red Parliament in 1847, and in 1861 became Solicitor-General
in Palmerston's ministry, receiving at the same time a knighthood; two
years later was advanced to the Attorney-Generalship; in 1872 was elected
Lord Chancellor, a position he retained till 1874, and again held from
1880 to 1885; refused to adopt Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule policy for
Ireland and joined the Liberal-Unionists, but declined to take office
under Lord Salisbury; was raised to an earldom in 1882, received various
honorary degrees; greatly interested himself in hymnology, and edited
"The Book of Praise"; wrote also several works on Church questions
(1812-1895).

SELBY (6), a market-town of Yorkshire, on the Ouse, 15 m. S. of
York; has a noted cruciform abbey church, founded in the 12th century,
and exhibiting various styles of architecture; has some boat-building;
manufactures flax, ropes, leather, bricks, &c.

SELDEN, JOHN, born at Salvington, Sussex; adopted law as a
profession, and was trained at Clifford's Inn and the Inner Temple,
London; successful as a lawyer, he yet found time for scholarly pursuits,
and acquired a great reputation by the publication of various erudite
works bearing on old English jurisprudence and antiquities generally; a
"History of Tithes" (1618), in which he combats the idea that "tithes"
are divinely instituted, got him into trouble with the Church; was
imprisoned in 1621 for encouraging Parliament to repudiate James's
absolutist claims; from his entrance into Parliament in 1623 continued to
play an important part throughout the troublous reign of Charles;
sincerely attached to the Parliamentary side, he was one of the framers
of the Petition of Right, and suffered imprisonment with Holies and the
others; sat in the Long Parliament, but, all through out of sympathy with
the extremists, disapproved of the execution of Charles; held various
offices, e. g. Keeper of the Rolls and Records in the Tower; continued
to write learned and voluminous works on biblical and historical
subjects, but is best remembered for his charming 'Table-talk, a book of
which Coleridge remarked, "There is more weighty bullion sense in this
book than I can find in the same number of pages of any uninspired
writer" (1584-1654).

SELENE, in the Greek mythology the moon-goddess, the sister of
Helios, and designated Phoebe as he was Phoebus; she became by Endymion
the mother of 50 daughters.

SELF-DENYING ORDINANCE, a resolution of the Long