S (continued 6)

Synagogue, a Jewish institution for worship and religious instruction which dates from the period of the Babylonian Captivity, specially to keep alive in the minds of the people a knowledge of the law. The decree ordaining it required the families of a district to meet twice every Sabbath for this purpose, and so religiously did the Jewish people observe it that it continues a characteristic ordinance of Judaism to this day. The study of the law became henceforth their one vocation, and the synagogue was instituted both to instruct them in it and to remind them of the purpose of their separate existence among the nations of the earth. High as the Temple and its service still stood in the esteem of every Jew, from the period of the Captivity it began to be felt of secondary importance to the synagogue and its service. With the erection and extension of the latter the people were being slowly trained into a truer sense of the nature of religious worship, and gradually made to feel that to know the will of God and do it was a more genuine act of homage to Him than the offering of sacrifices upon an altar or the observance of any religious rite. Under such training the issue between the Jew and the Samaritan became of less and less consequence, and he and not the Samaritan was on the pathway which led direct to the final worship of God in spirit and in truth (John iv. 22).

Synagogue, the Great, the name given to a council at Jerusalem, consisting of 120 members, there assembled about the year 410 B.C. to give final form to the service and worship of the Jewish Church. A Jewish tradition says Moses received the law from Sinai; he transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, the elders to the prophets, to the men of the Great Assembly, who added thereto these words: "Be circumspect in judgment, make many disciples, and set a hedge about the law." To them belong the final settlement and arrangement of the Jewish Scriptures, the introduction of a new alphabet, the regulation of the synagogue worship, and the adoption of sundry liturgical forms, as well as the establishment of the Feast of Purim (q. v.), and probably the "schools" of the Scribes.

Syncretism, name given to an attempted blending of different, more or less antagonist, speculative or religious systems into one, such as Catholic and Protestant or Lutheran and Reformed.

Syndicate, in commercial parlance is a name given to a number of capitalists associated together for the purpose of carrying through some important business scheme, usually having in view the controlling and raising of prices by means of a monopoly or "corner."

Synergism, the theological doctrine that divine grace requires a correspondent action of the human will to render it effective, a doctrine defended by Melanchthon when he ascribes to the will the "power of seeking grace," the term "synergy" meaning co-operation.

Synesius, Bishop Ptolemais, born at Cyrene; became a pupil of Hypatia (q. v.) and was to the last a disciple, "a father of the Church without having been her son," and is styled by Kingsley "the squire bishop," from his love of the chase; "books and the chase," on one occasion he writes, "make up my life"; wrote one or two curious books, and several hymns expressive of a longing after divine things (375-414).

Synod, name given to any assembly of bishops in council, and in the Presbyterian Church to an assembly of a district or a general assembly.

Synoptic Gospels, the first three Gospels, so called because they are summaries of the chief events in the story, and all go over the same ground, while the author of the fourth follows lines of his own.

Syra (31), an island of the Cyclades group, in the Ægean Sea, 10 m, by 5 m., with a capital called also Hermoupolis; on the E. coast is the seat of the government of the islands, and the chief port.

Syracuse, 1, one of the great cities of antiquity (19), occupied a wide triangular tableland on the SE. coast of Sicily, 80 m. SW. of Messina, and also the small island Ortygia, lying close to the shore; founded by Corinthian settlers about 733 B.C.; amongst its rulers were the tyrants Dionysius the Elder and Dionysius the Younger (q. v.) and Hiero, the patron of Æschylus, Pindar, &c.; successfully resisted the long siege of the Athenians in 414 B.C., and rose to a great pitch of renown after its struggle with the Carthaginians in 397 B.C., but siding with Hannibal in the Punic Wars, was taken after a two years' siege by the Romans (212 B.C.), in whose hands it slowly declined, and finally was sacked and destroyed by the Saracens in 878 A.D. Only the portion on Ortygia was rebuilt, and this constitutes the modern city, which has interesting relics of its former greatness, but is otherwise a crowded and dirty place, surrounded by walls, and fortified; exports fruit, olive-oil, and wine. 2, A city (108) of New York State, United States, 148 m. W. of Albany, in the beautiful valley of Onondaga; is a spacious and handsomely laid-out city, with university, &c.; has flourishing steel-works, foundries, rolling-mills, &c., and enormous salt manufactures.

Syria (2,000), one of three divisions of Asiatic Turkey, slightly larger than Italy, forms a long strip of mountains and tableland intersected by fertile valleys, lying along the eastern end of the Mediterranean from the Taurus range in the N. to the Egyptian border on the 8., and extending to the Euphrates and Arabian desert The coastal strip and waters fall within the Levant (q. v.). In the S. lies Palestine, embracing Jordan, Dead Sea, Lake of Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), Jerusalem, Gaza, &c.; in the N., between the parallel ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, lies the valley of Coele-Syria, through which flows the Orontes. Important towns are Aleppo, Damascus, Beyrout (chief port), &c.; principal exports are silk, wool, olive-oil, and fruits. Four-fifths of the people are Mohammedans of Aramæan (ancient Syrian) and Arabic stock. Once a portion of the Assyrian empire (q. v.), it became a possession successively of the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Egyptians, and finally fell into the hands of the Ottoman Turks in 1516, under whose rule it now languishes. For further particulars see various names and places mentioned.

Syrianus, a Greek Neoplatonic philosopher of the 5th century; had Proclus (q. v.) for a disciple; left a valuable commentary on the metaphysics of Aristotle.

Syrinx, an Arcadian nymph, who, being pursued by Pan, fled into a river, was metamorphosed into a reed, of which Pan made his flute.

Syrtis, Major and Minor, the ancient names of the Gulfs of Sidra and Cabes on the N. coast of Africa, the former between Tripoli and Barca, the latter between Tunis and Tripoli.

Syrus, Publius, a slave brought to Rome, and on account of his wit manumitted by his master; made his mark by composing memoirs and a collection of pithy sayings that appear to have been used as a school-book; flourished in 45 B.C.

Système de la Nature, a book, the authorship of which is ascribed to Baron Holbach (q. v.), which appeared in 1770, advocating a philosophical materialism and maintaining that nothing exists but matter, and that mind is either naught or only a finer kind of matter; there is nowhere anything, it insists, except matter and motion; it is the farthest step yet taken in the direction of speculative as opposed to political nihilism.

Syzygy, the point on the orbit of a planet, or the moon when it is in conjunction with, or in opposition to, the sun.

Szechuan (71,000), the largest province of China, lies in the W. between Thibet (NW.) and Yunnan (SW.); more than twice the size of Great Britain; a hilly country, rich in coal, iron, &c., and traversed by the Yangtse-kiang and large tributaries; Chingtu is the capital; two towns have been opened to foreign trade, opium, silk, tobacco, musk, white wax, &c., being chief exports.

Szegedin (89), a royal free city of Hungary, situated at the confluence of the Maros and Theiss, 118 m. SE. of Budapest, to which it ranks next in importance as a commercial and manufacturing centre; has been largely rebuilt since the terribly destructive flood of 1879, and presents a handsome modern appearance.