Delaware county, New York, on the 27th of May 1836. He was brought up on
his father's farm, studied at Hobart Academy, and though he left school
in his sixteenth year, devoted himself assiduously thereafter to private
study, chiefly of mathematics and surveying, at the same time keeping
books for a blacksmith for his board. For a short time he worked for his
father in the hardware business; in 1852-1856 he worked as a surveyor in
preparing maps of Ulster, Albany and Delaware counties in New York, of
Lake and Geauga counties in Ohio, and of Oakland county in Michigan, and
of a projected railway line between Newburgh and Syracuse, N.Y. An
ardent anti-renter in his boyhood and youth, he wrote _A History of
Delaware County and the Border Wars of New York, containing a Sketch of
the Early Settlements in the County, and A History of the Late Anti-Rent
Difficulties in Delaware_ (Roxbury, 1856). He then engaged in the lumber
and tanning business in western New York, and in banking at Stroudsburg,
Pennsylvania. In 1863 he married Miss Helen Day Miller, and through her
father, Daniel S. Miller, he was appointed manager of the Rensselaer &
Saratoga railway, which he bought up when it was in a very bad
condition, and skilfully reorganized; in the same way he bought and
reorganized the Rutland & Washington railway, from which he ultimately
realized a large profit. In 1859 he removed to New York City, where he
became a broker in railway stocks, and in 1868 he was elected president
of the Erie railway, of which by shrewd strategy he and James Fisk, Jr.
(q.v.), had gained control in July of that year. The management of the
road under his control, and especially the sale of $5,000,000 of
fraudulent stock in 1868-1870, led to litigation begun by English
bondholders, and Gould was forced out of the company in March 1872 and
compelled to restore securities valued at about $7,500,000. It was
during his control of the Erie that he and Fisk entered into a league
with the Tweed Ring, they admitted Tweed to the directorate of the Erie,
and Tweed in turn arranged favourable legislation for them at Albany.
With Tweed, Gould was cartooned by Nast in 1869. In October 1871 Gould
was the chief bondsman of Tweed when the latter was held in $1,000,000
bail. With Fisk in August 1869 he began to buy gold in a daring attempt
to "corner" the market, his hope being that, with the advance in price
of gold, wheat would advance to such a price that western farmers would
sell, and there would be a consequent great movement of breadstuffs from
West to East, which would result in increased freight business for the
Erie road. His speculations in gold, during which he attempted through
President Grant's brother-in-law, A. H. Corbin, to influence the
president and his secretary General Horace Porter, culminated in the
panic of "Black Friday," on the 24th of September 1869, when the price
of gold fell from 162 to 135.
Gould gained control of the Union Pacific, from which in 1883 he
withdrew after realizing a large profit. Buying up the stock of the
Missouri Pacific he built up, by means of consolidations,
reorganizations, and the construction of branch lines, the "Gould
System" of railways in the south-western states. In 1880 he was in
virtual control of 10,000 miles of railway, about one-ninth of the
railway mileage of the United States at that time. Besides, he obtained
a controlling interest in the Western Union Telegraph Company, and after
1881 in the elevated railways in New York City, and was intimately
connected with many of the largest railway financial operations in the
United States for the twenty years following 1868. He died of
consumption and of mental strain on the 2nd of December 1892, his
fortune at that time being estimated at $72,000,000; all of this he left
to his own family.
His eldest son, GEORGE JAY GOULD (b. 1864), was prominent also as an
owner and manager of railways, and became president of the Little Rock &
Fort Smith railway (1888), the St Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern
railway (1893), the International & Great Northern railway (1893), the
Missouri Pacific railway (1893), the Texas & Pacific railway (1893), and
the Manhattan Railway Company (1892); he was also vice-president and
director of the Western Union Telegraph Company. It was under his
control that the Wabash system became transcontinental and secured an
Atlantic port at Baltimore; and it was he who brought about a friendly
alliance between the Gould and the Rockefeller interests.
The eldest daughter, HELEN MILLER GOULD (b. 1868), became widely known
as a philanthropist, and particularly for her generous gifts to American
army hospitals in the war with Spain in 1898 and for her many
contributions to New York University, to which she gave $250,000 for a
library in 1895 and $100,000 for a Hall of Fame in 1900.
GOUNOD, CHARLES FRANCOIS (1818-1893), French composer, was born in Paris
on the 17th of June 1818, the son of F. L. Gounod, a talented painter.
He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1836, studied under Reicha, Halevy
and Lesueur, and won the "Grand Prix de Rome" in 1839. While residing in
the Eternal City he devoted much of his time to the study of sacred
music, notably to the works of Palestrina and Bach. In 1843 he went to
Vienna, where a "requiem" of his composition was performed. On his
return to Paris he tried in vain to find a publisher for some songs he
had written in Rome. Having become organist to the chapel of the
"Missions Etrangeres," he turned his thoughts and mind to religious
music. At that time he even contemplated the idea of entering into holy
orders. His thoughts were, however, turned to more mundane matters when,
through the intervention of Madame Viardot, the celebrated singer, he
received a commission to compose an opera on a text by Emile Augier for
the Academie Nationale de Musique. _Sapho_, the work in question, was
produced in 1851, and if its success was not very great, it at least
sufficed to bring the composer's name to the fore. Some critics appeared
to consider this work as evidence of a fresh departure in the style of
dramatic music, and Adolphe Adam, the composer, who was also a musical
critic, attributed to Gounod the wish to revive the system of musical
declamation invented by Gluck. The fact was that _Sapho_ differed in
some respects from the operatic works of the period, and was to a
certain extent in advance of the times. When it was revived at the Paris
Opera in 1884, several additions were made by the composer to the
original score, not altogether to its advantage, and _Sapho_ once more
failed to attract the public. Gounod's second dramatic attempt was again
in connexion with a classical subject, and consisted in some choruses
written for _Ulysse_, a tragedy by Ponsard, played at the Theatre
Francais in 1852, when the orchestra was conducted by Offenbach. The
composer's next opera, _La Nonne sanglante_, given at the Paris Opera in
1854, was a failure.
Goethe's _Faust_ had for years exercised a strong fascination over
Gounod, and he at last determined to turn it to operatic account. The
performance at a Paris theatre of a drama on the same subject delayed
the production of his opera for a time. In the meanwhile he wrote in a
few months the music for an operatic version of Moliere's comedy, _Le
Medecin malgre lui_, which was produced at the Theatre Lyrique in 1858.
Berlioz well described this charming little work when he wrote of it,
"Everything is pretty, piquant, fluent, in this 'opera comique'; there
is nothing superfluous and nothing wanting." The first performance of
_Faust_ took place at the Theatre Lyrique on the 19th of March 1859.
Goethe's masterpiece had already been utilized for operatic purposes by
various composers, the most celebrated of whom was Spohr. The subject
had also inspired Schumann, Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner, to mention only a
few, and the enormous success of Gounod's opera did not deter Boito from
writing his _Mefistofele_. _Faust_ is without doubt the most popular
French opera of the second half of the 19th century. Its success has
been universal, and nowhere has it achieved greater vogue than in the
land of Goethe. For years it remained the recognized type of modern
French opera. At the time of its production in Paris it was scarcely
appreciated according to its merits. Its style was too novel, and its
luscious harmonies did not altogether suit the palates of those
dilettanti who still looked upon Rossini as the incarnation of music.
Times have indeed changed, and French composers have followed the road
opened by Gounod, and have further developed the form of the lyrical
drama, adopting the theories of Wagner in a manner suitable to their
national temperament. Although in its original version _Faust_ contained
spoken dialogue, and was divided into set pieces according to custom,
yet it differed greatly from the operas of the past. Gounod had not
studied the works of German masters such as Mendelssohn and Schumann in
vain, and although his own style is eminently Gallic, yet it cannot be
denied that much of its charm emanates from a certain poetic
sentimentality which seems to have a Teutonic origin. Certainly no music
such as his had previously been produced by any French composer. Auber
was a gay trifler, scattering his bright effusions with absolute
_insouciance_, teeming with melodious ideas, but lacking depth. Berlioz,
a musical Titan, wrestled against fate with a superhuman energy, and,
Jove-like, subjugated his hearers with his thunderbolts. It was,
however, reserved for Gounod to introduce _la note tendre_, to sing the
tender passion in accents soft and languorous. The musical language
employed in _Faust_ was new and fascinating, and it was soon to be
adopted by many other French composers, certain of its idioms thereby
becoming hackneyed. Gounod's opera was given in London in 1863, when its
success, at first doubtful, became enormous, and it was heard
concurrently at Covent Garden and Her Majesty's theatres. Since then it
has never lost its popularity.
Although the success of _Faust_ in Paris was at first not so great as
might have been expected, yet it gradually increased and set the seal on
Gounod's fame. The fortunate composer now experienced no difficulty in
finding an outlet for his works, and the succeeding decade is a
specially important one in his career. The opera from his pen which came
after Faust was _Philemon et Baucis_, a setting of the mythological tale
in which the composer followed the traditions of the Opera Comique,
employing spoken dialogue, while not abdicating the individuality of his
own style. This work was produced at the Theatre Lyrique in 1860. It has
repeatedly been heard in London. _La Reine de Saba_, a four-act opera,
produced at the Grand Opera on the 28th of February 1862, was altogether
a far more ambitious work. For some reason it did not meet with
success, although the score contains some of Gounod's choicest
inspirations, notably the well-known air, "Lend me your aid." _La Reine
de Saba_ was adapted for the English stage under the name of _Irene_.
The non-success of this work proved a great disappointment to Gounod,
who, however, set to work again, and this time with better results,
_Mireille_, the fruit of his labours, being given for the first time at
the Theatre Lyrique on the 19th of March 1864. Founded upon the _Mireio_
of the Provencal poet Mistral, _Mireille_ contains much charming and
characteristic music. The libretto seems to have militated against its
success, and although several revivals have taken place and various
modifications and alterations have been made in the score, yet
_Mireille_ has never enjoyed a very great vogue. Certain portions of
this opera have, however, been popularized in the concert-room. _La
Colombe_, a little opera in two acts without pretension, deserves
mention here. It was originally heard at Baden in 1860, and subsequently
at the Opera Comique. A suavely melodious _entr'acte_ from this little
work has survived and been repeatedly performed.
Animated with the desire to give a pendant to his _Faust_, Gounod now
sought for inspiration from Shakespeare, and turned his attention to
_Romeo and Juliet_. Here, indeed, was a subject particularly well
calculated to appeal to a composer who had so eminently qualified
himself to be considered the musician of the tender passion. The
operatic version of the Shakespearean tragedy was produced at the
Theatre Lyrique on the 27th of April 1867. It is generally considered as
being the composer's second best opera. Some people have even placed it
on the same level as _Faust_, but this verdict has not found general
acceptance. Gounod himself is stated to have expressed his opinion of
the relative value of the two operas enigmatically by saying, "_Faust_
is the oldest, but I was younger; _Romeo_ is the youngest, but I was
older." The luscious strains wedded to the love scenes, if at times
somewhat cloying, are generally in accord with the situations, often
irresistibly fascinating, while always absolutely individual. The
success of _Romeo_ in Paris was great from the outset, and eventually
this work was transferred to the Grand Opera, after having for some time
formed part of the repertoire of the Opera Comique. In London it was not
until the part of Romeo was sung by Jean de Reszke that this opera
obtained any real hold upon the English public.
After having so successfully sought for inspiration from Moliere, Goethe
and Shakespeare, Gounod now turned to another famous dramatist, and
selected Pierre Corneille's _Polyeucte_ as the subject of his next
opera. Some years were, however, to elapse before this work was given to
the public. The Franco-German War had broken out, and Gounod was
compelled to take refuge in London, where he composed the "biblical
elegy" _Gallia_ for the inauguration of the Royal Albert Hall. During
his stay in London Gounod composed a great deal and wrote a number of
songs to English words, many of which have attained an enduring
popularity, such as "Maid of Athens," "There is a green hill far away,"
"Oh that we two were maying," "The fountain mingles with the river." His
sojourn in London was not altogether pleasant, as he was embroiled in
lawsuits with publishers. On Gounod's return to Paris he hurriedly set
to music an operatic version of Alfred de Vigny's _Cinq-Mars_, which was
given at the Opera Comique on the 5th of April 1877 (and in London in
1900), without obtaining much success. _Polyeucte_, his much-cherished
work, appeared at the Grand Opera the following year on the 7th of
October, and did not meet with a better fate. Neither was Gounod more
fortunate with _Le Tribut de Zamora_, his last opera, which, given on
the same stage in 1881, speedily vanished, never to reappear. In his
later dramatic works he had, unfortunately, made no attempt to keep up
with the times, preferring to revert to old-fashioned methods.
The genius of the great composer was, however, destined to assert itself
in another field--that of sacred music. His friend Camille Saint-Saens,
in a volume entitled _Portraits et Souvenirs_, writes:
Gounod did not cease all his life to write for the church, to
accumulate masses and motetts; but it was at the commencement of his
career, in the _Messe de Sainte Cecile_, and at the end, in the
oratorios _The Redemption and Mors et vita_, that he rose highest.
Saint-Saens, indeed, has formulated the opinion that the three
above-mentioned works will survive all the master's operas. Among the
many masses composed by Gounod at the outset of his career, the best is
the _Messe de Sainte Cecile_, written in 1855. He also wrote the _Messe
du Sacre Coeur_ (1876) and the _Messe a la memoire de Jeanne d'Arc_
(1887). This last work offers certain peculiarities, being written for
solos, chorus, organ, eight trumpets, three trombones, and harps. In
style it has a certain affinity with Palestrina. _The Redemption_, which
seems to have acquired a permanent footing in Great Britain, was
produced at the Birmingham Festival of 1882. It was styled a sacred
trilogy, and was dedicated to Queen Victoria. The score is prefixed by a
commentary written by the composer, in which the scope of the oratorio
is explained. It cannot be said that Gounod has altogether risen to the
magnitude of his task. The music of _The Redemption_ bears the
unmistakable imprint of the composer's hand, and contains many beautiful
thoughts, but the work in its entirety is not exempt from monotony.
_Mors et vita_, a sacred trilogy dedicated to Pope Leo XIII., was also
produced for the first time in Birmingham at the Festival of 1885. This
work is divided into three parts, "Mors," "Judicium," "Vita." The first
consists of a Requiem, the second depicts the Judgment, the third
Eternal Life. Although quite equal, if not superior to _The Redemption_,
_Mors et vita_ has not obtained similar success.
Gounod was a great worker, an indefatigable writer, and it would occupy
too much space to attempt even an incomplete catalogue of his
compositions. Besides the works already mentioned may be named two
symphonies which were played during the 'fifties, but have long since
fallen into neglect. Symphonic music was not Gounod's forte, and the
French master evidently recognized the fact, for he made no further
attempts in this style. The incidental music he wrote to the dramas _Les
Deux Reines_ and _Jeanne d'Arc_ must not be forgotten. He also attempted
to set Moliere's comedy, _Georges Dandin_, to music, keeping to the
original prose. This work has never been brought out. Gounod composed a
large number of songs, many of which are very beautiful. One of the
vocal pieces that have contributed most to his popularity is the
celebrated _Meditation on the First Prelude of Bach_, more widely known
as the _Ave Maria_. The idea of fitting a melody to the Prelude of Bach
was original, and it must be admitted that in this case the experiment
was successful.
Gounod died at St Cloud on the 18th of October 1893. His influence on
French music was immense, though during the last years of the 19th
century it was rather counterbalanced by that of Wagner. Whatever may be
the verdict of posterity, it is unlikely that the quality of
individuality will be denied to Gounod. To be the composer of _Faust_ is
alone a sufficient title to lasting fame. (A. He.)
GOURD, a name given to various plants of the order _Cucurbitaceae_,
especially those belonging to the genus _Cucurbita_, monoecious trailing
herbs of annual duration, with long succulent stems furnished with
tendrils, and large, rough, palmately-lobed leaves; the flowers are
generally large and of a bright yellow or orange colour, the barren ones
with the stamens united; the fertile are followed by the large succulent
fruit that gives the gourds their chief economic value. Many varieties
of _Cucurbita_ are under cultivation in tropical and temperate climates,
especially in southern Asia; but it is extremely difficult to refer them
to definite specific groups, on account of the facility with which they
hybridize; while it is very doubtful whether any of the original forms
now exist in the wild state. Charles Naudin, who made a careful and
interesting series of observations upon this genus, came to the
conclusion that all varieties known in European gardens might be
referred to six original species; probably three, or at most four, have
furnished the edible kinds in ordinary cultivation. Adopting the
specific names usually given to the more familiar forms, the most
important of the gourds, from an economic point of view, is perhaps _C.
maxima_, the _Potiron Jaune_ of the French, the red and yellow gourd of
British gardeners (fig. 6), the spheroidal fruit of which is remarkable
for its enormous size: the colour of the somewhat rough rind varies from
white to bright yellow, while in some kinds it remains green; the fleshy
interior is of a deep yellow or orange tint. This valuable gourd is
grown extensively in southern Asia and Europe. In Turkey and Asia Minor
it yields, at some periods of the year, an important article of diet to
the people; immense quantities are sold in the markets of
Constantinople, where in the winter the heaps of one variety with a
white rind are described as resembling mounds of snowballs. The yellow
kind attains occasionally a weight of upwards of 240 lb. It grows well
in Central Europe and the United States, while in the south of England
it will produce its gigantic fruit in perfection in hot summers. The
yellow flesh of this gourd and its numerous varieties yields a
considerable amount of nutriment, and is the more valuable as the fruit
can be kept, even in warm climates, for a long time. In France and in
the East it is much used in soups and ragouts, while simply boiled it
forms a substitute for other table vegetables; the taste has been
compared to that of a young carrot. In some countries the larger kinds
are employed as cattle food. The seeds yield by expression a large
quantity of a bland oil, which is used for the same purposes as that of
the poppy and olive. The "mammoth" gourds of English and American
gardeners (known in America as squashes) belong to this species. The
pumpkin (summer squash of America) is _Cucurbita Pepo_. Some of the
varieties of _C. maxima_ and Pepo contain a considerable quantity of
sugar, amounting in the sweetest kinds to 4 or 5%, and in the hot plains
of Hungary efforts have been made to make use of them as a commercial
source of sugar. The young shoots of both these large gourds may be
given to cattle, and admit of being eaten as a green vegetable when
boiled. The vegetable marrow is a variety (_ovifera_) of _C. Pepo_. Many
smaller gourds are cultivated in India and other hot climates, and some
have been introduced into English gardens, rather for the beauty of
their fruit and foliage than for their esculent qualities. Among these
is _C. Pepo_ var. _aurantia_, the orange gourd, bearing a spheroidal
fruit, like a large orange in form and colour; in Britain it is
generally too bitter to be palatable, though applied to culinary
purposes in Turkey and the Levant. _C. Pepo_ var. _pyriformis_ and var.
_verrucosa_, the warted gourds, are likewise occasionally eaten,
especially in the immature state; and _C. moschata_ (musk melon) is very
extensively cultivated throughout India by the natives, the yellow flesh
being cooked and eaten.
[Illustration: Photographed from specimens in the British Museum.
Group of Gourds.
1-5. Various forms of bottle gourd, _Lagenaria vulgaris_.
6. Giant gourd, _Cucurbita maxima_.]
The bottle-gourds are placed in a separate genus, _Lagenaria_, chiefly
differing from _Cucurbita_ in the anthers being free instead of
adherent. The bottle-gourd properly so-called, _L. vulgaris_, is a
climbing plant with downy, heart-shaped leaves and beautiful white
flowers: the remarkable fruit (figs. 1-5) first begins to grow in the
form of an elongated cylinder, but gradually widens towards the
extremity, until, when ripe, it resembles a flask with a narrow neck and
large rounded bulb; it sometimes attains a length of 7 ft. When ripe,
the pulp is removed from the neck, and the interior cleared by leaving
water standing in it; the woody rind that remains is used as a bottle:
or the lower part is cut off and cleared out, forming a basin-like
vessel applied to the same domestic purposes as the calabash
(_Crescentia_) of the West Indies: the smaller varieties, divided
lengthwise, form spoons. The ripe fruit is apt to be bitter and
cathartic, but while immature it is eaten by the Arabs and Turks. When
about the size of a small cucumber, it is stuffed with rice and minced
meat, flavoured with pepper, onions, &c., and then boiled, forming a
favourite dish with Eastern epicures. The elongated snake-gourds of
India and China (_Trichosanthes_) are used in curries and stews.
All the true gourds have a tendency to secrete the cathartic principle
_colocynthin_, and in many varieties of _Cucurbita_ and the allied
genera it is often elaborated to such an extent as to render them
unwholesome, or even poisonous. The seeds of several species therefore
possess some anthelmintic properties; those of the common pumpkin are
frequently administered in America as a vermifuge.
The cultivation of gourds began far beyond the dawn of history, and the
esculent species have become so modified by culture that the original
plants from which they have descended can no longer be traced. The
abundance of varieties in India would seem to indicate that part of Asia
as the birthplace of the present edible forms; but some appear to have
been cultivated in all the hotter regions of that continent, and in
North Africa, from the earliest ages, while the Romans were familiar
with at least certain kinds of _Cucurbita_, and with the bottle-gourd.
_Cucurbita Pepo_, the source of many of the American forms, is probably
a native of that continent.
Most of the annual gourds may be grown successfully in Britain. They
are usually raised in hotbeds or under frames, and planted out in rich
soil in the early summer as soon as the nights become warm. The more
ornamental kinds may be trained over trellis-work, a favourite mode of
displaying them in the East; but the situation must be sheltered and
sunny. Even _Lagenaria_ will sometimes produce fine fruit when so
treated in the southern counties.
For an account of these cultivations in England see paper by Mr J. W.
Odell, "Gourds and Cucurbits," in _Journ. Royal Hort. Soc._ xxix. 450
(1904).
GOURGAUD, GASPAR, BARON (1783-1852), French soldier, was born at
Versailles on the 14th of September 1783; his father was a musician of
the royal chapel. At school he showed talent in mathematical studies and
accordingly entered the artillery. In 1802 he became junior lieutenant,
and thereafter served with credit in the campaigns of 1803-1805, being
wounded at Austerlitz. He was present at the siege of Saragossa in 1808,
but returned to service in Central Europe and took part in nearly all
the battles of the Danubian campaign of 1809. In 1811 he was chosen to
inspect and report on the fortifications of Danzig. Thereafter he became
one of the ordnance officers attached to the emperor, whom he followed
closely through the Russian campaign of 1812; he was one of the first to
enter the Kremlin and discovered there a quantity of gunpowder which
might have been used for the destruction of Napoleon. For his services
in this campaign he received the title of baron, and became first
ordnance officer. In the campaign of 1813 in Saxony he further evinced
his courage and prowess, especially at Leipzig and Hanau; but it was in
the first battle of 1814, near to Brienne, that he rendered the most
signal service by killing the leader of a small band of Cossacks who
were riding furiously towards Napoleon's tent. Wounded at the battle of
Montmirail, he yet recovered in time to share in several of the
conflicts which followed, distinguishing himself especially at Laon and
Reims. Though enrolled among the royal guards of Louis XVIII. in the
summer of 1814, he yet embraced the cause of Napoleon during the Hundred
Days (1815), was named general and aide-de-camp by the emperor, and
fought at Waterloo.
After the second abdication of the emperor (June 22nd, 1815) Gourgaud
retired with him and a few other companions to Rochefort. It was to him
that Napoleon entrusted the letter of appeal to the prince regent for an
asylum in England. Gourgaud set off in H.M.S. "Slaney," but was not
allowed to land in England. He determined to share Napoleon's exile and
sailed with him on H.M.S. "Northumberland" to St Helena. The ship's
secretary, John R. Glover, has left an entertaining account of some of
Gourgaud's gasconnades at table. His extreme sensitiveness and vanity
soon brought him into collision with Las Cases and Montholon at
Longwood. The former he styles in his journal a "Jesuit" and a scribbler
who went thither in order to become famous. With Montholon, his senior
in rank, the friction became so acute that he challenged him to a duel,
for which he suffered a sharp rebuke from Napoleon. Tiring of the life
at Longwood and the many slights which he suffered from Napoleon, he
desired to depart, but before he could sail he spent two months with
Colonel Basil Jackson, whose account of him throws much light on his
character, as also on the "policy" adopted by the exiles at Longwood. In
England he was gained over by members of the Opposition and thereafter
made common cause with O'Meara and other detractors of Sir Hudson Lowe,
for whose character he had expressed high esteem to Basil Jackson. He
soon published his _Campagne de 1815_, in the preparation of which he
had had some help from Napoleon; but Gourgaud's _Journal de Ste-Helene_
was not destined to be published till the year 1899. Entering the arena
of letters, he wrote, or collaborated in, two well-known critiques. The
first was a censure of Count P. de Segur's work on the campaign of 1812,
with the result that he fought a duel with that officer and wounded him.
He also sharply criticized Sir Walter Scott's _Life of Napoleon_. He
returned to active service in the army in 1830; and in 1840 proceeded
with others to St Helena to bring back the remains of Napoleon to
France. He became a deputy to the Legislative Assembly in 1849; he died
in 1852.
Gourgaud's works are _La Campagne de 1815_ (London and Paris, 1818);
_Napoleon et la Grande Armee en Russie; examen critique de l'ouvrage
de M. le comte P. de Segur_ (Paris, 1824); _Refutation de la vie de
Napoleon par Sir Walter Scott_ (Paris, 1827). He collaborated with
Montholon in the work entitled _Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de
France sous Napoleon_ (Paris, 1822-1823), and with Belliard and others
in the work entitled _Bourrienne et ses erreurs_ (2 vols., Paris,
1830); but his most important work is the _Journal inedit de
Ste-Helene_ (2 vols., Paris, 1899), which is a remarkably naif and
life-like record of the life at Longwood. See, too, _Notes and
Reminiscences of a Staff Officer_, by Basil Jackson (London, 1904),
and the bibliography to the article LOWE, SIR HUDSON. (J. Hl. R.)
GOURKO, JOSEPH VLADIMIROVICH, COUNT (1828-1901), Russian general, was
born, of Lithuanian extraction, on the 15th of November 1828. He was
educated in the imperial corps of pages, entered the hussars of the
imperial bodyguard as sub-lieutenant in 1846, became captain in 1857,
adjutant to the emperor in 1860, colonel in 1861, commander of the 4th
Hussar regiment of Mariupol in 1866, and major-general of the emperor's
suite in 1867. He subsequently commanded the grenadier regiment, and in
1873 the 1st brigade, 2nd division, of the cavalry of the guard.
Although he took part in the Crimean War, being stationed at Belbek, his
claim to distinction is due to his services in the Turkish war of 1877.
He led the van of the Russian invasion, took Trnovo on the 7th July,
crossed the Balkans by the Hain Bogaz pass, debouching near Hainkioi,
and, notwithstanding considerable resistance, captured Uflani, Maglish
and Kazanlyk; on the 18th of July he attacked Shipka, which was
evacuated by the Turks on the following day. Thus within sixteen days of
crossing the Danube Gourko had secured three Balkan passes and created a
panic at Constantinople. He then made a series of successful
reconnaissances of the Tunja valley, cut the railway in two places,
occupied Stara Zagora (Turkish, Eski Zagra) and Nova Zagora (Yeni
Zagra), checked the advance of Suleiman's army, and returned again over
the Balkans. In October he was appointed commander of the allied
cavalry, and attacked the Plevna line of communication to Orkhanie with
a large mixed force, captured Gorni-Dubnik, Telische and Vratza, and, in
the middle of November, Orkhanie itself. Plevna was isolated, and after
its fall in December Gourko led the way amidst snow and ice over the
Balkans to the fertile valley beyond, totally defeated Suleiman, and
occupied Sophia, Philippopolis and Adrianople, the armistice at the end
of January 1878 stopping further operations (see RUSSO-TURKISH WARS).
Gourko was made a count, and decorated with the 2nd class of St George
and other orders. In 1879-1880 he was governor of St Petersburg, and
from 1883 to 1894 governor-general of Poland. He died on the 29th of
January 1901.
GOURMET, a French term for one who takes a refined and critical, or even
merely theoretical pleasure in good cooking and the delights of the
table. The word has not the disparaging sense attached to the Fr.
_gourmand_, to whom the practical pleasure of good eating is the chief
end. The O. Fr. _groumet_ or _gromet_ meant a servant, or shop-boy,
especially one employed in a wine-seller's shop, hence an expert taster
of wines, from which the modern usage has developed. The etymology of
gourmet is obscure; it may be ultimately connected with the English
"groom" (q.v.). The origin of _gourmand_ is unknown. In English, in the
form "grummet," the word was early applied to a cabin or ship's boy.
Ships of the Cinque Ports were obliged to carry one "grummet"; thus in a
charter of 1229 (quoted in the _New English Dictionary_) it is laid down
_servitia inde debita Domino Regi, xxi. naves, et in qualibet nave xxi.
homines, cum uno gartione qui dicitur gromet_.
GOUROCK, a police burgh and watering-place of Renfrewshire, Scotland, on
the southern shore of the Firth of Clyde, 3-1/4 m. W. by N. of Greenock
by the Caledonian railway. Pop. (1901) 5261. It is partly situated on a
fine bay affording good anchorage, for which it is largely resorted to
by the numerous yacht clubs of the Clyde. The extension of the railway
from Greenock (in 1889) to the commodious pier, with a tunnel 1-1/3 m.
long, the longest in Scotland, affords great facilities for travel to
the ports of the Firth, the sea lochs on the southern Highland coast and
the Crinan Canal. The eminence called Barrhill (480 ft. high) divides
the town into two parts, the eastern known as Kempoch, the western as
Ashton. Near Kempoch point is a monolith of mica-schist, 6 ft. high,
called "Granny Kempoch," which the superstitious of other days regarded
as possessing influence over the winds, and which was the scene, in
1662, of certain rites that led to the celebrants being burned as
witches. Gamble Institute (named after the founder) contains halls,
recreation rooms, a public library and baths. It is said that Gourock
was the first place on the Clyde where herrings were cured. There is
tramway communication with Greenock and Ashton. About 3 m. S.W. there
stands on the shore the familiar beacon of the Cloch. Gourock became a
burgh of barony in 1694.
GOURVILLE, JEAN HERAULD (1625-1703), French adventurer, was born at La
Rochefoucauld. At the age of eighteen he entered the house of La
Rochefoucauld as a servant, and in 1646 became secretary to Francois de
la Rochefoucauld, author of the _Maximes_. Resourceful and quick-witted,
he rendered services to his master during the Fronde, in his intrigues
with the parliament, the court or the princes. In these negotiations he
made the acquaintance of Conde, whom he wished to help to escape from
the chateau of Vincennes; of Mazarin, for whom he negotiated the
reconciliation with the princes; and of Nicolas Fouquet. After the
Fronde he engaged in financial affairs, thanks to Fouquet. In 1658 he
farmed the _taille_ in Guienne. He bought depreciated _rentes_ and had
them raised to their nominal value by the treasury; he extorted gifts
from the financiers for his protection, being Fouquet's confidant in
many operations of which he shared the profits. In three years he
accumulated an enormous fortune, still further increased by his
unfailing good fortune at cards, playing even with the king. He was
involved in the trial of Fouquet, and in April 1663 was condemned to
death for peculation and embezzlement of public funds; but escaping, was
executed in effigy. He sent a valet one night to take the effigy down
from the gallows in the court of the Palais de Justice, and then fled
the country. He remained five years abroad, being excepted in 1665 from
the amnesty accorded by Louis XIV. to the condemned financiers. Having
returned secretly to France, he entered the service of Conde, who,
unable to meet his creditors, had need of a clever manager to put his
affairs in order. In this way he was able to reappear at court, to
assist at the campaigns of the war with Holland, and to offer himself
for all the delicate negotiations for his master or the king. He
received diplomatic missions in Germany, in Holland, and especially in
Spain, though it was only in 1694, that he was freed from the
condemnation pronounced against him by the chamber of justice. From 1696
he fell ill and withdrew to his estate, where he dictated to his
secretary, in four months and a half, his _Memoires_, an important
source for the history of his time. In spite of several errors,
introduced purposely, they give a clear idea of the life and morals of a
financier of the age of Fouquet, and throw light on certain points of
the diplomatic history. They were first published in 1724.
There is a modern edition, with notes, an introduction and appendix,
by Lecestre (Paris, 1894-1895, 2 vols.).
GOUT, the name rather vaguely given, in medicine, to a constitutional
disorder which manifests itself by inflammation of the joints, with
sometimes deposition of urates of soda, and also by morbid changes in
various important organs. The term gout, which was first used about the
end of the 13th century, is derived through the Fr. _goutte_ from the
Lat. _gutta_, a drop, in allusion to the old pathological doctrine of
the dropping of a morbid material from the blood within the joints. The
disease was known and described by the ancient Greek physicians under
various terms, which, however, appear to have been applied by them alike
to rheumatism and gout. The general term _arthritis_ ([Greek: arthron],
a joint) was employed when many joints were the seat of inflammation;
while in those instances where the disease was limited to one part the
terms used bore reference to such locality; hence _podagra_ ([Greek:
podagra], from [Greek: pous], the foot, and [Greek: hagra], a seizure),
_chiragra_ ([Greek: cheir], the hand), _gonagra_ ([Greek: gonu], the
knee), &c.
Hippocrates in his _Aphorisms_ speaks of gout as occurring most commonly
in spring and autumn, and mentions the fact that women are less liable
to it than men. He also gives directions as to treatment. Celsus gives a
similar account of the disease. Galen regarded gout as an unnatural
accumulation of humours in a part, and the chalk-stones as the
concretions of these, and he attributed the disease to over-indulgence
and luxury. Gout is alluded to in the works of Ovid and Pliny, and
Seneca, in his 95th epistle, mentions the prevalence of gout among the
Roman ladies of his day as one of the results of their high living and
debauchery. Lucian, in his _Tragopodagra_, gives an amusing account of
the remedies employed for the cure of gout.
In all times this disease has engaged a large share of the attention of
physicians, from its wide prevalence and from the amount of suffering
which it entails. Sydenham, the famous English physician of the 17th
century, wrote an important treatise on the subject, and his description
of the gouty paroxysm, all the more vivid from his having himself been
afflicted with the disease for thirty-four years, is still quoted by
writers as the most graphic and exhaustive account of the symptomatology
of gout. Subsequently Cullen, recognizing gout as capable of manifesting
itself in various ways, divided the disease into _regular gout_, which
affects the joints only, and _irregular gout_, where the gouty
disposition exhibits itself in other forms; and the latter variety he
subdivided into _atonic gout_, where the most prominent symptoms are
throughout referable to the stomach and alimentary canal; _retrocedent
gout_, where the inflammatory attack suddenly disappears from an
affected joint and serious disturbance takes place in some internal
organ, generally the stomach or heart; and _misplaced gout_, where from
the first the disease does not appear externally, but reveals itself by
an inflammatory attack of some internal part. Dr Garrod, one of the most
eminent authorities on gout, adopted a division somewhat similar to,
though simpler than that of Cullen, namely, _regular gout_, which
affects the joints alone, and is either acute or chronic, and _irregular
gout_, affecting non-articular tissues, or disturbing the functions of
various organs.
It is often stated that the attack of gout comes on without any previous
warning; but, while this is true in many instances, the reverse is
probably as frequently the case, and the premonitory symptoms,
especially in those who have previously suffered from the disease, may
be sufficiently precise to indicate the impending seizure. Among the
more common of these may be mentioned marked disorders of the digestive
organs, with a feeble and capricious appetite, flatulence and pain after
eating, and uneasiness in the right side in the region of the liver. A
remarkable tendency to gnashing of the teeth is sometimes observed. This
symptom was first noticed by Dr Graves, who connected it with irritation
in the urinary organs, which also is present as one of the premonitory
indications of the gouty attack. Various forms of nervous disturbance
also present themselves in the form of general discomfort, extreme
irritability of temper, and various perverted sensations, such as that
of numbness and coldness in the limbs. These symptoms may persist for
many days and then undergo amelioration immediately before the impending
paroxysm. On the night of the attack the patient retires to rest
apparently well, but about two or three o'clock in the morning awakes
with a painful feeling in the foot, most commonly in the ball of the
great toe, but it may be in the instep or heel, or in the thumb. With
the pain there often occurs a distinct shivering followed by
feverishness. The pain soon becomes of the most agonizing character: in
the words of Sydenham, "now it is a violent stretching and tearing of
the ligaments, now it is a gnawing pain, and now a pressure and
tightening; so exquisite and lively meanwhile is the part affected that
it cannot bear the weight of the bedclothes, nor the jar of a person
walking in the room."
When the affected part is examined it is found to be swollen and of a
deep red hue. The superjacent skin is tense and glistening, and the
surrounding veins are more or less distended. After a few hours there is
a remission of the pain, slight perspiration takes place, and the
patient may fall asleep. The pain may continue moderate during the day
but returns as night advances, and the patient goes through a similar
experience of suffering to that of the previous night, followed with a
like abatement towards morning. These nocturnal exacerbations occur with
greater or less severity during the continuance of the attack, which
generally lasts for a week or ten days. As the symptoms decline the
swelling and tenderness of the affected joint abate, but the skin over
it pits on pressure for a time, and with this there is often associated
slight desquamation of the cuticle. During the attacks there is much
constitutional disturbance. The patient is restless and extremely
irritable, and suffers from cramp in the limbs and from dyspepsia,
thirst and constipation. The urine is scanty and high-coloured, with a
copious deposit, consisting chiefly of urates. During the continuance of
the symptoms the inflammation may leave the one foot and affect the
other, or both may suffer at the same time. After the attack is over the
patient feels quite well and fancies himself better than he had been for
a long time before; hence the once popular notion that a fit of the gout
was capable of removing all other ailments. Any such idea, however, is
sadly belied in the experience of most sufferers from this disease. It
is rare that the first is the only attack of gout, and another is apt to
occur within a year, although by care and treatment it may be warded
off. The disease, however, undoubtedly tends to take a firmer hold on
the constitution and to return. In the earlier recurrences the same
joints as were formerly the seat of the gouty inflammation suffer again,
but in course of time others become implicated, until in advanced cases
scarcely any articulation escapes, and the disease thus becomes chronic.
It is to be noticed that when gout assumes this form the frequently
recurring attacks are usually attended with less pain than the earlier
ones, but their disastrous effects are evidenced alike by the
disturbance of various important organs, especially the stomach, liver,
kidneys and heart, and by the remarkable changes which take place in the
joints from the formation of the so-called chalk-stones or tophi. These
deposits, which are highly characteristic of gout, appear at first to
take place in the form of a semifluid material, consisting for the most
part of urate of soda, which gradually becomes more dense, and
ultimately quite hard. When any quantity of this is deposited in the
structures of a joint the effect is to produce stiffening, and, as
deposits appear to take place to a greater or less amount in connexion
with every attack, permanent thickening and deformity of the parts is
apt to be the consequence. The extent of this depends, of course, on the
amount of the deposits, which, however, would seem to be in no necessary
relation to the severity of the attack, being in some cases even of
chronic gout so slight as to be barely appreciable externally, but on
the other hand occasionally causing great enlargement of the joints, and
fixing them in a flexed or extended position which renders them entirely
useless. Dr Garrod describes the appearance of a hand in an extreme case
of this kind, and likens its shape to a bundle of French carrots with
their heads forward, the nails corresponding to the stalks. Any of the
joints may be thus affected, but most commonly those of the hands and
feet. The deposits take place in other structures besides those of
joints, such as along the course of tendons, underneath the skin and
periosteum, in the sclerotic coat of the eye, and especially on the
cartilages of the external ear. When largely deposited in joints an
abscess sometimes forms, the skin gives way, and the concretion is
exposed. Sir Thomas Watson quotes a case of this kind where the patient
when playing at cards was accustomed to chalk the score of the game upon
the table with his gouty knuckles.
The recognition of what is termed irregular gout is less easy than that
form above described, where the disease gives abundant external evidence
of its presence; but that other parts than joints suffer from gouty
attacks is beyond question. The diagnosis may often be made in cases
where in an attack of ordinary gout the disease suddenly leaves the
affected joints and some new series of symptoms arises. It has been
often observed when cold has been applied to an inflamed joint that the
pain and inflammation in the part ceased, but that some sudden and
alarming seizure referable to the stomach, brain, heart or lungs
supervened. Such attacks, which correspond to what is termed by Cullen
retrocedent gout, often terminate favourably, more especially if the
disease again returns to the joints. Further, the gouty nature of some
long-continued internal or cutaneous disorder may be rendered apparent
by its disappearance on the outbreak of the paroxysm in the joints.
Gout, when of long standing, is often found associated with degenerative
changes in the heart and large arteries, the liver, and especially the
kidneys, which are apt to assume the contracted granular condition
characteristic of one of the forms of Bright's disease. A variety of
urinary calculus--the uric acid--formed by concretions of this substance
in the kidneys is a not unfrequent occurrence in connexion with gout;
hence the well-known association of this disease and gravel.
The pathology of gout is discussed in the article on METABOLIC DISEASES.
Many points, however, still remain unexplained. As remarked by
Trousseau, "the production in excess of uric acid and urates is a
pathological phenomenon inherent like all others in the disease; and
like all the others it is dominated by a specific cause, which we know
only by its effects, and which we term the gouty diathesis." This
subject of diathesis (habit, or organic predisposition of individuals),
which is regarded as an essential element in the pathology of gout,
naturally suggests the question as to whether, besides being inherited,
such a peculiarity may also be acquired, and this leads to a
consideration of the causes which are recognized as influential in
favouring the occurrence of this disease.
It is beyond dispute that gout is in a marked degree hereditary, fully
more than half the number of cases being, according to Sir C. Scudamore
and Dr Garrod, of this character. But it is no less certain that there
are habits and modes of life the observance of which may induce the
disease even where no hereditary tendencies can be traced, and the
avoidance of which may, on the other hand, go far towards weakening or
neutralizing the influence of inherited liability. Gout is said to
affect the sedentary more readily than the active. If, however,
inadequate exercise be combined with a luxurious manner of living, with
habitual over-indulgence in animal food and rich dishes, and especially
in alcoholic beverages, then undoubtedly the chief factors in the
production of the disease are present.
Much has been written upon the relative influence of various forms of
alcoholic drinks in promoting the development of gout. It is generally
stated that fermented are more injurious than distilled liquors, and
that, in particular, the stronger wines, such as port, sherry and
madeira, are much more potent in their gout-producing action than the
lighter class of wines, such as hock, moselle, &c., while malt liquors
are fully as hurtful as strong wines. It seems quite as probable,
however, that over-indulgence in any form of alcohol, when associated
with the other conditions already adverted to, will have very much the
same effect in developing gout. The comparative absence of gout in
countries where spirituous liquors are chiefly used, such as Scotland,
is cited as showing their relatively slight effect in encouraging that
disease; but it is to be noticed that in such countries there is on the
whole a less marked tendency to excess in the other pleasures of the
table, which in no degree less than alcohol are chargeable with inducing
the gouty habit. Gout is not a common disease among the poor and
labouring classes, and when it does occur may often be connected even in
them with errors in living. It is not very rare to meet gout in butlers,
coachmen, &c., who are apt to live luxuriously while leading
comparatively easy lives.
Gout, it must ever be borne in mind, may also affect persons who observe
the strictest temperance in living, and whose only excesses are in the
direction of over-work, either physical or intellectual. Many of the
great names in history in all times have had their existence embittered
by this malady, and have died from its effects. The influence of
hereditary tendency may often be traced in such instances, and is
doubtless called into activity by the depressing consequences of
over-work. It may, notwithstanding, be affirmed as generally true that
those who lead regular lives, and are moderate in the use of animal food
and alcoholic drinks, or still better abstain from the latter
altogether, are less likely to be the victims of gout even where an
undoubted inherited tendency exists.
Gout is more common in mature age than in the earlier years of life, the
greatest number of cases in one decennial period being between the ages
of thirty and forty, next between twenty and thirty, and thirdly between
forty and fifty. It may occasionally affect very young persons; such
cases are generally regarded as hereditary, but, so far as diet is
concerned, it has to be remembered that their home life has probably
been a predisposing cause. After middle life gout rarely appears for the
first time. Women are much less the subjects of gout than men,
apparently from their less exposure to the influences (excepting, of
course, that of heredity) which tend to develop the disease, and
doubtless also from the differing circumstances of their physical
constitution. It most frequently appears in females after the cessation
of the menses. Persons exposed to the influence of lead poisoning, such
as plumbers, painters, &c., are apt to suffer from gout; and it would
seem that impregnation of the system with this metal markedly interferes
with the uric acid excreting function of the kidneys.
Attacks of gout are readily excited in those predisposed to the disease.
Exposure to cold, disorders of digestion, fatigue, and irritation or
injuries of particular joints will often precipitate the gouty paroxysm.
With respect to the treatment of gout the greatest variety of opinion
has prevailed and practice been pursued, from the numerous quaint
nostrums detailed by Lucian to the "expectant" or do-nothing system
recommended by Sydenham. But gout, although, as has been shown, a malady
of a most severe and intractable character, may nevertheless be
successfully dealt with by appropriate medicinal and hygienic measures.
The general plan of treatment can be here only briefly indicated. During
the acute attack the affected part should be kept at perfect rest, and
have applied to it warm opiate fomentations or poultices, or, what
answers quite as well, be enveloped in cotton wool covered in with oil
silk. The diet of the patient should be light, without animal food or
stimulants. The administration of some simple laxative will be of
service, as well as the free use of alkaline diuretics, such as the
bicarbonate or acetate of potash. The medicinal agent most relied on for
the relief of pain is colchicum, which manifestly exercises a powerful
action on the disease. This drug (_Colchicum autumnale_), which is
believed to correspond to the hermodactyl of the ancients, has proved of
such efficacy in modifying the attacks that, as observed by Dr Garrod,
"we may safely assert that colchicum possesses as specific a control
over the gouty inflammation as cinchona barks or their alkaloids over
intermittent fever." It is usually administered in the form of the wine
in doses of 10 to 30 drops every four or six hours, or in pill as the
acetous extract (gr. 1/2-gr. i.). The effect of colchicum in subduing the
pain of gout is generally so prompt and marked that it is unnecessary to
have recourse to opiates; but its action requires to be carefully
watched by the physician from its well-known nauseating and depressing
consequences, which, should they appear, render the suspension of the
drug necessary. Otherwise the remedy may be continued in gradually
diminishing doses for some days after the disappearance of the gouty
inflammation. Should gout give evidence of its presence in an irregular
form by attacking internal organs, besides the medicinal treatment above
mentioned, the use of frictions and mustard applications to the joints
is indicated with the view of exciting its appearance there. When gout
has become chronic, colchicum, although of less service than in acute
gout, is yet valuable, particularly when the inflammatory attacks recur.
More benefit, however, appears to be derived from potassium iodide,
guaiacum, the alkalis potash and lithia, and from the administration of
aspirin and sodium salicylate. Salicylate of menthol is an effective
local application, painted on and covered with a gutta-percha bandage.
Lithia was strongly recommended by Dr Garrod from its solvent action
upon the urates. It is usually administered in the form of the carbonate
(gr. v., freely diluted).
The treatment and regimen to be employed in the intervals of the gouty
attacks are of the highest importance. These bear reference for the most
part to the habits and mode of life of the patient. Restriction must be
laid upon the amount and quality of the food, and equally, or still
more, upon the alcoholic stimulants. "The instances," says Sir Thomas
Watson, "are not few of men of good sense, and masters of themselves,
who, being warned by one visitation of the gout, have thenceforward
resolutely abstained from rich living and from wine and strong drinks of
all kinds, and who have been rewarded for their prudence and self-denial
by complete immunity from any return of the disease, or upon whom, at
any rate, its future assaults have been few and feeble." The same
eminent authority adds: "I am sure it is worth any _young_ man's while,
who has had the gout, to become a teetotaller." By those more advanced
in life who, from long continued habit, are unable entirely to
relinquish the use of stimulants, the strictest possible temperance must
be observed. Regular but moderate exercise in the form of walking or
riding, in the case of those who lead sedentary lives, is of great
advantage, and all over-work, either physical or mental, should be
avoided. _Fatiguez la bete, et reposez la tete_ is the maxim of an
experienced French doctor (Dr Debout d'Estrees of Contrexeville).
Unfortunately the complete carrying out of such directions, even by
those who feel their importance, is too often rendered difficult or
impossible by circumstances of occupation and otherwise, and at most
only an approximation can be made. Certain mineral waters and baths
(such as those of Vichy, Royat, Contrexeville, &c.) are of undoubted
value in cases of gout and arthritis. The particular place must in each
case be determined by the physician, and special caution must be
observed in recommending this plan of treatment in persons whose gout is
complicated by organic disease of any kind.
Dr Alexander Haig's "uric acid free diet" has found many adherents.
His view as regards the pathology is that in gouty persons the blood
is less alkaline than in normal, and therefore less able to hold in
solution uric acid or its salts, which are retained in the joints.
Assuming gout to be a poisoning by animal food (meat, fish, eggs), and
by tea, coffee, cocoa and other vegetable alkaloid-containing
substances, he recommends an average daily diet excluding these, and
containing 24 oz. of breadstuffs (toast, bread, biscuits and puddings)
together with 24 oz. of fruit and vegetables (excluding peas, beans,
lentils, mushrooms and asparagus); 8 oz. of the breadstuffs may be
replaced by 21 oz. of milk or 2 oz. of cheese, butter and oil being
taken as required, so that it is not strictly a vegetarian diet.
Precisely the opposite view as to diet has recently been put forward
by Professor A. Robin of the Hopital Beaujon, who says serious
mistakes are made in ordering patients to abstain from red meats and
take light food, fish, eggs, &c. The common object in view is the
diminished output of uric acid. This output is chiefly obtained from
food rich in nucleins and in collagenous matters, i.e. young white
meats, eggs, &c. Consequently the gouty subject ought to restrict
himself to the consumption of red meat, beef and mutton, and leave out
of his dietary all white meat and internal organs. He should take
little hydrocarbons and sugars, and be moderate in fats. Vegetarian
diet he regards as a mistake, likewise milk diet, as they tend to
weaken the patient. To prevent the formation of uric acid Robin
prescribes quinic acid combined with formine or urotropine.
GOUTHIERE, PIERRE (1740-1806), French metal worker, was born at Troyes
and went to Paris at an early age as the pupil of Martin Cour. During
his brilliant career he executed a vast quantity of metal work of the
utmost variety, the best of which was unsurpassed by any of his rivals
in that great art period. It was long believed that he received many
commissions for furniture from the court of Louis XVI., and especially
from Marie Antoinette, but recent searches suggest that his work for the
queen was confined to bronzes. Gouthiere can, however, well bear this
loss, nor will his reputation suffer should those critics ultimately be
justified who believe that many of the furniture mounts attributed to
him were from the hand of Thomire. But if he did not work for the court
he unquestionably produced many of the most splendid belongings of the
duc d'Aumont, the duchesse de Mazarin and Mme du Barry. Indeed the
custom of the beautiful mistress of Louis XV. brought about the
financial ruin of the great artist, who accomplished more than any other
man for the fame of her chateau of Louveciennes. When the collection of
the duc d'Aumont was sold by auction in Paris in 1782 so many objects
mounted by Gouthiere were bought for Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette
that it is not difficult to perceive the basis of the belief that they
were actually made for the court. The duc's sale catalogue is, however,
in existence, with the names of the purchasers and the prices realized.
The auction was almost an apotheosis of Gouthiere. The precious lacquer
cabinets, the chandeliers and candelabra, the tables and cabinets in
marquetry, the columns and vases in porphyry, jasper and choice marbles,
the porcelains of China and Japan were nearly all mounted in bronze by
him. More than fifty of these pieces bore Gouthiere's signature. The duc
d'Aumont's cabinet represented the high-water mark of the chaser's art,
and the great prices which were paid for Gouthiere's work at this sale
are the most conclusive criterion of the value set upon his achievement
in his own day. Thus Marie Antoinette paid 12,000 livres for a red
jasper bowl or _brule-parfums_ mounted by him, which was then already
famous. Curiously enough it commanded only one-tenth of that price at
the Fournier sale in 1831; but in 1865, when the marquis of Hertford
bought it at the prince de Beauvais's sale, it fetched 31,900 francs. It
is now in the Wallace Collection, which contains the finest and most
representative gathering of Gouthiere's undoubted work. The mounts of
gilt bronze, cast and elaborately chased, show satyrs' heads, from which
hang festoons of vine leaves, while within the feet a serpent is coiled
to spring. A smaller cup is one of the treasures of the Louvre. There
too is a bronze clock, signed by "Gouthiere, _cizileur et doreur du Roy
a Paris_," dated 1771, with a river god, a water nymph symbolizing the
Rhone and its tributary the Durance, and a female figure typifying the
city of Avignon. Not all of Gouthiere's work is of the highest quality,
and much of what he executed was from the designs of others. At his best
his delicacy, refinement and finish are exceedingly delightful--in his
great moments he ranks with the highest alike as artist and as
craftsman. The tone of soft dead gold which is found on some of his
mounts he is believed to have invented, but indeed the gilding of all
his superlative work possesses a remarkable quality. This charm of tone
is admirably seen in the bronzes and candelabra which he executed for
the chimney-piece of Marie Antoinette's boudoir at Fontainebleau. He
continued to embellish Louveciennes for Madame du Barry until the
Revolution, and then the guillotine came for her and absolute ruin for
him. When her property was seized she owed him 756,000 livres, of which
he never received a sol, despite repeated applications to the
administrators. "_Reduit a solliciter une place a l'hospice, il mourut
dans la misere._" So it was stated in a lawsuit brought by his sons
against du Barry's heirs.
GOUVION SAINT-CYR, LAURENT, MARQUIS DE (1764-1830), French marshal, was
born at Toul on the 13th of April 1764. At the age of eighteen he went
to Rome with the view of prosecuting the study of painting, but although
he continued his artistic studies after his return to Paris in 1784 he
never definitely adopted the profession of a painter. In 1792 he was
chosen a captain in a volunteer battalion, and served on the staff of
General Custine. Promotion rapidly followed, and in the course of two
years he had become a general of division. In 1796 he commanded the
centre division of Moreau's army in the campaign of the Rhine, and by
coolness and sagacity greatly aided him in the celebrated retreat from
Bavaria to the Rhine. In 1798 he succeeded Massena in the command of the
army of Italy. In the following year he commanded the left wing of
Jourdan's army in Germany; but when Jourdan was succeeded by Massena, he
joined the army of Moreau in Italy, where he distinguished himself in
face of the great difficulties that followed the defeat of Novi. When
Moreau, in 1800, was appointed to the command of the army of the Rhine,
Gouvion St-Cyr was named his principal lieutenant, and on the 9th of May
gained a victory over General Kray at Biberach. He was not, however, on
good terms with his commander and retired to France after the first
operations of the campaign. In 1801 he was sent to Spain to command the
army intended for the invasion of Portugal, and was named grand officer
of the Legion of Honour. When a treaty of peace was shortly afterwards
concluded with Portugal, he succeeded Lucien Bonaparte as ambassador at
Madrid. In 1803 he was appointed to the command of an army corps in
Italy, in 1805 he served with distinction under Massena, and in 1806 was
engaged in the campaign in southern Italy. He took part in the Prussian
and Polish campaigns of 1807, and in 1808, in which year he was made a
count, he commanded an army corps in Catalonia; but, not wishing to
comply with certain orders he received from Paris (for which see Oman,
_Peninsular War_, vol. iii.), he resigned his command and remained in
disgrace till 1811. He was still a general of division, having been
excluded from the first list of marshals owing to his action in refusing
to influence the troops in favour of the establishment of the Empire. On
the opening of the Russian campaign he received command of an army
corps, and on the 18th of August 1812 obtained a victory over the
Russians at Polotsk, in recognition of which he was created a marshal of
France. He received a severe wound in one of the actions during the
general retreat. St-Cyr distinguished himself at the battle of Dresden
(August 26-27, 1813), and in the defence of that place against the
Allies after the battle of Leipzig, capitulating only on the 11th of
November, when Napoleon had retreated to the Rhine. On the restoration
of the Bourbons he was created a peer of France, and in July 1815 was
appointed war minister, but resigned his office in the November
following. In June 1817 he was appointed minister of marine, and in
September following again resumed the duties of war minister, which he
continued to discharge till November 1819. During this time he effected
many reforms, particularly in respect of measures tending to make the
army a national rather than a dynastic force. He exerted himself also to
safeguard the rights of the old soldiers of the Empire, organized the
general staff and revised the code of military law and the pension
regulations. He was made a marquess in 1817. He died at Hyeres (Var) on
the 17th of March 1830. Gouvion St-Cyr would doubtless have obtained
better opportunities of acquiring distinction had he shown himself more
blindly devoted to the interests of Napoleon, but Napoleon paid him the
high compliment of referring to his "military genius," and entrusted him
with independent commands in secondary theatres of war. It is doubtful,
however, if he possessed energy commensurate with his skill, and in
Napoleon's modern conception of war, as three parts moral to one
technical, there was more need for the services of a bold leader of
troops whose "doctrine"--to use the modern phrase--predisposed him to
self-sacrificing and vigorous action, than for a _savant_ in the art of
war of the type of St-Cyr. Contemporary opinion, as reflected by Marbot,
did justice to his "commanding talents," but remarked the indolence
which was the outward sign of the vague complexity of a mind that had
passed beyond the simplicity of mediocrity without attaining the
simplicity of genius.
He was the author of the following works, all of the highest value:
_Journal des operations de l'armee de Catalogne en 1808 et 1809_
(Paris, 1821); _Memoires sur les campagnes des armees de Rhin et de
Rhin-et-Moselle de 1794 a 1797_ (Paris, 1829); and _Memoires pour
servir a l'histoire militaire sous le Directoire, le Consulat, et
l'Empire_ (1831).
See Gay de Vernon's _Vie de Gouvion Saint-Cyr_ (1857).
GOVAN, a municipal and police burgh of Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on
the south bank of the Clyde in actual contact with Glasgow, and in a
parish of the same name which includes a large part of the city on both
sides of the river. Pop. (1891) 61,589; (1901) 76,532. Govan remained
little more than a village till 1860, when the growth of shipbuilding
and allied trades gave its development an enormous impetus. Among its
public buildings are the municipal chambers, combination fever hospital,
Samaritan hospital and reception houses for the poor. Elder Park (40
acres) presented to the burgh in 1885 contains a statue of John Elder
(1824-1869), the pioneer shipbuilder, the husband of the donor. A statue
of Sir William Pearce (1833-1888), another well-known Govan shipbuilder,
once M.P. for the burgh, stands at Govan Cross. The Govan lunacy board
opened in 1896 an asylum near Paisley. Govan is supplied with Glasgow
gas and water, and its tramways are leased by the Glasgow corporation;
but it has an electric light installation of its own, and performs all
other municipal functions quite independently of the city, annexation to
which it has always strenuously resisted. Prince's Dock lies within its
bounds and the shipbuilding yards have turned out many famous ironclads
and liners. Besides shipbuilding its other industries are match-making,
silk-weaving, hair-working, copper-working, tube-making, weaving, and
the manufacture of locomotives and electrical apparatus. The town forms
the greater part of the Govan division of Lanarkshire, which returns one
member to parliament.
GOVERNMENT (O. Fr. _governement_, mod. _gouvernement_, O. Fr.
_governer_, mod. _gouverner_, from Lat. _gubernare_, to steer a ship,
guide, rule; cf. Gr. [Greek: kubernan]), in its widest sense, the ruling
power in a political society. In every society of men there is a
determinate body (whether consisting of one individual or a few or many
individuals) whose commands the rest of the community are bound to obey.
This sovereign body is what in more popular phrase is termed the
government of the country, and the varieties which may exist in its
constitution are known as forms of government. For the opposite theory
of a community with "no government," see ANARCHISM.
How did government come into existence? Various answers to this question
have at times been given, which may be distinguished broadly into three
classes. The first class would comprehend the legendary accounts which
nations have given in primitive times of their own forms of government.
These are always attributed to the mind of a single lawgiver. The
government of Sparta was the invention of Lycurgus. Solon, Moses, Numa
and Alfred in like manner shaped the government of their respective
nations. There was no curiosity about the institutions of other
nations--about the origin of governments in general; and each nation was
perfectly ready to accept the traditional [Greek: nomothetai] of any
other.
The second may be called the logical or metaphysical account of the
origin of government. It contained no overt reference to any particular
form of government, whatever its covert references may have been. It
answered the question, how government in general came into existence;
and it answered it by a logical analysis of the elements of society. The
phenomenon to be accounted for being government and laws, it abstracted
government and laws, and contemplated mankind as existing without them.
The characteristic feature of this kind of speculation is that it
reflects how contemporary men would behave if all government were
removed, and infers that men must have behaved so before government came
into existence. Society without government resolves itself into a number
of individuals each following his own aims, and therefore, in the days
before government, each man followed his own aims. It is easy to see how
this kind of reasoning should lead to very different views of the nature
of the supposed original state. With Hobbes, it is a state of war, and
government is the result of an agreement among men to keep the peace.
With Locke, it is a state of liberty and equality,--it is not a state of
war; it is governed by its own law,--the law of nature, which is the
same thing as the law of reason. The state of nature is brought to an
end by the voluntary agreement of individuals to surrender their natural
liberty and submit themselves to one supreme government. In the words of
Locke, "Men being by nature all free, equal and independent, no one can
be put out of this estate and subjected to the political power of
another without his own consent. The only way whereby any one divests
himself of his natural liberty, and puts on the _bonds of civil
society_, is by agreeing with other men to join and unite into a
community" (_On Civil Government_, c. viii.). Locke boldly defends his
theory as founded on historical fact, and it is amusing to compare his
demonstration of the baselessness of Sir R. Filmer's speculations with
the scanty and doubtful examples which he accepts as the foundation of
his own. But in general the various forms of the hypothesis eliminate
the question of time altogether. The original contract from which
government sprang is likewise the subsisting contract on which civil
society continues to be based. The historical weakness of the theory was
probably always recognized. Its logical inadequacy was conclusively
demonstrated by John Austin. But it still clings to speculations on the
principles of government.
The "social compact" (see ROUSSEAU) is the most famous of the
metaphysical explanations of government. It has had the largest history,
the widest influence and the most complete development. To the same
class belong the various forms of the theory that governments exist by
divine appointment. Of all that has been written about the divine right
of kings, a great deal must be set down to the mere flatteries of
courtiers and ecclesiastics. But there remains a genuine belief that men
are bound to obey their rulers because their rulers have been appointed
by God. Like the social compact, the theory of divine appointment
avoided the question of historical fact.
The application of the historical method to the phenomena of society has
changed the aspect of the question and robbed it of its political
interest. The student of the history of society has no formula to
express the law by which government is born. All that he can do is to
trace governmental forms through various stages of social development.
The more complex and the larger the society, the more distinct is the
separation between the governing part and the rest, and the more
elaborate is the subdivision of functions in the government. The
primitive type of ruler is king, judge, priest and general. At the same
time, his way of life differs little from that of his followers and
subjects. The metaphysical theories were so far right in imputing
greater equality of social conditions to more primitive times. Increase
of bulk brings with it a more complex social organization. War tends to
develop the strength of the governmental organization; peace relaxes it.
All societies of men exhibit the germs of government; but there would
appear to be races of men so low that they cannot be said to live
together in society at all. Modern investigations have illustrated very
fully the importance of the family (q.v.) in primitive societies, and
the belief in a common descent has much to do with the social cohesion
of a tribe. The government of a tribe resembles the government of a
household; the head of the family is the ruler. But we cannot affirm
that political government has its origin in family government, or that
there may not have been states of society in which government of some
sort existed while the family did not.