This episode may have been suggested by a well-known incident in ecclesiastical history. At Merum, a city of Phrygia, Amachius, the governor of the province, ordered the temple to be opened, and the idols to be cleansed. Three Christians, inflamed with Christian zeal, went by night and broke all the images. The governor, unable to discover the culprits, commanded all the Christians of Merum to be put to death; but the three who had been guilty of the act confessed their offence, and were executed.--Socratês, _Ecclesiastical History_, iii. 15 (A.D. 439). (See SOPHRONIA.) =Soham=, a monster with the head of a horse, four eyes, and the body of a fiery dragon. (See OURANABAD.) =Soi-même.= _St. Soi-même_, the “natural man,” in opposition to the “spiritual man.” In almost all religious acts and feelings, a thread of self may be detected, and many things are done ostensibly for God, but in reality for St. Soi-même. They attended the church service not altogether without regard to St. Soi-même.--_Asylum Christi_, ii. =Soldan= (_The_), Philip II. of Spain, whose wife was Adicia (or _papal bigotry_). Prince Arthur sent the soldan a challenge for wrongs done to Samient, a female ambassador (_deputies of the states of Holland_). On receiving this challenge, the soldan “swore and banned most blasphemously,” and mounting “his chariot high” (_the high ships of the Armāda_), drawn by horses fed on carrion (_the Inquisitors_), went forth to meet the prince, whom he expected to tear to pieces with his chariot scythes, or trample down beneath his horses’ hoofs. Not being able to get at the soldan from the great height of the chariot, the prince uncovered his shield, and held it up to view. Instantly the soldan’s horses were so terrified that they fled, regardless of the whip and reins, overthrew the chariot, and left the soldan on the ground, “torn to rags, amongst his own iron hooks and grapples keen.”--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, v. 8 (1596). ⁂ The overthrow of the soldan by supernatural means, and not by combat, refers to the destruction of the Armada by tempest, according to the legend of the medals, _Flavit Jehovah, et dissipati sunt_ (“He blew with His blast, and they were scattered”). =Soldier’s Daughter= (_The_), a comedy by A. Cherry (1804). Mrs. Cheerly, the daughter of Colonel Woodley, after a marriage of three years, is left a widow, young, rich, gay, and engaging. She comes to London, and Frank Heartall, a generous-minded young merchant, sees her at the opera, falls in love with her, and follows her to her lodging. Here he meets with the Malfort family, reduced to abject poverty by speculation, and relieves them. Ferret, the villain of the piece, spreads a report that Frank gave the money as hush-money, because he had base designs on Mrs. Malfort; but his character is cleared, and he leads to the altar the blooming young widow, while the return of Malfort’s father places his son again in prosperous circumstances.