[1] By the triangulation of 1840 its level was found to be 84 ft.
below the level of the Black Sea. The Caucasus triangulation of
1860-1870 gave 89 ft.
CASS, LEWIS (1782-1866), American general and statesman, was born at
Exeter, New Hampshire, on the 9th of October 1782. He was educated at
Phillips Exeter Academy, joined his father at Marietta, Ohio, about
1799, studied law there in the office of Return Jonathan Meigs
(1765-1825), and was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty. Four
years later he became a member of the Ohio legislature. During the War
of 1812 he served under General William Hull, whose surrender at Detroit
he strongly condemned, and under General W.H. Harrison, and rose from
the rank of colonel of volunteers to be major-general of Ohio militia
and finally to be a brigadier-general in the regular United States army.
In 1813 he was appointed governor of the territory of Michigan, the area
of which was much larger than that of the present state. This position
gave him the chief control of Indian affairs for the territory, which
was then occupied almost entirely by natives, there being only 6000
white settlers. During the eighteen years in which he held this post he
rendered valuable services to the territory and to the nation; he
extinguished the Indian title to large tracts of land, instituted
surveys, constructed roads, and explored the lakes and sources of the
Mississippi river. His relations with the British authorities in Canada
after the War of 1812 were at times very trying, as these officials
persisted in searching American vessels on the Great Lakes and in
arousing the hostility of the Indians of the territory against the
American government. To those experiences was largely due the antipathy
for Great Britain manifested by him in his later career. Upon the
reorganization of President Jackson's cabinet in 1831 he became
secretary of war, and held this office until 1836. It fell to him,
therefore, to direct the conduct of the Black Hawk and Seminole wars. He
sided with the president in his nullification controversy with South
Carolina and in his removal of the Indians from Georgia, but not in his
withdrawal of the government deposits from the United States Bank.
In 1836 General Cass was appointed minister to France, and became very
popular with the French government and people. In 1842, when the
Quintuple Treaty was negotiated by representatives of England, France,
Prussia, Russia and Austria for the suppression of the slave trade by
the exercise of the right of search, Cass attacked it in a pamphlet
entitled "An Examination of the Questions now in Discussion between the
American and British Government Concerning the Right of Search," and
presented to the French government a formal memorial which was probably
instrumental in preventing the ratification of the treaty by France. In
this same year the Webster-Ashburton treaty between Great Britain and
the United States was concluded, and, as England did not thereby
relinquish her claim of the right to search American vessels, Cass,
after having taken such a decided stand in this controversy, felt
himself in an awkward position, and resigned his post. His attitude on
this question made him very popular in America, and he was a strong, but
unsuccessful, candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency
in 1844. From 1845 to 1848 and from 1849 to 1857 he was a member of the
United States Senate, and in 1846 was a leader of those demanding the
"re-annexation" of all the Oregon country south of 54 deg. 40' or war
with England, and was one of the fourteen who voted against the
ratification of the compromise with England at the 49th parallel. He
loyally supported Polk's administration during the Mexican War, opposed
the Wilmot Proviso, and advocated the Compromise Measures of 1850 and
the Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1854. In his famous "Nicholson letter" of
December 1847 he made what was probably the earliest enunciation of the
doctrine of "popular sovereignty," namely, that the people of the
territories should decide for themselves whether or not they should have
slavery.
In 1848 he received the Democratic nomination for the presidency, but
owing to the defection of the so-called "Barnburners" (see FREE-SOIL
PARTY) he did not receive the united support of his party, and was
defeated by the Whig candidate, Zachary Taylor. His name was again
prominent before the Democratic convention of 1852, which, however,
finally nominated Franklin Pierce. On account of his eminently
conservative attitude on all questions concerning slavery, General Cass
has been accused of pandering to the southern Democrats in order to
further his political aspirations. His ideas of popular sovereignty,
however, were not inconsistent with the vigorous Democratic spirit of
the west, of which he was a typical representative, and it is not clear
that he believed that the application of this principle would result in
the extension of slavery. As the west became more radically opposed to
slavery after the troubles in Kansas, Cass was soon out of sympathy with
his section, and when the Republicans secured control of the legislature
in 1857 they refused to return him to the Senate. President Buchanan
soon afterward made him secretary of state, and in this position he at
last had the satisfaction of obtaining from the British government an
acknowledgment of the correctness of the American attitude with regard
to the right of search (or "visitation," as Great Britain
euphemistically termed it). In December 1860 he retired from the cabinet
when the president refused to take a firmer attitude against secession
by reinforcing Fort Sumter, and he remained in retirement until his
death at Detroit, Michigan, on the 17th of June 1866. He wrote for the
_North American_ and the _American Quarterly_ Reviews, and published
_Inquiries Concerning the History, Traditions and Languages of Indians
Living Within the United States_ (1823), and _France: Its King, Court
and Government_ (1840).
See W.T. Young, _Life and Public Services of General Lewis Cass_
(Detroit, 1852); W.L.G. Smith, _Life and Times of Lewis Cass_ (New
York, 1856). The best biography is by A.G. McLaughlin, _Lewis Cass_
(revised edition, Boston, 1899), in the "American Statesmen" series.
CASSABA, a town of Asia Minor, in the sanjak of Manisa, 63 m. E. of
Smyrna, with which it is connected by rail. Pop. estimated at 23,000, of
which two-thirds are Mussulman; but the estimate is probably excessive.
It has considerable local trade, and exports the products of the
surrounding district. Cotton is the most important article, and there
are ginning factories in the town; the silkworm is largely raised and
exported; and the "melons of Cassaba" are sent not only to Smyrna but to
Constantinople. There are fragments of marbles built into the houses,
but the modern town does not seem to occupy any ancient site of
importance.
CASSAGNAC, BERNARD ADOLPHE GRANIER DE (1806-1880), French journalist,
was born at Averon-Bergelle in the department of Gers on the 11th of
August 1806. In 1832 he began his career as a Parisian journalist,
contributing ardent defences of Romanticism and Conservatism to the
_Revue de Paris_, the _Journal des Debats_, and to _La Presse_. Then he
founded a political journal, _L'Epoque_ (1845-1848), in which his
violent polemics in support of Guizot brought him notoriety and not a
few duels. In 1851, in the _Constitutionnel_, he declared himself openly
an imperialist; and in 1852 was elected as "official candidate" by the
department of Gers. As journalist and deputy he actively supported an
absolutist policy. He demanded the restoration of religion, opposed the
laws in favour of the press, and was a member of the club of the rue de
l'Arcade. In March 1868 he accused the Liberal deputies of having
received money from the king of Prussia for opposing the emperor, and
when called upon for proof, submitted only false or trivial documents.
After the proclamation of the republic (4th of September 1870) he fled
to Belgium. He returned to France for the elections of 1876, and was
elected deputy. He continued to combat all the republican reforms, but
with no advantage to his party. He died on the 31st of January 1880. In
addition to his journalistic articles he published various historical
works, now unimportant.
His son, PAUL ADOLPHE MARIE PROSPER GRANIER DE CASSAGNAC (1843-1904),
while still young was associated with his father in both politics and
journalism. In 1866 he became editor of the Conservative paper _Le
Pays_, and figured in a long series of political duels. On the
declaration of war in 1870 he volunteered for service and was taken
prisoner at Sedan. On his return from prison in a fortress in Silesia he
continued to defend the Bonapartist cause in _Le Pays_, against both
Republicans and Royalists. Elected deputy for the department of Gers in
1876, he adopted in the chamber a policy of obstruction "to discredit
the republican regime." In 1877 he openly encouraged MacMahon to attempt
a Bonapartist _coup d'etat_, but the marshal's refusal and the death of
the prince imperial foiled his hopes. He now played but a secondary role
in the chamber, and occupied himself mostly with the direction of the
journal _L'Autorite_, which he had founded. He was not re-elected in
1902, and died in November 1904. His sons took over _L'Autorite_ and the
belligerent traditions of the family.
CASSANA, NICCOLO (1659-1714), often called NICOLETTO, Italian painter,
was born at Venice, and became a disciple of his father, Giovanni
Francesco Cassana, a Genoese, who had been taught the art of painting by
Bernardino Strozzi ("il Prete Genovese"). Having painted portraits of
the Florentine court, and also of some of the English nobility,
Nicoletto was invited to England, and introduced to Queen Anne, who sat
to him for her likeness, and conferred on him many marks of favour. He
died in London in 1714, having given way to drinking in his later years.
Cassana was a man of the most vehement temper, and would wallow on the
ground if provoked with his work. One of his principal paintings is the
"Conspiracy of Catiline," now in Florence.
CASSANDER (c. 350-297 B.C.), king of Macedonia, eldest son of Antipater,
first appears at the court of Alexander at Babylon, where he defended
his father against the accusations of his enemies. Having been passed
over by his father in favour of Polyperchon as his successor in the
regency of Macedonia, Cassander allied himself with Ptolemy Soter and
Antigonus, and declared war against the regent. Most of the Greek states
went over to him, and Athens also surrendered. He further effected an
alliance with Eurydice, the ambitious wife of King Philip Arrhidaeus of
Macedon. Both she and her husband, however, together with Cassander's
brother, Nicanor, were soon after slain by Olympias. Cassander at once
marched against Olympias, and, having forced her to surrender in Pydna,
put her to death (316). In 310 or 309 he also murdered Roxana and
Alexander, the wife and son of Alexander the Great, whose natural son
Heracles he bribed Polyperchon to poison. He had already connected
himself with the royal family by marriage with Thessalonica, Alexander
the Great's half-sister, and, having formed an alliance with Seleucus,
Ptolemy and Lysimachus, against Antigonus, he became, on the defeat and
death of Antigonus in 301, undisputed sovereign of Macedonia. He died of
dropsy in 297. Cassander was a man of literary taste, but violent and
ambitious. He restored Thebes after its destruction by Alexander the
Great, transformed Therma into Thessalonica, and built the new city of
Cassandreia upon the ruins of Potidaea.
See Diod. Sic. xviii., xix., xx.; Plutarch, _Demetrius_, 18. 31,
_Phocion_, 31; also MACEDONIAN EMPIRE.
CASSANDER (or CASSANT), GEORGE (1513-1566), Flemish theologian, born at
Pitthem near Bruges, went at an early age to Louvain and was teaching
theology and literature in 1541 at Bruges and shortly afterwards at
Ghent. About 1549 he removed to Cologne, where, after a profound study
of the points of difference between the Catholic and reformed churches,
he devoted himself to the project of reunion, thus anticipating the
efforts of Leibnitz. In 1561 he published anonymously _De Officiis pii
ac publicae tranquillitatis vere amantis viri in hoc dissidio
religionis_ (Basel), in which, while holding that no one, on account of
abuses, has a right utterly to subvert the Church, he does not disguise
his dislike of those who exaggerated the papal claims. He takes his
standpoint on Scripture explained by tradition and the fathers of the
first six centuries. At a time when controversy drowned the voice of
reason, such a book pleased neither party; but as some of the German
princes thought that he could heal the breach, the emperor Ferdinand
asked him to publish his _Consultatio de Articulis Fidei inter
Catholicos et Protestantes Controversis_ (1565), in which, like Newman
at a later date, he tried to put a Catholic interpretation upon
Protestant formularies. While never attacking dogma, and even favouring
the Roman church on the ground of authority, he criticizes the papal
power and makes reflections on practices. The work, attacked violently
by the Louvain theologians on one side, and by Calvin and Beza on the
other, was put on the Roman Index in 1617. He died at Cologne on the 3rd
of February 1566. The collected edition of his works was published in
1616 at Paris. (E. Tn.)
CASSANDRA, in Greek legend, daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She was
beloved of Apollo, who promised to bestow on her the spirit of prophecy
if she would comply with his desires. Cassandra accepted the proposal;
but no sooner had she obtained the gift than she laughed at the tempter,
and refused to her promise. Apollo revenged himself by ordaining that
her predictions should be discredited (Apollodorus iii. 12. 5); and
hence it was in vain that on the arrival of Helen she prophesied the
ruin of Troy. On the capture of that city she was ravished by Ajax, the
son of Oileus, in the temple of Minerva (Strabo vi. p. 264). In the
distribution of the booty, Cassandra fell to the lot of Agamemnon; but
again her foresight was useless, for he would not believe her prediction
that he should perish in his own country. The prophecy was fulfilled,
for both were slain through the intrigues of Clytaemnestra (_Odyssey_,
xi. 421 ff.). It is to be noticed that there is no mention in Homer of
her prophetic gifts. Together with Apollo, she was worshipped under the
name of Alexandra.
CASSANO ALL' IONIO, a town of Calabria, Italy, in the province of
Cosenza; its railway station (6 m. S. of the town) is 37 m. N. by E.
from the town of Cosenza, while it is 6 m. W. of Sibari, on the line
between Metaponto and Reggio. Pop. 6842. It is very finely situated, 820
ft. above sea-level: the rock above it is crowned by a medieval castle
commanding beautiful views: a tower is still pointed out as that from
which the stone was thrown which killed Milo, but this rests on an
erroneous identification of Cassano with the ancient Compsa (q.v.).
There are warm sulphurous springs here which are used for baths.
CASSAVA, the name given to the farinaceous root of two species of
Euphorbiaceous plants, the bitter cassava, _Manihot utilissima_, and the
sweet cassava, _M. Aipi_, both highly important sources of food
starches; Manihot is given as the native Brazilian name in Spanish
writings of the 16th century. They are herbaceous or semi-shrubby
perennials with very large fleshy, cylindrical, tapering roots as much
as 3 ft. long and 6 to 9 in. in diameter, and filled with milky juice.
The slender stems, 5 to 9 ft. high, bear large spreading long-stalked
leaves, with the blade divided nearly to the base into three to seven
long narrow segments. The plants are probably natives of South America,
but the bitter cassava, which is the more important of the two in an
economic sense, has been introduced into most tropical regions, and is
extensively cultivated in west tropical Africa and the Malay
Archipelago, from which, as well as from Brazil and other South American
states, its starch in the form of tapioca is a staple article of export.
The sap of the bitter cassava root contains hydrocyanic acid, and the
root, being therefore highly poisonous, cannot be eaten in a fresh
condition; while on the other hand the sweet cassava is perfectly
innocuous, and is employed as a table vegetable. Exposure to heat
dissipates the poisonous principle, and the concentrated juice is in
that state used as the basis of cassareep and other sauces. From the
bitter cassava roots many different food preparations are made in
Brazil. The roots are preserved for use by being simply cleaned, sliced
and dried; from such dried slices manioc or cassava meal, used for
cassava cakes, &c., is prepared by rasping. The starch also is separated
and used for food under the name of Brazilian arrowroot; and this, when
agglomerated into pellets on hot plates, forms the tapioca (q.v.) of
commerce. Cassava starch has a stellate hilum, which readily
distinguishes it under the microscope from other starches.
[Illustration: Cassava or Manioc (_Manihot utilissima_), less than half
nat. size.
1, An inflorescence showing at a a fruit which will presently separate
into five one-seeded parts, about 1/2 nat. size.
2, Pistil of female flower.
3, Stamens and fleshy disc of male flower.