Seraphina, a keyed wind instrument, the tones of which are jiroduced l)y the play of wind upon metallic reeds, as in the accordeon. It consists, like the organ, of a key-board, wind-chest, and bellows.
Serapion, bishop of Thumeos, in Egypt, called Scho- lasticiis because of liis eloquence and dialectical keen- ness, is said by EuHnus to have been abbot of numer- ous monasteries, and to have exercised rule over some ten thousand hermits, whom he employed in reaping at harvest-time, in order that their earnings might aid in
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supporting impoverished Christians about Alexandria. Antonius and Athanasius are reported to have been his intimate friends and counsellors, the latter having se- cured his elevation to the bishopric. In 348 Serapion attended the Council of Sardica, and helped to procure tlie acquittal of Athanasius from the charges under which he lay; and when the latter had again fallen un- der the displeasure of the emperor Constantius, Serapion was one of the rive bishops who were delegated to at- tempt his restoration to favor. He died A.D. 358. See Socrates, Hist. Eccks. iv, 23.
Chrysostom's deacon at Constantinople, under Ho- norius and Arcadius, was another Serapion, who aitled that father in enforcing a thorough discipline among the clergy, of whom he said that only the utmost strict- ness could secure their improvement. The clergy were exasperated by his words and actions, and sought to ex- cite the populace to opposition against both reformers, but in vain ; and Chrysostom ultimately made Serapion bishop of Heraclea in Thrace. — Herzog, Real-Encyklop. s. V.
Serapis, in Egyptian mythology, was a highly venerated god of Alexandria, whose origin was rather Grecian, however, than Egyptian. He was the (ireek god of the underworld — Pluto, the giver of blessings — on whose head was placed a bushel, to denote that the ruler of the underworld causes man's nourishment to spring from the earth. He was transferred to Alexan- dria in the time of the Ptolemies, and unwillingly ac- cepted by the inhabitants; but eventually forty- two temples of Serapis were enumerated in Egypt. The following fable in relation to his importation was in cir- culation : A beautifid youth appeared to Ptolemy I in a dream, and commanded the king to bring his statue from Sinope, revealing, at the same time, that he was Serajjis, the god who gives blessings or curses. After the surmounting of many difficulties, the enterprise was at length accomplished — the god contributing to that result by going from his temple to the ship. The city of Alexandria erected to him a temple in the place Khacotis. Political reasons may have determined this transfer from Asia to Egypt — e. g. the importance of making the new capital the central seat of religion ; and this latter end was completely realized, inasmuch as Serapis took the place of Osiris, with the exception that he was never conceived of as suffering and dying. He was regarded as consort to Isis, as the sun and Nile god, and as the supreme god. The sick, also, invoked his aid, with the result that he was, in the end, confounded with ^Esculapius. A marble bust in the Vatican rep- resents him as a bearded, earnest man, with rays sur- rounding, and a grain-measure surmounting, his head. — Vollmer, Worterb. d. Mythol. s. v.
Head of Serapis.
Serarius, Nichoi^as, a learned Jesuit and commen- tator on the Scriptures, was born in 1555 at Kamber- villers, in Lorraine. After studying the languages, he taught ethics, philosophy, and theology at Wurzburg and Mentz, in wliich last citj' he died, May 20, IGIO, leaving many works, of which the following are the principal : l)e Pharisworum, Sadducmorum, et E^^enornm Sectis (Franeker, 1G()3 ; Mentz, 1G04) : — Commentarius in Libros Jos., Jitd., Ruth., Rcj., et PuraUp. (ibid. 1 G09-10, 2 pts.foL): — Proh(jomenu lUblica (ibid. 1(512) : — liahhini et //erodes (ibid.) : — Ojniscula Theolor/icu (3 tom. foL): — and others which are collected in IG vols. fol. See Furst, Bill. Jud. iii, 31G ; Winer, //aiidbuch der theol. Literutur.
Se'red (Heb. id. "1^0, y««-,- Sept. Sepco v. r. 2a- pic), the first named of three sons of Zebulon (Gen. xlvi, 14), and head of the family of the Sarditts (Numb, xxvi, 2G). B.C. cir. 18G4.
Serestus, in Greek mythology, was a companion of yEneas, who gathered up the armor of Haimonides, the priest of Apollo whom ^neas had slain, and who erected a column of victory to Mars (iradivus.
Serge (Lat. cereus, a wax taper). Those in a low basin were called mortars, and burned during matins at the ch(nr door. Lyndwood says that in very many churches the two (i. e. on the altar) were furnished by the curate. — Walcott, Sucixd A rchmol. s. v.
Sergeant {pajicohxac, literally rod-holder, Acts xvi, 35), properly a Roman lictor, the public servant who bore a bundle of rods before the magistrates of cities and colonies as insignia of their office, and who executed the sentences which they pronounced. See Smith, Diet, of Class. Ant, s. v. "Lictor."
Eoman Coins exhibiting the Lictors with their F((sces.
Sergeant, John, a Congregational minister, was born in Newark, N. J., in 1710, He graduated at Yale College in 1729, and was appointed tutor in 1731. The Commissioners for Lidian Affairs having found the Indians living at Skatekook and Umihklukook, on the Housatonic Iliver, disposed to receive a missionary, chose Mr. Sergeant for that position ; and he went in October, 1734, to examine his field of labor. In August, 1735, he was ordained at Deerfield, and labored with the Indians until his death, July 27, 1749, He translated into the native language parts of the Old and all the New Test, excepting the book of Revelation, During his life one hundred and twenty-nine savages \vere bap- tized, and forty -two became members of the Church. See Sprague, .4 imals of the A mer. Pulpit, i, 388.