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GRATZ or GRAeTZ (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 L400 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 L732,000; 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 Boulē; 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 L167,259 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).
GREGOIRE, HENRI, bishop of Blois, born at Veho, near Luneville, one of the clerical deputies to the States-General of 1789; attached himself to the Tiers-etat, 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 praetor 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-Caesarea 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 Isere, on the river Isere, 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 regime 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.
GRETRY, a celebrated musical composer, born at Liege, 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).
GREVE, 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).
GREVILLE, HENRY, the pseudonym of Madame Alice Durand (nee 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 Emile Durand, a French professor of Law; since 1872 she has lived in France; b. 1842.
GREVY, FRANCOIS, 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'etat, 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 litterateur and critic, born at Ratisbon; a man of versatile powers and vast attainments; settled in Paris and became acquainted with Rousseau and the leading Encyclopedists 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 Goettingen 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-Maerchen" 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 121/2 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 mediaeval 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).
GROeNINGEN (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 "Pestifere's de Jaffa," and his latest, a picture in the cupola of the Church of Genevieve, 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 Vendean 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 Bluecher 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.
GRUYERE, 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 Jose; 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, archaeology, and general literature; his work "Zoological Mythology," published in English by Mr. Truebner, 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 Generale 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 L50,000 on it, besides an annual contribution of L2300.
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 Rene 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, FRANCOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME, a celebrated French historian and statesman, born at Nimes; 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.
GULF STREAM, the most important of the great ocean currents; it issues by the Strait of Florida from the Gulf of Mexico (whence its name), a vast body of water 50 m. wide, with a temperature of 84 deg. and a speed of 5 m. an hour; flows along the coast of the U.S. as far as Newfoundland, whence it spreads itself in a NE. direction across the Atlantic, throwing out a branch which skirts the coasts of Spain and Africa, while the main body sweeps N. between the British Isles and Iceland, its influence being perceptible as far as Spitzbergen; the climate of Britain has been called "the gift of the Gulf Stream," and it is the genial influence of this great current which gives to Great Britain and Norway their warm and humid atmosphere, and preserves them from experiencing a climate like Labrador and Greenland, a climate which their latitude would otherwise subject them to.
GULL, SIR WILLIAM WITHEY, physician, born at Thorpe-le-Soken; received his medical training at London, and in 1843 became professor of Physiology at the Royal Institution; four years later he was appointed clinical lecturer at Guy's Hospital; in 1871 his attendance on the Prince of Wales brought him a baronetcy; published various lectures and papers on cholera, paralysis, &c. (1816-1890).
GULLIVER, the hero of Swift's satirical romance entitled "Gulliver's Travels," which records his adventures among the pigmies of Lilliput, the giants of Brobdingnag, the quacks of Laputa, and the HOUYHNHNMS (q. v.).
GULLY, RIGHT HON. WILLIAM COURT, Speaker of the House of Commons since 1895; has represented Carlisle since 1886, is son of Dr. Gully of water-cure celebrity; b. 1835.
GUN-COTTON, a powerful explosive formed by the action of nitric or sulphuric acid on cotton or some similar vegetable fibre.
GUN-METAL, a tough, close-grained alloy of copper and tin.
GUNNINGS, two beautiful Irish girls, MARIA (1733-1760) and ELIZABETH (1734-1790), the elder of whom became Countess of Cromarty, and the younger married first the Duke of Hamilton (1752) and afterwards the first Duke of Argyll (1759).
GUNPOWDER PLOT, an attempt on the part of a conspiracy to blow up the Parliament of England on Nov. 5, 1605, on the day of the opening, when it was expected the King, Lords, and Commons would be all assembled; the conspirators were a small section of Roman Catholics dissatisfied with King James's government, and were headed by Robert Catesby, the contriver of the plot; the plot was discovered, and Guy Fawkes was arrested as he was proceeding to carry it into execution, while the rest, who fled, were pursued, taken prisoners, and the chief of them put to death.
GUNTER, EDMUND, mathematician, born in Hertfordshire; was educated at Oxford for the Church, but his natural bent was towards mathematical science, and in 1619 he became professor of Astronomy in Gresham College, London, a position he held till his death; his "Canon Triangulorum" (1620) was the first table of logarithmic sines and tangents drawn up on Briggs's system; amongst other of his inventions was the surveying chain, a quadrant, Gunter's scale, and he was the first to observe the variations of the compass (1581-1626).
GUNTHER, king of Burgundy and brother of Chriemhild; his ambition was to wed BRUNHILDA (q. v.), who could only be won by one who surpassed her in three trials of skill and strength; by the help of Siegfried, who veiled himself in a cloak of darkness, he succeeded not only in winning her hand, but in reducing her to wifely subjection after she was wed.
GUPPY, the name of a pert, conceited lawyer's clerk who figures in Dickens's "Bleak House."
GURNEY, JOSEPH JOHN, a Quaker philanthropist and writer, born at Earlham Hall, near Norwich; in 1818 he became a Quaker minister; he energetically co-operated with his sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Fry, in bringing about a reform of the prison system, and otherwise spent his life in philanthropic work; his works include "Prison Discipline," 1819, "Religious Peculiarities of the Society of Friends," 1824 (1788-1847).
GUSTAVUS (I.) VASA or GUSTAVUS ERICSSEN, king of Sweden from 1523 to 1560, born at Lindholm, in Upland; having conceived the idea of freeing his country from the yoke of Denmark, under which it had fallen in 1519, and his early efforts to infuse a spirit of patriotic rebellion into the Swedes proving ineffectual, he was captured by the Danes; escaping from captivity, he became a wanderer in his own land, working in mines and enduring great privations, but at last, in 1520, the Swedes were goaded to rebellion, and under him eventually drove the Danes from their land in 1523; during his long reign Gustavus gradually brought his at first disorganised empire into a peaceful and united realm (1496-1560).
GUSTAVUS (II.) ADOLPHUS, king of Sweden from 1611 to 1632, born at Stockholm, grandson of preceding and son of Charles IX.; successful territorial wars with Denmark and Russia occupied him during the early years of his reign, and in 1629 he concluded an advantageous truce for six years with Poland; next he espoused the Protestant cause in Germany against the Catholic League; victory crowned his efforts at every step, but in the great battle of Luetzen (near Leipzig), whilst facing WALLENSTEIN (q. v.), his most powerful opponent, he fell in the act of rallying his forces, and in the hour of success, not without suspicion of having been assassinated; he ranks amongst the greatest of champions (1594-1632).
GUSTAVUS III., king of Sweden from 1771 to 1792; succeeded his father Adolphus Frederick; he found himself early at conflict with his nobles, and in 1772, supported by popular feeling, imposed a new constitution on the country greatly diminishing their power; Gustavus was an enlightened ruler, but somewhat alienated his people from him by his extravagance and fondness for French modes of life; in 1788 he became embroiled in a purposeless war with Russia; he was assassinated when about to take up arms in behalf of the Bourbon cause against the French Republicans (1746-1792).
GUSTAVUS IV., king of Sweden from 1792 to 1809, son of preceding; his incompetency and stubbornness made him an ill ruler; territory was lost to the French, and Finland to Russia, while an attack on Norway proved a failure; popular indignation rose to a height in 1809; he was deposed, and the crown given to his uncle, Charles XIII.; after this he lived on the Continent (1778-1837).
GUTENBURG, JOHANNES or HENNE, also called GENSFLEISCH, claimed by the Germans to have been the inventor of the art of printing with movable types, born at Mainz; for some time lived in Strasburg as a polisher of precious stones, mirrors, &c.; he set up his first printing-press at Mainz about 1450 (1400-1468).
GUTHRIE, THOMAS, a Scottish clergyman, distinguished as a pulpit orator and a philanthropist, born in Brechin; was minister at Arbirlot, near Arbroath, and then in Edinburgh; left the Established Church at the Disruption, and became minister of St. John's; traversed the country (1845-46) to raise a fund to provide manses for the Disruption ministers, and realised L116,000 for the object; came forward as an advocate for ragged schools, and founded one in Edinburgh; he was a warm-hearted man as well as an eloquent, who could both move his audience to tears and rouse it to enthusiasm (1803-1873).
GUTTA-PERCHA, the inspissated juice of a tree found in the Malay Archipelago.
GUY, THOMAS, founder of Guy's Hospital, London, born at Horsleydown, Southwark, London; he started as a bookseller in 1668, and after the importation of English Bibles from Holland was stopped he obtained the privilege of printing Bibles for Oxford University; lucky speculation in South Sea stock, combined with his printing business, enabled him to amass an immense fortune, which he devoted largely to charitable purposes; from 1695 to 1702 he sat in Parliament (1645-1724).
GUY OF WARWICK, a hero of English romance of the 13th century, who won the hand of the daughter of the Earl of Warwick by a succession of astonishing feats of valour, but repented of the slaughter he had made, and went a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; returned to his wife disguised as a palmer; retired into a hermitage; when about to die sent a ring to her, upon which she came and interred him; she died 15 days after him, and was buried by his side.
GUYON, SIR, a knight in Spenser's "Faerie Queene," the impersonation of temperance and self-control; he subdued the sorceress Acrasia (i. e. intemperance), and was the destroyer of her "Bower of Bliss."
GWALIOR (3,378), a native State of Central India, under British protection since 1803; governed by the Maharajah Sindhia; area, 29,067 sq. m.; consists of scattered districts in the basins of the Jumna and Nerbudda; opium is the chief export. Gwalior, the capital (1,041), is situated 65 m. S. of Agra; the citadel is very strongly posted on a steep rocky base 340 ft. high.
GWYNN, NELL, a "pretty, witty" actress of Drury Lane, who became mistress of Charles II., whose son by her was created Duke of St. Albans; the king was very fond of her and took special thought of her when he was dying (1640-1691).
GYGES, a young shepherd of Lydia, who, according to classic legend, possessed a magic ring of gold by which he could render himself invisible; he repaired to the Court of Candaules, whose first minister he became, whose chamber he entered invisibly, and whom he put to death to reign in his stead.
GYMNOSOPHISTS, a set of contemplative philosophers among the Hindus who practised an extreme asceticism and went about almost naked.
GYMNOTUS, an electric eel of South America, and found in the fresh waters of Brazil and Guiana.
GYPSIES, a race of people of wandering habits, presumed to be of Indian origin, found scattered over Europe, Asia, and Africa, and even in America, who appear to have begun to migrate westward from the valley of the Indus about A.D. 1000, and to have reached Europe in the 14th century, and to owe their name gypsies to their supposed origin in Egypt. They in general adhere to their unsettled habits wherever they go, show the same tastes, and follow the same pursuits, such as tinkering, mat-making, basket-making, fortune-telling. On their first appearance they were mere vagabonds and thieves.
H
HAAFIZ. See HAeFIZ.
HAARLEM (58), a handsome town in the province of N. Holland on the Spaarne, 4 m. from the sea, and 12 m. W. of Amsterdam; has a fine 15th-century church with a famous organ (8000 pipes), linen and other factories, &c., and is noted for its tulip-gardens and trade in flower-bulbs; it is intersected by several canals as well as the rivers; there existed at one time a lagoon of the Zuyder Zee called HAARLEM LAKE, which stretched southward as far as Leyden, between Amsterdam and Haarlem; but destructive inundations, caused by the tidal advance in 1836, compelled the Government to set about draining it, and this difficult engineering operation was successfully carried through by an English company during 1839-52.
HABAKKUK, a book of the Old Testament by a Levite, whose name it bears, and who appears to have flourished in the 7th century B.C., containing a prophecy which belongs, both in substance and form, to the classic period of Hebrew literature, and is written in a style which has been described as being "for grandeur and sublimity of conception, for gorgeousness of imagery, and for melody of language, among the foremost productions of that literature." The spirit of it is one: faith, namely, in the righteous ways of the Lord; but the burden is twofold; to denounce the judgment of God on the land for the violence and wrong that prevailed in it, as about to be executed on it by a power still more violent and unjust in its ways; and to comfort the generation of the righteous with the assurance of a time when this very rod of God's wrath shall in the pride of its power be broken in pieces, and the Lord be revealed as seated in His Holy Temple.
HABBERTON, JOHN, author of "Helen's Babies," born in Brooklyn, New York; was first a clerk and then a journalist; his other works include "Other People's Children," "The Worst Boy in Town," &c.; b. 1842.
HABEAS CORPUS, an Act of Parliament passed in the reign of Charles II. to ensure the protection of one accused of a crime prior to conviction in an open court of justice.
HABINGTON, THOMAS, a Worcester gentleman of fortune, involved at one time in a conspiracy to release Mary, Queen of Scots, from prison, and convicted at another of concealing some of the agents in the Gunpowder Plot (1560-1647).
HABINGTON, WILLIAM, poet and historian, son of the preceding; a devoted Catholic, "who did not run with the times"; author of "Castara," a collection of exquisite lyrics in homage to his wife, and in celebration of her charms and virtues (1605-1654).
HACHETTE, JEAN, French mathematician; one of the founders of the Ecole Polytechnique (1769-1834).
HACHETTE, JEANNE, a French heroine, born in Beauvais, who took part in the defence of her native town when besieged in 1472 by Charles the Bold.
HACKLAeNDER, German novelist and dramatist, born near Aix-la-Chapelle; his writings, which show a genial humour, have been compared to those of Dickens (1816-1877).
HACKNEY (230), an important parish and borough of Middlesex, a suburb of London, 3 m. NE. of St. Paul's; returns three members of Parliament.
HACO V., king of Norway from 1223 to 1263; was defeated by Alexander III. of Scotland at Largs, and died at the Orkneys on his way home.
HADDINGTON (3), the county town, on the Tyne, 17 m. E. of Edinburgh; has interesting ruins of an abbey church, called the "Lamp of Lothian," a cruciform pile with a central tower, a corn exchange, &c.; was the birthplace of John Knox, Samuel Smiles, and Jane Welsh Carlyle.
HADDINGTONSHIRE or EAST LOTHIAN (37), a maritime county of Scotland, on the E. fronting the Firth of Forth and the North Sea, N. of Berwickshire; on the southern border lie the Lammermuir Hills; the Tyne is the only river; considerable quantities of coal and limestone are wrought, but agriculture is the chief industry, 64 per cent, of the land being under cultivation.
HADEN, SIR FRANCIS SEYMOUR, an etcher and writer on etching, born in London; was bred to medicine, and in 1857 became F.R.C.S.; in 1843 he took up etching as a pastime and has since pursued it with enthusiasm and conspicuous success; he has won medals in France, America, and England for the excellency of his workmanship, while his various writings have largely contributed to revive interest in the art; he is President of the Society of Painters, and in 1894 a knighthood was conferred upon him; b. 1818.
HADES (lit. the Unseen), the dark abode of the shades of the dead in the nether world, the entrance into which, on the confines of the Western Ocean, is unvisited by a single ray of the sun; originally the god of the nether world, and a synonym of PLUTO (q. v.).
HADITH, the Mohammedan Talmud, being a traditional account of Mahomet's sayings and doings.
HADJI, a Mohammedan who has made his Hadj or pilgrimage to Mecca, and kissed the Black Stone of the CAABA (q. v.); the term is also applied to pilgrims to Jerusalem.
HADLEIGH (3), an interesting old market-town of Suffolk, on the Bret, 91/2 m. W. of Ipswich; its cloth trade dates back to 1331; Guthrum, the Danish king, died here in 889, and Dr. Rowland Taylor suffered martyrdom in 1555. Also a small parish of Essex, near the N. shore of the Thames estuary, 37 m. E. of London, where in 1892 the Salvation Army planted their farm-colony.
HADLEY, JAMES, an American Greek scholar, and one of the American committee on the revision of the New Testament (1821-1872).
HADLEY, JOHN, natural philosopher; invented a 5 ft. reflecting telescope, and a quadrant which bears his name, though the honour of the invention has been assigned to others, Newton included (1682-1744).
HADRAMAUT (150), a dry and healthy plateau in Arabia, extending along the coast from Aden to Cape Ras-al-Hadd, nominally a dependency of Turkey.
HADRIAN, Roman emperor, born in Rome; distinguished himself under Trajan, his kinsman; was governor of Syria, and was proclaimed emperor by the army on Trajan's death in A.D. 117; had troubles both at home and abroad on his accession, but these settled, he devoted the last 18 years of his reign chiefly to the administration of affairs throughout the empire; visited Gaul in 120, whence he passed over to Britain, where he built the great wall from the Tyne to the Solway; he was a Greek scholar, had a knowledge of Greek literature, encouraged industry, literature, and the arts, as well as reformed the laws (76-138).
HAECKEL, ERNST HEINRICH, an eminent German biologist, born at Potsdam; carried through his medical studies at Berlin and Vienna; early evinced an enthusiasm for zoology, and, after working for some time at Naples and Messina, in 1865 became professor of Zoology at Jena; here he spent a life of unceasing industry, varied only by expeditions to Arabia, India, Ceylon, and different parts of Europe in the prosecution of his scientific theories; he was the first among German scientists to embrace and apply the evolutionary theories of Darwin, and along these lines he has produced several works of first-rate importance in biology; his great works on calcareous sponges, on jelly-fishes, and corals are enriched by elaborate plates of outstanding value; he made important contributions to the Challenger reports, and was among the first to outline the genealogical tree of animal life; his name is associated with far-reaching speculations on heredity, sexual selection, and various problems of embryology; "The Natural History of Creation," "Treatise on Morphology," "The Evolution of Man," are amongst his more popular works; b. 1834.
HAeFIZ, his real name Shems-Eddin-Mohammed, the great lyric poet of Persia, born in Shiraz, where he spent his life; he has been called the Anacreon of Persia; his poetry is of a sensuous character, though the images he employs are Interpreted by some in a supersensuous or mystical sense; Goethe composed a series of lyrics in imitation; the name Haefiz denotes a Mohammedan who knows the Koran and the Hadith by heart (1320-1391).
HAGAR, Sarah's maid, of Egyptian birth, who became by Abraham the mother of Ishmael and of the Ishmaelites.
HAGEDORN, a German poet, born at Hamburg; was secretary to the English factory there; wrote fables, tales, and moral poems (1708-1754).
HAGEN, king of Burgundy; the murderer of Siegfried in the "Nibelungen Lied," who is in turn killed by Chriemhild, Siegfried's wife, with Siegfried's sword.
HAGENAU (15), a town of Alsace-Lorraine, situated in the Hagenau Forest, on the Moder, 21 m. NE. of Strasburg; has two quaint old churches of the 12th and the 13th century respectively; hops and wine are the chief articles of commerce; was ceded to Germany in 1871.
HAGENBACH, KARL, a German theologian, born at Basel, and professor there; was a disciple of Schleiermacher; wrote a church history; is best known by his "Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte," or "History of Dogmas" (1801-1874).
HAGGADAH, a system of professedly traditional, mostly fanciful, amplifications of the historical and didactic, as distinct from the legal, portions of Jewish scripture; is a reconstructing and remodelling of both history and dogma; for the Jews seem to have thought, though they were bound to the letter of the Law, that any amount of licence was allowed them in the treatment of history and dogma.
HAGGAI, one of the Hebrew prophets of the Restoration (of Jerusalem and the Temple) after the Captivity, and who, it would seem, had returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel and Joshua. Signs of the divine displeasure having appeared on account of the laggard spirit in which the Restoration was prosecuted by the people, this prophet was inspired to lift up his protest and rouse their patriotism, with the result that his appeal took instant effect, for in four years the work was finished and the Temple dedicated to the worship of Jehovah, as of old, in 516 B.C.; his book is a record of the prophecies he delivered in that connection, and the style, though prosaic, is pure and clear.
HAGGARD, RIDER, novelist, born in Norfolk; after service in a civic capacity in Natal, and in partly civil and partly military service in the Transvaal, adopted the profession of literature; first rose into popularity as author in 1885 by the publication of "King Solomon's Mines," the promise of which was sustained in a measure by a series of subsequent novels beginning with "She" in 1887; b. 1856.
HAGGIS, a Scotch dish, "great chieftain o' the puddin' race," composed of the chopped lungs, heart, and liver of a sheep, mixed with suet and oatmeal, seasoned with onions, pepper, salt, &c., and boiled in a sheep's stomach.
HAGIOGRAPHA, the third division of the Jewish canon of scripture, which included the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
HAGUE, THE (166), the capital of the Netherlands, seat of the Court and of the Government, 15 m. NW. of Rotterdam and 2 m. from the North Sea; is handsomely laid out, in spacious squares and broad streets, with stately buildings, statues, and winding canals, beautifully fringed with lindens and spanned by many bridges; has a fine picture-gallery, a royal library (200,000 vols.), archives rich in historical documents of rare value, an ancient castle, palace, and a Gothic church of the 14th century; industries embrace cannon-foundries, copper and lead smelting, printing, &c.; it is connected by tramway with Scheveningen, a fashionable watering-place on the coast.
HAHN-HAHN, IDA, a German authoress of aristocratic birth and prejudice, who, on the dissolution of an unhappy marriage, sought consolation in travel, and literature of a rather sickly kind (1805-1880).
HAHNEMANN, SAMUEL, a German physician, the founder of HOMOEOPATHY (q. v.), born at Meissen; established himself in practice in Dresden on orthodox lines and enjoyed a high reputation, but retired to revise the whole system of medicine in vogue, of which he had begun to entertain misgivings, and by various researches and experiments came to the conclusion that the true principle of the healing art was similia similibus curantur, "like things are cured by like," which he announced as such to the medical world in 1796, and on which he proceeded to practise first in Leipzig and finally in Paris, where he died (1755-1843).
HAIDEE, a beautiful Greek girl in "Don Juan," who, falling in love with the hero and losing him, came to a tragic end.
HAIDUK or HAJDUK (i. e. cowherd), a name bestowed on a body of irregular infantry in Hungary who kept up a guerilla warfare in the 16th century against the Turks; in 1605 a stretch of territory on the left bank of the Theiss was conferred upon them, together with a measure of local government and certain other privileges; but in 1876 their territory was incorporated in the county of Hajdu; the name was in later times applied to the Hungarian infantry and to noblemen's retainers.
HAILES, LORD, SIR DAVID DALRYMPLE, Scottish judge and antiquary, born at Edinburgh; was called to the Scotch bar in 1748, and raised to the bench in 1768; ten years later he became a justiciary lord; he devoted his vacations to literary pursuits, and a series of valuable historical works came from his pen, which include "Annals of Scotland from Malcolm III. to Robert I." and "Annals of Scotland from Robert I. to the Accession of the House of Stuart," "A Discourse on the Gowrie Conspiracy," &c. (1726-1792).
HAILEYBURY COLLEGE, lies 2 m. SE. of Hertford; was founded in 1809 by the East India Company as a training institution for their cadets, and was in use till 1858, when the company ceased to exist; in 1862 it was converted into a public school.
HAINAN (2,500), an island of China, in the extreme S., between the Gulf of Tongking and the China Sea, 15 m. S. of the mainland; agriculture is the staple industry; the mountainous and wooded interior is occupied by the aboriginal Les.
HAINAULT (1,082), a southern province of Belgium bordering on France, between W. Flanders and Namur; the N. and W. is occupied by fertile plains; the Forest of Ardennes extends into the S., where also are the richest coal-fields of Belgium; iron and lead are wrought also; the chief rivers are the Scheldt, Sambre, Dender, and Haine; textiles, porcelain, and iron goods are manufactured; Mons is the capital.
HAKIM or HAKEM, a Mohammedan name for a ruler, a physician, or a wise man.
HAKIM BEN ALLAH or BEN HASHEM, surnamed MOKANNA (i. e. the Veiled or the One-Eyed); the founder of a religious sect in Khorassan, Persia, in the 8th century; he pretended to be God incarnate, and wore over his face a veil to shroud, as his followers believed, the dazzling radiance of his countenance, but in reality to hide the loss of an eye, incurred in earlier years when he had served as a common soldier; the sect was after fierce fighting suppressed by the Caliph, and Hakim is said to have flung himself into a vessel of powerfully corrosive acid in the hope that, his body being destroyed, a belief in his translation to heaven might spread among his followers; the story of Hakim is told in Moore's "Lalla Rookh."
HAKLUYT, RICHARD, English author; was educated at Oxford, and became chaplain to the English embassy in Paris; wrote on historical subjects; his principal work, published in 1589, "Principal Navigations, Voyages, and Discoveries of the English Nation by Land and Sea," a work which, detailing as it does the great deeds of Englishmen, particularly on the sea, has borne very considerable fruit in English life and literature since (1552-1616).
HAKODATE (66), one of the open ports of Yezo in Japan, with a large harbour and large export trade.
HAL (9), a town of Belgium, 9 m. SW. from Brussels; noted for its 14th-century church, which contains a black wooden image of the Virgin credited with miraculous powers, and resorted to by pilgrims.
HALACHA, the Jewish law as developed into validity by the decisions of the Scribes, on the basis of inferential reasoning or established custom; it was of higher authority than the law as written, though not held valid till sanctioned by a majority of the doctors.
HALBERSTADT (37), an interesting old town in Prussian Saxony, 30 m. SW. of Magdeburg; the 13th-century cathedral is a fine specimen of Pointed Gothic, and the Church of Our Lady, a 12th-century structure, is in the Byzantine style; its industries embrace gloves, cigars, machines, sugar, &c.
HALCYON DAYS, days of peace, happiness, and prosperity, properly the seven days before and the seven after the winter Solstice, days of quiet, during which the halcyon, or kingfisher, is fabled to be breeding.
HALDANE, ROBERT, born in London, and JAMES, born in Dundee, brothers; entered the English navy, and after distinguishing themselves in it, left the service, and devoted their time and their wealth to evangelistic labours and the building of "tabernacles," as they were called, for religious worship in connection eventually with the Baptist body; they both contributed to theological literature in the Calvinistic interest; Robert died in 1842, being born in 1764, and James in 1851, being born in 1766.
HALE, SIR MATTHEW, Lord Chief-Justice of England, born at Alderley, Gloucestershire: in 1629 he entered Lincoln's Inn after some years of roving and dissipation, and eight years later was called to the bar; as he held aloof from the strife between king and commons, his service as advocate were in requisition by both parties, and in 1653 he was raised to the bench by Cromwell; on the death of the Protector he declined to receive his commission anew from Richard Cromwell, and favoured the return of Charles; after the Restoration he was made Chief Baron of the Exchequer and knighted; in 1671 he was created Lord Chief-Justice; charges of "trimming" have been made against him, but his integrity as a lawyer has never been impugned (1609-1676).
HALES, ALEXANDER OF, a scholastic philosopher, surnamed "Doctor Irrefragabilis," who flourished in the 15th century; author of "Summa Theologiae."
HALES, JOHN, the "Ever-memorable," canon of Windsor; a most scholarly man, liberal-minded and highly cultured; was professor of Greek at Oxford; suffered great hardships under the Puritan supremacy (1584-1656).
HALES, STEPHEN, scientist, born at Beckesbourn, Kent; became a Fellow of Cambridge in 1702; took holy orders, and in 1710 settled down in the curacy of Teddington, Middlesex; science was his ruling passion, and his "Vegetable Staticks" is the first work to broach a true morphology of plants; his papers on Ventilation led to a wide-spread reform in prison ventilation, and his method of collecting gases greatly furthered the work of subsequent chemists (1677-1761).
HALEVY, JACQUES FRANCOIS ELIAS, a French operatic composer, born at Paris; became a professor at the Conservatoire; wrote a large number of operas, of which "La Juive" and "L'Eclair" were the best, and enjoyed a European reputation (1799-1862).
HALEVY, JOSEPH, French Orientalist and traveller, born at Adrianople; his most notable work was done in Yemen, which he crossed during 1869-70 in search of Sabaean inscriptions, no European having traversed that land since A.D. 24; the result was a most valuable collection of 800 inscriptions, &c.; his works are numerous, and deal with various branches of Oriental study; b. 1827.
HALIBURTON, THOMAS CHANDLER, Nova Scotian judge and author, born at Windsor, Nova Scotia; was called to the bar in 1820, and soon after was elected a member of the House of Assembly; in 1840 he became Judge of the Supreme Court, and two years later retired to England, where, in 1869, he entered Parliament; he wrote several books bearing on Nova Scotia and aspects of colonial life, but is best known as the author of "Sam Slick," Yankee clockmaker, peripatetic philosopher, wit, and dispenser of "soft sawder" (1796-1865). |
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