The Nuttall encyclopædia : being a concise and comprehensive dictionary of…
2. Capital (78) of the canton, occupies a splendid geographical position
51590 words | Chapter 27
at the south-western end of the lake, at the exit of the Rhône; the town
existed in Cæsar's time, and after being subject in turn to Rome and
Burgundy, ere long won its independence in conjunction with Bern and
Freiburg. In Calvin's time it became a centre of Protestantism, and its
history, down to the time of its annexation by Napoleon in 1798, is
mainly occupied with the struggles between the oligarchical and
democratic factions. On the overthrow of Napoleon it joined the Swiss
Confederation. Since 1847 the town has been largely rebuilt, and
handsomely laid out. Among many fine buildings are the Transition
Cathedral of St. Peter (1124), the Academy founded by Calvin and others.
The Rhône flows through it, and compasses an island which forms part of
the city. It has many literary and historical associations, and was the
birthplace of Rousseau.
GENEVA, LAKE OF, or LAKE LEMAN, stretches in crescent shape
between Switzerland and France, curving round the northern border of the
French department of Haute-Savoie; length, 45 m.; greatest breadth, 9 m.;
maximum depth, 1022 ft. On the French side precipitous rocks descend to
the water's edge, and contrast with the wooded slopes of the north. The
water is of a deep-blue colour; many streams flow into it, notably the
Rhône, which flows out at Geneva.
GENEVIÈVE, the patron saint of Paris, born at Nanterre; by her
prayer the city, then called LUTETIA (q. v.) was saved from the
ravages of Attila (422-512) and his Huns.
GENGHIS KHAN (i. e. Very Mighty Ruler), a celebrated Mongol
conqueror, born near Lake Baikal, the son of a Mongol chief; his career
as a soldier began at the age of 13, an age at which he boldly assumed
the reins of government in succession to his father; by his military
skill and daring example he gradually raised his people to a position of
supremacy in Asia, and established by means of them a kingdom which, at
his death, stretched from the Volga to the Pacific, and from Siberia to
the Persian Gulf; he regarded himself as commissioned by Heaven to
conquer the world, a destiny which he almost fulfilled (1162-1227).
GENLIS, STEPHANIE FÉLICITÉ, COMTESSE DE, a celebrated French
novelist, born at Champceri, near Autun, Burgundy; at the age of 16 she
was married to the Comte de Genlis, who eventually fell a victim to the
fury of the Revolution; in 1770 she was a lady-in-waiting to the Duchesse
de Chartres, and 12 years later became governess to the children of the
Duc d'Orléans, amongst whom was the future king of the French,
Louis-Philippe; the Revolution drove her to Switzerland, but on the
elevation of Napoleon she returned to Paris, and received from him a
pension, which continued to be paid her even under the restored Bourbon
dynasty: she was a voluminous writer of moral tales, comedies, &c., and
her works amount to about 90 vols., among them the celebrated "Mémoirs"
of her life and times; she was ill-natured, and in her "Memoirs"
inaccurate, as well as prejudiced (1746-1830).
GEN`OA (138), a city and chief commercial seaport of Italy, built at
the foot of the Apennines as they slope down to the gulf of the name. The
encircling hills behind, which are strongly fortified, form a fine
background to the picturesquely laid-out city. There is excellent
harbourage for the extensive shipping, and an active export and import
trade is carried on. In the city are iron-works, cotton and cloth mills,
match factories, &c.; the streets are narrow and irregular, but many of
the buildings, especially the ducal palaces and the cathedral, are of
great historical and architectural interest; there is an excellent
university, a public library, and an Academy of Fine Arts; Columbus was
born here.
GENRE PAINTING, name given to paintings embracing figures as they
appear in ordinary life and in ordinary situations.
GENS, the name among the Romans for what we understand by the word
clan as consisting of families.
GENS BRACCATA, the Gauls, from wearing _braccæ_ or breeches.
GENS TOGATA, the Roman, from wearing the TOGA (q. v.) as
their distinguishing dress.
GEN`SERIC, king of the Vandals, son of Godigiselus, founder of the
Vandal kingdom in Spain, and bastard brother of Gunderic, whom he
succeeded in A.D. 429; from Spain he crossed to Africa, and in
conjunction with the Moors added to his kingdom the land lying W. of
Carthage, ultimately gaining possession of Carthage itself; he next set
himself to organise a naval force, with which he systematically from year
to year pillaged Spain, Italy, Greece, and the opposite lands of Asia
Minor, sacking Rome in 455; until his death in 477 he continued master of
the seas, despite strenuous efforts of the Roman emperors to crush his
power.
GENTILLY, a southern suburb of Paris, once a village beyond the
fortifications.
GENTLE SHEPHERD, a famous pastoral by Allan Ramsay, with some happy
descriptive scenes and a pleasant delineation of manners, published in
1723.
GENTLE SHEPHERD, a nickname George Grenville bore from a retort of
the elder Pitt one day in Parliament.
GENTLEMEN-AT-ARMS, next to the yeomen of the guard the oldest corps
in the British army, is the bodyguard of the sovereign; was formed by
Henry VIII. in 1509; now consists of a captain, lieutenant,
standard-bearer, adjutant, and 40 members, whose duties are limited to
attendance at State ceremonies.
GENTZ, FRIEDRICH VON, German politician and author, born at Breslau;
while in the Prussian civil service he warmly sympathised with the French
Revolution, but his zeal was greatly modified by perusal of Burke's
"Reflections," a treatise he subsequently translated, and in 1802 entered
the Austrian public service; in the capacity of a political writer he
bitterly opposed Napoleon, but for other purposes his pen and support
were at the service of the highest bidder; he was secretary at the
Congress of Vienna, and held a similar post in many of the subsequent
congresses (1764-1832).
GEOFFREY OF MONMOUTH, a celebrated chronicler and ecclesiastic of
the 12th century, born in Monmouth, where he was educated in a
Benedictine monastery; in 1152 he was made bishop of St. Asaph; his Latin
"Chronicon sive Historia Britonum" contains a circumstantial account of
British history compiled from Gildas, Nennius, and other early
chroniclers, interwoven with current legends and pieced together with
additions from his own fertile imagination, the whole professing to be a
translation of a chronicle found in Brittany; this remarkable history is
the source of the stories of King Lear, Cymbeline, Merlin, and of Arthur
and his knights as they have since taken shape in English literature;
_d_. about 1154.
GEOFFREY SAINT-HILAIRE, ÉTIENNE, zoologist and biologist, born at
Étampes; he was educated for the Church, but while studying theology at
Paris his love for natural science was awakened, and the study of it
henceforth became the ruling passion of his life; was made professor of
Zoology in the Museum of Natural History in Paris; accompanied Napoleon
to Egypt as a member of the scientific commission, and returned with rich
collections, while his labours were rewarded by his election to the
Academy of Sciences; a scientific mission to Portugal in 1808 next
engaged him, and a year later he was nominated to the chair of Zoology in
the Faculty of Sciences at Paris; the main object of his scientific
writing was to establish, in opposition to the theories of his friend
Cuvier, his conception of a grand unity of plan pervading the whole
organic kingdom (1772-1844).
GEOFFRIN, MARIE THÉRÈSE, a French patroness of letters, born at
Paris, the daughter of a _valet-de-chambre_; in her fifteenth year she
married a wealthy merchant, whose immense fortune she inherited; her love
of letters--which she cherished, though but poorly educated herself--and
her liberality soon made her _salon_ the most celebrated in Paris; the
_encyclopédists_, Diderot, D'Alembert, and Marmontel, received from her a
liberal encouragement in their great undertaking; Walpole, Hume, and
Gibbon were among her friends; and Stanislas Poniatowsky, who became king
of Poland, acknowledged her generosity to him by styling himself her son
and welcoming her royally to his kingdom (1699-1777).
GEORGE I., king of Great Britain from 1714 to 1727, and first of the
Hanoverian line; son of Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover, and of
Sophia, granddaughter of James I. of England; born in Hanover; in 1682 he
married his cousin, the Princess Sophia Dorothea of Zell, and in 1698
became Elector of Hanover; he co-operated actively with Marlborough in
opposing the schemes of Louis XIV., and commanded the Imperial forces; in
accordance with the Act of Settlement, he succeeded to the English throne
on the death of Queen Anne; his ignorance of English prevented him taking
part in Cabinet councils, a circumstance which had important results in
the growth of constitutional government, and the management of public
affairs during his reign devolved chiefly upon Sir Robert Walpole; the
abortive Jacobite rising of 1715, the South Sea Bubble (1720), and the
institution of Septennial Parliaments (1716), are among the main events
of his reign; in 1694 he divorced his wife on account of an amour with
Count Königsmark, and kept her imprisoned abroad till her death in 1724,
while he himself during these years lived in open profligacy with his
mistresses (1660-1727).
GEORGE II., king of Great Britain from 1727 to 1760, and Elector of
Hanover, born in Hanover, son of preceding; in 1705 he married Caroline
of Anspach, and in 1714 was declared Prince of Wales; he joined his
father in the struggle with Louis XIV., and distinguished himself on the
side of the Allies at the battle of Oudenarde; the period of his reign is
one of considerable importance in English history; Walpole and
subsequently Pitt were the great ministers of the age; war was waged
against Spain and France; the last Jacobite rising was crushed at
Culloden (1746); English power was established in Canada by the brilliant
victory of Wolfe at Quebec (1759); an empire was won in India by Clive;
the victory of Minden (1759) was gained in the Seven Years' War;
Methodism sprang up under Wesley and Whitfield; while a great development
in literature and art took place; against these, however, must be set the
doubling of the National Debt, mainly due to the Seven Years' War, and a
defeat by the French at Fontenoy (1745) (1683-1760).
GEORGE III., king of Great Britain from 1760 to 1820, and king of
Hanover (Elector from 1760 to 1815), eldest son of Frederick Lewis,
Prince of Wales, and grandson of preceding, born in London; in 1761 he
married Princess Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, by whom he had
fifteen children; more English in sentiment and education than his two
predecessors, George's main interest was centred in his English kingdom,
and never during his long life did he once set foot in his Hanoverian
possessions; the purity of his domestic life, his devotion to England,
and the pathos attaching to his frequent fits of insanity, won him the
affections of his people, an affection, however, sorely tried by his
obstinate blundering; the 60 years of his reign present a succession of
domestic episodes, far-reaching in their consequences to England and to
the civilised world; the conclusion of the Seven Years' War left England
predominant in North America, and with increased colonial possessions in
the West Indies, &c., but under the ill-guided and obstinate policy of
Lord North she suffered the loss of her American colonies, an event which
also involved her in war with France and Spain; in 1787 the famous trial
of WARREN HASTINGS (q. v.) began, and two years later came the
French Revolution; the great struggle with Napoleon followed, and gave
occasion for the brilliant achievements of Nelson and Wellington; during
these long years of war the commercial prosperity of England never
slackened, but through the inventions of Hargreaves, Arkwright, and
Compton increased by leaps and bounds; freedom of the press was won by
Wilkes; and in 1802 the union with Ireland took place; the majestic
figure of Pitt stands out amidst a company of brilliant politicians that
included Burke and Fox and Sheridan; literature is represented by a line
of brilliant writers that stretches from Johnson to Keats, and includes
the names of Burns, Cowper, Shelley, and Byron (1738-1820).
GEORGE IV., king of Great Britain and of Hanover from 1820 to 1830,
eldest son of the preceding, born in London; in consequence of his
father's insanity he became Regent in 1810; a tendency to profligacy
early displayed itself in an intrigue with Mrs. Robinson, an actress; and
two years afterwards in defiance of the Royal Marriage Act he secretly
married MRS. FITZHERBERT (q. v.), a Roman Catholic; in 1795 he
publicly espoused Princess Caroline of Brunswick, whom later he
endeavoured to divorce; a Burmese War (1823), the victory of Admiral
Codrington at Navarino (1827), the Repeal of the Test and Corporation
Acts (1828), and the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Bill (1829),
were occurrences of some importance in an uneventful reign (1762-1830).
GEORGE I., king of Greece, son of King Christian of Denmark, and
brother of the Princess of Wales; became king of Greece in 1864; _b_.
1845.
GEORGE, HENRY, an American writer on social and economic questions,
born in Philadelphia; he first tried life on the sea, but in 1858 settled
in California as a printer, and there married; in course of time he took
to journalism, became an editor, and zealously addressed himself to the
discussion of public affairs; his peculiar views on the question of land
reform were set forth in "Our Land and Land Policy," published in 1870,
and nine years later appeared his more famous and widely popular work
"Progress and Poverty," in which he promulgated the theory that to the
increase in economic rent and land values is due the lack of increase in
wages and interest which the increased productive power of modern times
should have ensured; he proposed the levying of a tax on land so as to
appropriate economic rent to public uses, and the abolition of all taxes
falling upon industry and thrift; he lectured in Great Britain and
Ireland, Australia, &c.; in 1887 founded the _Standard_ paper in New
York; he died during his candidature for the mayoralty of Greater New
York (1839-1897).
GEORGE, ST., the patron saint of chivalry and of England; adopted as
such in the reign of Edward III.; believed to have been born in Armorica,
and to have suffered martyrdom under Diocletian in A.D. 303; he is
represented as mounted on horseback and slaying a DRAGON (q. v.),
conceived as an incarnation of the evil one.
GEORGETOWN: 1 (53), capital of British Guiana, at the mouth of the
Demerara River; is the see of an Anglican bishop; is neatly laid out, and
has some handsome buildings, but is considered unhealthy; the staple
industries are sugar and coffee. 2 (14), a port of entry in the District
of Columbia, on the Potomac, 2 m. NW. of Washington; is a terminus of the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
GEORGIA: 1 (1,837), one of the 13 original States of the American
Union, lies to the S., fronting the Atlantic between Florida and S.
Carolina; is divided into 136 counties, Atlanta being the capital and
Savannah the chief port; it is well watered with rivers; is low and
swampy for some miles inland, but it rises into plateaux in the interior,
and the Appalachians and Blue Mountains intersect it in the NW.;
excellent crops of wheat and fruit are grown among the hills, rice in the
lowlands, while immense quantities of cotton are raised on the islands
skirting the coast; the vast forests of pitch-pine supply an increasing
lumber trade; the mountain lands are rich in minerals; the State was
named after George II. in 1733 by the founder, James Oglethorpe. 2, The
former name of an independent kingdom, which extended along the southern
slopes of the Caucasus, and which, since the beginning of the century,
has belonged to Russia under the name of Gruzia, and now forms the
central portion of Russian Transcaucasia; the Georgians number at present
about a million; they are a people of splendid physique, whose history
reaches back to the time of Alexander the Great, and who attained their
zenith in the 12th century; subsequently they suffered from Persian and
Turkish invasion, and eventually, as we have said, fell into the hands of
Russia; at present there is a Georgian literature growing, especially in
Tiflis, if that is any sign of advance.
GERA (30), a thriving city on the White Elster, 35 m. SW. of
Leipzig; has broad streets and fine buildings, with a castle; chief
manufactures woollen.
GERAINT, SIR, one of the Knights of the Round Table, the husband of
Enid, whose fidelity he for a time distrusted, but who proved herself a
true wife by the care with which she nursed him when he was wounded.
GÉRARD, ÉTIENNE MAURICE, COMTE, marshal of France, born at
Damvillers, Lorraine; in 1791 he entered the army and fought under
Bernadotte in various campaigns; at Austerlitz he won his brigade, and
subsequently fought at Jena, Erfurt, and Wagram; he joined Napoleon after
his flight from Elba, and was wounded at Wavre; on the downfall of the
Emperor he quitted France, but returned in 1817; in 1822 he was elected
to the Chamber of Deputies, and in 1831 assisted in driving the Dutch out
of Flanders; he was War Minister under Louis Philippe (1773-1855).
GÉRARD, FRANÇOIS PASCAL SIMON, BARON, painter, born at Rome, of
French and Italian parentage; came to Paris when a youth, where he
studied painting under David; in 1795 his "Blind Belisarius" brought him
to the front, whilst subsequent work as a portrait-painter raised him
above all his contemporaries; his masterpiece, "Entry of Henri IV. into
Paris," brought him a barony at the hands of Louis XVIII.; his historical
paintings, characterised by minute accuracy of detail, include "Napoleon
in his Coronation Robes," "Battle of Austerlitz," &c. (1770-1837).
GERHARDT, KARL FRIEDRICH, chemist, born at Strasburg; after a
training at Carlsruhe and Leipzig, worked in Liebig's laboratory at
Giessen; in 1838 he began lecturing in Paris, and made experiments along
with Cahours on essential oils, which bore fruit in an important
treatise; in 1844 he received the chair of Chemistry at Montpellier, but
returned to Paris four years later; there he matured and published his
theories of types, homologous series, &c., which have greatly influenced
the science of chemistry; in 1855 he became professor of Chemistry in
Strasburg (1816-1856).
GERHARDT, PAUL, a celebrated German hymn-writer of the Lutheran
Church, born at Gräfenhainichen, in Saxony; in 1657 he became dean of St.
Nicholas in Berlin, an appointment he held till 1666, when he was deposed
for his embittered opposition to the union of the Lutheran and Reformed
Churches; he was subsequently pastor at Lübben; his hymns, 123 in number,
rank amongst the finest of their class (1607-1676).
GERIZZIM, a mountain of 2848 ft. in height in the S. of the valley
of Shechem, opposite EBAL (q. v.), and from the slopes of which
the blessings were responded to by half the tribes of Israel on their
arrival in Canaan (Josh. viii. 30-35); the Samaritans erected a temple on
this mountain, ruins of which still remain.
GERM THEORY, the doctrine that certain diseases are due to
fermentation caused by the presence of germs in the system in the form of
minute organisms called bacteria.
GERMAN CATHOLICS, a sect formed in 1844 by secession from the
Catholic Church of Germany, under the leadership of Johann Ronge, on
account of the mummery under papal patronage connected with the
exhibition of the Holy Coat of Trèves and the superstitious influence
ascribed to it.
GERMAN VOLTAIRE, name given sometimes to Wieland and sometimes, but
less appropriately, to Goethe.
GERMANICUS, CÆSAR, Roman general, son of Nero Claudius Drusus and
Antonia, daughter of Mark Antony; he served with distinction under his
uncle Tiberius in Dalmatia and Pannonia; was awarded a triumph, and in
A.D. 12 was elected consul; his success and popularity as leader of the
army on the Rhine provoked the jealousy of Tiberius, who transferred him
to the East, where he subsequently died; his son Caligula succeeded
Tiberius on the imperial throne (15 B.C.-A.D. 19).
GERMANY (49,428), constituted an empire in 1871, occupies a
commanding position in Central Europe, and stretches from Switzerland in
the S. to the German Ocean and Baltic Sea on the N.; Austria lies to the
SE., Russia to the NE., while France, Belgium, and the Netherlands flank
the W.; is made up of 26 States of widely varying size and importance,
comprising four kingdoms (of which Prussia is by far the largest and most
influential), six grand-duchies, five duchies, seven principalities,
three free towns (Lübeck, Bremen, Hamburg), and one imperial province,
Alsace-Lorraine; the main physical divisions are (1) the great lowland
plain stretching from the centre to the Baltic and North Sea, well
watered by the Ems, Weser, Elbe, Oder, Vistula, and their tributaries, in
which, bating large sandy tracts, agriculture employs a large class, and
cereals, tobacco, and beetroot are raised; (2) the mountainous district,
in the interior of which the Fichtelgebirge is the central knot, in which
vast forests abound, and rich deposits of coal, fire-clays, iron, and
other metals are worked, giving rise to iron-works and potteries; (3) the
basin of the Rhine, on the W., where the vine is largely cultivated, and
extensive manufactures of silks, cottons, and hardware are carried on;
fine porcelain comes from Saxony and vast quantities of beer from
Bavaria; Westphalia is the centre of the steel and iron works; throughout
Germany there are 26,000 m. of railway line (chiefly State railways),
57,000 m. of telegraph line, while excellent roads, canals, and navigable
rivers facilitate communication; 65 per cent. of the people are
Protestants; education is compulsory and more highly developed than in
any other European country; the energies of the increasing population
have in recent years found scope for their action in their growing
colonial possessions; the military system imposes upon every German a
term of seven years' service, three in active service, and the remainder
in the reserve, and till his forty-sixth year he is liable to be called
out on any great emergency; under the emperor the government is carried
on by a _Federal Council_, the members of which are appointed by the
governments of the various estates, and the _Reichstag_, elected by
universal suffrage and ballot for three years.
GÉRÔME, LÉON, a celebrated French painter, born at Vésoul; he
studied at Paris under Paul Delaroche, with whom he subsequently
travelled in Italy; he travelled in the East and familiarised himself
with Eastern scenes; in 1863 he was appointed professor of Painting in
the Paris School of Fine Arts; among his most famous pictures, all
characterised by vivid colouring and strong dramatic effect, are "The Age
of Augustus and the Birth of Christ," "Roman Gladiators in the
Amphitheatre," "Cleopatra and Cæsar," &c.; _b_. 1824.
GERRY, ELBRIDGE, American statesman, born in Marblehead, Mass.; in
1773, eight years after graduating at Harvard, he was elected to the
Massachusetts Assembly, and in 1789 to the first National Congress; as
envoy to France in 1797 he assisted in establishing diplomatic relations
with that country, and after his recall in 1810 was chosen governor of
his native State; during his tenancy of this office, by an unfair
redistribution of the electoral districts in the State he gave undue
advantage to his own political party, a proceeding which led to the
coining of the word "gerrymandering"; subsequently he held office as
Vice-President of the Republic (1744-1814).
GERSON, JOHN CHARLIER DE, an eminent ecclesiastical scholar, born at
Gerson, in the diocese of Rheims; in 1395 he became chancellor of his old
university at Paris, and earned in that office a high reputation for
learning, becoming known as Doctor Christianissimus; he was a prominent
member of the councils of Pisa and Constance, advocating, as a remedy for
the Western Schism, the resignation of the rival Popes; in consequence of
his denunciation of the Duke of Burgundy for the murder of the Duke of
Orleans he was forced to become a refugee in Germany for some time, but
finally retired into the monastery of Lyons; his various works reveal an
intellect of keen intelligence, but somewhat tinged with a cloudy
mysticism (1363-1429).
GERSTÄCKER, FRIEDRICH, German author and traveller, born in Hamburg;
when 21 he emigrated to New York, and for six years led a wandering life
in different parts of America, working the while now at one occupation
now at another, a narrative of which he published on his return to
Germany; in 1849 he undertook a journey round the world which occupied
him three years; in 1860-61 he crossed S. America; in 1862 he was in
Africa with Duke Ernst of Gotha, and in 1863 in Central America; his many
writings, descriptive of these countries, exhibit a fresh and graphic
style, and have had a wide popularity; he is the author also of several
thrilling stories (1816-1872).
GERVASE OF TILBURY, a mediæval historical writer, born at Tilbury,
in Essex; said to have been a nephew of King Henry II.; he held a
lectureship in Canon Law at Bologna, and through the influence of Emperor
Otto IV. was made marshal of the kingdom of Arles; he was the author of
"Otia Imperiala," a historical and geographical work; _d_. about 1235.
GERVINUS, GEORG GOTTFRIED, German historian and Shakespearian
critic, born at Darmstadt; he was elected to the chair of History at
Göttingen in 1836, an appointment which was cancelled the following year
by his signing the protest against the abolition of the Hanoverian
constitution; in 1844 he was appointed honorary professor at Heidelberg,
and subsequently contributed greatly to the establishment of
constitutional liberty in Germany by means of his writings and by
founding the _Deutsche Zeitung_ there; in 1848 he became a member of the
National Assembly, but shortly afterwards withdrew, disgusted with the
course things were taking; he now engaged in literary studies, the fruit
of which appeared in his celebrated volumes of Shakespearian criticism
(1805-1871).
GERYON, a king of Erytheia (i. e. red island), on the western
borders of the world, with three bodies and three heads, who had a herd
of oxen guarded by a giant shepherd and his dog, the two-throated
Orthros, which were carried off by Hercules at the behest of his fate.
GESENIUS, an eminent German Hebraist and Biblical scholar, born in
Prussian Saxony, whose labours form an epoch in the study of the Hebrew
Scriptures; was 30 years professor of the language in Halle; produced a
Hebrew Grammar and Lexicon, and commentary on Isaiah on rationalistic
lines (1785-1842).
GESNER, KONRAD VON, Swiss scholar and naturalist, born at Zurich;
hampered by ill-health and poverty in his youth, he yet contrived by
unremitting diligence to obtain an excellent education at Strasburg,
Bourges, and Paris; in his twenty-first year he obtained an appointment
in Zurich University, and in 1537 became professor of Greek at Lausanne;
abandoning the idea he entertained of entering the Church, he determined
to adopt the medical profession instead, graduated at Basel in 1540, and
a year later went to Zurich to occupy the chair of Natural History and to
practise as a doctor; his chief works are the "Bibliotheca Universalis"
(a catalogue and summary of all Hebrew, Greek, and Latin works then known
to exist), and the "Historia Animalium"; these monuments of learning have
won him the cognomen of the German Pliny (1516-1565).
GESSLER, ALBRECHT, a governor of the forest cantons of Switzerland,
who figures in Swiss legend as an oppressor who was shot as related in
the tradition of Tell.
GESSNER, SALOMON, Swiss poet and artist, born at Zurich; served an
apprenticeship to a bookseller in Berlin, and after a sojourn in Hamburg
returned to Zurich, where the rest of his life was spent; he published
several volumes of poetry, chiefly pastoral and of no great value; his
"Death of Abel" is his most notable performance; his paintings are mainly
landscapes of a conventional type, several of which he engraved,
revealing better abilities as an engraver than as an artist (1730-1788).
GESTA ROMANORUM (the exploits of the Romans), a collection of short
didactic stories, not however solely Roman, written in the Latin tongue,
probably towards the close of the 13th century, the authorship of which
is uncertain, though it is generally recognised as of English origin; the
stories are characterised by naïve simplicity, and have served as
materials for many notable literary productions; thus Shakespeare owes to
this work the plot of Pericles and the incidents of the caskets and the
pound of flesh in the "Merchant of Venice," Parnell his "Hermit," Byron
his "Three Black Crows," and Longfellow his "King Robert of Sicily."
GETHSEMANE, somewhere on the E. of Kedron, half a mile from
Jerusalem, at the foot of Mount Olivet, the scene of the Agony of Christ.
GETTYSBURG (3), a town in Pennsylvania, built on a group of hills 50
m. SW. of Harrisburg; during the Civil War it was the scene of General
Meade's famous victory over the Confederates under General Lee on July 3,
1863.
GEYSER, fountains which from time to time, under the expansion of
steam, eject columns of steam and hot water, and which are met with in
Iceland, North America, and New Zealand, of which the most remarkable is
the Great Geyser, 70 m. N. of Reikiavik, in Iceland, which ejects a
column of water to 60 ft. in height, accompanied with rumblings
underground; these eruptions will continue some 15 minutes, and they
recur every few hours.
GFRÖRER, AUGUST FRIEDRICH, a learned German historian, born in the
Black Forest; educated for the Protestant ministry; in 1828, after
residence at Geneva and Rome, started as a tutor of theology, and two
years later became librarian at Stuttgart; published a number of
historical works, including a "Life of Gustavus Adolphus," "Pope Gregory
VII.," a "History of Primitive Christianity," "Church History to the
Fourteenth Century"; in this last work he showed a strong leaning to
Catholicism; was appointed to the chair of History in the university of
Freiburg; was elected to the Frankfort parliament, and finally openly
professed the Catholic faith (1803-1861).
GHÂTS, or GHAUTS, EASTERN AND WESTERN, two mountain ranges
running parallel with the E. and W. coasts of S. India, the latter
skirting the Malabar coast between 30 and 40 m. from the sea, rising to
nearly 5000 ft., and exhibiting fine mountain and forest scenery, and the
former skirting the E. of the Deccan, of which tableland it here forms
the buttress, and has a much lower mean level; the two ranges converge
into one a short distance from Cape Comorin.
GHAZALI, ABU MOHAMMED AL-, Arabian philosopher, born at Tûs, Persia;
in 1091 he was appointed professor of Philosophy in Bagdad; four years
later he went to Mecca, and subsequently taught at Damascus, Jerusalem,
and Alexandria; finally, he returned to his native town and there founded
a Sufic college; of his numerous philosophic and religious works the most
famous is the "Destruction of the Philosophers," in which he combats the
theories and conclusions of the current Arabian scholasticism
(1058-1111).
GHAZIPUR (45), a city of India, on the Ganges, 44 m. NE. of Benares,
capital of the district of that name (1,077), in the North-West
Provinces; is the head-quarters of the Government Opium Department, and
trades in rose-water, sugar, tobacco, &c.; contains the ruins of the
Palace of Forty Pillars.
GHAZNI (10), a fortified city of Afghanistan, 7726 ft. above the
sea, 85 m. SW. of Cabul; it is the chief strategical point on the
military route between Kandahar and Cabul; in the 11th and 12th centuries
it was the capital of the KINGDOM OF GHAZNEVIDS, which stretched
from the plains of Delhi to the Black Sea, and which came to an end in
1186.
GHEEL (12), a town in Belgium, situated on a fertile spot in the
midst of the sandy plain called the Campine, 26 m. SE. of Antwerp; it has
been for centuries celebrated as an asylum for the insane, who (about
1300) are now boarded out among the peasants; these cottage asylums are
under government control, and the board of the patients in most cases is
guaranteed.
GHENT (150), a city of Belgium, capital of East Flanders, situated
at the junction of the Scheldt and the Lys, 34 m. NW. of Brussels; rivers
and canals divide it into 26 quarters, connected by 270 bridges; in the
older part are many quaint and interesting buildings, notably the
cathedral of St. Bavon (13th century); it is the first industrial city of
Belgium, and is a great emporium of the cotton, woollen, and linen
trades; the floriculture is famed, and the flower-shows have won it the
name of the "City of Flowers."
GHETTO, an Italian word applied to the quarters set apart in Italian
cities for the Jews, and to which in former times they were restricted;
the term is now applied to the Jews' quarters in any city.
GHIBELLINES, a political party in Italy who, from the 11th to the
14th centuries, maintained the supremacy of the German emperors over the
Italian States in opposition to the GUELPHS (q. v.).
GHIBERTI, LORENZO, an Italian sculptor and designer, born at
Florence; his first notable work was a grand fresco in the palace of
Malatesta at Rimini in 1400, but his most famous achievement, which
immortalised his name, was the execution of two doorways, with bas-relief
designs, in the baptistery at Florence; he spent 50 years at this work,
and so noble were the designs and so perfect the execution that Michael
Angelo declared them fit to be the gates of Paradise (about 1378-1455).
GHIKA, HELENA. See DORA D'ISTRIA.
GHILAN (200), a province of NW. Persia, between the SW. border of
the Caspian Sea and the Elburz Mountains; is low-lying, swampy, and
unhealthy towards the Caspian, but the rising ground to the S. is more
salubrious; wild animals are numerous in the vast forests; the soil,
where cleared, is fertile and well cultivated; the Caspian fisheries are
valuable; the people are of Iranian descent, and speak a Persian dialect.
GHIRLANDAJO (i. e. Garland-maker), nickname of Domenico Curradi,
an Italian painter, born at Florence; acquired celebrity first as a
designer in gold; he at 24 turned to painting, and devoted himself to
fresco and mosaic work, in which he won wide-spread fame; amongst his
many great frescoes it is enough to mention here "The Massacre of the
Innocents," at Florence, and "Christ calling Peter and Andrew," at Rome;
Michael Angelo was for a time his pupil (1449-1494).
GHUZNI. See GHAZNI.
GIANTS, in the Greek mythology often confounded with, but distinct
from, the TITANS (q. v.), being a mere earthly brood of great
stature and strength, who thought by their violence to dethrone Zeus, and
were with the assistance of Hercules overpowered and buried under Etna
and other volcanoes, doomed to continue their impotent grumbling there.
GIANT'S CAUSEWAY, a remarkable headland of columnar basaltic rock in
North Ireland, projecting into the North Channel from the Antrim coast at
Bengore Head, 7 m. NE. of Portrush; is an unequal surface 300 yds. long
and 30 ft. wide, formed by the tops of the 40,000 closely packed,
vertical columns which rise to a height of 400 ft. The legend goes that
it was the beginning of a roadway laid down by a giant.
GIAOUR, the Turkish name for an unbeliever in the Mohammedan faith,
and especially for a Christian in that regard.
GIBBON, EDWARD, eminent historian, born at Putney, near London, of
good parentage; his early education was greatly hindered by a nervous
complaint, which, however, disappeared by the time he was 14; a wide
course of desultory reading had, in a measure, repaired the lack of
regular schooling, and when at the age of 15 he was entered at Magdalen
College, Oxford, he possessed, as he himself quaintly puts it, "a stock
of erudition which might have puzzled a doctor, and a degree of ignorance
of which a schoolboy might have been ashamed"; 14 months later he became
a convert to Roman Catholicism, and in consequence was obliged to quit
Oxford; in the hope of reclaiming him to the Protestant faith he was
placed in the charge of the deistical poet Mallet, and subsequently under
a Calvinist minister at Lausanne; under the latter's kindly suasion he
speedily discarded Catholicism, and during five years' residence
established his learning on a solid foundation; time was also found for
the one love episode of his life--an amour with Suzanne Curchod, an
accomplished young lady, who subsequently became the wife of the French
minister M. Neckar, and mother of Madame de Staël; shortly after his
return to England in 1758 he published in French an Essay on the Study of
Literature, and for some time served in the militia; in 1774, having four
years previously inherited his father's estate, he entered Parliament,
and from 1779 to 1782 was one of the Lords Commissioners of Trade and
Plantations; in 1776 appeared the first volume of his great history "The
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," the conception of which had come
to him in 1764 in Rome whilst "musing amongst the ruins of the Capitol";
in 1787 his great work was finished at Lausanne, where he had resided
since 1783; modern criticism, working with fresh sources of information,
has failed to find any serious flaw in the fabric of this masterpiece in
history, but the cynical attitude adopted towards the Christian religion
has always been regarded as a defect; "a man of endless reading and
research," was Carlyle's verdict after a final perusal of the "Decline,"
"but of a most disagreeable style, and a great want of the highest
faculties of what we would call a classical historian, compared with
Herodotus, for instance, and his perfect clearness and simplicity in
every part"; he, nevertheless, characterised his work to Emerson once as
"a splendid bridge from the old world to the new" (1737-1794).
GIBBONS, GRINLING, a celebrated wood-carver, born at Rotterdam, but
brought up in England; through the influence of Evelyn he obtained a post
in the Board of Works, and his marvellous skill as a wood-carver won him
the patronage of Charles II., who employed him to furnish ornamental
carving for the Chapel of Windsor; much of his best work was done for the
nobility, and in many of their mansions his carving is yet extant in all
its grace and finish, the ceiling of a room at Petworth being considered
his masterpiece; he also did some notable work in bronze and marble
(1648-1721).
GIBBONS, ORLANDO, an eminent English musician, composer of many
exquisite anthems, madrigals, &c., born at Cambridge; in 1604 he obtained
the post of organist in the Chapel Royal, London, and two years later
received the degree of Mus. Bac. of Cambridge, while Oxford recognised
his rare merits in 1622 by creating him a Mus. Doc.; in the following
year he became organist of Westminster Abbey, and in 1625 was in official
attendance at Canterbury on the occasion of Charles I.'s marriage, but he
did not live to celebrate the ceremony, for which he wrote the music; he
is considered the last and greatest of the old Church musicians of
England (1583-1625).
GIBEON, a place on the northern slopes of a hill 6 or 7 m. S. of
Bethel, and the spot over which Joshua bade the sun stand still; its
inhabitants, for a trick they played on the invading Israelites, wore
condemned to serve them as "hewers of wood and drawers of water."
GIBRALTAR, a promontory of rock, in the S. of Spain, about 2 m.
square and over 1400 ft. in height, connected with the mainland by a spit
of sand, forming a strong fortress, with a town (25) of the name at the
foot of it on the W. side, and with the Strait of Gibraltar on the S.,
which at its narrowest is 15 m. broad; the rock above the town is a
network of batteries, mounted with heavy cannon, and the town itself is a
trade entrepôt for N. Africa; the rock has been held as a stronghold by
the British since 1704.
GIBSON, JOHN, sculptor, born at Gyffin, near Conway, Wales, of
humble parentage; after serving an apprenticeship to a cabinet-maker in
Liverpool, he took to carving in wood and stone, and supported by Roscoe
became a pupil of Canova and afterwards of Thorwaldsen in Rome; here he
made his home and did his best work; mention may be made of "Theseus and
the Robber," "Amazon thrown from her horse," statues of George
Stephenson, Peel, and Queen Victoria; in 1836 he was elected a member of
the Royal Academy (1790-1866).
GIBSON, THOMAS MILNER, politician, born at Trinidad; graduated at
Cambridge; entered Parliament in the Conservative interest, but becoming
a convert to Free-Trade principles, he went over to the Liberal ranks,
and became an active and eloquent supporter of the Manchester policy;
returned for Manchester in 1841 and 1846, was made a Privy Councillor and
Vice-President of the Board of Trade; his earnest advocacy of peace at
the Crimean crisis lost him his seat in Manchester, but Ashton-under-Lyne
returned him the same year; under Palmerston he was for seven years
(1859-66) President of the Board of Trade; his name is honourably
associated with the repeal of the Advertisement, Newspaper Stamp, and
Paper Duties; in 1868 he retired from public life (1806-1884).
GIDEON, one of the most eminent of the Judges of Israel, famous for
his defeat of the Midianites at Gilboa, and the peace of 40 years'
duration which it ensured to the people under his rule.
GIESEBRECHT, WILHELM VON, historian, born at Berlin; was professor
of History at Königsberg and at Münich; his chief work is "Geschichte der
Deutschen Kaiserzeit" (1814-1889).
GIESELER, JOHANN KARL LUDWIG, a learned Church historian, born near
Minden; after quitting Halle University adopted teaching as a profession,
but in 1813 served in the war against France; on the conclusion of the
war he held educational appointments at Minden; was nominated in 1819 to
the chair of Theology at Bonn, and in 1831 was appointed to a like
professorship in Göttingen; his great work is a "History of the Church"
in 6 vols. (1793-1854).
GIESSEN (21), the chief town of Hesse-Darmstadt, situated at
the confluence of the Wieseck and the Lahn, 40 m. N. of
Frankfort-on-the-Main; has a flourishing university, and various
manufactories.
GIFFORD, ADAM, LORD, a Scottish judge, born in Edinburgh; had a
large practice as a barrister, and realised a considerable fortune, which
he bequeathed towards the endowment of four lectureships on Natural
Theology in connection with each of the four universities in Scotland;
was a man of a philosophical turn of mind, and a student of Spinoza; held
office as a judge from 1870 to 1881 (1820-1887).
GIFFORD, WILLIAM, an English man of letters, born in Ashburton,
Devonshire; left friendless and penniless at an early age by the death of
his parents, he first served as a cabin-boy, and subsequently for four
years worked as a cobbler's apprentice; through the generosity of a local
doctor, and afterwards of Earl Grosvenor, he obtained a university
training at Oxford, where in 1792 he graduated; a period of travel on the
Continent was followed in 1794 by his celebrated satire the "Baviad," and
in two years later by the "Mæviad"; his editorship of the _Anti-Jacobin_
(1797-1798) procured him favour and office at the hands of the Tories;
the work of translation, and the editing of Elizabethan poets, occupied
him till 1809, when he became the first editor of the _Quarterly Review_;
his writing is vigorous, and marked by strong partisanship, but his
bitter attacks on the new literature inaugurated by Wordsworth, Shelley,
Keats, and others reveal a prejudiced and narrow view of literature
(1757-1826).
GIGMAN, Carlyle's name for a man who prides himself on, and pays all
respect to, respectability; derived from a definition once given in a
court of justice by a witness who, having described a person as
respectable, was asked by the judge in the case what he meant by the
word; "one that keeps a gig," was the answer.
GIL BLAS, a romance by Le Sage, from the name of the hero, a
character described by Scott as honestly disposed, but being
constitutionally timid, unable to resist temptation, though capable of
brave actions, and intelligent, but apt to be deceived through vanity,
with sufficient virtue to make us love him, but indifferent to our
respect.
GILBERT, SIR HUMPHREY, navigator, born in Devonshire, half-brother
of Sir Walter Raleigh; in 1583 established a settlement in Newfoundland.
GILBERT, SIR JOHN, English artist, President of the Royal Society of
Water-Colour Painters; was for long an illustrator of books, among the
number an edition of Shakespeare; he was a Chevalier of the Legion of
Honour (1817-1897).
GILBERT, WILLIAM SCHWENCK, barrister, notable as a play-writer and
as the author of the librettos of a series of well-known popular comic
operas set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan; _b_. 1836.
GILBERT ISLANDS, or KINGSMILL GROUP (37), a group of islands in
the Pacific, of coral formation, lying on the equator between 172° and
177° E. long; they are 16 in number, were discovered in 1788, and annexed
by Britain in 1892.
GILBOA, MOUNT, a range of hills on the SE. of the Plain of
Esdraëlon, in Palestine, attaining a height of 1698 ft.
GILCHRIST, ALEXANDER, biographer of WILLIAM BLAKE (q. v.),
born at Newington Green, son of a Unitarian minister; although called to
the bar, literary and art criticism became his main pursuit; settled at
Guildford in 1853, where he wrote his Life of the artist Etty; became in
1856 a next-door neighbour of Carlyle at Chelsea, and had all but
finished his Life of Blake when he died (1828-1861).--His wife, Anne
Gilchrist, née Burrows, was during her life an active contributor to
magazines; she completed her husband's Life of Blake, and in 1883
published a Life of Mary Lamb (1828-1885).
GILDAS, a monkish historian of Britain, who wrote in the 6th century
a Latin work entitled "De Excidio Britanniæ," which afterwards appeared
in two parts, a History and an Epistle.
GILEAD, a tableland extending along the E. of the Jordan, at a
general level of 2000 ft. above the sea, the highest point near
Ramoth-Gilead being 3597 ft.
GILES, ST., the patron saint of cripples, beggars, and lepers; was
himself a cripple, due to his refusal to be cured of a wound that he
might learn to mortify the flesh; was fed by the milk of a hind that
visited him daily; had once at his monastery a long interview with St.
Louis, without either of them speaking a word to the other.
GILFILLAN, GEORGE, a critic and essayist, born at Comrie, minister
of a Dissenting congregation in Dundee from 1836 to his death; a writer
with a perfervid style; author of "Gallery of Literary Portraits," "Bards
of the Bible," etc., and editor of Nichol's "British Poets," which
extended to 48 vols. (1817-1878).
GILLESPIE, GEORGE, a celebrated Scotch divine, born at Kirkcaldy;
trained at St. Andrews, and ordained to a charge at Wemyss; in 1642 he
was called to Edinburgh, and in the following year appointed one of a
deputation of four to represent Scotland at the Westminster Assembly; his
chief work is "Aaron's Rod Blossoming," a vigorous statement and
vindication of his Presbyterianism; in 1648 he was Moderator of the
General Assembly (1613-1648).
GILPIN, JOHN, a London citizen, on an adventure of whose life Cowper
has written a humorous poem.
GILPIN, WILLIAM, OF BOLDRE, an English author, who by his series of
"Picturesque Tours" exercised an influence on English literature similar
to that of White's "Selborne," at the same time (1724-1804).
GILRAY, JAMES, English caricaturist, born in Chelsea; distinguished
for his broad humour and keen satire; his works were numerous and highly
popular; died insane (1757-1815).
GIOBERTI, VINCENZO, an Italian philosophical and political writer,
born at Turin; in 1825 he was appointed to the chair of Theology in his
native city, and in 1831 chaplain to the Court of Charles Albert of
Sardinia; two years later was exiled on a charge of complicity in the
plots of the Young Italy party, and till 1847 remained abroad, chiefly in
Brussels, busy with his pen on literary, philosophical, and political
subjects; in 1848 he was welcomed back to Italy, and shortly afterwards
rose to be Prime Minister of a short-lived government; his later years
were spent in diplomatic work at Paris; in philosophy he reveals Platonic
tendencies, while his political ideal was a confederated Italy, with the
Pope at the head and the king of Sardinia as military guardian
(1801-1852).
GIORDANO, LUCA, Italian painter, born at Naples; studied under
various celebrated masters at Naples, Rome, Lombardy, and other places,
finally returning to Naples; in 1692 he received a commission from
Charles II. of Spain to adorn the Escurial, and in the execution of this
work remained at Madrid till 1700, when he again settled in his native
city; he was famous in his day for marvellous rapidity of workmanship,
but this fluency combined with a too slavish adherence to the methods of
the great masters has somewhat robbed his work of individuality; his
frescoes in the Escurial at Madrid and others in Florence and Rome are
esteemed his finest work (1632-1705).
GIORGIONE (i. e. Great George), the sobriquet given to Giorgio
Barbarella, one of the early masters of the Venetian school, born near
Castelfranco, in the NE. of Italy; at Venice he studied under Giovanni
Bellini, and had Titian as a fellow-pupil; his portraits are among the
finest of the Italian school, and exhibit a freshness of colour and
conception and a firmness of touch unsurpassed in his day; his works deal
chiefly with scriptural and pastoral scenes, and include a "Holy Family"
in the Louvre, "Virgin and Child" in Venice, and "Moses Rescued"
(1447-1511).
GIOTTO, a great Italian painter, born at a village near Florence;
was a shepherd's boy, and at 10 years of age, while tending his flock and
drawing pictures of them, was discovered by Cimabue, who took him home
and made a pupil of him; "never," says Ruskin, "checked the boy from the
first day he found him, showed him all he knew, talked with him of many
things he himself felt unable to paint; made him a workman and a
gentleman, above all, a Christian, yet left him a shepherd.... His
special character among the great painters of Italy was that he was a
practical person; what others dreamt of he did; he could work in mosaic,
could work in marble, and paint; could build ... built the Campanile of
the Duomo, because he was then the best master of sculpture, painting,
and architecture in Florence, and supposed in such business to be without
a superior in the world.... Dante was his friend and Titian copied
him.... His rules in art were: You shall see things as they are; and the
least with the greatest, because God made them; and the greatest with the
least, because God made you, and gave you eyes and a heart; he threw
aside all glitter and conventionality, and the most significant thing in
all his work is his choice of moments." Cimabue still painted the Holy
Family in the old conventional style, "but Giotto came into the field,
and saw with his simple eyes a lowlier worth; and he painted the Madonna,
St. Joseph, and the Christ,--yes, by all means if you choose to call them
so, but essentially--Mamma, Papa, and the Baby; and all Italy threw up
its cap" (1276-1336). See Ruskin's "Mornings in Florence."
GIOTTO'S O, a perfectly round O, such as Giotto is said to have sent
the Pope in evidence of his ability to do some decorative work for his
Holiness.
GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS (i. e. Giraldus of Cambria), ecclesiastic and
author, born in Pembrokeshire, of Norman descent; studied with
distinction in Paris; was a zealous churchman; obtained ecclesiastical
preferment in England; was twice elected bishop of St. David's, but both
times set aside; travelled in Ireland as well as Wales, and left record
of his impressions, which give an entertaining picture and a valuable
account of the times, though disfigured by credulity and personal vanity
(1147-1223).
GIRARD, STEPHEN, a philanthropist, born at Bordeaux; in early life
followed the career of a seaman and rose to be captain of an American
coast-trader; in 1769 set up as a trader in Philadelphia, and in course
of time establishing a bank, accumulated an immense fortune; during his
lifetime he exhibited a strange mixture of niggardliness, scepticism,
public charitableness, and a philanthropy which moved him during a
yellow-fever epidemic to labour as a nurse in the hospital; at his death
he bequeathed $2,000,000 to found an orphanage for boys, attaching to the
bequest the remarkable condition, that no clergyman should ever be on the
board or ever be permitted to enter the building (1750-1831).
GIRARDIN, ÉMILE DE, journalist and politician, born in Switzerland,
the natural son of General Alexandre de Girardin; took to stockbroking,
but quitting it for journalism he soon established a reputation as a
ready, vivacious writer, and in 1836 started _La Presse_, the first
French penny paper; his rapid change of front in politics earned for him
the nickname of "The Weathercock"; latterly he adhered to the Republican
cause, and founded _La France_ in its interest; he published many
political brochures and a few plays, and was for some years editor of _La
Liberté_ (1806-1881).--His wife, DELPHINE GAY, enjoyed a wide
celebrity both as a beauty and authoress; her poems, plays, and novels
fill six vols. (1806-1881).
GIRARDIN, FRANÇOIS SAINT-MARC, a French professor and littérateur,
born at Paris; in 1827 was professor in the College Louis-le-Grand, and
in 1834 was nominated to the chair of Literature in the Sorbonne; as
leader-writer in the _Journal des Débats_ he vigorously opposed the
Democrats, and sat in the Senate from 1834 to 1848; in 1869, as
Saint-Beuve's successor, he took up the editorship of the _Journal des
Savants_, and in 1871 became a member of the National Assembly; he
published his collected essays and also his popular literary lectures
(1801-1873).
GIRONDE (794), a maritime department in SW. France, facing the Bay
of Biscay on the W. and lying N. and S. between Charente-Inférieure and
Landes; the Garonne and the Dordogne flowing through it form the Gironde
estuary, and with their tributaries sufficiently water the undulating
land; agriculture and some manufactories flourish, but wine is the chief
product.
GIRONDINS or GIRONDISTS, a party of moderate republican
opinions in the French Revolution; "men," says Carlyle, "of fervid
constitutional principles, of quick talent, irrefragable logic, clear
respectability, who would have the reign of liberty establish itself, but
only by respectable methods." The leaders of it were from the Gironde
district, whence their name, were in succession members of the
Legislative Body and of the Convention, on the right in the former, on
the left in the latter, and numbered among them such names as Condorcet,
Brissot, Roland, Carnot, and others; they opposed the court and the
clerical party, and voted for the death of the king, but sought to rescue
him by a proposal of appeal to the people; overpowered by the Jacobins in
June 1793, with whom they came to open rupture, they sought in vain to
provoke a rising in their favour; on October 24 they were arraigned
before the Revolutionary tribunal, and on the 31st twenty-one of them
were brought to the guillotine, singing the "Marseillaise" as they went
and on the scaffold, while the rest, all to a few, perished later on
either the same way or by their own hands.
GIRTIN, THOMAS, a landscape-painter, born in London; painted in
water-colour views of scenes near Paris and London; was a friend of
Turner (1773-1802).
GIRTON COLLEGE, a celebrated college for women, founded in 1869 at
Hitchin, but since 1873 located at Girton, near Cambridge; the ordinary
course extends to three years, and degree certificates of the standard of
the Cambridge B.A. are granted; the staff consists of a "head" and five
resident lecturers, all women, but there is a large accession of
lecturers from Cambridge; the students number upwards of 100, the fee for
board and education £35 per term.
GIZEH or GHIZEH (11), a town in Egypt, on the Nile, opposite
Old Cairo, to which it is joined by a suspension bridge spanning the
river; in the neighbourhood are the Great Pyramids.
GLACIER, a more or less snow-white mass of ice occupying an Alpine
valley and moving slowly down its bed like a viscous substance, being fed
by semi-melted snow at the top called _nevé_ and forming streams at the
bottom; it has been defined by Prof. J. D. FORBES (q. v.) as "a
viscous body which is urged down slopes of a certain inclination by the
mutual pressure of its parts"; in the Alps alone they number over 1000,
have an utmost depth of 1500 ft., and an utmost length of 12 m.
GLADIATOR, one who fought in the arena at Rome with men or beasts
for the amusement of the people, originally in connection with funeral
games, under the belief, it is said, that the spirits of the dead were
appeased at the sight of blood; exhibitions of the kind were common under
the emperors, and held on high occasions; if the gladiator was wounded in
the contest, the spectators decided whether he was to live or die by, in
the former case, turning their thumbs downwards, and in the latter
turning them upwards.
GLADSTONE, WILLIAM EWART, statesman, orator, and scholar, born at
Liverpool, son of a Liverpool merchant, sometime of Leith, and of Ann,
daughter of Andrew Robertson, Stornoway; educated at Eton and Oxford;
entered Parliament in 1832 as member for Newark in the Tory interest;
delivered his maiden speech on slavery emancipation on May 17, 1833;
accepted office under Sir Robert Peel in 1834, and again in 1841 and
1846; and as member for Oxford, separating from the Tory party, took
office under Lord Aberdeen, and in 1859, under Lord Palmerston, became
Chancellor of the Exchequer; elected member for South Lancashire, 1865,
he became leader of the Commons under Lord John Russell; elected for
Greenwich, he became Premier for the first time in 1869, holding office
till 1875; after a brilliant campaign in Midlothian he was returned for
that county in 1880, and became Premier for the second time; became
Premier a third time in 1886, and a fourth time in 1892. During his
tenure of office he introduced and carried a great number of important
measures, but failed from desertion in the Liberal ranks to carry his pet
measure of Home Rule for Ireland, so he retired from office into private
life in 1895; his last days he spent chiefly in literary work, the fruit
of which, added to earlier works, gives evidence of the breadth of his
sympathies and the extent of his scholarly attainments; but being seized
by a fatal malady, his strong constitution gradually sank under it, and
he died at Hawarden, May 19, 1898; he was buried in Westminster Abbey at
the expense of the nation and amid expressions of sorrow on the part of
the whole community; he was a man of high moral character, transcendent
ability, and strong will, and from the day he took the lead the
acknowledged chief of the Liberal party in the country (1809-1898).
GLAISHER, JAMES, meteorologist and founder of the Royal
Meteorological Society, born in London; his first observations in
meteorology were done as an officer of the Irish Ordnance Survey; in
1836, after service in the Cambridge Observatory, he went to Greenwich,
and from 1840 to 1874 he superintended the meteorological department of
the Royal Observatory; in connection with atmospheric investigations he
made a series of 28 balloon ascents, rising on one occasion to a height
of 7 m., the greatest elevation yet attained: _b_. 1809.
GLAMORGANSHIRE (687), a maritime county in S. Wales, fronting the
Bristol Channel, between Monmouth and Carmarthen; amid the hilly country
of the N. lie the rich coal-fields and iron-stone quarries which have
made it by far the most populous and wealthiest county of Wales; the S.
country--the garden of Wales--is a succession of fertile valleys and
wooded slopes; dairy-farming is extensively engaged in, but agriculture
is somewhat backward; the large towns are actively engaged in the
coal-trade and in the smelting of iron, copper, lead, and tin; some
interesting Roman remains exist in the county.
GLANVILL, JOSEPH, born at Plymouth, graduated at Oxford; was at
first an Aristotelian and Puritan in his opinions, but after the
Restoration entered the Church, and obtained preferment in various sees;
his fame rests upon his eloquent appeal for freedom of thought in "The
Vanity of Dogmatising" (1661) and upon his two works in defence of a
belief in witches; he was one of the first Fellows of the Royal Society;
he seems to have made Sir Thomas Browne his model, though he is not equal
to him in the vigour of his thinking or the harmony of his style
(1636-1680).
GLANVILL, RANULF DE, Chief-Justiciary of England in the reign of
Henry II., born at Stratford, in Suffolk; is the author of the earliest
treatise on the laws of England, a work in 14 books; was deposed by
Richard I., and, joining the Crusaders, fell before Acre; _d_. 1190.
GLASGOW (815, including suburbs), the second city of the empire and
the chief centre of industry in Scotland, is situated on the Clyde, in
Lanarkshire, 45 m. W. from Edinburgh and 405 from London; it is
conjectured that the origin of the name is found in Cleschu ("beloved
green spot"), the name of a Celtic village which occupied the site
previously, near which St. Mungo, or Kentigern, erected his church about
A.D. 560; although a royal burgh in 1636, it was not till after the
stimulus to trade occasioned by the Union (1707) that it began to display
its now characteristic mercantile activity; since then it has gone
forward by leaps and bounds, owing not a little of its success to its
exceptionally favourable situation; besides the advantages of waterway
derived from the Clyde, it is in the heart of a rich coal and iron
district; spinning and weaving, shipbuilding, foundries, chemical and
iron works, and all manner of industries, flourish; the city is
spaciously and handsomely laid out; the cathedral (1197) is the chief
building of historical and architectural interest; there is a university
(1451) and a variety of other colleges, besides several public libraries
and art schools; Glasgow returns seven members of Parliament.
GLASSE, MRS., authoress, real or fictitious, of a cookery book, once
in wide-spread repute; credited with the sage prescription, "First catch
your hare."
GLASSITES, a Christian sect founded in Scotland about 1730 by John
Glas (1695-1773), a minister of the Church of Scotland, who in 1730 was
deposed for denouncing all national establishments of religion as
"inconsistent with the true nature of the Church of Christ," and
maintaining that a Church and its office-bearers owed allegiance to none
other than Christ; the sect, which developed peculiarities of doctrine
and worship in conformity with those of the primitive Church, spread to
England and America, where they became known as _Sandemanians_, after
Robert Sandeman (1718-1771), son-in-law to Glas, and his zealous
supporter.
GLASTONBURY (4), an ancient town in Somersetshire, 36 m. S. of
Bristol, on the Brue; it is associated with many interesting legends and
historical traditions that point to its existence in very early times;
thus it was the _Avalon_ of Arthurian legend, and the place where Joseph
of Arimathea, when he brought the Holy Grail, is said to have founded the
first Christian Church; ruins are still extant of the old abbey founded
by Henry II., which itself succeeded the ancient abbey of St. Dunstan
(946); there is trade in gloves, mats, rugs, &c.
GLEIN, LUDWIG, German lyric poet, known as Father Glein for the
encouragement he gave to young German authors; composed war songs for the
Prussian army (1719-1803).
GLENCOE, a wild and desolate glen in the N. of Argyllshire, running
eastward from Ballachulish 10 m.; shut in by two lofty and rugged
mountain ranges; the Coe flows through the valley and enhances its lonely
grandeur. See following.
GLENCOE, MASSACRE OF, a treacherous slaughter of the Macdonalds of
that glen on the morning of 13th February 1691, to the number of 38, in
consequence of the belated submission of MacIan, the chief, to William
and Mary after the Revolution; the perpetrators of the deed were a body
of soldiers led by Captain Campbell, who came among the people as
friends, and stayed as friends among them for 12 days.
GLENDOWER, OWEN, a Welsh chief and patriot, a descendant of the old
Welsh princes who stirred up a rebellion against the English under Henry
IV., which, with the help of the Percies of Northumberland and Charles
VI. of France, he conducted with varied success for years, but eventual
failure (1349-1415). See Shakespeare's "Henry IV."
GLENLIVET, a valley in Banffshire, through which the Livet Water
runs, about 20 m. SW. of Huntly; famed for its whisky.
GLENROY, a narrow glen 14 m. long, in Inverness-shire, in the
Lochaber district; Fort William lies 13 m. NE. of its SW. extremity; the
Roy flows through the valley; the steep sides are remarkable for three
regular and distinctly-formed shelves or terraces running parallel almost
the entire distance of the glen, the heights on either side exactly
corresponding; these are now regarded as the margins of a former loch
which gradually sank as the barrier of glacial ice which dammed the
waters up slowly melted.
GLOGAU (20), a town with a strong fortress in Silesia, on the Oder,
35 m. NW. of Liegnitz; is a place of manufacture; was brilliantly taken
by Frederick the Great in the Silesian War on the 9th March 1741 by
scalade, in one hour, at the very break of day.
GLOMMEN or STOR-ELV (i. e. Great River), the largest river in
Norway; has its source in Lake Aursund, and, after a southward course of
350 m., broken by many falls, and for the most part unnavigable,
discharges into the Skager Rack at Frederikstad.
GLORIANA, Queen Elizabeth, represented in her capacity as sovereign
in Spenser's "Faërie Queen."
GLOUCESTER: 1 (39), the capital of Gloucestershire, on the Severn,
38 m. NE. of Bristol; a handsomely laid out town, the main lines of its
ground-plan testifying to its Roman origin; conspicuous among several
fine buildings is the cathedral, begun in 1088 (restored in 1853) and
exhibiting features of Perpendicular and Norman architecture; the river,
here tidal, is spanned by two stone bridges, and a flourishing commerce
is favoured by fine docks and a canal; chemicals, soap, &c., are
manufactured. 2 (25), a seaport of Massachusetts, U.S., 30 m. NE. of
Boston; is a favourite summer resort, an important fishing-station, and
has an excellent harbour; granite is hewn in large quantities in the
neighbouring quarries.
GLOUCESTER, ROBERT OF, English chronicler; was a monk of Gloucester
Abbey, and lived in the 13th century; his chronicle, which is in verse,
traces the history of England from the siege of Troy to 1271, the year
before the accession of Edward I.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE (600), a west midland county of England, which
touches Warwick in the centre of the country, and extends SW. to the
estuary of the Severn; it presents three natural and well-defined
districts known as the Hill, formed by the Cotswold Hills in the E.; the
Vale, through which the Severn runs, in the centre; the Forest of Dean
(the largest in England) in the W.; coal is wrought in two large fields,
but agricultural and dairy-farming are the main industries; antiquities
abound; the principal rivers are the Wye, Severn, Lower and Upper Avon,
and Thames; BRISTOL (q. v.) is the largest town.
GLÜCK, CHRISTOPH VON, a German musical composer and reformer of the
opera; made his first appearance in Vienna; studied afterwards for some
years under San-Martini of Milan, and brought out his first opera
"Artaxerxes," followed by seven others in the Italian style; invited to
London, he studied Händel, attained a loftier ideal, and returned to the
Continent, where, especially at Vienna and Paris, he achieved his
triumphs, becoming founder of a new era in operatic music; in Paris he
had a rival in Piccini, and the public opinion was for a time divided,
but the production by him of "Iphigénie en Aulide" established his
superiority, and he carried off the palm (1714-1787).
GNOMES, a set of imaginary beings misshapen in form and of
diminutive size, viewed as inhabiting the interior of the earth and
presiding over its secret treasures.
GNOSTICS, heretics, consisting of various sects that arose in the
Apostolic age of Christianity, and that sought, agreeably to the
philosophic opinions which they had severally embraced, to extract an
esoteric meaning out of the letter of Scripture and the facts especially
of the Gospel history, such as only those of superior speculative insight
could appreciate; they set a higher value on Knowledge (_gnosis_, whence
their name) than Faith; thus their understanding of Christianity was
speculative, not spiritual, and their knowledge of it the result of
thinking, not of life; like the Jews they denied the possibility of the
Word becoming flesh and of a realisation of the infinite in the finite;
indeed, Gnosticism was at once a speculative and a practical denial that
Christ was God manifest in the flesh, and that participation in
Christianity was, as He presented it (John vi. 53), participation in His
flesh. See CHRISTIANITY.
GOA (495), a Portuguese possession in W. India, lying between the
Western Ghâts and the sea-coast, 250 m. SE. of Bombay; large quantities
of rice are raised in it; is hilly on the E. and covered with forests; it
was captured in 1510 by Albuquerque. Old Goa, the former capital, has
fallen from a populous and wealthy city into utter decay, its place being
taken by Nova Goa or Panjim (8), on the Mandavi, 3 m. from the coast.
GOBELINS, GILLES AND JEAN, brothers, celebrated dyers, who in the
15th century introduced into France the art of dyeing in scarlet,
subsequently adding on tapestry-weaving to their establishment; their
works in Paris were taken over by government in Louis XIV.'s reign, and
the tapestry, of gorgeous design, then put forth became known as
Gobelins; Le Brun, the famous artist, was for a time chief designer, and
the tapestries turned out in his time have a world-wide celebrity; the
works are still in operation, and a second establishment, supported by
government, for the manufacture of Gobelins exists at Beauvais.
GODAV`ARI, an important river of India, rises on the E. side of W.
Ghâts, traverses in a SE. direction the entire Deccan, and forming a
large delta, falls into the Bay of Bengal by seven mouths after a course
of 900 m.; its mighty volume of water supplies irrigating and navigable
canals for the whole Deccan; it is one of the 12 sacred rivers of India,
and once in 12 years a bathing festival is celebrated on its banks.
GODET, FREDERICK, Swiss theologian, born at Neuchâtel; became
professor of Theology there; author of commentaries on St. John's and
Luke's Gospels and on the Epistles to the Romans and the Corinthians,
along with other works; _b_. 1812.
GODFREY OF BOUILLON, a renowned Crusader, eldest son of Eustace II.,
Count of Boulogne; he served with distinction under the Emperor Henry
II., being present at the storming of Rome in 1084; his main title to
fame rests on the gallantry and devotion he displayed in the first
Crusade, of which he was a principal leader; a series of victories led up
to the capture of Jerusalem in 1099, and he was proclaimed "Defender and
Baron of the Holy Sepulchre," but declined to wear a king's crown in the
city where his Saviour had borne a crown of thorns; his defeat of the
sultan of Egypt at Ascalon in the same year confirmed him in the
possession of Palestine (1061-1100).
GODIVA, LADY, wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia and Lord of Coventry,
who pled in vain with her husband on behalf of the inhabitants of the
place for relief from heavy exactions he had laid upon them, till one day
he relented and consented he would grant her prayer if she would ride
through Coventry on horseback naked, which, with his leave, she at once
undertook to do, and did, not one soul of the place peering through to
look at her save Peeping Tom, who paid for his curiosity by being smitten
thereafter with blindness.
GODOLPHIN, SYDNEY GODOLPHIN, EARL OF, a celebrated English statesman
and financier, born at Godolphin Hall, near Helston, Cornwall; at 19 was
a royal page in the Court of Charles II., and in 1678 engaged on a
political mission in Holland; in the following year entered Parliament
and was appointed to a post in the Treasury, of which, five years later,
he became First Commissioner, being at the same time raised to the
peerage; under James II, was again at the head of the Treasury, and at
the Revolution supported James, till the abdication, when he voted in
favour of a regency; on the elevation of William to the throne was
immediately reinstated at the Treasury, where he continued eight years,
till the Whig ascendency brought about his dismissal; for six months in
1700 he once more assumed his former post, and under Anne fulfilled the
duties of Lord High-Treasurer from 1702 to 1710, administering the
finances with sagacity and integrity during the great campaigns of his
friend Marlborough, and in 1706 he was created an Earl (1645-1712).
GODOY, MANUEL DE, minister of Charles IV. of Spain, born at Badajoz;
played a conspicuous part in the affairs of Spain during the French
Revolution and the Empire; received the title of Prince of Peace for an
offensive and defensive treaty he concluded with France in 1796, in
opposition to the general wish of the nation; lost all and died in Paris
(1767-1851).
GODWIN, Earl of the West Saxons, a powerful English noble of the
11th century and father of Harold II.; first comes into prominence in the
reign of Cnut; was created an earl previous to 1018, and shortly
afterwards became related to the king by marriage; he was a zealous
supporter of Harthacnut in the struggle which followed the demise of
Cnut; subsequently was instrumental in raising Edward the Confessor to
the throne, to whom he gave his daughter Edith in marriage; continued for
some years virtual ruler of the kingdom, but in 1051 his opposition to
the growing Norman influence brought about his banishment and the
confiscation of his estates; in 1052 he returned to England and was
received with so great popular acclaim that the king was forced to
restore to him his estates and offices; _d_. 1054.
GODWIN, MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT, an English authoress, and first to
publicly assert the Rights of Women, born at Hoxton, of humble Irish
parentage; at 19 she began to support herself by teaching, and continued
to do so till 1788, when she established herself in London to push her
way as a writer, having already published "Thoughts on the Education of
Daughters"; in 1791 she replied to Burke's "Reflections," and in the
following year appeared her famous "Vindication of the Rights of Women";
while in Paris in 1793 she formed a _liaison_ with an American, Captain
Imlay, whose cruel desertion of her two years later induced her to
attempt suicide by drowning; in 1796 she became attached to William
Godwin, a friend of five years' standing, and with him lived for some
months, although, in accord with their own pronounced opinions, no
marriage ceremony had been performed; in deference to the opinions of
others, however, they departed from this position, and a marriage was
duly celebrated five months before the birth of their daughter Mary
(Shelley's second wife); contemporary opinion shows her to have been
generous and gentle of nature, and animated throughout by a noble zeal
for the welfare of humanity (1759-1797).
GODWIN, WILLIAM, a political writer and novelist, the son of a
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.
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° 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 Lützen (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 £116,000 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 "Faërie 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 HÄFIZ.
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
École 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.
HACKLÄNDER, 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, 9½ 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.
HÄFIZ, 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 Häfiz
denotes a Mohammedan who knows the Korân 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
Theologiæ."
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).
HALÉVY, JACQUES FRANÇOIS 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'Éclair" were the best, and enjoyed a
European reputation (1799-1862).
HALÉVY, 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 Sabæan 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).
HALICARNASSUS, a Greek city, and the chief of Caria, in Asia Minor,
on the sea-coast opposite the island of Cos, the birthplace of Herodotus;
celebrated for the tomb of Mausolus, called the MAUSOLEUM (q. v.).
HALIDON HILL, an eminence in Northumberland, on the Tweed, 2 m. from
Berwick, the scene of a bloody battle in 1333 between the English and
Scots, to the defeat of the latter.
HALIFAX, 1, a prosperous manufacturing town (90), in the West Riding
of Yorkshire, situated amid surrounding hills on the Hebble, 43 m. SW. of
York; the staple industries are carpet and worsted manufacturing, the
carpet works being the largest in the world; cotton, merinos, and damasks
are also woven and dyed. 2, capital (39), of Nova Scotia; the naval and
military head-quarters of the British in North America, and the chief
port in East Canada; is situated near the head of Chebucto Bay, which
forms a magnificent harbour; a citadel and masked batteries defend the
town; it is an important railway and shipping terminus and coaling
station; its gravingdock is the largest in America; it is the seat of
Dalhousie University.
HALIFAX, CHARLES MONTAGUE, EARL OF, a celebrated Whig statesman,
born at Horton, Northamptonshire; a clever skit on Dryden's "Hind and
Panther," entitled "The Town and Country Mouse," written in collaboration
with Prior after he had left Cambridge, brought him some reputation as a
wit; in 1688 he entered the Convention Parliament, and attached himself
to William's party, when his remarkable financial ability soon brought
him to the front; in 1692 he brought forward his scheme for a National
Debt, and two years later founded the Bank of England in accordance with
the scheme of William Paterson; in the same year he became Chancellor of
the Exchequer, and in 1697 Prime Minister; in conjunction with Sir Isaac
Newton, Master of the Mint, he carried through a re-coinage, and was the
first to introduce Exchequer Bills; in 1699 he was created a Baron, and
subsequently was made the victim of a prolonged and embittered but
unsuccessful impeachment; with the accession of George I. he came back to
power as Prime Minister, and received an earldom (1661-1715).
HALIFAX, GEORGE SAVILLE, MARQUIS OF, a noted statesman who played a
prominent part in the changing politics of Charles II.'s and James II.'s
reigns, and whose apparently vacillating conduct won him the epithet of
"Trimmer"; he was an orator of brilliant powers and imbued with patriotic
motives, and through his various changes may be seen a real desire to
serve the cause of civil and religious liberty, but he was never a
reliable party man; on the abdication of James II. he, as President of
the Convention Parliament, proffered the crown to William of Orange; he
rose through successive titles to be a marquis in 1682; his writings,
chief of which is "Character of a Trimmer" (practically a defence of his
own life), are marked by a pungent wit and graceful persuasiveness (about
1630-1695).
HALL, BASIL, explorer and miscellaneous writer, born in Edinburgh,
son of Sir James Hall of Dunglass, a noted chemist and geologist; rose to
be a post-captain in the navy, and in 1816 made a voyage of discovery on
the coast of the Corea and the Great Loo Choo Islands, his account of
which forms a fascinating and highly popular book of travel; during
1820-22 he commanded the _Conway_ on the W. coast of South America, and
his published journals covering that period of Spain's struggle with her
colonies are of considerable historical value; "Travels in North America
in 1827-28" is an entertaining record of travel; was also author of some
tales, &c.; he died insane (1788-1844).
HALL, CHARLES FRANCIS, Arctic explorer, born at Rochester, New
Hampshire; the mystery surrounding Franklin's fate awakened his interest
in Arctic exploration, and during 1860-62 he headed a search party, and
again in 1864-69; during the latter time he lived amongst the Eskimo, and
returned with many interesting relics of Franklin's ill-fated expedition;
in 1871 he made an unsuccessful attempt to reach the North Pole, and died
at Thank God Harbour in Greenland; he published accounts of his
expeditions (1821-1871).
HALL or HALLE, EDWARD, English lawyer and historian, born in
London; studied law at Gray's Inn; in 1540 he became one of the judges of
the Sheriff's Court; his fame rests on his history "The Union of the Two
Noble Families of Lancaster and Yorke," a work which sheds a flood of
light on contemporary events, and is, moreover, a noble specimen of
English prose (1499-1547).
HALL, JOSEPH, bishop first of Exeter and then of Norwich, born at
Ashby-de-la-Zouch; was accused of favouring Puritanism, and incurred the
enmity of Laud; was sent to the Tower for joining 12 prelates who had
protested against certain laws passed in Parliament during their enforced
absence from the House; being released on bail, be returned to Norwich,
and was persecuted by the Puritans, who plundered his house and spoiled
the cathedral; was the author of a set of political satires and of
"Meditations," early instances in English literature of an interest in
biography (1574-1656).
HALL, ROBERT, an eminent Baptist minister and pulpit orator, born
near Leicester; began his ministry in Bristol, and ended it there after a
pastorate in Cambridge; was an intimate friend of Sir James Mackintosh
(1764-1831).
HALL, SAMUEL CARTER, founder and editor of the _Art Journal_, born
at Geneva Barracks, co. Waterford; was for a time a gallery reporter;
succeeded Campbell, the poet, as editor of the _New Monthly Magazine_,
and after other journalistic work started in 1839 the well-known
periodical the _Art Journal_, which he continued to edit for upwards of
40 years; in 1880 he received a civil-list pension (1800-1889); his wife,
ANNA MARIA FIELDING, was in her day a popular and voluminous writer
of novels and short tales (1800-1881).
HALLAM, ARTHUR HENRY, eldest son of the succeeding, the early friend
of Tennyson, who died suddenly at Vienna to the bitter grief of his
father and of his friend, whose "In Memoriam" is a long elegy over his
loss (1811-1838).
HALLAM, HENRY, English historian, born at Windsor, of which his
father was a canon; bred for the bar; was one of the first contributors
to the _Edinburgh Review_; was the author of three great works, "The
State of Europe during the Middle Ages," published in 1818; "The
Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the
Death of George II.," published in 1827; and the "Introduction to the
Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth
Centuries," published in 1838; "was the first," says Stopford Brooke, "to
write history in this country without prejudice" (1777-1859).
HALLE (101), a flourishing city in Prussian Saxony, on the Saale, 20
m. NW. of Leipzig; has a splendid university attended by upwards of 1500
students, and a library of 220,000 vols.; some fine old Gothic churches,
medical institutes, hospitals, &c.; it is is an important railway centre,
and is famed for its salt-works.
HALLÉ, SIR CHARLES, an eminent pianist, born at Hagen, in
Westphalia; in 1848 he came to England, with a reputation already gained
at Paris, and settled down in Manchester; his fine orchestra, which from
year to year visited the important cities of the kingdom, did a great
work in popularising classical music, and educating the public taste in
its regard; in 1888 he was knighted (1819-1895). His wife, _née_
Wilhelmine Néruda, a violinist of rare talent, born at Brünn, in Moravia,
appeared first in Vienna when only seven years old; in 1864 she married
Normann, a Swedish composer, and in 1885 became the wife of Sir Charles;
_b_. 1839.
HALLECK, HENRY WAGER, an American general; distinguished himself on
the side of the North in the Civil War, and was promoted to be
commander-in-chief; was author of "Elements of Military Art and Science"
(1815-1873).
HALLEL, name given to Psalms cxiii.-cxviii. chanted by the Jews at
their great annual festivals.
HALLER, ALBERT VON, a celebrated anatomist, physiologist, botanist,
physician, and poet, born at Bern; professor of Medicine at Göttingen;
author of works in all these departments; took a keen interest in all the
movements and questions of the day, literary and political, as well as
scientific; was a voluminous author and writer (1708-1777).
HALLEY, EDMUND, astronomer and mathematician, born near London;
determined the rotation of the sun from the spots on its surface, and the
position of 350 stars; discovered in 1680 the great comet called after
his name, which appeared again in 1825; was entrusted with the
publication of his "Principia" by Sir Isaac Newton; made researches on
the orbits of comets, and was appointed in 1719 astronomer-royal
(1656-1742).
HALLIWELL-PHILLIPPS, JAMES ORCHARD, a celebrated Shakespearian
scholar and antiquary, born at Chelsea; studied at Cambridge; his love
for literary antiquities manifested itself at an early age, and his
research in ballad literature and folk-lore, &c., had gained him election
as Fellow to the Royal and Antiquarian Societies at the early age of 19;
devoting himself more particularly to Shakespeare, he in 1848 published
his famous "Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare," which has grown in
fulness of detail with successive editions, and remains the most
authoritative account of Shakespeare's life we have; his "Dictionary of
Archaic and Provincial Words" is also a work of wide scholarship; having
succeeded in 1872 to the property of his father-in-law, Thomas Phillipps,
he added Phillipps to his own surname (1820-1889).
HALL-MARK, an official mark or attestation of the genuineness of
gold and silver articles.
HALLOWED FIRE, an expression of Carlyle's in definition of
Christianity "at its rise and spread" as sacred, and kindling what was
sacred and divine in man's soul, and burning up all that was not.
HALLOWE'EN, the eve of All Saints' Day, 31st October, which it was
customary, in Scotland particularly, to observe with ceremonies of a
superstitious character, presumed to have the power of eliciting certain
interesting secrets of fate from wizard spirits of the earth and air,
allowed, as believed, in that brief space, to rove about and be
accessible to the influence of the charms employed.
HALOGENS (i. e., salt producers), name given to the elementary
bodies, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and fluorine as in composition with
metals forming compounds similar to sea-salt.
HALS, FRANS, an eminent Dutch portrait-painter, born at Antwerp; is
considered to be the founder of the Dutch school of _genre_-painting; his
portraits are full of life and vigour; Vandyck alone among his
contemporaries was considered his superior (1581-1666).
HALSBURY, HARDINGE STANLEY GIFFORD, LORD, Lord Chancellor of
England, born in London; was called to the bar in 1850; he was
Solicitor-General in the last Disraeli Government; entered Parliament in
1877, and in 1885 was raised to the peerage and made Lord-Chancellor, a
position he has held in successive Conservative Governments; _b_. 1825.
HALYBURTON, THOMAS, Scottish divine, known as "Holy Halyburton,"
born at Dupplin, near Perth; was minister of Ceres, in Fife, and from
1710 professor of Divinity in St. Andrews; was the author of several
widely-read religious works (1674-1712).
HAM, a son of Noah, and the Biblical ancestor of the southern dark
races of the world as known to the ancients.
HAM, a town in the dep. of Somme, France, 70 m. NE. of Paris, with a
fortress, used in recent times as a State prison, in which Louis Napoleon
was confined from 1840 to 1846.
HAMADAN (30), an ancient Persian town, at the foot of Mount Elwend,
160 m. SW. of Teheran, is an important _entrepôt_ of Persian trade, and
has flourishing tanneries; it is believed to stand on the site of
ECBATANA (q. v.).
HAMADRYAD, a wood-nymph identified with a particular tree that was
born with it and that died with it.
HAMAH (45), the Hamath of the Bible, an ancient city of Syria, on
the Orontes, 110 m. NE. of Damascus; manufactures silk, cotton, and
woollen fabrics; is one of the oldest cities of the world; has some trade
with the Bedouins in woollen stuffs; during the Macedonian dynasty it was
known as Epiphania; in 1812 Burckhardt discovered stones in it with
Hittite inscriptions.
HAMAN, an enemy of the Jews in Persia, who persuaded the king to
decree the destruction of them against a particular day, but whose
purpose was defeated by the reversal of the sentence of doom.
HAMANN, JOHANN GEORG, a German thinker, born at Königsberg; a man of
genius, whose ideas were appreciated by such a man as Goethe, and whose
writings deeply influenced the views of Herder (1730-1788).
HAMBURG, a small German State (623) which includes the free city of
Hamburg (323; suburbs, 245), Bergedorf, and Cuxhaven; the city, the chief
emporium of German commerce, is situated on the Elbe, 75 m. E. of the
North Sea and 177 NW. of Berlin; was founded by Charlemagne in 808, and
is to-day the fifth commercial city of the world; the old town is
intersected by canals, while the new portion, built since 1842, is
spaciously laid out; the town library, a fine building, contains 400,000
volumes; its principal manufactures embrace cigar-making, distilling,
brewing, sugar-refining, &c.
HAMELN (14), a quaint old Prussian town and fortress in the province
of Hanover, situated at the junction of the Hamel with the Weser, 25 m.
SW. of Hanover city; associated with the legend of the Pied Piper; a fine
chain bridge spans the Weser; there are prosperous iron, paper, and
leather works, breweries, &c.
HÄMERKIN or HÄMMERLEIN, the paternal name of THOMAS À
KEMPIS (q. v.).
HAMERLING, ROBERT, Austrian poet, born at Kirchberg in the Forest,
Lower Austria; his health gave way while teaching at Trieste, and while
for upwards of 30 years an invalid in bed, he devoted himself to poetical
composition; his fame rests chiefly on his satirical epics and lyric
compositions, among the former "The King of Iron," "The Seven Deadly
Sins," and "Cupid and Psyche," and among the latter "Venus in Exile"
(1830-1889).
HAMERTON, PHILIP GILBERT, English critic, particularly of art;
edited the Portfolio, an art magazine; author of a story of life in
France entitled "Marmorne," and of a volume of essays entitled "The
Intellectual Life" (1834-1894).
HAMILCAR BARCA, a Carthaginian general and one of the greatest, the
father of Hannibal, commanded in Sicily, and held his ground there
against the Romans for six years; concluded a peace with them and ended
the First Punic War; invaded Spain with a view to invade Italy by the
Alps, and after gaining a footing there fell in battle; had his son with
him, a boy of nine, and made him swear upon the altar before he died
eternal enmity to Rome; _d_. 229 B.C.
HAMILTON (25), a town of Lanarkshire, on the Clyde, 10 m. SE. of
Glasgow; mining is the chief industry. Also a city (49) of Canada, on
Burlington Bay, at the west end of Lake Ontario, 40 m. SW. of Toronto; is
an important railway centre, and has manufactories of iron, cotton, and
woollen goods, &c.
HAMILTON, ALEXANDER, American soldier and statesman, born in West
Indies; entered the American army, fought in the War of Independence,
became commander-in-chief, represented New York State in Congress,
contributed by his essays to the favourable reception of the federal
constitution, and under it did good service on behalf of his country; was
mortally wounded in a duel (1757-1804).
HAMILTON, ELIZABETH, novelist and essayist, born, of Scottish
parentage, in Belfast; is remembered for her early advocacy of the higher
education of women and for her faithful pictures of lowly Scottish life;
"Letters of a Hindoo Rajah" and "Modern Philosophers" were clever skits
on the prevailing scepticism and republicanism of the time; "The
Cottagers of Glenburnie" is her best novel (1758-1816).
HAMILTON, EMMA, LADY, _née_ Amy Lyon or "Hart," born at Ness,
Cheshire, a labourer's daughter; appeared as the Lady in the charlatan
Graham's "Temple of Health," London; became the mother of two
illegitimate children, and subsequently was the "geliebte" of the Hon.
Charles Greville and of his uncle Sir Wm. Hamilton, whose wife she became
in 1791; her notorious and lawless intimacy with Lord Nelson began in
1793, and in 1801 their daughter Horatia was born; although left a widow
with a goodly fortune, she fell into debt and died in poverty
(1763-1815).
HAMILTON, PATRICK, a Scottish martyr, born at the close of the 15th
century, probably in Glasgow; returning from his continental studies at
Paris and Louvain he came to St. Andrews University, where his Lutheran
sympathies involved him in trouble; he escaped to the Continent, visited
Wittenberg, the home of Luther, and then settled in Marburg, but returned
to Scotland at the close of the same year (1527) and married; the
following year he was burned at the stake in St. Andrews for heresy; his
eager and winning nature and love of knowledge, together with his early
martyrdom, have served to invest him with a special interest.
HAMILTON, WILLIAM, a minor Scottish poet, born near Uphall,
Linlithgowshire; was a contributor to Ramsay's _Tea-Table Miscellany_;
became involved in the second Jacobite rising and fled to France;
subsequently he was permitted to return and take possession of his
father's estate of Bangour, near Uphall; his collected poems include the
beautiful and pathetic ballad, "The Braes of Yarrow" (1704-1754).
HAMILTON, SIR WILLIAM, distinguished philosopher of the Scotch
school, born in Glasgow; studied there and in Oxford with distinction;
bred for the bar, but hardly ever practised; contributed to the
_Edinburgh Review_, having previously published "Discussions in
Philosophy"; in 1836 he became professor of Logic and Metaphysics in
Edinburgh University, in which capacity he exercised a great influence in
the domain of philosophic speculation; his lectures were published after
his death; his system was attacked by John Stuart Mill, and criticised in
part by Dr. Hutchison Stirling, who, while deducting materially from his
repute as an original thinker, describes his "writings as always
brilliant, forcible, clear, and, where information is concerned, both
entertaining and instructive"; was "almost the only _earnest_ man,"
Carlyle testifies, he found in Edinburgh on his visit from Craigenputtock
to the city in 1833 (1788-1856).
HAMILTON, SIR WILLIAM ROWAN, an eminent mathematician, born in
Dublin; such was his precocity that at 13 he was versed in thirteen
languages, and by 17 was an acknowledged master in mathematical science;
while yet an undergraduate at Trinity College, Dublin, he was appointed
in 1827 professor of Astronomy in Dublin University, and Astronomer-Royal
of Ireland; his mathematical works and treatises, of the most original
and a far-reaching character, brought him a European reputation, and
embraced his "Theory of Systems of Rays," "A General Method in Dynamics,"
and the invention of "Quaternions"; he was knighted in 1835 (1805-1865).
HAMILTONIAN SYSTEM, a system of teaching languages by interlinear
translation.
HAMMER, German Orientalist and historian, born at Grätz; author of a
"History of the Ottoman Empire" (1774-1856).
HAMMERFEST (2), the most northerly town in Europe; is situated on
the barren island of Kvalö, and is the port of the Norwegian province of
Finmark; fishing is the staple industry; during two months in summer the
sun never sets.
HAMMERSMITH (97), a parliamentary borough of Middlesex, on the N.
side of the Thames, forms a part of W. London.
HAMMOND, HENRY, English divine, born at Chertsey; suffered as an
adherent of the royal cause, being chaplain to Charles I.; author of
"Paraphrase and Annotations of the New Testament" (1605-1660).
HAMPDEN, JOHN, a famous English statesman and patriot, cousin to
Oliver Cromwell, born in London; passed through Oxford and studied law at
the Inner Temple; subsequently he settled down on his father's estate,
and in 1621 entered Parliament, joining the opposition; he came first
into conflict with the king by refusing to contribute to a general loan
levied by Charles, and subsequently became famous by his resistance to
the ship-money tax; he was a member of the Short Parliament, and played a
prominent part in the more eventful transactions of the Long Parliament;
an attempt on Charles's part to seize Hampden and four other members
precipitated the Civil War; he took an active part in organising the
Parliamentary forces, and proved himself a brave and skilful general in
the field; he fell mortally wounded while opposing Prince Rupert in a
skirmish at Chalgrove Field; historians unite in extolling his nobility
of character, statesmanship, and single-minded patriotism (1594-1643).
HAMPDEN, RENN DICKSON, theologian and bishop, born in Barbadoes;
became a Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, and in 1832 delivered his
celebrated Bampton lectures on the "Scholastic Philosophy considered in
its Relation to Christian Theology," which drew upon him the charge of
heresy and produced an embittered controversy in the Church of England;
he was successively Principal, professor of Moral Philosophy, and of
Divinity at St. Mary's Hall, and became bishop of Hereford in 1847
(1793-1868).
HAMPOLE, RICHARD ROLLE, "the Hermit of Hampole," born at Thornton,
Yorkshire; studied at Oxford, and at the age of 19 turned hermit; was the
author of "The Pricke of Conscience," a lengthy poem of a religious
character (1290-1349).
HAMPSHIRE, HANTS (690), a maritime county of S. England, fronting
the English Channel between Dorset on the W. and Sussex on the E.; in the
NE. are the "rolling Downs," affording excellent sheep pasturage, while
the SW. is largely occupied by the New Forest; the Test, Itchen, and Avon
are principal rivers flowing to the S.; besides the usual cereals, hops
are raised, while Hampshire bacon and honey are celebrated; Southampton,
Portsmouth, and Gosport are the chief trading and manufacturing towns.
HAMPSTEAD (68), a Parliamentary borough of Middlesex, has a hilly
and bright situation, 4 m. NW. of London; is a popular place of resort
with Londoners, and contains many fine suburban residences; beyond the
village is the celebrated Heath; many literary associations are connected
with the place; the famous Kit-Cat Club of Steele and Addison's time is
now a private house on the Heath; here lived Keats, Leigh Hunt,
Coleridge, Hazlitt, &c.
HAMPTON (4), a village of Middlesex, on the Thames, 15 m. SW. of
London; in the vicinity is HAMPTON COURT PALACE, a royal residence
down to George II.'s time, and which was built originally by Wolsey, who
presented it to Henry VIII.; in William III.'s time considerable
alterations were made under the guidance of Wren; there is a fine
picture-gallery and gardens; it is now occupied by persons of good family
in reduced circumstances; the HAMPTON COURT CONFERENCE to settle
ecclesiastical differences took place here in 1604 under the presidency
of James I., and the decisions at which proved unsatisfactory to the
Puritan members of it; it was here at the suggestion of Dr. Reynolds the
authorised version of the Bible was undertaken.
HANAU (25), a Prussian town in Hesse-Nassau, at the junction of the
Kinzig and the Main, 11 m. NE. of Frankfurt; is celebrated for its
jewellery and gold and silver work, and is otherwise a busy manufacturing
town; it is the birthplace of the brothers Grimm.
HANCOCK, WINFIELD SCOTT, a noted American general, born near
Philadelphia; he had already graduated and served with distinction in the
Mexican War, when, on the outbreak of the Civil War, he received a
commission as brigadier-general of volunteers; he led a heroic charge at
Fredericksburg, and in 1864 his gallant conduct in many a hard-fought
battle was rewarded by promotion to a major-generalship in the regular
army; subsequently he held important commands in the departments of
Missouri, Dakota, &c., and in 1880 unsuccessfully opposed Garfield for
the Presidency (1824-1886).
HÄNDEL, musical composer, born at Halle; distinguished for his
musical ability from his earliest years; was sent to Berlin to study when
he was 14; began his musical career as a performer at Hamburg in 1703;
produced his first opera in 1704; spent six years in Italy, devoting
himself to his profession the while; came, on invitation, to England in
1710, where, being well received, he resolved to remain, and where, year
after year--as many as nearly fifty of them--he added to his fame by his
diligence as a composer; he produced a number of operas and oratorios;
among the latter may be noted his "Saul," his "Samson," and "Judas
Maccabæus," and pre-eminently the "Messiah," his masterpiece, and which
fascinates with a charm that appeals to and is appreciated by initiated
and uninitiated alike (1684-1759).
HANG-CHOW (800), a Chinese town, a treaty-port since the recent war
with Japan; is at the mouth of the Tsien-tang at the entrance of the
Imperial Canal, 110 m. SW. of Shanghai; it is an important literary,
religious, and commercial centre; has flourishing silk factories, and is
noted for its gold and silver ware.
HANGING GARDENS, THE, OF BABYLON, one of the seven wonders of the
world, had an area of four acres, formed a square, were a series of
terraces supported by pillars sloping upwards like a pyramid and seeming
to hang in air; they are ascribed to Semiramis.
HANIF, name given to a Mohammedan or an Arab of rigidly monotheistic
belief.
HANKOW (750), a Chinese river-port, at the confluence of the Han and
Yangtsze Rivers; it is properly an extension of the large towns Wu-chang
and Han-yang; there is a considerable amount of shipping; tea is the
principal article of export, and a large trade is carried on with the
inland provinces.
HANLEY (85), a busy manufacturing town in the "Potteries," 18 m. N.
of Stafford; coal and iron are wrought in the neighbourhood.
HANMER, SIR THOMAS, Speaker of the House of Commons; elected in
1713, discharged the duties of the office with conspicuous impartiality;
published an edition of Shakespeare (1677-1746).
HANNAY, JAMES, a novelist and critic, born in Dumfries; spent his
boyhood in the navy, on quitting which he settled in London and took to
letters; was for a time editor of the _Edinburgh Courant_, a Tory paper,
and subsequently consul at Barcelona, where he died; he knew English
literature and wrote English well (1827-1873).
HANNIBAL, the great Carthaginian general, son of HAMILCAR
(q. v.); learned the art of war under his father in Spain; subjugated
all Spain south of the Ebro by the capture of the Roman allied city of
Saguntum, which led to the outbreak of the Second Punic War and his
leading his army through hostile territory over the Pyrenees and the Alps
into Italy; defeated the Romans in succession at the Ticinus, the Trebia,
and Lake Trasimenus, to the extirpation of the army sent against him;
passed the Apennines and descended into Apulia, where, after being
harassed by the tantalising policy of Fabius Maximus, he met the Romans
at Cannæ in 216 B.C. and inflicted on them a crushing defeat, retiring
after this into winter quarters at Capua, where his soldiers became
demoralised; he next season began to experience a succession of reverses,
which ended in the evacuation of Italy and the transfer of the seat of
war to Africa, where Hannibal was met by Scipio on the field of Zama in
201 B.C. and defeated; he afterwards joined Antiochus, king of Syria,
who was at war with Rome, to his defeat there also, upon which he fled to
Prusias, king of Bithynia, where, when his surrender was demanded, he
ended his life by poisoning himself (247-183 B.C.).
HANNINGTON, JAMES, first bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa, born
at Hurstpierpoint, Sussex; was ordained in 1873 after passing through
Oxford, and in 1882 undertook missionary work in Uganda, under the
auspices of the Church Missionary Society; his health breaking down when
he had gone as far as Victoria Nyanza, he returned home; but two years
later as bishop he entered upon his duties at Frere Town, near Mombasa;
in the following year he was killed by natives when making his way to the
mission station at Rubaga, in Uganda (1847-1885).
HANNO, the name of several eminent Carthaginians, one of whom,
surnamed the Great, was a persistent opponent of the Barcine faction,
headed by Hamilcar; and another was a navigator who made a voyage round
the western coast of Africa, of which he left an account in his
"Periplus" or "Circumnavigating Voyage."
HANOVER (2,278), a Prussian province since 1866, formerly an
independent kingdom; stretches N. from Westphalia to the German Ocean,
between Holland on the W. and Saxony on the E.; the district is well
watered by the Elbe, Weser, and Ems; in the S. are the Harz Mountains;
for the rest the land is flat, and much of it is occupied by
uncultivated moors; agriculture and cattle-rearing are, however, the
chief industries, while the minerals of the Harz are extensively wrought;
in 1714 George Ludwig, second Elector of Hanover, succeeded Anne on the
English throne as her nearest Protestant kinsman, and till 1837 the dual
rule was maintained, Hanover meanwhile in 1814 having been made a
kingdom; in 1837 the Hanoverian crown passed to the Duke of Cumberland,
Queen Victoria, as a woman, being ineligible; in 1866 the kingdom was
conquered and annexed by Prussia.
HANOVER (164), the capital, is situated on the Leine, 78 m. SE. of
Bremen; it consists of an old and a new portion; presents a handsome
appearance, and its many fine buildings include the royal library
(170,000 vols.), the Kestner Museum, several palaces and art-galleries,
&c.; it is the centre of the North German railway system, and its many
industries embrace iron-works, the manufacture of pianos, tobacco, linen,
&c.
HANSARD, record of the proceedings and debates in the British
Parliament, published by the printers Hansard, the founder of the firm
being Luke Hansard, a printer of Norwich, who came to London in 1770 as a
compositor, and succeeded as proprietor of the business in which he was a
workman; _d_. 1828.
HANSEATIC LEAGUE, a combination of towns in North-western Germany
for the mutual protection of their commerce against the pirates of the
Baltic and the mutual defence of their liberties against the
encroachments of neighbouring princes; it dates from 1241, and flourished
for several centuries, to the extension of their commerce far and wide;
numbered at one time 64 towns, and possessed fleets and armies, an
exchequer, and a government of their own; the League dwindled down during
the Thirty Years' War to six cities, and finally to three, Hamburg,
Lübeck, and Bremen.
HANSTEEN, CHRISTOPH, a Norwegian astronomer and mathematician, born
in Christiania, where he became professor of Mathematics; is famous for
his researches and discoveries in connection with the magnetism of the
earth, and the impetus he gave to the study of it; he prosecuted his
magnetic researches as far as the E. of Siberia, and published the
results (1784-1873).
HANSWURST (i. e. Jack Pudding), a pantomimic character in comic
performances on the German stage; a great favourite at one time with the
vulgar; distinguished for his awkwardness, his gluttonous appetite, and
his rotundity.
HANUMAN, the monkey-god of the Hindus, a friend of Râma, for whose
benefit he reared a causeway across seas to Ceylon.
HANWAY, JONAS, a traveller and philanthropist, born in Portsmouth;
travelled through Russia and Persia, and settled in London as one of the
navy commissariat; devoted himself to the reclaiming and befriending of
unfortunates of all kinds; was a man of very eccentric ways (1712-1786).
HAPSBURG or HABSBURG, HOUSE OF, a famous royal house which has
played a leading part in the history of Continental Europe from its
foundation in the 12th century by Albert, Count of Hapsburg, and which is
represented to-day by the Imperial family of Austria. Representatives of
this family wore the Imperial crown of the Holy Roman Empire for
centuries. It takes its name from the castle of Habsburg or Habichtaburg,
on the Aar, built by Werner, bishop of Strasburg, in the 11th century, a
castle, however, which has long since ceased to be in the possession of
the family.
HARBOUR GRACE (7), a seaport and the second town of Newfoundland,
lies on the W. side of Conception Bay, 84 m. NW. of St. John's; its
commodious harbour is somewhat exposed; it is the seat of a Roman
Catholic bishop, and has a cathedral and convent.
HARBURG (35), a prospering Prussian seaport in Lüneburg, on the
Elbe, 5 m. S. of Hamburg; its industries embrace gutta-percha goods, oil,
chemicals, &c.; is a favourite watering-place.
HARCOURT, SIR WILLIAM VERNON, statesman, born, a clergyman's son, at
Nuneham Park, Oxfordshire; was highly distinguished at Cambridge, and in
1854 was called to the bar; was a Q.C. in 1866, and professor of
International Law at Cambridge (1869-87); he won considerable repute by
his articles in the _Saturday Review_ and his "Historicus" letters to the
_Times_, and in 1868 entered Parliament, representing Oxford in the
Liberal interest; in 1873 he became Solicitor-General, and received a
knighthood; he was a vigorous opponent of the Disraeli Government, and on
the return of the Liberals to power in 1880 became Home Secretary; under
Mr. Gladstone in 1886, and again in 1892, he held the office of
Chancellor of the Exchequer; he staunchly supported Mr. Gladstone in his
Home Rule policy; became leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons
on Mr. Gladstone's retirement, a post which for party reasons he resigned
in 1899; _b_. 1827.
HARDENBERG, FRIEDRICH VON. See NOVALIS.
HARDENBERG PRINCE VON, a Prussian statesman, born in Hanover; after
service in Hanover and Brunswick entered that of Prussia under William
II., and became Chancellor of State under William III.; distinguished
himself by the reforms he introduced in military and civic matters to the
benefit of the country, though he was restrained a good deal by the
reactionary proclivities of the king (1750-1822).
HARDICANUTE, king of England and Denmark, the son of Canute and his
successor on the Danish throne; was king of England only in part till the
death of his brother Harold, whom he survived only two years, but long
enough to alienate his subjects by the re-imposition of the Danegelt;
_d_. 1642.
HARDING, JOHN, or HARDYNG, an English rhyming chronicler in the
reign of Edward IV.; had been a soldier, and fought at Agincourt
(1378-1465).
HARDING, STEPHEN, a Benedictine monk, born in Devonshire, of noble
descent, a born ascetic, who set himself to restore his order to its
primitive austerity; retired with a few others into a dismal secluded
place at Citeaux, and became abbot; was joined there by the great St.
Bernard, his kindred, and followers, to the great aggrandisement of the
order; _d_. 1134.
HARDINGE, HENRY, VISCOUNT, a distinguished soldier and
Governor-General of India, born at Wrotham, Kent; joined the army in
1798, and served through the Peninsular and Waterloo campaigns, but
wounded at Ligny he was unable to take part in the final struggle with
Napoleon; he now turned his attention to politics; was Secretary of War
under Wellington, and subsequently twice Chief Secretary for Ireland; in
1844 he was appointed Governor-General of India, and later distinguished
himself under Gough in the first Sikh War; a viscountship and pension
followed in 1845, and seven years later he succeeded Wellington as
Commander-in-Chief of the British army (1785-1856).
HARDOUIN, JEAN, a French classical scholar, born at Quimper,
Brittany; early entered the Jesuit order; was from 1683 librarian of the
College of Louis le Grand in Paris; he is chiefly remembered for his wild
assertion that the bulk of classical literature was spurious, and the
work of 13th-century monks; Virgil's "Æneid" he declared to be an
allegorical account of St. Peter's journey to Rome, and the original
language of the New Testament to be Latin; his edition of Pliny, however,
evinces real scholarship (1646-1729).
HARDWÁR, a town on the Ganges, 39 m. NE. of Saharunpur, North-West
Provinces; famous for its large annual influx of pilgrims seeking
ablution in the sacred river; a sacred festival held every twelfth year
attracts some 300,000 persons.
HARDY, THOMAS, novelist, born in Dorsetshire, with whose scenery he
has made his readers familiar; bred an architect; first earned popularity
in 1874 by his "Far from the Madding Crowd," which was followed by, among
others, "The Return of the Native," "The Woodlanders," and "Tess of the
D'Urbervilles," the last in 1892, books which require to be read in order
to appreciate the genius of the author; _b_. 1840.
HARDY, SIR THOMAS DUFFUS, an eminent palæographer, born in Jamaica;
he acquired his skill in MS. deciphering as a clerk in the Record Office
in the Tower; in 1861 he was elected deputy-keeper of the Public Records,
and nine years later received a knighthood; his great learning is
displayed in his editions of various "Rolls" for the Record Commission,
in his "Descriptive Catalogue of MSS.," &c. (1804-1878).
HARDY, SIR THOMAS MASTERMAN, BART., a brave naval officer, whose
name is associated with the closing scene of Nelson's life, born at
Portisham, in Dorsetshire; as a commander in the battle of the Nile he
greatly distinguished himself, and gained his post-commission to Nelson's
flagship, the _Vanguard_; at Trafalgar he commanded the _Victory_, and
subsequently brought Nelson's body to England; he received a baronetcy,
and saw further service, eventually attaining to the rank of vice-admiral
(1769-1839).
HARE, JULIUS CHARLES, archdeacon of Lewes, born at Vicenza; took
orders in the Church, and in 1832 became, in succession to his uncle,
rector of Hurstmonceaux, in Sussex, the advowson of which was in his
family, in which rectory he laboured till his death; he was of the school
of Maurice; wrote "The Mission of the Comforter," and with his brother
Augustus "Guesses at Truth"; had John Sterling as his curate for a short
time, and edited his remains as well as wrote his Life, the latter in so
exclusively ecclesiastical a reference as to dissatisfy Carlyle, his
joint-trustee, and provoke him, as in duty bound, to write another which
should exhibit their common friend in the more interesting light of a man
earnestly struggling with the great burning problems of the time, calling
for some wise solution by all of us, church and no church (1795-1855).
HAREM, the apartment or suite of apartments in a Mohammedan's house
for the female inmates and their attendants, and the name given to the
collective body of them.
HARFLEUR, a village in France with a strong fortress, 4 m. S. of
Havre, taken by Henry V. in 1415, and retaken afterwards by both French
and English, becoming finally French in 1450.
HARGRAVES, EDMUND, discoverer of the gold-field in Australia, born
at Gosport, Devon; had been to California, concluded that as the
geological formation was the same in Australia where he had come from, he
would find gold there too and found it in New South Wales in 1851, for
which the Government gave him £10,000 (1818-1890).
HARGREAVES, JAMES, inventor of the spinning-jenny, born at
Standhill, near Blackburn; was a poor and illiterate weaver when in 1760
he, in conjunction with Robert Peel, brought out a carding-machine; in
1766 he invented the spinning-jenny, a machine which has since
revolutionised the cotton-weaving industry, but which at the time evoked
the angry resentment of the hand-weaver; he was driven from his native
town and settled in Nottingham, where he started a spinning-mill; he
failed to get his machine patented, and died in comparative poverty
(1745-1778).
HARI-KARI, called also a "happy despatch," a form of suicide, now
obsolete, permitted to offenders of high rank to escape the indignity of
a public execution; the nature of it may be gathered from the name, "a
gash in the belly."
HÄRING, WILHELM, German novelist, born at Breslau; bred for law, but
abandoned it for literature; wrote two romances, "Walladmor" and "Schloss
Avalon," under the pseudonym of "Walter Scott," which imposed upon some;
he afterwards assumed the name of Wilibald Alexis, a name by which he was
long honourably known (1797-1871).
HARINGTON, SIR JOHN, courtier and miscellaneous writer, translated
by desire of Queen Elizabeth Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso" (1561-1612).
HARIRI, Arabic philologist and poet of the 11th century, born at
Bassorah; celebrated far and wide as the author of "Makameat," a
collection of tales in verse, the central figure in which is one Abu
Seid, a clever and amusing production, and evincing a unique mastery of
Arabic.
HARLAW, BATTLE OF, a battle fought at Harlaw, 18 m. NW. of Aberdeen,
on 24th July 1411, which decided the supremacy of the Lowland Scots over
the Highland.
HARLECH, an old Welsh town in Merionethshire, facing the sea, 10 m.
N. of Barmouth; its grim old castle by the shore was a Lancastrian
fortress during the Wars of the Roses, and its capture by the Yorkists in
1468 was the occasion of the well-known song, "The March of the Men of
Harlech."
HARLEQUIN, a character in a Christmas pantomime, in love with
Columbine, presumed to be invisible, and deft at tricks to frustrate
those of the clown, who is his rival lover.
HARLEY, ROBERT, EARL OF OXFORD, a celebrated English politician,
born of good family; entered Parliament shortly after the Revolution
(1688) as a Whig, but after a period of vacillation threw in his lot with
Tories and in 1701 became Speaker of the House; in 1704 he was associated
with St. John (Bolingbroke) in the Cabinet as Secretary of State, and set
about undermining the influence of Godolphin and Marlborough; he became
Chancellor of the Exchequer and head of the Government; was created Earl
of Oxford and Lord High Treasurer; from this point his power began to
wane; was displaced by Bolingbroke at last in 1715; was impeached for
intriguing with the Jacobites and sent to the Tower; two years later he
was released, and the remainder of his life was spent in the pursuit of
letters and in the building up of his famous collection of MSS., now
deposited in the British Museum (1661-1724).
HARMATTAN, a hot withering wind blowing over the coast of Guinea to
the Atlantic from the interior of Africa, more or less from December to
February.
HARMODIUS, an Athenian who in 514 B.C. conspired with
Aristogeiton, his friend, against Hipparchus and his brother Hippias, the
tyrant, but being betrayed were put to death; they figured in the
traditions of Athens as political martyrs, and as such were honoured with
statues.
HARNACK, ADOLF, a German theologian, born at Dorpat; professor
successively at Giessen, Marburg, and Berlin; has written on the history
of dogma in the Christian Church, on Gnosticism, early Christian
literature, and the Apostles' Creed, on the latter offensively to the
orthodox; B. 1851.
HAROLD I., king of England from 1035 to 1040, younger son of Cnut;
the kingdom was practically divided between him and his brother
Harthacnut; but the latter remaining in Denmark to protect his
possessions there, England passed into Harold's hands.
HAROLD II., the last of the Saxon kings of England, held the crown
for a few months in 1066, was the second son of the great EARL
GODWIN (q. v.); in 1053 he succeeded his father in the earldom of
the West Saxons, and during the later years of Edward's feeble rule was
virtual administrator of the kingdom; on his accession to the throne his
title was immediately challenged by his brother Tostig, and William, Duke
of Normandy; having crushed his brother's invasion at Stamford Bridge, he
immediately hurried S. to meet the forces of William at Hastings. Norman
strategy won the day, and Harold fell in the battle pierced through the
eye by an arrow; historians unite in ascribing to him every kingly
quality--a noble presence, sagacity, and a brave yet gentle nature.
HAROLD I. OF NORWAY, surnamed _Haarfager_ (fair-haired), by him the
petty kingdoms of Norway were all conquered and knit into one compact
realm; the story goes that he undertook this work to win the hand of his
lady-love, and that he swore an oath neither to cut nor comb his hair
till his task was done; _d_. 930.
HAROUN-AL-RASCHID ("Aaron the Orthodox or Just"), the most renowned
of the Abbaside caliphs; succeeded to the caliphate in 786 on the death
of his elder brother, El Hádi, and had for grand-vizier the Barmacide
Yâhyá, to whom with his four sons he committed the administration of
affairs, he the while making his court a centre of attraction to wise
men, scholars, and artists, so that under him Bagdad became the capital
of the civilised world; his glory was tarnished by one foul blot towards
the end of his reign, and that was the massacre out of jealousy of the
Barmacide family, members of which had contributed so much to his fame,
an act which he had soon occasion to repent, for it was followed by an
insurrection which cost him his life; the halo that invests his memory
otherwise was, however, more fabulous than real, and history shows him at
his best to have been avaricious, resentful, and cruel.
HARPIES, fabulous ravenous creatures, living in filth and defiling
everything they touch, with the head and breast of a woman, the wings and
claws of a bird, and a face pale with hunger, the personification of
whirlwinds and storms, conceived of as merely ravening, wasting powers.
HARRINGTON, JAMES, political writer; author of a political romance
entitled "The Commonwealth of Oceana," in which he argued that all secure
government must be based on property, and for a democracy on this basis
(1611-1677).
HARRIS, HOWEL, a noted Welsh Methodist, born at Trevecca, Brecon;
embracing Calvinism, he at the age of 21 became an itinerant preacher,
confining himself chiefly to Wales; in 1752 he took up his abode at
Trevecca, where he erected a large house to accommodate those who sought
his ministrations (1714-1773).
HARRIS, JOEL CHANDLER, American writer, born in Georgia, U.S.;
author of "Uncle Remus," his chief work a study of negro folk-lore,
followed by interesting sketches and stories; _b_. 1848.
HARRIS, LUKE, founder of the "Brotherhood of the New Life," born in
Buckinghamshire, a spiritualistic Socialist; his system founded on
SWEDENBORGIANISM (q. v.) on the one hand and a form of communism
on the other, with a scriptural Christianity spiritualised as backbone;
the destiny of man he regards as angelhood, or a state of existence like
that of God, in which the unity of sex, or fatherhood and motherhood,
meet in one; the late Laurence Oliphant and the late John Pulsford were
among his disciples; _b_. 1823.
HARRISBURG (50), capital of Pennsylvania, is beautifully situated on
the Susquehanna, 106 m. NW. of Philadelphia; the industries include
extensive iron and steel works and a flourishing lumber trade.
HARRISON, BENJAMIN. President of the United States and grandson of
William Henry Harrison, a former President, born at North Bend, Ohio;
started as a lawyer in Indianapolis, became an important functionary in
the court of Indiana, and subsequently proved himself a brave and
efficient commander during the Civil War; engaging actively in politics,
he in 1880 became a United States Senator; as the nominee of the
Protectionist and Republican party he won the Presidency against
Cleveland, but at the election of 1892 the positions were reversed; in
1893 he became a professor in San Francisco; _b_. 1833.
HARRISON, FREDERIC, barrister, born in London, professor of
Jurisprudence in the Inns of Court; author of articles contributed to
Reviews and Essays, and of Lectures on a variety of current questions,
historical, social, and religious, from the standpoint of the positivism
of Auguste Comte, with his somewhat vague "Religion of Humanity" is the
author of "Order and Progress," the "Choice of Books," &c.; _b_. 1831.
HARRISON, JOHN, a celebrated mechanician, born at Foulby, Yorkshire;
was the first to invent a chronometer which, by its ingenious apparatus
for compensating the disturbing effects caused by variations of climate,
enabled mariners to determine longitude to within a distance of 18 m.; by
this invention he won a prize of £20,000 offered by Government; amongst
other things he invented the compensating _gridiron pendulum_, still in
use (1693-1776).
HARRISON, WILLIAM, a noted historical writer, born in London;
graduated at Cambridge, and after serving as chaplain to Lord Cobham,
received the rectorship of Radwinter, in Essex; subsequently he became
canon of Windsor; his fame rests on two celebrated historical works,
"Description of England," an invaluable picture of social life and
institutions in Elizabethan times, and "Description of Britain," written
for Holinshed's "Chronicle" (1534-1593).
HARROGATE or HARROWGATE (14), a popular watering-place,
prettily situated amid forest and moorland, in the West Riding of
Yorkshire, 20 m. NW. of York; it enjoys a wide repute for its sulphurous,
saline, and chalybeate springs.
HARROW (6), a town of Middlesex, built on an eminence 200 ft. high,
12 m. from St. Paul's, London; its church, St. Mary's, founded by
Lanfranc, is a Gothic structure of great architectural interest. Harrow
School, a celebrated public school, was founded in 1571 for the free
education of 30 poor boys of the parish, but subsequently opened its
doors to "foreigners," and now numbers upwards of 500 pupils.
HARRY, BLIND, a famous Scottish minstrel who flourished in the 15th
century; the few particulars of his life which have come down to us
represent him as a blind and vagrant poet, living by reciting poems
"before princes and peers"; to him is attributed the celebrated poem,
"The Life of that Noble Champion of Scotland, Sir William Wallace,
Knight," completed about 1488, a spirited, if partly apocryphal, account
of Wallace, running to 11,861 lines in length.
HART, SOLOMON ALEXANDER, born at Plymouth; served as an engraver's
apprentice in London; studied at the Royal Academy, and excelled in
miniature painting; he became celebrated as a painter of historical
scenes and characters, and in 1854 was appointed professor of Painting in
the Royal Academy, and subsequently librarian; his works include "Henry
I. receiving intelligence of the Death of his Son," "Milton visiting
Galileo in Prison," "Wolsey and Buckingham," "Lady Jane Grey in the
Tower," &c. (1806-1881).
HARTE, BRET, American humourist, born at Albany, New York; went to
California at 15; tried various occupations, mining, school-mastering,
printing, and literary sketching, when he got on the staff of a
newspaper, and became eventually first editor of the _Overland Monthly_,
in the columns of which he established his reputation as a humourist by
the publication of the "Heathen Chinee" and other humorous productions,
such as "The Luck of Roaring Camp"; he wields a prolific pen, and all he
writes is of his own original coinage; _b_. 1839.
HARTFORD (80), the capital of Connecticut, U.S., on the
Connecticut, 50 m. from its mouth and 112 m. NE. of New York; is
handsomely laid out, and contains an imposing white marble capitol,
Episcopalian and Congregational colleges, hospitals, libraries, &c.; is
an important depôt for the manufacture of firearms, iron-ware, tobacco,
&c., and is an important banking and insurance centre.
HARTLEPOOL (65), a seaport of Durham, situated on a tongue of land
which forms the Bay of Hartlepool, 4 m. N. of the Tees estuary; the chief
industries are shipbuilding, cement works, and a shipping trade, chiefly
in coal and iron. WEST HARTLEPOOL (43), lies on the opposite and
south side of the bay, 1 m. distant, but practically forming one town
with Hartlepool, and carries on a similar trade, but on a somewhat larger
scale; the extensive docks, stretching between the two towns, cover an
area of 300 acres.
HARTLEY, DAVID, an English philosopher and physician; wrote
"Observations on Man, his Frame, his Duty, and his Expectations";
ascribed sensation to vibration in the nerves, and applied the doctrine
of the association of ideas to mental phenomena (1705-1757).
HARTMANN, a German philosopher, born at Berlin; established his fame
by a work entitled the "Philosophy of the Unconscious," which rapidly
passed through nine editions; he has since written on pessimism, the
moral and the religious consciousness, the philosophy of the beautiful,
and spiritualism; he is the founder of a new school of philosophy, which
professes to be a synthesis of that of Hegel and that of Schopenhauer,
and to aim at the reconciliation of philosophic results with scientific;
_b_. 1842.
HARTMANN, MORITZ, a German poet; had a keen sympathy with the
liberal political ideas that prevailed in 1848, and which his poems
contributed to foster, and on account of which he got into trouble
(1821-1872).
HARTZENBUSCH, JUAN EUGENIO, Spanish dramatist, born at Madrid, of
German extraction; was educated under the Jesuits, but abandoned his
intention of joining the Church, took to literature, and was given a post
in the National Library at Madrid; his dramas are fresh and vigorous, and
enjoy a wide popularity; he rose to be Director of the National Library,
and in 1852 was President of the Theatrical Council (1806-1880).
HARUS`PICES, among the Romans, soothsayers who affected to foretell
future events by the inspection of the entrails of animals offered in
sacrifice, as well as by study of abnormal phenomena.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, the oldest and premier educational institution
in the United States, is located at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 3 m. W. of
Boston; it is named after the Rev. John Harvard, a graduate of Cambridge,
who by the bequest of his library and small fortune helped to launch the
institution in 1638; it was originally intended for the training of
youths for the Puritan ministry, but it has during the present century
been extended into a university of the first rank, under emancipation
from all sectarian control; it has a student roll of about 3000, is
splendidly equipped, and now richly endowed.
HARVEST-MOON, the full moon which in our latitude, at the autumnal
equinox, rises for an evening or two about the same time.
HARVEY, SIR GEORGE, a Scotch artist, born at St. Ninians, Stirling;
was one of the original associates of the Royal Scottish Academy, of
which he at length became president; among his paintings are the
"Covenanters' Preaching," "The Curlers," and "John Bunyan in Jail"
(1805-1880).
HARVEY, WILLIAM, a celebrated English physician, born at Folkestone,
in Kent; graduated at Cambridge, and in 1602 received his medical diploma
at Padua; settling in London, he in a few years became physician to St.
Bartholomew's Hospital, and subsequently lecturer at the College of
Physicians; in 1628 he announced in a published treatise his discovery of
the circulation of the blood; for many years he was Court physician, and
attended Charles I. at the battle of Edgehill (1578-1657).
HARWICH (8), a seaport and market town of Essex; is situated on a
headland on the S. side of the conjoined estuaries of the Stour and the
Orwell, 5 m. N. of the Naze and 65 m. NE. of London; it is an important
packet station for Holland, has a good harbour and docks, with an
increasing commerce.
HARZ MOUNTAINS, a mountain range of N. Germany, stretching for 57 m.
between the Weser and the Elbe to the S. of Brunswick; it forms a
picturesque and diversified highland, is a favourite resort of tourists,
and rises to its greatest elevation in the far-famed _BROCKEN_
(q. v.); the scene of the Walpurgisnacht in "Faust"; silver, iron, and
other metals are found in considerable quantities, and, with the
extensive forests, give rise to a prosperous mining and timber industry.
HASDRUBAL, the name of several distinguished Carthaginian generals,
of whom the most noted were (1), the son of HAMILCAR BARCA (q. v.)
and brother of HANNIBAL (q. v.); he played a prominent part
in the Second Punic War, conquered Cn. Scipio in Spain (212 B.C.), and
subsequently commanded the Carthaginian army in Italy; he fell at the
battle of the Metaurus in 207 B.C.: (2) the brother-in-law of Hamilcar
Barca, whom he succeeded in 228 B.C. as administrator of the new empire
in the Iberian peninsula; he pushed the western frontiers back to the
Tagus, and by his strong yet conciliatory government firmly established
the Carthaginian power; he was assassinated in 221 B.C.
HASE, KARL AUGUST, an eminent German theologian, born at Steinbach,
Saxony, professor at Jena; author of a "Text-book of Evangelical Dogma,"
a "Life of Christ," a "Church History," &c., was equally opposed to
orthodoxy and rationalism, and sought to reconcile the creed of the
Church with the conclusions of science (1800-1890).
HASHISH, an intoxicant made from Indian hemp, having different
effects on different individuals according to the dose and to the
constitution of the individual.
HASLINGDEN (18), a busy market-town of Lancashire, 19 m. NW. of
Manchester; has flourishing cotton, silk, and woollen factories, and in
the vicinity are coal-mines, iron-works, &c.
HASSAN PASHA, a Turkish grand-vizier of African birth; twice reduced
the beys of Egypt; commanded, at the age of 85, the Turkish forces
against Russia in 1788, but being defeated, was dismissed and put to
death in 1790.
HASSELT (13); a Belgian town, capital of the province of Limburg, 47
m. NE. of Brussels; distilling, and the manufacture of lace, linen, and
tobacco are the staple industries.
HASTINGS (61), a popular holiday and health resort in Sussex;
occupies a fine situation on the coast, with lofty cliffs behind, 33 m.
E. of Brighton; has a splendid esplanade 3 m. long, parks, public
gardens, &c., and ruins of a castle.
HASTINGS, BATTLE OF, fought on 14th October 1066, on Senlac Hill, 6
m. NW. of Hastings (where now stands the little town of Battle), between
William, Duke of Normandy and Harold II., King of England; victory rested
with the Normans, and Harold was slain on the field.
HASTINGS, FRANCIS RAWDON-HASTINGS, MARQUIS OF, Governor-General of
India; entering the army in 1771, he saw active service in the American
War and in Holland; succeeded his father in the earldom of Moira; was in
1813 appointed to the Governor-Generalship of India; he was instrumental
in extending the Company's territories, and pacifying the warlike
Goorkhas, for which, in 1816, he was created Marquis of Hastings;
latterly he held the Governorship of Malta (1754-1826).
HASTINGS, WARREN, first Governor-General of India, born at
Churchill, Oxfordshire; early left an orphan, he was maintained at
Westminster School by his uncle, and at 17 received a clerkship in the
East India Company; for 14 years his life was occupied in mercantile and
political work, at the close of which time he returned to England; in
1769 he was back in India as a member of the Madras Council; married the
divorced wife of Baron Imhoff, and in 1772 was appointed President of the
Council in Bengal; under the new arrangement for the governing of the
provinces, Hastings was raised to the position of Governor-General in
1773; despite jealousies and misrepresentations both among his colleagues
in India and the home authorities, he steadily, and with untiring energy,
extended and brought into orderly government the British dominions; in
1785 he voluntarily resigned, and on his return he was impeached before
the House of Lords for oppression of the natives, and for conniving at
the plunder of the Begums or dowager-princesses of Oudh; the trial
brought forth the greatest orators of the day, Burke, Fox, and Sheridan
leading the impeachment, which, after dragging on for nearly eight years,
resulted in the acquittal of Hastings on all the charges; his fortune
having been consumed by the enormous expenses of the trial, he was
awarded a handsome pension by the Company, and thereafter lived in
honoured retirement (1732-1818).
HATCH, EDWIN, theologian, born at Derby; graduated at Oxford, and
was for some years professor of Classics in Trinity College, Toronto; in
1867 was appointed Vice-Principal of St. Mary Hall, Oxford; Rector of
Purleigh, Essex, in 1883; reader in Ecclesiastical History at Oxford; he
held the Grinfield, Bampton, and Hibbert lectureships at different times,
and established a reputation, both abroad and at home, for wide and
accurate scholarship; HARNACK (q. v.) translated his learned
lectures on "The Organisation of the Early Christian Churches"; and "The
Growth of Church Institutions" displayed his rare gift of combining
profound scholarship with popular presentation (1835-1889).
HATFIELD, or BISHOP'S HATFIELD (4), a market-town of
Hertfordshire, 18 m. NW. of London; its parish church dates from the 13th
century, and in the vicinity stands Hatfield House, a noble architectural
pile of James I.'s time, the seat of the Marquis of Salisbury.
HATHERLEY, BARON, barrister, elected to represent Oxford in
Parliament; in 1847 was Solicitor-General, in 1853 raised to the bench,
and in 1868 made Lord Chancellor; retired in 1872 from failing sight
(1801-1881).
HATHRAS (39), an important commercial town in the NW. Provinces,
India, 97 m. SE. of Delhi; exports large quantities of sugar, grain,
cotton, &c., and is famed for its beautiful carved stone-and-wood-work.
HATS AND CAPS, the name of two political factions in Sweden in the
middle of the 18th century, the former favouring France and the latter
Russia.
HATTERAS, CAPE, a low sandy headland of a small island separated
from the mainland of N. Carolina, U.S., by Pimlico Sound; it is a
storm-swept and treacherous point, and is marked by a powerful light, 190
ft. high.
HATTI-SHERIFF, a name given to an edict of the Sultan which is
irrevocable, though many a one of them has proved a dead letter.
HATTO, archbishop of Mainz, of whom tradition alleges that he was
assailed in his palace by an army of mice, to escape whose ravages he
retired to a tower on the Rhine, whither the mice followed him and ate
him up, a judgment due, as is alleged, to his having, during a great
famine in 970, gathered the poor into a barn and burnt them to death, as
"like mice, good only for devouring corn," he said.
HAUBERK, a coat or tunic of mail made of interwoven steel rings and
extending below the knees.
HAUCH, HANS CARSTEN, Danish poet and novelist, born at
Frederikshald, in Norway; in 1846 he became professor of Northern
Literature at Kiel, and four years later of Æsthetics at Copenhagen; his
historical tragedies, lyrics, tales, and romances are instinct with true
poetic feeling, and are widely popular in Denmark (1790-1872).
HAUFF, WILHELM, a German prose writer, born in Stuttgart, who died
young; wrote "Memoirs of Satan" and "The Man in the Moon," and a number
of charmingly told "Tales," which have made his name famous among
ourselves (1802-1827).
HAUG, a German Orientalist, professor of Sanskrit at Poona, and
afterwards at Münich; devoted himself to the exposition of the Zendavesta
(1827-1876).
HAUSER, KASPAR, a young man of about 16 who mysteriously appeared in
Nürnberg one day in 1828, was found to be as helpless and ignorant as a
baby, and held a letter in his hand giving an account of his history. The
mystery of his case interested Lord Stanhope, who charged himself with
the care of him, but he was enticed out of the house he was boarded in
one day, returned mortally wounded, and died soon after.
HAUSSA or HOUSSA, a subject people of Central Soudan, whose
language has become the common speech of some 15 millions of people
between the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Guinea. The language is allied
to the Hamitic tongues, and is written in modified Arabic characters.
HAUSSMAN, GEORGE EUGÈNE, a celebrated Préfect of the Seine, who,
while holding that position (1853-70), carried through extensive
architectural improvements in Paris, which transformed it into one of the
handsomest cities of Europe; the enormous cost entailed brought about his
dismissal, but not before he had received many distinctions, and been
ennobled by Napoleon III.; in 1881 he was elected to the Chamber of
Deputies (1809-1891).
HAÜY, RENÉ JUST, known as the Abbé Haüy, a French mineralogist, born
at St. Just; propounded the theory of crystallisation founded on
geometrical principles; absorbed in study, was caught napping during the
Revolution; got consequently into trouble, but was extricated out of it
by his friend and pupil, Geoffrey St.-Hilaire; was appointed professor of
Mineralogy by Napoleon (1743-1823).
HAVANA (200), fortified capital of the island of Cuba, in the West
Indies; has a spacious and securely sheltered harbour, an old Spanish
cathedral, a university, botanical garden, and several fine theatres; the
town is ill laid out, badly drained, and subject to yellow fever; the
staple industries are the raising of tobacco and sugar, and the
manufacture of cigars.
HAVEL, an important tributary of the Lower Elbe, which it joins a
few miles from Wittenberg; it rises in Mecklenburg, and takes a
circuitous course past Potsdam of 180 m.
HAVELOCK, SIR HENRY, British general, born at Bishop Wearmouth;
entered the army in 1815, and embarked in the service for India in 1823;
served in the Afghan and Sikh Wars, as also in Persia; on the outbreak of
the Mutiny he was in 1857 sent to the relief of Cawnpore and Lucknow, the
latter of which places he entered on 25th Sept., where, being beleagured,
he entrenched himself in the Residency, and held his own until November,
when Sir Colin Campbell came to his relief, but his health had been
undermined from his anxieties, and he died on the 22nd of that month; for
his services on this occasion a baronetcy and a pension of £1000 was
conferred on him, but it was too late, and the honour with the pension
was transferred to his son; he was a Christian soldier, and a commander
of the Puritan type (1795-1857).
HAVERFORDWEST (6), seaport and capital of Pembroke, Wales, prettily
situated on the Cleddan, 10 m. NE. of Milford; has a 14th-century castle
and a ruined priory; the chief industry is paper-making.
HAVERGAL, FRANCES RIDLEY, a hymn-writer, born at Astley, where her
father, known as a musical composer, was rector; was authoress of
"Ministry of Song," and collections which have been highly popular
(1830-1879).
HAVERSIAN CANALS, canals in the bones to convey the vessels that
nourish them.
HAVRE, LE (116), the second commercial port in France, on the N.
side of the Seine estuary, 143 m. NW. of Paris, in the dep. of
Seine-Inférieure; has a fine harbour, docks, &c., but shipping is
incommoded by the shifting sandbanks of the estuary, and railway
facilities are poor; it is an important centre of emigration, and its
industries embrace shipbuilding, iron-works, flour-mills, &c.
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS (named by Cook the Sandwich Islands) (90), a group
of volcanic islands, 12 in number, situated in the North Pacific; total
area somewhat larger than Yorkshire. Of the five inhabited islands Hawaii
is the largest; it contains the famous volcano, Kilauea, whose crater is
one of the world's wonders, being 9 m. in circumference, and filled with
a glowing lake of molten lava which ebbs and flows like an ocean tide.
The island of Maui has the largest crater on the earth. The climate of
the group is excellent, and vegetation (including forests) is abundant;
sugar and rice are the chief crops. Honolulu (on Oahu), with a splendid
harbour, is the capital. The islands are now under the jurisdiction of
the United States.
HAWARDEN, a town 7 m. W. of Chester, near which is Hawarden Castle,
where Mr. Gladstone resided and died.
HAWEIS, HUGH REGINALD, English churchman, born at Egham, Surrey,
incumbent of St. James's, Marylebone; was present in Italy during the
revolution there, and at several of the battles; is popular as a preacher
and lecturer, and has written a number of works on the times, on music,
Christ and Christianity, &c.; _b_. 1840.
HAWES, STEPHEN, an English poet; held a post In the household of
Henry VII.; author of an allegorical poem on the right education of a
knight, entitled "The Pastime of Pleasure"; _d_. _d_. 1503.
HAWICK (19), a prosperous and ancient town of Roxburghshire, at the
confluence of the Teviot and Slitrig, 52 m. SE. of Edinburgh; is a
flourishing centre of the tweed, yarn, and hosiery trade, and has besides
dye-works, tanneries, &c.
HAWK-EYE STATE, Iowa, U.S., so called from the name of an Indian
chief once a terror in those parts.
HAWKE, LORD, an English admiral, born in London; entered the navy at
an early age in 1747; defeated a French fleet off Finisterre and captured
six ships of the line in 1759; defeated Admiral Conflans off Belleisle;
was made a peer in 1776; _d_. 1781.
HAWKER, ROBERT STEPHEN, a Cornish clergyman and poet; was vicar for
40 years of Morwenstow, a parish on the N. Cornwall coast; author of
"Cornish Ballads"; was a humane man, of eccentric ways, and passionately
fond of animals; was the author of several works besides his ballads, in
particular "Echoes from Old Cornwall" and "Footprints of Former Men in
Far Cornwall" (1805-1875).
HAWKESWORTH, JOHN, a miscellaneous writer; wrote a book of
"Voyages," an account of the first voyage of Captain Cook; was a friend
of Johnson's, and associated with him in literary work (1715-1773).
HAWKINS, SIR JOHN, an English navigator and admiral, born at
Plymouth; was rear-admiral of the fleet sent against the Armada and
contributed to its defeat; has the unenviable distinction of having been
the first Englishman to traffic in slaves, which he carried off from
Africa and imported into the West Indies (1530-1595).
HAWKINS, SIR JOHN, retired attorney, born in London; wrote a
"History of Music," and edited Walton's "Complete Angler" with notes
(1719-1789).
HAWKWOOD, SIR JOHN, an English captain, born in Essex; embracing
the profession of arms, served with distinction at Crécy and Poitiers,
and was in consequence knighted by Edward III.; afterwards fought as
free-lance with his White Company in the wars of Italy, and finally in
the service of Florence, where he spent his last days and died in 1393.
For an account of his character, military ability, and manner of warfare,
see Ruskin's "Fors Clavigera."
HAWORTH (3), a village of Yorkshire, situated on a rising moorland
in the W. Biding, 2 m. SW. of Keighley, memorable as the lifelong home of
the Brontës, and their final resting-place.
HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL, American novelist, born at Salem,
Massachusetts; his early ambition was to be a literary man, and
"Twice-told Tales" was the first production by which he won distinction,
after the publication of which he spent some months at BROOK FARM
(q. v.), leaving which he married and took up house at Concord; from
1848 to 1850 he held a State appointment, and in his leisure hours wrote
his "Scarlet Letter," which appeared in the latter year, and established
his fame as a master of literature; this was followed by "The House of
the Seven Gables," "The Snow Image," "The Blithedale Romance," and
by-and-by "The Marble Faun," and "Our Old Home" (1804-1864).
HAYDN, JOSEPH, German composer, born at Rohrau, in Austria, of poor
parents; early evinced a musical talent, and became at the age of eight a
cathedral chorister; came into notice first as a street musician; soon
became a popular music-master in Vienna, and, under the patronage of the
Esterhazys, kapellmeister to Prince Nicolaus, a passionate lover of
music; he produced operas, symphonies, and oratorios, &c.; he is at his
best in quartettes and symphonies, and in "The Creation" and "The
Seasons"; he was a man of a happy disposition, and his character appears
in his music; he was known at length as Father Haydn (1732-1809).
HAYDON, BENJAMIN ROBERT, an English historical painter, born at
Plymouth; studied at the Royal Academy, and in 1807 exhibited "Joseph and
Mary resting on the Road to Egypt"; two years later occurred his
memorable split with the Royal Academy over a supposed slight to his
picture, "Dentatus"; "Christ's Entry into Jerusalem" brought him £1700 by
exhibition, and his "Judgment of Solomon," considered his finest work,
sold for 700 guineas; despite large sums obtained for "The Mock
Election," "The Reform Banquet," &c., he was continually in debt, and his
high-strung, sensitive temperament, smarting under imaginary slights and
weary of unrealised ambitions, led him to commit suicide by shooting
himself in his studio; he was an artist of great but unequal genius; he
was fascinated with the Elgin Marbles, and the admiration he expressed
for them contributed to persuade the Government to purchase them
(1786-1846).
HAYES, ISAAC ISRAEL, Arctic explorer, born in Pennsylvania; after
graduating in medicine, joined the Kane expedition in search of Franklin
in 1853, and subsequently made two other voyages to the Arctic regions,
accounts of which are given in his "An Arctic Boat-journey," "The Land of
Desolation," &c.; subsequently he served as a surgeon during the Civil
War, and sat in the New York Assembly (1832-1881).
HAYES, RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD, President of the United States, born at
Delaware, Ohio; graduated at Kenyon College, Ohio; studied law at
Harvard, and started practice at Cincinnati; he served with distinction
through the Civil War, entered Congress in 1865, and was thrice governor
of Ohio; in 1876 he was elected President in the Republican interest
after a protracted and bitterly disputed election; he did much to pacify
the South, reform the civil service, advance education, and to bring
about resumption of specie payments, measures which greatly restored the
prosperity of the country (1822-1893).
HAY-FEVER, a sort of catarrh, accompanied with paroxysms of
sneezing, irritation in the eyes, pains in the head, &c., most frequent
in early summer.
HAYLEY, WILLIAM, poet, the friend and biographer of Cowper; wrote
"Triumphs of Temper," a poem (1745-1820).
HAYM, RUDOLF, professor of Philosophy at Halle; wrote biographies of
Hegel, W. von Humboldt, and Schopenhauer; _b_. 1821.
HAYNAU, JULIUS JAKOB, BARON VON, a notorious Austrian general, born
at Cassel, Germany; entered the army in 1801, and while holding a command
during the Italian campaigns of 1848-49, crushed the revolt at Brescia
with such brutal ferocity as to gain him the name of the "Hyæna of
Brescia"; he was for a time dictator of Hungary, but his murderous
cruelty towards the subjugate people became a European scandal and led to
his removal; in London he was mobbed and narrowly escaped with his life
(1786-1853).
HAYTI (Hispaniola or Santo Domingo), next to Cuba the largest of the
W. Indian Islands, in the group of the Greater Antilles, lies midway
between Cuba on the W. and Porto Rico on the E.; its area, somewhat
larger than Scotland, is apportioned between the negro Republic of Hayti
in the E. and the mulatto Dominican Republic in the W.; the island is
mountainous, and forests of valuable timber abound; a warm, moist climate
favours rice, cotton, &c., and minerals are plentiful; but during this
century, under native government, the island has been retrogressive;
agriculture and mining are practically at a standstill, while the natives
seem incapable of self-government; the language spoken is a corrupt
French; Port-au-Prince and San Domingo are the chief towns; discovered in
1492 by Columbus, the island was soon denuded of its aboriginals, then
peopled by imported negroes, joined latterly by French buccaneers; in
1697 the island was ceded to France, but in 1791, under TOUSSAINT
L'OUVERTURE (q. v.), the blacks, after a bloody revolution, swept
the island clear of Europeans; population of island somewhat over a
million.
HAYWARD, ABRAHAM, English essayist; bred to law, but took to
literature; executed a prose translation of "Faust," Pt. I. (1802-1884).
HAZLITT, WILLIAM, critic and essayist, born in Maidstone, of Irish
descent; began life as an artist, but abandoned art for letters, and
contributed to the reviews; wrote on the English poets and dramatists,
the "Characters of Shakespeare's Plays," "The Spirit of the Age," a "Life
of Napoleon," &c.; criticism was his _forte_, and he ranks among the
foremost devoted to that art; his life was not well regulated, his health
gave way, and he died in poverty (1778-1830).
HEAD, SIR EDMUND WALKER, BART., writer on art, born near Maidstone,
Kent, succeeded to the baronetcy in 1838; became lieutenant-governor of
New Brunswick in 1847, and governor-general of Canada in 1854; wrote
"Handbook of Spanish Painting," also "French Art," and some poems
(1805-1868).
HEAD, SIR FRANCIS BOND, soldier and author; governor of Upper
Canada; suppressed an insurrection; wrote a "Life of Bruce the African
Traveller," "Bubbles from the Brunnen of Nassau," "A Faggot of French
Sticks," &c. (1793-1875).
HEAD-HUNTERS, name given to the Dyaks of Borneo, from their habit of
preserving in the way of trophy the heads of those whom they slay in
battle, as the Red Indians did the scalps.
HEADRIGG, CUDDIE (i. e. Cuthbert), a ploughman in "Old Mortality."
HEALY, TIMOTHY MICHAEL, Irish Nationalist, born at Bantry, Cork;
came into prominence during the Land League agitation in 1880, and in the
same year was returned to Parliament; was called to the Irish bar in
1884, and has since been active in promoting the interests of the Home
Rule movement; in 1890 he was one of the leaders in the revolt against
Parnell; _b_. 1855.
HEARNE, THOMAS, a noted English antiquary, born in White Waltham,
Berks; graduated at Oxford in 1699, and subsequently became second keeper
of the Bodleian Library; his compilations and editions of old English
texts, e. g. Camden's "Annals," Robert of Gloucester's "Chronicle,"
display wide and ingenious scholarship; he figures in Pope's "Dunciad"
(1678-1735).
HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN, the old Tolbooth or jail of Edinburgh, the
capital of Midlothian, which gives name to one of Scott's best novels.
HEATHENISM, as defined by Carlyle, "plurality of gods, mere sensuous
representation of the Mystery of Life, and for chief recognised element
therein Physical Force, as contrasted with Christianism, or Faith in an
Invisible, not as real only, but as the only reality; Time, through every
meanest moment of it, resting on Eternity; Pagan empire of Force
displaced by a nobler supremacy, that of Holiness."
HEATHFIELD, GEORGE AUGUSTUS ELIOTT, LORD, a gallant general, the
defender of Gibraltar, son of Sir Gilbert Eliott, born at Stobs, in
Roxburghshire; saw service first in the war of the Austrian Succession,
fighting at Dettingen and Fontenoy; as a colonel he fought with English
troops in alliance with Frederick the Great against Austria; for his
heroic defence of Gibraltar (1779-1783) against the combined forces of
France and Spain he was raised to the peerage as Baron of Gibraltar
(1717-1790).
HEAVEN, in Christian theology the place of the immediate Divine
presence, where God manifests Himself without veil, and His saints enjoy
that presence and know as they are known. In Scripture it denotes, (1)
the atmosphere, (2) the starry region, (3) a state of bliss, (4) as
defined, the divine presence, and (5) God Himself.
HEAVE-OFFERING, among the Jews, an offering for the support of
divine service, so called as, when offered, lifted up in presence of the
people.
HEBBEL, FRIEDRICH, lyrist and dramatist, born at Weselburen,
Ditmarsh; settled in Vienna in 1846; "Die Nibelungen" is his best play,
others are "Judith," "Maria Magdalena," &c.; his dramas are vigorous and
original, but ill-proportioned, and in the passions they depict abnormal;
his works are collected in 12 vols. (1813-1863).
HEBE, goddess of eternal youth, daughter of Zeus and Hera; was the
cup-bearer of the gods; was superseded by Ganymedes, and became the wife
of Hercules after his admission among the immortals.
HEBER, REGINALD, bishop of Calcutta, born in Cheshire, author of a
prize poem entitled "Palestine" and a volume of "Hymns," several of them
famous; died at his post in Trichinopoly; left a narrative of a "Journey
through India" (1783-1826).
HÉBERT, JACQUES RENÉ, commonly called Per Duchesne as editor of a
journal of that name, a violent revolutionary organ; took part in the
September Massacres; brutally insulted the queen at her trial, to the
disgust of Robespierre; was arrested by his colleagues, whom he dared to
oppose, and guillotined, his widow found weeping, following him to his
doom (1756-1794).
HEBREW, a Semitic language, the ancient language of the Jews, and
that in which the Old Testament is written, the words of which, as indeed
of others of the same stock, are derived from triliteral roots, and the
verb in which has no present tense, only a past and a future,
convertible, moreover, into one another.
HEBREW POETRY is of two kinds, either lyric or gnomic, i. e.
subjectively emotional or sententiously didactic, the former belonging to
the active or stirring, and the latter to the reflective or quiet,
periods of Hebrew history, and whether expressed in lyric or gnome rises
in the conscience and terminates in action; for Hebrew thought needs to
go no higher, since therein it finds and affirms God; and it seeks to go
no farther, for therein it compasses all being, and requires no epic and
no drama to work out its destiny. However individualistic in feature, as
working through the conscience, it yet relates itself to the whole moral
world, and however it may express itself, it beats in accord with the
pulse of eternity. The lyric expression of the Hebrew temper we find in
the Psalms and the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and the gnomic in the books
of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, while the book of Job, which is only
dramatic in form, is partly lyric and partly dramatic.
HEBREW PROPHECY had throughout regard for the Jews as a nation and
to see that it fulfilled its destiny as such in the world. This purpose
we see carried out by five steps or stages. It taught, first, by the
NEBIIM (q. v.), that the nation must regard itself as one nation;
secondly, by Elijah, that it must have Jehovah alone for its God;
thirdly, by Amos, that as a nation it was not necessarily God's chosen;
fourthly, by Isaiah, that it existed for the preservation of a holy seed;
and finally, that it ceased to exist when it was felt that religion
primarily concerned the individual and was wholly an affair of the
conscience. Thus does Hebrew prophecy terminate when it leads up to
Christianity, the first requirement of which is a regeneration of the
heart (John iii. 3), and the great promise of which is the outpouring of
a spirit that "will guide into all truth" (John xvi. 13).
HEBREWS, EPISTLE TO THE, an epistle of the New Testament of
uncertain authorship addressed to Christians of Jewish descent, who were
strongly tempted, by the persecution they were subjected to at the hands
of their Jewish brethren, to renounce the cross of Christ, which it was
feared they would too readily do, and so to their own ruin crucify the
Son of God afresh, there being only this alternative for them, either
crucifixion _with_ Christ or crucifixion _of_ Christ, and death of all
their hopes founded on Him.
HEBRIDES, or WESTERN ISLANDS, a general name for the islands on
the west coast of Scotland (save the islands of the Firth of Clyde),
about 500 in number, of which 100 are inhabited; they belong to the
counties of Ross, Inverness, and Argyll, and are divided by the Little
Minch and the Minch into the Outer Hebrides, of which the chief are
Lewis, Harris, North and South Uist, Benbecula, &c.; and the Inner
Hebrides, including Skye, Rum, Mull, Iona, Staffa, &c.; they have wild
and rocky coasts, but are picturesque and verdurous, and are much
frequented by tourists; the climate is mild and moist; cattle and sheep
rearing and fishing are the chief industries.
HEBRON, an ancient town and city of refuge, originally called
Kirjath-arba, i. e. four cities, only 20 m. S. of Jerusalem; it is a
poor place now, but still abounds in orchards and vineyards.
HECATÆUS OF MILETUS, styled the "logographer," who flourished about
500 B.C.; visited many countries, and wrote two books, "The Tour of the
World" and "Genealogies or Histories," the former containing descriptions
of the places he visited, and the latter an account of the poetical
fables and traditions of the Greeks.
HECATE, in the Greek mythology a mysterious divinity of the Titan
brood and held in honour by all the gods, identified with Phoebe in
heaven, Artemis on earth, and Persephone in Hades, as being invested with
authority in all three regions; came to be regarded exclusively as an
infernal deity, having under her command and at her beck all manner of
demons and phantom spirits.
HECKER, FRIEDRICH KARL FRANZ, a German revolutionary, born at
Eichtersheim, Baden; practised as an advocate in Mannheim, and in 1842
became an active democrat and Socialist; frustrated in an attempt during
the '48 Revolution to create a republican assembly, he headed a
revolutionary attack upon Baden, was defeated, and subsequently settled
in the United States, where he took to farming; took part in the Civil
War at the head of a regiment of Germans, and became a commander of a
brigade (1811-1881).
HECKER, JUSTUS FRIEDRICH KARL, author of a great work on the
"Epidemics of the Middle Ages"; was a professor of Medicine at Berlin
(1795-1850).
HECKMONDWIKE (10), a market-town in Yorkshire, 8 m. NE. of
Huddersfield; is the principal seat of the carpet and blanket
manufactures in the West Riding.
HECLA or HEKLA, the loftiest of 20 active volcanoes in Iceland
(5102 ft.); is an isolated peak with five craters, 68 m. E. of Reykjavik;
its most violent outbreak in recent times continued from 1845 to 1846;
its last eruption was in March 1878.
HECTIC FEVER, a fever connected with consumption, and showing itself
by a bright pink flush on the cheeks.
HECTOR, the chief hero of Troy in the war with the Greeks, the son
of Priam and Hecuba; fought with the bravest of the enemy and finally
slew Patroclus, the friend of ACHILLES (q. v.), which roused the
latter from his long lethargy to challenge him to fight; Achilles chased
him three times round the city, pierced him with his spear, and dragged
his dead body after his chariot round Ilium; his body was at the command
of Zeus delivered up to Priam and buried with great pomp within the city
walls.
HECUBA, the wife of Priam, king of Troy; distinguished both as a
wife and a mother; on the fall of the city she fell into the hands of the
Greeks, and, according to one tradition, was made a slave, and, according
to another, threw herself in despair into the sea.
HEDONISM, the doctrine of the Cyrenaics that pleasure is the end of
life, and the measure of virtue, or the _summum bonum_.
HEEM, JAN DAVIDSZ VAN, a famous Dutch painter, born at Utrecht; had
a prosperous and uneventful career in Antwerp, where in 1635 he became a
member of the Guild of Painters; he is considered the greatest of the
"still life" painters; his pictures, masterpieces of colouring and
chiaroscuro, have a great monetary value, and are to be found in the
famous galleries of Amsterdam, Vienna, Berlin, St. Petersburg, &c.
(1606-1684).
HEEREN, LUDWIG, a German historian; professor of History at
Göttingen; wrote on ancient and modern history, specially the ancient and
its antiquities; eminent in both (1760-1842).
HEFELE, KARL JOSEPH VON, a Catholic Church historian, born at
Unterkochen, in Würtemberg; in 1840 became professor of Church History
and Christian Archæology in the Catholic Theological Faculty in Tübingen
University, and in 1869 Bishop of Rottenburg; was for some time zealously
opposed to the doctrine of the Papal infallibility, but subsequently
acquiesced, putting, however, his own construction on it; his best-known
works are the "History of the Christian Councils" and "Contributions to
Church History" (1809-1893).
HEGEL, GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH, German philosopher, the greatest of
all, born in Stuttgart; studied first at Tübingen, with a view to
theology; as a student attracted no particular attention, was outstript
by Schelling; did domestic tutoring for a time; qualified at Jena for an
academic career; adhered to and collaborated with Schelling in
philosophy; first announced himself in 1807 by his work, "Phenomenology
of the Spirit"; became rector of the Academy at Nürnberg, where in
1812-16 he composed his "Logic"; was in 1816 appointed professor of
Philosophy at Heidelberg, whence he was removed to Berlin in 1818, where,
his philosophy being now matured, he began to apply it with intense
earnestness to every subject of human interest; he was the last of a line
of thinkers beginning with Kant, with whom, however, he affiliated
directly, and in his idealism philosophy first reached the goal which it
was till then with hesitating steps only stretching forward to; his works
fill 22 goodly sized volumes, and his system may be grouped under three
heads, the "Science of Logic," the "Philosophy of Nature," and the
"Philosophy of Spirit" (1770-1831).
HEGELIANISM, the philosophy of Hegel, which resolves being into
thought, and thought into the unity of the logical moments of simple
apprehension, judgment, and reason, all purely spiritual acts, whereby
being in itself, or _seyn_, becomes other than itself, or _daseyn_, and
returns into itself, or _für sich seyn_, the universal being first by
separating from itself particularised, and then by return into itself
individualised, the whole being what Hegel characterises as _Der Process
des Geistes_, "The Process of the Spirit." Something like this is what
Dr. Stirling calls "The Secret of Hegel," and an open secret it is, for
he finds it pervading the whole system; "open where you will in Hegel,"
he says, "you find him always engaged in saying pretty well the same
thing"; always identity by otherness passing into selfness, or making
that _for_ itself which is at first _in_ itself;--a philosophy which is
anticipated by the doctrine of St. Paul, which represents God as the One
_from_ whom are all things as Father, and _through_ whom are all things
as Son, and _to_ whom are all things as Spirit, the One who is thus All;
it is also involved in the doctrine of Christ when He says God is Spirit,
or the Living One who lives, and manifests Himself in life, for Himself,
from Himself, and through Himself, who, so to say, thus concretes Himself
throughout the universe.
HEGE`SIAS, a Cyrenaic philosopher, who held that life was full of
evils, that it was in vain to seek after pleasure, and that all a wise
man could do was to fortify himself as best he could against pain.
HEGESIPPUS, a Church historian of the 2nd century, a convert from
Judaism; only fragments of his "Memoirs of Ecclesiastical Affairs"
remain.
HEIDELBERG (35), a celebrated German city, in Baden, situated amid
beautiful surroundings, on the Neckar, 13 m. SE. of Mannheim; has many
interesting buildings, including ruins of a splendid 13th-century castle,
but is chiefly celebrated for its flourishing university (student roll,
800; professors, 100; library, 500,000), whose professoriate has included
many of the most distinguished German scholars; it was long the centre of
Calvinism; its chief trade is in books, tobacco, wine, and beer.
HEIJN, or HEYN, PETER PETERSEN, a famous Dutch admiral, born at
Delftshaven; from being a cabin-boy rose to be commander of the Dutch
fleet; off the east coast of S. America he twice defeated the Spanish
fleet, securing an immense booty, and in 1628 captured a flotilla of
Spanish galleons with silver and jewels equal to 16,000,000 Dutch
guilders; fell in an action off Dunkirk (1577-1629).
HEILBRONN (30), a quaint old town of Würtemberg, on the Neckar, 23
m. N. of Stuttgart; has a fine 11th-century Gothic church, and the
Thief's Tower (Diebsthurm); is associated with the captivity of GOETZ
VON BERLICHINGEN (q. v.); it is now a busy commercial centre, and
manufactures silverware, paper, beet-sugar, chemicals, &c.
HEILSBRONN, a Bavarian market-town, 16 m. SW. of Nüremberg; is
celebrated for its Cistercian monastery, now suppressed, but whose church
still contains monuments and art relics of great historic interest.
HEINE, HEINRICH, a German lyric poet, born at Düsseldorf, of Jewish
parents; was bred to law, but devoted himself to literature, and mingled
with literary people, and associated in particular with the Varnhagen von
Ense circle; first became notable by the publication of his "Reisebilder"
and his "Buch der Lieder," the appearance of which created a wide-spread
enthusiasm in Germany in 1825 he abandoned the Jewish faith and professed
the Christian, but the creed he adopted was that of a sceptic, and he
indulged in a cynicism that outraged all propriety, and even common
decency; in 1830 he quitted Germany and settled in Paris, and there a few
years afterwards married a rich lady, who alleviated the sufferings of
his last years; an attack of paralysis in 1847 left him only one eye, and
in the following year he lost the other, but under these privations and
much bodily pain he bore up with a singular fortitude, and continued his
literary labours to the last; in his songs he was at his best, and by
these alone it is believed he will be chiefly remembered (1797-1856).
HEINECCIUS, JOHANN GOTTLIEB, a celebrated German jurist, born at
Eisenberg; was successively professor of Philosophy and subsequently of
Law at several universities of Germany; he wrote several learned works in
law treated from a philosophical standpoint; mention may be made of his
"Historia Juris Civilis Romani" and "Elementa Juris Naturæ Gentium"
(1681-1741).
HEINSIUS, ANTHONY, a noted Dutch statesman, born at Delft; became
Grand Pensionary of Holland; was the intimate friend and correspondent of
William III. of England, who left the guidance of Dutch affairs largely
in his hands (1641-1720).
HEIR APPARENT, one whose right of succession is sure if he survive
the present holder.
HEIR PRESUMPTIVE, one whose right of succession is sure if not
barred by the birth of one nearer.
HEJAZ, EL, the holy land of the Moslems, a district of Arabia Felix,
and so called by containing the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina.
HEJIRA or HEJRA (Arabic, "going away"), a word applied to
Mahomet's flight from Mecca to Medina in A.D. 622; Calif Omar, 17 years
later, adopted this date as the starting-point of a new Mohammedan
calendar.
HEL or HELA, in Scandinavian mythology an inexorable divinity,
the death-goddess who presides over the icy realm of the dead; her maw
was insatiable and her heart pitiless.
HELDENBUCH, a collection of German heroic poems relating heroic
deeds and events connected with the inroads of the barbarians on the
empire.
HELDER, THE (25), a strongly fortified and flourishing seaport in
North Holland, on the Marsdiep, at the N. end of the North Holland Canal,
51 m. NW. of Amsterdam; is an important naval centre, and has an
excellent harbour.
HELEN, the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and the wife of Menelaus, king
of Sparta; the most beautiful of women, who was carried off to Troy by
Paris, to revenge whose abduction the princes of Greece, who had pledged
themselves to protect her, made war on Troy, a war which lasted ten
years.
HELENA, ST., the mother of Constantine the Great; is said to have
visited Jerusalem and discovered the Holy Sepulchre and the cross on
which Christ was crucified; _d_. 328, at the age of 80. Festival, Aug.
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