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noured and invoked by her as eminent and firstrate saints. During the papacy of Gelasius the manichæan sect began to revive at Rome, though in great privacy; on which occasion he issued a decree by which all persons who embraced their sentiments were condemned to banishment, and their books ordered to be publicly burnt. And as it was customary with those who were tinctured with their opinions to receive only the bread at the celebration of the Eucharist, but to refuse the wine, he condemned that practice in the strongest terms, order ing that those who refused the communion in both kinds should be excluded from both, "because one and the same mystery cannot be divided without great sacrilege." It is curious to observe the dissonance on this subject between the avowed sentiment of the papal church at this period, and what in succeeding ages was declared to be the catholic doctrine concerning the Eucharist by the councils of Constance and Trent. In the year 496 Gelasius died, after he had filled the pontifical chair four years and between eight and nine months. His greatest praise, according to his catholic eulogists, arose from the zeal which he displayed in opposing heresies; his spirit in enforcing canonical obedience and discipline; and, above all, his boldness in endeavouring to maintain the supremacy, and to enlarge the authority, of the Roman see. He was the author of various writings, still extant: among which are "Sixteen Letters," and several fragments of letters, directed to different public characters; a treatise," De Anathematis Vinculo;" "A Discourse against the Senator Andromachus, and other Romans," who wished to restore the feast called Lupercalia, which Gelasius had suppressed; " A Treatise against the Pelagian Heresy;" and "An Account of the Circumstances which took place on the Absolution of the Prelate Misenus." The above-mentioned pieces are all inserted in the fourth volume of the "Collectio Conciliorum." But the most celebrated of this pontiff's productions is "A Treatise against Eutyches and Nestorius, concerning the two Natures in Christ." Several catholic writers, among others Baronius and Bellarmine, have attempted to prove that this is not a genuine production of our Gelasius, but is to be attributed to Gelasius of Cyzicus. Their wish to have it ascribed to any other author than a Roman pontiff arose, most probably, from its presenting us with the clearest evidence, that at the time when it was written the doctrine of transubstantiation was unknown in the church. In Cave and Dupin, however, the

reader may find the most satisfactory proofs of its genuineness. The treatise itself is inserted in the eighth volume of the "Biblioth. Patr." and in the "Antidotum adversus Hæreses," published at Basil in 1528, folio. Gelasius also is thought to have been the author of the "Codex Sacramentarius," which is a collection of such forms of public prayers and administration of the sacraments as were in use in the church of Rome in his time, digested in a new order, and including many additional forms of his own. The MS. of this Codex lay hid unnoticed for many ages, until, in the year 1562, upon the dispersion of the Florentine library, it fell into the hands of Paul Petau, by whose son it was placed in the library of Christina queen of Sweden. By that princess it was entrusted to Joseph Maria Thomasius, who printed it for the first time at Rome, in 1680, 4to. In 1685 it was reprinted at Paris, under the inspection of father John Mabillon, together with some other ancient liturgies, and very learned dissertations on the old Gallican liturgy, in one volume 4to. Cave's Hist. Lit. vol. I. sub Sac. Nest. Platina de Vit. Pont. Dupin. Moreri. Boer.-M.

GELASIUS II., pope, was descended from an illustrious family at Gaeta in Campania, of which city he was a native. His christian name was John, and the surname by which he was commonly distinguished before his elevation to the pontificate was taken from the place of his birth. In early life he embraced the monastic state among the Benedictines at Monte Cassino, where he applied himself with great diligence to his studies, and acquired a high character for learning, abilities, and virtue. Pope Urban II. hearing of his extraordinary endow ments, sent for him to Rome, and, having found him admirably qualified for business, at first made him his secretary, and in the year 1988 preferred him to the dignity of cardinal deacon. Not long after he was appointed chancellor of the Roman church. Upon the death of pope Paschal in 1118, John of Gaeta was unanimously chosen his successor by the cardinals and Roman clergy, when he took the name of Gelasius II. The imperial party at Rome, however, were greatly enraged when they heard of this choice, without the consent, and even knowledge, of the emperor; and Cencius. Frangipani, one of the most powerful of the Roman nobility, and then at the head of that party, as sembling a body of armed men, broke into the church of the benedictine monastery, while the cardinals were performing the ceremony of adoration; when, after falling upon and beating

these defenceless men in a cruel and barbarous manner, Frangipani ordered the new pope, who was covered with blood, to be put into irons and taken to his house, where he was thrown into a dark dungeon. In the mean time the opposite party, when they heard of the inhuman treatment which the pope had met with, took up arms, and surrounding in great numbers the house of Frangipani, with the prefect of the city and others of the nobility at their head, threatened to set fire to it, and to put him and his family to death, if the pope were not immediately released. This threatening procured the pontiff his liberty, who was immediately carried in triumph to the Lateran, and there crowned with the usual solemnity. But as the pope had only received deacon's orders, while preparations were making forconferring on him the priesthood, and for his consecration, the emperor Henry V., by a rapid march from Lombardy, arrived with an army unexpectedly at Rome, with the design, as was supposed, of seizing the person of the new pontiff, and obliging him to confirm the decree which he had forced his predecessor to sign concerning investitures. Gelasius was no sooner apprised of his arrival, than he escaped with several cardinals from Rome, and, after evading the pursuit of the imperial troops, was enabled to reach Gaeta, where he was received with loud acclamations, and had embassadors sent to him by the Norman princes, who declared themselves ready to support him to the utmost of their power. When the emperor found that the pope was got out of his reach, he sent embassadors to him, inviting him to return to Rome, and offering to confirm his election upon the condition of his renouncing all right to investitures; but at the same time informing him, that if he did not comply with that condition, another person should be chosen pope in his room. Gelasius returned for answer, that he was unalterably determined never to part with any of the undoubted rights of his see; and that his election, being perfectly canonical, required no confirmation; immediately after which he was ordained priest, and received consecration at Gaeta. The emperor, highly provoked at the answer of Gelasius, or dered a new election to take place; when, upon his recommendation, Maurice Bourdin, archbishop of Braga, was chosen to the pontifical chair, who took the name of Gregory VIII., and was acknowledged lawful pope by all the imperial party at Rome. No sooner was Gelasius informed of what had taken place at Rome, than he wrote to the Gallican bishops, exhorting them to adhere to him, who had been

canonically elected; and he also wrote to the archbishop of Toledo, ordering him to cause an other archbishop of Braga to be elected in the room of Bourdin; and to the Romans, exhorting them to avoid him as an usurper and excommunicated person. After the emperor had continued about three months at Rome, during which time he was crowned anew by Bourdin as pope, having been crowned by him before only as papal legate, he returned to Tuscany. Upon the emperor's retreat Gelasius returned privately to Rome, where he believed that his party was sufficiently strong to enable him shortly to drive his rival from the throne. After lying concealed for some time, he was at length encouraged by his friends to celebrate mass publicly in the church of St. Praxedes. But the service was scarcely begun, when Frangipani, at the head of a body of troops, forced his way into the church, intending to seize on Gelasius, and to send him a prisoner to the emperor. The pope, however, was enabled to make his escape; and, his friends flocking from all quarters in his support, a civil war commenced in Rome, in which numbers of lives were lost on both sides. But as the imperial party at length prevailed in the city, Gelasius, despairing of being ever able to expel his rival, resolved to quit not only Rome, but Italy, and to retire to France. Accordingly, he embarked at Ostia with six cardinals, and, after landing at Pisa and Genoa, arrived at St. Gilles in Provence, in the month of November, 1118. Here he was received with all possible marks of respect and esteem, and supplied by the clergy and nobility with large sums of money, in order to support him in his rank and dignity. And no sooner did Lewis, surnamed the Gross, at that time king of France, hear of his arrival in his dominions, than he sent him rich presents, with assurances of his protection, and his sincere desire of seeing him firmly established upon the pontifical throne. After this the pope visited several cities, in the exercise of his pontifical functions, and appointed a council to meet at Rheims, in the following year, to consult about the correction of the state of ecclesiastical discipline in the Gallican churches. But being in the mean time attacked by the pleurisy, he caused himself to be carried to the monastery of Clugny, where he died in the month of January, 1119, when he had held the papal dignity little more than one year. He bears the character of having been a pontiff of eminent worth, equally distinguished by his piety, and the exemplary virtues of his life. There are extant six "Letters" of his in the tenth

volume of the " Collectio Concil. ;" and " The Life of Erasmus, Bishop of Gaeta," in Latin prose, and those of "Anatolia" and "Casarius," in Latin verse. The pieces last mentioned were published at Rome, with the Life of Gelasius, by the abbot Constantine Cajetan, in 1639. Cave's Hist. Lit. vol. II. sub Sec. Wald. Platina de Vit. Pont. Moreri. Bower.-M. GELASIUS, bishop of Caesarea, in Palestine, was the nephew of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, and consecrated successor to Euzoius in the see of Cæsarea, in the year 380. Theodoret speaks in high terms of his character, and praises a homily of his on the Epiphany, of which he has preserved a fragment in his third dialogue concerning Heresies. St. Jerome also classes him among the ecclesiastical writers of his age, and commends him for the correctness and polish of his style, but says, that he would not publish his works. According to father Labbé, some fragments of the writings of this bishop, explanatory of the Apostles' Creed, and of the traditions of the church, are to be found in the Greek collection of testimonies, under the name of John Damascenus, in the "Codex Claromont." Photius assures us, that he had read a translation into Greek by this author, of the two books in continuation of Eusebius, written by Ruffinus. Fabricius, however, maintains, that the work which Photius read was no other than the History of the Council of Nice, which will be noticed in the next article; and he asks, how the hypothesis that this bishop of Cæsarea should have been the translator of Ruffinus's History is to be reconciled with chronology? since the latter was not given to the public till the year 400, and Gelasius was dead in the year 394. Fabricii Bibl. Græc. vol. VIII. lib. v. cap. 24. Cave's Hist. Lit. vol. I. sub Sac. Arian. Dupin.-M.

GELASIUS, surnamed CYzICENUS from the place of his birth, was the son of a presbyter of the church at Cyzicum, and flourished about the year 476. By some writers he is said to have been bishop of Cæsarea, in Palestine; but others, and those particularly who appear to have examined with the greatest care the circumstances related concerning him, make no mention of his having been raised to the episcopal dignity. When young, he found in his father's possession a manuscript containing an account of the proceedings of the council of Nice, which had formerly belonged to Dalmatius bishop of Cyzicum. As the Catholics were at that time persecuted by the Eutychians, under the countenance of the emperor Basiliscus, and as that sect boasted that the decrees of the coun

VOL. IV.

cil of Nice were favourable to their principles." he determined to draw up a new history of that council, with the design of confuting their representations. He at first thought that it would be sufficient for his purpose to transcribe all the acts of the council as detailed in his MS.: but, finding it imperfect, he says that he was forced to add to them several things related by other authors, particularly by Eusebius bishop of Cæsarea, and Rufinus. The work which he produced is divided into three books; of which the two first contain the History of the Council, and the third only three Letters of the emperor Constantine. This history, however, is nothing more than a collection of treatises, and pieces taken out of Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. What is not borrowed from these authors, is either dubious, or manifestly false. Dupin says, that "There is neither order in his narrative, nor correctness in his observations, nor elegance in his expressions, nor judgment in his choice of matter, nor good sense in his determinations: so that he must be pronounced a bad compiler, who has collected without any discrimination whatever he found relating to the council of Nice, whether good or bad; not examining whether it were true or false." This history was published at Paris, by Robert Balfour, a Scotchman, in Greek and Latin, with notes, in 1559, octavo; and it is inserted in the second volume of the "Collectio Concilior." Fabricii Bibl. Græt. vol. VIII. lib. v. cap. 24. Cave's Hist. Lit. vol. I. sub Sac. Nest. Dupin. Moreri.-M.

GELDENHAUR, GERARD, a divine and historian, was born at Nimeguen in 1482. He received his education first at Deventer, and then at Louvain, where he contracted an intimacy with Erasmus. Being recommended to the court of Charles V. then archduke, he was for some time reader and historian to that prince; but his inclination for a more settled life caused him to accept of the post of Latin secretary and private reader to Philip bishop of Utrecht, which he held till the death of that prelate. In 1526 he was sent by Maximilian of Burgundy to Wittemberg, in order to examine the schools and the state of religion in that country. He was so much impressed with what he there saw, that he openly joined the lutheran party, and went to Worms, where he married, and undertook the education of youth. His friend Erasmus was so displeased with his change of religion, that he wrote against him, under the name of Vulturius, and complains much of his conduct towards himself. Geldenhaur removed to Augsburg, and

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then to Marpurg, where he was first professor of history, and afterwards of thcology. He died of the plague in that place, in 1542. He published Latin poems, orations, and epistles, and also several historical works, of which the principal are," Historia Batavica;" "Historiæ suæ tatis Lib. VII;" "Germanicarum Histor. Illustratio;" "Descriptio Insula Batavorum;" "De Viris illustribus Inferioris Germaniæ;" "Catalogus Episcoporum Traject." He also wrote some pieces in controversial divinity. Freheri Theatr. Moreri. Bayle.-A.

GELLERT, CHRISTIAN FURCHTEGOTT, extraordinary professor of philosophy at Leipsic, the favourite writer of the Germans, and one of the most esteemed of their poets, was born in July, 1715, at Haynichen, near Freyberg, where his father was a clergyman. His poetical genius made its first appearance at the age of thirteen; but as it was observed and fostered by no friend, Gunther, Neukirch, and Hanke, were the models whom he imitated. At the school of Meissen, where he was initiated in the sciences, he formed a friendship with Gartner and Rabener, which continued during their lives. In 1734 he studied theology at Leipsic; and at the end of four years returned home and commenced preacher; but being of a bashful timid disposition, he made no figure as an orator. In the year 1739 he was tutor to a young gentleman near Dresden; and soon after, to his sister's son, whom he accompanied to Leipsic in 1741. About this period his taste began to be formed, and in this respect he derived great benefit from his intimacy with Ebert, Schlegel, and Gartner. As the natural weakness of his constitution, sickly and hypochondriac from infancy, forbade him to aim at extensive learning, he endeavoured to acquire only as much as might render him useful. His first attempts in poetry, called " Belustigungen des Verstandes und Witzes"-Amusements of Reason and Wit, begun in 1742, procured him a great deal of respect, on account of his easy and agreeable manner of writing, as well as of the goodness of heart every-where displayed in these productions. The bad state of his health, and the labour which his sermons cost him, induced him to lay aside his ecclesiastical views, and to devote himself entirely to the academical instruction of youth. In this situation, he endeavoured not only to enrich the minds of his pupils with useful knowledge, but to form their taste, improve their hearts, and inspire them with sentiments of religion and virtue. In 1744 he took the degree of master of arts; and next year published the first volume of his Fables,

some plays, and "The Swedish Countess," the first original German romance worth notice. So early as 1746 his hypochondriacal affections had increased in an alarming degree; but this misfortune did not prevent him from improving his plays in 1747, and publishing in 1748 the second part of his Fables. On account of the infirm state of his health, he solicited for no public employment; but in 1751 he was obliged to accept the office of extraordinary professor of philosophy, with a salary which after the war was considerably increased. In the year 1752 his complaint degenerated into insuperable lowness of spirits and confirmed melancholy, which filled his mind with the most gloomy ideas, and embittered all the joys of life. He, however, still continued to display the same patience, resignation, and love of mankind, as he had before shewn, and which during the war from 1756 to 1763 excited the esteem and admiration of the enemy. After the war, his sufferings became still more poignant, till dangerous obstructions put an end to his existence on the 13th of December, 1769. By the agreeable and simple style which Gellert employed in his writings, he contributed, in a great degree, to improve taste and morals throughout Germany, and particularly among the higher and lower orders. He had become, in some measure, the instructor of the nation, and when he died, his loss was deeply and sincerely lamented. Every person capable of handling a pen suddenly turned writer in his praise. His likeness was cast in gypsum, and moulded in wax; it was engraved on copper, and represented in sculpture and painting. "A century will perhaps elapse," says Kutner in his characters of the German writers, "before we have another poet capable of exciting the love and admiration of his contemporaries in so eminent a degree as Gellert ; and of exercising so powerful an influence on the taste and way of thinking of all ranks. Though not a genius of the first class, he was an agreeable and fertile writer; the poet of religion and virtue; an able reformer of public morals, who preferred reproof to punishment, and seemed more inclined to administer consolation, than to plunge into despair. In his fables and spiritual songs he has displayed the whole force of his genius. In the former, he successfully imitates La Fontaine, and shews the same delicate vein of humour, the same liveliness and ease united to the keenest satire. In his Tales, properly so called, he seems fond of the serious, didactic style, and sometimes of the tragic. the tragic. His ridicule always appears in the garb of innocence, while the irony is concealed

under the finest veil; his verses are exceedingly soft and harmonious, and it may be easily seen that many of them are the fruit of long study and meditation. His prose is not destitute of elegance; but it is inferior in strength and fire to his more juvenile productions; and in some of his latter works the plaintive tone of infirmity and age seems to prevail. The talent of making excellent verses, of suiting the expression to the idea and at the same time preserving the measure and rhyme, Gellert possessed more than any of the German poets; and nothing perhaps has more contributed to produce that general interest excited by his fables. Timidity rendered him exceedingly modest. No literary man was ever readier to allow the superior merit of others. He set the greatest value on talents which he himself did not possess; he preferred learning to genius. His sensual desires were naturally moderate. As he required only a very small portion of the pleasures or indulgences which money can procure, a small income was more than sufficient to supply all his wants: his temper and sobriety enabled him to devote a considerable part of it to acts of beneficence. As long as the Germans shall understand their present language, will the works of Gellert be read; and his character will be honoured while virtue is known and respected. Gellert's first attempt in the theatrical way was his comedy of "The Mendicant Nun," which originated from one of the tales he was then composing. This piece gave him afterwards great uneasiness, as he was afraid that his object in ridiculing hypocrisy might be misunderstood, and that some might thence take occasion to ridicule true religion. On this account, in each of the succeeding editions, he omitted some of the strongest expressions. All his comedies abound with the most beautiful traits and noblest thoughts; but they are deficient in the true vis comica, continued interest in the plan, and spirit and precision in the language. His characters are borrowed from the circle of city life, and are all truly German. In 1745 he wrote "The Affectionate Sisters," a piece in three acts, which is remarkable for being the first affecting comedy in the German language. The "Prize in the Lottery," of all Gellert's pieces, was the best received on the stage. The Sick Wife" is an after-piece, in one act, in which the poet converted one of his tales into a drama. Gellert's different works have gone through a great many editions, and have been translated into almost all the languages of Europe. As it would be tedious to enumerate them all, we shall mention here only the first

German editions: "Leben der Schwedischen Gräfinn"-Life of the Swedish Countess, Leipsic, 1745, 8vo. ibid. 1758: "Lustspiele Comedies," ibid. 1747, 8vo.: "Trostgründe Wider ein sicches Leben," ibid. 1747, 8vo. : "Fables and Tales," ibid. 1748; there is a Hebrew translation of these fables by Abraham, a Jew: "Briefe nebst einer praktischen Abhandlung von dem guten Geschmak in Briefen”—Letters, together with a practical Treatise on good Taste in Letter-writing, ibid. 1751, 8vo.: "Lehrgedicht und Erzälungen"-Didactic Poems and Tales, ibid. 1754: "Sammlung vermischter Schriften"-Collection of Miscellaneous Pieces, ibid. 1757, 8vo. "Geistliche Oden und Lieder”—Sacred Odes and Hymns, ibid. 1757, 8vo. : " Gellerts und Rabeners achtzehn Briefe"-Gellert's and Rabener's eighteen Letters, ibid. 1760: "Von der Beschaffenheit dem Umfang und Nutzen der Moral"-On the Nature, Extent, and Use of Morality, ibid. 1766, 8vo. : " Moralische Vorlesungen"-Moral Essays, published after the author's death, by J. A. Schlegel and G. L. Heyer, ibid. 1770, two volumes octavo : "Sammtliche Schriften"-Complete Collection of his Works, ibid. 1766, ten volumes octavo : this is a beautiful edition, but incomplete: a new edition improved by some of his friends appeared after his death at Leipsic, in eight volumes, with engravings: "Anhang zu seinem Sämmtliche Schriften"-Appendix to his Works, ibid. 1770. Hirsching's Manual of eminent Persons who died in the eighteenth Century.—J.

GELLI, GIAMBATISTA, an Italian poet and man of letters, was born at Florence in 1498. He was of mean origin, and followed the trade of a shoemaker. He was not void, however, of the advantages of education, and he became distinguished for literature in his native place, and was one of the chief ornaments of the academy degli Umidi. His two prose comedies, entitled "La Sporta" and "L'Errore," were accounted the best compositions of the kind then in the language. He translated into Italian from the Greek, the Hecuba of Euripides. His other works are "I Capprici del Bottaio," consisting of dialogues, which are said to be faulty in point of decency; other dialogues,' chiefly on physical topics, entitled "La Circe;" some remarks on the difficulty of reducing the Italian language to rule; dissertations upon the poems of Dante and Petrarch; other translations, verses, &c. Gelii died in 1563. Moreri. Tiraboschi.-A.

GELLIBRAND, HENRY, an industrious English mathematician and astronomer in the seventeenth century, was born at London, in

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