OASPE
391
6ASSENDI
forgave his enemies, and excused his unmerited con-
demnation. The storm soon passed, Gaspare was
restored to honour, and resumed his work with re-
newed zeal. In 18:16 his strengtli Ijegan to fail. Al-
though fatally ill, he hastened to Rome, where the
cholera was raging, to administer to the spiritual wants
of the plague-stricken. It proved too much for him,
and he succumbed in the midst of his labours on 28
Dec, 1S37. He was beatified by Pius X on 29 Aug.,
1904.
KoNRADi AND JussEL, Leben des sel. Kaspare del Bujalo; Sardi, Notizie intomo alia vita del beato Gaspare del Bujalo.
Ulrich F. Mueller.
Gasp€, Philippe-Aubert de, a French Canadian writer, b. at Quebec, 30 Oct., 1786, of a family en- nobled by Louis XIV in 1693; d. 29 Jan., 1871. His grandfather fought under Montcalm at Carillon (Ti- conderoga). He studied at Quebec Seminary, and after a brief practice of the law, was appointed sheriff. Forced by misfortune to retire to his ancestral home at Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, on the St. Lawrence, he there spent thirty years in study. At the ripe age of sev- enty-five, he produced a work, " Les Anciens Cana- diens" (Quebec, 1801), which is a household word throughout Canada. This historical novel, almost entirely based on fact, illustrates Canadian national tradition, character, and manners. The author has interwoven the events of his own chequered life with the tragic tale of the struggles and fall of New France, and of the change of regime, the eyewitnesses of which he had personally known. In 1S66, Gaspe published his " M^moires", which continue and amplify the pre- cious historical notes contained in his other works. Less brilliant and attractive than his novel, the "Me- moires"are an excellent specimen of anecdotal his- tory. The author's standing ami experience, the lat- ter embracing directly or indirectly the space of a century dating from the Conquest, constitute him an authentic chronicler of an obscure yet eventful period of history.
Morgan, Bibl. Can. (Ottawa, 1S67); Casghain, (Euvres com- putes (Quebec, 1873).
Lionel Lindsay.
Gassendi (Gassendy, Gassend), Pierre, French philosopher and scientist; b. at Champtercier, a coun- try place near Digne in Provence, 22 January, 1592 (tombstone says IX cal. Feb., i. e. 24 Jan.); d. at Paris, 24 October, 1655. He studied Latin and rhet- oric at Digne, and philosophy at Aix, whence his father, Antoine, called him back to take charge of domestic affairs. However, he was appointed to suc- ceed his former teacher of rhetoric at Digne at the age of 16, and his teacher of philosophy at Aix at the age of 19. His friends and patrons at Aix, Prior Gautier and Councillor Peiresc, recognized his char- acter and talents from his first publication and helped him to enter the ecclesiastical state. He became doctor of theology at Aix and attained proficiency in Greek and Hebrew literature. To allow him leisure for his studies, he was appointed a canon (c. 1623) and provost (c. 1625) at the cathedral of Digne. LIntil 1645, his studies were interrupted only by a journey to the Netherlands in 1628 — his only trip outside of France. In 1645, on the recommendation of Car- dinal Richelieu, he was appointed by the king to a professorship of mathematics at the College Royal of France, which he reluctantly accepted, being granted the rare privilege of returning to his native soil when- ever liLs health required it. On 23 November, he de- livered his inaugural address in presence of the cardinal. His lectures before a numerous and learned audience were astronomical rather than mathematical, and resulted, two years later, in the publication of his " Institutio Astronomica". Meanwhile an inflamma- tion of the lungs had obliged him to return to Pro- vence. In 165.3, he went back to Paris and was re-
PlERHE GaSSEN
ceived in a friendly manner at the Chateau de Mon-
mort, where a year later he fell seriously ill with
intermittent fever. He was bled nine times, and,
although he declared himself too weak for another
bleeding, he submitted to the decision of the liest doc-
tors in Paris. He underwent the same operation five
times more, after which his speech became mere
whispering, and he expired quietly at the age of 63.
Gassendi, "the Bacon of France", is specially note- worthy for his opposition to the Aristotelean philos- ophy, and for his revival of the Epicurean system. He wished the aprioristic methods then prevailing in the schools replaced by experimental proofs. His cos- mology, psychology, and ethics are epicurean, except that he maintains the doctrine of the Creator and of Providence, and the spirituality and immortality of the soul. He thus attempts to build up a Chris- tian philosophy upon Epicurus — an inconsistency, which is attacked by non-Christian, as well as Chris- tian, philosophers. His views on tin- constitution of matter and his merits in regar.l to modern kinetic atomism are ex- plained by Lass- witz. That Gas- sendi was neither " the father of materialism" nor a sceptic in the proper sense is shown by Kiefl (see Baldwin, op. cit. below). He corresponded with Hobbes, Mersenne, Christina of Sweden, and engaged in controversy with Fludd, Her- bert, and Descartes.
That as an amateur astronomer, Gassendi was a persevering, attentive, and intelligent observer, is evident from his notebook carefully kept from 1G18 until 1652 and filling over 400 pages. With a Galilean telescope he observed the transit of Mercury in 1631, predicted by Kepler, by projecting the sun's image on a screen of paper. His instrument was not strong enough, however, to disclose the occultations and transits of Jupiter's satellites, or the true shape of Saturn's ring. The results of his astronomical work are analy.sed in Delambre's "Histoire de I'Astronomie Moderne" (Paris, 1821, II). Other works of minor importance refer to biographies, physics, and anat- omy. Gassendi was in correspondence with Cassini, GafUei, Hevel, Kepler, Kircher, Scheiner, Vallis, and other scientists. As to the Copernican system, he maintained that it rested on probabilities, but was not demonstrated, although he ably refuted all objections against it. To those whose conscience forbade them to accept Copernicanism, he said that the Tychonian system recommended itself as the most probable of all (Op. V, De Rebus Ccelestibus, V).
In character, Gassendi was retiring and unpreten- tious. With friends, he would give way to a humorous and ironical vein; in controversy, he observed the Socratic method. On Sundays and feast days he never omitted celebrating Mass ; and when in Paris, he went to the church of his friend, Pere Mersenne. In his last illness he asked for the Viaticum three times, and for extreme unction, and his aspirations were words from the Psalms. Gassendi was esteemed by all, and loved by the poor, for whom he provided in lifetime and in his last will. He founded two anni- versary Mas.ses for himself, one to be said in the
