Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/755

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687

SEITZ

(1861) ; "la Divinity de Notre Seigneur Jesus Christ" (1862); "les objections populaires contre rencyclique [Quanta cura]" (1869); "Les Francs- Masons'' (1867); "le Pape est infaillible" (1870); "I'Ecole sans Dieu" (1873). To the second class belong among others: "les Instructions familieres sur toutes les verites de la religion " (1863) ; " Notions fundamen tales sur la piete (1863); "La piete et la vie interieure" (1864); "Jesus vivant en nous" (of which an Italian translation was put on the Index) (1869); "La piete enseignee aux enfants" (1864). One need not seek in these works vast learning nor didactic discussions. The author did not strive for this; he intended his apologetic books for the people and for all who ignored religion. They were mostly brief pamphlets, vigilant, full of vivacity and spirit, written with a frankness wholly French in a popular style, sprinkled with caustic irony and Parisian pleasantries. In his ascetical works he aimed above all to spread the true principles of Catholic spirit- uality in opposition to the old traditions of Jansenism and Gallicanism. His zeal was crowned with success, his little books attained numerous editions. Thus at his death there had been .sold 44,000 copies of his "Instructions familieres", his works "Le Pape", "La Communion", and " La Confession " were issued to the number of hundreds of thousands of copies. His complete works have been edited in ten volumes (Paris, 1876-7); since have appeared "Cent cin- quante beaux miracles de Notre Dame de Lourdes" (2 vols. Paris, 1882); "Journal d'un voyage en Italic" (Paris, 1822); "Lettres de Mgr de Segur" (2 vols. Paris, 1882).

Marquis db S^gur, Mgr de Segur, Souvenirs et recits d'un frkre.

Antoine Degert.

Segur, Sophie Rostopchine, Comtesse de, b. 1797; d. 1874. Her father was General Rostop- chine who ordered the city of Moscow to be set on fire after the battle of Borodino (1812) and thus com- pelled Napoleon to begin his disastrous retreat from Russia. She married Eugene Comtc de S6gur, grandson of Louis Philippe de Segur, and nephew of Philippe Paul de S6gur, one of the most brilliant officers in the imperial army and author of "Histoire de Napol6on et de la grande arm^e pendant I'annce 1812" which had more than fifteen editions and was translated into most of the European languages. Mme. de S6gur was a woman of culture and uncom- mon literary talent. She contributed a number of stories to the " Bibliotheque Rose", a collection of short novels for young people; among them are: "Pauvre Blaise" (Paris, 1862); "Le G<5n6ral Doura- kine" (Paris, 1864); "Un bon petit diable" (Paris, 1865); "Les vacances", (Paris, 1865); "Lemauvais g^nie" (Paris, 1867). Pierre Marique.

Segusio, Henry of. See Henry of Segusio, Blessed.

Sehna (Sihnah), Diocese of (Sehanensis), a Chaldean see, governed by a patriarchal adminis- trator with episcopal rank. It was erected in 1853, its subjects being partly in Persia and partly in Turkey at Suleimanieh. It is likely to be united to the See of Kerkuk. The diocese was in fact admin- istered by the Archbishop of Kerkuk about the middle of the nineteenth century. It contains 700 Catholics, 5 priests, 2 primary schools, and 2 chapels. Sehna or Sinna, the principal town, is in Persia.

Revue de VOrient Chritien, I, 452; Miss. Cath. (Rome, 1907), 874.

S. Vailhje.

Seidl, Johann Gabriel, poet, author of the pres- ent Austrian national hymn, b. at Vienna, 21 June, 1804; d. there, 17 July, 1875. The family of Seidl was of Swiss origin, Johann's grandparents having

settled in Austria. The poet's father is described as an able lawyer, and his mother as a good housewife. After passing through the gymnasium with the great- est success, their only son attended the university at the age of fifteen to devote the then usual two years to philosophy On the completion of this period, he applied himself to the study of jurispru- dence, but the early death of his father compelled him to support himself and his mother by acting as private tutor. Consequently he exchanged juris- prudence for pedagogy, passed his qualifying examina- tion in this faculty in 1827, and two years later was appointed to the state gymnasium in Cilli. Before moving thither he married Therese Schlesinger, who bore him two children. The laudatory necrologies, which a false report of his death evoked both at home and abroad, attracted the attention of the authorities, so that after eleven happy years at Cilli he had to return again to Vienna as custodian of the imperial cabinet of medals and antiques. A little later he was appointed censor of books, an office which he filled until 1848. He was then elected corresponding, and in 1851 regular, member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. After his version of the Haschka national anthem had been declared the authentic text, honours were heaped on the poet: the knight's cross of the Order of Franz Joseph, medal for art and science, the post of imperial treasurer (1856), and appoint- ment as ministerial counsel (1866). In 1871 he received a pension and was simultaneously invested with the Order of the Iron Crown of the third class; on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, he re- ceived the title and character of an aulic councillor. The town of Cilli named him an honorary freeman. Shortly afterwards his health began to fail. His death was characterized by the same piety which had marked his life. In 1892 the municipal council of Vienna dedicated to him an honorary grave in the Zentralfriedhof, and at the centenary of his birth a bust and memorial tablet were unveiled at his former residence in Cilli. Seidl was a very fruitful poet and author, and the enumeration of his works occupies twenty-five pages in Godeke's "Grundriss". Only a few, however, have an interest for modern readers. Of the numerous collections of poems the "Bifolien" are still of interest, but his novels, sixty in number, are long forgotten. For drama he had no talent, however much he strove after the palm of tlramatic poetry. His best compositions are his dialectic poems, "Flinserln", of which many have become real folksongs of Austria. His name is im- mortally linked with his adaptation of the Austrian national anthem. As a scholar Seidl was tirelessly active. Still prized are his collections of legends, and also his contribution to the " Stizungsberichten der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften", to scientific, historical, and geographical journals, and to the "Zeitschrift fiir die osterreichischen Gymnasien", founded in 1850.

GoDEKE, Grundriss, LX (1910), 102-30. The most important literature on Seidl are the writings published on the occasion of the centenary of his birth in Zeilschr. fur die listerreich. Gymnasien and Grillparzerjahrhuch. His complete works have been edited by Max (6 vols., 1871-81), Wurzbach (4 vols., 1904, with bio- graphical introduction, pp. i-lxxx), Reklam (2 vols., 1906).

N. SCHEID.

SeitZ, Alexander Maximilian, painter, b. at Munich, 1811; d. at Rome, 1SS8. He studied under Cornelius, and two early pictures "Joseph sold by his Brethren", and the "Seven Sleepers" received speedy recognition. Heinrich Hess employed him on the frescoes in the Church of All Saints. After he had painted compositions depicting four of the sacraments, Cornelius took him to Rome. Here Seitz found in Overbeck a man of the same religious opinions, with a style which he at once sought to make his own. He aided Overbeck in carrying out the frescoes of the