GKATIANUS AUGUSTUS. 152 GRATTIUS FALISCUS. ing liis inadequacy to the task of ruling the whole Kuipiie, he recalled Theodosius (q.v.) from Spain, and appointed him his colleague on Janu- ary 19, 379. Oratianus possessed some admirable virtues, but his cliaracter was yielding and pli- ant, and he was often led to the commission of acts of cruelty and tyranny. His persecution of the pagans, and afterwards of heretic Christiajis, alienated the aireetions of his subjects generally, while his fondness for frivolous amusements and unworthy associates excited the contempt of the army, so that when JIaxiraus was proclaimed Emperor by the legions in Britain, crowds of the disaffected flocked to his standard. Gratianus was defeated by him near Paris, and afterwards fled to Lugdunum ( Lyons ) . where he was over- taken and killed by Andragathius, whom !Maxi- mus had sent in pursuit of him, on August 25, 383. For the reign of Gratianus, see Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ed. Bury, chs. 25-27. GRATING, Diffraction. See Diffraction AND Diffraction 6r.4.tings; Dividing Engine: Light. GRATI'OLA iNeo-Lat., from Lat. gratia, grace). A genus of plants of the natural order Serophulariacea". Gratiola officinalis, a species with sessile lanceolate serrulated leaves and axil- lai-y solitary flowers, is sometimes called hedge- hyssop. It "is found in meadows and on the mar- gins of ponds and river-banks in most parts of Europe, where it is said to render some of the meadows useless as pastures on account of its ex- treme bitterness, and its violent action as a pur- gative, diuretic, and emetic. In overdoses it is an acrid poison. Formerly it was so highly esteemed as a medicine that the name of Gratia Dei (grace of God ) was given to it, and for the same reason it is known in France as herbe au pauvre Iiomnic (poor man's herb). It is said to be the basis of the famous gout medicine called crju mMicinale. Gratiola pcrui-iana. a South American species, has somewliat similar properties. These proper- ties are supposed to depend upon a bitter resin- ous principle called gratioline. A number of species are connnon in the United States, but none appear to be of economic importance. GRATRY, gra'tre', ArcusTE .Joseph Al- PHONSE (1805-72). A French Koman Catholic theologian, born at Lille. He was educated at the Ecole Po'j'techniquc : became director of the Coll&ge Stanislas, Paris, in 1842, and five years later almoner of the Superior Normal School. In 1 852 with others he reconstituted the Orators' of the Immaculate Conception, a society devoted to the instruction of youth. He became Vicar-General of Orleans in 1861, and professor of ethics in the Sorbonne two years later, and in 1867 was made a member of the Academy. P6re Gratry was a warm friend of P6re Hyacinthe, but did not share in the latter's extreme views on church questions. During the Council of the Vatican he puldished four letters in opposition to the opportuneness of defining Papal infallibility. These acts brought about his retirement from the Oratory in 1860. but when the dogma was pro- mulgated he accepted it. His works are: Cours de philosojihie (6 vols.. 1855-57) : Les sophistes et la critique (1864): Jcsus-Christ (1864), ad- dressed to Renan : and La morale et la loi de I'hi.itoire (1868). Consult Chauvain, Life of AhU Grata/ (Paris, 1901), GRATTAN, grfit'an, Henry (1740-1820). Ac Irisli statesman and orator. He was baptized at Dublin, July 3, 1746, and presumably was born a few days before. His father was recorder of Dublin, and member of Parliament for that city until his death, in 1776. In 1763 Grattan en- tered Trinity College, Dublin, and four years later took Isis bachelor's degree, became a student at the Middle Temple in London, and in 1772 was admitted to the Irish bar. Politics attracted Grattan, and in 1775 he was returned to the Irish Parliament as member for the borough of Charlemont. He became the leader of the popu- lar cause, demanding, free trade for Ireland: and when this had been obtained temporarily, he de- manded that (he laws made by the Irish Par- liament should no longer be subject to the revision of the English Parliament. On April 19, 1780, he made his famous speech in favor of this measure. Two years later (1782) these demands also were granted, chiellv through the continual efforts on the part of Grattan. He lost his popu- larity, however, when he opposed Flood's demand that a final renunciation of the principle of Irish dependence should be demanded, and only re- gained popular favor after he opposed Pitt's com- mercial measures. He spent thereafter many years urging the removal of all disabilities as regards Catholics, but was unsuccessful. When in 1797 Ulster was put luider martial law, and Grattan's protests were unavailing, he withdrew from Parliament. He returned to Parliament in 1800 with the express purpose of opposing the proposed union between Great Britain and Ire- land. His speeches were most eloqueut, but they availed nothing. In 1805 he was persuaded to accept a seat in the Parliament in London, and labored there also for Catholic emancipation until his death, which occurred in London on June 4, 1820. Grattan's public and private char- acter was unimpeachable, and as an orator he stands in the first rank, his style being rapid, and rich in antithesis and poetic suggestiveness. Con- sult : Henrj- Grattan (son). The Speeches of the Right Honorable Henry Grattan in the Irish and in the Imperial Parliament (4 vols.. London, 1882) ; Memories of the Life atid Times of Henry Grattan (new ed., London. 1849) : Compendium of Irish Biography (Dublin, 1878) ; Dunlop, Life of Henry Grattan (London and Philadelphia, 1899). GRATTAN, Thomas Colley (1792-1864). An English author. He was born in Dublin. He lived mostly abroad. Because of his brilliant ar tides to the London Times from Brii^sels. he ffas appointed British consul to Massachusetts (1839). He took an important hand in the Ash- burton treaty (1842). His many romances in verse and prose met with considerable success ; but he was mainly kno^^^l by Higlurays and By- irays (three series, 1823, 1825, 1827), an ac- count of his travels, written at the suggestion of Washington Irving, GRAT'TIUS FALIS'CUS, Roman poet, con- temporary nf Vergil, and author of a poem iipon the chase entitled Cynegetica. Of the poem 541 hexameters have come down through one manu- script, discovered in France in the beginning of the sixteenth centuiy, and in 1654 it wa.s trans- lated into English verse by Christopher Wase, See Bahren's Poetw Latini ilinorrs. vol, i., pp. 31 -.53.
