du citoyen, 1789, &c. His life has been carefully traced by Beaulieu and Capefigue, in the Biographie Universelle; and notices of him, of more or less merit, will be found in the various histories of the French Revolution. His character has been hit off in a sentence, as usual, by Carlyle. "Behold him, the light, thin man; cold but elastic, wary; instinct with the pride of logic, passionless, or with but one passion, that of self-conceit." "Polity," said Sieyès to Dumont, "is a science I think I have completed." Alas, no! good Abbé; it is to be feared that science has not yet been completed.