Presbyterian minister, born at Wisbeach, Somersetshire; was educated for
the Church, and was for five years in the ministry; during this period
his opinions on politics and religion underwent a radical change, and
when in 1787 he threw up his holy office to engage in literature, he had
become a republican in the one and a free-thinker in the other; various
works had come from his pen, including three novels, before his
celebrated "Political Justice" appeared in 1793, "Caleb Williams," a
novel, and his best-known work, being published in the following year; in
1797 he married Mary Wollstonecraft (_See_ preceding), who died the same
year, and four years later he married a widow, Mrs. Clement; to the close
of his long life he was a prolific writer on literary, historical, and
political subjects, but his carelessness and lack of business habits left
him little profit from all his literary activity; his writings are clear
and vigorous in the expression, if visionary and impracticable in theory
(1756-1836).
GOETHE, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON, a great poet and wise man, the
greatest, it is alleged, the world has seen since Shakespeare left it,
and who, being born in Frankfort-on-the-Main 10 years before Robert
Burns, died in the small duchy of Weimar the same year as Sir Walter
Scott; was the son of an imperial chancellor, a formal man and his
pedagogue in boyhood, and of Elizabeth Textor, daughter of the chief
magistrate of the city, a woman of bright intelligence, who was only
eighteen at the time of his birth. Spiritually and bodily he was the most
perfectly formed, symetrically proportioned, justly balanced, and
completely cultivated man perhaps that ever lived, whose priceless value
to the world lies in this, that in his philosophy and life there is found
the union in one of what to smaller people appears entirely and
absolutely antagonistic, of utmost scientific scepticism and highest
spiritual faith and worth. "He was filled full with the scepticism,
bitterness, hollowness, and thousandfold contradictions of his time, till
his heart was like to break; yet he subdued all this, rose victorious
over this, and manifoldly, by word and act, showed others that came after
how to do the like." Carlyle, who is never done recalling his worth,
confesses an indebtedness to him--which he found it beyond his power to
express: "It was he," he writes to Emerson, "that first proclaimed to me
(convincingly, for I saw it _done_): 'behold, even in this scandalous
Sceptico-Epicurean generation, when all is gone but hunger and cant, it
is still possible that Man be Man.'" "He was," says he, "king of himself
and his world;... his faculties and feelings were not fettered or
prostrated under the iron sway of Passion, but led and guided in kindly
union under the mild sway of Reason; as the fierce primeval elements of
chaos were stilled at the coming of Light, and bound together, under its
soft vesture, into a glorious and beneficent Creation." His life lies
latent in his successive works, above all in "Goetz," in "Werter," in
"Faust," and in "Meister"; but as these have not been duly read it has
not yet been duly written, though an attempt is being made to do so in
the said connection. Of the last of the four works named, Carlyle, who
has done more than any one else yet to bring Goethe near us, once said,
"There are some ten pages of that book that, if ambition had been my
object, I would rather have written than all the literature of my time."
"One counsel," says Carlyle, "he has to give, the secret of his whole
poetic alchemy, 'Think of living! Thy life is no idle dream, but a solemn
reality. It is thy own, it is all thou hast to front eternity with.'"
"Never thought on thinking," he has said, _Nie ans Denken gedacht_. "What
a thrift," exclaims Carlyle, "of faculty here!" Some think he had one
weakness: he lived for culture, believed in culture, irrespective of the
fact and the need of individual regeneration. And Emerson, who afterwards
in his "Representative Men" did Goethe full justice, in introducing him
as, if not a world-wise man, at all events as a world-related, once
complained that "he showed us the _actual_ rather than the _ideal_." To
which Carlyle answered, "That is true; but it is not the whole truth. The
actual well seen _is_ the ideal. The actual, what really is and exists;
the past, the present, and the future do all lie _there_" (1749-1832).
GOETZ VON BERLICHINGEN (of the Iron Hand), a German knight of the
16th century; was involved in turbulent movements, and lost his right
hand at the siege of Landshut, which he replaced by one of his own
invention made of steel; spent his life in feuds, and left an
autobiography which interested Goethe, who dramatised his story, "to
save," as he said, "the memory of a brave man from darkness," a drama
that had the honour of being translated by Sir Walter Scott.
GOG AND MAGOG, names that occur in the Bible of foes of Israel, and
designative in the Apocalypse of enemies of the kingdom of God, as also
of a Scythian tribe N. of the Caucasus. The names are applied likewise to
two giants, survivors of a race found in Britain by Brute of Troy,
effigies of whom stood at the Guildhall Gate, symbolic defenders of the
city.
GOGOL, NICOLAI VASILIEVITCH, a popular Russian novelist, born in
Poltava; in 1829 he started as a writer in St. Petersburg, but met with
little success till the appearance of his "Evenings in a Farm near
Dikanka"; the success of the included sketches of provincial life induced
him to produce a second series in 1834, which are characterised by the
same freshness and fidelity to nature; in 1837 appeared his masterpiece
"Dead Souls," in which all his powers of pathos, humour, and satire are
seen at their best; for some time he tried public teaching, being
professor of History at St. Petersburg, and from 1836 to 1846 lived
chiefly at Rome; many of his works, which rank beside those of Puschkin
and Turgenieff, are translated into English (1809-1852).
GOLCONDA, a fortified town in the Nizam's dominions, 7 m. W. of
Hyderabad; famous for its diamonds, found in the neighbourhood; beside it
are the ruins of the ancient city, the former capital of the old kingdom;
the fort is garrisoned, and is the treasury of the Nizam; it is also a
State prison.
GOLD COAST (1,475, of whom 150 are Europeans), a British crown
colony on the Gulf of Guinea, West Africa, with a coast-line of 350 m.;
from the low and marshy foreshore the country slopes upward and inward to
Ashanti; the climate is very unhealthy; palm-oil, india-rubber, gold
dust, &c., are exported; Cape Coast Castle is the capital.
GOLDEN AGE, the age of happy innocence under the reign of Cronos or
Saturn, in which, as fabled, the earth yielded all fulness without toil,
and every creature lived at peace with every other; the term is applied
to the most flourishing period in the history of a nation. See
AGES.
GOLDEN ASS, a romance of APULEIUS (q. v.).
GOLDEN BULL, an Imperial edict, issued by the Emperor Charles IV.,
which determined the law in the matter of the Imperial elections, and
that only one member of each electoral house should have a vote; so
called from the gold case enclosing the Imperial seal attached.
GOLDEN FLEECE, the fleece of a ram which PHRYXOS (q. v.),
after he had sacrificed him to Zeus, gave to Æëtes, king of Colchis, who
hung it on a sacred oak, and had it guarded by a monstrous dragon, and
which it was the object of the Argonautic expedition under Jason to
recover and bring back to Greece, an object which they achieved. See
ARGONAUTS.
GOLDEN FLEECE, ORDER OF THE, an order of knighthood founded by
Philip III., Duke of Burgundy and the Netherlands in 1429, and instituted
for the protection of the Church.
GOLDEN HORN, the inlet on which Constantinople is situated.
GOLDEN LEGEND, a collection of lives of saints and other tales, such
as that of the "Seven Sleepers" and "St. George and the Dragon," made in
the 13th century by Jacques de Voragine, a Dominican monk, to the glory
especially of his brotherhood.
GOLDEN ROSE, a cluster of roses on a thorny stem, all of gold;
perfumed, and blessed by the Pope on the fourth Sunday in Lent, and sent
to a prince who has during the year shown most zeal for the Church.
GOLDONI, CARLO, the founder of Italian comedy, born at Venice; in
his youth he studied medicine and subsequently law, but in 1732 appeared
as a dramatist with his tragedy "Belisario"; moving from place to place
as a strolling-player, he in 1736 returned to Venice, and finding his
true vocation in comedy-writing, turned out a rapid succession of
sparkling character plays after the manner of Molière; in 1761 he went to
Paris as a playwright to the Italian theatre; became Italian master to
Louis XV.'s daughters, and subsequently was pensioned; his comedies
displaced the burlesques and farces till then in vogue on the stage in
Italy (1707-1793).
GOLDSCHMIDT, MADAME. See LIND, JENNY.
GOLDSMITH, OLIVER, English man of letters, born at Pallas or
Pallasmore, co. Longford, Ireland, and celebrated in English literature
as the author of the "Vicar of Wakefield"; a born genius, but of careless
ways, and could not be trained to any profession, either in the Church,
in law, or in medicine, though more or less booked for all three in
succession; set out on travel on the Continent without a penny, and
supported himself by his flute and other unknown means; came to London,
tried teaching, then literature, doing hack-work, his first work in that
department being "An Inquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning in
Europe," which was succeeded by his "Citizen of the World"; became a
member of the "Literary Club," and associated with Johnson, Reynolds,
Burke, and others; produced poems, "The Traveller" and the "Deserted
Village," besides comedies, such as "She Stoops to Conquer"; lived
extravagantly, and died in debt; wrote histories of Greece and Rome, and
"Animated Nature"; was a charming writer (1728-1774).
GOLF, a game played with a bent club and a small ball on commons
with short grass, in which the player who drives the ball into a
succession of small holes in the ground, usually 18, with the fewest
strokes, or who reckons up the most holes in the round by taking them
with the fewest strokes, is the winner; an old popular Scotch game, and
first introduced into English on Blackheath by James I., which has of
late years been revived, and in connection with which clubs have
established themselves far and wide over the globe, even at Bagdad.
GOLIATH, a Philistine giant of Gath slain by David with pebbles from
a brook by a sling (1 Sam. xvii.).
GOMARISTS, a sect of Calvinists in Holland, so called from their
leader Gomarus (1563-1641), a bitter enemy of ARMINIUS (q. v.).
GONCOURT, EDMOND AND JULES DE, French novelists, born, the former at
Nancy, the latter at Paris; a habit of elaborate note-taking whilst on
sketching tours first drew the brothers towards literature, and
inoculated them with the habit of minute and accurate observation which
gave value to their subsequent writings; their first real venture was a
series of historical studies, designed to reproduce with every
elaboration of detail French society in the later half of the 18th
century, including a "History of French Society during the Revolution";
later they found their true province in the novel, and a series of
striking works of fiction became the product of their joint labours,
works which have influenced subsequent novelists not a little; "Les
Hommes de Lettres" (1860) was the first of these, and "Madame Gervaisais"
(1869) is perhaps their best; their collaboration was broken in 1870 by
the death of Jules; but Edmond still continued to write, and produced
amongst other novels "La Fille Élisa"; the "Journal" of the brothers
appeared in 1888 in six vols. (Edmond, 1822-1888; Jules, 1830-1870).
GONDAR (4), a once populous city and the capital of AMHARA
(q. v.), situated on a basaltic ridge in the Wogra Mountains, 23 m. N.
of Lake Tzana; there are ruins of an old castle, churches and mosques,
and establishments for the training of Abyssinian priests.
GONERAL, an unnatural daughter of King Lear.
GONSALEZ, a Spanish hero of the 10th century, celebrated for his
adventures, and whose life was twice saved by his wife.
GONZAGA, the name of a princely family from Germany, settled in
Mantua, from which the dukes were descended who ruled the territory from
1328 to 1708.
GONZALVO DI CORDOVA (the popular name of Gonzalo Hernandez y
Aguilar), a renowned Spanish soldier, born at Montilla, near Cordova; he
first became prominent in the wars with the Moors of Granada and with
Portugal, and was rewarded with an estate and pensioned; in 1498 he so
distinguished himself in assisting the king of Naples (Ferdinand II.) to
drive out the French that he became known henceforth as _El Gran
Capitan_, and was created Duke of San Angelo; subsequent heroic
achievements in Naples, which won the kingdom for Spain (1503), roused a
feeling of jealousy in the Spanish king, so that Gonzalvo was recalled
and ill-requited for his great services (1453-1515).
GOOD FRIDAY, the Friday before Easter, held sacred from early times
by the Church in commemoration of the crucifixion of Christ, observed
originally with fasting and prayer.
GOOD REGENT, the REGENT MURRAY (q. v.).
GOOD TEMPLARS, a total abstinence fraternity organised in New York
in 1851, which has lodges, subordinate, district, and grand, now all over
the world; they exact a pledge of lifelong abstinence, and advocate the
suppression of the vice by statute; there is a juvenile section pledged
to abstinence from tobacco, gambling, and bad language, as well as drink.
GOODFELLOW, ROBIN, a merry domestic spirit, full of tricks and
practical jokes, and a constant attendant upon the English fairy court.
GOODMAN OF BALLENGEICH, a name assumed by James V. of Scotland in
his disguised perambulations about Edinburgh o' nights.
GOODSIR, JOHN, eminent Scotch anatomist, born at Anstruther; was
trained at St. Andrews and Edinburgh, in which latter city he served an
apprenticeship in dentistry; he settled in Anstruther and there wrote his
noted essay on "Teeth"; in 1840 he became keeper of the museum of the
Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, and lecturer on Diseases of the
Bone in 1842; four years later he succeeded Dr. Monro in the chair of
Anatomy in Edinburgh University, which he adorned, having for some time
previously acted as assistant (1814-1867).
GOODWIN SANDS, a famous sandbank stretching 10 m. along the E. coast
of Kent, about 5½ m. from the shore; with the flowing of the tidal
current the hidden sands are apt to shift and change their outline, and
when storms of great violence sweep over them, despite their being well
marked by four lightships and nine buoys, they have often been the
occasion of a long series of melancholy shipwrecks; the shoal forms a
splendid breakwater for the Downs, an excellent anchorage, stretching
between the Goodwins and the shore; they are supposed popularly to be the
remnants of an estate which belonged to the great EARL OF GODWIN
(q. v.), but this supposition is a mere fable.
GOODY TWO SHOES, a character in a nursery story published in 1765,
and supposed to have been written by Goldsmith when in straits.
GOODYEAR, CHARLES, the inventor of vulcanised rubber, born at New
Haven, Connecticut; his career was a troubled one; he failed as an
iron-founder, and when, after 10 years labour, amidst every disadvantage
of poverty and privation, he in 1844 produced his new method of hardening
rubber by means of sulphur, he became involved in a fresh series of
troubles, as well as poverty, consequent on the infringement of his
inventions; his patents latterly amounted to 60, and medals and honours,
were awarded him both in London and Paris (1800-1860).
GOORKHAS or GURKHAS, a brave and powerful native race in Nepal
claiming Hindu descent; in 1814 they were subdued by the British, and
have since rendered valuable service to Britain in the Mutiny, in the
Afghan and in the Sikh Wars; there are now ten regiments of Goorkhas.
GORDIAN KNOT, a knot by which the yoke was fastened to the beam of
the chariot of Gordius (q. v.), and which no one could untie except the
man who was destined to be the conqueror of Asia; Alexander the Great
being ambitious to achieve this feat, tried hard to undo it, but failing,
cut it with his sword and marched on to conquest.
GORDIANUS, the name of three Roman Emperors, father, son, and
grandson. MARCUS ANTONIUS GORDIANUS, surnamed Africanus, rose to be
an ædile, consul twice, and subsequently became proconsul of Africa; on
the deposition of the Emperor Maximinus in 238, he, then in his eightieth
year, was proclaimed emperor, his son (_b_. A.D. 192) being associated
with him in the imperial office; grief at the death of his son, killed in
battle, caused him to commit suicide a month after he had assumed the
purple; he was a man of refined and generous nature. MARCUS ANTONIUS
GORDIANUS, grandson of preceding, was early raised to the dignity of
Cæsar, and in 238 rose to the rank of Augustus; his most important
achievement was his driving back of the Persians beyond the Euphrates and
his relief of Antioch; he was assassinated in 244 by his own soldiers
while preparing to cross the Euphrates.
GORDIUS, a boor, the father of Midas (q. v.), who was proclaimed
king of Phrygia because he happened, in response to the decree of an
oracle, to be the first to ride into Gordium during a particular assembly
of the people; he rode into the city on a waggon, to which the yoke was
attached by the Gordian knot, and which he dedicated to Zeus.
GORDON, GENERAL CHARLES GEORGE, born at Woolwich, son of an
artillery officer; entered the Royal Engineers; served in the Crimea as
an officer in that department, and was, after the war, employed in
defining the boundaries of Asiatic Turkey and Russia; being employed in
1860 on a mission to square up matters with the Chinese, on the
settlement of the quarrel lent himself to the Emperor in the interest of
good order, and it was through him that the Taiping Rebellion in 1863-64
was extinguished, whereby he earned the title of "Chinese" Gordon; he
returned to England in 1865, and was for the next six years engaged in
completing the defences of the Thames at Gravesend; he was Vice-Consul of
the delta of the Danube during 1871-73, at the end of which term he
conducted an expedition into Africa under the Khedive of Egypt, and was
in 1877 appointed governor of the Soudan, in which capacity, by the
confidence his character inspired, he succeeded in settling no end of
troubles and allaying lifelong feuds; he relinquished this post in 1880,
and in 1884, the English Government having resolved to evacuate the
Soudan, he was commissioned to superintend the operation; he started off
at once, and arrived at Khartoum in February of that year, where, by the
end of April, all communication between him and Cairo was cut off; an
expedition was fitted out for his relief, but was too late in arriving,
the place was stormed by the Arabs, and he with his comrades fell dead
under a volley of Arab musketry, January 28; from the commencement to the
close of his career he distinguished himself as a genuine Christian and a
brave man (1833-1885).
GORDON, LORD GEORGE, Anti-Papal agitator, born in London, son of the
Duke of Gordon; he adopted the navy as a profession, and rose to be
lieutenant; entered Parliament, and soon made himself conspicuous by his
indiscriminate attacks on both Whigs and Tories; gave a passionate
support to the London Protestant Association formed for the purpose of
bringing about the repeal of the Catholic Emancipation Bill of 1778; in
1780, as President of the Association, took the leading part in the
famous No Popery riots in London; was tried but acquitted, mainly through
the eloquent defence of Erskine; subsequently he was excommunicated for
contempt of court, and eventually, after endeavouring to escape
prosecution for two treasonable pamphlets, was apprehended, and died in
Newgate (1751-1793).
GORDON, SIR JOHN WATSON, a portrait-painter, born in Edinburgh; was
a pupil of Raeburn's, and his successor as a painter of portraits;
executed portraits of most of the eminent Scotchmen of his time, and
among the number Sir Walter Scott, the Duke of Buccleuch, Lord Cockburn,
Dr. Chalmers, and Professor Wilson (1788-1864).
GORE, CHARLES, canon of Westminster, a Fellow of Trinity College,
Oxford, is an exponent of High Church tenets; the editor of _Lux Mundi_,
and the author of the Bampton Lecture for 1891, on "The Incarnation of
the Son of God"; _b_. 1853.
GÖRGEI, ARTHUR, a Hungarian patriot; at the age of 27 entered the
army, and designed to devote himself to the study of chemistry and the
administration of his estate; but on the outbreak of the Revolution in
1848 he joined the revolutionists; crushed the Croatians at Ozora; at the
head of a patriot army faced the Austrians under Windischgrätz on the
western frontier, and despite a temporary repulse, succeeded in asserting
the supremacy of the Hungarian cause in a series of victories; Russian
assistance accorded to Austria, however, changed the fortune of war;
Kossuth resigned, and Görgei became dictator; but hopeless of success, he
immediately negotiated a peace with the Russians; in 1851 he published a
vindication of his policy and surrender, and in 1885 was exonerated by
his compatriots from the charges of treachery brought against him by
Kossuth; _b_. 1818.
GORGIAS, a celebrated Greek sophist, born at Syracuse, in Sicily;
settled in Athens, a swashbuckler of a man, who attached himself to the
ELEATICS (q. v.), and especially Zeno, in order that by their
dialectic "he might demonstrate that nothing exists, or if something
exists, that it cannot be known, or if it can be known, that it cannot be
communicated"; his work bore characteristically enough the title "Of the
Non-Existent, or of Nature"!
GORGONS, three sisters, Medusa, Euryale, and Stheino, with hissing
serpents on their heads instead of hair, of whom Medusa, the only one
that was mortal, had the power of turning into stone any one who looked
on her. See PERSEUS.
GORHAM, GEORGE CORNELIUS, an English ecclesiastic; being presented
to the vicarage of Bramford Speke, N. Devon, was refused institution by
Dr. Philpotts, the bishop of Exeter, because he was unsound in the matter
of baptismal regeneration, upon which he appealed to the Court of Arches,
which confirmed the bishop's decision, but the sentence of the court was
reversed by the Privy Council, and institution granted (1787-1857).
GÖRLITZ (62), a fortified town in Prussian Silesia, 52 m. W. of
Liegnitz, on the Meuse, where JACOB BOEHME (q. v.) lived and
died.
GORTSCHAKOFF, MICHAEL, Russian general, brother of the succeeding;
served in the war between Russia and Turkey in 1828-1829; commanded in
the Danubian Principalities in 1853; distinguished himself in the defence
of Sebastopol (1795-1861).
GORTSCHAKOFF, PRINCE, an eminent Russian general; was engaged in
Finland in 1809, in the Turkish War in 1810, in the French War 1812-14,
and the Crimean War (1789-1866).
GOSCHEN, GEORGE JOACHIM, English statesman, born in London; entered
Parliament in the Liberal interest in 1863; served in office under Lord
John Russell and Mr. Gladstone; was opposed to Home Rule, joined the
Liberal-Unionist party and holds office under Lord Salisbury as First
Lord of the Admiralty; _b_. 1831.
GOSHEN, a fertile district along a branch of the Nile, in the
eastern part of the delta of Lower Egypt; assigned by Pharaoh to the
children of Israel when they came to sojourn in the land.
GOSPELS, the name by which the four accounts in the New Testament of
the character, life, and teaching of Christ are designated; have been
known since as early as the 3rd century, of which the first three are
called "Synoptic," because they are summaries of the chief events, and go
over the same ground in the history, while the author of the fourth
gospel follows lines of his own; the former aim mainly at mere narrative,
while the object of the latter is dogmatic, as well as probably to supply
deficiencies in the former; moreover, the interest of John's account
centres in the person of Christ and that of the others in His gospel; the
writers were severally represented as attended, Matthew by a man, Mark by
a lion, Luke by an ox, and John by an eagle.
GOSPORT (25), a fortified port and market-town in Hants, on the W.
side of Portsmouth harbour, opposite Portsmouth, with which it is
connected by a floating bridge; its industries embrace flourishing
iron-works, barracks, the Royal Clarence Victualling Yard, and Haslar
shipyard for the repair of gunboats.
GOSSE, EDMUND, poet, essayist, and critic, born in London, the son
of the succeeding; author of "History of Eighteenth Century Literature,"
a collection of lyrics, and a series of monographs, in particular "Life
of Gray"; _b_. 1849.
GOSSE, PHILIP HENRY, naturalist, horn at Worcester, in business in
Newfoundland, Canada, and the United States; spent his leisure hours in
the study of natural history, chiefly insects; after a visit of two years
to Jamaica wrote an account of its birds; compiled several works
introductory to the study of animal life, and latterly devoted himself to
the study of marine animals (1810-1888).
GOTHA (30), northern capital of the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and
seat of the reigning prince, the present Duke of Edinburgh, situated on
the Leine Canal, 6 m. from the northern border of the Thuringian Forest;
is picturesquely laid out, and has considerable manufactures, the famous
Perthes' geographical publishing-house; Friedenstein Castle, the ducal
residence, built in 1643, has a library of 200,000 vols. and 6000 MSS.
GOTHAM, a village of N. Nottinghamshire, the natives of which were
made a laughing-stock of for their foolish sayings and doings, an
instance of the latter being their alleged joining hand in hand round a
bush to hedge in a cuckoo.
GOTHAMITES, American cockneys, New York being called Gotham.
GOTHARD, ST., the central mountain mass (9850 ft. high) of the
Middle Alps and core of the whole Alpine system; it forms a watershed for
rivers flowing in four different directions, including the Rhône and the
Rhine; the famous pass (6936 ft.) from Lake Lucerne to Lake Maggiore
forms an excellent carriage-way, has two hotels and a hospice at its
summit; on the lower slopes is the St. Gothard railway (opened 1882),
with its celebrated tunnel (9¼ m.), the longest in the world.
GOTHENBURG (109), the second town of Sweden, at the mouth of the
Gotha, 284 m. SW. of Stockholm, is a clean and modernly built town,
intersected by several canals; it has a splendid harbour, and one of the
finest botanical gardens in Europe; its industries include shipbuilding,
iron-works, sugar-refining, and fisheries; its licensing system has
become famous; all shops for the sale of liquor are in the hands of a
company licensed by government; profits beyond a five per cent. dividend
to the shareholders are handed over to the municipality.
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE, a varied style of architecture distinguished by
its high and sharply-pointed arches, clustered columns, which had its
origin in the Middle Ages, and prevailed from the 12th to the 15th
centuries, though the term Gothic was originally applied to it as
indicating a _barbarous_ degeneracy from the _classic_, which it
superseded.
GOTHLAND: 1 (2,595), the southernmost of the three old provinces of
Sweden; chiefly mountainous, but with many fertile spaces; forest and
lake scenery give a charm to the landscape; Gothenburg is the chief town.
2 (51), a Swedish island in the Baltic, 44 m. E. of the mainland, area
1217 sq. m.; forms, with other islands, the province of Gothland or
Wisby; agriculture, fishing, and shipping are the main industries; Wisby
is the chief town (also called Gottland).
GOTHS, a tribe of Teutons who in formidable numbers invaded the
Roman empire from the east and north-east from as early as the third
century, and though they were beaten back at the battle of Châlons,
eventually broke it up.
GOTTFRIED VON STRASBURG, a medieval German poet and one of the
famous _minnesingers_; flourished in Strasburg at the close of the 12th
century and beginning of the 13th; his great poem "Tristan und Isolde,"
completed in 1210, extends to 19,552 lines, and has a grace and freshness
suggestive of Chaucer.
GÖTTINGEN (24), an ancient Hanoverian town, prettily situated in the
valley of the Leine, 50 m. S. of Hanover; is chiefly noteworthy on
account of its university (1734), with its library of 500,000 vols. and
5000 MSS.; the students exceed 800, and are instructed by 120 professors;
there is a flourishing book-trade.
GOTTSCHED, JOHANN CHRISTOPH, a German literary notability, born near
Königsberg, professor of philosophy and belles-lettres at Leipzig; was
throughout his life the literary dictator of Germany; did much to
vindicate the rights and protect the purity of the German tongue, as well
as to improve the drama, but he wrote and patronised a style of writing
that was cold, stiff, and soulless (1700-1766).
GOUGH, HUGH, VISCOUNT, a distinguished English general, born at
Woodstown, in Limerick; he first saw service at the Cape and in the West
Indies; afterwards fought with distinction in the Peninsular war;
subsequently, as major-general, he took part in the Indian campaign of
1827, and in 1840 commanded the forces in China; during seven years
(1843-50) he was commander-in-chief of the Indian army, and carried
through successfully the Sikh Wars, which added the Punjab to the British
dominions; in 1849 he was created a viscount, and a field-marshal in 1862
(1779-1869).
GOUGH, J. B., temperance orator, born in Kent; bred a bookbinder;
early a victim to intemperance; took the pledge in 1842, and became an
eloquent and powerful advocate of the temperance cause both in England
and America (1817-1886).
GOUJON, JEAN, a celebrated French sculptor and architect, born at
Paris; he did the reliefs on the Fountain of the Innocents and the façade
of the old Louvre; was a Huguenot, but died before the massacre of St.
Bartholomew in 1572.
GOULD, JOHN, eminent ornithologist, born at Lyme Regis, Devonshire;
his works are entitled "A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains,"
"The Birds of Europe," "The Birds of Australia," "The Birds of Asia,"
"The Birds of Great Britain," and "Humming-Birds," of which last he had
an almost complete collection, only one wanting; the volumes in which
these works were published were large folios and very expensive, with
coloured illustrations of the birds described, the whole done under Mr.
Gould's own eye, and in many cases by his own hand (1804-1881).
GOUNOD, CHARLES FRANÇOIS, an eminent French composer, born at Paris;
a prize gained at the Paris Conservatoire followed by a government
pension enabled him to continue his studies at Rome, where he gave
himself chiefly to the study of religious music; the "Messe Solenelle"
was published on his return to Paris; turning his attention to opera he
produced "Sappho" in 1851, a popular comic opera "Le Médecin malgré lui"
in 1858, and a year later his famous setting of "Faust," which placed him
in the front rank of composers; other operas followed, with various
masses, anthems, hymns, &c.; his oratorio "Redemption," perhaps his
masterpiece, appeared in 1882 (1818-1893).
GOVAN (63), a town in Lanarkshire, Scotland, on S. bank of the
Clyde, virtually a western suburb of Glasgow; the staple industry is
shipbuilding.
GOW, NATHANIEL, youngest son of Neil, won celebrity as a composer of
songs and other pieces; his 200 compositions include the popular "Caller
Herrin'" (1766-1831).
GOW, NEIL, a famous Scotch fiddler, born at Inver, near Dunkeld, of
lowly origin; during his long life he enjoyed a wide popularity amongst
the Scotch nobility, his especial patron being the Duke of Atholl;
Raeburn painted his portrait on several occasions; he composed over a
hundred strathspeys, laments, &c., giving a fresh impulse and character
to Scotch music, but his fame rests mainly on his violin playing
(1727-1807).
GOWER, JOHN, an English poet, contemporary and friend of Chaucer,
but of an older school; was the author of three works: "Speculum
Meditantis," the "Thinker's Mirror," written in French, lost for long,
but recovered lately; "Vox Clamantis," the "Voice of One Crying," written
in Latin, an allegorising, moralising poem, "cataloguing the vice of the
time," and suggested by the Wat Tyler insurrection, 1381; and "Confessio
Amantis," "Confession of a Lover," written in English, treating of the
course of love, the morals and metaphysics of it, illustrated by a
profusion of apposite tales; was appropriately called by Chaucer the
"moral Grower"; his tomb is in St. Mary's, Southwark (1325-1408).
GOWKTHRAPPLE, a "pulpit-drumming" Covenanter preacher in "Waverley,"
described by Scott as in his own regard a "chosen vessel."
GOWRIE CONSPIRACY, a remarkable and much disputed episode in the
reign of James VI. of Scotland; the story goes that Alexander Ruthven and
his brother, the Earl of Gowrie, enticed the king to come to Gowrie House
in Perth on the 5th August 1600 for the purpose of murdering or
kidnapping him, and that in the scuffle Ruthven and Gowrie perished.
Historians have failed to trace any motive incriminating the brothers,
while several good reasons have been brought to light why the king might
have wished to get rid of them.
GOZO (17), an island in the Mediterranean which, together with Malta
and Comino, forms a British crown colony; lies 4 m. NW. of Malta. Babato
is the chief town.
GOZZI, COUNT CARLO, Italian dramatist, born at Venice; was 39 when
his first dramatic piece, "Three Oranges," brought him prominently before
the public; he followed up this success with a series of dramas designed
to uphold the old methods of Italian dramatic art, and to resist the
efforts of Goldoni and Chiari to introduce French models; these plays
dealing with wonderful adventures and enchantments in the manner of
Eastern tales ("dramatic fairy tales," he called them), enjoyed a wide
popularity, and spread to Germany and France. Schiller translated
"Turandot" (1722-1806).--His elder brother, COUNT GASPARO GOZZI, was
an active littérateur; the author of various translations, essays on
literature, besides editor of a couple of journals; was press censor in
Venice for a time, and was in his later days engaged in school and
university work (1713-1786).
GRACCHUS, CAIUS SEMPRONIUS, Roman tribune and reformer, brother of
the succeeding, nine years his junior; devoted himself and his oratory on
his brother's death to carry out his measures; was chosen tribune in 123
B.C., and re-elected in 122; his measures of reform were opposed and
undone by the Senate, and being declared a public enemy he was driven to
bay, his friends rallying round him in arms, when a combat took place in
which 3000 fell, upon which Gracchus made his slave put him to death;
"overthrown by the Patricians," he is said, "when struck with the fatal
stab, to have flung dust toward heaven, and called on the avenging
deities; and from this dust," says one, "there was born Marius--not so
illustrious for exterminating the Cimbri as for overturning in Rome the
tyranny of the nobles."
GRACCHUS, TIBERIUS SEMPRONIUS, Roman tribune and reformer, eldest
son of Cornelia, and brought up by her; proposed, among others, a measure
for the more equal distribution of the public land, which he had to
battle for against heavy odds three successive times, but carried it the
third time; was killed with others of his followers afterwards in a riot,
and his body thrown into the Tiber and refused burial, 138 B.C., aged
40.
GRACE, the term in Scripture for that which is the free gift of God,
unmerited by man and of eternal benefit to him.
GRACE, DR. W. G., the celebrated cricketer, born near Bristol;
distinguished as a batsman, fielder, and bowler; earned the title of
champion, which was spontaneously and by universal consent conferred on
him; has written on cricket; _b_. 1848.
GRACE CUP, a silver bowl with two handles passed round the table
after grace at all banquets in London City.
GRACES, THE, reckoned at one time two in number, but originally they
appear to have been regarded as being, what at bottom they are, _one_. At
last they are spoken of as _three_, and called Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and
Thalia: Thalia, the blooming one, or life in full bloom; Euphrosyne, the
cheerful one, or life in the exuberance of joy and sympathy; and Aglaia,
the shining one, or life in its effulgence of sunny splendour and glory.
But these three are one, involved each in the other, and made perfect in
one. There is not Thalia by herself, or Aglaia, but where one truly is,
there, in the same being also, the other two are. They are three sisters,
as such always inseparable, and in their inseparability alone are Graces.
Their secret is not learned from one, but from all three; and they give
grace only with fulness, buoyancy, and radiancy of soul, or life, united
all in one. They are in essence the soul in its fulness of life and
sympathy, pouring itself rhythmically through every obstruction, before
which the most solid becomes fluid, transparent, and radiant of _itself_.
GRACIOSA, a princess in a fairy tale, persecuted by her stepmother,
and protected by Prince Percinet, her lover.
GRACIOSO, a fool in a Spanish comedy, who ever and anon appears on
the stage during the performance with his jokes and gibes.
GRADGRIND, a character in "Hard Times," who weighs and measures
everything by a hard and fast rule and makes no allowances.
GRAFTON, AUGUSTUS HENRY FITZROY, DUKE OF, English statesman in the
reign of George III.; held various offices of State under Rockingham,
Chatham, and North; was bitterly assailed in the famous "Junius Letters"
(1735-1811).
GRAHAM, SIR JOHN, companion of Sir William Wallace, who fell at the
battle of Falkirk.
GRAHAM, JOHN, VISCOUNT DUNDEE. See CLAVERHOUSE.
GRAHAM, THOMAS, celebrated Scottish chemist, born in Glasgow, where
in 1830 he became professor of Chemistry in the Andersonian University;
seven years later he was appointed to a similar chair in University
College, London; in 1855 he resigned his professorship on succeeding
Herschel as Master of the Mint; his name is honourably associated with
important researches relating to the diffusion of gases and liquids, and
with contributions to the atomic theory of matter (1805-1869).
GRAHAME, JAMES, a Scottish poet, born in GLASGOW; bred a
lawyer; took to the Church; author of a poem on the "Sabbath," instinct
with devout feeling, and containing good descriptive passages
(1765-1811).
GRAHAM'S DYKE, a Roman wall extending between the Firths of Forth
and Clyde.
GRAHAMSTOWN (16), capital of the eastern province of Cape Colony, 25
m. from the sea and 106 m. NE. of Port Elizabeth; is beautifully situated
1728 ft. above sea-level at the base of the Zuurberg Mountains; has an
exceedingly salubrious climate; some fine buildings, and is the seat both
of a Catholic and a Protestant bishop.
GRAIÆ, three old women in the Greek mythology, born with grey hair,
had only one tooth and one eye among them, which they borrowed from each
other as they wanted them; were personifications of old age.
GRAIL, THE HOLY, the cup or vessel, said to have been made of an
emerald stone, that was used by Christ at the Last Supper, and in which
Joseph of Arimathea caught up the blood that flowed from His wounds on
the Cross; it was brought to England by Joseph, it is alleged, but after
a term disappeared; to recover it formed an object of quest to the
Knights of the Round Table, in which Sir Galahad succeeded, when it was
seen by certain other knights, but it has not been seen since, for none
is permitted to see it or can set eye on it but such as are of a pure
heart.
GRAMONT or GRAMMONT, PHILIBERT, COMTE DE, a celebrated French
courtier in the age of Louis XIV.; he greatly distinguished himself in
the army, as also at the court by his lively wit and gallant bearing, and
soon established himself in the king's favour, but an intrigue with one
of the royal mistresses brought about his exile from France; at the
profligate court of Charles II of England he found a warm welcome and
congenial surroundings; left memoirs which were mainly the work of his
brother-in-law, Anthony Hamilton, and which give a marvellously witty and
brilliant picture of the licentiousness and intrigue of the 17th-century
court life (1621-1707).
GRAMPIANS, 1, a name somewhat loosely applied to the central and
chief mountain system of Scotland, which stretches E. and W. right across
the country, with many important offshoots running N. and S.; the
principal heights are Ben Nevis (4406 ft), Ben Macdhui (4296 ft.),
Cairntoul (4200 ft.). 2, A range of mountains in the W. of Victoria,
Australia, highest elevation 5600 ft.
GRANADA, the last of the ancient Moorish kingdoms to be conquered
(1492) in Spain, in the SE. of Andalusia, fronting the Mediterranean, now
divided into Granada, Almeria, and Malaga; the modern province (484) has
an area of 4928 sq. m.; Granada (72), the capital, is beautifully
situated at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, on an eminence 2245 ft. above
sea-level, 140 m. SE. of Seville; the Jenil flows past it; has a large
university, a cathedral, and monastery; was founded by the Moors in the
8th century, but has been largely rebuilt on modern principles.
GRANADA, NEW (9), a commercial town in Nicaragua, Central America,
on the NW. shore of Lake Nicaragua.
GRANBY, JOHN MANNERS, MARQUIS OF, an English general, eldest son of
the third Duke of Rutland; rose to be commander-in-chief of the British
army in Germany during the Seven Years' War; distinguished himself at
Warburg; in 1763 he was master-general of the ordnance, and in 1766
commander-in-chief of the army; was the victim of some of Junius's most
scathing invectives (1721-1770).
GRAND ALLIANCE, an alliance signed at Vienna 1689 by England,
Germany, and the States-General to prevent the union of France and Spain.
GRAND JURY, a jury appointed to decide whether there are grounds for
an accusation to warrant a trial.
GRAND LAMAISM, a belief of the people of Thibet that Providence
sends down always an incarnation of Himself into every generation.
GRAND MONARQUE, THE, LOUIS XIV. (q. v.) of France, so
called.
GRAND PENSIONARY, a state official in the Dutch Republic; in earlier
times the Grand Pensionary was Secretary and also Advocate-General of the
province of Holland; later his duties embraced the care of foreign
affairs; held office for five years, but was generally re-elected; the
office was abolished in 1795.
GRANDISON, SIR CHARLES, the hero of one of Richardson's novels, a
character representative of an ideal Christian and gentleman.
GRANDVILLE, the pseudonym of JEAN IGNACE ISIDORE GÉRARD, a
French caricaturist, born at Nancy; his fame was first established by the
"Metamorphoses du Jour," a series of satirical sketches representing men
with animal faces characteristic of them; his subsequent work embraced
political cartoons and illustrations for "Gulliver's Travels," "Don
Quixote," "Robinson Crusoe," La Fontaine's "Fables," &c. (1803-1847).
GRANGEMOUTH (6), a busy port in Stirlingshire, on the Forth, 3 m.
NE. of Falkirk; exports iron-ware and coal; has excellent docks, and does
some shipbuilding.
GRANI`CUS, a river in Asia Minor, flowing from the slopes of Mount
Ida and falling into the Sea of Marmora, where Alexander gained, 334 B.C.,
the first of the three victories which ended in the overthrow of the
Persian empire.
GRANT, SIR ALEXANDER, of Dalvey, born at New York; graduated at
Oxford, and became a Fellow of Oriel College; in 1856 he succeeded to the
baronetcy; was appointed Inspector of Schools at Madras; two years later
was appointed professor of History and Principal in Elphinstone College
there; at Bombay he became Vice-Chancellor of Elgin College, and in 1868
succeeded Sir David Brewster as Principal of Edinburgh University; wrote
"The Story of Edinburgh University," various essays, and edited
Aristotle's Ethics; was married to a daughter of Professor Ferrier of St.
Andrews (1826-1884).
GRANT, MRS. ANNE, _née_ M'VICAR, authoress, born in Glasgow;
took to literature as a means of livelihood after the death of her
husband, and produced several volumes descriptive of the Highlands of
Scotland and the character of the people; "Letters from the Mountains"
enjoyed a wide popularity, and first gave to the public some adequate
conception of the charm and character of the Highlands (1755-1838).
GRANT, SIR FRANCIS, artist, born in Edinburgh; was educated for the
Scottish bar, but took to painting, and became celebrated for his hunting
pictures, into which portraits of well-known sportsmen were introduced;
also executed portraits of the Queen and Prince Consort on horseback, of
Palmerston, Macaulay, and others, and became President of the Royal
Academy (1803-1878).
GRANT, JAMES, novelist, born in Edinburgh; joined the army as an
ensign at 17, but after a few years resigned and adopted literature as
his profession; "The Romance of War" (1846), his first book, was followed
by a series of stirring novels which are yet in repute, and have most of
them been translated into Danish, German, and French; he turned Catholic
in 1875 (1822-1887).
GRANT, SIR JAMES HOPE, General, brother of Sir Francis Grant, born
at Kilgraston, Perthshire; first distinguished himself in the Sikh Wars,
and took a leading part in the suppression of the Indian Mutiny; in 1859
he commanded the British forces in China, and captured Pekin; was created
a G.C.B. in 1860 and a general in 1872; he published several works
bearing upon the wars in which he had been engaged (1808-1875).
GRANT, ULYSSES SIMPSON, General, born at Mount Pleasant, Ohio; bred
to the military profession, served in Mexico, and held several
appointments in the army; retired to civic life in 1854, but on the
outbreak of the Civil War he entered the army and fought on the side of
the North with such success that in 1864 he was appointed
general-in-chief; he was eventually raised to the Presidency in 1868, and
re-elected in 1872; on the expiry of this second term he made a tour
round the world, and was everywhere received with the distinction he
deserved (1822-1885).
GRANTHAM (17), a market-town in Lincolnshire, on the Witham, 25 m.
SW. of Lincoln, and has a fine 13th-century church; in the grammar-school
Newton was educated, and in 1643 Cromwell won his first victory here; its
industries embrace agricultural-implement making, malting, &c.; a 30 m.
canal connects it with the Trent.
GRANVILLE, GEORGE LEVESON-GOWER, second Earl, statesman; entered
Parliament as a Liberal in 1836, and became a supporter of free trade; in
1846 succeeded to the peerage, and in 1851 became Foreign Minister under
Lord John Russell; four years later became leader of the Lords; figured
in every Liberal cabinet till 1886, usually as Colonial or Foreign
Secretary; in 1859 he failed to form a ministry of his own; was a staunch
supporter of Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule policy (1815-1891).
GRATIAN, a celebrated canonist of the 12th century, born at Chiusi,
Tuscany; was a Benedictine monk at Bologna, and compiled the "Decretum
Gratiani" between 1139 and 1142.
GRATIANUS, AUGUSTUS, Roman emperor from 375 to 383, eldest son of
Valentinian I., born in Pannonia; at 16, in conjunction with his
four-year-old brother, Valentinian II., became ruler over the Western
Empire, and three years later found himself, by the death of his uncle
Valens, head also of the Eastern Empire, a year after which he summoned
Theodosius to be his colleague; his reign is noted for the stern
repression of the remains of the heathen worship; in 383, while
endeavouring to combat the usurper Maximus, he was captured at Lyons and
there put to death (359-383).
GRATTAN, HENRY, great Irish patriot and orator, born in Dublin, and
by birth a Protestant; studied at Trinity College, where he stood high in
classics; was called to the Irish bar in 1772, and entered the Irish
Parliament three years after, where he distinguished himself as the
champion of legislative freedom, by maintaining that the crown had no
right to legislate on matters affecting Irish interests, and particularly
Irish commercial interests, without consulting the Irish Parliament, and
by securing thereby in a measure the legislative independence of Ireland;
on the question of Irish Parliamentary reform he quarrelled with his
compatriots, and he confined his own efforts to Catholic emancipation; in
1798 he retired from public life, but came forth as an opponent of the
Union in 1800, though, on its accomplishment, he represented first Malton
in Yorkshire, and then Dublin in the United Parliament, devoting the rest
of his life to the political emancipation of his Catholic
fellow-subjects; before the rupture referred to fell out, he received a
grant of £50,000 from the Irish Parliament; in private as in public life,
he was a man of irreproachable character, while as an orator he ranks
among the foremost of his time (1746-1820).
GRATZ or GRÄTZ (112), capital of Styria, in Austria,
picturesquely situated on the Mur, 141 m. SW. of Vienna; its many old and
interesting buildings include a cathedral (1462), four monasteries, and
the Landhaus, an ancient ducal residence; there is a flourishing
university, with upwards of 1100 students; its industries embrace iron
and steel works, sugar-refining, soap and candle factories, &c.
GRAVELOTTE, a village in Lorraine, 7 m. W. of Metz; was the scene of
a German victory over the French in 1870.
GRAVESEND (35), a thriving river-port and watering-place in Kent, on
the Thames, opposite Tilbury Fort, 24 m. SE. of London; the new town
rises amid picturesque surroundings above the old town; it is the chief
pilot station for the river; there is a busy trade in shipbuilding,
iron-founding, brewing, &c.
GRAY, ASA, a distinguished American botanist, born at Paris, Oneida
County, New York; graduated in medicine in 1842; became Fisher professor
of Natural History at Harvard, and in 1874 succeeded Agassiz as Regent of
the Smithsonian Institution; his writings did much to promote the study
of botany in America on a sound scientific basis, and also to forward the
theories of Darwin; in conjunction with Dr. Torrey he wrote "The Flora of
North America," and by himself various manuals of botany and "Natural
Science and Religion" (1810-1888).
GRAY, AULD ROBIN, the title of a ballad by Lady Anne Lindsay, from
the name of its hero, a good old man who married a young girl whose lover
is thought to be dead, but who turns up to claim her a month after.
GRAY, JOHN EDWARD, English naturalist, born at Walsall; studied
medicine, and at 24 entered the British Museum as an assistant in the
Natural History department; in 1840 he became keeper of the Zoological
Collections, of which he made a complete catalogue, enriched with most
valuable notes; is the author of books and papers to the number of 500,
and was an active promoter of scientific societies in London (1800-1875).
GRAY, THOMAS, English poet, born in Cornhill, London, for whom
Horace Walpole conceived a warm attachment, which, after a brief rupture,
lasted with life; gave himself up to the study of Greek literature, and
began to cultivate the muse of poetry; produced in 1747 "Ode on a Distant
Prospect of Eton College," and in 1750 his well-known "Elegy written in a
Country Churchyard"; these were followed by the "Pindaric Odes," the
"Progress of Poesy," and the "Bard," which was finished in 1757; in 1760
he was presented by the Duke of Grafton with the professorship of Modern
History in Cambridge, a sinecure office with £400 a year. "All is clear
light," says Stopford Brooke, "in Gray's work. Out of the love of Greek
he drew his fine lucidity.... He moved with easy power over many forms of
poetry, but there is naturalness and no rudeness in the power. It was
adorned by high ornament and finish.... The 'Elegy' will always remain
one of the beloved poems of Englishmen; it is not only a piece of
exquisite work; it is steeped in England" (1716-1771).
GREAT COMMONER, WILLIAM PITT, who became Earl Chatham (q. v.).
GREAT DUKE, DUKE OF WELLINGTON (q. v.).
GREAT EASTERN, the name of the largest ship ever built; was designed
by Brunel and Scott Russell; laid down at Milwall in 1854, and launched
in 1858, having cost £732,000; it did not prove a successful venture; was
latterly used for laying the Atlantic cables; subsequently became a
coal-hulk at Gibraltar, and in the end was sold in 1888 for old iron.
GREAT ELECTOR, Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
(1620-1683).
GREAT HARRY, a man-of-war built by Henry VII., the first of any size
built in England.
GREAT MAGICIAN, Sir Walter Scott.
GREAT MORALIST, SAMUEL JOHNSON (q. v.), from the character
of his writings.
GREAT SALT LAKE, in N. of Utah, U.S., stretches upwards of 80 m.
along the western base of the Wahsatch Mountains, about 4200 ft. above
the sea-level; it is from 20 to 32 m. broad, and very shallow; Antelope
Island, 18 m. long, is the largest island; the coast is rugged and
desolate; its clear waters hold no fish, and the surplus inflow is
carried off by evaporation only.
GREAT SLAVE LAKE, 300 m. long and 50 at its greatest breadth; lies
within the Canadian NW. Territory; the Mackenzie River carries its
overflow to the Arctic Ocean.
GREAT UNKNOWN, THE, author of "Waverley" and Waverley novels.
GREAT UNWASHED, THE, the artisan class.
GREATHEART, in the "Pilgrim's Progress," the guide of Christiana and
her family to the Celestial City.
GREECE (2,187), a kingdom of S. Europe occupying the southern
portion of a peninsula which projects into the Mediterranean between the
peninsula of Italy and the mainland of Turkey in Asia; the N. is bounded
by Turkey in Europe; it is made up of the N. and S. divisions connected
by the narrow and canalled isthmus of Corinth, the Ionian Islands in the
W., and the Cyclades and Sporades in the E.; it is a mountainous region,
and many of the peaks are rich in classic associations, e. g. Olympus,
Parnassus, and Helicon; the rivers are of no great size, and the lakes
though numerous are inconsiderable; in the valleys the soil is fertile
and agriculture is actively engaged in, although the methods adopted are
still somewhat primitive; but favoured by a delightful climate the vine,
olive, and other fruit-trees flourish; currants are the chief article of
export, and textiles and cereals the principal imports; milling, dyeing,
distilling, and tanning are important industries; various minerals are
found, and the marble from Paros is famed as the finest for statue
carving; there is a considerable mercantile marine, and a busy shipping
trade of a small kind among the islands and along the deeply indented
coast, and also valuable coral and sponge fisheries; the government is a
limited and hereditary monarchy, and the legislative power is vested in
an elected chamber of, at least, 150 paid representatives, called the
Boul[=e]; universal suffrage obtains, and the period of election is for
four years; the bulk of the people belong to the established Greek
Church, but in Thessaly and Epirus there are about 25,000 Mohammedans;
education is free and compulsory, but is badly administered, and a good
deal of illiteracy exists; the glory of Greece lies in her past, in the
imperishable monuments of her ancient literature and art; by 146 B.C.
she had fallen before the growing power of the Romans and along with the
rest of the Byzantine or Eastern empire was overrun by the Turks in A.D.
1453; her renascence as a modern nation took place between 1821 and 1829,
when she threw off the Turkish yoke and reasserted her independence,
which she had anew to attempt by arms in 1897, this time with humiliation
and defeat, till the other powers of Europe came to the rescue, and put a
check to the arrogance of the high-handed Turk.
GREEK or EASTERN CHURCH, that section of the Church which
formerly separated from the Roman or Western in 1054, which assumed an
independent existence on account of the arrogant claims of the latter,
and which acknowledges the authority of only the first seven general
councils; they dissent from the _FILIOQUE_ DOCTRINE (q. v.),
administer the Eucharist in both kinds to the laity, and are zealously
conservative of the orthodoxy of the Church.
GREEK FIRE, a combustible of highly inflammable quality, but of
uncertain composition, used by the Greeks of the Byzantine Empire against
the Saracens; a source of great terror to those who were assailed by it,
as it was difficult to extinguish, so difficult that it was said to burn
under water.
GREELEY, HORACE, American journalist and politician, born at
Amherst, New Hampshire, the son of a poor farmer; was bred a printer, and
in 1831 settled in New York; in a few years he started a literary paper
the _New Yorker_, and shortly afterwards made a more successful venture
in the _Log Cabin_, a political paper, following that up by founding the
_New York Tribune_ in 1841, and merging his former papers in the _Weekly
Tribune_; till his death he advocated temperance, anti-slavery,
socialistic and protectionist principles in these papers; in 1848 he
entered Congress and became a prominent member of the Republican party;
he visited Europe, and was chairman of one of the juries of the Great
Exhibition; in 1872 he unsuccessfully opposed Grant for the Presidency;
in religion he was a Universalist; his works include "The American
Conflict," "Recollections," "Essays," &c. (1811-1872).
GREEN, JOHN RICHARD, historian, born at Oxford; took orders, and was
for a time vicar of St. Philip's, Stepney, contributing articles the
while on historical subjects to the _Saturday Review_, and pursuing his
historical studies with a zeal that undermined his health; in 1874 he
published his "Short History of the English People," which was speedily
adopted in schools, and was accepted at large as one of the ablest
summaries of the history of the country; the welcome with which this
small work was received induced the author to essay a larger, which he
accordingly by-and-by published in 4 volumes, and which he dedicated to
"My Masters in the study of English History, Bishop Stubbs and Professor
Freeman"; this was followed by "The Making of England" and "The Conquest
of England," the latter being published after his decease (1837-1883).
GREEN, NATHANAEL, a celebrated American general, born at Warwick,
Rhode Island; though the son of a Quaker, he promptly took up arms on the
outbreak of hostilities with the mother-country, and in 1775, as
brigadier-general, headed the force in Rhode Island; his gallant conduct
at the battles of Princeton and Brandywine won him promotion, and in 1780
he was advanced to the command of the army of the south; after a
temporary reverse from Cornwallis at Guildford Court, he conducted his
operations with so much success that, with the crowning victory at Eutaw
Springs (1781), he cleared the British from the States; his last days
were spent on his estate in Georgia, a gift from government in
recognition of his services; next to Washington he was the great hero of
the war (1742-1788).
GREEN, THOMAS HILL, philosopher, born in Yorkshire; studied at
Balliol College, Oxford; was elected a Fellow and became eventually
Whyte's professor of Moral Philosophy; his philosophy had a Kantian root,
developed to a certain extent on the lines of Hegel, which, however, he
applied less in speculative than a spiritual interest, though he was not
slow, on the ground of it, to assail the evolution theory of Herbert
Spencer and G. H. Lewes; he was a great moral force in Oxford, and that
apart from his philosophical speculations, though there can be little
doubt that the philosophy which he had embraced was a potent element in
his moral character and his influence; his views on the purely spiritual
nature and derivation of the Christian religion have, since his death,
attracted attention, and are regarded with some anxiety by those whose
faith requires a historical basis (1838-1882).
GREENBACKS, a name given to the inconvertible paper currency issued
in the United States during the Civil War, so called from the colour of
the notes, bonds, &c.; the name has since been popularly applied to the
paper money of the States; the notes were made convertible in 1879.
GREENLAND (11), an extensive but imperfectly defined territory lying
mostly within the Arctic circle to the NE. of North America, from which
it is separated by Davis Strait and Baffin Bay; the area is variously
estimated from 512,000 to 320,000 sq. m.; the land lies submerged beneath
a vast plain of ice, pierced here and there by mountain tops, but it is
conjectured to consist of one large island-continent engirt by groups of
smaller islands; only on the S. coast, during the meagre summer, is there
any appearance of vegetation; there is a great variety of birds, and the
animals include the wolf, fox, bear, reindeer, musk ox, and Arctic hare,
while whales, seals, and many kinds of fish are found; the inhabitants
are chiefly Esquimaux, but there are some Danish settlements, begun in
1721, and the trade is a Danish monopoly; the country was known in early
times to the Scandinavians (of whose settlements there are interesting
remains), and was rediscovered by John Davis in 1585.
GREENOCK (63), a flourishing seaport of Renfrewshire, on the Firth
of Clyde, 22 m. W. of Glasgow; it stretches some 4 m. along the shore and
climbs the hill slopes behind, whence it commands a splendid view of the
river and Highlands beyond; the west end is handsomely laid out, and
contains some fine buildings, including the Watt Institute, with library
of 130,000 vols.; the harbourage is excellent, and favours a large
foreign shipping trade; the staple industries are shipbuilding,
engineering, spinning, sugar-refining, &c.; coal and iron are the chief
exports, and sugar and timber the largest imports.
GREENOUGH, HORATIO, an American sculptor, spent most of his life in
Rome and Florence; executed the colossal statue of Washington in front of
the Capitol in Washington City, and a group of figures entitled "The
Rescue" (1803-1852).
GREENWICH (78), an important borough of Kent (officially within the
county of London), on the Thames, 5 m. SE. of London Bridge; its active
industries embrace engineering, telegraph works, chemical works, &c.; the
Royal Observatory, founded by Charles II. in 1675, occupies a commanding
site within the Park; it is from this point that degrees of longitude
with us are reckoned.
GREENWICH HOSPITAL, founded in 1694 by Queen Mary after designs by
Christopher Wren, was from 1705 till 1869 an asylum for disabled sailors;
since then the funds, amounting to £167,259 a year, have been distributed
in pensions and also utilised for the upkeep of Greenwich Hospital
Schools (where 1000 children of seamen receive board and education);
since 1873 this hospital has served as the college for the Royal Navy.
GREENWOOD, FREDERICK, publicist and journalist; editor of _Cornhill
Magazine_, author of Life of Napoleon III., "Lover's Lexicon," and
"Dreams"; _b_. 1830.
GREG, WILLIAM RATHBONE, literary and political essayist, born in
Manchester; in 1856 became a Commissioner of Customs, and from 1864 till
his resignation in 1877 acted as Controller of H.M. Stationery Office;
his works embrace "The Creed of Christendom," "Enigmas of Life,"
"Political Problems," &c., and are marked by vigorous thought couched in
a lucid, incisive style; was from his evil prognostications designated
Cassandra Greg (1809-1881).
GRÉGOIRE, HENRI, bishop of Blois, born at Vého, near Lunéville, one
of the clerical deputies to the States-General of 1789; attached himself
to the Tiers-état, was a member of the National Convention, and a staunch
advocate for civil and religious liberty, but refused resolutely to
follow "Goose Gobel," the archbishop of Paris, and renounce the Christian
religion and deny his Master (1750-1831). See CARLYLE'S "FRENCH
REVOLUTION."
GREGORIAN CALENDAR, the regulation of the year according to the
correction introduced by Gregory XIII. in 1582 of the Julian calendar,
which allowed the year 11 minutes and 10 seconds too much.
GREGORIAN YEAR, the civil year according to the correction of the
Gregorian calendar.
GREGORY, the name of 16 popes: G. I., the Great, Pope from 590
to 604; G. II., st., pope from 715 to 731; G. III., Pope from
731 to 741; G. IV., pope from 827 to 844; G. V., Pope from 996
to 997; G. VI., pope from 1045 to 1046; G. VII., Pope from 1073
to 1085; G. VIII., pope in 1187; G. IX., Pope from 1227 to
1241; G. X., pope from 1271 to 1276; G. XI, Pope from 1370 to
1378; G. XII., pope from 1406 to 1415; G. XIII., Pope from 1572
to 1585; G. XIV., pope from 1590 to 1591; G. XV., Pope from
1621 to 1623; G. XVI., Pope from 1831 1846. Of these the following
are worthy of note:--
GREGORY I., THE GREAT, and ST., born in Rome, son of a senator;
made prætor of Rome; relinquished the office and became a monk; devoted
himself to the regulation of church worship (instituting, among other
things, the liturgy of the Mass), to the reformation of the monks and
clergy, and to the propagation of the faith; saw some fair-haired British
youths in the slave-market at Rome one day; on being told they were
Angles, he said they should be Angels, and resolved from that day on the
conversion of the nation they belonged to, and sent over seas for that
purpose a body of monks under Augustin.
GREGORY II., ST., born at Rome and bred a Benedictine; is celebrated
for his zeal in promoting the independence of the Church and the
supremacy of the see of Rome, and for his defence of the use of images in
worship.
GREGORY III., born in Syria; was successor of Gregory II., and
carried out the same policy to the territorial aggrandisement of the Holy
See at a time when it might have been overborne by secular invasions.
GREGORY VII., HILDEBRAND, born in Tuscany; bred up as a monk in a
life of severe austerity, he became sensible of the formidable evils
tending to the corruption of the clergy, due to their dependence on the
Emperor for investiture into their benefices, and he set himself with all
his might to denounce the usurpation and prohibit the practice, to the
extent of one day ex-communicating certain bishop who had submitted to
the royal claim and those who had invested them; his conduct roused the
Emperor, Henry IV., who went the length of deposing him, upon which the
Pope retaliated with a threat of excommunication; it ended in the final
submission of Henry at CANOSSA (q. v.); the terms of submission
imposed were intolerable, and Henry broke them, elected a Pope of his
own, entered Rome, was crowned by him, and besieged Gregory in San
Angelo, from which Guiscard delivered him to retire to Salerno, where he
died, 1035; he was a great man and a good Pope.
GREGORY IX., UGOLINO, born in Campania; had during his pontificate
contests with the Emperor Barbarossa, whom he twice over excommunicated;
was the personal friend of St. Francis of Assisi, whom he canonised; died
at a very advanced age.
GREGORY XIII., born in Bologna; was skilled in canon law;
distinguished himself in the Council of Trent, and by his zeal against
the Protestants; celebrated the Bartholomew Massacre by public
thanksgivings in Rome, and reformed the calendar.
GREGORY XVI., born at Belluno; occupied the Papal chair at a time of
great civil commotion, and had much to do to stem the revolutionary
movements of the time; developed ultramontanist notions, and paved the
way for the hierarchical policy of his successor Pio Nono.
GREGORY NAZIANZEN, ST., bishop of Constantinople, born in
Cappadocia; studied in Athens, where he became the friend of St. Basil,
and held discussions with Julian, afterwards emperor and apostate, who
was also studying there; had been bishop of Nazianzus before he was
raised by Theodosius to the bishopric of Constantinople, which he held
only for a year, at the end of which he retired into solitude; he was the
champion of orthodoxy, a defender of the doctrine of the Trinity, and
famed for his invectives against Julian; he has left writings that have
made his name famous, besides letters, sermons, and poems (328-389).
Festival, May 9.
GREGORY OF NYSSA, ST., one of the Fathers of the Greek Church,
brother of St. Basil, and bishop of Nyssa, in Cappadocia; he was
distinguished for his zeal against the Arians, and was banished from his
diocese at the instance of the Emperor Valens, who belonged to that sect,
but returned to it after his death; he was an eminent theologian and a
valiant defender of orthodoxy, on, according to Harnack, something like
Hegelian lines (332-400). Festival, March 9.
GREGORY OF TOURS, ST., bishop of Tours, French theologian and
historian, born at Clermont; was mixed up a good deal in the political
strife of the time, and suffered not a little persecution; was the author
of a "History of the Franks," the earliest of French chronicles,
entitling him to be regarded as the "Father of Frankish History"; his
history contains a great number of valuable documents, though it is
written in a barbarous style, and not unfrequently evinces a lack of
moral sensibility (540-594).
GREGORY THAUMATURGUS, ST., a theologian of the Greek Church, and a
convert and disciple of Origen; became bishop of Neo-Cæsarea in Pontus;
was present at the Council of Antioch; numerous conversions from paganism
are ascribed to him, as well as numerous miracles; _d_. 270. Festival
November 12.
GREGORY, DAVID, nephew of succeeding, born at Aberdeen; became
professor of Mathematics in Edinburgh at the age of 23, and in 1691 was
appointed Savilian professor of Astronomy at Oxford; was one of the first
to publicly teach the principles of Newton's philosophy (1661-1708).
GREGORY, JAMES (1), inventor of the reflecting telescope, born in
Aberdeen; after a three years' residence in Padua received the
appointment of professor of Mathematics in St. Andrews, which he held
from 1669 to 1674, when he was elected to the corresponding chair in
Edinburgh; author of various mathematical treatises which display a fine
originality; he was struck blind whilst working at his telescope
(1638-1675).
GREGORY, JAMES (2), son of succeeding, was his successor in the
chair of Medicine at Edinburgh, and wrote "Philosophical and Literary
Essays"; compounded "Gregory's mixture" (1753-1821).
GREGORY, JOHN, grandson of James (1), born at Aberdeen, where he
became professor of Medicine in 1755, whence ten years later he was
translated to fill the corresponding chair in Edinburgh; his works
include, among others, "A Comparative View of the State and Faculties of
Man with those of the Animal World" (1724-1773).
GREGORY, WILLIAM, son of James (2); held successively the chairs of
Chemistry in Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh; he translated Liebig's
"Agricultural Chemistry," and was the first to advance and expound
Liebig's theories (1803-1858).
GRENADA (54), one of the most picturesque of the Windward Islands,
in the British West Indies, of volcanic origin; lies about 60 m. N. of
Venezuela; the harbour of St. George, the capital, is the most sheltered
anchorage in the Windward Islands; fruits, cocoa, and coffee are
cultivated; it was ceded by France in 1783.
GRENFELL, SIR FRANCIS WALLACE, Major-General, late Sirdar of the
Egyptian army, born in London; distinguished himself in Zulu, Transvaal,
Egyptian, and Nile expeditions (1885-1892), and commanded forces in Egypt
(1897-98); was presented by the Khedive with a sword of honour on his
retirement, in souvenir of the victories of Giniss, Gamaizo, and Toski;
_b_. 1841.
GRENOBLE (57), a strongly fortified city of France, capital of the
dep. of Isère, on the river Isère, 58 m. SE. of Lyons; there are several
fine old cathedrals, and a university with a library of 170,000 vols.;
the manufacture of kid gloves is the staple industry.
GRENVILLE, GEORGE, statesman, younger brother of Earl Temple; was
called to the bar in 1735, and six years later entered Parliament; held
various offices of State, and in 1763 succeeded Bute as Prime Minister;
his administration is noted for the prosecution of WILKES (q. v.),
and the passing of the American Stamp Act, a measure which
precipitated the American Revolution (1712-1770).
GRENVILLE, SIR RICHARD, a gallant seaman of Queen Elizabeth's time;
already a knight, commanded the first expedition sent by Raleigh to
colonise Virginia; took part in the defeat of the Armada, and in 1591,
while commanding the _Revenge_ in Lord Howard's squadron, engaged
single-handed the entire Spanish fleet off the Azores; after a desperate
fight of about 18 hours, during which time four of the Spanish vessels
were sunk, and upwards of 2000 of their men slain or drowned, he
surrendered, was carried wounded on board a Spanish ship, in which he
died; the fight is celebrated in Tennyson's noble ballad "The Revenge."
GRENVILLE, WILLIAM WYNDHAM, LORD, statesman; entered Parliament in
1782; was not a man of brilliant parts, but his integrity and capacity
for work raised him to the highest offices of State; in 1789 he was
Speaker of the House of Commons, and a year later was raised to the
peerage and made Home Secretary under Pitt; in 1791 he was Foreign
Secretary; supported Catholic Emancipation and the Abolition of the
Slave-trade; he was Premier from 1806 to 1807; later he supported Canning
and Earl Grey (1759-1834).
GRESHAM, SIR THOMAS, founder of the Royal Exchange, born in London;
son of Sir Richard Gresham, a wealthy mercer, who was knighted and made
Lord Mayor in Henry VIII.'s reign; after studying at Cambridge entered
the Mercers' Company, and in 1552, as "King's agent" in Antwerp,
negotiated important loans with the Flemish merchants; under the Catholic
régime of Mary he was dismissed, but was shortly after restored, and in
1559 appointed ambassador in Antwerp; between 1566 and 1571 he carried
through his project of erecting an Exchange, and his munificence was
further displayed in the founding of a college and eight almshouses; in
1569 he was instrumental in bringing about the important fiscal
arrangement of borrowing from home merchants instead of as formerly from
foreign merchants (1519-1579).
GRESHAM COLLEGE, college founded by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1575, and
managed by the Mercer's Company, London, where lectures are delivered,
twelve each year, by successive lecturers on physics, rhetoric,
astronomy, law, geometry, music, and divinity, to form part of the
teaching of University College.
GRETCHEN, the German diminutive for Margaret, and the name of the
guileless girl seduced by Faust in Goethe's tragedy of the name.
GRETNA GREEN, a village in Dumfriesshire, over the border from
England, famous from 1754 to 1856 for clandestine marriages, which used
latterly to be celebrated in the blacksmith's shop.
GRÉTRY, a celebrated musical composer, born at Liège, composed 40
operas marked by feeling and expression, the "Deux Avares," "Zemire et
Azor," and "Richard Coeur de Lion" among them; he bought Rousseau's
hermitage at Montmorency, where he died (1741-1813).
GREUZE, JEAN BAPTISTE, a French painter, much esteemed for his
portraits and exquisite _genre_ pieces; he died in poverty (1725-1805).
GRÈVE, PLACE DE, place of public execution in Paris at one time.
GREVILLE, CHARLES CAVENDISH FULKE, celebrated for his "Memoirs";
after quitting Oxford he acted as private secretary to Earl Bathurst, and
from 1821 to 1860 was Clerk of the Council in Ordinary; it was during his
tenure of this office that he enjoyed exceptional opportunities of
meeting the public men of his times, and of studying the changing phases
of political and court-life of which he gives so lively a picture in his
"Memoirs" (1794-1865).
GREVILLE, FULKE, a minor English poet, born at Beauchamp Court,
Warwickshire; was educated at Cambridge and Oxford; travelled on the
Continent; played a part in the court-life of Elizabeth's time; was
knighted in 1597, and in 1620 was created Lord Brooke; he was murdered in
a scuffle with his valet (1554-1628).
GRÉVILLE, HENRY, the pseudonym of Madame Alice Durand (_née_
Fleury), novelist, born at Paris; her works, which are numerous, contain
lively pictures of life in Russia, in which country, in St. Petersburg,
she spent 15 years of her life (1857-72), and married Émile Durand, a
French professor of Law; since 1872 she has lived in France; _b_. 1842.
GRÉVY, FRANÇOIS, PAUL JULES, French President, born at
Mont-sous-Vaudrey, Jura; became prominent at the Paris bar, and after the
'48 Revolution entered the Constituent Assembly, of which he became
Vice-President; his opposition to Louis Napoleon, and disapproval of his
_coup d'état_, obliged him to retire; but in 1869 he again entered the
political arena, and was four times chosen President of the National
Assembly; in 1879 he was elected President of the Republic for seven
years, and in 1886 was confirmed in his position for a similar period,
but ministerial difficulties induced him to resign two years later
(1807-1891).
GREY, CHARLES, FIRST EARL, soldier; as Sir Charles Grey of Howick he
distinguished himself in the wars with the American Colonies and the
French Republic, and in 1804 was rewarded with a Barony, and two years
later was made Earl Grey (1728-1807).
GREY, CHARLES, 2ND EARL, party to the impeachment of Warren
Hastings; tried to impeach Pitt; denounced union with Ireland; became
leader of the House of Commons in 1806; carried Act for the Abolition of
the African Slave-trade; succeeded to the earldom in 1807, and denounced
the Bill against Queen Caroline; becoming Prime Minister in 1830 he was
defeated, and resigned twice over the Reform Bill; returning to power in
1832, with permission to make as many peers as might be needed, he
succeeded at last in passing the Bill; he was head of a powerful party in
the reformed Parliament, and carried the bill abolishing slavery in the
Colonies, but resigned over Irish troubles in 1834 (1764-1845).
GREY, SIR GEORGE, colonial governor and statesman, born at Lisburn,
Ireland; while a captain in the army he, in 1837 and 1838, explored
Central Australia and the Swan River district; in 1841, having retired
from the army, he became Governor of South Australia; was made K.C.B.
for his services: in 1846 was Governor of New Zealand, and in 1854
Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Cape of Good Hope, where he
conciliated the Kaffirs; in 1858 a difference with the home government
led him to resign, but he was soon re-established; from 1861 to 1867 he
was at his former post in New Zealand, where he pacified the Maories; in
1875 he was Superintendent of Auckland, and in 1877-84 was Premier of New
Zealand; he is the author of "Journals of Discovery in Australia,"
"Polynesian Mythology," &c. (1812-1898).
GREY, LADY JANE, the ill-fated "nine days' queen," born at Bradgate,
Leicestershire; was the daughter of the Duke of Suffolk and the
great-granddaughter of Henry VII.; her talents were of a rare order, and
sedulously cultivated; she attained to great proficiency in Greek, Latin,
and also in modern languages, while she was skilled in all the
accomplishments of womanhood; a plot entered into by Suffolk and the Duke
of Northumberland, whose son Lady Jane had been forced to espouse at 15,
brought about her proclamation as Queen in 1553; the attempted usurpation
was crushed in ten days, and four months later Lady Jane and her husband
were executed (1537-1554).
GREY FRIARS, the FRANCISCANS (q. v.), from their grey
habit.
GRIEG, EDOARD, Norwegian composer, born at Bergen, of Scotch
descent; received his first musical lessons from his mother, and at 15
went to Leipzig; in 1863 was at Copenhagen and then established himself
as a teacher at Christiania, where he continued eight years and became
intimate with Ibsen; subsequently, after leading an unsettled life, he
received a government pension, and after that devoted himself to musical
composition; his music, chiefly pianoforte pieces and songs, achieved a
wide popularity in England and Scotland; _b_. 1843.
GRIERSON, SIR ROBERT, OF LAG, a notorious persecutor of the
Covenanters, whose memory is still regarded with odium among the peasants
of Galloway; was for some years Steward of Kirkcudbright; was in 1685
made a Nova Scotia baronet, and awarded a pension (1655-1733).
GRIESBACH, JOHANN JACOB, German theologian and biblical critic, born
in Hesse-Darmstadt; produced a critical revision of the text of the New
Testament, the chief labour of his life, for which he visited and
ransacked the various libraries of Europe (1745-1812).
GRIFFIN or GRIFFON, a chimerical fabulous animal with the body
and legs of a lion in symbol of strength, with the wings and beak of an
eagle in symbol of swiftness, with the ears of a horse in symbol of
watchfulness, and instead of a mane the fin of a fish; figures among
heraldic symbols with the significance here indicated.
GRILLPARZER, FRANZ, popular Austrian dramatist, born at Vienna;
studied law and then entered the Civil Service, in which he remained from
1813 to 1856; his first notable drama was the tragedy "Die Ahnfrau," the
_motif_ of which is an extreme fatalism; "Sappho," "Das goldene Vliess,"
and many others followed, all of which are marked by dramatic power and
lyric grace; he stands in the front rank of Austrian poets (1791-1872).
GRIMALDI, JOSEPH, a famous English clown, son of an Italian
dancing-master, born in London; was bred to the stage from his infancy,
appearing on the boards when not yet two years old; his Memoirs were
edited by Dickens, who describes him as "the genuine droll, the
grimacing, filching, irresistible clown" (1779-1837).
GRIMM, BARON, a German littérateur and critic, born at Ratisbon; a
man of versatile powers and vast attainments; settled in Paris and became
acquainted with Rousseau and the leading Encyclopédists and Madame
d'Epinay; on the breaking out of the Revolution he retired to the court
of Gotha and afterwards to that of Catharine II. of Russia, who made him
her minister at Hamburg; his correspondence is full of interest, and
abounds in piquant literary criticism (1723-1807).
GRIMM, JACOB LUDWIG, German philologist, born at Hanau; held office
as librarian to Jerome Bonaparte, king of Westphalia, and afterwards to
Göttingen University, as well as a professorship there, devoting himself
the while chiefly to studies in early German lore, and afterwards with
his brother settled in Berlin; his principal works were, "Deutsche
Grammatik," "Deutsche Mythologie," "Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache,"
and the "Kinder-und-Haus-Märchen" in collaboration with his brother
(1785-1863).
GRIMM, WILHELM KARL, philologist, younger brother of the preceding,
born at Hanau; was associated both in his appointments and work with his
brother, the two being known as the Brothers Grimm; edited several old
German poems, his principal work "Die Deutsche Heldensage" (1786-1859).
GRIMM'S LAW, as enunciated by J. L. Grimm, is the law regulating the
interchange of mute consonants in languages of Aryan origin, aspirates,
flats, and sharps in the classical languages corresponding respectively
to flats, sharps, and aspirates in Low German, and to sharps, aspirates,
and flats in High German tongues.
GRIMSBY or GREAT GRIMSBY (59), a seaport of Lincolnshire, on
the S. shore of the Humber, opposite Spurn Head, 20 m. SE. of Hull; was a
port of importance in Edward III.'s time; is now noted as the largest
fishing-port in the kingdom; has extensive docks, shipbuilding, tanning,
brewing, and other industries.
GRINDAL, EDMUND, archbishop of Canterbury; was suspended for
respecting his conscience more than the Queen (Elizabeth), but restored;
offered to resign, but the Queen would not accept his resignation; became
in the end blind from grief (1519-1583).
GRINDELWALD, a winter resort in Bernese Oberland, in Switzerland, in
a beautiful valley 12½ m. long and 4 m. broad, and nearly 3500 ft. above
sea-level.
GRINGO, a name of contempt in Mexico and South America for
interlopers of English descent or speech.
GRINGORE, a French poet; flourished in the reigns of Louis XII. and
Francis I.; was received with favour at court for political reasons,
though he lashed its vices and those of the clergy; wrote satirical
farces, and one especially at the instance of Louis against Pope Julius
II., entitled "Le Jeu du Prince des Sots" (1476-1544).
GRIQUALAND, WEST AND EAST, British territories in South Africa. The
former (83, 30 whites) lies to the N.E. of Cape Colony, between the
Orange River on the S. and Bechuanaland on the N.; the diamond industry,
of which Kimberley is the centre, is the chief source of wealth, and was
begun in 1867; Kimberley is also the seat of government. The latter (153,
4 whites), situated in No-Man's-Land, between the Kaffir country and S.
Natal, is chiefly inhabited by Griquas and Basutos. The first has been
part of Cape Colony since 1881, and the second was annexed to that colony
in 1871, though it is controlled by a chief-magistrate. Griqua is a name
given to half-bloods of Dutch fathers and Hottentot mothers.
GRISELDA or GRISELDIS, a famous heroine of mediæval tradition;
figures in Boccaccio, Petrarch, and Chaucer, and in later dramatists of
England, Germany, and Spain; the beautiful daughter of a Piedmontese
peasant, she was loved and married by the Marquis Walter of Saluzzo; his
jealous affection subjected her to several cruel tests of love, which she
bore with "wyfly pacience," and in the end "love was aye between them
twa."
GRISI, GIULIA, a celebrated singer, born in Milan; Paris and London
were the chief scenes of her triumphs; her greatest triumph was in
playing the part of "Norma," in the opera of the name; she was famous
alike for the beauty of her person and the quality of her voice
(1811-1869).
GRISNEZ, CAPE, a headland with a lighthouse on the French coast
opposite Dover, and the nearest point in France to England.
GRISONS (95), the largest of the Swiss cantons, lies in the SE.
between Tyrol and Lombardy; consists of high mountains and valleys,
amongst which are some of the most noted Alpine glaciers; the Engadine
Valley, through which flows the Inn, is a celebrated health resort, as
also the Davos Valley in the E.; some cereals are raised, but pasture and
forest land occupy a large part of the canton, and supply the cattle and
timber export trade; the population, which is small for the extent of
territory, is a mixture of German, Romanic, and Italian elements.
GROCYN, WILLIAM, classical scholar, born at Bristol; was the first
to teach Greek at Oxford, and the tutor in that department of Sir Thomas
More and Erasmus (1442-1519).
GRODNO, a province and town of Russia; the latter (51) is on the
Niemen, 148 m. NE. of Warsaw; has a Polish palace and medical school. The
former (1,556) is a wide, pine-covered, swampy, yet fertile district,
which produces good crops of cereals, and is a centre of the woollen
industry.
GROLIER, JEAN, a famous bibliophile, whose library was dispersed in
1675; the bindings of the books being ornamented with geometric patterns,
have given name to bindings in this style; they bore the inscription,
"Io. Grolieri et Amicorum" (the property of Jean Grolier and his
friends).
GRÖNINGEN (286), a low-lying province in the NE. of Holland,
fronting the German Ocean on the N., and having Hanover on its eastern
border; its fertile soil favours extensive farming and grazing;
shipbuilding is an important industry. The capital (58) is situated on
the Hunse, 94 m. NE. of Amsterdam; has several handsome buildings, a
university (1614), botanic gardens, shipbuilding yards, and tobacco and
linen factories.
GRONOVIUS, the name of two Dutch scholars, father and son,
professors successively of belles-lettres at Leyden; John died 1671, and
Jacob 1716.
GROS, ANTOINE JEAN, BARON, a French historical painter, born at
Paris; his subjects were taken from events in the history of France, and
especially in the career of Napoleon; his first work, received with
unbounded enthusiasm, was "Pestiféré's de Jaffa," and his latest, a
picture in the cupola of the Church of Geneviève, in Paris (1771-1835).
GROSE, CAPTAIN FRANCIS, an English antiquary, born at Greenford,
Middlesex; was educated for an artist, and exhibited; proved a good
draughtsman; became captain of Sussex militia; published the "Antiquities
of England and Wales" (1773-1787); came to Scotland in 1789 on an
antiquarian tour, and made the acquaintance of Burns, who celebrated him
in his "Hear, Land o' Cakes and Brither Scots," as "a chield's amang you
takin' notes, and faith he'll prent it"; was an easy-going man, with a
corpulent figure, a smack of humour, and a hearty boon companion; lived
to publish his "Antiquities of Scotland and Ireland"; died at Dublin in
an apoplectic fit (1731-1791).
GROSSMITH, GEORGE, actor, famous for leading parts in Gilbert and
Sullivan's operas, and since as giving single-handed dramatic sketches
and songs, written by himself and set to music by himself; _b._ 1847.
GROSSMITH, WEEDON, actor, artist, and contributor to _Art Magazine_
and _Punch_; brother of preceding.
GROSSETESTE, ROBERT, a famous bishop of Lincoln, born at Stradbroke,
Suffolk, of peasant parents; a man of rare learning, he became a lecturer
in the Franciscan school at Oxford, and rose through various stages to be
bishop of Lincoln in 1235; he was an active Parliamentarian, and gave
valuable assistance to his friend Simon de Montfort in the struggle with
Henry III., and headed the Church reform party against the nepotism of
Innocent IV.; according to Stubbs, "he was the most learned, the most
acute, and most holy man of his time" (1175-1253).
GROTE, GEORGE, historian and politician, born at Clay Hill, near
Beckenham, of German descent; was a banker to business; spent his leisure
time in the study of philosophy and history; contributed to the
_Westminster Review_, a philosophical Radical organ at that time;
represented the City of London in that interest from 1833 to 1841, when
he retired to devote all his time to his "History of Greece," of which
the first volumes appeared In 1846 and the last in 1856, making 12
volumes in all; this work contributed to dispel many erroneous
impressions, in regard particularly to Athens and its political
constitution; wrote on Plato and Aristotle, but his philosophical creed
made it impossible for him to do justice to the Greek metaphysics
(1791-1871).
GROTEFEND, GEORG FRIEDRICH, antiquary and philologist, born at
Minden, Hanover; was director of the Lyceum, Hanover; was the first to
decipher the cuneiform inscriptions, a discovery which he gave to the
world in 1802 (1775-1853).
GROTESQUE, THE, the combination in art of heterogeneous parts,
suggested by some whimsically designed paintings in the artificial
grottoes of Roman houses.
GROTIUS, HUGO, or HUIG VAN GROOT, a celebrated Dutch jurist and
theologian, born at Delft; studied at Leyden under Scaliger, and
displayed an extraordinary precocity in learning; won the patronage of
Henri IV. while on an embassy to France; practised at the bar in Leyden,
and in 1613 was appointed pensionary of Rotterdam; he became embroiled in
a religious dispute, and for supporting the Arminians was sentenced to
imprisonment for life; escaped in a book chest (a device of his wife),
fled to Paris, and was pensioned by Louis XIII.; in 1625 he published his
famous work on international law, "De Jure Belli et Pacis"; from 1634 to
1645 he acted as Swedish ambassador at Paris; his acute scholarship is
manifested in various theological, historical, and legal treatises; his
work "De Veritate Religionis Christiana;" is well known (1583-1645).
GROUCHY, EMMANUEL, MARQUIS DE, a French marshal, born at Paris;
entered the army in 1780, and later gave enthusiastic support to the
Revolution, laying aside his title; took part in the Vendéan campaign,
the abortive attempt on Ireland, and, under Joubert, in the conquest of
Italy; was a gallant and daring commander in the Piedmontese, Austrian,
and Russian campaigns of Napoleon, and by skilful generalship covered the
retreat of the French at Leipzig; he was among the first to welcome
Napoleon back from Elba, defeated Blücher at Ligny, but failed to be
forward in the field of Waterloo; led the remnants of the French army
back to Paris afterwards, and then retired to the United States; in 1819
he returned, and in 1831 was reinstated as marshal (1766-1847).
GROVE, SIR GEORGE, born at Clapham; trained as a civil engineer, and
assisted Robert Stephenson in constructing the Britannia tubular bridge;
in 1849 he became secretary to the Society of Arts, a position he held
till 1852, when he became secretary and director of the Crystal Palace
Company; subsequently he was editor of _Macmillan's Magazine_, a
contributor to Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible," and is best known for
the "Dictionary of Music and Musicians" which he edited and partly wrote;
was knighted in 1883; _b_. 1820.
GROVE. SIR WILLIAM ROBERT, lawyer and physicist, burn at Swansea;
called to the bar; was made a judge in 1871, and knighted a year later,
and from 1875 to 1887 he was one of the judges in the High Court of
Justice; throughout his life he busied himself in optical and electrical
research; in 1839 invented the electric battery named after him, and from
1840 to 1847 lectured on Natural Science in the London Institution; in
1866 he was President of the British Association; his scientific
publications are various, and are important contributions to their
subjects (1811-1896).
GRUB STREET, a street in London near Moorfields, formerly inhabited
by a needy class of jobbing literary men, and the birthplace of inferior
literary productions.
GRUNDTVIG, NIKOLAI FREDERIK SEVERIN, Danish poet and theologian,
born in Zealand; was early smitten with a passion for the old Saga
literature of the North, and published in 1808 "Northern Mythology,"
which was followed by other works of a similar nature, patriotic songs,
and a translation of "Beowulf"; he entered the Church as a curate in
1811; engaged in ardent controversy with the rationalists; became leader
of a Church reform party, the Grundtvigians; was for seven years
suspended from preaching, and eventually rose to be a bishop in
Copenhagen, but had no see (1783-1872).
GRUNDY, MRS., an old lady referred to in Thomas Morgan's comedy of
"Speed the Plough," personifying the often affected extreme offence taken
by people of the old school at what they consider violations of
propriety.
GRUYÈRE, a small town in FREIBURG (q. v.), where whole-milk
cheese is made.
GUACHO, a native of the South American pampas.
GUADALQUIVIR, the most important river of Spain, rises in the Sierra
de Cazorla, in the southern province of Jaen, and flows in a SW.
direction through Andalusia, passing Cordova and Seville, to which town
it is navigable for steamers; after a course of 374 m. it discharges into
the Gulf of Cadiz at San Lucar de Barrameda.
GUADELOUPE (168), a French island among the Lesser Antilles, in the
W. Indies; is subject to earthquakes; produces sugar and coffee; has
belonged to France since 1816.
GUADIANA, an important river of Spain, has its source in the E. of
the plateau of Mancha, and for a short distance is known as the Zancara,
flows in a westerly direction as far as Badajoz, where it bends to the
S., then forms the border between Portugal and Spain for a short
distance, bends into Alemtejo, and again, ere reaching the Gulf of Cadiz,
divides the two countries; it is 510 m. long, of which only 42 are
navigable.
GUANAJUATO (1,007), a central province of Mexico; is rich in
minerals, especially silver, and mining is the chief occupation; but
stock-raising is of some importance, and large cotton and woollen
factories have of recent years been introduced. The capital, Guanajuato
(52), is built on both sides of a deep ravine traversed by a dashing
torrent; it is the centre of the mining industry.
GUATEMALA (1,510), a republic of Central America, fronting the
Pacific on the W., between Mexico on the N., and San Salvador and
Honduras on the S.; is for the most part mountainous, with intervening
valleys of rich fertility, little explored; minerals are abundant, and
gold and silver are worked, but the wealth of the country lies in its
fertile soil, which produces abundance of coffee, sugar, cotton, tobacco,
and fruits of all kinds; there is some manufacture of textiles, pottery,
&c.; the want of good roads has hindered the development of the country;
Roman Catholicism prevails, and the government is vested in a President
and Council; its independence was proclaimed in 1839. The capital,
Guatemala (85), stands on a plateau 72 m. NE. of its port, San José;
there is a cathedral and an archbishop's palace, also electric light, and
tramway conveyance.
GUAYAQUIL (45), the principal port of Ecuador, stands at the
entrance of the river Guayaquil into the Gulf of Guayaquil; the foreign
trade is centred here; there are sawmills and iron-works; coffee is by
far the largest export; the town is badly laid out, and yellow fever is
common.
GUBERNATIS, ANGELO DE, a distinguished Italian scholar, born at
Turin; in 1863 he was appointed professor of Sanskrit at Florence; was
for a time smitten with the anarchist ideas of Bakunin, whose daughter he
married, and resigned his chair, but soon returned to his professional
labours; in 1891 he became professor of Sanskrit at Rome; his numerous
writings witness to his unceasing industry and versatility, and deal with
Orientalism, mythology, archæology, and general literature; his work
"Zoological Mythology," published in English by Mr. Trübner, is not
unknown to scholars among us; _b_. 1840.
GUDRUN, a heroine in an old German epic so called; betrothed to
Herwig, king of Zealand, and carried off by Hochmut, king of Norway, a
rejected suitor; preferred out of respect to her vow to serve as a menial
in his mother's kitchen rather than be his wife; was rescued from durance
by her brother and her betrothed, and being married to Herwig, pardoned
the suitor that had stolen her from his embraces.
GUELDERLAND (523), a province of Holland, stretching from the Zuider
Zee on the NW. to Prussia on the SE.; agriculture is the staple industry;
the Rhine crosses it in the S.
GUELPHS, a political party in Italy, who from the 11th to the 14th
centuries maintained, against the claims of the Emperors, the
independence of Italy, and the supremacy of the Pope, in opposition to
the GHIBELLINES (q. v.).
GUERICKE, OTTO VON, a German physicist, born at Magdeburg;
experimented on air, and invented the air-pump (1602-1686).
GUERIN, MAURICE DE, a French poet, of noble birth; bred for the
Church, but broke away from it; of a genius of marked promise, whose days
were cut short by an early death; his works included a prose poem called
the "Centaur" (1810-1838).
GUERIN, PIERRE, a French painter; treated classical subjects in the
classical style (1774-1833)
GUERNSEY (35), the second in size of the CHANNEL ISLANDS (q. v.);
fruit and vegetables are largely exported, and it is noted for a
fine breed of cows; St. Peter's Port is the only town, and has an
excellent harbour.
GUERRAZZI, FRANCESCO DOMENICO, an Italian patriot and author, born
at Leghorn; was trained to the law, but took to literature and produced a
number of brilliant political novels; after the flight of the Duke of
Tuscany in 1849 he was proclaimed dictator of the duchy, although little
in sympathy with the republican government, and on the restoration of the
duke was imprisoned for three years and banished to Corsica; later he sat
in the Turin Parliament from 1862 to 1865 (1804-1873).
GUESCLIN, BERTRAND DU. See DU GUESCLIN, BERTRAND.
GUEST, EDWIN, master of Caius College, Cambridge, antiquary; wrote
only one book "History of English Rhythms," a work of great learning, but
contributed papers of great value on the early history of England in
learned journals (1800-1880).
GUEUX, "the Beggars," the name assumed by the nobles and others in
the Low Countries in the War of Independence against Philip II. of Spain;
being called beggars in reproach by the court party, they adopted the
name as well as the dress, wore a fox's tail for a plume and a platter
for a brooch.
GUIANA, an extensive tract of country in the N. of S. America
fronting the Atlantic, bordering on Venezuela on the W., and for the
rest hemmed in by Brazil; it is divided into British, Dutch, and French
Guiana, all fronting the sea; the physical characteristics of all three
are practically the same; a fertile alluvial foreshore, with
upward-sloping savannahs and forests to the unexplored highlands, dense
with luxuriant primeval forest; rivers numerous, climate humid and hot,
with a plentiful rainfall; vegetation, fauna, &c., of the richest
tropical nature; timber, balsams, medicinal barks, fruits, cane-sugar,
rice, cereals, &c., are the chief products; also some gold. BRITISH
GUIANA (278) is the most westerly, and borders on Venezuela; area,
88,650 sq. m., divided into Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo;
GEORGETOWN (q. v.) is the capital. DUTCH GUIANA or Surinam
(73) occupies the central position; area, 46,058 sq. m.; capital
PARAMARIBO (q. v.). FRENCH GUIANA or Cayenne (30) lies to
the E.; area, 31,000 sq. m; capital, CAYENNE (q. v.).
GUICCIARDINI, an Italian statesman and historian, born in Florence;
studied law; became professor of Jurisprudence there; was a disciple of
Macchiavelli; did service as a statesman in the Papal territories; took a
leading part in the political changes of Florence; secured the
restoration of the Medici to power, and on his retirement composed a
"History of Italy during his Own Time," which he had all but completed
when he died (1485-1540).
GUICHARD, KARL, a Prussian officer, born at Magdeburg; joined
Frederick the Great at Breslau, "a solid staid man, of a culture unusual
for a soldier; brought with him his book, 'Memoirs Militaires sur les
Grecs et les Romans,' a solid account of the matter by the first man who
ever understood both war and Greek; very welcome to Frederick, whom he
took to very warmly; dubbed him Quintus Icilius, and had his name so
entered as major on the army books; promoted at length to colonel, a rank
he held till the end of the war" (1721-1775). See Carlyle's "Frederick."
GUICOWAR, the hereditary title of the Mahratta princes who rule over
BARODA (q. v.), in Gujarat, East India.
GUIDO ARETINUS, a Benedictine monk who flourished at Arezzo, in
Italy, during the 11th century, the first to promote the theoretical
study of music; he is credited, amongst other things, with the invention
of counterpoint, and was the first to designate notes by means of
alphabetical letters, and to establish the construction of the stave.
GUIDO RENI, Italian painter of the school of Bologna; best known by
his masterpiece "Aurora and the Hours" at Rome, painted on a ceiling, and
his unfinished "Nativity" at Naples (1575-1642).
GUIENNE (a corruption of Aquitania), an ancient province of SW.
France, now subdivided into the departments of Gironde, Dordogne, Lot,
Aveyron, and embraces parts of Lot-et-Garonne and Tarn-et-Garonne.
GUIGNES, JOSEPH DE, an eminent French Orientalist, and Sinologist
especially; was author of "Histoire Générale des Huns, des Turcs, des
Moguls, &c.," a work of vast research (1721-1800).
GUILDFORD (14), capital of Surrey, on the Wey, 30 m. SW. of London,
a quaint old town with several interesting buildings, and the ruins of a
Norman castle; is noted for its "Surrey wheats" and live-stock markets;
and has corn, paper, and powder-mills, also iron-works.
GUILDHALL, a building in London and a hall for banquets of the City
Corporation; destroyed by the fire of 1666 and rebuilt in 1789.
GUILDHALL SCHOOL OF MUSIC, an institution established by the
Corporation of London to provide advanced and thorough instruction in
music at a moderate rate, a fine building in connection with which was
erected in 1887; started with 62, and has now 3600 pupils. The
Corporation have expended £50,000 on it, besides an annual contribution
of £2300.
GUILDS, associations of craftsmen or tradesmen in the Middle Ages to
watch over and protect the interests of their craft or trade, and to see
that it is honourably as well as economically conducted, each with a body
of officials to superintend its affairs; they were associations for
mutual help, and of great benefit to the general community, religiously
and morally, as well as municipally.
GUILLOTINE, a beheading-machine invented by a Dr. Guillotin, and
recommended by him to the National Convention, which adopted it; "with my
machine, Messieurs, I whisk off your head in a twinkling, and you have no
pain;" it was anticipated by the _Maiden_ in Scotland.
GUINEA, a name somewhat loosely applied to an extensive tract of
territory on the W. coast of Africa, generally recognised as extending
from the mouth of the Senegal in the N. to Cape Negro in the S., and is
further designated as Lower and Upper Guinea, the boundary line being
practically the Equator; the territory is occupied by various colonies of
Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, and the Negro Republic of
Liberia.
GUINEGATE, a village in Hainault, SW. of Belgium, where Henry VIII.
defeated the French in 1513 in the Battle of the SPURS (q. v.).
GUINEVERE, the wife of King Arthur; the most beautiful of women,
conceived a guilty passion for Lancelot, one of Arthur's knights, and
married Modred, her husband's nephew, in the latter's absence on an
expedition against the Romans, on hearing of which he returned, met
Modred on the field of battle, whom he slew, fell mortally wounded
himself, while she escaped to a nunnery. Tennyson gives a different
version in his "Idylls."
GUISCARD, ROBERT, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, born at Coutances, in
Normandy; along with his brothers, sons of Tancred de Hauteville, he, the
sixth of twelve, following others of the family, invaded S. Italy; won
renown by his great prowess, and in the end the dukedom of Apulia; he
engaged in war with the Emperor of the East, but returned to suppress a
revolt in his own territory; when Pope Gregory VII. was besieged in San
Angelo by Henry IV. of Germany he came to the rescue and the emperor made
off (1015-1085).
GUISE, a celebrated French ducal family deriving its title from the
town of Guise in Aisne.
GUISE, CHARLES, CARDINAL OF LORRAINE, DUKE OF, son of the
succeeding, and considered the ablest of the Guise family; was archbishop
of Rheims in 1538, and cardinal of Lorraine in 1547; was prominent at the
Council of Trent, and in conjunction with his brother fiercely opposed
Protestantism (1527-1574).
GUISE, CLAUDE OF LORRAINE, first Duke of, fifth son of René II.,
Duke of Lorraine; distinguished himself in the service of Francis I., who
conferred on him the dukedom of Guise; was the grandfather of Mary, Queen
of Scots, through his daughter Marie, wife of James V. of Scotland
(1496-1550).
GUISE, FRANCIS, second Duke of, and son of preceding; rose, to the
highest eminence as a soldier, winning, besides many others, the great
victory of Metz (1552) over the Germans, and capturing Calais from the
English in 1558; along with his brother CHARLES (q. v.) he was
virtual ruler of France during the feeble rule of Francis II., and these
two set themselves to crush the rise of Protestantism; he was murdered by
a Huguenot at the siege of Orleans (1519-1563).
GUISE, HENRY I., third Duke of, son of Francis; the murder of his
father added fresh zeal to his inborn hatred of the Protestants, and
throughout his life he persecuted them with merciless rigour; he was a
party to the massacre of St. Bartholomew (1572); his ambitious designs on
the crown of France brought about his assassination (1550-1588).
GUISE, HENRY II., fifth Duke of, grandson of preceding; at 15 he
became archbishop of Rheims, but the death of his brother placed him in
the dukedom (1640); he opposed Richelieu, was condemned to death, but
fled to Flanders; with Masaniello he made a fruitless attempt to seize
the kingdom of Naples, and eventually settled in Paris, becoming
grand-chamberlain to Louis XIV. (1614-1664).
GUIZOT, FRANÇOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME, a celebrated French historian and
statesman, born at Nîmes; his boyhood was spent at Geneva, and in 1805 he
came to Paris to study law, but he soon took to writing, and in his
twenty-fourth year had published several works and translated Gibbon's
great history; in 1812 he was appointed to the chair of History in the
Sorbonne; on the second restoration (1814) became Secretary-General of
the Ministry of the Interior; the return of Napoleon drove him from
office, but on the downfall of the Corsican he received the post of
Secretary to the Ministry of Justice; in 1830 he threw in his lot with
Louis Philippe, became Minister of Public Instruction, Foreign Minister,
and Prime Minister; his political career practically closed with the
downfall of Louis Philippe; his voluminous historical works, executed
between his terms of office and in his closing years, display wide
learning and a great faculty of generalisation; the best known are "The
History of the English Revolution" and "The History of Civilisation"; as
a statesman he was honest, patriotic, but short-sighted (1787-1874).
GUJARAT (3,098), a N. maritime province of the Presidency of Bombay,
lying between the Gulfs of Cutch and Cambay; it is a rich alluvial
country, and chiefly comprises the native States of Kathiawar, Cutch, and
Baroda.