THE NEW
INTERNATIONAL
ENCYCLOPÆDIA
CLAS'SIS (Lat.. assembly). In the Ki'formed Chuich of Holland and Anit'i'ica. the name of an ecclesi- astical body, made up of minis- ters and eiders representative of chinches, corresponding to a pres- bytery. The Classis hears appeals from the consistories, which are the officfal boards of local churches, and the Synod hears appeals from the Classis. The Classis also confirms and dissolves pastoral connections, ordains and deposes minis- ters, and sends delegates to the local and general synods. See Reformed Church i. America, The.
CLAS'TIC ROCKS (Fr. clasti(,ue, from Gk. (cXacTTos, kla.itos, broken, from kuv, klan, to break), or Fr.gmental Rocks. A petrographic division which includes all rocks composed of fragmental materials. See .EoLi.^N Accumula- tions; Aqueous Rocks; Breccia.
CLAT'SOP. An Amerind tribe of tlic Chinoo- kan stock. See Chinook.
CLAUDE, klod, Jean (1610-87). A French Protestant preacher and controversialist. He was born at La Sauvetat-du-Droit, southwest France (ancient District of Agenais). He studied at Montauban, became pastor at Nimes in 16.54. and was also professor of theology in the Protestant college there, where in 1661 be was forbidden to preach, on account of his opposition to the pro- posed union with the Roman Catholics. In the uext year he obtained a post at Montauban, but was removed from it also. He then went to Paris, and was pastor at Charenton from 1666 until 168.5. On the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (168,5), he was ordered to leave France within twenty-four hours, and being welcomed by William of Orange, preached at The Hague until his death, .January 13, 1087. He was the greatest leader of the French Reformed churches, their ablest disputant, their favorite preacher, and their truest representative. He is espe- cially notable for the polemic he carried on against the school of Port-Royal, His works in- clude; .4. Defense of the Refonnatinii (1671, English translation, 181.5). written in reply to an attack on the Calvinistic faith by Pierre Nicole, the celebrated Jansenist writer: Com- plaints and Cruel Prosecutions of the Protestants (1686; English translation, 1707) ; and especial- ly, as more familiar to English readers. Essni/ on the Comimsition of a t^ernion (1778-70, 2 vols.) — a much-used manual of homiletics, fre- quently reprinted, from the edition of Charles Simeon. His .son published (JJurres ijosthxiiies <Ie Jean Cliinde 1 .5 vols., .iiisterdam, 1688). Consult Ladev&ze (Amstenlam. 1687).
CLAUDE LORRAINE, klod lOr'r.an'. See Gelee, Claude.
CLAU'DIA GENS (Lat., Claudian family). A patrician and plebeian clan in Rome, of Sabine origin. The patrician family names, alwa5's dis- tinguished for their arrogance and pride, are Ca;- cus, Caudex, Centho, Crassus, Puleher,Regillensis, and Sabinus. The plebeian names are A.sellus, (anina, Centumalus. Cicero, Flamen, and Mar- cellus. Consult Mommsen, "Die patricisclien Claudier," in Romische Forschungen, vol. ii. (Berlin, 1865). See Ai'Plus Claudius Cbassus.
CLAU'DIAN HARBOR. A harbor at the mouth of the Tiber, two miles west of Ostia, constructed in the face of great natural difficul- ties by the Emperor Claudius, Its area ex- ceeded 6,000,000 square feet with a depth of 15 feet to 18 feet, and was inclosed by two jetties 2400 feet long. The massive breakwater was constructed by filling with concrete the great ship which had transported the Vatican obelisk from Egypt, sinking her, and from this founda- tion building above the level of the water. On the breakwater rose a lighthouse 200 feet high, built in imitation of the Pharos of Alexandria. In time the Claudian harbor became inadequate to the needs of the city and an inner harbor was constructed by Trajan, now two miles inland. The Claudian harbor, which is now inaccessible on accotint of the marshes, is depicted on a bas- relief discovered in 186.3.
CLAU'DIA'NUS. Claudius. A Latin poet who lived in the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth century, born at Alexandria. He came to Rome in the year 303 and there secured the patronage of Stilicho and, through him, of the Emperor Honorius. For the great Vandal leader the poet entertained a love and admiration which is voiced in a number of his minor poems. He wrote first in Greek, which appears to have been his native tongue (though he was originally of Roman extraction); but,
- is Gibbon says, he "assumed in his mature age
the familiar use and absolute command of the Latin l.iiiguage; soared above the heads of his
