accordance with a decision rendered by him in 1818. He held the office of president of the execu- tive council from 1808 till 1829, and that of speaker of the legislative council from 9 Jan.. 1809, till his ill ;ith. He went to England in 1814 to answer complaints that were made against the rules of practice that he enforced in his court, which charges were dismissed by the privy council. While there Judge Sewell was the original proposer of Canadian federation, publishing a "Plan for a General Federal Union of the British Provinces in North America " (London. 1815). The degree of LL. D. was conferred on him by Harvard in 1832. He was the author of an " Essay on the Judicial History of France so far as it relates to the Law of the Province of Lower Canada" (Quebec. 1824). His son, Edmund Vil- lougrhby, clergyman, b. in Quebec, Canada, 3 Sept.. 1800, received a classical education in Quebec and in English schools, studied for clerical orders, and was ordained a priest of the Church of England on 27 Dec., 1827. He was incumbent of the Church of the Holy Trinity at Quebec, and an assistant minister of the cathedral till 1808. Jonathan's grandson, William (irant, journalist, b. in Quebec in 182!) : d. there, 8 Aug., 1862, was educated for the bar, but preferred journalism, and in 1853 removed to New York city and became translator and law reporter for the " Herald." He was after- ward connected for six years with the New York Times," becoming one of its principal editors. Infirmity of health compelled him to pass three winters in the West Indies, and, while there, he studied the results of emancipation, which he reviewed dispassionately in " The Ordeal of Free Labor in the West Indies" (New York. 1801).
SEWELL, William Joyce, senator, b. in Cas-
tlebar, Ireland, 6 Dec., 1835. He was left an or-
phan, came to the United States in 1851, was for
a time employed in mercantile business in New
York city, made several voyages as a sailor on mer-
chant vessels, afterward engaged in business in
Chicago, 111. At the beginning of the civil war,
being in the eastern part of the country, he entered
the army as a captain in the 5th New Jersey regi-
i in nt. He rose to be colonel in October, 1802, and
commanded a brigade at Chancellorsville, where he
led a brilliant charge and was badly wounded. He
was wounded also at Gettysburg, and served cred-
itably on other battle-fields. On 13 March, 1865,
he received the brevet of brigadier-general of vol-
unteers for bravery at Chancellorsville, and that of
major-general for his services during the war. He
served for nine years in the New Jersey senate, of
which he was president for three years. He was a
delegate to the Republican national conventions of
l*;n. 880, 1884, and 1888. He entered the U.S. sen-
ate on 4 March, 1881, and served till 3 March, 1887.
SKYBERT, Adam, chemist, b. in Philadelphia,
Pa., 16 May, 1773 ; d. in Paris, France, 2 May, 1825.
He was graduated at the medical department of the
University of Pennsylvania in 1793, and then spent
snm,. time at the Ecole des mines in Paris, also
studying at the universities of London, Edinburgh,
and Gottingen. On his return he settled in Phila-
delphia, and, acquiring a collection of minerals,
devoted his attention specially to the practice and
study of chemistry and mineralogy. In 1805 he
was called on by the elder Silliman to name the
few specimens that at that time constituted the
collection belonging to Yale. Dr. Seybert was
elected as a Democrat to congress, and served from
27 Nov., ISO'.), till 2 March, 1815. and again from
1 Dec., 1817, till 3 Dec., 1819. He was chosen a
member of the American philosophical society in
1797, and contributed his papers on Experiments
and Observations on Land and Sea Air " and " On
the Atmosphere of Marshes " to its transactions
during that year. His publication of " The Statis-
ti.-al Annals" of the United States from 1789 till
1818 " (Philadelphia. 1818) was reviewed by Sydney
Smith in the "Edinburgh Review " for January,
1821. In this article occurs the oft-quoted ques-
tion, " Who reads an American book?" He be-
queathed 1,000 for educating the deaf and dumb,
and s'inii tur the I'liil.-nlclpln.-i orphan asylum.
His son, HENRY (1802-1883), was also educated at
the Ecole des mines, and achieved considerable rep-
utation by his analyses of American minerals.
Shortly after the death of his father his attention
became diverted from science.
SEYFFARTH, Gustavus. clergyman, b. in
Ubigau, Saxony, 13 July, 1796; d. in New York
city, 17 Nov.. 1885. He studied in the gymnasium
at Leipsic. afterward in the university, and in 1800
in Paris under the direction of Champollion, the
celebrated French Egyptologist. He became well
known as a scientist and archaeologist and a de-
cipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphics. In 1823 he
published his " Clavis Hieroglyphicum Egyptia-
corum." In 1825-'55 he was professor of Oriental
archaeology in the University of Leipsic, during
which time he published the most important, of his
numerous scientific and archaeological works. In
1855 he emigrated to the United States, and was
elected professor of archaeology and exegesis in
Concordia Lutheran theological seminary. St. Louis,
Mo., where he remained until 1871. From this
date until his death he resided in New York in
retirement. In 1873 he celebrated the fiftieth an-
niversary of his doctorate, and he received from
the University of Leipsic an annual pension, in
recognition of original investigations in aivha-
ology. He claims to have been the first to decipher
the hieroglyphics on the celebrated Rosetta stone;
and he translated numerous Egyptian manuscripts
in the collection of the New York historical so-
ciety, and the characters on the obelisk in Central
park, New York. He published numerous treatises,
both in Germany and in the United States, many
of which have been translated into different lan-
guages. Among his published works are " De
Sonis literarum gnecarum turn genuinis turn
adoptivis libri duo " (Leipsic, 1823) ; " Rudimenta
hieroglyphica, ace. explicationes, xvii. speeiminum
hieroglyphicum " (1826); " Beitrage zur Kenntniss
der Literatur, Kunst, Mythologie nnd Geschiehte des alien Aegyptens " (1826) ; " Brevis Defensio hieroglyphices inventae a Fr. Aug. Spohn ft G. Syfarth" (1827); "Replique aux objections de Mon. Champollion centre le meine systeme " (1827) ; " Systema Astronomic ^Egyptiacea?"" (1833); ' Chronologia Sacra: eine Untersuchung iiber das Geburtsjahr Christi " (1846) ; " Theologische Schriften der alten Aegypter, nach dem Turhier Papyrus, zuinersten Male libersetzt " i Got ha. 1855); " Grammatica ^Egyptiac;e: erste Abthrilung zur Uebersetzung alt-a'gyptischen Literatur- Werken. nebst Geschiehte des Hieroglyphisches Schliissels" (1855); "Summary of Recent Discoveries in Biblical Chronology, Universal History, and Biblical Archaeology, with Special Reference, to Dr. Abbott’s
Egyptian Museum, together with a Translation of the First Sacred Books of the Ancient Egyptian- " (New York, 1857) ; " Die wahre Zeitrechnung des alten Testaments, nelist riutT ZciltafVl xuiii neueu Testameute" iSt. Louis, Mo., 1858) ; "An Astronomical Inscription concerning the Year 22. I!. ('." tl^noi: " Amerikanischer Kalendermann" (l^ii'.h: " Cliroiidl'iuia Veienim" (1871): and Die Allgemeinheit der Siindfluth."
