SONG OF SONGS. See SONG OF SOLOMON.

SOPHRONIUS, so-fro'nî-Us: The name of two men of note in the early Church.

1. A contemporary of Jerome, whom the latter describes (De vir. ill., cxxxiv., NPNF, 2 ser., iii. 384) as "a man of superlative learning" who wrote while a lad a Laudes Bethlehem, and later a book on "The Overthrow of Serapis" (i.e., the destruction of the Serapeum in Alexandria in 392). But perhaps his best title to distinction in Jerome's eyes was his translation into Greek of certain works by the latter, viz., De virginitate, Vita Hilarion, and of Jerome's rendering of the Psalter and the Prophets. The translation of the Vita was published by A. Papadopulos-Kerameus in Analekta Hierosolymitikes strachuologias, v. 82-136 (St. Petersburg, 1898). Recently Sophronius has been held to be the author of the Greek translation of Jerome's De vir. ill., this upon the authority of Erasmus, for which further authority fails. The translation in question belongs perhaps to the period between the sixth or seventh and the ninth century.

2. The sophist and patriarch of Jerusalem; b. at Damascus; d. in 638, his day in the Greek Church being March 11. He tells at the close of his panegyric of St. Cyrus and St. John of his origin at Damascus of parents known as Plynthas and Myro. He was a monk. His birth year has been guessed as 550, in which case he must have been eighty or eighty-five when he became patriarch---not impossible, indeed, but unlikely, considering his activity. His learning must have been noteworthy, his title of "sophist" referring to his lectures on rhetoric. He was in Egypt in 579, but was not then a monk, entering the cloister on his return in 580, making that his home for thirty years, though leaving it for journeys through Palestine in company with John Moschus. During the lifetime of the Patriarch Eulogius (d. 607) the two friends visited Alexandria again, coming into close relations with Eulogius and with his successor, Johannes Eleemon (q.v.). There Sophronius was attacked with a disease of the eyes, the cure of which he attributed to the saints Cyrus and John. During the stay there, lasting ten years, news came of the capture of Jerusalem by the Persians in 614, which led Sophronius to compose an ode of lamentation. Soon after the friends went to Rome, where Moschus wrote the Pratum spirituale, which he dedicated to his companion. There Moschus died, and Sophronius carried his body back to Palestine probably in 619 (not 634), after which he reentered the monastery. In 633 he was again in Alexandria to treat with the Patriarch Cyrus against union with the Apollinarians (see MONOTHELITES); failing in his mission there he went to Constantinople, where he fared no better; in 634 he was made patriarch of Jerusalem, a reward for his activities against monothelitism and onergiam. In his inaugural, he dealt with the doctrinal contest, and called attention to the danger from the Saracens. He lived to see the assault on Jerusalem and fell into the hands of Omar, probably at the beginning of 638, and soon after died, probably an exceedingly aged man.

The uncertainty whether Sophronius the sophist and Sophronius the patriarch are the same person appears also in considering his writings, though they furnish strong arguments for the identity, especially in the rhythmic law of the double dactylic close which appears in the writings. Yet this was a common practise and the argument is not conclusive. So the Anacreontic odes appear to belong to the sophist, and one from the time of the patriarchate is not yet known. Of the prose works may be named such hagiographic writings as (1) the Laudes in SS. Cyrum et Johannem (MPG, lxxxvii. 3, cols. 3379-3676), the saints to whom Sophronius attributed relief from the trouble with his eyes; it falls into two parts, the encomium and a narrative of seventy miracles by the saints, and was written before 615. (2) The life of Johannes Eleemon, probably a joint composition of Sophronius and Moschus, completed by the former after the death of the latter; it is no longer extant, but probably Simeon Metaphrastes copied it in the first chapters of his Vita. (3) Vita Mariæ Ægyptiae (MPG, ut sup., cols. 3697-3726)

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north latitude, with the exception of Fiji and the Hawaiian Islands, to which separate articles are devoted.

Austral or Tubuai Islands:

A small group extending from about 149° to 151° 50' west longitude in about 22° south latitude, under French control, with a steadily decreasing population (1,400 in 1880, 1,000 in 1900). The principal islands are Rurutu, Tubuai, and Rapa Iti. A terrible epidemic having appeared in Rurutu in 1821, two of the chiefs resolved to sail to a happier land. One of them, Auura, after long exposure reached the Society Islands and eventually landed at Raiatea, where he met the Rev. John Williams (q.v.) of the London Missionary Society. In three months he and his companions had learned to read and went back to Rurutu accompanied by some Christians from Raiatea. These were the first of a large company of South Sea Islanders who have been foreign missionaries. The idols were soon given up, and Christianity was firmly established. John Williams visited some of the islands in 1823. In 1887 two of the members of the native church in Rurutu volunteered for mission work in New Guinea. As the islands passed to French rule the Paris Missionary Society took over the work in 1890, and now has 8 stations, 10 native pastors, 477 church-members, and 624 scholars.

Bismarck Archipelago:

A large group lying north of eastern New Guinea, in 145°-155° east longitude, and about 6° south latitude, part of which was formerly known as the New Britain Archipelago, since 1884 under the German flag. The native population (1906) is about 188,000 with 299 non-native colored, and 463 whites. The principal islands are Neu Pommern, Neu Mecklenburg, Neu Lauenburg, Neu Hannover, Admiralty, Anchorite, Commerson, and Hermit. The Methodist Missionary Society of Australasia under Rev. George Brown, with teachers from Fiji and Samoa, began work in 1875 in New Britain and New Ireland--now Neu Pommern and Neu Mecklenburg. It has 186 churches, 18 preaching-stations, 8 missionaries, 5 missionary sisters, 7 native ministers, 12 catechists, 168 native teachers, 249 class leaders, 4,608 church-members, one college, named after Rev. George Brown, 6 training institutions with 169 students, 189 Sunday-schools with 5,481 scholars, 196 day schools with 5,463 scholars, and 21,017 hearers. In Neu Pommern the Roman Catholics number 15,045, with 24 mission priests, 37 lay brothers, 28 sisters, 82 native catechists, 75 head- and sub-stations, 85 schools, 4,123 scholars, and 479 children in 13 orphan asylums.

Caroline Islands:

Lying north of the Bismarck Archipelago, these islands cover about 140°-163° east longitude, in north latitude 5°-10°. Since 1899 they have been in possession of Germany by purchase from Spain. The native population is about 55,000, with about 140 whites. The Spanish discoveries in these seas in 1686 were followed by a series of religious expeditions. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions began work on Kusaie and Ponape under Revs. B. G. Snow and Luther Halsey Gulick (q.v.) in 1852, and with valuable help from the Hawaiian Evangelical Association the work prospered. In 1857 the Rev. Hiram Bingham (q: v.) of the American Board arrived, and work was soon begun in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands (;see below). In 1865 the mission was extended to the Truk Archipelago. The Protestant missionaries were expelled by the Spanish government in 1887, but returned in 1900, and before long there were 135 native workers, 57 outstations, 99 schools, 2 pri nting-houses, 2 dispensaries and 5,500 communicants. The American Board is handing over its work in the Caroline Islands to the Liebenzeller Mission, and has now only five missionaries in these islands. The Roman Catholic mission was established in 1887, and now has 1,880 adherents, 12 priests, 12 lay brothers, 6 sisters, 18 head- and sub-stations,? schools, and 200 scholars.

Cook or Hervey Islands:

These islands, belonging to Great Britain, lie between 157° and 170° west longitude and about 20° south latitude. The principal islands are Rarotonga, Mangaia, Aitutaki, and Atiu (Vatiu). The group was annexed to New Zealand in 1901. In 1821 Papeiha and Vahopata, Christians connected with the London Missionary Society from Raiatea in the Society Islands, landed in Aitutaki where Christianity was soon accepted. Papeiha passed on to Mangaia, but it was not till 1825 that the mission was established there. Papeiha was also the apostle of Rarotonga, which was discovered by the Rev. John Williams in 1821, who frequently visited the island between 1823 and 1834. When he landed the people were ignorant of Christian worship, when he left he did not know of a house in the island where family prayer was not offered morning and evening. Over 500 men and women have passed through the Training Institution begun in 1839, many of whom have gone to evangelize other islands. The London Missionary Society now has 3 missionaries, 21 ordained natives, 23 day schools with 1,283 scholars and 22 Sunday-schools with 1,152 scholars, and 4,885 adherents. The Roman Catholics arrived in 1894, and now have 6 priests and six sisters and about 100 converts. The Seventh Day Adventists began work in 1890, and have one missionary and 50 adherents.

Ellice Islands:

These islands, under British control, are situated 176°-180° east longitude and 5° to 11° south latitude. The area is about fifteen square miles, and the population about 2,400. The principal islands are Sophia, Ellice, Nukufetan, and Vaitupu. In 1861 Elikana and other Christians from Manihiki in the Penrhyn Group were carried by stress of weather some 1,200 miles to Nakulæla) in the Ellice Islands. Elikana, who was a deacon, began preaching Christianity. Rev. Archibald Wright Murray, of the London Missionary Society, from Samoa visited the islands and settled Samoan teachers there in 1865. Some years previously a knowledge of the true God had been brought by a man named Stuart, who was the master of a trading-vessel from Sydney. The group is now worked with the Tokelau Islands as part of the Samoan mission. In the two groups there are 13 ordained natives, 1,488 church-members, 2,41:i adherents, 13 day schools with 1,428 scholars, and 13 Sunday-schools with 1,543 scholars.

Gilbert Islands:

These islands, belonging to Great

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Spires Spiritualism THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG

A Study of Spinoza, 2d ed., London, 1883; A. B. Moss, Bruno and Spinoza, London, 1$85; A. Baltzer, Spinoza's EntuncklungsBarg inabesordere nach aeinen Briefer peachildert, Kiel, 1888; J. Caird, Spinoza, Edinburgh and London. 1888, new ed., 1901; J: Stern, Die Philosophic Spirozas, Stuttgart, 1890: R. Worms, La Morale de Spinoza, Paris. 1802; G. J. Bollard, Spinoza, ib. 1399; E. Ferri~re,1 a Doctrine de Spinoza, ib, l$99; S. Rappaport, Spinoza and Schoperhauer, Berlin, 1899; R. Wahle, Kurze Erkliirurg der Ethik von Spinoza, Vienna, 1899: J. Zulawaki, Das Problem der Causalitdt bei Spinoza, Bern. 1899; J. D. Bierens de Hann, Levensleer tsar de bepirseler roar Spinoza, The Hague, 1900; J. H. von Kirchmann, Erlauterungen zu Benedict von Spinozas Ethik, Leipsic, 1900; H. H. Joachim, A Study of the Ethics of Spinoza, Oxford, 1901; B. Auerbach, Spinoza, Stuttgart, 1903; R. A. Duff, Spinoza's Political and Ethical Philosophy, Glasgow, 1903; J. Iveraeh, Descartes, Spinoza, the New Philosophy, Edinburgh, 1904; E. E. Powell, Spinoza and Religion, Chicago, 1908; W. Prumers, Spinozas Reliyiorsbegri$', Halls, 1906; J. A. Picton, Spinoza, a Handbook to the Ethics, London and New York, 1906; A. Wen zel, Die Weltanschauung Spirozas, Leipaic, 1907; F. Erhardt, Die Philosophic des Spinoza im Lichte der Kritik, ib. 2908; J. Stern, Die Philo.·ophie Spinozaa, 3d ed., Stuttgart, 1908; K. Fischer, Geschichte der neueren Philosophic, vol. ii., 5th ed., Heidelberg, 1909.

SPIRES. See SPEYER.