GASSENDI. 
GASSENDI, (Peter), in biography, a 
very eminent philosopher and ihathemati- 
cian, and' one of the most illustrious orna- 
ments of France, in the seventeenth cen- 
tury, was born in the year 1592, at Chan- 
tersier, about three iniles from Digue, in Pro- 
vence. He afforded early evidence that 
he possessed a lively and inquisitive genius, 
and a happy memory, which determined 
his parents, though they were but in mode- 
rate circumstances, to bestow upon him the 
best education in their power. When he 
was only four years of age, in consequence 
of the pious impressions which had been 
made on his mind, he was accustomed to 
act the preacher among his playmates ; and 
soon afterwards he began to discover his 
taste for astronomy, by taking delight in 
gazing at the moon and stars, when the at- 
mosphere was unclouded. 
The pleasure which he look in contem- 
plating the heavens, often led him to retire 
to unfrequented spots, where he might feast 
his eyes without being disturbed ; by which 
means his parents were frequently obliged 
to seek for him under anxiety and appre- 
hensions for his safety. When he was of 
a proper age to be sent to school, he was 
placed under the instructions of an excellent 
master at Digne, where he made a rapid 
progress in the knowledge of the Latin 
tongue, and also acquired a pre-eminence 
over his school-fellows in rhetorical exer- 
cises. Afterwards he was sent to study 
philosophy for two years, under an able 
professor at Aix ; and at the expiration of 
that period returned to his father’s house at 
Chantersier. 
He had not been long at home, however, 
before he was invited to teach rhetoric at 
Digne, when not quite sixteen years of age ; 
and about three years afterwards he was 
appointed to fill the vacant cbgir of philo- 
sophy, in the University of Aix. During 
his residence at Digne, he had sedulously 
prosecuted his studies in the learned lan- 
guages, mathematics, and astronomy, and 
after a diligent examination of the different 
systems of philosophy among the ancients, 
embraced that of Epicurus, of which he after- 
wards proved himself the most ingenious 
defender in modern times. When he en- 
tered upon his philosophical professorship 
at Aix, .notwithstanding that the authority 
of Aristotle was still acknowledged in al- 
most all the public schools, Gassendi, after 
the examples of Vives, Ramus, and others, 
ventured publicly to expose the defects of 
his system. The lectures which contained 
his censures of the Aristotelian philosophy, 
delivered in the indirect form of paradoxi- 
cal problems, were published under the title 
of “ Exercitationes Paradoxic® adversus 
Aristotelem.” This work, which gave great 
offence to those who still retained their pre- 
deliction for scholastic subtlety, obtained 
the author no small degree of reputation 
with several learned men, particularly with 
Nicholas Peiresc, the president of the Uni- 
versity of Aix, who determined to procure 
for him a situation in the church, in which 
he should be enabled to pursue his 'favou- 
rite studies at his leisure, and without any 
molestation. After Gassendi had entered 
into holy orders, through the interest of 
Peiresc, and Joseph Walter, prior of Val- 
lette, he was promoted to a canonry in the 
cathedral church of Digne, and admitted 
to the degree of doctor of divinity; and 
afterwards received the appointment of 
warden, or rector of the same church. In 
consequence of these promotions, he re- 
signed his professorship at Aix, and retiring 
to Digne, applied himself closely to his phi- 
losophical and astronomical pursuits. 
Among his other works which he wrote 
in this place, was a second book of his “Ex- 
ercitationes Paradoxic®,” intended to ex- 
pose the futility of the Aristotelian logic. 
It was his first intention to pursue the 
plan still further; but the violent oppo- 
sition which he met with from some of 
the zealous and powerful advocates for the 
authority of Aristotle, induced him to desist 
from all direct attacks upon his philosophy. 
Still, however, he professed his attachment 
to the system of Epicurus, and defended it 
with great learning and ability. 
From Lucretius, Laertius, and other an- 
cient writers, he undertook to frame a con- 
sistent scheme of Epicurean doctrine, in 
which the phenomena of nature are imme- 
diately derived from the notion of primary 
atoms. But he was aware of the funda- 
mental defect of this system, and added to 
it the important doctrine of a divine super- 
intending mind, from whom he conceived 
the first motion and subsequent arrange- 
ment to have been derived, and whom he 
regarded as the wise governor of the world. 
He strenously maintained the atomic doc- 
trine in opposition to the fictions of the 
Cartesian philosophy, which were at that 
time obtaining great credit; and particu- 
larly asserted in opposition to Des Cartes, 
the doctrine of a vacuum. On the subject 
of morals, he explained the permanent plea- 
sure or indolence of Epicurus, in a manner 
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