GRATRY

gratry, auguste joseph alphonse (1805-1872), french author and theologian, was born at lille on the 10th of march 1805. he was educated at the ecole polytechnique, paris, and, after a period of mental struggle which he has described in _souvenirs de ma jeunesse_, he was ordained priest in 1832. after a stay at strassburg as professor of the petit seminaire, he was appointed director of the college stanislas in paris in 1842 and, in 1847, chaplain of the ecole normale superieure. he became vicar-general of orleans in 1861, professor of ethics at the sorbonne in 1862, and, on the death of barante, a member of the french academy in 1867, where he occupied the seat formerly held by voltaire. together with m. petetot, _cure_ of saint roch, he reconstituted the oratory of the immaculate conception, a society of priests mainly devoted to education. gratry was one of the principal opponents of the definition of the dogma of papal infallibility, but in this respect he submitted to the authority of the vatican council. he died at montreux in switzerland on the 6th of february 1872. his chief works are: _de la connaissance de dieu_, opposing positivism (1855); _la logique_ (1856); _les sources, conseils pour la conduite de l'esprit_ (1861-1862); _la philosophie du credo_ (1861); _commentaire sur l'evangile de saint matthieu_ (1863); _jesus-christ, lettres a m. renan_ (1864); _les sophistes et la critique_ (in controversy with e. vacherot) (1864); _la morale et la loi de l'histoire_, setting forth his social views (1868); _mgr. l'eveque d'orleans et mgr. l'archeveque de malines_ (1869), containing a clear exposition of the historical arguments against the doctrine of papal infallibility. there is a selection of gratry's writings and appreciation of his style by the abbe pichot, in _pages choisies des grands ecrivains_ series, published by armand-colin (1897). see also the critical study by the oratorian a. chauvin, _l'abbe gratry_ (1901); _le pere gratry_ (1900), and _les derniers jours du pere gratry et son testament spirituel_, (1872), by cardinal adolphe perraud, gratry's friend and disciple.