SEDLNITZKI, sell-nit'ski, LEOPOLD GRAF VON: German prince bishop of Breslau and convert to Lutheranism; b. at the castle of Geppersdorf in Austrian Silesia, July 29, 1787; d. at Berlin Mar. 25, 1871. He was educated at the University of Breslau (1804-09), and in 1810 was ordained to the priesthood. His intention to devote himself to theological teaching was frustrated by illness, and in 1811 he accepted from the prince bishop of Breslau the posts of assessor and secretary in the vicariate which administered the spiritual affairs of the diocese. Even at this time he was by no means in full accord with the course pursued by the Roman Catholic Church. At the same time, he firmly maintained the external unity and the apostolic character of that church, regarding the Reformation as a break in the unity of the Church and as a disturbing factor in its divinely appointed development. Before long Sedlnitzki accepted an appointment in the royal service at Breslau, where he plunged into a multitude of new tasks concerning the Church and higher education. Discovering that the Protestant gymnasia were superior to the Roman Catholic, he considered it his duty to raise the standard of the schools of his church. He thus found himself obliged to consider more closely the relation of the Roman Catholic and the Protestant churches, and accordingly began a thorough study of Protestant symbolics. Nevertheless he still remained true to his church, though disapproving indulgences, the growth of adoration of saints and of pilgrimages. The conclusions thus reached could not be concealed, but despite his views, which now involved doubts of the unity and catholicity of the Roman Catholic Church, Sedlnitzki was unanimously elected bishop in 1835. He accepted with reluctance, and soon had to encounter serious opposition. Matters reached a climax in his refusal to obey the papal brief of Mar. 25, 1830, to the effect that mixed marriages could be blessed by the church only after the contracting parties had promised to bring up their children in the Roman Catholic faith. Sedlnitzki, preferring to obey the laws of the State rather than those of his church, offered to resign his see on June 10, 1839. King Frederick William IV. vainly sought to restrain him from this extreme step, and, on the acceptance by Rome of Sedlnitzki's resignation, appointed him in 1840 privy councilor at Berlin. For a short time the ex-bishop continued to celebrate mass on high festivals but soon became more and more imbued with Protestant ideas, and, on Apr. 12, 1868, he marked his complete break with his church by receiving Protestant communion.

Henceforth Sedlnitzki sought with all earnestness to advance the cause of Protestantism. As early as 1864 he had founded a Lutheran institution, the Paulinum, for the education of boys, especially of those intended for the Lutheran ministry and for higher education. He later founded at Berlin the Johanneum, where young Lutheran theological students might receive appropriate training. In his will he devoted a considerable portion for the foundation of a similar Johanneum at Breslau, and a like foundation was provided for Silesia in the Sedlnitzkische Vikariatsfond. In addition to all

(DAVID ERDMANNt.)

BIBLioGRAPH7: Consult his Selbstbiographie. Nach seinem Leben and seine Papieren herausgegeben mit Aktenstiicken, Berlin, 1872.

SEDULIUS, se-du'li-us, COrLIUS: Christian poet of the early fifth century. Almost nothing is known of his life, even the name Coelius [or Circilius] is not assured, and it is only probable that he lived in Greece. His fame comes through his poems, especially his Carmen paschale, in 1,753 hexameters and five books, with a prologue of eight distichs, dedicated to a presbyter Macedonius. The poem deals with the miracles of Christ, the first book being an introduction discussing the miracles of the Old Testament, and the other four being based on the Gospels, particularly Matthew. The material is freely handled, and in form the poern belongs to the best of early Christian Latin literature. Sedulius later rendered his work into prose, to which he gave the title Opus paschale. In this the bombastic style contrasts strongly with the concise and compact diction of the poem. Sedulius left also two hymns. The first is an elegy in fifty-five distichs, which connects the events of the Old Testament with those of the New in the form of antetype to type. The structure is artificial, a hexameter on the Old Testament being succeeded by a pentameter dealing with the New Testament. The second hymn, a call to praise of Christ, is alphabetical in twenty-three strophes, the first lines of the strophes beginning with the letters of the alphabet in turn. Two parts of the composition have been used as church hymns, strophes A-G (as a Christmas hymn), and H,. I, L, N (at the feast of Epiphany).

The cento De verbi incarnatione was formerly wrongly attributed to Sedulius. (G. KROGER.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY: The poems were edited by F. Arevalo, Rome, 1794 (with preface of value) and reproduced in MPL, xix.; J. Looehorn, Munich, 1879; and J. Huemer, in CSEL, vol. x., 1885. Two brief Eng. transls. are in D. J. Donahoe, Early Christian Hymns, pp. 67-68, New York, 1908. Consult: J. Huemer, De Sedulii . . vita et scriptis commentatio, Vienna, 1878; C. L. Leimbach, Ueber den christlichen Dichter Sedulius, Goslar, 1879; G. Boissier, in Journal des savants, Sept., 1881; J. Kayser, Beitrage zur Geschichte and Erklarung der 61teslen Kirchenhymnen, pp. 337-385, 1351; S. W. Duffield, Latin Hymn Writers and their Hymns, pp. 83-87, New York, 1889; A. Ebert, Geschichte der Litleratur des Millelalters im Abendlande, i. 373-383, Leipsie, 1889; 111. Dlanitius, Geschichte der chrastlich-lateinischen Poesie, pp. 303-312, Stuttgart, 1891; A. Baumgartner, Die lateinische and griechische Litteratur der christlichen Valker, pp. 195-196, Freiburg 1905; Bardeahewer, Patrologie, p. 395, Eng. transl., St. Louis, 1908; DCB, iv. 598-$00 (noteworthy); Julian, Hymnology, p. 1037.

Irish monk, probably to be identified with Siadhal Mac Feradach, who died abbot of Kildare 828. Of his life nothing is known, although some have identified him (probably incorrectly) with the " Sedulius, bishop of Britain of the race of the Scots," who was one of the signers of the decrees of a synod held at Rome in 721 (cf. Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, ii., part 1, p. 7). This prelate was almost certainly a Scotch diocesan, though his see (if he possessed one) is unknown. The writings of Sedu-