CENTURIES MAGDEBURG. A

celebrated and extraordinary ecclesiastical history, projected by Flacius Illyricus, and prosecuted by him, in conjunction with several others, many of them divines of Magdeburg. Their names were, Nicol a us Gallus, Johannes Wig and us, and Matthias Judex, all ministers of Magdeburg, a isted by Caspar Nidpruckius, an Imperial Counsellor, Johannes Baptist a He in cel i us, an August in i an, Basil Faber, and others. The centuriators thus describe the proce employed in the composition of their work. Five directors were appointed to manage the whole design; and ten paid agents supplied the nece ary labour. Seven of these were well-informed students, who were employed in making collections from the various pieces set before them. Two others, more advanced in years, and of greater learning and judgment, arranged the matter thus collected, submitted it to the directors, and, if it were approved, employed it in the composition of the work. As fast as the various chapters were composed, they were laid before certain inspectors, selected from the directors, who carefully examined what had been done, and made the nece ary alterations; and, finally, a regular amanuensis made a fair copy of the whole. At length, in the year 1560, (though probably printed in 1559,) appeared the first volume of their laborious undertaking. It was printed at Basle. But the city in which the first part of it was composed has given it a distinctive title; and the first great Protestant work on Church history has been always commonly known as the Magdeburg Centuries . It was in every point of view an extraordinary production. Though the first modern attempt to illustrate the history of the Church, it was written upon a scale which has scarcely been exceeded. It brought to light a large quantity of unpublished materials; and cast the whole subject into a fixed and regular form. One of its most remarkable features is the elaborate cla ification. This was strictly original, and, with all its inconveniences, undoubtedly tended to introduce scientific arrangement and minute accuracy into the study of Church history. Each century is treated separately, in sixteen heads or chapters. The first of these gives a general view of the history of the century; then follow, 2. The extent and propagation of the Church. 3. Persecution and tranquillity of the Church. 4. Doctrine. 5. Heresies. 6. Rites and Ceremonies. 7. Government. 8. Schisms. 9. Councils. 10. Lives of Bishops and Doctors. 11. Heretics. 12. Martyrs. 13. Miracles. 14. Condition of the Jews. 15. Other religions not Christian. 16. Political condition of the world. Mr. Dowling (from whose excellent work on the study of Ecclesiastical History this article is taken) adds, that this peculiarity of form rendered the work of the centuriators rather a collection of separate treatises, than a compact and connected history; while, their object being to support a certain form of polemical theology, their relations are often twisted to suit their particular views.