SYGN
64
SYLPHS
geofijrapher, that proves the place "to lie under the tropii', the finomon at miililay casting no shadow." IJiit althoiigli excavations have been carried on considera- bly below the pavement, which has been turned up in search of the well it was tliought to cover, no other re- sults liavc been obtained than that tiiis shrine was a very im|)robable site for such an observatory, even if it ever existed ; and that Strabo was strangely misinformed, since the Egyjitians themselves could never in his time have imagined this city to lie under the tropic; for tliey were by no means ignorant of astronomy, and Syene was, even in the age of llipparchus (B.C. 140, when the obliipiity of the ecliptic was about 23° 51 ' 20"), very far north of that line. The belief that Syene was in the tropic was, however, very general in the time of the Ko- mans, and is noticed by Seneca, Lucan, Pliny, and oth- ers. But, as Sir J. (i. Wilkinson remarks, " a well would have been a bad kind of observatory if the sun had been really vertical; and if Strabo saw the meridian sun in a well, he might be sure he was not in the tropic" {Mod. Ef/i/pt and Thebes, ii, 286). The same writer adds, " Un- fortunately, the observations of the ancient Greek wri- ters on the obliipiity of the ecliptic are not so satisfac- tory as might be wished ; nor are we enabled, especially as La (Irange's theory of the annual change of obliquity being variable is allowed to be correct, to ascertain the time when Aswan might have been within the tropic, a calculation or traditional fact in which, perhaps, orig- inated the erroneous assertion of Strabo." The latitude of Aswan is tixed by Wilkinson at 24° .5' 30", and the longitude is usually given as 32° 55'. — Kitto.
Sygn, in Norse mythology, was one of the female asas, goddess of justice, who takes charge of decisions and prevents any one denying anything. She guarded the doors of the palace of Wingolf, so that foreigners could not enter unawares.
Sykes, Arthur Ashley, an English divine, was born in London about ll)S4. He was educated at St. Paul's School, and was admitted to Corpus Christi Col- lege, Cambridge, 1701, taking his degree of A.B. in 1704-5 and A.M. in 1708. After leaving college he served as assistant in St. Paul's School, but was collated to the vicarage of Godmershatp, Kent, in 1712-13, by arch- bishop Tenison. In April, 1714, he was instituted to the rectory of Dry-Drayton, Cambridgeshire, and in the August following resigned the vicarage of Godraersham. He was instituted to the rectory of Rayleigh, Essex, Nov^ember, 1718, and resigned the living of Dry-Draj'- ton. In December following he was appointed after- noon preacher of King Street Chapel, Golden Square, a chapel of ease to St. James's, Westminster. The morn- ing preachership becoming vacant in 1721, Mr. Sykes was appointed to it. In January, 1723-24, he was ap- pointed to the prebend of Alton-Borealis, Salisburj', and three years after became precentor of the same cathedral. He also received the following appointments: assistant preacher at St. James's, Westminster, April, 1725 ; dean of St. Burien, Cornwall, February, 1739 ; prebendarj' of Winchester, Oct. 15, 1740. He died Nov. 15, 1756. His published works number sixty-three, of which we no- tice. An E.tsin/ np<m the Truth of the Christian Reliyion (Knapton, 1725, 8vo ; 2d ed. 1775, 8vo) : — Principles and Connection of Xatitruland lievealed Relir/ion (1740, 8vo) : — Credibility of Miracles and Revelation (1742, 8vo) : — Essay on Sucrijices (1748, 8vo) : — Scripture Doctrine of Redemption of Man by Jesus Christ (1755, 8vo) : — Par- aphrase and Xotes upon the Epistle to the Hebrews (1755, 4to). See Allibone, Bict. of Brit, and Amer. Authors, a. v. ; Chalmers, Bior/. Diet. s. v,
Sykes, Oliver, a minister of the IMethodist Epis- copal Church, was born at Suffield, Conn., 1778. He was converted in his twenty-second year, and in 1806 was "received on trial into the New York Conference. In 1810 he became superannuated, and held that relation through most of his life. He died Feb. 11, 1853. He left property, about $2500, to the Missionarx' Society,
for the benefit of the China Mission. See Minutes of Annual Conferences, 1853, |). 212.
Sylea, in (Jreek mythology, was a daughter of king ('orinthus and wife of Poly[)emon, to whom she bore Sinis, the ])ine-tree bender, a notorious robber.
Syleus, in Greek mythology, was a tyrant of Aulis, who compelled all foreigners wlio entered his dominions to labor in his garilen. Hercules killed him, together wuth his daughter Xenodice. Another daughter was educated by her brother Dicieus; she fell in love with Hercules, and died of grief because she could not be his. He also loved her so deeply that he was with difficulty restrained from casting himself upon her funeral pyre.
Syllabae enthronisticae (£i)X\«/3n( iv^povKJn- Kai), circidar letters written by bishops recently installed to f(»reign bishops, to give them an account of their faith and orthodoxy, that they might receive letters of i)eace and communion from them. See Bingham, Christ. An- tig. bk. ii, ch. xii, § 10.
Syllabus, an abstract; a compendium containing the heads of a lecture or sermon. • SYLLABUS (Gr. (rvWafiog, a collection, i. e. cata- logue). Papal, is the title given to the appendix to the encyclical letter issued by pope Pius IX, Dec. 8, 1864. It was "a list of the principal errors of the day pointed out in the consistorial allocutions, encyclical and other apostolical letters of pope Pius IX," and enumerating, under ten general heads or sections, eighty of these er- rors. These ten sections of errors are entitled, " I. Pan- theism, Naturalism, and Absolute Rationalism;" "II. Moderate Rationalism;" "III. Inditferentism, Tolera- tion;" "IV. Socialism, Communism, Secret Societies, Bible Societies, Clerico-liberal Societies;" "V. Errors respecting the Church and her Rights;" ""\^I. Errors of Civil Society, as much in themselves as considered in their relations to the Church;" "YIL Errors in Nat- ural and Christian Morals;" "VIII. Errors as to Chris- tian Marriage ;" " IX. Errors regarding the Civil Power of the Sovereign Pontiff;" " X. Errors referring to Mod- ern Liberalism." Some of the specifications under these general heads have respect to religious freedom, the sep- aration of Church and State, the civil contract of mar- riage, education outside of the control of the Roman Catholic Church, the conflict between the civil law and the spiritual authority of the Ciuirch, the immunities of the clergy, the cessation of the pope's temporal |x>wer, etc. Much excitement was created by the appearance of this bull and syllabus, especially in France ; Jnles Baroche, minister of public worship, forbidding the bish- ops to publish the syllabus and the doctrinal i)art of the bull. Elsewhere the civil governments did not interfere.