The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
by
Edited by Rev. James Wood
Part 24 out of 53
and was an active promoter of scientific societies in London (1800-1875).
GRAY, THOMAS, English poet, born in Cornhill, London, for whom
Horace Walpole conceived a warm attachment, which, after a brief rupture,
lasted with life; gave himself up to the study of Greek literature, and
began to cultivate the muse of poetry; produced in 1747 "Ode on a Distant
Prospect of Eton College," and in 1750 his well-known "Elegy written in a
Country Churchyard"; these were followed by the "Pindaric Odes," the
"Progress of Poesy," and the "Bard," which was finished in 1757; in 1760
he was presented by the Duke of Grafton with the professorship of Modern
History in Cambridge, a sinecure office with L400 a year. "All is clear
light," says Stopford Brooke, "in Gray's work. Out of the love of Greek
he drew his fine lucidity.... He moved with easy power over many forms of
poetry, but there is naturalness and no rudeness in the power. It was
adorned by high ornament and finish.... The 'Elegy' will always remain
one of the beloved poems of Englishmen; it is not only a piece of
exquisite work; it is steeped in England" (1716-1771).
GREAT COMMONER, WILLIAM PITT, who became Earl Chatham (q. v.).
GREAT DUKE, DUKE OF WELLINGTON (q. v.).
GREAT EASTERN, the name of the largest ship ever built; was designed
by Brunel and Scott Russell; laid down at Milwall in 1854, and launched
in 1858, having cost L732,000; it did not prove a successful venture; was
latterly used for laying the Atlantic cables; subsequently became a
coal-hulk at Gibraltar, and in the end was sold in 1888 for old iron.
GREAT ELECTOR, Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
(1620-1683).
GREAT HARRY, a man-of-war built by Henry VII., the first of any size
built in England.
GREAT MAGICIAN, Sir Walter Scott.
GREAT MORALIST, SAMUEL JOHNSON (q. v.), from the character
of his writings.
GREAT SALT LAKE, in N. of Utah, U.S., stretches upwards of 80 m.
along the western base of the Wahsatch Mountains, about 4200 ft. above
the sea-level; it is from 20 to 32 m. broad, and very shallow; Antelope
Island, 18 m. long, is the largest island; the coast is rugged and
desolate; its clear waters hold no fish, and the surplus inflow is
carried off by evaporation only.
GREAT SLAVE LAKE, 300 m. long and 50 at its greatest breadth; lies
within the Canadian NW. Territory; the Mackenzie River carries its
overflow to the Arctic Ocean.
GREAT UNKNOWN, THE, author of "Waverley" and Waverley novels.
GREAT UNWASHED, THE, the artisan class.
GREATHEART, in the "Pilgrim's Progress," the guide of Christiana and
her family to the Celestial City.
GREECE (2,187), a kingdom of S. Europe occupying the southern
portion of a peninsula which projects into the Mediterranean between the
peninsula of Italy and the mainland of Turkey in Asia; the N. is bounded
by Turkey in Europe; it is made up of the N. and S. divisions connected
by the narrow and canalled isthmus of Corinth, the Ionian Islands in the
W., and the Cyclades and Sporades in the E.; it is a mountainous region,
and many of the peaks are rich in classic associations, e. g. Olympus,
Parnassus, and Helicon; the rivers are of no great size, and the lakes
though numerous are inconsiderable; in the valleys the soil is fertile
and agriculture is actively engaged in, although the methods adopted are
still somewhat primitive; but favoured by a delightful climate the vine,
olive, and other fruit-trees flourish; currants are the chief article of
export, and textiles and cereals the principal imports; milling, dyeing,
distilling, and tanning are important industries; various minerals are
found, and the marble from Paros is famed as the finest for statue
carving; there is a considerable mercantile marine, and a busy shipping
trade of a small kind among the islands and along the deeply indented
coast, and also valuable coral and sponge fisheries; the government is a
limited and hereditary monarchy, and the legislative power is vested in
an elected chamber of, at least, 150 paid representatives, called the
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 L167,259 a year, have been distributed
in pensions and also utilised for the upkeep of Greenwich Hospital
Schools (where 1000 children of seamen receive board and education);
since 1873 this hospital has served as the college for the Royal Navy.
GREENWOOD, FREDERICK, publicist and journalist; editor of _Cornhill
Magazine_, author of Life of Napoleon III., "Lover's Lexicon," and
"Dreams"; _b_. 1830.
GREG, WILLIAM RATHBONE, literary and political essayist, born in
Manchester; in 1856 became a Commissioner of Customs, and from 1864 till
his resignation in 1877 acted as Controller of H.M. Stationery Office;
his works embrace "The Creed of Christendom," "Enigmas of Life,"
"Political Problems," &c., and are marked by vigorous thought couched in
a lucid, incisive style; was from his evil prognostications designated
Cassandra Greg (1809-1881).
GREGOIRE, HENRI, bishop of Blois, born at Veho, near Luneville, one
of the clerical deputies to the States-General of 1789; attached himself
to the Tiers-etat, was a member of the National Convention, and a staunch
advocate for civil and religious liberty, but refused resolutely to
follow "Goose Gobel," the archbishop of Paris, and renounce the Christian
religion and deny his Master (1750-1831). See CARLYLE'S "FRENCH
REVOLUTION."
GREGORIAN CALENDAR, the regulation of the year according to the
correction introduced by Gregory XIII. in 1582 of the Julian calendar,
which allowed the year 11 minutes and 10 seconds too much.
GREGORIAN YEAR, the civil year according to the correction of the
Gregorian calendar.
GREGORY, the name of 16 popes: G. I., the Great, Pope from 590
to 604; G. II., st., pope from 715 to 731; G. III., Pope from
731 to 741; G. IV., pope from 827 to 844; G. V., Pope from 996
to 997; G. VI., pope from 1045 to 1046; G. VII., Pope from 1073
to 1085; G. VIII., pope in 1187; G. IX., Pope from 1227 to
1241; G. X., pope from 1271 to 1276; G. XI, Pope from 1370 to
1378; G. XII., pope from 1406 to 1415; G. XIII., Pope from 1572
to 1585; G. XIV., pope from 1590 to 1591; G. XV., Pope from
1621 to 1623; G. XVI., Pope from 1831 1846. Of these the following
are worthy of note:--
GREGORY I., THE GREAT, and ST., born in Rome, son of a senator;
made praetor of Rome; relinquished the office and became a monk; devoted
himself to the regulation of church worship (instituting, among other
things, the liturgy of the Mass), to the reformation of the monks and
clergy, and to the propagation of the faith; saw some fair-haired British
youths in the slave-market at Rome one day; on being told they were
Angles, he said they should be Angels, and resolved from that day on the
conversion of the nation they belonged to, and sent over seas for that
purpose a body of monks under Augustin.
GREGORY II., ST., born at Rome and bred a Benedictine; is celebrated
for his zeal in promoting the independence of the Church and the
supremacy of the see of Rome, and for his defence of the use of images in
worship.
GREGORY III., born in Syria; was successor of Gregory II., and
carried out the same policy to the territorial aggrandisement of the Holy
See at a time when it might have been overborne by secular invasions.
GREGORY VII., HILDEBRAND, born in Tuscany; bred up as a monk in a
life of severe austerity, he became sensible of the formidable evils
tending to the corruption of the clergy, due to their dependence on the
Emperor for investiture into their benefices, and he set himself with all
his might to denounce the usurpation and prohibit the practice, to the
extent of one day ex-communicating certain bishop who had submitted to
the royal claim and those who had invested them; his conduct roused the
Emperor, Henry IV., who went the length of deposing him, upon which the
Pope retaliated with a threat of excommunication; it ended in the final
submission of Henry at CANOSSA (q. v.); the terms of submission
imposed were intolerable, and Henry broke them, elected a Pope of his
own, entered Rome, was crowned by him, and besieged Gregory in San
Angelo, from which Guiscard delivered him to retire to Salerno, where he
died, 1035; he was a great man and a good Pope.
GREGORY IX., UGOLINO, born in Campania; had during his pontificate
contests with the Emperor Barbarossa, whom he twice over excommunicated;
was the personal friend of St. Francis of Assisi, whom he canonised; died
at a very advanced age.
GREGORY XIII., born in Bologna; was skilled in canon law;
distinguished himself in the Council of Trent, and by his zeal against
the Protestants; celebrated the Bartholomew Massacre by public
thanksgivings in Rome, and reformed the calendar.
GREGORY XVI., born at Belluno; occupied the Papal chair at a time of
great civil commotion, and had much to do to stem the revolutionary
movements of the time; developed ultramontanist notions, and paved the
way for the hierarchical policy of his successor Pio Nono.
GREGORY NAZIANZEN, ST., bishop of Constantinople, born in
Cappadocia; studied in Athens, where he became the friend of St. Basil,
and held discussions with Julian, afterwards emperor and apostate, who
was also studying there; had been bishop of Nazianzus before he was
raised by Theodosius to the bishopric of Constantinople, which he held
only for a year, at the end of which he retired into solitude; he was the
champion of orthodoxy, a defender of the doctrine of the Trinity, and
famed for his invectives against Julian; he has left writings that have
made his name famous, besides letters, sermons, and poems (328-389).
Festival, May 9.
GREGORY OF NYSSA, ST., one of the Fathers of the Greek Church,
brother of St. Basil, and bishop of Nyssa, in Cappadocia; he was
distinguished for his zeal against the Arians, and was banished from his
diocese at the instance of the Emperor Valens, who belonged to that sect,
but returned to it after his death; he was an eminent theologian and a
valiant defender of orthodoxy, on, according to Harnack, something like
Hegelian lines (332-400). Festival, March 9.
GREGORY OF TOURS, ST., bishop of Tours, French theologian and
historian, born at Clermont; was mixed up a good deal in the political
strife of the time, and suffered not a little persecution; was the author
of a "History of the Franks," the earliest of French chronicles,
entitling him to be regarded as the "Father of Frankish History"; his
history contains a great number of valuable documents, though it is
written in a barbarous style, and not unfrequently evinces a lack of
moral sensibility (540-594).
GREGORY THAUMATURGUS, ST., a theologian of the Greek Church, and a
convert and disciple of Origen; became bishop of Neo-Caesarea in Pontus;
was present at the Council of Antioch; numerous conversions from paganism
are ascribed to him, as well as numerous miracles; _d_. 270. Festival
November 12.
GREGORY, DAVID, nephew of succeeding, born at Aberdeen; became
professor of Mathematics in Edinburgh at the age of 23, and in 1691 was
appointed Savilian professor of Astronomy at Oxford; was one of the first
to publicly teach the principles of Newton's philosophy (1661-1708).
GREGORY, JAMES (1), inventor of the reflecting telescope, born in
Aberdeen; after a three years' residence in Padua received the
appointment of professor of Mathematics in St. Andrews, which he held
from 1669 to 1674, when he was elected to the corresponding chair in
Edinburgh; author of various mathematical treatises which display a fine
originality; he was struck blind whilst working at his telescope
(1638-1675).
GREGORY, JAMES (2), son of succeeding, was his successor in the
chair of Medicine at Edinburgh, and wrote "Philosophical and Literary
Essays"; compounded "Gregory's mixture" (1753-1821).
GREGORY, JOHN, grandson of James (1), born at Aberdeen, where he
became professor of Medicine in 1755, whence ten years later he was
translated to fill the corresponding chair in Edinburgh; his works
include, among others, "A Comparative View of the State and Faculties of
Man with those of the Animal World" (1724-1773).
GREGORY, WILLIAM, son of James (2); held successively the chairs of
Chemistry in Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh; he translated Liebig's
"Agricultural Chemistry," and was the first to advance and expound
Liebig's theories (1803-1858).
GRENADA (54), one of the most picturesque of the Windward Islands,
in the British West Indies, of volcanic origin; lies about 60 m. N. of
Venezuela; the harbour of St. George, the capital, is the most sheltered
anchorage in the Windward Islands; fruits, cocoa, and coffee are
cultivated; it was ceded by France in 1783.
GRENFELL, SIR FRANCIS WALLACE, Major-General, late Sirdar of the
Egyptian army, born in London; distinguished himself in Zulu, Transvaal,
Egyptian, and Nile expeditions (1885-1892), and commanded forces in Egypt
(1897-98); was presented by the Khedive with a sword of honour on his
retirement, in souvenir of the victories of Giniss, Gamaizo, and Toski;
_b_. 1841.
GRENOBLE (57), a strongly fortified city of France, capital of the
dep. of Isere, on the river Isere, 58 m. SE. of Lyons; there are several
fine old cathedrals, and a university with a library of 170,000 vols.;
the manufacture of kid gloves is the staple industry.
GRENVILLE, GEORGE, statesman, younger brother of Earl Temple; was
called to the bar in 1735, and six years later entered Parliament; held
various offices of State, and in 1763 succeeded Bute as Prime Minister;
his administration is noted for the prosecution of WILKES (q. v.),
and the passing of the American Stamp Act, a measure which
precipitated the American Revolution (1712-1770).
GRENVILLE, SIR RICHARD, a gallant seaman of Queen Elizabeth's time;
already a knight, commanded the first expedition sent by Raleigh to
colonise Virginia; took part in the defeat of the Armada, and in 1591,
while commanding the _Revenge_ in Lord Howard's squadron, engaged
single-handed the entire Spanish fleet off the Azores; after a desperate
fight of about 18 hours, during which time four of the Spanish vessels
were sunk, and upwards of 2000 of their men slain or drowned, he
surrendered, was carried wounded on board a Spanish ship, in which he
died; the fight is celebrated in Tennyson's noble ballad "The Revenge."
GRENVILLE, WILLIAM WYNDHAM, LORD, statesman; entered Parliament in
1782; was not a man of brilliant parts, but his integrity and capacity
for work raised him to the highest offices of State; in 1789 he was
Speaker of the House of Commons, and a year later was raised to the
peerage and made Home Secretary under Pitt; in 1791 he was Foreign
Secretary; supported Catholic Emancipation and the Abolition of the
Slave-trade; he was Premier from 1806 to 1807; later he supported Canning
and Earl Grey (1759-1834).
GRESHAM, SIR THOMAS, founder of the Royal Exchange, born in London;
son of Sir Richard Gresham, a wealthy mercer, who was knighted and made
Lord Mayor in Henry VIII.'s reign; after studying at Cambridge entered
the Mercers' Company, and in 1552, as "King's agent" in Antwerp,
negotiated important loans with the Flemish merchants; under the Catholic
regime of Mary he was dismissed, but was shortly after restored, and in
1559 appointed ambassador in Antwerp; between 1566 and 1571 he carried
through his project of erecting an Exchange, and his munificence was
further displayed in the founding of a college and eight almshouses; in
1569 he was instrumental in bringing about the important fiscal
arrangement of borrowing from home merchants instead of as formerly from
foreign merchants (1519-1579).
GRESHAM COLLEGE, college founded by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1575, and
managed by the Mercer's Company, London, where lectures are delivered,
twelve each year, by successive lecturers on physics, rhetoric,
astronomy, law, geometry, music, and divinity, to form part of the
teaching of University College.
GRETCHEN, the German diminutive for Margaret, and the name of the
guileless girl seduced by Faust in Goethe's tragedy of the name.
GRETNA GREEN, a village in Dumfriesshire, over the border from
England, famous from 1754 to 1856 for clandestine marriages, which used
latterly to be celebrated in the blacksmith's shop.
GRETRY, a celebrated musical composer, born at Liege, composed 40
operas marked by feeling and expression, the "Deux Avares," "Zemire et
Azor," and "Richard Coeur de Lion" among them; he bought Rousseau's
hermitage at Montmorency, where he died (1741-1813).
GREUZE, JEAN BAPTISTE, a French painter, much esteemed for his
portraits and exquisite _genre_ pieces; he died in poverty (1725-1805).
GREVE, PLACE DE, place of public execution in Paris at one time.
GREVILLE, CHARLES CAVENDISH FULKE, celebrated for his "Memoirs";
after quitting Oxford he acted as private secretary to Earl Bathurst, and
from 1821 to 1860 was Clerk of the Council in Ordinary; it was during his
tenure of this office that he enjoyed exceptional opportunities of
meeting the public men of his times, and of studying the changing phases
of political and court-life of which he gives so lively a picture in his
"Memoirs" (1794-1865).
GREVILLE, FULKE, a minor English poet, born at Beauchamp Court,
Warwickshire; was educated at Cambridge and Oxford; travelled on the
Continent; played a part in the court-life of Elizabeth's time; was
knighted in 1597, and in 1620 was created Lord Brooke; he was murdered in
a scuffle with his valet (1554-1628).
GREVILLE, HENRY, the pseudonym of Madame Alice Durand (_nee_
Fleury), novelist, born at Paris; her works, which are numerous, contain
lively pictures of life in Russia, in which country, in St. Petersburg,
she spent 15 years of her life (1857-72), and married Emile Durand, a
French professor of Law; since 1872 she has lived in France; _b_. 1842.
GREVY, FRANCOIS, PAUL JULES, French President, born at
Mont-sous-Vaudrey, Jura; became prominent at the Paris bar, and after the
'48 Revolution entered the Constituent Assembly, of which he became
Vice-President; his opposition to Louis Napoleon, and disapproval of his
_coup d'etat_, obliged him to retire; but in 1869 he again entered the
political arena, and was four times chosen President of the National
Assembly; in 1879 he was elected President of the Republic for seven
years, and in 1886 was confirmed in his position for a similar period,
but ministerial difficulties induced him to resign two years later
(1807-1891).
GREY, CHARLES, FIRST EARL, soldier; as Sir Charles Grey of Howick he
distinguished himself in the wars with the American Colonies and the
French Republic, and in 1804 was rewarded with a Barony, and two years
later was made Earl Grey (1728-1807).
GREY, CHARLES, 2ND EARL, party to the impeachment of Warren
Hastings; tried to impeach Pitt; denounced union with Ireland; became
leader of the House of Commons in 1806; carried Act for the Abolition of
the African Slave-trade; succeeded to the earldom in 1807, and denounced
the Bill against Queen Caroline; becoming Prime Minister in 1830 he was
defeated, and resigned twice over the Reform Bill; returning to power in
1832, with permission to make as many peers as might be needed, he
succeeded at last in passing the Bill; he was head of a powerful party in
the reformed Parliament, and carried the bill abolishing slavery in the
Colonies, but resigned over Irish troubles in 1834 (1764-1845).
GREY, SIR GEORGE, colonial governor and statesman, born at Lisburn,
Ireland; while a captain in the army he, in 1837 and 1838, explored
Central Australia and the Swan River district; in 1841, having retired
from the army, he became Governor of South Australia; was made K.C.B.
for his services: in 1846 was Governor of New Zealand, and in 1854
Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Cape of Good Hope, where he
conciliated the Kaffirs; in 1858 a difference with the home government
led him to resign, but he was soon re-established; from 1861 to 1867 he
was at his former post in New Zealand, where he pacified the Maories; in
1875 he was Superintendent of Auckland, and in 1877-84 was Premier of New
Zealand; he is the author of "Journals of Discovery in Australia,"
"Polynesian Mythology," &c. (1812-1898).
GREY, LADY JANE, the ill-fated "nine days' queen," born at Bradgate,
Leicestershire; was the daughter of the Duke of Suffolk and the
great-granddaughter of Henry VII.; her talents were of a rare order, and
sedulously cultivated; she attained to great proficiency in Greek, Latin,
and also in modern languages, while she was skilled in all the
accomplishments of womanhood; a plot entered into by Suffolk and the Duke
of Northumberland, whose son Lady Jane had been forced to espouse at 15,
brought about her proclamation as Queen in 1553; the attempted usurpation
was crushed in ten days, and four months later Lady Jane and her husband
were executed (1537-1554).
GREY FRIARS, the FRANCISCANS (q. v.), from their grey
habit.
GRIEG, EDOARD, Norwegian composer, born at Bergen, of Scotch
descent; received his first musical lessons from his mother, and at 15
went to Leipzig; in 1863 was at Copenhagen and then established himself
as a teacher at Christiania, where he continued eight years and became
intimate with Ibsen; subsequently, after leading an unsettled life, he
received a government pension, and after that devoted himself to musical
composition; his music, chiefly pianoforte pieces and songs, achieved a
wide popularity in England and Scotland; _b_. 1843.
GRIERSON, SIR ROBERT, OF LAG, a notorious persecutor of the
Covenanters, whose memory is still regarded with odium among the peasants
of Galloway; was for some years Steward of Kirkcudbright; was in 1685
made a Nova Scotia baronet, and awarded a pension (1655-1733).
GRIESBACH, JOHANN JACOB, German theologian and biblical critic, born
in Hesse-Darmstadt; produced a critical revision of the text of the New
Testament, the chief labour of his life, for which he visited and
ransacked the various libraries of Europe (1745-1812).
GRIFFIN or GRIFFON, a chimerical fabulous animal with the body
and legs of a lion in symbol of strength, with the wings and beak of an
eagle in symbol of swiftness, with the ears of a horse in symbol of
watchfulness, and instead of a mane the fin of a fish; figures among
heraldic symbols with the significance here indicated.
GRILLPARZER, FRANZ, popular Austrian dramatist, born at Vienna;
studied law and then entered the Civil Service, in which he remained from
1813 to 1856; his first notable drama was the tragedy "Die Ahnfrau," the
_motif_ of which is an extreme fatalism; "Sappho," "Das goldene Vliess,"
and many others followed, all of which are marked by dramatic power and
lyric grace; he stands in the front rank of Austrian poets (1791-1872).
GRIMALDI, JOSEPH, a famous English clown, son of an Italian
dancing-master, born in London; was bred to the stage from his infancy,
appearing on the boards when not yet two years old; his Memoirs were
edited by Dickens, who describes him as "the genuine droll, the
grimacing, filching, irresistible clown" (1779-1837).
GRIMM, BARON, a German litterateur and critic, born at Ratisbon; a
man of versatile powers and vast attainments; settled in Paris and became
acquainted with Rousseau and the leading Encyclopedists and Madame
d'Epinay; on the breaking out of the Revolution he retired to the court
of Gotha and afterwards to that of Catharine II. of Russia, who made him
her minister at Hamburg; his correspondence is full of interest, and
abounds in piquant literary criticism (1723-1807).
GRIMM, JACOB LUDWIG, German philologist, born at Hanau; held office
as librarian to Jerome Bonaparte, king of Westphalia, and afterwards to
Goettingen University, as well as a professorship there, devoting himself
the while chiefly to studies in early German lore, and afterwards with
his brother settled in Berlin; his principal works were, "Deutsche
Grammatik," "Deutsche Mythologie," "Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache,"
and the "Kinder-und-Haus-Maerchen" in collaboration with his brother
(1785-1863).
GRIMM, WILHELM KARL, philologist, younger brother of the preceding,
born at Hanau; was associated both in his appointments and work with his
brother, the two being known as the Brothers Grimm; edited several old
German poems, his principal work "Die Deutsche Heldensage" (1786-1859).
GRIMM'S LAW, as enunciated by J. L. Grimm, is the law regulating the
interchange of mute consonants in languages of Aryan origin, aspirates,
flats, and sharps in the classical languages corresponding respectively
to flats, sharps, and aspirates in Low German, and to sharps, aspirates,
and flats in High German tongues.
GRIMSBY or GREAT GRIMSBY (59), a seaport of Lincolnshire, on
the S. shore of the Humber, opposite Spurn Head, 20 m. SE. of Hull; was a
port of importance in Edward III.'s time; is now noted as the largest
fishing-port in the kingdom; has extensive docks, shipbuilding, tanning,
brewing, and other industries.
GRINDAL, EDMUND, archbishop of Canterbury; was suspended for
respecting his conscience more than the Queen (Elizabeth), but restored;
offered to resign, but the Queen would not accept his resignation; became
in the end blind from grief (1519-1583).
GRINDELWALD, a winter resort in Bernese Oberland, in Switzerland, in
a beautiful valley 121/2 m. long and 4 m. broad, and nearly 3500 ft. above
sea-level.
GRINGO, a name of contempt in Mexico and South America for
interlopers of English descent or speech.
GRINGORE, a French poet; flourished in the reigns of Louis XII. and
Francis I.; was received with favour at court for political reasons,
though he lashed its vices and those of the clergy; wrote satirical
farces, and one especially at the instance of Louis against Pope Julius
II., entitled "Le Jeu du Prince des Sots" (1476-1544).
GRIQUALAND, WEST AND EAST, British territories in South Africa. The
former (83, 30 whites) lies to the N.E. of Cape Colony, between the
Orange River on the S. and Bechuanaland on the N.; the diamond industry,
of which Kimberley is the centre, is the chief source of wealth, and was
begun in 1867; Kimberley is also the seat of government. The latter (153,
4 whites), situated in No-Man's-Land, between the Kaffir country and S.
Natal, is chiefly inhabited by Griquas and Basutos. The first has been
part of Cape Colony since 1881, and the second was annexed to that colony
in 1871, though it is controlled by a chief-magistrate. Griqua is a name
given to half-bloods of Dutch fathers and Hottentot mothers.
GRISELDA or GRISELDIS, a famous heroine of mediaeval tradition;
figures in Boccaccio, Petrarch, and Chaucer, and in later dramatists of
England, Germany, and Spain; the beautiful daughter of a Piedmontese
peasant, she was loved and married by the Marquis Walter of Saluzzo; his
jealous affection subjected her to several cruel tests of love, which she
bore with "wyfly pacience," and in the end "love was aye between them
twa."
GRISI, GIULIA, a celebrated singer, born in Milan; Paris and London
were the chief scenes of her triumphs; her greatest triumph was in
playing the part of "Norma," in the opera of the name; she was famous
alike for the beauty of her person and the quality of her voice
(1811-1869).
GRISNEZ, CAPE, a headland with a lighthouse on the French coast
opposite Dover, and the nearest point in France to England.
GRISONS (95), the largest of the Swiss cantons, lies in the SE.
between Tyrol and Lombardy; consists of high mountains and valleys,
amongst which are some of the most noted Alpine glaciers; the Engadine
Valley, through which flows the Inn, is a celebrated health resort, as
also the Davos Valley in the E.; some cereals are raised, but pasture and
forest land occupy a large part of the canton, and supply the cattle and
timber export trade; the population, which is small for the extent of
territory, is a mixture of German, Romanic, and Italian elements.
GROCYN, WILLIAM, classical scholar, born at Bristol; was the first
to teach Greek at Oxford, and the tutor in that department of Sir Thomas
More and Erasmus (1442-1519).
GRODNO, a province and town of Russia; the latter (51) is on the
Niemen, 148 m. NE. of Warsaw; has a Polish palace and medical school. The
former (1,556) is a wide, pine-covered, swampy, yet fertile district,
which produces good crops of cereals, and is a centre of the woollen
industry.
GROLIER, JEAN, a famous bibliophile, whose library was dispersed in
1675; the bindings of the books being ornamented with geometric patterns,
have given name to bindings in this style; they bore the inscription,
"Io. Grolieri et Amicorum" (the property of Jean Grolier and his
friends).
GROeNINGEN (286), a low-lying province in the NE. of Holland,
fronting the German Ocean on the N., and having Hanover on its eastern
border; its fertile soil favours extensive farming and grazing;
shipbuilding is an important industry. The capital (58) is situated on
the Hunse, 94 m. NE. of Amsterdam; has several handsome buildings, a
university (1614), botanic gardens, shipbuilding yards, and tobacco and
linen factories.
GRONOVIUS, the name of two Dutch scholars, father and son,
professors successively of belles-lettres at Leyden; John died 1671, and
Jacob 1716.
GROS, ANTOINE JEAN, BARON, a French historical painter, born at
Paris; his subjects were taken from events in the history of France, and
especially in the career of Napoleon; his first work, received with
unbounded enthusiasm, was "Pestifere's de Jaffa," and his latest, a
picture in the cupola of the Church of Genevieve, in Paris (1771-1835).
GROSE, CAPTAIN FRANCIS, an English antiquary, born at Greenford,
Middlesex; was educated for an artist, and exhibited; proved a good
draughtsman; became captain of Sussex militia; published the "Antiquities
of England and Wales" (1773-1787); came to Scotland in 1789 on an
antiquarian tour, and made the acquaintance of Burns, who celebrated him
in his "Hear, Land o' Cakes and Brither Scots," as "a chield's amang you
takin' notes, and faith he'll prent it"; was an easy-going man, with a
corpulent figure, a smack of humour, and a hearty boon companion; lived
to publish his "Antiquities of Scotland and Ireland"; died at Dublin in
an apoplectic fit (1731-1791).
GROSSMITH, GEORGE, actor, famous for leading parts in Gilbert and
Sullivan's operas, and since as giving single-handed dramatic sketches
and songs, written by himself and set to music by himself; _b._ 1847.
GROSSMITH, WEEDON, actor, artist, and contributor to _Art Magazine_
and _Punch_; brother of preceding.
GROSSETESTE, ROBERT, a famous bishop of Lincoln, born at Stradbroke,
Suffolk, of peasant parents; a man of rare learning, he became a lecturer
in the Franciscan school at Oxford, and rose through various stages to be
bishop of Lincoln in 1235; he was an active Parliamentarian, and gave
valuable assistance to his friend Simon de Montfort in the struggle with
Henry III., and headed the Church reform party against the nepotism of
Innocent IV.; according to Stubbs, "he was the most learned, the most
acute, and most holy man of his time" (1175-1253).
GROTE, GEORGE, historian and politician, born at Clay Hill, near
Beckenham, of German descent; was a banker to business; spent his leisure
time in the study of philosophy and history; contributed to the
_Westminster Review_, a philosophical Radical organ at that time;
represented the City of London in that interest from 1833 to 1841, when
he retired to devote all his time to his "History of Greece," of which
the first volumes appeared In 1846 and the last in 1856, making 12
volumes in all; this work contributed to dispel many erroneous
impressions, in regard particularly to Athens and its political
constitution; wrote on Plato and Aristotle, but his philosophical creed
made it impossible for him to do justice to the Greek metaphysics
(1791-1871).
GROTEFEND, GEORG FRIEDRICH, antiquary and philologist, born at
Minden, Hanover; was director of the Lyceum, Hanover; was the first to
decipher the cuneiform inscriptions, a discovery which he gave to the
world in 1802 (1775-1853).
GROTESQUE, THE, the combination in art of heterogeneous parts,
suggested by some whimsically designed paintings in the artificial
grottoes of Roman houses.
GROTIUS, HUGO, or HUIG VAN GROOT, a celebrated Dutch jurist and
theologian, born at Delft; studied at Leyden under Scaliger, and
displayed an extraordinary precocity in learning; won the patronage of
Henri IV. while on an embassy to France; practised at the bar in Leyden,
and in 1613 was appointed pensionary of Rotterdam; he became embroiled in
a religious dispute, and for supporting the Arminians was sentenced to
imprisonment for life; escaped in a book chest (a device of his wife),
fled to Paris, and was pensioned by Louis XIII.; in 1625 he published his
famous work on international law, "De Jure Belli et Pacis"; from 1634 to
1645 he acted as Swedish ambassador at Paris; his acute scholarship is
manifested in various theological, historical, and legal treatises; his
work "De Veritate Religionis Christiana;" is well known (1583-1645).
GROUCHY, EMMANUEL, MARQUIS DE, a French marshal, born at Paris;
entered the army in 1780, and later gave enthusiastic support to the
Revolution, laying aside his title; took part in the Vendean campaign,
the abortive attempt on Ireland, and, under Joubert, in the conquest of
Italy; was a gallant and daring commander in the Piedmontese, Austrian,
and Russian campaigns of Napoleon, and by skilful generalship covered the
retreat of the French at Leipzig; he was among the first to welcome
Napoleon back from Elba, defeated Bluecher at Ligny, but failed to be
forward in the field of Waterloo; led the remnants of the French army
back to Paris afterwards, and then retired to the United States; in 1819
he returned, and in 1831 was reinstated as marshal (1766-1847).
GROVE, SIR GEORGE, born at Clapham; trained as a civil engineer, and
assisted Robert Stephenson in constructing the Britannia tubular bridge;
in 1849 he became secretary to the Society of Arts, a position he held
till 1852, when he became secretary and director of the Crystal Palace
Company; subsequently he was editor of _Macmillan's Magazine_, a
contributor to Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible," and is best known for
the "Dictionary of Music and Musicians" which he edited and partly wrote;
was knighted in 1883; _b_. 1820.
GROVE. SIR WILLIAM ROBERT, lawyer and physicist, burn at Swansea;
called to the bar; was made a judge in 1871, and knighted a year later,
and from 1875 to 1887 he was one of the judges in the High Court of
Justice; throughout his life he busied himself in optical and electrical
research; in 1839 invented the electric battery named after him, and from
1840 to 1847 lectured on Natural Science in the London Institution; in
1866 he was President of the British Association; his scientific
publications are various, and are important contributions to their
subjects (1811-1896).
GRUB STREET, a street in London near Moorfields, formerly inhabited
by a needy class of jobbing literary men, and the birthplace of inferior
literary productions.
GRUNDTVIG, NIKOLAI FREDERIK SEVERIN, Danish poet and theologian,
born in Zealand; was early smitten with a passion for the old Saga
literature of the North, and published in 1808 "Northern Mythology,"
which was followed by other works of a similar nature, patriotic songs,
and a translation of "Beowulf"; he entered the Church as a curate in
1811; engaged in ardent controversy with the rationalists; became leader
of a Church reform party, the Grundtvigians; was for seven years
suspended from preaching, and eventually rose to be a bishop in
Copenhagen, but had no see (1783-1872).
GRUNDY, MRS., an old lady referred to in Thomas Morgan's comedy of
"Speed the Plough," personifying the often affected extreme offence taken
by people of the old school at what they consider violations of
propriety.
GRUYERE, a small town in FREIBURG (q. v.), where whole-milk
cheese is made.
GUACHO, a native of the South American pampas.
GUADALQUIVIR, the most important river of Spain, rises in the Sierra
de Cazorla, in the southern province of Jaen, and flows in a SW.
direction through Andalusia, passing Cordova and Seville, to which town
it is navigable for steamers; after a course of 374 m. it discharges into
the Gulf of Cadiz at San Lucar de Barrameda.
GUADELOUPE (168), a French island among the Lesser Antilles, in the
W. Indies; is subject to earthquakes; produces sugar and coffee; has
belonged to France since 1816.
GUADIANA, an important river of Spain, has its source in the E. of
the plateau of Mancha, and for a short distance is known as the Zancara,
flows in a westerly direction as far as Badajoz, where it bends to the
S., then forms the border between Portugal and Spain for a short
distance, bends into Alemtejo, and again, ere reaching the Gulf of Cadiz,
divides the two countries; it is 510 m. long, of which only 42 are
navigable.
GUANAJUATO (1,007), a central province of Mexico; is rich in
minerals, especially silver, and mining is the chief occupation; but
stock-raising is of some importance, and large cotton and woollen
factories have of recent years been introduced. The capital, Guanajuato
(52), is built on both sides of a deep ravine traversed by a dashing
torrent; it is the centre of the mining industry.
GUATEMALA (1,510), a republic of Central America, fronting the
Pacific on the W., between Mexico on the N., and San Salvador and
Honduras on the S.; is for the most part mountainous, with intervening
valleys of rich fertility, little explored; minerals are abundant, and
gold and silver are worked, but the wealth of the country lies in its
fertile soil, which produces abundance of coffee, sugar, cotton, tobacco,
and fruits of all kinds; there is some manufacture of textiles, pottery,
&c.; the want of good roads has hindered the development of the country;
Roman Catholicism prevails, and the government is vested in a President
and Council; its independence was proclaimed in 1839. The capital,
Guatemala (85), stands on a plateau 72 m. NE. of its port, San Jose;
there is a cathedral and an archbishop's palace, also electric light, and
tramway conveyance.
GUAYAQUIL (45), the principal port of Ecuador, stands at the
entrance of the river Guayaquil into the Gulf of Guayaquil; the foreign
trade is centred here; there are sawmills and iron-works; coffee is by
far the largest export; the town is badly laid out, and yellow fever is
common.
GUBERNATIS, ANGELO DE, a distinguished Italian scholar, born at
Turin; in 1863 he was appointed professor of Sanskrit at Florence; was
for a time smitten with the anarchist ideas of Bakunin, whose daughter he
married, and resigned his chair, but soon returned to his professional
labours; in 1891 he became professor of Sanskrit at Rome; his numerous
writings witness to his unceasing industry and versatility, and deal with
Orientalism, mythology, archaeology, and general literature; his work
"Zoological Mythology," published in English by Mr. Truebner, is not
unknown to scholars among us; _b_. 1840.
GUDRUN, a heroine in an old German epic so called; betrothed to
Herwig, king of Zealand, and carried off by Hochmut, king of Norway, a
rejected suitor; preferred out of respect to her vow to serve as a menial
in his mother's kitchen rather than be his wife; was rescued from durance
by her brother and her betrothed, and being married to Herwig, pardoned
the suitor that had stolen her from his embraces.
GUELDERLAND (523), a province of Holland, stretching from the Zuider
Zee on the NW. to Prussia on the SE.; agriculture is the staple industry;
the Rhine crosses it in the S.
GUELPHS, a political party in Italy, who from the 11th to the 14th
centuries maintained, against the claims of the Emperors, the
independence of Italy, and the supremacy of the Pope, in opposition to
the GHIBELLINES (q. v.).
GUERICKE, OTTO VON, a German physicist, born at Magdeburg;
experimented on air, and invented the air-pump (1602-1686).
GUERIN, MAURICE DE, a French poet, of noble birth; bred for the
Church, but broke away from it; of a genius of marked promise, whose days
were cut short by an early death; his works included a prose poem called
the "Centaur" (1810-1838).
GUERIN, PIERRE, a French painter; treated classical subjects in the
classical style (1774-1833)
GUERNSEY (35), the second in size of the CHANNEL ISLANDS (q. v.);
fruit and vegetables are largely exported, and it is noted for a
fine breed of cows; St. Peter's Port is the only town, and has an
excellent harbour.
GUERRAZZI, FRANCESCO DOMENICO, an Italian patriot and author, born
at Leghorn; was trained to the law, but took to literature and produced a
number of brilliant political novels; after the flight of the Duke of
Tuscany in 1849 he was proclaimed dictator of the duchy, although little
in sympathy with the republican government, and on the restoration of the
duke was imprisoned for three years and banished to Corsica; later he sat
in the Turin Parliament from 1862 to 1865 (1804-1873).
GUESCLIN, BERTRAND DU. See DU GUESCLIN, BERTRAND.
GUEST, EDWIN, master of Caius College, Cambridge, antiquary; wrote
only one book "History of English Rhythms," a work of great learning, but
contributed papers of great value on the early history of England in
learned journals (1800-1880).
GUEUX, "the Beggars," the name assumed by the nobles and others in
the Low Countries in the War of Independence against Philip II. of Spain;
being called beggars in reproach by the court party, they adopted the
name as well as the dress, wore a fox's tail for a plume and a platter
for a brooch.
GUIANA, an extensive tract of country in the N. of S. America
fronting the Atlantic, bordering on Venezuela on the W., and for the
rest hemmed in by Brazil; it is divided into British, Dutch, and French
Guiana, all fronting the sea; the physical characteristics of all three
are practically the same; a fertile alluvial foreshore, with
upward-sloping savannahs and forests to the unexplored highlands, dense
with luxuriant primeval forest; rivers numerous, climate humid and hot,
with a plentiful rainfall; vegetation, fauna, &c., of the richest
tropical nature; timber, balsams, medicinal barks, fruits, cane-sugar,
rice, cereals, &c., are the chief products; also some gold. BRITISH
GUIANA (278) is the most westerly, and borders on Venezuela; area,
88,650 sq. m., divided into Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo;
GEORGETOWN (q. v.) is the capital. DUTCH GUIANA or Surinam
(73) occupies the central position; area, 46,058 sq. m.; capital
PARAMARIBO (q. v.). FRENCH GUIANA or Cayenne (30) lies to
the E.; area, 31,000 sq. m; capital, CAYENNE (q. v.).
GUICCIARDINI, an Italian statesman and historian, born in Florence;
studied law; became professor of Jurisprudence there; was a disciple of
Macchiavelli; did service as a statesman in the Papal territories; took a
leading part in the political changes of Florence; secured the
restoration of the Medici to power, and on his retirement composed a
"History of Italy during his Own Time," which he had all but completed
when he died (1485-1540).
GUICHARD, KARL, a Prussian officer, born at Magdeburg; joined
Frederick the Great at Breslau, "a solid staid man, of a culture unusual
for a soldier; brought with him his book, 'Memoirs Militaires sur les
Grecs et les Romans,' a solid account of the matter by the first man who
ever understood both war and Greek; very welcome to Frederick, whom he
took to very warmly; dubbed him Quintus Icilius, and had his name so
entered as major on the army books; promoted at length to colonel, a rank
he held till the end of the war" (1721-1775). See Carlyle's "Frederick."
GUICOWAR, the hereditary title of the Mahratta princes who rule over
BARODA (q. v.), in Gujarat, East India.
GUIDO ARETINUS, a Benedictine monk who flourished at Arezzo, in
Italy, during the 11th century, the first to promote the theoretical
study of music; he is credited, amongst other things, with the invention
of counterpoint, and was the first to designate notes by means of
alphabetical letters, and to establish the construction of the stave.
GUIDO RENI, Italian painter of the school of Bologna; best known by
his masterpiece "Aurora and the Hours" at Rome, painted on a ceiling, and
his unfinished "Nativity" at Naples (1575-1642).
GUIENNE (a corruption of Aquitania), an ancient province of SW.
France, now subdivided into the departments of Gironde, Dordogne, Lot,
Aveyron, and embraces parts of Lot-et-Garonne and Tarn-et-Garonne.
GUIGNES, JOSEPH DE, an eminent French Orientalist, and Sinologist
especially; was author of "Histoire Generale des Huns, des Turcs, des
Moguls, &c.," a work of vast research (1721-1800).
GUILDFORD (14), capital of Surrey, on the Wey, 30 m. SW. of London,
a quaint old town with several interesting buildings, and the ruins of a
Norman castle; is noted for its "Surrey wheats" and live-stock markets;
and has corn, paper, and powder-mills, also iron-works.
GUILDHALL, a building in London and a hall for banquets of the City
Corporation; destroyed by the fire of 1666 and rebuilt in 1789.
GUILDHALL SCHOOL OF MUSIC, an institution established by the
Corporation of London to provide advanced and thorough instruction in
music at a moderate rate, a fine building in connection with which was
erected in 1887; started with 62, and has now 3600 pupils. The
Corporation have expended L50,000 on it, besides an annual contribution
of L2300.
GUILDS, associations of craftsmen or tradesmen in the Middle Ages to
watch over and protect the interests of their craft or trade, and to see
that it is honourably as well as economically conducted, each with a body
of officials to superintend its affairs; they were associations for
mutual help, and of great benefit to the general community, religiously
and morally, as well as municipally.
GUILLOTINE, a beheading-machine invented by a Dr. Guillotin, and
recommended by him to the National Convention, which adopted it; "with my
machine, Messieurs, I whisk off your head in a twinkling, and you have no
pain;" it was anticipated by the _Maiden_ in Scotland.
GUINEA, a name somewhat loosely applied to an extensive tract of
territory on the W. coast of Africa, generally recognised as extending
from the mouth of the Senegal in the N. to Cape Negro in the S., and is
further designated as Lower and Upper Guinea, the boundary line being
practically the Equator; the territory is occupied by various colonies of
Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, and the Negro Republic of
Liberia.
GUINEGATE, a village in Hainault, SW. of Belgium, where Henry VIII.
defeated the French in 1513 in the Battle of the SPURS (q. v.).
GUINEVERE, the wife of King Arthur; the most beautiful of women,
conceived a guilty passion for Lancelot, one of Arthur's knights, and
married Modred, her husband's nephew, in the latter's absence on an
expedition against the Romans, on hearing of which he returned, met
Modred on the field of battle, whom he slew, fell mortally wounded
himself, while she escaped to a nunnery. Tennyson gives a different
version in his "Idylls."
GUISCARD, ROBERT, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, born at Coutances, in
Normandy; along with his brothers, sons of Tancred de Hauteville, he, the
sixth of twelve, following others of the family, invaded S. Italy; won
renown by his great prowess, and in the end the dukedom of Apulia; he
engaged in war with the Emperor of the East, but returned to suppress a
revolt in his own territory; when Pope Gregory VII. was besieged in San
Angelo by Henry IV. of Germany he came to the rescue and the emperor made
off (1015-1085).
GUISE, a celebrated French ducal family deriving its title from the
town of Guise in Aisne.
GUISE, CHARLES, CARDINAL OF LORRAINE, DUKE OF, son of the
succeeding, and considered the ablest of the Guise family; was archbishop
of Rheims in 1538, and cardinal of Lorraine in 1547; was prominent at the
Council of Trent, and in conjunction with his brother fiercely opposed
Protestantism (1527-1574).
GUISE, CLAUDE OF LORRAINE, first Duke of, fifth son of Rene II.,
Duke of Lorraine; distinguished himself in the service of Francis I., who
conferred on him the dukedom of Guise; was the grandfather of Mary, Queen
of Scots, through his daughter Marie, wife of James V. of Scotland
(1496-1550).
GUISE, FRANCIS, second Duke of, and son of preceding; rose, to the
highest eminence as a soldier, winning, besides many others, the great
victory of Metz (1552) over the Germans, and capturing Calais from the
English in 1558; along with his brother CHARLES (q. v.) he was
virtual ruler of France during the feeble rule of Francis II., and these
two set themselves to crush the rise of Protestantism; he was murdered by
a Huguenot at the siege of Orleans (1519-1563).
GUISE, HENRY I., third Duke of, son of Francis; the murder of his
father added fresh zeal to his inborn hatred of the Protestants, and
throughout his life he persecuted them with merciless rigour; he was a
party to the massacre of St. Bartholomew (1572); his ambitious designs on
the crown of France brought about his assassination (1550-1588).
GUISE, HENRY II., fifth Duke of, grandson of preceding; at 15 he
became archbishop of Rheims, but the death of his brother placed him in
the dukedom (1640); he opposed Richelieu, was condemned to death, but
fled to Flanders; with Masaniello he made a fruitless attempt to seize
the kingdom of Naples, and eventually settled in Paris, becoming
grand-chamberlain to Louis XIV. (1614-1664).
GUIZOT, FRANCOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME, a celebrated French historian and
statesman, born at Nimes; his boyhood was spent at Geneva, and in 1805 he
came to Paris to study law, but he soon took to writing, and in his
twenty-fourth year had published several works and translated Gibbon's
great history; in 1812 he was appointed to the chair of History in the
Sorbonne; on the second restoration (1814) became Secretary-General of
the Ministry of the Interior; the return of Napoleon drove him from
office, but on the downfall of the Corsican he received the post of
Secretary to the Ministry of Justice; in 1830 he threw in his lot with
Louis Philippe, became Minister of Public Instruction, Foreign Minister,
and Prime Minister; his political career practically closed with the
downfall of Louis Philippe; his voluminous historical works, executed
between his terms of office and in his closing years, display wide
learning and a great faculty of generalisation; the best known are "The
History of the English Revolution" and "The History of Civilisation"; as
a statesman he was honest, patriotic, but short-sighted (1787-1874).
GUJARAT (3,098), a N. maritime province of the Presidency of Bombay,
lying between the Gulfs of Cutch and Cambay; it is a rich alluvial
country, and chiefly comprises the native States of Kathiawar, Cutch, and
Baroda.
GULF STREAM, the most important of the great ocean currents; it
issues by the Strait of Florida from the Gulf of Mexico (whence its
name), a vast body of water 50 m. wide, with a temperature of 84 deg. and a
speed of 5 m. an hour; flows along the coast of the U.S. as far as
Newfoundland, whence it spreads itself in a NE. direction across the
Atlantic, throwing out a branch which skirts the coasts of Spain and
Africa, while the main body sweeps N. between the British Isles and
Iceland, its influence being perceptible as far as Spitzbergen; the
climate of Britain has been called "the gift of the Gulf Stream," and it
is the genial influence of this great current which gives to Great
Britain and Norway their warm and humid atmosphere, and preserves them
from experiencing a climate like Labrador and Greenland, a climate which
their latitude would otherwise subject them to.
GULL, SIR WILLIAM WITHEY, physician, born at Thorpe-le-Soken;
received his medical training at London, and in 1843 became professor of
Physiology at the Royal Institution; four years later he was appointed
clinical lecturer at Guy's Hospital; in 1871 his attendance on the Prince
of Wales brought him a baronetcy; published various lectures and papers
on cholera, paralysis, &c. (1816-1890).
GULLIVER, the hero of Swift's satirical romance entitled "Gulliver's
Travels," which records his adventures among the pigmies of Lilliput, the
giants of Brobdingnag, the quacks of Laputa, and the HOUYHNHNMS
(q. v.).
GULLY, RIGHT HON. WILLIAM COURT, Speaker of the House of Commons
since 1895; has represented Carlisle since 1886, is son of Dr. Gully of
water-cure celebrity; _b_. 1835.
GUN-COTTON, a powerful explosive formed by the action of nitric or
sulphuric acid on cotton or some similar vegetable fibre.
GUN-METAL, a tough, close-grained alloy of copper and tin.
GUNNINGS, two beautiful Irish girls, MARIA (1733-1760) and
ELIZABETH (1734-1790), the elder of whom became Countess of
Cromarty, and the younger married first the Duke of Hamilton (1752) and
afterwards the first Duke of Argyll (1759).
GUNPOWDER PLOT, an attempt on the part of a conspiracy to blow up
the Parliament of England on Nov. 5, 1605, on the day of the opening,
when it was expected the King, Lords, and Commons would be all assembled;
the conspirators were a small section of Roman Catholics dissatisfied
with King James's government, and were headed by Robert Catesby, the
contriver of the plot; the plot was discovered, and Guy Fawkes was
arrested as he was proceeding to carry it into execution, while the rest,
who fled, were pursued, taken prisoners, and the chief of them put to
death.
GUNTER, EDMUND, mathematician, born in Hertfordshire; was educated
at Oxford for the Church, but his natural bent was towards mathematical
science, and in 1619 he became professor of Astronomy in Gresham College,
London, a position he held till his death; his "Canon Triangulorum"
(1620) was the first table of logarithmic sines and tangents drawn up on
Briggs's system; amongst other of his inventions was the surveying chain,
a quadrant, Gunter's scale, and he was the first to observe the
variations of the compass (1581-1626).
GUNTHER, king of Burgundy and brother of Chriemhild; his ambition
was to wed BRUNHILDA (q. v.), who could only be won by one who
surpassed her in three trials of skill and strength; by the help of
Siegfried, who veiled himself in a cloak of darkness, he succeeded not
only in winning her hand, but in reducing her to wifely subjection after
she was wed.
GUPPY, the name of a pert, conceited lawyer's clerk who figures in
Dickens's "Bleak House."
GURNEY, JOSEPH JOHN, a Quaker philanthropist and writer, born at
Earlham Hall, near Norwich; in 1818 he became a Quaker minister; he
energetically co-operated with his sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Fry, in
bringing about a reform of the prison system, and otherwise spent his
life in philanthropic work; his works include "Prison Discipline," 1819,
"Religious Peculiarities of the Society of Friends," 1824 (1788-1847).
GUSTAVUS (I.) VASA or GUSTAVUS ERICSSEN, king of Sweden from
1523 to 1560, born at Lindholm, in Upland; having conceived the idea of
freeing his country from the yoke of Denmark, under which it had fallen
in 1519, and his early efforts to infuse a spirit of patriotic rebellion
into the Swedes proving ineffectual, he was captured by the Danes;
escaping from captivity, he became a wanderer in his own land, working in
mines and enduring great privations, but at last, in 1520, the Swedes
were goaded to rebellion, and under him eventually drove the Danes from
their land in 1523; during his long reign Gustavus gradually brought his
at first disorganised empire into a peaceful and united realm
(1496-1560).
GUSTAVUS (II.) ADOLPHUS, king of Sweden from 1611 to 1632, born at
Stockholm, grandson of preceding and son of Charles IX.; successful
territorial wars with Denmark and Russia occupied him during the early
years of his reign, and in 1629 he concluded an advantageous truce for
six years with Poland; next he espoused the Protestant cause in Germany
against the Catholic League; victory crowned his efforts at every step,
but in the great battle of Luetzen (near Leipzig), whilst facing
WALLENSTEIN (q. v.), his most powerful opponent, he fell in the
act of rallying his forces, and in the hour of success, not without
suspicion of having been assassinated; he ranks amongst the greatest of
champions (1594-1632).
GUSTAVUS III., king of Sweden from 1771 to 1792; succeeded his
father Adolphus Frederick; he found himself early at conflict with his
nobles, and in 1772, supported by popular feeling, imposed a new
constitution on the country greatly diminishing their power; Gustavus was
an enlightened ruler, but somewhat alienated his people from him by his
extravagance and fondness for French modes of life; in 1788 he became
embroiled in a purposeless war with Russia; he was assassinated when
about to take up arms in behalf of the Bourbon cause against the French
Republicans (1746-1792).
GUSTAVUS IV., king of Sweden from 1792 to 1809, son of preceding;
his incompetency and stubbornness made him an ill ruler; territory was
lost to the French, and Finland to Russia, while an attack on Norway
proved a failure; popular indignation rose to a height in 1809; he was
deposed, and the crown given to his uncle, Charles XIII.; after this he
lived on the Continent (1778-1837).
GUTENBURG, JOHANNES or HENNE, also called GENSFLEISCH,
claimed by the Germans to have been the inventor of the art of printing
with movable types, born at Mainz; for some time lived in Strasburg as a
polisher of precious stones, mirrors, &c.; he set up his first
printing-press at Mainz about 1450 (1400-1468).
GUTHRIE, THOMAS, a Scottish clergyman, distinguished as a pulpit
orator and a philanthropist, born in Brechin; was minister at Arbirlot,
near Arbroath, and then in Edinburgh; left the Established Church at the
Disruption, and became minister of St. John's; traversed the country
(1845-46) to raise a fund to provide manses for the Disruption ministers,
and realised L116,000 for the object; came forward as an advocate for
ragged schools, and founded one in Edinburgh; he was a warm-hearted man
as well as an eloquent, who could both move his audience to tears and
rouse it to enthusiasm (1803-1873).
GUTTA-PERCHA, the inspissated juice of a tree found in the Malay
Archipelago.
GUY, THOMAS, founder of Guy's Hospital, London, born at Horsleydown,
Southwark, London; he started as a bookseller in 1668, and after the
importation of English Bibles from Holland was stopped he obtained the
privilege of printing Bibles for Oxford University; lucky speculation in
South Sea stock, combined with his printing business, enabled him to
amass an immense fortune, which he devoted largely to charitable
purposes; from 1695 to 1702 he sat in Parliament (1645-1724).
GUY OF WARWICK, a hero of English romance of the 13th century, who
won the hand of the daughter of the Earl of Warwick by a succession of
astonishing feats of valour, but repented of the slaughter he had made,
and went a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; returned to his wife disguised as
a palmer; retired into a hermitage; when about to die sent a ring to her,
upon which she came and interred him; she died 15 days after him, and was
buried by his side.
GUYON, SIR, a knight in Spenser's "Faerie Queene," the impersonation
of temperance and self-control; he subdued the sorceress Acrasia (i. e.
intemperance), and was the destroyer of her "Bower of Bliss."
GWALIOR (3,378), a native State of Central India, under British
protection since 1803; governed by the Maharajah Sindhia; area, 29,067
sq. m.; consists of scattered districts in the basins of the Jumna and
Nerbudda; opium is the chief export. Gwalior, the capital (1,041), is
situated 65 m. S. of Agra; the citadel is very strongly posted on a steep
rocky base 340 ft. high.
GWYNN, NELL, a "pretty, witty" actress of Drury Lane, who became
mistress of Charles II., whose son by her was created Duke of St. Albans;
the king was very fond of her and took special thought of her when he was
dying (1640-1691).
GYGES, a young shepherd of Lydia, who, according to classic legend,
possessed a magic ring of gold by which he could render himself
invisible; he repaired to the Court of Candaules, whose first minister he
became, whose chamber he entered invisibly, and whom he put to death to
reign in his stead.
GYMNOSOPHISTS, a set of contemplative philosophers among the Hindus
who practised an extreme asceticism and went about almost naked.
GYMNOTUS, an electric eel of South America, and found in the fresh
waters of Brazil and Guiana.
GYPSIES, a race of people of wandering habits, presumed to be of
Indian origin, found scattered over Europe, Asia, and Africa, and even in
America, who appear to have begun to migrate westward from the valley of
the Indus about A.D. 1000, and to have reached Europe in the 14th
century, and to owe their name gypsies to their supposed origin in Egypt.
They in general adhere to their unsettled habits wherever they go, show
the same tastes, and follow the same pursuits, such as tinkering,
mat-making, basket-making, fortune-telling. On their first appearance
they were mere vagabonds and thieves.
H
HAAFIZ. See HAeFIZ.
HAARLEM (58), a handsome town in the province of N. Holland on the
Spaarne, 4 m. from the sea, and 12 m. W. of Amsterdam; has a fine
15th-century church with a famous organ (8000 pipes), linen and other
factories, &c., and is noted for its tulip-gardens and trade in
flower-bulbs; it is intersected by several canals as well as the rivers;
there existed at one time a lagoon of the Zuyder Zee called HAARLEM
LAKE, which stretched southward as far as Leyden, between Amsterdam
and Haarlem; but destructive inundations, caused by the tidal advance in
1836, compelled the Government to set about draining it, and this
difficult engineering operation was successfully carried through by an
English company during 1839-52.
HABAKKUK, a book of the Old Testament by a Levite, whose name it
bears, and who appears to have flourished in the 7th century B.C.,
containing a prophecy which belongs, both in substance and form, to the
classic period of Hebrew literature, and is written in a style which has
been described as being "for grandeur and sublimity of conception, for
gorgeousness of imagery, and for melody of language, among the foremost
productions of that literature." The spirit of it is one: faith, namely,
in the righteous ways of the Lord; but the burden is twofold; to denounce
the judgment of God on the land for the violence and wrong that prevailed
in it, as about to be executed on it by a power still more violent and
unjust in its ways; and to comfort the generation of the righteous with
the assurance of a time when this very rod of God's wrath shall in the
pride of its power be broken in pieces, and the Lord be revealed as
seated in His Holy Temple.
HABBERTON, JOHN, author of "Helen's Babies," born in Brooklyn, New
York; was first a clerk and then a journalist; his other works include
"Other People's Children," "The Worst Boy in Town," &c.; _b_. 1842.
HABEAS CORPUS, an Act of Parliament passed in the reign of Charles
II. to ensure the protection of one accused of a crime prior to
conviction in an open court of justice.
HABINGTON, THOMAS, a Worcester gentleman of fortune, involved at one
time in a conspiracy to release Mary, Queen of Scots, from prison, and
convicted at another of concealing some of the agents in the Gunpowder
Plot (1560-1647).
HABINGTON, WILLIAM, poet and historian, son of the preceding; a
devoted Catholic, "who did not run with the times"; author of "Castara,"
a collection of exquisite lyrics in homage to his wife, and in
celebration of her charms and virtues (1605-1654).
HACHETTE, JEAN, French mathematician; one of the founders of the
Ecole Polytechnique (1769-1834).
HACHETTE, JEANNE, a French heroine, born in Beauvais, who took part
in the defence of her native town when besieged in 1472 by Charles the
Bold.
HACKLAeNDER, German novelist and dramatist, born near
Aix-la-Chapelle; his writings, which show a genial humour, have been
compared to those of Dickens (1816-1877).
HACKNEY (230), an important parish and borough of Middlesex, a
suburb of London, 3 m. NE. of St. Paul's; returns three members of
Parliament.
HACO V., king of Norway from 1223 to 1263; was defeated by Alexander
III. of Scotland at Largs, and died at the Orkneys on his way home.
HADDINGTON (3), the county town, on the Tyne, 17 m. E. of Edinburgh;
has interesting ruins of an abbey church, called the "Lamp of Lothian," a
cruciform pile with a central tower, a corn exchange, &c.; was the
birthplace of John Knox, Samuel Smiles, and Jane Welsh Carlyle.
HADDINGTONSHIRE or EAST LOTHIAN (37), a maritime county of
Scotland, on the E. fronting the Firth of Forth and the North Sea, N. of
Berwickshire; on the southern border lie the Lammermuir Hills; the Tyne
is the only river; considerable quantities of coal and limestone are
wrought, but agriculture is the chief industry, 64 per cent, of the land
being under cultivation.
HADEN, SIR FRANCIS SEYMOUR, an etcher and writer on etching, born in
London; was bred to medicine, and in 1857 became F.R.C.S.; in 1843 he
took up etching as a pastime and has since pursued it with enthusiasm and
conspicuous success; he has won medals in France, America, and England
for the excellency of his workmanship, while his various writings have
largely contributed to revive interest in the art; he is President of the
Society of Painters, and in 1894 a knighthood was conferred upon him;
_b_. 1818.
HADES (lit. the Unseen), the dark abode of the shades of the dead
in the nether world, the entrance into which, on the confines of the
Western Ocean, is unvisited by a single ray of the sun; originally the
god of the nether world, and a synonym of PLUTO (q. v.).
HADITH, the Mohammedan Talmud, being a traditional account of
Mahomet's sayings and doings.
HADJI, a Mohammedan who has made his Hadj or pilgrimage to Mecca,
and kissed the Black Stone of the CAABA (q. v.); the term is
also applied to pilgrims to Jerusalem.
HADLEIGH (3), an interesting old market-town of Suffolk, on the
Bret, 91/2 m. W. of Ipswich; its cloth trade dates back to 1331; Guthrum,
the Danish king, died here in 889, and Dr. Rowland Taylor suffered
martyrdom in 1555. Also a small parish of Essex, near the N. shore of the
Thames estuary, 37 m. E. of London, where in 1892 the Salvation Army
planted their farm-colony.
HADLEY, JAMES, an American Greek scholar, and one of the American
committee on the revision of the New Testament (1821-1872).
HADLEY, JOHN, natural philosopher; invented a 5 ft. reflecting
telescope, and a quadrant which bears his name, though the honour of the
invention has been assigned to others, Newton included (1682-1744).
HADRAMAUT (150), a dry and healthy plateau in Arabia, extending
along the coast from Aden to Cape Ras-al-Hadd, nominally a dependency of
Turkey.
HADRIAN, Roman emperor, born in Rome; distinguished himself under
Trajan, his kinsman; was governor of Syria, and was proclaimed emperor by
the army on Trajan's death in A.D. 117; had troubles both at home and
abroad on his accession, but these settled, he devoted the last 18 years
of his reign chiefly to the administration of affairs throughout the
empire; visited Gaul in 120, whence he passed over to Britain, where he
built the great wall from the Tyne to the Solway; he was a Greek scholar,
had a knowledge of Greek literature, encouraged industry, literature, and
the arts, as well as reformed the laws (76-138).
HAECKEL, ERNST HEINRICH, an eminent German biologist, born at
Potsdam; carried through his medical studies at Berlin and Vienna; early
evinced an enthusiasm for zoology, and, after working for some time at
Naples and Messina, in 1865 became professor of Zoology at Jena; here he
spent a life of unceasing industry, varied only by expeditions to Arabia,
India, Ceylon, and different parts of Europe in the prosecution of his
scientific theories; he was the first among German scientists to embrace
and apply the evolutionary theories of Darwin, and along these lines he
has produced several works of first-rate importance in biology; his great
works on calcareous sponges, on jelly-fishes, and corals are enriched by
elaborate plates of outstanding value; he made important contributions to
the _Challenger_ reports, and was among the first to outline the
genealogical tree of animal life; his name is associated with
far-reaching speculations on heredity, sexual selection, and various
problems of embryology; "The Natural History of Creation," "Treatise on
Morphology," "The Evolution of Man," are amongst his more popular works;
_b_. 1834.
HAeFIZ, his real name Shems-Eddin-Mohammed, the great lyric poet of
Persia, born in Shiraz, where he spent his life; he has been called the
Anacreon of Persia; his poetry is of a sensuous character, though the
images he employs are Interpreted by some in a supersensuous or mystical
sense; Goethe composed a series of lyrics in imitation; the name Haefiz
denotes a Mohammedan who knows the Koran and the Hadith by heart
(1320-1391).
HAGAR, Sarah's maid, of Egyptian birth, who became by Abraham the
mother of Ishmael and of the Ishmaelites.
HAGEDORN, a German poet, born at Hamburg; was secretary to the
English factory there; wrote fables, tales, and moral poems (1708-1754).
HAGEN, king of Burgundy; the murderer of Siegfried in the
"Nibelungen Lied," who is in turn killed by Chriemhild, Siegfried's wife,
with Siegfried's sword.
HAGENAU (15), a town of Alsace-Lorraine, situated in the Hagenau
Forest, on the Moder, 21 m. NE. of Strasburg; has two quaint old churches
of the 12th and the 13th century respectively; hops and wine are the
chief articles of commerce; was ceded to Germany in 1871.
HAGENBACH, KARL, a German theologian, born at Basel, and professor
there; was a disciple of Schleiermacher; wrote a church history; is best
known by his "Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte," or "History of Dogmas"
(1801-1874).
HAGGADAH, a system of professedly traditional, mostly fanciful,
amplifications of the historical and didactic, as distinct from the
legal, portions of Jewish scripture; is a reconstructing and remodelling
of both history and dogma; for the Jews seem to have thought, though they
were bound to the letter of the Law, that any amount of licence was
allowed them in the treatment of history and dogma.
HAGGAI, one of the Hebrew prophets of the Restoration (of Jerusalem
and the Temple) after the Captivity, and who, it would seem, had returned
from Babylon with Zerubbabel and Joshua. Signs of the divine displeasure
having appeared on account of the laggard spirit in which the Restoration
was prosecuted by the people, this prophet was inspired to lift up his
protest and rouse their patriotism, with the result that his appeal took
instant effect, for in four years the work was finished and the Temple
dedicated to the worship of Jehovah, as of old, in 516 B.C.; his book is
a record of the prophecies he delivered in that connection, and the
style, though prosaic, is pure and clear.
HAGGARD, RIDER, novelist, born in Norfolk; after service in a civic
capacity in Natal, and in partly civil and partly military service in the
Transvaal, adopted the profession of literature; first rose into
popularity as author in 1885 by the publication of "King Solomon's
Mines," the promise of which was sustained in a measure by a series of
subsequent novels beginning with "She" in 1887; _b_. 1856.
HAGGIS, a Scotch dish, "great chieftain o' the puddin' race,"
composed of the chopped lungs, heart, and liver of a sheep, mixed with
suet and oatmeal, seasoned with onions, pepper, salt, &c., and boiled in
a sheep's stomach.
HAGIOGRAPHA, the third division of the Jewish canon of scripture,
which included the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Chronicles, Ezra, and
Nehemiah.
HAGUE, THE (166), the capital of the Netherlands, seat of the Court
and of the Government, 15 m. NW. of Rotterdam and 2 m. from the North
Sea; is handsomely laid out, in spacious squares and broad streets, with
stately buildings, statues, and winding canals, beautifully fringed with
lindens and spanned by many bridges; has a fine picture-gallery, a royal
library (200,000 vols.), archives rich in historical documents of rare
value, an ancient castle, palace, and a Gothic church of the 14th
century; industries embrace cannon-foundries, copper and lead smelting,
printing, &c.; it is connected by tramway with Scheveningen, a
fashionable watering-place on the coast.
HAHN-HAHN, IDA, a German authoress of aristocratic birth and
prejudice, who, on the dissolution of an unhappy marriage, sought
consolation in travel, and literature of a rather sickly kind
(1805-1880).
HAHNEMANN, SAMUEL, a German physician, the founder of
HOMOEOPATHY (q. v.), born at Meissen; established himself in
practice in Dresden on orthodox lines and enjoyed a high reputation, but
retired to revise the whole system of medicine in vogue, of which he had
begun to entertain misgivings, and by various researches and experiments
came to the conclusion that the true principle of the healing art was
_similia similibus curantur_, "like things are cured by like," which he
announced as such to the medical world in 1796, and on which he proceeded
to practise first in Leipzig and finally in Paris, where he died
(1755-1843).
HAIDEE, a beautiful Greek girl in "Don Juan," who, falling in love
with the hero and losing him, came to a tragic end.
HAIDUK or HAJDUK (i. e. cowherd), a name bestowed on a body
of irregular infantry in Hungary who kept up a guerilla warfare in the
16th century against the Turks; in 1605 a stretch of territory on the
left bank of the Theiss was conferred upon them, together with a measure
of local government and certain other privileges; but in 1876 their
territory was incorporated in the county of Hajdu; the name was in later
times applied to the Hungarian infantry and to noblemen's retainers.
HAILES, LORD, SIR DAVID DALRYMPLE, Scottish judge and antiquary,
born at Edinburgh; was called to the Scotch bar in 1748, and raised to
the bench in 1768; ten years later he became a justiciary lord; he
devoted his vacations to literary pursuits, and a series of valuable
historical works came from his pen, which include "Annals of Scotland
from Malcolm III. to Robert I." and "Annals of Scotland from Robert I. to
the Accession of the House of Stuart," "A Discourse on the Gowrie
Conspiracy," &c. (1726-1792).
HAILEYBURY COLLEGE, lies 2 m. SE. of Hertford; was founded in 1809
by the East India Company as a training institution for their cadets, and
was in use till 1858, when the company ceased to exist; in 1862 it was
converted into a public school.
HAINAN (2,500), an island of China, in the extreme S., between the
Gulf of Tongking and the China Sea, 15 m. S. of the mainland; agriculture
is the staple industry; the mountainous and wooded interior is occupied
by the aboriginal Les.
HAINAULT (1,082), a southern province of Belgium bordering on
France, between W. Flanders and Namur; the N. and W. is occupied by
fertile plains; the Forest of Ardennes extends into the S., where also
are the richest coal-fields of Belgium; iron and lead are wrought also;
the chief rivers are the Scheldt, Sambre, Dender, and Haine; textiles,
porcelain, and iron goods are manufactured; Mons is the capital.
HAKIM or HAKEM, a Mohammedan name for a ruler, a physician, or
a wise man.
HAKIM BEN ALLAH or BEN HASHEM, surnamed MOKANNA (i. e.
the Veiled or the One-Eyed); the founder of a religious sect in
Khorassan, Persia, in the 8th century; he pretended to be God incarnate,
and wore over his face a veil to shroud, as his followers believed, the
dazzling radiance of his countenance, but in reality to hide the loss of
an eye, incurred in earlier years when he had served as a common soldier;
the sect was after fierce fighting suppressed by the Caliph, and Hakim is
said to have flung himself into a vessel of powerfully corrosive acid in
the hope that, his body being destroyed, a belief in his translation to
heaven might spread among his followers; the story of Hakim is told in
Moore's "Lalla Rookh."
HAKLUYT, RICHARD, English author; was educated at Oxford, and became
chaplain to the English embassy in Paris; wrote on historical subjects;
his principal work, published in 1589, "Principal Navigations, Voyages,
and Discoveries of the English Nation by Land and Sea," a work which,
detailing as it does the great deeds of Englishmen, particularly on the
sea, has borne very considerable fruit in English life and literature
since (1552-1616).
HAKODATE (66), one of the open ports of Yezo in Japan, with a large
harbour and large export trade.
HAL (9), a town of Belgium, 9 m. SW. from Brussels; noted for its
14th-century church, which contains a black wooden image of the Virgin
credited with miraculous powers, and resorted to by pilgrims.
HALACHA, the Jewish law as developed into validity by the decisions
of the Scribes, on the basis of inferential reasoning or established
custom; it was of higher authority than the law as written, though not
held valid till sanctioned by a majority of the doctors.
HALBERSTADT (37), an interesting old town in Prussian Saxony, 30 m.
SW. of Magdeburg; the 13th-century cathedral is a fine specimen of
Pointed Gothic, and the Church of Our Lady, a 12th-century structure, is
in the Byzantine style; its industries embrace gloves, cigars, machines,
sugar, &c.
HALCYON DAYS, days of peace, happiness, and prosperity, properly the
seven days before and the seven after the winter Solstice, days of quiet,
during which the halcyon, or kingfisher, is fabled to be breeding.
HALDANE, ROBERT, born in London, and JAMES, born in Dundee,
brothers; entered the English navy, and after distinguishing themselves
in it, left the service, and devoted their time and their wealth to
evangelistic labours and the building of "tabernacles," as they were
called, for religious worship in connection eventually with the Baptist
body; they both contributed to theological literature in the Calvinistic
interest; Robert died in 1842, being born in 1764, and James in 1851,
being born in 1766.
HALE, SIR MATTHEW, Lord Chief-Justice of England, born at Alderley,
Gloucestershire: in 1629 he entered Lincoln's Inn after some years of
roving and dissipation, and eight years later was called to the bar; as
he held aloof from the strife between king and commons, his service as
advocate were in requisition by both parties, and in 1653 he was raised
to the bench by Cromwell; on the death of the Protector he declined to
receive his commission anew from Richard Cromwell, and favoured the
return of Charles; after the Restoration he was made Chief Baron of the
Exchequer and knighted; in 1671 he was created Lord Chief-Justice;
charges of "trimming" have been made against him, but his integrity as a
lawyer has never been impugned (1609-1676).
HALES, ALEXANDER OF, a scholastic philosopher, surnamed "Doctor
Irrefragabilis," who flourished in the 15th century; author of "Summa
Theologiae."
HALES, JOHN, the "Ever-memorable," canon of Windsor; a most
scholarly man, liberal-minded and highly cultured; was professor of Greek
at Oxford; suffered great hardships under the Puritan supremacy
(1584-1656).
HALES, STEPHEN, scientist, born at Beckesbourn, Kent; became a
Fellow of Cambridge in 1702; took holy orders, and in 1710 settled down
in the curacy of Teddington, Middlesex; science was his ruling passion,
and his "Vegetable Staticks" is the first work to broach a true
morphology of plants; his papers on Ventilation led to a wide-spread
reform in prison ventilation, and his method of collecting gases greatly
furthered the work of subsequent chemists (1677-1761).
HALEVY, JACQUES FRANCOIS ELIAS, a French operatic composer, born at
Paris; became a professor at the Conservatoire; wrote a large number of
operas, of which "La Juive" and "L'Eclair" were the best, and enjoyed a
European reputation (1799-1862).
HALEVY, JOSEPH, French Orientalist and traveller, born at
Adrianople; his most notable work was done in Yemen, which he crossed
during 1869-70 in search of Sabaean inscriptions, no European having
traversed that land since A.D. 24; the result was a most valuable
collection of 800 inscriptions, &c.; his works are numerous, and deal
with various branches of Oriental study; _b_. 1827.
HALIBURTON, THOMAS CHANDLER, Nova Scotian judge and author, born at
Windsor, Nova Scotia; was called to the bar in 1820, and soon after was
elected a member of the House of Assembly; in 1840 he became Judge of the
Supreme Court, and two years later retired to England, where, in 1869, he
entered Parliament; he wrote several books bearing on Nova Scotia and
aspects of colonial life, but is best known as the author of "Sam Slick,"
Yankee clockmaker, peripatetic philosopher, wit, and dispenser of "soft
sawder" (1796-1865).
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
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