which are the i)r;iyers of the saints" (Kev. v, 8)
Caltnet.
Smernitza, in Slavic mythology, was an appari-
SMET
813
SMITH
tion whose coming always occasioned the decease of persons who were sick. The phantom was invisible to the dying themselves, but neighbors might observe it skulking about and tinally entering the house of the victim, whose fate was then inevitable. The spasmodic twitchings and the throat-rattle of the last hour were evidences of the force which Smernitza employed to separate the soul from the body. — VoUmer, WOrterb. d. Mythol. s. V.
Smet, Hans von der Ketten, son of the Dutch antiquarian of the saine name, was born in Nimeguen about KioO, and was pastor at Alkmaer until 1684, when he received a call to Amsterdam, where he died May 23, 1710, leaving several religious works.
Smet, Peter John de, a Roman Catholic mis- sionary. A\as born in Dendermonde, Belgium, Dec. 31, 1801. He came to the United States in August, 1821 ; en- tered the Jesuit novitiate at Whitemarsh, ISId.; went to Missouri in 1823, and aided in founding the University of St. Louis, in which he labored until 1838. He was then sent to found a mission among the Pottawattomies, aftervvards laboring among the Flathcads and the Black- feet, Taking a general superintendence of these mis- sions, he travelled to collect money for them. He died in St. Louis, May 23, 1873. His principal works are, Letters, Hketc/ies, and Residence in the Rocky Mountains (Phila. 1843, 12mo) : — Oregon Missions and Travels over the Rocky Mountains (N. Y. 1847): — Western Missions and Missionaries (1863, 12mo): — Reisen in den Felsenge- biryen, etc. (St. Louis, 18G5). See Appletons' Cycloj}.; Allibone, Jjict. oj' Brit, and Amer, Authors, s. v.
Smeton, Thomas, a learned Scotch divine and educator, was born in Gask, near Perth, in 1536. He was educated at the University of St. Andrew's, and af- tervvards studied in Paris. He went to Home, and en- tered the Society of Jesuits; but, going to Geneva, he was confirmed in his intention of leaving theCiiurch of Kome. From Geneva he went to Paris, where he nar- rowly escaped the massacre. Arriving in London, he publicly renounced popery, and settled at Colchester, Essex, as a schoolmaster. In 1578 he returned to Scot- land, joined Knox and the other Reformers, was appoint- ed minister of Paisley^and member of the General As- sembly which met at Edinburgh the same year, and was chosen moderator in the Assembly of 1579. He was soon after made principal of the College of (ilasgow, antl died in 1583. His only publication is entitled Responsio ad Ilamiltonii Dialoyum (Edinb. 1579, 8vo), a defence of the Presbyterians, to which is addeii Eximii ViriJoannis Knoxii, Scoticance EcclesioB Instauratoris, etc. See Al- libone, Diet, of Brit, and A mer. A uthors, s. v. ; Chal- mers, Bioy. Diet, s. v.
Smigleciiis, Martin, a learned Jesuit, was born in Poland in 1562. He entered the Society of Jesuits in Rome in 1681, and after making great progress in his studies was sent back to Poland, and taught philosophy at Wilna for four years and divinity for ten. He became rector of several colleges and superior of the convent at Cracow. He died July 26, 1618. He published many works against the Protestants, but his principal work is his Logic (Ingolst. 1618, 2 vols. 4to). See Chalmers, Bioff. Diet. s. v.
Smik, in Lettish mythology, was a god of the Lith- uanians, to whom they dedicated the first furrow turned up by the plough, and whatever should grow on it. To cross such a furrow was regarded as an insult to the god. — Vollmer, Worterb. d. Mythol. s. v.
Smilax, a young girl in Grecian mythologj' who tenderl)' loved Crocus. As their love was hopeless, the gods changeil them into flowers bearing their respective names.
Smintheus, in Grecian mythology, is a surname given to Apollo in the Troad, from the town of Sminthe. It is derived, by some, from sminthos, a mouse.
Smite (!^-!, rvTrrw, etc.), to strike, is often used in Scripture for to kill. Thus David smote the Philistine, i. e. he killed Goliath. The Lord smote Nabal and Uz- ziah, i. e. he put them to death. To smite an army is to coiKpier it, to rout it entirely. To smite with the tongue is to load with injuries and reproaches, with scandalous reflections. To smite the thigh denotes in- dignation, trouble, astonishment (Jer. xxxi, 19). — Cal- met.
Smith (irJ"iH, chardsh), a loorkman in stone, wood, or metal, like the Lat. faber, but sometimes more ac- curately defined by what follows, as bT"l3 tli'^n, a workman in iron, a smith ; Sept. tiktwv, reKTwv fjidf]- pov, \a\Ktv^, TexviT't]g ; Yulg.J'aber and faber Jh'rari- ns (1 Sam. xiii, 19; Isa. xliv, 12 ; liv, 16; 2 Kings xxiv, 14 ; Jer. xxiv, 1 ; xxix, 2). In 2 Chron. xxiv, 12 " work- ers in iron and brass" are mentioned, The first smith mentioned in Scripture is Tubal-cain, whom some writ- ers, arguing from the similarity of the names, identify with Yulcan ((Jerh. Vossius, X^e Orig. Idolol.i, 16). He is said to have been "an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron" (Gen. iv, 22), or, perhaps more properly, a whetter or sharpener of every instrument of copper or iron. So Montanus, " acnentem omne artificium seris et ferri ;" Sept. fffvpoKOTrog \n\KEie x^'^'^ov '''*' ^'f '/- pov ; Vulg. " fuit malleator et faber in cuncta opera a;ris et ferri." Josephus says that he first of all invented the art of making brass (Ant. i, 2, 2). As the art of the smith is one of the first essentials to civilization, the mention of its founder was worthy of a place among the other fathers of inventions. So requisite was the trade of a smith in ancient warfare that conquerors re- moved these artisans from a vanquished nation, in or- der the more effectually to disable it. Thus the Philis- tines deprived the Hebrews of their smiths (1 Sam. xiii, 19; comp. Judg. V, 8). So Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, treated them in later times (2 Kings xxiv, 14; Jer. xxiv, 1; xxix, 2). With these instances the com- mentators compare the stipulation of Porsenna with the Roman people after the expidsion of their kings: "Ne ferro, nisi in agricultura, uterentur" (Wwy, Nisi. Nat. xxxi, 14). Cyrus treated the Lydians in the same manner (Herodotus, i, 142). See Handicraft.