SEEKERS
681
state of life, a "Mirror for Princes", as such works
came to be called at a much later period. Sedulius's
work shows, among other remarkable traits, a deep
moral feeling, a realization of the fact that the mis-
sion of the State is neither purely economic on the
one hand nor exclusively ecclesiastical, on the other.
The question of the relations between Church and
State had, indeed, been raised, and Sedulius, it need
hardly be said, does not hesitate to affirm the rights
of the Church and defend them. He is not on the
side of those who, seeing in Charlemagne the ideal
of a pontiff and ruler in one person, were in favour
of the idea that the prince should in fact be supreme
in matters religious. On the contrary, he is in favour
of a division of temporal and spiritual .powers and re-
quires of the prince a careful observance of the
Church's rights and privileges. The description of
the qualifications of the queen (pp. 34 sq. in Hell-
mann's ed.) is not only Christian in feeling and tone,
but also humanistic, in the best sense of the word.
The commentary on the "Isagoge" is remarkable
because it seems to exhibit a knowledge of the Greek
text of that work, although in the ninth century and
for at least three t-enturies after the ninth, the
"Isagoge" was known in Western Europe in the
Latin version only. Not the least interesting of the
writings of Sedulius are his letters, some of which
are published in the "Neues Archiv", II, 188, and
IV, 315. In them are narrated the vicissitudes of
the Irish exiles on the Continent, and an insight
is given into the attitude observed towards those
exiles by the authorities, civil and ecclesiastical, as
well ae by the people.
Hellman.v, Sedulius Scolus (Munich, 1906) ; Cath. Univ. Bul- letin (April, 1898, and July, 1907).
William Turner.
Seekers, an obscure Puritan sect which arose in England in the middle of the sev(^nt(>eiith century. They represented an Antinomiaii tendency among some of the Indepenflents, and jirofessed to be seek- ing for the true Church, Sc^ripture, Ministry, and Sac- raments. In his contemporary account Richard Bax- ter says of them: "They taught that our .scripture was uncertain; that present miracles are necessary to faith; that our ministry is null and without authority, and our worship and ordinances unnecessary or vain, the Church, ministry, scripture and ordinances being lost, for which they are now seeking. " He adds the ab- surd statement: "I quickly found that the Papists principally hatched and actuated this sect, and that a considerable number that were of this profession were some Papists and some infidels" (Life and Times, 76). According to Baxter, they amalgamated with the Van- ists. Weingarten considers that they held Millen- arian views. Probably the name denotes a school of thought rather than a definitely-organized body.
Baxter, Reliquia; Baxterianct (London, IfiflO); Weingarten, Die Revolulionskirchen Englands (Leipzig, 1868).
Edwin Burton.
Seelos, Francis X., b. at Fussen, Bavaria, 11 January, 1819; d. at New Orleans, La., 4 Oct., 1867. When a child, asked by his mother what he intended to be, he pointed to the picture of his patron, St. Francis Xavier, and said: "I'm going to be another St. Francis." He pursued his studies in Augsburg and Munich, and entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, offering himself for the Amer- ican mission; he arrived in America on 17 April, 1843. The following year, 16 May, 1844, he made his religious profession at the Redemptorist novitiate, Baltimore, and seven months later he was ordained by Arch- bishop Eccleston of Baltimore. He was assigned to St. James's, Baltimore. In May, 1845, he was sent to Pittsburg, where he had as superior Ven. John Neuniann. In 1851 Father Seelos was appointed superior of the Pittsburg community, where he
Francis X. Seelos, C.SS.R.
laboured untiringly for nine years. His confessional
was constantly besieged by crowds of people of every
description and class. It was said by many that he
could read their very souls. From Pittsburg, he was
transferred to St. Alphonsus's, Baltimore, where he
felldangerouslyill.
On his recovery he
was appointed
prefect (spiritual
director) of the
professed stu-
dents, and he suc-
ceeded in winning
the love and es-
teem of all who
were privileged to
be under his spirit-
ual guidance. In
1860 his name was
proposed for the
vacant See of
Pittsburg, but
humbly refused
the honour. The
year 1S()2 found
him again at mis-
sion work. In
1866 he was sum-
moned to Detroit,
and in September
of the same year to New Orleans, Louisiana. The
cause of his beatification is in progress.
ZiMMER, Leben des P. F. X. Seelos (New York, 1887); Beck, Die Redemptoristen in Pittsburg (Pittsburg, 1889) ; History of the Redemptorists in Annapolis (Ilchester, 1904); Benedetti, Album Servorum Dei, C. SS. R. (Rome, 1903) ; Shea, History of the Cath- olic Church in the United States, I (New York, 1908).
Cornelius J. Warren.
Seerth, a Chaldean see, appears to have succeeded the See of Arzon in the same province, several of the Nestorian bishops of which in the fifth and sixth centuries are known (Chabot, "Synodicon orientale", 666), as are also a large number of Jacobite bishops (Revue de I'Orient Chretien, VI, 192). The diocese began to have Catholic titulars in the time of Julius III. Seerth is now the chief town of a sandjak in the vilayet of Bitlis, containing 15,000 inhabitants. It has fine orchards and vineyards, is an industrial cen- tre containing much gypsum, and manufacturing arms and printed calico. The Dominicans have a mission there; the Catholic bishop, Mgr Addai Scher, is well known by his editions of Syriac texts. Amer- ican Protestants have schools supported by their missionary societies. The diocese contains 3000 faithful, 20 priests, 24 churches or chapels, 43 sta- tions, and 3 primary schools.
Revue de I'Orient Chretien, I, 447; Cuinet, La Turquie d' Asie, II, .596-605; Missiones catholicce (Rome, 1907), 813
S. Vailhe.
Seez, Diocese of (Sagium), embraces the Depart- ment of Orne. Re-established by the Concordat of 1802, which, by adding to it some parishes of the dioceses of Bayeux, Lisieux, Le Mans, and Chartres, and by cutting off some districts formerly included in it, made it exactly coextensive with the department. It is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Rouen. Mgr. Duchesne is of opinion that for the period anterior to 900 no reliance can be placed on the episcopal catalogue of Seez, which we know by certain compila- tions of the sixth century. This catalogue mentions Sigisbald and Saint Latuinus (Lain or Latuin) as the first two bishops of the see. Saint Landry, martyr, would be the third. Some historians say that Sigis- bald lived about 451, and Landry about 480; others, relying on a later tradition, assign Saint Latuinus to the first century and make him a missionary sent by Saint Clement. The fiist Bishop of Seez historically
