CASSIDY
405
OASSIODORUS
trine of St. Augustine an element of fatalism, and
while endeavouring to find a via media between the
opinions of the great Bishop of Hippo and Pelagius,
he put forth views which were only less erroneous
than those of the heresiareh himself. He did not
deny the doctrine of the Fall; he even admitted the
existence and the necessity of an interior grace,
which supports the will in resisting temptations :tn>l
attaining sanctity. But he maintained that after the
Fall there still remained in every soul "some seeds of
goodness . . . implanted by the kindness of the
Creator", which, however, must be "quickened by
the assistance of God". Without this assistance
"they will not be able to attain an increase of perfec-
tion" (Coll.. XIII. 12). Therefore, "we must take
care not to refer all the merits of the saints to the
Lord in such a way as to ascribe nothing but what is
perverse to human nature". We must not hold that
" i rod made man such that he can never will or be ca-
pable of what is good, or else he has not granted him a
free will, if he has suffered him only to will or be ca-
pable of what is evil" (ibid.). The three opposing
views have been summed up briefly as follows: St.
Augustine regarded man in his natural state as dead,
Pelagius as quite sound. Cassian as sick. The error
of Cassian was to regard a purely natural act. pro-
ceeding from the exercise of free will, as the first step
to salvation. In the controversy which, shortly
before his death, arose over his teaching, ( 'assian took
no part. His earliest opponent. Prosper of Aqui-
taine, without naming him. alludes to him with great
respect as a man of more than ordinary virtues.
Semipelagianism was finally condemned by the Coun-
cil of Orange in 529.
The best edition of the works of Cassian is that of Petsche-
ii-rina, 1SS6-1SSS): a tr. of his writings by Gibson is
published in the series of the Arum e and Post-Niei nr Fntlo i . I >\-
Fordand New York. 1894), XI. See also Hole in Diet, of Christ.
il I Bqq 'London, 1S771; Godet in Diet, de thiol, cath.
II, 1824 sqq. Bardenhewer, Let Peres de
Paris, 1905'. II: Gretzmkcher in Ren!< netiklopodie
f prat Thiol (I.eipzic. 1S971. Ill, 746 sqq.; Pohle in Kirrlnn-
Ir i ..' II. 2021 sqq.; HOCH, Lehn de* Johannes Cassianvs von
etc (Freiburg. 1S96); Chevalier, Hep.
bw-bibliogr. (Paris, 1905), 796-97.
Maurice M. Hassett.
Cassidy, William, journalist, essayist, critic, b. at Albany. Xew York. I T . S. A.. 12 Aug., 1815 ;d. there 23 .Ian.. 1873. One of the most accomplished and brilliant journalists of his time, he was educated at the Albany Academy and Union College, graduating in [833. He studied law with John Van Huron. eighth President of the United States, was appointed State Librarian isi:i, and became editor of the Albany "Atlas". On consolidation of the "Atlas" with the "Argus", he assumed the editorship of the new paper and retained it to his death. As a writer he was terse, incisive, vigorous, and scholarly, and was a conversa- tionalist of rale power. He was a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1871, and in 1872 whs appointed by Governor Hoffman on the commis- sion to revise the Constitution. His influence was thai of a pen wielded by a master of thought, and his achievements those of the exponent of party and the leader of political councils. At his funeral held from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Albany, Bishop McNeirny pontificated. Both houses of the State Legislature then in session adjourned out of re- spect to the deceased.
Argus files (Albany, 24-26 Jan.. 1873); Cassuly Memorial (Albany, 1ST I I.
J. T. Driscoll.
Cassini, Giovanni Domenico, astronomer, b. at Perinaldo (Nice, Italy I, 8 June, 1625; d. at Paris, 1 1 September, 1712. After two years at Vallebone he entered the Jesuit College at Genoa and studied under Casselli. Coming by chanci 'books
on astrology, he took up the serious study of astron- omy, abandoning his belief in the former pseudo-
science. In 1644 the Marquis Malvasia invited him
to Bologna, where he was building an observatory.
In 1650 he filled the chair of astronomy at the uni-
versity, left vacant by the death of Cavalleri. To-
gether with the Marquis Tanara he was sent to Pope
Alexander VII to plead for Bologna against Ferrara
in the dispute over the navigation and the courses
of the rivers Reno and Po. His studies in hydraulic
engineering procured for him the position of inspector
of water and waterways Later he was appointed
by Mario Chigi, the "brother of Alexander VII,
superintendent of the fortifications of Fort Urban.
In 1663 he was delegated to arrange the difficulty
that had arisen between the pope and the Grand-
duke of Tuscany, about the course of the River
Chiana. All this time he continued his astronomical
work. The Abb6 Picard. prior of Rill£ in Anjou
and successor of Gassendi in the chair of astronomy
at the College de France, recommended Cassini to
Colbert, the Minister of Louis XIV. and after some
delay Pope Clement IX consented to lend Cassini
to France for a few years. He reached Paris in 1669.
In 1671 he went to live in the observatory which was
then built partly under his direction. In 1673
he was finally persuaded by the king to become
naturalized. Soon afterwards he married a French-
woman, Genevieve Delaitre, and became himself a
thorough Frenchman. His blindness (1711) was
probably caused by over-exertion in the course of
his work. Fontenelle points out his calm and gentle
character, based on a deeply religious nature, which
made him bear almost cheerfully even total blindness.
While working for Pope Alexander VII he sent a
manuscript to the Jesuit Riccioli. a friend and
astronomer at Bologna, treating of the Immaculate
Conception, and recommending that it should be
celebrated as a special feast.
Cassini was principally an observer. We owe to him the calculation of the rotation periods of the planets Jupiter, Venus, and partly of Mars, by means of observations of the motion of spots on their disks. These results were very important in those days, because they furnished analogues to the disputed motion of the earth. With the aid of Campani's long telescopes, he added four satellites of Saturn to the one that had been seen by Huyghens. He 1 the causes of the librations of the moon, observed the zodiacal light, and developed a theory of the motion of comets. His first achievement was the re-establishment and improvement of the gnomon and the meridian, traced by Ignazio Dante in the church of St. Petronius, Bologna, for the pur- pose of fixing the time of the solstices and reforming the calendar.
He was very industrious, and constantly held the attention of the public. He interested the king and the court in his work, and as director of the observatory trained a great number of astronomers, among whom were many of the Jesuits belonging to the Chinese Mission. His Italian memoirs are i all collected in his "Opera Astronomica" (Rome, 1666). His very numerous French publica- tions appear scattered in the "Journal des Savants" and "Memoires de l'Aeademie des Sciences", of which latter he was a member.
Hiikmbre, Histoire drVasir. (Paris. 1821); Fontenelle, Eloat de ./ 1) Cassini (Palis, 1825); Mm>i.ek. Oeschichie der BimmeUhunae (Braunschweig. 1873); Drohojewbka. Let savants modernrx; Cassini (Lille, 1887).
\\ I M.I AM FOX.
Cassino, Monte. See Monte Cassino.
Cassiodorus, Roman writer, statesman, and monk, b. about 490; tl. about .">x:;. His full name was Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator, the last being a surname. Although of Syrian ancestry, his family had been for at least three generations one of the
