GASSER
392
GATIANUS
cathedral of Digne, and one in the chapel of his friend,
Monmort, at St-Nicolas-des-Champs, Paris, where he
was buried. The accompanying picture represents
his marble bust in that mausoleum. The assertion
that he was a Minorite is without foundation.
Gassendi's "Opera Omnia" were edited in 6 vols., Lyons, 1658, and Florence, 1727.
Baldwin, Diet, of Philos. and Psychol. (New York, London, 1905), III, 335; Archiv f. Gesch. d. Philos., II (1889). 459; X (1897), 238; Biographic Univ., s. v.; Lasswitz, Geschichte d. Atomislik (Hamburg, Leipzig, 1890), II, 126; Noak, Histor.- Biogr. Handworterb. (Leipzig, 1879); Ritter, Geschichte d. Philos., X, 543; Stockl, Geschichte d. Philos. d. Mittelalters (Mainz, 1866), III, 316; Idem in Kirchmlex., a. v.; Uebehweg, (Inmdri.'ss d. Gesch. d. Philos. (Berlin, 1901), 101.
J. G. Hagen.
Gasser von Valhorn, Joseph, an Austrian sculp- tor, b. 22 Nov., 1816, at Priigraten, Tyrol; d. 28 Oct., 1900. He was first instructed by his father, a wood- carver, and later studied at the Academy, Vienna. In 1840 he went to Rome, where a government stipend enabled him to remain several years. On his return he settled in Vienna (1852), and executed five heroic figures for the portal of the cathedral at Speyer: Our Lady, the Archangel St. Michael, St. John the Baptist, St. Stephen, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, completed in 1856. Also in Speyer he carved seven reliefs for the Kaiserhalle. The marble statue of Rudolph IV on the Elizabeth bridge over the Danube Canal, Vienna, is by him. Other works are the statues of Maximilian I, Frederick the Warlike, and Leopold of Hapsburg for the Museum of the Arsenal ; the marble statues of the Seven Liberal Arts in the staircase of the Opera House; twenty-four figures for the Cathedral of St. Stephen; the relief of Duke Rudolph the Founder for the New Townhall; the "Prometheus" and the "Gen- evieve" for the Court Theatre ; a number of statues for the Altlerchenfelder Church; busts of Herodotus and Aristarchus for the university; and portraits of Maximilian of Mexico and of his wife the Empress Charlotte. He also made a bust of the Emperor Francis Joseph for the Hotel de Ville, Paris, and sculp- tures for the new cathedral, Linz. Most important among his works are the subjects for the Votive Church, Vienna, modelled around the year 187.3: the Coronation of Mary, the group of the Trinity, a figure of Christ the Redeemer, statues for the high and side altars, nine angels, and the tympan reliefs for the three main portals. Gasser was professor at the Academy from 1865 to 187.3, and was inscribed among the nobility in 1879. In spite of his long life, and much good work, he had but small influence on the develop- ment of modern sculpture in Austria.
Austriun A'eui Art in Summer Number of Studio (New Yorlt, 1900); Baedecker, Guidebook for Austria (Leipzig, 1900); BROCKHATrs in Konversations-Lexicon (Leipzig, 1908).
M. L. Handley.
Gassner, Johann Joseph, a celebrated exorcist; b. 22 Aug., 1727, at Braz, Vorarlberg, Austria; d. 4 April, 1779, at Pondorf, on the Danube (Diocese of Ratisbon) ; studied at Prague and Innsbruck; ordained priest, 1750, and after serving various missions, be- came parish priest and dean of Pondorf May, 1776. A few years after his appointment to Klosterle in the Diocese of Chur, Switzerland (1758), his health began to fail, so that he was scarcely able to fulfil the duties of his ministry; he consulted various physicians in vain; suddenly he conceived the idea that his infirm- ities might be due to the influence of the evil spirit and might be cured by spiritual means. His experiment was successful. He applied this method also to others, and soon thousands came to him to be healed. The fame of these cures spread far and wide; he was in- vited to the Diocese of Constance, to Ellwangen, Ratisbon, and other places; everywhere he had the same success.
He was convinced that the evil spirit could harm the body as well as the soul ; and hence that some in-
firmities were not the result of natural agencies, but
were caused by the Devil. Only cases of the latter
kind were taken up ; he applied the exorcisms of the
Church, and commanded the evil one to depart from
the afflicted, in the name of the Lord Jesus. To find
out whether the disease was caused naturally or not,
he applied the "probative exorcism", i. e. he com-
manded the spirit to indicate by some sign his presence
in the body. And only then he made use of the "ex-
pulsive exorcism". His proceedings were not secret;
anyone of good standing, (^'atholic or Protestant, was
admitted. People of all classes, nobles, ecclesiastics,
physicians, and others often gathered around him to
see the marvels they had heard of. Official records
were made; competent witnesses testified to the ex-
traordinary happenings. The character of the work
made many enemies for him, but also many stanch
friends and supporters. One of his bitterest oppo-
nents was the rationalistic professor Johannes Semler
of Halle. Also the physician Mesmer pretended that
the cures were performed by the animal magnetism of
his invention, but he was afraid of confronting Gassner.
Among his friends were the Calvinistic minister, Lava-
ter of Zurich, and especially Count Fugger, the Prince-
Bishop of Ratisbon.
Official investigations were made by the ecclesiasti- cal authorities; and all were favourable to Gassner, except that they recommended more privacy and decorum. The University of Ingolstadt appointed a commission, and so did the Imperial Government; they ended with the approval of Gassner's procedure. In fact, he never departed from the Church's teaching or instructions concerning exorcism, and always dis- claimed the name of wonder-worker. He was an ex- emplary priest, full of faith and zeal, and altogether unselfish in his works of mercy.
ZiMMERMANN, Johatiti Joscpk Gassucr, der beruhmle Ezorzist (Kempten, 1878); Mast in Kirchenlex., s. v.
Francis J. Schaefer.
Gaston, William, jurist; b. at Newbern, North Carolina, U. S. A., 19 Sept., 1778: d. at Raleigh, North Carolina, 23 January, 1844. His father. Dr. Alex- ander Gaston, a Presbyterian native of Ireland, for- merly a surgeon in the British Navy, was killed at Newbern by British soldiers during the Revolution, and his education devolved on his mother Margaret Sharpe, a Catholic Englishwoman. She sent him to Georgetown College in 1791, his name being the first inscribed on the roll of the students of that institution. After staying there four years he entered Princeton College, New Jersey, where he graduated with first honours in 1796. He then studied law, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1798. In August, 1800, Gaston was elected to the Senate of his native state, although its constitution at the time contained a clause exclud- ing Catholics from office. Elected to Congress in 1813 and 1815, his career in Washington was active and brilliant, as one of the influential leaders of the Federal party. Resuming the practice of law, he was elevated in 1833 to the bench of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, an office which he held for the re- mainder of his life. In the convention of 1835 he was mainly instrumental in securing the repeal of the article of the North Carolina State Constitution that practically disfranchised Catholics. He was one of the most "intimate friends of Bi.shop England, and his splendid gifts of intellect were always devoted to the promotion of the Faith and the welfare of his fellow- Catholics.
Shea, History of Georgetown University (Washington, 1891); FiNOTTi, Bibliographia Catholica Americana (New Yorl<, 1872); The Metropolitan (Baltimore. 1856), IV, 585 sqq.; Murray, Catholic Pioneers of America (New York. 1882).
Thomas F. Meehan.
Gatianus, Saint, founder and first Bishop of Tours ; b. probably at Rome; d. at Tours, 20 December, 301. He came to Gaul during the consulate of Decius and
